《Sword God in a World of Magic》 Chapter 1 Knock, knock, knock. Someone knocked on a wooden door. No answer came. Creak. The door opened slowly, and an immactely dressed person stepped in. It was a man with white hair, but it was a bit difficult to discern his age. Even though he had white hair, which obviously came from old age, there were no wrinkles on his face. If one only looked at his face, one might believe that he was rather young. However, appearances often deceived. If someone heard of this person''s age, they wouldn''t be able to believe whoever told them. The man looked around the room with professional eyes. It was a small study filled with all kinds of books, scriptures, tomes, and papers. An unbelievably soft, violet carpet was strewn across the ground, and a cozy fire crackled in the firece. The man''s eyes looked at the back of the room. Another man was sitting on a chair behind a mahogany desk. Several papers were strewn across the desk, and the man practicallyy in his chair, his head looking upward. The man at the door slightly shook his head and walked over. Bang! He slightly kicked the table. "Oh, wha- huh? Oh, good morning, Wester," the man who had just been sleeping said after recovering from the shock. He was an old man with gentle facial features, and everyone that saw him would believe him to be a nice grandpa. "It''s evening, sir," Wester, the butler, said to the old man. "Oh, already?" the old man asked in confusion as he looked around his room. "I was working on this year''s reward for the n Tournament. Guess I lost track of time," he said. "Mhm," Wester uttered, deciding not toment on how he had found his master napping. N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. "What? You don''t believe me?" the old man asked with an offended expression. "Look! It''s over there," he said. A tome started to float from the desk and stopped in front of Wester. Wester took the tome, opened it, and scanned through it. "An Element-Neutral King Rank Spell," Westermented. "You didn''t read the dossiers about the candidates, did you?" Wester asked. The old man felt like he had been found out. BANG! Wester put his hands on the stacked dossiers on the table, making it impossible for the old man to peek at them. The old man groaned. "Fine! Fine!" he groaned, "but it doesn''t really matter, does it? Element-Neutral Spells are worth more than Element-Specific Spells anyway." "Sir, if you keep creating Element-Neutral Spells for every tournament, the other ns will start believing that we don''t care about the tournament," Westermented. The old man groaned again. "Fine! I''ll just create one for every Element, and you can choose whichever you want to hand out in the future tournaments." Wester put the Element-Neutral King Rank Spell under his arm but didn''tment on the old man''s words. Silence. The old man felt a bit awkward as his butler only stood before him, not saying anything. "Do you need something else?" the old man asked. Silence. "The Child of Cmity has vanished," Wester said. The old man was a bit taken aback as he looked at Wester with skepticism. "Vanished? Did he flee? Why would he? He had money, freedom, status, a family, everything. What happened?" "We don''t know," Wester said. "When our people arrived at his home for their monthly visit, he was simply gone." "Did you search for him?" the old man asked. "Of course, sir," Wester answered. "I sent the seventh legion to search through every particle of the surrounding 50,000 kilometers. As a mere Apprentice, he couldn''t possibly have traveled further, and we would have noticed any spatial fluctuations. However, we still couldn''t find him." The old man scratched his chin in thought. "Not even the other ns could have hidden something like that. Additionally, they would only be shooting a fireball in their own faces by taking him away. I''m certain that he hadn''t had any help." "That only means that his Affinity has imed his own life. That would also exin why you can''t find a trace of him," the old man muttered. Wester nodded. "That is also our assumption." The old man also nodded. "I presume you need the seal?" he asked. "Yes, sir." The old man gestured with his hand for Wester to give him something, and a piece of paper appeared in the air, which then floated to the desk. The old man looked at the paper and read it. Then, he put his finger at the bottom of the piece of paper, and his finger shone with purple lightning for an instant. "As always," the old manmented as the paper flew back to Wester. "As always," Wester said. Wester turned around, left the study, and wished the old man a good evening. After Wester left, the old man looked with furrowed brows at the middle of the room. The old man waved his fingers. Some water gathered in the air, and a clear pool formed. The old man looked into the pool, and the pool reflected a seemingly infinite world. The old man''s eyes moved with rapid speeds as he scanned through every hidden corner of the world in the pool. Ten secondster, the pool vanished, and the old manid back on the chair. "Sure enough, he''s gone. No trace of him. That''s a new one," the old man mumbled to himself. "I mean, Affinities can eat up their owners, so it''s not really unbelievable. It just hasn''t happened with the Child of Cmity before in the past 100,000 years. This smells fishy! Something''s different this time!" The old man scratched his chin for a while longer, but then he put his head back in a sleeping position. "Well, doesn''t matter. The legions will find the new Child of Cmity anyway," hemented to himself as he closed his eyes. Meanwhile, Wester was walking through a dimly lit hallway made of stone. Every step he took seemingly pulled him forward for hundreds of meters. It was difficult to discern what was more surprising, the fact that Wester was moving this quickly or the fact that the hallway was so long. After some seconds, Wester arrived in front of a wooden door, which he quickly opened and walked out of. Wester arrived in a grand hall. The hall was two kilometers long and 300 meters high. Powerful weapons and adornments were on the walls as imposing, violet gs hung down from every column. The gs had white lightning bolts imprinted on them, and a gigantic table was in the middle of the hall with some chairs surrounding it. Right now, the hall was empty. Wester went through another door and down another hallway, this hallway being far bigger and grander than the previous one. Wester walked through another door. This room had several tables and chairs. Many different kinds of magical equipment could be found in the room. Several papers and different objects were on the desks. "Good evening, sir. Do you require something?" A blonde woman with ostentatious purple robes stood up politely. Electricity sparked around her as space seemed to bend around her. She exuded incredible power. "Oh, Sarah, perfect, I was searching for you. Everything going well?" Wester asked politely. "Yes, sir. Thank you for asking, sir," the woman spoke politely. "Sarah, I need you to do something for me," Wester said politely as he took out the paper the old man had signed earlier. The paper floated over, and the woman looked at the paper. Her eyes widened more and more as she continued reading. "Yes, sir," she said. Then, she took the paper and walked over to a wall. She spokeplex and unfamiliar words that warped her surroundings. Ten secondster, an outcropping in the shape of a piece of paper appeared on the wall. Sarah put the paper in the outcropping, and the paper burned away. DING! DING! DING! Three bells rang throughout an unfathomable distance, their sounds ignoring the upper limit of the speed of sound. "Have a good hunt," Westermented politely as he left the room. "Thank you, sir," Sarah said with a bow. SHING! Sarah was engulfed by a bright light, but the bright light vanished just as quickly as it had arrived. However, Sarah had undergone a world-shaking transformation. Her purple robes were reced by a shining silver armor, covered with different runes. Golden wing bones were on the back of her armor, which were quickly filled out by bolts of lightning, resembling the feathers. A two-meter-long spear appeared in her hands, also crackling with lightning. SHING! Then, Sarah seemingly vanished. She had teleported away! SHING! Sarah reappeared in the grand hall through which Wester had gone. However, the hall was no longer empty. 10,000 people in golden armor with golden staves filled the hall in an orderly manner. "We greet the general!" the ten people at the front of the army spoke in unison. Sarah exuded irresistible power as she looked at the gathered army. This was the sixth legion, which was responsible for reconnaissance. "Men and women of the sixth legion," Sarah said, her voice echoing throughout the grand hall. "The Ancestor has given an order!" Silence. "The Child of Cmity has vanished, and a new Child of Cmity must have appeared in the world. The sixth legion willb the world. Every child in the world below the age of one must have their Affinity tested with a blood test! If any child tests positive for an unknown affinity, the child will be brought to me personally!" "I expect you all to finish by the morning!" "Yes, General!" all the soldiers echoed. "Go!" SHING! SHING! SHING! All 10,000 people teleported out of the hall and reappeared in the air outside the building. Below them was a magnificent purple castle, built on top of several mountains of unfathomable height. The castle itself was several kilometers wide! Lightning crackled violently on the storm clouds below the mountains where the castle was built on. Nothing aside from an endless sea of clouds filled with lightning could be seen. The 10,000 people in the air crackled with lightning as their bodies shone in golden light. BANG! Then, with an explosion, all soldiers transformed into lightning as they shot into the horizon. Their speed was impossible to follow with one''s eyes. On this night, many humans would notice golden shooting stars in the sky. On this night, all babies below the age of one would gain a tiny red dot on the fingertip of their index finger. This was where the blood was drawn from for the test. No one but the peak powers would notice that this had even happened. The entire world had beenbed in but a single night and no one had noticed. Yet, the Child of Cmity had not been found. Chapter 2 One month earlier, on Earth. "Thank you for your loyal support, and please visit us again!" A superficially cheerful voice shouted this phrase from a medium-sized grocery store. The phrase was targeted at a middle-aged man that was just leaving the store. The middle-aged man slightly waved one of his hands to show that he had heard, but he couldn''t be bothered to answer. As soon as the man left, the grocery store cashier sighed and went back to the cash register. The cashier was a young man with blonde hair, and he looked like he had just hit his 20s. A slight muscr frame was still visible when one looked at him from the back, but when looking at him from the front, one could only see a rather sizable beer belly. ck, thump, ck, thump! As the cashier walked back to the cash register, the sound of his cane could be heard on the floor of the grocery store. "Hello, wee to Stevie''s!" the cashier greeted with superficial politeness as he handled the next customer. "Hard day at work, huh?" the young customer asked the cashier. "It''s alright," the cashier answered with a slight chuckle. "Everyone has to make a living." However, these words didn''t reflect the cashier''s real feelings. ''This fucking grocery store is killing me, I swear!'' he thought as he "happily" bagged the groceries. ''Every day with the same shit. Alex, do this! Alex, do that! I swear, when I''ve saved up enough money for college, I''m going to burn this ce to the ground!'' Of course, these were only thoughts created in a stressful situation. Alex knew that he wouldn''t really do it. This cashier was Alexander Hoffmann. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. Alex for short. Alex''s life hadn''t always been like this. He had had a bright future ahead of him in the past. Sadly, life didn''t go his way. On the urging of his father, Alex started doing sports when he was 12. After all, doing sports while growing was very beneficial to the development of a teenager. Alex''s father was a huge fan of the MNFA, the Multinational Fighting Association. The MNFA let fighters from nearly all disciplines of martial arts fight each other with the least rules possible. So, in short, it was an organization that handled mixed martial arts fights, MMA for short. Alex had also grown to like watching these fights, and when his father urged him to do some sports, Alex decided that he wanted to do MMA. His parents'' feelings were mixed on that subject. On one hand, it was great that their child was finally doing some sports, but MMA could get pretty dangerous if something wasn''t handled correctly. However, since it was not professional MMA and since there were several coaches around in the local gym, they agreed. Some timeter, when Alex had had his first practice fight against another kid in the gym, he got his ass handed to him. Yet, this experience awakened a certain kind of stubbornness in him, an urge to win. Sadly, he lost the next couple of practice matches too. Well, one couldn''t really consider these matches a loss since they weren''t real matches. They were simply some sparring between two students. Yet, when Alex didn''t clearly win a fight, he saw it as a loss. Alex had already nned to change sports and join another one since it felt frustrating to see how everyone was better than himself. Yet, he wanted to win at least one time! So, he continued training, and eventually, he won. When Alex won, he felt something that he had never felt before. It was a kind of indescribable high! He felt like he was floating on clouds, and he felt like he was the greatest in the world! The feeling of fighting, which had always annoyed him since his body hurt after it, transformed into the pr opposite. This feeling of fighting others wasn''t annoying. It was simply a sh between men! They were showcasing their power in a very primal fashion! Alex wanted to feel this feeling again! Alex stayed in the gym and even came more often. MMA had transformed from a chore into a hobby. The pain of sore muscles became a familiar pain that Alex even started to enjoy. It sounded cheesy, but themon phrase of every single sports coach in the world resonated with Alex. "Pain is simply weakness leaving your body!" As the years passed, Alexpletely focused on MMA. Even his grades started to drop, which had already been average to begin with. Alex wasn''t stupid, but he never paid attention in school and didn''t learn anything. Stuff like math and physics was still okay since he could often deduce the correct answers logically, which was why those grades didn''t suffer much. However, subjects like history and foreignnguages had it far worse since one had to actually learn for these things. Alex had a ton of arguments with his parents over this, but Alex always said that his future was MMA. He would join the MNFA, and he would earn a ton of money! Alex barely passed high school but decided against going to college. MMA was his future! Alex trained as hard as he could! His entire life depended on his sess! If he didn''t manage to get into the MNFA, he would lose! And one day, just after Alex''s 20th birthday, he got epted! This was the greatest day of his life! His dream was about to be a reality! Alex won his first match pretty easily since his first opponent was pretty weak. His horrible win-loss record proved that. Alex also won his second match, but it was a close one. Yet, tragedy struck at Alex''s third match. The fight had been going fine. There was some back and forth, and he and his opponent were pretty evenly matched. And then, the ident happened. Alex and his opponent had been fighting from a distance since no one managed to find a good opening to tackle the other one to the ground. Alex saw an opening in his opponent''s defense and performed a roundhouse kick. CRACK! His opponent barely recovered before the kick struck, and he managed to block it haphazardly. His opponent''s elbow hit Alex''s ankle. Alex''s ankle immediately broke, and the medics jumped into the ring. A dayter, Alex got the news that his bones had damaged the nerves and muscles in his leg. They could only fix it to the point that would allow him to walk somewhat normally with the support of a cane, but that was it. There was nothing more they could do. Alex''s career was over. From the highest high of his life, Alex fell to the lowest low. Alex had earned quite a sum of money from his three fights, but he basically wasted all of it in a drunken haze of destruction over the next year. His life was over. There was nothing anymore. After a year, his family held an intervention for him, and Alex finally realized that he had to stop being such a pussy. One year was more than enough to wallow in self-pity! So, Alex nned to save up some money for college. Right now, Alex was 22 years old, and he was working in a grocery store precisely for this reason. Even though his past was filled with incredible highs, and even though he fell into the lowest low, Alex was still young, and he knew that he could still make something of his life. He only had to work his ass off for the foreseeable future. Then, he would go to college, and everything would turn for the better! Time passed in the grocery store, and after helping close up the ce, Alex left at around 10 pm. It was already dark out, but the streets were well lit. After all, Alex lived and worked in a less savory part of a big city. As Alex stepped out of the grocery store, his nose wrinkled. No matter how long he had lived here, he simply couldn''t get used to the disgusting stench of the dirty streets. This part of the city was for low-ie families, and the state of the streets reflected that very well. Garbage, cigarette butts, old newspapers, old furniture. This was amon sight on these streets. Alex tried to ignore the stench and walked home. His home was barely a kilometer away, a distance where people argued if they should drive or walk. Alex was walking since he wanted to keep his living costs as low as possible. Additionally, Alex somewhat enjoyed the walk since he was used to doing a lot of physical exercise. After some minutes, Alex stopped as he looked at a couple of cigarette butts on the street. And the cigarette bin right beside them. ''Oh,e on!'' he thought. ''The bin is right there!'' Alex used his cane to push the cigarette butts to the side of the closest building. He hated these people that treated the streets as their own toilet, but he didn''t hate them enough to pick up the cigarette butts to throw them away. After some minutes, Alex heard the sound of a whining dog, and he stopped. This wasn''t the usual sound of a whining dog. The dog''s whining was very loud, high-pitched, painful, and desperate. Obviously, the dog was in a ton of pain. The sound of dogs was normal in this city, but that sound definitely wasn''t normal. Alex searched around for the dog and found it in a dark alleyway between two buildings. The dog could barely be seen at the edge of the streemps'' lights. Blood. Bone. A concerned look appeared on Alex''s face as he saw the dog. Both of its hindlegs were severely broken. He could see blooding out of its legs, and he could even see its bones poking out. No wonder it was in so much pain. Alex thought about if he should help it or not. He didn''t have a pet, but he also didn''t hate animals. It was nice to look at and interact with them, but he didn''t want to bear the responsibility of owning a pet of his own. On top of that, pets were expensive. Yet, when Alex saw the broken legs, he got reminded of his own injury. A slight pain came from his ankle as the scene of being rushed into the hospital returned to Alex''s mind. In the end, Alex sighed. ''Fine, I''ll bring you to a vet, but I won''t pay much for your care.'' Alex slowly walked into the alleyway and closed in on the dog. The dog didn''t move and only continued crying in pain as Alex came closer. "Don''t move!" Alex stopped as the familiar feeling of adrenaline rushing through his veins assaulted him. There was a knife at his throat! Alex didn''t dare to move as panic took hold of him, but he calmed down somewhat when he felt a hand hurriedly searching through his pockets. ''A robbery,'' Alex thought. Alex had only been in panic for two seconds, but his old fighting instincts kicked in. Yet, Alex didn''t attack. It was essential to analyze the opponent first. Otherwise, mistakes were bound to happen. As the hand of the robber searched through Alex''s pocket, Alex slightly nced at the robber. He wore a ck hoody and ck sweatpants. It was hard to make out his facial features in the darkness while looking at him from such an awkward angle. Alex nced at the arm that held the knife. ''He''s gripping the knife with so much force that his arm is shaking, and the knife is also not directly touching my neck. He''s probably new at this. Additionally, his arm is basically touching my shoulder.'' Alex also noted the appearance and condition of the dog. ''They injured the dog to lure me into this alleyway. A clever but cruel trick.'' However, a slight smirk appeared on Alex''s face. ''Sadly, you chose the wrong target!'' BANG! Alex''s head shot backward and hit the lowered head of the robber. At the same time, Alex violently shoved his shoulder upward, pushing the knife away from him. The robber became disoriented. It was never a good feeling to butt heads with another person. Alex was in just as much pain, but as a former fighter, he could still make rational decisions under pain. Without hesitation, Alex lifted his cane. BANG! And hit the side of the robber''s head with full force. The robber immediately lost his consciousness under the attack. Alex hadn''t fought in over a year, but his muscles were still more powerful than average. The robber fell over as Alex smirked. CRACK! Alex''s smirk froze as it slowly transformed into terror. ''No! I didn''t want to do that!'' Since the robber had lost consciousness, his body simply fell over to the side. And his head violently hit the hard pavement. A pool of dark blood was quickly forming below the robber''s cracked skull. Alex''s world stopped. He couldn''tprehend what was happening. Did¡­ did he just kill someone? Alex began hyperventting in panic as his mind tried toprehend the magnitude of what he had just done. CRACK! And then, Alex''s mind vanished. Alex''s bodynded beside the robbers. A huge crack could be seen at the back of his head. Behind Alex''s body stood another man dressed in ck, fury on his face. In his hand, he carried a blood-smeared crowbar. This was the robber''s friend, who had been hiding behind some trash in case something went wrong. When he saw the corpse of his friend, fury took hold of him, and he hit Alex on the back of the head with his crowbar, full force. Alex died instantly. He didn''t even know how he had died. "Fuck! FUCK!" the second robber shouted as he didn''t know what he should do now. He had two corpses on his hands now! While the robber was panicking, two invisible, azure wisps left the corpses. The azure wisps traveled into the sky and seemingly left the realm of earth. Alex didn''t feel alive nor dead. He was awake but also not awake. One could liken the state of his mind to dreaming. His mind didn''t work properly, but there were still some rudimentary thoughts that appeared. The azure wisps entered an empty void, and they stopped. Many other wisps were there already, and new ones joined every second. After a minute, a bright, white light suddenly appeared in the nothingness, and all the wisps flew to it. They were inherently drawn to it. This was where they were supposed to go. These were the souls of the dead, and Alex was just one insignificant soul among many. Suddenly, the void shook! It was like reality was being torn apart! However, the wisps only continued to travel to the light. They didn''t even notice what was happening. Reality seemingly broke like ss as an even darker hole appeared. Then, a gigantic hand shot out of the hole. It was the hand of a young, adult man. With unreal speeds, the hand shot at one particr wisp, Alex''s soul. The hand used its thumb and index finger to mp down on Alex''s soul, and Alex felt rity return to his mind. ''Wait, what happened?'' Yet, before Alex could look at his surroundings, he felt himself being pulled into the distance. Before the hand vanished into the closing rift of reality, Alex could hear a voice, and that voice only spoke one word: "Yoink!" Chapter 3 "What? What happened? Where am I!?" Alex''s mind was confused beyond belief. He knew that something had happened to him. He felt like he had been dreaming, and just now woke up. However, he had no idea where he was. Alex only knew that he was currently standing in the most imposing hall he had ever seen in his entire life. Just the sheer size of this ce struck him dumb. Alex suspected that this hall was over a kilometer wide! It was probably even a hundred meters tall! Who would build such a thing!? The entire ce was colored in ck and red, evoking a kind of evil feeling. ''Did they hire some teenager to design this ce? Who colors such a grand hall in ck and red?'' Alex thought as his brows furrowed. ''Even more, why is everything empty? Sure, there are some things at the walls, but there is nothing in between them except for this big, dark carpet.'' Alex looked at the carpet and noticed that something was embroidered on it. It was a white jester''s mask. Basically, it was a white mask with the face of aughing person. ''Creepy.'' Alex looked to the front, and his eyes widened. About a hundred meters to Alex''s front was a vast and tall throne. The throne was probably over ten meters wide and reached the ceiling of this gigantic hall. Alex also noticed that someone was sitting on the throne. It was a young man, probably in his early twenties, just like Alex. He had long ck and red hair, but Alex couldn''t see how long his hair was exactly since this man was currently facing Alex, looking at him with a smirk. Another interesting aspect of the man''s appearance was his red eyes, but Alex didn''t notice them from such a distance. Although, he also looked a bit ridiculous since he was far too small for such a wide throne. ''Is that a goth kid?'' Alex thought. ''Wait, as far as I know, goths are more ck and grey. I think emos are more ck and red. Did he design this ce? Probably, judging by his get-up.'' Alex continued staring at the young man while the young man only smirked back. Seconds passed. Alex was looking awkwardly from side to side. The other party wasn''t initiating a conversation and only stared at him. Should he initiate a conversation? Well, he had enough questions, so why not? "Excuse me!" Alex shouted loudly, his voice echoing in the vast, empty hall. After all, the man was around 100 meters away from him. No reaction. ''Maybe he didn''t hear me?'' Alex thought, unsure. Alex took a step forward. Thump! Alex fell forward and barely caught himself with his hands. ''What? Where''s my cane?!'' Alex thought in panic as he searched around for his cane. Sadly, he couldn''t find it. ''I mean, I can kind of walk without a cane, but it''s awkward as fuck,'' Alex thought as he stood up. His bnce was rather stable, which surprised him. Usually, due to the nerve damage in his ankle, his right foot always awkwardly flopped around. Alex could only stand on that foot by perfectly bncing his bodyweight along his entire leg. Alex took one step forward, and he took a deep breath in shock as he realized that he could use his right foot! How?! Alex bnced on his left leg as he moved his right foot in the air. Full mobility! No awkwardness! Whoooosh! Alex performed a roundhouse kick, and his mind was going wild. This was just like back when he had been fighting! ''What the hell?!'' Alex tried out his right leg some more as he jumped and kicked a couple of times. However, after some seconds, Alex deted with a sigh. ''There''s no way my foot is actually healed. Even if it had been healed, there should be some minor awkwardness in my movement, and some of the muscles in my foot should have atrophied.'' ''This is obviously a dream.'' BOOOOM! The sound of an explosion rang throughout the hall,ing from Alex''s front! The sound was so loud that Alex''s ears started ringing as he was thrown back by a shockwave. Luckily, the shockwave didn''t injure him. "Every damn time!" an angry voice shouted. Alex shook his head to regain his calm. "Every damn time!" the voice repeated, obviously working itself into a rage. "Every time I get a soul from your world, they always think that it''s a dream!" Alex lifted his head and looked towards the throne. Was the young man speaking? It was hard to see from such a distance. ''Wait, then how can I hear him? It sounds like he''s just beside me.'' "This is getting boring!" the voice said with annoyance. "How about, one time, one of you guys just walks forward? How about, one time, one of you guys just walks up to me?" Alex looked around as he tried to find the origin of the voice, but there was nothing around him. On top of that, the voice wasing from the front. Was it really that young man? "Every damn time, I watch you guys, and every damn time, you do the same fucking thing!" the man shouted. Alex saw that the man''s body was slightly moving from side to side, but it was hard to judge from such a distance. "Oh, what''s this hall? Oh, what happened to my body?" the man shouted with a sarcastic tone. ''I think he lifted his right arm to imitate someone speaking,'' Alex thought as he concentrated on the throne in the distance. BANG! Another explosion, but this time, Alex managed to barely remain upright. However, this explosion was even more shocking than the first one. Why? Because Alex had seen what had caused the explosion. The young man had lifted his right arm and then mmed down. And then, something shocking happened. The armrest of the throne moved inward and stopped below the young man''s fist! A ten-meter-wide throne had shrunken to just a bit more than five meters! And the explosion? That was the young man''s fist! Just the mere act of mming one''s fist down on an armrest had thrown Alex to the ground from a distance of over a hundred meters. That was insane! All of this took some time to describe, but barely any time had passed in reality. The young man was still ranting. "And then. And then! And then you always say the same fucking words! You always say ''excuse me''! Can''t you say something else for a change?! Can''t at least one of you guys say ''hello'' or ''good morning'' or ''fuck you'' or just ANYTHING else?!" Alex still couldn''t deal with the situation. ''Okay, that''s impossible. This must be a dream!'' he thought. Whoooop! Suddenly, the distance between Alex and the man shrank. In less than a second, Alex stood barely half a meter in front of the man. "What did you just fucking think?!" the young man growled with narrowed eyes. "I dare you! Think that one more time! See what happens!" For some reason, Alex felt terrified right now. Usually, he wouldn''t be afraid of a young man sitting on a throne, but for some reason, Alex felt like he had to be very careful right now. Otherwise, he might make a mistake he would regret! Alex looked nervously into the eyes of the young man while the young man red back. "Then, how about I say it instead?" Alex asked. The young man blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Oh, that''s a new one," he said, all his rage gone. "Do go on ahead. I want to see how this ys out." Alex gulped. "This is obviously a dream," Alex said. "What makes you think so?" the young man asked as he leaned back. The distant back of the throne moved forward of its own volition. "That," Alex said as he pointed at the back of the throne. "Thrones don''t do that." "Mine does," the man said with a smirk. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. "How?" Alex asked. He wanted to know how the guy could rationalize something like that. "Like this." Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! Suddenly, the entire hall became wavy. Walls were shooting at Alex and then going far into the distance. The throne was even waving around like one of these wacky intable arm tube men on the streets. Surprisingly, Alex stayed calm. "See?" Alex said calmly. "Obviously a dream." The hall stopped, and the young man wrinkled his nose. "Alright, this is getting boring." SHING! And Alex''s right foot was cut off at his ankle, just like that. The young man didn''t even move. Alex fell to the ground in surprise and looked at his bleeding stump of a foot. His face turned into horror, but after two seconds, it surprisingly went back to a calm expression. "See? I don''t feel any pain," Alex said. "Therefore, this is a dream." The young man chuckled. "You''re under shock. Give it some seconds," the young man said with a smirk. Alex only looked with skepticism at the young man and then back at his right foot. He moved his right leg around a bit in morbid curiosity. Some seconds passed. Alex''s face turned into a slight grimace. "Okay, maybe it stings a little." "Give it time," the young man said. Alex started sweating as his breathing quickened. "Okay, maybe it stings a lot." "Give it time," the young man repeated with a smirk. "Maybe¡­ maybe¡­ argh!" Alex''s voice stopped as his hand went to his right leg. His entire body was straining itself as it became harder for him to breathe. And then, Alex lost it. However, he couldn''t be med for his poor reaction. Take a normal person from a street and cut their leg off. See how they react. "There we go," the young man said with a smirk. "Now, do you-" "Aaaargh!" The young man''s brows furrowed. "Okay, now do-" "Aaaargh!" "Shut up!" Whooop! Suddenly, all the pain disappeared. Alex''s mind was shocked. Wait, what? Alex looked down and saw that his right foot was back. ''What?'' "You done?!" the young man asked with an annoyed tone. "You got that outta your system, yes, or do you want to shout some more?" Alex couldn''tprehend the situation as he tried to make sense of everything. "Alright, this is taking too long!" the young man said as he stood up. BANG! And then he kicked Alex into the side, throwing him two meters into the distance. "Alright, so," the man began as he continued walking to Alex. "You died. You are dead. This is not a dream." BANG! Another kick. Alex coughed several times. These kicks were no joke! The man continued walking to Alex. "You were just on your way to the afterlife, and that''s when I grabbed your soul." Alex started to get up, but before he could straighten himself, he got hit by another kick that threw him into the distance. "I''ve transported you to my Realm," the young man said with a smirk as his hands gestured to the hall around him. "This is my personal pce." Alex quickly got up as the young man reached him again. Whoosh! The young man''s kick missed as Alex turned his upper body sideways. BANG! And then, Alex punched the young man in the face! Chapter 4 Time seemingly froze as Alex''s fist hit the young man''s nose. "Argh, fuck!" Alex suddenly shouted as he shook his fist. He looked at it and saw that his index and middle finger were broken. Alex had just punched the nose of the young man, but it felt like he had punched a nail made of steel! The young man only smirked viciously. "And that''s exactly why I chose you!" he said. By now, his voice sounded calm but arrogant. Alex looked with shock at the young man. What the hell was going on?! "Any normal person," the young man said as he gestured grandly to his hall, "who saw what you have seen would cower before me in fear. Everything I have shown up to now, my power over space, my ability to cut off your leg in an instant, even this very hall would have sent awe, fear, terror, and respect into anyone''s heart." "However!" the man shouted, his voice sounding pleased. "You are not like a normal person. No, you are different." The man took a step forward as Alex began sweating. His fight or flight instincts kicked in. Usually, he always chose fight, but in this instant, he felt like flight was a better alternative. "Everyone else would have thrown themselves at my knees, begging me to not y with their lives any longer." Another step. "That''s so boring," the man said with a neutral expression. "I want excitement, fighting, someone that doesn''t take shit from anyone." "I want chaos!" the man said with a smirk as he looked deeply into Alex''s eyes. Alex gulped. "Chosen for what?" Alex asked, trying to hide the panic in his voice. "Chosen to change the world!" the man said with a smirk. Then, he chuckled a bit, turned around, and walked back to his throne, which had just appeared behind him. He sat down and looked at Alex again with a smirk, just like back when Alex had first arrived here. Alex remained silent for a couple of seconds as he calmed down, trying to analyze the situation. ''Obviously, this isn''t a dream. The pain is too real, and now that I take the possibility that this is real into ount, I also notice that my thoughts are too orderly. Usually, in a dream, I never notice that it''s a dream since a big part of my brain is asleep.'' ''I have to throw these preconceived notions of what counts as reality out of my mind and learn to ept that this is all real.'' Alex looked at the man sitting in front of him. ''And that means that he''s also real. What is he? He can''t be a normal human.'' "Finally, you are actually thinking about your current situation," the man said. "Took you long enough." Now that Alex was calming down, he also noticed that this man had reacted to his thoughts several times. ''Does this mean that he can read my mind?'' "Yes, I can," the man said. "A mortal human life might be beyondplex for you, but for me, it''s not veryplicated. Your mind and soul follow rules, and when something follows rules, you can extrapte what this something does at any given time, assuming you have the processing power to take everything into ount." Alex took a deep breath. Too many strange things had happened in these past minutes, and he couldn''t be sure about anything except that his life was probably about to change severely. "What happened?" Alex asked, calmer than before. By now, he had realized that this young man didn''t want to kill or torture him. Otherwise, the young man wouldn''t have spent so much time trying to demonstrate that Alex was actually here, in reality. "Look at you," the young man said with a smirk. "You know that this is reality, and you know that my power far eclipses your own. You know that I could kill you like a fly if I so wanted to." "Yet, you are not bowing down or licking my boots," the young man said with a chuckle. "Instead, you are still talking to me like we are equals." The smirk of the young man widened. "I really made a good catch today." Alex furrowed his brows. "Okay, but what happened?" Alex asked again. The young man chuckled and leaned back on his throne. "Death," he said. Whoom! Suddenly, the hall vanished as Alex appeared in a dark alleyway. For a second, Alex thought that he had just dreamed all of this, but that thought quickly died when he noticed the gigantic throne in the alleyway with the man sitting on it. "This is where you died," the man said as he gestured to the ground. Alex took a deep breath and looked down. What he saw made his insides shudder. In front of him, in the dark alleyway, were two corpses. All of Alex''s memories of his death immediately returned. One corpse was of the man he had identally killed, while the other corpse belonged to Alex. Currently, only these two corpsesy in the alleyway. The injured dog had either fallen asleep, had died, or had lost consciousness. Alex wasn''t sure. "How did I die?" Alex asked. He couldn''t remember what had killed him but judging by the appearance of the back of his own head, he could make a guess. "Your victim had a friend for insurance in case something went wrong," the young man exined. "When he saw you kill his friend, he charged over with a crowbar, and well, you can imagine the rest." Alex looked at the two corpses with aplex expression. "Ironic, isn''t it?" the young man asked. "Your opponent died from a hit to the head, while you also died from a hit to the head. You died the same way as the person you''ve killed." "I didn''t want this," Alex said slowly. "I didn''t want to kill him. I only wanted to incapacitate him." The young man chuckled. "And that''s exactly why this situation is so entertaining. There are so many people willing to kill someone, and such a thing is simple. However, when you identally kill someone, the entire situation has a different taste." "Now, there isplexity. Now, there is no one you can truly me. A tragedy has happened, but no one is at fault, no one to get angry at." "What will the family of this young man do? Will they me you? However, you have also died, and you also were in a dangerous situation. They can''t me you. Will they me the young man for his actions? A little, but does something like this warrant an immediate death?" The young man chuckled again. "There''s no easy way out of this situation. That''s what makes this so interesting." "What will happen now?" Alex asked. "Well, your corpses will remain there for the entire night since not many people pass through here during the night," the young man exined. "A middle-aged woman on the phone will notice your corpses in the morning and will call the police." At that point, the young man furrowed his brows and moved his fingers a little bit. This gesture reminded Alex of someone that was calcting something in their head. "Your killer will flee into a different city, rtively far from here," the young man said absentmindedly. "However, he will be caught in about four weeks. Then, he will stand trial for first-degree murder, but he will only be convicted of second-degree murder since he killed you out of revenge." "He will get a sentence of 25 years." N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. At that point, the young man''s speech became slower as he concentrated more. "After he finished his sentence, he will get back to the street and will eventually die of an overdose." The young man rxed again as he leaned back. Meanwhile, Alex took a deep breath. Obviously, the young man didn''t know the future. Otherwise, he could have said everything in an instant. If one were able to see the future, one wouldn''t have to think so hard. This meant that the young man had simply calcted everything. However, that was even more terrifying. Whoop! Reality changed again as they returned to the grand hall. "Anyway, back to the topic," the young man said. "While you were busy killing and getting killed, I was searching for a suitable candidate. I found about 2,000 fitting people on earth, and I chose you because you were simply the first one that would kick the bucket. If you had died just a couple dayster, you wouldn''t have arrived here." "Isn''t that lucky?" the young man asked with a smirk. Alex took another deep breath. He had to adapt to his new situation. Yes, he had died, and he was supposed to enter the afterlife. However, this "person" had brought him here. Alex had to look forward now instead of backward. "Candidate for what?" Alex asked. "As I''ve said, changing the world," the young man repeated. Alex''s eyes narrowed. "Which world?" he asked. The smirk of the young man widened. "Aren''t you a smart one?" he asked. "I''m a bit surprised that you caught on this quickly." "Don''t you have the ability to calcte everything?" Alex asked. "Why would you be surprised about my actions then?" The young man chuckled. "Yes, I do have that ability, but I slightly bent the rules for you," he said. "I put a smallyer of protection on you that makes it impossible for me to calcte your future. I can still see what you are currently thinking, but I can''t see what you will think or do next." The young man leaned back again. "Of course, I can destroy thatyer of protection whenever I want, but where''s the fun in that?" "I don''t want to immediately know what you will do. I want to see it and get surprised," the young man said. Alex nodded. "I can understand that," he said. "So, which world?" "My world," the young man said. "My main world, I mean, not earth." Alex looked at the young man for some seconds. "Your world?" he asked. "I assume that means that you are some sort of God, right?" "Exactly," the young man said as he leaned his head on his right hand. "I created a world where everyone can reach supreme power. I added a peculiar type of energy into the make-up of the world that can be absorbed by living beings, severely increasing their power." "In theory, you could even reach my level in that world," the young man said. Alex immediately made several connections in his head. ''Sounds like some kind of fantasy world, like in an anime or a game,'' he thought. The young man chuckled. "Yes, you could look at it like that," he said. "And how am I supposed to change this world?" Alex asked. "I''m only a normal man, not a God, like you." "Now, we''re getting to the interesting part," the young man said. Chapter 5 Alex looked with aplex expression at the young man. Changing a world filled with people that could be as powerful as this God right before him? How? He was only a mortal. "Now, don''t be hasty," the young man said with a smirk as he read Alex''s mind again. "Right now, you are like a child hearing that they have to lead their father''spany in the future. Of course everything will appear like it''s too much." "In fact, you don''t have to do much at all." "You only have to be stronger." "That''s it." Alex furrowed his brows. "That''s it? But you said I''m supposed to change the world." "Correct," the young man said as he leaned back again. "However, you bing powerful is exactly what will change the world." "Could you stop talking in riddles and just directly tell me what you want me to do?" Alex asked. The young man snickered. "Sure." "I already told you a little bit about my main world," the young man said. "To repeat, my world allows someone to reach supreme power by increasing the power of your body and mind."N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. "There are innumerable ways to supreme power. You can use the inherent energy in the air to increase the power of your mind. This strengthens your soul, and the more powerful your soul gets, the more powerful your mental abilities be. You can crush elephants with just your mind or move the energy of the world in such a way that it creates powerful destructive forces." "However, you can also focus on strengthening your body. By absorbing the energy in the atmosphere and fusing it with your body, you can be so fast and so powerful that the other person that trains their mind wouldn''t even be able to react to an attack of yours." "You can also fuse with some ethereal concepts and summon them." "You can also concentrate on weapons, which allows you to sunder reality with a move of your weapon." "You can alsoprehend the concepts of how the world works and manipte the energy in such a way that it imitates these concepts. You would gain control over fire, gravity, time, space, water, metal, life, and so on." "You can even just purely absorb Energy without end, bing a walking bomb that could unleash many years of umted power in a single strike." Alex listened intently. All of this sounded too magical. In fact, it sounded more like a game with different sses. All the sses could be about equally powerful near the end of a game via their own ways. The young manughed. "Yes, you could also view it as a game. However, remember, this is reality, not a game." Alex nodded. "So, in short, there are innumerable ways to power," the young man said. Then, he paused. Alex looked at the young man as his brows furrowed. After that, his nose wrinkled in disgust. "Anyway," the young man said as he looked at Alex again, not as chipper as before. "I have implemented all these different paths to power. Over time, humanity slowly began to discover all these different paths, and the peak powers of humanity became more and more powerful." "Everything was going well, and I had a hell of a time watching the different paths of power fight each other." Then, the young man gritted his teeth. "And that''s when he showed up," the young man said with disgust. "Who?" Alex asked. SHING! Thump! A bright light shone for a short moment in front of Alex, and he heard the sound of something hitting the floor. Alex looked over, and he took a deep breath. It was the naked corpse of a young man! "This guy," the young man repeated with hatred. "The so-called Mage Emperor!" ''Mage Emperor?'' Alex thought as he looked at the naked corpse. "One of the paths to power I created was the path of magic," the young man exined. "This was also the first example I gave you when I described some paths to power in my world." Alex felt a bit awkward talking with the young man while a naked corpse was lying beside them. "You mean the ones that use the energy to increase the power of their mind and soul?" Alex asked as he looked at the corpse with difort. "Yes," the young man answered neutrally. "Just like everyone else, the Mages sought supremacy over everyone, but they weren''t really any more powerful than the others." "That was until the Mage Emperor appeared," the young man spat in disgust while giving the corpse a side-eye. "He became the most powerful person in the world, but instead of furthering his own power even more, he concentrated on making the path of Magic supreme." "So, he killed all the most powerful people of the other paths of power," the young man said with some anger. "Even more, after he killed the most powerful people, he ordered the other mages to kill everyone else that has reached a sufficient standard of power without practicing Magic!" "In just some few short years, this fucking guy ruined thousands of years of progress!" the young man shouted as he red at the corpse of burning eyes. The young man stood up as he paced around in anger. Alex kept to himself, not saying or thinking anything. By now, Alex had realized that this God was very easy to anger. "Do you know how fucking boring the world has been ever since then?!" the young man shouted as he red at Alex. Alex quickly shook his head. "Only Mages are left, and the path of Magic is the only known path to true power," the young man said with frustration. "If anyone wants power, they simply join the mages. Path of least resistance, you know?" "Why try anything new when you already know of a way to get what you want?" the young man parroted with anger and annoyance. "Why go through that hassle, huh?" "Even people that try to make the other paths to power work will eventually give up and join the Mages after realizing that their progress isn''t fast enough. No shit your progress isn''t fast! You are zing a brand-new path on your own!" "And the worst thing is that the Mages aren''t even suppressing the other paths to power!" the young man shouted. "They don''t even need to! Everyone joins them eventually! Well, no shit! You have thousands of years of refined Spells, Techniques, and Crafts while everyone else has fuck-all due to your purge in the past. Of course they''re running towards you in droves!" "My entire fucking world is filled with nothing but Mages, and battles amongst Mages are one of the most boring ones in existence!" the young man shouted. "You ever seen people just flinging stuff at each other from a distance for hours on end? Shit''s boring as fuck!" The young man''s pacing elerated. "I''m bored as shit watching my own fucking world when it''s supposed to bring me entertainment!" "And it''s all this asshole''s fault!" BANG! BOOOM! The young man kicked the corpse in rage, and the corpse flew with insane speeds at the wall, which promptly exploded. Alex took a deep breath. After kicking the corpse, the young man seemed to feel better, and an evil smirk appeared on his face. "You should''ve seen him when he came into my pce like he owned the ce," the young man said. "Back then, I was looking rather favorably upon him since he managed to be quite powerful. I assumed that the other paths to power would recover with time." "Yet, that idiot just had to act like he owned the ce and told me to make space for him." SHING! The naked corpse appeared in front of the young man again, uninjured. BANG! Another kick, another explosion at the wall. "Just like right now, I kicked him around the room until he eventually died," the young man said with a genuinely malicious grin. "It took hours, but he still eventually sumbed to his ever-increasing count and severity of injuries." Alex remainedpletely silent. This guy was dangerous! The young man took a deep breath and looked at Alex again. "Anyway, that''s where youe into y," he said, "someone that has the guts and drive to be truly powerful." "I will send you into my world with a body that is unable to practice Magic. However, you are a person that wants to be more powerful, someone that chases power. If Magic doesn''t work for you, you will find another way." "And that''s your entire job," the young man said with a smirk as he sat down on his throne again. "Simply be yourself in my world. Do whatever the fuck you want. It doesn''t matter because, in the end, you will chase power no matter what, and you will have to do it with something that isn''t Magic." "That''s all you have to do." Alex thought about the young man''s words as he furrowed his brows. Bing as powerful as this God in front of him? That didn''t sound bad. A world where people actually truly fought each other? That didn''t sound bad. Being able to feel himself bing more powerful and being able to push himself to his limits yet again with a new body? That didn''t sound bad. However, Alex still sighed. ''I want to actually go through with this, but it somehow feels weird since it feels like I didn''t have a choice in the matter.'' "Pfft!" the young man spat with a shortugh. "No choice? That''s your issue?" "Alright, then let me give you a choice." "Go back to your world and join the afterlife ore to my world. You can decide for yourself." Alex thought about his old world and his family that he had left behind. He missed them. However, he had already died. There was no way that this God would resurrect him. He had lost them anyway. Alex sighed again. The God had given him a choice, but it wasn''t truly a choice since Alex''s decision had already been made before the choice had even existed. "Finally done with those useless thoughts?" the young man asked with a smirk. Alex looked at the naked corpse for a second. Then, he turned to the young man and nodded. A new life was about to begin for him. "Not so fast!" the young man shouted. "Don''t get ahead of yourself. Before you join my world, I need to give you a helping hand." Alex''s right eyebrow rose. "A helping hand?" "Yes," the young man said with a satisfied smirk as he leaned back. "I have three presents for you that will make your journey to power far easier." Chapter 6 "Three presents?" Alex asked with a raised brow. "Yes, three presents," the young man answered as he leaned back on his throne with a smirk. "The strongest person that isn''t following the path of magic has only barely reached the fourth Realm while there are many more Realms to go." "You don''t have any inheritance for techniques or any other person that can help you when you reach the third Realm. The first couple of Realms are still fine, but you will have to ze your own path starting at the third Realm." "So, you''ll need some help. Otherwise, it would be impossible for you to reach any significant level of power." Alex sighed. ''No help, huh?'' Alex thought. ''I have to create my very own path to power.'' Alex looked at the young man for a couple of seconds as the young man only smirked back. Alex''s body shook slightly. ''Nothing to rely on. No person I can ask for pointers.'' ''Everything is all on me.'' ''That actually sounds exciting!'' Yes, Alex''s body was not shaking out of fear or anxiety but out of excitement! Alex hadn''t yed many games in the past, but just like many other people, Alex also wanted his life to be filled with a bit more excitement. The mundane greyness and sterile systems in his old world were too boring. Two fists couldn''t beat four hands. This was an old phrase that Alex had heard from one of his coaches in the past. It meant that numbers always beat individual strength. A top-tier fighter might be able to win against two, three, or maybe even four people at once in a battle, but ten? A hundred? A thousand? Impossible. Just by piling onto the fighter with their bodyweight would allow the mass of enemies to make the fighter helpless since there was only so much muscle a man could have. One man couldn''t resist hundreds of kilograms of weight pressing down on their body. Alex looked at the young man. ''However, is that still true for him?'' Alex thought. ''Would the numbers of normal humans even matter when they can''t even get through his skin? Would the numbers matter when he can just kill everyone with a casual wave of his hand?'' ''Fighting has always been a lifestyle of mine, but as long as I''m not in top form, and as long as I''m not in the top 1% of fighters, I can''t make a living out of it.'' ''Even more, a single slight injury might make it impossible for me to fight again in the future.'' ''However, in this world, I can break these known conventions! I can achieve true power!'' "Tell me," Alex said with a seemingly calm voice. However, even he could hear the slight tremble in his own voice. The young man only snickered a bit. However, he didn''tment on Alex''s thoughts. After all, he had told Alex more than once that he was perfectly suited for his world. SHING! A white light shone briefly, and a ck cube appeared in front of Alex, floating in the air. "This is your weapon," the young man exined. Alex took ahold of the cube, and his body nearly fell over. This cube was heavy! "It doesn''t look like a weapon," Alex said with furrowed brows. "That''s because it doesn''t know what path you''re choosing yet," the young man said. "Whenever you decide on your own path to power, tell the cube what it should be, and it will assume that form. Keep in mind that this form is permanent and that it can''t be easily altered in the future." "Why a weapon?" Alex asked as he looked at the cube. "Because there are no smiths in the world that know how to make powerful weapons that are not Mage weapons. At some point, you would need to create your own weapon if you follow a path that requires one. If you had to do that, you would need to ze two new paths instead of one. We can''t make things too hard on you now, can we?" the young man exined with a grin. Alex immediately noticed a problem. "So, I either can''t use this weapon now, or it will also be useless in the future. After all, weapons are not created equal." The young man chuckled a bit. "This one is," he said. Alex blinked twice in confusion. "It can grow by absorbing powerful metal," he exined. "In the beginning, it won''t be much better than a regr sword or regr spear, but as long as you give it great materials, it will be more powerful." "In short, this weapon will apany you for the rest of your life, no matter how powerful you will be." Alex looked at the cube with newfound appreciation. ''That really sounds magical. However, that''s expected since I''m entering a world filled with Mages.'' The young man frowned when he read Alex''s thoughts. The fact that his world was filled with nothing but Mages was a sore spot for him. "Your next present is a separate space," he said. "This space acts as a world of its own, but a far smaller one. Don''t bother looking for it since you can''t use it yet. Wait until you reach the second Realm. Everything about this space will be exined to you then." Alex nodded. Having some kind of extra dimension or something sounded quite useful. Additionally, Alex was sure that this separate space was not so simple. There were probably more things it could do. "And as for your third andst present," the young man said as he leaned back on his throne again with a smirk. "You get to ask me nine questions in total, and I will answer them honestly," he said. Alex looked at the young man with surprise. He could ask a God nine questions in total? Did this mean that he could ask about the origins of the world? Could he ask about some secret techniques only the God knew? "Yes, you can," the young man answered. "However!" he shouted. "You don''t get to remember your questions and answers immediately." Alex frowned. "What do you mean?" The young man only grinned. "One question and one answer per major breakthrough," the young man said. "You get to ask nine questions since my world has nine Realms of power. You get to ask all these questions now, but the memories of them will only be unlocked as your strength increases." Alex took a deep breath. This revtion changed the entire meaning of these questions. Initially, Alex had been interested in how the world worked to satiate his curiosity, but now, these questions could help his future self. Alex knew that bing truly powerful was nearly impossible. After all, how many supremely powerful people existed in that world? Alex wasn''t so arrogant that he believed that he could easily achieve something that millions of people couldn''t. Alex remained silent for several minutes as he thought about what he should ask. The young man didn''t move during all of this time. "Alright," Alex said after some minutes. "For my first question: What would be the optimal way to start my journey to power?" The question had been asked, and Alex had sacrificed this question for his future. "That''s a smart question," the young man said, pleased. "First of all, you need the basics. You need sufficient physical strength, sufficient mental strength, sufficient Mana, and sufficientbat experience." "In order to get sufficient physical strength, you need to follow a specific routine: Train your physical body until it''spletely destroyed. After that, rx, close your eyes, and absorb the energy in the atmosphere. Due to your special constitution that makes practicing Magic impossible, the energy won''t enter your soul but your body. Your body will be strengthened, and it will regenerate." "This routine will also help you in achieving sufficient Mana and sufficient mental strength. By absorbing the energy in the atmosphere, the stuff that people in my world call Mana, your Mana storage will increase. At the same time, breaking your body more and more will increase your willpower while the absorption of Mana will have a nourishing effect on your mind." "In order to gain sufficientbat experience, I would advise you to live in the wilderness close to the vige I''m sending you. Try to survive there without any human help. If you feel like you are not in danger anymore, go further into the wild and survive there. Power is gained amongst danger." "Follow these things for the next two years, and you should be ready to join human society again. When you''ve done all that, search for an academy in the nearby towns. Don''t worry, there will be an academy that''s just perfect for someone like you." "And that''s all," the young man said with a grin. "That should give you the optimal start in your journey." Alex took all of this in. "Alright, then for my second question¡­" THWAP! Alex''s body suddenly jerked, and he felt like his mind had been hit with a hammer. He looked around, and he saw that he was still standing in the hall. The young man was also in front of him. However, the young man wasughing hysterically. "What happened?" Alex asked in confusion. The young man calmed down, but his face was filled with amusement. "You''ve just asked yourst question, and man, yourst question was a doozy!" he said with a snicker. For a second, Alex wanted to ask what he was talking about, but then he remembered that he would lose part of his memories. Apparently, that had already happened. "Because of yourst question, I''ve changed a couple of things," the young man said as his grin widened in excitement. "Originally, I didn''t want to give you an elemental affinity. After all, it would be a bit pointless since you can''t practice Magic." "However, yourst question threw all of these ns out of the window," the young man shouted with excitement. "Now, I''m giving you a special affinity, and you might even be able to use it if you train hard enough. Who knows?" Alex was still confused since he felt like he had been transported into the future. "Additionally!" the young man shouted as he grinned widely. "You will get a new name!" Alex blinked a couple of times. "New name? Why?" "Because I say so!" the young man shouted with augh. "Parents have the right to give their children a name, and you will receive a brand-new body that I have given life to! In essence, I am somewhat your father. Therefore, I get to choose a new name for you!" Alex really didn''t like hearing that. He had gone his entire life by Alex. Suddenly changing it sounded¡­ weird. "I don''t care!" the young man shouted. However, he didn''t seem angry at all. Instead, he actually appeared madly excited. It was like he was about to see the greatest show of his life. "You will use this name! You will be forced to use this name! Whenever you use your old name, you will feel pain!" Alex really didn''t want that. Yet, the God didn''t care. All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. "From today onward, your name is Shang!" "Remember your name, Shang!" ''Shang?'' Alex thought. ''That''s a weird na-'' SHING! And Alex was gone. He had been teleported to his new world. The young man leaned back with a snicker. "Oh, this is going to be great," he said to himself with a smirk. Chapter 7 Thunk! Alex''s mind was thrown into disarray suddenly. It was like he had just received a punch to the head. Alex''s hand went to his butt out of reflex since he felt some paining from it. That''s when he felt grass. ''Grass?'' Alex thought. Alex opened his eyes and looked around. Forest. This was the only word that appeared in his mind when he saw his new surroundings. Thick pine trees were all around Alex. Alex could hear some birds chirping, and he heard the buzzing of insects. The smell of nature also immediately assaulted him. ''Sure enough, I have been sent somewhere, probably that God''s main world or something,'' Alex thought as he looked around. Alex stood up, and while doing so, immediately noticed something peculiar. ''Standing up is easier than before,'' Alex thought. Alex looked down at his body, and his brows furrowed. ''My big belly is gone,'' Alex thought. As Alex looked at his own body, he noticed that he had a slim build. On top of that, he wore different clothes now. Right now, Alex wore ck cloth pants and a ck shirt. Surprisingly, the fabric felt rather nice. However, Alex noticed something else that he didn''t like one bit. ''I''m smaller,'' Alex thought with narrowed eyes. Previously, Alex had been 187 centimeters tall, but now, he barely reached 160 centimeters, ording to his estimations. Alex touched his face and noticed that it was also rather slim. ''I''m smaller, my unnecessary fat is gone, but my muscles are also gone,'' Alex thought. ''This is either the body of someone that only does cardio, or I''m in the body of a teenager. I don''t think that this God would send me into a grown body that''s only 160 centimeters tall. After all, he wants me to be powerful, and height is an insane advantage in physicalbat.'' ''So, I''m probably in the body of a teenager. Assuming that I will reach a height of above 180 centimeters in my adulthood, my current height of 160 centimeters means that I still have quite some growing to do.'' ''This means that I''m probably in the body of a 14-year-old,'' Alex thought. Something on Alex''s head tickled him, and he moved it to the side. It was hair, and when Alex noticed some strands of his hair, he also noticed a different change. ''Well, seems like my blonde hair is gone,'' Alexmented as he saw his new ck hair. After getting familiar with his new body, Alex looked around himself and noticed two things. One was a bulging sack, and the other was the ck cube the God had given him. Alex opened the bag and looked inside. These were probably some basic things that the God had prepared for him. ''Clothes, three red sks, a survival knife, shoes, and some meat jerky,'' Alex thought as he looked at the sack. ''Basically, the bare necessities to survive in the wilderness.'' Alex took out one of the three red sks and looked at it. The color of the liquid in the sk was a vibrant red, and the liquid was rather viscous. ''Could these be health potions? I mean, I kind of am in a fantasy world.'' Alex wasn''t sure, but he assumed that he was right. After checking his inventory, Alex picked up the ck cube and put it in the bag. However, his hand halted as he realized something else. ''Did the ck cube be lighter?'' he thought as he moved the ck cube around a bit. ''Probably not, but it does feel lighter.'' Alex frowned as his mind tried to find the reason. ''My old body was out of shape, but I still had quite some muscle. Yet, this untrained teenage body can easily carry the cube.'' Alex scratched his chin in thought. ''Is this normal? Is this the effect of being in a world that''s bathed in this mysterious energy that''s all around me in the air? The guy said that most people call it Mana, so I should probably also get used to calling it Mana. I don''t want to appear out of ce.'' ''Possible,'' Alex thought. ''I should test that. The guy said that I can''t push Mana into my soul, which means that something in my body is different from a normal human body. The inability to do something that everyone else can do basically means that I''m disabled in a certain sense.'' ''However, the God wouldn''t send me into a body that can''t be more powerful. He also said that most of my Mana will end up in my body.'' Alex quickly shook his head. ''Now''s not the time to think about these things, Alex! First, you need-'' Alex stopped thinking as his head was suddenly droning. It felt like he had gotten a migraine. ''What''s going on now!? Can''t you give me a break!?'' However, the headache only increased, and Alex fell to his knees as he breathed heavily. His mind was going through everything that the God had told him, and Alex quickly found the answer. ''Really?'' Alex thought with frustration and anger. ''You won''t even allow me to think of my true name?!'' No answer. ''Fine, fine. I''m Shang!'' And just like that, the headache had vanished. ''So, it really is like this,'' Alex thought with a bitter expression. ''Fuck, this is so annoying! Can''t even retain my own name!'' However, there was nothing that Alex or Shang could do. ''Anyway, I should first look around for a safe spot. I don''t know where I am, and if I start training now, unwee visitors might suddenly appear.'' Alex looked around. ''There are no leaf trees and only pine trees. Does this mean that I''m in a colder climate? Now that I think about it, the sun is high in the sky, but it''s a bit chilly. I can still deal with this temperature, but it will probably drop significantly in the evening and night.'' ''I have food for about a day in my sack, and I can use my spare clothes for bedding and a nket. However, I should still find a safe ce where I can sleep.'' ''Let''s check from above,'' Alex thought as he looked at a tall tree beside him. ''With this body, I should be able to climb this tree.'' Alex put his sack down and went to the tree, but he quickly stopped. Then, he slung the sack over his back. ''Animals might smell the jerky in there,'' he thought. After that, Alex went to the tree and slung his arms and legs around it. ''Sure enough, I can easily support my own weight. This body is quite powerful and still pretty light. I don''t want to admit it, but this body is probably even better suited for survival andbat than my old one.'' The first couple of meters were a bit difficult, but after Alex reached the height of the branches, it became far easier. The needles of the pine tree were a bit annoying, but they didn''t injure him. Around two minutester, Alex was rtively high up and could see around him. ''Fuck!'' Alex thought with gritted teeth. ''Forest everywhere!'' Alex was on top of a sea of green. ''Well, at least I can somewhat make out the terrain.'' Alex noticed several mountains on the horizon, probably 20 kilometers away or so. ording to his estimations, the mountains were probably about a kilometer tall on average. Alex turned his head and noticed that the mountains were encircling him from quite a distance. ''Is this a basin?'' Alex thought. ''I can''t see anything higher behind the mountains, which probably means that I''m probably not below sea level. I''m probably just surrounded by mountains. Quite an interesting starting location.'' Alex got an idea, and a skeptical expression appeared on his face. ''Is this supposed to be some kind of tutorial area or starter location?'' Alex thought. Alex scratched the back of his head awkwardly when he had that thought. This wasn''t a game, but the God sure as hell structured it like one. Alex even got three healing potions. ''I mean, at least this makes things easier,'' Alex thought. ''He told me that I should try surviving in the wilderness, and when I no longer feel any danger, I should go further in. I guess he meant this basin.'' Then, Alex noticed something. ''Smoke!'' There was smokeing from behind one of the mountains! It was hard to notice, but if one looked hard enough, one would see it. ''That''s probably a vige, and they''re living just beyond that mountain!'' This did a lot for calming Alex''s anxiety. At least he knew where he could find humans. Rustle, rustle. Alex heard the sound of rustlinging from a distance, and he looked over. N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. Alex blinked a couple of times in confusion as he tried to process what he was seeing. Were these trees¡­ moving? Yes, sure enough, about a hundred meters away, about twenty pine trees were moving from left to right. One peculiar thing was that these trees were all very close to each other, even closer than the other trees. On top of that, some of them were nted at an angle. Alex squinted his eyes as he tried to see what was going on over there. Trees couldn''t just move like that. ''Wait, are these actually trees?'' Alex thought. After a closer inspection, Alex noticed that these "trees" only resembled trees. They weren''t actually trees. They looked more like green spires with some green spikesing out from their side. This picture reminded him of something. If these spires were straight, had no spikes, and were ck¡­ Alex took a deep breath in shock. ''Is that a green hedgehog!?'' Sure enough, the moving mass of green looked like the back of a hedgehog. However, just how big was this thing!? ''If that''s a hedgehog, it means that it''s so big that its needles are nearly as tall as pine trees!'' Alex remained quiet as he watched the mass of green spires moving past the trees. Sometimes, they were caught on a tree and bent backward, but after a while, they simply bounced back to their original location. If this was a hedgehog, it was probably just as big as an elephant without its needles! BANG! Suddenly, Alex heard the sound of something heavy hitting the ground, and it sounded like it came from a long distance away. Alex looked towards the direction the sound came from and noticed a dust cloud at the bottom of one of the mountains in the distance. There, Alex noticed a brown lizard biting down on somerge, brown animal. Alex wasn''t sure since it was too far away to see it clearly. However, Alex did notice one thing. ''I can see that lizard from here!'' he thought with a deep breath. ''Then, how big is that lizard!?'' For a while, Alex only remained silent as he tried toe to terms with the things he had witnessed. ''Are you sure this is a tutorial area!?'' Chapter 8 Alex remained on top of the pine tree for quite a while as he simply looked at his surroundings in shock. ''These beasts are gigantic!'' Alex thought. ''How am I supposed to survive here? If I identally get close to any of them, I won''t even have a fighting chance!'' ''Although, the God said nothing about killing everything. He simply said that I should remain here until I can survive without feeling much danger.'' ''Is this what he meant with sufficientbat experience? I mean, I guess being able to survive in the wilderness could have its own perks. For example, if I ever get chased by anything or anyone, I would be able to survive.'' N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. ''These aren''t the orchestrated fights I''m used to. These are real life-and-death battles, which means that fleeing is a viable strategy. I guess being able to flee is a valuable skill.'' Alex released a sigh. ''So, should I search for a cave for the night?'' Alex asked himself. ''However, these mountains are around 20 kilometers away from here. If it''s a straight and safe street, I could probably get there in half a day with the current fitness of my body. However, my journey there won''t be safe, and I definitely need to make several turns.'' ''Yeah, that doesn''t work. So, I need an alternative.'' ''Digging is a no-go. After all, I only have a knife. Additionally, the climate is rather cold, which makes the ground harder. On top of that, the ground should be filled with roots.'' Alex scratched the back of his head. ''I think that only leaves two things. I either need to find some humongous tree that has a big hole inside it, or I need to sleep on top of trees. Camping outside should be thest option.'' Alex sighed. ''Anyway, if I have to sleep on a tree anyway, I don''t really have to look for one. These trees are all pretty big, and basically any one of them would do. I only need to cut off the needles and annoying branches.'' Alex looked up. ''It should be early afternoon, which means I still have some hours to kill. I should keep watch over my surroundings to see what kind of wildlife I can find. Knowing your enemy is already half the battle.'' Alex started climbing down the tree but didn''t leave itpletely. Instead, Alex waited about five meters above the ground on a thick branch. He shaved off some of the needles of the tree to make himselffortable. But wait, didn''t Alex say that he would look at the wildlife? Yes, he did, but only an idiot would blindly walk through an unknown forest. This was not earth. Dangerous animals existed on earth, but they were not everywhere. Additionally, even if one were in an area known to have dangerous animals, these animals wouldn''t be everywhere at once. These powerful animals had territories, and they needed a ton of food. However, here, things could be different. Alex wasn''t certain how many dangerous animals there were in this basin, but there probably were a few. So, Alex simply remained on the tree as he looked down. At the same time, Alex tried to be as silent as possible. Half an hour passed, and Alex''s ass had already started hurting from sitting like this. However, waiting like this had paid off. Right now, Alex was so relieved that he hadn''t left the tree. Why? Wolf pack. There were four light-grey wolves walking around the tree Alex was currently on. They had obviously smelled him, and they very quickly found Alex as his scent led them to the tree. The wolves looked up at Alex, who was looking down nervously. ''These wolves are normal sized, but still, they''re massive!'' Alex thought. These wolves weren''t really bigger than their counterparts from earth, but even the wolves on earth could weigh up to 90 to 100 kilograms. Inparison, a german shepherd was only around 30 to 40 kilograms. The wolves started circling the tree, and some of them started wing at the tree with their paws, but the tree was just too massive. Surprisingly, the wolves didn''t bark, growl, or howl. Except for the scraping sound of their ws on the tree, they made no other sound. Alex''s heart was beating quickly, but his head remained calm. He knew that they couldn''t get him up here. ''Light grey, what an interesting color,'' Alex thought. ''Wolves are normally brown or dark grey. I think wolves with these lighter colors are mainly in colder environments since their color makes it easier to go unnoticed in the snow.'' ''This confirms it. This is probably a colder region.'' After some minutes, the wolves left again. There was no point in remaining here. It was easier to find a different prey. Alex watched the wolves leave with interest. ''They were suspiciously quiet. If they were the rulers of this ce, they wouldn''t need to be so quiet. This means that there are probably more terrifying beasts lurking around.'' Alex got reminded of the gigantic green hedgehog and the brown lizard. ''Obviously,'' he added in his thoughts. Alex remained on the tree. Half an hourter, Alex saw another animal, and he certainly didn''t like seeing that one. A hog. Alex could only describe the hog''s appearance with the word fat. It was nearly as tall as Alex, and it seemed just as wide. ''Great, a hog,'' Alex thought sarcastically with an ufortable expression. ''Hogs are fiercely territorial and make a ton of noise when they get angry.'' The hog also smelled something when it arrived below Alex''s tree, but instead of looking up, it was rummaging through the dirt. Surprisingly and contrary to expectation, the hog was quite silent while digging. Luckily, the hog didn''t notice Alex and quickly left after a bit of searching around. Ten minutester, the next animal arrived, and this was an animal that Alex hadn''t seen before. It was a sizable green lizard. It was probably nearly a meter high, and it had quite some long legs. Additionally, there were long wsing out of its long legs. ''Why are there so many animals here?!'' Alex thought. ''Isn''t it normal to only see one big animal every couple of hours? Yet, I''m seeing one every ten minutes!'' The green lizard seemingly smelled something of interest, and Alex became more nervous. This thing looked like it could climb trees! The lizard smelled the ground with interest, and after a couple seconds, it walked over to a tree and climbed it. Luckily, it wasn''t Alex''s tree. When Alex saw that, he silently released a sigh of relief. ''It probably didn''t smell me. Otherwise, it would have climbed my tree. It probably smelled the hog.'' Alex looked at the tree where the lizard was with interest. While climbing it, Alex could still hear it, but after some rustling, everything became silent again. ''Its legs don''t fit an arboreal animal,'' Alex thought. ''It probably walks on the ground normally.'' Alex had aplex expression on his face. ''So, it''s probably on the tree to hunt, right?'' Alex thought. The tree was still silent, but Alex couldn''t see the lizard through all the green needles blocking his sight. ''I''m so happy that I didn''t walk around aimlessly. Even if I managed to evade all the animals on the ground, I might walk by a tree with exactly such a lizard in it,'' Alex thought. Alex looked over at the tree as hey down on the branch. He wanted to remain as hidden as possible. Usually, Alex might try to kill it. After all, he was supposed to grow stronger and gainbat experience. This was a perfect opponent. It wasn''t too big, and it was alone. However, Alex decided against it. Why? Because, after smelling the hog, the lizard waited here in an ambush instead of going somece else! That hog had been huge! It probably weighed over 300 kilograms! How was a lizard that barely weighed maybe 50 kilograms supposed to kill that thing alone? Alex decided that the risk was too high. Alex continued waiting, but waiting was much more stressful than before. After all, the lizard was still there. Even worse, Alex had heard nothing from the tree for the past twenty minutes. It was almost like the lizard wasn''t there anymore. Another twenty minutester, something walked past Alex''s tree again. Alex nced down, and his heart sank. It wasn''t the hog. The four wolves were back! Chapter 9 Alex became nervous when he saw that the wolves hade back. These wolves knew where Alex was, and if that weird lizard saw how these wolves acted up, it might decide to also attack Alex. The wolves walked around, sniffing the ground. Then, they turned their attention to the tree Alex was on and walked over. Alex''s heart beat ferociously as he tried to think of something. He wasn''t scared of the wolves. After all, these wolves couldn''t climb trees. However, he was scared of the lizard. Alex still tried to hide as well as possible. Doing something stupid now might spell his doom. BANG! Alex''s eyes widened in horror. What had he just seen?! The wolves immediately released short shouts as they jumped away. However, only three wolves were left. Why? A fireball had flown over to one of the wolves and had exploded! The wolf''s body was partially torn apart, and the explosion of the fireball had thrown it against the tree. Where had the fireballe from? It came from the tree where the lizard was supposed to be! The remaining three wolves immediately scattered into all directions, fearful of whatever it was that had killed one of theirpanions. Thest wolf was barely clinging to life, but to no avail. Even if nothing else attacked it anymore, it would still die. Alex still could barely believe what he had just seen. Had the lizard fired a fireball? Was that why it was so confident in taking on the hog?! Then, Alex saw the lizard slithering down from its tree as it walked over to the half-dead wolf with its long legs. SNAP! The lizard bit down on the wolf''s neck, suffocating it slowly. Silence. Alex saw how the lizard was dealing with the wolf just beside his tree, and Alex became a bit agitated. If he jumped down now, he could take out the lizard and im both corpses for himself! Alex had enough food for a day, but he would need to survive for longer. Food was a pressing issue for him right now. Alex readied his survival knife as he debated if he should jump down or not. By now, the wolf was no longer moving, but the lizard wanted to make sure that the wolf was dead. Because of that, the lizard continued strangling the wolf. Alex continued hesitating. Alex readied his knife. And then, he put it away. The lizard was too dangerous. If the lizard had the ability to shoot fireballs, it might have different abilities as well. Maybe its scales were incredibly powerful? Maybe its body was far more powerful than it appeared? There were too many unknowns about this lizard. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. CRASH! Suddenly, Alex heard something crash through a bush, and he looked over. One of the wolves was back, and it was charging directly at the lizard! Alex also quickly noticed that the two other wolves were also charging at the lizard from different sides. ''They''ve assessed the danger from a distance and decided that they should try to kill the lizard,'' Alex thought with narrowed eyes. ''This might be my chance to get some food!'' The first wolf directly charged at the lizard with its full speed, which was quite impressive. The lizard suddenly hissed loudly as it showed its fangs to the approaching wolf. Alex noticed this and quickly made several deductions in his head. If the lizard could quickly kill the approaching wolf, there would be no point in threatening it. This meant that the lizard might have been weakened by the attack it had unleashed previously. Maybe the lizard''s fireball was simr to a snake''s bite? Snakes used their venom only sparingly since it took a lot of energy to create more of it. BANG! However, the wolf received another fireball to the face. This time, Alex had seen the fireball clearly. The fireball had only been about five centimeters across, but it had shot at the wolf with quite some speed. When the fireball hit the wolf, it exploded ferociously. Half of the wolf''s head was destroyed, making it fall to the ground, convulsing. However, something surprising happened. The other two wolves didn''t let up! This shocked Alex. Two of theirrades had already died! So, why were they so adamant about taking down the lizard? This wasn''t how normal wild animals behaved! The other two wolves reached the lizard, and it sprang back with a violent and shrill hiss. Then, chaos broke out. The two wolves violently attacked the lizard as it tried to defend itself with its long ws, tail, and teeth. ''It can''t unleash fireballs anymore,'' Alex noticed. The lizard was quite powerful. Every single bite from it echoed throughout the clearing. Its scales also gave it a considerable defense against any attacks. Whenever a wolf bit it, their teeth only barely managed to prate the scales. Yet, the two wolves were faster and more agile. They simply ced themselves at opposite sides of the lizard. Whenever the lizard turned to one wolf, the other one would bite its tail. Alex readied himself. Alex''s heartbeat climbed to ferocious heights. Alex had been in a ton of fights in his life, but no fight had been a genuine life-and-death battle until the veryst moment of his previous life. Alex knew that he was about to risk his life to take another. Creeaaak! The branch Alex was currently on creaked as Alex stood up. Yet, the sound of the branch went unheard due to themotion going on below him. Then, Alex jumped. Time seemingly stopped for Alex as he fell down. Nothing below him moved anymore as seconds seemed to take forever to pass. CRACK! Alexnded on top of the wolf with his knees, and he immediately heard and felt a brutal crack. Luckily, this crack didn''te from his own body. The wolf quickly fell to the side due to the force of Alex''s fall, and Alex''s knee traveled to the wolf''s ribcage due to the new angle. CRACK! The ribcage gave way beneath Alex''s knee, and Alex felt the force of the fall hit his own body. Luckily, his body was fit enough to resist a fall from just a couple meters. Alex''s body was filled with adrenaline, and he immediately grabbed his survival knife and rammed it into the wolf''s neck. The knife went into the wolf''s neck like it didn''t even exist. Obviously, the knife was not of inferior quality. CRSH! Alex immediately pulled the knife out from the side, severing the front of the wolf''s neck. While all of this was happening, Alex was keeping tabs on the other two living beings in the area. The other wolf had immediately run away as soon as it saw that it was alone. The lizard chased it for a couple of meters, hissing the entire time. While Alex was still dealing with the wolf under him, the lizard turned back and looked at him, hissing. Alex looked into the lizard''s eyes as the wolf died beneath his feet. Then, they only stared at each other for five seconds. By now, the wolf''s body only convulsed weakly, not being able to do anything else. Alex slowly stood up and grabbed the wolf''s legs. CRRRRRR! The sound of something scraping across the ground was heard as Alex pulled the wolf towards his tree. The lizard continued hissing at Alex while he was doing that. Then, the lizard charged at Alex! Thunk! Alex dropped the wolf and charged at the lizard. CRK! HISSSSSS! The lizard suddenly stopped its charge as it resumed its hissing. When Alex saw that the lizard had stopped its charge, Alex also stopped. They stared at each other for several more seconds. The lizard had tried to frighten Alex into running away, and Alex had called that bluff. Alex slowly walked back to his prey, looking at the lizard. The lizard continued hissing, but after a couple of seconds, it seemed to calm down. It slowly walked over to its most recent kill and bit down on one of the corpse''s legs, looking at Alex the entire time. Then, the lizard pulled the corpse away. Alex only continued looking at the lizard. A couple secondster, the lizard suddenly changed its hold, bit on the wolf''s neck, heaved it up in one motion, and ran away with impressive speed. ''Sure enough, this lizard isn''t simple,'' Alex thought with narrowed eyes. ''It should only weigh about 50 kilograms, but it straight-up lifted the about 80 kilograms wolf and ran off with it.'' Surprisingly, it left behind the other corpse. Silence returned to the clearing. Alex was slowly calming down as the thick scent of blood appeared in his nose, making him wrinkle his nose. Then, Alex started feeling paining from his right knee. He moved his leg around a bit, and it felt like his knee was burning. Luckily, no bones were loose, and Alex could still move it without problems. It simply hurt a lot. ''This means my knee isn''t broken. Lucky.'' Alex looked at the darkening sky with narrowed eyes. ''No time to think about my first kill. I need to bring the corpse to a safe ce.'' Alex looked at his tree. ''Up the tree would be best.'' Then, Alex looked at the bleeding corpse. ''Yet, how do I get it up there?'' Chapter 10 Alex nced at the horizon and noted that the sun was barely visible. ''It''s already sundown. I''m not sure what manner of creatures travel around at night in this forest, but I don''t want to be on the ground while night''s out.'' Alex grabbed the wolf''s corpse and lifted it. It was really heavy, but he barely managed to lift it up to his chest. However, it was very exhausting. Then, Alex looked at the branches above him. The lowest branch that could support the weight of the wolf was a full meter above him. ''I might be able to lift the corpse over my head, but I sure as hell can''t throw it up there. Jumping is also out of the question. It''s simply too heavy.'' ''I need an alternative,'' Alex thought as he put the corpse down again. Alex paced around as he tried to think of a solution. The forest darkened more as time passed, and Alex became more nervous. By now, the birds had be silent, making the forest appear deathly silent. Even the constant buzzing of the insects became quieter until it eventually stopped. Right now, the only noise in the forest was Alex''s footsteps. Then, Alex looked up at the bag in his tree. ''I have to try it! I can''t waste this corpse!'' Alex quickly climbed up the tree and got his bag. After opening it, Alex took out all his spare clothes and tied them together. Luckily, he had enough clothes to make quite a long line. ''If old-timey prisoners can use something like this to escape from prisons, I can use it to pull up a corpse!'' Alex tied his makeshift rope to the chest of the wolf. Then, Alex climbed up to the first branch of the tree and let himself fall down at the other side, holding the rope. CRRRR! The rope became taught, and Alex feared that it might snap. CRRR! The wolf corpse slightly moved upward but stopped. ''I''m not heavy enough.'' Alex climbed up the rope, happy that his body was fit enough to do something like that. Then, Alex tugged the rope under his arm and put his feet on the branch. After that, Alex pushed himself off the branch. CRRRR! THUNK! The corpse moved upwards, but one of the knots loosened. The wolf hit the ground, and Alex also fell down. Luckily, he managed to protect his head with his arms. He only received a couple of bruises. The falling corpse echoed throughout the forest, making Alex even more nervous. With the current silence of the forest, that sound should have traveled for over a hundred meters! However, Alex didn''t want to give up on the corpse. Food was a necessity! Alex repaired the rope and tried again, and this time, no knots loosened. Alex made sure of that! After the corpse was lifted to a good height, Alex climbed up the branch and pulled up the remaining part. His arms hurt and burned, but he didn''t have to pull much since the corpse was already pretty high up. Just when he thought that he had to drop the corpse, he managed to grab it with his arms and finished thest pull upward. The branch was creaking under thebined weight of Alex and the corpse, and Alex decided to quickly switch branches. If that branch broke, all his work would have been for nothing! Then, Alex sat down at a different branch and breathed heavily as he moved his cramped fingers. Parts of the skin on his fingers had been nearly shorn off, making them bleed a little bit. However, such an injury would heal very quickly. ''I hope this was worth it,'' Alex thought. As Alex rxed, he felt his body starting to shiver. ''It''s cold,'' he thought. ''It might even reach below freezingter in the night.'' Alex narrowed his eyes as he looked at the corpse and the makeshift rope. Then, he climbed to the other branch, being careful to not break it. After getting the rope, Alex released the knots and put parts of his clothes on a higher branch, making a makeshift mattress. Alex put the other half of the clothes to the side for now. He would make them into a nketter. When everything was done, Alex simply sat on his branch, thinking. ''The issue of food has been solved for now. The issue of warmth should be solved until the weather bes even colder, which it surely will. What about water?'' Alex looked at the corpse of the wolf that was bleeding onto the ground. Alex''s body shivered. ''I''m not so desperate yet. I can think about drinking blood when I''m about to die of thirst.'' Then, Alex released a sigh. ''This should be enough for the day,'' he thought. ''I should start my expedition tomorrow. Right now, I only need to rest.'' Alex grabbed the remainder of his now-dirty clothes and wrapped them around himself as hey down on the branch. It certainly wasn''tfortable. ''I need to sleep,'' he thought, closing his eyes. Minutes passed as the events of the day shot through his head. In just a single day, he had died, met a God, went to a new world with a new body, and killed an animal. For the first time, the reality that he would never see his family again hit home. ''Have you already heard of my death, mom, dad?'' Alex thought with pain. ''Do you think I''m in some kind of paradise now?'' Time passed as Alex''s thoughts wandered. An hourter, no light of the sun reached this ce anymore. However, it wasn''t as dark as one thought. Why? Because the moon was close to bing a full moon. The moon cycle wasn''tpletely there yet, but it was close. The moon illuminated the dark forest, creating foreboding shadows. When a cold wind blew, these shadows moved in an ominous dance in ordance with the cold whistle of the wind. Drip. Drip. Drip. The only sounds besides the rustling of the leaves and the whistle of the wind were the drops of blood from the corpse hitting the ground. Then, another sound joined in. It was Alex, sitting up on the branch with furrowed brows. ''I''m not tired,'' he thought. ''So much stuff has happened that my mind just can''t calm down. I need to do something to distract myself.'' Alex sat on his makeshift mattress while his body was wrapped in clothing, looking at the ground. The grass had a silver sheen to it as it was illuminated by the moonlight. Alex just sat there. Drip. Drip. Drip. The conversation with the God rang through Alex''s mind. Then, he narrowed his eyes. ''He said that absorbing the Mana in the air can strengthen me and heal my injuries. I can''t train my body right now, but I should be able to do that, at least.'' Then, Alex closed his eyes as he sat on the branch. ''There has to be some way to feel the Mana in the air, and there also has to be a way to absorb it.'' As Alex sat on the branch with closed eyes, he concentrated on the wind. Was there something in the atmosphere? If there was, Alex should be able to feel it in the wind. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Drip. Drip. Drip. The sounds of dripping blood, the whistling wind, and rustling leaves were the only things that could be heard in the forest. Other than that, there was no sound. The rhythmic sounds slowly put Alex in some kind of trance as he felt his mind drifting. He felt like he was touching something fundamental. After a while, his skin started tickling as Alex felt some of his hairs stand up. Yes, there was something else in the air! It was hard to describe, but there was something new in the air. Earth didn''t have anything like this, which made this force that much more pronounced. As Alex connected with the force, he felt it slowly enter his body. It felt¡­ warm. It was like Alex was taking a rxing bath. Alex slowly touched his skin, but it was still cold. The feeling of warmth was apparently only spiritual, not physical. Slowly, Alex''s mind started to vanish as he fell into a kind of half-sleep. However, the Mana in the air still entered his body. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drrrr! Alex woke up with a start as an unknown sound joined the sounds of the forest. Alex looked over at the origin of the sound and realized that his backpack was shaking slightly. He moved over and opened the backpack as silently as possible to investigate the sound. After some seconds, he found it. It was the ck cube, the thing that was supposed to be his future weapon. Drip. Drip. Drip. Alex looked at the slightly vibrating cube with interest. ''Why is it shaking?'' Drrr! Drrr! Alex furrowed his eyebrows. The shaking kind of sounded¡­ urgent. Drip. Drip. St. Alex''s eyes widened, and he looked towards the ground. The forest grew darker as it seemingly transformed into and of death. The moonlight vanished from Alex''s eyes as he beheld the thing standing below the corpse of the wolf. It was a being that looked like some sort of panther. However, it had incredibly long forelegs that ended in long ws. This build made it appear more like the thing was pulling itself forward with its forelegs instead of pushing itself with its hindlegs. It was ck as the night, and it had white eyes. The most recent drop of blood from the wolf''s corpse hadn''t hit the ground but the creature''s head. All of these things were already terrifying, but there were three more aspects about it that were even more terrifying. One aspect was its sheer size. It was nearly two meters high and probably over four meters long. It was bigger than a tiger! Another aspect was that it had appeared down there without a sound. If it hadn''t been hit by thest drop of blood, Alex wouldn''t have noticed this gigantic thing below his tree. It was as silent as the night. And thest aspect? Thest aspect was the most terrifying of all. Thest aspect was that the creature was facing Alex. Looking into his eyes. Chapter 11 Time froze for Alex. He only looked into the nk, white eyes of the¡­ creature. Yes, this was a creature, not an animal. Just looking at it filled Alex with terror. This thing differed greatly from a normal animal. Alex wasn''t sure what exactly it was, but he felt a definite difference. The green lizard had also felt different from normal animals, and this creature evoked a simr feeling as the lizard. However, this creature felt far more powerful and far deadlier. It was like the lizard and the creature were not on the same level. An eternity seemed to pass as the two beings only looked at each other. Ssshhh! Time resumed as the creature suddenly jumped at Alex with ferocious speed. The jump made no sound. One could only hear something fast parting the air, nothing more. Alex''s body reacted instinctively, and Alex let himself fall away from the branch, putting the branch between him and the creature. BANG! The creature''s left forelegpletely destroyed the thick branch that had been powerful enough to support Alex''s full weight for hours. CRSH! Alex felt a burning pain assault the back of his thighs as muscles and blood were ripped out. The creature had torn off a huge part of Alex''s thigh. If the branch hadn''t been between them, his legs would have beenpletely destroyed! BANG! Alex''s back hit the ground, pressuring his lungs, making it impossible to breathe. Crsh! N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. The silent sound of wood being crushed could be heard as the creature used its long ws to stick to the tree. Right now, Alexy on the ground, not being able to breathe. His right thigh had a gigantic gash in it. Meanwhile, the creature stopped in the tree and looked at Alex. Then, it jumped again. Alex''s mind fell into chaos. For a seemingly long time, his mind couldn''t conjure up any rational thoughts as he tried to find a way out of this situation. The distance between Alex and the creature reduced rapidly as the creature opened its mouth, filled with long, terrifying teeth. When Alex saw the teeth, only two thoughts appeared in his head. The first thought was: Protect! Alex''s hands stretched towards the creature in a futile effort to defend himself. The second thought was: Weapon! The image of many weapons shot through Alex''s mind, but his mind subconsciously fixated on the image of a sword. The creature reached Alex and bit down. SHING! Time stopped again. Alex looked with terror at his front, right into the creature''s white eyes. He¡­ he was still alive! Alex quickly noticed why he was still alive. A ck sword had materialized in Alex''s right hand, and the ck sword had impaled the creature''s head. The creature was already dead. The sword had gone through its brain. The creature had already stopped its own fall before it had tried to bite Alex. Because of that, its weight hadn''t pushed Alex away. Several seconds of silence passed. "Hurgh!" Alex was finally able to breathe again as his lung recovered from the fall. Alex only looked with shock at the creature, trying toe to terms with the fact that he had survived. Several secondster, Alex pulled himself away and pulled the sword out of the creature''s head. SHING! Then, Alex only looked at the sword. In Alex''s desperation, his mind had subconsciously conjured a long and sharp weapon that could be used in one hand. The ck cube transformed into a weapon fitting the criteria. Under the moonlight, Alex saw the weapon that would follow him for the rest of his life. The first thought that came to Alex was: Long! The sword was a bit over a meter long, putting it among the longer swords. The second thought was: Thin! The sword was straight as a nail and thin. Yet, it had two symmetrical edges, separating it from eastern longswords, like katanas. In short, Alex''s sword looked like a longer, straight rapier with two edges. One could also say that it looked like a thinner European longsword but with the same width all the way through. However, its guard was nearly nonexistent,prising of just a tiny rectangle. Alex inspected his weapon as he slowly calmed down. ''It looks fragile,'' Alex thought as he furrowed his brows. ''Such a thin sword would break apart after only a single sh with an actual one.'' Alex''s hand started to shake. ''However, it''s heavy. It''s even hard to just hold it in my right hand like this.'' Alex put the sword down, and its tip slightly cut into the earth. Under the shining moonlight, Alex continued to look at the sword. However, the more he looked at it, the better it seemed. ''Actually, I shouldn''t impose the logic of my own world into this new world,'' Alex thought. ''The guy said that this sword can grow more powerful by absorbing ore. Additionally, I''m not sure if there even exists a material in my old world that can be this heavy with only this bit of volume.'' Alex''s narrowed eyes suddenly had a glint of excitement in them. ''Actually, if swordsmiths had ess to such powerful materials, they might not have made all their swords that thick to begin with. It''s already hard enough to wield this sword, even though it''s that thin.'' ''I should test it.'' Then, Alex stood up. "Argh!" However, he failed as he sat down again. Alex had forgotten that the backside of his right thigh was ravaged. As soon as he had tried to stand up, burning pain shot throughout his whole body. Under immense pain, Alex moved his body as he inspected his thigh. When Alex saw the injury, he took a deep breath through gritted teeth. The gash was massive! He could even see his own bone! ''I need to drink the healing potions in my bag!'' Alex looked up at the tree but remembered that his branch had beenpletely obliterated. After looking around the area for a bit, Alex finally spotted his bag under the dim moonlight. Alex crawled over, constantly being assaulted by pain. A minuteter, he arrived beside his back and rummaged through it. However, when he looked into the bag, a shiver went through his body. The bag was wet, and some red liquid was swimming in the bag. The ss bottles holding the three healing potions had shattered! ''Fuck!'' Alex pulled everything solid out of the bag, including the ss splinters. Then, he put the bag to his mouth and tried to drink the red liquid in the bottle through his gritted teeth. He did this so that no ss splinters entered his body. It was disgusting! The dirt and dust of the bag mixed with the red liquid, nearly forcing Alex to puke. However, he forced himself through it. Pack! When he was done, Alex threw the bag to the side with disgust. SSSSHHHH! Suddenly, Alex felt a burning pain shooting throughout his body as the sound of something burning appeared. Ten secondster, the sensation disappeared, and Alex took a deep breath. Then, Alex inspected his thigh, and his eyes widened when he saw it. The wound was gone! It waspletely gone! It was like it had never been there to begin with! Alex had expected the red liquid to be some kind of healing potion, but he hadn''t expected it to be this effective! ''Sure enough, anything that a God bestows upon someone can''t be simple.'' Alex tried to stand up, and it went without a hitch. It was like he had never been injured. However, Alex looked at his bag onest time with regret. ''I had three of those, but now, all of them are gone,'' he thought withment. Sadly, there was nothing that Alex could do. So, he gathered all his belongings, including his new sword, and climbed up the tree again. He would test out his new sword tomorrow. As soon as he got to a new branch, Alex sat down, and his eyelids started to fall. Now, Alex was truly tired. Alex threw onest nce at the massive corpse on the ground, still in disbelief that he had killed such a monster. ''That thing has to weigh at least 200 kilograms. No matter how hard I''ll try, I''ll never pull it up the tree.'' ''Sadly, this means that it has to remain on the ground.'' Alex readied his makeshift bed andid down. He put his sword over his body to keep himself from turning and subsequently falling to the ground. The weight of the sword put a lot of pressure on him. Additionally, having such a sharp object near him made him nervous about moving. However, safety was more important thanfort. Surprisingly, even under such ufortable bedding, sleep came quickly. Alex only hoped that there wouldn''t appear another surprise this night. And thus, Alex slept in the new world for the first time. Chapter 12 Alex slowly opened his eyes after an undefined amount of time. At first, Alex shot up in confusion as he saw his unfamiliar surroundings. However, Alex quickly calmed down as he remembered thest day. ''Right, I''m not on earth anymore,'' Alex thought with a sigh. ''I thought all of this had only been a dream, but apparently, it wasn''t.'' A wave of mncholy washed over Alex. He would never see his home again. He would never see his family again. However, Alex''s thoughts were stopped as his stomach told him that he should eat something. ''Should I eat some of the jerky?'' Alex thought. ''No, I don''t think so. Jerky stays fresh for longer than raw meat. I should keep it for times when I''m actuallycking food.'' Alex slowly sat up on his branch, and an ufortable, stiff pain assaulted him. ''Oh god,'' Alex thought as he touched his back and shoulders. ''Everything''s stiff!'' Alex moved his muscles around while looking at the surroundings. It was already pretty bright. Alex guessed that it was probably around 10 am. After loosening up for a couple of minutes, Alex jumped down and walked over to the corpse of the creature from the past night. When Alex saw its corpse, he had to take a deep breath again. ''Did I really kill that?'' he thought. Even in death, the creature appeared fearsome and imposing. ''Anyway, I should make use of its corpse. Who knows, such powerful beasts might have some kind of benefit to the body? I''m not on earth anymore, so it''s possible.'' Alex moved towards the creature while dragging his heavy but thin sword behind him. Alex inspected the corpse for a couple of minutes, trying to think of as many ways to use it as possible. ''Meat for food. Hide for warm clothing. Maybe bones for tools?'' Alex nodded. ''Anyways, I should be patient first. I don''t know when the next animal will appear in the clearing.'' Alex postponed the butchering of the corpse and went back to the tree. Then, he simply waited. It was important to see how many beasts approached this area. Yet, surprisingly, the next three hours, not a single animal appeared. Alex furrowed his brows. ''It''s nearly afternoon, but I haven''t seen a single animal. I saw plenty of animals yesterday, but not a single one appeared. I don''t think that they only hunt in the evening.'' Alex had a guess as to why no beasts arrived, but he had to make sure. Alex left his tree and walked to a different one about 200 meters away. Then, Alex climbed on top of that tree and kept watch again. Sure enough, 30 minutester, Alex saw a stag. The stag carefully moved forward, watching its surroundings with great care. It was on its way to the corpse of the creature. Yet, it suddenly stopped as its nose took several deep whiffs. Then, the stag turned around and walked in a different direction, silently but with more hurry. Alex smirked. ''Knew it!'' ''The herbivores can probably smell the terrifying odor of the creature, and their instincts tell them to avoid this area.'' Alex looked in the direction of the corpse. ''Does this also work for carnivores? If we were on earth, I would doubt that. A dead animal is a dead animal, but who knows, maybe it''s different here?'' Alex decided to wait longer. And a little more than an hourter, a lone tiger appeared. Alex took a deep breath when he saw the tiger. ''What are tigers doing here?!'' he thought. ''Aren''t tigers normally in warmer climates? Although, I''ve heard of snow leopards. So, maybe there are also big cats in cold climates?'' However, Alex''s eyes quickly widened with a gleam when he saw that the tiger also avoided walking towards the corpse. ''Interesting,'' Alex thought as he scratched his chin in thought. ''A tiger should be an apex predator on earth. There''s nothing on earth that can make a tiger avoid a part of its forest, except for maybe human settlements.'' Alex thought back about his encounter with the creaturest night. He could understand why the tiger avoided this ce. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Tigers were powerful, and they could jump for several meters with some preparation. However, that thing yesterday had immediately jumped nearly five meters straight into the air. On top of that, the power of its forelegs had been so great that it tore apart the branch Alex had been sitting on like it had been nothing. Tigers were powerful, but not THAT powerful. ''Well, if there are infinite ways to reach supreme power as a human, animals can probably be just as powerful.'' After the tiger left, Alex came down from the tree and walked back to his old location. The corpse was still there, and no other animal had arrived. This time, Alex looked at the corpse more closely. ''It should weigh about 200 kilograms. I think a tiger is also about that heavy, maybe even heavier.'' ''Yet, the physical power of this creature far outweighs the physical power of a tiger.'' Alex scratched his chin with furrowed brows. ''Is this the difference between the normal animals and this creature? Normal animals are just like normal humans. Inparison, this creature had already stepped onto the path of power.'' Alex also remembered the green lizard, which had the uncanny ability to shoot a fireball. ''I think the lizard had also already stepped onto the path to power. Otherwise, I can''t find an exnation for the ability to straight-up shoot a fireball. Even if it had some kind of chemical mixture in its body that allowed it to create fire, just spitting the fire wouldpletely burn its mouth every time.'' ''So, either the lizard''s body has some kind of illogical heightened fire resistance, or it created fire a different way.'' Alex remembered his conversation with the God of this world. ''The guy said that this world is filled with Mages. Apparently, Mages can manipte the Mana in the air to harness the destructive forces of nature. Fire should be part of these forces.'' Alex nodded. ''I can imagine the lizard doing something simr.'' Alex''s eyes shone with a mixture of curiosity, excitement, and wonder. ''I also want to do that.'' ''However, that has to wait for now,'' Alex thought as he straightened his body. ''Survivales first.'' ''First, I need water, food, and warmth. I can get a fire going and cook some meat. While the meat is cooking, I can also try to make some kind of long coat out of the creature''s fur for warmth. The animals are currently avoiding this area, and I should use the chance.'' Alex looked towards the distance. ''I only hope that no beast walks over here that is interested in the corpse of the creature. I only managed to kill the creature due to luck. If I meet it again, it might tear me apart. After all, yesterday, it hadn''t seen my sword since it hadn''t actually existed yet. However, now, the creature would be able to see my sword. Avoiding it isn''t probably very hard for such a creature.'' Alex gathered some dried twigs and some leaves. Then, he tried to start a fire. It definitely wasn''t as easy as it appeared on TV, but Alex managed to get a fire going after about an hour of trying. When he saw the twigs catch fire, Alex felt so incredibly relieved. Then, Alex took out his sword and carefully cut off the gigantic pelt of the creature. It was an extremely bloody affair, and the corpse stank to high heaven. Luckily, Alex''s sword was insanely sharp, making the task far easier. After that, Alex cut off several chunks of the creature''s right foreleg and hung them close to the fire on some sticks. While the meat was being cooked, Alex scrapped the remaining blood and meat off his pelt. ''I think the difference between a hide and actual leather is drying, right?'' Alex thought. Alex scratched the back of his neck, uncertain if that was true. In the end, he made some small holes in the hide and hung it close by the fire with several branches. It took nearly an hour, and a lot of branches broke, but Alex managed it in the end. Alex checked on the meat and rotated it. ''That should still take about an hour.'' For a while, Alex only sat beside the fire, listening to its rxing crackling. ''I could try training my body,'' Alex thought. ''However, I don''t have anything to drink. I''m already quite thirsty, and training will dry me out even faster.'' Alex scratched his chin for a bit. Then, he went to a tree and climbed up. When he reached the crown, Alex scanned the horizon. ''It smells a bit like rain, and I see some dark clouds on the horizon.'' ''I don''t think water will be an issue in like an hour or so.'' Alex smirked as he quickly descended the tree. ''Well, time to do some training!'' Chapter 13 Alex descended the tree and mentally prepared himself for his first training session in this new world. The God had told Alex that he should destroy his body as thoroughly as possible with training and then use meditation to enhance his body with Mana. Nothing out of the ordinary would happen if someone told something like this to a newbie regarding sports. Why? Because if someone didn''t have enough experience in physical exercise, their willpower and resistance to physical pain wouldn''t be strong enough to really damage their muscles. When a newbie regarding sports trained until they couldn''t anymore, their muscles wouldn''t receive too much damage since the body''s self-preservation instinct kicked in. The person would feel like they couldn''t continue, but someone that had trained themselves for longer could go further. Alex was a bit apprehensive about the God''s words. Alex had trained his body to such a degree that he had even managed to join the biggest MMA organization in the world. It wouldn''t be an overstatement to say that Alex had once had a body that was normally only seen on TV, and, well, it made sense. After all, Alex''s fights had also been broadcast on TV. Because of that, if Alex decided to go all-out with his training, he had the willpower to actually train his body until even his tendons snapped. Of course, he had never done something like that before since it was stupid beyond belief to do that. ''But this world is different,'' Alex thought as he scratched his chin. ''If the Mana in the atmosphere has some kind of healing and strengthening effect on even tendons, training until my tendons snap might actually have an even greater effect.'' Alex looked at the forest with a conflicted expression. ''Yet, what if Mana actually doesn''t help in healing such injuries? What if it helps, but it takes several days for it to heal something like that? I would be helpless during that time.'' ''I mean, I could try it in a vige where I''m safe, but here? Not sure.'' Alex sighed. ''I should start slowly. Let''s first get an above-average workout in. Let''s go until I would be wrecked with soreness for the next couple of days.'' Alex mentally prepared himself for training, something he hadn''t done in a long time. Alex felt himself be more energetic and powerful as his brain sent signals to his body to prepare itself for a stressful time. Then, Alex did something surprising. He took off all his clothes. ''I will be plenty warm when I train, and I don''t want my clothes to reek of sweat.'' Alex made several of his joints crack as he jumped up and down a bit. ''Alright, let''s go!'' And thus, Alex''s first training session began. He took about ten minutes to warm up by running, jumping, falling to the ground, standing up, pulling himself up on branches, and doing lots of other things. Alex hadn''t trained in a long time, but as soon as his training actually began, he felt like no time had passed since hisst session. ''Usually, I would only do some muscle groups, but today, I''m doing all of them!'' Alex grabbed his sword and used it as a make-shift weight. After all, it was quite heavy. He put it on his shoulders, stood on the tip of his toes, went back to standing normally, went back to the tip of his toes, and so on. This trained the calves. Then, he did squats with the sword. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. This trained the thighs. Alex was experienced enough to know what kind of movement would train what kind of muscles. Since this was an intense training session, Alex nned to make it a really long one. About one hour after Alex started training, the rain had arrived. Alex ignored the fire and the food. If the fire went out, it went out, and the meat could still be eaten when it was cold. It should be cooked by now anyway. However, Alex grabbed his bag and cleaned it. After that, he dug a small hole in the form of a bucket and put the bag inside it. He had remembered that when his healing potions broke, they had made the back wet, but most of the liquid had still remained inside. This meant that the bag could hold water to some degree. Alex''s clothes had been put at a rtively dry ce on his tree. It took an entire 90 minutes until Alex had finished training his legs, and he already felt quite a bit of soreness. This was the point where he would normally stop training his legs when he had been on earth. For safety''s sake, Alex also stopped training his legs at this point. He had to check the usage of the Mana first. Next, Alex trained his arms and shoulders. As Alex continued training, he felt some kind of primal feeling. He hadn''t been sure where that feeling hade from initially, but he quickly found out. He was training in the wilderness, away from any kind of responsibility, family, public image, work, and so on. Only the rain drenching his body and the rough wilderness surrounded him. He had to do nothing but train. Training was his only responsibility. Nothing else mattered. There was no job he had to go back to. There was no money he had to worry about. He didn''t have to wake up and go to work. He just had to grow more powerful. In Alex''s mind, the training seemingly transformed from an exercise into some form of spiritual cultivation. Alex felt like this was the most primal and most fundamental truth of the world. Just power, nothing else. After 90 minutes, Alex was done with his arms and shoulders. Lastly, Alex focused on his abdomen, chest, and back. This took 60 minutes. Then, Alex was finally done. He had trained for four full hours, and he felt as alive as never before. These new surroundings had given Alex an incredible boost in energy, and training under the rain had been a bit weird at the beginning, but Alex had grown to love training in the rain. It kept him cool, and the sensations of the raindrops had been almost hypnotic. Alex took one more deep breath as he slowly cooled down from his training. A couple minutester, Alex realized that his mind wasn''t as focused anymore. He hadn''t eaten much since yesterday, and he was severely dehydrated. Alex checked on the bag and saw that it was full of water. Sadly, the water wasn''t pure at all. It had a brownish tint to it. ''I can''t be choosy now.'' Alex drank the brownish water. It definitely wasn''t tasting good, but the cool sensation of the water running down his dry throat was great, nheless. Then, Alex went over to the firece. The fire had long been extinguished, and the meat was dripping with water from the rain. However, Alex still grabbed the meat and consumed it. It was missing a lot of seasoning, and it wasn''t cooked well, but eating it like this awakened a special, primal feeling in Alex. Surprisingly, the meat tasted rather good! It was quite tough, but it had a really strong taste, simr to game. Alex could have finished all of it, but he stopped himself. It was important to not overfeed himself, or his concentration would wane while meditating. After Alex was finished eating and drinking some more, he sat down near his tree and put the sword beside him. Then, he closed his eyes and concentrated on the surroundings. Surprisingly, the sound of the rain wasn''t distracting. In actuality, it was helping Alex in getting in tune with his surroundings. After some minutes passed, Alex felt a kind of mysterious force in the air, and he was sure that he had never felt anything like this on earth. This was new. This had to be Mana! Alex concentrated on the Mana and tried to pull at it with his mind. It took some getting used to, but after around half an hour, Alex had be quite good at pulling the Mana into himself. Alex imagined himself as a ck hole that pulled everything in its surroundings into itself. He had to absorb everything that touched him. The earth, wood, air, and other forms of matter didn''t move, obviously, but since Alex''s mind was able to manipte the Mana to some degree, the Mana flowed into Alex''s body. As soon as the force entered Alex''s body, he felt his muscles be warm but not hot. It felt nice and rxing. It was like Alex was taking a bath. Like this, three more hours passed. The sun went over the horizon, and by now, night had arrived. Alex opened his eyes. He had to be careful now. Chapter 14 Alex slowly stood up, and as soon as he did, his eyes widened. Alex looked down at his body with wonder. ''My muscles, they feel fine!'' Alex thought with shock. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. Alex moved his body around and did some light, basic exercises to test his body. Sure enough, he feltpletely fine! It was like he hadn''t just trained for four hours! As Alex looked at his body with shock, the realization that this world was nothing like this previous one really set in for the first time. Alex had done enough sports on earth to know exactly how he should be feeling right now. Yet, not even the slightest feeling of weakness was present. ''The feeling of weakness while doing the workoutes from the built-upctic acid, but after such a long resting period, thectic acid has already vanished. The feeling of weakness after thates from the small, torn muscle fibers.'' ''So, since this feeling isn''t present, does it mean that my muscle fibers have already healed?'' Alex thought with surprise. ''Have I already gone through the recovery phase?!'' Alex tried toprehend his current situation. He was even more shocked by this revtion than when he had seen the giant hedgehog. Why? Because Alex knew exactly how insane this was. Alex remembered a gaming term from his past life. This was broken! ''So, I can literally give my entire body several workouts each day?'' However, Alex''s feeling of shock and exhration quickly vanished. Why? Because Alex''s mind was going to a dangerous ce. ''Theoretically, the more damaged the muscle, the stronger it will be. The problem on earth is that the recovery period for such damage would be so long that it wouldn''t be nearly as efficient as training normally.'' ''But here?'' ''I''m not even sure if the power increasees from the workout or the absorbed Mana. It could be that I only need to damage my muscles to make them absorb more Mana. I might not need to do actual, traditional training.'' Alex''s eyes focused on his left arm, and he felt aplex mix of feelings. Anticipation, nervousness, fear, curiosity, greed. Was Alex a normal human? When living in a normal environment, sure, he could be called normal. However, if he would remain normal while being flung into a new world, the God wouldn''t have chosen him to enter his world. After all, that would have been boring. The entire reason why Alex was supposed to grow powerful in a non-traditional way was entertainment. The God wanted to be entertained. So, obviously, the God wouldn''t have chosen a boring person. Alex nced at his left arm several times with aplex expression. His heart rate increased as he became more nervous. ''I need to try it!'' Alex thought with gritted teeth. With that, the decision had been made. Alex would damage the muscles in his left arm to such a degree that it would be considered an injury on earth. ''This is going to hurt like hell!'' Alex thought with narrowed eyes. Ssh! Alex left his tree and let himself fall onto the wet floor. Then, he just stayed there for half a minute, motionless. After half a minute, he turned to a different spot. This weird procedure continued for nearly half an hour. Half an hourter, Alex felt incredibly cold. His teeth were chattering as the sensations of his body became numb. Alex slowly turned over. And then, he violently pushed with his left arm using all his strength! Alex had decided to lower the temperature of his body and go all out without warming up. He would train his left arm with all his power immediately! No sane person would do this on earth. Why? Because it was way harder for muscles to stay flexible while they were cold. If the muscle fibers weren''t flexible, they would tear way quicker and in greater quantity. It didn''t even take a full minute for Alex''s "technique" to show results. A burning sting of pain shot through Alex''s left biceps as it violently cramped up. However, Alex was used to cramps, and he managed to continue pushing his left arm far past its limits. Just a minuteter, Alex had to stop as he held his left arm in severe pain. He had probably torn a huge part of his left biceps. Yet, Alex wasn''t done. A mad glint appeared in Alex''s eyes as he wanted to go even further. BANG! BANG! BANG! Alex balled his right hand into a fist and violently beat up his left biceps. Ten secondster, Alex stopped as he only gasped for air. Alex knew exactly how long something like this would take to heal on earth. ''Something like this would probably take four to six weeks to heal on earth. I hope it doesn''t take that long to heal here because the pain is driving me crazy!'' Alex held his left biceps as he walked over to his tree. Then, he sat down and tried to meditate. It was far harder to enter meditation since he was in severe pain, but after an hour, he managed to connect with the Mana again. Alex felt his left biceps cool down from the hot pain, and the pain also slowly receded into the background. However, the pain was still there. Alex concentrated on the Mana in the air until he no longer felt the warm sensation on his left biceps. Then, he opened his eyes and moved his left arm. As Alex saw the result, anotherplex mix of emotions appeared in his mind. Disbelief, exhration, fear. Why disbelief? Because his biceps had fully healed! Why exhration? Because this meant that Alex could gain power at a terrifying rate! Why fear? Because this meant that Alex had to go through an insane amount of pain! Alex knew exactly what this meant. Training would transform from an enjoyable exercise into pure torture. There would be no more fun in training. Training would be full of pain, nothing else. Alex knew that he could still continue training normally. Like this, he would still enjoy the process while growing more powerful. Yet, Alex also knew that this choice wasn''t really a choice. Now that Alex had been in this world for over a day, an urge had appeared inside of him. Alex had seen several creatures that could kill him easily. Alex didn''t want to die. Additionally, the God had said that Alex could reach insane amounts of power. On earth, physical power was useful for staying healthy and earning money. But here, everything revolved around it. Intelligence wasn''t the most important thing. Connections weren''t the most important thing. Money wasn''t the most important thing. Influence wasn''t the most important thing. Power was! Alex had seen the God''s power when he had summoned the previous Mage Emperor and when he had changed the very reality in his hall. It didn''t matter how many people attacked him. It didn''t matter what weapons everyone used. In front of this God, all of these things became useless. Alex knew that there was a possibility that he could be just as powerful as the God. What would that mean? Freedom! Power! Everything that he wanted! Nothing in the entire world would be able to stop him! He could do whatever he wanted without any repercussions and without any worries! Today, Alex had truly awakened his undying thirst for power. He had to be powerful! Nothing was more important than power! Nothing! After steeling his resolve, Alex climbed up his tree. After he reached a height of a couple of meters, Alex gritted his teeth. Then, he jumped down. As long as his bones didn''t break, everything would be fine! BANG! Chapter 15 It has been three days since Alex had started training his body, and he had made quite a lot of progress. The masochistic training had been hard to handle in the beginning, but Alex slowly got used to it after literally jumping over his shadow multiple times. After the first couple of jumps, Alex didn''t want to feel any more pain. It was just too much. However, after he saw a visible improvement in his strength, he forced himself to continue. The taste of power was just too enticing. However, on this day, he would have to abort his training. Alex had run out of water, and the beast he had killed had started to get infested by insects. Due to the cold climate, the meat was still edible, but the insects inside the corpse were simply too disgusting. On top of that, the smell of the beast was slowly vanishing, and Alex had already seen a deering into his visual range before it fled after seeing him. Three days ago, no animals had appeared close to this ce. This meant that Alex was no longer safe. Thunk! Thunk! Alex jumped to the tree and shot himself upward again with his legs, grabbing the lowest branch. Three days ago, Alex wouldn''t have been able to do something like this. The growth of his physical power was terrifying! N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. Right now, Alex''s body was even more powerful than his old body had been at its peak. Mana made a huge difference in the speed of Alex''s improvement. Alex quickly climbed the tree and looked around. There were so many animals in this forest, so there had to be some kind of water source. However, due to the trees, Alex couldn''t see the ground from up here, making it difficult to spot any water source. Alex could only check for spots with fewer trees. Alex found a couple of them and decided to investigate. At the same time, Alex would also search for more food. BANG! Alex climbed down from the tree and jumped thest bit, not receiving an injury. ''Well, I guess it''s time to investigate,'' Alex thought with a frown. This would be the first time he would truly leave this ce, and he didn''t know what would wait for him. He only hoped that simrly powerful creatures like that monster he had killed by luck were rare. Otherwise, he might die. Alex grabbed his dirty clothes, his backpack, and his sword. Lastly, he put a gigantic, ck coat around his body, hiding his sword. This coat was made of the creature''s fur, and it had been dried multiple times by now. The coat was basically made of the entire hide of the creature, making it rather sizable. Alex grabbed some grass from the ground and put it through some holes at the edge of the coat, creating a seam. After doing that a couple of times, the coatpletely enveloped Alex''s body, keeping him warm. Additionally, the coat did quite a good job at hiding his sword. At the front, the coat was a bit shorter to allow Alex to sprint without getting in the way. Alex tied his sword to his back with some makeshift rope made out of grass, hiding it behind his back and coat. Sadly, Alex wasn''t good enough at sewing to create a permanent holding for his sword. If Alex wanted to use his sword, he would need to cut through the entire rope, which would require him to make a new one after that. Alex also put the holder of his backpack around his torso, making it rest to the left side of his thigh. Luckily the strap was long enough. Alex had put the bag to his left because, when he grabbed his sword, he would swing it to the right. The bag would only be in the way if it were on the right. In the end, Alex stood there,pletely cloaked in ck. His unkempt and dirty ck hair seemed to perfectly fit the coat he was wearing, making him appear like a mysterious wild man. If one saw him like this, one wouldn''t think that he was technically still a minor. Then, Alex quickly stepped forward into the forest, his hands empty. Why didn''t Alex carry his sword in his hands? Two reasons. First of all, he wanted to hide it. Animals weren''t stupid. If they saw a long, ck object in his hand, they would be wary of it. Second of all, if anyone attacked him from behind, his sword would be between them. However, since the sword was hidden, the attacker wouldn''t know. If Alex got attacked from behind, the attacker might die very quickly since the sword would already be between their teeth. At that point, Alex would only need to move his sword in the attacker''s mouth. Alex''s sword was terrifyingly sharp, and he wouldn''t need to use much power to kill his attacker. Alex had thought of everything while suiting up. He had to be careful in this forest. Alex jogged out of his area with quite some speed. Why? Because, if he walked slowly, an ambusher would have more time to n their ambush. Sure, Alex might be able to get by without being noticed if he walked slower, but an ambush would be that more devastating. Alex didn''t bet on not being ambushed. Alex didn''t see any other animals after silently jogging for nearly ten minutes. However, he found some food. Chestnuts! Alex quickly stopped as he saw the chestnut tree and climbed it. For the next 30 minutes, Alex gathered chestnuts and ate a ton of them. ''Hope that''s not the poisonous kind,'' Alex thought as he crunched down. It definitely didn''t taste good. However, they, at least, tasted edible as far as he could tell. ''Well, worst-case scenario, I just get a case of the runs,'' he thought. Grunt, Grunt! Alex heard some grunting and looked at the origin of the sound. Some meters away from the tree was a sizable hog. It wasn''t as big as the other one Alex saw, but it was still quite a bit heavier than a wolf. When Alex saw the hog, his eyes narrowed. ''I didn''t attack thest hog since I didn''t have a good weapon, but things have changed now!'' he thought. The hog was eyeing the tree warily. It had seen and heard Alex since he hadn''t been very stealthy. However, it didn''t leave. This was its chestnut tree, and it had munched on the chestnuts quite a bit. Alex looked quite a bit bigger than he actually was, thanks to his ck coat, which intimidated the hog a bit. Seeing a big ck creature in a tree was quite terrifying. The ck creature, Alex, slowly and silently moved around the branches on the tree with practiced ease, vanishing as he moved upwards. Crack, crack! A lot of the chestnuts got shaken off by his movement, dropping to the floor. Then, some branches behind the chestnut tree moved. After that, some more rustling could be heard, but even further away. Had the creature left? The hog was uncertain. After some minutes of hesitating, the hog moved around the tree from a distance, trying to find the ck creature. After several minutes of searching for the creature, the hog quickly took one of the chestnuts and retreated again. It quickly ate the chestnut and looked at its surroundings. This process repeated a couple of times until the hog was finally no longer nervous. The creature had left. Ssshh! Some silent rustling was heard from the tree above the hog, and it looked upward. Alex was falling down, his sword in both of his hands. His right hand held the handle while his left hand held the edge of the sword. Alex already knew that his sword couldn''t injure himself for some reason. This meant that he could grab the sword like a staff. Alex fell down on the hog''s neck like a guillotine. BANG! The sword was so insanely sharp that it cut through the entire neck of the fat hog with ease, creating the sound of an explosion as it hit the ground below the hog. The hog had died in an instant. Alex was sprayed with blood as his abdomen hit the severed head of the hog. Alex grimaced in disgust as he saw all the blood. ''I either need to wash this off, or I''m going to get crusty and stinky quite quickly,'' he thought. The image of a decapitated pig sent some shivers down Alex''s spine, but he knew that he had to get used to something like this. He would have to kill way more animals in the near future, and he might even need to kill humans when he rejoined their society. Alex wasn''t so na?ve that he believed that a human society based on power would be a kind ce. Alex looked at his kill for quite some time, just trying to take the scene in. The decapitated body of the pig bled like crazy, and it was still twitching. Meanwhile, the empty eyes of the decapitated pig-head seemingly looked at Alex, asking him why he had killed it. Alex took a deep breath, instantly being assaulted by the rancid stench of fresh pig blood. However, Alex gnashed his teeth. ''The issue of food and water has been solved for now,'' Alex thought as he looked at the corpse. ''My sword is quite sharp, which should allow me to carve some tools out of wood, stuff like buckets and bowls.'' ''For now, I could drink distilled water made out of pig blood. It will be a bit disgusting and not super healthy, but that''s not high up on my list of priorities.'' ''Let''s get a fire going!'' Chapter 16 Crackle. A fire was burning as several pieces of meat hung around it. In the middle above the fire hung a bucket. Alex had felled an entire tree with his sword and had hollowed out a big part of its trunk, creating his bucket. Then, Alex had felled an even bigger tree, creating two round bowls. The sharpness of Alex''s sword was what allowed him to achieve this feat. Alex had filled the bucket with pig blood and hung it above the fire. Alex put one of the bowls over the bucket and put a long branch on it, which led to the side. The bowl would catch the evaporating water, and when enough water gathered, it would trickle down to the lowest edge of the bowl, where the branch was. The branch led the trickling water to the side, to a different bowl. This was how Alex would solve the issue of water. Sadly, this would be distilled water, and he also couldn''t wash his tools since he didn''t have any water to begin with. The water in the other bucket didn''t look refreshing or delicious, but it was water. Strewn around the clearing were the remaining parts of the hog. Alex couldn''t finish the entire thing on his own, even if he ate for several days, and the meat would go bad anyway. So, Alex decided to cut the pig apart and scattered the pieces around the clearing. Why? To ward off predators. Sure, the smell of blood would gather many of them, but predators were also just animals. If they could get food for free, they wouldn''t want to fight. If a predator came to the clearing, they would see a ck creature of unknown size, thanks to the coat, sitting beside a hot fire. Every normal predator would grab one of the pieces of the hog and would run away, leaving Alex alone. While Alex''s food and water were being prepared, Alex decided to get some more training in. Alex put his coat away and climbed the tree. BOOM! As Alex hit the ground, a loud m echoed throughout the forest. This sound would also deter any animal froming to this spot. After all, only something big and powerful could make such loud sounds. After three jumps, Alex heard some rustling. His entire body hurt, but all of the pain was forgotten as he realized something else was close. In the light of the fire, Alex could see two eyes in the dark. They weren''t very high up, and the animal was looking at Alex warily. However, it didn''t look at Alex with fear. It was more like an evaluating expression. Alex looked back. After a bit, Alex could see the owner of the eyes. It was the green lizard that had killed two of the four wolves. After a bit, the lizard bit down on one of the pieces of meat and fled. When Alex saw the lizard retreating, he amended his ns. Alex grabbed his coat and put it around himself before he continued training. Why? Because the lizard had the ability to shoot fireballs. If one beast could shoot fireballs, it was possible that other beasts could do the same. However, the coat of the creature should offer some protection. Even if it caught fire, Alex could always ditch it. Alex''s masochistic training continued, and after a couple of jumps, Alex concentrated on healing himself with Mana. Alex always looked forward to this part of his training since this was the part that increased his power. On top of that, it wasn''t as painful as the other part. Thunk! Thunk! Alex heard rhythmic, loud sounds. Alex looked in the direction of the sounds but couldn''t see anything. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. They came from too far away. ''What''s making that sound?'' Alex thought. Thunk! Thunk! The sounds continued, and Alex only looked in that direction. Spring! Spring! The sound of something stic being stretched and snapping back into ce could also be heard. Eeeeeh! Creak! Creak! Snap! Snap! The sounds of bending and cracking wood joined in the cacophony of sounds, and the sounds were getting louder. Alex''s eyes widened. Something big wasing! Alex immediately abandoned everything and climbed the closest tree. When he found a good spot, he stopped moving and grew silent. The sounds continued and grew even louder. Snap! Eventually, Alex saw what created these weird sounds, and his eyes widened. It was an absolutely humongous beast! It was probably four meters high, excluding its needles. Needles? Yes, this was the green hedgehog Alex had seen when he had arrived in this world! The loud thumping sounds were its footsteps. The creaking sounds of wood were its flexible needles getting hung up on the trees. The snapping sounds were its flexible needles jumping back into ce after passing a tree. The forest and trees seemingly moved with the hedgehog as it bent all of the trees while passing. It was moving slowly and in a rxed manner towards the ce Alex had stayed. Then, it slowly bent down as it consumed a huge part of the hog! ''I totally forgot! Even though hedgehogs are cute, they are also technically omnivores. They eat a ton of insects! A hedgehog of that size obviously also eats meat!'' Alex thought as he remainedpletely silent. This monster was far above his ability! The creature Alex had killed by luck was nothing inparison to this hedgehog! As the hedgehog came closer, it ate all the pieces of the pig, including the ones that were being cooked. After it reached the fire, it stopped above it. Alex was confused for a second, but he realized what the hedgehog was doing. It was warming its belly! The sizzling fire directly below its belly didn''t even bother the hedgehog! This was an absolute monster! Alex kept his breath as he watched the hedgehog warm itself. Thunk! Apparently, the fire wasn''t warm enough, so it lowered its belly and lied down. Sadly, this suffocated the fire. After some seconds, the hedgehog stood up again, displeased. It scratched the fire with his hind leg in displeasure but continued eating. ''Well, there goes food,'' Alex thought. After the hedgehog was done, it turned its head slowly. And it directly looked into Alex''s eyes. Alex''s entire body shivered as he realized that the hedgehog had known where he was the entire time! Otherwise, its gaze wouldn''t have homed in on him with such uracy! Alex didn''t dare to move. Creak! Creak! Creak! The humongous body of the hedgehog slowly shook as its needles swayed back and forth. Plonk! Plonk! Plonk! Some things fell off the hedgehog''s needles. Alex still didn''t dare to move! After the hedgehog shook itself a little bit, it continued walking. After the hedgehog was a couple meters away, Alex jumped down from the tree and looked at his campsite. The hedgehog already knew that he was there, so it made no sense to keep hiding. Everything was destroyed. All the meat was gone, the fire was out, and the water was spilled. Nothing had been spared. Alex had to sigh when he saw that. However, Alex''s eyes spied something new in the clearing. It was a round object, but Alex couldn''t see it clearly in the dark. Alex walked closer and inspected it. ''Is that a fruit?'' Alex thought with surprise. ''Where did thate from?'' Alex remembered how the hedgehog had shaken itself and that he had heard several sounds of things falling to the ground. ''Did these thingse from the hedgehog''s needles? Since when do hedgehogs grow fruit?!'' Alex thought. Alex looked at the hedgehog in the distance, and sure enough, after looking closer, Alex saw some round objects on the hedgehog''s needles. They shone a bit under the moonlight. Alex remembered how the hedgehog had eaten everything, had looked at him, and had then shaken its body. ''Is this a kind of trade?'' Alex thought with surprise. ''Is it familiar with humans? Could it be possible that it gives humans fruits in exchange for meat? I mean, the hedgehog is big and cumbersome. Everything probably flees from it, making it surprisingly hard for it to hunt.'' Alex gathered the fruits, but before he got to thest one, something happened. HSSSSSSS! The loud sound of hissing came from Alex''s front, and he jumped back out of reflex. Snap! The animal quickly grabbed the fruit, turned around, and fled into the distance. It was that lizard again! It had intimidated Alex and took that opportunity to run with one of the fruits! However, Alex''s eyebrows furrowed as he scratched his chin in thought. ''It could haveunched a fireball at me, but it didn''t. Instead, it hissed at me, grabbed the fruit, and ran. It''s probably wary of my power, but the fruit was enticing enough for it to take the risk,'' Alex thought. Alex looked at the fruits with more interest. ''Anythinging from such a fearsome beast couldn''t be simple! It''s a risk, but I think it''s worth trying to eat the fruits!'' Alex climbed a tree and ate one of the fruits. As soon as he swallowed the first bite, something happened. A burning pain shot throughout Alex''s body! Chapter 17 Alex''s entire body seemingly started burning, but this was only an illusion created by the fruit. As soon as Alex swallowed the first bite, he felt like his muscles started to catch on fire. N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. Yet, for some reason, this sensation wasn''t exactly painful. It had some painful aspects to it, but a certain feeling of excitement, restlessness, and energy came with it. Alex had never tried steroids in his past life since that would ruin his career, but he imagined that steroids felt simr, minus the slight pain. After some seconds, Alex noticed something. ''This feels very simr to absorbing Mana, just way more intense,'' he thought with excitement. Due to the intensity of the experience, Alex also noticed something else. Alex looked at his body and touched his head. ''I haven''t noticed it before since the Mana always felt gentle, but my head actually doesn''t feel any of the Mana. My entire body feels like it''s heating up, but my head remains cool. It''s almost like my head isn''t affected by the Mana.'' Alex frowned. ''The God told me that I would be unable to practice magic. Is that what he meant?'' ''Logically, Mages should get their abilities to cast spells by increasing the power of their soul and mind. At least, that''s how it always worked in RPGs. I guess it works simrly here. After all, these kinds of people are called Mages, and they harness the power of the environment to create powerful attacks.'' ''The God said that Mana is the main reason how people could be so powerful in his world, which means that all the power of people hinges on the usage of Mana. There should be something in my body that allows me to absorb and control Mana.'' ''I guess Mages probably absorb the Mana with their souls and minds, leaving their bodies weak. There has to be some drawback to an advantage. Otherwise, it wouldn''t be entertaining. I mean, wasn''t this the entire reason why the God made his world like this and why I''m here?'' ''So, in essence, Mages probably don''t absorb Mana with their bodies, but with their mind. If a Mage ate this fruit, they would probably feel this sensation only in their head, while I feel it across my body.'' ''The thing that stores and distributes the Mana across my body probably has no connection to my head, making it impossible for Mana to reach it. That''s probably also why all the Mana gets dumped into my body since it has nowhere else to go.'' ''What am I doing?!'' Alex thought as he gritted his teeth. ''I''m currently filled to the brim with Mana, but I''m thinking about such stuff that''s so far in the future?! Get a grip, Al- argh, Shang!'' Alex immediately shot up and climbed higher on the tree. Then, he jumped with all his power and readied himself for a huge impact. BANG! Alex felt pain shoot throughout his arms and knees as he hit the ground. Then, he quickly stood up and ran to the tree again. As Alex climbed up the tree again, he noticed something else, which made him narrow his eyes with a gleam. ''My legs and arms don''t hurt anymore! This means that I don''t need to rest!'' ''I have to use this opportunity!'' Alex climbed higher than usual and looked down. It was so high! However, the burning sensation pushed him over the edge, and he jumped. Alex never had had a good opportunity to see if the Mana''s regenerating properties also worked on his bones. Logically, it should, but Alex wasn''t sure of the extent. Alex felt like time stopped as he fell towards the ground. CRACK! And Alex got his wish. Alex didn''t want to experiment with his legs since they were more important than his arms. Because of that, Alex had initiallynded on his feet but had then fallen forward to transmit the force of the fall onto his right arm. Alex''s right forearm broke apart. Alex gritted his teeth violently as an incredible pain shot throughout his arm. Breaking a bone was never easy. Alex touched his right forearm with his left hand and felt the bone sticking out. ''Great, an open fracture,'' he thought. Alex quickly felt a change in his body. The hot sensation seemingly got weaker all over his body and focused on his right forearm. CRK! CRK! Creaking sounds could be heard as the bone in Alex''s right forearm seemingly moved back into ce. Splotch! The sound of moving flesh and blood had a unique feeling to it, but Alex only focused on his arm. The bone had been buried back into his arm, and the broken skin and flesh above it started to heal with speed visible to the naked eye. Two minutester, the hot sensationpletely left Alex''s body. Alex touched his right arm and felt a stinging pain. ''Not fully healed yet, but all the Mana has been used up,'' he thought. ''Apparently, Mana also elerates the recovery of my bones, but the Mana required is iparable. ording to the intensity of the sensation, this one bite of the fruit probably gave me more Mana than I could get in several hours of meditation. The same amount of Mana could have healed my entire body twice.'' Alex looked at his right arm with shining eyes. ''However, if Mana can strengthen my muscles, it can probably also strengthen my bones,'' he concluded. ''If my strength ever reaches a level that just using my muscles would break my own bones, it would be truly tragic. I can''t make such a stupid mistake.'' Alex gritted his teeth. ''My training is about to be even more painful. I fucking hate that! Why does training have to be so fucking painful?!'' Alex ran to the tree and grabbed the fruit. Alex had been careful with his first bite, which was why the bite had been rtively small. There was still a ton left. Alex took a big bite and climbed the tree. An even more powerful sensation engulfed his body as he jumped down again. CRACK! More broken bones, but this time, Alex had enough Mana inside his body to heal everything. It only took half a minute for everything to heal again. CRACK! The process repeated itself, and Alex took another bite of the fruit. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! About 15 minutester, the fruit waspletely used up, and Alex grabbed the next one. However, he hesitated as he gritted his teeth. He wished that he had nevere up with that terrifying thought. What thought? Well, what if he got more powerful and got punched in the gut? Would his organs be able to resist the force? Logically, no, but there had to be a way to fix such a ring issue. After all, the God had said that there had been innumerable paths to power in the past. He refused to believe that they were all weak to body blows. ''I can''t stop now!'' Crunch! Crunch! Alex ate the entire fruit at once, and he felt like his body was about to explode. There was so much Mana! It was no longer a gentle situation. No, Alex felt like his body was literally being incinerated! Alex climbed up but hesitated. This was very different from all his previous jumps. If he misjudged this jump, he would actually die. However, Alex had already burned the bridge. There was no way back. If he didn''t manage to find an outlet for all this Mana, he would probably die. So, Alex jumped forward and protected his head with his arms. Then, he hit the ground. Chest and abdomen first. Meanwhile, the God was watching Alex with a mad grin. Yes, that was exactly why he had chosen him! This kind of insanity was why he had chosen Shang! Chapter 18 Alex felt an impact. It was like he had been hit by a speeding car. Alex couldn''t even discern all the different sounds that reverberated throughout his body. He heard and felt several cracking noises, quickly followed by the sounds of rupturing flesh. Alex couldn''t breathe! "Urgh- Hurgh!" Alex puked and coughed violently as he spat blood out of his mouth. ''I can''t breathe!'' Alex coughed violently as more and more blood came out of his body. It felt like there was water in his lungs, and he desperately wanted to get some air, but only a disgusting gurgling sound came out of his mouth. CRK! CRK! Alex turned over to his side as he curled up like a shrimp. The sounds of cracking bone rang throughout his body as they quickly snapped back to their original ce. 30 seconds of absolute agony and panic passed. "Hurgh!" Alex puked up a huge mass of blood, and he took a deep breath. The panic slowly subsided as Alex gulped in a ton of air. Then, he simply sat down. This was way worse than he had imagined! How was anyone supposed to do that multiple times?! Alex onlyy on the ground, trying to hold back his tears. This was torture! However, the burning of the Mana intensified again. Alex had eaten an entire fruit, and one jump wasn''t enough. Alex''s mind fell into disarray as he couldn''t make a decision. "I don''t want to anymore!" he shouted to himself. However, as he felt the Mana be even more intense, he stood up and climbed the tree again with shaking and fidgety limbs. N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. Alex didn''t want to, but he jumped again. This time, hended on his back. CRACK! Alex had protected his head, but his spine broke apart. Another 30 breathless seconds of panic and pain passed. Alex''s body shook as hey on the ground. He didn''t want to anymore! It was so painful! Alex wished that he was back on earth, but that wish couldn''te true. He didn''t want to do this! However, the burning sensation of the Mana intensified again as his body fully regenerated. Alex slowly sat up as he slowly walked over to the tree. He had to hold back his tears. However, he climbed up the tree again, this time, higher than before. It was time for his legs. Alex climbed all the way to the top. His entire body shook, but he jumped. Alex fell for several seconds. CRACK! Alex''s legs shattered as his kneecaps shot out of his body, one of them hitting a tree and another one sliding on the ground. Some of the bones in Alex''s torso also broke, but he managed to barely stay alive. This time, it was easier since his lungs hadn''t been damaged too much. The worst thing had always been the inability to breathe. The inability to breathe brought a sense of existential dread to him. This dread was far worse than the pain. This time, the intensity of the Mana didn''t increase again. He had used up enough Mana. For a while, Alex only lied on the ground, not moving. He didn''t think about anything. He only lied there and paused. Several minutes passed, and the sensations Alex had felt in the past half an hour shot through his mind. It was like he was trying toe to terms with what he had just felt. It was so very different from his life on earth. Sure, he had gone through tough training on earth, but this wasn''t training. This was torture. Silence. For a while, Alex only listened to the silence of the forest. ''Why am I doing this to myself?'' Silence. ''Is this really the best way?'' Silence. ''I don''t know.'' Alex looked over to the tree. ''Two fruits are left.'' Silence. ''Should I?'' Silence. Swish! Alex''s eyes suddenly snapped open as he heard the sound of moving foliage. CRSH! Alex gritted his teeth violently as blood exploded out of his arm. A panther! Alex had utterly forgotten that he wasn''t in some safe location. He was in a forest filled with violent animals and creatures! Alex had lied on his back, and the panther had wanted to bite his neck. Luckily, Alex had barely managed to block the bite with his left arm. The panther bit down on Alex''s forearm, destroying the muscles. Yet, surprisingly, Alex''s bone didn''t break. The panther was violently trying to scratch him with its ws, and several wounds appeared all over Alex''s body as his hand went to his back. But there was nothing on his back! Alex realized that he had taken off his sword when he had decided tond on his back. ''Fuck!'' The panther let go of Alex''s arm and jumped back. However, Alex grabbed the panther''s neck with his right hand. Whoosh! The panther jumped back, but Alex was pulled along. Judging by the distance, the panther was stronger than the panthers on earth. After all, it had just jumped back two meters while pulling Alex with it. However, the panther wasn''t the only thing stronger than the earth-variant. Alex had managed to keep hold of the panther''s neck all this time with only one hand, which surprised him. He was sure that he hadn''t been able to do that a couple of days ago! The panther tried to get rid of Alex and attacked him with its ws, but Alex''s instincts kicked in. Alex immediately pulled himself closer and hugged the panther''s neck with his arms and its torso with his legs. The panther tried to get rid of Alex and cut him a couple more times, but Alex didn''t let go. The panther shouted aggressively, trying to get Alex away from him, but as Alex''s legs tightened even more, its aggressive shout transformed into a whimper. Alex felt how his legs squished the panther''s organs and muscles as its bones started to creak. Alex''s eyes opened with surprise. BANG! CRACK! Alex pulled his right arm back and punched the panther''s chest, which quickly caved in. The panther stopped moving, and Alex quickly took hold of its head and neck. CRACK! And the panther was dead. Alex breathed in several times as the adrenaline slowly subsided. Then, he looked at his body. ''Have I done that?'' he thought in shock. This panther was not small, and its power was no joke. Yet, the panther hadn''t been able to break Alex''s bones, and Alex had broken its bones just by punching. The difference in power was apparent! For some time, Alex only looked at the panther with shock. Something like this was only possible in a dream. How could a human kill a big cat with bare hands and with such ease at that? After a while, Alex looked at his right hand as he clenched it into a fist. Then, his eyes narrowed. ''It''s not for nothing!'' ''My past few days of pain have shown that they are not for nothing!'' Alex''s gaze immediately went to thest two fruits. Then, he walked over with determination and ate another one. The pain, panic, and torture were horrible, but the feeling of seeing his own power increase by so much had washed all of these things away. He wanted more! Chapter 19 A month had passed since Alex arrived in this world. For the first couple of days, Alex focused on finding a steady water source and scouted for ces with fruit, berries, and nuts. He didn''t know if this world followed the rules of needing different vitamins and minerals to be healthy, but he didn''t want to find out while being in the wild. After a couple of days, Alex found a river going through the valley''s center, splitting the mountain range surrounding the valley in two. In the very center of the valley was ake where the water gathered for a while before continuing down the river. Alex had found a humongous dead tree there and nned to create a home for himself. Alex had already used up all the fruits he had received from the hedgehog in a spree of self-destroying insanity. Luckily, he had gotten somewhat used to the torturous training, even if he still feared it. Courage didn''t mean being fearless but being able to ovee one''s fears. Alex still feared the time when he would gain another set of fruits, but he knew that he could jump over his shadow when it was time. The taste of power was irresistible for Alex. Even if the training was horrible and inhumane, the power he gained from it was worth it in his mind. Alex used his desire for power as fuel to ovee his fear of pain. Was something like that healthy? That depended on one''s circumstances and viewpoints. Would such pain change a person? Definitely. However, different people changed differently when undergoing such torture. How would Alex change? That remained to be seen. Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Alex stood in a clearing, constantly swinging his sword. After a brief run-in with another set of wolves, Alex had realized that he wasn''t very good at using his sword. Alex had always only fought with his body for his entire life, never with a true weapon. This made him very unustomed to fighting with an actual weapon. Following that fight, Alex had decided to train with his sword more, and just shortly after training with his sword, Alex noticed something troublesome. His triceps and back started to hurt quite quickly. Alex had trained his entire body, but training everything equally was not always the correct choice. A good example would be a climber. If someone had bulky legs, a bulky abdomen, and a bulky back, they would increase the strain on their hands and arms due to the added weight of muscles. In that case, training everything equally would not only not help but even be detrimental to performance. What about a swordfighter? Bulkiness would increase the mass and volume of the body, slowing down the speed of the fighter. Even more, if the muscles on the torso reached a certain mass, they would even restrict the movement of the arms. One only had to look at the videos of bulky men being unable to touch their backs. However, with all of that said, a certain amount of power was still necessary across the entire body. Every muscle would be required in a fight. They were just used with different intensity. Because of all these reasons, Alex decided to mainly train with his sword. He would only give his entire body a workout after every third session of sword training. Training with a sword was not any less strenuous than training one''s entire body. It simply trained different muscle groups. After every session of training with the sword, Alex felt a huge part of his body burn with pain. On earth, someone would have long since stopped training since overtraining was just as bad as undertraining. But here, there was no overtraining. After Alex was done with his training, he jumped up a nearby tree and sat down in meditation. Alex had been training like a madman, and it was showing incredible results. He no longer needed to climb a tree. With one jump, he could easily jump two meters into the air, even with the heavy sword on his back. Alex had already broken the physical limit of humans on earth. This was the effect of Mana. Some minutester, Alex jumped down from the tree and walked to the edge of the clearing. In front of Alex was a huge tree with a hole in the middle. The tree was nearly three-meters-wide, but it wasn''t the tallest tree. After all, it was already dead, and the cold wind had destroyed the upper part of its trunk. Besides the hole in the tree were several pieces of wood arranged in the shape of a big doorframe. This wasn''t a doorframe but Alex''s future hut. Every day, Alex would cut more wood and add to the wood. In a couple of days, he would have his very own, tiny hut. Alex used stone for nails, but it was a difficult process to get them into the wooden boards. After all, stone was hard but brittle. If he just hammered the nails in, they would break. Because of that, Alex had to cut out the holes with his sword and carefully insert the stone. This made the structure very unstable and wonky, but it held up for now. As long as nothing touched the structure, and as long as the wind wasn''t too strong, the structure would hold. Alex went to a bench near the structure and grabbed his clothes. His old clothes had long since been ripped to pieces, including his spare clothes. His new clothes were made of wolf fur. One would think that such clothing looked wild and powerful, but in reality, it looked poor and pitiful. However, this set of clothing was already far superior to the previous ones. After all, Alex had gotten better at sewing. Who would have thought that one of the essential skills of surviving in the cold wilds was sewing? If Alex were in a tropical climate, he wouldn''t have to bother that much with sewing. He would only need to remain in the shade most of the time, and if he walked around, he would only need to protect himself from the sun. A nket wasn''t nearly as hard to make as actual clothing. After putting on his clothes, Alex grabbed his cloak and put it around his shoulders. Alex performed a couple of jumps to test if his movement would be impaired by the new set of clothing and realized that it wouldn''t. Alex looked at the dimming sky. He couldn''t see the sun, but he wouldn''t be able to see the sun anyway, even if it were midday. Why? Because the sky was covered in oppressive, cold, grey clouds. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. It had already snowed a couple of days ago, and Alex noticed that the weather was getting colder. The winter would soon be here. This was a major problem for Alex since warmth would be of primary importance. He even guessed that temperatures might even reach -20 to -40 degrees Celsius at the peak of winter. Even if Alex had an incredibly powerful body now, he knew that he couldn''t survive such temperatures. This was why Alex concentrated on bing better at sewing and making a hut. However, there was one major problem standing in his way. Dusk soon arrived, and Alex''s eyes narrowed as he checked his equipment again. Alex touched his sword tofort himself and released a sigh as he closed his eyes. Some secondster, Alex opened his eyes with a determined look. ''You''ve crept around my camp for long enough. Sleeping has be difficult with you around, and I''m sure that you will strike soon. My hut and clothing are in danger as long as you are around. If you destroy my hut, I might not find the time to create a new one in time.'' Alex only considered his hut and clothing,pletely ignoring his own physical safety. Alex slowly walked forward as darkness took hold of the forest. There were no stars, no moon. There were only dark clouds above Alex as all the light vanished in the forest. However, Alex was no longer a normal human. The Mana had not only increased the power of Alex''s body but also the sensitivity of his senses. Alex''s five senses had be several times sharper, to the point that Alex could even see a couple of meters in front of him in this total darkness. Alex didn''t know how the Mana had been able to increase the power of his eyes. After all, the Mana couldn''t even reach his head for some reason. Yet, it was undeniable that the sensitivity of his eyes had increased tremendously. Alex walked forward, away from the hut. He didn''t want to put his hut in danger. As Alex walked forward in total darkness, he noticed some snowkes falling from the clouds. Alex could still see the white on the snowkes, even though there was basically no light in the forest anymore. He only saw small, white crystals of snow slowly falling to the ground with a backdrop of absolute darkness. Sssshh! Alex heard an incredibly silent rustling of leaves, and he gazed over. It was here. Alex saw some white eyes looking at him from the top of a distant tree. These were familiar eyes. Alex touched his coat, which looked identical to the creature''s fur. Alex had named these creatures Stalkers. This kind of creature had nearly killed him a month ago, and Alex had only won by sheer luck. This time, things would be different. Chapter 20 Alex looked at the Stalker, and the Stalker looked back. Silence. Only the cold wind could be heard. Alex slowly retrieved his sword and held it in his right hand. He no longer needed to carry it with both of his hands. Step. Then, Alex slowly stepped forward. The Stalker looked at him from a distance, silently evaluating him. In its mind, this animal was small, far smaller than it. It had seen these kinds of animals before, and they always hunted in groups. Yet, this one was alone. From what the Stalker had seen, these animals weren''t very powerful. They could only be a real danger in a group. They were slow. Their bodies were weak. Yet, this particr specimen felt different to the Stalker. More dangerous. However, the more dangerous this specimen felt, the better its meat would taste. Such creatures as the Stalkers were drawn to powerful prey. The more powerful the prey, the better. On earth, predators avoided dangerous prey unless they were really desperate. But here, things were different. The more powerful something was, the more Mana it had stored in its body. After all, physical power without Mana took a being only so far. At some point, Mana was necessary to be more powerful. Because of that, the predators that took more risks and survived had be more powerful and had fathered more offspring. After many, many years, every animal and creature in this world had the instinct of hunting powerful prey. This was also why the wolves hadn''t retreated when they had been attacked by the lizard. The lizard had killed two of the four wolves, but the remaining two wolves had still charged at it in a frenzy. This was how powerful the draw of power was for the creatures and animals of this world. Alex slowly walked closer as he kept his sword ready, never taking his eyes off the creature. This was no longer the same Alex that had appeared in this world. The old Alex had thought about many things. Family, love, sess, money, justice. However, all of these desires had been reced with a thirst for power. People changed over the course of their life, but was such a drastic change in attitude and personality in only a single month normal? Could he still be considered as Alex? Or had he already be Shang? Alex didn''t think about these things, but he had long decided that he would only walk forward, never looking backward. The old world of Alex was slowly left behind as he walked into the darkness before him. How long would it take until Alex looked back? Would he have already walked so far that he couldn''t see his starting point anymore? If that happened, Alex would have nothing left to orient himself on. Then, he would only walk forward blindly, in the darkness, in a random direction. Chances were that he would end up walking in a direction the old Alex would have never chosen. Step. Alex arrived below the tree, and the Stalker was still looking at him. It was still debating if it should attack him or not. Dangerous prey tasted incredibly delicious, but if the prey was too dangerous, the Stalker would die. Right now, this being in front of the creature felt very dangerous. Should it attack? BANG! Alex jumped upward and swung with his sword at the Stalker! The Stalker immediately jumped back! SHING! The huge branch the Stalker had just been on was easily cut in two. SHING! CRK! Alex swung his sword to the left, burying it horizontally in the trunk of the tree. The sword got stuck, and Alex used it to reposition his body, putting his feet on the trunk. BANG! Alex shot away from the tree, pulling his sword out while doing so. The first Stalker had used a simr move back then. Fight or not fight? The choice had been taken from the Stalker. Alex flew at the Stalker as it justnded on another branch. SHING! Another branch was cut apart as the Stalker quickly moved along the tree towards the ground. CRACK! The Stalker barely evaded another attack as Alex''s sword cut through two-thirds of the tree''s massive trunk. BANG! Alex shot towards the ground at the Stalker. BOOOM! Alex hit the ground, his sword creating a cut in the earth. The sound of Alex hitting the ground thundered throughout the forest. The Stalker immediately made its decision. Run! Too dangerous! It turned around and ran into the distance. BANG! Alex chased after it with explosive power. However, the Stalker was faster than Alex. Alex made a split-second decision. SHING! Something seemingly passed the Stalker and hit the tree in front of it. The Stalker looked over and saw the dangerous weapon of the human being stuck in a tree. The Stalker stopped. It wasn''t dumb. It knew that these kinds of beings needed to use these sharp things. Maybe it could win? The Stalker turned around to look at Alex. It had made its decision! It would kill this human! The human had lost his most powerful weapon! Hunger and greed took over the Stalker''s mind as it saw Alex. BANG! However, just when the Stalker saw Alex, it was already toote. Alex hadn''t stopped running, and the short moment of hesitation of the Stalker had given him enough time to catch up with it. Alex had reached the Stalker and hit it to the side of the head with an elbow. The Stalker was stunned for a bit, and Alex jumped on its back.Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Then, he grabbed its chest from behind, put his arms through its armpit, and mped his hands together on the Stalker''s neck. It was a full nelson! It sounded ridiculous. Alex was using an MMA-move on a gigantic, cat-like creature in a dark forest. However, it was the best and most effective move. The thin, stealthy, and fast frame of the Stalker had be its undoing. If it were bulkier, Alex couldn''t have used that move. Even though Alex''s weapon was now the sword, it didn''t mean that he couldn''t use other weapons as well. Alex was a trained MMA-fighter, and as long as he had enough time to study his opponent''s body, he could glean the body''s weaknesses. Alex had deliberately thrown his sword forward in an attempt to bait the Stalker into attacking him. It was risky, but Alex preferred a more dangerous, direct fight to a lurking danger. Who knew if the Stalker decided to lurk around some more and strike when Alex didn''t pay attention? He couldn''t risk that. The Stalker flopped to the ground as its forelegs moved to the side, out of its control. The Stalker hissed in a threatening manner and jumped on its back with its hindlegs. Alex fell to the ground with his back, the entire weight of the Stalker pressing down on him. However, Alex was used to falling to the ground by now! Something like this couldn''t stun him anymore! The Stalker hissed, but hissing wasn''t enough. Its limbs couldn''t reach its back, and Alex''s hands were pushing down on its neck, stopping it from turning its head and biting him. After some seconds, the Stalker''s hisses were reced with screeches. CRK! CRK! CRK! The Stalker''s body was powerful, even more powerful than Alex''s body, but it couldn''t use any strength in this position, while Alex could use the gathered power of his arms, chest, and back. CRACK! The Stalker''s left shoulder broke, and Alex lost his grip due to the loss of resistance. Usually, breaking bone with a full nelson wasn''t feasible when professional fighters fought, but Alex''s body had be powerful enough to pull something like that off. Alex let go and pushed the Stalker away, throwing it to the side. When he had juste to this world, such a feat would have seemed impossible. The Stalker quickly tried to get to its feet and scampered away. However, it couldn''t get far in its slowed-down speed. SHING! Alex had retrieved his sword and cut through the Stalker''s left thigh, severing its leg. Alex''s sword was insanely sharp. The Stalker fell over, and Alex ran to its head. SHING! The fight was over. Alex calmed down as he looked at his kill. It was so much easier than he had anticipated. The Stalker''s power and speed were far superior to him. If the Stalker had directly fought Alex, the fight would have been far more dangerous. It could have simply jumped around Alex, baiting him into striking with his sword. Then, if he made a mistake, it could have bit Alex''s arm. Alex''s arm had been able to survive the bite of a panther, but a Stalker was on an entirely different level. Such a bite would have torn Alex''s arm off. At that point, he could only wait for his death. The fight could have gone either way. Yet, it hadn''t. From the very first moment of the fight, Alex had been in control. Their powers were about equal, but the Stalker hadn''t been able to use its power. ''Initiative and intimidation,'' Alex concluded as he looked at the corpse. ''My attacks made it lose its resolve. From the very beginning, it believed that it couldn''t win, and itsck of conviction made it unable to properly fight.'' Alex''s eyes narrowed. ''I learned a valuable lesson today. If I don''t remember this lesson, I might be in the same ce as the Stalker in the future.'' ''I must always fight with my life on the line or flee without looking back when I''m faster. It doesn''t matter what I choose, but when I make my choice, I have to put my all into it without any second thoughts.'' Alex put his sword away and grabbed the severed leg. After that, Alex grabbed one of the legs of the Stalker and pulled it. SSSHHH! The sound of something heavy being dragged along the ground could be heard in the forest tonight. Alex had killed many animals in the past month. However, today, he had killed his first creature! Chapter 21 CRRR! CRRRR! The sound of something heavy being pulled along the ground resonated throughout the forest. Except for this sound, everything else was silent. This was the sound of the Stalker''s corpse being pulled through the forest. White snowkes fell down around Alex as he walked through the deep darkness. Suddenly, Alex saw a slight golden lighting from the sky. If his eyes hadn''t been strengthened, he wouldn''t have noticed this little bit of light. Above theyer of clouds was a golden shooting star, its light barely visible to him. ''A golden shooting star that''s so bright that I can even see it through a thickyer of clouds?'' Alex thought with furrowed brows. ''That''s strange. However, this world is already strange enough. This is just one more oddity added to the pile.'' Alex looked back down. This golden shooting star didn''t concern him. After a while, Alex arrived at his clearing. He hadn''t seen another animal or creature all this time. If it had been a month ago, Alex would have met at least one creature that had been drawn to him due to the sound, but Alex''s position had changed. He was no longer the vulnerable, new survivor. Now, he was one of the hunters of the forest. A normal animal would be frightened off by the Stalker''s corpse, and a powerful creature would be able to feel Alex''s power. Stalkers weren''t the most powerful creatures in the forest, but they also weren''t weak. Alex still remembered the two gigantic beasts he had seen when he had just arrived. If Alex tried to attack them, he wouldn''t even know how he had died. He couldn''t possibly fight against such behemoths with his current power. Current was the keyword. When Alex arrived at his clearing, he let go of the corpse and sat down beside it. Shing! Shing! Alex took out his sword and started to skin the corpse. In the silent, cold night, only the sound of cutting could be heard. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. It was like Alex was the only being in this world as only darkness surrounded him. After Alex was done with skinning the Stalker, he took the hide and put it near his hut. Then, Alex grabbed some dried wood from his wood stock. Alex had gathered a ton of wood the past couple of days. After all, when the true winter arrived, the snow would make all the trees wet. Alex needed dry wood to create a fire, and he needed enough to get through the winter. Just as Alex put down the first branches, his head turned to one of the edges of the clearing. Green eyes. Alex knew these eyes. It was the lizard that had stolen food from him more than once, the one that had shot the fireballs at the wolves. However, the entire dynamic had changed. When they had first met, the lizard had been overpowering. If it hadn''t exhausted itself against the wolves, it could have killed Alex. The second time they had met, they had been about equal. Now, Alex was clearly the more powerful one of the two. Alex had a lot of confidence in his ability to evade the fireballs, and even if he couldn''t evade them, he could still use his sword or cloak to block them. The lizard was dangerous but not nearly as dangerous as a Stalker. Both of them knew that Alex was the more powerful one. Alex scratched his chin in thought as he looked at the lizard from a distance. Alex decided that he wanted to try something. Splosh! Alex grabbed the severed leg of the Stalker and threw it over to the lizard. The lizard jumped to the side and looked at Alex warily. Alex didn''t move and only looked at the lizard for a while. Then, Alex went back to creating his fire. The lizard was a bit confused for a while, but it couldn''t resist its instincts. It carefully walked closer to the leg, constantly keeping an eye on Alex. PACK! The lizard bit the leg and ran away at full speed. Alex only smirked. ''Reptiles on earth are solitary creatures. It''s nearly impossible to create any kind of connection with them, even when one has them as pets for years.'' ''However, this world is different from earth. The Stalker was also smart enough to notice that I was weaker without my weapon. I think creatures are more intelligent than animals.'' ''Who knows? Maybe if I work hard enough, I can build some kind of cooperation with that lizard. If its power increases, I might even be able to use it as a form of oven or dryer. That would make surviving the winter far easier.'' ''Actually, it''s quite surprising to find reptiles in such a cold climate. Most reptiles are cold-blooded by nature, and they would freeze to death in these temperatures. I guess the fire the lizard can use keeps it warm in the winter.'' ''Anyway, that''s for the future. Right now, I need to see if this will actually work,'' Alex thought as he continued building his fire. Alex had ced the fire over ten meters away from his hut for a specific reason. After some minutes, quite a big fire roared in front of Alex. Alex cut some parts off the Stalker and grilled them around the fire. However, he didn''t dry the hide yet. Why not? He had a reason for that. Alex continued to build his hut for the next hour. Boom! A distant sound of something heavy hitting the ground could be heard. Alex smirked. ''It actually works. Should I be happy or scared?'' The sound grew louder over the next two minutes until something appeared at the edge of the clearing. It was absolutely enormous, and it had gigantic, green needles. It was the hedgehog! This was why Alex had built the fire so far away from his hut. Alex assumed that the hedgehog had found him thest time due to the fire and smell of meat, and sure enough, the hedgehog had appeared once again. Alex didn''t hide but sat several meters away from the fire, leaving enough space for the hedgehog. The hedgehog looked at Alex for a second and then focused on the fire. Just likest time, the hedgehog warmed itself over the fire for several minutes. While warming itself, it ate the entire Stalker. After some more minutes, the hedgehog walked away from the fire, not destroying it this time. After some meters, it stopped as it shook its body again. This time, it dropped far more fruits. After shaking off the fruits, the hedgehog left the clearing again. ''Sacrifice flesh to the Forest God, and you shall be awarded with fruit,'' Alex thought with a smirk. Alex looked at the retreating hedgehog and saw hundreds of fruits growing on its needles. How much would his power improve if he could eat all of those? However, Alex would never attempt to steal these fruits. This hedgehog was humongous, very noticeable, and incredibly slow. Alex knew that the Stalker wasn''t the powerful creature in this forest, which meant that there had to be more powerful ones. Yet, the hedgehog still walked around at a leisurely pace. No beast could miss this hedgehog since they could hear it from hundreds of meters away. This only meant that either nothing attempted to kill the hedgehog or that everything that attacked the hedgehog died. This hedgehog couldn''t be simple at all. Even more, Alex remembered the gigantic lizard he had seen on the mountains on his first day. That lizard had only been on the mountains, even though it could enter the forest. The thing it had killed had also been in the forest, not in the mountains. There was no reason for the gigantic lizard to not enter the forest. After all, there was much more food here. Yet, it hadn''t entered. Alex assumed that this hedgehog was the very reason for that. The gigantic lizard had to have seen the hedgehog, but it hadn''t attacked. With all of these cluesbined, Alex concluded that the hedgehog was probably the most powerful being in the entire basin. Just one of its hundreds of fruits already made Alex''s body nearly explode with Mana. This thing was a true monster, the true hegemon of this basin! Alex still remembered that the God had said that he should only go to a different wilderness when this one no longer posed any danger. This probably meant that the wilderness surrounding the basin was far more dangerous. So, why wasn''t any creature from there entering this basin? The mountains couldn''t possibly stop them since they weren''t even that high. This was the hedgehog''s territory. It probably even counted as a mighty creature on the outside. However, another question was, did no creature dare to enter¡­ Or did every creature that entered die? Alex wasn''t sure, but his attention was quickly drawn to the fruits on the ground. Alex smirked. There were so many! Chapter 22 Alex gathered the fruits. There were 26 of them, which was insane! The pig Alex had fed to the Hegemon before had only given him five, with one being taken away by the lizard. But now, Alex received 26! ''Obviously, the Hegemon is rewarding me with fruits based on the power of the prey,'' Alex thought as he gathered the fruits. ''What defines power? I guess it''s mostly the amount of Mana inside of a being. The pig had only been a normal animal, but it had been quite massive. A normal wolf would probably only give me three fruits or something like that.'' As Alex took up thest fruit, he looked at it with narrowed eyes. ''I can train my body without problems when ites to muscles, but power isn''t only muscles.'' ''I need powerful bones to resist my own power and to continue fighting after taking a heavy hit.'' ''I need powerful organs for the same reason.'' ''There''s probably even something that can increase the effectiveness of my blood. More powerful muscles need more oxygen, and the blood is the thing that transports said oxygen.'' As Alex thought about that, he furrowed his brows. ''Wait a second. If my body requires more oxygen, I would be taking far deeper breaths. After all, my muscles are already more powerful than any human''s muscles on earth. Yet, I''m breathing normally. In fact, now that I think about it, my breathing became even shallower.'' ''It''s almost like the more powerful my body gets, the less oxygen it needs, which makes no sense,'' Alex thought. ''I wonder, can Mana work as some kind of recement for oxygen? I think that''s a possibility.'' Then, Alex sighed. ''Well, even without that, blood still ys an integral function for the body, and even if the blood itself has no chance of increasing its effectiveness, my blood vessels still need to be stronger. After all, I don''t want to pop a vein whenever I bow forward.'' ''In short, everything''s important. My normal training gives me all I need for my muscles, but I require these fruits for everything else. I need to damage my body so that it can absorb Mana, and any damage to my bones or organs could prove fatal without a lot of Mana.'' Alex looked at the fire in the center of his clearing. The fire crackled peacefully, and it was the sole source of light in a sea of darkness. The white snowkes danced around it as the warm air pushed them away and melted them. The sky was dark. The forest was dark. Only the fire wasn''t dark. What kind of impact did this image have on Alex? Alienation. From what? From the fire.Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. The fire gavefort to humans, but Alex didn''t needfort. Alex''s goal was notfort and safety but power. Alex wasn''t prey anymore. He was the hunter. Alex''s killing of the Stalker had reaffirmed this mindset. However, deep inside, Alex still wanted to rest by the fire. He wanted to let go of all the pressure and dangers all around him. But Alex wouldn''t do so. Alex had learned a lot from his fight with the Stalker. The two opponents had been about equal in power. Yet, Alex had basicallye out of the fight without even being injured or in danger. The Stalker hadn''t even been able to resist. Why? Willpower! Conviction! Alex had gone all-in and had put his life on the line. He had never thought about retreat, and he had only attacked. He would either win or die attacking! ''I''ve been in simr situations before,'' Alex thought as he gazed at the fire. ''Back when I trained my ass off for my fights, I had to uphold a strict diet, had to uphold a strict training regime, had nearly no free time.'' ''I had the uncertainty of my future on my shoulders. If I lost my fight, I would not have any ways to make more money. I decided to go all-in in my training, and if I didn''t win this gamble, I would fall into oblivion.'' ''Keeping up with all of this was easy for a couple of weeks, hard for a couple of months, but the closer it got to the day of my fight, the heavier the burden became.'' ''Some days before my first fight, I wanted to just run away. I cried and wanted to end my life. All the pressure was overwhelming, and no matter what I did for the remaining couple of days, it wouldn''t offset everything I have invested in the past years.'' ''My fate had already been decided by my past actions. Yet, I didn''t know what fate would be chosen for me.'' ''It was a feeling of powerlessness. It was like I no longer had control over my destiny.'' Alex looked at the fire. ''This fire reminds me of that ce. I could abandon everything and simply sit down. I could find sce and escape this pressure. After all, I''m powerful enough to survive. I don''t need to go through this pain anymore.'' Alex''s eyes steeled. ''Yet, in order to achieve my dream, I need discipline. One day of skipping training will lead to another day a weekter, which will lead to another day a weekter until it bes normal. Then, I will eventually take another day off, and the same thing will repeat itself.'' ''In the end, I will have mostly given up.'' ''Comcency will have invaded my being.'' Alex turned around and took hold of the Stalker''s hide. Then, he went over to the fire and hung the hide near it. Alex turned away from the fire again and walked away. ''I can''t give in tocency!'' Alex arrived at his bag and looked through it. ''I still have newly-made jerky left. That''s enough food for several days. I shouldn''t eat anything right now since I will be training. I don''t want to eat jerky just to puke it out again,'' Alex thought. Alex grabbed one of the fruits and looked at it with conviction. Yet, no matter how convicted and stalwart his mind was at the moment, he still felt deep terror when he looked at the fruit. This fruit symbolized another harrowing, torturous, traumatic experience. ''I''m sure there are other ways to train my organs, bones, skin, blood vessels, and so on. I can''t imagine everyone going through this hell. The path to power is hard, but not that hard, probably.'' ''Sadly, I don''t know these other methods. Also, would these other methods be better than this one? Would they be faster?'' ''I don''t know.'' Alex hesitated a bit, but after gnashing his teeth, Alex finally swallowed the entire fruit. Alex''s body immediately felt like it started burning again. However, Alex noticed a difference. ''The sensation of burning is not as intense as before,'' Alex thought with fiery eyes. ''I will still explode if I don''t do anything about this Mana, but it doesn''t feel as immediate as before.'' ''My body has be more powerful, and the fruits no longer have as big of an effect anymore.'' ''Although, one fruit should still be enough for two jumps.'' Alex climbed the tree and looked around. Thanks to the Mana, his eyes had be so strong that he could see the entire clearing and some surroundings from the tree, even in the dead of night. Alex didn''t want to be ambushed while he was injured. ''The Mana also heals my head, even if I don''t feel the burning there. Even if I lose consciousness, as long as I don''t immediately die, the Mana should heal me.'' Then, Alex jumped. Alex had never jumped from so high. Some secondster, Alex hit the ground. He hit the ground spread-eagle. Every part of his body hit the ground at the same time. "Hurgh!" Suddenly, Alex threw himself to the side as he puked more blood. Then, Alex took a deep breath. It felt like he hadn''t breathed for a minute. Alex looked to his side at the floor, and he saw a huge pool of blood. Alex looked at his body and saw that there were basically no injuries. ''I''ve lost consciousness for half a minute to a minute,'' Alex realized. It was a terrifying thought to know that it had been a very real possibility that Alex might not have woken up again. Alex felt the Mana in his body and, sure enough, he had enough for one more jump. Alex gritted his teeth. ''I need to continue!'' Alex climbed the tree again. On this night, for several hours, the loud sounds of explosions could be heard from this part of the forest. The animals didn''t go there since it sounded like a terrifying predator. The predators didn''t go there since the sound would scare away all the prey. This was one of the reasons why Alex decided to train at night. Everyone was more careful, and no one would want to go to a noisy ce in a forest at night. Thus, Alex hadn''t been disturbed in his masochistic training for the entire night. Chapter 23 Snow stormed throughout the forest. The ground was covered with nearly a meter of snow, and the trees had transformed into silhouettes of ice and snow. It was the height of winter. It had been about four months since Alex had arrived in this world. Currently, it was noon. Sadly, the sun couldn''t be seen clearly as a violent blizzard stormed throughout the forest. Judging by the nearly horizontal icicles on the trees, this blizzard had been going on for a long time already. CRK! CRK! Suddenly, something pushed the snow beneath a huge, dead tree to the side. An opened door was revealed, which led to a small, warm area beneath the tree without snow. A figure cloaked in ck stepped out of the area. Everything about the figure had been hidden by ck fur, including the figure''s head. The figure looked like a faceless shadow of fur. This was Alex. Alex had finished his hut in time, but the hut hadn''t been able to resist the storms in the winter, which was why it had copsed. Now, Alex only lived in a tiny "room" at the bottom of the dead tree. Only a diagonal barrier of wood protected him from the cold snow. This was the best Alex could do in this situation. Luckily, it was effective enough. Right now, the temperatures even reached -40 degrees Celsius, which was frightening for someone living outside. However, Alex didn''t feel cold at all. Something was keeping him warm, even while traveling through the forest. Alex slowly stepped through the forest. Why was Alex walking through this blizzard? Because he had no other choice. Alex''s food had run out several days ago, and he had wanted to wait for the blizzard''s end. However, the blizzard just didn''t end. A conspicuous, dark shadow traveled across the snowy forest, the only dark thing in sight. It was an oddity. ''I need food,'' Alex thought. ''As soon as I get some food, I can continue training.'' Alex had summoned the Hegemon of the forest several times by now, and he had somewhat grown ustomed to the terrifying experiences that followed. Additionally, Alex''s swordsmanship had also increased considerably. Alex hadn''t had any guided training on swordsmanship, but he had continually trained all the different kinds of attacks and moves he could perform. As long as his movements became more fluid, faster, and more powerful, hisbat power should increase. Alex didn''t know if he had any weaknesses in his movements, but there was no way to rectify them, even if he had them. The creatures weren''t smart enough to notice the openings in Alex''s movements. Alex pushed himself through the snow. However, he wasn''t exactly walking upright. The snow was already very high, and Alex decided to use the snow as cover. Because of that, Alex walked with a lowered posture, not showing himself anywhere. He would only raise his head above the snow cover asionally to search for prey. Alex had always traveled through the forest at night. Why? Because he needed stealth. In the day, Alex''s prey would see him from a distance and run away. Now, this was no longer a problem. Alex''s body had be terrifyingly powerful, and he had no problems in reaching 50 ¨C 60 kilometers per hour even with all his equipment. Now, the light of day was an advantage instead of a disadvantage for him. However, there had been one more reason why Alex hadn''t traveled during the day. Powerful predators. What did this have to do with the time of day? Well, most predators hunted at night. Why? For the same reasons as Alex had hunted at night. They needed stealth in order to catch their prey and run away. Yet, what about the predators that hunted during the day? One only had to think back to earth and think about what predators were active during the night and which predators were active during the day. In North America, the predators that were active during the night were mostly small animals like weasels, for example. Yet, bears were active during the day. There were fewer predators active during the day, but the ones that were active had a higher likelihood of being far more powerful. Additionally, if a weaker predator were active during the day, there would be a high likelihood that they would be caught by a bigger predator due to the light of day. The ones that needed to hide were active during the night. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. The ones that didn''t need to hide were active during the day. Alex had killed two more Stalkers in the past couple of months, and he had also killed a gigantic anaconda, which had been a bit more powerful than a normal Stalker. The anaconda had shot ice projectiles at Alex, which he had been able to defend against with his new cloak, at least to some degree. The projectiles still shot through Alex''s cloak, but he hadn''t been injured that heavily. The ice projectiles also exined why such a tropical animal as an anaconda lived in such a cold climate. Ever since then, Alex hadn''t felt challenged again. This was also one of the reasons why Alex came out during the day instead of the night. The God had told Alex that he should be more powerful by throwing himself into danger. Right now, as long as Alex kept himself hidden during the day, he wouldn''t be in any danger anymore. This was enough to survive but not enough to reach true power. Alex knew that he had to push himself. And wasn''t this a prime opportunity for him? Such a powerful blizzard would make it harder for a big creature to move around. Additionally, the blizzard would interfere with the eyes, nose, and ears of the creature. Inparison, Alex had a thin, nearly transparent piece of skin over his eyes. This protected his eyes from the blizzard. Alex traveled through the snowy forest for nearly thirty minutes, leaving behind a crevice in the snow cover. Alex had seen about two white rabbits up to now, but he wasn''t interested in them. He wanted bigger prey. After a while, Alex arrived in front of ake. This was theke in the middle of the forest. Alex wanted toe here since there were fewer trees in the way. If something traveled across the frozenke, Alex would be able to spot it. Theke was about a kilometer wide, making it neither small nor big. However, the closer Alex got to theke, the colder he felt. ''Is the temperature dropping?'' Alex thought. When Alex reached the edge of theke, he felt like the temperature had dropped by another 20 degrees. What was going on? Why was it so much colder here? As Alex looked at theke, he got his answer. Alex narrowed his eyes as he saw the two things in the middle of theke. One thing was something that was difficult to describe. It was some form of force. Some white air came out of theke in the form of a spire, about two meters tall. It almost looked illusory. Several icicles and broken pieces of ice were seemingly levitating around the white, illusory spire. ''This is the thing that''s causing all this coldness, and I''m sure that this thing wasn''t here before,'' Alex thought. Then, Alex looked at the other thing. ''And that thing too.'' What was the other thing? An ice bear. A big one. A really big one. The ice bear was probably nearly three meters tall, which was insane. That was the height of an elephant! This thing probably weighed several tons! By now, Alex had cultivated some sort of feeling of animals and creatures. How powerful did this creature feel? Far more powerful than a Stalker. More powerful than the ice anaconda. Probably a bit weaker than the gigantic lizard Alex had seen on the mountains on his first day. Far weaker than the Hegemon. The bear slept beside the spire. ''This spire probably releases something that makes it easier for creatures with the ice element to be more powerful. I don''t know if there are types of Mana, but if there were, this would probably be concentrated Ice Mana.'' Alex looked at his surroundings a bit more and found some bones strewn around theke. ''I think nearly all animals with an Ice Affinity are drawn to this spire, but this bear has probably won the bloody battle.'' Alex remembered the gigantic lizard he had seen on his first day. ''The lizard didn''t dare to enter the basin, but this bear did. Yet, this bear only feels a bit weaker than that lizard.'' ''This probably means that this bear represents the highest power allowed by the Hegemon. Judging by the fear of the lizard, anything more powerful than this bear will probably be killed by the Hegemon. I don''t know how the hedgehog does it, but that''s the only exnation I cane up with.'' Alex narrowed his eyes and gritted his teeth. ''It''s a huge risk, but I''m supposed to risk my life. It doesn''t feel like I would be helpless in front of this bear, but it also doesn''t feel like I can win. It''s a gamble.'' Alex''s fist shook in conflict, but eventually, it rxed. ''If I turn back now, I will turn back againter. I can''t allow that!'' Alex readied his sword and patted the side of his torso a bit to check for something. Then, he walked towards theke. Chapter 24 Alex stepped onto the ice. The surroundings became even colder as Alex walked forward. However, Alex quickly noticed something that would change the entire dynamic of the fight. Alex nearly fell over as his feet lost their grip. ''It''s fucking ice! How could I have overlooked something like that?!'' he thought in frustration. Alex stabbed his sword into the ice. The sword easily entered the ice, almost like it didn''t exist. Then, Alex pushed himself forward, using his sword as an anchor point in the ice. Alex practiced a bit to get used to his new form of movement. After some minutes, Alex had a good grasp on how to move properly on the ice. Luckily, the bear was still sleeping. It either didn''t notice him, or Alex didn''t feel dangerous enough for it to care. Alex looked at the bear with narrowed eyes. ''It can use its ws to run on the ice. It has the advantage in that sense.'' Then, Alex smirked. ''However, the ice can also be disadvantageous to it if I use it correctly.'' Then, Alex slid forward. After around 200 meters of gliding across theke, the bear opened its eyes and lifted its head as it looked at Alex. Alex''s heart jumped as their gazes met. ''Powerful!'' Alex thought. ''But I can''t always live in safety! If I want power, I have to push myself!'' The two only gazed at each other for several seconds. CRRRR! After the bear saw that Alex didn''t move, it started to silently growl, the vibrations going across theke. ''It either feels threatened or annoyed by me,'' Alex thought. Alex continued sliding forward. When the bear saw that Alex didn''t retreat, it stood up as it turned to him. Its growl became louder as it tried to scare Alex away. Alex came closer. Now, only 100 meters separated them. Suddenly, the cold air around the bear transformed into a cold storm. The bear took a deep breath, and Alex felt his hairs stand on end. Alex immediately jumped to the side. SHING! A spear made of ice whizzed past Alex''s body with insane speeds. BANG! The spear of ice punched through a tree and got stuck in the tree behind that one. Alex took a deep breath. This bear was no joke! Alex had already met several beasts with these kinds of elemental powers, but this bear was on a completely different level. The lizard Alex had seen a couple of times could only throw weak fireballs. The anaconda had only been able to shoot some cold wind. The Stalker also had an elemental power, but it hadn''t been used as a form of attack but for keeping it hidden and silent. Yet, this bear could transform its elemental powers into an actual attack. Alex tightened the grip on his sword and continued going towards the bear. The bear noticed that Alex had evaded, and it quickly formed another spear. The spear shot forward. BANG! This time, Alex blocked the ice spear with the side of his sword. Alex could have evaded the attack, but he wanted to test if he could block it. It was better to test it from a distance in case his sword broke. If that happened, he could still flee. Alex''s arms shook, and his body got stopped by the power of the spear, but he had not gotten injured. Alex quickly rammed his sword into the ground and shot himself forward with all his power. In an instant, Alex''s speed multiplied as he shot towards the bear. The bear roared in aggression as another ice spear materialized, which it then directly shot at Alex. CRR! Alex fell on his ass and continued sliding forward, the spear passing over him, freezing parts of his hair. Alex had arrived in front of the bear. BOOOM! Alex rammed his sword into the ground to stop himself, and a meaty paw exploded on the ice in front of Alex. If he hadn''t stopped himself in time, he would have been killed. Ice exploded in front of Alex as part of the icyke was destroyed. Alex''s eyes never lost their conviction, even if he had several brushes with death. Conviction! He had to attack! Alex used his sword as support and threw himself over it. WHOOSH! A paw swiped past Alex, barely hitting the sword. Yet, the hit had already achieved its effect. Alex''s sword was thrown to the side. Alex still managed to keep hold of his sword, but the trajectory of his jump had changed. Alex had wanted to attack the bear from above, but he just passed it by on its upper left. The bear quickly stood up onto its hind legs and tried to swipe at Alex again. The bear''s speed was incredibly fast, far faster than Alex had anticipated. Alex put his sword in front of himself. He couldn''t evade while being in the air, which meant that he could only block. CRK! Suddenly, the ice beneath the bear broke, and the bear''s hind legs fell into holes. Because of that, the bear''s swipe missed Alex. ''Just as I''ve thought,'' Alex thought as hended on the other side, sliding away. ''The bear is already incredibly heavy. Obviously, the ice is sturdy and thick, but there has to be a limit to the ice''s strength. It can resist the bear''s weight when it''s spread apart, but not when it''s concentrated.'' The bear shouted in frustration and pulled itself out of the ice. At the same time, Alex put his sword into the ice again and changed his trajectory. There was now a distance of 20 meters between them. The bear turned to Alex. Then, it charged forward, the ice cracking beneath its powerful strides. Alex used his sword like a ski pole to control his trajectory and speed as he circled around the bear. The bear came closer, and Alex used his sword to immediately and sharply change his trajectory. BOOOOM! Another powerful paw hit the ice, but Alex managed to evade it. Alex continued sliding around, and the same thing repeated itself once again. How was the bear not able to hit Alex? It shouldn''t be that stupid, right? Ever tried to hit a fly in the air with a hand? It was difficult. Why? It wasn''t because of the speed. After all, a human''s hand could move faster than the fly. No, the problem was the fly''s ability to change trajectories in an instant. This gave the fly the ability to evade things that were moving even faster than it. The bear was faster than Alex, but Alex''s sudden changes of trajectory were throwing it off. SSSSSS! The sound of something cutting could be heard as Alex slid around the bear. The bear grew more frustrated as it realized that it couldn''t hit Alex. CRK! It formed another ice spear and shot it at Alex. BANG! Alex blocked it with his sword. Then, he continued sliding around the bear. The bear shouted in frustration and condensed another ice spear. Suddenly, Alex changed his trajectory again and slid towards the bear. BANG! Alex blocked the spear again and got stopped by it. Suddenly, another spear appeared. BANG! Alex was pushed back, and he fell onto his back due to the force, sliding away from the bear. Another spear. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. DING! Due to Alex lying on the ground, the spear passed over him and buried itself in the ground behind him. CRK! Alex slid right into the spear, and Alex frantically pushed himself away. Alex had stopped his slide by using his free hand to stop himself by grabbing the spear. However, the Stalker''s coat between Alex''s hand and the spear froze in an instant! This spear''s temperature was frighteningly low! If Alex had grabbed the spear directly, his free arm would have been frozen solid! The frozen part of Alex''s coat broke off like a piece of ice. Alex quickly jumped to his feet and slid away again, barely dodging another ice spear. Then, he slid towards the bear again, dodging another spear. Suddenly, Alex jumped. Alex looked with fiery eyes at the bear. However, Alex gritted his teeth when he realized that the bear didn''t stand up! His entire n hinged on the bear standing up! Instead, another ice spear appeared above the bear. Alex changed the position of his sword. He had wanted to strike the bear, but he had to block again. CRK! Yet, Alex''s eyes widened in horror as a second spear formed above the bear. Then, both spears shot at Alex. Alex couldn''t block both of them! He would get hit by one! Chapter 25 Alex gritted his teeth. If he had to take one of the two spears, he would take the one that hit a less vital area! SHING! SHING! The two spears shot forward, and Alex''s sword blocked one of them. SHING! However, the other one punched through Alex''s left shoulder. Before Alex''s left armpletely froze, he issued onestmand to it. Whoosh! Alex''s coat was thrown up as his left arm lifted upward. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. Then, Alex''s left arm and a huge part of his torso froze over in nearly an instant. "Now!" Alex shouted. As Alex''s coat was thrown upward, his torso was revealed, and something new with it. How had Alex been able to stay warm in such insanely cold weather? Around Alex''s torso was arge, green lizard! It was curled around Alex''s torso, and it radiated a ton of heat! It was the lizard that Alex had met on his first day! The lizard had already prepared itself. BANG! The lizard shot a fireball in the bear''s face. BOOM! The fireball exploded on the bear''s head, making it scream in fear and pain. Its eyes werepletely destroyed! Its fur was singed, and burns littered its face. However, it wasn''t dead yet. In the chaos, the bear stood up. CRK! CRK! The bear''s hind legs broke through the ice again, and the bear''s torso hit the front of the ice as it lost its bnce. CRK! Suddenly, the ice in a rough circle around the bear broke. Back when Alex had slid around the bear, he had cut out the part of the ice where the bear was standing on. The bear''s fall broke the ice. CREEEAAK! Suddenly, the icecap started tilting towards one side. The bear''s hind legs were in the center of the icecap, while its torso was on one side. Like a human that leanedpletely to one side while wearing a lifebuoy in the water, the icecap completely tilted. BANG! Until it turned 180¡ã! The bear''s body was now below the ice as its hind legs stuck out from the ice. Alex gritted his teeth as the burning pain from his left side seared itself into his mind. Alex heard a muffled roar from below the ice as the icecap shook with power. When Alexnded, he used his sword to shoot himself towards the bear''s legs. CRACK! Alex swung his sword at one of the legs, and it cut to the middle of the leg, only being blocked by the bone. This was the first creature that managed to resist Alex''s sword to some degree. Alex immediately swung a second time! CRACK! The bone was broken, and with another swing, the bear''s left hind leg was cut off. A shower of blood shot out, coating Alex''s entire body. Alex could hear another terrifying roar beneath the ice, but he couldn''t get distracted now. BANG! Alex hit the bear''s other leg before it managed to free itself. BANG! However, suddenly, something shocking happened. The bear''s other leg was pulled below the surface of theke with terrifying speed! Alex''s eyes widened. ''This couldn''t have been the bear! That yank was too powerful!'' Silence. Only the blizzard roared. Theke waspletely silent. Alex slowly walked forward and looked through one of the two holes. Red! The water beneath the hole was blood red! This wasn''t right! For Alex, the atmosphere on theke changed. From a natural calm to a terrifying calm. Alex didn''t feel like he was on ake but on the roof of a terrifying creature''s domain. The way the bear had been pulled underwater had been unnatural. It was like a giant hand had simply yanked the bear out. Suddenly, the silent sound of something smalling out of the water could be heard. Alex''s body shuddered, and he quickly jumped away from the two holes. What had he just seen?! A long and thin tentacle had silentlye out of one of the holes! The tentacle directly went to the middle of theke, towards the ethereal ice spire in the middle. The tentacle seemingly didn''t end as it extended for over 20 meters! When the tentacle arrived beside the ethereal spire, it moved around it, seemingly inspecting it. After some seconds, the tentacle pulled back into the water. CRRRR! Then, the two holes in the ice quickly got repaired. It was like the ice hadn''t been damaged at all! Alex hadpletely stopped breathing as he watched all of this unfold. He didn''t want to make any sound. After a bit, Alex noticed something else, and what he saw shook him to the core. The ethereal spire in the middle of theke. It had grown bigger and more powerful! Immediately, Alexbined several clues into a terrifying picture. ''This is not some natural Mana phenomenon,'' Alex thought. ''This is bait!'' ''This¡­ thing created this ethereal spire to lure in a powerful creature! Then, it would consume the creature after a while!'' ''This is a trap!'' Alex took a deep breath. If it were another creature like the bear, Alex wouldn''t feel so distraught. However, the power with which this thing had pulled the bear down had been too frightening. It was like a grown man that had yanked on a mere piece of grass! The yank had been so powerful that it was probably harder to not identally tear the bear apart than to pull it out of the ice! The bear and this thing were not on the same level at all! ''Maybe the hedgehog actually isn''t the most powerful thing in this forest?'' Alex thought with terror. ''What if the hedgehog isn''t the reason why there are no powerful creatures here?'' ''What if the reason is that thing in theke?'' Suddenly, Alex felt something pull on his coat, and Alex nearly jumped back. However, he realized that it was only the lizard that had climbed down. The lizard seemingly wanted to pull Alex towards the ethereal spire in the middle of theke. The lizard looked at Alex''s frozen left arm, then at the spire, at Alex''s arm again, and at the spire again. Alex also looked at his arm and gritted his teeth. ''My arm is basically destroyed,'' he thought with pain. Alex''s entire arm had been frozen solid, and the cold even started to invade his torso. Alex knew that his left arm had alreadypletely died. Alex looked at the ethereal spire. Just like before, ice formed around the spire continuously, and it danced around it in a calm manner. Alex''s instincts were telling him that there was a ton of Mana in there! ''However, this is that thing''s bait,'' Alex thought. ''The lizard thinks that this spire can help me. Maybe its ice powers can heal my dead arm?'' Alex looked at the calmke, and he felt the overbearing pressure in the air. ''But if that thing notices me, I''m dead.'' Alex looked at his left arm again. ''However, I already lost an arm. This will severely cripple my fighting ability,'' Alex thought. Then, he looked back at the spire. ''Should I try getting the spire or not?'' Silence. A minute passed. And then, Alex made his decision. Alex turned around and left theke. ''I can''t risk it. There is probably a way to heal my arm on the outside, but I can''t revive myself from the dead,'' Alex thought. ''It''s too risky!'' CREEAAK! However, Alex suddenly heard the sounds of trees being bent from the shore of theke. Alex knew that sound! Sure enough, just a bitter, the hedgehog had appeared at the edge of theke. Alex looked at the hedgehog, and the hedgehog looked at Alex. Then, the hedgehog looked at the spire in the middle. Then, it looked at Alex again. It seemingly looked at Alex with expectation. Alex looked at the hedgehog''s actions, and he felt like he could understand its intentions. ''Does it want me to grab the spire?'' Chapter 26 Alex looked at the hedgehog, unsure if he was judging its intentions correctly. Alex pointed towards the spire with his sword and looked at the hedgehog. The hedgehog didn''t react. It continued looking at Alex with expectation. ''Fuck! Does it want me to get this ethereal spire for it?!'' Alex thought. ''Is it forcing me to retrieve it?!'' Alex started sliding towards a different direction of where the hedgehog was. CREEEAK! The hedgehog followed Alex''s new trajectory, and it quickly arrived at the spot where Alex was sliding towards. ''Fuck! It won''t let me go! It will probably kill me if I exit theke!'' Alex was stuck between a rock and a hard ce. He either had to go against the hedgehog or the thing in theke. Both of these creatures were far beyond his capabilities to deal with! Alex felt stifled and frustrated beyond belief. Others were deciding his fate! He hated that! Alex looked with hate at the hedgehog, but its demeanor didn''t change. It still looked at Alex expectantly. After a while, Alex clenched his fist. ''If I have to choose, I''ll choose to help the hedgehog,'' Alex thought. ''The hedgehog has at least rewarded me when I gave it something. Instead, that thing in theke will probably just ignore or consume me.'' ''Sadly, I''m not powerful enough to make demands. I''mpletely at the mercy of the hedgehog''s whims.'' In the end, Alex shooed the lizard away. He didn''t want it to get hurt. Alex turned to the ethereal spire, and the lizard understood what Alex meant. Without hesitation, the lizard shot towards the shore of theke, vanishing into the forest. The hedgehog didn''t even look at it. ''Sure enough, the lizard only cares about me as long as I''m of use to it. It will abandon me at the first sign of weakness. It might even kill me when I''m showing weakness,'' Alex thought. However, he had already expected something like that. The lizard wasn''t Alex''s pet. It was a wild animal and a reptile on top of that. Reptiles weren''t known for their affection towards other animals. Eventually, Alex moved around the ethereal spire and stopped behind it. Right now, the spire was in front of Alex, and behind the spire, on the edge of theke, was the hedgehog. Alex would speed towards the spire, absorb it, and continue rushing towards the hedgehog. This was the best method he coulde up with. Alex took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself. SHING! Then, Alex put his sword into the ice and shot himself forward. Alex elerated as much as he could. And then, Alex''s frozen arm hit the ethereal spire! WHOOOM! It was like the spire had been disturbed! The ethereal spire became deformed. The spire''s form changed, and it started to curl around Alex''s arm. It was like a soft band made of paper that was being pulled along. SSSHH! The sound of sizzling could be heard as the ethereal form of the spire wrapped itself around Alex''s body in an instant. Alex felt like he was touched by something of terrifying coldness! Yet, Alex''s body wasn''t being frozen or injured. Alex felt a cold sensation creep into his body. However, the outside of his body started to warm up again. It was like the cold sensation was moving through his body. Alex felt the cold sensation enter his head of its own volition. Yet, there seemingly was a blockage that stopped it from advancing. After a moment, the cold sensation gave up trying to get into Alex''s head, and traveled towards his frozen arm again. Suddenly, Alex''s left arm regained feeling, and he felt like his arm became even colder than before. Alex barely managed to jerk his left arm in panic. WHOOOM! Suddenly, a terrifyingly cold wind came out of Alex''s left arm. The cold wind hit the ice cover beneath Alex, and an additionalyer of ice formed on that spot. Yet, something shocking happened at the same time! Alex''s arm instantly warmed up! In actuality, Alex''s arm felt quite hot suddenly! It was like Alex had gathered all the cold in his body and had expelled it. Even the ice spear, which was stuck in his shoulder, was melting away. It was like Alex''s left arm had worked with the same principles as an air conditioning unit! In order to make a room cold, an air conditioner needed to transport the heat somewhere else. If the inside of a room was as hot as the outside and the air conditioner was turned on, the inside would be colder, and the outside would be hotter. The hot temperature was gathered and expelled. Alex''s arm had seemingly done something with the same principle but reversed. Alex had cooled the surroundings, resulting in his left arm bing hotter. However, Alex had far bigger problems right now and didn''t have any time to analyze this right now. All of this had happened in just three seconds. And three seconds after Alex absorbed the ethereal spire¡­ BOOOOOOOM! A gigantic, brown¡­ boulder-like thing broke through the middle of theke. It was over ten meters tall and nearly three meters wide. A line went through the boulder-like thing. Alex knew what this was, and his heart beat fiercely in his chest. ''That''s the beak of a gigantic octopus!'' he realized. If already the beak of the octopus was ten meters long, how huge was the entire creature?! The beak had punched through the middle of theke, and it had closed around it. The octopus had probably assumed that Alex was still there. Luckily, Alex had grabbed the ethereal spire while sliding. Alex looked with terror behind him. BOOOOOOOM! Suddenly, the entireke exploded! The gigantic octopus had realized that it had caught nothing, and its entire body broke out of theke. It couldn''t let go of its bait! It cost too much Mana to condense something like that! Tentacles nearly 50-meters-long stretched across theke as a gigantic head came out of the water. The eyes of the octopus quickly looked around, and they immediately spotted the running Alex. BOOOOOM! The tentacles all punched down at the frozenke. Surprisingly, the ice didn''t break. That was because the octopus had used its ice powers to increase the hardness of the ice. As the octopus smashed its tentacles down, its body left the water and flew towards Alex. It had thrown itself over 50 meters into the air, right towards Alex! Alex''s heart nearly stopped. This octopus was too fast! It would catch him in an instant! ''I''m dead!'' The tentacles of the flying octopus stretched towards Alex. It would catch him in a second! Alex looked forward with desperate eyes. Yet, what he saw made him despair. The hedgehog had turned around! It wasn''t even looking at him anymore! Alex''s eyes opened widely with terrified eyes. And then, everything changed! BANG! It was one loud, explosive sound. N?velDrama.Org ? 2024. It was like a grenade had gone off! Suddenly, Alex felt a storm hit his body. A terrifying wind had suddenly picked up, and Alex''s body was hurled across theke uncontrobly! As Alex was thrown around, he managed to catch a glimpse of the octopus in the air, and an image was burned into his mind! Over 20 extremely long, green needles had buried themselves into the octopus'' body! This was the reason for the explosive sound and the terrifying storm! The needles had exploded off the hedgehog''s body, had passed by Alex''s body with unimaginable speeds, and had buried themselves into the octopus! The wind of the needles had thrown Alex across theke! The sheer power of the needle-explosion had stopped the massive octopus in the air! Then, Alex saw the hedgehog quickly peek behind itself. After that, it turned away again. BANG! Another terrifying explosion and another twenty needles shot through the octopus! The ground beneath the hedgehog broke due to the unimaginable force, and the octopus was thrown across theke. BANG! Another explosion and the octopus was thrown even farther away! Alex quickly lifted himself off the ground again and ran towards the edge of theke. The hedgehog turned around, and then it exploded forward. BOOOOM! The hedgehog exploded with absolutely terrifying speed! It was racing around theke, avoiding the ice. It knew that the ice wouldn''t be able to withstand its weight. Alex''s eyes opened in shock as he saw the unreal speed of the hedgehog. How could he have thought that the hedgehog was slow?! That thing was moving with over 200 kph! All the trees around it were utterly annihted, creating a terrifyingly long trail of destruction. BANG! Meanwhile, the octopusnded outside theke, inside the forest. Its tentacles were violently iling around, destroying everything in its surroundings. Some secondster, the hedgehog arrived near the octopus. BANG! BANG! BANG! Alex couldn''t see, but he heard the sounds of two gigantic beasts fighting in the distance. This was not a fight he could get involved in! However, the sounds vanished in less than ten seconds. The fight was already over! Alex took a deep breath. Then, he slowly made his way to the fighting area. Alex could see some green needles peeking over the trees, and they were moving around. He couldn''t see any gigantic tentacles above the trees. This meant that the hedgehog had won. ''Sure enough, the Hegemon is the Hegemon,'' Alex thought. Alex slowly calmed down as he realized that he had managed to avoid death. ''I wonder if the hedgehog will reward me? I hope so. Fleeing now makes no sense. If the hedgehog wants to kill me, there''s nothing I can do.'' Alex only hoped that the hedgehog''s personality wouldn''t suddenly change into a cruel one. Chapter 27 Alex walked towards the area where the giant octopus hadnded. He didn''t want to miss out on any potential rewards the hedgehog had for him. While Alex was walking to that ce, he looked at his left arm. His left arm was no longer frozen, and it actually felt a bit hot. Sadly, his left arm was still severely injured. The freezing of organic materialpletely destroyed its structure, severing veins, and many other things. Alex''s left arm hadn''t been in pain while it had been frozen, but as soon as it had thawed, Alex felt searing paining from it. Alex couldn''t really move it much, but he could still experiment with it. The ethereal spire had entered Alex''s left arm, and it remained there. He had already identally shot some cold air out of his left arm earlier, and Alex wanted to know how that worked. Alex was already familiar with how it felt to move Mana, and he willed for the cold Mana in his left arm to explode. SSSHH! A st of cold air left Alex''s left arm. Since his left arm was still limply hanging around, the cold hit part of Alex''s left leg and the ground. The ice below Alex''s left arm grew by a bit, and the coat on Alex''s left legpletely froze. However, Alex was too busy with something else. As soon as Alex had willed the Ice Mana to explode, his arm started to burn. Well, it wasn''t burning literally, but it felt like it was burning. Alex quickly ran to one of the spots with destroyed ice. The octopus had destroyed a huge part of the lake when it had surfaced. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. SSSSSS! Alex put his arm directly into the icy water and gritted his teeth. The sound of something hot touching cold water could be heard as soon as Alex''s arm hit the water. ''Fuck! That''s so hot!'' Alex thought. ''Are you serious?! You have Mana, and you follow the Laws of Thermodynamics?! You want to make stuff cold, so you have to make other stuff hot?! Why can''t you just do something magical?!'' After a while, Alex pulled his arm out and moved it through the air for a bit. His arm had received several burns. However, it was coated with a thin coating of ice now. His arm definitely felt colder than before. ''My arm is colder than before. So, let''s try again!'' SSSHH! Another st of cold air, and Alex immediately dipped his arm into the cold water again. ''It''s not as hot as previously, but it still feels like I touched a hot te or something,'' Alex concluded. After a while, Alex pulled his arm out again. ''I wonder, can I use less?'' Alex tried to suppress the Mana but also made a bit of it explode. SSSH! A cold wind left Alex''s left arm again, and Alex''s arm heated up again. However, this time, Alex''s arm wasn''t burning hot. It was just ufortably hot, the temperature that would make someone sweat profusely. Yet, in exchange, the cold air that left Alex''s left arm wasn''t as cold as in the earlier sts. Alex scratched his chin as he thought about everything he had witnessed. ''So, my arm heats up proportionally to how cold the air is. I''m not sure, but I think the amount of air leaving my arm is the same as the weight of my arm. Because of that, the sts are quite powerful.'' ''Now, I need to test something else.'' Alex grabbed his left arm with his right arm and pointed it at his face. ''Just a little bit. Just a tiny, little bit,'' Alex thought. SSSSSHH! Alex''s head was blown back by the storming out of the arm. However, since he had only used a little bit, Alex''s face wasn''t injured. Only some icicles had formed on Alex''s face. Alex rubbed the icicles off his face and looked at his arm with excitement. ''Interesting,'' Alex thought, scratching his chin. ''I only used a tiny fraction, and my arm probably only heated up by a single degree. Yet, the air on my face was slightly colder than the surrounding air.'' ''This means that this st uses the outside temperature as a reference when cooling something, not the arm itself.'' ''So, theoretically, if it were -40¡ãC right now, and if my arm were 20¡ãC hot, and if I unleashed a st equaling 20¡ãC, the st of air would be -60¡ãC, and my arm would reach 40¡ãC.'' Alex scratched his chin as aplicated expression appeared on his face. ''That means the power of this ability relies heavily on my environment. After all, if I were in some desert that''s 50¡ãC and I did the same thing, my arm would reach 40¡ãC, and my opponent would get a comfortable breeze of 30¡ãC hot air.'' ''However, in a cold environment, the effect would be different,'' Alex thought as he looked around. ''Sure, the creatures living in such a cold environment have a great cold resistance, but that''s only true to a certain extent.'' ''A beast living in a 50¡ãC hot desert wouldn''t mind a st of 30¡ãC hot air. However, a beast living in a -40¡ãC cold tundra would have some issues with a st of -60¡ãC cold air.'' ''Even more, I can reduce the temperature of my left arm even further in cold weather. I could run around with a 5¡ãC cold arm without issues. It would simply feel very dull, numbs, and awkward. However, I could unleash a st of 35¡ãC. In a cold climate, this would severely damage someone. After all, the st would nearly reach -100¡ãC!'' ''Additionally, if I''m willing to pay some injuries, I can even st them with like 60¡ãC or something. Sure, my arm would get severe burns and would be useless until I healed it, but my enemy would be frozen.'' Alex scratched his chin. ''There surely are some uses for this ability in a fight. My sword is one-handed anyway, leaving me with a free arm.'' Alex had been walking all this time, and he finally came close to his goal. Alex passed a tree and saw an area of absolute destruction. The trees were all destroyed, and many gigantic needles poked out of the unmoving octopus. Right now, the hedgehog was calmly munching on the octopus, seemingly without a care in the world. Alex walked up to one of the tentacles and saw how it towered over him. This was one of the thicker tentacles of the octopus, and just its width was at least three meters. It was like Alex stood before the fleshy wall of an estate. That tentacle was probably fifty meters long, which simply seemed unreal. Alex jumped onto the tentacle and walked along with it. Then, Alex walked over to the spot where the hedgehog was currently munching away and stopped before it. The hedgehog continued eating, but after some seconds, it noticed him. The hedgehog extended its head to Alex and sniffed several times. Alex became a bit nervous. Maybe it smelled the ethereal spire in his body? After all, it was currently munching on the creator and actual owner of the ethereal spire. Maybe Alex smelled simr to the octopus? He hoped not! After a bit of sniffing, the hedgehog pulled its head back and looked at Alex. Then, it looked at the octopus below Alex. Then, back at Alex again. After that, the hedgehog walked to the tentacle where Alex hade from. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! After a minute of biting, the hedgehog had severed the tentacle from the corpse. BANG! Then, the hedgehog threw the tentacle a couple of meters into the distance with a kick from its paw. After that, it looked at Alex again for a while. And after that, it went back to eating. Alex realized what the hedgehog meant. It had given Alex one of the tentacles! Alex became excited for a bit. The Octopus probably had an insane amount of Mana stored in its body! However, Alex quickly deted and sighed. That tentacle weighed so many tons! He couldn''t possibly eat all of that. Alex scratched his chin for a bit. Then, he walked to the end of the tentacle and tried to move it with all his power. Alex managed to lift thest couple of meters of the tentacle and rotated it slightly towards the hedgehog. "Hey!" Alex shouted. "I can''t eat that! You take it!" The hedgehog stopped munching and looked at Alex. Alex pointed at the tentacle, shook his head, and then pointed at the hedgehog. The hedgehog looked at Alex for a bit and realized what he meant. The hedgehog walked over, bit down on the tentacle, and moved it back to the corpse, showing that the tentacle now belonged to it. Alex looked expectantly at the hedgehog. The hedgehog looked at Alex for a while. Ten seconds of nothing happened. The hedgehog was probably thinking hard on what to do. Then, it looked at the sky for a bit, seemingly thinking about something. Lastly, it looked at Alex again. RRMM! RRMM! RRMM! The hedgehog''s body began to vibrate slightly in a rhythmic pattern. Alex recognized the sound. ''Hey, isn''t that the weird sound dogs make before they barf?'' Alex thought. Sure enough, the hedgehog opened its mouth and spat something out. However, it wasn''t barf, but something else. Alex''s eyes widened in shock at what he saw! Chapter 28 What had the hedgehog spat out? Something brown hit the ground. It almost looked like a regr piece of earth. However, the brown piece of earth quickly dissolved into mist, which gathered in the air above it. In the end, some brown mist had formed in the shape of a spear, and several clumps of earth materialized in the air and fell to the ground. Alex almost couldn''t believe it. It was another ethereal spire! However, it also seemed logical to Alex. If the octopus could create an ethereal spire, why couldn''t the hedgehog? From what he had seen, the octopus'' ethereal spire had something to do with the Ice Element, and the hedgehog''s ethereal spire was obviously of the Earth Element. Could Alex have two ethereal spires in his body? Alex walked over to the ethereal spire, which was slowly being burrowed by the earth forming around it. ''I should first try my right arm,'' Alex thought. ''I don''t know if the two spires will cancel each other out or something.'' ''I just hope I won''t explode or something.'' Alex put his sword to the side and touched the brown ethereal spire with his right hand. The spire wrapped itself around Alex''s right arm and vanished into Alex''s body. Alex felt how the ethereal spire moved throughout his body. First, it traveled through his right arm to his head. However, just like with the previous one, this ethereal spire seemingly couldn''t reach Alex''s mind. It was like something was blocking its way. After that, the ethereal spire went to Alex''s left arm, and Alex became nervous. How would the spires interact? Alex felt how the brown ethereal spire entered his left arm and then¡­ Nothing happened. After a bit, it exited Alex''s left arm and went to his legs. Then, it inspected Alex''s torso. Lastly, the ethereal spire went back to Alex''s head. "Huuurgh!" Alex felt like he had barfed, and the ethereal spire left Alex''s body through his mouth. Then, itnded in front of him and simply stayed there. Alex blinked a couple of times as he looked at the brown ethereal spire. ''Well, seems like I can''t use that. Does it have something to do with the strange Affinity the God was telling me about?'' Alex thought. Then, Alex looked at his left arm. ''Do I have an Ice Affinity?'' Alex thought. ''Honestly, I''m not so sure. The God told me that my Affinity would be very special, and, honestly, if I had an Ice Affinity, my left arm probably wouldn''t heat up if I used that spire. I can''t imagine every Ice Mage burning to a crisp as soon as they use a spell.'' Alex scratched the back of his head. ''I mean, my Affinity obviously has something to do with Ice, but it probably isn''t pure Ice. At the same time, it probably has nothing to do with Earth. Wonder what it is,'' Alex thought. Alex looked at the hedgehog with aplicated expression. "Hey, I can''t use that!" Alex shouted. The hedgehog looked at Alex again. Alex took two steps away from the brown ethereal spire. Slurp! Without waiting for a second, the hedgehog slurped up the ethereal spire. Obviously, it hadn''t beenfortable with handing something like that over. That was probably also why it had thought over its decision for so long earlier. Then, the hedgehog walked away from the octopus and began violently shaking. Plonk! Plonk! Plonk! An avnche of fruit fell off the hedgehog''s needles. Its needles becamepletely empty of fruit! There were hundreds! Alex''s eyes widened. He knew how powerful these fruits were! All these fruits couldn''t evenpare to a single tentacle of the octopus or one of the ethereal spires?! Even more, the hedgehog seemed rather happy with that trade. It had appeared neutral when it gave Alex the tentacle. When it gave Alex the ethereal spire, it had definitely been unwilling. But when it had given Alex the fruit, it seemingly hadn''t minded a single bit. This meant: Hundreds of fruits < tentacle < ethereal spire. ''Huh, apparently, I made quite a steal by absorbing that ice spire,'' Alex thought. ''However, how do I even transport all of these fruits?'' Alex thought as he scratched his chin. There were several mountains of fruits, all about a meter tall. Alex sighed. ''Obviously, I can''t transport all of them. Well, let''s forget about returning home. I can just train here,'' Alex thought. Alex looked at the blizzard storming around him. ''Also, with that new ability, I can keep myself warm. As my blood travels through my left arm, the temperature of my arm will be distributed along my body. As long as it''s not too cold, that''s enough to heat my entire body. It''s essentially not any different from what my body is naturally doing anyway.'' Crunch! Alex looked at one of the mountains and saw a familiar creature. "Of course you return as soon as you''re no longer in danger," Alex said with a sarcastic tone while looking at the lizard. The lizard had returned and had eaten one of the fruits. "Well, you helped me in dealing with the bear, so you can get some of the fruits," Alex said. The lizard mostly ignored Alex. After eating the fruit, it went over to a tree, climbed it, andid down. Alex also went over and ate one of the fruits. By now, Alex needed two fruits for one "attempted suicide" of training. However, for now, Alex only ate one. Why? SSSSSSS! Alex looked at his left arm as it released sizzling sounds. This was the sound of Alex''s arm healing with rapid speeds. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. For once, Alex felt quite lucky. If he hadn''t grabbed the ethereal spire, and if he hadn''t used it, his arm would have probably shattered and fallen off at some point. Alex didn''t want to find out if he could regrow entire limbs. Probably not. However, since his left arm was still attached and not frozen, it could receive the nutrients and Mana from the fruit and heal. After a bit, Alex moved his left arm around with practiced ease. Finally, he could move his arm again! Alex looked at the other fruits for a while and then at the hedgehog, which was still munching away on the octopus. Its stomach seemed endless. ''I probably don''t have to be very careful around here. I''m pretty sure that no beast would dare toe close to the hedgehog''s food. The lizard is only here because it had met the hedgehog several times when we exchanged stuff.'' Alex looked back at the fruits. ''Well, it''s time for a lot of pain!'' Alex ate two fruits, climbed a tree, and jumped off with all of his power. Alex flew high into the air, did several flips, and perfectly hit the icy ground with the front of his body. Alex knew that, at some point, trees wouldn''t be high enough anymore. When that happened, Alex would need to find an alternate method of training his entire body. When the hedgehog heard the loud impact of Alex falling to the ground, it turned to Alex and looked at him with confusion. What was that human doing? Alex convulsed on the ground in unending pain, and the hedgehog only stared at him in confusion. After a while, Alex stood up, ate some more fruits, and repeated the process. After watching Alex for a couple of repetitions, the hedgehog went back to eating the octopus. That human was weird. Chapter 29 Alex gathered everything he owned and checked if he got everything. After looking over his broken shed one more time, he nodded in appreciation. Then, Alex jogged towards the south. It had been about half a year since he had arrived in this world, and today, he would finally leave this wilderness! He had killed the ice bear about two or three months ago, and he had already used up all of the fruits he had gotten from the hedgehog. Near the end, Alex had realized that the fruits weren''t that useful anymore. He would need over ten fruits for one attempted suicide of training. That wasn''t so bad, and Alex could still get some use out of the fruits. However, there was a problem. For the past three days, the hedgehog had refused to appear in front of Alex. No matter how much he searched or how many fires Alex lit, the hedgehog just wouldn''te out anymore. Without the hedgehog, Alex''s progress had slowed down severely. Now, he could only train with the normal meditation, which felt far too slow to him. Additionally, Alex hadn''t found another beast on the level of the ice bear in the past couple of months. Sure, Alex had found a couple new creatures, but they were all about as strong as the Stalker. By now, Alex could beat a Stalker without even needing to use his sword. His body was just that powerful. Because of that, Alex had decided that it was time for him to leave the safety of the basin. It was time to see the wider world! Alex jogged leisurely, but he still moved faster than the fastest human on Earth could sprint. The trees acted as obstacles, which made Alex''s journey a bit awkward, but he arrived at the edge of the basin in about an hour. If he could run in a straight line, he could easily get there in less than half an hour. Alex touched his new coat and kept hold of his sword. He didn''t know what would await him on the other side of the mountain. The basin was surrounded by mountains, and Alex would be traveling through a natural pathway between two of the mountains. He would need to awkwardly climb to a height of about 500 meters to pass the mountains. That wasn''t really hard for his new body, but it was still higher than all of the trees in the forest. Even more, Alex wouldn''t be surrounded by the forest anymore. Any beast would be able to see him as soon as he started climbing the mountain. Alex still remembered the gigantic lizard he had seen near the mountains on his first day. Alex was uncertain if he could win against such a beast. At least, the mystery of why no truly powerful beast entered the basin had been solved. It was obviously the hedgehog. In the past, Alex had been unsure of why no powerful beast had been here. After all, the hedgehog couldn''t be everywhere at once, right? Well, in a certain sense, the hedgehog could be everywhere at once. Its needles could. The hedgehog would probably hear or smell the gigantic beasts. Then, it would run there and shoot them down from hundreds of meters away. Alex guessed that the hedgehog hadn''t used his needles earlier since one needle probably cost it more Mana or energy than the prey was worth. However, if it were something like that big lizard, it would probably be worth it. The mystery of why there hadn''t been any powerful sea creatures had also been solved. A river stretched through the basin, and logically, there should be a couple of powerful creatures. Well, these creatures had obviously been consumed by the octopus. Sure, with the death of the octopus, powerful sea creatures would probably appear in the basin, but Alex knew his own limits. He could attempt to fight a powerfulnd creature, emphasis being on attempt, but he wouldn''t have any chance when fighting such a creature in the water. The basin had be useless to Alex, and it was time to move on. Alex looked at the path he would travel to, took a deep breath, and started climbing. "I wouldn''t go there if I were you." Alex''s heart nearly stopped in fright. Alex quickly turned around and saw something he hadn''t seen in over six months. A human! An actual human! Behind Alex stood a middle-aged man in green robes. These robes reminded Alex of several dramas ying in the middle-ages. These were the robes that a dignitary would wear. They radiated splendor and respect. He had green hair and a ck beard, making him appear a bit mismatched. Even more, Alex felt Mana revolve around the person. There was so much Mana! ''First human contact in the new world! Don''t be awkward!'' "Yo!" Alex said with a slightly raised hand. It was normal to greet others like this on the street. It was a rxed greeting. The man raised an eyebrow in skepticism when he heard Alex''s greeting. "What are you doing here?" the man asked. Since Alex could pay attention to the words now, he noticed that the words didn''t sound English, but they felt like English to Alex. The man obviously spoke a differentnguage, but Alex felt like he was speaking English. It was a weird feeling. It was like a badly dubbed movie. "I''ve been living here for the past six months, and I lived in the wilderness to be more powerful," Alex exined. The man nodded. Then, the man pointed at Alex while reciting some confusing words. Alex''s hair stood up. Was that a spell?! Would the man attack him?! Alex immediately jumped to the side and ran into the distance. The man was surprised as he stopped chanting. He only looked at Alex running away. Then, the man spoke a couple of words. It didn''t even take him a second to speak all of them. BOOOOM! An explosion of wind appeared behind the man, and his body shot forward with absolutely ridiculous speeds! It was like he had been shot out of a gun! WHOOOM! The man appeared in front of Alex in less than a second, and after another small explosion of wind, his body stopped. Alex''s eyes widened in shock as he looked at the man in front of him. Just now, the man had been even faster than the hedgehog! "Calm down," the man said evenly. "My first word was +%&. You should know that this word is reserved for investigative spells." In Alex''s mind, the word the man was referring to sounded like pure gibberish. It didn''t even sound like an actual word. It was more like a weirdbination of noises that made no sense. However, Alex knew that he couldn''t do anything against the man if he wanted to try something on him. It was better to simply follow his instructions. The man spoke the same words again, and after a while, Alex felt Mana gather around his body. Alex''s body subconsciously absorbed the Mana, and Alex immediately felt refreshed. However, Alex was still confused about what the man was actually doing. The man stroked his ck beard in thought. "It''s just as I''ve thought. You''re a Physi." "A Physi? What''s that?" Alex asked. The man raised his eyebrow again as he heard Alex''s question. Was something wrong with this kid''s head? "Physi, as in, physical fighter, someone that can''t practice Magic," the man said. ''Physi?'' Alex thought with an ufortable expression. ''That sounds like a nickname for a group of people in high school or college. Is that how physical fighters are referred to in this world, Physi?'' "What are you then? A Magi?" Alex asked. "Mage," the man answered. For a while, the man had been suspicious of Alex''s supposed memory loss andck ofmon knowledge. However, if Alex were truly acting, his acting skills would be deserving of several awards. There was no way that someone this weak could act this well in front of him. "Why did you say that I shouldn''t go to the mountain? I want to leave," Alex said. "A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard has its nest between those two mountains. If you disturb it, you will die," the man said. "A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard? What''s that?" Alex asked. "Greyish-brown lizard," the man answered. "About twenty meters long with an Earth Affinity. Gravel Lizards are beasts at the Second Realm. A Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard is in the middle of the Second Realm." The man pointed at Alex. "Judging by your physical power, you are in the Late First Realm. By fighting smartly and with lots of preparation, you can maybe attempt to fight a beast at the Peak of the First Realm, but one in the Middle Second Realm will directly kill you," the man said. Alex nodded, and his eyes shone in curiosity. Finally, he could get some actual information about this world! These Realms the man was referring to were probably a sort of ssification or quantification for power. The man had said that Alex was in the Late First Realm. Alex assumed that he hade to this world while being in the Initial First Realm, which meant he had made quite some progress. However, ording to logic, a Mid-Rank Gravel Lizard was probably stronger than Alex just as much as the current Alex was stronger than the past Alex. The past Alex and the current Alex couldn''t bepared. Alex also remembered something else. "I''ve also seen a pr bear, which was about three meters high and could condense ice spears. What was that?" Alex asked. "Ice Spear Bear, straightforward name. Beast of the First Realm. It sounds like a High-Grade Ice Spear Bear, ording to what you''ve said. Did you kill one?" the man asked. Alex nodded. The man nodded back. "Quite impressive for a Physi. You two should be at the same level. It''s not a given that a human can fight against a beast on the same level. Well, at least not as a Physi," the man exined. Alex scratched his chin in thought. ''My body has be far stronger now. I guess, back when I fought the Ice Spear Bear, my body was probably in the middle First Realm.'' Alex nced at the man. ''However, I probably shouldn''t tell him that. I don''t know him.'' "What brings you here?" Alex asked the man. "I''m here to ask you a question," the man said. "Ask away," Alex answered. "What happened to the Old Ice Octopus in theke of this forest?" N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. Alex''s body shook. Now, he knew why this man was here. He was investigating what happened to the octopus! Even more, Alex knew why they were probably interested in it. The ethereal spire! And where was the ethereal spire right now? Alex stealthily hid his left arm. Chapter 30 "The Old Ice Octopus? Do you mean that gigantic octopus in theke?" Alex asked. The man slightly narrowed his eyes as he heard Alex''s words. "Yes. What happened to it?" the man asked. Acting like Alex hadn''t seen anything would be too obvious of a lie. After all, the octopus had died, and the destruction it had caused had been massive and loud. "It was killed by the huge hedgehog," Alex said. The man raised an eyebrow. "Killed by the Earth Fruit Hedgehog? What happened?" he asked. "I wasn''t there for the entire fight, but I was near theke. I heard a loud explosion and saw a gigantic octopus jump through the air!" Alex exined animatedly. "However, something shocking happened after that! Tens of gigantic, long needles punched through the octopus, and I saw itnd towards the north of theke, in the middle of the forest. I saw the gigantic hedgehog charge over to that area, and after a couple more explosions, everything quieted down. I''m pretty sure that the hedgehog has killed the octopus," Alex exined. The man stroked his beard in thought. "What you say makes sense, but I need to verify it. Wait here for a bit." Alex nodded. Alex wouldn''t want to take the risk and flee while the man was away. The man probably had many ways to find Alex again. Fleeing would only awaken suspicion. The man spoke several words, and this time, it took him nearly ten full seconds to recite them. Obviously, the spell he was casting was veryplex. Alex felt a storm of Manaing to the man, and after he finished his spell, the man suddenly started to levitate! An actual storm picked up around him, and Alex was nearly thrown into the distance. However, the storm only surrounded the man and lifted him upwards. The trees violently shook around him due to the storm, and eventually, the man shot into the distance, right above the forest. Alex''s eyes widened in shock. ''He can fly! A human can actually fly in this world!'' Alex thought. Alex had seen the powers the God had shown him, which were obviously superior to this man, but Alex would have never believed that the first human he would see could fly! Flying! This was something every human dreamed of doing! It symbolized freedom and power beyond one''s imagination! Alex''s thirst for power only increased in intensity! As Alex continued thinking about what he had just seen, the man arrived at theke and descended at its north. There was a big area with destroyed trees, and the man could see several holes. The man had only searched through theke since the Old Ice Octopus was a water creature. Who would search for an octopus onnd? The man turned his gaze, and he saw a gigantic rock. However, this rock wasn''t a rock but the octopus'' beak. The hedgehog couldn''t eat something like that, which was why the beak was still here. Even after two months, the beak still lied there, in the middle of the forest. The man ascended again and flew back to Alex. Alex was nearly blown back as the man slowlynded in front of him. Afternding, the man nodded at Alex. "You spoke the truth. I couldn''t find the Old Ice Octopus, but I found its beak and several holes that are about as wide as the needles of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog. Seems like the hedgehog got quite a good meal out of this." Then, the man narrowed his eyes. "No wonder the hedgehog acted this uppity towards me this year," he muttered. "It thinks after bing a High-Rank Earth Fruit Hedgehog, it can avoid paying its tribute." "Stupid animal." Alex''s body shook, and sweat ran down his back as he heard the man''s words. Alex remembered a peculiarity. The hedgehog hadn''t visited him in three days! Did this man¡­? "Sir, what happened to the hedgehog?" he asked. "What''s it to you?" the man asked with a cold glint in his eyes. Alex''s body shivered. "Well, I exchanged meat for the hedgehog''s fruits several times." The man raised an eyebrow. "Sentiment? For a beast?" Alex didn''t answer. "Don''t be na?ve," the man berated coldly. "The hedgehog only traded with you because you are in the First Realm. It has killed plenty of humans in the Second and even some in the Third Realm. If you were in the Second Realm, it would have killed you as soon as it saw you." "The Earth Fruit Hedgehog discerns enemies by smell. If the odor you give off has a certain density of Mana, its hunting instinct gets triggered. The hedgehog even killed the person that had fed it for twenty years after he reached the Second Realm," the man exined. Alex remembered how the hedgehog had always smelled him whenever it came near him. Now, that cute action no longer felt as cute! The hedgehog had always sniffed Alex several times when they met. If the hedgehog could even kill someone that fed it for 20 years, he would probably not be an exception. A cold shudder ran down Alex''s spine. "Thank you for your warning, sir," Alex said politely. "Could I ask another question, please?" After seeing the man fly, Alex had be far more polite. The man nodded. "Since you helped me in solving the mystery of the missing Old Ice Octopus, I can entertain some of your questions," he said. "I saw a green lizard, about a meter long. It has the ability to shoot fireballs from its mouth. What kind of creature is that?" Alex asked. The man scratched his chin. For once, he didn''t have an answer immediately. "Sounds like a Fire Tree Lizard hatchling," the man said. "Fire Tree Lizards normally are not in the basin but in the mountains surrounding the basin. I''m guessing that it identally wandered into the basin after being born in one of the surrounding mountains." "Fire Tree Lizards are beasts of the Second Realm. This means that they will reach the Second Realm as soon as they be adults. And you say that this thing is in here?" Alex nodded. "Do you know if it ate some of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog''s fruits?" Alex nodded again. "Then forget about the lizard," the man said. "Earth Fruit Hedgehogs gather their waste products in their needles, and the needles will eventually bear these fruits. These fruits will eventually fall down and remain on the ground."N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. "The fruits are filled with Mana, and every beast is drawn to these fruits. The hedgehog is wasting no Mana by creating these fruits. However, as a creature in the Third Realm, just its waste products already carry quite a significant amount of Mana." "Over the long years, the fruits of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog gained a certain addictive property. Humans can still eat them since our minds are conscious, but beasts that only act on instinct can''t resist these fruits." "Since the Fire Tree Lizard has already tasted the fruits, it will stick around the Earth Fruit Hedgehog. Eventually, it will eat enough fruits to reach maturity and advance to the Second Realm." "When that happens, the hedgehog will consume the lizard." Alex took a deep breath. The hedgehog had long stopped being cute in Alex''s mind. This thing was a demon in disguise! "Thank you for your teachings, sir," Alex said. The man looked at Alex for a bit. "As for your earlier question, I taught the Earth Fruit Hedgehog some manners and collected its Earth Mana Source. The Earth Fruit Hedgehog gets to live in my garden, but in exchange, it will give me one Earth Mana Source per year. I''m answering these questions for you since you helped me to solve the mystery of the missing Old Ice Octopus. Don''t forget that." Alex''s mind went so several ces. However, why specte when he could just ask? "What''s a Mana Source?" Alex asked. "Foggy, ethereal spears, about a meter high," the man answered. "Mana Sources can act as a catalyst for elemental powers for beasts. The parents give Mana Sources to their offspring. A beast in the Second Realm can create an impure Mana Source, and a beast in the Third Realm can produce a pure Mana Source." "Apprentices require a Mana Source in order to officially be Adepts. Most Apprentices can only use an impure Mana Source due to the difficulty of obtaining it, but wealthy families pay a lot of money for pure Mana Sources." "That''s why I''m here." At this moment, the man looked like he had just remembered something. "I haven''t introduced myself yet." "I''m Duke Whirlwind, a High Mage, and this¡­" Duke Whirlwind gestured to the forest. "Is one of my gardens." Chapter 31 ''Duke?'' Alex thought in surprise. ''That means that this world, or this country at least, operates on an aristocratic basis probably. As far as I remember, a duke was pretty high up in the chain ofmand.'' ''Additionally, he said he was a High Mage. He said Mana Sources are important for Apprentices to be Adepts. I can guess with quite some certainty that Apprentices probably reflect Mages in the First Realm, while Adepts are Mages in the Second Realm. The Third Realm should logically be a Mage, which would make the Fourth Realm a High Mage, probably.'' ''ording to what he said, the hedgehog and the octopus are creatures of the Third Realm. The fact that he is in the Fourth Realm also exins how he could take care of them.'' ''This is probably a real big-shot! Fuck, I can''t believe I greeted him with a yo!'' Alex thought. "I''m sorry for my earlier disrespect, Duke Whirlwind," Alex said with a respectful tone. Duke Whirlwind smirked a bit. "You know, it''s customary to refer to a duke as your grace," he said. "Oh, I''m sorry, your grace," Alex said. "I haven''t talked to any nobles before. Please, excuse me for my negligence." Surprisingly, the duke chuckled for a bit. "You really don''t get under people much, do you?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "No, I don''t, ehm, your grace," Alex said. The duke chuckled again. "You know, the your grace thing is antiquated. No one talks like that anymore. Referring to me with my title or simply by sir is already enough," the duke said with a slight smile. The duke had been rather cold towards Alex at the beginning, but after he saw how innocent, gullible, and na?ve Alex was, his mood brightened a bit. It was rare to see a youngster that didn''t try to lick his boots to get into his good graces. "Oh, okay," Alex said, uncertain of how he should proceed. "What''s your name, young man?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "I''m aargh!" Alex tried to say, but before he could even think about his name, a pain came from his mind. Alex grabbed the side of his head in pain. Duke Whirlwind was surprised when he saw Alex''s actions. The young man was genuinely in pain. Even his veins were seemingly popping out of the side of his head. This was a sign of pain and stress, and something like that couldn''t be faked. "Are you injured?" Duke Whirlwind asked neutrally. The young man obviously wasn''t critically injured, which was why he wasn''t very worried about him. "No, it''s just something that happens from time to time," Alex said as he took a deep breath. "My name is Shang," Alex said. "Shang?" Duke Whirlwind repeated with interest. "I''ve never heard of such a name. What about your last name, or is that yourst name?" "That''s just my name," Alex said with a defeated voice. He really didn''t want to abandon his old name, but there was really nothing he could do. How long could he even remember his old name? By now, Alex hadn''t thought of his actual name in forever. Whenever he thought of it, the pain would return. This meant that essentially no one, not even he, had spoken out or thought about Alex''s name in half a year. When Alex wanted to introduce himself, his mind automatically went to the part in his mind where his actual name was located without even thinking about it. It was like a closed door, suffused with powerful electricity. Alex knew what was behind the door, but whenever he touched it, he would get hurt. How long would it take for him to forget what was behind that door if he could never check it? How long would it take until the door seemingly vanished into obscurity? Alex knew that he still knew his name, but he actually didn''t truly remember his name since he couldn''t think about it. This feeling was difficult to describe. "Shang is my entire name. I don''t have a first orst name. I am only Shang," Alex said. Duke Whirlwindbed his beard in interest. "Someone with only one name. Are you from a farmer''s or criminal''s family?" he asked. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Alex sighed. "I don''t think I have a family," Alex said. "Ever since arriving in this world, I have been alone." These words sounded very different to different people. To Alex, it was the truth. This body had probably been created out of nothing. So, logically, this body couldn''t have a family. He also hadn''t met a human since arriving in this world, making him alone. However, these words would be interpreted by different people differently. Someone might think that Shang had had a sh with his family in the past, separating them. Someone might think that Shang''s family had died. Someone might think that Shang was an orphan. Someone might also think that Shang was simply a weak-willed child drowned in misery. How did Duke Whirlwind interpret Alex''s words? He wasn''t sure, but he guessed that Shang had probably lost his family in the past. "That would exin why you don''t have ast name. Who gave you the name Shang?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "It was a man. I talked for him for a bit, and he bestowed the name upon me. There was no other name I could use, so I epted his name," Alex said, carefully navigating the question with deceptive truth. Maybe the God was known in his world? Maybe the God was not very popr in this world? What if someone knew the God and tried to experiment on Alex to find out more about the God? Alex didn''t want to talk about the God. There were simply too many unknown variables. Duke Whirlwindbed his beard in thought. "That''s quite an unbelievable story, but I can''t sense any falsehooding from you." "There''s no reason for me to lie to you," Alex said. Duke Whirlwind nodded. "Why are you in my garden?" he asked. "That''s a difficult question to answer," Alex said. "The first thing I remember of this world is this wilderness. It''s like this was where I started existing. I don''t know anything about the world beyond this garden." "However, I think I know the reason why I am here." "I think I''m supposed to train in this wilderness and be more powerful before entering human society again," Alex said. Alex had decided to go with a mixture of memory loss and training. His answers were vague enough that awyer could interpret Alex''s word in many different ways, allowing him to get out of any future questions by continually adapting the meaning of his words. Duke Whirlwind raised one of his eyebrows as he keptbing his beard. Then, Duke Whirlwind spoke more confusing words. He was casting another spell. Alex became more nervous since he didn''t know what that spell would do. When the Duke finished his spell, Alex felt some Mana enter his mind. Casting the spell hadn''t taken more than a second. After a second, the Mana left Alex''s mind again. Duke Whirlwind''s expression changed into a concerned one. "Something''s wrong with your mind," Duke Whirlwind said. "I don''t have enough knowledge in the field of Soul Magic, Mind Magic, anatomy, Flesh Magic, or any other rted Magic Category to pinpoint the issue." "I can just say that something doesn''t feel right when I nced at your mind." Alex''s eyes widened. "You can read my mind?!" he asked in shock. Duke Whirlwind slowly shook his head. "No, I''m not nearly powerful enough to do that. I also don''t specialize in these fields. The spell I used simply sends Mana through your mind. I can see what form the Mana takes when it goes in and when ites out." "I don''t know what happens inside your mind, but I can infer some things based on how the Mana looked when it came out again. Some of the Mana came out differently than expected, which means that some things in your mind are not as they are supposed to be. That''s the extent of what I can find out." "So, I lost my memory?" Alex asked. "That''s a possibility," Duke Whirlwind said. "Your mind has been changed, either by a person, by an injury, by trauma, or by whatever." Alex looked worried, but he was actually ecstatic inside! This was just the excuse he needed! With this, he could simply say that he lost his memory, and even doctors and powerful Mages would be able to confirm his words. It was perfect! "Can my memory be recovered?" Alex asked. "Unlikely," Duke Whirlwind said. "You would need someone very proficient in Mind Magic and Soul Magic. Such powerful Mages only work for the truly wealthy Mages. It would even prove to be a heavy strain on my finances to summon someone like that." Alex sighed again, but he was actually happy that basically no one could take his excuse away from him. "Anyway, you said you wanted to be more powerful?" Duke Whirlwind asked. Alex nodded. "Yes, sir," Alex answered. "I think I can''t practice Magic, but I also don''t want to be a normal person. I want to be powerful!" Duke Whirlwind nodded. "I think you made a very wise decision in the past," he said. "I don''t know if you have been born in my territory or not, but whatever the case, you are in the best territory for your goal." "What do you mean, sir?" Alex asked. "My close friend is the most powerful Physi in the world, and he has an academy for warriors and simr jobs not far from here. My presumption is that, before you lost your memory, you probably came here to train yourbat experience before applying to the academy. It''s a good decision." "The academy''s entrance exams are notoriously difficult for a reason." Alex became a bit uncertain. "Should I train more for the entrance exam?" Duke Whirlwind scoffed. "You took down a High-Rank Ice Spear Bear." "That''s more than enough to join the academy." Chapter 32 Alex was quite surprised when he heard that. Hadn''t the God said that Alex should spend more time in the wilderness? As far as Alex could recall, the God had said that Alex should remain in the wilderness for about two years. Had Alex progressed that quickly? Alex''s ego wanted to ept that reasoning, but he refused to underestimate a God. The God probably wanted Alex to gain even more experience inbat. However, Alex honestly didn''t want to spend even more time in the wilderness. He wanted to live among humans again! "How can I get to this academy?" Alex asked. "Go towards the eastern end of the garden. You will find a service entrance there. That entrance is for the keepers and the gardeners, and it has a couple of guards stationed there. When you leave the garden, you will quickly find a bigger vige. Ask around for directions to Warrior''s Paradise. That''s a city, and when you get there, it will be easy to find the academy," Duke Whirlwind said as he took out a piece of paper and a pen. Then, Duke Whirlwind started scribbling on the piece of paper and put his thumb on the bottom of the paper. A secondter, he gave Alex the piece of paper. "Show that to the guards at the service entrance. The guards will confiscate it and destroy it ording to protocol, so don''t be worried. You can leave after that," Duke Whirlwind said. Alex looked at the paper. Scribbles. Alex couldn''t discern anything on the paper, and he started to panic a bit. ''Wait, so I can understand and speak thenguage of this world, but I can''t read it? Do I actually have to learn to read again?!'' Alex thought. Duke Whirlwind looked at Alex''s face in confusion, but he chuckled a bitter. "It''s written in code," Duke Whirlwind said. "You can''t read it." "Oh!" Alex shouted in relief. After releasing a sigh, Alex bowed politely to Duke Whirlwind. "Thank you for your kindness, sir. Also, I am sorry for the damage I have done to your garden while living here. When I have money, I will repay everything." Duke Whirlwind waved dismissively. "You can''t eat and kill enough to do any form of damage to my garden. Additionally, you said you exchanged food for the Earth Fruit Hedgehog''s fruits. That''s usually the job of the keepers of this area. After all, the Earth Fruit Hedgehog needs to expend a lot of Mana to create its Mana Source. In a way, you actually worked for me." "You don''t need to repay me for anything," Duke Whirlwind said. "Thank you, sir," Alex said. However, he now felt even guiltier. Sure, the duke might not care about the small things, but Alex had also taken the Ice Mana Source. Additionally, without Alex, the Old Ice Octopus would still be alive. ''I''ll find out the cost of a Pure Ice Mana Source in the future and repay the duke ording to its market value,'' Alex thought. "Then, I will see you in the future, Shang," Duke Whirlwind said. "I visit the academy asionally. I''m certain we will see each other again." Alex bowed again. "Yes, and thank you again for your kindness. It means a lot to me, and I won''t forget it. I''m looking forward to seeing you again!" Duke Whirlwind nodded and started on reciting another spell. It was that very long spell from earlier again. After a couple of seconds, Duke Whirlwind flew away from Alex and vanished into the mountains. Alex looked at the sky for a while, just imagining how it would be like to fly. Would he ever be able to fly? Would he ever reach such a level of power? He wasn''t sure. Then, Alex looked at the piece of paper in his right hand. "This is my ticket to human society," he said to himself. ''The God has really ced me at the perfect location. I remember that he said that there was one human in the world that reached the Fourth Realm, and Duke Whirlwind said that the most powerful physical fighter of the world was in his territory.'' ''They are probably talking about the same person.'' Alex looked towards the east. ''I wonder what kind of person that man is. Why did he create an academy? Is it a way to make money to fuel his own desire for more power? Is it a way to amass a loyal following of powerful people? Is it to disseminate his knowledge of bing more powerful via a physical path to more people?'' ''Is he old? Is he young?'' Alex thought about this person for a while. After all, this person represented the current peak of the physical path. Eventually, Alex left and traveled to the east. It only took him about an hour to find the ce Duke Whirlwind had been talking about. Between the mountains, Alex saw a high but narrow gate. It was barely three meters wide but over 30 meters high. However, it perfectly filled out the gap in the mountains. "Halt!" A voice came from the top of the gate, and Alex looked up. Alex saw three people with drawn bows pointed at him. Alex became a bit nervous, but he was pretty sure that Duke Whirlwind hadn''t directed him to a death trap. "Who are you?! Why are you here?!" one of the guards shouted from a distance. Alex slowly extended his arm into the air to show the note. "Duke Whirlwind has told me toe here! I just talked to him an hour ago, and he told me that I could leave via this service entrance!" Alex shouted. The guards squinted their eyes and looked at the note. A normal human wouldn''t be able to read such a tiny note from a distance of 200 meters, but these guards weren''t normal humans. The guards talked amongst themselves for a couple of seconds. "Approach the gate at a normal pace! Don''t go for your sword, or you will be riddled with holes!" one of the guards shouted. "Okay!" Alex shouted back. Then, Alex walked forward, his hands still in the air. "Halt!" Alex stopped. He was now about 30 meters away from the gate. Suddenly, one of the soldiers jumped down from the top of the gate. The soldier fell for a couple of seconds until he hit the ground with a loud impact. Then, the soldier stood up like nothing had happened. Alex was quite impressed. ''30 meters are quite an impressive height. I can survive such a fall, but I would need tond correctly with my legs. Still, I would at least feel a bit ufortable.'' Alex knew what he was talking about. In a sense, Alex was the supreme authority when it came to jumping and falling from high ces. Alex was pretty sure that the guy in front of him had a more powerful body than him. Alex could see the guard now. The guard wore simple metal armor, and he carried a sword and a shield with him. His equipment didn''t really look special, but Alex wouldn''t underestimate a soldier. Alex was very good at fighting against beasts, but he hadn''t fought another human in this world yet. Alex had fought humans in his past life, but that was in MMA matches. Fighting with a weapon was very different. "Don''t make any sudden moves!" the guard ordered as he walked closer. "I only want to exit," Alex said. The guard came closer. "Lower your arm and hand me the note," the guard ordered. Alex did just that, and the guard took the note. The guard brought the note to the gate. A tiny panel moved to the side, showing a pair of eyes with sses on them. The guard held the note to the pair of eyes. The sses started to shine inplex runes, and the eyes passed over the note. After that, the guard and the person behind the gate talked for a bit. Some secondster, the guard took out a piece of flint from the side of his armor and rubbed it firmly on his metal glove. The note quickly started catching fire andpletely burned away in two seconds. This was obviously special paper. Then, the guard turned around and looked at Alex. "Name!" he ordered. "Shang," Alex answered. "Full name!" "Just Shang!" The guard turned to the gate again. "Open the gate. He can pass," he said. The atmosphere rxed as all the tension vanished. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. The guard turned around as the gate behind him slowly lifted. "Wee to Green Wind County!" Chapter 33 After the gate opened, Alex stepped through it. Society! Finally, he was back amongst humans! "Did you get a good harvest?" the guard from earlier asked Alex with a smirk. Alex immediately became nervous. Would they confiscate his belongings? When the guards saw Alex''s reaction, theyughed. Obviously, after confirming the authenticity of Alex''s document, they had all rxed. "You don''t need to worry. If the Duke wanted us to inspect your belongings, he would have written it down on your document," one of the guards said. The guard walked closer and put his hand on Alex''s shoulder. At least, he tried to. Alex stepped away from the hand out of reflex. After living in the wilderness for such a long time, Alex became careful of any physical contact. The guard blinked in confusion as he saw Alex step away, and he awkwardly lowered his hand. "Man, you''re a suspicious one," the guard said with a bitter smile. Alex became a bit embarrassed. "Sorry. I''ve been in the wilderness for six whole months. I''m not used to talking with other humans." The guard smiled and nodded. "That''s understandable. We also have to live in the wilderness as part of our training, but we have our team with us. I can''t imagine how lonely it must have been to be all alone in a forest." The entire feeling and atmosphere the guards gave off had changed. The guards had appeared stalwart, careful, and aggressive when Alex hade. But now, the guards didn''t feel any different than the police on Earth. They simply talked to Alex casually. "That''s a nice sword," one of the guards said as he looked at Alex''s sword. "Who made that?" Alex subconsciously protected his sword. "I don''t remember," he said. Surprisingly, the guard nodded understandingly. Apparently, Duke Whirlwind had written about Alex''s memory loss in the document he had handed Alex. "Too bad. Hey, you really don''t need to be that careful. Our equipment is good enough, and if it gets out that we are trying to steal from one of the Duke''s guests, our heads will roll," the guard said. Alex wasn''t sure how he should respond to that. He had already said sorry earlier, and saying sorry again would sound awkward. Instead, an awkward silence came down on the camp of guards. "Let me show you where you need to go," another guard said, pointing towards the mountains. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. "Yes, thank you," Alex said, happy that the awkwardness vanished. "Have fun outside, kid," one of the guards said with a wave. "Thanks, you too," Alex answered. He was really unused to talking to people. Back on Earth, Alex had been a very extroverted person. He loved going out with his friends, and he had had no issues with crowds. But after living in the wilderness for such a long time, Alex became a bit uncertain about his people skills. Alex''s eyes subconsciously darted to the guards'' weaknesses and their weapons. It was like Alex was ready to break out into a fight at any moment. Alex and one of the guards left the camp behind as they followed a dirt road between the mountains. However, after around two minutes, the guard in front of Alex stopped, and Alex took a step back. Then, the guard turned around and threw Alex a concerned look. "You really need to stop looking at other people like this," he said. "Like what?" Alex asked carefully. The guard pointed at Alex. "Like that!" he said. "You''re following behind me in total silence. Your footsteps even copy my footsteps! Then, you constantly inspect my body all over. You don''t act like a warrior, but like an assassin." "Do you know how awkward it is to walk in front of you? Every five seconds, I need to turn around since I can''t hear you, and I always think that you vanished or something. On top of that, whenever I turn around, I see how you''re inspecting my body with narrowed eyes. It''s like you''re trying to find the best spot to kill me!" the guard said with annoyance. Alex looked away from the guard with an ufortable expression. That was exactly what he had been doing. Of course, Alex hadn''t truly nned on attacking the guard. It was simply a reflex born out of being around nothing but enemies. When the guard saw Alex''s expression, he rxed a bit and sighed. "Listen, we warriors can deal with that. We know how it feels to be among normal humans again after a long period of fighting. However, normal humans can''t deal with something like this." "Any normal guy you can find in a vige, town, or city will think that you are a shady creep. You give off this thief or bandit vibe. Honestly, I''m fairly sure that you will find plenty of women pushing their child away from you and plenty of men that will put a hand over their sacks of gold." "Try to get limated to human society again," the guard said. Alex didn''t like what he was hearing, but he had to admit that the guard had a point. Alex had to get used to being amongst humans again. "Sorry, and thank you for the advice. I''ll try to work on that," Alex said. "Let''s work on that right now," the guard said. Alex lifted an eyebrow in uncertainty. "How?" "Simple," the guard said as he walked to the side. "Walk in front of me for the remainder of the way." Alex immediately became nervous. This guard was probably a bit more powerful than Alex. If the guard tried to attack Alex from behind, there was a high likelihood that Alex would die. In Alex''s mind, this was stupid. The guard saw Alex''s hesitation and silently shook his head. "Shang, that is your name, right?" he asked. Alex nodded. "I''ve been walking in front of you this entire time. How do you think I feel?" he asked. Alex was surprised by the guard''s words. "Imagine walking in front of a guy that copies your footsteps and constantly eyes your back like you''re a piece of meat. You think that''s fun?" the guard asked. "Yet, did you see me have a problem with it? No! Not every human wants to kill you." "Listen, I''m a guard employed by Duke Whirlwind, and my colleagues saw me leave with you. Do you honestly think I would even dare to do anything against you? If I did, chances are high that the Duke would find out very quickly. What then?" "I would be executed." "For what?" "For a sword and some scraps of fur?" Silence. Alex felt like he was being led into a trap. Alex definitely didn''t want to turn his back to the guard. However, Alex''s logical mind also realized that everything the guard had said was true. So, in the end, even if Alex didn''t want to, he still passed the guard and walked in front of him. "Just continue down the road. As soon as we pass the mountains, I''ll show you where to go," the guard said from behind Alex. nk. nk. nk. Alex heard the guard''s footsteps behind him. Without noticing it, Alex had started to walk as silently as possible to make it easier to hear the guard''s footsteps behind him. Alex''s mind was going wild with possibilities. This was far more stressful than he had thought. nk. nk¡­ BANG! Alex jumped forward and looked back. He hadn''t heard thetest step of the guard! Alex saw the guard standing a couple of meters away from him, his arms crossed in front of his chest. He was looking at Alex with a concerned look. "What''s up?" he asked. "You stopped walking," Alex said awkwardly. "Yeah, humans stop from time to time," the guard said. "Guess what, sometimes, we also identally make shorter or longer steps. Don''t try to attribute bad intentions to a mere habit." Alex put his sword away again and continued walking. ''I might actually have a problem,'' Alex thought. nk. nk. nk. nk. nknk. Alex''s hairs stood on end, and he turned his head back. The guard had kicked a small pebble to the side. Then, the guard gestured to the path ahead with his head. Alex continued walking. In total, they walked for nearly ten minutes. This might have been the most stressful walk in Alex''s life. When Alex passed thest mountain, he walked to the side and looked at the guard. The guard leisurely walked forward and stopped beside Alex. "See? Was that so bad?" the guard asked. Alex didn''t answer. He only grimaced. Meanwhile, the guard pointed towards the distance, at the foot of another mountain. Chapter 34 The outside world didn''t look much different from the basin. It basically only had fewer trees. There was still a lot of snow everywhere, and the majority of trees were conifers. One difference of note was the general changes of elevation. The basin had only had mountains around it, and the inside of the basin had been rather even. In contrast, the outside had far more mountainous terrain. Hills stretched across thendscape, and Alex could see some mountains. Alex hadn''t been to ska on Earth, but he assumed that ska would look a bit like that. In the distance, Alex saw a small vige. The vige was built on the side of a hill, and he could see around 100 houses made of stone. Obviously, it was a rather small vige. "That''s Coldew Vige. You can ask for directions to Warrior''s Paradise there," the guard said. "How did you know that I want to go to Warrior''s Paradise?" Alex asked. "The Duke wrote in his letter that you wanted to join his academy. By the way," the guard said as he remembered something. "You might want to stay at Coldew Vige for a while and earn some money." "Money? Why?" Alex asked. "The yearly exams for the academy have only recently finished. You either need to wait about eleven months or get some money for a special exam." Alex didn''t like what he had just heard. This really was bad timing. "Money, huh?" Alex said. The guardughed. "Yep, money is always a problem. It doesn''t matter how powerful you be or what job you have. You always need money," the guard said. "How much do I need?" Alex asked. "Five gold coins," the guard answered. Alex was a bit surprised. "That doesn''t sound like a lot," Alex said. The guard scoffed. "100 copper coins are a silver coin. 100 silver coins are a gold coin. One average apple costs one copper coin. Do the math yourself." Alex did the math, and he took a deep breath. Five gold coins were equivalent to 50,000 apples! One apple, on average, had cost around 20 cents on earth. So, five apples were the equivalent of a dor. This meant that Alex would have to pay around 10,000 dors to enter the academy! That was a lot of money! "Why is it so expensive?" Alex asked. "Two reasons," the guard answered. "First, the academy also needs money. Second, if you want the academy to hold a test for only one person, you better not be a weakling. Strong warriors can earn a lot of money rather easily. For them, getting the funds shouldn''t take more than a month." "More power means more money, and the more money you have, the less it''s worth in your eyes. A weak warrior that can''t earn any money will think that this is far too much money, but a strong warrior can deal with the expense," the guard exined. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Alex nodded. That was actually quite a smart policy. However, that didn''t stop Alex from hating the fact that he had to get so much money just to join some academy. "How should I go about earning money?" Alex asked. "Coldew Vige doesn''t have much money," the guard said. "However, Coldew Vige is famous for its Ice Wood. Ice Woodes from a tree called the Dripping Cold Tree. The Dripping Cold Tree absorbs a lot of Mana and converts it to Ice Mana, which is then stored in its wood. Ice Mages need that wood for a plethora of different things." "So," Alex said, "you say I should get some of that Ice Wood and sell it at a nearby town?" "Yes," the guard said. "Get a sled and a ton of Ice Wood. Transport it to Warrior''s Paradise and sell it to a woodworker. That should be enough to cover your entrance fee." "And how am I supposed to get my hand on a ton of Ice Wood?" Alex asked. "Exchange your services for resources. Coldew Vige is in the wilderness, and there are plenty of beasts that make issues. Ask the mayor for any troublesome beasts and kill them. Say you want to be paid in Ice Wood, and everything will be fine," the guard exined. Alex scratched his chin in thought and nodded. "That should work. Thanks!" Alex said with a smile. "No problem," the guard answered, but then, he extended his right index finger to show that he had one more thing to say. "Keep one thing in mind," he said. "There are a lot of bandits around. It''s okay to kill a bandit. In fact, it''s even encouraged!" "Don''t die an early death because you feel pity for someone that just tried to take your life," the guard said. Alex took a deep breath. His death on Earth shed through his mind. He had already killed a human before, and he had certainly not enjoyed it. Alex became a bit nervous when he thought about killing a human, but he knew that it was a necessity. This world ruled on strength alone, and such a world couldn''t possibly be peaceful. Would Alex kill someone for more power? Probably. So, if Alex was willing to think about a human for power, others would certainly think like that too. "I will keep that in mind. Thank you again for your advice," Alex said. "No problem. Wish you luck in your entrance exam!" the guard said with a smile and a wave before going back to the pathway between the mountains. Alex watched as the guard left and then focused on the vige in the distance. ''A vige, huh?'' Alex thought. ''Back on Earth, such small viges are incredibly rare in very developed countries. I don''t think I''ve ever been to such a small vige before.'' Alex took a deep breath and jumped forward. The mountains were on a higher elevation than the valley below him, and the street going downward was rtively steep. Luckily, Alex was no longer in a thick forest. Now, a path was in front of him. Alex became faster and faster as he elerated down the mountain. The wind violently brushed against Alex''s body, and Alex had never felt this free before! Alex could run as fast as a car! Well, not as fast as a car going full-throttle, but he was still as fast as a car that drove outside any settlements. It wasn''t highway level, but still pretty fast. Alex looked at the vige in the distance, and he could only smile. Power! Speed! Freedom! Maybeing to this world wasn''t so bad? Chapter 35 Alex ran towards the vige. He actually didn''t need to run since he had plenty of time, but Alex just couldn''t control himself after arriving in an area without an overwhelming number of trees. ''I can run so fast!'' Alex thought with exhration. As Alex ran down the hill, some birds living in cold climates flew above him. They were searching for prey, but there was not much prey during the cold. The winter was slowly making way for spring, but spring wasn''tpletely there yet. If Alex had to put a month to the current weather, he would say it would be the end of February or the start of March. Alex ran for about fifteen minutes, and he arrived at the vige far too early. In a sense, Alex had wished to run more. ''I can always run moreter,'' Alex thought with a smile. As Alex came to the vige, he noticed that there were no guards. There were also no pedestrians. In fact, there was no one. Alex blinked a couple of times in confusion. ''That''s weird. I was sure I saw some people walking around.'' Alex looked around the abandoned vige and thought of something. ''Is it me?'' Alex thought. Alex looked around the vige. It was currently in the middle of the day, and all the vigers should be working. "Who are you?!" someone suddenly shouted. Alex looked to the front and saw a burly, middle-aged man walking past a house. He had a spear and wore some simple leather armor. His hair was brown, and a long and scruffy beard adorned his face. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Alex immediately associated that man with a smith. He looked like the typical smith one would find in movies and shows. "Hello, I''m¡­ Shang," Alex said nervously. He had nearly wanted to say his original name again. "What do you want?!" the man shouted aggressively. "We don''t have any money, and we are protected by the Northern Wild!" Alex smiled in embarrassment. "I think you misunderstood me. I''m not here to do anything to you." "Lies!" the man shouted. "You charged at our vige! Speak the truth, or I will kill you myself!" Alex scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "I ran because it felt good." "It felt good?" the man asked in surprise. "Yes," Alex answered. "I''ve been in a forest for the past six months, and this is the first time I''m at a ce not filled with trees. Running down the mountain and feeling my new power after my trip just felt too good." The man eyed Alex suspiciously. "Is that why you are dressed like a thief?" he asked coldly. "Like a thief?" Alex asked in surprise. Then, Alex looked down at himself. Alex''s body was surrounded by the cloak made out of Stalker hide. Even part of his head was hidden inside the ck cloak. Alex immediately felt like an idiot and quickly pulled his badly sewn hood down, revealing his ck hair. "Oh, sorry. I wasn''t thinking," Alex said with a bitter smile. "Honestly, I''m not here to do anything to you." The man rxed a bit, but he still spoke to Alex from several meters away. "Then what do you want?" he asked. "I''m here to earn enough money to pay for an entrance exam in that warrior school in Warrior''s Paradise," Alex said. The man got surprised, but his eyes quickly narrowed. "How old are you?" he asked. "I think I should be 15," Alex said. "I didn''t really count." "You don''t look 15!" the man shouted. "You look more like 30!" Alex was taken aback by the man''s words. Then, Alex sighed. "Let me just take my cloak off. Maybe I look too intimidating with that cloak." The man didn''t answer and only looked at Alex warily. Alex quickly pulled his cloak off and threw it to the side. The clothing beneath his cloak was absolutely disgusting, dirty, stinky, full of holes, and old. Not even beggars would wear something like that since they could find better clothing that had been thrown to the side of a street. The man looked with disgust and pity at Alex. Surprisingly, his hostility lessened. Bandits would normally wear quite good armor and good clothing. After all, their job was to rob people. No bandit would wear something like that. Additionally, the man noticed that Alex''s body really looked like the body of a teenager, just far more muscr. Teenagers had different bodies from adults. This was simply because they hadn''t fully gone through puberty yet. When asked, most people couldn''t exin the differences, but with enough life experience, one would immediately see that Alex was a teenager, not an adult. It was just a feeling. When the cloak was removed, the man also saw Alex''s sword. Alex''s sword looked weird. It basically had no handguard, and the de itself was way too straight and uniform. Swords usually went from thick to thin, thick at the hilt, thin at the front. Yet, Alex''s sword was just incredibly straight, except for the tip where the sword suddenly narrowed down into a tip. However, the man could tell that the sword was very good. Alex''s story made a lot more sense now. He truly looked like someone that had lived in the wild for a long time. "Why have you lived in the wild for so long?" the man asked. Alex released a sigh of relief when the man calmed down. "To be stronger." Silence. Then, the man put his spear away. "That''s quite some determination," he said. "Can I see your sword?" Alex simply took out his sword and threw it over. The sword slid on the ground, and the man looked at Alex with surprise. The man walked forward and lifted the sword. However, the sword was far heavier than he had thought, and he had to put more strength into lifting it. He managed to lift it with one arm, but he couldn''t possibly swing it, not even with both hands. The man looked at the sword and then at Alex. "Why did you throw your weapon over to me?" the man asked. "To prove that I don''t have any bad intentions," Alex said. The man furrowed his brows as he felt the weight of the sword. He had seen how Alex had easily thrown it over with one hand. It had been like the sword weighed nothing. "Would you need this sword if you had bad intentions towards the vige?" he asked slowly. "No," Alex said with a smile. "Then what worth is this disy of yours?" the man asked. Alex sighed in frustration and rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, listen, I''m getting a bit annoyed here," Alex said in a rxed manner. "I don''t want to y these stupid games. Obviously, you now know of my strength. If I wanted to do anything to your vige, I wouldn''t be talking with you. I would just do whatever I wanted to do." Alex was honestly getting annoyed at the constant suspicion. The man looked at Alex for a bit longer. nk! He threw the sword back with both of his hands, but it didn''t reach Alex. "You said you wanted to earn money?" the man asked. Alex walked forward and put his sword away again. Why had Alex thrown his sword towards the man without hesitation? One reason was to show that he didn''t intend to do anything bad to them. Another reason was to show his power as softly as possible. Thest reason was that Alex wouldn''t need a weapon against these vigers if they attacked him. Alex wasn''t helpless without a weapon. "Yes, I want to earn money," Alex said. The man walked closer. He had already put his spear away. By now, only two meters separated them. "How do you intend to earn money?" the man asked. "One of the guards over there," Alex said as he pointed towards the Duke''s garden, "said that your vige might need a warrior to take care of some beasts. He told me that you don''t have much money, but he also told me that you have Ice Wood. I am supposed to offer my strength to you in exchange for Ice Wood." The man eyed Alex with an evaluation gaze. Then, he looked at Alex''s coat and then at Alex again. "Did you kill the Pest Cat yourself?" the man asked, pointing at the cloak. "Pest Cat?" Alex asked as he looked at his coat. "They are called Pest Cats? I always called them Stalkers." The man looked with a weird expression at Alex. "They are called Pest Cats because they are all over thisnd. There''s a lot of them, and they often hunt our livestock. No matter how many we kill, more "You can kill them?" Alex asked in surprise. In his eyes, the man didn''t look that strong. The man sighed. "If we create a hunting group with about five men, we can, but someone will always die. Most of the time, a team of soldiers from the Northern Wilde here once a year to thin out the poption." "What''s the Northern Wild?" Alex asked. The man looked weirdly at Alex. "The nearest town. You''re not from around here, are you?" he asked. "No," Alex answered. "When was thest time they were here?" "Six months ago. Theye in the fall when all the Pest Cats have finished procreating. It would be bad if two Pest Cats had offspring just a couple days after the hunt," the man exined. Alex scratched his chin. "So, you''re saying that I can earn some Ice Wood by killing some Pest Cats?" Alex asked with interest. The man looked at Alex. "No." Chapter 36 Alex hadn''t expected a no for an answer. "Then why did you ask about my coat?" he asked. "To gauge your strength," the man said. "So, did you take out the Pest Cat yourself?" Alex nodded. "I took out several. They are not my opponent." This took the man by surprise. He knew that Alex was strong since he was able to wield such a heavy sword in one hand, but he hadn''t known how strong Alex was. "They are not your opponents?" he asked. "What Stage are you?" "Stage?" Alex asked, but then he remembered the Duke''s words. "I should be in the Late First Realm." "Late Soldier Stage?!" the man asked in shock. "And you''re 15?!" "Soldier Stage?" Alex asked in confusion. "I thought the First Realm was called Apprentice." "That''s for Mages only," the man said. "The First Realm for warriors is the Soldier Stage. That''s because nearly all soldiers are in that Stage." "Oh, okay," Alex said. "And yes, I''m at the Late Soldier Stage then." The man looked far more surprised than Alex had assumed. "Is that high?" he asked. "Are you from a noble household?" the man asked in shock. Alex snorted. "Do I look like I''m from a noble household?" he asked. The man looked at Alex. "So, is it strong?" Alex asked. "Warriors in the Late Soldier Stage are generally considered elite warriors," the man answered. "They worked for years for their power." "Elite soldiers?" Alex asked in surprise, "but the guards I met at that mountain were all more powerful than me." "You can''tpare normal soldiers to the soldiers working directly under the Duke," the man said. "The men under the Duke are all in the General Stage. That''s the equivalent to the Adept Realm for Mages." "Oh," Alexmented. "By the way, how do you know all these things?" "When I was young, I worked as a smith in Warrior''s Paradise," the man said. ''Knew it!'' Alex thought. The guy just looked far too much like a smith. "Back to the topic," the man said. "You said that Pest Cats are not your opponents, right?" Alex nodded. "Could you borate on your power? How would the fight go down?" Alex answered immediately. "One strike, one kill," Alex said. "As long as they don''t jump me from several different angles, I can take out a group of them with ease." Alex had truly transformed in thest six months. When he had just arrived, one Pest Cat had already nearly spelled his doom. If he hadn''t been lucky, the Pest Cat would have killed him. Then, Alex had been able to fight one equally. Then, Alex found it easy to kill one of them. And after the incident with the Ice Bear and the subsequent strengthening with the fruits, the Pest Cats were no longer a threat. In fact, Alex could break a Pest Cat''s neck with a single punch. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. His body was far stronger than a Pest Cat''s body. When the man heard of Alex''s power, he was taken aback once again. The man quickly fell into thought. "If you are truly that powerful, we might have a lucrative job for you," the man said. When Alex heard that, he immediately perked up. "A job? What job?" he asked. The man turned around and gestured towards the middle of the vige. "Follow me. You should speak with the Elder," he said. "Okay," Alex said with a smile as he followed behind the man. As Alex walked through the vige, he could see curious eyes ncing at him through the windows of the houses. The vigers were still wary of him. They probably had bad experiences with strangers. Not everyone was as courageous as the old smith. After a minute, the two of them arrived in front of a normal house. It didn''t look any different from any other house in the city. Just like every other house, it was made out of grey stone. The man knocked a couple of times on the door. "Elder, I think we have someone that can take on the Ice Wood Pest." ''Ice Wood Pest?'' Alex repeated in his head. After some seconds, the door opened, and an old man looked at Alex. The man was probably in his fifties or sixties, but he looked like he was in his seventies. His frame was small, and he seemed to not have much strength in his body anymore. The man also used a long cane in order to stand rtively straight. However, when Alex saw the old man, he became a bit surprised. A bit of Mana was swirling around the old man! Was he a Mage? Of course, the old man couldn''t bepared to Duke Whirlwind. When put intoparison, the old man felt like an old weed while Duke Whirlwind felt like a towering, ancient oak. Duke Whirlwind had pulled in an incredible amount of Mana like a whirlpool, while this old man only pulled in a bit of Mana, one teaspoon at a time. The gap was just too vast. "You''re a Mage?" Alex asked. The old smith was surprised by Alex''s words, but the eyes of the old man didn''t react. It was like he had expected that. The old man looked at Alex, and he could see that Alex was pulling in quite a bit of Mana, even more than the old man himself. "Are you confident?" the old man asked Alex. "No," Alex answered. The old smith was surprised by Alex''s answer. The old man only smiled a bit. "Smart," he said. "Come in." ''How could I be confident in defeating an enemy I don''t even know?'' Alex thought. The old smith waited outside while Alex entered the old man''s house. The house was very simple and quaint. It looked like a cozy house of a viger. The old man gestured to a chair, and Alex sat down. The old man got some water from a bucket and warmed it over the fire, and while the water was warming, the old man sat down in front of Alex. "Have you fought a High-Rank Beast before?" the man asked. Alex thought back to the Ice Spear Bear and nodded. ording to Duke Whirlwind, that Ice Spear Bear had been a High-Rank Beast. Back then, Alex had probably been in the Mid Soldier Stage, which meant that Alex had basically jumped a Small Stage or Small Realm. "Did you win?" the old man asked. "I''m still alive, aren''t I?" Alex asked. "You could have fled." "I didn''t," Alex answered. "So, did you win?" the old man asked again. "Yes, I won," Alex answered. The old man nodded. "Would you be willing to fight another one?" the old man asked. Alex immediately nodded. "I''m warning you. This one isn''t easy to deal with," the old man said. Alex looked with a concerned look at the old man. "What separates this one from other High-Rank Beasts?" "It''s the descendant of a beast of the Second Realm," the man said. "This means that this beast can use its Elemental Affinity. In essence, it can create rudimentary spells." Silence. The man was a bit surprised when he saw Alex''s expression. Alex looked at the old man like he was waiting for more info. When Alex saw that the old man had stopped talking, he raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Can''t all High-Rank Beasts do that?" he asked. The man was surprised by Alex''s question. "No, they can''t. Only the descendants from Beasts in the Second Realm can use their Element in the First Realm." "Oh, okay," Alex answered like it was no big deal. The old man was a bit confused by Alex''sck of reaction. He had expected that Alex would reconsider after hearing about his target. Beasts that could use their Elements in the First Realm were on the rare side, and they couldn''t be compared to Beasts that reached maturity in the First Realm. Meanwhile, Alex was confused why the old man made such a big deal out of that. Basically all of Alex''s past opponents, except for the Pest Cats, had had some form of Elemental Attack. Was this supposed to be rare? "Young man, if I may ask, what kind of High-Rank Beast have you fought?" the old man asked. "A High-Rank Ice Spear Bear," Alex answered. Silence. The man seemingly froze. Chapter 37 A majestic stag slowly walked through an icy forest. The trees around it had a blue sheen, and some of their needles had seemingly transformed into icicles. The Stag''s body was only 1.5 meters high, making it only a bit taller than a normal stag. However, its antlers were majestic beyondpare. The antlers were a deep blue, and white veins seemed to travel through them, releasing a blue glow periodically. The antlers stretched upward and to the side like a tree, making one believe that this Stag was some sort of envoy sent by nature. Whenever the Stag passed an icy tree, the blue color of the trees slowly subsided until the trees no longer shone in any color, and after that, they simply looked like normal, almost lifeless trees made of ice. The Stag absorbed the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood Trees as it passed them. The Ice Mana in the trees acted as the Stag''s sustenance and energy. Humans weren''t afraid of this Stag. Why? Because this was a peaceful beast. It was one of the few beasts that didn''t consume meat. One of the few? But weren''t there many herbivores? Well, one had to differentiate between animals and beasts. Beasts were animals that took their first step towards power. Beasts were the animals that managed to come into contact with the Mana in the atmosphere. Meanwhile, animals were just animals. As beasts became more powerful, their diet slowly transitioned into one mainly made of meat. The reason for that was that there were not as many nts that came into contact with Mana. Yes, the Ice Wood Trees were one of these kinds of nts, but the Ice Wood Trees were not powerful. A beast in the First Realm could be more powerful by consuming them, but they would be useless for beasts in the Second Realm. This Stag would also only consume these trees while still being in the First Stage. As soon as it became an adult, it would change its diet to water beasts. This Stag was the very beast that the Elder had asked Alex to kill. It didn''t injure or endanger the vigers, but it consumed all the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood Trees, making them nearly worthless. So, while the Stag didn''t directly threaten the vigers, it was essentially softly pushing them into stagnation and poverty just by existing. ''That''s it!'' Alex thought as he narrowed his eyes. In the distance, Alex saw the Stag consuming the Ice Mana of the Ice Wood Trees. ''That should be the Frozen Lake Stag,'' Alex thought. Alex watched the Stag for a while. The majestic and peaceful gait of the Frozen Lake Stag gave the surrounding forest a kind of peaceful and tranquil feeling. It was almost like this ce was a holy ground for nature. ''Well, sucks for you. I need money,'' Alex thought. Alex inspected the Stag''s antlers closer, and a frown spread over Alex''s face. ''The Elder''s fears have proven to be true.'' Alex remembered the words the Elder had spoken to him. "If the Frozen Lake Stag''s antlers pulsate with a white aura, it is close to bing a beast of the Second Realm. This would essentially make it a Peak-Grade beast. We haven''t seen the Frozen Lake Stag in a while, so we''re not sure if it''s still a High-Grade beast." Alex looked at the white aura emanating from the Frozen Lake Stag''s antlers. ''I never fought a Peak-Grade beast before,'' Alex thought. ''However, I''m actually d that it became stronger. The God said that I should push myself, and I''m certain that the God knows more about bing stronger than me. If he says that I should continually push myself, I should probably do so.'' ''So, this Frozen Lake Stag came at just the right time.'' Would the Elder still want Alex to kill the Frozen Lake Stag if he knew that it was about to change its diet? Yes! Why? Because the Frozen Lake Stag needed an incredible amount of Ice Mana to reach the Second Realm, and it was gathering this Ice Mana right now. It wouldn''t stop consuming Ice Wood Trees until a big part of this forest was without Ice Mana. Alex checked his equipment. His coat was on him. His left arm was numb due to its low temperature. His sword was in his right hand. Everything was ready. Alex took a deep breath to ready himself, and then¡­ BANG! Alex exploded forward with his full speed! The Frozen Lake Stag turned towards the explosive sound and saw Alex charging at it. As soon as it saw Alex, it turned away and ran into the distance. Its speed was pretty fast, but its gigantic antlers made it difficult for the Frozen Lake Stag to navigate. It was powerful enough to ram through thick branches, but every branch destroyed by its antlers would slow it down a bit. Because of that, Alex was slowly gaining ground, even though his body was weaker than the Frozen Lake Stag''s body. Was it fleeing? No! It was fighting! Alex immediately jumped to the side as he felt Ice Mana gather below him. SHING! An ice spire shot out of the ground, and Alex had just barely evaded it! This was how the Frozen Lake Stag fought. It transferred its Ice Mana into the ground and made it explode into mighty ice spires. This was also how it would kill water beasts in the future. A water beast that came close to the shore would suddenly be prated by a gigantic ice spire, which would then keep the beast above the water. The sudden appearance of the ice spire had slowed Alex, but he had expected it. After all, the Elder wouldn''t send Alex blind into the fight. As the Frozen Lake Stag galloped through the forest, the Ice Mana of the surrounding trees entered its antlers, refilling its Mana Storage. Alex was fighting the Frozen Lake Stag in its most favorable territory. As long as there were Ice Wood Trees, it wouldn''t run out of Ice Mana. SHING! SHING! Another two ice spires shot out of the ground, and Alex managed to sidestep them. Alex could always feel the Ice Mana arrive at the ground, which allowed him to evade. When the Frozen Lake Stag saw that its attacks couldn''t hit Alex, it increased the intensity of the attacks. Even more, the deployment of its attacks became smarter. It became harder and harder for Alex to evade the icicles until he had to stoppletely. SHING! An ice spire stopped just ten centimeters in front of Alex''s face. This ice spire would have been inside his head if he had stopped only a bitter. However, Alex still jumped to the side. SHING! The ice spire in front of Alex''s face suddenly expanded one more time, but Alex had evaded to the side. The Frozen Lake Stag had control over its ice spires, even if they had already been deployed. It simply had to send another pulse of Ice Mana towards them. SHING! SHING! SHING! Another barrage of ice spires shot at Alex, but he managed to barely evade them. The barrage of attacks continued, and Alex was stuck evading inside a constricting mass of ice spires. The ice spires had shot out of the ground in many different angles, essentially creating a chaotic field filled with spires. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Alex kept an eye on the Frozen Lake Stag. The Frozen Lake Stag had stopped running away and turned. It was circling Alex from about ten meters away as it deployed its ice spires. Alex was stuck inside the ever-growing mass of Ice Spires, and he couldn''t escape. He had already tried to destroy the ice spires with his sword, but it proved to be surprisingly hard. Whenever Alex''s sword hit an ice spire, it would break into two, but Alex''s entire body shook due to the force. Cutting through the ice spires was not easy and required a lot of force. That short moment of pause could spell Alex''s doom, which was why he stopped cutting the ice spires. After the Frozen Lake Stag had fully circled Alex once, it suddenly stopped and lifted both of its front legs. At the same time, Alex felt that everything in a ten-meter radius around him suddenly glowed with a crazy amount of Ice Mana. The Frozen Lake Stag had created over thirty ice spires that would shoot at Alex simultaneously! Every spot around him would be filled with ice spires in a second! Chapter 38 Alex jumped. SHING! SHING! SHING! Everything below Alex was reduced into a mess of ice spires, all stretching into the middle of the circle from ten meters away. Alex had jumped with his full power, and he had managed to jump forward with a height of five meters. This was far beyond what a normal human could do. The Frozen Lake Stag didn''t panic when it saw that Alex managed to escape its attack. Instead, it calmly infused one of the ice spires with more Ice Mana. The spire began glowing and shot at Alex. Alex was currently in the air, and he couldn''t evade. It was stupid to jump into the air when one was fighting someone with ranged attacks. Only an idiot would do that. Was Alex an idiot? No. Alex stretched his left arm towards the ground. BANG! A violent wind came out of Alex''s left palm. The wind wasn''t colder than the surroundings, but Alex didn''t use the ability of his left arm because of the cold effect. No, he was using it for the pushback! A thick ice spire passed just below Alex, destroying a couple of fingers in the process. However, Alex was used to worse pain. Alex pushed himself over the ice spire until he started falling down on its opposite side. Alex squatted on the ice spire''s side. Then, he pushed himself forward with all his power. BANG! The ice spire shook under the power, but Alex had seen how hard these things were. He was sure that it wouldn''t break. And sure enough, the ice spire only shook. It didn''t break. The force of Alex''s push shot him towards the Frozen Lake Stag like a cannonball! Alex reached the Frozen Lake Stag before it could deploy another ice spire or run away. Alex lifted his sword and shed down. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. SHING! Alex''s sword cut through the Frozen Lake Stag''s torso but was stopped somewhere in the middle. The Frozen Lake Stag shouted in pain, and more Ice Mana gathered around it on the ground. Alex pulled out his mangled hand and pointed it at the Frozen Lake Stag''s head. BANG! Alex''s left arm began smoking as an impossibly cold wind shot out of Alex''s left hand. At the same time, Alex used the force of the wind to push himself away from the Frozen Lake Stag. Yet, something unexpected happened. Alex had expected the Frozen Lake Stag''s head to freeze over, but the cold wind was absorbed by its antlers! The antlers lit up with bright white light, and the intensity of the Ice Mana around it increased by several times! The spots of Ice Mana just half a meter away from the Frozen Lake Stag''s body expanded until they even reached the ground below it. BANG! A wall of ice appeared just in front of Alex, but luckily, only his sword had been in the path of these absolutely massive ice spires! Alex felt his sword being torn out of his hand, and at the same time, Alex felt like he had heard a painful cry. And the Frozen Lake Stag? The scene was gruesome. The Frozen Lake Stag was impaled on gigantic ice spires, its mangled body hanging down from ten meters above the ground. Its cold blood ran down the ice spires and immediately froze, creating red icicles. The scene was as brutal as it was bizarrely beautiful. The Frozen Lake Stag obviously hadn''t survived its own attack. Originally, it had only wanted to destroy the area around it to force Alex to retreat, but the uncontroble growth of its spires had spelled its doom. Alex was captivated by the scene for one second before an overwhelming burning sensation came from his left arm. Alex grunted and rubbed his left arm across the ice spires in the surroundings to cool it down. He had unleashed a severely cold wind in hisst attack, and his left arm was paying the price. After a while of cooling down, Alex looked around the area to find his sword. He had remembered in which direction it flew, but he couldn''t see it immediately. Alex felt nervous without his sword, and the first thing he wanted to do was to find it. Alex ran into the distance and searched for some seconds, but some kind of connection made him look up. Alex spotted his sword hanging on the branches of a tree, and he quickly retrieved it with a jump. However, when Alex inspected his sword, shock spread across his face. There was a crack! The ice spire had hit Alex''s sword on its side, and the force had created a crack on it! Alex looked at the sword with a bitter expression. The God had said that this sword would grow alongside him. He only had to feed it powerful ore. ''Has my power already reached a level that makes my weapon my weakness?'' Alex thought. Alex still remembered how easily his sword had killed the Pest Cat, or Stalker, which had assaulted Alex on his first day in this world. Back then, Alex would have died if his sword hadn''t been so incredibly powerful. But now, Alex''s sword had been damaged by one of his enemies. ''My opponents will only be more powerful from here on out. This means that I have to upgrade my sword quickly. Otherwise, my sword will break as soon as ites into contact with any attack.'' Alex stared at the crack in his sword for some time and put it away. ''Not right now,'' Alex thought. Alex walked back to the Frozen Lake Stag and looked at it for a bit. The corpse had been separated into many different parts, and its head hung down from one of the ice spires. Alex grimaced when he saw the scene. However, he grimaced for a different reason than one might expect. ''Seems like I can''t sell that,'' Alex thought. Then, he looked at the head and the antlers. ''Luckily, its antlers are in one piece. I bet they are worth quite a bit.'' Alex took out his sword. ''Sorry, you have to go through a bit more stress.'' Alex stabbed his sword into one of the ice spires and used it as a tool to climb the small wall of icicles. His sword didn''t make any noise during that process. After a bit of climbing, Alex reached the hanging head. Alex stepped onto his sword and grabbed the antlers. He wanted to pull the head and antlers off. "Fuck!" Alex immediately shouted in pain as soon as his hands touched the antlers. Alex''s right hand was nearlypletely frozen over! Luckily, Alex had reacted fast enough, and only the surface froze. Alex activated his Ice st again to warm his left arm and then rubbed his cold and hot hands together. After a while, Alex''s right hand recovered, but it was still in quite a bit of pain. Yet, as Alex was calming down, he realized something. ''My left hand didn''t get frozen,'' Alex thought as he looked at it. ''I also didn''t feel any pain from it.'' Alex looked at the antlers again. ''Worst case scenario, I''ll just heat it again.'' Alex touched the antlers with his left hand, and, sure enough, he felt nothing. Alex used his right hand to throw the sword to the ground and hung from the corpse''s head with his left hand. Then, Alex pulled himself upward and let himself fall a bit to create enough force to separate the head from the body. The head was barely hanging on by a couple of threads of skin due to the ice spires. Aical scene of Alex swinging on the hanging antlers of a nearly decapitated head took ce. "Come on! You can''t be that hard!" The sound of tearing flesh and skin could be heard as the head slowly separated, and soon enough, the entire head separated from the body. BANG! Alex fell to the ground while carrying the head by its antlers. A ten-meter-fall was nothing to him. Alex used his right hand to clean some of his clothes of the blood that had fallen on him during his mission. However, Alex quickly became surprised as he looked at his right arm. ''Wasn''t this supposed to hurt?'' Alex thought. Alex was surprised when he saw his right hand. It was fully healed! ''Now that I think about it, my left hand also feels pretty good now,'' Alex thought as he looked at his left arm. Then, Alex noticed something. Was the glow of the antlers growing weaker? Also, was his body getting hotter? "Oh, fuck!" Alex immediately dropped the antlers, but it was toote. His left hand had absorbed a ton of Ice Mana and had converted it to regr Mana, which now filled his body. Alex was close to exploding. Alex had to do one attempted suicide of training, at least! Otherwise, he would explode! Alex quickly looked around in panic. No trees were high enough for him to get heavily injured! "Fuck! Fuck!" Alex shouted. Fear took hold of Alex. "It can''t be that hard to kill myself!" he shouted. Then, Alex noticed the gigantic ice spires. And then, he remembered how hard it had been to cut them with his sword. Alex gritted his teeth, ran into the distance, turned around, went to his knees, and assumed a sprinter''s position. Then, Alex shot with all of his power at the ice spires! Chapter 39 Alex slowly stepped out of the forest, dragging a severed head behind him. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. The Frozen Lake Stag''s antlers had lost all their color by now. Obviously, Alex''s masochistic and power-hungry side couldn''t let go of so much Mana. Alex slowly stepped towards the vige, a couple hundred meters away. Right now, Alex could finally see the vigers doing their business. They were tending to some farms while others cooked on the streets for the entire vige. Alex watched the vige from a distance. ''Everyone is working together. Some people are tending to the crops. Some are cooking for everyone. Some are out gathering Ice Wood.'' ''I''ve never seen anything like that on Earth. Sure, I''ve seen scenes like that in documentaries and movies, but not in real life.'' Alex silently watched the vige. ''It has a kind of purity and innocence to it.'' After a bit, a boy noticed Alex. After looking at Alex with wide eyes, he walked up to a grown woman and pointed at Alex while pulling on her skirt. The woman looked at Alex, and her eyes widened. ''Great,'' Alex thought. ''Guess the vigers will all leave again.'' However, surprisingly, the vigers didn''t retreat. Instead, they all called each other and pointed towards Alex, or, more urately, towards the head of the Frozen Lake Stag. Alex could see some shock and surprise in their eyes. ''Well, at least they''re not scared anymore,'' Alex thought. ''Might as well give them a disy.'' Alex lifted the head and held it above himself. The vigers continued to look at Alex while talking in hushed voices. After a couple of seconds, Alex felt a bit awkward and lowered the head. ''Weren''t they supposed to break out into a cheer or something?'' Alex thought awkwardly. Alex released a sigh. ''Well, real life doesn''t work like that, I guess. They''re probably all just happy and surprised. Who would expect a huge group of adults to loudly break out into a cheer?'' Alex continued walking towards the vige, and the vigers didn''t retreat. When Alex came close to them, some of them walked up to him. "Well done, young man!" one of the men said with a bright smile. "That beast has been a problem for a long time!" "Yes, thank you for taking care of it," another man said with a respectful nod. Several vigers gave their thanks, and Alex nodded back with a smile. "No problem," Alex answered. "Where''s the Elder?" "I''m right here," the Elder said as he pushed himself through the gathered crowd. Alex nodded at the Elder. "As you''ve seen, the Frozen Lake Stag has been dealt with." The Elder looked at the head and nodded. "Good job. I knew that the Frozen Lake Stag wouldn''t be a problem for you. After all, you already took down a High-Grade Ice Spear Bear. The Ice Spear Bear has an equally powerful ranged attack, but it also isn''t helpless as soon as you get close to it." "However, I also have to say that I was a bit worried for you. I hadn''t expected you to be on the hunt for over a day." Alex smiled bitterly. "Well, something came up that I had to deal with," Alex exined. "However, the fight definitely wasn''t easy. The Frozen Lake Stag had already reached the Peak-Grade." The Elder''s eyes widened in surprise. Then, he looked at the head in Alex''s hand and frowned. "Then, why is there no white glowing from its antlers?" he asked. "That''s the thing I had to take care of," Alex said. "My body identally absorbed the Ice Mana." The Elder''s eyes widened in horror. Then, he quickly looked at the other vigers and pulled Alex away with his hand. Alex had almost attacked the Elder out of instinct when he touched Alex, but Alex managed to restrain himself. The Elder pulled Alex into his house and closed the door. Then, he released a deep sigh. "Young man, you can''t just tell people your affinity," the Elder said in a hushed tone. "There are ways to take advantage of someone''s affinity. If an enemy knows about your affinity, they can use various gadgets to influence your Mana to hurt you!" Alex blinked in surprise, but the scene of the Frozen Lake Stag getting impaled by its own ability appeared in his mind. What if someone shot a lot of pure Ice Mana at Alex? His left arm would absorb all the Ice Mana and fill his body. Sure, Alex would be able to quickly recover from any injury, but what if he wasn''t injured? Wouldn''t the additional Mana force him to injure himself at this very moment? What if the Frozen Lake Stag had filled Alex with Ice Mana while running away and not attacking? The Frozen Lake Stag wouldn''t injure Alex, which would force Alex to injure himself. Yet, when Alex injured himself, the Frozen Lake Stag would have gotten a perfect opportunity to finish Alex. After all, Alex could recover from heavy injuries in such a state, but it wasn''t instantaneous. A half-dead Alex couldn''t evade something like those Ice Spires. What if a group of bandits threw some kind of bomb filled with Ice Mana at Alex? Alex would either explode or need to hurt himself severely. This would give them a perfect opportunity to finish him! Alex immediately narrowed his eyes as he realized all of these things. Many warriors and Mages wouldn''t havee up with all of these scenarios in an instant, but Alex had gathered enough battle experience toe up with these schemes immediately. Alex didn''t know it yet, but his experience with battle was vastly superior to nearly every other warrior in the Soldier Stage. "Thank you for telling me, Elder," Alex said with a thankful nod. The Elder nodded solemnly. It was good that the young man realized the weight of his words. The Elder had seen too many young geniuses die to their own inexperience. "Now, tell me how you dealt with the surplus of Mana? A Mana Overload is usually a death sentence," the Elder said. Alex looked at the Elder neutrally. "I nearly killed myself several times," Alex said. The Elder''s eyes widened in shock. For a while, the Elder didn''t answer. Then, the Elder released a deep sigh. After Alex''s words, the Elder''s eyes had changed. Before these words, the Elder had looked at Alex as a talented, friendly youngster. Alex was very talented in the Elder''s mind, and the Elder knew that Alex would go far. Alex had also offered to help the vigers instead of just directly forcing them to hand their supplies over. But now, the Elder realized how na?ve he had been. Why na?ve? Well, how did a genius be a genius? Being a genius didn''t only mean having a strong body, powerful techniques, or powerful equipment. A genius also needed a stalwart mindset. Their will had to be unbreakable. A talented youngster that didn''t work would only reach mediocrity. Yet, a genius would go very far. Why? Because they had a solid mindset, an iron will, and discipline. Where did these thingse from? Experiences. Mostly bad ones. Everyone knew how they could ovee a Mana Overload theoretically. Yet, how many people could put that method into practice? How many people had the determination to destroy their bones and organs? Nearly no one. Some of them could jump over their shadow once, but as soon as they recovered from their first experience, they would be petrified with terror. The pain wasn''t the bad thing about nearly dying. It was the fear and terror. So, while some of the powerful warriors managed to severely injure themselves once, only a select few would be able to do it a second time. The second time was far harder to ovee than the first time. This was why the Elder had realized that he had been na?ve. The Elder knew that this young man was a genius, but he had overlooked the reason for why this young man was a genius. The eyes of the Elder changed to pity. What had this young man gone through to create such determination? He had done something which would make nearly all grown men cry in fear. Even more, the way this young man had phrased it had been neutral. It almost sounded it was only natural to do something like that. Meanwhile, Alex felt a bit awkward. The Elder was looking at him with these weird eyes and wasn''t speaking. Alex had no idea what the Elder was thinking about. Chapter 40 "So, can I get my payment now?" Alex asked after several seconds of silence. The Elder recovered and sighed. "Sure," he said. "I''ll make arrangements for your payment right now." The Elder walked out of the house while Alex sat down and waited. The pleasant smell of the room made Alex''s mind rx, and before he noticed it, the Elder had already returned. "The Ice Wood and a sled wagon will be ready shortly," the Elder said. "Sled wagon?" Alex asked in confusion. The Elder nodded. "A sled wagon is the best method to transport goods in this region. It''s a sled that can be outfitted with four wheels when necessary. That allows you to transport things in the snow and on the ground." "Oh," Alex said with some wonder. That sounded like a practical vehicle. Alex wondered why he had never heard of something like that on Earth. "Thanks," Alex added after thinking about the sled wagon for a bit, "but why does it need wheels? Is Warrior''s Paradise in a different climate?" The Elder nodded. "We are in the Ice Wyvern Zone. Warrior''s Paradise is in the Storm Eagle Zone," the Elder exined. "Ice Wyvern Zone? Storm Eagle Zone?" Alex asked. "Why are the zones named after beasts?" The Elder was taken aback by Alex''s question. "Because of the Ice Wyvern and the Storm Eagle," the Elder exined with a weird tone. It was like Alex had asked a stupid question. "I''ve never heard of these two beasts," Alex said. "Why are the Zones named after them? Are they in the Zones?" The Elder lifted an eyebrow in skepticism as he looked at Alex. Was this young man joking with him? However, Alex appeared genuinely curious about these two godly beasts. "Powerful beasts dictate the climate," the Elder exined slowly. "The Ice Wyvern is an unfathomably powerful beast with an Ice Affinity. Its Ice Mana stretches over vast distances, lowering the temperature of thendscape." Alex''s eyes widened in surprise. "Beasts can do that?" Alex asked in shock. "Yes," the Elder said slowly, feeling weird about answering such a question. "Even children know about that." Alex felt a bit weird about thatment. So, he decided to tell the Elder about his supposed memory issue. The Elder understood and gave his condolences and some encouraging words after hearing about Alex''s issue. This young man had obviously gone through a lot. "So, why are these beasts still alive?" Alex asked. "Are all the humans too weak to take care of them?" "No," the Elder said. "There are humans even more powerful than these godly beasts, but these godly beasts are protected by them. These godly beasts transform Natural Mana into Elemental Mana. Elemental Mana is necessary for Mages to be more powerful. Even more, usmon people have already adapted our lifestyle to these climates." "If the godly beasts die, the entire climate will change. Our lifestyle is adapted to the climate, and if it undergoes a severe change, everything will break down, and many people will die," the Elder exined. Alex nodded in wonder. He had thought that he was somewhere in the north due to all the snow, but it actually turned out that there was simply a very powerful beast somewhere in the area. This was truly a very different world from Earth. "What about the Storm Eagle Zone?" Alex asked. "The Storm Eagle is a godly beast with a Wind Affinity. It absorbs Natural Mana and converts it to Wind Mana, which generates many heavy storms. Usmon folk mainly avoid such zones due to the natural destruction happening constantly, but the Wind Mages and warriors love it." "The Storm Eagle Zone is filled with canyons and mountains, creating an environment with a lot of uneven ground. It''s difficult to create viges and towns in craters, canyons, and mountains, which means more space for beasts. The many brutal beasts living in such an environment help the young warriors to gain battle experience, which is one of the main reasons for why the academy is in that Zone." "The other reason is that the Duke''s castle is also in that Zone. Duke Whirlwind is a High Mage with a Wind Affinity. His family and most of his Mages have a Wind Affinity, which makes this the perfect ce for them," the Elder exined. Alex nodded along with curiosity. The entire world had gained more wonder! The climate wasn''t dictated by the but by the mighty beasts. This opened so many possibilities for different climates and territories! The Pest Cats probably had a Darkness Affinity. What would the climate under a godly beast with a Darkness Affinity look like? Would it be constantly dark? What about a godly beast with a Water Affinity? Would that just be an ocean? Would a godly beast with a Fire Affinity create a volcano or a desert? There was so much to explore! "Now that I think about it, it''s actually logical that you would have an Ice Affinity," the Elder said. "You have been born into a Zone filled with Ice Mana. Many of our children have an Ice Affinity." This gave Alex a thought. "I have a question," he said. "Yes?" the Elder asked. "When Ice Mages use their powers, do their bodies heat up?" Alex asked. The Elder looked at Alex like he had just said something stupid. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. "No, of course not. We are simply releasing the Ice Mana. Why would that make us hot? Elemental Mana can affect the temperature, but the temperature doesn''t immediately shoot to the opposite end when the Elemental Mana vanishes." "For example, if you fill something with Ice Mana, it will cool down very quickly. After it has cooled down, when you pull all the Ice Mana out of it, it is still cold. However, it will warm up with time since there''s nothing left that cools it." "If you want to heat up something filled with Ice Mana immediately, the best method would be to rece the Ice Mana with Fire Mana," the Elder exined. Alex listened to these words with deep interest. His eyes appeared innocent, but deep inside, Alex was in deep thought. ''The same principle should apply to my Ice st,'' Alex thought. ''The concepts of how an Ice Mage unleashes their power shouldn''t be different to how a warrior with an Ice Affinity would unleash their power.'' ''In short, using my Ice st shouldn''t result in my left arm heating up.'' Alex wanted to frown, but he kept his expression under control. He knew that the Elder was not an enemy, but the Elder had just warned Alex about revealing his Affinity. It was best to immediately put these teachings to use. ''So, do I actually have an Ice Affinity?'' Alex remembered that the God had said that Alex would get a very special Affinity and that Alex could maybe use it in the future. Alex had been sent to an ice region. The God wouldn''t have said maybe if Alex had an Ice Affinity. ''Judging by how my Ice st got absorbed by the Frozen Lake Stag, I''m certain that I''m not unleashing a simple cold wind, but a st of pure Ice Mana.'' ''Actually, now that I think about it, I don''t think I actually have Ice Mana in my body. I can use my Ice st without actually using any Mana. I can even use it indefinitely, as long as my arm stays cold.'' ''Does this mean that whenever I use my Ice st, my arm gets filled with Fire Mana? Why else would it heat up?'' ''Is it some kind of energy splitting or something?'' ''However, I can feel Ice Mana, and that also only started urring after I absorbed the Pure Ice Mana Source. I didn''t feel the Earth Mana from the Pure Earth Mana Source back when the hedgehog wanted to reward me. I also wasn''t able to absorb the Pure Earth Mana Source.'' ''So, I can feel Ice Mana as if I had an Ice Affinity, but I don''t have an Ice Affinity. Yet, my Affinity is somehow rted to ice. On top of that, my Affinity is not rted to earth. Lastly, my Affinity might be rted to fire, but I can''t be sure yet.'' ''What kind of Affinity do I have then?'' Chapter 41 Alex and the Elder walked to the entrance of the vige. When some of the gathered vigers saw Alex, their eyes opened in surprise. Alex lookedpletely different from before! Why? Well, when Alex had finished talking with the Elder after an hour or so, he stood up from the chair. That''s when he noticed that the chair he had been sitting on was coated in mud and grime. Alex quickly realized that this hade from him, and he remembered that he hadn''t washed in an eternity. He wouldn''t jump into icy water at such temperatures. So, Alex had asked the Elder if he smelled. The Elder had only awkwardly coughed into his hands. After that, the Elder offered him a chance to properly wash and take care of his clothing. Alex wanted to decline, but after some of the vigers had heard that their savior hadn''t had an opportunity to wash in forever, they basically forced him. They wouldn''t want any other people outside the vige to think that Coldew Vige didn''t take care of its visitors! They had filled a big barrel with ice and snow and put it above a small campfire, and while Alex was taking his first bath in this world, his clothes were being washed by some of the older women in the vige. Alex wasn''t sure how they had done it, but his coat looked nearly perfect. It was almost like it was new. As for the clothes beneath Alex''s coat, they had been thrown away. Instead, Alex got a set of new clothing made out of animal hide. In such a cold environment, cotton didn''t grow. Because of that, the vigers mainly used the skin of their pigs and cows to fashion clothing. When Alex came out of his bath, it was like he had be a new man. The bath had felt divine! Alex also thought that since he was already clean, he could also cut his hair and shave. After everything was done, Alex put on his new clothes and old coat. He no longer looked like someone living in the wild but like a suave young warrior from some vige. Then, Alex had spent the night in a free room in a random house. This was the best sleep Alex had ever had since arriving in this world! Alex only very rarely slept since his meditation could supplement sleep to some degree. Additionally, sleeping in the wilds was dangerous. After waking up, Alex felt refreshed and said that he wanted to leave. The Elder brought him to the exit of the vige, and all the vigers looked with shock at him. He was so young! When they had seen him previously, they had imagined him to be some 30-year-old man. However, now, Alex barely looked like an adult! He almost looked like a teenager! Alex had grown a bit ever since arriving in this world, but he still had some growing to do. He barely reached 170 centimeters. When Alex arrived at the exit of the vige, he spotted a sled with some wheels at its side. ''That''s surprisingly small,'' Alex thought. The sled wagon was barely one meter wide and two meters long. Additionally, there wasn''t even much wood on it. The wood barely reached a meter in height. Even more, the wood was very finely cut. It was like someone had taken a standard piece of cut wood and halved it two more times. Sure, it was massive to some degree, but Alex was sure that he could pull more. ''It takes up about half of the sled wagon, so it shoulde to about one cubic meter of wood.'' Alex looked at the vigers and the smiling Elder and couldn''t bring himself to ask for more. ''They already helped me plenty. I can always earn the remainder in Warrior''s Paradise.'' Alex looked at the surroundings and saw that everything was still coated in snow. This meant that he didn''t need to put the wheels on the sled car yet. Alex turned to the vigers and nodded with a smile. "Thank you all," he said. The vigers said that it was no problem, and the Elder gave him somest advice for his way. Alex nodded and said his goodbyes. All the vigers waved after him as Alex walked over to the sled wagon. Alex grabbed the rope at the front and pulled. And the sled wagon didn''t move. Alex looked with surprise at the sled wagon. ''Okay, maybe this is heavier than I thought.'' Alex pulled with more force, and the rope shook violently under the strain. And finally, after putting a lot of force into it, Alex could move the sled. Alex threw the vigers a shocked expression, and most of them only smiled back while some of them oh-ed in respect when they saw that he could move the sled wagon. ''That''s definitely more than a ton!'' Alex thought. ''I know the power of my new body, and one ton is not that heavy! That''s more like 1.5 or 2 tones!'' Alex started to feel bad about wanting to ask for more. The vigers had already given him more than he had asked for. ''However, the Ice Wood is truly massive,'' Alex thought. ''Just a mere cubic meter is already closing in on two tons of weight! No wonder it''s cut into such a small size. One of these small pieces is probably as heavy as an average-sized piece of wood.'' Alex waved thankfully at the vigers again and began pulling. And with that, Alex began his journey to Warrior''s Paradise. He wasn''t sure exactly how far away it was, but Storm Eagle Zone should be the next zone towards the southeast, ording to what the Elder had said. The area was very uneven, and Alex had to fight against slopes and rises of mountains. Pulling the sled wagon up a mountain was incredibly difficult. Alex''s feet constantly lost their grip, and he was basically running against the elevation as his feet continually slipped away beneath him. He essentially moved forward like a car with summer tires on pure ice. Every five rotations of the wheel would only move the car one rotation worth of distance. It was incredibly tiresome. Meanwhile, the slopes were not very tiresome. Instead, they were very stressful. Alex basically stood in front of the sled with his feet firmly on the ground. The sled was pushing him forwards, and Alex had to slow it down by continually grinding his feet against the ground. His new shoes had already undergone a lifetime''s worth of stress in just two hours. However, the shoes remained in one piece, surprisingly. Two hourster, after ascending another slope, Alex''s eyes widened in wonder and shock. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. ''So that''s what the Elder meant when he said that I would get a fun surprise on my way to the Storm Eagle Zone,'' Alex thought. Right now, Alex was on top of an absolutely gigantic slope. Even more, Alex noticed that he was basically on top of a mountain! When Alex looked to his side and behind him, he saw rtively even ground, but when he looked into the distance, everything was far below him in elevation. Alex could see kilometers upon kilometers into the distance. ''This is actually a teau?'' Alex thought in shock. ''Even the Duke''s garden is on this teau!'' How huge was this teau!? Alex looked back at the teau behind him, and he could still see many huge mountains. At this moment, Alex also felt the movement of the Ice Mana. Alex felt like all the Ice Mana of the teau was flowing down the slope. ''Does this mean that the Ice Wyvern is somewhere on this teau? Why else would so much Ice Mana flow down from here?'' Alex thought. Alex had thought that the resident godly beast was far away, but it had turned out that it had been closer than he had thought. ''Where does that river in the Duke''s garden evene from?'' Alex thought. Many thoughts went through Alex''s head, but he quickly got distracted by thend below him. The area on the bottom of the gigantic slope was still filled with snow and ice, but the ground was far more even. Alex wouldn''t have to deal with all these slopes anymore. Then, Alex spotted a town on the horizon. It was probably over ten kilometers away, but the path from here to there was only one long slope. Alex guessed that he was about two kilometers higher in elevation than the town. Alex looked at the town. Then, he looked at the slope. Then, he looked at the sled. Alex got a terrible idea. Chapter 42 ''That''s a stupid idea, but I want to do it,'' Alex thought. He felt nervous but also excited. Alex went over to the sled wagon and pulled it over the slope''s edge. The sled wagon started to slide down, and Alex jumped on top of it. There was enough space in front of the Ice Wood that he could sit down, and he did just that. The initial eleration was somewhat slow, but then it became faster and faster. First, Alex felt nervous. Then, as the sled wagon became faster, he became excited. Then, he became nervous again. And then, he became terrified. After around 20 seconds, the sled wagon had elerated to impressive speeds, and it only seemed to be even faster. At first, the sled wagon had only brought a breeze to Alex''s face, but the breeze had quickly transformed into a terrifying storm. Alex felt the sled wagon below himself shake, and he was sure that he heard a crack at some point! Alex''s breathing and heart rate quickened as the sled wagon reached 150 kph in a matter of seconds. Then, it reached 200 kph. Then, 250 kph. That was already a bit faster than terminal velocity for a falling human. The wind was as strong as the wind a skydiver would experience. However, skydivers had goggles on their eyes. Alex didn''t. Alex already started regretting that he had gone through with that stupid idea! The slope would even out about a kilometer in front of the city, which would give Alex enough time to slow down the sled wagon with his feet, but he had quickly realized that he might have overlooked something. ''Can the sled wagon even stay in one piece?'' Alex thought in fear. ''There''s over a ton of Ice Wood on the sled wagon! Is this sled wagon even designed to resist something like 300kph or something? Seriously, I think I''m moving even faster than the hedgehog when it chased that octopus!'' If someone stood beside the passing sled wagon, they would only see a shadow pass by them, and after that, they would be assaulted by a terrifying storm. Alex had already slid for nearly four kilometers when something happened. Three people jumped out from behind a tree in the distance and walked to the slope. Alex''s mind nearly stopped working when he saw those three men. Were they suicidal!? Alex was sure that they had noticed him since they were looking at him at this very moment. "That guy seems toe from Coldew Vige! We''ve hit it big, boys!" one of the men said with a smirk. One other guyughed, while the third guy only looked solemnly at the approaching sled wagon. "Hurry up! The guards have probably already seen us!" the third guy shouted. "Yeah, yeah. Just chill for a second, okay? We got this," the first guy said with exasperation. "Let''s go!" Then, the three guys charged towards the approaching sled wagon. "Move!" Alex shouted with all of his power. Sadly, he was still too far away, making his voice very quiet. "He said move," the second guy said with a snicker. "Does the guy not realize that we are bandits?" he asked. "Plenty of vigers believe that they are uncatchable when they''re sliding down the slope," the third guy exined. "They think that no one would be willing to stop their sled wagons." The first guy looked with a smirk at the approaching sled wagon. "Sadly, they don''t realize that we are all in the Mid-Soldier Stage! We can easily stop a mere sled wagon." Meanwhile, Alex looked with terror at the people running at him from a distance. ''Are they insane!? Even I would be absolutely obliterated if I got hit by this sled! That sled wagon weighs over a ton and goes like 300 kph!'' Alex thought. "Move, or you will die!" Alex shouted. In these couple of seconds, Alex had already moved several hundred meters, and he was only about 200 meters away from the three of them. The three guys continued moving towards Alex, but they slowly came to a halt. "Isn''t that sled moving a bit too- oh shit!" Ever seen anything speeding right at you from a distance? It''s difficult to see how fast something is going when ites right at the viewer. The bandits had thought that this was just some guy from some vige who came to buy something. They had thought that he was probably here to buy medicine or something like that. After all, people from the viges rarely came to the city without a good reason. Dragging the sled wagon up the slope was just too tiring and too much of a hassle. They had also been sure that Alex had had no major wares on his sled wagon. Why? First of all, Alex had been very far away. Second, Alex''s body was blocking a major part of the Ice Wood behind him. Third, no merchant or delivery person would risk their cargo by sliding down this slope. So, in the minds of the three bandits, this sled wagon had probably weighed something like 150 kg, including the person riding it, and it would also probably only go 100 kph, max. Two people would have simply grabbed the sides of the sled wagon to stop it, while the third one would have threatened the rider. Sadly, they had been off with their calctions. Even more, they had only noticed something when Alex was 200 meters away. How fast were 300kph? Something moving at 300kph moved a bit less than 100 meters per second. That was a kilometer of distance in a bit more than ten seconds. It was ridiculously fast! In short, after the bandits had be suspicious, they only had two seconds left to dodge. The third guy of the group had immediately jumped to the side since he had been very careful the entire time. Thanks to that, he had just barely evaded the sled wagon. The other two were not as lucky. The first guy had managed to jump to the side, but his legs were still in the sled wagon''s path. As soon as the sled wagon hit the bandit''s legs, an explosion of blood urred. One leg was flung into the distance while the other one barely held on by some flesh and skin. The bandit''s body started rotating at insane speeds, and he fell to the ground. The second guy hadn''t managed to jump very far. The right side of the sled wagon hit him in the abdomen. A shower of blood assaulted Alex, and a severed leg hit him in the chest, cracking several ribs. However, Alex didn''t care very much about his injury since his mind was preupied with processing what had just happened. ''Did I kill someone?'' Alex thought in shock. For some seconds, Alex''s mind just wouldn''t work, but the urgency of the situation quickly woke him up. ''The slope''s angle is evening out! I have to stop the sled wagon!'' Alex thought. Alex put his legs to the ground, but he immediately pulled them back. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. When he had just slightly touched the ground, his leg had nearly been torn off! ''I can''t brake!'' For the first time in a long while, Alex was genuinely terrified. ''I''m going to hit the city walls!'' Chapter 43 Alex was panicking. The sled wagon was going way too fast for him. He couldn''t even change its direction or brake! After some seconds of panic, Alex reached the even ground, but the sled didn''t seem to stop at all. It just kept on going! "Jump down!" A powerful shout came from the city walls when Alex had still been over a kilometer away. Alex didn''t even think about how loud that shout had been to be heard from such a long distance. Alex looked to the side at the rapidly passing surroundings. How was he supposed to jump off something that''s moving so fast?! However, Alex''s mind, which had gotten used to stressful situations, quickly came up with a solution. Alex gritted his teeth. ''Let''s hope this works!'' Alex put his left hand to the Ice Wood behind him for two seconds. In these two seconds, Alex absorbed a lot of Ice Mana, and the familiar feeling of bursting appeared. Then, Alex took a deep breath and jumped to the side, protecting his head with his arms. Everything seemingly moved in slow motion for Alex. BANG! Alex hit the ground, and his body was violently thrown around. Alex spun several times in the air, and he felt the centripetal force pulling his arms away. BANG! A second hit, and several of Alex''s bones broke. Alexpletely lost his sense of direction, and he had no idea where he was going. BANG! Alex hit something, but after a brief moment of resistance, it gave way. He felt himself nearly puke at the force that hit his body just now. BANG! Alex hit the ground again, and his shoulder broke. BANG! He hit another thing, which quickly gave way beneath his force. BANG! BANG! BANG! After several more hits, Alex eventually stopped. Alexy on the ground, and he felt like he was dying. Yet, while everyone else would feel despair at being in such a state, Alex only looked with shock at the sky. ''I''m still alive!''Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Alex knew that he would survive since he had gone through simr experiences. He knew that the Mana would heal his body. BANG! BANG! BANG! Alex heard the sounds of something incredibly powerful hitting through something, and he knew that this could have only been the sled wagon. ''I''m in so much trouble.'' BANG! BANG! BANG! More explosive sounds followed, and Alex didn''t want to look at the damage he had caused. After two more sounds, it stopped. Alex only continued lying there. ''How am I supposed to pay for all that?'' he thought. ''Would they take Ice Wood as payment?'' ''How many people got injured?'' ''Speaking of, I think I just killed one of those bandits.'' Silence. Alex only looked at the sky as he tried toe to terms with what had just happened. After about of minute of just lying around and thinking about what he had done, Alex slowly stood up. nk, nk, nk. Alex heard the sound of approaching, armored footsteps, and he looked at his surroundings for the first time. He was in the forest on the side of the road. ''So, the things I punched through were trees,'' Alex realized as he saw several destroyed trees. ''If I still had a normal body, the first tree would have killed me.'' Alex had left behind a trail of destruction in the forest. "Oh, you can move?" a gruff voice said with surprise and a bit of amusement. Alex looked over, and he saw five men. One of them stood at the front, and he wore bright-silver armor. The four men behind him wore grey, iron armor. "What damage did I cause?" Alex asked. The leading man had anticipated the question, but he hadn''t thought it would be the first one. "Nothing," the man said with a smirk. This immediately dumbfounded Alex. For a while, Alex wasn''t even sure if he had heard correctly. "Nothing?" he asked for confirmation. "Yes, nothing," the leading man answered with a rough chuckle. "How?!" Alex shouted. The four men behind the leading man were silent, but the leading manughed loudly. "Earth Mages are very useful," he said. "Also, do you honestly believe something like this hasn''t happened before? Merchants lose control over their sleds all the time." "However, I have to say that your case was the most notable out of all of them. You had over a ton of Ice Wood on your sled wagon, and it took four Earth Apprentices to stop it. They even had to ingest some valuable pills to stop it. Of course, you have to pay for them." Alex was still perplexed. How did they stop something like that?! "What about the three men that I ran over?" Alex asked. "Oh, them? Don''t worry about them. They''ve been a gue for a while," the man said. "There''s even a bounty for them." Alex had expected something like that, but he was still a bit surprised that the guard evenughed about the fate of the bandits. "Did they survive?" "One of them died on impact, one of them got finished off by us, and thest one fled. We are currently chasing thest one," the guard said with delight. "You''ve done us a great service, but you also have to pay for our help. The pills the mages had to ingest were a bit more expensive than the reward, but I''m willing to cancel the debt out with your reward. These three guys have annoyed me for way too long." Alex felt a pressure in his chest when he heard that he had killed someone. Alex had killed plenty of beasts, but killing a human still felt different. The guard noticed Alex''s expression. "Oh, was that your first kill?" he asked. Alex slowly nodded. "Man, you''re lucky," the guard said with a snort. "Lucky?" Alex asked in shock. What was lucky about that?! "Yeah, lucky," the guard repeated. "Not only was your first kill an ident, but you also killed a bandit. That''s way easier toe to terms with than killing another soldier or civilians. Inparison to your lucky ass, my first kill was an execution." It was still difficult for Alex toe to terms with taking another human life. "Oh,e on," the guard said as he stepped closer. "You''ll get over it. This was actually a good thing for you. It will help you in the Warrior Academy." Alex''s eyes widened. "How did you know that I wanted to go there?" he asked. Alex was still a bit perplexed by everything that had happened. "You''re young, you have a very powerful body, judging by the fact that you are still alive after all of this, and you are traveling with a ton of Ice Wood toward the southeast. That Ice Wood is obviously for the special exam," the guard said with a smirk. "Also, you kind of feel like a student of the Warrior Academy." "Come," the guard said, turning around and gesturing to the street with his head. The guard passed his men and continued walking away. After some seconds, Alex shook his head and followed. Some secondster, Alex saw the slope again, and his eyes widened. Alex saw a figurative mountain of rubble strewn across the slope. The entire slope was covered with grey stones. "Our Earth Apprentices created several walls made of stone," the guard exined while Alex looked at the aftermath. "Your sled wagon punched through seven of them before being stopped by the eighth. That''s a new record! The old record had only managed to get through three. Quite impressive." When Alex heard how the town had stopped his sled wagon, he was surprised. If they had stopped it with walls of stone, howe Alex didn''t see any pieces of wood anywhere? "Come," the guard ordered again as he walked to the end of the slope. Alex followed the guard, and eventually, the group arrived at a small wall made of grey stone. However, the wall wasn''t straight but tilted. "Oh?" the guard said with surprise. "Would you look at that. Thest wall wasn''t destroyed, but your sled wagon managed to break it off at the base. I think we can count it as having broken through eight walls then." "Look," the guard said as he walked to the piece of wall. BANG! The guard lightly kicked the piece of wall, and the wall flew for over two meters. Obviously, the kick hadn''t been as light as it had seemed. Alex looked over and saw the front of his sled wagon, and his eyes widened yet again. The front was bent but still in one piece! How?! "How is it still in one piece?" Alex asked in shock. The guardughed and lightly kicked the sled wagon. BANG! An explosive sound resounded throughout the surroundings, but the sled wagon only turned to the side a bit. It was still in one piece. The guard turned to Alex with a smirk. "Ice Wood is hard. To think that you would actually have a sled wagon made of Ice Wood. That''s about one of the most extravagant things I have ever seen," the guard said with augh. Chapter 44 Ice Wood? The sled wagon was made of Ice Wood? Alex''s mind immediately went to the friendly vigers. Not only had they given him so much Ice Wood, but they had also created a sled wagon out of Ice Wood. They sure had gone all out with their repayment. However, after some seconds, Alex looked away from the sled wagon and turned his gaze towards the slope. Alex could see blood on the slope, as well as two bodies. Some guards were currently pulling the bodies to the side of the slope, and after they got there, they simply threw the bodies into the forest. Apparently, bandits didn''t get a proper burial. Such a scene seemed unimportant, but it gave Alex a feeling of disconnect. On Earth, even mass murderers would get a burial. After one''s death, everyone was the same on Earth. But here, these bandits were simply thrown to the side of the road. No one minded such a scene, but Alex felt like this scene was showing the differences between this world and Earth very well. Life truly wasn''t seen with as much importance here as on Earth. ''I killed one of them,'' Alex thought with difort. Alex felt some guilt appear in his chest, but it wasn''t as overwhelming as he had thought. Every human had thought about how it would feel to kill someone else at least once. Some edgy teenagers might think that they wouldn''t feel anything, but the truth was always different. Taking a human life woke a certain feeling of pressure and wrongness in one''s chest. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Even if a person hated someone else, when that other person died suddenly, the first person would still feel some difort. This feeling would be far stronger if one was responsible for their death. Wishing someone else to die was normal, and it happened all the time, but when it actually happened, one would still feel ufortable. However, Alex''s feelings weren''t as intense as he had imagined them to be. He definitely felt something, but it was still manageable. ''Is that normal?'' Alex thought. Silence. ''I don''t know.'' "Hey! Get your sled wagon out from below the rubble. We need to clean the slope for other merchants," the guard said, pulling Alex out of his thoughts. "Oh, right, sorry," Alex said absentmindedly. Alex went over to his sled wagon and pushed the stones off the sled wagon. After a bit of cleaning up, Alex could see the entire sled wagon again. The cage with all the Ice Wood was disced since the rope broke, but it was still close to the sled wagon. It took a lot of work, but Alex managed to put the cage with the Ice Wood back on top of the sled wagon. And then, the sled wagon was ready to be moved again. "Anyway, wee to the Central Wild!" the guard said with a smirk. "Is that the name of the town?" Alex asked. The guard nodded. "Yep. You need to leave through the southern entrance if you want to get to the Storm Eagle Zone. However, I would suggest that you stay here for the night. The Southern Wild is about a day of travel away, and it''s already afternoon." Alex nodded. "Thanks," he said. Then, Alex pulled the sled wagon towards the town. The guard and his men started cleaning the slope as Alex went to the town. After a bit of pulling, Alex arrived at the gate, and he was allowed to enter without any inspection. The guards had probably already inspected his sled wagon earlier. Alex saw that the streets actually had no snow on them, but that wasn''t an issue. Alex went to the side of his sled wagon and loosened the ropes around the wheels. The wheels were fixed to the sled wagon with beams made of Ice Wood, and they fell down and hit the ground. After loosening all four wheels, Alex went to a corner of the sled wagon. Crk! Alex lifted the corner and moved the wheel until the wood beam was straight. Then, Alex kept the beam straight and fastened the rope on the beam again. After doing that for all four corners, Alex pulled the sled wagon into the town on its wheels. He didn''t need to put much force into the pull since pulling something with wheels was easier than pulling a sled through snow. As Alex traveled through the town, many people watched him with interest. They had heard about the commotion in front of the northern gate, and they guessed that Alex was responsible for it. However, none of the townspeople came up to start a conversation. They were more interested in watching. The town wasn''t really big. It probably was only a kilometer across. Eventually, Alex passed through a marketce, being careful that he didn''t damage anything with his heavy sled wagon. Suddenly, Alex felt his sword vibrate. Alex took out the sword and looked at it with interest. An invisible force pulled Alex''s attention to a stall at the side of the road. The stall was made of wood, and it was quite wide and deep. Alex saw stones, gems, and metals being disyed at the front, and he could see several different kinds of ore in the back of the stall. Alex remembered that he could increase the power of his sword with ore, and he quickly realized that this was the reason why his sword was vibrating. "Can I help you?" the salesman on the stall asked after realizing that Alex was eyeing his store. Alex calmly took out his sword and put it on the counter. "Do you have something for weapons useful for warriors in the General Realm?" Alex asked. Alex was in the First Realm, which was called the Soldier Realm for physical fighters. The General Realm was the Second Realm. Alex knew that his weapon was probably useful for warriors in the Soldier Realm. So, if he wanted to increase its power with ore, he needed it to be of the second Realm. When the salesman heard Alex''s words, a bright smile appeared on his face. "We specialize in such ore. The Dark Iron Ore is the ore of choice for warriors in the General Realm," the man said. Alex nodded. "How much to reforge this entire sword with Dark Iron Ore?" he asked. "We don''t do forging," the man said. "I know. I meant how much for the required Dark Iron Ore to reforge the sword?" he asked. The man looked at the sword on the table. "40 gold," he said. "We get our Dark Iron Ore from a local mine, which is why it''s so cheap. You would normally have to pay over 50 gold for something like this." Alex''s eyes widened. "Oh, okay. Thanks. I''ll be going then," he said. The salesman deted when he realized that Alex didn''t buy anything. "Doe again," he said without any motivation. "Seems like you have to wait," Alex said quietly to his sword. Surprisingly, Alex felt like his sword vibrated a little. Alex had already realized that his sword wasn''t so simple, but he still wasn''t quite sure about its abilities. He probably had to wait until he had enough money to upgrade it to find out more. After a while of pulling, Alex reached the southern gate, and he went through it. The guard had said that Alex should spend the night here, but Alex didn''t n on doing that. First of all, Alex didn''t have any money, and he couldn''t just pay in Ice Wood. There was no sense in spending the night in the town when he would sleep on the ground. Second, it was still afternoon, and Alex could still get some hours of travel out of the day. Third, Alex was used to sleeping in the wild. So, Alex decided to directly continue to the Southern Wild. Chapter 45 Alex left through the southern entrance and saw the southern area behind the Central Wild. It didn''t look much different from the other parts of this Zone, except for maybe it being a bit tter. There were still some hills here and there, but it wasn''t as exaggerated as the northern part of the town. As Alex went past the southern entrance, he put the wheels of the sled wagon away again and transformed it back into a sled. Then, Alex took a deep breath and continued pulling. It was currently afternoon, and Alex still had enough daylight to travel. Not much of note happened as Alex continued traveling to the southeast. It was just incredibly boring and tiresome. Alex saw some big birds flying over the street asionally, and Alex always stopped to look at them. He didn''t want to be caught by surprise by some powerful bird swooping down from the sky. These birds looked rather powerful, and Alex didn''t trust that they didn''t eat humans. Alex even saw some of the bigger birds flying circles above him, but they all left after circling him for two times or so. He wasn''t sure if they were evaluating his power or if they were just curious. After a couple of hours, dusk arrived. Alex had probably traveled for around 25 to 30 kilometers in these couple of hours, which was way too slow for his liking. Sadly, the sled wagon was simply too heavy. ''Being a trader sucks,'' Alex thought. ''The merchants that passed me in thest couple of hours all used horses and bulls to pull their cargo. Wonder how expensive these animals are in this world. I didn''t see many of them in the town.'' N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Several traders had passed Alex during thest couple of hours. They were all driving way faster than him, and they all passed Alex easily. Most of them were driving carriages with trailers behind them, but that wasn''t all. The merchants also had bodyguards running alongside their small caravan. These bodyguards all threw Alex some confused looks, which was understandable. After all, Alex was pulling the sled wagon himself, and he was traveling alone. Whenever a merchant passed Alex, he heard several greetings from the guards, and the merchants even told him their names and their specialties. They had seen the sled wagon Alex was pulling, and they knew that he would earn big money with all that Ice Wood. To the merchants, Alex was a potential client. But all of that had stopped about an hour ago. Starting from an hour ago, no more merchants passed Alex, which gave him some insight into the remaining distance to the southern wilds. ''There should be about half an hour of daylight left, and everyone stopped passing me about an hour ago. That means that their carriages can''t travel the remaining distance in one and a half hours.'' ''The carriages were traveling at around 40kph, which means that there should be about 50 to 60 kilometers left. I''m moving at around ten kph, which means that I probably have around five to six hours of travel left. Sure enough, in total, it should be about a day''s worth of travel. The guard was right.'' ''Anyway, I think it''s time to pause for the night. I don''t know what kind of creatures are living here since all the merchants are avoiding traveling through the night.'' Alex pulled the sled wagon to the side of the road, into the forest. It wasn''t easy to find a gap big enough for the sled wagon to pass through, but after a bit of searching, Alex found one. After putting the Sled Wagon partly into the forest, Alex left the sled wagon and stretched. ''Man, my muscles are all sore.'' After a bit of stretching, Alex took out his sword and began training. He never skipped a day of training. By now, Alex was able to swing his sword with incredible speed, and whenever he unleashed a strike, one could basically only see an afterimage due to the strike''s speed. Alex''s different kinds of attacks also flowed more easily into each other, eliminating the awkwardness between strikes. Alex hated awkwardness in his fighting style, and he tried his best to get rid of it. After about an hour of swinging his sword, Alex was drenched in sweat, which was normal. Alex jumped up a nearby tree and sat down on one of its thick branches. The trees around Alex were still mostly conifers, but he had long since gotten used to sitting on branches filled with small needles. The reason why Alex was sleeping on the trees was that he wanted to be careful. He had no idea what kinds of creatures or beasts lived here, and if he had to fight one, he would rather have the initiative. If he stayed the night on the carriage, basically everything in the surroundings would notice him. However, by staying on a tree, all the curious eyes would be drawn to the carriage first, allowing Alex to gather information on any neer. Alex closed his eyes and started meditating. Meditation worked somewhat as a recement for sleeping, but he still needed to sleep for about six hours every two days. Of course, Alex wasn''t stupid enough to sleep in an unknown region. Alex slowly lost himself to his meditation. All his muscles had already fully recovered in just a couple of minutes, but Alex continued meditating to bridge over the time he should be asleep. Meditating without training wouldn''t increase Alex''s power, but it wasn''t useless. Alex was pretty good at controlling Mana by now, but after every couple of sessions of meditation, his ability to control Mana became even better. Alex''s body wasn''t without Mana. Yes, his Mana was mainly used to train his body, but Alex had noticed that he also had some Mana stored inside all his muscles. Right now, that stored Mana mainly acted as a storage used for regenerating injuries. With Alex''s higher control over Mana, he had noticed that the stored Mana was being used up during his training. That''s when Alex had realized that the stored Mana worked simrly to the sugar stored in one''s liver. To move a body, one needed energy, which mainly came from the stored glucose in one''s liver. At least, that''s how it had been on Earth. When the glucose was used up, the body burned fat, but the burning of fat was way moreplicated, and the process was quite borate. By burning fat, the body couldn''t reach the same explosive power as by burning glucose. As a former athlete, Alex had to know all of these things. So, how did Mana differ? From what Alex had seen, Mana worked like an upgraded version of sugar. By moving around, Alex''s body was using up Mana. Of course, Alex''s body also had a passive regeneration of Mana, which was strong enough to get him through an entire day of work. The passive regeneration of Mana was strong enough to allow Alex to jog indefinitely, assuming he didn''t need to sleep or eat. Yet, if Alex started running, sprinting, jumping, or shing with his full power, he would use up far more Mana than he was regenerating. It became even crazier when he injured himself. Apparently, healing an injury took a ridiculous amount of Mana. In the past, when Alex got injured, his passive Mana storage would be nearly entirely used up just by healing a cut, but now, Alex had enough control over his Mana to stop that from happening. Obviously, the ability to continue jumping around and fighting was more important than healing a cut. ''The ability to control Mana is probably of imperative importance,'' Alex thought while meditating. ''Mana is technically a very potent form of energy, and you can basically do anything with enough energy. I''m certain that I can use the Mana in my body for more than just jumping around and attacking. There have to be other kinds of uses.'' ''Well, I should learn all these things after joining that academy. It''s funny that I''m actually looking forward to going to school. I''ve always hated school.'' Crk. Alex opened his eyes as he heard the sound of something stepping onto a twig. Alex looked at the origin of the sound, and he saw a familiar beast. ''Oh hey, another Frozen Lake Stag,'' Alex thought as he looked at the small stag. ''Its antlers are smaller, and they''re not shining brightly. I can also not feel as much Manaing from it. It''s definitely weaker than the one I killed.'' The Frozen Lake Stag was carefully moving towards Alex''s sled wagon. There was a ton of Ice Wood on the sled wagon, and the Frozen Lake Stag loved Ice Wood. One could say it was hungry. However, it wasn''t the only thing that felt hungry. Alex looked at the Frozen Lake Stag greedily. Chapter 46 Alex sat on the tree while a campfire was burning below him. Several skewers filled with meat were hanging near the fire, and Alex was eating one of those skewers right now. From time to time, Alex jumped down, retrieved another skewer, and went back to the tree. He still wasn''t sure what kind of creatures lived in this area, so he tried to remain hidden. Anything that came here would have its attention drawn to the fire and sled wagon, leaving Alex the initiative. After eating quite a bit of meat, Alex pulled the remaining skewers from the fire, put some of his spare clothes around them, and put them on the sled wagon. He would eat them tomorrow while traveling. A couple of hours passed, and it was now well into the night. That''s when Alex felt something approach. Alex didn''t hear or see the approaching creature, but he felt a lot of Ice Mana moving towards him. Alex slowly stood up from the branch and silently moved to the next tree. A feeling of nervousness appeared in Alex, but he forced himself to remain calm. ''Judging by the amount of Ice Mana being disced, this is probably a creature of the Second Realm, and it''s definitely not in the earlier stages.'' ''I can''t fight that.'' After moving two trees away from his makeshift camp, Alex closed his eyes to concentrate on feeling the Ice Mana in the atmosphere. In Alex''s mind, he saw a sizable, blue ball of Ice Mana moving towards his old camp. The blue ball of Mana was about two meters in diameter, which confused Alex a bit. ''It feels like the creature is about as long as it is wide. It''s not as tall as it''s wide or long, but it is still quite tall. I wonder what kind of creature that could be?'' Surprisingly, Alex heard absolutely nothing. The forest waspletely silent, which was a scary thought. A creature of such a size should make some sort of noise. Sure, the Pest Cats were also silent creatures, but they had an Affinity for Darkness. Alex was pretty certain that the Darkness Affinity allowed the Pest Cats to remain silent. Yet, the creature that had just entered Alex''s camp obviously had an Ice Affinity. ''If I couldn''t perceive Ice Mana, my survival would depend on luck. I would have remained on my branch, and I wouldn''t even have noticed it. My survival would havepletely hinged on it not seeing me on my branch.'' ording to Alex''s perception, the creature stopped before Alex''s campfire, and then, Alex felt like it had gotten colder. ''Did it put out the fire? It probably doesn''t like fire due to its Affinity.'' Then, Alex felt the creature going to his sled wagon. The sled wagon was made of Ice Wood, which had a lot of Ice Mana. Because of that, the sled wagon was also visible in Alex''s perception. ''I hope it doesn''t consume all the Ice Mana.'' The creature went to the sled wagon and stopped in front of it for a couple of seconds. After that, the ball symbolizing the creature went over the sled wagon. Alex grew nervous. If that thing consumed all the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood, everything would have been for nothing. Luckily, the creature only walked around the sled wagon. It climbed over it, circled it, and stopped beside it. Obviously, it was quite curious about the sled wagon. The creature moved around a lot, but Alex had never heard any sounding from it. Some secondster, the creature left the sled wagon without absorbing the Ice Mana. Yet, Alex felt iting towards him. It wasn''t moving very fast, but it was definitelying towards his tree. Alex narrowed his eyes as he made a split-second decision. Whoom! Alex shot an Ice st to his front and quickly circled the tree. In Alex''s perception, the ball of Ice Mana shot towards the direction of Alex''s Ice st with incredible speed. Alex didn''t hear any sound. After that, Alex slowly and silently climbed down the tree and snuck towards his sled wagon. ''That thing has an Ice Affinity, and it can probably also feel Ice Mana. It probably felt a little bit of Ice Manaing from my left arm.'' In Alex''s perception, the blue ball of Ice Mana was rapidly moving around the forest. It was moving up trees, going down trees, and running around trees. It had suddenly felt a lot of Ice Mana, and it was searching for the origin. Alex had to use all of his self-control to not sprint towards his sled wagon. He had to move slowly. Eventually, the creature went back to the tree Alex had just been on. Alex felt how the creature climbed up the tree and moved all around it. If Alex had remained there, he would have been spotted. Alex arrived at the sled wagon and slowly crawled beneath it. Then, he remained motionless and silent. That thing had an Ice Affinity, and it could obviously feel Ice Mana. Alex''s left arm was a dead giveaway, and he had to deal with it. So, Alex decided to mask the Ice Mana in his arm with the Ice Mana of all the Ice Wood. Alex hoped that the Ice Mana of the Ice Wood would outshine the little bit of Ice Mana on his left arm. The creature inspected all the different trees in the surroundings, but it eventually went back to the sled wagon. Then, it simply stopped at the spot where Alex''s campfire had been. Alex opened his eyes from below the sled wagon, and he could finally see the creature. ''No wonder it was so silent.'' Eight long, blue icicles were fusing with the snow on the ground. It was like the snow and icicles were one and the same thing. Whenever the creature moved its icicles, it would leave a tiny part of the icicles behind. If one didn''t look for these parts, one wouldn''t notice them. They were only some small, azure spots on the snow. Alex also looked at the ground beneath him, and he saw the same azure spots. The creature had already been down here before. Alex moved his head a bit forward to see the creature. ''Sure enough, it''s a blue spider.'' The creature was one of those kinds of spiders with incredibly long, thin legs. Yet, its legs weren''t actually legs but just long icicles. Only its actual body had flesh. Together with its legs, it was about two meters wide. ''It reced its legs with pure ice?'' Alex thought. The spider only rarely moved around, and Alex guessed that it was probably trying to sense any vibrations. The spider remained motionless for about a minute, which felt like an hour to Alex. Then, the spider slowly walked away, leaving behind azure spots on the snow beneath it. After a while, Alex couldn''t see it anymore, and he closed his eyes to check the surroundings with his perception. The spider continued traveling for a while at a slow pace, but then, it suddenly exploded to the side. Alex felt the spider speed out of the range of his perception. "Creee!" Alex heard the painful screech of a beast. Alex took a deep breath and released a deep sigh. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. The spider found its prey, which meant that it would return to wherever it hade from. ''That was close,'' Alex thought as he finally rxed. ''Luckily, it had an Ice Affinity. I honestly need to be more careful in the future. Right now, I''m in the Ice Wyvern Zone, which is filled with Ice Mana. Nearly all the beasts in this Zone have an Ice Affinity, which gives me a way to perceive them before they reach me.'' ''However, that won''t always remain like that. The Storm Eagle Zone is probably full of beasts with a Wind Affinity, and I can''t feel Wind Mana. I''m pretty strong, but there are still several creatures in the wild that are more powerful than me. I should avoid staying outside if it can be helped.'' ''I''ve been too arrogant,'' Alex thought with narrowed eyes. Alex slowly left the sled wagon and went back to his tree. The sled wagon was still a major beacon for all the creatures with an Ice Affinity, and Alex had only gone below it earlier because the spider had already thoroughly investigated it. Luckily, for the remainder of the night, nothing of note happened. When Alex saw the first light of day, he took a deep breath. ''Time to continue.'' Chapter 47 Alex started the next day by continuing to pull his sled wagon along the road. As always, it was very exhausting and boring. About two hourster, Alex saw the first merchants pass him again on their fancy carriages. The merchants introduced themselves, and the guards following the carriages also shot a short greeting to Alex. Luckily, no major event took ce for the next couple of hours, and Alex safely arrived in the Southern Wild. As Alex saw the gates of the town, he rubbed the sweat off his forehead. However, Alex quickly stopped as he noticed his own action. ''Sweat?'' Alex thought as he looked at his left sleeve. ''It''s been a while since I actually sweated from exertion. The surroundings are always cold enough that I didn''t need to sweat.'' Alex pulled his right hand out of his cloak and felt the surroundings. ''It''s getting warmer,'' Alex thought. ''Even more, it almost feels too hot under my coat.'' ''Seems like I''m close to leaving the Ice Wyvern Zone.'' Alex continued pulling the sled wagon towards the Southern Wild. The town didn''t really look special. It was like a town after it had gotten warmer after a heavy snowfall. In short, it looked muddy and dirty. When Alex came to the northern gate, the guards stopped him and looked through his stack of Ice Wood for anything illegal. Their investigation was pretty thorough, taking nearly five minutes. "Why do you want to enter the Southern Wild?" the guard captain asked with practiced ease. "I''m just in transit. I''m selling this Ice Wood in Warrior''s Paradise for my entrance exam," Alex answered. He had noticed that several people knew about the Warrior Academy and its entrance exams, which was why he didn''t add anything to his exnation. The guard captain looked with surprise at Alex''s face and squinted his eyes. "Huh, you looked way older at first nce," the guard captain said. "Alright, you can enter." "I''ve got a question," Alex said. "Sure," the guard captain said leisurely. "Are there any dangers between here and Warrior''s Paradise?" Alex asked. "I''ve spent thest night in the wilds between here and the Central Wild, and that was too close forfort." "Oh?" the guard captain uttered as Alex got his attention. "What did you encounter?" "General Stage spider," Alex said, "and not the weak General Stage kind. It was azure and had eight icicles for legs. It moved very quietly through the night, and it nearly got me." The guard captain''s eyes narrowed. "You saw an Icy Grave Widow?" he asked. "I don''t know the name," Alex answered. "Tch," the guard captain spat to the side. "Of course it had to be an Icy Grave Widow. We''ve been searching for the cause of the nightly disappearances for a while now, but no one saw anything. They eithere back without having encountered anything too dangerous or don''t return at all." "I thought we eradicated that pest a couple of months ago, but apparently, we missed some of the young," the guard captain added. "Thanks for the intel. You''ve been a great help." "No problem," Alex said. "You said you were going to join the Warrior Academy, right? Are you interested in taking part in the hunt for the Icy Grave Widow? You seem pretty strong, and we could need someone like you," the guard captain said. "Of course, you will also be paid generously." Alex was a bit surprised by the offer, but he immediately shook his head. "Sorry, I''m not suicidal. If that thing were in the earlier levels of the General Realm, I could apany you, but it''s definitely stronger." "Listen, your survival would basically be guaranteed," the guard captain added. "We generally send several warriors in the General Realm to deal with Icy Grave Widows. It''s not about if we get it or if we win the fight, but when." "Sorry, I still have to decline," Alex answered. "I''ve lived in the wilds for a long time, and I''m still not very comfortable around other humans. The thought of putting my life into the hands of others is something that I''m notfortable with." After some seconds of silence, the guard captain only sighed. "Fine, it''s your decision after all. Anyway, as a reward for telling us about the Icy Grave Widow, I''ll give you some information for your future journey." "Thanks," Alex said. "After you leave through the southeastern gate, you will have to travel for about two days to reach the next town. The town is called Blizzard''s Edge due to its proximity to both Zones." "On the path to Blizzard''s Edge, you don''t really have to be careful of any powerful beasts. The Elemental Mana is weak in the atmosphere, and beasts don''t like that. You will, at most, see some early or middle Soldier Stage beasts, and those shouldn''t be a problem for you," the guard captain exined. Alex nodded. "However, the weak presence of beasts makes this ce a haven for bandits. There''s a known bandit camp located somewhere between here and Blizzard''s Edge, but we haven''t been able to find the camp yet." "Their leader should be a Late Soldier Stage Warrior, but he only very rarely robs people himself. He hasckeys for that. The most powerful bandits you have a chance to meet should be a group of five led by a Middle Soldier Stage Warrior." Alex''s eyes narrowed while the guard captain continued. "However, you will probably note across such a group," the guard captain added. "The leaders of these squads are experienced, and they would quickly realize that you''re not an easy target. The goal of the bandits is to make some easy money, not to fight someone to the death. You''re not an easy target, and they will see that with one nce. Attacking you is too risky." "So, if you meet any bandits, they will most likely be a group of newbies, and they won''t be a danger to someone of your power." Then, the guard captain''s eyes narrowed. "However, that may be even more dangerous for you than meeting an experienced group of bandits," the guard captain added. Alex lifted an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" "Newbies have a certain aura of inexperience, fear, and nervousness on them," the guard captain exined. "To an experienced warrior, they seem more like a group of rascals than bandits." "Many warriors can''t bring themselves to kill these newbie bandits and will only heavily injure them or scare them. They will most likely also throw some life advice at them." "However, people that have be bandits have already fallen to a level of poverty we can''t even imagine. All the life advice we can throw at them is useless. They won''t ept the life advice someone gives them but will only get angry at the person." "The newbies will then inform their higher-ups about the target, and you will meet with more powerful bandits. Even more, they know about your power now, and the group that will meet you will be comprised of many Middle Soldier Stage warriors." The eyes of the guard captain pierced into Alex. "If you meet any bandits, you can''t allow them to escape," the guard captain said with severity. "If someone tries to rob you, you must kill them. Otherwise, you''re ying needlessly with your own life." "The danger of this road for you are not beasts or powerful bandits, but your own innocence." "I hope you cane to terms with killing some people that you will perceive simply as a bunch of kids."Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Chapter 48 Alex took a deep breath. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. Killing a bunch of kids? Alex''s mind went back to the bandit he had run over on the way to the Central Wild. Alex still felt ufortable whenever he thought about that event. However, he hadn''t killed them on purpose, and even more, he couldn''t even have stopped the sled wagon if he wanted to. They had essentially thrown their own lives away. Yet, this time, it would be different. The lives of these newbie bandits would be in his hands. "Thank you for the advice. I''ll keep it in mind," Alex said. The guard captain nodded. "No problem. You can''t travel to Blizzard''s Edge in one day anyway, which means that you have to camp on the way there. If some bandits decide to strike, it will be in the night." "Thanks again," Alex added. The guard captain motioned for Alex to enter the town with his head. "Don''t make a mistake. It''s your life or theirs." Alex nodded again and entered the town. There wasn''t anything special in the town, and Alex simply passed through it in silence. Several merchants were asking him to buy stuff, but Alex ignored them. A couple minutester, Alex exited through the southern gate of the Southern Wild. "Is it fine if I stay near the walls of the city for the night?" Alex asked the guard captain of this gate. "I don''t have any money to stay in the town, and I don''t want to stay two nights on the road from here to Blizzard''s Edge." The guard captain looked at Alex with a bored expression. "Sure. Bandits won''t dare toe this close to the town. Just don''t make too much noise." Alex nodded. "Thanks, I won''t." The guard captain nodded back and went back to his job. Alex pulled the sled wagon to the side of the road and stretched. SHING! Alex pulled out his sword and started his training. After hours of training, Alex stopped when the sun went past the horizon. Night had arrived, and Alex decided to sleep. Alex had already skipped a night of sleep on the way to the Southern Wild, and he didn''t want to feel tired for the journey to Blizzard''s Edge. ''I''ve traveled quite a bit in thest couple of days,'' Alex thought. ''First, I went from Duke Whirlwind''s garden to Coldew Vige. Then, I went from Coldew Vige to the Central Wild and from the Central Wild to the Southern Wild.'' ''Tomorrow, I will start the two-day journey to Blizzard''s Edge. After that, I should be pretty close to Warrior''s Paradise.'' Alex''s gaze traveled to the northwest. He couldn''t see any big mountains in that direction. ''I can''t even see the teau anymore.'' Then, Alex looked at the sled wagon behind him. ''No wonder people pay a lot for Ice Wood in Warrior''s Paradise. I haven''t seen Ice Wood Trees ever since exiting Coldew Vige, and the journey from Coldew Vige to Warrior''s Paradise is dangerous and long.'' ''Even a carriage pulled by horses will probably take two to three days to get to Warrior''s Paradise from Coldew Vige. Even more, the merchants have to hire guards if they want to save on travel time.'' ''If they traveled through the night, a carriage would probably only need about 24 hours for the journey, but they would need guards to protect them.'' ''Without guards, I think a carriage would leave Coldew Vige at dawn and spend the night in the Southern Wild. After that, they would travel to Blizzard''s Edge and spend the night there. Lastly, they would probably directly travel to Warrior''s Paradise.'' ''One day of journey with guards or three days without guards. I guess it depends on the goods if it''s worth hiring guards or not.'' Alex''s mind wandered to many ces as he slowly sumbed to sleep. This night, Alex slept on the ground while leaning his back on the sled wagon. The night passed without any incidents. Alex woke up when it was still dark, but his inner clock told him that dawn would arrive soon. ''Alright, let''s go.'' And thus, another exhausting day of travel started for Alex. Alex pulled the sled wagon for over twelve hours. Tens of carriages had already passed him, and Alex had also seen some camps of people traveling without carriages. ''It''s a feast for bandits.'' By now, Alex could see no more snow or mud. There were even some trees with actual leaves on them. Alex had almost forgotten what they looked like since he had been around nothing but conifers for months. The temperature was still a bit cold, but it wasn''t freezing. If Alex had to put a month to the current weather, he would say march. The winter was at its end, but spring wasn''t fully there yet. When night arrived, Alex jumped onto his sled wagon and closed his eyes in meditation. Alex didn''t want to train right now since he had to be in his peak condition for any eventual attacks. The entire day, Alex had felt ufortable, and it had only gotten worse the closer night came. Alex wasn''t afraid of the bandits, but he was afraid of having to kill some kids. Alex was in the body of a teenager, but he had actually been a young adult in his past life. Many teenagers thought of themselves as adults, but when they actually reached their twenties, they realized the difference between teenagers and actual adults. There was a certain aura of confidence in adults that was nearly impossible for teenagers to emte. A slight wind blew through the surroundings, and Alex felt the gentle movement of his hair in the wind. Everything was silent. Hours passed. Alex felt a bit hungry, but he could get through a day without eating. Alex focused on gathering Mana in his meditation, and time passed rather quickly for him. It was like he was half-asleep and half-awake. Suddenly, Alex opened his narrowed eyes. He had heard the sound of movement in the distance. Alex looked over, and he saw a shadow dart behind a tree. The bandits had arrived! Chapter 49 Alex looked towards the area where he had seen the shadow. He had been certain that the shadow had had the shape of a human. ''I really didn''t want to do this,'' Alex thought with narrowed eyes. Nervousness crept into his heart as the thought of killing a couple of kids reared its ugly head. SHING! Alex took out his sword and held it beside himself. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. The light of the moon slightly reflected off the ck sword, making it just barely visible in the dark. The forest returned to silence as Alex stood silently on top of the sled wagon, his head turned to the ce where the bandits had just been. The wind made Alex''s coat wave in a rhythmic fashion, giving him the appearance of a creature ready to strike at any time. Alex''s appearance was essentially warning everything and everyone in the surroundings that they shouldn''t attack him. Alex knew how effective intimidation could be if someone didn''t want to fight. He didn''t need to appear aggressive like a bloodthirsty beast. He only had to look like something that wouldn''t give up without a fight. He hoped that the bandits would find an easier target. Alex wasn''t afraid for his life, but for their lives. For nearly a full minute, only silence reigned in Alex''s surroundings. Then, two minutes passed. Three minutes. Five minutes. After seven minutes, Alex put his sword away and sat down again to meditate. The bandits were gone. Alex took a deep breath and entered meditation again. However, just 40 minutes after entering meditation, Alex heard several tiny noises. ''They returned, and there are more of them,'' Alex thought with narrowed eyes. Alex slowly stood up again and drew his sword. Ten seconds of silence passed again. "Go!" A loud shout echoed through Alex''s small clearing, and Alex narrowed his eyes. SHING! SHING! SHING! In an instant, over 15 people darted out of the trees as they ran towards Alex''s sled wagon. Yet, Alex gritted his teeth as he saw their appearances. The bandits came from all walks of life. Alex could see some teenagers, but he could also see young adults, middle-aged men, and one older man. They were all dirty, and they didn''t wear any noteworthy armor. At most, some of them wore vests made of coarse leather and riddled with holes. The others wore raggy and old clothing. However, the worst part was that none of them carried weapons. They all charged out of the trees without weapons, and even more, they didn''t even look at Alex. They fully focused on the Ice Wood on the sled wagon. They never intended to attack or injure Alex, and he knew that. They only wanted the Ice Wood, and they wouldn''t attack or hurt Alex while stealing from Alex''s sled wagon. Alex knew why they were doing this. ''They realized that I''m notfortable with killing people. So, they came out without any weapons or armor and without any intention of attacking me.'' ''They''re banking on the fact that I''m unwilling to kill them.'' Alex made a split-second decision and jumped towards the closest bandit. BANG! Alex punched the chest of the bandit, throwing him at a tree behind him. BANG! The bandit hit the tree with a loud impact, and the sound of bones being broken reverberated throughout the small clearing. Silence. The bandits stopped moving as they looked at their colleague. Alex looked at the other bandits with narrowed eyes, but his heart shook when he saw their eyes. They weren''t shocked, terrified, or angry. No, their gazes were evaluating. It was like they wanted to see what happened to their colleague. The bandit that Alex had punched away coughed and took a deep breath. He was still alive. That was everything the bandits needed, and they immediately continued charging towards the sled wagon. So what if they got injured? The others would share their loot with them, which would make all of this worth it. As long as they didn''t die, it would be worth it! The first ones reached the sled wagon and began to tear at the cage holding the Ice Wood. Alex''s nervousness increased as he gritted his teeth even harder. SHING! "AAAHH!" A bloody arm flew through the air. Alex had cut off the arm of one of the bandits, who had just wed on the cage. The other bandits paused for a second to look at what had happened. And then, they continued tearing with even more force. CRK! A part of the cage was torn off as the bandits greedily gathered the Ice Wood. Meanwhile, the bandit with one arm grabbed his arm, put it under his other arm, and also continued wing at the Ice Wood with his free hand. Alex''s eyes became bloodshot due to the stress and his inner conflict. ''I can''t let them get away with the Ice Wood! I need that!'' ''My goal is to be powerful! I want to reach heights that would have been impossible on Earth!'' The words of the guard captain shot through Alex''s mind. "It''s your life or theirs." SHING! Silence. The bandits looked over in shock as they paused. A headless body fell to the ground. Alex gripped his sword tightly. ''It was so easy.'' ''My sword went through his body like butter.'' ''I just ended a human life.'' Alex''s arm shook as his nervousness and fear turned to rage. These bandits had forced him to take a path of no return, and he hated them for it. He had already killed one, and it didn''t feel as bad as he had thought. There was no immediate feeling of regret or terror. No, it only felt like Alex had just lost something. Killing didn''t feel that hard right now, and his anger was all the reason Alex needed. SHING! Alex diagonally bisected the torso of another bandit. His sword was so sharp that the torso might as well not have existed. The eyes of the bandits reflected deep fear. They quickly grabbed any Ice Wood they could carry and ran away. SHING! Alex killed another bandit. "Drop the Ice Wood, and you can remain alive," he said coldly. None of them listened. It was like the Ice Wood was more important than their lives. Alex gritted his teeth. SHING! SHING! Alex killed two bandits before they could even move two meters away. These bandits were in the Early Stages of the Soldier Realm, at most. Some of them even had bodies on the same level as the humans on Earth. "Drop it!" Alex shouted. Some of the bandits looked back, and when they saw the additional corpses, they dropped the Ice Wood and continued running. However, the three most distant bandits didn''t drop the Ice Wood. They had the best chance of getting away. BANG! The ground below Alex nearly exploded as he charged forward with his full speed. In less than a second, Alex arrived near the first bandit and killed him. BANG! Alex changed his trajectory to charge at the next bandit. They weren''t all fleeing in the same direction. Some of the bandits felt a powerful wind pass them as a ck shadow darted in and out of their vision. In just two seconds, the second bandit died. Then, in another four seconds, thest bandit carrying Ice Wood died. Only the sounds of hurried footsteps could be heard echoing throughout the forest. Alex didn''t move as he simply looked at the newest corpse in front of him. The image of a headless body and a solitary head made Alex feel like this thing wasn''t a human. It was hard for Alex to ept that the head and the body had been a human once. It was like these two things weren''t rted at all. Alex looked into the terrified eyes of the head. The head had belonged to a teenager. After some seconds, Alex wordlessly bowed down and pushed the body to the side. Alex''s hand moved forward, and he took the solitary piece of Ice Wood from the corpse. Alex looked at the piece of Ice Wood for a while. ''Was it worth it to die for one piece of Ice Wood?'' Alex thought, gazing at the piece of Ice Wood. Then, Alex''s gaze wandered to the head. ''Was he deserving of death for only stealing a single piece of Ice Wood?'' Silence. Alex couldn''t find an answer for a long time. Yet, eventually, he received his answer. CRACK! Alex destroyed the piece of Ice Wood in his hand. ''It''s not important what he stole.'' ''Actions aren''t important. Intentions are.'' Alex slowly stood up again and walked back to the sled wagon. Alex jumped onto the sled wagon and closed his eyes. The entire time, he ignored the pieces of former humans. ''It''s my life or theirs.'' ''Actions aren''t important. Intentions are.'' Alex repeated these phrases several times in his head. ''I have done what I had to do.'' And thus, silence returned to the clearing. Alex repeated these phrases in his head throughout the night. Alex was the only living thing, and the area around his sled wagon was surrounded by the corpses of mortal men. There were no weapons. Chapter 50 An hour of silence passed. Alex couldn''t enter meditation. His body was tense and shaking in anger from time to time. ''I''ve done what I needed to do,'' Alex kept repeating to himself in his mind. He had already gotten used to the smell of blood, but Alex subconsciously breathed through his mouth to avoid smelling it. A painful headache formed over the course of the hour. Alex felt like his stomach was churning. ''I''ve done what I needed to do.'' Alex slowly opened his eyes and gazed at the body pieces surrounding his sled wagon. He had done this a couple of times in thest hour. It was like he was trying to confirm if all of this had really happened. ''This could have been me,'' Alex thought as he looked at one of the corpses. However, no matter how often Alex told himself these things, it was like something inside of him wasn''t epting his thoughts. ''I did the right thing.'' ''If I had let them escape, they would have called stronger bandits.'' However, as Alex had that thought, he realized something. ''But then, why did I only kill the ones that carried Ice Wood?'' Alex''s insides shuddered. ''I let the others escape.'' ''Stronger bandits wille either way.'' ''But then, why did I kill the others?'' ''They were already all retreating.'' ''Would some pieces of Ice Wood ruin my n?'' Silence. Alex looked at the pieces of Ice Wood that some corpses still held in their hands. Alex knew the answer. ''Without killing at least one or two of them, the others wouldn''t have retreated.'' ''Killing no one would have ended in my entire sled wagon being stolen.'' Silence. Alex looked at the corpses. ''Except for the first two, the other deaths were unnecessary.'' ''Their deaths don''t change the oue.'' Silence. ''I should have killed all of them,'' Alex thought after a while. ''If I had killed all of them, these deaths wouldn''t have been worthless.'' ''I''ve forgotten the very lesson I have learned in the wilds.'' ''Either go all the way or retreat.'' ''I tried to have both things. I wanted to keep my belongings and remain safe, but I also didn''t want to kill anyone.'' ''My indecisiveness has ended up with me getting neither of these two things. I''ve killed several people, and my safety isn''t guaranteed.'' ''I should have killed all of them.'' Silence. As Alex arrived at that train of thought, his tense body slowly rxed. However, his headache worsened. ''I can''t make that mistake again.'' Silence. Suddenly, Alex''s eyes shot open with a cold glint as he heard a very silent sound in the distance. BANG! The sled wagon shook as Alex shot into the distance with all of his speed. "Wait-" SHING! Two halves of a body fell to the ground. Alex looked at the corpse with narrowed eyes. ''ck clothing made of leather, daggers, a crossbow, a hood.'' ''It''s a bandit, but a stronger one. I felt a tinge of resistance from my sword.'' Alex looked at his surroundings warily, but he didn''t hear, see, or feel anyone else. ''A scout.'' Alex narrowed his eyes. ''I can''tmit the same mistake!'' Alex slowly pulled his sword back and hid it and his arm behind his cloak. After that, he silently but swiftly moved along the surroundings of his clearing. Alex had stayed in the wild for a long time, and he had be excellent at moving silently. Alex moved around his clearing in a wide circle, never leaving his sled wagon for too long. He had to keep an eye on it. However, Alex didn''t find a second bandit, even after searching for over five minutes. Eventually, Alex returned to his sled wagon and sat down again. He hoped that the night would be over soon. The time passed in silence for Alex. The only things keeping Alexpany were his thoughts. Meanwhile, at a camp a couple of kilometers away, a middle-aged man with an eyepatch was ring at a young man with unkempt, brown hair. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. "He''s most likely dead. So what?" the man asked with an upromising tone. "Ryan is our best scout!" the young man shouted as he red at the man. "He went through worse things! I''m certain that he''s still alive!" "Then why hasn''t he returned yet?" the man with the eyepatch asked with a solemn voice. "I don''t know!" the young man shouted. "However, I''m sure that he''s still alive! That''s why we have to check up on him!" "Don''t be stupid," the older man snorted. "You''ve been in my camp long enough. You should know how these things go. If he hasn''t returned, he either left our group, or he''s dead. Bandits don''t get captured, and there are no powerful beasts around. Additionally, Ryan had no reason to leave us." "He''s dead. Get it through your head," the man with the eyepatch said with a serious tone. The young man''s fist shook violently in rage. "Then, we have to take revenge!" The man with the eyepatch sneered at the young man. "Revenge? Are you sure you''re a real bandit? Since when do we take revenge?" "We''re hoodlums!" the man with the eyepatch said with a huff. "We''re criminals! We''re traitors! All of us are only here to earn money for one reason or another. We''re not a group of friends. We''re not a family." "We all have our own families, and we all need money. Some of us want it for our starving families, and some of us want it for ourselves. The reasons don''t matter." "We''re only here for the money. That''s it," the man with the eyepatch finished. The young man gritted his teeth in anger. "Then, let''s do it for the money! That guy is carrying over a ton of Ice Wood! Isn''t that worth taking a risk?" "Have your emotions blinded you to rationality?" the man with the eyepatch asked with a narrowed eye. "The beggars tried to rat him, and he killed nearly half of them." "That shows that he''s not a stranger to killing humans." "Then, he killed our best scout, while he only had the job to scout. I know Ryan, and I know that he would have only scouted. He wouldn''t have tried anything on his own. He''s smarter than that." "Yet, Ryan is dead. That means that the perception of our supposed victim is beyond impressive. Additionally, he managed to kill Ryan. Ryan''s orders were to retreat at the first sign of danger, and he has plenty of tricks when ites to running away." "Ryan could only have been killed by someone that''s far more powerful than him." "Such a person can only be in the Late Soldier Stage or the Peak Soldier Stage. Even if we all attack at once, several of us will still die in the fight." "And then what? We will have lost a significant chunk of our most experienced members for some Ice Wood." "It''s not worth it," the man with the eyepatch finished. However, the young man only grew angrier and more frustrated. "Fine!" he shouted. "Then, I''ll just do it myself!" The man turned around to leave the camp. Puchi! However, his feet stopped as a sword came out of his neck. "I can''t risk you exposing our location," the man with the eyepatch said with determination. SHING! The bandit cut the head off and put his sword away. An older person to the man''s side only looked at the corpse with eyes filled with pity. "Give Martha and Holly one gold each," the man said to the older man. The older man nodded. Martha was the wife of Ryan, the dead scout, and Holly was the wife of the dead man on the ground. "Give the families of the dead beggars ten silver each," the man added. The older man nodded again and slowly left the camp. Now, the man with the eyepatch was left alone, and he released a deep breath. "I can''t risk the lives of ourrades," he silently said to himself. "If we all die, all our families will starve." "We can''t take any risks." Chapter 51 Dawn arrived. Alex''s mind was still going wild, even though several hours had already passed. Alex didn''te from this world. He came from Earth. On Earth, murder was not somethingmon. Sure, the news constantly reported about murder, but how many people had actually met someone that knew someone that had been murdered? Alex was currently fighting with himself in his mind. The bandits hadn''t stopped, even after Alex had already cut off someone''s arm. Was he supposed to just watch? And then what? All his money would be taken away. He had to kill them! They wouldn''t stop otherwise! But that created another issue. Alex had killed more people than necessary to stop them. Why? So that the other bandits wouldn''t think of him as a pushover. However, he hadn''t killed all of them, which made the previous deaths unnecessary in his mind. It was aplex maze of morality. When the first light of the day hit Alex''s face, he absentmindedly jumped down from the sled wagon and looked at his surroundings. The corpses were still there. They had been frozen due to the cold, and nothing had moved in thest couple of hours. It was like no time had passed. However, the change from darkness to light made it appear like a nightmare that had be reality. It was all real. Alex didn''t feel much when he saw all the corpses. He wasn''t sure what he should feel. He just did whatever he had to do. Alex gathered the remaining Ice Wood in the surroundings and absentmindedly repaired the cage as well as he could. It took him some minutes, but he managed to repair the cage somewhat. Alex knew how to make robes and how to create basic structures due to his long time in the wild. Eventually, Alex grabbed the sled wagon and pulled it back to the street. A bit of snow had fallen in the night, but the temperature had already climbed above freezing again. The snow would vanish in the next couple of hours. Without thinking anything, Alex simply pulled the sled wagon forward. All of Alex''s actions just happened automatically. A couple hourster, the first carriages passed by Alex again. Nearly all of them had seen the clearing of corpses. Alex hadn''t pulled the sled wagon far when he had camped for the night, which meant that the corpses could be seen from the streets as long as someone inspected their surroundings carefully. When the carriages reached Alex, they immediately knew that it had been him. Why? Because, at the speed at which he was pulling his sled wagon, he couldn''t have gone that far in only one day. This meant that he had either started in the middle of the night, or he had started yesterday and camped for the night. So, how did the owners react when they saw the perpetrator of the massacre? "Hahaha! Good job, kid! Every dead bandit is one bandit less for us to worry about! Here, take this as a thank you!" The owner of the carriage had shouted these words while slowing down. Then, he took out ten silver coins and threw them towards Alex. Alex only looked at the coins in the dirt with an absent mind. The merchant continued on his way after saying goodbye. Alex looked at the ten silver coins lying before him in the dirt. It was a reward for killing the bandits. For a while, Alex only looked at the coins. He wasn''t sure what he should think about this reward. He had killed several normal humans that hadn''t even been armed. They hadn''t even attacked him. They had only gone after his sled wagon to get some Ice Wood they could sell. Many people on earth would think of Alex as being a coldhearted and greedy murderer. He had put a bit of his money above several human lives. In a way, Alex knew why those people would think like that. From an outsider''s perspective, one could really say that Alex had gone too far. Yet, Alex had been in the middle of it. He had done what he had believed to be right. Alex only looked at the coins. In his mind, the coins were associated with the actions he had done. He had killed several unarmed humans, and he was being rewarded for doing that. The dirty silver coins didn''t feel very appealing. Something inside Alex told him that he shouldn''t take that money. Alex would never ept this money. Alex had a certain sense of morale. However, Alex had died on Earth. Alex wouldn''t ept the money¡­ But what about Shang? Alex remembered the time he had gone out to hunt his first Pest Cat. Back then, Alex had felt like he was leaving his old world behind. He didn''t remember the faces of his family anymore. He didn''t remember the voices of his family anymore. He wasn''t even sure how they would act or what they would think if they could see him right now. It had been so long. After so long of staying alone, he felt like he truly was alone. Did he even have a family? Why did it feel like Alex''s family was a stranger''s family? It was like they weren''t real. Even more, Alex wasn''t even sure about his own name anymore. After several times of splitting headaches when Alex tried to remember his own name, he had started to feel aversion towards his old name. Every time he thought about the fact that he still had an old name, he felt frustrated. Every time his old name was about to appear, he would feel pain. Alex knew that the God was the actual reason for all of this, but feelings often didn''t follow logic. Even though Alex knew that there was no reason to dislike his old name, his emotions still felt a strong feeling of dislike towards it. One could liken this situation to an abused dog. The owner of the dog would pay someone to abuse the dog every couple of days to train the dog to be wary of certain kinds of people. The owner was the reason for the dog''s pain. Yet, the person that had been paid would be the full focus of the dog''s anger. Of course, humans were more intelligent and moreplex than dogs, but to a certain degree, emotions still followed these principles. Alex knew that there was nothing wrong with his name, but he disliked it because he associated it with agony. He didn''t want to feel agony. Together with the disconnected feeling towards his old family, Alex felt like there was nothing connecting him to his previous life anymore. He had no family. He had no friends. He didn''t even like Earth. Everyone just worked day-in and day-out. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. For what? To be old? And when they were old, what then? They would only do what they wanted until they eventually died. And then? Then, they would be slowly forgotten. Over the course of time, no one would remember them. They were born, did their work, had their children, and died. What''s the point of all of this? However, in this world, Alex could reach true power. Even though Alex had gone through more pain in this world than in the other world, he still preferred this world over Earth. After some minutes, Alex slowly stepped forward. And then, Shang scooped up the coins. It was money, and he needed money. Shang wanted to be more powerful, and money would help him. After pocketing the money, Shang continued pulling the sled wagon down the road. For some reason, the sled wagon felt lighter than before. Chapter 52 Shang continued down the street absentmindedly. Alex had died. In fact, Alex had long been dead. It had always been Shang that had existed in this world, and Shang realized that now. Earth didn''t matter. Earth might as well not exist. Earth might as well be a fantasy. They were memories of a time that had never happened. It was nothing. Shang wasn''t sure what he was thinking about while he was pulling the sled wagon for several hours. He only knew that he was thinking but not what. Shang continued pulling the sled wagon, and it felt easier than before. It was like a conflict inside him had vanished. Going forward had be easier. Shang''s mind went back to the events fromst night a couple times, but the emotions associated with the event became duller and more distant. These things had only happenedst night, but Shang felt like they had happened an eternity ago. More merchants passed by Shang, and they all praised him for his actions. However, they didn''t throw money at Shang like the first merchant. They were only happy that there were fewer bandits now. Shang only looked at the merchants with a distracted expression and only muttered a quiet thanks for their words. Some of the merchants wanted to start a conversation, but Shang always only gave one-word answers, which essentially made it impossible for a proper conversation to ur. After a day of pulling, Shang arrived at his destination. Blizzard''s Edge. The town was on top of a sizable hill, and it took up the entirety of it. This town was definitely bigger than the Southern Wild. Shang guessed that it was probably several kilometers wide, judging from what he was seeing. By now, the weather had also changed. A moderately strong wind went across thend. It wasn''t freezing, but only a bit chilly. The Ice Mana in the surroundings had severely dipped in concentration, and a lot of Wind Mana had reced it. ''I''m at the border between the Ice Wyvern Zone and the Storm Eagle Zone,'' Shang thought. Shang also saw something else of interest. A huge tower was in the middle of the town. It was still several kilometers away from Shang, but he could still see it due to its sheer size. It was probably several hundred meters tall and over a hundred meters wide. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. On top of it, Shang could see several floating crystals of different colors. The crystals had different shades of blue and green. Shang wasn''t sure, but he believed he had also seen some humans standing near these crystals. ''Mages, huh?'' Shang thought. The God had told Shang that his world was filled with Mages, but Shang hadn''t seen many up to now. He had only seen Duke Whirlwind, the elder from the vige, and a couple of Earth Mages in the Central Wild. That was it. But now, he was seeing the power of the Mages firsthand. This tower was humongous and imposing. Additionally, Shang could feel that a lot of Ice Mana was floating around the tower. Sadly, Shang wasn''t sure if the tower was absorbing the Ice Mana or giving it off. "Your first time, huh?" Shang looked over at one of the guards, who looked at him with a smirk from the gates. Shang nodded. "I knew it. Everyone always looks at the Mana Austerum when they firste here," the guard said with a smirk. "Mana Austerum?" Shang asked as he looked at the tower again. "What does it do?" "It absorbs and distills Elemental Mana," the guard exined. "That Elemental Mana is then used for research purposes. I''m not sure what they''re researching, but a lot of actual Magese and go from the Mana Austerum. By the way, with actual Mages, I mean Mages in the Third Realm. Mages in the First Realm are only Apprentices, and the ones in the Second Realm are only Adepts." "Only a Mage that reached the third Realm can truly be called a Mage." For some seconds, Shang only looked at the distant Mana Austerum absentmindedly. "Why are you telling me these things?" Shang asked. For a second, the guard was a bit taken aback by the question. "You''re a funny one," the guard answered with a smile. "You wille here several times in the future. I only want to make it easier for you to acquaint yourself with the town." Shang furrowed his brows. "What do you mean with that I wille here several times in the future?" he asked. This confused the guard, and he raised an eyebrow. "Aren''t you the new Ice Wood delivery guy?" he said, gesturing towards the sled wagon full of Ice Wood. Shang shook his head. "No, I''m on my way to Warrior''s Paradise. All of this Ice Wood is for paying for my entrance exam for the academy." The guard became even more surprised, but then, his expression became more serious. "Where did you get all this Ice Wood from?" the guard asked. "What does it have to do with you?" Shang asked back with an even voice. "A lot," the guard said as he put his right hand to the wall behind him. Knock, knock, knock. The guard knocked at the wall three times in a certain rhythm, and a couple of other guards appeared on top of the walls, crossbows in their hands. They weren''t targeting Shang with their crossbows, but they were showing him that they were ready for whatever he wanted to do. "We have a business rtionship with Coldew Vige," the guard exined, "and we can''t allow anyone to endanger it." Shang frowned. "What? So I''m not allowed to sell Ice Wood?" he asked. "You can, but that''s not the point," the guard answered as he came closer. "The origin of your Ice Wood is the problem." "So, where did that Ice Woode from?" Shang looked at the guard and all the guards on the wall. "From Coldew Vige," Shang answered. "And how did you acquire it?" the guard asked. "I dealt with a Peak Frozen Lake Stag that was consuming all the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood Trees. This sled wagon of Ice Wood is my reward," Shang exined. The guard narrowed his eyes, but his expression didn''t change for the reason one would assume. In fact, the guard had be less suspicious of Shang. Why? Because Coldew Vige wasn''t allowed to sell their Ice Wood to anyone without consulting a representative from Blizzard''s Edge first. If Shang had said that he had bought this Ice Wood, the guards would know that he had stolen that. However, he said that it was payment for a service. That wasn''t against the rules. "We''ll have to verify your story," the guard said. "For now, we would like to ask you to follow us into the town." "How long will this take?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. "About four hours," the guard said. "Four hours?" Shang asked with genuine surprise. "So fast? How?" "We''ll tell you when the source of your Ice Wood has been confirmed," the guard said. "For now, don''t do anything reckless. Step away from the Sled Wagon ande closer to the gate." "You don''t have to worry." "Everything will go down ording to policy." Chapter 53 Shang looked at the guard with narrowed eyes, and many thoughts immediately went through his mind. First of all, the guard wore a slightly different armor from the others, which meant that he had a higher standing. Second, the guard had easily called the others on the wall. Third, he felt quite powerful. However, he didn''t feel too powerful. Shang had seen physical fighters in the Second Realm, but the guard didn''t feel like he was in the Second Realm, which meant he was probably in the First Realm, the Soldier Stage. Shang had seen the leading officer of the Central Wild, and that officer had been in the Second Realm, the General Stage. Was Blizzard''s Edge weaker than the Central Wild? Probably not. Just based on the gigantic Mana Austerum, this town was probably even more important than the Central Wild. So, what did that make this guard? He was probably a sergeant or something akin to a supervisor. He wasn''t actually the true person in charge. "I won''t enter the town," Shang said with narrowed eyes. The guard in front of Shang only huffed. "You don''t have a choice," he said. "I do," Shang answered. "I have the choice to remain outside. You have several crossbows pointed at me, and I can''t flee. There should also be several more powerful soldiers in the town. Right now, it doesn''t matter where I am. I can''t flee anyway." "You''re right," the guard said with narrowed eyes. "So, obediently enter the town. You said that you can''t flee anyway." "I want to stay out here," Shang said. The guard raised his right hand, and the guards on the wall pointed their crossbows at Shang. "You don''t have a choice." The atmosphere became tenser. Some carriages had already arrived, but when they saw the guards with their drawn crossbows, they decided to stop. They didn''t want to get involved. "I will stay out here," Shang answered slowly. The guard''s eyes narrowed. "At this moment, it''s not even clear if I am some sort of thief or not. I know I am innocent, and I don''t need your approval for that." "Are you willing to risk a battle for such an uncertainty?" Shang slowly asked. The guard only looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. "If you don''tply, we don''t need to investigate the source of the Ice Wood. Your resistance proves that your method of procuring the Ice Wood wasn''t legal," the guard answered. When Shang heard that, a glimmer of light appeared in his eyes. "Why are you threatening me with not investigating the issue?" Shang asked. "If you are so convinced of my guilt, what would even be the point of threatening me with not investigating this issue?" "Unless you think that I will be proven innocent." "However, if that''s the case, why would you want me inside the town that badly?" "Are you intending to do something that you shouldn''t do?" "Preposterous!" the guard shouted in rage. "I am aw-abiding soldier, and a mere thief is not allowed to question my sense of justice!" "Then why do you want me inside the town so badly?" Shang asked. "It''s standard protocol," the guard immediately answered with gritted teeth. "Suspicious individuals have to be taken into custody." "I am in custody right now," Shang answered. "I can''t possibly escape. We are both in agreement about this fact." "So, what''s the issue with remaining here?" A tense silence arrived. Shang was looking at the leading guard, while the leading guard red at Shang. Several seconds passed. nk. Shang and the guard nced at the wall when they heard the sound of armor footsteps. One of the guards on the wall had retrieved his crossbow and vanished behind the wall. However, the others remained without moving and kept targeting Shang. When the leading guard saw the leaving guard on the wall, he gritted his teeth violently. "Fine," he said with annoyance. "We can wait here. Hope you''re happy." The guard slowly lowered his right arm, and the other guards put their crossbows away. Why had the leading guard suddenly relented? It was because of the leaving guard on the wall. The normal guards were not allowed to leave their posts without being dismissed. Except for one reason. They could leave their posts if they were about to report to someone of higher rank than the person they were currently under. The leaving guard found all of this to be quite suspicious, and he decided to report to the actual officer about what was going on here. The leading guard knew what had happened as soon as he saw the leaving guard. He had some freedom in how to deal with prisoners, and he had made quite some money with some underhanded means, but if these actions came to light, he would be severely punished. As soon as the guard on the wall had left, the leading guard knew that this opportunity to make some money had forever left. Shang rxed. "Thanks," he said evenly. Shang had expected that the guard would do something underhanded, which was why he had been so adamant about not leaving. He had decided to gamble. On what? On the leading guard actually being smart. Why smart? Because, if the leading guard had ordered to attack someone who wasn''t actively resisting and whose guilt wasn''t even conclusive, he would have gotten into a lot of trouble. If Shang had initialized the confrontation, the leading guard could have ordered an attack without any issues. However, Shang had only stood there and calmly argued. Of course, if Shang had been weaker, the leading guard could have simply knocked him out and taken him with him. Sadly, Shang had felt quite powerful to the leading guard. On top of that, Shang had imed that he had killed a Peak Frozen Lake Stag. Knocking out a normal human and taking them into custody was not considered a confrontation. A confrontation only counted as a confrontation if the other side could damage the resources of the guards. In short, Shang could maybe injure or kill some guards before dying himself. However, that was already too dangerous. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. As soon as an actual conflict broke out, the higher-ups would get involved and investigate what had happened. After all, several guards would have been injured or killed, and they had to find out why that happened so that the same thing wouldn''t happen again in the future. When that happened, the higher-ups would investigate Shang''s background and his ims. Then, if they found out that he was innocent, they would immediately be suspicious. Why would an innocent individual attack the guards of a town? He hadn''t done anything wrong, and attacking a force far more powerful than himself for no reason made no sense. This would mean that something fishy had been going on. Even if all the guards lied perfectly to hide the issue, the higher-ups would still remain extremely suspicious of them. The leading guard had known all of this. He might be greedy, but he wasn''t an idiot. And that''s what Shang had been gambling on. If the leading guard had been stupid, he would have simply dered that he would apprehend Shang due to several suspicions. A stupid leading guard would believe their authority to be without fail as long as they were in their territory. However, would a stupid person receive such authority? In unimportant towns and viges, maybe, but here? Blizzard''s Edge obviously was an important town, and the leading guard had already said that there were several Magesing in and out of the town on a regr basis. In the end, the leading guard knew his ce. If any of these Mages even had a slight suspicion of him, his higher-ups would thoroughly investigate him. This town was filled with powerful and intelligent Mages. He couldn''t make a wrong step. Yet, he had still managed to be a leading guard. That meant that he couldn''t have been stupid. All of this had been Shang''s conjecture, and he had hit the bullseye. Out here, the guard couldn''t do anything to Shang. There were simply too many eyes on them. The leading guard might have some aplices in his squad, but he couldn''t possibly have control over all the guards on the walls. Even more, under enough pressure, even his aplices would crack and spill the beans. Shang''s gamble had paid off. Eventually, the leading guard looked at one guard on the top of the wall. "Investigate his story," he ordered. The guard nodded in affirmation and left. "That won''t be necessary." When the leading guard heard that voice, his eyes narrowed. However, he made sure that the person that had spoken didn''t see his current expression. Chapter 54 Shang looked up at the wall, and he saw the guards part so that someone else could step forward. It was a woman with brown hair, fully d in an impressive set of silver armor. Shang''s instincts immediately told him that he couldn''t fight her. She felt about as powerful as that one spider he had seen on his travels to the Southern Wild. Shang immediately knew that she was in the Second Realm, the General Stage, and he also knew that she was the one in charge. "I''ve already given the order to investigate everything," she proimed. "It will only take around two hours." When Shang heard that it would only take two hours, his suspicion towards the leading guard increased even more. The leading guard turned to the officer and saluted with a professional expression. "Thank you, my lady," he said. The officer looked at the leading guard with a suspicious expression. "Why haven''t you given the order earlier?" she asked. "Reporting to mydy, I have been busy with handling the suspicious individual. I wasn''t able to give the order earlier," the leading guard exined. The officer only looked at the leading guard with a suspicious expression. "It has recentlye to my attention that your living conditions are quite ostentatious for someone of your position," shemented. "Mydy, I have already informed the treasury investigators about the sizable farm my brother owns. The treasury department has already verified all the gold he has sent me and its origins." "Additionally, mydy, I would humbly request that you don''t bring up my personal life in front of my squad," the leading guard added. The officer narrowed her eyes. "I will keep that in mind," she said. Shang immediately noticed some things. First of all, the officer was rather young. She was probably in her early twenties. Second of all, she didn''t hide her suspicion and hostility while talking to the leading guard. Third, the leading guard had correctly highlighted the issue of talking about this in public. Superiors were not supposed to humiliate their staff in front of others. With these clues, Shang got the picture. The officer knew that the leading guard was doing underhanded business, and she wanted to punish him for it. However, the leading guard was perfectly covering his tracks, not leaving any opening, which frustrated the officer. Due to her inexperience, her frustration got the better of her, and she wanted to punish the leading guard via a different method. However, the leading guard managed to turn things around to make her lose face in front of all her soldiers. Shang also knew how the leading guard managed to exin his wealth. ''He''s moneyundering,'' Shang thought. ''He has a rich brother? Maybe, but what brother continually showers their sibling with so much wealth when the sibling already has quite a well-paying position?'' ''He''s probably exchanging the ill-gotten gains via a middle-man with his brother, who then gifts the guard with gold.'' ''The higher-ups probably already know, but there are so many merchants traveling through this town that it''s nearly impossible to investigate all of them.'' ''No wonder she''s so frustrated,'' Shang thought. "I would like to file an officialint," Shang shouted from below the wall. The officer looked at Shang with interested eyes. "What''s yourint?" she asked. "This guard has ordered his colleagues to point their crossbows at me without a justified reason. I wasn''t resisting, and I hadn''t even drawn my weapon. He drew his weapon first, while I have not shown any aggression," Shang exined. The officer frowned. She looked at the leading guard, whose expression hadn''t changed. "His suspicions were valid, and your guilt has not been cleared yet," the officer said. "However, even if your guilt will be cleared, he has still acted ording to policy." "Suspicious individuals are to be brought to the barracks. You are technically already under arrest due to your inability to flee from us, but that can''t be considered an official arrest. For an official arrest, you need to be brought to the barracks." "Remaining outside under our surveince is not a right, but a privilege. It is something we can grant, but it''s not our obligation." "He hasn''t broken protocol, and he has acted correctly," she said. There were no emotions in her voice. "Fine," Shang said after some seconds. He had expected that hisint would go nowhere. But if he had expected hisint to go nowhere, why had heined in the first ce? Because he wanted to make a good impression on the officer. Why? Because by showing his intention to help her, the officer might want to reciprocate. An officer of such an important town had to be quite a powerful and impressive individual. Making a good impression on someone like that might prove to be a great help in the future. Additionally, Shang allowed her to rectify her earlier blunder. She had openly humiliated her employee, but now, she had defended him. Shang only hoped that she realized all of this. Shang waited for the next couple of minutes. The officer had already stepped down from the wall to arrive in front of the gates. The leading guard only respectfully stood at the side. An hourter, a guard exited the gates and respectfully delivered a piece of paper to the officer. The officer read the contents of the letter and nodded. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. "Your guilt has been cleared, Shang," she said. The fact that she knew his name meant that they had truly investigated his background. "Thank you," Shang answered evenly. The officer nodded towards the other guards, and the guard went back to doing whatever they were doing. "You may enter the town," the officer told Shang. "However, I would ask you to follow me for a bit. There have been reports of bandit corpses from other visitors, and they suspect that you have been the one that dealt with them. We would like you to verify the identities of the bandits." The memories ofst night returned to Shang, and the faces of the dead bandits went through his mind. "Do I have to?" Shang asked. "It''s not mandatory," the officer exined. "However, I would ask you to do so regardless. The families of the people deserve closure." Shang looked into the eyes of the officer. Her eyes didn''t speak of indifference or protocol but of a genuine desire for him to ept. "Fine," Shang said. "Thank you," the officer said politely. "Please follow me." Shang nodded and took hold of his sled wagon. Then, he walked after the officer while throwing a nce at the leading guard. The leading guard acted like he hadn''t seen the nce. The gates of Blizzard''s Edge opened, and Shang entered. As soon as he went past the gate, Shang felt like the weather had changed. There was no wind, and the temperature of the surroundings felt ratherfortable, a bit warm even. For the first time, Shang also felt aplete absence of Ice Mana. "The Mana Austerum absorbs Ice and Wind Mana in the winter and gives off a bit of Ice Mana in the summer to keep the weatherfortable for Blizzard''s Edge''s citizens," the officer exined. Shang only nodded. For some reason, he wasn''t in the mood to talk. Shang didn''t know the reason. Maybe he still had some misgivings about his actions fromst night, and the thought that he had to talk aboutst night again made him nervous? He wasn''t sure. The town was surprisingly quiet. Shang had expected the town to be louder, but there actually weren''t many merchants on the streets. In fact, there weren''t even any stalls. There were only shops. "These are the barracks," the officer said after walking for a while. "You can put your sled wagon onto that spot there. Don''t worry, no one is allowed to go there without the supervision of the goods'' owner." Shang nodded and pulled his sled wagon to the side. After that, he let go and followed the officer into the barracks. They passed through a couple of hallways. The officer opened the door to a meeting room, and the two of them entered. Then, they sat down opposite of each other at the table in the middle of the room. The officer looked at Shang with a serious expression. "I''ve realized your intentions and what you were trying to do," she said with a calm voice. "However, it''s not your responsibility to deal with the problems of my unit. I would ask you not to involve yourself again. Do we understand each other?" Shang nodded. "Fine, I won''t do it again." The officer nodded. "Now, let''s talk about these bandits," she said as she stood up. Then she walked over to a drawer and rifled through some paper. Eventually, she came back with a stack of papers. She moved the stack of papers towards Shang, and Shang looked at the piece of paper on the top. It featured a drawn face of a young person. At the bottom of the piece of paper were unrecognizable symbols, but for some reason, Shang immediately knew what they meant. "Missing." These were posters of missing people. And the poster of the first missing person was one Shang recognized. It was one of the men he had killed the night prior. Chapter 55 Shang looked at the first poster. He recognized the person in it. It was one of the bandits that he had killed. Why did he have a missing poster? Wasn''t he supposed to be a bandit? The officer noticed that Shang hadn''t said anything in several seconds. "The local bandits mainly get their recruits from the beggars and rebellious children," the officer exined. "People that have stepped onto the path to power are notcking money, which is why a lot of them don''t need to be bandits. Of course, there are still some that enjoy that lifestyle of freedom and doing whatever they want, but most of them don''t want to deal with being hunted by society." "However, the normal people often need money for multiple reasons. Some need to take care of their family. Some want to take care of their friends. Some need money to survive themselves." "Others don''t care about the money but want to do something else other than overtaking their family''s business, shop, farm, or whatever. Some of them only want adventure. However, they all will run into the problem of money and power again." "When you have power, making money is easy. When you don''t have power, making money is difficult. However, to make money, you either need to be outstanding in a specific field or power, and to be powerful, you need money." "You need medicine, tutoring, equipment, supplements, and many other things to be significantly more powerful than the average person." "Most people can''t step onto the path of power due to their minuscule finances." "That''s where the banditse into y." "They scout out these troubled individuals and entice them with resources. That''s how they get their recruits." "Of course, the bandits aren''t directly handing them the resources to be powerful. What they do is to give them an opportunity to make big money, which would, in turn, allow them to start their journey to power." "Nearly all recruits start with Rat Raids. That''s when a group of normal people charges at something valuable and bank on the possibility that the owner of these things doesn''t have the conviction to kill a bunch of unarmored, normal humans." "These raids are called Rat Raids because, like rats, the group mindlessly charges forward to gorge themselves on wealth. They know that some of them will die, and they will most certainly get injured, but they are betting on the possibility that they won''t be the ones that will get killed." "After they plundered the valuables, the new recruits will give them to the bandits, who, in turn, will teach the recruits about training and how to be more powerful. They are also willing to trade in supplements and medicine for outstanding contributions." The officer leaned forward and put her right index finger on the top missing poster. "Most of these missing people should be recruits for the bandits," she said slowly as she looked into Shang''s eyes. "The bandits force them to abandon their old life for fear of someone leaking out their camps and locations. They can''t allow any of these recruits toe into contact with their loved ones." "They are only allowed to return when they have proven themselves." "Most of them will never reach that stage." The officer leaned back again. "That''s why I need you to identify them. Some of them are genuinely missing, and some of them are recruits. ording to what I''ve heard, some of them have already died on your hands, and that''s fine. Killing bandits is a good deed, even if they are unarmed." "Killing the recruits of the bandits is like killing off the offspring of Pest Cats. They might not be a danger now, but they will be a danger in the future with certainty." "So, please, tell me who you recognize," the officer said as she finished her exnation. The officer''s words entered Shang''s mind. She had said a lot, but Shang didn''t agree with everything. Shang didn''t agree that one needed money to start their journey to power. Shang didn''t have any money. Sure, he had received some things from the God, but the only thing of value had been his weapon. If other humans wanted to be powerful without any money, they could just get some wood and some stones. With that, they could easily make some spears, which they could use to hunt animals like boars or wolves. With these corpses, they could buy some basic survival gear, clothes, and maybe even a weapon. Even more, they wouldn''t even need supplements or medicine at the beginning. Shang had be quite powerful even before he had discovered the Earth Fruit Hedgehog''s fruits. Training, meditation, training, meditation, training, meditation. After a couple of weeks, the people would already be strong enough to take on the weakest beasts. Even more, they could also hunt more powerful animals, like tigers and bears. The officer had said these words to exin the way the bandits worked to Shang. She wanted to tell him two things. First, he shouldn''t feel guilty for killing them. Second, they were still humans, and they still had families. They had their reasons to be bandits. However, the officer only aplished the first thing. Shang had seen an easier alternative to power and one that was less morally ambiguous. These people had had the opportunity to choose that path. Yet, they didn''t. Instead of being courageous and putting their own life on the line in hunting andbat, they decided to gamble on their luck. That path needed less hard work, and it didn''t need the person to be courageous or confident. When Shang had seen the missing posters at the beginning, he had feared that the bandits had kidnapped these people and forced them to do these Rat Raids. That had also been a major regret Shang had over thest night. However, it turned out that these bandits did these things voluntarily. If they had had no other option, Shang could understand them. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. Yet, they did have another option. They simply didn''t choose it. Because of that, Shang''s suppressed guilt was reduced by quite a bit. The officer saw that Shang seemed to have rxed, and she released a quiet sigh. It seemed like her words had been effective. Shang looked at the first missing poster and put it to the side. "Dead," he said. The officer took out a pen and a piece of paper to write down what Shang had said. "What did he do? How did you act?" she asked. "He, with some others, broke the cage on my sled wagon. He was one of the ones that ran with my Ice Wood, and I killed him by diagonally bisecting his torso," Shang said emotionlessly. The officer nodded. "That was the right choice. Even if he was already running, his fate will deter others from doing the same thing again." Shang looked at the next poster. "Don''t know her," he said as he put it to the other side. "Don''t know him." "Bandit, but he escaped." "What happened?" the officer asked. "He fled after I killed the first or second bandit. He had fled before he could steal any of my Ice Wood, which was why I spared him," Shang said. The officer nodded and hid a smile. ''He isn''t that coldblooded after all,'' she thought. Shang went over nearly 100 missing posters, and whenever he came to someone he recognized, he narrated his encounter with them. By the end, over half an hour had passed, and the officer put the missing posters away in different stacks. "Thank you for your cooperation," she said. Shang nodded. "Was that all?" he asked. A conflicted expression appeared on the officer''s face. "Not entirely," she said. "What else do you need?" Shang asked. "Well," she said with a bit of hesitation. "You tried to help me earlier, and you have helped me a lot with these missing posters." "So, I want to reward you." For a second, Shang became suspicious of the officer''s intention. He wasn''t suspecting her of wanting to hurt him but of flirting with him. Shang had been with a couple of women on his life on Earth, and he wasn''t a stranger to romance. Shang looked into her eyes, but he didn''t see any embarrassment, shyness, or interest. Her posture was straight, and she didn''t show any nervous mannerisms. Shang realized that she hesitated with these words not because of him but because of her position. She was probably about to do something that was not normal for someone in her position. "I''m listening," Shang said. Chapter 56 "You want to sell your Ice Wood to earn enough money to enter the Warrior''s Academy, correct?" the officer asked. Shang nodded. "That''s my intention." "You don''t want to wait for the yearly exams, right?" "That''s right." "You do know that you need five gold for the exam?" "I know. From what I''ve heard, the Ice Wood I have should be enough." The officer nodded. "It should be enough, but there is one issue." "Which is?" Shang asked evenly. "How good are you at bartering and negotiation?" she asked. This took Shang by surprise. He hadn''t even thought about that. "I''ve never bartered in my life," Shang said. Why would he need to barter? All the prices in the normal stores on Earth were standardized. Bartering only existed on TV and in pawnshops. The officer nodded. "That''s the issue," she said. "You''re nning on selling your Ice Wood in Warrior''s Paradise. However, no normal person will buy that much Ice Wood. Additionally, very few normal citizens are even interested in raw resources." "This means that you have to sell it to a merchant wholesale, and merchants are very shrewd. If I already suspected that you''re not good at bartering, the merchants will realize that with one nce." "Even more, the merchants are not stupid. They will realize that you definitely are not a merchant but an aspiring warrior that wants to earn money. The merchants will quickly realize that the only reason why someone like you would travel so far with such a heavy load was to earn enough money to enter the Warrior''s Academy." "They know that you only need five gold. So, they will act like your load is worth six gold and will magnanimously tell you that they are willing to give you seven." Shang listened to the officer''s words, and he realized something. He would have epted that trade. After all, he would have gotten even more gold than he needed. Additionally, he couldn''t be bothered to research everything and negotiate with several merchants. Shang wasn''t interested in being a merchant. As far as he knew, this would be the only time he would ever do something like this. The quicker he got this thing over with, the better. "So, my Ice Wood is worth more than seven gold in terms of wholesale?" Shang asked. The officer nodded. "Yes." "How much?" Shang asked. "I''m not sure, but from what I''ve seen, seven gold should be too little for so much Ice Wood," she said. "Hm," Shang said as he scratched his chin in thought. "Now, let''se to what I want to offer you," the officer said. Shang looked with interest at the officer. "We have inspected your background and confirmed that your Ice Woodes from an ethical source. You might not realize it, but the Mana Austerum burns through Ice Wood at terrifying speeds. That''s also the reason why we monopolized Coldew Vige''s Ice Wood, but even that''s not enough." "The Mages in the Mana Austerum need even more Ice Wood, and they''re buying it from the surrounding towns. However, the prices in these towns are much higher than the shipments we get from Coldew Vige." "In short, the Mana Austerum can never have enough Ice Wood." At this point, the officer took out a new piece of paper, which had some fancy designs on the edges of the paper. Then, the officer wrote down some things with deliberate strokes. The way she had written when she had taken note of the things Shang had said previously and now was very different. After about a minute, she finished writing and took out a candle, which she quickly lighted. A bitter, she put the molten wax from the candle at the bottom right of the paper and stamped it. Lastly, she pushed the paper to Shang. "This is a certificate for the origin of your Ice Wood," the officer said. "Go to the Mana Austerum and show this to the guards. If everything goes well, they should invite you inside." Shang read through the paper. It basically said how Shang had gotten the Ice Wood, but it also said that he was not one of the normal tradersing from Coldew Vige. "Officially, we only ept the official shipments from Coldew Vige here directly since we can''t be sure about the origins of other goods. However, since your background has been investigated, our reason for not epting Ice Wood directly has been handled." "However, it still isn''t really official that you can sell it to the Mages directly. So, there''s still some uncertainty." Shang looked at the paper for a bit and then looked back at the officer. "Speaking of, how did you investigate my background this quickly?" he asked. "Every town needs a Communication Crystal to be officially recognized as a town," the officer exined. "We spent some Mana to contact the Central Wild, who then sent over an investigator to Coldew Vige. They sent us the information, and that''s how we investigated your background." Shang remembered his journey to the Central Wild. It had taken him a couple of hours, but that was while pulling the heavy sled wagon. A warrior could probably run that distance in just a quarter of an hour. Shang nodded and asked his next question. "The Mages won''t try to scam me?" he asked. The officer snorted at the word scam. "They''re genuine Mages. They can''t be bothered to waste their time arguing. On top of that, gold has nearly no importance to them. They only want to finish these unimportant and bothersome things as quickly and directly as possible." Shang nodded. "Thank you. This means a lot to me," he said. The officer nodded with a smile. "No problem. You helped me, and I helped you. Also, I see no problem with helping one of my future juniors." "Juniors?" Shang asked, but he quickly realized what she meant. "Are you part of the Warrior''s Academy?" She nodded. "I''m currently in theter years. At the moment, I''m out gaining practical experience for my future as an officer." Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Shang blinked a couple of times. "Aren''t you already an officer?" he asked. "Not here," she said. "I don''t want to just be an officer in some random town. No, I want to join the Duke''s official army as an officer." The image of Duke Whirlwind shot through Shang''s mind. "Oh, that sounds nice," Shang said. The two of them talked for a couple of minutes, now that official business was over. However, the conversation ended pretty quickly after she noticed that Shang wasn''t talking very much. She assumed that he was disinterested in the conversation and went back to work. In a sense, she was right. Shang had noticed that he had be more and more disinterested in mundane things, and he couldn''t bring up the energy to fake enthusiasm for a topic that didn''t interest him. So, he mainly gave very short answers without adding a question, making the flow of the conversation a bit choppy. "Anyway, we''ll see each other again in the Warrior Academy," the officer said with a polite smile. Shang also gave a polite smile. "We will. I''m looking forward to seeing you again." Then, the two nodded at each other and parted ways. When Shang exited the building, he saw his sled wagon at the same ce where he had left it. Nothing was missing. The Ice Mana also felt just as intense as previously. After going through some guards, Shang walked away with his sled wagon. Finding the Mana Austerum wasn''t difficult since it was so humongous. A couple of minutester, Shang saw a gate in the wall surrounding the Mana Austerum. The two guards at the entrance noticed Shang, and one of them calmly walked over. When Shang felt the guard approach, his sense of danger activated. This guard was even more powerful than the officer. In fact, this guard reminded Shang of the people that had guarded Duke Whirlwind''s garden. Yet, this guard didn''t wear any fancy armor, which meant that he was only a normal soldier. This meant that the guard was probably a soldier in the Duke''s actual army. "We didn''t expect an Ice Wood delivery so soon," the guardmented. "I''m not an official trader of Coldew Vige, but I have a document that should answer all your questions," Shang said as he handed over the document the officer had given him. The guard furrowed his brows but took the document and read through it. After reading it, he looked to the side and scratched his chin in thought. Chapter 57 The guard seemed to be thinking about how to proceed with this request. Normally, it was forbidden for them to ept any unofficial Ice Wood deliveries, but that was because of the possibility that it might have been hically sourced. However, the guards now had a certificate in front of them that showed that this delivery came from an official source. Yet, it was still forbidden. After a bit of thinking, the guard waved the other guard over. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. The other guard looked at the first guard with a lifted eyebrow and walked over. The first guard handed the piece of paper to the second guard, and the second guard read it. After a bit of thinking, the second guard just shrugged. "It''s official, right? On top of that, it''s probably cheaper than the Ice Wood from the towns. I say let Cindy decide," he said. The first guard scratched his chin for a bit longer but nodded in the end. "Sure, why not." Then, he turned to Shang and motioned for him to follow. "We''ll let you through, but the final decision is still up to the manager," he said. Shang nodded. "Thanks." "No problem. We''re only doing our job," the guard said. The guards pushed the gate open, and Shang walked through it while pulling his sled wagon along with him. "Where should I go?" he asked. "Through the main entrance. The reception isn''t always manned, so you might need to wait for a bit. Just wait in the big empty hall until someonees to receive you." Shang nodded again and pulled the sled wagon towards the Mana Austerum. BANG! The heavy gates closed behind Shang, and he was a bit surprised that the guards didn''t follow him. However, that thought was quickly thrown out of the window. ''There are several real Mages in this building. Security isn''t an issue,'' Shang thought. Shang went through the entrance of the Mana Austerum and saw quite a big hall. It was probably over twenty meters long and just as wide. There were also several doors and gates of different sizes. Shang looked around, and sure enough, there was no one here. So, Shang just waited at the side of the hall. Silence. No one arrived. Shang just continued waiting. Creak! One of the doors opened, and Shang looked over. An old man with blue hair that was slowly transforming into grey hair walked through the door. When Shang saw the person, he immediately felt the whirlpool of Ice Mana swirling around the person. This was obviously one of the Mages. His Mana pull wasn''t as powerful as Duke Whirlwinds, but it was still very powerful. The man noticed Shang. Then, the man nodded in greeting. Shang nodded back. And the mage left through another door. More waiting. Creak! One of the other doors opened, and a young and beautiful woman with short, green hair walked into the hall. Shang guessed that she was probably either in herte teens or early twenties. Shang didn''t feel any Ice Mana swirl around her, but he felt the discement of the Ice Mana in her surroundings. She was obviously also a Mage, but she wasn''t a true Mage. She was probably an Adept, based on the feeling of danger emanating off her. When she entered the hall, her gaze immediately homed in on Shang, and a surprised expression appeared on her face. "I didn''t expect an Ice Wood delivery that soon," she said. "Hello, my name''s Shang, and I''m here to sell my Ice Wood to the Mana Austerum," Shang said. "However, this is not an official delivery from Coldew Vige." The woman''s eyebrows furrowed. "We don''t ept independent Ice Wood deliveries. Didn''t the guards inform you about that?" she said with annoyance. Shang took out the certificate and presented it to her. "They did, but I have a certificate from the officer stationed on the northwestern gate which says that my Ice Wood has been ethically sourced." The woman looked with skepticism at the piece of paper and grabbed it. Then, she read through it in a second. After that, she furrowed her brows and remained silent for a while. Some secondster, she seemed to havee to a decision. "Wait here for a second." Shang only nodded. Then, the woman left the hall with the certificate. Silence. Some secondster, she returned, but she didn''t step into the hall. "We''ll ept your Ice Wood," she said. "Please follow me with your Ice Wood." Shang released a sigh of relief when he heard that he finally had the official okay to sell his Ice Wood. He no longer needed to pull it to Warrior''s Paradise. Shang nodded and followed the woman with his sled wagon. After going through a hallway, the two entered a nearly empty warehouse. Shang could only see a couple of logs of Ice Wood stacked on the shelves. "Please put your Ice Wood on this space here," she said as she gestured to a marked spot on the ground. Shang nodded and pulled the sled wagon over. "Without the sled wagon, please," she said. "The sled wagon is also made of Ice Wood," Shang answered. That took the woman by surprise. She looked with skepticism at the sled wagon. Why would anyone use Ice Wood to make a mere sled wagon? SHING! Shang''s eyes widened as he saw a silver needle appear in the woman''s hands. That needle hadn''t been there before! Where did ite from? "Space Ring," she said as she saw Shang''s shocked expression. "Very expensive. It isn''t actually mine, but part of my working equipment." "Space Ring?" Shang asked. The woman walked over and put the tip of the needle on the Ice Wood. At the same time, she showed her Space Ring with her other hand. It waspletely silver, and a small, grey gem was embedded on the top. "The gem on the top is a hollowed-out Sparren, a gem that has an innate affinity towards space itself. They are very rare and very valuable," she exined. By now, the needle had turned a light blue, and the woman moved the needle away from the Ice Wood while watching it. A bitter, the needle was losing its blue color. "After finding a Sparren, it must be hollowed out by a true Mage with a Metal Affinity. It is delicate work, and one mistake makes the Sparren worthless." Then, she moved the needle towards one of the wheels of the sled wagon. "Then, a true Mage with a Lightning Affinity has to carve a Magic Array on the inside of the Sparren, isting the inner space from the outer space." By now, the needle had turned blue again, and she nodded. "After that, a true Mage with an Earth Affinity needs topress the space inside the Sparren. The Earth Affinity has a close rtionship with gravity, and gravity warps space. Just like with the previous steps, if the Mage screws up, the Sparren bes worthless," she said as she put the needle away. Then, she gestured for Shang to push the sled wagon onto the marked spot, and Shang did so. "Thest step is to create an elemental shell around the inner walls of the Sparren. The Magic Arrays on the Sparren are very delicate, and without this shell, any rough movements outside the Sparren will make the items inside the Sparren bounce around and destroy the Magic Arrays." "Additionally, contradicting Elements can cause the shell to break down, essentially destroying the Space Ring. Because of that, it''s necessary to n about what you want to store inside the Space Ring. Basically any Element can create an elemental shell inside the Sparren, but you have to be conscientious about what you ce inside it." She showed her Space Ring again. "If I store any items with Fire Mana or Water Mana inside this Space Ring, it will be ruined by the end of the day," she finished. "After all, this Space Ring has been created with Metal and Earth in mind. Storing Ice-rted items is somewhat okay, but the Ice Mana shouldn''t be too strong." Then, she looked at the Sled Wagon at the center of the marked area and took out some blue stones. She put the blue stones into a small opening on the ground. Then, the markings on the ground lit up. Chapter 58 After a short moment, the markings on the ground darkened again, and the stones had vanished. A new marking appeared on the ground, and Shang realized that it was the writing of this world. Just like before, Shang had no issues in reading it. ''1,853.547kg,'' Shang read with surprise. ''It''s a scale?'' Shang looked with surprise at the markings on the ground. ''This borate thing is nothing but an industrial-sized scale?'' ''Just use counterweights or something. You don''t need a huge Magic Array just to weigh something!'' Shang thought. However, he didn''t speak his mind. Maybe they had a good reason for doing it this way. Shang had already expected that this world wasn''t as technologically advanced as Earth, but he refused to believe that this world didn''t even know how to make a basic scale. Even the ancient Greeks had scales! This meant that they had to have a different reason to use a Magic Array. "That''s quite a lot of Ice Wood," the woman said as she wrote down the number on a piece of paper. "By the way," Shang interjected. "How do you know so much about Space Rings? What you told me didn''t sound likemon knowledge." She was a bit surprised when Shang asked this question. "I want to learn how to create an elemental shell inside a Sparren. I have a Wind Affinity, and Space Rings with a wind shell are rarely needed. After all, you can basically only store wind-rted stuff in a Space Ring with a wind shell based on the wind''sck of stability." "However, because these kinds of Space Rings are so rarely needed, they go for a lot of money. There are also not many Wind Mages that bother to learn about that skill due to theck of demand." "But that just means that the few that know how to do it are in high demand due to their rarity. It''s risky to invest so much money into learning this skill, but if it pays off, I don''t have to worry about the resources I would need to be a High Mage," she exined. Shang nodded. "That makes sense," he said. She nodded again and took out a white crystal from her Space Ring. "Hello sir, this is Cindy," she spoke politely to the crystal. "We have just received a delivery of Ice Wood. Could you spare some time to evaluate its purity?" Shang had already guessed that this white crystal was a Communication Crystal. The officer in the barracks had told him how they had contacted the Central Wild. Shang heard an annoyed groane from the crystal. "Fine. I''lle," a male voice came out of the crystal. "Thank you very much," Cindy said. Then, she put the Communication Crystal away again. After that, the two of them simply waited for a couple of seconds. Creak! One of the doors on the side opened, and a man in his thirties walked through them withzy steps. He had icy blue hair and a pair of sses. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. When Shang saw the sses, one of his eyebrows rose in skepticism. He doubted that Mages had issues with their vision. So, why was he wearing sses? The man didn''t even look at Cindy or Shang and directly focused on the sled wagon. He moved one of his fingers to his sses, but he stopped suddenly. Then, he looked with a confused look at the sled wagon for a second. "Who makes carriages out of Ice Wood?" he muttered to himself. "Sir, it''s a sled wagon," Cindy said politely. "Yes, yes, a sled wagon," the man said without any enthusiasm. Obviously, he didn''t care. The man moved one of his fingers to his sses again. A momentter, Shang felt Ice Mana appear on the Mage''s fingers, but the Ice Mana was quickly absorbed by the sses. "Nearly grade eight, but still grade seven. Just give them 50% more of what we would pay for grade seven," the man said. "Thank you, sir," Cindy said politely. The man nodded at Cindy and left again. The entire time, the Mage hadn''t even thrown a nce at Shang. He also hadn''t asked about the Ice Wood''s source or anything simr. He only came, graded the Ice Wood, and left. When Shang had heard the evaluation of the Mage, he realized something. Shang''s mind went back to the time he had slid down the long slope with his sled wagon. Back then, Shang had absorbed some of the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood to survive his crash. Had that maneuver dropped the purity of the Ice Wood? If he hadn''t done that, would he have had grade eight Ice Wood? "How much more is grade eight Ice Wood worth inparison to grade seven?" Shang asked. "Double," Cindy answered immediately. When Shang heard that, he had to release a helpless sigh. Shang had obviously received grade eight Ice Wood, but his maneuver had dropped it to the peak of grade seven. Sure, Shang would get 50% more than for normal grade seven Ice Wood, but that was only 75% of what it should be. That stupid idea had cost Shang 25% of his earnings. ''I shouldn''t have done that,'' Shang thought. "You heard him," Cindy said. "Please follow me. You can leave your sled wagon there. Someone else will deal with itter." Shang released another sigh of helplessness and followed Cindy. The two of them walked back to the entrance hall, and Cindy went behind a desk. Then, she opened a drawer and riffled through some papers. "At the moment, 100kg of grade seven Ice Wood are equal to 0.97 gold. 1853kg of Ice Wood are about equal to 19,1 gold. Half of that more is 28,65 gold. Let''s just make it 29 gold. Are you okay with the price?" Cindy asked as she looked at Shang. At the moment, Shang was dumbstruck. 29 gold? That was way more than he had thought! Shang had expected that he would get ten gold, at most! As said previously, Shang would have even epted a trade for seven or eight gold. And now, he would get 29 gold?! He only needed five! Shang''s mind immediately went back to the three people that had been responsible for him receiving such a huge sum of money. The first person was the guard in Duke Whirlwind''s garden. He had told Shang how to earn some money. Without him, Shang wouldn''t have even asked for Ice Wood in Coldew Vige. The second person had been the Elder in Coldew Vige. He had given Shang the Ice Wood, and he was probably also responsible for Shang getting so much of it. On top of that, he had given Shang Ice Wood of rtively high purity. Thest person was the officer in the northwest of Blizzard''s Edge. Without her, Shang would have sold his Ice Wood in Warrior''s Paradise, and he would have only made around seven gold. All of them had contributed to Shang getting such a huge sum of money. "Do you ept the price?" Cindy repeated. That took Shang out of his thoughts, and he quickly nodded. "Yes, of course," he said faster than normal. Cindy nodded and took out a sizable sack of gold. She poured a lot of gold on the table and counted in front of Shang. After counting out the 29 pieces, she shoved the remaining pieces back into the bag and put it into her Space Ring. Then, she summoned another tiny bag, but this one was empty. After pouring the gold into the small bag, she pulled it shut and pushed it towards Shang. "Thank you for doing business with us," she said with a polite smile. Shang only nodded, also smiling. "No, thank you!" he said. "Alright, I have to get back to work. Doe back again," Cindy said as she stood up. Shang also stood up. Then, the two of them exchanged some goodbyes, and Shang left. After he left the Mana Austerum, he thanked the two guards again, who only responded that it was their job. Shang left the vicinity of the Mana Austerum, and he paused. Then, he looked at the heavy bag of gold in his hand. This bag of gold represented Shang''s future. With this bag of gold, he could join the Warrior Academy. Shang''s grip around the bag tightened, and a newfound conviction shone in his eyes. Next stop, Warrior''s Paradise! Chapter 59 Shang left the Mana Austerum and nkly walked along the street. Shang constantly felt like he forgot his sled-wagon, but he always got reminded that he didn''t own the sled-wagon anymore. It was so weird. He had traveled with that thing for nearly a week, and he had traveled across arge distance. From the northwestern third of the Ice Wyvern Zone, Shang had pulled the sled-wagon all the way to the southeastern end of the Zone. But now, he didn''t need it anymore. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. And in exchange? 29 pieces of gold! Getting that sled-wagon to here had been a major pain in the ass, but it had been worth it! 29 gold! Shang could probably buy some incredible things for such an amount of money! And now, Shang didn''t even need to pull the heavy sled-wagon along anymore! He could finally travel without any restrictions! Shang put the bag of gold beneath his coat and fastened it securely. Then, he walked to the southeastern gate and asked the guard for directions to Warrior''s Paradise. "We are currently at the northwestern edge of the Storm Eagle Zone," one of the guards told Shang as he gestured towards the southeast. "Follow this road until you reach a vastndscape filled with farms. That''s when you''ve reached the safest part in the Storm Eagle Zone, the Farm Line." "Farm Line?" Shang asked. "Yes. The Farm Line is, as the name suggests, a huge line of farms. You could also call it a big territory for agriculture. That''s where all the food and basic resources for Warrior''s Paradise are produced. Warrior''s Paradise is gigantic, and it burns through resources like crazy, which is why it needs a huge area dedicated to nothing but farming." "As long as you keep following the path, you will reach the Farm Line. When you get there, you only need to continue walking. The direction you walk towards isn''t actually important." This confused Shang. "How is it not important?" he asked. "Because a ridiculous number of guards and soldiers are constantly patrolling the Farm Line. The Farm Line is the lifeline of Warrior''s Paradise, and the city can''t afford to let anything interfere with the farmers. Because of that, bandits and wild beast essentially don''t exist there." "As soon as you walk into the Farm Line, you are sure to meet some guards very quickly, who will then instruct you on how to proceed. If you have any valuables, you must have some sort of receipt for them. Vast quantities of wealth are very suspicious." This made Shang frown, and he took out his bag of gold. When the guard saw the bag, he whistled. "That''s quite some money you got there, boy," he said. Shang only nodded and looked into the bag. Sure enough, just as he had suspected, a small piece of paper was inside the bag, stating that Shang had exchanged the gold with the mages and that this gold belonged to him. Shang had already anticipated that the manager had put something into the bag. After all, she had probably also guessed that Shang would go to Warrior''s Paradise. "Is that enough?" Shang asked as he showed the piece of paper to the guard. The guard squinted at the piece of paper and nodded. "Yep. It has the official seal on it." "Thanks," Shang said as he put everything away again. "How far to Warrior''s Paradise? Can I get there by the end of the day?" The guard looked at the sky to judge the time. It waste afternoon. "Can I test your body''s power?" the guard asked. Shang only raised an eyebrow. "Sure." The guard lifted his spear and moved the butt of the spear slowly towards Shang''s shoulder. Then, he pushed a bit. Shang automatically pushed back, and the soldier nodded as he took his spear back. "Should be enough. You will probably reach the Farm Line by the evening, and if nothing interferes, Warrior''s Paradise by nightfall." "That doesn''t sound very far," Shangmented. "It isn''t," the guard answered. "Warrior''s Paradise isn''t in the middle of the Storm Eagle Zone but slightly in the north. The Farm Line takes up the remainder of the north." "And the other parts of Storm Eagle Zone?" Shang asked. The guard only smirked. "Death." Shang raised an eyebrow. "Death?" "Yep, death," the guard said. "If you see any signs of beasts, you know that you walked in a wrong direction. When you see the first beast, you should still be safe with your power, but you shouldn''t go further into the wilderness. The power of the beasts just keeps escting to a degree where even our Duke has to watch where he''s going." "The Duke?" Shang asked with shock. ording to what Shang had seen, the unimaginably powerful octopus and hedgehog had been nothing more than pets to the Duke. These two beasts were so powerful that Shang couldn''t even attempt to resist them, and the Duke was even more powerful. Yet, there were beasts in that ce that were as powerful or even more powerful than the Duke? That was amazing and terrifying at the same time! "Then, why is there such a big city there?" Shang asked. "Money," the guard answered with a smirk. "Strong beasts give strong materials for strong people. Warrior''s Paradise is exporting arge quantity of high-end materials, making it one of the richest ces in the world." "Anyway, you should go. I also have to work, you know?" the guard said. Shang nodded. "Thanks for all the information." The guard also nodded. Shang went past the gate and checked all of his belongings again. Gold? Check. Clothing? Check. Sword? Check. Everything was in order. Then, Shang stretched his muscles for a bit. Lastly¡­ BANG! The ground under Shang let out a slight vibration as he charged forward. By now, Shang couldn''t see any snow anymore, and everything looked rather dusty and deste. One could almost call this part a wastnd. Shang guessed that the main reason for this destion was the Mana Austerum. The Mana Austerum probably ate up a lot of humidity by absorbing the Ice Mana, leaving the surroundings empty. As Shang charged forward, he felt the power of the wind. Shang got reminded of the time he had charged down the mountain after leaving the Duke''s garden. No sled-wagon. No worries. He could just run. His future was in front of him! Shang passed several merchants on his way with a grin. He had always been the one that had been overtaken by merchants. Now, he was overtaking them. After just 30 minutes, Shang saw the first flowers and trees. Ten minutester, Shang saw far more trees, and he could even see the asional small forest. Twenty minutester, Shang saw the first building. It was a simple woodworking shop close to the woods. Shang could hear the sound of sawinging from the shop. As Shang stopped to look at the woodworking shop, he noticed that the wind had picked up. Shang guessed that the wind had reached a speed of about 20 kph by now. Not a storm, but still very noticeable. Shang continued running, and ten minutester, the trees slowly started to vanish. What reced them were huge farms filled with wheat and all kinds of useful nts. There were also several strong animals pulling carts, some of which Shang had never seen before. There was even a two-meter-tall dog walking along the fields, and when Shang saw the dog, he felt a shudder. That dog was powerful! It was probably in the General Stage, which was the Second Realm, and it definitely wasn''t in the earlier levels of that Realm. The big dog looked at Shang for a bit but looked away again in disinterest. It obviously wasn''t there to keep watch over humans. "Is this your first time seeing the Farm Dogs?" Shang jumped to the side in shock as he heard a voicee from his right. Shang looked over, and he saw a man in brownish-ck clothing standing beside him. The clothing perfectly made him blend into the environment. Additionally, that man also felt far too powerful to Shang. Shang hadn''t even noticed the guy! "Sorry," the guy said with an awkward smile. "I''m one of the scouts. Didn''t mean to startle you." Shang calmed down again and released a deep breath. "It''s okay. I''m here to join the Warrior Academy." "Oh, I thought as much, based on how fast you moved just now," the scout said with a chuckle. "I''m basically done with my work anyway, and my home is in Warrior''s Paradise. I can show you the way." Shang nodded. "Thanks." Chapter 60 Shang nodded. "Thanks." "Just wait for a bit. My recement should be here pretty soon. Aaaaaand, he''s here!" the scout said with a smirk. "Punctual as always." Shang looked around, but he couldn''t see the other guy. The scout saw Shang''s confused expression and chuckled a bit. Then, he showed his wrist to Shang. Shang could see a small device attached to the scout''s wrist. It looked almost like a wristwatch. "It''s this thing. It''s been created by Mages, and it keeps us all informed. I just got informed that my shift ended. Let''s go," the scout said as he gestured to the front. Shang nodded. Then, the guard shot forward, and Shang followed him. They weren''t sprinting or running, but jogging comfortably, which was still very fastpared to normal humans. While jogging, Shang kept looking at the Farm Line. "What are these dogs?" he asked. "The Farm Dogs?" the scout asked. "They are there to deal with rogue beasts and Pest Cats. If they see any beast that isn''t apanied by a human, they will kill that beast." Shang nodded. That made sense. "Do these dogs have affinities?" he asked. After all, Shang had seen plenty of beasts with Elemental Affinities. "Most of them are Wind or Earth," the scout answered. "The ones with Wind Affinities deal with Pest Cats and weaker beasts. If a powerful beast arrives, the dogs work together to bring it down. Basically any beast thates here will be killed as long as it''s below the Commander Stage." Shang nodded. The Commander Stage was the Third Realm, which was the Realm the hedgehog had been in. If the hedgehog came here, it could probably kill every dog with one needle each. As the two of them kept running, one of the dogs suddenly barreled towards them at a much faster speed. Shang looked over nervously, but the scout only smiled at the dog. The dog ran circles around them while they were still running with incredible speed, and the scout extended his hand. The dog quickly stopped and let the scout scratch it behind the ear. Usually, a human wouldn''t even reach such a high ce, but the dog was lowering its head with happiness. Shang only smiled. ''Well, some things don''t change, even if we are in different worlds.'' After a bit, the dog ran away again to get back to its ce of work. "Don''t try to do the same thing," the scout said. "The dogs know me, but they don''t know you. They are used to killing, and it''s dangerous to interact with them without supervision." Shang nodded. The two of them continued running for another twenty minutes. By now, Shang couldn''t see any farms anymore, which meant that they had left the Farm Line. Instead, Shang could see thick forests a couple of kilometers away from the main road. "This is the Wild Forest," the scout exined. "The streets are safe since the dogs and guards also patrol here, but the Wild Forest is filled with beasts. The beasts in the Wild Forest are only at the Soldier Stage, but if you stray too far, you will eventually reach the Wastnd." "Behind the Wild Forest, the wind bes so strong that only very few nts can grow there, making it a wastnd. That''s the Wastnd, obviously, and the Wind Mana is so strong there that you can basically only find beasts at the General Stage." The scout chuckled. "Us soldiers don''t call it the Wastnd but the Wornd since most of our work is being done there." Shang listened with interest. "You hunt wild Beasts? Isn''t that more of a job for hunters?" "Oh yeah, definitely," the scout answered. "However, we don''t always get enough hunters to take care of the wild Beasts. Sometimes, all the good hunters finish at the same time and go to sell their wares, leaving for a couple of days. Sometimes, a couple of tricky and troublesome Beasts appear." "When that happens, we soldiers have to fulfill the quota for hunted Beasts. If we don''t regrly kill enough Beasts, they will be so numerous that the Wastnd won''t have enough space left for them, which forces them out of the Wastnd and into the Wild Forest and human territories." Shang nodded. "What about-" "Wait a sec," the scout suddenly interrupted Shang as he stopped. Then, the guard quickly took out a folded bow and expanded it to its true form. In one fluid motion, the scout took out an arrow and shot it towards the right side. BANG! Shang looked over, and his eyes widened. Shang saw a Pest Cat that had been nailed to a tree by an arrow just two kilometers away! "What was your question?" the scout asked as he put the bow away again. Shang was a bit absentminded. That had been way too fast! The guy had killed a Pest Cat in one or two seconds from two kilometers away! Shang got reminded of the guards in Duke Whirlwind''s garden. They had been about as powerful as this guard, and they had pointed their crossbows and bows at Shang. If Shang had acted incorrectly back then, this Pest Cat could have been him. He couldn''t evade something like that! "That''s a Wind Bow," the scout said when he saw that Shang still didn''t speak. "I can''t shoot such an arrow without its help. If I used a normal bow, my arrow would only fly at half the speed." "Does everyone get such a bow?" Shang asked. "The scouts do. After all, it''s our job to take out troublesome beasts. I usually don''t deal with weaker beasts, but Pest Cats are an exception. They simply multiply too quickly, and they are everywhere." Shang nodded. That arrow had definitely been impressive. "What I wanted to ask earlier, what''s beyond the Wastnd?" Shang asked. "Oh?" the scout uttered. "You do know more than I thought. Why do you think there is an after?" "One of the guards in Blizzard''s Edge said that the strength of the beasts keeps escting until even the Duke has to be careful." When the scout heard that, he chuckled. "A funny way to put it, but yes, he''s right." "Beyond the Wastnd is the Canyon. The wind there is so powerful that it ravages thend and creates powerful wind tunnels. You can only find beasts there that canpletely live off Mana. That means that all beasts there are at the Commander Stage or higher." "If you go even further, you find the Crater. Only the most powerful beasts with Wind Affinities live there, and they are as powerful as our Duke and the Headmaster of the Warrior''s Academy." "In the center of the Crater, you can find the most powerful beast, the actual Storm Eagle, the beast this zone is named after and the source of all the Wind Mana. No human in the world can take down that beast," the scout exined. "No human in the world?" Shang asked in surprise. The scout nodded. "The strongest people in the world are the different Kings. They are the only Archmages in existence, but even they are helpless in front of the Storm Eagle. Even among Zone Beasts, the Storm Eagle is one of the more powerful ones." "Then, what stops the Storm Eagle from just razing us to the ground?" Shang asked. The guard chuckled a bit. "Nothing." "Nothing?" Shang asked. The scout nodded. "If the Storm Eagle wanted to kill us, we could only run away and ept our fate. Luckily, it doesn''t seem to be interested in us. Even when it flies over our city, it doesn''t even look at us." "It flies over the city?" Shang asked in shock. The scout nodded again. "Does it all the time. It even lets its little chicks fly in the city." N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Shang became shocked again and again. "Chicks?" he asked. "Yeah, its little chicks fly and walk around in the city asionally, and as soon as we get news of one, a squadron of guards is sent out to keep the chicks safe until they leave the city again. After all, we don''t want to anger the Storm Eagle." Shang asked more about Warrior''s Paradise, and the scout kept answering Shang''s questions. Twenty minutester, the forests on the side of the road vanished, and Shang could see the ground vanishing. The road continued to go straight, but Shang felt like the road was climbing upwards. In another ten minutes, the one-kilometer-wide road was the only visible piece ofnd, and everything around them had sunken into the earth. The scout pulled Shang to the side of the road and pointed to the ground. Shang could see a vastnd nearly bereft of nts below them. He could also see over ten different beasts walking around and even fighting. All of these beasts were more powerful than Shang. "That''s the Wastnd?" Shang asked. "That''s the Wastnd," the scout answered. "It angles downward until you reach the Canyon. It''s currently dark now, but when it''s bright, you can even see some huge pir-like structures in the distance from here. That''s where the Canyon begins." "There are also more beasts walking around during the day. Right now, you can only see the beasts that are active during the twilight hours. Those are the weakest beasts, and they onlye out when the strongest ones are still asleep or starting to rest." "You can actually also see Warrior''s Paradise from here. You just didn''t pay any attention," the scout said with a smile as he pointed towards the end of the road. Shang looked over, and his eyes widened. This was Warrior''s Paradise? Chapter 61 The scout pointed towards the front, and Shang''s eyes followed that direction. It was already pretty dark outside, making it hard to see very far, but with Shang''s improved vision and the lights inside the city, it wasn''t very difficult to see it. In the distance, Shang could see a gigantic fortress. The walls were probably over 50 meters high, and Shang could see several towers with an even more imposing height. The walls and the towers were nearly invisible in the dead of night, and Shang guessed that they were probably dark grey or ck in color. Gigantic bonfires raged on top of every tower, illuminating the entire city. It was absolutely massive! Shang guessed that the city was several kilometers wide. However, all of that wasn''t the most surprising and shocking part. The most surprising part was the location of Warrior''s Paradise. Earlier, Shang and the scout had already been walking on a road that seemingly rose into the air. The road was like the track of a rollercoaster, slowly extending further and further upward with nothing of simr height beside it. If Shang walked to the side, he would be able to see the border between the Wild Forest and the Wastnd. While the road kept extending upward, the Wastnd kept going downward, expanding the difference in elevation between it and the road. So, with a lonely road slowly extending towards the sky, where was Warrior''s Paradise? Warrior''s Paradise stood on one lonely, gigantic rock. The walls perfectly aligned with the edges of the rock, making it seem like the walls were part of the gigantic rock. Shang looked around, but he couldn''t see any other simr rocks around. This singr rock extended upward from the Wastnd for probably over two kilometers! Warrior''s Paradise was like these ancient, European castles that had been built on the precipice of a cliff. However, inparison to these castles, Warrior''s Paradise was an actual city. Their sizes couldn''t bepared. A ck, burning, solitary fortress that overlooked seemingly the entire world. It was a monument to human power over nature. And this monument had been Shang''s goal for such a long time! Warrior''s Paradise! Now, Shang truly understood why it was called Warrior''s Paradise. Warrior''s Paradise was surrounded by nothing but wild nature with plenty of powerful natural forces and Beasts. If one were able to survive the fall, one could simply jump over the wall, and they would arrive in and of ughter in a minute. It truly was a paradise for warriors. "Impressive, isn''t it?" the scout said with a smile when he saw Shang''s expression. "Yes," Shang answered slowly. The scout only chuckled a bit. "Do you know how many citizens are in Warrior''s Paradise?" he asked. Shang looked at the size of the city. "Probably around 10,000 to 20,000," he said. The scout only smiled. "About 500." Shang looked at the scout in surprise. "What?" he asked. "There is limited space in Warrior''s Paradise," the scout exined. "The Warrior Academy takes up around 30% of the city. The citizens take up another 10%. Around 40% of the city is taken up by merchants and different businesses dealing with different crafts. The remaining 20% are for the soldiers." "We have around 500 normal citizens living here, but during the day, around 20,000 people are inside Warrior''s Paradise." "In the early mornings, the farmerse to deliver their food. At the same time, over 2,000 hunters arrive in the city to register for their daily hunting activities. Many of the soldiers live with their families in the Farm Line, and they also arrive here early in the morning." "Only very few rich citizens can afford to live in Warrior''s Paradise. Everyone else onlyes here to work and leaves again." As Shang listened to these words, he noticed that Warrior''s Paradise was very simr to a concept from Earth. ''An industrial zone,'' Shang thought. ''Nearly no one lives in an industrial zone, but everyone goes there to work during the day.'' "What about the students in the Warrior''s Academy?" Shang asked. "Where do they live?" "Some of them live in the dormitories, and some of them live in lodgings in the Farm Line," the scout answered. "Only a few of them live in the dormitories due to the cramped space and stale air. The walls block the violent wind from the surroundings, making the air inside Warrior''s Paradise very stale. That''s why most of them sleep in the lodgings in the Farm Line." Shang nodded. "Sounds like the roads are very busy during the day," he said as he looked at the empty road. "Yep, that''s why the road is so wide. It took a lot of money to widen the road to such a degree, but we no longer have traffic jams." ''Traffic jams in a world with mages and warriors,'' Shang thought. ''I guess some things never change.'' "Let''s keep going. I want to get home before tomorrow," the scout said with a smirk. "Sorry," Shang said before continuing to run forward with the scout. "Are there Mages in Warrior''s Paradise?" Shang asked while running beside the scout. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. "Of course," the scout said with a snort. "Who do you think keeps the city from copsing? We have around 50 actual Earth Mages in the city, who constantly keep watch over the stability. They are also responsible for expanding the city and for its development." ''So, they''re like urban nners or civil engineers,'' Shang added in his mind. "We also have the biggest Mana Austerum in the surrounding Zones. You can''t see it right now since it''s not illuminated, but in the day, you can see it. It''s in the middle of the city, and it''s the highest structure in all of it." "The Mana Austerum catches all the Wind Mana and stores it into Wind Mana Magic Crystals. The Mana Austerum is also the biggest reason why the air inside Warrior''s Paradise is so stale. Around 30 Wind Mages are in the Mana Austerum. They keep it running, and they research new applications for Wind Mana." "The Farm Line has around ten Water Mages. Due to the wind and the dryness, the Farm Line doesn''t get much natural rain. The Water Mages are there to keep everything nice and moist." "We only have the asional Fire Mage in the city. I think none of them actually live here, but you can see them from time to time." "Ice Mages are very rare to begin with, and all the Ice Mages are more interested in Blizzard''s Edge than Warrior''s Paradise. I haven''t seen one in a long time." "Lightning Mages are just as rare, but I think we have two or three of them in the city. They mostly handle some Element-specific problems in the city rted to lightning." "We have about five Metal Mages. They are responsible for forging all the really expensive equipment for us soldiers. I don''t get to interact with them since I''m still too weak, but all warriors in the Commander Stage have met them." "And that''s about it for the Mages. As you''ve heard, from the seven varieties of Mages, we have a lot of Earth, Wind, and Metal Mages. I think we have something like 100 Mages in the city and the surroundings. That''s quite a lot of powerful Mages for only one city. After all, all the Mages I told you about are real mages, meaning ones that are equivalent to Commander Stage Warriors." "There are more Apprentices and Adepts walking around, but I didn''t count them just now." Shang nodded. This was the first time Shang had actually heard about all the different attributes Mages could have. Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Ice, Lightning, Metal. These were the seven attributes. At this moment, Shang looked at his left arm. Did he have an Ice Affinity? Probably not. After all, his left arm was acting very weirdly when unleashing Ice Mana. Water? No. Fire? No. Earth? No. Wind? No. Lightning? No. Metal? No. None of the affinities seemingly fit Shang. So, what kind of affinity did he have? The scout noticed that Shang became silent, but he didn''t mind. He only wanted to get home and sleep. Inparison to a lot of other soldiers, the scout lived inside the barracks in Warrior''s Paradise. The two of them kept ascending the lonely road until they reached the entrance to Warrior''s Paradise. Chapter 62 The two of them stopped before the absolutely gigantic, closed gates. "Hey, John! Open up!" the scout shouted. Shang heard some shufflinging from the other side of the gate, and a small slit opened. "Oh, I thought you wouldn''te today," the guard behind the door, John, said. "I''ve met a traveler, and I showed him around. Took a bit longer than expected," the scout said, gesturing towards Shang. The eyes behind the slit moved to Shang. "Thatte?" he asked. "Sorry," Shang said. Shang heard a groaning from behind the gate. Creak! A small door built into the gigantic gate opened, and a guard in bronze armor stepped outside. Shang had seen several guards and soldiers from all the different cities and towns, and he had noticed that the lowest-ranked guards always had bronze-colored armor. However, just because the color was the same didn''t mean that all the sets of armor were identical. The normal guards in the Central Wild had worn normal bronze. It was useful for battle, but it wasn''t the greatest. However, these guards also hadn''t been very powerful. They had been even weaker than Shang. Meanwhile, the guards on Blizzard''s Edge, who had also worn bronze armor, had been far more powerful. Even though their armor had been colored bronze, Shang had noticed that their armor felt way harder and more powerful. And now, Shang was confronted with a third kind of bronze armor. John''s armor felt about equally as powerful as the silver armor themander in Blizzard''s Edge had worn. On top of that, this guard gave Shang a feeling of mortal danger. This normal guard was far more powerful than Shang. Shang guessed that the guard was in the middle of the Second Realm, the General Stage. He was about as powerful as the dogs in the Farm Line. "Fine!" John grumbled as he stepped out. "Put away your coat. Show your weapons, equipment, and valuables." Then, John looked at the scout as he remembered something. "By the way, William, have you searched him?" "No," William answered directly. John frowned. "Why not?" "Because it wouldn''t have made a difference," William said. "If I searched him and I told you that everything''s fine, you would''ve still searched him. So, why should I?" "That''s reckless!" John said with annoyance. "We need to check every unknown person. Otherwise, we''ll put the city at risk!" William slowly looked at Shang. Then, he looked at John with a raised eyebrow. They looked at each other for a while. "Hmph," John grumbled as he averted his eyes. "Fine, fine! You, put your stuff to the side!" Shang slowly put away his cloak and put it on a prepared counter beside the gate. Then, he took out his sword and ced it on top of the cloak. Yet, before Shang pulled his hand away, he stopped. Shang looked at his sword with open eyes. He looked at his immacte, ck sword. ''Isn''t there supposed to be a crack in the sword?'' Shang asked himself. ''I''m sure it got damaged in the battle against the Frozen Lake Stag!'' Shang was sure that his sword had been damaged. Yet, he couldn''t see any damage on his sword at this moment. It was like new! "Hey, hurry up!" John shouted with impatience. Shang got pulled out of his thoughts, and he also put his backpack on the counter. Lastly, he put the pouch of gold on the top. William and John both looked over with surprise when they heard the telltale sound of gold. William''s eyebrows rose in surprise. Was all of that gold? John raised an eyebrow when he saw the sack of gold. Then, he looked at Shang. "You got proof of ownership?" Shang pulled out the piece of paper that had been inside the sack of gold and handed it over. John looked at the piece of paper. "Wait a second." Then, he entered the city again and closed the door. "Don''t worry," William said from the side. "For such sums, we have to get an Adept to verify the integrity of the proof of ownership. When ites to such sums of money, the proof of ownership is required to have aplex Magic Array on it. That makes it much harder to fake it." Shang nodded. "Anyway, how did you make so much money?" William asked. "I killed a Peak Soldier Stage Frozen Lake Stag in Coldew Vige," Shang exined. "The vigers gave me a sled wagon full of Ice Wood as repayment, and I sold it to the Mages in Blizzard''s Edge." William let out an impressed whistle. "Seems like you''ve showed up at exactly the right moment." Shang nodded. "Well, it wouldn''t have made much of a difference. The vige simply would have had a worse harvest next season." "Pulling such a heavy sled wagon for such a long distance was probably quite annoying," William said. Shang nodded as his journey shot through his memories. His hit-and-run on the bandits. His encounter with that powerful spider. The beggar bandits. It sure wasn''t easy. After around a minute, the door opened again, and John walked out. John handed over the piece of paper. "Checks out," hemented. John gave the sack of gold back to Shang and looked at the coat with a grimace. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang knew why John was grimacing. First of all, no one liked Pest Cats, and second of all, that coat hadn''t been washed in a very long time. Then, John opened the bag, and his grimace intensified. Shang felt a bit bad since he hadn''t had the opportunity to wash his spare clothes. Also, he was mostly using them as bedding. John rifled through the bag with a disgusted face and put it to the side after he was done. Lastly, John looked at the sword. He held it up and lightly knocked on it with one of his knuckles. CLINGGGGG! The sword vibrated for a while, and a confused expression appeared on John''s face. Then, he knocked another time on the sword. Then, another time. In the end, he scratched the back of his head in confusion and put the sword to the side. "What''s the sword made out of?" he asked. "I don''t know," Shang said. "You don''t know?" John asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don''t know," Shang repeated. John frowned a bit, but after releasing a sigh, he pushed everything back to Shang. "You can enter," he said. John opened the door and walked through it. William followed him, and Shang was thest one to walk through. BANG! The door was closed behind Shang, and John entered another door without saying goodbye. "We probably woke him," William said with a smile from the side. "Woke him? Isn''t he supposed to be working?" Shang asked. "What is he supposed to do?" William asked with a shrug. "He''s responsible for checking the visitors, and there aren''t many visitors thatte at night. We have far more guards than jobs in Warrior''s Paradise. That''s why everyone only has to do a bit of work." "Anyway," William said as he stretched a bit with a yawn. "I should go to the barracks and sleep. You can find the Warrior''s Academy at the west of Warrior''s Paradise. It''s surrounded by a huge, fancy fence. You can''t miss it. They have a nightshift too, so you don''t have to wait until tomorrow." Shang nodded. "Thank you a lot. You''ve exined a lot of things to me, and you''ve made everything easier." William only waved his hand dismissively. "I''m a social person, and I enjoy showing people around. Also, it''s my job to help people as a member of the city guards. Goodnight." "Goodnight," Shang said with a slight, polite bow. Now, Shang was alone again. Shang took a deep breath as he looked at the city around him. The buildings were tall, and there was little space between them. The roads were narrow, and many tiny alleys led to different parts of the city. When Shang saw these alleys, he got reminded of his home on Earth. The alleys specifically reminded him of hisst moments on Earth. What surprised Shang were the sounds in the city. There were none. Shang couldn''t hear insects, animals, or anything living. He could only asionally hear some guards walking around. The streets were deserted. Luckily, the braziers on top of the towers illuminated the city enough so that Shang could see where he was going. Shang looked at one of the alleys to his right. At the moment, Shang was facing south, and William told him that the academy was to the west. ''Should I go through the alleys?'' Shang thought as he scratched his chin. In the end, Shang decided to continue to the south. He had lived in enough cities in his previous life to know how cities were built. If this city followed the concept of Earth''s cities, he should¡­ ''Knew it!'' Shang reached a big intersection in the middle of the city. There were big roads leading to all cardinal directions. Shang looked at the intersection, and he realized that this was probably a huge bazaar or marketce during the day. Right now, no one could be seen here, but Shang saw many smaller stalls and shops withrge windows. Shang followed the big road to the west. William said that the Warrior''s Academy took up a huge portion of Warrior''s Paradise. So, it shouldn''t be difficult to find it. After walking for a bit, Shang saw a huge fence made of shiny, silver metal. In the middle of the road was a fancy gate with plenty of decorations. When Shang saw the gate, his heart began to beat faster. This was it! This was the ce where he would be more powerful! He had lived for over half a year in the wilderness, and Shang hadn''t learned from any human warrior in this world. There had to be an incredible number of unimaginably powerful techniques in this world! This was where Shang would join the true rank of the Warriors! The Warrior''s Academy! Chapter 63 Shang looked at the grand gates for a while. Then, he took a deep breath and walked towards them. As Shang came closer, he saw someone sitting right beside the gate. It was a middle-aged man, probably in his forties. What was he doing? Sleeping. He was sitting on a chair, and his entire body was justzily syed on the chair. Was this the nightshift William was talking about? Shang looked at the sleeping person for a while with aplex expression. For some reason, this person didn''t feel dangerous to him. However, Shang was certain that he couldn''t trust his perception in this case. After all, this person was guarding the gates alone. Shang stopped a couple of meters away from the sleeping person with an awkward expression. Should he wake him? Well, he was supposed to be working. "Excuse me," Shang said quietly. The person didn''t react. "Excuse me," Shang said again as he stepped closer. The person still didn''t react. Shang looked around at the dark city. He didn''t want to wake the sleeping residents, so he couldn''t just shout. Shang scratched his chin. That guy was probably a powerful warrior, and if Shang just stepped forward, the guy might be startled awake. Who knew what the guy would do when startled? The reflexes of a warrior were dangerous. Then, Shang got an idea. He stopped a couple of meters away. Then, he slightly moved his sword before moving it back into its original ce. The person didn''t react. "Are you awake now?" Shang asked. Shang saw the chest of the person expand as he took a deep breath. Then, he slowly sat up in his chair with a groan as he ruffled his hair. "That was smart, boy," the man said with some annoyance. "You were awake the entire time, right?" Shang asked. The man sighed. "Yeah. Heard you since you walked closer. Simply didn''t want to deal with you." "Sorry, but it can''t wait until tomorrow," Shang said. The guard let out another annoyed sigh as he stood up. "Thanks to you, I''m fully awake now. Thanks a lot," he said sarcastically. "I had to get your attention some way," Shang answered. What was the man talking about? Well, a seasoned warrior had a terrifying perception and terrifying reflexes. Someone talking to them or someone walking around might not wake them, but the silent sound of a moving weapon definitely would get their attention. Their mind would immediately go into full alert as soon as they heard that silent and deadly sound. "What do you want?" the man asked with annoyance. "I want to join the academy," Shang said. The man looked with annoyance at Shang. "There''s still quite a few months until the next trials start." "I want a special exam," Shang said. "Got the gold?" Shang took out his sack of gold and shook it a bit. The man raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he said with a bit more interest. SHING! Suddenly, the man appeared right in front of Shang. Shang''s hairs rose in an instant, and he pulled out his sword to block the swording for his head. SWISH! Shang''s block missed as the sword pulled back before they could hit each other. At the same time, Shang jumped backward, fully alert. "Are you crazy?!" both of them silently shouted in whispering voices simultaneously. Silence. "Do you have any idea how loud two shing swords are?!" the man shouted in a whispery voice. "You would''ve woken the entire city." "You were the one attacking me!" Shang shouted back with a whispery voice. "What was I supposed to do, just die?!" "I was obviously only testing you!" the guy shouted back in a whispery voice. "If I really wanted to kill you, you wouldn''t even notice me!" "Don''t you have a better way of testing me?!" Shang asked with a very annoyed voice. "That''s payback for doing the same thing to me!" "I didn''t attack you!" "So? You still triggered my battle instinct!" Shang took a deep breath to calm down. "Alright, it''s fine," Shang said. "So, are you happy with my reaction?" The man had a slightly disappointed but also slightly interested expression on his face. "Your reaction was extremely fast, and you immediately went for your weapon while evading. However, your way of moving your sword was weird, and it definitely needs work. It''s like you''ve never seen a human swing a sword," the man said. "I never had any form of training," Shang answered. That surprised the man, and he looked at Shang with a very skeptical expression. "That makes no sense," he said. "But it''s the truth," Shang answered. "How?" Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. "How what?" Shang asked with annoyance. "You go ask. I answer." The man''s brows furrowed. "Alright. If you''ve never undergone training, how is your body already in the Peak Soldier Stage at your age?" "Absorb a lot of Mana, jump from trees," Shang answered. Silence. Several seconds of silence. "What?" the man asked. "Yes, I''ve been in the wilderness. There was an Earth Fruit Hedgehog running around. I gave it food. It gave me its Earth Fruits. I eat one fruit, jump from a tree, nearly die, and regenerate." Silence. "What?" the man repeated. "What what?! That''s what happened!" Shang shouted back in a whispery voice. "Stop spouting bullshit," the man said with a frown. "Dude, I''m not bullshitting you!" The man was taken aback suddenly. "Dude?" he asked. "What''s that? Is that an insult?" "It''s just a phrase. It''s something like bro, man, or simr stuff, but that doesn''t matter now. I didn''t lie!" Shang answered. The man released a silent hmph, deciding to postpone the topic for now. "Fine, then what about your sword? How did you learn how to swing it?" he asked. "I just moved it around in ways to deal as much damage as possible. I pushed the power, speed, and precision as far as possible. Additionally, I tried to make them flow into each other without a gap. Essentially, I''m trying to get rid of all the awkward transitions between strikes," Shang exined. The man raised an eyebrow. "Alright, that would exin your weird movements. Show me your set." "My what?" Shang asked. "Your set. You know, a choreographed showcase of your Martial Art," the man said. Shang blinked a couple of times. "I don''t have that." "What do you mean you don''t have that?" the man asked with frustration. "Then, how are you training your swordsmanship?!" "I just do a couple of the same swings. Then, I do some other swings. Then, Ibine swings from time to time. I do all that until I''m tired." As the man listened to Shang, he began to rub the side of his head in disbelief. He looked exactly like a person that went into a house and saw the house in an incredible mess. Shang could practically read the mind of the man. ''Where do I even begin to fix such a mess?'' These were probably his thoughts. "Fine! Forget it," the man said after rubbing the bridge of his nose. "We''ll deal with this tomorrow. I can''t let you in since you''re not a student yet, so you have to wait until tomorrow." "Fine," Shang said as his posture rxed. Talking with this man had frustrated him quite a bit. The man sat down on his chair again. Then, he saw Shang moving to the other side of the gate to sit down. "What are you doing?" the man asked. "Waiting for tomorrow," Shang said. "Here?" "Yes, why not?" "You do know that there are inns around here, right?" "It''ste, and I don''t want to wake them. Additionally, I''m used to sleeping outside." Shang sat on the ground and leaned his back on the gatepost. Then, he took out his sword and put it beside him, nestling it in his arm. At the same time, Shang put his coat over the front of his body. The man scratched the side of his head awkwardly. Then, he sighed. Plonk! Shang looked over, and he saw that a second chair had suddenly appeared out of thin air. Shang looked in shock at the man. "You have a Sparren?" he asked. "What?" the man asked. "No, I have a Space Ring." "That''s a Sparren," Shang answered. The man looked with a weird expression at Shang. "No, it''s just a Space Ring." "Yes, but the Sparren is the gem on the Space Ring." "Okay, but then why didn''t you just call it a Space Ring? Did you want to impress me with your vocabry?" the man asked with a snort. "No, it was simply the first word that popped into my mind," Shang answered with annoyance. "Who thinks of some sparring when looking at a Space Ring." "Sparren." "Sparren, whatever. Take the chair. I can''t look at you sitting on the ground." Shang looked at the chair with an awkward expression. "No, thank you," he said. "What?" the man asked. "I said, no, thank you," Shang repeated. "Why no?" the man asked. "Because It''s morefortable on the floor." "How is it morefortable? Chairs are literally designed for humans to sit in," the man answered with annoyance. "Well, I don''t want it. I like the ground," Shang said back. "Take it," the man said as he kicked the chair over. "I don''t want it," Shang said as he pushed the chair back again. "Take it! I don''t want to see you sitting on the ground," the man said with frustration, pushing the chair back to Shang. "I don''t want it!" Shang said as he pushed it back. "I don''t care if you don''t want it! I don''t want to see someone sitting on the ground beside me. It''s embarrassing! You look like a beggar!" "So? I don''t care," Shang answered. The man groaned. "Just do it for me, okay?" "No, why would I? You attacked me earlier," Shang said with a sneer. "That again!?" the man shouted in a whispery voice as he stood up. "Yes, that again. I haven''t heard you apologize." "Why should I apologize? You woke me by pulling out your sword!" "Yeah, because you were sleeping on the job!" ¡­ This wouldn''t be a quiet night. Chapter 64 "Wake up," the man said with an annoyed voice. "It''s time for our deal." Shang slowly opened his eyes with annoyance. The two of them had argued for way too long. In the end, they hade to a deal. Shang could sit on the ground for the night, but when people would begin to show up, he would sit on the chair. Shang stood up, pulled the chair over, and sat down. "Was that so hard?" the man asked. "I can also just sit on the ground again," Shang answered with an even voice. "Hmph," the man only snorted. In the next couple of minutes, Shang saw the sky slowly light up. The braziers had been put out a couple of minutes ago, and Shang heard the first faint noises of movement from the surrounding houses. It seemed like the 500 or so people directly living in the city had their houses adjacent to the academy. A couple minutester, Shang saw the first people exit their houses. They walked with practiced ease to their destinations. "Bakers and smiths," the man said. "They have to wake up very early." "Mhm," Shang muttered. Some minutester, the sky became bright enough that even a normal person could see in the streets. Due to the high elevation and the walls, the dawn couldn''t be seen from within the city. Some more minutester, more people began to exit their houses as they all walked in the direction of the city center. Those were probably all the merchants and other artisans. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, a loud horn echoed throughout the city, and Shang looked up. "That''s the signal that the gates are being opened," the man exined as he stood up. Then, he walked over to the gate and simply pushed it open. "It wasn''t locked?" Shang asked. "Why would we lock it? I''m here, after all," he said. The man stretched a bit as he fixed his clothing. He had to appear presentable to the students. Some minutester, Shang heard the sound of a horde of people moving, and a couple of seconds later, Shang saw several youngsters and children walk towards the academy. Some of them were ten-year-old kids. Some were already adults. Some wore bronze uniforms. Some wore yellow uniforms. Some walked in groups. Some walked alone. However, one thing was the same for every student. They all wore at least one weapon on their person. Shang received plenty of different gazes from the passing students. Some of them looked with confusion at him, some with interest, and some with disgust. "Hello, teacher!" "Good morning, teacher!" "Finally done with work, huh?" Many students greeted the middle-aged man beside the gate. The children were very polite, while the older ones were more casual. The teacher gave some polite and curt replies while the students passed him. "Quite popr, huh?" Shangmented. "Tch, they only respect my status," the man answered quietly, "but at least they respect something." "Do you want to start with that topic again?" Shang asked. "Hmph," the man harrumphed without saying anything more to Shang. Shang kept looking at the passing students. They just didn''t end! In fact, the entire street was crowded with people. It was almost like a festival was taking ce in the city. By now, the city had also be very noisy and loud. The number of guards on the walls had also multiplied by several times. Suddenly, Shang saw a shadow. The shadow of a person had just jumped from the wall, right into the academy. "That''s the dean," the teacher said when he noticed Shang''s gaze. "He oversees the security of the city by night and leads the academy during the day." Shang''s eyes widened in surprise. "Doesn''t he need to sleep?" The teacher only snorted. "People on his level don''t need to sleep any longer. Don''t forget, the dean is the most powerful warrior in the entire world." That''s when Shang remembered everything he had been told of the Warrior Academy. Right! The strongest warrior in the world stayed here! The only warrior that had ever managed to reach the Fourth Realm, the same Realm as Duke Whirlwind! Shang felt a feeling of wonder when he realized that he had just caught a glimpse of the most powerful warrior in the entire world. It had only been a glimpse, but that glimpse had meant taking a glimpse at the current peak of physical fighting. After a couple of minutes, the flood of students slowly subsided. Yet, what reced the students were the teachers. Shang saw several people in silver uniforms walking down the street, talking with each other. They didn''t wear armor, but their uniforms were obviously designed to also be used in battle. They seemed light but powerful, hard but flexible. Some of the teachers were also talking with some older students. Obviously, the barrier between teacher and students wasn''t as stringent when the student reached a certain age. After all, they were all adults at that point. BOOOM! Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the top of the city walls. Shang looked over in shock, and he saw a gigantic ballista on top of a wall. He saw several soldiers standing around it, all looking over the wall, into the distance. Two of them wore silver armor, while the others wore bronze armor. The sound had obviouslye from this ballista firing. A secondter, the guards high-fived each other. "Sometimes, Spear Storks fly too close to the city," the teacher exined. "They are Beasts in the Third Realm, the Commander Stage. We can''t always send soldiers to hunt them down, so we kill as many as we can from the city." Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Third Realm. Shang was reminded of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog and the Old Ice Octopus in Duke Whirlwind''s garden. Such a majestic beast had died¡­ just like that? At this moment, Shang finally realized what kind of ce he hade to. The most powerful warrior in the world was here. Over a hundred real Mages were here. Who knew how many Commander Stage Warriors were here. Beasts on the level of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog were regrly killed by some random guards. The difference was just too vast. In Duke Whirlwind''s garden, the Earth Fruit Hedgehog might as well have counted as a God. On the outside, Beasts on General Stage had reigned supreme, and Shang had nearly died to one of them. The most powerful guards had been in the General Stage. But here¡­ Here, Commander Stage Beasts died on the daily. Commander Stage Beasts were nothing special in this ce. Shang couldn''t even fight a General Stage Beast, but he had entered a ce where not even Commander Stage Beasts were special. For the first time, Shang felt like he was far out of his depth. On the outside, he had been a force to be reckoned with. Not even the real bandits had dared to attack him after they had known of his location. Every beast except for the most powerful ones had been under Shang''s mercy. But here, Shang was only amon youngster. Every single guard in the city could easily kill him. There were even several students in the General Stage. Shang was in a different world. "Oh? Who''s that?" one of the teachers asked the teacher beside Shang. "He came at night," the teacher answered. "He wants to have the special exam." "Oh?" the other teacher answered as he looked at Shang. Shang was taken out of his thoughts, and he looked at the new teacher. "I have time right now," the other teacher said. "Follow me. I''ll take care of your exam." Chapter 65 Shang looked at the new teacher. The new teacher looked like someone in his early thirties. He had long, emerald green hair, and he wore a green suit of leather armor. This teacher''s appearance surprised Shang. First of all, that teacher didn''t wear the normal silver getup that all the other teachers wore. Second of all, he appeared a bit on the younger side for teachers. Most of the teachers looked like they were in their forties or fifties. "Follow him, boy," the first teacher said to Shang with an annoyed tone. "Oh, right!" Shang answered. Then, he looked at the new teacher and nodded politely. "Thank you." "No thanks necessary," the green-haired teacher said with a smile. "After all, you''re paying for all of this." Shang only nodded. The teacher looked at the others. "Talk to youter," he said. "Don''t abuse him too hard," a woman from the side giggled. "Why do you always have to do this, Melena?" the teacher asked with a groan. "If you keep doing this, the students will one day start believing your crap." The other teachers only giggled as they entered the academy. The teacher watched them leave and sighed. "You can choose your friends, but you can''t choose your colleagues," the teacher said to Shang. "You can," came a distant shout from one of the teachers. "Stuff it!" the teacher shouted back with furrowed brows. Shang could only hear moreughing. "Come," the teacher said as he gestured to the school with his head before entering. Shang followed behind the teacher and looked around. For the first time, Shang could actually see the inside of this legendary academy. Shang could see empty fields filled with rubble, some clean training ces, and even a small forest, which surprised him. Warrior''s Paradise was already very limited in terms of space, and the academy just ced a forest here? "Hide and seek," the teacher in front of Shang said. "What?" Shang asked. "Hide and seek," the teacher repeated as he gestured towards the forest. "You won''t always fight in open terrain. Sometimes, you are outmatched, and you have to flee. Sometimes, opponents might hide in the area to ambush you. That''s what the forest is for." "Oh, okay. Makes sense," Shang said absentmindedly. The teacher noticed that Shang was too preupied with looking, so he didn''t borate further. "The atmosphere between you teachers feels more personal andfortable than I anticipated," Shangmented suddenly. The teacher snorted. "Why wouldn''t it be? We''re colleagues." "Yes, that''s normal, but it''s not a given that the rtionship between your boss and you is that rxed." "Oh?" the teacher uttered as he threw a nce toward Shang. "What gave you that idea?" "You''re not adhering to the obvious dress code," Shang answered. "Additionally, one of the others shouted that you can choose your colleagues, hinting at personnel responsibility." "Personnel responsibility?" the teacher repeated with confusion while scratching his chin. "That''s an interesting word. I''ve never heard of it before, but I can take a good guess at its meaning." "Anyway, quite impressive of you to see these details. It might seem obvious to you, but not everyone notices these things. A lot of people look at what I wear, and they think that I''m just some janitor or something. After all, my uniform isn''t asvish as the other teachers'' uniforms," the teacher said with a chuckle. "Where did you learn of these things? From which family are you?" the teacher asked. Shang felt a bit awkward after receiving that question. "I''m not from any family," Shang said. The teacher looked at Shang with a skeptical expression. "So, you learned that all on your own?" "That''s the difficult part," Shang said. "I don''t know." "You don''t know?" "Yes, I don''t know," Shang confirmed. "My oldest memory is from when I woke up in Duke Whirlwind''s garden a bit more than half a year ago." After hearing that, the teacher stopped walking as he looked at Shang with a strict expression. "With your bright mind, you can probably understand why that story sounds so unbelievable. There is also plenty of reason to keep one''s affiliation with certain families and organizations a secret." "However, you have to know that this academy is run by the strongest warrior in the world, and he''s a very altruistic person. He isn''t interested in politics, and he only wants to further the advance of humans in terms of physical power." "All your past political affiliations are irrelevant here. Yes, we might be in Duke Whirlwind''s territory, and yes, we might have a deep connection with him, but the dean has made it very clear that we ept everyone." "So, with all of that said, are you still adamant about the fact that you lost your memory? I must warn you. We have ways to check if your im is true," the teacher exined. "Yes, because that''s what happened," Shang said calmly. The man looked at Shang with a skeptical expression. "Alright, then let''s test that right now. Please don''t resist." Shang only stood there without moving. The teacher pointed his finger at Shang''s forehead and then¡­ He started to cast a spell. Shang was surprised when he saw that the teacher was casting a spell. Wasn''t this supposed to be a warrior''s academy? Didn''t the guy wear leather armor and a long spear on his back? Why did that guy suddenly start casting a spell!? The teacher took several seconds to finish his spell. Obviously, he was unused to casting spells or, at least, to casting this specific spell. Additionally, Shang felt the words the teacher said to be familiar. Hadn''t he heard simr words before? When the teacher was finished, some Mana came out of his finger and entered Shang''s mind. Now, Shang remembered where he had heard that before. Duke Whirlwind had cast the same spell to check if everything was alright with Shang''s mind. However, the Duke hadn''t even needed a full second to cast that spell. After traveling through Shang''s head, the Mana came out from the back of his head. The teacher looked at the Mana, and his face showed surprise. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. "So?" Shang asked. "Well, it seems like you''ve spoken the truth," the teacher said with a surprised expression. "I can see that something in your mind doesn''t make sense." "Can you tell me more about it?" Shang asked, fully knowing what the answer was going to be. The teacher sighed. "Sorry, but I''m only training in Magic to supplement my fighting style. I''m a Magic Warrior, if you''ve heard the term before. I know some spells not rted tobat, but using them is very difficult and draining for me." "The only thing I can test is to see if the Manaing out of your mind is normal-looking or not. We mainly use that spell to check if someone''s memory has been tampered with. That''s basically the only thing we can do with it." "Alright," Shang said with a nod. The teacher scratched his chin in surprise. He had been certain that this kid had lied to him, but, apparently, the kid hadn''t. Amnesia, huh? Who would''ve thought? Then, the teacher wanted to continue leading Shang to the academy, but he stopped when he noticed how weird Shang''s reaction had been. How would an amnesiac person act when someone had just cast a spell on them that demonstrated their amnesia? Wouldn''t they immediately ask for ways to cure it? Wouldn''t they be anxious or hopeful? Yet, Shang acted like it was only normal. "Someone has done that to you before, right?" the teacher asked. Shang nodded. "And you perceive that person to be even better at casting magic than me, right?" he asked. Shang nodded again. "You don''t even know how good I am at casting spells, and you assume that I''m automatically less skilled than that person?" the teacher asked with a frown. "Any half-skilled Adept can cast that spell. What made you so sure that I''m less skilled?" Shang only looked at the teacher. "I haven''t seen you fly through the air." This shocked the teacher. Flying? There were only less than ten people in the world that could fly, and this guy was telling him that he talked to one of them? However, the teacher quickly remembered what Shang had told him. Shang''s earliest memory was of him waking up in Duke Whirlwind''s garden. So, wasn''t it logical¡­ "Did you meet Duke Whirlwind in his garden?" the teacher asked. Shang nodded. The teacher took a deep breath and released a sigh. "Alright, if he can''t see what''s happened to your mind, I don''t even need to attempt. Let''s continue. We don''t have all day." With that said, the teacher continued. Shang only looked at the teacher. Shang was pretty sure that the teacher was regretting his earlier words about Shang not being able to tell whether someone was more powerful or not. After some seconds of increasing the teacher''s difort by only looking at him, Shang followed the teacher. In the front, the teacher only rubbed his face. When cheeks flushed with blood, they often itched. Chapter 66 After a while of walking, the two of them entered the academy. The building itself looked like a typical school, just more¡­ royal? There were plenty of designs and edges that reminded Shang of the Baroque period on Earth. The building simply looked very old but very expensive. However, the feeling that the building was old came from Shang''s perception when he had been on Earth. After all, all of the buildings that looked like that were old. Yet, the building Shang was currently in looked to be rather new, and it was in top condition. The halls were grand, and Shang could see many weapons hanging from the walls. Shang''s sword was shaking on his back due to all the powerful ore around him. Luckily, Shang''s cloak hid his sword''s shaking. Shang followed the teacher up some stairs, and after going down a long corridor, the two entered a hall. The hall wasn''t very big, but it also wasn''t small. It was around ten by ten meters. Arge table with a couple of chairs surrounding it was at the edge of the hall, making theyout of the hall a bit awkward. Having the table in the middle felt more natural. "Take a seat. I''ll call the two other people," the teacher exined as he took out a small crystal from his Space Ring. "We need three people for an official exam." The teacher spoke a couple of words into his crystal and put it away again. After that, the teacher walked over to a drawer on the side and took out some papers. The teacher put the papers in front of Shang. "You know how to read and write?" he asked. For a second, Shang thought that this question was ridiculous, but he remembered that he was in a different world now. Being able to read and write probably wasn''tmon. "I can," Shang said as he looked at the papers in front of him. Forms. ''I thought I got rid of all that bureaucracy when I left Earth,'' Shang thought with annoyance. Shang quickly took the pen- ''A pen?'' Shang suddenly thought as he looked at the pen in his hand. ''Shouldn''t I get a quill and inkwell?'' Shang looked with surprise at the pen. The pen looked like a crudely made ballpoint pen, which weirded Shang out. A ballpoint pen? In this world? "You don''t need an inkwell to write," the teacher said, pointing at the pen. "That''s what we call a pen. It has an integrated inkwell. You only need to press down to write." Shang looked at the teacher for a bit and then back at the paper with furrowed brows. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. But in the end, Shang simply epted the reality that is a pen in a world filled with Mages and warriors. Shang filled out all the questions on the form. The questions were very basic. Shang was asked about his name, family, knowledge,bat style,bat experience, and many other relevant things to his chosen profession. While filling out the forms, two other teachers entered the hall. They greeted the first teacher and sat down beside him. One of them was a young woman with fiery red hair, while the other one was an old man with grey hair. The woman was probably in her twenties, while the old man was probably in his seventies. "Viera, what are you doing here?" the first teacher asked the young woman while Shang was still filling out forms. "I''m huntingter in the day today," Viera said with a smile. "I want to enter the Canyon on the evening." The first teacher furrowed his brows. "Are you certain? You haven''t been in the Commander Stage for a long time. Going to the Canyon now might be a bit too soon." "I know," Viera said, "but I need to feel some danger again. Hunting Commander Stage beasts at the edges of the Wastnd isn''t exciting anymore. I feel like I''m going to lose my battle instincts if I wait longer." The first teacher still looked with uncertainty at Viera. "Do you want me to apany you as insurance?" "Soran, if you apany me, there won''t be any danger at all," Viera said with a slight chuckle. "That would defeat the entire purpose." Soran, the first teacher, only looked with a worried expression at Viera. "Well, if you''re certain that you''re doing the right thing, go ahead. Just tell me when you n on being back. I don''t want to worry for the entire night." Viera only chuckled a bit. "Aww, you''re cute, Soran. Sometimes, I think you''re my teacher, not my senior." While filling out his forms, Shang threw a covert nce at Soran and Viera. ''Close physical contact initiated by her, higher voice, many chuckles, constant eye contact, compliments.'' ''She''s either someone who enjoys toying with men, or she has the hots for him.'' Suddenly, Viera shot a stern nce at Shang. "What are you looking at?" she asked with a dark voice. Shang looked Viera in the eyes. "You distracted me. Of course I''m going to look at the source of distraction," Shang said evenly before going back to filling out his form as if nothing had happened. Viera was taken aback by Shang''s words and tone. She had expected Shang to cower back at her admonishment and apologize, but Shang had only answered in a very direct manner. "Seems like he''s not buying your bullshit." Viera looked at the third teacher, the old man, with an angry gaze. "Do you have to word it so crude?" she asked with annoyance. The old man onlyughed. "You acted all flirtatious in front of him. Of course he''s not going to jump back after your outburst. He has seen your sweet side now, which makes your angry side not as ugly." Viera''s face became red at being called out. "Mervin! Stop saying random stuff! If there are rumors being spread on the school property tomorrow, it''s your fault!" Mervin only snorted. "The rumors have been going around for months at this point. The only reason why you haven''t noticed is that you basically live in the Wastnd." "Rumors? What rumors?" Viera asked in shock. Mervin only smirked. "What else? It''s that-" "I''m done," Shang suddenly said as he pushed the forms to the other side of the desk, to the three teachers. "Shut up! Don''t interrupt him!" Viera said with an annoyed voice as she threw Shang a venomous nce. Then, she looked back at Mervin with a nervous expression. "What kind of rumo-" "Looks good," Soran suddenly said, interrupting Viera. "Some of the things on the forms make seemingly no sense, but I''ve seen stuff like that plenty of times. We just have to see how you fight, and we''ll get everything figured out." Viera looked with annoyance at Soran, but she only bit her lower lip as she suppressed her rebuttal. Shang shot a knowing look towards Soran. Shang knew that the stuff he had written down was probably far from ordinary. After all, when it asked about Shang''sbat style, Shang had simply said sword. When it had asked about the techniques Shang had learned, Shang had simply crossed out the page. Yet, when it asked about Shang''sbat experience, Shang had run out of space on the paper. Every single person would make a doubletake at that form and ask Shang several questions for rification. However, Soran had simply waved the form off like everything was alright, and Shang knew why. Soran didn''t want to confront Viera''s romantic feelings. He obviously knew about them, judging by his actions, but he avoided directly acknowledging them. p! p! Soran pped twice into his hands to get the attention of the other two teachers. "Alright, the official exam starts now. Please keep the topics not rted to the examination out of the examination." Mervin onlyughed while Viera frowned with annoyance. Meanwhile, Soran looked at Shang with a devious smirk. "Well then, let''s begin, shall we?" Chapter 67 Shang nodded. He had waited for this examination for way too long. Soran answered with a nod of his own and turned towards Mervin. "Mervin, you''re the sword instructor. Could you get us a fitting opponent for Shang? You know how examinations work." Mervin nodded and wanted to stand up but stopped. "Shang? That''s his name?" he asked. "That''s at least what he wrote onto the form," Soran said as he waved one of the forms around. Mervin shot a weird nce at Shang. "Weird name, kid," he said before leaving. Viera only snorted, showing that she didn''t like what Mervin had just said. Soran only awkwardly looked at Shang. "You have to excuse Mervin. He''s an old but very capable teacher. As you might have noticed, he always speaks his mind." "No, he''s right," Shang said. "Shang is a weird name." Soran''s face transformed into a representation of confusion. That was not the answer he had expected. "Well, alright then. As long as you don''t take what Mervin said personally," Soran said. "How is it not personal?" Shang asked. "He literallymented on my name. It doesn''t really get any more personal." Soran moved his hands forward like he wanted to stop an expensive vase from falling to the ground. "That''s not what I meant." "I know what you meant," Shang said. Soran pulled back again as he looked at Shang with a slightly frustrated expression. "Then why didn''t you say so?" he asked with forced politeness. "Why didn''t you word it correctly?" Shang answered. "You," Soran said as his hands very lightly indicated that he wanted to strangle Shang. Then, he took a deep breath to calm down. "Fine. It''s fine. The situation''s resolved," he said. Shang didn''t answer anymore. On the side, Viera shot a strange look at Shang. This kid wasn''t like most other kids. Was something wrong with him? After some time passed, Mervin returned with a young man. Shang looked at the young man, or more precisely, boy. He couldn''t be older than 16. When Shang saw the boy, he felt a slight feeling of threat. By now, Shang was very good at judging his opponent. The slight feeling of threat he felt meant that the other side was capable of injuring him, but that was it. He wasn''t a real threat. After all, even a Pest Cat had the capabilities to injure Shang. The young man looked at Shang with burning eyes. Two teachers and the Vice-Dean were here! He had to prove his worth in front of them! "This will be an exhibition match," Soran exined. "You two will fight each other. Shang, this match won''t decide if you can join our academy or not. It''s simply there so we can get a better look at your fighting style." "Please, you can fight over there," Soran said as he gestured to the empty half of the hall. ''So that''s why the table''s at the side,'' Shang thought. Shang walked over to one end of the hall as he looked at his opponent. Shang''s opponent took out his sword. It was a one-handed sword focused on a mixture of speed and power. It wasn''t as thin as a rapier, but it also wasn''t very broad. Clk! The silent sound of something metallic moving could be heard from Shang, but none of the present people could see what Shang was doing. His sword had been hidden beneath his cloak the entire time. The teachers nodded when they saw that. Keeping one''s weapon hidden made it harder for the opponent to prepare themselves. "You can start whenever you want. This fight is not-" BANG! The sound of Shang jumping forward with a lot of power reverberated throughout the hall, interrupting Soran''s words. Shang''s opponent hadn''t been ready for Shang to suddenly attack, and he quickly lifted his sword to block. However, he didn''t know from which direction Shang would strike. Shang''s sword was still hidden behind his cloak. As Shang approached, his opponent quickly changed his block to a chop. In the academy, he had learned that the only option was to attack when one couldn''t find a proper defense. Shang saw the sword swing towards him, but he had already known that would happen. Shang wasn''t arrogant. He knew exactly that his opponent knew more about how to wield a sword than him. So, entering a sword battle with him would be stupid. Shang saw the sword swing down. Shang put all his power into his sword arm and directly targeted the opponent''s sword. BANG! The two swords hit each other, creating sparks as they bounced away. SHING! However, Shang''s sword immediately shot into the ground. Shang had blocked a choping from above, but instead of pulling his sword back into abat-stance, Shang let go of his sword! The opponent put all of his power into recovering his sword, leaving him open. Meanwhile, Shang wasn''t blown back since he had let go of the source of pushback. Pulling off such a maneuver took a lot of practice, but Shang had had enough practice. At the moment, Shang''s opponent was out of bnce as he tried to pull his sword back. BANG! Shang''s shoulder rammed into his opponent''s torso, taking the air out of his lungs. Shang pushed his opponent over and fell on top of him. Then, Shang moved around his opponent''s body with practiced ease. CRK! "AAAHHH!" The young man shouted in pain as Shang violently kicked the sword away, breaking at least one finger in the process. Then, Shang used the opening to get behind the opponent. Lastly, Shang put his arms around his opponent''s neck and head in a sleeper hold, simultaneously pulling him away from his sword. The young man''s mouth opened in pain and terror as he tried to resist. Yet, as more time passed, he began to see stars until he only saw ck. When Shang saw that his opponent had gone limp, he let go, making sure that the man wouldn''t hit his head on the ground. Then, Shang stood up and cracked his neck. After that, Shang looked at the teachers. The teachers only looked with open mouths at Shang. Soran looked through the forms again to make sure that he hadn''t misread. Combat Style? Sword. No, it definitely said sword there. Some secondster, the young man on the ground groaned as he slowly regained consciousness. Right now, the young man''s mind was filled with nothing but confusion. What had happened? Why was he here? And then, he looked with shock at his right hand and the two broken fingers on it. Suddenly, everything came back to him, and he looked at Shang, who stood in the middle of the hall right now. "I was told this would be a sword fight!" the young man shouted with a voice filled with a mixture of panic, pain, and anger. Shang threw the young man a short nce. ''Interesting. He''s more concerned with how I fought than his broken fingers. I guess injuries are pretty normal in the academy.'' Meanwhile, the teachers only looked at each other with uncertainty. This wasn''t what they had expected. Soran looked at the forms again and then at Shang. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. "Sword, yes?" he asked. Shang nodded. Chapter 68 Soran took a deep breath to calm down. "Then why didn''t you use your sword?" he asked. "I did," Shang answered. "Without it, I couldn''t have created an opening." "This is not what I meant," Soran said with a frustrated voice. "You used a sword, yes, but you didn''t use it to win." "Yes, I did," Shang answered. "Without it, I couldn''t have created an opening." Soran''s right eyelid twitched as Mervin beganughing. "He did use a sword to win," Mervinmented from the side with a smirk. Soran threw a threatening look at Mervin, but Mervin didn''t care. "Why didn''t you use your sword the entire time? Don''t you know that throwing your weapon away is basically suicide in a battle?" Soran asked with furrowed brows. "How is it suicide when I won?" Shang asked. "There could have been other opponents around, and after you took down your current opponent, you might not have the time to retrieve your sword," Soran said. "But there aren''t any other opponents," Shang said matter-of-factly. "The only other people in this room are you three, and if you three decide to attack me, having my sword wouldn''t make a difference." "Yes, but what if-" "But there isn''t," Shang answered. "You don''t know what I would have said!" Soran answered with a seething tone. "Doesn''t matter," Shang said. "You started your sentence with what if, which means that it isn''t something that has happened." Soran sucked in a violent breath of air through his nose. "Alright, fine! So, why didn''t you use your sword till the very end?" he said with suppressed rage. "Because that''s stupid," Shang answered. This was not the answer Soran had expected, and he looked at Shang with a confused expression. "Why?" was all he asked. "Because he''s had tutoring on how to fight with a sword while I hadn''t," Shang said, pointing at the young man, who had stood up by now. "He''s obviously better at using a sword than me. I was in a disadvantageous position, so I moved the fight into a favorable position for me." Mervin broke out intoughter as Soran lifted his hands. He angrily formed them into fists before opening them again. It was like he imagined how it felt to strangle Shang. Then, Soran rxed as he let out a long sigh. "That was the point," he said. Shang lifted an eyebrow in a skeptical expression. "That was the entire point," Soran repeated. "This exhibition match was supposed to show you what proper teachings can aplish. This match was supposed to teach you something." "Why didn''t you say so earlier?" Shang asked with an annoyed expression. "I wouldn''t have done that if I had known the goal of the exhibition match." Soran''s eyelid twitched again. "I was going to, but you attacked before I could tell you." N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. "But you said that we can begin whenever we want," Shang answered. "Yes!" Soran shouted back, "but it''s normal to wait until the introductions and the exnation regarding the fight were finished!" "Then why didn''t you say that we could begin whenever we want at the end of your exnation?" Shang asked. "You fu-"Soran said before catching himself. Mervin only broke out into moreughter. Soranpletely ignored Mervin at this point. Soran took another deep breath to calm down. "Shang, listen," he said calmly. "We are trying to help you. We are trying to teach you something. We are not your enemies, and you don''t have to be so uncooperative. We are all on the same side." "Uncooperative?" Shang repeated with furrowed brows. "You told me what I should do, and I''ve done what you said. What is uncooperative about that?" "It ismon courtesy to wait until everything''s clear," Soran said with slightly narrowed eyes. "And how am I supposed to know that?" Shang asked. Soran''s expression transformed into a very skeptical one. "Because it''s COMMON courtesy. People COMMONLY know about it," he said. "Okay, cool, and how long have I been amongst humans?" Shang asked. Soran''s eyes widened as realization struck. The other two teachers looked at Soran with confusion. In their mind, Soran was supposed to shout back. Soran took another deep breath and slowly put his right hand to his forehead. "I''m sorry. I forgot about that." This surprised Mervin and Viera. Where did that change suddenlye from? "It''s fine," Shang answered. "So, what now?" The other two teachers still looked with confusion at Soran while Soran slowly stood up. Then, Soran walked around the table while looking at the other young man. "Please go to the Water Mage," he said. "After that, you can return to ss." For a second, Shang was confused about why Soran had sent the young man to a Water Mage, but after seeing the young man''s broken fingers, Shang made a connection in his mind. ''Do Water Mages have healing capabilities?'' Shang thought. "I didn''t lose!" the young man shouted with panic and nervousness. It was almost like his dream was breaking apart in front of him. "He cheated!" The entire atmosphere in the room changed as the three teachers shot admonishing looks at the young man. "What''s his name?" Soran asked without looking back. "Michael from the Brestow family," Mervin answered. "Michael," Soran said slowly. "In battle, we can''t be sure about the powers of our enemies. Some Mages dye their hair and clothing just to look like a Mage with a different affinity. Sometimes, some warriors walk around with a gigantic halberd on their backs when their real weapon is a hidden dagger in their sleeve." "When you enter a battle, you have to keep in mind what your opponent can use to hurt you. Yes, to some extent, we were also at fault since we fed you incorrect information about your opponent, but in the end, you are still responsible for your own battles." "You both have about equally powerful bodies, and you had a chance to win. Taking your opponent by surprise is one of the most important factors in winning." "I''ll chalk up your current outburst to your broken fingers and your loss of consciousness earlier. I''ll forgive it this time, but I don''t want to hear something like that again." "Do I make myself clear, Michael?" Soran said with a strict voice. By now, Michael didn''t look angry anymore. In fact, Michael looked very afraid, ashamed, and nervous. He knew that he had screwed up big time. "I''m sorry, Vice-Dean. In my fear of appearing too weak, I appeared too weak. I have lost, and that''s that. I will remember your teachings, Vice-Dean," Michael said with a voice filled with shame. Soran nodded, and a smile returned to his face. "Then everything''s fine. Please, go to the Water Mage and return to ss. We''re sorry for the inconvenience." "Yes, thank you, Vice-Dean," Michael said with a polite bow. Then, he turned to Mervin. "Thank you, teacher." Then, surprisingly, Michael turned to Shang. "I''m sorry for my earlier words," he said. Shang was a bit surprised. In Shang''s mind, this boy was just that, a boy. He hadn''t expected a teenager to genuinely admit to their mistake that easily. Michael could have left without talking to Shang, and everything would have been alright. "It''s fine," Shang said. "And sorry for the broken fingers. I got lost in the fight." "It''s okay," Michael said. "I''m used to injuries. So, see you in ss, Shang." Shang nodded. Then, Michael left the hall. Meanwhile, Soran had arrived at the ce where the young man had just been. SHING! Soran took out his spear and held it in his right hand. As soon as Soran took out his spear, it was like Shang was assaulted with an apocalyptic pressure. It was like a gigantic dragon had just looked into Shang''s eyes. "I will reduce my power to the Mid Soldier Stage, two levels below you," Soran said. SHING! Soran pointed his spear at Shang. "How about I show you what you can do with proper training?" Chapter 69 Breathing became difficult for Shang. Even though the person in front of him wasn''t showing any killing intent, Shang could still feel the sheer power behind him. However, it wasn''t only his power. There was also a certain confidence or willpower inside him. Shang felt like there was no sense in resisting. It was like his own motivation was suppressed by the sheer pressure of his opponent. But Shang wasn''t a mere teenager. Shang had gone through a lot of training, and he had also fought on the world stage on Earth. The pressure he had felt back then was even more oppressive than the pressure he was feeling right now. How? Were his old opponents stronger than the Vice-Dean, Soran? Of course not. The circumstances and eventual repercussions were different. If Shang had lost his fights on Earth, his life would have been ruined. He had trained for months on end to seed in only a single fight, and that fight would decide Shang''s entire future. But this fight? Nothing would happen. This was not a fight that would decide his future, but a fight that would teach Shang something. Winning or losing made no difference. So, even when the opponent was the most powerful opponent Shang had ever had, losing wasn''t bad. It was expected. Shang slowly took out his sword again, and he looked at Soran. "You said I can attack with the intention to kill, right?" he asked. "You can," Soran answered with a slight nod as he readied his spear. BANG! Then, Soran suddenly charged forward, taking Shang by surprise. Shang had expected that Soran would simply block all of Shang''s offenses and teach him. But now, he was attacking him! For a moment, it became difficult for Shang to react, but he had an advantage that allowed him to react in time. His body. Soran had said that he would make himself two levels weaker than Shang, and he had done so. Soran''s speed was more than manageable for Shang, and that was the only reason why Shang was able to react in time. Soran''s spear directly went for Shang''s head, and it became bigger and bigger in Shang''s vision. Shang quickly shot his sword upwards. His n was to throw the spear to the side with all his power. Since he had a more powerful body at the moment, he could ruin the bnce of his opponent by striking the weapon. WHOOSH! Yet, Shang''s sword missed! Soran only smiled as he slightly pulled his spear back. That was when Shang realized that Soran had already nned this beforehand. Soran wasn''t using more power than he was allowed, and he hadn''t stopped his spear in a reactionary sense. It had been nned from the very beginning. Suddenly, the head of the spear angled downward, the spear bending in the process. In that short moment, Shang realized what had happened. Soran had pushed his spear forward at an angle, but before Shang had even decided to block it, Soran had pushed the butt of his spear to the side. The wooden shaft of the spear was very bendy, and the rotation of the actual spear took some time to reach the tip. At this very moment, the butt of the spear was pointing towards Shang''s torso while the tip of the spear was slightly pointing to the side. Soran didn''t even need to continue pushing. The sheer force of the bent spear would shoot forward as the spear became straight again, catapulting the head of the spear into Shang''s abdomen. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Shang couldn''t get either of his arms to intercept the spear. Yes, Shang had a more powerful body, and he was definitely also faster, but he hadn''t been interrupted by his opponent but by himself. Shang had wanted to stun his opponent by using all his power to throw the spear to the side. Because of that, Shang had to fight against his own power to regain his bnce, not his opponent''s power. Shang couldn''t block the head of the spear. Yet, Shang''s eyes narrowed as his instincts took over. These weren''t the instincts of an MMA fighter but the instincts of someone that had lived in the wilderness for months, fighting powerful beasts all the time. BANG! Shang was thrown to the side. However, the eyes of Soran, Viera, and Mervin widened in surprise. Shang had gone into the attack of his own volition! The first and most basic reaction someone had towards an attack was to protect themselves. If someone saw a punching toward their face, they would quickly put their arms in front of their face. If someone saw an attacking towards their abdomen, they would put their arms and legs in front of their torso while trying to either jump back or turn to the side. These were basic instincts. Yet, Shang stepped forward while slightly rotating his abdomen. If Shang had done nothing, the spear would have straightened, and the tip would have slightly pierced Shang''s abdomen. Soran didn''t want to injure Shang too seriously after all. But by stepping forward and rotating, the side of the spear''s head pped Shang in the abdomen. The sharp edge of the spear left a deep cut in Shang''s abdomen, but that was it. A thrust with the spear would have punched through Shang if it were performed with the intention to kill, which would obviously be worse than this oue. At the same time, Shang''s arms wrapped around the spear, keeping it from leaving his body. Shang had the more powerful body, and he had to take advantage of that fact. Soran raised an eyebrow as he saw Shang grip his spear with his left hand while still keeping his sword in his right. Then, Shang exploded forward! He pulled Soran to him by pulling on the spear as his sword struck in Soran''s direction. Soran only smirked. Whoooop! The spear suddenly bent to the side, throwing Soran to the side. It was almost like the spear was not following physics anymore! Shang noticed what had happened. Soran was using Shang as the base of a lever. Soran was essentially using the principles of a pole vault to throw himself to the side. At the same time, the spear in Shang''s hands tried to pull itself out of his grasp. Soran was using the entire power of his body to bend the shaft out of Shang''s hands. However, one of the very first things a fighter on Earth learned was to disarm people. Because of that, Shang used some fingers from his right hand to block the exit of the spear. The part where the fingers curled around something was easy to break out of with some rotation. Shang knew that which was why he was reinforcing that part with his other hand while still keeping his sword. Soran nodded in praise when he saw that. Then, Soran shoved his spear forward with all his force. Shang strengthened his grip on the spear and managed to keep hold of it. Clink! Yet, the spear vibrated once and hit the hilt of his sword, throwing it out of Shang''s hand. Like it had a mind of its own, the sword gracefully flew towards Soran, who caught it. Then, Soran pointed the sword at Shang with one hand while keeping his spear in the other. Silence. For a moment, Shang looked with cold eyes at his sword. He knew that his own sword couldn''t injure him. If Shang shot forward, Soran would try to stab Shang with the sword, but it wouldn''t work. Then, Shang could use that chance to start an unarmed fight on the ground with Soran, which would essentially mean that Shang would win. "You win," Shang said. But in the end, Shang decided against it. First of all, Soran had already shown a cavalcade of techniques, and it was very possible that he would have even more. Saying that Shang would be able to tackle Soran to the ground would be very, very optimistic. In short, Shang''s victory wasn''t even close to assured. Second, Shang was certain that the ability to not cut one''s user wasn''tmon for a weapon. Shang still wasn''t certain how other people would perceive his weapon if they knew of its abilities. Lastly, Shang also had the ability of his left arm, but he kept it secret for the same reason. If Shang could tell his own affinity, he wouldn''t be afraid of revealing it. However, his affinity was special. Even the God had called it special. Also, if Shang used some Mana-rted abilities with his left arm, Soran might do the same. Shang didn''t forget that Soran had called himself a Mage Warrior, and up to now, Soran hadn''t revealed any Magic abilities. Soran only smiled as he threw the sword back to Shang. "Well fought, Shang!" Chapter 70 "Thanks," Shang answered Soran. When Soran heard Shang''s words, he nodded in appreciation. Why? Because a lot of kids tried to appear too prideful or motivated. They would proim with a frown that they were sad they hadn''t won or something simr. However, that didn''t make them seem endearing or motivated but stupid. This had never been a fight where victory was up for grabs. If they said that they weren''t fine with losing, it would only show their childishness. It would show that they weren''t able to distinguish a winnable fight from an unwinnable one. If someone truly thought like that, the chances were high that they would start a fight they couldn''t win, and they would die early. If someone didn''t think that but said it regardless, they would only be a people pleaser. epting when someone was superior to oneself was one of the most important rules a warrior had to learn. It was an essential skill for survival. "Hey, Soran, how about you let the kid actually show his skills?" Mervin said from his chair. "This entire fight was supposed to show us his sword skills." Soran only smiled awkwardly as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry. I just wanted to show him how annoying it can be when someone suddenly attacks out of nowhere." "Anyway," Soran said as he looked at Shang. At the same time, his spear vanished, and he lifted his arms. "Let''s see your sword skills. I won''t fight back, but I will block and evade. Just treat my arms as shields. You don''t have to worry. By using Mana, my body bes so hard that you can''t damage it." N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. Shang nodded as he readied his sword. At the same time, the other three threw nces at Shang''s abdomen. There was still a cut on Shang''s abdomen, but it was quickly healing. This told the teachers two things. First of all, Shang acted like he didn''t even notice his injury, which gave more credibility to his ims of how he was training his body. Second, Shang''s injury was already closing, which meant that he had a warrior''s body. What was a warrior''s body? In this world, a warrior''s body was seen as a disadvantage. In essence, having a warrior''s body meant that one wasn''t able to actively push Mana towards one''s mind. Without a way to actively push Mana towards one''s Spirit, one wasn''t able to be a Mage. Of course, in a world where Magic was the only way to true power, this was a bad thing. It wasn''t entirely impossible to practice Magic with a warrior''s body, but it basically made no sense. Why? Because the mind would only be more powerful by the passive Mana-radiation of the strengthened body. In short, this meant that one''s body had to vastly surpass one''s mind in power to strengthen it. Mages trained by pushing their Mana into their minds. In the beginning, Mages would retain normal bodies until they became Adepts. When they became Adepts, the power of their mind would slowly strengthen their bodies. This meant that an Early Adept would have a body equal to an Early Soldier Stage warrior. That was an entire Realm lower. Of course, one could also train both at the same time, but that would consume double the resources and double the time for only a minuscule increase in strength. Someone with a warrior''s body would be forced into training the opposite way. If they wanted to be Mages, they would need to be a warrior in the General Stage first before they could start learning Magic. When the warrior had already reached the Second Realm, they could learn to cast spells at the same levels as a beginner Apprentice. In short, it made no sense. Someone with a warrior''s body was essentially forced into the path of a warrior. However, having a warrior''s body wasn''t only a bad thing. The good thing about having a warrior''s body was that the body kept most of its Mana stored in the body itself, not the mind. This gave the person with the warrior''s body a faster rate of regeneration. How many people had a warrior''s body? Around 2% of the students in the academy. It was a bit moremon outside the academy since a lot of peasants were peasants because they couldn''t practice Magic. But, of course, the academy still preferred students that had a warrior''s body. After all, this was an academy for warriors. While the watchers were taking note of Shang''s injury, Shang began to unleash a relentless offense on Soran. Shang shot forward and quickly unleashed a sh, which was blocked by Soran''s arm. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang attacked more and more times as Soran jumped around the room to keep Shang on his toes. Soran was even jumping on the table, the backs of chairs, and other furniture. Shang, obviously, jumped after him every single time, also using the environment to his advantage. Surprisingly, no furniture got damaged. One would think that with Shang''s instincts and offensive, he would destroy the furniture. After all, it wasn''t his style to hold himself back. And that was true. He wasn''t holding himself back. So, why was the furniture not damaged? Control. A good warrior had to realize when they had to stop their attack and adapt. If the enemy didn''t evade, a good warrior wouldn''t hit the surroundings. Their attacks would hit the enemy. If the enemy evaded, it made no sense to continue the attack, which would result in Shang not hitting the furniture. Only someone that wasn''t able to take in their surroundings and adapt to them would mindlessly continue attacking when they couldn''t hit the enemy. When the other two teachers saw that, they nodded in appreciation again. Up to now, Shang had shown extraordinary habits and battle instincts. These were the habits of someone that had been in many real fights in their life. However, they had also noticed some ring ws in Shang''s style of battle, which showed that Shang hadn''t truly fought humans before and that he hadn''t been in a truly chaotic battle before. They suspected that Shang had only fought beasts in one-on-one duels before. Soran decided that they had seen enough to make a judgment, but he still wanted to show Shang one of his ring ws. Soran stopped in front of a column. Shang attacked Soran, and Soran blocked the attack with his left forearm. Then, Soran lightly stepped to the side. Shang wanted to charge after him. BANG! Suddenly, Shang''s vision warped violently as white stars sprung up everywhere. Out of reflex, Shang jumped backward but fell over. One of his hands went to his head. Shang felt blooding from his head. Shang looked to the ce where he had just been and saw a thick vase made of stone rolling to the side, a bloody spot on it. When Shang had attacked Soran near the column, Soran''s foot had slightly shaken the column. The vase above the column tipped over, and it fell on Shang''s head. That thing was hard and heavy. This was one of Shang''s ring ws. The enemy fully consumed his vision and mind, making him blind to his surroundings. Shang could still see how his enemy interacted with the surroundings, and he could also use the surroundings to his advantage, but that only included the surroundings immediately involved in the battle. Shang wasn''t paying attention to anything else, and he wasn''t thinking about checking his surroundings from time to time or listening to the noises. If Shang had been paying attention, he could have heard the column behind Soran shake. Sadly, his vision had been consumed by Soran. "Alright," Soran said with a smile. "That should be enough." "Want to hear your evaluation?" Chapter 71 "Yes," Shang answered as he slowly stood up. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Shang had always wanted an evaluation from a neutral party. After all, he could evaluate himself only to a certain degree. And on top of that, Shang had already been given some feedback just now. His headwound was proof of that. ''I didn''t notice such a huge vaseing towards my head. Now that I think back, I can remember hearing the column shake, but I simply filtered it out as irrelevant information.'' ''I guess that''s the Vice-Dean''s way of showing me that I ignored my surroundings. I can get why that is a bad habit on a battlefield.'' "Alright," Soran said as he sat back down in his chair. "Then, let''s talk about your sword techniques first. Mervin?" Soran asked as he looked at the older man beside him. Mervin nodded and looked at Shang. "Horrible." Silence. Shang was waiting for more, but nothing more came. "Could you borate?" Shang asked. "Your movements are fast, but that''s it," Mervin answered. "You n your next strike very well, and you unleash your strike with quite some speed, but there is no after. You fight like you only think about the current strike and not the one after that or the one after that." "When something goes wrong with your current attack, you hesitate and pause for a moment because you''re unsure about what you should do next. In essence, you are nning your attack only when it''s already time to unleash it, not beforehand." "Another thing is that your attacks have no nuance. Your attacks are all very straightforward and honest. What the enemies see is what they get. You don''t use feints, and you don''t use your sword to manipte the enemy''s perception." "Lastly, your only goal in attacking your opponent is to kill them. However, that is the end goal, and it can''t always be achieved with one strike. Oftentimes, you have to achieve multiple subgoals in order to finally take your enemy''s life." Then, Mervin stood up and walked past the table. The other two smiled a bit when they saw him get up of his own volition. Obviously, the youngster had woken up Mervin''s teacher instincts. Mervin took out his sword and held it in front of him as he looked at Shang. "Can you take me out with one attack if I had your physical power?" he asked. Shang looked at Mervin. "No," he quickly answered. Mervin''s sword perfectly isted him from everything in front of him. At first nce, he didn''t seem to hold his sword in any special way, but Shang felt like Mervin''s defense was imprable. "Why not?" Mervin asked. "Because of your sword," Shang answered. "Can you get rid of my sword?" Mervin asked. "Difficult," Shang answered. "So, what would you need to do?" Shang''s brows furrowed. "I would need to keep attacking you and shake your bnce until I get the chance to either directly strike you or get rid of your weapon." Mervin nodded. "Correct," he answered. "I noticed that you realize these things rather quickly in a fight, but you don''t realize them immediately. You first have to try something before you know that it doesn''t work." "You are essentially a beast in your fighting style," Mervin said as he put his sword away again and went back to his chair. "You are fighting honest, direct, and without a n, just like a beast." "The good thing with that style is that many enemies might be overwhelmed by your sheer killing intent. After all, your attacks very directly show that you are there to kill them and that you are not messing around." "However, that style only works on inexperienced soldiers. Someone that can actually keep their calm in a battle will be your downfall. They will notice your very simple attacks and goals, and they will lead the battle into a losing direction for you." "Imagine you attack your enemy, and they block. Then, they attack, and you block. Then, you attack again, and they block. And then, they attack. Suddenly, you are with your back to a wall, and blocking from your current position is difficult. You would much rather evade. However, you can''t evade due to the wall." "Without nning and without paying attention to the surroundings, something like that can happen to you," Mervin said. "The enemy follows their n, and they will push you into an unfavorable position. As a warrior, you have to be able to see these things and n around them." "You fight like a beast, but you are a human. You are not using our strongest weapon, which is our superior mind." "Nearly all of these things can be easily fixed by learning a couple of sword techniques. After all, these techniques are specifically created to avoid such situations. There are attacks that are perfect to use if you feel pressured. There are attacks that are perfectly suited to pressure your opponent." "Byprehending all these techniques, you will subconsciously already n against your opponent." "But as it stands right now, your sword techniques are only fit for ughtering beasts, not humans, and a warrior that can''t fight humans is a warrior that won''t live for very long." After that sentence, Mervin became silent. Shang listened intently to Mervin''s barrage of words with burning eyes. Yes, this was what he was here for! Feedback! Teachings! Mervin waspletely right in everything that he said! Shang hadn''t truly fought a powerful human yet, but Shang could very well imagine how such a fight would go down. It would probably go down exactly as Mervin predicted. Humans were using many tricky techniques that Shang wasn''t used to handling. A good example was Soran''s swing with his spear. Soran had seemingly attacked Shang''s face, and Shang had reacted. Yet, Soran had actually attacked Shang''s torso. One had to remember that Soran had made his body two levels weaker than Shang. This meant that Shang was much faster than Soran in this situation. The most impressive part was that this strike wasn''t even very hard to pull off. Shang could imagine such a strike to be a basic technique of a spear user. It wasn''t some heavenly technique that one could onlyprehend after having been a warrior for decades. It was a simple application of a weapon, and if it were an actual battle, Shang would have been in life- threatening danger. By whom? By someone two levels below him. Why? Because Shang hadn''t fought humans yet, and because he hadn''t learned from humans yet. "Thank you for your teachings," Shang said with respect as he slightly bowed in respect. Mervin only snorted. "Don''t mention it. I just couldn''t watch someone fight this atrociously." Then, Soran looked at Shang. "Are you fine with that feedback?" he asked with a smile. Shang nodded. "Yes, just these few words have highlighted many of my mistakes and bad habits." Soran nodded. "It''s good that you have such a mindset. Honestly, it''s rather rare to see someone have such a mature mindset at your age." Soran chuckled a bit. "It''s almost like you''re already in your 20s." Shang didn''t answer. "Anyway, let''s talk about your mentality," Soran said. Chapter 72 Soran paused a bit. "Your instincts are terrifyingly good for someone of your age," Soran said. Shang nodded. "In our fight, when you suddenly noticed my spearing towards you, you immediately found a creative way to mitigate the damage. You obviously haven''t seen the attacking, and you certainly have been surprised by it. I saw it in your face." "However, out of pure instinct, you managed to find a quick and good solution to your predicament. At that moment, you didn''t have the time to think of a n because you werecking time, but by acting on your instincts, you managed to find a solution in that tiny moment." N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. "Such battle instincts can''t be taught. They can only be built by going through several genuine life- threatening battles. Those are the instincts of a seasoned warrior, and they are the most important thing for any warrior." "However, relying upon instincts should be thest thing you should do," Soran exined. "You should only rely on your instincts when your nning no longer works, and you can only rely on them when you literally have no time to n." "You could say that the instincts are ast, life-saving measure. They are essentially your veryst defense. However, if you need to rely on your instincts, it means you are already in a losing position. After all, if you weren''t in a very disadvantageous position, you would have time to n your attacks, which means not relying on your instincts." "But the good thing is that you are good in something that we can''t teach, which gives you a major edge over the other students." Soran took the papers in front of him and straightened them out into one pile, showing that he no longer nned on writing more down. "In summary, you are an uncut diamond," Soran said with a smile. "You''re not good in the things we can teach, but you are very good in the things we can''t teach. If we teach you everything we can teach you, you will be good at literally everything." "That''s our evaluation." Shang looked at Soran. "So, am I epted?" he asked. Soran only smiled. "There are two more things we need to verify, but if you have been honest, those will only be a formality." Shang nodded. "Which things?" "First of all, I need to test the quality of your body," Soran said as he stood up again and walked around the table. He approached Shang. "Just continue standing there. It might be a bit ufortable, but bear with me." Soran put his left arm on Shang''s shoulder while his right arm pressed on multiple spots on Shang''s torso. Shang was reminded of the routine doctor appointments on Earth. When heined about trouble in his intestines, the doctors also pressed down on his abdomen in a simr manner. Shang didn''t feel anything when Soran pressed onto his abdomen. Soran nodded in appreciation. Then, Soran went to the sides of Shang''s abdomen and pressed on his kidneys and liver. Shang didn''t show any reaction, and Soran nodded again. Next, Soran checked Shang''s stomach and lungs. There were also no issues there. Viera and Mervin threw some surprised nces at each other. "Argh," Shang suddenly groaned as his vision blurred for a bit. "Just as I''ve thought," Soran said with a smile after pulling his hands back. "This basically confirms your ims." "What do you mean?" Shang asked. "About how you managed to train your body to such a powerful stage at such a young age," Soran answered. "It''s hard to fathom, but the proof stands right in front of me." "All your organs have been strengthened to the peak of the Soldier Stage except for your heart. With normal methods, that''s impossible." Soran looked at Shang with a concerned, raised eyebrow. "However, it''s also sad in a way. You seem to only be about fourteen or fifteen years old, but you managed to get through so much pain." Then, Soran frowned. "And the worst thing is that you did it willingly." "How is that a bad thing?" Shang asked with a skeptical expression. "Shouldn''t that be a positive? After all, it shows that I can get through any hardships ced before me, and it proves how much I am willing to sacrifice for my own strength." Soran sighed. "Exactly that is the problem," he said. "Your perception of yourself and your surroundings is warped." Shang only looked with skepticism at Soran. "You are so used to going through so much pain to be powerful that it will be hard for you to find like-minded individuals," Soran exined. "Listen, Shang. It''s not necessary to go through as much pain as you. There are easier ways to train your body." "These ways can still be quite painful but obviously not nearly as painful as you have experienced. However, other kids and adults will perceive these ways to be quite painful while you won''t." "If you publicly make it known that you don''t perceive these things as painful, you are indirectly calling everyone else a crybaby, which will iste you." "Additionally, your cold attitude towards yourself will also inevitably reflect on your surroundings." "What do you mean?" Shang asked. Soran sighed. "For example, you haven''t smiled,ughed, or chuckled even once ever since I got to know you," Soran said. For some reason, Shang felt his insides shake a little when he heard that. "You are a teenager, and you''ve just been praised by several very powerful warriors in the Commander Stage. You also managed to win against a student of ours." "Any of these things would excite someone, especially someone as young as you." "Yet, you always only looked with either an emotionless expression at us or one filled with skepticism." Viera and Mervin also had concerned expressions on their faces. "You also don''t even try to fake it. You don''t put on a polite smile or anything like that. Do you know what that shows me?" Silence. "It shows me that you don''t care about what anyone else thinks. Don''t get me wrong. That can be good to a certain extent, but if you''re overdoing it, this will iste you." "Do you know what you look like to me?" Soran asked. Shang felt a bit ufortable, and he didn''t know how to answer. "Like a kid that has gone through so much pain that it can''t build a connection with other humans anymore." "And that''s very sad, but also very dangerous." "Because, if you be an adult, what will you be?" "What choices will you make when you have power over other people?" "What choices will someone make that has no meaningful connection with anyone else?" Soran sighed again. "Listen, Shang," he said. "You don''t need to go through this suicidal training you have been going through for months. It might train your body faster than any other method, but it will damage your mentality." "You shouldn''t sacrifice your future for an expedited path to power. You have enough time, and you don''t need to try so hard." "Look at us," Soran said as he gestured to himself and the other two. "We are already well within the Commander Stage, and we are all still young. We can all stillugh, and we have all gone through more battles than you can imagine." "We are very experienced, and if we were subpar warriors, we wouldn''t be teachers in the most prestigious academy for warriors in the world. We essentially reached the realistically achievable peak of the warrior''s path, and we didn''t have to go through as much pain in such a short time as you." "Remember one thing, Shang," Soran said. "It is not the outside world forcing you down this path but yourself. As long as you don''t force yourself down this path, no one will force you." Soran sighed again. "Honestly, if it were up to me, I wouldn''t ept you into the academy. As you appear right now, I fear giving you power. In my perception, when you gain power, you will bring a lot of suffering to a lot of innocent people." "However, the decision isn''t up to me." Soran stood up as he took the pile of papers with him. "Could one of you two please deal with thest part of the exam? I''ll deliver the papers to Master." "I''ll deal with it," Mervin said as he stood up. "Come, Shang. It''s time for the practical exam." Chapter 73 Soran left the room to report to his Master, which was probably the dean, Shang assumed. Viera went back to whatever she was doing, and Mervin pulled Shang along with him. Mervin led Shang to the gates of the academy, and they quickly left it. By now, Shang could see a busy city, a far cry from the dead city he had seen at night. Shang could hear the constant hitting of hammers, the roaring fires in bakeries and forges, and many people loudly trading with each other on the streets. Even more, nearly every person on the streets wore armor and weapons, showing that they were warriors. Mervin and Shang then left the city without saying anything. When the guards saw Mervin, they simply shot him a greeting and let him pass. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Then, the two of them ran down the long street, which was filled with many different carts. The carts were all filled with different wares. "You should listen to Soran," Mervin said suddenly. Shang didn''t answer. Ever since Soran had said that Shang hadn''t smiled even once, Shang had fallen into thought. He still remembered his time on Earth. Back then, he had been a very extroverted and outgoing person. He had enjoyed smiling and being amongst others. Shang had also smiled quite a bit when he had been in this world. His interactions with the vigers of Coldew Vige had felt natural. Shang had smiled politely, and he hadughed with them a little bit. When had all of this stopped? When had he stopped smiling? It wasn''t hard to find the moment. It was when Shang had killed the beggars and when he had decided to kill off his old persona. He didn''t remember his old name anymore, and he also didn''t care. He no longer was this person. Yet, was Shang truly the person he wanted to be? "I don''t know," Shang said. "It''s a lot to think about." "That''s a good thing," Mervin said. "If your feelings have been thrown out of equilibrium by Soran''s words, it means there is still hope for you." "Listen, being more open and less self-destructive isn''t only a good thing for the people around you but also for you. It makes it far easier to interact with the world, and you will find your way forward easier." "People generally don''t want to help someone they feel is dangerous or apathetic. By being as you are now, you will find it harder to get the resources you need in the future. At some point, the traders have enough wealth and power to choose their customers. There is far more demand than supply for their wares." "When you can sell your supply to anyone you want, you will sell it to someone you enjoy thepany of. Sure, you can probably also buy these supplies, but you would need to pay a hefty premium." "Additionally, there are techniques and resources you can only acquire by being part of an organization, and many of them put a lot of value on cooperation. We humans are not lonesome beings. One of our biggest strengths is the ability to work together. Someone who appears apathetic and hard to get along with is not the first choice for these organizations." "You are still young, Shang," Mervin said. "You have plenty of time to change. The only thing standing in your way is you." "I''m also certain that you can change. After all, if you were truly as cold and apathetic as you appear, Soran''s words wouldn''t have had an effect on you." "But in the end, it''s up to you. You can listen to my words or simply treat them as the ramblings of an old man," Mervin said. Shang had silently listened to Mervin''s words, and he was honestly thinking about them. Shang had also noticed that Mervin was truly someone that cared about others. He tried to act like a grumpy old man, but he actually wanted to help his students. Mervin obviously didn''t like talking too much, but he had said so much to Shang in such a short time, which showed that he definitely cared about Shang''s development. For a moment, Shang wasn''t certain what he should say. Should he thank him? Should he start a discussion with him? Should he smile and tell him that he will try to put these changes into effect? In the end, Shang did nothing. All of these potential reactions felt like they weren''t important. So, the two of them only continued jogging in silence down the road. Mervin noticed with furrowed brows that Shang didn''t react, and he silently sighed. Shang hadn''t given Mervin an answer, but Mervin saw Shang''s answer by his inaction. In a way, pleasing Mervin was something that would help Shang in the long run. After all, Mervin was an experienced teacher, and the better their rtionship, the more Mervin would be willing to teach Shang. Shang obviously knew that, and Mervin knew that Shang knew that. Yet, Shang didn''t even make an attempt at pleasing him. At this moment, one had to pay attention that one didn''t understand Mervin incorrectly. Mervin wasn''t someone that liked it when people tried to please him. This was not what he was concerned about. The thing he was concerned about was Shang''s inability to try to make his life easier. It was so easy for Shang to make his life easier. He only had to thank Mervin for his advice. That was it. What was so hard about doing that? It was simply a mere formality. Yet, Shang didn''t say anything. Just going through this tiny formality could make his life so much easier, but he didn''t even do that. It was like Shang was actively trying to make his own life harder and trying to make himself unlikable on purpose. Of course, Mervin knew that this was not Shang''s intention. However, this was the effect of Shang''s actions, intended or not. Of course, Shang also knew these things. He had lived on Earth, and being polite was something very basic that everyone could do. Back then, Shang had been polite to his teachers, strangers, customers, his employers, and everyone else. Saying please and thank you was normal. Giving a mere polite smile was normal. But now, Shang didn''t even do that, even though he had learned these principles and lived by them for his entire life. Shang realized these things. He had a great affinity for introspection, which allowed him to analyze himself from a detached, objective perspective. He had noticed that he appeared very uncooperative at this moment, and he knew that this could make his life harder in the future. Yet, for some reason, Shang simply felt like it wasn''t important. It felt like it was too much work for too little return. However, Shang also knew that this basically didn''t count as work. How could a couple of perfunctory words and a light smile be called work? ''What''s wrong with me?'' Shang thought in uncertainty. ''This shouldn''t be hard, but for some reason, it feels so hard.'' ''I don''t want to smile, and it feels like work.'' ''Why? Why does it feel like so much work?'' "We''re here," Mervin said as he stopped. Shang had been upied with his thoughts, and he hadn''t noticed where they had gone to. At the moment, Shang stood in front of the Wild Forest. Shang remembered that the Wild Forest was filled with beasts in the First Realm, the Soldier Stage. Was he supposed to kill a beast? "Kill a Pest Cat," Mervin ordered. "When you''ve killed a Pest Cat, you will be epted into the academy." Chapter 74 When Shang heard what he had to do, his mind quickly changed directions. He put his earlier thoughts to the back of his mind as his old instincts from the wilderness returned. Without saying anything, Shang shot towards the Wild Forest. Mervin watched him from afar and slowly followed him from a distance. As soon as Shang reached the first tree, he jumped to one of the branches in near-perfect silence. Then, he simply jumped from branch to branch with practiced ease. Shang looked at the ground of the forest for the entire time while always quickly checking the tree he would jump to next. Shang hadn''t even realized that Mervin had essentially made it harder for Shang than necessary. Pest Cats were only active at night. Right now, it was morning, and the sun was already shining down from above. This meant that the Pest Cats were hiding inside their nests, which were nearly impossible to find for someone that didn''t know about the Pest Cats'' habits. When Mervin saw the methodical method at which Shang was searching for the Pest Cats, he sighed. He wanted to teach Shang a lesson. Shang had acted in a self-destructive way by not at least pretending to be polite, and Mervin wanted to make it a bit harder for Shang as a lesson. Action and consequence. Shang wanted to make his life harder? Sure, Mervin wouldply and make it a bit harder. N?velDrama.Org copyrighted ? content. However, Mervin had underestimated Shang. Shang had been living in the wilderness for over half a year, and he had been forced to learn the habits of the beasts around him. After all, if he didn''t, a Pest Cat might have jumped out at him from its nest if he didn''t notice it prior to that. Pest Cats might only be active and hunt at night, but if some prey decided to directly stroll right past its home, it wouldn''t decline the meal. After a couple of minutes of jumping from tree to tree, Shang noticed some dried drops of blood on the ground. Pest Cats hunted every single night because they needed a lot of food to produce offspring. Pest Cats were famous for their astounding ability to reproduce quickly. When Pest Cats hunted at night, they carried their prey to their burrow to consume it over the day. The Pest Cats had an impressively fast metabolism, and their stomachs were very efficient in digesting food. However, there was still only so much Pest Cats could eat at once, and they often hunted rather big prey. Because of that, they had to eat their prey over half a day, one stomach-load at a time. After around a minute of following the trail, Shang found an area with light scratch marks and some dried blood here and there. Shang looked over, and he saw a small but wide hole below a tree. The hole looked like an erged version of a mailbox''s slit, thin and wide. Due to their form, Pest Cats could make themselves very small while still being able to move very quickly. When Shang found the small hole, he looked at the tree from all sides. Sure enough, there was another slit on its other side. Shang didn''t climb onto the tree above the two slits since the Pest Cat would be able to feel the vibrations. Then, from the other tree, Shang readied himself. SHING! Shang threw his sword towards the entrance of one of the slits. His sword hit the ground in front of the slit and vibrated. Shang looked at the other slit and readied himself. BANG! Suddenly, Shang heard amotion from the other slit, and he looked over with some surprise. The Pest Cat had jumped out of the first slit and had attacked the space above the sword, which was something Shang had not expected. However, Shang quickly adapted and shot toward the Pest Cat by pushing himself off the tree with all his power. The tree creaked under the power of Shang''s legs, and Shang shot with incredible speed right at the Pest Cat. The Pest Cat was still confused about why there was no enemy in front of it, but it was already toote. BANG! Shang''s kick hit the Pest Cat''s spine near its chest, easily breaking it. The Pest Cat copsed, and Shang also broke its neck. His body was more powerful, which made it rather easy for him to kill it from such a position. The task had beenpleted. "Well done," Mervin said as he silently appeared beside Shang. "You can go back to the academy. I''ll quickly catch up with you." Shang looked at the corpse below him. "What about the corpse?" he asked. "You can keep it or sell it to the academy," Mervin said. "By keeping it, you can sell it for gold. By selling it to the academy, you can get some contribution points." SHING! Something appeared in Mervin''s hands. It was arge, ck nket. "That''s a Beast Sack. As its name implies, it''s something to transport beasts. You can''t just drag a bloody corpse through the streets of the cities since that would make the entire city stink of blood and guts. That''s why you have to carry it inside a Beast Sack. They''re inexpensive, and they''re meant to be used only one time," Mervin exined. "You can have that one." Shang nodded. "Thanks," he said absentmindedly as he grabbed the Beast Sack and put it around the corpse of the Pest Cat. Shang didn''t think of his actions, but Mervin noticed it. ''Interesting,'' Mervin thought. ''Earlier, he had issues with thanking me, but now, he does it easily.'' "No problem," Mervin said. "Get on with it. I still have something to do." However, Shang didn''t go, and he looked at the burrow of the Pest Cat. "Are you going to deal with the offspring?" Mervin frowned. "That''s not something you have to be concerned over. You''ve done your task, and that''s that." Shang looked at Mervin with a neutral expression. "Do you think I can''t deal with the image of several babies being killed?" Mervin''s frown deepened. "It''s not about being able to deal with it or not," he said. "It''s about if you should or not. Even if you can deal with it, you shouldn''t have to. You are a new student, and you aren''t even an adult. Killing a dangerous enemy is different from killing something that is no danger and hasn''t threatened you." As Shang heard Mervin''s words, he got reminded of the night he had killed the several beggars. Shang rarely thought of the night since thinking about it always made him ufortable. Mervin noticed that Shang''s eyes became absentminded for a second when he said that, and Mervin quickly realized what that meant. ''He has already done something like that before,'' Mervin thought without changing his expression. ''That exins quite a lot.'' "Go," Mervin ordered. Shang threw one more nce at the burrow. As soon as he had seen the Pest Cat jump out of the wrong hole, Shang had realized that it had probably offspring in its nest. That was the only exnation he coulde up with. Pest Cats in the Wild Forest should be used to humans, and humans should be the biggest danger around here. No sane Pest Cat would attack a human with a weapon that had suddenly appeared in front of its nest. Unless it had something to protect. In the end, Shang took a deep breath, put the Beast Sack over his shoulders, and walked off. For some reason, it was rather difficult for Shang to just leave like this. When Shang had left, Mervin looked at the burrow of the Pest Cat with narrowed eyes. Then, a green bottle appeared in his hands, and he poured the contents into the hole. After making sure nothing left the burrow, he left the forest and caught up with Shang. The job was done. Chapter 75 A couple of minutes after Shang left the Wild Forest, Mervin caught up to him. Shang didn''t ask Mervin how it went since there was no point to the question. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "Are you nning to sell the corpse or give it to the academy?" Mervin asked. "Academy," Shang answered. "What''s your choice based on?" "I have enough gold," Shang said. "Speaking of gold, I haven''t paid the fee for the exam yet." "You don''t have to," Mervin said. Shang''s eyebrows rose in surprise. "What do you mean? I thought I needed to pay five gold." "The fee is only there to stop weak warriors from wasting our time," Mervin exined. "Weak warriors have issues with getting so much gold. Of course, we still get some requests from some rich kids. That can''t be helped." "But when they inevitably fail, they will at least reimburse us for the time wasted. In short, you only need to pay if you fail the exam. You obviously didn''t." Shang thought about Mervin''s words, and he realized that Mervin''s words made a lot of sense, but there was still something that irked him. "But why are you not epting the gold from the ones that manage to seed in the exam?" Shang asked. "Doesn''t the academy need gold?" "No, it doesn''t," Mervin said. "95% of our spending goes to the support of the teachers. You have to remember that the teachers in the academy are still interested in bing more powerful, and the academy gives them resources to support them in this endeavor. Of course, they have to teach the students in exchange." "Okay, but that doesn''t exin why you don''t need money," Shang said. "After all, you have to pay the teachers." "Warriors at the Commander Stage are the most elite warriors you can find," Mervin exined. "Nearly all the teachers belong to some kind of organization or power. The academy isn''t directly paying them but giving them ess to valuable resources. The only thing the teachers get is the ability to purchase these resources. We are essentially spending zero money on them." Shang''s eyebrows rose. "So, the teachers are only working in exchange for some kind of membership for some exclusive shop?" Mervin snorted. "The wares the teachers have ess to are of the highest quality," he exined. "There are expensive and rare pills and tonics from all across the world. There are weapons and techniques that are exclusive to some countries and organizations. There are ores and materials deep from inside danger zones." "And most importantly, there are materials from beasts in the True Path Stage." "True Path Stage?" Shang asked. "That''s the name of the Fourth Realm for warriors," Mervin said. "It''s the equivalent of a High Mage. The namees from our dean. Since he is the first warrior that reached the True Path Stage, he got to name it." "The first three Realms are named after the jobs the warriors took up for the Mages. Warriors in the Soldier Stage are mostly soldiers. Warriors in the General Stage are mostly officers. Warriors in the Commander Stage are the leaders of the armies." "However, in the eyes of the Mages, that''s it. The highest a warrior can ever be is the leader of an army." "They can''t be nobles or leaders of actual organizations. They can only lead armies." Then, Mervin smirked. "That was until the dean managed to break the mold. He was the first that managed to step out of the Realm of being a servant and managed to step onto the very level of actually important leaders." Shang''s mind imagined the power and prestige of the dean. The first person that managed to speak to the Mages eye-to-eye. However, Shang''s brows furrowed as he remembered something. ''The God has asked me nine questions, and I get one answer after every major breakthrough,'' Shang thought. ''I am in the First Realm, and I have gotten the answer to my first question. I will most likely receive my second answer when I reach the Second Realm.'' ''Yet, there are nine questions and nine answers.'' "Is there a Realm above the High Mage Realm?" Shang asked. Mervin frowned. "Why are you suddenly so interested in Mages?" he asked with a snort. "Because, since the dean is the strongest warrior, we don''t know if there is an after. However, the Mages should know if there is an after," Shang asked. For a bit, Mervin remained silent. "Fine," he said. "Yes, there is a Realm after the High Mage Realm. It''s called the Archmage Realm, and it''s the most powerful Realm in existence." "I''ve heard that you met Duke Whirlwind before. Duke Whirlwind is a High Mage, and he is the ruler over three Zones, the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Storm Eagle Zone, and the Empress Cobra Zone." "The Whirlwind Duchy is theoretically an autonomous Duchy, but it unofficially belongs to the Skythunder Kingdom. The King of the Skythunder Kingdom is an Archmage," Mervin exined. Shang''s mind quickly went to the most logical question. "Are there also Emperors?" he asked. "No," Mervin answered. "In order to be crowned an Emperor, someone would need to reach an even higher Realm. For the past thousands of years, the goal of every King has been to be an Emperor." "But no one has seeded up to now." By now, Shang and Mervin had already entered Warrior''s Paradise again, and they were in front of the gate of the academy. Shang didn''t ask any further questions, but he fell into thought again. ''The Archmage Realm would count as the fifth Realm, but that would only answer my fifth question. There are still four more to go.'' Shang threw a covert look to Mervin. ''That''s probably the extent of what he knows. I don''t know why, but not even a warrior at the Commander Stage knows what''s beyond the Fifth Realm.'' ''I''m unsure if Duke Whirlwind knows about the Realm beyond the Archmage Realm, but for now, I should assume that everyone believes that the Archmages are the most powerful Mages in existence.'' ''But one thing is certain, there are at least eight Realms to being a Mage. I''m not sure if there are truly nine or if thest question was simply a hail Mary from the God to get me to reach a ce no one has been in before.'' ''However, one thing is certain. There are at least three more Realms after the Archmage Realm.'' ''Yet, funnily enough, the strongest warrior in the world is the dean. I don''t believe that the God has lied to me about that.'' ''The people in this country believe that the dean has managed to step out of the rank of servants and look the Mages into the eyes, but they don''t realize the true power of the Mages.'' ''The dean is in the fourth Realm.'' ''The strongest Mage is, at least, in the eighth Realm.'' ''The most powerful Mages probably look at the dean as an especially outstanding child. He''s very impressive for a child, but he''s just that, a child.'' As Shang and Mervin stepped through the gates of the academy, they saw Soran waiting for them. Soran saw the Beast Sack on Shang''s shoulder and nodded. "Put that to the side for now," Soran said, gesturing to the Beast Sack. "You have more important things to do." "The dean wants to see you." Chapter 76 When Mervin heard that, his eyebrows shot up in surprise. Shang was also quite surprised. "The dean wants to see me?" he asked. Soran nodded. "Follow me," he said as he turned around. Shang looked at Mervin, but Mervin only shrugged. "I wanted to show you where you can deliver the corpse to, but I might as well do that for you now. I will add the contribution points to your emblem when you get it." Shang nodded. He guessed that the emblem Mervin referred to was probably some form of identification, simr to the ID cards inpanies on Earth. Shang handed the Beast Sack over to Mervin and followed Soran. Soran led Shang to the side of a hallway and up some flights of stairs. "Why does the dean want to see me? Is that normal for new students?" Shang asked. "I don''t know, and no," Soran said. "Usually, It''s either the other Vice-Dean that wees the new students or me. The dean doesn''te into contact with students much." Some seconds of silence passed as they climbed up another flight of stairs. "So, am I part of the academy now?" Shang asked. "That''s up to the dean," Soran answered. "I gave him the report, but before he gave his okay, he told me to bring you to him." Shang didn''t answer as his brows furrowed. Why would the dean want to meet him? Sure, Shang had great instincts, but Soran and Mervin were acting like this was something unusual. If it were normal for talented students to meet the dean, they wouldn''t have acted in such a manner. When they reached the fifth floor, the highest floor, the two of them went back to the hallway. "This floor is reserved for the teachers," Soran exined. "Students are forbidden from essing this floor without being apanied by a teacher." Shang looked around, and he noticed that there were not that many doors. He guessed that the rooms beyond the doors were probably rather sizable. The two of them walked to the big gates at the end of the hallway and stopped before them. "Come in," someone said from beyond the door. Shang thought that the voice sounded like the voice of a middle-aged man. The voice reminded him of one of the managers Shang had been under in his career as a fighter back on Earth. "Go in," Soran said, gesturing to the door with his head. Shang looked at the door with a frown. He had no idea why someone like the dean wanted to meet him, but it was suspicious. However, even if the dean had some ulterior motives, there was nothing Shang could do. No one but the three of them was currently around, and if they wanted to do something to him, they wouldn''t need to put on such an act. So eventually, Shang took a deep breath and opened one of the two doors as he stepped into the room. When Shang saw the room, the first word that came to his mind was simple. There was only a table and a chair in the room. A ck spear stood at the corner of the room, but it obviously didn''t belong here. That was it. It looked almost like an interrogation room. Was this truly the dean''s office? Shang could also get a clear look at the dean for the first time, and the first word that came to his mind when seeing the dean was general. The dean looked exactly like one would imagine a general in a medieval movie to look like. He wore a fitting ck suit of armor. There were no great designs or anything on the suit of armor, but it gave off a feeling of experience, time, and status. As for the dean himself, he was a middle-aged man. He had long ck hair that went past his shoulders, and he had one of these beards that circled his mouth. Shang didn''t know how they were called. The dean currently had a stack of papers in front of him, and Shang noticed that these were the papers Soran had prepared while interviewing Shang. "Please close the door," the dean said without looking up from the papers. Shang noticed that he was still keeping the door open, and he quickly closed it. After Shang closed the door, some kind of small statue appeared in the dean''s right hand. The dean put the statue onto a circled part of his table, and the circle around that part suddenly began shining in a white light. When that happened, Shang felt that the density of Mana was decreasing inside the room. Just like Duke Whirlwind, the dean was absorbing a ton of Mana from his surroundings. However, there was no new Mana entering the room. "That is an Istion Magic Circle," the deanmented. "It serves as protection against Scouting, Scrying, and Inquisition Magic. As long as a High Mage isn''t directly trying to listen in on us from beyond the door, no one is going to hear anything we will be discussing in here." "Please, sit down," the dean said, lightly gesturing to an empty spot in front of the table. SHING! A chair appeared at that spot. Shang was still uncertain, but he followed the dean''s instructions and sat down. After some seconds, the dean put the papers to the side and looked at Shang with his azure eyes. For some reason, Shang felt that the dean''s gaze held a deep meaning. It was almost like the dean knew something important about Shang. After looking at Shang for a bit, the dean''s eyes wandered toward Shang''s sword. When the dean''s gaze went towards Shang''s sword, Shang felt his sword shake for some reason, which made him more nervous. Up to now, the sword had only shaken if there was danger present. "Put your sword on the table," the dean said. Shang''s frown intensified. Had the dean noticed that his sword wasn''t as simple as it appeared? Nevertheless, Shangplied. There was nothing he could do anyway. Shang took out his sword and ced it on the table. The sword began to shake more and more, and for some reason, Shang felt like he had betrayed his sword. Up to now, it had only shaken when there was danger, and judging by the intensity of the shaking, the sword probably sensed life-threatening danger right now. "You seem surprised," the deanmented. Shang threw a look at the dean, but he didn''t answer. "It seems like there are a lot of things you don''t know," the dean said. Then, he gestured towards the shaking sword with his head. "Watch." Shang wasn''t sure what the dean meant, but he looked at his sword. Crk. Crk. The shaking became more rhythmic, and the sword moved a slight bit to the side. Crk. Crk. The sword moved faster and faster, but it still moved rtively slowly. Shang looked with surprise at his sword. It was moving in one specific direction, and that direction wasn''t him. It also wasn''t the dean. Shang looked at the spear in the corner of the room. Why was his sword trying to get to the spear in the corner? When Shang looked back at his sword, he noticed that it was about to fall from the table. But then, something in Shang''s peripheral vision moved. Shang looked over, and his eyes widened. The spear was hovering! The spear slowly flew to the sword, and the shaking of the sword intensified as the spear approached it. ck! Then, the sword leaped forward and touched the spear, and as soon as it did, it was like they became inseparable. It was like they were maized to each other. The spear floated back to the corner of the room with the sword andnded again. "What''s happening?" Shang asked. "Teaching," the dean said as he looked at the two weapons with a mncholic expression. "I still remember when I was in your position. I had just been here for maybe a year." Shang felt like the dean wasn''t referring to this Zone or this country. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "Time passes so fast," the dean said with a sigh. "Seems like I''ve fulfilled my purpose in his eyes." For a second, Shang became confused, but his eyes widened when his mind connected the dots. "So, you''re the new one, huh?" the dean asked as he looked at Shang. "Anything interesting happentely on Earth?" Chapter 77 Shang almost couldn''t wrap his mind around the words he had just heard. Was the dean also someone from Earth? Shang had thought that he was the only one! "Surprised?" the dean asked as he looked at Shang with an even expression. However, Shang''s expression only changed into confusion. "What are you talking about?" Shang asked. When Shang said that, the atmosphere in the room took a monumental turn. It was like the temperature had dropped by several degrees. "I don''t have time for these games," the dean directly said. "Gleipnir is only teaching your sword because I allowed it to. I can also order it to consume your sword." Shang took a deep breath as he looked over. The spear hadn''t changed, but it felt far more dangerous now. "How can I believe you?" Shang asked with an aggressive tone to mask his fear. "What if this isn''t an illusion, and you are trying to get me to divulge information?" The dean''s eyes narrowed. "And what if that were the case?" he asked with annoyance. "You''ve seen my secret, and you would die regardless. Might as well tell me more about that God you encountered so that I can more easily seek my death by knowing too much." "Additionally, do you actually believe that someone on my level can glean such high-level information from your mind? Do you honestly believe the God didn''t put up any defenses?" Shang didn''t like hearing that his life was not under his own control, but he had to admit that the dean was right. Eventually, Shang took a deep breath as he looked into the dean''s eyes. "You don''t seem like someone from Earth," he said. "Neither do you," the dean answered coldly. "You have the eyes of someone that has killed innocent people." Shang''s mind immediately went back to that fateful night, but he only looked back at the dean. "I had my reasons." "Your reasons don''t matter," the dean said with a direct voice. When Shang heard that, he grew angry. As if the dean hadn''t done things he regretted. Shang was certain that it was nearly impossible to reach such a level of power without killing a human or two. However, the dean''s following words were different from what Shang had expected. "On the path to power, we kill people," the dean continued. "It doesn''t matter what they have done. As long as it helps us to be more powerful, that''s reason enough." For a bit, Shang''s eyes widened, but then they narrowed. "Quite interesting to hear that from someone from Earth," he said. "When an extreme switches, it can often switch to the opposite extreme," the dean said coldly. "Yes, this kind of attitude is something only psychopaths and serious criminals have on Earth, but you should already know in what kind of world we are." "Individual power reigns supreme. Themon people have no say in how the leaders run things. On Earth, the leaders had to be careful of a revolution, but in this world, a revolution doesn''t matter." "As long as I''m not included, Duke Whirlwind could defend himself against the united forces of his entire Duchy. He would rain devastating spells down from the sky and leave towards a safe location when he runs out of Mana. On top of that, beasts in the True Path Stage wouldn''t have anyone stopping them anymore, and the casualties would pile up into mountains." "I can see that you haven''t been in this world for very long," the dean said. "You haven''t seen what kind of atrocities are considered normal here." Shang only looked at the dean with an unfriendly expression. Originally, Shang had expected that he would be able to find a friend in the dean. After all, they had something that intrinsically connected them. Yet, the dean felt way too direct and brutal for Shang. ording to what the dean had said, he would be fine with killing everyone as long as their death would benefit his power. Shang wasn''t like that. He wasn''t afraid of killing his enemies, but he also didn''t want to kill just anyone. "You don''t seem like your two disciples," Shangmented. "They are them. I am me," the dean said. "But that has nothing to do with you. I didn''t call you here to answer your questions." "Why did you call me here?" Shang asked with a neutral voice. "I''m here to tell you your purpose," he said. "And that is?" Shang asked with skepticism. "In order to make you understand, I have to tell you about my predecessor," the dean said. "My predecessor managed to reach the Peak of the Commander Stage, but he wasn''t able to reach the True Path Stage, no matter how hard he tried." "For many years, he attempted to find a way to break through the shackles that have bound the warrior''s path for thousands of years, and in the end, he managed to find a way." "However, he had only theorized that path. His background from Earth gave him a great ability to find a solution to veryplex problems, but his training and his kind of training have ruined his prospects. It became impossible for him to advance." "That was when I turned up," the dean said. "We two met, and my predecessor put his ambitions on my shoulders. He would teach me everything about how to reach the Fourth Realm, and I would put his theories on how to reach it into practice." "Eventually, I seeded. It was like I was a perfect test subject for his theories," the dean exined. Then, the dean looked at Shang. "Now, onto you." Shang didn''t react. "Just like my predecessor, I managed to theorize something. However, it is impossible for me to test it on myself, and it''s difficult to make this method more essible to everyone without a sessful example." "And then, just when I was about to throw away decades of my work because all the previous procedures have failed, I get this stack of papers," the dean said as he waved around the papers Soran had written. The dean put them in front of him and went through them. "Memory loss." "Has only been in the wilderness." This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "Warrior''s body." "Outstanding reflexes." "Young." "And most importantly," the dean said as his index finger pointed to one specific sentence on one of the pages. "Extremely high pain threshold." The dean put the papers back together again. "In short, you are perfect for my procedure. You are nearly as perfect as it could get." "And you think the God sent me because of this procedure of yours?" Shang asked. "Yes," the dean answered. "By now, I''m quite confident in the God''s goals. His end goal is obviously the resurrection of the warrior''s path, but you can''t achieve such a goal in a single go from our current standpoint. You need smaller goals along the way." "My predecessor''s purpose was to theorize the Fourth Realm." "My purpose is to reach the Fourth Realm and theorize a method to move warriors to the same level of rtive power as the Mages." "And your purpose is to put this method into practice and probably to theorize a way to reach the Fifth Realm." "That''s what you''re here for." Chapter 78 Shang didn''t know what he should think about the dean''s words, but for now, the dean''s words made a lot of sense. "And what do you mean with reaching the same level of power as the Mages?" Shang asked. "Basis of power per Realm," the dean answered. "Do you know what a Mana Source is?" "Yes," Shang said. "When I met Duke Whirlwind, he told me about them." The dean nodded. "Then tell me, why would Apprentices need something above their own level to reach said level? Are they unable to reach it themselves?" the dean asked. Shang frowned. "Probably not. It''s probably possible to also be an Adept without one." "Correct, it is possible," the dean said. "However, if an Apprentice doesn''t absorb a Mana Source, they will reach the Adept Realm without having an intrinsic connection to their Affinity. This makes casting spells harder, take longer, and waste more Mana." "With a lot of practice, said Adept can ovee these limitations, but that will take at least three additional decades, and that''s assuming that the Adept with the Mana Source doesn''t practice at all. As long as the Adept with the Mana Source actually trains their abilities, the gap will only widen." "As you know, the Mages are supreme in this world. Us warriors don''t even count as second-ss citizens in their eyes. Why?" Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. "Because any random Adept can beat over 90% of the warriors at their same level. A matchup between an Adept and a warrior in the General Stage will end with the Adept winning 19 out of 20 times. Only the most elite warriors can take on an average Mage." When Shang heard that, he took a deep breath. That was a terrifying statistic. Sure enough, the Mages reigned supreme. "Even worse, the gap only widens in the Third Realm. In general, it needs a team of at least three elite warriors in the Commander Stage to kill an average Mage." "This gigantic gap exists mainly due to the Mana Sources. Without the Mana Sources, we warriors could take on the Mages on an almost even ying field," the dean exined. "And you''re trying to create something simr for warriors, I assume?" Shangmented. The dean nodded. "Bloodline Injection," the dean said. "Bloodline Injection?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. "Like a blood transfusion?" "Simr but not entirely the same," the dean exined. "We don''t only rece the blood but also the marrow." Shang took a deep breath when he heard that. "The marrow?" he asked, his voice shaking a bit. The dean nodded again, and he looked at Shang. "Your resistance to pain is the most important aspect." Shang felt a hole open up in his chest. Recing someone''s marrow. Such a procedure would go beyond painful, and Shang guessed that, since the resistance to pain was so important, they couldn''t do it under anesthesia. "What do you get out of this?" Shang asked. "Not only does such a procedure have a very low chance of sess, even if it has seeded before, but I also don''t understand what''s in it for you." "You did say that everything is fine as long as it increases your own power, right?" The dean looked at Shang neutrally. "Pride, knowledge, and revenge," the dean said. "Pride, because I can say that I managed to elevate the world of warriors. I''m just a human, and just like every other human, I want my name to never be forgotten." "Knowledge, because understanding more about the body of a warrior might allow me to further increase my strength." "Revenge," the dean''s eyes became cold, "I want the Mages to be thrown off their thrones." Shang raised an eyebrow. "You had problems with Mages?" "That''s none of your concern," the dean said coldly. "What''s of your concern is yourpliance." "You do want to be more powerful, right?" the deanmented. "The God wouldn''t have sent me someone without any lust for power." Shang looked with an evaluating expression at the dean. "I''m obviously interested. However, I don''t trust you." "You don''t have to trust me," the dean answered directly. "If I wanted to kill you, I would have already killed you. Additionally, your survival is paramount to my ns. If you can''t survive, my theorized method hasn''t been proven yet." "I''m not helping you. I''m helping myself, and you are simply an additional beneficiary of my help." Shang definitely didn''t like how the dean talked to him. However, for some reason, Shang felt something he hadn''t expected he would feel. Respect. Shang had no goodwill towards the dean, but he respected him. Why? Because, as far as Shang could tell, the dean wasn''t someone that lied. Additionally, he hadn''t even been vague with his answers. He had been very direct, and instead of sneakily evading some questions, he had either fully answered them or directly told Shang that it was none of his business. This was something Shang could respect. However, for some reason, Shang still couldn''t stand the dean. Shang wasn''t certain why. He just didn''t like him. nk. Shang heard something and looked at the table. His sword had returned. The silent sound had been the sword touching the table a bit while slowly flying towards Shang. Shang put forward his hand and touched the sword. Then, his eyes widened. Shang could feel feelingsing off the sword! "Our weapons have Spirits in them," the dean said. "The more powerful they be, the smarter they be. I would suggest that you find any Rank Two metal to strengthen your sword. Having an intelligent weapon will help you in your training." Shang only barely heard the dean since he was preupied with his weapon. What was his sword feeling? Curiosity. Closeness. It was like the sword had met Shang for the first time, but for some reason, it felt very close to him. It was like a child looking at its parents for the first time. "When will you be ready for the procedure?" the dean asked, pulling Shang out of his thoughts. Shang looked over, and his brows furrowed. "Getting cold feet?" the dean asked emotionlessly. "No, it''s not that," Shang said. "Then what? I don''t have all day," the dean nearly growled. Shang wasn''t certain if he should tell the dean his thoughts, but in the end, he decided that he would go all in. "I want an Affinity," Shang said. The dean raised an eyebrow. "I saw your disciple, and I believe that the path of a Magic Warrior is more fitting for me. However, the God hasn''t given me an Affinity." "So, is there a way to get an Affinity?" Shang asked. "No," the dean answered directly. "Affinities are based on the soul of a person. If you wanted an Affinity, you would need to switch souls with someone that has one, and switching souls literally means switching bodies. In short, you would enter the body of the other person, but you would still not have an affinity." Shang released a sigh. When the dean saw that, a cold gleam shone in his eyes. "You lied," hemented with a cold voice. "I had to," Shang said. "As I''ve said, I don''t trust you. Because of that, I wanted to make sure that my Affinity couldn''t benefit your power." For a while, the dean only looked at Shang. Then, he snorted. "Smart," hemented. "Alright, so what is this Affinity about?" Shang took another deep breath, and then, he decided to tell the dean everything he knew about his Affinity. He even told the dean about the Pure Mana Source he had absorbed. When the dean heard the details, he scratched his chin. "It''s definitely not an Ice Affinity," he said. "Additionally, you said that the God told you that it''s a special Affinity. With his capabilities, it could be a unique one that doesn''t even exist in nature." The dean looked at Shang. "However, he wouldn''t give you something useless. I guess that there is a way for you to unlock this Affinity by mixing different Mana Sources. If you want to take advantage of your Affinity, you maybe need to absorb another Mana Source to create a perfect mix." "Let''s try that out." SHING! Shang''s eyes widened in shock. What!? The dean was so rich!? Just now, the dean had taken out eight Pure Mana Sources with different affinities! "You can keep whatever you can absorb, but I want to be paid back in the future," the dean said. Shang looked at the Mana Sources. Then, he looked at the dean. "Deal!" Chapter 79 Shang looked at all the different Mana Sources with shining eyes. Elemental Mana began to fill the room, but the Magic Circle kept the Mana isted, making the different kinds interact with each other. There wasn''t much Mana in the surroundings, but the different forms of Mana still created some minor phenomena. The temperature in the room fluctuated wildly. Some bolts of lightning appeared and disappeared in the surroundings. Lots of tiny things appeared. Shang also noticed something very interesting very quickly. The dean hadn''t summoned a Mana Source for Ice Mana, but there were still eight different Mana Sources. Yet, ording to what Shang knew, there were only seven affinities. So, why were there suddenly nine, including Ice? Shang quickly checked each Mana Source. Orange ethereal spire that released a ton of heat? Got to be fire. Brown ethereal spire that summoned rock around it? Shang knew that one already. That was earth. Green ethereal spire that created tons of wind? Probably wind. Deep blue ethereal spire that summoned water in the air, which rained down around it? Water. Silver ethereal spire that summoned bolts of lightning? Lightning. Grey ethereal spire that seemed to vibrate in the air? Shang wasn''t that certain about what it was, but based on what he had already seen and what was missing, Shang was rather certain that this was metal. That left thest two. One ethereal spire looked like a ck tear in space. Itpletely absorbed all forms of light and let no light escape. Shang remembered that he had once believed the Pest Cats to have a Darkness Affinity, but he hadn''t heard of any form of Darkness Affinity from other humans. Was this darkness? That would also exin thest Mana Source. Thest ethereal spire lit up the entire room, and if the darkness Mana Source weren''t here, Shang would have needed to protect his eyes. This was probably a Mana Source for light. "I didn''t know darkness and light also existed as Affinities," Shangmented. "They''re very rare," the dean said. "There are some beasts that have these affinities, but they are truly rare amongst humans. Most of the world thinks that darkness and light affinities can''t exist inside humanity, but they do." "Some true Mages know of the existence of a couple of humans with these affinities, but only High Mages get to meet them asionally. Their existence is mostly being kept a secret to surprise a potential enemy." "Inparison to the other Affinities, studies on the Darkness and Light Affinities are not made public and not conducted in the public. That means that a human unfortunate enough to receive such an affinity won''t be able to be a powerful Mage without selling themselves to a big power." Shang scratched his chin. "Why is it like this?" he asked. "Variation," the dean answered. "Every power knows what sort of abilities all the Mages with all the Affinities have. However, they also know that the enemy might have some Mages with the Light or Darkness Affinity." "Now, do you protect your attacking force with a Magic Circle that costs only ten gold that can deal with the known Affinities, or will you spend 10,000 gold for one that can also deal with light and darkness? Of course, the prices I just mentioned are only an example and don''t reflect the real prices." "Additionally, the enemy might have spells that could turn the entire situation around as long as you decide to do a certain thing. However, you don''t know what that certain thing is since you don''t know the ability." "It could be something like gathering several Mages to Synchrocast a huge fireball. The enemy wouldn''t know that they shouldn''t do that, which is why they are doing it. So then, you use your Light Mage to suppress the light of the fireball and the Mana it gives off, confusing the surrounding Mages about its power and making it explode in the middle of them." Shang listened with rapt attention and absorbed all the knowledge. "What kind of Affinity do I have?" Shang asked as he scratched his chin. "None of the ones before you," the dean answered. "Those only represent the pure Affinities. There are also Mixed Affinities, but they are very rare. A good example would be the Empress Cobra. It lives in a swamp filled with nothing but poison, and it rules over all the poisons in the world." "ording to some advanced studies, the Poison Affinity isprised of the Water Affinity and the Darkness Affinity. However, as far as I know, the existence of a human with a Poison Affinity is only theoretical." "If the God said that your Affinity is very special, it could theoretically be everything. It might even be something never seen before. It might even be something so confusing that we don''t even know what it is." "Try it," the dean said. "I would be lying if I said that this didn''t interest me." Shang nodded and walked over to the closest one, earth. Of course, Shang already knew that he didn''t have an Earth Affinity, but he wanted to feel how it interacted with him again. Shang touched the brown spire, and it quickly entered his body. After a couple of seconds of circling around in his body, it left through Shang''s mouth again, just like thatst time. SHING! The Earth Mana Source vanished as the dean pulled it back into his Space Ring. Then, Shang went to the next Mana Source, wind. Shang absorbed this Mana Source as well, and just like earth, it left Shang''s body after some seconds. Shang''s Affinity wasn''t rted to wind. The next one was water, and just like the previous two, it simply left Shang''s body. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Then, Shang looked at the next one, fire. Shang already suspected that his Affinity might involve fire. After all, his left arm was also heating up while using his ability. Shang touched the Fire Mana Source, and it entered his body. It tried to get to Shang''s head, but after realizing that it couldn''t get there, it went to Shang''s left arm. When that happened, Shang became quite nervous. He hoped that his left arm wouldn''t explode due to the opposing forces. However, nothing like that happened. When the Fire Mana Source entered Shang''s left arm, it simply began to eat the Ice Mana Source. Of course, the Ice Mana Source fought back, and the two of them began to enter a fight for supremacy. After several seconds, they entered a stabilized state. Shang felt like the two Mana Sources were rotating counter-clockwise. The image reminded Shang of that ouroboros picture on earth, the one with the two snakes eating each other forever. "Fire and Ice," the dean said from the side. "Opposing forces, but their fusion makes sense." Shang looked at the dean. "What you described sounded like an Affinity for Temperature. However, I didn''t suspect it to be an Affinity for Temperature since that felt far too boring for something that the God would call very special," the dean said. "Try it out. You can''t damage this room." Shang looked with interest at his left arm. Then, he pointed it towards the wall. SSHH! A hot wind left Shang''s left arm, and Shang felt like he had just opened a pre-heated oven. At the same time, Shang''s left arm became very cold, and he nearly lost all feeling in it. When Shang felt the power of his attack, he could only frown. "How underwhelming." Chapter 80 Why was it underwhelming? Well, just as said previously, it was like opening a preheated oven. A preheated oven often had 200¡ãC hot airing out of it, double the temperature of boiling water. In a way, this was insanely hot. However, the only thing a human did when confronted with such a st was to feel difort and maybe protect their face. That was it. And in return, Shang''s arm nearly got frozen. In short, this ability was supremely useless. It would only be useful as a way to cool Shang''s arm after unleashing the Ice Mana from his arm, and maybe also to use it as a way to move around with the backdraft. ''Well, now that I think about it. It''s actually not as useless as I''ve thought. I can use my ability more, and being able to move around in the air can give me far more flexibility. There''s certainly something I can do with this,'' Shang thought. Shang pointed towards the wall again to heat his arm to afortable temperature, but two things happened that he hadn''t expected. First of all, Shang''s arm suddenly felt like it had been thrown into fire, even though Shang had only heated it to afortable 20¡ãC. The second thing was that quite a strong wind had appeared in the room. When Shang saw that, his eyebrows furrowed. ''I can create wind by unleashing cold and hot air. However, my left arm gets damaged during the process. Cooling something hot down in an instant isn''t so bad since it''s simply hardening something flexible.'' ''However, heating something cold will result in tissue being torn at certain ces. I mean, my arm is still usable, but it definitely isn''tfortable. Additionally, the temperature hasn''t fluctuated as much.'' Shang looked at his left arm. ''If I unleash a powerful gust of hot air to shoot myself at an opponent with the draft, I could cool my arm to a terrifyingly low temperature, which allows me to unleash a horrifyingly cold explosion of cold wind.'' Shang narrowed his eyes. ''However, such an action will most likely tear my entire arm apart. It might even explode into a bloody shower. At that point, my left arm would be useless.'' "You don''t seem to realize the true potential of your Affinity," the dean suddenly said. Shang looked over at the dean with furrowed brows. "What do you mean?" "Do you have problems withing into contact with light?" the dean asked. Shang wasn''t certain why the dean asked such a question. "No?" he asked skeptically. "What about aser?" For a second, Shang wasn''t certain what the dean meant, but his eyes widened when he made the connection. Concentration! "Can I do that?" he asked absentmindedly as his mind fell into thought. "It should be possible," the dean said. "The amount of Ice and Fire Mana you can release is a lot, but it''s spread over a huge area. If you can spread it over a smaller area, you can intensify the effect." "Additionally, the power of the Temperature Affinity only unveils its true strengthter down the line." "What do you mean?" Shang asked. The dean pointed at Shang''s arm. "Your body," he said. "The more powerful your body, the heavier it gets. The heavier your left arm, the more power is needed to cool or heat it. The more power is needed to cool or heat it, the more power you can unleash with your ability." Shang''s eyes widened as several images shot through his head. Shang imagined himself pointing his arm backward, unleashing a powerful wind of cold air. Then, Shang arrived in front of his opponent with a steaming arm and pointed at their head. BANG! A concentratedser was unleashed, burning a hole through their skull. Now, Shang could definitely see the potential of his Affinity. Shang looked at his left arm with shining eyes. ''My Affinity is not that useless after all.'' "If you''re done dreaming, try the remaining Mana Sources," the dean said. Shang looked at the dean with confusion. "Why?" "As I''ve said previously, I doubt that the God gave you something as simple as a Temperature Affinity. Temperature is probably only aponent or a base concept of your Affinity," the dean exined. Shang''s brows furrowed again, but he still decided to go through with it. The first ethereal spire Shang touched was the one for lightning, and after a couple of seconds, it also left his body. Lightning wasn''t the way to go. Then, Shang touched the Mana Source for metal. Shang felt a bit ufortable when touching the Mana Source. For some reason, the Mana Source for metal felt very dangerous to Shang. However, Shang had worried for nothing. The Mana Source exited Shang''s body just like the previous one. Shang went to the next Mana Source, the one for light. Suddenly, Shang''s eyes widened. What was going on!? Shang felt the Mana Source for light enter his left arm and remain there. ''What? Why?!'' Shang thought to himself in confusion. All of Shang''s previous dreams were thrown out of the window after this development. Light? Shang couldn''t imagine how light could be rted to temperature.N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Did it have something to do with a star, maybe? After all, the sun was hot and bright, right? But then what did that have to do with ice and cold?! After the Mana Source for light entered Shang''s left arm, it simply shone on the other two Mana Sources. However, something very surprising was that the other two Mana Sources reacted the same way. Shang had expected the light to strengthen fire since the two of them were rted, but it didn''t only strengthen the fire but also the ice. As Shang looked at his left arm in shock, the dean looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. It was just as he expected. Shang''s Affinity wasn''t as simple as just an Affinity for temperatures. "Try the darkness one," the dean said. "I have a feeling that you can also absorb that one." Shang looked over, and he looked at the Mana Source for darkness. Then, he touched it. And sure enough, it got absorbed. Chapter 82 "That reminds me of something else I wanted to say," Shang said. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. "What is it?" the dean asked with a neutral voice. "You asked when I wanted to undergo the procedure, right?" Shang asked. The dean nodded. "Is it already fully developed?" he asked. The dean nodded again. "So, you wouldn''t need any additional time to ready the procedure, right?" Shang asked. "A day at most, maybe. It depends on what beast I choose," he said with annoyance. "Why are you asking such a pointless question?" Shang nodded. "Then, it''s not that," he said. "It''s like this. My first of my avable questions for the God has been about what I should do when I arrive here." The dean''s eyes shone a bit. None of them had brought up the questions yet. After all, these questions could be valuable intel, and it was impossible to verify the information. Both of them could just lie. "And he said what?" the dean asked. Obviously, Shang wanted to share the answer. "He said that I should remain in the wilderness for two years before joining society again," Shang said. The dean nodded. "That''s the best course of action for you, and you will learn why when you join your ss. This is especially important for you." "Especially important for me? Why?" Shang asked. "You have received your answers, and you have received your weapon. However, you have not yet come into contact with your second gift. I presume the God has given you the same thing as me," the dean said. "What is the second gift?" Shang asked. "It has two uses. The first use is storage. It''s basically a superior Space Ring without the limitations," the dean exined. "The other use is inheritance." "Inheritance? In what sense?" Shang asked. "As you have heard, the golden age of the warriors is so far in the past that no one even knows that it has existed in the first ce. No ruins from that era have survived until this day, as far as I am aware." "This means that it is impossible to gain more advanced knowledge for the path of a warrior than I have ess to unless you manage to create it yourself. So, for all intents and purposes, I essentially count as the strongest warrior that has ever existed." "If it were back then, I would have probably only counted as a child or trash, but there is no evidence left from that time, and it essentially doesn''t exist anymore. The Mages also don''t have any evidence from that time, as far as I know." "That''s why the God gave you a way to inherit knowledge from the long-forgotten era," the dean exined. "However, as you might have guessed, the God doesn''t like being bored." "Because of that, he made the inheritance a contest. You will fight more and more powerful enemies on your level until you eventually die. After that, you will be resurrected, and you will receive an inheritance based on how well you did." Shang frowned when he heard that. Yes, that sounded exactly like something the God would do. "The inheritance you get is the most important thing contributing to your future sess. If you manage to get a good one when you reach the General Stage, your Battle-Strength will be even more powerful for the next test in the Commander Stage. That allows you to get a better score and get an even better inheritance." "Battle-Strength?" Shang asked. "It''s how powerful you arepared to others at the same level," the dean added before continuing with his exnation. "In essence, the cycle can''t be broken. If it does, you will lose all your momentum." "Who knows, if you do well enough, you might actually go all the way. After all, an amazing inheritance probably even shows you the way to the next Realm." The dean took a deep breath, but his expression didn''t change. "In a way, I envy you. You will receive the power of my procedure, which will allow you to get better inheritances. You will have an advantage I''ve never had." Shang wasn''t sure how he should react right now. So, he decided not to react at all and simply continued the conversation. "Thank you for your teachings," Shang said to quickly finish the topic. "However, this is not what I was referring to." "What were you referring to?" the dean asked with a bit of annoyance. "Well, the God said I should stay in the wilderness for two years," Shang repeated. "But what if my Battle-Strength isn''t the only reason?" The dean''s eyebrows furrowed, and he looked at his table. "Your Affinity?" he asked. Shang nodded. "Right. The God said I would be able to use my Affinity if I''m lucky. That means that unlocking my Affinity is probably very hard. Maybe it''s something that can only happen at a certain time?" "As you might already know, I have only been in the wilderness for a bit more than half a year, which is far less than two years." "Is it possible that something will happen in the next one and a half years that could unlock my Affinity? Something like a rare or strange beast appearing? Maybe some kind of event?" Shang asked. Suddenly, the dean''s eyes widened. Then, he looked at Shang with an evaluating expression. Shang saw that the dean had realized something. "Did you think of something?" he asked. "There is a possibility," the dean said slowly as he scratched his chin in thought. "It would also make sense to a certain degree. If I hadn''t seen your current Affinity in action before, I wouldn''t have connected it to that event." "Could you be more specific?" Shang asked. "No," the dean answered. "This involves one of the top secrets of the world. Technically, I am not even allowed to know of it, and the only reason I know is that I am very close to Duke Whirlwind." "If it only involved my life, I wouldn''t be afraid of telling you. After all, in the worst case, I can just flee and live in the wilderness. That doesn''t bother me." "However, I don''t want to endanger my friend. Because of that, I can''t tell you." When Shang heard that, he became quite frustrated, but he also realized something. ''Earlier, the dean has talked about using everyone for his own power, but now, he is suddenly protecting his friend,'' Shang thought. ''Has he lied previously?'' ''I don''t think so. He looked pretty convincing earlier, but he also looks pretty convincing now.'' ''Maybe it''s difficult to be close with him, but when you manage to be friends, he might be very loyal.'' ''However, I can''t just assume his entire personality based on only this conversation. It''s very possible that he also lied in one of those two moments.'' ''In the end, I should still keep my distance to some degree.'' "It''s fine if you can''t tell me, but can you at least tell me when it''s about to happen?" Shang asked. The dean nodded. "There is a certain event that takes ce every couple of years. It involves some fighting and cleaning up of some rare and very troublesome beasts. No one in the world will realize that this has taken ce since the ones that know it keep it a secret." "The event should take ce in a bit less than two years. I never cared about the corpses of these beasts, but if I put my money together, I can get one." Then, the dean looked into Shang''s eyes. "If there is a beast that has the same Affinity as the warrior undergoing the procedure, the procedure has a higher chance of sess and will show greater results." "Everything lines up pretty well. Your Affinity will probably be unlocked by the corpse since it will act simrly to a Mana Source, and you will receive something verypatible with you." "We only have to wait for the right time." Then, the dean nodded as he made his decision. "We''ve talked enough for now," the dean said. "I now know how we should proceed." Shang listened to the dean. "First of all, you aren''t allowed to reach the General Stage in the next two years. For the procedure, you have to remain in the Soldier Stage." "Second, you need to use the next two years to increase your Battle-Strength." "You will join the Caterpir ss. That will take care of both of these things." "Caterpir ss?" Shang asked in confusion. "Soran will inform you," the dean said. "I have to n ordingly, and I need to earn a lot of money over the next two years to make your procedure possible. You won''t see me much in the next two years. While I am away, listen to what the teachers tell you. I will inform them ordingly." "Okay," Shang said. He felt like the conversation was ending a bit abruptly. However, he also realized that the conversation had also been very long. The dean probably had things to do. "I''ll call you when necessary," the dean said. Creak! The door creaked open on its own, and Shang felt Mana flow into the room again. The dean had deactivated the Magic Circle, which had isted them for the past half hour or so. "Go," the dean ordered as he looked at some new papers he had just summoned. "Your questions have wasted enough of my time. The only reason why I''ve taken my time to answer all of them is that you have a lot of potential." For a second, Shang was confused why the dean said that. He had asked just as many questions. However, Shang realized why the dean had said that when he saw Soran waiting near the opened door. The dean was putting on a show. "Thank you, dean," Shang said as he stood up to leave. The dean acted like he didn''t pay any attention, but deep inside, he paid attention. ''So young and na?ve,'' the dean thought. ''He doesn''t realize that I am on the friendlier side when compared to others on my level.'' ''My openness towards the truth of the world frightens him and puts him off, but he doesn''t know it.'' ''He''s afraid because he is looking at what he will most likely be.'' Chapter 83 BANG! The door closed behind Shang after he left the room. The end of the conversation still felt a bit abrupt for him, but he guessed that the dean simply didn''t want to waste more time. Nevertheless, Shang had learned an incredible amount of information from the dean. Shang now knew what to do with his Affinity, and he knew his next goal. Be more powerful in the next 18 months without reaching the General Stage. Shang couldn''t allow himself to reach the General Stage yet. Not only wouldn''t he be able to truly grasp his Affinity, but he would also miss out on the dean''s procedure. Could the procedure fail? Under normal circumstances, Shang would believe the procedure to be incredibly risky. After all, he would undergo a procedure that had never seeded before. However, Shang trusted in the God, or more precisely, he trusted in the God''s desire for entertainment. The God had suggested Shang toe here during a specific time, and the God wanted the warriors to be powerful again to bring variety back into his world. It might be entertaining to gamble on a risky procedure for the God, but it was probably even more entertaining to see a warrior, an underdog in this world, go all the way. "You talked for quite a while," Soranmented from the side. Shang was pulled out of his thoughts and nced at Soran. "I had a lot of questions," he said. "About the procedure?" Soran asked. Shang nodded. "Have you already been informed?" he asked. "No, but it''s obvious that Master would pick someone like you as his next subject," Soran said with a sigh. "I still think it''s a bit too early for actual tests on humans, but Master is confident in his theory." "Have there been failures before?" Shang asked. Soran nodded. "Four failures in thest ten years," he answered. "Four in ten years?" Shang asked in surprise. "I was expecting more like four failures in thest couple of months." "The issue is theck of robust test subjects," Soran exined. "First of all, the subject must have a warrior''s body. An increased rate of passive recovery is mandatory for survival since your body has to passively resist the destruction the new parts cause to it until everything finally fits together." "For a while, it will be a war between your body and the beast parts. There can''t be much outside influence during that period, or it will put thepatibility at risk." "Another important part is being able to deal with pain. If you can''t stay conscious during the procedure, your body will automatically enter a defensive state and will block everything froming close." "Then, you need to be in the First Realm, which limits a lot of candidates since they don''t feel like they need such an invasive procedure yet. Theyck the desperation that older warriors have." "Lastly, they need to agree. Forcing this procedure on someone will most likely kill them since they won''tply, and due to theck of trust, they would also believe that we were simply torturing them to death." "Finding one of these things isn''t difficult, but finding all of them is," Soran said with a sigh. "Especially since a lot of them are rare together." "Rare together? Why?" Shang asked. "Family status," Soran exined. "This is the most prestigious warrior''s academy in the world, and our standards are high. Contrary to what many might believe, a majority of our students are from rich and high-ranking families." "Howe?" Shang asked. "Wouldn''t these families just be Mages anyway?" Soran nodded. "They would. If there is a way for their progeny to be Mages, they certainly won''t send them here. Because of that, we only get the progeny with nearly no magical talent or those who aren''t as important." "But since we are the most prestigious academy in the world, that''s still a lot of families that have their eyes on us for one of their progeny. That''s where the first issuees from. Those high-ranking families are high-ranking families precisely due to their bloodline and their talent for Magic. Warrior''s bodies are very rare in their ranks." "Thenes the pain part. Their progeny are sent here to learn how to be warriors, and being able to deal with pain is part of being a warrior. They only teach their children the basics before sending them here. Many of them have only fought a couple of captured beasts in a safe environment, and when they got injured, a Water Mage immediately arrived." "Because of that, three of the four previous subjects came from low-ranking households," Soran said, but then, he sighed. "However, the problem with the low-ranking households is that they have so few outstanding warriors. These households aremon and weak for a reason. If they could create a powerful warrior, they wouldn''t be a low-ranking household." "A warrior on the Commander Stage can already be a minor noble without much issue." This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "Because of that, the few students from a poorer background that we have are either geniuses that managed to reach this step on their own or had amazing parents." "All of this makes it very difficult to find subjects for the procedure." Shang nodded. "Makes sense." For some seconds, no one said anything. "I presume you are nning to go through with it?" Soran asked. Shang nodded. "I can deal with pain, and I want to be more powerful. I know that the procedure is risky, but it''s worth the risk for me," Shang said coldly as he looked forward. Soran saw Shang''s eyes from the side and sighed. "I knew from the very beginning that you are simr to Master. I shouldn''t have expected otherwise." For some reason, when Shang heard that he was simr to the dean, he felt himself be a bit angry. He didn''t like beingpared to the dean. Soran was very experienced, and he could tell a lot of things from Shang''s subtle reactions to his words. "You shouldn''t immediately think that Master is some sort of monster," Soran said. "His words make him appear colder, more brutal, and more bloodthirsty than most people, but that''s because you are used to how other people talk." Shang threw Soran a nce from the side. "Many people are polite and nice, but as soon as you step too close, they will try to keep you away," Soran said with a sigh. "Even worse, if they ever believe you to be in their way in whatever way they can perceive, they suddenly stick a dagger into your back." "That won''t happen with Master, and if he ever decides to go against you, you will never be surprised about it. If he doesn''t like you, he will ensure that you know." "For example, he once had a friend, but that friend stole a technique of Master''s to win against him in a competition. The friend came back with an embarrassedugh and simply said that it was too important for him to win. Additionally, it was apetition." Soran smiled helplessly. "Master then said that his friend should prepare himself because he will take his head when nightes. Obviously, his friend was stunned, and he shouted back at him that he was insane." "In the end, the friend didn''t leave or run away and simply went home. Well, just as promised, he died that night." "So, in a way, Master can be very coldhearted and brutal, but he is very honest. He won''t ever call you a friend if he isn''t your friend. Of course, he also puts a lot of importance on honesty from others. If you don''t want to end on his bad side, you should avoid lying," Soran said. Shang remembered how the dean had reacted when Shang had yed dumb. Sure enough, the dean had be very angry back then. If Soran''s words were correct, this also exined why the dean was willing to protect Duke Whirlwind. Shang knew the dean''s deepest secret, which was his past as another person from Earth. Yet, even under such circumstances, the dean still refused to betray one of Duke Whirlwind''s secrets. Shang could respect something like that, but for some reason, he still didn''t like the dean. In Shang''s mind, the dean seemed a bit simr to him, and he had several qualities Shang appreciated. But why was exactly that thought so ufortable to him? "I presume you will join the Caterpir ss?" Soran asked. Shang nodded. Chapter 84 "Has Master told you what the Caterpir ss represents?" Soran asked. "No, but I can guess what it''s for," Shang answered. "It''s probably a ss designed for warriors to reach the True Path Stage in the future, right?" "Oh?" Soran uttered in surprise. "How did you find out?" "The name and also the dean''s advice," Shang said. "I presume the students of the Caterpir ss are weak in the beginning just so they can build upon their foundations until they explode forward in power. Just like a caterpir bing a butterfly. Additionally, the dean told me that I should hone my Battle-Strength as much as I can before reaching the General Stage." N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. "Correct," Soran said with a nod. "By the way, when is your procedure scheduled?" "Not for another 18 months or so." Soran lifted an eyebrow. "That''s quite a long time. It seems like Master puts a lot of emphasis on your growth. In my eyes, your Battle-Strength is already enough for you to reach the General Stage." Then, Soran shrugged. "However, that''s why I''m a Commander Stage warrior and why Master is a True Path Stage Warrior. He knows better than me." "Anyway," Soran said as he took out a book from his Space Ring. "This is a copy of the rules and your schedule." Shang took the book into his hands. SHING! Soran summoned another book, this one far bigger than the other one. "And these are all the techniques you will learn." Shang looked at the new book with furrowed brows. "All of them? Just like that? I thought I would need Contribution Points or something like that." "Usually, you would need Contribution Points for the valuable techniques. However, as a student of the Caterpir ss, you don''t need your Contribution Points for those techniques." "Because you are not allowed to learn them." Shang frowned when he heard that. "Not allowed to learn them? Then why am I even here?" he asked. Soran chuckled a bit. "It''s for your future, trust me," Soran exined. "Have you thought about why the True Path Stage is called the True Path Stage?" "I didn''t even know of the True Path Stage until I came here, and I hadn''t had the time to think about the name," Shangmented. "The True Path Stage is called as such since reaching the True Path Stage requires you to create your own path. Ironically, the True Path doesn''t refer to the one true path, but to the True Path in your eyes." "Master uses a spear, and he fights in a very domineering manner. He has found his path. However, his path isn''t your path. The reason why no one was able to reach the True Path Realm in the past was that everyone learned from the strongest warriors, which essentially was just copying their paths." "Learning advanced techniques and abilities will influence you and make it harder for you to create your own path. You already have your own personalized way of fighting. Of course, as it is now, your fighting style still has a lot of weaknesses, but instead of switching to a different style, you have to further refine and evolve your style." Shang wasn''t certain what he should think of that. "Then what am I even learning here? This is an academy, is it not? Am I not supposed to learn things?" "Not for students of your ss," Soran said. "You are your own teachers. We actual teachers are only there to guide you in the right direction and provide different kinds of services. Our dynamic is more along the lines of experienced seniors and juniors." "We are not going to show you what you should do. We are going to show you what your opponents will do. It is up to you to find a way to deal with said opponents." Shang scratched his chin. ''So, this academy is more like a fitness gym than a fighting dojo. There are trainers walking around in the gym, but they only give advice when asked. They don''t specifically hold lessons on how to craft the perfect body,'' Shang thought. ''On earth, this wouldn''t make much sense. After all, there is only so much a human body can do. But here? I can imagine this being more effective in the long run.'' Shang took the book of techniques. SHING! Soran summoned a small emblem. On the Emblem was the picture of a muscr arm in ck armor, ready to strike down with a spear. "This is a Magic Emblem," Soran said. "It''s your identification, key, and payment method for Contribution Points. You have an assigned room in this building near the front of the second floor. Just hold the Emblem to the door, and it will open. No one but the teachers and you can open your door." "If you want to move to the Farm Line, you can do so, but go to your room first. Your uniforms are there, and you should get them first. If you decide to live in the Farm Line, tell us. There''s no reason to keep a room reserved for someone that doesn''t want to live there." Shang took the Emblem and nodded. "Thanks," he said absentmindedly. "You can find all the relevant information in the first book," Soran said, gesturing to the first book. "If you have any additional questions, simply ask a teacher. I''m sorry, but I''ve already spent a big part of my day dealing with your impromptu exam, and I actually need to get started on my day-to-day duties. Just look around and get familiar with the academy first." "Sorry for keeping you," Shang said absentmindedly. "It''s fine. Come, you can''t be on this floor without a teacher beside you," Soran said as he gestured to the end of the hallway. Shang took the hint and walked towards the stairs, Soran following. When Shang reached the fourth floor, Soran quickly said his goodbyes and went back to the fifth floor. Now, Shang was alone for the first time in what felt like a very long time. Shang looked out of one of the windows and saw that it was noon. ''This day feels like it has gone on forever, but it''s just noon.'' Then, Shang looked down at his Emblem. ''Anyway, I am now part of the Warrior''s Academy, and that''s why I''m here.'' ''In just one morning, I joined the academy and learned so much about the world, myself, and my future.'' ''I should go to my room and read through that book of rules and my schedule.'' Chapter 85 Shang left the fourth floor and went to the second one. Soran had said that Shang would find his room near the beginning of the second floor. When Shang arrived on the second floor, he saw a long hallway with a lot of doors. Shang guessed that the rooms weren''t very big based on how close the doors were to each other. Shang wasn''t quite sure which room was supposed to be his, but he knew that he only needed to test his Emblem on the different rooms. The one that reacted to it would be his. Shang went to the first door on the right and held his Emblem to it. Click. And it unlocked. Shang was surprised when the very first door unlocked, and he looked at his card. ''Did I just get lucky, or is my card defect?'' Shang went to the room beside it and tried his Emblem. The door didn''t react. Shang tried to open the door, but it wouldn''t budge. Shang nodded. His Emblem wasn''t defective, and the very first room was his. He walked back to his room and opened his door. "What?" someone said with annoyance as they opened the door where Shang had just been at. Shang looked over and saw a gruff and muscr boy, probably around his age. At least, that was what Shang was assuming. Those muscles made it hard for Shang to associate this boy with a teenager. "Sorry, I wasn''t sure which my room was, so I tested my card on your door," Shang said with as friendly of a tone as he could. For some reason, trying to be friendly felt very tiring to him. The boy looked over at Shang with an evaluating expression. "I don''t know you. Are you new here?" he asked. Shang nodded. "Special exam. Joined just today," he answered. "Oh?" the boymented with surprise. "What ss have you been assigned to?" "The Caterpir ss." When the boy heard that, he frowned. "Wee to hell, freshwater guppy," the boy said with a snort. Shang lifted an eyebrow, but the boy went back into his room and closed his door. For a while, Shang only looked at the closed door. ''Judging by his derisive snort, he probably didn''t refer to my ss. Is this some kind of stupid bullying?'' N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. ''Also, freshwater guppy? Did the guye from the 50s? Who talks like that?'' ''Well, it doesn''t really matter. I''ve been in the wilderness for long enough, and life in the academy should be a joke inparison.'' With that thought, Shang entered his room and closed the door. When Shang saw his room, he saw exactly what he had expected. Small. There was a narrow bed with some stuff on it, and the remainder of the room was empty. Literally. No table, no chairs, no drawers, no wardrobe, nothing. ''They really don''t want us to have any distractions. If I were to live here, I would practically be forced into training just due to boredom. Is this solitary confinement?'' First, Shang put everything he was carrying down in his room. Finally, he no longer needed to carry his heavy bag, his gold, and all of these books. Even better, he didn''t even need to carry all of this stuff with him. He could just leave everything in this room from now on. Ever since Shang had gotten here, his home had been a budget version of a cardboard box that a homeless person would use to live in. At least a homeless person had a roof over their head with their cardboard box. Shang hadn''t even had that. After Shang stretched, he looked at all the different stuff near his bed. He saw eight uniforms, all of them green. ''Really, green? Do you have to go that far with the caterpir thing?'' Beside the eight green uniforms, Shang saw eight bronze uniforms, and beside those were two azure uniforms. When Shang saw these uniforms, he thought back to this morning. He had seen many students approach the academy with different uniforms. What kind of uniforms had they worn? A lot of them had worn bronze uniforms. A couple of the others had been green, blue, red¡­ There had been a couple of different colors, and Shang wasn''t even sure if he had remembered all of them. Shang only knew two things for sure. One, bronze was the mostmon color. Two, the teachers wore silver. Shang inspected his uniforms and realized that they were far heavier than he had anticipated. They probably weighed nearly 20 kilograms all on their own! That was the equivalent of weight a soldier would wear when going to war on Earth! But this was only a uniform. It didn''t even have any special ting or armor on it. Shang remembered that the silver uniform of the teachers had looked a bit like a fusion between armor and normal clothing while the students had worn these. Shang looked closer at the green uniform and noticed the shoes. ''Am I a fucking leprechaun?'' he thought with a frown when he saw the shoes. ''Wait, are leprechauns even wearing green shoes? Their entire attire is green, so their shoes should also be green, right?'' ''Never mind, what are these ridiculous shoes?!'' he thought. The shoes were green and very¡­ naturey? That word worked. ''Well, it doesn''t really matter. I won''t be the only one walking around in this ridiculous getup,'' he thought. But then, Shang saw the bronze uniform. It looked good. On top of that, it had ck boots. Shang looked back at the green uniform. ''Let''s read the rulebook first before I decide on what to wear. Maybe these uniforms have a certain purpose,'' Shang thought as his eyes went to the next object. ''Anyway, why are there two buckets here?'' Beside the bed, Shang saw two buckets. One was filled with water. One was empty. Shang looked around the room. Then, at the empty bucket. ''Am I supposed to shit in that?'' Shang didn''t see a toilet, and he didn''t see any kind of draining mechanism in the room. Ever since Shang''s body had reached the higher levels of the Soldier Stage, his need to drop a deuce had decreased significantly, but once a week, even he had to press out a stinky one. For now, Shang decided to wait until he read the rulebook, and his focus went to the waterfilled bucket. ''Is this for washing or drinking? Probably for drinking. After all, how am I supposed to get the water out of the room when there''s no drain?'' And that was it. That was everything inside Shang''s room. There wasn''t even a big window. The window could barely be called a slit. It was just an absolutely empty room, even more barren than a prisoner''s cell. No wonder most students decided to live in the Farm Line. In the Farm Line, they had nature, bigger rooms, more freedom, and more stuff to do. After having seen his room, Shang grabbed the rulebook and began to read. He sat down on his bed, which was way harder than a bed should be. However, Shang didn''t really care about the hardness of his bed. He had slept on trees for far too long to care. Then, Shang opened the rulebook. Chapter 86 The book had only about thirty pages, which didn''t take very long to read. A big part of the book was about rules regarding fighting, attending lessons, how to obtain Contribution Points, the functions of the room, and some general information. From what Shang had read, fighting with one''s weapon was forbidden, but fighting without a weapon was fine. The reason for such a choice was to preserve the killing intent in someone. If someone used their killing tool to spar with others a lot, they might lose their killing intent. Because of that, the academy tried to preserve the killing intent of the weapon. One should only draw one''s weapon when one intended to kill someone. Of course, there were exceptions. For example, two students could schedule an official spar at any of the training areas. In that case, they could use their weapon. But wait, how did that differ from just fighting normally? After all, it was also just a spar. The difference was that the students had to fight with the intent of killing the other person. It was not in their responsibility to keep the opponent safe. The observing teacher would be responsible for keeping the loser alive. So, the student would still be fighting with the goal of killing their opponent. It was just that the opponent would survive due to outside intervention. Attending lessons was surprisinglypletely optional. No student was forced to attend the lessons. This rule existed to teach students responsibility. On earth, something like this wouldn''t really work. After all, the consequences of getting bad grades weren''t immediate as long as someone didn''t fail the grade. This made the danger distant, making the student feel like they weren''t actually in danger. But here, it would have very real consequences. Due to the first rule, bullying and ganging up on others were allowed. If a teacher saw five kids beating up a younger student, they wouldn''t intervene. However, the survival of that student would also be under the assants'' responsibilities. If they killed a student without a good reason, the assants would be executed by the academy. Even more, if someone didn''t have a warrior''s body, they would need to go to the resident Water Mage to get themselves healed, and the cost of the treatment would need toe out of their own pocket. So, it was literally possible to push someone into impossible poverty. If someone made some serious enemies, they could be suppressed into always being forced to remain in their rooms in the academy. This would stop them from attending lessons, earning money, and training. How did one get out of such a situation? That was not the academy''s problem. Strength ruled supreme. Either the students would be powerful or break. As for earning Contribution Points, there were three ways. One was to attend lessons. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. Yes, the students got paid for attending lessons. Of course, they had to seriously attend them and not just be present. Teachers could deduct the pay for a lesson if they thought that a student cked off. Another method was doing a mission. There were a couple of mission boards around the school that offered different missions. The rewards for these missions were many times higher than attending lessons for several reasons. First of all, this was practical experience. The student would be sent out without supervision or protection. There was a very real chance of the student dying. Second, the peoplemissioning the missions were paying the academy in exotic materials, which allowed the academy to keep its marketce going. Of course, the student had to be adequately rewarded. Thest way to earn Contribution Points was simply for a teacher to assign them. A teacher could assign Contribution Points, but they would have to justify that decision to one of the Vice-Deans. If the reason wasn''t good enough, the Contribution Points would be deducted from the teacher''s personal ount. The next thing was the function of the room, and Shang was thankful that they actually wrote about it. If they hadn''t described the room, Shang would have made a horrible mistake. That empty bucket? It was imbued with Magic. What kind of Magic? It was Transportation Magic. The bottom of the bucket was connected to a space with a couple of Water Apprentices and Water Adepts. Their job was to create water for the students. As long as someone tilted the bucket into a position that was impossible for it to be in with no interference, water would flow. This was to stop an idental activation of the Magic Circle. Without that, the Water Mage would fill the entire room if the bucket fell over. In short, someone had to lift the bucket and slightly tilt it to activate the Magic Array. Then, a stream of water woulde out of the bucket until the bucket was put back into a normal position. If Shang had shat into the bucket¡­ Shang imagined a loging out of a Magic Array in front of a Water Mage. That would have been awkward. The other bucket was simply a normal bucket. The watering out of the bucket was for both washing and drinking. Surprisingly, there was also a drain for exactly this reason. Shang looked to the corner of the room and saw a slightly lowered circle. It was a Magic Circle, and it was responsible for dumping the dirty water into the Wastnd. ''Why did they not just make a normal drain with normal pipes? Why did they even use Magic to transport shit?'' Shang didn''t know it, but there were two reasons, one more ridiculous than the other. One, the Earth Mages assigned to develop the city had been bored. So, they simply created a huge magical sewer under the entire city and gave everyone ess to it. Second, because they could. Wouldn''t it be funny if they transported such unimportant stuff with Transportation Magic, which was a subcategory of Space Magic? That was the reason. Lastly, Shang looked at the description of the uniforms. In total, there were seven different colors. The first one was the azure uniform, which Shang had two of. The azure uniforms were for special asions and were forbidden from being worn without explicit permission from a teacher. In short, those uniforms were for impressing visitors. That was also why Shang had only two of them. Bronze uniforms, which Shang had eight of, were general uniforms. Those were for people that didn''t want others to know about which ss they were in. Usually, one would think that this was pointless. After all, wouldn''t everyone realize which ss everyone was in based on which lessons they visited? No. Everyone could literally visit every lesson, and there were plenty of students attending plenty of sses due to the Contribution Point reward. The green uniforms, which Shang had eight of, were for the Caterpir ss. Yellow uniforms were for students aspiring to be soldiers in Duke Whirlwind''s army. Initially, when students joined the academy, they would wear bronze uniforms until they reached the Late Soldier Stage. At that point, they would have to decide on their future. Bing a member of Duke Whirlwind''s army was the mostmon goal. The pay was good. The status was good. There wasn''t much work to do. It was simply a good and stable job. Blue uniforms were for people aspiring to be officers. Many students initially wanted to go that route, but the requirements were far more stringent than for the people wanting to be normal soldiers. Because of that, most people transferred sses rather quickly. Red uniforms were for people aspiring to be Mage Hunters. In this world, it was nearly impossible to kill a Mage on their level alone, but that didn''t mean that warriors became useless. With a lot of warriors, one could still take care of a couple of Mages. This world wasn''t peaceful, and Duke Whirlwind''s enemies also had Mages. Sadly, there weren''t many students interested in bing Mage Hunters. The reason was obvious. They didn''t want to die. Attacking a Mage was about the most dangerous thing one could do. It was scary to fight against someone that could turn someone into literal dust just by saying a couple of words. Thest color for uniforms was ck. This was for scouts and normal hunters. That one scout that had brought Shang to Warrior''s Paradise had probably graduated from that ss. The people from that ss learned how to kill beasts and how to stay hidden. ording to the book, most assassins also came from this ss. After looking through the rulebook, Shang looked at the schedule. And his eyes widened in shock. Chapter 87 When Shang saw the schedule, his eyes widened. ''So many lessons!'' Every single spot, from dawn to early night, was filled with lessons! Even more, several lessons ovepped, making it impossible to visit all of them! And, apparently, there were even some lessons held at night, but they weren''t held inside the academy. Shang had thought that there wouldn''t be that many lessons. After all, this was an academy for warriors, not doctors. Shang looked over a couple of lessons. Basic sword fighting. Basic spear fighting. Basic¡­ Advanced sword fighting. Advanced spear fighting. Advanced¡­ Expert sword fighting. Expert spear fighting. Expert¡­ There were so many different lessons for all kinds of weapons. Swords, sabers, bows, hammers, halberds, shields, and so on. The weapon-rted lessons happened twice a day and ate up three hours each. These lessons were colored in bronze, which meant that they were suitable for everyone. The colors of the lessons were identical to the colors of the uniforms. It wasn''t forbidden to partake in a ss for a different color, but the knowledge gained from that ss might not be applicable to one''s chosen profession. Of course, there were also lessons for many different sses, and the colored lessons were the ones that ovepped the most. The general lessons never ovepped with colored ones, but they did ovep with each other. After all, if someone used a spear, they probably weren''t very interested in sword lessons. An example of a colored lesson was the operation of general weaponry for the army, which was colored in yellow. The lesson taught the operation ofrge war machinery, such as ballista, catapults, siege towers, and so on. Of course, not every lesson revolved around fighting. Another yellow lesson revolved around profiling other people to stop crime and general knowledge about how different people in cities operated, which made sense. If the soldiers weren''t going to war, they were overlooking the cities as a form of police force. The studentsing from this academy were the best of the best, and they wouldn''t be the ones that just stood in front of a gate the entire day. Because of that, they needed lots of knowledge about society. The blue lessons were just absolutely filled withplex topics. They revolved all around leadership, tactics, social skills, nobility, etiquette, asset management, and so on. The blue lessons were probably the most numerous, and if someone decided to join that ss, they would find nearly their entire day filled out. But on top of that, the officers also needed to be more powerful than the normal students. After all, this was a world where strength reigned supreme. In short, the students from the blue ss needed to learn theory the entire day and train harder during the night than the other students trained during the day. Shang could guess why there were only so few students wearing blue uniforms. It was brutal. The red ss only had two unique lessons. One was a lesson that prepared them for fights against Mages, while the other one was all about the life of Mages. The first was the practical side, while the second was the theoretical side. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. The ck sses mostly revolved around scouting, tracking, hiding, assassination, and knowledge about beasts in general. And the green ss, the Caterpir ss? They literally only had a single lesson, but it took ce every day for three hours. It was simply called guided fighting practice. From what Shang had read, guided fighting practice involved the student fighting against teachers. In a way, this lesson was identical to Shang''s short fight with Soran, with the difference of actually getting feedback during the fight. After Shang had looked over all the sses, he decided to create a timetable for himself. Luckily, he didn''t need to submit anything since there were no grades. There was simply an annual exam that every student had to take part in. The exams were different for each ss and mostly involved the relevant topics for that ss. This single exam was make or break. Nothing else mattered. If someone failed, they had proven to be too weak for the academy, and they would be expelled. Every year, over 10% of the students were expelled during the exams. It was brutal in a way, but it also had its good sides. For example, Shang could ren his schedule whenever he wanted. If Shang became too stressed, he could simply skip some lessons or attend other ones without any repercussions. Only his power was relevant. When Shang thought about the exams, he also noticed what kind of schedule he had received. Just like with any other school, the different sses were all categorized under different grades. The Beginner Grade was for the new students, who all wore bronze uniforms. They were a bit older than 14 on average. The Intermediate Grade was for students that reached the Middle Soldier Stage. Half of them still wore bronze uniforms, while the other half had already made their decision. The average age was a bit over 16. The Advanced Grade was for students in the Late Soldier Stage. It was a requirement to choose one''s ss before advancing to that Grade, which was why everyone was already specialized. The average age was a bit over 18. Then came the Preparation Grade. This was for students at the Peak Soldier Stage. As the name suggested, this Grade was for students preparing to reach the Second Realm, the General Stage. When one managed to reach a sufficient Battle-Strength after having advanced to the General Stage, one could graduate. However, one could also choose to remain here for special training. This special training was the very thing that made this academy the best one in the world. Nearly everyone wanted to take part in the special training, but only the best managed to enter. What did the special training aim for? To get the students to the Commander Stage. The Commander Stage was the publicly acknowledged highest Realm for warriors since there was only a single True Path Stage warrior. In short, if someone managed to graduate from special training, they would leave the academy as one of the strongest warriors in the world. No other academy in the world had the means to push students to the Commander Stage. A Commander Stage warrior was a big deal. Nearly all of them would be knighted and would be granted their own small territory. However, the word small referred to the general size of a noble''s territory here. This "small" territory was still a couple hundred meters across. When put in rtion to Earth, graduating from this academy meant already having tens of millions of dors and already having a sizablepany. As soon as someone graduated from that program, they had already achieved great sess. And they hadn''t even entered the real world yet! Of course, all of this was still far in the future for Shang. So, what Grade was Shang in? Technically, as someone at the Peak of the Soldier Stage, he should join the Preparation Grade. But that didn''t happen. Why? Because Shang wasn''t focusing on reaching the General Stage. He was focusing on increasing his power. Due to these reasons, Shang was put into the Advanced Grade. A Grade filled with 19- and 20-year-olds. And Shang? His body had maybe just reached its 15th birthday. Chapter 88 Shang didn''t know what he should think of his assigned Grade. On one hand, he was technically 23 years old by now. He had spent 22 years on Earth and one year here. The older one got, the less age mattered. In a way, 20-year-olds were seen as young adults. They were mostly able to live on their own and take care of themselves, and their minds had matured to a significant degree. Because of that, Shang wouldn''t have felt awkward or out of ce in a Grade filled with people in their early twenties. The age difference didn''t matter much. However, 18 and 20 were quite a difference. 18-year-olds were showing signs of maturity. One of these obvious signs was the lower frequency of bullying in colleges. High school was far worse in that sense. But that age was still a big dividing line of maturity. Probably half of the ss would consist of teenagers while the other half would be young adults, personality-wise. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. With all of that in mind, Shang also had to look at his body. Sure, his mind was the mind of a 23-year-old, but his body was of a 15-year-old. He hadn''t even finished growing properly. At the moment, Shang was 150cm tall, which was probably about average for someone of that age, but he would definitely get another growth spurt. As for his ssmates? They had already all mostly finished growing. Sure, men could grow even when they were 20, but those couple of centimeters didn''t make a huge difference. In short, Shang would appear like a kid to the other people in his Grade. Half of them would probably not mind and would be quite open, but the other half would probably look down on him. Now, one shouldn''t misunderstand. Shang wasn''t distraught about how others perceived him but about the annoying trouble he would have to go through. Shang wasn''t very interested in socializing. Back on Earth, he had been an outgoing person, but that was also only because he couldn''t train 24/7. In this world, he could. And since training and growing more powerful took priority, Shang essentially had no interest in socializing. Yet, the others would try to force him, and he didn''t want to deal with all that trouble. ''Well, doesn''t really matter. It''s probably just a couple of instances, and as long as I make myself clear, most of my ssmates shouldn''t mind.'' ''But it''s actually a bit funny that I will have the most powerful body of my Grade.'' Shang''s brows furrowed. ''Why is that anyway?'' Shang thought. ''I reached this level in only half a year. Sure, I had a ton of fruits from the Earth Fruit Hedgehog, but the academy should have even better stuff, right?'' ''Even more, the new students of the academy already start training at 14 years of age. Meanwhile, they only reached the Peak of the Soldier Stage in their early twenties. That''s six years of training.'' ''I mean, I trained a lot, but that can''t be the only reason, can it?'' The books hadn''t said anything about how to train one''s body and how to advance. Shang guessed that the teachers were probably responsible for that. ''I''ll learn thatter anyway. For now, I should focus on actually growing more powerful. With all of this theoretical stuff out of the way, I can finally focus on my power again.'' Shang looked at the small slit that was his window with absent eyes. ''Thest time I was fully focused on my power was actually when I was still in the wilderness. Only a week had passed since then, but it feels like forever.'' Shang''s eyes went to his belongings and then to his mostly empty room. ''I don''t need to think about food.'' ''I don''t need to think about water.'' ''I don''t need to think about shelter.'' ''I don''t need to think about some bullshit school knowledge and bullshit tests.'' ''I don''t need to think about how to earn money.'' ''I don''t even need to think about family or friends.'' For a while, Shang simply looked at his room in silence. It was such a weird feeling. For the past six months or so, Shang had to constantly worry about survival. Even more, he hadn''t even been able to truly let himself go in training. After all, he had never been truly safe. Plenty of beasts had been prepared to attack Shang during his training in the past. But here? ¡­Nothing¡­ Even more, Shang didn''t even have to follow an actual schedule. As long as his power progressed at sufficient speeds, he would be golden. He could even skip every single ss if he wanted. In a way, the academy was also a form of wilderness. After all, fighting wasn''t prohibited. However, students undergoing the special training weren''t allowed to get involved with conflicts inside the academy, and those students were the only ones that could be a threat to Shang. ''Wait!'' Shang thought with urgency. ''That''s wrong!'' Shang narrowed his eyes. ''There is a difference between self-confidence and arrogance. Soran managed to easily beat me with a body two levels below mine. Because of that, it wouldn''t be too farfetched that someone with a body one level below mine could pull off something simr.'' ''And even more, there is a big difference between individual quality. There are the outstanding ones and the substandard ones. On top of that, everyone in my Grade has learned how to fight other humans for years. Many of them have probably also already killed humans.'' ''It might actually be possible that my Battle-Strength is below theirs when it involves fighting against other humans. I might actually only count as average in my Grade even with my powerful body.'' ''I need to be careful.'' ¡­ ''Oh, wait,'' Shang thought as his body rxed. ''Fighting with weapons is prohibited between students.'' ''What was I even worrying about?'' ''I think I''m too used to being in an environment filled with danger. I automatically assumed that the other students were out to kill me.'' Shang involuntarily got reminded of his conversation with that one guard from Duke Whirlwind''s garden. The guard had told Shang that he wasn''t used to being with other humans. ''I should try to keep in mind that not everyone is out to get me. Even if someone doesn''t like me, they will probably just not talk to me, which is fine.'' Shang sighed. ''This will require some getting used to, and I can''t force it. For now, I should focus on my power. Tomorrow, I will start with the sses.'' ''For today, I just want to train.'' Shang put everything to the side and grabbed the book filled with techniques. When Shang opened the book, he read the introduction. ''Huh, interesting,'' Shang thought after he finished. ''They''re literally telling me to just experiment. Try the techniques and adapt whichever one I like. Even more, the techniques are very basic and simple on purpose. They are just very basic movements with some slight variations.'' Shang went through the first couple of techniques and immediately knew how they worked. Sure, Shang was intelligent, but he wasn''t some unreal genius that could understandplex stuff in an instant. It was just that the techniques really were very simple. After looking at the first couple of techniques, Shang stood up and grabbed his sword. Then, he swung. Shang had great control over his body, and he had nearly perfectly copied the sh, but then, he felt something weird. Shang looked with surprise at the sword in his hand. For some reason, Shang could feel its feelings. And right now, the sword felt slightly disgusted. It was like someone had slightly gone against the hairs while petting a cat. It wasn''t crazy enough to get angry or jump away, but it definitely didn''t enjoy the sensation. Shang raised an eyebrow. "You don''t like that one?" he asked. No answer. Shang only felt the slight disgust slowly vanish. ''Hmm, it probably can''t understand me.'' If this had happened the day before, he would have been shocked by the sudden feelings Shang was receiving from his sword. However, Shang had already seen that his sword wasn''t simple. After all, it had gone to the dean''s spear of its own volition. On top of that, the dean''s spear had taught it something. At least that was what the dean had said. Shang reviewed the first technique again and found some small ws in his movements. Then, he swung again. After that, Shang looked with a raised eyebrow at his sword. "Now, you definitely didn''t like that one, huh?" The sword hated it. Chapter 89 Shang looked at his sword with a lifted eyebrow. Earlier, he had assumed that his sword didn''t like the technique because he hadn''t perfectly used it. After all, the sword had only been mildly disgusted, not completely. But apparently, it was the opposite. The sword really didn''t like the technique. "What don''t you like?" Shang asked. He still felt a bit weird talking to his sword like it was another person or a pet, but he knew that he should get used to it. Of course, the sword didn''t answer. Shang had a couple of suspicions, but they would need further testing. So, Shang tried the second technique. All of these techniques were short, singr movements. They weren''t aplex array ofplicated moves or something like that. At most, they described how one should move one''s arms generally and how one should move their legs. One could call these techniques even basic instruction manuals. When Shang finished the technique, his sword gave feedback again. It felt a bit weird. It was like it was eating something with an unknown vor. It was like it wasn''t certain if it should like that vor or not. After unleashing the strike and feeling the sword''s feedback, Shang stopped with a frown. He felt the sword''s feelings to be familiar. ''Actually, I felt simr to the sword,'' Shang thought. ''Although, during the first technique, I wasn''t as disgusted as it. However, I still didn''t like it.'' ''Why is that? Why do I not like this technique?'' Shang thought as he scratched his chin. Shang thought back to the first technique. The first technique was an upward slice with a simultaneous jump to the back. The purpose of this slice was to reset the flow of battle. In a battle, one side nearly always had the advantage. One of the two sides was very often the aggressive one, while the other one had to react. The reason why one side could be aggressive in the first ce was that the other side had been unable topletely stop the aggression. Being on the offensive in a fight was incredibly advantageous. If one performed a subpar strike during one''s offense, no one would get injured. However, if one performed a subpar block, one would be injured. So, as long as the offensive side didn''t lose the offense, they could theoretically continue attacking forever. They only had to wait for their opponent to make a mistake. Now, the first technique, the upward slice with the jump to the back, was a technique to get one out of such a bind. The upward slice would include nearly all of the power of the user, and since it went from the bottom to the top, it basically went through the entire fighting space. This slice was meant to threaten the opponent with an attack and also block a strike, as long as they used a fitting strike during that time. Not every technique could be used under all circumstances. So, with the opponent attacked and their own attack blocked, the user could jump back, resetting the fight. At that point, the opponent would lose their momentum, and the two of them could have their first sh again, which often decided the offensive and defensive side. The sword had hated that technique, and Shang also hadn''t been the biggest fan of it. However, he had still been willing to give it a try. ''Why don''t I like the first technique?'' Shang thought as he scratched his chin. ''It definitely has its uses. If I were in a passive situation, it would definitely be useful. Just looking at its performance, I see no ws. It''s a good strike.'' Shang thought about this situation a bit more. ''It just feels wrong,'' Shang thought with a frown. ''I mean, it is strong. I can''t deny that. It''s also very useful.'' ''But it just feels wrong. It''s like it''s disrupting my flow or my rhythm.'' Shang scratched the back of his head. ''I mean, that''s the point, right? It''s supposed to disrupt the flow of the battle.'' ''I''m not entirely sure why, but I think the issue is that I simply don''t like it. It''s like some amazing series TV show about crime. Everyone loves it, and every crime fanatic rmends it. However, I don''t like crime shows.'' ''I just don''t like them.'' Shang looked at his sword. ''I guess it''s simr with this technique? I can see the quality, but I just don''t like it.'' ''What about the second technique? The sword felt unfamiliar with this technique, and I know why.'' ''I''ve never really used something like this.'' The second technique had been a feint. Feints had the goal of making the opponent move in a certain manner, which would make it harder for them to react to unsuspecting attacks. In short, feints attempted to take away the reactive flexibility of the opponent. The second technique was a sh that came from the top right, but instead of shing at the enemy, it went into a curve and went back to the right side, but on a lower level. This left the user in a very wide and open stance, but it also gave them a lot of space and wind-up time for a devastating strike. If the opponent fell for the feint, they would have either shed to their left or blocked. If they shed towards the feint, they would be caught off-guard, literally. Their equilibrium and power would be fully focused on their front. If they decided to block, they would lose their opportunity to counterattack. Attacks with long wind-up times were risky since the enemy could simply unleash a quick counter. If a boxer just suddenly started pulling back their shoulders to unleash a devastating hook, the enemy would unleash a quick jab at them. Of course, a quick jab wasn''t really devastating to a boxer. However, if that quick jab were apanied by a sharp weapon, things would be different. Going for wide swings left someone open to quick stabs. But with the feint, the enemy wouldn''t be in a situation to take advantage of the opening, which gave the user of the feint the opportunity to unleash a devastating strike. Even if such a strike didn''t hit the body of the opponent, the opponent would still be thrown back. They might even fall down. Shang hadn''t really used any feints up to now. Why? N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Because he had only really been fighting beasts. Weapons were hard and could block Shang''s sword, but beasts couldn''t easily block it. If they tried to block it with anything, that thing would most likely be cut off. Because of that, nearly all beasts focused on evasion instead of blocking. As for parrying? Beasts were too stupid for that. Because of that, beasts could only avoid attacks or counter with an offense. That was why Shang felt unfamiliar with this technique. And the feelings of his sword reflected that. ''So, the sword is actually reflecting my own feelings, but with more rity,'' Shang thought as he scratched his chin. ''Although I can''t be sure if it is reflecting my current feelings or if these are its own feelings. They could also just be identical since it went through all the training I did. After all, how am I supposed to train my swordsmanship without a sword?'' ''This means that this is either a mirror of my current feelings or simply a case of feeling the feelings of an identical twin.'' ''Is my sword its own being with its own feelings, or do its feelingse from my own mental state?'' Chapter 90 For now, Shang couldn''t find the answer. The sword was still too young, simple, and inexperienced. It couldn''t even react to Shang''s words. Additionally, the dean had said that the sword would be of a bigger help if it absorbed some ore, and Shang was pretty sure that the dean wasn''t only referring to the weapon physically bing stronger. Shang decided that he should simply continue as it was right now and use the sword as some sort of mirror, but he also knew that he had to verify the sword''s feelings every time. At the moment, it seemed to reflect his own feelings, but those feelings might change, and if Shang didn''t pay any attention, he might do and feel what the sword wanted him to do and feel. After looking at the second technique again, Shang practiced it a couple more times. The first technique had been rather easy for Shang to perform since he was familiar with the movements, but pulling off a feint was more difficult. After all, a feint had to seem convincing. If it weren''t convincing, the opponent would be the one to gain the advantage. The sword seemed to warm up to the technique after a couple more tries, and it became interested in it. Shang confirmed that he also felt like this. Shang liked to end fights quickly, and creating an opening was basically the best way to end a fight. Additionally, the feint allowed Shang to unleash a big strike. Who didn''t like using all their power in an attack? It only took Shang a couple of minutes to be familiar with the technique, and he could pull it off without errors. However, inparison to the first one, Shang would need to practice this technique several more times, and he would also need to test it in actual fights. Just because someone could do something perfectly in a calm setting didn''t mean that they would be able to do the same thing perfectly in a hectic setting. That was where practice came into y. Shang had to integrate this technique into his fighting style until he could use it without even thinking about it. For now, Shang decided to put this technique into his daily training routine. It was worth the investment. Shang looked at the next technique and repeated it a couple of times. The sword was not fully happy with this technique, but it also wasn''t fully against it. It sent feelings that perfectly reflected the words, "meh, maybe." After unleashing the fourth technique, the sword became excited. It absolutely loved that strike! ''Makes sense,'' Shang thought. ''It''s a very aggressive attack that pushes my enemy back while also lowering my stance, allowing me to quickly explode forward after unleashing it. It''s the very definition of aggressive.'' ''Am I such an aggressive person?'' Shang thought. ¡­ ''I don''t know. Maybe? Not sure. Probably? Yeah, probably. Okay, definitely.'' As Shang went through his fights, he realized that he loved being the aggressive one. Sure, his fight with the Ice Spear Bear had been a very passive one, but that was simply because the bear had had a far more powerful body than him. In every other fight, Shang had essentially been in a constant charge forward, unleashing attack after attack. Shang practiced the fourth technique for quite a while. He didn''t need to practice a lot since he was very familiar with these movements, but Shang simply wanted to practice it more. He just liked using it. Shang went through more and more techniques, and soon, the sun began to dip below the walls. If Shang had decided to look outside, he would have seen a bright sky but no sun all around. That was definitely a sight one needed to get used to. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. Usually, even when one walked through a metropolis with gigantic buildings, at least some light rays would pass some of the buildings, leaving bright areas on the ground. But here? None of that. Even more, these bright spots in the cities often only came in the evening or morning when the sun was already near the horizon. But right now, the sky was still a bright blue. Warrior''s Paradise had a weird contrast. The sky was brightly lit like it were noon, but the streets were slightly darkened. It was a bit like someone turned down the contrast for everything inside the city while keeping the sky normal. Sadly, Shang missed the first "sunset" of his new home since he hadpletely lost himself in training. "Oh?" Shang suddenly uttered as he unleashed a new technique. At the same time, Shang felt some feelings of positive surpriseing from his sword. "I like that one," Shang said. "Usually, unleashing attacks that are only useful against humans feel weird since they mostly involve attacking something hard, but this one feels great." This technique was a way to stop an opponent''s attack, but it was also insanely aggressive. The stance needed to perform this strike was a bit unnatural, and one wouldn''t normally find themselves getting into such a stance during a fight, but with a bit of leading, one could get there. The stance involved the sword hanging from the sword arm. The sword pointed towards the ground, and it could even slightly point behind the user in some cases. Such a stance was unnatural since it left someonepletely open. The technique itself involved the user taking one step back with the more distant foot from the sword. While stepping back, the user would also put their second hand on the sword. And then, one would strike upward with the entire power of their body. Both legs, the hips, and the back would straighten at the same time, bundling all the power into the attack. Then, the user would unleash a single strike all the way from the bottom to the top. The purpose of this technique wasn''t to injure the opponent. After all, one would take a step back, which would result in one''s torso also being pulled back a bit. The purpose was to counter the opponent and break their guard. If an opponent decided to unleash a strike from the top, this technique was perfect. By unleashing an attack from the top, the opponent could only unleash the power of their arms, their back, and the forward momentum of their legs. On top of that, they would probably only attack with one hand. Meanwhile, the one using the technique would explode forward with all their power. The weapons would sh with each other, but the one using the technique obviously had the upper hand in the exchange. The opponent''s weapon would be shot upward, and the opponent would be put before a difficult decision. Let go of the weapon or try to pull it back while it was trying to fly away. Both oues would be positive for the user of the technique. Shang loved the technique. It was a defensive technique, but it was also incredibly aggressive. For the next hour, Shang only practiced this technique. He especially loved the sound the ground made when he used it. Since Shang was putting all of his power into an upward motion, the ground below him had to deal with the counterforce. Each action had an equal and opposite reaction. Physics. And before Shang knew it, it had already be night. However, Shang didn''t notice. He hadpletely forgotten himself in his training. All of these techniques were like a treasure trove, and he enjoyed practicing them. For the first time, Shang had an actual, well-defined guide for practicing his swordsmanship. These techniques were even better than he had expected! Chapter 91 Shang had no idea how long he had already been training, and he wasn''t even thinking about it. He hadpletely let go of everything and only focused on training. When he got thirsty, he simply drank a bit from the bucket. When he became hungry, he simply took out some of the dried meat from his old backpack. The training was also very draining on his stamina, but his stamina got quickly replenished by his Mana. When his Mana ran out, Shang simply sat down to gather some more. Refilling his Mana only took him like an hour or so. As long as Shang didn''t have any serious injuries or broken bones, his Mana refilled with a lot of speed. Apparently, healing fatigue and slightly torn muscles wasn''t eating up even nearly as much Mana as an actual injury. As Shang continued looking at every single technique and practicing them, he slowly began to feel mixed feelings. On one hand, he wanted to incorporate all of the techniques. He was making great progress, and he would soon reach his goal of havingpleted all the basic techniques in the book. On the other hand, Shang didn''t want it to end. This book had increased his power greatly, and nearly all of Shang''s movements had be more satisfying. It was like some imperfections had finally been solved. When Shang inevitably finished the book, he had no more techniques to analyze. Even more, the more Shang thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed to him that these were all the techniques he was supposed to learn. Soran had said that students in the Caterpir ss had no ess to the actual techniques of the school. These students were supposed to create their own path and their own style. They were supposed to create their ownplex techniques. All of these were basic techniques and basic ways to move. However, all the techniques were disjointed, singr movements. They weren''t designed to flow into each other like an actual battle style. The end of one technique might end in a slightly different spot than another good technique would need to be in to be unleashed. This made everything feel disjointed and awkward. Training the individual techniques on their own was great, but quickly switching between them felt horrible. They simply didn''t fit together. ''I guess that''s the purpose,'' Shang thought as he awkwardly kept going from one technique into the next. He had already finished all of the techniques, and he was trying to get rid of the awkwardness. Nearly all of Shang''s attacks had been elevated, but the drawback was that his battle style was filled with the thing he hated the most. Awkward moments. It was like a video that skipped a couple of frames every two seconds or so. It was infuriating, and Shang hated that feeling. His previous training in the wilderness hadpletely focused on bing faster and getting rid of these awkward moments. Shang wanted his techniques to flow perfectly, and he didn''t want to have any downtime during a fight. He wanted to attack and attack and attack and attack. He wanted his attacks to never stop. And that had been possible in the past, but not anymore. Now, he had to deal with all these awkward moments of transition. It sounded easy to simply alter the techniques a bit to make them start or end in a convenient ce, but by doing that, the techniques themselves started to feel a bit awkward. After all, these techniques weren''t supposed to be used from such a position. On some asions, they became slower. On other asions, they lost a lot of power. Sometimes, they left Shangpletely open. After practicing for who knew how long, Shang realized that this wouldn''t be a short affair. Changing the techniques became harder and harder. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. It was like he had, at some point, made an error in a Sudoku puzzle, which caused the entire puzzle to end up with wrong numbers everywhere that only came to light when thest two numbers became impossiblebinations. Then, he would need to go back from the end and calcte everything again until he finally found a change he could make and continue from there, just to realize that he had made another mistake. It was really difficult and frustrating. At one point, Shang managed to make five techniques flow into each other just to realize that not a single other technique would be able tofortably start from the endpoints of any of the previous five techniques. It was a dead end. So, he altered one of the techniques to make the sixth one fit, but that change resulted in the previously fitting technique no longer fitting, which meant he had to change that one, but this technique had been the connector that connected all the other techniques together, meaning that change destroyed everything else. It was like Shang had to solve a colorless jigsaw puzzle with no border or corner pieces. He simply had to start with a random one and try random pieces. However, not every outcropping of every piece was unique, which meant that some pieces that weren''t supposed to be there fit into the outcropping regardless. It was ridiculous. Even more, there were so many permutations to unleash all these different techniques that it didn''t even make sense to write them all down. Sure, the changes one could do in a technique could only be so numerous until it stopped being that technique, but with every single technique having so many potential changes, the total number ofbinations reached ridiculous levels. ''How many possibilities even are there? That technique has like five possible changes. That one has three. That one has six. That one has four. That one also has five. That''s 5x3x6x4x5¡­'' ''1800¡­'' ''1800 for five techniques¡­'' Shang nced over at the book, which had about 50 techniques in it. ''1800x5x2x4x7x5x3x4x8x3¡­ I lost the number¡­'' ''I think thetest number was nearly at a billion, and how many techniques had that been? Like fourteen or fifteen.'' From a number of five changes, the number went to nearly a billion in only fourteen steps or so¡­ And there were over 30 left¡­ How many zeroes would that number have? Sure, not every technique would flow into every other one, but even if Shang divided the final number by a thousand, it would still be a number far above anything even remotely practical. For a while, Shang only looked at the book with techniques. Right now, Shang''s feelings toward the book had changed. Earlier, he had loved it, but now, he wasn''t so sure anymore. He had already practiced all the relevant individual techniques several times, and he had already changed the way he was attacking. But now, he was stuck with these awkward transitions between attacks. ''Yeah, no,'' Shang thought. ''I don''t have time until the heat death of the universe sets in.'' Shang sighed. ''I guess I can''t get through this methodically or with brute force. I think I can only trust my feelings on this and slowly make progress. As long as I keep practicing repeatedly, I will eventually manage to combine several of them in a way that makes sense.'' Shang put his head in his hands as he looked at the book. ''There are essentially infinitebinations in that book, and I''m pretty sure there are far more ways than one tobine all of them.'' ''I have to say that this book is insanely useful for students of the Caterpir ss. We get a couple of techniques to give us a rough guideline on how to move in a fight, but the possiblebinations are impossible to fathom.'' ''Sure enough, I''m forced topletely rely on my instinct, which is probably what they want. They want me to create my own style, after all.'' ''Anyway, I made quite good progress, and I managed tobine at least some of them. Brute-forcing like this would only have so much effect.'' ''Guess I should actually visit the lessons now.'' ''Howte is it anyway?'' Chapter 92 Shang decided to take a shower first before anything else. He probably smelled horrible, and his old clothing was sticking to him, which was annoying. Before today, he hadn''t really bothered with how dirty his clothes felt since he hadn''t had many alternatives, but now, he had. Shang put his old clothes to the corner of the room and tilted the magic bucket. Sure enough, as soon as he tilted it, a lot of water came out. It wasn''t flowing incredibly fast, but there was quite a lot of water. Shang had taken baths before in this world but never a real shower. Back on Earth, he had exclusively showered since it was faster and since he loved the feeling of cold water running down his body. It felt a bit weird to have no soap avable, but he had to learn to live with that. After Shang was done with the shower, he looked at his hair. He contemted cutting it, but he had only been here for half a year. Right now, his hair was a bit too long for his liking, but it wasn''t overly bad. Then, Shang touched his face to feel his beard. Sure enough, the growth of his beard could, at best, be called spread out. Additionally, he had that typical teenage mustache with these thin hairs. Shang took his sword and tried to shave, the keyword being tried. The sword just didn''t want to cut him. "Come on. I only want to cut off some hairs," Shang said to his sword. His sword didn''t react. "Come on. Just be sharp," Shang said, lightly tapping his arm with his sword. Shang only felt feelings of confusioning from the sword. For the next couple of minutes, Shang tried tomunicate with his sword, but he only received confusing or angry feelings. The sword either had no idea what he wanted, or it became annoyed at Shang needlessly pping it against his body. In the end, Shang gave up with a groan. Its mind simply wasn''t powerful enough tomunicate with him effectively. Just like a newborn, the best the sword could do was to show some vague signals about how it was feeling right now. "I need a knife to shave," Shang said after giving up. "I can deal with long hair, but I don''t like this stupid, tiny beard. It makes me look like a child." "I should look around the school now. Maybe I can buy a knife with gold, and while I''m at it, I can also get to know the surroundings." Shang went over to his uniforms and was about to pick up the green uniform. But then, he stopped. "Eh, green," Shangmented with a frown. "I''m not really a green kinda guy." N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. So, Shang went over to the bronze uniform and put it on. The azure uniform could only be worn on special asions. "Finally, some clothes that don''t feel dirty as fuck," Shang said after putting on his uniform, "but they sure are heavy." Shang jumped around a bit to get a feel for the weight. No real armor was visible from the outside when looking at the uniform, but it also definitely didn''t feel light. There was also no metal inside the uniform anywhere. So, the weight had toe from the fabric itself, which felt weird to Shang. What fabric was this heavy? Luckily, Shang''s body had long gone above anything possible on Earth. Shang could break a huge number of world records without even trying really hard. On Earth, wearing such a heavy uniform was definitely very ufortable for long periods, but here, it was only a matter of time until he got used to it. To Shang, it felt no different from putting on a normal jacket. He felt the weight, but he could ignore it after a while. "Huh, socks," Shang said as he saw the socks. "Been a while since I''ve worn those." "And actual shoes, wow." Shang looked to the side of the uniform and saw a couple of rings made of fabric hanging from the uniform. "I guess that''s for my weapon. Sadly, my sword''s too long to carry at the waist." Due to the unique look of Shang''s sword, he had to carry it differently. Usually, one-handed swords were supposed to be worn at the side since that would give quick and easy ess. However, since his sword was too long, it had to be put on Shang''s back like a two-handed sword. Sadly, that looked a bit ridiculous. Yes, Shang''s sword was about as long as a two-handed sword, but it was far too thin for one. That made the sword on his back look a bit out of ce. Shang looked out of the little slit that was his window, but he couldn''t really tell howte it was. He saw the lighting through it, but that was it. Then, Shang left his room for the first time in quite a while. Shang saw no one in the hallway, but he heard the sounds of training and fighting from outside. He went over to the stairs and walked down to the first floor, which he then exited. Now, for the first time, Shang could really look at the academy while it was busy. There were several training fields at the sides of the academy. The fields weren''t separated by fences but lines. There was basically no flora in the academy, and there were only a couple of beasts. However, these beasts were inside special arenas, and they were all fighting some students. Shang''s attention was drawn to the beasts since he hadn''t seen a lot of them before. There were a couple of lizards, badgers, snakes, and there was even a bear. Shang could also see a couple of flying beasts, but they were on the rare side. The students were of all ages, but they were always grouped into simr age groups. Most of the groups had a teacher overseeing them, but not all of them had one. Shang guessed that the groups without a teacher were not taking part in a lesson but just training regrly. All in all, Shang guessed that there were over a thousand students on the fields, quite a lot. Suddenly, out of Shang''s peripheral vision, he saw a hande toward his right shoulder. PACK! Out of reflex, Shang shoved the hand to the side with his right arm. He hadn''t even thought about his actions before he had done so since his long training on Earth had conditioned him to block hands "Huh?" Shang heard as he looked to the owner of the hand. It was a blonde guy with a long halberd on his back. Judging by his height and face, he was probably around 17 years old. At the moment, he was looking with surprise at Shang. Shang looked at the guy with furrowed brows. After a second, the guy only snorted humorously. "Not bad, kid, but move out of the way now." Shang was blocking half of the entrance of the building, but instead of going to the side, the guy had intended to shove Shang to the side. The shove hadn''t been very strong, but it had still very clearly shown the guy''s intention. Without even waiting for Shang to move to the side after he said his phrase, the guy moved his hand with a lot more speed towards Shang''s shoulder to shove him to the side. Apparently, his pride had been hurt by Shang blocking his hand. Shang only narrowed his eyes as he looked at the guy. Chapter 93 PACK! Shang easily shoved the hand to the side again, making it miss his shoulder. For a moment, the two of them only looked at each other. Then, Shang walked to the side, making room for the blonde guy. Without saying anything, Shang simply gestured to the free door. For a bit, the blonde guy looked at Shang with furrowed brows. On one hand, he could pass now, but on the other hand, Shang had shoved his hand to the side. The guy definitely didn''t like that a mere kid was looking at him like that. "Tch, don''t do something like that again if you want to survive in the academy," the guy spat before he entered the building. Shang didn''t answer, and his eyes didn''t follow the guy. With his actions, Shang had shown that he was willing toply but also that he wouldn''t ept being mistreated. Shang had shown that it was a bad idea to pick a fight with him, but he had also not provoked the other person. He hadn''t insulted him or berated him. He had only dealt with the action that went too far without teaching the other side "a lesson". Could Shang have verbally attacked the guy after his little verbal provocation? Sure, but why should he? It was simply someone that wanted to save some face after receiving a perceived loss. Many times, when someone felt like they were losing a confrontation or a discussion, they tried to get onest jab in before leaving. Something like that was a bit cowardly, and one could certainly start the entire confrontation again based on thatst jab. However, Shang had better things to do than to argue with some random guy. Many people in Shang''s ce would have thrown a jab back. After all, he had been verbally attacked, so he had the right to attack back. But that wasn''t Shang. Why? Because it was pointless. It was a waste of time. What was the point of beating down some random guy? Would Shang get fighting experience? No. Would Shang get money? No. Would Shang get training? No. So why should he do it? Just because it felt good? Because it felt good to stand above someone else? Sure, but here''s the kicker. That feeling is only something someone without much self-confidence needed. Shang''s self-confidence didn''te from beating up some random kid that insulted him but from his actual power. After the guy entered the building, Shang walked forward, leaving the building behind. Sounds of fighting and screaming filled the area, and Shang got reminded of his old MMA gym. It hadn''t been this crowded and loud, but the feeling was very simr. Shang followed the paved road for a bit until he reached a crossroads. The rulebook had included a map of the academy, and Shang knew where each road led. The western road led to the main building. The eastern road led to the city. The southern road led to an area dedicated to trading. It included the exchange hall for Contribution Points and a market with plenty of useful wares for warriors. Of course, the market only epted gold. The northern road led to the most training fields and arenas. Sure, the fields and arenas were basically everywhere strewn around the academy, but the biggest of them were in the north. Since Shang was interested in purchasing a knife, he went towards the south, to the market. "You seem pretty strong." Shang couldn''t take more than a couple of steps before someone stopped him from the side. "Is there something you need?" Shang asked neutrally. The person that had stopped Shang was someone at his age, 14 or 15 probably. He had icy blue hair, and Shang could feel a bit of Ice Mana swirling around him. On his waist, he carried two long rapiers. Shang had the habit of analyzing everyone around him and thinking about how they would fight, and this boy wasn''t an exception. Shang guessed that this boy wasn''t a pure warrior but a Magic Warrior, someone that practiced Magic to enhance their physical fighting capabilities. With his two rapiers, he was probably someone that struck quickly and with precision. However, for some reason, Shang felt like the boy in front of him was weak. Everything about him, his equipment, his long hair, his two shining weapons, and his radiant uniform made him appear like a genius. Yet, Shang felt like the boy was only putting on an act. To Shang, he felt very weak. The boy smiled with confidence, his smile brightening up the surroundings. "I''ve seen how you dealt with one of the upperssmen, and I think we two can be useful to each other." "Useful? In what way?" Shang asked neutrally. "Well, you see, I''m Stars Gerbon from the Gerbon National Resource Trading Firm," the boy, Stars, said with a graceful tone. "I''ve recently joined the famous Warrior''s Academy, and I''m nning on creating a group of like-minded individuals." "Not interested," Shang said directly. Stars looked with shock at Shang for a second. Then, he put on a bitter smile. "Excuse me, have you heard of the Gerbon National Res-" "No," Shang answered, interrupting him. He didn''t want to listen to that annoyingly long name again. Stars'' left eyelid twitched a bit, but he still kept up his polite smile. "Well, you see, the Gerbon Nat-" "Doesn''t matter," Shang said, interrupting the boy again. "Your background doesn''t matter in here, and as I''ve said, I''m not interested." Then, Shang continued walking. After Shang said that, the polite smile vanished from Stars, and an icy expression came over his face. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked slowly. Shang stopped walking and slowly turned around. Then, he looked into Stars'' eyes. "Since you''ve been polite up to now, I''m willing to give you an honestly well-meant hint. This is not some veiled insult, or something said to provoke a reaction from you. It''s an actual piece of advice." Stars only lifted an eyebrow. "Your act only works on warriors that haven''t been through enough life-threatening situations in their lives," Shang said. "You can fool those warriors, but those warriors are worthless to begin with. In this world, four hands can''t beat two fists." This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "Give up," Shang said. "Give up trying to create a power. You obviously haven''t been in danger in your life, and an experienced warrior can see that. Don''t try to get around the pain of training by using your political ability to create some form of power. You''re too weak for such an undertaking." "Go back to training." Stars'' eyes narrowed, and Shang could not only see anger but actual hatred inside them. Obviously, Shang had hit a nerve with his words. Based on that look, Stars had probably heard exactly these words a couple of times before in his life. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have had such a strong emotional reaction. Shang guessed that Stars'' parents had probably said something simr. So, how did Stars react? He sighed, turned around, and left. A couple of seconds after Stars left, Shang sighed. ''Me and my big mouth. I wanted to give him some honest advice but see where that got me. I''m pretty sure that guy is going to send his goons at meter for my perceived disrespectful behavior.'' Shang continued walking to the south while scratching his chin. ''Honestly, I don''t want to deal with every annoying guy individually. I think I should make an example out of the first group.'' Chapter 94 Shang reached the market after a bit of walking. Sure enough, there were plenty of stalls here. Some of the stall owners were trying to attract customers by shouting out what great prices they had, but some didn''t shout anything. Shang walked around the market for a bit under the constant barrage of offers. He didn''t really listen to all the shouts since no one was shouting about knives. But then, Shang suddenly halted and turned in a different direction. He had just heard something interesting. Shang had thought that he was immune to the devious powers of marketing. Sadly, he had been mistaken. "You said you have Rank Two ore?" Shang asked the smiling merchant. "Of course! Only the finest ores at Willie''s Five Finger Emporium!" the merchant said with a wide grin. "I''m interested," Shang asked. "Could you show me what you have to offer?" "Sure thing!" the merchant said as he took out eight different pieces of ore. Obviously, these pieces weren''t everything he had to offer, and they only were for disy purposes. Shang looked at the eight pieces of ore. "We have more to offer, but I only brought out the best for you!" the merchant said with a wide smile. "These are our finest Rank Two ores, seven for all the different Affinities and one for warriors that decided to take on a purer path." Shang nodded as he looked at the eight stones. "Can I touch them?" "Sure thing!" the merchant shouted as he pushed the stones forward. Shang took each stone into his hand one by one and acted like he was inspecting their quality. In truth, he had no idea about ore. He was actually just feeling the reaction of his sword. Whenever Shang took hold of a stone, his sword would vibrate, and Shang could feel excitement and hungering from it. The sword''s reaction to the stones was the same for all of them. Apparently, there wasn''t anything special about them. They were all equally interesting to it. Shang had wanted to test if his sword preferred materials from a specific Affinity, but it didn''t. Everything was the same to it. "How much for the Earth Affinity one?" Shang asked. "How much do you need? Our prices depend on how much you purchase," the merchant answered. "Enough topletely reforge this sword," Shang said, slightly rotating so that the merchant could see the sword on Shang''s back. Pulling out the weapon was forbidden, so Shang had to show his sword this way. The merchant looked at the sword and nodded with a wide grin. "You''re in luck! That should be just enough to qualify for our lowest bulk purchase discount!" "How much?" Shang asked. "To reforge your entire sword, you need around seven units of ore, which woulde to 150 gold, but with the bulk purchase discount, it''s only 140 gold!" the merchant said. Shang nodded. "What about the Ice Affinity one?" "The Ice Affinity is much rarer than Earth Affinity, so it''s slightly more expensive. The same amount of the Ice Affinity onees to 200 gold naturally, but 190 gold for you," the merchant answered. Shang nodded. "What about the one without Affinity?" "That''s our cheapest one, and it only costs 100 gold. Sadly, since they are in higher demand, we can''t offer you a bulk purchase discount," the merchant said. Shang nodded again. "Thank you for your time. However, at the moment, Ick the funds to purchase any of your wares. I''m very interested in them, but, just for the moment, I have to decline. When I have the necessary funds, I wille back to take a closer look, assuming I don''t find a better offer in the meantime." The merchant deted, but he didn''t lose his smile or professionalism. "That''s okay! You can find me here Monday to Wednesday. I wish you luck in acquiring the funds you need!" Shang nodded and said his goodbyes. ''So, that''s the tradeoff, huh?'' Shang thought as he continued looking for a knife. ''The selection of wares here is more than broad. From what I can tell, there is stuff from all around the world here. The students can find everything they will ever need in this marketce.'' ''However, in return, the prices are ridiculous,'' Shang thought. ''That one guy I met in one of the towns on the way to Warrior''s Paradise offered me ore of simr quality for only 40 gold. Sadly, he had only one kind of Rank Two ore for sale, and there hadn''t been another merchant that sold Rank Two ore.'' ''And I can''t me them. If I were them, I also wouldn''t sell it locally but in a vast and rich city like Warrior''s Paradise. Most studentse from prestigious backgrounds, and they''re notcking any money. The merchants can sell their wares withoutpeting in prices in the academy.'' ''If I want to upgrade my sword, I need to get some gold. Additionally, I should ask one of the teachers where the ore is sourced. Maybe I can get it cheaper by traveling there.'' After walking around the marketce for a while, Shang found a stall that sold knives. It was a hunting store, and the knives they sold were for skinning beasts. Oftentimes, hunters didn''t go into the Wild Forest just to hunt one single beast. Most of the time, they went in there for the entire day, killing everything they could find and were allowed to kill. Beast meat could be sold for quite a lot of money, but the ratio of gold to volume and weight was far lower than things like teeth, fur, and ws. Not many people had Space Rings, which meant that they had to carry their prey with beast sacks. Content is property of N?velDrama.Org. If they carried the entire corpse, they would need to return to Warrior''s Paradise immediately since they simply couldn''t carry more. Because of that, most of these kinds of hunters simply removed the most valuable things of their prey and left the meat and bone in the wild. That also had the positive side-effect of increasing the beast poption again. After all, the corpses would quickly be consumed by the wildlife there. Shang purchased a skinning knife suitable for all beasts in the First Realm for two gold. There were no shaving knives on the market since every warrior in the academy simply used their weapons to shave. Of course, a lot of them simply didn''t shave at all. After getting the knife, Shang also went to the Exchange Hall, the ce where students could exchange their wares for Contribution Points and vice versa. Shang asked the clerk to check his bnce, and the clerk said that Shang had 20 Contribution Points on his ount. Apparently, 20 Contribution Points was how much the full corpse of a Pest Cat was worth. Shang knew that attending a normal lesson gave a student one Contribution Point while attending a core lesson gave them two Contribution Points. Core lessons were the ss-specific lessons for whichever ss the student was in. ''One Pest Cat is worth ten core lessons or 20 normal lessons. That''s not much but also not little. On one hand, someone needs to study for basically an entire week to get that many Contribution Points, but on the other hand, someone doesn''t have to put themselves into danger for only one week.'' ''I guess it depends on the power of the student how they view the situation.'' Shang also checked up on the prices of the ore in the Exchange Hall. The cheapest Rank Two ore was 2,000 Contribution Points for one unit of ore. As the merchant had suggested earlier, Shang would need seven units for his sword, which woulde to 14,000 Contribution Points. That sounded like a lot, but it actually wasn''t. Just by studying, a student wouldn''t be able to get that easily, but that wasn''t an issue. There were enough beasts and missions for everyone. Additionally, Shang''s sword was rather big since it was so long. It wasn''t as big as a true two-handed sword, but it was definitely very big for a one-handed sword. Other students probably wouldn''t need as many Contribution Points. Before Shang left the Exchange Hall, he also looked at the mission board inside it. The mission boards were all over the academy, and they all showed different missions. The one in the Exchange Hall listed transportation and escort missions. The one that gave the least rewards already gave ten Contribution Points, and the mission was only to get something from Blizzard''s Edge. That wasn''t even a full day of travel for Shang. The more lucrative ones gave hundreds and even thousands of Contribution Points. Of course, the really good ones were locked to warriors on the General Stage. After looking at the missions for a while, Shang left the Exchange Hall. He wanted to get back to his room, shave, and then take part in some lessons. Sadly, on his way back to the main building, what he had anticipated woulde, hade. Four students at Shang''s age were looking at him with crossed arms. Stars Gerbon stood between them. Chapter 95 Shang looked at the four people plus Stars with an even expression. He had seen this situationing from a mile away. ''Fucking kids. Every time something doesn''t go their way, they have to try to change something instead of realizing that, sometimes, the best way is to simply ept their current situation,'' Shang thought with annoyance. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Shang sighed and walked toward the building, which meant that he was effectively walking toward the group. Shang had seen how the group had let others pass through without any issues, but sure enough, as soon as Shang arrived near them, they stopped before him. Instead of looking at the group of goons, Shang looked at Stars with a bored expression. "Is this what you decided to be the best course of action?" he asked. Stars definitely didn''t like Shang''sck of fear or respect. Didn''t that guy know that he was surrounded by four students of the Warrior''s Academy? Every single student had great potential, and there were no weak ones. Being surrounded by four warriors outside might not be that bad, but in this school, it was bad. None of these four students was weak. "This wasn''t my choice, but yours," Stars said with a helpless sigh. "If you hadn''t tried to disrespect me, I would have simply let you go, you know?" "Do you not realize where we are?" Stars asked helplessly as he slowly shook his head. "This is the Warrior''s Academy. You can''t afford to be disrespectful to others, or you will find yourself at the end of a de. If you want to make it here, you have to defend your honor if someone disrespects you." "You gave me no other choice." It wasn''t hard for Shang to see through that bullshit. One had to defend one''s honor? No? It wasn''t hard to just walk away. As long as someone didn''t physically attack someone else, it wasn''t necessary to start a fight. They couldn''t even fight with their weapons, which meant that they wouldn''t even get any fighting experience with their weapon. On top of that, Contribution Points couldn''t even be transferred between students. That rule existed to stop the top few students from cannibalizing the bottom 90%. Sure, the academy didn''t have anything against students fighting against each other, but they didn''t want 90% of the students to be essentially crippled. In short, there was literally no point in them fighting. No one would benefit. It was simply kids doing kids'' stuff. Shang looked away from Stars and looked at the four people who had surrounded him by now. If this were Earth, Shang would have long fled. Fighting four trained fighters was impossible, even for the best fighter on Earth. A human only had a limited number of arms, and they didn''t have eyes on the back of their heads. In movies, it was normal for one guy to beat up like ten people, but in real life, it didn''t work like that. If one looked closely, one would always notice that the actor in the movie never got attacked by every enemy at once. They always came in small waves. In real life, it didn''t work that way. On Earth, Shang could have punched away maybe one or two guys if he was faster and more powerful than them, but while punching the first two away, the other two would have already hit Shang on the back of his head. Then what? His consciousness would be shaken, and the four would throw him to the ground and kick him. At that point, it would already be over. However, this wasn''t Earth. In this world, Shang didn''t need to fear numbers as long as they didn''t reach ridiculous heights. The four students around Shang were 14 or 15, except for one person, who looked slightly older. Shang guessed that thest guy was probably 17 or 18. So, at what Stage were the students surrounding Shang? Three were at the Early Soldier Stage, and the older one was at the Middle Soldier Stage. Shang was at the Peak Soldier Stage. This was a gigantic difference. There were five levels in each Realm. Initial, Early, Middle, Late, Peak. So, if described with levels and numbers, Shang''s opponents would be level two, two, two, and three, while Shang was level five. What did that mean in terms of fighting capability? This meant that Shang outssed every single one of his opponents by a factor of three, at least. If put into perspective, it was like an adult male being besieged by four ten-year-olds. Because of that, Shang wasn''t even nervous. He simply waited for them to make their move. When Stars saw that Shang didn''t answer, he became annoyed. "This is the one?" the oldest of the group asked Stars. Surprisingly, his voice didn''t sound too happy. Shang looked at the oldest of the group when he spoke, and the oldest looked back. However, Shang noticed a subtle reaction. He was afraid. ''Sure enough, he noticed my power,'' Shang thought. ''Based on what I''ve heard, thetest entrance exams have been like two or three months ago, and these guys are definitely amongst the youngest. That means that they most likely joined the Warrior''s Academy with thetest batch.'' ''But the older guy has been here for at least two additional years, probably more. It would be unforgivable if a student that had been in the Warrior''s Academy for so long didn''t have the ability to roughly estimate an opponent''s power.'' "Yes, this is the one," Stars said with a polite smile. When he talked to Shang, he acted like a sneaky serpent, but when he talked to his underlings, he was polite. "And you want us to beat him up," the oldest of the group asked for confirmation. "Sadly, I have no other choice," Stars said with a sigh. "If we want our group to grow, we have to show that nobody can mess with us." When the oldest of the group heard that, he grimaced. Then, he looked at Shang, who looked back neutrally. The oldest gritted his teeth. It was like he was making a very important decision. The others were waiting for the oldest student''s signal. He was their squad leader, and he had to give the order first. The oldest student took off one of his rings with anger. SHING! Several different items appeared in front of the older student, as well as a ton of gold. Stars and everyone around him looked with surprise at the oldest student. What was he doing? The student took a huge sack of gold, put it in the Space Ring, and then¡­ Clink! He threw it at the ground in front of Stars. Space Rings were very durable as long as someone didn''t put the wrong stuff into them. After all, they had to hold even in fights. Stars looked with shock at the Space Ring in front of his feet. "Take your gold and your Space Ring back," the oldest student said. "I''m leaving." Stars and hisckeys only looked with shock at the student. Meanwhile, the student grabbed his belongings and looked at Shang with a serious expression. "I''m sorry for standing in your way," he said solemnly. Shang nodded. "It''s fine. We all make mistakes. At least you managed to rectify yours before it became toote." The student nodded and smiled a bit. "Thank you." Then, the student looked at his former members. "If I were you, I would quickly leave," he said. Lastly, the student quickly packed his stuff and entered the building. He probably wanted to put his stuff away first before doing anything else. Shang threw a nce after the student and looked at the Space Ring in Stars'' hand. ''A Space Ring and a huge sack of gold. Even I''m interested.'' ''Sadly, it''s forbidden to steal inside the academy.'' Chapter 96 Stars didn''t know how to react. His strongest member had left just like that. Why? So what if that guy was strong? They were five! Why did he leave?! On top of that, this guy was their age! How powerful could his body possibly be? Even if he somehow managed to get a body in the Middle Soldier Stage, the older student had several years of battle experience on him. "And what will you do now?" Shang asked. Stars turned to Shang when he spoke, but he noticed that Shang wasn''t talking to him but to the other three students. "Someone more powerful and more experienced than you realized that it''s not a good idea to attack me. Will you mindlessly follow your leader''s orders, or will you make the sensible decision and leave?" "Don''t listen to his empty words!" Stars shouted with a furious expression. His polite and civil demeanor hadpletely vanished as he realized that Shang was threatening the group of people he had built up with so much work. "Jarem was a coward! We were five people, and he''s several years older than him! So what if this guy is strong?! We are four! He is one! How strong can he be?! He''s just as old as us!" Stars shouted. The other three students were no longer calm. They had no idea what they should do now. They didn''t have the experience or instincts to feel another human''s power! They were simply new students from middle-ranked families! They didn''t know how powerful their opponent was! Two conflicting streams of logic collided in their minds. Their squad leader had given up without a fight, which meant that this guy had to be really powerful. However, he was also only 14 and 15. So, how powerful could he possibly be? These were the two thoughts that collided with each other. Which one was right? They had no idea! Meanwhile, several other students had stopped at the side. They had noticed that something interesting was going on, and they came to watch. The more experienced one of the students felt Shang''s power and became shocked. Someone that young had such a powerful body?! How was that even possible?! Did hee from some high-ranking noble family!? Content ? N?velDrama.Org. But when they overcame their shock, they only grinned. Oh, this was going to be good. Stars noticed all the students stop around them to watch. As Stars saw all the eyes watching, his anxiety shot through the roof. He couldn''t humiliate himself in front of so many students! He felt like the entire academy was watching! Stars had already begun to suspect that going against Shang might not have been the smartest idea, but he couldn''t back down now. If he retreated now after putting on such a grand act, he wouldn''t be able to look anyone in the eyes anymore. He had to go through with it to the end! At worst, he would have to receive a slight beating. His family name would protect him from the worst, at least. Stars turned to Shang again with gritted teeth. Then, he looked at hisckeys. "Don''t forget, you signed a contract. Jarem didn''t. You can''t disobey a reasonable order," he said with a threatening tone. Usually, Stars would have never threatened his underlings. After all, it was important that one''s underlings liked the leader. If they didn''t, lots of problems would ur. However, Stars had no other choice! His underlings were already starting to hesitate. He had to push them forward! When the three heard Stars'' words, they grimaced. He was right. If they broke the contract, they would have to pay back everything they had received from Stars. Compared to Jarem, these three had joined Stars way earlier, which meant that they had already spent a lot of their wealth. Paying everything back now would be nearly impossible! Even if they sold the wares they had purchased again, they wouldn''t get the full price, and they would need to work their asses off for months. They were only Early Soldier Stage warriors. There weren''t many options to make a ton of money for them. They couldn''t even kill Pest Cats! In the end, the three of them gritted their teeth and looked at Shang helplessly. They had decided that they would sacrifice their health today. Being beaten up was better than having to work for months. When Shang saw their expressions, he narrowed his eyes. "I don''t care if you are under orders. You are free to disobey said orders. If you attack me, I will treat you like an enemy," he said coldly. The bodies of the three students shook, but they could only grit their teeth. Yes, they could decide to disobey the order, but the cost would be far too high! By now, the three of them had realized that they probably had zero chance against Shang. If even their squad leader, whom they couldn''t win against three on one, had left, they had no chance. Because of that, it didn''t matter how they fought. As long as they fought, they would beplying with the orders. One of the three students gritted his teeth and readied a punch. Then, he threw his punch at Shang. Pack! Shang caught the arm with narrowed eyes. He had already nned to make an example of this group of students. The academy had several Water Mages, which meant that the students wouldn''t die as long as Shang didn''t kill them instantly. Today, he would make sure that no one else would bother him. Shang grabbed the forearm of the student with his full power, breaking the radius and the ulna, the two bones in the forearm. The sound of bones breaking and the splinters digging through flesh rung throughout the courtyard as the face of the student widened in pain and horror. Then, Shang grabbed the student''s hand with his other arm and pulled. RRRRIIIP! Shang ripped the hand out of the forearm and threw it at the wall, breaking it into multiple bloody pieces. The onlookers took a deep breath through their teeth. BANG! Lastly, Shang kicked the student. BANG! The student hit the wall of the main building with a resounding impact. More sounds of breaking bones could be heard in the courtyard. When the student hit the ground, he didn''t scream. Instead, he started convulsing as his body spasmed in ce, thick bloody gurgling out of his mouth. He tried to breathe, but only blood entered his lungs, which then gurgled out again. By now, the courtyard was dead silent. The younger students were used to fighting with each other, but in a way, most of the fighting students were still teenagers. Punching someone else and kicking them was normal. Getting bruised or one or two bones broken was also normal. But this¡­ This was not normal for them. This student was legitimately dying! He was suffocating on his own blood! Meanwhile, Shang looked with narrowed eyes at the other two students. "Move," he said coldly. The other two students were frozen in terror. They had expected to be beaten up, but they hadn''t expected that! This was not normal! This was not just a beating! When they heard Shang''s words, they very quickly jumped to the side. Their contract was long forgotten. Their fear was simply too powerful. Shang walked over to Stars with narrowed eyes. Stars was still looking at the dying student with terror, and he didn''t notice Shang approach. When he did, it was already toote. Stars'' body froze in terror when he saw Shang''s eyes directly in front of his own. "M-My family is ah-" Before Stars could finish his sentence, Shang shoved his right hand into his mouth, taking hold of his jaw. Stars'' eyes widened in absolute terror. No! RRRIIIIIIP! Shang tore his jaw off. The younger students gasped in horror. Of course, there were still several students that watched everything with calm eyes. They had also killed humans before, and they knew that these two students wouldn''t die. Yes, Shang had been rather brutal, but as long as he didn''t kill them, he was allowed to do that. Stars began to scream incoherent nonsense as he writhed on the ground. BANG! Shang squashed the jaw in his hand and threw the ball of gore on the ground beside Stars. "Don''t annoy me again," he said before he walked into the building. From the side, one of the teachers sighed and picked the two students up. He was used to bringing injured students to the Water Mage. ''But really, that guy was a bit too cruel. Regrowing something is many times more expensive than simply reattaching something. Did he really have to destroy that arm and jaw?'' ''Well, I don''t have to pay it.'' Chapter 97 Shang closed the door behind him after entering his room. Then, he just stood there in the mostly dark room. The small slit didn''t let much light through. Silence. Shang just waited in silence. At the moment, Shang''s heart was beating rapidly as sweat ran down his body. A deep feeling of guilt was inside his heart. He had acted coldhearted and brutal, but that didn''t reflect the truth. This was the first time after that fateful night that Shang had injured another person to such an extent. Punching someone, breaking an arm, or simr things were still rtively normal to Shang. After all, he had been a fighter in his past life, and it was normal for fighters to get injured in a fight. However, what he had done out there was not normal for a fighter. Shang might be in the body of a 15-year-old, but in his mind, he still viewed himself as a 23-year-old. So, when he looked at the other students, Shang didn''t see people of his age but kids. They were children. Additionally, what would they have done to him? At most, they would have broken one or two bones and would have given him some bruises. Shang had seen the ill-intent in their eyes, but Shang hadn''t felt true maliciousnessing from them. They only wanted to beat him down to show their superiority. They were just kids. Yet, Shang had done horrible things to them. One of them had been close to death, while the other one went through unimaginable pain. Shang had his reasons for acting this brutally, but it was still difficult. On Earth, Shang would have gone to prison for his actions. Yes, they had attacked him, and Shang had the right to defend himself, but that was it, defend. Regarding the first guy, breaking his arm and kicking him would have been enough. Shang''s action of tearing his arm off had gone beyond mere defense. However, the worse offense was with Stars. Stars hadn''t even tried to attack Shang. Yes, he had given the order, but he had never shown any intention of attacking Shang. Shang could have simply beaten him down, thrown him away, or immobilized him. Tearing out someone''s jaw was not considered self-defense. ''I''ve done the right thing,'' Shang thought as he took a deep breath. ''With that disy, fewer people will bother me in the future, and I won''t have to do something like that again. The other students saw what happens when they try to attack me, and they won''t try something like that again.'' ''My actions were right. It was the right decision.'' Absentmindedly, Shang took the skinning knife he had bought and began to shave his beard. ''I made the correct choice,'' he repeated to himself in his mind. As the rhythmic strokes of the knife continued, Shang continued to repeat the same words to himself in his mind. Shang didn''t know how long he had been shaving, but when he felt something wet on his right hand, he stopped. He looked over and saw blood dripping down from the knife. Shang touched his jaw, but it had already fully healed. He hadn''t even noticed that he had cut himself while shaving, and judging by the amount of blood, it hadn''t been little. ''It''s a skinning knife. It''s only logical that it cuts my skin while shaving. I should be more careful in the future,'' Shang thought before washing the knife and leaving it in his room. Shang also washed his hands before leaving the room again. Shang came out of the building and looked at the surroundings. The blood from earlier was gone, and the students were back to doing whatever they were doing. Not many people were looking at Shang, and the few that did either averted their gazes quickly or lost interest. It was like nothing had happened. When Shang saw that, he realized once again that he was truly in a different world. If something like that had happened on Earth, the people would still be crowded around the area where it had happened while police were investigating the ce. In this world, it was normal. Shang looked at the big clock above the main entrance to the main building. Usually, warriors didn''t really care about the time of the day. They mostly focused on the position of the sun to judge time. However, Mages had introduced a more urate measure of time, which were clocks. Mages were often very busy, and they couldn''t just schedule things based on the position of the sun. For example, they could have two meetings in the afternoon. Which one should they go to first? Additionally, the definition of afternoon was different from person to person. Because of that, Mages used clocks while warriors used the position of the sun normally, but since this academy was very sophisticated and also included plenty of education about Mages, it had adopted the clock. There was also the name of the weekday beside the clock. The academy knew that warriors often forgot the time while they were fully focused on training. ''I''m lucky. The core lesson for the Caterpir ss will start soon. I''ve been stuck on the techniques, and I need some feedback from one of the teachers.'' Shang walked towards the north, towards the bigger training fields. The core lesson for the Caterpir ss took ce there. After walking for a bit, Shang saw several different training fields and arenas. Fortunately, there were signs beside each training field, and Shang quickly found a sign with a caterpir on it. The training field had a couple of older students standing on it. There were probably around 20 students between the ages of 17 and 19. Most of them were talking in groups while a couple of them swung their weapons around as warmup. The students were allowed to draw their weapons on a training field, but they were forbidden from threatening others. If they wanted to mess with another student, they had to put their weapon away again. When Shang stepped onto the training field, a couple of students looked at him. Some of them furrowed their brows. Some of them looked with skepticism at Shang. Some narrowed their eyes, and some of them even smiled politely. But in the following seconds, the first two groups changed their expression to a surprised one before remaining in an awkward one. Shang was too young to have such power. Shang noticed all of that. ''Sure enough, these students are all very experienced. Some of them noticed my power at first nce, but even the ones that didn''t quickly found out about it.'' This was a gigantic difference from how many other students had interacted with Shang. Stars and his group hadn''t even realized when Shang threatened them. The older student in Stars group had slowly noticed Shang''s power, but he had still taken a while to truly grasp it. The blonde guy that had tried to shove Shang to the side had also realized, but only when Shang had already shoved his arm to the side two times. There were definite differences between students of different ages. The newbies that were around 14 years old nearly never noticed Shang''s power. N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. The 16-year-olds noticed it, but it wasn''t easy, not all of them believed their feelings, and it took a bit. Meanwhile, the 18-year-olds noticed it from a distance in a matter of two seconds, and they quickly believed their instincts. After Shang entered the training field, a couple of students still looked at him. Then, one of them frowned. "I think you''re in the wrong grade," he said. Chapter 98 The one that spoke to Shang was a tall man with short blue hair. He was probably around 19 years old, which was why Shangbeled him as a man instead of a boy. A truly gigantic, wide, and imposing sword was in his hands. The sword was probably one and a half meters long and half a meter wide. A gigantic axe or hammer showed a feeling of ferociousness and brutality, while a sword showed versatility andposure. This gigantic sword exhibited a mixed feeling between those two. It was ferocious and powerful, but there was also restraint inside it. ''He''s powerful,'' Shang thought as he looked at the guy, a glint of surprise visible in his eyes. Why surprise? Because Shang felt a mortal feeling of danger radiating off that man. That in and of itself wouldn''t be that surprising, though. The surprising part was that he only had a body at the Late Soldier Stage, an entire level below Shang. Yet, Shang could feel very clearly that, if the two of them were to fight seriously, Shang would most likely die. ''Sure enough, I have to work on my Battle-Strength,'' Shang thought. ''I can deal incredibly well with beasts, but I''m still a newbie when ites to other humans.'' "Yeah, go back to suckling on your mommy''s tits," another guy shouted from the side with a ridiculing voice. The blue-haired man frowned, and Shang looked over at the other guy that just shouted. It was a rtively small man with long green hair. He had a long but thin sword in his hand, and his smile showed ridicule and arrogance. Shang guessed that he was around 17 years old. When Shang saw the green-haired guy, he didn''t feel threatened. He definitely had quite some power to him, but he wasn''t a real threat to Shang. Shang felt that, as long as he didn''t be careless, he should easily win against him. The green-haired guy wasn''t even in the same world as the blue-haired man in terms of power. "This is exactly why you are at the bottom of the ss, Elver," the blue-haired man said with a rebuking tone as he looked at the green-haired guy, Elver. "How often have the teachers told you to feel everyone''s power closely, even if their appearance isn''t threatening?" Elver frowned with difort. He definitely looked like someone that had been wrongfully used. "Why are you ming me? You were the one that said it first, Astor," Elver said with a wronged voice. "I meant he should be in the Preparation Grade, not the younger grades," Astor said with annoyance. "He is at the Peak Soldier Stage." "What?" Elver shouted with surprise. Then, he looked at Shang, and his eyes widened in shock. "How?" But after a bit, Elver furrowed his brows. Then, he snorted. "Oh, no wonder. You''re one of those noble kids, huh?" Shang only looked at Elver with a neutral expression. "Bet your family has stuffed all kinds of pills and medicine into your body. Bet you haven''t even killed a Pest Cat before," Elver said with a ridiculing snort. Astor only frowned, but he didn''t say anything. In his perception, Shang''s power also felt surprisingly weak for someone at the Peak Soldier Stage. Astor could fight a couple of Peak Soldier Stage students equally, but he couldn''t say that he could beat any of them easily¡­ Except for Shang. Astor felt that he could beat Shang with a lot of confidence, which definitely wasn''t normal. However, Astor still reserved his judgment of Shang. Yes, Shang had a very weak Battle-Strength, but he was also way younger than them. With a couple of years of training, he could easily close the gap. Additionally, Astor felt a certain feelinging from Shang. Astor felt like Shang had seen his fair share of battles before. Yet, that also didn''t make much sense in Astor''s mind. How could Shang''s Battle-Strength be so weak if he had been in so many battles? Because of all of these uncertainties, Astor reserved his judgment. Meanwhile, Shang looked at Elver for a second before turning to Astor again. "I''m in the correct grade," he said. "I''m part of the Advanced Caterpir ss." This surprised the listening students on the side. It definitely wasn''t normal to have someone with a more powerful body in a lower grade. After all, the power of the body was literally the sole criteria for which grade someone belonged to. "Why are you in the Advanced Grade?" someone asked. Shang looked over. Women were few and far between in the Warrior''s Academy. Most of them focused on Magic and the ones that couldn''t often chose a different career. Because of that, there weren''t that many women in this academy. However, some of them still existed, like the person that had just asked Shang a question. She had grey hair, but the hair color didn''t make her seem old. It was obvious that this was her natural hair color. Contrary to what one might expect, she carried a huge and heavy war hammer. She was also rather tall, and she was filled with muscle all over. She definitely wasn''t a pushover. "I''m in this grade because I need to work on my Battle-Strength for the next two years," Shang answered. "I joined just a couple of days ago." The grey-haired woman frowned, but she didn''t say anything further. "It''s surprising that your parents can get such wealth and status but screw up raising a child to such a degree," Elver ridiculed from the side again. "Your body''s so powerful, but your power is so weak. Don''t your parents know-" "You seem to be fully focused on my parents," Shang interrupted Elver. "Is that because you are unhappy with yours?" Some of the students were positively surprised when they saw that the new guy bit back, and they looked at Elver expectantly. Most of the students in the ss had already grown annoyed by Elver''s constant bullshit. In their eyes, he was acting like a child, looking for a fight with anyone he thought he could beat. This reaction from the other students showed the difference between young teenagers and young adults. Oftentimes, the bullies in middle school and high school were the popr kids in the ss. After all, they were powerful, dominant, and their insults were funny. Butter, those same people would be more on the unpopr side. Most students at that age were at the school or academy to learn, and they didn''t want to be annoyed by someone constantly harassing someone else. Additionally, it appeared childish in their minds. Elver had probably been one of the more popr kids in the first two grades, but after entering the Advanced Grade, things had suddenly changed. When Elver heard Shang''s words, he only snorted. "You think I''m stupid enough to enter a fistfight with someone at the Peak Soldier Stage? How about you crawl back to your nanny and suck on some more medicine?" Shang didn''t answer and looked at Astor instead. "When does the teacher normallye? I have a couple of questions." Astor, who had returned to warming up by now, answered without looking at Shang. "He should be here any second now." "Thanks," Shang said before bing silent again. Then, silence returned. Most of the students went back to doing whatever they were doing previously, while Elver kept throwing sneers at Shang. The grey-haired woman also threw Shang some frowns, but Shang knew that they weren''t supposed to be a provocation. He guessed that she was probably unhappy that someone with a more powerful body was in her grade. Just like Astor said, the teacher arrived a couple secondster. When Shang saw the teacher, he covertly took a deep breath of annoyance. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. ''Oh great, it''s that guy.'' Chapter 99 The teacher had arrived. It was a middle-aged man, probably in his forties. He had some grey hairs here and there, and he carried a sword at his waist. It was that one teacher that had guarded the academy''s gate at the night Shang had arrived. Shang definitely wasn''t the biggest fan of that teacher. For some reason, talking with him was annoying and frustrating. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. "Alright, everyone," the teacher announced when he arrived. "Let''s get started with today''s lesson." "May I ask a question?" the grey-haired woman asked with a loud but polite voice. "What is it, Sarah?" the teacher asked. "Isn''t the power of our bodies the very foundation on which the grades are decided?" she asked. "Yes, so?" the teacher asked with a bit of annoyance. "Then howe the new person in our grade has a body at the Peak Soldier Stage? He should be part of the Preparation Grade," Sarah asked. Just as Shang had expected, Sarah was bothered by Shang''s presence in her grade. The teacher frowned with confusion. After hearing Sarah''s question, he looked around the gathered students and quickly found the odd one out. When he saw Shang, the teacher snorted a bit in annoyance. "Of course you would end up in my ss," he grumbled mostly to himself. Shang wasn''t certain how he should respond. Should he say sorry? Should he say hello? In the end, Shang didn''t bother with reacting at all and simply did nothing. "I don''t know. Let me ask," the teacher said to Sarah. "Thank you," Sarah said politely. The teacher summoned a small crystal and looked into it. "Soran, what''s going on? Why is there a Peak Soldier Stage student in my Advanced Grade?" "Hello, Loran. Isn''t it a nice day?" the exasperated voice of Soran came out of the crystal. "Yes, yes, hello, Soran," the middle-aged teacher, teacher Loran, said with an annoyed voice. "So, why is there a Peak Soldier Stage student in my Advanced Grade?" "Are you talking about Shang?" Soran''s voice asked. "Did he finally show up to his lessons?" "I don''t know his name," teacher Loran grumbled. "Then why don''t you go ask him?" Soran''s voice said. Teacher Loran grumbled. "Hey, you," he shouted as he looked at Shang. "Yes, I''m Shang," Shang answered. "I didn''t even ask my question! It''smon courtesy to let others finish speaking," the teacher grumbled. Shang frowned. "Isn''t it obvious what you were going to ask? We can all hear your discussion. I just wanted to hurry things along." "Hurry things along?" the teacher snorted. "Then howe we are talking so much about this topic? If you had just given me the time to ask my question, we would already be done." "That''s bec-"Shang started to shout, but he stopped himself. Then, he took a long breath. This man was now his teacher, and Shang shouldn''t argue too much with him. "Yes, teacher, I won''t interrupt you again," Shang said with a bit of annoyance. "What?!" teacher Loran nearly shouted. "Why did you give in?! It''s obvious that you do not truly believe what you''re saying! Do you think I''m so stupid that I would fall for that?!" Shang gritted his teeth in frustration. "Because I don''t want to get into an argument with the very person that I''m supposed to learn from," Shang said a little louder. "So, what''s his name?" Soran''s voice came out of the crystal again. "You haven''t answered in a while. Did you get into an argument again?" Teacher Loran had just wanted to shout back at Shang, but Soran''s voice stopped him. "Yes, his name is Shang. So, why is he in my grade?" he asked again. How did the other students react to that exchange? Surprisingly, they weren''t surprised at all. Judging from their reactions, it seemed to be normal for teacher Loran to get into arguments all the time. "There''s a reason behind it," Soran answered. "No shi- crap. I''m asking what the reason is!" teacher Loran snapped back. "If I could tell you the reason, I would have told you, Loran," Soran said with a bit of annoyance. "However, I can''t tell you the reason since it''s confidential. Just know that Shang is in your grade by the orders of the dean." Silence. The dean?! Usually, it was Soran who decided on all the different sses and grades. He was solely responsible for assigning the students to the most fitting ss. The dean never got involved in all of that. The dean was busy with all kinds of administrative work, meetings, and so on. However, he had made an executive decision for Shang? Why? The students very rarely heard of the dean. They saw him enter and exit the building from time to time, but that was about it. So, why did he suddenly get involved when it came to this student? "The dean''s orders?" teacher Loran asked again. "Yes," Soran said. "As for Shang''s development, you only have to check on two things. If you have me on speaker, please deactivate it since the other students are not supposed to listen in on private matters of other students." ''Speaker?'' Shang thought with a weird expression. ''Is that crystal a phone? I mean, it kind of is, but it still feels weird to hear the word speakerphone in this world.'' Teacher Loran put the crystal to his ear and walked a couple of meters away. After that, he spoke quietly into the crystal. The other students waited for about a minute until teacher Loran returned. "Alright, let''s start with the lesson," teacher Loran announced. "Excuse me, teacher," Sarah, the grey-haired woman, said. "What about my question? Why is he in our grade?" Teacher Loran frowned. "You heard what I heard! You know what I know! What answer do you expect from me? He''s here under the dean''s orders. If you have a problem with that, goin to the dean!" Sarah frowned at the barrage teacher Loran had unleashed on her. "Thank you, teacher," she said with a bit of annoyance. Teacher Loran snorted silently. "Alright, so let''s start with ss." "I''ve got a question," Shang interrupted. "What?!" teacher Loran snapped back. "Stop trying to dy the lesson again and again! What''s up with you?!" "This was the first time I interrupted," Shang said with a frown. "The previous two questions came from someone else. This is the first question I''ve asked you today." "I don''t care! You''re the reason why ss iste! Ask your question after the lesson!" teacher Loran shouted. "I don''t know if it can wait for that long," Shang said. Teacher Loran groaned loudly. "Fine! Go ahead! Ask!" "How do I reach the General Stage?" Shang asked. For a second, teacher Loran looked at Shang with surprise. Why? Well¡­ "How can you be so stupid?!" teacher Loran shouted. "You know very well that you are not supposed to reach the General Stage!" "I fucking know that!" Shang shouted as he couldn''t control his frustration anymore. "I''m asking so that I can specifically avoid doing that! I don''t want to reach the General Stage on ident!" The students looked withplex expressions at Shang. identally reaching the General Stage? They were working with all their power to one day reach the General Stage, but Shang was afraid of identally getting there? And what was teacher Loran''s answer? "That question could have waited for after ss!" he grumbled with frustration. "And how am I supposed to know that?!" Shang shouted. "I don''t know how to reach it! So, I also don''t know how much time I have left to ask!" At the side, Astor sighed. Why were teacher Loran''s lessons alwayste? Why did he always have to fall into an argument with someone right before the lessons started? Chapter 100 After a couple more minutes of arguing, Shang finally got his answer. ording to teacher Loran''s exnation, to advance in the Soldier Stage required the warrior to strengthen different parts of their body. A normal human would reach the Initial Soldier Stage by simply bing an adult. The natural presence of Mana in the surroundings strengthened their bodies naturally to a certain extent. Because of that, even the most normal adult already had a body on the level of a professional athlete on Earth. Of course, reaching the Initial Soldier Stage at the age of 18 was already way toote for someone that wanted to be a warrior. If someone wanted to be a warrior, they needed to reach the Initial Soldier Stage at the age of 14, at thetest. The way of reaching the Initial Soldier Stage early was very simple. Normal training. Running around, lifting some stuff, climbing stuff, whatever. As long as the child was very physically active, they would reach it early. When Shang asked if excessive training at such a young age could have negative effects on a child''s development, everyone looked at him like he was a weirdo. After some ridicule, Shang simply swallowed his frustration. Shang couldn''t be faulted for his question. After all, on Earth, excessive physical training at such a young age could cause issues with bone development. That was also why fitness centers often only epted kids aged 14 and up. But, apparently, in this world, it was no concern. Shang guessed that it was the Mana that allowed kids to train so much without any issues. To reach the Early Soldier Stage, it was necessary to train one''s skin and muscles. The training of the muscles was obvious, but the training of the skin was a bit weird in Shang''s mind. However, it also made sense. If the muscles bulged too much, the sudden expansion could tear the skin. One had to remember that people in this world were far more powerful than people on Earth. On Earth, the skin had enough time to deal with the expansion of mass since it didn''t happen very quickly. In this world, it was an issue. On top of that, if the skin weren''t properly trained, it wouldn''t let much Mana through. In a way, the skin was a filter for Mana, and at the base level, the skin would block a lot of Mana from entering the body. However, the more Mana the skin of someone had, the easier it was for the body to absorb Mana. That additional absorption was imperative to reach theter levels of the Soldier Stage. Shang remembered that he had bled quite a lot in Duke Whirlwind''s garden. That was also how he had trained his skin. To reach the Middle Soldier Stage, one needed to also train one''s bones. After reaching the Early Soldier Stage, the muscles slowly closed in on having enough power to break one''s own bones if they were stressed too much. Now, how did one train one''s bones? Well, there were three methods. Method one was to ingest Bone Dissolving Grass or medicine made out of Bone Dissolving Grass. Just as the name suggested, Bone Dissolving Grass was a poison that dissolved bone. On Earth, such a poison would have been viewed as something insanely cruel. It could essentially cripple someone forever. But here, it was a treasure. With Mana, one could regrow bone with quite a lot of speed. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Bone Dissolving Grass was rathermon, but it was still a bit expensive due to the demand. However, it wasn''t an issue for someone in the Early Soldier Stage to get enough money to buy Bone Dissolving Grass. Sadly, that method was rather painful. Of course, the rich people could also buy medicine made out of Bone Dissolving Grass and numbing agents to make the training much easier to handle. The first method was the slowest one of the three methods. The second method was to simply not train one''s bones. Not training one''s bones didn''t sound very conducive when the goal was to train one''s bones, but, ironically, it actually worked. If someone simply continued training their body, at one point, their own muscles would break their bones one by one, and that would strengthen them. However, nearly no one did that. After all, not all the bones would be broken by the muscles. Chest muscles and head muscles needed a lot of time and training to be powerful enough to break their respective bones. The third method was the simplest. Just break your bones and ingest healing medicine. It was very straightforward, but in a way, it was also the hardest to pull off. Not everyone had the willpower to straight-up break their own bones. It was also very dangerous. After all, if a bone broke in a weird way, it could cause internal bleeding, which would quickly spell the death of the warrior if they didn''t receive immediate healing. Because of that, nearly no one used the third method. It was cruel and dangerous. But wait! If this were so dangerous, how did Shang manage to pull it off in such a reckless manner without dying? It was his warrior''s body, obviously. His mind didn''t consume arge amount of Mana inparison to people without a warrior''s body. Additionally, Shang had always overfilled his Mana storages before injuring himself. Other people avoided overfilling their Mana storages. After all, if they did, they would be forced into nearly killing themselves with no way back. Humans generally didn''t like being in a situation where they had to do something drastic to survive, and they definitely didn''t like putting themselves into such a situation. If their willpower weren''t powerful enough, they would die. This was how one reached the Middle Soldier Stage. To reach the Late Soldier Stage, one needed to train their blood. Yes, blood came from the bone marrow, but just breaking the bone wasn''t enough to strengthen the production and quality of blood. In order to do that, one needed to bleed¡­ a lot. The body had to essentially fall into a bloodless crisis. The body had to be in a situation where, if it didn''t up its blood production, it would die. After upping the blood production by a lot, and if that still weren''t enough, the body would switch from quantity to quality, allowing less blood to carry more Mana and nutrients. When both things had been achieved to a sufficient degree, one would have reached the Late Soldier Stage. Most people reached that level by ingesting Mana Inhibition Powder. Mana Inhibition Powder made the transportation of Mana very difficult for someone. If a normal person ingested that powder, they would probably die since Mana was an essentialponent to survival. However, if a Mid Soldier Stage warrior ingested it, they would simply lose consciousness. The body would notice that it couldn''t transfer enough Mana, so it upped the blood production and its quality. It was essentially a way to train one''s blood without bleeding. Of course, the other way to train one''s blood was to simply bleed a lot. Shang had bled quite a bit. To reach the Peak Soldier Stage, one needed to train one''s organs. Themon method to train one''s organs was to simply ingest several different kinds of medicine, which were quite expensive. However, a warrior at that Stage could earn a lot of money already. After ingesting the medicine, they would only need to meditate and gather Mana while their organs would slowly be dissolved. As long as someone meditated, it wasn''t dangerous, but it could get dangerous if someone were interrupted. That was also why the academy forbade other students from breaking down the door of another student. Of course, the other way to reach that level was to simply injure one''s organs the normal way. That method was a bit more dangerous and painful. And finally, how did one reach the Second Realm, the General Stage? The heart. The heart was the crux. The heart required much more training than all the other organs, and the heart also acted as a major storage for Mana in this world. In order to train the heart, one either needed to continually injure their entire body again and again to put it under stress or directly injure the heart itself, which was very dangerous. Of course, if someone didn''t want to do that, they could also ingest a type of medicine that aplished that. The medicine had a name that Shang found quite funny. It was called Heartburn Medicine. Back when Soran had inspected Shang''s body, he had checked up on how far along exactly Shang was in his training. ording to Soran, Shang was around 60% done with his heart. If Shang wanted to reach the General Stage, he would need to destroy his entire body at least another 40 times. As long as he avoided doing that, he would be able to remain in the Soldier Stage. After everything had been exined to Shang, teacher Loran started the lesson. And the very first thing teacher Loran did was to put Shang into a fight. Against whom? Astor. Chapter 101 Shang was a bit surprised that he had to fight someone as powerful as Astor right at the beginning. Did teacher Loran want to punish Shang for annoying him? Teacher Loran noticed Shang''s expression and snorted. "Don''t think of yourself as too important," he scoffed. "You are the only person that I haven''t seen fight yet, and I need to see your fighting style first." "And that''s why you''re sending me against the strongest of the grade?" Shang asked with a frown. "me your body," teacher Loran said. "You have an unfair advantage over everyone else." Shang didn''t like hearing that he had an unfair advantage, but it was the truth. It was already a shame that he was the only student in a lower grade than they were supposed to be. "This is your first lesson in the academy, right?" Astor asked from the side as he slowly readied his huge sword. When Shang saw Astor look at him with his readied sword, he felt his heart shake. Powerful! Astor felt so very powerful! Astor was on a lower level than Shang, and Shang''s body was nearly twice as strong as Astor''s. Yet, Astor still felt so incredibly powerful to Shang. Shang knew that he wouldn''t win. Shing! Shang took out his sword and readied it. He knew that he couldn''t win, but he would still give his all. This was not a fight for survival but a learning opportunity! "As always," teacher Loran said, "whenever you draw your weapons, you must feel genuine killing intent. This is not an exception!" Then, teacher Loran looked at Shang. "Under my supervision, none of you two will die. At my level, I can walk back and forth between you two over ten times before you can even finish half a swing. If you actually manage to kill your sparring partner, I will dedicate my life to being your servant. That''s how confident I am." The other students didn''t react to teacher Loran''s words. They all already knew of the power of a Commander Stage warrior. Even the weakest Commander Stage warriors could reach 200kph in a single step, and that wasn''t even their top speed. Additionally, even though they were warriors, their minds had still been infused with a lot of Mana just by having such a Mana-rich body around them. Even a Commander Stage warrior with a warrior''s body had, at least, a level two mind, which would technically allow them to be Adepts, as long as they knew how to properly cast spells. That meant that their reaction times and thinking speeds were unimaginable for some mere Soldier Stage warriors. Even if Shang were to use the sneakiest and fastest attack avable, if teacher Loran didn''t want it to hit, it wouldn''t hit. Shang nodded. He didn''t exactly know how powerful Commander Stage warriors were, but since teacher Loran assured him that much, he believed him. Teacher Loran didn''t seem to be the lying kind. Shang readied himself and watched Astor carefully. Astor slowly lifted his sword. As he did, the ground beneath him began to crack for some reason. It was almost like Astor had suddenly be far heavier. Astor''s body rotated until the sword was behind him. For a moment, the world seemed to freeze. Shang was preparing himself. If he were fighting for his survival, he would have struck first. However, Shang wanted to learn. If his opponent didn''t take this fight seriously and Shang did, Shang could theoretically win. As long as an opponent was caught unprepared, even someone very weak could take them down. Because of that, Shang let Astor prepare himself. Astor was over ten meters away, but for some reason, Shang''s instincts screamed at him. On top of that, Astor''s pressure built more and more. And then, Astor stopped. In that instant, Shang felt his instincts scream at him! They were shouting that he would die if he didn''t evade right this instant! So, Shang did as his instincts told him. BANG! A small explosion of dirt appeared beneath Astor. All his power was put into his sword, and he swung forward. And then, when the sword reached sufficient speed, he stopped adding more power to the swing, which resulted in Astor''s sword flying forward. However, Astor didn''t let go. All the power that Astor had pushed into the sh outweighed his body''s weight by far too much. On top of that, his sword was ridiculously heavy. This all culminated in Astor being carried forward by his heavy sword. Obviously, on Earth, such a maneuver was impossible. After all, a human just couldn''t put in that much power. However, if someone took up an incredibly heavy hammer and swung it with all their power forward, they would still need to take a couple of steps forward while trying to stop it. That was the same principle but pushed to the extreme. And it had incredible effects. Astor had moved with astonishing speeds for his level. If Shang hadn''t evaded early, thanks to his instincts, he wouldn''t have had the time to react to Astor''s attack properly. Astor was one level below Shang, but with that swing, Astor had reached a speed that surpassed Shang''s top speed. Astor used an incredibly heavy and hefty sword, and speed should be his weakness. He had traded speed for immense destructive potential and a potential shield, which could be used by simply turning the sword sideways. But with that move, Astor had managed topletely get rid of his weakness. Now, Astor had his two strengths without the weakness. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. And his offensive power was¡­ scary. Shang had barely evaded and quickly readied his counterattack. Yet, Astor had also stopped right beside Shang. It was almost like he had used Magic. But wait, how could Astor suddenly stop? Where did all the power of the swing go? Into another swing. Astor''s sword didn''t stop. It simply changed direction. Shang had readied a counterattack, but Astor''s sword was already shing at him. Shang knew that he could hit Astor, but he would have to exchange hits with him. Usually, Shang had no issues with trading hits. After all, he was very good at dealing with injuries, and he had a lot of regenerative abilities. But this time, it was different. If Shang got hit, all his regenerative abilities wouldn''t matter. That attack had so much power behind it that Shang would most likely explode, and if he didn''t, he would lose everything below his chest at the very least. Shang wasn''t confident in taking Astor''s head during that time, which was essentially the only way he had to kill him. So, in short, this meant that Shang would most definitely die while Astor would maybe die. That was not a good trade. However, it also was toote for Shang to evade. Because of that, he could only block the swing with his sword. At worst, he would get some broken arms, which would heal rather quickly. For a moment, Shang considered using his Affinity. With a powerful st of wind, Shang could push himself out of harm''s way. However, Shang put the secrecy of his Affinity above victory in a spar. So, Shang readied his block. And then¡­ WOOOSH! A strong wind blew Shang''s hair back, but the attack never arrived. Teacher Loran also hadn''t done anything. It was Astor who had stopped. For a split second, Shang wanted to attack since his instincts told him that his opponent had lost all momentum, but a secondter, his rational mind took over. Astor slowly pulled his sword back. "Teacher Loran will protect our lives, but not our weapons," Astor said. Shang looked at his sword, and at that moment, Shang felt his sword''s feelings. It was deep terror. It was like the sword had just faced death. Shang gritted his teeth. In his need toe up with a solution in basically no time at all, Shang had overlooked the fact that his sword wasn''t invincible. Yes, it had never been broken before, but the Frozen Lake Stag had put a scratch in it. Was Astor''s attack stronger or weaker than the attack of the Frozen Lake Stag? It wasn''t even a question. "I win eight out of ten fights because I manage to destroy my opponent''s weapon," Astor slowly exined. "My fighting style revolves all around the weight of my weapon. It needs to be so heavy that I can barely swing it by using all of my power." "Materials of the First Rank can''t achieve such heaviness. Because of that, a vast majority of my wealth gets invested into my weapon, and it is currentlyprised of materials equivalent to the Middle General Stage." "With its sheer weight and hardness, it can even destroy materials equivalent to the Early General Stage in one swing." "I know a lot about weapons, and I can tell that your weapon wouldn''t have even proved a hindrance. My sword would have cleaved through it and your body if teacher Loran weren''t here," Astor slowly exined. Then, Astor walked back to the same location he had started from earlier and readied his weapon again. "This one doesn''t count. This time, try to take the fight actually serious and attack me before I can get all my momentum going," he said as he pointed his sword at Shang from a distance. Shang took a deep breath. He had made a mistake. He had nearly lost his weapon. In the future, he had to be more careful with the durability of his sword. Shang closed his eyes for a moment and readied himself mentally. "Thank you, and sorry," Shang said as he readied his sword again. "This time, I won''t let you build your momentum." Astor nodded. And then, he readied his swing again. Chapter 102 BANG! Shang exploded forward with his sword. This time, he would be on the offensive! He hadn''t done that before since he hade here to learn. Yet, in his eagerness to learn from his opponent''s attacks, he had learned nearly nothing since the fight had ended in basically one swing. The power of the first swing had been used in the second swing, which could technically make it count as the first swing. ''I have to get rid of the mindset that I need to go easy on Astor to learn from him,'' he thought. Astor had barely finished half of his wind-up when Shang arrived with his sword. Shang had the speed advantage due to his more powerful body as long as Astor couldn''t build his momentum. At the moment, Astor''s sword was far behind him, and hecked the speed to block Shang''s attack. Additionally, since Shang had the speed advantage, Astor wouldn''t be able to easily evade, and if he did, the evasion would be sloppy and would mess with his bnce. Because of all of these reasons, Shang didn''t sh but stabbed forward. That would reach his opponent the fastest. Shang had no idea how Astor could escape. If he were in Astor''s shoes, he also wouldn''t find a method to get out of this one. And then, Astor stopped. A split-secondter, Astor''s left foot gathered nearly all the umted power of the swing and unleashed it in a stomp. BANG! The ground cracked as an incredible amount of power was pushed into it from one point. Shang hadn''t expected the ground to shake and crack in front of him, which meant that he wasn''t able to react properly. The ground shook, and Shang''s sword barely missed Astor''s torso. However, even if it was barely, it still missed. Shang''s eyes widened as he realized the new dynamic in the fight. Initially, Shang had caught Astor in an indefensible position. Shang had all the momentum, and Astor had nothing. But now, Shang hadpletely lost his bnce as his sword didn''t hit anything, while Astor stood as firm and stable as a rock in front of him. However, Shang still knew that he had the speed and power advantage thanks to his body, and he would make full use of it. From his offset position, Shang quickly used all his power and made his extended sword swing towards Astor''s torso. The wind-up was tiny, and Shang couldn''t put a lot of power into such an awkward swing, but his sword was sharp, and Shang had a more powerful body. This should be enough to, at least, injure Astor. Additionally, Shang could use that swing to gain some space to rebnce. As Shang''s sword went towards Astor''s torso, Astor''s body lowered as he gathered power in his left foot. And then, Shang''s sword hit. Clink! Shang''s eyes widened as his sword bounced off Astor''s uniform! This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. He hadn''t expected that! BANG! Astor finished gathering his power, and he shot forward with his shoulder, hitting Shang in the chest. Shang had a more powerful body, but that charge had so much weight being it that he still got shot into the distance by several meters. Shang lost his breath for an instant, and an incredible pressure built up in his chest. A normal warrior would be stunned for at least two seconds under such an attack. However, Shang had dealt with such injuries many, many times. CRRRK! Shang''s feet hit the ground and created a ditch as they stopped his momentum. BANG! Then, Shang shot forward before Astor could ready his strike. For an instant, Astor''s eyes showed a bit of surprise, but they quickly returned to their cold selves again. Shang reached Astor again before he could build up his momentum. This time, Astor canceled his swing early. The swing wasn''t as insanely powerful as the first one in the last fight, but it still had a lot of weight behind it. Shang noticed that Astor wasn''t using a block. Astor was using a wide swing, which was mostly for attacking purposes. However, the sheer size of his sword automatically transformed the aggressive attack into a secondary block. Shang couldn''t possibly take Astor''s heart or head before he got hit. But Shang didn''t stop. He continued running. And then, Astor''s swing arrived. CRRRR! Shang suddenly slid on the ground. The swing would pass over him, and Shang would have an opportunity to take Astor''s heart. And Shang was right. The swing did pass over him. However, it didn''t directly pass over him, but quite a bit above him. Astor had changed the trajectory of his swing to not be horizontal but diagonal in a curved line. It essentially traveled in a hyperb. Astor''s sword was now right above his head, fully extended to the sky. Both of his arms bulged as an insane amount of power gathered in them. Shang felt the pressure from above him, but instead of despairing, he saw a chance! Shang was currently right in front of Astor''s waist, and he could stab Astor''s heart before Astor could reach him. Shang would kill Astor before Astor could kill him. Shang''s sword shot forward as it stabbed right towards Astor''s chest. When Astor saw that, his eyes seemingly began to burn. It was like he was suddenly unleashing all the power inside his being as an incredible amount of rage and brutality exploded forward. Shang''s sword hit. CRACK! Shang''s eyes widened. ''What?!'' Shang''s sword had hit Astor''s chest, but when it did, several Magic Runes appeared on the uniform, converging in some sort of barrier. The barrier broke apart, and the uniform lost its luster. However, Shang''s sword had been stopped. What had just happened!? And then, Shang felt it. Pressure. Incredible pressure. It was like Shang was in front of a monster that wanted to do nothing but kill him. The sword above Astor shot down with an insane amount of power and speed. Shang was still half on the ground, and his attack had just been stopped. He couldn''t evade. The sword came right for Shang''s head, exploding with the storming sounds of wind being cut. Clink! "Alright, that should be it," teacher Loran said as he stopped Astor''s sword with two fingers. For a moment, Shang couldn''t breathe. In the first fight, Shang had believed he would survive by blocking, but in this fight, he had looked death in the eye. It was just like that time when that Pest Cat had jumped him when Shang hadn''t had his weapon yet. It was the image of death. The entire fight reyed in Shang''s head. Shang had the advantage in power and speed. Yet, why hadn''t it felt that way? Because of technique! Astor was slower than Shang, but he had always managed topletely stop Shang''s momentum in some way. On top of that, Astor had probably nned his moves in advance. After all, it was very, very difficult to change the trajectory of such a heavy sword on the fly. In essence, Astor had beaten Shang with surprise, intelligence, and technique. Astor pulled his sword back as he took a deep breath. And then, he smiled! "I didn''t expect for you to wake the warrior inside of me," he said with a smile as he offered Shang a hand. "For a second there, I went all in." Shang was still a bit shaken by the close encounter with death, but he epted the hand absentmindedly. He only had one question. "What happened with my attack earlier? I thought I got you," he said in a bit of confusion. "Your uniforms have an Enchantment that grants them the ability to block one Soldier Stage attack that would hit your heart," teacher Loran exined. "The remaining parts of the uniform also have defensive powers, but not nearly as strong as the ones guarding your heart." That exined how Shang''s attack had been blocked. ''I should have gone for his head,'' Shang thought, but an instantter, Shang realized something. Yes, both of Astor''s arms had been above his head¡­ But his left upper arm had been between Shang and his head! With the added mass between the head, the blockage of vision, and the small defense of the uniform, Shang''s chances of injuring Astor''s brain before Astor''s attack hit him were tiny! Even more, Astor had probably been prepared to move his left arm to the side if Shang''s sword stabbed it. At that point, Astor would have already put basically all of his power into the swing. ''What could I have done to win?'' ¡­ ''The only way to win would have been to anticipate the earlier feint. As soon as I fell for the feint, the fight was already over.'' Shang took a deep breath and closed his eyes. Then, they opened again, and fiery ambition could be seen in them. ''This is exactly what I need!'' ''Experience!'' ''This is exactly why I havee to this ce!'' Chapter 103 "Alright, Astor," teacher Loran said. "Go two rounds with Mattheo." On the side, a young man with long red hair sighed. He had two very heavy and hard gauntlets with spikes near the knuckles. Surprisingly, he was using knuckles as his weapons. Astor looked at Mattheo and gestured to the side with his head. The two of them had fought many times before. Astor was the most powerful person in the Advanced Grade Caterpir ss, and Mattheo was the second strongest. Because of that, it mostly fell on Mattheo''s shoulders to fight with Astor. "It would be really great if you could hurry up and be more powerful," Mattheo said to Shang while walking past him with a helpless and somewhat joking tone. "I don''t want to spar with that guy every time Ie here." "I''ll try my best," Shang said. Mattheo only chuckled a bit. "You do know that I was only joking, right? You can take all the time you need." Shang wasn''t quite sure how to respond. On Earth, he would have simply given off a polite and small chuckle, but right now, he just didn''t want to. It was like it was just too much work. While Mattheo walked to Astor, Sarah frowned with frustration. She had worked so hard, and she was absolutely certain that she could fight evenly with Mattheo. Yes, she had lost every match so far, but all of their fights had been even most of the time. As one of the very few women in the ss, Sarah felt like she had to prove herself. Oftentimes, women weren''t seen as talented warriors by men. After all, the sad truth was that it was harder for women to reach the different levels in the Soldier Stage. The power one needed to reach each level was universal. It didn''t matter if the warrior was huge or small, thin or thick. Sadly, that meant that smaller and weaker people needed to train more than bigger people. It only became irrelevant as soon as the warrior reached the Peak Soldier Stage. At that point, gender and size didn''t matter anymore. After all, everyone would have the same starting point. Sarah trained so hard and put so much effort into her career, but she still hadn''t been allowed to spar with Astor. Sarah was mostly put against the fourth or fifth strongest in the ss, which she always decimated in a fight. When Astor was on a mission, Sarah would get to spar with Mattheo. Those spars were very even, but she hadn''t been able to win yet. Because of that, Sarah was certain that she could also act as a sparring partner to Astor. "Sarah, you go fight with Shang," teacher Loran said. "I haven''t been able to properly see his techniques yet since Astor won that quickly." Sarah frowned as she nced at Shang. She was already annoyed that Shang was in her grade with a superior body. After all, the body was literally the only criterium that decides which grade someone belonged to. It was literally unfair. That wasn''t even a subjective perspective but an objective one. Of course, on top of that, Shang didn''t even deserve to fight with the likes of Astor. After all, if Shang didn''t have such a powerful body, he would be at the bottom of the ss. His body was literally the only thing strong about him. Shang wasn''t oblivious to other people''s feelings. He could very well imagine how many people in the ss felt. How did Shang feel? Of course Shang felt a bit embarrassed. After all, he was essentially the equivalent of someone that had been held back a grade. They didn''t manage to reach the grades necessary to advance, which meant that they had to repeat a year. That person would then sit in a room with people one year younger than them. It was embarrassing. Such a situation gave off a feeling of inadequacy. However, Shang wasn''t too embarrassed. Yes, it was bad that he had the most powerful body out of all of them, but Shang also didn''t forget that he was literally four years younger than all of them. Shang had advanced far faster on his path to power than everyone else in the school. At 15, he managed to reach a level that normally only 20-year-olds could reach. On top of that, Shang had only been in this world for a bit more than six months. Because of that, it was also unfair to say that Shang was too powerful for this grade. After all, Shang had only had six months of training. That amount of time basically counted as nothing. Sadly, in this world, age didn''t matter. Everything revolved around power. It didn''t matter if Shang were 30 or six years old. As long as he was in the same Realm, everyone would look at him the same way. BOOM! Shang looked over and saw that Astor and Mattheo had already started fighting a couple of meters away, and very quickly, Shang''s eyes widened. Small explosions came out of Mattheo''s feet and elbows, boosting his speed. This made Mattheo reach the same speeds as Shang, even though Mattheo had a far weaker body. That was already very impressive. On top of that, Mattheo managed to unleash an absolute barrage on Astor. With the speed of his two fists and the explosions, he let Astor gain absolutely no momentum. He was essentially barraging him with a storm of attacks every single second. He managed to be far more aggressive than Shang, and the pressure Astor was under was obviously also far higher than when he fought Shang. Astor didn''t even manage to unleash an attack yet. He simply didn''t have any opportunity to. As a watcher, Shang couldn''t imagine how Astor could win that fight. He was essentially being suppressed into a passive state, only waiting for his defeat. Yet, for some reason, Astor managed to always just barely parry or evade an attack. Sometimes, he would push his shoulder forward and receive Mattheo''s fist, which he would skillfully divert to the side. It was insane! The control one had to have to pull something like that off was nuts! But even Astor couldn''t parry such an avnche of attacks for long. A couple of secondster, he messed up a parry, and his shoulder got broken. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. And that''s when it happened. Suddenly, water appeared beneath Astor''s feet. It wasn''t much water, and it definitely couldn''t hurt anyone. It almost seemed senseless to summon that water. Yet, just an instantter, the water below Astor''s feet quickly pushed him half a meter to the side. It came very sudden and without warning. It didn''t make any sound, and it basically just happened. But the effect was devastating. This sudden repositioning had caught Mattheo off-guard. Mattheo had just released an attack, and he was off-bnce. As Astor moved to the side, the power that had destroyed his shoulder got used by Astor. He allowed his shoulder to be shot back, and Astor rotated with the power. In essence, Astor was using his opponent''s power to rotate. And then Astor suddenly stopped. All the power of his rotation had been pushed into his sword, and his sword swung towards Mattheo with insane speeds. "Alright," teacher Loran said as he stopped Astor''s sword. Astor and Mattheo released a sigh. "You''ve be better," Astor said with a praising smile. Mattheo only smiled bitterly. "Thanks." On the side, Shang''s eyes were still wide. Only now did he truly realize how far away he was from Astor. Astor hadn''t even used his Affinity against Shang. On top of that, Shang hadn''t managed to put even nearly as much pressure on Astor as Mattheo. Shang had thought that he wasn''t too far away from Astor, but that was obviously not the case. There were worlds between them. Literally, the only reason how Shang had been able to fight him for a couple of exchanges was due to his body. The difference in experience was massive. "Watched enough?" Shang looked over at Sarah, who had pulled out her hammer by now. "Teacher Loran can keep watch over up to three fights at once. I let you watch their fight so that you can truly see the distance between you and them." "You are in our grade, and there''s nothing I can do about it. Only you can do something about it." Sarah raised her hammer. "Be powerful enough to no longer be a shame to us." Chapter 104 In a way, Shang didn''t like hearing that, but he also knew that she was right. At the moment, he was an embarrassment to the ss. He had the highest level out of everyone, but he wasn''t even close to being the strongest. There were at least two people in this ss that could jump levels against him. Losing to someone of a lower level was always a shameful affair. Sadly, Shang just hadn''t had enough time to train. But hey, that was why he was in the academy. He specifically came to this academy because he knew that he wasn''t experienced when it came to fighting against humans. Teacher Loran called out the next two pairs, who began to fight pretty quickly. From what Shang saw, teacher Loran was going from strong to weak. "I will start now. Don''t disappoint me," Sarah said with a dark voice. Shang narrowed his eyes and readied his weapon. BANG! And Shang shot forward. He had already learned that taking it easy against these people was a bad idea. They were all warriors, and they had a lot of experience. Shang closed in on Sarah with incredible speed. However, instead of releasing a strike, he only held his sword in a flexible position. He was using the advantage of his speed by forcing Sarah to act first. With his superior speed, he could react very well against any of her attacks. Sarah''s expression didn''t change. Her right hand pulled the huge hammer back, readying it for an attack. However, her left hand was moving towards Shang and his sword. Only now did Shang realize that Sarah was wearing gauntlets. Usually, the students only wore their uniforms and their weapons. They didn''t wear additional armor. Yet, Sarah did just that. Why? For what purpose? Shang quickly shed at Sarah''s hand. Since she had already offered her arm to him, he might as well ept. However, just before Shang''s sword cut Sarah''s arm, Shang felt a feeling of fear and terrore from his sword. The feeling was nearly as powerful as when Astor was about to hit it with his sword. Shang very quickly realized what was happening. Shang knew the nine Affinities, and he also knew that hair color was very often an indicator of one''s Affinity. Shang hadn''t seen grey hair before, but he could imagine what Affinity it represented. Metal. If Shang could absorb Ice Mana with his left arm, could Sarah absorb Metal Mana with her left arm? Then, if Shang''s sword hit her hand¡­ Shang immediately pulled back his sword. Sarah''s eyes narrowed even further when she saw that Shang had pulled back his sword. She had thought that Shang had no experience in fighting with humans, but this action of his had proven otherwise. Sadly, what Sarah didn''t know was that Shang truly had no experience in fighting with humans. His ability to make the correct choice came from the voice of his sword and his honed instincts. When Shang pulled back his sword, Sarah unleashed a strike with her huge hammer. Shang felt an aura of destruction approach. It was almost like Sarah''s hammer had some kind of additional power that he hadn''t felt before. It didn''t feel as dangerous as Astor''s attack, but it had a unique feeling of danger to it. It simply felt different. BANG! Sarah''s eyes widened. Shang had just kicked the underside of her hammer! The sound of cracking bone could be heard, but thanks to Shang''s power, he managed to divert the hammer. Its trajectory changed, barely missing Shang''s lowered head. Then, Shang shed towards Sarah''s extended arm, the one holding the hammer. As long as he could get rid of that, he would win. However, Shang had to stop his attack again. Sarah had managed to put her other hand in the way again, and Shang couldn''t afford to lose his weapon. When Sarah saw that Shang had stopped his attack, she followed the swing of her hammer and put more power into it, pulling it around again to attack Shang. BANG! Shang kicked the side of the hammer again, breaking more of his bones. Luckily, thanks to his warrior''s body, he regenerated the injuries rather quickly. However, bones needed a lot of Mana to regenerate, and Shang''s Mana was close to being depleted. If he made that move again, he would have to fight with broken bones. BANG! Sarah''s hammernded on the ground beside Shang, shaking the earth. At this moment, Shang''s mind was going wild. ''Her left arm is still free. I can''t attack her hammer since my sword keeps telling me that it will be destroyed as soon as it touches it. I can''t attack her right arm because her left arm is threatening my sword. As long as her left arm is free, I can''t attack her with my sword.'' ''Her entire fighting style is about countering weapons. Her right arm unleashes devastating and long- reaching attacks. That makes it nearly impossible to evade the normal way. I have to use something to divert the force, which will slowly exhaust me.'' ''At the same time, her left arm is a perfect defense, keeping all weapons away from her.'' And then, Shang got an idea. Shang shed towards Sarah''s right arm again, and just as predicted, her left arm quickly extended towards Shang''s sword. And then, Shang flicked his sword to the side. The eyes of the watching students widened in surprise. Shang was throwing his weapon away? Astor, who had just finished his second fight, also looked with surprise at Shang. Teacher Loran frowned. Shang grabbed Sarah''s left hand and pulled her forward with all of his power. Sarah lost her bnce, and Shang stepped to the side until he was behind her. Then, Shang jumped up. He put his legs around her torso and his arms around her head from behind. BANG! At least, he wanted to. However, before he could, Shang felt a force push him to the side, throwing him several meters away. Sarah''s eyes remained open in surprise. She knew what would happen, but for some reason, Shang''s attack never came. After a bit of confusion, she turned around to see Shang on the ground a couple of meters away. Right now, teacher Loran was standing behind her. "Are you stupid?!" teacher Loran shouted with annoyance at Shang. "This is a lesson, not a competition! You are supposed to learn from each other, not do everything in your ability to win!" "What''s the point of winning when you don''t learn anything?! You can do that stuff when you have to win no matter what, but you''re here to learn!" Shang only now managed to stand up, and a look of annoyance was on his face. "Well, what am I supposed to do? Her left arm destroys my weapon. Her weapon destroys my weapon. By forcing me to only use my sword, you are forcing me to fight with a handicap." "That is a handicap of your own making," teacher Loran said with a snort. "Our weapons are just as important as our bodies and techniques. All of you have enough power to earn enough money to increase the power of your weapons. If you have a weak weapon, that''s your own fault." "Great, but I haven''t had any time to upgrade my weapon yet!" Shang said with frustration. "How am I supposed to gain experience when I can''t even use my weapon? All of my attacks and defenses are unusable since my weapon will be destroyed in one exchange!" "So? You don''t have to sacrifice your weapon," teacher Loran said. "This is about learning, not winning. If you have such a problem, use the fights to train your defensive capabilities. So what if you can''t win? Being able to live longer under a barrage can be a viable way to win since the opponent might be exhausted before you, giving you an opening." Shang gritted his teeth in frustration. He definitely didn''t like it, but there was some truth to teacher Loran''s words. This fight was not about winning but about gaining experience. What had Shang learned during that fight? Not much. How much had he learned during Astor''s fight? A lot! "Teacher, I think you''re treating Shang unjustly." Teacher Loran frowned and turned to Sarah. Sarah had been the one that had said that just now. Shang looked over with a raised eyebrow. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. "He might not have learned much, but I have," she said as she looked at the ground with furrowed brows. "I thought that my defense was perfect, but Shang has shown me a huge w. With all my experience, I should be the one to win. However, I didn''t." "That''s because he counters my fighting style. My fighting style revolves all around dealing with the weapons and armor of my enemies. However, if the enemy has no weapons or armor and is still a threat, I''m fumbling around blindly." When teacher Loran heard that, he scratched the side of his chin in thought. "Like a beast?" he asked. Sarah furrowed her brows. "Yes, like a beast. I haven''t fought many beasts before. I nearly almost only fight humans." Teacher Loran hummed to himself for a bit. Then, he turned to Shang. "You know what? I might have judged too early," he said. "Sure, you didn''t learn anything, but you allowed Sarah to learn from you. So, the fight still hasn''t been useless." Shang looked at Sarah with surprise. He had expected her toin, but that wasn''t the case. Instead of thinking that Shang had won with unfair methods, she had epted it. In her mind, she had just lost the battle. That was an admirable quality. "Alright, if you''re both fine with it, you can continue," teacher Loran said before turning to the ss again. Shang and Sarah looked at each other. One had nearly no experience in fighting with humans. The other had nearly no experience in fighting with beasts. One had fought many humans. One had fought many beasts. They could definitely benefit from each other''s knowledge. Chapter 105 Teacher Loran continued the lesson and called for the next people to start fighting. He let Sarah and Shang do whatever they wanted. Sarah had said that she learned a lot from Shang, which meant that Shang was an appropriate sparring partner for her. Under normal circumstances, Shang should lose to someone of Sarah''s level. However, Shang''s experience in fighting barehanded made him the perfect counter to Sarah. One had to remember that something like this wasn''t normal. Basically, all warriors focused on their weapons, and they definitely didn''t have much experience in serious hand-to-handbat. Yes, the students often beat each other up in a fistfight, but that was it. It was a fistfight. They punched and kicked each other, but they generally didn''t grapple. They were so used to fighting with their weapons that they used their fists and legs as weapons. That meant striking the enemy with them. If someone else had managed to get behind Sarah, they would have most likely unleashed a fist strike or a kick. Sarah would have been injured and thrown away, but she would have had a chance to turn things around. And even if they tried to grapple Sarah from the back, there would have been a high likelihood that Sarah would have somehow managed to either smash their face in with the back of her head or managed to wriggle out of it. However, Shang had been an MMA fighter on Earth. He knew exactly how he had to grab her. By putting his legs around her torso, shaking him off would have proven basically impossible. Her arms also wouldn''t have been able to deal much damage, and her hammer could have only been swung in a very awkward manner. The way Shang fought with his bare hands was very strange for this world. It was basicallypletely unknown. In a way, one could say that Shang fought like a beast without his weapon. Beasts also often used their ws to grab an opponent and then use their teeth to kill them. When a beast wanted to kill someone, it didn''t just swipe forward with its ws. No, swiping with their ws was mostly a defensive maneuver. When a beast wanted to genuinely kill someone, it dug its ws into the opponent to keep them close and to position them perfectly for the finishing bite. Being caught by the ws was a death sentence most of the time, but not always. With enough experience, one could potentially turn things around. Sarah and Shang began talking after teacher Loran turned his focus to the remaining ss. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Sarah told Shang that she was interested in learning how to fight against beasts and unarmed opponents, which was why she asked him to fight without a weapon. However, she also knew that Shang would basically not learn much, which would make this lesson an affair with only one beneficiary. "In exchange, you can ask me whatever you want. I know a lot about politics, materials, resources in general, and weapons," she offered. Shang realized that the offer was pretty good. The teachers had a lot to do, and he could probably only ask these questions at the end of lessons. Additionally, several teachers didn''t specialize in the things Sarah knew. For example, teacher Loran didn''t even know what a Sparren was, which counted as a gem and material. Sarah''s fighting style was specialized for countering weapons, which meant that she also had to learn a lot about materials and weapons. If she didn''t know everything about her opponent''s weapons, she would put herself in severe danger. "I ept," Shang said. Sarah nodded. "Then, after every session, you can ask me questions for ten minutes." Shang nodded. "Deal." After that, Sarah readied her hammer again. Shang put his sword to the side. At this moment, Shang''s sword was useless. If it touched Sarah''s left hand or weapon, it would be destroyed. Because of that, it was literally better for Shang to fight barehanded. So, the two of them began fighting again. How did the fights go? Horrible. For Sarah, that is. The biggest reason why Sarah couldn''t win was her hammer. It simply wasn''t sharp. Because of that, Shang could afford to kick, push, and punch it away. Yes, the power of the hammer still broke his bones, but that wasn''t an issue. Shang''s superior body gave him the ability to throw such a heavy weapon as Sarah''s hammer away. If Shang''s body were as powerful as Sarah''s body, he wouldn''t have that ability. However, that was exactly the reason why Shang was able to essentially act as a beast. In the earlier levels of the Soldier Stage, the difference in physical power between a human and a beast wasn''t that great. One could almost call them as being on the same level. But everything changed in the Peak Soldier Stage. That was the first level when a beast''s body became quite a bit more powerful than a human''s body. And things would only get worse at the General Stage. The power of beasts'' bodies continued to escte the stronger they became. Why? Because that was the only way they could fight humans. The beasts that didn''t have those powerful bodies had long since died out. Starting at the General Stage, a beast was a genuine threat to a warrior. In the Commander Stage, beasts won far more fights against warriors than they lost. Of course, that was assuming a one-on-one duel without one party using a surprise attack. In reality, most warriors remained hidden when they were hunting a beast. They would only attack when the beast didn''t pay attention. Additionally, many hunters worked in pairs or teams. In an open one-on-one duel, most warriors in the General and Commander Stage would lose against a beast of an equivalent level. Why? Because warriors fought mostly with their bodies and beasts did too, and beasts had far more powerful bodies. It often ended with a beast getting cut by a sword, the sword getting stuck in a bone, and the beast biting down on the warrior, killing them. However, that only counted for warriors, not humans as a whole. There were still the Mages, and those fights went very differently. A true Mage didn''t have any issues in taking down a beast of an equivalent level. They simply readied their spells and unleashed them on the charging beast. Most of the time, the beast would be dead before it even reached the Mage. On top of that, Mages weren''t stupid. They knew that they were at their weakest when their opponent was close. Because of that, it was imperative for all Mages to learn plenty of Spells and skills to gain distance. If the beast didn''t have an amazing long-ranged ability, the only way to win was to exhaust the Mage''s Mana, which took quite a long time. Beasts were mostly helpless in front of Mages, just like warriors. This was not a rock-paper-scissors scenario. Mages just straight-up dominated all the sses. Being the strongest warrior on a level meant being a slightly above-average Mage in terms of Battle- Strength. However, that only counted for the General Stage and up. In the First Realm, the Soldier Stage, the two sides were still about equal. The important part in all of this was that beasts were very dangerous to warriors, and that was why Sarah wanted to learn from Shang how to fight them. Sarah lost every single fight, but she wasn''t distraught. She knew that Shang was essentially fighting like a beast, and he also had the physical power of a beast. As the lesson continued, Sarah managed tost longer and longer. She was using her hammer less as a weapon to end the fight instantly but as a means to keep Shang at an appropriate distance from her. Shang''s weakness was that he couldn''t directly block the hammer. He had to evade or parry it. Every time Sarah managed to force Shang to block, he would umte injuries. However, one wrong move from Sarah and the fight would end. This meant that Sarah had to be perfect, and she had to anticipate every single potential move Shang could make. If she were fighting a beast, that wouldn''t be so hard, but she was essentially fighting a human in the body of a beast. Shang had a lot of creativity in his fighting style. So, when teacher Loran ended the lesson after three hours, Sarah still hadn''t won a single time. Chapter 106 At the end of the lesson, teacher Loran informed all the students about stuff he had noticed during the fights. He informed them where they had made a mistake and where they should have performed better. That also included Shang. "I can''t say much about your fight with Sarah, but I can give you some feedback on your fight with Astor," teacher Loran said. Shang nodded. "Ignoring the first fight, in your second fight, you haven''t paid any attention to your surroundings. The ground is rather hard here, but it isn''t unbreakable. The academy could have made the ground unbreakable for Soldier Stage warriors, but that wouldn''t reflect a realistic battlefield." "You might have also noticed that the training field isn''t without obstacles," teacher Loran said as he pointed to a column near the edge of the arena. Shang looked over and saw a column about a meter wide and two meters high. It was made of an unknown material that looked a bit like metal. "The edge of the training field belongs to the training field, and these columns are included. They have been ced in the arena as obstacles. In your fight against Astor, you should have realized that his sword needs a lot of room to swing." "Usually, being with your back against a wall is a bad idea, but if it''s only a column, it can help you. Astor would have only been able to attack you with the tip of his sword and not the entire thing if the column was right behind you. If he extended too much and you stepped to the side, his sword would hit the column and bounce off or crack it, essentially robbing him of all his momentum." "Additionally, you could have moved around it and use several stabs from the sides. Eventually, Astor would need to step away from that ce and gain distance. At the moment when he steps away, you should use the column as a foothold to throw yourself at him to continue the fight with you on the offensive. If your offensive gets broken, retreat to the column." "Another good way to win the fight is to retreat when Astor releases his swing. Every swing of his takes a lot of power and drains his stamina considerably. You have the advantage in speed, and by jumping in and out, you can exhaust him. Of course, you can''t allow yourself to make any mistakes. If Astor sees your feint, he will use his swing to further his momentum instead of using it." "When you closed in on Astor, you noticed that he is very good at defending his vital points. Attacking someone''s vital points is a big undertaking and will leave you open if you fail. Astor only has to hit you once to win the weapon due to his sheer power." "Usually, going for the kill is the quickest way to end the fight, but the quickest way isn''t always the safest or best way. When you slid beneath Astor''s sword, you shouldn''t have tried to attack his heart but his legs. You could have tried to flee beneath his legs to avoid his strike. He has a lot of power and great defense, but his flexibility is a weakness that you have to exploit." Shang took note of all of teacher Loran''s lessons, and he learned a lot. Earlier, he had thought that he had already lost after falling for Astor''s feint, but there had actually been a way out. Now, Shang knew what he could have done. "As you''ve seen, Mattheo is using pressure and relentless offense to deal with Astor. You don''t have the ability yet to release such an explosive offense, which is why you should avoid doing that. Instead, try to win in the long run by slowly exhausting and injuring him to death." "Of course, all of this is theory, and I only gave you a way to fight better against the abilities Astor has shown. He has plenty more abilities for all kinds of situations, but you have to see them for yourself for when you manage to actually put up a proper fight against him." "In this ss, you learn about how to deal with opponents. That''s why I''m exining to you what you should have done in your fight. If you want feedback on your specific techniques, you should enter Mervin''s lesson. He''s the teacher for sword techniques." After teacher Loran said that, he went to the next student without even waiting to see if Shang had any questions. Shang had noticed that teacher Loran also hadn''t given any other student the chance to ask questions. It seemed like he wasn''t a fan of answering questions. After giving every student their feedback, teacher Loran left the training field rather quickly, leaving the students alone. Astor left rather quickly. He seemed busy. Mattheo talked andughed with a couple of other students and left with them. Elver, the green-haired boy that insulted Shang, looked at Shang, snorted, and walked away without saying anything. "So, your questions?" Sarah asked Shang with a neutral voice. Shang hadn''t seen Sarah smile yet. Even when she had proimed her excitement at learning new things, her face hadn''t shown even a hint of a smile. It was like she was serious 24/7. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "You have a Metal Affinity, correct?" Shang asked. Sarah nodded. "Yes. Please keep your questions about my person as infrequent as possible," she answered tly. Shang nodded. "I wanted to know since I am most interested in your knowledge of metals, materials, and weapons." "That makes sense," Sarah answered. "Your weapon is your biggest weakness currently. What do you want to know?" "What kind of ore should I use to create a stronger weapon?" Shang asked. "Depends on your Affinity and your control over it," Sarah answered. "There are weapons that can gain additional power with certain Affinities as long as they are made of the correct materials and by an experienced cksmith." Shang wasn''t sure what he should say regarding his Affinity. Should he say he didn''t have one? In that case, he wouldn''t know what he should do with his weapon. Should he say he had one? In that case, questions would appear about what kind of Affinity Shang had. Sarah noticed Shang''s hesitation with a neutral expression. "Both it is then." Shang felt a bit guilty for having to keep this a secret. "Thanks," he silently said. "If you don''t have an Affinity, it''s simple. The more powerful the metal, the better," Sarah exined. "However, you have to pay attention to what kind of powerful metal you buy." "Your sword is rather thin, which means it needs metal that can bend by a bit. Going all-in on hardness could get problematic since that would make it easier for your sword to break." "However, all of that isn''t an issue. All the different merchants selling ore know what they are doing. As long as they can see your weapon, they know what kind of ore you should get. Of course, I''m only referring to the good and professional merchants. Don''t expect good service from someone that sells ore for cheap. You might get unsuitable ore." Shang nodded. "As for Affinities, that''s a bit moreplex. In terms of a Pure Affinity, it isn''t much of an issue. You simply want a metal that has the same Affinity as your Affinity and the fitting characteristics for your weapon." "If you have an Impure Affinity, which is a mixed Affinity created out of two or more Pure Affinities, you will have it much harder. However, the issue with creating such a weapon isn''t the materials but the cksmith. You need a cksmith that can smelt metals of different Affinities together, and those cksmiths are very expensive." "If you have the luck to run across a fitting piece of ore with an Impure Affinity, you can also give that to the cksmith. However, those kinds of ores are very rare and very valuable. They are outside your price range as long as you are a Soldier Stage warrior." "As for the uses of weapons with Affinities, they can store and unleash Mana. In the Soldier Stage, that is not something you can freely use during a fight since weck the amount of Mana to make our Affinities powerful enough to deal actual damage." "We need to store the Mana in the weapon before the fight over a long period of time, and we can unleash the stored Mana during that fight. In that way, we can unleash an elemental attack with power far above our usual output." "You''ve seen Mattheo fight. All the explosions around hime from the stored Mana in his gauntlets. He''s releasing them in a controlled manner to increase his speed and power. He could have also unleashed everything at once in a big explosion, but that would have injured him too." "Additionally, that doesn''t work against Astor. He already tried it before." "And the ten minutes are up. See you next time," Sarah said before turning around to leave. Shang blinked a couple of times. That was already ten minutes? But¡­ where could he get the money for that ore? Where should he buy it? Could he get it cheaper somewhere? Did Sarah know of specific ore Shang could use? Shang still had so many questions. But in the end, Shang only sighed. ''Well, I only fought with her for one lesson. If I got all my questions answered immediately, it would be a bit bad.'' ''Anyway, I learned a lot about Affinities and weapons. At least I know what I should pay attention to and what these kinds of weapons can do.'' Shang looked at the empty training field for one long moment. Just one lesson. Shang had learned so much in just one lesson. Sure enough, it had been the correct decision to join the Warrior''s Academy. Chapter 107 Shang slowly walked away from the training field, scratching his chin as he thought about how he should proceed. ''My goal is obviously power. To get there, I need to increase my Battle-Strength since I can''t work on my level right now. To increase my Battle-Strength, I need more experience. I''m very good at fighting against beasts, and I''m more than fine with Battle-Strength in that regard.'' ''So, logically, I should work on my Battle-Strength against humans. However, the issue is that I can''t even properly fight other humans since my weapon gets destroyed with basically every attack. So, the first priority should be my weapon.'' ''Sarah has taught me a lot about Affinities and weapons, and I''m pretty confident that I should get ore fitting for my Affinity.'' ''Now, the question is, how do I have tobine the ore to make it work? If I were tobine the four different Affinities I have that I know of, do I need to get one-quarter of each, or do I need to get a full load of each?'' Shang wanted to look at his sword, but he remembered that he wasn''t allowed to pull it out without a very good reason. ''That''s the issue. Do I need all of it or just a bit? I mean, the logical first step would be to buy two units of ore with a Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness Affinity. If that still isn''t enough, I can simply buy more.'' ''Luckily, my weapon isn''t simple, and I don''t need a cksmith. The God gave me the weapon precisely due to the absence of powerful cksmiths at the higher levels. He said it''s too much to force me to ze two paths at once. So, ording to him, I don''t need a cksmith. I probably only need to put my sword close to the ore.'' ''Can my sword handle multiple Affinities? Oh, why am I even asking? I think the God thought of that. I don''t think that something like that is too hard for him.'' ''So, first step, get two Units of ore for everything, and to get there, I need money or Contribution Points.'' ''I still need to ask Sarah where I can get the ore rtively cheap, but that has to wait for the next lesson, which should be in two days.'' ''Then, I should earn money and Contribution Points until then.'' Shang walked back to the main building and entered his room. Then, he checked the map in the rulebook again for all the different boards for missions. The exchange hall had the mission board for escort missions and transportation missions. The main gate had missions that took ce in Warrior''s Paradise. Those missions often consisted of someone renting a student for a specific amount of time. It was often for research or for teaching, as in that the student taught the person that submitted the mission. Those missions didn''t give that many rewards. After all, there were plenty of students that wanted to earn Contribution Points without risking their lives in the outside. Due to the great number of students willing to ept these missions, the rewards were very low. After all, even if 99% of students wouldn''t ept a mission with such low rewards, 1% would still ept it. The main building had a mission board that offered missionsing from different Zones and even other countries. Nearly all of these missions came from the countries themselves or directly from the army. The Soldier Stage students were just that in the army, students. Sure, they were powerful inside the Soldier Stage, but actual armies used General Stage warriors. What would the students be used for? Assistance, low-ranking guards, transportation. Unimportant jobs. So, why ask for students? Two reasons. First of all, the army could pay the students in recognition and knowledge. This meant that the army didn''t need to pay a lot for their help. Students also didn''t mind the low rewards since they would learn a lot and also get acquainted with a couple of officers in the army. That would make it far easier to join the army in the future. Second, the students from this academy had a bright future ahead of them, and by having them inside their army for a while, the likelihood of a student joining said army would increase. Shang remembered that one female officer he had met in Blizzard''s Edge. She had said that she was also part of the Warrior''s Academy. Shang had wondered why she was there, but now it made sense. She had probably epted one of these missions. ''Wait a sec,'' Shang suddenly thought as he realized something. ''She was in the General Stage, right? And she said that she was part of the Warrior''s Academy, right?'' ''So, does that mean that she is part of that special training program? Additionally, she is obviously a member of the ones with the blue uniforms, the ones that want to be officers in the future.'' Shang blinked a couple of times. ''Wow, back then, I thought that basically all the students in this academy were outstanding, but she''s in a league of her own. She''s probably well on her way to the Commander Stage.'' ''Huh, I guess I met a future knight. Who woulda thought?'' ''Anyway, back to the missions. I think I should ept some of the missions near the north of the academy.'' What missions were in the north? N?velDrama.Org owns ? this. Beast hunting. Beast hunting gave a lot of rewards, and Shang wouldn''t need to travel very far. After all, Warrior''s Paradise was just a stone''s throw away from the wilderness. However, the missions were dangerous. Going alone into the wilderness could end in tragedy. Just one wrong move and one might actually stumble across a beast they couldn''t defeat. Only confident hunters epted these missions, and they often went in pairs as insurance. But for Shang, these missions were perfect. Shang left the room and walked towards the south first. When he arrived at the market, Shang bought a couple of beast sacks. Teacher Mervin had delivered the corpse of the Pest Cat, which included the beast sack. When Shang asked for beast sacks, he simply got several of them handed to him, free of charge. The academy wanted to encourage people to hunt beasts, which was why the beast sacks were free. After getting his beast sacks, Shang went towards the north. He walked past the training fields until he reached an area close to the city walls. There, he saw a big board with plenty of missions hanging on it. Then, Shang looked at the missions. Chapter 108 The mission board was absolutely filled with missions. The other mission boards couldn''tpare at all to this one, which made sense. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. Warrior''s Paradise was a gigantic city fully focused on economy. People from all over the world came here to get rare materials from rare beasts, and the reason why Warrior''s Paradise could get these rare materials was its very location. It was in the middle of three differently ranked wildernesses. Of course, the most important was the Canyon. The Canyon housed many beasts in the Third Realm, and those were the desirable ones for the city and the people visiting it. However, to keep such a high-ranked wilderness healthy, there had to be lower-ranked wildernesses in its vicinity. A beast in the Third Realm couldn''t just have its children in such a highly ranked wilderness. After all, how will the beasts learn to fend for themselves and be more powerful? This wasn''t Earth where it was natural for a beast to reach the power of its parents. No, the offspring of a beast in the Third Realm would barely reach the Initial Second Realm before it counted as fully grown. At that point, it needed to be more powerful by hunting powerful beasts. Because of that, basically all offspring of the truly powerful beasts were sent to an area filled with beasts in the First Realm. The offspring still had a definite advantage in the First Realm since it came from such a powerful bloodline, but that would change in the Second Realm. That was why these lower-ranked wildernesses acted as a training ground for the offspring of powerful beasts. The offspring would learn to fight in these areas, and they would have to truly prove themselves in areas housing beasts in the Second Realm. And only when they managed to get through all the other beasts could they go to the Canyon. So, even though the Canyon was the most important wilderness around Warrior''s Paradise, it couldn''t exist without the Wastnd and the Wild Forest. Without these two, new beasts in the Third Realm would be extremely rare, and Warrior''s Paradise would inevitably eradicate the powerful beasts. However, the Wild Forest and the Wastnd still needed a lot of maintenance. First of all, the beast poption had to be kept in ce, or the beasts would start spilling over into the other wildernesses or even attack the Farm Line. Second, there were several beast kinds that specifically hunted talented young beasts, and those were bad for Warrior''s Paradise for obvious reasons. No talented offspring, no new Third Realm beasts. And since there were three wildernesses around Warrior''s Paradise, the missions regarding beasts were insanely numerous. ''Capture a newborn Spear Stork,'' Shang read in his mind when he saw one particr mission. This mission had caught his eye due to the familiar name. ''Spear Stork. That was the kind of bird that was killed by the ballista when I first arrived here. Teacher Loran said that it was in the Third Realm, the Commander Stage,'' Shang remembered. ''Capture it? Why? The mission has been submitted by the Mana Austerum based on the mission slip. Well, I guess something like a Spear Stork has an Affinity for Wind. Maybe the Mana Austerum wants to study it?'' ''Also, what''s that reward? Four training slips? Is that for the special training, or what''s that for? I should askter.'' Shang looked over the other missions as well. Nearly all the missions were about killing certain beasts, but there were also a couple of missions that wanted materials. For these missions, it didn''t matter how one obtained these materials. Of course, the reason why these missions even existed was that they were either cheaper to get from the academy or they were simply not avable. Therefore, epting the mission, buying them, and submitting them would be a loss. If that worked, the submitter of the mission would have done that themselves. ''Lots of special beasts I have never heard of,'' Shang thought. ''I don''t even know what a Doomeye Lizard is. Also, what the hell is a Grimface?'' After looking at the missions for a while, Shang noticed an issue. He had no idea what kind of beasts the missions wanted. Sure, he had the name, but he needed a description of their features, at least. It was important to know which beasts could be hunted and which couldn''t. Sure, around 90% of beasts were free to be killed by everyone, but the 10% that were forbidden from being hunted were important. If the city noticed that someone had hunted a beast on the cklist, the hunter would need to give up the corpse and pay a hefty fine. This meant that the hunter had literally risked their life to pay a hefty fine. ''Well, seems like I should stay with the base missions for now,'' Shang thought as he looked to a smaller board to the side. Base missions were different from normal missions. Normal missions were individual missions that had been submitted by a client. Base missions, on the other hand, were directly given by the academy itself. Those missions also had descriptions of the targets on them. Shang looked at the base mission at the top. ''Eradicate all Pest Cats. Makes sense,'' Shang thought. ''Wait! 21 Contribution Points? I''m pretty sure that someone like teacher Mervin wouldn''t steal a single Contribution Point from a student. So, does that mean that the reward has increased in thest couple of days?'' Shang looked over the mission and noticed that he didn''t need to register for that mission. Usually, someone needed to register for a mission if they wanted to ept it. The registering process would then lock the mission to that person, which stopped two people from going out to do the same mission. But for these base missions, registering wasn''t necessary. Why? Because there was no limit to the number of targets. No matter how many corpses one brought, the academy would reward each and every one of them. Speaking of corpses, Shang noticed that he didn''t actually need to bring over the entire corpse for the reward. He only needed to bring two Pest Cat ears as proof. Something interesting Shang noticed was that the eradication of the Pest Cats wasn''t the only base mission, and it also wasn''t the only one without a target limit. There were three more. ''Swamp Millipede?'' Shang thought as he looked at the next mission. The first thing that caught Shang''s eye was the reward. ''50 Contribution Points!'' Shang thought with interest. Then, he looked at the description. ''A purplish-ck millipede with a Poison Affinity. It transforms its nest and surroundings into a poisonous swamp, severely damaging the nts and ruining the forest. They can be found in the northeastern Wild Forest,'' Shang read in his mind. ''Poison Affinity?'' Shang thought with furrowed brows, but a bitter, he realized something. ''The Empress Cobra Zone is to the northeast, and teacher Mervin said that the Empress Cobra has a Poison Affinity. I guess this is an invasive species.'' Shang continued reading. ''Huh, they are at the same level as Pest Cats generally, which is the Middle Soldier Stage, but they have elemental abilities, which makes them more dangerous. That''s also why they are worth more.'' ''I should keep an eye out for them.'' Then, Shang looked at the next mission. ''Life Scarab? That doesn''t really sound dangerous,'' Shang thought while reading the mission. ''Interesting. They find a tree and bind with it. Then, they absorb the light in the surroundings and infuse the tree with lots of Mana. The tree wildly mutates, which usually results in it destroying the other nts around it and bing quite powerful. After the mutation, the tree is subservient to the light scarab.'' ''One of the major reasons why they are a huge problem is that they don''t kill to feed. They basically kill everything thates close to them, no matter what it is. However, without the Life Scarab, the tree will quickly die.'' ''200 Contribution Points as a reward since the tree usually exhibits power in the Late Soldier Stage. They can be found in the northwestern forest.'' ''As it stands right now, I should go to the northwestern forest. There are simply more rewards there. However, I should look at thest mission first.'' Shang looked at thest mission, and his eyes widened. ''Vanishing Snake.'' ''2,000 Contribution Points!'' Chapter 109 ''Vanishing Snake: In life trouble, in death trouble,'' Shang read in his mind with surprise. Why surprise? Because 2,000 Contribution Points was a lot! With just one snake, Shang could buy one unit of ore. Shang definitely was interested in the big reward. ''Descendants of General Stage beasts. However, the General Stage variant only lives in swampy areas. The powerful adult Vanishing Snakes put their young in the Wild Forest, and the young remain there until they be powerful enough to go back to the Empress Cobra Zone.'' ''The Vanishing Snakes are atypical snakes due to their teeth. Inparison to normal snakes, Vanishing Snakes don''t have poisonous teeth but a full set of sharp fangs.'' ''The Vanishing Snakes have a Metal Affinity, and with their sharp teeth, they infuse their prey with the destructive power of metal, making the insides of their prey bleed furiously.'' ''The Vanishing Snakes are a menace in three ways.'' ''One: They are experts at assassination, and they are not afraid of humans. The Vanishing Snake is the beast that kills the most Soldier Stage hunters each year in the Storm Eagle Zone.'' ''Two: Vanishing Snakes can birth offspring after their death. In their lives, Vanishing Snakes will procreate with one partner, and the female Vanishing Snake will store the fertilized eggs until she dies unless she reaches the General Stage and finds a good spot.'' ''When the eggs get into contact with stomach acid, theye out of hibernation and start growing. The eggshells are sticky and will stick to the lining of the stomach. Eventually, the young will eat the target that has eaten their mother from the inside out.'' ''Three: The Vanishing Snake has ess to a gas that causes targets to fall into a deep sleep. During combat, the effects of this gas are negligible, but if a Vanishing Snake manages to sneak up on someone without their notice, it can have devastating results.'' ''Humans will very quickly realize that the sudden onset of tiredness is unnatural, but beasts won''t. Vanishing Snakes are not very big, and they can move very silently, hence the name.'' ''With the sleeping gas, the Vanishing Snake is one of the very few beasts that can take down beasts a Realm above them.'' ''There have been cases of Vanishing Snakes killing the guarding dogs in the Farm Line.'' Shang''s eyes opened wide. He still remembered the dogs he had seen in the Farm Line. Even now, Shang was very certain that he couldn''t kill one of them. They were simply too fast and powerful. However, with the sleeping gas, the Vanishing Snakes could even kill these dogs. After having read all of this, Shang realized why the reward was that massive. This thing was the biggest danger to Warrior''s Paradise out of all beasts in the First Realm. It was probably also responsible for a lot of deaths among the students. ''It''s also in the northeastern part of the Wild Forest,'' Shang thought. ''So, to summarize, Pest Cats are everywhere, Life Scarabs are in the northwest, and Swamp Millipedes and Vanishing Snakes are in the northeast.'' That was when Shang realized something else. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. ''Swamp Millipedes and Vanishing Snakes? The mission said that adult Vanishing Snakes only live in the Empress Cobra Zone. However, if the Swamp Millipedes manage to turn the northeastern Wild Forest into a swamp, even the adults wille here.'' ''It''s almost like the poisonous swamp of the Empress Cobra Zone wants to expand. Inparison, the northwestern forest has it easier. Sure, they have the Life Scarabs, but they can''tpare to the Vanishing Snakes in terms of threat to the environment and humans.'' ''I think I should go to the northeastern Wild Forest since the reward is higher, but it''s also more dangerous. I can deal with all kinds of beasts, but I can''t deal with beasts I can''t see.'' Shang scratched his chin in thought. He wondered if there was a way to find them. Shang looked around at the other people. He had been standing here for quite a while, and a lot of people hade and gone from the mission board. After a while, Shang''s eyes shone when he saw someone. It was a man in histe 20s. He didn''t wear the silver uniforms of the teachers but a ck uniform. The students with the ck uniforms wanted to be hunters. Quick thinking people probably had already noticed something strange. A student in theirte 20s? Shouldn''t someone like that be in the General Stage? And yes, this man was in the General Stage. However, he was also still a student. That meant that he was a member of the special training the academy offered. "Excuse me," Shang said politely to the man. "Hm?" the man uttered as he looked at Shang. "Yes?" "I''m nning on going to the northeastern forest for the first time. I wanted to ask if there is a way for me to find the Vanishing Snakes before they find me?" Shang asked. The man looked Shang up and down with a bored gaze. "No, they''re too good at hiding. You can only trust your instincts. If your instincts are telling you that you are in danger, you are in danger. React appropriately, and you will be fine." "Thank you for your advice," Shang said politely. "No problem," the man said. Then, he pulled down a mission for a General Stage beast and left in a bored manner. "How did you do that?" Shang looked to his other side when he heard someone say that. It was a student about 17 years old, and he wore a yellow uniform. "Do what?" Shang asked. "Get Yiral to answer you," the student said with surprise. "The guy just now?" Shang asked. The student nodded. "I just asked." That made the student frown. "I''ve seen many people ask Yiral about the northeastern forest, but he always tells them that they shouldn''t go there. He always says that they are too inexperienced and that they should go to the northwestern forest." "But when you asked him, he answered." Shang hadn''t known that he had been treated differently from the other students just now, which surprised him a bit. After all, the guy had just answered a random question. "I''m very experienced when ites to beasts, and I have been in a wilderness for over six months without interruption before," Shang said. "I guess he noticed that." The student blinked a couple of times in shock and surprise. "Six months in the wilderness?" Usually, that student would never believe that. After all, how old was Shang? 15? Why would a 15- year-old stay in the wilderness for half a year? However, when he thought about how Yiral had just acted, he started to believe it. Obviously, Yiral was looking out for the younger students by telling them not to go to the northeastern forest, but when it came to Shang, he apparently felt like it wasn''t necessary. That meant that Yiral probably thought that Shang could go to the northeastern forest. After realizing that, the student tried to get acquainted with Shang, but Shang very quickly left. Shang simply didn''t want to be distracted from bing stronger. And then, Shang left the academy. It was time to go to the northeastern forest. Chapter 110 Shang exited the academy for the first time on his own. He had only left it once before, which was when teacher Mervin took him to hunt the Pest Cat. Back then, Shang hadn''t had the opportunity to look at the city properly during the daytime. Warrior''s Paradise was bustling. There were people everywhere, and the merchants put up stalls at nearly every corner of the road. As Shang passed through the streets, he saw quite a big number of General Stage warriors. Most of them wore brown armor made of leather, and, surprisingly, many of them also wore cloaks made of Pest Cat fur. The reason was obvious. During the night, the Pest Cats were great at hiding themselves, and the ck cloaks could also be used by the hunters to hide. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. However, inparison to Shang''s cloak, which he wasn''t wearing at the moment, their cloaks had been made with far more skill. Most of them wore their cloaks as capes. From what Shang could see, the hunters could pull on a string, which made the cloak pull together at the back, transforming it from a cloak into a cape. ''I should buy one of thoseter,'' Shang thought. Sadly, while walking through the streets, Shang also noticed something else, and he definitely didn''t like that. He saw several weaker people avoid him. Some mothers were pushing their children away from him, and several men quietly put their hands over their sacks of money. As soon as Shang noticed that, he got reminded of the words from that one guard near Duke Whirlwind''s garden. ''You keep acting like a shifty criminal. If you don''t fix that, you will see women protect their children and men protect their money,'' Shang remembered with frustration. Sure enough, that hade to pass. Shang could only sigh. ''I really should work on that. Otherwise, I will be questioned by nearly every guard Ie across. Buying things will probably also be harder outside the academy.'' Shang also saw several Mages in the streets. Most of them simply ignored him, but there were a couple of them that threw Shang some annoyed nces. If Shang weren''t constantly scanning his surroundings out of habit, he wouldn''t have noticed these nces. Those nces represented annoyance and a bit of disgust. Shang didn''t interact with the couple of Mages throwing these nces at him, but his expression became more and more annoyed. ''Most of the Mages I met were very approachable, but obviously, not all of them are like this. There are bound to be some of them that look down on warriors.'' When Shang came to the gates, he saw something quite surprising. He saw someone jump off the street. One had to remember that Warrior''s Paradise was on top of a huge t mountain in the middle of the Wastnd. If one jumped off the street, they would fall for nearly two kilometers. Shang walked to the side and looked down. Just before the person hit the ground, the trajectory of their body suddenly curved toward the front. Then, after around a hundred meters, Shang noticed that they began to slow down. Eventually, they touched the ground with their feet and continued running. For some reason, their fall had been converted into forward momentum. "That''s a wind talisman," a random guy walking on the street shouted to Shang. Obviously, he had noticed that this was the first time Shang had seen something like that. "Wind talisman?" Shang asked. "Yeah. It absorbs the wind of the fall and releases it near the ground to stop the fall. Most experienced hunters around these parts use them," the person exined. "Thank you for exining," Shang shouted back. "No problem. Have fun," the guy said as he continued to Warrior''s Paradise. However, Shang didn''t continue walking. Instead, he continued looking at the Wastnd. He had never truly seen the Wastnd during the day. It was chaos. There were deep crevices and hills everywhere, and Shang could already see several beasts walking through the Wastnd. On top of that, the Wastnd was sorge that Shang couldn''t even see the end of it from this position. One had to know that Shang could see nearly 40 kilometers into the distance from his current position, and he still couldn''t see the end. Additionally, from what Shang was seeing, thend didn''t start curving or anything like on Earth. Shang could see that it continued and continued until the blue color of the air eventually hid the distant lands, and even at that distance, the Wastnd didn''t end. From up here, Shang could also see a couple of hunters fighting. Shang had never seen a General Stage warrior fight before, and he was very interested in the fight. However, from this distance, it was basically impossible to make out anything specific. Shang only saw a couple of hunters jumping around a big beast. Suddenly, Shang''s vision was pulled towards the left as he saw something glint in the distance. Shang barely caught a glimpse of an explosion vanishing a couple of kilometers away. In front of the explosion was someone with long red hair and red robes. Based on context clues, Shang guessed that they were a Mage, probably an Adept. After the smoke of the explosion cleared, Shang could see the body of a beast¡­ or at least what remained of it. It had beenpletely decimated. After looking at the corpse for a bit, Shang noticed something and looked over to the other battlefield. Then, he looked back at the corpse again. ''That''s the same beast!'' Shang thought. Based on the color and the horns, Shang was sure that the two parties had fought the same kind of beast. However, while one side was still fighting with three warriors, the other side had simply unleashed one explosion to end the fight. For the first time, Shang actually saw the difference between Mages and warriors with his own eyes. He had always heard about it, but he had never truly witnessed it himself. Shang imagined the two parties fighting each other. Then, Shang remembered the explosion he had seen. He could still see a several-meter-wide crater. That single explosion would probably end the fight if the hunters were gathered. Aftering to that conclusion, Shang looked at the road beneath him. It was made with Earth Magic. Then, he remembered the Wind Talisman that other hunter had used. That was made with Wind Magic. Shang looked at the city walls. Made with Earth Magic. Shang looked at the gigantic Mana Austerum towering over the city. Magic. Space Rings. Magic. Everything was made with Magic. Shang had known that the Mages were the rulers of this world, but only now did he truly see the power of the Mages. The warriors existed, and they could still reach quite a bit of power, but in the end, they were living in a world of Magic. The Mages were the true rulers. Even the bastion that represented the most powerful warriors in the world, Warrior''s Paradise, was essentially run by Mages. The Mages administrated the city and ruled it. Yes, the dean was probably the most important figure inside Warrior''s Paradise, but even he was probably subservient to Duke Whirlwind. Warrior''s Paradise was owned by a Duke. It wasn''t even a King. Shang hadn''t thought about the Mages very much while he had traveled to Warrior''s Paradise, but he had seen their signs and symbols of power along the way. This world was ruled by Mages. For quite some time, Shang wasn''t sure how he should feel about this. Chapter 111 After watching the Wastnd for a while, Shang left towards the northeastern forest. He ran down the street at afortable pace, and a couple of minutester, Shang arrived at the ce where the road met the actual ground. Shang looked at the sun to check where it was currently. He knew that it was the afternoon, which meant that the sun was in the west. ''Sure enough, the sun acts the same way in this world as it does on Earth. The road ends in the north, and the sun''s currently left from where I am. I doubt I wille out of the Wild Forest before the day is over. I think I should spend the night in the eastern forest and try to hunt as many beasts as I can.'' Shang checked if he had everything he needed and went towards the northeast. The Wild Forest stretched for nearly a hundred kilometers into the east and the west. After a hundred kilometers on either side, one would reach the next Zones. If one went towards the northwest, one would eventually reach the wilderness of the Ice Wyvern Zone, and if one went to the northeast, one would reach the wilderness of the Empress Cobra Zone. The borders between the Farm Line and the Wild Forest had very few beasts due to the scouts and guarding dogs. If Shang wanted to hunt beasts, he would need to travel into the Wild Forest for quite a few kilometers. Shang charged towards the northeast, and as soon as he reached the forest, he jumped onto a tree. Walking on the ground would attract the attention of several beasts. Usually, Shang wouldn''t care about some beasts at the Soldier Stage, but the Wild Forest was under strict management. If Shang identally got noticed by a beast that he wasn''t allowed to kill, it could be troublesome. After all, the leaders of Warrior''s Paradise didn''t care if a hunter was attacked by such a beast. The hunter was not allowed to kill it, even if they were attacked. Shang jumped from tree to tree, and only a couple of minutester, he saw the first beast. It was an orange lizard with red eyes. It was about a meter tall and two meters long. A red frill could be seen around its neck. ''I have no idea what kind of beast that is, but it doesn''t feel dangerous,'' Shang thought. ''From what I''m feeling, I think that beast is in the Middle Soldier Stage. Sadly, killing it would be a risk since I don''t know if that thing is on the cklist or not.'' Shang continued jumping from tree to tree as silently as he could, which wasn''t easy. However, he had had enough practice. On his journey, Shang also saw a huge brown boar and bird with a very imposing and angry-looking face. The name of a beast immediately appeared in Shang''s mind when he saw that bird. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. ''Grimface,'' Shang thought. ''I remember looking at a mission that was about a Grimface. I guess that bird is a Grimface, right? I mean, the face certainly fits.'' ''Sadly, I don''t know what the client actually wants from the beast. Additionally, I didn''t even ept the mission. I''m unsure if it''s a problem if I kill the target before epting the mission.'' Shang continued traveling toward the northeast for another hour. By jumping from tree to tree, Shang''s speed had taken a considerable hit. At most, he was maybe ten kilometers into the forest. That was when Shang found one of his targets. On the ground in front of Shang was a one-meter-high and about ten-meter-long millipede. It was currently curled around a dying tree on the ground. The ground around it had sunken, and a smelly purple liquid was bubbling inside the sunken ground. ''I guess that''s a Swamp Millipede,'' Shang thought. ''50 Contribution Points for each. I only need to bring its two feelers to get the reward.'' At the moment, the Swamp Millipede was only moving slightly, which showed that it was alive. Luckily, it hadn''t noticed Shang yet. ''Middle Soldier Stage, just as the mission slip stated,'' Shang thought. ''However, inparison to Pest Cats, Swamp Millipedes have elemental attacks. I haven''t fought something with a Poison Affinity yet, but I can imagine that being hit by poison can be troublesome. I think I should avoid a direct confrontation if I don''t want my trip to be cut short.'' Shang slowly moved around the surrounding trees to check for the Swamp Millipede''s head. Sadly, even after a full round, Shang couldn''t find it. ''I can see its tail and basically its entire body, but the head is nowhere to be seen. Well, I know where the tail is. So, I just have to follow the body until I can find its head.'' Shang looked again, and sure enough, he found the most likely location of the head. ''Its head is inside the tree near the bottom. I can''t hit it from the outside, but I can behead it.'' ''But there is an issue.'' Shang looked at the millipede''s body with a frown. A big chunk of its body had curled around the ce where its head entered the tree. From the side, it was impossible to hit its neck without cutting through its body. However, cutting through its body might not kill it, and it might release some poisonous gas or something simr. Because of that, Shang wanted to kill it in one strike. ''I could hit it from above, but the dead tree is a bit far away. I also can''tnd on the dead tree since it will notice me. Do I really have to fight it head-on?'' Shang frowned as he tried to think of a way. Suddenly, Shang''s eyebrows rose. Then, he looked at his left arm. ''I haven''t truly tried out my new abilities yet. I have a couple more sts after meeting the dean. I wonder¡­'' ''Would that work?'' Silence. ''Well, I should try it.'' ''It shouldn''t be able to feel the Mana since the Mana I give off with my abilities is not part of its Mixed Affinity.'' Shang went to a stable branch near the millipede''s head''s ce and readied himself. Then, he jumped off. Shang traveled into a long arc to gain more distance. He had to travel for nearly 15 meters, which was too much with only a jump. After around eight meters, Shang''s momentum started to go downward. As it looked right now, he would probablynd around three meters away from the millipede''s body. Whoosh! Shang pointed his left arm diagonally towards the ground behind him and used his Ice st. The knockback of the Ice st pushed Shang forward and upward again, extending his jump. In fact, the knockback was so powerful that Shang would hit the tree above the millipede. However, just before Shang hit the tree, he pointed his left arm towards the sky as he readied his sword with his right. Whoosh! A ton of hot wind came out of Shang''s left arm. Shang''s forward and upward momentum waspletely stopped as he shot straight towards the ground at incredible speeds. He was directly above the millipede''s neck! BANG! Shang''s body hit the millipede while his sword cut through its neck with ease. His n had worked! Shang heard some scratching and thrashinge from inside the tree, and the millipede below him was also thrashing around. Shang quickly put his nearly destroyed left arm at the millipede''s body and used his new ability with Darkness Affinity. Shang felt his left arm being healed rapidly, and the body very quickly stopped moving. After a couple of seconds, the body below him shriveled up like it had lost all its life energy and water. Shang remained on the Swamp Millipede''s body for a while, looking at his left arm with furrowed brows. It hadn''tpletely healed. ''I absorbed the life energy of its entire body, but it wasn''t even enough to heal my left arm all the way,'' Shang thought. ''Well, the Swamp Millipede was only in the Middle Soldier Stage. I guess that a more powerful beast would give me more life energy. Luckily, I easily have enough Mana in my body to heal the remaining injuries on my left arm.'' ''Oh, it stopped moving?'' Shang thought as he noticed that he stopped hearing the sound of scrapping coming from inside the tree. Shang stood up on the millipede''s body and put his sword into the cut-off neck inside the dead tree. After that, Shang pulled the head out. It wasn''t easy, but with enough force, it worked. The tree was dead anyway, so Shang didn''t care if he damaged it. The head came out, and Shang quickly cut off its two feelers. However, while cutting off the feelers, Shang got distracted by the hole in the dead tree. Then, his eyes widened. Chapter 112 What did Shang see in the hole inside the dead tree? More Swamp Millipedes, but smaller. No wonder that thing had its head pointed into the dead tree. It was probably nursing its young. The little Swamp Millipedes were only around half a meter long and quite thin. At the moment, Shang could see them squiggling around in a ball. ''Lucky!'' Shang thought with a grin. ''Those are at least ten, which means I get another 500 Contribution Points.'' Did Shang feel bad about killing them? No. First of all, they were a menace to nature, and second of all, they were insects. It was just natural for a human to feel less empathy for insects. Shang looked at his left arm, which had healed by now. Then, Shang put his hand into the hole and pointed it at the ball. Shang used his Ice st, and the ball froze over in an instant. Of course, Shang''s arm nearly burned off, but he quickly saved it by using a Fire st in a random direction. However, his arm was still bleeding heavily, and it would need some time to heal. Luckily, the bone wasn''t injured, which meant that Shang wouldn''t need to use as much Mana. The inherent Mana inside his body should heal the arm pretty quickly. A couple secondster, Shang''s arm was fully healed. However, his Mana was dangerously low. In his spars against the other students, Shang had been able to heal his broken foot a couple of times, but that had only been a small foot. This time, it was his entire arm. His Mana had to heal way more mass. After healing his arm, Shang took out the frozen ball of Swamp Millipedes and put it inside his beast sack together with the feelers of the adult version. ''That should be around 500 Contribution Points or something like that. Kind of hard to count how many young are inside the ball.'' ''Let''s see. I need at least 2,000 Contribution Points per unit of ore since the cheapest Rank Two ore cost that much. However, since I need ore with specific Affinities, I will probably need more. Additionally, I need two units per Affinity.'' ''If I say that each unit of ore costs 3,500 since I have rare Affinities, I would need 28,000 Contribution Points.'' Shang took a deep breath when he finished his calction. ''So, this ball of Swamp Millipedes isn''t even a fiftieth of what I need. Oh boy,'' Shang thought. ''That''s a lot of work, but I think that''s to be expected. The other students have been in the academy for over four years. Over four years, they have probably done a lot of missions.'' ''If they earned 100 Contribution Points per day, which is definitely possible, they could have easily earned way over 100,000 Contribution Points in four years. It''s definitely possible to earn 28,000 Contribution Points, but it takes time and effort.'' Shang sighed. ''I certainly don''t like the thought of going into the wilderness every day to kill beasts that aren''t even a danger to me, but I guess work isn''t supposed to be fun. After all, it''s work.'' ''Anyway, I should continue,'' Shang thought as he put the beast sack over his shoulder. It was very light at the moment since nearly nothing was in it, but it was still a bit annoying to carry it around. ''I need a Space Ring. However, I will also get something that allows me to store my stuff when I reach the General Stage. That kind of makes a Space Ring not worth it.'' As Shang continued towards the northeast, the sun continued going down. The afternoon had passed, and evening had arrived. Shang saw several more beasts on his journey, but he still had no idea if he was allowed to kill them or not. That was until he found some blood and signs of dragging on the ground. Shang''s eyes lit up. Shang followed the signs and found a hidden burrow beneath a tree. Just like thest time, Shang lured the Pest Cat out of its burrow by throwing his sword in front of one of the entrances, but this time, the Pest Cat fled out of another exit. Shang quickly killed it, cut off its ears, and looked into the burrow. After a minute, Shang came out of the burrow with a sigh. ''No young.'' Shang jumped back to the trees and continued journeying to the northeast. He had decided that he would go deep into the forest. Right now, he was still in an area where a lot of students and hunters went to, which meant that the number of kible beasts was rtively low. If Shang wanted to make his trip profitable, he would need to enter deep into the forest. A couple minutester, Shang saw another Swamp Millipede, but this time, it was in the middle of a clearing in a big puddle. It was about as big as the other Swamp Millipede. What was the Swamp Millipede doing? It was oozing out purplish liquid like a slug and munching on the surrounding earth. Shang decided to watch the Swamp Millipede for a while. Over the next minutes, Shang saw that the Swamp Millipede ate up all the grass in its surroundings and reced it with ck saliva. Shang saw that ck saliva slowly mix with the purplish liquid around the Swamp Millipede, and as soon as the two liquids came into contact with each other, they started sizzling. A bit of ck smoke came out of the sizzling liquid, and it entered the Swamp Millipede''s body again. ''Did it convert the life energy of the fertile earth into smoke, which it then absorbed?'' Shang thought. ''I mean, the Poison Affinity is a mix of the Water Affinity and Darkness Affinity. If my Darkness Affinity can absorb life energy, the Swamp Millipede can probably do something simr.'' After watching the Swamp Millipede for a bit, Shang charged at it with all of his speed. Thest Swamp Millipede had been a problem since it had been positioned weirdly, with its head protected. This one was just in the open. The Swamp Millipede noticed Shang, but it was already toote. One shouldn''t forget that the Swamp Millipede was at the Middle Soldier Stage while Shang was at the Peak Soldier Stage. Together with Shang''s advantage of surprise and his impressive speed, the Swamp Millipede couldn''t even react before Shang cut its head in two. This one also didn''t have a nest, sadly. After cutting off the feelers, Shang continued traveling to the northeast. Over the next two hours, Shang killed a couple more Pest Cast and Swamp Millipedes. As his journey continued, they became more frequent. Sadly, he hadn''t found another nest. Shang had just killed another Swamp Millipede and just wanted to go when he felt that something wasn''t right. For some reason, he felt really uneasy. He felt like he was being watched by something dangerous. Shang narrowed his eyes because he knew what was happening. ''Is there a Vanishing Snake eyeing me?'' he thought. Shang looked around, but he couldn''t see anything. He looked at the trees, the grass, the ground, the bushes, at everything. However, he saw absolutely nothing. Shang was pretty certain that a Vanishing Snake was around, but even when he knew that it was there, he couldn''t find it. Yet, a couple of secondster, the feeling of being watched vanished. ''It probably saw that I noticed something and decided to retreat.'' Content ? N?velDrama.Org. ''Fitting name. It''s truly like it has vanished.'' ''Now, I can understand why that older student always dissuades people froming here. If someone doesn''t have a lot of experience in the wilderness, the Vanishing Snakes would be the death of them. I knew it was there, but I still couldn''t find it.'' ''If that thing is that good at hiding, probably not even I would be able to react appropriately if I don''t sense it early.'' ''That thing truly is worthy of 2,000 Contribution Points.'' Chapter 113 After waiting for a couple more minutes, Shang noticed that the dangerous feeling didn''t return. Apparently, the Vanishing Snake had vanished. Shang put the beast sack back on his back. It still was rather light since he only harvested ears and feelers. By now, the sun was near the horizon. Soon, it would be night. ''I should be able to find a lot more Pest Cats in the night. I''ve already found quite a few during the evening when they are hiding, which means that I will find even more during the night.'' ''This definitely isn''t like Duke Whirlwind''s garden. Duke Whirlwind''s garden didn''t have that many actual beasts. Most of the things in Duke Whirlwind''s garden were animals.'' ''When I came to this world, I thought that the God put me in some dangerous area, but only now do I realize that he really had put me in some sort of tutorial area. If he had put me in this forest, I wouldn''t even have survived a day probably.'' ''The most dangerous beasts in Duke Whirlwind''s garden had been the Pest Cats, and there hadn''t even been that many. Sure, there have also been some more powerful beasts, but they were rare. On top of that, the Ice Spear Bear waspletely isted in theke and only appeared in the winter. If I didn''t search for it, I wouldn''t have found it.'' Shang continued towards the northeast, and soon enough, night hit. As soon as thest glimmer of light vanished, the entire feeling of the forest changed, and a familiar feeling appeared in Shang''s heart. This was just like back when he had been in Duke Whirlwind''s garden at night. It was a feeling of pressure and unknown. It was like every nook and cranny could hide a powerful beast. Shang knew that he wasn''t in much danger since he counted as basically the strongest entity in this forest, but he still felt a bit nervous. His instincts simply told him that he had to be careful. Shang continued traveling towards the northeast and killed a couple more Pest Cats. Sure enough, Shang found one nearly every five minutes as soon as night hit. Luckily, since he was at the Peak of the Soldier Stage, his eyesight was pretty good. However, even that wouldn''t have been enough to find that many Pest Cats. So, how did Shang find so many? Because Shang found something interesting. As soon as the night hit, the Darkness Mana in the surroundings started to be denser. Yes, ever since Shang had absorbed the Darkness Mana Source, he had been able to feel Darkness Mana. He was also able to feel Light and Fire Mana, but those two skills were irrelevant at the moment. The fact that feeling Fire Mana was useless was logical, but why was feeling Light Mana useless? Shouldn''t he have been able to feel his surroundings during the day by feeling the Light Mana? Well, it depended on the location. The Wild Forest was thick, and not a lot of light reached the ground. Because of that, during the day, the Darkness and Light Mana had actually been in bnce. There wasn''t enough of either of them to feel the surroundings. But now, during the night, Shang could use the Darkness Mana to feel out his surroundings. It definitely wasn''t very urate, and it didn''t have that much range, but it was something. Shang could only perceive a bit of movement regarding Mana. If something without much Mana moved, like the wind or branches, he wouldn''t be able to feel that. However, if something with a lot of Mana moved, the Mana in their own being shoved the Darkness Mana to the side. But when it came to Pest Cats, it was a bit different. Shang couldn''t feel them push the Darkness Mana to the side but gathering it. It was like they were attracting it and gathering it. Shang guessed that this cloak of Darkness Mana was the reason why the Pest Cats were able to move that silently. As Shang used his new ability, he also noticed something else. Up in the sky, something was discing Darkness Mana, and it was discing a lot. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang guessed that something was flying above him, above the forest, and it was quite powerful. Shang wasn''t certain how powerful it was, but it felt more powerful than any of the beasts he had seen before in this forest. Shang couldn''t see the flying thing due to the trees, and he certainly didn''t want to aggravate whatever was flying there by climbing above the trees to take a look. If Shang knew more about the beasts in this forest, he would certainly take a look. However, as it was now, he didn''t know whether he was allowed to kill it or not. If that thing up there was on the cklist, and he provoked it, he would have to flee until it gave up. It was better to just let it fly around in the sky. Suddenly, Shang''s eyes narrowed, and he stopped moving. The feeling had returned. Another Vanishing Snake was near. Shang didn''t move at all. Last time, he had scared the Vanishing Snake off by looking around frantically, and he didn''t want that to happen again. The Vanishing Snakes were exactly the reason why Shang hade here. One of them was worth 2,000 Contribution Points! Even with all of Shang''s hunting up to now, he barely earned 900 Contribution Points. Shang concentrated on his Darkness Vision and closed his eyes. He had already learned earlier that it was impossible to spot the Vanishing Snakes with his eyes, which meant that he had to rely on his instinct and Darkness Vision. For the first time in a long while, Shang was genuinely nervous. He felt a heavy feeling in his stomach, but he also felt some excitement. This was the feeling of being close to death. It had been so long since he hadste into contact with it. Shang''s pores opened, and his concentration reached its peak. His entire mind was concentrating on his instincts and Darkness Vision. The wind moved lightly through the forest, but mostly, the forest was silent. In the middle of the night, Shang simply stood in a small clearing with closed eyes, in nearly total silence. After some seconds, Shang felt his instincts be louder. They were telling him that he was in danger. However, at the same time, Shang noticed something. Something very small was moving in the darkness. It was about ten meters away from him and moved very slowly. Judging by the disced Darkness Mana, Shang guessed that it was probably only a meter long and very thin. Shang narrowed his eyes. Whoosh! Then, Shang''s eyes opened wide. What had he just felt?! Something different had suddenly moved through the darkness at absolute ridiculous speeds! It hade from the top, interacted with the supposed Vanishing Snake, and shot into the sky again. All of that had happened in barely a second. Shang''s guess was confirmed when he felt the dangerous feeling vanish. The Vanishing Snake had vanished once more, but this time, Shang knew where it had gone to. Shang concentrated on the flying thing above him. That thing had been the culprit. Shang remained standing for several minutes. That thing flying above him was extremely dangerous, and he didn''t want to aggravate it. The speed he had just witnessed was insanity! It had probably moved as fast as teacher Loran when he had intervened in Shang''s fights. Shang remained in the same spot for ten more minutes. However, that thing circling above him didn''t vanish. It was like it was following him! Chapter 114 Shang''s eyes narrowed. ''Is that thing following me? Why is it continually circling me? Am I near its nest?'' After a bit of deliberation, Shang continued walking towards the northeast. Sure enough, the thing kept circling above him. ''Shit! That thing''s actually following me! Why is it following me when it doesn''t attack me!?'' Shang thought with frustration. Shang moved around in senseless patterns to test if that thing was truly following him, and, sure enough, it kept following Shang, no matter where he went. Shang''s frown intensified. He definitely didn''t feelfortable with something like that circling above him. ''If it decides to attack, I have to be ready. If I don''t notice the very moment it charges down, I won''t be able to react.'' ''The thing is very fast, but it doesn''t disce enough Mana to be a General Stage beast. It feels a bit stronger than the beasts I saw before, but it doesn''t give me the feeling of overwhelming dread that a General Stage beast does.'' Shang remembered that spider he had hidden from on his way to Warrior''s Paradise. That thing had been in the General Stage, and Shang had felt absolutely helpless. Inparison, the thing circling above him felt more like an extremely powerful Soldier Stage beast. Shang guessed that the thing was probably just like Astor, someone a level below him that could threaten him. However, inparison to Astor, this thing was a beast, not a human. While Shang knew that he couldn''t win against Astor, everything was different when his opponent was a beast. Shang specialized in killing beasts. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. If Astor were a beast, Shang was confident in winning, but he would have to be very careful and not make any mistakes. So, even though the thing was very fast, Shang knew that he had a chance. If it was a flying creature with a lot of speed, its defense and pure power probably weren''t that powerful. That meant that Shang could end the fight with one strike. He only had to hit it when it charged at him. And what if the beast was on the cklist? Fuck that! Shang could run from all manners of beasts, but that thing was far faster than him. Running would most likely end in his death since one wrong dodge would kill him. So what if he had to pay a huge fine? He had to stay alive! Suddenly, Shang stopped. Another Vanishing Snake had appeared. Shang continued standing on the spot and concentrated on his Darkness Vision. His instincts were shouting at him, and Shang saw the Darkness Mana being disced. WHOOOSH! Shang frowned. Just likest time, the thing above Shang swooped down and killed the Vanishing Snake. Since Shang had been prepared this time, he had seen the thing move. He had barely looked in the direction of the Vanishing Snake before he saw a green streak shoot across his vision. Shang hadn''t been able to see much detail, but he had seen green feathers. ''A green bird, huh?'' For a moment, Shang thought of the mission he had seen. ''Capture a Spear Stork.'' Spear Storks could reach the Commander Stage, and Shang had guessed that this might be a Spear Stork. That would exin its terrifying power. However, Shang hadn''t seen a long beak. In fact, he hadn''t seen any beak due to the speed of the green bird, but Shang was sure that it wasn''t a Spear Stork. After all, if the green bird had a long beak, Shang would have seen it. He had only been able to see prominent features, and a long beak would have been a prominent feature, but since he saw nothing, it meant this thing didn''t have a long beak. After this event, Shang also had an inkling as to why the green bird was following him. ''It''s using me as bait to catch Vanishing Snakes,'' Shang thought. ''It only strikes when I can feel the Vanishing Snake too, which probably means that the Vanishing Snake needs toe out of hiding to hunt.'' ''The green bird can''t see the Vanishing Snakes when they hide, which is why it follows me. The Vanishing Snakes see me as their prey, which gives the green bird an opening to strike.'' Shang took a deep breath. ''However, the green bird really is terrifying. Vanishing Snakes are at the Late Soldier Stage in general, and the green bird should be on the same level. Yet, the Vanishing Snakes couldn''t even defend themselves.'' ''That''s bad,'' Shang thought. ''I came here to hunt Vanishing Snakes, but if this thing keeps killing them, I won''t be able to kill any of them.'' ''I might as well go to the northwestern forest if the most valuable prey in the northeastern forest is unavable.'' Shang weighed his options. ''Forget it. I''m already too far in the northeastern forest. Turning around now would waste a ton of time. I might as well hope that the green bird gets its fill of Vanishing Snakes and goes-'' ''Wait!'' Shang suddenly thought with widened eyes. ''Aren''t Vanishing Snakes multiplying by being eaten? Does that mean that the bird in the sky is already at death''s door?'' ''Is it?'' Shang thought with furrowed brows. ''Why do I feel like it isn''t?'' ''Maybe it isn''t eating the Vanishing Snakes?'' Shang concentrated on his Darkness Vision again. Then, he searched through the surroundings for ces with dense Mana. A couple of secondster, Shang found something. It was the headless corpse of a translucent snake! ''Is it only eating the heads? I mean, the eggs should be in the belly at the back, not in the head.'' ''Seems like the bird knows that it can''t eat the entire corpse.'' Then, Shang sighed. ''Sadly, I can''t turn in that corpse. It has obviously been killed by a beast, and the academy won''t ept such a corpse.'' ''Anyway, I should continue. I hate having this death bird flying above my head the entire time, but it probably doesn''t care about me. Might as well continue.'' Was this a smart decision? Probably not. Most humans would have turned around. After all, the green bird was a huge unknown factor that could potentially end their lives. It was too risky to continue. However, for some reason, Shang enjoyed this feeling of danger. Dancing on the edge of a cliff made Shang feel awake. He felt alive. The mix of terror, uncertainty, and excitement brought Shang a unique feeling that he had missed inside the academy. What was this feeling? Shang wasn''t sure, but it was the feeling of control. Why control? This didn''t seem to be rted to control at all. It meant that Shang''s destiny was in his own hands. If Shang died out here, it would be due to his ownck of skill. There were no external factors like on Earth. On Earth, other, higher-ranked people often decided one''s fate. If Shang were the mostpetent person for a job, he still wouldn''t get it as long as the manager didn''t like him. In that situation, Shang''s skills and abilities would have been easily enough to seed, but other people had decided to take this chance away from him. Back when Shang had still been a fighter, he had known that he had had the abilities to enter the MNFA. However, it had still taken him another year to prove himself to them. Why had it taken so long?! Couldn''t they see how he had won every fight?! But in this wilderness, everything was up to Shang. His abilities were the only things that would decide his sess. And Shang was confident in his abilities. He knew that he would survive! And he wanted to prove that to himself. He wanted to prove that he was in control of his life. The more dangerous his surroundings, the more powerful he would feel aftering out victorious! Shang didn''t know all this. He only knew that he wanted to be in danger. In his mind, he believed that the more danger he survived, the more powerful he would be. And that was true. Combat experience was incredibly important, and surviving difficult situations increasedbat experience like nothing else. Shang continued going towards the northeast, but he couldn''t get far before something happened. The green bird in the sky suddenly swooped down again, but it wasn''t attacking Shang. Before Shang could find the target the green bird was attacking, he heard an aggressive screech coming from it. It was the kind of screech that a bird would use when a predator came close to its nest. Shang looked over. BANG! Then, he heard the loud, explosive sound of two heavy objects hitting each other. Shang''s eyes widened. He saw a translucent snake, but this one was different! It was over ten meters long while the other one had only been one meter long! The explosive sound Shang had heard had been its fangs mping down on each other. Luckily, the bird managed to barely evade the violent teeth. At that moment, Shang''s heart stopped. He hadn''t noticed that Vanishing Snake at all! Not even his instincts had warned him! But now that he saw it, he noticed the sheer amount of Mana it disced. ''General Stage!'' Shang realized. That also exined why the green bird hadn''t been able to kill it. ''What is a General Stage Vanishing Snake doing here?! I''m not that close to the Empress Cobra Zone, am I? Did ite to have its young?!'' ''What shitty luck is that?!'' The bird screeched again as it hovered near the Vanishing Snake. Then, it scratched the air with its talons. CRK! Shang''s eyes widened when three gigantic gashes opened up on the Vanishing Snake''s side! The three gashes were deep, and blood exploded out of them. The snake hissed and tried to bite the bird again, but the green bird flew away. Apparently, it had decided to retreat back into the sky. That had probably been its strongest attack, and it had fled after seeing that its target was still alive. When Shang saw the three huge gashes on the snake, a glint appeared in his eyes. Shang''s heart pounded heavily as he made his decision. He would kill it! Chapter 115 Shang''s heartrate sped up as he made the reckless decision to attack. A beast in the General Stage. He hadn''t fought one before. However, inparison to all the other General Stage beasts Shang had met on his journey, this one felt like the weakest. Shang guessed that the other beasts had all been in the Middle or Late General Stage, while this one was most likely in the Initial General Stage. Additionally, this was an ambush predator, and ambush predators generally weren''t very good at direct combat. If their ambush failed, they would most likely flee. And most important of all, the green bird had injured the Vanishing Snake. Usually, Shang wouldn''t try fighting against a General Beast because of his weak weapon. The body of a General Stage beast was very powerful, and Shang would have huge difficulties getting through their defenses. But now, things were different. The Vanishing Snake had three huge gashes at the side of its body, and Shang could use these gashes to his advantage. However, Shang couldn''t be too careful in this fight. If the Vanishing Snake were at the Peak Soldier Stage, Shang would only need to look out for its bite, but that wasn''t the case with this one. Beasts in the General Stage had true elemental powers, and Shang was certain that this snake also had one. The Ice Spear Bear had been one of those beasts. Back then, Shang had learned that powerful beasts in the General Stage gave their offspring Mana Sources to awaken their elemental powers early. This Vanishing Snake could probably do even crazier stuff than the Ice Spear Bear. After mentally preparing himself, Shang shot forward. The Vanishing Snake was still looking at the green bird that had just retreated, making this the perfect opportunity to strike for Shang. Shang closed in, and the Vanishing Snake only noticed him after he had already reached striking distance. Shang directly targeted the three gashes on its left side with a stab. BANG! Out of nowhere, its tail suddenly struck forward with incredible speeds and hit Shang right in the chest. Shang shot backward, but he had only received a couple of bruises. The snake had a stronger body, but it wasn''t stronger to such a degree that Shang would be obliterated with one strike of its tail. However, his attack had failed, and Shang had to n his next attack. After throwing Shang away, the Vanishing Snake looked at Shang, but it didn''t hiss. Shang didn''t know much about snakes, but he knew a lot about beast behavior in general. Hissing was a form of intimidation, and the snake didn''t hiss. What was the purpose of intimidation? It was to make the enemy retreat. So, if the snake didn''t hiss, it meant that it didn''t want Shang to retreat. That could only mean that the Vanishing Snake saw Shang as its next meal, even though it had failed the ambush. To it, Shang probably didn''t feel that powerful. Because of that, in its mind, it could still kill Shang. However, most of the snake''s attention was still on the green bird. Shang felt incredibly weak to the snake, but the bird had injured it. Because of that, it always kept an eye out for the green bird. CRRRK! The Vanishing Snake extended its tail, and grey Mana gathered around it. In an instant, a long and thick clump of metal formed on its tail,pletely encasing it. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. While still keeping an eye on Shang, the Vanishing Snake put the base of its tail into its mouth. One had to remember that Vanishing Snakes had a full set of fangs instead of the two poison fangs that normal snakes had. Its teeth reminded one more of a wolf than a snake. SHING! Suddenly, the Vanishing Snake pulled the tail through its closed mouth. The metal that touched the inside of the Vanishing Snake''s teeth became liquid and was swallowed by the Vanishing Snake, regenerating its Mana reserves. However, the metal that touched just the edge of its teeth started to heat up as the teeth and the metal ground together. Shang''s eyes narrowed, but inside, he was shocked. It was a bad job, but the snake still managed to shape the metal around its tail into the shape of a de. Its tail definitely wasn''t very sharp, but with its power, it didn''t need that sharpness. Earlier, Shang had received bruises by just being hit by the snake''s tail. Now, even though the de on its tail wasn''t sharp, all its power would still be focused onto an edge or a tiny point. Shang quickly realized that this was the snake''s elemental power. It had turned its back into a terrifying weapon. This also made a lot of sense with its battle style. After all, if its ambush failed, its next course of action would be to flee, and this tail definitely helped in that. Predators would think twice about chasing something that continually pointed a long and sharp de at them while running away. If they weren''t careful, the snake could pull its body together like a spring and stab the beast chasing it. The snake had aplished all of this in just a single second. It had created the metal and the de in basically an instant. ''This is troublesome,'' Shang thought. ''This thing has two weapons that can strike very fast. On top of that, its weapons are far harder than my sword. I can''t use my sword to block, or it will be useless. I can take out weaker beasts with only my hands, but I doubt that will be useful against this one.'' As Shang thought more about his opponent, his n slowly changed. ''I could attempt to fight a stronger beast maybe under normal circumstances, but this one counters me due to its Affinity.'' ''If I had a good weapon, I could attempt fighting it.'' Then, Shang got an idea. ''It will be risky, and it won''t work forever, but it should give me a chance. After all, the snake''s de isn''t like a human''s weapon.'' At the moment, the snake had formed a coil with both its head and tail pointing upward. It was ready to strike with both of them if anything decided toe near. Earlier, the green bird had had the advantage of a surprise attack, but now, the snake was ready. If the bird decided to charge at the snake again, the snake''s tail would skewer it. Shang had already seen how fast the snake''s tail was, and it definitely wasn''t easy to avoid. BANG! Shang charged forward, and the snake quickly noticed his approach. It tensed its neck as it awaited his approach. Its tail was still pointing upward. Apparently, the snake kept its tail reserved for the bird that was still circling above them. When Shang came into the snake''s range, its head shot forward with all of its speed. The strike of the snake was incredibly fast, and Shang definitely wasn''t fast enough to evade or parry the strike. However, Shang had never nned on evading. Instead of striking, Shang kept his sword pointed upward in front of him. Inparison to normal times, Shang held his sword with both hands this time. Chapter 116 BANG! Like it had hit a wall, the snake''s head was stopped by the sword. The snake was long, but it wasn''t incredibly massive. Its head was barely half a meter across. Because of that, Shang was able to block the snake''s head with his sword. To paint a clearer picture, one only needed to imagine an attacking dog. The dog bit forward, but the human in front of it took a long stick and held it vertically, pushing it back. Since the dog''s head was in its normal position, its mouth couldn''t open wide enough to get the entire length of the stick into its mouth. Sure, if the stick were horizontal, it wouldn''t be a problem. Shang''s arms shook under the weight, but the snake hadn''t put its full power behind its bite. After all, it still had to keep an eye out for the green bird. Because of that, Shang managed to keep his sword rtively straight. When the snake''s snout hit the de, it began to bleed. The wound wasn''t deep, but it had drawn blood. BANG! Shang stepped forward and angled his sword on the snake''s head. Then, he struck upward with the handle, making the snake''s head fly up. Usually, Shang wouldn''t have the power to push the snake away due to the difference in power in their bodies. However, the lever principle applied here. The snake''s head was far extended, essentially putting it out of bnce and putting the head far away from its center of mass. Because of that, Shang could shove the head upward. At the same time, Shang''s sword was above him, and with the step he had just taken, his stance was perfect for a devastating strike downward. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Then, Shang struck forward, cutting along the underside of the snake''s jaw. CRRRRRRRR! Sparks flew, and a couple of scales fell off, but the snake barely bled. Its scales were simply too hard. Shang gritted his teeth, and the snake''s head quickly went back into an attacking position. The snake bit forward again. Shang blocked with his sword. Whoosh! However, the snake''s head stopped and angled to the side before striking forward again. Before it had attacked, it couldn''t have been sure at which angle Shang would hold his sword this time, which was why it had stopped to fake out Shang''s block. When Shang saw the snake''s head rotate, he quickly let himself fall to the ground to evade its strike. If his sword ended up in the snake''s teeth, it would be destroyed. Sure, if Shang''s sword were sharp enough to cut through the snake easily, he could have used that opportunity to split its jaw from its head. Sadly, the sword wasn''t sharp enough. BANG! As the snakehead arrived above Shang, he punched it away with the handle of his sword again. The distance was too small, which made it impossible to sh it with his sword effectively. From such a position, Shang''s sword wouldn''t be able to get through the snake''s defenses. Shang quickly angled his knees so that he could shoot forward. BANG! Shang used all his power and charged forward. The snake''s head had barely regained its control when it noticed Shang arriving near its body. For a second, the snake thought about using its tail to strike Shang, but it was still scared of that green bird. So, the snake moved its head towards Shang from his back. Sadly, since it didn''t have the spring effect from its main body due to its head''s position, it couldn''t move at its normal speed. As Shang reached its body, he noticed that the head wasing close to him again. ''This is it!'' One scratch and he would die. Vanishing Snakes had terrifying metal poison, which would immediately destroy Shang''s insides if that got into his bloodstream. Because of that, he couldn''t allow himself to be hit at all. Earlier, Shang had been in a safe location. If he saw that his block wouldn''t work as intended, he could have always jumped back. Now, his retreat was cut off. The snake''s head was behind him while its tail and body were in front of him. If Shang decided to block the snake''s head again with his sword, it would most likely strike with its tail. Yes, the snake was paying attention to the bird, but if it saw a surefire way of killing its prey, it would probably take the shot. ''Let''s hope this works!'' As the head closed in, Shang pointed his left arm towards it. BANG! Shang jumped and unleashed a Fire st! The Fire st wasn''t powerful enough to hurt the snake in any way, but the wind slowed down the head, ruining its bite, while Shang was catapulted forward. The snake''s mouth barely missed Shang''s feet as his body left the ground. Then, Shang grabbed the tail with his legs. The snake quickly tried to bite Shang again, but Shang''s nearly frozen arm unleashed an Ice st. Thanks to Shang''s arm nearly being frozen, the Ice st had a lot of power behind it, ruining the snake''s attack yet again. At the same time, Shang put his sword to the metal de in front of him. ''Show your Magic!'' Shang urged in his mind. As soon as the sword touched the de, Shang saw his sword shine in a bright light. In nearly an instant, all the metal around the snake''s tail was gone! ''It worked! Luckily, that''s not a human weapon!'' Shang thought with exhration. Any half-decent cksmith added special Magic Runes to their weapons. After all, it would be ridiculous if an opponent with a Metal Affinity could just ruin their weapons. Of course, these Magic Runes only becamemon at the General Stage. Because of that, Sarah''s ability was still useful. Sarah had been able to threaten Shang''s sword with her ability since Shang''s sword was weak. However, she wouldn''t have been able to do that with Astor''s weapon, for example. Additionally, the Magic Runes didn''t make the weaponpletely immune to this ability but weakened it tremendously. Luckily, the snake''s de didn''t have these Magic Runes. Because of that, Shang could use the ability of his sword to absorb the metal around its tail. At that moment, Shang''s sword gave off a terrifying amount of Metal Mana. The snake''s tail hadn''t been made with natural metal but with metal created with Metal Mana. That was a big difference! Keeping Metal Mana in the state of solid metal ate up a lot of energy, meaning Mana. Because of that, metal constructs made out of Metal Mana didn''t hold forever, and they needed a constant supply of Metal Mana to be maintained. Because of that, Shang''s sword wasn''t strengthened permanently, but only until the absorbed Metal Mana inside it was used up. After absorbing the Metal Mana, Shang put his left hand on the snake''s tail and used his Darkness Absorb. Shang''s nearly destroyed arm healed at unimaginable speeds as he quickly pointed his sword towards the snake''s head again. SHING! The snake had attacked again, but this time, Shang''s sword was way sharper than before. It cut through the snake''s snout for two centimeters but couldn''t get through the entire bone. Yet, it had worked, and Shang had finally managed to injure it. But then, Shang felt himself being lifted by the tail. At that moment, Shang was put before a crossroads. Remain on the tail and get smashed into the ground, very likely breaking several bones, or jump off? If he remained, he would be severely injured. If he jumped off, he gave the snake a chance to kill him in the air. Shang gritted his teeth and made his decision. Chapter 117 Shang let go of the tail. BANG! The tail mmed into the ground, destroying the earth beneath it. If Shang had kept hold of the tail, his spine would have most probably been broken. At that point, he would be unable to move, which would have been a huge issue in this fight. As the tail hit the ground, a small explosion of blood appeared below it. Shang had consumed a huge amount of life energy from the snake''s tail, making it weak. Because of that, it couldn''t perfectly withstand the strong impact. At the moment, Shang''s left arm was swollen with life energy, and he felt like it was about to explode. However, that didn''t matter. Just as predicted, the snake''s head shot towards Shang. It would be difficult for Shang to block that attack with his sword in his position, but he didn''t n on doing that anyway. Shang''s arm pointed downwards. BANG! BANG! Shang released a Fire st and an Ice st in rapid session. The knockback of the two sts shot him upward for a couple of meters, and the snake''s attack missed. Shang''s arm was nearly destroyed again, but it quickly regenerated thanks to it being filled to the brim with life energy. In nearly an instant, Shang''s arm was in peak condition again, and its life energy got depleted. Right now, Shang was over five meters above the snake. As Shang stopped in the air, his eyes became cold as he readied his sword. CRRR! A new coat of metal appeared around the snake''s tail, and it sharpened the tail in an instant. Shang had just stopped in the air when the tail had already transformed into a de again. Shang had already expected that this would happen. ''I can''t absorb all the metal instantly during an attack. Even if I could, the sheer weight and force behind it would destroy a huge part of my body.'' The snake readied both its head and de as it looked at Shang. ''If the head hits me, my death is certain. If the tail hits me, I won''t immediately die, but I will be severely injured. I can''t block both attacks at once.'' ''I have to end it here!'' Shang had already anticipated this situation. He had been lucky that everything had gone ording to n up to now, but he couldn''t trust his luck forever. It was too dangerous to stay close to the snake. Earlier, he had to get in close in order to gain a weapon that could kill the snake, but now, he had it. Shang also knew that he had only survived until now due to the three gashes on the snake''s side. He hadn''t been able to use them to injure the snake, but the gashes had probably slowed down the snake''s attacks. As Shang stopped in the air, time seemingly froze. This instant seemed to go on forever in his mind. It was the moment before the jump. And then, time continued. Shang began to fall as the snake''s tail and head shot towards him from below. ''I have to kill it with this attack and survive its tail!'' Shang readied himself. Just at that moment, a green blur arrived at the base of the snake''s tail. In an instant, a terrifying de of wind left the green blur. CRKSH! Content ? N?velDrama.Org. The terrifying sound of hard scales, bones, and flesh being destroyed echoed throughout the forest as the tail was severed. The bird had recovered some of its Mana, and it had seen that the snake''s tail had been weakened. Because of that, the bird had swooped down while the snake had been preupied with Shang. Due to Shang''s threat, the snake had forgotten to pay attention to the bird. A human might have remembered the bird, but the beast didn''t. Shang''s eyes shone when he saw the tail falling to the side. He hadn''t expected that the green bird would strike right now, but he weed it. Apparently, the bird still held a grudge for its failure to kill the Vanishing Snake earlier. For just an instant, the snake got distracted by the searing pain. At that moment, Shang saw his chance. He pointed his left arm towards the sky. BANG! BANG! His regenerated arm unleashed a Fire and Ice st. In an instant, Shang reached incredible speeds as he directly shot toward the snake''s head. He couldn''t allow it to recover its focus! In the instant in which the snake had lost its focus, Shang''s shooting body reached its head. And then, Shang struck. CRRRRRK! Shang''s sword punched through the snake''s mouth, destroying the entire thing. However, the snake''s skull eventually stopped the sword. Even with the upgrade, the sword wasn''t powerful enough to cut through the entire head. Shang''s body hit the snake''s head after his sword. The force of his body was too much for his arms to block. BANG! Shang and the snake''s head fell to the ground. Luckily for Shang, the injuries of the snake''s head made its face rather mushy, cushioning Shang''s impact. For an instant, Shang couldn''t breathe, but he was used to this sensation by now. In a panic, the Vanishing Snake''s head quickly lifted as a distorted sounding wind came out of the bleeding chunks that were once its mouth. It was attempting to hiss. At the same time, the Vanishing Snake quickly turned away. And then, it fled. It had lost its tail and its teeth. All its weapons were destroyed. It had to regenerate! Shang quickly managed to get his breathing under control again as he stood up. Just before Shang chased after the snake, the screech of the green bird could be heard as it arrived beside the fleeing Vanishing Snake. It had seen that its prey was injured and that it had lost all of its most dangerous weapons. Because of that, the green bird began to attack the snake violently. The snake tried to throw the bird to the side by throwing its head around, but the bird easily evaded these weak and slow attacks. As Shang chased after the fleeing snake, he finally got a good look at the green bird. It had massive wings and powerful, long talons. The upper part of its beak was curved at the end, creating a sharp hook. ''An eagle,'' Shang thought. The green eagle scratched the snake''s head with its talons endlessly. At some point, it even managed to grab the snake with its talons and started to ram its beak into the snake''s head. However, the Vanishing Snake didn''t get many injuries. Without Mana, the green eagle couldn''t easily get through the Vanishing Snake''s scales. The snake thrashed around under the attacks, trying everything in its power to get rid of the green eagle. "Move!" Shang shouted as he arrived beside the snake. The bird noticed Shang, screeched, and flew off again. Under the barrage of the attack, the snake hadn''t heard Shang''s shout, which made it oblivious to his presence. Shang had arrived beside the snake''s head, his sword lifted high above his body. And then, he struck down with all of his power. BANG! The sword hit the snake''s neck, cutting through the scales and flesh. When it hit the snake''s vertebrae, it stopped, but the sheer force of the attack fractured the vertebrae. In its panic, the snake moved its head around erratically, which made the splinters of the bone dig into its marrow. The Vanishing Snake''s movements turned into spasming as it lost control over nearly its entire body. Shang lifted his sword again and struck the snake''s neck again. BANG! The snake''s body seized once more before its movements became very small and weak. Its eyes were wide open, and blood was flowing out of its mouth. Silence. Shang took a deep breath. ''It''s over.'' Chapter 118 For a moment, Shang only looked at the corpse of the General Stage Vanishing Snake. The fight had been very risky. If Shang had even been scratched by its teeth, he would have died. Its metal poison was just too powerful. During the fight, it had seemed that Shang was in control most of the time, but that control had been flimsy. One small slipup and it would have been the end. However, as Shang looked at the corpse, a deep feeling of excitement and satisfaction appeared inside his chest. He had killed his first General Stage beast. Sure, the beast was bad in a direct confrontation, it had been injured previously, Shang had help, and it had been distracted for a big part of the fight, but Shang had still won. Shang looked at his sword. ''I really need to focus on my sword. This boost will only work for a short time, and I need to strengthen it permanently. In the beginning, I haven''t even truly been able to injure it.'' ''Right now, my weapon is my biggest weakness. Fights where my weapon isn''t in danger, aren''t dangerous, and in dangerous fights, my weapon is always in danger.'' Suddenly, Shang''s eyes shot to the head of the snake. The green eagle hadnded on the snake''s head, looking at Shang. Shang had seen how the green eagle had eaten all the previous Vanishing Snakes'' heads, and he knew that the bird wanted to consume this one too. The bird was at the Late Soldier Stage, one level below Shang, but its help had been imperative in Shang''s fight with the snake. If Shang and the bird had a falling out, who would win? Shang wasn''t sure. However, he was sure of one thing. The fight wouldn''t end quickly, and Shang would probably be chased by the bird for a long time. Shang knew that the bird was far faster than him. Not even the snake had been able to chase the bird. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. If Shang missed his opportunity, the green eagle would fly away and wait in the air until Shang became distracted. In the end, Shang sighed as he took a couple of steps back. ''Even if I could kill it with confidence, I would feel bad about killing it,'' Shang thought. ''I can be cruel to my enemies, but this eagle isn''t my enemy.'' Shang put his sword away as he showed that he wouldn''t fight over the corpse. If the bird were a human, Shang would negotiate with them about gaining about half the corpse. Sadly, the bird was a beast. If Shang suddenly started pulling or cutting on the corpse, the eagle might view that action as an attack, and that would spell trouble for Shang. Sometimes, stupidity and stubbornness win. The bird looked at Shang for a bit. Then, its eyes went to the Vanishing Snake''s head. Shang could see the hunger and desire in the green eagle''s eyes. This meal would catapult it to the Peak Soldier Stage, at least. The eagle looked at the head for a bit longer. Then, it slowly moved its beak to the head and lightly tapped it twice. And it flew away. Shang looked at the green eagle''s leaving figure with surprise and a bit of confusion. ''Why would the green eagle not want the corpse?'' Shang thought. For a while, Shang only looked at the corpse. Then, he got an idea. ''It might sound ridiculous, but what if the green eagle didn''t consume the corpse out of pride? The eagle doesn''t seem like a pack beast. Does it only consume prey that it killed on its own?'' At that moment, Shang heard the sound of flesh being torn apart in the distance, and he immediately realized what had happened. ''I think I''m right!'' Shang thought. ''The green eagle went to the ce where the snake''s tail had been cut off. By the sounds of it, it''s currently tearing the tail apart and eating it.'' ''It has severed the tail, but it hasn''t killed the snake. Because of that, it only wants to eat the tail.'' At that moment, Shang narrowed his eyes. ''That is a terrifying mindset,'' he thought, ''and it also exins how the eagle can be so powerful at such a level. It only eats beasts it has killed by itself. On top of that, I can''t forget that it had actually attacked a General Stage beast.'' ''The green eagle definitely knew that the Vanishing Snake was far stronger than all the other ones it had seen, but it still decided to attack. Just like me, it has searched for a dangerous fight that pushes it forward.'' ''It will be a dangerous beast in the future. I only hope it''s not the kind that attacks humans.'' ''Well, I mean, it didn''t attack me. So, it probably isn''t that kind.'' Shang slowly walked over to the dead Vanishing Snake. ''I wonder how much a General Stage Vanishing Snake is worth.'' Shang extended his left arm towards the Vanishing Snake to shove it into his beast sack, but he grimaced when he felt a searing pain shoot through it. For a moment, Shang was distracted by his injured left arm. ''My new Affinities have increased my Battle-Strength by quite a lot. Sure, using my sts twice in quick session will nearly destroy my arm, but I also have a way to regenerate its condition without using my Mana. I only have to touch my opponent.'' Shang thought about how he had used his left arm in the fight. ''At the moment, its sts aren''t very useful in terms of damaging my opponent, but they are very useful when ites to moving around. I can use them to unexpectedly move around in the air, suddenly stop, or suddenly elerate above my peak speed.'' ''My sts haven''t done any damage to the snake, but they have allowed me to close in on the snake and deal a fatal strike in the end.'' Shang''s eyes narrowed. ''However, is that all my Affinity can do? I don''t think so.'' ''With my additional Affinities, I also understand my Affinity more. I don''t have an Ice or Fire Affinity, but an Affinity for converting the two.'' ''The Mana that gets unleashed in my sts has toe from somewhere, and it doesn''te from my body. So, it can onlye from the surroundings.'' ''However, the surroundings have all kinds of Mana, and the heightened density of any kind of Mana won''t increase the effect of my sts. Because of that, I can safely assume that my Mana isn''t using the Ice or Fire Mana in the atmosphere.'' ''Instead, it''s using the normal Mana.'' ''As far as I can tell, my arm can split normal Mana into Fire Mana and Ice Mana. When I use my Ice st, my left arm absorbs normal Mana and converts it into Fire and Ice Mana. The Ice Mana gets expelled while the Fire Mana heats up my arm.'' ''The more power I put into the st, the more Mana gets split apart. Because of that, the st also bes more powerful.'' ''Usually, that would make the st only as powerful as what my arm can handle.'' Shang''s eyes shone. ''However, if I concentrate it, the effect will be different.'' ''If a kid attacks an adult with a stick, the adult only gets annoyed. However, if the same kid uses a knife, the adult gets injured. The force behind both attacks are about the same since it''s the kid unleashing the attacks, but one of them is way more dangerous than the other one.'' ''The answer is concentration! The smaller the point of impact, the more effective the attack.'' ''I can heat and cool a huge part of the air a little bit, or heat and cool a small part of the air a lot.'' ''The knockback won''t be as powerful since less air is being pushed to the side, but the st will have actual damage potential.'' ''When I''m back at the academy, I should try if I can do that.'' For a moment, Shang wasn''t sure how he should feel. On one hand, Shang now had even more things to train, increasing his workload. However, on the other hand, Shang now had even more things to train, giving him more opportunities and options to increase his power. Shang thought about his left arm for a bit longer, but he quickly came back to reality as he realized that he was still in a rather dangerous forest. Shang stopped thinking about his Affinity and shoved the General Stage Vanishing Snake into his beast sack. Chapter 119 The snake wasn''t that big. Sure, it weighed a couple hundred kilograms, but Shang could pull that weight with rtive ease. It was still annoying, and it definitely slowed him down, but Shang didn''t need to constantly take breaks. Luckily, the beast sacks were made to handle such weight and even more. They were way better than the shitty garbage bags on Earth. When Shang put the corpse away, he decided to go to the north. Why? Because he had already met a General Stage beast. Since Shang had always gone towards the northeast, he couldn''t be close to the Wastnd, which meant that the General Stage beast didn''te from there. Obviously, it came from the Empress Cobra Zone. So, instead of directly traveling towards the Empress Cobra Zone, Shang decided to go directly north, towards the border of the Empress Cobra Zone and the Ice Wyvern Zone. Different kinds of elemental Mana were mixing on the border, making the area less interesting to more powerful beasts. Powerful beasts preferred Mana that had their Affinity. Shang had the corpse of a General Stage Vanishing Snake, but he doubted that this corpse wouldst him forever. He obviously needed more Contribution Points, and since he was already here, he decided to continue hunting. He wouldn''t waste any time this night. After Shang had traveled for five minutes, he noticed that the green eagle was no longer following him. Apparently, it had had its fill, and it was no longer interested in using Shang as bait for Vanishing Snakes. Jumping from tree to tree became harder with the added weight, and Shang definitely made more noise than before, but he could still hunt. Shang had the speed advantage over nearly every other beast, and when he saw one, he simply dropped the beast sack to charge after it. Since night had finally arrived, Shang found way more Pest Cats. In fact, Shang found one nearly every three minutes, which was crazy in his mind. ''No wonder they''re called Pest Cats. They are literally everywhere!'' Of course, it was mainly thanks to Shang''s Darkness Affinity that he was able to find all these Pest Cats. Pest Cats moved very stealthily in the night, and they were great at hiding. However, since they all attracted Darkness Mana, Shang could find them rather easily. As Shang continued going towards the north, he saw fewer and fewer Swamp Millipedes but more and more Pest Cats. Shang was only going towards the north to avoid the General Stage beasts from the Empress Cobra Zone, but he didn''t know that there would also be far fewer beasts from the Empress Cobra Zone in general. But why? Swamp Millipedes converted their surroundings into swamps, right? So, why would they enter the Wild Forest in the Storm Eagle Zone but avoid the border with the Ice Wyvern Zone? The reason was the Ice Mana. But wait, that also didn''t make much sense. Ice was basically just another form of water, right? The Poison Affinity was made of the Darkness and Water Affinities. Why would the Poison Affinity beasts avoid that? Because of conversion. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. To destroy an element or Affinity, one didn''t necessarily need the opposite element or Affinity. If one drop of water touched a bigger sheet of ice, it would most likely turn to ice. If a small piece of ice were thrown into a bucket of water, it would most likely turn to water. Because of that, the density of Water Mana at the border between the Empress Cobra Zone and the Ice Wyvern Zone was far lower. Inparison, the Wind Mana in the Storm Eagle Zone didn''t really interact with the Water or Darkness Mana from the Empress Cobra Zone. These kinds of Mana could coexist without shing. Because of that, the Swamp Millipedes preferred the Storm Eagle Zone over the Ice Wyvern Zone. Sadly, Shang didn''t know that. In his trip towards the north, he also wanted to hunt Swamp Millipedes, but he would be doomed to not find another one for the remainder of the night. But instead, Shang found a lot of Pest Cats. Every single one of them was still worth 20 Contribution Points, and Shang definitely wouldn''t refuse that. Shang had just harvested another two ears and went back to his beast sack when his instincts suddenly screamed at him. CLINK! Shang jumped to the side out of reflex, and he felt something strafe past his side, hitting part of his uniform. At that moment, Shang''s heart nearly stopped. Just now, a Vanishing Snake had attacked him. Shang had evaded with incredible speed and reflexes, but the snake had also been very quick. Because of that, its teeth had scratched Shang''s uniform. For an instant, Shang felt like his death had arrived. But then, he quickly recovered, gritted his teeth, and attacked the Vanishing Snake. SHING! The snake was cleanly cut in half as Shang released all his terror, shock, and anger. Shang''s heartrate had shot through the roof as he felt that he had just dodged death by a hair. ''My uniform saved my life,'' Shang thought in terror as cold sweat ran down his back. The uniform of the academy could block a Mid Soldier Stage attack at the sides and a Peak Soldier Stage attack near the heart. The Vanishing Snake had been at the Late Soldier Stage. If it had managed to actually bite down on Shang or his uniform, the uniform wouldn''t have provided much protection, but since Shang had managed to jump to the side, the snake''s teeth had only barely scratched it. Because of that, his uniform had been able to block the attack. Shang would already be dead if that incident had happened with the General Stage Vanishing Snake. For a moment, Shang only tried toe to terms with what had just happened. ''I nearly died.'' ''I nearly died!'' Shang gritted his teeth in frustration and anger. At whom were the frustration and anger directed? At himself, of course. ''I walked through the forest recklessly, only looking for Pest Cats and Swamp Millipedes. After killing the General Stage Vanishing Snake, I also didn''t fear the normal Vanishing Snakes anymore. After all, why would I care about these weak Vanishing Snakes when I have already killed the big one?'' ''I''m fucking stupid!'' ''I''m a fucking idiot!'' ''So what if I killed a much more powerful variant? One good attack from a Vanishing Snake, and I will still be a goner!'' ''That I survived that attack just now is way luckier than me surviving the battle against the General Stage Vanishing Snake!'' ''I''m literally only alive because of the protection the academy gave me, free of charge!'' ''I never relied on the protection of my uniform, but I''m only alive thanks to that uniform now!'' ''I''ve be careless.'' At the moment, Shang didn''t even think about the 2,000 Contribution Points of this Vanishing Snake. All his focus was on his surroundings and his frustration with himself. ''I can ept dying in a fight, but I can''t ept dying in such a stupid way!'' ''Shang! Pay attention! You are not the strongest! You can still die in here! Don''t fucking forget that, you fucking idiot!'' Shang mentally screamed at himself. After urging his brain to remember to pay attention for some more seconds, Shang took a deep breath and sighed. ''I can''t be careless now.'' After some more seconds of calming down, Shang shoved the Vanishing Snake into his beast sack and continued towards the north. Chapter 120 Shang continued traveling towards the north for another two hours, killing tons of Pest Cats on his way. Sadly, he hadn''t met another Vanishing Snake in these two hours. Now, he was ready for them, and they decided not to show up. After these two hours, Shang turned around and traveled towards the southwest. About half the night had already passed, and Shang was rather certain that he would need the remainder of the night to exit the Wild Forest, especially with the added weight of his beast sack. For the next couple of hours, Shang killed Pest Cats while going towards the southwest, and finally, he also found another Vanishing Snake. This encounter wasn''t nearly as dangerous as the previous one. When Shang had noticed it, he slowed down a bit but kept running. After the Vanishing Snake appeared in Shang''s darkness vision, he immediately dropped his beast sack and charged toward it, killing it rather quickly. Shang killed a couple more Pest Cats before he noticed that he found fewer and fewer of them. And then, he saw none of them anymore. Shortly after, Shang came out of the Wild Forest. As Shang exited the Wild Forest, he saw that the sky in the east was slowly beginning to light up, which meant that dawn would soon arrive. In front of Shang were lots of fields growing wheat. ''The Farm Line, huh? Seems like I went quite far into the north.'' Shang searched for a way through the fields and continued walking towards the west. For once, he decided to stroll instead of run. He had run nearly the entire night, and he wanted to rx for a bit. Additionally, it had been a while since Shang had walked through such fields. These fields of wheat reminded Shang of home. He hadn''t always lived in the city, and these fields of wheat reminded him of his childhood. Suddenly, arge shadow appeared beside Shang. BANG! Shang jumped to the side with all his power, shaking the ground beneath him. At the same time, Shang heard the startled yelp of a dog from the shadow as it also jumped back. Only now did Shang notice that this was just one of the guarding dogs in the Farm Line. The huge shadow and the weight of Mana inside the shadow had startled Shang. Of course, the dog hadn''t anticipated for Shang to jump away, resulting in it also getting startled. Another two dogs, a couple of houses down, lifted their ears as they looked towards the dog beside Shang. When they saw that nothing of note was happening, they only put their heads down to sleep again. The startled dog looked at Shang with eyes that he interpreted as using. It was like the dog was ming Shang for startling it. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. "Don''t sneak up on me like that," Shang said after a sigh. Who wouldn''t get startled by a two-meter-high beast shadow suddenly appearing beside them? ''It probably smelled the General Stage Vanishing Snake in my beast sack and became curious. The dogs are probably specially trained to kill these kinds of snakes since they are the biggest danger to the Farm Line.'' After sniffing the beast sack from a distance for a little bit, the dog turned around and left. ''Well, there goes the rxing atmosphere,'' Shang thought as he started jogging. While strolling through the fields, Shang had felt quite calm. He had juste from a dangerous location with several dangerous encounters while carrying a lot of wealth on his shoulders. That had made the stroll rather enjoyable. But now, all the joy was gone. Shang had lost the mood and sped up as he jogged towards Warrior''s Paradise. It took him quite a while with the added weight, and before he knew it, he saw other people running beside him towards Warrior''s Paradise. Shang saw a lot of students who looked at his beast sack with interest. However, they were used to such sights, which made them interested but not interested enough to strike up a conversation. Shang also passed by a lot of other students and teachers without saying a word. He didn''t want to waste any time since the streets would only be busier, and he definitely wasn''t interested in entering a traffic jam during rush hour. "Wait!" Shang suddenly heard the voice of a woman, and he somehow felt like it was directed at him. Shang stopped and turned around. He hadn''t paid any attention, but Shang had passed by a woman with long ck hair and a silver uniform. She looked like she was in herte twenties, and there was an interested but distant look in her eyes as she looked at Shang. "Yes, teacher?" Shang asked. Inparison to many of the other teachers, this woman wasn''t apanied by any students. Obviously, she wasn''t a very sociable person. That was also why many other students became interested in why she had stopped Shang. "Come over here for a second," she said, gesturing for Shang toe over. Shang''s brows furrowed, but heplied. After all, she was far stronger than him, and she was also his teacher. She extended her hand to the beast sack on Shang''s shoulder and moved her finger over it. Then, she put the finger to her nose and smelled it. After that, her brows furrowed. "I want to see the corpse," she said. "Of what?" Shang asked. "You know what I mean," she said with annoyance. This piqued the interest of the other students. A corpse that their teacher was interested in? That had to be a special corpse! Shang''s brows furrowed even more. "Why?" he asked. "Because we have to note down every appearance of them," she exined. "They are an important indicator for the status of the northeastern Wild Forest." This alleviated Shang''s trepidation. It made sense. The General Stage Vanishing Snakesid their eggs in the Wild Forest to avoid the predators in the Empress Cobra Zone. That meant that there was always a certain distance between the Empress Cobra Zone and the location of the eggs. If the General Stage Vanishing Snakes went further into the Wild Forest, it might mean that the Swamp Millipedes had imed a bigger part of the Wild Forest than before. Shang looked at the interested eyes of the other students. "Fine, but I don''t want to show it to the public," he said. The teacher gestured to the western Wild Forest. They hadn''t yet arrived at the slope to Warrior''s Paradise, which meant that they could just run a couple of kilometers to the west to enter the Wild Forest. Shang and the teacher ran towards the west and entered the Wild Forest while the students on the path were annoyed that they wouldn''t be able to witness the corpse. Why had Shang decided to hide the corpse? Because he wanted to keep his strength a secret. The less attention there was on him, the easier his life would be. After entering the Wild Forest, the teacher stopped. "No one will spy on you here," she said. Shang put the beast sack down, put his hand into the sack, and pulled out the corpse of the General Stage Vanishing Snake. When she saw the corpse, her eyes narrowed. Then, her eyes went towards Shang, his sword, and back to the corpse. For a second, her brows furrowed in confusion, but then she noticed the lower part of the snake''s neck. Threerge gashes were there. At that point, a light of recognition lit up in her eyes. "Seems like you had some help." Chapter 121 "Yes," Shang answered. "What kind of beast is that green eagle? It was in the Late Soldier Stage, but it was able to damage a General Stage beast to this degree with only a single attack." "First, I want to know what happened to the green eagle," the teacher ordered. "Don''t omit any detail." Shang frowned, but heplied. "The green eagle was the one that found the snake. I can feel the approach of the weaker variants, but I hadn''t felt the approach of this one." "The eagle attacked, but it failed in its assault and released that powerful attack before retreating," Shang said as he pointed at the three gashes. "I decided that this is the best opportunity to earn some money andbat experience, which is why I attacked the snake." "Near the end of the fight, the green eagle returned and severed the tail. After that, I killed the snake. I saw that the green eagle was a huge threat to my safety, which is why I didn''t want to fight over the corpse with it. However, funnily enough, it just let the corpsey there and ate the tail instead." "I haven''t seen it since." The teacher looked into Shang''s eyes for a while, trying to make sure that Shang wasn''t lying. Then, she nodded. "Everything you said makes sense." The teacher stood up and stepped away from the corpse, looking at Shang. "It''s good that you didn''t attack it." "What kind of beast is it?" Shang asked. "Progeny of the Storm Eagle," she answered. "The¡­ Storm Eagle?" Shang asked in shock. The Storm Eagle!? The very beast that had this Zone named after it? The very beast that could kill all the humans if it wanted to? The teacher nodded. "Its young keep flying around in this area. It has a couple of them, and you met the youngest. Luckily for us, they don''t attack humans." "Of course, that means that we also are forbidden from attacking them. Thest time a human had killed one of the Storm Eagle''s young, the Storm Eagle went on a rampage." The teacher pointed in the direction of Warrior''s Paradise. "This city was built after the Storm Eagle''sst rampage, but it isn''t the first version of Warrior''s Paradise. There have been a couple of them before, but as you can guess, when the Storm Eagle got angry, they stopped existing." Shang took a deep breath. If he had decided to kill the green eagle, and if he had seeded¡­ "Now you get why I am so interested in the Storm Eagle''s young''s whereabouts," the teacher added. "I''m not interested in being turned to dust anytime soon." Shang nodded, but he also fell into thought. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. The Storm Eagle''s young. That also exined the discipline and sheer power of the green eagle. It came from the most powerful beast that Shang knew of, which meant that it was already destined for greatness. However, greatness could only be realized with hard work and discipline. The young eagle had shown hard work by attacking a General Stage beast, and it had shown discipline by not consuming something it hadn''t killed. Just based on its bloodline, the green eagle was already a prodigy beyondpare, but on top of that, it was working and training intensely. It was a perfect beast. And then, Shang remembered something. "It ate the tail," Shang said. "What about the eggs?" The teacher lightly kicked a part near the end of the corpse. "Right here," she said. That made Shang release a sigh of relief. "Tell me where you found the snake," the teacher ordered. "We need to document where the adult ones appear." Her voice pulled Shang out of his thoughts, and he recounted his journey up to where he had found the snake. After he was done, the teacherbed her long ck hair with her fingers, her eyebrows furrowed in thought. "It''s a bit further than normal, but it isn''t crazily out of ce," she muttered. Then, she looked at Shang with slightly narrowed eyes. "Why did you decide to go that far into the northeastern forest? Was your goal a General Stage beast from the very beginning?" "I''m not suicidal," Shang answered. "If I had known that a General Stage Vanishing Snake could appear there, I wouldn''t have gone there. If the green eagle hadn''t been there, I would have died without even noticing." The teacher furrowed her brows, but then she noticed something. "I don''t recognize you. Have you been in my ss?" Shang shook his head. "I only joined a couple of days ago, and I have only visited one ss up to now." "That exins things," she said. "Listen. Yes, the Wild Forest is a Rank One wilderness, but that doesn''t mean that you can''t find the asionally General Stage beasts there. Especially the older ones need to go there to have their young." "In the northeastern Wild Forest, you can find the asional adult Vanishing Snake, Poison Toad, Ancient Slug, and Mud Pangolin. Not only will they most likely kill you, but thetter two are even on the cklist." "If you want to hunt in the northeastern Wild Forest, don''t go further than the spot where you found the Vanishing Snake. That spot should be your cutoff point for the northeastern and southern directions." "From that point onward, you can draw a straight line north until the end. Everything east of that is dangerous territory, while everything left of that is rtively safe." While exining, the teacher drew a couple of lines in the dirt to show a map. Then, she drew a line through the map, starting at the bottom left corner and ending in the middle of the top, separating the map into two parts. "You can safely hunt in these 40% of the map," she said, tapping on the northwestern part of the northeastern forest. "The remainder is dangerous." Shang looked at the map and burned it into his mind. "Thanks," he said. "I would advise you to enter my ss first before going hunting again. You obviously don''t know anything about the wilderness around here, and it shows. I''m teaching the beast knowledge ss," she said. Shang nodded. He had already expected something like that. The teacher had given off a threatening, solitary, and explosive aura since the very beginning. When Shang had seen her, he had immediately been reminded of that one scout he had met on his journey to Warrior''s Paradise. "I will keep that in mind, teacher," Shang answered. The teacher nodded. "I would advise against handing that corpse over to the academy," she suddenly said. Shang furrowed his brows. "Why?" "Under normal circumstances, it would be in your best interest to give nearly everything to the academy since Contribution Points are more valuable to you. However!" The teacher lightly tapped on the three gashes on the snake''s side. "The value of this corpse goes beyond its materials," she said. Shang looked at the three gashes in confusion. "People all over the world are in awe of the Storm Eagle," she continued. "However, nearly no one is insane enough to capture one of its young or steal from them. Because of that, finding something that one of the Storm Eagle''s young had left a mark in is very rare, and there are several wealthy individuals in the world that collect these things." Shang''s eyes widened. That actually made sense! If a celebrity on Earth had owned something before, its worth would increase. ''So, these three gashes are basically an autograph?'' Shang thought. Chapter 122 "How much should I ask for?" Shang asked. "No less than 2,000 gold," the teacher said. Shang''s eyes widened. 2,000 gold?! He had 27! The overpriced ore in the academy was worth only around 200 gold! "How much would it be worth under normal circumstances?" Shang asked in shock. "Around 500 gold," the teacher said, "and that''s considering its rough condition. A well-preserved corpse can go for 800." "And the young ones?" Shang asked. "Around 50 gold," she said. "You can''tpare Soldier Stage beasts with General Stage beasts. Why do you think there are so many hunters here? General Stage beasts are worth a lot of money." Normal Vanishing Snakes were already at the Late Soldier Stage, while the adult variant was at the Initial General Stage. Yet, that already increased the price by more than a matter of ten! Shang remembered the reason why the academy wanted coteral of five gold for every special exam. Sure enough, powerful warriors could earn money easily. "Go to the Curio Trinket in Warrior''s Paradise. It''s a shop at the edge of the market. They should be interested in that corpse," the teacher said. "Tell them teacher Niria sent you." That surprised Shang. "Why are you helping me to this degree? This doesn''t sound like the normal kind of help." "I can respect potential and power," teacher Niria said neutrally. "Additionally, you might not know it, but we are connected." N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. "Connected?" Shang asked. "When you realize what I mean, and if you are willing to trust me, you can ask me after ss, but I won''t borate on that matter," she said. "You have your way, and I have my way." This threw Shang for a loop. He had no idea what she was talking about. Obviously, she wasn''t romantically interested in him. Shang saw absolutely no signs of attraction in teacher Niria''s demeanor. On top of that, they had just met. Either she was crazy, or she knew something that Shang didn''t. ''Is the dean not the only other person from Earth?'' Shang thought. "I will go back to the academy," teacher Niria said. Shang had questions, but he saw in Niria''s demeanor that she wasn''t interested in talking anymore. "Thank you again, teacher," he said. Teacher Niria nodded once and left. Now, Shang was alone again, and he looked at the corpse of the snake in confusion. He still had no idea what she was talking about. In the end, Shang gave up trying to find the reason for her words. He grabbed a second beast sack and shoved the corpse into it. Since he would now sell the corpse to someone else, he decided to separate the corpse from the ears and feelers. After that, Shang went back to the street, and he saw a great number of wagons and people walking on the street. He had spent quite a bit of time in the forest with teacher Niria, and rush hour had arrived. Shang could only sigh and entered the busy street. He had to walk slower due to all the traffic, but the traffic still wasn''t as bad as Shang had thought. Shang looked to the side at the ridiculous width of the street. Who even made a road that''s an entire kilometer wide? But now, Shang saw that over half of the road''s width was used up. ''How is Warrior''s Paradise not overflowing with stuff with so many wares arriving every single morning?'' Shang thought. A whileter, Shang arrived in front of the widely opened gates. Several big crystals were around the gate. They looked like they were supposed to give off light, but they didn''t right now. Shang quickly realized what these crystals were there for when he noticed that the guards didn''t even inspect any of the wares entering the city. ''I guess these crystals are kind of like a metal detector, but for illegal goods, maybe?'' he thought. When Shang had arrived during the night, someone had gone through his stuff manually. Operating the crystals probably cost a lot of Mana, and it probably wasn''t worth it to keep them running throughout the night. In the end, just like everyone else, Shang entered the city without being stopped. The streets became far more crowded, and Shang had to slow down a lot until he eventually stopped. Now, this was a real traffic jam. However, Shang quickly noticed that he was the only actual person stuck in the traffic jam. The other people in the traffic jam all rode carriages and other kinds of vehicles. Shang looked around and found some people walking along the side of the road. ''Wait. They actually have sidewalks? How did I never notice that?'' Shang looked around and then awkwardly moved towards the sidewalk. Freed from the traffic jam, Shang jogged toward the marketce. Just like always, the marketce was filled to the brim with wares, stalls, and merchants. Shang walked along the edges of the marketce since teacher Niria had said that the Curio Trinket was near the edge. And, sure enough, Shang eventually found the shop. Inparison to nearly all the shops, the Curio Trinket was inside an actual building and not some stall or shed. Shang didn''t see any people in front of the shop, which surprised him a bit. Nevertheless, Shang still entered. Inside the Curio Trinket, Shang saw many rings, amulets, crystals, and other kinds of, well, trinkets. The name sure was fitting. Shang saw no other customers. "You''re in the wrong shop," someone shouted from the back of the shop. "We don''t trade in beasts." Obviously, the person in the back of the shop had noticed the beast sack on Shang''s back. "Teacher Niria sent me," Shang answered. "Huh?" the person in the back of the shop uttered, and the head of a young man peeked over the corner. "Teacher Niria? She doesn''t normally send proxies." "Well, she told me to contact you," Shang said. The man furrowed his brows and stood up. After that, he came out of the backroom. He had red hair and wore red robes. On top of that, Shang felt a lot of Fire Manaing from the person. ''That should be a Fire Adept,'' Shang thought. ''There aren''t that many Fire Mages in Warrior''s Paradise.'' ''That also exins why no one is here. If this shop has a Fire Adept as their clerk, they probably don''t sell cheap stuff.'' Someone like a Fire Adept could earn a ton of money just by going into the Wastnd and killing any random General Stage beast. So, since this Fire Adept wasn''t doing that, it probably meant that he earned more by being a clerk in this shop. "Did she get another interesting beast?" the Fire Adept asked with a bit of interest. "I thought you said you don''t trade in beasts," Shang said. "I say that to everyone since it takes too long to exin to them what we are interested in when it comes to beasts," the Fire Adept exined. "Now, show me what she''s killed this time." The Fire Adept walked to arge table at the side of the room and knocked on it to show Shang where to put the corpse. Shang walked over and put the corpse on the table. As soon as Shang let go of the beast sack, it opened on its own, revealing its contents. When the Fire Adept saw the General Stage Vanishing Snake, he furrowed his brows. Then, he looked at Shang. "Why should I care about a Vanishing Snake?" he asked with annoyance. Shang only gestured to the three gashes. The Fire Adept looked at the three gashes with furrowed brows. Then, a glint of recognition appeared in his eyes. "Oh, now we''re talking," he said with a smirk. After saying that, the Fire Adept closely examined the corpse with many different instruments. A couple of minutester, when he was done, he put the instruments away with a smirk. "Sure enough, Niria killed this one. Her handiwork is unmistakable," hemented. Shang blinked a couple of times in confusion. He was pretty sure that he was the one that killed the snake. "How do you know?" Shang asked. "Client confidentiality," the Fire Adept answered with a smirk. "You might have been sent by her, but I won''t give up the secrets of our clients." "How do 1,800 gold sound?" he asked. "Teacher Niria also told me what I should ask for," Shang added. The smirk on the Fire Adept''s face vanished. "Fine," he said with a sigh. SHING! Four sacks appeared near the table, two big ones, and two small ones. "Take your 2,200 gold," he said. Shang nodded and took the gold. "Happy doing business with you," the Fire Adept said with less enthusiasm while taking care of the corpse. Shang nodded. "Thank you." And he left the store with his new wealth. Once again, he was rich. The dangerous fight sure had been worth it. Chapter 123 After Shang left the Curio Trinket, he paused. ''Teacher Niria seems to be really good at bartering. She told me that I should ept no less than 2,000 gold, but as soon as I told the guy that teacher Niria told me what I should ept, he gave me more. d I didn''t make a direct offer.'' Shang looked at the second beast sack he was carrying. He had decided to mask his gold by putting it into a second beast sack. He didn''t want anyone to be suspicious of his wealth. Additionally, Shang had entered the shop with two beast sacks, and he was now exiting with two beast sacks. It would look like his trade had failed. No one knew that the contents of the second beast sack had changed to pure gold. After exiting the shop, Shang directly traveled to the academy. An unknown teacher was guarding the gate, and Shang gave them a quick greeting before entering. Shang directly walked toward the main building. He wanted to put the gigantic sack of gold away first. Sadly, things didn''t go as smoothly as he had expected. As soon as Shang approached the main building, his eyes narrowed. He had noticed three boys looking at his beast sacks, and Shang had also noticed that they seemed rather tense. They were all around 16 or 17 years old, which meant that they were well in the Middle Soldier Stage. Ironically, this was the most dangerous spot to be in. At that level, the students would no longer belong to the truly weak ones, but they also wouldn''t have enough experience to tell if someone was truly dangerous or not. Because of that, the Intermediate Grade had the most fights. And the grade that suffered the most was the Beginner Grade. The Intermediate Grade would most often target 14- and 15-year-old students. These students could earn a lot of money, but they were also far weaker and less experienced than the students in the Intermediate Grade. Because of that, the Beginner Grade was the most horrible grade to be in, thanks to the Intermediate Grade. However, the Intermediate Grade was walking on a tightrope. They could probably dominate over 90% of all people in the Beginner Grade, but they also wouldn''t notice the most powerful 10% of the Beginner Grade. But these people could tell that Shang was powerful. They didn''t know how powerful he was exactly, but they had seen how he had dominated a couple of Early Soldier Stage kids. This meant that he had to be, at least, in the Middle Soldier Stage. Maybe, he even was in the Late Soldier Stage. But that''s also why they came with three people at once. On top of that, they were rather confident in taking down Shang. Why? Well, there was one familiar face among the people. It was Shang''s neighbor, the one he had met when he had searched for his room. When that guy heard that Shang was part of the Caterpir ss, he had smirked and told him that he had entered hell. What was the reputation of the Caterpir ss? Trash. Why trash? Because they didn''t train in any actual fighting techniques. Every other student trained in several advanced techniques that perfected their fighting styles. In a direct fight, people of the Caterpir ss nearly always lost against other students. Only the most powerful students in the Caterpir ss could fight the other students. However, that was to be expected. The students of the Caterpir ss were forced to build their own fighting techniques, which meant that their fighting techniques came from someone in the Soldier Stage. Meanwhile, the other students were training in techniques created by Commander Stage warriors. These techniques were multiple times more powerful and refined than some techniques some kids coulde up with. So, how did these three people view Shang? He definitely was a very powerful person for his age, but that was the problem. For his age. How much experience could a 14- or 15-year-old have in fighting against humans? On top of that, they were three, while Shang was one. They knew that it would be risky, but the reward was worth it. They had seen how interested teacher Niria had been, and they knew that Shang must have something very interesting in one of his beast sacks. It was risky, but they had to try! So, how did they go about getting that stuff from Shang? Simple. The three would jump Shang without talking, all targeting him with an attack. While Shang dealt with one of them, the other two would tear the beast sacks away and run off with the loot. And that''s what they did. The three guys charged at Shang from different angles without saying anything. One wasing from the front while the other two came from the side. Shang could only attack one of them, and he would be too panicked and surprised to react appropriately. At most, one of them would be injured. As soon as Shang noticed that they had charged at him, he narrowed his eyes. ''I intimidated them with my actions yesterday, but it didn''t have the effect I was hoping for. I was hoping for them to not bother me, but instead, they now take me seriously.'' ''Do I have to go even further? Do I actually have to kill one of them?!'' Shang thought. ''Do I actually have to act like a crazy psychopath before you finally let me alone?!'' ''Fine!'' ''Let''s have a gamble!'' BANG! The floor below Shang''s feet shook as he exploded forward with his full speed. He had charged forward just when the three of them began running towards him. There were several meters between all of them, and if Shang had remained on the spot, they would have reached him at the same time. However, Shang charged forward. The eyes of the guy at the front opened wide in terror. How was Shang so fast with so much weight on his shoulders?! Shang was way faster than he had expected! ''You want a psychopath?! Fine! Here you go!'' Shang thought with gritted teeth and narrowed eyes. The guy in front of Shang only had a body in the Middle Soldier Realm, and he wasn''t fast enough to appropriately react to Shang''s attack. With his full speed, Shang jumped forward, the two beast sacks still on his shoulders. Shang had used his full power while elerating, and with the added weight of the two beast sacks, a terrifying amount of power was behind his charge. Shang pulled his leg back and kicked forward with all his power. This was a fully-powered attack of someone two levels above the guy in front of Shang. This was essentially an adult releasing a hate-filled kick at a ten-year-old. This was not a joke. BANG! CRK! The guy barely managed to put his arms in front of his chest before Shang''s kick hit. When Shang''s kick hit the guy''s forearms, they immediately broke apart, and that wasn''t even the end. CRK! The ribcage of the guy broke behind the sheer force of Shang''s momentum, his broken ribs digging into his lungs and heart. At that moment, the guy felt like he was in a nightmare. What was that sound? Was the sound of breaking bonesing from him? Was the sound of flesh and organs being pierced by bonesing from him? Would he survive? BANG! N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. The guy''s back hit the wall, and his back broke into pieces too. He was as close to death as it could get, and he was lucky for that. If he hadn''t been able to block his chest with his arms, his insides would have probably been turned to mush. Shang noticed that he was still alive and felt some relief. This had been his gamble. He would go in with an attack that would actually kill the guy if he didn''t react appropriately. He had to show that he would not be afraid of actually risking his own life by killing someone else. How did the other two react? They quickly arrived behind Shang. They had already expected that one of them would be injured, and they didn''t even look at their friend. They had no idea how injured their friend was, and they didn''t care right now. They needed the loot! Shang turned around and let go of his two beast sacks. His two opponents now were diagonally in front of him. The two of them noticed that they couldn''t grab Shang''s beast sacks since they were behind him now. So, they decided to attack him. One of them unleashed a kick while the other one punched at Shang. Shang gritted his teeth. ''They still don''t have enough?! Do you want me to go even further?!'' ''Fine!'' ''You win!'' Chapter 124 Shang used both of his hands to grab the leg of the one that tried to kick him, blocking the kick. The fist of the other one hit Shang''s head. BANG! Shang angled his head and headbutted the iing fist. Shang had a far more powerful body, and his bones were tempered to the maximum for the Soldier Stage. On top of that, the forehead was incredibly hard in general. CRK! The hand of the punching guy broke, and Shang felt his brain being scrambled. However, he was used to getting struck in the head from all his fights on Earth. A normal person would be disoriented, but Shang could somewhat keep his mind going. Being able to take a hit was a very important aspect of any kind of fighting sport on Earth. Shang''s eyes burned in fury and stress. He was afraid of ruining his future at this very moment. However, he needed to do that! If the previous two strikes weren''t enough to stop everyone from bothering him, he would have to go even further. BANG! Shang swung the guy he had a hold of and hit the other one. A couple of bones inside them broke, and the other guy fell to the ground. "You wanted this!" Shang shouted with anger. While this was happening, one of the teachers grabbed the first student and brought him to the Water Mage. The teacher had realized that this student had been incredibly close to death, and if he didn''t hurry up, that student might die. Teachers allowed fighting between students, but they were also responsible for keeping the students alive if they could prevent their deaths. Meanwhile, Shang didn''t stop. He continued holding one of the students by the leg, lifted him up, and struck the ground with his full power. BANG! The sound of breaking bones could be heard, and even the ground beneath the student broke. The skull of the student cracked open, his brain now visible. BANG! Shang let go of the student and kicked him to the side with his full power, his back and ribs breaking. It was unknown if the student was alive or dead. "You wanted this!" Shang shouted again. Then, he went to the other student on the ground. In the beginning, the watching students were excited about the show, but that excitement had somewhat vanished. If things ended now, it would be a normal fight. However, Shang showed no sign of stopping. Was he not afraid of being expelled? "I''m sorry!" the student on the ground shouted in fear, looking into the cold eyes of Shang just before him. "I won''t do it-" BANG! Shang hit the student''s face with his fist. The student on the ground had his face caved in, his skull splintered into pieces at the front. Blood bubbled out of the student''s face, making his face resemble a puddle. The watching students took a deep breath. "What will it take for you to stop bothering me?!" Shang shouted with a voice filled with fury. Shang was no longer acting. At the moment, he was actually filled with fury. Currently, in Shang''s mind, the night of the bandits reappeared. Shang had killed several people during that night, and he had hated himself for letting them get away. Letting some of them get away was the very reason why killing the others had be unnecessary. He should have killed all of them! However, Shang was still a person from Earth, and killing people wasn''t normal to him. Murderers were seen as monsters on Earth. But Shang also knew that he had to kill people in this world. This conflict of interest stressed and enraged Shang. He didn''t want to kill them, but he had to! He had already made a mistake by not killing all the bandits, and he would notmit that same mistake again! Earlier, Shang had only nned on bringing them close to death, but after he had actually be enraged, that n vanished. At this moment, Shang genuinely wanted to kill this student. Shang lifted his fist again under the shocked eyes of the watching students. Hey, dude, aren''t you going a bit far? Do you actually want to be expelled?! Do you actually want to kill them?! N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. The night of the bandits reyed again and again in Shang''s mind. He remembered all the bandits he had killed, and he remembered their eyes in thest moments. Their eyes had been filled with fear and terror. They were genuinely afraid, and they heavily regretted their actions. They were sorry. "Hlp, hlrpsss," the student on the ground tried to shout for help through his crushed face, his arms moving around blindly. His eyes had been crushed, and he could no longer hear anything. "Srssy, Srsshy," the student tried to say he was sorry, but his words couldn''t be understood. "Mhmmyy!" Shang understood that word. He was shouting for his mother. At the moment of death, he was shouting for his mother. He was only a kid. He was only 16 years old. When Shang heard that word, his insides shook. These were just kids. They only tried to steal from him. He was killing a child right now. For a moment, Shang paused. But then, an explosion of rage appeared inside of him. ''I''m not on Earth anymore!'' ''Empathy is weakness!'' ''Feelings for others is weakness!'' The conflict of emotions only infuriated Shang even more. The more he hated to do something, the angrier he got. He didn''t want to do it! But he had to! The ear grating, high-pitched sound of grinding teeth reverberated throughout Shang''s body. He hated it! He hated it! He hated it! He hated it! Shang''s mind went nk. At that moment, he felt like time had stopped. He felt like this moment decided his future. Was this what he wanted to be? Would he kill a kid for trying to steal from him? The three attackers were probably already traumatized by everything, and they would most likely not attack another student for a very, very long time, maybe even forever. They would wake up in cold sweat at night. They might not even decide to hunt beasts in the future since a deep fear of death would be imnted into them on this day. It was enough. Shang had done enough. "DIE!" Shang shouted. And then, Shang punched the student''s chest with all of his power. It was like everything was happening in slow-motion to the watching students. BANG! The fist hit the student''s chest, activating the Magic Runes. If the uniform hadn''t blocked the attack, the student would have died. The watching students felt shocked. He had actually done it! He had actually tried to kill him! This was no longer normal! If he killed this student, he would be expelled! On top of that, nearly every student had a somewhat powerful background, and those families would want to find revenge. Without the protection of the academy, Shang would quickly be killed! It was finally done. Shang had finally managed to intimidate the students into never attacking again. Most students would stop attacking someone if that person put them close to death, but that was only most of them. But all of them would stop if they knew that they could actually die. Shang had aplished his goal. No one would ever bother him again. The guy on the ground had devolved into trying to shout for his mother. When Shang heard these shouts, his hatred exploded. He had long since lost his mind in rage. These shouts made him feel bad, and in his rage-filled state, he saw these innocent shouts as an attack. He hated himself for feeling bad. And he hated the guy on the ground for making him feel bad. He hated him! Shang lifted his blood-covered fist again. Time seemingly stopped for the watching students. Was this actually happening? Was he actually striking again? Some of the older students thought about intervening, but after seeing Shang''s face, they decided against it. They could probably fight Shang, but they feared for their own future. They could no longer anticipate Shang''s actions since Shang had essentially be a crazy person. If they angered him now, it was possible that he might actually try to kill them. What then? Then, they would have to actually risk their lives. Was this worth it? Was it worth it to risk their lives for a younger student? The risk was too high. They wouldn''t intervene. After lifting his fist, Shang swung again without waiting. Time moved in slow motion. Shang''s fist hit the student''s crushed face. A loud cracking sound reverberated throughout the academy. Blood sshed. And Shang suddenly lost consciousness as something hit the side of his head. Chapter 125 Shang opened his eyes. ''What happened?'' he thought with a scrambled mind. He felt the ground beneath his hands. ''Why am I on the ground?'' Then, the pain hit Shang. He felt incredible paining from his left cheek, and he spit out pieces of blood and bone. Shang''sst memory was of him killing that one student. So, why was he on the ground now? Shang slowly sat up and looked at his surroundings. The surrounding students were looking at him with mixed expressions. Some of the expressions were filled with disgust. Some of them were cold. Some of them were sympathetic. Then, Shang noticed a big bubble of water levitating around ten meters away from him. The bubble of water was where Shang had just been before waking up here. He saw a woman with long blue hair in front of the bubble of water, her hands holding a staff with a blue gem on it. Shang realized that she was probably the Water Mage responsible for healing students. Shang heard the whispers of some of the students in the surroundings. They were calling him a maniac. They were calling him a crazy person. They were calling him a monster. Shang didn''t react to these whispers. He had calmed down by now, and a feeling of emptiness had appeared inside his chest. For a long while, Shang only silently sat on the ground, looking absentmindedly in the distance. ''Did I lose control?'' Shang thought. Everyone around Shang continued whispering, but Shang didn''t hear it. To him, the world was silent. ''Did I do the right thing?'' Silence. ''Did I do the right thing?'' ¡­ Shang put his head in his hands. ''I don''t know.'' ''If I didn''t act like this, they would keeping for me.'' ''But I also risked my entire future.'' ''I don''t know.'' Shang absentmindedly stood up and looked at the bubble of water levitating in the air. The other students were throwing looks at him with all kinds of emotions. Just like Shang, the students also felt a great variety of emotions and uncertainty. Most of them believed that Shang was a crazy person, but a couple of them also felt sympathy for him. The ones that felt sympathy for Shang had been in simr situations in the past. They knew what he was going through. Shang slowly walked over to the bubble of water under the judging gazes of all the other students. After a silent walk, Shang stopped near the bubble, only looking at it absentmindedly. "Do you regret what you have done?" asked the Water Mage with a neutral voice. Shang couldn''t tell what she thought of his actions. Her voice waspletely neutral. Shang didn''t immediately answer. "I don''t know," Shang answered honestly. The Water Mage frowned as she continued looking at the bubble. "The other two are fine, but this one might not make it," she said. "His brain is too heavily damaged." Surprisingly, Shang didn''t be shocked when he heard these words. He only felt empty. It was like all of this had nothing to do with him. "If he dies, you will be expelled from the academy," the Water Mage said. "Is this what you want?" Shang didn''t answer for several seconds. "No," he answered. "Well, it''s no longer up to you. It''s up to him and me," she said. "At this moment, your future is no longer in your own hands." "You have attempted to kill him, and if I didn''t stop you at the veryst moment, he would definitely be dead right now. You would be expelled, and his family woulde for revenge. I don''t believe that you can flee from a squad of General Stage warriors." Shang remained silent as he listened to her. "Were you in control of yourself? Is that what you wanted?" she asked. Shang didn''t answer for a while. "I don''t know," Shang answered. "I don''t know if I have been in control or not. At the time, it felt like the right decision." "Is it the right decision in hindsight?" the Water Mage asked. Shang only looked at the water bubble. His mind went back to that night with the bandits. He had been lenient back then, which made the sacrifices of the beggars meaningless. He hadn''t been ruthless enough back then. "They wouldn''t have stoppeding for me otherwise," Shang said. "So?" the Water Mage asked. This word hit Shang. All the previous words hadn''t hit him, but this dismissive "so?" had hit him. "Are you that weak that you fear that you might be beaten up by some students?" the Water Mage asked. "Are you that weak that you fear that you will lose against a group of Middle Soldier Stage students?" Shang felt like his heart was shaking. "So what if they keep going after you? You can just beat them up whenever someonees. At some point, they will realize that going after you doesn''t help them. They never gain anything and always leave with injuries." "No one is trying to kill you in here. No one is trying to end your career as a warrior." "Today, you have decided to kill a student just because you didn''t want to be annoyed anymore. You were not in danger. You were not in danger, but you were still willing to kill a fellow student." "For what?" When Shang heard that, he looked over at his two beast sacks, which still remained near the street. "For that?" the Water Mage asked when she noticed Shang looking at his two beast sacks. "So what if they took it? They are students, and they will be in the academy. You saw their faces, and you could have hunted them until they gave everything back with additionalpensation. You know what''s in there, and you know how much everything is approximately worth. Just make them buy stuff equivalent to what you have lost." "However, all of that isn''t even necessary since you wouldn''t have lost your stuff anyway. You are at the Peak Soldier Stage, and only other Peak Soldier Stage students can stop you, and these students don''t care about your meager wealth. These kinds of students are fully focused on reaching the General Stage." For the first time, the Water Mage actually looked at Shang. "There was no reason to go that far." Aplex mix of emotions appeared inside Shang''s chest. Was it regret? Was it anger? Was it fear? He wasn''t sure. Maybe it was all of those emotions. Shang looked at the bubble of water in front of him. Did his regret matter? He had already done it. All the regret in the world didn''t matter at this moment. If the student died, it didn''t matter if he felt regret or not. He would have killed a fellow student, and he would have gotten expelled and hunted. For a while, Shang only watched the Water Mage work. "Will he survive?" he asked. When the Water Mage heard that, a smirk appeared on her face. "Of course. Who do you think I am?" she asked. "If I weren''t confident in saving him, I would have stopped you sooner." "Actually, I''m already done." After she said that, the water disappeared, and Shang could see the boy he had nearly killed. It was that one guy that had told Shang that he hade to hell. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. Currently, he wasn''t conscious. When Shang saw that he was still alive, he felt an unimaginable feeling of relief wash over him. "In my time in the army, I have seen a lot of people like you," the Water Mage said. "Let me give you an important piece of advice." "Leave the battlefield on the battlefield. Don''t bring the battlefield home." Thisment hit Shang again. Now, Shang actually felt regret. "Anyway, you''re still young," the Water Mage said as she grabbed one of the legs of the student, pulling him behind her. She seemed to be used to pulling students by the leg. "You still have a lot of life in front of you, and you still have a lot of learning to do." "Remember what you are feeling right now. If you feel consumed by rage again, remember how you have felt at this moment." "Don''t let your past ruin your future." And after she said that, she pulled the unconscious student into the building. Shang continued standing at the same spot. ''Don''t let your past ruin your future.'' Chapter 126 For a while, Shang only remained on the spot, thinking. ''Don''t let my past ruin my future,'' Shang repeated to himself in his mind. To Shang, these words had a profound meaning. When he thought about these words, the night with the bandits returned. ''My past.'' Shang felt like the Water Mage had been right in basically everything she said. But at the same time, Shang also felt that her words were a bit too simple. ''Ruthlessness is still a necessity in this world. Not dealing with threats might make them even bigger in the future.'' ''Leaving the battlefield on the battlefield, huh?'' ''I''m not sure if there is a ce that''s not a battlefield in this world.'' ''The teachers say that the academy is safe, but is it truly safe? Have there been no instances of students dying to other students?'' ''I don''t believe that.'' Shang looked at the ce where the unconscious student had just been. ''However, was he truly a threat?'' ''Have I not risked the threat bing an even bigger one by trying to get rid of this small threat? Before my actions, he might have been the only threat, and his threat had been minuscule.'' ''However, what about his family? If their child had received some permanent damage, wouldn''t they search for revenge? Wouldn''t have this little threat turned into a bigger threat then?'' For a while, Shang tried to wrap his head around his new understanding. After the night of the bandits, Shang''s mind had focused on dealing with all the small threats to stop bigger threats from appearing. But today, Shang''s method of dealing with small threats had nearly summoned a far bigger threat. ''Is it right to always deal with smaller threats?'' Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Silence. ''Yes, it obviously is, but what constitutes as dealing with a threat?'' ''The threat had already been dealt with after injuring him heavily. At that point, he had no longer been a threat. After all, he had probably never nned on actually killing me.'' ''He''s only a kid that made a mistake. Just like me, he has plenty of time to learn about the consequences of his actions.'' ''Teaching him a lesson was the correct course of action, but when the lesson had gone too far, it has caused problems for me.'' ''In the end, I can''t only look at the person in front of me but also at the surroundings. Killing him would have only had negative consequences to my life.'' ''I need to learn how to differentiate between different kinds of threats and their dangers.'' After a while of thinking, Shang turned around and slowly grabbed his two beast sacks. ''I need to pay more attention in the future. I need to be mindful of the consequences of my actions.'' ''This time, I managed to get out of this mess because an outsider intervened. In the future, I am bound toe into a situation where no one is there to stop me from losing control.'' ''I lost control, and I have to ept that I have lost control. Even though my actions have appeared correct at that moment, they have not been correct in retrospect.'' ''I am not emotionless, and I have to keep in mind that anger can cloud my judgment.'' Shang entered the building and went into his room. After putting the two beast sacks down, Shang sat on his bed, only looking at the ground with furrowed brows. His mind had returned to calm with surprising speed. It was almost like the incident hadn''t urred. The image of the crushed face beneath him shouting for its mother returned for an instant, but Shang''s mind quickly shoved it to the side. ''I need to be more mindful of my future. I can''t ruin my future with actionsmitted in the heat of the moment.'' The image returned, but Shang shoved it away again. ''I need to be in control of myself.'' The image returned and vanished again. ''I need to always remain in control.'' The image came back and was pushed away again. Shang kept repeating to himself that he had to remain in control. The image always returned, but Shang always pushed it away. That wasn''t him anymore. He was in control of himself. This was his new past. He would not lose control anymore. He would leave the past in the past. Shang kept shoving the image into the back of his mind. He wouldn''t allow it to ruin his life. Shang remained sitting on his bed for a while. Suddenly, Shang was pulled out of his thoughts when he smelt something disgusting. He furrowed his brows and looked at the source of the smell. One of the two beast sacks. Shang opened it and looked inside. All the Pest Cat ears had begun to dpose, which was the reason for the horrible smell. ''Stuff dposes this quickly in this world? Something like that takes multiple days on Earth,'' Shang thought. ''Well, I am in a different world. I should expect some things to be different.'' ''Anyway, I should deal with this stuff.'' Shang took hold of the beast sack, leaving the other one in the room. Then, Shang left his room and went to the marketce. While he walked to the Exchange Hall, every student in front of him stepped out of the way. It was unknown if it was because of Shang''s actions or the smell. Shang didn''t notice their actions. He was walking to the Exchange Hall like a machine. Eventually, Shang arrived in the Exchange Hall and went to one of the counters. Shang put the beast sack on the counter. "Pest Cat ears, Swamp Millipede feelers, and Vanishing Snakes," he said. The person behind the counter was a General Stage warrior, and he looked at the beast sack with disgust. "Why didn''t you bring that earlier?" he asked with annoyance as he opened the sack. When the sack opened, a disgusting liquid mixed with all kinds of things could be seen. However, the Pest Cat ears and Swamp Millipede feelers were still visible. "I only killed them this morning,'' Shang said. The clerk snorted. "This morning?" he asked with annoyance. "Do you think stuff rots to this degree in only a day?" "That''s at least four days old." Chapter 129 Shang sat down in one of many chairs inside one of the rooms on the third floor of the main building. Several other students were with Shang in the room, and a couple of them threw worried nces at him while whispering to their neighbors, who then also shot a look at Shang. Shang tried to ignore it, but it was way too obvious what they were talking about. All the students in the room were 16 and 17 years old, except for Shang. A couple of minutes of whisperingter, the teacher entered. She looked to be in herte twenties, and she had long ck hair, her eyes detached and distant. She inspected everyone present, and her gaze lingered a bit longer on Shang. "Let''s start ss," she announced. Everyone quieted down. Then, Teacher Niria began her lesson. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. This afternoon, she was teaching the ss about the northeastern forest. She talked about Swamp Millipedes and Vanishing Snakes, but most of all, she talked about the Empress Cobra Zone. The northeastern forest was adjacent to the Empress Cobra Zone, and there was a high likelihood that the students would find some beasts from there in the northeastern forest. She talked about the climate and how the beasts behaved. And that was already it for the lesson. There was so much to learn about the northeastern forest that it couldn''t be covered in just one lesson. Today, she had only talked about the special things one could expect toe across in the northeastern forest. The local flora and fauna would be taught in different lessons. After the lesson was finished, several students walked up to teacher Niria to ask questions, which she very quickly answered with the least words possible. Several minutester, all the students had left. That was when Shang walked up to her. "Do you have a question?" teacher Niria asked with practiced ease. "My question would be if it is safe for me to speak right now," Shang said. Teacher Niria''s eyes narrowed ever so slightly. "Follow me," she ordered. Shang and Teacher Niria left the room and then the building. After walking towards the north, past nearly all of the training fields, teacher Niria stopped. At the moment, Shang and teacher Niria were directly beneath the northwestern wall. "Ask," teacher Niria ordered. "No one can hear us." Shang took a deep breath. This was it. He hoped that he hadn''t made a mistake in his deduction. "I have a Darkness Affinity," he said. "And why would I care?" teacher Niria directly asked, like she had seen Shang''s wordsing. "Because we are connected," Shang said. "How so?" she asked coldly. "You also have a Darkness Affinity." "What makes you think so?" she asked. "Several things," Shang said before he started rattling down his thoughts. "Back when you inspected the corpse, you said that we are connected. However, you and I met for the first time back then. That means that the corpse told you something about me." Teacher Niria let Shang continue without interrupting. "You even helped me far more than is to be expected of a teacher." "However, that isn''t the only reason I have found out. The clerk in the Curio Trinket also made an interestingment based on the corpse." Teacher Niria frowned. "What did he say?" she asked. "I only told him that you have sent me, nothing more. Yet, when he inspected the corpse, he said, of his own volition, that this snake has definitely been killed by you. He said your handiwork is unmistakable." "Of course, I know that I have killed the snake. However, how can he be so sure that you killed it, not me?" "Are we two the only ones in the entire city that use swords? I don''t think so." "Do you have ess to call upon the progeny of the Storm Eagle? I don''t think so." "So, if the cut on its side and the killing blow were not the giveaways, that only leaves one thing. The weakened tail." "Nearly the entire tail was cut off, but there is still quite a bit of weakened flesh near its back. An experienced eye will notice it. You noticed it, and the clerk noticed it too." "Alright," teacher Niria said. "That''s nice and all, but why did you want to talk to me? Did you only want me to listen to your ramblings?" Shang took a deep breath. "I need your help," he said. "For what?" "Middle Rank Two Darkness Affinity ore," Shang said. "How much?" teacher Niria asked. "Two units." "Impossible," she answered. That threw Shang for a loop. He was sure that she was the person he should contact. Back in the Exchange Hall, the clerk had given him several hints. He had said that it needed someone in the Commander Stage to get the ore. On top of that, it would be a major risk. So, the person should have a strong connection with Shang. With that sentence, the clerk had told Shang that he needed to get a Commander Stage warrior he could trust. Then, the clerk had said that he had to keep the information of both students and teachers a secret. With that, he was telling Shang that he should go to a teacher. Adding the teachers into the sentence was useless. He could have simply said that the students'' information would be hidden from everyone. Lastly, he said that only the dean could check up on information in the Exchange Hall. That meant that Shang only needed to get the Darkness ore from the teacher, and he could buy anything he needed from the Exchange Hall. Well, as long as the dean wasn''t Shang''s enemy, but if he were, Shang would have bigger problems. In short, the clerk had indirectly told Shang that there was a teacher in the school that was willing to do something like that. However, it was up to Shang to find them. "Why is it impossible?" Shang asked. "You haven''t shown me the basic amount of respect required for asking me for help," she said. "The basic amount of respect?" Shang asked in confusion. What did she mean by that? He had been polite, hadn''t he? What did she mean? She looked at Shang for a bit longer before slowly walking away. "You cane talk to me again when you are serious," she said. Shang''s mind was going wild. What did she mean? Did she want a bribe? No, she didn''t seem like a person that wanted to be bribed. She also didn''t seem like a person that liked to y political games. She also didn''t seem like the deceiving kind. ''Wait, she doesn''t seem like the deceiving kind?'' Shang thought. ''If someone weaker than me asked for my help, and I were theoretically willing to help them, what would be the least I would want them to do?'' That''s when it hit Shang. However, it was risky, very risky. That also exined teacher Niria''s earlier words. When Shang had said that he wanted Darkness ore, she hadn''t immediately said that it was impossible. No, before that, she asked how much he needed. Only when he stated the amount did she say that it was impossible. Shang took a deep breath. "I have more than only a Darkness Affinity," Shang said. Teacher Niria stopped. Then, she walked back to her previous spot. "Continue," she said. The least Shang would want from such a person was honesty. They should at least be honest with him. Chapter 130 Shang took a deep breath. It was definitely a huge risk to tell teacher Niria about his one-of-a-kind Affinity. However, this was still the safest bet. First of all, teacher Niria already knew that Shang had more than just a Darkness Affinity, which meant that she already knew that his Affinity had to be very special. Second, teacher Niria had already indirectly taken the first step. If she hadn''t given Shang several hints, he would have never found out that teacher Niria had a Darkness Affinity. In a way, she had tested Shang''s intellect and had also shown him her trust. She had taken the first step by unveiling her own secret. On top of that, teacher Niria was probably the only person that could help Shang without too much risk. The dean? Shang doubted that the dean would help him. The dean seemed like a very strict parent to Shang. If Shang asked him for help in that matter, not only would the dean not help him, but he would probably even call Shang weak. It was Shang''s responsibility to be more powerful. The fact that he was allowed to study in this academy was already more than enough help. "At the moment, I have four Pure Affinities," Shang said. "That''s impossible," teacher Niria said, "but I don''t believe you''re lying. Prove it." Shang pointed to the side, and his arm shone with a bit of light for a second. Luckily, they were alone right now. Shang trusted in teacher Niria''s capability to notice if someone tried to spy on them. Teacher Niria hadn''t been shocked by the light. She had already anticipated that Shang also had a Light Affinity. Why? Because she knew that Shang must have a Mixed Affinity that couldn''t be covered with Mixed materials, like a Poison Affinity. In her mind, a fusion of Light and Darkness made the most sense. However, when teacher Niria saw Shang''s left arm, her eyes narrowed. Shang''s left arm had shriveled up. This definitely wasn''t normal. "I thought you had a Mixed Affinity," she said. "Seems like I have been mistaken." "What do you mean?" Shang asked, interested in her thoughts. "Affinities don''t damage the user," she said. "After all, an Affinity is something that you have great compatibility with. Someone with a Fire Affinity won''t be damaged by fire as much and not at all by their own fire." "However, your arm has been damaged by the release of Light Mana. That is not normal," she said. "How would that normally work?" Shang asked. "Someone with a Light Affinity can heal others and themselves," she exined. "They convert the Mana in their body and mind into Light Mana. This means that they can unleash Light Mana as long as they have Neutral Mana left in their body." "But you have used your own life energy, or by the looks of it, the life energy in your left arm. This is not normal. Affinities always only make use of the saved-up Mana in your body and mind, not your life energy." Teacher Niria walked forward and held her hand out for Shang. "Go heal your arm. You might as well show me the peculiarities of your Darkness Affinity." Shang nodded and took hold of teacher Niria''s arm. Then, he used his Darkness Absorb to absorb a bit of her life energy. "I''m not a weakling," shemented. "I want to see if your Darkness Affinity also has a negative side- effect. If it has one, show me." Shang nodded and absorbed more of teacher Niria''s life energy. Shang''s arm swelled up, and he let go of her. When teacher Niria saw Shang''s left arm, her eyebrows furrowed. "Just as expected, you directly absorb life energy without converting it to Mana." "The bnce of Life Energy inside your body is important. Too little, and you will slowly sumb to many tiny injuries appearing all over your body. Too much, and you will explode." Shang''s arm was close to exploding, but it hadn''t crossed the threshold yet. "Your Darkness and Light Affinities have transformed into a control over life energy," teacher Niria said as shebed her long hair with her fingers, her eyes distant. "However, the most shocking part is that your two Affinities do not interact with Mana at all, which should be impossible." "All Affinities interact with Mana. Mana is the very medium that makes these transformations possible. Yet, your Light and Darkness Affinities don''t interact with it at all." At that moment, Shang pointed his left arm to the side. Then, he released a Fire st. Teacher Niria was pulled out of her thoughts as she felt arge amount of Fire Mana leave Shang''s body. At the same time, she also noticed that Shang''s left arm was now filled with Ice Mana. Then, Shang unleashed an Ice st. Shang''s arm got severely injured, but the added life energy inside his left arm was being used up to heal it now. In just a single second, Shang''s left arm was in its peak condition again. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. Teacher Niria needed a long time to react after witnessing Shang''s abilities. "Shocking," she whispered. "Your Fire and Ice Affinities also don''t interact with the Mana inside your body. They only interact with the Mana in the surroundings." Teacher Niria narrowed her eyes as shebed her hair. "This should be impossible. Affinities are precisely the transformation of your own Mana into different Mana. Yet, your four Affinities don''t touch your Mana at all." "In a way, this doesn''t even conform to the definition of an Affinity." "ording to the definition of an Affinity, your Affinity doesn''t belong to you. After all, it doesn''t interact with your Mana." "From what I''ve seen, you basically only count as a medium. You are something that transforms the Mana of your surroundings into something else." "Maybe you are the Affinity?" Shang felt like teacher Niria was onto something, but he also wasn''t sure what she was thinking about. Her words were too abstract. "Or maybe, since your Affinity doesn''t interact with your Mana but the Mana of the world, this Affinity is the world''s Affinity." "And you''re only its hand." Chapter 131 "I am the world''s hand?" Shang asked in surprise. "Not literally," teacher Niria said. "That would make no sense. I was only trying to make sense of everything." "Does the dean know?" teacher Niria suddenly asked. "Yes," Shang said. "He is the one that allowed me to unearth my Affinities in the first ce." "That makes sense," teacher Niria said. "From what I can tell, you have absorbed four different Pure Mana Sources, and I don''t think you have the money to buy even one of them. Additionally, Light and Darkness Mana Sources are very rare but also rtively worthless. There simply is no demand for them, which means that whoever happens to carry some of them with them doesn''t even remotely have to worry about Commander Stage beasts." "What are his thoughts?" teacher Niria asked. At that moment, Shang felt a bit uncertain. Yes, he had decided to trust teacher Niria, but he also hadn''t forgotten how the dean had acted. The dean valued honesty greatly, but he also didn''t betray his friend, Duke Whirlwind. "I don''t want to say," Shang said with a sigh. "I don''t think it''s my ce to say what the dean thinks." Teacher Niria nodded. "That''s a good quality to have. If you had told me what the dean has said, my trust in you would have diminished." "Anyway," teacher Niria said as she walked closer to Shang. "You said you needed two pieces of Middle Rank Two Darkness Affinity ore, correct?"Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang nodded. "Yes. As you have seen, I have four Affinities, and I want to keep everything bnced. My sword needs seven pieces of ore, which means I need two of each." "And how do you n on creating that weapon?" teacher Niria asked. "I don''t believe that any cksmith would know how to fuse four different kinds of Pure Affinity ore together. Additionally, creating weapons out of Darkness and Light Affinity ore is already something nearly no cksmith can do." "I have a solution to that, but I can''t tell you," Shang said. Teacher Niria only looked at Shang for a bit. "Fine," she said. "1,000 gold per unit." Shang took a deep breath. 1,000 gold?! "That''s a lot," Shangmented. "It''s what you have," she said. "Don''t think that I am extorting you. If you were to pay the actual price, you would need to pay over 10,000 gold. I am essentially gifting the ore to you at that price." "Furthermore, if you acted intelligently, you should have received 2,200 gold from the Curio Trinket." Shang sighed. "Thank you. I will ept," he said. Teacher Niria nodded. "Let''s go." "To where?" Shang asked. "To your room," she answered. "We can''t make such a trade in public. I can hide the effects of the ore, but you can''t. If you openly walk around with the ore, you will be caught sooner orter." "Wait! Does that mean that you already have the ore in your possession?" Shang asked in surprise. Teacher Niria nodded. Shang was a bit surprised that teacher Niria already had the ore with her, but he didn''tin. The two of them walked back to the main building under the gazes of a couple of students. Hadn''t those two already talked to each other a couple of days ago? What was going on? Shang felt ufortable under the gazes of everyone, and he hoped that they didn''t misinterpret teacher Niria''s intentions. But Shang was worrying over nothing. It was forbidden for teachers to get into a rtionship with students, and that rule was irond. If teacher Niria didn''t want to be fired, she would never start a rtionship with a student. Because of that, basically no one suspected the two of them of hooking up. When teacher Niria entered Shang''s room, a couple of suspicions appeared in the students'' minds. Maybe teacher Niria was giving Shang a private lesson? Maybe, after taking a look at one of the corpses Shang brought back, she took him under her wing? Or maybe teacher Niria was trying to deal with Shang''s obvious problems? After all, Shang had nearly killed a student recently. As the two of them entered the room, Shang pointed at his two big sacks of gold. SHING! The two sacks vanished, and a small, inconspicuous sack appeared in their ce. Shang immediately felt Darkness Manaing from them. "Keep the Light ore and the Darkness ore at separate parts of the room," she said. "You don''t want them to consume each other''s Mana." Shang did just that, and after he was done, he looked at teacher Niria again. "Thanks," Shang said. Teacher Niria only nodded before she sat down on Shang''s bed. This surprised and confused Shang. "You want to stay?" Shang asked. "If I leave right now, everyone will get suspicious. I need to appear like I''m giving you a private lesson. I''m already under a lot of scrutiny based on my Affinity, and I can''t be careless," she said. Shang nodded. "That makes sense." After that sentence, silence returned to the room. Teacher Niria was seemingly looking at a random wall of the room with concentration in her eyes. She was probably thinking about something. Shang noticed that she wasn''t interested in talking, and soon enough, he became bored. ''I can''t just sit around,'' Shang thought as he pushed the bloody face out of his vision again. ''I need to distract myself.'' Shang nced at teacher Niria. ''However, it would be awkward to train in front of her. The venttion in the room is horrible, and if I start sweating, it will stink up the entire ce.'' ''Isn''t there something else I can do?'' Shang thought back to what he had thought about while being in the northeastern forest. ''Right! I wanted to try if I could concentrate my Affinity Abilities! If I can manage to release a concentrated beam of fire or ice, I have another way to attack my opponent.'' ''Speaking of, do Darkness and Light have something simr?'' ''How would I even go about training it?'' And at that moment, Shang nced at teacher Niria. "Is there a way to change the way I can use my Darkness Affinity?" Shang asked. Teacher Niria looked away from the wall and at Shang. "You want a lesson?" she asked. "No, no!" Shang quickly said. Teacher Niria had already helped him a lot, and he wouldn''t want to impose. "I only want to know if it''s possible." Teacher Niria furrowed her brows and looked back at the wall. "Well, I need to appear like I''m giving you a lesson. Might as well actually give you one," she said. "I''m sorry," Shang said. "It''s fine," teacher Niria answered. "You are in the academy to learn, and you don''t really have any way of learning about the Darkness Affinity without my help. I''m basically the only one that can teach you, and it''s my job as a teacher to help you." "Sit on the ground in front of me," she ordered. Shang nodded and sat down. "Concentrate on the Darkness Affinity ore in the corner of the room. Try to feel it, but don''t try to manipte it," she said. Then, over the next minutes, she slowly guided Shang into a state of meditation. Over the next three hours, she told Shang how to train his Darkness Affinity and what he could do with it. Chapter 133 Shang had thought that he could use his Affinity in many different ways, and sure, there certainly were more refined techniques. Sadly, the very refined techniques were just spells. The ability to push theplexity of one''s Affinity to the peak was literally what a spell was. At most, Shang could slightly alter the use of his Mana. With enough training, he could shoot out Darkness Mana. With enough training, he could concentrate the ice and fire. With enough training, he could absorb the light. But that was about it. Anything moreplex would be walking into the territory of spells. Even more, Shang would probably need several months of training just to gain the control to unleash these slightly more refined uses of his Affinities. If he were to attempt to learn the most basic spells, Shang would need literal years to even learn the easiest one. Why? Because of his mind. By increasing the power of the mind, one would gain a far greater connection with their Affinity, and one would be able to concentrate with far more intensity and for longer. And Shang couldn''t train his mind due to his warrior''s body. ''At least I now have something I can do in my downtime. If I can''t properly train in techniques, I can always focus on my Affinities. It''s definitely not my priority since it doesn''t increase my Battle-Strength by a lot, but it''s better than doing nothing.'' ''Anyway, I now have my Darkness ore and Light ore. I''m only missing two units of Fire ore and Ice ore. My priority should be to get those first.'' ''Let''s see. I have 227 gold and 3,440 Contribution Points. Fire costs 5,500 Contribution Points per unit, and Ice costs 6,750 Contribution Points per unit.'' '' 24,500 Contribution Points. That''s what I need. Based on myst excursion, that should be three days of hunting in the northeastern forest.'' Shang scratched his chin in thought. ''However, I don''t want to buy absolutely everything in the Exchange Hall. Sure, my information is being protected, but if the stuff I''m buying is too strange, one of the clerks might believe that information about me is worth more than their job.'' ''The previous clerk probably believes I have a Light Affinity, but that''s not enough for him to risk his life. Of course, when I inevitably unveil my Ice Affinity, he might get suspicious, but that doesn''t actually matter that much.'' ''After all, there is a very easy and logical reason for why I bought Light ore.'' ''I have a friend with a Light Affinity, and they don''t want to show themselves,'' Shang thought with a smirk. ''As long as I''m only buying weird ore once, that excuse works, but that also means that I can only get Ice Affinity ore from the Exchange Hall, which means I have to get the Fire Affinity ore from one of the normal merchants.'' ''So, if I only want two Units of Ice Affinity ore, I only need a bit more than 10,000 Contribution Points. That''s like five Vanishing Snakes. For the Fire ore, I need gold since I believe that I don''t have enough gold right now to buy everything I need.'' Shang nodded as he finalized his n and stood up. Night had already arrived. Teacher Niria''s lesson about beasts was in the afternoon, and with the three added hours of personal teaching, it was now night. ''No time like the present!'' Shang grabbed an empty beast sack, left his room, and jogged towards the city. By now, the streets were nearly empty as everyone was finishing up for the day. In just two more hours, the streets would be dead silent again. Shang just barely managed to get through the big gates before they closed, the guards shouting at him with annoyance. After leaving the city, Shang elerated to a full sprint as he ran down the long street. The wind went through Shang''s hair. He loved that feeling. Whenever Shang ran, he felt so free. Back on Earth, he had only been able to reach such speeds with a vehicle, but here, he could just run. Even more, after surviving for months in the wilderness, Shang had learned how to live without society. If he wanted, he could simply continue running and never turn back. He would be able to survive and still grow more powerful. He was not bound by the ce where he currently was. This was something unachievable on Earth. On Earth, one had a residence, belongings, money, insurance, family, a job, responsibilities, and so on. If one decided topletely abandon society, one would have to live in the wilderness, which would bring a lot of problems. Unclean water, which would endanger one''s health. Cold temperatures. Parasites. Disease. Food problems. All of these things were no issue for Shang. His body was powerful enough that all of these things didn''t matter. And even more, on Earth, it was very hard to rejoin society after abandoning it. The paperwork was monumental. Here, it wasn''t very difficult. This world represented freedom, and only after living on Earth for so long could Shang appreciate the freedom this world provided.N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. For everyone else, this was just normal, but for Shang, this was special. Shang loved this world. At that moment, the image of the featureless, bloody face returned. Shang only pushed it to the side. He had gotten used to pushing it to the side. After running for a while, Shang reached the northeastern forest. He had seen a couple of big dogs on the way, but they only looked at him with a bit of curiosity. Shang quickly reached the northeastern forest and jumped onto a tree. After that, Shang stopped running on the ground and simply jumped from tree to tree. He wanted to continue running, but Shang had already learned that he couldn''t be reckless inside the northeastern forest. Shang''s excitement made way for concentration and care as his expression changed into a solemn one. After jumping for a bit, Shang saw a Swamp Millipede in the distance. Without stopping, Shang jumped from tree to tree until he came to the closest one. Shang directly jumped at the Swamp Millipede. The Swamp Millipede had felt the vibrations of Shang''s jumps since he hadn''t been very stealthy at all and looked over. BANG! Shang unleashed a Fire st to shoot himself at the Swamp Millipede. SHING! The Swamp Millipede was decapitated, and Shang quickly cut off its feelers while unleashing a small Ice st to slightly heat up his nearly frozen arm again. As long as he didn''t force the temperature to jump too wildly, his arm wouldn''t be damaged that much. With that method, Shang could use one st per beast without running out of Mana to regenerate his left arm. Each st allowed Shang to speed up a lot in the air, essentially making him move even faster than a Soldier Stage warrior. Every time Shang unleashed a Fire st, he reached the speed of an Initial General Stage warrior for just one charge. Nearly no beast in the northeastern forest could react to that. Even more, his Fire st allowed Shang to reposition himself in the sky. If a beast noticed Shang''s jump and moved to the side, Shang could simply charge at their new position with incredible speeds. The beasts were helpless. Shang was not fighting. He was hunting. Chapter 134 Shang stood on the ground in the middle of the northeastern forest, his eyes showing a look of concentration. Silence. BANG! Shang unleashed a Fire st as he turned around, his sword ready. Shang''s legs parted the grass on the ground, but they weren''t touching the earth. SHING! A ck gleam created a half-moon as Shang swung his sword at seemingly an empty ce. An instantter, the corpse of a nearly translucent snake fell to the ground in two pieces. ''And that''s five,'' Shang thought with a smirk. ''I knew that traveling along the southern part of the northeastern forest would be profitable.'' Yes, Shang was in the southern part of the northeastern forest, which was a risky zone. Beasts from the Wastnd woulde here from time to time to have their young. Fortunately, Shang knew a couple of the beasts from the Wastnd now. After all, teacher Niria had talked about General Stage beasts one could find in the northeastern forest in herst lesson. She hadn''t been able to get through all of them, but she had talked about a lot. Because of that, Shang felt confident in hunting in this risky part of the forest. First of all, the beasts of the Wastnd were mostly very direct predators. There were only a few beasts that hunted via ambushes in the Wastnd. The Wastnd simply didn''t have many ways to hide, which meant that there were only very few ambush predators in general there. On top of that, those beasts only came here to have their young. They generally weren''t very interested in Soldier Stage beings since they gave nearly no Mana. Sure, if they saw something like that directly in front of them, they might as well kill it, but if that thing was very good at running away, they wouldn''t bother. At most, they would release one or two casual attacks, and if the target managed to survive them and run away, they would simply stop. But surviving two casual attacks from a General Stage beast was still very difficult. That''s where Shang''s left arm came into y. By now, Shang had be very good at using his left arm to move around. And it had already proven to be a lifesaver. During the night, Shang had seen a big pangolin walking through the forest. When Shang had seen it, he had directly known that it was a General Stage beast. The pangolin had noticed Shang on one of the trees, and earthen spears appeared around its body, simr to what the Ice Spear Bear had done. But there were six spears instead of one or two, and they moved with far greater speed. The pangolin had shot them in a spread at Shang. Meanwhile, Shang had used his left arm to jump over the crowns of the trees and then used an Ice st to shoot into the distance. The earthen spears missed after destroying a couple of trees. When the pangolin saw that its prey had fled into the distance at such speeds, it gave up. Sure, the pangolin was very fast, and it could charge forward, destroying all the trees in the process. But that was too much effort just to kill something at the Soldier Stage. It wasn''t worth the hassle. Of course, this maneuver cost Shang a lot of Mana to regenerate his left arm, but it was worth it. After all, this ability to quickly flee was precisely how Shang was able to hunt in the southern part of the northeastern forest. Luckily, there weren''t that many General Stage beasts, and the pangolin had been the only General Stage beast Shang had seen during the night. Shang pocketed the corpse of the Vanishing Snake he had just killed and ran towards the west. Hunting in the southern part of the northeastern forest had been worth it! Shang hadn''t seen many Swamp Millipedes, and even the Pest Cats weren''t as numerous in this ce. After all, the young of the General Stage beasts walked around this ce, and they were generally more powerful than Pest Cats. But Vanishing Snakes thrived here. The young of General Stage beasts were great nourishment for Vanishing Snakes, and they loved hunting here. And that showed once again why the Vanishing Snakes were worth so many Contribution Points. Most progenies of General Stage beasts from the Wastnd were on the cklist. After all, the Wastnd was the biggest moneymaker for Warrior''s Paradise. Yet, the Vanishing Snakes kept killing these young. On top of that, the fact that the Vanishing Snakes could kill so many young also showed how dangerous the Empress Cobra Zone actually was, and by extension, the Swamp Millipedes. If the Swamp Millipedes managed to expand the swamp towards the Wastnd, the Wastnd might actually stop existing. The Empress Cobra Zone was just very dangerous in general. After about an hour of traveling, Shang exited the northeastern forest after a profitable night of hunting. Shang looked towards the east and saw that the sky was a bit brighter than in the middle of the night, but it also wasn''t nearly time for dawn. He guessed that it was probably around 4 am. Shang ran towards the west and reached the street rather quickly. This time, he wasn''t near the Farm Line since he had been hunting in the southern part of the northeastern forest. On his way, Shang saw another dog that was interested in the beast sack. He simply let the dog sniff the beast sack for a bit. The dog eventually became bored and left. Shang reached Warrior''s Paradise shortly before sunrise. The big gates were still closed, which meant that Shang had to go through a manual inspection. "Good job killing all these Vanishing Snakes," the inspecting guard said with a smile as he closed the beast sack again. "You''re protecting Warrior''s Paradise''s prosperity and the lives of many young hunters!" Shang only smiled politely, something he hadn''t done in a long while. "Thanks," he said. The guard nodded and gestured to the smaller door behind him. "Get on it, rich boy," he said with a smile. Shang nodded and entered the city. Shang reached the academy rather quickly as the first people started to wake up inside Warrior''s Paradise. "Teacher, I want to enter the academy," Shang said as he saw teacher Loran sleeping near the closed gate. Teacher Loran lifted his head with boredom. "Just jump over the gate," he said. "I don''t want to stand up right now." Shang shrugged and jumped over the gate. The gate wasn''t there to stop people from entering, which was also why it was only two meters high. It only symbolized if the academy was open or closed. At the moment, the academy was basically empty. Only a couple of students that lived inside the academy were walking around the empty streets as they began training. Shang walked towards the Exchange Hall leisurely and reached it shortly before the gates of the academy opened officially. When Shang entered, he saw an older man packing. Apparently, his shift had just ended. However, Shang was a bit surprised to notice that the old man was actually at the Commander Stage. The clerks Shang had seen during the day had all been at the General Stage. The older man noticed Shang and his beast sack. "Make it quick," he grumbled. Shang put the beast sack on the counter without saying anything. The older man went through the contents at record speeds. Obviously, he was very used to doing this. "Emblem," he ordered. Shang put his emblem on the table, and he quickly got it back after a short burst of light. Shang looked at the number on the emblem, and he smiled brightly. 14,760. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. "Two Middle Rank Two units of Ice Affinity ore, please," Shang said. The older man sighed, quickly entered a side room, and came back with two blue pieces of ore. Shang put the emblem on the table, and the Contribution points went down to 1,260. Then, the older man left with astonishing speed before Shang could say anything else. Obviously, he didn''t want to work anymore. "Do you need something?" a young woman asked Shang as she had just arrived in the Exchange Hall. "No, I''ve got everything I need," Shang answered as he looked at the two pieces of Ice ore. Shang grabbed the ore and left the Exchange Hall. ''Only Fire ore left.'' Chapter 135 ''Only the Fire ore is left. I''m so close!'' Shang thought with burning eyes. He was so very close! ''To keep everything about myself hidden, I need to purchase the Fire ore on the market with gold. I can exin the Light ore I bought with a friend, but no one would want to keep a Fire Affinity hidden. It just wouldn''t make sense.'' ''The merchants are not here yet. They will only arrive near noon. Until then, I should find something to do.'' Shang thought about training, but that wouldn''t help much. Thest time he had tried tobine techniques, he had seen that there was no way to advance further. He needed practical experience and feedback from a teacher to advance in that department. Shang could train in his Affinity, but he believed that there were better uses for his endeavor. So, Shang took out the schedule for the lessons and checked which lessons would take ce soon. He could fit in a lesson. There were only two lessons, which would both start in about half an hour. One of them was a theoretical lesson for future officers, which was something Shang wasn''t interested in. The other one was a theoretical lesson for the Anti-Mages, the red uniforms. This piqued Shang''s interest. Shang knew that he would need to fight Mages sooner orter. However, Shang had only seen a single Mage fight up to now, and that fight had also taken ce far away. ''Well, that seems interesting. I should check it out.'' As Shang stood up, he ignored the bloodied face that had appeared in his vision again and left. He didn''t have to walk very far since the lesson took ce on the third floor of the main building. When Shang arrived, he noticed that the door was open, and he entered. It was a normal room for lectures. There was nothing special about it. Shang saw two students with red robes sitting in the middle of the left half of the room. They were not talking with each other. Shang nced at them, and as if they had felt Shang''s nce, they nced back. For a short moment, their eyes met. And then, the two students looked away again with bored expressions. Shang didn''t say anything and simply sat down somewhere in the middle of the right half. Silence. No one was speaking. ''I think they recognized me, but they just didn''t care,'' Shang thought. The image of the bloodied face returned. ''But that''s understandable. The students that join the Anti-Mage ss are the ones living the most dangerous lives.'' ''They are not looking at other warriors or beasts, but at the overlords of this world, Mages. They are not nning on fighting the weakest ss of people, the warriors. They are also not nning on fighting beasts, which are on average more powerful than warriors.'' ''No, they set their eyes on Mages.'' ''I guess the politics inside the school and all the social stuff are not relevant to them.'' ''I wonder, what would it take for a student to decide to walk such a dangerous path? I''m here because I know I have a high chance of eventually reaching the True Path Stage, and at that point, every dangerous human will be a Mage.'' ''My fight with the Mages in this world is already set in stone, but that''s not true for them.'' That was also when Shang realized that he had only very rarely seen students with red uniforms, and when he saw them, they were just passing by. ''I guess most of them have a reason to hate Mages.'' Shang continued looking at the front absentmindedly. He was only thinking about random stuff as he waited for the lesson to start. In this moment of silence and inactivity, the bloodied face had returned once again. Shang ignored it again and again, but it would just return. Shang kept pushing it again. ''I am in control.'' ''I am in control.'' ''I am in control.'' After a while, Shang started to push the side of his head with his fingers, a telltale sign of someone being stressed and having a headache. Shang didn''t notice it. Did he have a headache? He was so used to pain that he didn''t even know. He had no idea if he had one or not. If he were to have a headache, its pain would be so weak that Shang wouldn''t even notice. The constant destruction of his left arm and his suicidal training had made him numb to any pain that didn''t reach the extreme. Slowly over the next minutes, more students came into the hall. Most of them threw a quick nce at Shang, but all of them also quickly looked away in disinterest. They all had the same thought. ''Another one interested in our ss. He won''t stay around.'' These thoughts were understandable. After all, who would want to willingly fight a Mage? That was essentially suicide. BANG! Shang was taken out of his thoughts as the door to the ssroom was shut loudly. He looked around and noticed that there were nine other students in the ss, one of them with a ck uniform, which represented a future hunter. Apparently, Shang wasn''t the only one interested in the Anti-Mage ss. That meant that there were only eight students with red uniforms in this Grade, even fewer than the Caterpir ss. The person that had shut the door was a rough-looking old man. His face had burns and a couple of cuts, his skin uneven and rough. His hair was wild, long, and silver, and it nearly reached his buttocks. When Shang saw the teacher, his insides shook. Powerful! He felt so powerful! Shang had difficulties discerning the differences in power between the teachers. After all, they were all many times stronger than him. However, the power of this person was as clear as day to Shang. On top of that, he didn''t wear the typical silver uniform that other teachers wore. Instead, he wore thick red armor. There were several small holes in his armor, and Shang could feel several different types of Manaing from those holes, including Darkness Mana. ''Hidden ranged weapons,'' Shang realized. ''Every hole can probably shoot out a small needle or something simr.'' As Shang heard the teacher''s steps, he realized that his footsteps sounded strange. It was like there was machinery inside the soles of his shoes. Shang felt an unreal amount of Fire Manaing from the teacher''s shoes. As the teacher walked down the stairs at the side of the room, Shang felt like a demon had just passed by him. Shang could quickly tell the reason for this very special kind of armor. ''He is fully focused on dealing with Mages. As a warrior, he can''t close the gap with only his own ability, which is why he has armed himself to the teeth with many versatile weapons. He can probably also use the Fire Mana in his shoes to shoot himself forward.'' ''The hidden weapons are probably there to interrupt Mages when they try to cast a spell.'' Shang also noticed that eight of the teacher''s fingers had Space Rings on them. At that moment, Shang realized three things. First, this was a Vice-Dean, not a normal teacher. Normal teachers had to wear silver uniforms. Only the Dean and the Vice-Dean, Soran, hadn''t worn the silver uniforms. This meant that this teacher was probably also a Vice-Dean. Second, this teacher was the epitome of what it meant to fight Mages. He had many scars from his battles, and his entire being and fighting style revolved around countering Mages. Shang wouldn''t even be surprised if this was the greatest specialist in how to deal with Mages in the entire world, excluding other Mages, of course. Andstly, this teacher was powerful. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. In fact, Shang was certain that this was the most powerful teacher in the entire school, except for the Dean. Soran''s power hadn''t felt even remotely as powerful as this teacher''s. This was an old man that had gone through many, many battles against Mages, and he had managed to stay alive up to now. He had been fighting the hegemons of this world for many years, and he was still alive. He had probably reached the absolute peak of what a warrior could reach, except for the Dean. The room was silent as the teacher reached the podium. "Defensive Spells," he announced. Everyone listened, deep respect in their eyes. Chapter 136 Shang listened to the teacher''s words. This was important knowledge! "Standard spells," the teacher said in his deep voice as he grabbed a piece of chalk. His arms moved, and in just two seconds, a diagram appeared on the ckboard. Shang looked with surprise and confusion at the diagram. It was an octagon, but there were many confusing and senseless lines connecting seemingly random spots inside the octagon. In the end, a mess of lines and forms could be seen inside the octagon. Shang had absolutely no idea what this was supposed to represent. He saw no logic in the diagram. "Mana step," the teacher said as he wrote these two words above the diagram. "As you can see, the V- diagram is in there, symbolizing the ess of general Mana. The Lion-Diagram shows a gathering of force. The Z-Diagram shows a transportation of force. The Alpha-Diagram shows the transformation of Mana into physical power. The Side-V shows the release of force." Shang''s eyes widened in surprise. The teacher exined the confusing diagram in only a couple of sentences and broke it down into something that made sense to Shang. However, it was still difficult for Shang to discern how the lines were connected exactly. Where do they begin? Where do they end? "The Mana step is the mostmon and easiest to learn Element-Neutral Apprentice Rank Spell Mages can learn. It simply gathers Mana and releases it in their feet, allowing them to jump to the side." "The Invocation of the spell is also counter-proportional, which is the dangerous thing about this spell." The teacher looked at the two students without red uniforms. "That means, the quicker the Mage speaks the Invocation, the stronger the Spell. Of course, it also takes more Mana." "If a Mage takes a full second to speak the Invocation, the effect will be minuscule. They essentially spend no Mana and move only a little." "The Invocation is¡­" Then, the teacher made some confusing sounds with his voice. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang''s mind returned to the time he had met Duke Whirlwind. He had spoken simr words back then. Shang also remembered that Duke Whirlwind had suddenly appeared in front of Shang after around a second of him fleeing. ''Had Duke Whirlwind used that Spell back then to catch up to me? Additionally, he has taken nearly a second to cast it, which meant that he was essentially only using the bare minimum of Mana.'' ''Yet, that had been enough to jump nearly a hundred meters!'' ''And even Apprentices can learn that Spell?!'' "This Spell allows the Mage to reach speeds one level above themselvespared to warriors of the same level. That means that a Peak Apprentice can reach the speed of an Initial General Stage warrior for an instant," the teacher exined. Shang was reminded of his own ability to shoot himself away with his Ice st and Fire st. Mages could do the same thing but without injuring themselves? Then, the teacher drew another diagram in just a couple of seconds, and this one had way more lines, which were even more confusing to Shang. "Mana Shield, the second easiest Element-Neutral Apprentice Rank Spell," the teacher said. Then, the teacher went over all the different patterns inside the diagram, exining what each of them did. "As you can see, Mana Shield creates a continuous shield of Mana around the Mage. As soon as it is activated, they don''t need to focus on it anymore. It will stay active and counter any outside physical force it experiences. The Mage doesn''t experience any knockback or bacsh during all of this, meaning that their concentration will not be broken." "However, it is a double-edged sword. If a hit is too powerful, the Mana Shield might sap all the Mana out of the Mage, making them defenseless." "Mana Push," the teacher said as he drew another diagram. Shang''s eyes widened as he saw the diagram. It was insanelyplex! He could barely discern anything! The teacher had also taken nearly six seconds to draw it with his impressive speed. Then, the teacher took nearly three minutes to exin all the different diagrams. Shang''s head was thrown into confusion as he tried to keep up with the exnation. Sadly, he couldn''t. It was just tooplex. "Only very talented Apprentices can learn that Spell, and also only in the Late Apprentice Realm or higher. It''s veryplicated, as you can see." "It allows the Apprentice to create a force field around a part of their body, which they can use to redirect enemy attacks. You can essentially view it as a very powerful ma that pushes your weapon away instead of attracting it." "Element-Specific Apprentice Rank Defensive Spells," the teacher announced. "Redirecting explosion." The next diagram was lessplex, but it also inherently looked different somehow. Shang wasn''t quite sure why. As Shang listened, the teacher began to list one Spell after another. In the end, it took half the lesson to exin all the different kinds of Defensive Spells. After that, the teacher talked about the weaknesses of each Spell, ways on how to discern what spell the opponent was casting, most likely next moves, counters, things to avoid, and many other things. Shang was basically stunned through the entire lesson. Mages fought so very differently from anything Shang had ever fought. However, Shang absorbed the knowledge like a sponge. It was presented and exined in a rtively understandable manner, and Shang could hear the epitome of experience inside the teacher''s voice. He knew what he was talking about. Near the end of the lesson, the teacher talked about something else. "The Day of Chaos is in two weeks," he said. "I will decide which of you gets the quota based on how you perform in the practical exam next week. As a Vice-Dean, I can bring up to five people, which means that three of you will have to stay home." Obviously, he didn''t even think about the people not wearing red uniforms. ''Day of Chaos?'' Shang thought in confusion. ''What''s that?'' Chapter 137 Shang wanted to ask what the Day of Chaos was, but for some reason, he felt like he shouldn''t ask the teacher. The entire ssroom had been dead silent for thest three hours. Not even the students in red uniforms had said anything. It was probably better for Shang not to ask any questions. After the short announcement, the Vice-Dean left the room, and the other students began to stand up from their chairs. Shang remained sitting on his chair for a bit longer, but not that much longer. He also left rather quickly. ''The Day of Chaos, huh?'' he thought as he left. ''I should ask a teacher what that is.'' Shang descended the stairs, but instead of returning to his room, he left the building to go to the marketce. By now, the merchants should be here. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. Sure enough, when Shang arrived at the marketce, he found several merchants. Shang directly went to the first one that seemed like they were selling ore. "Hello, how can I help you?" the merchant asked with a polite smile. "Middle Rank Two Fire ore," Shang said. "How much per unit?" SHING! Two pieces of red ore appeared on the table. "As you can see, our ore is of excellent quality. It directly comes from the Volcano Wyrm Zone. The Volcano Wyrm releases a lot of Fire Mana, which makes the ore from that region especially useful for warriors with a Fire Affinity." "How much per unit?" Shang repeated. "450 gold per unit," the merchant stated. Shang''s brows furrowed. ''I need two units, whiches to 900 gold. I have a bit more than 200 gold, which means I need around 700 gold to purchase it.'' "Where is the Volcano Wyrm Zone?" Shang asked. "It''s two Zones to the north of the Ice Wyvern Zone, but you can only get there by going through the Empress Cobra Zone and three other Zones," the merchant exined. "Howe?" Shang asked. "The area to the north of the Ice Wyvern Zone and to the south of the Volcano Wyrm Zone is a beast battlefield," the merchant said. "Humans don''t live there since the Ice Wyvern and the Volcano Wyrm have their beasts fight in that zone. Many Commander Stage and even some True Path Stage beasts fight there. The Mana is in chaos, and no merchant dares to travel through that region." "Because of that, everyone has to walk around the battlefield to get to the Volcano Wyrm Zone. Traveling through the Empress Cobra Zone is also very difficult, but it''s manageable." "However, as you can see, the ore from the Volcano Wyrm Zone is of the highest quality." Shang nodded. ''That exins the price. Sure, he is also selling it at a premium, but that''s still a Zone that''s difficult to get to from here.'' ''Would it be worth it for me to travel there to buy it locally?'' Shang thought as he scratched his chin. ''I guess I would need at least two days to get there and then another two to return. On top of that, I have to find someone that actually sells it at a reasonable price.'' ''I''m only familiar with the Storm Eagle Zone and a bit familiar with the Ice Wyvern Zone. If I want to travel to the Volcano Wyrm Zone, I would have to study it beforehand.'' ''For what? All that work and time investment for what? To save a couple hundred gold?'' ''I can probably earn enough gold to buy the ore here in five days.'' Shang looked at the merchant. ''Seems like it''s better to buy the ore here.'' "I''m interested in two units of the Fire ore, but I''mcking the funds right now," Shang said. "In the next couple of days, I will try to get enough gold to purchase two units." The merchant was a bit disappointed, but not that much. "Not an issue." "If I may ask," Shang said, "do you know of a good way for someone like me to earn gold? I''m new here, and I''m only familiar with how to earn Contribution Points." The merchant was a bit surprised by the question, but he happily answered it. "Go to the Hunter''s Guild in the north of Warrior''s Paradise. You can ept missions for gold there. Usually, you would need to get through a lengthy process of registering as a hunter, but as a member of the Warrior''s Academy, you are automatically a member." This piqued Shang''s interest. "Thank you. I think I will do just that." "I wish you a profitable hunt," the merchant said with a smile. "If I may, I have one more question, but it doesn''t have anything to do with the ore," Shang said. The merchant looked interested but also a bit skeptical. "Yes?" he asked. "What is the Day of Chaos?" he asked. The merchant furrowed his brows. "You really must be new here," he uttered. Shang nodded. "The Day of Chaos is a day that happens once every six months," the merchant exined. "Once every six months, the Storm Eagle leaves the Storm Eagle Zone and flies to the north for a day. No one knows what it''s doing in the north since that''s outside of Duke Whirlwind''s duchy, but it always returns one dayter." "Whenever the Storm Eagle leaves, there''s a chance that at least one of the True Path beasts far to the south decide to go hunting in the Canyon or even the Wastnd." "Well, hunting might not be the correct term. It''s more along the lines of a rampage. The Mages believe that the beasts act out when the Storm Eagle leaves because they have been suppressed for a long while. The Mages think that the True Path beasts enjoy venting their frustrations on the weaker beasts." "This has a ripple effect. Many Commander Stage beasts flee from the Canyon and also kill weaker beasts." "During the day of Chaos, Commander Stage beasts run rampant in the Wastnd, and General Stage beasts invade the Wild Forest. Of course, Warrior''s Paradise also has to endure severe attacks during that period." "The Day of Chaos is a day of fear, terror, but also prosperity. It''s one of the very few times the True Path beasts enter ces not filled with other True Path beasts, making this their most vulnerable time." "But that doesn''t have much to do with us little people," the merchant said with a grin. "On the Day of Chaos, Warrior''s Paradise is closed to everyone. No visitors are allowed, and the ones living here have to leave." "All General Stage warriors and Adepts have to defend the Farm Line from the onught of beasts coming from the Wastnd. All Commander Stage warriors and Mages have to defend Warrior''s Paradise." "Us? We only retreat to the Farm Line and hide until the next day arrives." "And then, everything returns to normal," the merchant exined. Shang had been listening with rapt attention. The name was very appropriate for the Day of Chaos. As soon as the Storm Eagle left, the entire Storm Eagle Zone would fall into a state of pure chaos. But what did all of that have to do with these quotas the Vice-Dean was talking about? "Thank you for your time," Shang said politely. "No problem," the merchant said. "In exchange, please purchase the ore from my shop and not one of the others." Shang nodded. "Will do." "Then there''s nothing to thank for," the merchant said with a polite smile. Shang said his goodbyes and left the marketce. Chapter 138 Shang walked towards the exit of the academy. He wanted to go straight to the Hunter''s Guild to earn some gold. But when Shang went past the gate of the academy, he noticed the teacher guarding the gate. There was always a teacher present. During the night, it was teacher Loran, but during the day, there were always different teachers. It probably depended on the schedule for the day. This time, Shang recognized the teacher guarding the gate. "Teacher Mervin," Shang greeted respectfully. The older man was standing at the side of the gate like a statue. Inparison to teacher Loran, he seemed to take his job much more seriously. Teacher Mervin was one of the three teachers that had supervised Shang''s entrance exam. As far as Shang knew, teacher Mervin was responsible for teaching swordsmanship. Teacher Mervin looked at Shang, and a small glint of recognition appeared in his eyes. "You''ve done something you regret," teacher Mervinmented. "What do you mean?" Shang asked calmly. "You are blind to your own emotions," he said. "I have seen many people in simr situations. I know what they look like." "And what do they look like?" Shang asked. "Distracted, stressed, active," teacher Mervin answered. "Active?" Shang asked. The first two made sense, but the third one? "You can''t stand to do nothing," teacher Mervin said. "Whenever you find a moment of calm, your memories haunt you. It''s impossible for you to calm down." "I don''t think that''s true," Shang said. "When was thest time you slept?" teacher Mervin asked. Shang''s mind went through his memories. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. When was thest time he had slept? He hadn''t slept since he had arrived at the academy nearly two weeks ago. Normal humans needed regr sleep, while Peak Soldier Stage warriors didn''t need much sleep. However, Peak Soldier Stage still needed around ten hours of sleep per week. And Shang? He hadn''t slept in two weeks. "I''m not tired," Shang said. "The effects of sleep deprivation have already taken hold," teacher Mervin said. "You are already showing signs of having a headache, but you simply don''t notice them due to your abnormal resistance to pain and suffering." "You should try going to sleep. Your concentration iscking in your current state, making fights many times more dangerous." Shang''s insides were churning in frustration, but his head told him that teacher Mervin''s words were the truth. Shang didn''t want to admit that he needed sleep, but he knew that he needed to sleep. "There''s still something I have to do," Shang said. Teacher Mervin didn''t answer as he only looked at Shang with neutral eyes. Shang took a couple of steps forward. But then, he paused. "Teacher Mervin, what''s the teachers'' quota for the Day of Chaos? What''s the quota for?" Shang asked. "I''ll tell you if you promise me that you will go to sleep before you''re going to do whatever you think you need to do," teacher Mervin answered. Shang looked at teacher Mervin for a bit. Then, he turned around and left for the Hunting Guild. When teacher Mervin saw Shang leave, he released a sigh. ''He''s running from his problems,'' he thought. ''Yet, what''s the use in doing that? He will have to confront them either way.'' As Shang walked towards the Hunting Guild, he had a couple of thoughts of his own. ''Yes, I need to sleep, but I don''t want to sleep right now. I am so close to finally having a powerful weapon. I got my Light ore, my Darkness ore, and my Ice ore. I''m only missing the Fire ore, which should be the easiest and cheapest one.'' ''Just one more hunt.'' ''I can sleep after that.'' Shang arrived in the north of the city rather quickly. He had been here several times since the gates were also at the north, but he hadn''t really looked around here. Shang searched for the Hunting Guild, and he quickly found a very wide building at the side of the main street. Shang saw several huntersing in and out of the building, most of them being at the General Stage. Some of them were leaving the city to the north, while several others were walking further into the city. Shang walked into the Hunting Guild. When he entered, he was a bit surprised. The Hunting Guild looked very different from what he had expected. He had expected some kind of big bar with alcohol and music, but none of that was here. Instead, Shang saw several counters with clerks, lots of paper everywhere, a couple of potted nts here and there, white walls, and some chairs for hunters to wait. This definitely didn''t feel like a Hunting Guild of some fantasy game or something. ''It looks like a mixture of a doctor''s waiting room and the DMV,'' Shang thought. ''At this point, I wouldn''t even be surprised if I have to get a number and wait in line.'' This looked far more like a public office than some kind of Guild. Shang looked to the left and saw a young woman standing behind a counter that had the word reception written on it. Shang couldn''t feel any specific kind of Manaing from the woman, but he could feel a certain density of Mana surrounding her. She was probably an Adept. ''Well, I guess I should walk over,'' Shang thought. "Hello, this is my first time here," Shang said. "Could you please exin to me how everything works here?" The woman looked up from the papers in front of her and at Shang. She quickly noticed Shang''s uniform. "I need your Emblem first," she said, extending her hand. Shang took out his emblem and ced it in her hands. The receptionist spoke two quick words, and several confusing signs appeared on Shang''s emblem. The receptionist furrowed her brows as she looked at the confusing signs. Then, she looked at Shang with a bit of surprise. "Alright," she said, giving Shang his emblem back. After that, she grabbed one stack of papers and another smaller stack of papers. "Here you go," she said, handing the two stacks of paper to Shang. "These are your avable missions for the day. Read through the mission list and tell me which ones you want to ept. Please keep in mind that the missions you ept have to bepleted in less than 24 hours. So, please don''t choose too many of them." "If you have any questions about any specific beasts on the list, you can ask me, but please keep your questions to your mission targets. I''m not a teacher," she exined. After that, she looked away again as she returned to leafing through another stack of papers with furrowed brows. Shang felt a bit awkward since the receptionist had exined everything at record speed without even giving him an opportunity to answer. "Thanks," Shang said absentmindedly. Shang took the two stacks of papers and walked to one of the chairs at the side. A couple of other hunters were already sitting there as they were looking through several stacks of papers. Shang sat down and looked at the first stack of papers. ''Missions for Initial General Stage beasts in the Wild Forest,'' Shang read with surprise. ''I can choose missions to hunt Initial General Stage beasts?'' Chapter 139 Shang was surprised that he got ess to Initial General Stage beasts. Why would the Hunting Guild give him ess to such strong beasts? Shang knew that he couldn''t kill a General Stage beast under normal circumstances. After all, in his battle against the Vanishing Snake, Shang had had several advantages. It had basically been a unique opportunity. If Shang had fought a normal General Stage Vanishing Snake, he would have definitely lost. After all, the Vanishing Snake hadn''t even attacked Shang with its tail for the first half of the fight, and its attention also hadn''t been fully on Shang. Shang was confident in his power, but he wasn''t an idiot. He knew that he had no chance against a General Stage beast. At least, for now. With a more powerful weapon, Shang could imagine fighting a General Stage beast. Shang looked around and noticed that the receptionist was busy doing something else. So, Shang''s eyes wandered to the hunter sitting beside him. It was a man in his twenties, wearing armor made of brown leather. The leather reminded Shang of the Wastnd. "Excuse me," Shang said to the hunter. The hunter looked at Shang with a curious expression. "Yes?" he asked. Shang pointed at the words on his stack of papers. "Do you think the Hunting Guild made a mistake? I don''t think I''m powerful enough to kill General Stage beasts." The hunter frowned and motioned for Shang to give him the stack of papers. Shang gave it to him. After all, these missions were public, and everyone basically shared the missions. Shang doubted that he was the only one that had ess to over 50 missions. The hunter looked with furrowed brows at the title of the stack of papers and quickly skimmed through the contents. "Have you killed a General Stage beast once before?" he asked. "Yes, but I was lucky, and I had help," Shang said. Plop! The hunter threw the stack of papers back to Shang. "Then that''s fine. No one is hunting alone anyways. If you killed one, you killed one." Shang looked with aplex expression at the hunter''s nonchnt attitude. How did the Hunting Guild even know that he had killed a General Stage beast? At that moment, the image of teacher Niria shot through Shang''s mind. Was it her? ''Anyway, everything seems to be in order,'' Shang thought as he looked at the stack of papers. Shang didn''t n on epting these missions anyway. After all, he was not nning on dying. However, he was a bit interested in their contents. Shang opened the stacks of paper, and the very first page already showed Shang something very familiar. "Kill adult Vanishing Snakes and document their appearance." "Reward: 800 gold." "Corpse: Forfeit." Shang looked with confusion at the mission. Original from N?velDrama.Org. Then, he looked at the hunter beside him again. "What does corpse forfeit mean?" he asked. "Means you have to deliver the corpse, and you don''t get to sell it," he answered quickly without looking away from his own stack of papers. "Of course, the rewards are also higher. Those missions are generally worth it." "Thanks," Shang quickly said as he looked back at the piece of paper. 800 gold. That would be enough for his ore. Shang took a deep breath and went to the next page. He wasn''t about to look for his death. "Find clues of the Pest Queen''s whereabouts." "Reward: 500 gold." Shang looked at the mission with confusion. ''Pest Queen? Does that have something to do with the Pest Cats?'' Shang looked at the hunter beside him but decided against asking. He wouldn''t ept that mission anyway. Shang went to the next page. "Kill adult Swamp Millipedes and document their appearance." "Reward: 400 gold." At that moment, Shang considered epting the mission. How powerful would an adult Swamp Millipede be? It couldn''t be as dangerous as an adult Vanishing Snake, right? But then, Shang remembered two crucial details. First of all, the Soldier Stage Swamp Millipedes were only in the Mid Soldier Stage, while Vanishing Snakes were at the Late or Peak Soldier Stage. That was one of the reasons why they felt more dangerous to Shang. Second, Vanishing Snakes were ambush predators while Swamp Millipedes weren''t. They definitely weren''t the sneaky kind, and it was easy to find them from quite a distance. That probably meant that their directbat power was probably pretty high. So, in the end, Shang decided against epting the mission. After that, Shang put the first stack of papers away. Obviously, these missions were too much for him. Shang looked at the other stack of papers, and he quickly found more manageable missions. Killing Vanishing Snakes. Killing Swamp Millipedes. Killing Pest Cats. After that, Shang saw many, many more missions for killing other beasts. Most of them were completely unknown to Shang. Shang also found some particr missions that didn''t involve killing. Some of them only wanted Shang to document the whereabouts of certain beasts. Others asked about surveying an entire area and documenting all beasts that passed by him. Some other missions wanted Shang to get some samples from soil or certain beasts. But most missions were still about killing beasts. After several minutes, Shang was done with looking through the stack of papers. ''The most lucrative mission is killing Vanishing Snakes. Each one is worth 80 gold,'' Shang thought with a frown. ''I would need nine Vanishing Snakes, which woulde down to over 24 hours of hunting in dangerous territory. Additionally, I have killed a lot of Vanishing Snakes already. I don''t think the Vanishing Snakes are as numerous as Pest Cats.'' ''On top of that, some Vanishing Snakes might decide against attacking me. I''m not sure if my suspicions are correct, but I feel like there have been fewer Vanishing Snakes attacking me thest timepared to how many there should be.'' ''Maybe their instincts tell them that I''m dangerous.'' ''If my suspicions are correct, it might actually take me three days to hunt enough.'' Shang looked through the other missions again. However, they were not even nearly worth as much as the Vanishing Snakes. For example, a Pest Cat only had a bounty of one gold. Was he supposed to hunt 700 Pest Cats? Swamp Millipedes were also only worth three gold, which was ridiculously little. By now, Shang had realized that the academy paid way more for these kinds of beasts. Sure, there were other beasts that had a two-digit bounty of gold, but Shang didn''t know much about them. ''Seems like I have to work for a couple of days,'' Shang thought with a sigh. "You killed a General Stage beast once, right?" Shang looked to his right at the hunter beside him. He hadn''t expected the hunter to initiate conversation. "Yes, I did," Shang said. The hunter nodded. "I can see that you are new here, but I can also see your potential. I saw that you mostly skipped over the General Stage beasts, which is a smart move. It means you know your own limits." Shang wasn''t sure why the hunter wasplimenting him. "Thank you?" he answered in confusion. "How confident are you in fleeing from General Stage beasts?" the hunter asked. "As long as they don''t specifically try to hunt me down, I''m confident in escaping," Shang answered as he remembered how he had fled from that one pangolin. The hunter nodded again. "Been to the southern parts of any of the two forests before?" he asked. Shang nodded. "Yes, that''s where I escaped from a pangolin that threw earth spears at me." The hunter snorted. "That''s an Artillery Pangolin," the hunter said. "They''re very slow, but their ranged abilities can''t be underestimated." ''Seems like artillery is a known concept in this world,'' Shang thought with surprise. "Anyway, if you managed to escape from one of those, there should be a rather fitting mission for you in that first stack of papers," the hunter said. "Of course, no mission is without its risks." "There is one?" Shang asked in surprise. The man nodded. "Page 49," he said. Shang grabbed the first stack of papers again and went to that page. "Break the beaks of any young Javelins you find and mark their heads." "Reward: 250 gold." "WARNING: Javelins are on the cklist! Killing them is strictly prohibited!" Shang''s eyes widened in surprise. Chapter 140 "Javelins?" Shang asked in confusion as he looked at the hunter beside him. The hunter nodded. "You might think that Javelins are birds, but they are actually a mixture between birds andnd beasts. Imagine a wolf, give it scales, put feathers over the scales, and rece its head with a bird head with a long beak. Their front legs have very noticeable feathers." "They are very quick onnd, but they can also expand the feathers on their front legs to create makeshift wings. They are a bit clumsy in the air, but if they jump beforehand, their small wings give them a terrifying short-term control for their jump." Shang had a hard time imagining such a beast. A wolf with a bird''s head and expandable wings? "The Mages think that Javelins have once been birds that transitioned on fighting onnd," the hunter exined. "Why?" Shang asked. "The Wastnd is full of Earth and Wind Affinity beasts, and nearly all of them have some kind of ranged attack. Flying beasts often have issues with dealing with such attacks. Sure, they are fast and nimble, but one good hit with a rock, and they hit the ground." Shang nodded a couple of times. This world sure was interesting. "So, why do we have to get their beaks? Are they worth a lot?" Shang asked. "No," the hunter answered. "The beaks of the young are worthless." "Then why do we have a mission to get them? On top of that, the reward is very high for a beast at the Soldier Stage." The hunter smirked. "Investment and pest control," he said. Shang looked with a questioning expression at the hunter. "Javelins are an average General Stage beast when they reach maturity. They''re not very powerful but also not very weak." "That is if we let them grow naturally." Shang raised an eyebrow. "You see, Javelins have a peculiarity." "They are absolutely helpless without their pointy beak. Their entire offensive capabilities revolve around that beak. Sadly, their beaks don''t naturally be powerful enough to prate heavy armor. Because of that, normal Javelins only hunt other nimblend beasts in the Wastnd," the hunter exined. "However, if we break their beaks twice when they are younger, their beak grows back with much more power. By breaking it twice, the Javelin''s break will be terrifyingly hard." "Of course, naturally, that won''t ever happen. After all, when their beaks get broken, they are essentially already dead since they can''t put up a fight anymore." The hunter leaned back as he put his own stack of papers to the side. "That''s where wee into y. We break the beak of the young Javelins twice, and they grow up to be quite a formidable opponent." The hunter smirked again. "But not for us." Content ? N?velDrama.Org. "They be a formidable opponent to Earth Affinity beasts that relypletely on defense." "You see, armored Earth Affinity beasts are one of the most annoying things in the Wastnd for hunters. These beasts just keep on walking around, attacking everything they see, and hunting them is a gigantic hassle. It''s easy to escape from them, but they interfere in the work of basically all hunters." "And now, put yourself in the shoes of a quick Javelin with a powerful spear as a weapon. What would you rather hunt, some nimble humans or a slow fat piece of meat?" the hunter asked. A glint of understanding appeared in Shang''s eyes. "So, the Javelins deal with all the annoying Earth Affinity beasts?" Shang asked. The hunter nodded. "Precisely. In the Wastnd, normal Javelins are a bother, but Javelins with a powerful beak are an asset. Normal Javelins attack us. Powerful Javelins attack armored beasts." "The Hunting Guild isn''t directly earning money from these beaks, but indirectly. Every powerful Javelin increases the overall experience for us hunters in the Wastnd. It makes our lives that much easier." Shang nodded. "That makes sense." "The young Javelins are only at the southern parts of the forests," the hunter added. "Since there is a high likelihood of encountering General Stage beasts in that area, the mission is in the stack of General Stage beasts." "Sadly, not many hunters ept these missions. The reward is too low for General Stage hunters, but the mission is also too dangerous for Soldier Stage hunters. The Hunting Guild just recently upped the reward from 200 gold per Javelin to 250 gold." "That sounds great," Shang said. "I think that''s just the right mission for me." The hunter nodded with a smile. "That''s good. You''re making life easier for us General Stage hunters. As a little tip, I would suggest for you to go to the southern part of the northwestern forest. There are far more young Javelins there than in the northeastern forest. You can imagine why." Shang nodded. He knew why. The Vanishing Snakes. They really made trouble for everyone. No wonder they were worth so many Contribution Points. "Anyway, gotta go," the hunter said as he stood up. "My team''s waiting for me." "Thank you again," Shang said. The hunter winked at Shang before he went to the receptionist to register a couple of missions. After the hunter left the Hunting Guild, Shang stood up and also walked to the receptionist. "This one, please," Shang said, pointing at the mission with the Javelins. The receptionist took away the stacks of papers and quickly wrote a couple of things down. Then, she put a long, square-like object on the counter. "If you kill a Javelin, that''s a 1,000-gold fine," she said. "Only break the beaks that look green and greenish-blue. If you see one with a blue beak, it means it has already been broken twice. You won''t get any reward for those." "After breaking the beak, stamp the head of the Javelin with the stamp," she said as she pointed at the object on the counter. "Stamping them shouldn''t be an issue once their beaks are broken. At that point, they only want to flee and won''t fight back anymore." "Happy hunting," she said with practiced ease before going back to doing her work. Shang took the stamp with him and left the Hunting Guild. ''It''s impressive how much the Hunting Guild is investing into keeping their hunting grounds fertile,'' Shang thought as he jogged to the exit of the city. ''They really have everything nned out to the smallest detail. I expected something like that on Earth, but not in this world.'' Shang exited the city. ''I guess, in a way, I''m doing the very thing to the Javelins what they are going to do for me.'' ''Upgrade my weapon.'' ''I break their beaks to upgrade their weapon, and by doing that, I can upgrade my weapon.'' ''Rather ironic, actually.'' The bloodied face hadn''t returned in quite a while, but Shang didn''t notice. He was too preupied with thinking about this world. ''I''ve never been in the forests during the day, which is also probably why I haven''t seen any Javelins before. I wonder what differences there are between night and day in the forests.'' ''Nearly every hunter is hunting during the day, and only very few are hunting during the night. I wonder why that is.'' ''I''ve also never been to the northwestern forest before. If I recall correctly, there''s also one more pest I haven''t seen before in the northwestern forest. I think they were called Life Scarabs. Wonder if I will find some of them.'' Shang looked at the sky and noticed that it was only noon. ''I got half the day left to break three beaks. Maybe I can get more. Too much money is never an issue.'' Eventually, Shang reached the crossroads again. Then, he looked at the distant forest towards the northwest. ''Let''s see how this one goes.'' Chapter 141 Shang jumped onto the first tree in the northwestern forest as always. Running on the ground was dangerous. As Shang jumped from tree to tree, he noticed that he felt ufortable. Why? Because Shang was usually hunting at night, and at night, he could somewhat feel his surroundings thanks to his Darkness Affinity. However, during the day, Light and Darkness Mana were mixed inside the forest. After all, even during the day, a thick forest was not very bright. There was not enough Light Mana nor Darkness Mana to scout the surroundings. Shang hadn''t noticed until now how much he had relied on his Darkness Vision. Nevertheless, Shang didn''t intend to cancel his mission. He wanted to get the Fire ore as soon as possible. In his mind, he had already wasted two weeks by not being able to practice his techniques due to his weak weapon. Every additional day felt like another wasted day. Since Shang was now alone without any distractions, he saw the bloodied face return again. It didn''t appear in the surroundings like some specter, but the image that had been burned into Shang''s mind simply reced his vision time and time again for a short instant. Shang pushed the image away again and again, telling himself that he was under control. Sadly, it always came back. ''I didn''t make a mistake.'' ''Empathy is weakness in this world.'' ''I can''t be light on my enemies.'' Absentmindedly, Shang inspected his surroundings. When he saw a Pest Cat, he killed it, but since it was during the day, he couldn''t find many of them. He found most of them by following traces and entering their nests. After an hour, Shang had already killed 20 Pest Cats. One of their nests had had young in them, which had given him another twelve. ''I should have hunted during the night. It''s difficult to find Pest Cats during the day. Why did I decide to hunt in the middle of the day?'' And then, Shang suddenly stopped in shock. ''I''m not here to hunt Pest Cats!'' Shang thought. Shang grabbed the side of his head with his right hand. ''What the hell is wrong with me?! I''m here to break Javelin beaks! Why am I suddenly focusing on Pest Cats?!'' Shang gritted his teeth as he looked at his beast sack. ''That''s one hour wasted.'' Shang became frustrated and angry at himself. What the hell was he doing?! Why was he suddenly hunting Pest Cats?! ''Javelin beaks!'' he shouted at himself in his mind. Shang continued reminding himself that he came for Javelin beaks as he jumped from branch to branch, continually shoving the image of the bloodied face into the back of his mind. For the next couple of minutes, Shang inspected every beast he could find. Many of them were unknown to Shang, but he also saw some familiar ones. He didn''t know their names, but he had seen them before. CRK! As Shang was jumping from one tree to the next, he suddenly heard the sound of wood violently creaking. Shang''s eyes widened as he looked toward the tree he was jumping to. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. Its branches were shooting at Shang aggressively, their tips incredibly sharp. It was like Shang was being attacked by several spears! Shang was in the middle of the jump, and the branches would impale him shortly. BANG! Shang released a Fire st towards the top, shooting him downwards. BANG! Shang hit the ground hard, but his body was powerful enough to resist such an impact. Shang could see the branches stab through the spot where he had just been. And then, Shang''s eyes narrowed. He looked towards the tree in front of him. It was an abomination of a tree. It was twisted like a rope, and several dead branches were hanging out from the spiral. A couple of other branches have transformed into spears, mouths, ws, teeth, and different things. This tree was a perfect example of the words chaos and rampant mutation. BANG! Shang unleashed an Ice st towards his back, shooting him towards the tree. The tree couldn''t even react before Shang arrived directly in front of it. Shang put his nearly destroyed arm on the tree''s trunk and used his Darkness Absorb. CRK! CRK! The tree began to shrink rapidly as several branches fell off. It was like the tree had aged by thousands of years in an instant. Shang''s left arm became filled with life energy, but the additional life energy quickly healed his arm, making everything return to normal. At that point, Shang heard the silent but quick fluttering of insect wings. BANG! Shang used his Fire st again to charge towards the noise, and in an instant, he caught up, catching the source. Shang looked at the thing in his right hand. It was a white bug, its legs violently moving around as its mandibles opened and closed several times. However, none of its weapons could touch Shang''s hand since he had perfectly caught it at its abdomen. ''So, that''s a Life Scarab, huh?'' Shang thought as he looked at it. Shang looked around the area and noticed several corpses lying on the ground. A couple of them were stacked around the tree itself, but many others were simply lying around the area. Shang could see cats, wolves, bears, and even two Pest Cats in the pile. The tree had obviously killed a lot of living beings. Shang looked back at the Life Scarab in his hand and took out his sword. After quickly bisecting the Life Scarab''s head, he put it into his beast sack. ''200 Contribution Points. Cool,'' Shang thought. Shang''s eyes wandered towards the dead tree. For a while, he only looked at its twisted and bizarre form. Then, Shang gritted his teeth again. ''How did I not see that?'' he asked himself. ''I should have noticed this tree long ago! It lookspletely different from any other tree. I should have known that something wasn''t right with it!'' For a moment, Shang paused. ''Was teacher Mervin right? Is my concentration waning because I haven''t slept in so long? Do I actually have a headache?'' he asked himself as he touched his head. As he moved his head from side to side, he noticed that he felt like his brain was rolling around inside his skull. It was like he felt the inertia of his brain whenever he moved. ''A headache, huh? How long have I had that? When did it start?'' ''I genuinely have no idea. If I hadn''t specifically searched for it, I wouldn''t even have noticed.'' Shang silently thought to himself for several seconds. ''I need to sleep,'' he thought. ''As soon as I return, I should go to sleep. I''m obviously not at the peak of my abilities. My concentration is waning, and that can prove deadly in this forest.'' The image of the two pieces of Fire ore shot through Shang''s mind. ''But I''m so close. Only this hunt. I only need toplete this one hunt, and I can take a break.'' ''Just three Javelin beaks. That''s all I need. After that, I can go to the academy and sleep.'' And then, Shang jumped back to the branches as he continued deeper into the forest. The bloodied face returned again and again, but Shang kept shoving it away. Yet, its appearance also made him nervous. It was like it was watching him. Chapter 142 Shang was currently on top of a tree as he looked at the bottom of another tree with concentration. He was waiting. From time to time, Shang could hear flesh being separated from below the tree. Some minutes passed. Eventually, a green rod poked out of the bottom of the tree slowly. It extended more and more until a bird head could be seen. The beast looked around carefully before slowly walking out from the hole beneath the tree. It slowly slithered around the tree like a lizard as it began to climb it. Shang could see the green feathersing out of the beast''s legs. Then, the beast paused. Shang''s eyes widened as he jumped forward. BANG! A Fire stter, Shang arrived in front of the beast, his sword leaving a ck gleam behind. SHING! Shang''s sword cut off the Javelin''s beak at the base and the tree along with it. The Javelin let out a pained screech, which sounded like a panicked bird screaming. BANG! Shang released an Ice st to shoot back to the Javelin. PACK! Shang grabbed the Javelin by the neck as it continued screeching in panic. Its wed feet were trying to injure Shang, but they couldn''t reach him. Shang took out the stamp and hit the Javelin''s head with it. BANG! Shang kicked the Javelin away with all of his power. The Javelin screeched in terror as it hit a tree. Luckily, the Javelin was at the Peak Soldier Stage, and a mere kick from Shang couldn''t injure it in any significant way. As the Javelin hit the ground, its feet quickly dug up the earth as it shot away in fear and panic. Shang didn''t chase. After the Javelin fled, Shang grabbed the beak and put it into his beast sack. A second beak with an identical color could be seen as Shang put the first beak away. ''That''s two,'' Shang thought. ''This one was at the Peak Soldier Stage. If I didn''t have my two sts, I would have had issues in getting close enough to destroy its beak. On top of that, it''s faster than me without my abilities.'' Shang looked at his left arm. ''My left arm might not have much destructive power, but it is still an incredible help. It gives me a substantial advantage in terms of speed.'' ''Anyway, I need one more. I''ve already been in here for over four hours, and it''s afternoon. I can still hunt at the beginning of the evening, but atte evening, I should start returning to Warrior''s Paradise.'' ''I have about three more hours.'' Shang jumped back to a branch and continued traveling through the forest. By now, he had gone quite a bit towards the south. During thest couple of hours, Shang had already seen two General Stage beasts. One of them had noticed him and had wanted to attack him, but after seeing Shang shoot away at incredible speeds, it didn''t even start running. It immediately canceled the attack. Hunting such weak prey was not worth the hassle. The other beast Shang had seen hadn''t even noticed him. It had simply walked past the tree he was on. Shang had marked these two spots in his mind and avoided them. However, he still needed to stay careful. Sadly, it wasn''t easy to stay careful. Shang''s headache was making it hard for him to focus, and the bloodied face kept reappearing in Shang''s mind. Every time it came back, Shang felt pressure inside his chest. It was like a hole was slowly opening up inside him. Without noticing it, Shang began to travel on autopilot. PACK! Suddenly, Shang''s body jerked as his arm got grabbed by something. "Whoa there, kiddo! Watch where you''re goin!" someone said from behind him. Shang''s mind went into battle mode, but he quickly calmed down when he felt no threating from anywhere close to him. Additionally, the voice Shang had just heard didn''t sound aggressive. Shang was lightly thrown back, and hended on the ground without any issues. "What''s going on?" Shang asked the man in front of him. In front of Shang was a man with a big hat made of leather and ck leather armor. In a way, this person reminded Shang of a cowboy. "I just saved your life. That''s what''s going on," the guy said with a bright smile. "Saved my life?" Shang asked. "What? Saved from what? How did you find me? Who are you?" "Quite some questions you got there, kiddo," the man said with a chuckle. "Name''s Chuck McGuiness, hunter by trade." ''Really? His name''s Chuck McGuiness?'' Shang thought. "Some thanks would be appreciated," the man said. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. "Thanks? I don''t even know what I should thank you for," Shang said. "For saving your life, kiddo," the man said as he pointed at a small spire between a couple of trees. Shang looked at the thing Chuck was pointing at. It was only a piece of rock jutting out of the earth. It was barely half-a-meter high. "What''s that?" Shang asked. Chuck looked surprised. "You don''t know what that is? Boy, why are you walkin'' around such dangerous ces without getting to know the locals?" Shang''s brows furrowed. "That''s a beast?" Shang asked. "Sure is, kiddo," Chuck said with a chuckle. "This here''s a Stalker Lion, derivative from ant lion, but we folks call it a Spire Mire." "A Spire Mire? You folks?" Shang asked. "Yep, the folks back in the Volcano Wyrm Zone. I''m not from here," Chuck said. "Anyway, you see that stone thing? That''s a Spire Mire. Nasty things they are. They burrow into the ground, and if they feel something heavy touch the ground above them, five long mandibles close around you." "The spire is the Spire Mire''s tongue. Imagine it like this. The spire in the middle represents the middle of a flower, and if you touch it, the flower closes immediately." Shang looked over at the spire. This was the beast''s tongue? Shang wasn''t sure if he would have actually triggered the beast''s attack. After all, he was jumping from tree to tree. Sure, the tree was very close to the spire, but he would still be on a tree. However, one thing was for certain. Shang would have been in danger. "Anyway, I''m d you found it," Chuck said as he eyed the spire. "That thing''s the reason why I''m even here. Been searching for one of those for a while." Chuckughed. "Who woulda guessed that following some painful screech would bring me to my target." Painful screech? Shang remembered the screech the Javelin had let out after he had severed its beak. So that was how Chuck had found him. "Thanks," Shang said. "No prob. You repaid me by bringing me to my target," Chuck said. "See that spire? It''s filled with all kinds of valuable ore. That''s how the Spire Mire attracts its prey." "And, well, I''m after that ore. I can''t hunt one solo, but I sure can harvest its ore on my own." "Kiddo, I would suggest going somece else. Spire Mires get real nasty when their ore gets stolen." Shang nodded. "Chuck, have you seen any Javelins?" "So that''s why you''re here," Chuck said with a chuckle. "Sure did. Found one on my way here. It was a bit to the north from where you found the earlier one." "Thanks, Chuck," Shang said, "and thank you again for warning me about the Spire Mire." "It''s fine. Now go. You don''t want an angry Spire Mire on your ass," Chuck said. Shang nodded and left in the direction Chuck indicated. Chuck only looked with a smirk at the small spire. BOOOM! Some secondster, Shang heard the distant sound of explosions. It sounded like a huge beast was rampaging through the forest. ''That was my first time seeing another hunter in the wild.'' Chapter 143 Shang left the northwestern forest with his three Javelin beaks. Sure enough, Chuck''s hint had led Shang to a Javelin with a greenish-blue beak. Inparison to the first two Javelins, the beak of the third one had taken Shang two hits to break. Obviously, the greenish-blue beaks were way harder than the green beaks. But that also meant that Shang had essentially created an empowered Javelin. In a couple of weeks, it would join the Wastnd and help keep the Wastnd in check. As a Soldier Stage warrior, Shang was helping the General Stage hunters. Sure enough, even the weak people could contribute a lot to society. By now, it waste evening, and night would soon arrive. The sun was already starting to dip below the horizon. After Shang left the forest, he charged back towards Warrior''s Paradise. At the moment, Shang''s headache was forgotten, and the bloodied face had also not appeared as frequently anymore. Why was that? Because Shang was excited. He was finally done! He had finally earned enough money to upgrade his sword! After some time, Shang arrived at the city a couple of minutes before the main gate closed. Night had already arrived. Luckily, the Hunting Guild was always open. Shang immediately entered the Hunting Guild and saw an open counter with a young man sitting behind it. Inparison to the receptionist Shang had met during noon, this one seemed to onlyze around. He seemed quite bored. Shang walked over to the counter and put his beast sack on the counter. "Emblem first," the receptionist said with a bored tone. Shang put his emblem on the table, and after a quick burst of light, the man gestured to the beast sack. "There should be three in there." For an instant, Shang was surprised that the receptionist knew how many beaks he had in the beast sack, but a secondter, Shang remembered the stamp he had put on every Javelin. The receptionist had probably just checked that data. Shang opened his beast sack and pulled out the three beaks. The receptionist looked at them for a bit and nodded. "Well cut," he said. "Quality is good enough. Well done." "Thanks," Shang answered. The three beaks vanished, and four sacks of gold appeared on the table, one big one, two medium ones, and one small one. "500 plus 100 plus 100 plus 50 gold. There you go," the receptionist said. Shang nodded. "Thanks." However, before Shang left the Hunting Guild, he stopped. "By the way, I found a Spire Mire hunting in the southern part of the northwestern forest. Not sure if you need to know that," Shang said. "What?" the receptionist asked with furrowed brows. "Spire Mire? What''s that?" Shang remembered that the official name was different. Chuck McGuiness had said that only his people called them Spire Mires. "Stalker Lion," Shang said. Surprisingly, the receptionist only continued looking at Shang with bored confusion. "And that''s supposed to be what?" Now Shang was the surprised one. "A General Stage beast. It''s rather big and hunts by creating a spire of valuable ore. When a beast approaches the spire, it closes its mouth." "Yeah, we don''t have such a beast," the receptionist said. Shang was taken aback. "What do you mean you don''t? I saw one." "Did you? What did you see?" the receptionist asked. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. "Well, I saw a spire made of ore jutting out of the earth. It was about half a meter high." "That sounds more like an Ore Toe to me," the receptionist said. "Ore Toe?" Shang asked. "Yeah. Beasts give off a lot of Elemental Mana, and over a long period of time, Elemental Mana gathers in the ground and forms valuable ore. If the Mana condenses by too much, the ore explodes out of the ground in the form of a small spire. We call them Ore Toes," the receptionist exined. "Based on what you said, I estimate that it most likely was Peak Soldier Grade ore and about 20 units of it. That should be about 500 gold for you." "So, where did this Spire Mire thinge from?" Shang''s face looked like he had just swallowed a fly. "A hunter named Chuck McGuiness told me that this thing was a Spire Mire," Shang said slowly. Then, the receptionist began tough. "Oh, good old Chuck." Shang didn''tugh with the receptionist. He had just lost 500 gold. Several seconds passed in which Shang only looked at theughing receptionist. "Oh, Chuck," the receptionist said after being done withughing. "Come on, it''s funny." "How is it funny?" Shang asked with annoyance. "He convinced you that there was a beast called Spire Mire. Like, what even is that name? Who calls a beast that? It sounds like the worst made-up name possible. It''s like there''s a suspicious branch, and I tell you that it''s a dangerous beast called Branch Kranch." "Also, a General Stage beast hunting in the Wild Forest?" the receptionist said as he beganughing again. "Why would a General Stage beast even hunt there? They only go there to give birth to their young. Why would it go through the trouble to wait for prey in the Wild Forest? Soldier Stage beasts are, at best, a snack for it. They don''t even contribute to it bing more powerful." "Additionally, have you actually seen Chuck? Does he look like someone that you should believe? He''s about the shadiest hunter we have." As the receptionist began tough again, Shang grabbed his sacks of gold and left the Hunting Guild. Shang slowly walked along the emptying streets with a deep frown on his face. ''A fucking Spire Mire.'' ''How the fuck did I fall for that?'' ''A General Stage beast hunting in the Wild Forest?'' ''500 fucking gold!'' ''That asshole scammed me out of 500 gold!'' ''I should have known! I sensed no danger, and there have been several red gs.'' ''How the fuck did I not notice any of these signs?!'' And just like that, Shang''s good mood was gone again. He had returned to Warrior''s Paradise in a great mood, but now, he felt frustrated and embarrassed. Shang jumped over the closed gate of the academy. Teacher Loran, who was guarding the academy during the night, didn''t even say anything to Shang. Shang walked to the main building and entered his room. No one had stopped him on his way to his room. There had been a couple of students walking around, but they got out of Shang''s way. Shang put his sacks of gold to the side and sat down on his bed. Silence. For a long while, Shang only silently sat on his bed without saying anything. A lot of things were going through his head. He wanted to upgrade his sword, but the merchants would only be back at noon the next day. There were also no lessons during the night. Andstly, Shang thought about the many mistakes he had made today. He hadn''t noticed the Life Scarab, even though he should have seen iting. Shang had been mindlessly hunting for Pest Cats for an entire hour. Shang fell for a scam. ''None of these things should have happened.'' ''I''m usually much more observant of my surroundings, but today was horrible.'' Shang''s headache worsened. Then, Shang looked at his bed. ''Should I sleep?'' The more Shang pondered the question, the more nervous he got. He didn''t want to sleep. Chapter 144 Shang only looked at his bed for several seconds. By now, Shang could feel tiredness envelop his mind. His eyelids were bing heavy, and he felt his mind be distracted by random thoughts. The bloodied face returned again. But this time, Shang didn''t push it away. It felt too troublesome. When was thest time he had slept? Shang had no idea, but he guessed that it had been some time during his journey to Warrior''s Paradise. As someone from Earth, Shang was used to sleeping every single day. Because of that, thest two or three weeks felt like one single long day to Shang. During the morning, he had arrived in Warrior''s Paradise. During noon, he had trained in the techniques in the booklet. During the afternoon, he had met his ss, and he had gone hunting. During the evening, Shang had nearly killed three kids. And during the night, he had gone out to one more hunt. And now, he was here. It was one incredibly long day. So many things had happened. Shang had unlocked three new parts of his Affinity. Shang had earned the money to upgrade his weapon. Shang had killed his first General Stage beast. Shang had learned a lot about Mages and the Caterpir ss. It was so much, and it had all happened over the span of two or three weeks. Yet, during this moment, Shang felt like everything had happened today. It felt weird. Shang slowly pulled off his dirty uniform. He had received several sets of uniforms, but he had only worn two of them. As Shang''s mind slowly went towards the thought of sleeping, out of habit, he started walking over to the bucket. Then, he held it above his head and tilted it. Water quickly came out of the bucket, washing all over his body. When was thest time Shang had showered? Some time this week? Last week? The silent and dark room seemingly reflected Shang''s emotions. It felt empty. It felt like he had hit a low point in his life. The bloodied face kept watching him. Shang didn''t bother with it. If it wanted to watch, it could. He just didn''t care anymore. It was unimportant. It was pointless. After Shang was done showering, he sat down on his bed. He felt an indent in the spot he had just sat down in. Shang knew that this indent had appeared when he had remained on that exact same spot for several days after the event. Shang only looked towards the ground in the dark. Silence. He wasn''t sure what he was thinking about. He wasn''t sure what he was feeling. Why was he even here? What was the point of bing more powerful if such a minor incident as the run-in with the students caused him such turmoil? Was he really so weak that he couldn''t even get over something like this? Silence. After some minutes, Shang slowly slumped over until hey on his bed for the first time. It felt alien and strange to him. As Shang silentlyy on his bed, he felt like something was pressing down on him. It felt very simr to the time he had run from that one General Stage spider. It was like everything around him could kill him. Shang knew that there was nothing inside his room, but he still felt like he wasn''t safe. He had remained in the wilderness for so long that it became impossible topletely rx. In the wilderness, any kind of beast could suddenly assault him. Because of that, he had to remain vignt. But here, he was perfectly safe. Yet, Shang didn''t feel safe. Shang''s mind was taut with stress, and it became impossible to just let go. As Shang continued lying on his bed, one scene after the other repeated. He remembered how he had arrived. He remembered his exam. He remembered his run-in with Stars Gerbon. He remembered the Caterpir ss. He remembered Astor. He remembered Sarah. He remembered his first hunt in the Wild Forest. He remembered meeting the Storm Eagle young. He remembered killing the General Stage Vanishing Snake. He remembered how he had survived the sudden attack of another Vanishing Snake just due to sheer luck and his uniform. He remembered his run-in with the other students. His run-in with the other students¡­ The students¡­ As Shang''s mind reyed that scene, he felt like he had fallen into a nightmare. They were just kids. Sure, they wanted to steal from him, but they were just kids. Beating them up would have been enough.Content ? N?velDrama.Org. He hadn''t needed to go that far. Shang could stille to terms with the first two students. After all, his interaction with them had ended very quickly. But that third student. The image of the bloodied face. Where the face should be was only a pool of blood. Chunks of severed flesh were seemingly swimming around inside it. Bubbles kept popping up as it tried to breathe. "I''m sorry." "Help." "Mommy." These words echoed throughout Shang''s mind. The student had been in deep terror, and he had even shouted for his mother. As the scene reyed in full, Shang felt a pit appear in his stomach. He felt horrible. He felt guilty. However, the worst part was that Shang didn''t want to feel these emotions. In this world, cruelty was necessary. Empathy and kindness were akin to weakness. If he wanted to survive and be powerful in this world, he would need to kill off his empathy and kindness. He had to get rid of it. Yet, his feelings didn''t lie. Shang felt horrible for what he had done. This was the worst part about all of it. ''I''m weak.'' Silence. ''I''m weak.'' ''I will have to do many worse things in the future, but I can''t even deal with this one.'' Silence. ''How am I supposed to live in this cruel world if such an event impacts me to such a degree?'' ''I have to get used to these kinds of things.'' Silence. ''But I can''t.'' ''I can''t get used to these things.'' ''Whenever I think back, I feel horrible.'' At that moment, Shang felt something touch him. Surprisingly, he didn''t get startled, and he only looked over. It was his sword. Somehow, it had arrived in his bed. As the sword touched Shang, he only felt one concepting from it. "Want close." Shang had put it to the side earlier and, apparently, it didn''t want to be put to the side. ''My sword, huh?'' The sword left small cuts on the bed as it slowly moved towards him. Shang only looked at it for a while. Then, he took hold of it and ced it beside him. The sword stopped sending feelings. It was like it was a dead sword again. Shang looked at the Darkness, Light, and Ice ore inside his room. Then, he looked at the sacks of gold. For a moment, not everything was horrible. Tomorrow, he could upgrade his sword. At that point, his sword should also be smarter. Maybe it wasn''t so bad after all. But that feeling very quickly vanished as the dark, oppressive feeling returned. The scene in the academy reyed again and again. Shang felt himself hit the student''s face again and again. He felt horrible. And he hated that he felt horrible. He shouldn''t feel horrible. In his mind, he was weak. He was weak for feeling empathy. Chapter 145 Shang slowly opened his eyes. Everything was silent. However, inparison tost night, the silence wasn''t oppressive. It was just that, silence. Shang''s head wasn''t hurting anymore. His mind wasn''t under pressure anymore. While he had dreaded the silence during thest night, he enjoyed it now. It was just calm. For a while, Shang onlyy on his bed, looking at the ceiling. He could see some orange lighting from the two slits in the wall. It was either morning or evening. Shang didn''t stand up immediately. He only remained lying on his bed, enjoying the calm and silence. Last night went through his memory again, and he remembered how he had felt. ''Last night was difficult.'' ''But everything actually isn''t as bad as it seems.'' N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. ''I''m making quick progress with my power, and I reached a major milestone just recently. I can upgrade my sword now.'' Shang looked at the sword lying beside him and remembered that the sword had wanted to be close to him. Shang touched it lightly, but it didn''t react. ''It''s still difficult to believe that there are such things as living weapons. Guess I''m still too used to Earth.'' Shang looked at the ceiling again. ''I''m still on edge when thinking about that day,'' Shang thought with furrowed brows. ''However, things aren''t as bad. I don''t need to achieve cold-heartedness in an instant. I still have a long way to go.'' ''Yes, that event has taken a lot out of me, but I''m sure that I can recover. I''m also sure that I can get used to it.'' ''After all, many teachers probably went through something simr, and they still managed to reach the Commander Stage. Sure, in the grand scheme of things, that isn''t very powerful, but they also live in a weak world.'' ''I know that there are at least eight Realms in this world, and I only know of five, but this area is still a small microcosm of power. In this microcosm, the teachers are already pretty powerful.'' ''So, if they managed to get through something like this, I can too.'' ''I only need time and effort, and I have a lot of both.'' The same issues that had gued Shang''s mind yesterday now only looked like minor problems. Why? Because he had slept. That was it. If a situation felt inescapable and oppressive, a good night''s sleep could work wonders. How often has it happened that a couple had a gigantic falling out that felt like the end of the world, but as soon as they had both slept, it just didn''t seem to be such a big deal anymore? People often forgot what sleep could do for someone''s mind. For a while, Shang onlyy on the bed. He enjoyed the silence of his own mind. Yesterday, his mind had thrown one thing after the other at him. It was like it had been overloaded with everything that had happened. Now, it was like his mind had processed everything. Shang continued thinking about his life for about an hour until he felt bored. He wanted to do something. Shang stood up from his bed and looked at the lighting from the two slits. It was yellowish-white. ''Dawn it was,'' Shang thought. ''I don''t think that I''ve only slept for like eight hours. My mind was too full. I guess I probably slept for a bit more than an entire day.'' Shang nced over at his beast sack. ''Which means that the Pest Cat ears and the Life Scarab are still good to trade in.'' Shang touched his chin and felt the growing hair. ''I should shave.'' Shang grabbed the skinning knife he bought when he had just arrived and shaved. This time, there was no blood. At the moment, Shang felt great. He could finally train against other students appropriately. However, Shang also wasn''t blind to his future. He knew that the longer he stayed, the worse it would get. In one to two weeks, his mind would probably be taut again, and the situation would feel oppressive again. He definitely didn''t look forward to the next time he went to sleep. During the day, most people felt like everything was normal and good, but as soon as night hit, their hidden injuries would surface again. During the day, everything was okay, but during the night, the demons would return. However, as long as someone worked on their problems, every following night would be easier and easier with only a few exceptions. Shang definitely wasn''t over the hill yet, but for now, he felt great. After shaving, Shang left his room with his gold and his beast sack. When he left the main building, he saw many students attending their lessons. ''I have only attended three lessons up to now, and I''ve been here for over two weeks. I think I''m somewhat of a peculiarity.'' Shang walked to the marketce in the south of the academy, all the students making space for him. Shang''s actions might have been very extreme, but they had served their purpose. No one was trying to grab the obvious sacks of gold. After just a couple of minutes of rxed walking, Shang reached the Exchange Hall. He put the beast sack onto the counter, and the clerk went through everything. "460 Contribution Points," he said as he handed Shang''s emblem back. "Thanks," Shang said with a polite smile. Right now, it wasn''t hard for him to smile. ''460 Contribution Points is barely anything. Sure enough, without hunting Vanishing Snakes, earning Contribution Points is a pain in the ass.'' "Oh, we got a package for you," the clerk suddenly said. "A package?" Shang asked in confusion. The Exchange Hall epted packages? Also, who would even send him a package? Shang couldn''t imagine anyone that would send him a package. "Here you go," the clerk said as he put a big sack of gold on the counter. "A note is supposed to be inside." Shang looked with shock at the sack of gold. That had to be a couple hundred gold. Who would send him that much gold? "Thanks," Shang said with a confused expression. He pulled the sack to the side and opened it. Sure enough, there was a note inside. "Here''s your share. Don''t take the joke to heart. Signed, Chuck McGuiness," Shang read. For a while, Shang only looked with surprise at the note. Then, he smiled brightly. As he thought back to his run-in with Chuck, Shang had the urge tough. Spire Mire. That really was a stupid name. Now, Shang actually found it funny that he fell for something like that. Shang grabbed a couple of his other sacks of gold topare their weight. Based on the weight, Shang guessed that there was probably around 350 gold inside the sack of gold Chuck sent him. ''That should be about half of the worth of the ore,'' Shang thought. ''I mean, the ore wasn''t specifically mine. We both found it at the same time. So, 50% seems appropriate.'' ''Seems like Chuck actually isn''t such a bad guy, after all.'' Chuck could have kept all the gold without any issues. No one but Shang would havee for him, and Shang definitely wasn''t a danger. Yet, he still gave Shang his share. Feeling a lot better, Shang grabbed his sacks of gold and left the Exchange Hall. The first merchants had already arrived, and the one Shang was searching for was also here. When the merchant saw Shang and his sacks of gold, he smiled widely. "That was quite fast. So, you still interested in the two pieces of ore?" he asked. Shang approached the merchant and nodded. "Yep. 900 gold, right?" The merchant nodded. Shang put Chuck''s sack of gold down and added the sack with 500 gold coins. "Not sure how much is in the first. Can you check?" Shang asked. The merchant lifted the first sack of gold and weighed it in his hands. "Between 320 and 330. Let''s just say 330. So, I need 70 more," he said. Shang dug out 70 pieces of gold from one of the other sacks and handed them over. "Happy doing business with you," the merchant said with a bright smile as he handed over the two pieces of ore. "Likewise," Shang said. The two of them said their goodbyes, and Shang went back to his room. Shang put his remaining 400 gold to the side and looked at the Fire ore in his hand. Then, he looked at the other pieces of ore scattered around his room. "Finally!" Chapter 146 Shang grabbed the other pieces of ore inside his room and gathered them in the middle. As all the pieces of ore gathered, Shang felt his sword vibrate with glee. It wanted to eat these pieces right away. "Wait just one second. You can start soon," Shang said. The sword didn''t understand Shang and only transmitted hunger to him. Shang took the two pieces of Darkness ore out of their sacks first and ced them beside each other. Then, he took out the two pieces of Ice ore and ced them beside the Darkness ore in a line. If he put the Darkness ore directly beside the Light ore, the two would damage each other. The same was true for the Fire and Ice ore. Next, Shang took the Light ore and ced it a bit further away from the Ice ore, leaving a gap. Lastly, Shang put the Fire ore beside the Light ore. Two short lines. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. One was Darkness and Ice. One was Light and Fire. Then, Shang took his sword into his hands with a smirk. "Have fun," Shang said. And he ced his sword on top of the ore. The sword touched all eight pieces at the same time. Shang could visibly see how the ore was vanishing. It wasn''t nearly as fast as when the sword had absorbed the metal around the General Stage Vanishing Snake''s tail, but it was still quite fast. However, that was understandable. After all, back then, the sword had only absorbed pure Metal Mana, while this time, it was absorbing actual ore. One could liken it to someone eating a big stone and actual food. While the big stone remained in someone''s stomach, they would weigh more. However, the stone would sooner orter leave their body. After that, the person would be just as heavy as before they had eaten the stone. But if someone ate a lot of food with the same weight, they would definitely gain weight in the long term. However, the transformation from food into sugars and fat would take work and time. That was why the sword was taking longer this time. After all, it was absorbing the ore and fusing with it permanently. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually, the sword was done. Surprisingly, the sword had consumed all the ore. Since the sword was only around seven units of ore big, Shang had assumed that it would leave some ore, but it didn''t. It seemed like it had been rather greedy. When the sword realized that all the ore was gone, it returned to Shang. It moved quite a bit fasterpared to before. Before its upgrade, the sword had moved as fast as an ant. Now, it was moving at the speeds of a small lizard. If Shang walked very slowly, the sword could theoretically keep up with him. When the sword reached Shang, it stood up, surprising him. Then, it seemingly jumped, which looked weird. After all, it didn''t curve at all. Sadly, the sword didn''t manage to reach Shang''s back and fell down. Shang only chuckled a bit. For some reason, he found the sword cute. Shang took hold of the sword. As soon as he touched it, he felt its feelings. It was satisfied and thankful. ''Sure enough, the feelings have be more pronounced. It''s actually able to feel thankful now. It''s no longer just a wandering mass of instincts.'' "Try." It wasn''t a real word, but it also wasn''t just a feeling. It seemed like the sword had been able to imitate a word in Shang''s mind. Shang nodded in appreciation. "Will do," he said. "Fire Mana," the sword said in Shang''s mind. Shang put his hand on the sword and released a Fire st. Nothing happened. And that was good. Usually, a small explosion of Fire Mana would appear, which would push Shang into the distance. But this time, it was like Shang had done nothing. Yet, his arm was nearly freezing. "Strike," the sword said. Shang followed the sword''s instructions and did an overhead strike. WRRRR! As Shang''s strike started, the lower edge of the sword began to be orange with heat. The sword had gathered all the scattered Fire Mana from Shang''s left arm and had focused it on the very tip of its edge. That essentially transformed an undamaging gust of hot air into a searing line. The air around the sword had warped with searing heat during the strike. On top of that, Shang noticed that the sword had cooled down at terrifying speeds. Just now, it had been incredibly hot, but as soon as Shang finished his strike, it had returned to room temperature. There wasn''t any remaining heat. "Once," the sword said to Shang in his mind. "One load of Fire Mana is enough for one strike?" Shang asked. "Yes," the sword answered. Shang wasn''t surprised that the sword could already somewhat talk and understand him. After all, it had gotten an inheritance from the dean''s spear. That probably includednguage. "Ice Mana," the sword said. "Wait a second," Shang answered. "I can''t use my abilities without waiting for a bit. I don''t want to injure my left arm right now." "Wait, ok," the sword answered. Shang moved his arm around for a bit until it returned to somewhat of a normal temperature. Then, he used an Ice st on the sword again. Just like before, seemingly nothing happened. "Strike," the sword said. Shang released a strike. This time, white mist followed his swing as the water in the air froze. "Once," the sword said. "Dangerous to weapons." "That ability is dangerous to other weapons?" Shang asked. "Yes. Harder. Other weapons weaker," it said. "You be harder, and any weapon that hits you bes weaker?" Shang asked. "Yes," the sword answered. "Ice, target, hard." "Fire, target, soft." Shang nodded. "I get it. Thanks." "Darkness Mana." "Well, I''m not sure if I can release Darkness Mana," Shang said. "Try," the sword said. Shang looked at his sword with furrowed brows. Then, he put his arm on his sword and used Darkness Absorb. Shang''s eyes widened as his left arm suddenly shriveled up. "Stop!" Shang shouted as he pulled his thin and old-looking arm away. "If you absorb too much, my arm gets destroyed." "Sorry. Will remember," the sword answered. Shang focused his Mana onto his left arm, and it began healing. Ack of life energy took a bit longer to regenerate than just a simple injury. However, it would heal in a couple of minutes. "Darkness, target, Mana," the sword said. Shang furrowed his brows. "I don''t get what you mean." "Target, Mana. Target, fire, water, air, lightning. Target, enemy attack," it said. "Wait, you mean Spells?" Shang asked. "Right, Spells," the sword said. "Wait, you''re telling me that Darkness Mana can be used to destroy my enemy''s spells?" Shang asked. "Yes. Darkness, absorb. Darkness, weaken, Mana. Darkness, weaken, attack. Darkness, fire, colder. Darkness, earth, softer. Darkness, wind, weaker," the sword exined. Shang''s eyes widened in surprise. "So, if I were to attack a fireball with Darkness Mana, it won''t explode as soon as it hits you?" Shang asked. "Yes," the sword said. Shang was quite surprised. The upgrade of his sword had improved his power by way more than he had expected. He had gained three very useful and powerful attacks, and he didn''t need to use his Affinity only for movement. Now, he could strengthen his sword with them. "What about Light?" Shang asked. "Light, useless." Shang blinked a couple of times. "It''s useless? There''s no use for it?" he asked. "Light, useless." Shang frowned. "Light, heal. Light, strengthen. Light, attack, enemy. Enemy, stronger. I, attack, Light, friend. Friend, weak, strong. Pointless." Shang understood what the sword was saying. If Shang attacked his enemy with Light, they would be stronger. If he wanted to use it on a friend, the sword would need to strike them first. That would essentially injure and heal them, making it useless. "Light, useless," the sword repeated. Shang could only sigh. "Well, it might be useful in the future when I get my true Affinity." "Missing, ore," the sword said. "You want more ore?" Shang asked. "Yes, no." Shang only looked confused at the sword. "Fire, present. Ice, present. Light, present. Darkness, present. Last, missing. Need,st," the sword said. "You''re saying that there is ast piece of ore that you''re missing?" "Yes." Shang frowned. "Do you know where to get it?" Shang looked at his sword in anticipation. "No." "No, me, problem." "You, problem." Shang looked with shock at his sword. Was it developing an attitude? It was telling him that this was his problem?! Chapter 147 The training field was silent as the students of the Caterpir ss noticed that Shang had returned. Shang had appeared once in their ss, but that had been over a week ago. Back then, Shang had made quite an impression due to his Realm, but that was it. His power hadn''t been special. However, a lot of things had happened since thest time they had seen each other. For starters, Shang had nearly killed several students, changing the impression the Caterpir ss had of him. What did they think of Shang? Hothead. He couldn''t keep himself under control, which was a sign of immaturity and weakness. The fact that he had nearly killed someone didn''t bother them too much. After all, nearly all of them had already killed several people. What made them frown was the fact that Shang had lost control of himself. If the Water Mage hadn''t interfered, Shang would have ruined his entire life. No one thought about the other student''s fate. The weak died to the strong, and that was normal. They were just disappointed that Shang couldn''t keep himself under control. But it actually wasn''t so bad. After all, Shang was only fifteen years old or something like that. They all saw him as a kid, and such mistakes weren''t as devastating as if an adult hadmitted them. He still had a lot of time to grow up and learn to control himself. However, that wasn''t the reason why the training field was silent. No, the reason was Shang''s power. For some reason, Shang felt far more powerful than when they had met him a week ago. But how was that possible? Only a single week had passed! It wasn''t like every other student was standing still. They also continually trained day and night. Yet, for some reason, Shang''s power hadpletely transformed. None of them knew exactly how Shang''s power had increased or what the reason for it was. They only knew that he had definitely be far more powerful. What could have happened in only a single week to increase someone''s power by that much? What had Shang done to grow that much in such a short amount of time? As Shang arrived in the training field, his eyes directly focused on two people. Astor and Sarah. Sarah glowered at him. She was probably angry that Shang hadn''t trained with her after making a pact. They hade to the agreement that Shang would train Sarah''s ability in fighting beasts, and he would gain her knowledge in terms of ore. Yet, they had only fought a single time. After that, Shang had vanished. Astor didn''t look at Shang at first, but he started to look at him when he felt Shang looking at him. At that moment, Astor felt Shang''s transformation. His interest was immediately piqued. However, there was another person very interested in Shang. "Your name is Shang, right?" a boy with green hair said. Shang looked over with a cold expression. It was Elver, the student that had constantly insulted Shang thest time he hade here. "Yes. So?" Shang answered coldly. He definitely didn''t like Elver. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Yet, surprisingly, Elver only took a deep breath. "Listen, Shang," he said with a calm tone. "I''m sorry for how I have treated you thest time." Shang lifted an eyebrow. "What brought that change on?" he asked. "You know, I thought you were some spoiled brat from some noble family," Elver said with a sigh. "I come from a farmer''s family, and I had to reach this stage all on my own. I had no mary help or any truly powerful teachers outside the academy." "So, when I saw a fifteen-year-old with the body of a Peak Soldier Stage warrior, I became jealous," Elver said slowly. "I thought you were the chosen progeny of your family and that you have received only the most expensive resources ever since you were young. I thought that you have never gone through any hardships." "I felt like you didn''t deserve to be in the same ss as me. I had to work so hard, but you managed to get here by no effort of your own." "At least, that was what I had thought," Elver said. "And what made you change your evaluation?" Shang asked with a less cold tone. "When you had that run-in with the three students, I was there," Elver said. "Originally, I was looking forward to you getting beat up, but as you know, things didn''t go that way." "I saw your eyes back then. Your anger and self-hatred were practically broadcast across every watching student." "I saw familiar emotions in your eyes. Seeing your actions reminded me of the first time I had to kill someone else. I also remember how I have acted the days following that event." "That made me realize that you are actually not someone that managed to reach this stage with no effort of their own. I could feel the struggle inside you. At that point, I realized that you were someone like me, someone that had to struggle for everything on their own." "So, Shang, I''m sorry for how I''ve treated you," Elver said. Shang looked at Elver for a bit. When Shang had seen the luxurious robes and the expensive and ornate weapons adorning Elver''s body when they had first met, Shang had assumed that Elver was some arrogant progeny of a wealthy family. But now, things were different. It also exined Elver''s reaction upon seeing Shang back then. Elver was probably self-conscious about his background. It was no secret that the majority of students came from wealthy households. As one of the few studentsing from a poor background, Elver probably felt a bit like an outsider. That was probably why he had changed his outer appearance to reflect the image he wanted to portray. Maybe he got lost in his own incorrect perception of his self? "It''s fine," Shang said with a sigh. "I think I also misjudged you. I also saw you as some pampered spawn from some royal family." Elver only smiled bitterly. "I can guess why you thought that. I do give off that image." Shang nodded. "Aw, look at the two of them," a third voice said with ridicule from the side. Shang looked over and saw Mattheo, the acknowledged second-strongest person in the Caterpir ss. "Look, Elver. You made a friend. Congrattions!" Mattheo said with a graceful p. Elver only snorted as he looked to the side. Then, Mattheo looked at Shang. "I know that you were only speaking your mind, Shang, but I would ask you to avoid using offensive words such as spawn while referring to the noble families." Shang thought about Mattheo''s words for a second and nodded. "I think there was no reason for me to use such a word against an entire category of people." Mattheo nodded with a smile. "Thank you. Also, please don''t believe that people from a richer background don''t have it tough. Yes, we do get a lot of help, but there is also an unimaginably heavy burden on our shoulders." "Exceptionality demands exceptionality. After costing our families so many resources, we can''t afford to only be good. It is expected of us to be outstanding. Being good enough means being the best in our families." "So, please, don''t try to downy our hardships just because we had a lot of help. Nothing is free in this world, and if we can''t repay the help we have received, we will have to pay, one way or another." As Mattheo said these things, an oppressive silence went over the training field. Many students were reminded of their own families and the things they expected. It wasn''t easy. No one had it easy. Chapter 148 "What do you know?!" Elver shouted in frustration. "You never had to starve!" "You never had to go out and risk your life to kill a Pest Cat because it keeps threatening your family!" "You never needed to fear that your entire family is gone after just a single excursion into the wild! Every time I went out to train in the wilderness, I feared that I would find my family dead upon my return!" "So, don''t speak about hardship!" Elver shouted with a venomous tone. The entire atmosphere turned hostile. Elver had essentially insulted every student present. Mattheo only looked at Elver with a polite smile. "Elver, when was thest time you slept?" he asked. "What does that have to do with anything?" he asked with an aggressive tone. "Just humor me," Mattheo answered. "About three days ago," Elver answered unwillingly. Mattheo sighed. "Ah, a good night''s sleep. How I miss that." "Do you know when Ist had a good night''s sleep?" Silence. "Seven years ago." Elver''s expression transformed into shock and then disbelief. "How would that even be possible? You couldn''t survive without sleeping." "Mind Magic," Mattheo said. "A Mage that focuses on Mind Magic can put a Magic Circle into your mind that deals with memories." "The Magic Circle distinguishes important information from unimportant information and transports it from my short-term memory to my long-term memory while I am still awake." "My body can only rest during meditation while my mind is always active." "Of course, such an intrusive procedure has plenty of disadvantages." "For example, I can''t sleep, even if I want to. I can''t remember things that the Magic Circle deems unimportant." "Have you ever been interested in someone, and you wanted to build a connection with them?" "What if you were to forget their existence after the conversation finishes because the Magic Circle doesn''t deem that person as important?" "Do you know how many people came up to me and spoke about our previous conversations, and I had no idea who they were?" Silence. "What do you think it feels like to not be able to choose your own friends and associates?" "What do you think it feels like to work every single waking hour of your life?" "You can focus on your studies in the Warrior''s Academy." "I have to focus on the Warrior''s Academy and the Mage Academy." "Additionally, I have to learn about etiquette, politics, history, andw." "Father would never allow me to only pursue the path of a warrior, no matter how much I want to. I have to learn Magic and practice Magic primarily." "I am only here because I am at the top of my ss in the Mage Academy. If I only were second ce, father would forbid me froming here." "My entire life is micromanaged to the finest of details." "Ist went out with friends three years ago." "So, please, Elver, don''tpare our different situations. They are iparable," Mattheo said with a kind smile. Elver gritted his teeth. "At least you have a family," he said with a venomous tone before walking away. Shang was quite shocked after hearing Mattheo speak. Mattheo had to do so much? Also, what did he say? Did he say that he was at the top of his ss in the Mage Academy? Shang remembered Mattheo''s fight with Astor, and he remembered that Mattheo hadn''t used any spells. Yet, Mattheo obviously knew how to cast spells. After all, he was outstanding in the Mage Academy. ''So, Mattheo managed to be the second strongest in the Caterpir ss without relying on his abilities as a Mage?'' Mattheo''s entire image had changed in Shang''s mind. Earlier, Shang had seen Mattheo as only the second strongest in the Caterpir ss. Yet, Shang had never known that Mattheo had such an insane handicap. Earlier, Shang had thought that Astor was a monster. But no, Mattheo was a true monster! "I hope you don''t think lesser of me after my short outburst, Shang," Mattheo said with a smile. Shang was taken out of his thoughts as he looked at Mattheo. "No, it''s fine. It wasn''t even a real outburst." "Then, everything''s fine," Mattheo said. "Did your father really force such a cruel Magic Circle upon you?" Shang asked. Mattheo looked back. "Oh, sorry!" Shang said quickly. "That was a personal question. I was only curious." Mattheo chuckled a bit. "It''s fine." "In truth, I was the one that requested the Mind Mage," Mattheo said. Shang looked with shock at Mattheo. "Why?" "Well, I always wanted to be a warrior," Mattheo said with a distant look in his eyes. "I always thought that they were very valiant. Inparison to Mages, warriors meet danger head-on. They throw their bodies at the enemies so that everyone else can live in safety." N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. "Of course, even though father owns the Warrior''s Academy, he didn''t want his own son to focus on the path. He said that it''s too early." "But I wanted to be a warrior, you know," Mattheo said with a smile. "So, I simply decided to do both. As long as my studies are progressing greatly in the Magic Academy, my father can''t stop me from pursuing the path of a warrior as well." Shang''s mind had already frozen. Mattheo''s father had founded the Warrior''s Academy? "Alright! Everyone, be quiet! The lesson will start shortly!" Everyone looked over as teacher Loran had just arrived. Shang wanted to speak more with Mattheo, but that had to wait now. "Astor, you and Mattheo, as always. Sarah-" "I want to fight Astor," Shang suddenly said as he interrupted teacher Loran. Teacher Loran looked at Shang. "What? You? You obviously¡­" Teacher Loran was just about to rebuke Shang, but after a moment, he began to furrow his brows. He was inspecting Shang very closely. This was the main reason why Shang was here. He wanted to have a rematch with Astor. Yes, Elver and Mattheo had distracted him, but his rematch with Astor was why he was here, to begin with. For a while, the training field was silent as teacher Loran looked at Shang. "Alright. You get one match," teacher Loran said. At the side, Astor looked at Shang with burning eyes. He felt Shang''s power. It was like Shang had transformed into a different person from before. Everyone else was a bit interested. Normal people would think that the fight would just go down like before. After all, only a week had passed, and Astor had been far more powerful than Shang back then. But these students were seasoned warriors. Even though they didn''t want to believe it, they could feel Shang''s power themselves. They knew that Shang had undergone a transformation. Because of that, they became very interested in the fight. Shang looked at Astor from a distance as he readied his sword. Astor smirked as he took out his gigantic sword. "Show me how much you have grown in thest week," he shouted. "I will," Shang said quietly. This time, Shang wouldn''t lose that quickly. He had his new upgraded sword, and he would finally show his Ice Affinity in public. This fight would not go like thest one. Chapter 149 Shang put everything about Mattheo to the back of his mind. He had several more questions to ask him, but his fight with Astor was far more important. Shang had done a lot in the past week. He had upgraded his weapon. He had killed his first General Stage beast. He had gotten very familiar with his new Affinities. Now, it was his time to prove that he had be more powerful. "Start!" teacher Loran announced. BANG! Shang exploded forward, the ground below him cracking. The watching students'' eyes shone. Shang was faster than before! His body obviously hadn''t be more powerful, but his speed was definitely higher. That meant that Shang had gained far greater control over his body. Astor readied his sword as he stepped backward with one leg. He was obviously readying a counterattack to Shang''s offensive. Shang pointed his left arm to the back. BANG! Shang unleashed an Ice st, which shot him forward at incredible speeds. At this moment, Shang reached the speed of an Initial General Stage warrior. Astor readied a shoulder check. Yet, Astor''s eyes widened when he saw Shang appear right in front of him in an instant. Shang''s sword swung. CLINK! Teacher Loran stopped the sword just before it hit Astor''s head. Silence. Deafening silence. Astor looked with shock at the sword in front of his eyes. The students watched with ck jaws. They knew that Shang had be more powerful, but they hadn''t expected something like that! It had only been a week! "That''s for our match before thest one," Shang said as he pulled his sword back. "Back then, I took you lightly, and I lost without even being able to show my power." "Now, things are reversed." "We won''t count this one. Let''s go again," Shang said as he slowly walked back to his starting location. By now, the students had calmed down, and their brows furrowed. Earlier, they had been shocked since it was basically impossible for a Late Soldier Stage warrior to reach speeds equivalent to an Initial General Stage warrior. But then they remembered that Shang was at the Peak Soldier Stage. Several students could reach speeds above their level for a short time. Shang definitely wasn''t the only one. Mattheo could reach these speeds with his explosions. Astor could reach these speeds by throwing himself forward with his sword. Now, Shang had also unlocked this ability. Not every student had the ability to increase their speed by a level, but a lot of them could. Of course, there were also students that could increase their power or their defense by a level. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. In a way, nearly every student could upgrade something of themselves to the next level for a short moment. However, one shouldn''t take Shang''s new power lightly. These warriors had trained for a long time to unlock this ability. Thest time Shang had been here, he hadn''t had this ability. But in just a single week, he unlocked it. This meant that Shang had closed a significant gap between him and the other students. "Incredible," Astor said with an intense smirk. One could see burning battle intent in his eyes. "Finally, there''s another person in our ss that can fight me properly. You didn''t disappoint, Shang." "I lost thest fight because I underestimated you. That is one of my shorings, and it won''t happen a second time," Astor said. Astor readied his sword. "Let''s go again!" Shang nodded as he readied himself. "Mattheo and Sarah," teacher Loran said while Shang and Astor were focusing on each other. He wouldn''t stop the entire ss just to watch Astor and Shang. Sarah looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. No one knew what she was thinking about. BANG! Shang charged forward again, but this time, he didn''t use his Ice st. Shang had unveiled his Ice Affinity earlier, but just as expected, nobody had cared. Ice was a normal Affinity, just like all the other ones. Sure, it was on the rarer side, but the academy had plenty of students with rare Affinities. Just before Shang reached Astor, Astor swung his sword forward. Astor''s swing took Shang''s potential, higher speed into ount, and if Shang elerated, he would run right into it. However, Shang didn''t elerate. The swing would miss. Suddenly, water appeared below Astor''s feet, and he got carried forward by a meter. Shang''s eyes widened. The swing would hit him! BANG! Shang''s sword blocked Astor''s attack, but it wasn''t easy. Shang''s entire body shook, and he heard his sword creak. Luckily, Astor hadn''t been able to put his entire power into the swing. Otherwise, it would have broken Shang''s sword. "Danger, I, break. Block, Ice," the sword said in Shang''s mind. It obviously wanted Shang to block with his Ice Affinity, but that was still a risk. After all, Shang could only release his Ice st once before he needed some time for his arm to heat up again. In the wild, he could simply use a Fire st and then quickly heal his arm with his Mana, but he couldn''t do that here. He had decided to go public with his Ice Affinity, and if he suddenly showed a Fire Affinity, people would be very interested in him. Because of that, Shang only had a single Ice st per fight unless the fight took a very long time. Astor''s body was one level below Shang''s, but the sheer power behind the swing made it reach the power of a Peak Soldier Stage warrior, the same power as Shang. However, Shang still managed to block the attack. BANG! Shang pushed the side of Astor''s sword upward and out of his way with his left arm before he charged forward again. Shang took arge step forward and shed at Astor. More water appeared beneath Astor as he slid back. Shang extended his step and shed towards Astor''s new position. However, at that moment, Astor''s sword began to fall again. Astor had put all his weight on top of his sword, pushing it down again. Shang gritted his teeth. He wouldn''t be able to hit Astor''s head. At most, he could hit Astor''s chest. However, the uniform would block Shang''s attack. He had learned that the hard way in theirst fight. Blocking was also out of the question since his sword was already extended to sh at Astor. Astor had managed to put Shang into a predicament yet again. Sure enough, he had far more experience in fighting against humans than him. Shang pulled his sword back as he rotated to the side. He had canceled his attack, but Astor would miss. When Astor saw that, more water gathered beneath his feet as he slid away from Shang. His sword continued to fall, but due to Astor''s new position, it was now behind him. Astor took a deep breath. In that instant, time seemed to stand still. Then, Astor''s eyes shone with burning conviction. "AAAH!" Astor shouted with all of his power as his entire body trembled with power. Shang felt like an incredible pressure had appeared around him. It was like he was fighting the General Stage Vanishing Snake again. This was the feeling of total suppression. If that attack hit Shang or his weapon, it wouldn''t matter what he would do. This attack couldn''t be blocked. Even by someone with a more powerful body than Astor. Chapter 150 Shang was stuck between three choices. Charge at Astor with his Ice st. Try to evade the strike and counter. Try to evade with his Ice st. All of them had different advantages and disadvantages. In the end, Shang went with the second option. Why? Because he needed his Ice st to end the fight. He couldn''t reliably end the fight by charging in now. If he evaded with his Ice st, he would be on the safe side, but he would lose his best shot at winning against Astor. Astor''s defense was incredible, and without a severe speed advantage, Shang couldn''t break through it. So, Shang ran into the distance. Astor had already built up his momentum, and he would soon jump forward with his sword. It was essentially the same situation as when Shang had first fought Astor. But this time, Shang''s instincts had been honed a lot more. On top of that, he had seen that attack before, and he knew of a good way to evade it. By widening the distance between them, Astor''s momentum would weaken on his way to Shang. And then, Astor unleashed his strike. BOOM! The earth cracked beneath him as his body was thrown forward with his sword. Shang saw Astor approach, and he was sure that Astor was even faster than back then. Obviously, Astor hadn''t unleashed his full power in their first fight. Shang jumped to the side. At that moment, water appeared beneath Astor''s feet, and he slid to the side while keeping hold of his sword. Astor had slid more to the side than Shang due to his higher momentum. Shang could only jump to the ground to let the sword pass above him. Astor''s strike missed, and Shang quickly shed at where Astor should be. Yet, Astor had already passed by Shang. More water appeared beneath him as his body rotated. Then, the water vanished. "AAAHH!" Astor shouted as he changed the trajectory of his sword while adding more power to it. Shang''s eyes widened. He couldn''t stop Astor before he charged at Shang again like a bullet. Just by using some water, Astor had been able topletely conserve his momentum! Who said a Water Affinity was only useful for healing?! Shang jumped to the side again. Water appeared beneath Astor''s feet again. And then, Shang''s eyes shone. This time, he was prepared! Shang pointed his left arm at Astor and unleashed an Ice st. BANG! A wave of Ice Mana washed over Astor''s entire body, but it only counted as a cool breeze. CRK! But then, Astor''s eyes widened in horror as the water beneath him hardened, and in just a moment, it had transformed into ice. Astor lost control over his water, and his feet hit the ground unexpectedly,pletely ruining his equilibrium. Shang''s eyes shone as he charged at Astor. Shang''s Ice st definitely wasn''t powerful enough to freeze that much water instantly. But then why had it suddenly frozen? Shang remembered something he had learned in teacher Niria''s ss. Since beasts in the Empress Cobra Zone had a partial Water Affinity, they avoided the Ice Wyvern Zone. Why? Because Ice Mana could transform Water Mana into Ice Mana as long as there was more of it. The water beneath Astor''s feet wasn''t natural water, but water created with Water Mana. So, as long as Shang could st it with a lot of Ice Mana, it would transform into Ice Mana. Astor didn''t have an Ice Affinity, which meant that he wouldn''t be able to control it anymore. And it had worked! The water had turned to ice, and Astor lost his equilibrium. Shang charged forward. Astor''s knees hit the ground as he slid forward. He was trying to regain his bnce. Shang closed in. It was impossible for Astor to regain control of his sword in a short amount of time. Astor''s eyes widened, and he threw his sword away. His sword began to rotate, and the rotating hilt came between him and Shang. BANG! Shang blocked the hilt with his sword and quickly shed forward. But he missed! Astor had sidestepped on instinct, and he was approaching Shang with a raised fist. Then, Astor released his fist towards Shang''s face. Shang hadn''t expected this attack. He had always been the one to throw his weapon away. He hadn''t met someone else that did that. At that moment, Shang''s mind shut down. His instincts honed over years of training took over. Out of habit, Shang dropped his sword. At this moment, Shang wasn''t even thinking about his sword. Shang''s hands pushed Astor''s arm away by the elbow while taking a sidestep. Astor''s eyes widened. His attack had missed?! Out of habit, Shang jumped upward. His left knee went to Astor''s back as Shang pulled his arm to the side. Astor''s bnce was destroyed again, and he hit the ground. BANG! Shangnded with his left knee on Astor''s back while clinging closely to his arm with both of his arms. Shang had essentially created a pseudo-armbar! Silence. The students that weren''t in a fight yet watched on in shock. Astor looked with shock forward. He couldn''t see Shang from his current position. His arm was extended towards his back, and he knew that Shang could break it. "One strike to your head and you''re dead," Shang said. "I won." A long moment of silence passed. "Mana Transformation," Astor mumbled. "To think that Mana Transformation could also be used in this way." Astor was obviously referring to how Shang had frozen his water with his ice. "Can you let go? I lost," Astor said calmly. Shang nodded and stood up. Astor also stood up and cleaned his uniform. Then, Astor smiled brightly. "I learned something today," he said. "It''s been a while." "I also learned several things," Shang answered. "This was my first proper fight with a powerful warrior." Astorughed. "Let''s go again!" he shouted with a wide smile. "Sure," Shang answered. "But don''t believe that I only won due to a fluke." "I won''t," Astor answered. "However, don''t expect to win again." "We''ll see," Shang answered with a smirk. Astor also smirked. Sadly, Astor was right. Over the next three hours, Shang would lose all of his matches. Astor had adapted to Shang''s powers. Shang had been able to win two times, but with his surprise advantage gone, it was clear that Astor was still the more powerful one of the two. However, Shang was now equal in power to Mattheo. Well, as long as he only fought as a warrior. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. Astor finally had someone new to fight against, and Mattheo could finally rx from constantly losing to Astor. That was Shang''s job now. And before they knew it, the lesson was already over. Chapter 151 The lesson was over faster than Shang had anticipated. He had felt like only a couple of minutes had passed, but, apparently, Shang had fought Astor for nearly three hours. After the first two fights, Shang hadn''t won another one. Astor had perfectly countered all of Shang''s attacks after knowing what he could do. Surprisingly, nearly every fight, Shang felt like he had Astor on the ropes. Astor was always so close to losing every single time. Yet, for some reason, Astor managed to somehow wiggle out of his disadvantaged state. At that point, Shang had alreadymitted too much, making it harder for him to resist Astor''s offensive. The closest Shang had gotten was when he had loaded his sword with an Ice st. He had struck upwards against Astor''s sword,pletely destroying the attack. However, Astor managed to block Shang''s killing blow by, ironically, jumping into the attack with his chest. The defenses of his uniform activated, and Shang''s attack was stopped. Sure, that only worked once, but it had stopped Shang''s most dangerous attack. Teacher Loran gave his feedback to all the students, including Shang. This time, teacher Loran had actually seen Shang''s swordsmanship, which meant that he could give actual feedback. Surprisingly, teacher Loran didn''t criticize Shang''s swordsmanship much. He said that he could already see an initial fighting style forming, which was a good thing. He said that Shang obviously preferred a very fast and explosive fighting style and that he should focus on that. One sentence in particr rang true in Shang''s mind. "Don''t focus on your weaknesses. Focus on your strengths and make them even stronger." Shang''s weakness was obviously defense. He had no shield or great weapon that could act as a shield. Because of that, Shang had to parry or evade attacks, which wasn''t easy. Shang could work on his defense, but that might take too much work, and it might even ruin his already established fighting style. Working on his defenses would essentially count as a n B. If his opponent managed to get through Shang''s speed and dodges, Shang would need to defend himself. That sounded like a good idea, but there was another way forward. Make it so that the "if" will always stay an if. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang could work on his aggressive fighting style until it was so destructive that the opponent wouldn''t even be able to unleash an attack. That was what teacher Loran meant by working on his strengths instead of his weaknesses. If no opponent ever managed to hit Shang, his defense wouldn''t matter. After giving Shang lots of feedback, teacher Loran left. "Those were some great fights, Shang," Astor said with a wide grin. "Always fighting Mattheo can get boring since we know each other''s moves perfectly. I''m d you finally managed to reach a level in Battle-Strength that makes you a challenge." Shang nodded. "Thanks." But then, Shang frowned as he looked at the ground. "However, there is still a long way to go. After all, I am a full level above you, which means you are jumping levels against me." "That''s sadly the burden we have to bear," Astor said. "We students of the Caterpir ss can''t learn real techniques, which means that our powers are always lower than the powers of normal warriors." "How strong are you inparison to other students?" Shang asked. "Well, in the Caterpir ss, I''m the strongest as long as Mattheo doesn''t use his Magic. That puts me at above-average for normal students. I''m still a bit short when ites to talented students, and I''m a long way away from rivaling the actually strongest students of our Grade," Astor answered. "Above average, huh?" Shangmented. Astor nodded. "How strong am I inparison to other students?" Shang asked. "Inparison to students of the Caterpir ss, you are a bit below average. Inparison to students in general, you are on the lower side. If you were in the Preparation Grade, you could fight with the weaker half of the students in the Caterpir ss," Astor said. Shang took a deep breath. He was still so weak when it came to fighting other students. "Honestly, I don''t get why you seem so troubled," Astor said with a raised eyebrow. "You just came here like one or two weeks ago. The other students had years of training against humans. You barely had two weeks." "Give it time." Shang looked to the side. Sure, he had only been here for two weeks, but he still felt a bit ashamed of his power when it came to fighting other humans. Fighting beasts, sure. Shang knew that he was incredibly outstanding in that department. Fighting humans? Not so much. And even more, fighting Mages was probably even harder. At that point, Shang remembered something. Wasn''t there a form of practical exam or something like that for the red uniforms? Wouldn''t that be fighting other Mages? Shang had gathered some experience in fighting warriors, but he hadn''t fought any Mages yet. At the same time, Shang remembered something else. "Astor," Shang said. "What are these quotas the teachers have for the Day of Chaos?" Shang remembered the Vice-Dean talk about his quota while referencing the next practical exam for the red uniforms. "Oh? Yeah, those are popr. Everyone basically wants them," Astor said. "Yes, but what are they?" Shang asked again. "It''s watching," Astor said. "Watching?" "Mhm." Astor nodded. "On the Day of Chaos, Warrior''s Paradise will be closed, and everyone retreats to the Farm Line. Only the Commander Stage warriors will remain in Warrior''s Paradise, while all the General Stage warriors defend the Farm Line. That leaves the Soldier Stage warriors with nothing to do." "Most of us just stay in the Farm Line and wait. We are not relevant to the defense." "Because of that, every teacher gets a set number of students they can bring with them. These students will follow the teachers to the walls of Warrior''s Paradise, and they can watch the Day of Chaos from there." Shang furrowed his brows as he thought about that. Watching the Day of Chaos from the walls of Warrior''s Paradise. He definitely was interested in that. Not only would Shang be able to learn more about beasts, but he would also be able to watch different powerful humans fight. It would essentially mean learning from the most powerful humans by watching. "How do I get one of these quotas?" Shang asked. "Oh, that''s very difficult," Astor answered. "I got one from teacher Loran, but I''m also the only one in our Grade. The quotas are total and not Grade-specific. Each teacher gets three in total, and teacher Loran gave his quotas to the strongest students of the three higher Grades." Shang scratched his chin with furrowed brows. Getting quotas definitely wasn''t easy. Sure, Shang could fight Astor, but Astor was an entire level below him. If Astor were on Shang''s level, Shang would be nearly helpless in front of him. The quotas were essentially rewards for the most outstanding students per Grade per ss. Shang was in the Caterpir ss, and he definitely wasn''t the most outstanding student in his Grade. This meant, at the moment, Shang wasn''t good enough for a quota. Chapter 152 Astor said his goodbyes and left. Shang wanted to talk with Mattheo, but Mattheo had already left while Shang was talking with Astor. Before the lesson began, Mattheo had said that his father owned the Warrior''s Academy. Together with his father''s focus on Magic, Shang was already pretty certain who Mattheo''s father was. It was probably Duke Whirlwind. Shang didn''t think that Mattheo was the dean''s son. After all, the dean probably wouldn''t have pushed Mattheo so hard into the path of a Mage. Sadly, Shang couldn''t confirm his guess since Mattheo had already left. After the lesson, Shang wasn''t certain what he should do right now. He had finally reached his goal of upgrading his weapon, and he had finally managed to learn more about his swordsmanship. Now, he could fully focus on learning. Without a good weapon, Shang had been in a troublesome situation since he hadn''t been able to work on his techniques. ''Well, I guess it''s time to learn. At the moment, I don''t need money or Contribution Points, and I also don''t need to train against beasts.'' ''For now, I should focus on umting knowledge, on my techniques, and on fighting other humans.'' ''Seems like I''m going to visit a couple of lessons.'' Shang left the training field and went to his room to check the schedule. There was always a small break between sses for exactly this reason. ''Another lesson for beast knowledge starts soon,'' Shang read. ''Alright, let''s start the learning process!'' Shang quickly left his room and entered the meeting room. A couple of students looked at him with weird expressions, but they didn''t interact with him. Teacher Niria arrived rather quickly and began her lesson. "Foreign beasts in the northwestern forest," she announced. Thest time Shang had been here, teacher Niria had talked about foreign beasts in the northeastern forest. It seemed like the northwestern forest also had foreign species. Teacher Niria exined that there were two problematic areas. The south and the northwest. The south was obviously a problematic area due to the General Stage beasts from the Wastnd. The northwestern part was problematic due to the Ice Wyvern Zone. Shang hadn''t heard much about the invading species of the Ice Wyvern Zone since they weren''t nearly as dangerous to the ecosystem in the forest itself. Yes, the species themselves were still very dangerous to the hunters, but they didn''t destroy the forest. The northeastern forest was in constant danger due to the Swamp Millipedes and the Vanishing Snakes. Inparison to that, the only real danger to the environment in the northwestern forest was the Life Scarabs. The beasts from the Ice Wyvern Zone sometimes came to the Wild Forest, but most of them only arrived there due to certain circumstances. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. The beasts didn''t need to have their children in the Wild Forest since the Ice Wyvern Zone had plenty of weaker areas. Because of that, only rarely would one see a beast from the Ice Wyvern Zone having a child in the Wild Forest. Most General Stage beasts only came to the northwestern forest due to being driven out of the northwestern forest by a more powerful beast or if their Affinity was Wind. There weren''t that many, but there were a couple. Of course, since there weren''t many invading species from the Ice Wyvern Zone, the dangerous area also wasn''t as big. However, the south was very dangerous. The southern part of the northwestern forest was even more dangerous than the southern part of the northeastern forest. What was the reason for that? Vanishing Snakes. The Vanishing Snakes killed many young beasts. Many beasts remembered the ce of their birth, and they were more likely to have their children at a simr location to where they had been born. Due to the Vanishing Snakes, not many beasts managed to leave the northeastern forest before reaching the General Stage, which meant fewer beasts had children there. The Vanishing Snakes weren''t in the northwestern forest, which meant that this was the primary spawning ground for all kinds of beasts that usually lived in the Wastnd. Teacher Niria talked for an hour about invading species from the Ice Wyvern Zone and two hours about invading species from the Wastnd. As the lesson dragged on, Shang got a certain feeling about the two forests. When Shang had just arrived, the two forests looked identical. After all, they had the same trees, and they both had Pest Cats. Shang had also learned that both forests were called the Wild Forest. Because of that, the two forests basically felt like the same area to Shang. But by now, Shang saw the difference. The northwestern forest gave off a feeling of power and confrontation. There were not that many ambush predators, and there were plenty of powerful beasts walking around without hiding. The local menace, the Life Scarab, also made it feel a bit brighter and more natural. After all, the trees definitely weren''t subtle. Inparison, the northeastern forest was basically shrouded in a dark and poisonous mist. Shang hadn''t seen many powerful beasts walking around in the northeastern forest, but the ones that were there attacked with an ambush. The northwestern forest felt brown or red. The northeastern forest felt ck or purple. These two areas were very different from each other. Shang had learned a lot over thest three hours. By now, he also knew several more beasts and knew if they were on the cklist or not. And, sure enough, there was no beast that even resembled a Spire Mire. After the lesson was over, Shang went back to his room. "Shang,e here." Or, at least, he wanted to. Shang turned around. "Yes, teacher Niria?" he asked. The other students were confused and looked at each other. Teacher Niria had already given Shang private lessons, and now she was calling him to her in public? Shang walked over to teacher Niria. SHING! A small token appeared in teacher Niria''s hand. On the token was the shadow of a gigantic eagle and a cked-out city beneath it. Shang furrowed his brows as he looked at the token. A gasp of shock echoed throughout the ssroom as the students began to whisper to one another. "What is-" "Teacher Niria!" another student said with a nervous but slightly angry tone. "Would you please exin to me why he is getting the token? As far as I know, I''m the best hunter in this Grade!" Shang looked over. It was a girl with white hair, and a long, silver bow was on her back. Teacher Niria calmly looked over at the student. "Have you killed a General Stage beast before?" she asked. The student moved back a bit. "I couldn''t find a group that epts me yet," she answered. "So, you are not the best student," teacher Niria said. The surrounding students had fallen into silence. Wait, did that mean that Shang had killed a General Stage beast before? There was a group willing to take him with them? "Has he?" the student asked. Teacher Niria nodded. "I have seen the corpse with my own eyes. It was a General Stage Vanishing Snake." Silence. A General Stage Vanishing Snake? As a Soldier Stage warrior? That was insane! "But he isn''t even in our ss!" the student said. "So? He''s the best hunter amongst everyone at the Soldier Stage in the academy. If he doesn''t deserve a token, nobody does." Shang was still confused about what kind of token he got. Teacher Niria looked at Shang. "Don''t leave the city on the Day of Chaos. Gather in the middle of the academy shortly before sunrise. I will take you to watch." Shang''s eyes widened. Chapter 153 The students slowly left the ss, talking with each other the entire time. Meanwhile, Shang slowly leaned forward and whispered. "Is this because of, you know what?" he asked. "No," teacher Niria answered. "You are simply the best hunter." Shang looked with uncertainty at teacher Niria. "But I had help. The Storm Eagle young did a lot of work, and I wouldn''t be alive without it." "Could it have killed the snake without you?" teacher Niria asked. Shang thought about it for a bit. Yes, the Storm Eagle had injured the snake severely, but that was only possible since the snake hadn''t noticed the eagle. After it had noticed the eagle, it had readied its weapons. If the Storm Eagle had attacked again without backup, it would have been killed with certainty. "No," Shang said, "but that doesn''t change the fact that I won with help." Teacher Niria frowned. "I don''t like your dishonest behavior." Shang''s eyebrows shot up in surprise and shock. "Dishonest?" he asked. "You are trying to fish forpliments," teacher Niria answered with annoyance. "How am I fishing forpliments?!" Shang asked in shock. "I mean what I say! I had help, which means that the glory isn''t fully mine. At most, I get 50%." Teacher Niria looked closely at Shang. He didn''t seem to be lying. "Have you not heard the other student?" she asked. "I did. What about her?" Shang asked back. "She said that no team epted her, which is normal. Only very few students get to join a team that hunts a General Stage beast, and those students have to be the best and at the Peak Soldier Stage." "Such a team consists of at least three General Stage warriors. Tell me, how much glory would that student get?" teacher Niria asked. Shang blinked a couple of times. "Maybe 10%?" he asked. "Maybe," teacher Niria said emotionlessly. "You are so caught up in your own world that you can''t see the people around you." Shang didn''t say anything. He wasn''t sure what teacher Niria meant. "No one at the General Stage even thinks about hunting a General Stage beast solo as long as it isn''t at least a level below them. Meanwhile, you act like it''s a disgrace that you and a Soldier Stage beast killed a beast a full level above you." "You think that you have to kill beasts alone, but that mindset is one in a thousand, and I don''t mean the good kind. Your entire life depends on only yourself. If you make a mistake, you will die." "To work with that mindset, you either have to be perfect or incredibly lucky." Shang was a bit taken aback. Yes, he hadn''t even considered hunting beasts with a team. It simply seemed unnecessary. Was that so wrong? If he hunted beasts in a team, how would he be able to push his Battle-Strength further? If others constantly fixed his mistakes, how would he learn from them? "You seem to finally understand," teacher Niria said with a cold tone. "So, don''t annoy me anymore. Day of Chaos, before dawn, middle of the academy." After she said that, teacher Niria left the ssroom. Now, Shang was alone in the ssroom. He looked at the token again. Just earlier, he hadmented that he wasn''t good enough to get a quota. However, he actually was good enough. Shang was below average in terms of fighting against warriors. Shang was probably only average when fighting against Mages. After all, nearly no warrior has any experience in fighting Mages. So, in those two things, Shang basically counted as a bad student. He counted as a weak student. However, when it came to beasts, Shang was incredible. Why was that? Experience. He had lived in the wilderness for over six months, and he had killed so many beasts. Additionally, he had killed beasts above his level several times. Shang had pushed himself further than any other students in the academy when it came to beasts. Shang looked away from the token as a gleam shone in his eyes. ''If everything is up to experience, I only need to gather experience to get better. I might be weak against other humans right now, but with enough experience, that will change.'' ''I need more experience, but in order to umte that experience, I need time and lessons.'' ''Seems like there won''t be any more power bursts in the short time. Now, the time to learn hase.'' ''My life as a student has now officially begun.'' Shang left the ssroom and went back to his room. It was night now, which meant that there were no more lessons until the next day. Shang took out his sword. "Let''s go. We should work on the techniques. Thanks to teacher Loran, I think I know where I have to go to next." "I, help," the sword answered. "I''m counting on you," Shang said as he looked at his sword. After that, Shang began to practice his techniques again. It had been a while since he had tried his hands on them. "Bad." "Good." "Feel, wrong." "Maybe." The sword gave feedback after nearly every swing. It was telling Shang when it felt that Shang''s technique felt unfitting or incorrect. Since the sword could now actually talk somewhat with Shang, he also slowly learned where its feelings came from. After a lot of experimentation, Shang found out that the sword''s likes and dislikes had been forged by how Shang had used it in the past. Its taste had essentially copied what Shang had wanted his swordsmanship to be like in the past. In the beginning, Shang wanted to get rid of all the awkward movements, and the sword also wanted that. Shang preferred very offensive moves to other moves, and the sword also preferred those. They were essentially two people with the same likes, dislikes, and goals. This wasn''t just a man practicing his swordsmanship. This was a man practicing together with his sword. None of the two were teaching each other. They simply gave each other feedback on what they thought of the technique. They were experiencing the path to sword mastery together. They were making decisions together. They were two minds working on one job. After several hours, Shang felt like he had arrived at a good ce to stop. Of course, with only a couple of hours of training, his strength hadn''t increased by much. However, he had be more familiar with the techniques he enjoyed using. The more familiar he got with the techniques, the more likely his instincts were to use them. During a fight, it was difficult to n. A lot of things happened in a very short time frame, and many times, the instincts of a warrior decided what attack to use. This was one of the most important things in a fight. Putting techniques into one''s instinct severely lowered the needed time to unleash them. If a person unused to driving saw someone jump in front of their car, they would take a while to react. That person knew where the brakes were, but in their mind, they first needed to find the appropriate reaction. A person that was used to driving would immediately push the brakes. One was a nned action, while the other was an instinctual reaction. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. After stopping his practice, Shang decided to work thest couple of hours on his Affinities. It would be a long time until he would get anything useful out of this kind of training, but it was better to alternate different kinds of training. And before he knew it, a new day had arrived. And Shang would join his next lesson. Chapter 154 The first lesson of the day: Swordsmanship. A couple of students looked weirdly at Shang when they saw him. They had heard of him before, but they hadn''t expected him to be in their Grade. After all, Shang had never shown up to this lesson. Most other students came from the yellow and blue factions, but there were also a couple of students with ck, red, and green uniforms. There were only five people from the Caterpir ss in this lesson, and they had vouched for Shang when everyone inevitably started questioning why someone at the Peak Soldier Stage was in their Grade. Teacher Mervin eventually arrived, and he began the lesson. "Closing in on spear users," he announced. After his announcement, a student at the Peak Soldier Stage walked forward. He was tall, muscr, and had long green hair. A mighty spear was in his right hand. None of the other students seemed surprised that the student was a level higher than them. The student with the spear was someone in the Preparation Grade, and they were supposed to help the students in studying. He had to be more powerful to properly control his power and techniques against his opponents. Of course, the student would earn quite some Contribution Points for performing this service. After the student stepped forward, teacher Mervin called the first student to the front. Teacher Mervin didn''t exin anything. He simply sent the student against the spear user. "Level three," the student said, obviously familiar with how the lesson worked. After that, the two students began fighting. In just a couple of seconds, the sword user managed to get past the spear and reach the spear user''s body. At that point, the fight ended. The two students parted ways, and the next student stepped up. "Level three." While one student after the other stepped forward, Shang asked one of the other Caterpir ss students about what was going on. The student told Shang that there were different levels of difficulty. Level one was the easiest, while level five was the hardest. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. If a student managed to beat level five, it meant that they could close in on a spear user a level above them. There were only two students that beat that level, and both of them wore yellow uniforms. The highest level the people from the Caterpir ss managed to beat was level three. The difference in techniques was just too much. The Caterpir ss only had ess to techniques of Soldier Stage warriors, which were themselves. The other students had ess to techniques perfected over years by the most talented and experienced Commander Stage warriors. Something like that couldn''t be learned without proper guidance and a lot of time. Shang watched the students fight the spear user time after time, and for the first time, Shang saw the power of real techniques. One of the students had winde out from their back, which increased their speed by a level. Shang was a bit confused when he saw that since he was under the impression that only someone at the General Stage could release their Affinity in such a way. However, another student exined to Shang that this was the power of a technique. The student couldn''t manipte their Affinity freely. They could only follow guidelines. This was the difference between a technique and mastery. Mages used incantations and practiced Mana movement to create a powerful attack. However, what if they didn''t use incantations? What if they moved their Mana differently? Someone that knew a technique could theoretically replicate the same thing again and again like a copier. However, such a copier couldn''t create apletely new piece of paper that didn''t already exist. Without the incantations, the Mage would find it very hard to manipte the Mana appropriately. The incantation was the guideline that showed the Mage the way. The same thing applied to techniques. The student in front of Shang could unleash their Affinity in this very specific way, but if they wanted to unleash their Affinity in a different way, they would need a long time and lots of practice. If someone had mastery over their Mana, they could use it in whichever way they preferred. But that mastery was hard to achieve, and people in the Soldier Stage couldn''t achieve that. However, with these techniques, they had a shortcut and a guiding light to attacks and movements that should be beyond their abilities. This was the strength of techniques. Eventually, it was Shang''s turn. "Level one," he said. After a couple of questions to the teacher about how the student should handle someone on his level, the fight began. Passing level one was very easy for Shang due to his stronger body. At level one, the opponent only stabbed forward without moving. At level two, the student also swung his spear from side to side. At level three, the student bent the spear in several attacks to make the movements of his spear less predictable. At level four, the student was allowed to move around, which mostly meant them retreating. At level five, the student could do whatever they wanted. Levels one and two were very easy for Shang, but he failed level three. Together with his more powerful body, that basically meant that Shang was essentially only on level one whenpared to the other students. Since Shang had a more powerful body, he would need to beat level five to reach the average of the other students in ss. Several other students only snorted at Shang''s performance, but Shang didn''t mind it. He was here to learn. He had only recently joined. With time, he would gain experience, and he would be better. Shang got several more tries over the next three hours, and he eventually managed to beat level three. He had watched how the other students managed to close the distance, and he tried to emte some of these things. Even just by watching, Shang had already learned a lot about fighting someone with a spear. After the lesson, Shang walked to the next lesson. "Fighting a Fire Mage," the Vice-Dean announced when the lesson started. Yes, it was another theoretical lesson for the red uniforms. After three hours, Shang went to the next lesson. "Life in the Empress Cobra Zone," a teacher Shang didn''t know said. This was a lesson for the blue uniforms and yellow uniforms, knowledge about different Zones. These lessons talked about the local economy, policies, wildlife, rulers, events, and many other things. It was just a general overview of different Zones. Today was about the Empress Cobra Zone. Shang learned a lot about the Empress Cobra Zone in this lesson, and he went to the next one. "Let''s start," Astor said with a big smirk as he looked at Shang. It was another lesson for the Caterpir ss. After that lesson, Shang went to thest one for the day. There were twelve hours of lessons during the day with a total of three hours of breaks. The first lessons started at 7 am, and thest lesson ended at 10 pm. "How to spot pickpockets," the unknown teacher announced. This was a lesson for the yellow uniforms. These lessons taught the future guards and soldiers how to do their job properly. Shang was interested in that lesson. Why? Because he wouldn''t always be in the academy, and it was important to protect himself. These lessons went into the behaviors of other people and many different things. The concept wasn''t fully developed in this world yet, but this lesson was basically a rudimentary version of psychology with a heavy focus on only a couple of categories. After the lesson, Shang went back to his room to train in his techniques again. Then, he trained his Affinities. The next day started, and with it, the next lessons. Swordsmanship. Politics. Caterpir. Beasts. Then, more training. Then, more lessons. More training. More lessons. More training. More lessons. And before Shang knew it, thest days of lessons had ended. The Day of Chaos had arrived. Chapter 155 Shang opened his eyes deep in the night. Due to the Day of Chaos, Shang had decided to sleep again. Thest couple of days had already been a pain. The bloodied face had returned from time to time in thest couple of days. It wasn''t nearly as bad as back then, but it was still very noticeable. Thest night had been horrible. Just like before, Shang felt his entire world break down as he tried to sleep. Everything had appeared hopeless and senseless. But, eventually, Shang managed to go to sleep. He wasn''t sure what he had dreamt about, but he was pretty sure that he had dreamt of something bad. Why? Because Shang found spots of blood on his bed. He guessed that he had probably scratched himself bloody during his sleep, and due to his high tolerance for pain, he didn''t even wake up. However, as a new day began, Shang felt much better. Last night, he had felt horrible, which stood in stark contrast to how Shang felt right now. He was alert and full of energy. Shang stood up, showered, and shaved. After getting dressed, Shang looked at his bed. It was filled with dried blood, and it smelled quite badly. He had done that. ''Moment of weakness,'' Shang thought. ''I have to get used to the crueler side of the world. The more used I get to everything, the easier my life will be.'' Shang kept looking at the bloodstains. To him, it felt like he was leaving his old self behind. Shang dissociated from his past selfst night. "Well, doesn''t matter. Let''s go," Shang said to Sword. Yes, that was the name of Shang''s sword, Sword. After they had trained a couple of times, Shang had found out that he didn''t know Sword''s name, which was why he had asked. Sword simply said that it was a sword, and it wanted to be called as such. Shang had asked why Sword didn''t want a unique name. Sword''s answer was that its name would eventually be unique. One day, if someone said the word sword, they would think of Sword. It was not a sword. It was the Sword! In the end, Shang epted that Sword wanted to be called Sword. He found it a bit weird to refer to a sword as Sword, but if that was what it wanted, sure. Shang left his room and walked out towards the courtyard of the academy. It was still dark, but Shang could already see several students waiting. There were about 50. However, these 50 students represented the best of the best in each Grade. The best hunters. The best officers. The best soldiers. Some of them were the best in theory regarding one of the subjects. Some of them were the best when it came to using their weapons. These were the best students in the academy. But there was one very surprising thing. 15 of the 50 students wore red uniforms. That was nearly a third! There were barely any red uniforms in the academy, but nearly all of them had gathered here. However, Shang quickly realized why. The Vice-Dean had said that he had five spots and that he could only take five people of the Advanced Grade with him. Of course, the Vice-Dean wouldn''t only look at the Advanced Grade. What about the Intermediate or Preparation Grade? There were no students from the Beginner Grade here, which was understandable. They were still too weak and too new. They wouldn''t be able to understand much. But there were several students of the Intermediate, Late, and Preparation Grade present. And since the Vice-Dean had five spots per grade, he was the reason why there were 15 red uniforms here. At that moment, Shang realized something. ''The red uniforms are only very rarely amongst other students. They rarely talk, and they rarely visit other lessons. They are also the only ones that have a Vice-Dean teaching them.'' ''It''s almost like they arepletely separate from the other students.'' ''The Caterpir ss is already special since we can''t learn the actual techniques of the school, but we still mingle with other students and share lessons. But the red uniforms are basically like ghosts.'' ''And now, they are the most numerous students present.'' Shang hadn''t noticed it previously, but as he saw so many red uniforms, he noticed it. The academy put special focus on the red uniforms. It was like they were the most important students. "Shang?" Shang looked over at Astor, who looked at him with surprise. "Yes?" Shang asked. "What are you doing here?" Astor asked. Shang took out the token he had received and showed it to Astor. "I got one." Astor looked with shock and confusion at the token. It was real. But how? Astor liked Shang, but he also knew very well of Shang''s capabilities. Shang was very young, but since he was so young, he was also far weaker than the other students. In order to get an emblem, one needed to be among the best. Yes, Astor liked Shang, but he also knew that Shang definitely wasn''t among the best. Shang''s Battle-Strength was very weak, and he couldn''t have been here long enough to learn everything was to know about the surroundings. That meant that he also couldn''t have been chosen by a teacher who only taught something theoretical. Shang was weak. And Shang knew basically nothing about the theoretical subjects. So, how did Shang manage to get here? Was he actually some hidden progeny of a foreign Duke? Maybe he was the son of the King of the Skythunder Kingdom? The Vice-Deans and the Dean didn''t make any exceptions for anyone unless the other side could be a threat to them. And True Mages were no threat. "I was just as surprised as you," Shang said. He could tell what Astor was thinking about. He knew that Astor wasn''t belittling him. Astor was an honest guy. "How did you get this?" Astor asked. "Teacher Niria," Shang said. "Teacher Niria?" Astor asked. "The beast teacher?" Shang nodded. "Why?" Astor asked. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. "I''m pretty good at hunting," Shang said. That''s when Astor''s eyes widened in realization. Right! Shang had shown that he had gone through tons of battles. After all, his instincts were top-notch, and he had amazing control over his body. But his strength when fighting humans was horrible. That could only mean that Shang had exclusively fought beasts in the past! Astor was experienced enough to feel how experienced his opponent was. Shang felt very experienced to him, just not experienced in fighting against humans. At that moment, Astor realized that Shang was probably a terrifyingly powerful hunter. Now, Shang had reached Astor''s level in Astor''s perception. He was also someone at the top of their ss but in a different one. After realizing all of this, Astor only had a single question. "Have you killed a Vanishing Snake before?" he asked with wonder. Shang blinked a couple of times. "Yeah, a couple of them." "Wow," Astor said. "My team has never gone to the northeastern forest specifically because of them. How many people are in your team?" Shang blinked again in confusion. "I don''t have a team. I hunt alone." Astor almost couldn''t believe it. Hunting Vanishing Snakes alone?! Shang was a monster! Ironically enough, Shang had always viewed Astor as a monster since Astor managed to jump a level against Shang. That also hadn''t changed. But now, Astor was also viewing Shang as a monster. Both of them were impressed by the other''s talent. Chapter 156 Shang and Astor talked for quite a while. Since Astor now viewed Shang as someone on his level, he had many questions about how Shang managed to hunt so many powerful beasts. The same thing was true for Shang. He was interested in how Astor was able to be so powerful while having a Water Affinity. Water Affinities were only good for healing. That was how everyone viewed them. They had nearly no offensive capabilities. They had nearly no defensive capabilities. A Water Affinity was essentially only good for healing. However, Astor managed to make his Water Affinity work. Even more, there were advantages to Astor''s Water Affinity that he couldn''t even show in training. For example, Astor could gather his Water Mana to a part of his body and rapidly heal that part. During ss, this power was useless since no one got injured very often. Having a Water Affinity wasn''t as useful as having a warrior''s body when it came to healing, but it definitely was better than having any other Affinity. A warrior''s body healed the body automatically by directly converting Mana. A Water Affinity would need to actively be manipted to heal the correct ce, which would take time, concentration, and more Mana in total. Of course, the tradeoff was that a warrior''s body basically made it impossible to have much control over one''s Affinity, to begin with. Advantages and disadvantages. "Is Mattheo also here?" Shang asked. "No," Astor answered. "Mattheo is with the Mage Academy." "The one north of the northeastern forest?" Shang asked. He had learned a lot during thest two weeks. "Yes, that one," Astor answered. "That''s also where Duke Whirlwind lives, right?" "Correct," Astor said. "Duke Whirlwind wouldn''t want his son to be here during the Day of Chaos. After all, it isn''t only the Storm Eagle Zone that goes through it." Shang nodded. "The Empress Cobra also leaves on this day, right?" For thest couple of days, basically all the lessons revolved around the uing Day of Chaos, which was why Shang knew so much about it now. Shang had learned an incredible amount of information in thest two weeks. For example, Shang had always wondered where Duke Whirlwind actually was. Warrior''s Paradise didn''t have any kind of fancy pce or something. There also weren''t many Apprentices or Adepts here. Sure, there were some, but definitely not enough to create an academy. Shang had learned that there was a big Mage Academy to the north of the northeastern forest. It was close to the border of the Empress Cobra Zone. The Farm Line also sent their food to that Mage Academy. However,pared to Warrior''s Paradise, the Mage Academy wasn''t inside a city. The Mage Academy itself was basically its own town. It had been built at that ce because of the ess to lots of natural Mana. Warrior''s Paradise had a gigantic Mana Austerum in the middle, throwing the bnce of Mana inside the city off. Apprentices and Adepts needed lots of Mana around them to learn. And that ce was perfect. They had Wind Mana from the Storm Eagle Zone, and if they traveled a bit to the east, they had ess to Water and Poison Mana. There were also a couple of Ice Apprentices in the school, but they lived more towards the northwest, near the Ice Wyvern Zone. Earth Mana was also present since the Ice Wyvern Zone had a lot of mountains. However, Fire, Lightning, and Metal Mana were rare there. Because of that, the Mage Academy didn''t ept students with Fire, Lightning, or Metal Affinities. But wait, didn''t Mattheo have a Fire Affinity? That''s correct. However, he was also the only Fire Apprentice in the entire school. Duke Whirlwind hired a Fire Mage living in Warrior''s Paradise as Mattheo''s teacher. Of course, the Fire Mage only taught Mattheo about Fire Mage-specific things. For general things, Mattheo had the Mage Academy. So, how good was the Mage Academy? It was average. It wasn''t amazing, but it definitely also wasn''t bad. Plenty of students graduated as True Mages. But wait, then how was the Warrior''s Academy so amazing? After all, a True Mage was on the same level as a Commander Stage warrior, and the Warrior''s Academy was famous for its ability to produce Commander Stage warriors. Well, in the end, this world was ruled by Mages. Bing a Commander Stage warrior was amazing. Bing a True Mage was also amazing, but not as much. Whenpared to Earth, one could say that, for a warrior, reaching the Commander Stage was the equivalent of being a multi-millionaire. It was essentially the goal for 99% of all people. For Mages, it would be equivalent to getting one''s Ph.D. It was definitely amazing, but one still needed to find a great job and still prove themselves in their actual field. After a while of talking, teacher Loran appeared and called Astor over. Teacher Loran also noticed Shang, and his brows furrowed, but he didn''t say anything. He could guess how Shang had managed to get a quota. Astor left with teacher Loran. After all, the teachers were responsible for protecting their students on this day. If a student died under their supervision, it would be the teacher''s fault. In a way, taking a student with them showed a teacher''s confidence in their power. If they wanted, they could probably increase their quota, but it would be up to their confidence and power. The Vice-Dean, obviously, had a lot of power and a lot of confidence, which was why he took a whole 15 students with him. "Shang." Shang looked over when he heard his name, and he saw teacher Niria. Another student was beside her, and Shang was surprised when he saw the familiar face. It was that one General Stage student that had told Shang about the Vanishing Snakes. His name was Yiral. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Yiral nodded at Shang as a greeting, and Shang nodded back. "What about the Preparation Grade?" Shang asked teacher Niria. "You are the only one," teacher Niria said. Shang looked with confusion at Yiral. "He''s there to protect you. I trust in his judgment and ability," teacher Niria said. Yiral nodded again. "If I tell you to do something, you will do it. Understood?" he asked. Shang nodded. "I will." "Good," Yiral said. Shang looked over at teacher Niria. "What about you?" "I''m in the defensive team," teacher Niria said. "Today, we will be attacked by many Commander Stage beasts. As a hunter, it is my duty to protect this city." "The other teachers are not hunters, which is why they are only marginally of help." Shang realized that teacher Niria''s words made a lot of sense, but that also threw up another question. "Then, if they are not of much help, who''s going to defend Warrior''s Paradise?" Shang asked. "The soldiers with their ballista and a couple of outstanding teams of hunters." "However, the bulk of the work will be handled by the Mages." "Enough talking. Let''s go," teacher Niria said as she led Shang and Yiral away. Yiral stepped behind Shang and followed him quietly as everyone made their way to the city walls. The Day of Chaos was about to begin. Chapter 157 The three of them walked towards the south of the academy. There were plenty of ces to climb the wall, and one was also inside the academy. Of course, students were forbidden from climbing the walls, and the teachers and guards made sure that they followed the rules. Surprisingly, not all the students and teachers entered from this ce. Some of them went to the west or east, while Shang went to the south. It was up to the teacher to decide where they wanted the student to watch. The southern end was the most dangerous since it directly faced the Canyon, a ce filled with Commander Stage beasts. Because of that, most teachers went to the west or east. As they reached the southern wall, they saw a guard standing in front of the stairs. The guard looked at teacher Niria and smiled. "Niria, I''ve just gotten word from the general. You will be joining the western assault team." Teacher Niria nodded. "That''s what I thought." "Have fun out there!" the guard said with a smile, "and, don''t worry, we''ll take care of your two students." "Thanks," teacher Niria said with a nod. And then, she left the two students without a word. "You must be Shang, right?" the guard asked as he looked at Shang. Shang nodded. "Yes." "Oh,e on! Don''t be so stiff!" the guard said as he strongly put his hand on Shang''s shoulder. "Today, you are one of us, even if you only watch. Rx a little. Have some fun." "I will. Thanks," Shang said emotionlessly. The guard lifted an eyebrow and looked at Yiral. "Is he always like this?" he asked. Yiral only emotionlessly looked at the guard. "I don''t know." Silence. "Well, alrighty then," the guard said awkwardly. "Come, I''ll show you where you will stay." The guard climbed the stairs, and the two students followed. After a bit of climbing, the three of them entered a big room inside one of the big towers. "Sir!" the guard shouted as he saluted. A middle-aged man in golden armor was checking several gigantic arrows leaning on the side of the room. Obviously, these were the arrows for the gigantic ballista on the wall. The man in the golden armor had short, ck hair. Shang couldn''t feel any form of Mana emanating from him. After hearing the greeting, the officer looked over. "These two are Niria''s students?" he asked. "Yes, sir!" the guard said. The officer nodded. "You may go." The guard saluted once more and left. The officer didn''t salute back, but the guard seemingly didn''t care. It was a stressful time, and the officer was already overworked. "You two will be staying with me today," the officer said. Shang''s eyebrows rose in surprise. He had already guessed that teacher Niria had some great connections among the guards, but this was even more than Shang had anticipated. Shang had seen guards with bronze and silver uniforms. The bronze guards were powerful General Stage warriors, while the ones in silver were Commander Stage warriors. However, gold was something new for Shang. How powerful was this person in front of him? "You seem quite interested in my power," the man said without looking back from the arrows. Shang wasn''t sure how he should act in front of the officer. Should he act casually? Should he salute? "I don''t care how you address me," the officer said. Shang felt a feeling of d¨¦j¨¤ vu. Shang was reminded of his conversation with the God. The God had also answered Shang''s questions before he had even asked them. "I''m sorry if I offended you by looking at you like this," Shang said carefully. "I was curious, and this is my first time seeing someone amongst the city guards with golden armor." "Don''t overestimate your own ability," the officer said neutrally. Shang wasn''t sure what he meant. "You don''t have the ability to offend me," the officer said. "As for my power, I should be about as powerful as the Vice-Dean called Soran." Shang hadn''t seen Vice-Dean Soran in a long time. Vice-Dean Soran wasn''t teaching any lessons since he was constantly busy with administrative affairs. He was essentially doing the work of the Dean. However, Shang also remembered that Vice-Dean Soran was very powerful. He definitely was more powerful than all the teachers. Shang also remembered that Vice-Dean Soran was the Dean''s student. "What about Vice-Dean Ranos?" Shang asked. After two additional weeks inside the academy, Shang had learned a lot of things, and the name of the other Vice-Dean was one of them. "Don''t ask questions you already know the answer to," the officer said without looking at Shang. Shang didn''t say anything in return. Yes, the answer was obvious. The officer was as powerful as Vice-Dean Soran, but Vice-Dean Soran was definitely weaker than Vice-Dean Ranos. There was noparison. Yiral didn''t say anything this entire time. He only remained to the side as he looked at the room. After some seconds in silence, the officer left the arrows. "Follow," he ordered. Shang and Yiral followed the officer through a side door, which led to a spiraling staircase. The three of them climbed the stairs for quite some time until they eventually reached the top. The staircase ended in a horizontal door, which the officer opened easily. And then, the three of them exited the staircase. Shang saw the sky again, and he noticed that the sky was bing a bit brighter. Dawn was about to arrive. However, the sky only held Shang''s attention for a little bit as he looked around in awe. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. For the first time, Shang saw the surroundingnds from such a high vantage point! Shang was on top of one of the four biggest towers in Warrior''s Paradise. The only bigger building was the Mana Austerum in the middle of the city. The walls of Warrior''s Paradise were present every second of every day of every year. From inside the city, it was impossible to see dawn and dusk. It was also impossible to see the surroundingnds due to the high walls. But now, Shang could see everything! Shang had already seen the northern parts of the western and eastern Wastnd, but now, he could see the southern parts as well. The Wastnd seemingly stretched on forever. Shang was certain that it stretched over 50 kilometers towards the south. On earth, looking 50 kilometers into the distance was basically impossible due to the curvature of the Earth. But here, it was possible. Of course, on Earth, one could also see farther into the distance if there were a huge structure, a mountain, for example. The same thing was true here. Far, far into the distance, Shang could see several gigantic spiresing out of the ground. Shang guessed that they were even higher and maybe even bigger than Warrior''s Paradise. The spires seemed almost unnatural. They were far too steep, and there were too many of them. "Eternal Granite." Shang looked at Yiral. "Eternal Granite?" Shang asked. Yiral nodded. "The treasure that protects Warrior''s Paradise." Shang had learned a lot in the past two weeks, but he hadn''t heard of that before. "What''s that?" Shang asked. "Eternal Granite is Rank Three Earth ore and a very powerful kind at that," Yiral exined. "The Wind Mana of the Storm Eagle destroys thend, and only Eternal Granite is powerful enough to resist it." "These spires are all made of pure Eternal Granite, and they symbolize the beginning of the Canyon." "One unit is worth over 20,000 gold." Shang''s eyes widened in shock. 20,000 gold?! Shang had paid 450 gold for one unit of Mid Rank Two ore! One General Stage beast corpse was worth between 500 and 1,000 gold! Shang looked at the spires again. They were kilometers tall! Each one was over a hundred meters wide! There were innumerable spires! How much money was that?! "This is one reason why Warrior''s Paradise manages to attract so many Commander Stage warriors and True Mages," Yiral exined. "New Commander Stage warriors can train near the Canyon, and the most powerful warriors in the world can actually enter the Canyon and mine the ore." "If anything attacks the ore, the surrounding beasts be agitated. Half of the beasts have an Earth Affinity, and they need the Eternal Granite since it provides Earth Mana." "Because of that, mining the ore is extremely dangerous, and only the best hunting teams in the world can attempt it." "The beasts attract newer Commander Stage warriors, but the Eternal Spires attract the most powerful Commander Stage warriors." "The Eternal Spires contribute to Warrior''s Paradise''s prosperity and survival." "Without them, we wouldn''t even have half the number of guards." Chapter 158 Shang looked at the Eternal Spires in awe. They were so far away, but he could still see them. This was what every Commander Stage warrior strived towards. Mining from the Eternal Spire could only be done by the strongest Commander Stage warriors in the world. Without a team of extremely powerful and experienced hunters, it was impossible to survive mining from them. "Vice-Dean Ranos is a legend amongst warriors," Yiral said emotionlessly, "and the Eternal Spires are the proof of his legacy." Shang looked at Yiral. "Vice-Dean Ranos is one of only five warriors in the history of Warrior''s Paradise that has managed to mine Eternal Granite solo." Shang looked at the Eternal Spires. Solo? That meant that Vice-Dean Ranos had managed to fight against several Commander Stage beasts at the same time! One had to remember that beasts became more and more powerful than warriors the more they advanced. Beasts could keep up with the Mages, while the warriors couldn''t. Could True Mages mine the ore on their own? Probably, but an average True Mage definitely couldn''t. Vice-Dean Ranos had managed to break the mold and managed to close in on the Mages. "What about the dean?" Shang asked. "If the Chief needs money, he mines Eternal Granite," the officer said from behind Shang. Shang turned around and looked at the officer, who had arrived behind him. "The Chief is our backbone. If we need arge amount of gold, he is the one that provides it to us." Then, the officer pointed towards the south. "That Eternal Spire, the one that looks different from the others," he said. Shang looked over and tried to follow the officer''s finger. It took him a bit, but after a couple of seconds, Shang noticed that one of the spires had its tip cut off. "That wasst year when a True Path beast damaged the foundation of Warrior''s Paradise. Duke Whirlwind paid an Earth High Mage to fix the damage by offering him very rare and very expensive materials." "Of course, we still need materials to fix Warrior''s Paradise, and the tip of that spire was the material we used," the officer exined. Shang listened intently and looked at the Canyon and the Eternal Spires. These Eternal Spires symbolized the ultimate goal of all warriors in the world, but for the Mages and the dean, it was only a yground, maybe even a garden. "Everything is prepared," the officer said as he pointed at a ce at the eastern end of the tower. "You two will stay there. The walls can withstand the wind, and if a beast manages to get on the tower, it will arrive at the southern end." "You will stay on that spot for the entire day. As soon as the attacks begin, you are forbidden from talking to any of my men unless they address you first." "Any Commander Stage beast with a level nine Wind Ability will throw you two off the tower, and you will die. If you see one approach, you will duck behind the wall of the tower." "Am I understood?" the officer asked strictly. "Yes, sir," Yiral said. "Good. Don''t die," the officer said before he went into the tower again. Shang knew what the officer meant with level nine Wind Ability. For beasts, there was a ranking system for their individual abilities. There were ten levels an aspect of a beast could reach. For example: if a beast had level five or level six speed, it meant that its speed was average when compared to every other beast at its level. If a beast had level one speed, it meant that it was basically a moving snail. If a beast had level ten speed, it meant that it counted as one of the fastest beasts in existence on that level. A level nine Wind Ability meant that the beast almost certainly exclusively fought with its Wind Affinity. Their entire strength basically relied on their Wind Ability due to its strength. The beast Shang had heard of on his first day in Warrior''s Paradise, the Spear Stork, was one such beast. A Spear Stork was a long and thin bird with a beak that resembled a spear. The Spear Stork had a level nine Wind Ability and level ten speed. However, its Wind Ability wasn''t offensive but auxiliary. It used its impressive Wind Ability to boost its own speed to the peak. Of course, its defenses and variety in attacks were horrible, barely reaching level two. Sadly, even though Shang knew what the officer meant, he didn''t have that much knowledge about Commander Stage beasts. "That''s why I''m here," Yiral said. "I know all the beasts in the Canyon, and I will tell you what to do." Shang nodded. "If I tell you to do something, you will do so. Your survival is my responsibility today, okay?" Yiral asked. Shang nodded again. "I will." The two of them walked to the eastern end of the tower. The tower was in the southwest of Warrior''s Paradise, which meant that beasts woulde from its south and west. The eastern end of the tower led to the walls, which was why it was safer there. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. While walking to the eastern end, Shang inspected the actual tower for the first time. He could see three gigantic ballistae and over 20 guards. Six of them even wore silver robes. As Shang reached the eastern end of the tower, he peeked over at the city. The city was basically dead. There wasn''t a single person inside the city itself. However, Shang noticed a lot of people on the wall below him. There were a couple of guards walking amongst the group of people, handing them different objects. But there weren''t that many guards there. Shang immediately realized what kind of people these were. Mages! Shang could see several groups of Mages, and on top of that, they were all True Mages! And there were so many! There were probably over a hundred of them just on this wall! ''Wait, if all four walls are like this, wouldn''t that mean¡­'' ''There are more True Mages than Commander Stage warriors in this city right now?!'' Once again, Shang was reminded that Mages ruled the world. Commander Stage warriors were extremely rare, but True Mages were not as rare. ''Sure enough, the majority of the work will be done by the Mages,'' Shang thought. After arriving near the eastern wall, the two of them jumped up on the tower wall. It was only about two meters high, but two meters was high enough when they needed to duck behind it. As the two of them waited on this spot, Yiral told Shang about several beasts they had to keep an eye on. As time passed, the atmosphere became tenser and tenser. By now, the Mages also stoppedzing around as they gathered near the edge of the wall. The warriors went to their ballista and waited. "It''s here!" Shang suddenly heard a loud shout, and he looked towards the south. "Look closely," Yiral whispered beside Shang. "Today, you will witness power beyond human capabilities." However, Shang barely heard Yiral as he saw something shocking on the horizon. Wings! Gigantic wings, which were forming a gigantic V! Shang could see them from here! And then, the wings moved down. And the Storm Eagle took to the sky! Chapter 159 Shang felt like the entire world stopped moving as these gigantic wings on the horizon lowered. Everything was silent. In silence, a terrifyingly gigantic bird rose into the sky. It was impossible to see its colors from such a distance since it still wasn''t fully illuminated. In seemingly an instant, the body of the bird had reached an incredible height. It had probably jumped several kilometers into the air in just a single second. That speed was insane! And then, the Storm Eagle stretched its wings. They were gigantic! Shang knew that the Crater, the ce where the Storm Eagle lived, was over 100 kilometers away from Warrior''s Paradise. Yet, Shang could still see it. It was so much further away than the Eternal Spires, but it already took up more space in Shang''s vision than them. And then, the Storm Eagle pped its wings as it flew towards Warrior''s Paradise. For several seconds, Shang saw the gigantic wings p, but he didn''t see the Storm Eagle approach. It was almost like it wasn''t moving from its spot. And then, it grew a bit bigger. And a bit bigger. By now, Shang could see the green shimmer of its feathers. Like an emerald, its feathers reflected the light. For these next few seconds, Shang felt like the entire world had fallen into silence. And then, Shang saw something shocking. Bodies! Gigantic bodies! The Storm Eagle had be much bigger in Shang''s vision, and he had seen a literal wave of dust shooting across the Canyon. And with the wave came the bodies of gigantic beasts. One huge beast after the other was thrown around inside the Canyon. From a distance, Shang could see the Eternal Spires vibrate as huge bodies hit them. Many beasts died, but a lot of them also managed to survive. "Down!" The familiar voice of the dean echoed throughout Warrior''s Paradise. Before Shang could do anything, Yiral pulled him to the ground, behind the wall of the tower. Shang was surprised since the Storm Eagle didn''t seem to be that close, but he was mistaken. Just one second after he had been pushed below the wall, a gigantic shadow passed over Warrior''s Paradise. For just an instant, Shang saw an enormous wing blot out the sky. The sky had literally been hidden from Shang for just this instant. Yet, the shadow vanished just as quickly. And then, hell broke loose! Everything began to shake! It was like an enormous earthquake had suddenly taken ce as Warrior''s Paradise began to shake severely! As Shang was behind the wall, his gaze was turned to the middle of the city, and that''s when he saw it. The gigantic, green dome of the Mana Austerum began to shine with a bright, green light. Shang''s eyes followed the light, and he noticed that a nearly invisible, green dome had appeared around Warrior''s Paradise. Over the next second, the Mana Austerum began to shine brighter and brighter until it rivaled the sun. It was like there was now a second sun in the sky. Shang had to look away from the Mana Austerum since he felt his eyes burning. But just before he looked away, he saw the shadow of the Storm Eagle in the distance. In these short moments, it had already left behind the entire Storm Eagle Zone! From one end to the other, the entire Storm Eagle Zone was probably over 200 kilometers long! The Storm Eagle had flown the entire distance in less than 30 seconds! "We have been lucky this time," the officer said calmly to the surrounding guards. "It didn''t screech while it flew over the city." The city was slowly calming down as the quakes subsided. Meanwhile, Shang was shocked into disbelief. That''s right! The Storm Eagle had merely passed by them! It had simply flown past them, but it had created such destruction! It hadn''t attacked Warrior''s Paradise! The entire city had gathered its entire power just to prepare for the Storm Eagle to pass them! Just by moving from point A to point B, the Storm Eagle had probably killed over a hundred Commander Stage beasts! One of the strongest cities in the world, Warrior''s Paradise, had gathered its entire force just to prepare for the Storm Eagle to pass over them! Just by existing, the Storm Eagle changed nature. Its Mana formed the environment. Its wings destroyed thend. Its movements killed beasts. The Storm Eagle was literally a natural catastrophe! The strongest people of the Storm Eagle Zone had covered behind the walls to protect themselves against the passive wind the Storm Eagle created by simply pping its wings. Shang looked back at the center of the city, and he noticed that the Mana Austerum was beginning to dim. How? The green light was seemingly siphoned out of the Mana Austerum as it bent towards its base. Shang remembered that he had seen several huge boxes near the Mana Austerum in thest couple of days. The people had told Shang that these were raw Mana Stones. Mana Stones were stones used to store Mana. The raw ones were empty, which meant that they could be filled with Mana. Mana Stones were used to power all kinds of Magic Circles and powerful spells. It was very difficult to fill Mana Stones with a pure source of Mana. However, purity was extremely important! If there were impurities in them, the Mana Stone might damage or even destroy the Magic Circle. After about half a minute, the green light vanished from the Mana Austerum. At its base, huge boxes filled with Mana Stones now shone with a green light. The Mana Austerum had created many tons of Mana Stones filled with pure Wind Mana. "The Mana Austerum can only protect the city itself," Yiral said from behind Shang. "It is the very reason why the city still stands." "The quakes you felt earlier came from Warrior''s Paradise''s base. While the Mana Austerum can protect the city, it can''t protect the mountain on which the city is built." "However, risks are often apanied by rewards. A major part of the world''s supply of Wind Mana Stoneses from this very city." "Every six months, on the Day of Chaos, Warrior''s Paradise is under a major threat. However, every six months, the city also earns a ridiculous sum of money," Yiral exined. By now, the Storm Eagle''s Shadow had vanished behind a couple of mountains, but Shang still looked toward the north. At this moment, he understood two things. First, he now fully understood what Warrior''s Paradise was. This was not simply a city that housed the best academy for warriors in the world. No, this was a bastion. A bastion for profit! Humanity had built this gigantic city in such a dangerous location. For what reason? For money! The city was under constant danger, but it was also unimaginably profitable! This city was the very embodiment of two concepts. Courage! Greed! But the second thing Shang understood went far deeper than that. Power! The Storm Eagle embodied true power! It was true power! Original from N?velDrama.Org. Only now did Shang understand how insignificant Warrior''s Paradise was in front of the Storm Eagle. Shang knew that the Storm Eagle could destroy Warrior''s Paradise if it wanted to, but only after seeing it today did he truly understand the unimaginable difference in power between the two. Warrior''s Paradise was as helpless as a baby in front of the Storm Eagle. And everyone was only alive because the Storm Eagle didn''t care about them. Their survival hinged on the Storm Eagle''s whim. And there was nothing they could do about it. In front of it, they were helpless. This was true power. Chapter 160 For several minutes, Shang only looked towards the north. Today, he had witnessed true power. "Don''t think too much about it," Yiral said from beside Shang. "Us humans are simply helpless in front of the Zone Beasts. The only thing we can do is survive." Shang stood up and looked at his surroundings. Sure enough, all the guards were standing beside their loaded ballistae with serious expressions. It was like nothing had happened. It was like they had never seen the Storm Eagle, and they all only focused on the present danger. Shang slowly turned around and jumped on top of the wall to look at the wilderness. What he saw made cold sweat run down his back. Chaos! All the beasts had been thrown around! All the beasts began to run around in panic, and whenever another beast met them, they either attacked or fled. At this moment, over 50 fights were probably taking ce at the border between the Canyon and the Wastnd, and all these fights were only between Commander Stage beasts. And the General Stage beasts? They fled in panic. All the different, hidden beasts shot out of their burrows as they fled towards the north. Why the north? Because Commander Stage beasts were fighting in the south. The General Stage beasts were afraid of the Commander Stage beasts and fled towards the north in droves. Shang looked on in shock as an army of General Stage beasts ran towards Warrior''s Paradise. BOOOOM! Suddenly, a huge explosion hit a cluster of beasts, and Shang felt a wave of heat hit his face. At that moment, Shang felt an incredible amount of Fire Mana envelop his surroundings. The General Stage beasts were blown apart as their innards and body parts scattered over the surrounding hundred meters. BOOOOM! Another explosion. BOOOOM! Another one. Shang was reminded of the documentaries and movies he had seen on Earth. This bombardment of explosions reminded Shang of heavy artillery. More and more explosions urred, and Shang looked towards the east. There, Shang saw several Fire Mages flinging small fireballs at the beasts. Usually, Warrior''s Paradise only had a few Fire Mages, but just a couple of days ago, several more Fire Mages had arrived. This was probably one of Warrior''s Paradise''s major expenditures. They had bought the services of these Fire Mages. And it sure as hell was showing its effect. Every single fireball decimated several General Stage beasts as they fled towards the north. The ones that passed Warrior''s Paradise from a distance mostly survived, but the ones that ran directly at it or passed close by it were under constant bombardment. Shang looked with wide eyes as apocalypse descended upon the beasts in the Wastnd. The Fire Mages were massacring the General Stage beasts by the hundreds! At this moment, Shang truly understood what it meant that the Mages would do the majority of the work. A warrior couldn''t create such destruction. A warrior could kill one beast at a time, but they couldn''t create such devastating attacks that took out several beasts at once. As Shang watched the Mages, he realized their true power yet again. What could he do? If he were to fight someone like that, what could he do? The Fire Mage wouldn''t even need to hit him. They only needed to hit the surrounding 20 meters or so. On top of that, the small fireballs were shooting toward the ground at incredible speeds. It was almost like they were shot out of a gun, and Shang could barely see an orange streak before an explosion urred. ''This power¡­'' ''One single Fire Mage can already unleash more destruction than heavy artillery.'' ''Even more, they don''t even need a long time to prepare their next spell.'' ''On top of that, they can move at insane speeds.'' ''One Fire Mage would be the most dangerous weapon on Earth, except for nuclear weapons.'' ''And they are only in the Third Realm.'' ''There are several more after that!'' ''How powerful can humans be in this world?!'' After a while, Shang''s feeling of shock transformed into burning desire. ''I want to have this power!'' ''In this world, I have the chance to reach powers that are unimaginable for anyone on Earth!'' ''I know that there are humans in this world somewhere that are even more powerful than Zone Beasts. After all, the God said that the Mages rule the entire world. He didn''t say that the beasts are the rulers.'' ''How powerful would these Mages be?'' Shang couldn''t imagine it. "Down!" Yiral suddenly pulled Shang behind the wall. This text is property of N?/velD/rama.Org. Shortly after, Shang heard an ear-piercing screech apanied by the sound of one of the ballistae firing. BOOOM! The tower below Shang began to shake violently as something hit its side. At the same time, a violent wind passed above the wall, and Shang could see the air above him distort. "You can look again," Yiral said as he looked over the wall. "That was a Destruction Wing." "Look," Yiral said as he pointed over the wall. Shang also jumped on top of the wall and looked down. Shang could see two pairs of huge wings with a small body between them fall to the ground. A huge arrow was stuck inside the body. It was a bird with ridiculouslyrge wings. "This is a Destruction Wing. It has a level ten Wind Ability. It exclusively attacks with powerful cutting wind. Just being near it can be fatal to Commander Stage warriors," Yiral exined. Shang looked at the falling corpse with awe. This beast was at least twenty meters long! As Shang saw the corpse, he immediately thought of the Old Ice Octopus and the Earth Fruit Hedgehog. Those two had been at the same level as this Destruction Wing. These two hegemons in Duke Whirlwind''s garden would only count as two more spots in the sea of beasts. Commander Stage beasts didn''t count for anything in Warrior''s Paradise. Shang looked into the distance and saw that the Commander Stage beasts hade closer to Warrior''s Paradise. "Stage Two!" Shang heard the voice of the dean echo throughout Warrior''s Paradise. Shortly after the order was given, the Mages stopped their bombardment of the General Stage beasts. Instead, the Mages quickly gathered together into groups of three, and they all began casting together. Each group had two Fire Mages and one Wind Mage. In front of each group stood an Earth Mage, who would count as a defense if any beast came close. After just a couple of seconds, a huge fireball began to hover over each group. Shang could feel far more Fire Mana inside these fireballs than in the smaller, previous ones. The Fire Mages stopped casting, and the Wind Mages pointed in different directions. An instantter, the gigantic fireballs seemingly vanished into thin air. BOOOOOOOM! Explosions nearly a hundred meters wide appeared in the air as the gigantic fireballs hit flying Commander Stage beasts. The hot air washed over Shang, and he felt like his face was burning up. However, thanks to his powerful body, he didn''t sustain any burns. The shockwave of those explosions nearly threw him into the distance, but Yiral held Shang''s arm. At this moment, Shang realized that he was far out of his element. Yiral had essentially saved Shang''s life two or three times by now! This was not a ce where a mere Soldier Stage warrior should be! This was a battlefield of Commander Stage warriors and True Mages! If Shang were here on his own, he would have already died. If Yiral hadn''t held Shang''s arm just now, Shang would have been thrown down the tower. He wouldn''t have survived such a fall. Shang was only a small boat inside stormy seas. His survival was not in his control. For his survival, he could only rely on the people around him. However, instead of feeling fear, Shang only felt awe and desire. He wanted to be this powerful! He wanted to reach this power! Suddenly, Shang saw a couple of soldiers jump over the wall of the tower. Shang''s shocked eyes followed them, and he looked down. At that moment, Shang saw an army of warriors falling down Warrior''s Paradise! All of them had a green shimmer of Wind Mana around them. Shang could see soldiers but also hunters. So this was where all the powerful hunters were! They had waited until the bombardment of the Fire Mages was over to start hunting! The ballistae were still manned, but the soldiers that didn''t have much to do jumped straight into the battlefield. Only Commander Stage warriors jumped down, and Shang quickly saw them gather in teams. After landing, the teams shot at different Commander Stage beasts. And the real war began! Chapter 161 Shang watched as one team after the other engaged the beasts. They were exclusively hunting the Commander Stage beasts and ignored the few General Stage beasts that ran past them. A lot of General Stage beasts had been killed, but a couple of them had managed to flee past Warrior''s Paradise. Obviously, they were running towards the north. The Wild Forest would wee a massacre today, and the General Stage beasts would even reach the Farm Line. However, Warrior''s Paradise was prepared for that. All the normal hunters and a couple of Commander Stage warriors were defending the Farm line. Additionally, the Farm Line was protected by the dogs and several Adepts. Shang was certain that the Farm Line wasn''t in much danger. The majority of General Stage beasts had already been killed. However, things were different for Warrior''s Paradise. Commander Stage beasts could damage the mountain on which Warrior''s Paradise was built. If they had free reign, Warrior''s Paradise might actually be destroyed. The teams were targeting specific beasts, and basically all of these beasts were very close to Warrior''s Paradise. Meanwhile, the True Mages concentrated on the most powerful flying beasts. The weaker Commander Stage flying beasts would be shot by the ballistae, while the ones in theter levels had to deal with the gigantic fireballs. That was the reason for the gigantic fireballs in the first ce. The smaller fireballs were enough to kill basic Commander Stage beasts, but the more powerful ones would be able to resist the fireballs. However, if three True Magesbined their powers, even a Peak Commander Stage beast would find some difficulties in surviving. The Wastnd and Canyon were made up of around 50% Wind Affinity beasts and 50% Earth Affinity beasts. The Earth Affinity beasts were running along the ground, while the Wind Affinity beasts attacked from the sky. Of course, the Wind Affinity beasts were a more direct threat to Warrior''s Paradise. Sure, the Earth Affinity beasts could severely damage the city''s foundation, but they couldn''t just destroy the entire city with a single attack. However, the Wind Affinity beasts couldpletely obliterate a ballista or a group of Mages. Because of that, they were the higher priority. The teams quickly engaged their targets. Shang saw that most teams followed simr strategies, but there were variations. Most teams had a very fast and agile warrior attack first to gain the attention of the beast. The beast would try its best to hit the warrior. Due to the power difference, the warrior couldn''t possibly block these attacks. The difference in power between their bodies was just too vast. If someone with heavy armor and a heavy shield attacked the beast, they would very quickly be flung into the distance. Because of that, evasion was the only viable option to survive a beast''s attack at that level. Every team also used bows and arrows. Some of the bows Shang saw released arrows at unreal speeds. Of course, due to the powerful defense of the beasts, the arrows only scratched them. Some blood was drawn here and there, but none of the injuries were fatal. Of course, the beasts weren''t stupid. After realizing that it wasn''t easy to kill the hunter in front of it, the beast very quickly focused on the ones shooting the arrows. Just like a swarm of fish, the team would disperse until the beast could only target a single human. The chased hunter would put the bow away and take out their weapon. And surprisingly, this hunter also used a very fast weapon. It was almost like the hunter had drawn the beast to them. At that point, the strategies of the teams varied. Some of them continued shooting arrows at the beast while juggling the beast between them. Some of them charged directly in after the beast was sufficiently distracted. Some of them just kept fleeing while bombarding the beast with arrows. Some of them continued going just like this until the beast got used to how the team fought. But if the beast targeted a specific hunter, the hunter would suddenly take out a gigantic weapon and unleash a devastating attack. The beast wouldn''t be prepared for such a powerful attack. There were many strategies among the teams, but one thing was the same with all the teams. Their teamwork was absolutely ster. It was basically perfect. Of course, these tactics mostly only worked on beasts that attacked with their body. One shouldn''t forget that there were also beasts that attacked with their Affinity, and those fights were very different. An Earth Affinity beast that attacked with its Affinity also had a way more powerful defense on average. After all, if one constantly attacked from a distance, speed wasn''t as important. At that point, the hunters would have to close in on the beast and attack it from a close range. Of course, the hunters were all very experienced, and they also had ways to deal with such beasts. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. Some of them unleashed devastating attacks with very heavy weapons, while others used Magical items to damage their prey. One of the hunters had taken out a shining Mana crystal and had thrown it at a beast made of nothing but stone. As soon as the Mana crystal hit the beast, it exploded and left behind a terrifying crater in its body. The remaining hunters used the opening to kill the beast. The teams showed incredible versatility and teamwork. Everything had basically been perfected. And then, there were the Mages. There hadn''t been a lot of Mages that followed the hunters, but there had been a couple of them. Shang could see five teams of Mages from where he was. He could only see the southern side from his position. These five teams targeted the biggest and most powerful beasts on the ground. One fireball killed every single one except for the ones with the most powerful defensive abilities. But those would die with a second one. If a beast survived the first st, it certainly wouldn''t be in a condition to counterattack. The second st followed very quickly, and the beast would be torn apart. Shang noticed that no team of hunters targeted these mighty beasts. The difference between warriors and Mages wasid bare in front of Shang yet again. The hunting teams couldn''t even fight the strongest beasts while the Mages tore them apart with ease. The difference was shocking. While all of this was going on, several Earth Mages had also jumped to the base of Warrior''s Paradise. They weren''t here to fight but to repair the mountain. They all took out huge piles of ore and stone to repair the damage the mountain had received when the Storm Eagle had passed over the city. Shang watched the hunters and Mages work with fire in his eyes. Everyone involved was far above his level, but he still learned a lot. Shang managed to analyze all the different beasts that were fighting. Hearing about abilities and names was different from actually seeing the beast in action. Sure enough, this opportunity to watch the war was valuable. No wonder every student wanted the quota. In front of Shang, a practical demonstration of the most powerful humans and beasts around took ce, and it would continue for several hours. The knowledge he gained by watching couldn''t be evaluated in gold. For the next couple of hours, Shang simply watched the fighting going on below him. From time to time, Shang asked Yiral something, and he would always answer with an exnation. Shang''s knowledge about warriors, beasts, and Mages rose with every second. Chapter 162 "Get down!" Yiral shouted, but Shang was faster. He had already jumped down from the wall before Yiral could even start shouting. BOOOM! A secondter, an explosion of wind urred above them as a bird with an incredibly long beak shot towards one of the ballistae. The ballista barely missed the Spear Stork, and it was about to be destroyed. BANG! Suddenly, the officer in golden armor jumped forward and blocked the attack with a tower shield. Surprisingly, the officer managed to halt the attack of the Spear Stork, but the entire tower began to shake under the stress. The Spear Stork was only in the Early Commander Stage while themander was at the Peak. So, even though he was a human, their bodies were about equal right now due to the difference in their levels. Yet, the wind of the Spear Stork still broke the ballista. It would need to be repaired. SHING! Themander took out a spear and stabbed the Spear Stork''s chest. CRK! The Spear Stork''s ribcage was destroyed as the spear destroyed its insides. With a kick, the officer threw the Spear Stork over the wall. "Report!" the officer shouted as he looked at the soldiers beside him. "The limb has been destroyed! It will take about a minute to repair!" a soldier with a silver uniform shouted as he summoned a new limb. A limb was the long part at the front of a crossbow. It was the part that held the string in ce. The officer quickly gave severalmands as he stepped to the front of the tower in a defensive position. This was already the second time this had happened in thest couple of hours. Shang had been watching and learning for over four hours already. In thesest four hours, Shang had learned an insane amount of information. Every second, he was learning more and more just by watching others fight. By now, things had calmed down a little bit, but not by much. There were fewer beasts than in the initial wave, but there were still a lot. The Mages were still bombarding all the powerful beasts they saw, but they didn''t need to fire continuously. The Spear Stork had only been at the Initial Commander Stage, which was why the Mages had ignored it. It was the task of the ballistae to deal with these weak beasts. The warriors were incredibly good at firing the ballistae, and they had a hit rate of over 95%! Yet 95% meant that one in twenty hits would still miss, and this Spear Stork had been one of these misses. However, the Mages were even better at hitting. In thest couple of hours, they had only let a single beast through, which had been a Peak Commander Stage Spear Stork. Spear Storks were already insanely fast, and one at the Peak Commander Stage was definitely in a ss of its own when it came to speed. Not even the Mages had been able to hit it. However, before the Spear Stork had reached the Mages, its head suddenly exploded, and its body hit the mountain below Warrior''s Paradise. Shang hadn''t seen what had killed the Spear Stork, but there was only one thing with such destructive power in Warrior''s Paradise. The Dean had attacked. Shang had only seen a ck streak light up for an instant. In the beginning, he hadn''t been sure what that ck streak was, but he realized what it was when he saw the Dean stand on the walls with his ck spear in his hand. He had thrown the spear, and the spear had returned of its own volition. Sword could already move on its own with a bit of speed. A sentient weapon at the True Path Stage could probably move far faster. By now, it was noon. ording to what Yiral had said, the Day of Chaos didn''t go over the entire day. It generally stoppedte in the afternoon or early in the evening. This meant that about half the time had already passed. Four or so more hours, and the Day of Chaos would end. Shang jumped on the wall again and continued watching. By now, he had gotten used to the Mages'' terrifying power. There was no way topare a Mage with a warrior. Warriors needed to fight in teams over the course of a drawn-out battle to kill a beast. Meanwhile, a Mage could unleash one or two spells to deal with one. Even more, the Mages weren''t only superior in terms of destructive potential. No, they also moved faster than the warriors. They weren''t running around, but from time to time, they simply shot to the side with absolutely insane speeds. This was probably the Mana Step Shang had heard about in Vice-Dean Ranos'' ss. Over 90% of the beasts couldn''t even get close to the Mage. The 10% that got close would find themselves far away again after the Mage used Mana Step. From those 10%, only 3% managed to get close again. And from those 3%? At that point, the Mages would simply use different kinds of Spells to keep the enemy at bay. Fire Mages exploded the area in front of them to create a smokescreen. Wind Mages created powerful wind to hinder their opponent while casting their destructive spells. Earth Mages simply created barriers. And that was when even the remaining beasts found their death. Of course, these Mages were only fighting beasts on their level. They weren''t jumping levels, but their dominance over opponents on the same level was already impressive enough. Another two hours passed, and the beasts calmed down even more. Around 10% of the fighting warriors had died, which was average for a Day of Chaos. Only one Mage died because he had been targeted by two incredibly fast beasts at the same time while dealing with a third one. That had just been horrible luck. "Soran will do the procedure." Shang turned to the side as he suddenly heard a deep voice. He saw that the Dean had suddenly appeared beside Shang as he looked at the horizon. Shang wasn''t sure what the Dean was talking about at this moment. "What?" he asked. "A True Path beast has attacked the Empress Cobra Zone, and Whirlwind is busy dealing with it," the Dean said without acknowledging Shang''s words. Shang took a deep breath. A True Path beast! "Red Alert!" Shang suddenly heard the officer in golden armor shout. "It''s an ancient Exploding Mountain Turtle!" "Soran will do the procedure in case I don''t return," the Dean said. For some reason, the Dean''s words only entered Shang''s ears. Even Yiral, who was directly beside Shang, didn''t hear them. At that moment, Shang''s eyes widened as he realized what the Dean meant. Duke Whirlwind was busy with the Empress Cobra Zone. And now, a True Path beast was also attacking the Storm Eagle Zone! As the only True Path Stage warrior in Warrior''s Paradise, it was up to the Dean to deal with that beast. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. However, the Dean was a warrior. Even though the Dean was the most powerful warrior in the world, a True Path Stage beast was probably even more powerful than him. SHING! A burst of air pushed Shang against the wall as the Dean shot into the distance. In the distance, in the Canyon, a mountain was slowly moving forward. It was nearly 500 meters tall. This was the Dean''s enemy, the Exploding Mountain Turtle! Chapter 163 Shang looked over the wall, and his eyes widened at what he saw. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. This was a turtle?! Shang could only see a mountain move across the Canyon! It swayed to the left and right as it slowly crept forward. From time to time, the mountain hit one of the Eternal Spires, which quickly began to vibrate. Some ore fell from the Eternal Spires from time to time, but most of them were still in one piece. However, Shang knew that if the turtle decided to destroy the Eternal Spires, it could do so. It was just too troublesome to destroy the Eternal Spires, which was why it walked around them. Additionally, if such a gigantic Spire copsed onto the turtle, even it would feel that. After all, the Eternal Spires weighed way too much. "Mages, red alert protocol!" the officer in golden armor shouted. Shang looked over and saw the Mages on the wall move around. Nearly half of them were gathering in one ce while the other ones continued shooting at the powerful flying beasts. The Mages in the Wastnd retreated closer to Warrior''s Paradise as half of them suddenly shot to the sky as they activated their Jumping Talismans. The hunters also retreated to the north. Up to now, there had been a dividing line going from the east of Warrior''s Paradise to the west. Now, it moved up north, creating a protrusion in the dividing line. The protrusion was Warrior''s Paradise. This meant that more beasts would attack Warrior''s Paradise and that fewer beasts would attack the hunters. After a while, the beasts came closer to Warrior''s Paradise. The remaining Mages in the Wastnd bombarded the beasts, but with the added pressure together with their fewer numbers, several beasts were closing in. BANG! Suddenly, one of the beasts was split apart together with the ground beneath it. Just now, the Mana Austerum in the middle of the city had shone with a green light. At the same time, at the base of the Mana Austerum, some of the Mana Stones that had gathered the pure Wind Mana had turned grey. The Mana Austerum shone green from time to time, and in the end, no beasts managed to reach Warrior''s Paradise. Several beasts noticed that other beasts had died a mysterious death, and they decided to avoid Warrior''s Paradise. They traveled further north, which was where the hunters were waiting. Initially, the pressure had been normal for the hunters. Then, when the line had retreated, the pressure on them had let up. No, the pressure returned to normal with the added beasts charging to the north. Everything was nned perfectly. The Mana Austerum dealt with the added pressure after so many Mages had jumped back into Warrior''s Paradise. Of course, every single use of the Mana Austerum burned money, but that was still better than Warrior''s Paradise being destroyed. The Mages that hade back to Warrior''s Paradise were manning the defenses while nearly half the Mages gathered in one gigantic diagram. The Mages all stood in certain ces, and their bodies formed several rings that extended into each other. At the ce where all rings met were two old men. One of them wore expensive green robes while the other wore expensive grey robes. Shang hadn''t seen a grey-robed Mage yet, but he had learned about them in Vice-Dean Ranos'' ss. They were Mages that focused on Element-Neutral Magic. Soul, Mind, Arcane, Mana Maniption, and all such things counted to Element-Neutral Magic. The Mages all began to chant. Boom! Shang could hear a loud explosioning from the distance, and he looked over. The gigantic mountain had stepped out of the Canyon! Now, Shang could see the entire thing. At first nce, this beast definitely didn''t look like a turtle. It simply looked like a walking mountain with giant feet made of stone. However, a head filled with stone shards and stone spires extended out of the mountain as it looked down on everything beneath it. The head resembled the head of a snapping turtle a lot. Its stone spires and stone shards reminded Shang of the aggressive outcroppings of the scales of a snapping turtle. In a way, it resembled a dragon''s head quite a lot. It seemed ancient, aggressive, mighty, and filled with wisdom. The explosion Shang had heard hade from a step the Exploding Mountain Turtle had taken. Cold sweat ran down Shang''s back as he saw this monster. It was a moving fortress! It was a moving ind! It was a moving mountain! It didn''t move very fast, but it didn''t need to. It still moved faster than a city, which was all the speed it needed right now. "Is this normal?" Shang asked absentmindedly as he looked with shocked eyes at the Exploding Mountain Turtle. "No, it''s not," Yiral said from the side. For the first time, Shang could hear nervousness in Yiral''s voice. "Around every second Day of Chaos, one True Path Stage beast leaves its area in either the Empress Cobra Zone or the Storm Eagle Zone." "When they exit, Duke Whirlwind deals with them most of the time, but I can''t see the duke here today. That probably means that there is something holding him up, which is probably another True Path beast." Shang nodded. Yiral hadn''t heard the Dean''s words, but he was right. The Dean had told Shang that there was a True Path Stage beast in the Empress Cobra Zone too. "Every four years or so, there are two True Path Stage beasts that leave their area," Yiral said. "However, as far as I know, they have never left their area at the same time." "Over the course of eight hours, what are the chances of two such powerful beasts leaving their habitat at the same time?" Yiral said with uncertainty. Neither Shang nor Yiral spoke for a while. "Do you think there''s something behind that sudden change?" Shang asked. Yiral looked with furrowed brows at the distant Exploding Mountain Turtle. "Less something, and more someone," he said. Shang lifted an eyebrow. "Do you think a human is involved?" "The duchies and kingdoms are at peace, but only superficially. There is an intensepetition and conflict going on, and many people would benefit from Warrior''s Paradise''s destruction," Yiral said. "If Duke Whirlwind loses his biggest symbol of status and wealth, he would be less valuable for the Skythunder Kingdom," Yiral exined. Shang became more nervous as he looked at the approaching Exploding Mountain Turtle. If this were a coincidence, it wouldn''t be so bad. After all, coincidences happened at random. However, if a human was behind this, it meant that the human had nned around everything and that they were very certain in their n to seed. The Exploding Mountain Turtle was moving rather slowly, which should give them a lot of time to prepare. But if the nning human was still willing to go through with their n, it meant that the speed of the Exploding Mountain Turtle had already been ounted for. That meant that its speed didn''t matter. As Yiral and Shang became more nervous, the Dean had finally arrived at the Exploding Mountain Turtle. And then, the Exploding Mountain Turtle showed why it carried its name. Chapter 164 Suddenly, a hole opened up in the mountain on the Exploding Mountain Turtle''s back. The hole was dark, and Shang couldn''t see what was inside it from his current distance. The Dean was running towards the turtle, but he was still about a kilometer away. And then¡­ BOOOM! Shang''s eyes widened as he saw the ground in front of the Dean explode! It had happened instantaneously! An instantter, the Dean exploded out of the dust cloud uninjured, and he continued running towards the Exploding Mountain Turtle. After some seconds, the dust cloud vanished, and Shang could see what had caused the explosion. It was a ten-meter-wide rock! A 50-meter-wide crater had formed around the rock, and cracks were visible all around it. ''The turtle has shot that gigantic rock out of that hole with such insane speeds?!'' Shang thought in shock. Such an attack was even more destructive than the gigantic fireballs the Mages had formed to take down the powerful flying beasts! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Shang looked away from the rock as he heard three explosions happening in only a single second. More holes had opened up in the turtle''s body, and it had fired three rocks at once! The Dean was no longer running in a straight line but zigzagging. If only a single rock hit him, he would turn into a puddle! At that moment, Shang realized that the Dean might actually die. The Dean had always felt incredibly powerful to Shang, but that beast in front of him was even more dangerous! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Even more holes opened up on the mountain, and more rocks shot out of them. One explosion after the other rang throughout the horizons as dust without end surrounded the turtle''s and the Dean''s bodies. The turtle was shooting out five rocks per second now! The turtle''s body didn''t even sway while firing these rocks, and it continued walking forward like it wasn''t doing anything else! It was truly worthy of the name Exploding Mountain Turtle. By now, Shang couldn''t see the fight anymore. There was too much dust around the twobatants. However, Shang heard more and more explosions, which meant that the Dean was still alive in there. The Dean should be in attacking range by now, but the rocks also shot downward around the turtle. Even more, due to the small distance between the holes and the Dean, evading the rocks became even harder for the Dean. Shang knew that the Dean was powerful, but that might be even too much for him. The Dean might have managed to evade every single rock up to now, but how long would thatst? A single hit and he would die. A single mistake, and it would be the end. Even if the Dean managed to evade 99% of all rocks, it would only take the turtle 20 seconds to unleash 100 rocks! Shang''s heart rate climbed higher and higher. If the Dean died, would Shang be able to survive? If the Dean died and the turtle focused on Warrior''s Paradise, would he even be able to escape? Judging by the speed of the rocks, Shang could very well imagine that the Exploding Mountain Turtle could hit them from its current location. If Warrior''s Paradise were bombarded by this turtle¡­ It would turn the entire city into rubble! Suddenly, Shang felt an incredible amount of Fire Mana gather on the wall, and he looked over. Above the circles of Mages, a ten-meter-wide fireball had appeared! Shang had never felt so much Fire Mana in his life! The big fireballs from earlier were nothing inparison to this gigantic one! Shang was certain if that fireball hit the Exploding Mountain Turtle, even it would sustain severe injuries. This fireball was essentially a miniature nuke! Now, Shang realized why the Dean had attacked the Exploding Mountain Turtle, even if he basically had no chance of victory. He had to distract the turtle for the fireball to hit. The fireball would probably move at incredible speeds, but with a single rock, the Exploding Mountain Turtle could destroy it from a distance. The Exploding Mountain Turtle had to be fully focused on an enemy around it. That was the only way how the fireball could hit! The surrounding Mages stopped chanting. Only the two in the middle continued. Then, the two of them stopped as well. The Mage in grey robes looked at the Mage in green robes with furrowed brows. The Mage in green robes nodded with a grimace. The Mage in grey robes gritted his teeth. The Mage in green robes pointed at the Mana Austerum, which quickly began to shine green. A green light left the gigantic fireball and entered the Mana Austerum. Down below, a couple of Mana Stones were filled with Wind Mana. Shang grimaced. He had expected such an oue. If this were merely a coincidence, it wouldn''t be so troublesome. After all, the gathered power of over 70 True Mages was terrifying. Even a True Path Stage beast would get severely injured by such an attack. However, since this was nned by a human, they had probably known about the Mages. They had made ns to ruin the defense. The grey-robed Mage looked at the Exploding Mountain Turtle with a frown. And then, the fireball shot at it. However, since all the Wind Mana had been sucked out of the fireball, it wasparatively slow. Sure enough, the turtle noticed the gigantic fireball in the distance and shot a rock at it. BOOOOOOOM! The fireball exploded far away from the turtle, creating an explosion over a hundred meters wide. The shockwave ravaged thend as dust was thrown towards the horizon. At the same time, the green-robed Mage spoke a loud, unfamiliar word. Six Mages in green robes were illuminated inside the circle, and their eyes widened in shock. SHING! SHING! The green-robed Mage in the middle suddenly unleashed two waves of wind, and two of the Mages were split apart vertically. Obviously, these Wind Mages were the traitors. Shang could tell what had happened. The enemy had sent some Wind Mages to sabotage this attack. They had probably delivered incorrect Mana, which would have thrown the Spell out of bnce. If that Spell had been unleashed, it might have shot in a random direction. It might have shot towards a tower or into the middle of Warrior''s Paradise. The calctions had probably been prepared beforehand. Shang guessed that the fireball would have probably shot at the Mana Austerum if the Wind Mana hadn''t been siphoned out. The Mages wouldn''t have screwed with the Fire Mana since that could have led to the fireball exploding amongst them. The Mages might be enemy agents, but they wouldn''t want to die. Luckily, the two Mages in the center had been prepared, and they had already had a Magic Circle prepared to keep track of the delivered Mana, which allowed them to find the traitors. At the same time the green-robed Mage killed two traitors, the grey-robed Mage pointed at two other Wind Mages. The Wind Mages immediately lost their consciousness and fell over. They had been subject to a Mind Attack. The remaining two Mages very quickly realized what was going on and were about to run away. But suddenly, a red shadow appeared behind one of them. The Mage had been caught by surprise, and he hadn''t even been able to create his Mana Shield or use his Mana Step. The red shadow had simply appeared out of nowhere! SHING! The Mage was cut into four pieces as two curved swords shed through him. It was Vice-Dean Ranos! The other Mage saw that she was thest one and quickly created a Mana Barrier. The other Mages were looking on in shock and confusion. What had happened?! Why did their Spell fail?! Vice-Dean Ranos shot at thest Mage, and she quickly readied her Mana Step. Vice-Dean Ranos pointed towards the Mage''s left and right. Several crystals shot out of Vice-Dean Ranos'' arms and hit the surroundings of thest Mage. An avnche of different Elemental Mana surrounded the Mage now, and the Mana around her became unstable. Suddenly, the Mage vanished as she used Mana Step. 50 meters in the distance, she materialized again, and she jumped into the city. She spoke more words, but her face turned into shock mid-fall. BANG! Shended on a house below her, falling through the roof. Vice-Dean Ranos shot after her. Vice-Dean Ranos had lots of experience when it came to dealing with Mages. His opponent was a Wind Mage, and the mostmon tactic for Wind Mages was to use Mana Step to get away and then use a Wind Element Spell to be more mobile. The crystals he had unleashed had coated her in mixed Mana, ruining her Wind Spell. Because of that, her Spell failed, which meant that she fell into the house. Vice-Dean Ranos jumped over the wall. SHING! Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Suddenly, a huge, red crystal appeared in Vice-Dean Ranos'' hand, and he threw it into the hole of the house. BOOOOOM! The entire house exploded in a ball of fire! Vice-Dean Ranos summoned an azure Mana Stone, and his armor absorbed the Ice Mana that had just been released. Then, Vice-Dean Ranosnded in the burning building. Shang could hear several small explosionse from inside the building, but after a couple of seconds, everything calmed down. Then, Vice-Dean Ranos walked out of the burning building with a body and a head in his hands. He threw them to the side and looked back to the wall at the grey-robed Mage. The grey-robed Mage nodded with a smile and gave Vice-Dean Ranos a thumbs up. He had incapacitated the other two Mages with his Mind Magic. They were still alive, which meant that they could interrogate them for information. Suddenly, something moved in the corner of Shang''s eyes. Shang looked over, and his heart nearly stopped. The Exploding Mountain Turtle had jumped! It was currently in the sky, and time had seemingly stopped. As if it were the only moving thing in the world, the Exploding Mountain Turtle''s legs extended downward. And then, over a hundred holes opened up in the soles of its feet. Everyone looked over in silent shock and terror. And then, over a hundred rocks shot at the ground below it like they had been shot out of a shotgun. BOOOOOOOOOOM! The surrounding kilometer was turned into a zone of absolute destruction! The Exploding Mountain Turtle had realized that there was something in Warrior''s Paradise that could be a danger to it after destroying the gigantic fireball. Because of that, it had decided to end the fight quickly. BOOOOOM! The Exploding Mountain Turtlended, and a cloud of dust consumed it. Silence. For several seconds, nobody talked. And then, the distant explosions returned, but this time, they didn''te from the rocks. The imposing head of the Exploding Mountain Turtle peeked out of the dusty cloud. It no longer looked at its surroundings. There was nothing left in its vicinity that could threaten it except for Warrior''s Paradise. And that also wouldn''t be a threat for much longer. Chapter 165 Time slowed to a crawl as the turtle looked upon the distant city. By now, the turtle was only around 20 kilometers away. Sure, that was a great distance, but it definitely was within the turtle''s range. Original from N?velDrama.Org. At that moment, Shang felt like he hade face to face with death. What could he do? Nothing. Just like the entire day up to now, Shang couldn''t do anything. Everything surrounding him at this moment was far above his power. He could, at best, be an observer. If even the most random soldier decided to kill Shang, there would be nothing he could do. At this moment, Shang felt powerless. His lifey in the hands of others. Slowly, several holes opened on the mountain on the turtle''s back again. They pointed towards Warrior''s Paradise. Shang felt his hair stand on end. BOOOOOOM! An explosion urred. However, it wasn''t within Warrior''s Paradise. No, it came from the turtle! Shang''s eyes widened in shock. What had he just seen?! Out of nowhere, a huge part of the turtle''s mountain was literally blown off! The turtle''s body swayed to the side as a deep, rumbling growl came out of its mouth. It was like the turtle had just been hit by a gigantic bullet! Tons and tons of stone fell off the turtle''s back, and blood began to flow out of the mountain waves. It was almost like a volcano had erupted, but instead ofva, it was spewing blood! Shang looked at the other Mages to see what they thought of what had just happened. Most Mages were just as shocked as Shang, but the green-robed and the grey-robed Mages only smirked as they looked at the turtle. At that moment, Shang realized something. The enemy would have nned for everything. However, the enemy had still been caught off guard as the traitorous Wind Mages had been revealed, which meant that they had not nned around that. Or, more precisely, the enemy of the enemy had nned around that. Shang didn''t know how theseplex Magic Circles worked, but he guessed that creating a Magic Circle to find out who supplied faulty Wind Mana probably needed preparation. That meant that Duke Whirlwind''s people had been prepared. And if they had been prepared, it meant that they had probably been prepared for everything. The enemy hadunched an attack on Warrior''s Paradise, but Duke Whirlwind had nned around the attack! However, if they simply stopped the attack, it wouldn''t be enough. They also had to gain something out of it. So, they acted like they had fallen into the trap to lure out the traitors. Now, they had killed four traitors and had two more in custody. They had made their gains, which meant that the fa?ade could end. They could finally deal with the turtle. And what did they use to deal with the turtle? The Exploding Mountain Turtle had to take several booming steps to the side to regain its bnce after such a huge part of its body had been sted off. During that time, an inconspicuous speck in the distance slowlynded on the ground. It was a man with long green hair, Wind Mana storming around him. It was Duke Whirlwind! Duke Whirlwind red at the turtle as he extended his left arm forward. "You better not have killed my friend," he whispered. At that moment, a ck speck shot out of a dust cloud and fled to the distance. It was the Dean! However, nearly half of the Dean''s body was destroyed, and his spear was carrying him to the distance since he couldn''t run on his own. Duke Whirlwind saw him and smiled a bit. Then, he looked back at the turtle. "Seems like your death will be swift, after all." Meanwhile, the turtle had recovered, and it red at Duke Whirlwind from above. Over ten holes opened up on its mountain, and in an instant, over ten gigantic rocks were shot out of its back. CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! Duke Whirlwind waved his left arm around. With each wave, it was like he was batting away the stones with a gigantic, illusory hand. In the end, all of the stones had missed Duke Whirlwind. "Trying to fight against a Mage in rangedbat," Duke Whirlwind ridiculed. Duke Whirlwind slowly walked forward as something appeared in his right hand. It was a perfectly cut crystal with several emerald circlets revolving around it. In total, there were four emerald circlets around the crystal. "He''s using his Focus," Yiral said from beside Shang. He knew that Shang couldn''t see it from this distance. "How many rings does it have?" Shang asked. By now, Shang had learned what a Focus was. "Four," Yiral said. Shang took a deep breath. "Just as I''ve expected, Duke Whirlwind isn''t just an ordinary High Mage." What was a Focus? A Focus was the primary weapon of a Mage. Not only did it allow the Mage to cast several spells, but the Focus also gathered Mana from the surroundings to further strengthen any spells it cast. Focuses were the most expensive equipment Mages had to buy in their lives, consuming most of their wealth. The circlets described how powerful the Focus was. A High Mage could only use a Focus with up to four circlets, but that didn''t mean that every High Mage had one. Due to the price of the Focuses, buying a Focus with four circlets required the High Mage to have killed and sold at least 20 True Path beasts. On top of that, the crystal in the center could also be of different qualities, increasing the price even more. Judging by the Focus Duke Whirlwind was using, Shang didn''t think that he was just an ordinary High Mage. Duke Whirlwind was probably, at least, in the Mid High Mage Realm. And the Exploding Mountain Turtle? It was in the Early True Path Realm. The Exploding Mountain Turtle continued bombarding Duke Whirlwind with stones as it slowly walked back. Duke Whirlwind kept using his Wind Mana to deflect the stones to the side as he slowly advanced, Focus in his right hand. And just two secondster, the Focus began to shine with a green light. BOOOOOM! The turtle''s mountain exploded, the top half shooting into the distance as rubble. The Exploding Mountain Turtle released a painful and intimidating shout, but it didn''t help. BOOOOOM! Another explosion urred a secondter, and a gigantic chunk of the turtle''s left half was destroyed. The force that hit the turtle flipped it over, creating a quake in the Wastnd. This time, Duke Whirlwind didn''t immediately unleash his next spell. However, he still spoke Incantations at ridiculous speeds. And five secondster, he was done. Duke Whirlwind held his Focus high. BOOOOOOM! From a distance, Shang only saw the air between Duke Whirlwind and the Exploding Mountain Turtle vibrate and distort as the sound of grinding metal and stone echoed throughout the horizons. And then, Shang saw the turtle separate into two pieces! A clean cut went through the entire turtle''s body! Its organs were flowing out of its body as blood filled the Wastnd. The Exploding Mountain Turtle became quieter and quieter until it eventually stopped making sounds. It was dead. Duke Whirlwind put his Focus away, summoned a handkerchief, and cleaned his hands. "And that''s that." Chapter 166 As soon as the turtle died, the soldiers and Mages cheered. They wouldn''t need to die today! However, Shang only took a deep breath. This hadn''t even been a fight! Duke Whirlwind had essentially just yed around with the Exploding Mountain Turtle! The very thing that had threatened everyone, including the city and the Dean, had been taken care of by Duke Whirlwind with just a couple of waves of his hands. Many things had happened recently, but from when the Dean had attacked the Exploding Mountain Turtle to its demise, barely two minutes had passed. In two minutes, the Mages had finished their spell, had failed in it, had dealt with the traitors, and Duke Whirlwind had dealt with the threat. Even if Duke Whirlwind had moved at his maximum speed, he wouldn''t have been able to get here from the Empress Cobra Zone in just two minutes. This meant that Duke Whirlwind had never actually fought the True Path Stage beast in the Empress Cobra Zone. He had been here from the very beginning! By now, the Dean''s body had started to recover, and he could walk on his own. From a distance, Shang could see the Dean talk with Duke Whirlwind as they walked back to Warrior''s Paradise. He didn''t know what they were talking about, but they didn''t seem to be nervous or in a rush. Apparently, Duke Whirlwind didn''t need to hurry to the Empress Cobra Zone to deal with the True Path beast there, which meant that someone else was probably dealing with it. By now, no more Commander Stage beasts were leaving the Canyon. Earlier, they had been scared of the Exploding Mountain Turtle. A lot of them had fled the Canyon, but many others had decided to hide. One had to remember that most beasts of the Canyon had been hidden deep underground from the very beginning. Powerful Wind Affinity beasts hid in the caves in the Eternal Spires. Powerful Earth Affinity beasts hid underground. Original from N?velDrama.Org. Only the ones that hadn''t had a hiding ce had fled to the Wastnd. And now, after seeing the corpse of the True Path Stage beast in the Wastnd, their motivation to stay only solidified. The Mages and ballistae dealt with thest remaining Wind Affinity Commander Stage beasts. After that, the Mages jumped to the Wastnd again to clean up. In just 30 minutes, no more battles took ce. The Day of Chaos had essentially ended. The only missing part was the official conclusion. "You can walk around now," the officer in golden armor said to Shang and Yiral. For the past hours, he hadpletely ignored them as if they didn''t even exist. "It''s over." "But you shouldn''t leave Warrior''s Paradise unless you want to die." After saying that, the officer ignored Shang and Yiral again. "So, what did you think of today?" Yiral asked. Shang looked at the distance. Duke Whirlwind and the Dean had already returned to Warrior''s Paradise. "Today, I learned how truly powerless I am still," Shang said. "I only look at my ssmates andpare my power to them, but all my ssmates would be just as helpless as I am today." "The academy is only one step on my path to power." "Beyond my ssmates are the hunters." "Beyond the hunters are the teachers." "Beyond the teachers are the True Mages." "And beyond the True Mages are the beings in the Fourth Realm." "And beyond those are the Kings." "And beyond those, the Zone Beasts." "I still have a long way to go," Shang said. He wasn''t sure if he was speaking to Yiral or to himself. "That''s the purpose of why you are here," Yiral said. "Back on my first Day of Chaos, I felt the same way. I was just as helpless as you back then." "And I am still helpless now. The best I can do is to pull you to safety with my experience, but that''s it." "Remember this day. Never strive to be the best of your Grade, but the best overall." "Don''tpare yourself to other students but to yourself." Shang listened to Yiral''s words and burned them into his memory. "Thank you for everything today. Without you, I wouldn''t have had the opportunity to see the true power of the world," Shang said. "You should thank teacher Niria, not me. I''m here because she told me to," Yiral said. "I will thank her as well," Shang said. The two of them could move around now, but they decided to stay. They could return to the academy, but there was something they wanted to witness. Over the next hours, the soldiers calmed down and chatted with each other, leaving only a couple of them on standby near the ballistae. The Mages had already left the walls. From what Shang had heard, the Mages were having a gathering to discuss everything about today. Shang wasn''t the only one that had learned a lot today. Even for True Mages, seeing beings in the Fourth Realm act was still something they could learn from. Two hourster, the soldiers began to go near the northern edges of the wall. The Mages had returned to the walls to watch. It was the early evening, and everyone in the city was waiting. And finally, it was time. In the distance, a gigantic green shadow appeared above a mountain. The Storm Eagle had returned. This time, Shang got a better look at it. It was absolutely massive. Shang guessed that it probably had a wingspan of over five kilometers, which was inconceivable for a living being. One of its wingspletely covered the entirety of Warrior''s Paradise. Shang looked at the Storm Eagle in awe. Then, he saw it open its beak. "Hey, wake up!" "Wh- what?" Shang realized that everything was dark, and he opened his eyes. As Shang opened his eyes, he saw Yiral looking down on him with a grimace. He seemed to be in pain. Why was he in pain? Then, Shang noticed that he was also in pain. However, he had only been able to feel the pain after asking himself if he also was in pain. He wasn''t in much pain. It was only about as painful as a strong concussion. He barely noticed it. "What happened?" Shang asked in confusion. Hadn''t he just watched the Storm Eagle pass over them? "It screeched," Yiral said with a grimace. "You''ve been out for around ten minutes." Shang quickly sat up, but for a moment, he felt like his world was spinning. It had screeched? "That''s exactly why no teacher takes students in the Beginner Grade with them." Shang looked to his side as he heard a familiar voice. It was teacher Niria! "Have you learned something today?" she asked. Shang was still a bit perplexed by the sudden shift. It was like he had been teleported from one ce to the next in an instant. Just now, he had watched the Storm Eagle, and an instantter, he woke up on the ground. But in the end, Shang nodded. "I learned a lot. Thank you, teacher Niria. Thanks to you, my horizons have been expanded." "No thanks necessary," teacher Niria said. "You were the best hunter, and you deserved it. Now, get down from the walls. The guards are already shifting around ufortably. They want us gone but don''t want to be too rude." At the side, the guards looked away. Shang stood up as his mind slowly stopped spinning. After that, he followed teacher Niria down from the wall. Yiral quickly said his goodbyes and went to his home in the Farm Line. Shang talked with teacher Niria about what he had learned, and she borated further on the things Shang had learned. When it was dusk, the two of them separated. Shang went back to his room and sat on his bed in silence. "The Day of Chaos," he silently said to himself. Silence. "Today, I have been helpless." "Today, I was only a watcher." "Maybe the next time, I will still be a watcher." "But the time after that, I will be powerful enough to truly take part in the Day of Chaos." "I might not be powerful enough to be a help in Warrior''s Paradise, but I will be powerful enough to defend the Farm Line from the General Stage beasts." For over an hour, Shang only thought about everything he had witnessed today. He understood why every single student desired the quotas for the Day of Chaos. This was an invaluable experience, something money couldn''t buy. And then, Shang stood up with newfound conviction in his eyes. "I need to be more powerful!" "More powerful," Sword said. Shang looked at Sword and nodded. "Let''s start right now!" "Start," Sword answered. And then, the two of them began to train in their techniques. Shang would train harder than ever before, and he would put his everything into learning about this world! His first goal: Be the best student in the academy! Chapter 167 Time passed. Shang''s conviction had been reaffirmed by the Day of Chaos. This time, he had been helpless during the Day of Chaos, but in the future, he wouldn''t be as helpless. Right now, Shang was at a level of power where he didn''t count as relevant to any major cities. Sure, Shang could probably be a high-ranking officer in a town, but his goals went much further than that. Shang trained until the life in the academy went back to normal. The piles of corpses had been cleaned up by the hunters and had been sold for profit. Warrior''s Paradise had spent a ridiculous sum of money for the Day of Chaos, but it had earned far more. This was what Warrior''s Paradise was all about: Finding profit in danger! And thus, Shang''s life in the Warrior''s Academy continued. During the mornings, Shang took part in whatever theoretical lesson was avable. The lessons mostly consisted of politics, geography, and Magic. During the afternoon, Shang took part in the lesson for the Caterpir ss. During the evening, Shang took part in either sword training or in beast sses. During the early night, Shang trained with Sword. During thete night, Shang either concentrated on his Affinity or went to sleep. Of course, he still slept very rarely. Days passed. A week passed. Two weeks passed. Shang went to sleep again. He felt like shit again, but it wasn''t as bad as the previous times. With each time he went to sleep, he adapted more and more. A month passed. By now, Shang had been in the academy for two months. "Seems like you win again, Shang!" Astor shouted with a loudugh. By now, Shang had managed to increase his win rate against Astor to above 50%. "I still have an advantage in level," Shang said to Astor. "So? Don''tpare yourself to others but look at your past self. Yes, you are at a higher level than me, but you have made tremendous progress. Right now, I''m learning more from you than you from me during our fights," Astor said with a smile. In the beginning, Astor had appeared a bit proud and distant, but by now, he had warmed up to Shang. Astor was actually a very sociable warrior. He was the typical, gruff warrior one would imagine. Another two weeks passed. "Five Javelin beaks," the clerk in the Hunting Guild said as he put 1,250 gold on the counter. "Not bad. Keep at it." Another month passed. "Look at this guy," a random person in the swordsmanship ss said. "He actually managed to beat level four by now." "So? He''s at the same level as the teacher''s help. He''s still way too weak," another guy said. "Sure, but the guy is from the Caterpir ss, right? They''re generally not that powerful." "Oh? He''s from the Caterpir ss? Then, sure, he''s not bad, I think." Another month passed. "You are in the top 48%, Shang," Vice-Dean Soran said to Shang as he handed him a piece of paper. "You made quite a bit of progress in a short amount of time. Not bad." The end-of-year exams had just taken ce. The entire Grade would take part in a tournament, and the bottom 10% would be expelled from the school. Shang had ced in the top 48%. That means that he was about average. By now, Shang had been in the academy for about five months. In the beginning, he had been at the absolute bottom. He had been one of the weakest people in his Grade. He had been so weak that he had even been put in the Advanced Grade, a grade filled with students a level weaker than him. "I think we can put you in the Preparation Grade now," Vice-Dean Soran said. When Shang heard that, he became excited. He was finally powerful enough to fight people of his level! But wait, hadn''t Shang only reached the average for the Advanced Grade? Wouldn''t he be counted as trash in the Preparation Grade? Not really. Every ss took part in the same tournament. Since the students in the Caterpir ss were much weaker than other students, the average Caterpir ss student was only in the top 70%. So, in the Preparation Grade for the Caterpir ss, Shang would essentially count as slightly below- average. He definitely was ready to advance a Grade. After that day, Shang joined the Preparation Grade. He met his new ssmates, who weed him. Shang didn''t feel too weak, and he was on their level. The only special thing about him was his age, but the ss didn''t really care. Now, Shang didn''t only need to fight Astor anymore. Now, he had so many more opponents! As Shang advanced a Grade, the other lessons changed as well. The theoretical lessons now mostly talked about General Stage beasts, Adepts, and General Stage warriors. All the lessons were focused on preparing the students for their life as General Stage warriors. The teachers didn''t change for Shang. Teachers weren''t assigned a Grade but a lesson. One teacher taught all Grades but at different times of the day so that the lessons didn''t ovep. The Beginner Grade was special since they hadn''t chosen their profession yet, which meant that their lesson schedule was also very different. Because of that, the three lessons per day were shifted. Now, Shang''s day started with swordsmanship ss and beast ss, followed by theoretical sses. In the evening, Shang would take part in the Caterpir ss lesson. One would assume that Shang would have it tough in the Preparation Grade, but that was not the case. Shang''s starting ce for the Preparation Grade was much higher than his starting ce for the Advanced Grade before. He had fully integrated. He was no longer an oddity. People also slowly forgot about what Shang had done in the past as time passed on. Nobody looked at him with frightened expressions anymore. Now, Shang was only a normal student. He was in his appropriate Grade. He wasn''t outstanding. But he also wasn''t trash. He was a very normal student. Even though nobody remembered Shang''s actions anymore, nobody attacked him. Attacking people of the Preparation Grade was essentially unheard of. Shang''s life continued. Another month passed. By now, Shang had fully gotten used to sleeping. He still felt a bit bad every time, but he had limated to it. It was normal now. The bloodied face had also nearlypletely vanished. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. Shang only saw it in his dreams. During the day, he didn''t even think about it. Another month passed. And it was time for the Day of Chaos again. Yes, six months had already passed. By now, Shang had been in the academy for about seven months. Teacher Niria had given Shang another quota, and he epted it. Even though nobody paid any attention to Shang, and even though he appeared extremely average, when it came to hunting, Shang was in a ss of his own. In fact, Shang had already attempted to fight General Stage beasts on his own. However, he had always relied on a backup n, which he inevitably had to use. Shang was no longer helpless in front of General Stage beasts. He could fight them for a while, and even if he failed to kill them, he could still retreat. This was part of Shang''s secret training. He was pushing himself more than anyone else when it came to beasts. As the Day of Chaos began, Shang stood alone at the southwestern tower. He didn''t need Yiral anymore since Shang had learned to distinguish basically every beast that lived in the Storm Eagle Zone. The Storm Eagle passed above the city again, and it was just as impressive as the first time he had seen it. The Day of Chaos started, and Warrior''s Paradise was under attack again. But this time, no True Path Stage beast appeared. Shang had been in danger several times, but he had always fled at appropriate times. With his new knowledge, Shang managed to siphon out even more knowledge by watching the True Mages and Commander Stage hunters fight. Shang knew many more theories now, and his own Martial Art had advanced by a lot. And before he knew it, the Storm Eagle returned to the Storm Eagle Zone. The second Day of Chaos had ended. And Shang returned to the academy. Chapter 168 During the first Day of Chaos, Shang had been under Yiral''s protection the entire time. If Yiral hadn''t been there, Shang would have died many times over. During the second Day of Chaos, Shang managed to survive on his own. Well, at least as long as one ignored all the guards that dealt with all the beasts. Shang had learned even more during his second Day of Chaos, and he took a several-days-long break from his sses to work on his own fighting style. Shang returned to ss, but his Battle-Strength seemingly hadn''t changed. That was because he was fighting humans. When it came to beasts, Shang had be much more powerful over thest couple of days. A month passed. "Guess who''s back!" Astor shouted with a wide smile as he arrived at the Preparation Grade Caterpir ss lesson. Astor had reached the Peak Soldier Stage! Shang only smirked. The two of them quickly fought. Shang lost horribly. By now, Shang was slightly above-average in the Preparation Grade Caterpir ss, while Astor was outstanding. He could already attempt to fight for the top spot in the Preparation Grade. After the fight, Astor looked at Shang with shock. "Man, you''ve be really powerful!" he said. "It''s hard to imagine that you have only been here for a bit more than half a year!" Yes, Astor had won convincingly, but the fight hadn''t been easy for him. He didn''t need to unleash his Affinity, but he had to fight with everything else he had. For the first time, Shang could see his actual progress. Astor was no longer a level weaker than Shang, but Shang had still managed to fight him for quite some time. Of course, this fight had been a one-time thing. Shang was still a bit too weak to teach Astor something right now. Because of that, Shang had to fight someone else from the Preparation Grade while Astor fought the most powerful students. Another month passed. "You will join the next practical lesson and watch from the side." Shang looked with shock at the person that had suddenly spoken to him. It was Vice-Dean Ranos! Vice-Dean Ranos had never spoken to Shang! "Yes?" Shang asked. "You should know enough about Mages by now, and the Dean needs you to prove your power against Mages in the future," Vice-Dean Ranos told Shang. "The procedure is to close the gap between warriors and Mages, and winning against Mages is the best way to prove that the procedure works." "For now, you don''t need to fight them. Simply watch the other students fight them and learn from their fights." Shang only nodded. "Alright. I also think it might be time for me to see how warriors and Mages fight." After that, Vice-Dean Ranos left. A couple of dayster, Shang followed the red uniforms of the Preparation Grade to the Mage''s Academy north of the northeastern Wild Forest. And then, Shang saw the students fight each other. It was a massacre. The Peak Apprentices had already received their Pure Mana Sources, which meant that their control over their Affinities had spiked to a ridiculous degree. At that point, the advantage of the Mages had already taken hold. And it would only grow more and more pronounced the more powerful everyone got. A ss that specialized in dealing with Mages only managed to win one out of every five fights. However, the Apprentices didn''t ridicule the warriors. Instead, they were rather impressed by them. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Even though the Mages won nearly every fight, none of the fights were easy. The fights had always taken a while. As Shang watched the students fight, he realized the most important things when it came to fighting against Mages. And to Shang''s surprise and delight, these things were identical to what one needed to fight against beasts. Speed, adaptability, and flexibility. A warrior had to close the distance to be a threat to a Mage, which made speed important. Adaptability was important to counter the multitude of Spells the Mages shot at them. And flexibility was important to dodge the Spells. All of these things were important against beasts as well. When Shang realized that, most of his nervousness left him. He had feared that he had to create another fighting style to fight Mages. Luckily, his fighting style against beasts was already perfect for fighting against Mages. After this day, Shang joined the red uniforms every weak to watch their fights. After a while, the red uniforms also warmed up to Shang and actually talked to him. Most of them were normal people that had something against Mages. Maybe a Mage had done something to them in the past. Maybe they simply feared the oppressive power of the Mages. Maybe they only wanted to fight against the most powerful humans in the world. Everyone had different reasons. Another month passed. "Please take care of me," Mattheo said with a polite smile as he joined the Preparation Grade for the Caterpir ss. Shang had been pleasantly surprised when he saw Mattheo, but that was quickly reced by deep shock. By now, Shang had learned a lot about battle and Mages in particr. And for the first time, Shang could feel Mattheo''s true power. As a warrior, Mattheo was great, but he wasn''t at the peak. But as a Mage, Mattheo was absolutely terrifying. As Shang stood in front of Mattheo, he felt helpless. It was like Shang was standing in front of someone at the General Stage. Mattheo noticed Shang''s look and only smiled politely. "You''ve made terrifying progress, Shang," he said. Shang didn''t know how to answer that. Mattheo was an absolute monster! "Come! We''ve never fought before," Mattheo said with a smile. Shang took a deep breath. Yes, Mattheo was terrifyingly powerful, but as a warrior, Shang could fight him! The two of them fought. Who won? Mattheo. But he had won only barely. When Mattheo saw that he needed to unleash all his abilities as a warrior to fight Shang, he grew even more impressed. Shang''s current power was quite good, but that was not the impressive part. The impressive part was how much Shang had grown in the past ten months! From this day on, Mattheo became Shang''s main opponent. The two of them were simply perfect for each other since their power was about equal. Another month passed. "Where did you get that?" the clerk in the Hunting Guild asked. "I hunted it," Shang said simply. The clerk only looked at Shang with suspicion, but he paid the money anyway. Shang had just delivered the corpse of an Initial General Stage beast. Shang had finally made a breakthrough in one of his aspects recently, and it had increased his power by a lot, allowing him to kill his first General Stage beast. The fight had been absolutely brutal, but Shang had won. He hadn''t had any help. The beast hadn''t been injured before the fight. It had been a fair fight. And Shang had killed it. Of course, the beast was only a General Stage Vanishing Snake, which meant that it was below average in power in a direct confrontation. However, it was still a real General Stage beast. Another month passed. "I¡­ lost?" Astory on the ground with widely opened eyes. He was in shock. Astor slowly lifted his head as he looked at Shang. "How did you be so powerful?" he asked in shock. "How did you suddenly be so fast?" Shang only smirked. On this day, Shang became the strongest student in the Caterpir ss. Another month passed. Shang had the ability to choose any of the three quotas he had received for the Day of Chaos. Shang was at the absolute top of his ss in three lessons. Caterpir ss. Hunting. General knowledge about Zones. Shang was now in the top 10% of students, including all sses. Shang hadn''t learned any advanced Martial Arts, but he still managed to be more powerful than most other students. He had worked so incredibly hard to achieve all of this. From absolute trash, he had ascended to be the absolute top. Shang was no longercking in any field. Now, Shang was outstanding in every field! So, which quota did Shang choose for his third day of Chaos? None! Shang wouldn''t choose any of the quotas. Today, he wouldn''t watch others fight. Today, he would fight himself! He would defend the Farm Line from General Stage beasts! Chapter 169 Silence. Shang was waiting in silence along with several other warriors. Some of the hunters knew Shang since he had visited the Hunting Guild several times by now. After a full year, Shang had grown by quite a bit. By now, he had reached 180cm, the average height of men in the western hemisphere on Earth. Of course, Shang wasn''t fully done growing, but he also wouldn''t grow by much more anymore. Shang guessed that he would essentially end up just a bit below 190cm in a year or two. Sword had also grown. Since Shang had grown by a bit, Sword had decided to elongate as well so that Shang wouldn''t need to change his fighting style. ording to what Sword had said, it could change its size by a little bit, but it needed new ore every time. On top of that, the ore had to be higher ranked than what it was currently made out of. Over thest year, Shang had earned a lot of money, which he had used to upgrade Sword to the Late General Stage. He was still missing a lot of money before he could attempt to upgrade Sword to another level since the prices started to skyrocket at the Peak General Stage. All of the hunters around Shang were in the General Stage, making Shang an oddity amongst their ranks. Originally, a couple of huntersined since they saw Shang as a liability, but the words of a couple of teachers shut them up. Since many teachers specialized in politics or killing other humans, they didn''t join the defense of Warrior''s Paradise. In order to defend Warrior''s Paradise, one had to be confident in taking down Commander Stage beasts, which was very different from fighting other warriors at the Commander Stage. Because of that, sadly, most of the teachers weren''t powerful enough to be a good help in the defense. However, here, they were a great help! So what if they weren''t great hunters? The beasts were literally an entire Stage below them. Of course, the teachers mostly acted as ast line of defense and would only get involved if a beast managed to slip past the wall of hunters. There were also a couple of Adepts in the mix, but they would act as a secondary line of defense. The hunters would constantly fight. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The Adepts would kill the beasts that slipped past the hunters. The teachers would kill the beasts that slipped past the Adepts. Why was the defense structured in this way? By the hunters'' choice. Inparison to Warrior''s Paradise, the Farm Line was not under any threat during the Day of Chaos. Sure, a lot of General Stage beasts would charge right at them, but they were only General Stage beasts. With several teachers of the Warrior Academy and several teachers of the Mage Academy defending this ce, the Farm Line wasn''t in any danger whatsoever. It even extended to the fact that a lot of teams of hunters defended the border between the Wastnd and the Wild Forest. Defending the border was very dangerous since they would have to survive the entire brunt of the wave, but profits blinded people. As long as they were careful not to take on too many beasts at once, they could bring in a fortune. "And you are fine with that?" Shang asked teacher Loran. "I should be the one asking you that question!" teacher Loran shouted back in fury. "Are you actually insane?! No sane person would do that!" "How do you think I managed to be this powerful?" Shang asked back evenly. "I''ve managed to grow this much by continually pushing myself again and again. If I don''t keep pushing myself, my Martial Art will never reach sufficient heights. It has to be forged under life-threatening danger." "Bullshit!" teacher Loran shouted. "Your Martial Art is already equivalent to something someone at the Mid General Stage would be able to create after a full year of research! You''re only at the Peak Soldier Stage!" "A little danger is good, but you are actively ying with your life!" teacher Loran shouted. "At least let me make sure that nothing goes wrong!" "But that''s the thing, teacher Loran," Shang said. "As long as you are nearby, my mind won''t be fully focused on the battle. As long as you are watching me, I will never feel in danger. If I don''t get pushed to the limit, how can I find the inspiration I need?" "Do you even hear yourself?!" teacher Loran shouted. "You are nning on killing a General Stage beast on your own, and not only that, no, you also forbid everyone from even watching your battle! From the very first day you arrived at the Academy, I knew that you were a crazy nutcase!" "Then stop arguing with a crazy nutcase," Shang said with a frown. "If you''re not fine with my arrangements, go talk to Vice-Dean Soran." Teacher Loran looked like he was about to blow up. "You know exactly what his stance is!" "Then, there you go." Some seconds of silence passed as teacher Loran debated with himself. "Mervin, Olga, and I havee to an agreement," teacher Loran said with a quiet but threatening tone. "I knew that you and teacher Mervin were friends, but I didn''t know that teacher Olga is also so close to you," Shang said, his tone not very respectful. That was because he knew what the new tone of teacher Loran meant. Teacher Olga was the teacher that taught general knowledge about the Zones. She had offered her quota to Shang this year as well. Teacher Loran narrowed his eyes, frustration, anger, and unwillingness in his eyes. "We came to the agreement that we won''t teach someone that doesn''t value their own life," teacher Loran said. ''And there it is. Just as expected from teacher Loran,'' Shang thought. ''Teacher Loran and teacher Mervin are very idealistic, and they take their ideals way too seriously. Teacher Mervin is always going on and on about the path of the sword.'' ''Righteousness, stability, conviction.'' ''A sword is not a mere killing tool but a weapon of judgment and righteousness. A sword should only be drawn if there is no other way left.'' ''Life is precious, and the respect of the sword h h h h.'' ''And teacher Loran is always going on about morals and promises and being a man and all that stuff.'' ''And now, here we have it. I''m training in a way they don''t like, but instead of giving me my own choice, they want to railroad me into something they want from me.'' ''They even went as far as to threaten me. Telling me that they won''t teach me anymore, which basically means that they won''t allow me to join the special training ss after I reach the General Stage.'' ''Dude, I''m 24. I''m an adult. I can make my own decisions.'' ''Also, do you think I actually believe that shit? Training in genuine life-threatening danger? What''s the fucking point? There are risks that can be evaluated and risks that can''t be evaluated.'' ''Sure, I can train in life-threatening danger, but I always want to have ast safety. I don''t actually want to just risk my life like that.'' ''But, guess what! I can''t tell you that the reason I want nobody watching is so that I can unleash all my power. If I keep fighting openly, I can''t use my Fire nor my Darkness Affinity. The General Stage beast will turn me into minced meat!'' Teacher Loran only looked at the ring Shang for several seconds. "I''m not an idealist," Shang said. "I do what works." "What''s that supposed to mean?" teacher Loran asked. "It means that you can go ahead with your threat." Teacher Loran''s rage exploded. "You are willing to throw away your entire future just so you can gamble with your life?!" he shouted in fury. "I''m throwing nothing away," Shang countered with an annoyed tone. "I respect you and teacher Mervin for your power and knowledge. However, at the end of the day, this is still my life. I get to decide what I do with my life." "You are not my father." "You are not my friend." "You are my teacher." "And I very much don''t appreciate it when you threaten my future just so that I will do whatever you want me to do." "So, stay in yourne! We are having a business rtionship, nothing more!" Shang shouted with quite some anger in his voice. Teacher Loran violently gritted his teeth, but then, he only took a deep breath. Then, his eyes turned cold. "If that is how you see things, fine," he said almost calmly. "This is your life." "But I hope that you will one day realize that your life doesn''t only belong to you." "If you manage to survive today, that is," teacher Loran said before he walked away. For some reason, when Shang saw teacher Loran leave, he felt a sting in his chest. However, over thest year, Shang had learned to deal with emotional pain. He and teacher Loran had never seen eye to eye. They had never beenpatible. ''It was bound to happen sooner orter,'' Shang thought. ''My current feelings are what I would have inevitably felt in the future.'' ''He and I are teacher and student. We haven''t even really talked outside of school.'' ''Sure, in some way, we are connected as teacher and student.'' ''However, you tried to order me around with a threat.'' ''Your life is your life.'' ''My life is my life.'' And then, Shang looked away from the Farm Line and looked towards the direction of the Wastnd. ''It should start soon.'' Chapter 170 After several minutes, Shang saw the Storm Eagle pass over Warrior''s Paradise. From a distance, it looked even more magnificent. As it flew over the Farm Line, the trees at the edges of the Wild Forest started to shake violently, and many of their branches broke off. A couple of trees even broke in half. Today, Shang learned that the Storm Eagle was responsible for the divider between the northeastern and northwestern Wild Forest. The people huddled in their houses in safety. If they were hit by that wind, they would be severely injured. Luckily, the Farm Line was over two kilometers lower than Warrior''s Paradise, making the wind much weaker. If the Farm Line were built at the same height as Warrior''s Paradise, several houses would be destroyed. Shang felt a sudden burst of wind, and he had to use nearly all of his power to not get swept up in it. Fortunately, the wind only kept up for a couple of seconds. The Storm Eagle quickly vanished, and silence returned to the Farm Line. The Day of Chaos had begun. Shang walked to his post to await his fight. He was at the very edge of the northwestern forest. The hunters in front of him had been instructed by Vice-Dean Soran to let an Initial General Stage beast through. Since the Day of Chaos wasn''t a danger for the Farm Line, it also served as training for new hunters. It was nothing special for the experienced teams at the front to let a weaker beast through. The most experienced and strongest hunters were at the very front. They specifically targeted the most powerful General Stage beasts. Due to their strength, the weaker beasts generally ignored them. Because of that, a kind of filter was created. The most powerful beasts would be caught immediately and herded in the middle of the street. There, they would fight the most experienced hunters. The weaker beasts would see that beings beyond their powers fought in the middle, which would make them go along the sides. That''s where the less experienced hunters were. The Adepts were ced in the very middle, behind the strongest hunters. Only the more powerful beasts were an issue for the less experienced hunters, and the Adepts would take care of them. Like this, a filter in the form of a spearhead was created. The experienced hunters were the tip of the spear. The less experienced hunters and Adepts were the bottom of the spear''s head. They were essentially in a single line. Then, a big space with nothing was behind them, representing the spear''s shaft. And the teachers at the very end symbolized the shield. The spear pointed towards the south, and Shang was essentially at the bottom-right corner of the spear''s head, just touching the northwestern forest. And thus, Shang waited. After a couple of seconds, Shang heard the explosion of a ballista firing in the distance. Warrior''s Paradise had already engaged the flying Commander Stage beasts. Two minutester, the fastest beasts showed up. "Iing!" the team at the very front shouted loudly. Everyone was readying their weapons. The fastest beasts tended to also be the strongest, and the spearhead immediately went into motion. The most experienced teams charged toward the most powerful beasts and pushed them to the middle. This was a difficult task, but the enemy wasn''t overwhelming. The True Mages in Warrior''s Paradise also dealt with most of the Peak General Stage beasts. They also killed several Late General Stage beasts. The Mages would only truly ignore the Mid General Stage beasts and weaker. Because of that, the initial wave didn''t have many truly powerful beasts. The hunters quickly gathered the beasts in the middle and began fighting them with practiced ease. These teams had gone through many Days of Chaos, and they knew exactly what they had to do. After gathering the powerful beasts, the most powerful five teams left the fighting area to observe the iing horde. Soon, the first Peak General Stage beasts would arrive, and it was their task to deal with them. And sure enough, about five minutester, the first ones arrived. The most powerful teams took on the Peak General Stage beasts at the very center in the front. The Late General Stage beasts fought behind them. The Middle General Stage beasts were pushed to the side after the Late and Peak General Stage beasts had arrived. Several teams were already in battle, but even more teams stood on standby. They took turns fishing out a beast that was to their liking. One could imagine it like a big stone in the middle of a rapidly flowing river. On the big stone were cranes that continually picked out the biggest fish to eat, leaving only the little ones alone. This was not a battle of survival but a hunt. It was a harvest. The less experienced teams jumped onto the Initial and Early General Stage beasts, letting absolutely nothing through. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Over ten minutes, no beast made it through the wall. And then, one particr beast arrived. The waiting teams looked at the beast with a disgusted frown. They didn''t want to deal with that one. Why? Two reasons. One, it wasn''t worth much. Its feathers were nice as souvenirs and essories, but they were not useful for much else. Its ws were not the most powerful ws. Sure, they could injure the opponent, but they were rather small and fragile, making them unfit for weapons and armor. Its beak was the only valuable part, but it wasn''t that valuable. In total, the beast was maybe worth 350 gold. With Initial General Stage beasts walking around that had a bounty of over 1,000 gold, 350 gold was laughable. If they engaged this beast, they would miss out on something that had way more value. Also, it was only at the Initial General Stage, making it even less desirable. As the beast passed thest team of hunters, Shang''s eyes lit up. His target had arrived! He wasn''t here for the money but to gain experience. Shang saw a grey bird running towards him. Yes, not flying, running! It looked a bit like a mixture between an ostrich and a crane. It had grey feathers all over its body, two powerful but thin legs, and a body that could best be described as slim-fat. It was slim in some ces, but it also looked fat in other ces. However, it also had a long beak, simr to one a crane would have. When Shang saw the bird, the image of a fitdy with a huge ass popped into his mind. ''Great, it''s a Trash Bird,'' Shang thought with a bit of annoyance. Yes, the name of the beast was literally Trash Bird. Why did it carry that name? Because it was a scavenger. It was rather fast, and it very rarely hunted on its own. Rather, it would run across the Wastnd to search for any scraps of food. It was surprisingly fast at grabbing the food. It could expand its beak to a terrifying degree. Then, it would quickly gulp up several kilograms of food, which would fall into its stomach, which was near its ass, surprisingly. Since the Trash Bird mostly ate the unusable trash the hunters left behind after killing a beast, it got its name. Trash Bird. There were quite a lot of Trash Birds in the Wastnd, mainly because they weren''t a danger. They didn''t like attacking hunters, and they kept the ce rtively clean. If that were all to them, they might even be on the cklist. However, they also sometimes wandered into the Wild Forest to get something easy to eat. That cost them their ce on the cklist. So, what was the second reason why nobody wanted to deal with the Trash Bird? When the Trash Bird saw Shang''s eyes, it screeched loudly and ran to the side into the Wild Forest. It kept screeching as it loudly rampaged through the forest in a sprint, destroying one tree after the other. The second reason? It was fucking annoying. Chapter 171 Shang definitely didn''t look forward to fighting the Trash Bird. Sadly, such an opponent was the optimal choice for him. Beasts at the Initial General Stage already had overwhelmingly powerful bodies, and Shang had to use his entire repertoire of smarts and tactics to fight them. And then, he could only fight the weakest General Stage beasts. Shang didn''t dare to attempt to fight a beast that was actually powerful in a direct confrontation. Just their speed alone was already ridiculous. Shang charged into the northwestern forest, leaving the defense behind. He was actually d that the Trash Bird fled into the forest since Shang wouldn''t have to worry about prying eyes. The Trash Bird was around three meters tall, and it didn''t have it very easy passing through the Wild Forest. It wasn''t built for traversing a dense forest since its home was the Wastnd. On top of that, whenever it destroyed a tree, it got slowed down by a lot. Following the Trash Bird''s trail wasn''t difficult. It would be harder to not know where it was with its constant screeching. After a couple of seconds, Shang came close to the Trash Bird. Right now, Shang didn''t need to be careful since the hunters were blocking all General Stage beasts from entering the Wild Forest. Ironically enough, the day that the most beasts entered battle was also the day the Wild Forest was at its safest. As Shang started to close in on the Trash Bird, something happened to his body. A white mist was left behind by Shang''s legs as he elerated to higher speeds. If someone with an Ice Affinity were here, they would be able to feel a cloud of Ice Mana leaving Shang''s body. At this moment, Shang reached the speed of an Initial General Stage warrior. And even more, this was not a momentary increase! Shang could keep this going indefinitely! How?! Well, after a lot of training with his Affinities, Shang had unlocked the ability to release his Affinities from other parts of his body with a lessened effect. At the moment, Shang was continually shooting out Ice Mana from his back and legs, increasing his speed. But wouldn''t that heat up his body? Yes, it would, but if it got too hot, Shang could simply switch to releasing Fire Mana. As long as he didn''t change the temperature of his body too quickly, it wouldn''t be injured. Something like this would be impossible if Shang only used his left arm. After all, his left arm had only so much mass. But as long as he distributed the negative effects over his entire body, it was bearable. This ability to keep his speed permanently at a higher level was the very ability that allowed Shang to jump to the top of his ss. Of course, this only counted for the Caterpir ss. Amongst the other students, there were still several that were more powerful than Shang. Very advanced Martial Arts could achieve the same effect. Of course, one first needed to train for a long time in them to reach such a level. Several students had already reached that level. However, as someone in the Caterpir ss, Shang was essentially above all of his peers. Well, except for Mattheo, but only if he used his Magic. When the distance between Shang and the Trash Bird reached two meters, the Trash Bird suddenly turned its head to him. Then, its mouth opened wide. Shang gnashed his teeth and tensed his entire body. He knew what was about toe. SCREEEEEEEEEE! It was like an explosion of sound left the Trash Bird''s beak and reverberated throughout the entire forest. The trees at the side began to sway violently under the explosion of sound. BANG! As soon as the explosion of sound appeared, Shang''s eardrums exploded. It was so insanely loud! Shang''s vision spun as he felt like his brain was bumping into all the corners of his skull. This was the Trash Bird''s primary defensive weapon. If any predator came close to it, it would gather Wind Mana in its mouth and release it in a shockwave of sound. The attack wasn''t directly dangerous. After all, the most it could do was to make someone woozy and destroy their eardrums. Someone wouldn''t die from just that. However, the attack would not only severely startle the predator but also inflict pain upon their ears. On top of that, the predator might lose their bnce and fall over during the chase. This was not a weapon to hunt but a weapon to flee. This was also one of the reasons why hunters hated hunting Trash Birds. Luckily, Shang had learned a terrifying amount about all the beasts in the Storm Eagle Zone over the last year. Because of that, Shang had known what woulde for him. It felt a bit difficult for him to retain his bnce, but Shang managed it. He had slowed down a bit, but he quickly managed to elerate again. However, Shang also felt a very weird feeling of dissociation as he lost the ability to hear. It was almost like he wasn''t inside his own body anymore. It was like he was watching someone else. As Shang reached the Trash Bird again, it turned its head to him again and released the same attack. This time, Shang heard nothing. However, he felt his head hurt and his vision warp. In perceived silence, Shang took out his sword and pointed towards his back with his left hand. Shang unleashed a Fire st to elerate even more, and he lifted his sword. The Trash Bird saw that it was under attack and stopped using its soundwave. On its next step, its talons dug into the earth. And on its next step, Shang got a cloud of dirt thrown into his face. Shang felt the dirt assault his eyes, but he stillmitted to his swing. At that moment, his Mana finally finished repairing his eardrums, and Shang could hear again. SHING! Shang heard the sound of meat being cut, and he felt a bit of resistanceing from his sword. However, his sword was several levels above the Trash Bird, allowing it to easily injure it. "SQUAWK!" The Trash Bird squawked in pain. The right side of itsrge behind had received a massive cut, which involuntarily changed the Trash Bird''s trajectory. BANG! The Trash Bird barreled through a tree,pletely decimating it in the process, which ruined its bnce even more. The Trash Bird was trying to regain its bnce by taking severalpensating steps. Meanwhile, Shang violently moved his right arm across his eyes to get rid of the dirt. Shang had been so aggressive in his cleaning that his eyes received indents. However, that was necessary. Shang''s Mana could heal his eyes, but it couldn''t get rid of the dirt. It was better to just injure himself to get rid of the dirt faster than to clean his eyes for several seconds. Shang''s vision became very cloudy for a second before his eyespletely recovered. BANG! Shang''s right leg collided with the broken stump of the tree the Trash Bird had just destroyed. Luckily, Shang''s body was powerful enough to not get injured by that, but his bnce was also ruined. Shang quickly pointed his left arm to the ground and unleashed an Ice st. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. BANG! Shang was catapulted forward, but his arm exploded in several ces. As Shang reached the Trash Bird again, it turned its head to Shang again with its opened beak. Shang gritted his teeth in anger, hatred, and frustration. SQUEEEEEEE! And Shang lost his hearing again. Fucking Trash Birds! Chapter 172 Shang reached the Trash Bird very quickly again and unleashed another strike. The Trash Bird threw another clump of earth at Shang''s face, which he managed to block this time by closing his eyes for an instant. Shang felt his sword hit part of the Trash Bird''s thigh, but he sadly couldn''t hear the satisfying sound of his opponent getting injured this time due to his hearing loss. The Trash Bird stopped its shouting again and jumped forward, blood flowing down its right leg. Shang recovered from the strike and shot towards the Trash Bird again. Shang''s Mana had been used up healing his left arm, which meant that his hearing wouldn''t recover for at least several seconds. The Trash Bird and Shang reached a small clearing with a twenty-meter-tall and ten-meter-wide rock in the middle of it. The Trash Bird''s steps became uncertain with its injured leg, and it slowed down by a lot. Then, when it saw the rock in front of it, it realized that fleeing wouldn''t work. If everything continued as it had been for thest seconds, it would eventually die. The Trash Bird suddenly stopped in front of the rock and faced Shang, who was charging at it. It opened its mouth again and unleashed its soundwave again. Luckily, Shang was currently deaf, but his mind still shook from the soundwaves. The Trash Bird lifted its left foot and stabbed forward with it. Its strike was surprisingly fast. Shang had to cancel his attack since he hadn''t known that the Trash Bird''s attack would be so fast. He had read about it, but he had actually never fought one. Instead of striking the Trash Bird''s body, he tried to hit the leg. However, the leg pulled back with just as much speed, and Shang''s strike missed. Then, the Trash Bird jumped forward by using its injured leg. The Trash Bird didn''t just simply pull its leg back into a passive stance but into another aggressive one. As the Trash Bird jumped forward, it unleashed another stab with its left leg. Shang''s sword was currently lowered, which meant that it wouldn''t be able to block. Well, that would be true if this were the Shang from a year ago. Out of reflex, Shang took a step back as his entire power was focused on his sword. And then, he shed upward with all his power. BANG! The Trash Bird pulled its leg back when it saw the sword, but it wasn''t fast enough. The front halves of its talons exploded off its foot as the sword hit them. When the Trash Bird saw that, it stopped its cry for a second. Then, it jumped back as its chest expanded. Shang knew what woulde next and readied himself. When the Trash Bird opened its beak again, Shang felt like he had run against a wall. The Trash Bird was no longer considering its health. If Trash Birds were backed into a corner, they could gather all their Wind Mana and unleash an even more powerful screech. Of course, that would severely drain their reserves, and it would even injure their throats. Shang''s vision swam, but he knew that he would only need to evade its next couple of attacks. After that, it would be severely weakened. At that point, he would win the fight. However, Shang also wasn''t in the condition to dodge the next attack naturally, which meant that he had to rely on his left arm yet again. Shang could achieve higher speeds on average with his new ability, but his left arm was still the best thing when it came to sudden bursts of speed. Shang was thrown to the side as he unleashed a Fire st, barely evading the Trash Bird''s ws. Shang nearly fell over as his equilibrium was all over the ce, but he still managed to remain on two feet. As he looked back at the Trash Bird, Shang could see thin droplets of blood shooting out of its opened beak. Its throat was already being injured, and it wouldn''t take long now. The Trash Bird jumped at Shang again, and this time, Shang managed to evade the attack by jumping back normally. The Trash Bird wasn''t good at fighting, which was why Shang had been able to evade without his left arm this time. Shang saw that more and more blood came out of the Trash Bird''s throat. ''Soon! One or two more attacks!'' Shang thought as his vision swam. The Trash Bird focused on Shang again. BOOOOOOOOOOM! Shang''s eyes widened as a violent explosion suddenly consumed the Trash Bird. A wave of terrifying heat washed over Shang''s body, but he was used to worse. At that moment, Shang''s hearing recovered. "SHUT UP!" Shang heard the angry shout of a mane from the big rock beside Shang. Shang looked over, and his eyes widened. A huge gate had appeared in the middle of the rock! Shang was certain that there hadn''t been one previously! An old man with greying red hair stood at the gate as he red with anger at the distributed, burned pieces that had once been the Trash Bird. For a moment, it was difficult for Shang toe to terms with his current situation. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. The fight had just reached its climax, but his opponent had suddenly died. Also, where did that gatee from? "Sir?" Shang asked uncertainly. The old man wore bronze-colored robes that seemed rather humble. He definitely wasn''t someone who put much importance on what other people thought of him. The man turned to Shang with a frown. "Why did you bring a Trash Bird here?!" he shouted with annoyance. "It''s not forbidden for you younglings to walk around this ce outside the trial period, but this is obviously just a direct provocation!" "Has no one taught you any manners?! What did your parents teach you that you think it''s a good idea to bring the loudest and most annoying beast for thousands of kilometers around to my ce?!" Shang only looked with shock at the old man. "Sorry, but I didn''t know that anyone was here," Shang said with surprise. "What? You didn-¡­ hmm." The old man first wanted to rebut Shang, but then he noticed something. "You''re a physi?" the old man asked. Shang remembered that this was what most Mages called warriors. Shang nodded. The old man scratched the back of his head in a mixture of annoyance and eptance. "Fine. Then, you probably didn''t know that I was here." "But now you know. In the future, please keep these annoying things away from here," he said. Shang looked at the man and at the rock. "What is this ce?" Shang asked. "This?" the old man asked as he gestured to the rock. "It''s the Old King''s Trial." "The Old King''s Trial?" Shang asked. The old man nodded. "Yes. The former King of the Skythunder Kingdom created this Trial. It''s to test new Adepts. If they do well enough, they get some of the old King''s inheritance." "Of course, the old King didn''t really care about physis. That''s why you guys don''t know about it, but it''s also not really a secret. My job is to keep watch over this ce. So, it would be really appreciated if you could avoid this ce in the future," the old man said. At that moment, Shang felt a familiar feeling appear in his mind. "This ce has the ore," Sword said in Shang''s voice. Over thest year, it had learned to communicate rather well. Shang only looked at his sword in confusion. "THE ore. The one I need," Sword said. That''s when Shang understood. The ore he needed to make his weapon fullypatible with his Affinity. Soon, the procedure would take ce, and with it, Shang would probably unlock his true Affinity. At that moment, he would also need a fitting weapon. Shang looked at the rock again. So, he could find the ore he needed in the Old King''s Trial? Then, Shang turned to the old man. "Alright. Thank you, sir. I won''t do so again in the future." "Good," the old man said with a nod. Then, he went back to the gates, opened them, and entered them. After the gates closed, the door vanished. It was like it had never existed. Shang threw one more nce at the rock. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to enter today. First of all, this was a trial for Adepts, which were Mages in the Second Realm. Even if Shang got the permission to enter, as someone in the First Realm, he wouldn''t be able to get far anyway. ''All in due time,'' Shang thought. ''I should ask the Dean after the procedure.'' Then, Shang looked at the burned pieces that had once been the Trash Bird with a frown. ''Guess I can only bring the beak back. It''s definitely not in top condition, but it should still be worth something.'' Shang sighed and put the beak into a beast sack. And then, Shang walked back to the Farm Line. Chapter 173 Shang walked back to the defensive line. Even though the fight hadn''t been ended by him, he had still gained some knowledge. Now, he truly knew how annoying the Trash Birds were. Shang now knew exactly why every single hunter avoided fighting Trash Birds. They were worth nothing. They mainly focused on running away. And their defensive weapons were at the peak of being annoying and painful. It was like that species specifically evolved to be as unappealing to humans as possible. It was ugly, useless, annoying, loud, and worthless. An animal from Earth with equivalent status and worth would probably be a rat. Of course, a Trash Bird was still much stronger than a rat. ''I would have only needed to resist two more attacks. I should have been able to avoid the next attack with another st of mine. Thest attack would have been up in the air, but even if it hit me, its feet had already been injured quite badly. Even if it hit me, I would have probably survived.'' ''I think I had a good chance at victory.'' ''That''s one step closer to fighting an actually powerful Initial General Stage beast.'' Shang''s brows furrowed. ''However, there is only so much I can improve on. I have already reached the greatest speed possible, and my body has also reached its peak. There are only two ways to increase my power without advancing in my Realm or undergoing the procedure.'' ''First, specific knowledge and experience regarding my target. I''m already very experienced in fighting beasts in general, but I don''t have a specialized fighting tactic for every single beast I can fight.'' ''After today, I learned a lot about the Trash Bird, and the next time, it will be even easier. At that point, I will have created a specific technique to deal with it.'' ''That''s one way to increase my power.'' ''The other way is to work on my Affinity. At the moment, I can use my Affinity for speed and flexibility, but I don''t have a good way to turn it into a direct weapon.'' Shang looked at his left arm. ''I''ve been training on my Affinity for a while now, and I can feel that I''m getting close to being able to concentrate it. If I manage to achieve that, I can increase my offensive power by a lot.'' ''However, the price of my Affinity will make it harder for me to increase my speed if I also use it offensively. The attack with my Affinity could only be used as a finishing blow, and if the opponent manages to evade that, I will be in trouble since I can''t increase my speed anymore for quite some time.'' ''But that''s about it.'' Shang snorted. ''It''s actually funny. Training in my Affinity and releasing it in a more sophisticated way is literally what a Mage does. So, to increase my power even more, I have to essentially teach myself Magic.'' ''I can get why so many warriors give up on the warrior''s path and learn Magic. Even I can see how much a proper control of my Affinity can help me.'' Eventually, Shang reached the defensive line again. Sure enough, everyone was still fighting the horde of beasts. By now, the Peak and Late General Stage beasts had joined, and most of the teams were embroiled in a battle. The teams on the sidelines had either already finished their fights or were waiting for their first one. As Shang returned, one particr hunter smirked. "Boy, we heard that Trash Bird from here. So, how was it? How was your first Trash Bird?" the hunter asked. "Annoying," Shang grumbled. The huntersughed loudly. "That''s what I thought!" the hunter shouted withughter. "Anyway, you should know that the Trash Bird''s excrement can increase potency. Not many people know about this, but the ones that know will pay a lot for a bit of its excrement." Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang looked at the hunter, unamused. The hunter only smirked. "You should go grab some. You will earn a lot of gold." Shang only looked at the hunter. "Is this another Spire Mire thing?" he asked. The hunter, Chuck McGuiness, tried to keep hisughter in check. "No," he said with barely contained laughter. Shang only looked at Chuck McGuiness. "Chuck, seems like he won''t fall for your shit anymore," a hunter beside Chuck shouted with a loud laugh. The other hunters in the team alsoughed loudly. "Anyway, you''re really talented," the other hunter said. "Your name''s Shang, right? Would you be interested in joining our team?" Shang looked at the other hunters and noticed that none of them seemed to have aint about that. One had to know that this was a team filled with Early General Stage hunters. They exclusively hunted Early General Stage beasts, which was still above Shang''s level. The fact that they were willing to let him join meant that they valued his future power very highly. "Thanks, but I''ll have to decline," Shang said politely. "Aw, rejected," the leader of the team shouted with a loudugh. The other hunters only sighed, but they had expected something like that. They hadn''t asked Shang previously, but Shang seemed like someone that wasn''t interested in being inpany. "Do you really think that''s a good idea, Shang?" Chuck asked from the side. Shang looked at Chuck. "You know, it''s already amazing that you can kill a weak Initial General Stage beast on your own, but that won''t keep working forever," Chuck said. "You should know that their bodies be more and more powerful than ours the stronger everyone gets." "If your strength keeps increasing at its current pace, you might still be able to kill a Mid General Stage beast while being at the Early General Stage, but as soon as you fight a Late General Stage beast, you have to be at the Late General Stage as well." "And when you reach the Commander Stage, you would already count as one of the strongest hunters in the entire world if you can take out a beast on your own level without any help." "And it bespletely impossible at the Early Commander Stage," Chuck exined. Shang could see that Chuck genuinely worried for him. Ever since Chuck had yed that joke on Shang, he had given Shang advice several times. It was like he was trying to repay Shang for the joke he yed on him. "We are physical fighters. We''re physis," Chuck said with a bitter smile. "We are fighting with the very thing the beasts have the advantage in. Our intelligence and tactics can only achieve so much. At some point, the gap in power is just too vast." "You saw the Exploding Mountain Turtle a year ago, right?" Chuck asked. Shang nodded. "The Commander doesn''t keep his level a secret. He is at the Early True Path Stage, just like the Exploding Mountain Turtle," Chuck said with a sigh. "You saw the fight with your own eyes." Shang nodded again. Yes, the Dean and the Exploding Mountain Turtle had been on equal levels. Yet, the Dean had been absolutely helpless. The best he had managed was to cut some stone off the turtle''s legs. He hadn''t even drawn any blood. And inparison, the Dean had nearly died. Was the Dean weak? Did the Dean have a low Battle-Strength? Probably not. Even though the way to the True Path Realm had been public for over 30 years, no other warrior had managed to reach it yet. This meant that talent was also something very important when it came to reaching this Realm. The Dean definitely wasn''t an average warrior. Yet, he had still been helpless. "Just think about it, okay?" Chuck said with an awkward smile. Shang didn''t answer. Under normal circumstances, he might have epted Chuck''s proposal. However, there was still something waiting for Shang. The procedure. With the procedure, Shang could potentially reach the same Battle-Strength as Mages. "Oi, Chuck!" the leader of the team shouted. "Duty calls!" Chuck quickly turned around and saw a beast running towards them. "Talk to youter," Chuck said before he shot forward. "Later," Shang said. Soon, Chuck''s team was embroiled in a fight, which Shang watched. There was still a lot Shang could learn by watching others fight. SCREEEE! And then, Shang saw a beast pass Chuck''s team. When Shang saw the beast, his face transformed into a grimace again. It was another fucking Trash Bird! Chapter 174 The second Trash Bird also fled into the Wild Forest, and Shang charged after it. This time, Shang was prepared for the Trash Bird''s tactics, and the hunt went much smoother. With his first strike, he had managed to severely injure the Trash Bird''s right leg after losing his hearing. After that, the Trash Bird unleashed its ultimate ability and tried to shout Shang''s ears off. This time, Shang had been more prepared for the Trash Bird, and he had managed to evade three attacks without using his left arm. At the fourth one, he had to use his affinity since the Trash Bird had basically thrown caution to the wind in an effort to kill him. But after that, the Trash Bird''s voice had vanished, and without the interference of the voice, Shang had managed to kill it after around a minute of back and forth. Shang put the Trash Bird into a beast sack and returned to the defensive line. After arriving, he talked with a couple of hunters on standby. Many hunters already knew Shang, and they enjoyed talking with the quiet young man. He seemed like a good listener. Two hourster, Shang was sure that the teams were using him as their garbage can. Why? Because there was yet another Trash Bird. They essentially let Shang fight the beasts nobody wanted to fight. Shang didn''t like doing it, but it was a living. 350 gold might not be much for a General Stage beast, but it was still a lot of money for someone at the Soldier Stage. The third hunt went even easier for Shang. By now, he had learned to deal with the dizziness and noise quite well. Of course, Shang couldn''t avoid his hearing being destroyed. ''The first corpse wasn''tplete, but I can probably sell the beak for 300 gold or so,'' Shang thought as he shoved the third Trash Bird into his beast sack. ''That should give me around 1,000 gold in total for only two and a half hours of hunting. The Day of Chaos sure is profitable.'' Shang waited for another two hours, and the next beast arrived. Yet another Trash Bird. But this time, another team chased it into the forest. The other teams beside Shang felt bad for him. Being stuck with having to only hunt Trash Birds was something they didn''t wish on their worst enemy. Because of that, Shang didn''t need to fight any Trash Birds anymore. As Shang waited for his next opponent, he suddenly felt a peculiar feeling. Shang looked towards the northwest. Original from N?velDrama.Org. It was like there was something strange in that direction. He didn''t know what he was feeling right now. It felt like a mixture of anxiety and curiosity. It was like there was something there that felt alien but also familiar to him. But just a couple of secondster, the feelingpletely vanished. It was like it had just been an illusion. For a while, Shang only looked at the northwest with uncertainty. ''Did something happen in the Ice Wyvern Zone?'' Shang thought. ''How would I even be able to feel that? I can believe that a High Mage can feel things kilometers away, but I''m definitely not on that level.'' ''Probably just my imagination.'' However, before looking away again, Shang saw something float across the horizon. Shang squinted his eyes as he tried to see what it was. It definitely was very far away since even his improved vision couldn''t identify it. What was that? "Hey, Chuck, what''s that?" Shang said as he pointed at the horizon. Chuck had been beside Shang just now since he was also waiting for his team''s next target. Chuck was at the Early General Stage, two levels higher than Shang. His eyesight should be much more powerful than Shang''s. "Huh?" Chuck uttered as he looked over. Then, Chuck also squinted his eyes as he tried to discern what that was. And then, Chuck''s eyes widened in horror. After that, Chuck took a deep breath. And ran with all of his power towards the Farm Line. Chuck reached impressive speeds as he charged towards the Farm Line. His team looked at him with shock. Why was he leaving? The leader of the team looked to where Chuck had just looked, and his eyes also opened wide in shock. "We can''t let any more beasts through! We can''t risk anything at this moment!" the leader ordered his team. "Why? What''s going on?" another hunter asked. "The Ice Wyvern left its habitat," the leader said. The team of hunters took a deep breath in shock. The Icy Wyvern! It very, very rarely left its habitat! It normally stayed in the deepest abyss below the Ice Wyvern Zone. Below the Ice Wyvern Zone was a humongous undergroundke. It might even be a sea or an ocean. Several tunnels led from the deep undergroundke to the surface, which was how the Ice Wyvern Zone got its Ice Mana. Theke in the middle of Duke Whirlwind''s garden was one of these tunnels. Theke Shang had fought the Ice Spear Bear on wasn''t actually ake but a tunnel to the Ice Wyvern''sir. Shang also looked with shock at the northwest. That had been the Ice Wyvern? Shang hadn''t been able to see it properly, but just knowing that this was one of the Zone beasts still put a lot of respect into Shang. Shang had only seen a white streamer in the distance. It might as well have been an icy wisp. It could have been a long, white cloud. Yet, that streamer had turned out to be the Ice Wyvern! The Ice Wyvern only very rarely left its undergroundke. At most, it left itske every couple of years. "We have to inform the teachers of the Magic Academy!" one of the hunters said with urgency to his leader. "Chuck already went," the leader answered. Shang waited together with everyone else for Chuck''s return, and about a minuteter, he came back. "What did they say?" the leader asked Chuck. Chuck only rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "The teachers were just in as much of a panic as me, but after they called for one of the Vice-Deans, everything changed." "Stop stalling and just say it!" the leader said with annoyance. "Well, the Vice-Dean only smirked and said that this is a good sign." "It means that everything''s going ording to n," Chuck said awkwardly. Silence. "Everything''s going ording to n?" the leader asked. Chuck nodded. "That''s what he said. Of course, I asked him what that meant." "His answer?" "That means that we get more opportunities to make a fortune," Chuck said. For a while, nobody answered Chuck. At that moment, Shang saw something move at the edge of his vision. It came from the north-north-west, north of where he had seen the Ice Wyvern. Shang saw a tiny cloud of dark red and icy white appear. The others noticed that Shang was looking somewhere, and they also looked in that direction. For a while, their group only looked in that direction in confusion. "What''s that?" Shang asked. "It looks like a cloud of Ice and Fire Mana touched," the leader of the team said. "When they meet, they whirl around each other and neutralize each other." "Does Mana form clouds?" Shang asked. "Not really. It''s more of a stream," the leader answered. "So, what is that?" Shang asked. The leader looked with worry at the distant cloud. "I think I know what that is," he said. "Yeah, I think I know too," Chuck said with uncertainty. Shang looked at the two of them. "Which is?" Shang asked. Without looking away, Chuck answered. "I think the Ice Wyvern and the Volcano Wyrm are fighting." Chapter 175 Shang looked with shock at the distant cloud. The Ice Wyvern and the Volcano Wyrm were fighting? Two Zone Beasts were fighting?! At this moment, Shang realized how truly far away the cloud was. The Ice Wyvern was probably as big as the Storm Eagle, and if it appeared that tiny, it was probably very far away. "How far away do you think they are?" Shang asked. "150 to 200 kilometers," Chuck said from the side with uncertainty. 200 kilometers. Shang watched a battle from 200 kilometers away. If the destruction could be seen from such a distance, how apocalyptic was it close to the fight? What about thend directly beneath them? At this moment, Shang realized something. The Zone Beasts had actually reached the destructive powers of nuclear weapons on Earth. Nuclear weapons could transform kilometers ofnd into a crater, and the two Zone Beasts were doing just that. Probably everything below them had turned into and of ice and fire, even though they were fighting that high in the sky. Shang could only see some faint colors moving around. Sadly, he wasn''t able to see the individual combatants from such a distance. Then, Shang remembered the words of the Vice-Dean of the Mage Academy. This went ording to n. Did that mean that the Mages had gotten the Frost Wyvern to fight the Magma Wyrm? How? Why? How many lives had they destroyed? Then, a cold feeling of apathy went over Shang''s heart. ''Just as expected. This world is not kind.'' ''I have doubted my own assumption of the world in the past due to all the idealistic people around me, but this proves it.'' ''This world is cold.'' ''Only power reigns supreme.'' At the same moment, Shang also felt a feeling of ease wash over him. Ease? Why? Because he had worked so hard at trying to suppress his empathy. Shang had worked tirelessly to kill off his empathy over thest year. He had always felt guilty for trying to be cold-hearted. What if the world actually wasn''t that cold? What if the teachers were actually right? What if righteousness, respect, and honesty were truly the most important things? If that were the case, Shang would have wasted an entire year''s worth of effort. But now, Shang realized that he hadn''t wasted his time. ''If I want to be powerful, I have to be able to do things my past self would have never allowed.'' ''I have to remember that only my power is important.'' ''Others will die. People will betray others for their own gain.'' ''In the end, only power is reliable.'' Shang watched the two beasts fight for another half a minute until they finally split off. The Magma Wyrm was flying to the north while the Ice Wyvern remained at the spot they had just fought. The image was clear. The Ice Wyvern had won the battle. Shang knew a lot about the different Zones, and he also knew, based on context clues, where the two beasts had fought. The two beasts had fought above the gigantic battlefield north of the Ice Wyvern Zone. The Ice Mana of the Ice Wyvern Zone touched the Fire Mana of the Volcano Wyrm Zone at the north. The two elements were notpatible at all, which extended to the beasts. Beasts passively gave off Elemental Mana. So, in a sense, if arge group of beasts traveled somewhere, the Mana would follow. The battlefield north of the Ice Wyvern Zone and south of the Volcano Wyrm Zone had been half-filled with Ice Mana and half-filled with Fire Mana, and the beasts had constantly warred against each other. Because of that, nearly no humans lived in the battlefield. But what about now? With the Volcano Wyrm retreating and the Ice Wyvern staying, what would be of the battlefield? The Ice Wyvern''s Ice Mana would flood the entire battlefield, eradicating the Fire Mana in the surroundings. So, didn''t that mean that the Ice Wyvern''s Zone would expand towards the north? And then, Shang realized the n the Vice-Dean was talking about. Since Duke Whirlwind was the owner of the Ice Wyvern Zone, wouldn''t he now also gain ownership of the battlefield? ''So, that''s what their n was,'' Shang thought with a deep breath. ''They got the Ice Wyvern to fight with the Volcano Wyrm. They were probably certain that the Ice Wyvern would win the fight.'' ''And now, Duke Whirlwind has ess to and full of resources.'' ''Since nearly no human has traveled to the battlefield, the entire Zone is probably filled to the brim with ore, rare beasts, and valuable nts.'' N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. ''And since we are part of Duke Whirlwind''s duchy, we also gain ess to this newnd. That''s what the Vice-Dean meant with that we also get new opportunities to earn money.'' Shang looked around and noticed that many people were still confused. Seemed like he was one of the first ones to crack the mystery of why the Ice Wyvern and Volcano Wyrm were fighting. ''But why today?'' Shang thought. ''I don''t think that Duke Whirlwind would choose such a precarious day to go on the offensive. He probably had to get involved in some way, which might even make him unavable if a True Path Stage beast invades.'' For a while, Shang only remained in thought. ''What if it is only possible on the Day of Chaos?'' ''What if the leaving of the Storm Eagle is connected to how they managed to pull this off?'' ''I''mcking information and can''te to a concrete conclusion right now.'' For a while, the hunters only looked to the north as they shared their suspicions. Shang didn''t unveil his suspicions. After all, if this was meant to be a secret, he could get into trouble by making it public. When dealing with powers far above one''s ability, it was better to err on the side of caution. Many other hunters hadn''t noticed the fight between the Zone beasts. After all, they were busy with their own fights, and several beasts fighting in front of them were definitely more conspicuous than a distant, tiny cloud. Sadly, ten minutester, work called. Chuck''s team got their next target assigned, and Shang also had to prepare himself. He wouldn''t get any more Trash Birds, but he might get something else. And, sure enough, his new opponent arrived in the middle of the afternoon. It was a huge, rocky lizard. Rocks were all over its body, and it wasn''t very fast. When Shang saw that, he became interested. ''A Crag Lizard,'' Shang thought. ''This opponent is perfect!'' Crag Lizards were ambush predators just like Vanishing Snakes, which made them clumsy in direct confrontations. Crag Lizards buried in the ground until only some of their stones poked out of the surface. If a beast they could kill stepped close, spears of stone would explode out of the stones. In a sense, a Crag Lizard was the closest thing to a Spire Mire that actually existed, and that was probably also where Chuck got his inspiration from. Crag Lizards were slow, but their earth spears were fast and deadly. Of course, their defense was also top-notch. Shang was excited about testing out his abilities against the Crag Lizard. Chapter 176 Shang charged at the Crag Lizard. Right now, the Crag Lizard was overwhelmed by all the powerful beasts and humans around it, and it barely even took note of Shang. The Crag Lizard was around two meters high and five meters long, making it rather heavy with a powerful body. As Shang charged toward the Crag Lizard, he put an arm into one of the bags on his back and retrieved something. It was a crystal filled with Water Mana. Shang threw the crystal towards the Crag Lizard''s left side. BANG! Water Mana exploded out of the crystal as it shattered. The Crag Lizard''s body flinched as it fled from the Water Mana. Earth beasts hated Water Mana since that was their counter. Water itself wasn''t a problem for them, but Water Mana would invade their Earth Mana and turn it into Mud Mana. Mud Mana was a Mixed Affinity. Not many humans had it, but quite a lot of beasts had it. The Empress Cobra Zone had several beasts that had a Mud Affinity, for example. If the Crag Lizard were to fight such a beast, it would be at a disadvantage, which was why it fled from the big source of Water Mana. The crystal Shang had just thrown was called a Positioning Bomb. Positioning Bombs were used to make beasts move to a different location, which was very useful. For example, if that Crag Lizard hung to a big mountain, it would be nearly impossible to attack it. After all, its stony back would be between it and its attacker, and its rocky back didn''t stop it from attacking. Shang had obviouslye prepared for the Day of Chaos. The Crag Lizard slowly ran into the Wild Forest, away from everyone else. Shang followed it from behind for around a minute until he was sure that nobody was watching him. Inparison to the Trash Bird, the Crag Lizard wasn''t flexible at all, which meant that it left behind a path of destruction in the forest. On top of that, since Shang didn''t need to move that fast, he had the time to move stealthily. The Crag Lizard didn''t know that Shang was on a tree very close to it. Shang put his left hand on his sword, and a momentter, Shang''s left arm began to steam with heat. After that, Shang jumped off the tree and pointed his left arm back. BANG! Shang unleashed a Fire st, and his arm nearly froze over. However, Shang''s speed had reached speeds the Crag Lizard could only dream of. In an instant, Shang reached the Crag Lizard''s head. And his sword struck its neck. CRK! Shang''s sword hit the Crag Lizard''s armored neck. Usually, Shang''s attack would only be powerful enough to draw some blood and prate its armor a bit. However, Shang''s speed and momentum were much higher. His weapon was far more powerful. Andstly, his sword had been filled with Ice Mana, the perfect counter against anything hard and brittle. When the sword touched the Crag Lizard''s neck, all the Ice Mana came out of the sword''s edge. CRRRRR! The Ice Mana made the stone even more brittle, and the sword easily passed through the armor. CRACK! And it came out of the other side! Shang''s sword had cut through the Crag Lizard''s entire neck! BANG! An earth spear hit Shang at the side of his chest, and the ability of his uniform activated. The uniform wasn''t enough to block the entire attack, but it was good enough to slightly divert the attack. But, in the end, the left side of Shang''s upper abdomen was still prated by a wide spear made of earth. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang gritted his teeth and quickly cut the earth spear off as he jumped back, the spear still stuck inside his chest. BOOM! The Crag Lizard fell over, 80% of its head severed. Shang''s sword wasn''t long enough to cut off the entire thing, but that was more than enough. The Crag Lizard couldn''t even shout anymore. As it fell to the ground, its body began to spasm as it barely clung to its remaining life energy. Of course, its struggle was pointless. As the Crag Lizard''s body spasmed in panic, Shang looked with a frown at the spear jutting out of the left side of his abdomen. Shang quickly pulled it out and threw it to the side. At the same time, Shang ordered his Mana to concentrate on healing his chest and to ignore his arm for now. ''It was a manageable risk, but it was still dangerous,'' Shang thought. ''Luckily, I was right in my estimates.'' Shang had expected that he might get hit by one attack, which was why his body had been slightly angled to the side. He had epted that he would most likely take a hit, and he had gambled on his armor. Astor regrly did the same thing. Their armor was part of their arsenal. Being good at fighting didn''t only mean being able to perfectly wield one''s weapon but also to perfectly wield one''s defenses. Then, Shang looked at the Crag Lizard. ''As long as I don''t give my opponent the opportunity to use their power, it''s like they don''t even have that power.'' ''Even if someone has the ability to annihte a Zone Beast, as long as I kill them before they can unleash it, it''s like they don''t have that ability at all.'' ''In a direct confrontation with the Crag Lizard, I might have even been forced to flee. Its spears are fast and numerous enough topletely stop any advances from my side.'' ''The Crag Lizard''s goal was to not die, while mine was to kill it. It didn''t have to win. It only had to not lose.'' ''That makes the fight much more difficult for me.'' ''However, by taking a risk early and not allowing it to fully show its defensive power, I managed to take it down.'' Shang looked at the healing hole on his left abdomen. ''However, I have to get better at it. I''m sure there was a way topletely avoid injury.'' ''Practice and experience,'' Shang thought. By now, the Crag Lizard''s body had lost nearly all its life energy, and its body was barely moving. ''I don''t think I can put that thing into a beast sack and carry it behind me. It''s simply too big and heavy.'' ''Well, I pushed enough cars in myst life. This shouldn''t be any different.'' Shang went to the Crag Lizard''s body, cut off thest part of its neck, and put the head in a beast sack. Then, Shang put both his hands on the Crag Lizard''s body and began to roll it. It was quite difficult, but it was manageable. Sure enough, it was only a bit worse than pushing a car. The only bad part was that it would take a while to get back to the defensive line. ''I mean, I pulled a heavy sled wagon for far longer. It''s only a matter of time.'' Luckily, the Crag Lizard hadn''t been very fast to begin with, which meant that Shang only had to push it for a bit less than a kilometer. It took him about ten minutes to get back. "Nice job," Chuck said when he saw Shang. Chuck grabbed the corpse of the Crag Lizard and threw it to Shang''s other three beast sacks. "It should be over soon," he said. Shang only nodded as he sat down beside his corpses. He had killed four Initial General Stage beasts today, and he probably wouldn''t get another one for a while. On top of that, Shang needed some time to heal his left arm since all his Mana had gone to his abdomen. So, for the remainder of the day, Shang only sat beside his four corpses. The horde of beasts slowly thinned out. An hourter, the hunters abandoned the defensive line and scattered to look for stragglers. Shang only waited as the other hunters left the defensive line. The Day of Chaos hadn''t officially ended yet, but it was basically already over. While Shang was healing his left arm beside his corpses, he saw two people approach. When Shang saw them, he frowned. ''What now?'' he thought with annoyance. Teacher Loran and teacher Mervin were slowly walking to Shang. And their expressions were ufortable. They obviously weren''t there to congratte Shang. ''Another sermon about morality and righteousness?'' Shang thought. Chapter 177 Shang looked at teacher Loran and teacher Mervin. Both of them didn''t seem to be in good spirits. "Yes?" Shang asked emotionlessly. Teacher Mervin had a calm expression on his face, while teacher Loran frowned. Teacher Mervin looked at teacher Loran and then at Shang. "I am here as a mediator," he said. Shang scoffed. "Mediator?" he asked. "Weren''t you on his side when he tried to threaten me into following his demands?" "No, I was not," teacher Mervin said. This surprised Shang. Teacher Mervin wasn''t? But hadn''t teacher Loran said that teacher Mervin was on his side? Shang looked at teacher Loran with furrowed brows. "I assumed they were on board, but they weren''t," teacher Loran grumbled. Shang narrowed his eyes. Not only had teacher Loran wanted to threaten Shang intopliance, but he had also lied about the stance of the other teachers. "While I agree with teacher Loran''s goals," teacher Mervin said, "I don''t agree with his methods." "I believe following his advice is the correct choice for you, but I think he hasn''tmunicated his advice correctly." Teacher Loran only snorted. Shang had already learned that teacher Loran was basically a stubborn old man stuck in his ways. Getting him to admit to a mistake was basically impossible. "Shang, we three will not stand in your way if you want to pursue special training," teacher Mervin said. "I also talked with teacher Olga, and she is in agreement. While we do wish for you to change for the better, we won''t force this upon you." "We are your teachers. You are our student. We can teach you what is right or wrong, but we can''t force you to follow our advice. Doing so would be denying your individuality." "We can use our experienced eyes to search for the best path, but only you can walk it." By now, Shang had calmed down a lot. The fact that teacher Loran had essentially threatened him with his future had irked Shang to no end. In Shang''s mind, this was basically the same as a girlfriend giving an ultimatum to her boyfriend. "It''s either your friend or me!" In that case, the only correct decision was to get rid of the person giving the ultimatum. Now, the ultimatum had been nullified, and everything was back at its old ce. "And what kind of path is best for me in your experienced eyes?" Shang asked in a weird tone. He wasn''t sure himself if that was mocking or serious. On one hand, Shang had already gained quite a detailed understanding of the world, but on the other hand, the teachers had lived in this world for many more decades than him, and they hade further. Shang was honestly not sure if he should believe them. They were far more experienced than Shang. However, they had also only reached the Commander Stage. Sure, the Commander Stage was amazing, but Shang''s goals reached much further. If their advice were so perfect, why hadn''t they reached the True Path Realm yet? Shang didn''t believe that it was impossible to change one''s habits, evente in someone''s life. There had to be a path forward. So, while their advice might be worth its weight in gold, it would only help Shang reach the Commander Stage, and even worse, it might actually stop Shang from ever reaching the True Path Stage. Because of that, Shang was uncertain what he should make of their advice. Teacher Loran didn''t like the tone Shang had used with teacher Mervin, but teacher Loran couldn''t be sure that Shang had actually ridiculed him. It was somewhat confusing. "Shang, what is your goal?" teacher Mervin asked. "Power," Shang immediately answered. Teacher Loran wasn''t the biggest fan of Shang''s answer. People whose goal was only power were often people thatmitted the most horrible atrocities to satiate their own greed for power. People like that essentially weren''t humans in teacher Loran''s eyes. "Just power?" teacher Mervin asked calmly. "Yes," Shang answered after a bit. However, his voice had shown only the slightest bit of uncertainty. "Alright," teacher Mervin said. "What after you reach your goal?" "After I reach my goal?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. "Let''s assume you became the most powerful being in this world. Let''s assume there are no more enemies that can be a danger to you." "What then?" Silence. For a while, Shang was uncertain. He didn''t know what he would do then. Would he return to Earth? No, definitely not. Would he follow in the God''s footsteps and watch the world for entertainment? But then what? Wouldn''t he grow bored eventually? Shang''s thoughts went towards love and romance next. At the moment, Shang was not interested in a rtionship. Having a rtionship meant investing time and effort, which meant having less time and effort for his training. A rtionship could always wait. But what after he had achieved his goal? ¡­ Sure, he could have a rtionship. Maybe learn about what''s beyond this world? Maybe search for more powerful people outside this world? If there was an Earth, there might actually be more. If there was one God, couldn''t there be more? "Do you have your answer?" teacher Mervin asked after seeing that Shang had been quiet for over 20 seconds. "Many things," Shang answered. "Love, family, friends, discovery, all that kind of stuff." When teacher Loran heard that, his face rxed. He had feared that Shang had already be an isted person only focused on their greed for power, but that didn''t seem to be the case. Shang didn''t answer that he would search for even more power, which would be what these kinds of people most often said. "But if you are the strongest being, will you be able to foster these kinds of rtionships?" teacher Mervin asked. This question took Shang by surprise. As the most powerful person, Shang should be able to do anything. His instinctual answer was yes. However, Shang also realized something else. Shang thought back to Earth. Power in this world could be equated to wealth on Earth. Shang had heard that many millionaires had trouble finding friends and loved ones. They very often feared that their friends were only after their money. They didn''t love them because of them, but because of their money. So, wouldn''t something simr happen here? What if the most powerful person held a grand election for their partner? Wouldn''t only people arrive because of their status? What if the most powerful person searched for a partner without any grand announcement? Well, nearly everyone would probably be put off by their sheer power and reject any kind of genuine feelings. "It''s difficult," Shang said. "It is," teacher Mervin said. "However, if you have a close circle of friends, it shouldn''t be difficult. Maybe you will find someone in that circle. Maybe some of them could introduce you. There are plenty of opportunities." "Shang, power might be your primary goal, but you can''t forget about a time after." For a while, Shang remained silent. Teacher Mervin and teacher Loran had the same opinion and same goal in talking to Shang. However, they went about it very differently. "And what should I do in your opinion?" Shang asked. "Get a team," teacher Mervin said. "Join a team of hunters. Take part in group missions. Try not to deny an invitation if an acquaintance gives you one." "Just one thing, essentially." "Be more amongst people." Chapter 178 "Just be more amongst people?" Shang asked. Teacher Mervin nodded. "As long as you retain some kind of social life, it should be fine." Shang looked at teacher Loran. "That sounds different from what he said." Teacher Loran looked to the side. "What did he say?" teacher Mervin asked. "He said that he isn''t willing to teach someone that doesn''t care about their own life, and he also left a crypticment. He said that my life is not only my own," Shang answered. "I do agree with that," teacher Mervin said calmly. "However, that is several steps in the future. It is essentially the end goal." "Could you borate?" Shang asked. "If you are more amongst people, you will learn to care for more people, and more people will care for you. At that point, you might not want to risk your life as much. If you die, your close ones will suffer as well. In that sense, your life is not only your own." "However, it is understandable that this is only a hypothetical for you right now. First, you need to get more amongst people. Then, eventually, you won''t want to risk your life as much since you don''t want your close ones to feel pain." "You also would want to see them again. If you died, you wouldn''t be able to talk to them anymore. If you died, you would never feel love again." "In short, your survival will take priority over your goal, which isn''t counterproductive to achieving your goal. After all, a dead person can''t be the most powerful being in existence." Shang remained silent. "But in the end, it is all up to you. Maybe you won''t feel the desire to be close with others after trying it. Maybe your goal still far outweighs their happiness." "However, without trying it, you can never be certain." "So, even if you might be disappointed, at least you will have more rity about your goals and what you want in life." "In the end, it''s all up to you. It''s your decision. I only suggest that you try it, and I won''t force you. Even if you decide to ignore everything I said today, our rtionship won''t change." "You are one of my students." "I am one of your teachers." "And that will remain the same." Shang only looked to the side as his mind tried to find out what his own thoughts were on that subject. Should he? Shouldn''t he? "That is all I wanted to say," teacher Mervin said. "I hope you won''t look too bad on teacher Loran. He only wanted to help you, but he did it in a very clumsy way. I think the best way forward is to pretend that you two have not talked today." Two seconds of silence passed. "It''s fine," Shang said as he looked at teacher Loran. "Let''s forget about today." Teacher Loran only snorted and left without saying anything. Shang had known teacher Loran for long enough to know that he felt embarrassed. His snort was his way of agreeing and apologizing. "Now that that''s over, let me help you with getting your beasts to the Academy. The legitimacy of your kills is not in question today, which means you can earn Contribution Points with them," teacher Mervin said. Shang nodded. Teacher Mervin grabbed the beast sacks. "Teacher Mervin," Shang said. "Yes?" "Thank you," Shang said. "You gave me a lot to think about." "No thanks necessary," teacher Mervin said calmly. "This is why I am a teacher." Shang only nodded absentmindedly. After that, Shang stood up and followed behind teacher Mervin. Without teacher Mervin, Shang would have needed to roll the Crag Lizard all the way to Warrior''s Paradise, which would have taken a long time. Some minutester, the Storm Eagle returned. As it passed over them, teacher Mervin took hold of Shang''s hand so that he wouldn''t be flung into the distance. After all, the two of them were already on the road to Warrior''s Paradise, which was essentially a gigantic cliff. During the journey, the two of them mostly remained silent, but Shang had still asked one question. "Teacher Mervin, why are you so different from the first time I saw you?" he asked. "What do you mean?" teacher Mervin asked calmly. "During my exam, youughed and joked a lot," Shang said. "Shang, there are different sides to people," teacher Mervin answered. "During their shift, amander of the guards might be the strictest person one can imagine, but if you meet the samemander in a barter, you would see themughing without end." "Back then, you weren''t part of my students, and it wasn''t important what you thought of me." "Now, it is important." Shang looked to the front. "Is it truly important what others think of you?" Shang asked. "For yourself? No. For others? Yes," teacher Mervin answered. That answer confused Shang a bit. "Could you borate?" he asked. "I don''t care what strangers think of me," teacher Mervin exined. "Their thoughts can''t impact my life. Even if the entire school believes me to be an old drunkard without any merits, my life won''t change." "However, if I am not perceived to be someone experienced, the others won''t listen to me when I want to teach them something." "So, for me, it doesn''t matter. However, if I want to have the ability to teach and help others, it matters." Some seconds of silence passed. "So, it''s all about helping others?" Shang asked. "That is why I am a teacher," teacher Mervin said. "If I wouldn''t want to help others, I would have be a high-ranking officer somewhere. My job would be less stressful, and I wouldn''t have to be present every day." "For many people, their own power and legacy are the most important. However, if I can positively influence several people''s lives, isn''t that a sort of power or legacy as well?" Then, the two of them fell into silence again. Shang weighed his options as he traveled to the Warrior''s Academy while teacher Mervin gave Shang the space to think for himself. The two of them arrived at the Exchange Hall, and teacher Mervin acted as the clerk since the other clerks were still in the Farm Line due to the Day of Chaos. Shang received a total of 10,000 Contribution Points for his kills. In the past, it had been an issue for Shang to deliver his killed General Stage beasts to the academy. After all, it was very difficult to believe that someone at the Soldier Stage managed to kill one. The academy was filled with progeny from rich families, and this was all to stop them from ying the system. The Academy rewarded growth and aplishments, not wealth. After that, the two of them split up. Shang went back to his room and sat on his bed. He still wasn''t sure if he should follow teacher Mervin''s advice. Teacher Mervin''s advice was definitely applicable to basically every warrior out there. However, Shang wasn''t just any warrior. Just finding a team of hunters was already a big issue for Shang. Shang had a unique Affinity that he couldn''t allow anyone to learn of. People with a Darkness and Light Affinity were already highly sought after by different Magic families. Even teacher Niria kept her Darkness Affinity a secret, and she was a powerful Commander Stage warrior. If Shang joined a team of hunters, he would have to keep everything a secret, which would mean that he couldn''t even give his all in the hunt. On top of that, Shang wouldn''t get an opportunity to test and train with his full power. Then, there was the procedure. The procedure would take ce very soon. In fact, it would take ce tomorrow. Yes, tomorrow was the day for the procedure. The results of the procedure might also be under scrutiny, and basically anything could happen. Shang could be a celebrity. Shang might gain another secret no one was allowed to know. Maybe the procedure would change Shang''s appearance? Original from N?velDrama.Org. Maybe it would change his power so that no one was allowed to see any of it? Basically anything could happen. Because of all these reasons, it wasn''t certain that following teacher Mervin''s advice would be the best course of action. After all, teacher Mervin hadn''t known all the information about Shang before making a decision. ''I should wait for tomorrow.'' ''I can still decideter.'' After that, Shang stood up from his bed and took out Sword. "Let''s do our daily routine," Shang said. Sword didn''t answer. Sword had turned out to be rather taciturn, and it only talked when it found it necessary. In a way, it was simr to Shang. Shang also didn''t speak a lot. Chapter 179 Knock, knock, knock. Shang opened his eyes. He had finished his routine training a couple of hours ago, and he had been concentrating on his Affinity ever since. He felt like he was close to achieving another breakthrough with his Affinity. Shang stood up and walked to the door. After opening it, Shang saw Vice-Dean Soran in front of him. The hall was very dark, and Shang''s inner clock told him that it was about two hours before dawn. "Follow me," Vice-Dean Soran said with a solemn tone. Then, Vice-Dean Soran walked over to the stairs. Shang followed. After they arrived at the stairs, Vice-Dean Soran walked to an empty wall and put his emblem on it. Aplicated pattern appeared on the wall, and a secondter, the wall parted. Now, there was a set of stairs in front of Shang that led downward. Apparently, the main building of the Warrior''s Academy also had a basement. Shang followed Vice-Dean Soran into the underground, and the wall closed behind them. At the same time, several crystals on the wall began to shine. Shang could feel Light Manaing from them. The two of them walked down the stairs for around a minute in silence before they arrived in front of another door. "This is the ce where the academy stores its most valuable wares," Vice-Dean Soran said. "You are encouraged to keep this ce a secret." Shang only nodded. Vice-Dean Soran opened the door, and the two of them entered. A dimly lit hallway was in front of Shang now with several old wooden doors at the side. As soon as Shang entered the hallway, he felt like he had been submerged in a wave of Elemental Mana. Surprisingly, the majority of the Elemental Mana was Darkness Mana. Content ? N?velDrama.Org. ''I''ve already suspected that the academy also sells Darkness ore,'' Shang thought. "Surprised?" Vice-Dean Soran asked. "By what?" Shang asked. "I know of your peculiar Affinity," Vice-Dean Soran said. "Are you surprised that you can feel so much Darkness Mana?" When Shang heard that Soran knew of his Affinity, he became a bit nervous. Vice-Dean Soran wasn''t the biggest fan of Shang, and he knew it. When Vice-Dean Soran saw Shang''s reaction, he sighed. "You are still so mistrustful and skeptical," Vice-Dean Soran said. "Did you know that if someone is very distrustful of everyone, chances are high that they also can''t be trusted? Deceptive people assume that everyone around them is deceptive since that is also what they think." Shang didn''t answer. "If you were a good person, I would tell you that I have no reason to do anything to you and that I''m someone that errs on the side of belief." "Why would you err on the side of belief?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. If Vice-Dean Soran were more inclined to believe someone than to disbelief them, wouldn''t he open himself to all kinds of deceptions? "It''s called confidence, Shang," Vice-Dean Soran said. "So what if someone lies to me or betrays me? I''m confident enough in myself that I know I can deal with all the consequences." "But I know that you and I do not have the same ideology, Shang," Vice-Dean Soran said. "So, let me put you at ease with words that might resonate with your mindset." Shang only looked at Soran. "You are not nearly worth it to betray my lifelong teacher and the Duke," Vice-Dean Soran said. "Less nervous now?" On one hand, Shang''s emotions were a bit riled up by the verbal attack, but on the other hand, Soran''s words had actually alleviated Shang''s nervousness. Right, doing something to him was not even close to being worth it. "Keep one thing in mind, Shang," Vice-Dean Soran said. "If we were wildly chasing power, we wouldn''t have opened a school." "We?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, we," Vice-Dean Soran answered as they walked down the hallway. "The Warrior''s Academy is barely 30 years old. I was already a Commander Stage warrior back then, and the Dean had already been my teacher for years." Shang was surprised when he heard how long Vice-Dean Soran had already been a Commander Stage warrior. In thest year, Shang had learned about the extended longevity and increase in power brought. Soldier Stage warriors lived as long as very healthy mortals. General Stage warriors lived to be around 150 years old. And Commander Stage warriors lived to be around 250 years old. As for the True Path Stage? That was an unknown. After all, the Dean was the first True Path Stage warrior. Mages in each Realm generally lived for a couple of decades longer, but that was due to a multitude of methods to extend their lives. These ways simply weren''t applicable to warriors. This was an additional difference between the foundation the warriors and Mages had. However, Shang hadn''t known that Vice-Dean Soran had been the Dean''s student for that long. After walking for a while, Vice-Dean Soran opened a seemingly random, old door at the side and entered. Shang followed after Vice-Dean Soran. When Shang saw the room, a cold, oppressive feeling washed over him. There wasn''t much in the room. It essentially was only a ratherrge cell. The only furniture of note was a table made of cold metal in the middle of the room with dried stains of blood on it. It reminded Shang of an operating table. In the corner, Shang saw a small, scaly mass. He couldn''t see the entire thing since it had its back turned to him. What he could see was that the thing was around 30 centimeters wide and that its scales were pure ck. As soon as Shang saw it, he felt something familiar. Just half a day ago, Shang had felt the same feeling. It was the feeling Shang had felt just before he had seen the Ice Wyvern. The thing in the corner felt dangerous to Shang, but he also felt like it was familiar, even though he had never seen that thing before. When Shang saw the thing, the thing suddenly began to move, and it turned its head to Shang. It was still alive! Now, Shang could finally see its face. Face? There was no face! Its head was simply the head of a worm with tons of teeth! However, Shang felt like there was a ck eye at the back of its throat, even though he couldn''t see it. For a moment, Shang felt like he and the thing were the only two things in the room. At the side, Soran''s eyebrows furrowed. Then, the thing slowly stood up. Its front legs looked simr to human arms, and it even had something that one could call hands. However, the fingers had extremely long ws, almost as long as the length of its arms. The thing slowly started walking to Shang. Subconsciously, Shang extended his arm towards the thing. He had a desire to touch it. Suddenly, the thing fell to the ground, unconscious. As soon as the thing lost its consciousness, Shang''s mind returned to the present, and a cold shudder ran down his back. ''What was that?! It''s almost like I was on autopilot!'' Shang thought as he took a deep breath. "Fascinating." Shang heard the familiar voice and looked to the side in surprise. He hadn''t realized that there were more people in here. All his attention had been on the thing. Including Shang, there were six people in the room. Shang could see Vice-Dean Soran and the Dean standing beside two other people. The person that had just spoken was beside the Dean. He had long, green hair, and Wind Mana swirled around him like he was a whirlpool. It was Duke Whirlwind. And beside Duke Whirlwind? "Who would have thought that I would see you outside our regr lessons?" Mattheo only smiled in a kind manner as he spoke. However, there was one more person. In the corner of the room, Shang could also see Vice-Dean Ranos. He was looking at Shang and the thing on the ground with furrowed brows. Chapter 180 "I didn''t expect you two to be here," Shang said as he looked at Duke Whirlwind and Mattheo. Mattheo only smiled politely. "I am the future Duke, and father involves me more and more in these kinds of things." Duke Whirlwind smiled with pride as he put a hand on Mattheo''s shoulder. "He hasn''t had it easy, but there is already no more doubt in my mind that he will reach the High Mage Realm. He will probably be even more powerful than me in the future." Mattheo''s expression didn''t change at his father''s words. Shang could feel a certain distance between Mattheo and his father. "Anyway, Shang," Duke Whirlwind said with a smirk. "I bet you thought yourself quite clever after snatching Old Ice Octopus'' Mana Source and sessfully hiding it from me." Shang felt a mix of nervousness and a bit of guilt. After all, he had essentially stolen something from Duke Whirlwind. "But it''s fine," Duke Whirlwind said. "Honestly, if I were in your ce, I would have done the same thing." "What would you have done if I had told you?" Shang asked. "I''m not sure, honestly," Duke Whirlwind said. "But I think I would have asked you to demonstrate, and I would have very quickly noticed that your Affinity was very strange. I think I would have taken you with me to find out more about your Affinity." "You mean experiment on me until I died?" Shang asked emotionlessly. Duke Whirlwind snorted. "Now, Shang, something like that would be idiotic." "Idiotic?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. "There was obviously more to your Affinity, which means that there was more to be discovered. After a while, I would have probably delivered other Mana Sources to you to see what would happen." "And then, I would be interested in what woulde of your Affinity if you were to be more powerful." "But since you have a warrior''s body, you obviously can''t be a Mage. That means you would have ended up in the Warrior''s Academy either way. The Dean would have noticed your particr talents as well." "So, in the end, we would still be here," Duke Whirlwind exined. Shang wasn''t certain if he should believe Duke Whirlwind. On one hand, everything he said appeared logical, but on the other hand, it seemed too good to be true. "What about the Mana Source?" Shang asked. "It''s fine," Duke Whirlwind said. "You can see it as a gift." "But¡­" Shang furrowed his brows. "I would like for you to tell me everything you know about your Affinity. Your Affinity is one of a kind, and I am dying to know what you can and can''t do." "Would you be interested in trying out a couple of experimental spells? Based on your Affinity, I can create a couple of them. They won''t be anything fancy, but they will give you more information on your Affinity." Duke Whirlwind patted his son''s shoulder again. "Of course, Mattheo will be with you when you try the spells. You two can work on the spells, and Mattheo will deliver the results to me." "So, what do you say?" Duke Whirlwind asked. Trying out spells? Shang was definitely interested, but he also felt wary. This was a High Mage. Who knew what sort of spells he could create? What if he made some spell that would destroy Shang''s consciousness and make him into a mindless puppet? Shang looked over at the silent Dean. ''However, my survival is very important to the Dean. If I were to die suddenly, his procedure would look like a failure in the public''s eyes.'' ''Duke Whirlwind is definitely interested, but I doubt that he would throw the hard work of the Dean into the trash just for his curiosity.'' ''So, for the time being, I should be safe. If Duke Whirlwind were to try something, it wouldn''t be in the next couple of years.'' ''Also, what sort of reason would he even have to kill me? I am the source of his curiosity, and by killing me, he would essentially be killing the chicken for the eggs.'' ''For now, I see no reason why the Duke would want to hurt me.'' "I''m interested," Shang said. "I am also not sure about my Affinity, and I''m also interested in learning more." Duke Whirlwind''s smile widened. "That''s great to hear! I will prepare a couple of spellster for you to try out. Of course, if you are still uneasy about the effects of the spells, you can ask any Mage about them. Just knowing about the spells wouldn''t unveil anything." "However, I would ask you to be a bit more careful with the Spells involving the Light and Darkness Affinity. Some Mages might be suspicious about how you got your hands on these Spells." Shang nodded. "Thank you, Duke Whirlwind." "Seems like we will be working together to a certain degree from now on, Shang," Mattheo said. "I''m looking forward to it," Shang said. "Now then," Duke Whirlwind said after walking to one of the walls. "I believe it''s time for the main event." "You can start. Mattheo and I will be watching from here." While Duke Whirlwind and Mattheo waited at one wall, Vice-Dean Soran waited near the door. Vice-Dean Ranos was watching everything silently from the corner of the room. Even though Duke Whirlwind and Mattheo spoke in a lighthearted and rxed tone, the entire atmosphere of the room felt oppressive to Shang. Two Vice-Deans were watching Shang with solemn eyes, and one of them was even blocking the door. Together with the bloodstained table and the unconscious thing in the corner, the entire room felt dark and oppressive. He had epted to undergo the procedure willingly, but for some reason, he felt like he wasn''t here of his own free will. Of the five other people in the room, only Mattheo was slightly on Shang''s level. The next weakest person was already at the Peak Commander Stage. Two of them were even in the Fourth Realm. This was not just some random gathering in a dark room. These were the most powerful people in the surrounding Zones. The Dean walked toward Shang and looked at him with a neutral expression. "Are you mentally prepared?" he asked. Shang took a deep breath. He definitely was nervous. He could deal with pain, but the image of his bone marrow being siphoned out and his back-breaking still made his stomach churn. ''Think of the power!'' Shang told himself in his mind. ''Think of how powerful you can be!'' ''This procedure will be the key to reaching the power of Mages!'' ''So what if it''s painful? This is a one-time thing! Today, I will undergo unimaginable pain, but tomorrow, I will be happy for the pain I have felt today.'' "Yes, I''m ready," Shang said with conviction. "Good," the Dean answered. "Use up your Mana. As long as you have Mana, your body will make it difficult for me with its constant healing." Shang nodded. Shang pointed his left arm to an unupied location in the room and unleashed a Fire st and Ice st. Mattheo watched Shang''s attacks with a surprised expression. These sts were quite powerful. Then, Shang used up nearly all his Mana to heal his left arm. After that, Shang unleashed another two sts, destroying his arm again. "This should upy my Mana for a while," Shang said neutrally. From the side, Mattheo took a deep breath. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. He saw Shang''s left arm, and he almost couldn''t imagine how it felt like to have one''s arm injured to such a degree. Yet, Shang acted like this wasn''t even his arm! The Dean nodded. "Lay down on the table." Chapter 181 Shang took a deep breath and walked over to the table. Then, he pulled down the upper part of his uniform andy down on the icy table. From the table, Shang saw the Dean walk over to the thing lying in the room. Shang wasn''t entirely sure how the thing had suddenly lost consciousness again, but this had probably been Duke Whirlwind''s work. The Dean put the thing onto the table beside Shang. The table was easily big enough. "Keep it unconscious," the Dean said. "No worries," Duke Whirlwind answered from the side. From now on, Shang couldn''t see the Dean anymore since he was lying face-down on the table. "I will create the cut now. Are you prepared, Shang?" the Dean asked. "Go ahead," Shang said. Meanwhile, Shang took a deep breath and mentally prepared himself. Shang didn''t see it, but the Dean took out a shining ck knife, which seemed to be made of something like obsidian. Then, the Dean put the tip of the de on Shang''s neck. Shang felt the coldness of the de, and his heart began to beat faster. And then, the de went into Shang''s body. The cut was slow and deliberate, careful not to injure the bone. Shang felt the searing pain of a cut slowly opening above his spine. Luckily, he could deal with something like that. It wasn''t even as bad as his destroyed left arm. On the side, Mattheo cringed in pain. He had no idea how Shang could take something like that. After some seconds, the Dean pulled the knife away. There was now a cut going all the way from Shang''s neck to his behind. The Dean put his hands into the open wound and pulled it to the side. Not many people had the luxury of seeing a human essentially being skinned. The skin and the muscles offered a lot of resistance, but the Dean''s power was far beyond their ability to resist. Shang took a deep breath through his gritted teeth. This was way worse than the cut! His flesh was being pulled from his very bones! "Soran," the Dean said. Shang heard a couple of steps and then felt a slight burning feelinging from his back. "Soran is using his Wind Mana to stop your flesh and skin from regenerating," the Dean emotionlessly said. "Anything that regrows will be cut away." "How is the pain?" the Dean asked. "Bearable," Shang answered, but his voice sounded strained. "That''s good," the Dean said. "The previous students that agreed to undergo this procedure have done way worse than you up to now. The next two steps will be the most important and most painful ones." "Go ahead," Shang said with a strained voice. The Dean put the knife away and took out his spear. Shang didn''t see it. Then, the Dean put his spear on the highest part of Shang''s neck. "This will be quick but very painful," the Dean said. Shang took a deep breath and gritted his teeth. Then, his head nodded. And then, the Dean''s spear began to rotate like a drill. CRRRRRRK! In just a single second, the spear had drilled a hole into Shang''s neck, and itpletely severed all the nerves going from Shang''s body to his brain. At that exact moment, it was like every single nerve in Shang''s entire body had been cut. All the nerves in his body sent the most painful signals of pain they could send. Shang stopped breathing as his vision swam. Was this even pain? It felt so unfamiliar. It was like this wasn''t even pain anymore. This was a feeling of inescapable doom. Shang could feel nothing but paining from his entire body, even though all his nerves had been cut. Shang''s instincts were to just directly die. If someone got their neck broken, they very often died instantly. N?velDrama.Org content rights. The brain just became overloaded with everything and shut down. Shang gritted his teeth and ground them down until he could feel their splinters with his tongue. Shang''s eyes were strained wide open. Even worse, Shang couldn''t breathe anymore! "You can survive over ten minutes without air. Don''t panic," the Dean said evenly. "The procedure will be done by then." Shang only barely registered the Dean''s voice. "You are still awake. That''s good. No one has managed toe this far before. You won''t feel what I''m doing back here with your nerves cut," the Dean said. "You just have to wait and survive." Shang had difficulties hearing the Dean''s voice, but he had understood thest part. ''I just have to wait and survive!'' ''Wait and survive!'' ''Wait and survive!'' ''Every second that passes is one second less I have to wait!'' ''Every second I think to myself is another second that passes!'' ''Ten minutes are only 600 seconds! Every six seconds is already one percent of the time I have to wait!'' Shang tried every trick to keep himself alive and motivated. He only had to wait! Only wait! As Shang tried to keep himself alive, he heard the most disgusting sound he had ever heard in his life. It sounded slimy. It sounded like someone was putting their ear to a tube of toothpaste being squeezed out. The sound without context wasn''t disgusting, but with the context, Shang wanted to hurl. However, he couldn''t even hurl right now. This was the sound of his viscous bone marrow being squeezed out of his body! Shang felt the vibrations of the sound going through his entire body, and his vision swam even more. The sound was almost worse than the pain. "Bone marrow removed," the Dean said after the sound stopped. Shang saw the thing on the table vanish from within his range of vision as the Dean took it. Shang heard several squelching and cracking sounds. Ten secondster, the sounds stopped. "Shang, concentrate on your left arm! Your body is healing too quickly, and it''s difficult for me to keep up!" Soran said with a strict voice. Shang had lost his concentration, and his Mana was rushing towards his back. Shang continued grinding his teeth as he strained his mind to focus on his left arm. "Good! Keep it like that," Soran said. SLAP! "Wake up!" Shang heard Duke Whirlwind shout with a suppressed voice. Mattheo had lost his consciousness, and Duke Whirlwind had pped him awake. "You have to get used to such things!" Duke Whirlwind reprimanded. Mattheo didn''t answer. Shang''s head was looking away from Duke Whirlwind and Mattheo, which was why he didn''t see them right now. After a short moment, Shang felt a vibration go through his body, and the squelching sound returned. Shang didn''t feel any more or less pain than before. "Marrow reced," the Dean said coldly. "Partial bone recement is next." CRACK! CRACK! Shang felt one powerful force after another vibrate throughout his body. nk. nk. Then, Shang heard the sound of pieces of bone being flung to the floor. At this moment, the Dean was cutting off the upper part of each of Shang''s vertebrae. After many cracking sounds, the Dean put parts of the thing''s vertebrae on top of Shang''s vertebrae. Then, the Dean took out a crystal filled with Light Mana and held it to these parts to fuse them. This was the longest part, and it took over three minutes. After he was done, the Dean looked at how Shang''s spine was acting. The smaller pieces of bone from the thing were slowly changing shape and adapting to Shang''s body. While this was happening, Shang''s bones began to change color. The thing''s bones were ck, and Shang''s spine was also turning ck now. After the Dean saw how Shang''s spine acted, he used the crystal filled with Light Mana to close everything from low to high. A minuteter, Shang''s entire back looked like nothing had happened, except for the spear poking out of his neck. The Dean also put the crystal on Shang''s left arm to heal it. Lastly, he put it on Shang''s body until he had been refilled with life energy. "Everything that happens from now is only theoretical," the Dean said as he took hold of his spear. "Everything seems to have worked perfectly well." "I''ve done all I can. The rest is up to you, Shang," the Dean said. And then, he pulled out his spear. Shang''s skin and flesh closed. Then, the hole in his back was repaired. Andstly, Shang''s mind came into contact with his new body. And hell arrived. Chapter 182 Everything was burning! Every part of his being was burning! The foreign bone marrow came into contact with thest bit of Shang''s bone marrow that went directly into his brain. Shang''s subconsciousness was throwing out orders to repair everything, and the bone marrow complied. The bone marrow created lots of blood by burning away Shang''s Mana, but all of this was foreign blood. As the foreign blood came into contact with Shang''s body, it began to disintegrate the ipatible matter. Shang''s blood was essentially burning away all of his body! At the same time, the Dean put many different crystals filled with Light Mana on different parts of Shang''s back. When he saw Shang''s body moving, he pressed down on it. He couldn''t allow Shang to move right now. "AAAHH!" Shang screamed in a shrill voice, and it made Mattheo and Soran feel uneasy. For them, it wasn''t easy to hear such a pained screech. Shang''s Mana and life energy were quickly used up, but the light crystals refilled it instantly. At the side, Duke Whirlwind frowned. "Seems like this procedure only works on people with a warrior''s body. The Light Mana itself isn''t enough to heal everything, and it needs the supplemental Neutral Mana from the body." Shang didn''t even hear Duke Whirlwind. The pain was just too much! This was even worse than the procedure itself! Over the next minute, Shang''s entire body began to burn away from the inside, and Shang began to puke one mouthful of blood after the other. His body was getting rid of all the destroyed parts of his body via his mouth. On Earth, something like this wouldn''t work, but with Mana, a lot of impossible things became possible. Shang began to puke more and more, and over the next five minutes, he had puked over ten liters of blood and gore. Luckily, his Mana kept healing him. Eventually, some parts of his body began to adapt to the foreign blood. They took on the properties of the foreign blood and began to work together with it to destroy everything else. At that point, Shang''s puking only got worse. A near-constant stream of gore left his mouth, and he wanted to do nothing else but stop and actually breathe. Half an hourter, all the blood had been reced. Ten minutester, all his organs had been reced. Another ten minutester, all his muscles had been reced. Then, his nerves got reced. And finally, Shang''s mind was reced. Shang had already lost consciousness when the foreign matter attacked his mind as pieces of brain and blood flowed out of his nose. At this point, it was no longer important for him to stay awake. His body had already fully changed. And ten minutester, everything stopped. Near the side of the room, over ten buckets had been filled with everything Shang had thrown up. Silence. The people in the room walked over to Shang. The Dean and Duke Whirlwind tested Shang''s vitals and checked on his body. "Still alive," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "He did it!" "ording to theory," the Dean said, "his mind shouldn''t have changed. It should have undergone a gradual recement, and the neurons should still be the same but with different properties." "Neurons?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "Is this another word you came up with?" "You can think of it as such," the Dean said. Duke Whirlwind didn''t know that the Dean was a soul from a different world. The Mages of this world knew a lot about the mind, but they didn''t know about the concept of neurons. From time to time, the Dean said some words foreign to this world, which confused Duke Whirlwind. "Everything seems to be in order," the Dean said after some seconds of probing Shang. "Jerald, I think that''s everything interesting for today. You probably have other things to do." Duke Whirlwind, Jerald, nodded. "I should return before people start to be suspicious." "I will inform you of how things look with the boyter," the Dean said. "Sounds good. If you need anything, tell me," Duke Whirlwind said. "And George?" "Yes?" the Dean, George, asked. "You''ve written history today," Duke Whirlwind said as he put his hand on the Dean''s shoulder. The Dean only looked at the unconscious Shang. When he heard Duke Whirlwind''s words, he felt strange. It was almost like this couldn''t be true. 20 years of research. Twenty years of failed experiments and revisions of his procedure. And now, it had finally seeded? He still couldn''t believe it. "But this is only the first step," Duke Whirlwind said. "Next, you need to find a way to make it less painful. After that, you need to find a way for people without a warrior''s body to undergo the procedure." "But today, you''ve taken your first and hardest step." "You did well, old friend," Duke Whirlwind said with an encouraging and proud voice. "You should be proud of yourself, teacher," Soran said from the side with a smile. "You''ve worked long and hard for this!" "This will throw the bnce of the world into turmoil," Vice-Dean Ranos said from the side. "Even more than your advancement to the True Path Realm." "Not everyone can im to have aplished something like this." Mattheo didn''t say anything. He was still white in the face from what he had seen. While everyone was focusing on the Dean, Mattheo was focusing on Shang. While everyone was praising the Dean''s aplishments, Mattheo was shocked by Shang''s aplishments. How powerful must his conviction and willpower be to survive something like this? What kind of monster was Shang? Did the others not realize what this meant? What could someone like Shang achieve in the future? N?velDrama.Org content rights. Had none of them realized how absurd it was for Shang to survive something like this? At this moment, the Magic Circle in Mattheo''s mind wrote down everything he knew about Shang in detail. This could be the most important piece of information Mattheo had ever received in his entire life. Eventually, everyone but the Dean left the room. The Dean would wait here to wait until Shang woke up. Soran had a school to run. Ranos had a ss to teach. Mattheo had to learn. Duke Whirlwind had a lot to do. The Dean was the only one with the time to stay here. And so, he waited for Shang to wake up. And he waited. And waited. And 20 hourster, his waiting ended. Shang opened his eyes. And as he did so, he took in all the foreign sensations. ''I survived.'' Chapter 183 Shang opened his eyes and looked around the room. It appeared brighter than before. However, Shang was sure that there wasn''t more light in the room. ''My vision has improved,'' Shang thought. At this moment, Shang didn''t regret the procedure anymore. During it, he regretted it very much. After all, he had to go through so much pain. But now, everything was over, and Shang would reap the fruits of his pain and suffering. "Name?" the Dean asked. Shang looked over at the Dean. Then, he looked around the room and noticed that he was alone with the Dean. "Shang," he answered. "I still remember everything." "Tell me about your life," the Dean said. "This one or the one before that?" Shang asked. "This one." So, Shang told the Dean a short summary of what had happened in thest two years to prove that he was still the same. "What are your goals?" the Dean asked. "Power," Shang said. "Anything else?" the Dean asked. "Mostly power, but I''m not against something else as long as it doesn''t interfere with my goal." "Such as?" "Romance, friendship, that stuff, you know?" Then, the Dean nodded. "Seems like there are no immediately noticeable changes to your personality." After hearing that, Shang became a bit anxious. "Do you think I could have changed without noticing?" "It''s possible," the Dean said. "Your entire body has been reced with matter created out of the Abomination. Some changes are to be expected." "Abomination? That''s what you call it?" Shang asked. "Correct," the Dean said. "There is no more reason to keep all of this a secret. You''ve seen it, and you''ve basically be it. Not understanding what you have fused with will make things only harder on you." Shang listened to the Dean. "The thing you have seen earlier is what we call an Abomination. They are very peculiar monsters." "Why do you call them monsters and not beasts?" Shang asked. "Because, as far as we are aware, they are not beasts," the Dean answered. "They''re not beasts?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. "Then, are they humans? Are they nts?" "Neither," the Dean answered. "As far as we know, they are a unique lifeform." "Howe you are so sure about that? What makes them different from beasts?" "Their powers and actions," the Dean said. Shang waited for boration. "Every six months, these Abominations appear out of nowhere. They appear mostly at random, but their appearance also has a definite pattern to it." "What do they do?" Shang asked. "They destroy," the Dean answered. "Only destroy?" "Only destroy," the Dean said. "After they appear, they start destroying everything around them. Earth, air, life, fire, water, everything. They destroy everything that has matter." "Why?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. "We don''t know," the Dean answered. "There are not many of them, and we can''t watch them in the wild since every single second they continue to exist, they destroy more matter." Shang remained silent for a bit. "Why has no one ever heard of them?" he asked. "Because they all die very quickly to us," the Dean said. "ording to old scriptures, keeping them alive will draw in more of them. The more there are, the more wille." "Who kills them exactly?" Shang asked. He had already guessed something. "There are three levels of them," the Dean exined. "The one you saw earlier was of the weakest variety. They basically count as Soldier Stage Abominations, and a specialized force of True Mages kills them." "True Mages?" Shang asked. "Why not Adepts?" "Because they are terrifyingly powerful," the Dean exined. "An Abomination at the Soldier Stage can easily kill something at the General Stage, and they can even fight some of the weaker Commander Stage beings." Shang''s eyes widened in shock. "What?" he shouted. Something at the Soldier Stage that was able to fight something at the Commander Stage? That was ridiculous! "How?" Shang asked. "I''lle to that soon," the Dean said. "Let me first finish telling you about the other two." Shang didn''t say anything. "The second variety is at the General Stage, and these things can even fight the weaker beings at the True Path Stage." At that point, the Dean released a sigh. "I''m helpless against them. I tried it before," he said. It was hard for Shang to believe the Dean right now. The Dean was helpless against something at the General Stage? Something at the General Stage could fight something like the Exploding Mountain Turtle? Even more¡­ "And the third?" Shang asked. By now, he was certain that his earlier guess was correct. "The Zone Beasts deal with those," the Dean said. "As you might have already guessed, that''s the reason for the Day of Chaos. The Storm Eagle searches thends for the Commander Stage Abominations and kills them. From what we''ve heard, a couple of other Zone Beasts do the same thing." "Of course, not every Zone Beast is needed to kill these things. Many of them remain in their Zones and just kill the Abominations that appear in their Zones," the Dean exined. The reason for the Day of Chaos. Every six months, the Storm Eagle left to deal with the Commander Stage Abominations. "How powerful are the Commander Stage Abominations?" Shang asked. "Only the five Kings have a fighting chance against them. As you already know, the five Kings are the only five Archmages in existence, and if they were to fight a Commander Stage Abomination, it wouldn''t be an easy fight," the Dean exined. "And the Zone Beasts?" Shang asked. "A casual p of the Storm Eagle''s wing reduces them to nothing," the Dean said neutrally. Original from N?velDrama.Org. Shang took a deep breath. The Zone Beasts were really incredibly powerful. "Do these Abominations also appear here?" Shang asked. "They do, but only the weaker variants," the Dean said. "If any of them appear, the Zone Beasts deal with them without you even noticing." At that moment, Shang remembered the feeling he had felt when the Ice Wyvern had left its undergroundke. "One appeared in the battlefield, correct?" Shang asked. "You noticed that?" the Dean asked with a raised eyebrow. Shang nodded. "On the Day of Chaos, I suddenly felt this familiar but also scary feeling, and I looked towards the northwest, which was when I saw the Ice Wyvern flying in the sky." The Dean looked at Shang for a bit. "Yes, it was a General Stage Abomination with a couple of Soldier Stage Abominations." "And you knew that it would appear there," Shang added. The Dean looked into Shang''s eyes for around three seconds. "Quite smart," the Dean said. "However, everything about that incident is regarding politics and not the Abominations. I''m telling you about the Abominations so that you may learn of their power. After all, you might have their peculiar power now. The specifics of that incident are politics, and that''s not something I will tell you." Shang nodded, but he wasn''t happy. "So, what are their powers? What makes them so powerful?" Shang asked. "The Abominations have a certain, unique power, which could also be called an Affinity, I guess," the Dean said. "After you told me what He told you, I already suspected that you shared this Affinity with the Abominations." "Which is?" Shang asked impatiently. "They can turn matter into Mana." Chapter 184 "Turn matter into Mana?" Shang asked in shock. The Dean nodded. "That''s how they destroy everything around them. They turn matter and even Elemental Mana into Natural Mana around them. Of course, the degree of their power varies vastly. The weakest ones can only turn Elemental Mana into Natural Mana, but they have difficulties in destroying powerful matter." Shang scratched his chin in thought. "And their power source?" "That''s the thing. It varies." "Varies?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. "The weaker ones get weaker as they use their powers, but the ones at the Commander Stage can already create a certain degree of destruction around them without doing anything. Sound familiar?" Shang nodded as he fell into thought. ''Both of these things are rted to how my Affinity works. Others use their Mana to unleash their Affinity, which means that their Mana is their power source.'' ''Meanwhile, I technically don''t use my own Mana with my Affinity. If I wouldn''t get injured by my Ice and Fire sts, I could theoretically unleash them continuously with all their power without ever needing to take a break.'' ''In a way, I''m using the Mana in my surroundings as my power source, which technically means that my power source is as powerful as my surroundings.'' ''The other part is also very simr. Other people and beasts don''t get injured when they use their Affinities. Meanwhile, the weaker Abominations and I do.'' ''It''s because the power isn''t my own. I am channeling someone else''s power, which is why it injures me. Someone with a Fire Affinity can unleash their own fire without any issues, but if another guy throws a fireball at them, they explode all the same.'' ''Additionally¡­'' Shang remembered the time he had touched the antlers of the Frozen Lake Stag and when he touched the Ice Wood. ''I also absorbed Ice Mana and turned it into Natural Mana.'' ''However, these two cases could only happen because the Ice Mana was pure. I fought plenty of beasts with an Ice Affinity, and when they use an attack, it still hurt me.'' ''Could have something to do with someone controlling the Ice Mana or not. The Ice Wood was dead, and the Frozen Lake Stag stored pure Ice Mana in its antlers.'' Shang looked at the ceiling. ''I guess I could theoretically absorb an Ice Mage''s Ice Mana as long as it is stored outside their body. Of course, that won''t happen.'' "My Affinity doesn''t get its power from myself, and when I use it, I get injured," Shang said after several seconds of thinking. "Correct," the Dean said. "In a way, you already had simr powers to the Abominations. Of course, there''s still a certain difference between them and you." "At least, that was how it was before," the Dean said with interest. Shang nodded. Then, he looked at his left arm. "I wonder what I can do," Shang said. "First, test if your old abilities still work," the Dean said. Shang pointed his left arm to the side. BANG! BANG! He released an Ice st and a Fire st in rapid session. Sure enough, Shang''s arm was basically destroyed again. "So, that hasn''t changed," the Dean said. However, Shang didn''t immediately answer as he looked at his arm with furrowed brows. Shang watched as his arm slowly healed. The Dean lifted an eyebrow at Shang''s curious actions, but he didn''t say anything. 30 secondster, Shang''s arm was fully healed. "That took longer than previously," the Dean said. "You have a warrior''s body. You can heal your arm in less than a second by using your own Mana. Why is it different this time?" Shang looked away from his arm and at the Dean. "I didn''t use my Mana," Shang said. A gleam appeared in the Dean''s eyes. "You didn''t use the ability of your warrior''s body?" he asked. Shang nodded. The Dean narrowed his eyes. "So, you managed to heal your nearlypletely destroyed arm in 30 seconds without using any of your Mana?" Shang nodded again. "What was used to repair your arm?" the Dean asked. Instead of answering, Shang closed his eyes and focused on his surroundings. He had noticed something peculiar when his arm was healing. The Dean didn''t interrupt Shang and simply waited for him. After around a minute, Shang opened his eyes with a look of pleasant surprise. "You know how Mages and warriors with specific Affinities can somewhat feel their surroundings if that kind of Elemental Mana is very prevalent?" Shang asked. The Dean nodded. "It''s called Mana Sense. The stronger you get, the wider its range and the clearer the picture. When your mind reaches the level of an Adept, you can basically use it everywhere since every kind of Mana is present in at least some quantity." "Well," Shang said. "I have that." "But with Natural Mana." The Dean''s eyes widened in surprise. "With Natural Mana?" he asked. Shang nodded. "I didn''t notice it before, but I can feel the Natural Mana all around me." The Dean frowned. "So, your Affinity is for Natural Mana?" "I don''t know," Shang answered. "I don''t think that''s all of it. After all, I wouldn''t have needed the different Mana Sources for that. On top of that, I can''t use the Earth and Metal Mana Sources." The Dean stroked his goatee in thought. "In a way, this doesn''t change much. I already suspected that you have some kind of Mana Bncing Affinity. Fire and Ice are opposites. Light and Darkness are opposites. Wind and Earth seem like opposites, but they actually aren''t. If Fire touches Ice, one of the two gets destroyed. If Wind touches Earth, they simply don''t interact with each other." "So, your Affinity has something to do with increasing or lowering powers, and if you also received the abilities of the Abominations, you should also be able to turn everything into Natural Mana." "However, there is still something very important," the Dean said. "If you had an Affinity for Natural Mana, you would be able to transform Natural Mana and make use of it." "But literally everyone can do that already. That''s the point of Natural Mana. It can be used by everyone and transformed into everything." "You also can''t really transform it into anything that isn''t your four Affinities. Additionally, you get injured every time you use it. An Affinity doesn''t injure the user, which is why you can''t have an Affinity for Natural Mana." "There are many questions and inconsistencies with your Affinity. It''s almost like it doesn''t even exist." N?velDrama.Org content rights. "Or," the Dean said as he looked at Shang. "You simply haven''t be powerful enough yet to resist its negative effects." Shang thought back to what the Dean had told him. The Commander Stage Abominations could destroy everything around them without being injured or using any power source. What kind of Affinity was that? Turning everything into Natural Mana. "Did you get another new ability, except your rapid healing?" the Dean asked. Shang looked at his left arm and tried to feel it. Before the procedure, the visualized image of Shang''s Affinity had been a rotating circle of fire and ice surrounded by a rotating circle of darkness and light. Now, it was only ck. Even more, it didn''t feel like the darkness kind of ck. It was a different ck. It felt empty. As Shang concentrated on his left arm, he felt some kind of power. He didn''t know what it could do. So, Shang decided to try it out. He put his hand on the table he sat on. Chapter 185 As Shang put his hand on the table, he summoned the power inside him. He felt the power steering, but then¡­ He stopped. Just before his power activated, Shang had felt a feeling of doom. His instincts told him that he shouldn''t do that. They told him that something horrible would happen if he used it. It was like Shang was in front of a sleeping Commander Stage beast, and using his power was akin to poking it. In short, Shang felt like he would be killed if he used it. The Dean looked at Shang and noticed the subtle changes on his face. After some seconds, Shang pulled his left arm back. "The same as the weak Abominations?" the Dean asked. The Dean had made a solid guess, and Shang confirmed it by nodding. "So, in short, you are still too weak to make use of your actual Affinity," the Dean said. Shang nodded. "I wanted to test it, but before I could, I felt a feeling of death approach. It told me that I would forever regret using it." The Dean nodded. "The weaker Abominations are the same. Nearly all of them died in battle, but a couple of times, the teams that came to kill them arrived toote." "Toote?" Shang asked. The Dean nodded. "We can''t be everywhere at once, and sometimes, the teams arrive toote. In the case that they are toote, they find a big crater¡­" "And no Abomination." "No Abomination?" Shang asked, and he quickly realized what this meant. "You said that the weaker Abominations get weaker with every use of their power. Do you mean to say that when they get weaker, they stay weaker? There is no way to replenish their energy?" The Dean nodded. "The weaker Abominations destroy everything around them until they themselves don''t exist anymore. They are essentially a star. Their fire destroys many things, but with every second they burn, they use up their fuel." "On top of that, the stars in our old world also lose a considerable portion of mass as they burn. Their mass doesn''tpletely transform from hydrogen into helium. In the process of nuclear fusion, something below 1% of the mass is transformed into pure energy. Not sure if you knew, but matter is also a form of energy." Shang looked at the Dean with surprise. "How do you know such stuff?" he asked. This didn''t sound like something a normal fighter or normal person from Earth knew. At that moment, Shang also realized how crazy it actually was that the Dean coulde up with something like the procedure and even transform it from theory into practice. And then, Shang noticed that he actually didn''t know anything about the Dean''s old life on Earth. At that point, Shang''s mind went to the God. The God''s purpose for choosing the Dean was so that he could create something that made warriors more powerful in general. N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content. Who was the perfect person for such a purpose? "I had a Ph.D. in biology," the Dean answered. "Physics wasn''t my field, but you learn a lot about physics if nearly your entire social circle is filled with different kinds of scientists." "Of course, I had to throw away a lot of my knowledge after realizing that this world is very different." "Anyway, back to the topic," the Dean said. "The weaker Abominations essentially burn up their own life to destroy everything around them. In a way, you could even say that they convert their mass into energy, which is basically the strongest form of Energy generation possible. You should, at least, have heard of antimatter." That surprised Shang. "Wait, how do you know about antimatter? You should have been here for decades already." "I asked my predecessor the same thing," the Dean said. "Based on context clues, we came to the conclusion that barely a couple of days had passed since he and I had arrived in this world." This threw Shang for a loop. "Just a couple of days?" The Dean nodded. "So, in turn, between my arrival and your arrival, not much time should have passed. I guess the God finds the current period on Earth very suitable for creating the kinds of people he wants to send to this world, which is why the time is probably moving much slower on Earth." It was difficult for Shang to wrap his mind around these things, but he had already seen the God''s power. Inside his pce, he had basically done whatever he wanted. The rules of physics were unimportant to him. But making the time move thousands if not millions of times slower was still a scary thought to Shang. "But as I''ve said, back to the topic," the Dean said. "I suspect you can probably do the same thing. You can turn matter into Neutral Mana, but you need to use your own power for that." "So, in exchange for destroying the thing you want to destroy, you destroy a part of yourself." "And I don''t think this will just be an injury that you can easily heal from." Shang looked at his left arm. With the Dean''s exnations and hypotheses in mind, Shang could visualize his Affinity way better. In a way, Shang could transform his own matter into antimatter, except that it wasn''t as destructive as antimatter and that it didn''t make a huge explosion. "So, I can''t use it yet," Shang said. "You can, but you will probably have to pay a hefty price," the Dean said. Shang frowned. "How powerful do I have to be?" he asked. "Not sure," the Dean said. "The General Stage Abominations still use their own power to destroy everything around them. I''ve only heard that the Commander Stage Abominations can destroy everything around them passively, but I haven''t seen it myself. It''s also possible that the degree of their passive destruction doesn''te close to their actualbat power." Shang continued looking at his left arm. "So, I basically have to advance two Stages to even consider using my Affinity." "One Stage," the Dean said. "One Stage?" Shang asked. "You''ve already reached the Initial General Stage." Chapter 186 Shang''s eyes widened in surprise. He was already at the General Stage? Shang looked at his body and clenched his fists a bit. He did feel a bit more powerful, but it was difficult to assess his current power without properly testing it. "When did that happen?" Shang asked. "During the procedure," the Dean said. "Theplete destruction of your body pushed you beyond the Soldier Stage, and you are now officially a warrior in the General Stage." Shang looked around, and he now also knew why the room appeared brighter than before. His eyesight had improved due to the increase in his Realm. "So, that means I should have gained ess to my second question and the separate space?" Shang asked. "You should," the Dean said. "Try to remember your talk with the God." Shang tried to remember his interaction with the God, and sure enough, after the first question and answer, Shang now found new information. Back in his memory, Shang stood in front of the smirking God, who sat on his ridiculously huge throne. "For my second question," the Shang in the memory sequence said. "How do I make the best use of my three gifts?" In the present, Shang''s eyes shone. ''That''s a great question!'' Back in his memories, the God only smirked. And then, something confusing happened. A second God appeared in front of Shang''s memories. It was incredibly weird. It was like someone had paused a movie just to talk in front of a scene to exin something. "Surprised?" the God asked with a wide smirk. "Wonder how that works, don''t you?" Shang, indeed, wondered what was going on. "You see," the second God said, "due to my change of nster down the line, I had to retroactively change my answers to your questions. Otherwise, the answers wouldn''t perfectly conform with your new Affinity." "So, don''t be surprised when I am suddenly talking about things that shouldn''t have happened yet. You don''t need to understand that stuff. Time isplex and lots of fun!" "Now, onward with the show," the second God said before stepping away from the "screen". Then, the scene resumed. "Quite a smart question, Shang," the God said with his constant smirk. "The three gifts are the very key that allows you to be powerful. Knowing how to utilize them properly is important!" The Shang in the memories didn''t move. It was like his time had stopped. "First, let''s talk about your weapon," he said. "You want to upgrade that as soon as possible. To get the optimal power, you need to feed it with Element Specific ore for Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness every Realm." Original from N?velDrama.Org. "Of course, it only has to happen every Realm, not every level. As long as it doesn''t increase a level, it''s fine if it only absorbs element-neutral ore." "I''m going to show you an example." "When you upgrade it to the General Stage, you want to feed it a bnced diet of Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness Mana. Your next goal is to get it to the Peak General Stage, which you can do by simply feeding it normal ore. That''s far cheaper." "Then, when you want to upgrade it to the Commander Stage, you will want to give it Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness ore again, and so on." "Of course, at this point, you might have already realized that there is more to your Affinity than just these four things," the God said with a smirk. "Yes, there is also a way to get your weapon to harness a part of your special Affinity''s power. For that, you need special, rare ore." "However, due to the peculiarity of your Affinity, unleashing the power of that ore doesn''te easily." "If you use the power, your sword will be permanently weaker, and the only way to make it recover is to purchase more ore and re-upgrade it. You could say that it will fall by a level by using that power." "But hey, it''s a funky little trump card, isn''t it?" the God said with his constant smirk. "You can''t control anything, and at some point, someone much more powerful than you will target you, and that''s when you want to have that ability." "Also, you shouldmunicate with your sword a lot. It is a reflection of your inner fighting instincts. You can look at it as a mirror that shows you your true self." "And that''s about it for the sword," the God said. "Now, onto the questions." "The questionspletely depend on your goal, but as you are now, you probably don''t even have a goal. Additionally, when you remember this answer, it would already be toote to change your questions." "You can only trust in your past self. Hope that your past self wasn''t an idiot," the God said with a loud laugh. "Imagine asking a worthless question and not even knowing that you asked a worthless question. You get all excited for your new answers and realize that you asked a stupid question in the past." "That would be fucking great!" the God shouted with augh. "Let''s get to thest gift, the separate space," the God said. "When you remember this answer, you should have already gained ess to it. It''s not difficult to get there. Just wish to go to your own little world." The God chuckled. "Of course, this question is about how to perfectly use your gifts." "Your question is actually a bit funny since you will inevitably learn about the uses of your separate space. Not only will you meet someone that will tell you all about it, but I even put the rules and uses of the thing on a stone tablet in the middle of your own little space." "In a way, this question is useless," the God said with a smirk. Five seconds of tense silence passed. "But I can''t just let you go empty handed," the God shouted with a loudugh. "So, how about I tell you about a unique usage of your own space that nobody knows about?" "Not even your predecessor knows of it." "Be sure to tell him, okay? I want to see the regret in his eyes," the God said with a smirk. Chapter 187 Shang''s eyes focused again after he had gone through his memories. And then, Shang frowned. ''That secret might make the difference between getting something good and getting something great,'' Shang thought. Then, he looked at the Dean, who only looked back. "I''m willing to share my question and the answers with you, but I want to know something from you first," Shang said. The Dean''s expression didn''t change. "As long as it''s not something I can''t talk about," the Dean said. "I''m also interested in what the God said." "I want to know how your first trial in your separate space went down," Shang said. When Shang said trial, he was referring to the test they could take once per Realm inside their separate space. The Dean had already said that this was how they could get inheritances and techniques from before the Mages'' purge. "I can answer that," the Dean said. "There are three categories for the trial, and the scores you achieve in the categories are added together to create a final score. The higher the final score, the better techniques you get." "First, you need to fight beasts." "The first level is to fight an untalented beast at the Initial General Stage." "The second level is to fight an average beast at the Initial General Stage." "The third level is to fight a talented beast at the Initial General Stage. These beasts can win against nearly any other beast on their level." "The fourth level is to fight a weak beast at the Early General Stage." "And the fifth level should be to fight an average one," the Dean exined. "You said should," Shang said. "That means you didn''t try the fifth level?" "Correct," the Dean said. "It was uncertain if I could win or not. In the end, I decided not to try the fifth level." "The next category is to fight warriors. The levels are designed in the same way as with the beasts." "I also barely managed to beat the fourth level, and I didn''t try the fifth one." "As you might have guessed, the third category is against Mages." The Dean paused. "I didn''t even attempt the third level. The average Adept was already too terrifying, and I barely managed to win." "In the end, I got a score of ten, and with it, the very techniques that you practiced." Shang''s eyebrows rose in surprise. "The ones I practiced?" The Dean nodded. "The booklet you received on your first day. I wasn''t the one that created them. They were the reward I''ve received from the trial. They might appear simple, but they do something incredible." "They give you a guiding light without interfering with your potential to reach the True Path Stage." "Something like that is only something I would be able to create at my current level after several years of hard work." "As you have also already realized, these techniques can be used as a basis to create much more powerful techniques. You used these techniques to create your own fighting style that''s already equal to the fighting style of someone at the Mid General Stage." "They are the foundation of the future warriors," the Dean exined. Shang nodded. "Thank you for answering my question." "Now, tell me about your question and answer," the Dean said. Shang quickly recounted what he had learned from the God until he arrived at thest, crucial secret. "He said I will regret it?" the Dean asked with a slight bit of nervousness. This was the first time Shang saw the Dean show anything akin to fear or nervousness, but it was also understandable. After all, this was a God! Even the Dean counted as nothing before him. Shang took a deep breath. "The secret regarding the separate space¡­" "While undergoing the trial, you can''t die," Shang said. "Even if the enemy in the trial kills you, you will simply reappear in your world again." Silence. The Dean grimaced. Why had he not attempted the higher levels? Because there was a very real possibility that he might die. He had had, at most, a 50% chance of victory against these opponents. Original from N?velDrama.Org. Only very few people would put their lives on a coin toss. But if he couldn''t die in the trial, he wouldn''t be gambling with his life. He could have attempted the next levels without any worries. Even if he failed, he would have gained a ton of valuablebat experience. And what if he managed to win? How much better would his reward be? Then, the Dean remembered his next two trials, the ones he took at the Commander and True Path Stage. So many wasted opportunities. If he had put his life on the line, he would have found out. However, that was also stupid. Knowing when a fight was unwinnable or when the odds were stacked against one was also an important skill. The God effectively rewarded reckless stupidity. It was like the God encouraged them to y with their lives. At this moment, the Dean felt deep regret. If only he had been braver, or stupider, depending on one''s viewpoint. Sadly, it was already toote. He would most likely not take part in another trial in his life. Shang watched as the Dean looked at the ground with a frown. After hearing about the Dean''s trial, Shang could confirm how valuable this secret was. This took the trial to apletely new level. Several seconds of silence passed in which Shang said nothing. "Let''s talk about your uing trial for now," the Dean suddenly said as he looked at Shang. The Dean didn''t even say anything about how the secret made him feel, but Shang could imagine. "Go ahead," Shang said. He and the Dean weren''t very close, and if the Dean didn''t want to talk about it, it was not Shang''s ce to ask. "If the rewards you get are useful for the academy, I would like to purchase them," the Dean said. In the end, Shang''s rewards were still his own, and he could decide what he wanted to do with them. "I intended to do so regardless," Shang said. "We aren''t close, but you have given me several pure Mana Sources and allowed me to undergo the procedure, which increased my power by a lot. Sharing my reward with you counts as repayment." The Dean nodded. "I am me, and you are still you. If the reward is on the same level as the reward I received back then, you can count all your debts as repaid. If the reward is worth even more, you can tell me if you need something." "Thanks," Shang said with a slight smile, which was rare for him. The Dean had always felt very distant to Shang, and the Dean basically acted like he wanted nothing to do with Shang whenever he talked to him. However, the Dean had still helped Shang a lot, and Shang felt indebted to him. The Dean nodded. "After reaching the General Stage, you have a month to be familiar with your new powers. You can start the trial whenever you want during that period." "For now, you should take a look at your separate space." "After that, we will prepare you for the trial." Chapter 188 "You should first look at your separate space," the Dean said. "To do so, simply concentrate on wanting to be in your own world. At the start, you might need to gather a lot of focus, but it will be easier with practice." "You can look around, but don''t stay in there too long. There''s more I have to tell you." Shang nodded and closed his eyes. Deep inside, he wished he could go to a ce only he had ess to. Sure enough, Shang felt a pull a bitter, and he felt like he was falling into an abyss. Then, he opened his eyes. Shang''s eyes widened as he looked at his new surroundings. It was bizarre but also beautiful. What did he see? Grass. It was basically awn. However, thewn stretched into infinity. There were no mountains, no rivers, no hills, no craters, no trees, no animals. It was just an infinitely longwn. The sheer openness of it all made Shang a bit nervous, but he quickly calmed down when he remembered that he could leave whenever he wanted. Being in such a vast and unending space without any variation had a certain feeling of insignificance to it. But there was one thing that stood out. Shang saw a big tablet made of stone jutting out from beside him. It was three meters tall and a meter wide. On it, Shang could see all the rules of the separate space, or most of them. After all, the God had told Shang something that wasn''t on the tablet. What did the tablet say? "You can store whatever you want as long as it''s not alive." "If you want to store something in here, you must be able to lift it with your arms, or the space won''t ept the object." "You have no control over what Mana enters this space." "Your perception can not be in this space and in the real world at the same time." "While inside here, you are in a separate body that perfectly copies your real one." Then, the tablet talked about the trial Shang could take, and Shang saw a countdown at the bottom of the tablet. It was a bit weird to see the carvings in the stone tick down like a digital disy. After reading through all of it, Shang nodded. This separate space was definitely useful. Due to how the Sparrens were transformed into Space Rings, it was basically impossible to put everything into one Space Ring. On top of that, with onepse of judgment, the Space Ring might be destroyed. Of course, the storage space of Space Rings was also limited. Most of them could only store one cubic meter of stuff. Sure, that was a lot, but it would be difficult to look through all one''s stuff if it was cramped. After that, Shang threw onest nce at his own world and willed himself back into the real world. This time, he felt like he was being pulled out of an abyss, and as soon as he left it, he opened his eyes. "Fuck!" Shang shouted in a mix of fright and pain. As soon as Shang had returned, he felt the familiar pain of a broken boneing from his left arm. On top of that, the right side of his body felt severely bruised. Shang could deal with pain, but he hadn''t expected that he would be in pain right now. Then, Shang felt some vertigo as he realized that he was lying on the ground, near the wall. As far as he remembered, he had been sitting on the table before going into his world. "What happened?" Shang asked in shock as he slowly sat up, his body quickly regenerating. The Dean looked at Shang. "I kicked you." Silence. "You kicked me?" Shang asked. The Dean nodded. A feeling of anger and frustration broke out in Shang. He could deal with the pain, but breaking his bones wasn''t funny! But then, Shang''s mind calmed down as he realized why the Dean had done so. Shang took a deep breath. "I see," Shang said, "but you could have also told me." "Showing you is better than telling you," the Dean answered. Shang released a sigh. Why had the Dean kicked him? To show him one of the separate space''s weaknesses. What happened to Shang''s real body while he was inside his separate space? It remained motionless in the real world. By kicking and injuring Shang, the Dean had shown that Shang had to be careful whenever he decided to visit his space. When Shang had opened his eyes, he had realized that the pain was already receding. It was still painful, but it wasn''t as strong as when the bone was just broken. That meant that Shang had been injured at least several seconds ago. And he had not noticed it while he had been in his separate space. "As you can see, entering your separate space is a risk," the Dean said. "At the moment, you probably need something like three seconds to enter and exit, making it basically unusable in battle." "However, the more powerful you be, the easier it gets. Since you are now in the General Stage, your mind will also slowly start to progress alongside your body." Shang nodded and stood up. "Thanks," he said. The Dean also nodded. "Next, we have to prepare you for your trial. For that, you need to be familiar with your new powers." "How powerful has my body be?" Shang asked. "ording to my test, your body is at the halfway point in strength with the power of a human at the starting point and the power of the beast at the endpoint." "To give an example, if an Initial General Stage warrior had a power of one and an Initial General Stage beast a power of five, you would be at a three. Five minus one is four. Four divided by two is two. Two plus one is three." "The form is Shang equals beast plus warrior divided by two or s=(b+w)/2." Shang frowned as he looked at his hands. "I''m not sure if that''s better or worse than I thought." "It''s perfect," the Dean said. "As you progress, you will be more and more powerful inparison to humans. Yes, the beasts will also grow more powerfulpared to you, but you are a human, not a beast." "Beasts don''t have borate andplex techniques. So, while the gulf will still continue to grow, it won''t be insurmountable." "If my body were as powerful as yours will be when you reach my level, the Exploding Mountain Turtle would have had no chance against me," the Dean said. "You have to remember that the gap between warriors and beasts is massive. A beast at the Early Commander Stage already has a body as powerful as a warrior at the Peak Commander Stage." "When you are at the Early Commander Stage, you would have physical power equal to a Late Commander Stage warrior due to the exponential increase in power where the third level is a bigger power increase than the two levels before it and so on." "At the moment, your body has the power of an Early General Stage warrior while being at the Initial General Stage." "That increase in power is incredible. To put this into perspective, if Ranos had your body, the number of True Mages that could win against him would be in the single digits in the entire world." "You are several times faster, more powerful, and have several times the defense of any other warrior on your level in the future." When Shang heard that, he felt like his insides were burning. Power! He finally had power! The gap was somewhat closed. Yes, the Mages still had many special means and Spells to push them even further, but that was easier to ovee than the very basis of his existence. "Now, we need to prepare you for the trial in about a month," the Dean said. "I want you to do as well as possible since your reward will also help the warriors all across the world." "So, it''s in all of our interest to see you seed." Original from N?velDrama.Org. "And because of that, I have a proposal," the Dean said. "A proposal?" Shang asked. The Dean looked into Shang''s eyes. "Are you willing to be my disciple?" Chapter 189 "Be your disciple?" Shang asked. Shang remembered the Dean''s other two disciples. One was Vice-Dean Soran, and Shang knew him very well. Then, there was that other girl. Shang had only seen her once, which was when she had watched Shang''s exam. If Shang remembered correctly, her name was Viera, and he also remembered that she had a crush on Soran. "Yes," the Dean said. "To give you help more easily, you have to be my disciple. Of course, this won''t just be a means to an end. I take my disciples seriously, and it is my duty to help them reach the True Path Stage." Shang remained silent for a bit as he mulled over the decision. Be the Dean''s disciple? ¡­ "I agree," Shang said. "Good," the Dean said with a nod. "Then, you are now my disciple." Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Silence. "That''s it?" Shang asked. "That''s it," the Dean said. "I''m not one for procedures. Your status will be updated in the academy register soon. From now on, you have free ess to the fifth floor of the main building, but don''t try to abuse that privilege." Shang nodded. "I won''t." "Then, for my first action as your master, I''ll give you a gift." SHING! A green uniform appeared in the Dean''s hands. "You are now officially part of the special training program," the Dean said. "This is your new uniform. It can protect you from one deadly strike of a Mid General Stage beast or a Late General Stage warrior. Inparison to your current uniform, this uniform also extends its protection to your head." "After blocking a deadly strike, it needs several minutes to refill its Mana, which means it only works once per fight. Keep that in mind," the Dean exined. The Dean handed the uniform to Shang, and Shang''s arms sunk by a lot. It was heavy! "Usually, this is only a uniform the Early General Stage students get since it would hamper the mobility of Initial General Stage warriors. The uniform weighs around 700 kg." Shang looked with surprise at the uniform in his hands. 700 kg. This didn''t feel like 700 kg at all! Had his power reached such a level that he could easily carry something this heavy without any issues? "Thank you¡­ master," Shang said. "I''m not one for formalities," the Dean said. "You can just call me teacher." Shang looked a bit awkwardly at the Dean. "Alright, teacher," he said. It still felt weird to address the Dean simply as teacher. "Now, let''s talk about how we will prepare for your trial," the Dean said. "First, you will move to a bigger room further down the hall. For the next month, I don''t want you to leave the basement of the academy." "Why?" Shang asked. "We need to keep watch over you in case there are any side-effects. There might be something different about you that we haven''t noticed yet." "Then, how am I supposed to prepare for the trial?" Shang asked. "I need opponents." "The opponents will be delivered to you," the Dean said. "There are two sides to your preparation. First, you need to get familiar with your body, and you will achieve that by fighting a couple of guards from Warrior''s Paradise." "That shouldn''t take more than a day, after which the second phase of your preparations will begin." "Fighting Adepts," the Dean said. Shang''s eyes narrowed. For the past couple of months, Shang had watched the red uniforms fight the Apprentices every week. Vice-Dean Ranos had ordered Shang to watch the fights. By now, Shang knew how nearly every Mage fought, and over thest year, he had also learned all about their Spells. And now, he only needed to actually put all his knowledge into practice. "Over the next month, I will send a wave of Adepts your way. You will have to fight several different Adepts each day with only minimal breaks." As Shang heard that, a fire appeared in his chest. Finally, he could fight the Mages! For the past year, the academy had put more and more information into Shang to prepare him for this moment. Shang''s ability to fight beasts was absolutely outstanding. Shang''s ability to fight warriors was also very impressive. The only thing holding Shang back was his ability to fight Mages, and that would be rectified very soon. Shang had never fought a Mage before, even though he had been sent to this world specifically to fight against the Mages. Why hadn''t he fought a Mage before? Because Shang hadn''t been outstanding enough. Now that everything else was outstanding, it was time for Shang to start on his actual purpose. The purpose the God had chosen for Shang was to make the warriors in the world more powerful, and he would have his first opportunity to do so by getting an outstanding score in the trial. But the God''s purpose wasn''t Shang''s purpose. Sure, Shang would help the warriors, but his highest priority was to be as powerful as possible. ''You intended for me to theorize the fifth Realm? How about I do you one better? How about I actually achieve the fifth Realm?'' ''How about I achieve the sixth Realm?'' ''How about I kill a Zone Beast?'' ''And then, I will search for the truly powerful Mages in this world!'' ''You didn''t give me gifts to only push me to the fifth Realm. No, all your gifts are useful even until the very point when I will be the strongest human in this world.'' "Get changed," the Dean ordered. "I will wait outside." The Dean left the room, and Shang quickly changed into his new uniform. He was unused to wearing something so heavy, but he would get used to it soon. Then, he left the room and followed his teacher down the hall. After walking for a while, the two of them entered a big, empty room. "This will be your room from now on, but you won''t be in it for long. Follow me," the Dean said before leaving the room again. After walking for a while, the two of them entered another big room, but this one had two doors leading out of it, and there was also a reception desk in it. "This is the entrance for people that want to enter the academy''s special shop. The auction only happens once a month, and the next one is in 17 days. For now, this will be your training arena." Shang nodded. "Your opponents wille from there," the Dean said as he pointed at the other door in the room. "This leads to a shed in the academy''s north." "I''m going to leave now and arrange everything. Expect the judge for your matches to arrive in a couple of minutes and your first opponent in, at most, an hour." Shang nodded. SHING! Then, something appeared in the Dean''s hands, and Shang quickly understood what this was for. This was a faceless, ck mask. In fact, there weren''t even holes for the eyes or nose in it. "We will have to keep your identity a secret. This mask has several Magic Circles on it that cloaks your entire body in a haze of forgetfulness." "Haze of forgetfulness?" Shang asked. "Anyone below the Third Realm that sees you while you''re wearing the mask will quickly forget your most significant characteristics. For example, they will forget what kind of weapon you were using, your hair color, the color of your uniform, and your height." "They will only remember that they fought a warrior that had an aggressive battle style." "But be sure to be careful of what you say. While the effects work for your appearance, it doesn''t work for what you speak." Shang took the mask and nodded. Then, he put it on. As soon as the mask touched his face, it seemingly vanished. Just now, Shang had seen the mask covering his vision, but just an instantter, it was like it wasn''t there at all. However, on the outside, the Dean saw a young man with ck hair and a ck, featureless mask. Then, the Dean looked at the green uniform with a frown. The Dean put his finger on Shang''s shoulder, and a momentter, the uniform transformed into a red color. Then, the Dean nodded. "That looks much better. For the next month, you can wear red uniforms. It might also help in further making your identity a mystery." Shang didn''t answer, and the Dean couldn''t see Shang''s expression. ''I don''t know if I like this look or not,'' Shang thought. And then, the Dean left the room. And just a couple of minutester, the judge for the fights appeared. Chapter 190 Shang looked at the brightly smiling face of Viera, the Dean''s second disciple. Shang had just thought about her, and now she appeared. "Congrattions, Little Brother!" Viera said with a bright voice, her long red hair covering half her face. "Little brother?" Shang asked. Viera nodded excitedly. "As teacher''s third disciple, you are now officially my younger brother!" she said. Then, she walked over and pulled Shang into a bear hug. Viera was a bit smaller than Shang, but the sheer power of her body made Shang helpless. When Shang got lifted from his feet without a way to resist, he felt awkward. He had only talked to this woman once before, and she was hugging him like he was her best friend. Or little brother? "Nice to meet you," Shang said awkwardly. Viera put him down and inspected his entire body. Then, she nodded. "You have a very dangerous aura! Many girls like that," she said with pride. "Dangerous aura?" Shang asked in confusion. Viera nodded several times. "Yep, very dangerous. As soon as I saw you, I felt like you were an aggressive beast, which is surprising. I mean, you''re only at the Initial General Stage." "Aggressive beast?" Shang asked as he looked at his body. ''I didn''t feel angry or aggressive. Also, I only just stood there with nothing on my mind. Why would Viera think that I''m an aggressive beast?'' Shang thought. Then, Viera excitedly walked over to the reception desk and sat on it. BANG! And the reception desk broke apart. Shang only awkwardly looked at Viera, his expression invisible due to his mask. Viera became red in the face and quickly stood up. "Stupid cheap wood!" she shouted as she kicked one of the pieces away. BANG! The piece of wood exploded on the wall, the splinters shooting all across the room. Shang didn''t say anything. The chair was obviously not made to be sat on, and the body of a Commander Stage warrior was incredibly heavy. Just Shang''s uniform alone weighed 700 kg. If one added the weight of Shang''s body, he would probably weigh nearly two tons. Meanwhile, Shang was surprised that Viera was so very different from Soran. Soran appeared very adult and responsible with a lot of morals. And Viera? She seemed like a carefree girl. Sure, her appearance was that of a woman in her twenties, but she acted like she was 14. After dealing with the offending wood, Viera summoned two chairs from a Space Ring. ''She keeps chairs in her Space Ring. Talk about having too much money,'' Shang thought. Viera patted one of the chairs while looking at Shang. "Come! Sit down! Let''s talk a bit!" she said with her bubbly, excited voice. Shang slowly walked over and sat down. "Tell me, Shang. What''s your goal? What makes you, you? Who are you?" Viera asked. "Directly starting with the hard questions, huh?" Shang asked. Viera giggled. "I''m not one for small talk. Come on, tell me!" she said with an excited smile. "Well, I want to be the most powerful being in the world," Shang answered. "Oh, that''s great!" Viera said with an excited smile. "Why?" "Because I like bettering myself," Shang said. "Training every day and seeing my progress is something that pushes me forward and motivates me." "That''s it?" Viera asked with a confused expression. "I thought you wanted to take revenge or wanted to achieve something." "What do you mean?" Shang asked. "Like, wanting to kill all Mages or killing the powerful noble that killed your family or simr stuff, you know?" she said. "No, I don''t have something like that," Shang said. "I only want power for power. I don''t necessarily have a use for that power, but I want it." "You can say I only want it to have it." Viera scratched the side of her head in thought. "What if you could be that powerful at this very moment?" she asked. "Excuse me?" Shang asked. "You know. What if some super powerful God or something came down and offered to grant you supreme power. You said that you wanted to have power to have it. So, ording to that, you would ept that offer, right?" Viera exined. For a while, Shang remained silent. He hadn''t thought about that. If he could be supremely powerful at this very moment, would he ept it? Silence. "No, I don''t think I would," Shang said. "Why not?" Viera asked in surprise. "I think it''s more about the journey and less about the goal," Shang exined. "On top of that, I want to achieve it on my own. If someone else were to hand me something, that something wouldn''t have any value. I want to achieve my goal on my own. I want it to be something I can work towards." "Oh," Viera uttered. "That sounds noble." "Noble?" Shang asked with a snort. "I don''t think that''s noble. After all, if I were to get my power handed to me, others wouldn''t have to die." Viera blinked a couple of times in confusion. "Could you exin that?" she asked. "Well, you know how the world is," Shang said. "Lots of people and beasts want to kill you because you have something valuable. Sometimes, people just hate you, and when they see that you be more powerful, they might fear that you would be going against them." "I think all of that is inevitable. So, if I want to be powerful, many lives will probably be lost. Now, don''t get me wrong. I don''t feel empathy for my enemy, but if I simply gained supreme power, I wouldn''t even have an enemy to begin with." Viera looked at Shang with interest. "That''s a very interesting and unique perspective, Shang," she said. "What about you?" Shang asked. "Me?" Viera answered with surprise. "You asked me what makes me, me. It''s only fair that I get to hear what makes you, you." Viera lightly scratched the side of her head with an embarrassed smile as her face became a bit red. "Well, I guess so," she answered vaguely.N?velDrama.Org content rights. "You don''t have to tell me if you feel ufortable," Shang said after seeing her reaction. "No, it''s fine," Viera said. Then, Viera looked to the side with an embarrassed expression. "Well, my goal is a bit special," she said. Shang could already guess what it was. After all, he had seen how infatuated Viera was with Soran. "You see," Viera said. "I kind of¡­" "Want to kill all beasts." Silence. "Excuse me?" Shang asked. Viera hid her face behind her hands. "Oh, I hate that look! Whenever I tell someone my goal, they look at me with this face. It''s like you all think I''m crazy!" "Eh, no," Shang quickly answered. "But why do you want to kill all the beasts? What''s the reason for that goal?" Viera looked at Shang and noticed that he didn''t seem to judge her for her goal. At least his body didn''t show any signs. His face was kind of hidden at the moment. "I mean, think about it," Viera said. "If you were to rece the actions of the beasts with a human, you would believe that human to be a danger to everyone." "Beasts just randomly walk around, and anything living and weaker than them bes their target." "Imagine a True Mage does that! Imagine a True Mage kills every single human that''s weaker than them as soon as they see them. That guy would bebeled as insane!" "Sure, beasts can''t help themselves, but that doesn''t excuse them from their actions!" "They attack viges!" "They attack random animals!" "They attack any human they see!" "Are we just supposed to take all of that? Are we supposed to just give up whenever a beast grabs a young girl from a vige? Are we just supposed to say that they can''t help themselves?" "Well, if they can''t be helped, then we have to deal with the threat!" "If the beasts kill every human they see, every human should also have the right to kill every beast they see!" "And that''s why I want to kill all the beasts in the world! As long as they exist, many weak people will be their victims!" Shang didn''t say anything as his featureless face only looked in Viera''s general direction. Shang had no idea what he should say. He obviously didn''t agree with her goal, but even more, he was shocked at the sudden change. Initially, Viera seemed like a nice and innocent girl, but then she said that she wanted to kill all the beasts. Was Shang supposed to disagree with her? Was he supposed to lie and say he understood her? But then, Shang was saved. Someone new entered the room. It was Shang''s first opponent! Chapter 191 Shang felt relieved when he saw his first opponent walk through the door since he had no idea how he was supposed to carry on the conversation after hearing about Viera''s goal in life. A man in seemingly his early thirties walked through the door. He wore bronze armor, showing that he was one of the basic guards of Warrior''s Paradise. Of course, even if the man seemed to be in his early thirties, he could very well be in his forties or even fifties. After all, General Stage warriors aged slower. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The man had brown hair, and he quickly noticed Shang. Then, he noticed Viera, and a gleam of recognition appeared in them for an instant. For that moment, Shang could feel that the man was a bit afraid of Viera. It seemed like the guards knew Viera. Shang slowly stood up. "We can continue this conversationter," he said as he looked back at Viera. At that moment, Shang paused for a bit. Viera''s aura had made a 180 when the guard walked through the door. She had a cold and apathetic expression on her face as she also slowly stood up from her chair. She walked to the side of the room and waited for both warriors to take up their positions. "You are both at the Early General Stage," she said. Shang''s brows furrowed under his mask. He was pretty sure that he was at the Initial General Stage. ''But it makes sense that she would say that I''m at the Early General Stage. After all, after the procedure, my body is basically on the level of an Early General Stage warrior.'' "This student hasn''t fought in a while, and he needs to be familiar with fighting again," Viera neutrally exined. "Your job is to win. I wish for you to attack him with the intention to kill." The guard scratched the back of his head. "Alright," he said. "As long as I''m getting paid." "You will," Viera said. Shang slowly took out his sword as he readied himself. BANG! The guard immediately charged forward as he took out his own weapon, a spear. The room was the ce where the auction of the academy took ce every month, which meant that it was rather big. In fact, it was over 50 meters wide. The two of them had been nearly 20 meters away from each other at the beginning. Sure, General Stage warriors were fast, but a warrior on their level still needed a full second to close that gap. But before the guard even came close to Shang, he pulled his spear back and tossed it out from below his waist. Usually, by throwing a spear like this, not a lot of power could be put into the throw, but for some reason, the spear shot forward with incredible speeds. Shang''s eyes widened. BANG! The Magic Circle on Shang''s uniform activated, and the spear bounced off his head. Shang only looked with shock at the spear. That had been way too fast! One couldn''t forget that Shang had been at the top of his ss and that he could even win against almost every student outside the Caterpir ss. He definitely wasn''t weak. But this spear throw. This had been insane! Suddenly, Shang saw a Space Ring on one of the guard''s fingers shine, and a second spear appeared in his hands. Shang quickly recovered and also charged forward with his sword. The two of them quickly reached each other, and the guard stabbed forward with his spear. Shang jumped to the side, but his eyes widened when he noticed that he had jumped to the side by over five meters. He had only wanted to move to the side by a meter or so! ''I need to get used to my new power,'' Shang thought. SHING! However, at that moment, Shang saw the butt of the guard''s spear hit the ce where Shang had intended to evade towards. Shang hadn''t even seen the butt of the spear move! The guard lifted an eyebrow when he noticed that he hadn''t hit anything. This had been one of his feints, and he had deliberately left this opening for his opponent to dodge towards. But his opponent didn''t. The guard quickly jumped to the side and began to roll in the air. Shang was uncertain why the guard was doing that, but he quickly saw why. In the sky, the guard threw his spear at Shang again, and it was just as fast as the previous one. SHING! The spear shot past Shang''s head, taking some hair with it. BANG! It hit the wall in the distance, and the building vibrated for a bit. Shang quickly focused on his opponent again. And then, he saw a spear in front of his face, stationary. Shang nearly jumped back, but he quickly controlled himself. Viera stood beside the spear, and she held it. The fight was obviously over. "And done," the guard said from a distance. Shang was still shocked. Where did that speare from? Shang remembered the roll in the air the guard did and realized that this was near the ce where the guard''s first spear was. The guard had thrown his second spear in the air, grabbed his first spear from the air, and threw that one too. In short, the first throw had only been a distraction. "Wind Beast Defense Technique." Shang looked at the guard. "Wind Beast Defense Technique?" Shang asked. "Yep," the guard said as he began to collect his spears. "All of us have to learn that technique if we want to work in Warrior''s Paradise as guards." "As the name suggests, it''s a technique to deal with General Stage beasts that get too close to the city. We can''t use the big ballistae against General Stage beasts. After all, every arrow costs a lot of money to produce." "So, for the weaker beasts, we simply throw our spears. It basically doesn''t cost us anything since some of us are responsible for collecting the corpses and spears at night." Shang nodded. No wonder the spears were that fast. After all, this was a technique specifically designed to deal with the fastest kind of flying beasts. "Anyway, that should be it for my job, right?" the guard asked Viera. Viera nodded. "You may leave. Contact your superior for the reward." "Good," the guard said before looking at Shang. "Have fun. A couple of others are already queuing up. I don''t think you will get a moment to rest." "Thanks," Shang said as he prepared himself for the next battle. In this short battle, Shang realized two things. First of all, he was not used to this new power. But more importantly, the second thing he realized was that he was no longer fighting students. Yes, Shang was the best of his ss, but that was it, the best of his ss. The smartest student still didn''t even nearly know as much as the average person that actually worked in their chosen field of study. In the Academy, Shang had battled 20-year-olds. But now, he was battling warriors that were in their thirties or forties. They had over an entire decade of experience on Shang. ''But that''s only temporary,'' Shang thought as he saw the next guard walk through the door. ''I just need to adapt and learn!'' And then, the second fight began. Chapter 192 "I was lucky. I got him with the Flying Beast Defense Technique." Inside a tavern, several guards were talking to each other. "So you were the reason why he managed to evade my spears!" another guard on the table grumbled. The first guard only snickered. "Well, I was the first one. How did your fight go?" "I think I was the fourth he fought," the other guard said. "Luckily, he didn''t know the Earth Beast Cracker. I don''t remember what his weapon was, but I remember that I managed to make him lose his weapon. The fight was over after that." "Yeah, he probably wears one of these Haze Masks," the first guard said. "Of course, I can''t remember." At that point, another guard walked through the doors since his shift had just ended. "Hey, Steve!" the second guard shouted. "Over here!" The newest guard, Steve, walked over with augh and sat down. "What''s up?" he asked. "Hey, did you fight that guy in the academy too?" the second guard asked. "Wait, you guys fought him as well?" Steve asked. The two guards nodded. "Didn''t your shift end like five hours ago?" The two guards nodded again. "What was your number?" Steve asked. "I was number one, and Jarrod was number four," the first guard said. "Tch," Steve spat. "You probably had it easy as number one." The first guard onlyughed. "Don''t act like you didn''t also have it easy." Original from N?velDrama.Org. "What are you talking about?" Steve asked. "I was number 57, and I had to fight him for like over half a minute." The first two guards only looked at Steve in surprise. "What?" Steve asked. "Half a minute?" Jarrod asked. "Did we fight the same guy?" "Probably," Steve said. "The numbers seem to check out with the timeframe. Why?" The first guard and Jarrod looked at each other. "Well, we basically won in an instant." "In an instant?" Steve asked. "I mean, I get that being the first has some advantage, but that quick?" "Yeah, he didn''t know our techniques in the beginning," the first guard exined. "That would exin things," Steve said. "So, how did your fight go?" Jarrod asked as he pushed his mug of beer towards Steve. Steve drank from the mug. "Well, after trying to get him with our Defense Techniques, I had to fight him with my sword," Steve said. "Huh, so you actually had to use your real weapon?" Jarrod asked. Steve nodded. "But it still wasn''t easy. He moved very weirdly. Sometimes he went really low to the ground, and other times, he even jumped over me. Like, who does that?" Steve asked. The other twoughed when they heard that. "That really is a strange way to fight." "But it was effective," Steve said. "Fighting him was very different from fighting any other warrior. Usually, it''s not that difficult to foresee what my opponent will do, but with him, it was basically a shot in the dark. I had to rely on my instincts and habits the entire time." "Sure, I won after some back and forth, but it definitely wasn''t easy." The other two remained silent for a bit. "Hey, how old do you think he is?" the first guard asked. "How am I supposed to know?" Jarrod answered with a snort. "He wears one of those Haze Masks. I don''t even remember how tall he is or what weapon he uses." "Yeah, sure," the first guard said, "but based on how he fought, I was sure that he was a fresh graduate. You know, someone that just reached the General Stage." "And how is that supposed to work?" Steve asked. "The guy is obviously at the Early General Stage, and his technique also wasn''t bad. I can''t remember his weapon, but I can somewhat remember how he moved." "He didn''t seem like a fresh graduate. I think he is probably in histe twenties." The other two snorted. "Late twenties? The guy didn''t even know our techniques." Steve wasn''t sure what he should think about that. The other two told Steve that he was inexperienced, but the opponent Steve fought didn''t seem inexperienced. After a while, the topic veered away from Shang, and he was quickly forgotten. Several hours passed, and it waste at night now. The bar had closed, which forced the off-duty guards to gather in one of the towers to y cards. "Hey, did you guys also have to fight that one student from the academy?" one of the yers on the table suddenly asked the other three. "Oh yeah, that guy," Steve said. The other two he had met in the bar were already back at work, and he would also need to return soon. "Which number were you?" the guard asked. "Number 57," Steve answered. "Oh, so you''re one of the early ones," the guardmented. "Early ones?" Steve asked. "How many did the guy fight?" "I don''t know," the guard said. "I only know that I was Number 183." "183?" Steve asked in shock. "He fought that many of us in just half a day?" "I was Number 95," another guard said. "I was Number 144," the fourth one said. "Oh yeah, how did your fights go?" Number 183 asked. "He wasn''t bad," Number 95 said. "He was pretty good," Number 144 said. "A bit inexperienced, though," Steve said. The other three guards looked at Steve. "What?" Steve asked. "Inexperienced?" Number 144 asked with skepticism. "He seemed pretty experienced to me." "I mean, he was experienced but pretty experienced? I don''t know," Number 95 said. "Why are we even talking about this?" Number 183 asked. "He was definitely very experienced!" Now, the three guards looked at Number 183 in skepticism. "You don''t have to overdo it," Number 144 said. "I''m not exaggerating!" Number 183 shouted. "I nearly lost to him!" "You nearly lost?" Steve asked in shock. Sure, Steve''s opponent had been pretty strong, but Steve had been nowhere near to losing. "Yeah!" Number 183 answered in frustration. "He even managed to trigger the Magic Circle on my armor." That surprised the other three guards. Triggering the Magic Circle? That meant that Number 183 had received a life-threatening attack. After that, the four guards started to argue with each other. Their recounts varied wildly from one another, but they were all certain that they were right. After all, they had seen it with their own eyes! An hourter, Steve went back to work, and a new guy entered the tower. "Hey! Did you also fight that student?" Number 183 shouted towards the new arrival. The new guard looked over. "I was Number 229," the other guard said without much enthusiasm. "How did it go?" Number 144 asked. The guard silently took his armor off and slipped into his normal clothes. "I lost," he said before exiting the tower. The other guards only looked at the closed door. Their colleague had lost? "I told you!" Number 183 shouted. "How can he be inexperienced when he won against one of us?!" And thus, the argument began again. Soon, the night passed, and a new day began. A guard left the big underground room with no energy in his step. He had just lost in a devastating fashion. "That should be thest of them," Viera said with a bright smile. "Shang, you''ve managed to improve tremendously!" "Well, I''m not sure if you can call it improvement," Shang said. "It''s more thanks to getting used to my new body and this thing," he said as he gestured to his mask. "With this mask, I can finally use more than just my Ice Affinity. By also using fire, I can push my speed way more." "Of course, but you still managed to ovee their techniques," Viera said. "Techniques?" Shang asked. "Sure, they have a lot of experience, but their fighting styles are very uniform. I also don''t think that warriors aiming to reach the Commander Stage would take up a position as guards in Warrior''s Paradise." "They also obviously didn''te from our Academy," Shang said. "Some of them did," Viera said, "but you''re right. The ones that came from our Academy weren''t the best of their ss." "How would you estimate their strength?" Shang asked. Viera hummed a bit as she scratched the side of her head. "I think average?" she said uncertainly. "They are better than town guards, but there are plenty of warriors that are more powerful than them." Shang nodded. "Anyway, that was thest one," Viera said with a bright smile. "300 guards! Well done, Shang!" Shang released a sigh. The fights had definitely been exhausting. "But don''t rx yet!" Viera said with a bright voice. "Teacher said that the first Adepts will arrive in about an hour or so!" "You''re going to fight your first Mage, yay!" Chapter 193 Shang talked with Viera for the next hour. She was rather bubbly all the time, but when she talked about her goal in life, her demeanor started to subtly change. "Beast defenders are selfish people that are only interested in their own gains," Viera said with a snort. In her mind, beast defenders were people that wanted to keep all the beasts alive. "They only want to keep the beasts alive because they are powerful enough to resist the normal beasts. They can kill a Pest Cat. And since beasts are worth a lot of money, they want to keep their method of making money alive. Beast defenders are not thinking about the good of the normal people." "They are selfish and entitled!" Viera said with some anger. She had controlled her voice, but Shang could feel a lot of hatreding from her. This was something she felt very strongly about. "And how are people supposed to be more powerful without the beasts'' resources?" Shang asked. "Mana Sources are a necessity." Viera snorted again. "Mages can create Mana Sources artificially. They just don''t give these Mana Sources to just anyone since it''s expensive." "They can?" Shang asked in surprise. Viera nodded. "Of course. Do you think over thest thousands of years, the Mages never tried to create something like Mana Sources? Of course they did!" "Okay," Shang said. "What about the beasts that don''t hunt humans?" "Doesn''t matter," Viera answered. "Beasts can change any second. Some beasts that have been peaceful for their entire lives can suddenly have a change of heart and kill a human. It''s not a new concept." "If we want to protect our children and the weaker people, we have to get rid of all the beasts! There simply isn''t any other way!" Viera said. Shang could feel quite some hatred emanating from Viera. "Well, if you think so," Shang said, trying to get away from the topic. "Yes, I think so," Viera said as she crossed her arms. "What do you think about this?" Shang didn''t like to answer that question. Viera was very adamant about defending her viewpoint, and if Shang disagreed too much, their freshly created disciple rtionship mightpletely break apart. "I don''t really have a horse in the race," Shang said. "A horse in the race?" Viera repeated in confusion. "What horse?" ''Seems like that phrase isn''tmon in this world,'' Shang thought. "It means that it doesn''t matter to me. For my goal, I don''t need the beasts, but I also don''t really care about what they do," Shang exined. "You don''t care?" Viera asked in surprise. Shang nodded. "Their life is their life. My life is my life. I live my life, and that''s that." Shang looked with a bit of nervousness at Viera. He had no idea how she would take that. By now, Shang could understand why Soran wasn''t interested in starting a rtionship with Viera. Some of her views were really extreme, and she was really adamant about them. Soran was someone that liked to help and trust people, and that sentiment extended to beasts. In Soran''s mind, killing all the beasts was probably something way too extreme. "Oh, that''s fine then," Viera said as a smile returned to her face. Shang was a bit surprised, but not much. Her demeanor had more than once taken unpredictable turns. "Howe you''re fine with that?" Shang asked. "Why shouldn''t I be?" Viera asked. "Because you said that beast defenders are selfish people," Shang said. "They are, but you''re not defending beasts," Viera said. "You said you are ambivalent to the topic. So, if I were to suddenly kill all the beasts, you would only watch." "I guess so," Shang said with uncertainty. "See? So, everything''s alright!" Viera said with a bright smile. "She crazy," Sword said in Shang''s mind. Shang didn''t answer Sword. After some more talking, the door opened again. When Shang heard the door open, a fire appeared in his eyes. His first Mage! Shang looked over and saw his future opponent. Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. It was a girl with long, icy blue hair. She wore light blue robes, and she carried two small sticks with crystals on them in her hands. Shang recognized the sticks. They were scepters, and they were used as weapons until the Mage could finally afford a Focus. They obviously weren''t as great as Focuses, but they did their job adequately. For a bit, Shang was surprised that his opponent was a girl, but he quickly realized that there was no reason to be surprised. Shang had been surprised since nearly all his opponents had been men in the past. Women were very rare amongst warriors. However, this wasn''t the case when it came to Mages. There were a lot of female Mages. After all, physical ability didn''t matter when it came to Magic. "Hello?" the Adept asked shyly. "I''m here to fight someone." Right now, the Adept saw a powerful teacher and a scary-looking man in the room. It was understandable why she was nervous. Viera stood up and walked to the side. Shang also stood up and stopped on the other side of the room. The Adept and Shang were now about 40 meters away from each other. "This will be your opponent," Viera said coldly as she gestured to Shang. Whenever someone unfamiliar was in Viera''s vicinity, she always took up this serious and cold persona,pletely different from her usual one. The Adept nervously looked over at Shang. "He looks scary," she said. Under his mask, Shang lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. "Will I get hurt?" the Adept asked. "I will interfere before one of you dies," Viera said coldly. "Okay," the Adept said nervously, "but will I get hurt?" Viera only looked at the Adept. The Adept nervously fumbled with her robes in difort. "You see¡­ I''m not really good at fighting." ''Not really good at fighting?'' Shang thought. ''Are my first opponents supposed to be easy?'' "Then, I will interfere when your Mana Shield gets broken. That should be fine, right?" Viera asked with a bit of annoyance. "Thank you," the Adept said as she lightly bowed to Viera in thanks. Viera nodded. Then, she looked at both opponents. The Adept readied her two scepters. With Viera''s assurance, she was no longer as nervous. "Start!" Chapter 194 BANG! Shang exploded forward with all his power, the ground beneath him shaking as he used his Fire and Ice Affinity to increase his speed. For a moment, the Adept became nervous when she saw Shang''s speed. ''Calm down, Leen!'' the Adept, Leen, thought. ''Just do what teacher told you to do! First, Mana Shield!'' Leen quickly spoke several words in a shockingly fast fashion. It didn''t even take her half a second. Some distortions appeared around her as her Mana Shield appeared. A normal human, not experienced inbat, would have taken longer to recover, but Mages trained their minds. They were thinking far quicker than warriors. Because of that, it appeared like Leen had created her Spell as soon as the battle had started. Shang was still 25 meters away when the Mana Shield appeared. ''I should be able to create an Ice Spear before I have to use Mana Step,'' Leen thought. Leen''s words jumbled together as she spoke faster than Shang could fathom. When Shang was ten meters away, a long needle made of ice appeared above Leen''s head. ''Next, Mana Step,'' Leen thought. Shang arrived in front of Leen and swung forward. SHING! However, Shang''s attack missed as Leen suddenly vanished from his vision, and she nearly instantaneously arrived over 20 meters away from him. Of course, Shang had expected that his opponent would use Mana Step. He had seen plenty of fights, and he knew all the spells the Mages could unleash. Without pause, Shang immediately charged toward Leen again. Every Mana Step consumed quite some of Leen''s Mana, and consuming all his opponent''s Mana was one of the mostmon methods to win the fight. After some words, a second ice spear appeared beside Leen. Shang reached her and struck forward. Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. Leen vanished again, but this time, Shang had noticed where she would go. Leen had looked in a certain direction after she had finished her Incantation, telling Shang where she would go. Experienced Mages would never make such a rookie mistake. They would have scanned the surroundings beforehand and would remember where they wanted to go. They didn''t need to look in that direction while using Mana Step. So, Shang struck the ce where Leen would pass to. CRRRRK! The sound of two hard things grinding together echoed throughout the room as Shang''s sword was pushed back. Shang had hit her Mana Shield! 30 meters away, Leen''s face became white. ''I lost so much Mana!'' She thought in horror. ''Don''t panic, Leen! Just do what teacher told you! Create another Ice Spear!'' Shang charged at his opponent again. A third Ice Spear appeared beside Leen. When Leen saw Shang approach her, she was uncertain of what she should do. ''The fight has been pretty easy so far. Should I try a Mana Push? I should be able to win if I can pull it off.'' However, when Leen saw the violently approaching Shang, she became fearful. ''Too risky!'' she thought as she prepared another Mana Step. ''Just do what teacher told you!'' ''Everything is prepared. Now, I only have to pull it off!'' Leen thought nervously. ''Just do what teacher told you!'' CRRRK! Shang''s sword ground against Leen''s Mana Shield again as she vanished one more time. Then, Shang turned towards her to follow her. BANG! The Magic Circle on Shang''s uniform activated. While Leen had shot towards the distance, she had thrown one of the Ice Spears at his head, triggering the Magic Circles of his uniform. Shang was more than a little surprised. When he had seen the Apprentices fight the Soldier Stage warriors, he hadn''t seen any of them essentially use two Spells at once! Shang had even seen very talented Apprentices, but even they hadn''t been able to do something like this! And just when Shang recovered, Viera appeared in front of him. CRACK! CRACK! The two other Ice Spears were destroyed by Viera. Just now, Leen had unleashed all three of her Ice Spears in a line. This was exactly what her teacher taught her. Warriors often had some armor that defended them from a life-threatening attack, which was why it was important to line up several such attacks at once. Shang looked with shock towards his front. ''I lost?'' he thought. His opponent had been incredibly inexperienced, obviously. Yet, his opponent had still won against him with ease! Shang guessed that his opponent probably hadn''t even used 70% of her Mana! ''I did it!'' Leen thought with an excited smile. ''It went down exactly as teacher said!'' "You can leave," Viera said to Leen. "Contact the teacher responsible for external rewards in your academy for your payment." Leen quickly recovered and bowed politely. "Thanks, miss," she said. Leen threw onest nce at Shang but didn''t say anything else. Shang looked scary, and she didn''t want to be in his vicinity. After Leen left the room, Viera looked at Shang with a bright smile. "Well done! You managed to exhaust her Mana by a lot!" Shang didn''t feel as proud of himself. ''I exhausted her Mana by a lot, huh?'' Shang thought. Shang clenched his fists. ''She was insanely inexperienced, but she still won!'' Then, Shang remembered all the fights he had watched between the red uniforms and the Apprentices. ''However, none of the Apprentices had been able to wield Magic as fluently as her. I wonder¡­'' ''Is this the effect of the Mana Source?'' "What role did the Mana Source y in this fight?" Shang asked Viera. "Her Ice Spears," Viera answered. "Her Mana Source allows her to quickly manifest them and keep them active without using too much Mana to sustain them. However, the biggest advantage is the ability to Half-Cast." "Half-Cast?" Shang asked. He hadn''t heard of that ability before, even though he had visited Vice-Dean Ranos'' ss for an entire year. That probably meant that Half-Cast was something that only Adepts could use. After all, Shang had only been in the Preparation Grade, which was for warriors at the Soldier Stage. "In the Apprentice Realm," Viera exined, "Ice Spears is one Spell. You summon them and then unleash them. However, after getting a Mana Source, you can Half-Cast. Half-Cast allows you to prepare a Spell and interrupt the Incantation without destroying your work." "She finished 90% of three Ice Spear spells one after the other and then finished all three of the Incantations rapidly one after the other." "Each of these Spells represents a very powerful attack. After all, she took nearly a full second to create one. One Ice Spear Spell has about the same power as if you were to abandon all defense and put your everything into a single strike." "But as a Mage, she can prepare several of these strikes beforehand. Of course, since a Mana Source has to be Element-specific, Half-Cast only works on Elemental Spells." "You also have to remember that a Mage''s closeness to their Affinity allows them to finish the Spells whenever they want. Your opponent, for example, finished the Spell while using Mana Step. You didn''t know that, which was why she was able to take you out." "But this is the point of training. You are supposed to learn these things so that you don''t fall for them when your life is actually on the line." "Anyway, you did very well against your first opponent, Shang," Viera said with a bright smile. Shang absorbed everything Viera exined, but he couldn''t even properly digest it before the doors to the room opened again. Shang looked over and saw a nervous young man looking into the room. ''Another inexperienced opponent,'' Shang thought. ''I guess this is what I have to deal with for the next few days.'' Chapter 195 Shang''s next opponent was an Earth Adept, and he obviously also had nearly nobat experience. Just like Shang''s first opponent, this one also made several rookie mistakes, and Shang managed to use up a lot of Mana of his opponent by hitting his Mana Shield a couple of times. But, eventually, Shang''s opponent managed to prepare several devastating attacks, which were released in rapid session. This time, Shang''s opponent had summoned several Earth Spires that shot out of the ground. Due to Shang''s reflexes, he had been able to evade the first one, but it hadn''t been easy. Shang had to abandon all his bnce to barely evade the Earth Spire. Since the Adept only needed a single thought to unleash his remaining spells, he released the next two in rapid session, and Shang hadn''t been able to avoid those. Shang had lost. The Adept bowed politely to Viera and threw Shang a look. Then, with a snort, he left without saying anything. Shang''s next opponent was a Metal Adept. When the Metal Adept used Mana Step, Shang decided not to use his sword but to jump into the way of the Mana Step to grapple with the Adept. However, the Mana Shield threw Shang away, and he quickly lost after that. These Adepts were faster than Shang while using Mana Step, which surprised him quite a bit. Sure, Mana Step was fast, but this fast? The next opponent was a Fire Adept. Fire Adepts basically didn''t exist in the Mage Academy, but Shang''s opponents didn''t onlye from the Mage Academy. A lot of his opponents were Adepts that gave up trying to be True Mages or were ones that simply didn''t have the talent or discipline to be one. In short, those were Adepts that would forever remain Adepts. They basically counted to the worst Adepts in existence. And yet, even though they all had horrible fighting experience, by simply following some simple rules, they always won against Shang. As a warrior, Shang had to constantly adapt to his opponent and make quick decisions, but a Mage didn''t fight that way. A Mage followed rules. They followed protocol. They followed a path. They followed a sequence. They followed a n. Fighting against warriors for them was nothing more than following a step-by-step guide. Mages were superior to warriors in Battle-Strength, and the only way they could lose was if they didn''t use their powers correctly. But by following a step-by-step guide, they used them perfectly. A huge man could lose against a far smaller man in hand-to-handbat if he made many mistakes and didn''t use his powers correctly. However, if the huge man simply focused on resisting the strikes and barreling over his opponent, the huge man would almost always win. The huge man had the weight and power advantage, and if he managed to throw the other one to the ground andnd on top of him, the huge man would only need to use his raw power to win. Technique didn''t matter. That was exactly why there were weight sses inbat sports on Earth. Being heavier and bigger was an unreasonable advantage. The same thing was true for Mages when they fought against warriors in this world. Their powers were unreasonably greater than their opponent''s powers. They would need to take several hits while going through the procedure, but their Mana Shield took care of that. As long as they could resist their opponent''s attacks until they were ready to unleash their own power, the Mages would win. Of course, this only counted for the inexperienced Mages. An experienced Mage wouldn''t even let their opponents hit them while thoroughly crushing their opponent. And Shang felt the power difference very clearly. After a full day of fighting, Shang hadn''t won even a single time. He had be pretty good at anticipating where his opponents would go while using Mana Step, and he managed to hit their Mana Shield several times. Shang had also be far faster in following his opponent, which often gave him an additional opportunity to hit their Mana Shield. But in the end, Shang would always sumb to the rapid barrage of Spells after the Adept was done preparing. Shang tried to increase his ability to intercept the Adepts and deal more damage to them, but after a full day, he realized that there wasn''t much else he could do. This path was a dead end. So, Shang concentrated on being able to dodge his opponent''s barrage of spells. At that moment, Shang realized once again that fighting Mages was somewhat simr to fighting beasts. When fighting beasts, the most important thing was to dodge their devastating attacks. Their attacks had far more power behind them than the attacks of other warriors, which basically made it impossible for a warrior to block them. One always had to evade these attacks. The same thing was true when one fought Mages. Blocking their Spells was basically impossible, and one always needed to evade them. However, the difference between Mages and beasts was the frequency of these devastating attacks. A beast could only unleash one devastating attack at a time, but a Mage could unleash several in just a single second. In the end, Shang focused on increasing his ability to evade the spells. It was fine as long as he was only hit once since his uniform would cancel that hit. At that point, his opponent would need to prepare several more Spells again since Shang could evade the Spell if it were only one. And that was where Shang''s experience in fighting against beasts came into y. It was not normal for a warrior to be able to confidently evade a Mage''s Spell. In fact, it was very rare. Nearly all warriors only managed to evade a Spell with a lot of luck, but Shang could do it consistently. This was the basis of Shang''s power, and it had given him a solid starting point. Now, he only had to advance in that department! Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. After two days, Shang managed to evade one Spell consistently and a second Spell about every second attempt. After the third day, Shang pushed that frequency to 75%. After the fourth day, it became 90%. After the fifth day, it became 95%. By now, Shang had managed to deplete a lot more of his opponents'' Mana, but he still hadn''t won even once. But he was making progress! By now, nearly all of Shang''s opponents had to use over 70% of their Mana. After the tenth day, Shang managed to evade two Spells confidently, but that was when it became far harder again to advance. Shang had to use all his power to evade the second Spell, making it impossible for him to evade the third. If an Adept prepared three Spells, Shang would be hit by one, and the Adept would need to prepare another three. If an Adept prepared four Spells, Shang would lose immediately. But in both cases, Shang managed to push his opponent to waste about 80% of their Mana. Just a bit more! As long as he managed to exhaust all their Mana, he would win! Chapter 196 More days passed, and although Shang became better and better, he still didn''t win even once. Shang hade across another problem. A lot of his opponents were now using Mana Push. Mana Push was amon Element-neutral defensive Spell. It created something like a force field around one of the Adept''s arms, which extended outward by quite a bit. Mana Push was the very technique Duke Whirlwind used to deal with the Exploding Mountain Turtle''s attacks. He had created a huge forcefield and used it to bat the stones of the Exploding Mountain Turtle away like they were pebbles. Of course, the Mana Push of these Adepts was nowhere near as overwhelmingly powerful as Duke Whirlwind''s, but it was still troublesome. Using Mana Push didn''t waste as much Mana as receiving a hit to one''s Mana Shield. However, it was harder to utilize since the Adept actually had to anticipate Shang''s movements somewhat. If they messed up their Mana Push, they would have wasted their Mana in using Mana Push while also receiving an attack to their Mana Shield. Since Shang''s opponents were now using Mana Push, Shang''s progress was thrown back. By now, Shang could barely waste 60% of his opponent''s Mana. However, Shang wasn''t stupid, and he had realized something. His initial opponents had been very clumsy, and they hadn''t used Mana Push. But now, his opponents were using Mana Push confidently. This meant that Shang''s opponents had been upgraded. He was no longer fighting the trash portion of the Adepts but the average ones. When Shang had just fought against his first few opponents, he had only managed to use up around 50% of their Mana, and these opponents had been the worst Adepts. Now, he managed to waste 60% of the Mana of average Adepts. Shang had made progress! Several more days passed, and Shang learned to deal with Mana Push better. There were three levels to dealing with Mana Push. First level: Somewhat avoiding it and quickly charging towards the Adept''s new location after they used Mana Step. Second level: Avoiding Mana Push with a lot of confidence and making the Adept use even more Mana by forcing them to use a Mana Step with all their power. Third level: Nullifying Mana Push and hitting the opponent''s Mana Shield before they vanished with Mana Step. After five days, Shang managed to confidently reach the first level. By now, he wasn''t thrown to the ground anymore by being hit by Mana Push. After several more days, Shang managed to reach the second level a couple of times, but before he could continue, he had to take a break. 17 days had already passed, which meant that the academy''s auction would take ce now. Viera left to deal with several things. After all, she had been down here for over two weeks. Shang retreated to his room and sat down. One would think that Shang wanted to rx after 17 days of constant battle, but that was far from the truth. Shang saw his own progress, and he became addicted to it. More power! He wanted more power! He was making so much progress! Shang wanted to continue fighting right now, but he had to wait until the room became free again. Luckily, Shang wouldn''t have to wait with nothing to do. Mattheo arrived at Shang''s room with several Spells made by Duke Whirlwind. He delivered the Spells to Shang and gave him a couple of tips on how to train in Spell casting. After bing a General Stage warrior, Shang''s mind was also slowly growing. By now, his mind had reached the Initial Apprentice Realm. The Initial Apprentice Realm wasn''t impressive, but it was still a step forward. After Mattheo left, Shang looked through the list of Spells. They were the easiest Spells imaginable. It was almost like they weren''t Spells but training methods. One Spell required Shang to simply gather Fire Mana from the surroundings. Shang could absorb lifeless Fire and Ice Mana, but he hadn''t yet been able to absorb these kinds of Mana from the atmosphere. Obviously, Duke Whirlwind wanted to test if Shang had the same abilities as people with normal Affinities. Shang sat down and concentrated on these Spells. He was helping Duke Whirlwind, but he was also doing this for himself. His Magic abilities would never reach the power of his physical abilities, but there surely were some Spells that could help Shang a little bit. A Mage''s power was 100% magical and 0% physical. A warrior''s power was 0% magical and 100% physical. A magic warrior''s power was 40% magical and 60% physical. Due to Shang''s warrior''s body, he nned on making his power 10% magical and 90% physical. Spells used the Mana from one''s mind, but inparison to a Mage, if Shang''s Mana in his mind ran out, he wasn''t helpless. Because of that, even though his Mana reserves for his mind were pitifully small, he could attempt to gain a one-time boost per battle bypletely using up all the Mana in his mind. Shang got reminded of how Astor used his Affinity to move to the side to change the angle of his attack. If Shang could use all his Mana in one Mana Step to move to the side, it would already help him. With one Mana Step, he could probably avoid an additional attack. One Mana Step was obviously pitiful whenpared to Adepts, but this one Mana Step could make the difference. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. But to learn Mana Step, Shang had to be familiar with Spell casting. And Duke Whirlwind''s extremely easy Spells came at just the right time. At that moment, Shang saw another path forward. Shang was quickly approaching the limit of his techniques. The Adepts were overwhelming him, even though he was nearly perfect at fighting them. There was only so much technique could do. Shang had to upgrade some part of his power, and one of these methods was to learn Mana Step. Shang spent the entire day practicing the Spells Mattheo had delivered him, and when Viera returned to get him to return to battle, Shang almost didn''t want to stop. Shang had made quite some progress in his Spell casting, and he was absolutely sure by now that he could increase his power with that. Shang had so many things to practice that there wasn''t enough time in the day. At least General Stage warriors didn''t need to sleep anymore. Mana and oxygen fueled their entire being, and the Mana also changed their minds to process information while being awake. Shang returned to his battles. Sadly, even though he had made some progress in his Spell casting, his Battle-Strength hadn''t been increased by it. He was still quite a bit off from using an actual Spell. For the next few days, Shang practiced dealing with Mana Push and learning all the different Spells his opponents were using. By now, his opponents were using more than one Elemental Spell, and Shang saw new Spells every single day. Shang was certain that these Adepts weren''t weak. After ten days, Shang managed to confidently deplete 80% of his opponents'' Mana reserves again. Only a bit more! Three dayster, Shang was so close to winning! Only a bit more! "Alright, that was thest one!" Viera said. Shang became shocked. Thest one? An entire month had already passed?! Shang gritted his teeth. "I didn''t manage to win even once," he said with frustration. "Are you surprised?" Shang turned around as he heard a familiar voice. His teacher, the Dean, stood at the door. "Can I go now?" Viera asked with the voice of a pleading child. "I want to hunt beasts again." The Dean looked at Viera. "You can leave." "Yay!" Viera said as she excitedly pped her hands. Then, she looked at Shang. "You''re really impressive, Shang! In just one month, you became one of the best students our academy has ever had when ites to fighting Mages!" Shang snorted. "One of the best? I didn''t even win against an average Adept even one time." Viera only smiled brightly. Then, she turned to the Dean. "Can I tell him now?" Shang raised an eyebrow while the Dean nodded. "Shang!" Viera said excitedly. "You''ve not been fighting Initial Adepts but Early Adepts!" For a second, Shang''s mind halted. Wait, so these Adepts had all been a level above him? No wonder their Mana Step was so fast! "Surprised?" the Dean repeated. Shang only looked at the Dean with a perplexed expression. "Your body is a level higher than the body of a normal warrior. In short, your body is equal to an Early General Stage warrior." "By fighting Early Adepts, you have essentially nullified the advantage of your new body. You experienced how it is to fight as a normal warrior against Mages." "Our very best students can fight an average Adept on their level on equal grounds. By now, you are also fighting an average Adept on equal grounds, which makes you part of our best students." "Of course, that''s without considering the advantage of your unique body." "Shang, you shouldn''t forget that you have be very powerful over thest year. Your Battle- Strength is outstanding, and not many warriors can fight against you anymore." "By making you fight Early Adepts, you learned a lot about how Mages fight, and you learned the most important aspect." "Evasion and adaptability." "Viera, you can leave," the Dean said as he looked at Viera. Viera noticed that the Dean wanted her gone, and she left after saying her goodbyes. Now, only Shang and the Dean were left in the room. "You should be able to beat the fourth level in the Mage category in the trial," the Dean said. "You even have a tiny chance of winning the fifth level." "You should undertake the trial in a couple of hours." "I''m expecting greater things from you than I have achieved back then." Shang remained silent as he listened to the Dean. He hadn''t even thought that his opponents were a level above him. Why? Because the supreme power of the Mages was blinding. Shang thought that it was normal for him to lose against the average Adept. But now, Shang realized that he had grown far more than he had anticipated. The gap between him and the Mages had seemed insurmountable. But now, Shang could confidently fight an average Adept one level above him. Of course, without his body, Shang would only be able to fight an average Adept on his own level, but that was still very impressive. Not many warriors could fight an average Adept one-on-one. Shang had be one of the very best warriors in the academy, and he had his new body on top of that. Additionally, Shang saw another method of bing more powerful, which was Mana Step. Shang had already be very powerful, but this wasn''t even close to his full potential. At that moment, Shang realized how powerful he had be. And it felt great! He wanted to feel that feeling of progress more! And his next step? Shang looked at the Dean with fiery eyes. "Thank you," he said. "I won''t disappoint you!" "I will bring back an amazing reward from the trial!" The next step was the trial. Shang was certain that the reward from the trial could increase his power even more! Chapter 197 Over the next couple of hours, Shang talked with his new master about several tactics he could employ during the trial. These were thest hours before Shang would fight for his future potential. The better the reward, the more likely it was that Shang would receive something that would help him in the future. No one in the world knew how a True Path Stage warrior could reach the fifth Realm, and theorizing the Realm might also consume Shang''s entire life. But there was another way. The trial! The trial would allow Shang to peek into the past power of the warrior path. Back then, the warriors were just as powerful as the Mages, and they must have also had extremely powerful people amongst their ranks. After all, the God had said that the Mage Emperor had been the one that had killed the leaders of the other paths. This meant that the Mages under him probably hadn''t been able to eliminate these leaders on their own. The strongest warriors must have had powers rivaling the strongest Mages. Right now, Shang probably wouldn''t be able to receive something that showed him the way to the fifth Realm, but in the trial at the True Path Stage, he would very likely get that opportunity. The Dean had done very well during his first trial, but due to his weak body, the future trials hadn''t been as profitable as the first one. In the first one, the Dean had managed to gain 10 points. In the second one, the Dean had managed to gain 8 points. Three against the beasts, four against the warriors, and one against the Mages. In the third andst one, the Dean had managed to gain 3 points. One against the beasts, two against the warriors, and zero against the Mages. He hadn''t even attempted to fight the Mages. The Dean had undergone the third trial after reaching the True Path Stage, and people that paid attention would notice something weird. If the Dean was the only True Path Stage warrior, how could the trial show other True Path Stage warriors? The warriors of the past were obviously much more powerful than the ones currently living, which would mean that the Dean wouldn''t even be able to win one match. So, how did he win two matches? The Dean had noticed that the trial showed warriors that perfectly followed the Dean''s created path towards the True Path Stage. Because of that, the Dean theorized that these were probably future warriors that would use his method to reach the True Path Stage. Their bodies weren''t more powerful than the Dean''s, which meant that they couldn''te from the past. The Dean was definitely an outstanding warrior, which was how he had won against the average True Path Stage warrior. He might also have won against an outstanding one, but he hadn''t known that he couldn''t die during the trial. Because of that, he had decided against trying the third level. Getting three points during a trial was pathetic in the Dean''s mind, and there was no way for him to rectify it. His path to power had ended. But when he saw Shang, he gained renewed hope. Shang''s Battle-Strength was just as good as the Dean''s was back then. When it came to beasts, he might even be a bit superior. On top of that, Shang had had the opportunity to train against several Mages, which gave him a lot of experience in fighting them. On top of that, Shang was the first warrior with a sessful Bloodline Injection. With all of these advantages, reaching the same score as the Dean would be a disappointment. Shang would go much further. He was sure of that. "Have you memorized everything?" the Dean said. Shang nodded. "I did." The Dean also nodded. "Then, you can start. I''m looking forward to your reward." "I will," Shang said with fire in his eyes. "I won''t disappoint you." "Good luck." Shang closed his eyes and went to his world. Just like before, it took him around three seconds to arrive. Shang opened his eyes inside his own world. Just like before, he saw nothing but grass and open skies. Shang prepared himself mentally for a couple of seconds. Silence. Shang''s world waspletely silent. N?velDrama.Org content rights. "I''m ready for the trial," Shang said, his mind prepared. Toot! Suddenly, a purple wheel appeared in the air, throwing confetti out of several cannons. Shang became startled for a moment since he hadn''t expected the sudden noise. The confetti rained down on Shang, and streamers became stuck in his hair. Shang only looked at the flying wheel with serious eyes, red and pink streamers hanging down from his body. Above the wheel was a weird animatronic puppet of a jester. It carried a cute hammer, and a bell was beneath it. Shang got reminded of some shady casino. Something like this would definitely fit there. "Level one: Weak Initial General Stage beast." Shang heard the mechanical, simted voice of a woman, which reminded him even more of a casino. Shang''s expression remained solemn as he looked at the wheel, which began to spin. Shang was trying his best to remain in his peak condition as he was confronted by an absurd and unfitting scene. To Shang, this was a serious situation that might decide his future. But, obviously, to the God, this was nothing but entertainment. He didn''t care if Shang''s concentration was broken. He wanted to have his fun, and he would get it. Shang could imagine the God leaning back on his throne, a smug smirk on his face. After a while, the wheel began to slow down, and Shang could see the images on it. Several beasts that Shang recognized were disyed on the wheel but in a very cartoony way. It was almost like they had all been transformed into mascots of cerealpanies. The wheel slowed down more and more until it was close to stopping at a dark shadow that was giving a thumbs-up. CRK! But suddenly, the wheel sped up for an instant and stopped at a different picture. When Shang saw the picture, his eyes narrowed. "You think that''s funny?" The lower half of the picture was a huge, feathered, grey ass, and the upper half showed a distant bird with a long beak, blushing in embarrassment. Shang knew that beast all too well. Chapter 198 Shang''s opponent appeared 100 meters away from him, and he looked over in annoyance. Sure enough, it was a Trash Bird. Shortly after, the little jester mechanically lifted his arms in a very rigid and clunky manner. DING! And the hammer hit the bell. After that, the wheel left Shang''s vision, but before he could see it again, it had vanished. It was like the wheel had simply "left the screen". Shang looked over at the Trash Bird, which had noticed him after the bell had been struck. And then, it turned around and ran away, squawking loudly. Shang narrowed his eyes. BANG! The earth beneath Shang exploded as he charged forward with all his speed. Shang used his Fire and Ice Affinity to make him move even faster. His speed wasn''tparable to thest time he had fought a Trash Bird. Back then, Shang had been at the Peak Soldier Stage. Now, Shang was at the Initial General Stage, and even more, he had undergone the procedure. Even though there were no trees here to slow the Trash Bird down, Shang was still faster than it by quite a bit. After just a couple of seconds, Shang reached it. The Trash Bird grabbed some dirt with its feet and flung it at Shang. Shang easily sidestepped the dirt and pointed his left hand backward. BANG! BANG! Shang released an Ice and Fire st in quick session, destroying his arm and increasing his speed to the peak. In an instant, Shang arrived above the beast. BANG! Shang kicked the Trash Bird''s head, and with the new power of his body, the Trash Bird flew to the side, hitting the ground. Shang quickly jumped on top of the Trash Bird and put his hands around its beak. The Trash Bird thrashed around and tried to screech, but it couldn''t since Shang kept its beak shut. At the same time, Shang activated his Darkness Absorb, and the Trash Bird quickly started to age and degenerate. After around five seconds, it stopped moving, and Shang''s left arm was nearly exploding with life energy. However, it was only nearly. Shang stood up and looked at his left arm. ''This should give me a free use of my st Combo.'' At that moment, Shang saw some roses falling to the ground, and he heard cheering and pping. Shang had no idea where these noises wereing from. Shang only remained standing near the Trash Bird as the corpse slowly sank into the ground until it vanished. N?velDrama.Org content rights. As the "crowd" continued cheering, Shang only looked forward with narrowed eyes. He couldn''t take this event lightly! He had to get a good result! The wheel returned after unleashing more streamers. "Level two: Average Initial General Stage beast," the mechanical voice said. The wheel began to spin rapidly again. After a while, the wheel slowed down again, and soon enough, Shang saw his next opponent. The image was of an insect wearing a tuxedo and top hat. It had five gigantic and long mandibles, which mimicked a long beard in the picture. Shang couldn''t put the image to a beast he knew, but for some reason, the image felt familiar. But Shang was certain that he had never learned about such a beast. So, how could it be familiar to him? A momentter, Shang''s opponent appeared, and Shang lifted an eyebrow when he saw it. It was an about half-a-meter high stone, and it looked exactly like an Ore Toe. By now, Shang had seen a couple of Ore Toes in the wild. Ore Toes were ore that broke through the surface after enough Mana had umted. He remembered, the first time he had seen one¡­ "Really?" Shang asked as he realized what the God had done. The jester lifted his arm and hit the bell. Just like before, the wheel vanished. Shang only looked at the solitary stone for several seconds. "A Spire Mire, huh?" Shang said. Chuck McGuiness had scammed Shang back then by saying that the Ore Toe in front of him was a beast called Spire Mire. However, these beasts didn''t exist. But now, they did. It seemed like the God had created a new beast just for Shang. "Who knew that Chuck''s joke would result in the creation of a new beast?" Shang muttered to himself. Shang slowly walked over and stopped about five meters away from the stone. Then, he lifted his sword and threw it at the stone. BANG! The sword pierced the stone until it got stuck. BOOOOOM! Five gigantic mandibles quickly closed around the stone, but the Spire Mire didn''t catch anything. The sword had already left the stone of its own volition and quickly crawled back to Shang. One shouldn''t forget that this wasn''t just a sword, but Sword. A gigantic head came out of the ground as Shang charged forward. Sword jumped upward, and Shang caught it with his right hand. Just as the Spire Mire turned its head to Shang, Shang had already arrived beneath it. Shang put his left hand on his sword, and a momentter, Shang''s arm began to freeze. Then, Shang transformed all his momentum into a strike. Shang''s sword hit the middle of the Spire Mire''s thorax. BOOOOM! Fire exploded out of Sword, and Shang''s sword punched through the entire beast. The mandibles of the Spire Mire scratched together threateningly as it wildly moved its body around in pain. Its body had been too big to sever with only a single sh, but Shang had basically bisected it by 80%. After unleashing his sh, Shang used his left arm and used an Ice st to push himself away from his opponent. A momentter, the gigantic mandibles wed through the ce Shang had just been. Blood poured out of the Spire Mire''s thorax as it violently moved around. Its organs were being squeezed out, and the Spire Mire moved around in panic. Shang only looked at it from a distance. His arm had consumed the life energy and had already healed. The Spire Mire threateningly wed into Shang''s general direction with its mandibles, but it didn''t dare to move. Shang only waited. After several seconds of intimidating Shang, the Spire Mire tried to leave in the other direction. However, that meant turning its head. BANG! Shang exploded forward again, and when he saw the Spire Mire''s small tail, he quickly severed it before jumping away again. The Spire Mire turned to Shang again and threatened him. It even tried to lunge at him, but as an ambush predator, it wasn''t the fastest beast. Yes, its mandibles were very fast, but its body wasn''t. After that, Shang began to circle the Spire Mire from a distance, forcing it to turn its body to face him. Blood and organs poured out of its huge cut and from the stump of its tail. Every additional movement elerated its death. Eventually, the Spire Mire stopped following Shang, and Shang struck again. Another deep cut was left on the Spire Mire''s body. The remainder of the fight wasn''t very exciting. Over the next ten minutes, the Spire Mire slowly sumbed to its injuries, and Shang absorbed its life force before it could fully die, filling his arm with life energy again. Shang slowly stood up, and the invisible cheering returned. A couple of secondster, the wheel returned. "Round three: Powerful Initial General Stage beast." The wheel spun again. Shang looked with narrowed eyes at the wheel. From now on, the fights would be a bit harder. Chapter 199 After some seconds, the wheel stopped. The image of Shang''s next opponent was of a grinning weasel, wearing a sun hat, sunsses, and a thick winter coat. Shang raised an eyebrow when he saw that image. This beast didn''t seem familiar. On top of that, why was it wearing a sun hat and a thick winter coat? A small light shone, and Shang saw his next opponent. It was an orange and blue weasel, about two meters long. For a General Stage beast, it was more on the smaller side. Just as before, the jester lifted the hammer and struck the bell. After the bell rang, the weasel noticed Shang. A momentter, its fur began to stand on end. However, it didn''t attack. It seemed like the weasel didn''t want to fight Shang. Shang wanted to let the weasel attack first to see its abilities, but that obviously wouldn''t work now. BANG! So, Shang exploded forward, the earth beneath him cracking again. The weasel screeched aggressively, and it opened its mouth. Shang jumped to the side. A gust of icy air left the weasel''s mouth. ''Ice Affinity?'' Shang thought. But then, the weasel turned its head while still unleashing the cold stream of air. Shang was epassed by the cold air, and he felt his clothing being covered in frost. Luckily, his body was very resistant to extreme temperatures. After all, he was constantly shifting the temperature of his entire body. Shang continued charging at the weasel while it kept nketing him in frost. At that moment, Shang remembered the image on the wheel. This could represent the thick winter coat in the picture. So, if it was also wearing a sun hat and sunsses¡­ ''It would make sense,'' Shang thought. ''This weasel counts as a powerful beast, which means that it might have a rare Affinity. A Temperature Affinity isn''t unheard of.'' As soon as Shang realized his opponent''s potential next move, he quickly stopped unleashing Fire Mana and only unleashed Ice Mana to increase his speed. Shang''s speed became a bit faster, and his body began to heat up, countering the icy wind from the weasel. When Shang reached the weasel, it suddenly stopped unleashing its icy breath and jumped away. Then, it opened its mouth again, and, sure enough, it unleashed a burning hot wind. Shang felt like he had just opened a gigantic, pre-heated oven. However, Shang wasn''t injured in any way. ''Interesting,'' Shang thought as he continued charging at the weasel. ''It uses the very thing that constantly destroys my left arm, intense cold followed by intense heat.'' ''If I hadn''t properly reacted to its attack by heating my body, my skin would have probably ruptured at several ces on my body.'' Shang felt himself violently sweat. Even without the cold, the heat was already dangerous on its own. Shang quickly switched to using Fire Mana, which cooled his body down. It was a bncing act of temperatures, but Shang had gained enough experience on that front over the past year. ''No wonder it belongs to the powerful beasts. Its attack has a wide range, and it''s effective against basically every enemy.'' ''It doesn''t matter if the enemy is fast or slow.'' ''It doesn''t matter if the enemy has a hard outeryer or not.'' ''Armored enemies would feel their hard defenses shattered.'' ''Light enemies would feel their skin rupture.'' Shang was slowly gaining ground, but the weasel also wasn''t slow. ''On top of that, it''s very fast.'' ''I guess I''m in luck, for once, since I perfectly counter it.'' However, even if Shang didn''t have his temperature abilities, he would probably still win. After all, his opponent was only an Initial General Stage beast. He would probably get injured quite a bit, but his Mana would take care of the injuries without any problems. Eventually, Shang reached the weasel, and he shed at it. The weasel barely sidestepped the sh, but Shang wasn''t a newbie. He wouldn''t put all his chips on one hand. Shang quickly followed up with a second attack and hit the weasel''s side. A huge cut appeared on its body, and it jumped away again. BANG! Shang used his left arm to chase after the weasel, and before it could recover, he reached it again. SHING! This time, the weasel couldn''t evade, and it was bisected. Wild waves of varying temperatures came out of the weasel''s body, but without any coordinated attack, the waves canceled each other out, turning into a strong but temperate wind. Shang put his hand on the weasel''s neck and absorbed its life energy. A couple of secondster, it was dead. The cheering returned, and the corpse slowly vanished. SHING! Plop! Shang looked over as he heard a new sound. On the ground, Shang saw a small leaflet with the weasel''s image on it. Shang furrowed his brows, walked over, and looked at the leaflet. "Climate Weasel," Shang read. Some information about the weasel was on the leaflet, and Shang looked through it. ''The Dean said that I would get some information about some beasts after the trial. I was wondering why I didn''t get any information about the Trash Bird or the Spire Mire. Is that because I technically knew them already?'' Shang thought. ''Interesting, Climate Weaselse from the Ice Wyvern Zone, but after living in the battlefield for so long, they began to adapt to the ravagednd.'' Original from N?velDrama.Org. ''Sadly, ording to this leaflet, they will soon go extinct since the battlefield is now purely cold. Only their progenitor, the Icy Wind Weasels, will be left.'' Down at the very bottom of the leaflet was a quote from the God. "ying both sides in a war is only profitable as long as the war continues¡­ unless you have a lot of power." ''Well, I guess he''s right, to some degree,'' Shang thought. Shang had noticed that he had identally made a pun by using degree, but he didn''t find it very funny. After some seconds, the wheel returned again with its usual fanfare. "Level four: Weak Early General Stage beast." ''This is where it gets interesting,'' Shang thought. ''Without the procedure, this would be the strongest opponent I could fight against.'' Shang watched the wheel spin. ''However, the gap between the beasts and me has been reduced by a lot.'' ''I''m interested in seeing my progress.'' Chapter 200 The wheel slowed down and eventually stopped on Shang''s next opponent. It was a Pest Cat, but it had several things that didn''t fit the image of a normal Pest Cat. First of all, it had long eyshes, which showed that it was very feminine. It also had a big belly, which reminded Shang of a pregnant woman. Lastly, it wore a dainty crown. Shang quickly realized what beast this picture symbolized. He hadn''t seen one yet, but these beasts were worth a ton of money. It was Pest Queen. Pest Queens were the main source of the Pest Cat problem. When a Pest Cat reached the General Stage, it had a chance of evolving into a Pest Queen. A Pest Queen would abandon its agility in exchange for ranged abilities and vastly increased fertility. Pest Cats only had six children per pregnancy in general. Pest Queens, on the other hand, could store sperm from male Pest Cats like ant queens, and they could endlessly birth Pest Cats as long as they had enough food. Its children would catch all the food for it while having children of their own from time to time. One Pest Queen could produce as many children as 30 Pest Cats! ''Luckily, they are not great in directbat. Their dangeres from their fertility and their army of Pest Cats,'' Shang thought. ''But that was to be expected. After all, I am supposed to fight a weak Early General Stage beast.'' After a short moment, the Pest Queen appeared in the distance. It looked simr to a Pest Cat, but it had a gigantic belly, and dark shadows swirled around its body. The jester lifted its hammer again and struck the bell. The Pest Queen noticed Shang and screeched a warning while slowly walking backward. Shang readied his sword and exploded forward. When Shang was only 50 meters away, the shadows around the Pest Queen''s body began to shoot at Shang like living missiles. ''Each shadow is filled with Darkness Mana, and when hit by it, the target will lose a lot of life energy.'' The shadows were quite fast, but they weren''t as fast as the Spells all the Adepts had unleashed on Shang. Over thest month, Shang had focused his entire training on being able to evade devastating attacks, and he had be very good at it. Shang swayed to the side, barely evading the shadow. Then, the second shadow appeared, and Shang evaded it too. Inparison to Mages, the Pest Queen couldn''t unleash all its shadows in rapid session. It could either release several at once or one every half a second. Half-a-second was a short time for a normal human, but it wasn''t as short for a General Stage warrior. Shang evaded several shadows and came closer to the Pest Queen. ''Without the procedure, my body wouldn''t be fast enough to evade its attacks that easily. I would need to fight from a safe distance and exhaust the Pest Queen of Mana.'' ''It would be about as hard as fighting the Trash Bird back then. I would probably be able to win, but the fight would still be quite close.'' As Shang evaluated his newfound power, he basically danced through the shadows the Pest Queen shot at him. Inparison to evading all the Adepts'' spells, evading the Pest Queen''s ability was easy. When Shang was only ten meters away from the Pest Queen, it suddenly turned ck and seemingly melted into the ground. ''There it is. That''s its Shadow Escape, the very reason why Pest Queens are so hard to find.'' No more shadows shot at Shang, and the Pest Queen fully vanished. It was like it had never been there. Shang closed his eyes and concentrated on the Darkness Mana in the air. Shang''s world was bright, and there wasn''t much Darkness Mana inside it. If Shang had still been at the Soldier Stage, he wouldn''t have been able to see his surroundings with Darkness Vision. But now, as a General Stage warrior, Shang could somewhat perceive his surroundings, even during the day. Shang could feel the general direction of the Pest Queen. The Pest Queen was obviously a beast with a Darkness Affinity, and Shang could feel it. Right now, it was rapidly fleeing into the distance. Shang followed the Pest Queen but kept around thirty meters between them. After some seconds, the Pest Queen changed its direction, but Shang kept following it. Five secondster, it changed directions again. Shang kept following it. Ssh! Suddenly, like it was emerging from a pool, the Pest Queen reappeared, and it screeched at Shang. Shadow Escape used up a boatload of Mana, and over half its shadows had disappeared. Then, ten shadows shot at Shang at once. It was like the Pest Queen had shot at Shang with a shotgun. This was exactly why Shang had kept some distance between him and the Pest Queen. Shang quickly jumped away and barely evaded the shadows. ''Without the procedure, I would have been hit by at least one.'' Shang charged forward again, and the Pest Cat unleashed more shadows. This time, there were 20. Shang managed to avoid them again. ''I would have been hit again. With that hit, I would have probably used up nearly all my Mana.'' The Pest Queen screeched loudly again, and it unleashed all its remaining Shadows, which were 30. Shang barely avoided this barrage. ''I think this attack would have heavily injured me.'' Shang looked at the Pest Queen. There were no more shadows swirling around it. ''But I think I would have won.'' Shang ran at the Pest Queen, and it only continued screaming at him. When Shang reached it, it quickly attacked Shang with its ws. However, inparison to normal Pest Cats, the Pest Queen''s attacks were slow. Shang easily jumped over the w and flipped over the Pest Queen, severing its head during the flip. Shangnded, and behind him, the corpse of the Pest Queen copsed. ''This would have been quite an intense and dangerous fight for my past self,'' Shang thought. Shang turned around and nced at the corpse while the imaginary crowd cheered for Shang again. ''But the procedure has changed everything.'' ''A fight that would have threatened my life in the past now only counts as a warm-up.'' ''With this round won, I have matched teacher''s score in the beast category. He never attempted the fifth level since he was afraid that he would die.'' ''I mean, I understand him. I''m pretty sure I also wouldn''t have tried the fifth level without the procedure or knowing that I couldn''t die in the trial.'' ''Thest fight would have nearly killed me, and challenging the fifth level would have been stupid and suicidal.'' Shang sighed. ''However, inparison to teacher, I have the advantage of having asked the right question and the procedure.'' ''The Mages are only so powerful because they have thousands of years of progress. One outstanding Mage after the other solidified and strengthened the path of Magic.'' ''Generations upon generations of geniuses have pushed the path of Magic to the absolute peak.'' ''And now, thanks to the Dean, I get to feel a small part of this umted power.'' The wheel returned and began to spin. Shang looked at the wheel. ''The fifth level also isn''t my limit. Without the procedure, the fifth level would be nearly impossible.'' The wheel slowed down. ''This will be a fight that would have killed my past self.''Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Chapter 201 ''This is an opponent that would have very likely killed my past self, but with the procedure, I should be able to deal with it.'' ''The fight might not be very easy, but I shouldn''t be in danger as long as I''m careful.'' Slowly, the wheel stopped on an unfamiliar picture. It obviously was a beast Shang had never heard of. On the image was a tiny monkey with a backward-facing baseball cap and skater clothes. The monkey was also ying on a modern drum set. ''There is one monkey species in the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Rumbling Yeti, but I don''t think that this is one.'' A momentter, Shang''s opponent appeared in the distance, and Shang lifted an eyebrow. On the picture was a small monkey, but this definitely wasn''t a small monkey. This was a nearly three-meter tall, muscr ape. It looked more like one would imagine a troll would look like. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell before vanishing. The ape noticed Shang and immediately shouted with aggression and rage. CRK! BANG! A secondter, a huge club made of stone appeared in one of its hands, and without waiting for a second, it began to charge at Shang. It was running on two legs and one hand, the other hand busy holding the club. Inparison to the previous beasts, this one seemed to be very aggressive. The Trash Bird had immediately fled. The Spire Mire had been hidden. The Climate Weasel had threatened Shang without charging at him. The Pest Queen had been on the defensive. But this ape immediately charged at Shang. Shang narrowed his eyes and readied his sword. In the previous times, he had needed to show his speed early since he had been the one to initiate the confrontation. This time, he could keep his abilities a secret. The earth trembled beneath the ape''s rumbling charge, its club swinging around aggressively with every step it took. The ape reached Shang and immediately lifted its club to smash him into a fine paste of meat. Shang pointed his left arm to the back. BOOM! BOOM! Two quick sts left Shang''s left arm. At the same time, his entire body began to emit steam as a severely cold wind left his body. Shang''s arm nearly exploded, and his body had a dangerously high temperature. But in exchange for all of this, Shang''s speed reached a new peak. Shang had never been so fast in his life. BOOOM! The club struck down on Shang''s previous position, but he had already left it. But Shang didn''t retreat. He was charging in! Behind Shang, a chaotic storm of Fire and Ice Mana destroyed the parts of the ground. The ck sword shone under the light of Shang''s world. And then, Shang passed the ape. The body of the ape seized and quickly fell to the ground¡­ In two pieces. The intestines and organs of the ape were flowing out of its severed torso, and the ape tried to push the organs back into its body as it screeched in pain. Shang charged to the side and circled the torso until he arrived at the opposite side of the ape''s body. Then, he quickly severed the ape''s arms and put his own hand on the ape''s head. A couple of secondster, only a couple of parts of a dried-up torso were left. Shang''s body had reached its peak again, and it was filled with life energy. This was a beast a level above Shang, which meant that it gave a lot of life energy. Filled with life energy, Shang had left the fight in a better condition than when it had started.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The cheering returned, and Shang only looked at the shriveled corpse of the ape. ''If my opponent doesn''t get the chance to unleash their abilities, they might as well not have them,'' he thought. How powerful was the ape? It had a weapon that could be reproduced endlessly by simply expending more Earth Mana. Its speed was about average, but its destructive power was rather high. Its flexibility was probably on the higher side since apes could move their bodies in very weird ways whenpared to a quadruped. However, it had no apparent ranged abilities, which was a weakness. All in all, it was a very average beast. So then, how had Shang been able to beat the ape this easily? Surprise, explosiveness, initiative, speed. Surprise, because the ape hadn''t known how fast or how powerful Shang was. Explosiveness, because Shang managed to create an extremely powerful attack. The quality of his weapon, the power of his body, and the added momentum of his speed made his attack devastating. Initiative, because Shang went in instead of out. Instead of looking at how the fight went and watching his opponent, Shang had thrown all caution to the wind and went all-in before the first cards had even hit the table. It was a high-risk, high-reward gamble. Speed, because Shang had used his absolute everything to make his charge faster. Not only had Shang destroyed his arm, but he had even gone beyond his normal usage of his passive speed- increase. Shang surprised his opponent, moved the battle to a location where one hit proved fatal for any party, hit the ape before it could properly react with his speed, and unleashed a power that was beyond the ape''s ability to resist. One shot, one kill. Even if the ape had the ability to kill a Zone Beast with its club, it would have been useless in the fight. After all, it had never hit Shang. The ape''s strongest aspect had been its offense, but its offense had never gotten the chance toe to light. In the previous couple of fights, Shang hadn''t had the chance to pull something like this off. All of Shang''s previous opponents had already noticed Shang''s speed before he had even gotten close to them. ''This would have been a risky maneuver if my body had been weaker,'' Shang thought. ''However, it would have given me a chance to win. It seems like, with enough luck, I could have maybe won against this opponent, even without the procedure.'' Shang looked at the leaflet that had appeared on the ground beside him. "Mountain Tribe Ape," Shang read. Shang read the leaflet, and another beast was added to his imaginary bestiary. ''Seems like they live in a Zone quite far to the north. The Zone is filled with high mountains, and it has a lot of Lightning Mana. Of course, due to the abundance of mountains, beasts with Earth Affinities are also verymon there.'' The quote of the God was also quite interesting. "Imagine a beautiful garden filled with lightning. Now, imagine a stupid, ugly, and immovable rock in the middle of your garden. That''s what these things are." ''ording to the leaflet, these things are living in tribes. I can imagine the trouble lightning beasts would have with these apes living on their mountains.'' Shang put the leaflet away, and the wheel returned. "Level six: Powerful Early General Stage beast." ''I have already gone past teacher''s score in the beast category.'' The wheel began to spin. ''This opponent was easy, but I doubt that the next one will be as easy.'' Chapter 202 The wheel slowed down and eventually stopped on Shang''s next opponent. It was the image of a smug, silver, cyborg-tiger. Its outer casing was shining brightly. A momentter, Shang''s opponent appeared in the distance. It was a silver tiger, nearly two meters high. That was about it. There was nothing fancy or special about its appearance. However, this didn''t mean that it was weak. After all, the trial had obviously judged this tiger to be quite powerful. ''Tigers have devastating offensive powers, and they are quite fast. Usually, their defense would be their weak point. However¡­'' The jester slowly lifted his hammer and hit the bell. At that moment, the tiger noticed Shang. The tiger looked at Shang for three seconds. Shang wasn''t sure what the tiger was thinking, but he could swear he could feel some disdain building inside the tiger. Then, the tiger''s lips parted as it showed its teeth. BANG! And it exploded forward. ''This doesn''t make much sense,'' Shang thought as he saw the approaching tiger. ''If it had perceived me as a threat, it would have immediately shown a reaction.'' ''But it also doesn''t make any sense that it looks at me like I''m beneath it. After all, if I were beneath it, it would have ignored me or simply intimidated me into leaving.'' ''Instead, it waited for several seconds before attacking me.'' BANG! As the tiger took another step, its body began to shine. In only a single second, its entire body became coated with metal. Even more, its speed hadn''t decreased, even though this much metal had to weigh several tons. ''Sure enough, a normal tiger wouldn''t be powerful enough to count as one of the more powerful beasts,'' Shang thought as he readied himself. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. BANG! And Shang also charged forward. The ape''s attack had left quite a noticeable opening, which had given Shang the opportunity to end the fight quickly. The same thing wouldn''t work for the tiger. If Shang managed to evade its swipe and close in, he would have to deal with the tiger''s bite. The two of them charged at each other, and Shang''s left arm began to release steam as he put it on his sword. As the two reached each other, the tiger swiped at Shang with its metallic w. Shang put his power into his sword and struck the tiger''s forearm. CRK! Shang''s sword hit the tiger''s forearm, and the Ice Mana inside it exploded forward. The metal around the tiger''s arm became brittle, and Shang''s sword reached the bone of the tiger''s forearm. However, inparison to all of Shang''s previous opponents, this was where the sword stopped. While the metal at the point of impact had be brittle, the metal in the other ces hadn''t been weakened. BANG! At the same time, Shang was thrown into the distance by the tiger''s attack. Shang''s body was already weaker than a beast at the Initial General Stage, and this opponent was at the Early General Stage. If Shang had managed to sever the arm, this wouldn''t have been an issue. Shang''s body did a backflip in the air as he tried to recover his bnce. Then, Shang heard a growl. BANG! Shang pointed his left arm at the ground and released a Fire st, which shot him into the air. Just a momentter, the tiger passed below Shang. For a split second, Shang could see the tiger''s injured leg. A huge part of the forearm''s muscles was severed, and the bone even had some cracks on it. However, the metal surrounding its body was keeping it stable. The tiger was trying toe to a stop below Shang since it had noticed that it had missed its target. As Shang''s body spun in the air, he put his left arm on his sword, and a momentter, his left arm began to wither. An instantter, Shang''s legs pointed at the sky since he was still spinning. And as they did, an explosion of Fire Mana left them. BANG! Shang''s body shot down as the tiger turned its head to him. At that moment, the tiger felt some fear. It felt that this attack was very dangerous! An instantter, the metal on its back expanded wildly. Shang''s sword struck the metal. CRRRRRRRRRR! Time seemingly froze. On the tiger''s back was a nearly meter-thick sheet of metal, and 80% of the sheet had been bisected by a sword. Shang''s attack hadn''t even injured the tiger. An instantter, all the metal the sword had touched transformed into a liquid, which was quickly absorbed by Shang''s sword. Sadly, the tiger had already stopped Shang''s attack, and it jumped back to reset its position. Shang''s legs released steam, and his left arm had shriveled up. However, the remaining absorbed life energy from thest fight, which had been stored all over Shang''s body, quickly healed the arm. A new coat of metal appeared around the tiger''s body, and it jumped toward Shang. It readied its paws for a strike with its ws. Shang saw that there was no opening and decided to jump back to evade the attack. At that moment, the tiger''s ws elongated! Several long and sharp swords were about to strike Shang! BANG! Shang unleashed a Fire st at the ground and passed over most of the ws. SHING! The highest w was severed by Shang''s sword, and it turned into liquid metal, which quickly got absorbed by the sword again. When the tiger noticed that it had missed again, it readied the other set of its ws. Ice Mana exploded out of Shang''s legs, destroying them in the process, and he shot at the tiger. The ws passed behind Shang. Earlier, when the tiger had charged at him, it had focused all its power on a close-range attack. This time, it had focused its power on striking something over two meters away. Just as expected, when the tiger noticed that Shang hade close to it, it tried to bite him. From this close of a distance, Shang couldn''t muster enough power to injure the tiger with his sword. But that hadn''t been his goal in the first ce. Shang pushed himself to the side by putting his left arm on one side of the tiger''s head and made his sword touch the other side. The metal surrounding the tiger''s head quickly entered the sword, and Shang''s other hand was now touching the tiger''s fur. BOOOOM! Shang and the tiger sted into opposite directions as an explosion urred between them. Shang''s left arm was frozen solid. BANG! Shang unleashed an Ice st, and his left arm was nearly destroyed again. Yet, it very quickly recovered. When Shang had touched the tiger''s fur, he had activated Darkness Absorb for just a moment. At that moment, Shang had weakened the tiger''s natural defenses while recovering his own life energy. And then, Shang had unleashed all his power in a Fire st. He knew that the tiger''s paw would strike him very soon, which was why he had unleashed his Fire st. Otherwise, he would have killed it with Darkness Absorb. Shang looked over and noticed that half the tiger''s face had been blown off. However, it was still alive. And it was charging at him! Chapter 203 As the tiger charged at Shang again, more metal appeared around his head. But this time, the tiger couldn''t fully envelop his head in metal. When Shang saw that, his eyes shone. The tiger''s metal wasn''t doing much for Sword at this point. After all, Sword was forged with Late General Stage metals. Even though this tiger was powerful, it was only at the Early General Stage. But Shang had never aimed to strengthen his sword. He had absorbed the metal with it to exhaust the tiger''s Mana, and now, it was showing its effect. The tiger tried to hit Shang again, but this time, it couldn''t muster the Mana to elongate its ws. Shang struck the tiger''s forearm with his sword. BANG! The metal around the tiger''s forearm cracked, but without any of Shang''s Affinities as help, his sword didn''t manage to injure the tiger. But that was already enough. The metal on the tiger''s forearm transformed into a liquid and entered Shang''s sword. Of course, Shang was still thrown into the distance by the attack. Some of his bones cracked, but that was something he could deal with. Shang let the attack carry him into the distance andnded around twenty meters away from the tiger. Of course, the tiger immediately followed up with another attack with its other leg, which was still enveloped by metal. BANG! Shang was thrown away again, and the tiger''s metal vanished from its other forearm. At the same time, the metal all over its body began to reduce in size. This kind of metal armor wasn''t permanent, and it needed continuous injection of Metal Mana to retain its hard form. Shang dodged the next two attacks, and soon enough, all the metal on the tiger had vanished. The reason why the tiger had been ssified as a powerful beast was that it was very good in all three categories. Offense, defense, speed. Now, it was only great at offense and speed. Without its metal, its defense was average, at best. By now, Shang''s passive regeneration had fully recovered his entire body. Shang''s Affinity had so many drawbacks. It continually injured him, and Shang couldn''t use his Affinity several times in a row. However, advantages often came with disadvantages, and disadvantages often came with advantages. So, while Shang''s Affinity had several drawbacks, when it came to endurance, it was unbeatable. The reason why Shang''s Affinity injured him was that he was using the world''s Mana instead of his own. But the advantage also was that Shang''s Affinity was using the world''s Mana instead of his own. As long as Shang was still alive, he could use his Affinity. The health of his body dictated how much Shang could use his Affinity. Over the course of his fight, Shang had shed with the tiger many times, and Shang had used basically everything he could use. After shing for so long, the tiger was exhausted and had run out of Mana. And Shang? Shang was uninjured. His Mana had recovered. And Shang could use all his powers again. Shang was in his peak condition. The tiger had several injuries and growled at Shang in exhaustion. Shang calmly looked at the tiger as he readied his sword again. BANG! Shang charged forward. He left behind a cloud of steam, and his arm began to freeze as he put it onto his sword. The tiger growled and swiped at Shang. BANG! As soon as Shang''s sword hit the tiger''s leg, an explosion urred, and without the protecting metal cover, the tiger''s leg was sted off. The tiger tried to bite Shang, but it quickly fell over. It was unused to only having three legs, and in its panic, it had tried to put weight on its missing leg. As the tiger fell down, Shang jumped over it andnded near its back. If it still were in its peak condition, Shang wouldn''t have been able to do something like this. Shang put his hand on the tiger''s back and used Darkness Absorb. The tiger shouted in pain, and Shang stopped just two secondster. Shang''s body was on the brink of explosion, and Shang had to stop. The tiger had way too much life energy for him to fully absorb. But that didn''t matter much. The tiger had already transformed from a mighty tiger king in its prime to an old, decrepit tiger. It barely had the strength to move its legs anymore. Shang quickly ended the fight by beheading the tiger. The cheering returned, and Shang slowly stepped away from the corpse as it vanished into the earth. ''The only injuries I received were self-inflicted,'' Shang thought as he looked at the vanishing corpse. ''This fight wasn''t easy, but it also didn''t truly push me to the edge.'' ''As power increases, beasts be stronger and stronger in rtion to humans. Defeating this tiger was probably as hard as defeating a weak Early General Stage beast would have been without the procedure.'' ''I can already notice the difference in power, and I''m only at the Initial General Stage.'' ''Things will only get worse from now on.'' Then, Shang looked at the leaflet that had appeared. ''At least, for others,'' he thought as he walked over. ''My power will continue to increase. As long as I keep growing as I am right now, I will also be able to defeat a powerful Early Commander Stage beast while being at the Initial Commander Stage.'' Shang pulled up the leaflet. ''Something like that is impossible for normal warriors.'' "Metal King," Shang read. "Quite an imposing name, but I guess it fits the tiger." Shang looked through the leaflet and read it. ''Oh, they actually live in the Zone north of the Empress Cobra Zone, the Adamantite Behemoth Zone,'' Shang thought. Shang had learned a lot about different Zones in thest year, and this Zone was familiar to him. The Adamantite Behemoth Zone was basically the opposite of a mountain range. It was a crater range, one could say. There were many holes, which all led deep into the earth. It was also the ce where Duke Mithril lived. Original from N?velDrama.Org. Shang remembered the time he had asked about the Volcano Wyrm Zone, which was also under Duke Mithril. To put the map into perspective, the Storm Eagle Zone was in the middle in the very south. Northeast of it was the Empress Cobra Zone. Northwest of it was the Ice Wyvern Zone. North of the Empress Cobra Zone was the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. North of the Ice Wyvern Zone and west of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone had once been the battlefield, but ever since the Ice Wyvern had won against the Volcano Wyrm, the battlefield had been annexed by the Ice Wyvern Zone. Right now, the Ice Wyvern Zone was as big as two Zones. The battlefield had been a territory that both Duke Whirlwind and Duke Mithril had wanted. Shang also guessed that Duke Mithril was the one that endangered Warrior''s Paradise a year ago. At least, he had a great motive for it. So, what about Duke Mithril''s territories? The Adamantite Behemoth Zone already belonged to him, and north of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone was the Thunder Horse Zone. It was a t, ck desert with continuous rainfall and lightning strikes. The Thunder Horse was one of the very few Zone Beasts that didn''t hide in some remote location. In comparison to other Zone Beasts, the Thunder Horse roamed the ck desert. Luckily, it wasn''t aggressive, and it only ate lightning. It even allowed people around its immediate vicinity. Sometimes, it even walked into a town and looked around. Not all Zone Beasts were giants like the Storm Eagle. The Thunder Horse, for example, was only a bit bigger than a normal horse. West of the Thunder Horse Zone and north of the former battlefield was the Volcano Wyrm Zone. So, when Shang had seen that Fire ore back then, what kind of journey had it undertaken? It started at the Volcano Wyrm, went to the east to pass over the corner of the Thunder Horse Zone, went through the entire Adamantite Behemoth Zone, and went through the Empress Cobra Zone to enter the Storm Eagle Zone. It was quite a long journey. ''Interesting, the Metal King journeys along the different craters and holes in the Adamantite Behemoth Zone to hunt its upants. The Metal King is also a beast thatmonly reaches the Commander Stage. Quite powerful.'' Then, Shang saw the quote from the God, and he lifted an eyebrow. "Hey, we''ve been trying to reach you about your car''s extended warranty." Chapter 204 As Shang threw the leaflet to the side, the wheel appeared again. "Level seven: Weak Middle General Stage beast." ''This one will be difficult,'' Shang thought. ''The body of a Middle General Stage beast is much more powerful than the body of the Metal King. Even if the beast can''t fight well, it will be difficult for me to avoid its attacks. Its attacks are probably even a bit faster than the attacks of the Adepts I''ve fought against.'' The wheel slowed down, and it eventually stopped at the image of a cute, white puppy. Shang raised an eyebrow when he saw that image. A momentter, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a two-meter-tall, white golden retriever. When Shang saw it, his eyes shone. ''I thought so.'' The white color of the image had already made Shang suspicious, and when he saw the dog, his guess was confirmed. Shang could feel Light Manae from the dog. ''Light Mana has nearly no offensive capabilities. That would also exin why this dog is counted as a weaker beast.'' The jester slowly lifted his hand and struck the bell. The dog noticed Shang and looked at him curiously for a bit. ''ording to what I''ve learned, dogs are also wolves that have been domesticated by humans in this world, just like on Earth. This dog is probably a form of supportive animal. I could imagine that its power has a huge impact in a group battle, but on its own? Probably not.'' ''I really don''t want to kill it,'' Shang thought. A dog that healed and helped people was definitely not something Shang wanted to kill. However, there was nothing he could do. Was he supposed to just give up and let his reward go to waste? So, even though Shang wasn''t the biggest fan of killing the dog, he wouldn''t forfeit his reward for it. As time passed, the dog''s temper became worse and worse, just like the tiger. In the beginning, it had only looked at Shang innocently, but several secondster, it had already started to bare its teeth. Shang was showing no outward aggression, and he only looked at the dog from a distance. Just like the tiger, the dog acted in an unusual manner. ''Is this an effect of the trial? Is this to force me to fight?'' Some secondster, saliva ran down the dog''s teeth as a deep growl left it. ''I don''t think so. I don''t think that the God wants to make things easier for me. It would probably be way more entertaining for him to see me struggle to kill some helpless, peaceful dog.'' The fur stood up on the dog''s back, and it readied itself for a charge. ''So, why are these beasts so aggressive? This dog definitely doesn''t count as an aggressive beast.'' BANG! The dog exploded forward at ridiculous speeds. The power of its body was not something the Metal King could imagine. ''Doesn''t matter right now,'' Shang thought as he also readied himself for a charge. ''I don''t really have the luxury to think about these things right now.'' BANG! And Shang also exploded forward. "Don''t use Darkness," Sword''s voice appeared in Shang''s mind. "Darkness is useless against beasts with a Light Affinity." "I know," Shang said as he readied Sword. As the two of them reached each other, the ground below the dog exploded as its speed increased even more. Shang had already expected the dog to be extremely fast, but the sudden increase in speed had completely surprised him. Shang had nned on shing its head when it tried to bite him, but that n went out of the window. The sh wasn''t ready yet. Shang had to cancel his sh and jump to the side while unleashing a Fire st from his left arm. CRK! However, the dog was just too fast, and Shang couldn''t fully evade it. The dog mped down on Shang''s left hand before it could get out of its reach and tore it to pieces. But just before Shang''s hand waspletely torn apart, he released a fully loaded Ice st. As Shang''s hand was severed from his body, the dog''s mouth froze over, and it jumped away in pain. The dog began to run away as it rubbed its head on the ground, trying to get rid of the stinging, icy pain. Meanwhile, Shang looked at the stump at the end of his left arm. Half his forearm was gone together with his hand. ''That''s the first time I lost a part of my body.'' Stinging and pulsating pain came from the stump, but Shang could deal with that pain. After half a second, a new hand grew out of the stump, and a full secondter, Shang''s arm had fully recovered. Of course, regrowing an entire hand took a lot of life energy, and a huge part of the absorbed life energy from the Metal King had vanished along with it. Shang looked over at the dog that was still trying to get rid of the pain. Why hadn''t Shang chased it while it was in pain? Because it was too fast. Even with Shang''s full speed, he couldn''t get close to the dog right now. The speed difference was so great that Shang didn''t even try. In this fight, Shang would be on the defensive due to the monumental speed disadvantage. Shang also saw the dog''s head light up from time to time as it tried to heal its injury with Light Mana. However, this wasn''t exactly an injury. If the Ice st had dealt any damage, it would have long been healed by the bursts of light. The pain the dog was feeling came from the sheer cold that was freezing its head. There wasn''t much the dog could do against the pain. The cold wouldn''t injure it, but it would be painful. "Any ns?" Shang asked Sword as he saw the dog running around. "Difficult," Sword answered. "It''s too fast, and it has quick reflexes. If it sees meing, it will evade." Shang furrowed his brows. "Dogs are also very smart, and it will very quickly learn how I move." Shang only looked at the dog as he tried to think of a n.N?velDrama.Org content rights. Chapter 205 After some seconds, the dog calmed down, and it bared its teeth at Shang again. BANG! And it charged him once more. In the past few seconds, Shang hadn''t been able toe up with a great n. The speed difference was just too massive, and on top of that, the dog could heal itself with its own Affinity. Shang also charged at the dog as his body began to release an icy mist. The dog elerated with its jump again, and Shang pointed back with his left arm. BOOOM! Shang''s left arm released a Fire st, and Shang shot forward with his full force, but this time, Shang wasn''t releasing a sh. The dog hadn''t expected that Shang could also elerate, which made it miss its bite. BANG! Shang''s sword stabbed forward, and with all the added power, it managed to bury itself halfway into the dog''s chest. Shang''s brows furrowed, and he quickly jumped away again. BANG! The dog''s teeth mped down on the location where Shang had just been. After that, it released a blinding light, and its injury had vanished. ''I used my full power in that charge, but I only managed to bury my sword halfway into its torso. For a normal beast, such an injury was severe, but to this dog, it only counts as using a bit of its Mana.'' The dog immediately jumped after Shang, and Shang destroyed his arm by using an Ice st. The dog barely missed. Shang shed at the dog. But the dog jumped to the side! When Shang saw that, his eyes narrowed. ''It''s already adapting. I have to end this fight soon!'' Just when the dognded, it immediately jumped at Shang again. The speed difference was so massive that Shang hadn''t even fully finished his sh before the dog arrived. BANG! An explosion came out of Shang''s left foot, burning it severely. However, the dog was too fast, and it managed to mp down on Shang''s other foot. BANG! BANG! An explosion of ice quickly followed by an explosion of fire burst out of the dog''s mouth. Shang knew that he couldn''t save his right leg, which was why he had released all its power without even thinking about saving it. The dog lost several teeth, and blood shot out of its mouth. BOOOM! Shang loaded his sword with fire and hit the dog''s back while it was distracted. As soon as the sword hit the dog''s back, it exploded, coating the surroundings in burned skin and blood. However, the dog''s spine was only a bit cracked, and it didn''t break. The difference in physical power was just too much. The dog yelped and jumped away as light appeared around its body. A momentter, it was fully healed again. Meanwhile, Shangnded on his left foot. This right leg was severed at the calf, and everything up to the thigh was coated in blood and muscle due to the Ice and Fire sts. Shang''s remaining life energy went into his left arm and his right leg. It barely managed to heal everything before bing empty. Even Shang''s Mana waspletely used up. From now on, Shang could only rely on his passive regeneration. After a second of healing, the two of them charged at each other again. ''It can only attack with its mouth. Inparison to cats, dogs aren''t that great at using their ws.'' ''That is the only reason why I am still alive right now.'' Both of them elerated again. Shang loaded Sword with fire and tried to hit the dog''s head. The dog was trying to bite Shang''s torso, but when it saw the approaching sword, its attack changed. The dog''s head angled to the side. CLING! And bit down on the sword! BOOOOOM! The fire exploded out of the sword, breaking several teeth. Shang pulled his sword back. SHING! Yet, after a brief burst of light, the dog''s teeth had reappeared, and it was mping down on Shang''s sword! Shang''s mind went into overdrive. He couldn''t possibly contend with the dog''s power! As long as it had his sword in its mouth, Shang wouldn''t be able to use it anymore! At that moment, Shang''s eyes narrowed. And he let go of his sword. BANG! The bottom of Shang''s right foot exploded with ice, shooting Shang upward. BANG! Shang''s right knee hit the dog''s jaw, and it exploded with fire. The dog''s head flew upwards, but in exchange, Shang''s entire right leg had been decimated. It had essentially be unusable. At the same time, Shang''s left arm gripped the fur on the dog''s face, pulling him along with the head. BANG! Shang''s right fist hit the dog''s skull, and an explosion of ice froze parts of it. Shang''s right fist was full of blisters and burns could be seen all over it. A fire appeared in Shang''s eyes, and he punched with his right arm again. BOOOOM! An explosion of fire urred. Shang''s right arm was turned into ice splinters that shot into the distance. But the dog''s head was also severely injured, and parts of its skull were broken. Shang''s eyes narrowed, and he threw himself onto the dog''s neck. The dog was gigantic, and Shang''s entire body could fit around its neck. By now, the dog had dropped Shang''s sword, and it was trying to heal its head. One shouldn''t forget that this counted as a weak beast. It had limited offensive capabilities, and it wasn''t used to fighting on the frontlines itself. Because of that, it didn''t think about Shang right now but about healing its own injury. Light Mana appeared around its head, but the Light Mana was quickly absorbed by Shang''s left arm. The dog noticed that it had failed to heal itself, which made it fall into even more of a panic. Because of that, it tried to heal itself again. And it failed. Again. This time, it seeded! Yet, before the dog could think of what to do next, an icy fist hit the back of its neck. And then, a fist exploding with fire. The dog''s neck had cracked, but it was still usable. BANG! And then, another icy fist appeared. Its entire neck was encased in ice. And then, another fiery fist. BOOOOOM! The dog''s neck broke, and it desperately tried to heal itself. Yet, its Light Mana got absorbed again! And again! And then¡­ Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. It was out of Light Mana! The dog felt a weight leave its neck, and it tried to move its head with its broken neck, but it just hurt too much. And then¡­ It was over. Shang''s sword exploded onto the dog''s broken neck, sting the dog''s head from its torso. When Shang had reached the dog''s neck, he had absorbed the Light Mana to heal his right arm and right leg again. Then, after the dog had healed itself, he had destroyed both his arms again with more punches. After that, Shang absorbed the Light Mana with his legs, healing himself again. In the end, he jumped down, got his sword, and killed the dog. The fight was over. Shang took a deep breath. And the cheering appeared. Chapter 206 "This one was close," Shang said to Sword. "But we won," Sword answered. "We did, but only because it panicked. If it had any sort ofbat experience, it would have focused on getting rid of me instead of continuously healing. We only won because I managed to take advantage of its inexperience," Shang said. "But we won," Sword said. Silence. "Yes, we won," Shang said with a sigh. Shang looked at the vanishing corpse. "Dogs aren''t famed for their defensive capabilities, but it was still incredibly hard to break its defenses. The physical bodies of beasts truly can''t be underestimated." Shang noticed that a leaflet had appeared, and he looked through it. "Companion," Shang read. That was the name of the dog''s species. Shang sighed once again. He didn''t regret killing it. After all, it was necessary. But it still left a bitter taste in his mouth. "Apparently, they are being bred in the Skythunder Kingdom''s capital," Shang said to Sword. "They mainly work for the King''s army." The kingdom''s capital was north of Duke Mithril''s territories. Duke Whirlwind was the ruler over the southernmost Zones, and Duke Mithril was responsible for the central-southern territories. There were several more Dukes that dealt with the other directions for a total of twelve Dukes. One at the outer parts of each cardinal direction. One at the inner parts of each cardinal direction. And one for each of the corners. Since the corners weren''t that wide, the Dukes responsible for the corners ruled over the outer and inner parts, making their territories resemble a line or a triangle more than a square or a circle. Then, Shang saw the God''s quote. "Who would want to punch a puppy? A monster!" Shang took a deep breath and threw the leaflet to the side. At that point, the wheel returned. "Level eight: Average Middle General Stage beast." The wheel began to spin, and Shang looked at it with an intense expression. ''I only won because my opponent was inexperienced. This won''t happen with the next one.'' Shang watched the wheel spin. ''The only way I can win against the next one is if I perfectly counter it.'' The wheel slowed down. ''Preferably, I need something with a weak defense.'' The wheel was close to stopping. ''It''s all up to luck now!'' And then, the wheel stopped. Shang saw his next opponent. The image depicted a pig-like man with a lot of needlesing down his back. He was wearing sunsses and looked like an intimidating bodyguard. A momentter, Shang''s opponent appeared. Shang took a deep breath. It was a brown porcupine with an obvious Affinity for Earth. It was over five meters high, and its needles looked like they were made of granite. Its head was meaty and muscr. ''I guess that''s it,'' Shang thought. ''No way I''m winning against that one.'' The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The porcupine noticed the distant Shang and sniffed. Shang didn''t move. He didn''t even take out his sword. After some curiosity, the porcupine snorted and ran towards Shang. It definitely didn''t like him. The gigantic body of the porcupine destroyed parts of the earth with every step, and it was like a wall of doom was trampling towards Shang. When it came within ten meters of Shang, it opened its mouth. Saliva dropped from its gigantic teeth, and it opened its mouth, which was as big as Shang''s entire body. Its speed was around equal to the dog''s speed. On top of that, it had a terrifying defense, and it definitely wasn''t inexperienced. Shang wouldn''t be surprised if it could even use its needles as a ranged attack if it felt threatened. Shang already had trouble evading the dog''s attack. What would he be able to do against a wave of needles that shot at him with even more speed? Shang sighed. ''If it had been something like a cheetah or a bird, I could have won,'' he thought. ''Well, I guess that''s it for the beast category of the trial.'' ''Seems like I will only get eight points.'' Shang pointed his left arm at the porcupine''s head. Its mouth was close to swallowing Shang. N?velDrama.Org content rights. And then, Shang woke the hidden power inside his body. In an instant, Shang''s body began to deteriorate. His skin shriveled up. His muscles shrank. His bones became weak. His organs became weak. His blood lost a lot of its power. And on top of that, Shang''s left arm turned into ck dust, which scattered into the wind. And then, without a sound, a gigantic hole appeared in the porcupine''s body. The hole was a meter wide, and it stretched from its head all the way to its back. Shang could easily see the horizon of his own world through the hole in the porcupine''s body. There was no explosion. There was no sound. It just happened. A momentter, a storm of pure, Neutral Mana came from the porcupine''s body, and Shang felt like his body was bathed in pure Mana. The porcupine stopped. And then, it fell over. Dead. Shang slowly walked over and used Darkness Absorb on the porcupine''s corpse. A lot of life energy left the corpse and entered Shang''s body. Shang''s body had been empty of life energy, and after absorbing so much of it, it had fully regenerated again. Except for his left arm. His left arm was still gone. Shang looked at his empty left shoulder. ''I don''t feel any growth.'' ''I don''t even feel like I''m supposed to have a left arm.'' ''It''s almost like I am already all that I am.'' Shang touched his left shoulder with his right arm, and he felt the skin that had appeared over the spot where his left arm had once been. ''I am already fully healed,'' Shang thought with aplex expression. ''I simply don''t have a left arm anymore.'' Shang looked at the vanishing corpse with aplex expression. ''A body part in exchange for an attack far above my ability. So that''s the price for this power.'' At the same time, Shang also felt that his Affinity had been locked. He couldn''t feel Light, Darkness, Fire, or Ice Mana anymore. He had alsopletely lost ess to this special power. But inparison to his left arm, Shang could feel that he would regain control over his Affinity with time. It would just take more time. But his left arm would never reappear again. ''This is why I was afraid of using it.'' ''Using this power means permanently losing a part of myself.'' ''Luckily, I''m inside the trial. It''s a risk, but I don''t think that the God will resurrect me with only one arm when I dieter.'' Shang took a deep breath. ''But that''s exactly it. I have to die. Otherwise, I will have to fight the warriors and Mages with only one arm.'' Shang saw the leaflet the porcupine left behind but didn''t look at it. He just wasn''t interested in it right now. This time, there had been no cheering. The wheel returned and began to spin again. "Level nine: Powerful Middle General Stage beast." Shang sat down and waited. He didn''t even look at his opponent. Shang put Sword to the side since he didn''t want it to get injured. After a brief flicker of light, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a big hawk with a rigged and spiky beak. Its feathers also appeared incredibly sharp, and its entire body was silver in color. The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. The hawk looked at Shang. Shang looked back. After a while, Shang could feel aggressione from the hawk. The one-armed Shang only sat on the ground, looking at the hawk. ''I wonder how it feels to die. I wasn''t exactly conscious thest time it happened.'' Chapter 207 The hawk moved its right wing to the side. SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang''s body was pierced by seven long needles, his body now being pinned to the ground. Blood flew out of Shang''s mouth as several of his organs had been destroyed. ''That was so fast! I would have maybe been able to evade two of them.'' ''But it shot seven!'' This was an insurmountable difference in power. Even if Shang had tried his best, five of the huge needles would have still nailed him to the ground. Shang''s body tried to heal with Mana, but some kind of destructive force in the needles was preventing every form of healing. Clink! The hawk hadnded on one of the needles and was looking into Shang''s eyes. There were no emotions in the hawk''s eyes. Shang was prey. Predators didn''t feel a connection to their prey. Prey was only food. Shang looked into the hawk''s eyes. Thest thing Shang saw was the hawk''s beak rapidly bing bigger and bigger in his vision. And then, it was over. The hawk had pecked a hole through Shang''s head. This wasn''t anything special. This was simply a beast killing something. Silence. Suddenly, Shang''s eyes shot open, and he took a deep breath. Shang didn''t think or say anything while simply looking at the sky. Thest moment before his death continuously reyed in his head. This feeling¡­ It was indescribable. It was a mixture of terror, shock, denial, and finality. If put into words, this feeling would only be a loud shout of "No, please-". It was a deeply seated fear in every living being. This feeling wasn''t like when someone decided to end their life. When someone decided to end their life, they were still in control, and they were the ones trying to end it. This was a feeling of someone else having the ultimate power over you. You will forever sleep because they want you to. There was nothing you could do. There was no control. All the money in the world, all the power in the world, all the begging in the world wouldn''t help you. There was nothing you could do. You are helpless. This was how Shang had felt in hisst moment. It was terrifying. The end of his journey. The end of all his goals. Everything he looked forward to would never reappear again. Light and joy, taken. A life, ended. Clink! Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Shang felt something metallic touch his right hand. "Are you alright?" Sword''s voice appeared in Shang''s mind. Shang took a deep breath and slowly sat up. Then, Shang looked at his left shoulder. His arm was back. Most of Shang''s anxiety left him, and he left out a long sigh. "I''m fine," he said as he stood up. "Are you sure?" Sword asked. For a while, Shang didn''t answer. "I never want to feel this feeling again," he said. "Is it so bad?" Sword asked. "Yes," Shang answered. "Could you describe it to me?" Sword asked. Shang looked at Sword for a bit and looked away again. "It''s the epitome of helplessness." "It is the opposite of power." "It is the opposite of control." Shang''s eyes narrowed. "I never want to feel this helpless again!" he said with conviction. At that moment, two wheels appeared in Shang''s vision. "Well done, participant!" the mechanical female voice said. "You have earned eight points in the beast category!" "Are you ready for the warrior category?" Shang looked at the two wheels. This time, there were no funny pictures on the wheels. One wheel showed different weapons, while the other showed colors. Shang was pretty sure that the colors represented different Affinities. However, Shang was surprised that there were so many different colors! There were probably over 25! Together with all the Mixed Affinities, Shang barely knew thirteen! ''Sure enough, this world is far bigger than anyone in this ce realizes,'' Shang thought. The Affinities on the wheel had different sizes. The biggest ones were red, brown, green, and blue, which obviously represented fire, earth, wind, and water. The second biggest ones were light-blue, silver, and grey, which represented ice, lightning, and metal. After that came several different pictures with mixed colors. Shang only recognized some of them. One of them was blue on one side and ck on the other. There was a slight purple sheen in the middle. Shang guessed that this represented the Poison Affinity. One was red on one side and icy blue on the other. In the middle was a green sheen. This probably represented the Temperature Affinity. However, there were several more of these mixed colors. After that came two pure colors again. White and ck. These obviously represented the Darkness and Light Affinities. However, that still wasn''t the end. It was very difficult for Shang to see it, but he could swear there were even smaller colors, which meant that there were even rarer Affinities. Apparently, Light and Darkness were not the rarest Affinities in the world. However, these colors were so tiny that Shang could not even truly see them. In essence, Shang only saw a thin, ck line since they were so small. These Affinities were probably extremely rare, even when looking at the entire world. However, Shang only thought about these Affinities for a little bit. His mind was still upied with the feeling of death. It was just so strange, intense, and indescribable. "I''m ready," Shang said absentmindedly. Then, the wheels began to spin. "Level one: Weak Initial General Stage warrior." Shang barely heard the voice as his mind tried to process the feeling of death. The weapon wheel stopped at the image of a sword and shield. Shang only looked at the ground, absentmindedly. He was thinking about something, but he wasn''t sure what he was thinking about. The Affinity wheel stopped at the Earth Affinity. Shang didn''t look at it. After a short burst of light, a man appeared in the distance. He had long, brown hair, and he carried a sword and shield. He looked healthy and clean-shaven. His posture looked rxed. The jester lifted his hand and hit the bell. The man opened his eyes and looked at Shang. Then, he readied his weapons in a scared manner. He obviously wasn''t confident in his own power. When the jester had hit the bell, Shang looked at his opponent. For a while, the two only looked at each other. ''This strange feeling that I never want to feel again is something I force on other people.'' Shang began to walk toward his enemy. ''When I kill them, they are feeling the same thing. They realize that they will never see their loved ones again.'' Shang took more steps as the man only hid behind his shield. ''The epitome of helplessness and losing control. This is something I inflict on others.'' Shang stepped closer. ''I am so scared of this feeling, and I feel terror just by thinking about it.'' Shang lifted his sword as the man struck forward with his sword. Shang sidestepped the stab, and he now stood directly in front of his opponent. And then, Shang vertically bisected the man''s head. The corpse copsed to the ground, and Shang only looked at it as the cheering erupted again. ''But I have to do it.'' The corpse vanished, and the two wheels returned. Shang narrowed his eyes. ''My goal is more important than their feelings!'' And the wheel began to violently spin again. Chapter 208 "Level two: Average Initial General Stage warrior." Shang didn''t look at the two wheels. He only looked forward with narrowed eyes. The first wheel stopped at a spear. Shang waited. The second wheel stopped at the Lightning Affinity. After a brief burst of light, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a woman with silver hair who carried a long spear. She wore an imposing set of armor, and one could see the experience in her eyes. Shang looked at her closed eyes from a distance. The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. The woman opened her eyes, and their gazes met. Then, she assumed a battle-ready stance. Shang walked over. The woman narrowed her eyes and charged forward, her spear ready. The woman was running far faster than Shang walked, and the two of them met very soon. She unleashed her entire power, her spear shooting towards Shang''s chest. BANG! Shang''s left arm intercepted the spear''s strike, the spear piercing through Shang''s hand. Shang took a step forward and pulled his left arm to the side. Due to the difference in power, the woman was pulled forward, her equilibrium destroyed. Shang cut through her head vertically, just like with the first opponent. ''My power is more important than your feelings,'' Shang repeated in his mind. His face was neutral and emotionless. The cheering appeared again. The corpse vanished, and the two wheels reappeared. "Level three: Powerful Initial General Stage warrior." Shang didn''t look at the wheels. The first wheel stopped at the image of a hammer. The second wheel stopped at the Wind Affinity. After a brief burst of light, Shang saw his opponent. It was a man with short green hair. He wore casual clothes, and he leaned on his huge hammer with a peaceful smile. The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. The warrior opened his eyes and looked into Shang''s eyes. Then, he lifted his hammer and put it over his shoulder. His free hand pointed forward, and he gestured for Shang to approach with a smile. Shang walked forward. After several seconds, Shang was ten meters away from his opponent. Suddenly, an explosion of wind appeared behind the warrior, and he jumped forward, his hammer seemingly weighing nothing. Then, he struck down. But then, the man''s eyes widened in shock when he saw Shang''s eyes just centimeters in front of his own, a cloud of icy mist on the spot where the hammer had just hit the ground. Shang''s sword struck the warrior''s chest. A Magic Circle appeared in the air, and the warrior was thrown into the distance. The warrior did a spin in the air and used the momentum to ready his hammer again. But Shang appeared in front of him just a momentter. BANG! Shang separated the man''s chest from his abdomen. The hammer fell to the ground, and the man looked with shock at the horizon, his eyes showing fear, disbelief, and panic. Shang looked at the man''s head. ''My goal is more important than your life.'' Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. A couple of secondster, the man''s eyes lost their light, but his eyes remained open. The cheering returned, and the man''s corpse vanished. The wheels returned. "Level four: Weak Early General Stage warrior." The wheels spun again, but Shang didn''t look at them. The first wheel stopped at the image of a long sword. The second wheel stopped at the Fire Affinity. A momentter, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a man with long, red hair. He wore luxurious clothes, and a happy and confident smile was visible on his face. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The man opened his eyes, and he looked at Shang. Then, the man''s peaceful smile transformed into a smirk, and he lifted his sword. Then, he slowly began to approach Shang. Shang also started walking towards him. After some seconds, the two of them met. The man lifted his sword in preparation to strike. But then, he suddenly stepped back to perform a spin. Like this, he would be able to put more power into his attack. And then, a headless corpse fell to the ground. When Shang had seen the spin, he had exploded forward with an Ice st and had beheaded his opponent. Shang couldn''t see the expression on the man''s face since his head was pointing away from him. The cheering returned, and the corpse began to vanish. ''My power is more important than your life.'' The wheels returned. Shang didn''t look over. "Level five: Average Early General Stage warrior." The wheels rapidly spun. The first one stopped at the image of a spear and shield. The second one stopped at the Metal Affinity. Shang didn''t look over. A momentter, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a woman with grey hair. She had a muscr and serious face. For some reason, Shang was reminded of Sarah. His opponent was very simr to her. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The woman opened her eyes, and she looked at Shang with a serious expression. She put her shield up and readied her spear as she slowly advanced toward Shang. Shang took out his sword and ran towards her. This time, he wasn''t approaching slowly. An ice mist was left behind as Shang''s body sped up more and more. Then, Shang jumped. Shang kicked the shield with his full force. The woman was pushed back, and her shield was thrown to the side. But at the same time, she unleashed her spear in a devastating counterattack. BANG! Shang''s sword hit the spear on the side, pushing it away from him. And then, Shang let go of his sword. The woman was falling over, and due to the momentum, Shang was now above her. She fell to the ground on her back. BANG! Shangnded with his knees on her chest. A Magic Circle appeared, which saved the woman from having her chest caved in. Shang pulled his right fist back as it began to freeze over. A look of terror appeared on the woman''s face as she looked into Shang''s eyes. BOOOM! Shang''s fist hit her face, and the explosion of fire scattered her head over the surroundings. For just an instant, the bloody face returned. Shang hadn''t seen it in a long while. But this time, Shang was not perturbed. ''My power is more important than you.'' The bloody face vanished. It had had no effect on Shang. It might as well not have appeared at all. Shang stood up, and his destroyed fist regenerated. The cheering returned. A momentter, the two wheels returned. "Level six: Powerful Early General Stage warrior." The wheels began to spin. And this time, Shang looked over. The previous opponents had been no issue for Shang, which was why he hadn''t even looked at the wheel. Just his experience and power were enough topletely decimate them. But this time, it was different. His next opponent would have a body just as powerful as Shang''s, and they would also have plenty of combat experience. The next fight wouldn''t be so easy. The first wheel stopped at the image of a bow. Shang furrowed his brows. The second wheel stopped at something on the rarer side of Affinities. It was the Poison Affinity. Chapter 209 After a short beam of light, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a young woman in her twenties. She had long purple hair, and she wore a set of thin, ck armor. On her back was an borately designed longbow. ''The bow and her armor don''t feel simple,'' Shang thought. ''Her armor can probably protect her from a lethal strike, and her bow is probably augmented with Magic Circles. It''s very possible that the speed of her attacks rivals the speed of an Early Adept''s Spells.'' The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. At that moment, the woman opened her eyes, and she looked at Shang with a cold expression. A momentter, she took out her bow. BANG! Shang charged forward, destroying the ground beneath him as he ran with all his speed. Just like when he fought the Adepts, distance was all that mattered in this fight. The woman pulled out a long piece of iron. It wasn''t an arrow, surprisingly. It was just a long piece of iron. She pulled the piece of iron back on her bow and pointed at Shang. A momentter, something purple materialized on the end of the piece of metal, and it quickly assumed the shape of an arrowhead. At the same time, some ridges appeared at the other end of the stick of metal. ''I see,'' Shang thought as he realized why there were no prebuilt ridges on the metal rods. If Shang hadn''t had so muchbat experience, he would have never even thought about this aspect. Just when Shang took a step, she released her arrow. Since Shang had just taken a step, it meant that he wasn''t ready to immediately step to the side. Her timing had been perfect. Shang''s foot awkwardly hit the ground and slightly changed his bnce. SHING! The arrow barely missed Shang''s torso. The woman''s eyes narrowed as she took out the next piece of metal. She had not expected Shang to dodge her arrow like that. Her timing had been perfect. Shang''s equilibrium became a bit awkward due to the sudden step he had needed to take, but he quickly managed to fix it before his opponent could shoot another arrow. The ability to dodge that arrow only existed thanks to the thousands of Adepts Shang had fought against. Yes, thousands. On one hand, one could say that Shang had only fought Mages for a month, and that wasn''t nearly enough time to be proficient in fighting against them. However, one also had to remember that Shang had been fighting them without end. Shang had literally fought several thousand Adepts in thest month. How many Mages had the red uniforms fought against? Definitely fewer than that. The red uniforms only fought Mages once per week, and they would, at most, get to fight twice each. In order to fight the same number of Mages as Shang, they would need to spend years like this. Dodging this arrow was the culmination of fighting so many Adepts, and it definitely wasn''t easy to pull off. After all, the arrow had been about as fast as the Spell of an Early Adept. One had to remember that incredibly talented warriors could fight average Mages on their level. An incredibly talented Early General Stage warrior could fight an average Early Adept. Shang''s opponent was one of these incredibly talented warriors, which also meant that she had the power to fight an average Early Adept, an opponent Shang hadn''t managed to win against yet. ''However,'' Shang thought, ''being able to fight someone and winning against someone are two different things!'' A secondter, the next arrow was ready, and Shang''s eyes shone. She released her arrow. The arrow shot towards the left side of Shang''s chest with incredible speed. How did Shang react? He jumped to the left! An instantter, the arrow was pointing to the right of Shang''s chest since he had already jumped into the arrow''s path. And then¡­ Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. It missed! The arrow curved towards Shang''s right, missing him in the process. The woman''s eyes narrowed even further as she quickly retrieved several more metal rods. Shang had noticed that the ridges on the arrow''s back had been slightly curved, which meant that the arrow would curve to Shang''s right. That was also why she had shot at the left side of Shang''s chest. If someone attacked a normal person''s left chest, the target would quickly evade to the other side. After all, evading into the attack would be suicide. However, if Shang had jumped to the right, the arrow would have hit him in the middle of the chest. By now, there were only twenty meters between the two of them. Shang''s opponent now had three metal rods in her hand, and all three of them were transformed into arrows. Since she had to create three arrows instead of one, it took her more time. By now, Shang was only five meters away from her. The next arrow pointed at Shang. She let go of the arrow. Shang jumped upward. But the arrow didn''t arrive! She had caught the arrow before it could leave the bow, and she had put a second arrow on top of the first one! Then, she jumped back and pointed her two arrows at Shang, who was currently in the air, unable to evade. Shang noticed the ridges in the arrows and pointed his left hand at the ground. The woman let go of her arrows. BANG! Shang used an Ice st to shoot himself over the approaching arrows. One of the arrows had been straight, while another one had ridges that would make it curve to the ground in case Shang somehow managed tond. The first arrow missed Shang. CRK! But the second arrow buried itself into Shang''s abdomen! Shang gritted his teeth. ''She spun the arrow by 180¡ã before firing!'' Shang wasn''t bothered by the pain, but he could feel his life energy rapidly moving towards the arrow. However, this wasn''t the Darkness Element. No, this was the Poison Element! A big part of Shang''s life energy was absorbed by the arrow and transformed into something else. Then, it released the poisonous life energy back into Shang''s body! Shang quickly pulled the arrow out of his abdomen, taking a big chunk of flesh with it, but it had already done a lot of damage. His opponent pointed thest arrow at Shang, who was nearly above her by now. Then, she let go. Shang''s eyes focused on the arrow, and his mind went into overdrive. For an instant, he felt like time was passing very slowly. BANG! The woman''s eyes widened. Shang had kicked her arrow away! What unreal timing! Parrying an arrow was even harder than avoiding it! Where did he learn to do something like that?! This was the culmination of Shang''s training against the Mana Push Spell. Shang pointed his left arm to his back. BANG! Two explosions urred at the same time. One was an explosion of fireing from Shang''s left hand, and one was an explosion of purple mist appearing around the woman''s body. Shangnded in the purple cloud and shed with his sword. Shang saw some red in the purple cloud, but he didn''t feel much resistance from his sword. He knew that he had hit something, but he wasn''t sure what he had hit. And then, the Magic Circle of Shang''s uniform appeared above his head. Chapter 210 The fact that the Magic Circle had been triggered meant that Shang had just taken a hit that would have killed him. Shang quickly realized what his opponent had done, jumped back, and left the poisonous cloud. And when Shang looked up, he saw his opponenting toward him. The Magic Circle had appeared above Shang''s head, which meant that an attack hade from above him. His opponent hadn''t had much time to evade, and the normal decision would have been to back away or jump to the side inside the poisonous cloud. However, Shang''s opponent had jumped up, immediately leaving the poisonous cloud just when Shang had entered it. Then, she had shot one of the unprepared metal rods into Shang''s head. Firing a rod wasn''t nearly as urate as firing an arrow, but from such a short distance, she wouldn''t miss. Without the uniform, the rod would have pierced Shang''s brain. And the thing Shang had hit with his sword? That was the front half of her left foot. He had just barely managed to sever that part while she had passed over him. Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. And, right now, she was about tond on him. That sounded great for Shang, but there was one issue. A new arrow was already pointing at his head. For a second, time seemingly stopped. Shang couldn''t evade this arrow. There was only a meter between them. The arrow would hit his head. At that moment, a fire appeared in Shang''s eyes. And he jumped towards her. Her arrow left the bow. BANG! The arrow punched through Shang''s gritted teeth, destroying them in the process. Then, it hit Shang''s neck through the back of his mouth. CRK! Shang''s neck cracked¡­ But it held! In this moment of crisis, Shang had decided to jump into the arrow so that it wouldn''t hit his brain. First, he would use his teeth to weaken the arrow a bit. And then, he would trust in the power of the beast bones inside his body! The bodies of beasts were way more powerful than the bodies of humans, and Shang was banking on the effect of the procedure! His entire body was only a bit more than half as powerful as the body of a beast, but the bones of his spine had been reced with beast bones! This meant that his spine was as hard as the spine of a beast! An arrow stuck out of Shang''s bloody mouth, purple misting out of the opening of his broken teeth. The arrow was already poisoning him! The woman''s eyes widened. How was he still alive?! This should have severed his neck! A momentter, Shang reached his opponent. Clink! Shang let go of his sword, and it fell to the ground. Shang grabbed the bow with his left arm and pulled back. The stupidest thing in a fight was to throw one''s weapon away, and Shang''s opponent knew that. Because of that, she kept holding her bow with her hands. And this decision would doom her. Her elbow punched Shang in the chest, but Shang knew how to take a hit. His right hand touched her back. BANG! An explosion of fire came out of his right arm, shooting his opponent to the ground and shooting him into the sky. Then, Shang pointed his right arm to the sky and released an Ice st. BANG! Shang''s right arm was decimated. BANG! The Magic Circle on the woman''s uniform activated as Shang''s knee hit her spine. Due to the explosion, she had hit the ground, torso first. The Magic Circle broke Shang''s right knee, but he didn''t even really notice it. Shang''s two hands quickly wrapped themselves around her head, and he pulled. Another Magic Circle appeared over the woman''s head, but there was nothing to block. The Magic Circle had noticed that its host was under a life-threatening attack, but it couldn''t deal with grapples. The woman screeched in pain. And then, the sound of ripping muscles and flesh echoed throughout Shang''s world. A momentter, the body below Shang went limp, and Shang threw the head in his hands to the side. And then, Shang fell over as his hands gripped the arrow in his mouth. CRK! Some flesh was ripped out along with the arrow. The flesh was ck as death. Shang''s mind was swimming, and he tried his best to remain conscious. While doing this, Shang focused all his Mana on his neck, and it was just barely enough to heal the injury. However, Shang''s head still hurt like hell, even with his unreal tolerance for pain. The poison had attacked his weak mind, and Shang''s Mana had issues healing the damage. There was a very real possibility that Shang could die since the poison was still attacking his mind. Yet, due to his warrior''s body, he couldn''t send his Mana into his mind! He couldn''t do anything against it! Right now, the only thing he could do was to remain conscious and survive. ''I can''t die!'' ''I can''t die!'' ''I can''t die!'' Shang repeated that phrase several times in his head as his mind went back to the time the silver hawk had looked into his eyes after he had been nailed to the ground. The pain was horrible, and it only intensified. Shang''s vision swam, and he barely remained conscious. And then¡­ The pain lightened. Shang managed to take hold of his vanishing consciousness and tightened his grip. And the pain became lighter. ''I will survive!'' Shang screamed in his mind. And the pain became lighter again. Some secondster, the painpletely vanished. Shang was lying on the ground, silent, only looking at the sky of his own world. Silence. ''I survived.'' At that moment, the cheering returned. The corpse of his opponent was vanishing as Shang only remained on the ground. ''It''s all thanks to the procedure,'' Shang thought. Shang''s regenerative abilities had been increased by the procedure, which had been shown when the Dean had kicked him. While Shang''s warrior''s body couldn''t heal his mind, the passive regeneration of the Abomination could. If it hadn''t been for the regenerative abilities of the procedure, Shang would have sumbed to the poison. After some seconds, Shang took hold of Sword and stood up. "Are you ok?" Sword asked. "I''m fine," Shang answered. "The regeneration of the procedure has saved my life." "Good, because I don''t think we have any time left," Sword answered. "Level seven: Weak Middle General Stage warrior." Sure enough, the announcer returned, and the two wheels reappeared again. "Can you fight?" Sword asked. The wheels began to spin. "I am still a bit woozy, and my life energy hasn''t fully regenerated yet." The first wheelnded on the image of a gigantic club. "I don''t think my body is in a condition to push my speed to its limits. The poison ate up too much of my Mana and life energy." The second wheel stopped on the Earth Affinity. "I still need some rest before I can fight with my full power." A momentter, some light appeared, and Shang''s opponent arrived. It was a huge, middle-aged man with a nearly two-meter-long iron club. He wore no armor and only wore scraps of fur. Shang looked over at his opponent and readied his sword. "But I don''t need my full power," Shang said. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The man opened his eyes, and when he saw Shang, an arrogant smirk appeared on his face. The man charged toward Shang. Shang began to walk toward him. Shang hadn''t even looked at the two wheels. Chapter 211 The man charged at Shang with a huge and bloodthirsty grin on his face as Shang only walked toward him with a neutral expression. A momentter, the man reached Shang and lifted his gigantic club. BANG! Shang exploded forward with more speed, parts of his back being injured due to the absence of life energy. The man struck down. The attack was incredibly fast. The speed of Shang''s opponent was far faster than his speed, and the club had an incredible reach. Shang couldn''t evade the strike. Shang let go of Sword. And then, he angled his head to the side. CRACK! The club hit Shang''s left shoulder and didn''t stop. It destroyed the entire shoulder, severed the arm, and pushed Shang''s broken ribcage down. It was almost like he was shaving off an entire half of Shang''s body. The man only smiled widely. Pack! Shang''s right hand touched his opponent''s left hand. A nearly-dead Shang hung from the man''s arm. The man only smirked with arrogance at Shang. And then, the man''s arm began to atrophy. The man''s expression changed, and panic appeared in his eyes. He violently shoved Shang away. CRK! Shang pulled the atrophied arm with him. N?velDrama.Org content rights. BANG! Shang''s right foot hit the ground and exploded with ice. The fear-filled eyes of Shang''s opponent only watched as Shang touched the man''s chest with his right arm. In panic, the man let go of his club and punched Shang with his other arm. BANG! However, just before he could reach Shang''s head, a regenerating stump intercepted the man''s punch at his elbow. Shang was still hit a bit, and parts of his skull broke, but he managed to keep hold of his opponent. The man began to scream in terror as he saw the muscles of his chest vanishing. Shang''s left arm had regenerated, and he also grabbed the other arm of his opponent, absorbing more life energy. "AAAAHHHHH!" The man screamed in unending pain as his body thrashed around in panic. And a momentter¡­ BANG! Shang''s fist exploded on the man''s neck, destroying it. Silence. Shang slowly stood up from the corpse of his opponent and moved his regenerated shoulder. Why had Shang not looked at the wheels? Because he knew that he would win. There was a big difference between how a beast fought and how a warrior fought. Over 90% of a beast''s power came from their inherent abilities and their powerful body. Inparison, a warrior''s power mainly came from their techniques, which worked in tandem with their body. How could Shang fight beasts above his level even though his body was much weaker than theirs? It was technique. Technique was the power of a warrior. Technique was the very thing that decided a warrior''s power. Because of that, the gap between the weakest and the strongest warrior on a given level was many times wider than the gap between the weakest and the strongest beast on a given level. Beasts couldn''t fight across their level unless the most powerful beast of the lower level fought the weakest beast of the next level. After all, they relied on their physical powers. Meanwhile, it was much moremon for warriors to fight across levels. One shouldn''t forget Mattheo and Astor. Both of them hadpletely destroyed Shang when he had just appeared in the academy, even though Shang''s body was far more powerful. That was because Shang''s techniques and battle experiences regarding humans had been horrible back then. And the same thing was true with Shang and his current opponent. The man with the club had nearly no experience, and he was obviously used to only striking with his club once to end the fight. In essence, the man had fought like a beast. He was using the power of his overwhelming offense to overwhelm his opponents. Sadly, that only worked against people weaker than him. Any decent warrior could counter such a one-dimensional battle style. An average Early General Stage warrior could have equally fought this man. As for a talented warrior? Well, the woman with the bow would have decimated this man. And Shang knew that he could do the same thing. The difficulty curve of the beast category and the difficulty curve of the warrior category were very different. The beasts became stronger and stronger with each level as their main source of power became stronger. However, when it came to warriors, it was different. Fighting a weak Early General Stage warrior was far easier than fighting a weak Early General Stage beast. However, fighting a strong Early General Stage warrior was far more difficult than fighting a strong Early General Stage beast for Shang. At least, it was like that at Shang''s current level. As soon as warriors and beasts reached the Peak General Stage, things would change. At that point, beasts would outss all warriors. And things only got worse at the Commander Stage. But for now, Shang could easily take care of the weaker Mid General Stage warrior. The cheering returned, and the corpse vanished as Shang cleaned his uniform. Luckily, as long as the core of the uniform wasn''t damaged, it would regenerate itself. Such a uniform was expensive, and it would be a waste if it became unusable due to some random strike. The two wheels returned. Shang looked at them, filled with Mana and life energy. He hadpletely recovered to his peak during the fight. "Level eight: Average Mid General Stage warrior." The wheels began to spin. ''The next fight won''t be easy,'' Shang thought. ''A talented Early General Stage warrior can fight an average Middle General Stage warrior. However, being able to fight one is different from winning against one.'' The first wheel stopped at fist weapons. Shang readied himself as he looked at the second wheel. ''An average Middle General Stage warrior should be about as powerful as an average Early Adept. I never won against someone with such power.'' The second wheel stopped at the Fire Affinity. After a short beam of light, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a man with short, red hair, and he wore a uniform simr to what Shang was wearing right now. ''Let''s see if I win this time.'' The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. And then, Shang''s opponent opened his eyes. Chapter 212 The man looked at Shang with interest and readied his weapons. The man wore shoes and gloves made of red metal, and Shang could feel their power. Shang had gained a lot of experience, and he knew that these weapons were made of Late General Stage materials. Apparently, even average Middle General Stage warriors had ess to these materials. Original from N?velDrama.Org. And that wasn''t even everything. ''He''s wearing a uniform simr to mine, which probably means that he also has a one-time protection of a killing blow.'' Shang readied his sword. BANG! The man exploded forward, leaving a trail of fire behind him. Shang exploded forward with an explosion of ice. Both of them were charging at each other, but Shang''s opponent was quite a bit faster. As soon as they met, Shang''s opponent punched forward with a fiery fist. Shang pointed his left arm at the enemy''s fist. BOOOM! An explosion of ice came out of Shang''s left hand, coating the enemy''s glove, but the enemy also hit Shang''s left arm. The front of Shang''s left arm was burned to a crisp, only leaving a charred stump that ended at the elbow. However, Shang''s right arm swung at his opponent''s fist with his sword. The man was faster than Shang and could react very well to the sword sh. He easily blocked it with his extended hand. CRACK! The man''s eyes widened, and he jumped back as he looked at his right hand. His glove was damaged, and a deep cut went through his wrist! His wrist was actually broken! Fire and ice didn''t necessarily need to cancel each other out. With a bit of control, the ice could somewhat evade the fire and prate it. Of course, the ice would be weakened by quite a bit in that process, but it was still useful in some cases. Shang knew how these weapons worked by fighting Mattheo several times. The gloves didn''t actually heat up. After all, if they heated up, the user''s hand would be seared. Instead, the gloves were coated with ayer of Fire Mana, and they only needed to not heat up too much after an explosion. After a warrior with the Fire Affinity punched with their gloves, the explosion would heat them up by quite a bit, but it wasn''t so much that the hand beneath them would be damaged. By infusing the gloves with Ice Mana, Shang could achieve the same effect as when his own body got damaged by his Affinity. The gloves had be brittle, and the explosion had damaged them. Of course, the gloves wouldn''t break because of that, but they would be unstable. And that was enough of a difference for Shang''s sword to show its power. But it was a heavy price. Shang had damaged one of his opponent''s weapons and injured his hand, but Shang had lost his entire left arm. Shang exploded forward again and unleashed another strike. BANG! One of the guy''s boots exploded with fire, and he was thrown to the side, sidestepping Shang''s sh. By now, Shang''s left arm had regenerated. The man unleashed a kick as Shang put his left arm on his sword. Then, Shang blocked the kick with the edge of his sword. BANG! Shang was thrown away by the explosion, several burns appearing all over his body. The back of Shang''s sword hit his chest heavily due to the knockback. Shang''s sword had two edges, but since it couldn''t cut Shang, no wound appeared on Shang''s chest. Clink! The man grimaced and moved his leg in a peculiar way. Due to that movement, his shoe left his foot and fell to the ground beside him. The grass where itnded turned ck due to the resulting heat. Shang had loaded Sword with Fire Mana, which resulted in the shoe receiving two explosions at once. The metal of the weapon could withstand such heat, but the foot it protected couldn''t. The sole of the man''s left foot was ck and filled with blisters. The injuries Shang had received from that sh were light, and he decided not to use his Mana for now. His passive regeneration would deal with these light injuries in just a couple of seconds. Shang and the man jumped toward each other again. The man released a kick, and Shang blocked it again with Sword. BANG! However, a momentter, an explosion of fire appeared beside the man, pushing him and his kick slightly to the side. Shang''s attack missed, and the man''s kick transformed into a roundhouse kick. Obviously, he had already nned on doing that previously. BOOOM! The kick hit Shang''s right arm and exploded. Shang''s arm flew away along with his sword. At that moment, Shang''s eyes narrowed, and he jumped forward, his nearly frozen left arm touching the man''s outstretched leg. The man was in a bad position, and Shang could regenerate a lot of life energy before he would be able to react. There was nothing he could do about that! But then, Shang''s eyes widened. Out of nowhere, a small ball of fire left the man''s free hand, and it shot directly at Shang''s head. Shang was stunned as he saw the approaching fireball. This obviously wasn''t a Spell. But it definitely acted like a Spell! And then, the fireball hit Shang''s head. BOOOOOM! The Magic Circle appeared on Shang''s head, and he was thrown into the distance. As Shang flew away, his right arm regenerated, using up thest of his Mana and life energy. Any additional injury would stay until his passive regeneration kicked in. Sword jumped back to Shang''s newly regenerated right arm as Shang was close tonding. BANG! But another explosion stopped Shang''s thought process. The man appeared directly in front of Shang, a fiery fist shooting toward Shang''s chest! Shang''s mind went into overdrive to find a solution. Sword was too far away. His Magic Circle had already activated. A st from his left arm wouldn''t be fast enough. There was nothing he could do. Shang gritted his teeth and pointed his left arm towards his opponent. Shang''s arm turned into dust as his entire body atrophied. Silence. Shangnded on the ground, breathing heavily. Thunk! Two solitary legs fell to the ground. There was no torso attached to them. The man''s uniform hadn''t been even nearly powerful enough to block this attack. Shang breathed heavily as his body tried to absorb as much Mana as it could. Staying alive wasn''t easy, but Shang knew that he wouldn''t die. He only needed to rest for a while. Thest time he had used his ability, he had been able to absorb the corpse of his opponent, but this time, Shang was too weak, and there was basically nothing left of his opponent. The two legs of Shang''s opponent began to vanish, but there was no cheering this time. Sword returned to Shang. "Are you ok?" it asked. Shang barely squeezed out a yes, before he coughed up some blood. It was painful, and Shang felt close to death, but his body would heal with enough time. A momentter, the two wheels returned. "Level nine: Powerful Middle General Stage warrior." The two wheels began to spin while Shang only looked at the sky, breathing heavily. The first wheel stopped at the image of a spear. Shang only looked at the sky. The second wheel stopped at the Wind Affinity. After a brief burst of light, a man with long green hair appeared in the distance, a charismatic smile on his face. Shang didn''t look over. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The man opened his eyes and looked at his nearly dead opponent. Shang only looked at the sky. He knew that he would soon feel the most horrifying feeling in the world again. Shang was waiting for his death. Chapter 213 Chapter 213 The young man opened his eyes, and when he saw his opponent, he lifted an eyebrow with a confused smile. Then, he looked around and didn''t see anyone else. He looked back at the nearly-dead Shang lying on the ground. After some seconds, the young man put the butt of his spear to his head and scratched it in a mix of helplessness and confusion. And then, he simply walked over to Shang. Shang continued to breathe heavily. His entire body was beyond exhausted, and his passive regeneration wasn''t nearly powerful enough to heal it in a short amount of time. Shang could only barely manage to stay alive. Sure, if given enough time, he could recover, but he wouldn''t get that time. Shang only heard the sounds of light footsteps slowlying closer. He didn''t even look at this executioner. After some seconds, a face with long green hair entered Shang''s vision. ¡°Man, thatst opponent sure did a number on you," the green-haired man said with a smile. For a second, Shang was surprised that his opponent could speak, but he quickly remembered that his opponent was a human. It wasn''t actually strange for him to speak. "| lost thest fight," Shang said with difficulty. The man scratched his head in confusion. "But you won, right? Otherwise, | wouldn''t be here." Shang tried to chuckle helplessly, but he had to cough violently. "| cheated." "Cheated?" the man asked. "In what way?" "| used a power | wouldn''t normally use," Shang said. "My power permanently cripples me, but since | will die in this trial, | will resurrect without anysting damage." "If the drawback of my power were real in here, | wouldn''t have used it." "Therefore, | cheated."Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The man hummed a bit. Silence. "Eh, it''s too much to think about," he said with a chuckle. "It''s definitely a grey area, but | can''t be bothered to find out if it is cker or whiter." ¡°Anyway, | should do my job," the man said as he readied his spear. "Can | ask you a question?" Shang asked. The man smiled. "No." BANG! The man''s spear prated Shang''s brain, killing him instantly. Then, the man vanished with a smile. Shang slowly opened his eyes. For a while, Shang only looked at the sky. "Dick," he muttered. Surprisingly, the feeling of death wasn''t as bad this time, mainly because it had arrived without warning. Shang had expected that he would live for a bit longer, but the man had suddenly ended his life without forewarning. Shang hadn''t even been able to feel the approach of death before it was over. "I''m fine," Shang said as he sat up. Sword was already beside him. Sword didn''t answer as Shang took hold of it again. Shang stretched a bit and noted that his left arm was back. "That''s 16 points," he said. "Teacher only managed to get ten, and | still have the Mage category ahead of me." At that moment, a new wheel appeared. This one only had Affinities, nothing else. ¡°But | probably won''t get very far," Shang said. ¡°Level one: Weak Initial Adept." The wheel began to spin. "| definitely won''t win against a powerful Early Adept without my ability." The wheel slowed down. "And as for average Early Adepts, it''s up in the air. No idea if | will win or not without it." The wheel stopped on the Fire Affinity. "So, at best, | will earn 24 points. At worst, | will earn 23." After a brief sh of light, Shang''s opponent appeared in the distance. It was a young man with a beautiful face and long, flowing hair. A charismatic smile was on his face. His red hair reminded Shang a bit of Mattheo, but when it came to power, these two couldn''t be further apart. Mattheo was a hardworking genius. This guy? The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The man slowly opened his eyes and looked at Shang. Asmile of disdain appeared on his face. Awarrior? Why did he have to fight a peasant? BANG! Shang exploded forward with all his speed. The Adept was a bit surprised by Shang''s speed, but he wasn''t worried. This was only a warrior. This was only a peasant. Peasants couldn''t touch him. The Adept summoned his Mana Shield without hurry. By now, Shang was only 40 meters away. Then, the Adept began to create his first fireball. He wouldn''t even need to use Mana Step. He only needed to take one attack and shoot a fireball into his opponent''s face. It couldn''t be easier. Shang put his left arm onto his sword, and his arm atrophied. BANG! Then, Shang exploded forward with even more speed, his back burning. Usually, it would be a stupid idea to injure oneself at the beginning of a long gauntlet, but Shang would very quickly regain his health soon. Shang''s sword hit the Mana Shield. BOOOOM! Darkness came out of the sword, and for a split second, one could see Mana gushing in to counter the ck bolt. The Adept didn''t pay any attention and focused on his Spell. Then, Shang pulled back his sword and attacked the Mana Shield again. ¡®Almost done,¡¯ the Adept thought with arrogance. But then... His Spell was interrupted. The Adept''s eyes opened widely. Had he failed his Spell? No! He had cast this Spell thousands of times! He wouldn''t fail such a simple Spell! And that was when the Adept realized that he no longer had any Mana left. Pack! At that moment, a hand grabbed the Adept''s neck and lifted him up. For the first time, there was fear in the Adept''s eyes as he looked into Shang''s eyes. He wanted to say something, but his words were interrupted by a shout of pain. He felt like flesh was being ripped out of his being! The Adept struggled in Shang''s grip, but Shang''s body was far more powerful than his. Without Mana, the Adept wasn''t more dangerous than amon guard from some random town. As the Adept screamed, his entire body transformed into a desecrated husk. And three secondster, he was dead. Shang threw the husk to the side, and the cheering returned. Surprisingly, the life energy he had absorbed from the husk was barely enough to recover Shang''s superficial burns. ¡®What weak life energy,¡¯ Shang thought with a frown. As the corpse vanished, the wheel returned again. At that moment, Shang had killed his first Mage. Shang had been in this world for nearly two years. He had killed uncountable beasts, and he had also killed the odd warrior. But he had never killed a Mage. ¡°Level two: Average Initial Adept." The wheel began to spin. Shang looked around as he waited for his next opponent expressionlessly. His mind went back to all his fights in the warrior category. The wheel stopped at the Wind Affinity. Shang remembered that every warrior he had killed was a sentient being. "My power is more important than their feelings,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®However, if | can avoid killing someone, it may be for the better.¡¯ At that moment, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a young woman with long green hair, a scepter in her hand. She wore beautiful green robes, which reminded Shang of an academy''s uniform. ¡®But, you know, killing Mages...¡¯ The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. Shang readied his weapon. ¡®Actually doesn''t feel that bad." Chapter 214 Chapter 214 ¡®| wonder why that is,¡¯ Shang thought as he threw the Adept''s desecrated corpse to the side. The once beautiful woman was nothing more than a husk of what she had once been. The cheering returned as her corpse slowly vanished. ¡®Why does it not feel as bad to kill Mages as killing warriors?" ¡®Maybe it has something to do with belonging, privilege, and power? | mean, lots of normal people on Earth don''t have sympathy for a millionaire.¡¯ The wheel retuned. ¡°Level three: Powerful Initial Adept." Then, the wheel began to spin. ¡®I''m not sure,¡¯ Shang thought, ¡®but | think I''m on to something here." Shang scratched his chin as he waited for the wheel to finish spinning. ¡®Mages have thousands of years of advancements that make it easier for them to be powerful. On top of thates the fact that some Mages don''t view warriors as equals. | mean, | think | didn''t speak to one of those before, but | did notice some odd stares from some Mages." The wheel stopped at the Lightning Affinity. ¡®A lot of people from poorer countries have an inherent dislike for people of richer countries, which | can understand. After all, the people of richer countries automatically have it easier in life just due to the simple fact that they had the luck of the draw during birth.¡¯ ¡®They didn''t work for their privilege, which could create some anger in some people. Why do they have to work so hard to earn enough money to buy the few scraps of food that keep them alive while others get help from their country?¡¯ After a short burst of light, Shang''s opponent appeared in the distance. It was a young man with short, silver hair. A serious expression was on his face, and he wore spiky, silver robes. ¡®| mean, | am in an inferior position in life, which could mean that...¡¯ As Shang looked at his opponent, his thoughts stopped. And then, Shang threw everything he was currently thinking about out of his mind and fully focused on the battle. What had prompted this change in priorities? In the man''s hand was a floating crystal, and a circlet was slowly and peacefully spinning around it. ¡®A Focus,¡¯ Shang thought as he narrowed his eyes. ¡®This might be more difficult than | anticipated.¡¯ The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The Mage opened his eyes, and he looked at Shang with a solemn expression. BANG! Shang exploded forward with his full speed. With his opponent having a Focus, Shang couldn''t take this battle lightly anymore. A Focus was exactly one of these many advantages that the Mages had over warriors. The procedure only closed the gap that the Mana Sources created, but Mages also had other advantages. A Focus could use the Mana in the environment to cast a Spell, but that wasn''t all it brought to the table. On top of not needing any Mana, the Focus could also cast Spells on its own, albeit with only 50% of the speed. But that was already terrifying enough. After all, this meant that having a Focus gave a Mage a free Spell every two seconds or so, and they didn''t even need to spare any concentration for it. As Shang charged forward, the Adept activated his Focus and created his Mana Shield. Then, he began casting a Spell that didn¡¯t sound familiar to Shang. After fighting so many Mages, Shang became familiar with nearly every Spell, but he hadn''t heard of this one. ¡®This is probably a self-created Spell,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Sure enough, this is a very powerful and talented Adept.¡¯ Just when Shang reached a distance of twenty meters from the Adept, the Adept suddenly began to float in the air. For an instant, Shang was shocked. Only the most powerful High Mages could fly! But then, Shang noticed that his opponent wasn''t actually flying. Several bolts of lightning wereing out of his Mana Shield, which connected it to the ground. The Adept was using the force of lightning to float about half a meter away from the ground. ¡®That must cost a ton of Mana,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang reached his opponent and shed forward with his sword. BZzZ! Some lightning came out of the Adept''s Mana Shield and hit Shang''s sword. Shang felt his muscles cramp up, and he felt some searing pain shoot throughout his body. If his sword had been made with Lightning Affinity ore, it would have absorbed the Lightning Mana. However, since it wasn''t, it only conducted the lightning. The lightning went through Shang''s entire body and entered the earth. And his opponent? Just like how the Mana Shield hovered above the ground, when the lightning hit Shang''s sword, the Mana Shield was thrown into the distance. Because of that, Shang''s strike had missed. ¡®So that''s why he used that Spell,¡¯ Shang thought with narrowed eyes. ''His Spell repels all forms of matter, which makes it a counter to warriors and beasts.¡¯ Like a ball floating on a pool of soapy water, the Mana Shield glided away from Shang and into the distance. Shang quickly charged after his opponent. Amomentter, the lightning on the surface of the Mana Shield became brighter, and Shang couldn''t see his opponent anymore. ¡®He''s hiding his Focus so that | can''t anticipate his attack!" Shang kept charging at the bright ball, his mind taut with stress. The Focus should have finished creating its first Spell now, and the Adept could unleash it whenever he wanted. Even worse, Shang didn''t know what kind of Spell the Focus had created. Luckily for Shang, a Focus could only store one Spell, and not several, like a Mage. Inparison to a Mage, a Focus didn''t have the advantage of a Mana Source and a mind. But that was only a Focus. It was very possible that the Adept had also already created a Spell. As Shang got closer, his nervousness rose. The Spells of Lightning Mages weren''t known for being slow. ¡®| don''t think that he has had the time to create two custom Spells, which means that he will probably use one of the standard Lightning Spells for Adepts.¡¯ Shang had fought his fair share of Lightning Adepts, and he knew all the basic Spells. Suddenly, the Mana Shield became even brighter with a sh. But Shang only continued running. An instantter, the sh had passed, and the Mana Shield returned to normal. ¡®Now, | know what you have prepared,¡¯ Shang thought. BANG! Suddenly, a violent bolt of lightning shot toward Shang''s abdomen. At that instant, Shang knew that his opponent knew that Shang knew what Spells he had prepared. ¡®But you are not the only one with unknown powers. You also don''t know mine!" Shang pointed his left arm to the sky and unleashed an Ice st. BANG! Shang''s body was violently thrown to the ground, and the concentrated bolt of lightning barely passed over him. An instantter, Shang put his sword into the ground in front of his head. WHOOOOOM! Not a moment too soon. Awave of lightning washed over Shang''s entire body.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. The skin that came into contact with the wave of lightning became charred as the lightning traveled through the skin into the ground. However, the lightning that would have hit Shang''s head got attracted by the sword instead, which redirected it into the ground. If Shang had remained standing, all the lightning would have gathered around his entire body, and it would have traveled into the ground via his legs. This meant that his feet would have to resist 50% of all the lightning each, which would have resulted in them turning into crisps. But as it was right now, only a tiny part traveled across Shang''s entire body before entering the ground. This was exactly what Shang had predicted. When the Mana Shield had lit up, the Adept had attempted to make Shang dodge prematurely. Essentially, it was a feint. This meant that the opponent had a spell prepared that needed to directly hit Shang, which would most likely be the Lightning Bolt Spell. However, such an experienced Mage wouldn''t put all his money on only one kind of Spell. No, he would definitely also have a safety prepared, which was the Lightning Net Spell in this case. The Adept had shot at Shang''s abdomen since he had guessed that Shang had seen through his bluff. So, if Shang knew what Spell the Adept had readied, he would do the most logical thing and jump to the ground. And he was right. If Shang had normally jumped to the ground, the Lightning Bolt Spell would have hit his head. But the Ice st made Shang fall faster to the ground than the Adept had anticipated, which resulted in him dodging the Spell. In the end, Shang managed topletely avoid one Spell and minimize the impact of the second. The ground around Shang exploded as he charged forward again. Chapter 215 Chapter 215 Shang quickly reached the Mana Shield again. Shang put his left hand to his sword, and his left hand quickly atrophied. The Darkness Affinity was the perfect counter against Mages. Shang''s arm quickly healed due to the absorbed life energy he had absorbed from hisst opponent. Then, Shang''s sword struck forward. BZZZT! Lightning came out of the Mana Shield, and just as before, it struck the sword. Shang''s body began to burn again, but this bit of unconcentrated lightning wasn''t that big of a deal. As the Darkness Mana came into contact with the Lightning Mana, the Lightning Mana became weaker, and Shang''s sword advanced. BANG! Shang''s sword hit the Mana Shield, and it got shot into the distance again. Shang couldn''t see his opponent''s expression, but he was certain that his opponent was surprised. This strike should have eaten up a lot of the Adept''s Mana. Shang quickly charged after the fleeing Mana Shield. When Shang reached a distance of 20 meters again, he quickly thought of a way to avoid the next two Spells. It was an impossibility that the Adept would only release one Spell. He had to release two for a good chance of sess. And, in reality, enough time had passed for three Spells to be created. Two from the Adept and one from his Focus. "He has three Spells prepared, but | have no idea which ones.¡¯ ¡®The problem is, | can''t just stand here and wait. If | wait, he will just create a fourth one followed by a fifth one.¡¯ ¡®| have to go in, no matter what. ¡®Lhave to take a risk!" ¡®| need him to release his Spells when | want him to release them!" And then, Shang jumped. His left arm pointed down and unleashed an Ice st. Shang was now several meters in the air, and, sure enough, this was the perfect opportunity for his opponent to unleash a Spell. A Lightning Bolt Spell left the Mana Shield and shot towards Shang. BANG! Shang unleashed a Fire st, destroying his left arm. He barely managed to avoid the Lightning Bolt Spell. An instantter, Shang''s arm healed by consuming all of Shang''s Mana. Any injury from now on wouldn''t be heble during the fight. BANG! The second Lightning Bolt Spell shot at Shang''s new location. BANG! Shang shot himself to the side with another Ice st, barely avoiding the Spell. Then, Shang put his burning arm to his Sword, which made the burning arm atrophy into a husk of its former self. ¡®I can''t risk my legs. Without my legs, | can''t reach my opponent, and distance is the most important thing when fighting a Mage!" Shang readied his sword in the sky. BANG! Another Lightning Bolt Spell came out of the Mana Shield, but this time, Shang didn''t evade. CRRRK! Shang threw his sword towards the Mana Shield! The lightning hit the sword and scattered in all directions. Shang''s sword was powerful enough to withstand such an intense avnche of lightning. Some stray bolts hit Shang, but they didn''t deal much damage. The sword buried through the lightning bolt and hit the Mana Shield. Clink! However, the force of the lightning bolt had severely weakened its force, and it fell to the ground harmlessly. Shang pointed his atrophied arm to his back. BANG! After a Fire st, Shang''s atrophied arm turned into dust. It wasn''t just destroyed. This time, it waspletely gone. The knockback from the st also wasn''t as powerful since Shang''s arm had lost a lot of power before using it, but it was enough to throw him towards the Mana Shield. Shang stretched his arm towards the Mana Shield while flying towards it. Clink! Suddenly, Sword stood up and jumped into Shang''s outstretched arm. Shang felt that the Darkness Mana was still stored inside Sword. Shang saw that the Mana Shield tried to move away, but the custom-made Spell wasn''t made to elerate quickly. Shang reached the Mana Shield before it could leave. And hit it with his sword. BZZZZZT! Lightning hit the sword, searing Shang''s body again. BANG! Shang hit the Mana Shield, throwing it into the distance again. Shangnded and charged at the Mana Shield again. And then, a fire appeared in Shang''s eyes. In the distance, the Mana Shield had vanished, and Shang''s opponent stepped on the ground again. His opponent was gritting his teeth in stress, and he was ring at Shang. He was nearly out of Mana, and he had to conserve the remaining Mana he had. Shang saw that the Focus had prepared another Lightning Bolt Spell. Shang heard the end of his opponent''s Spell and knew that this one was also a Lightning Bolt Spell. However, Shang hadn''t been able to hear the first Spell, which meant that it could be any Spell. ¡®This should be hisst offense. After that, he can only rely on his Focus!" As Shang ran closer, the Mage readied his Focus. And when the Focus shone, Shang''s feet exploded with Ice Mana. A Lightning Bolt Spell passed just beneath him. Then, Shang heard the ending words of the first Spell. Shortly after, a Lightning Net Spell flew towards the flying Shang. Shang gritted his teeth. BANG! Shang''s body was drowned by lightning. Several ck spots appeared all over his body, and his organs became severely burned. The pain was intense, but Shang managed to withstand it. Shang''s body became heavily injured, but he was still alive. Then, Shang heard the ending words of the Lightning Bolt Spell. Shang''s mind had alreadye up with a n. If Shang used his legs to evade to the side, they would be useless. At that point, the Adept could just outrun Shang while bombarding him with his Focus. Because of that, Shang released a Fire st from his legs to shoot at his opponent. His legs became destroyed and useless. This would be thest attack.N?velDrama.Org content rights. The Lightning Bolt Spell shot directly towards Shang. Shang pulled his sword to the side and charged into the Spell headfirst. BANG! The Magic Circle of Shang''s uniform activated and blocked the Lightning Bolt Spell. The Adept''s face turned into horror. Shang readied his sword. And a momentter, Shang arrived like a rocket. CRACK! Shang cut off the arm holding the Focus and crashed into the Adept. Several bones in the Adept''s body broke as Shang''s heavy bodynded on him. Then, Shang threw his sword to the side, pped the Focus away with his now free hand, and then put his hand around the Adept''s neck. The Adept tried to punch and kick Shang from his position, but his body was just too weak. The Adept began screaming in horror as he felt his essence being drained by Shang''s right hand. The body of this Mage wasn''t actually that weak. He actually had a body at the Peak Soldier Stage, which wasmendable for an Initial Adept. But because of that, he also had more life energy, which was now helping Shang in recovering a huge part of his wounds. Some secondster, the Adept stopped screaming, and his lifeless husk onlyy on the ground beneath Shang. Shang had recovered the usage of his legs and stored the remaining life energy to replenish his Mana. He would let his passive regeneration deal with his left arm. Right now, Shang wasn''t filled with life energy, but his Mana was fully recovered. Shang slowly stood up, and the corpse started to vanish. And at that moment, the cheering returned. "This wasn''t easy." Chapter 216 Chapter 216 Shang took a deep breath as his nerves and body rxed. "That was way too difficult," Shang said. "But you won," Sword answered. "Yes, | won," Shang said. Shang nced at his left arm and saw that it was slowly regenerating. "A Focus truly is terrifying," Shang said. ¡°And even more, he was only an Initial Adept." Silence. "| fought thousands of Early Adepts already, but this guy''s skills and experience were far beyond every single one I''ve fought." "If he had been an Early Adept..." Shang imagined how the fight would go. There was a high likelihood that Shang wouldn''t even have hit his opponent once. His opponent would have been far faster in casting Spells, and he would have already had two spells prepared by the time Shang would have reached him for the first time. With the increased power and speed of the Spells, Shang could have very well died on the first barrage. This wouldn''t even be a fight. It would just be a Mage swatting a fly away. "We have to increase our power," Sword said. Shang nodded. Sure, Shang managed to ovee the gap between the Mages and the warriors this time, but the advantages of the Mages would only keep increasing as their level of power increased. Right now, Shang could beat a very talented and powerful Adept on his level, but that didn''t mean that it would remain so. Shang had to work even harder and be even more powerful if he wanted to keep his current Battle-Strength. This time, the wheel took longer to return. ¡®| guess | got some time to rest because of my arm,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at his fully healed left arm. Right now, Shang was at his normal peak. He didn''t have an excessive amount of life energy stored, but his Mana was full. Eventually, the wheel returned. ¡°Level four: Weak Early Adept." ¡®This should be manageable,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the spinning wheel. Some secondster, the wheel stopped. Shang narrowed his eyes. What Affinity did itnd on? Shang didn''t know! For some reason, the wheel had stopped at one of the spots that were so tiny that Shang couldn''t even discern them. ording to Shang''s guess, the chances of that happening were probably below 0.01%. ¡®An unknown Affinity!¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®| have no idea how this will go.¡¯ After a short burst of light, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a young woman with grey hair. "Grey? But she doesn''t have a Metal Affinity,¡¯ Shang thought. Her robes were also grey, but they weren''t luxurious in any way. In her right hand, she carried a scepter with a colorless gem on top of it. For some reason, Shang found this gem familiar. And then, it hit him. ¡®That''s a Sparren!" ¡®Then, does that mean that she...?'' The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. And then, Shang''s opponent opened her eyes. Shang immediately exploded forward.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. When she saw Shang''s eyes, she became scared. Shang was running at her with an intense killing intent, and she became scared of the madman charging at her. She didn''t want to fight! She was horrible at fighting! The Adept quickly lifted her scepter and started to cast a Spell. The words werepletely unfamiliar to Shang. This was a Spell he had never heard of. Amomentter, she unleashed her Spell. Suddenly, the distance between Shang and his opponent widened. Shang immediately confirmed his suspicions. ¡®A Space Affinity!" ¡®That actually exists?!" Shang hadn''t thought that it was possible for someone to have an Affinity for Space. How would that even work? Did Space have a certain temperament? Shang hadn''t even heard of a beast with a Space Affinity! About 30 meters of distance had been created between Shang and his opponent. Shang only continued running. The Adept panicked again, and she quickly cast another Spell, but in a different direction. The space behind her pulled together. And then, she released a quick Mana Step. In just an instant, the Adept moved several hundred meters away. Just as Shang exited the first area of manipted space, both areas returned to normal. Shang continued running at his full speed. The Adept had gained enough distance and time to think of a n. She was horrible at fighting, and her Affinity was nearly useless in a fight. Eventually, she began to cast several Spells. Shang couldn''t see which Spells she was casting from such a distance. Acouple of secondster, Shang could finally make out which Spell she was casting currently. Mana Push. Eventually, Shang reached her. The Adept pointed her scepter to the sky and finished her Mana Push. A forcefield made of Mana appeared around her scepter, and she moved it down quickly. Shang lifted his sword and angled it as it hit the Mana Push. CRRRK! Due to the angle, Shang was pushed to the side by the Mana Push. Then, the Adept quickly finished her second Spell. She lifted her scepter again and struck down. This time, Shang couldn''t evade. BANG! Asecond Mana Push threw Shang to the ground, the earth around him cracking due to the power. Then, she finished her third Spell and lifted her scepter again. Another Mana Push. BANG! She hammered into Shang''s body on the ground, pushing him further into the earth. Shang''s entire body shook, and he received some bruises, but they were quickly taken care of by his Mana. Then, the Adept finished another Mana Push and mmed it onto Shang. The crater around Shang widened, and Shang felt some of his muscles and organs bleed. But to someone like Shang, such an injury was considered rather light. The Adept looked at Shang with fear. Was he dead? Shang quickly stood up, and terror appeared in her eyes. ¡°No, please!" she screamed. "I''ve never done anything to you!" Shang quickly reached her and grabbed her throat. At this moment, Shang felt horrible. This Adept obviously didn''t want to fight Shang. She only wanted to run away. Sadly, she had been chosen by the God. The God wanted two of his ythings to fight. And sadly, Shang couldn''t afford to forego his reward. "My power is more important than your life," Shang repeated to himself. In the end, Shang looked away as he activated Darkness Absorb. If he could, he would have killed her quickly, but he needed the added life energy for his next fight. Shang heard the most horrible scream he had ever heard in his life. The scream went throughout his entire body, and Shang felt like a part of his soul had been torn out. When the scream stopped, Shang threw the corpse to the side. He didn''t look at it. Shang could deal with killing people that wanted to hurt him. But this Adept had never tried to hurt him. Her first action was to flee. And only when Shang had stille after her with the intention of killing her did she helplessly use some Spells to deal with him. Right now, killing Mages didn''t feel as great anymore. Shang''s insides shook as he felt like he had lost a part of himself. Eventually, the corpse vanished. Then, the cheering returned. At this very moment, Shang hated the cheering more than ever before. He hadn''t done anything that was worthy of cheering. Chapter 217 Chapter 217 Shang hated the cheering more than anything right now. Shang had been put before a choice. Either kill the Adept and gain more rewards or leave with his current rewards. Shang could kill his enemies. He could kill people that wanted to hurt him. Hell, he could even kill people that wanted to steal from him. But the Adept had done nothing. She had only run away from the very beginning. In the end, Shang had decided that his power was more important than the life of someone innocent. Yet, he still regretted it. Why had the God put him before such a choice? Was this all only for entertainment? At that moment, the wheel returned. ¡°Level five: Average Early Adept." Shang looked at the wheel as it began to spin. ¡®Of course it''s only a game to him.¡¯ "He already told me that this entire world only exists to entertain him.¡¯ ¡®The purpose of everyone''s existence in this world is to entertain him.¡¯ ¡®That''s it.¡± ¡®That''s all there is to it.¡± The wheel slowed down. Shang clenched his fists.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Shang had been ambivalent towards the God until now. If he wanted to y with lives, that was his thing. But now, Shang had felt how it was to be his toy. At that moment, the night with the bandits shot through Shang''s mind. Shang remembered what he had thought back then. ¡°Not killing everyone made the death of the ones | killed meaningless." This was what he had repeatedly said to himself. What about the Adept? What about all the other warriors and Mages that had appeared in this trial? Were they here of their own volition? Were they forced to be here? Had they just been created by the God? What about their deaths? Did their deaths have any meaning? ¡®Just like back then, their deaths be meaningless if it doesn''t affect the overall situation.¡¯ Eventually, the wheel stopped at the Wind Affinity. After a brief burst of light, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a young man with long, green hair. He wore robes that one would find in an academy. This time, there was no Focus. For just a bit, Shang had anticipated that the average Early Adept would already be using a Focus, but that wasn''t the case. Shang looked at his opponent with narrowed eyes. ¡®If | want their sacrifices to have meaning, | have to change the situation." ¡®That means that | have to reach supreme power!¡¯ ¡®| only have the power to change things if | have supreme power!" ¡®| have to kill every being that stands in my path!" ¡®If | die to my enemies, all my past fights would have been for nothing!" The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. At that moment, the Adept opened his eyes and noticed Shang with a serious expression. BANG! Shang exploded forward with all his speed. ¡®I can''t lose!¡¯ ¡®Thave to kill him!" The Adept didn''t waste any time and immediately activated his Mana Shield. After that, he began to cast a Spell. Shang recognized the Spell, but his approach didn''t change. Just before Shang reached his enemy, the Adept changed his Spell. Shang readied his sword. Then, the Adept lowered his scepter and pointed at the bottom. Shang jumped. The Adept shed upward with his scepter. Mana Push! Shang''s legs were hit by Mana Push, but the force wasn''t powerful enough to injure him. However, Shang was thrown over ten meters into the sky. At this moment, Shang stopped high in the sky, looking down. Shang touched his sword with his left arm. The arm atrophied, but Shang immediately used his gathered Life Energy from the previous fight to recover it. An instantter, the Adept finished his first Spell and pointed at Shang. Shang''s eyes narrowed. BANG! Shang kicked to his right, releasing an Ice st. An instantter, the space beside Shang warped as the sound of a de echoed inside his ears. This had been the Adept''s Spell, Wind de. Just as the name suggested, the Wind de Spell generated a concentrated de of wind, which would shoot into the distance. Shang kicked backward with his other leg and released another Ice st, making him shoot toward his opponent. "He didn''t take me seriously!¡¯ Shang thought as his heart beat wildly. ¡®Ihave a chance!" The Adept quickly casted a Mana Step, but he hadn''t been prepared to cast one this quickly. Because of that, Shang managed to hit the Mana Shield with his sword. A ck bolt of Darkness Mana went across the Mana Shield before it vanished. The Adept seemingly teleported a hundred meters away as he had used the fastest Mana Step he could use. ¡®Ihave a chance!¡¯ BANG! Shang pointed his left arm backward and released an Ice st to elerate to his top speed instantaneously. As Shang charged at the Adept again, the Adept resumed his Spell casting. Shang left behind a stream of steam as his legs, and left arm began to cool, thanks to the wind. This time, the Adept was faster, and he finished his first Wind de when Shang had reached the halfway point. Just when Shang reached the Adept, the second Spell was finished. Their eyes met at this moment. Shang was dangerously close to the Adept, but the Adept had two Spells prepared. The Adept pointed at Shang with his scepter. BANG! Shang released a small Ice st with his right leg to shoot to the left. It wasn''t very powerful, but it made his movements unpredictable. The Adept''s scepter followed Shang''s movements as he very closely circled around the Mana Shield. CRRRRRRK! Shang let his sword grind on the Mana Shield as he ran around it, slowly chipping away at its Mana. In a tense instant, the Mage suddenly targeted the ce where Shang would soon be. BANG! Shang''s feet exploded with just a little bit of fire. It wasn''t very much, but it allowed him to jump over the Mana Shield while grinding his sword against it. The Adept reacted very quickly and pointed at the location where Shang wouldnd. BANG! Asmall Ice stter, and Shangnded on apletely different side than the Adept had anticipated. BANG! Another small Fire st, and Shang charged around the shield again with his sword grinding away. The Adept gritted his teeth in frustration. Then, he spoke the word for a Mana Step. BANG! Shang struck the Mana Shield as it shot past him. BANG! Shang released another Ice st from his feet and exploded forward. By only releasing small explosions, Shang had been able to stabilize the temperature of his legs, allowing him to use another big explosion. These small explosions weren''t useful for increasing speed, but they weren''t bad when it came to altering one''s direction. Of course, if Shang had to evade a Spell, these small explosions wouldn''t be fast enough. The Adept finished two more Wind des as Shang reached him. BANG! One Mana Stepter, the Adept was in the distance again. He had retreated before Shang could even reach him. However, at that moment, the Adept''s Mana Shield vanished. This meant that he had used up all his Mana. The fight seemed short, but the Adept had used an insane amount of Mana in that short time. Three very fast Mana Steps, one Mana Push, Five Wind des, several seconds of grinding with a sword, a strong hit with the sword, and a strong hit with the sword loaded with Darkness Mana. All of these things had resulted in the Adept losing all his Mana. If he hadn''t underestimated Shang at the beginning, he would have received one hit less, and he wouldn''t have already wasted a Wind de. At that moment, the Adept pointed at Shang. Shang''s gaze focused. ¡®| have to survive four Spells!¡¯ Chapter 218 Chapter 218 Everything hinged on this moment! Shang was around eighty meters away from his opponent, and he was prepared for the four Spells. Then, the first Wind de was released. Shang pointed to his left and unleashed an Ice st. BANG! Shang managed to avoid the Wind de. The second one came immediately after. Shang hadn''t been able to regain his bnce yet before the second one arrived. BANG! Shang pointed down diagonally and shot upward again, barely evading the Wind de. However, his left arm was turned into nothingness. Shang''s arm quickly regenerated, but before he could get it into the position, the third Wind de arrived. BANG! Shang headbutted the Wind de, activating the Magic Circles on his uniform. BANG! Shang used another Fire st, rising even higher into the air. Yet, no Wind de came. The Adept hadn''t released his fourth Spell! Their eyes met again as the Mage pointed at Shang with his scepter. Then, the fourth Wind de came. BANG! Shang''s left arm exploded as he released a Fire st, turning his arm into splinters. He had managed to avoid all four. And then... A fifth Wind de came. For a moment, Shang felt like time had stopped. Five? Where did that fifth onee from?! A st with his legs wouldn''t be fast enough to evade that Spell. His Magic Runes had already activated. At that moment, Shang made a decision. BANG! A Fire st wouldn''t be fast enough to evade the Spell, but it would be enough to rotate his body! Just before the Wind de hit Shang, he managed to put his legs in the way. BANG! The Wind de cut through Shang''s calf. Then, it cut through Shang''s femur. Then, it cut through Shang''s abdomen. And then... it stopped. After cutting through so much of Shang''s muscles and bones, the Wind de had lost all its power. However, Shang had no more Life Energy or Mana. An instantter, all his organs would fall out of his body and rain down on the floor in pieces. Shang''s intestines, liver, and lower back had beenpletely decimated. Even if he managed to reach the Adept, he wouldn''t be able to kill him. The Adept still had his legs. Shang didn''t. Shang gritted his teeth as he put his sword at the gigantic cut on his abdomen. The sword kept his organs from falling out as his body rotated towards the Adept. BOOOOM! A huge explosion of fire left Shang''s lower abdomen! The Adept''s eyes opened as he saw a sword quickly approach him. The sword passed through his head without any issue. BANG! Shang''s body barreled over the Adept and kept rolling on the ground. Amomentter, the smoke from Shang''s abdomen lifted. Shang''s entire abdomen was severely burned. And his organs? Still inside! He had cauterized the wound with the Fire st! Shang threw his sword to the side, grabbed the ground with his remaining arm, and threw himself at the corpse. Then, he absorbed the life energy that was leaving the body with Darkness Absorb. There wasn''t much left, but Shang managed to gain enough to regrow his organs. Amomentter, Shang felt an irresistible and painful urge to puke. He did so, and a river of blood and guts left his mouth. However, Shang had never been so happy to puke blood in his life. It meant that he had survived! After puking out several liters of blood, Shang copsed to the side and only looked at the sky. Silence. And then, cheering. "| won," Shang said while breathing heavily. Sword slowly slid back to Shang and rested in his right hand. "We won," Sword said. Shang looked at Sword. "Yes, we won.¡± The dried-up corpse of the Adept vanished shortly after. Just like thest time Shang had been this injured, the wheel took some time to return. Aminuteter, Shang stood up, his body havingpletely recovered. The damage had been severe, but it was still far easier to repair than the damage caused by using his mysterious ability. ¡®We won against our first average Early Adept. At that moment, the wheel returned. Shang looked at the wheel, and just for a second, he considered forfeiting. He didn''t want to die again. The feeling of death was horrible. He already had 21 points. Did he really need 22? ¡°Level six: Powerful Early Adept." Shang could have also only just used his ability to get this point. Shouldn''t he get some break? Shouldn''t he get some reward? The wheel began to spin. Shang closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "No." ¡®Thave to!¡¯ "How can | expect to be the strongest if | don''t give it my all?!" ¡®| can''t make the deaths of my previous enemies be useless!¡¯ Then, Shang opened his eyes and looked at the wheel with fire in his eyes. "So what if | die?! It''s only a moment of horror, which will quickly pass!" Amomentter, the wheel stopped at the Ice Affinity. After a brief glimmer of light, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a beautiful, young woman with long, icy-blue hair. She carried an azure gem in her right hand, which was orbited by a circlet. It was a Focus. Shang took a deep breath and looked at his left arm. Then, he looked at his opponent. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. The girl opened her eyes, and she looked at Shang. Shang exploded forward with all his speed. He didn''t believe that his ability had infinite range. From what he had seen, the destructive area of his ability was a cone. At least, the hole in the porcupine had been cone-shaped. If Shang didn''t get close, his power might be too scattered to kill his opponent. The girl quickly cast her Mana Shield. And then, an icy light appeared above her. She began to speak mystical words, and an icy stream of Mana left her mouth and entered the icy light above her. But that wasn''t everything. Her Focus was also sending Ice Mana towards the light. When Shang saw that, his eyes widened. ¡®Focus Fusion?! An Early Adept can do that?!¡¯ Shang thought in horror. When Shang was still 40 meters away, his opponent had finished creating her Spell. A two-meter-long icicle appeared above her. When Shang saw the icicle, a shudder went through his being. ¡®That Spell has the power of an attack from a Late General Stage beast!¡¯ ¡®It will break through my uniform in one strike and kill me!" There were still 40 meters between him and his opponent. Would his scattered power be enough to kill her? Shang''s left arm pointed forward. Then, his left arm turned to dust. But that wasn''t all. Both his legs also turned to dust. Andstly, one of his eyes turned to dust. The Adept released her icicle, which shot at Shang with surreal speed. An instantter, Shang''s body atrophied, and he hit the ground. Silence. Shang felt paine from his entire body, weakness gripping his being. With all his power, Shang managed to lift his body a bit with his right arm to look at what had happened. And then, his remaining eye opened widely in shock. Destruction. Nothingness. Acone-shaped crater stretched out from Shang''s position. Meters of earth had been consumed by the attack.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. At that moment, Shang remembered what his teacher had told him. General Stage Abominations could be a danger to High Mages. This attack... This was an attack that only a High Mage could unleash. However, Shang had paid dearly for unleashing it. If he had used this attack outside the trial, he would be a useless cripple with no chance of recovery. On Earth, one could still live a fulfilling life with such a disability, but in this world? No. WHOOOOM! And then, a storm of Mana assaulted Shang. Shang felt like his entire being was being bathed in the purest of Mana in the world. Acouple of secondster, everything calmed down. His world returned to its previous, lifeless self. There was no wind. There was no movement. There might as well be nothing. Shang was the only living being here. At that moment, Shang looked at his world. It still had matter. Then, Shang looked at the crater of destruction in front of him. But there was nothing. Shang remembered the ability of the Abominations. Shang remembered the fact that there could also be exotic Affinities like Space in this world. Shang remembered his Ice and Fire Affinities. Less heat, more heat. Less energy, more energy. Shang remembered his Light and Darkness Affinities. Life energy was essentially mass or matter. With more life energy, one could regrow one''s body parts. With too much, one''s body would be too big and would explode. With too little life energy, one''s body would vanish. Less matter, more matter. Less energy, more energy, less matter, more matter. What if everything was put together? It would just be neutral. It would be the same. Then, Shang thought of something. What if his Affinity interacted with the entire world? All the matter would vanish and be converted to Mana, which was basically energy. And every spot in the world would have the same amount of energy. There would be no movement. There would be no matter. There would be no life. Andstly, Shang remembered a concept from earth. In many, many, many, many years, every piece of matter will be transformed into energy. At that point, the universe will cease to be relevant. It was the heat death of the universe. Shang looked forward in shock. "My Affinity is Entropy." Chapter 219 Chapter 219 Shang had just finished hisst match. The long trial was finally over. After 22 fights, excluding the executions, Shang had finally finished the trial. But at this moment, Shang didn''t even think about the trial. He only thought about his Affinity. ¡®Entropy?¡¯ Shang thought as hisst eye looked at his remaining arm. Silence. ¡®What kind of Affinity is this?!" What did Shang think about when he realized his Affinity? The power? The potential? The uses? No, Shang was thinking about something else. Shang had tried to convince himself that all his opponents had to die for his goal. They all had to die! Yet, why was Shang even trying to convince himself? If he truly thought that, he wouldn''t need to convince himself. He would just ept that everyone had to die and would do it. Why put so much energy into convincing himself? It was hard to acknowledge, but right now, Shang realized that he hadn''t truly believed that sentence. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be feeling as he was feeling right now. Just mere moments ago, Shang felt like he had a choice. It had been his choice to act this cruelly towards everyone opposing him. But now that his choice had been taken away, he felt a feeling of regret. ¡®How am | supposed to interact with anyone when | am the very antithesis of their existence, their goals, and dreams?¡± ¡®Fire can destroy, but it also leaves behind nutrients that nts use. Additionally, we couldn''t even survive without the sun.¡¯ ¡®Water and Earth can destroy, but they are the very basis for life." ¡®Wind brings movement into the world. Additionally, oxygen is also important for life.¡¯ ¡®Ice? So what if it''s cold? There are enough animals that can live in a tundra.¡¯ ¡®All our bodies use lightning to function." ¡®Metal? Who doesn''t need iron and magnesium for their body?" ¡®Light is just life, and darkness can also protect.¡¯ ¡®Entropy?¡¯ ¡®What can Entropy do?" ¡®Entropy is the antithesis of everything we know.¡¯ ¡®In Entropy, nothing is relevant anymore.¡¯ ¡®Without movement, space has be meaningless.¡¯ ¡®Without change, time has be meaningless." ¡®Entropy means that there is no life.¡¯ ¡®Entropy means that there is nothing." ¡®There is just nothing!" Shang remained silent as he looked at the ground with his remaining eye. ¡®What if | be more powerful? What then?" ¡®Will | start destroying everything around me?¡¯ For a while, Shang wasn''t sure what he was thinking about. He was thinking about something, but he didn''t know what he was thinking about. He only knew that he was thinking. Maybe he was trying to untangle this web of emotions? Maybe he was trying to make sense of his situation? He didn''t know. But, eventually, Shang sighed. Shang flipped himself over toy on his back as he held hisst arm towards the sun in his world. Shang only looked at his arm. This arm couldn''t create. It could only destroy. "How would my rise to power affect the world around me?¡¯ ¡®I don''t know.¡¯ Shang just looked at his arm for a while. Then, Shang sighed again. ¡®Maybe I''m overthinking all of this. | don''t know.¡¯ ¡®| mean, | can still help others, right?¡¯ ¡®But is that something | want?" | think it is? Not sure. | mean, | am thinking about these things right now. If | didn¡¯t care, | wouldn''t think about these things." Silence. Shang only looked at his hand. ¡®I don''t know.¡¯ ¡°Finally done moping around?" Shang heard a squeaky noise and barely managed to move his weak body to look at the source. It was the jester! The one that always struck the bell with his hammer! Right now, the jester was standing beside Shang, hammer still in hand. Even now, it looked like a cheap machine. "Hey! | put a lot of work into this puppet! Don''t call it a cheap machine!" the jester shouted with a snort. Shang''s eye widened in surprise. He didn''t say that. He only thought- "Oh. It''s him." "Sure enough, it''s me," the jester said with a wide and creepy grin. "I always had a fond spot for jesters. They''re funny." Shang did his best not to disagree with the God in his thoughts. "Why are you here?" Shang asked. "Why can''t | be here?" the jester asked with a smirk. "This is my world. | can do whatever | want in it.¡± Shang remained silent for a bit. "| noticed," Shang said. There was a definite implication in the way he said these words. "Oh, someone''s mad," the jester said as he walked around Shang''s atrophied body, every step making squeaky noises. "You''re mad that you have to entertain me? Is that it?" the jester asked with a wide grin. Shang didn''t answer. "So what?" the jester shouted as he loudlyughed. "Then be mad! It won''t change reality!" Shang''s jaw tightened, but he didn''t even think about disagreeing with the jester. There was nothing Shang could do. The God was just like the Storm Eagle. Warrior''s Paradise only existed because the Storm Eagle didn''t want to destroy it. Why did Shang exist? Why was Shang in this world? What was Shang''s purpose here? Entertainment.This is from N?velDrama.Org. His entire existence, his entire being, his purpose, his everything only existed for entertainment. That''s it. If Shang weren''t entertaining anymore, all of this would vanish. Shang''s destiny was to dance for the God. As Shang looked at the jester, only one sentence went through his mind. ''It''s like I''m the jester''s jester.¡¯ "Ahahahaha!" The God broke out intoughter. "The jester''s jester," he repeated as he presented his body by hopping from one leg onto the other. "The jester," he said. Then, he pointed at Shang with his hammer. "The jester''s jester." "| should have called you Chester!" the jester said with a loudugh. Shang didn''t find it funny. "Why did you force the name Shang on me?" Shang asked. The jester only grinned. "It means entropy in Chinese. Well, not entirely. | kind of had to change the pronunciation of the a. Shahng just sounds weird as a name.¡± Shang remained silent for some seconds. "That''s it?" he asked. "Why?" the God asked as he bowed around Shang''s head to look him in his remaining eye. "Did you expect more?" Shang remained silent. The question of why the God had forced the name Shang upon him had been a mystery for a long time. Why did Shang need a new name? Shang had thought that there was a greater reason for it. Maybe there was some significance to his name? But no. It was only the God having fun. "Why Entropy?" The grin never left the jester''s face. ¡°Because of yourst question," he answered. Shang wanted to ask what his question was, but he stopped himself. The God wouldn''t answer. At that moment, Shang thought of a different question. He had been confused about this thing for a long time. Why not ask the God? He would know. "You don''t have to ask," the jester said with his grin. "| already know what you want to ask." ¡°Will you answer?" Shang asked. The jester''s grin became even wider, which hadn''t seemed possible just a second ago. "| already answered that question.¡± "Why don''t you wait until the Commander Stage?" Chapter 220 Chapter 220 Shang remained silent for a while. "So, this is the next question | have asked." ¡®| think it makes sense that | would ask that question next.¡¯ Shang took a deep breath. Hearing that this would be Shang''s next answer made Shang rx. The God wouldn''t go back on his word if Shang had asked this question as part of one of his three gifts. This would mean that he would get a serious answer, which is what he needed and wanted. "So, what now?" Shang asked. "| don''t know," the jester said with a wide grin. "I haven''t decided yet." For some reason, Shang didn''t like that answer. "What do you think | should do?" the jester asked. There was something up with the God''s mood, and Shang had a good guess. "Send in the next opponent," Shang said. The jester continued grinning as he slowly spun his hammer. "Quite a smart answer,¡± the jester said. "But | make the rules, and if | want to change the rules, | can do so." Shang didn''t like that answer. ¡°You know what?" the jester said as he retreated a bit. "Congrattions! Your results were so great that | won''t force you to die! You hate that feeling, right? So, there you go! Well done! You don''t have to die!" As Shang heard that, a cold shudder went down his back. Shang was currently a cripple. If he didn''t die and resurrect, his body would stay in this state. What then? Shang gritted his teeth. "Do you want to see me kill myself?" Shang asked. The jester kept spinning the hammer in his hand. "Why don''t you try it?" Shang''s mind went wild. Waiting for death was something else from consciously killing oneself. ¡°What if | don''t resurrect?" Shang asked. "You''re right,¡± the jester said. "You won''t be resurrected." ¡°But why won''t you try it anyway? It would be fun to see you kill yourself." At this moment, Shang felt very simr to the other two times he had been killed in the trial. However, this time, Shang knew that he wouldn''t resurrect. Then why should he kill himself?! But then, if the God didn''t kill him, how was he supposed to live like this? What if he refused to kill himself? The jester just continued spinning his hammer as he watched Shang struggle. He loved theplexity of the situation. Both options were an incredible risk. What would he do? Several minutes passed. Shang continued debating with himself. What was he supposed to do?! Suddenly, a timer appeared above Shang. "I''m getting bored. You have one minute to decide," the jester said with augh. "If the time runs out, your oue will be worse than any choice you can make." Shang started to breathe heavily as his mind struggled toe up with an answer. What was he supposed to do?! Die?! But then what?! Survive?! But then what?! It didn''t matter what he did! The timer started to go down second by second, and Shang''s mind began to drone. Shang had never been under so much stress in his life. Die?! Survive?! The timer ticked down. It felt like 50 seconds had passed in a sh. Shang''s bloodshot eye kept focusing on the timer. ¡®What do | do?! ¡®What do | do?! ¡®What do | do?!" 5, 4, Shang gritted his teeth as his eye looked away from the timer. 3, BOOOOOM! An explosion of Fire and Ice came out of Shang''s head, scattering it across the surroundings. Shang had chosen death. Everything in Shang''s mind halted as he waited for death. And waited. And waited. Then, Shang began to panic. His head was scattered over multiple meters! He didn''t even know where he was or what he was right now! Why wasn''t he dead? A broom appeared in the jester''s hand as he began to sweep up all the different parts of Shang''s head. The sensations Shang was feeling right now were indescribable. Shang couldn''t wrap his mind around what was happening right now. After some seconds, the jester was done with sweeping up all of the fragments of Shang''s head and dumped them in a bucket. Then, the jester put both his hands in the bucket and kneaded them like they were dough. Some secondster, the jester lifted a brand-new head out of the bucket with a grin. However, one thing was different about this head. Shang now had his second eye back. The jester only looked into Shang''s eyes with a grin. "Do you think you have the power to die under my watch?" he asked slowly. Shang didn''t answer. "Your body doesn''t matter. Your soul doesn''t matter. Your mind doesn''t matter," the jester said. "If | want you to exist, you will exist.¡± ¡°Even if | turn you into dust, you will still exist." "If you die, | can recreate you." ¡°| can make a second one of you." The jester pulled the head closer to his face. ¡°And if | want to, | can stop your existence." Shang didn''t answer. He had never felt this powerless in his life. A deep fear and pain appeared in Shang''s mind. At this moment, Shang truly felt worthless. He couldn''t do anything. ¡°Now, now, we can''t have that," the jester said. "If you lose all your motivation, watching you will be boring." "Look!" Shang felt a sting on his face and rubbed it with his hand. "Hand?" Shang looked down and noticed that his body had recovered fully. At that moment, Shang felt like he had gained a new lease on life. "You chose correctly," the jester said as he jumped away from Shang. "A bit of biting back is fun, but | have use for you. Don''t forget, you are supposed to make this world fun, and for that, | need more stuff. Only Mages are boring.¡± "If you disobey me too much, you might decide that you don''t want to help the warrior''s path anymore. "You see, | want my world to be fun. If it isn''t fun, | will be bored." The jester turned to Shang and grinned at him. "Do you want to see what happens when I''m bored?" he asked. Shang felt a shudder go down his back. "No," Shang said. The jester''s smirk transformed into a smile. ¡°You know why all of this is happening,¡± hemented. Shang nodded. ¡°Because | used Entropy to win against three enemies | shouldn''t have won against," Shang said. This had been Shang''s guess from the very beginning. The biggest indicator had been theck of cheering after Shang had won these fights. If Shang had been willing to carry the drawbacks of his ability, the God wouldn''t have minded. However, Shang had essentially used the God''s power to resurrect himself, essentially ignoring the drawback. And the God didn''t like that. "Do you want 22 or 19 points?" the jester asked. This seemed like an innocent question. However, Shang felt like the answer to this question would have long-reaching consequences. Shang knew that this question was important. "What would | need to do if | want 22 points?" Shang asked. The jester spun his hammer again. For a couple of seconds, he remained silent. "| would only want you to do one thing in the real world," the God said. "| will give you the means to do it, and it won''t take more than a couple of minutes." ¡°However, you won''t like it.¡± "You will have to kill someone.¡± "So, what will it be?" "49 points and a reward you get without needing to do anything..." "Or 22 points where you have to kill someone you don''t want to kill." "What will it be?" Shang felt like a hole had opened in his chest.This is from N?velDrama.Org. It was like he had been put in front of that one Adept again with the Space Affinity. But this time, Shang would have to kill someone he didn''t want to kill, which could only be someone he knew. And the choice wouldn''t be up to him. What if the God wanted to kill Shang''s teacher? What if he wanted to kill Astor? Viera? Yiral? Mattheo? Duke Whirlwind? Could Shang kill someone like that for three measly points? Weren''t 19 points already enough? Shang took a long time to decide. He had to decide between a slightly bigger increase in power for killing someone innocent or a normal increase in power with a clear conscience. After a minute, Shang made his choice. Chapter 221 Chapter 221 After a full minute, Shang finally made his choice. It wasn''t an easy one, but Shang believed that it was correct. "| choose..." "19." The jester''s smile widened as he looked at Shang. ¡°Now, that is interesting," he said as he appeared directly in front of Shang, looking him deeply in the eyes. For just a moment, Shang felt fear arise in his heart. ¡°Even though | blocked your thoughts from my perception, | was still very certain in being able to foresee your choice since | know everything about you." "Yet, who would have guessed that | would be wrong?" the jester mused as he looked into Shang''s eyes with a mad grin. ¡°| was sure you would choose 22." "Tell me, why did you choose 19?" the jester asked without moving away. Shang felt very ufortable with the jester so close to his face. Shang took a deep breath to organize his thoughts. "There are several reasons for my decision." ¡°Originally, | wanted to choose 22. After all, it is an increase in power for a sacrifice. This is exactly what | have been telling myself. | told myself that this is how | want to live my life." The jester waited for the reasons. ¡°But, for now," Shang slowly said. "I don''t want tomit to a path." "Commit?" the jester asked with interest. "Yes," Shang said. "You told me that | have already asked the question | want to ask before and that | should wait for the Commander Stage. This means that | will get the answer to my question." "The answer to the question: What kind of attitude would be most effective on my journey?" "Well," the jester said, "you phrased the question a bit differently, but it''s essentially the same." Shang nodded. "| have been stuck between two paths for thest two years. Do | help others, or do | hurt others?" ¡°However, it isn''t that easy. If | help others, | will also receive their help, but at some point, the help others can provide me is worth less than what | give them, which will hamper my growth." "This means that | can''t fullymit to this path." "If | hurt others, | gain many resources that increase my power, but on the other hand, | will also be under constant danger, and that danger might cost me my life. Danger is good for growth, but too much danger will kill me.¡± "This means that | also can''t fullymit to that path." ¡°As the God of this world, you should know best what kind of attitude would work best for me, and until | have that answer, | won''tmit to anything.¡± "Now, if | chose 22, | might have done something that could force me down one of the two paths."Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. At that moment, Shang looked at the jester. ¡°And wouldn''t it be very entertaining to watch me hear about the correct path without being able to walk it?" "Just like teacher heard about the free deaths in the trial after having already be too old to take advantage of it." The jester only smiled. ¡°But that isn''t my entire reason." ¡°Another reason is that | feel a bit bad for circumventing the rules of my Affinity. Of course, feeling a bit bad won''t stop me from doing what | have to do to be powerful.¡± "| achieved these three points not with my power but by cheating. | don''t want to get something handed to me if | don''t deserve it.¡± ¡°Of course, as I''ve said, I''m still willing to do it, but this reason also yed a small role in my decision." "And then there are two more reasons." "Two more?" the jester asked with a smile. "You really thought a lot about this choice." "These two reasons have to do with my impression of you," Shang said. "What is your impression of me?" the jester asked. Shang took a deep breath. "Unstable, often illogical, mad, chaotic, yful," Shang said. There was no reason to keep Shang''s thoughts a secret. The God already knew what Shang thought of him. Sure enough, the God didn''t react. ¡°However, all of that doesn''t matter. What you want is entertainment," Shang said. "For someone of your power, this is probably the only thing that interests you. There might not be a path forward anymore, which forces you to look down." At that moment, the jester''s smile vanished. The entire atmosphere changed. Earlier, Shang had felt like he was a ything, but now, he felt like he had hurt the yer. Shang guessed that he had hit the nail on the head. This was probably a sore spot for the God. "You''re lucky you''re entertaining,¡± the jester spoke with a deadpan tone. This was the first time that Shang heard the God speak in such a tone, and it sent chills down his spine. ¡°And that''s the thing,¡± Shang said. "You want entertainment." "| was certain that | would choose 22 at the beginning, and | thought that you also predicted | would choose 22." "So, why not make this entertaining and circumvent your expectations?" Shang asked. "Hahahaha!" The jesterughed loudly. Surprisingly, the jesterughed for quite a while. "You have no idea how long it has been that | have been surprised like this!" "| expected you to think of yourself while making this choice, but you were actually thinking of me, whichpletely changed your choice!" ¡°And in the end," the jester said with a mad grin. "By thinking of me, you suspect that you are automatically thinking of yourself by proxy, right?" "Yes," Shang said with a nod. "I don''t want to serve. | don''t want to be your entertainment." The jester didn''t react. ¡°However, what | want isn''t important. In front of you, it isn''t important what | want. | don''t have the power to defy you yet." The God took note of the word "yet", but he didn''tment. Seeing a toy begrudginglyply while feeling resentment was fun. "| don''t like to bow to your whims, but if | want to achieve my goal, for the time being, | have to. Defying you will only send me to an early grave or worse.¡± "But there is one more reason.¡± The jester leaned on his hammer as he looked at Shang with a grin. "Tell me." Shang furrowed his brows. "This was the most important reason.¡± "You told me that | have the choice, and my future depends on which choice | make." "However, what if it doesn''t?" The jester didn''t react. "What if my choice is actually meaningless?" "You can change the rules whenever you want. Believing that these two choices are the only choices | have might be incorrect." "It might be possible that it doesn''t matter what | choose." "But it might matter how | choose." "The answer might not interest you. Maybe, you are only interested in the reasons for why | have chosen whatever | chose." "And because of that, | chose 19." "Because it is not something you expected." Silence. For around five seconds, no one said anything. "How very interesting,¡± the jester said. "You know, | felt quite annoyed when you circumvented the drawback of using Entropy by abusing my power." ¡°But now, | feel even better than if you had gotten 22 points without relying on my power." At that moment, the jester vanished into nothingness. Something dark materialized about fifty meters away from Shang. Shang immediately recognized the object. It was the God''s gigantic throne. And on the throne sat the actual body of the God. He was smirking as he leaned his head on one of his fists. "You get your 22-point-reward without having to do anything you don''t want." "Well yed." Chapter 222 Chapter 222 Shang looked at the God on his throne. "What would you have had me do if | chose 22 without an interesting reason?" Shang asked. The God lifted his left hand, and the hammer of the jester appeared in it. ¡°As you know, | regrly change my decisions on a whim." Shang didn''t say anything. The God looked at the hammer. "You wouldn''t have directly killed someone, but you would have indirectly killed thousands." Shang took a deep breath when he heard that. "| would have given you this hammer,¡± the God said with a grin, looking at the hammer. Then, he looked at Shang. ¡°And would have asked you to hit Warrior''s Paradise''s foundation." The hairs on Shang''s neck stood on end. ¡°And what would have happened?" The God only smirked. "Can''t you imagine?" "It would have toppled over like a tree.¡± Shang felt a deep, ck hole of terror open in his chest. Yes, Shang could deal with killing his enemies. But killing thousands of innocent people? Destroying the very thing he had called home for over a year? Shang imagined the gigantic city falling over and turning into rubble. All the smiths, alchemists, warriors, Mages, children, guards, clerks, nearly everyone would have died. Only True Mages and Commander Stage warriors could hope to survive such a disaster, and their survival wouldn''t even be certain. The God only smirked as he saw Shang''s expression. ¡°Wouldn''t that have been entertaining? Seeing you watch the grieving people around you. Their crying faces getting etched into your mind, knowing that you were the responsible one.¡± ¡°They would all search for the cause, and an endless resentment would be born inside each and every one of them.¡± ¡°But you would be the only one that knew." "You would know that you are responsible." ¡°A secret you can''t tell anyone, including your master." "Unable to share such a heavy burden that spreads guilt throughout your entire being.¡± ¡°Every day, afraid that someone would find out your secret." "Their faces, haunting you." "That would have been entertaining enough for me to give you 22 points. Wouldn''t you say so?" the God asked with a smirk. Shang''s stomach churned. He couldn''t imagine being in such a position. It would have been terrifying. "But, lucky you!" the God said with a grin. "You managed to gain your reward without having to do such a thing.¡± Shang didn''t say anything. His mind was still thinking about what it would have felt like to be in such a situation. It was terrifying. "Now, don''t get hung up on unimportant things,¡± the God said. "It''s time for your reward." SHING! Two books appeared, and they hovered in front of the God. "What do you want?" "Do you want something that makes it easier for every warrior to reach the True Path Stage?¡± "Or do you want something that increases the Battle-Strength of every General Stage warrior and higher?" "You can have one of the two." Shang pushed the hypothetical situation out of his mind and focused on his choice. But Shang didn''t need to deliberate for long. ¡°How very boring," the God said, but his smile didn''t leave his face. One of the two books disappeared, and the other one dropped down in front of Shang. "Something that increases the Battle-Strength of warriors, it is," the God said. ¡°Read the book. After reading it, the book will vanish, but you will have gained initial mastery in the ability it teaches. Everyone else will need to slowly learn this skill, but as a bonus, you get to learn it instantly. Not all of it, of course, but enough to increase your Battle-Strength by quite a bit." Pack! Asecond book appeared in front of Shang. "Give this one to your predecessor. He will know what to do." "And if he doesn''t..." The God''s smile widened. "Well, it doesn''t matter. He knows what he can and can''t do." "See you soon, Shang." Shang looked at the two books, and when he looked back at the God, he had vanished. Silence. Shang was the only one inside his world now. Shang only waited in silence for several seconds. He didn''t need to fight anymore. He didn''t need to fear the God''s mood anymore. The trial was over, and Shang had gained his reward. For a long time, Shang thought about all the opponents he had fought in the trial. He had fought so many battles. Then, Shang took a deep breath and took hold of the book that was prepared for him. For the next 30 minutes, Shang read through the book. It wasn''t very long, but the concepts inside it wereplex and foreign. Shang had learned quite a bit in the academy over thest year, but the concepts in this book almost seemed alien to him. It was like this book followed apletely different path. When Shang was done reading the book, all the foreign concepts fell into ce in his mind, seemingly of their own volition. Everything suddenly made sense. After Shang read through the book, it turned into dust. "Did the book also work on you?" Shang asked Sword. "Yes," Sword answered. "This will close the gap between warriors and Mages even more." Shang nodded. "The procedure will only close the gap in the General Stage, but as the Mages be more powerful, they gain more and more advantages. The procedure alone isn''t enough to close the difference at that point." Shang took hold of the other book and looked at it. ¡°But the concepts in this book will make quite a dent in the advantages the Mages have." "If | had known this concept before attempting the trial..." "| would have probably gotten two more points. | would have had a chance against the porcupine, and | would have won against that warrior without using my ability." For a while, Shang and Sword talked about the concepts in the book and how to properly apply them during battle, but Shang quickly realized that this would take at least several days, if not weeks. So, half an hourter, Shang decided to leave. As Shang left his world with the book, he only had one thought.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. ¡®| wonder how powerful the warriors will be with this ability.¡¯ Chapter 223 Chapter 223 Shang slowly opened his eyes in the real world. Shang was inside his room in the academy''s basement, which wasn''t very pleasant to look at. There was only a table, some chairs, and a bed. That was about it. It looked more like a fancy prison cell than an actual room. The Dean noticed that Shang was back and looked at him. "How did it go?" he asked. Shang looked at his teacher. "22 points.¡± The Dean nodded. "That''s better than | expected. | feared that the weak Middle General Stage beast would be too much for you, and | also expected you to fail your fight against the Average Early Adept." "It seems | underestimated you." "| assume you used your peculiar Ability to gain three free points?" Shang nodded, but his brows furrowed. At this moment, the procedure and its effects went through Shang''s head. The procedure had upgraded his body by one level, which essentially granted him three additional points per category, giving him nine free points. Then, his Affinity gave him three additional free points. So, the procedure and his Affinity had given Shang twelve points in total. Shang had left the trial with 22 points, and if he subtracted the twelve free points, he would be at ten points. In short, without these two things, Shang''s Battle-Strength was about as powerful as the Dean''s Battle-Strength had been back then. "You seem to be unhappy with your results," the Dean said as he noticed Shang''s expression. "The only reason why | got so many points was the procedure and my Affinity," Shang said. "Without them, | would have only gotten as many points as you, and several of those fights had been incredibly close." The Dean''s expression didn''t change. "So, you are disappointed that you only are as strong as the strongest and most talented warrior in the world," the Dean said. Shang listened to his teacher, but he didn''t look at him. He knew that it might not be "appropriate" to feel bad about such an aplishment. However, Shang just couldn''t help himself. He wanted more. ¡°Remember this, Shang," the Dean said. "If | had ess to the procedure for myself, | would be able to fight the strongest High Mages on my level." Shang looked at the Dean. That didn''t sound very believable. After all, the Mages had even more advantages than just their Mana Sources. ¡°You seem skeptical, but it''s the truth,¡± the Dean said. "Don''t forget that the strongest aspects of us warriors are our techniques and our battle experience. At the moment, the gulf regarding the baseline is so wide that technique won''t be able to change anything, but if that gulf can be closed just by a little bit, all the techniques be important again." ¡°Even if the High Mages have even more advantages, you can diminish a lot of their advantages with hard work, experience, and willpower." "Don''t think that | am only someone on the level of Duke Whirlwind or any other Duke." "If |had ess to the procedure, and if | were on their level, | would be able to fight evenly with a Duke." "Their additional advantages are the only reasons why | can''t directly just kill them." "Don''t take my aplishments lightly, Shang," the Dean said with a cold gaze. "You don''t know what it means to be on my level." Shang only listened to his teacher in silence. He wasn''t sure if his teacher told the truth or if he was only trying to appear more impressive to curb Shang''s disappointment. "What''s the reward?" the Dean asked. The Dean had already noticed the book in Shang''s hand, but he didn''t take it. After all, this was Shang''s reward, not his. Shang lifted the book and looked at it.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. "This is something that will increase the Battle-Strength of all General Stage warriors and higher." "It will also help you a lot." The Dean became interested and extended his hand, waiting for Shang to hand the book over. "The God said that you should know what you are supposed to do,¡± Shang said as he put the book in the Dean''s hand. The Dean''s hand didn''t retreat immediately, and his eyes focused on Shang. "You met him?" the Dean asked with a glint in his eyes. Shang nodded. "We had a... talk. You could call it a talk." "He wasn''t very happy that | abused the rules," Shang said heavily. The Dean had met the God, and he knew how unstable he was. He knew very well that Shang could have very likely died there. The Dean hadn''t thought much about what to do with the reward. Originally, he only wanted to take a look at it, and if it were useful, he would practice it. Then, he would probably teach the more talented students in the academy the technique. The Dean hadn''t met the God in over a century, which made the God almost appear surreal and nonexistent. Hearing that Shang had talked to the God again put newfound respect into the Dean. He was not allowed to forget that there was someone watching their every move and that someone could end their existence with a mere thought. After some seconds, the Dean pulled the book back and skimmed through it. The Dean also had a warriors body, but his mind was still on the level of a True Mage, which granted him incredible comprehension abilities. In just two minutes, the Dean finished reading through the entire book and internalized all its concepts. The Dean closed the book and put it into his internal world. Silence. For a while, the Dean only looked at the wall as he fell into thought. How amazing. How interesting. How creative. How powerful. This book opened up apletely new ne of fighting for all powerful warriors. At this very moment, the Dean was so very d that he had spent so many resources on Shang. The Dean had invested so much into Shang, and now, his investment was paying off. This was worth far more than everything he had invested into Shang up to now. ¡°If | had known the concepts of this book earlier," the Dean said, "| would have been able to stall the Exploding Mountain Turtle for several times longer. The Mages would have been able to create a second Spell, and maybe even a third one." ¡°Maybe, we wouldn''t even have needed Jerald to intervene," the Dean mused. Shang nodded. He could very well imagine how the fight would have gone. The Dean wouldn''t have won on his own, but he would have been able to stall for far longer. During the Day of Chaos, the Dean hadn''t even been able to injure the Exploding Mountain Turtle. He had only danced around its feet, his physical strength too weak to draw blood. With this book, he also might not have been able to injure the turtle, but he would have been able to cut off several stones. On top of that, the Dean wouldn''t have needed to get as close. Didn''t need to get as close? Yes, this was the very technique inside the book. This book taught a method to infuse a weapon with a certain kind of Mana. If one attacked in the correct way after infusing their weapon with this Mana, one would be able tounch a ranged attack. It wasn''t as powerful as a direct attack, but it was still very dangerous. The Dean could have danced around the turtle, shooting one spear strike at it from a distance after the other. The Exploding Mountain Turtle would have been forced to chase the Dean with its stones. Sure, eventually, the Dean would make a mistake, and the Exploding Mountain Turtle would hit him, but that moment would be further away. This book opened apletely new ne of fighting for warriors. It allowed warriors to also attack their opponent from a distance. Chapter 224 Chapter 224 The Dean looked at Shang. ¡°What do you want in exchange? This book is worth far more than | have invested in you," the Dean said. "Is it?" Shang asked in an uncertain voice. "Without your help, | wouldn''t have gotten that many points regardless." "Sure," the Dean said, "but without my help, you would have still made about eight or nine points, and these eight or nine points have nothing to do with me. By gaining about eleven points or so, you would have already repaid everything | invested in you." "But you gained 22." "So, what do you want?" After hearing the Dean put it like that, Shang agreed. Yes, the Dean had helped him a lot, but Shang would have also gotten a lot of points without his help. "There is something | want, but | don''t know if you can help me get it." "Tell me," the Dean said. "Do you know about the Old King''s Trial in the Wild Forest?" Shang asked. The Dean nodded. "It opens once a year for only the most talented Adepts. The quota for joining the trial is heavily contested by all manners of big families." Shang also nodded. "I recently found the trial on ident, and Sword told me that the very ore | seek can be found in there. It seems to be one of the rewards." The Dean frowned as he scratched his goatee. "That is truly very difficult," he said. "The Old King''s Trial is only reserved for Mages, and the Trials in there are also designed to bepleted by Mages." ¡°Even if you were allowed to enter, | doubt you would gain many points. After all, it isn''t only Battle-Strength that''s important in there. The trial also tests the mastery the Adepts have over their Elements and Spells. As someone with a warrior''s body, you wouldn''t get far." ¡°And with thates the problem. If | could guarantee that you would get something out of the trial, it wouldn''t be so hard to convince the others to let you participate." "But | can''t. Because of that, everyone will automatically assume that giving you a spot would be like throwing it out of the window." "Imagine a room with ten people and three valuable gems. Everyone wants the gems. After a long time of deliberation and negotiation, three people get the gems." ¡°And then, one of them just destroys it." "This will, naturally, draw the ire of everyone else." ¡°Additionally, Jerald doesn''t have full control over the Old King''s Trial just because it''s inside his territory. His estate manages the Old King''s Trial, but, officially, it belongs to the Skythunder Kingdom." "The Skythunder King doesn''t get involved in the Old King''s Trial as long as there are no majorints." ¡°But if he hears that a warrior was able to enter it, he will very likely be furious.¡± ¡°Even if | give Jerald everything | own, he might not agree. This is something that can endanger his life and family," the Dean said. Shang frowned. He had already anticipated that getting him into the trial wasn''t easy, but he hadn''t expected it to be this difficult. "So, there''s no chance?" Shang asked. The Dean scratched his goatee for a bit longer. "Getting you into the Old King''s Trial is impossible." Then, the Dean looked at Shang. ¡°But you don''t need to enter to get what you need." Shang lifted an eyebrow. "Tell me, Shang. Where did you get all the ore for your sword? Did you harvest it yourself?" the Dean asked. Shang shook his head, and a momentter, he realized what the Dean meant. The Dean noticed that Shang had realized what he meant. "I''ll talk to Jerald," the Dean said. "If | am willing to support his heir, Mattheo, he could maybe convince Mattheo to get the ore for you." ¡°Of course, the rewards from this trial are very valuable, and they could very well be the difference between someone bing a True Mage and someone bing a High Mage." ¡°Additionally, if Mattheo manages to get an amazing score, the value would only skyrocket." ¡°What if the ore is only worth one point since the ore probably has no use for a Mage, but Mattheo manages to gain ten points? Wouldn''t he throw nine points away?" Shang''s brows furrowed. This was difficult. Getting this ore might endanger Mattheo''s future. ¡°However,¡± the Dean said slowly, "there might also be a possibility that Mattheo could convince someone less talented than him to help him. Of course, Mattheo would need to promise them quite a bit of wealth, and | should be able to handle that." ¡°Naturally, there will be many, many more problems with that, but that is something Mattheo and Jerald are very good at. They are politicians, and they live in this kind of world." The Dean nodded. "Yes, | think we can make this work." "Is that all you want for now?" the Dean asked. Shang nodded. "Otherwise, I''m only interested in things that can increase my power. Techniques obviously won''t work since | have to rely on my own, but | can use ore for my weapon and resources that increase my mastery of the basics of Magic. It would also help to have something that increases my Stage by a level.¡± The Dean nodded. "That''s not a problem. | will go and talk to Jerald. It shouldn''t take more than a couple of hours. Until then, wait here." Shang nodded. "Thank you, teacher." "This is a trade, not me helping you,¡± the Dean said. "There are no thanks necessary." After saying that, the Dean left the room to talk to Duke Whirlwind. Shang remained in the room and further theorized how to incorporate the ranged attacks into his battle style with Sword. And, sure enough, two hourster, the Dean returned. Surprisingly, the Dean didn''t look rxed at all. He had a solemn expression on his face. "There is a cheap way and an expensive way," the Dean said. "| can handle both of them, and what he wants is well within the debt | owe you. Originally, | wanted to directly decline the cheap option, but | think you are powerful enough to make your own choice." Shang lifted an eyebrow when he heard that. "The things he wants for the expensive way are about 70% of what | owe you, but | can handle that. You will still gain all the support you need until you reach the Commander Stage. You will essentially get the ore, free of charge." Shang didn''t like what he was hearing. After all, why would the Dean prefer spending so much money if the cheap option didn''t have some kind of caveat? ¡°And the cheap option?" The Dean looked at Shang. "Jerald wants you in his faction.¡± Shang''s brows furrowed. "Faction? As in, political faction?" The Dean nodded. "He wants you to take up a new identity in his new territory, the battlefield. He wants you to wear the Haze Mask for the duration you stay there and act as an informant for him." "There are many traitors amongst our ranks, and he needs someone that can gain the trust of these traitors without arousing any suspicion. ording to him, you have a certain aura of aggression and ruthlessness to you ever since you underwent the procedure, and he thinks that will make people think that you are someone that''s willing to betray their faction." ¡°However, he knows you, and he knows that he can trust you with something like that." "If you do that for him, he will get the ore for you, for free."Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Of course, you also have to show that you are worth the investment. If he''s happy with your results in the battlefield, he will bestow further rewards." Shang only looked at the Dean. The Dean looked back. "| feared that you would choose this option," the Dean said. "| assume my advice to not get involved in politics won''t have an impact on your choice?" Shang sighed. "It''s just that | don''t want to get something without working for it. | want to achieve my goals, not get them handed tome." The Dean looked at Shang for a bit. "You remind me too much of my younger self." "Fine, the cheap option, it is," the Dean said. ¡°However, we need to make you unrecognizable, change your battle style, change your looks, and change your power. This will take about six months, but after that, everything should be fine." ¡°Let''s start by getting you to the Early General Stage." Chapter 225 Chapter 225 "Wee, everyone!" Right now, it was morning, and a group of 20 warriors was gathered near the northwestern border of the Farm Line. The warriors all wore different outfits. Some of them wore furs. Some of them wore armor. Some of them wore normal clothing. However, one thing was the same. All of them were at the Early General Stage. Except for one. The person that had just spoken wore an expensive-looking set of green armor and a spear, and while everyone else was at the Early General Stage, he was at the Late General Stage. The gathered group of warriors only politely smiled at the officer''s greeting. "I''m from the Duke''s personal army, and it''s my responsibility to get you to the northern border," he announced. ¡°All of you have signed up for one reason or another." ¡°Some of you want to make a good impression on the Duke," the man said as his eyes went over a group of men wearing a set of standardized, immactely cleaned armor. "Some of you are here to gain experience," the man said as his eyes went over a group of young men wearing uniforms from the Warrior''s Academy. "Some of you are here to make amends," the man said as his eyes went over some people wearing furs and leathery armor. ¡°And some of you are here only for the reward," the man said as he looked over a group of three people wearing masks. ¡°However, today, all of you are equals. It doesn''t matter why you are here. While you are here, you are one and the same,¡± the officer dered. "Excuse me?¡± The officer looked at one of the students. "You may speak." "Thank you, sir," the student said. "| am fine with working together, and | have no problem with anyone here." Everyone was waiting for the but. The student''s eyes went over the three masked men. "But I, at least, want to see the faces of myrades. If | am going to trust them, | want them to trust us enough to at least show their faces." One of the rugged-looking men snorted with derision. "Go back to your-" BANG! The officer rammed the butt of his spear into the man''s abdomen, making him immediately keel over in pain. "Did | say you were allowed to speak?" the officer asked with an admonishing tone. "N-No, sir," the man said through gritted teeth. The officer nodded and looked at the student, his smile returning. "Our three friends have a reason to keep their faces hidden,¡± he exined. "We arecking manpower due to the increase innd and the Days of Chaos." ¡°Because of that, we decided to extend our reach of eptance, if you will," the officer exined. "This includes fugitives, former bandits, and especially immigrants from our neighbors." Not everyone understood what the officer meant, but most of them did, and they looked at the three masked men. Immigrants from our neighbors? That meant traitors. It was no problem to go to a different territory if one wanted. However, it was a problem if that person had sold themselves to their ruler''s faction. While all of thesends were ruled by the Skythunder Kingdom, and while the normal peasants believed that the Skythunder Kingdom was united, in truth, a bloody war for resources took ce right beneath everyone''s noses. Towards the outside, the Skythunder Kingdom portrayed an image of a powerful and united force. But inside, all the Dukes were silently battling each other for resources andnd. The King, of course, knew that all of this was taking ce, but he didn''t care. He had officially forbidden the Dukes from battling each other, but he would only enforce this rule if someone managed to collect irrefutable evidence of that happening. The King believed that the treachery and war would keep his Dukes and armies strong and ready for battle. Before the King had taken over, the Kingdom had been and of peace, and when another Kingdom attacked, the Kingdom suffered a lot. The Old King had sacrificed himself to stop the war. The Old King had been an altruistic person, which was reflected by the way his Kingdom was and by his own actions. But the new King found this freedom-loving ideology to be a ticking timebomb. Other Kingdoms wouldn''t care if the Skythunder Kingdom was nice or not. They only coveted theirnds. Shang was among this group of people, and he was one of the three masked individuals. Eight months had already passed since the trial, and Shang had been taught a lot by Mattheo and his teacher about the hidden politics. Just as Shang had expected, the person that had tried to destroy Warrior''s Paradise two years ago had been Duke Mithril, the Duke to the north of Duke Whirlwind''s territory. Ayearter, Duke Whirlwind had struck back by making the Ice Wyvern fight the Volcano Wyrm. How did he aplish that? Well, ording to calctions, one of the Abominations would appear in the northern parts of the battlefield, and it was a General Stage one. The Ice Wyvern and Volcano Wyrm dealt with half of the territory each. If an Abomination appeared in the south, the Ice Wyvern would kill it, and if it appeared in the north, the Volcano Wyrm would kill it. How did the Zone Beasts tell if the Abomination appeared on their side? Mana Sense. If there were more Ice Mana, the Ice Wyvern would deal with it, for example.This is from N?velDrama.Org. However, just before the Abomination had appeared, several True Mages had detonated Ice Bombs at the location where the Abomination would appear. So, when it appeared, the Ice Wyvern felt that there was a lot of Ice Mana around the Abomination, which meant that this was its responsibility. Yet, the Volcano Wyrm felt that the Abomination was very close to its territory. After all, the entire north was coated in Fire Mana, except for that small spot. So, it was obviously its responsibility to kill it. In the end, both of them went out to deal with the Abomination. But when the two saw each other, they began fighting. Both felt like the other was encroaching on their territory. Additionally, as beasts of opposing Affinities, they didn''t like each other that much anyway. In the end, the Ice Wyvern won, and the Volcano Wyrm fled back to its Zone. That was when the Ice Wyvern imed the entire battlefield as its own. And this group of people? Well, they were here to make the ce habitable. The wildlife in the new Zone was still unstable, and the ecosystem was undergoing an upheaval. Fire beasts walked around in icynds, and the ice beasts fought them. On top of that, over the long years of fighting, the flora had basically been eradicated except for a few exceptions. When the Ice Wyvern had imed the Zone, the battlefield had been nothing but a war-ravaged wastnd filled with General and Commander Stage beasts. And now, as the owner of thesends, it was Duke Whirlwind''s job to make this a rich and prosperingnd for his people. The Storm Eagle Zone had been managed to near perfection, transforming into and brimming with wealth and gold, and he wanted to transform the previous battlefield into a simrnd. And it was the job of this group of people and many others to achieve this goal. Of course, Duke Mithril would do his best to destabilize the Zone by infiltrating it with his own people. Which was why Shang was here. It was his job to sniff out these agents and either kill them or report them. Chapter 226 Chapter 226 The officer looked at the student. "Does this answer your question?" The student nodded and stepped back. The student hadn''t thought that these three masked men were most likely traitors from Duke Mithril''s side.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. Their status also exined their need for a mask. Everyone hated traitors, no matter to which faction they belonged. Someone that backstabbed their home was very easy to hate. One of the masked men slightly lifted his hand in a nonchnt fashion. The officer gestured for him to speak. The man looked at the student. "Not everyone wearing a mask is wearing one because of the reason you might think.¡± "Some of us are just not interested in getting embroiled in politics." "We are here to do our job. Nothing more, nothing less." The man stepped back and went silent again. "Of course," the officer said with a smile. Then, the officer took out his spear and turned around. "We need to get going. We have to reach our goal by nightfall. Since we don''t have much time to spare, | will be dealing with all the different beasts we find." The group of soldiers gathered their things and prepared themselves. Then, the officer charged forward at an impressive pace, and the soldiers followed behind him. All of the soldiers were running at around 80kph, which wasn''t their top speed, but still very tiresome. This was probably a test from the officer to see which of his soldiers were worth anything. The group ran towards the northwest,pletely ignoring the road, and after just a bit, they had already entered the Wild Forest. Some of the students became nervous. The group was charging through the wilderness without any care for safety. This was far too reckless! However, the other warriors didn''t care. They were 30 warriors at the General Stage. The only thing that could endanger them was a Late General Stage beast or stronger, and those didn''t exist this far to the north of the Wild Forest. "Why don''t we introduce ourselves while we run?" the officer shouted from the front. "Let me start. I''m Lance, and I''m a sergeant in Duke Whirlwind''s personal army." The officer''s voice reached all the soldiers, even though they were loudly charging through the forest. "| will go next," one of the soldiers that was obviously here to make a good impression shouted. "I''m..." The soldier introduced himself with a voice brimming with confidence and charisma. After him, the other guards that wanted to make a good impression spoke up, introducing themselves. The former bandits and masked people quickly gave this group of soldiers a name. From this day forth, the group of soldiers that wanted to impress their superiors was dubbed the Bootlickers. After the Bootlickers were done introducing themselves, the students came next. Half of the students managed to appearpetent and smart, but the other half seemed nervous to speak to so many foreign people while charging through the wilderness. The former bandits and masked people dubbed this group Rookies. After thest student was done introducing themselves, no one spoke for a while. "| told you to introduce yourselves," the officer shouted from the front with a stricter tone. Eventually, one of the bandits took the initiative, but he didn''t say much. He gave an obviously fake name and said that he was here to earn money. The other bandits followed suit, giving out fake names and seemingly random reasons for why they were here. The Bootlickers and Rookies were disgusted by the clear disrespecting from these barbarians, which gave this group the nickname Scumbags. Lastly, it was time for the three masked individuals, which were, by far, the smallest group. "You can call me Zero. I''m here to earn money, and | hate politics, which is why I''m wearing a mask. | have no interest in being scouted by any faction. | don''t care about your beliefs. | don''t care about your promises. I''ll do my job, and you won''t see me again.¡± The masked individual that had just introduced himself, Zero, was around 185 centimeters tall and had long ck hair. He wore a ck mask with borate designs that only revealed his mouth. On his back, he wore a gigantic, curved sword. It was wide and was seemingly made of rough, ck stone. His weapon oozed violence and brutality. "You can call me One. I''m also here to earn money, and I''m wearing a mask because | don''t want people to find out my identity. | don''t want to drag my family into this conflict. Just like the person before me, you won''t see me again as soon as the job is over." The second masked individual was around 175 centimeters tall, had short ck hair, and wore a nk, ck mask, which covered his entire face. On his back was a long, slightly curved sword with only one edge. It wasn''t nearly as massive as Zero''s sword, but it was just as long. His weapon spoke of a battle style that preferred speed and quick but devastating strikes. "I''ll follow the trend of the other two and will take on the name Two. I''m here for the money, and I''m wearing a mask because | don''t want my former colleagues to know who | am." Some of the soldiers threw curious nces at thest individual. He introduced himself with the very identity that a masked individual tried not to be associated with? What was his n? Two had medium-long ck hair, was around 180cm tall, and wore a star-shaped, ck mask that only revealed his mouth and nose. On his back was a rather short, ck spear. Inparison to most spears, it didn''t have a wide head, making it resemble a giant needle more than a spear. After the introduction, the other groups of soldiers dubbed the group of masked individuals Numbers. ¡°Let me extend one more wee to all of you!" the officer shouted from the front. "Now that we all know each other, | will be telling you about your job and your new home for the foreseeable future!" As everyone continued running, the officer introduced everyone to the history of the battlefield and what had happened in it ever since the Ice Wyvern had taken over the Zone. Some minutes into the exnation, the group left the Wild Forest and entered the wilderness of the Ice Wyvern Zone. From then on, some of the soldiers noticed some weaker General Stage beasts from time to time, but none of the beasts attacked them. Beasts weren''t stupid, and this group of people definitely didn''t feel easy to kill. An hourter, the group passed a town. Another hourter, the group passed another town. In the past hours, many of the soldiers began to talk to each other while the officer briefed everyone from the front. But some hourster, some of the weaker-willed soldiers stopped talking as they concentrated on keeping up. Running for so long at such speeds was draining their concentration, and they didn''t want to talk right now. Of course, everyone stayed within their group. Two hourster, most of the soldiers stopped talking as they were concentrating on keeping up. Some of them were already starting tog behind. Near the beginning, the Bootlickers had been at the front, followed by the Rookies, followed by the Scumbags, followed by the Numbers. Now, the Bootlickers were at the front, but they had stressed and strained expressions. Following them were the Numbers, which showed no exhaustion. Behind them were the Scumbags. And in thest ce were the Rookies. The officer noted how everyone was performing in silence. "Stop!" the officer shouted as he raised his spear. The group stopped behind him. "We are now at the border between the Old Ice Wyvern Zone and the New Ice Wyvern Zone. From now on, things might get dangerous since there are no typical, categorized wildernesses in here." The officer smiled as he looked at his soldiers. ¡°Who knows? Maybe we will meet a Commander Stage beast." Some of the soldiers became nervous. The officer looked at everyone, and he took special note of the three Numbers. ¡®All three of them seem to be powerful and experienced warriors,¡¯ he thought. He looked for a longer time at them to remember their features. Zero, the tall man with long ck hair and his gigantic curved sword. One, the shorter man with short ck hair and his long, one-edged sword. Two, the average man with medium-length hair and his very peculiar spear. The three Numbers stood near the front, waiting for the officer to continue wordlessly. One of these three was Shang. But which one? Chapter 227 Chapter 227 After a bit of rest, the group continued down the slope. The Ice Wyvern Zone had many mountains and hills, and the battlefield was basically a gigantic crater that had been created over many years of war between ice and fire beasts. Of course, the sh between the two Zone Beasts hadn''t helped thend. Their sh had happened in the north, and if it weren''t for them, the other side of the crater would begin in the middle of the battlefield. However, since they fought, a huge chunk of the north was also destroyed, leaving behind a kilometer-wide crater, which was just as deep as the central crater of the battlefield. One only needed to imagine a big crater in the center of the map, which then stretched into the north for several more kilometers. As the group of soldiers charged down the steep decline, they had to evade several spikes of ice. Over the long years, the fire had molten the ground in many parts and pushed it towards the south. However, these waves of earth had been frozen by the Ice Mana, essentially locking them in ce. Because of that, several frozen spikes of earth pointed towards the south, making travel very inconvenient for people that couldn''t jump several meters into the air. Luckily, as General Stage warriors, these spikes were nothing more than a couple of bigger pebbles on the road, but, of course, it was still draining to constantly jump over them. "Why did you say that you were a traitor?" Two looked over to One, who had just asked the question. "Why do you care?" Two asked. ¡°Because, if you like it or not, we three have been lumped together," One answered. "We can trust no one, but there should at least be some trust between the three of us." ¡°How can there be trust without reciprocity?" Two asked. "I gave you a sensitive part about my person, but you didn''t give me anything.¡± One snorted. "And how am | supposed to believe that what you said was true?" ¡°What reason would | have for endangering myself?" Two asked. For a while, One didn''t answer. "Assuming you told the truth, why? Why did you tell the truth?" "| want to take revenge on the people that hunted me in the past," Two exined. "My words will surely attract them." For a second, One wanted toment that this was a stupid idea. After all, if the enemy knew where and who Two was, they wouldn''t send some weak warriors. They would definitely send someone that had the power to kill Two. But then, One saw the Space Ring on Two''s finger, and he realized that Two probably had his real weapon stashed away, making it difficult for the enemy to actually find out who he was exactly. One looked at Two''s weapon and guessed that this weapon wasn''t Two''s actual weapon. Maybe Two was even imitating another traitor to make the enemy underestimate him? "What if | belong to Duke Mithril''s faction?" One asked. "So?" Two asked. "What does it matter? You don''t know anything about me, and you have learned nothing. This conversation has changed nothing between us. If you were part of the enemy, you would try to kill me, regardless if | talk to you or not." "You''re quite smart," Onemented with a rough chuckle. "I like to have someone smart on my side." ¡°And how will you n on getting me to your side?" Two asked. ¡°We''ll have plenty of opportunities to prove our intentions to each other," One answered. "We have a full year ahead of us, and we wille into conflict with humans and beasts alike during that time. If words can''t convince you, my actions will." Two remained silent for a bit. ¡°Alright, then I''ll wait for your proof." "Don''t worry. It might happen sooner than you would think," One said with a chuckle. "Anyway, | need to also talk with our other... friend.¡± One looked over at Zero, who was running down the slope just ahead of them. ¡°| wouldn''t get my hopes up," Two said. "Zero feels like someone that doesn''t care about words. | think you would get further with money than with words." Two couldn''t see One''s face due to the mask, so he couldn''t judge One''s reaction to his words. "Maybe," One said mysteriously. And then, he elerated to catch up with Zero. Many other soldiers in the group had difficulties with the constant jumping, but One seemingly danced over the huge, icy needles without a care in the world. In just a couple of seconds, One arrived besides Zero. "You said you were interested in money, right?" One asked. m," Zero answered directly. One looked at Zero more closely and noticed that he also wore a Space Ring. This meant that Zero could very well also have hidden his true weapon and equipment. ¡°Are you willing to earn additional money?" One asked. "Depends on the amount and the risks," Zero answered. "I won''t jeopardize my payment from Duke Whirlwind''s faction for a lesser amount." ¡°No, nothing like that," One quickly exined. "| don''t want you to go against our mission." "Then, I''m listening,¡± Zero said. Zero couldn''t see One''s face, but he imagined One to be smirking under his mask. "You see, we three have been lumped together by everyone else. You can see that by the distribution of the team," One exined.N?velDrama.Org content rights. "Get to the point," Zero answered with some annoyance. One didn''t like that Zero interrupted him so quickly, but he kept his annoyance in check. "Two isn''t very interested in forming a team without some strong proof of trust. He seems to be more on the ideological than the materialistic side of things." "| said get to the point," Zero interrupted again. For two seconds, One didn''t say anything. "I''m willing to pay you an additional 50% of our sry, but | want you to follow my orders," One said. "When are the payments, and what do you want me to do?" Zero asked. "The payments are every month upfront," One answered, "and | won''t make you do anything that will endanger our primary mission. | just don''t want to be alone amongst a big group of people that might betray me at any moment." "Fine," Zero answered before he stretched his right arm to One. "First payment." "Wait a second," One said. "| won''t agree without some insurance." After saying that, One took out his own Space Ring and summoned a contract. He quickly filled in some nks on the contract and signed it before handing it to Zero. Zero took a nce at the contract and snorted. "Don''t waste my time." "What do you mean?" One asked. "The contract reflects what we have just agreed upon." "Yes, it does," Zero answered, "but that''s a dummy contract. | don''t need a contract, but you wanted one, and now, you are offering me a dummy contract." One chuckled a bit. "| only wanted to see if you were actually experienced in the shadier ways of doing business. After all, we are all wearing masks, and we hide our true selves." The first contract vanished, and a new contract appeared, which One quickly signed. After receiving the contract, Zero looked at it for around five seconds before signing it. Asecond copy of the contract appeared beside it, and One took that copy while Zero kept the original. ¡°Payment,¡± Zero said as he extended his hand to One again. One took out a huge sack of gold from his Space Ring and threw it to Zero. Zero leisurely stored it in his own Space Ring. "I''ll contact you if | need anything," One said. "Sure," Zero answered. And then, One went back to Two, and they continued talking. Zero simply continued running alone. Chapter 228 Chapter 228 After around two hours, the team reached the bottom of the crater, leaving the troublesome icy needles behind. But now, they had to climb the gigantic and long slope to the north. The Volcano Wyrm Zone had a very high altitude. After all, the Zone was essentially one gigantic mountain, over ten kilometers tall. After a bit of climbing, the officer and One noticed something. One went over to Zero. "As my first order, | don''t want you to get involved." Zero had also noticed what was going on, and he nodded. ¡°Boys, who wants to prove themselves?" the officer shouted with a smirk to the team behind him. "Who''s willing to take on an Early General Stage beast with only two people?" The Bootlickers wanted to jump forward to prove themselves, but when they heard that they were only allowed to fight in a pair, most of them gave up. But there were still some of them that were interested. "I''m willing," One suddenly shouted. The Bootlickers gnashed their teeth when they heard One shout. Right now, they regretted not shouting sooner. "Fine, and who will be your partner?" the officer asked with a smirk. One looked over at Two. Two realized what One had nned, scratched his chin, and nodded. "I''m also willing,¡± he shouted. ¡°Alright, then get to it," the officer shouted. "There''s a Hardfire Spider to the east of us. Everyone else, you can take a pause and watch ourrades fight!" Right now, some of the Bootlickers were happy that they didn''t jump forward while the Scumbags only snickered. AHardfire Spider had a deadly fighting style. It wasn''t umon for a team to have a casualty while hunting one. One and Two didn''t seem to mind as they charged towards the east. After some seconds, the two of them noticed a two-meter-tall and very wide spider in front of them. It was seemingly made of hardened magma, and it quickly noticed the two people charging at it. ¡°How confident are you in killing it?¡± One asked. Two took out the long needle-like spear from his back. "This weapon is made to kill beasts." "Great," One said. "Then, | will be the distraction while you kill it." After One said that, he charged forward. The others couldn''t tell what kind of ability he was using, but One had be very fast while charging forward. CRRRK! The ice around the spider turned into steam as its body began to glow in a hot and bright light. Then, it also charged toward its opponents. BANG! The spider jumped, its body leaving behind a cloud of steam.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. One suddenly changed direction and shot to the side. BOOOM! The spidernded, destroying the surroundings as fire appeared around it. The watching soldiers only snickered when they saw the Hardfire Spider''s attack. Hardfire Spiders had the rare Lava Affinity, a mix of the Fire and Earth Affinity. They had the explosiveness of fire, which increased their speed, and the weight and defense of Earth. Of course, the tradeoff was that Hardfire Spiders couldn''t attack from a distance. But they were extremely deadly in melee range. CRK! One''s curved, long sword hit one of the spider''s armored legs, making its armor explode off its legs. Some of the watching soldiers knew what One had used and recognized his Affinity. He had infused his weapon with Metal Mana, which gave it a certain property of destruction. A Metal Mana wasn''t very useful against most beasts, but when it came to heavily armored beasts, it could show amazing potential. Several warriors called warriors with a Metal Affinity Armor Breakers. When the spider noticed that a big part of its armor had been destroyed, it became enraged, and fire shot out from around its body. One continued circling around the spider as he protected his face with his curved sword. The sweltering heat could severely injure an Early General Stage warrior, but One was wearing a set of armor that was powerful enough to resist the heat. The spider turned towards One and swiped at him with one of its legs. Originally, it had wanted to bite him, but this annoying insect was too fast and nimble. The spider couldn''t properly align itself with its target. One noticed that the leg wasing, jumped, and put his sword in front of him. CRACK! Abig piece of armor fell off the spider''s leg, but One was thrown several meters into the distance. However, One easilynded without any issues. "Job''s done!" One said with a voice that suggested a smirk. "Counter Execution," Two''s voice entered One''s ears. One snorted. "Fine. | said | would prove my trustworthiness. For now, let me trust you first. You better not disappoint me." Two didn''t answer. The spider exploded with fire again. BOOOOM! Agigantic explosion came out of the spider''s back, and it jumped forward at incredible speeds. One held his curved sword in a blocking position but didn''t move. Ssshhh. Some quiet sounds of wind and snow came from between the spider and One. And then, the sound exploded into the howling sounds of a heavy storm as snow and ice gathered in a previously empty location between the twobatants. Two had appeared between them, his thin spear pulled back. His left arm caressed the spear, and its tip was coated in dark-blue ice. BANG! Two exploded forward and struck forward with his spear. The spider was currently jumping with its underside first, but it would havended before reaching its target. However, now, Two had intercepted it, and it couldn''t stop its jump. Two put his entire power into his spear. And then, he pierced forward. The ice on the spear hit the spider''s underside. CRACK! The ice and the armor on the spider''s underside broke into pieces. At that moment, the ground beneath Two exploded in Ice, which allowed him to release a second strike. CRACK! The tip of the spear punched through the spider''s underside, and the spider released painful screeches. CRRRR! The weight of the spider''s charge pushed Two back, leaving behind a deep trail of destruction. BANG! Two''s back hit the side of One''s blocking sword. CRACK! The spear left the backside of the spider, and thebatants stopped sliding. The feet of the spider were wriggling helplessly as they couldn''t touch the ground beneath them. One jumped on Two''s shoulders and jumped forward. His curved sword left a ck arc in its wake. SHING! The curved sword cleanly passed through the spider''s unarmored head. This was the weakness of Hardfire Spiders. Their entire body was armored, but their heads couldn''t deal with all the heat of their own bodies, leaving them unarmored there. The spider''s body seized and twitched. But the fight was already over. "See?" One said as hended. "I didn''t betray your trust, right?" Two pulled his spear back and let the spider fall to the ground. "You didn''t," Two said. "I think you can view this part as a good first impression." "Great!" One said. Zero watched all of this from a distance. ¡®They''re quite powerful,¡¯ he thought. ¡°Well done!" the officer shouted with some polite pping. "This will enter the report. If you continue like this, you will surely receive a bonus at the end of the year." "You can leave the corpse for the wildlife. As the agreement stated, you forfeit the corpses of the beasts you kill in here. Of course, the payment is more than enough to make up for it." One and Two walked back to the group under the interested gazes of theirrades. Several of the Rookies were amazed, while the Scumbags and Bootlickers watched those two with furrowed brows. These two were too strong. If these two kept performing this well, their own bonuses would be put into jeopardy. Some of the Scumbags looked over at Zero. If they could make the Numbers fight each other... Chapter 229 Chapter 229 After the brief run-in with the spider, the soldiers continued. On the way, they found one other beast, but this one was at the Middle General Stage. The officer and two Bootlickers took care of the beast, and the officer gave those two some praise before continuing. The two Bootlickers haven''t shown amazing power, but they were good enough to survive and gain some attention from the beast, which allowed the officer to kill it. One hourter, the group finally arrived at their goal. It was a newly built town with over twenty-meter high, dark blue walls. Shang, disguised as one of the Numbers, looked at the walls and was surprised how quickly the Mages of this world managed to build such gigantic walls. "Wait here," the officer said, and he walked towards the town on his own. The soldiers on the wall were careful and only let the officer in after they exchanged some words. The officer remained inside the town for a couple of minutes. When he returned, he was apanied by two other people. One of them wore the same armor as the officer, but the third person wore a set of armor that vastly outshone the other''s set of armor. Shang felt a feeling of severe threate from that person, which told him that he had to be at the Commander Stage. The Commander Stage warrior looked over the gathered soldiers and nodded. "Bring them to their new home," he ordered the officer. "Yes, sir!" the officer shouted with a salute. The Commander Stage warrior nodded and entered the town again, followed by the second officer. "You heard it, boys!" the officer shouted to his group. "It''s time to get to your new home!" The Bootlickers and Rookies saluted while the others remained silent. After that, the officer led everyone towards the northeast. In the next hour, some of the Scumbags and a couple of Rookies began to fall behind. They had been running all day, and they just couldn''t run anymore. The Rookies helped theirrades, but the Scumbags left theirrades behind, not caring if they survived or died. Luckily, the Scumbags thatgged behind could still see the group in the distance. They were in luck that there was basically no flora in the former battlefield. Eventually, the officer stopped and waited until everyone arrived, which took a couple of minutes. The tired group looked around and gritted their teeth in frustration when they saw nothing around. That meant more walking. Right now, everyone was on top of a smaller hill. By now, there was not much ice left on the ground, but it was still snowing lightly. However, the snow quickly melted as soon as it hit the ground. The ground on the hill was warmer than the air, which told everyone that they were close to the Volcano Wyrm Zone. At the moment, it was evening, but due to the thick cloud cover, it seemed like it was night. "This is our new home!" the officer announced. The soldiers looked around in confusion. This hill? The officer only smirked. "We will build an outpost at this exact location!" he announced. The group of soldiers wasn''t very enthusiastic about that.This is from N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Now, | will distribute tasks based on what | have seen of you so far!" After that, the officer called one person after the other to the front. "You will build the wall," the officer said to one of the Scumbags. The Scumbag gritted his teeth. He had been one of the ones that hadgged behind, and he was sure that this was the reason why the officer gave him the most thankless job out of all of them. Building a wall was boring, tedious, took long, and exhausting. It was the worst job. The frustration of the Scumbag turned into rage, but he didn''t dare toin. Even though the officer talked very casually with everyone, the Scumbag had seen what the officer had done to one of the Scumbags when they talked without permission. In the end, the Scumbag left with three other Scumbags to build the wall. The officer drew a deep line in the ground to symbolize where the wall was supposed to be built while the others waited for their assignments. Based on the line, the wall would end up with a circumference of about a hundred meters. "| want it ten meters tall, and | want two gates," the officer said, pointing to where the gates were supposed to be. "Sir, what are we supposed to use as material?" one of the Scumbags asked in a polite and careful tone. The officer only smirked. "You three at least managed to get to this hill with your own strength,¡± the officer said. Then, the officer looked at the five students that hadgged behind, who had been helped by theirrades. "They didn''t," the officer said. At that moment, the students knew what was going to happen. The students that hadgged behind turned white, while the other students felt shocked and guilty for helping them. From the side, Shang watched all of his with a raised eyebrow, which couldn''t be seen through his mask. ¡®This officer definitely doesn''t foster unity,¡¯ he thought. ¡®It seems like he cares more about individual strength." Punishing a soldier for helping another soldier was very abnormal. Usually, the military transformed a group of soldiers into one entity. This was obviously not what the officer had in mind. The officer called the five Rookies that hadgged behind to the front. SHING! Five pickaxes appeared before the officer. The five students looked at the pickaxes in dread. Then, the officer pointed at a different hill, nearly a full kilometer away. "| want the good stuff," he said. "The stuff that''s at least ten meters deep in the ground!" "Your job is to get the good stone and bring it to the builders. You don''t have to cut the stones into uniform sizes. That is part of the builders¡¯ job." Everyone looked at the hill in the distance. From this position, they could see the surrounding kilometers rather well, and they could see several General Stage beasts from here. It was a dangerous task. "Sir, with all due respect, we-" BANG! The officer pped the student so hard that several of his teeth fell out. "Who told you to have no willpower?!" the officer shouted with an enraged voice. "Your body is just as powerful as everyone else''s, but yougged behind!" "Well, since you cked off on the journey, you obviously need more training! A few days of mining and carrying heavy stones should bring some discipline into yourzy head!" The other Rookies were horrified while the Scumbags snickered. There were no moreints. After that, the officer called forward the bootlickers and gave them the task of building several houses, each one serving a different purpose. Materials? They would have to also get the stone with pickaxes. However, this group of soldiers had two things that made it easier for them. First of all, the stones didn''t need to be the hardest materials. As long as the building didn''t fall over when a General Stage warrior identally fell on it, it would be fine. Second, they were allowed to manage themselves, which meant that not everyone had to do the hard task of mining stone the entire time. They could just do rotations. After that, the officer called forward the remaining Rookies. "You guys seem like you need some training. So, you will be responsible for dealing with all the weaker beasts in the surroundings and the ones that threaten the mining path especially. | don''t care how you kill the beasts, but | don''t want to see any beast from up here! If there is a Middle General Stage beast or stronger, you will report that to me!" the officer ordered. The reactions were mixed. Some of the Rookies were happy that they didn''t have to do boring manualbor, but others felt nervous and a bit scared. Then, the officer called the remaining Scumbags forward. "You seem like a bunch that''s amazing at saving your own asses," the officer said. The Scumbags didn''t like what the officer was saying, but they didn''t dare to raise their voices. ¡°Because of that, your responsibility will be scouting! You will scout up to ten kilometers to the north, which is where the Volcano Wyrm Zone starts, and 50 kilometers into every other direction! | want to know what beasts you see, where you see them, their power, and | especially want to know if you see any humans!" the officer ordered. The Scumbags grimaced. This was an extremely dangerous job. Now, only the Numbers were left. The officer looked at One and Two for a bit and then focused on Zero with a frown. One guessed what the officer was thinking and walked over to Zero. "He and | have an agreement. | trust his strength." The officer looked at Zero for a bit more. One and Two had proven their strength, but he hadn''t seen Zero fight yet. However, since One had vouched for Zero, the officer didn''t mind. "You will stay on standby here," the officer said. "Your responsibility is to deal with any Middle General Stage beasts. Do you have the power to do that?" the officer asked. The officer hadn''t asked if the others were able to deal with their tasks since it was expected of them to have the power to do their tasks. But killing a Middle General Stage beast was beyond the normal scope. One and Two seemed to have been ratherfortable in their fight with the Hardfire Spider, which was why he thought about letting them have this job. The three Numbers looked at each other. ¡°| want extra payment." The officer looked at Zero with furrowed brows. One and Two also looked at him. "| can assure you that, if you manage to kill a couple in a group, your bonus will be, at least, above average, even if the performance for the remainder of your stay is mediocre," the officer said. "Fine with me," Zero said. One and Two looked at each other and nodded. "We agree," One said to the officer. The officer smirked and nodded. "Good!" Then, he turned to everyone else. "Now, do your job!" Chapter 230 Chapter 230 Over the next hour, everyone started doing their work. The officer was watching everyone from the hill, ensuring no one was cking off. Just ten minutes into the hour, the Rookies began to engage the first beast. They were all attacking a single beast, which was only at the Early General Stage. Of course, since there were only four Rookies that weren''t doomed to mine stone the entire time, the fight was still rtively even. The officer watched the Rookies attack the lone Early General Stage beast with disdain. Four warriors were evenly fighting with a beast on their level.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. That was way below the officer''s standards. He wanted powerful soldiers, not average ones. But for now, he let them gain some experience. After around two minutes, the beast died, and the Rookies rested. "Get moving! Don''t make mee down there!" the officer shouted loudly from atop the hill. The Rookies looked with shock at the officer. They had just killed a beast! Weren''t they allowed even a second of pause?! In the end, they went to the next beast with gritted teeth. Five minutester, they killed the second beast, and the officer shouted at them to continue going. Over the next 30 minutes, the Rookies killed two more beasts. While they were walking to the next one, the officer snorted. "These idiots,¡± he said just loud enough for the three Numbers to hear him. "I don''t know if they are just not paying attention or if they can''t see what''s in front of them." ¡°Let one of them die," the officer ordered the three people standing behind him. "They have to learn.¡± "Understood," One said as he charged forward. Zero and Two followed closely behind. The Rookies were currently charging at a huge smander. It was over three meters high and over ten meters long. It was redish-orange, and it simply stood motionless at one spot. The Rookies closed in and got into formation. Then, they attacked the same way they had attacked the other beasts. Two of them charged at it from the front, wanting to get its attention. However, the smander didn''t move. When they saw that it didn''t move, they attacked it with their weapons. CRK! CLINK! The heavier weapon managed to crack some of its scales, but the lighter weapon bounced off. The Rookies immediately halted, their eyes wide with shock. That wasn''t an Early General Stage beast! The smander noticed that it had been attacked, and its eyes focused on the two warriors right in front of it. BANG! One of its feet threw one of the soldiers into the distance with a p, breaking several of his bones. Luckily, the warrior managed to block the attack, which saved his life. The other tried to run away, but the smander opened its mouth and released a violent breath of fire, which engulfed the warrior. The warrior screamed hysterically in pain and rolled down the slope, trying to get rid of the fire. Some secondster, he managed to get rid of the fire, but all his belongings except for his weapon had been burned away. His body was covered in severe burns, but most of them healed in the blink of an eye. The Numbers noticed this. "He has a warrior''s body,¡¯ they thought simultaneously. The warrior''s body was the only reason why that warrior had even survived. He had used up all his Mana while he had been burning to a crisp to heal himself. The other two Rookies had long since fled, leaving the first two alone. The Rookie that had been thrown into the distance quickly fled. The smander looked at all the humans near it and eventually focused on the warrior that had survived its fire. This had been the one that broke its scales. The warrior fled towards the hill, and he saw the Numbers charge toward him. Hope appeared in his eyes. "HELP!" he shouted loudly. At that moment, One extended his arm to the side, stopping the other two. Horror and shock appeared in the warrior''s eyes. "Sorry, only following orders," One said with a voice bereft of regret or guilt. Before the warrior could understand what One meant, he heard a loud explosione from behind him. CRSH! The smander opened his mouth and bit off the warrior''s upper body, chewing on it for a bit before swallowing. The other Rookies looked with horror at the spectacle. One of theirrades had died! They all looked at the three Numbers with anger and hatred in their heart. They could have saved him! Monsters! Murderers! Traitors! The Numbers waited for a bit before they scattered. On the way here, they had talked about their tactic, and they had alreadye up with a n. The smander ate the legs and looked at the three warriors approaching it. It hadn''t cared much about the earlier warriors, but these three felt dangerous. Good! Many beasts had an inherent drive for battle, and the smander''s instincts told it that it would be more powerful if it won. One charged in with incredible speeds, and the smander focused on him. BANG! The smander charged forward and tried to bite One. One immediately jumped back. While fighting the spider, he had been confident in evading its attacks while staying at melee range, but this smander was way more dangerous. Because of that, One kept his distance from the smander at over ten meters. This would give him enough time to react to its attacks. The smander barely missed, and it jumped towards its prey again. The smander was way faster than One, but One perfectly outmaneuvered it. He was only moving when the smander had already made its move, which gave him just enough time to get out of range. Eventually, the smander realized that this approach didn''t work, and it released a searing breath of fire. One was engulfed by the zing fire, hiding him from the smanders eyes. The officer on the hill only smirked. Right now, the officer saw One crouched behind a gigantic shield, which had been summoned from his Space Ring. ¡®Quite clever,¡¯ the officer thought. The smander noted that its fire was still being dispersed by something several secondster, which made it think that its prey was still alive. The smander intensified its fire as it tried to burn its victim into nothingness. Sadly, it couldn''t see the gigantic shield beneath its stream of fire. Suddenly, the smander saw One charge into the distance. Asecondter, the thing that had stopped the smander''s fire began to slowly vanish. The shield could only resist so much fire before melting. Suddenly, the smander noticed a blue lighte from the edge of its vision, and it focused on the light. Adeep-blue, icy spear was rapidly moving closer to the smander''s pupil! Out of reflex, the smander immediately jumped to its left to evade the spear. "RAAAAAH!" The smander heard a rumbling, deep shoute from the ce where it was currently jumping towards. Its vision focused on its goal, and it saw a man with a colossal sword shouting in what appeared to be rage. All the muscles on the man''s body seemingly blew up as his entire body was pushing power into his sword. And then, when the smander''s body reached the man, Zero''s gigantic sword smashed forward. BOOOOM! A fiery explosion appeared behind Zero, his entire body pushing forward with everything he had. "RAAAH!" The smander''s body was still in the air, and its side was turned to Zero. Zero''s sword hit the side of the smander''s body. CRACK! The heavy and gigantic sword punched through the scales and cut through the smander''s body until it hit the smander''s spine. CRK! The spine cracked under the power of the sword, but it didn''t break. And then. BOOOOOOM! Aviolent explosion of fire came out of the sword, which was buried in the smander''s body. CRACK! The spine cracked apart, and the force of the explosion cleaved the smander in two! The two halves of the beast passed beside Zero as his sword exploded on the ground. Silence. One and Two looked with shock at Zero. Zero had told them that he could kill it if he got an opportunity, but they hadn''t expected that! The sheer brutality and power behind this attack were insane! That guy had cleaved a Middle General Stage beast into two halves! The officer''s eyes also widened when he saw Zero''s power. All the soldiers had long since stopped working to watch the fight, and they were just as shocked. Zero slowly stood up and walked to One. He didn''t say a word. One only looked at Zero, his expression indiscernible behind his mask. ¡®The shout should have masked my absence of exhaustion,¡¯ Shang thought as he stood in front of One. ¡®If there are traitors in this camp, they will definitely take note of me. With my proimed greed for money, they are more likely to pay me off instead of getting rid of me.¡¯ ¡®They can''t ignore someone like me if they want their n to work.¡¯ Yes, Zero was Shang. Over thest couple of months, Shang''s body had undergone an insane growth spurt, making him reach about 185 centimeters. His hair had its growth elerated by Magic, and the muscles of his body had increased in volume due to some medicine he had taken over thest couple of months. The Dean had given Sword a great number of Peak General Stage ore to upgrade it and to allow it to change its shape. In order to make Sword this massive, the Dean had spent over 50 units of ore! Sure enough, no one would be able to link the old Shang to Zero. They werepletely different. Chapter 231 Chapter 231 For a while, everyone only looked at the masked Shang. After his disy, his figure appeared even more imposing in everyone''s eyes. This guy had killed a Mid General Stage beast with a single attack! Which warrior would be able to survive such an attack?! The officer looked at Shang with furrowed brows while the expressions of One and Two were hidden behind their mask. And then, Oneughed loudly. "Seems like | made a bargain!" he said. Two looked at One, but no one could see his expression. Shang only remained in his current position. "As long as the payment is right, | don''t care," he said in his deep voice. ¡°Our deal stands," One said with a voice that suggested a smirk. "Let''s get back to the hill." One started walking towards the hill, and Shang followed him wordlessly. Two hesitated for a couple more seconds but decided to follow them. As the three of them walked back to the hill, several angry and hate-filled eyes watched them. These three obviously had had the power to save theirrade, but they had simply watched him die! "Stop cking off!" the officer shouted from the hill towards the Rookies. "You misjudged your opponent''s power, and you paid the price! Don''t expect others to get you out of a mess you got yourself into!" ¡°Now, get back to work!" The Rookies quickly saluted in respect, but they definitely didn''t feel respectful inside. They had gone to the Warrior''s Academy with their deadrade! They had known him for years! But instead of giving them some time to deal with the problem, the officer immediately forced them to continue working again. Even more, now that their group only consisted of three people, the fights would be more dangerous. Sadly, the Rookies didn''t dare to get angry at the officer, which was why all their hatred focused on the Numbers. They were responsible for letting theirrade die! The Numbers waited on top of the hill while everyone else was working hard. The Bootlickers were building houses and mining stone. Some of the Scumbags had left the camp to scout the surroundings while the others built the wall. The Rookies were either mining stone or dealing with the beasts in the surroundings. And the Numbers were only waiting. Just by looking at this image, one could see a hierarchy. The officer was at the top, and the three Numbers were just below him. Then came the Scumbags, which were responsible for scouting the surroundings. At the bottom of the hierarchy were the wall builders and miners, with everyone else above them but below the scouts. After several hours, the wall had already reached nearly a meter in height. One would think that this was ridiculously fast for such a huge wall, but one shouldn''t forget that these warriors could carry tons of stone at a time. They also didn''t need to cut all the stones into small pieces. One of the Scumbags with a Fire Affinity was fusing the already-ced stones together, creating a uniform wall. By now, the density of beasts had severely dropped in the surroundings, only leaving a couple of them. Shang knew more details about this mission than everyone else here except for the officer, and he noted that this followed the directive. The influence of the Volcano Wyrm Zone had to be driven from Duke Whirlwind''s new territory. Just a couple of months ago, this huge area had been filled with beasts from the Volcano Wyrm Zone. Due to the long years of fighting with the Ice Beasts, the beasts from the Volcano Wyrm Zone had be very aggressive, which would have made the creation of such an outpost an impossibility. But nearly nine months had passed since this Zone had been annexed, which had given the Duke''s personal army enough time to deal with the most powerful beasts. In the beginning, over a hundred True Mages had traveled through thesends, killing every beast from the Volcano Wyrm Zone they could find. Just the mental image of seeing an army of Mages walking through thends, their surroundings exploding with the power of the Elements, was terrifying. The beasts had never had a chance, especially since there hadn''t been any True Path beasts in the battlefield. And now, with all these powerful beasts dead, it was time for the warriors to do the cleanup and to establish an actually useful territory. Several Scumbags had returned in thest couple of hours, reporting their findings to the officer, who quickly sent them out again. In the next couple of hours, one more Mid General Stage beast wandered into the surroundings, but the Numbers dealt with it. One and Two focused on getting the beast''s attention, and Shang would kill it in one strike. This entire time, Shang followed One''s orders. Usually, Shang was someone that liked to do whatever he wanted. He wasn''t someone that just blindly followed orders. However, he had to appear like someone that was only interested in money, nothing else. Another twelve hourster, the wall had already reached a height of five meters, which meant that the Scumbags were around halfway done. Sadly, that one Scumbag with the Fire Affinity would need to work longer since the fusion of the stones took way more time than arranging them. But in exchange for working longer, he didn''t have to do manualbor for hours at a time. Acouple of the buildings had already been finished. There were far more Bootlickers on this job, and they didn''t have to make the buildings veryplex or stable, which made it far easier on them. They would probably be done before the wall builders. The three Rookies had cleared out every beast from their surroundings and were now waiting for new beasts to arrive. Their job was to keep this area clean, and that was everything the officer wanted. As long as the area was clean, they were allowed to rx. Surprisingly, the officer also praised the three Rookies after they had cleaned the area, telling them that they were finally showing some promise. Two hourster, three Scumbags returned from their scouting mission. However, they hadn''t returned of their own free will. ¡°You wanted to see us, sir?" one of the three asked nervously. They had heard from one of their colleagues that the officer wanted to see them. "Yes, everyone else already gave me at least one report, but I''ve heard no reports from the three of you," the officer said with a strict voice. After that, the officer asked what the three of them had seen, and the three of them answered individually. As expected, their report was worthless. If there had been something to report, they would have reported it already. Since they hadn''t given a report before, it meant that there was nothing to report. ¡°And since you judged your surroundings to be of no intelligent significance, you simply deigned to remain there, doing fuck all?" the officer asked.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The other soldiers that were currently working didn''t show it, but they listened intently to this exchange with a grin in their hearts. They had to work their asses off while these scouts could just sit around in the distance. Now they finally got what''sing to them! The three scouts quickly gave several reasons for their decisions, but after the officer beat them to a bloody pulp, they didn''t dare to raise their voices again. At least they got a half-hour break to heal their injuries now. Eventually, the three of them left again, much faster than before. Another couple of hours passed, and the buildings were finallyplete. The Bootlickers looked at their finished work with pride. But then, the officer gave them the next job. They were responsible for "cleaning" the further surroundings. The Rookies were responsible for cleaning the immediate surroundings, which had a radius of about two kilometers, and the Bootlickers were now responsible for dealing with all the beasts in a five-kilometer radius. The Bootlickers were frustrated that they didn''t get a break, but they were also happy that they could finally fight something. Two hourster, something of note happened in the outpost. Silence. The entire outpost was silent as everyone looked in shock at one ce. There stood the officer, spear in hand, and on the tip of his spear hung the corpse of one of the Scumbags. The officer had been very strict this entire time, but this time, he had actually killed someone! Chapter 232 Chapter 232 The orange light of the distant volcano illuminated the silhouette of the corpse hanging from the spear, giving the image a dark feeling. The soldiers could deal with a strict officer, but they couldn''t deal with one that killed people without a good reason. The officer slowly lowered his spear, the corpse of the Scumbag flopping to the ground like a sack of meat. Then, the officer turned to the watching soldiers. "This is a missioning from Duke Whirlwind himself,¡± the officer exined. "Traitors are especially devastating in such a remote location, and we have our ways to weed them out." "This traitor," the officer said as his spear pointed to the corpse, "has fallen into one of our traps and reported incorrect information. Remember that we are not the only soldiers here." munication crystal appeared in the officer''s hands. "We corroborate the different reports, which gives us a very clear picture of the surroundings. There is no reason to lie to us if you are loyal. After all, you get nothing out of it." The soldiers looked at the corpse withplex emotions. Atraitor? Some of the Rookies almost couldn''t believe it, while most of the Bootlickers only narrowed their eyes at the corpse. The Scumbags weren''t present right now, but if they were, they would only sneer. "As long as you don''t try to sabotage this mission, nothing will happen to you," the officer exined. "That is all." The soldiers didn''t feel at ease, but they weren''t angry enough to stage a revolution. Even more, most of them thought that the officer had done the right thing. Traitors needed to die! But some of them still felt very uneasy. Had the Scumbag truly been a traitor? Sadly, there was nothing they could do. There was no way for them to check if the officer had told the truth. In the military, the soldiers were expected to blindly trust their superiors, after all. Their superiors were under far more scrutiny than themselves, which made it far less likely for them to be traitors. And just like that, this incident passed over. Half a dayter, the wall had been assembled, but many of the stones still had to be fused together. The Scumbags and Rookies that had been responsible for building the wall were transferred to their other teams, joining them in their mission of clearing the surroundings. And that was how it continued for the next week. Over the next week, the surroundings had been cleaned of all the beasts in a radius of five kilometers. There had been several more Mid General Stage beasts, which the Numbers killed. By now, the four groups had fully taken form. The Scumbags, the Bootlickers, the Rookies, and the Numbers. However, not all of the groups were separate all the time. The Bootlickers and Rookies talked a lot with each other since they had simr ideals, essentially creating the majority of the entire unit.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. There were only 28 soldiers left, excluding the officer. Three Numbers. Seven Scumbags. Six Rookies. Twelve Bootlickers. With 18 people, the Rookies and Bootlickers made up the majority. Over thest week, two men had be the unofficial leaders of these two groups, and they talked to the officer about the redistribution of forces. The officer agreed and didn''t separate them into immediate and further surroundings anymore, giving them the freedom to handle it. The officer had also acknowledged the leader of the Bootlickers as the leader of these two groups. On this day, the Bootlickers and Rookies fused into one group, the Idealists. Shang watched all of this from the side. ¡®Interesting. Was this the officer''s n all along?¡¯ he thought. ¡®In the very beginning, he said that he would make us into one unit, but as soon as we arrived, he systematically split us apart, contradicting his earlier statement.¡¯ ¡®And now, suddenly, over half the people have formed a single group with a leader. It''s essentially the first step of creating one unit." ¡®Did he n for this to happen?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®It sounds veryplicated and, frankly, too convoluted and smart.¡¯ ¡®But, | mean, the blue uniforms in the academy have to learn a ton of stuff about people. Maybe this is actually part of their lessons?¡¯ Shang couldn''t be sure. After another week, the outpost got its first visitor. Asoldier arrived at the outpost with a letter. But wait, why was there someone delivering a letter when the officer had a Communication Crystal? Well, Communication Crystals transmitted their signals with Mana, and if there were a sufficiently powerful Mage, they could intercept the signals. Because of that, the most important information was delivered via letter, delivered by one of the most trustworthy people. The officer read through the letter and nodded. The visitor left, and the officer called some of the soldiers over. By now, the soldiers didn''t need to work the entire day. Nearly all the beasts had been cleared in the surroundings, and they only had to maintain the current state. "Go to the warehouse and get these things," the officer ordered. The officer told them what they had to get, and the soldiers left to get these things. Most of the buildings had been made into warehouses where they stored all the dead beasts and the valuable ore they found. After half an hour, several parts of different beasts had been put in front of the officer. The officer looked at all the materials and nodded. "You four will deliver these things to the town you saw two weeks ago," the officer ordered four of the Idealists. "| prepared one more of each material, but the town won''t mind. The more we help, the better." The soldiers didn''t show it, but they realized why the officer had prepared more materials. Just like the Idealists wanted to impress the officer, the officer wanted to impress his superior. "Now, get moving!" the officer ordered. The four people gathered the things. Luckily, one of them had a Space Ring, making it easier on them. And then they left to deliver the wares. For the next couple of hours, nothing of note happened. But then, someone came to the outpost. It was only one person, and the soldiers recognized him. It was one of the four that had been sent to deliver the wares. The others asked the soldier what had happened. The soldier seemed absentminded. "Quite smart," the officer said with a smirk to the soldier. "Seems like you either didn''t fall for it, or you are actually loyal.¡± At these words, the soldier regained life and looked at his officer in shock. "You did this?" he asked in shock. The officer only smirked. "I lied," he said. "| prepared just the amount necessary, but | said there was more. | wanted to see if someone wanted to earn some money on the side." The soldier looked to the ground with a white face. The officer left the soldiers alone, and the soldiers quickly asked theirrade what had happened. Apparently, while the group had been traveling to the town, two of them had suggested pocketing some of the wares. After all, there was more than necessary, and since this information wasn''t transmitted via Communication Crystal, the town wouldn''t know that more had been sent. As long as they left some of the extra stuff in there, nobody would notice. One of the others hesitated but eventually caved in. After that, the three people peer pressured thest one into joining them. In the end, thest one caved in. Everyone pocketed a bit of the resources. When they had arrived at the town, the fourth person, the one that didn''t want to join, stealthily put his own portion on top of the delivery. He didn''t want to be seen as a traitor by his three friends, but he also didn''t want to betray his home. His friends would think that he was in this together with them, but in truth, he had taken nothing. But when the soldiers inspected the goods, everyone was immediately apprehended and searched. The three stolen portions were found, and the soldiers immediately killed the three thieves. Since the soldiers didn''t find anything on the fourth person, they let him go. Three of the Idealists had died today due to their own greed. When the other soldiers heard it, they felt a mix of nervousness and relief. They felt nervousness because there had already been four traitors. But they also felt relief since that meant that there were four fewer traitors. How many traitors could one group of about 30 soldiers have? Although, there were no longer 30 soldiers. Five people had died in thest two weeks. Now, there were only 25 left. ¡®Five dead people in two weeks?¡¯ Shang thought with narrowed eyes. ¡®Something isn''t right. | can ept the first two deaths, but there is something fishy about this newest development.¡¯ Shang looked at the shaken soldier. Chapter 233 Chapter 233 Acouple of days had passed since the incident with the three thieves. On this day, the leader of the Idealists and One gathered in front of the officer. Over the past couple of weeks, One had be the official leader of the Numbers. Shang followed his orders due to the payment, and Two seemed to be more on the passive side as a person. Today, the three highest-ranking people in the outpost were talking about something the Scumbags had found recently. "It hadn''t been there a week ago, which means that it''s new," the leader of the Idealists said. He was a tall man with no hair. On his back, he carried a long spear, and he was clothed in expensive but practical armor. "It is to be expected that new tunnels will be established as time progresses," the officer said neutrally. "| already expected that we would get one.¡± One of the Scumbags had found a 500-meter-wideke that was exuding a lot of Ice Mana. The water in theke was far below the freezing point, but it hadn''t turned to ice yet. This showed the signs of a tunnel to the gigantic undergroundke where the Ice Wyvern lived. "But it''s good that we got one,¡± the officer said with a smirk. "The tunnel acts as a direct ry for the Ice Wyvern''s Ice Mana. It will continue to fill the surroundings with Ice Mana, driving out more and more beasts from the Volcano Wyrm Zone. The faster this ce gets filled with Ice Mana, the easier our job will be." ¡°However, it''s also a risk," the officer said with a frown. "Every tunnel represents one True Path Stage beast. They don''t normally care about existences at the General Stage, and even most of the Commander Stage existences will be ignored by them." "But if it gets agitated by something, it could prove devastating,¡± the officer said as he scratched his chin. "A bomb filled with Fire Mana could awaken and provoke the True Path Stage beast, which will then destroy every living thing for a couple of kilometers around." ¡°Our outpost isn''t inside that territory, but several of our soldiers are. On top of that, we can''t be sure that the beast won''t continue its rampage in search of the cause of its disturbance. It definitely won''t go to the north since it hates Fire Mana, which means it will travel in our direction." "That''s why | called the two of you," the officer said as he looked at One and the leader of the Idealists. "Protecting the iceke is now just below protecting the outpost on the list of priorities. We have to put a force there that can kill a Mid General Stage beast." ¡°However, we also have to keep a force stationed here that can kill a Mid General Stage beast."Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. "So, | need the two of you to figure things out. | need two groups that can kill a Mid General Stage beast, and | want one of them permanently stationed near the iceke." "No problem, sir!" the leader of the Idealists shouted with a respectful salute. One only scratched the side of his head. "This is troublesome," hemented. "| don''t care," the officer said. "Deal with it." "Sure, sure," One said. The officer nodded and left the two alone to n. "So, how do you want to do this?¡± One asked the leader of the Idealists. "You three have shown that you can deal with Mid General Stage beasts without any issues," the leader said without looking at One. When the officer had been present, the leader had been respectful, but as soon as he left, he acted like One was beneath his notice. "You get two of my guys to help you build a team, but | need the strongest of your group for my team," the leader exined. "You and Two have shown that you have the offensive capabilities of injuring and killing a Mid General Stage beast. As long as two of my soldiers keep it upied, you should be able to kill it.¡± ¡°However, as far as it pains me to say it, my team doesn''t have someone with such offensive power, which means that we need one of you, and since the responsibility hangs on the shoulders of only one person, we require the strongest, Zero," the leader said in a tone that didn''t allow any refusal. The leader couldn''t see One''s expression at the moment. For a couple of seconds, One only remained silent. "Fine," One said with a sigh. "| can''t really argue with your assertion.¡± The leader nodded. "Send Zero to me in five minutes. | will give him four of my guys and send them to the iceke. That should cover everything." "Sure," One said with a dismissive wave. "Then, we''re done here.¡± After that, the two split up without saying another word. They obviously didn''t like being in each other''spany. One exined the situation to Shang. ¡°Honestly, | feel scammed," One said. "Here, I''m paying you a ton of money, and now, | don''t get to order you around.¡± "That''s not my problem. Our agreement stands," Shang answered with a neutral voice. "Yes, yes, it does," One said helplessly. After that, One summoned a big sack of gold and offered it to Shang. "This is for the next month. The payment isn''t due yet, but | probably don''t get to pay on time, which is why you get it early." Shang put the gold into his own world but acted like he was putting it inside his Space Ring. Obviously, the Space Ring on Shang''s finger was only for show. "I''ll try to get some kind of rotation going," One said. "Maybe, if we find a sufficiently powerful Mid General Stage beast, | can somehow convince that idiot to let you return early." ¡°But for now, his reasoning is solid, and arguing against it will only damage my image in the officer''s eyes." Shang only nodded without answering. One came closer to Shang and put his hand on Shang''s shoulder. "Something''s fishy about this," One whispered as he acted like he was simply walking past Shang. "An ambush mighte your way. Don''t die." Shang acted like he didn''t hear One and walked towards the leader of the Idealists. There were already four others near the leader, and they looked at Shang with frowns. Two of them used spears, while another two used one-handed swords. However, all four of them used shields. Shields were verymon amongst warriors that worked in the military. After all, shields were a great tool for dealing with other warriors. Sadly, when fighting beasts, shields weren''t nearly as useful due to the difference in physical strength. Yet, even though the shields weren''t as useful, they could stop at least one attack from a beast, which could give Shang the opportunity to end the fight. Of course, Shang noticed the truth behind all of this. The leader of the Idealists gave Shang his most useless soldiers, soldiers only useful for distracting a beast. The leader of the Idealists threw a short nce at Shang. "You will follow his orders," he said, pointing at one of the soldiers using a one-handed sword. Shang nced at the person, and the person looked back. "Fine." The leader nodded. "Move out!" he ordered. "Yes, sir!" the four soldiers said. Shang didn''t say anything. The squad leader threw an admonishing nce at Shang, but he didn''t say anything. And then, the squad of five people moved towards the east. Chapter 234 Chapter 234 The five of them ran to the east. The iceke was around 15 kilometers in that direction, which was quite a long way. Well, it wasn''t a long way for a soldier to travel, but it was a long way when there was an emergency. If the officer ran at his full speed, he would need around seven minutes to get there, and seven minutes was a very long time ina battle. Because of that, this group had to have the ability to survive an enemy''s attack for several minutes. Three of the people in the group talked to each other while the leader led the way in silence. Over the next 15 minutes, Shang didn''t say anything. Eventually, they arrived at theke.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. Theke had created a small crater in the middle of the huge volcano''s incline. They weren''t inside the Volcano Wyrm Zone at the moment, but the volcano already started here. The surrounding hills and mountains were already covered in a thickyer of snow and ice, proving that the Ice Mana of the tunnel was doing its work. Even though the iceke was in a small crater, enough Ice Mana was in the crater that it had already spilled over the edges. One only needed to imagine ake on the side of a mountain that was gaining more water as time went by. The water would spill over and travel down the incline of the mountain. With time, this iceke would cover everything south of it in a thick sheet of ice. These icekes were one of the most important things in the new Zone since they would dictate the climate. ¡°Alright, here are the orders," the squad leader announced. The others listened closely. ¡°We will position ourselves in the form of a pentagram. One person will protect the top, and everyone else will position themselves around the iceke at equal distances. If anyone notices anything, shout so that yourrades cane and help you,¡± the leader said. Then, the leader looked at Shang. "You will be stationed at the north." "You do realize that this is the ce where the enemy will most likely attack?" Shang asked. The others hadn''t expected Shang to talk back and narrowed their eyes at him. "Yes," the leader said, "and you are the strongest of us. As the strongest, it is best for you to take the most dangerous position." "It''s not," Shang said. "These are orders!" one other soldier shouted in anger. "You are supposed to follow them!" ¡°You Numbers are so undisciplined! Having you on our team is like having five more enemies!" another one shouted. A barrage of insults and shouts were shot at Shang, but Shang knew why they were doing this. They hadn''t forgotten the fact that the Numbers had only watched as one of their colleagues had been eaten by a beast. This was probably their way of venting. Shang let them continue insulting him for over a minute. "Enough!" the leader said. "You will go to the north." "No," Shang said. The four others narrowed their eyes, and they seemed ready to attack him. "This is an order!" the leader said. "| won''t follow the order," Shang said. "You have to! | have been put in charge of this squad!" ¡°Make me," Shang said coldly. The other three immediately hurled a new round of insults at Shang. This continued for nearly two minutes. Shang didn''t say anything in these two minutes. At some point, one of them took a step toward Shang, and Shang''s eyes focused on him. The soldier only gritted his teeth and took a step back again. Five minutester, silence returned. Shang wasn''t answering them, and they had already tried everything to get him to move. Words obviously didn''t work, and they didn''t dare to force Shang physically. Eventually, the leader realized that they couldn''t get him to the north the hard way. "Why?" the leader asked. "You are the strongest here. Why are you not willing to protect your weaker colleagues when you have the power?" Obviously, he was now trying the soft approach. ¡°Because putting me at the front will endanger the mission," Shang said. The other three scoffed. What kind of logic was that? ¡°Exin,¡± the leader said. "Imagine a group of warriors attack from the north," Shang said. "Due to the incline, it will be difficult for us to see their approach. This means that they get one surprise attack." ¡°As you said, | am the strongest one here, and if | get killed in a surprise attack, you four will only be waiting for your deaths. If | die without being able to unleash my power, the group will lose most of its power and ability to resist. If one of you dies first, | can buy time for the other three." ¡°Because of that, putting me at the north would endanger the mission," Shang exined. The other three soldiers became enraged again when they heard Shang''s statement. Bullshit! That guy only wanted to save his own ass! "Enough!" the leader shouted, shutting the other three up. "He''s right," he said with gritted teeth. "But sir-" "Be silent for a second," the leader ordered. "I also don''t want to admit it, but he''s right. | don''t like him and his ideology, but I have to concede that he is the strongest one. He alone might be worth an additional four soldiers. If he dies first, we would be losing four soldiers at once." "Sir, | must object,¡± one of the soldiers shouted. "Yes, he is powerful, but he isn''t that powerful.¡± The leader looked at the soldier. "Then why did none of us step forward to force him to the north?" Silence. "We are four. He is one." Silence. "John, you will take the north,¡± the leader ordered. One of the soldiers with a spear turned white in the face. "Don''t worry," the leader said. "We four will rotate every six hours." The leader sighed. "If there is an attack, | am dooming one of you to die. | would take the north myself, but..." For a moment, the leader remained silent. "| also don''t want to die," the leader said in shame. "The best | can do is to leave it up to chance." Hearing their leader''s ashamed voice made the other three calm down. Yes, their leader was just like any of them. He also didn''t want to die. "You will take the southeast," the leader said to Shang. "Is that okay?¡± Shang nodded and walked toward his assigned location. After that, the other four also walked to their assigned locations. And then, silence returned to the Ice Lake for the next couple of hours. No one was in the mood to talk right now. But, eventually, the somber mood passed, and the soldiers became bored. One of them loudly started a conversation, shouting at the other guy a kilometer away. The others felt a bit ufortable, but as time passed on, they realized that things didn''t have to be silent all the time. Also, keeping the minds of the soldiers active would help with their concentration. And thus, a long and somewhat boring mission started. But, of course, things wouldn''t stay boring for long. Chapter 235 Chapter 235 Five days after arriving at the iceke, it happened. Shang was currently concentrating on training in his Affinity when he suddenly felt a disturbance in the surrounding Ice and Fire Mana. Shang turned so that his back looked to the north. CLINK!This is from N?velDrama.Org. Shang''s sword moved, and an arrow struck it, which harmlessly bounced off. "Got it!" Sword said as it repositioned itself to its original location. "Mid General Stage!¡¯ Shang thought as he felt the force behind the arrow. ¡°Ambush from the north!" Shang shouted. The other soldiers had already looked over when they heard the loud sound of metal shing and saw the broken arrownding on the ground. "Shields out! Gather at the north!" the leader shouted as he charged towards the northern end of theke. At that moment, several more arrows rained down on everyone, but they were all blocked by the shields. These warriors might have been the most useless ones when it came to fighting beasts, but when it came to fighting archers, they were amazing. Shang also charged to the north with furrowed brows. ¡®The enemy can''t tell our power from such a distance,¡¯ he thought. ¡®Because of that, it makes more sense to simply kill the northern guard since he''s the closest to them.¡¯ ¡®Yet, they directly targeted me, even though | was the furthest from the north." ¡®This means that they know I''m the strongest. Shang''s eyes narrowed. ¡®| kept close attention to everyone around me without them noticing, and I''m pretty confident that it wasn''t them.¡¯ ¡®This means that someone in the outpost gave them the information!" After realizing that they couldn''t get through the shields, most of the arrows targeted Shang, and in just a couple of seconds, Shang was besieged by approximately five archers. Luckily, the archers were over a kilometer away, and Shang was outstanding when it came to dodging attacks. None of the arrows managed to hit Shang as he easily danced past them. The other four had already arrived at the north, and they had created a shield barricade. "| said get to the north!" the leader shouted at Shang. Right now, Shang wasn''t running to them. Instead, he was waiting just at the edge of the iceke, which had been north of his earlier position. "I''m here for a reason!" Shang shouted. "Trust me!" The other three soldiers wanted to shout, but they were busy concentrating on the enemy ambush. The leader gnashed his teeth, but he decided to believe Shang this one time. Then, he took out a long rod and pointed it towards the south, his back protected by the shield barricade. And then, the rod exploded. BANG! A ball filled with green gas shot out of the rod and traveled to the south. This ball of green gas was filled with Wind Mana. The officer had kept his Affinity a secret from everyone, but at this moment, it was unveiled. The officer would feel the burst of Wind Manaing from the north, which was the signal that the enemy had arrived. "No!" the leader shouted in horror. Just when the ball of Wind Mana reached a couple of meters of height, a brown ball appeared above it. BOOOM! The brown ball exploded, scattering Earth Mana all over the ball of Wind Mana. The soldiers with an Earth Affinity would feel the explosion of Earth Mana from the north, and they might send a scout to check up on the ce. In the end, the officer would still arrive. However, it would take 20 more minutes at least. ¡®They knew the officer''s Affinity beforehand!¡¯ Shang thought with narrowed eyes. Something like this had to be prepared beforehand, and it had to be the right Affinity to counter the Wind Affinity. The soldiers¡¯ faces turned white when they saw that their signal had been intercepted. This was bad! SHING! At that moment, Shang also took out a long rod and pointed it to the south. BANG! Astreak of grey gas left the rod, and it traveled for several kilometers until it eventuallynded. The enemy hadn''t been able to intercept this one. The soldiers looked at Shang with shock. This ball had been filled with Metal Mana, and everyone in the surrounding 20 kilometers with a Metal Affinity would be able to feel it. Of course, that included One. When One had exined everything to Shang, he had given him this rod without anyone noticing. Why? Because he didn''t trust anyone but himself. This was insurance! He wouldn''t leave the survival of his investment in other people''s hands! "One should be creating a ruckus in the outpost right now,¡¯ Shang thought. ''We only have to survive for seven minutes or so now.¡¯ ¡®Even if the officer is a traitor, he can''t show it openly. With One creating a gigantic ruckus, he will be forced to do his best to save us!" By now, Shang was suspecting the officer. After all, who else knew of the officer''s Affinity? But, for now, the n of the enemy had been ruined. They had probably arrived with a timeframe of nearly half an hour in mind. With nearly 30 minutes of time, they could have slowly and safely advanced. But now, they only had less than seven minutes, and if they were actually nning on surviving, they only had five. After all, they needed a head start if they wanted to get away from the approaching officer. At that moment, the barrage of arrows grew stronger. CRK! Some of the shields started to crack in some ces. "They changed their arrows to Armor Breakers!" the leader shouted. "Keep it steady but try to make the arrows hit the undamaged ces to give your shields more time!" Earlier, the archers had shot with normal arrows, but now, they were unleashing arrows loaded with Metal Mana, which had certain destructive properties for everything hard. By now, all the arrows targeted the barricade of shields. They had noticed that they couldn''t hit Shang, which was why they had changed their target. Shang continued waiting south of theke, watching the north. "Do something!" the leader shouted at Shang. "There is a reason why I''m here!" Shang shouted back. "Trust me!" The leader gnashed his teeth. He was currently being barraged by a volley of arrows while their strongest warrior calmly waited in front of theke. For all intents and purposes, this looked like Shang was watching them die. However, Shang had already proven that he was on their side by releasing the second signal. Because of that, the leader kept silent. "Sir, we need help, or we''ll die!" one of the soldiers said. "Shut up!" the leader said. "I know that!" "Get him to help us!" another soldier shouted. "| said shut up!" the leader shot back. The soldiers gnashed their teeth in fury and frustration, but they trusted their superior. Over the next minute, the shields became more and more damaged, and the soldiers began to be filled with fear. The leader looked at the distant Shang with a mix of terror, fury, and hope. They couldn''t survive for much longer without his help! Was it wrong to trust him? At that moment, Shang''s eyes lit up. ¡®It''s here!¡¯ Chapter 236 Chapter 236 At that moment, three ck balls flew towards the iceke. This had been what Shang was waiting for! SHING! Several stones appeared in Shang''s hands, and he urately threw them at the three balls. BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! All three balls exploded with an insane amount of Fire Mana, which pushed all the Ice Mana to the side. These had been the Firebombs that had been prepared to anger the True Path Stage beast. Originally, the Firebombs were supposed to be put in the iceke and detonated with a timer. This would assure sess and give the enemy enough time to retreat. If the Firebombsnded inside theke, they would definitely aggravate the True Path Stage beast. But in exchange for that, the attackers would most likely be casualties. Because of that, they hadn''t dared to throw the Firebombs earlier. After all, no one wanted to die. But when they saw that they couldn''t get through the barricade, they decided to throw them regardless. The Fire Mana of the Firebombs traveled towards the iceke, which meant that there was still a chance that the True Path Stage beast would get aggravated, but it wasn''t a certainty anymore. SHING! At that moment, Shang threw his sword over theke. Alone, he wouldn''t have had the power to throw such a heavy sword for such a distance, but Sword had its own will. Sword was now at the Peak General Stage, which allowed it to move faster. Only with Sword''s help could Shang throw it over the entireke. The cloud of Fire Mana shrunk as Sword passed through it. This was Fire Mana without a will, which made it no different from natural Fire Mana. Because of that, Sword had no issues absorbing it. Shang exploded to the side and ran around theke towards the north. BANG! Swordnded on the other side, and its de entered the ground. No Fire Mana had reached the iceke. When the soldiers saw the Firebombs explode, they felt like they had just avoided death. There was still a chance that they could survive the enemy''s attack but surviving a True Path Stage beast''s rampage was impossible for them. Eventually, Shang reached the other side of theke and grabbed his sword again. And then, he charged to the north. BANG! One of the shields exploded into splinters, and one of the soldiers received an arrow to the chest. Luckily, such an injury wasn''t severe enough to kill a General Stage warrior. The others quickly pulled theirrade behind their shields, which now received an even heavier barrage of arrows. Whoosh! At that moment, Shang passed by them and charged to the north. The soldiers looked in fear at the passing Shang. He was supposed to block some of the arrows, not charge at the enemy! Was he suicidal?! Shang, in his ck armor and ck mask, charged up the mountain, his sword leaving behind a streak of fire due to all the Fire Mana it had absorbed. It was hard to make out where the opponents were due to all the big stones on the mountain, but as Shang progressed, he could finally tell their locations. The attacks on the shields lost intensity as more of the arrows were now targeting Shang. Shang dodged one arrow after the other without any issues. Inparison to dodging Spells, this was easy. "Focus on the shields!" Shang heard someone shout from the front, and shortly after, the arrows shot toward the shields again. At that moment, a masked man with bloodred robes jumped over one of the big stones and charged at Shang with two red sabers in his hands. Shang could feel his opponent''s power thanks to all the fights he had gone through. ¡®Mid General Stage,¡¯ he thought. ''He was probably the one that fired the first arrow at me.¡¯ If all the attackers had been at the Mid General Stage, the shields would have long since been destroyed. Because of that, Shang guessed that there were one, maybe two, people at the Mid General Stage among the attackers. The two of them charged at each other. Shang readied his sword. At that moment, Shang''s opponent elerated. He would reach Shang before he could strike with his heavy sword. BANG! But at that moment, Shang''s left leg hit the ground, hard. Some crevices appeared on the ground in front of him, and the earth quaked, which resulted in Shang''s enemy losing his bnce. Shang had learned how to fight with a heavy sword in the past. In fact, he had been the one that chose his new weapon. There was more than only one kind of sword, and Shang nned on learning how to fight with several of them. Shang decided to start with a heavy sword since he had fought Astor an uncountable number of times. For example, this technique Shang had just used had been used against him several times in the past. As the man lost his bnce, he changed his attack from two shes into two stabs. ¡®| learned a lot from Astor,¡¯ Shang thought. And then, he let go of his sword. ¡®But | have my own style!" BANG! BANG! Shang''s two hands pped the two sabers to the side. Sabers were a kind of sword that only had one cutting edge. Sure, they had a lot more weight and power behind their attacks because of that, but that also gave them a weakness. By pping the back of the sabers, Shang could change their trajectory without injuring his hands. The sabers barely missed him, and the arms of his opponent became crossed as his body fell onto Shang. Of course, Shang''s arms were also crossed. But inparison to his opponent, Shang knew how to fight barehanded. Shang angled his right arm and lifted his right elbow. BANG! Shang''s elbow hit the throat of his enemy, severing his neck from his spine. The flesh was still attached, but the bone had been destroyed. Behind the mask, the man''s expression had turned to horror and shock. Pack! Shang grabbed the man''s throat and grabbed his sword with his other hand. And then, he charged to the front. The archers became confused and panicked at this moment. They couldn''t shoot theirmander, right? Theirmander had a warrior''s body! He would surely recover shortly and destroy his opponent, right? Well, none of them noticed, but Shang was absorbing all the Mana that went to repair themander''s neck with Darkness Absorb. Awarrior''s body was of no help to themander at this moment. And then, Shang reached the first archer, who was crouching behind a stone. The archer quickly targeted Shang. BANG! Shang threw themander at the archer, making the arrow miss. That''s when Shang''s colossal sword arrived. BOOOOM! Shang''s sword destroyed both themander and the archer with one strike, the Fire Mana setting them on fire. The other archers fell into a panic and fully focused their arrows on Shang. Shang''s arm pointed to the ground. BANG! A Fire st left his left arm, throwing him far into the air. Shang threw a nce at the shield barricade and noted that no one was looking. They were still crouching behind it. Shang''s eyes focused, and he looked at the biggest gathering of archers. In the middle, behind a five-meter-high stone, were five archers. Thanks to his Fire st, Shang was high enough to see them. At that moment, Shang readied his sword and shed. For a moment, the archers became confused. Why was that guy shing at them from over thirty meters away? But then, their eyes widened in horror.This is from N?velDrama.Org. A burning crescent shot towards them! The archers couldn''t react. BOOOOOM! A huge explosion urred at their location, destroying everything, including the stone they hid behind. This had been the reward for the trial, a ranged attack! In the sky, Shang had been thrown back. Releasing so much Mana had pushed him into the distance. Shang pointed his left arm to his back. BANG! Shang released another Fire st, and his body shot toward thest two archers. The archers quickly released their arrows in panic. One of them shot into the distance. The other hit Shang in the gut. But he didn''t care. BANG! Shang''s sword passed through the first archer, his body scattering over the surroundings. The other archer only looked in shock at Shang. Shang''s dark body was releasing steam, and his sword was coated in ck, burned blood. And the archer could see Shang''s eyes behind the mask focus on him! This was thest thing the archer saw in his life. It was over. Chapter 237 Chapter 237 The soldiers didn''t feel any more arrows hitting their shields. For a while, they didn''t dare to look over the barricade. After all, what if their opponents were simply baiting them into looking past their shields to kill them? The soldiers had heard several loud sounds, and they heard the screams of dying people. After around twenty seconds, the first soldier looked past the barricade. Nothing. There were no arrows. However, they also didn''t see any corpses. "Zero?" the leader shouted. "I''m here," Shang answered. "It''s fine. They''re dead." The soldiers looked at each other in shock. Dead? There had to have been over five guys, at least! Was Zero suggesting that he had killed all of these people on his own? Just a moment before the shout, Shang had been looking at the two corpses in front of him with a frown. Something inside of him stirred. Adislike. Disgust. It was a familiar feeling to Shang. He had felt this feeling whenever he had killed someone in the past. But inparison to the previous times, the feeling was much weaker today. In the past, this feeling had enveloped all of Shang''s being, epassing his entire mind. But now, it could only be described as an aftertaste. ¡®| did what | had to do,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the corpse. ''I don''t like doing it, but it was necessary.¡¯ That was when the leader''s shout had arrived. Shang had been pulled out of his thoughts and answered as he carried the corpses to the middle of the slope. ¡®Killing has gotten easier,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®That''s good.¡¯ "Having to deal with an emotional trauma every time | kill someone is too much effort. Like this, it will be far easier.¡¯ ¡®| think this change is mainly due to the trial. | don''t know if the humans in the trial have been real or fake, but they felt real." | think the trial has helped me a lot with getting morefortable with killing people." The soldiers slowly lowered their shields and walked forward, inspecting their surroundings. Shang went to the other stone and pulled out the corpses of the enemymander and the archer, putting them beside the other two corpses. The soldiers saw what Shang was doing and released a sigh of relief. Zero had told the truth. The enemies were dead. But at the same time, the soldiers¡¯ shock only increased. This guy had destroyed an entire squad of people on his own?N?velDrama.Org content rights. At that moment, the soldiers were happy that they hadn''t attacked Shang earlier. Shang went to the five corpses of the archers he had killed with his ranged attack, but he didn''t get them immediately. Instead, he looked at them for a while. Adisgusting smell of burned human flesh entered Shang''s nose. The corpses looked like charcoal, coagted blood visible all over their bodies. It was a horrifying image. Shang took a deep breath and pulled the burned corpses to the other ones. ¡®Death is death. The state of the corpse makes no difference,¡¯ Shang thought. After some seconds, all the corpses wereid side by side on the slope. Nine corpses. The soldiers remained silently in shock as they looked at the corpses. Zero had killed nine soldiers on his own?! How?! Shang also looked at the corpses, his brows furrowed behind his mask. ¡®Eight Early General Stage warriors and one Mid General Stage warrior.¡¯ ¡®Only five Early General Stage warriors have been sent here to defend the iceke. The enemy has attacked with a force that should have won decisively.¡¯ ¡®Did they know that we were only five, or is this only a coincidence?¡¯ ¡®| don''t think it''s a coincidence. After all, their leader targeted me first, even though | was in the worst position for an initial target.¡¯ ¡®They knew about my power, they knew about my group''s power, and they knew about the officer''s Affinity.¡¯ ¡®Someone told them all these details." ¡®| don''t think that they have conducted long-range surveince. Something like that can only be done by True Mages, and the Duke has certainly secured his territory against his enemies.¡¯ ¡®Someone in our outpost told them somehow.¡¯ At that moment, Shang looked towards the west. About two kilometers away, Shang saw something race towards his location, leaving behind a green wind. "He''s suspicious,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®That first scout he killed could have been telling the truth. What if that scout has seen something that he shouldn''t have seen? The officer could have killed him and acted like it was false information.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, he ordered us to let one of the students die when they attacked a Mid General Stage beast. Sure, | can get that they need to be taught a lesson, but letting someone die a preventable death will only weaken the outpost.¡¯ ¡®The only thing that seemingly didn''t involve him was the delivery. | don''t think he was involved in that.¡¯ Shang looked away from the approaching officer and looked at the huge mountain to the north. ¡®But this ambush is extremely suspicious. They knew way too much about our power. They even knew about the officer''s Affinity.¡¯ Shang looked back at the approaching officer, who was now only 500 meters away from them. The officer was passing beside theke and charged at the five soldiers standing on the mountain. When he saw that his soldiers weren''t fighting, he slowed down until he eventually stopped. Amomentter, the officer noticed the corpses, and his eyes widened in shock for a second. "Report!" he ordered the leader of the squad. "S-sir!" the leader of the squad answered. "We''ve been attacked!" "| know that!" the officer shouted. "| want to know what happened!" The leader looked at the officer, at the corpses, at the mountain, at theke, and then at the officer again with an uncertain expression. "Sir, | can''t report," the leader said. The officer''s eyes narrowed. "Exin yourself, soldier!" The leader looked at the other soldiers, who only looked back with helpless expressions. ¡°We didn''t see what happened," the leader exined. "We only hid behind our shields, defending against a storm of arrows." "Then how are there nine corpses here?!" the officer shouted. "That was all him," the leader said, gesturing to Shang. ¡°All him?" the officer repeated in surprise as he looked at Shang. Shang''s and the officer''s eyes met. Shang stood several meters higher on the mountain, his sword standing in front of him as he looked into the officer''s eyes. For just a moment, time seemed to freeze. "Report!" the officer shouted. He didn''t know why, but he didn''t like the look of Shang right now. "Some minutes ago, | was attacked by an arrow from a Mid General Stage warrior..." Shang recounted the event, especially highlighting the suspicious parts. He didn''t go into detail when it came to how he had killed his enemies, but he went into detail regarding everything else. The officer became more and more agitated the more Shang said. He didn''t seem nervous or fearful but angry. Why? It was obvious. Because highlighting all these suspicious parts of the ambush was like directly using the officer. Everything pointed to him. When Shang was done recounting the event, the officer and Shang only looked at each other, neither of them moving. Chapter 238 Chapter 238 The soldiers didn''t want to show it, but they subconsciously became wary of their officer. Everything pointed to the fact that he was a traitor. Shang could have kept the suspicious information a secret and could have passed it along to the relevant authorities. Yet, he had unveiled all the suspicious information without censoring it. He was essentially publicly using the officer of being a traitor without saying it directly. The soldiers became very nervous. If their officer were truly a traitor... Then, would he just kill all of them to silence them?! "They were smart," the officer said. Shang and the soldiers only looked at him. ¡°Remember, no n isplete without a backup n for when the primary n backfires," the officer exined. "By sending nine people, their primary n evidently was to wake the True Path Stage beast." "But if they fail, their backup n was to get rid of me," the officer said. The officer gestured to the corpses. "They are most likely criminals on death row," he said. "Duke Mithril has a policy that criminals can gain freedom as long as they aplish a deadly mission. The criminals have to take a poison to which only Duke Mithril''s soldiers have an antidote." "If they flee, they die. If they fail, they die. They can only survive bypleting the mission." "You told me that they threw the Firebombs into theke without concern for their life," the officer said. Shang nodded. "This means near-certain death for them. Normal soldiers don''t just throw their lives away like that. Only someone with no way out would consider doing something like this." "Criminals are not part of Duke Mithril''s main force," the officer exined. "The fact that they sent criminals means that they, toa certain extent, have expected this mission to fail." Shang didn''t say anything. The officer gritted his teeth. "Nevertheless, their n seeded to some degree. | will surely be investigated by the higher-ups after today, no matter what | do or say." SHING! The officer summoned a Communication Crystal. "Might as well do it myself." The soldiers looked at the officer in difort. Shang''s expression wasn''t visible due to his mask. However, Shang''s suspicions had lessened a bit. He still suspected the officer of being a traitor, but he wasn''t certain anymore. This was why he had unveiled all the information. Because, what if this was just an borate ploy? If Shang reported everything to the relevant authorities, it might be possible that a biased investigation would take ce. It would have been possible that an innocent Late General Stage warrior would be sentenced to death. That was why Shang had unveiled everything. He wanted to give the officer a chance to defend himself. The soldiers listened as the officer reported everything, leaving no information out. And then, they heard the officer''s superior blowing up in anger, but not at the thing everyone was expecting. "You idiot!" the superior shouted through the Communication Crystal. "You found a tunnel and didn''t report it?! You put us all at risk!" After a thorough tongueshing, the superior demanded an exnation. The officer only gritted his teeth. "| thought defending a tunnel with ess to only my resources would reflect well on my career." The superior exploded once again, berating the officer for his stupidity. It was thoroughly humiliating. "You will be put under investigation!" the superior shouted through the Communication Crystal. Then, there was a pause. ¡°However, since you took the initiative toe forward, I''ll give you one week to get everything in order for your recement. | want you to report to me in one week, in person!" ¡°For now, you will wait near the tunnel until the Circle arrives!" And then, the superior hung up. The officer only looked helplessly to the side. When the soldiers heard that a Circle would arrive, they took a deep breath. Only now did they truly realize how far out of their depth this task had been. After listening to everything, Shang''s suspicions lowered by a lot. He still had some doubts, but he wouldn''t use the officer anymore. It seemed like it was the right decision to give the officer a chance to defend himself. No one was in the mood to talk, so everyone waited in silence. Luckily, they didn''t have to wait for long.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Only 20 minutester, the new guards of the tunnel arrived. There were five people in luxurious robes, each colored differently. Shang looked over and felt Mana swirl around the new arrivals. What was a Circle? A Circle was a team consisting of five True Mages, which generally had one Water Mage, one Earth or Metal Mage, and three Mages with an offensive Affinity. It was a well-bnced and adaptable team. Five True Mages. Atunnel was worth stationing five True Mages near it. Just earlier, only five Early General Stage warriors had defended it. A force of five True Mages was a power that far outssed all the warriors stationed in the battlefield. This was not something the officer or even his superior couldpare themselves with. The five True Mages checked the surroundings and theke. Then, they checked the corpses for any evidence they could use against Duke Mithril. Of course, they didn''t find anything. "You may leave," one of them said to the soldiers without even looking at them. "Yes, sir!" the officer said with a respectful salute. The other soldiers also saluted, including Shang this time. After that, everyone walked back to the outpost in silence. The situation still hung over their heads. The soldiers still felt some lingering terror from barely avoiding death. If Zero hadn''t been there, they would have died. About 30 minutester, everyone got back to the outpost. As soon as they arrived, everyone went back to their teams while the officer entered one of the buildings without saying anything. When Shang came back, One was already waiting for him. "| need to know what happened," One said. Chapter 239 Chapter 239 One led Shang to an isted ce at the side of the hill and asked him about what had happened. Shang told everything to One without keeping any secrets. He told him the same stuff he told the officer. ¡°Honestly, the signal re you gave me might have saved my life," Shang said. "| didn''t need our superior to win the battle, but if the enemy had more time, the other four would have died. With them dead, everyone would have focused on me." "| might have still won, but | wouldn''t have been in any position to block the Firebombs, which would result in the True Path Stage beast going on a rampage." Shang was telling the truth. If the enemy thought that they had far more time, they wouldn''t have thrown the Firebombs this early. One had actually saved Shang''s life to some degree. "I''m paying you good money,¡± One said with a voice that told Shang that he thought this issue was irrelevant. "But there is something more important." "Which is?" Shang asked. "Don''t you think it''s strange?" One asked. "What?" "Imagine you are responsible for over a hundred warriors, and one person that''s responsible for 30 of those warriors might very likely be a traitor." "Would you let him continue assuming control over these 30 warriors for a week?" One asked. Shang remained silent for a bit. "No, | wouldn''t." "That''s the thing," One said. "It''s too strange. If one of mymanders were used of being a traitor, | would immediately send someone to apprehend them. Additionally, we arrived here in a single day from the Storm Eagle Zone. Do you honestly think that there isn''t a second Late General Stage warrior in the town near us that can assume control?" "Why did the officer get a full week of full power over this area?" "It doesn''t make any sense." Shang frowned as he looked down, but his face was hidden behind his mask. One was making sense. Shang knew a lot, and he wasn''t stupid, but he wasn''t very experienced when it came to leading others. Shang wasn''t a born leader, and he wasn''t interested in leading others. He thought leading others to be a pain in the ass. It required a lot of work and dedication, which could be used to further his own power instead. Because of that, Shang hadn''t noticed this peculiarity. In his mind, the officer''s initiative to report himself to his superior was a good sign that he wasn''t a traitor. After all, why would a traitor reveal himself to his superior when the only witnesses were in an isted location and were far weaker than him? The officer could have killed the five of them without many issues. After killing them, he would have simply reported that the enemies had killed them. Of course, this would also be suspicious, but it was still better than telling his superior about all the suspicious information. For a second, Shang considered the possibility that the officer hadn''t contacted his actual superior, but that possibility was quickly thrown out of the wind. A Circle had arrived. If that superior didn¡¯t have a certain status in Duke Whirlwind''snds, the Circle wouldn''t have arrived. This meant that the superior was actually the superior. Which left only one possibility. The superior of the officer was also a traitor. Shang looked at the outpost with narrowed eyes. ¡®The superior might have given the officer one week to do as much damage as possible. There is a high likelihood that he will gather all the traitors in the camp and kill all the loyal soldiers before fleeing to the Volcano Wyrm Zone.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, we have gathered a great number of valuable materials over thest couple of weeks. In the end, we would have lost around 30 General Stage warriors while the enemy gained Hundreds of thousands of gold in materials." ¡®On top of that, the superior might not have informed the appropriate channels regarding the officer''s confession. With every witness dead, the superior could act all oblivious, saying that he had no idea that the officer had been a traitor. ¡®A traitorous Commander Stage warrior? | guess Duke Whirlwind was right to worry." ¡®But for now, everything is only conjecture. Sure, it makes a lot of sense, but there is no proof. If | report it like this, the officer will be taken down, but the superior will most likely get away.¡¯ ¡®Even more, the superior will be warned, and he will stay low.¡¯ Shang looked over at One. "What''s your n?" he asked. "If we meet the enemy on their terms, we are dead," One exined. "The enemy won''t show their head today or tomorrow since all the soldiers are still on high alert due to the battle, but they will most likely get active in about five or six days. That''s when everyone will be in their most rxed state." "If the officer separates us, we will all die one by one. He is two levels above us, and he can kill every soldier with a single attack." "If we allow him to take the initiative, we''re dead meat," One exined. "You still haven''t told me what your n is," Shang said with some annoyance. "Don''t you get it?" One said with some frustration. "We have to gather a strong force and kill the officer before he can kill us!" Shang remained silent for several seconds as he looked at One. "This isn''t an easy decision," Shang said slowly. "What are you talking about? How is this not an easy decision?!" One asked with annoyance. ¡°Everything''s conjecture, and the officer has already been reported to his superior. It might actually be possible that his superior trusts that the allegations are false." "If | were to attempt to take the officer''s life, | would be tried as a traitor. On top of that, if he actually manages to contact someone before his death, | might not even manage to reach the Volcano Wyrm Zone." "There is no proof right now. If | kill him, | will be going against my primary mission," Shang exined. "When you hired me, | told you that | would follow your orders as long as they don''t conflict with the primary mission." "So, | can''t help you with this, sorry," Shang said. Shang couldn''t see One''s expression beneath his mask.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. Acouple of seconds of silence passed. Just when Shang wanted to walk back to the outpost, One said something. "How much?" Shang looked at One. ¡°Usually, | have a triple-quintuple policy," he exined. "If you pay me triple the reward for the abandoned mission, | will tell my previous client and cancel the contract. If you pay me quintuple, | will keep it a secret that I''m not working for them anymore." "But this time, I''m fine with double, and | will keep it a secret. But the n has to be rock solid. | am here for money, but | also don''t want to throw my life away." One remained silent as he walked back and forth, thinking. ¡°Are you that desperate for money?" One asked with some disgust in his voice. "No," Shang said. "However, I''m confident that | can survive the sh. Even if | can''t win, | can survive. As I''ve said back when | introduced myself, | don''t want to get involved in politics. | don''t care if Duke Whirlwind''s side or Duke Mithril''s side wins. I''m only here to do the job I''m paid for." "The only two reasons why you get a discount is because | would earn my money faster and that | dislike the officer. Otherwise, you would have to pay the standard rates." ¡°Also, you technically might have saved my life. That also counts as something." "So, what will it be? Payment or not?" ¡°Of course, if you don''t pay, I''m forced to report you to the officer. After all, you just solicited another soldier for murder on their superior," Shang said evenly. Shang couldn''t see One''s expression, but his tensed body was a great indication of how he felt right now. One was probably infuriated right now. ¡°Here | am, trying to save your life, and you ckmail me," One said with disgust. "You''re trying to save someone that doesn''t need saving by showing that you are a primary target for that person''s mission. What did you expect?" Shang answered with a bored tone. "I''m only doing my job." "Fine!" One shouted. "I will give you half now, and half after the deed is done!" "| ept," Shang said. Chapter 240 Chapter 240 Several hours passed, during which Shang looked at the gigantic sacks of gold in his world. How much would the mission have paid after itspletion? How much was one year of an Early General Stage warrior''s time worth? 50,000 gold. This was the equivalent of around 30 ¡ª 50 Early General Stage beast corpses. For one year, this was an amazing deal, especially since the mission wasn''t as dangerous as hunting that many beasts. That definitely was a lot of money for an Early General Stage warrior. When night arrived, One came to Shang together with Two. "We got a Mid General Stage beast," One said. Shang nodded and prepared himself. After that, both of them charged towards the east. They traveled about a kilometer away and stopped behind a different hill. Now, no one was watching them. ¡°Alright, it''s time to prepare everything," One said. Shang and Two nodded. "What''s the n?" Two asked.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Shang wasn''t surprised that One managed to convince Two. It made a lot of sense that the officer and his superior were traitors. If Two had told the truth previously, he wouldn''t want to let someone like that keep living. After all, Duke Mithril''s forces were searching for Two. He might not be able to escape to Duke Mithril''s territory after everything was done, but he definitely had some other solution. After all, if he didn''t have one, he wouldn''t be here. "We are going to lure the officer to this ce by firing the signal," One said as he took out one of the signal res. "We have to act like there is a powerful Mid General Stage beast that we can''t beat. Then, when he arrives, we jump him. Everything has to be done quickly." "There are plenty of beasts that can hide their presence. Even if he doesn''t see one immediately, it won''t wake any suspicions. There aren''t only Fire Affinity beasts here but also Earth Affinity beasts." The other two nodded. SHING! At that moment, One took out a huge shield. "We have to make this convincing," he said as he pointed his shield at Shang. "I don''t have enough power to make it seem like this shield was broken by a beast. Your destructive power is better for that." "Destroy the shield with an attack, but try to leave my hands in one piece,¡± One said. Shang looked at One with a gleam in his eyes. "Sure," he said. Then, Shang took out his sword as One defended himself with his shield. And Shang struck the shield with his colossal sword. CRACK! The shield cracked into two pieces, and One was thrown against the hill behind him. One coughed a bit due to the impact, but he wasn''t injured. "Good," he said. One threw the pieces of the shield to the side and looked at Two. SHING! Something appeared in One''s hand. "I need you to hold that while | activate the signal." While One had been talking, he had thrown the thing over to Two, who caught it out of habit. One pointed the re to the sky and activated it. BANG! Agreen burst of Wind Mana left the re. "What''s that?" Two asked as he inspected the ck ball in his hands. One didn''t answer. BOOOOOOM! Suddenly, the ck ball in Two''s hand exploded as a powerful wave of Fire Mana left it. The side of One''s mask was illuminated by the violent explosion. BANG! Two''s burned corpse hit the side of the hill and slid down. Two was dead. "What''s going on?!" The officer had arrived on top of the hill, and he was looking at the scene. Zero stood opposite of One, his weapon drawn. Two had turned into a burned corpse. Abroken shieldy between Zero and One. "He killed Two!" One suddenly shouted as he jumped back, his weapon drawn. "I only survived thanks to the shields | carry in my Space Ring!" The officer looked at Zero, who made no inclination to move. He simply continued standing there. "Zero! Exin yourself!" the officer shouted. Shang''s head turned to face the officer. "Is that the n you two came up with?" he asked. "You want to frame me and then kill all the loyal soldiers?" The two were a bit surprised by Shang''s nonchnt voice, but they didn''t show it. ¡°Bastard! You just killed someone, and now you''re acting like this was our doing?!" One shouted with fear and hatred. He genuinely sounded like his best friend had just been killed. By now, several soldiers had been lured over by the loud shouts, and they looked at the scene below the hill. They saw the burned corpse. They knew Zero had a Fire Affinity. They saw the shield, which had obviously been destroyed by a powerful and heavy sword. After some seconds, all the soldiers had gathered in this ce, and Shang looked over them. "Sure enough, you already got rid of the four that have been sent to defend the tunnel with me," Shangmented. The soldiers looked around and noticed that four of theirrades weren''t there. "Stop using others of such heinous actions while it is clear that you are the culprit!" the officer shouted. The enraged voice of the officer didn''t shock Shang. In fact, Shang knew that One would betray him. But how? And why? After all, One had saved Shang''s life, right? Well, even though the officer was a traitor, he had said one thing that was true. No n wasplete without at least one backup n. The overwhelming force that had attacked the tunnel had a chance of sess of over 90%, even with One''s re. After all, no one expected five Early General Stage warriors to kill eight Early General Stage warriors and one Mid General Stage warrior. The re was only a backup. What was the purpose? To make their inside agent, One, appear more trustworthy. After this mission, One could easily enter Duke Whirlwind''s personal army. He had proven beyond any doubt that he was loyal. After all, his actions had resulted in the deaths of several enemies. And even if the mission seeded and the True Path Stage beast went on a rampage, some of the soldiers would survive, and they would have borne witness to the fact that One''s signal had gone off. No matter what happened, One''s credibility would have shot through the roof. Initially, Shang hadn''t suspected One. After all, One''s actions had contributed to Shang''s survival. So, what made Shang suspicious? The money. One had 50,000 gold on hand. Which normal soldier had that much money on hand? Of course, One had also thought about that, but, in his mind, it wasn''t important. In One''s eyes, Zero was someone that had no affiliation and was only interested in money. One knew that Zero would connect One with Duke Mithril''s forces. But what did that matter? One didn''t care to which side he belonged. So what if he connected One to Duke Mithril? Since he was only here for the money, he would help regardless. If Shang had easily epted the proposal, One would have been suspicious. However, Shang''s actions of actually squeezing more money out of One in this situation alleviated a lot of his suspicions. A loyal soldier to Duke Whirlwind wouldn''t think about money in this situation. Zero was literally just a guy interested in his personal power and money. But all of this now begged another question. If Shang had known that One would betray him, why had he gone along with all of this? Why had he destroyed the shield? Why hadn''t he warned Two? Two reasons. First of all, Shang wanted to fish out all the traitors. As long as they didn''t do something outrageous, there wouldn''t be any proof. But now, with all of these witnesses, there would be proof. And second... Shang knew that he could deal with One and the officer. "You are hereby under arrest for treason!" the officer shouted. "Will youe peacefully, or do | have to cut off your arms?" Shang looked at the officer. ¡®This is just the fight | need.¡¯ ¡®Thest time | fought an average warrior two levels above myself, | barely lost.¡¯ ¡®But this time, | have gained much more experience, and | have gained a new ability.¡¯ ¡®Also, | finally know what that one guy used back then to win against me.¡¯ Shang readied his heavy sword. BANG! And Shang exploded forward. Chapter 241 Chapter 241 Shang charged toward the officer with quite a lot of speed as everyone looked at him in shock. Was Zero suicidal?! Why was he attacking a Late General Stage warrior?! Sure, he was being used of being a traitor, but at least he still had a chance of survival if heplied. But by directly attacking the officer, he was throwing hisst chance of survival out of the window! The officer readied his spear, and he looked into Shang''s eyes. He knew that Shang wasn''t weak, and he knew that he shouldn''t be too rxed in the fight. That guy''s sword had bisected a Mid General Stage beast. Sure, he had had some help, but that destructive power was no joke. Of course, the officer also knew that Zero had traded off his agility, speed, and flexibility in exchange for this overwhelming offense. In the officer''s mind, Zero was simply too slow. Inparison to Zero, the officer specialized in these three things. Without saying anything, the officer charged at Zero. On top of the hill, One looked at Zero, his expression unreadable behind his mask. The other soldiers only looked at the fight. Why should they get involved? Their officer was stronger than all of thembined. He didn''t need any help. On top of that, some of the soldiers harbored suspicions. Why would Zero suddenly attack One and Two? This didn''t make any sense.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. But they kept themselves out of the conflict. Right now, many soldiers weren''t sure which side they should believe, especially after Shang had said that the officer had already dealt with Shang''s four colleagues. Where were these four? Why weren''t they here? BANG! Suddenly, green wind appeared behind the officer, and he elerated a lot. In just an instant, he reached Shang, thrusting his spear forward. When Shang saw the attack, his eyes lit up. ¡®He''s underestimating me,¡¯ he thought at that moment. ''Seems like this fight won''t be a problem.¡¯ The officer had thrown all his power and speed into this one thrust without holding anything back. This made the attack harder to evade or defend against, but it also didn''t give him any opportunity to do a follow-up. Shang was right. The officer really underestimated him. Yes, Shang had an insane offense, but that wasn''t enough for the officer to really take him seriously. Why? Because Shang was two levels below the officer. This meant that Shang needed to jump two levels. No warrior could jump two levels. It was simply impossible. The difference in speed and power was just too overwhelming. Unleashing a fully powered attack was already overkill for dealing with an Early General Stage warrior in the officer''s mind. Zero wasn''t fast enough to evade, and if he blocked the attack, he would be thrown into the distance. Of course, all of this was only how the officer imagined the fight to go. Sadly, it wouldn''t go his way. Shang lifted his colossal sword, touching the side of its de with his left hand. BANG! The spear hit the side of the sword. CLINK! But then, the sword suddenly angled, and the spear passed the sword, now piercing towards the ground. The officer''s eyes widened at this moment. Aparry?! How could an Early General Stage warrior parry his fully powered attack?! An Early General Stage warrior didn''t have enough power to change the trajectory of his spear! This would be difficult even for Mid General Stage warriors! This was impossible! Sadly, the officer didn''t know about the procedure. Back when Shang had still been at the Initial General Stage, his body had already been one level higher than his level. However, the advantage that beasts had in terms of physical power only became greater as they became more powerful. And since the power of Shang''s procedure was determined by the power of beasts, his power also increased, just not as much. At the Initial General Stage, Shang had a physical body equivalent to an Early General Stage warrior. And now, at the Early General Stage, Shang had a physical body slightly more powerful than a Mid General Stage warrior. In the past, one could say that Shang''s power had received a +1. Now, it was more like a +1.2. Fighting the officer didn''t even count as jumping an entire level. CRRRRR! As the spear was diverted downward, Shang''s sword ground against the side of the spear. And then, it stopped. BANG! Ice Mana shot out of the sword''s de, freezing the flexible but tough spear shaft beneath it. At that moment, Shang''s left foot touched the back of his sword''s de. An instantter, Shang''s leg released an icy mist. BOOOOM! As Shang''s left leg pushed down, fire exploded out of the sword''s de, and the shaft beneath it broke. At that moment, time seemingly froze. Everyone was looking with shock at the broken weapon. How?! But just an instantter, an icy explosion appeared behind Shang, and he was catapulted forward. Due to his shock, the officer couldn''t react. This simply defied all logic! When the officer recovered, he only saw a knee. BANG! Shang''s knee exploded with fire, burning the officer''s face and blinding him. The officer fell back, letting his spear go as Shang''s body continued forward. Shang had too much momentum to be stopped by just hitting the head of someone. When Shang was above the officer''s head, he pointed his left arm to the sky. He had never pulled his sword up for another strike, which meant that it was currently below him. In short, it was between Shang and the officer''s neck. Shang''s left foot stepped on the back of his sword''s de again. BANG! After a fiery explosion, Shang was thrown down. BOOOOM! Acloud of dust appeared around the ce Shang and the officer had just been, making them invisible from everyone else. They still couldn''te to terms with what they had just seen. One''s expression wasn''t visible behind his mask, but his tensed body gave it away. He certainly wasn''t calm right now. Some secondster, the cloud of dust vanished, and the soldiers saw what had happened. The officery on the ground, face upward. Buried in his neck was Shang''s sword with Shang''s left foot on top of it. Abig part of the sword''s de was inside the ground, and surprisingly, even the hilt was in the ground. But the most shocking thing of all was the officer. He was still alive! But not by his own choice. At this moment, the officer was essentially nailed to the ground at his neck. The hilt entered the earth on his left, and the de entered the earth on his right. Astream of blood flowed out of the part of the officer''s neck where it touched the de, but this wasn''t enough to kill a General Stage warrior. However, if Shang decided to put some weight on his left foot, the officer''s neck would be severed. Silence. Nobody said anything. Suddenly, Shang bowed to the side. CRACK! Shang broke one of the officer''s fingers and retrieved the Space Ring on it. The officer tried to scream, but the blood and pressure in his head made it nearly impossible. Shang looked through the Space Ring, and some secondster, he summoned something. Shang dropped something besides the officer. Everyone looked over, and their eyes widened. The Communication Crystal! "Call your superior," Shang said coldly. Everyone became confused, including the officer. "| was framed, and | want a higher-ranked, neutral party here to investigate everything that happened." "If | kill you now, | don''t have enough evidence to convict you." ¡°Of course, if you refuse to contact your superior, | might identally slip and fall on my sword." ¡°You don''t want that, right?" Chapter 242 Chapter 242 The soldiers looked with shock at Shang. Call his superior? So, Zero truly was framed? Why else would he call for someone even higher-up in the chain ofmand? If Zero were a traitor, he would only make it even harder for himself to escape if a Commander Stage warrior arrived. The officer on the ground almost couldn''t believe what he had heard. Zero wanted him to call his superior? At this moment, the officer felt like the world wanted him to survive. He still hadn''te to terms with the fact that he had lost against an Early General Stage warrior, and now he had toe to terms with the fact that he survived after losing? This entire situation was just too surreal. The officer tried his best to move his hand to the Communication Crystal, but it was just out of reach. Shang lightly kicked it into the officer''s free hand with his free foot. The officer quickly activated the Communication Crystal and held it up in an awkward position. ¡°Report,¡± came the annoyed voice of the superior. The officer had trouble formting words due to the de buried partially in his neck. "Hello, sir," Shang said. "This is Zero, one of the soldiers under the sergeant. We require your help and judgment on a matter." "What? Why are you talking to me? Where''s Lance?" the superior asked with surprise and annoyance. "The sergeant can''t talk right now since my sword is partially buried in his neck, sir," Shang said. Silence. For several seconds, the superior didn''t say anything. "What do you want?" the superior asked through the Communication Crystal. "| was framed for treason,¡± Shang said. "The sergeant judged me to be a traitor without an investigation, and, well, you saw how that turned out." "| would like to request a neutral party to investigate this matter." For a while, nothing came out of the Communication Crystal. "I''ll be there in ten minutes. Do not, under any circumstances, injure anyone else. Everyone will remain where they are currently standing until this situation is resolved," the superiormanded. "Understood," Shang said. "We are east of the outpost." "| know where you are," the annoyed voice of the superior came. "Everyone, stay where you are!" And with that, the superior hung up. The officer put his hand down again and let the Communication Crystal fall to the side. "|... called him," he said with a lot of difficulty. "Can you... please... move?" ¡°And give you an opportunity to attack me again without underestimating my strength?" Shang asked with a snort. "No chance. You heard your superior. Everyone will wait exactly where we currently are." The officer wanted to grit his teeth, but that only caused him more pain.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Shang looked over at the masked One. "You didn''t think it would end like this when you killed Two, did you?" he asked. One didn''t say anything. Shang knew that One was a traitor, and One knew that Shang knew that. So, how did One feel at this moment? Extremely nervous. But not for the reason one might believe. In fact, shouldn''t One be excited deep inside? After all, the superior of the officer was also a traitor, right? Shang was essentially digging his own grave with this action. Sadly, that was just it. One remembered the conversation he had with Shang about half a day ago. One and Shang had talked about the fact that the superior of the officer might also be a traitor. So, obviously, Shang knew that. But then, why was he calling him? It made no sense! One refused to believe that Shang didn''t suspect the superior to be a traitor. But if he were a traitor, wasn''t Shang essentiallymitting suicide by calling him? Aless experienced person than One would think Shang to be stupid, but One didn''t believe Shang to be stupid. ¡®Zero must have some assurance with dealing with a traitorous Commander Stage warrior. | refuse to believe that he''s throwing his life away!¡¯ One thought. For the next minute, nobody moved, and the soldiers only looked at each other with confused expressions. They had no idea who was a traitor and who wasn''t. BANG! Suddenly, the ground below One exploded, and he charged towards the north. The other soldiers looked with shock at his rapidly retreating figure. Shang only snorted. "Quite smart. | can''t leave from this spot," he said. "Believe me now?" Shang asked. Asecondter, the soldiers recovered from their shock. "Catch him!" one of them shouted. After that, four soldiers charged after One with the intention of capturing him. The others remained at their positions, but their expressions had be less guarded against Shang. The innocent didn''t fear investigations, while the guilty ones did. It was clear to them who the traitor was. By now, the soldiers had calmed down, and they were talking with each other again. Most of them were talking about the fact that their officer and One had been traitors. In their mind, the officer''s and One''s guilt had already been proven by One''s sudden retreat. Ten minutes after the superior had been contacted, someone new arrived at the hill. It was that one Commander Stage warrior they had met before they went to the outpost, the leader of the closest town. The soldiers all saluted while Shang looked at the superior with a hidden sneer. "He came alone,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Which sane high-ranking officer woulde to such a situation without any backup?" This could have been a ploy to lure the superior out of the protection of his town. Nobody in the superior''s position would go to such a meeting alone. Unless they intended to hide the evidence and deal with the witnesses. The superior''s cold eyes inspected the surroundings and stopped when they saw Shang. It was clear who had been the one speaking to him on the Communication Crystal. At that moment, something appeared in Shang''s hand, and he showed it to the distant superior. Everyone looked over, and their eyes opened in shock. It was an emblem with two green wings on it. Some of the soldiers knew what this meant, and theirst doubts vanished. This was one of Duke Whirlwind''s personal emblems, and it was proof that the owner of the emblem was a personal friend of the Duke. Someone like that couldn''t be a traitor! The superior''s eyes widened in shock for a second, but they returned to their previous cold very quickly. "| need to check if it is real," the superior said coldly as he extended his hand towards the distant Shang. "There are a lot of fakes." Shang only smirked behind his mask. ¡°Here you go," he said as he threw it over. The superior caught it and looked at it for a while, his fingers caressing the design on the emblem. He inspected it for over five seconds, just looking at it with an entranced expression. "It''s real, right?" Shang asked with a smirk. The superior nced at Shang. Then, he put the emblem into his Space Ring. "Why are you asking such a stupid question?¡± the superior asked. "It''s obviously fake." The soldiers looked with shock at the superior. ¡°Even if we ignore this entire situation,¡± the superior said, gesturing to the officer beneath Shang''s de, "faking such an emblem is already a crime worthy of death." Then, the superior took out a long sword. "| will carry out the sentence right now." At that moment, the sheer power of the Commander Stage warrior filled the surroundings, and the soldiers found it difficult to breathe. Shang only smirked. Chapter 243 Chapter 243 The other soldiers became shocked and confused again. Too many twists had happened in thest hour. First, Zero was outed as a traitor. Then, Zero defeated the officer. After that, Zero proved his innocence. And now, Zero was a traitor again? Some of the soldiers became fearful. They weren''t stupid, and they knew that something didn''t make sense here. Was this Commander Stage warrior a traitor? Then, wouldn''t they be killed?! Shang only looked at the superior with a smirk. The superior took out his sword. And then... The superior fell to the ground, unconscious. Once more, the soldiers became shocked. What was going on?! Asecondter, the soldiers noticed that a new person stood beside the unconscious superior. This person was an older man with grey hair and grey robes. A grey Focus with two circlets was floating beside him as he looked at the unconscious superior. Most of the soldiers didn''t know who that was, but a couple of them could guess his identity. ¡°An Inquisitor?!" one of them whispered in shock. Right now, everything was silent, which made the soldier''s whisper echo throughout the surroundings, surprising the others. An Inquisitor was here?! What was an Inquisitor? An Inquisitor was a True Mage loyal to Duke Whirlwind. The requirements to be an Inquisitor were stringent, and they had to go through many evaluations to make sure they weren''t traitors before they could get that role. To be an Inquisitor, one first needed to be a very talented Early True Mage, at least. Second, one needed to have great knowledge of Mind Magic, which was a category of Magic that didn''t require an Affinity since it dealt with pure Mana and the mind. The job of an Inquisitor was to find traitors and extract information from their minds, and they were very good at it. Asecond after the superior fell to the ground, his Space Ring left his finger and flew over to the Inquisitor. The Duke''s emblem was taken out of the ring, and the Inquisitor looked at it for about two seconds. Then, the emblem floated back to Shang, who put it away. "Thanks," he said. Shang had known that an Inquisitor would be watching. Why? Because he had called them. Shang''s job was to root out traitors and to inform the relevant authorities, which were the Inquisitors. Shang''s job was never to kill the traitors. When Shang had won against the officer, he had taken out an emblem filled with Magic Circles from his world. Luckily, he didn''t need to summon it into his hands to activate it. As long as he destroyed it, it would send a signal to any Inquisitor in a radius of about 100 kilometers, who would thenmunicate with each other. Because of that, Shang summoned the emblem into his boot and simply stepped on it, which was enough to destroy it. Duke Whirlwind had told Shang that about two to three Inquisitors were always on standby on the battlefield. As long as Shang broke the emblem, one of them would arrive in, at most, ten minutes. But most of the time, they would only take three to five minutes. The Inquisitor looked at Shang. "You can step away from him," he said. Shang looked down and noticed that the officer below him had also lost consciousness. Shang grabbed his sword and stepped to the side. ¡°Are there any other traitors?" the Inquisitor asked evenly. "One masked guy fled to the north a couple of minutes ago," Shang said. "He is also a traitor." ¡°Finding him won''t be a problem. | marked him with the Inquisitor''s Dust earlier." "We know," the Inquisitor said. "He should have already been apprehended." Shang nodded. Before Shang had met with One and Two, he had stealthily taken out a small bit of dust, which he had then put on himself. The Inquisitor''s Dust acted like a beacon for Inquisitors. Nobody else would notice it, but the Inquisitors could feel it. And the best part, as long as anyone came into contact with one person covered in Inquisitor''s Dust, the surrounding people would also be contaminated by it. This meant that every single person that had been on or near the hill for the past 30 minutes was now trackable by Inquisitors. At that moment, the quiet sound of something being pulled along the ground could be heard, and the people looked over. At the foot of the hill was another man with grey robes and a grey Focus. Inparison to the first Inquisitor, this one looked much younger. Surprisingly, the second Inquisitor was pulling a chain with three unconscious people attached to it. Shang looked over and saw that One was one of them. The other two were two of the soldiers that had been chasing One to apprehend him. "| found two corpses of Early General Stage warriors on my way," the second Inquisitor said. When the soldiers heard that, a pit appeared in their stomachs, and they red at the three unconscious people. It was obvious what had happened.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. One had fled, and two other traitors acted like they wanted to chase him so that they could also flee. However, two innocent soldiers followed them. They only wanted to help apprehend One. Sadly, as soon as they left everyone''s field of vision, the two traitors dealt with the two innocent soldiers before fleeing with One. The soldiers almost couldn''t believe that there were so many traitors! About a quarter of all the soldiers stationed here were traitors! That was insane! "A Pest Queen will fill her nest with Pest Cats," the older Inquisitor said as he nced at the superior lying beside him. Shang also nced at the superior. The superior was probably the one that hadmand over the northeastern region of the battlefield, and with his authority, it wasn''t very difficult to allow more traitors to join. His n had probably been to slowly kill off all the loyal soldiers at the northeastern part of the battlefield and get more traitors to replenish the ranks. Like that, they could destroy thend and deliver resources to Duke Mithril. ¡°Are there any more traitors?" the older Inquisitor asked Shang again. "There is one | suspect, but I''m not sure if he actually is one or not. It''s just a feeling," Shang said. "I leave it to your discretion on how to proceed on this matter." The Inquisitor kept looking at the gathered soldiers. "You were the one stationed here. You know these people far better than us. "If you are not certain, you can ask for a Mind Read of that person. However, if the used is proven to be innocent, you will have to pay an expensive fine," the Inquisitor exined. Shang hesitated for about two seconds, but in the end, he decided to trust his feelings on this one. "| would like to request a Mind Read on this person," Shang said as he gestured to a bald man amongst the soldiers. The soldiers looked with shock at the bald man. This was the leader of the Idealists! The bald man looked with shock and anger at Shang. It was like Shang had just used him of being a traitor, which was actually exactly what Shang had done. Chapter 244 Chapter 244 The soldiers stepped away from their leader, who only gritted his teeth. "What is the meaning of this?!" he shouted. "I don''t consent to this." Then, everyone heard the sound of scraping bodies on the ground, and without anyone noticing, the younger Inquisitor arrived behind the leader, who quickly turned around to face him in fear. ¡°Your consent isn''t relevant," the young Inquisitor said as his hand threateningly stretched towards the bald man¡¯s head. At that moment, Mana gathered around the man''s head.This is from N?velDrama.Org. He was trying to kill himself with his Affinity! But, of course, he didn''t even have the power to kill himself in front of an Inquisitor. The Inquisitor''s hand reached the man''s head in an instant, and he became unconscious. The soldiers looked with shock and fear at the Inquisitor. And then, two other soldiers tried to kill themselves. But, just like the bald man, these two also became unconscious as soon as they showed an inkling of resistance. None of them could escape. Inquisitors were very good at their job. After that, everyone became silent out of fear. Onerade after the other had be unconscious, and the soldiers feared that they would also fall victim to the Inquisitors if they showed any sign of resistance. To these soldiers, these Inquisitors were some of the most terrifying existences they had ever seen. People just became unconscious in their mere presence! Over the next five minutes, the younger Inquisitor''s hand remained on the bald man''s head, both their eyes closed. The older Inquisitor kept watch while his younger colleague was doing his job. Eventually, the younger Inquisitor opened his eyes and stood up. "There is a barrier in his mind," he said. "Follow protocol," the older Inquisitor said. The younger one nodded and summoned several more chains, which he then put on every other unconscious person, including the superior and the officer. In the end, eight people were attached to the chain. ¡°Anyone else?" the older Inquisitor asked, ncing at Shang. "No," Shang said. The older Inquisitor nodded. "The Grand Inquisitor has been informed. The Inquisition officially assumesmand over the northeastern region. All soldiers are to be stationed inside their outposts and towns. Any soldiers leaving the confines of their outposts or towns will be killed or apprehended.¡± "Three Circles have been sent to iste the nearest town. Nobody is allowed to leave or enter. Every other outpost will also be guarded by one Circle each. You all willply with the orders of said Mages." The Inquisitor looked at all the soldiers. "You will enter your outpost immediately." The soldiers quickly saluted out of fear and ran to the outpost they had built just two months ago. "You wille with us," the older Inquisitor ordered Shang. Shang nodded. After that, the two Inquisitors lightly stepped forward, but their speed was already quite impressive. Shang charged after them in silence. Acouple of minutester, they arrived at the nearest town. Shang could already see several Mages stationed around the town in a big circle, and he could also see three corpses lying between the Mages and the town. The Mages obviously weren''t joking around. The older Inquisitor looked at Shang. "! will be responsible for investigating this town. You will follow him back to the Storm Eagle Zone," the older Inquisitor said, gesturing to his younger colleague dragging the eight unconscious people. "The Grand Inquisitor has ordered for your return. Your mission ends here." "He also told me to tell you that your work has been exceptional and that you have been a great help to Greenwind County." The older Inquisitor''s voice didn''t sound happy or excited. He only ryed the words with a robotic voice. Shang only nodded. Then, without saying anything, the older Inquisitor entered the town, and the people inside the town would learn to fear him. ¡°Follow me," the younger one said as he elerated towards the south. Shang didn''t say anything and only wordlessly followed him. Obviously, these Inquisitors weren''t the talkative kind, which was why Shang didn''t annoy them with questions. As Shang traveled towards the south in silence, he had time to rey his two-month stay in the battlefield in his head. By now, the n of the traitors also became clear. The superior had, over many years of hard work, managed to assumemand over an entire region. In order to steal all the resources and make thend useless, he slowly added more and more traitors into the ranks. Two of these traitors had been the officer, Lance, and a masked man, One. On the surface, their job was to build an outpost and to make thend habitable and rich in opportunities to earn money. But, in truth, their job was to eliminate all the loyal soldiers and slowly fill the ranks with traitors. If all the traitors had been sent to this ce at the same time, some questions would have been brought up. After all, traitors often had an unknown history. Filling an entire outpost with only people with unknown histories? That would have been too suspicious. Because of that, they had to do it slowly, one wave at a time. The first innocent soldier they had killed had been one of the students that had identally attacked a Mid General Stage beast. The officer had given themand with the reason of teaching the students a lesson, and One had enforced it by assuming command of the group and stopping them. The second innocent soldier had been one of the Scumbags. He had reported something, and the officer had killed him. ording to him, the Scumbag had lied. Next, three soldiers died while delivering the goods to the town. The group consisted of one traitor and three innocent people. The person with the Space Ring had been the traitor, and he had stealthily put resources into the innocent soldiers¡¯ pockets. The soldiers had no idea how these resources got there, but the guards of the town, which were probably also traitors, didn''t care and killed them. After that, it was time to deal with Zero and four other soldiers. The traitorous leader of the Idealists picked four innocent soldiers to go with Zero to a ce that would soon be attacked by Duke Mithril''s hidden forces. As insurance, One gave Zero a way to contact him. Like that, One would gain the trust of everyone around him. After all, he had done more to save hisrades than necessary. The lower timeframe with the new signal wasn''t actually important. The chances of this bit of time making a difference in the oue were minuscule, and the additional payoff was worth the added risk. The reason why Shang had suspected the leader of the Idealists of being a traitor was that four loyal soldiers had been sent with him. If the leader were innocent, he wouldn''t know who was and who wasn''t a traitor, and with the number of traitors, the chances were high of at least one person betraying Zero during the attack. But all four soldiers had resisted. When the officer and One noticed that everyone had returned, they realized that they couldn''t be as subtle anymore. Several people were already suspecting the officer, and if one traitor fell, everyone could fall. So, they concocted a scheme to deal with Zero and Two, two of the most powerful loyal soldiers. After dealing with those two, the officer and One could slowly whittle down the remainder. Sure, the officer would have been sent somewhere else to keep up appearances, but that didn''t matter. The superior would have simply given someone a temporary leadership role. And which two people would everyone want as their new superior? One or the leader of the Idealists. Both were good choices. Everyone else would believe that all the traitors were gone. After all, so many had already died, right? On top of that, they now had a leader everyone trusted. They voted them into the position themselves, after all. And like that, the outpost would have been slowly overtaken by the traitors. Sadly, Shang had ruined their n by luring every traitor into a trap. All of them had gathered, and the most crucial and important person, the superior, had shown in front of the eyes of the Inquisitor that he was a traitor. How? Duke Whirlwind''s Emblem. Shang had thrown it to him. Someone of the superior''s standing could tell the difference between a real and fake one. If he said it was real, he couldn''t get rid of all the witnesses. If he said it was real and killed Shang, everyone would have scattered, fleeing for their lives, and if only one of them survived, everything could potentially crumble around the traitors. This was a huge risk. So, of course, the superior said it was fake. He would execute Shang, let the officer heal himself, andstly, they would all kill the surrounding soldiers. With all of them working together, nobody would be able to escape. Then, they would simply frame everything to look like they had died to some random Late General Stage beast that found its way here. The superior had been called to deal with it, but when he arrived, over half the soldiers had already died. How tragic. But, in the end, Shang had outsmarted them. It wasn''t easy, and there had been a lot of unknown factors, but Shang had managed to get the best result possible. All traitors survived, and they all were in the Inquisitors'' custody. Shang hadn''t killed even a single traitor. He had only done his job. Find the traitors and report them to the relevant authorities. That was it. Chapter 245 Chapter 245 Shang followed the young Inquisitor for about two hours until they reached the border to the actual Ice Wyvern Zone. With the Inquisitor present and with Shang not needing to slow down his speed, the journey didn''t take as long as the first time. When they entered the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Inquisitor stopped and turned to Shang. "We passed the border now," the Inquisitor said. "This is where we part ways. You are to report back to whoever gave you your job." Shang nodded. "I will. Thanks for escorting me." Shang wasn''t stupid. Even though he hadn''t seen any guards at the border, it didn''t mean that there weren''t any. The entire battlefield was probably under a strict lockdown, and without the Inquisitor apanying him, someone would have probably stopped Shang. The Inquisitor nodded. "The Lead Inquisitor isn''t someone that praises people," the younger Inquisitor said. "However, | want to iterate that your work has helped us a lot. You managed to personally root out eight traitors, with one of them being in a high position, and you indirectly unmasked maybe dozens more." "You did an excellent job."Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. "Thanks," Shang said. He had thought that he would feel great when hearing praise from someone so powerful, but for some reason, Shang didn''t feel as much. It was like the praise didn''t really matter to him. "| wish you luck on your future journey," the Inquisitor said before charging into the distance. His speed was far faster than earlier. Shang only nodded absentmindedly since his mind was upied right now. ¡®| wonder why getting praised didn''t feel as good as I''ve imagined. Isn''t it normal to feel proud of myself when someone much more powerful than me tells me | did a great job?" ¡®Why didn''t | feel like that?¡¯ For a while, Shang only remained on the same spot, deep in thought. ''| think it''s my goal,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®My goal is far beyond the power of anyone in this ce, which is why | don''t really care for their praise.¡¯ At that moment, Shang got reminded of his old struggle with his attitude. Be brutal to others? Help others so that they help him? Which one was better for reaching supreme power? How did the Mage Emperor be so powerful back then? What was his personality like? Shang sighed. ¡®There''s no use thinking about that. ording to the God, | asked exactly that question as my third one. Making any decision right now is pointless since | will get the right answerter.¡¯ ¡®| just have to wait and be more powerful.¡¯ After thinking that, Shang''s mind returned to the present, and he looked for an isted ce. Shang searched around for something specific, and a couple of minutester, he found it. Shang found the nest of a Pest Cat and killed it. Then, he entered its nest. SHING! Agreen academy uniform appeared before Shang together with a long spear. The spear was made of Mid General Stage Rank materials and was green in color. Shang dumped his armor into his inner world and changed into his academy uniform. Then, Shang took off his mask and also put it into his inner world. Now, Shang''s face was finally revealed. He had a chiseled jaw and a messy, unshaven beard. One would think that he looked like an athlete that neglected their appearance due to a slump. Shang grabbed Sword and shaved. Back at the academy, Shang hadn''t been able to use Sword for shaving since it had been too stupid tomunicate with. It instinctively refused to hurt Shang. But now, Sword was smart enough to see what Shang wanted andplied. After a good shave, Shang used Sword to cut off his long hair, its length returning to the usual. Shang looked at Sword. "I''ll have to put you into my world for a couple of hours. You''re too conspicuous. As soon as | reach the academy, I''ll get you back out." "| understand,¡± Sword answered. Shang nodded and put Sword and all his other belongings back into his inner world. Lastly, he summoned a long ck coat, which hid his entire body. After putting it on, Shang charged out of one of the side entrances of the nest. This had been why Shang had searched for a Pest Cat nest. If someone were following Shang, they would only need to keep watch over one entrance if Shang entered a cave. But with a Pest Cat nest, they would need to watch several entrances at once, which would force them to go to a more conspicuous location. As Shang charged out, he quickly scanned his surroundings. He didn''t see anyone. Right now, Shang lookedpletely different from his old persona, Zero. Shang wore a green uniform, wore no mask, carried a spear on his back, and hid everything about himself in a ck cloak. The only connection to Zero some people could draw would be Shang''s height and frame, but there were several warriors that would fit these criteria. Shang traveled through the entire Ice Wyvern Zone. Thanks to his studies, he knew which ces he had to avoid. If someone just blindly ran through the Ice Wyvern Zone, they could very well meet a Commander Stage beast. However, Shang''s journey wasn''t entirely safe. In order to avoid watching eyes, he mainly traveled through General Stage Wildernesses. Shang could kill Early General Stage beasts by using his spear. If he wanted to kill a Mid General Stage beast, he would need to get out his sword. Shang wasn''t able to kill a Late General Stage beast, but he could escape from them. The only problem would be Peak General Stage beasts, but they also didn''t really care about some Early General Stage warrior. .. At least, that''s how it would have been. Sadly for Shang, it had be apparent that beasts hated him. Back during the trial, the beasts had be irrationally angry when they had seen him, and that phenomenon hadn''t stopped after Shang had left the trial. Over thest couple of months, it had be apparent that every beast that saw Shang wanted to kill him. So, if Shang actually met a Peak General Stage beast, he would be in trouble. But that was why he was wearing the cloak. As long as the beasts didn''t see his eyes or got a chance to look at his body for a while, they wouldn''t really pay much attention to him. They only got aggressive if they could actually look at him for some seconds. The Dean guessed that this was due to Shang''s mixed nature. He wasn''t a pure Abomination, but he also wasn''t a pure human. This confused the beasts for a while. If any beast saw an Abomination, they would immediately attack it in a blind rage. Shang met a couple of General Stage beasts, but most of them ignored him when they saw his speed. That thing was too small and fast. It would be too much work to chase it. There was one Mid General Stage beast that became interested, but by "flying" away with a couple of Ice and Fire sts, Shang managed to get rid of it. Two hourster, Shang reached the Storm Eagle Zone, entering through the northwestern Wild Forest. From that moment on, Shang wasn''t in any danger anymore. Only Soldier Stage beasts were here. Yes, there could also be some General Stage beasts, but they were very rare and oftentimes also on the weaker side. Before Shang reached the Farm line, he unbuttoned his cloak, allowing it to flow behind him in the wind. He did this to show his academy uniform. If someone in a ck cloak shot through the Farm Line, the guards would probably be suspicious and interrogate him. But with his academy uniform, they would ignore him. At this moment, only Shang''s head and back were hidden by the cloak. As Shang charged through the Farm Line, he saw a couple of dogs sniffing in his direction. Shang remembered the first time he had gotten here. Back then, the Farm Dogs had been unfathomable monsters to him. Now, Shang was theoretically powerful enough to run on a rampage in the Farm Line as long as no other human got involved. ¡®Times change." After some time, Shang reached the gates of Warrior''s Paradise. For just a moment, Shang looked at it. ¡®It''s been about two months since I''ve been here." ¡®d to be back home." Chapter 246 Chapter 246 Right now, it was in the middle of the night. The ploy to kill the officer had begun at nightfall, and just a couple of hours had passed since then. Shang walked over to the side gate since the main gates were closed during the night. "Space Ring," the guard said with boredom. Shang put his Space Ring on the table. After that, the guard took out a crystal and moved it all over Shang''s body. This crystal was a smaller version of the bigger crystals above the gate. The big crystals had the ability to prate a Space Ring''s defense and scan the insides, but the smaller one didn''t. However, it could see if someone wore a Space Ring or not. This crystal was basically there to stop people from smuggling any illegal goods into the city. The crystal didn''t show any rm, and the guard put it away. Then, the guard looked through the Space Ring. There was just some random stuff in there. Nothing special. The guard handed it back to Shang and opened the side gate for him. Shang nodded and entered the city. Just like the first time Shang had arrived in Warrior''s Paradise, it was deathly silent. Shang immediately went to the main square and then to the academy.N?velDrama.Org content rights. In front of the academy gates, Shang saw a sleeping, middle-aged man. ¡®Isn''t that a familiar image?¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at teacher Loran. Shang ignored teacher Loran and went to the gate. "Wait a second," teacher Loran said as he suddenly opened his eyes. Shang didn''t look at him. "| don''t know you,¡± teacher Loran said. "Who are you?" Shang deepened his voice. "My identity doesn''t concern you." Right now, basically everything regarding Shang was a secret, even in the academy. Thest time anyone had seen Shang had been about a year ago, during the Day of Chaos. After that, Shang hadpletely vanished. Shang had been underground for a month preparing for the trial. Then, another eight months had passed in preparation for Shang''s new job. Lastly, a bit more than two months had passed while Shang had been on a mission. In short, it had been nearly a year since anyone had seen him, and he had changed tremendously during that year. It was no surprise that teacher Loran didn''t recognize him. When teacher Loran heard Shang''s words, he snorted. "Doesn''t concern me?" he asked. "I''m the guard. I''m responsible for only letting in people that are allowed to enter." ¡°You will tell me who you are.¡± At that moment, teacher Loran''s eyes narrowed. WHOOOM! Shang felt an incredible pressure appear around him. Right now, Shang felt like he was in front of an incredibly powerful Commander Stage beast. The pressure teacher Loran gave off was even higher than the pressure the superior had given off. Teacher Loran was definitely more powerful than the traitorous superior. "He''s truly powerful,¡¯ Shang thought. ''If he wanted to do something to me, | wouldn''t even have the slightest ability to resist.¡¯ At that moment, something appeared in Shang''s hand, and he pointed it to teacher Loran. It was the Duke''s emblem. Teacher Loran narrowed his eyes when he saw the emblem, and his pressure lessened. However, it didn''tpletely vanish. "We might be in Duke Whirlwind''s territory, but the warrior''s academy is politically neutral," teacher Loran said. "I can let you in, but | still need to look at you in case you do something we don''t want you to do and escape." This put Shang in a troublesome situation. No one was allowed to see his identity, but he also had to enter the academy. "Fine," Shang said as he put the emblem away. Teacher Loran waited for Shang to take off his cloak. However, Shang simply turned around and walked away. "Where are you going?" teacher Loran asked with furrowed brows. "| will return during the day. You won''t let me in, but Soran will," Shang said. Shang hadn''t met his disciple brother Soran very often in thest couple of months, but as the Dean''s student, he had still gotten the privilege to refer to Soran with just his first name. Soran and Shang didn''t get along very well, which was why they avoided each other most of the time. However, Soran and Shang still knew that they had to work together at least. Teacher Loran looked at the leaving Shang with a bitter expression. This was suspicious! However, he also couldn''t stop him from leaving. After all, he hadn''t tried to forcefully enter the academy. "You''re back." The two stopped suddenly as a third person appeared in front of Shang. It was the Dean. "Yes, I''m back," Shang said. The Dean nodded. "Let''s go inside. The city can defend itself for a night without me." Then, the Dean looked at teacher Loran. "Good work." Teacher Loran stood up respectfully and bowed a slight bit. "Just doing my job." Teacher Loran had handled the situation perfectly. One had to remember that, at this moment, Shang represented Duke Whirlwind''s faction. The academy was inside Duke Whirlwind''s territory, but just as teacher Loran said, the academy was politically neutral. Letting a political figure enter the academy just like that was bad. However, the academy also had to show respect to Duke Whirlwind''s faction. Because of that, teacher Loran had said that Shang could enter, but he would need to show his identity. Additionally, he would have probably also been followed around during the night until one of the Vice-Deans returned in the morning. Teacher Loran''s job was only to deal with visitors during the night and only as long as no one higher ranked than him was avable. After that, it would be their job. In short, teacher Loran did his job the same way Shang did it. It wasn''t his job to judge the visitor, but it was his job to keep everything in order while the superiors weren''t avable. Shang and the Dean jumped over the gate and entered the academy. The academy was mostly empty during the night, but there were still the asional students training during the night. The two of them entered the main building and went into the secret basement. After walking for a while, they entered Shang''s old room. Shang put his cloak and spear away before summoning Sword. "I''m back," Sword said to Shang. Shang smiled a little. "You are." Surprisingly, this had been the very first time the two of them had been apart without being able to see each other. Ever since Shang had entered the world, the two of them had always been in each other''s presence. "How did the job go?" Shang''s teacher asked. "| met with a group of about 30 warriors in the morning of..." Over the next hour, Shang told the Dean everything he had done during his job. The Dean listened andmented on a couple of things Shang could have done better. Shang listened to everything his teacher told him. After all, the Dean had a lot of experience. After Shang was done retelling everything, the Dean nodded. "You did well." And then, something surprising happened. When the Inquisitor had praised Shang, he hadn''t felt anything. But now that the Dean said it... Shang didn''t feel so bad. Chapter 247 Chapter 247 The Dean and Shang talked for about two more hours, and the Dean also told Shang about his progress. In thest two months, the Dean had managed to perform another sessful procedure. This was now the third sessful procedure the Dean had managed to perform. Shang had been the first. The second one had been performed about three months ago on someone with a warrior''s body and good resistance to pain. The newest one had beenpleted a couple of days ago, and it had been performed on someone with a weak resistance to pain but with a warrior''s body. "This means the procedure is now safe for everyone with a warrior''s body?" Shang asked. The Dean nodded. "Correct. Jerald managed to create a Spell that suppresses the Mana of someone with a warrior''s body, which means that the patient doesn''t need to be awake anymore during the procedure, making resistance to pain irrelevant." "It isn''tpletely safe, but | don''t have to follow the draconian restrictions regarding medicine from Earth in this world," the Dean said. "It''s not a big issue if some patients die." "The Spell can be performed by any True Mage, and the procedure can also be performed by Soran and Ranos. It''s no longer necessary to have Jerald and me present during the procedure." As Shang listened to the Dean, he realized that the day when every warrior could undergo the procedure was not far into the future. The world was about to change. "| will let Ranos and Soran perform one more procedure each to see if they can be trusted with it. And then..." "We can go public." Shang nodded. "Do you need me to do anything?¡± ¡°For now, you can return back to your school life. You don''t need to hide anymore. Of course, you need to change your weapon first. Otherwise, people might connect you to your persona from the mission." ¡°For that, you can use this." Then, something appeared in the Dean''s hand. It was a ck pedestal, about one meter high. And on the pedestal... Was nothing. Shang furrowed his brows. "There''s nothing on it." "That''s it!" Sword said to Shang. "What?" Shang asked. "The ore! That is the ore | need!" Sword said. Shang looked at the pedestal, but he couldn''t see anything. "I''m talking about the pedestal itself," the Dean said. "The pedestal?" Shang asked as his eyes widened. "That''s the ore?" The Dean nodded. "This ore is virtually useless. It''s very brittle, and it can''t absorb any Elemental or Neutral Mana." "For all intents and purposes, the ore is worthless. The only interesting aspect is its incredible rarity." "The Old King kept it due to its rarity, and he used it as a pedestal for the actual prizes in his trial. It wasn''t a prize in and of itself." "Jerald tested it. Apparently, it counts as being at the Initial Commander Stage Rank." The Dean put it in front of Shang, and Shang looked at it. That was a lot of ore! Shang guessed that this was about 100 units! "This is all yours," the Dean said. Shang looked at it for a while, but he was interrupted by Sword jumping onto the ore. "Can you absorb all of it like that?" Shang asked. "! don''t want you to be even bigger." "Don''t know," Sword answered. Shang only looked at it with a raised eyebrow. Over the next seconds, Sword rapidly absorbed about half of the pedestal before it stopped. Then, Sword jumped into Shang''s hand. "That''s as much as | can take,¡± it exined. "My abilities didn''t increase, but | managed to transform theposition of myself. | can now destroy parts of myself to unleash a powerful attack." Sword was made up of about 50 units of ore, and it had absorbed 50 units of ore from the pedestal just now. Shang quickly made the connection in his head. ¡°How powerful is the attack?" Shang asked. ¡°Not as powerful as when you use it yourself, but still quite powerful," Sword answered. ¡°Aren''t you heavier and harder than me?" Shang asked. "Shouldn''t your attack be stronger?¡± m, but I''m pretty sure it isn''t," Sword answered. "I don''t know why." "How can | use it?" Shang asked. ¡°Just tell me when you want to use it," Sword answered. "| can use it whenever. But you also need to tell me how much you want to use. If | use everything, | will die."Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Shang nodded. Then, he looked back at the Dean. "You want me to use the attack to change Sword''s appearance?" he asked. "Yes," the Dean answered, "you told me of what you can do with your Affinity, and if your weapon follows the same principle, it should be able to change its shape by sacrificing part of itself. It''s better to have the weapons forge themselves than to interfere with their appearance." ¡°Also, | want to test how powerful the attack is," the Dean said as he stood up. Shang looked at his teacher. "You want me to use it on you?" The Dean nodded as he stopped on the other side of the room. "If | feel any danger, | will evade." Shang didn''t feel good about this, and he became a bit nervous. The Dean noticed Shang''s expression and lifted an eyebrow in skepticism. "Are you actually afraid that you might identally injure the most powerful warrior in the world while being at the General Stage?" Shang became surprised, and his nervous expression transformed into an embarrassed chuckle. "Sorry. | think | forgot myself." After that, Shang and Sword talked about what they wanted Sword to look like in the future. The only reason why Sword had be so big was to disguise Shang. Sword needed a new appearance. Initially, they wanted to return Sword to its initial appearance, but then Shang got an idea. After sharing his idea, they both decided that they wanted to make Sword a bit bigger, but not as big as its current appearance. Some minutester, Shang readied his sword again. "I will start." The Dean only nodded. ¡°Let''s go!" Shang said to Sword. Shang shed forward. Suddenly, ck smoke covered Sword, making it appear like it was on fire. As the sword moved through the atmosphere, a ck streak was left behind. It was almost like the atmosphere had stopped existing. The Dean''s eyes kept looking at Sword. BANG! The Dean caught the edge of Shang''s sword with his left hand. Shang felt like he had hit a wall, and his body shook due to the vibrations. The smoke lifted, and a shining ck, straight de was unveiled in the Dean''s hand. Sword''s appearance had changed. Sword had a simr form to its original one, but there were some differences. The original form was thin and straight, almost like a nail. Its new one was a bit longer but several times thicker and wider. However, it wasn''t as big as its earlier form when Shang had acted as Zero. The original version had beenprised of seven units of ore. The Zero-version had beenprised of about 60 units of ore. And the newest version wasprised of about 30 units of ore. It was about four times as voluminous as its original version, mainly due to the increased width. Now, Sword was about 1.5 meters long and 15 centimeters wide. Shang looked at Sword and nodded in appreciation. This was exactly what he had in mind. His sword was now a smaller version of Astor''s sword. Then, Shang looked at the Dean. ¡°How strong was the attack?" Chapter 248 Chapter 248 "The attack has the power of a Spell from a Peak Adept," the Dean said. Shang nodded. That was about what he had expected. Sacrificing a bit of General Stage ore to unleash an attack at the Commander Stage would have been too good to be true. Yes, it definitely wasn''t even nearly as strong as when Shang used Entropy himself, but the cost was far more manageable. Using Entropy himself would cripple Shang permanently, while this attack only cost a bit of ore. On top of that, a Peak Adept could release terrifying power, enough to severely injure a Peak General Stage beast. All of this sounded great, but there was one issue. "The attack doesn''t be faster," Shang said as he scratched his chin. The Dean nodded. "You need to hit your opponent with it. " The speed was a big issue. Theoretically, Shang could seriously injure a Peak General Stage beast, which was three levels above him, but in practice, Shang wouldn''t be able to injure a Peak General Stage beast at all. Beasts had terrifying instincts, and they would feel the dangering from Shang''s attack. With their incredible speed, they would easily be able to avoid the attack just by jumping back. "However, the attack still gives me a chance to win against a Late General Stage beast,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®If | had that ability during the trial, | could have killed that porcupine. It wasn''t as fast and was focused on defense. | should have been able to hit it.¡¯ At that moment, Shang remembered something else. Hadn''t he had that thought once before? Wait, could he...? At that moment, Shang furrowed his brows, and after a while, he smirked. ¡®It should work." ¡®It seems like my power has increased yet again! At that moment, something appeared in the Dean''s hands, and Shang looked at it. It was a small, green pill. "This will undo the effects of your disguise," the Dean said. Shang nodded, grabbed the pill, and swallowed it. Momentster, Shang''s body began to ripple like it was water, and his body began to thin. About a minuteter, the effect of the pill ended, and Shang''s new body was unveiled. Inparison to before, Shang now had a lean and athletic body. His earlier one was way too bulky, and Shang wasn''t a big fan of that look, especially since the thick muscles had hampered his agility, flexibility, and speed. And with that, Shang hadpletely transitioned away from Zero. Shang hadpletely returned to himself. Shang was about 185 centimeters tall, athletic, and had short ck hair. His eyes were ck, and he was clean-shaven. On his back was a long and thick, straight, ck sword. The only annoying part was Shang''s clothing. He still wore this annoying green uniform, but there was no way around that. Allin all, one could say that Shang now looked like a mixture of his past self and Zero. He was not small and nimble, but he also wasn''t huge and wide. He was perfectly in the middle. The good of both worlds. The Dean looked at Shang and nodded. "That should be enough. You still somewhat resemble your old self, but no one will connect you to Zero." Asmall booklet appeared in the Dean''s hand, and he gave it to Shang. Shang looked at it and noticed that it was a list of teachers. Beside every name was a time frame. "This is for our General Stage students,¡± the Dean exined. "There aren''t that many of you, which makes the creation of a lesson pointless. Additionally, you all focus on different things." "Because of that, students at the General Stage are allowed to visit the teachers during their respective times. Most of them only have an hour of time per day, but that should count for more than a lesson when you can ask whatever questions you want." Shang noticed that there were some oveps, but those weren''t really problematic. At that moment, Shang also remembered that he had seen some teachers sitting on a couple of benches during the day and some older students asking them something.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Shang had thought that the teachers were simply taking a break, but apparently, they didn''t. ¡°How long do | have, approximately?" Shang asked. ¡°About a month," the Dean answered. "We should have two more proceduresplete by then. After that, | need you for maybe a week or so." Shang nodded. "No problem. So, until then, | can simply do whatever | want?" The Dean also nodded. "Try to keep the procedure a secret until then. It would be best if you avoided fighting or hunting with any other students during that time, and if you have to, try to act like your body is weaker than it actually is." "Jerald said that he still wants to wait for you to be more familiar with your Mana and your Affinity before he sends you the next set of Spells. You might have finished testing out all the initial Spells, but there is a lot more he wants to know. Of course, you have to be more powerful first." ¡°We still don''t know what your Affinity is, and Jerald wants to know desperately." Shang nodded. Yes, Shang hadn''t told his teacher about what his Affinity was specifically. It wasn''t that Shang didn''t trust his teacher. If his teacher knew, he would probably not change at all. However, the problem was the Dean''s closeness to Duke Whirlwind. The Dean might tell the Duke about Shang''s Affinity. Sure, the Duke might also not do anything crazy with it, but what if he told someone? What if it reached the Skythunder King''s ears? What if the Skythunder King knew something about Shang''s Affinity that the Duke didn''t? What if this posed a problem? Shang knew that there were far, far more powerful Mages in the world than King Skythunder. Maybe King Skythunder also didn''t know anything about Shang''s Affinity. However, if the outside world had a connection to this ce, the connection would most likely be the strongest people in this ce, namely the Kings. So, what if the Dean told Duke Whirlwind, Duke Whirlwind told King Skythunder, and King Skythunder told the outside world? At that moment, Shang could get into danger. This ce had no idea what Shang''s Affinity was, but the outside probably did. Shang''s mind went back to the time he had realized that his Affinity was Entropy. Obviously, the Abominations shared Shang''s Affinity. Shang didn''t know where these Abominations came from, but what if the more powerful people did? What if the Abominations counted as their mortal enemies? After all, no world wanted to be turned into a mass of energy. Because of all these reasons, Shang hadn''t told anyone about his specific Affinity. He had even somewhat changed the description of his ability. Instead of saying that his Affinity turned matter into energy, Shang had said that it produced a beam of ck fire that didn''t harm him. Like that, the Dean would believe it had something to do with antimatter instead of Entropy, and everyone else would be confused. After all, Mages probably didn''t know about antimatter. "No problem," Shang answered. "Just tell me when he thinks I''m powerful enough." After that, the Dean and Shang talked some more about what Shang would do for the next month, and a couple of minutester, the Dean left. Shang looked around the underground room. "It should be morning by now," he said. ¡°Want to go meet the other students again after a year, Sword?" Shang asked. "| have no connection to them." Silence. "Well, okay," Shang said. And then, Shang left the room. After nearly a full year, Shang was about to return to the academy. Chapter 249 Chapter 249 Shang stepped through the open doors of the main building and entered the courtyard of the academy. Some of the lessons had already started, but not all of them. Some students were training, but most of them were walking around from one ce to another. No one paid Shang any attention. He was just one student amongst many. For a while, Shang only looked at the students as old memories resurfaced. He still remembered the first day he had been here. He had been one of the weakest students, and he had no idea what he was supposed to do. At that moment, Shang felt someone walk into his shoulder. Shang looked down and noticed that a 14-year-old boy had tried to get past him and into the main building. ¡°How dare you block my path?!" the young boy shouted angrily. "Do you know who | am?! I''m the heir to the Sandamer household! You better apologize!" Shang only looked at the young boy with a bit of amusement. "You''re new here, right?" he asked. "That is none of your business!" the young boy shouted. "You better apologize for stepping into my path, Nichs Sandamer!" Acouple of students looked over as they heard the young boy shout and smirked. The younger students could see that Shang was already an adult based on his appearance, which meant that he was probably very powerful, and the older students could feel Shang''s power. The older students snickered. A freshman was trying to pick a fight with a General Stage student. Right now, Shang didn''t feel angry or something simr. Instead, he was nostalgic. The same thing had happened to Shang when he had entered the courtyard for the first time back then. An older student had barged into him at the same ce. Back then, Shang had let the student pass. But now, Shang decided to act differently. If he let the young boy pass, his attitude would only bring him into more trouble in the future since Shang''spliance would validate it. That was not good for the student. "In this academy, status is irrelevant," Shang said. "We even have Duke Whirlwind''s heir in this academy, and he also had to follow the rules." The young boy only snorted. Obviously, he didn''t believe Shang. ¡°Let me show you." Shang put his right hand on the boy''s chest and pushed. WHOOOM! The young boy was thrown over ten meters into the distance. He hit the ground, and his body rolled for another couple of meters, his uniform bing increasingly dirty. The students broke intoughter when they saw the scene.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. The young boy was shocked and quickly stood up, anger visible on his face. "How dare you?!" he shouted. "Men! Arrest this man for attacking the heir of the Sandamer household!" The students exploded withughter when they heard the order, and even Shang had to chuckle. Many of the new students had to learn this lesson when they joined the academy. Status didn''t matter in here. Only strength mattered. ording to the rules, if he wanted, Shang could have severely injured the student. However, Shang felt bad for the guy. He was essentially publicly humiliating himself. The young boy became angrier and angrier as the people around himughed at him. "Just you wait! I''ll tell my father, and then you''ll regret your actions today!" the young boy shouted before running away. He couldn''t take the humiliation anymore. This made the students break out intoughter again. Which powerful warrior or Mage would actually go after a student of the academy for something as trivial as this? It was ridiculous! Most likely, the boy would be severely disciplined for acting this entitled in the warrior''s academy. None of the powerful warriors and Mages were stupid, and they all had to go through years and years ofbat and training to reach where they currently were. These people knew what was important to be powerful. "Shang?" Shang turned to the side when he heard his name. There, he saw a man who was nearly two meters tall. His hair was short and blue, and he wore the green uniform reserved for the General Stage students of the Caterpir ss. On his back was a humongous sword, and Shang could tell that it was made from Late General Stage materials. "Astor," Shang said with a smile. Astor smiled widely. "So, it really is you!" Astor shouted with augh and came closer to Shang. Then, Astor pulled Shang into a bear hug, which felt very awkward for Shang. He wasn''t really used to hugging other people, and he felt ufortable. ¡°Man, your body is heavy!" Astor shouted as he pped Shang''s shoulders several times with a loudugh. "Are you already at the Mid General Stage?" "No, I''m at the Early General Stage," Shang said, trying not to appear nervous. Astor had guessed that Shang was at the Mid General Stage based on the weight of his body, which wasn''t an easy feat to aplish. ¡®| have to be careful. | should avoid giving others the opportunity to feel the weight of my body." Astor looked with a bit of confusion at Shang. Shang''s body was way too heavy for an Early General Stage warrior. But then, Astor noticed the big sword on Shang''s back, and realization struck. The sword was the reason for Shang being so heavy! "Oh wow, | almost died of shock just now," Astor said with a loudugh. "! feared that there was no way for me to close the gap between us anymore." "But hey, Early General Stage is also really impressive! How did you do that?" Astor asked. Shang looked around, noticing the watching eyes. "Let''s go somewhere else. | don''t want to talk about these things in public." "Sure thing!" Astor said. Astor led Shang to the entrance of the academy. "Why do you want to leave the academy?" Shang asked. ¡°Eh, | only came here to ask something of teacher Niria, but that can wait now that | met you again! Catching up with you is way more important!" Astor said with a wide grin. Shang only looked at Astor as the two of them left the academy. ¡®It''s strange,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®If this were in the past, | wouldn''t want to go with him. | would feel like | was wasting my time socializing. This is time that could be used to increase my power.¡¯ ¡®| haven''t really been interested in making friends, and | also didn''t have the time.¡¯ Shang looked at the brightly smiling face of Astor as he kept talking. ¡®I think he views me as a friend.¡¯ ¡®But why? We didn''t really talk a lot, and we only fought each other.¡¯ "He doesn''t really know much about me, and | don''t really know a lot about him. Is it even possible to be friends with someone like that?¡¯ Shang kept looking at Astor as he led Shang to a pub. "Do | actually have a friend in this world?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®| don''t think I''m friends with Mattheo. Yes, we talk a lot, but he feels distant. He basically feels like a nice colleague at a job, maybe even a manager.¡¯ ¡®But Astor?" "He seems so open and honest. | also don''t think that he cares about politics when talking to me.¡¯ ¡®He just seems like someone that wants to have fun." "Hey, are you still there? You haven''t said anything in a while," Astor said with some concern. By now, Shang and Astor were sitting at a table inside a bar. Inparison to bars on Earth, the bars in Warrior''s Paradise were full for the entire day. "Sorry, what did you say? | was lost in thought,¡± Shang said. "| asked what you''ve been through. You basically vanished for an entire year." ¡®That would take a while to recount,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®I could use that time to hunt some beasts or to train in my Affinity. Is it worth it?" Shang looked at Astor. ¡®Are friends necessary?" At that moment, two memories popped into Shang''s head. The first one was when teacher Mervin talked to Shang during thest Day of Chaos Shang had participated in. Teacher Mervin had talked a lot about friends and emotions. The second memory was the trial and Shang''s decision near the end. Shang had decided to go with the smaller reward since he wasn''t sure what mindset he should assume in the future. The God would answer his question when Shang reached the Commander Stage. Shang''s and Astor''s drinks arrived at that moment, and Shang looked at the drink in front of him. Some distant memories from Earth also popped into Shang''s head. He had enjoyed going out partying back then. ¡®In the past, | tried to fully focus on bing selfish and cold since | thought it was a necessity to survive in this world. "However, the world hasn''t proven to be as cold as | had imagined. Sure, there are still some disgusting people out there, but there are also many nice people.¡¯ ¡®In the past, | was sure which mindset | should assume. | always thought that | had topletely rely on myself.¡¯ ¡®But, in truth, | relied on the teachers of the academy, the dean, and even Duke Whirlwind. Without their help, | wouldn''t be even nearly as powerful as | am right now.¡¯ ¡®There definitely is a point to having connections with others." Astor still looked at Shang with concern. Shang looked at Astor. ¡®Well, since I''m uncertain what form of mindset | should assume, | should try to get familiar with the other side of the coin.¡¯ "Having a friend shouldn''t hurt.¡¯ "Sure," Shang said. "Let me tell you where I''ve been." Chapter 250 Chapter 250 Shang and Astor talked for several hours inside the bar. Shang very vaguely told Astor about what he had done, taking care not to unveil any of the confidential secrets. In Shang''s story, all his opponents were also a level weaker than they actually were to hide the powers of the procedure. "You won against a Mid General Stage warrior?" Astor asked in surprise. Shang nodded as he drank another mouthful of beer. He had just told Astor about his fight with the officer. "Is that so surprising?" Shang asked. "It is!" Astor said. "Mid General Stage warriors can release their Affinity in close proximity to their own bodies. It makes getting close to them very dangerous." Shang nodded. Advancing at the General Stage was different from advancing at the Soldier Stage. Warriors at the Soldier Stage only needed to strengthen their entire body, while warriors at the General Stage also had to gain a certain mastery over their Mana. Back when Shang "lost" against the average Mid General Stage warrior during the trial, Shang had be a victim of that power. Back then, the warrior had unleashed a small fireball, which had been the reason for Shang''s loss. This was the exact ability Astor was talking about. Reaching the Early General Stage wasn''t difficult. Basically everyone could reach that easily, but as soon as a warrior tried to reach the Mid General Stage, it would be more difficult. Strengthening the body was still necessary, but one also had to be able to move the Mana through their bodies with a certain level of mastery. Without that mastery, the strengthening of the body would fail. This was the first bottleneck or barrier, depending on what word one liked more, that warriors encountered on their journey. Gaining a certain level of mastery over one''s Mana also gave one the ability to unleash a Pseudo Spell. Pseudo Spells were called as such because they didn''t need any incantations. Of course, in exchange for that, they were also far weaker than actual Spells. For example, when Shang had been hit by the Pseudo-Spell of that Mid General Stage warrior during the trial, Shang hadn''t really been injured, even though the warrior''s body was essentially a level above Shang. Of course, if Shang''s body had actually been hit, a big part of his chest would have burned away, but he wouldn''t have died from that. To reach the Late and Peak General Stage, one only needed to increase the mastery over their Mana and then strengthen their body the old-fashioned way. One wouldn''t gain new abilities, but all the previous abilities one had would be a bit stronger and would use less Mana. In order to reach the Commander Stage, a warrior needed to create their own Domain. A Domain was an area around the warrior that was filled with their own will and Mana. It essentially allowed a warrior to manipte the Mana around them by spending a bit of Mana to control it. This essentially allowed a warrior to increase the power of their attacks by a factor of two, making the Mana one used effectively twice as efficient. Naturally, it was incredibly difficult for a warrior to reach such mastery regarding their own Mana, and it took years upon years of training. Most Commander Stage warriors only reached that level when they were 40 or older. Of course, there also were some geniuses that managed to reach that level in their thirties, but they were truly rare. But that only counted for the entire world as a whole. One had to remember where Shang currently was. Shang was at the strongest academy for warriors in the entire world. Just as the name suggested, Warrior''s Paradise was a paradise for warriors, and there were a great number of talented warriors here. Around 50% of all warriors living in Warrior''s Paradise managed to reach the Commander Stage in theirte thirties. Now, the obvious question was... What was Shang''s level of mastery? When Shang had reached the General Stage, he had only had the required level of mastery to reach the Early General Stage. However, something happened that boosted his level of mastery to an entirely different level. The reward of the trial. In order to create the ranged attack from the reward, a warrior needed to have a mastery over their Mana that would allow them to be a Mid General Stage warrior. Yet, that would only allow them to unleash a weak attack. The reward automatically allowed Shang to learn itpletely, which meant that Shang could exhibit the full power of the reward. To do that, one needed to have a mastery over one''s own Mana to be a Peak General Stage warrior. And since Shang learned all of that automatically... Shang could, theoretically, be a Peak General Stage warrior right now as long as he consumed enough resources and trained a lot. Of course, neither the Dean, Duke Whirlwind, nor Shang wanted to do that. An inexperienced person would think that this was stupid. Why would you want to be weaker? The reason was experience. Right now, as long as one ignored the effects of the procedure, Shang could win against an average warrior one level above him. But what aboutter? Without the procedure, if Shang became a Peak General Stage warrior at this moment, he might actually fall to be slightly above average. Talented warriors on his level, ignoring the procedure, would definitely win against Shang then. In short, Shang needed more time to gain experience. His body was only around 18 years old right now, which was nothing inparison to the warriors at the Late or Peak General Stage. Those were all in theirte twenties or thirties. They had over a decade more experience in fighting than Shang. Advancing a level always meant increasing one''s overall power, but decreasing one''s rtive power, also called Battle-Strength. Realm and Stage were quantity. Battle-Strength was quality. There were a lot of General Stage warriors that didn''t have a great Battle-Strength. However, there were only a few Commander Stage warriors that didn''t have a great Battle-Strength. And there were no True Path Stage warriors that didn''t have a great Battle-Strength, even if there were thousands instead of only one.N?velDrama.Org content rights. The more quantity one aimed to reach, the higher the quality had to be. If Shang''s goal were only to reach the Commander Stage, he would advance right now. But that wasn''t his goal. He wanted to go much further. And for that, he needed to always remain on top. He needed to be the most powerful at his current level. Astor and Shang continued to talk for several hours. Sadly, there weren''t many interesting things that happened to Astor during thest year. There were only a couple of fights with beasts and a couple of missions outside. ¡°Hey, you want to apany my team when we''re hunting in the Wastnd tomorrow?" Astor asked after a while. ¡°Apany your team?" Shang asked with a lifted eyebrow. Astor nodded. "We nned to get an Early General Stage warrior to apany us anyway.¡± "Why?" Shang asked. "We want to enter the Caves in the Wastnd." Shang looked at Astor with a bit of surprise. "It''s not like you think!" Astor said quickly. "We won''t go far. We only n on staying near the surface." "We''ve heard that there are a lot of Initial General Stage beasts in the Caves. Do you know how difficult it is to find Initial General Stage beasts on the surface? There are so many teams at the Initial General Stage that hunt them. Some days, we can''t even get one, and when we get one, it''s almost always a Trash Bird!" ¡°But as you know, it''s more difficult to flee from a stronger beast inside the Caves, which is why we need someone that can buy us some time to flee. There should only be the asional Early General Stage beast near the surface, which shouldn''t be a problem for you. After all, you only need to secure our retreat, nothing more." "Of course, you will also get 30% of the reward, and you don''t even need to help in the hunt. You will only need to buy us time if an Early General Stage beast appears." Shang looked to the side. That would essentially waste an entire day of training. Should he apany them? After some seconds, Shang made his decision. "Sure." Chapter 251 Chapter 251 Shang and Astor spent the day together, and when evening arrived, they split apart. Shang went back to the academy and trained in his mastery over his Affinity, which was different from training in mastery over Mana. Mastery over Mana was more of a general, all-epassing mastery, while mastery over an Affinity referred to the specifics. Whenpared to Spells, one could say that mastery over Mana would increase one''s ability in regards to all Spells, while mastery over an Affinity referred to one''s ability in regards to only Spells of a specific category. When dawn arrived, Shang left the academy and went to one of the walls on the eastern side of Warrior''s Paradise. This was where the group was supposed to meet. Shang could see a couple of hunters walking around in teams. Everyone was getting ready for a day of hunting. It took a couple of minutes, but eventually, Astor arrived with his team. Surprisingly, Shang recognized all of them. The team consisted of three people, with Astor being the leader. The second person on the team was a smaller man with long green hair and two long rapiers. He wore one of the ck sets of leather armor that the Hunting Guild sold. Shang knew this guy. Back when Shang had taken part in his first lesson in the Caterpir ss, he had been the one that had insulted him several times. Later, it came to light that he was simply envious of Shang since he had assumed that Shang was some progeny of a rich family. He even apologized for his treatment of Shangter. It was Elver. Sadly, judging by his getup, Elver didn''t manage to enter the General Stage grade in the Warrior''s Academy. Shang also knew the third person. It was a tall woman with short, grey hair. She carried a huge hammer on her back and also wore the typical set of ck leather armor that the Hunting Guild sold. Shang remembered how they had made a deal. In exchange for helping her adapt to fighting beasts, she gave Shang information about different metals. Sadly, the deal hadn''t been relevant for very long since Shang had managed to upgrade his sword very soon after their first meeting. It was Sarah. Shang had met them asionally about a year ago during ss, but their power wasn''t enough to rival the strongest students in the ss, which was why Shang hadn''t fought them in forever. As soon as their powers had diverged, they hadn''t talked much anymore. Shang''s refusal to spend time with others also didn''t help. In the end, they had only been ssmates, and that was it. Elver looked at Shang with a polite expression while Sarah looked at him with furrowed brows. "This is him!" Astor said with a bright smile as he stopped beside Shang. Elver walked up to Shang and performed a small, polite bow as a greeting. "Nice to meet you. My name''s Elver, and I''m the runner of the team. Thank you for helping us today!" he said in a charismatic but polite voice.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. Shang lifted an eyebrow while Astor tried to suppress a smile. ¡®Astor didn''t tell them, huh?" Shang looked at Elver. ''l guess he didn''t recognize me. Well, | can''t fault him. | changed a lot over thest year. Even Sword gained a couple hundred kilos, maybe even tons.¡¯ Shang threw a look at Astor, who acted like he didn''t see Shang''s look. Asecondter, Elver was pushed out of the way as Sarah stopped in front of Shang, looking deeply into his eyes with an evaluating expression. "Sarah, I''m the flex," she said. Then, she offered her hand to Shang. Even though it had been years since Shang had been on Earth, the reflex of shaking an offered hand was still ingrained in him. As a professional athlete, Shang had needed to shake so many hands of so many managers, promoters, clerks, fans, and so on. Shang put his own hand into Sarah''s hand and shook. But at that moment, Shang felt Sarah tighten her grip with what seemed to be all of her power. At that moment, Shang knew why Sarah was doing this, and it also exined why she had looked at Shang with furrowed brows earlier. ¡°Doubtful of my strength?" Shang asked as they shook hands. Asecondter, Sarah pulled her hand back. "Not anymore," she said. "I apologize for my rude behavior, but | became doubtful of your strength when | saw how young you were. You should understand that this concerns our lives, and we can''t take any chances here." Shang nodded. "Understandable. You always were very skeptical of things." Sarah furrowed her brows in a displeased expression while Elver looked at Shang with a weird look. "Why don''t you introduce yourself?" Astor asked with a bright smile as he leaned on Shang''s shoulder. "Do | know you?" Sarah asked with an annoyed voice. "I''m Shang," Shang said. For a second, Elver and Sarah didn''t react. They had heard that name before. And then, they remembered that young kid that had be incredibly powerful in only a bit more than a year. "The one from the academy?" Elver asked from the side with surprise. "Is there a second person in this world with such a weird name?" Shang asked. At that moment, Elver chuckled. "No, | guess not," he said. "Man, it''s been forever since we saw each other. One year ago, we saw each other nearly every day in ss, and then, bam, you were gone after the Day of Chaos. | thought you died!" Shang put on a smile, which looked a bit awkward since he smiled so rarely. "I''ve been busy with one mission after the other. | returned to the academy just yesterday, which was when | ran into Astor." ¡°Oh, that exins things," Elver said. "| guess someone with your workaholic personality would go missing just to take on one mission after the other without a break." "Say, why did you decide to be an Early General Stage warrior already? Are you not afraid of ruining your Battle-Strength?" Elver asked. "My Battle-Strength is not a problem," Shang answered vaguely. At that moment, Sarah walked past Shang. "Have you guys talked enough? We have to get going. | don''t want to spend all day reminiscing about the past." Sarah''s voice sounded even more annoyed than usual, which meant that she was in a genuinely bad mood. Shang only looked at her as she left them behind. At the side, Astor sighed. "You hurt her, you know?" he said. When Shang heard that, his mind went wild with possibilities. Hurt her? Because he had left for so long without saying goodbye? Shang was sure that they weren''t friends. They didn''t even talk a lot back then. Wait, was she romantically interested in him? Shang furrowed his brows as he looked at the leaving Sarah. "Shang," Astor said with a sigh. "You know, you can''t just break a woman''s heart like that." Shang became a bit more nervous as he heard Astor''s words. "Why did you decide to hurt her by bing that much more powerful than her? You were her target, and she worked herself to the bone to catch up to you for thest year. And now, you''re here, at the Early General Stage with great Battle-Strength." Shang''s nervousness transformed into annoyance. That was when Astor exploded intoughter. Chapter 252 Chapter 252 Everyone followed after Sarah with different expressions. Shang was annoyed. Astor wasughing. Elver only helplessly smiled from the side. The four of them passed some guards as they climbed the wall at the eastern side of Warrior''s Paradise. Shang could also see several other teams in front and behind them, and he also noticed that basically all of them were at the General Stage. The three of them caught up with Sarah while they were still climbing the wall. "You seem rather annoyed at meeting me again," Shangmented from behind Sarah. "Yes," Sarah answered directly, "but I''m not annoyed at you but at myself. Seeing your current power shows me that | have been cking off for thest year. | thought that | had already put my everything into bing more powerful, but apparently, | was mistaken." "She doesn''t sound like she''s lying,¡¯ Shang thought. "Why aren''t you in the General Stage grade in the academy?" Shang asked. "With your hardworking personality, you should have easily been epted." "| declined," Sarah answered. This surprised Shang. "Why?" ¡°Because joining the General Stage grade means focusingpletely on bing a Commander Stage warrior, and that is not what | want," Sarah said. "Then, what do you want?" Shang asked. "| want to be a powerful cksmith.¡± Shang raised an eyebrow. "Is there a specific reason behind that decision?" "Future," Sarah answered as the four of them reached the top of the wall. "There are only a few cksmiths that can make weapons for Commander Stage warriors and none that can create weapons for True Path Stage warriors.¡± ¡°| want to be a True Path Stage warrior, which is why | joined the Caterpir ss in the first ce. However, what am | supposed to do without a weapon when | reach my goal? That''s why I''m focusing on smithing." Sarah''s words immediately reminded Shang of his first conversation with the God. The very reason why the God had given Shang Sword was so that he didn''t need to ze two new paths at once. In a certain sense, Sarah was trying to do exactly that, even if her goal was "only" the True Path Stage. Even the God believed that this was too much for Shang, which was why he helped him in that regard. Yet, Sarah wanted to do it regardless. Shang only looked at her with an ufortable expression. He felt a bit bad for her since she wasparing herself to Shang, which was not a fairparison at all. Shang had the help of the God, the Dean, and Duke Whirlwind. ¡°You know, the reason why I am as strong as | am now is because of the help of several powerful people," Shang exined. "Without their help, | wouldn''t even feelfortable reaching the Early General Stage." "What are you trying to say with that?" Sarah asked with annoyance as everyone queued up near the edge of the wall. ¡°What I''m trying to say is that you shouldn''tpare yourself to me since you probably don''t have the luxury of having so many powerful people helping you. You are already better than me if | didn''t have so much help." Sarah didn''t even look at Shang as she stood in the queue. "So? So what if you have powerful people helping you? Strength is strength. The way you obtained your strength is irrelevant. If we were to fight to the death, | would still die to you. The source of your strength is irrelevant." Shang sighed. ¡®Her outlook is painfully realistic and result-oriented.¡¯ "Hey," Elver said from behind Shang. "So, what happened over thest year? | want to know." Shang wanted to answer, but Sarah talked over him before he could say anything. "Quiet! We are about to start our hunt. You can talk about these things after we return. | won''t allow anyone to dedicate valuable concentration to having a conversation about irrelevant topics in my team!" Shang lifted an eyebrow while Elver only sighed. "Sure thing, boss." Shang looked at Astor, who only helplessly shrugged. Astor had told Shang that he actually wasn''t the leader of his hunting team and that he also wasn''t the strongest. ¡®Well, now it''s obvious who the leader is,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at Sarah''s back. ¡®But honestly, it''s really impressive that Sarah managed to overtake Astor in power while still focusing on cksmithing.¡¯ ¡®If she actually had a strong backer, how powerful would she be right now?¡¯ Except for Mattheo, Sarah was probably the most hardworking person Shang had ever met. Everyone fell into silence as Sarah talked to a guard that had approached her. She handed over a sack of gold, and the guard took out eight talismans. Sarah took the talismans and gave two to each member of the team. After a minute of waiting, it was finally their turn. The four of them stepped towards the edge of the wall, and Shang looked down. He was really high up, and Shang could see for kilometers upon kilometers into the distance. "Follow me," Sarah said. And then, she jumped off the wall. Shang took a deep breath. He had faced death multiple times, but he still felt nervous when he thought about jumping off such a gigantic cliff. But two secondster, Shang also jumped off. Shang tried to calm himself down while falling, and he kept his eyes on Sarah. Asecondter, Shang saw Sarah take hold of one of the talismans and destroy it.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Agreen, ethereal shroud left her back, and the direction of her fall was changed. Instead of falling straight down, her momentum was changed into a diagonal one. Shang also broke one of his talismans, and the same happened to him. The two behind Shang did the same, and at that moment, all four of them were gliding over the Wastnd. The sun had just poked over the horizon, and the team of four was seemingly flying towards it in silence. No one spoke a word. Shang was currently over two kilometers high in the air. Below him was a seemingly endless wastnd. Above him was the blue sky. In front of him was the morning sun. Behind him was the terrifying and imposing fortress that was Warrior''s Paradise. As Shang looked at his surroundings, he didn''t know what he was feeling right now. ¡®It''s almost like I''m flying,¡¯ he thought. ''This is what Duke Whirlwind can do whenever he wants, and he can actually, truly fly." ¡®I''ve been on a couple of nes on Earth, but this ispletely different." For a while, Shang only looked at the sky and the ground without thinking anything. Silence. ¡®| also want to fly in the future.¡¯ Chapter 253 Chapter 253 After a couple of minutes, everyonended on a hill. Right now, everyone was around ten kilometers away from Warrior''s Paradise. Shang had only been in the Wastnd twice before in his life. Both of the times had been during the night, and his teacher had apanied him. That was so that Shang wouldn''t forget how to fight beasts while he was slowly adapting to his Zero persona. Today was the first time Shang was in the Wastnd during the peak hours for hunting. From Warrior''s Paradise, the Wastnd had seemed incredibly busy, but now that he was here, he felt like there were no other humans around, except for his team, of course. The closest humans were over a kilometer away, and they were silently walking in a seemingly random direction. Shang could also see some beasts, but most of them were embroiled in a battle. Naturally, there were also beasts that weren''t fighting humans, but those beasts were mostly either on the cklist or at theter levels of the General Stage. "There''s an entrance to the Caves over there," Sarah said as she pointed towards the east. Shang looked over and saw a crater. That was probably the entrance. After that, Sarah led everyone to the east. It didn''t take long for them to arrive near the entrance, and they didn''te across any beasts. This was the reason for using the talismans. Without them, they would have all needed to get here on foot. Sure, the distance wasn''t great to them, but the chances were high that some powerful beast would be in their way, which would require them to move around it in an arc. Even though the distance of the entrance wasn''t very far from Warrior''s Paradise, it would have still taken them nearly two hours to traverse if they wanted to be careful. "You go first, Shang," Sarah ordered. "It''s your job to check if everything is safe for us." Shang nodded and jumped into the huge hole. BOOOOM! Shangnded in the cave after some seconds of falling, creating a loud explosion of dirt and earth around him. After all, his body was very heavy. Shang''s joints creaked, but he wasn''t really injured. Shang quickly looked around the dark cave. Luckily, the eyes of a General Stage warrior could see clearly, even in nearly perfect darkness. He saw an ominously circr cave around him made of sand, stone, and dirt. The smooth walls and straight corridors definitely hadn''t been naturally formed, but Shang knew about that already. What were the Caves? About 200 years ago, the Storm Eagle Zone hadn''t belonged to the humans yet. The reason for that was the second Zone Beast. Second Zone Beast? There could be two Zone Beasts in one Zone? Well, not entirely. The underground had acted as a second Zone, which had belonged to the Ancestor Queen. The Ancestor Queen had been a gigantic insect that birthed a ridiculous number of powerful insects. ording to legend, the Ancestor Queen had been over 50 kilometers below the ground. Back then, the beasts from the Storm Eagle Zone and the beasts from the Ancestor Queen Zone had been in constant war. Wind versus Earth. Gigantic insects woulde out of their humongous nest and invade the Storm Eagle Zone, while the beasts of the Storm Eagle Zone went into the nest to kill the insects, but only on the highestyers. Humanity wasn''t sure how long that war had been going on. And then, 200 years ago, the number of powerful insects diminished. At some point, no insect above the Commander Stage left their nest anymore. The True Path Stage beasts and stronger from the Storm Eagle Zone had never been interested in entering the nest, which resulted in some kind of peace. It had always been the insects that attacked the surface, not the other way around. The beasts on the surface were only interested in defending themselves and eating, while the insects had been interested in conquering. That was when the Old King of the Skythunder Kingdom became active. He saw his chance and invaded the nest with the strongest Mages. Why?Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. To give his people morend to live on. The Old King had always been a very altruistic person. It took over 50 years, but eventually, the humans managed to kill every insect in the Caves. Of course, only the King himself could deal with the beasts in the Fifth Realm. And then, they found the Ancestor Queen. She was dead. Her entire corpse had been fried, and it had still been preserved due to her robust exoskeleton. The soldiers and advisors asked the King what had happened, but the King had only told them that they didn''t need to know. However, he assured them that there was nothing to worry about. And that was that. The gigantic nest below the Storm Eagle Zone had been emptied of all beasts. And the Caves? They were simply the desecrated corpse of the nest, the former Ancestor Queen Zone. Over the years, it became the home of many beasts with Earth Affinities. Ever wondered how the humans could kill so many beasts withoutpletely decimating the ecosystem? This was the reason. The Wild Forest created new General Stage beasts for the Wastnd, but the Caves produced even more. The Exploding Mountain Turtle had alsoe from here. As far as humanity knew, there were no beasts of the Fifth Realm in the Caves, but there were several True Path Stage beasts. The deeper one went into the Caves, the more powerful the beasts would be. Of course, the beasts would also be more powerful the further south one went. After all, the Canyon was above that part, and there were a lot of Commander Stage beasts. Originally, there had also been entrances to the Caves at the northern end of the Storm Eagle Zone, the ce where the Wild Forest and the Farm Line were, but humanity had closed these entrances to allow weaker beasts to thrive in the north. Shang knew all of this from his time at the academy. "It''s safe," Shang shouted. Some secondster, Sarah also jumped down. BANG! Sarahnded, and the sounds of breaking bones could be heard. Sarah only furrowed her brows as she sat down to focus her Mana on healing her broken legs. It was very difficult to climb on these brittle and smooth walls, and ironically, it was more dangerous to climb instead of jump. When one jumped, one could still control their fall. When one fell while climbing, one might hit the ground, abdomen or head first. BANG! Astornded next, and his legs were also smashed to pieces. His heavy sword definitely didn''t help him in this case. Astor only grunted and also sat down to heal. BANG! Then, it was Elver''s turn. "Fuck!" Elver shouted through gritted teeth. "I hate going through this every time!" "Shut up," Sarah ordered with a cold voice. "If there weren''t such a painful and heavy fall, there would be far more teams at the Initial General Stage down here." Sarah was right. This was one of the entrances with the smallest fall, and it still broke the legs of Initial General Stage warriors. Warriors at the Early General Stage would only break their bones asionally at this ce, depending on how theynded and how heavy their gear was. Only warriors at the Mid General Stage could fall down here without being injured. After a couple of minutes, everyone was back at their peak condition. ¡°Let''s go," Sarah ordered. Chapter 254 Chapter 254 Shang walked behind the other three, who scouted the surroundings. The Caves had a very confusingyout, but Sarah had several sheets of paper in her hands, which acted as interconnected maps. An urate map was very expensive, but it gave the teams the ability to hunt in the Caves, which was worth the investment. After some minutes of walking through some confusing tunnels, Shang noticed something. The thick Darkness Mana in the Caves avoided one spot at the ceiling of one of the tunnels, which most likely meant that a different source of Mana that Shang couldn''t feel was pushing the Darkness Mana away with its own Mana. In short, it was a beast. Shang looked up and saw the beast. "Crack Spider,¡¯ Shang thought when he saw it. A Crack Spider was a big, armored spider with an Earth Affinity, and it was famous for dropping down on its prey and killing it with its weight. However, Shang didn''t say anything. Crack Spiders were mostly at the Initial General Stage, and since they were ambush predators, they weren''t the strongest beasts in a head-on sh. One could say that this beast was a perfect opponent for the team of hunters. "The Wind Mana isn''t flowing as fluently as before anymore," Elver suddenly said with furrowed brows. At the General Stage, basically every warrior could feel their surroundings as long as a certain amount of Mana of their Affinity was present. Elver had a Wind Affinity, and a lot of the Wind Mana from the surface also entered the Caves. After all, there was no other Zone Beast present to counteract the Wind Mana with its own Mana. "Astor," Sarah said. Astor nodded and summoned a bucket-load of water in front of him, which wasn''t very difficult considering that Astor had a Water Affinity. After that, Astor took out a small stick and poked the water.N?velDrama.Org content rights. SSHHH! After the stick poked the water, it turned into steam and scattered over the entire cave they were currently in. Astor closed his eyes to focus. "The ceiling,¡± he said as he looked up. Shang nodded when he saw the teamwork. ''Elver is responsible for general scouting, and Astor is responsible for specific scouting.¡¯ "Crack Spider," Sarah said as she readied her hammer. "This shouldn''t be difficult. Elver, get to it." Elver nodded, and he took out his two rapiers. After that, he walked forward while looking at the Crack Spider. Shortly before he reached the spot below it, it let go of the ceiling and dropped. Elver immediately jumped back and fled. And a secondter... BOOOOOM! The heavy spidernded on the ground. "HUUUAAARGH!" Astor shouted with all his power and shed forward with his gigantic sword. CRK! His heavy sword broke through the spider''s thick armor, but it got stuck halfway-buried in its abdomen. The spider quickly turned around in panic and tried to bite Astor, but Astor had already jumped away again. After jumping back, Astor jumped to the side, and the spider''s eyes followed him. It judged Astor to be the most dangerous opponent. An instantter, it jumped towards Astor to bite him. Astor put his sword sideways in front of him and leaned against it. BANG! Astor was pushed away by the spider, but his sword protected him from the Crack Spider''s deadly fangs. BOOOOM! Suddenly, the Crack Spider jumped to the side in pain and panic, nearly falling to the ground. Sarah had just attacked one of its legs. The armor of the leg had exploded off, and the leg broke. Shang nodded. ¡®Blunt force is very effective against armored targets.¡¯ Before the Crack Spider could recover, Elver appeared in front of it and tried to stab its head. Out of reflex, the spider jumped away again, but Elver did the same. Elver never hit the spider, but he wasn''t supposed to hit it. He was supposed to gain its attention by constantly threatening its eyes. A beast''s instinct was to protect its eyes, and since beasts weren''t very good at resisting their instincts, such a barrage of attacks often resulted in them fleeing one time after the other. CRACK! Sarah broke another leg, and the spider quickly focused on her. It turned to her and tried to attack her, but just an instantter, it felt a wave of paining from its abdomen. Astor had hit the same spot again, and a gigantic cut had been left behind on the spider''s abdomen. The spider''s organs were falling out of its abdomen, and it panicked, doing everything in its power to flee. Shang continued watching as the three of them essentially yed with the spider until it finally died. ¡®They''re doing their jobs very well. As the Runner, Elver always tries to get the beast''s attention withoutmitting to an attack. As the Buster, Astor''s responsibility is to kill the beast with his powerful attacks. As the Flex, Sarah acts as either role depending on the situation.¡¯ "Since the Crack Spider is a slow but heavily armored beast, Sarah didn''t need to act as a second Runner, allowing her to focus on crippling it." The Flex position was one of the hardest and most sought-after positions in any hunter team. A team didn''t necessarily need a Flex position, but having a good Flex meant having two people instead of one. The Flex position required someone to be fast enough to evade a beast''s attack but also powerful enough to severely injure beasts, making it useful in every situation. For example, if a beast focused on Astor, the Buster, Astor would basically be useless since he could, at most, block one attack. If the beast unleashed a second attack, Astor would most likely receive heavy injuries or die. If a beast ignored Elver, Elver wouldn''t be able to injure the beast due to his weak but fast weapons, making him useless. Busters and Runners needed each other to be useful. Without a Buster, the Runner would eventually die. Without a Runner, the Buster wouldn''t get any opportunity to damage the opponent, which would also mean that they would eventually die. However, a Flex was always useful. If the beast focused on a Flex, they could run away and act as a runner, giving the Buster their opportunity to damage the beast. If the beast ignored a Flex, they could severely injure the beast like a Buster. Sarah, as the Flex, was the very reason why this team could hunt with only three people because she was essentially worth as much as two people. After the Crack Spider finally died, Elver investigated the corpse. "We lost some of the organs, but most of its armor is still in one piece. | estimate that it is worth about 1,400 gold," Elver said. Sarah nodded and put the beast into her Space Ring. Proven members of the Hunting Guild received special Space Rings for their work. These Space Rings had more room, and they specialized in carrying corpses. Of course, the members didn''t own these Space Rings but only used them as part of their work. Every Space Ring had Magic Circles on it that allowed the Hunting Guild to track its whereabouts in case the hunter died or tried to steal it. They also had to be handed in at the end of the day. "That''s enough to pay for the talismans several times over. We already made a profit," Sarah said. Then, she gestured to another tunnel. "The day is still young, and my Space Ring has space for four more beasts. Let''s get going.¡± Chapter 255 Chapter 255 The team continued going forward into the next tunnel to get to their next prey, buting here had already been worth it. On the surface, the team often needed hours of scouting and watching to find an Initial General Stage beast that wasn''t already busy fighting something else or being hunted by a more powerful beast. But down here, they had already found a valuable beast in a couple of minutes. Of course, the tradeoff was the danger and the initial investment needed for being able to hunt here. On the surface, there were more humans than beasts, but down in the Caves, there were more beasts than humans. And the best part? There were no Trash Birds down here! After walking for another five minutes, everyone stopped, but this time, it wasn''t due to Elver. ¡°Early General Stage beast," Shang said from behind them. The team turned around in surprise. "| don''t feel anything," Elver said. "How can you tell? Your Ice Affinity should be useless in terms of scouting down here." Sarah looked with furrowed brows at Shang while Astor only scratched the back of his head in uncertainty. "Can''t you smell it?" Shang asked. Elver moved his nose around in the air to see if he could smell something. "Not really," he said. "Doesn''t it sting a little?" Shang asked. "Well, sure, but isn''t that because of the dposing corpses?" Elver asked. "Then why didn''t you smell that earlier?" Shang asked. ¡°Ehm," Elver tried to say something, but he didn''t really know what to say. "What are you trying to say?" Sarah asked Shang. ¡°Adult Swamp Millipede," Shang said. This surprised the team. An adult Swamp Millipede? Here? Sarah furrowed her brows. They had jumped off the eastern end of Warrior''s Paradise and had flown for over ten kilometers. Then, they had entered the caves and had walked further east. The Empress Cobra Zone should only be a couple of kilometers further to the east. It wasn''t too unreasonable for a stray Swamp Millipede toe here. ¡°Elver, you scout ahead, but be careful," Sarah said. "Only confirm if the Swamp Millipede is there or not. Don''t engage. Don''t risk your life.¡± Elver didn''t like this task at all, but he begrudginglyplied. He was the best person for the job since he could feel the changes in the air with his Affinity. He wasn''t able to feel the other kinds of Mana, but he could certainly feel it when some kind of poison or corrosive gas was in the surroundings. Elver slowly and carefully went ahead. Then, a couple of minutes of silence passed. BANG!N?velDrama.Org content rights. Everyone heard the sound of a distant explosion, and they readied themselves for battle. However, over the next two seconds, they didn''t hear another loud sound, which made them rx. If Elver had been spotted, they would hear the heavy beast chase him. Acouple secondster, Elver returned. His face was white, but a wide grin could be seen on his face. In his hands, he carried some sludge which calmly sizzled. Sarah nodded and put the sludge into her Space Ring. Then, she took out the map and marked the cave in front of them on it. "Good job bringing back proof," Sarah said. "That should give us another 400 gold." ¡°Man, | almost thought | died when | retrieved the sludge," Elver said with a sigh. Then, he turned to Shang. "Honestly, if you didn''t tell me that there was an adult Swamp Millipede, | wouldn''t have noticed it." "The thing was buried into one of the walls, and the only sign of it being there was a big ck spot. | would have totally overlooked that part." Elver scratched the back of his head. "| wanted to go back, but then | thought it would be a waste to just leave like that. Information and proof of Swamp Millipedes are worth 400 gold. So, | went ahead and scooped out a part of the soil.¡± ¡°But then, the huge thing poked its head out and looked around. It probably felt something," Elver said with some shivers. ¡°How did you manage to escape?" Astor asked, captivated by the story. "| clung to the wall above it," Elver said nervously. "| was betting on it not looking up." Then, Elver smiled excitedly. "And | bet correctly!" "Nice job!" Astor said, hitting Elver''s shoulder. "No," Sarah said with narrowed eyes. "That was not a nice job." Astor and Elver looked at Sarah with raised eyebrows. ¡°You went into a dangerous situation alone against an opponent above our ss. For what? For 400 gold?" Sarah said, repressed anger in her voice. At that point, Sarah summoned the sludge Elver had handed over. And threw it against the wall. "Hey, hey!" Elver shouted in panic as he looked at the destroyed sludge. "| won''t ept something like this!" Sarah said with a cold voice and narrowed eyes. "Your lives are worth more than 400 gold, and | will not encourage nor condone putting your life at risk for that!" "Sarah, you didn''t need to destroy it," Astor said with a frown. "Yes, | did need to do that," Sarah said, not backing down. "If | ept this now, you won''t learn! What about the next time? You see something that''s worth some gold, and I''m not there to stop you. You know that you shouldn''t risk it, but you want the gold. So what if | get angry? Just do it anyway and get the gold." "The only way | can stop you from doing something this stupid again in the future is to nullify the reward! Not even you would take a risk if there were zero rewards!" Sarah nearly shouted. Elver gritted his teeth. "| almost gave my life for that, and you just destroy it?!" he shouted angrily. ¡°Exactly that is the problem! You almost gave your life for that!" Sarah shouted with a cold and imposing voice. Elver didn''t seem calm at all right now. "I risk my life, and you step on the thing | risked my life for like it''s worthless! How could you do something like that?! | thought we were friends!" m your leader, not your friend!" Sarah shouted. Silence. Astor looked with difort at the two, while Elver seemed ready to explode in anger. "My job is to ensure your survival," Sarah said with a calmer voice. "I will not allow nor reward such needless risks in my team." Then, Sarah took her things and readied herself. "Now, we will continue on the hunt. For this hunt, | am still the leader, and you will follow what | say. If you have a problem with my leadership, you may talk to me after we are back in Warrior''s Paradise. This is not a safe ce for this discussion." Shang could hear Elver''s teeth grind on each other from several meters away. Astor put his hand on Elver''s shoulder and slowly shook his head. Elver''s body shook, but then he jerked away from Astor and walked forward. ¡°Let''s go," he said quietly with a very noticeable angry tinge to his voice. Astor sighed as Sarah nodded. Then, Sarah turned to Shang. "Well done finding the Swamp Millipede." Shang only nodded. Shang hadn''t actually smelled the Swamp Millipede. After all, he wasn''t some superhuman nor a dog. He had simply found it by feeling its Darkness Mana. And a momentter, the team continued walking down a different tunnel. Chapter 256 Chapter 256 The team continued walking, but the entire atmosphere had changed. Earlier, the team felt professional, calm, and collected. Now, there was anger and hostility in the air. Over the next hour, Shang found another Early General Stage beast and made the team avoid it. Then, they finally found the next Initial General Stage beast. Even though there was hostility in the air, the teamwork was still impable, and everyone did their job. The only difference was theck ofmunication after the beast was dead. Astor tried to lift the spirits of everyone, but he was mostly ignored. In the end, Astor could only sigh and wait for the hunt to be over. Two hourster, the team had hunted two more beasts, leaving only one spot open in Sarah''s Space Ring. This was an insanely profitable day for them. Even with Shang''s share, they had all earned several days¡¯ worth of gold in these couple of hours. Hunting in the Caves was dangerous but very profitable. Sarah decided that the team would walk back. If they met another beast on their journey, great, but if they didn''t, it would also be okay. Being too greedy and going further away from their exit was a recipe for disaster. The team avoided a couple of beasts on their way back, and everything was proceeding smoothly. That was, until a certain moment. Shang''s eyes suddenly narrowed. "You run back!" Shang shouted as he took out his big sword. "It''s time for me to do my job." Elver and Astor looked with confusion and surprise at Shang while Sarah narrowed her eyes. "You heard him!" Sarah shouted as she elerated. "Move it!" As Sarah left, Elver and Astor looked nervously at Shang. Then, they felt vibrationsing from the ground.N?velDrama.Org content rights. This meant that something heavy was running in their direction! "Don''t worry. I''m confident," Shang said calmly. Astor and Elver nodded when they heard Shang''s voice and followed Sarah. Three secondster, everyone had left the tunnel where Shang was in. And the beast arrived. Shang had felt the beast approach, but he hadn''t been sure what exactly it was until he saw it. And when he saw it, he frowned. ¡®Great, that thing''s on the cklist,¡¯ Shang thought with annoyance. Agigantic, yellowish-brown ball was rolling up a slope towards Shang. No one would think that this thing was a beast since the ball was way too smooth. However, Shang knew what it was. Tunnel Pangolin. Tunnel Pangolins were beasts with an Earth Affinity. They were famous for turning into a ball and rolling over their opponents with their hard exterior and heavy weight. The reason why the Tunnel Pangolins were on the cklist was that they kept the tunnels smooth and hard. They essentially were responsible for keeping the Caves from copsing. On top of that, they didn''t like humans very much and tried to avoid them. Lastly, they also loved snacking on Swamp Millipedes. It was no wonder that this thing was on the cklist with so many benefits to the environment. When Shang saw that it was a Tunnel Pangolin, he jumped back to block the entrance of the tunnel his team had fled into. Then, Shang took out his sword and punched its side. CLIIIIINNNGGG! His sword vibrated loudly, the sound echoing throughout the Caves. The Tunnel Pangolin heard the noise and turned back into its normal form in an instant. The transformation was incredibly smooth and fast. The Tunnel Pangolin was very susceptible to the sound of metal. Why? Because human hunters always used metal as their weapons. The sound of ringing metal most likely meant that humans were near. As soon as the Tunnel Pangolin turned back into its normal form, it looked around and noticed Shang. Then, it turned into a ball again and rolled down a different tunnel. Shang looked on as the Tunnel Pangolin fled down a different tunnel with furrowed brows. ¡®It seemed to be in quite a hurry. If it were hunting, it wouldn''t waste so much energy rolling at such speeds up a slope. It would climb the slope with its feet instead." ¡®Was it afraid of something?¡¯ At that moment, Shang felt something elsee from the tunnel the Tunnel Pangolin had juste from, and that something was giving off a kind of murky Darkness Mana. It wasn''t pure Darkness Mana, which meant that this thing didn''t have a pure Darkness Affinity. It probably had a Mixed Affinity that included Darkness. Shang''s eyes narrowed when he felt the Mana. That thing was absorbing quite a bit of Darkness Mana. Some secondster, Shang saw the thing reach the top of the slope, and it stopped at the entrance of the tunnel where Shang was currently. It scanned the tunnel for a bit and then focused on Shang. "They''re gone. Good." Yes, it was a human. At the entrance of the tunnel stood a man with ck hair and purple robes. His eyes seemed to be emotionless and bored. And beside the man... Hovered a Focus. Based on context clues, Shang could very quickly make a rough profile of this man. ¡®Poison Affinity Mid Adept." Shang narrowed his eyes. Something inside him told him that this man was not here to exchange greetings. Shang also remembered what the man had just said. Did he scare the Tunnel Pangolin so that Shang and his team would be forced to split up? But why? What did that guy want? ¡°Took me nearly six months to find you," the manmented evenly. "It was almost like you vanished, Shang." ¡°What do you want?" Shang asked with narrowed eyes. The man stopped about thirty meters away from Shang. Then, his Focus began to shine. It had already prepared a Spell! "You angered someone you shouldn''t have," the Adept said. Shang furrowed his brows. He had angered someone? And it had happened over six months ago? At that time, Shang had been training with the Dean in preparation for his mission in the battlefield. So, it must have happened before the procedure had even happened. However, Shang couldn''t think about anyone he might have angered. He had mostly actedpletely alone, and he hadn''t killed many humans back then. The only humans he had killed had been the beggar bandits, but they obviously didn''t have the means to employ a Mid Adept with a Focus to deal with him. "Would you kindly drop dead?" the Adept asked. And then, his Focus fired its Spell at Shang. Chapter 257 Chapter 257 BANG! Shang immediately used his left arm to shoot himself to his right. Just an instantter, a bullet of purple sludge hit the ce where Shang had just been. There had been enough sludge to cover Shang''s entire body. SSSSSSSSS! Aviolent and high-pitched sizzling noise came from the sludge as it burned a hole into the ground. Shang gritted his teeth. ¡®This is troublesome. The Spells of Poison Mages aren''t very fast, but they are extremely effective against humans.¡¯ Why were they so effective? Well, what could the protective Magic Circle on Shang''s uniform do against that? Nothing. Whenever Shang had fought Mages, he had always had his uniform to rely on, and he had definitely used the Magic Circles to his advantage in the past. This wouldn''t work against the Poison Adept. This Spell was called Sludge Bolt, and if Shang got hit by it, he would definitely die. The Poison Adept raised an eyebrow when he saw that Shang had evaded. He hadn''t expected that at all. His target, Shang, was supposed to be a newly advanced Initial General Stage warrior. His speed shouldn''t have been fast enough to evade the Sludge Bolt. Sure, the Poison Adept had noticed that Shang had somehow reached the Early General Stage already, but that still shouldn''t have been enough to evade the Sludge Bolt. The Poison Adept was a Mid Adept. He was an entire level above this warrior. Yet, this warrior managed to evade a Spell that came from a Mage an entire level above him? This was very unusual. Many people would even say that this was impossible. However, the Poison Adept didn''t panic. So what if his target evaded a Sludge Bolt? He would just need to use different Spells. BANG! Shang charged toward the Adept with all his speed as he readied his sword. The Poison Adept began to chant a different Spell. Shang reached the enemy very quickly since there hadn''t been much distance between them. After all, they weren''t fighting in the open but inside the Caves. BANG! Shang''s heavy sword hit the Poison Adept''s Mana Shield and bounced off. The Poison Adept''s eyebrows rose in surprise. That was a lot of Mana that had just been used up! ¡®Doesn''t matter,¡¯ the Poison Adept thought. Asecondter, his Spell was finished, and his hand pointed at Shang. Shang''s eyes shone. Thanks to Vice-Dean Ranos'' thorough lessons, Shang knew exactly what kind of Spell this was. "You can die now," the Poison Adept said calmly. BANG! Shang''s legs exploded with Ice, and he jumped upwards with all his power. Not a moment too soon. An instantter, a gigantic wave of purple water exited the Poison Adept''s Mana Shield and swept throughout the entire cave. Sludge Wave. That was the name of the Spell. It cost several times more Mana than Sludge Bolt, but it was basically unavoidable by anyone close to the Mage. Sure, Mages could use Mana Step to get away, but Sludge Wave wasn''t designed to deal with Mages. It was a Spell specifically created to killrge groups of warriors. Shang barely managed to avoid the Sludge Wave with his Ice st and kept flying upward. CLINK! As Shang hit the ceiling, he buried his sword into it in a diagonal manner, allowing him to hang from it. If the Tunnel Pangolins hadn''t hardened the walls over this many years, the ceiling would have crumbled under Shang''s weight. Shang gritted his teeth as his breathing stopped. The poisonous gasing from below him was burning his skin and even a bit of his insides. If just the poisonous gas was already this deadly, how deadly would the sludge itself be? The Poison Adept looked calmly at Shang. He hadn''t expected him to evade the Sludge Wave, but this was not an issue. The many brilliant Mages that had designed this Spell over the years wouldn''t overlook such a simple counter as jumping. If jumping worked, the Spell would basically be useless. Shang looked at the sea of poison below him with narrowed eyes. The sludge wouldn''t vanish for over half a minute. So what if a warrior jumped? As long as they couldn''t fly, they would stillnd in the sludge. At that moment, the Poison Adept''s Focus began to shine. It had finished preparing its Spell. An instantter, a Sludge Bolt shot at Shang. BANG! Shang pulled out his sword, fell for a bit, and unleashed another Ice st with his left arm. BANG! Then, Shangnded on one of the walls of the tunnel and hung from there. At the ce where Shang had just been, the Sludge Bolt hit the ceiling, and the ceiling began to vanish at that ce. A big part of the sludge also fell to the ground, leaving behind purple gas. The Poison Adept frowned with annoyance. Then, his Focus had readied another Spell. Another Sludge Boltter, and Shang hung on a different part of the ceiling. ¡°How long are you nning on keeping this up?" the Adept asked as he shot another Sludge Bolt from his Focus. "You do know that | am recovering Mana right now? Casting Spells with a Focus doesn''t consume any of my Mana.¡± BANG! Shang avoided another Sludge Bolt. This had been the seventh one.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. By now, Shang''s entire body was steaming. He had used different parts of his body to use Ice st to evade, and he was at his limit. "Do you actually know how fast an Adept recovers Mana?" the Poison Adept asked with annoyance as he shot another Sludge Bolt. "By the time the effects of the Sludge Wave end, | have recovered all the Mana | expended." "This will continue indefinitely, and you will eventually die." BANG! Another Sludge Bolt hit the ce where Shang had just been. "Or do you n to escape into a different tunnel?" the Poison Adept asked. As the Poison Adept shot another Sludge Bolt at Shang, he looked at the other entrances. If Shang truly managed to escape, it could be troublesome. ¡°Well, how about | make the other tunnels copse?" the Poison Adept said with a smirk. The Focus continued shooting at Shang with Sludge Bolts as the Adept readied another Sludge Wave. WHOOOM! Another Sludge Wave left the Poison Adept''s Mana Shield. A huge part of the wave filled the tunnel even more with sludge as some of the wave washed over one of the entrances. The walls and ceiling of one of the entrances began to sizzle until... BOOOOM! The entrance copsed. At that moment, the Poison Adept got another idea. ¡°How about we make a poison sea?" he loudly muttered to himself. Shortly after, the Poison Adept unleashed another Sludge Wave to increase the amount of sludge in the tunnel. BOOOOM! Another entrance copsed. Crk! At that moment, the ceiling at Shang''s current location gave way, and Shang fell. The Focus unleashed a Sludge Bolt, and Shang evaded with another Ice st, severely burning his left arm. Shang looked around and noticed that the poisonous gas had severely deteriorated the ceilings and walls. It became harder and harder for Shang to keep himself above the sea of poison. On top of that, there was only one entrance left. At that moment, the Poison Adept seemingly took to the sky as he began to levitate. However, he didn''t actually fly. It was simply his Mana Shield pushing him up as it isted him from the poison around him. One could say that the Poison Adept was in the center of a sphere, swimming in a sea of poison. Some secondster, the Poison Adept appeared near thest entrance. ¡°Let''s see how you flee now," he said with a smirk. Shang''s eyes narrowed. "Shang?" Shang''s eyes widened in horror. He had just heard Astor''s voiceing from thest entrance. The Poison Adept, who stood near that entrance, looked into it and groaned. "Great, now | have to kill them too. Hope you''re happy," he said to Shang with annoyance. Then Shang heard with horror how the Poison Adept readied another Sludge Wave. "A human? Who are you?" Shang heard Elver''s voiceing from the entrance. However, the Poison Adept didn''t answer. At least, not until his Sludge Wave was ready. "Doesn''t really matter," the Poison Adept said in a bored tone. The team looked at the Adept in confusion before they saw the scene behind him. Their eyes widened in shock, but it was toote. The Poison Adept unleashed his Sludge Wave. Chapter 258 Chapter 258 Shang gritted his teeth, not in panic or fear but in frustration. "Seems like the n is ruined,¡¯ he thought. "Astor! Water!" Astor stood beside Sarah and Elver as he heard Shang''s shout. An instantter, a purple wave of sludge left the Poison Adept''s Mana Shield and charged toward their team. For a moment, Astor felt like he was about to die. A Poison Adept had attacked him! He knew that he couldn''t defend himself from such a Spell. And then, an orange glow came from behind the Poison Adept. And a momentter... BOOOOOOM! The huge sea of poison in the tunnel and even the wavebusted. Poison was weak against fire. The wave of poison that had just doomed everyone had turned into a wave of fire. But when Astor saw that, his eyes widened. He could deal with fire! "DOWN!" Astor pushed Elver and Sarah to the ground. Amomentter, he used all his Mana to bury the three of them in water. sSsss! The water turned into steam in nearly an instant. BANG! The Magic Circles on all their uniforms activated on their heads, and the wave of steam and fire pushed past them. Without the water barrier, the Magic Circle would have been broken by the violent explosion. But thanks to the water barrier, the Magic Circles managed to hold. Astor felt the rumbling through the ground, and he realized that the tunnel behind the Poison Mage was copsing due to the explosion. ¡®No! Shang!¡¯ Astor thought. The Poison Adept was dumbstruck with shock. Fire? His target was supposed to have an Ice Affinity!This is from N?velDrama.Org. Where did all this firee from?! Even though everything around the Poison Adept had exploded, his Mana Shield had blocked all of it. The only thing he had lost was a lot of Mana. BANG! Suddenly, the Poison Adept was thrown to the side as a short explosion of ck lightning hit his Mana Shield. ¡®Darkness?!¡¯ the Poison Adept thought in terror as a huge chunk of his Mana vanished. BANG! The Poison Adept''s Mana Shield hit the side of the tunnel, and he turned around. His eyes widened at what he saw. It was a desecrated, severely burned, unrecognizable corpse standing beside him. An instantter, all the burned skin vanished and fell off, and a healthy Shang was revealed beneath it. At that moment, the Poison Adept felt fear for the first time. Shang exploded forward and attacked him again. BANG! Shang only hit the wall, which copsed immediately after. BANG! Shang''s body exploded with Ice Mana as he shot down the tunnel. He knew that the Poison Adept had just used Mana Step to escape. BANG! Shang''s legs hit one of the walls as the tunnel made a curve. BOOOM! Shang exploded forward with an explosion of fire. Hot gas and air washed over Shang''s body as he exploded down the tunnel. The retreating Poison Adept turned around, and terror appeared in his heart as he saw how fast Shang was following him. This speed was ridiculous! His target was supposed to be a weak Initial General Stage warrior! He had not signed up for this! Fuck the intelligence department! They really screwed up this time! "Fuck this! I''m not about to die to some shitty warrior!¡¯ the Poison Adept thought as he unleashed another Mana Step. The Poison Adept appeared near the entrance to the Caves that the team of hunters had used. Then, he quickly took out a talisman. This talisman would shoot him out of the Caves as soon as it got activated. Boom. Bang. The Poison Adept heard the rapidly approaching explosions with terror. Then, the talisman activated. Wind Mana gathered around the Poison Adept, and a momentter, he jumped towards the hole above him. Just before the Poison Adept was about to leave the Caves, he threw onest nce at Shang. That was when he saw a ck wave fill his vision. ¡®What''s that? BOOOM! The wave washed over the Poison Adept''s Mana Shield, and the Poison Adept realized with panic that a ton of his Mana had been consumed. However, that wasn''t the most terrifying part. The Wind Mana around him had vanished! At that moment, the Poison Adept realized what that wave was. ¡®Aranged attack with the Darkness Element?! The Poison Adept''s body halted in the air, and he looked at the hole above him in terror. Only five more meters! However, these five meters might as well be five kilometers. The gap was insurmountable. And then, the Poison Adept''s body began to fall. In terror, he turned to the entrance of the tunnel. He saw his target rapidly approach him in the air, parts of his body frozen and other parts burned. In panic, the Poison Adept released the prepared Sludge Bolt from his Focus and shot it at Shang. BANG! The right side of Shang''s body exploded with fire, and he was shot to the left, evading the Spell. BANG! Shang''s feet exploded with ice, and he shot at the Poison Adept again. The Poison Adept only looked with fear at Shang. He couldn''t evade! Mana Step was only usable while on the ground! BANG! Shang hit the Mana Shield with his sword, and the Poison Adept''s body was punched to the wall. BANG! Around crater appeared on the wall, but a momentter, the Mana Shield around the Adept vanished. His Mana was used up! And an instantter... BANG! Shang''s body hit the Poison Adept''s falling body, burying both of them in the wall. Inside the hole, Shang strangled the Poison Adept with both his hands as he activated Darkness Absorb. In pain, the Poison Adept only stretched his hands to Shang''s face in order to w out his eyes, but he saw his hands turn into lifeless husks of their former selves before they lost all their power. Thest thing he saw was the burned face of his target regain life and vitality. After the Poison Adept turned into a corpse, Shang looked at it with furrowed brows. ¡®| wanted you to give details about your client while you were assured of your victory.¡¯ Then, Shang turned to the tunnel he had juste from with a frown. "Sadly, the others interfered.¡¯ ¡®And now, | have to deal with the fact that they know about my power and Affinity.¡¯ At that moment, dark thoughts appeared in Shang''s mind. Chapter 259 Chapter 259 Shang weighed his options for a bit. "Should | kill them to keep my secret?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang was willing to make friends, but he wouldn''t risk his life. In fact, he was already surprised that he had decided to put the lives of Astor, Elver, and Sarah above the knowledge he would have gained from the Poison Adept. If Shang had let the Poison Adept kill these three, he would have been even surer about his victory. Shang would have only needed to act like he was running out of Mana and maybe get hit by a bit of poison on the way. Then, he would have simply asked the Poison Adept to tell him who hadmissioned him before his death. With the Poison Adept''s arrogant and talkative personality, he would have probably spilled the beans. But when it came down to it, Shang had decided to save the lives of the three hunters. ¡®| already made my decision earlier. Might as well go all the way with it. If | kill them now, | would have gained none of the things | wanted.¡¯ Then, Shang took out something from his world. It was a Communication Crystal. "Yes?" the voice of the Dean came out of the Communication Crystal after Shang activated it. "| was attacked by a Cleaner," Shang said. ¡°How powerful?" the Dean asked. "Mid Poison Adept," Shang said. "So? You know that | will only help you against True Mages and Commander Stage warriors," the Dean said. "| killed him," Shang said "Then why are you calling me? I''m busy,¡± the Dean said with a cold voice. ¡°One current student and two former students of our academy were present when | fought him. They know about my power and my Affinity," Shang exined. "Then kill them." The reply hade in an instant. It was like it was the most logical and obvious to the Dean. "Is there another way?" Shang asked. "There is, but it will be expensive for you, and it isn''t without risks," the Dean answered. "Taking this option would be stupid. Don''t risk your life for something as ridiculous as empathy." At that moment, Soran shot through Shang''s mind. Soran and the Dean couldn''t be further apart in their mindsets. "| already know the third question | have-" "Stop!" the Dean''s voice suddenly said. Then, Shang heard some movemente from the Communication Crystal. "You can''t just talk about such details over Communication Crystal,¡± the Dean said with annoyance. "Soran was present, and I don''t want to lose one of my disciples because you couldn''t keep your mouth shut." Shang took a deep breath. "Sorry," Shang said. "You can talk now," the Dean said. "| already know the third question | have asked the God," Shang said. "How?" the Dean asked. "| tried to ask the God the same question during the trial, and he told me that he has already answered that question and that | should wait until the Commander Stage to get the answer," Shang said. ¡°Alright, and why are you bringing that up now? This doesn''t seem rted.¡± ¡°My third question is: What mindset is best for reaching the top of this world," Shang answered. Silence. "| see," the Dean said. The Dean remained silent for another few seconds. m very confident in my mindset and my path, but | can''t say that | know it better than the ruler of this world.¡± "| don''t think my path is wrong, but if it is, it might not be the best for you to follow it.¡± "| take it you don''t want tomit to a certain path while you know that you will get the correct answer in the future, right?" the Dean asked. "Correct," Shang said. "| see the point in killing the three of them. It''s definitely the option with the least risk." ¡°However, if cooperation is a more effective path, it would only damage me if | were to kill the only three people | consider friends." ¡°Because of that, | don''t want to kill them. | want to keep all my options open," Shang exined. ¡°Makes sense," the Dean answered. "Fine, | will send Soran over. He will handle everything." After the Dean said that, the connection was cut. Shang put the Communication Crystal away and waited inside the hole in the wall. Beside Shangy the desecrated corpse of the Poison Adept, who Shang had referred to as a Cleaner. A Cleaner was an agent of the Cleaning Service, and the Cleaning Service was the name of the biggest and only assassination organization in Duke Whirlwind''s territory. Inparison to what one might expect, the clients of the Cleaning Service didn''t pay ording to the target''s strength but ording to the power of the Cleaner. If someone wanted, one could hire a True Mage to deal with an apprentice. Of course, in that case, the price would be ridiculously high. Naturally, the Cleaning Service wouldn''t ept a mission if the chances of their agent dying were above 20%. Shang was certain that the Cleaning Service would have also epted sending a normal Early Adept. The fact that someone had hired a Mid Adept with a Focus meant that someone hadn''t wanted to take any chances and that they had arge amount of disposable ie. They wanted Shang dead, and they were willing to pay a premium for his death! Shang still tried to think of whoever he had offended to such a degree. Even more, why had they only hired the Cleaning Service about six months ago? At that point, Shang had already been training in seclusion for over two months. If Shang had killed someone important, they would have immediately hired the Cleaning Service. They would have never waited several months. Even more, Shang had only been in the academy before he entered seclusion. And before that? ¡®| made no enemies in Duke Whirlwind''s garden. The guards were also very nice. Even if they wanted some wealth, the amount they would need to pay the Cleaning Service is far beyond everything | own.¡¯ ¡®| don''t think it''s anyone from Coldew Vige. Everyone was nice, and frankly, even though they have a lot of money, they don''t have the kind of money needed to hire someone as powerful as this." ¡®Central Wilds? | killed three bandits, and my sled wagon punched through some walls. The guards evenughed about it.¡¯ "Southern Wilds? | only passed through and talked to some guy about that spider.¡¯ ¡®The bandits? Only an insane person would send such a powerful Cleaner after someone that killed a couple of new recruits. Even more, they probably don''t even know who | am." ¡®The guard at Blizzard''s Edge? He could theoretically have the money, but | didn''t even do nearly enough damage to him. Yes, he probably got angry because he couldn''t scam me out of my Ice Wood, but he wouldn''t send someone that powerful after me. He would essentially throw arge amount of money out of the window without any benefit.¡¯ ¡®There is no one else inside Blizzard''s Edge that | annoyed.¡¯ ¡®That only leaves Warrior''s Paradise." ¡®| never annoyed anyone from the Hunting Guild or any random warrior or Mage.¡¯ ¡®That only leaves the Warrior''s Academy.¡¯ Shang thought about his life in the academy.N?velDrama.Org content rights. "Sure, there are a couple with a good reason, but why would they wait for so long to hire someone? If | did any damage, they would have hired the Cleaning Service immediately.¡¯ Shang could only sigh. ¡®Ihave no idea." At that moment, Shang heard the quiet noise of someonending on the ground. Shang looked over. ¡®Soran''s here.¡¯ Chapter 260 Chapter 260 Soran stood in the middle of the cave and looked up at Shang, who was currently sitting in the small hole he had created. And then... Soran smiled. "I''ve heard your initial conversation with teacher," Soran said, "and | think | need to apologize for my previous words." "You could have killed the three students without any repercussions. After all, you had teacher''s permission. He even encouraged it." ¡°However, instead of doing that, you decided to spend some money to let them live." Soran jumped over to the hole, and Shang made space for him. Soran looked at the desecrated corpse and grabbed its Space Ring to inspect it. "To be honest, when | heard what had happened, | grew angry and disgusted because | was sure that you would simply kill the three of them," Soran said as he looked through the Space Ring. "But imagine my surprise when | heard that you didn''t want to do so." After some seconds, Soran threw the Space Ring over to Shang. "No information about the requester, as always." "There are a couple of things in there that are worth a bit, but they can''tpare to the Space Ring itself. | would advise you to sell the Space Ring to the academy for a good profit unless you need it yourself." Then, Soran saw the Focus, and his eyebrows rose in surprise. ¡°Now, that''s some money,¡± he said as he took hold of the Focus. "| would advise you to also sell this to the academy." "The academy?" Shang asked. "What would you even do with it?" Soran only smiled. "We sell it back to the Cleaning Service in our monthly auctions. A fully assembled Focus is worth far more than itsponents, and it would be a waste to dismantle it while we have a buyer waiting." Shang nodded. ¡°Anyway,¡± Soran said as he looked at Shang again with a smile. "I''m d you''re not as heartless as | thought you were. To be frank, | assumed you were just like teacher, and teacher... well... you know." Shang nodded. "I know how different you two are." Soran also nodded. "So, what''s the solution to my current problem?" Shang asked. "I''ll show you. Where are they?¡± Soran asked. Shang put the Focus and Space Ring into his world and jumped away from the tunnel,nding on the ground. Soran followed Shang, and the two of them walked down the tunnel. However, they didn''t need to walk for long. Just a couple of secondster, they heard the sounds of hurried footsteps, and some momentster, the team of three arrived in Shang''s tunnel. Astor was the first to see Shang and Soran, and when he did, he let out a huge sigh of relief. The team ran over and stopped in front of Shang. "What happened to the Adept?" Sarah asked with furrowed brows. "| dealt with him," Soran said before Shang could say anything. Shang didn''t contradict him. "Thank you so much, Vice-Dean Soran," Sarah said with a polite bow. The other two also bowed in thanks. Soran only nodded with a smile. "We can''t have outside people attack our students. Shang called me as soon as he saw the attacker, and | arrived as quickly as | could.¡± The team nodded, but they also furrowed their brows. "If we had known, we wouldn''t havee back," Elver said with a sigh. "You couldn''t possibly know," Soran said with a calm tone. "If Shang shouted about contacting me, the enemy would have run." "Speaking of," Astor said as he remembered something. "Why did he run when we appeared?" "The explosion," Shang said calmly. "The fire attacked him from the front and from behind, severely depleting his Mana. After that, | got a surprise attack in, and he fled. The reason why | chased him was to give his location away to Vice-Dean Soran." "By the way, where did the firee from?" Elver asked. Soran only smirked. "I think | know," he said as he looked at Shang. "The Firebomb was finally proven to be useful, right? | told you that you would need it at some point, but you said that something with this little power couldn''t even injure anyone."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Shang only looked down with a frown. "Vice-Dean, you shouldn''t make fun of Shang in this situation," Astor said with a cold but respectful voice. "You should have seen him! He managed to survive against a Mid Adept with a Poison Affinity for a long time, and he even managed to chase him away!" "| know, | know," Soran said with a smile as he put a hand on Shang''s shoulder. "I''m only teasing him because I''m proud of him." Shang only frowned. "Soran is very different from the previous times | met him, except for the very first time. When | met him the very first time, he was also this chipper, but as soon as he learned more about me, he became cold.¡¯ ¡®Was my decision to spare the others worth so much that Soran changed his entire behavior towards me?" Shang nced at Soran. ¡®It could also be a method of reinforcing good behavior. | did something he approved of, and he immediately went in to praise me for my actions. It''s almost like I''m a dog.¡¯ "...or a student. He is a teacher, after all." ¡°However, | don''t only have good news," Soran said as he furrowed his brows. The other three looked at Soran with curiosity. "You three are not inexperienced, and you three know that an Early General Stage warrior can''t resist a Mid Adept under normal circumstances," he said. The other three remained silent. SHING! At that moment, Soran summoned three pieces of paper. "The reason why Shang can be so powerful is rted to the academy''s secrets and to the reason why he has been missing for the past year. For now, it''s still a secret, but if everything works out fine, we will be able to publicize it in about two months." "But Shang''s power still needs to be kept under wraps, even when the secret eventually bes public. Today, you saw Shang''s true power, and | can''t risk certain people learning of Shang''s power." Soran handed all three of them contracts, and they read through them. "A Magic Contract," Sarah said with a frown. Soran answered. "Sorry, but we can''t take any chances." The contract stated that the three of them were forbidden from speaking of Shang''s power in any regard. "There is no duration on the contract," Sarah stated. Soran nodded. "This has to remain a secret indefinitely." ¡°You want us to have a Magic Circle mess with our memories indefinitely?" Sarah asked without any happiness. A Magic Contract put a Magic Circle into someone''s mind. If that person intended to unveil the secrets, all manners of consequences could ur. The person could die. A part of their memory could be wiped. But, in this case, the issuer of the contract, Soran, would be informed, and the signer of the contract would feel pain until they gave up. Such a contract put a burden on someone''s mind, and it was mostly used as ast resort. "That''s why you get 100,000 gold each," Soran said. "It says so on the contract." ¡®That''s what teacher meant when he said that it would cost me a lot of money,¡¯ Shang thought. When Elver heard that, he immediately signed the contract and handed it back to Soran with a smile. 100,000 gold was a lot of money! Earlier, Elver had still been worried about his future. After all, he hadn''t forgotten his argument with Sarah. Elver had thought about if he wanted to quit the team or not. But now, the decision was made. With 100,000 gold, he wouldn''t need to hunt for a long while, and he could fully focus on his training. That was over a year''s worth of ie! Just in exchange for signing a contract? No problem! Soran smiled at Elver and handed him a Space Ring. Elver excitedly took the Space Ring and looked inside. But it was empty. Elver looked at Soran with confusion. "The Space Ring is your reward," Soran said. "It should be worth about 100,000 gold." Elver''s eyes widened, and he looked at the Space Ring with shock. Yeah, Space Rings were worth 100,000 gold, but those Space Rings were the cheapest of the cheap. This one was probably worth double! "Thank you so much!" Elver said with a bow. "Can we change a use?" Astor asked. Soran looked over. "Which one?" Astor looked at Shang. "| don''t need the money," Astor said, surprising everyone but Sarah. "Shang saved our lives, and I''m willing to keep his secret. | don''t need any money from him." When Shang heard that, he somehow felt warm inside. Shang hadn''t felt the warmth of friendship ever since he had left Earth. A friend who was willing to forego such arge amount of money for someone else was truly rare and valuable. "It''s not Shang''s money," Soran said. "It''s the academy''s money." "Oh, okay, never mind then,¡± Astor said with an awkwardugh as he signed the contract. Soran nodded and also gave Astor a Space Ring. "Thanks, Astor, really," Shang said. "It''s what friends are there for, right?" Astor asked with a smile. Shang nodded after a bit. "I guess so." Now, only Sarah was left. Sarah looked at the contract. Then, she looked at Soran and Shang. And back at the contract again. She furrowed her brows. "| don''t have a choice in the matter anyway," she said with a cold voice as she signed. Sarah shoved the contract towards Soran, who handed her the Space Ring. After that, Sarah left without saying a word. "Thank you all," Shang said. "No, | should thank you," Elver said with a bright smile. Astor only nodded with a smile of his own. Sarah didn''t say anything. After that, everyone traveled back to the entrance of the Caves. However, during their short journey, Soran found a small moment to whisper something to Shang. "| lied. It''s your money." Shang wasn''t surprised. Chapter 261 Chapter 261 As soon as the five of them reached the entrance, they heard amotion. When they turned thest corner, they saw what themotion was about. Trash Birds. There were three Trash Birds pushing each other away from the hole that Shang had created in the wall, while there were even more looking nervously down from the hole at the top. Obviously, they had smelled the corpse of the Mid Adept, and they wanted to eat it more than anything. "Idiots," Soranmented. "They don''t have the capabilities to leave the Caves as soon as they enter. Yet, for a corpse, they decided to throw their lives away." The group looked at the Trash Birds for a bit before entering the cave. One of the Trash Birds quickly noticed them and squawked. The other Trash Birds immediately turned to the humans. BANG! The Trash Bird that had squawked jumped up, shoved its head into the hole, and swallowed the corpse in an instant while the others were distracted. The other Trash Birds noticed, but they didn''t do anything against the one that stole their food. There was no sense in fighting another Trash Bird. However, their eyes eventually focused on the group. The Trash Birds on top also looked at the group with greed. Trash Birds weren''t known to hunt in packs, but if several of them were close to each other, they could cooperate temporarily. The three hunters took a deep breath. They knew that they were safe, but their hearts still beat faster after looking at such a dangerous group. They could deal with one Trash Bird, maybe even two, but there were nearly ten, including the ones looking down from the hole. "Squawk!" One of the Trash Birds on top suddenly squawked with an rmed voice and ran away. The other Trash Birds on top quickly focused their eyes on Soran and also fled. This was not food! The three Trash Birds in the Caves tried to jump out via the hole, but they just couldn''t jump even nearly high enough. SHING! Agreen distortion went over the three Trash Birds, and an instantter, they copsed into several pieces. Soran had unleashed a Wind de Spell. One shouldn''t forget that Soran was a Magic Warrior. Even though Soran mainly focused on his warrior path, he still had the Magic abilities of a weaker True Mage. None of the other four questioned Soran about why he did that. Trash Birds were a menace to the Wild Forest. The five of them walked to the center and readied their talismans, except for Soran, since he didn''t need one. BANG! Soran just casually jumped, creating a huge crater beneath him, and he lightlynded on the outside. When the three hunters saw that, a feeling of grandeur entered their hearts. The height required to reach the hole was unachievable for them, and it would remain so for a long time. Yet, Soran easily jumped over it like it didn''t even exist. Shang didn''t feel like the other three. His goal had already gone far beyond the Commander Stage. Also, Shang could get out of the Caves without a talisman as well. It would, at most, need two sts. Maybe he could even get out with only one. But just like everyone else, Shang prepared his talisman and activated it. Wind Mana gathered around Shang, and he jumped. The Wind Mana was being used up by extending Shang''s momentum, and just three secondster, Shang also exited the Caves. The others followed, and everyone finally saw the outside again. It wasn''t special. It was just the Wastnd. By now, it was afternoon, and the number of hunters had declined by quite a bit, which meant that there were more beasts walking around. Hunting in the Wastnd was a dangerous bncing act. Enter at a time with too many hunters, you won''t earn anything. Enter at a time with too few hunters, you will be besieged by beasts and die. During the afternoons, it was still alright for them to hunt, but as soon as the evening arrived, they would have to leave. ¡°Are you done hunting for today?" Soran asked. "Yes," Sarah answered.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. Soran nodded. "Then, let me apany you back." The team started running and directly charged towards Warrior''s Paradise, following Soran. With Soran apanying them, they didn''t need to be careful. Ajourney that would have taken them over an hour waspleted in just ten minutes. "We don''t have Returnal Talismans," Sarahmented. "| know the Spell. Don''t worry," Soran said. Returnal Talismans were the talismans that allowed the hunters to directly enter Warrior''s Paradise by jumping. But, of course, these talismans were far more expensive than the other ones. After all, the talismans needed to securely throw someone to a height of over two kilometers. That was a lot of Mana, and it couldn''t bepared to the small talismans required to exit the Caves. Eventually, the five of them arrived directly below Warrior''s Paradise. They had never seen Warrior''s Paradise from this angle, and the city felt very different from normal. Being in the gigantic shadow of Warrior''s Paradise and being unable to see its top from down there made them feel small. Acouple of guards with two ballistae stood near them in a bored manner. This was a designated point for returning hunters, and this point had to be free of any threats, which was why the guards were here. "Oh, hey, Soran!" an officer with a silver uniform said when he saw Soran. "Hello, Charles," Soran said with a smile. ¡°Haven''t seen you in a while. How have you been?" The officer and Soran had a short conversation about unimportant topics until Soran said that they had to go. The officer nodded and quickly performed a routine inspection on everyone, just like the guards at the gates. After clearing the inspection, Sarah walked over to the designated Returnal Point. It was aplex Magic Circle on the ground, several meters wide. This Magic Circle would guide the talisman to give it the correct coordinates. Without it, the talisman would throw someone straight into the air without any restriction. The Spells were designed this way on purpose. After all, what if someone bought a talisman, got some contraband, and simply entered Warrior''s Paradise again from an unsupervised location? Because of that, the talismans needed the Magic Circle to work, which forced the hunters to get close to the stationed guards, who could inspect them. Sarah readied herself, and Soran cast a Spell. Two secondster, a terrifying amount of Wind Mana gathered around Sarah, and the Magic Circle beneath her began to shine. An instantter, the chaotic Wind Mana became orderly. "You can jump," Soran said. BANG! Sarah jumped, and a wave of wind swept over everyone. The team looked at Sarah basically flying away, and some secondster, shended in Warrior''s Paradise. Next, it was Elver''s turn, and after that, it was Astor''s turn. Soran finished his Spell. "You can jump," he said to Shang. Shang narrowed his eyes and jumped. WHOOOOM! Shang felt himself being assaulted by a terrifying amount of wind as he reached speeds he had never reached before in his life. He looked to the side and saw the world around him quickly sinking. It was a strange feeling. Eventually, Shang¡¯s momentum became slower and slower. And when Shang was about three meters above the wall, his momentum stopped, and he was lightly thrown forward for a couple of meters. Finally, Shang lightlynded on the wall of Warrior''s Paradise. Chapter 262 Chapter 262 "Move! Make space for the next ones!" one of the guards told Shang with annoyance. Shang moved to the side, and a couple of secondster, Soran appeared on top of the wall. Soran had a nice conversation with the stationed guards once again before leading the team down the wall. ¡°And that''s that," Soran said as he turned to everyone. "It was nice seeing some of you again." Sarah immediately left without saying anything. Apparently, the Magic Contract annoyed her quite a bit. Elver and Astor also said their goodbyes before following Sarah. "Shang, follow me," Soran said after everyone left. Shang only nodded and followed Soran. After a couple of minutes, they returned to the academy. Soran immediately led Shang to the main building and to the fifth floor, which was reserved for teachers. The two of them entered Soran''s office and sat down. SHING! Soran summoned a gigantic stack of papers, which heavily hit the desk in his office. Then, he looked at Shang with a smile. "Want to find out who hired the Cleaner?" he asked. Shang''s eyes shone, and he nodded. "Tell me what you know and who you suspect," Soran said. Shang recounted his thoughts about who could have wanted him dead. It essentially boiled down to that it had to be one of the students. Soran nodded. "That''s what | thought," he said as he took the huge stack of papers into his hands. "Tell me of everyone you met that might have a motive for wanting you dead." Shang thought for a bit and decided to go in chronological order. "The guy in the entrance exam. The one | beat up," Shang said. ¡°Michael Brestow," Soran said as he searched through the papers until he found the student''s file. "He''s in the Preparation Grade right now, and he is about average. Nothing has changed for him. | severely doubt that it''s him," Soran said. Shang nodded. He hadn''t thought that he would have been the one to send the Cleaner, but Shang wanted to be thorough. "Stars Gerbon," Shang said. "| was the reason for his strongest helper leaving, and | beat his two cronies up. | also tore his jaw off." Soran grimaced a bit, but he looked for Stars'' file. ¡°His body was very powerful back then, thanks to his background,¡± Soran said. "After you two met, everyone around him abandoned him. He had trouble adjusting for the next couple of weeks, but he eventually settled in. Right now, he''s in the Advanced Grade, and he belongs to the top 30%. From what I''m reading, he also stopped using his background.¡± ¡°Apparently, he''s also rather popr with the other students, and whenever someone brings up his old behavior, he gets angry out of shame. His family has the funds to hire such a powerful Cleaner, but | doubt that they would do so because of a mere spat between two students. His parents might even want to thank you for putting some sense into him,¡± Soran said. "| doubt it''s him." Shang nodded, but he was also surprised about something. "How do you know so many details about the students?" "The teachers are required to report nearly everything about every student," Soran exined. Then, Soran sighed. "And it''s my job to read through all the reports and create a file. | hate that part of my job." ¡®Understandable,¡¯ Shang thought. "What about his three cronies?" Shang asked. Soran got the three names of the cronies from Stars'' file and looked through them. ¡°Advanced Grade. Below average due toziness," Soran said as he put the first file away. "Not him." ¡°Advanced Grade. Doing pretty well. It''s also not him." Soran put the second file away. "This one''s dead," Soran said. "Dead?" Shang asked. If Shang was involved in this guy''s death... "Don''t worry," Soran said as he put the file away. "He died about 18 monthster in the northeastern Wild Forest. You can imagine what he died to." "Vanishing Snake?" Shang asked. Soran nodded. "It''s not him." At that moment, Shang furrowed his brows. After the incident with Stars Gerbon, Shang only had one more run-in with the students. And it was the worst one. After that? Shang had been a normal student, and he hadn''t even argued with anyone. He had simply stayed by himself and went to his lessons. Was it one of those three? "| had onest fight with three students," Shang said. "| remember," Soran said with a frown. "That wasn''t a pleasant day." "To be honest with you, back then, | tried my very best to convince teacher to expel you. You can imagine how that went," Soran said with a bit of guilt visible on his face. Shang nodded. He wasn''t surprised that Soran wanted to expel him back then. Soran hadn''t really kept his dislike a secret from Shang. However, Soran never tried to use any underhanded methods to get rid of him. He had voiced his concern to the Dean, and he had been shut down. Instead of making Shang''s life difficult with underhanded means, he simply dropped the matter. ¡°| can understand why," Shang said. "| regret my decision now," Soran said. "Thank you for understanding." Shang only absentmindedly nodded. Soran looked through the files and retrieved three of them.N?velDrama.Org content rights. "First, the guy you kicked," Soran said. Soran read through the file. Then, he raised an eyebrow. Shang raised an eyebrow in return. "He left the Warrior''s Academy three dayster," Soran said. Shang furrowed his brows. Now, they were up to something. "But his file doesn''t end here," Soran said. "Just a couple of months ago, some of our students met him outside." "It was in the weekly match between the Anti-Mage ss and the Mage Academy." ¡°Apparently, he became a Late Apprentice, and he wasn''t weak," Soran said with surprise. Shang looked with a questioning look at Soran. Soran looked through the file again, and he had to chuckle. "Interesting. He was below average in our academy, but he quickly became rather good in Magic." "What irony. He nearly got beaten to death and gave up the warrior path. But instead of turning into a nobody, he began to shine as a Mage." "If | were to take a guess, | believe that he might even feel thankful to you," Soran said with a chuckle. ¡°After all, without you, he would probably still be near the bottom in our academy." Shang thought back to that day. He had kicked the guy with all his power, broke several of his bones, and the guy had been convulsing on the ground as he was choking on his own blood. Who would have guessed that such an event would result in the victim finding their own path and rising through the ranks? "| very much doubt that it''s him," Soran said. Shang agreed. "Next, the guy you threw against the ground," Soran said. Then, he read through the file. "He had some troubles after your incident," Soran said. "Apparently, over the following weeks, he was afraid of sparring, and he basically turned into a hermit. He spent weeks on end only in his room, training.¡± ¡°Two monthster, he came out of his self-imposed istion and took part in the lessons again." "Surprisingly, during the first lesson, Mervin noticed his polished swordsmanship.¡± ¡°And he took him in as a personal disciple," Soran said with surprise. Shang was also surprised by quite a bit. ¡°Right now, he is at the top of his ss when ites to swordsmanship. He essentially acts as the senior in the ss and teaches others." Then, Soran snickered. "Loran calls him Mervin Junior." "Mervin Junior, huh?'' Shang thought. Mervin was someone upright, honest, and kind. Shang doubted that a personal disciple of Mervin would want to spend that much money to get rid of Shang. "| don''t think it''s him," Soran said. Shang only nodded. ¡°Now, thest guy,¡± Soran said. At that moment, the bloodied face that had haunted Shang for so long had returned. This had been the worst one. Shang hadn''t thought of that incident in a long time. Soran looked through the files until he found it. And when he lifted it, the file unfolded several times until it was as long as five files. Shang''s and Soran''s eyebrows lifted. But instead of reading, Soran put the file away. "| remember now," Soran said. "| rememberpiling that huge file.¡± "| think we found the one that hired the Cleaner." The bloodied face haunted Shang once again. But this time, it was in real life. And it was very dangerous. Chapter 263 Chapter 263 "Simon Wilbury, sole son of Baroness Wilbury and Major Wilbury," Soran said. ¡®If his mother is a baroness, it means that she''s a True Mage,¡¯ Shang thought with furrowed brows. ¡®Military titles are normally only given to warriors, and, as far as | know, a major is also usually at the Commander Stage.¡¯ ¡®They would definitely have the funds tomission a Cleaner.¡¯ "Can you tell me more?" Shang asked. "As the sole heir, Simon Wilbury was supposed to be a True Mage and lead the Wilbury household,¡± Soran said. ¡°However, he was born without an Affinity." ¡°Without an Affinity?" Shang asked with raised eyebrows. Being born without an Affinity was possible, but it was rare. Soran nodded. "Being born without an Affinity makes it very difficult to be a Mage. While it is possible to train in Element Neutral Magic, these kinds of Spells only be prevalent near the very top of the Adept Realm. Even if someone wants to specialize in Element Neutral Magic, they would still need to gain experience with some Elements." "If someone wants to purely advance on the path of Magic, they need to master the maniption of Mana. Something like that requires practice.¡± ¡°But since the Element Neutral Spells are either extremely easy, like Mana Shield or Mana Step, or extremely hard, like Mind Read and Mana Force, it is very difficult for someone to be a True Mage by only relying on Element Neutral Spells." "Getting started isn''t an issue. Bing a True Mage after bing a Peak Adept isn''t an issue." ¡°But everything between is an issue." "Imagine you are building a very big andplex contraption, but you only know what parts you need and how to create the mostplex part of the contraption." "You have all the parts, and you have the core, but you don''t know how to build everything.¡± "That''s the situation these kinds of people are in." Soran leaned back in his chair. "Of course, there is a way to still seed." Shang looked at Soran. "The warrior path, right?¡± Soran nodded. "By strengthening your body, your mind gets strengthened regardless, and as long as you don''t have a warrior''s body, the strengthening also wouldn''t be that much weaker." "Simon Wilbury would have only needed to reach the Early Commander Stage. At that point, his mind should have be powerful enough to train in the moreplex Element Neutral Spells." "So, of course, his parents sent him to the Warrior''s Academy. From what I''ve heard whilepiling his file, it was his father that taught him nearly everything Simon knew about fighting.¡± ¡°And he was really good at it," Soran said. Shang only looked at Soran. "On the very first day, Simon was fighting for first ce in not only his ss but the entire Grade." Shang nodded. That truly was impressive. "Sadly, after losing to an even more talented warrior, Simon lost all his drive. It was like he no longer cared about being in first ce, which resulted in his eventual decline." ¡°A couple of yearster, Simon was still very strong, but he wasn''t even in the top 5 of his Grade anymore. The other students simply worked much harder." ¡°Another issue was also that he only very rarely went hunting, and he earned most of his Contribution Points by stealing resources from other students." ¡°As you know, we don''t forbid stealing resources. That''s mainly to give the students a safe ce to learn about these things. Some students learn how to steal, which will help them in the future when they need resources. Other students learn how to protect themselves from thieves. You would much rather learn this lesson by only losing a couple of days¡¯ worth of Contribution Points instead of some very valuable ore you nearly gave your life to obtain.¡± ¡°And Simon Wilbury could be viewed as a sort of ¡®teacher¡¯ that taught how to protect yourself from people coveting your things,¡± Soran exined. ¡°He was pretty sessful in his banditry." "That was until he ran into you," Soran said. Soran took out Simon''s file again and pointed at a ce on the first page that was about halfway down. ¡°Everything | told you was only in the first half of the first page," Soran said, "and the reason why this file is so long is entirely rted to the changes in Simon''s life after you two met." Just by looking at the length of the file, Shang could imagine that this day hadpletely changed Simon''s life. ¡°What happened after that?" Shang asked. Soran pushed the file away again and looked at Shang. ¡°His physical wounds had been healed in a matter of minutes. Our Water Mage is very good at healing." ¡°But for the next week, it was basically impossible for anyone to have a normal conversation with Simon." ¡°At first nce, he appeared normal, but whenever he talked to anyone, he would talk very fast, stumble over his words, and his voice would be very high.¡± "In short, he fell into a minor panic as soon as another human interacted with him." Soran leaned his head on one of his fists as his eyes looked at the file lying on the table. ¡°Mervin took special care of Simon, and he tried to get Simon limated to human society again.¡± ¡°And it worked. Just one monthter, Simon was normal again." ¡°However, two things were not the same." "First, when Simon was supposed to spar, he wouldmit a great number of mistakes due to nervousness." "Second, even though Simon hadn''t hunted much in the past, from that moment on, he has never hunted again." Soran pointed at the file again. "70% of this file are reports and evaluations from different teachers regarding Simon''s abnormal mindset and his problems at the academy." ¡°Of course, things only got worse. The other students noticed how weak Simon was, and they made fun of him for not even having the courage to spar with them. They called him weak-willed, pathetic, and a disgrace to every warrior." ¡°After several months of all of this, Simon finally had enough andshed out. His rage exploded forth, and he pulled out his weapon.¡± "He tried to kill another student, but the student evaded the attack and kicked Simon to the ground." "While Simon had been dealing with these things, the other students had continued training, and Simon couldn''t even be counted as average by this point." "A teacher arrived shortly after, and Simon was expelled. Drawing your weapon on another student without them drawing theirs first is forbidden." Soran pushed four of the five pages of the file to the side.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. "That happened a bit more than a year ago," Soran said. "From what I''ve heard, he returned to his parents, and they put him through therapy and intense training. They were doing their best to push Simon forward until he was outstanding again.¡± ¡°And five monthster..." "They found his corpse hanging from a noose inside his room," Soran said. Silence. Shang took a deep breath. Shang had somewhat made peace with this entire incident, but he still had some regrets. After all, he viewed Simon as a kid. "He died around seven months ago,¡± Soran said as he looked at Shang. "And you said that the Cleaner mentioned that he has been searching for you for about six months, right?" Chapter 264 Chapter 264 Shang furrowed his brows. By now, he was certain that the Cleaner had been sent by the Wilbury couple. They were the only ones with a motive, and they had the funds to send one. The timeline also fit very well. "Can you tell me more about the Wilburys?" Shang asked. ¡°Baroness Wilbury is one of the five teachers in the outpost of the Mage Academy," Soran exined. "The outpost is specifically for students with a Poison Affinity, and it''s inside the Empress Cobra Zone, inside Swamp Lake City." "Major Wilbury is assistant to themander of the guards of Swamp Lake City. Individually, there are two people in Swamp. Lake City more powerful than them, namely themander and the head teacher, butbined, those two hold a lot of sway over Swamp Lake City." "You can view Swamp Lake City as a smaller and weaker version of Warrior''s Paradise. Swamp Lake City, just like Warrior''s Paradise, is responsible for killing beasts and selling their corpses. It is the southernmost outpost of humanity in the Empress Cobra Zone, and it takes the brunt of attacks during the Day of Chaos.¡± "It''s only outssed by Warrior''s Paradise, which is the most powerful and biggest city in Duke Whirlwind''s territory, and Ice Heaven, which is the ce where most nobles live in Duke Whirlwind''s territory." "In short, those two are very powerful," Soran said. Shang looked at Soran. "What will happen from now on?" Soran could only sigh. "Even though we can be certain of their guilt, we can''t judge or report them without evidence." "And we have zero evidence." Shang furrowed his brows. "So, there''s nothing | can do?" "You can''t do anything against them as you are now, Shang," Soran said. "Even though you have a connection with Duke Whirlwind, he can''t just start an investigation without any proof." "Many nobles do shady things, and the Duke knows this. If the Duke suddenly starts investigating people, a great number of nobles will leave for Duke Mithril''s territory." "Green Wind County would lose a huge chunk of its force, and Duke Whirlwind can''t risk that," Soran exined. "So, I''m just supposed to not do anything?" Shang asked. Soran sighed again. "It''s not that you shouldn''t do anything. It''s that you can''t do anything." Shang raised an eyebrow. "Theoretically, you could do the same thing they did. You could hire a Cleaner. You could even do it yourself as long as you stay hidden." "I''m not telling you to stay put like amb waiting to be ughtered. It''s normal to retaliate if someone attacks you, and nobody will fault you for that." ¡°However, you neither have the money nor the power to do anything.¡± "So, while you definitely should do something, you simply can''t." "You''re just too weak." Shang gritted his teeth in frustration. Soran had basically told Shang that Soran wouldn''t mind if Shang killed the couple. Even the Dean would have no problems. Duke Whirlwind wouldn''t say it, but he would probably also not mind, as long as Shang wasn''t found out. Everyone essentially gave Shang the go-ahead to take his revenge. But Shang simply didn''t have the means! Could Shang ask for help? Sure, but what was the point? Right now, Shang''s life wasn''t in danger as long as he didn''t leave Warrior''s Paradise. On top of that, nobody above the General Stage had technically attacked him. It wasn''t like Shang was only waiting for his death right now. While he couldn''t go against these two, for the time being, he could protect himself by not going to isted ces. And he was supposed to call for help in such a situation? First of all, Shang disliked asking for help, but more importantly, what if something simr, or even worse, happened in the future? If Shang couldn''t even get through such a minor crisis, how could he expect to reach the top? What about when Shang became the most powerful warrior? At that time, his enemies would all be Mages. If Shang needed help then, would he even get any help? Shang knew that he couldn''t rely on someone else during every single crisis. ¡®| hate this!¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Someone tried to kill me, but | don''t even nearly have the power to fight back!" This was the first moment Shang truly got confirmation of his initial beliefs regarding this world. From the very beginning, Shang had been under the impression that this was a world where nothing but power mattered. However, over the next years, Shang went through many experiences that contradicted that belief. There were plenty of people that didn''t let power define their actions. But now, Shang saw what he had feared ever since he had arrived in this world. Someone more powerful than him had gone against him, and there was absolutely nothing Shang could do. Shang got reminded of the trial. Back then, Shang had felt the hopeless powerlessness that came right before someone stronger than him decided to kill him. This feeling was identical but weaker in intensity. Nothing Shang did could stop this from happening as long as he gave them a chance. Soran watched Shang silently with aplex expression. Soran was someone that valued cooperation a lot, but he had also gone through a lot of pain, terror, and helplessness. He knew exactly how Shang felt. After all, he had gone through very simr situations in the past. While Soran valued cooperation and empathy, he wasn''t some naive and innocent kid. If he needed to kill, he wouldn''t hesitate to do so. It was just that he preferred finding another way. Several seconds of silence passed. "So, there''s nothing | can do except protect my own life?" Shang asked. "Theoretically, you could ask someone for help," Soran said. "However, | would advise you against that. If you want to be more powerful in the future, you should learn how to deal with these situations on your own." Shang nodded. "I had the same thought.¡± Some more seconds of silence passed. "This means | can''t leave Warrior''s Paradise anymore," Shangmented. "There''s a high likelihood that the Wilbury couple will send a Peak Adept Cleaner next," Soran said. "If you go out hunting or to visit any other ce, chances are high that you won''t return." ¡°Even more, the Cleaning Service should now know about your new appearance now. As long as you don''t change your height, build, and weapon again, you won''t be able to fool the Cleaner. They are very good at doing their job." "| know," Shang said. After that, Shang stood up. "| need to think. Thanks for your help," he said as he turned to leave the office. "If you need anything, don''t hesitate to call me," Soran said as Shang left his office. After Shang left, Soran looked at the closed door of his office. "His first instance of having someone more powerful than him target him," Soran said to himself with nostalgia. "Been a while since that happened to me." While Soran thought back to his younger days, Shang entered his old room on the first floor of the main building. Shang didn''t even look at the room he hadn''t been in during thest year and directly sat down.N?velDrama.Org content rights. And for a long time, Shang didn''t move. ¡®| hate this!¡¯ he thought again as he shot up from his bed. ¡®But there''s not much | can do for now,¡¯ he thought as he looked at the center of his room. ¡®Except for increasing my power.¡¯ And not even two minutester, Shang had already returned to training. The sooner he became powerful enough to kill a Peak Adept, the sooner he could leave Warrior''s Paradise... And the sooner he could make the Wilbury couple waste another fortune by killing another Cleaner! Chapter 265 Chapter 265 Shang had nothing he could do but increase his power. In a way, it felt very stifling, but Shang knew that he wasn''tpletely helpless. Even though increasing his power wouldn''t help him at this moment, it would help him in the future. Over the next month, Shang fully focused on training. Most of the time, he remained inside his room, training his swordsmanship, but he also sometimes came out to ask the teachers a couple of questions. Mervin had answered most of Shang''s questions since he was the trainer responsible for teaching swordsmanship. When Mervin saw Shang again, he noticed that Shang''s eyes didn''t seem as lost and apathetic anymore. ¡°You changed for the better,¡± Mervin said. Shang didn''t want to get into the topic and asked his questions, which Mervin answered thoroughly. Since Shang hadn''te into contact with any very advanced martial arts in the past, his fighting style had been solidified enough. Introducing a stronger martial art to him would no longer make him lose his way, which was why Mervin now used already established martial arts to answer Shang''s questions. Introducing him to these techniques now was timed just right. Shang learned many new things thanks to the inspirations and hard work of his predecessors. The most important thing Mervin had shown Shang was something that basically every technique inside the academy included. Using the Domain to its fullest potential. Shang hadn''t been able to create a Domain yet, but learning how to utilize it correctly might help him in creating his own. ¡®If | can create my own Domain, | can advance to the Peak General Stage without any issues. Theoretically, | would be able to reach the Commander Stage with it, but that would throw me into mediocrity.¡¯ In actuality, Shang was already nning on reaching the Mid General Stage, but he wanted to go at it slowly. Shang was currently not in need of money since he had earned a ridiculous sum over thest three months, but Shang wanted to take the slow path anyway. Advancing to the Mid General Stage cost warriors around 100,000 gold, which was a lot of money for them. They would need to buy pills and medicine that figuratively shoved Mana into their bodies. One couldpare it to erging one''s stomach by constantly overeating. If one got the medicine, one would only need about three months to advance. And what was the slow method? Training. Same as at the Soldier Stage. Going via this route would take warriors at least two years to advance. But Shang wouldn''t take that long. Not only did Shang have the willpower to go through tremendous pain for his power, but a different disadvantage had turned into an advantage in this case. The cost of his Affinity. In battle, injuring oneself to attack was always a drawback. But, during training, this was good. Just by unleashing Ice and Fire sts alternatively, Shang could very precisely and methodically destroy parts of his body, which he would then heal with his warrior''s body and his passive regeneration. How long would Shang need to reach the Mid General Stage this way? About two months. Yes, in two months, Shang would reach the Mid General Stage. However, Shang wouldn''t be able to train without being disturbed for these two months. After all, he had an appointment. About one month after Shang started his training again, he was called to the front of the school about an hour before dawn. The sky was still dark when Shang reached the entrance to the school. He saw no one else present, which meant that he was first. Shang simply waited on the side of the gate for the others to arrive. Shang also noticed that teacher Loran was guarding the gate, like every night. He was sure that teacher Loran had already noticed and recognized Shang, but apparently, teacher Loran didn''t have anything to say to Shang. ¡®I''m just one of many students,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®The teachers in schools and academies go through students like copy-paper, and they also generally don''t feel very close to most of them.¡¯ ¡®Just a part of the job." Shang waited in silence for a couple of minutes until the second person appeared. It was a man with short, green hair, and he carried a long but thin sword with only a single edge. As Shang saw the sword, he got reminded of One. He had a nearly identical weapon.N?velDrama.Org content rights. Shang knew that he would travel with the other four people that had also undergone the procedure, and this had to be one of them. The man wasn''t very tall, and he looked at Shang from a distance. "You''re-" "We are not alone,¡± Shang interrupted the student before gesturing at teacher Loran with his head. "It''s fine,¡± the student answered casually. Shang lifted an eyebrow. "Vice-Dean Soran said that we no longer have to keep the procedure a secret from today onward," he said. Shang looked at Loran, but Loran still acted like he was asleep. ¡°Howe?" Shang asked. ¡°Because the oue doesn''t matter," the student said with a shrug. "If we get the go-ahead, we will announce it. If we don''t get it, the method will be spread over the entire world anyway.¡± Shang scratched his chin with furrowed brows. That exnation made sense. "You''re patient zero, right?" the student asked. For a second, Shang became nervous, but he quickly realized that the student didn''t know about Shang''s second identity. Shang only nodded. "| want to thank you for giving me the opportunity to be more powerful,¡± the student said with a lot of respect. Shang only looked at the student with a frown. "I didn''t do anything for you." "But you did," the student said. "Without you, the procedure wouldn''t have be survivable for me." The student''s voice shook a bit as he thought back to his own procedure. "| almost died. If it had been only a little bit more painful, | wouldn''t be here right now." "That''s why | want to thank you. Without you, | would have still epted the procedure, but | would have most likely died to it," the student exined with sincerity. Shang only looked at the student with aplex expression. He didn''t feel like he had done anything worth mentioning. After all, Shang hadn''t even thought about others when undergoing the procedure. He had done it solely for his own power, nothing else. "| had no intention of helping anyone else," Shang said. "I''m only interested in my own power. There''s nothing for you to thank me. "Just ept his thanks," teacher Loran said as he stopped acting like he was asleep. "| can''t keep listening to this." Shang looked at the student again, but he wasn''t sure if he should ept the thanks. ¡°Listen,¡± the student said. "| know that you never thought about me or anyoneing after me. I''m also desperate for power, which is the reason why | undertook the procedure in the first ce. Just like you, | didn''t think about everyone that came after me. ¡°However, if you intended it or not, your actions have helped me. You might not have had the intention, but your actions have still helped me." The student smiled. "And actions are more important than intent." Shang furrowed his brows. "If you see it like this, sure. Then, no problem." Chapter 266 Chapter 266 The student tried to talk to Shang some more, but Shang only gave short and concise answers. Luckily, the awkwardness was alleviated as another three students arrived. The student quickly fell into a conversation with the other three, who then also said thanks to Shang for his sacrifice. Shang felt quite awkward right now. Now that all the students were present, Shang could also feel the average Battle-Strength of these students. In Shang''s opinion, they were quite powerful. If this were inside the trial, these four would probably count as "powerful Initial General Stage warriors", excluding their procedure. Even more, from what Shang had heard from these students, one of them didn''t even have a warrior''s body. This was groundbreaking news! This meant that the procedure could now be applied to a much greater range of warriors. No wonder Duke Whirlwind and the Dean wanted to go public with the procedure. If they got the go-ahead from King Skythunder, they could roll out the procedure on a massive scale. By listening to the students, Shang also learned that the passive regeneration was also present in them, but to a weaker degree. While Shang would need about 30 seconds to fully heal his body without any Mana, they needed around 90 seconds. Acouple of minutester, thest two people arrived. ¡°Dean, Duke Whirlwind,¡± teacher Loran said from in front of the gate to thest two people. ¡°Loran, it''s been a while since I''ve seen you. How have things been?" Duke Whirlwind asked with a polite smile. ¡°Everything is going very well. Thank you for asking, Duke Whirlwind," teacher Loran said with a polite bow. Just like Vice-Dean Soran, Duke Whirlwind exchanged a couple of polite words with teacher Loran. Only when the followers had a good impression of their leader would things go smoothly during a rule. Duke Whirlwind knew that, which was why he never acted like someone didn''t deserve to talk to him due to his status. Even when some random Soldier Stage warrior had appeared in his garden, he had still taken the time to talk to him ona basically equal field, which showed that this was how Duke Whirlwind genuinely felt and that it wasn''t just an act. Duke Whirlwind could have killed Shang back then without any consequences, and no one would have even known. The Dean, on the other hand, didn''t talk a lot with anyone. He always only said as much as necessary. The gates of the academy opened, and the five students stepped out. "Greetings to the Dean and Duke Whirlwind," the students said, except for Shang. Shang only nodded in greeting. The Dean introduced the other four students to Duke Whirlwind, who gave them some smallpliments. The students felt honored beyond belief when they heard the Duke personallypliment them. Even more, the Duke didn''t just say empty words, but he perfectly highlighted the things these students were really good in. The Duke hadn''t been present during the other procedures, and today was the first time he saw the other four students. Of course, the Deanpletely skipped Shang''s introduction. The Dean only said as much as he needed, and the Duke didn''t need an introduction to Shang. After the introductions were finished, Duke Whirlwind gestured to the north. "Alright, enough small talk. We have a long day ahead of us, and | want to be back before night hits." The Dean passed by the students and stopped behind them. These students were important for the future of all warriors, and the Dean wouldn''t take any chances, which was why he was guarding the rear while Duke Whirlwind took the front. "Little friend Shang, | want someone to talk to during the boring journey. Would you minding forward and apanying me?" the Duke said with a smile. Shang only nodded and stopped just a bit behind the Duke. The other students looked with a bit of shock at Shang. They didn''t know much about Shang, which was why they had no idea that Shang was this close to the Duke. The Duke saw that everyone was ready to depart and nodded. Then, he spoke a couple of unfamiliar words, which meant that he was casting a Spell. Shang knew a lot about Spells, but he had no idea what this Spell would do. It was probably far too advanced for him. After the Duke was done, a green barrier made of Wind Mana appeared around the five students. "This Spell is called Blessing of the Wind," Duke Whirlwind said. "It has a minor protective effect, and it helps you all move faster. Don''t be surprised when you suddenly move several times faster than normal when you start running. Your speed should now be equal to Initial Commander Stage warriors." The students nodded in wonder. They had never heard of this kind of Spell. ¡°Let''s go," the Duke said. And then, he lightly stepped forward, but that light step already made him elerate to quite a fast speed. The other students followed, and a couple of them nearly stumbled. They had moved far too fast for their liking. Luckily, basically all warriors had superb coordination abilities when it came to their bodies. About a minuteter, they left the city through the main gates, which had been opened early due to the Duke''s orders. As everyone ran down the long road, Shang looked to the side.N?velDrama.Org content rights. He was moving so fast! ¡®That''s probably around 200 kph, and if | wanted, | could probably be even faster,¡¯ Shang thought. "Shang, | found a Peak Adept that just looked at you with quite a lot of interest," Duke Whirlwind said from in front of Shang. Shang''s eyes narrowed. Sure enough, the next Cleaner had already been sent. "You seem to have some problems," Duke Whirlwind said. "It''s not a problem,¡± Shang answered. "You know," Duke Whirlwind said, "| was thinking about what | should give you for your excellent service in my new territory. Just giving you some ore doesn''t seem to be enough as a repayment." ¡°Want me to take care of this problem? You won''t owe me anything, and you won''t get more involved in my political faction." "It''s just a little repayment." Shang didn''t immediately answer. Chapter 267 Chapter 267 For just a small moment, Shang entertained the thought of epting the proposal. ¡°Thank you, but no," Shang said. "| want to deal with this myself." Duke Whirlwind only smiled. It was like he had already anticipated that answer. "It''s fine to deal with some troublesome things yourself. You''ll learn how to deal with worse situations in the future because of that. However, please keep in mind that your life is still the most important thing. Without it, none of your goals will be meaningless," Duke Whirlwind said. "| will keep that in mind," Shang said. ¡°Naturally, no one will even dare to follow or touch you on this journey," Duke Whirlwind continued. "That Adept has also not even considered following us. | even presume that he might abandon the mission before the day is over. After all, he saw you traveling with me." Duke Whirlwind chuckled a bit. "This mission might appear a little too hot for his liking." "So, whoevermissioned your death will probably have to pay an even higher premium after today." Shang furrowed his brows. "Will a True Magee after me?" he asked. Shang didn''t even ask how Duke Whirlwind knew that the person spying on Shang was a Cleaner. Duke Whirlwind had probably seen enough Cleaners in his life. Finding out that it was a Cleaner probably didn''t take more than a simple nce. ¡°With enough money, you could probably even hire the King personally," Duke Whirlwind said with a chuckle. "But you don''t need to worry. | have implemented policies that track the whereabouts of all the True Mages in my domain. If they want to hire a True Mage toe after you, they will need to get one from outside and smuggle them in." ¡°As long as your enemy isn''t a Peak True Mage that is willing to throw their life savings away just to see you die, you should be fine. At most, they willmission a more powerful Peak Adept." Shang only nodded.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. By now, the group had arrived at the Farm Line, and they were still continuing at a rapid pace. The speed was honestly impressive. "What kind of reward do you want?" Duke Whirlwind suddenly asked. "You already gave me my reward," Shang said. "That piece of ore?" Duke Whirlwind said with a snort. "Please, that''s not equal to what you have done for me. Duke Mithril has proven to be rather annoying with his constant objections to my im of the former battlefield, and one of his biggest arguments is that my territory is now too big for me. He''s constantlyining that | don''t have a mind bright enough to efficiently rule over so muchnd." ¡°And to bolster his argument, he constantly fills my ranks with his people to make everything appear as mismanaged as possible. He gets his people to devastate thendscape and plunder it to such a degree that the natural resources can''t even recover with time." ¡°But you have literally taken care of his biggest hand," Duke Whirlwind exined. Shang raised his eyebrows in surprise. "My contributions couldn''t be that enormous," he said. ¡°But they are,¡± Duke Whirlwind said with augh. "He sent in his two most valuable pawns to the northeastern territory. They aren''t valuable due to their power but due to their positions and abilities." ¡°Lieutenant Horace has enjoyed the full trust of my personal general, and Kiva Orvis is the genius son of Jera Orvis, the personal general of Duke Mithril," Duke Whirlwind said. "| presume Lieutenant Horace was that Commander Stage warrior?" Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind nodded. "And who is this Kiva Orvis?" Duke Whirlwind nced at Shang with a smirk. "You might know him as One." Shang''s eyes widened. One was the genius son of the personal general of Duke Mithril? "Kiva Orvis," Duke Whirlwind said, "a prodigy in physical fighting, strategy, and leadership. He is very famous in Duke Mithril''s lands for his power and ability to n many steps ahead." "While Lieutenant Horace was the more powerful of the two, Kiva Orvis was the strategic mind behind the operation." Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang again. "But you stopped him, basically throwing Duke Mithril''s n into the trash." "That''s worth far more than the single piece of ore | have organized for you, Shang," Duke Whirlwind said. "Additionally, if Duke Mithril ever finds out that you were the one that foiled his n, your life could end very quickly. Taking on such danger is also worth a big reward." "| hope, for your sake, that you didn''t tell Kiva Orvis any sensitive things about your person." Shang looked at Duke Whirlwind with furrowed brows. "You talk like he is still alive." "Shang," Duke Whirlwind answered, "such a hostage is worth a lot of money. Killing him is throwing away his inherent value." "So, he''s still alive?" Shang asked. ¡°If | were to kill Kiva Orvis, Duke Mithril would lose a great genius. However, there are endless people in this world, and finding an equally good General isn''t hard. Additionally, General Orvis would only grow to hate me even more, which would increase his motivation and drive to screw with my things that much stronger." "Instead, | made an offer to Duke Mithril for Kiva Orvis¡¯ life," Duke Whirlwind said. ¡°How much did he have to pay?" Shang asked. "Well, | can''t talk about such things with someone of your current standing," Duke Whirlwind said with a grin, "but | can tell you that Duke Mithril probably lost more from buying Kiva Orvis¡¯ life than from every other expense of this operationbined. After all, if he doesn''t purchase his life, his personal general will hate him, and things might be troublesome." "In terms of money, you could say that he has given me enough to fully equip five Circles," Duke Whirlwind said with a bright smile. ¡®That''s a full set of equipment for 25 True Mages, including all their Foci!¡¯ Shang thought with shock. That was probably over fifty million gold! "So, what do you want for your reward?" Duke Whirlwind asked. Shang remained silent for a while. Duke Whirlwind didn''t continue talking since he had noticed that Shang was thinking. "| want an honest answer to one of my questions," Shang said a minuteter. "Oh?" Duke Whirlwind uttered with interest. ¡°Alright, ask away." Chapter 268 Chapter 268 Shang hesitated for a moment. "What is your goal, and what approach are you using to get closer to it?" Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind''s eyes shone for a short moment. This was a very personal question, and Shang had directly asked Duke Whirlwind about his personal philosophy when it came to bing more powerful. One could say that Shang had asked for the secret of bing as powerful as a Duke. After all, Duke Whirlwind''s approach had obviously worked out very well, and knowing how he operated could very likely pay off in a big way. "Those are two questions,¡± Duke Whirlwindmented. "There is only one question mark at the end," Shang answered. Duke Whirlwind remained silent for a bit. ¡°Alright, I''ll answer your question, and the reason why | am answering this question has to do with the answer," Duke Whirlwind said. Shang nodded and listened to the Duke. "As for the first question, my goal is to be an Archmage and to have my own Kingdom," Duke Whirlwind said. Shang wasn''t surprised by the answer. ¡°And as to how I''m trying to achieve it, investment and efficiency," Duke Whirlwind said. ¡°| can spend 24 hours per day working on my Magic, but that would only be the effort of one High Mage at a time. | can continually grow more powerful by working on my Magic, but without resources, | might not have enough time to be an Archmage." ¡°However, if | have ess to rare and powerful materials, advanced studies, esoteric concepts, and plenty of teachers, | can grow many times faster than if | were on my own." ¡°But all of these things require wealth. Without wealth, | can''t ess these things. That''s where the investment aspectes into y.¡± "| don''t have many hours in the day to myself, but the few hours | have are more profitable than several days of working on myself without pause." ¡°And how did | gain the wealth necessary to be this efficient?" ¡°Other people." "| burn through millions of gold each day just to elerate my growth. If | were on my own, | would never be able to pay such a large sum of money." "So, | invest, not into corporations or resources, but into people." ¡°Every person has something they are good at, but many of those people never get the chance to realize their potential.¡± "Poverty, suppression, enemies, there are many things that will kill talent in its infancy." ¡°| invest a big chunk of my money into the futures of people weaker than me so that they one day return a profit.¡± ¡°Helping a young man thatnded in prison due to the corrupt influence of a powerful family isn''t costing me much, but | am essentially saving that person''s life. At the current moment, the resources | spent on that person are far greater than they are worth." ¡°However, if that person gets the opportunity, time, and resources to fully realize their potential, their help and loyalty will pay far more than | have invested in them." "These people are incorruptible, loyal, and powerful. They handle all mynds with dedication, and they are happy to repay me." ¡°|_am not forcing anyone, and | am not burning them into nothingness like coal. Taking advantage of a True Mage might bring immense profits in the short-term, but these profits will eventually end." ¡°But if everyone is happy working for me, they will be far more valuable." Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang. "A more altruistic person can say that | am a kind person that gives to the weak and gives them the opportunity to be stronger than they could have ever imagined." "A more cynical person can say that | am exploiting poor and naive people, giving them something negligible for me but valuable for them." "In the end, it''s up to your interpretation." "Am | a saint that helps the defenseless, or am | a greedy businessman that exploits the poor?" "No matter the answer, two things will remain the same." "First, | never force anyone, and everyone working for me is doing so of their own free will.¡± ¡°And second, they are generating the resources | need to work towards my goal.¡± "Does that answer your question?" Shang nodded as several thoughts went through his head. Duke Whirlwind had exined his method to bing more powerful very objectively without trying to sound like some kind elder. Shang had always been a bit skeptical regarding Duke Whirlwind''s conduct. Shang had met plenty of nice managers in his past life. They were friendly, helped him, and encouraged him. But when there was profit to be made, Shang had been fired. And even worse, the managers continued smiling and asked Shang not to take it personally. Shang had feared that Duke Whirlwind might be one of these people. However, the logical and objective exnation was rock-solid. There was a concept on Earth that described the cause and effect of what Duke Whirlwind was doing. Karma. On Earth, many people thought of Karma as a religious thing. They thought that Karma was some rule the Gods had made to punish the wicked and reward the pure. However, Karma was simply the term to describe how cooperation worked. If person A was in a tight spot and needed a ce to live, person B might directly be impacted in the future based on their decision. Assuming person B helped person A, what would most likely happen if person B got into trouble in the future? Person A would be more inclined to help person B. Why? Because person B had helped person A in the past, and they would want to repay them. However, if person B threw person A away because they thought that associating with person A was of no more value to them since person A had be homeless now, things would be different. If person B got into troubleter, person A would very likely not help them. Why should they? Person B hadn''t helped them. Of course, this was all about likelihood, and it wasn''t a certainty. There were scumbags that had no problems with throwing someone away that had helped them before, and there were also saints that were willing to help people that had scorned them in the past. But, in general, this was how things worked. This was Karma. It was just cause and effect when it came to interacting with other humans. Duke Whirlwind was helping weaker people so that they would one day help him in return. Funnily enough, one could refer to this mindset with two contradicting adjectives. Naive and maniptive. And, ironically, the adjective one would choose depended on which side the describer was on. Anaive person would call it maniptive. After all, Duke Whirlwind was taking advantage of naive people. A maniptive person would call it naive. After all, Duke Whirlwind was making himself a target for exploitation. A maniptor could just take the help from Duke Whirlwind and never repay. One could also judge it based on if one valued intent or actions more. If one valued intent more, one would think Duke Whirlwind was exploitative. He was taking advantage of weaker people. If one valued actions more, one would think that Duke Whirlwind was a kind person. He was giving weaker people the opportunity to rise. What did Shang think of this?Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. ¡®| can see that this is a very effective path to bing more powerful,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®To be a Duke, and maybe even a King, this path might actually be the best.¡¯ "However, is it truly the best path for supreme power?¡¯ ¡®What if | reach a level of power where others can''t help me anymore?¡¯ Shang wasn''t concerned if this was right or wrong. Duke Whirlwind had found a great and effective way to further his own power, and Shang could see it as such. Shang wondered what the answer of the God would be. "Shang," Duke Whirlwind said after a while. "Yes?" Shang asked. "| know that answer is worth a lot, but | still feel like | owe you a bit more. How about | also give you some better armor when we return from our little journey?" Duke Whirlwind asked. Earlier, Shang would have doubted Duke Whirlwind''s intentions. But since Duke Whirlwind had been so honest, Shang now knew Duke Whirlwind''s intentions. Duke Whirlwind wanted to invest more in Shang. He believed that Shang would prove to be worth even more in the future, and to do that, Shang had to be alive. Giving him a great set of armor would heighten the chances of Shang''s survival, and if the armor actually proved lifesaving, Shang''s opinion of Duke Whirlwind would only increase. What was Shang''s answer? "Thank you." He epted. Chapter 269 Chapter 269 The group continued running, and after a couple of minutes, they saw a huge green castle. The Wild Forest was still visible to the south, but it didn''t reach the huge castle. Shang could tell that the castle was entirely made out of Commander Stage ore, which definitely wasn''t cheap. One could even call it wasteful to create such a huge castle out of Commander Stage ore. If used for weapons, this castle could equip thousands of Commander Stage warriors with a full set of armor and weapons. It wasn''t difficult to guess who lived here. ¡°Everyone, please wait at the entrance. | have to say goodbye to my recement for today," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. Then, Duke Whirlwind passed by the bowing guards, who were True Mages, and entered. Yes, this was Duke Whirlwind''s home. ¡®All of this ore has the Wind Affinity,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l can imagine thatprehending Wind Spells and mastering Wind Mana in such a ce would give double the reward for half the effort.¡¯ Everyone waited for a couple of minutes until Duke Whirlwind returned with a smile. "Let''s continue," he said before he activated the Blessing of Wind again. And then, everyone continued toward the northeast. ¡°Might | ask who your recement is?" Shang asked. "It''s one of King Skythunder''s advisors," Duke Whirlwind said. "He doesn''t need to do much and only needs to take care of any threats that are beyond the capabilities of my subjects. Most likely, he will just stay in my house and meditate all day." Shang nodded. "And he wasn''t interested in seeing this group of new warriors?" Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind only chuckled a bit. "Shang, you''ve lived your entire adult life in Warrior''s Paradise, a city made for warriors. Everything inside Warrior''s Paradise revolves around warriors." "You should know that, outside my territory, warriors are seen as lower-ss people." Shang didn''t answer. ¡°Many Mages know that it is polite and appropriate to treat a warrior like they would treat Mages, but there are enough Mages that don''t follow that policy." "Why should they talk to someone beneath them? It''s just a waste of their time, at least in their mind," Duke Whirlwind exined. ¡°Even though he knows about the effects of the procedure, it doesn''t make a difference in the advisor''s mind. So what if the warriors have a more powerful body now? That isn''t nearly enough to close the gap." Shang remained silent. ¡®Arrogance, huh?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®I don''t think arrogance is wrong, but | think that it is stupid to be arrogant in front of an entire category of people. People are too diverse, and a lot of people can create miracles with nearly no resources."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Duke Whirlwind didn''t say anything further, and Shang also didn''t start the conversation again. About two minutester, the Wind Mana in the atmosphere radically reduced, and the sky grew darker. Dawn had just arrived, but the sun was barely visible due to all the clouds that had suddenly gathered. Shang knew that he was now entering the Empress Cobra Zone. He had never been inside the Empress Cobra Zone before, and Shang was quite interested in what it looked like. ¡®| might not be able to feel Wind or Water Mana, but | can tell if there is a lot or only a little of it present,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the clouds. ¡®The air feels wet and cool, which symbolizes the presence of a lot of Water Mana. Although, just looking at the thick cover of rainclouds should already be enough.¡¯ Shang also felt that the Darkness Mana became thicker and thicker the more he advanced. ¡®Water Mana gathers together high in the air and blocks the sun, creating a nearly lightless environment, which gives Darkness Mana a ce to thrive." As the group continued, Shang also noticed that more and more smallkes appeared. Some of thekes looked like one would imagine a typicalke to look like. Some of thekes were filled to the brim with greenery and dead nt material, essentially creating a swamp. And otherkes lookedpletely different. Shang looked at oneke in particr. It was only about ten meters across, and its color was a mix of brown and purple. It looked very simr to the poisonke the Poison Adept had created. There were only very, very few nts visible on or near theke, and Shang could even see the asional bone sticking out of it. "That''s the nest of an adult Swamp Millipede," Duke Whirlwind said when he saw Shang''s interested gaze. "Oh," Shang uttered in interest. "Inparison to the Storm Eagle Zone, Swamp Millipedes are on the cklist in the Empress Cobra Zone. They keep the environment nice and poisonous, just as the Darkness and Poison Affinity beasts want it," Duke Whirlwind exined. Shang felt it quite amusing and ironic that one of the big four pests in the Storm Eagle Zone counted as a protected beast just a couple of kilometers further to the east. "If you go further to the south, you will find more and more powerful beasts until you will eventually see the Empress Cobra," Duke Whirlwind said. "Have you seen the Empress Cobra before?" Shang asked. "| think so." Shang looked at Duke Whirlwind with surprise. "You think so?" Duke Whirlwind nodded. "You could consider Vanishing Snakes as grand-grand-grand-nephews of the Empress Cobra. Just like them, it can be practically invisible." ¡°One night while searching for something near the south of the swamp, | noticed the subtle discement of a little bit of Wind Mana while the Water and Darkness Mana saw no change." "| looked closer, and | noticed that parts of the sky and nearly all the trees to my south seemed a little bit distorted. | fully focused on my senses, believing that there was a beast that was trying to ambush me. Maybe it was a True Path Stage beast with a Darkness Affinity?" ¡°But no matter how much | looked, | couldn''t find anything, and the distortion | thought | saw had also vanished." ¡°However, when | looked at the area from high in the sky, | could see a gigantic but subtle imprint of a long, slithery body. The trees or vegetation were not damaged in any way, but the grass just looked a slight bit darker, and it was pressed down just a tiny bit.¡± "| think | saw that Empress Cobra, but | can''t be sure," Duke Whirlwind said. "If it wasn''t the Empress Cobra, it could have only been a beast of the Fifth Realm.¡± "Or | could have just imagined it," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "The signs were very subtle, after all." Shang had listened to Duke Whirlwind''s retelling of his encounter with rapt attention. Inparison to the majestic and very noticeable Storm Eagle, the Empress Cobra was very hidden and subtle. Shang had asked Duke Whirlwind that question because he remembered learning that the appearance of the Empress Cobra waspletely unknown. The only person that had ever seen it was King Skythunder, and depending on one''s definition, this might not even count as seeing. King Skythunder checked on the status of every Zone Beast every decade. He was the only one powerful enough that could perfectly hide from True Path Stage beasts and evade beasts in the Fifth Realm. That made him the only one eligible for this dangerous task. Back then, King Skythunder hadn''t seen the Empress Cobra, but he had been able to approximate its position, size, and orientation based on feeling the Mana of the surroundings. He had gotten a very urate picture of its silhouette, but he hadn''t seen it with his own eyes. ording to him, the Empress Cobra was about four kilometers long and about 100 meters wide. Sadly, that was everything he had found out. As the group continued traveling down the street, the area became darker and damper until it was so dark that a normal person wouldn''t even be able to see their hands in front of their eyes. But Shang was different. The more Darkness Mana was around him, the easier it was for him to see. Shang still found it a bit weird, but he could somehow tell where everything around him was. This sensation could be likened to how one always knew where their limbs were, even if they didn''t see them at the moment. He could see a couple of beasts walking around, swimming, hiding in trees, hiding in the ground, and he could even see the asional flying beast. However, all of the beasts avoided Shang''s group. The amount of Mana that Duke Whirlwind gave off was too big of a red g. Getting through the Empress Cobra Zone took a bit longer than getting through the Storm Eagle Zone, but after about 30 minutes, everyone arrived at the northern border. Shang had only seen a dark, oppressive, and poisonous swamp around him while running through the Empress Cobra Zone. But now, things looked different. The rays of the morning sun touched their bodies again, and the Darkness and Water Mana slowly vanished. And Shang saw another Zone he had never seen before. The Adamantite Behemoth Zone. Chapter 270 Chapter 270 In front of Shang was... Nothing.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. It was like the sky was in front of Shang, and he felt like he was standing on top of a mountain. Then, he looked down, and he could finally see the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. He could see the entire thing, which felt surreal to him. Shang had been on a couple of skyscrapers before on Earth, and he knew how far he could see. But in this world, the horizon seemed so much farther away. Shang could see from one end of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone to the other, which was around 80 kilometers! And what did it look like? It was one gigantic, circr, grey, and ck crater. There was no vegetation. Not even grass. The group looked at the Adamantite Behemoth Zone in silence for a couple of moments. During these moments, Shang could see a couple of moving rocks and stones, which looked like tiny ants from his current position. However, Shang knew that these moving rocks were huge beasts with Metal Affinities. Shang could also see many huge ck holes that littered the surface of the crater. Many of them were hundreds of meters wide, and they looked like abysses from where Shang stood right now. "This Zone is Duke Mithril''s baby," Duke Whirlwind said to Shang. "What''s that metal spire in the center of the crater?" Shang asked. In the middle of the crater, at its deepest location, except for the holes, was a gigantic, silver spire. It was nearly a kilometer tall, and it was slightly bent. Several metal spikes poked out of the spire, which pointed to the sky, just like the spire. "That''s the Adamantite Behemoth''s horn," Duke Whirlwind said with a smirk. Shang took a deep breath when he heard that. ¡°An old one?" Shang asked. "No, it''s current horn," Duke Whirlwind said with a slight chuckle. "The ground in the middle of the Zone has been created by the Adamantite Behemoth, and it is nearly imprable for us humans. We assume that the Adamantite Behemoth is sleeping and that it created the wall of metal above it so that no one bothers it." Duke Whirlwind only smiled. "Of course, trying to tamper with theyer of metal is forbidden. We can experiment a little bit, but we can''t do anything drastic. If the Adamantite Behemoth moves, an uncountable number of lives might be lost." "One more interesting fact is the sheer amount of Mana the Adamantite Behemoth gives off." ¡°ording to the readings, the Adamantite Behemoth might actually be even more powerful than the Storm Eagle, which is an astonishing aplishment," Duke Whirlwind exined. Shang looked with widely opened eyes at the spire. The Storm Eagle already counted as one of the most powerful Zone Beasts, but the Adamantite Behemoth might be even more powerful? ¡°How long has it remained there?" ¡°We don''t know," Duke Whirlwind said. "It has been there for at least 2,000 years." "2,000 years?" Shang asked in shock. That thing hadn''t moved in over 2,000 years?! ¡°What about... you know... the things?" Shang asked, trying not to speak of information that was too sensitive. "The things?¡± Duke Whirlwind asked with a confused expression. ¡°What if one of the things appears in this Zone?" Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang in confusion for about two seconds until he realized what he meant. "Oh, those things," Duke Whirlwind said. Shang nodded. They were talking about the Abominations. "The Empress Cobra deals with them," Duke Whirlwind said. Shang looked at the crater with intrigue. There was nearly no hiding ce for a beast with the Empress Cobra''s size, but it still managed to never be spotted. The humans that had the luck of seeing the Abomination when it appeared probably only saw it vanish into thin air just a moment later. ¡°By the way, can you see that castle two kilometers to the west of the horn?" Duke Whirlwind asked with a smirk. Shang looked over, and he saw a silver castle adorned with an uncountable number of metal spears. "That''s where Duke Mithril lives," Duke Whirlwind said with a smirk. "Quite reckless, isn''t he? If the Adamantite Behemoth decides to turn in its sleep, his entire castle would be ttened." Shang looked at the castle with a raised eyebrow. It definitely was risky to live on the literal back of a Zone Beast, but Duke Mithril could probably also train his Metal Mana with incredible efficiency on that spot. ¡°Alright, everyone," Duke Whirlwind shouted. "Enough looking. Let''s continue!" The others quickly went into their former positions, and everyone ran down the gigantic slope. In the Storm Eagle Zone and Empress Cobra Zone, everyone had walked along the roads, which made their journey not as short as it could have been. But in the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, there were no roads. It was very simr to the Wastnd in the Storm Eagle Zone, which made roads basically unnecessary. The ground was very t, and everyone could see basically everything around them. Traveling through this location was like ying with an open hand. Everyone could see everyone else''s cards in their hands at all times. ¡®Now, | can understand why that merchant wanted so much money for the Fire Ore back then,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Not only did that guy have to travel through the dark Empress Cobra Zone, but he also had to travel through this dangerous Zone. There might not be any hidden dangers here, but there were plenty of open dangers. If a General Stage beast got interested in the merchant, he would die without expensive protection." After having been to so many different Zones, Shang could finally appreciate how good the Storm Eagle Zone was. As long as one kept to the road in the Storm Eagle Zone, nothing dangerous would happen. The Ice Wyvern Zone was a little more dangerous inparison. There were roads, but the nights were still dangerous. But the Empress Cobra Zone and the Adamantite Behemoth Zone? There was no safety without powerful bodyguards. Anormal person would probably be seeking their death if they decided to travel in these Zones. After around ten minutes, the group arrived near the center of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. As Shang saw the horn pass him, he felt wonder. Right now, Shang was walking across the back of a Zone Beast. It was an indescribable experience. It was like he was nothing but an ant that was climbing over a rhinoceros. It was a level of power that couldn''t beprehended. Duke Mithril didn''t make an appearance. He probably wasn''t interested in talking to Duke Whirlwind. One had to remember that, on the surface, the two of them were equals working for the same King, but deep beneath, the two of them were trying to kill each other. Due to the appearance of peace, Duke Whirlwind''s group hadn''t even been inspected when they crossed into Duke Mithril''s border. Why would they? If Duke Whirlwind tried to do something shady, Duke Mithril would be more than happy. After all, he could then directly use Duke Whirlwind in front of the King. If Duke Mithril wanted, he could also simply waltz right into Warrior''s Paradise without anyone stopping him. He would probably even get a respectful and warm wee. Of course, many eyes were on the Dukes, and if they did something without any apparent reason, many questions would be asked. Because of that, the Dukes had to always be careful about what they did at any given moment. This time, Duke Whirlwind had a great reason for passing through Duke Mithril''s territory, but if he came without a good reason, Duke Mithril could probably frame Duke Whirlwind for something. This was the world of politics, and outward appearances were imperative in such a world. It didn''t matter what one did. It only mattered how everyone perceived them. After another ten minutes, everyone reached the other side of the huge crater. But before Shang could see the Thunder Horse Zone, he noticed that Duke Whirlwind started to frown. "Shang, listen to me," Duke Whirlwind said. "Yes?" Shang asked. "While inside Duke Mithril''s territory, | can''t act suspicious. The shortest and safest route through the Thunder Horse Zone leads through the Spark Oasis, which is the biggest city in the Thunder Horse Zone." "When we get there, don''t leave my side, and if | tell you to do something, you do it," Duke Whirlwind said with severity. Shang''s heart pumped. He could think of a reason why the Duke was suddenly so serious. "The Thunder Horse is currently walking through the Spark Oasis," Duke Whirlwind said. ¡°And as far as | have heard, beasts are not the greatest fan of you." Chapter 271 Chapter 271 Shang took a deep breath when he heard Duke Whirlwind''s voice. If beasts got the chance to take a good look at him, they would attack. Dealing with this issue wasn''t hard under normal circumstances, but if a Zone Beast decided that it wanted to kill Shang... Only death would wait for him. "| will be careful," Shang said. Duke Whirlwind nodded and led everyone into the Thunder Horse Zone. The Thunder Horse Zone was just a huge desert with plenty of sand dunes. Usually, one wouldn''t associate a desert with lightning, but Shang quickly saw why this Zone was a desert. BANG! BANG! From the clear and bright sky, one lightning bolt after the other hit the ground, throwing small bits of sand everywhere. There were very few clouds present, and the lightning seemingly came out of thin air. Sometimes, the lightning didn''t evene from the sky but just directly appeared in the air before striking the ground. Surprisingly, the bits of sand didn''t seem to mind the lightning. Sure, they were flung around, but they didn''t get destroyed or burned. Inparison to all the other Zones, Shang barely saw any beasts in this one. "Why are there no beasts?" Shang asked. "This is one of the rare Zones where nearly all the fighting is done either very high in the sky or below the ground inside different caves and tunnels," Duke Whirlwind exined with a neutral voice. Obviously, after realizing that they would soon meet the Thunder Horse, Duke Whirlwind''s good mood had vanished. Shang looked at the sky, at the few clouds he could see. The biggest clouds were only two kilometers wide, which really wasn''t that big for a cloud, and there were a couple of clouds that were only a hundred meters across. There were even very small clouds, only about ten meters across. The most numerous clouds were the smaller ones, and there were only three gigantic clouds. "Duke Whirlwind said that most beasts are fighting in the sky and below the ground. Does that mean...?'' ¡°Are the clouds beasts?" Shang asked. "Correct," Duke Whirlwind answered. "The three big clouds are beasts of the fifth Realm. The ones that are a couple of hundred meters across are True Path Stage beasts, and the smallest ones are Commander Stage beasts. Soldier and General Stage beasts live underground until they be powerful enough to take to the skies." Shang took a deep breath. Those three gigantic clouds were beasts of the Fifth Realm! Shang had never seen one before! BANG! Shang''s gaze was pulled to a spot in the sky where two small clouds had just met. As soon as they had met, the sound of thunder reverberated throughout the desert, and Shang could see several bolts of lightning shining through the clouds. Two Commander Stage beasts were fighting. Acouple of secondster, Shang saw a body fall from the two clouds. It was a silver hawk, heavy injuries and burns visible all over its body. The hawk had obviously lost. And then, Shang saw the victor. Along, snake-like beast with a long, jagged horn and four rtively small legs exited the cloud. Shang watched with widely opened eyes as the thing grabbed the corpse with its ws and retreated to the cloud. ¡®Was that a Chinese dragon?!¡¯ Shang thought. Shang had seen plenty of Chinese dragons in fantasy movies and games on Earth, and they looked very simr to the beast he had just seen. "What is that beast?" Shang asked Duke Whirlwind. ¡°Desert Lightning Serpent," Duke Whirlwind answered. ¡®It''s not a dragon? Or is the name simply different?¡¯ Shang thought. "It feels different from other beasts," Shang said. He actually didn''t think that it was different, but he wanted to know if there was something special about that beast. After all, it''s a dragon! "It is different," Duke Whirlwind answered. "Inparison to almost every other beast, these Serpent beasts don''t focus on their bodies.¡± "They don''t?" Shang asked. "Their bodies are still far more powerful than ours, but most of their poweres from their ranged attacks. They have many varied abilities that they can unleash from range." "In a way, you could call them Mage beasts." Shang looked at the cloud where the Desert Lightning Serpent retreated to. ¡®A beast that focuses on abilities that are very simr to Spells?¡¯ Shang thought. ''That''s quite interesting. Sure enough, there are plenty of things | still don''t know about this world." ¡°How is it flying without wings?" Shang asked. "If there is enough Lightning Mana in the atmosphere, the Desert Lightning Serpent can manipte maism just enough to let it fly. That ability consumes a lot of Mana, but with enough Lightning Mana present, it won''t run out. If it were to leave this Zone, it wouldn''t be able to keep flying," Duke Whirlwind exined. Shang only nodded. After that, Shang no longer asked Duke Whirlwind any questions. The Duke was obviously preupied with thinking about the Thunder Horse. Speaking of, just five minutester, Shang saw several tall buildings in the distance. He had expected that these buildings would be made of y, but surprisingly, they were made of yellow stone or metal. Shang wasn''t quite sure which of the two it was. This was obviously Spark Oasis, and the reason for its name was just a kilometer to its east.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Shang could see ake about two kilometers wide east of the city. Surprisingly, there was no vegetation around it. It simply looked like a bigke in the middle of a desert. Oases were known for having lots of greenery around them, but this one didn''t have any. However, Shang could see a couple of weaker beasts drinking from the oasis. All of these beasts came out of the ground to drink. Yet, even with so many beasts present, there was no fighting. Additionally, there was a big city of humans just a kilometer away. If this were Warrior''s Paradise, a swarm of eager hunters would charge over to the oasis to kill all the beasts. But here, nothing. No one fought. "Why is nobody fighting?¡± Shang asked. "The Thunder Horse doesn''t like fighting near the oasis or inside the city," Duke Whirlwind said as he focused on the city. "Wait," Shang said. "| can understand the oasis thing, but why does the Thunder Horse not want any fighting in the city?" "We are not entirely sure," Duke Whirlwind said, "but the Thunder Horse likes humans to some degree. It enjoys being in their company. Of course, everyone is still allowed to kill each other, but not in the city nor the oasis." "There has only been one instance of a powerful beast attacking the city in the past, and the Thunder Horse very quickly took care of that beast." "Some of the Mages focusing on beasts believe that the Thunder Horse is viewing us humans as pets." Shang blinked a couple of times in surprise. Ahorse keeping humans as pets? That was not something Shang had expected to ever see. "You have to be careful now," Duke Whirlwind said as the group closed in on the city. "I will try to make our stop as briefly as possible." ¡°Let''s hope your luck is not too bad.¡± Chapter 272 Chapter 272 The group reached the entrance to the city, and Duke Whirlwind quickly struck up a conversation with the guards. It was like nothing was wrong. Not even the people in the group had noticed that Duke Whirlwind was very worried right now. The only ones that noticed were Shang and the Dean. The Dean stepped forward from the back and stopped close to Shang. After talking with the guards for a bit, Duke Whirlwind brought everyone into the city. When Shang entered the city, he could see a lot of Adepts and True Mages walking around. But there were nearly no warriors present. The only warriors were the guards. It was almost like this was a city exclusively for Mages. ¡°Academy for Lightning Mages," the Dean said. Shang looked at the Dean for a second, and the Dean lightly gestured to the west. Shang looked over, and he could see a couple of taller towers. At first nce, they didn''t seem any different than normal towers, but if one looked closely, one could see the asional spark of lightning travel over their surfaces. "Don''t get too caught up in the city," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile to the group. "We''ll directly continue." The group only nodded, and everyone continued walking. Keeping the Blessing of Wind active would be too noticeable, which was why Duke Whirlwind deactivated it. However, the group was still traveling with quite some speed. They traveled for a couple of seconds before Duke Whirlwind interrupted their journey. "Oh, | must apologize," Duke Whirlwind said. "I just remembered that | wanted to buy something in the bazaar. | hope you won''t mind a short detour." The group didn''t object, and Duke Whirlwind led everyone to the east. By now, Shang had noticed something.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Shang wasn''t susceptible to Lightning Mana, but it was nearly impossible not to notice when vast quantities were moving in one direction. And, right now, all the Lightning Mana in the surroundings was violently pulled to the north, the ce where they had just wanted to go to. The group followed Duke Whirlwind to the east, and they arrived at the bazaar very quickly. Duke Whirlwind looked through a couple of stands and eventually purchased about 500 units of Commander Stage Lightning Ore for a ridiculous sum of money. ¡°Alright, let''s continue," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile as he led the group to the northeastern part of the town. By now, Shang could feel that the Lightning Mana was being pulled to the south of him, which was the eastern part of the city, the ce where they had just been. The group made a detour and eventually saw the northern gate. At that moment, the Dean inconspicuously stepped in front of Shang, acting like he was striking up a conversation with Duke Whirlwind. And Shang? His heart nearly stopped. The source of Lightning Mana had suddenly vanished from the south and had reappeared at the northern gate. Shang was mostly hidden by the Dean, but he could still see the Thunder Horse. Its back was only about two meters high, which was quite tall for a horse on Earth, but tiny for such a powerful beast in this world. It was shining with a bright, white light, which almost seemed peaceful. But that couldn''t be further from the truth. The light it was emanating was an unreal amount of vtile and destructive Lightning Mana. There was a long, white horn on its head, making it appear as majestic as an emperor. However, one thing surprised Shang above anything else. As soon as the Thunder Horse had appeared, a couple of kids ran over in excitement and began to climb it. Others were petting its legs with excitement. Laughter quickly filled the surroundings. Duke Whirlwind realized that they couldn''t avoid the Thunder Horse. So, he slowly approached with the group. The warriors inside the group became extremely nervous. This was a Zone Beast! If that thing decided to attack them, they would be helpless. From the very beginning, the Thunder Horse wasn''t looking at the children. It was almost like the children didn''t exist to it. Instead, it was fully focused on Duke Whirlwind. The group approached the Thunder Horse, and the warriors didn''t dare to breathe. Duke Whirlwind walked up to the Thunder Horse. And then, he put his hand gently onto its snout as he petted it. ¡°Long time no see," Duke Whirlwind said with a kind smile. The Thunder Horse moved its snout to Duke Whirlwind''s face and sniffed a couple of times. Then, it looked over to the Dean with interest. The Dean performed a small, polite bow without saying anything. Shang was barely visible behind the Dean''s body. "You guys can continue," Duke Whirlwind said with augh. "I will catch up with you shortly." ¡°Of course," the Dean said with his neutral voice before he ushered everyone else forward. Duke Whirlwind kept talking to the Thunder Horse while petting its snout. He was telling it about some of the things he had seen since theyst met several years ago. The group slowly passed by the Thunder Horse, the Dean between the Thunder Horse and Shang. And then, the Thunder Horse ignored the Duke and turned to the Dean. The group stopped. They didn''t want to anger the Thunder Horse. The Thunder Horse went closer to the Dean with its snout while sniffing. asionally, it even let out some snorts. Shang felt like the snorts were aggressive. The Dean only stopped and looked the Thunder Horse in the eyes. The snout came closer and closer to the Dean. And then, it angled to the left and passed the Dean. At that moment, the Thunder Horse lightly moved its head to the right, shoving the Dean several meters to the right. Silence. The Thunder Horse was fully focusing on Shang. Shang looked at the Thunder Horse. The Thunder Horse''s head came closer, and it sniffed Shang''s face. As time passed, the snorts became more numerous and violent. Shang felt like he was looking death in the eyes. And then, the Thunder Horse let out one especially loud and powerful snort. The road made of stone below the Thunder Horse''s head broke into pieces due to the snort''s power. And then... Shang felt an unreal amount of Lightning Mana gather on the Thunder Horse''s body. Chapter 273 Chapter 273 Time seemingly stood still for Shang as he watched the Thunder Horse gather a terrifying amount of Lightning Mana. He was going to die! And then, the Thunder Horse unleashed all the Lightning Mana onto Shang. Shang''s Affinity for lightning had always been horrible. He had never been able to feel Lightning Mana. But at this moment, Shang could feel the Lightning Mana. It was so much! It was like his entire body was encased with a form of prickly energy. Shang felt the Lightning Mana touch his very being, and Shang felt quite ufortable. But that was it. He only felt ufortable. The wave of Lightning Mana washed over Shang and dispersed after hitting the building behind Shang. The citizens of the city were looking at the Thunder Horse with confusion. It was acting very strange. Then, a moment of silence arrived. Shang looked into the Thunder Horse''s eyes with terror, while the Thunder Horse looked into his eyes with unreadable emotions. After seeing that Shang hadn''t died, the Thunder Horse''s snout moved closer to Shang. It was violently sniffing and snorting all over his body. BANG! The Thunder Horse''s snout shoved Shang to the side, and Shang fell to the ground. The Thunder Horse''s head followed and continued violently sniffing Shang''s body as hey on the ground. Duke Whirlwind and the Dean were looking with nervousness and a bit of fear at what was happening. Shang didn''t dare to move on the ground. If he showed any resistance, the Thunder Horse might just decide to end his life with a simple stomp. This entire spiel continued for nearly half a minute, but eventually, the Thunder Horse took a step back and looked at Shang. And then, it snorted once. BANG! Alightning bolt suddenly formed in the air and struck Shang. It was so fast that Shang hadn''t even realized what was happening until it was toote. Shang realized that he had been struck by a bolt of lightning, but to his shock, he didn''t feel any pain. The lightning bolt only washed over his body and seemingly vanished into nothing. Shang still didn''t dare to move. The Thunder Horse sniffed once more in Shang''s general direction, and then... It turned around, walked up to a stall, and ate an apple. The kids that had been scared off by the Thunder Horse''s weird behavior returned and yed with it. The Thunder Horse didn''t mind, and it slowly walked along the road to the south of the city, ignoring the group of warriors. Shang only watched in shock as the Thunder Horse left. And at that moment, Shang''s stomach churned, and he felt his head drone. The terror of nearly dying assaulted him at that point, and his body shivered. He could have died just now! The Dean walked over and lifted Shang off the ground. "Don''t mind it," the Dean said. "The Thunder Horse acts weirdly sometimes." The Dean didn''t sound worried, but Shang could see relief in the Dean''s eyes. "We wasted enough time here," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "We should continue." The group nodded, but their eyes were still distracted. None of them had ever been so close to a Zone Beast before. The group continued walking, and after they left Spark Oasis, Duke Whirlwind activated the Blessing of Wind again. Shang absentmindedly elerated and caught up to Duke Whirlwind. "What happened?" Shang asked. "| can make some guesses, but I''m not entirely sure," Duke Whirlwind answered. Duke Whirlwind''s mind inspected the surroundings, and he saw that their conversation wouldn''t be overheard. "| think it was confused," Duke Whirlwind whispered just loud enough for Shang to hear him. "It probably sensed you, and it felt that you appeared simr to one of the Abominations, but not entirely." ¡°However, your power wasn''t nearly enough to threaten it, and you also didn''t damage anything in your surroundings. Because of that, it probably tried to make sense of your existence." "In the end, it judged you as an Abomination and tried to kill you," Duke Whirlwind exined. Shang''s heart nearly stopped. "But I''m still alive," he said. ¡°Because you aren''t one," Duke Whirlwind said. "You should know that Abominations can be killed by throwing a huge mass of Mana at them. That was what the Thunder Horse did to you. It gathered its Lightning Mana and washed it over your entire body." ¡°Even the strongest Abomination would have died when assaulted by so much Mana. The amount of Lightning Mana it had used on you was more than King Skythunder could produce, and he is an Archmage with a Lightning and Wind Affinity.¡± Shang thought back to when the wave of Lightning Mana had washed over him. That had been the Thunder Horse trying to kill him? ¡°When it saw that you survived," Duke Whirlwind continued, "it became interested in you again. It continued inspecting you but still couldn''t make sense of you." "As for that lightning bolt, | don''t know what that was," Duke Whirlwind said. "It wasn''t meant to injure you, but | don''t know why it had summoned it." Shang''s brows furrowed. He also had no idea what that lightning bolt was supposed to be. For a moment, Shang''s mind went back to all the fantasy movies he had seen on Earth, and he came up with the idea that he might have been blessed by the Thunder Horse. But that thought was quickly thrown out of the window. The Thunder Horse had literally tried to kill him just half a minute before that. ¡®Anyway, it''s over, and I survived,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®However, | have to be really careful when ites to Zone Beasts. The Thunder Horse obviously has no problems with humans, and it probably even likes them. After all, it even lets kids climb all over it. ¡®But if something like the Empress Cobra sees me, | might just immediately stop existing." The group continued running to the north for several more minutes. By now, Shang could see a couple of green hills on the horizon. The hills weren''t very big, but Shang could see a lot of trees and bushes. In a way, the area in front of Shang looked like a warmer Ice Wyvern Zone, but with fewer mountains. Some momentster, Shang could also see arge tower with several people standing in front of it. Then, Shang saw that every person had a Focus hovering beside them. Nearly all the Foci had two circlets, and one even had three! A Focus with two circlets only becamemon in the True Mage Realm. And three circlets? Only the most powerful Peak True Mages and High Mages carried those. Theoretically, a Focus with one circlet could be used by a Mid Apprentice, but the value of such a weapon would be wasted on such a weak person. On top of that, it needed a long time of training to use a Focus. Because of that, Foci with one circlet only becamemon in the Mid Adept Realm. The same was true for Foci with two and three circlets, but for the subsequent Realms. A Mid Adept could theoretically use a Focus with two circlets, but Mid Adepts with one basically didn''t exist. It would be like if Shang had a True Path weapon right now. It was overkill. Only the absolute elite Peak Adepts had Foci with two circlets.Content ? copyrighted by N?velDrama.Org. And only the absolute elite Peak True Mages had Foci with three circlets. So, after Shang saw the Foci, he immediately realized that every person there was a powerful True Mage. And the very weakest was probably in the Mid True Mage Realm. ¡®Quite a powerful lineup.¡¯ "That''s the border," Duke Whirlwind said. "Beyond this checkpoint is the personal domain of King Skythunder." "The Skythunder Zone." Chapter 274 Chapter 274 "Skythunder Zone?" Shang asked with surprise. "Why is it called as such? Shouldn''t it be called after a Zone Beast, or is the Zone Beast called Skythunder?" "You don''t know?" Duke Whirlwind asked with interest. Then, he smirked. "Then, | won''t take the surprise away from you. You will see why it is called the Skythunder Zone." Shang only lifted an eyebrow, but he didn''t answer. Around two minutester, the group arrived at the border. The group of Mages looked at the group, but their eyes showed no emotion. It was like the group of warriors didn''t even exist. Then, the Mages looked at the Dean. Some of them snorted while others looked at the Dean with interest. When the Mages saw Duke Whirlwind, they smiled politely, but their smiles didn''t reach their eyes. This short interaction had already given Shang a good look at how the Mages outside Duke Whirlwind''s territory felt about warriors. Weak warriors were beneath them and basically didn''t exist to them, while warriors more powerful than them garnered ridicule. To them, it was like some lowlife was trying to step onto their level. They knew that the Dean was more powerful than most of them, but they still looked down on him. Duke Whirlwind walked over to the Mage with the Focus that had three circlets and talked to him for a bit. The Mage didn''t keep his voice down, and Shang could hear what he said. "If it were up to me, | would kill this group of trash where they stand," the powerful Mage said with a snort to Duke Whirlwind, ¡°and you along with them, traitor.¡± The group felt a sting when they heard these words leave the powerful Mage''s mouth. He was talking like the warriors weren''t even there. "Quite big words for an Early High Mage, Sinero," Duke Whirlwind said with a polite smile. Sinero only snorted again. "You''ve been living in peace for decades, Jerald. Inparison to you, | have to fight other High Mages and Fourth Realm beasts to keep my spot. You are so rxed and out of practice that you don''t even realize when someone more powerful than you stands before you." "Oh?" Duke Whirlwind uttered with a smile. "Want to try?" Sinero only sneered. "| would love to, but I''m not going tomit suicide by keeping the King''s entertainment waiting. Enter!" "What a shame," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "And here | have hoped that | would get to exercise my old bones again." Obviously, Duke Whirlwind was ridiculing Sinero. After all, Duke Whirlwind wasn''t old for a High Mage. Sinero didn''t answer. Duke Whirlwind chuckled a bit and gestured for the group to continue. The group passed by the Mages without a word. And then, Shang finally entered the Skythunder Zone. Shang could see green hills and meadows, and he could even see quite a few farms. But, surprisingly, there were no beasts around. Instead, Shang could see quite a few animals. By now, it was early noon, and the sun was shining from the sky. However, the sun wasn''t oppressive or anything. The temperature was nice. There were some clouds, but they were not oppressive. There was some wind, but it wasn''t very strong. For the first time, Shang felt like he was back on Earth. The Skythunder Zone was not special. It was just normal. And that was exactly why it was more special than all other Zones.This is from N?velDrama.Org. ¡®No strong heat, which means not much Fire Mana. No huge rocks and mountains, which means not much Earth Mana. A bit of wind, but not nearly as strong as in the Storm Eagle Zone. A couple of small rivers and ponds, but not an ocean. Not very cold, which means not much Ice Mana. No prickling feeling of electricity, which means not much Lightning Mana." ¡®Lots of vegetation, which means weaker nts can thrive here, which wouldn''t be possible in an environment filled with Metal Mana. And to top it all off, there is not overly much Light or Darkness Mana.¡¯ ¡®There is no powerful presence of Elemental Mana.¡¯ ¡®That can only mean one thing,¡¯ Shang thought. "There is no Zone Beast," Shang said to Duke Whirlwind. "Correct," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "I''m impressed that you found that out so quickly." Shang only nodded. To be honest, if Shang hadn''te from Earth, he might not have realized that there was no Zone Beast in this Zone. After all, literally every other Zone had a Zone Beast. Zone Beasts were as normal to the humans of this world as rain and wind. ¡°Howe?" Shang asked. "The other Zone Beasts are fine with their Zones," Duke Whirlwind exined. "Although, if one of them tries to exert their control onto this Zone, the others get angry. In a way, you could say that this Zone isn''t worth fighting several other Zone Beasts." "Why would the Zone Beasts attack whoever tries to annex this Zone?" Shang asked. ¡°Due to their Affinities," Duke Whirlwind exined. "If the Thunder Horse to the southeast tries to influence this Zone, the Ancestral Blood Bat to the west and the Ocean Serpent to the northwest would get angry. Lightning is too bright for a Zone Beast with a Darkness Affinity like the Ancestral Blood Bat, and the Ocean Serpent also isn''t a fan of lightning for obvious reasons." "If the Volcano Wyrm tried the same thing, the Ocean Serpent and the Colossal Worm would get involved." "If the Colossal Wyrm tried something, the Thunder Horse and Volcano Wyrm would get involved." "If the Ancestral Blood Bat tried something, the Thunder Horse and Pontiff Turtle would get involved." "And if... you get the idea," Duke Whirlwind exined with a smile. "The Skythunder Zone is surrounded by six Zones, and there are always at least two enemies if one of them tries to get involved in this one." In one short conversation, Shang had learned the names of four more Zones. "Could you tell me the name of the Zones, the Affinities of the Zone Beasts, and where they are located?" Shang asked. "Thunder Horse Zone. Southeast. Lightning," Duke Whirlwind said. "Volcano Wyrm Zone. Southwest. Fire.¡± "Ancestral Blood Bat Zone. West. Darkness." "Ocean Serpent Zone. Northwest. Water." ¡°Pontiff Turtle Zone. Northeast. Light." "Colossal Worm Zone. East. Earth." Shang nodded. "Thanks." Duke Whirlwind also nodded, and then he remembered something. ¡°By the way, was this your first run-in with one of the arrogant kind of Mages?" Duke Whirlwind asked, obviously referring to his earlier conversation with Sinero. "It was the first time | saw it this openly," Shang said. "I''ve gotten some sneers, but | haven''t heard someone speak of warriors in such a derisive way before." "Sorry about that," Duke Whirlwind said. "I don''t like to say it, but you should get used to this kind of treatment. Even more, the treatment will only get worse the more powerful you be." "Many people don''t mind looking at a cockroach outside their house, but if that cockroach enters their house, they get angry and kill it. In their mind, the cockroach should know its ce and not enter the human''s domain." "That''s how many powerful Mages view warriors. As long as you are weak, it is like you know your ce, but if you ever reach a comparable power to theirs, they feel like you are disrespecting them. They feel like you don''t deserve your current power. After all, you are not an illustrious Mage." Shang furrowed his brows. In the beginning, he wasn''t sure why a more powerful warrior would be even more looked down upon by a Mage than a weak warrior. After all, the powerful warrior was stronger. But with Duke Whirlwind''s exnation, Shang could see why that wasn''t the case for a lot of Mages. And now, Shang could also understand why that Mage also hated Duke Whirlwind. Figuratively, Duke Whirlwind was working on a method to allow plenty of cockroaches to enter houses. Of course he wouldn''t be liked by the upants of said houses. ¡°But you don''t need to worry about their opinion,¡± Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "King Skythunder has his entire Kingdom in his grip. If he showed even a slight sign of disapproval between Duke Mithril''s and my conflict, we would be best friends the next day." "So, even if there are plenty of Mages that hate warriors bing more powerful, they won''t dare to act without the King''s approval. The only thing they can do is bark." ¡°By the way, you can see the castle from here already. Look to the front," Duke Whirlwind said as he gestured forward. Shang looked to the front, and he could see a huge structure. ¡®That doesn''t look like a castle.¡¯ Chapter 275 Chapter 275 Shang looked at the thing that Duke Whirlwind had called a castle. On the horizon, Shang could see a gigantic, white dome. It was three kilometers long and nearly two kilometers high. In a way, it looked like a gigantic hill without any vegetation. And that was supposed to be King Skythunder''s castle? In Shang''s mind, having a huge dome as a castle didn''t fit King Skythunder at all. After all, King Skythunder had a Wind and Lightning Affinity. Those Affinities were rted more to spiky than round things. As the group continued traveling, Shang kept looking at the dome. For some reason, it wasn''t entirely even. There were some ridges here and there. On top of that, the ridges didn''t seem entirely man-made. That was when Shang remembered something, and his mind made a connection. "Wait, could that be?¡¯ "Is this an exoskeleton?¡± Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind looked with surprise at Shang. And then, he smirked. "Quite smart, Shang," he said. "Yes, this is the exoskeleton of the Ancestor Queen." Shang nodded. This made a lot of sense! The Caves below the Storm Eagle Zone had once housed a huge insect tribe, and it had counted as its own Zone, the Ancestor Queen Zone. The Ancestor Queen had died mysteriously, and King Skythunder had once confirmed the death. Would they leave such a valuable corpse? Of course not! They had retrieved the corpse, and evidently, they had used the Ancestor Queen''s carapace as a natural fortress. The natural armor of a Zone Beast. Was there a greater defense? If another Kingdom attacked, would they even be able to break through this insane defense? Shang had only heard of the Ancestor Queen. Seeing part of its body was something entirely different. How had this gigantic Zone Beast died? Was it another Zone Beast? Was it a natural death? Was it the God? Shang wasn''t sure. ¡°Alright, everyone!" Duke Whirlwind shouted to the group of warriors. "Before we reach King Skythunder''s castle, | have to tell you how to act in front of him." The group nodded and listened intently. "King Skythunder isn''t one for formalities and procedure. He only cares about power and what people truly feel. As long as you don''t look down on him in your hearts, he won''t perceive your actions as insulting." ¡°However, it is better to be safe than sorry. | would suggest that you bow to him in an honest manner. The bow doesn''t need to be very deferential, but you have to mean it. You also don''t need to think that you are his servant or something. As long as you acknowledge his overwhelming power, he doesn''t care." Then, Duke Whirlwind''s face turned into a bitter smile. "Although, talking to him is contradictory to what | told you just now." The group looked with confusion at Duke Whirlwind. "King Skythunder also doesn''t like weaklings, and his definition of weakling is a bit different than you might imagine." "In his mind, a weakling is someone that can''t follow their own principles, someone that can''t speak up for themselves. To him, everyone in his Kingdom is so far beneath his power that Dukes and servants aren''t different in his mind. They are all far weaker than him, and he treats them the same." ¡°Everyone in the Kingdom is weaker than him, and he is right in thinking so. You all have to remember one thing." ¡°Even if every High Mage in the entire Kingdom attacked him, he wouldn''t even get injured." Silence. The group took a collective deep breath. They had known that the King was powerful, but THAT powerful?! ¡°As long as you don''t forget his power while speaking to him, you will be fine." Then, Duke Whirlwind frowned. "Sadly, | can''t say the same thing for the Council. While speaking to them, you have to show your deepest respect. They won''t dare to do anything with King Skythunder present, but hiring a True Mage Cleaner is just a bit of money to them." Shang had already expected something like that. The Council were the actual leaders of the Skythunder Kingdom. King Skythunder didn''t much care about ruling over his Kingdom, and he fully focused on his own power. So, it fell to the Council to manage his Kingdom. The Council wasprised of the, generally epted, five most powerful High Mages in the Kingdom, except for the Archduke. The Archduke was the spokesperson for all the Dukes, and they had the same level of power as the Council Head. Together, the Archduke and the Council Head counted as the second most powerful people in the entire Kingdom. They were both Peak High Mages with a Focus that had four circlets. "So, try to be careful how you talk to them. The best way to go about this is to only talk to them if they speak to you first, and if they happen to speak to you, be respectful," Duke Whirlwind exined. The group nodded. ¡°Honestly, we are all quite lucky that | managed to get an audience with King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with a bitter laugh, "and we''re also all lucky that everyone managed to keep the secret until | could reach him." The group looked at Duke Whirlwind with confused expressions. "If the Council had found out about the procedure before | managed to reach King Skythunder, we might have all already died," Duke Whirlwind said. Silence. Aterrifying silence washed over the group. Shang also felt quite nervous, and he was d that he didn''t let any of the details slip. ¡°But now, everything should be okay," Duke Whirlwind said with augh. "King Skythunder has heard of the Procedure, and he showed his interest. If he decides that the Procedure is okay, we don''t have to fear the Council.¡± ¡°At least, openly," Duke Whirlwind grumbled. The group continued to travel towards therge dome, and a couple of minutester, they arrived at the gates.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. From his current position, Shang could see that the exoskeleton had been fully filled with expensive ore. The Kingdom had truly converted the empty exoskeleton into an actual building. Surprisingly, the gates were open, and there were no guards standing near them. There had been plenty of guards near every town, city, and at the border, but there were no guards here. Shang quickly realized why that was and saw the first sign of King Skythunder''s personality. ¡°Why would | need guards? If something is powerful enough to threaten me, all of you would be useless anyway." This was probably what King Skythunder had thought. The Skythunder Zone had plenty of normal people living there. After all, a Zone of humans needed lots of food and services. But the castle of King Skythunder didn''t need any guards. "We have already stepped into King Skythunder''s domain," Duke Whirlwind said. "Do not forget where you are, no matter what." Bzzt! Suddenly, a small bit of lightning appeared on Shang''s body, but it vanished just as quickly. Only Shang, the Dean, and Duke Whirlwind had noticed. Duke Whirlwind had noticed, but he acted like he hadn''t seen anything. The group had stopped in front of the gates, but they hadn''t entered. Instead, they were all just waiting in front of the open gates. "We are allowed to enter," Duke Whirlwind said. And then, everyone entered King Skythunder''s castle. Chapter 276 Chapter 276 After everyone stepped through the gates, they entered the gigantic dome. Surprisingly, there were not many decorations, and the ce looked more like a metallic cave, not like a ce where a human would live in. Shang had expected plenty of decorations, paintings, and expensive items on disy. However, there was just nothing. It simply looked like a metallic cave. "Does the Council also reside here?¡± Shang asked Duke Whirlwind. When Duke Whirlwind heard that Shang dared to say something inside King Skythunder''s ce, his heart nearly stopped, but after he heard Shang''s entire question, he calmed down. ¡®Quite courageous of him to speak up,¡¯ Duke Whirlwind thought. "No," Duke Whirlwind answered. Shang nodded. "I thought so." Duke Whirlwind wanted to ask why Shang thought that, but he didn''t want to goad Shang into speaking more. Everyone traveled down the long hallway in silence. There were a couple of hallways that connected to this one, but they all only followed the biggest hallway. Since everyone was walking at normal speeds, they needed over five minutes to reach two ck doors. As they all approached the doors, they opened of their own volition, and the group could finally see the throne room. It really didn''t look like a throne room. Just like the hallway, the throne room was absolutely barren. There were no chairs, decorations, tables, or anything that one would expect to find here. It simply looked like a big cave, about a hundred meters wide, three hundred meters long, and a hundred meters high. Right now, there were seven people present, except for the group of warriors. On the left side of the throne room were five people, and they were all emanating a terrifying amount of Mana. There were three women and two men, all wearing differently colored, extremely expensive and ostentatious robes. Their robes almost seemed too big with all the added essories andyers. Just the tiniest earring gave off a terrifying amount of Mana that rivaled the amount of Mana the Exploding Mountain Turtle had given off. But there was one person among them that emanated even more Mana. It was an older woman with pitch-ck hair and red eyes, and Shang was quite surprised when he felt the kind of Mana her body was giving off. "Darkness Mana?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang quickly realized who that woman was since she gave off more Mana than the other four. ¡®She must be the Council Head,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®She gives off even more Mana than Duke Whirlwind.¡¯ ¡®Although,¡¯ Shang thought as he nced at the other four, ''the other four give off just as much Mana as Duke Whirlwind. | guess that means that Duke Whirlwind is a Late High Mage. No wonder the Exploding Mountain Turtle hadn''t stood a chance.¡¯ As the group nced at the Council, the Council looked back. "ARGH!" Suddenly, the other warriors in the group shouted out in pain and grabbed their heads as they averted their gaze. Meanwhile, Shang only got a slightly painful headache. It definitely hurt quite a bit, but Shang could deal with it. Of course, Shang felt just as much pain as the others, but due to his high resistance to pain, he didn''t react as extremely. But Shang still looked away. Angering the Council was not something he wanted to do right now. "Don''t spheme the Council with your abominable eyes," the Council Head said with a cold tone. "I''m sorry! Il- ARGH!" One of the warriors wanted to say sorry, but he was immediately thrown to the side and lost consciousness. Silence. "You will address the Council when we want you to address us," the Council Head stated coldly. "Don''t make this longer than it needs to be. | have somewhere to be." Shang looked to the right of the throne room, where he saw one lone person standing. She had been the one that had just spoken up. She looked rather young, and she had pure white hair. Inparison to the Council members, she also wore expensive but rtively normal-looking robes. They looked about as expensive as the robes Duke Whirlwind wore. However, the amount of Mana she gave off rivaled the ck-haired woman, the Council Head, which meant that she also was a Peak High Mage. ¡®Then this is probably the Archduke,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Ironically, she gives off Light Mana. Seems like the Council Head and Archduke have contradicting Affinities.¡¯ The Dean and Duke Whirlwind didn''t look at the Council or the Archduke. Instead, their eyes fully focused on the end of the throne room. Shang also looked forward, and he came face to face with King Skythunder. This was the most powerful human Shang had ever seen, except for the God. He represented the peak of human power. At the end of the throne room were a couple of ck stairs, and they all led to a ratherrge throne made of unknown silver material. There weren''t any decorations on the throne. It was rather big but very spartan, just like the entire castle. On the throne sat a man with silver hair who looked to be in his early thirties. Surprisingly, he only wore white pants. His upper body was bare. Whatever Shang had expected the King to look like, it wasn¡¯t this! The King''s body was bulky and chiseled. Surprisingly, his skin was also tanned quite a bit. Usually, only farmers and warriors had tanned skin since they were training outside most of the time. Oftentimes, warriors also trained without a shirt. Mages, on the other hand, didn''t need physical training, and they always wore their equipment, which gathered additional Mana for their training. But based on King Skythunder''s tanned skin, it was obvious that he also liked to train outside without wearing a shirt. Together with his chiseled body, it was almost like King Skythunder was a powerful warrior, not a Mage. "We will start the meeting now," King Skythunder said in his deep voice. The Council and Archduke immediately quietened down and looked to the front in a dignified manner. The group of warriors remembered what Duke Whirlwind had said and bowed with genuine respect. The Dean did the same. Duke Whirlwind didn''t bow. For him, bowing would equate to showing unnecessary respect. The King and Duke Whirlwind knew each other, and Duke Whirlwind didn''t need to show his respect. After all, he had shown his respect enough times in the past. And Shang? Surprisingly, Shang didn''t bow. But why? Did Shang have some kind of stupid, inherent pride that he couldn''t suppress? No, nothing like that. In fact, Shang had wanted to bow, just like everyone else.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. But something stopped him. The King''s eyes. As soon as King Skythunder had announced that the meeting had started, his eyes had focused on Shang''s eyes with interest. Under King Skythunder''s prating, powerful gaze, Shang couldn''t move. He could only look back with nervousness. Had he done something wrong? Why was King Skythunder focusing on him? Duke Whirlwind had noticed that Shang hadn''t bowed, but when he saw King Skythunder''s eyes, he realized why. It was difficult to move under the gaze of someone that was so overwhelmingly powerful. Additionally, King Skythunder had ended an uncountable number of lives. If prey looked into the eyes of a predator so powerful that every action was useless, the prey would either y dead or freeze. This was an incredibly powerful Archmage. And under his gaze, nobody in this room had the ability to resist. "You, approach," King Skythunder ordered while looking at Shang. Chapter 277 Chapter 277 The entire room remained quiet. No one dared to say anything while King Skythunder spoke. Shang took a deep breath through his nose, narrowed his eyes, and walked forward. Shang''s light footsteps echoed throughout the silent throne room. The walk was painfully long since there was still quite some distance between him and King Skythunder. During the walk, Shang was uncertain about what was waiting for him. After several seconds, Shang stopped in front of the steps to King Skythunder''s throne. "| don''t like repeating myself," King Skythunder said in his deep voice. Then, Shang slowly walked up the steps. At this moment, Shang felt like he was climbing a mountain. Approaching the Thunder Horse wouldn''t have been nearly as difficult as approaching King Skythunder. The Thunder Horse didn''t show any aggression as long as it didn''t see Shang, but King Skythunder gave off a terrifying pressure. Walking up to him felt like one was provoking him. Acouple of stepster, Shang arrived on top of the tform, and he stopped just one meter in front of King Skythunder. The others still didn''t dare to say anything. King Skythunder looked evenly into Shang''s eyes. ¡°Punch me with your full power." Shang''s eyes narrowed even more, and he clenched his fists. Right now, Shang knew that he was in a lot of danger. He had no idea how far he should go. If Shang used too little power, King Skythunder might get annoyed again since Shang hadn''t followed his orders. What ce should he punch? The chest? The face? At that moment, Shang remembered his first meeting with the God. Would King Skythunder even care? Shang knew that he couldn''t injure King Skythunder, even if he used Entropy to sacrifice his entire body. It was impossible for him to injure him. BANG! An icy explosion came out of Shang''s feet, and he exploded forward with all of his speed. He pulled his arm back. And then, he punched forward. BANG! Another icy explosion came out of Shang''s right elbow, making the punch even stronger. And then... Shang''s fist hit the middle of King Skythunder''s face. BANG! An explosion of ice came out of Shang''s fist, hiding King Skythunder''s head behind icy mist. At the same time, due to the power, Shang''s right fist turned into mush as nearly all the bones in his hand and forearm broke into pieces. And then, Shang stepped back as his arm fully regenerated in a second. King Skythunder wanted Shang to punch him with all his power, and Shang did just that. The Mages in the Council lifted their eyebrows in surprise. The group of warriors looked at Shang in terror. Asecondter, the white clouds vanished from King Skythunder''s head. King Skythunder hadn''t moved, and his expression hadn''t changed. Obviously, he was uninjured. He only continued looking into Shang''s eyes. "Show me your Affinity," King Skythunder ordered. At that moment, Shang, Duke Whirlwind, and the Dean became nervous. This was bad! Shang looked into King Skythunder''s eyes. He felt like he was back in the trial. This felt very simr to how the God had yed with Shang. Shang had to make the correct decision if he wanted to survive. For a second, there was only silence. "I can''t." Shang''s words rang throughout the room, and the entire atmosphere changed. Shang had declined King Skythunder''s order. The Dean''s eyes narrowed. But inparison to the Dean, Duke Whirlwind''s eyes shone. Asecond after Shang spoke these words, King Skythunder smirked. "| know," he said. The people in the room felt confused by King Skythunder''s answer. What did he mean by that he knew? What did he know? That this warrior couldn''t show his Affinity? Meanwhile, Duke Whirlwind, the Dean, and Shang knew exactly what the King meant. The King had said that he knew what Affinity Shang had. He knew that Shang was essentially part Abomination. Shang looked into King Skythunder''s eyes. "How?" he asked. The group of warriors became terrified again while the Council furrowed their brows. He was asking King Skythunder a question as a lowly General Stage warrior. Why had Shang done so? Because he trusted Duke Whirlwind. Duke Whirlwind had exined King Skythunder''s personality, and Shang trusted Duke Whirlwind. Everyone was the same for King Skythunder. Shang''s status didn''t matter. "The Thunder Horse," King Skythunder answered almost immediately. It was almost like he didn''t find it strange for Shang to ask him something. "It marked you." Shang remembered the lightning bolt that had hit him. That was a mark? "Thank you," Shang said without moving. "You may return,¡± King Skythunder said. Shang turned around and walked down the steps. "That was a good punch," King Skythunder said as Shang descended. "Thank you," Shang said again without turning around. Usually, when interacting with a person of such status, it was customary to say their title, turn to them, and bow while speaking. However, Shang had full trust in Duke Whirlwind''s judgment of King Skythunder. Shang knew that he wasn''t even remotely close to King Skythunder''s power, and Duke Whirlwind had said that as long as someone had genuine respect for King Skythunder''s power, there wouldn''t be any problems. On top of that, if Shang were in King Skythunder''s ce, he would maybe also get annoyed by the constant deferential bowing from others. It was nice for a little bit, but it would get annoying very quickly. King Skythunder probably preferred if things were direct, honest, and simple. Just the fact that King Skythunder didn''t wear a shirt showed what kind of person he was. He obviously only cared about power. He didn''t care about prestige, politics, wealth, status, or whatever. His power was absolute, and he was above everyone else. And if someone disagreed? He would just kill them. Shang stopped at his previous spot and turned to the King like everyone else. Then, King Skythunder looked at another member of the group. "You, approach," he ordered. The warrior''s body shook, and he slowly stepped forward in fear. When he reached the steps, his body began to shake, but he still climbed them. After a long time, he managed to stop in front of King Skythunder, but his entire body was shaking in fear and terror. King Skythunder only looked at him evenly. ¡°Punch me with your full power," he ordered. The body of the warrior shook even more. He slowly pulled back his fist, and after a second, he punched King Skythunder''s chest. BANG! But instead of hitting King Skythunder, the warrior was shot into the distance by an invisible force. BOOOM! The warriors body hit the hard ground with his head, which split open, scattering his brain all over the throne room. His corpse tumbled for about thirty more meters, leaving a bloody trail of brain behind until it eventually stopped near the door. The warriors took deep breaths in shock and terror. Everybody else didn''t react at all. Then, King Skythunder looked at the Dean. "Is that how you train your students?" he asked. Everyone turned to the Dean. The Dean looked evenly into King Skythunder''s eyes. "Yes," he answered. Amoment of silence passed, and the Dean continued. "| can teach them how to fight, but | can''t teach them courage and willpower," the Dean said. By now, the group of warriors had fallen into terror. One of them had died, and the Dean was now seemingly confronting King Skythunder.This is from N?velDrama.Org. "Teach them how to fight?" King Skythunder repeated with even eyes. And then, King Skythunder stood up from his throne. Now, the full size of King Skythunder''s body was unveiled, and it definitely wasn''t small. King Skythunder was probably over two meters tall! Crack! King Skythunder cracked one of his fists as he looked at the Dean. "Why don''t you teach me how to fight?" BOOOOM! And King Skythunder suddenly shot forward with unreal speeds, right towards the Dean! Chapter 278 Chapter 278 BANG! The Dean took out his spear and impaled King Skythunder''s fist. When the Dean had seen how fast King Skythunder moved without using Mana, he knew that his body was more powerful than his own. Just like how a powerful body nourished the mind, a powerful mind nourished the body. And with King Skythunder''s incredibly powerful mind, it wasn''t strange for his body to be even more powerful than the Dean''s. And it wasn''t just one level. ording to the Dean''s judgment, King Skythunder had a body on the level of a Peak True Path Stage warrior, three levels above the Dean. The Dean knew that he couldn''t win against someone with such a powerful body, even if that person didn''t know how to fight barehanded. However, even if King Skythunder''s body was powerful, the Dean''s spear was still powerful enough to injure him. Amoment of silence passed. King Skythunder''s blood flowed out of his pierced fist and hit the ground. And then, King Skythunder grinned. CRKSH! His injured hand became even more injured as he wrapped it around the head of the spear. And then, King Skythunder punched forward with his other hand. CRRRRK! Suddenly, the Dean''s spear rotated several times, creating a hole in King Skythunder''s fist. However, King Skythunder''s speed was too fast, and the Dean couldn''t get his spear out in time. BANG! The Dean barely moved his shoulder up to block the punch that had originally aimed for his head. BOOOM! The Dean''s body shot into the distance and hit the wall, the sound of the impact thundering throughout the entire throne room. The Dean''s shoulder and back broke, but just like Shang, the Dean had a warrior''s body, and his injuries healed in an instant. However, King Skythunder immediately charged after him, and he arrived in front of the Dean just as he hit the wall. BOOOM! With all his experience, the Dean managed to evade the punch, and it hit the walls, creating several cracks. At that moment, the Dean''s spear spun again like a drill. King Skythunder used his injured arm and pped the spear to the side, but the spinning spear still cut off a huge part of King Skythunder''s left forearm. BANG! But suddenly, King Skythunder was thrown back. The Dean had angled his body in such a way that he could focus all his power on his left fist. Shang had seen that kind of punch back on Earth. It was the famous one-inch punch. As King Skythunder''s body shot back, he looked at the spear with interest. Striking with a spear should have made this position impossible on such short notice. Did that mean that the spear had moved of its own volition? BANG! The Dean exploded forward without his spear, and he kicked King Skythunder''s retreating body. WHOOOSH! Yet, King Skythunder somehow managed to evade the kick by bending his body in a very strange way. Shang could see that this was not some kind of martial art or practiced movement. It was simply an instinctual action. At that moment, Shang realized that King Skythunder''s instincts regarding battle were unparalleled. He obviously was a novice when it came to fighting with his body, but his instincts still made it possible for him to evade such a kick. He instinctually just made the correct decision. Then, King Skythunder punched at the Dean''s extended leg. CRACK! The Dean''s right leg was punched off his body.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. However, the Dean''s expression didn''t change, and he used the force on his leg as leverage to punch King Skythunder with his left hand. CRACK! The Dean''s fist exploded due to King Skythunder''s physical power, but King Skythunder''s ribcage caved in. Blood shot past King Skythunder''s grin, and he punched the Dean again. But at that moment, King Skythunder''s eyebrows lifted in surprise. The spear was spinning again, and it was shooting towards King Skythunder''s chest. If he continued punching, the spear would shoot through him. King Skythunder''s grin widened. BANG! CRKSH! King Skythunder destroyed the left side of the Dean''s torso as the spear punched through his chest. More blood flowed out of King Skythunder''s body and mouth. BANG! But his body was kicked away by the Dean. Just like before, the Dean had used the destruction of his chest as force to unleash a kick. Usually, a warrior would be incapacitated by such a heavy injury, but the Dean had a warrior''s body. With his incredible experience, the Dean was able to heal his injury as it was happening. CRK! As King Skythunder''s body shot away, the Dean grabbed his spear, making it leave King Skythunder''s body. BANG! King Skythunder''s back hit the wall, and it cracked in several ces. The Dean lowered his stance, and his eyes shone. After that, a terrifying energy gathered on his spear. And the spear shot forward. An arrow of explosive Mana left the spear''s head, and it shot right at King Skythunder''s injured chest a hundred meters away. ¡®This is the ranged attack from the trial,¡¯ Shang thought. King Skythunder only grinned as he looked at the wave of energy. BZZ2T! Asmall bolt of lightning left King Skythunder''s body, and the wave of energy waspletely obliterated. Asecondter, water gathered all over King Skythunder''s body, and his injuries all healed in an instant. When the Dean saw that, he didn''t continue his attack, and he only looked at King Skythunder. And then... King Skythunderughed. The room remained silent as King Skythunderughed. King Skythunder wiped the blood on his mouth away with his left forearm and looked at the Dean. ¡°What''s your name?" he asked. "George," the Dean answered. "Well fought, George," King Skythunder said with a grin. "You win." ¡°Comparing my strongest aspect with your weakest aspect is not something | take pride in," the Dean said. King Skythunderughed some more when he heard the Dean''s answer. "Well done," he said as he slowly walked back to his throne. Nobody in the room had moved during the battle. The group of warriors had nearly died of terror as they had seen King Skythunder attack their Dean, but now, they were only confused. "It seems the path of warrior has some merit to it," King Skythunder said as he sat down on his throne again. Then, he looked at Shang. "And based on the difference in power, your so-called Procedure will show even greater results than the path of the Barbarian." At that moment, the Dean''s and Duke Whirlwind''s eyes shone in recognition. King Skythunder noticed their eyes. "Surprised?" he asked with a smirk. "Not many people know that | wasn''t born in this Kingdom." No one answered. King Skythunder chuckled. Obviously, he was in a very good mood now. "I wonder, how powerful would a barbarian be if they had ess to the Procedure?" ¡°Honestly, the Procedure''s effects seem to fit the Barbarian path far more than the warrior path." ¡°Are you sure you haven''t identally created the wrong thing?" King Skythunder asked with a smirk. "It doesn''t matter," the Dean said. "Power is power. Splitting power into different categories devalues it." "The weak die. The strong survive. The method with which the strong be strong isn''t important." King Skythunder only smirked. "You''ve got my attention,¡± he said. "Tell me everything about the Procedure and how it works." Chapter 279 Chapter 279 The Dean exined the Procedure in full detail to the room of people. He went into so much detail that even some of the Council members had trouble following. Sure, they were absolute authorities when it came to Magic, but when it came to biology and how exactly the body worked, they were not as advanced as someone with a Ph.D. in biology from Earth. There were several differences in biology, especially when someone absorbed more and more Mana, which changed their body. However, the Dean had enough time to learn about these differences and create an entirely new biological model of the human body. "You don''t need to go into so much detail," King Skythunder said with a slight grin. He was still in a good mood, thanks to the fight. "| doubt that anyone in here will doubt your knowledge regarding the human body." King Skythunder''s eyes wandered over the Council. The Council only averted their eyes. "Alright," the Dean said. "In short, the properties of the chosen beastpete with the properties of the human body and fight a war. Inevitably, since the produced bloodes from the beast, the body will slowly lose. The body will continue dying until some parts manage tobine with the beastponents.¡± "In the end, the body will be reced by the properties of the beast, and throughout it all, the warrior will keep their old mind," the Dean exined. ¡°How powerful is the result?" King Skythunder asked as he leaned back on his throne, his head resting on his right fist. "The new body of the warrior will be as powerful as the halfway point between the warrior''s original body and the physical power of an equivalent beast." "This means that the initial increase in power is definitely noticeable, but only as more time passes will the true power of the Procedure unveil itself," the Dean exined. Shang inconspicuously nced at the Council. They were all furrowing their brows. Obviously, they didn''t like what they had heard. ¡®They probably thought that the Procedure would only be useful for General Stage and maybe Commander Stage warriors, but now, they know that the increase in strength only bes greater as the warrior gains more power,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang had already seen how the High Mage at the border and how the Council Head had acted towards the group of warriors. Duke Whirlwind had made the correct decision by talking to King Skythunder directly. King Skythunder rubbed his jaw in thought for a while. Then, he turned to the Council. ¡°You may make your opinions known," hemented. ¡°Abominable perversion of the natural order of things," a green-haired older man from the Council shouted with disgust. King Skythunder didn''t say anything. He only smirked to himself. The older man immediately pointed an usatory finger at the Dean. "You are transforming humans into beasts! Humans are humans, and beasts are beasts!" he shouted aggressively. Then, he pointed at the group of warriors. "ording to what you have said, all of these things are now some disgusting, unholy mix of human and beast! What difference is there between this so-called Procedure and a woman being raped by a beast and giving birth to some bastard monster?!" Some of the warriors felt bad when they heard these words. It was natural for them to have an existential conflict about their nature as humans. Were they still human? Hearing such a powerful High Mage say these things certainly didn''t help these warriors. King Skythunder then looked at the Dean. "Your answer?" he asked. The Dean only looked at the Councilmember. "So?" That was the entire answer. The other members of the Council became more frustrated as they heard this dismissive answer. "You dare?!" the man shouted in rage. "Beasts are beasts, and humans are humans! Mixing such fundamentally different existences can only create chaos!" "Warriors don''t have a powerful Spirit, and the stronger they be, the greater the difference between them and beasts! As of this moment, you can im that the warrior is not mentally changed, but what of the future?! As the beast bes more powerful, its mindset might very well eliminate the human nature!" "What then?! Will we see mutating, violent monsters hunt and consume humans?! Will we see them stalk our academies so that they can kidnap an innocent Apprentice just so that they can increase their own power?!" ¡°Beasts grow more powerful by consuming people and other beasts! Can you assure us that these bastards you created won''t do that in the future?!" the man shouted in rapid session. "No, | can''t," the Dean said. "That would be denying them their human nature." Silence. "What?" the man asked in outrage. "As humans, it is in our nature to seek power," the Dean said. "We strive for power, and we all want to obtain it. The only things that differentiate us are our morals and personal philosophy." ¡°A human that is willing to cannibalize another human is also just a human." "These events have happened in the past, they are probably happening right now, and they will continue to happen. Consuming other humans for their power is not something only beasts do," the Dean exined. "That doesn''t address the argument!" the old man shouted. "Can you vouch that no unwanted side effects will ur in the future?!" Everyone looked at the Dean. "No," he answered. "There are always risks to everything.¡± "Then why should we even consider giving you the permission to perform these abominable rituals?!" the older man shouted again. For a second, everything fell silent. ¡°Member of the Council," the Dean said. "May | ask a simple question?" The older man furrowed his brows in annoyance. "You may." "Who is stronger, a Mage or a warrior?" the Dean asked. "Why are you asking such a pointless question?" the man asked with annoyance. "Please answer." The man snorted. "A Mage, obviously.¡± "Correct," the Dean said. "A Mage is more powerful than a warrior, and the higher the level of power, the more powerful the Mage ispared to the warrior." "The Bloodline Infusion won''t be able to bridge this gap." "So, if therees a day when warriors suddenly transform into bloodthirsty monsters, there is only a simple thing you have to do." "Kill them." Of course, the older man didn''t let up, and he continued trying to argue with the Dean. However, the Dean kept using his trump card. "You''re more powerful. Just kill them." "What could a group of rampaging warriors do against the Skythunder Kingdom?" The Dean kept using the Mages¡¯ overwhelming power as an easy solution to every bad eventuality the man brought up. This entire thing continued for over five minutes until... ¡°And what of their growth?!" the older man shouted in rage and frustration. It was like he was talking to a wall. ¡°Youngsters have to learn that nothinges for free! On the path to power, they have to rely on themselves more than anyone else!" ¡°By just handing them such a powerful weapon without any price or requirements, you are damaging their futures!" At that moment, the other Councilmembers looked at the older man with concerned expressions. The older man looked into the Dean''s eyes for what felt like an eternity. The Dean didn''t answer. "I''m not interested in any more of your opinions, Reeve." Reeve, the older man of the Council, looked with shock at King Skythunder.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. King Skythunder only looked at Reeve with a displeased expression. Reeve''s expression fell. Then, he gritted his teeth... And walked back to the other members of the Council, not saying anything. Everyone knew why the older man had been thrown out of the conversation. Not handing young people something? What? Did the guy expect every Apprentice to kill a Commander Stage beast on their own to get their Pure Mana Source? Not helping the youngsters? Then, did they also have to learn how to create Space Rings, create Foci, create their own Spells, and create their own training? "Next," King Skythunder said evenly. Chapter 280 Chapter 280 The next person that stepped forward from the Council was a middle-aged woman with blue hair and a steely gaze. ¡°What are the requirements for the Bloodline Infusion, who can perform it, what is necessary, and how much does it cost?" she asked. The Dean answered all her questions in detail. Someone had to be at the Peak Soldier Stage, a couple of people could perform it, it needed a fitting beast and someone to do the procedure, and the cost was based on the time invested and the materials. The woman''s expression didn''t change. She still looked with a cold and steely gaze at the Dean. "Can it be performed on more powerful warriors?" she asked. "That requires more testing,¡± the Dean answered. "Until now, | could only focus on the Peak Soldier Stage since that is the most optimal spot to transition. However, | estimate the probability of sess regarding performing the Bloodline Infusion at General Stage warriors to be above 90% and for warriors at the Commander Stage to be at around 60%." ¡°What about the True Path Stage?" the woman asked. "I''m uncertain, but | believe the chances to be very low due to the special properties of the True Path Stage," the Dean answered. "The more powerful a warrior bes, the more unique and developed their path. It is easy to find a beast for someone weak and young, but it is difficult to find a fitting beast for someone that has created their own True Path." ¡°Have you done testing regarding the potential increase of power by consumption of living matter filled with Mana?" the woman asked. The warriors looked away with difort. "Not yet," the Dean answered. "I wanted the first batch to be free of any potential corrupting influences, but | n on testing that aspectter." The woman''s expression still didn''t change, and she looked at the Dean for about two more seconds. "No more questions,¡± she said as she stepped back. The group of warriors looked in surprise at her. They had expected her to also argue against the Dean, but she hadn''t said anything negative about the Procedure. However, Shang, Duke Whirlwind, and the Dean noticed her approach. While the first person had argued about ethics and philosophy, she hade from an efficiency and profitability standpoint. She had asked all these questions in hope of finding a target. If something regarding the Procedure were very costly, difficult to obtain, or difficult to perform, she would have had some leverage to minimize the support. While the first person had immediately tried to ban the entire thing, her goal had been smaller. She wanted to make it seem as wasteful and useless as possible. However, the Dean''s Procedure was nearly perfect. It was rtively cheap, easy to perform, and didn''t take much time. She had noticed that, but instead of trying to argue without any facts backing her, she decided to stop. She didn''t want to embarrass herself like the first member. "Next," King Skythunder said. The third person stepped forward, a rather young man who seemed to be in histe twenties with long grey hair. "Can the Bloodline Infusion be performed on Apprentices?" he asked. "It should be possible as long as their bodies have reached the Peak Soldier Stage and as long as their minds are still below the Initial Adept Realm," the Dean said. "Howe?" the man asked. "The biological matter from the beast has to win the war," the Dean answered. "If the mind is more powerful than the beast, the Procedure will fail.¡± ¡°Assuming the person has the mind of a Mid Adept and the body of a Peak Soldier Stage warrior, if we were to use a Peak Soldier Stage beast as material, the biological matter of the beast would die. If we were to use a Mid General Stage beast as material, the power of the beast would be too overwhelming, and the body probably wouldn''t be able to remain in its human shape." "Therefore, for a sessful Bloodline Infusion, the mind has to be weaker than the Stage of the beast, and the body has to be at the same level as the Stage of the beast,¡± the Dean exined. "As for everything after that, it doesn''t matter. As soon as the Bloodline Infusion has worked, the person could focus their entire life on Magic without any issues." The man frowned and looked to the side for about a second. He obviously didn''t like the answer. "No more questions,¡± he said as he stepped back. He also wasn''t a fan of the Procedure, but the first two people had already used nearly every argument. There was no point in repeating the same arguments. He knew how this meeting would go, and he wanted to see if he could make use of the Procedure, at least. "Next," King Skythunder said. Ayoung woman with icy blue hair stepped forward, but instead of looking at the Dean, she looked at Duke Whirlwind. ¡°Jerald, I''m interested in the Bloodline Infusion. Please contact me in the future regarding the specifics. | think we have some use for more powerful warriors," she said with a smile. The first guy snorted in disgust, but she didn''t acknowledge it. ¡°Of course," Duke Whirlwind. "I don''t n on monopolizing everything." "Thank you," she said with a smile. "No more questions." Yes, not every member of the Council was against the Procedure. Only four out of five. Although, that still was 80%. "Next," King Skythunder said. Only the Council Head remained. However, inparison to the others, she didn''t even step forward. "My opinion makes no difference to the oue of the discussion," she said coldly. Silence.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. King Skythunder nodded, and his gaze wandered over to the Archduke on the other side of the room. "Anything to add, Miriam?" Miriam, the white-haired woman, only sighed as she looked at Duke Whirlwind. "You could have simplye to me with this matter," she said helplessly. "You shouldn''t have gone around me." Duke Whirlwind had a guilty expression on his face. "| must apologize. Next time, | wille to you with these things," he said. Everyone in the room knew that he was lying. The Archduke only sighed again and stayed quiet. ¡°Now that everyone has had their chance to offer their opinion," King Skythunder said, "I can finally announce my decision." None of the Council Members reacted to King Skythunder. They all knew that this had been a hopeless endeavor from the start. Even if all five of them went all-in with threats, ultimatums, and arguments, it wouldn''t have swayed King Skythunder''s decision. Luckily, even though the most important decision was up to King Skythunder, the finer details were up to them. "| allow for the Procedure to be performed," King Skythunder announced. The warriors all let out a collective sigh of relief. "Thank you, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with a bow. King Skythunder only smirked. "Jerald, you made the right call by supporting George," he said. "Keep me informed regarding the process of the Bloodline Infusion." "| will, King Skythunder," Duke Whirlwind said with gratitude as the Council frowned. King Skythunder''sment had made it much more difficult for them to interfere with the Procedure. ¡°But you shouldn''t expect any funding or support," King Skythunder said with a chuckle as he nced at the Council. "| doubt you will get any.¡± The Council didn''t react. This was their decision. King Skythunder had the power to dere things legal or illegal, but he didn''t fully control the resources of the Kingdom. Sure, he could take everything he wanted for himself, but he also knew that the Kingdom needed to flourish if he wanted better and more resources in the future. Because of that, everything regarding the Kingdom''s funds was left for the Council to decide. "I''m fine with that, King Skythunder,¡±" Duke Whirlwind said. Duke Whirlwind had never expected any funding or support from the Council. If it were up to them, Duke Whirlwind, the Dean, and even the entire Warrior''s Academy would have probably been eradicated just to get rid of any trace of the Bloodline Infusion. While the Council couldn''t directly go against Duke Whirlwind with King Skythunder''s decree, they could still try to deal with Duke Whirlwind. As long as Duke Whirlwind lost more and more for the Kingdom, they could slowly redistribute hisnds and eventually get rid of his title. If they wanted to deal with the warriors, they had to get through Duke Whirlwind first. Without him, they could simply send all the warriors to the war front against the other two Kingdoms. They wouldn''t return. "The meeting is over. You may all leave," King Skythunder said. Chapter 281 Chapter 281 The group bowed once again to King Skythunder before leaving the throne room. The warriors looked with excitement and relief at each other. If King Skythunder had said that he didn''t like the Procedure, he would have probably killed everyone that had undergone it or known how to perform it. Luckily, King Skythunder didn''t see any issues with it. But then, the warriors remembered something else and looked at each other withplex expressions. Yes, King Skythunder had agreed to the Procedure, but he had also killed one of theirs. From the five warriors, only four were left. Did that warrior deserve to die? Of course not! But that didn''t matter. He was dead now, and there was nothing they could have done. The group walked in silence until they left the castle. After that, they continued walking for a while longer before Duke Whirlwind stopped. Duke Whirlwind turned to them with a smile. "The most dangerous part is over. We have the King''s support, which means that no one can openly go against us with the Procedure as the reason." ¡°Your Dean and | can protect you from any random Adept and True Mage, but without the King''s support, our opponents would have been the six High Mages you have just seen in the pce." The group thought back to the Council and the Archduke. These people represented the absolute rulers of the entire Skythunder Kingdom. Inparison to them, Duke Whirlwind was only responsible for about 8% of the Skythunder Kingdom, and he was still subservient to the Council. This wouldn''t have been an opponent they could have ovee. "You all did very well today," Duke Whirlwind said with a kind smile. The warriors only looked at each other in guilt. What had they done? They had only stood there. "If any of you have the luck to meet King Skythunder again in the future, remember what you have learned today," Duke Whirlwind said. ¡°Respect his power, but don''t act like a weakling with no mental strength." ¡°We have managed to survive, but one of us was sadly left behind," Duke Whirlwind said with a sigh. "The reason for his death was hisck of willpower." "King Skythunder had given him an order, but our lost friend didn''t have the courage and willpower to fulfill it." ¡°However, we must still thank him. If it hadn''t been him, it would have been one of you," Duke Whirlwind said to the warriors. The warriors¡¯ eyes widened.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Wait, they could have also died? "King Skythunder wanted to see how courageous our group was. After seeing Shang''s performance, his interest had probably been piqued, and he wanted to know if every one of you was the same.¡± The group of warriors looked over at Shang withplex expressions. Shang had truly shown immense courage. Not only had he shown incredible willpower by destroying his own hand, but he had also punched King Skythunder in the face. It was already difficult to punch someone as powerful and intimidating as King Skythunder, but punching their face was even harder. "George, you also did very well today, and it''s all thanks to you that all of us are still alive, me included," Duke Whirlwind said. The Dean''s face didn''t change. "! was already prepared. You told me that he would most likely want to fight me." The group of warriors looked with surprise at Duke Whirlwind. He had known that? "Yes, but you still won, and that isn''t easy," Duke Whirlwind said with a smile. "| can''t call that a win," the Dean answered coldly. "He didn''t use his Magic, and he didn''t even use basic equipment or weapons. While he came at me without any weapons for a fist fight, | had to resort to my umted experience and my weapon." "Oh,e on," Duke Whirlwind said. "His body was three levels above yours. Winning against someone like that is still impressive." The Dean''s brows furrowed, and he looked at Duke Whirlwind. "Do you want to make me appear more impressive than | am in front of my students, or do you believe that | don''t know what a Barbarian is?" Ahelpless smile appeared on Duke Whirlwind''s face, but he didn¡¯t answer. "What''s a Barbarian?" Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with a conflicted expression. Then, he sighed. "George is too direct and honest for his own good,¡¯ Duke Whirlwind thought. "Just like you won''t find any penguins in a desert, you won''t find any scorpions in the tundra," Duke Whirlwind said. He was obviously starting an exnation, but he couldn''t get far before being interrupted. "What about the Fire Wing Penguin and the Ice Crystal Scorpion?" Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind''s brows furrowed, and he red at Shang. "You know what | mean," he said. Shang nodded. Duke Whirlwind sighed again. "What | meant is that different environments create different things," he said. "In the Skythunder Kingdom, most people believe that warriors are simply humans that decide to fight with their bodies instead of with their minds." ¡°However, in the grander scheme of things, this belief isn''t entirely true." The group of warriors looked at Duke Whirlwind with surprise. It wasn''t? "To be more specific," the Dean said as he overtook the exnation. "Warriors focus on the weapon, techniques, and Mana. Barbarians only focus on the body.¡± Duke Whirlwind stepped to the side as he let the Dean exin things. He was probably better at doing so. "Think of your schedule in the academy," the Dean said. "Arge part of your day is reserved for your weapon techniques, knowing your enemy, and manipting your Affinity by using advanced techniques." "Inparison to you, Barbarians do nothing but train their bodies all day. They don''t learn much about their opponents and what they should use to counter them. They don''t learn about how to use their Affinities. They don''t learn aboutplex weapon techniques." "Their only goal is to push their bodies further and further. As long as you have enough physical power, you can ovee anything.¡± ¡°Of course, Barbarians are humans, not beasts. Because of that, their bodies can''t be as powerful as beast bodies. Because of that, they still use armor and weapons, but their weapons are easy to use." ¡°Huge clubs, gigantic sticks, thick gloves, humongous swords, these are the kinds of weapons Barbarians use. But instead of learning advanced techniques for these weapons, Barbarians only use them as a force multiplier." ¡°If you believe warriors to be the physical path for humans, you are mistaken." ¡°Barbarians are the physical path for humans." "Mages are the mental path for humans." "And warriors are the mix between the two." The Dean paused for a bit after saying that and looked at the group. Most of the group only looked at the Dean in surprise. They had never heard of Barbarians. "| take it that their bodies are more powerfulpared to ours on each level?" Shang asked. The Dean nodded. "While we warriors use our Mana and control over said Mana to advance starting at the General Stage, Barbarians¡¯ training only intensifies. The bottlenecks we have also exist for Barbarians, but inparison to us, they don''t need to use their Mana." "They just continue training their bodies until they die. There are a couple of techniques and medicines they have ess to which allow them to train with enough efficiency to pull that off, but the Skythunder Kingdom doesn''t know much about them." "The Kingdoms have existed for a very long time, and during that time, different techniques and paths have been created. The path we know as the warrior path is unique to our Kingdom, while the Barbarian path is unique to the Kingdom to our northwest, the Grandmountain Kingdom." "When | fought King Skythunder, he fought with a body as powerful as the body of a Peak True Path Stage warrior." ¡°But that doesn''t mean that King Skythunder''s body is on the level of a Peak True Path Stage warrior." "| believe that King Skythunder has a body at the level of a Mid True Path Stage barbarian. So, in a sense, | didn''t jump three levels but only one," the Dean exined. The group of warriors looked withplex expressions at each other. Then, one of them looked at the Dean. "The Barbarian Path sounds stronger than the warrior path," he said. "It isn''t," the Dean said. "But don''t they have more powerful bodies?" the warrior asked. "They do, but that doesn''t mean they are more powerful,¡± the Dean said. Then, the Dean took out his spear. The Dean let go of the spear, and it hovered beside him. A secondter, the spear shot through the air at insane speeds several times. "Barbarians can''t do that," he said. After that, the air around the Dean seemed to warp. The warriors knew that this was the sign of a Domain, something only avable to Commander Stage warriors and stronger. "Barbarians also can''t do that.¡± Lastly, the spearnded in the Dean''s hands again. Then, the Dean moved his spear from one side to the other. SHING! Agigantic wave of sharp Mana left the spear, and it left a huge cut in a mountain several kilometers away. ¡°And they can''t do that." After that, the Dean put his spear away. ¡°Furthermore, as far as | know, there is not a single Barbarian that managed to reach their variant of the True Path Stage yet. There are powerful Mages, like King Skythunder, that have a body with that power, but that is due to the power of their minds." "There are no True Path Stage barbarians." The Dean looked at the group of warriors. ¡°Andstly, with the Bloodline Infusion, your bodies are even more powerful than the bodies of Barbarians." Chapter 282 Chapter 282 After the exnation, the group began their journey back to the Storm Eagle Zone. Right now, it waster in the noon, but it wasn''t afternoon yet. As everyone ran back with the Blessing of Wind, Shang thought about something else. ¡®The Barbarians can strengthen their bodies above what a normal warrior can achieve,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Without the Procedure, the Barbarian path and warrior path are about equal, | would say. Teacher is an impressively powerful and talented warrior, and it should be normal for him to jump a level against an inexperienced Barbarian.¡¯ ¡®The Grandmountain Kingdom probably also has very talented Barbarians, and the most powerful of them can probably also fight teacher equally. Well, as long as they are on the same level as him.¡¯ "One focuses on the body while the other focuses on finesse and technique." ¡®| wonder, can | make use of the Barbarian techniques to push my body even further? King Skythunder said that the Bloodline Infusion fits the Barbarian path more than the warrior path.¡¯ "So, what if | could use the Barbarian techniques to strengthen my body? Would | be able to get a body as powerful as a pure beast?" Shang thought about this for a moment. "Maybe not perfectly, but | believe | could get very close." Then, Shang narrowed his eyes. ¡®However, it probably isn''t that easy. If it were that easy to advance as a Barbarian, they would have already created someone at the True Path Stage. Obviously, there are also issues with their advancement.¡¯ ¡®On top of that, since they are part of a Kingdom, the Barbarians are also probably just servants of Mages. If the Barbarians were the leaders of the Grandmountain Kingdom, the Skythunder Kingdom would have long since imed their territory as their own.¡¯ If | get an opportunity, | should see if | can get my hands on how Barbarians fight. It is a separate path, but | don''t need to fully master it to get some use out of it. Just a little bit should be enough to increase my power by quite a bit." Some minutester, the group arrived at the border of the Thunder Horse Zone. The group of Mages was still there. They didn''t say anything as the group of warriors passed. The only thing the warriors noticed was the aura of hostility directed at them. As Shang saw the group of Mages, he had a thought. ''The most dangerous part is over, but the Council will probably try some tricks to get rid of us in the future. We are still notpletely safe." Then, Shang took a deep breath. ¡®But for now, this isn''t my issue. | don''t have the power to fight something as powerful as the Council." ¡®Additionally..." Shang''s mind went back to the Poison Adept and the bloodied face. ¡®| have my own worries right now.¡¯ Some minutester, the group arrived at Spark Oasis again. Luckily, the Thunder Horse wasn''t inside the city right now, and everyone could pass through it without any issues. The journey continued uninterrupted, and the group of warriors reached the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. Once more, Shang had to take a deep breath as he saw the gigantic horn in the middle of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. A Zone Beast that was maybe even more powerful than the Storm Eagle. The group slid down the crater until they arrived at the bottom. Duke Mithril didn''te out to greet them. By now, it was afternoon, and the group of warriors soon reached the Empress Cobra Zone. The sky began to darken with thick clouds, but the group actually embraced the darkness. This darkness meant that they were back in Duke Whirlwind''s territory. ¡°Any of you staying in the Empress Cobra Zone?" Duke Whirlwind asked as they continued running. "Me!" one of them shouted. "I''m training in Swamp Lake City." Shang''s brows furrowed. "Right, Swamp Lake City. That''s where the Wilbury couple lives.¡¯ "We can make a short detour," Duke Whirlwind said. With that said, the group continued toward the south until they reached a crossroads. Instead of going to the west, they took the path to the south. Shang kept inspecting his surroundings with his Darkness Sense. He found the wildlife in the Empress Cobra Zone quite interesting. The further south they went, the more swamps there were and the more poisonous they got. By now, the air had already started to sting in Shang''s nose, and it definitely wasn''t pleasant to be here. After some minutes, the group stopped in front of a wide road. Shang looked to the south, and he could see a city. Thanks to his Darkness Sense, he could see that it was even bigger than Warrior''s Paradise, but that was to be expected. Space in Warrior''s Paradise was sparse, but there was plenty of space here. People could expand without any issue here. Sadly, the city looked a bit too normal. Yes, it had walls that were over twenty meters high, but that was about it. It wasn''t nearly as interesting as Warrior''s Paradise. Shang looked at the city with interest. ¡®Behind these walls are the two people that want me dead.¡¯ The warrior that had spoken up earlier left the group and entered Swamp Lake City while the group continued traveling to the west. Bzzzt! Duke Whirlwind and the Dean looked at Shang as a small bolt of lightning traveled over his body for an instant. They had all heard King Skythunder''s words. The Thunder Horse had left behind a sign on Shang''s body. The sign hadn''t activated when the Council or the High Mage at the border had inspected Shang, but it had activated when they had entered King Skythunder''s domain. This probably meant that the signal only got active if beings of the Fifth Realm or higher inspected Shang. What beings in the fifth Realm or higher were in the Empress Cobra Zone? Duke Whirlwind inspected his surroundings with narrowed eyes as he tried to find the beast. Something had just inspected the group. Otherwise, the signal probably wouldn''t have been triggered. Sadly, Duke Whirlwind couldn''t find any clue, even after using everything at his disposal. There probably were no beasts in the Fifth Realm that could keep themselves hidden in front of the Duke. Which could mean only one thing. Meanwhile, Shang was focusing on the south. There was a gigantic cloud of gathered Darkness Mana to the south, and it was in the form of a gigantic pir. Shang could only feel the general outline of the thing that stood there, and he felt like it was looking at him with interest. But a couple of secondster, the pir seemingly became smaller until itpletely vanished. Shang released a deep breath he hadn''t realized he had been holding. "She''s gone," Shang said. Duke Whirlwind looked over. He wanted to ask if Shang had seen the Empress Cobra, but he remembered that they weren''t alone. "You can''t see something like that. You probably only saw an illusion.¡± Duke Whirlwind knew that Shang could see the Empress Cobra thanks to his Darkness Affinity and the abundance of Darkness Mana around them, but he didn''t want to tell the group. Shang knew what Duke Whirlwind was doing and nodded. "I was probably mistaken.¡± After that, the group continued as the warriors looked at Shang in confusion. Why were so many weird things happening around him? As everyone continued, Shang''s heart beat quickly in his chest. ¡®If we had gone further south on the way to King Skythunder and the Empress Cobra would have seen me..." ¡®| don''t think the Empress Cobra is as nice as the Thunder Horse.¡¯ ¡®It would have probably just killed me.¡¯ For once, Shang was happy that he had met a beast more powerful than himself. Acouple of minutester, the group reached the Storm Eagle Zone. One other warrior directly went to the Ice Wyvern Zone, leaving only one other warrior left in the group, except for Shang. In the early evening, everyone reached Warrior''s Paradise again. ¡°And that concludes today''s matter," Duke Whirlwind said with a sigh. "This will take a load off my mind." "Come to me if you need anything," the Dean said to Shang and the other warrior. And then, the Dean directly entered Warrior''s Paradise. He probably had a lot of work to do. Duke Whirlwind also said his goodbyes. And now, only Shang and the other warrior were left. It was the very warrior that had thanked Shang back then. "So, Shang, want to do something?" he asked. "Sorry, | have to train," Shang said without looking at him. "Oh, yeah, sure. Good luck," the warrior said awkwardly.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Shang nodded. "See you," he said before running towards the academy. The warrior only awkwardly said goodbye. ¡®This was thest time | could go outside,¡¯ Shang thought. ''The Cleaners are still after me, and the sooner | be strong enough, the sooner | can deal with all of this." ¡®The Wilbury couple, huh? For now, you can have your way. | won''t leave the city.¡¯ ¡®But that won''t be forever!¡¯ And thus concludes the journey to meet King Skythunder. And a long time of istion and training started for Shang. He wouldn''t leave the city for a full two years. Chapter 283 Chapter 283 BANG! rge sword cut through the body of an orange ming tiger, bisecting it in the process. The two parts of the body fell to the ground, with one of them still violently thrashing around. BANG! The head was destroyed as therge sword cut through it once again. Silence. Asecondter, the corpse vanished, leaving only one man behind. The man was 187cm tall and had short, ck hair. On his back was a long and thick sword. He was clothed in ck armor that looked nearly identical to the armor the Dean of the Warrior''s Academy wore. On the man''s back was a long ck cloak, which extended all the way to the ground. Allin all, this man looked quite imposing. This was Shang. It had been over two years since he had entered seclusion inside Warrior''s Paradise. For two years, he hadn''t left the city. Now, Shang''s body was about 20 years old, and it had fully matured. Shang slowly walked through the snow-covered trees until he arrived on a small hill with several buildings on them. Shang knew this ce very well. After all, he had seen it being built. Yes, this was the outpost in the former Battlefield, which was now called the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. Snow was already raging throughout the entire Northern Ice Wyvern Zone, and plenty of trees had spawned. Usually, it would take many, many years for such a forest to appear, but Duke Whirlwind had invested a lot into terraforming this entire region. Of course, not everything was stable around here. There were still plenty of beasts that came here from the Volcano Wyrm Zone, threatening the ecosystem. That was where Shang came in. Shang entered themand center in the outpost and put his Space Ring on the table. Themander looked into the Space Ring and nodded. "Good job,¡± he said. "You will get your pay tomorrow." Shang nodded. "Is there another report?" he asked. Themander only sighed. "Shang, you should know your own limits. Don''t overwork yourself. If you flip a coin enough times, eventually, it willnd on heads ten times in a row." "That doesn''t concern you," Shang said emotionlessly. "I''m here to work, and | want to work." Themander looked at Shang for a bit more before taking out a report and putting it on the table. Shang grabbed it and left themand center shortly after. Outside, Shang read the report and left the outpost, going west. ¡®Peak General Stage Magma Spider,¡¯ Shang thought. While Shang traveled to the west, he kept focusing on his Ice Sense. ¡®When will you finally show yourself? | know that you have been following me." "Do you believe that there is someone more powerful guarding me? Why wouldn''t you want to earn a ton of money by killing some random Late General Stage warrior?¡¯ Yes, Shang had reached the Late General Stage over thest two years, and he was still very confident in his Battle-Strength. In fact, Shang''s Battle-Strength didn''t fall at all. In truth, it had even grown. After bing familiar with his new power, Shang immediately left for the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. He wanted to deal with the Cleaner, and since the Ice Wyvern Zone was filled with lce Mana, Shang would be able to sense him. At least, that was what he had thought.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Instead, he was able to feel that someone was watching him, but he couldn''t find them. This Cleaner definitely wasn''t as overconfident as thest one. ¡®Come on. I''m only a Late General Stage warrior. You''re a Peak Adept. This mission should appear easy to you.¡¯ Yet, the Cleaner just didn''t appear. Shang had even killed over ten Peak General Stage beasts in thest two days. Attacking him while he was fighting such a beast should be the smartest move. Acouple of minutester, Shang arrived in front of a small mountain, and he could see a bit ofvaing out of a cave. Shang took out his sword. BANG! An explosion of ice came out of Shang''s leg, throwing him inside the cave. BOOOOOM! Aloud explosion left the cave and reverberated throughout the surrounding icy forest. Silence. Two secondster, Shang stepped out of the cave, looking over the surrounding forest. There was no movement. Shang only furrowed his brows. ''l am showing you so much of my power so that you might think that this is all my power. If | only show a bit, you might believe that | am creating a trap for you.¡¯ ¡®Why are you not showing yourself? You shouldn''t be an average or weak Adept. After all, the Wilburys paid a fortune for you.¡¯ ¡®Are you that unconfident in your own abilities?¡¯ Shang remained standing there for about half a minute, just looking around. Then, he slid down the mountain and walked back to the outpost. As Shang was traveling back, an icy crystal was slowly moving as well. The crystal looked nearly transparent, and it gave off a bit of Ice Mana. The crystal was about two kilometers away from Shang. Inside the crystal sat a young woman with icy blue hair. Several Magic Circles were spinning in front of her, showing different shapes. She was the hired Cleaner. Right now, she only looked at these shapes with furrowed brows. ¡®| have no idea what he is trying to do,'' she thought. ''He obviously knows I''m following him. Otherwise, he wouldn''t have remained in Warrior''s Paradise for so long." ¡®But now, he suddenly left Warrior''s Paradise, and he keeps fighting one Peak General Stage beast after the other.¡¯ ¡®In the beginning, | thought that he was apanied by someone else, but after so many days, that other person would have long since found me. That means that he is most likely traveling alone.¡¯ ¡®| believe he simply wants to lure me out and kill me himself,¡¯ she thought. At that moment, a cold light appeared in her eyes, but at the same time, there was also a bit of respect and fear in them. ¡®Or is he trying to intimidate me?¡¯ ''He kills Peak General Stage beasts like they are insects. One strike and they crumble like paper. | might be able to do the same, but | would need to prepare a powerful Spell first, and I''m not that confident in hitting them immediately.¡¯ ¡®Meanwhile, he goes in, charges at them, and kills them.¡¯ "He never misses. "He never makes a mistake." ¡®Not even | can do that." The Cleaner kept looking at the shapes in front of her. ¡®If he wants to lure me out, he is probably showing quite a bit of his power so that | might believe that this is all he has. However, I''m not some rookie. | know how our targets tick.¡¯ "He definitely has several abilities stashed away.¡¯ The Cleaner took a deep breath. ¡®The abilities he is showing me are already at around my level. So, how powerful will he be if he goes all out?¡¯ The Cleaner gritted her teeth. ¡®He''s only a Late General Stage warrior, for fuck''s sake! I''m a Peak Adept, and I''m definitely not a weak one." ¡®Yet, at the Late General Stage, this Shang is showing abilities that rival my own!" ¡®Is that so-called Procedure really that powerful?! | thought the Procedure couldn''t fully close the gap!" ¡®What should | do?¡¯ Shang had tried to lure the Cleaner out by showing a bit of his ability. However, as a loner that doesn''te into contact with other people much, Shang''s perception of power had been severely warped. Shang was only around powerful people like Soran, Ranos, the Dean, and Duke Whirlwind. Every single one of them was extremely talented and very powerful. Because of that, Shang''s perception of the average power of the average warrior and Mage was skewed. Shang wanted to show that he could attempt to fight a Peak Adept, not kill one. But Shang didn''t know how powerful the average Peak Adept was. Yes, Mages were incredibly powerful, but in the Adept Realm, they were only a bit stronger than warriors. Their true power only showed itself when they became True Mages. Shang had seen how powerful the truly powerful Mages were, and he was using their standards on Adepts. Shang believed that a Peak Adept could easily kill a Peak General Stage beast. Yes, they could, but it wasn''t a certainty that the beast would die in one hit. On top of that, the Mage would need to prepare a powerful Spell. Meanwhile, Shang was demonstrating power even above that. In the end, Shang''s n to lure out the Cleaner failed. He had identally shown too much of his power, and he had intimidated the Cleaner. Chapter 284 Chapter 284 Shang continued hunting for another two days. Sadly, no matter how many risky situations he brought himself into, the Cleaner just wouldn''t bite. Shang even epted a mission to hunt a pair of Peak General Stage beasts, and he fought both of them at the same time. This fight had actually taken a couple of seconds. All the others had ended in, at most, two seconds. Yet, even then, the Cleaner hadn''t shown themselves. ¡®What is their n?¡¯ Shang thought with furrowed brows. ¡®With these two beasts, it would be three on one. You are a Peak Adept! Are you too afraid to attack some warrior a level below you with a numerical advantage?" By now, Shang was getting really annoyed. What, did he need to attack a Commander Stage beast for them to show up?! Shang wasn''tpletely against attacking an Initial Commander Stage beast, but he certainly didn''t want to do that while someone was out for his life. Such a fight would need all of Shang''s reserves. ¡®Would | attack me if | were the Cleaner?¡¯ Shang thought. Then, he thought about what he had done over the past couple of days. ¡®| might have shown too much of my power,¡¯ Shang realized. ¡®Sure, if | were them, | would have already attacked. After all, this seems like an interesting fight.¡¯ "However, not everyone is like me. Inparison to me, the Cleaner doesn''t need to fight. If they believe the mission to be too dangerous, they could simply retreat and give up.¡¯ Shang looked at his surroundings with furrowed brows. ¡®It''s very possible that they have already retreated.¡¯ ¡®| screwed up. If they decide to abort the mission, the Wilburys won''t lose any money.¡¯ Right now, Shang wasn''t sure how he should feel. He had felt frustrated and suppressed every day he had remained in Warrior''s Paradise. He wanted to go outside and fight. Yet, the constant presence of the Cleaner had forced him to stay inside. Now, Shang was finally taking the plunge, but the very power that had suppressed him for so long had vanished. ¡®If there truly is no way to lure them out, staying here is pointless,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I already have enough wealth back at the academy. | don''t need the wealth from here.¡¯ Shang looked at the outpost, which was about two kilometers away from his current position. ¡®And the beasts are also no threat anymore. I''m only at the Late General Stage, but not even one of the Peak General Stage beasts managed to put up a decent fight. They all copsed like little children." ¡®| didn''t expect things to go this way.¡¯ Shang looked at his own hand with furrowed brows. "Have | be that powerful? | don''t really feel that powerful.¡¯ Well, how powerful was Shang? Thanks to the Procedure, Shang''s body was nearly as powerful as the body of an Initial Commander Stage warrior. An Initial Commander Stage warrior could kill a Peak General Stage beast solo, but the fight wouldn''t be super easy. Shang''s body was definitely far weaker than the body of a Peak General Stage beast, but that was only one aspect of his power. Shang could increase his speed by a lot with his techniques and Affinities. His weapon was at the Initial Commander Stage, which made it as hard and sharp as the hardest tusk or horn of an Initial Commander Stage beast. Then came Shang''s techniques and his fighting experience. With those things, he could easily outsmart a beast. With everythingbined, Shang''s power had reached the power of an above-average Initial Commander Stage warrior. And he was only at the Late General Stage. For the longest time, Shang had only been around the peak powers of the surrounding hundreds of kilometers. He wasn''t hunting with other General Stage warriors, and he hadn''t joined any missions. He had beenpletely isted from the normal person on his level. Because of that, Shang didn''t feel that powerful. In fact, he only felt a bit more powerful than the average. But in reality, Shang was even stronger than the Dean had been back when he had been on Shang''s level. Without noticing, Shang had be the most powerful General Stage warrior in the world, and he wasn''t even at the Peak. ¡®If the Cleaner won''t show up by tomorrow, | will return to Warrior''s Paradise. | need to be even more powerful.¡¯ Shang slowly walked back towards the outpost. Bang. Shang turned to face the south. He had just heard a distant explosion, and he could see a couple of icicles flying in the distance. Then, he saw something jump up and hit something with long, icy ws. The thing the ws had hit was circr, and it appeared when the ws hit it.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. It was a Mana Shield. ¡®There have been warnings of an Ice Demon recently,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I guess this is it." Bang. The Ice Demon was pushed back by a strong, green wind, and a secondter, a huge spire made of stone shot at it. ¡®There are Mages fighting the Ice Demon,¡¯ Shang thought with furrowed brows. ¡®Everyone working here knows of the local cklist, and they should know that the Ice Demon is on it. Sure, the punishment isn''t very severe for killing it, but it''s still better to just retreat.¡¯ ¡®Why did they engage in a fight with it?¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the distant fight. "Unless the Ice Demon got the drop on them, and they are only defending themselves.¡¯ ¡®But so what? Everyone hunting beasts around here received Positioning Bombs for exactly this kind of incident.¡¯ ¡®They should also have some.¡¯ ¡®But they don''t.¡¯ Shang''s eyes shone. ¡®Which means they are not here to hunt beasts, and they are certainly not here to deliver something. The delivery people know how to get around these parts." ¡®Additionally, since the three are still fighting the Initial Commander Stage Ice Demon, and since they are Mages, it means that they are all Adepts. A True Mage would have long since killed the Ice Demon." "So, a Cleaner is on my tail, and | might have intimidated them into thinking that they can''t handle me over the past few days.¡¯ ¡®| thought they would drop the matter, but, apparently, there is another way.¡¯ ¡®Why not ask for help and split the reward?" ¡®That would also exin why they don''t know that much about the local fauna. After all, their job is killing people, not beasts." ¡®| don''t think an Ice Demon can get a drop on someone hunting in this ce, but if it were someone not ustomed to fighting beasts, | could imagine it.¡¯ Shang smirked. ¡®Themander was right. If you flip a coin enough times, it will eventuallynd on heads ten times in a row.¡¯ "However, | am not the only one flipping coins. The Cleaner that follows me also has to travel through the wilderness to follow me, and inparison to me, they don''t know much about beasts.¡¯ ¡®They were bound to provoke a powerful beast eventually. It was only a matter of time.¡¯ Shang saw the explosions continue in the distance. The fight was brutal. ¡®Let''s join them! BANG! After an Ice st, Shang sprinted to the south. Chapter 285 Chapter 285 Shang only took a couple of seconds to arrive at the ce. At the moment, one of the Adepts was keeping the Ice Demon busy by summoning several walls of earth while the other ones were bombarding it. The Ice Demon was a mix between a lizard and a humanoid. It usually moved on all fours, but it could also stand up for a bit to strike its enemies with its five long, icy ws. Ice Demons could summon and dissipate their long ice ws at will, giving them the option to run quickly without the ice ws getting in the way and the option to attack with devastating force. The Ice Demon kept jumping around, trying to get past the walls. Whenever it jumped, it summoned its icy ws to strike, which were over two meters long. There were a couple of cuts on the Ice Demon''s body, which bled quite a bit. Shang guessed that these cuts came from the Adept with green hair and green robes. He was obviously a Wind Adept. There were also a couple of big icicles stuck in its body, which came from the Adept with the icy blue hair. ¡®Ice Affinity, huh?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Why would someone with an Ice Attribute want to kill beasts with Ice Affinities? That would only make their life difficult.¡¯ "Seems like the Ice Demon really got the drop on them." The Ice Demon shed through several walls, and it eventually hit the Earth Adept, a rather tall man with brown hair. Shang only kept watching. "Somebody, help!" the Ice Adept shouted in fear. Shang didn''t react and stayed hidden. When the Ice Adept saw that no one reacted, she gritted her teeth. "| know that you are there. | can feel your Ice Mana." Shang only snorted silently. ''Feel my Ice Mana? Who would believe that? | learned how to iste myself from the surrounding Mana long ago. There is literally zero Ice Mana inside my body right now." The fact that the Ice Adept had said that she could feel Shang''s Ice Mana basically confirmed Shang''s guess. She knew that he was here, but she said the wrong reason. If she were innocent, knew that Shang was there, and truly wanted help, she would have said the real reason why she knew that Shang was there. After all, there was no reason to lie. The face of the Ice Adept morphed into a frustrated grimace as she realized that Shang wasn''t answering. She threw a look at the Ice Demon, who had destroyed the Earth Adept''s Mana Shield. Right now, the Wind Adept was running around the Ice Demon with incredible speed, distracting it while the Earth Adept kept using his Focus to save the Wind Adept a couple of times. "Fine, you win!" the Ice Adept shouted. Then, she summoned a fancy piece of paper. Complex Magic Circles appeared around her fingers, and she touched the piece of paper. Asecondter, she threw the piece of paper over an inconspicuous stone, the ce where Shang was currently. Shang caught it and looked at it. ¡®A Magic Contract,¡¯ Shang thought with augh. ''l get 300,000 gold if | help them, and she swears on her life that her group will abandon the mission and leave.¡¯ Shang knew how to check the validity of a Magic Contract, and he knew that this one was real. She was actually giving up. There was no way out of this contract. The longer the contract, the more freedom one had to screw someone over. However, this contract was extremely short. It simply had two uses, nothing else, and they were formted in a very direct and unambiguous way. The Ice Adept only gritted her teeth. ¡®300,000 gold. That''s like half a Focus. He sure made off with a lot of money,¡¯ she thought. Only an idiot wouldn''t ept something like that. And then, Shang noticed something. Whoosh! Shang ran towards the north, and the Ice Adept''s face fell. ¡®Why is he running?!" Then, the Ice Adept felt a concentration of Mana getting closer from the north, and she realized what would happen with horror. Themander of the outpost had noticed the ruckus, and he wasing! Shang quickly arrived in front of themander and threw something at him. Themander caught it and looked at it. It was the contract that the Ice Adept had thrown to Shang. "They are Cleaners sent here to deal with me. This is proof of their identity," Shang said. The Cleaning Service was an illegal organization, and everyone working for them was wanted by Greenwind County. Themander looked at the contract with surprise. Then, he looked at Shang, and a secondter, he looked at the fight. "Alright," themander said as he pocketed the contract. "Then, we shouldn''t disturb their fight." Shang only nodded with a slight grin. ¡°Let''s get closer. | might need to save the Ice Demon if they win. It''s worth more than them," themander said before stepping forward. Shang nodded and also stepped forward. A couple of secondster, the two of them stopped on top of a big rock and watched the fight. The Ice Demon had received several more injuries, but its passive regeneration had also healed a lot of the previous injuries. The passive regeneration which the warriors that had undergone the Procedure had received came from the beasts. With enough time, beasts could also regenerate. This hadn''t really be a factor to Shang until now since his aggressive fighting style ended the fights very quickly. On top of that, the passive regeneration used up the beast''s Mana.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. By now, the Ice Demon no longer dismissed its ice ws and kept them active at all times, lowering its speed. The reason for that was its low Mana storages. Dismissing and resummoning the ice ws took some Mana. The Ice Demon was exhausted, but the Adepts didn''t feel any better. Only the Ice Adept had over 50% Mana left, while the Wind Adept and Earth Adept were focusing on recovering their Mana storages. Sadly, whenever they recovered some Mana, the Ice Demon would hit their Mana Shields, depleting their Mana storages again. The Foci of the Earth Adept and Wind Adept could barely keep the beast from killing them, and dealing damage waspletely left to the Ice Adept. ¡®This battle could go either way,¡¯ Shang thought. ''However, chances are high that at least one of them will die, and the others will be very exhausted.¡¯ ¡®Why should | kill them when I can get them into prison? | mean, I''m not some saint that doesn''t want to kill my enemies, but it''s simply far better. With some Mind Reading, the Inquisitors might be able to find some proof regarding the Wilburys.¡¯ ¡®They would be able to win against themander in their peak conditions, but a Mage without Mana is basically just a normal person. On top of that, I''m here too, and-'' BANG! Shang''s eyes widened as his vision began to distort. At this moment, Sword hade out from Shang''s back, and its de was between a saber and Shang''s head. Shang was thrown forward, and he could barely keep his consciousness. His own de had hit his head very hard just now. But an instantter, Shang''s Mana healed all the damage, and Shang''s mind recovered. That attack could have onlye from one ce, and Shang''s eyes narrowed. BANG! Shang used an Ice st to shoot himself to the side, and an instantter, a saber stabbed into the ground where Shang had just been. Shang quickly stood up and looked at themander, who had just pulled the saber out. In themander''s eyes was greed. Shang quickly nced over to the Ice Adept, and he saw genuine surprise and shock in her eyes while she looked at the commander. ¡®They are not part of the same team,¡¯ Shang quickly concluded as he nced at themander. ¡®Which means he is not a Cleaner.¡¯ ¡®Honestly, who wants me dead this time?!" Chapter 286 Chapter 286 When themander realized that he had missed his chance, he quickly looked at the three Adepts. "You three get the reward for your mission. | get the open bounty for his head!" themander shouted. ¡®Open bounty?¡¯ Shang thought. "Open bounty?¡¯ the Adepts thought. None of them knew of any open bounties for Shang''s head. They were here because of a mission, which wasn''t an open bounty. Missions were an individualmitment, and only one group of people could ept them at a time, while an open bounty was open to anyone. As long as someone had proof of the kill, they could collect the bounty. However, there was no open bounty on Shang. What was themander talking about?! "Deal!" the Ice Adept shouted. At this moment, Shang was weighing his options. Should he retreat? Should he call for help? ¡®You know what? It''s been a long time since | had a decent fight. Also, | don''t want them to escape." BANG! Themander and Shang both elerated at the same time. But they were not charging at each other. Themander was charging at the Ice Demon while Shang charged at the three Adepts. Shang wanted to deal with the weakened Adepts first. If they got a chance to recover, they would be even more threatening than themander. Themander had a simr idea. "| distract the Ice Demon!" he shouted as he charged at the Ice Demon. The Earth Adept and Wind Adept still had to survive until themander arrived, which made them preupied. But the Ice Adept quickly focused on Shang. Three huge icicles appeared above her. This was a very advanced Spell called Icicle Rain. An instantter, her Focus lit up. SSSHHH! Acold wind shot over the ground and reached Shang''s position in an instant. It was so fast that Shang couldn''t even react. ¡®Freeze Spell!¡¯ Shang thought as his feet were immediately frozen to the ground. Immediately after, the three icicles shot at Shang. He couldn''t possibly evade, could he? Suddenly, the ice around Shang''s feet vanished. It didn¡¯t melt or break. It simply vanished like it had never been there. The Freeze Spell created a dense field of Ice Mana around someone''s feet, which essentially froze them to the ground. However, as soon as the Spell was finished, the will of the user was no longer on the Spell. Usually, that didn''t matter. After all, it didn''t make a difference if there was a will on the ice or not. The target would remain frozen. But Shang''s Affinity was special. Shang still remembered how he had identally absorbed the Ice Mana from the Ice Wood he had been transporting. As long as there was no will on the Ice Mana, he could absorb it. Shang looked at the three icicles shooting at him. "Sadly, not every Spell has this weakness." In order to keep the icicles in their dangerous shape, the will of the Mage remained on them, which meant that Shang couldn''t absorb them. The icicles shot at Shang in a triangle formation, making it impossible to evade them. In an instant, Shang did three things. First, he put one hand on the hilt of his big sword and the other on the t side of its edge. Second, he positioned his sword in front of him, the t side facing forward. Third, he jumped forward, keeping the sword in front of him. BANG! Two icicles passed below Shang, and the third one hit Shang''s sword. The power behind the icicle was far stronger than the force of Shang''s jump, and he would soon be thrown several tens of meters away. Even if the icicles failed to deal any damage to Shang, the Ice Adept would still gain two seconds of preparation for a new Spell. However, things didn''t go ording to her n. As soon as the icicle hit Shang''s sword, a small ck lightning bolt washed over it. Shortly after, the icicle lost its shape and turned into a dense fog of Ice Mana. The Darkness Element had destroyed the will on the icicle! Suddenly, the dense Ice Mana vanished, and Sword turned slightly blue. Sword had no issues in absorbing willless Elemental Mana. BANG! Shang''s feet exploded with Ice Mana. Originally, Shang would have been thrown back, but the Ice st countered the force, essentially making him stationary in the air. An instantter, Shang''s entire body began to release steam as his sword turned pure white. BANG! Blood exploded out of Shang''s legs as he released a Fire st. Luckily, he still had enough Mana to regenerate his legs in an instant. In just a second, Shang arrived at the height of ten meters, and he readied his sword. For a second, the Ice Adept became confused. Too much had suddenly happened with Shang and even more than that, why did he go so far up in the air? But then, she remembered that new technique a couple of warriors were starting to use, and she realized what was happening. In an instant, she summoned a huge wall made of ice. This Spell was called Ice Barrier. It cost a ton of Mana and was supposed to be ast defense when the Mage was about to die. Shang shed forward with hisrge sword. And a huge wave of white Ice Mana left his sword. However, it wasn''t shooting at the Ice Adept. BOOOOM! The wave hit its target. About a hundred meters away, a brown-haired man had turned into an ice statue. Themander was still about twenty meters away from the Ice Demon, and the Earth Adept had been fully focused on the beast. Because of that, he hadn''t seen Shang''s attack. Shang was a Late General Stage warrior, and he couldn''t possibly focus on the Earth Adept over a hundred meters away while being besieged by the Ice Adept, right? CRUNCH! Just a secondter, the Ice Demon jumped to the ice statue and swallowed it whole. As soon as the ice statue entered the Ice Demon''s, its body began to release steam as its injuries closed with more speed. It wasn''t nearly as fast as a warrior''s body, but the regeneration was definitely quite fast. The bodies of beasts were very peculiar. As soon as anything was swallowed by them, it would turn into its basicponents. The entire Earth Adept had turned into his individualponents just half a second after entering the Ice Demon''s maw. Beneath the ice, the Earth Adept had still been alive, but as soon as he entered the beast''s maw, his Mana and his life energy were absorbed by the beast. The life energy was the reason for the beast''s expedited recovery while the Mana refilled quite a bit of its reserves. BANG! Just after swallowing the ice statue, a saber hit the Ice Demon''s right front leg and severed it. In pain, the Ice Demon jumped to the side. Themander had arrived, but he wasn''t happy. One of the Adepts was already dead, and the Ice Demon had recovered. Sure, it had lost a leg, but it had healed several other parts, and it had regained quite a bit of Mana. Earlier, themander was certain that he could kill the Ice Demon, but now, the fight was about even. If the Ice Demon were at its peak, the Commander would be helpless. But with only three legs and some injuries, the Commander had a slight chance at victory. "Deal with Zero!" themander shouted at the Wind Adept as he kept charging after the Ice Demon. At that moment, the Wind Adept, the Ice Adept, and Shang realized what had happened. The Ice Adept looked at Shang with shock.This is from N?velDrama.Org. "He''s Zero?¡¯ she thought in shock. "He called me Zero!¡¯ Shang thought with narrowed eyes. ¡®Seems like the cat''s out of the bag." Sadly, Shang didn''t have the time to think about these things right now. The Wind Adept had readied a Spell with his Focus, and the Ice Adept was casting another one. Chapter 287 Chapter 287 The Wind Adept unleashed several small cuts of wind that flew at Shang. This Spell was called Wind Net, and it was made to counter fast beasts. Shang wouldn''t be able to evade the Spell since its size was simply toorge. CRRRRR! Shang put his huge sword between him and the Spell. Luckily, Sword was hard enough to resist such a weak Spell. However, Sword also wasn''t big enough to block the entirety of the Spell, and parts of the cutting wind hit the sides of Shang''s body. At that moment, several Magic Circles appeared around Shang, and the wind des were being diverted with loud sounds of grinding. It was almost like a buzzsaw hit a diagonal wall of metal. But that was it. Shang''s armor glowed ck, but it remained undamaged. The Wind Adept looked with shock at the uninjured Shang. ¡®What is this armor?!" This armor was the little present Duke Whirlwind had promised Shang when they had gone to King Skythunder about two years ago. Not only could it block the killing blow of an Initial True Mage''s Spell once, but it also had several other abilities, and one of them was to redirect force. This also exined why Shang''s armor looked so simr to the Dean''s armor. Both of them had received their sets of armor from Duke Whirlwind. The wind pushed Shang back a bit, but he quickly unleashed another Ice st to fly towards the Wind Adept. The Wind Adept was nearlypletely out of Mana, which meant that he had either had no Mana Shield or a very weak one. Inparison to him, the Ice Adept had far more Mana, making it more difficult to kill her. SSSHHH! Suddenly, a huge blizzard appeared between Shang and the Wind Adept. ¡®The Blizzard Spell!¡¯ Shang thought with narrowed eyes. The Blizzard Spell created an extremely dangerous territory of absolute cold. It cost a lot of Mana, but it could freeze someone''s entire body in the blink of an eye. Due to the control over Mana warriors and Mages had, creating a Blizzard Spell below their feet was basically impossible. Any interference on the opponent''s part would ruin the entire thing. Because of that, the Blizzard Spell could only be created at least a couple of meters away from the opponent. But in exchange, it was extremely deadly. Even a beast''s body would be frozen if it jumped through the blizzard. When the Wind Adept saw the blizzard, he quickly readied his next Spell. At the same time, the Ice Adept readied a gigantic icicle, which pointed at Shang. And then, she threw the icicle just a bit behind Shang. She had noticed that Shang could move in the air, and the only way out of this situation was to retreat to the back. And then... Shang entered the blizzard! The Ice Adept''s eyes widened in shock. Was he suicidal?! The Wind Adept didn''t see it since he was on the other side of the blizzard, and he kept concentrating on his Spell. WHOOOM! As soon as Shang entered the blizzard, it became more and more chaotic. It was almost like something inside of it was affecting it. BANG! And half a secondter, the blizzard dissipated into the surroundings. At that moment, time seemingly froze. Asnow-white sword was in Shang''s hands, and it was filled to the brim with Ice Mana. Had Shang absorbed the blizzard? No. The blizzard was filled with the Ice Adept''s will, and Shang couldn''t absorb something like that. When Shang entered the blizzard, he had put his left hand on his sword. And then, he infused it with Ice Mana. Shang''s entire body heated up rapidly, but the extreme cold around him kept cooling him. It was an extremely dangerous bncing act, but Shang had had several years of training on how to manage his own temperature. A normal person couldn''t pull something like this off, but someone that had to juggle his own temperatures daily had the skill to do it. Eventually, the blizzard''s Ice Mana had been used up. After all, it couldn''t cool everything infinitely, and Shang had exhausted it. And in exchange, Shang''s sword had been filled to the absolute brim with Ice Mana. The Wind Adept looked with shock at Shang, who was only a couple of meters in front of him.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. Shang lifted his sword. SHING! Suddenly, the Wind Adept disappeared as he spoke a short word very quickly. The Wind Adept appeared around 100 meters away and copsed to his knees, clutching his head. He had just overdraft his Mana by unleashing a Mana Step. Even his Focus fell to the ground beside him since the Wind Adept didn''t even have the basic Mana to keep it active. BOOOM! The Wind Adept heard the distant explosion of arge amount of Ice Mana hitting something, and his heart nearly stopped. He had nearly died just now! Fuck this mission! The Wind Adept quickly turned to the Ice Adept. "We have to- " But he stopped as his eyes widened in shock. The Ice Adept was enclosed in a huge cube of ice! What?! Well, Shang hadn''t intended to use that attack on the Wind Adept, to begin with. While fighting against a group, the best thing to do was to suddenly change one''s target to surprise them. The Ice Adept had been ready to attack Shang, but when the wave of Ice Mana suddenly flew towards her, she couldn''t even react. Luckily, her Mana Shield held, and she managed to survive. Yet, there was a thick sheet of ice surrounding her, and she would need to get out of it before rejoining the fight. The Wind Adept saw this, and he quickly nced at Shang, who was still around 80 meters away. "Fuck that!¡¯ the Wind Adept thought. Then, the Wind Adept quickly took out a talisman. This was a Wind Explosion Talisman, and, as the name suggested, it created a gigantic explosion of wind. It pushed everything around it over a hundred meters away. It was a very expensive tool for escaping. The Wind Adept had seen Shang''s speed, and he knew that Shang wouldn''t be even nearly fast enough to reach him. Shang would need to travel 80 meters in less than 0.5 seconds. Only the absolute fastest Peak Commander Stage warriors could achieve something like that. When Shang saw the emblem, a small smirk appeared on his face. "Ishah!" SHING! The eyes of the Wind Adept widened in disbelief. From her frozen tomb, the Ice Adept looked at what had happened in absolute horror. Time seemingly froze. What had she just seen?! Between where Shang had just been, and the Wind Adept appeared a long crevice in the ground, almost like something big had been dragged through it! Ack gleam sparkled around the Wind Adept''s body, showing that something big and ck had just passed him. And past the Wind Adept stood Shang, his Sword positioned like it was at the end of a swing. BOOM! Snow and wind exploded out from the crevice, and the Wind Adept''s body blew apart into several pieces. At that moment, the Ice Adept realized what had happened with terror. "He used Mana Step!" Chapter 288 Chapter 288 The Ice Adept only looked in shock at Shang. ¡®But how?! Why?! Warriors have nearly no Mana, and they also need their Mana to unleash their own techniques! Spells use a large amount of Mana, and warriors don''t have that much! By using Mana Step, he has essentially cleared his entire body of Mana! There''s a reason why warriors don''t use Mana Step! It''s stupid!¡¯ She was right. If a warrior used Mana Step, they would be emptied of Mana, and they would most likely copse with a severe headache due to the overdraft, just like the Wind Adept. And sure enough, Shang''s head felt like it was about to split apart.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Luckily, Shang''s incredible resistance to pain allowed him to stay clear-headed and focused. Shang quickly grabbed two of the pieces of the Wind Adept''s corpse and threw them into his Space Ring. But that was just a ruse. Shang had acted like he wanted to keep the corpse as evidence, but what he had actually done was absorb a huge part of the remaining life energy from the corpse without creating any suspicion. Shang''s body recovered mostly, but the Wind Adept simply hadn''t had much life energy, to begin with. His body was pathetically weak. ¡®| have to run!¡¯ the Ice Adept thought in horror as she readied several Spells. Originally, she wanted to absorb the ice around her since that wouldn''t cost any Mana, but she didn''t have the luxury anymore. BANG! At that moment, Shang jumped into the air, and his feet exploded with ice, giving him a lot of height. BANG! Then, up in the sky, Shang''s entire body exploded with ice, and he shot into the distance like an icy meteor. In the air, Shang''s left arm was on his sword, and his sword turned redder by the second. At the same time, a shower of blood shot out of the icy meteor in the sky, creating a red rain. Abitter, the sword began to burn. Shang''s body was leaving behind icy mist due to its insanely low temperature. At this moment, themander was evading another w from the Ice Demon by jumping back. He had heard several explosions in the distance, but he couldn''t afford to look away. One moment of carelessness and the Ice Demon would kill him. But he also wasn''t very afraid of a sudden surprise attack. Not only was Shang fighting two Peak Adepts, but themander would also hear him if he suddenly approached. Themandernded as he readied a counterattack. DING! Themander''s eyes opened widely, and then... His eyes rolled into the back of his head. A bloodied, icy meteor had arrived behind themander''s head, and the t side of a huge burning sword had just hit the back of his head, cracking his skull. Themander could hear if someone approached on foot, but the only sign of Shang''s approach had been some distant explosions, of which there had been many in thest couple of seconds. Shang''s flying body pushed over themander, and hended in front of him, his sword above him. The Ice Demon showed its terrifying teeth and jumped towards Shang. And Shang shed down with his sword. BOOOOOOM! Aterrifying wave of fire left Shang''s sword and hit the Ice Demon on the head, releasing a terrifying explosion. The Ice Demon screeched in pain as it fell over, its remaining foreleg furiously rubbing its head. Its face had melted, burying its eyes, nostrils, and mouth. BANG! The Ice Demon couldn''t possibly defend itself in this state, and Shang quickly killed it by burying his sword in its head. Even with his power, Shang wasn''t powerful enough topletely cut through the head. Shang had known that an Initial Commander Stage beast was very powerful, which was why he had injured himself to the most extreme degree to push the Fire Mana inside his sword to the top. Shang had put his absolute everything into this attack, but the Ice Demon had still survived, and one had to remember that it was a beast with an Ice Affinity. Fire attacks were very damaging to it. If it hadn''t been so exhausted and careless after fighting so long, this battle wouldn''t have ended like this. Shang quickly grabbed the corpse, absorbed a huge chunk of life energy, and threw it into his Space Ring. Shang''s body recovered in an instant. BANG! Shang''s body exploded with ice again, and he shot at the Ice Adept, who was still trying to get rid of the ice around her. As more time passed, the Ice Adept felt more and more terror. This guy had dealt with two Commander Stage beings in less than five seconds! She had believed that she had more time, but that wasn''t the case. BOOOM! The ice exploded around her and flew into the distance. Then, she quickly readied everything she needed to run away. But she stopped. Shang had appeared just a couple of meters in front of her, and he was looking deep into her eyes. Her mind froze, and she felt like she couldn''t move. For a second, none of the two moved. The Ice Adept waited for her death, but Shang didn''t move. "You don''t need to die," Shang said. The Ice Adept''s mind froze. What?! "The punishment for being a Cleaner isn''t death. You only have to give up all your valuables and serve in Duke Whirlwind''s army for a decade,¡± Shang said. "You are only doing your job, and I''m more interested in themissioner of the mission than you," Shang said. The Ice Adept only looked with shock at Shang. ¡°Or you can try to flee and die," Shang said coldly. "Your choice." The Ice Adept''s mind went wild. Three seconds passed. "| surrender," the Ice Adept said with a sigh. Shang extended his hand like he wanted something. The Ice Adept gritted her teeth, and her Focusnded on Shang''s hand. Her connection to her Focus was cut, and the Focus was put into Shang''s Space Ring. "Follow me," Shang said as he walked to the unconsciousmander. The Ice Adept''s body shook, but she followed behind Shang until they arrived. Shang put his right foot on themander''s back. He did this to keep his life energy low so that he wouldn''t wake up. If the commander''s life energy decided to go to his head, Shang would redirect it into his body to keep him unconscious. Then, Shang took out a Communication Crystal. "Oh, hey, Shang. Do you need something?" the voice of Duke Whirlwind came from the Communication Crystal. ¡°Two dead Cleaners, one living cleaner that is willing to receive punishment, and an unconscious Initial Commander Stage traitor that most likely works for Duke Mithril," Shang said. "I need an Inquisitor." Duke Whirlwind remained silent for a while. That was... a lot. Duke Whirlwind knew that Shang was very powerful, but that was a bit much, wasn''t it? ¡®I''m d | decided to invest so much into him!" Duke Whirlwind thought with a grin. "| will send one right away. It should take about five minutes for them to arrive. Good job, Shang!" Duke Whirlwind said with a happy and praising voice. "Thanks," Shang said before putting the Communication Crystal away. And then, the Ice Adept and Shang waited in silence. Chapter 289 Chapter 289 Shang had to wait for about three minutes for the Inquisitor to arrive. During that time, Shang collected all the valuables and stored them inside his world. By now, Shang only needed about one second for a roundtrip to his world and back, making it easier to store stuff but still impossible to use during battle. The Inquisitor was a grey-haired woman who looked to be in her early thirties. Of course, the appearances of powerful Mages and warriors were deceiving. She was probably nearly a hundred years old. Shang showed the emblem he had received from Duke Whirlwind to her, and she nodded. Then, she nced at the man on the ground and the Ice Adept waiting beside Shang. "She''s the Cleaner that surrendered," Shang said, gesturing to the Ice Adept. "He''s the suspected traitor from Duke Mithril''s side." The Inquisitor looked at the Ice Adept. "Approach," shemanded. The Ice Adept walked forward with fear on her face. ¡°By surrendering and consenting to a Mind Read, you get the opportunity to turn your life around," the Inquisitor stated neutrally. "Ten years of working for Duke Whirlwind will not only be beneficial to you, but you will also make powerful connections."Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. "The path of a Cleaner allows you to reach the True Mage Realm very quickly, but the Cleaning Service doesn''t have the necessary connections and resources to cultivate a powerful True Mage." What the Inquisitor said sounded good, but the Ice Adept knew that it couldn''t be that easy. After all, she would probably be sent to the most dangerous regions, which were outside Duke Whirlwind''s territory. She would probably end up in the frontlines. There was over a 70% chance of her death over the next decade. Sadly, she had no other option. It was already toote. "| consent," she said. The Inquisitor nodded and put her hand on the Ice Adept''s head. "Don''t resist." The Ice Adept closed her eyes. After that, the Ice Adept stopped moving as the Inquisitor moved through her memories. It took a couple of minutes for her to finish, but eventually, both of them opened their eyes again. "We have gained some valuable insight into the workings of the Cleaning Service," the Inquisitor said. The Ice Adept didn''t answer. After that, the Inquisitor stepped over to the unconsciousmander and put her hand on his cracked head. But this time, she stopped looking after only three seconds and turned to Shang. "There is no barrier," she said. Shang''s eyes widened in shock. No barrier?! That couldn''t be! A barrier was a Magic Circle that hid certain memories from being read. It was very expensive and difficult to get through these barriers, and it even became impossible if a High Mage created these barriers personally. Usually, Duke Mithril''s traitors all had powerful barriers in their minds that required millions of gold to unlock. This increased the cost by so much that Duke Whirlwind couldn''t afford to unlock every single one, and he had to decide which ones he wanted to ess. Even more, none of these people had absolute confirmation that it was Duke Mithril pulling the strings. Nearly all of them only received orders from one of their superiors, who got orders from their superiors, and they only knew that someone inside the Volcano Wyrm Zone was giving these orders. However, they never knew who it was specifically. The fact that themander didn''t have a barrier basically meant that he wasn''t a traitor. "That can''t be," Shang said. "He attacked me as soon as he got the chance. She can confirm the event." Shang pointed at the Ice Adept. "| know," the Inquisitor said. "| read her memories. | saw it. But that doesn''t change the fact that he does not have a barrier inside his mind." "However," the Inquisitor continued. "Barrier or not, he has tried to kill a soldier under him without going through the proper channels and without a valid reason. Even if he doesn''t work for the enemy, he still counts as a traitor.¡± After that, the Inquisitor put her hand on themander''s head again and began to read his memories. After around ten minutes, she was done. This warrior obviously had more memories to go through than the Ice Adept. "So?" Shang asked, looking at the Inquisitor. "Desperation and greed," the Inquisitor said. Shang remained silent, looking at the Inquisitor. ¡°He had grand dreams about bing as powerful as the Dean of the Warrior''s Academy. Sadly, his progress slowed down a lot after reaching the Commander Stage. In his mind, the reason for that was hisck of wealth and resources." ¡°For that reason, he epted several missions from the military and has been working for us for around ten years. He made a bit of progress, but nothing too amazing. In his mind, the reason was still hisck of resources. As long as he got better resources, he would ascend and be truly powerful.¡± ¡°And when he saw you, he realized that his chance had arrived," the Inquisitor said to Shang. "There are several open bounties for someone named Zero posted in Duke Mithril''s territories and in underground territories inside our territory." ¡°His n was to attack you on your way back, take your head, and flee to Duke Mithril''s territory to gain the reward." Shang thought about this for a bit. ''So, he isn''t actually directly a traitor, but he would have be one. Ina sense, he is a traitor in training. | could alsopare him to a Pest Cat baby.¡¯ ¡°How much gold am | worth?" Shang asked. The Ice Adept also looked with interest at the Inquisitor. "20 million gold,¡± the Inquisitor answered. "What?!" both Shang and the Ice Adept shouted in shock. Shang looked with surprise at the angered Ice Adept. ¡°| would have only gotten four million gold!" she shouted in anger. ¡®That means that the full price is about five million gold since the Cleaning Service also takes a fee,¡¯ Shang thought. ''Good that | can now put a number to the gold | made the Wilburys lose.¡¯ "20 million is a lot," Shang said. The Inquisitor nodded. "20 million is the total worth of an average Mid True Mage. A Focus with two Amplifiers costs around 15 million, and the remaining five million are for everything else." Shang knew that Amplifiers were the circlets that floated around the Foci. A Focus with two Amplifiers only became more common amongst Mid True Mages, but a couple of extremely talented and powerful True Mages also got them earlier. ¡®| severely doubt that the Wilburys would be willing to create a bounty of 20 million gold. The baroness, the more powerful of the two, is at the Early True Mage Realm, and she isn''t one of those supremely talented True Mages. All of her belongings probably only reach around ten to fifteen million gold, which would include all her equipment, her house, and her resources." "Her husband probably also has a couple of million, but he probably has less than her. Maybe, if they absolutely sold everything they owned and walked over to the Cleaning Service naked, they might be able to scrape that together, but | severely doubt that they would do that.¡¯ ¡®They probably spent around 500 thousand on the first Cleaner and another five million on the second one. That should be all of their liquid funds." ¡®Which means that | am safe from them from now on. After all, | doubt that they are willing to sell their house and equipment to hire a True Mage Cleaner.¡¯ Then, Shang furrowed his brows. ¡®But those 20 million gold are worrisome. | can only think of two people with that kind of money that have a reason to deal with me. ¡®Duke Mithril and Jera Orvis, One''s father.¡¯ Shang scratched his chin in thought. ¡®The bounty is set for Zero, not Shang. However, that doesn''t mean that they don''t know that I''m Zero." ¡®Back then, they still had no idea who Zero was, but new information hase to light that allowed them to connect my two identities." ¡®The meeting with King Skythunder.'' ¡®Back then, | defeated that one officer while being two levels below him, which should be impossible. But with the unveiling of the Procedure, it became possible, leaving only five candidates." ¡®The five that had been in front of King Skythunder.¡¯ Shang frowned. ¡®And | am by far the best fit for Zero.¡¯ Shang sighed. ¡®Great. | got rid of the Wilburys, and now | got Duke Mithril on my ass.¡¯ Chapter 290 Chapter 290 The Inquisitor put a chain around themander''s body and woke him up. Themander was confused for a second, but he quickly remembered where he was. He jumped up with all of his power and tried to break the chain, but after the Inquisitor pulled lightly on it, themander fell powerlessly to the ground. When themander noticed the Inquisitor, his face became white, and his world broke down. He knew that he was in deep trouble. "There is no information regarding who requested the mission or who put the bounty on your head," the Inquisitor said to Shang. Shang only nodded without answering. He had expected that. "The only thing | could find out was that the mission was put up inside the Empress Cobra Zone, but that doesn''t exactly narrow it down," the Inquisitor said. Shang already knew that it was the Wilburys. "Thank you," Shang answered absentmindedly. The Inquisitor nodded and left with the Ice Adept and themander. Shang remained on this spot for a bit longer, lost in thought, but a couple of minutester, Shang decided to return to the Storm Eagle Zone. ¡®The matter with the Wilburys is over for now, but | have to be careful of where | go. Zero''s bounty isn''t openly disyed everywhere, and not everyone knows that | am Zero, but there might still be several people interested in me.¡¯ ¡®Even if only 1% of people are interested in my head, that would still be over ten True Mages in Duke Whirlwind''s territory. ¡®At least | don''t have to hide inside Warrior''s Paradise anymore. Warriors below the Commander Stage and nearly all Adepts are no longer a danger to me. The locations of warriors at the Commander Stage and True Mages are tracked, and as long as they don''t want to be hunted by absolutely everyone, they won''t make a move." ¡®After all, on the surface, the different Dukes still have to act like they are one unit. If a True Mage were to kill me and escape, their identity would be revealed within the day, and with their identity revealed, even Duke Mithril has toply with finding them.¡¯ "Sure, he could hide them, but if it gets out that he is hiding someone that killed a weaker warrior without permission, he will have to pay a hefty fine. Most likely, he would just hand the person over, and the person definitely knows that.¡¯ ¡®But there are always ways around that. However, the further away | am from Duke Mithril''s territory, the harder it gets for them to kill me." Shang sighed. ¡®Even more, teacher said that as soon as | win against the first being at the Commander Stage, his protection ends. | now count as someone with the power of someone at the Commander Stage, and dealing with these threats is now my responsibility.¡¯ ¡®| guess | have to continue concentrating on my power for now. The stronger | am, the better." ¡®And now, | can also properly train against beasts. | hadn''t had a true, direct threat to my life in over two years, and | feel my progress slowing.¡¯ Shang had noticed that his progress was slowing, and he also found the reason. Lack of danger. Or, more precisely,ck of real-world experience. A doctor on Earth could theoretically learn everything there is to know about the human body, but without any actual experience, they wouldn''t be able to be a great surgeon. In order to get better as a surgeon, eventually, the doctor needed to operate on a patient. There was simply no way around it. The same was true for Shang. Shang could train his mastery over Mana, train his Affinity, and train his techniques, but hecked the critical feedback he got during an actual fight. Shang needed to put things into practice and adapt if he wanted to grow as quickly as he had in the past. And for that, he needed powerful opponents. The Cleaner had stopped Shang from gaining this experience for thest two years, but now, Shang was finally free to search for powerful beasts. The fight earlier hadn''t been truly dangerous. After all, Shang still had a couple of weapons he hadn''t used yet. Sure, if the three Adepts had been at their peak conditions and only had to focus on Shang, this fight would have been very dangerous.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. But they hadn''t. They had already been exhausted and distracted when the fight started. The same thing was true for the Commander Stage beast. ¡®Luckily, now, | can fight an actual Initial Commander Stage beast,¡¯ Shang thought with a gleam in his eyes. "Maybe, | can finally learn to condense my Domain. Then, | can advance to the Initial Commander Stage.¡¯ ¡®But | should advance to the Peak General Stage first. | wanted to be at the Late General Stage for this fight since | wanted to gain some actual practice, which | got, to some degree.¡¯ "My Battle-Strength is also way more powerful than | had anticipated. | thought that the average Adept would be about equal to my current power, but they obviously are not." "Remaining at the Late General Stage is more useless than useful for now.¡¯ ¡®| think | should also strengthen Sword even more." Shang nodded as he made his n. ¡®First, strengthen Sword." "Second, Peak General Stage.¡¯ ¡®Third, go outside and battle Initial or Early Commander Stage beasts until | condense my Domain.¡¯ ¡®Lastly, advance to the Commander Stage.¡¯ ¡®That should work." With that thought, Shang traveled back to the Storm Eagle Zone. With his current power, it only took about three hours to get there. When Shang was younger, he loved the feeling of the wind hitting his face while running, but this sensation had long be normal to him. Shang was running as fast as a car on the highway, but he didn''t feel it to be special anymore. When Shang had arrived at Warrior''s Paradise for the first time, he had looked at giants. The teachers were so incredibly powerful. But now, Shang''s power was closing in on the teachers. And he would soon reach their level. As soon as Shang got back, he asked his teacher for materials to upgrade Sword, which he promptly received. And then, Shang focused on strengthening his body. This time, Shang only needed about ten months to advance a level. Shang had just be 21, and as celebration, he left Warrior''s Paradise to hunt some beasts. It was time to test his power! Chapter 291 Chapter 291 Shang entered the eastern wall in the morning. For thest ten months, he had focused on increasing the power of his body, and he was now at the Peak General Stage. Today, he would test his power against an Early Commander Stage beast. At least, that was the n.This is from N?velDrama.Org. At the moment, Shang''s body was just as powerful as the body of an Early Commander Stage warrior. In a way, by fighting an Early Commander Stage warrior, Shang was not jumping any levels. However, the physical powers of beasts had be far more powerful than back when Shang had only been at the Early or Initial General Stage. There wasn''t a single warrior in the world that could defeat a Commander Stage beast alone while being at the same level. Shang quickly purchased a couple of talismans and jumped down the wall. Even though Shang had gotten used to running very fast, flying was still something new to him, and he enjoyed the solitude in the air. Acouple of minutester, Shangnded near the entrance to the Caves. It was the same one he had used three years ago with Astor, Sarah, and Elver. Then, Shang sighed. ¡®| haven''t thought about them in forever. Originally, | wanted to make some friends, but then this entire Wilbury thing started. | was so focused on bing more powerful that | didn''t even talk to them once." "Friends, huh?'' Shang thought as he looked at the sky. ¡®I think | want friends. I''ve gotten used to the loneliness, but | still wonder from time to time how it would be to have a friend in this world." ¡®But what am | supposed to do with them? I''m being targeted by people way more powerful than me. Thest time it happened, the three of them also nearly died.¡¯ ¡®On top of that, what if the enemy wants to use them as hostages? | won''t walk into an obvious trap, which means that my hypothetical friend will just lose their life for nothing.¡¯ ¡®I guess | should put this entire friend thing on hold.¡¯ Shang jumped into the Caves. BANG! Shangnded on the ground without any issues. This time, not even his joints hurt. After looking around for a bit, Shang charged down one of the tunnels. The beasts around this ce weren''t a danger to him. At the first intersection, Shang went down, deeper into the Caves. Just like Sarah, Shang had purchased a map for the Caves, which basically cost him nothing due to his substantial wealth. Shang had already sold four Foci with one Amplifier each, which came to a total of four million gold. Together with all the other gold he had earned, Shang had the worth of a Mid Commander Stage warrior. Not everyone had the luxury of having several Adeptse after them. Killing Mages was far more profitable than killing warriors or beasts. Shang saw a couple of General Stage beasts while passing through the Caves. He saw some spiders, pangolins, moles, and even a centipede. Of course, none of them were interested in attacking Shang. He was running too fast, and he was giving off quite a strong feeling of danger. Shang came to arge hole in the ground that had several tunnels connected to it. The hole was nearly an entire kilometer deep. From time to time, Shang could see beasts leave one tunnel and go to a different one. In a way, this tunnel was quite busy. After a running start, Shang jumped off the edge and fell down the hole. As he was falling, Shang broke one of the talismans he had purchased. A secondter, Shang''s body vanished and was seemingly reced by some green wind. This talisman was specifically designed to allow someone to descend this hole without any beasts annoying them. About a minuteter, Shang silently and lightlynded on the ground, and his body reappeared. He looked around for a bit and walked down one of the tunnels. By now, his mind had reached the power of a Peak Apprentice, allowing Shang to memorize the entire map he had bought. After a couple of minutes, Shang took a left, which led him further down. Then he took a right, went straight, took another left, and eventually, he arrived at a peculiar tunnel. This tunnel was quite steep but not steep enough to fall downpletely. This specific tunnel was called the "Commander Slide". It was named as such because, after arriving at the slide''s end, one would enter the part of the Caves where Commander Stage beasts lived. The Caves were far better than the Canyon for a new team of Commander Stage warriors. In the Caves, the deeper one went, the stronger the beasts. This meant that, as long as one remained at the upper parts of the Commander Stage part of the Caves, one wouldn''t meet Mid, Late, or Peak Commander Stage beasts. In the Canyon, the Commander Stage beasts were all mixed. One could meet an Initial Commander Stage beast and then meet a Peak Commander Stage beast just a hundred meters further. Something like this wouldn''t happen here. Luckily, this slide was also only very rarely used by beasts. Commander Stage beasts had no reason to ascend the slide, and General Stage beasts had no reason to descend it unless they had just reached the Commander Stage. Shang jumped onto the hard slide and slid down with his feet. The slide wasn''t as even and smooth as the other parts of the tunnel, making it rather dangerous. SSHHH! Some ice appeared on Shang''s feet, which smoothened the ground below him, allowing him to slide down without any issues. Just a couple of secondster, Shang''s body had reached quite a lot of speed. ¡®This is probably as fast as | have gone with the sled wagon back then,¡¯ Shang thought. Abitter, a stone appeared in Shang''s way. Shang jumped over the stone without any issues and lightlynded on the slide again. "Sure enough, without a Domain, sliding down here is quite dangerous. Fortunately, my Affinity is a bit different.¡¯ If someone lost control over their Affinity while sliding down, they might hit one of the very hard stones with their head or back. In a way, this slide acted just like the entrance to the Caves themselves. It was a filter for people that were too weak. The slide was quite long, and Shang continued sliding for nearly five minutes. ¡®| have no idea how deep down | am right now,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®I''m at least several kilometers deep in the ground.¡¯ After sliding past a corner, Shang saw something, and he lifted an eyebrow. ¡®Really? An Initial Commander Stage Crack Spider is hunting here?" Acouple hundred meters to Shang''s front, he could feel the gigantic Crack Spider. By now, Shang''s Darkness Vision had be even better, and it was no issue for him to feel everything clearly for a couple hundred meters as long as there was enough Darkness Mana around. The Crack Spider was nearly twenty meters wide and long, and it was sitting on the ceiling. It obviously was there to catch any newly advanced Commander Stage beasts. Chapter 292 Chapter 292 Shang saw the Crack Spider and readied his sword. BANG! Shang shot forward after unleashing an Ice st. The spider quickly noticed that Shang was attacking it. It didn''t matter that Shang moved quietly in the air. The spider only looked in one direction, and when something came from there, it would notice. BANG! Several spires came out of the ceiling around the Crack Spider, blocking Shang''s approach. But Shang didn''t stop. BOOOOM! Shang kicked the stone, sting it apart. Of course, his leg also broke into pieces. The spider behind the wall lost its bnce. Shang''s body wasn''t nearly as powerful as its body, but Shang had gone over 300 kph just now, and there was a lot of force behind his attack. Several of the spider''s legs reared back, and it barely kept itself on the ceiling with its remaining legs. CRK! CRK! However, having such a huge amount of weight hanging from only so few points was very strenuous for the ceiling, making it crack in many ces.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. BOOOM! Shang''s other leg kicked the ceiling. If he continued forward, he would jump right into the spider''s teeth. CRACK! The ceiling above Shang cracked, and Shang was flung towards the ground thanks to his kick. However, the Crack Spider fell along with him. The Crack Spider quickly realigned its body so that it wouldn''tnd on its back but on its leg. BANG! An Ice st left Shang''s left hand, and he shot at the ceiling again. BANG! Shang violentlynded on the ceiling of the slide, the stone cracking beneath his feet. His body even got buried up to his waist. At this moment, time seemingly stood still. The Crack Spider was falling to the ground with its legs first, and Shang''s body was stuck in the ceiling. From Shang''s perspective, he was looking up, right at the spider''s back with shining eyes. BOOOM! The stone around Shang exploded as Shang released a powerful Fire st from his healed legs. Shang''s speed overtook the spider''s falling speed by many times. CRK! BANG! Shang''s sword pierced through the middle of the spider''s back, and it came out of the front. Ascreeching noise came from the spider. BOOOOM! The spider violently hit the ground. Its legs were iling around in panic, but its body was nailed to the ground by the humongous swording out of the bottom of its thorax. Shang stood on top of the spider, and his hands touched its body. Darkness Absorb. The spider tried to flee in panic, but it could only watch helplessly as all its life energy left its body. But then, the absorption suddenly stopped. On top of the spider, Shang''s body had swollen a lot, and he looked like he was ready to explode. ¡®Too much life energy,¡¯ he thought. The spider was still alive, but it had been weakened severely. Shang grabbed his sword and moved it through the weakened and frail body, cutting its head in two. The spider very quickly died after that. Shang put his sword away again. SSSSHH! Shang heard and felt the earth moving, and he looked down. The corpse below him was starting to slide down the steep slope. For a second, Shang wasn''t sure if he should put the corpse away or not. ¡®Kind of reminds me of that time | rode the sled wagon,¡¯ Shang thought as he saw the corpse below him elerate more and more. In the end, Shang decided to leave the corpse outside. Why not ride on the spider? Shang decided to remain standing on the spider since he didn''t want to suddenly be flung off if the spider hit something. But he wouldn''t continue sliding for long. Just a minuteter, Shang saw a hill of sand and stone at the end of the slide. Shang went to the back of the corpse and jumped off with all his power. BANG! The corpse elerated even more as Shang''s speed slowed down by a lot. BOOOOM! The corpse hit the hill of sand and stone, scattering debris over the entire cave. Two secondster, Shang loudlynded on top of the spider''s corpse again. This time, his joints cracked, but that wasn''t really an issue. Afternding, he looked around the cave. It was rather big. It was probably around 200 meters high and a hundred meters wide. The hill made of stone and sand was nearly as high as the entire cave. ¡®| guess this is all the sand and stone that slides down the slope,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked below him. Then, Shang looked at the hole he hade out of. The hole was at the ceiling of the cave, and Shang could see the slide clearer from here. ¡®It looks far steeper than when | looked down,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I think that slide was on an angle of around 60¡ã to 70¡ã. Not sure if I can call that a slide." Shang looked back to the cave. ''But that doesn''t matter. | have arrived at my destination, and that''s all that counts.¡¯ Shang put the corpse of the spider into his inner world and slid down the small mountain of sand and stone. ¡®| should be more careful from now on. | can deal with Initial Commander Stage beasts without a problem, but if an Early Commander Stage beast ambushes me, | might get into trouble.¡¯ Shang checked the map he had remembered. ''I should be at the border between the Storm Eagle Zone and the Empress Cobra Zone. ording to the map, this ce is about six kilometers beneath the surface.¡¯ As Shang thought about this, he also realized something else. He looked at his left arm and moved it up and down a bit. Then, he slightly crouched and stood up again. ¡®It''s very subtle, but | think | feel heavier,¡¯ Shang thought. ''Is this the effect of arge amount of Earth Mana?" Shang couldn''t feel Earth Mana, but he knew that he was practically bathing in it. Earth Mana was very heavy and traveled down, just like water. Additionally, the more earth there was around someone, the denser the Earth Mana in the surroundings. ¡®| have read that Earth Mana is rted to gravity. Mages that use Earth Mana can''t control this gravity aspect, but it doesn''t change the fact that Earth Mana has a slight effect on gravity." ¡®| mean, it makes sense. On Earth, the more mass, the stronger the gravity. Earth Mana is known for being very heavy and having the ability to make stuff heavier. In a sense, it should have some connection to the force of gravity.¡¯ ¡®Not sure if a depth of six kilometers would make a noticeable difference in terms of gravity on Earth, but | can definitely feel it here, even if it is very subtle. | guess the Earth Mana has an amplifying effect on gravity.¡¯ Then, Shang looked forward, and he saw a rather big tunnel, but when he saw it, he raised an eyebrow. ¡®The tunnel isn''t smooth and circr,¡¯ he thought. ¡®It looks more like a natural cave. One | would find on Earth.¡¯ Shang walked up to one of the walls and touched them with furrowed brows. ¡®Yet, the walls are very hard. | would probably need to strike it with my sword with all of my power if | wanted to damage it.¡¯ ¡®Is that one of the reasons why beasts keep going further down? | mean, sure, the main reason is that they are Earth Affinity beasts and that the Earth Mana bes more and more abundant, but what if the beasts also don''t want to identally bury themselves while fighting?¡¯ ¡®Could be. Don''t know." Shang looked at the dark tunnel for a bit more. And then, he walked forward, his sword ready. He had finally arrived at a ce that was dangerous to the current him. Chapter 293 Chapter 293 Shang traveled through the tunnel at a slow pace. Inparison to the upper Caves, this ce was far quieter since there were far fewer beasts running around. Just like with warriors and Mages, the further one traversed on the path to power, the fewer beings on the same level one would find. There were probably over ten times as many General Stage beasts than Commander Stage beasts. So, while the upper Caves had the asional beast running around, the deeper Caves felt empty. But this couldn''t be avoided. In order to advance on the path to power, one was required to consume more and more resources. Every Commander Stage beast had probably killed hundreds of other beasts in their lives.This is from N?velDrama.Org. Shang didn''t find any other beast for several minutes, even with the help of his Darkness Vision. But after 30 minutes, Shang finally felt something of interest. However, it wasn''t a beast. Shang looked towards the north with interest. He wasn''t sure what he was feeling, but this feeling felt strange. ¡®Am | imagining things?¡¯ Shang thought as he looked to the north. ''I can''t see anything in my Darkness Vision, but | somehow feel like | should go to the north.¡¯ For a while, Shang wasn''t sure if this feeling was real or not. ¡®| should investigate. If | get closer and the feeling is real, it should be stronger.¡¯ Shang walked down one of the northern paths and consulted his map again when he came to an intersection. For a couple of minutes, Shang chose paths that led further to the north, but it wasn''t that easy to navigate, even with a map. Shang went a bit deeper into the Caves, but he didn''t descend too much. After all, he didn''t want to meet Mid Commander Stage beasts. "| can feel ore," Sword suddenly said. Sword very rarely spoke, and Shang looked at it in surprise. "What kind of ore?" ¡°Entropy Ore,¡± Sword answered. "It is the same feeling as back when we were in front of the Old King''s Trial, but this time, the feeling is iparably stronger." ¡°Does the feelinge from the north?" Shang asked. "Yes," Sword said. Shang furrowed his brows. ¡®Weird, | couldn''t feel the ore in the Old King''s Trial. As far as | know, | can only-'' And then, Shang''s eyes narrowed. ¡®Could it be?" Shang remembered thest Day of Chaos he had participated in. Back then, Shang had felt very simr to now. During thest Day of Chaos, Shang had felt the Abomination in the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. Shang looked to the north. ¡®Am | feeling an Abomination? But how? Abominations are only supposed to appear during the Day of Chaos, and that is still about two months away." ¡®Even more, I''m not the only one hunting down here. If there were an Abomination here, the other warriors and Mages would have already found it.¡¯ Nevertheless, Shang decided to investigate. Even if there were no Abomination, the ore would still be useful. Shang continued traveling to the north, consulting his map several times. When Shang entered a particr tunnel, he noticed something on the map that he hadn''t noticed before. ¡®The Calm Area?¡¯ Shang thought. The area where Shang had just entered was colored in a slight blue hue. The blue hue stretched for about five kilometers and was round. This area was called the Calm Area, and there was a short note beside the name. ¡®Nearly no beasts,¡¯ Shang read. At that point, Shang realized why there were so few beasts. Sure, there were fewer Commander Stage beasts, but traveling 30 minutes without seeing one was still a bit weird. Additionally, even though Shang had traveled for 30 minutes, he wasn''t walking very fast, and he was walking in circles at different depths. He hadn''t been inside the Calm Zone until now, but he had been rather close to it. ¡®Beasts can feel Abominations. Usually, they attack them when they see them, but if an Abomination is far above their level, they probably avoid it,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®| feel an Abomination from the north, and the center of the Calm Area also happens to be to the north?¡¯ Shang thought with furrowed brows. ''This doesn''t seem like a coincidence.¡¯ Shang continued walking to the north in as straight of a line as possible. He didn''t meet any beasts. Eventually, Shang reached a dead end and had to go around it. Shang traveled to the northeast for about two kilometers before he stopped. "Okay, the direction has definitely changed,¡¯ Shang thought. Right now, Shang was to the east of the center of the Calm Area. And where did the feelinge from? The west. At that point, Shang decided to grab one of the many pieces of coal and took out his map. Shang closed his eyes and focused on the feeling. Then, he drew a straight line through the entire Calm Zone on the map ording to his feeling. After that, Shang went to the southwest again. Every kilometer, Shang drew another line ording to his feeling. Lastly, he traveled to the western side of the Calm Zone. And then, Shang stopped and looked at the map. Five ck lines of different directions went through the entire Calm Zone... And all five lines met at the same spot. However, the point where they met was in the middle of nowhere. There were simply no tunnels or caves in that area. Shang took out the next map, the one for the even deeper Caves. He put both maps above each other andpared them. Shang''s eyebrows rose when he saw the maps. ¡®The upper and lower areas in the Commander Stage part of the Caves both have an about two-kilometer-wide circle with no caves." ¡®All the caves avoid this circle, and in the middle of that circle should be my target.¡¯ One had to remember that the Caves were over a hundred kilometers wide. A two-kilometer-wide circle wasn''t very noticeable on a map covering such a huge area. Lastly, Shang took out the map for the General Stage area of the Caves. However, this time, there was no circle. The General Stage area waspletely normal. ¡®This means that this entire thing only starts at about this depth, which should be six to seven kilometers deep." By now, Shang was certain that there was something here, but he also realized several other things. ¡®Such a strange area as the Calm Area obviously didn''t go unnoticed,¡¯ he thought as he scratched his chin, looking at the map. ¡®The Mages definitely thoroughly researched and analyzed this area, and they definitely noticed this empty circle.¡¯ ¡®| refuse to believe that they didn''t try to dig to that location.¡¯ ¡®Yet, the maps say nothing about this ce. If there is something threatening this ce, the maps would say so.¡¯ Shang looked more closely at the map. ¡®If | were a team of researchers, | would get to the closest location to the center and dig from there, which would be... there!¡¯ Shang noticed one small cave that ended in a dead-end, pointing at the circle. It was to the southeast of the circle, and it was around another 500 meters further down, which should still be safe for Shang. ¡®Let''s check it out.¡¯ Chapter 294 Chapter 294 About 20 minutester, Shang reached the tunnel and entered it. As he walked further, he noticed something. ''My Darkness Vision stops at a certain point, but this is somehow different. Usually, | can feel the Darkness Mana stop at the walls and remain near them, but this time, it feels like the Darkness Mana is being swallowed by something." ¡®It''s almost like it simply stops existing at some point. It''s like being on a boat and looking at a waterfall. The river simply seems to vanish at that point.¡¯ Some secondster, Shang noticed that the tunnel was getting wider, contradicting the map. The map showed a natural dead- end, but instead of bing narrower, the tunnel widened. Eventually, Shang could see the end of the tunnel. The tunnel had widened to a width and height of over a hundred meters, but everything stopped at the same point. Shang could see in the dark, but he felt like he couldn''t see the thing at the end of the tunnel. However, just as expected, the feeling Shang was feeling was bing more intense. Eventually, Shang stopped just a meter away from the end of the tunnel. In front of him, he could only see ck. Shang extended his hand. And he felt a wall. The wall was cold to the touch, but it wasn''t freezing. "Strange. This wall is so ck that | can''t even see it,¡¯ Shang thought as he rubbed his hand on the wall. "That''s the ore," Sword said. Shang looked at Sword with furrowed brows. "What is?" "The wall," Sword said. Shang''s eyes widened in shock, and he looked at the wall. "You''re saying that this gigantic wall is all made up of Entropy Ore?!" he asked. "Correct," Sword answered. Shang could barely wrap his mind around this fact. So, the two-kilometer wide and however-many-kilometer high circle was entirely made up of Entropy Ore?! How much ore was that?! At that point, Shang noticed something. There was a tiny cut in the immactely t and smooth wall. Shang''s hand went over, and he could barely feel the cut. Without his Darkness Vision, he would have never found it. ¡®| guess this is where they tried to break through the wall,¡¯ Shang thought. "Sadly, they failed.¡¯ Shang looked at the wall for a while longer. ¡®But how could they? If a team of True Mages failed to get through there, it means that this ore is exceptionally hard and, therefore, quite valuable. Instead of just giving up, they would surely call the Duke, right?" ¡®And the same thing would be true for the Duke, which means that eventually..." Shang looked closer at the cut. ¡®Was this cut left behind by King Skythunder or one of his predecessors?" ¡®That would also exin why nobody marked this spot. If not even the King could get through there, nobody else could.¡¯ ¡°How powerful do you think the ore is?" Shang asked Sword. "| don''t know," Sword answered. "I only know that it is far above my current level." "Can you absorb it?" Shang asked. Sword remained silent for a couple of seconds. "| definitely can''t absorb it permanently, but maybe | can absorb it temporarily and disperse it." Shang scratched his chin. "So, you can absorb a small part, release it in an attack, and then absorb some more?" "It should be possible," Sword answered. "Which means you can create a hole," Shang said. "Maybe," Sword answered. "Want to try?" "Yes." Shang nodded, but he didn''t immediately start digging. Instead, he was thinking about what consequences this action could have. ¡®There''s definitely an Abomination or something simr beyond this wall.¡¯ ¡®What would happen if | made a hole?" ¡®Should | contact Duke Whirlwind or teacher?" For a while, Shang weighed his options. He looked at the wall and back. "They wouldn''t know what''s behind it,¡¯ Shang thought. ''That means they also wouldn''t know if it''s a good idea to dig through this or not.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, if they knew that there might be an Abomination behind it, they may be afraid of me opening it.¡¯ ¡®However,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the ceiling. ¡®If there is an Abomination in there, the Storm Eagle would kill it, right?¡¯ ¡®And even if the Abomination is more powerful than the Storm Eagle, the more powerful humans | have never met would kill it, right?¡¯ Shang felt a bit nervous as he looked at the wall. ¡®But even if that happens, | don''t think I''m in danger. As far as | have seen from meeting that one Abomination, Abominations don''t want to attack me." At this point, Shang thought about the path he wanted to go down. ¡®By opening a hole, | am potentially endangering everyone | know.¡¯ ¡®But at the same time, there might be something in there that could help me with my Affinity.¡¯ For a moment, Shang wasn''t sure what he should do, and he thought about what the people he knew would do if they were in his position. The Dean? He would open it without a second thought. Duke Whirlwind? He might decide against opening it, but there was also a possibility that he might open it. King Skythunder? He would definitely open it. ¡®What about the God?'' Shang thought. At that moment, a scene appeared in Shang''s head. In that scene, a teenager with red hair dug at the wall with a mad grin with his sword. Eventually, Shang took a deep breath. ¡®No matter which path is correct, | think nearly everyone in my stead would decide to open it.¡¯ "High risk, high reward.¡¯ ¡®| just hope this doesn''t endanger everyone above me." ¡°Let''s do it," Shang said. Shang took out Sword and held it to the wall. Asecondter, violent ck mes appeared around Sword, and Shang immediately let go of it, jumping away. The mes had been so powerful that they even injured him. Sword fell to the ground, and Shang looked at his right hand. His right hand hadpletely vanished. For a moment, Shang feared that he had lost it forever, but his warrior''s body quickly recovered it. ¡®Luckily, this isn''t like the bacsh of Entropy.¡¯ "Sorry," Sword answered as it stood up. "Seems like | have to do this one solo." "It''s fine," Shang answered. After that, Sword fell to the ground again, and its tip pointed to the wall. And then, it touched the wall. CRRRRRRR! Sword broke out into violent fire again, and everything around it turned into nothingness. Luckily, it managed to hold itself to the wall by its very tip. Yes, Sword had managed to dig into the wall ever so slightly. The little hole was barely a couple of millimeters deep, but it was there. ¡°Everything okay?" Shang asked as he saw Sword continue to burn. "It''s very exhausting,¡± Sword answered, "but | can keep going.¡± Shang watched Sword continue. ¡®Sword is directly converting the material of the wall into fuel for its Entropy Ability. It''s acting as a spark to light the wall on fire." Acouple of minutester, Sword suddenly shot into the wall. "I''m through," Sword said. "The wall is only about a meter thick." "Do you feel anything on the other side?" Shang asked. ¡°More ore," Sword answered. "This wall is only oneyer, and | think there''s anotheryer about ten meters further away, and that one feels even thicker and stronger." When Shang heard that, he actually sighed in relief. ¡®If this were the onlyyer, the Abomination would be directly in front of it, but since there''s a second one, there shouldn''t be any risk in opening the firstyer,¡¯ Shang thought. "Seems like the others aren''t in danger.¡¯ Waiting became far less stressful from that moment onward for Shang. After managing to get through the firstyer, Sword continued cutting to the side. Shang''s sword could fit through this tiny slit, but he definitely couldn''t. Shang waited at this spot for over two hours. The digging was simply far too slow. Eventually, Sword managed to create a two-by-two-meter wide cutout on the wall and came out again. Shang took hold of it and put it on his back again. ¡°Everything okay?" he asked. "Just tired," Sword answered. "Thanks," Shang said. Sword didn''t answer. Then, Shang moved forward and pushed on the wall.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. It took a lot of effort, but eventually, the wall began to move. And after a couple of seconds, the wall fell over and down. There was no floor behind the wall. But as soon as the wall was pushed away, the Darkness Mana from the outside washed into the area behind it like a flood. Finally, Shang could see what was in front of him with his Darkness Vision. And what he saw made his eyes go wide. BANG! The Magic Circle on Shang''s armor activated and blocked an attack from his back. This meant that this attack would have killed him! Shang''s body was thrown forward, but out of reflex, Shang grabbed whatever had attacked it and pulled it with him. It was a spear! And then, Shang and the assant both fell into the area behind the wall. Chapter 295 Chapter 295 Shang and the mysterious assant were thrown into the space behind the ck wall, and they all began to fall. Just mere moments ago, Shang had seen what was behind the wall, and he knew what was waiting for him... And on what kind of strange battlefield he would have to fight for his life now? After the first wall was an empty space, about ten meters wide. As soon as the Darkness Mana had flooded the space, Shang''s Darkness Vision had expanded by a lot. And this was all he could see. There was a second wall after the first one, and that was it. There was no floor, and the ceiling was over two kilometers higher than Shang''s current location. So, as soon as the two of them burst through the first wall, they began to fall into endless darkness. CRK! Shang''s fingers nearly broke as the assant violently pulled his spear back. "His body is stronger than mine!¡¯ Shang realized. ¡®This means he is, at least, at the Mid Commander Stage!¡¯ By now, Shang had also gotten an opportunity to look at his opponent with his Darkness Vision, and he also realized how his opponent had managed to get the drop on him. If Shang weren''t perfectly focusing on the assant right now, he wouldn''t even notice him. He was almost as imperceptible as a ghost! His body blended into the darkness, and Shang couldn''t even fully see his appearance. Shang only knew that he was a warrior, about 190cm tall, and he had long ck hair. He carried a long, thin, and ck spear, which almost resembled a long needle. SSHH! The darkness around the assant shifted, and his body moved to the first wall. CRRRRRRRRRRR! He tried to stop his fall by ramming his spear into the wall, but the wall was far too hard.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Shang quickly took out his sword and narrowed his eyes. BANG! Ice exploded out of Shang''s legs, and he shot at the assant. CLINK! But Shang only hit the wall. The warrior had dodged to the side by kicking himself off the wall. In the air, the man readied his spear and attacked Shang! CRRK! Shang parried the spear by angling his sword, making it miss. Shang''s sword moved along the spear towards the warrior. BANG! Shang missed! The warrior had put more power into his spear and hit the wall with it, throwing his own body back. The warriornded on the second wall while Shang slid down the first one. BANG! Bothbatants jumped off their walls, directly at each other. BANG! Ice came out of Shang''s left hand, slowing his fall. However, his enemy had only used a feint, and his spear already pointed at Shang, who was above him right now. When Shang saw that, he changed his n and stopped attacking. Due to their different speeds, the distance between them would widen soon. But mere momentster, Shang''s eyes widened, and he put his sword in front of him to block. BOOM! Awave of Darkness Mana hit Shang''s sword, and like a wave hitting a stone, it split apart, washing over him. The outer parts of Shang''s body deteriorated slightly, but he quickly recovered. ¡®That exins why | couldn''t find him in the darkness.¡¯ Of course, the force of the ranged attack elerated the warrior''s fall even more, creating more distance between him and Shang. Shang looked down with narrowed eyes. ''He even knows the ranged attack. Not many warriors know about it, which means he is quite talented and experienced. Together with his Darkness Affinity, he has probably gained some special training in his life." ¡®This is not an average warrior!" BANG! Shang''s back exploded with Ice, and he elerated even more. ¡®If | want to win, | have to end the fight during the fall. With my abilities, | have a huge advantage in the air!" The two of them elerated more and more, and the deeper they got, the stronger gravity became, which increased their speeds even more. Darkness washed over the warrior, and he moved to the second wall again. Shang readied his sword and shed in the direction of his opponent. A huge wave of Darkness left Shang''s sword and shot at the warrior with blinding speed. There was so much Darkness Mana around them that Shang didn''t even need to load his sword with his own Darkness Mana. Sword just passively absorbed the Darkness Mana in this ce. BANG! Suddenly, a pulse of darkness came out of the warrior''s body, and Shang''s attack was destroyed. WHOM! Asecond pulse left the warrior''s body, and he shot towards Shang, simr to the way Shang used his Ice and Fire Affinities to move around in the air. The attack was so sudden and fast that Shang could barely react. BANG! The warrior didn''t stab towards Shang but attacked him with a sideways sh. It was almost like he was attacking Shang with a long stick. Shang blocked the attack, but due to the difference in their physical strengths, Shang was shot at the wall. BANG! Shang''s back hit the wall, but the impact wasn''t powerful enough to injure him by much. But that had never been the opponent''s goal. As soon as Shang''s back hit the rapidly passing wall, the force of his fall made Shang rotate violently. It was like someone was jumping out of a race car and hitting the ground. Their body would also violently spin like a ragdoll. In such a state, Shang could barely defend himself. At the same time, the warrior lightly tapped the second wall with his feet and pushed himself at the rolling Shang. Shang had no idea where he could retreat to. He was simply spinning way too fast! So, Shang let go of Sword. BANG! BANG! Sword had quickly stabilized itself in the air and flew between Shang and the warrior, blocking the strike. However, the power of the strike pushed the side of Sword into Shang, who was then pushed against the rapidly moving wall. CRRRRRRRRRRRR! The sound of the armor on Shang''s back grinding against the hard wall echoed throughout the entire area. His armor was damaged quite a bit, and Shang felt his back heat up. But his body had stopped spinning! Shang grabbed Sword again and violently pulled it to the side. The tip of the spear that was still touching Sword was pushed upward. Shang let go of Sword again and grabbed the pole of the spear with both of his hands as his back continued grinding against the wall. Then, Shang pulled himself forward and kicked at the warrior''s chest. BANG! Shang''s eyes widened. The warrior''s knee had pushed Shang''s kick to the side, leaving him open! Then, from this position, the warrior kicked forward with the same leg. BANG! Shang''s armor cracked in several ces, and the force even broke several of his ribs. His back was pushed even harder against the wall, and the back of his armor began to glow in heat as it burned itself into Shang''s back. An instantter, the warrior shed down with his spear again. This time, Shang wouldn''t be able to block the attack! Chapter 296 Chapter 296 BANG! Shang''s back exploded with an incredible amount of fire, the countereffect of his Affinity cooling his back. BANG! Shang''s body was flung forward, and his shoulder hit the warrior in the chest, throwing both of them at the second wall. BANG! CRRRRR! Now, the warrior''s back was grinding against the wall. At that moment, several Magic Circles appeared around him, and they began to warp and distort. CRACK! And then, they broke apart. The warrior wouldn''t have died from that attack, but the armor needed to be intact to use the Magic Circles. The back of the armor had most of the Magic Circles, and they were essentially ground off by the hard wall. As the two of them hit the wall, Shang quickly grabbed his opponent''s body and put the warrior''s arms below his. Shang was treating this like an MMA fight on the ground. The warrior quickly used a headbutt to get rid of Shang. He knew that his body was more powerful than Shang''s. Shang''s head evaded the headbutt. BANG! And Shang butted the warrior in the side of the head! Shang''s own head hurt a lot, but he knew that his opponent''s head hurt even more. BANG! Shang kneed the warrior in the chest while keeping his arms pinned. Due to the enemy''s armor, Shang''s knee broke, but the force pushed the enemy even more against the wall. Just like Shang''s armor, the enemy''s armor was now also heating up and burning his back. But then, something happened. BOOOOM! The enemy''s body exploded with Darkness Mana, and Shang was flung against the other wall. Shang managed to somewhat keep his body in control after hitting the wall, and he looked at his opponent. "He used his Domain!¡¯ Shang thought with narrowed eyes. The enemy had unleashed his Darkness Mana into the surroundings, and it had consumed a lot of Shang''s life energy and Mana. Healing became much more difficult for him now. ¡®But every time he uses his Domain like this, he wastes a lot of his Mana. Inparison to me, he can''t use the Mana of his surroundings. At best, his Mana regenerates faster in this environment.¡¯ As soon as Shang was flung away, the enemy''s body began to spin chaotically since he was no longer pinned against the rapidly moving wall. Ding! Ding! Ding! Shang just wanted to attack his enemy again, but he stopped with widened eyes. The warrior had just hit the wall three times with different parts of his spear, which hadpletely negated the spin of his body! He was in full control of his body again! ¡®How is that possible?!¡¯ Shang thought. BANG! Nevertheless, Shang exploded forward again. BOOM! Shang only hit the wall. The warrior had used another pulse of darkness to slow his fall and pass over Shang. And as soon as he was above Shang, he began to spin his spear at incredible speeds. The spear became even darker as it was filled with more Darkness Mana. And an instantter, five ck balls shot out of the spear, which directly shot toward Shang. ¡®This is the attack the Pest Queen used!¡¯ Shang quickly threw himself off the wall again to evade the strikes... But they were following him! They passed Shang and curved towards him again! At that moment, Shang gritted his teeth. And the five bolts hit him! However, just when they hit Shang, a burst of light came out of his body. For the first time, there was a use for Shang''s Light Affinity! It might not have the ability to injure someone, even if they had the Darkness Affinity, but it could deal with attacks made out of Darkness Mana! Shang''s body lost a bit of its volume as Shang used the Light Mana since he had to sacrifice his life energy to use it, but he quickly recovered everything with his Mana. But after that, Shang waspletely out of Mana.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. He wouldn''t be able to use his Warrior''s body to heal again in this fight. BANG! Ice Mana exploded out of Shang''s legs, and he directly shot at the warrior above him. The warrior readied his spear, and a pulse of darkness left his back, his body now also elerating towards Shang. Shang extended his arm above him. At this moment, time seemingly stood still. The warrior was piercing towards Shang with his spear as Shang''s hand was extended above him. And at that moment, a sword burning with ck mes appeared in Shang''s extended hand! Earlier, Shang had let go of Sword, and it had been gone all this time. During that time, Sword had moved closer to Shang, and it had finally arrived. Even more, it had activated its Entropy Ability! The enemy hadn''t noticed that Shang''s sword had returned to them, and he wasn''t prepared. The sword burning with ck mes struck down. WHOOOM! A ck wave of ck fire left Sword, shooting directly at the opponent. At the same time, Sword was burning away as it was using up its own mass. The enemy released his Domain of Darkness again and used his spear to block. BOOOOOM! The ck fire destroyed the Domain of Darkness, and even the spear vanished into thin air a momentter. The ck fire vanished, and Shang could see his opponent again. His armor waspletely destroyed, and all his skin was pink and red, which meant that the Entropy Ability had destroyed a hugeyer of the opponent''s skin. Acouple of parts of the enemy''s body were even leaking blood, but it wasn''t too bad. With his Domain of Darkness and his spear, the enemy had managed to survive the attack. SHING! And then, a new spear appeared in the opponent''s hands. Someone as powerful and talented as this warrior had more than one weapon. At that moment, the warrior saw Shang approach and put his spear in the way of his sword. However, his eyes widened the next moment. Why was Shang''s sword faster?! Why was it smaller?! Sword had sacrificed a huge part of its mass, but that didn''t mean that it became useless. After all, Shang and Sword had nned for this event ever since they had received the Entropy Ore. Back then, Shang had wanted Sword to remain bigger for exactly this reason. Shang''s huge sword had be smaller and thinner. It had nearly no handguard, and it was long and straight as a nail. Yes, Sword had taken its original form again by burning away the excess mass! The warrior had fought against Shang''s old sword all this time, and when it had suddenly changed shape, he had been taken by surprise. Sword managed to bypass the spear, and it was about to strike the enemy''s torso. But at that moment, the enemy''s experience kicked in, and he angled his body to the side. Sword missed the enemy''s torso, but it got something else instead. SHING! The enemy''s left arm was cut off! The enemy was thrown away, and Shang grabbed the arm. An instantter, the arm turned into dust as Shang absorbed the remaining Mana and life energy. The enemy hit the wall again with his feet, leaving behind a bloodied footprint. And then, another pulse of darkness left him, and he shot at Shang again. BANG! Shang released an explosion of fire to evade the attack. But then, the stump left behind on the opponent''s body pointed at Shang, and a bolt of darkness shot at Shang. The attack hade so suddenly that Shang couldn''t react. BOOOM! Shang was hit in the chest and flung against the wall. BANG! Shang''s back hit the wall, and the front of his chest lost all Mana and life energy. Shang''s freshly recovered life energy and Mana went to that spot and healed it, but Shang was left empty yet again. Amomentter, Shang blocked with his sword. BANG! The opponent had arrived again, but this time, he wasn''t striking at Shang. Just like Shang, he had jumped towards him with his spear in a blocking position. Shang''s back was grinding against the wall as the two weapons ground against each other. And a momentter, the enemy activated his Domain of Darkness again! At that moment, time seemingly froze for Shang, and he was thrown into an abyss of horror. ¡®| have no life energy! | have no Mana! | can''t retreat!¡¯ "His Domain will kill me!¡¯ In this moment of panic, Shang''s mind was as focused as never before. It went through everything he knew, and it tried toe up with any kind of solution. And at that moment, Shang finallyprehended something he had tried to understand for a long time. The Domain of Darkness activated. But just as it was about to consume Shang, it vanished. It was almost like the Darkness Mana had stopped existing. At the same time, the hair on the enemy''s head began to slowly turn into dust. Shang had finally done it. He had finallyprehended his own Domain! ¡®This fight isn''t over!" Chapter 297 Chapter 297 The Domain of Entropy had stopped the Domain of Darkness. The enemy realized that something strange was happening, and he immediately pushed himself away from Shang. Amomentter, Shang stopped his Domain of Entropy. Just like the opponent, Shang had lost a bit of his skin, but not nearly as much as him. "My Domain needs an energy source,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Usually, it would use the Mana inside my body, but since there is no Mana, it uses my own body. Luckily, | don''t feel like | lost my skin forever. This should be recoverable.¡¯ Then, Shang looked at his opponent with narrowed eyes. ¡®I might be able to counter his Domain now, but nothing else has changed. Without Mana, | can''t use my Domain to injure him!" BANG! Shang exploded with fire again, and he shot at his opponent with his sword. The warrior released another pulse of darkness and retreated from Shang. At the same time, he began to rapidly spin his spear again. Shang knew what that meant. An instantter, three balls of darkness shot toward Shang. "He is low on Mana!¡¯ Shang realized. Shang threw his sword forward. BANG! The sword punched through one of the balls without any issues, but before it reached the opponent, it began to fly towards Shang again. Right now, Shang was below his enemy, and gravity was on his side when it came to this throw. The other two balls shot at Shang, and he punched both of them with his fists. BANG! BANG! Asmall explosion of light left Shang''s fists, neutralizing the balls. However, Shang''s hands lost a bit of their muscles. BANG! Shang exploded with ice and shot toward the warrior above him. On his way, Shang took hold of Sword and readied it for a strike. The warrior readied his spear again and pointed it at Shang. Shang came closer to the enemy, but then something happened. Shang noticed that a small ball had appeared beside him. And in the next moment, Shang''s eyes widened in shock. He stopped his attack and curled into a ball. He had recognized this ball! It was a firebomb!This is from N?velDrama.Org. BOOOOOM! The firebomb exploded beside Shang, flinging him at the second wall. BANG! Shang hit the wall with his back, breaking a couple of ribs. Thankfully, his spine was still in one piece due to the transnted beast bones. Unfortunately, Shang''s body began to rapidly spin again as he lost control. During his spin, Shang felt another pulse of darkness, and he knew that his opponent would arrive very quickly. Right now, Shang couldn''t care where he would end up, and he made his left hand explode with fire. BANG! Shang heard an explosione from somewhere. BANG! And then, Shang felt an impact. He had hit the other wall! Luckily, since the walls were opposite of each other, the spin was reversed by the impact, and Shang could regain control over his body. He quickly spotted his opponent again and readied his sword. BANG! Shang exploded forward again. Instead of retreating, the warrior stabbed forward with his spear. "He should be out of Mana!¡¯ Shang thought. Shang knew that his opponent only had one arm, and he was nning on taking advantage of that. Shang pointed his left hand towards the spear as his right hand held his sword. He would let the spear pierce his hand and kill the enemy with his sword! The two reached each other. BANG! The spear pierced through Shang''s left hand, and Shang moved his hand to the side. The tip of the spear went past Shang''s torso and missed. But then, Shang''s eyes widened in horror. Why was the spear only half as long as previously?! At that moment, Shang saw that the spear had turned into two pieces! The front piece was currently stuck in his left hand. And the bottom? Another pointy tip was revealed at the bottom part of the spear. It was designed to be split into two! The warrior currently used the other tip on the bottom half of the spear to strike Sword''s side. CRACK! Shang''s eyes widened. Acrack had appeared in Sword, and he could feel Sword''s pain. This was a serious injury to it! BANG! Sword was thrown to the side, and Shang tried to keep hold of it. However, the earlier price he had paid now came to haunt him. In order to block the balls of darkness earlier, Shang had weakened his hands, which had weakened his grip. Shang couldn''t keep hold of Sword, and it left his hand. BANG! Sword hit the wall, making it spin and slowing its fall. This meant that Sword was now far out of Shang''s reach. Shang had no weapon left! His left hand was behind him since it had blocked the spear''s tip! His right hand was flung to the side by trying to keep hold of Sword! Shang''s torso and head werepletely open! And then, Shang felt and saw the pulse of darkness and the enemy''s spear rapidly growing in his vision. Apparently, the enemy still had enough Mana to release onest pulse. At that moment, time seemingly stopped for Shang again. The enemy was too close and too fast. He couldn''t escape with any of his sts. His legs and arms were not close enough to block. He couldn''t evade. And the spear was rapidly approaching the middle of his forehead. After nearly three years, this peculiar feeling had returned. The feeling of powerlessness. Nothing Shang could do would save him. He had lost. Even though he hadprehended his Domain, he had still lost. But at this moment, Shang''s mind suddenly calmed down. It was almost like he had been lifted of a burden. ¡®Fine,¡¯ Shang thought. ''To think that the first use of Entropy wouldn''t be against a Mage but against a warrior.¡¯ ¡®What irony.¡¯ At that instant, Shang''s body began to deteriorate rapidly. His entire being was concentrated on his left eye. And then, Shang''s left eye turned into dust and vanished. Chapter 298 Chapter 298 The left side of Shang''s vision vanished, leaving nothing but darkness behind. But at the same time, Shang could see his opponent vanish with his right eye. In but an instant, his opponent stopped existing. It was almost like he had never been there. However, the walls didn''t even react. Apparently, Entropy had no effect on them. Shang''s desecrated and frail body was falling at unimaginable speeds, and he didn''t even have the strength to move. BANG! At that moment, a mountain of different objects appeared above Shang. Entropy had destroyed not only the opponent but also his Space Ring. When a Space Ring was destroyed, all the things would appear in the real world again. Shang couldn''t possibly survive the fall like this. After all, he had no Mana, and he couldn''t even unleash any of his sts. If he did, the resulting blood loss would kill him. With a weak and panting expression, Shang scanned the objects falling above him. He saw spears, armor, tons of gold, Mana Crystals, bombs, and... Pills! Thanks to the Warrior''s Academy, Shang knew about themonly used pills. ¡®A Recovery Pill!¡¯ Shang thought with panic, hope, and desire. Recovery Pills were mainly used by soldiers that had to fight several times in rapid session. It couldn''t be used in a fight, but it helped in recovering Mana and healing injuries. ¡®As long as | get the Recovery Pill, | have a chance!¡¯ Shang used all his power to barely slowly move his right arm towards the pill. Shang felt like he was lifting a mountain as he moved his arm. The Recover Pill was so close! Shang closed his hand. But he missed. With horror, Shang saw how the Recovery Pill got further and further away! It wasn''t nearly as heavy as Shang, and it had already reached its terminal velocity! Shang felt his world break down, and he quickly looked at the other belongings. Several of the lighter things had already slowed down, and Shang even saw a bright crystal leave him. ¡®Light Mana Stone!¡¯ Shang thought in panic as he looked at the vanishing crystal. Amomentter, everything useful was out of reach. ¡®No! | can''t die here! | can''t!¡¯ Shang thought in terror. However, no matter how much he willed it, he couldn''t get closer to the things he needed. At that moment, Shang knew that he would die. He had killed his opponent, but the fall would kill him. Shang had no idea how fast he was falling right now, but the entire world had turned into a blur. He didn''t even know how far he had fallen by now, but it had to be at least ten kilometers. "So, this is how it ends, huh?¡¯ Shang thought. ''! will die as a puddle of guts and blood, killed by a fall." ¡®For years, | felt mostfortable fighting in the air. My opponents couldn''t rival my agility and speed in the air.¡¯ ¡®But now, I''m falling to my death."Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. ¡®| guess that''s it for my path to power.¡¯ Shang took a deep breath as he tried toe to terms with his death. "Do | regret how | lived?" Silence. ¡®| regret a couple of things, but overall, | think | did rather well." Shang thought back to his journey in this world. He had gone through a lot in only six years. But that didn''t matter anymore. At that moment, Shang felt like he saw a distant light appear above him. For a second, Shang believed that this was something that appeared when one died, but then he remembered that he had died a couple of times before, and he had never seen something like that. And then, Shang''s remaining eye regained life and hope. It was the Light Mana Stone! It wasing towards him! Asecondter, Shang saw the reason. "Sword!" Shang shouted in his raspy and weak voice. The cracked Sword was pushing the Light Mana Stone towards Shang! Shang extended his right arm... And the Light Mana Stonended in it. "Don''t die," Sword said. "| don''t want to be alone." These words hit Shang in the heart, and he was as thankful as never before that he had Sword in his life. When Shang touched the crystal, he absorbed all the Light Mana inside it. Light Mana Stones were generally used to help warriors recover faster while training, but since Shang had a Light Affinity, he could also directly absorb them. Sword hadn''t known about the Recovery Pill, but it felt the Light Mana in the crystal. Three secondster, the crystal lost all its Mana, and Shang recovered a slight bit of his Mana. SHING! With this bit of Mana, Shang could ess his Space Ring. Since his inner world couldn''t be properly used during battle, Shang kept all of his immediately useful items in his Space Ring. Sadly, one needed a bit of Mana to ess it. At that moment, Shang finally felt the end of the fall with his Darkness Vision. An instantter, a talisman appeared in Shang''s hand, and he activated it. Wind Mana appeared around Shang, and it slowed his fall. This was the talisman that Shang would have used to get back to Warrior''s Paradise! The Wind Mana violently moved against the rapidly passing air. The heavier items passed Shang, and he soon saw the lighter items again. The talisman had slowed Shang''s fall by a lot, but he was still falling at fatal speeds. Eventually, Shang reached the Recovery Pill, and he quickly consumed it. And then, Shang waited. It took a couple of seconds, but eventually, Shang''s Mana began to slowly refill even more. The ground came closer. Shang didn''t move as he concentrated on absorbing the Mana. Eventually, the Wind Mana vanished as the talisman got used up. Shang opened his remaining eye, a fire burning inside it. BANG! Ice exploded out of his back, slowing his fall even more. BANG! Fire exploded out of it, and Shang''s position was changed. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang exploded several times with fire and ice. All the items had passed him at incredible speeds. And eventually, the ground arrived. BOOOOOOM! Shangnded on some pieces of ore and armor with his legs, which quickly crumbled into pieces. Shang''s torso also copsed into a mess, and blood exploded out of his body. And then, Shang used all his recovered Mana to heal his torso and head. ¡®I survived!" That was thest thought before Shang lost consciousness. Chapter 299 Chapter 299 Shang slowly opened his remaining eye, and control came back to his mind. ¡®Sure enough, | survived,¡¯ he thought. Shang noticed that there was something heavy lying on top of his chest. It was Sword. "You survived," Sword said. "| did," Shang answered. "Thanks to you.¡± Sword remained silent for a second. "No problem," it said. Shang only smiled when he saw Sword. ¡®While facing death, | was thinking about who would miss me when | died. | was under the impression that no one would miss me,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®But | was mistaken. There''s at least one being that would miss me." ¡°How long was | out?" Shang asked. "| think five minutes," Sword answered. Shang nodded and slowly stood up. His passive regeneration had already fully healed him. At that moment, Shang felt a cold wind near his left eye, and he touched it with his hand. There was only a hole. "Right, | lost my eye,¡¯ Shang thought with a frown. He was happy to be alive, but the loss of his eye weighed heavily on him. "There''s no way of getting that eye back, right?" Shang asked. "| don''t know," Sword answered, "but | think chances are slim. When I use my ability, | can regain the parts I''ve lost by assimting more ore, but your body is different.¡± "| think regrowing your eye would be just as hard as growing a fully functional third arm." Shang thought about Sword''s words. ¡®That definitely isn''t easy. How would | go about growing a third arm? What would | do?" ¡®Is there a Spell for that? Not sure, but if there is one, it''s probably a very powerful and advanced one. After all, I''ve never seen or heard about a human that gained new appendages, even though having more arms would probably be quite useful to warriors. If there were an easy way, warriors would already use it." Right now, it was difficult for Shang to see much due to the darkness, but he could still feel the difference between the two sides of his vision. "Huh, I''ve actually never thought about it, but losing one eye doesn''t actually mean that | only see half. The only thing | can''t see is everything left of my nose, and due to the angle, | can still see a lot of the left side, assuming the thing | want to see isn''t directly in front of my left eye.¡¯ ¡®| think | still see around 70% of what I''ve previously seen. That''s actually not that bad.¡¯ ¡°Sword, | want to try my depth perception. Please go to my front and attack me from different angles while | try to block you with one of my fingers," Shang said. "Alright," Sword answered before jumping up and stopping in front of Shang. Shang concentrated on Sword, and Sword began to sh forward. Shang was surprised by Sword''s speed. It wasn''t as slow as he had imagined. Clink! Shang pushed Sword''s tip to the side with ease, which even surprised him. He had expected that his depth perception would have suffered, but he felt like nothing had changed. Sword quickly unleashed another attack, and Shang also blocked it. The next ten attacks also were no problem. "| don''t see any problems," Sword said. Shang''s brows furrowed. "It''s strange. Logically speaking, since | have relied my entire life on having two eyes, my depth perception should bepletely off, but it isn''t." "| think | know why," Sword said. "Try blocking again but close your eye." Shang raised an eyebrow. Even though he was now missing an eye, his left eyebrow was still there. However, Shangplied and closed his right eye. Sword struck again. Clink! And Shang blocked it easily, just as before. Shang''s eye opened again, and it widened in surprise. ¡°My Mana Sense!" Shang said. "You exhibit Mana, and by moving, you also disce all the other kinds of Mana! That''s how | can always urately tell where you are!" "That''s what I''ve thought," Sword said as it slowly ced itself on Shang''s back. Even though it wasn''t huge anymore, it was still quite long. "That''s good," Shang said with a sigh of relief. "| feared that my Battle-Strength would have beenpromised with the loss of my left eye, but that doesn''t seem to be the case. This also tells me that | have long relied on my Mana Sense far more than my sight. Otherwise, it wouldn''t have been so easy." Sword didn''t answer. The fact that it said so much was already very unusual. However, Shang didn''t need Sword to answer to know that it cared. Being by his side was enough. After that, Shang checked his current condition. His armor waspletely ruined. The back hadpletely deformed, making it extremely ufortable. The Magic Circles on it had been ground off. The front was also quite deformed, and the ck cape was barely there anymore. There were only some loose, ck streamers remaining. Shang decided to take it off, which wasn''t easy in its deformed state. Without the Magic Circles, the armor barely gave any protection. He threw it to the side and looked at it. At the same time, he felt a cold wind go into his left eye socket. Shang bent down and ripped off one of the ck streamers. Then, he wrapped the streamer several times around his head, covering his left eye. He had no intention of walking around with an empty hole in his head. A ck band now covered Shang''s left eye. Asecondter, Shang took out one of his old ck shirts and put it on. Luckily, Shang''s armor had never covered his legs since he wanted his legs to remain mobile. Additionally, Shang didn''t want to empty the metal shoes of a puddle of blood whenever he decided to use a Fire and Ice st in quick session. Shang threw onest look at his old armor. ¡®Well, there goes that look. Sword is now smaller again, and | am back in my ck pants and shirt. It''s almost like I''ve traveled back in time, except for that I''m an adult and... well..." Shang touched the ck band hiding his left eye socket. "What about your damage, Sword?" Shang asked. "My crack will recover in time," Sword said. "If | weren''t made of Early Commander Stage materials, | might have died." "Can you die?" Shang asked. "Yes," Sword answered. "If | break, | die." Shang nodded. After dealing with the loss of his eye, his condition, and Sword, Shang focused on his surroundings.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. The two walls were still there, and the area below Shang was also made out of the same material. Right now, Shang was essentially in a very, very high hallway, which was about ten meters wide. "Speaking of, how far did | fall?¡¯ Shang thought as he looked up. ¡®That must have been over 15 kilometers at least, right?" Then, Shang looked at the first wall. ¡®Which means that | am probably near the deepest part of the Caves, the part where the True Path Stage beasts reside.¡¯ After that, Shang focused on the misceneous items around him. Alot of the stuff hadn''t survived the fall, but Shang could still make use of the pieces of ore and the gold. Sure, the gold had also been sted into pieces, but it was still gold. After riffling through most of the things, Shang found an emblem, which had also shattered into pieces. With Shang''s Darkness Vision, he found the pieces and rearranged them. A person from Earth might have trouble rearranging something like that, but with Shang''s powers, it was quite easy. About two minutester, theplete emblem was in front of Shang, and he read what was written on it. ¡®Just as I''ve expected,¡¯ Shang thought, his eyebrows furrowing. "Vice-Commander Wilbury." Chapter 300 Chapter 300 Shang looked for a while at the cracked emblem. ''Sure enough, it was Vice-Commander Wilbury. I''ve had a feeling that it was him when such a powerful warrior suddenly attacked me." "So, this is the power of a Vice-Commander over a big city like Swamp Lake City.¡¯ At that moment, Shang remembered his first Day of Chaos. Back then, Shang had followed an officer in golden armor, and Shang had felt like the officer was about as powerful as Vice- Dean Soran. ¡®That officer was probably on the level of Swamp Lake City''s Commander,¡¯ he thought. ¡®And the person | just killed was one level lower.¡¯ ¡®Interesting. Originally, | thought that Late Commander Stage warriors were Vice-Commanders, but Wilbury was at the Mid Commander Stage." Shang''s brows furrowed. ''However, he was also very powerful, and his techniques were varied and flexible. He didn''t seem to be at a disadvantage in the air, but he definitely was. He needed to waste Mana to move, while | didn''t need to. Even more, | can move several times in quick session while he had to gather his Mana.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, he has a Darkness Affinity, which means that he has probably received special attention and training. | think the reason why he was a Vice-Commander is that he can fight a warrior at the Late Commander Stage.¡¯ "His dead son was also only in his teens, and | don''t think they had an older child. It might very well be that Vice-Commander Wilbury was only in his forties or fifties." ¡®| think he had quite a bright future ahead of him. With his power, he would have definitely reached the Peak Commander Stage, and there might have even been a chance that he could have reached the True Path Stage." ¡®My physical power is equal to someone at the Early Commander Stage, and usually, it isn''t very difficult for me to kill an average warrior one level above me." ¡®Yet, | had to use Entropy while fighting him in an advantageous battleground for me. He definitely wasn''t an average Mid Commander Stage warrior.¡¯ Shang only looked silently at the emblem. ¡®And yet, he came for me personally. Why? | mean, sure, the reason was because of his son''s death, but I''m certain that he knew that he could never keep his excursion a secret. If he went to the Wastnd in the Storm Eagle Zone on the same day as when | died, he would be the prime suspect.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, how did he even find me? The Caves are gigantic, and | could have been anywhere.¡¯ ¡®What would | have done in his stead?¡¯ ¡®He had several months to anticipate my next move and n ordingly. That was definitely enough to set things up." Shang scratched his chin in thought. ¡®But how did he do it? How would | have done it?¡¯ ¡®Well, if | were in his shoes, the first priority would be to guess what my opponent would do next, which isn''t difficult in this case.¡¯ "He knew that | was holed up in Warrior''s Paradise without a way to truly fight. He was probably quite sure that | would go to the Caves next.¡¯ ¡®After knowing where my opponent would go, | would set up a way to track them. On top of that, the way should be untraceable and unnoticeable.¡¯ ¡®| wouldn''t trust that someone following my opponent wouldn''t be noticed, which means that it must be some kind of tracker.¡¯ "So, how would | get this tracker to my opponent? cing something like this on their body would be difficult since Duke Whirlwind and the Dean know my opponent. They would notice this very quickly.¡¯ ¡®Which means that the tracker has to be somewhere they can''t see.¡¯ Shang''s right eye went to his Space Ring. ¡®Like a Space Ring. However, | can''t ess someone else''s Space Ring, which means | have to make someone do it for me.¡¯ ¡®What have | put into my Space Ring recently that came from someone else?" And then, a light of recognition appeared in Shang''s eye. ¡®The talisman!" ¡®Since my enemy would go to the Caves, and since my enemy doesn''tck any money, | would assume that they would use a talisman to get back. So, | would bribe one of the guards handing out the talisman to give the talisman with the tracer to my enemy.¡¯ ¡®That way, | would find them!" ¡®Andstly, | need a way to get to them without being noticed. | might be gone for several hours, and my absence can''t be seen by anyone, which means | can''t leave the Empress Cobra Zone, and | might not even be able to leave Swamp Lake City.¡¯ ¡®That sounds impossible at first nce, but with several months of preparation, there might be a way.¡¯ Shang remembered where he was currently. The Calm Zone was at the border between the Storm Eagle Zone and the Empress Cobra Zone. Shang took out his maps and looked at the most eastern tunnels. There were a couple of tunnels entering the Empress Cobra Zone, but they were still a couple of kilometers away from Swamp Lake City. ¡®| could buy or build a vacation home in the swamp. As reason, | could say that, since | have a Darkness Affinity, | wanted to be closer to the poison swamp. After all, the Poison Affinity includes the Darkness Affinity.¡¯ ¡®Then, | would dig a hole for a couple of kilometers. Something like that should be impossible for someone on Earth, but with incredible physical power and a Space Ring to transport the dirt, this should be possible.¡¯ ¡®| think | know what happened.¡¯This is from N?velDrama.Org. ¡®In chronological order:" ¡®Buy a vacation home.¡¯ ¡®Dig a tunnel.¡¯ ¡®Prepare a talisman with a trace. With a True Mage as a wife, this shouldn''t be difficult.¡¯ ¡®Continue my day as normal until my contact in Warrior''s Paradise contacts me.¡¯ ¡®After that, give any reason to go to my home in the swamp and enter the tunnel.¡¯ ¡®Follow the trace until | reach my opponent.¡¯ ¡®The journey, by itself, shouldn''t take more than an hour.¡¯ At that moment, Shang realized that Vice-Commander Wilbury had probably watched Shang for quite a while. He had probably wanted to kill him as soon as he found him, but when he found him, Shang was currently opening a mysterious ck wall. At that moment, interest and greed appeared in his eyes. This was a ce that nobody had entered before, and there could be incredible wealth stored in this ce. So, he let Shang finish creating the hole. And when Shang looked with wonder and shock at the ce behind the wall, he had also been too distracted to notice Vice- Commander Wilbury''s approach. Everything would be over in one strike. A Peak General Stage warrior couldn''t possibly wear armor that could protect them from a fully powered strike by a Mid Commander Stage warrior. And he had been right... If it had been a normal Peak General Stage warrior. However, Shang''s body was far more powerful due to the Procedure, giving him the necessary physical strength to carry the armor, and he had also received an amazing set of armor from Duke Whirlwind. Without Duke Whirlwind''s little present, Shang would have died to the first strike. "So, that''s what happened,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I might not have all details correct, but | believe it went down somewhat like this." Shang looked at the emblem. ''You invested quite a lot to get rid of me.¡¯ ¡®I''m not sure if all of this was for your son or if fear and the bounty were included in your reasons.¡¯ ¡®Maybe you were scared that | would find revenge?¡¯ ¡®Maybe you simply wanted the 20 million gold?¡¯ ¡®| don''t know, and | might never know.¡¯ ¡®But you failed, and now, you''re dead.¡¯ ¡®And with you dead and your emblem as proof, | can contact the Inquisitors. They will enter your household and perform Mind Searches on your family, which will bring everything to light.¡¯ ¡®This time, the matter with the Wilburys is truly over.¡¯ Shang put the emblem into his inner world, and while he was at it, he also transferred some useful items into his inner world. He didn''t want to find himself in this situation again, unable to ess the items he needed because he was out of Mana. After cleaning up the ce and dealing with the Wilbury matter, Shang looked around. ¡®And now, | should check this ce." Shang left the useless items behind and wandered down the hallway. Chapter 301 Chapter 301 Shang continued walking for quite a while, but he could only see the two walls. At least, by now, he knew that this building was circr and that it was made by human hands. The walls were too smooth and too uniform. Something like that wasn''t something that beasts would create. ¡®If this were some kind of fantasy novel, | would believe that this is some ancient ruin that will teach me about the secrets of warriors,¡¯ Shang thought. Then, he sighed. ¡®Sadly, the God literally said that there are no more inheritances of warriors remaining in the world since the Mages destroyed all of them.¡¯ ¡®However, this building still has to fulfill some kind of function, right?" After walking for about twenty more minutes, Shang''s Darkness Vision picked something up. The inner wall had a human-sized opening. Shang walked for a bit more and eventually arrived in front of it. It was an open door. ¡®Yep, definitely made by humans,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked into the room. The room was huge but mostly empty. Shang guessed that the room was just as big as the entire thing, except for the space between the inner and outer walls. And there was only a single thing in the middle of the room. It was a portal. It was round, and a membrane of silver colors danced between its arches. ¡®Well, I''ve never seen a portal in real life, but that''s what | would imagine one to look like.¡¯ Shang looked around the room and saw nothing else. No second door. No stairway. Nothing. It was just a big room with a portal. Shang walked closer to the portal and looked at it. Surprisingly, Shang didn''t feel any familiar Elemental Manae out of the portal. One had to know that Space Rings were made with different Affinities. Aportal should logically also be made of simr, different Affinities, but this one exhibited no Elemental Mana. ¡®Well, | did see a Mage with a Space Affinity in the trial,¡¯ Shang thought, remembering the girl that had fled from him. He still didn''t enjoy thinking back to that moment. ¡®I''ve never heard of a Space Affinity in the Skythunder Kingdom, but it obviously exists.¡¯ "So, this ce was probably not created by the Skythunder Kingdom. | saw all the most powerful Mages of the Kingdom, and none of them had a Space Affinity from what | could see.¡¯ Shang looked at the portal for a while. "Should | try going through it? | mean, | entered with some rewards in mind in the first ce,¡¯ Shang thought as he scratched his chin. "Maybe this is some form of old treasury?" Shang didn''t believe his own optimism. Eventually, Shang shrugged and went towards the portal. Shang put his hand into the portal, and it vanished. However, Shang didn''t lose any feeling in his hand, and after he pulled it back, he saw that it was still attached. "Sure enough, it''s a portal.¡¯ And then, Shang stepped through it. As soon as Shang''s remaining eye passed the silver veil, he saw his new surroundings. Shang looked around for a bit. ¡®It''s the same?¡¯ he thought. Sure enough, it was arge, empty ck room with only a portal inside it. But then, Shang noticed something. ¡®There''s no Darkness Mana!" At the ce where Shang had just been, a ton of Darkness Mana had flooded the ce due to the hole Shang had made. But this identical ce had no Darkness Mana whatsoever. In fact, it had no Mana at all.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. For some reason, Shang felt nervous. It was like his being was telling him that it hated this ce and that it wanted to leave, and Shang quickly understood why. ¡®| don''t need to eat or sleep, but that''s due to the constant presence of Mana. My body simply uses Mana as a recement for energy, and in a ce without Mana, | would essentially starve.¡¯ ¡®I''ve never heard of a ce without Mana. | wonder how long it would take me to die of starvation orck of oxygen?¡¯ Shang didn''t like this ce whatsoever, but he still left the portal and walked through the door. ¡®Sure enough, everything''s the same. Just like the other ce, this one has a ten-meter-wide gap between the two walls.¡¯ Shang continued walking for around thirty minutes until he found an open door. It was the same one. He had walked around the entire thing, and he had seen nothing of note. Shang scratched the back of his head as he looked at the portal. ¡®Are these portals a convenient way to go from one building to the next? For what, though?¡¯ After a bit of thinking, Shang looked up. The feeling had grown weaker by a lot, but he could still feel an Abomination somewhere above him. ¡®I''m near the center of the room, and | can feel an Abomination probably a couple of kilometers above me. | presume the feeling is weaker since | am further away from it than when | had been outside. After all, | fell for like 20 kilometers." "So, there''s an Abomination in the first building and one in the second. | wonder why.¡¯ The ceiling was only about thirty meters high, still leaving many kilometers of space unounted for. ¡®There is no obvious entrance to the space above me.¡¯ Shang scratched his chin. "Should | try to break through the ceiling? | mean, | already made a hole in the other building. Additionally, even if the Abomination were to break free, this ce is probably outside the Storm Eagle Zone. So, if | have to free an Abomination to see what''s going on, | shouldn''t free one in Duke Whirlwind''s territory.¡¯ ¡®Well, in for a penny, in for a pound,¡¯ Shang thought. And then, he jumped. To an impressive height of two meters. Athletes on Earth would be impressed, but it wasn''t Olympic level. When Shangnded on the ground, his legs vibrated due to the heavy impact. Shang looked down with furrowed brows and a displeased expression. ¡®Gravity is stronger than expected in this ce!" Then, he looked at the ceiling again. ¡®If | use several Fire and Ice sts, | should be able to reach the ceiling. However, the fall would damage me quite a bit." ¡®| mean, | don''t really mind hurting myself, but this ce is devoid of Mana. If! get seriously injured in here, | might just die.¡¯ ¡®Also, there''s a smarter way to go about this.¡¯ Shang took out Sword. "Can you check if you can crack the ceiling?¡± "Yes," Sword said. Shang pulled Sword back and threw it towards the ceiling with all his power. DING! Sword hit the ceiling with quite some force and bounced off. DING! And then bounced off the floor. "Forget it. Too hard,¡± Sword said as it slowly moved back to Shang. ¡°Not even with Entropy?" Shang asked. "That''s what | meant," Sword said. "The material is so hard and stable that | can''t even pull tiny bits off it. Without these small bits, | can''t convert it into power." "So, it''s impossible?" Shang asked. "Yes, it''s impossible." "So, we came for nothing?" "Seems like it." Shang only frowned. Chapter 302 Chapter 302 Shang really didn''t like hearing that. There was something no one in the Skythunder Kingdom had ever seen before above him, and he couldn''t ess it. He wanted to know what was in it and why he could feel an Abomination there. Yet, there was no way to enter. Shang tried a couple of other things, but all of them failed. Eventually, Shang walked through the portal again and tested the ceiling in that room too. Same thing. Too hard. "Maybe | should climb up. Maybe there is a spot that''s not as hard and thick.¡¯ Shang exited the room and looked up. Then, he jumped to the first wall and jumped to the second one. However, due to the Gravity, Shang couldn''t even nearly reach the other wall in his jump. ¡®| can''t even zig-zag upward due to the strong gravity and the gap. To think that a gap of ten meters would be so insurmountable for me.¡¯ "Sure, | could use my Fire and Ice sts, but | would eventually run out of body to use." "Seems like we have to go at it the slow way.¡¯ Shang walked to the first wall and put Sword on it. "Can you dig out some handholds for me?" Sword didn''t answer for two whole seconds. "Do you know how long that will take?" Shang sighed. "I know that it will take a long time. You needed like two hours for the hole. Sure, you only have to make some small cuts so that you fit in, but that will probably also take a couple of minutes each." ¡°And you can''t even jump," Sword said. "We fell for around 20 kilometers, and | would need over ten minutes per meter, assuming | don''t get exhausted." As Shang thought about Sword''s words, he realized that the process might take quite a long time. Shang did some math in his head and came to the conclusion that creating a makeshiftdder to the hole he had made would take over four months. "Four fucking months,¡¯ Shang thought with a frown. ¡®I have patience, but | won''t wait in here for four months.¡¯ Then, Shang got an idea. ¡°How about you just make a normal hole, and we travel through the Caves," Shang said. "Shang," Sword answered. "Why are you overlooking the obvious problem?" Sword''s words took Shang by surprise. "What problem?" ¡°When we dig through this hole, where will we be?" "The Caves, obvious-" And then, Shang realized the problem. Sure, they would be in the Caves, but they would be at their deepest part. This meant that Shang would reach the home of True Path Stage beasts and maybe even beasts of the fifth Realm. Beasts of such power had a terrifying perception, and Shang was certain that they would very quickly notice him. And when they did? Sure, the Thunder Horse''s mark would probably dissuade beasts of the Fifth Realm from attacking, but True Path Stage beasts would probably directly attack Shang since they would think that he was an Abomination. And even if Shang managed to climb up, he would enter an area filled with Peak Commander Stage beasts. Yes, this was called the Calm Zone, but that wasn''t a guarantee that no beast would be here. The Entropy Ore had some deterring effect on beasts, but it didn''t injure them. At most, it was ufortable or a bit scary for beasts. The map had also said that there rarely were beasts on the big slide, but Shang had met the Crack Spider there. "So, you''re saying we''re stuck?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. "No," Sword answered. ¡°Well, how are we not stuck?" Shang asked. "We can''t get out without dying.¡± ¡°Ask for help," Sword said. Shang''s expression turned ufortable. He really didn''t want to call the Dean or Duke Whirlwind. Sure, in Shang''s mind, they would have done the same thing as Shang if they were in his shoes, but they weren''t. But eventually, Shang had to give up. He was stuck, and he needed help. "Fine," Shang said as he took out a Communication Crystal. "What do you want?" came the voice of the Dean through the Communication Crystal. "| need your help," Shang said. "With what?" "Do you know about the Calm Zone in the Caves and about that ck wall?" Shang asked. Silence. The Dean didn''t answer for a while. "You made a hole in the wall?" the Dean asked with a serious voice. "Yes," Shang said. Another moment of silence passed. "| can''t fault you. | would have done the same thing," the Dean said. Shang only helplessly smiled. ¡°What happened?" Shang told the Dean everything that had happened ever since he entered the Caves, and he told the Dean also everything about what he had found in this strange building. As Shang was narrating these things, the Dean was in shock. Shang had done a lot of surprising things in the past, but nothing had truly shocked the Dean. That was until he heard of Shang''s victory over Vice-Commander Wilbury. The matter of the strange building was put to the back of the Dean''s mind since Shang''s power was far more surprising to him. The Dean had always believed Shang to be about as powerful and talented as him. But today, the Dean had received a nasty wake-up call. The Dean knew Vice-Commander Wilbury, and he also knew that Vice-Commander Wilbury was one of the most powerful Mid Commander Stage warriors in the entire world. Vice-Commander Wilbury was about as powerful as Soran had been when he had been at the Mid Commander Stage, and Soran had incredible talent. It was only a matter of time until Soran overtook Vice-Dean Ranos. Vice-Dean Ranos had perfected his battle style and power over more than a century at the Peak Commander Stage, while Soran was barely seventy in total. Shang had essentially jumped a level against someone with the power and talent of Soran. And, most shocking of all, Shang was barely 21 years old. When Soran had reached such power, he had been nearly 50. For a moment, the Dean wasn''t sure how he should feel. On some level, he was proud of Shang, but on the other hand, Shang''s power made him feel bitter, envious, and inadequate. However, the Dean was an adult, and he wouldn''t let his emotions cloud his judgment. "| will contact Jerald," the Dean said. "This is his territory, and he has to know about what has happened." "Alright," Shang said. ¡°Remain where you are. We will probably get there in an hour, at thetest." "Remain where | am, huh?¡¯ Shang thought with frustration. The connection was cut, and Shang released a sigh.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Eventually, Shang sat down, leaning against one of the walls as he waited. The wait was long and annoying, but Shang was used to worse things. That''s when Shang felt a signaling from his Space Ring, and he took out the Communication Crystal. "Yes?" Shang asked. "Where did you cut through the wall?" It was Duke Whirlwind''s voice. "| thought that you guys have probably already searched for the origin of the Calm Zone. So, | went to the most likely ce where you did your experiments. | found a tiny cut in the wall," Shang exined. Duke Whirlwind chuckled a bit. "Quite smart. That cut was left behind by one of the previous Kings. It was the culmination of Mana worth billions and billions of gold." "We''ll be there in five minutes." And the connection was cut again. Shang waited for another while. But four minutester, something happened. Shang''s remaining eye was drawn upward as he felt something. The feeling Shang felt from the Abomination had be more intense, and he thought that he might have felt it moving. And then, Shang felt something change. It was like a wave was going through the air. And momentster, Shang felt all the Darkness Mana vanish along with all the other kinds of Mana! At the same time, Shang''s clothes began to turn into dust. ¡®Entropy Domain!" This was the same thing that happened when he activated his Entropy Domain. However, his Entropy Domain was nothing in comparison to this gigantic Domain! Surprisingly, Shang didn''t feel like he was in danger. However, Shang still activated his own Entropy Domain. After all, the Abominations Entropy Domain was turning Shang''s clothing into dust, and he didn''t want to be naked. For safety''s sake, Shang put everything but Sword, his clothes, and the Communication Crystal into his inner world, including the Space Ring. "Shang! Are you still alive?!" came the shout of Duke Whirlwind from the Communication Crystal. "Yes, I''m fine. | think I''m immune to this power. | should be asking you that question,¡± Shang answered. "We managed to get out of its reach in time, but all the stone and earth around us is vanishing! Shang, what did you do?!" Duke Whirlwind asked with nervousness. "Nothing!" Shang shouted back. "I just sat here! | literally did nothing but wait!" "Has the Abomination used that power before?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "No, this was the first time," Shang said. Some seconds of silence passed. "Then, that means that it was probably us," Duke Whirlwind said. "I think it didn''t react to you or Vice-Commander Wilbury since you two are too weak." As Duke Whirlwind was talking, Shang could also hear sounds of copsing stoneing from the Communication Crystal. "We have to wait until it calms down. | think we might need to send someone weaker to get you, Shang," Duke Whirlwind said. "It''s fine. | can wait," Shang said. Acouple of seconds passed, and the Domain of Entropy eventually vanished. It seemed like the Abomination had calmed down. ¡®It didn''t pursue, which probably means that it can''t." At that moment, a new idea came to Shang. ¡®Then, is this a prison?" And at that moment, nearly all of Duke Whirlwind''s Communication Crystals were going off at once. ¡°What''s going on?!" Duke Whirlwind shouted into the Communication Crystal for the Commander of Warrior''s Paradise. "Sir, the-" BOOOOOOM! The voice was cut off as the entire Caves quaked violently. Down below, even Shang felt a slight quake travel throughout the strange building. ¡®Is this an earthquake?¡¯ Shang thought. BOOOOOOM! Then, the building shook even more. ¡®No, thates from a living thing!¡¯ Shang realized in horror. ¡®But what could be so powerful that it could shake this gigantic structure?" And then, Shang realized what was happening. BOOOOOM! Agigantic wave of vibration went through the entire building, and even Shang felt unwell under the powerful vibrations. CRACK! Agigantic talon pierced the top of the enormous building! "Shit! | have to get out of here!¡¯ Shang immediately stood up and ran into the room and directly into the portal. And just moments after he left, a gigantic beak punched through the building as well. "Shang! Shang!" Duke Whirlwind shouted into the Communication Crystal. But then, the connection was cut. Duke Whirlwind had used his power and flight to get out of the Caves with the Dean, and he was looking with horror at what was happening. The Storm Eagle was aggressively digging a hole in the ground and attacking the ck structure! It had felt an Abomination, and it would deal with it! Chapter 303 Chapter 303 "General, a Protection Beast in Area 23 is attacking a Pylon!" Ayoung man in golden armor was standing opposite a young woman with blonde hair, wearing ostentatious purple robes. The woman frowned with annoyance. "Has the outeryer been breached?" "Yes, the particr Protection Beast is in the Mid Ancestral Realm!" the man reported. "I''ll deal with it," she said. SHING! An instantter, a radiant suit of silver armor with silver wings appeared on her person. SHING! And the woman vanished via teleportation. An instantter, she appeared in front of a silver portal and looked at it for a moment. The portal suddenly deactivated and activated again, and she stepped through it. Just after stepping through the portal in the middle of the room at the bottom of the Pylon, she extended her senses and took note of the situation. BOOOOM! Agigantic green bird hadpletely destroyed the outeryer, and it was currently trying its best to get through the inneryer. The Abomination inside the Pylon had already activated its unique Domain, but the gigantic green bird didn''t care about it. The Domain was far too weak to injure it. SHING! The woman vanished and reappeared between the Pylon and the green bird. BANG! One of the bird''s talons tried to attack the ck wall, but it was halted in the air. It was almost like the talon had hit an immovable, invisible wall. At that moment, the woman''s senses stretched over a ridiculous distance, and the entire Skythunder Kingdom appeared in her mind. She took special note of the area she was currently in. She looked at Warrior''s Paradise, and she analyzed all the beasts in the Storm Eagle Zone. All of this took less than a second. ¡®It''s doing quite a good job,¡¯ she thought. ''It only followed its instincts and did its job. Killing it would be a waste, and its recement will probably do a worse job.¡¯ ¡®But some punishment is still in order.¡¯ The woman extended one of her gloved hands to the bird and waved it to the side. BOOOOOM! An invisible wall hit the Storm Eagle and threw it into the distance. Several of its bones broke, and blood was flowing out of its mouth. The humans in Warrior''s Paradise watched this spectacle, filled with disbelief. What was going on?! BOOOOM! The Storm Eaglended over twenty kilometers away inside the Canyon and rolled several times on the ground, destroying a large number of Eternal Spires. For a moment, the world turned silent. This was the most shocking thing the present humans had ever witnessed. The Storm Eagle had been thrown into the distance by something. None of them had seen what kind of being had thrown the Storm Eagle away. The Storm Eagle quickly tried to stand up in a panic, but it was in severe pain. At that moment, a message it could understand entered its mind. It saw the very thing it had just been attacking, and with that image came a feeling of rejection. The Storm Eagle understood that it wasn''t allowed to attack these ck things, and it lowered its head in submission. It knew that whatever had hit it was far beyond its power. However, it also knew that it wouldn''t die today. After all, the thing that had attacked it could have killed it just now. The silver-haired woman looked over at the distant Storm Eagle and nodded in satisfaction. ¡®That should stop it from doing that again,¡¯ the woman thought. ¡®And now, time to see what the local supervisor is doing. They better have a very good reason for letting things get out of hand.¡¯ Her mind stretched further, going far beyond the Skythunder Kingdom. Eventually, she saw a huge ck castle inside a deep cave. There was only one single person inside that castle. It was an old man with silver hair, and he was currently sitting in the middle of a gigantic Magic Circle that gathered a ridiculous amount of Mana around him. "He dares to go into closed-door meditation during his shift?!¡¯ the woman thought with rage. Usually, it was the job of these people to overlook everything. They were supposed to keep watch over all the Protection Beasts inside the Areas. It was his job to deal with these things before they reached this point! At that moment, the old man opened his eyes wide, and terror appeared on his face. "No, I''m sorry! | didn''t-" SHING! The man suddenly vanished and reappeared tens of thousands of kilometers away. His face turned white with fear because he knew what this meant. "Your services are no longer required," the old man heard in his mind. "Your performance review will be handed to recruiting.¡± The old man''s body shook in horror and shock. "Can | still join the Lightning Manor?" he asked with hisst optimism. "That is for recruiting to decide, but | wouldn''t keep my hopes up," the young woman answered. Before the old man could protest, the connection was cut, and he was left alone. After that, the woman went back to the Pylon, which was now visible from the surface. The Storm Eagle had dug a gigantic hole in the ground. As soon as she arrived, the Abomination''s Domain activated again, and it was trying to kill her. The woman frowned and snipped her fingers at the Pylon. BOOOM! The Pylon shook as something hit its walls. The Domain vanished. After that, she looked at the destroyed outeryer of the Pylon with a frown. ¡®That bird sure did a number on this one.¡¯ Her fingers weaved in the air a couple of times, and all the rubble began to float in the air suddenly. In just a couple of seconds, all the different parts went back to their original ce and fused together. Merely half a minuteter, the gigantic ck building had beenpletely repaired, including the hole Shang had made. Now, the woman was between the first and secondyers. WHOOOSH! In an instant, all the Mana between the first and secondyers got absorbed by her, leaving everything devoid of Mana inside the building. She looked once more over the entire building and nodded in satisfaction. SHING! She vanished from her position and reappeared in front of the portal at the bottom. She wanted to step through it, but she stopped suddenly. ¡®Who knows how much the previous supervisor let things deteriorate? Obviously, something has broken through the outeryer somehow. This stuff happens from time to time, but | should still check, just to be safe.¡¯ She turned to the portal and used her Magic to change it. Asecondter, she stepped through. As she arrived at the next Pylon, her mind stretched over everything inside it. ¡®Looks good,¡¯ she thought. Then, her mind stretched out of the Pylon and into the surroundings. ¡®Bottom of the ocean. | doubt any beast would be interested in digging several kilometers down at this ce." Seeing that nothing was wrong, she changed the portal again and went through. She did this a couple of times, never staying in one spot for more than two seconds. But when she got to thest one, her eyebrows rose in surprise. There was a young man standing in front of the portal. C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. Chapter 304 Chapter 304 Shang had just left the portal in terror. ¡®| really screwed up this time! The Storm Eagle probably won''t rest until that Abomination inside the ck building is destroyed!" ¡®What if the portal gets buried under mountains of rubble? What if it gets destroyed?! How am | supposed to get back?!" Right now, Shang was in an areapletely without Mana, and if he got stuck here, he would die! However, if he went back, the roof might copse above him. Sure, he could deal with some stones falling on him, but the Entropy Ore was insanely heavy and hard! If a big piece of Entropy Ore fell on him, he would be crushed! Even worse, what if the Storm Eagle managed to break through the ck building, free the Abomination, and then die to it?! Obviously, this Abomination was far more powerful than the normal ones. And then, something terrifying happened. The portal vanished! Just mere moments ago, the silver glow of the portal had illuminated the room, but now, it was pitch ck! At this moment, absolute terror gripped Shang. He had no idea where he was, and the only way to get out was to create another hole. But what if this building was also buried in the ground?! The other one, at least, had the Caves snaking around it, but this one might not. Shang''s mind fell into a panic. What was he supposed to do?! What had happened to the Storm Eagle Zone?! But then, the portal suddenly reappeared, and Shang felt like he had been saved. Yet, just one secondter, someone stepped through the portal, and Shang felt like his heart had stopped. It was a silver-haired woman wearing a foreign set of armor. He had never seen anyone wear this kind of armor before. Even more, the fact that she had arrived here and that she could control the portals meant that she was probably connected to this strange ck building. Right now, Shang felt like a thief looking into the eyes of the house''s owner. As soon as the woman saw him, she furrowed her brows. Shang only looked at her, frozen in shock. "Who are you?" the woman asked with furrowed brows. "Why are you here? Don''t you know that this Pylon is under the jurisdiction of the Lightning Emperor?" ¡®Pylon?¡¯ Shang thought. ''Does she mean this ck building?¡¯ "| walked through the portal," Shang said. The woman frowned, and Shang got even more nervous. "Why and from where?" she asked. "The Storm Eagle Zone," Shang said. The green bird shot through the young woman''s mind. "Why did you walk through the portal?" she asked. "| didn''t want to get killed, and this was the safest way to escape," he answered. The woman crossed her arms and frowned. She thought back to the ce with the big green bird. There had been a couple of caves there. In her mind, the image of this young man falling into the destroyed Pylon appeared. ¡°What is this ce?" Shang asked, pulling the woman out of her thoughts. Her eyes narrowed. "This has nothing to do with you," she said with a strict voice. "Sorry," Shang said quietly. In her mind, Shang was only some young kid. He was in the Second Realm, and he wasn''t even a Mage. If any of the other Emperors tried to mess with their Pylons, they wouldn''t have sent this guy. ¡®Anyone that enters the Pylons is deserving of death,¡¯ she thought as she looked at Shang. "However, he obviously didn''t do it on purpose. He''s only a victim of circumstance.¡¯ It was a bit difficult for her to make a decision. The rules said that she should kill him, but she also thought that killing him was unjust. After some seconds, she made her decision. "Your home is about 2,000 kilometers to the southeast," she said. ¡®That''s definitely outside the Skythunder Kingdom,¡¯ Shang thought. "The rules state that | should kill you for entering the Pylon, but | don''t think that would be fair. It''s not your fault that the supervisor didn''t look over his Area properly," she stated. "Supervisor?'' Shang thought in confusion. ¡°However, for breaking the rules, punishment is still a necessity." ¡°And your punishment is to get back home on your own." At that moment, Shang''s eyes widened in shock. The woman pointed at Shang. "Wait-" SHING! Before Shang could say more, he vanished. ¡®Dumped into foreign territory,¡¯ the woman thought. ''That should be punishment enough.¡¯ After getting rid of the kid, she focused on the Pylon and the surroundings. ¡®Everything seems to be in order. She turned around and stepped through the portal again, and as soon as she left, the portal deactivated again. SHING! Shang had just been inside the ck building, but now, he was suddenly somewhere else. For a while, Shang could barely believe what he had just experienced. ¡®Was that teleportation?¡¯ he thought in shock. "How powerful does someone have to be to teleport someone else with a mere wave of their finger?!¡¯ ¡®What happened to the Storm Eagle?! What happened to the Abomination?!" Shang looked around and noticed that he was in the wilderness. There were no apparent threats. So, he took out his Communication Crystal and checked if he could reach the Dean. Sure enough, the connection was still there. Shang called the Dean, but this time, it took over ten seconds for him to pick up. And as soon as he did, a flurry of words assaulted Shang. "You!" the Dean shouted immediately. "I can feel where you are! Grandmountain Kingdom! Run! Hide! Destroy Crystal! Don''t try to contact us again!" Shang looked in shock at the Communication Crystal. "What?" he asked. "Crystal! Bugged Connection! No Firewall! Man in the Middle! Trojan! Hacking! Tracking! Run!" The Dean shouted these words with rapid speed. And then, the connection was cut. Shang was shocked by the words the Dean had said, but some secondster, he realized what the Dean was trying to tell him. The Dean had not called Shang by his name, and he had not given him any chance to talk. Then, he had shouted foreign words to this world. Only someoneing from Earth would know what these words meant. ¡®Others can hear our conversation, and they can track my location!¡¯ Shang realized in terror. Shang knew that the Grandmountain Kingdom and the Skythunder Kingdom were at war. And if they just intercepted a conversation between someone from their Kingdom and someone from the Skythunder Kingdom, and if that person was not a diplomat... CRACK! Shang immediately destroyed the Communication Crystal and put the shards into his inner world.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. And then, he ran in a random direction. Chapter 305 Chapter 305 Shang immediately began running in a random direction. If the Dean was right and the connection of the Communication Crystal was being intercepted, the Grandmountain Kingdom would believe this to be a matter of national significance. This meant that, most likely, a High Mage or very powerful Mage would investigate this issue. How was Shang supposed to flee from someone like that? He knew that High Mages had terrifying perception. Duke Whirlwind even noticed some random Adept looking at Shang from far away. Even more, they could maybe trace his whereabouts to a certain degree based on what kind of Mana Shang gave off. Shang jumped from one spire to the next. Right now, he was inside a very hot and very spiky area. The ground far below him was glowing with heat, and Shang could easily tell that this Zone had a Zone Beast with a Fire Affinity. BANG! Shang released an Ice st and shot towards the south. Then, he released another one. Following that, he released two Darkness sts, something he did very rarely due to the steep price of using one. Afternding at another spire, Shang suddenly turned around and jumped back without releasing any sts. Aminuteter, Shang changed directions and traveled for one minute without any sts. BANG! Then, he released a couple of Fire sts. Half a minuteter, Shang arrived near a cave, low to the ground. Shang immediately ran into the cave and saw a dark-red tiger. The tiger noticed Shang''s approach, but it was already dead before it could do anything. Shang unceremoniously tore its fur off and put his old clothes into his inner world. WHOOOM! He activated his Domain of Entropy and consumed a bit of his skin to damage the fur and make it fit his body more. By strategically making holes in the fur, Shang had essentially created arge coat. SSSSHHH! After that, Shang infused Sword with Fire Mana and made it fuse the skin at the correct ces, creating a shirt and some pants made of dark-red fur. Then, Shang ran to the skinless corpse and rammed his head into it. Asecondter, Shang''s head came out again, filled with blood. The Domain of Entropy activated again, and some of the blood on his body was consumed, but he left a lot of scattered spots of blood. After that, Shang used his Darkness Affinity to make the blood age, leaving stains that seemed old. Shang quickly grabbed the corpse and tore it apart, waving the bloody pieces around the entire cave. Some secondster, the entire cave was a bloody mess, and Shang used his Darkness Affinity to age the spots of blood and to turn the corpse into nothing but bones. Shang grabbed some remaining fur and put it on the ground, getting rid of all the blood with his Domain of Entropy. Lastly, Shang dumped a huge amount of ore in the cave. This was basically all the ore he had gotten from Vice-Commander Wilbury''s corpse. "Sword, | need you to look as crude, big, and powerful as possible," Shang said with urgency. "The Grandmountain Kingdom has barbarians, and they are different from warriors. | need you to resemble a gigantic club. It''s fine if you are extremely heavy. You are supposed to be difficult for me to wield in that form." "Fine," Sword answered as it consumed all the ore. Shang watched with nervousness as Sword consumed one piece of ore after the other, growing more and more in the process. Eventually, Sword absorbed over 100 units of ore, and it had be absolutely massive. It was nearly 250 centimeters long and nearly 50 centimeters wide. Its edges were extremely rough and short. They could barely be called edges. ¡°My shape changed too quickly," Sword said, "and | used too many different pieces of ore. For now, it will be difficult for me to carry Light and Ice Mana." Shang nodded. "That''s fine.¡± Then, Shang grabbed Sword and lifted it. CRK! The ground beneath Shang cracked as Sword''s weight was now only distributed onto two feet. Shang''s muscles bulged as he slowly lifted Sword. He could definitely lift it, but it wasn''t easy at all. Then, Shang performed a strike. WHOOOOSH! The loud noise of wind being pushed aside echoed throughout the cave, and Shang''s arms bulged as he stopped the swing near the end. Shang nodded and put his Space Ring into his inner world. And with that, Shang''s disguise wasplete. The person investigating the signal would arrive at an empty spire and look around. Either they found nothing, or they would find traces of Ice Mana from Shang''s Ice st. If they found the traces, they would follow them, which would then lead them to traces of Darkness Mana. Chances were that the investigator would believe that the spy had a Mixed Affinity for Darkness and Ice, and they would search for more traces. If they didn''t find any further traces, they were more inclined to believe that the spy used some strange technique to vanish. After all, not many people knew about the techniques of a Darkness Affinity. Either they would continue down the road or turn around and search for other traces, at which point they would find the Fire Mana traces, which would lead them to Shang. But wait, why would Shang consciously leave conspicuous traces leading directly to him? Well, if a guard saw a person leisurely walking past them, they wouldn''t mind, but if they saw someone sneaking past them, they would pay special attention. And now, it was up to the investigator to decide if they wanted to pursue the Fire Mana traces or the other ones. If they decided to follow the Fire Mana traces, they would reach Shang in his cave. And sure enough, just ten minutester, someone entered Shang''s cave. It was a woman with long brown hair, and her senses stretched throughout the cave.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. Adirty man with a gigantic weapon was intensely training inside the cave. His clothes were rough, amateurish, damaged, and stained with old blood. There were several bones from dead beasts littering the cave, showing that this man had been living here for a long time. ¡®An unaffiliated barbarian?¡¯ she thought with furrowed brows. "You!" Shang''s deep voice echoed throughout the cave as he noticed the neer. ¡°Leave this ce. This is my home," Shang said calmly but with a lot of power. The Mage narrowed her eyes at Shang, and a deep brown light appeared in them. Chapter 306 Chapter 306 The Mage looked at Shang with narrowed eyes, but Shang only calmly looked back. Shang had already thought of a persona he would adapt in this foreign kingdom. Just now, the best way to disguise himself had been acting as a wild barbarian that didn''t belong to any power, vige, or city. That would give him an excuse not to know much about the Grandmountain Kingdom and for being alone in the wilderness. But that also meant that Shang had to act the part. Because of that, Shang decided to adopt a stupider version of teacher Mervin. Mervin was the righteous teacher of swordsmanship in the warrior''s academy. He didn''t speak much, but when he did, his words were wise. Shang essentially channeled a younger and more isted version of him. Taciturn, introverted, honest. "Who are you? Why are you here?" the Mage asked with narrowed eyes. "My name is unimportant," Shang said slowly. "Names are only important when there are others to speak them." "And this is my home." "I''ll ask again. Please leave," he said slowly. The Mage looked deeply into Shang''s eye. "And if | don''t?" she asked. Shang looked at her for a second, and then... He continued swinging his sword. "This is why | don''t want to live amongst you," Shang said as he swung another time. "You enter my home." "lL ask you to leave." "You threaten me." ¡°All this boasting and needless aggression." "We have no conflict." "| don''t want to hurt you." ¡°Why do you want to hurt me?" Shang said each of these short sentences between each swing, not looking at the Mage. "Pointless." Shang swung once more. And once more. And one more time. The Mage realized that Shang wasn''t saying anything else, and she became enraged. She extended her hand toward Shang and spoke some short words. BANG! Shang was suddenly thrown at one of the walls of the cave. Several of Shang''s bones broke. However, when he looked back at the Mage, his expression hadn''t changed. "Pointless violence," Shang said as he stood up. "Why?" "For what reason?" "What do you have to gain from attacking me?" Shang asked. "Do you covet my wealth? | don''t have wealth." "Killing me won''t make you more powerful.¡± ¡°Beasts kill to be more powerful." ¡°You Mages kill for nothing.¡± "| retreat. You follow." "What more do you want?" After that, Shang became silent again. Shang only spoke in short and simple sentences. However, his sentences were very direct and honest. The Mage looked with an infuriated expression at Shang. "Why did you contact the Skythunder Kingdom?" she asked with power in her voice. "Politics," Shang said without a change in his voice. "Towns." "Cities." "Kingdoms." "They all are the same thing." ¡°A group of humans working for a Mage."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. After that, Shang remained silent for a second as he looked at the enraged Mage. "| see no difference." "All powers, organizations, Kingdoms, or whatever are the same to me." m not interested in furthering the greed of a powerful Mage." Shang became silent again as he looked at the Mage. "Stop lying!" the Mage shouted as power gathered around her being. "Speak the truth or die!" Shang calmly looked into the Mage''s eyes. "Deceit, dishonesty, skepticism." "Why?" "Why deceive others?" "If you gain something by deceiving others, you are not worthy of what you gained." "Is it so difficult to believe me?" Silence. BANG! Shang was thrown against the wall again, and this time, his injuries were even more severe. "You dare?!" the Mage shouted in fury. "You learned the Beast Unity but say you do not want to help the very people that allowed you to be this strong in the first ce?!" Shang righted himself and continued looking at the Mage with the same expression without saying anything. For some reason, Shang''s expression made the Mage explode in anger. ¡°Us Mages invest so much into the continued development of techniques so that you may be more powerful!" she shouted as she pointed at Shang. "You consume the fruits of ourbor but refuse to offer your power in return! You parasite talk about these grandstanding ideals of peace and harmony, but you benefit from the very things the people you despise have created!" "You sit isted in the wilderness after epting the investment we gave you! You learn our techniques, consume our resources, learn from our teachers, and now you say you don''t owe us and that we are the aggressors for wanting what is rightfully ours?!" the Mage shouted in fury. Shang slowly stood up and looked at the Mage with the same expression. "Do you honestly believe what you are saying?" Shang asked calmly. The Mage only got even angrier. "You don''t even have a counterargument! Instead of addressing the faults in your ideology | just highlighted, you just deflect!" Shang silently looked into the Mage''s eyes for two seconds. "Spoken words are unimportant." "The only important things are what | believe and what you believe." "I''ll ask again." "Do you honestly believe your own words?" Shang asked calmly. For some reason, the Mage got even angrier, and she gritted her teeth in fury. BANG! Shang was thrown against the wall again, and he received severe injuries. Asecondter, several chains appeared in her hands, and they immediately wrapped around Shang''s hands. As soon as they touched Shang''s arms, they began to burn until they fused with Shang''s arms. Shang only looked at the Mage with the same expression as always, except for one difference. The disappointment and pain in his remaining eye had increased. For some reason, Shang''s expression enraged the Mage, and she violently pulled him forward. "Grab your weapon!" she ordered. "You''re going to need it where you''re going!" Shang only looked into her eyes. "Take it or die!" she threatened with an aggressive voice. Shang hesitated for a second but eventually lifted his sword. Then, the Mage yanked on the chain and pulled Shang forward. "You refused to repay your debt. As repayment, you will fight on the frontlines until your debt is repaid." Shang only released a disappointed sigh. He didn''t answer and only followed. Deep inside, the High Mage''s emotions were riled up. She wasn''t someone that got angry quickly, but this time, she had been riled up by a weak barbarian! For a long time, she tried to find an answer as to why she had gotten so incredibly angry. And as the Mage tried toe to an answer, Shang''s mind finally rxed, but he didn''t let it show. "Holy shit!¡¯ he thought. ''I only said profound-sounding bullshit!" ¡®| just said whatever teacher Mervin would say!" "But it worked!" ¡®Usually, someone of her power would never get so angry at someone asparatively weak as me!" ¡®This means that | said some words that touched something in her. There are probably some doubts inside her that she hasn''t come to terms with. Maybe she believes that whatever the Grandmountain Kingdom is doing is right, but deep inside, she has doubts?¡¯ ¡®Honestly, | have no idea. | don''t even know how the Grandmountain Kingdom operates." ¡®But hey, look at that. | just speak bullshit, and | managed to eliminate any doubt of me being the spy.¡¯ ¡®Instead of thinking about me being the spy, she will be infuriated while thinking of me.¡¯ ¡®A spy would never try to anger or infuriate the person investigating their identity.¡¯ ¡®Well, | guess Teacher Mervin''s sermons were useful for something." Chapter 307 Chapter 307 The Mage pulled Shang along at a speed equivalent to Shang''s Stage. Apparently, she knew exactly how fast a barbarian could move at that level. Surprisingly, it was quite a bit faster than a Peak General Stage warrior could run, but it didn''t reach Shang''s limit. He could still run about half a level faster without many problems. ¡®This probably means that the Procedure has a greater increase of power than whatever the barbarians use to increase their strength.¡¯ They jumped from one spire to the next, and the Mage kept ncing at Shang. She wanted to force Shang to move at his limit, but even with this incredibly heavy weapon, Shang was still keeping up. ¡®Even though he is annoying, | can''t deny that his talent is outstanding,¡¯ she thought. However, that thought only annoyed her. By now, she didn''t doubt Shang''s origins anymore. Someone with such a powerful body at this level had to be born in the Grandmountain Kingdom. After a couple of minutes, the two of them reached a gigantic canyon. The cliffs on either side were over a kilometer high, and the roads were barely 20 meters wide. Shang didn''t feel any specific kind of Elemental Mana, but he knew what kind of Zone this was regardless. ¡®A Zone with a Zone Beast that has an Earth Affinity. The Mage also has an Earth Affinity. | guess she is either a very high figure in this territory or the ruler.¡¯ Right now, Shang still wasn''t sure if the Mage was a powerful True Mage or a High Mage. The two of them kept running through the area, and Shang kept ncing at his surroundings inconspicuously. "Why are you missing an eye?" This question suddenly came from the Mage, and her tone sounded annoyed. "| killed a beast with ck scales that looked simr to a worm," Shang said. "It destroyed my left eye, and | can''t regrow it.¡± The speed of the Mage slowed down until she eventually stopped. Then, she looked at Shang with burning eyes. "Where and when?" she asked. ¡°Long ago," Shang said. "It was near my home." "When specifically?" she asked with narrowed eyes. ¡°Only humans care about time." "Beasts don''t care about time.¡± ¡°Without humans, time has be meaningless." "| don''t know when. | only know that it has been long ago." The Mage looked deeply into Shang''s remaining eye. "What happened specifically?" Shang only looked back. "I saw it."Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. "| didn''t recognize it." "| tried to kill it.¡± "A part of its body vanished." "My eye vanished." "| killed it before it could do anything else." Silence. The image of a Soldier Stage Abomination appeared in the Mage''s mind. "You''re lucky you''re still alive," she said before pulling Shang forward again. Shang didn''t answer. After running a couple more minutes in silence, Shang noticed a huge, brown tower on the horizon. It was built on one of the gigantic walls, and it overlooked the entire Zone. It wasn''t nearly as big as Warrior''s Paradise, but it was still about 500 meters high and 100 meters wide. Shang guessed that this was some kind of military outpost or personal residence. The tower obviously wasn''t suited for many people. At most, 200 people could fit in there. However, instead of going towards the tower, the Mage pulled Shang to a smaller path, and a couple of secondster, Shang saw two Mages standing near the path. Shang could feel that they were True Mages. "Governor!" both of them said with a salute. ¡®Governor?¡¯ Shang thought, ncing at the Mage. ¡®I can guess that a Governor is probably the equivalent of a Duke. This probably means that she is a High Mage.¡¯ ¡®Interesting. On Earth, a governor doesn''t have as much freedom as a duke. Dukes have free reign over their territory as long as they follow the King''smands, but a governor doesn''t have as much freedom.¡¯ ¡®Does this mean that the Grandmountain Kingdom is more militaristic? Additionally, the Mages didn''t bow but performed respectful salutes." Suddenly, Shang was yanked forward by the chains, and he stopped between the Governor and the two Mages. "He''s a wild barbarian," she said. "His punishment is to fight on the frontlines for the next five years. If he survives, he may choose to join a tribe." "Understood, Governor," one of the two Mages said as the chains floated over to him. The Governor nodded, threw onest look at Shang, and left towards the huge tower. Shang was pulled forward again. "Follow, scum!" the Mage shouted strictly with disdain. Shang''s expression didn''t change, but inside, his interest was piqued. ¡®| wonder if he called me scum because I''m a barbarian or because of not being part of a tribe?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Nevertheless, I''m quite certain that warriors in the Skythunder Kingdom are not forced to stay inside cities.¡¯ ¡®I''ve heard of plenty of hunters that simply live wherever and juste to Warrior''s Paradise to earn some money. Even if they suddenly decided to nevere back, nobody would probably mind unless they signed a Magic Contract.¡¯ Shang didn''t answer, but he followed regardless. When the two Mages saw that Shang didn''t resist, they weren''t sure what they should feel. On one hand, this made their job easier, but on the other hand, there was no reason now to beat the barbarian up. Eventually, the two of them pulled Shang along, and a couple of secondster, Shang saw something. It was a vige with wooden huts and tents. The tents and wooden huts were crafted rather well, but there were no buildings made of stone, which told Shang quite a bit about the Grandmountain Kingdom. Shang saw that the streets were filled with adults and children. Nearly all of them wore clothes made of fur, but the clothes also looked quite old. Many adults were talking to children, but only very few children talked with each other. It was almost like everyone stuck to their own family and wasn''t allowed to interact with strangers. Surprisingly, Shang saw far more grown women than grown men, but he saw an even distribution among the children. Yet, the most shocking thing was something else. The vige was rather quiet. It was like every small group was afraid of other groups overhearing them, which made them whisper amongst each other. Shang got an asional nce from an adult or a child, but they quickly looked away again. As the vigers whispered amongst themselves, the two Mages walked through the middle of the vige without any care. When they talked with each other, they were talking at a normal volume. Shang nced around the vige, and he used his intuition to gauge the power of the vigers. ¡®There are only a very small number of vigers that feel slightly dangerous to me, but none of them feel like a death threat. That probably means that there are only a handful of Commander Stage barbarians in here." "Usually, | would be surprised that such a vige had a Commander Stage warrior in the first ce, but this vige is near the gigantic tower where the Governor lives.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, all the Commander Stage barbarians are middle-aged or older men. There is not a single woman that''s even near the end of the General Stage.¡¯ The image of the Grandmountain Kingdom became clearer and clearer in Shang''s mind. ¡®The Mages lord over the barbarians and treat them like lower citizens. Any barbarian that wants to escape this suppression needs power, and the Mages offer it to them." "However, in exchange, they probably have to work hard for the Mages." ¡®Antiquated gender norms from Earth are probably how things are handled here. In the Grandmountain Kingdom, the job of a male barbarian is to die on the battlefield, while the job of a female barbarian is to create children and raise them.¡¯ ¡®In a way, this isn''t really any different from raising aggressive dogs to act as triggers for a minefield." ¡®Additionally, the Governor said that Mages are the ones that create the techniques for barbarians. That probably means that barbarians don''t have the means to further their own power.¡¯ ¡®Is this a deliberate choice? Like this, the power of the barbarians can never get out of control, and they are reliant on the Mages." ¡®Without Mages, no barbarian can even hope to reach the True Path Stage, and knowledge on how to create techniques is probably also extremely scarce amongst them." ¡®Sure enough, the Grandmountain Kingdom is very different from the Skythunder Kingdom.¡¯ ¡®Suppression, segregation, birthright.¡¯ Chapter 308 Chapter 308 Shang was pulled to the back of the vige into a small and dark cave. "What Element are you attuned to?" one of the Mages asked with a cold tone. "Fire," Shang answered. "Show me." Shang lifted his arm, and a bit of fire appeared around it. The fire was very weak, and it only roughly appeared around his arm. The Mage wasn''t surprised and pulled Shang to one side of the cave. The two chains were put to two cyan spots on the wall, and they fused with them. Shang still had enough chain left to sit down, but he couldn''t walk further than a meter with them attached. "If we see any damage on the chains or the ore, it will be treated as an escape attempt, and we will kill you," one of the two Mages said. Shang only looked at them. "Do you understand, One-Eye?" he asked. Shang didn''t answer. BANG! Abig stone appeared in front of Shang and shot into his chest, breaking his ribs. "Answer!" one of the Mages demanded with a strict voice. Shang''s expression didn''t change. "Yes," he said calmly. There was no rage inside his voice. The Mage snorted, and the two of them left the cave again. For some reason, they really hated this unaffiliated barbarian. After the two of them left, silence returned to the cave. Shang''s expression didn''t change, but he sat down near the wall. ¡®They probably use the desperation of the barbarians to force them down a path of strengthening,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®The abuse and disregard will foster a feeling of resistance in some of the barbarians." "However, it isn''t perfect. Many other barbarians will probably get demotivated and lose all hope, hindering them from unleashing their full potential.¡¯ Shang genuinely didn''t feel rage or humiliation right now. Why? Because he was confident in his current circumstance. The more Shang fit into the barbarian role, the easier his life. Surprisingly, the strict control the Mages had over the barbarians protected Shang''s life. To the Mages, Shang only counted as a dog, but he was their dog. If another dog attacked their dog, they wouldn''t mind and let them fight, but if another human attacked their dog, they would strike back. This was their dog! By attacking their dog, the other person was disrespecting them and indirectly attacking them! In short, this meant that no Mage would want to kill Shang. Additionally, even if Shang wasn''t seen as an equal, he still had value to the Mages. This meant that Shang would only be sent to fight battles he could win. To the Mages, barbarians were an investment. Killing them was wasting money, and letting them get killed was also wasting money. Shang knew that the Mages would send him into battles that he could win and in which he could cost the enemy resources. To someone in Shang''s shoes, this was essentially a paradise. In the Skythunder Kingdom, Shang had to constantly watch his back. More than one Mage had already been sent after him, and the gigantic bounty on his head would send even more powerful Mages after him. Whenever Shang wanted to fight, he would need to go into the wilderness and fight a beast, and while doing so, he needed to keep a look out for any Mage trying to kill him. But here? Shang only had to wait and train. He didn''t need to search for battles. The battles came to him. Of course, there also were drawbacks. Shang didn''t have ess to any resources, and if the Mages found out that he had gold on him, they would probably confiscate it. Additionally, Shang would have to essentially be a ve, and he would need to do whatever he was told to do. ¡®But if a ve only gets orders to do things they want to do, is that truly so bad?¡¯ Shang thought with a smirk. ¡®They believe they have me under control, but they are actually providing the very resources | need to grow in power.¡¯ ¡®The barbarians might need the techniques the Mages created to be more powerful, but | don''t need those. | know how to reach the True Path Stage roughly.¡¯ ¡®The academy has taught us how to create our own techniques and how to find ways to further our own power. As long as | get my hands on the techniques barbarians use to be more powerful, | can get familiar with them and eventually extrapte a path forward." ¡®| know roughly how Magic works, and | know very well how warriors fight and train.¡¯ ¡®With these two things and with my own body and mind as experimentation materials, | can probably find a way forward.¡¯ At the moment, Shang saw two other young men inside the cave, but he remained quiet. ¡®For now, | should act like them and keep to myself. | can always ask about their techniques when | arrive near the frontlines.¡¯ Shang closed his right eye and crossed his legs. And then, he stopped moving. The other two barbarians only looked around the room with boredom or fear. Sometimes, they tried to sleep, which was quite difficult since General Stage warriors didn''t need sleep. From time to time, they also just looked absentmindedly at the ground. Meanwhile, Shang sat motionlessly on the ground with a closed eye. However, his Mana Sense still kept watch over his surroundings. The cave was quite dark, giving Shang a rather clear vision with his Darkness Vision. ¡®Just as expected,¡¯ he thought. ¡®The other two probably don''t know how to train their Affinities. They probably don''t even know that it''s possible to train one''s Affinity." ¡®They have absolutely nothing to do, but even in this extreme boredom, they don''t start a conversation. Is this also the Mages¡¯ doing? Have the barbarians been taught that talking with each other is bad?" After that, nothing else of interest happened, and Shang concentrated on his Affinities. To optimally train his Affinities, Shang would need to summon Mana externally, but that would raise some eyebrows. However, Shang could still increase the control over his Mana inside his body. It was kind of nice to train without any distractions. Eventually, Shang''s mind entered a kind of trance as his Mana rhythmically moved around his body. Days passed without Shang noticing. More barbarians appeared in the caves and got chained to the walls. Most barbarians had expressions of fear on their faces, but some of them had determination burn in their eyes. And Shang only sat there. After a week, the cave got full, but Shang didn''t notice. And then... BANG! Astone was thrown at Shang''s head, and Shang fell over. After that, someone pulled on his chain to drag him forward.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. Shang opened his eyes and saw that all the barbarians were standing up, and they were chained together in a row. ¡®Oh, is it time to go already?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang saw one of the two Mages sneer at him. Without saying anything, Shang stood up and stopped behind thest barbarian. The Mage looked with annoyance at Shang. It was like he had just hit a rubber wall. He wanted to see Shang get angry or fearful, but he hadn''t shown any reaction at all. He really didn''t like this barbarian. Chapter 309 Chapter 309 After Shang stepped behind thest barbarian, his chains fused with the person in front of him. However, Shang still had a couple of meters of space and wiggle room. After all, he had to run, and if the barbarians constantly stumbled over each other, the journey would take forever. The two Mages looked over everyone and nodded. Then one of them pulled the barbarians forward, who followed without any resistance. As they walked through the vige, some vigers looked at them with hatred while others looked on in sympathy. Shang took note of these reactions. The group left the vige, and the two Mages stopped in front of a new person. It was a man with red hair, and his robes looked rather simple. However, Shang had seen plenty of Mage robes in his life, and he knew that these robes were worth a lot of money. This was probably not a weak True Mage. ¡°Commander, everyone''s present!" one of the Mages said with a salute. The Commander nodded at the two Mages and looked at the group of barbarians for several seconds. Silence. "| don''t know what happened, but you guys are in luck," the Commander said. The barbarians didn''t look at the Commander. Most of them had already lost all hope. "You guys were supposed to enter the southeastern battlefront, but the Governor changed her mind at thest minute and sent you to the northeastern battlefront," the Commander said. "You better be grateful for the rest of your lives." After they heard these words, the barbarians all lifted their heads and looked with shock at the Commander. Did they hear correctly? They weren''t going to the southeastern battlefield? This couldn''t be real, could it?C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. 90% of all barbarians were sent to the southeastern battlefield, and only the luckiest, strongest, and most prestigious barbarians would be sent to the northeastern battlefield. And them? The fact that they were in chains showed that they were not part of this elite group. All of them had broken some kind ofw, and this was their punishment. Criminals always entered the southeastern battlefield. But now, they could go to the northeastern one? How? Why? "Yes!" one of the barbarians shouted in tion. BANG! A fireball shot into the barbarian''s chest, and he screeched in ungodly pain. The entire mood was broken, reced by shock and fear. The Commander put his hand to the side again and looked through the crowd with narrowed eyes. "You are still under punishment, and if you think that any battlefield is a good ce to be, you are sorely mistaken." "You will fight for your lives!" "You will have to kill other humans!" ¡°And | don''t want anyone to act in an undisciplined fashion!" "Am | clear?!" he shouted. The barbarians all lowered their heads, not looking at the Commander. "Good," the Commander said as he took hold of the long chain. "You will follow!" Then, he pulled the chain forward and ran into the distance. The barbarians had to follow, and they did their best to keep up, but there were some weaker barbarians among them that were too weak. The best thing they could do was to try to keep their bnce as they relied on the chain. Shang was watching all of this with interest. ¡®Interesting. The Skythunder Kingdom should be to the southeast, and by the looks of things, the barbarians fear that battlefront. As soon as they heard that they were going to the northeast, their mood made a 180.'' ¡®There are definitely some Mages on the battlefield, but | think most unimportant battles are fought by warriors and barbarians. A Mage counts as an expensive elite unit, while a warrior or barbarian is only a cheapmon unit.¡¯ ¡®To get an average Adept, the Kingdom needs to sacrifice tuition fees, gold, resources, and a Pure Mana Source.¡¯ ¡®To get an average barbarian, the Kingdom doesn''t need to sacrifice anything.¡¯ ¡®And | think | also get why the barbarians fear fighting against the Skythunder Kingdom.¡¯ ¡®The barbarians in the Grandmountain Kingdom don''t have any teaching, and they probably only have ess to resources they can get with their own hands.¡¯ ¡®Inparison to them, the warriors of the Skythunder Kingdom have the opportunity to earn a lot of money with various jobs, giving them ess to resources they can''t get on their own. Additionally, different schools and academies exist for warriors." ¡®Lastly, only criminals are sent to the frontlines, while everyone else can join if they so want. Going to the frontlines can make someone rich, but it''s also dangerous.¡¯ ¡®But that also means that only very desperate warriors or very confident warriors would go there.¡¯ ¡®| would guess that there are more barbarians than warriors on the frontline, but the average warrior is probably much more powerful, even with a weaker body.¡¯ ¡®All in all, the Skythunder Kingdom probably has a vastly stronger force of physical fighters than the Grandmountain Kingdom.¡¯ ¡®| wonder if that is because of King Skythunder.'' ¡®King Skythunder said that he came from the Grandmountain Kingdom and that he was familiar with barbarians. Maybe he actually was one in the past?¡¯ Shang looked at the group of barbarians and imagined King Skythunder walking among them. Surprisingly, he would fit right in. "He probably escaped the Grandmountain Kingdom and joined the Skythunder Kingdom. Maybe, since he was born a barbarian, his talent for Magic had never been tested prior to that, and the Skythunder Kingdom found his amazing talent and fostered it?¡¯ ¡®I can''t be sure, but that sounds usible.¡¯ ¡®That would also exin why the warriors are so much more powerful than the barbarians and why King Skythunder is waging war against the Grandmountain Kingdom.¡¯ ¡®But that begs the question, what kind of Kingdom is to the northeast? I''ve only heard of the Grandmountain Kingdom but not of the other ones. | don''t even know how many there are.¡¯ ¡®However, based on the reactions of the barbarians, the northeastern Kingdom is not as big of a threat as the Skythunder Kingdom." After that, Shang focused on the journey, which would take quite a while. In fact, everyone ran without pause for nearly three days! Chapter 310 Chapter 310 After three days, the group finally arrived. Shang was in a Zone with many high mountains, which seemingly pierced the sky. Surprisingly, the mountains didn''t form a mountain range but stood solitary in many different ces. Based on Shang''s estimate, the Zone Beast of this area also had an Earth Affinity. Between three of these mountains was a camp filled with powerful barbarians. Nearly all of them were 190cm or taller, which was probably the result of many years of careful breeding. Shang could see a couple of big houses, but they obviously weren''t houses for people to live in. They were probably huge warehouses or military buildings. Surprisingly, there were no walls but only a couple of huge, sharpened bones around the camp, pointing outward. From his current position, Shang could see a couple of Mages in the surrounding mountains, and he could also see about 200 barbarians training in the camp. They were all gathered outside, and they were wrestling with each other. Punches and kicks seemed to be a rarity among them. When Shang saw that, he furrowed his brows. ''Yes, grappling is incredibly useful, but you also need to punch and kick. After all, you don''t always have the opportunity to transition a fistfight into a ground fight. I''ve seen plenty of MMA fighters lose to a good kick or punch from a standing position.¡¯ Currently, the group was running down a mountain towards the camp. After a couple of minutes, the exhausted group finally arrived. The Commander didn''t seem any different, but most barbarians were injured in several ces. Even if some of them stumbled, the others would continue running and push them along. As soon as they reached the camp, the Commander stopped and handed the chain to one of the saluting Mages. The Commander nodded and left again. Apparently, he was only responsible for delivering the soldiers. One of the Mages looked at the barbarians and furrowed his brows. "You get to have a break until the Major arrives,¡± he said as the other Mage left. The barbarians took deep breaths, and some of them even copsed. By now, Shang had noted several things. ''Not every barbarian has a weapon, but funnily enough, the ones with weapons tend to have fewer injuries than the ones that don''t. One would think that carrying a lot of extra weight would result in more injuries, but that isn''t the case." ¡®| guess a good weapon is a kind of status symbol only given to the more outstanding barbarians.¡¯ Meanwhile, Shang carried his absolutely massive sword on his shoulders. Luckily for him, Sword could decide if it wanted to injure Shang or not. Otherwise, carrying the sword like this would have cut into his corbone. Surprisingly, Shang actually had the biggest weapon out of everyone, including all barbarians in the camp. ¡®| think | understand,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked around. ¡®A weapon must be wieldable, but it also must be hard enough. Getting harder material makes the weapon heavier, which means reducing its size.¡¯ From what Shang had seen, no barbarian had a body as strong as Shang at the General Stage. Their bodies were definitely more powerful than the bodies of warriors, but not as powerful as his. Additionally, Shang had noticed something peculiar. The physical power between barbarians of the same level varied quite a bit. Warriors of the same level always had the same physical power. That was due to the thresholds of Mana. The amount of Mana in their bodies decided the warriors¡¯ physical power, and the different amounts were fixed. But here, there were differences. ¡®Different techniques? Different talents? Different level of progression?¡¯ Shang waited as the barbarians rested, and five minutester, a new person appeared. It was a middle-aged woman with icy-blue hair and a strict look on her face. Surprisingly, she wore blue armor instead of robes, but Shang was still certain that she was a Mage. The amount of Ice Mana going in and out of her body was far toorge for a barbarian. "Major!" the Mage holding the chain shouted with a salute.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. The Major extended her hand and the Mage handed the chain over. Asecondter, all the chains left the barbarians, freeing them for the first time in weeks. The chains were incredibly painful for most barbarians since they were burned into their bodies. Shang didn''t really mind either way. Tearing the chains out of his flesh would have only been mildly annoying for him. He had gone through worse pain. However, the tion of the barbarians was only short-lived as about 20 heavy metal cors appeared in front of the Major. "As criminals, you are not trustworthy,¡± the Major said coldly. "You will not be chained, but you will wear this cor." "There is a power field around this area filled with mountains. If you leave it, we will know, and we will kill you." "You are allowed to walk amongst the mountains, but you are not allowed to enter forests or icy seas," she said. Shang didn''t show it, but he found her way of speaking amusing. "She avoids usingplex words in fear that the barbarians won''t understand them. She even called the Magic Circle a power field.¡¯ "You are also not allowed to take off the cors or destroy them. We will know if you try to damage it, and we wille to kill you." The barbarians only bowed their heads in submission. After that, one cor after the other floated onto the barbarian''s necks. Shang also received his cor, but he didn''t mind. ¡®The presence of this cor changes nothing." ¡®Trying to escape without the necessary power is suicide, and when | have the necessary power, the cor won''t be an issue," Shang thought. At most, it was annoying. After every barbarian had received their cors, the Major looked at the group. "You are allowed to ask for a weapon, but your stay will be one year longer." The barbarians didn''t answer. "You are allowed to roam around and get familiar with your newrades. When we need you, we will call for you.¡± And after saying that, the Major turned around and entered one of the buildings, leaving the barbarians looking at each other in confusion. They looked at the camp with uncertainty. And eventually, they entered. Chapter 311 Chapter 311 The group of barbarians walked into the camp with uncertainty. Shang very quickly noticed that their group was the only one wearing cors. The other barbarians didn''t wear any cors whatsoever. Of course, this resulted in the other barbarians throwing disgusted nces at the new arrivals. Most of the barbarians stopped training as they gathered into a group to look at the new arrivals. Subconsciously, this made the barbarians with the cors also gather into one group, and in no time at all the two groups stood opposite of each other. Atense moment of silence passed. "Criminals," the tallest barbarian of the other group said with disgust as he stepped forward. He was over two meters tall, and he carried a gigantic and wide club. Shang noticed that he was at the Peak General Stage. ¡®There are no barbarians at the Commander Stage present. | guess this is a standard outpost.¡¯ "You will keep to yourselves," the huge barbarian said. "Criminals stay with criminals." Most of the barbarians were intimidated by the huge barbarian, but some others grew angry. "| don''t ept orders from you!" a barbarian with a cor shouted as he stepped forward. He was also at the Peak General Stage. "Criminals have no right to speak," the tall barbarian said with his deep voice. But the other barbarian didn''t back down. "Weaklings also have no right to speak." Outrage swept through the gathered group of barbarians. This criminal had called their leader weak! The tall barbarian narrowed his eyes at the other barbarian. Then, he took out his gigantic club and put it to the side. BOOOM! The sound of the club hitting the ground reverberated throughout the entire camp. Its weight was insane! Then, he stepped forward to look at the other barbarian, who was smaller than him by a bit. The other barbarian also walked forward, and in no time at all, they were looking into each other''s eyes from very close. "| challenge you for your position," the smaller barbarian said slowly with narrowed eyes. The taller barbarian only looked back. "You are overestimating your power. Shameful,¡± he said. Then, the two of them took a couple of steps back. Shang watched as the other barbarians moved away from those two. ¡®| guess such duels are normal in barbarian society.¡¯ Both barbarians lowered their stances as they prepared forbat. Then, they exploded forward. They were both very fast, and they reached each other in a moment. BANG! The two locked arms, but it became clear which one was more powerful very quickly. The taller barbarian pushed the other one back, leaving a crevice of dirt behind. The center of equilibrium of the other barbarian was pushed back, and the taller barbarian towered over him. Then, the taller barbarian pushed down, and the other one fell to the ground. At that moment, the group of corless barbarians cheered loudly. Their leader had won! The smaller barbarian on the ground quickly stood up, but his posture was not straight. Like a beaten dog, his back curled, and he walked away from all the other barbarians. Shang noticed that even his own group was looking at the barbarian with disdain. ¡®That''s interesting,¡¯ Shang thought. ''Even though he lost, he is probably still amongst the top three in this group. Most barbarians looking at him with disdain would lose to him.¡¯ ¡®Yet, it seems to be normal to look down on the ones that lost in such a duel. Even though he technically belongs to our group, our group is now also shunning him.¡¯ ¡®This seems to be some sort of social tradition or something with rules attached to it." The other group kept shouting and punching their chests like a group of goris, and the cored group of barbarians didn''t dare to say anything anymore. "Your strongest man lost," the tall barbarian said to the group of cored barbarians. The group of cored barbarians didn''t answer. ¡®When did that guy be the strongest of our group?¡¯ Shang thought. ''I don''t remember any form ofpetition. Yet, no one in this group is protesting. It''s almost like they really epted him as the strongest. "You will remain outside the camp," the tallest barbarian decreed. "Criminals are not wee here." Surprisingly, the group of cored barbarians looked fearfully and helplessly at each other. And then, they left. They turned around one by one and walked out of the camp. None of the Mages stopped them. After all, the barbarians were allowed to roam around the Zone. They were only forbidden from leaving the Zone. Shang watched everyone leave with interest. "Leave!" Shang turned around and noticed that he was thest one and that the group of barbarians looked with hostile gazes at him. Shang calmly looked into the eyes of the tallest barbarian, who looked back. While the other barbarians were shouting for Shang to leave, the two of them shared a look. Two seconds passed. Then, Shang turned around and left the camp as well. The taller barbarian furrowed his brows, and there was a frown on his face, but the other barbarians kept shouting for them to leave. Eventually, Shang also left the camp and saw the gathered group of cored barbarians. Surprisingly, they were currently gathered in a circle, and Shang heard the telltale sounds of kicks. With Shang''s sensitivity to Mana, he could see what was going on. The gathered group of barbarians was kicking the barbarian that had just lost the duel without mercy. The barbarian was lying on the ground in the fetal position as the other barbarians kept kicking him. "Disrespectful!" "Outsider!" Several insults were thrown at the barbarian, but there was one word that was spoken the most. "Ruiner!" The barbarian on the ground was called Ruiner the most. ¡®I''m not familiar with that word,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang kept watching the spectacle. After nearly two minutes, the barbarians stopped kicking the downed barbarian but changed to spitting on him. Finally, the barbarians walked away from the severely beaten and heavily injured barbarian. He was bleeding all over, and his body was convulsing. Surprisingly, he never shouted for help. He didn''t even try to defend himself. He definitely wasn''t weak, and Shang was certain that he could have taken down several other barbarians with him if he wanted. Yet, he took everything without resistance. The group of cored barbarians gathered together and began to argue with each other. Three barbarians were proiming that they were the strongest while other barbarians stepped to the side and remained silent. These three barbarians were all at the Peak General Stage. Acouple of minutes of boastingter, the two of them began to wrestle each other. They entered into a one-on-one duel and fought the same way the other two barbarians had just fought. One of the two lost, and the group of barbarians pounced on him and treated him the same way the other barbarian had just been treated. He was severely beaten and insulted. Just like the first barbarian, this one didn''t resist. Then, the winner of the duel looked at the barbarian that had also proimed to be the strongest. However, that barbarian only lowered his head. ¡°| am weaker,¡± he said with a quiet voice. Surprisingly, Shang didn''t see the group of barbarians pounce on that one. Instead, they remained quiet and looked at the now-officially strongest barbarian. They were waiting for his judgment. The new leader looked at the barbarian with his lowered head. "You can remain," he said. The other barbarian lowered his head even more and walked back to the group of barbarians, who didn''t shun him. He seamlessly entered the group. It was almost like he had not been the center of attention just now. After that, the new leader proimed that they would be building a vige. Finally, the group of barbarians left the area to search for a good spot for a vige. Shang silently remained on his spot and watched everything with interest while scratching his chin. ¡®Interesting. | thought they only respected strength, but that isn''t entirely the case. Sure, the strongest barbarian gets the most respect, but if someone is second ce and tries to usurp the strongest barbarian, they get shunned." ¡®The second ce is still stronger than everyone else, but they are still attacked by the group.¡¯ Shang nced at the two heavily injured and spit-riddled men on the ground. They didn''t even have the power to stand up right now. Shang continued scratching his chin. Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Chapter 312 Chapter 312 After a while, Shang walked over to the first barbarian that had been beaten up by the group and squatted down. The barbarian''s body was slowly recovering. He didn''t have a warrior''s body, but as someone at the Peak General Stage, he could still recover with quite some speed. Right now, the barbarian wasn''t moving as he kept lying on the ground in a fetal position. Blood and dried spit were all over him. "Why didn''t you resist?" Shang asked. For a while, the barbarian said nothing. "I''m a Ruiner," the barbarian eventually answered. Some more seconds of silence. ¡°Ruiners get beaten." "Says who?" Shang asked. This made the barbarian move his head and look at Shang warily. "It is normal," he said. "So?" Shang asked. "Does it mean that it''s the right thing to do just because it''s normal?" The barbarian looked with confusion at Shang. "It is known and normal,¡± he said. "It is how things are." "This is what life is." The barbarian turned away from Shang again while saying these things. "It is your life," Shang said. "You decide what to do with your life." The barbarian didn''t look at Shang, but Shang could see with his Mana Vision that a confused expression appeared on his face. Apparently, this barbarian had never heard of such a concept. m a Ruiner, and Ruiners get punished,¡± the barbarian repeated. "What''s a Ruiner?" Shang asked. This piqued the barbarian''s interest, and he looked at Shang again. "You don''t know what a Ruiner is?" he asked in shock. Shang noted the barbarian''s reaction. ¡®The word Ruiner seems to bemon knowledge, but instead of doubting my words, he believed me and only asked for confirmation.¡¯ ¡®Anormal human would think that | am mocking them. After all, who doesn''t know what a Ruiner is?¡¯ ¡®But he believed me.¡¯ "Sadly, it makes sense. The barbarians are raised to follow orders like ves. The Mages don''t want them to think for themselves.¡¯ "| don''t know what a Ruiner is," Shang said. "I left my home long ago, and I''ve been living in the wilderness ever since. | don''t know much about how normal barbarians live." The barbarian''s expression became shocked and confused. ¡°But you are a barbarian," he said. ¡°How do you not know how a barbarian lives?" "You are a barbarian. You must know how barbarians live. You are living as a barbarian," he reasoned. Shang frowned. "How can | know what a barbarian looks like when | have never seen other barbarians live?" The barbarian didn''t say much as he only looked at Shang with confusion. For several seconds, he tried to understand what Shang had just said. Shang was speaking of things that didn''t happen, and that confused the barbarian. ¡°But you are a barbarian,¡± the man said. "You know how barbarians live. You are one.¡± Shang frowned. ¡®Does he trulyck the ability to understand something that is even remotely abnormal? What''s so hard to understand about this?¡¯ "| don''t know what a Ruiner is," Shang repeated. ¡°But you-" "Yes, but | still don''t know what a Ruiner is," Shang interrupted him. "Please, tell me what a Ruiner is." The barbarian looked at Shang for a bit longer in confusion, but eventually, he looked away again. ¡°A Ruiner is someone weak that tries to challenge the Tribe''s strongest," the barbarian exined. "Why are they called Ruiners?" Shang asked. "A strong leader makes a strong Tribe," the barbarian exined. "A weak leader makes a weak Tribe." "A weak Tribe dies." "A weak Tribe will turn to ruins." ¡°A weak barbarian trying to be the strongest is someone that brings ruin." "He is trying to destroy the Tribe." After that, the barbarian turned silent again as Shang scratched his chin in thought.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®So, proiming yourself to be the most powerful while not being the most powerful is akin to threatening the entire Tribe. Because of that, the Ruiner gets severely punished.¡¯ ¡°What if the leader loses? Will he be a Ruiner?" Shang asked. "Yes," the barbarian answered. ¡®Wow, that means that as soon as you are on the top, it''s all or nothing unless you step down yourself.¡¯ ¡°What if the leader steps down?" Shang asked. He assumed that it was fine for a leader to step down, but he wanted confirmation. The barbarian looked at Shang with confusion. "What is step down?" he asked. "It''s when you are still the strongest, but you don''t want to lead anymore and give the position to someone else," Shang said. Surprisingly, after hearing these words, the eyes of the barbarian became filled with rage. ¡°Weakling!" he said with an angry voice. Shang noted the reaction with interest. "Is a weakling worse than a Ruiner?" "A Ruiner has power." ¡°A Ruiner can go back and help." ¡°A weakling is worthless!" "A weakling eats food but doesn''t bring food." ¡°A weakling brings enemies but doesn''t fight enemies." ¡°Weaklings must leave or die!" Shang watched the angry barbarian with interest. "You called the other barbarian weakling," Shang said. This took the wind out of his sails, and the barbarian looked away again as he continued lying on the ground. "Why?" Shang asked. "| thought | was stronger," the barbarian said. ¡°And if you were, would the other barbarian be a weakling?" Shang asked. The barbarian looked at Shang again in confusion. m not stronger," he said. "Yes, but if you were," Shang said. m not stronger," the barbarian answered with furrowed brows. Shang sighed. "I know that you are not. What | am asking is, theoretically, if you had somehow won. | know that you didn''t, but what if? What if you won?" The barbarian looked at Shang with furrowed brows for a while. "I didn''t win!" For the first time in a long while, Shang actually got angry. "Does this guy not understand the principle of a hypothetical?!¡¯ he thought with frustration. ¡®It''s not even thatplicated!" "Fine," Shang said as he stood up. "| know that you are not stronger than him." "But do you want to be stronger than him?" The barbarian looked at Shang with furrowed brows, and Shang could even see some anger and disdain in his eyes. ¡°Are you saying you can teach me?" he asked. "Yes," Shang answered. The barbarian narrowed his eyes, and he slowly stood up from his lying position. He was still injured, but he had healed enough to stand up. After standing up, he was quite a bit taller than Shang, and he looked down on him. "You say you are stronger than me?" he asked in a dark tone. Shang scratched his chin in interest. ¡®Even though he was severely beaten and disrespected, as soon as | even slightly challenged his power, he got angry.¡¯ ¡®That means that, even though he epted the humiliation, he still has pride in his power.¡¯ "Yes, | am saying that," Shang said calmly. The barbarian narrowed his eyes, and he took a strong breath through his nose. Then, he stepped back and lowered his stance. Obviously, he intended on charging at Shang. "Wait!" Shang said. "You say you are stronger!" the barbarian shouted with anger. "We will fight!" "You are still injured," Shang said. ¡°Lam still stronger," the barbarian answered. "Just wait for a bit," Shang said as he lifted his gigantic sword with both of his hands. When the barbarian saw Shang move his sword, he became a bit nervous. That sword looked very heavy. ¡°Look, we can determine who is stronger without fighting," Shang said. "Impossible," the barbarian said. "It''s not impossible. The one who wins is the one that has more strength, right?" Shang asked. "Yes," the barbarian answered. "Stronger people can lift heavier stuff, right?" Shang asked. "Yes," the barbarian answered. "So, if | can lift something that you can''t, it means | am stronger, right?" Shang asked. The barbarian didn''t answer. His mind tried toprehend Shang''s words, but it wasn''t that easy. Yet, somehow, he managed to understand what Shang was trying to say. ¡°Fight without fighting?" the barbarian asked. Shang smirked. "It''s not a fight. It''s apetition." "Com-pe-ti-tion?" the barbarian slowly repeated. ¡°Right, apetition," Shang answered. "We areparing our strength without fighting.¡± The barbarian was trying his best to understand this foreign concept. "How?" he asked. "Watch," Shang said. Then, he lifted his sword and performed a chop. The chop was quite fast, and Shang even managed to stop it before it hit the ground. "The one who can swing this weapon more times is stronger," Shang said. BOOOOM! Then, he threw his gigantic sword to the ground in front of him. The barbarian looked with shock at the sword. That sounded very heavy. ¡°Lift it and swing," Shang said. For a while, the barbarian only looked at the sword. Then, he stepped forward and grabbed its handle. Chapter 313 Chapter 313 The barbarian grabbed Sword''s hilt and tried to lift it. As soon as he tried, his eyes opened in shock. This sword was very heavy! He widened his stance and pulled even harder. At that point, Sword began to lift slowly, and a couple of secondster, the barbarian managed to put Sword''s hilt onto his shoulders. The barbarian grabbed Sword''s hilt and stepped backward, trying to lift it. Shang saw the barbarian''s muscles bulge, and he even managed to lift Sword''s tip off the ground. For just a bit, he managed to actually lift Sword. BANG! But he eventually ran out of stamina, and Sword''s tip hit the ground again. "Convinced?" Shang asked. The barbarian looked at the sword for a bit and then at Shang. He dropped Sword, and he lowered his stance as he readied himself to charge at Shang. "Prove that this isn''t a trick!" he said with narrowed eyes. Shang could only sigh. "Come," Shang said as he extended his right arm. The barbarian saw that Shang didn''t take him seriously and became enraged. Then, he charged at Shang. He charged with outstretched arms at Shang, and Shang only watched. p! Shang''s arms moved with incredible speed between the barbarian''s two arms and pped them outward, throwing the barbarian''s arms to the side. Then, Shang took a quick step forward in an even lower position. BANG! Shang''s shoulder hit the barbarian''s abdomen in a spear tackle. Shang lifted the barbarian a bit until he was above him. And then, he threw the barbarian to the ground with all of his power! BOOOOOM! The barbarian''s back hit the ground, a quake traveling across the ground around them. Blood came out of the barbarian''s mouth, and a couple of his bones broke in the process. Shang only pped his hands together to clean them of dust. "Convinced?" he asked. The barbarian couldn''t answer for a while, but eventually, he looked at Shang in shock. When he had fought that tall barbarian, he had been able to resist, but when he had fought Shang, he had been as helpless as a child. "You are stronger," he said. Shang nodded. "Good. So, are you interested in bing even more powerful than that big barbarian in the camp?" The barbarian had no idea how that was possible. After all, the tall barbarian in the camp was stronger than him. Someone weaker couldn''t win against someone stronger. That made no sense. "Yes, please teach me," the barbarian said. Yet, even though the barbarian couldn''t imagine a way to win against the tall barbarian, he didn''t question Shang. Shang was stronger, and therefore, everything he said was the truth. Even though he thought that it was impossible, if Shang said he could do it, it must be the truth. ¡®That went easier than expected,¡¯ Shang thought. Then, he looked at the second barbarian, who had mostly finished recovering by now. He was the one that had lost against the new leader of the criminals. "Do you also want to learn?" Shang asked. The second barbarian looked over at Shang. He thought for a bit, and eventually, he stood up. "| will not leave my Tribe," he said. And with that said, he walked towards the direction where the Criminals had gone to. Shang scratched his chin. ¡®Interesting. Even though his Tribe has just given him the heaviest humiliation, he wants to go back and rejoin without any honor.¡¯ ¡®He will probably go through several more rounds, but | think he will eventually get epted back.¡¯ ¡®However, the path to eptance is long and arduous." After the second barbarian left, Shang looked at the first one. "By following me, are you leaving your Tribe?" he asked. "Yes," the barbarian said. "But you are stronger. Following the strongest is right." ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the barbarian. ¡®Normal humans wouldn''t leave their Tribe, group, organization, or whatever for a single person, but he doesn''t seem to care much about that. He sees that I''m more powerful than their leader, which means that following me is the correct choice.¡¯ "What''s your name?" Shang asked. "Lash," he said. ¡®Quite an interesting and unusual name,¡¯ Shang thought. "You can call me Zero," Shang answered. Shang didn''t want to use his real name since it was associated with the Procedure, and if the powerful Mages suddenly saw an incredibly powerful barbarian with the same name as one of the few warriors that underwent the Procedure, it might raise some eyebrows. "| will follow yourmand, Leader Zero," Lash said with respect. Shang nodded. "From now on, | will teach you how to fight another barbarian barehanded," he said. "Leader Zero, | am weaker than other barbarians," Lash said. "How will | win like this?" "You don''t need to be stronger to win,¡± Shang said. Lash wanted to immediately say that this didn''t make any sense, but since Shang was stronger, he epted his words. "Please, teach me," he said. "| will show you," Shang said. Then, Shang took hold of Sword and lifted it over his shoulders. Eventually, Shang put Sword lengthwise across his shoulders like a huge log and put his arms around it. This was an ancient punishment position for prisoners. They would have to carry a heavy log and would be unable to move properly due to its weight. "The weight of my weapon is high. You know that," Shang said. Lash nodded. ¡°With my weapon on my shoulder, | am slower, and | can''t move quickly, or | will fall over. Additionally, in this position, | can''t use my arms. Correct?" Shang asked. Lash looked at Shang and nodded. "Do you think | can win against you in this position?" Shang asked. Lash thought about this for a bit. "Yes, because you are stronger," he answered. Shang frowned. "In this position, | am slower than you, right?" Shang asked.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. "Yes," Lash answered. "In this position, | can''t use as much strength as you, right?" "Yes." "So, since | am slower and weaker in this position, | am weaker than you overall, and if we were to fight, | would lose, right?" Shang asked. Lash remained silent for a while as he tried to wrap his mind around theseplex concepts. Shang was stronger. Yet, with that heavy weapon on his shoulders, he is slower and weaker. But Shang was stronger. But Shang was also weaker? Shang was stronger and weaker at the same time? It took Lash several seconds, but eventually, he managed to understand it. "He is weaker with his sword. He is stronger without his sword,¡¯ Lash thought. "| understand, Leader Zero," Lash said. Shang nodded. "Good." ¡°But Leader Zero, | have a question," Lash said quickly after that. "What question?" "Why are you carrying a weapon with you if it makes you weaker?" Lash asked. Now, it took Shang a bit to understand these words. ¡°When | use it properly, it makes me a lot stronger," Shang exined. "It makes me slower, but | have a greater reach and more power behind my attacks with it.¡± ¡°However, if | don''t attack with it, it only makes me slower. My sword has advantages and disadvantages. When | am not using its advantages, | only have the disadvantages." Lash tried to understand this concept, but it was very difficult for him. Shang spent the next ten minutes exining the concept of disadvantages and advantages to Lash, who was trying his best to understand. Lash''s mind had never been used this much in his entire life. Luckily, even though Lash knew nearly noplex concepts, since his mind was strengthened by his body, he made quick advancements inplex thinking. Wisdom and intelligence were two very different things. Wisdom was the amount of applicable knowledge inside someone''s head. Intelligence was the ability to make sense ofplex patterns and to quickly learn new things. If an intelligent person and a wise person had to solve an equation and both of them knew the way to solve it, the intelligent person would solve it faster. However, a wise person most likely knew how to solve it, while an intelligent person without wisdom didn''t. An intelligent person could maybe figure out how to build a house with a lot of trial and error and by using a lot of logic, but a wise person already knew how to build a house. Right now, Lash had no wisdom. He knew nearly nothing. However, since his mind had been strengthened, he was very intelligent by normal human standards. This meant that he would learn very quickly. Eventually, Shang managed to teach Lash the concepts of advantages and disadvantages, and he finally understood how Shang could be stronger and weaker at the same time. "So, while carrying my weapon like this, | am weaker, right?" Shang asked again. Lash nodded. "Yes." "So, you should win in a fight, correct?" Shang asked. "Yes," Lash said. "Then, let''s fight. | will win against you, even though | am weaker right now." Chapter 314 Chapter 314 It took a bit of convincing, but Lash eventually charged at Shang. Just like before, Lash charged at Shang with both of his arms extended. Just before Lash reached Shang, Shang lifted his leg and kicked Lash in the abdomen. Lash flew away and rolled a couple of times on the ground. Then, he looked at Shang with furrowed brows. "This is not a fight," Lash said. ¡°How is it not a fight?" Shang asked. "We are supposed topare our strength!" "We are," Shang said. "However, strength is not just how strong your body is." Lash tried his best to understand the concept. "Isn''t experience also part of your strength?" Shang asked. Lash nodded. "When an old leader that has defended himself from challenges hundreds of times fights someone that has a slightly stronger body, will he win or lose?" Shang asked. Lash thought about Shang''s words for a while. "He will win," Lash said. "He knows how to fight.¡± Shang nodded with a grin. "Correct. So, experience is also part of your strength.¡± "| would advise you to differentiate between strength and power to make it clearer." ¡°When you or | use the word strength from now on, we mean the strength of your body. That includes your speed and how much strength you can exert, okay?" Shang asked. Lash nodded after a couple of seconds. "When we talk about power, we refer to everything. That includes experience, originality, flexibility, and many other things." "Strength determines who wins in a directparison of strength between two barbarians." "Power determines who will kill the other one when there are no rules or customs." ¡°Right now, my strength is lower than yours, but my power is far above yours." "If you are not convinced, try again.¡± Lash tried to understand these concepts, and he eventually charged at Shang again. He got kicked away again. And again. And again. Several injuries umted on Lash''s body. "| am weaker in strength, but you are the one getting injured," Shang said. "Think of a powerful barbarian.¡± ¡°Now, think of an invisible, weak human with a very sharp spike." Lash was trying his best to imagine the scene. ¡°Now, imagine that weak human sneaking up on the powerful barbarian and attacking his head with his sharp spike. What happens?" Lash''s brows furrowed. "The barbarian dies." Shang smiled a bit. Lash had learned to imagine a scene that was not real. He was making progress. "Is the barbarian stronger?" Shang asked. "Yes," Lash said. "Is the barbarian more powerful?" "Yes," Lash said. "Then why is he dead?" Silence. "If the barbarian is more powerful, why is he dead?" Shang repeated. "Unfair," Lash said. ¡°Might be," Shang said. "Yet, he is dead, and the weak human is still alive." ¡°Who would you rather be?" Silence. In Lash''s mind, a conflict between honorable battle and survival took ce. "The weak human," Lash said. "Why?" Shang asked. Lash didn''t answer for a while. "| don''t want to die," Lash said with shame. Shang nodded. "It''s not a shame to admit that. We all want to live. Isn''t that why we train? Isn''t that why we want to be more powerful?" "We don''t want to die. This is why we train and fight." ¡°Honesty in battle is making you weaker." ¡°Your enemy will use poisons." "Your enemy will use sneak attacks." "Your enemy will use maniption." "Your enemy will flee and attack from far away." "Your enemy will w your eyes out." "This is the extent of their power, and by not taking advantage of these aspects, you are limiting your own power." "Your strength might be great, but your power will never be great while being honorable in a fight." Some seconds of silence passed. ¡°Now, try to take me down again. Use anything you can think of. There is nothing dishonorable. Just attack." Lash opened his eyes and focused on Shang. Then, he charged forward. And when he reached Shang, he lifted his leg to kick Shang. However, that kick was pathetic. Lash had to stop to use it. It was slow. It was very telegraphed. It was clumsy. Shang simply lifted his right leg and pushed Lash''s kick to the side with his knee. Then, Shang extended his leg in a kick. BANG! Lash was thrown away again. However, Lash''s mind was going wild at this moment.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. He was stronger than Shang in his current position. However, he lost again. And finally, he understood. ''He is not as strong right now, but he is more powerful,¡¯ Lash thought. Lash slowly stood up and looked into Shang''s eye. ¡°Leader Zero," he said respectfully. "Please teach me how to be powerful.¡± Shang smirked. ¡®No wonder the barbarians fear the warriors. Even though their bodies are more powerful, they only know how to fight in a very direct manner.¡¯ Shang remembered the short fight between the Dean and King Skythunder. BOOM! Shang threw his sword to the side and cracked his neck. ¡°Approach me," Shang said. Lash did so and stopped in front of Shang. ¡°Lift your arms like this," Shang said as he entered a fighting stance. Lash copied Shang''s stance. "| will punch you very slowly now," Shang said. "You are faster than this punch, and you should be able to deal with it. Okay?" Lash nodded. Then, Shang clenched his right fist and punched forward. Sure enough, the punch wasn''t very fast. BANG! But it still hit Lash''s face, and he was thrown back. The punch had gone for Lash''s face, but he didn''t know how to deal with it. His muscles and shoulders tensed, and he moved his arms in front of him to block. Shang simply changed the trajectory of his punch by a bit and hit him. ¡°My punch was slower than you, but you still got hit," Shang said. Lash stood up again and approached Shang. ¡°You must know how to deal with it. Try to punch my face," Shang said. Lash nodded and tried to hit Shang''s face. Shang''s right arm simply pped Lash''s arm to the side, making him miss. ¡°Again.¡± Lash punched again, but this time, Shang pushed Lash''s fist the other way. ¡°Again.¡± The same thing repeated itself many times, and Shang showed various ways of dealing with a punch. "There are many ways to counter a punch," Shang said. "Let''s get you familiar with the simplest one." "| will move my fist very slowly towards your face. You will shove my fist to the side with your forearm," Shang said as he showed what Lash had to do. Lash nodded. Shang''s fist moved forward, and Lash did what Shang said, but he was very unused to moving his arm like this. Shang nodded. "Again. | will go a bit faster this time." And from that moment on, Lash''s longest training session ever happened. Shang made Lash repeat the same block over and over again. He was forcing him to do it hundreds of times, and Lash got hit asionally since Shang sped up quite a bit. A dayter, Shang said that Lash could rx. Lash rxed. But then, Shang released a punch at Lash''s face, exactly the same way he had done over thest day. Lash''s eyes widened, and his arm shot up by itself. CLAP! Shang''s fist was pushed to the side, and he missed. Lash looked with shock at his own arm. Shang smirked. "Having a strengthened mind sure is useful. Not needing to sleep also helps a lot.¡¯ ¡®The block is already ingrained in his reflexes.¡¯ "Next lesson, a different kind of block." For the next couple of days, Shang taught Lash about all kinds of methods to defend from a punch. Depending on the angle of the attack, different methods of blocking showed different results, and Shang was methodically going through all the possible angles. Right now, Lash was undergoing a terrifying growth in terms of power. He had an incredibly powerful body, and now, he was finally learning how to use it effectively. This was Shang''s first student. And he wouldn''t be thest. Chapter 315 Chapter 315 Lash took a deep breath. He was very nervous right now. Shang had been training him for two weeks without stopping, and now, it was time to prove that he had grown more powerful. After encouraging himself, Lash stepped forward... Into the camp. As soon as he stepped inside, several barbarians without cors noticed him, and they sneered. They all stopped training and fighting and threateningly walked toward him. This time, things were different from two weeks ago. Two weeks ago, boundaries had been established, but now, they were already in ce. Because of that, Lash was treated as an outsider invading their territory instead of someone from their Tribe. Three barbarians quickly approached Lash, anger and disdain in their eyes. Lash''s nervousness rose, but he tried to keep calm. BANG! A quick jab was thrown at one of them, hitting their face. The other two looked with shock as one of them was halted by a light punch. BANG! Astraight hit another barbarian, throwing him into the distance and breaking his nose. BANG! The third one got an elbow to his temple, and he copsed to the ground. BANG! The first one had only been stunned by the jab, and Lash finished it with a kick to the chest. In just a single second, all three barbarians fell to the ground, unable to continue fighting. Silence. At that moment, Lash''s nervousness vanished and was reced by shock. He had only been fighting Shang for two weeks, and he felt like he had made no progress. Whenever Shang actually tried fighting, Lash was helpless. However, when Lash saw these three barbarians, it was like he was looking at inexperienced children. They were essentially begging to be punched. And they all went down without a problem. The other barbarians grew enraged and charged at Lash. Now, they were not slowly and threateningly walking towards him but directly charging at him. At that moment, Lash thought back to Shang''s lessons. ¡®When you are fighting multiple people, the only way to win is to not get surrounded and force them into very short one-on-one fights." Lash took a quick step forward and kicked one of them in the abdomen. At the same time, he used his own kick to gain some distance. The barbarian was thrown into the distance, and Lash retreated as the others approached. Lash went to the outermost barbarian and kicked him too before retreating. An experienced group of soldiers or warriors would not brainlessly charge at such a powerful enemy. Instead, they would encircle him from a great distance and slowly close in. If the strong enemy went to attack one of them, the two to their side would strike from the side, and the others would quickly encircle the enemy. However, these barbarians had never been in such a fight. They had only fought other barbarians very directly via wrestling or fought solitary beasts in a very direct manner. Because of that, Lash managed to take out every single one of them. Eventually, the tall leader of the barbarians arrived, and he looked at Lash with narrowed eyes. Lash was conducting himself shamefully! He wasn''t allowing any of the barbarians to show their strength! However, he still charged at Lash. In his mind, he was stronger than Lash. Therefore, Lash couldn''t possibly win. He was very confident. Lash saw the barbarian that had defeated him previously approach, but he wasn''t nervous. The tall barbarian was only slightly more threatening than the others, which still counted as harmless to the current him. Lash hadn''t nned on it, but at this moment, he decided to show off a bit. He had seen Shang perform this attack only once, but he hadn''t used it himself. Shang had shown this attack as an example of something that''s extremely effective if the enemy doesn''t know it or see it coming, but absolutely horrible if they knew what wasing. Shang had called it a "fancy newbie killer". This attack could be likened to a schrs mate in chess, useless against anyone that knew the basics, but very effective against inexperienced people. As the tall barbarian approached, Lash changed his stance to stand sideways to his opponent. Then, he jumped and spun so that the leg showing away from the opponent spun around his back to hit them in the chest. It was a jump spinning back kick. Any experienced fighter could simply throw the leg to the side, which would result in the enemy having their back turned to him, which would be devastating to them. But the tall barbarian wasn''t experienced. BANG! The kick hit the tall barbarian''s head, and he flew into the distance. The barbarians lying on the ground watched with shock as their leader was thrown into the distance. BANG! The leader hit the ground hard, and he didn''t move. This kickpletely knocked him out. There were also a couple of other barbarians near the edge of the camp who were watching in shock. Obviously, not every single barbarian had gotten involved. However, Lash had still taken care of around ten barbarians on his own, which was quite impressive. The barbarian that had lost against their leader had returned two weekster, and he had been invincible amongst the entire Tribe. Now, Lash stood alone in the middle of the camp. "Strength is only a part of power," Lash said to the camp. "Your leader is strong, but he is not powerful.¡± "He might be stronger, but right now, he is unconsciously lying on the ground while | stand here." "If | wanted to, | could kill him right now." "If | wanted to, | could kill all of you." "You might think my conduct is disrespectful..." ¡°But when you are dead and | stand above your corpse, will you be happy?" ¡°When | get to survive and you die, will you be happy?¡± Silence. "Shameful!" "Shameful!" "Shameful!" Nearly all the barbarians began to shout in unison. "Disrespect!" "Coward!" "Cheater!" This went against all barbarian traditions!C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. Such a person was no barbarian! Lash was not a barbarian! BANG! Lash went to one of them and kicked their head, knocking them out. Several others gritted their teeth in anger and charged at Lash. This time, everyone got involved. The following fight was not easy for Lash, but thanks to Shang''s training, he still managed to take care of every single one of them. And eventually, silence returned. No one was shouting anything anymore. "Think what you want," Lash announced to the silent camp. "I might be shameful. | might be disrespectful." ¡°And yet, you are on the ground, helpless, and | am standing victorious." "You are dead." m alive." This time, nobody answered. "If anyone desires power, you can find me outside." "| don''t follow a strong leader." "| follow a powerful leader." And with that said, Lash left the camp. For a while, none of the barbarians said anything. But after a while, outrage and arguing erupted in the camp. Most of the barbarians didn''t believe in Lash''s words and denounced him. Others remained silent, not sure what they should think. And a few of them argued for Lash. The arguing continued for a long while. Chapter 316 Chapter 316 Lash returned to Shang, and Shang looked at Lash with a smile. "Did you seed?" he asked. "Yes, leader Zero," Lash said respectfully. "| won against everyone." Lash was quite excited. Something like this had been unimaginable to him. Winning against an entire Tribe was the stuff of dreams! But that dream had be reality! ¡°Well done," Shang said. "Now, we only have to wait." Lash nodded. And then, the two of them waited. Sure enough, an hourter, about five barbarians left the camp, and when they saw Lash, they slowly approached in respect. The five of them stopped in front of Lash without saying a word. ¡°Have you understood?" Lash asked. None of them spoke for a while. "You are the strongest," one of them said. "Wrong," Lash answered. m not the strongest." ¡°Out of your group, | am the most powerful, not the strongest.¡± "Your leader has more strength in his body, but | still won. That means that | am more powerful, not stronger." These concepts were alien to these barbarians, but they tried their best to understand. "Also, even though | am more powerful than anyone in the camp, | am not the most powerful out of everyone." "He is," Lash said, gesturing to Shang. The group looked at Shang with shock. ¡°He taught me everything about strength and power." "It was easy for me to win against you, but | can''t even resist him." "He is the most powerful, but he is also the strongest." But surprisingly, the barbarians were unconvinced. Shang noticed this and smirked. "| can demonstrate my strength and power to all of you,¡± Shang said. "You cane at me, and | will defeat you. You will not be a Ruiner," Shang said. The barbarians looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward. Then, he charged at Shang. Shang only lifted his hands, and their hands interlocked. The other barbarian was trying his best to push Shang away, but Shang simply stood there. It was almost like he was not exerting any power. The barbarians watched in shock. BANG! Shang threw the barbarian to the side with ease. "This proves that | am the strongest." "Now, | will prove that | am the most powerful.¡± Shang slowly stepped forward and stopped in front of the five barbarians. "You can surround me and attack at the same time." When Lash heard that, his eyebrows lifted. Shang had taught him that being surrounded was bad. How could he win in this situation? The barbarians looked with nervousness at each other, but they eventually surrounded Shang. "You can start whenever you want," Shang said. And then, Shang closed his remaining eye and focused on his Mana Sense. It was currently in the middle of the day, and the Light Mana was thick in the surroundings. Eventually, one of the barbarians from behind Shang moved forward, and the other three followed immediately. BANG! Shang evaded to the left, avoiding one of the barbarians and making him collide with the one in the front. BANG! At the same time, Shang punched to his left, hitting the sole barbarian there and throwing him away. The barbarian on the right couldn''t reach Shang since the two other barbarians were in the way. BANG! BANG! Shang quickly dispatched the other two barbarians, leaving only one standing. Thest barbarian only looked with shock at Shang. Lash also looked with shock at Shang. Lash couldn''t do that! It was almost like Leader Zero was invincible! "Convinced?" Shang asked with a smile. The other barbarians looked at each other in surprise. "Leader!" one of them shouted in respect. "Leader!" The other ones quickly followed his example and proimed their loyalty. ¡°My name is Zero," Shang said, "and | am willing to teach you all how to be powerful." "Strength is only one aspect of power. Being strong increases your power, but it isn''t nearly enough." "You need to train in all aspects of power to truly be powerful." The barbarians listened intently to Shang''s words. ¡°However, my Tribe is different from other Tribes.¡± "In fact, this is not a Tribe." This surprised the barbarians. Not a Tribe? "This is a group," Shang said. "| don''t need your loyalty. If you want to leave, you are allowed to leave." "If you want to join a Tribe, you are allowed to." "Your life is in your hands, and you can do whatever you want with it.¡±C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. "| won''t interfere, and | won''t give you orders." This confused the barbarians since this was apletely new concept. "| will teach you to be powerful, but | also want repayment." "If you want something from me, | want something in return," Shang said. m only teaching you to be powerful. Whatever you do with that power is up to you, but for that privilege, | want something." The barbarians looked at each other with nervousness. ¡°What do you want, Leader?" one of them asked. Shang smirked. "| want to learn all the techniques you use to strengthen your bodies." Silence. ¡®The moment of truth,¡¯ Shang thought. The barbarians looked at each other in disbelief. "Is that everything?¡± one of them asked. "That''s everything," Shang said. "| agree!" one of them said. "| also agree!" another one said. Sure enough, everyone agreed. They had all traded years of their lives to gain these techniques, and now, they were passing them on for training from Shang. Shang looked at Lash. "You are the first one. Tell it to everyone." Lash looked with surprise at Shang and then looked at the others. "To everyone?" Shang nodded. "We are a group. We do not contribute with our own power, but with the power we can bring to the whole group." It wasn''t easy for Lash to understand this concept, but heplied. Over the next couple of minutes, Lash exined what he was doing to be more powerful. And Shang finally managed to achieve his first goal. He now knew how barbarians strengthened their bodies. And Shang was quite sure that he could use it with the Procedure. ¡®Sure enough, there is a way to increase the strength of my body even more.¡¯ Chapter 317 Chapter 317 Lash quickly exined how he managed to make his body so powerful. "First, | need the heart of a beast on my level," Lash exined. Shang lifted an eyebrow, but he noted that everyone else nodded. Apparently, they also needed that. ¡°After getting the heart, | have to sit down and exhaust myself," Lash said. At that point, some of the barbarians furrowed their brows. ¡®Interesting. That part seems to be a bit different from what most barbarians do, but that''s understandable. After all, Lash''s body is more powerful than the average barbarian on his level, which means that his technique is probably different.¡¯ "Can you show us?" Shang asked. Lash looked at Shang and nodded.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. Then, he sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes. He took several deep breaths and exhaled. At that point, Lash''s body began to release steam, and it was bing warmer. Most of the other barbarians watched with wonder as Lash''s body became red and released steam. They had never seen anything like it before. After around five minutes, Lash opened his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked thoroughly exhausted. The other barbarians had no idea what Lash had done or how he had be exhausted, but Shang saw what it was. "You are burning the Mana inside your body," Shang said. "Right now, your body has been emptied of Mana." The barbarians were confused when Shang talked about Mana. Wasn''t that what the Mages used? How could barbarians have Mana? Even Lash didn''t know what he had been doing. He had simply followed the techniques the Mages had taught him without knowing what it does. ¡°After that, | consume the heart of the beast," Lash said. The other barbarians nodded. "Then, | have to train my body for an hour," Lash continued. "Please show us," Shang said. "We have to know what you do." Lash looked at Shang for a bit, but he eventuallyplied and started to train his body. Interestingly enough, Lash wasn''t doing muscle strengthening but movements akin to yoga. He assumed several positions for a long time while taking deep breaths. The barbarians watched with interest for the entire hour. Eventually, Lash finished his performance. "That''s it,¡± he said. "After performing the strengthening, | have to wait for one month. The Mages said that if | don''t wait for a month, | will be contaminated by the beast | have eaten." Shang nodded. "So, there are three parts to his strengthening process. First, he empties his body of Mana. Second, he consumes the heart. Third, he basically does yoga for an hour.¡¯ "Thank you," Shang said before looking at another barbarian. "Now you." The barbarian frowned butplied. "| have to consume the heart of a beast on my level." "| don''t need to exhaust myself before doing so." The other barbarians nodded. Apparently, they also didn''t need to exhaust their Mana beforehand. ¡°After consuming the heart, | have to train with all of my power. It is very exhausting and difficult," the barbarian said. "Can you demonstrate, please?¡± Shang asked. "You have seen Lash show his technique, and | also need to see what you have to do." The barbarian took a deep breath, but heplied. He stood up and took a deep breath. And then, he exploded into the distance. Everyone looked at the barbarian running at his absolutely full speed. They knew about how powerful his body was, and reaching such speed was probably his absolute limit. It was equivalent to him running for his life. After some minutes, he ran back to everyone and stopped, his face incredibly red. Then, he jumped to the ground and violently performed one push-up after the next. He didn''t stop until his elbows started to creak. After that, he performed several more strengthening techniques, and he pushed them all to the limit. It probably hurt quite a bit. And after two hours, he copsed to the ground, not being able to move. Everyone waited for him to recover. "That''s it," the barbarian said eventually as he slowly returned. Shang was scratching his chin in thought at the moment. Then, he looked at the next barbarian. "What about you?" The barbarian frowned. "I need a heart of a beast, and | have to train with all of my power, just like him," he said, gesturing to the other barbarian. "Do you do the same exercises?" Shang asked. "They are simr, but they are not very different," the barbarian said. "The Mages only told me that | have to train as hard as | can. The more pain and exhaustion | feel, the greater the effect." That made a gleam appear in Shang''s eye. "The Mages did not tell you exactly how to move?" Both barbarians nodded. Shang looked at Lash. "Did the Mages teach you how to train?" Lash nodded. Shang looked back at the barbarian. "And you also don''t need to exert yourself before you consume the heart?" The barbarian nodded. "Is that everything that''s different?" Shang asked. "No, there''s one more thing,¡± the barbarian said. "| have to wait for two months to consume another heart." ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Shang thought. By now, he had some guesses as to why the techniques differed. ¡°How much did you have to pay for your technique?" Shang asked. "| have to serve in the army for five years," the barbarian said. Shang looked at the other barbarian. "Five years," he said. Then, he looked at Lash. "Fifty years." The other barbarians were shocked when they heard that. "You took the second best technique?" one of them asked in shock. Lash nodded. At that moment, the barbarians felt a bit guilty. They had heard how to use this incredibly expensive technique for nothing in return. "| will repay you in the future," one of the barbarians said to Lash. "Give the group more strength,¡± Lash said. "Leader Zero said that the strength we bring to the group is more important than our strength." But the barbarian wasn''t sure if he could ept that. He still felt guilty for receiving something so valuable for free. "| paid twenty years." Everyone looked over at another barbarian in their group. From the ones that had left the camp, he was the strongest. ¡°How do you train?" Shang asked. "| have to exhaust my body first," he said, ncing at Lash. "Then, | eat the heart." After that, the barbarian frowned. ¡°And | train like the others. The Mages have never taught me how to train precisely.¡± Now, the picture became clear, and even the barbarians realized what had happened. The different techniques that the Mages offered to the barbarians for different lengths of servitude were actually the same technique! They simply didn''t teach the barbarians the entire thing! And with the very steep price for the techniques, no barbarian would want to tell their technique to others. After all, they paid years of their lives for their technique. Of course, there were still some selfless people out there, and they had no problem teaching their techniques to others. But if that got out and the Mages heard of it, they would require some payment from whoever had been taught that technique by another barbarian. When Shang asked everyone to share their techniques, the present barbarians knew what that meant. If it got out that they learned Lash''s technique, they would have to serve longer. But they had epted. ¡°But that isn''t theplete technique, right?" Shang asked as he looked at one specific barbarian. The barbarian nodded. "There is one more expensive one, and it means that you will forever serve the Mages. But if you be strong enough, you can have many wives and children, and you don''t need to risk your life. That''s why some barbarians choose that technique." ¡°Our previous leader trains in that technique." Shang looked at the camp. "The tall barbarian in the camp?" The barbarian nodded. Shang only scratched his chin. ¡®There should be one more part to that technique, and the barbarian in the camp has to know about it.¡¯ Chapter 318 Chapter 318 Over the next couple of days, Shang trained the gathered barbarians. Since they were now more people, Shang could create pairs. That slowed individual growth, but it allowed Shang to teach more people at once. Shang mostly only walked around and corrected the movements of the group like an instructor. ¡®To think that | actually got my own gym now,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the barbarians training with each other. From time to time, Shang also trained with Lash since he was too powerful for everyone else at the moment. However, most of the time, Shang focused on the technique. He was trying to devise thestponent of the technique on his own. ¡®By now, I''m pretty sure about how the technique works." ¡®First, the barbarian has to empty their Mana to make space for the beast''s Mana.¡¯ ¡®After that, they consume a huge chunk of the beast''s Mana by consuming their heart.¡¯ ¡®The beast''s Mana washes over their body unhindered and influences their bodies. It is a powerful force, but the body won''t just absorb something foreign like that. Because of that, the barbarian has to exert their body." ¡®The basic training forces the body to absorb Mana for energy and fuel. However, a lot of external Mana will also be absorbed this way, lowering the density of the beast''s Mana.¡¯ ¡®But by using the specific movements, the barbarians are unknowingly fully concentrating on the Mana that''s already avable inside their bodies, which is the heart of the beast.¡¯ ¡®However, since the heart of the beast has to be on their level, and since a beast''s body is far stronger than the barbarian''s body, the beast has far more Mana. They have more foreign Mana in their body than their body can handle.¡¯ ¡®That''s where the different cooldown periodse into y. For some reason, the beast''s Mana probably bes dangerous or unusable after the strengthening, and the more Mana remains, the longer it takes to naturally vanish." ¡®By absorbing more during strengthening, the barbarian has to wait less time to train again." "So, the end-goal would be to make the training even more efficient. Thest part of the technique should reduce the cooldown period even more and increase the efficiency of training.¡¯ ¡®The body is already emptied of Mana, and the body already absorbs absolutely everything it can from the beast heart by only using it as fuel. These two aspects can''t be improved.¡¯ "How can someone absorb more Mana than their body can take in without endangering them?" This was the part that Shang had trouble with. The training and efficiency just couldn''t be improved anymore. It was already as good as it could get. One could only fit so much liquid into a bottle. After a couple of days of training, Shang asked the barbarians about how they could reach the Commander Stage. That was when Shang also learned about the names of the barbarians¡¯ Stages. The first Stage was the Youngling Stage, and it was equivalent to the Soldier Stage for warriors. The second Stage was the Fighter Stage, and it was equivalent to the General Stage for warriors. And the third Stage was called the Champion Stage, and it was equivalent to the Commander Stage for warriors. The True Path Stage didn''t exist for barbarians. The barbarians exined to Shang how it worked to transition Stages. And what Shang learned told him a lot about the Mages in the Grandmountain Kingdom, surprisingly. It was impossible for a barbarian to reach a new Stage without the help of a Mage. If a Youngling wanted to be a Fighter, they needed a Mage. When a Youngling was ready to be a Fighter, they had to request an Ascension from the Mages. If the Ascension were granted, the Youngling would follow a Water Adept into a strange building. There, the Youngling would go through something horrifying. Huge parts of their skin would be cut off and reced by beast skin! It was insanely painful, and a lot of barbarians died during their first Ascensions. Of course, the barbarians could request anesthesia, but they would have to spend a couple more years in the military. The Water Adept was responsible for keeping the Youngling alive during the Ascension. If the Youngling managed to survive, they became a Fighter. But things were a bit different when it came to reaching the Champion Stage. First of all, anesthesia was mandatory. The Mages wouldn''t do the operation without anesthesia. There would also be far more Mages present. Of course, due to the anesthesia, no barbarian actually knew what happened during the Ascension. The only things they knew was that they woke up with a feeling of unfamiliarity regarding their own body and with a lot more blood and gore around them. ¡®The Mages have full control over the barbarians since they are the only ones with healing capabilities. If the barbarians tried these Ascensions on their own, they would die unless they have a warrior''s body.¡¯ ¡®But the Ascension process sounds very simr to the Procedure. The first Ascension is probably the recing of the skin, and the second Ascension probably reces the muscles and partially the blood.¡¯ ¡®That also exins why the Mages haven''t been able to create a True Path Stage barbarian yet. They know that only the bones and organs are left, but how do they rece these parts without killing the barbarian? There''s only so much trauma their body can handle.¡¯ ¡®The organs of the beasts are also different, and they can''t be transnted one by one without killing the barbarian. Even more, while the muscles and skin are flexible and moldable, things aren''t as easy for the bones. On top of that, digging out every bone one by one and recing them will definitely kill the barbarian.¡¯ ¡®But if they somehow manage to do that..." ¡®Wouldn''t they have simply recreated teacher''s Procedure?¡¯ "Sadly or luckily, the Mages aren''t from Earth, and they don''t know a human''s body as well as teacher.¡¯ ¡®Even more, while they probably have some inklings as to how to transnt the organs and bones, they probably have no idea about how to rece the mind.¡¯ "How do you transnt a beast brain into a barbarian brain without killing the barbarian?" ¡®Also, since the Ascensions are done with different beasts on different asions, the body is already not one whole being. It''s a being made of parts of different beings.¡¯ ¡®It''s obvious that the Procedure is many, many times better than the Ascensions.¡¯ At that moment, Shang had to smirk. ¡®And that probably also means that, if | were to train as a barbarian, | could probably easily reach their equivalent of the True Path Stage.¡¯ ¡®Of course, | would be missing the powers that the warrior''s True Path Stage would give me." ¡®But nothing says that | can''t do both, right?" ¡®Maybe this was how ancient warriors trained? They fused with beasts to increase their strength and increased their physical power even more by absorbing more beasts." ¡®The strengthening process for barbarians doesn''t take that long. A couple of hours once every two weeks is not something that takes up all of their time." "For the remainder of their time, they could probably focus on the warrior path.¡¯ ¡®| could see how the warriors have reached the Mages¡¯ level.¡¯ ¡®Of course, there are probably even better methods for Mages to be more powerful in the future. After all, Adepts also undergo Mana Tranquility when they be True Mages, which increases their power even more.¡¯ "However, there have probably also been even more methods in the past to close the gap.¡¯ Shang excused himself from the barbarians after hearing about the Ascensions. He was onto something! ¡®Alright, so, to be a truly powerful barbarian, they eventually have to undergo the Procedure.¡¯ ¡®Teacher obviously knows far better what to do than the Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom.¡¯ ¡®What were the things that teacher had to look out for during the Procedure?¡¯Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. ¡®What''s missing?¡¯ ¡®What did teacher do that the barbarians don''t?" And at that moment, Shang''s right eye widened. ¡®Affinity!¡¯ ¡®The barbarians just need a beast heart on their level, but none of them even talked about the Affinity." ¡®They probably don''t even know what an Affinity is!" ¡®If the Affinity of the beast is the same as the Affinity of the barbarian, it is easier to integrate!" "So, that''s the full technique, huh?" ¡®That''s how barbarians train!¡¯ Chapter 319 Chapter 319 Shang had finally deciphered the full technique. Exhaust all your Mana, eat the heart of a beast on your level with your Affinity, iste the Mana from outside and strengthen your body. ¡®This should be the full technique." However, that brought on another problem. ¡®But if | want to make full use of that technique, | need an Abomination,¡¯ Shang thought with a frown, ¡®and those are not really common." ¡®That''s a problem.¡¯ Shang tried to think of a solution to this problem, but there was none. The Abominations would be killed by the Zone Beasts as soon as they saw them, and if Shang appeared beside them, the Zone Beasts might decide to also kill him. The Thunder Horse''s mark was only a suggestion to the Zone Beasts, and on top of that, the beasts here probably didn''t even know the Thunder Horse. ¡®| can''t just call an Abomination, right?¡¯ Shang knew that he and the Abominations had some kind of connection. Every time Shang came in contact with one, they could feel each other. Additionally, Shang had never felt any kind of animosity from an Abomination. It was almost like the Abominations saw Shang as one of their own. Shang sighed. ¡®Even if | could call one, it would be impossible for me to absorb it.¡¯ First of all, while the Mages don''t get involved in barbarian business, if they suddenly see an Abomination, they will attack it and take it back to analyze it. Even if | killed it, they would just confiscate it." ¡®On top of that, it would attract at least one Zone Beast, and it would turn the Abomination into dust. At the same time, the Zone Beast would notice me and might even decide to kill me.¡¯ "So, even if there were a vending machine of Abominations right beside me, | couldn''t use it." ¡®It seems like | have to use other beasts for now. Luckily, the type of technique | use will only dictate my current power, and it will make no difference if | switchter.¡¯ ¡®For now, the full potential of my body can''t be realized, but | can still strengthen my body by quite a bit." ¡®Anyway, | should ask about the local fauna from the barbarians." Shang returned to the group and gathered them. After that, he asked them about every single beast they knew. The barbarians were a bit surprised, but Shang was the most powerful of them. They fully trusted Shang. Many hourster, Shang had learned about hundreds of beasts. Luckily, with his Peak Apprentice Realm mind, Shang could keep track of the beasts and their attributes. After everyone had told Shang about the beasts, Shang exined the concept of Affinities to them by using the beasts as examples. Many Tribes had created their own ssifications for beasts, but they didn¡¯t generally know about how the Mages ssified them. Then, Shang told them that he was pretty sure that thest part of the technique was what kind of beast one absorbed. The barbarians were quite surprised when Shang told them that they also had Affinities. Shang taught every barbarian a way to release their Mana. This technique had no power, but it allowed the barbarians to put a bit of their Mana out of their bodies, which gave Shang the opportunity to gauge its element. There weren''t any surprises. The barbarians simply had normal Affinities. Shang told them their Affinities and told them what kind of beasts they should look out for. If they had a beast of a different element, they could maybe even trade it for one that was useful to them. Of course, the trade had to be finished within a day. If the corpse weren''t preserved by a Spell, it would lose all its Mana in 24 hours. The barbarians were ecstatic when they realized that they now knew the best technique avable, and they wanted to get to strengthening. "Should we wait for the attack?" one of the barbarians asked Shang. "Attack?" Shang asked. "What attack." The barbarians were confused that Shang didn''t know about the attack, but then they realized that Shang had only arrived recently. "We are waiting for the Mages''mand to attack the gue Rat Zone," one of the barbarians told Shang. "The gue Rat Zone?" Shang asked. "We are currently in the Deepcore Turtle Zone. The Deepcore Turtle Zone belongs to the Grandmountain Kingdom, but we have only been here for about three months." ¡°We were part of the battle that won us the Deepcore Turtle Zone.¡± "The next Zone is the gue Rat Zone, and we are waiting for the order to attack," the barbarian exined. Shang scratched his chin. ¡®That means that we are currently in territory that belonged to the enemy just three months ago, and now, the Grandmountain Kingdom wants even more.¡¯ "Why would we wait for the attack?" Shang asked. The barbarians looked at each other in confusion. Then, they looked at Shang. "Because of the Summoners." Shang''s eyebrows rose. "Summoners? What''s that?" This shocked the barbarians even more. Leader Zero didn''t even know about the enemy he would fight? Shang saw their skepticism and quickly exined. "The reason why | am here and why | am treated as a criminal is because | lived in the wilderness. The Mages say that | have to repay them with my life, and | didn''t believe so." "That''s why | don''t know anything about our enemies." The barbarians remembered that Shang was a criminal, and they looked at his cor. They hadpletely forgotten about that. ¡°Being a criminal is bad and wrong," one of the barbarians said with a frown. ¡°But you are the strongest. We will follow," he added. Shang nodded. "So, what are Summoners?" "The Grandmountain Kingdom has barbarians," the barbarian said. "The ckshadow Kingdom has Summoners." Shang lifted one of his eyebrows. "The ckshadow Kingdom doesn''t have barbarians?" ¡°We haven''t seen any," the barbarian answered. "We have heard that there are people simr to barbarians, but they are all very weak, and we have never seen one fight. We heard that they hunt weak beasts and grow food." "So, the warriors in the ckshadow Kingdom are even weaker than barbarians. In fact, they are so weak that they aren''t even powerful enough to properly fight,¡¯ Shang thought. At that point, Shang furrowed his brows. ¡®But that doesn''t make much sense. The path of a physical fighter is the most straightforward, and a lot of people can probably find a way forward. They don''t have to be as powerful as the barbarians, but they should, at least, be powerful enough to join the war.¡¯ "Why are their fighters so weak?" Shang asked. At that point, the barbarians all frowned. ¡°From what we heard, Summoners can summon a Companion Beast from somewhere," the barbarian said. Shang lifted an eyebrow. ''l asked about fighters, but okay.¡¯C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. "That Companion Beast is their lifelong partner, and the Companion Beast can control other beasts. The strength of the Companion Beast also makes the Summoner stronger and allows them to control more beasts." "The Mages always tell us to kill the Companion Beasts when we see them. The Summoner bes weak and worthless when we kill the Companion Beast." At that moment, the barbarian frowned. ¡°Beasts be more powerful by eating other beasts or humans." At that moment, Shang''s right eye widened. He knew what the barbarian meant. "We have heard that there are no strong fighters because the strong ones all get fed to the Companion Beasts." Chapter 320 Chapter 320 Shang and the barbarians frowned. None of them liked the idea of warriors being fed to beasts. ¡®As sad as | am to say it, it makes sense. Beasts need to eat beasts or humans to be more powerful, and humans can be more powerful by simply training, eating medicine, or meditating.¡¯ "To the ckshadow Kingdom, normal humans might as well be herbivores, which are fed to the useful carnivores.¡¯ ¡°How powerful are these Summoners?" Shang asked. "They are not that powerful," one of the barbarians said. ¡°Not that powerful?" Shang asked with a lifted brow. "But they can control several beasts, right? That sounds about as powerful as a Mage." The barbarian shook his head. "The beasts Summoners control are much weaker than wild beasts.¡± ¡°How so?" Shang asked. "We don''t exactly know," the barbarian said. "We think that the normal beasts are probably too powerful.¡± "In what sense are they more powerful?" Shang asked. "The beasts are just weaker," the barbarian said. "The Companion Beast has a far weaker body than a normal beast, and the other beasts the Summoner controls are at least a level weaker than the Companion Beast." "So," Shang said. "To summarize, a Summoner on the same level as a Peak Fighter has a Companion Beast on the same level as a Peak Fighter, and they have several beasts equal to a Late Fighter, right?" The barbarians nodded. "The Companion Beast is about as strong as our previous Leader in the camp, but they fight far better than wild beasts. The Summoner controls them. The other beasts are also under the Summoner''s control, but they don''t fight as well as the Companion Beast." Shang scratched his chin. ¡®Interesting. That means that a Companion Beast is about as powerful as a very strong barbarian on its level. Their bodies are about equal, and the beast can also fight really well.¡¯Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. ¡®The other beasts are a level weaker, but they don''t seem to be weaker than wild beasts, which could mean that they are about as powerful as the Companion Beast.¡¯ ¡°How many beasts can a Summoner control?" Shang asked. ¡°Most Summoners have their Companion Beast and two wild beasts, but some even have three additional beasts. We have even heard rumors about Summoners with four additional beasts, but we have never seen one." "So, the average Summoner can summon three beasts in total, including the Companion Beast. | think, on average, a Summoner is more powerful than a warrior, but their potential might not be as high." ¡®An average warrior will be swarmed by three beasts with a more powerful body, but a really powerful warrior can probably take on five." Shang looked at the barbarians. ¡®But as for barbarians, probably not. One barbarian can probably take on a Companion Beast on their level and maybe a second one if they are really good.¡¯ ¡®But the problem is that the barbarians don''t seem to have any truly outstanding talents. The power of their body decides everything.¡¯ "Should we wait for the attack?" one of the barbarians asked. Shang remembered what had started this topic. They wanted to know if they should go out and hunt beasts now or wait for the attack to hunt more fitting beasts there. "When is the attack?" Shang asked. "We don''t know," one of the barbarians said. "The Mages tell us one day before we go, and they haven''t told us yet." "Alright," Shang said. "I think it would be better to hunt for beasts now." The barbarians nodded without questions. They didn''t know why Shang was telling them to strengthen their body now, but they trusted him since he was more powerful. "If we dy our strengthening, the Mages will suspect that we all know the full technique,¡± Shang said, exining his reasoning anyway. "Because of that, | would advise you to strengthen yourself normally, and if you find an opportunity to get the right beast, take it." The barbarians nodded. "Where can we find beasts?" Shang asked. He had seen only very few beasts in this Zone. He wasn''t surprised that he hadn''t seen any humans since this was war-torn land, but he was surprised that he didn''t find any beasts. "They are in the tunnels deep below us," one of the barbarians said. "You can find caves in the mountains, and most of them lead to the tunnels below us.¡± "So, it''s like the Caves,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡°Alright, anyone that can''t strengthen themselves right now?" Shang asked. All the barbarians frowned. "None of us can," one of them said. "Our previous Leader took us out to strengthen ourselves about a month ago. Most of us have to wait one more month or two weeks." Shang nodded and looked at Lash. "How about you?" "| can," Lash answered. Shang had already expected that. After all, the two of them had been imprisoned for two weeks, had traveled to the Deepcore Turtle Zone, and then had trained here for about three weeks in total. "Then, let''s go. We''ll strengthen ourselves right now,¡± Shang said as he stood up. "You are truly lucky to be sent here." Why was Lash lucky? Because he had an Earth Affinity, and the Deepcore Turtle also had an Earth Affinity. The underground was brimming with beasts with Earth Affinities and Darkness Affinities since the Earth Mana and Darkness Mana were abundant underground. The other barbarians also stood up, ready to follow. "You don''t need toe with us," Shang said to them. The barbarians were a bit surprised. They didn''t have to follow the two of them? They were a bit doubtful. After all, Shang and Lash needed to kill a beast on their level, and Peak Fighter Stage beasts were very powerful. Two barbarians couldn''t kill them on their own. Even their previous Leader needed five other barbarians to help him. However, they trusted Shang. Shang was more powerful, and if he said that he would do something impossible, they would believe him. This was simply how barbarians were. ¡°We will wait for you,¡± the most powerful of them said. Shang nodded and led Lash away. Killing a Peak General Stage beast? That wasn''t very difficult for Shang. Chapter 321 Chapter 321 Shang and Lash went into one of the caves in one of the tall mountains and descended the tunnel. After a couple of minutes, they found several Soldier Stage beasts, but they ignored them. The Soldier Stage beasts also felt that these two humans were too powerful, and they ran whenever they saw the two. The cave was dark, and inparison to the Caves in the Storm Eagle Zone, they looked natural. They were also far less confusing from ayout perspective. After a couple of minutes, they found the first General Stage beasts, but they also avoided the two humans. When they saw a Mid General Stage beast, they noticed that it didn''t immediately retreat. Instead, it stayed around but didn''t attack them. They continued, and a couple of minutester, they saw a Late General Stage beast. It was a five-meter-long mole with rocky armor and long, sharp ws. "Can you kill it alone?" Shang asked Lash. Lash estimated the mole''s power for a couple of seconds. "| don''t know," he said. Shang nodded. "Then, that''s good training. Fight it. If | see that you are about to die, | will intervene and kill it." Lash took a deep breath. This would be a difficult fight. After some seconds, he charged at the mole. The mole hadn''t noticed them up to now, but as soon as it saw Lash approach, it sharpened its ws, which began to grow even more. Lash also took out his own weapon. Lash was one of the more powerful barbarians, and he also had his own weapon. His weapon was a huge spike made out of hard bone. It couldn''t be called a spear since itcked the finesse of a spear. It was literally just a big, sharpened piece of bone. However, its weight and power were still astonishing. Shang guessed that this bone came from an Initial Commander Stage beast, and even though it hadn''t been crafted with a lot of finesse, it probably had been very expensive. The two of them charged at each other. And then, they both attacked. BANG! Lash pushed his long bone forward, hitting the mole on its head. It broke through the earth armor, its skin, and its muscles, but it eventually got stuck in the mole''s skull. The mole''s attack had missed since it had misjudged Lash''s reach. The mole screamed in pain and jumped back. Funnily enough, it also stumbled a bit, showing that it had received a heavy concussion. "He got the initiative," Shang thought. ''As long as he can keep it up, he will eventually wear down the mole." Sure enough, Lash continued stabbing his bone towards the mole. The mole evaded most of the strikes, but that forced it to retreat even more. It was simply too big to sidestep the strike, leaving only retreat as an option. The mole tried to strike the bone several times, but Lash always managed to make the mole miss. The fight continued like this for over two minutes. ¡®Is this how long normal hunts take?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang''s fights always ended very quickly due to his very explosive and offensive battle style. He wasn''t really used to seeing fights go on for so long. BANG! The mole managed to push the spear to the side. Even though the mole was a level below Lash, its body was still a bit more powerful than his. Together with the leverage it had by hitting the spear''s tip, it managed to throw the bone out of Lash''s hands. BANG! The bone hit the wall about twenty meters away, and Shang frowned. ¡®The bone is too big, and there is no handle. Even the worst smith knows that a good handle is important. Why would anyone able to create such a powerful weapon refuse to make a good handle?¡¯ Without his weapon, Lash was defenseless, but his eyes remained narrowed and concentrated. Shang prepared himself to intervene. He wasn''t sure if it was necessary, but he had to be ready. Lash jumped back, and the mole jumped forward with its ws. It had been on the retreat for so long, and it could finally go on the offensive. It extended its right w and tried to skewer Lash. At that moment, Lash''s training kicked in. BANG! Out of reflex, Lash pushed the ws outward, diverting the mole''s force. BOOOM!Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The molended sideways behind Lash since it hadn''t expected its force to be diverted like that. Lash charged away from the mole and reached his spear rather quickly. The mole had recovered and already jumped at Lash again. Lash''s eyes focused on the mole''s head, and he stabbed forward. BANG! The spear hit the same spot it had hit the first time, and the mole''s skull broke. The bone didn''t pierce through the entire brain, but it managed to destroy parts of it. The mole''s body quickly began to convulse as its brain malfunctioned. The fight was already over, and Lash quickly ended it. Silence. After the fight, Lash looked at his injured left arm. There were a couple of deep cuts on it since it had deflected the mole''s ws. However, that action saved Lash''s life. ¡°Without your training, | would have died,¡± Lash said without looking away from his arm. ¡°Fighting with a weapon doesn''t mean that you only fight with it," Shang said. "There are a couple of things you could have done." ¡°For example, you could have baited out an attack from the mole, kick its w to the side, and kill it by using its own charge as additional force for your spike." Lash imagined that scene and nodded. It made sense to him to fight like that, but while fighting the beast, he had reverted to his old habits. He was used to fighting beasts like this, and it was difficult to change it on a whim. It needed a lot of training and practice to change one''s fighting style. Luckily for Shang, he had been a master at hand-to-handbat before he had even received his first weapon. MMA had a nice flow to it, especially in the ground fights. Make yourself aspact as possible, get behind the enemy''s defenses, and release a powerful attack. It was like the fighter was a slippery eel that suddenly transformed into a strong gori when the time was right. Shang''s fighting style had built upon that. When he fought beasts, he mainly focused on evading their attacks and getting even closer while doing so, and when he was close to the enemy, he unleashed a devastating attack. Lash was more direct. He essentially made his power sh with the enemy''s power, which wasn''t the smartest move when one was fighting a beast. But it was the safe option. Even if one messed up or lost the sh, they could still retreat. Inparison to that, if Shang misjudged his opponent''s attack or messed up his dodge, he would probably die immediately. Lash''s fighting style was low risk, low reward. Shang''s fighting style was high risk, high reward. Lash used his weapon several times to block, while Shang only blocked when there was no way to dodge or parry. The reason was that blocking broke Shang''s momentum and flow, and he hated that. "Give me your weapon," Shang said. Lash handed his spike over without any protests. Shang had proven more than once that he knew what he was doing. "I''m going to make a handle for you," he said. Lash didn''t say anything. He simply trusted Shang. Funnily enough, Shang didn''t say this sentence for Lash but Sword. Shang had never forged anything before, and he knew that he couldn''t do this alone. But Sword probably knew what to do. Shang stabbed the spike into the ground so that its handle pointed upward. Then, Shang held Sword to it and began to grind upward. Shavings of bone left the spike as Sword ground on it. Sword had understood what Shang wanted, and it stealthily moved in the perfect way to create a stable handle. It took a while, but an hourter, Shang was finally done. At the backend of the spike, Shang could now see the bone narrow again in a smooth way until it became thin enough to be held by human hands. Then, the handle continued for a bit until it widened again, and at the very end, it turnedpletely t. The wide end was so that Lash could put more force into the spike. Shang gave the spike back to Lash, and he carried it in his hands. One had to remember that this was a spike, not a spear. Spears could also be swung from side to side due to the sharp des at their tips, but this spike couldn''t be used like that. This spike had no sharp edges. It only had a sharp point. Lash put his hand on the handle and saw how easily he could angle the spike. Then, he put his right hand on the butt of the spike and pushed forward. BANG! The stab released a lot of power with tremendous speed. ¡®With that flexible handle, he can also use feints,¡¯ Shang thought. ''He can charge in, point his spike at the enemy''s head, force them to block the attack, but then quickly change the angle of the spike before punching forward.¡¯ ¡®But that''s for him to find out. | think he will notice that application very quickly." ¡°Let''s continue," Shang said. "I''m going to get us two Peak Fighter Stage beasts. Chapter 322 Chapter 322 Shang and Lash continued down the tunnel, leaving the corpse of the mole behind. There was nothing useful to them on the mole, and Shang didn''t want to unveil that he had a Space Ring or inner world. The mole had only functioned as training for Lash. After walking for a couple more minutes, Shang found a Peak General Stage beast. It was a Cobble Slug. Shang had learned of this beast from the barbarians. Apparently, it could create earth armor, role up into a ball, and roll over its opponents. On top of that, it had a scary ranged attack. It could condense an earthen spike and shoot it at the enemy like a cannon. There were even some Cobble Slugs that could shoot the spike while rolling around the cave. This meant that they had high speed, high defense, and high offense. It was definitely one of the more powerful beasts, which was also why most barbarian groups avoided them. Who would have thought that a slug without poison could be so scary? ¡°Just wait here," Shang said. BANG! Then, Shang charged at the slug while dragging his sword behind him. Shang''s approach definitely wasn''t silent, and the slug noticed him very quickly. As soon as it saw Shang, it condensed a powerful spike in front of it and shot it at Shang. Lash watched and frowned. If this were him, he would need to block the attack with his spike since he wasn''t fast enough to evade that attack. Lash knew that he would lose against this slug, even if it were a level below him. It simply countered him perfectly. Even if he managed to get close, the slug would simply turn into a ball and move away with more speed than Lash. The spike shot towards Shang. Shang took one small step and then onerge step to the side while angling his body. SHING! The spike shot past his body, its wind making Shang''s hair blow to the side. Lash''s eyes widened. ¡®How did he move so fast to the side?!¡¯ he thought in shock. After stepping to the side, Shang stopped advancing, transferring all his momentum and power to his sword. Shang''s sword cut through the air, creating a loud, howling noise. And when Shang''s sword reached the front, it shot forward, pulling Shang with it.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. This was the very move Astor had used back then, and Shang was still using it as a Peak General Stage warrior. Shang flew with incredible speed at the Cobble Slug. Heavy weapons made the user slower, but by using a heavy weapon like this, one could even be faster than with a light weapon. Of course, the preparation phase of this move was quite extravagant and long-winded. During closebat, this move couldn''t be used. The Cobble Slug noticed the rapidly approaching sword and turned into a ball. CRACK! Shang''s sword punched through the earthen armor with ease. BANG! Shang''s huge sword skewered the entire Cobble Slug,ing out at the other side. Sword was 250 centimeters long right now, giving it terrifying weight and reach. Additionally, it was extremely sharp. Lastly, it was made with Early Commander Stage materials. With so much power, sharpness, hardness, and speed, the Cobble Slug''s defense became pointless. And Shang didn''t even need to use his ranged attack, his Affinity, or his Domain. He had fought with a severe handicap, but he had still easily won. The Cobble Slug tried to unfurl again, but it couldn''t due to the gigantic sword. Shang only used Sword as a handle and mmed the Cobble Slug against the cave walls a couple of times until it died. Lash only looked at Shang with a shocked expression. He had no idea how Shang could have be so fast with such a heavy weapon. One had to remember that humans learned from other humans. For example, Shang learned this move by watching Astor. If no one had shown that move around Shang before, he might not have realized that he could use a heavy weapon like this. Inparison to warriors, barbarians only focused on their physical power and very simple techniques. They had a lot of untapped potential. And, right now, Lash''s eyes were being opened to a new world. "You can have that one," Shang said. "Dig out its heart and wait here. | will soon return with my own." Lash could only nod absentmindedly as Shang went further into the cave. Lash dug through the Cobble Slug and eventually retrieved a slimy, bloody, huge heart. It would take a while to eat it. Acouple of minutester, Shang came back with his own beast heart, and the two of them went up the tunnel again. When they reached a height with mostly Peak Soldier Stage beasts, they stopped and began their strengthening. They sat down and emptied their Mana. Something like this wasn''t difficult for Shang. After all, he had incredible control over his Mana. Then, they consumed the heart very quickly. They took huge bites and swallowed them whole. Surprisingly, the raw heart didn''t taste as bad as Shang had anticipated. In fact, it tasted rather nice. ¡®| guess that''s because of the Procedure.¡¯ When Shang consumed the entire thing, he felt heat spread throughout his entire body. The two of them quickly began to perform the poses to digest the heart. Shang didn''t actually need to perform the pose since his control over Mana allowed him to simply guide the Mana into his body, but he performed them anyway. After all, he couldn''t allow anyone to realize that he wasn''t actually a barbarian. Shang closed his eyes and inspected his body. ¡®Interesting. | can feel the Mana enter my body, but that''s not the only thing. There''s also a kind of dormant will inside the Mana. As soon as the Mana enters my body, it loses its dormant will, but the will on the heart in my stomach still remains." Over the next hour, Shang kept inspecting the will in his stomach. Eventually, Shang''s body reached saturation, and he couldn''t absorb any more foreign Mana. The dormant will in his stomach had weakened severely, but it was still there. On top of that, it began to be active. However, it had grown so incredibly weak by now that it didn''t pose a threat. Shang had managed to absorb around 75% of the Mana, making the will in his stomach very weak. ¡®| guess that also exins why no barbarian consumes hearts from beasts of higher levels. The will itself would be more powerful, and if there were even more Mana remaining, it might actually injure my mind.¡¯ ¡®The remaining Mana needs to disperse naturally, which should take a bit more than three weeks. That also exins why the Mages say that one can only strengthen oneself once every month with the technique costing 50 years." Shang opened his eyes and grabbed his sword. Then, he lifted it. Shang looked at Sword with interest as he moved it around. ¡®I still can''t use it with only one hand, but it has be quite a bit lighter, Shang thought with pleasant surprise. ¡®Only one strengthening and my physical strength has increased by about 10% to 15%!" Before the strengthening process, Shang''s body has been as powerful as an Early Commander Stage warrior or a Late General Stage beast. Now, his body was a bit more powerful than both. | think if | get my hands on Abominations and if | can strengthen my body enough times, | could create a body with the full power of a beast on my level." Shang remembered King Skythunder''s words. "The Procedure seems to fit more to barbarians than warriors." ¡®With the Procedure and the barbarian strengthening technique, | can actually create a body equal to a beast.¡¯ ¡®Even without my warrior training, this would make me superior to a beast on my level. After all, as a human, | can fight in more varied and flexible ways than beasts." At that moment, a gleam appeared in Shang''s eye. ¡®This is it!¡± ¡®This can close the gap between warriors and Mages!" ¡®The Procedure, the barbarian strengthening technique, the powerful weapon, my Domain, control over my Affinity." ¡®These can close the gap of the Mana Source, mastery of Spells, Foci, and Mana Tranquility!¡¯ ¡®With all of this, I''m on an equal base level with True Mages! Chapter 323 Chapter 323 After strengthening himself for the first time as a barbarian, Shang left the tunnels together with Lash. "Did you feel a difference?" Shang asked. "A lot of things make sense now," Lash said. "Previously, | noticed that | grew stronger by much more on some asions and not as much on others." "This time, | grew by a lot." Shang nodded. "Good to hear," he said.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The two of them left the caves and returned to the group of barbarians, who were surprised and not surprised to see Shang alive at the same time. On one hand, Shang and Lash had killed two Peak General Stage beasts very quickly, which almost seemed impossible, but on the other hand, Shang was the strongest of them, and they had full trust in him. There was a weird conflict in their minds about whether or not what Shang did was impossible or natural. In the end, their minds could only feel astonishment. Their new Leader was truly powerful! Shang and the group of barbarians resumed training. But just a couple of dayster, the Mages sent an announcement to the troop. Tomorrow, they would attack! "So, it''s finally happening,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l was wondering if this was actually a military camp since I''ve been here for nearly a month without any enemy contact. Almost felt like a vacation. Well, | guess that''s also why so many barbarians want to go to this front.¡¯ The barbarians prepared themselves over the next day. Tomorrow, they would enter battle, and it was unknown how many of them would be able toe back. Shang also trained with Sword for the entire night to test his newfound strength. ¡®| should be careful of not unveiling too much power,¡¯ he thought. ¡®It''s not an issue when I''m the strongest barbarian, but the gap shouldn''t be too vast. Additionally, | need to keep my Domain and my mastery over my Mana and Affinities secret.¡¯ "However, being outstanding has its uses. | will get more freedom, and the Mages will feel more secure when they see my power. After all, someone with so much power couldn''t keep even more stashed away, right?" Shang only smirked. ¡®Mana Tranquility gives the True Mages a lot more power, but if | go through a couple more strengthenings, it shouldn''t be a problem to jump another level against them." Mana Tranquility. Shang had thought about that term several times by now, but what was it actually? When an Apprentice bes an Adept, they absorb a Mana Source. This gives them far more control over their Affinity. This was one of the reasons why Mages are so much powerful. Of course, the overwhelming strength of the Mages couldn''t be fully attributed to the Mana Sources. Mana Tranquility was something that Adepts underwent when they became True Mages. The Adept needed to buy several nts, ores, stones, and beast materials that conformed to their Affinity. When everything was gathered, the Adept would need to cast a veryplicated Spell. No one else could cast the Spell on them. Only the Adept themselves could do it. Most Adepts needed at least three years of practice to learn that Spell, and the Spell was also rather expensive to purchase. Allin all, the Spell plus practice plus materials would set back the Adept about five million gold, a ridiculous sum for someone in the Second Realm. After all, their Focus barely cost 500 thousand to one million gold. Of course, an Adept didn''t directly need to go through Mana Tranquility. They could also be a True Mage without it. Sadly, that would mean that they would be the weakest True Mages, the ones that could only work in the lowest of Circles. They would be knighted, but they would never enter true nobility. Naturally, this wasn''t the first time the Mages were confronted with issues regarding money. After all, a normal Mana Source only cost an Apprentice about 800 gold, while a Pure Mana Source cost about 200,000 gold. 200,000 gold for someone equivalent to a Peak Soldier Stage warrior... That was far too much money. And near the True Mage Realm, once again, they would be confronted with something that was very, very expensive. But if an Adept managed to purchase the Spell, learn the Spell, purchase the materials, and perform the Spell, their investment would pay off. Mana Tranquility gave them a far closer connection to the Natural Mana that was around them all the time. What was the difference between a True Mage with Mana Tranquility and one without? A True Mage with Mana Tranquility regenerated Mana three times as fast as one without. In practical terms, this meant that a True Mage with Mana Tranquility could keep casting low-cost Spells as fast as they could without reducing their Mana storage. Popr low-cost Spells were Spells like Lightning Bolt, Icicle, Wind de. They were the mostmon Spells that every Mage used duringbat. Together with their Focus, a True Mage with a Lightning Affinity could cast Lightning Bolts at insane speeds, and they wouldn''t run out of Mana. They would only lose Mana if they cast more powerful Spells or when they were hit. If the opponents Shang had fought in the Trial had undergone Mana Tranquility, he would have died against his third one. Mana Tranquility essentially transformed Mages into gatling guns that never needed to reload as long as they only fired basic bullets. Because of Mana Tranquility, there was no more exhausting the Mage''s Mana by evading their Spells for Shang. He would need to beat their Mana out of them. ¡®Even with Mana Tranquility, I''m confident that | could kill an Initial True Mage right now,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Of course, | would need to use all of my power. | think killing an average Initial True Mage with Mana Tranquility is only slightly easier than winning against Vice-Commander Wilbury.'' ¡®Luckily, if | were to fight Wilbury again, I''m confident that | could win. | have my Domain now from the very beginning of the fight, and my strength has increased." ¡®However, if Baroness Wilbury were to fight me..." Baroness Wilbury was an Early True Mage that had undergone Mana Tranquility. She was a level lower than her husband, but her power was far above her husband''s power. Even an average Early True Mage could kill Vice-Commander Wilbury. At the General Stage, the most talented warriors could win against an average Adept on their level. Sadly, that was no longer the case at the Commander Stage. The most talented warrior at the Mid Commander Stage could maybe win against the weakest Early True Mage. If a Commander Stage warrior had the ability to win against any Mage one level below them, they would beuded as an outstanding hero by all warriors. And the gap only continued to widen from then on. But that was about to change. The Procedure had been invented, and Shang was certain that the Dean would very quickly create his own version of the technique the barbarians used to strengthen their bodies. The only thing that they would be missing to equalize the ying field in the Third Realm would be expertly crafted weapons. Luckily, Shang and the Dean had these great weapons. But that didn¡¯t mean that the other warriors would never get those. Eventually, someone would create a technique to forge amazing weapons that allowed warriors to fully close the gap in the Third Realm. ¡®The world is undergoing a change,¡¯ Shang thought with a smirk, ¡®and | shouldn''t be left behind!" Shang looked at the morning sun. Then, he looked at the gathered warriors near the camp. ¡®Let''s see what | can aplish in this battle.¡¯ Chapter 324 Chapter 324 All the barbarians gathered in front of the camp as soon as the sun came up, and Shang also quickly joined them. Lash and the other barbarians that hade to him earlier stood close to him, showing their allegiance. Even though the barbarians all stood in front of the camp, there were three distinct camps. The biggest one wore no cors and surrounded the tall barbarian from the camp. There were about a hundred barbarians in that camp. The second camp was onlyprised of barbarians with cors, and that camp consisted of about 25 barbarians. Thest one was Shang''s camp. There were two barbarians with cors, including himself, and five barbarians without cors. They were only seven. The cored barbarians didn''t heed Shang''s camp any mind, but the bigger group of barbarians looked with narrowed eyes at Lash and Shang. They saw that Lash stood respectfully beside Shang, which meant that he was Lash''s Leader. However, they had never seen Shang do anything to show his power. On the first day of the criminals¡¯ arrival, Shang had only walked away, not showing his power or dominance. To barbarians, if one had the power, one would show it. It was only natural to show that one was the strongest. The fact that Shang didn''t show his power made them mistrustful. Shang didn''t heed the barbarians any mind. Their opinions were irrelevant. The fact that the barbarians created different Tribes inside the military camp was already idiotic and childish to Shang. Why would one want to establish themselves as the Leader while being confined in a cage? Leader or not, when the Mages gave an order, everyone followed. The Leader had no power, just like all the other barbarians. After a couple of minutes, themander over the camp arrived with her typical, cold expression. Behind her were two True Mages. Themander was the strongest human for kilometers around since she was an Early True Mage. Right now, Shang was rather sure that he would lose if he were to fight her. This was the power he had to ovee if he wanted to regain his freedom. And, for now, Shang wasn''t powerful enough. Themander looked at all the gathered barbarians for a while. "The five strongest, step forward," shemanded. The barbarians all looked at each other. And more than five barbarians stepped forward. From the biggest group, the Leader and three other barbarians stepped forward. From the other camp, two stepped forward. And from Shang''s group, Shang and Lash stepped forward. In total, there were eight barbarians that had stepped forward, and they all red at each other, except for Shang. Themander frowned, but she decided that it would be too much hassle to organize several fights. ¡°Eight it is," she said. SHING! Athick, ck staff appeared out of thin air in front of themander, and it fell to the ground. BOOOM! When it hit the ground, a heavy quake washed over the gathered group, and they looked at the staff in shock. This thing was heavy! Why did themander summon this staff?! "If you can lift this staff, you will be chosen for a special mission," she exined. "If you do well in this special mission, you will have proven your worth to us, and we will elevate your position and will grant you more power." When the barbarians heard that, greed appeared in their eyes, and the barbarians that hadn''t stepped forward regretted not stepping forward. Themander noticed their gazes and snorted. "Don''t overestimate yourselves," she said. "| would be surprised if even one of you can lift it." Of course, the barbarians took that as a provocation, but they didn''t dare to protest. "You, step forward,¡± themander said to the tall barbarian from the main camp. She knew that he was considered the strongest. The tall barbarianplied and stepped forward. Then, he crouched down and took hold of the staff. And he tried to lift it. His muscles bulged, and his face became red, but the staff only very slowly moved upward. The tall barbarian''s body shook, and about ten secondster, he managed to lift it to his waist. His arms trembled under the tremendous weight. "It needs to be lifted above your head," themander said coldly. The tall barbarian gritted his teeth, and he tried to lift it further. It moved a couple more centimeters, but when it reached his belly button, he had to drop it. BOOOOM! The heavy staff hit the ground again, and another powerful quake went throughout the camp. The barbarians had been shocked into silence. How heavy was this staff?! How was anyone supposed to lift this?! ¡°Anyone else?" themander asked. The other three barbarians from the main camp walked back to their group. The tall barbarian was the publicly acknowledged strongest in their group.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. At that point, the Leader of the criminal camp stepped forward, and he also tried to lift it. However, he barely managed to lift the staff to the middle of his shin before he had to drop it. This made those two retreat as well, leaving only Lash and Shang. "You want to try?" Shang asked Lash. Lash narrowed his eyes and stepped forward. Then, he tried to lift it. His entire body shook, and his face became red, but the staff moved upward. When the staff reached his knees, Lash was already at his limit. But he kept going. Lash continued lifting, and even blood started to flow out of his arms. His eyes had bepletely bloodshot, and blood exploded out of his nose. But he kept going. When he managed to lift it to his waist, he managed to hold it there for about two seconds. And then, he dropped it. BOOOM! The staff hit the ground with tremendous force, and Lash nearly fell over. However, he had proven his power and will. His body was still weaker than the tall barbarian''s, but with tremendous willpower, he managed to nearly close the gap. Themander noted Lash''s tremendous willpower and decided to look more closely into Lash. And then, there was only Shang. Shang slowly stepped forward, and the other barbarians looked at him with mixed expressions. Shang''s group looked with confidence at him. The main group looked with hostile eyes at him. The criminal camp looked with ridicule and disgust at him. Shang didn''t take any of these expressions to heart. He stopped in front of the staff and calmly looked into themander''s eyes. Themander only furrowed her brows. For some reason, Shang felt very different from all the other barbarians. She didn''t know how or why, but Shang felt out of ce among the group of barbarians. Shang slowly crouched down and took hold of the staff. Then, he stood up. In just two seconds, Shang had lifted the staff to his waist. Silence. The barbarians looked with shock at Shang. His arms weren''t even shaking! Yes, his arms were bulging, and they were definitely under a lot of stress, but they were definitely not at their limits! Aglow appeared in themander''s eyes. Shang''s biceps curled as he lifted the staff to his chest. Even more silence. Shang had pulled the staff far higher than anyone here! Then, Shang pushed the staff and took a big step forward. In one push, he had stretched his arms over his head with the staff. Shang pulled his legs together again and remained standing. The ck staff was extended above his head, and it was stable. His stance was stable. His body didn''t shake. It was perfect. Shang continued looking at themander. Themander looked with narrowed eyes at Shang. Shang only had one question. "Do | pass?" Chapter 325 Chapter 325 BOOM! The staff hit the ground again as Shang dropped it. He had proven his power already. Themander kept looking at Shang for a bit before turning to one of the Mages behind her. "Bring them to the front," she ordered. The Mage behind her saluted and stepped forward to bring the barbarians away. "You, follow me," she said to Shang as she turned around. Shang took his sword and followed her without saying anything. The two of them entered one of the buildings and walked into a room. The room was basically a military office. There were some maps, some chairs, some books, and there were some tables. It wasn''t anything special. Themander gestured to one of the chairs, and Shang sat down. She sat down on the other side of the table, looking at him with narrowed eyes. For a while, the two only looked at each other. "You''re a warrior, right?" themander suddenly asked. "Yes," Shang answered with a nod. Themander furrowed her brows at Shang.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. "Do you know what a warrior is?" she asked. "A strong barbarian," Shang answered. Themander''s furrowed brows stayed furrowed. "No, a warrior is someone simr to a barbarian, but warriors live in the Skythunder Kingdom," she said. This time, Shang furrowed his brows. "A warrior is a strong barbarian," he said. Some annoyance appeared in themander''s eyes. "That might be your definition, but in the grand scheme of things, a warrior is not a barbarian, and a barbarian is not a warrior." Shang looked with a bit of skepticism at themander. It was obvious that he didn''t fully believe her. Themander released a very silent and covert groan of frustration. ¡®It worked,¡¯ Shang thought, trying not to smirk. At that moment, Shang was happy that he always went through many hypothetical conversations with others in his head. Otherwise, he would have reacted suspiciously. How would a warrior have reacted to a Mage of the Grandmountain Kingdom suddenly asking them if they were a warrior? They would deny it. They woulde up with reasons as to why they couldn''t be a warrior. But exactly that would be suspicious. How could a stupid barbarian on the northeastern front know so much about warriors that they could argue that they weren''t one? Would the barbarian even know what a warrior was? And exactly that was the trap in the question. Astupid barbarian would simply think that she was referring to the general term, which was generally associated with strong barbarians. A barbarian would just confirm that he was a warrior, while an actual warrior would deny it. ¡®She must have gotten some kind of file from the Governor that captured me. | am already very noticeable due to my missing eye and my power, which means that the Mages will look very closely at everything | do." ¡®This was probably a test to see if | was the spy that talked with someone in the Skythunder Kingdom." ¡®Additionally, whatever special mission | will be joining is probably also quite sensitive and secretive. They can''t risk any traitors entering.¡¯ Apiece of paper appeared in front of themander, and she wrote a couple of things on it. "Name," she said. "Zero," Shang answered. Themander frowned and looked at Shang. "That doesn''t sound like a real name." "| gave this name to myself," Shang said. "| need your real name, the one you got at your birth," she said. "| don''t remember," Shang said. Themander looked with furrowed eyes at Shang. After that, she cast a long Spell. When she finished the Spell, nothing obvious happened, but Shang could feel that the Mana was somehow different. ¡°Repeat what you''ve just said," she said. "| don''t remember my birth name," Shang said. Themander closed her eyes to focus on the Mana, and two secondster, she opened them again. "Fine," she said as she wrote Zero onto the piece of paper. ¡®That was probably some kind of Truth Spell or something,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Sucks to be you. | didn''t lie." Shang truly didn''t remember his birth name. The god had made sure of that. ¡°If you are willing to ept the mission, sign here," themander said as she pushed the piece of paper to Shang. Shang looked at it and quickly read through it. ¡®That''s basically an NDA,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®I can''t talk to anyone about whatever | see, or | will be under severe pain until the Mages decide to stop my pain.¡¯ Shang signed the Magic Contract. After fully signing it, aplex mix of Mana entered Shang''s mind. As soon as it reached his mind, Shang felt like a chain had been strung around it. This was the effect of a Magic Contract. It limited the freedom of the subject regarding one specific thing. ¡®The Magic Contract is weak,¡¯ Shang thought. ''The fact that | don''t identify with the name Zero very much weakens the contract significantly. Additionally, they probably don''t use the really powerful ones since we are only barbarians. It''s doubtful that a barbarian would have the necessary control over their mind and Mana to break free from the contract.¡¯ ¡®I can break the contract whenever | want,¡¯ Shang thought. The Magic Contract split into two pieces, and themander took both of them. Shang didn''tment on it. Usually, the second copy was for the person that had signed the contract, but themander kept both copies. This meant that the Mages could now act oblivious and im anything. After all, Shang didn''t have any proof that they were lying. "Huh, they didn¡¯t even hand me my copy,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®This means that | would be able to break the contract regardless, even if | had used my real name.¡¯ Magic Contracts were expensive and veryplicated. The standardized paper of the Magic Contracts had a built-in escape use. If one of the parties genuinely believed that they hadn''t received their copy, they could annul the contract. Of course, one would first have to know how to trigger this built-in escape use, and barbarians definitely didn''t know that. Naturally, the other party would also be informed if the contract broke. If Shang decided to annul the contract or break it, themander would immediately be rmed. ¡®But | don''t have to,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I can break it when | break out." ¡®It''s really useful to be thought of as an idiot.¡¯ After stashing the two copies away, themander stood up. ¡°Follow me. We have to go to another camp for further testing. If you''re lucky, your mission will start tomorrow at dawn." "You have a long day ahead of you." Then, she stood up and walked out of the building. Shang followed her. Chapter 326 Chapter 326 The two of them traveled to the western border of the Deepcore Turtle Zone. There, Shang saw a hundred-meter-tall tower, which meant that many Mages were stationed there. This was probably the central headquarters for the actual offense. However, themander brought Shang to a field quite a bit north of the tower, behind one of the mountains. When the two of them arrived at their destinations, Shang could see five Mages with differently colored robes and hair talking to each other. In front of them were around ten barbarians, and nine of them were at the Commander Stage, or Champion Stage, as it was called here. There was one younger man at the Peak General Stage amongst the group of older Commander Stage barbarians. Yes, the Commander Stage barbarians were nearly all, at least, middle-aged. Some of them even looked to be in their sixties. ¡®| guess there aren''t many young Commander Stage barbarians,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang joined the other barbarians, who looked with surprise at Shang. Warriors would be impressed that someone at the Peak General Stage could pass the exam, but barbarians were different. These barbarians were more powerful than Shang, which meant that they didn''t need to respect Shang. They didn''t take his potential and talent into ount. What use did talent and potential have? They could still beat him up. The Commander spoke with the Mages for a bit, and the Mages threw interested nces at Shang from time to time. They hadn''t expected any Fighter Stage barbarian to pass the test, but now there were two. After a while, themander saluted, handed one of the copies of Shang''s Magic Contract to them, and left the area. Now, only the five Mages remained. The Mages talked amongst each other for a bit more as the barbarians waited. About ten minutester, the Mages stopped talking, and one of them stepped forward. It was an older man with long grey hair and grey robes. ¡°Over the next day, you all will undergo several tests. We will test you in different aspects to gauge the limit of your coordination, flexibility, endurance, will, and many other categories." Not every barbarian understood what the Mage was saying. They only knew that they had to undergo some tests. ¡°First, we need to test how much stress your body can handle," the Mage exined as he gestured to a big Magic Circle on the ground beside him. The other four Mages stepped around the Magic Circle and waited. "You, step forward,¡± the Mage said to a random barbarian. The barbarian puffed out his chest and stepped into the Magic Circle. "Try to remain on your feet," the Mage said emotionlessly. After that, thest Mage stepped on a free spot around the Magic Circle while the barbarians watched with interest. Amomentter, all the Mages began to cast Spells, but they were all casting different ones.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Shang only recognized two of the Spells, but that already gave him an inkling as to what they were testing. "Huh, so that''s why they need a powerful barbarian. | think | get it. Quite clever, actually,¡¯ Shang thought. ''The ckshadow Kingdom probably won''t see thising.¡¯ As the Mages cast more Spells, the barbarian began to sweat, and his body began to shake. His muscles violently bulged in some ces, and blood flowed out of his skin in others. The barbarian''s face whitened, and he gritted his teeth. After about a minute, the barbarian fell to the ground, blooding out of all orifices on his body. The Mages stopped casting their Spells and looked with furrowed brows at the barbarian. "Not good enough," the grey-robed Mage said. Then, he turned to Shang. "You, step forward,¡± he said as the other barbarian was pushed out of the Magic Circle. Shang knew what was waiting for him, but he wasn''t afraid. He could deal with that. After Shang was done with his turn, the Mages tested the other barbarians. Only seven remained after this round from the original eleven, including Shang. The barbarians that didn''t pass were sent back to wherever they hade from. "Next test, dealing with stress," the Mage announced. Every barbarian went through the next test, and another two were sorted out, leaving five. "Next test, flexibility..." "Next test, agility..." "Next test, uracy..." Over the next 20 hours, Shang went through nine different tests in total. In the end, only two barbarians were left, but the Mages decided to go with Shang since he didn''t show any weaknesses in any of the tests. The other barbarian had better marks on several tests, but he also only barely passed two of them, while Shang was very comfortable in the upper middle in all of them. Thest barbarian left, leaving Shang alone with the five Mages. The grey-robed Mage smirked as he looked at Shang. "Congrattions. You will be part of history!" Shang didn''t answer. ¡°Now, | will tell you what you have to do..." Dark skies. It had been years since the gue Rat Zone had seen natural light. The gue Rat was a Zone Beast with a Darkness Affinity, and the gue Rat Zone reflected that disposition very well. There was barely any vegetation in this Zone, and if one saw one of the nts, one could be sure that the nt was extremely dangerous. The gue Rat Zone was a nearly lifeless wastnd full of danger. One could see no fighting beasts. After all, nearly all the beasts in this Zone were ambush hunters. There were no fights. There was only one-sided, quick ughter. At the southern part of the gue Rat Zone stood an armyprised of over 200 barbarians. They all stood in a line with their gigantic weapons, ready to charge. About 20 True Mages stood behind the barbarians, ready for battle. Around ten kilometers to the north was the enemy. A dark castle with ck spears poking out of it stood in front of a tall mountain. A fully ck barrier surrounded the castle. The ckshadow Kingdom had a terrifying amount of Darkness Mages and an equally terrifying number of Spells for Darkness Mages. Darkness Mages ruled the Kingdom. The dark castle was the home of one of the Priests, the Dukes of the ckshadow Kingdom. The Priest herself wasn''t currently here since the Grandmountain Kingdom threatened other parts of her Kingdom. This camp of the Grandmountain Kingdom didn''t have a High Mage amongst them. The other parts did, which was why the Priest had to defend those parts. However, she didn''t fear for her home. Even though her Peak True Mages were scattered amongst the frontlines, her personal general remained here. He was an extremely outstanding Summoner who might be the first Summoner to reach the High Mage Realm. This Summoner could control eight beasts in total, and they were all Late Commander Stage beasts. The Grandmountain Kingdom would need to send significant resources to this ce. Additionally, her base was surrounded by an invincible shield. No Mage below the High Mage Realm could possibly break through it. The general stood on top of the castle''s walls together with several other True Mages. If the Grandmountain Kingdom decided to attack, they would be assaulted by a barrage of Spells that would decimate their army. Attacking would be suicide. A Mage with short-blue hair looked at the distant castle with a cold look. "Do it," he ordered. The grey-robed Mage from earlier saluted. Then, he turned to the person behind him with a smirk. "It''s your time to shine," he said. "Just as we practiced." And then, Shang stepped forward. Chapter 327 Chapter 327 Shang stepped forward from behind the Mage. The barbarians didn''t look at Shang and only focused on the distant enemy. Shang didn''t look any different except for two things. His Sword wasn''t there, and he had a new ring on his finger. Yes, the Mages had given him a Space Ring for the mission. If Shang did well, he could even keep it, giving him an excuse to finally use his inner world again. Right now, Sword was in Shang''s inner world. Shang slowly stepped past the Mages and barbarians until he was at the very front. An army of barbarians and Mages stood behind Shang while an imprable fortress was on the horizon. Shang cracked his neck, took a deep breath, and closed his remaining eye. Two secondster, Shang''s eye opened. BOOOOM! Shang exploded forward with all his power, leaving a small crater behind. The army didn''t move. In the distance, the Summoners and Mages on the castle looked with confusion at their enemy. There was a lone barbarian charging at them. They weren''t sure what they should think of that. Even the strongest barbarian in the world would be turned into dust before even reaching the halfway point. Was he a messenger or diplomat? No, he didn''t wear the universal signs of one. Then, what was he doing? Was he defecting? But then, the Mages behind him would directly kill him. Shang reached his top speed quite quickly. With just his body, Shang reached the speed of an Initial Champion Stage barbarian, which was quite fast. In fact, Shang was running at around 180 kph. However, in front of an army of powerful True Mages, that speed wasn''t anything special. ¡°Kill him," the general ordered. A Mage near him took out his Focus with two Amplifiers and readied a Spell. This was a Late True Mage, and one Spell of his could decimate Shang from several kilometers away. Abitter, an intense fireball had been readied. From a distance, Shang could see the fireball and got reminded of his first Day of Chaos. The Mages of Warrior''s Paradise hadpletely annihted the surrounding beasts with that Spell. The Mage unleashed the fireball, which shot towards Shang at blinding speeds. Even if he stepped to the side right now, he would still be hit by the explosion, which would injure him severely. ¡®Let''s go!¡¯ Shang thought to himself. At the same time, Shang''s body was nearly shrouded in a thick cloud of Elemental Mana. There was Wind Mana, Metal Mana, Fire Mana, Earth Mana, Water Mana, and Lightning Mana. Shang''s body began to bulge and turn red under the severe stress of all the Mana, but he could handle it. And then... BOOOOOOM! Two explosions. The fiery explosion from the fireball turned the surrounding ten meters into a hellscape, but it was the smaller of the two explosions. Shortly before the fiery explosion appeared, the ground below Shang exploded. The ground for over thirty meters in radius had been lowered by several meters. It was almost like a giant had stepped on this ce! However, no giant had set foot in this ce. No, this was the explosive force of Shang elerating! The Wind Canction Spell moved the air out of Shang''s path. The Blessing of Wind increased Shang''s Speed. Earth''s Power increased Shang''s strength by several levels. Metal''s Resistance gave Shang more resistance, allowing him to not copse under the Spells. Lightning''s Speed increased Shang''s speed even more. Blessing of the Flowing Water increased Shang''s thinking speed. This was the special mission. The Mages needed a barbarian that could hold out under so many amplifying Spells while still being able to control their body. And right now, Shang''s speed... It was unimaginable! From a lonely running barbarian, Shang had transformed into a lightning bolt of different Elemental Mana, carving a long crevice into thend. In the short moment in which the enemies had been shocked, Shang had already traversed nearly a full kilometer. When the explosion urred, Shang had already gained a distance of about 300 meters! "Kill him!" the general shouted. The surrounding Mages all readied their Foci and channeled several Spells. Over 20 True Mages were currently targeting Shang with their Spells. In the distance behind Shang, the Mages were looking at Shang with narrowed eyes. Everything hinged on this! Amomentter, a storm of Spells shot at Shang. BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! The gue Rat Zone was turned into a chaotic hellscape of destructive Elemental Mana. Everything around Shang was being torn apart by the violent power of the Mages. Yet, the colorful lightning bolt symbolizing Shang was zigzagging like a real lightning bolt, and he was evading all the dangerous spots! "Carpet!" the general shouted. The Mages quickly synchronized with each other and chose a ce.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. And then, they unleashed another wave of Spells, effectively creating a gigantic wall of deadly Mana. Shang would need to stop if he wanted to pass, which would ruin his momentum and would make it far harder to recover. BOOOOOOOOM! Everything in front of Shang turned into a violent wall of explosions. And then, Shang broke through the wall of explosions while holding a gigantic sword in front of him, which protected him from the incredible power! Shang hadn''t slowed down. "Kill him!" the general shouted again. He didn''t like where this was going. The Grandmountain Kingdom had something nned, and he didn''t like it when his enemy had something nned! The Mages synchronized again and decided to perform Synchrocasting, an ability allowing them to cast the same Spell. This was the same Spell the Mages in Warrior''s Paradise during the first Day of Chaos had performed in order to kill the Exploding Mountain Turtle. Shang advanced further. Five secondster, he was only three kilometers away from the castle and its huge, ck shield. And then, the Spell was finished. A ck fireball, nearly ten meters in diameter, hovered above the Mages. This Spell had the power to severely injure or even kill an Initial True Path Stage beast. And then, the Mages unleashed the Spell. The ck fireball shot towards Shang. And momentster, it exploded. BOOOOOOOOOOO00M! It was like a nuke had gone off. Over 100 meters of the surroundings were turned into absolute nothingness as the violent explosion raged. And Shang? He hadn''t been fully hit. Shang had stabbed his sword into the ground and had let go. Then, he lifted his left leg high in the air, his right foot leaving a gigantic crevice behind. The power of the explosion still hit Shang, but since he had fully stopped, he wasn''t in its immediate vicinity. Luckily, Shang also had protective Spells on him, allowing him to survive the distant power of the explosion. Shang slid in a very awkward and unique position forward. His left leg was raised high while his entire body was leaning back. The explosion quickly vanished, and the enemies could see Shang again. His awkward pose surprised them, but they managed to stop him. Whatever the enemy had nned, without that barbarian getting close to them, it wouldn''t work. However, the Summoners and Mages didn''t see the danger they were in. If there were a warrior or even a barbarian amongst them, they would be able to guess what Shang was about to do. But the Mages and Summoners didn''t. Knowing what was about to happen might have saved them today. One leg lifted high, and the body bent backward. Why did that pose feel familiar? As Shang stopped, it felt like time froze. It was like all the power of Shang''s charge had vanished. It was like it had never existed. Yet, beneath Shang''s clothing, blood came out of his right arm. It could barely resist this tremendous force. SHING! And at that moment, something appeared in Shang''s right hand. It was a thin, long, sharp, and ck spear. And then, Shang finally moved. His raised leg violently moved down, destroying the ground beneath it. Shang''s upper body shot forward, his clothes tearing under the sheer force. Andstly, the arm with the spear moved forward. ¡°RAAAAAH!" Shang shouted. And Shang let go of the spear. BOOOOOOOOM! An explosion of wind tore the surroundings apart as the full power of Shang''s charge was transferred to the spear throw. Shang himself was thrown back tens of meters by the sheer force he had just unleashed. And the ck spear seemingly vanished into thin air. A huge explosion and it was just gone. The Mages looked in confusion at Shang. What had he just done? One of the Mages turned to the general to ask a question, but when he saw the general, he froze in shock. The general''s head had vanished! Chapter 328 Chapter 328 The battlefield fell into absolute silence. The ckshadow Kingdom''s forces realized that their general''s head had vanished. Time seemingly froze. BOOOM! And then, a huge explosion urred inside the ck castle as several Mages were thrown to the side, the protection of their armor activating. When a Summoner died, their Companion Beast died with them. However, their other beasts stayed alive. And without the Companion Beast to control them... Seven Late Commander Stage beasts were now rampaging inside the castle. The seven beasts attacked the other beasts and unleashed their Elemental Attacks on the Mages and Summoners on the wall. At the same time, the ck shield around the castle dissipated. The ckshadow Kingdom had decided to use the general as the center for the Anti-Magic Barrier. After all, if they put the center inside the castle, the enemy might manage to break it by somehow destroying the castle. However, such a powerful Summoner could protect themselves, and they wouldn''t put themselves in danger. As long as they survived, the barrier would hold. This Anti-Magic Barrier was created with the Darkness Element, and it weakened enemy Spells to a point where they were no longer threatening. As long as no one managed to get past the barrier, they would be safe. It was the ultimate counter to the strongest force in this world, Magic. It was like a modern soldier with extremely expensive body armor, fully suited to survive gunfire. However, if someone came in close and strangled that soldier with their bare hands... The culmination of thousands of years of research and optimization would be beaten by the oldest and most primal weapon in existence, a human''s hands. The spear Shang had thrown had been made with Entropy Ore, and Magic had nearly no effect on it. It was simply a very hard piece of ore. It wasn''t magical in any way. And precisely because of that, the barrier had no effect on it. The Grandmountain Kingdom had managed to kill the strongest enemy with a rock. And the death of the general created a terrifying chain reaction. Mere seconds ago, they had an army of Mages, Summoners, and beasts, and they had all been standing behind a terrifying shield. Now, the shield was gone, and several powerful beasts were rampaging inside the castle. Themanders in the castle quickly assumedmand and ordered the Mages to kill the former beasts of the dead general. Meanwhile, Shang turned around and ran to his sword. After grabbing it, he jumped into the huge crater the ck fireball had left behind and leaned against the crater wall closer to the enemy. Shang was essentially in a gigantic trench right now. Shang quickly rammed his sword into the ground and created a huge hole. He jumped into it and put his sword over the hole. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Acouple of Mages were already throwing Spells at Shang''s location, and his surroundings were being destroyed. However, it was difficult to hit Shang from this angle, and his sword protected him very well. Shang was bombarded by Spells for several seconds, hoping that they wouldn''t manage tond a clean hit. Then, the bombardment intensified. But just a couple of secondster, itpletely stopped and was reced with distant quakes. The Grandmountain Kingdom''s army had arrived. The Mages were throwing Spells at the ck castle''s walls,pletely decimating it in the process. Without the barrier, it couldn''t withstand such an aggressive assault. The barbarians were charging forward at the front, but surprisingly, no Spellsnded amongst them. The ckshadow Kingdom knew that the Mages were much more dangerous, which was why they were fully focusing on destroying the Grandmountain Kingdom''s Mages. They ignored the barbarians. Several Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom died, but even more of the ckshadow Kingdom died. The Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom were dispersed, while the Mages of the ckshadow Kingdom were all gathered in one spot. Half a minuteter, the castle was turned into rubble, and it became very difficult for the remaining Mages to find a good spot to assault the Grandmountain Kingdom. The two leadingmanders noticed that the army of barbarians hade way too close during that sh. They hadn''t managed to decimate the enemy''s Mages in time. With gritted teeth, themander gave the order. "Disperse!" Shortly after, colorful balls of Mana came out of the rubble, shooting into all directions as several groups of beasts ran into the distance, the asional Summoners sitting on them. "Chase!" the general of the Grandmountain Kingdom shouted. The barbarians released a thundering war cry and shot after all the distant Summoners.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Now, it was Summoners versus barbarians. One Summoner was definitely stronger than one barbarian. A barbarian didn''t even have a chance against a Summoner. However, Summoners consumed a terrifying amount of resources. They had to strengthen each beast individually, which consumed a terrifying amount of food and Mana. Now, how many resources did barbarians consume? One barbarian consumed just a bit fewer resources than an equivalent beast. The ckshadow Kingdom had had around 40 Summoners in the ck castle. But the Grandmountain Kingdom had over 200 barbarians. In duels, the ckshadow Kingdom would emerge victorious. But these weren''t duels. This was a war. The remaining Summoners were quickly assaulted by a swarm of barbarians, throwing their minds into terror and panic. There were so many of them! And that wasn''t even everything. There were still several unaffiliated Summoners traveling around the gue Rat Zone to train their beasts. They weren''t powerful enough to join the defense, but they also weren''t weak. They knew that this ce might be attacked by the enemy, but the ck castle would keep the Grandmountain Kingdom at bay. It was risky to train here, but high risks gave high rewards. There were far fewer Summoners here than usual, leaving more beasts for the ones willing to take the risk. But today, these Summoners would regret taking the risk. Aswarm of Late and Peak Fighter Stage barbarians and even the asional Champion Stage barbarian wereing down on them. The Mages focused on chasing the other Mages and on officially conquering thend while the flood of barbarians fell upon the land like a gue of locusts. They killed all humans they didn''t recognize. Their power didn¡¯t matter. They killed all the beasts they could kill. They destroyed all structures they saw. The Deepcore Turtle Zone had been bereft of farms andmoners, and the beasts could only be found deep in the caves. However, before the Grandmountain Kingdom had arrived, the Deepcore Turtle Zone had several viges, and there had been quite a few Soldier and General Stage beasts on the surface. Then, the Grandmountain Kingdom arrived. Now, the Deepcore Turtle Zone was very different. And the same thing was about to happen to the gue Rat Zone. On this day, fire and blood rained down on thends of the gue Rat Zone. The only area that was spared was the east, which was where the really powerful beasts resided. Everything else was turned into rubble and dust. The barbarians wouldn''t stop rampaging for three entire days. The gue Rat Zone belonged to the Grandmountain Kingdom now. Chapter 329 Chapter 329 Shang didn''t stay in his hole for three entire days. Obviously, he left pretty quickly and joined the barbarians in their rampaging. He wasn''t very interested in killing people and beasts much weaker than him, but he joined a couple of battles against Peak General Stage Summoners and beasts just for training. About a dayter, Shang left the barbarians as they continued ravaging thends and returned to the Mages. The Mages had already started to rebuild the ck castle and were reorganizing it as a new base for operations. As Shang reached the newly rebuilt gates, he was stopped by two True Mages, who looked at him with disdain. "Barbarians are not allowed in here," one of them said. ¡°Researcher Veral told me to return to him after the mission," Shang said. The two Mages looked at each other with furrowed brows. One of them snorted, but they let Shang pass. "Researcher Veral is inside the basement," one of them said. Shang nodded and entered. Inside the castle''s domain, Shang could see several Mages lifting heavy stones with their minds, rearranging them on the walls of the destroyed castle.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Shang entered the castle itself, and thanks to his Darkness Affinity, he quickly found the way to the basement. However, someone else was justing out of the basement, and he saw Shang. When Shang saw the person, he saluted respectfully. It was a young man with blue hair and a cold expression. It was the general of the closest Governor, a Peak True Mage. He was the highest-ranking person in this entire Zone right now. The man inspected Shang for a second with cold eyes. "Name," he said. "Zero," Shang answered. The general frowned. Obviously, Shang''s strange name gave him pause, but he believed it in the end. He didn''t think that Shang would lie to him. ¡°We will contact you again if the need arises," he said before passing Shang. "Thank you, sir!" Shang said respectfully with a salute. Shang was now on the radar of the powerful Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom. A person just below a High Mage had asked for his name. Shang continued descending into the basement, where he quickly found the grey-robed Researcher Veral with two of his assistants. They were currently constructing aplex Magic Circle. Shang decided to wait at the entrance since he didn''t want to interrupt them at a critical moment. Something like that could get him killed. About half a minuteter, the Mages rxed, and the Magic Circle stabilized. At that point, Researcher Veral turned to Shang with a smile. "Well done, Zero!" he said. Shang saluted respectfully without saying anything. "Operation Primal Offense was a resounding sess," Researcher Veralmented. "The gue Rat Zone belongs to the Grandmountain Kingdom now!" "You performed extraordinarily under the enemy attacks, and you even managed to survive. Someone like that is very valuable to the Grandmountain Kingdom." ¡®As if they cared that | survived,¡¯ Shang thought. ''They probably had nned on losing their tool after it had fulfilled its use, but surprisingly, it managed to survive. The only thing they are happy about is that their tool can be used once again.¡¯ However, Shang didn''t say any of these words and remained in a respectful salute. Researched Veral''s smile transformed into a smirk. "I presume you are here for your reward." "Lam here for further orders, sir," Shang said, carefully avoiding any potential traps. "Good answer," Researched Veral answered with a smirk. He believed that Shang truly meant what he said. After all, Shang was a barbarian, and barbarians couldn''t possibly win in a battle of the minds with a Mage. ¡°Approach,¡± Researcher Veral ordered. Shang stepped forward until he stood directly in front of the grey-robed man. Researched Veral chanted aplex Spell, and just two secondster... CLANK! Shang''s cor split in two by itself. "The services you have rendered to the Grandmountain Kingdom far outweigh any crime you could have possiblymitted in the past," he said with a smile. "Additionally, | alleviate you of any punishment you have received in the past." Shang looked with a bit of difort at Researcher Veral. "Sir, the punishment was handed out by a Governor." Researcher Veral''s smile faded into an annoyed frown. "| don''t care. You belong to me, and | have full power over your life." Shang only meekly looked at the ground, seemingly afraid. Obviously, Researcher Veral didn''t like being questioned by a mere barbarian, and he had shown his dislike by unting his power. "Don''t take this to heart," Researcher Veral said as his smile returned. "You will be happy that you belong to me now. | treat my people very well." ¡°Forcing you into any kind of punishment is a waste of your talents," he said. "You have a tremendous talent for withstanding and controlling several augmenting Spells. Having you serve on the frontlines would be stupid." ¡°For the next few years, you will work for me personally," he said. "I''m sure we can improve the Primal Offense Project even more, and | need your help and cooperation for that." ¡°Naturally, I''m not a monster, and | will take care of the resources you need. Do you already know the full technique for strengthening your body?" he asked. Shang quickly recounted how he trained. Researcher Veral nodded. "That''s good. What''s your Affinity?¡± "Fire, sir," Shang answered. "When was thest time you strengthened your body?" ¡°About five days ago, sir." Researcher Veral nodded again before turning to one of the other two Mages. "Geron, | need a bi-weekly shipment of a Peak Fighter Stage fire beast heart starting one week from now." Geron had heard the entire conversation, and he nodded. "Will be done." "Thanks, Geron," Researcher Veral said with a smile. ¡°How much longer until you can reach the Champion Stage?" Researcher Veral asked. "With regr strengthening, about a year, sir," Shang answered. Researcher Veral smiled in positive surprise. "That''s far faster than | anticipated. Wonderful!" "We will be staying inside the gue Rat Zone and Deepcore Turtle Zone for at least five years. We have conquered too much land in too little time, and we need to consolidate ournd and our new defenses." "| will be busy in this castle for the next month or two. Until then, | want you to lead the barbarians in the assault," Researcher Veral said. "| think you have quite the smart head on your shoulders, and us Mages can''t always spare time for the little details. Do you think you can lead them?" "What are your goals, sir?" Shang asked. Researcher Veral had said thement about Shang being smart just to make Shang like him more, but he was still a bit surprised about the smart question. He would have anticipated that question from a Mage, not a barbarian. ¡®Might as well notpletely look like an idiot,¡¯ Shang thought. It was a bit risky to show more of his power, even if it was only intelligence, but it was also necessary for Shang to live a better life. "Good question," Researcher Veral said. "| want you to kill any human not belonging to the Grandmountain Kingdom. Sometimes, the rebels can be quite smart and hide. We don''t really have time to search for the rebels since we have other things to do, but if you manage to catch them, you would be a big help." "It would also be great if you could teach the barbarians some basic forms of strategy. Looking at them charging at beasts without a n gives me second-hand embarrassment." Shang nodded. "I will do my best, sir," he said. "That''s all | wanted to hear," Researcher Veral said. "One week from now, return to the castle. Geron will have your fire beast heart ready." SHING! Researcher Veral summoned a grey emblem with a cloaked person on it. "If any Mage gets confused about you ordering the barbarians around, just show them this." Shang took the emblem and saluted once more. "Thank you, sir," he said respectfully. Researcher Veral nodded with a smile. "Good. Now, go! We have things to do here!" Shang performed another short salute, turned around, and left the basement. After leaving the castle, Shang looked at his surroundings. He could see several groups of barbarians raging through thends without any n or tactic. ¡®Might as well make myself useful for the next couple of months,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I think | should be at my limit in about eight months if | continue to strengthen myself every two weeks. The beast Mana will slowly umte since | can''t truly get a beast with my Affinity, but | think | can somewhat counteract the beast Mana with the Procedure and my control over Mana.¡¯ ¡®Eight months, huh?'' ¡®Eight months, and I''m outta here!¡¯ Chapter 330 Chapter 330 Shang joined the rampaging barbarians and quickly took control over a group of 30 of them. With his strength, it wasn''t difficult. Shang methodically sent them through the gue Rat Zone so that as few of them died as possible. After all, there were still a lot of powerful beasts around. Additionally, some Mages and Summoners were also hidden around the Zone. With Shang''s Darkness Vision, it wasn''t difficult to spot the hidden Summoners and Mages. When he found them, he simply sent arge team of barbarians after them, not giving them any chance to resist. These hidden forces probably tried to use gueri tactics to slowly weaken the Grandmountain Kingdom''s presence in the gue Rat Zone, which was a good idea. After all, the barbarians were stupid and roamed around aimlessly like beasts. It wouldn''t be very difficult to pick them off one by one. However, with Shang''s coordinated assault, he dealt with several of them. After two days, Shang had been responsible for the death of four Adepts, seven Summoners, and even one Initial True Mage. Shang had managed to take care of the True Mage by attacking him by surprise, forcing him to retreat. Then, when nobody was around, Shang unveiled his true power and took care of him. The fight wasn''t easy, but it also wasn''t hard. The Mage had already been weakened, and he had been taken by surprise several times due to Shang''s unusual powers. The Mages in the Skythunder Kingdom knew how warriors fought, and they knew how to counter them, but the Mages in the ckshadow Kingdom hadn''t even seen warriors, and the only fighters they fought were barbarians during the war. This made themplete novices in how to deal with warriors. One had to remember that the Grandmountain Kingdom was northwest of the Skythunder Kingdom and that the ckshadow Kingdom was northeast of the Grandmountain Kingdom. There was an entire Kingdom between the Skythunder Kingdom and the ckshadow Kingdom. On top of that, the ckshadow Kingdom and the Skythunder Kingdom were allies. So, even if the Mages in the ckshadow Kingdom saw a warrior of the Skythunder Kingdom, they wouldn''t attack them. Over the next couple of days, Shang asked the Mages he saw some questions. Usually, the Mages wouldn''t care about answering a barbarian''s questions, but they knew that Shang was Researcher Veral''s new favorite. Because of that, they answered Shang''s questions as long as he didn''t ask too many. Due to that, Shang actually learned of the political climate regarding the different Kingdoms. In the Skythunder Kingdom, Shang had never trulye into contact with people that lived on the frontlines, which made it quite difficult to learn about the political climate outside the Skythunder Kingdom. But here, on the frontlines, Shang managed to learn quite a lot. Apparently, the entire world was a circle with a diameter of about 4,000 kilometers. Shang guessed that it was about half as big or as big as the North American Continent on Earth. He wasn''t entirely sure. That was quite small for an entire world. Apparently, an untraversable abyss surrounded the "world". The world simply ended at that spot. Funnily enough, the Storm Eagle Zone was at the very end of the world. If one went past the Canyon and past the Crater, they would reach the southern end of the world, the Abyss. Of course, Shang knew that this was bullshit. He was certain that the Abyss wasn''t actually the end of the world but simply a very deep crater or something. Maybe the "world" was only a teau? That would exin the absence of truly powerful people. Anyway, the "world" was ruled by five Kingdoms. One in the north, one in the east, one in the south, one in the west, and one in the middle.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. And as was natural with humans, they were at war. The most powerful Kingdom, the Magic Purity Kingdom, was in the middle of the world. Their King was the most powerful human in the world, and his right hand was also an Archmage. The Magic Purity Kingdom was the only Kingdom with two Archmages. The Grandmountain Kingdom was allied with the Magic Purity Kingdom, and those two Kingdoms were fighting the other three. The Skythunder Kingdom was the leader of the alliance of the other three Kingdoms due to the power of King Skythunder. He might be the only Mage in the world that could fight the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom. The Kingdom in the east was called the Spirit Spring Kingdom, and it connected the ckshadow Kingdom with the Skythunder Kingdom. In a way, the Spirit Spring Kingdom was simr to the ckshadow Kingdom since they also employed beasts, but their methods couldn''t be more different. The ckshadow Kingdom enved beasts while the Spirit Spring Kingdom befriended them. Both methods had their advantages and disadvantages. The ckshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom hated each other due to that difference. However, in front of the Magic Purity Kingdom, they had to work together. The Magic Purity Kingdom viewed Summoners as a bastardization of Magic. They didn''t care as much about warriors or barbarians since they weren''t rted to Magic, but they hated the Summoners and Spiriters, the people that worked with beasts. Originally, the ckshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom were losing in the war against the Magic Purity Kingdom, but then, the Old King of the Skythunder Kingdom died and was reced with the current King. The old Skythunder Kingdom had been neutral, just living in peace, but when King Skythunder came to power, he wanted to go to war. War and conflict were fun. He looked at both sides and decided to join the losing side since he wanted a challenge. With the addition of the Skythunder Kingdom, the Magic Purity Kingdom had to spread its forces over arger area, alleviating the pressure on the other two Kingdoms. After a couple of years, the three Kingdoms dealt devastating strikes to the Magic Purity Kingdom. And then, the Magic Purity Kingdom ordered the Grandmountain Kingdom to help them, which they did. Right now, the individual Kingdoms¡¯ situations are as follows: The Grandmountain Kingdom violently attacked the ckshadow Kingdom in the northeast, and it received support from the Magic Purity Kingdom to the east. The ckshadow Kingdom was trying its best to resist the Magic Purity Kingdom, but the addition of the Grandmountain Kingdom made them lose a lot ofnd. After all, they had to focus nearly all their forces to their south. The Spirit Spring Kingdom was supporting the ckshadow Kingdom and the Skythunder Kingdom while trying to resist the weakened attacks from the Magic Purity Kingdom. The Magic Purity Kingdom didn''t focus on them and only kept them at bay. The Skythunder Kingdom received support from the Spirit Spring Kingdom. They were violently attacking the Magic Purity Kingdom, forcing them tomit nearly 50% of their forces to their south. And they were absolutely decimating the Grandmountain Kingdom. One of the reasons why the Grandmountain Kingdom attacked the ckshadow Kingdom so desperately was the Skythunder Kingdom. The Skythunder Kingdom was gaining more and morend, and if the Grandmountain Kingdom didn''t want to shrink, they needed to expand to the north. For some reason, the Skythunder Kingdom''s Mages were equipped with ridiculously valuable equipment. It was like the Skythunder Kingdom was oozing wealth. Another reason was the dominance that warriors had over the barbarians. They were not the main force, but just a little advantage often turned the tide of battle. After getting all of this information, Shang finally had aprehensive picture of the "world". ¡®I''m in the northeast of the Grandmountain Kingdom, which is the northwest of the world. The Skythunder Kingdom is in the south. Going through the Grandmountain Kingdom or the Magic Purity Kingdom is absolute suicide. There are simply too many Mages that don''t like barbarians or warriors.¡¯ ¡®However, the ckshadow Kingdom is also not a good idea. Sure, they are allied with the Skythunder Kingdom, but there is so much distance between them that they wouldn''t care about me. If they saw me, they would simply feed me to one of their beasts, and if anyone asked questions, they would say that they thought | was a barbarian." ¡®The Spirit Spring Kingdom is a safe bet since it is a direct neighbor to the Skythunder Kingdom." ¡®Honestly, I''m not sure if going through the Grandmountain Kingdom or the ckshadow Kingdom is worse." | think it would be easier to go through the ckshadow Kingdom since they don''t have any powerful physical fighters. They probably won''t scan any random person for their physical power, while the Grandmountain Kingdom will do just that.¡¯ ¡®Well, seems like | have to fight my way through the ckshadow Kingdom to get to the Spirit Spring Kingdom.¡¯ Shang watched as the barbarians slowly stopped rampaging through thend. They had run out of things to destroy. "For the next eight months, | will remain here and strengthen my body.¡¯ ¡®And after that, | will charge into the ckshadow Kingdom.¡¯ Chapter 331 Chapter 331 Over the next two months, Shang taught the barbarians quite a bit about fighting in a group to please the Mages. As long as he was in their good graces, nobody would suspect his loyalty. With Shang''s power, it wasn''t difficult to gain the respect of all the barbarians. Just as promised, Shang received one fire beast heart every two weeks, giving him enough resources to increase his power by a lot. The beast Mana was difficult to deal with, but the Procedure allowed Shang to absorb even more Mana than normal. For the remaining Mana, Shang had to actively drive it out of his body, which took a lot of effort. However, he still managed to clean himself of the beast Mana just before he got the next heart. Two months after arriving in the gue Rat Zone, Researcher Veral began to experiment on Shang. He didn''t perform surgeries or anything on him, but he kept testing Shang''s threshold regarding strengthening Magic. Having several strengthening Spells cast on one put a lot of pressure and pain on one''s body, and it wasn''t any different for Shang. It was normal for his body to bleed or for one or more of his bones to break. Whenever that happened, Researcher Veral looked with interest at Shang''s broken body and made some notes. Obviously, he didn''t care even the slightest bit about Shang''s health. Even worse, he was constantly encouraging andplimenting Shang while he was in pain to get him to stay loyal. It was almost like Researcher Veral wanted Shang to get Stockholm Syndrome. ¡®If you already see me as worthless trash, at least be honest,¡¯ Shang thought with annoyance as more Spells were put on his body. The next couple of months were not pleasant at all. Shang bled on a daily basis, and Researcher Veral got more and more interesting ideas to strengthen Shang. At some point, he even got the idea to carve Magic Circles into Shang''s flesh. Of course, he had to test it immediately after getting the idea. The constant healing of Shang''s body became a problem to Researcher Veral, which was why he designed the Magic Circles to constantly burn into Shang''s body. After a couple of weeks of pain and testing, Researcher Veral realized that this didn''t really work, and he got rid of the Magic Circles. Shang had an incredible tolerance to pain, but even he had problems with those weeks. ¡®| only have to hold out for a couple more months,¡¯ he thought. His body had already be a lot stronger. He guessed that his body was about 75% as powerful as the body of an equal beast. Shang kept going through more and more torture in the name of science, but with every passing day, it became easier. And like that, the eight months Shang needed eventually passed. By now, Shang''s body was about 85% as powerful as the body of a Peak General Stage beast, which was insane. This meant that Shang could beat a beast on his level with bare hands as long as he didn''t fight like aplete idiot. Even more, nearly every warrior could achieve the same. The Procedure was open to them, and the Dean would probably very soon develop something very simr to the Grandmountain Kingdom''s barbarian strengthening technique. Right now, warriors needed to fight in groups of four to kill a beast on their level, and the fight definitely wouldn''t be easy. But with the Procedure and the strengthening technique, they would have absolutely no issues with fighting beasts. One warrior could easily kill one beast on their level, and the fight wouldn''t even be difficult. Beasts on the same level would no longer be a problem.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. In essence, this was equal to Mages. Mages also didn''t have any issues with beasts on their level. The way was finally clear. "My body is at its limit. | guess 85% is the maximum | can achieve without Abominations,¡¯ Shang thought. Right now, Shang was being bombarded with strengthening Spells again in the basement of the ck castle. However, he didn''t pay much attention. He was simply just sitting there, thinking about different things. "That''s it for today," Researcher Veral said with a thoughtful expression. "| need to analyze this data. Come back tomorrow morning." Shang stood up from the Magic Circle, his body finally healing after the avnche of Spells had stopped. "Yes, sir," Shang said. Then, Shang left the basement as Researcher Veral kept focusing on the sheets of paper in front of him. He had no idea that this was thest time he would see Shang. It was a day like any other. Nothing special was happening. Shang left the castle, the Mages no longer even looking at him. They had be used to Shang constantly walking around the castle. He was the only barbarian allowed to be here. After leaving the castle, Shang walked towards the north, onto a rather tall hill. In the middle of a hill was a cave, and Shang entered without hesitation. The cave continued going down into the hill for about a hundred meters before it stopped. Funnily enough, this wasn''t a natural cave, but one Shang had dug for himself. He said that he was digging this cave so that he had a ce for himself, a home. Nobody thought anything about it. Down at the bottom of the cave, Shang sat down and put Sword on his legs. Then, he focused on his Mana. Shang moved the Mana in his body around and focused on his Affinity. For the first time, Shang used his Domain while actually having Mana. Ever since his fight with Vice-Commander Wilbury, Shang hadn''t had any opportunity to use his Domain of Entropy. But right now, he needed it to advance to the Commander Stage. It was finally time. As Shang sat on the ground, he heard the sounds of moving sand. This sound represented the walls and ground of the cave turning into sand and then turning into nothingness. Shang felt a significant drain on his Mana, but he also saw that his body was digging further into the hill without even moving. Everything around him simply turned to Mana. Under the effect of his Domain, Shang''s Mana began to flow smoothly throughout his body while slowly thinning, but that was how it was supposed to go. The Mana inside Shang''s muscles began to be pulled out to supplement the usage of Shang''s Mana. Under normal circumstances, the body wouldn''t do that. After all, this would weaken the body. But with Shang''s insistence, the Mana inside his muscles stretched throughout his entire body. And then, Shang used the incredible control he had over his Mana to connect the strands of Mana with different muscles. It took a couple of hours of intense concentration, but eventually, Shang managed to connect his individual muscles with strands of Mana. And then, he stopped using his Domain. WHOOOM! As soon as he stopped, the muscles pulled back their Mana. Muscle A pulled Mana out of Muscle B, which pulled Mana out of Muscle C and so on. Every muscle was pulling Mana from a different one, which resulted in the creation of a circle. As soon as the circle appeared, the thick Mana inside the cave was being pulled into Shang''s body. The rotational effect had some kind of pull on Natural Mana. Over the next two hours, Shang''s body pulled in more and more Mana until it finally became saturated. BANG! Shang felt some kind of barrier break inside of him, and he felt his strength skyrocket! It had finally happened! Finally, Shang was at the Commander Stage! The images of the different teachers in the Warrior Academy appeared inside his mind. Their power had always been monstrous to Shang. But now, he was on their level! He was as strong as them and probably even stronger than most! Shang now belonged to the strongest physical fighters in the world! In fact, Shang was probably even amongst the 50 most powerful physical fighters in the entire world right now! Chapter 332 Chapter 332 Since Shang was awake during his breakthrough this time, a scene immediately appeared in his mind. "My third question," a blonde Shang with a sizable belly said. "What kind of mindset should | assume to be more powerful? What''s the smartest way to get the resources | need?" The present Shang wanted to know this answer desperately. The God on his gigantic throne only smirked. "Quite a good question. I''m surprised you have asked such smart questions up to now. Did you know that several of your predecessors have asked about Earth at least once by now? They were interested in how to get back or how things would go. But you only ask about your new world." The blonde Shang looked in shock at the God. "| have predecessors?! | thought | was the only one!" The God onlyughed. "Don''t think of yourself as more important than you are. You are not the first one, and you will not be the last one." Shang didn''t answer. "As for your question,¡± the God said, leaning back on his throne. "There is not one single way that is the best. You have to employ different philosophies based on your surroundings and your current power." ¡°Of course, as an answer, that''s just as helpful as not giving you an answer at all," the God said. "So, how about we go over a couple of cases?" ¡°Let''s assume your power is very lowpared to other humans around you. It is very difficult for you to gain resources on your own since more powerful humans will have monopolized them at this point." "The correct way out of this situation is to join a powerful organization. Their greater power will help you get you the resources you need." ¡°Of course, there are different organizations with different philosophies. If you find an organization that is simr to an academy, you are in luck. Academies are willing to invest more into you than you can provide to them right now." "In that case, | would advise you to follow the rules of the organization and do what they want. After all, they don''t want you to die. If you don''t grow more powerful, their investment bes a loss." ¡°Now, if the organization is something like a group of mercenaries or assassins, things be different. They are interested in your current power, and they want you to prove your worth right at this moment." "In that case, try to take on missions that are dangerous but not too dangerous. Trading with an academy means getting more than you pay. Trading with a mercenary group means getting just as much as you pay." "It''s fine to join these kinds of organizations, but you should not join an organization ruled by an individual desperate for power. They will lure you in with promises of wealth and power but will immediately burn you up before the promised time to pay arrives.¡± After exining these things, the God exined how to spot these different organizations, and it took over half an hour. The God was very thorough in answering the question. ¡°Now, all of this is only relevant if you are one of the weakest humans in your area. Things be different when you are in the middle." "When you are in the middle, | would advise you to either create your own small group or join arger group as some kind of officer or manager. At that point, your priorities of what groups you want to joinpletely flip." "You don''t want to join an academy. The students need more resources than they bring in, which means that these resources come from somewhere. This somewhere represents you." "Joining an academy as a teacher or something brings you status and a bit of wealth, but it is only something an altruistic person would choose or someone that isn''t interested in bing much more powerful." "Bing a teacher means that you already gave up on the path to power." "A mercenary group is quite appealing in that scenario. You are already quite useful with a lot of power, and the mercenary groups value their strongmanders." "Creating your own group is also very lucrative at this point. You are powerful enough to go to ces that not everyone can go to, meaning there is lesspetition." "The best kind of organization to join is some greedy tyrant. The greedy tyrant will siphon all the wealth of the weak and give it to themselves and the few people he needs to run his organization. If you manage to be one of these people, you will gain far more than you are worth." After that, the God exined more precisely how Shang could identify a good organization and how he could reach the ces he needed. ¡°Now, what if you belong to the strongest people around?" the God asked with a smirk. "What if you are in the top ten in terms of power for your surroundings?" "In that case..." "Don''t." Shang''s eyebrows lifted. "There is no good way to advance when you are one of the strongest,¡± the God exined with a smirk. "Sure, by having thousands of people under you, you can gather a terrifying amount of wealth and somewhat useful materials." ¡°However, the people under you can never give you the things you truly need." "What you need is something that can only be found by people on your level. If you are in the Fourth Realm, you need stuff from beasts in the Fourth Realm. Your army of Third Realm followers can''t help you in getting that. They can only give you a vast quantity of stuff from the Third Realm." "When you are the strongest, there is only one thing you can do." "Travel thend and siphon all resources out of it. Kill the strongest beings around you and take their things!" ¡°And when you see that there is not much more you can get from this ce..." "You leave." "You leave this ce and go to a ce with people more powerful than you." "Go to a ce where you belong to the weaker kind of people and take advantage of everything." ¡°At that point, the entire thing starts from the beginning again." "This is everything regarding organizations," the God said. "Now, about friends, family, and personal connections." ¡°Having a friend means undergoing a symbiosis. You work together you get more than you two can achieve individually. The closer you are, the more trust there is between you, and the better your teamwork." ¡°However, it is important that your friend isparable to you. If they are weaker, this is not symbiosis but supporting a parasite. If they are stronger, you will be under their control mostly.¡± ¡°Of course, there are also friends that simply want to help you, even if they are stronger, but you will eventually need to repay them. It''s not that you are forced by someone, but that you are just the kind of person that doesn''t want to be in debt." "To summarize: Join something like an academy, work together with your equals, leave the academy, join a stronger organization, be the strongest, plunder thend, leave thend." "This is the best way to be powerful!" The blonde Shang nodded in understanding. Then, the memory ended, and the real Shang opened his eye. ¡®This is quite different from what teacher and Duke Whirlwind said." ¡®Friends are useful, but the friends have to be useful. Being part of an organization is good, but the organization needs to be more powerful than me. There are times when | need to be alone and times when | needpanions." ¡®Lunderstand." ¡®But first, | have to get out of the Grandmountain Kingdom!" The memories had appeared inside Shang''s mind in just an instant, and he had only been in memories for about a second. He had barely been at the Commander Stage for a second at this point. And just when Shang stood up, something happened. The Mana around Shang began to shift. Shang wasn''t sure what was happening since he had never felt the Mana move like that.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. It was almost like the Mana was parting, leaving some kind of vacuum in the middle. Shang looked with shock at the nk spot of Mana. And then, several worms seemingly appeared out of nowhere, followed by a ck-scaled, muscr body with several arms. BANG! Shang looked with shock and terror at the thing beside him. It was an Abomination at the Commander Stage! But that wasn''t the most terrifying part. Shang could somehow feel the same thing happening at other ces in the distance. Shang almost couldn''t believe what was happening. Several Abominations were appearing all over the gue Rat Zone! Chapter 333 Chapter 333 Shang could barely believe what was happening right now. Several Abominations were appearing all over the gue Rat Zone just after he had reached the Commander Stage. He was certain that this couldn''t be a coincidence. ¡®Have | summoned them?¡¯ he thought in shock. He had thought about a way to summon them, but he hadn''t expected that he could actually do that. Additionally, Shang had summoned multiple. For just a moment, Shang and the Abomination looked at each other. Shang didn''t feel any kind of anger or enmitying from the Abomination. It felt more like it came here to help him. BOOOM! Shang felt the ground quake. Fighting had broken out! ¡®No time to hesitate! It already happened! Might as well take advantage of it!¡¯ Shang extended his hand toward the Abomination. When he extended his hand, the Abomination walked closer of its own free will, extending one of its ws. Their hands touched, and Shang felt something push into his hand. Power entered Shang''s left hand, traveling through his arm and into his torso. Shang''s eyes widened in realization, and he immediately threw all of his own Mana outside, filling the cave with Mana. The Abomination became smaller and smaller as time passed until it eventuallypletely vanished into Shang''s left arm. At that time, Shang''s entire body began to bulge. BOOOM! BOOOM! Shang released a powerful Ice st followed by a Fire st, severely injuring his entire body. His body stopped ballooning as all the power inside his body was being used up to heal it. BOOM! BOOM! Shang released another two sts, and more of the power inside his body vanished. "My power is soaring!¡¯ Shang thought excitement. Earlier, Shang''s power had been 85% as powerful as a Peak General Stage beasts. After the breakthrough, his power had grown, but his rtive power inparison to beasts had sunken. After all, if Shang''s body remained as powerful as an equal beast after a breakthrough, there would be no sense in strengthening his body any further. Because of that, his power had dropped from 85% to about 60%. The only difference was that Shang was not 60% as powerful as a Peak General Stage beast but 60% as powerful as an Initial Commander Stage beast. That was still far more powerful. But now, by absorbing the Abomination, Shang''s power had climbed to 70% of an Initial Commander Stage beast again. This was only one round of strengthening! Acouple of secondster, Shang absorbed every spec of power from the Abomination. BANG! Shang jumped out of the hole he had dug with his Domain of Entropy and quickly charged out of the cave. ¡®l can''t remain here!¡¯Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. As soon as Shang came out of the cave, he could see the gue Rat Zone. BOOM! BOOM! The ck castle was gone! All the ck stones had vanished, leaving behind a crater! However, most of the Mages were still alive, and they were currently fighting several Soldier and General Stage Abominations. But the situation was even worse in the east. BANG! BANG! Shang heard and felt terrifying waves of powering from the east. Most of the Abominations had arrived near the east, and there were several Commander Stage Abominations among them. The Mages could kill a Commander Stage Abomination as long as it didn''t convert its existence into Entropy. The Domain of Entropy was scary, but it was not so powerful that it couldn''t be ovee by someone at the same level. The scary thing about the Abominations had always been their ability to convert their existence into pure destruction. If a group of Mages decided to fight with a Commander Stage Abomination, it might decide to blow itself up, taking out hundreds of meters of its surroundings and killing everything. Right now, Shang could feel the Commander Stage Abominations blow themselves up one after the other, which was not normal. Commander Stage Abominations could destroy their surroundings without needing to sacrifice their bodies. They only converted their existences to destruction if something attacked them that they couldn''t defeat, and Shang knew exactly what was attacking them. The gue Rat! Terrifying and gigantic streaks of ck appeared in an instant and vanished just as quickly, which was followed by a terrifying and gigantic explosion. ¡®If | stay here, the gue Rat will definitely kill me! | can tell just by its name that it''s not as friendly as the Thunder Horse.¡¯ BANG! Shang used a Fire st to elerate towards the northeast. It was time for him to escape! Shang''s speed had increased by a terrifying amount after reaching the Initial Commander Stage. He didn''t know how fast he was going right now, but he guessed that it was around 250 kph. Sadly, Shang didn''t have the time to think about his newfound speed. The explosions from the east intensified as they came closer to Shang, and he heard more frequent explosions from the west. However, he also heard a couple of explosionsing from the north, but they were not as numerous. After a couple of minutes, Shang was close to the border of the next Zone, but of course, there were guards there. As Shang ran over a hill, he saw a long coastline with two towers standing at the shore. The towers were about five kilometers away from each other, but that was still within their range. Right now, a couple of Spells were being flung out of the towers by True Mages. Each tower had two True Mages in them. They were responsible for defending the border and sending a signal if the ckshadow Kingdom tried to attack them. However, the force stationed on this border wasn''t nearly as strong as the forces stationed near the other borders. The Zone to the northeast of the gue Rat Zone was the Tide Serpent Zone. It was basically ake over a hundred kilometers wide. Traveling across theke was extremely dangerous, and the two Kingdoms avoided entering it as much as possible. Powerful beasts could attack the Mages from directly below them if they tried to cross it, which made fighting very difficult. However, thiske was the perfect escape route for Shang. While Mages had huge problems fighting above or underwater, Shang didn''t have it as difficult. He was very mobile, and his mobility was just as useful underwater. Sure, he would be slower due to the higher resistance, and he wouldn''t see as much with the strong prevalence of Water Mana, but he could still deal with these weaknesses. On top of that, the forces stationed at the Tide Serpent Zones border in the ckshadow Kingdom also weren''t the most powerful. This would give Shang an opportunity to enter the ckshadow Kingdom. Shang''s gaze wandered over the two towers as they dealt with the Abominations. Luckily, the Abominations were not very close to the towers, and the Mages dealt with them before they could get close. Dealing with the Abominations wouldn''t be difficult for the two towers. When Shang saw that, a cold light appeared in his right eye. ¡®| don''t want them to know that | have fled. Sure, they probably won''t follow me, but it''s important to be careful." After making his decision, Shang charged towards the tower on his left as he lifted the emblem he had gotten from Researcher Veral. Chapter 334 Chapter 334 The two Mages on the left tower noticed Shang running towards them with his emblem held high. They were not entirely sure why a weak barbarian came to help them. After all, going into closebat with the Abominations was a death sentence. One explosion and Zero would be nothing. However, they also didn''t care much. He was a barbarian. If he managed to make one Abomination explode, he would have already contributed far more than he was worth in their minds. The Mages kept assaulting the Abominations as Shang got closer. "Why are you running to our tower?!" one of the Mages shouted in frustration as he saw Shang ignore the Abominations and run towards the tower. "Deal with the Abominations!" "| have special orders!" Shang shouted as he came closer. At the same time, Shang tried to connect to the Abominations with his mind. There was some kind of connection between them, and Shang was sure that he couldmunicate with them. After all, the Commander Stage Abomination immediately strengthened Shang when he wanted it to strengthen him. Maybe that also worked with other things? Shang activated his Domain of Entropy a little bit, and the connection strengthened. It was like Shang was connected to all the Abominations in the surroundings. Shang imagined a picture of the two towers inside his mind. Then, he associated the left tower with apathy and the right tower with anger. As Shang was doing that, he entered the tower''s door. There was a powerful barrier around the tower, but the Mages didn''t see him as their enemy. Sure, they were annoyed that Shang was entering the tower, but he also showed the emblem of Researcher Veral. Because of that, he easily passed the barrier. Also, so what if Shang was here? They were Early True Mages. Shang was some Peak Fighter Stage barbarian. Even the strongest barbarian in the world might not be able to win against them, and Shang was definitely not the strongest barbarian in the world. As Shang shot up the stairs, the Abominations began to change course. Instead of mindlessly charging at both towers, they focused on the right tower. Theypletely ignored the attacks from the left tower, which killed several Abominations, and fully focused on charging to the right tower. The four Mages on the towers realized that this was a problem. They could deal with Abominations charging at both towers, but if they focused on only one, that tower might fall, leaving only one remaining! Shang reached the top of the tower and the two Mages. One of them red with anger at Shang. "What are you doing here?! You are supposed to- " BOOOM! Silence. The Mage that had just shouted at Shang aggressively was cut into two pieces by Shang''s gigantic sword! He had barely noticed the attack before it hit him. Even with such a heavy weapon, Shang''s speed was absolutely terrifying! In fact, Shang''s body had be so powerful that he could wield his gigantic sword like a normal-sized one. He could easily swing it with one arm. The True Mage hadn''t had his Mana Shield active since there had been no immediate danger close to him, which had spelled his doom. When the other Mage saw that hisrade had died, shock was quickly reced by rage. In an instant, he activated his Mana Shield. BOOOM! Shang''s legs exploded with ice as his speed reached new heights. The tower was small, and the Mage was very close to him. Just when the Mage had activated his Mana Shield, Shang had already reached him. The amount of Mana an Early True Mage had was scary, and they recovered their Mana at insane speeds due to Mana Tranquility. Getting through a Mana Shield cast by such a Mage was beyond difficult, especially if that Mage was a level above Shang. As Shang reached the Mage, his opponent began to prepare several Spells. Shang wouldn''t be able to get through the Mana Shield in an instant. Shang swung his gigantic Sword at the Mage''s Mana Shield. CRRRRR! Suddenly, Shang''s sword began to release violent ck mes, leaving behind a ck arc in the air. The Mage was concentrating on his Spell and didn''t pay attention to Shang''s attack. After all, he was safe behind his Mana Shield. And then, Shang''s sword hit the Mana Shield. BANG! CRACK! The sword was stopped for just a tiny instant before the Mana Shield broke into pieces, sapping the Mage of all his Mana. It happened so fast that the Mage couldn''t even react. Shang''s burning sword cut through the Mage''s body, setting his entire body on fire. Just one secondter, the Mage''s body turned to ash and scattered to the winds. Shang had killed two Mages one level above him in just an instant. It wasn''t a fair fight, but he had killed them regardless. BANG! As the second Mage''s Space Ring was destroyed, all his belongings suddenly appeared around the ce where he had just been. Shang immediately shoved all the loot into his inner world. He had no time to look at it, and he also didn''t know if there were trackers on it. Because of that, he put all of it into his inner world instead of his new Space Ring. As long as the loot was inside his inner world, the Mages probably wouldn''t be able to find it. After pocketing the first Mage''s Space Ring, Shang used some of the leftover mes from Sword to incinerate his body. He didn''t want to leave any trace of his escape behind. Originally, he had nned on making his escape public. After all, there was no way to keep it a secret. But now, there was another option. What if Shang died to an Abomination? As the attacks from the left tower stopped, the Abominations managed to get closer to the right tower. The Mages on the right tower fell into a panic. Why was the other tower not attacking?! The Mages shouted and cursed at the left tower, but when the Abominations reached the right tower, they jumped out of the tower and fled. However, there was no ce to run. The Mages shot a couple more Spells, but eventually, a General Stage Abomination reached them and exploded. BOOOOOOM! The explosion had been nearly a hundred meters wide, and it had turned the two Mages and all their belongings into nothing. When Shang saw that the other Mages were dead, he jumped out of the tower with his new sword. In order to kill the second Mage quickly, Shang had activated Sword''s Entropy, which made it smaller by quite a bit. The bnce of Sword''sponents had been askew ever since it had absorbed so much ore at once. It had even said that it could only absorb Fire Mana due to that. But by activating Entropy, Sword managed to burn off the irregrities inside itself, returning to a bnced state.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Right now, Sword was no longer the absolutely gigantic de it had just been. Instead, Sword returned to itsrger but not gigantic form. It was about 1.5 meters long, which wasn''t nearly as monstrouslyrge as its earlier 2.5-meter-long state. After Shang reached the ground, he ordered two Abominations to charge at the two towers. When the two of them reached the towers, they detonated themselves, decimating the two towers. At the same time, Shang canceled the Magic Contract inside his mind regarding the special mission. The Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom would know that the contract had been destroyed and where Shang was, but they wouldn''t know why it had been broken. Shang could have also just died. Shang timed the canction of the contract just right. And then, Shang charged toward the hugeke, the Tide Serpent Zone. BOOOOOM! Shang heard a rather close explosion of a Commander Stage Abomination, and he looked over. At that moment, Shang saw a ck shadow with red eyes rapidly moving toward the Abominations near Shang. Shang immediately knew what that was. The gue Rat had reached this ce! Chapter 335 Chapter 335 Things were bing dangerous right now. Shang was pretty sure that the gue Rat wouldn''t care about the Thunder Horse''s mark. Shang immediately ran for the coastline to the Tide Serpent Zone, hoping that he would reach it before the gue Rat got to him. The ck shadow of the gue Rat tore through the Abominations at insane speeds. It was probably killing over ten Abominations per second, which was absolutely ridiculous! BANG! Shang released an Ice st, jumping over theke in front of him. At that moment, Shang felt like danger was approaching. BANG! Shang released a Fire st above him, shooting him into theke below him. Amomentter, a ck shadow passed over him. This had only been a casual attack from the gue Rat, which hadn''t even been targeted at Shang. However, that would have been more than enough to kill him. As soon as Shang''s body entered the water, a bit of lightning shot over his body. Shang knew what that meant. Something very powerful had just inspected him. Shang''s Darkness Vision extended towards the coastline, and he saw the ck shadow of the gue Rat throw a short nce at Shang. But without hesitation, the gue Rat turned away again and focused on the other Abominations inside its Zone, leaving Shang in theke. When Shang saw that, he released a sigh of relief. ¡®Guess I''m no longer your problem, huh?" ¡®But honestly, this was way too close!" Shang heard more explosionsing from the gue Rat Zone, and he really hoped that no one connected the appearance of the Abominations to him. ¡®This time, it can be attributed to coincidence. Nobody will probably connect it to me. However..." Shang narrowed his right eye. ¡®If | keep just randomly showing up at ces where Abominations appear, it won''t take some genius to figure out that | am connected to their appearance." "Sure, getting an Abomination to strengthen my body is a great boost to my power, but every time | summon them is ying with my life." ¡®Obviously, the gue Rat is not the kind of Zone Beasts that is responsible for dealing with Abominations in other Zones like the Storm Eagle. Because of that, it didn¡¯t follow me, and the Tide Serpent might not even have noticed me." ¡®If | had summoned the Abominations in the Storm Eagle Zone and fled to the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Storm Eagle might have chased me. Additionally, the Storm Eagle has gigantic attacks that cover a huge area, while the gue Rat obviously didn''t have such attacks.¡¯ ¡®| think | was in luck by being inside the gue Rat Zone when | made my breakthrough. Not only do | not care about what the Grandmountain Kingdom thinks of me, but the gue Rat also didn''t bother to chase me.¡¯ ¡®In the future, | need to be more careful.¡¯ Shang was a little bit under the water, which wasn''t anything problematic for him. After all, he was a Commander Stage warrior. He didn''t need food, water, or air to survive. His entire beingpletely relied on Mana to sustain him. However, there was one surprising thing about being above this very deepke. An unknown number of powerful beasts could be swimming right beneath Shang''s feet at this moment, and he wouldn''t know it. After all, the entireke was filled with nothing but Water Mana, and Shang couldn''t use Water Mana to see his surroundings. This meant that he needed to rely on his vision, hearing, and sense of touch. Yet, surprisingly, Shang wasn''t afraid. He wasn''t even really nervous. ¡®Power,¡¯ Shang thought. ''This is because of power.¡¯ Shang looked into the seemingly infinite abyss below him. ¡®On Earth, | felt quite nervous whenever | thought about being in the middle of the pacific. Thousands of meters of water in all directions but up. That''s quite a terrifying thought.¡¯ ¡®But, right now, | don''t feel so nervous." ¡®That''s because of power.¡¯ ¡®| might be at a disadvantage when ites to fighting terrain, but I''m confident that | can kill a Mid Commander Stage beast, even in this environment. A Late Commander Stage beast will probably kill me, but if we were to fight onnd, | might have a chance." ¡®How many Late Commander Stage beasts and more powerful are in thiske?¡¯ Shang thought about this for a moment. ¡®Not that many, probably. Maybe 300? Additionally, most of them are probably in the absolute deepest parts of theke. After all, the deeper inside theke, the denser the Water Mana.¡¯ ¡®When | was new to this world, | was prey. | was forced to remain on pathways made by humans since nearly every beast posed a danger to me.¡¯ ¡®Now, | am on a level where it doesn''t matter anymore where | go.¡¯ m not powerless." m not the prey. | am the hunter.¡¯ Shang nced at the gue Rat Zone, which was still in battle. Since the Tide Serpent didn''t care about the sky above itske, the gue Rat''s domain even stretched over the Tide Serpent Zone, darkening the sky. Right now, Shang swam inside an endlessly deepke below the ck sky as distant explosions brightened the horizon from time to time. And then, Shang dove into theke. The Grandmountain Kingdom and the ckshadow Kingdom were extremely dangerous to him right now. But there were no humans here. Even though Shang was only about 50 meters away from the shoreline, theke still seemed bottomless below him. Obviously, the thick Water Mana had aggressively dug out every bit of earth it could get its hands on as long as it didn''t belong to another Zone Beast. As Shang descended, the darkness of theke engulfed him. It was so very dark, but there was still no Darkness Mana around Shang. There was only Water Mana. As Shang descended, he felt like beasts were watching him from all sides. He couldn''t be sure if this was actually the case or not since he had no way to sense it. However, logic told him that he should havee across some beasts by now.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. Yet, no beast showed itself. Theke was calm. It was peaceful. It was deep. It was dark. Shang continued to descend. There was no change to his surroundings. No ground, no wall, no beasts, no current, nothing. Shang descended for about five minutes, and he guessed that he had descended over a kilometer by now. Yet, there was nothing. Shang didn''t even feel any vibrationsing from the gue Rat Zone anymore. He didn''t know if the fighting had stopped or if he was simply too deep in theke. Shang guessed that even if two Zone Beasts were to fight right above thiske, he wouldn''t notice. The water isted him from the world. Nothing happening above theke concerned him. This was a different world. For some reason, the istion calmed Shang''s heart and mind. There was no stress or time. While Shang had been in the Grandmountain Kingdom, he had felt a bit pressed for time. After all, he wanted to return to his home, Warrior''s Paradise. But now, Shang didn''t feel that pressed anymore. At that moment, Shang''s mind turned to the first time he had trained in this world. He had thought something very simr back then. No responsibilities. No money issues. No job. Only power. That feeling returned to Shang at this moment. And then, Shang just paused inside the darkke and closed his eye. He wanted to enjoy this feeling. For a long while, Shang didn''t move. Shang might not be alone here. There could be beasts around him at this moment. But, right now, that didn''t matter. Right now, in his mind... Shang was alone. Chapter 336 Chapter 336 Shang didn''t know how long he remained here, and he didn''t care. The stillness of the water around him soothed his mind, and he felt like being here was the right thing to do. He didn¡¯t know why, but that was what he felt. After an unknown amount of time, Shang opened his right eye again. He felt like he knew theke better now. ¡®| should continue,¡¯ he thought. Then, Shang continued descending. Why was he descending? There was a reason for it. After another two minutes, Shang felt something other than water touch him. He extended his hands and felt the sand. ''Finally,¡¯ he thought. ¡®I''m probably over 1.5 kilometers deep in theke, but | only feel sand now."Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. Shang was sure that theke had to have a deepest point, and he was also sure that the deepest part would not be that close to the border of the Zone. The deepest part of theke would be the most dangerous part, and Shang didn''t want to enter that part. However, Shang also didn''t want to leave the Tide Serpent Zone. The Tide Serpent apparently didn''t really care about Shang, while other Zone Beasts might care a lot about him, which would be bad. If Shang decided to dig into the earth right near the edge, the gue Rat might decide that Shang was inside its Zone again. Because of that, Shang had swum downward. Right now, he was about 50 meters away from the border, which meant that if he were to dig into the wall now, he would definitely still be inside the Tide Serpent Zone. Shang''s hands felt the sand, and he noticed that it was a steep wall instead of a floor. ¡®It''s like a funnel,¡¯ Shang thought, ¡®an incredibly steep one, at that.¡¯ ¡®If the funnel keeps going at this angle, the deepest point of theke might be tens of kilometers deep. Maybe even hundreds." Shang wasn''t sure if the funnel shape would keep going indefinitely until the walls met, but he didn''t think that it was impossible. Up to now, Shang still hadn''t seen another beast, but he felt like he hade across some on his descent. After Shang had reached the sand wall, he extended his arms and buried them in the sand. Then, he continued swimming into the wall. Shang''s body was strong enough that he could swim into the sandy wall like it was water. It basically made no difference to Shang. Shang purposefully didn''t leave an opening while burying himself in the sand, not that the sand would allow him to. His purpose ining here was to find a safe ce. After digging several meters into the sandy wall, Shang stopped. Sand was all around him. In a sense, Shang was buried alive. The pressure here, especially with the sand surrounding him, would kill a Soldier Stage warrior, but it wasn''t an issue to Shang. For a while, Shang simplyid motionlessly buried in the sand, feeling the surroundings. The sand allowed Shang to feel any vibrations much better than the water, and he was using it to scout if something living was nearby. Shang felt some slight movemente from theke, but it wasn''t significant. More importantly, Shang didn''t feel anyone digging in the sand, which he had expected. Only beasts with Water Affinities were living inside the Tide Serpent Zone, and those beasts definitely weren''t interested in being surrounded by sand, which exhibited Earth Mana. Additionally, this wall was just beside the gue Rat Zone, which meant that there were only very few Earth Affinity beasts living there. This made this ce perfect for Shang. Only Earth Affinity beasts would be interested ining here, and there were no Earth Affinity beasts around here. The depths of the Tide Serpent Zone symbolized the greatest danger. No human would willinglye here. After all, an unknown depth filled with terrifying sea creatures would be below them. Even more, there was no ce to hide in the middle of theke. Which human would willingly descend that far into the Tide Serpent Zone? Yet, in the greatest dangery the safest ce. A perfect sanctuary for anything that wasn''t a sea beast. After several hours of not feeling any kind of significant movement, Shang decided that this ce was safe enough, and he entered his inner world. Shang decided to take his clothes and sword with him. In thiske, clothes were not really useful, and they were rather annoying. Inside his inner world, Shang put on his nearly destroyed ck armor. His real body in the Tide Serpent Zone was naked now, but the body inside his inner world would need protection. When Shang saw the ck armor, he thought that it looked even more damaged than he had remembered. The scars of battle from his fight with Vice-Commander Wilbury were still visible. The Magic Runes were destroyed, and the cape could barely be called loose, ck streamers. But it was still better than nothing. The material might still be able to turn a fatal attack into one that only heavily injured Shang. Shang had never taken off the ck wrapping covering his left eye socket, which meant that his look had returned to his old one. Right now, Shang no longer looked like a barbarian but a warrior. In a way, he looked a bit like a younger but more injured version of the Dean. Shang''s inner world was just as dead and lifeless as previously. Yes, the blue sky was beautiful, but the meadow that stretched into infinity made the world feel artificial, barren, and unfinished. The only thing of note was the ck stone beside Shang, and that stone was also the reason why he hade here. Below the writings on the stone, Shang found it. The timer. "86 days and a couple of hours," Shang said. "It seems like | get three months to adjust to my power this time. Last time | only got one month." Shang''s brows furrowed. "But it''s still surprising that there are 86 days now. Did | stay in theke for four entire days? It didn''t feel that long." The reason why Shang hade here was to check the timer for his next trial. It was important to know how much time he had. After all, the more powerful he became before the trial started, the better. ¡®With three months, | can strengthen myself about six times if | operate at peak efficiency. | can only strengthen my body with water beasts, but that doesn''t really make a difference since | can''t use Abominations anyway.¡¯ "Serpents are known for their magical powers and gigantic attacks. If Abominations were to appear in theke, the Tide Serpent would probably release one massive attack that takes all of them out, including me. Right now, it might respect the Thunder Horse''s mark, but if it sees Abominations suddenly appear around me, it will probably kill me just to be sure.¡¯ Shang looked at the timer for a bit more. "Three months, six strengthenings," he said. "| should get on it right now." After that, Shang left his inner world with Sword and entered his now-naked body. Then, he dug out of the sandy wall. Then, he carved the location of this ce into his mind and swam deeper into the dark unknown. He needed to hunt. Chapter 337 Chapter 337 Shang left the sandy wall and swam downward in a diagonal way. He didn''t want to get too far from the wall, but he knew that he also wouldn''t find any beasts that close to it. Shang had no idea how far down he had to go to find a beast appropriate to his level. After all, he hadn''t even found a weak beast up to now. It was a gamble. Shang continued swimming down in the darkke for quite a while. Everything was silent. Theke waspletely still. It was almost like it was ancient. Was this really just a ce that a Zone Beast had created, or had theke been there before the Zone Beast had appeared? Shang continued descending for about five more minutes before he stopped. ¡®| don''t know how deep | have to go to find an appropriate beast to my level. It''s also possible that | might go beyond where | want to go. If! do that, | will die." Shang stopped descending and decided to swim further out into theke from his current depth. He guessed that he was probably nearly three kilometers deep. The scenery didn''t change. It didn''t matter if Shang went down, forward, or up. Everything always remained the same. There was still no movement. ¡®| need to do something drastic if | want to gain some intel,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang readied his sword. BANG! Shang released an Ice st, turning the water behind him into ice as he shot forward. The rapid speed at which Shang was moving through the water cooled his heated body very quickly, allowing him to cast another Ice st just a secondter. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang used one Ice st after the next to rapidly move around. He had no idea where he had to go. He was only blindly moving around. Eventually, about a minuteter, Shang felt a strong current that wasn''t created by him. BANG! Shang exploded towards the ce where the current hade from. BANG! Shang released a second Ice st, turning everything behind him into ice. CRACK! The blunt side of Shang''s sword had just hit something! The water around Shang turned red, and he saw something move in the darkness. Shang extended his hand forward and grabbed the closest thing to him. It didn''t move. Blood poured out of the thing Shang was holding, telling him that he had just killed a beast. It was difficult for Shang to see, but he could still see somewhat. He just couldn''t see very far. Shang looked at the thing he was holding and realized that he was holding the lower half of a rather big fish. Shang had killed a beast by ramming into it with his weight. Shang didn''t recognize the kind of beast since he basically knew nothing about water beasts, but he could still do some basic tests. Shang tested the resistance of the fish''s muscles and the hardness of its scale. "Should be around the Early General Stage,¡¯ Shang estimated. ¡®Need to go deeper.¡¯ Shang threw the parts of the fish to the side since he had no use for it and descended further. The blood quickly vanished from around Shang as he continued going deeper into theke. He descended for another five minutes. Nothing. Shang continued descending for another five minutes. Still nothing. ¡®| should be nearly five kilometers deep. | can already feel quite a bit of pressure on my body. | think | will reach my limit at around seven kilometers. | can survive even deeper, but moving would be too strenuous.¡¯C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. ¡®| don''t think that the water beasts want to go too deep due to the stronger beasts down there.¡¯ ''Tll descend one more kilometer.¡¯ Moving at such a depth wasn''t very easy for Shang. The pressure was all around his body. Luckily, Shang didn''t need to go much further. After about two minutes, Shang felt a strong currenting toward him, and he immediately reacted to it. BANG! Shang released an Ice st from his legs, charging upward. CRACK! The ice below Shang''s feet was broken apart as something smashed through it. Obviously, something had just tried to kill Shang. However, Shang couldn''t tell where the beast had gone to. He could barely see a couple of meters in front of him. ¡®Vision isn''t very helpful here,¡¯ Shang thought as he closed his eye. He fully focused on his other senses. Asecondter, Shang felt something approaching, but he didn''t open his eye. WHOOOM! Suddenly, the water around Shang vanished. At this moment, Shang was inside a space filled with nothing but Mana. Domain of Entropy! BANG! Shang kicked backward with his legs and released an Ice st. As Shang shot forward, his Mana was being consumed at a terrifying rate due to how much mass the Domain of Entropy was converting to Mana. The empty tunnel Shang left behind was quickly closed by the water. Shang opened his eye when he was certain that he was right in the path of the beast in front of him. Then, Shang struck forward. CRACK! Shang was thrown back, but he felt his sword dig into something before being thrown away. The water drowned Shang again as he deactivated his Domain of Entropy. He didn''t need it anymore. Shang''s eye narrowed. BANG! He released an Ice st, quickly followed by another one. He shot through a sea of blood. Shang felt another violent current in front of him. BANG! BANG! Shang released two quick Fire sts to speed up. Then, he struck to the side. CRACK! Shang cut through something hard, and more blood appeared in front of him. For some reason, Shang felt that the currents were bing rough and irregr. ¡®| probably got its backfin. It was trying to run!¡¯ BANG! Shang used another Ice st, and he quickly felt the beast again. BANG! Shang shot diagonally upwards when he suddenly felt the current stop in front of him. Then, he pointed his left arm upward. BANG! Shang released another Ice st and shot down as he struck forward with his sword in his right hand. CRAACK! Sure enough, he hit something hard. Shang''s right eye burned. BANG! BANG! He released another two sts to increase his power. CRACK! And his sword finally broke through the thing he had hit! Shang paused again and concentrated on his surroundings. His left side was exhibiting several small currents while his right side was quiet. BANG! Shang cut towards his left side and hit something. Silence. Theke returned to silence. Shang quickly grabbed towards his right and his left, shoving whatever he touched into his Space Ring. BANG! BANG! Then, Shang released one Ice st after the other to ascend again. He no longer needed to be covert. About five minutester, Shang shot towards the sandy wall again and buried himself. When he felt nothing moving around him, he entered his inner world with his Space Ring. Inside his inner world, Shang took out the Space Ring and dumped whatever was in there out. BANG! The bisected corpse of a terrifying fish appeared in front of Shang. It was nearly ten meters long and over two meters high. A terrifying amount of teeth came out of its mouth, which then curved around its entire body, creating a powerful armor made of bent teeth. The fish''s head had a deep cut going through its mouth up to the middle of its eyes. ¡®That was my first attack.¡¯ Shang looked at the backfin, which had long spikes on it. Sure enough, a horizontal cut had separated the upper and lower half of the fin. The back half of the fish also had teeth armor protecting it, but the teeth between the two halves had been broken apart. This had been when Shang had bisected the fish. Thest injury was a deep cut at the ce where the fish''s left eye had been. This had been Shang''s killing strike. Shang looked at the fish for a while. It looked alien and terrifying. Its mouth was constantly open due to the teeth that bent over its entire body. There were a couple more teeth at the back of its throat that were not bent. This was probably what it used to kill its prey after ramming into it. Shang bent down and performed a couple of tests on the fish. Then, he frowned. ¡®Early Commander Stage.¡¯ ¡®Not sure if | can absorb that.¡¯ Chapter 338 Chapter 338 Shang looked at the fish for some time. ¡®It would be a matter of luck to get the right beast, and | don''t want to identally run into something too powerful. | think | should try it! Shang slowly dug out the fish''s heart and started to consume it. After he had eaten around half the heart, his brows furrowed. ¡®The Mana is not activating. | thought | could eat half of the heart, but apparently, | need to eat the entire thing to strengthen my body. | think it has something to do with the beast''s will.¡¯ Shang looked at the remaining heart, narrowed his eye, and consumed it as well. When Shang swallowed thest bite, he felt his body heat up. He was reminded of the time he had consumed the Earth Fruit Hedgehog''s first fruit. "Speaking of,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®I think | am powerful enough to fight the Earth Fruit Hedgehog equally now. Duke Whirlwind said that it reached the Mid Commander Stage after consuming the Old Ice Octopus." The insurmountable gap of power Shang felt whenever he had looked at the Earth Fruit Hedgehog had vanished. ¡®Can''t get distracted now. Need to deal with the Mana." Shang decided that he had to take drastic measures. After all, if there were too much Mana remaining inside his body, it would be troublesome. BANG! BANG! Shang released two opposing sts, one after the other, severely injuring his body. Shang quickly shoved all his own Mana into healing his body, and his body was consuming the beast''s Mana to regain its old storage. Shang hadn''t cleared his Mana before swallowing the heart since he didn''t need to. He had already experimented a couple of times. Thanks to his warrior body, he had the ability to use up his own Mana at terrifying rates. The beast''s Mana was entering Shang''s being at rapid rates, but that wasn''t nearly fast enough. BANG! BANG! Shang injured his own body even more, the pain starting to face him. His body was trying to heal rapidly, but controlling foreign Mana wasn''t very easy. But Shang noticed that his body was absorbing the Mana a tiny bit faster. ¡®| have to try it! It''s too risky having so much foreign Mana inside myself!¡¯ BANG! Shang released another two sts, his organs spreading over the surroundings. He was out of his own Mana, and his natural regeneration might not be fast enough to heal him in time. Shang gritted his teeth as he tried to stay awake. The darkness of death was calling for him. ¡®If you don''t absorb faster, | will die!" Shang''s body began to shiver at several ces, and he resisted the urge to convulse. Steam came out of Shang''s body as the Mana got absorbed even faster. But at the same time, Shang noticed that his Mana had be imbnced. It was like his body was starting to mutate violently. His organs were regenerating in the wrong ces and in wrong sizes. BANG! Shang destroyed parts of the incorrect organs, doing his best not to identally kill himself. It was a constant battle of death on the tiny tightrope above a cliff. One wrong step and Shang would die. The beast''s Mana was rapidly being consumed under Shang''s controlled destruction. It was incredibly painful, but Shang kept an iron grip on his focus. This was probably one of the most panic-inducing and painful experiences in Shang''s life, only superseded by the Procedure and the time he had consumed the first fruit from the Earth Fruit Hedgehog. Blood and guts gathered around Shang, and he wanted to do nothing more but lose consciousness. However, Shang kept going. Eventually, an hourter, Shang stopped. The will of the beast had returned, and it became impossible to absorb the remaining Mana now. Shang allowed foreign Mana to enter his being again and fully focused on recovering. Shang felt some kind of foreign will attack his mind. It felt very simr to fighting unconsciousness. As he fought against the foreign will, Shang sat down and closed his eye, focusing on the mental battle. It was like he was desperately leaning against a door as someone tried to open it with force. It was a battle of attrition. Shang had to put his full focus on resisting the enemy''s will. Every moment was difficult. Shang didn''t know how long he kept fighting off the will, but he was sure that a long time had gone by. At some point, the assault grew weaker, and Shang could actually rx a little. Some more timeter, Shang didn''t need to focus on the battle anymore. The beast''s will had grown so weak that it was no longer a threat. For the first time in a long while, Shang opened his eye. The first thing he did was look at the big stone in his inner world. "73 days remain," Shang read in shock. ¡®| have been battling the beast''s will for 13 days?!" Shang took a deep breath. Right now, the will was only slightly more powerful than when he had strengthened himself the normal way. ¡®With enough work, | can clear the beast''s will in about twelve days.¡¯ ¡®It seems like it''s possible to strengthen myself with a beast heart a level stronger than me, but it will take longer to recover in total.¡¯ Shang took out his sword and tested his power. After a bit of testing, he could estimate his newfound power. It wasn''t as good as he had hoped. He had hoped for some kind of boost after going through so much danger, but the efficiency seemed to only be a little bit better than if he were to do it the normal way. ¡®If an Initial Commander Stage beast gives me one unit of power, this one gave me 2.4 units. A normal beast takes me about twelve days to recover, while this will take me a total of about 26 days. It''s a gain of about 0.2 units, but it''s extremely dangerous, and | am essentiallypletely helpless for two weeks after consuming one." ¡®It''s not worth it.¡¯ ¡®If | have a normal one, | should use the normal one. | should only go for Early Commander Stage beasts if | don''t find anything else.¡¯ Shang remained sitting for some time longer to rx. His mind had been strained for a long time. Eventually, Shang stood up. "| have about twelve days to kill," he said as he looked at Sword. "I think we need to strengthen you. How about | dig into the gue Rat Zone deep underground, and you tell me if you feel any useful ore? | think the gue Rat should have calmed down by now. On top of that, it lives many kilometers to the east."Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. "I''m fine with that," Sword answered. Shang nodded. Then, he left his inner world and went back into his real body, which had been buried inside the sand for nearly two weeks. Shang''s real body felt quite stiff, but that wasn''t really an issue. After opening his eye, Shang continued digging deeper into the wall. About a minuteter, he felt the earth bing harder. Then, he continued digging through the hard earth. And just three hourster, Sword told Shang that it felt something useful. This would be Shang''s new life for the next three months. Strengthening and digging. Chapter 339 Chapter 339 Over the next three months, Shang kept strengthening his body and digging for ore. Digging for ore wasn''t as straightforward as he had thought. Sure, Sword was finding a lot of ore, but not every piece of ore was usable by them. Some had the wrong Affinity. Others were either too weak or too strong. However, after several months of nearly fully focusing on mining ore, Shang had gotten enough to boost Sword to the Late Commander Stage.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. Yes, he had found enough to boost it to the Mid Commander Stage and then to the Late Commander Stage. Sword''s shape hadn''t changed, but it had be quite a bit heavier. Now, it no longer felt like Shang was swinging a small stick around. Shang''s sword was already quite big, even if it was not as big as when Shang had been in the Grandmountain Kingdom. This also meant that it was quite heavy. Usually, only a Late Commander Stage warrior could wield the current Sword, but they would only be able to move slowly. But Shang could swing Sword with only one hand. This spoke volumes about Shang''s physical strength. Right now, Shang''s body was a bit weaker than the body of a Peak Commander Stage warrior, which was a terrifying gap in power. Honestly, at this point, it became almost pointless for Shang topare himself to warriors. There were so few warriors left in the world with a body more powerful than him, and the warriors had also fallen off by a lot whenpared to beasts and Mages. From now on, Shang could only adequatelypare his physical strength to beasts and his actual power to Mages. So, how powerful was Shang''s body whenpared to an Initial Commander Stage beast after three months of strengthening? Shang had just finished his most recent strengthening. Originally, he had killed another Early Commander Stage beast, but if Shang decided to use its heart, he would miss the deadline for the trial. Because of that, Shang had gone out again to hunt an Initial Commander Stage beast, and he eventually got it. Shang clenched his right fist and swung Sword a couple of times. ¡®The further | advance, the slower the strengthening process. It''s like a hyperbole." ¡®Right now, | should be about 75% to 80% as strong as an Initial Commander Stage beast. | managed to absorb one Abomination, which heightens my starting point. | believe, while | only managed to reach about 85% at the Peak General Stage, I should be able to get up to 90% this time.¡¯ At that moment, Shang frowned. ¡®However, that also means that it will take quite a bit longer to advance. Sure enough, the stronger | get, the harder it gets to advance.¡¯ ¡®At the rate | am advancing right now, it will probably take two entire years for me to reach the Early Commander Stage, and after that, it will be even slower.¡¯ Shang looked at his hand. ¡®But | shouldn''t use normal human standards for time anymore. Commander Stage warriors often live for 250 years, which is around three times as much as normal humans on Earth." "Reaching the True Path Stage in my 40s would be like reaching it in my teens if | were to use the standard longevity from Earth.¡¯ Shang looked away from his hand and to the side as he remembered something. "Speaking of, | think my body should be about 22 years old now. That was also my age when | left Earth, right? Or was it 23? Honestly, | can''t really remember anymore. My life on Earth has be more and more distant as time passes. It''s almost like my previous life was nothing but a dream." ¡®I don''t know how | should fee! about this.¡¯ Shang didn''t think anything for a couple of seconds as he tried to discern what he was actually feeling. Sadly, he wasn''t exactly sure how he felt about this particr topic. ¡®The past is in the past. To be frank, it doesn''t even really matter.¡¯ Shang stood up from the ground inside his inner world. He still wore the damaged armor since he felt a bit ufortable about being naked outside of water. He had gotten used to swimming around naked in the Tide Serpent Zone but being naked onnd was a bit weird. Shang cracked his neck and did some stretches. He wasn''t really doing that to warm up but to heighten his focus. After some seconds, Shang''s right eye narrowed, and he looked at the big stone in the middle of his inner world. Only a bit more than a day was remaining on the timer. ¡®I''ve been gone from the Skythunder Kingdom for a bit more than a year, huh,¡¯ hemented to himself inside his mind. ¡®Thest trial happened when | was about 16. That was six years ago.¡¯ "Six years to go from the General Stage to the Commander Stage." Shang took a deep breath and focused his mind on the task at hand again. ¡°Let''s start the trial," Shang said, Sword in hand. CRRRR! The huge stone vanished into the ground, and something familiar returned. The wheel. The wheel came down from the sky, and just like before, the jester sat upon it. But this time, the jester had some light in his eyes. The God was no longer keeping it a secret that he was inhabiting the jester. "Don''t disappoint me," the jester said in his mechanical voice. "Just send them in. The first few levels won''t take long," Shang answered. The jester only grinned widely, and the wheel began to spin. ¡°Level one: Weak Initial Commander Stage beast,¡± the female mechanical voice announced. Shang didn''t even look at the wheel. Nothing that the wheel couldnd on was a danger to him. Acouple of secondster, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a silver wolf with horns. Shang only waited. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! BANG! Shang immediately exploded forward as the bell rang. The wolf opened its eyes and focused on Shang, but Shang''s speedpletely took it by surprise. Out of reflex, it tried to dodge to the side, but Shang was just too fast. BOOOM! Shang''s sword easily cut through the wolf, the two halves shooting in two different directions. The old familiar apuse returned as Shang looked forward, his right eye narrowed. "Next," he said. The jester only grinned. Chapter 340 Chapter 340 The second beast appeared after another couple of seconds, and Shang killed it. The third one died just as quickly. The fourth one also wasn''t an issue. The fifth one needed Shang to release two strikes instead of one, but that was about it. ¡°Level six: Powerful Early Commander Stage beast," the mechanical voice announced. The wheel spun, and this time, Shang actually looked at what the wheel wouldnd on. He still remembered thest time he had been on level six in the beast category. He had fought a powerful tiger with insanely hard metal armor. That fight hadn''t been easy. Eventually, the wheel stopped, and Shang saw the image of his opponent. Just likest time, the beasts were depicted like they were mascots from a cerealpany. The image of his next opponent was a smiling, long, green snake with arge wizard hat. ¡®That''s probably a Serpent,¡¯ Shang thought. Sure enough, Shang''s opponent appeared, and it was a Serpent. It was about two meters wide and nearly twenty meters long. It had four ws at different parts of its body, and it hovered in the air. Wind Mana was constantly swirling around it, keeping it afloat. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! The Serpent opened its eyes, and it quickly spotted Shang. BANG! Shang immediately exploded forward with an Ice st. He knew that Serpents were basically the Mages of the beast world. They excelled in rangedbat. WHOOOM! The Wind Mana around the Serpent exploded, and the Serpent went into the air without any difficulty. After it reached a height of about a hundred meters, it focused on Shang again. Lots of Wind Mana gathered around it as it was preparing something akin to a Spell. SHING! An instantter, a transparent de shot through the air at incredible speeds, right at Shang. BANG! Shang evaded the de by jumping, the de exploding on the ground and destroying the surrounding ten meters. Shang quickly reached a height of 25 meters, but at that point, the Serpent had another attack ready, which directly shot at Shang again. BANG! Shang released a Fire st, diagonally evading to the side while gaining more height. The Serpent readied another attack, but something happened before it couldunch it. Shang put his left arm over his sword, his left arm shriveling up. Then, he released a quick sh with his Sword from a distance. A ck beam left Shang''s sword, and it reached the Serpent in nearly an instant. If the Serpent had known that Shang had a ranged attack, it might have been able to evade, but nothing about Shang told it that he couldunch an attack from a distance. BANG! The ck beam hit the Serpent, but it wasn''t injured. Then, the Serpent realized in horror that it was uncontrobly falling! Why couldn''t it fly anymore?! BANG! Shang released another Ice st and shot at the descending Serpent. Asecondter, the Serpent managed to regain control over its Wind Mana and halted in the sky. BANG! Shang released another Fire st, a bit of blooding out of his body as he shot upward. The Serpent tried to evade with its slender body, but the reach of Shang''s sword was just too long. BANG! Shang''s sword bisected the Serpent in the middle. Ashrill screech of pain came out of the Serpent''s mouth, and its body began to move around violently, out of control. Shang grabbed the front half of the Serpent and used Darkness Absorb. Usually, the Serpent would be able to release a devastating attack at Shang from this range, but its heavy injury made it impossible for it to focus. The two of them began to fall to the ground as the Serpent grew weaker and weaker. Shang''s body began to balloon as he absorbed a bit too much, and he stopped absorbing more. BANG! Shang cut away another part of the Serpent. BANG! Then, he used an Ice st to slow his fall and lightlynded. BOOOOOM! The three parts of the Serpent hit the ground, the Serpent dying from it. Shang cleaned his sword on the grass of his world and stepped away. At that moment, the cheering returned. ¡®Sure enough, that was a powerful beast. | can''tpare thest beast | fought to this one.¡¯ For a warrior, this was the worst matchup. The Serpent had been over a hundred meters in the air, and it could release one devastating Spell after the other. A normal warrior would have easily died to it. Of course, there were ways around it. For example, Shang could fight very well in the air due to his Affinity, but other warriors had simr weapons. They could release the ranged attack Shang had gotten from thest trial, for example. Maybe they had a great number of disposable, throwable spears? Shang remembered fighting a couple of warriors that used these spears. There were ways to counter a flying opponent, but it wasn''t easy. Shang felt a bit of pressure as his armor pressed onto his swollen body, but it wasn''t a big deal. ¡°Level seven: Weak Mid Commander Stage beast," the mechanical voice announced. Shang looked at the spinning wheel, and his next opponent was unveiled. Thest time he had been at the seventh level, he had only won due to the inexperience of his opponent. The white dog had had quite a terrifying defense, even though it was definitely not known for its defense. But this time, Shang''s body was quite a bit more powerful. The wheel stopped at a smiling, burning ant with spiky red hair. Young kids would probably say that it looked cool. The ant appeared, and Shang looked over. It was about five meters long, which wasn''t very big for a Mid Commander Stage beast. Except for its crimson red color, there was nothing really special about it. Sure, its pincers were huge and terrifying, but basically all such pincers were terrifying when magnified by that much. The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! The ant turned to Shang and charged at him. Surprisingly, it wasn''t very fast, and it moved almost like a robot, very mechanically. Since the opponent wasing to him, Shang didn''t immediately charge in. Instead, he ran at the ant without releasing his full speed. When the two of them were about ten meters away from each other, Shang saw fire gather around the ant''s pincers. BANG! Shang used a Fire st to jump upward. CRACK! The pincers of the ant mped together below him just an instantter. They had elongated, and they werepletely on fire. ¡®Quite a devastating and dangerous attack,¡¯ Shang thought. ''However, this ant counts as aparatively weak beast. If it has such a devastating attack, it probably means that everything else about it is trash.¡¯ BANG! Shang released an Ice st above him and shot directly at the ant''s back, his sword pointing forward. CRACK! Sword broke through the exoskeleton of the ant, but it didn''t get very far. Some blood was pouring out of the ant''s back, but it hadn''t received a fatal injury. ¡®| used a lot of power with that attack,¡¯ Shang thought calmly. ''Seems like its defense is also not bad.¡¯C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. Shang jumped off the ant shortly before it fell onto its back. It had no way to properly attack something on its back. The best thing it could do was fall to its side and awkwardly rollover. BANG! Shang used another Fire st with his left arm andnded behind the ant. CRACK! One of the ant''s legs fell off. "Sure enough, its legs are too thin to resist my attack." The ant scrambled to get back up. CRACK! Shang destroyed another leg. Then, Shang jumped back and watched the ant. The ant looked like it hadn''t even felt its legs being cut off and began to awkwardly advance toward Shang like a robot. It was quite a bit slower due to it missing two legs. "So, that''s it, hun?¡¯ Shang thought as he watched the ant. ¡®This is why it counts as a weak beast. It has one powerful attack and good defense, but that''s all. It doesn''t have variety, it''s very slow, and there are several blind spots in its defense.¡¯ Shang retreated from the ant with a couple of light jumps. The ant was so slow that it was even slower than Shang, someone with a much weaker body. ¡®Well, it''s an ant. They don''t normally fight on their own. If there are ten such ants, these weaknesses are no longer such a big problem. After all, they can cover each other''s backs with their devastating attacks." ¡®Ants are dangerous and incredibly powerful, but one ant is weak." Shang danced around the ant and cut its remaining legs off just to be on the safe side. Then, he killed it with several strikes to the head. This fight had been even easier than the previous one. The cheering returned, and the wheel returned. ¡°Level eight: Average Mid Commander Stage beast," the mechanical voice announced. Shang still remembered thest time he had been at the eighth level. His enemy had been a porcupine, and he had needed to unleash Entropy to win back then. One could say that Shang had never beaten the eighth level fairly. ¡®But this time, things will be different,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®| have a ranged attack, a domain, more control over my Mana and my Affinity, and my body is even more powerful in rtion to beasts than back then.¡¯ ¡®All in all, my power is much greater.¡¯ ¡®It''s time to beat my old record!" Chapter 341 Chapter 341 Shang looked at the wheel after the announcement. Today, he would break his old record! Eventually, the wheel stopped at an image of a female lion wearing a fur coat over her... fur coat. SHING! Shang''s enemy appeared, and he studied it. It was an icy blue lioness with thick fur. There were additional lines of even thicker fur going across its sides and back, giving it a sort of artic feel. It wasn''t very difficult for Shang to guess what its Affinity was. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING!Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. The lioness opened its eyes and looked at Shang with hungry eyes. Without hesitation, it immediately charged forward. Shang readied his sword. The lioness was very fast, and Shang would only be able to rival its speed with his different sts. Its ws and teeth were obviously also extremely dangerous. "Good Speed, strong attack, and probably an adequate defense. This will definitely be harder than the ant, but it should still be doable.¡¯ BANG! Shang also charged forward at his full speed, and the two of them very quickly reached each other. Shang released a sh as the lioness tried to bite him. The lioness quickly realized that it would be hit by the attack, but instead of retreating, rage appeared in its eyes. CRACK! It angled its mouth and opened it. The sword broke through the top of some teeth, but the lioness quickly bit down, taking hold of the sword. Shang knew that his body couldn''t bepared to the lioness''s, which meant that his sword was stuck. As it kept hold of the sword, it quickly lifted one of its paws. SHING! Terrifyingly deadly and long icy ws came out of its paw, and it struck towards Shang. At that moment, Shang narrowed his right eye. WHOOOM! The icy ws turned back into Mana when they reached Shang. Domain of Entropy! The attack missed, giving Shang an opening. Shang quickly grabbed the de of his sword with his left hand. His arm quickly froze over and broke into icy splinters. However, the sword in the lioness''s maw began to burn fiercely. The lioness opened her mouth in pain, letting go of the sword. Instead of grabbing his sword, Shang jumped. At the same time, Sword moved by itself, changing its position so that it pointed straight into the lioness''s throat. BANG! Shang kicked the back of his sword''s handle, shooting it straight into the lioness''s throat. CRKSH! Sword broke through the back of the lioness''s throat, but it got stuck in the bone. However, the fiery heat immediately unleashed, and the lioness jumped away as it tried to get rid of the sword with its paws. Shang heard some painful screechinge from the lioness, but he didn''t let up. BANG! He immediately charged after her. The lioness hit Sword with one of its paws, throwing it to the side. Shang reached the lioness without his sword and lowered his stance as he remained standing in front of it. Rage filled the lioness''s eyes, and it quickly pounced at Shang. Shang remained standing, and for just a moment, time seemingly stopped. The lioness was in the middle of a jump towards Shang as he stood before it, weaponless. But at that moment, Sword''s grip entered Shang''s hand. Sword had be quite a lot more powerful over thest three months, and the more powerful it became, the faster and more agile it could move. Even though the lioness had thrown it away, it quickly changed its trajectory and reached Shang. Then, from Shang''s lowered position, he struck upward with all of his power. The lioness was in the middle of its jump, and there wasn''t much it could do now. The best thing it could do was protect its head with its legs. Shang struck. BANG! A paw fell to the side! However, the attack of the lioness hadn''t been stopped. It was still flying towards Shang, and it would do its best to bite Shang into pieces! Shang quickly noticed that his opponent''s legs were not ready for an attack, meaning that only the bite posed a danger to him. Defending from something like that wasn''t difficult. BANG! Shang punched the lioness''s snout. It didn''t receive any major injuries from that attack, but the force slowed the lioness down while shooting Shang back. BANG! The dangerous maw closed right in front of Shang, barely missing him. The lionessnded on its three remaining paws. It had adapted to its missing limb very quickly. Shang didn''t let up and immediately charged forward again. Surprisingly, the lioness also charged at Shang, even though it was missing a leg. Its speed had slowed by quite a bit, but Shang didn''t be reckless. Shang readied another strike, but then, something surprising happened. The lioness turned its head away from Shang, turned its body, and performed a shoulder check! Shang''s mind quickly analyzed the situation, but there wasn''t much time. Even though such an attack had an obvious opening and wasn''t really dangerous, Shang''s instincts told him that he should block. Shang interrupted his attack and put Sword in front of him to block whatever wasing. SHING! SHING! SHING! At that moment, the furry lines on the lioness''s side and back turned into terrifying icicles! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! The lioness''s body hit Sword''s side, and the icicles broke as soon as they hit it. However, Sword was not wide enough to block off Shang''s entire body, and two icicles went past it, hitting Shang in the shoulder and outer thigh. Shang''s body quickly began to freeze over, but he counteracted the freezing force by releasing several Ice sts to gain some distance. The lioness immediately charged after Shang, not letting up. Just when Shangnded, it performed the same attack again. ¡®Don''t use the same attack twice!¡¯ Shang thought as a light appeared in his eye. Shang''s sword struck forward. WHOOOM! The icicles turned into Mana as Shang activated his Domain of Entropy once again. CRAAACK! With the added power of the lioness''s charge, Shang''s strike managed to cut deep into the lioness''s body. The lioness roared and fell to the side, its body iling around in pain. Shang pulled his sword out and unleashed another attack. CRACK! Another leg was destroyed during the attack, and it became impossible for his opponent to stand up. With one of the two opponents being unable to stand, the fight was already over. Shang took care not to get hit by the icicles again as he methodically inflicted more injuries on the lioness. Activating his Domain of Entropy cost a lot of Mana, and he didn''t want to waste it. When the lioness was close to death, Shang touched its body and performed Darkness Absorb. In an instant, Shang had fully recovered, but the lioness was still alive. Since there was no more life energy Shang could use, he simply ended the fight. Asecondter, the cheering returned, and Shang took a deep breath. ¡®| received a couple of injuries, and | used a bit of Mana. However, | didn''t reach my limit yet.¡¯ Shang looked at the vanishing corpse for a bit. ¡®| might have a shot at beating level nine.¡± Chapter 342 Chapter 342 Shang took a deep breath and waited. ¡°Level nine: Powerful Mid Commander Stage beast," the mechanical voice said. The wheel spun again, and Shang looked at it. He knew that the next fight would be very difficult. ¡°Let''s make this one more interesting," the jester on top of the wheel suddenly said as he snapped his fingers. Everything inside the wheel vanished and was reced by a single picture. It was a Powerful and graceful blue lion sitting on a throne. Surprisingly, this image didn''t appear as kid-friendly as all the other ones. Shang quickly guessed the identity of his next opponent.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. SHING! And when Shang''s opponent appeared, he got his guess confirmed. The lioness from before was probably part of this magnificent lion''s pride. It was a male lion, and it was absolutely massive. It was over five meters high and over ten meters long. Its entire body was filled with long, glistening hair, and its mane was impressive beyond belief. Its head was encased in some form of icy armor that mimicked a crown, and its four legs had thick and powerful armor made of ice covering them. Its tail was over five meters long and graceful. The sheer power and majesty this lion gave off just by standing there were shocking. "That''s an Ice King, and | want to know if you can beat it," the jester said with a smirk. Ice King. Shang had never heard of these kinds of beasts before, but he guessed that this beast had to be powerful if humans called it a king. Shang could already guess that the Ice King was very powerful. After all, this lce King probably had several of these lionesses serving it. To rule over so many beasts with quite impressive power required even more impressive power. At this moment, Shang felt a feeling of pressure he hadn''t felt since fighting Vice-Commander Wilbury. The Ice King might not be as powerful as Vice-Commander Wilbury rtive to Shang''s power, but it was definitely very dangerous. As Shang readied his sword, the jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! The Ice King slowly opened its eyes and nced at Shang with pride. It barely paid any attention to Shang. For some reason, Shang felt like the pride wasn''t misced. BANG! Nevertheless, Shang charged forward with an Ice st. As Shang reached his full speed, the Ice King only kept looking at him calmly. When Shang reached a distance of about 50 meters, the atmosphere changed. The clear sky above Shang was reced with dark-grey clouds. An instantter, white wind shot down from the skies and violently whirled around the Ice King. It was essentially a powerful blizzard, which had the snowkes and icicles reced with powerful Ice Mana. CRK! CRK! Shang''s body froze almost immediately! At this moment, Shang received a massive shock. He had been frozen at such crazy speeds?! His body was just a bit weaker than a Peak Commander Stage warrior, and this Ice King was only at the Mid Commander Stage! Did that mean that the Ice King could freeze warriors two levels above it without even getting serious?! It was almost like this Ice King was as powerful as a Mage! The lioness''s usage of Ice Mana was basic, only being able to summon some icicles on its body. But the Ice King summoned a gigantic attack that required terrifying control and a great amount of Mana to pull off! This was not just a powerful Mid Commander Stage beast! Something like the metal tiger Shang had fought before was a joke against that! Even the Serpent Shang had fought earlier would lose easily if it were on the same level as the Ice King! And that attack obviously wasn''t even its full power! After all, its entire body was encased by powerful icy armor, and its body was gigantic! Its closebat abilities were probably ridiculously strong as well! BANG! Shang released several Ice sts, filling his body with Fire Mana. The Fire Mana counteracted the Ice Mana, unfreezing Shang''s body and transforming the ice on his body into steam. ¡®This is not something a normal warrior can fight against,¡¯ Shang thought as he elerated again. ¡®I can only fight it due to my Affinity." ¡®It''s like there is a fundamental difference between this beast and a warrior, a difference that can''t be ovee with only training!" "You can be the most talented, experienced, and knowledgeable warrior in the world, but you will get frozen anyway. The only way to get through this attack is to have an extremely powerful body or be a Mage!¡¯ This was the first opponent where experience, hard work, creativity, and training weren''t enough to beat. This enemy demanded all these things, but it also demanded higher inherent qualities. Qualities someone couldn''t get by training or fighting. But that was as things stood right now. Areally powerful Mage could probably beat the Ice King, but Shang guessed that an average Mage wouldn''t be able to win. Usually, an average Mid True Mage could y with all kinds of Mid Commander Stage beasts. They were not a danger. But this thing was different. This thing could probably beat an average Mid True Mage! In a way, Shang got reminded of himself. Beasts were considered to be beneath Mages. Warriors were also considered to be beneath Mages, but Shang had managed to break out of that stereotype and actually jump levels against Mages. Shang was part of a group of beings considered far weaker than Mages, just like beasts. And if warriors could have such an outstanding member like Shang, who could jump out of that ssification, why couldn''t beasts? This Ice King might be one of the very few beasts that could actually put up a fight against the truly powerful Mid True Mages. Just like Shang, it was an extremely outstanding member of its group. ¡®But I can still fight it!" Shang released one Ice st after the next to keep his body from freezing, which had the positive side-effect of increasing Shang''s speed by a lot! Shang was at his most powerful when he fought in very hot or very cold environments! Chapter 343 Chapter 343 BANG! Shang released one of many Ice sts and reached the Ice King. The Ice King still kept looking at Shang with its arrogant eyes. And when Shang reached the Ice King, it slowly lifted one of its legs and stamped down. BOOOOOM! An explosion of icicles came out of its leg, sting in every direction. When Shang saw these icicles, he felt a mortal threat. They were so hard and powerful that they would probably punch a hole into his body! Suddenly, the area around Shang cleared, and the icicles turned into more Ice Mana. Domain of Entropy! However, Shang was shocked by how much Mana he had just consumed. ¡®| just used up 40% of my Mana just to deal with these icicles?!¡¯ he thought in shock. Nevertheless, Shang struck at the Ice King''s leg. CRACK! Shang''s sword hit the icy armor on the Ice King''s leg and cracked it, but he didn''t manage to even reach its skin! But at this moment, all the Ice Mana from the dispersed icicles gathered on Sword as it stuck inside the armor. The Ice Mana of the storm had a will on it, but the Ice Mana of the icicles was free for Sword to use! However, instead of releasing a powerful freezing st, arge and icy edge appeared around Sword. Shang put more power into Sword, and Sword used the Ice Mana and its own power to also increase its power. CRRRRRKSH! Shang finished the sh, and Sword came out of the armor. Shortlyter, an icy liquid poured out of the crack in the armor. It was the Ice King''s blood! Shang had managed to cut apart its skin and a bit of muscle. Sadly, Sword hadn''t even reached the bone.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. It was only a superficial injury. When the Ice King felt the paining from its leg, rage appeared in its eyes. And then, it roared. WHOOOOM! An incredibly powerful shockwave hit Shang, throwing him into the distance. At the same time, even more Ice Mana gathered around him, speeding up the process of his body freezing. The entire world seemed to shake under the apocalyptic roar filled with dense and dangerous Ice Mana. Shang had to release several Ice sts to retreat and counteract the Ice Mana assaulting him, but he managed to survive the roar uninjured. At that moment, the Ice King finally fully looked at Shang, and Shang could see pure anger in its eyes. CRK! CRK! CRK! More ice came out of its body and solidified, encasing the Ice King in a thick armor made of ice. Even its mouth, eyes, and nose were encased by ice. There was not a single opening in its perfect defense! SHING! SHING! Then, several spears made of ice came out of the Ice King''s armor, giving its majestic presence an additional feeling of pure aggression and danger. The Ice Mana around its body thickened even more, turning the air around it icy blue. CRK! CRK! The ground below the Ice King cracked beneath its feet as it slowly lowered its stance. And then, it exploded forward! BOOOOM! With an icy explosion, the Ice King shot right at Shang. Its speed was so fast that Shang could barely react! BANG! Shang shot to the side with an Ice st, barely managing to evade the dangerous strike of the Ice King''s ws. But at that moment, Shang felt an intense feeling of danger. Out of instinct, Shang used Sword to block his side. BOOOM! An insane power hit Sword, ramming it into Shang and throwing the two of them over a hundred meters into the distance. It was the Ice King''s long and powerful tail! The bones in Shang''s arm and chest broke, but he quickly used his Mana to fix them. While Shang was still flying, he heard another explosion and felt the cold approach of death. The Ice Mana around Shang intensified again as the Ice King reached him while Shang still hadn''t even recovered from the previous attack! BANG! Shang released several Ice sts in the air and changed his trajectory as he slowly regained control over his body. The mighty strike of the Ice King missed as Shang passed it. BANG! And then, another explosion of icy spears came out of the Ice King''s body as Shang was still in the air. "Sword!" Shang barely managed to shout as he let go of Sword. On its own, Sword quickly aligned itself between the icicles and Shang as Shang angled his body so that the soles of his feet pointed at Sword. CRK! CRK! CRK! Several icy spears hit Sword and pushed it towards Shang''s feet. Usually, Sword wasn''t big enough to fully block such an attack, but as Shang''s body was angled now, it became possible. BANG! Shang kicked Sword forward with all of his power, and the ice around Sword became thicker and sharper. CRACK! The flexible and powerful tail of the Ice King hit Sword''s edge. Sword''s icy edge broke, but a huge part of the ice armor on the tail also broke. There was even a bit of blood flowing out. Only now did Shang truly realize how dangerous the Ice King was. It had released three devastating attacks, one after the other, without pause! And that wasn''t even the end! BANG! BANG! When the Ice King realized that its tail swipe had failed, it summoned two long and powerful icy spears above it. These two were not as brittle and weak as the previous icicles. And then, it shot the icy spears directly at Shang. Sword was too far away from Shang right now, which meant that he had no way to properly block the icy spears. Shang''s focus reached its peak, and he felt like time had slowed down. BANG! BANG! Just when the two ice spears reached Shang''s vicinity, he simply spread his legs and kicked their tips to the side. This required absolutely perfect timing and insane control over his body. But he had pulled it off. The icy spears angled to the side, and Shang extended his arms. And caught them! Shang''s hands began to freeze, but by physically touching the attack, Shang managed to destroy the will on the ice spears. An instantter, the will on them waspletely destroyed, and the ice spears vanished. Shang had once cursed this ability when he had identally absorbed the Ice Mana in the Ice Wood on his sled wagon. But now, it became a lifesaver. A huge part of Shang''s Mana got refilled by absorbing the Ice Mana inside the ice spears. The Ice King noticed and performed another tail swipe while turning its body. Shang was still in the air due to the earlier roar. That was how fast these attacks hade! Just before the tail swipe reached Shang, Sword managed to regain control of itself and also reached Shang. Shang unleashed a strike at the tail. BOOOM! A huge part of the tail''s armor exploded off, and a deep cut was left inside the tail. This time, Sword managed to reach the bone. But at the same time, Sword was pushed into Shang due to the force, breaking more bones. Even though Sword couldn''t cut Shang, without the ck armor, Sword would have probably still cut apart Shang''s chest muscles just due to the raw force. BANG! Shang''s body hit the ground and rolled backward. And at that moment, the Ice King exploded forward again. Its attacks were relentless! Chapter 344 Chapter 344 Shang was barely in a condition to dodge. Even more, the Ice King had be much more urate with its w attack. So, Shang was forced to do the only thing that could give him some value out of this sh. Shang pointed Sword right at the approaching w. CRACK! The ice around Sword exploded everywhere while the ground beneath Shang turned into a crater due to the Ice King''s sheer force. Sword''s handle was pushed back, breaking Shang''s arms, hitting the ck chest te, punching a hole in the chest te, and lastly, burying itself into Shang''s gut. Like he had been pierced by a thrown spear, Shang was thrown into the distance by Sword. However, receiving this injury wasn''t for nothing! Sword had pierced through the Ice King''s paw,ing out of the other side! Icy blue liquid poured out of the paw, and the Ice King''s eyes became even more infuriated. Shang and Sword quickly used their power to get Sword''s handle out of Shang''s body as they flew into the distance. SHING! And then, Shang''s armor vanished. His armor had weakened the injury by a lot, but now, it was only a hindrance. It had a huge hole in the middle, and the bent metal had buried itself into Shang''s body. The armor had transformed from protection into a hindrance, which was why Shang quickly put it into his Space Ring. But just like before, the Ice King immediately reached Shang again with its incredible speed. Its injured paw didn''t even slow it down! Shang had already healed his injuries, but he was starting to run low on Mana. He only had around 40% left. Meanwhile, the Ice King kept releasing insane amounts of Ice Mana in wide attacks. It was almost like it had a bottomless well of Mana! BANG! As the next strike approached, Shang used several Ice sts to shoot over the w. Due to the previous injury, the Ice King had stabbed its ws forward instead of shing, giving Shang a chance to avoid the attack. Shang flew over the attack and approached the Ice King''s head. But then, Shang''s eyes widened as he looked into the opened maw of the Ice King. Aterrifying amount of Ice Mana had gathered in its mouth. Shang felt death approaching. And then, a terrifying beam of concentrated Ice Mana shot directly at Shang. If he got hit by that, he would die immediately! Out of reflex, Shang activated his Domain of Entropy once again. It was the only thing he could do. He couldn''t evade nor block, leaving only his Domain. It was aplete shot in the dark, but Shang had a suspicion. As soon as the beam of Ice Mana entered Shang''s Domain, it changed. It changed from Ice Mana into Neutral Mana! The Neutral Mana harmlessly washed over Shang. ¡®It works!¡¯ Shang thought. ''I can turn matter into Elemental Mana, but | can also turn Elemental Mana into Neutral Mana.¡¯ ¡®But | also have to use Mana to do that.¡¯ Right now, Shang''s Mana storage had bottomed out. There was nothing left. However, Shang was now directly in front of the Ice King''s gigantic head. Shang readied a sh. BANG! Suddenly, an explosion of thick Ice Mana appeared between the Ice King and Shang. The Ice King was thrown into the distance while Shang was thrown to the ground. They were now over 50 meters apart again. Shang gritted his teeth as hended on his legs. But when he saw the Ice King''s body sliding on its icy ws, Shang''s right eye widened, and a fire appeared inside it. This was the first time the Ice King didn''t have the initiative! The Ice King had always been the one initiating the attacks, and it hadn''t given Shang any opportunity to unleash his own attacks! But now, it was defending! ¡®I''m out of Mana! This is the only chance | will get!" Shang held Sword tightly and prepared a sh. Then, he spoke one word. "Ishah!" Astreak of ck fire. One single sh, stretching over 50 meters. Shang had vanished, leaving behind a streak of ck fire, and appeared below the Ice King in a single instant. Mana Step! Sword had shrunken to its original form, the one it had assumed after it had be a sword for the first time. The Ice King''s torso above Shang had a deep cut going through it. The icy armor hadpletely vanished, but so had Shang''s entire skin. Shang had sacrificed his skin to activate his Domain of Entropy. Shang''s Domain of Entropy had dealt with the icy armor, and Sword''s Entropy had cut through the body. For an instant, time seemingly stood still. And then, a shower of blue blood rained onto Shang. Shang''s entire body began to freeze from the blue liquid, which made him realize that this was the source of the Ice King''s endless Mana. As soon as the blue blood hit Shang, his body absorbed it, filling up Shang''s mana storage again. Sadly, the Mana inside Shang''s mind remained empty due to Mana Step. BANG! Shang immediately used an Ice st to jump out from under the Ice King as his skin regrew. Inparison to the far more powerful Entropy Ability, the damage Shang received from his Domain of Entropy could be healed with Mana. BOOOM! Asecondter, an oceanic wave of icicles shot out of the Ice King''s body. Even though Shang had jumped to the side, the icicles still drowned him. Shang activated his Domain of Entropy yet again, but blocking this attack consumed nearly all the Mana he had just regained. This had been a fully powered explosion of the Ice King''s Mana. BANG! Then, Shang immediately unleashed another Ice st to charge back at the Ice King. At that moment, the heavy icy storm in the surroundings subsided for the first time since the beginning of the fight, signaling that the Ice King could no longer afford to waste any Mana. The Ice King''s face looked exhausted after unleashing such an insane explosion of icicles, and Shang saw his chance. He reached the Ice King''s head in an instant, which the Ice King hadn''t expected. It had just unleashed more Mana than ever before, and, in its mind, it was impossible for its opponent to immediately reach it. Yet, Shang was here now. The Ice King only noticed Shang when he was already in front of its left eye.N?velDrama.Org content rights. At that moment, Shang''s skin turned into dust again, and the Ice Armor covering the left side of the Ice King''s head turned into Ice Mana. And then, Shang''s bloodied figure stabbed Sword right into the Ice King''s left eye. Even though Sword was much thinner than before, it was still well over a meter long... Enough to bury itself into the Ice King''s brain. SHING! Silence. The Ice King no longer moved, a skinless and bloody figure in front of its destroyed left eye. An instantter, Shang put his left hand on the Ice King''s head and used Darkness Absorb. The Ice King''s body fell to the ground, and Shang''s ravaged body quickly regained its vitality. Even though Shang had absorbed enough life energy to fully heal his body, the Ice King''s corpse didn''t look any worse than before. It simply had that much life energy. Shangnded beside it and took a deep breath. And then, the cheering returned. Chapter 345 Chapter 345 Shang took a deep breath as the cheering roared around him. This was the most powerful beast he had ever fought, and it was also different from all the other ones. It had a nearly infinite well of power, and its blood was filled with Ice Mana. Shang had never seen any beast like that before. The wheel returned, but it didn''t begin spinning. Additionally, there was also no announcement. Shang looked over at the jester. The jester looked back with furrowed brows. Then, the jester looked at Sword. Shang knew what the God wanted to know. SHING! Shang summoned several pieces of ore from his Space Ring. He had been digging for ore for three months, and he had enough ore to spare. Then, Shang put Sword into the ore, and Sword promptly started to absorb it. When the jester saw that, a grin appeared on his face. The God wanted to know if Shang wanted to cheat the system again by using a powerful attack but also not wanting to pay the price. With his actions, Shang showed that he was willing to pay the price by using his own ore. After a couple of seconds, Sword was finished. "There is a problem," Sword said. Shang furrowed his brows and looked at it. "Yes?" "| feel like my control over Entropy has lessened. | think the effects of the Entropy ore are not permanent." Shang scratched his chin. ¡®It actually makes sense. Sword had only absorbed the Entropy ore back when | returned from the battlefield. That was years ago, and it has used the attack several times by now.¡¯ SHING! Shang summoned the other half of the pedestal. Luckily, he hadn''t thrown it away. Sword quickly absorbed the other half and regained its control. "| think the stronger | be, the more of the Entropy ore | use with my attack," Sword said. "| estimate that, with my current power, | can only unleash the attack three more times before | lose the ability." "| need more ore, and it has to be stronger," Sword exined. Shang scratched his chin. "It makes sense, actually. It would be surprising if one piece of General Stage ore could keep you going until the very end. What about the Entropy ore around these huge ck buildings under the ground?" "I''m still too weak," Sword answered. "By my estimations, the outer wall is made of Entropy ore that''s, at least, at the Peak of the Fifth Realm. | need to reach the Fifth Realm myself to even attempt to absorb it properly." Shang frowned but nodded. "So, we need to search for a Commander Stage piece somewhere.¡± "Yes," Sword answered. After Sword absorbed the ore, it regained its old size and shape.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. Then, Shang looked at the jester. "What was that beast?" "The Ice King," the jester said with a grin. "Or, at least, one of its progenies." Shang lifted an eyebrow. The jester only grinned back. They didn''t say anything for several seconds. "Well, | presume | can tell you a bit," the jester said with a chuckle. "You amused me quite a bit, and your progress definitely hasn''t disappointed me." Shang didn''t answer. "The Ice King is one of the most powerful beasts in the entire world,¡± the jester said. "It might not be in the top ten, but it''s definitely in the top 1000." Shang''s insides shook when he heard that. When the humans talked about the entire world, they only meant the five Kingdoms. However, when the God talked about the entire world, he was actually talking about the entire world. This included all these powerful existences that Shang had never even heard of. "| presume that Zone Beasts are weaker than this Ice King?" Shang asked. "They can''t bepared,¡± the jester said with a smirk. "The humans that call themselves King in thesends are only small children ying pretend,¡± the jester said. "The true Kings are in a Realm these people don''t even know of." Shang tried to guess how strong the Ice King actually was, which was when he remembered something. "What about the Lightning Emperor?" Shang asked. Shang still remembered that extremely powerful woman that had teleported him with a wave of her hand. She had said that the ck buildings belonged to the Lightning Emperor. The jester''s smirk widened. "Quite smart." For a couple of seconds, the God thought about if he wanted to answer the question or not. ¡°Emperors are more powerful than Kings, right?" the jester said with a knowing smile. Shang''s right eye narrowed. This told him a lot! The real Ice King belonged to the top 1000 beasts in the world, but the Lightning Emperor was stronger than the Ice King. The Lightning Emperor wasn''t even called Lightning King, but Lightning Emperor. This probably meant that he was an entire Realm stronger than the Ice King. "So, | have actually met someone that worked for one of the most powerful humans in the entire world." ¡®The Lightning Emperor, huh? | wonder what kind of person he is." ¡®Lightning Emperor. Mage Emperor.¡¯ ¡®They are probably at the same Realm. Of course, the Mage Emperor was probably more powerful." Slowly, Shang was able to grasp the power hierarchy of this world. And it was massive. The Dean could kill Shang in one hit. Duke Whirlwind could kill the Dean in one hit. King Skythunder could kill Duke Whirlwind in one hit. A Zone Beast could kill King Skythunder in one hit. The Ice King could kill a Zone Beast in one hit. The Lightning Emperor could kill the Ice King in one hit. The Mage Emperor could kill the Lightning Emperor in one hit. And then... Shang looked at the jester. When Shang had met the God for the first time, he hadn''t been able to grasp the God''s true power. Only now did he truly realize how unimaginably powerful the God was. Sure enough, the entire world was his yground. This entire world was only a toy. All existences in this grand world, no matter how powerful, only existed to amuse the God. This thought woke a lot ofplex emotions. Chapter 346 Chapter 346 Shang thought about this dynamic for a bit, but he eventually focused on the trial again. "I''m ready for the next level," Shang said as he readied his sword. "You don''t need to get ready," the jester said with a smirk. Shang nced at the jester. The jester only continued smirking. "I''ll give you two points for this fight since it was so difficult. I''ll count this level as levels nine and ten. So, if you want to continue, you will directly enter level eleven." "Do you want to fight an average Late Commander Stage beast?" Shang furrowed his brows. He knew exactly what that entailed. Sadly, or luckily depending on the viewpoint, there was a rock-paper-scissors principle going on here. Could an average Late Commander Stage beast win against the Ice King? Probably not. The Ice King would surely win. Yet, Shang had won against the Ice King. So, wouldn''t he be able to win against an average Late Commander Stage beast? Sadly, no. The only reason Shang won against the Ice King was due to several things unique to him. The constant presence of the icy storm not only didn''t affect Shang, but it even strengthened him. Additionally, the Domain of Entropy was very useful against Mana-based attacks. In a way, Shang had perfectly countered the Ice King. Yet, he wouldn''t perfectly counter his next opponent. The body of his next opponent was so much stronger than Shang''s that he probably wouldn''t even be able to break through its defenses. So, while the Ice King could kill an average Late Commander Stage beast, and while Shang could kill the Ice King, Shang couldn''t kill an average Late Commander Stage beast. In a sense, Shang was definitely weaker than the Ice King in terms of total power. Shang knew that he had lucked out. In fact, even a weak Late Commander Stage beast might be able to kill Shang. It entirely depended on what kind of opponent Shang would have received. But an average one? No shot. "So, | have ten points now, right?" Shang asked. "Correct," the jester answered. Shang took a deep breath. "| don''t think | can win against an average Late Commander Stage beast. Do you think | have a shot?" he asked. The jester chuckled a bit. "Knowing your own power is important." "You will lose.¡± Shang nodded. That was what he had expected. Dying was still something Shang didn''t want to experience, and he also didn''t think that there was much to gain from fighting such an opponent. His opponent was probably so much stronger that Shang wouldn''t even be able to learn anything. He would probably just get overwhelmed and die. "Then, that''s it for the beasts," Shang said. "Alright," the jester said. But then, he looked at the wheel below him, and the wheel began to spin. ¡°| want to know what you would have fought." Shang also looked at the wheel.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. After a couple of seconds, it stopped on a green bird with a spear in its hand. "Spear Stork," Shang said. He knew that beast very well. "Yep, you would have lost," the jester said. Spear Storks were insanely fast, and with it being three levels above Shang, it would be so fast that Shang wouldn''t even be able to react. He would die in one shot. After that, the wheel for beasts left as two other wheels appeared, one for Affinities and one for weapons. The jester sat on the wheel for Affinities. But instead of starting the wheels, the jester only looked at Shang. ¡°Enjoy your free wins," the jester said with a chuckle. "In the next trial, I''m going to change things up." "Having you fight simted future warriors is no longer urate since your arrival changed the world of warriors faster than | assumed." ¡°But | also don''t want you to keep fighting these same warriors but stronger. You would rack up points without end.¡± Shang looked at the jester. "So, what will you do?" "Not sure yet,¡± the jester said. "| might remove the warrior category altogether and lower the thresholds for rewards or make you fight the ancient variants of the warriors. | will decide which when the timees." ¡®Fighting ancient warriors?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®I might actually learn about new ways to apply my power. In a way, it allows me to peer into the past, at the time when warriors were equal to the Mages.¡¯ ¡°But for today,¡± the jester continued. "You will be fighting normal, average warriors. Enjoy it while itsts." And then, the wheels began to spin. Shang didn''t even look at the wheels anymore. It didn''t matter what theynded on. Shang''s body was nearly equal to a warrior at the Peak Commander Stage. Shang had defeated an average Mid Commander Stage beast without having to use everything. Could an average Late Commander Stage warrior beat an average Mid Commander Stage beast? No. Would a powerful Late Commander Stage warrior be able to? Maybe. It would be a tough fight. "Oh right, | forgot," the jester said. ¡°Level one: Weak Initial Commander Stage warrior," the mechanical voice said. "There we go," the jester added with a grin. Shang didn''t look over. He still wasn''t a fan of this circus. He was fighting for his life and future while the God was designing the entire trial to be absolutely ridiculous. It was like a familyughing at the funny way the chickens in front of them were fighting to the death. It was fun for them but horror for the chickens. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared. He was a young man with silver hair and a silver spear. His entire equipment looked ostentatious, almost like he was afraid that others didn''t know that he came from a wealthy background. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! The warrior opened his eyes. BANG! And he was dead. Shang''s speed was so fast that he couldn''t even react. Sword bisected him without any issues. Shang was still not a fan of killing people that hadn''t done anything to him, but there was nothing he could do about it. For his own power, he had to kill these people. It didn''t matter if they were real or not. It didn''t matter if they were willing to be here or not. It didn''t matter if they wanted to fight or not. Shang had to kill them. If he didn''t, he would forever regret it. He needed this trial. He needed the rewards. He needed more power! The cheering returned just like the wheels. ¡°Level two: Average Initial Commander Stage warrior." And the wheels spun as Shang waited for his next victim. Chapter 347 Chapter 347 BANG! Shang''s sword hit the spear of his opponent. The young man opposite Shang was thrown backward with a lot of force, and Shang charged after him with an Ice st. He readied another strike. BANG! Shang''s strike was blocked again, but the young man was sted into the ground due to the overwhelming force of Shang''s attack. BANG! An explosion of lightning appeared between Shang and his opponent, but the explosion vanished just as quickly. Domain of Entropy! The young man opened his eyes wide in terror and shock. Shang shed another time at the young man lying on the ground. The young man lifted his spear to block. BOOOM! The surroundings were turned into a crater as the young man''s body got buried even deeper into the ground. The young man''s bones broke, and he couldn''t lift his spear anymore. Shang readied another strike. BOOOOM! The person below Shang was cut into two pieces by Shang''s sword. Since the beginning of the fight, the young man had been in a disadvantaged state. Shang''s attacks were just relentless. Shang quickly absorbed the remaining life energy of the corpse to recover. Then, the cheering returned, and Shang readied himself for his next opponent. ¡°Level ten: Weak Late Commander Stage warrior," the voice announced. The two wheels returned, but Shang didn''t even look at them. Acouple secondster, Shang''s new opponent appeared. It was a middle-aged man who looked like an experienced warrior. However, that didn''t say very much. There were no inexperienced warriors at the Late Commander Stage. Every single warrior at this Stage had been a genius in the General Stage, but since everyone was a genius, no one was. After the bell rang, Shang charged forward again and reached his opponent. The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes and readied his shield. He would block Shang''s attack with his shield and counterattack with his sword. Shang readied his sword. BANG! Yet, instead of attacking with his sword, Shang kicked the shield diagonally. The warrior''s eyes widened. Wasn''t his opponent supposed to be at the Initial Commander Stage?! How was his body so strong?! The warrior''s shield was thrown to the side, leaving him open. BANG! Several Magic Circles blocked Shang''s attack. Shang readied another attack. BANG! Shang''s sword cut through the body of his opponent, and the fight was over. The cheering returned. Shang didn''t even look at his opponent. By now, he had made peace with his actions. If he could choose, he wouldn''t kill these people, but he had to. He needed the power. There was no point in thinking about something he couldn''t do anything about. ¡°Level eleven: Average Late Commander Stage warrior.¡± After some seconds, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a woman with long green hair and two curved swords. DING! The bell rang, and Shang charged forward again, leaving behind a trail of icy mist. Shang''s charge didn''t faze the woman, and she entered abat stance. Wind Mana gathered around her and her des. SHING! She performed a quick sh, and a wave of fast and sharp Wind Mana shot at Shang. BANG! Sword blocked the wave, destroying it. SHING! SHING! The woman released another two waves, and the Wind Mana around her exploded as she also charged at Shang. BANG! Shang used a Fire st to jump over the waves, but the woman appeared before him at that moment. Her body was spinning with a terrifying amount of sharp Wind Mana. BANG! Shang used another Ice st to evade, but it was like the woman knew where Shang would go, and her angle changed. SHING! SHING! Another two waves of Wind Mana shot at Shang. WHOOOM! Shang had to activate his Domain of Entropy to destroy the two waves. BANG! Then, Shang charged at her with a Fire st. Shang reached her and released a sh. BANG! The woman released another wind st and jumped backward, evading Shang''s sh. But at that moment, a wave of Ice Mana came out of Shang''s sword, which shot directly at her. BOOOM! Abig part of the woman''s body froze, making it difficult for her to move. BANG! Shang released another Fire st, several parts of his body turning to ice as he reached her. WHOOOM! The Domain of Entropy activated again, turning the gathered Wind Mana around her into Neutral Mana. Her eyes opened in terror. BANG! Sword shed downward, and the Magic Circles of the woman''s armor blocked the attack. BOOOM! However, her body hit the ground, creating a crater.Exclusive content from N?velDrama.Org. BANG! Shang released another Ice st, some of his blood exploding outward. He reached her in an instant and released a powerful strike. BANG! Shang''s opponent died, and he absorbed the remaining life energy inside her body. The cheering returned. However, Shang could only furrow his brows. "She was more powerful than expected,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®She''s only an average Late Commander Stage warrior, and her body is weaker than mine. However, her Battle-Strength was actually quite impressive." Of course, Shang knew exactly why his opponent had been so strong. ¡®Late Commander Stage. It will take several years for me to reach that, and I''m already advancing at rapid speeds." ¡®Every single Late Commander Stage warrior is probably already 60 or older. They have several decades ofbat experience.¡¯ ¡®They are no longer the people that use the techniques of their predecessors, but the people that create the very techniques that everyone else uses.¡¯ ¡®The students of the Warrior Academy learn the techniques of these people.¡¯ ¡®Right now, | am fighting people that have many times more experience than me when ites to battle. The only reason why my Battle-Strength can even keep up is that I''ve been in so many genuinely dangerous battles.¡¯ ¡®Fifty casual battles can''tpare to one truly dangerous battle.¡¯ ¡®However, they have also all been in their fair share of dangerous battles.¡¯ ¡®|need more experience and more training over the next couple of years. | have to stay at the very forefront of my Stage in terms of Battle-Strength.¡¯ The wheels returned, but this time, Shang looked at them. ¡°Level twelve: Powerful Late Commander Stage warrior," the mechanical voice said. Shang could no longer take his next opponent lightly. He still remembered his fight with Vice-Commander Wilbury, and this fight would have the same level of opponents, just higher. A powerful Late Commander Stage warrior was more powerful than an average Peak Commander Stage warrior. This meant that Shang would be fighting the second most powerful ss of warriors in the world, excluding the Dean. Shang knew that he had no chance against a powerful Peak Commander Stage warrior. He was simply too young and inexperienced to win against these monsters. However, he should be on the level of a powerful Late Commander Stage warrior. If Shang managed to win this fight, he would have twelve points, but these twelve points actually meant fourteen points. After all, the next two levels shouldn''t be a big issue after that. This fight would decide if he would get eleven or fourteen points from the warrior category of the trial. The first wheel soon stopped. The field where it stopped was empty. This meant that Shang would be fighting someone without an Affinity. They wouldn''t be able to use any elemental attacks, but their body would be more powerful. Their body would be about as powerful as Shang''s body. Not having an Affinity was on the rare side, and Shang hadn''t fought many of those people before. Then, the second wheel stopped on a singr long sword. SHING! Shang looked over at his opponent, and his eyes widened. About a hundred meters away stood an older man with long gray hair. He wore a silver uniform, and he held a nearly 1.5-meter- long sword in front of him with both hands. His closed eyes and expression spoke of peace, experience, wisdom, and power. He was one of the most powerful warriors in the world. Shang gulped and became nervous. The jester lifted his hammer with a mad grin. DING! And he struck the bell. The old man opened his eyes and peacefully looked at Shang. "You''ve already grown so powerful, Shang," he said without any surprise. Shang''s heart was racing. He could deal with killing the other humans, but he didn''t want to kill his current opponent. ¡°Please tell me you are not the real one," Shang said. The old man closed his eyes and showed a small smile. "I''m happy to hear that. It means that you still care for us.¡± "No, I''m not the real one," he said. m a copy that has only just now been created." "No matter if you kill me or I kill you. | will cease to exist after our fight.¡± When Shang heard that, he released a sigh of relief. "Then, let me see how far | havee, Teacher Mervin!" Shang said as he readied Sword. The old man also readied his sword and opened his eyes. Shang felt intense pressure radiate out from his opponent. "Show me the path you have created," Teacher Mervin said as he slowly entered abat stance. Chapter 348 Chapter 348 BANG! Shang exploded forward with an Ice st. Teacher Mervin only lightly moved his sword. Shang swung his sword with one hand, keeping his other one ready to counter whatever Teacher Mervin would throw at him. Shang released his strike. Clink! Shang''s eyes widened in shock. Teacher Mervin had only lightly moved his sword, and all of Shang''s power was thrown to the side. In Shang''s vision, Teacher Mervin''s sword hadn''t moved very fast, but at the same time, it felt like it had moved impossibly fast. It was almost like time moved differently for Teacher Mervin. It was like Teacher Mervin had only gently brushed some stalks of wheat to the side to pass. It was effortless, clean, and easy. And then, Teacher Mervin''s sword moved towards Shang''s chest. It moved slowly and with ease. Shang quickly pointed his arm forward to release a Fire st to retreat. Teacher Mervin only smiled. BANG! Shang released his Fire st, but his mind nearly stopped. Teacher Mervin''s sword had suddenly moved in a circle, and all the Fire Mana that had left Shang''s hand began to spin and shoot diagonally to his right. And there was no recoil! Shang''s body didn''t move! Teacher Mervin''s sword peacefully moved forward. And entered Shang''s chest without any resistance, piercing through Shang''s heart. Time seemingly stopped. Shang couldn''tprehend what he had just witnessed! Then, one of Teacher Mervin''s hands left his sword and touched Shang''s chest. BANG! Shang was thrown away as Teacher Mervin pulled his sword out of Shang''s chest. Shang rolled several times on the ground, and his warrior''s body instantly healed his heart. After quickly standing up, Shang looked with shock at Teacher Mervin. Then, Shang smiled bitterly. He had already lost. If Teacher Mervin had wanted, he could have cut Shang in two. He only needed to move his sword. Yet, instead of killing Shang, he had thrown him away, knowing fully well that Shang had a warrior''s body. Shang was only alive because Teacher Mervin didn''t want to kill him. At this moment, Shang realized that he had overestimated himself. Yes, his body was nearly on the level of a Peak Commander Stage warrior, but he was far too young and inexperienced. How much time had Shang had to practice his swordsmanship? Shang was training his body, his Mana control, his Affinity control, basic Spell casting, and his swordsmanship. But at the same time, he also needed to hunt, gather ore, and fight. There was so much for Shang to do. He simply didn''t have the time to practice his swordsmanship. However, if Shang had only focused on his swordsmanship, he wouldn''t be as powerful as he was right now. All these different aspects of Shang''s power contributed greatly to his Battle-Strength. He couldn''t neglect any of them, and he hadn''t. Shang''s swordsmanship was definitely outstanding amongst the Initial Commander Stage warriors. Yet, he was like a child in front of someone like Teacher Mervin. He simply hadn''t had the time. "There was no finesse in your attack,¡± Teacher Mervin suddenly said. "You simply attacked. Is that your Path?" Shang looked at Teacher Mervin in uncertainty. At that point, Shang was questioning if his method of fighting was correct. Teacher Mervin''s words rang true. Shang was only moving his sword forward in a way to attack. From time to time, he was also moving it to the side to block and parry with it. Shang thought back to some of the warriors he had fought. They had moved their weapons in very delicate and quick ways. Their weapons sought out the tiniest opening in their opponent''s defense and homed in on them. However, Shang didn''t forget to look at the full picture. He was fighting against people many decades older with far more experience, and he still managed to win. He definitely wasn''t weak. Not in the slightest. At that moment, Shang thought about his battles with the beasts and Mages. He was surprised to find that the feeling he got was very different. In front of the warriors, Shang saw his inadequacies, but while fighting Mages and beasts, Shang didn''t feel like he was inadequate. In fact, Shang felt like his battle style was perfect for fighting Mages and beasts.N?velDrama.Org content rights. And that was when he realized something. "Yes, this is my Path," Shang said. Teacher Mervin had just criticized Shang''s attacks and had asked Shang if that was truly his Path. Yet, Shang had doubled down. Yes, this was how he fought, and he was happy with it. Teacher Mervin only smiled. "Why did you choose that Path?" he asked. Shang looked at Teacher Mervin, and a smile appeared on his face. ¡°Because warriors are not my enemies," he said. "Your Path is incredibly powerful, and | feel like a helpless child in front of you," Shang said. "However, your Path is optimized for fighting other warriors." "You are one of the most powerful warriors in the world. If there were a grand tournament where all warriors would gather to fight, you might even enter the top 10." ¡°But what if the tournament were aparison of points? What if every warrior had to fight Mages and beasts to gain points?" ¡°Would you still be in the top 10?" Shang asked. Teacher Mervin''s smile didn''t vanish. "Yes, | would be," he said. Shang''s eyebrows lifted in surprise. ¡°However, your analysis is correct," Teacher Mervin said. "In fact, you managed to find the very w in my Path that took me years to find.¡± "| always trained against other warriors, and | even kept my Stage suppressed and my weapon weak to give my enemies a chance to win." "Don''t think of me as arrogant when | say that | am probably the most powerful warrior when ites to fighting other warriors in the entire world. If the Dean were on my Stage, | would be confident in beating him." ¡°Even if he retained his current experience," Teacher Mervin said with a grin. This surprised Shang and his eyes opened wide in shock. "Then, doesn''t that mean...?" Teacher Mervin nodded. "Yes, Shang." "| consolidated my Path around 30 years ago." ¡°If | wanted, | could reach the True Path Stage by strengthening my body." Chapter 349 Chapter 349 Saying that Shang was surprised would be an understatement. He knew that Teacher Mervin was powerful, but he hadn''t known that he was this powerful! Teacher Mervin could actually reach the True Path Stage if he so chose to! "Then, why are you a Late Commander Stage warrior?" Shang asked in shock. Teacher Mervin chuckled a bit. "Didn''t you already find out the reason why?" Shang was confused for a second, but then he realized. "You don''t want to only fight warriors," Shang said. "Correct," Teacher Mervin said with a nod. "When I was 123 years old, | found my Path. | realized my goal, and after decades of training, | finally unlocked the ability to beat any warriorparable to me in level." "It has always been my goal to be the most powerful warrior. After all, | am a warrior, and just like any other warrior, | want to be the best." ¡°But when | reached my goal, | realized something." "There was so much more in the world." ¡°High Mages could fly without a Spell." "| wanted to fly." "Zone Beasts could do whatever they want." "| want to do whatever | want." ¡°And, even more, many Kings in the past vanished without a trace. They didn''t die, but they simply vanished." "I''m pretty sure that there is a wider world beyond the Abyss, and they probably went there." "| want to go there." Then, Teacher Mervin sighed. "However, | have already achieved my goal." "| was the most powerful warrior." "Yet, | couldn''t do any of these other things." ¡°Achieving my goal felt empty after realizing all of these things." "That''s when | realized that | chose the wrong goal.¡± "| chose the wrong Path." "| found my Path, but this was the Path of a different person." "With these new realizations, | was no longer the person that chose that Path." "| needed a new Path because my old Path was no longer useful for my new goals." ¡°And for thest thirty years, | concentrated on increasing my Battle-Strength when ites to fighting beasts and Mages." ¡°About ten years ago, | managed to widen my Path." "| know how to fight beasts perfectly.¡± "| achieved that Path while fighting a Late Commander Stage Crevice Lizard." "Crevice Lizards are one of the weakest Late Commander Stage beasts that exist, and | nearly died in my fight. But in the end, | managed to win." "| was the only Commander Stage warrior in the world that could win against a beast on my level solo, even if it was one of the weakest." The more Shang heard, the more his respect grew. Killing a beast on the same level as oneself as a warrior without the Procedure was unreal. This was like Shang fighting a weak Late Commander Stage beast if one included his Procedure. He could theoretically win, but it wasn''t a sure thing. This meant that Teacher Mervin was probably just as good, if not better, when it came to fighting beasts than Shang! Teacher Mervin''s smile widened. "And for about thest ten years, I''ve been focusing on Mages. I''m learning a lot from Vice- Dean Ranos." ¡°And when | can finally beat a Mage on my level, | will be ready for the True Path Stage." "But | don''t know how long it will take. It might happen tomorrow. It might never happen. | don''t know." "That''s my reason for staying in the Late Commander Stage," Teacher Mervin finished. Shang had had no idea that Teacher Mervin was this outstanding. For the entire time, Shang had assumed that Vice-Dean Ranos was the most powerful Commander Stage warrior, with Vice- Dean Soran being just below him with a couple of other warriors. Yet, there was this hidden monster. Shang had always felt that Teacher Mervin was a bit special amongst the teachers, but he hadn''t thought that he had already condensed such a powerful True Path. "Do you understand what | want to teach you?¡± Teacher Mervin asked. Shang nodded. "Yes," he answered. "Condensing a Path doesn''t mean that | should reach the True Path Stage." "If | feel that my goal is inadequate, | should look at myself and see if | am happy with my own power." Teacher Mervin nodded with a smile. "Do you want to be the strongest warrior in the world?" Shang shook his head. "No." "| want to be the strongest." There was a great difference between these two statements. The strongest warrior in the world was the Dean. But the strongest being overall? Shang nced at the jester. The Dean and the God couldn''t bepared. "You are walking a more difficult Path than me, Shang," Teacher Mervin said. "Your goal is to be the strongest, no matter what you fight. May it be warriors, Mages, beasts, Abominations..." Teacher Mervin nced at the jester. "Or Gods." The jester only grinned. "You have to work harder than anyone else, and you might need to take more time than anyone else. If you want to build the tallest building, you need the widest foundation." ¡°Are you willing to do that?" ¡°Are you willing to see younger warriors and Mages overtake you in total power while you remain at the same level?" ¡°Are you willing to see the world be changed by others while you remain on a level of power that has no other option but to adapt to the very changes other powers decide to implement?" Teacher Mervin asked. Shang took a deep breath. Everyone wanted to change the world, but not many had the power. Right now, Teacher Mervin was showing Shang his future. In the future, Shang might have created a True Path so powerful that he could fight powerful High Mages without being at the True Path Stage. Yet, the world was still run by the Kings and Zone Beasts. King Skythunder might leave or die and be reced by a King that didn''t like warriors very much. Shang might be forced to run away and hide. Shang might see the Dean and his friends die right in front of him while he had no other option but to run, hide, and train. He could be powerful enough to resist the Kings if he advanced, but then, he might miss his true goal. This meant putting his own goals over the lives of everyone else and maybe even above his own happiness. Shang would be working towards the most distant, nearly unachievable goal. In Earth terms, one could say that Shang would refuse to take a break, find a hobby, and find a rtionship until he earned a billion dors. Was he willing to forsake all of this just to have a shot at achieving his goal? Was he willing to sacrifice everything? Shang looked at Teacher Mervin. "Yes, | am willing," he said, fire in his right eye. "There is nothing more important than my goal." ¡°Nothing.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights. Teacher Mervin only smiled bitterly. "This is not what | want you to choose," he said. "What''s the point of being powerful when your life is grey and you have nothing else to live for?¡± "| wanted to teach you this lesson when you were younger..." Teacher Mervin sighed. "But, apparently, | failed.¡± Shang felt a bit guilty about disappointing Teacher Mervin, but he didn''t falter. At that moment, Teacher Mervin readied his sword again. ¡°However, you are an adult now," he said. "It is your choice to make. It is your Path." ¡°And even if | don''t want you to walk down that path, as your teacher, it is my duty to help you achieve your goal.¡± Teacher Mervin slightly moved his sword. ¡°Let me be the first to help you on your True Path." Then, Shang also readied his sword. Chapter 350 Chapter 350 Asword pierced Shang''s heart again. He wasn''t surprised. He lost count of how many times that had already happened. He didn''t know how long they had been fighting. He only knew that it had been incredibly long. The foreign Mana inside Shang''s chest had already vanished months ago. Yes, the two of them had been fighting for months. Initially, Shang felt nervous about missing an opportunity to strengthen his body. After all, it just needed a bit of time for him to strengthen his body after hunting another beast. However, Teacher Mervin very quickly convinced Shang. "Strengthening your body is the easiest part of your Path. It only counts as a single step." "You can strengthen your body whenever you want, but you don''t always have someone ready to teach you." ¡°Right now, only your swordsmanship is important, nothing else." That was when Shang ignored his body and everything else. Only learning from Teacher Mervin was important now. They had fought for so long. SHING! Shang''s heart was pierced again as Teacher Mervin''s sword mimicked the horn of a beast. Teacher Mervin was incredible at mimicking beasts. Whenever he mimicked a beast, it was like Shang could see its image. This time, it had been a huge octopus, but suddenly, the octopus had grown a horn. Shang had been prepared for ranged attacks, tentacles, and even its beak. Yet, the horn had gotten him. This hadn''t been the first time it had happened. ¡°How am | supposed to fight something, which then suddenly changes into something else in a moment?" Shang asked. Teacher Mervin only grinned. "This is the Path you have chosen. You need to be stronger than everything at once.¡± "But how is that possible?" Shang asked with a sigh. "| can adapt to many kinds of attacks, but | can''t be prepared for all of them at once. | would need to perform several movements at the same time or be at several ces at the same time." "| can''t strike up, down, left, and right at the same time without dispersing my power.¡± "There is only so much | can do," Shang said. Teacher Mervin''s smile widened. "| don''t know," he said. Shang knew what wasing next. "| don''t know how you can achieve something impossible like that." ¡°However, this is the Path you chose, and it is your duty to find a solution.¡± m only here to help you. | can¡¯t lift you up, but | can act as a wall that you can use to vault further into the sky," Teacher Mervin exined. Shang had been fighting for so long that even the God had left. The jester itself was still there, but it had lost all signs of life. Obviously, the God was not interested in watching Shang train with the same opponent, but he also knew that this was a good thing. The more powerful Shang became, the more interesting his journey would be. "You have no responsibilities right now,¡± Teacher Mervin said. "And as a copy, | also have no responsibility." "We have all the time in the world." "This is a luxury that nearly every warrior in the world wishes for." Shang knew all of that, but it was still difficult. How long had they been fighting? There was no day or night in his inner world. It was unchanging, and Shang had long since lost his feeling for the passage of time. Yet, Shang continued fighting Teacher Mervin. He felt like he had made no progress. He always lost in one strike. The inner world seemed endless. Time seemed endless. And Teacher Mervin''s power seemed endless. Time lost all meaning. It was like Shang was reliving the same moment again and again, and yet, the moments were all slightly different. It was like Shang was trying to do something impossible. The more he was learning, the more he felt like he knew nothing. The more he knew, the less he knew. Before Teacher Mervin had appeared, Shang could have stated with confidence how he would fight different opponents and how he would win. But now, only emptiness appeared in Shang''s mind. All the beasts, Mages, and warriors blended together in his mind. Nothing made sense anymore. It was like everything in existence had be rtive. There was no certainty. There were only guesses and probabilities. Was Shang powerful? Probably, but he didn''t know. How much time? How much longer? Shang moved only on instinct. He wasn''t certain what he should do, but he was doing something. The more he fought, the more he felt like he was no longer himself. Shang hadn''t said a word in forever. He was only fighting and adapting. What was he doing again? Right, fighting. Why was he fighting? Right, to be the strongest. But was he actually progressing? Was he? Was he? Maybe? He should be progressing, right? Right? So much fighting. Why was he fighting again? Time. Time was endless.Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. There was so much to do, but with endless time, there was so little to do. He was fighting, right. ¡°Alright, that should be enough." Shang suddenly shook his head, and his right eye focused. It was like someone had just dumped a bucket of cold water on him. "What?" he asked in confusion. "That''s enough," Teacher Mervin said with augh. "Enough?" Shang asked, still confused. "Yep, we fought enough. We are done. The training is finished," Teacher Mervin said. "I think this is a good moment. You adapted very well, and your growth is astonishing. However, if you keep fighting me, | fear that you will start to adapt to only me. You need to fight others." Shang could still scarcely believe that the fighting was over. ¡°How long have we been fighting?" Shang asked. Teacher Mervin onlyughed. "| have no idea." Shang only looked at theughing Teacher Mervin with surprise. "Well, | think it''s time for me to go," Teacher Mervin said as he readied his sword. Shang knew what Teacher Mervin was about to do, and he didn''t feelfortable letting him do that. Killing oneself was different from someone else killing them. "You don''t have to," Shang said. "I can do it for you." Teacher Mervin only smiled as he looked at Shang. "It''s not about could but should," he said. SHING! And then, Teacher Mervin''s sword entered his head. Teacher Mervin''s corpse fell over and the jester regained life. "Took you long enough," he said. Shang didn''t even register the God''s words as he looked at Teacher Mervin''s slowly vanishing corpse. He knew that the Teacher Mervin in front of him was only a copy, but for some reason, Shang''s emotions exploded at this moment. Was he grieving for Teacher Mervin? No, Shang knew that the real one was still alive. Yet, for the first time in a long while, Shang actually fell to his knees... And tears ran down his cheeks. It hadn''t arrived yet, but Shang knew what it was. This was his future. For his own goal, he would most likely see those dear to him die. He could stop it. Shang could have just abandoned the trial. Sure, he wouldn''t have done that since Teacher Mervin was only a copy, but he had the power to stop it. Yet, for his own goal, he was ready to sacrifice someone else. This time, it was only a copy of someone Shang had a deep connection with. But next time, it might be a real person. This was Shang''s future. This was the Path he had chosen. And at this moment, Shang wept for the other futures he had forsaken. Chapter 351 Chapter 351 It took Shang a while to calm down, but there was still a certain feeling of emptiness and regret inside of him. Yet, this was what he had chosen. For his goal, any kind of sacrifice was worth it. Surprisingly, no new opponent had appeared in thest couple of minutes, even though Shang had already "won" against his previous one. Shang slowly stood up and gripped Sword tightly. Even if everything else vanished, Sword would be with him until the end. The two of them didn''t need to exchange words to make their feelings known. "Took you guys long enough," the jester said with a grin. Shang didn''t look over. ¡°How long have we been training?" The jester''s grin widened. "Five years." Silence. Five years. They had been training for five full years. That was so long! For a second, Shang couldn''t believe what he had just heard, but then he remembered how endlessly time had dragged on. Five years actually made sense. ¡°And even after five years," Shang said, "I still couldn''t beat him fairly." The jester''s grin didn''t vanish. "Of course not," he said. ¡°His kind are the very reason why | sent you guys into my main world in the first ce." Shang looked over at the jester. ¡°Hardworking geniuses,¡± the God said. "They use whatever they can get and perfect it. Yet, his body is weak. He is one of the very rare true geniuses, but hisck of a powerful body makes it impossible for him to fight any Mage or beast that is not completely worthless." "The path of the warrior has deteriorated to a degree where mastering the entire thing only makes you equal to the worst Mages in the world." "It is your duty to expand the warrior''s path. Give the geniuses more to master, and they won''t disappoint you." "Your predecessor epted the first Path he found, not trying to strengthen or widen it." ¡°Without outside help, he will never reach the Fifth Realm. His Path is just too weak."Content ? N?velDrama.Org 2024. Shang took a deep breath when he heard that. The God was obviously talking about the Dean. Without the aid of someone far more powerful than him, the Dean would never reach the Fifth Realm. ¡°However, his advancement allowed this other warrior to reevaluate himself," the jester added. "He saw that your predecessor couldn''t rival the Mages or beasts, and he realized that there is more to it." ¡°Without your predecessor, he would have advanced immediately, wasting his talent." "Sadly, this warrior came too early. If he had been born just fifty yearster, he would have a shot at transforming his body and be truly powerful." ¡°But he has already condensed his Path, and even if he is still working on it, there are no fitting beasts for him anymore." Shang remained silent for a bit. "Is there really no way?" he asked. The jester smirked. "There is always a way," he said with augh. "I designed this world to always have a way. The different ways just have different requirements.¡± "The thing you call the Procedure is only one of many ways to strengthen your body. Back when warriors were still powerful, they simply ingested a pill to achieve such a powerful body. Such a pill would work on this warrior." Shang looked at the jester. "Are there any left in the world?" "No," the jester answered. "The Mages destroyed everything. You won''t find a single inheritance regarding physical fighters in the entire world.¡± "But, as I''ve said, there are ways." "And it''s your duty to find them," the jester said with a smirk. Shang remained silent as he just took a deep breath. He wanted to repay Teacher Mervin, even if the Teacher Mervin that helped him had not been the real one. ¡®As long as there is a way, all hope is not lost.¡¯ Shang strengthened his grip on his sword. "I''m ready for the next fight," he said. The jester didn''t answer. Instead, the wheels began to spin again. ¡°Level thirteen: Weak Peak Commander Stage warrior," the mechanical voice said. At that moment, Shang remembered something and looked at the jester again. "You don''t count thest fight as cheating, right?¡± "No," the jester said. "You didn''t rely on my power. Also, your progress pleases me, and | don''t want to punish you for living up to my expectations." ¡®Progress, huh?'' Shang thought. ¡®Did | make any progress? Honestly, | don''t know.¡¯ SHING! At that moment, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was an older man wearing leather. He carried a long sword in his hands, just like Teacher Mervin. Surprisingly, he wore clothes made of fur and no armor. For a second, Shang thought that this was a barbarian, but he knew that wouldn''t make any sense. First of all, the man wasn''t carrying a heavy weapon but an elegant and long sword. Second, barbarians basically didn''t qualify as opponents in this trial. They were neither warriors nor beasts, and they were worse than both of these things. This meant that the person in front of Shang was probably some kind of hermit. Someone that lived on their own, only working on their power. ¡®Interesting. | assumed that some hermit warrior would be among the more powerful warriors, but this one is apparently weak.¡¯ The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! The warrior opened his eyes and looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. Then, he swung his sword to the side, creating a screeching noise by cutting the wind apart. His movements had been incredibly fast. The warrior entered a battle stance. BANG! And suddenly exploded forward. Shang narrowed his right eye and also exploded forward with an Ice st. The two of them charged at each other, and Shang readied his sword. Suddenly, the warrior''s sword seemed to bend in the air and move to the side. It was almost like his sword was made of a piece of rubber. It moved in unpredictable but fast ways as it shot right at Shang''s chest. Shang looked into his opponent''s eyes. ¡®I''m not sure what kind of technique he will use. | should be careful." Then, Shang carefully moved his sword forward. DING! His sword hit the enemy''s sword lightly at its side to disrupt the enemy''s attack. The sword bent away from Shang, and Shang''s sword stabbed forward. CRACK! Sword stabbed through the warrior''s chest. At that moment, terror and shock appeared on the warrior''s face. Shang''s expression looked unsure, and he moved his sword upward. SHING! The warrior was cut in two. And he died. The cheering returned, but Shang only looked with shock at the warrior. ¡®Where was his technique?¡¯ Shang thought in shock. ¡®Warriors fight with finesse, but he only moved his sword around a bit. Shang blinked a couple of times. ¡®Wait, was that actually his technique?" Silence. The warrior''s corpse slowly vanished as Shang looked at it. Sure, this was a weak warrior, but this fight shouldn''t have been that easy! Shang scratched the back of his head as he reyed the battle in his mind. His opponent moved his sword in some kind of dance, which would disrupt one''s rhythm. Then, it had suddenly homed in on Shang''s vitals. "Sure, that''s a good technique,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®It can definitely catch a lot of warriors off guard.¡¯ ¡®But that wasn''t everything, right?¡¯ Right?¡¯ At that moment, the two wheels returned. ¡°Level fourteen: Average Peak Commander Stage warrior." Chapter 352 Chapter 352 The wheels began to spin again, but this time, the fields on the wheels were bigger, which meant that several fields had vanished. There were not that many Peak Commander Stage warriors in the world. Eventually, the wheels stopped, and Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a male warrior with long brown hair, wearing golden armor and carrying a spear. ¡®That''s the armor of Commanders in Duke Whirlwind''s territory,¡¯ Shang realized. ¡®However, | don''t know him. That probably means that he is the Commander of Swamp Lake City.¡¯ There were only three big cities in Duke Whirlwind''s territory. Shang had met the Commander of Warrior''s Paradise, and Ice Heaven didn''t have any powerful warriors since that was where most of Duke Whirlwind''s powerful Mages lived. Ice Heaven was filled to the brim with True Mages. They didn''t need any warriors to protect them. Which only left the Commander of Swamp Lake City unounted for. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! The Commander opened his eyes and looked at Shang. SHING! Shang immediately jumped to the side when his instincts were screaming at him. A powerful and thick needle barely passed by Shang''s body! ¡®This is what they use to kill flying beasts!¡¯ Shang remembered. Shang turned toward his opponent and realized that he had already closed the gap. The Commander''s spear quickly stabbed forward. Shang quickly saw the purpose of the attack and how it was performed, but that didn''t always help. The Commander had a stronger body than Shang, and there was simply no good way to deal with that attack. So, even though Shang knew exactly what the opponent was doing, he had no chance but toply. BANG! The spear hit Sword''s side.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. CRK! Acrack appeared on Sword, and Shang could feel the pain Sword was feeling. Sword was only at the Late Commander Stage, while the Commander obviously had a weapon that was at the Peak Commander Stage. One or two more unfavorable shes, and Sword might breakpletely! Shang gritted his teeth as he jumped back. ¡®| totally forgot about that!" For a second, Shang felt like he was back in his first lesson in the Caterpir ss. Back then, every single attack had threatened Sword''s life since it had been too weak at the time. The Commander quickly shot after Shang and readied another strike with his spear. Shang quickly thought of a countermeasure. BANG! Shang punched the tip of the spear with his left hand, the spear piercing through Shang''s left arm. Shang''s right arm swung Sword forward. At that moment, the earth around the warrior transformed into spears, which all pointed at Shang. If he decided to go through with that attack, Shang would definitely die. Then, the spears shot at Shang, and Shang gritted his teeth. WHOOM! The earthen spears turned into Earth Mana as Shang activated his Domain of Entropy. He lost all of his Mana with that single use. The attack was just that powerful. The Commander''s eyes narrowed, and he moved his head towards Sword. That seemed like a stupid idea, but the Commander was obviously wearing extremely powerful armor. The Magic Circles would activate, block the attack, and throw Sword backward, leaving Shang open. Then, the Commander would cut through Shang''s body with his spear, which was already embedded in Shang''s left arm. Shang didn''t like it, but he knew that there was only one way out of this situation. Sword was engulfed in ck mes, and it hit the warrior''s head. BANG! The ck mes destroyed the Magic Circles and killed the Commander. The Commander''s spear had already left Shang''s left arm and had already dug into Shang''s torso. Abit more, and Shang would have been cut in two. The ck mes vanished, and Sword had shrunken to its original form again. At that moment, the cheering returned. Shang took a deep breath and summoned hisst pieces of ore. Sword consumed the ore and grew to its bigger size again. However, this was all of Shang''s useful ore. The next time Sword used its ability, it would stay in its smaller form until Shang got some more ore. The crack on Sword also vanished after absorbing the ore. Shang looked at Sword with furrowed brows. "A fight with a powerful Peak Commander Stage warrior might help me a little bit with my power, but | can''t risk you." "I''m sorry," Sword said. "There is nothing to be sorry for," Shang said. "I didn''t have the time to search for better ore, and even if | found some, your added weight would slow me down. My body is not yet as powerful as the body of a Peak Commander Stage warrior." Sword didn''t answer. Shang took a deep breath and sighed. Then, he looked at the jester. "That''s it for the warrior category," he said. The jester didn''t seem perturbed. "The fight would have been boring anyway," he said. "You know all three powerful Peak Commander Stage warriors, and you wouldn''t have had a chance against any of them." Shang nodded. Yes, he had trained with Teacher Mervin for five years, but that was still not enough to close the gap. Shang was pretty sure that he knew which opponents would have awaited him. Vice-Dean Ranos was definitely the most powerful of the three. Vice-Dean Soran was another one. And thest one was probably the Commander of Warrior''s Paradise. The youngest amongst them, Soran, was already incredibly powerful. His Path was probably not as powerful as Teacher Mervin''s Path, but with Soran being a level stronger, he could probably fight Teacher Mervin equally. The other two were not any weaker. This meant that Shang would be fighting another Teacher Mervin, and he knew how that would turn out. Additionally, even if these three decided to teach Shang something, they definitely wouldn''t give their lives for him. Even though they were copies, they still wanted to live. Lastly, Shang had been fighting against nothing but warriors for thest five years, and he needed to fight something else. So, even if the fight might have helped with his power, it wouldn''t have been much. "Ten points in the beast category and fourteen points in the warrior category," the jester said. "Your score is already higher than your cheated score from thest trial, and you haven''t even fought the Mages yet." "Seems like you will get quite a good reward." Shang nodded. At that point, the wheel with the weapons vanished, leaving only the wheel with the Affinities behind. ¡°Let''s get to thest category." "The Mages." Chapter 353 Chapter 353 The Affinity wheel began to spin, but Shang didn''t pay any attention to it. Just like with the previous categories, the first opponents wouldn''t be an issue. ¡°Level one: Weak Initial True Mage." After some seconds, Shang''s opponent arrived. It was a beautiful girl with ocean-blue hair. Shang could already tell that she was a Water Mage. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! The girl opened her eyes and calmly looked at Shang. However, her expression immediately turned to horror when she noticed that Shang was already beside her. In her shock, she couldn''t react. BANG! She was quickly bisected by Shang''s sword, and he absorbed some life energy from her corpse. The cheering returned. Shang looked at the vanishing corpse without any emotions inside his eyes. The wheel returned, and Shang waited for his next opponent. ¡°Level two: Average Initial True Mage." His next opponent appeared, but Shang didn''t really pay any attention to them. DING! When the bell struck, Shang charged forward again. That''s when Shang saw that his new opponent was a young man with red hair, wearing red robes. The Mage immediately activated his Mana Shield. BANG! Shang''s sword hit the Mana Shield, and the Mage was thrown into the distance by Shang''s attack. The Mage''s eyes widened in shock. That attack consumed over 50% of his Mana! He quickly summoned his Focus and prepared two Spells. However, before he could finish the Spells, Shang appeared before him again. BOOOM! The Mage was flung into the distance again, his Mana Shield broken. The Spell the Mage had been preparing fizzled out since he was out of Mana now. Shang immediately appeared in front of him again with his sword. In panic, the Mage unleashed the Spell that his Focus had prepared. Luckily, Foci didn''t need the Mana of their Mages. WHOOOOOM! Awide beam of unreasonably hot fire violently shot out of the Focus, right at Shang. BANG! Shang released a simple Ice st to sidestep the Spell. In his panic, the Mage hadn''t been able to aim at Shang properly. And then, Shang''s sword came down on him. BANG! The Mage was cut apart, and Shang absorbed some more life energy. By now, Shang''s body was slightly swollen due to all the life energy. The cheering returned, and the corpse vanished. But this time, when the wheel returned, Shang actually looked at it. Shang knew that he would win against his next opponent, but it wouldn''t be easy. These were Mages, the hegemons of the world. Fighting a Mage on his level was already beyond impressive for Shang. ¡°Level three: Powerful Initial True Mage." The wheel slowed down, and it eventually stopped on one of the smaller fields. Shang''s brows furrowed. ¡®I''ve never fought such a Mage before.¡¯ SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and he looked over. His opponent was a taller woman with long, ck hair, wearing expensive, dark robes. Her ck Focus was already hovering beside her. Shang could feel quite a bit of Darkness Manae out of her. Yes, this was a True Mage with a Darkness Affinity. Shang had fought Poison Mages before, but not Darkness Mages. They were not reallymon in the Skythunder Kingdom, but there were a lot of them in the ckshadow Kingdom. Shang guessed that this woman probably came from there. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! Shang exploded forward as the woman opened her eyes. In an instant, she had already prepared her Mana Shield. Her eyes quickly darted around the battlefield, but her brows furrowed when she saw it. Shang''s inner world was brightly lit like it was the middle of the day. There were no caves, no trees, no big rocks, no structures. This meant that the only ces of darkness in Shang''s inner world were the tiny shadows of the des of grass and the shadows of the two opponents. The battlefield couldn''t be worse for her. She quickly noticed that Shang had already arrived beside her. In an instant, she cast Mana Step, appearing over 300 meters away. Shang couldn''t evennd an attack. BANG! Shang immediately exploded after her with an Ice st, his speed way too fast for someone at the Initial Commander Stage. The Mage narrowed her eyes when she noticed that Shang was close to her again. SHING! She unleashed another Mana Step, and Shang followed her. "She definitely has undergone Mana Tranquility, which means that she is rapidly recovering her Mana. Even though these quick Mana Steps cost about 20% of her total Mana each, her rapid absorption essentially means that she only loses 10% of her total Mana per cast.¡¯ ¡®And even more, she hasn''t unleashed any Spell yet.¡¯ As Shang approached the Mage again, her ck Focus suddenly began to shine in some kind of ck light. Shang knew a lot of Spells, but he knew basically nothing about Darkness Spells. Shang readied himself to evade. The Focus floated into the sky. And then, several beams of ck light gathered above it. Shang''s surroundings turned dark all of a sudden. ¡®That''s not an attack!" Shang looked up and saw that some kind of ck shield had gathered above them. It was about a hundred meters wide, and it blocked out all the light.N?velDrama.Org content rights. Darkness Mana quickly filled the area below the ck shield as all the previous Light Mana switched to its other extreme. This was the worst battlefield for her? So what? She only had to transform it into the best battlefield! However, this Spell was very draining on one''s Mana, which was why she had made her Focus cast it. Of course, in exchange, her Focus had needed quite some time to ready the Spell. But now, it was active. Darknesspletely consumed Shang''s surroundings, making him essentially blind. ¡®But | didn''t rely on my eye anyway,¡¯ he thought. Shang activated his Darkness Vision, and he very quickly found her. She had suddenly left her earlier spot without a sound and appeared a couple of meters beside him. It was like she had vanished from one point and appeared at another. Without his Darkness Vision, it would have been basically impossible for Shang to find her. BANG! Shang unleashed a Fire st, directly charging at her. At that moment, the woman narrowed her eyes. How had her opponent found her? Nevertheless, she already had her Spells prepared. She very quickly spoke several words. Over thest couple of seconds, she had prepared several Spells. After all, she wouldn''t just do nothing while retreating from Shang. Everything had been prepared. Suddenly, in the air in front of Shang appeared a dark and gigantic maw. It was invisible to the naked eye, but Shang''s Darkness Vision could see it. It was like a giant worm had opened its maw and was currently falling towards the ground, mouth first. If Shang continued running, he would be consumed. BANG! Shang jumped. The mawnded in front of Shang as he flew over it. Even though it looked like a worm''s maw, there was no actual worm here. It was only the maw. But at that moment, some kind of wall appeared in front of Shang. Shang hadn''t been ready for it, and it had appeared too close to him. Shang hit the wall. CRK! In an instant, Shang felt like everything around him tried to crush him. It was like he was a ball that had justnded in the palm of someone''s hand! As soon as the ball touched the palm, the surrounding fingers would mp down! Blood exploded out of several ces on Shang''s body. BANG! At that moment, Shang''s body suddenly exploded with light. The Mage''s eyes widened in horror. Light Affinity?! The crushing force was dispelled around Shang, and he exploded towards the Mage. But at that moment, another maw appeared in front of Shang. He wouldn''t be able to evade this one. Chapter 354 Chapter 354 BANG! Shang exploded with Light Mana again, and the maw vanished. However, Shang had used up more life energy than he had absorbed from the previous fights, and his body had withered a bit. The Mage narrowed her eyes. Her opponent was far stronger than she had anticipated. Shang was already approaching her again, and at this moment, her Focus began to shine. Three balls of darkness shot out of the Focus, right at Shang. Shang''s right eye also narrowed, and he put his sword in front of him to block. The Mage prepared another Spell. The Ghosts of Darkness would push Shang away, even if he managed to block them perfectly. The Ghosts of Darkness reached Shang''s sword. WHOOOM! But at that moment, the Ghosts of Darkness suddenly vanished, reduced to nothing but normal Darkness Mana. Domain of Entropy! Shang had used nearly 50% of his Mana to cancel the Spell, but it was worth it. As soon as the concentrated Darkness Mana reached Sword, it got absorbed. Sword began to darken and left behind shadows in the shadowy surroundings. BANG! Shang exploded forward with another st and reached his opponent. The Mage hadn''t been ready for Shang to just shrug off her Spell like that. BOOOM! Sword hit the Mana Shield, its Darkness Mana destabilizing it, which required the Mana Shield to waste even more Mana. Even though the Mage had a Darkness Affinity, Mana Shield was an Affinity-neutral Spell. Darkness Mana was still devastating to it. The Mage''s eyes opened in shock as she felt that over 60% of her Mana had just vanished. How had she lost that much Mana?! How could one strike of someone at her level be so powerful?! She was thrown back by Shang''s force, but before she left the area filled with darkness, she suddenly vanished. Shang''s Darkness Vision immediately told him where she was. She was on the other side of the darkness-filled area, preparing her next Spells. "Ishah!" BANG! A ck strike stretched through the darkness-field surroundings. CRACK! The Mana Shield broke apart as the Mage was flung out. BANG! Shang exploded after her and appeared above her as she flew backward. Her eyes were opened wide in terror and shock. BANG! Shang''s sword cut through her, killing her. Shang quickly absorbed the remaining life force in her corpse. His Mana was refilledpletely, but his life force wasn''t completely recovered. After using his Mana to recover his body, Shang was fully healed but only at 80% of his Mana. However, his Mana would recover before the next battle started. At that moment, the cheering returned, and the Mage''s withered corpse vanished. Shang only looked with narrowed eyes at the vanishing corpse. ¡®This was harder than | had anticipated,¡¯ he thought. ¡®| thought fighting a powerful Initial True Mage would be hard, but not that hard. ¡®| wasted a lot of Mana, and | used quite a bit of my life force. Sure, | still had a bit of both remaining, but | used far more than | had anticipated." ¡®| didn''t use Sword''s power, and | could have still used my Domain of Entropy two times, but that was about it. There wasn''t much that | didn''t use." "Sure enough, Mages are definitely the hegemons of this world.¡¯ This Initial True Mage had been more difficult for Shang to beat than the lioness, which had been an average Mid Commander Stage beast. This meant that this Mage could have probably killed the lioness, an average beast two levels above her. At that moment, Shang realized the true power of the Mages. ¡®A powerful Early True Mage can probably even fight the Ice King equally,¡¯ he realized. ¡®And a powerful Mid True Mage...¡¯ ¡®The Ice King would be decimated." ¡®The Ice King was outstanding because it could fight average Mages on its level, but a powerful Mage on its level is still on another level.¡¯ Shang thought about his earlier expectations. ¡®| thought | would have to stop before fighting a powerful Mid True Mage, but as it stands right now, | might not even win against a powerful Early True Mage.¡¯ ¡®I''ve underestimated the Mages.¡¯ ¡®| can walk over warriors and destroy beasts, but the Mages are still dangerous.¡¯ ¡®Sure enough, all my advantages only put me at the same base level as Mages. Everything else depends on me.¡¯ Shang had gone through so many dangerous battles, and that was the only reason why he could win against a powerful Mage on his level withoutpletely going all out. But jumping levels against these rare geniuses that jumped levels themselves was something entirely different. Shang took a deep breath as the wheel returned. The wheel began to spin. ¡°Level four: Weak Early True Mage." Shang didn''t look at the wheel, and his opponent appeared a couple of secondster. It was a tall man with long, brown hair. He wore earthen brown robes, and his Focus was just as brown. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! Shang exploded forward, and the Mage opened his eyes. The Mage noticed Shang''s rapid approach and hastily cast Mana Shield. BANG! Shang''s sword hit the Mana Shield, throwing the Mage into the distance. The Mage fell into a panic as he felt a huge chunk of his Mana vanishing. He had never been in such a situation before, and he had no idea how he should recover. He knew that his opponent would very quickly appear in front of him. Would he be able to prepare a Spell until then? What if he failed? Should he cast Mana Step? While the Mage was thinking of a n, Shang already appeared above him and struck him with his sword again. BOOOOM! Acrater appeared below the Mage as he and his Mana Shield hit the ground. He was a level above Shang, which meant that two strikes were no longer enough to break the Mana Shield. BANG! BANG! Shang rapidly unleashed another two devastating strikes, and the Mana Shield finally broke.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. At that moment, the Mage''s Focus finally prepared its Spell, but it was already toote. BANG! Shang killed the Mage with the next attack and absorbed his life energy. Now, Shang was at his peak again, and he even had extra life energy stored away. And then, the cheering returned. This fight was nothingpared to thest one. Asecondter, the wheel came down again. ¡°Level five: Average Early True Mage.¡± Chapter 355 Chapter 355 Shang looked at the wheel. His next opponent wouldn''t be a big issue, but he also couldn''t take them as lightly anymore. The wheel eventually stopped at the Lightning Affinity. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and he looked over. It was a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties. She had long silver-whitish hair, and there was a serious expression on her face. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! The Mage opened her eyes and saw Shang quickly charge at her. She immediately cast Mana Shield. SHING! And then, she used Mana Step. Shang''s attack missed, but he quickly charged after her again. When Shang was only ten meters away from her, her Focus lit up. BANG! BANG! BANG! Lightning gathered around her Focus, and it looked like it was ready to attack Shang with lightning. However, no lightning actually shot toward Shang. It simply continued exploding around the Focus. At the same time, the Focus moved between the two, standing in Shang''s way now. Then, the Mage finished her Spell and pointed at her Focus, which was between the two opponents. Agigantic bolt of lightning shot from her hand towards her Focus. BANG! Shang quickly angled his body, jumped, and put his wide sword in front of him. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! The Focus released several beams of lightning, all shooting in random directions. It was like a disco ball that shotsers out of every surface! The clouds in the sky were split apart, and destructive, burned lines were left on the ground all around Shang. This was the perfect Spell against a very fast opponent. The Focus shot the beams of lightning at random, which made it impossible for the opponent to predict. SSSSSSS! One of the beams cut through the ce where Shang currently was. Shang wasn''t entirely thin enough to fit behind his sword, which meant that two holes were left behind at the sides of his torso, which hadn''t been covered by Sword. Even worse, Shang was thrown back by the force. BANG! But he immediately charged forward again. Surprisingly, the Focus was still filled with lightning. At that moment, Shang realized what his opponent''s n was. Shang reached the Focus before the Mage could ready another Spell. The Mage wasn''t in a panic since she knew that Shang had to get past her Focus first. Shang''s left arm touched the side of Sword, and it quickly withered into a nearly useless state. And then, Shang attacked the Focus with his sword. BANG! The aggressive lightning on the Focus finally found a target. All the lightning around it immediately homed in on Shang''s sword. Getting hit by that much lightning wasn''t much weaker than getting hit by an actual Lightning Bolt Spell. This Spell could severely injure Shang. The lightning entered Sword and rapidly moved towards Shang''s body. But then, it vanished. The Darkness Mana inside Sword nullified the lightning! CRACK! Sword hit the Focus with full force, and it exploded into many pieces. When the Mage lost her connection to her Focus, her eyes widened in horror. How?! How did her opponent survive being hit by that much lightning?! After that, the fight was basically over. An Early True Mage without a Focus was no threat to Shang. Maybe if the True Mage was a Late True Mage, but not an Early True Mage. The Mage released several Mana Steps, but without her Focus, it became very difficult to create attacks that would threaten Shang. After two strikes, her Mana Shield broke. Her constant usage of Mana Step had used up the remaining Mana. BANG! Shang killed her, and he absorbed her life energy.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. The fight had been so long that Shang''s left arm had already recovered via his passive regeneration, but he still wanted to have more life energy for his next fight. Right now, Shang was at his absolute peak. He was fully healed, his Mana was full, and he had more life energy than normal. He couldn''t enter the next fight in a better state. The cheering had already passed, and the wheel returned. Shang looked at it as it began to spin. ¡°Level six: Powerful Early True Mage." ¡®This is it,'' Shang thought. ¡®This fight will determine how many points | get." At that moment, Shang remembered hisst trial. Back then, Shang had barely won against an average Mage one level above him. The same fight had been rtively easy for him this time. He had definitely grown more powerful. Yet, the Mages had also grown more powerful. In thest trial, Shang had only gotten seven points against the beasts and warriors without using Entropy. This time, Shang had gotten ten and fourteen points. This was an insane difference. But against Mages? Shang could count himself lucky if he got six. Right now, Shang was at the same ce he had been thest time. The powerful True Mage would be his next opponent. Thest time, Shang knew that he had absolutely zero chance at victory. But this time, he had a shot. Yet, the difference between how much the Mages had grown and the others was insane. Shang had gotten several more points in the other categories, but he would be happy if he got a single point more thanst time in the Mage category. The Mages were truly powerful. And Shang knew that this wouldn''t be where their esction of power stopped. They would grow more and more powerful in rtion to other beings on their power. Shang was growing at unimaginable speeds whenpared to warriors and beasts, but whenpared to Mages, he was growing only a little faster than them. Shang closed his right eye and took a deep breath. He knew that this fight would be brutal. When he heard that the wheel had stopped spinning, he looked over. When he saw the Affinity, Shang grew a bit more confident. The Affinity of the powerful Early True Mage was... Fire. Chapter 356 Chapter 356 When Shang saw that his opponent had a Fire Affinity, he knew that he had a chance. If they decide to heat up their surroundings, | can release far more Fire sts without injuring my body! SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and he looked over. It was a young man with short, fiery-red hair. He wore simple red robes, but for some reason, the robes didn''t feel as simple as they appeared. However, when Shang looked beside the Mage, his eyes narrowed. "His Focus has two Amplifiers." Beside the Mage hovered a Focus with two circlets rotating around it. Shang had never fought a Mage that had a Focus with two Amplifiers. The Amplifiers decided the cast speed of a Focus. Higher leveled Spells needed moreplex chants. Of course, as the Mages got more powerful, their mastery over their Mana and Affinity allowed them to cast faster as well. However, a Focus was only a tool, and it couldn''t cast faster as the Mage progressed. In order to allow a Focus to cast faster, one needed to add Amplifiers. An Early True Mage with such a Focus could essentially cast at double their speed. ¡®Even though he has a Fire Affinity, I''m still not sure if | can win. His Focus took me a bit by surprise." The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! Shang immediately exploded forward with a Fire st. The Mage slowly opened his eyes and noticed Shang. His eyebrows furrowed, but he immediately began casting. As Shang approached, he noticed something. "He isn''t casting Mana Shield!¡¯ he thought with furrowed brows. ¡®Usually, | would think of my opponent to be stupid if they did that, but the God judged this Mage to be extremely powerful in his Realm." Shang quickly closed in on the Mage, but when Shang was only fifty meters away from him, the Mage''s Focus suddenly began to burn violently. "Focus Fusion!¡¯ Shang thought. Focus Fusion meant that a Mage and their Focus cast the same Spell. With that ability, they could cast very powerful Spells ina very short time. Shang knew that the Spell the Mage had prepared had to be insanely powerful. The Mage extended his hand towards his Focus and touched it. After that, the fire from the Focus suddenly vanished. Then, the Mage looked at Shang. At that moment, Shang felt like time had frozen.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. For an instant that felt like an eternity, the Mage only looked at Shang. Yet, in that instant, Shang felt like he was about to die. His instincts were screaming at him to run away. And then, Shang saw the young man''s lips move with a familiar word. Shang''s hair stood up, released a powerful Fire st to his front to stop himself, and lifted his sword to block. "Ishah!" This was the word the Mage had spoken. And as soon as he had finished the word, he vanished. BOOOOOOOOM! Something impossibly powerful hit Shang''s sword, and the power threw him over a hundred meters away, breaking his arms. CRK! At the same time, some small cracks appeared on Sword''s body, and Shang could feel its pain. Sadly, that wasn''t even everything. Whatever had hit Shang had exploded with violent fire, and Sword hadn''t been wide enough to block Shang. The sides of Shang''s body had turned to ash. His organs were safe, but his arms and shoulders had effectively be useless. Shang had no choice but to quickly heal his body with his life energy. And with that, all the extra life energy Shang had stored up was gone. But the biggest thing Shang was concerned about was Sword''s crack. Shang could be resurrected in the trial, but he didn¡¯t know if Sword could. If it broke, Shang might lose his lifelongpanion. Shang managed to regain control over his body by using a Fire st and looked at the Mage. The Mage stood at the ce where Shang had just been. However, his entire body was encased in violent fire. The ground around him for over ten meters had turned into nothing but a ckened crater as the Mage stood in the middle. BANG! Shang released another Ice st and shot towards the fiery figure. There was no retreat in this trial! The violent fire around the Mage seemed to grow as Shang approached, and when Shang came close to the Mage, he realized that the fiery figure had grown to a size of ten meters. Another foreboding feeling entered Shang, and he felt like it was a terrible idea toe close to the Mage. But what was he supposed to do?! He had to get close to kill the Mage! Shang gritted his teeth and continued running at the gigantic figure. At the same time, his left arm withered as he filled Sword with Darkness Mana. The figure slowly crossed its arms. It was like it was preparing itself to push the entire world away from itself. By now, Shang''s instincts were screaming so loudly that he stopped. BANG! Shang released a Fire st to flee again. Ignoring his instincts had been a bad idea! ¡®| should have never ignored my instincts!¡¯ For a second time, one moment seemingly stretched into eternity. And then, the fiery figure explosively extended its arms. BOOOOOOOOOOM! Shang threw himself to the ground and activated his Domain of Entropy. He saw an unimaginably hot wave of fire consume everything around him. Even the earth around Shang had vanished. After what felt like an eternity, the fiery wave finally ended. However, Shang was shocked to see that over 90% of his Mana reserves were gone! Shang''s Domain of Entropy had never consumed so much Mana to block a single attack before! Shang quickly stood up when he saw that the fire had ended, but when he saw his surroundings, cold shivers ran down his spine. The crater the Mage had created was nearly 50 meters wide! No wonder his Domain of Entropy consumed so much Mana. And then, Shang saw the Mage, and his eye widened. The Mage''s red robes were on fire! Yet, the Mage seemingly didn''t care. Instead, his previously neutral expression had transformed into a smirk. "You''re still alive!" he shouted from a distance. "Good!" Then, the Mage opened his arms and pointed his palms upward beside him. BANG! The fire disappeared from his robe and appeared on his hands as two mes, burning violently like they were mes of a gigantic welding torch! His smirk transformed into a maddened grin. "Finally, a good fight!" Chapter 357 Chapter 357 Shang only narrowed his right eye and shot towards the Mage. He wasn''t someone that wanted to talk during a fight. The less he knew about his opponents, the easier it was for him to kill them. As Shang approached, the Mage only grinned widely and pointed one of the two mes at him. BANG! Shang shot to the side with a Fire st. BOOOOM! Abeam of searing fire shot past Shang and exploded on the ce where he had just been. The powerful explosion burned his skin in several ces, but with another Fire st, Shang managed to protect himself from the worst of it. At the same time, Shang noticed that the Mage''s robes were slowly starting to catch fire again. ¡®The density of Fire Mana in the surroundings is rapidly shrinking. It seems like his robes can absorb the Fire Mana from their surroundings." ¡®Well, he isn''t the only one that can do that.¡¯ In Shang''s hands, Sword was also burning violently. When Shang had used his Domain of Entropy to turn the explosion into Fire Mana, Sword had absorbed as much Fire Mana as it could. The Mage''s grin only widened when he saw Shang evade his attack. The more powerful his opponent, the better the fight! Shang quickly reached the Mage and prepared a sh, but the Mage only angled the other me towards the ground. BOOOM! The ground below the Mage exploded, and Shang had to protect himself from the heat with another Fire st. The Mage shot into the sky, his Focus following him. BANG! Shang quickly shot after the Mage and also flew into the sky. Amomentter, the Mage''s Focus began to burn again. "This Spell is called Spark Shower!" the Mage said with a grin. Shang didn''t know the Spell, but he could imagine what it did. Sure enough, after pointing his hand at Shang, several pellets of fire shot at him. It was almost like someone was shooting at Shang with a shotgun! BANG! Shang quickly changed his trajectory with another Fire st, his body leaving icy mist behind. He was already at his limit in regards to his body''s temperature. It was rather ironic that Shang''s body was beginning to freeze while fighting a Fire Mage. Shang managed to evade most of the pellets, but a couple of them would still hit him. BANG! BANG! Shang blocked two of the pellets with his sword, but he had to block thest of them with an Ice st. On one hand, Shang didn''t get injured, but on the other hand, the angle at which he had released the Ice st threw him further away from the Mage. Due to the recoil of the Spell, the Fire Mage rose higher into the sky as Shang approached the ground. BANG! BANG! Shang quickly released two Ice sts to shoot towards the Mage in the sky again, his body no longer on the verge of freezing. But just a momentter, the Mage had prepared his own Spell.N?velDrama.Org content rights. "Searing Cross!" he shouted. ¡®Why is he shouting the names of his attacks? Doesn''t he know that this makes it easier for me to evade them?¡¯ Sure enough, just an instantter, a cross made of white fire shot towards Shang. BANG! Shang shot to the side, and the cross barely missed him. However, the surrounding temperature still increased Shang''s temperature by a lot. BANG! Shang shot towards the sky aga- BANG! Shang''s right eye widened when he saw an explosion of fire appear behind the Mage. And an instantter, the Mage appeared right in front of Shang, a maddened smile on his face. He had done the same thing as Shang! Even more, instead of retreating, the Mage hade towards Shang! He had never fought a Mage before that wanted to get close to him during a battle! And then, Shang noticed the violently burning pir of mes in one of his hands. The pir almost looked like a spear or a sword. And just like a sword, the Mage shed towards Shang. As Shang saw the attack, he noticed all its secrets. His long training with Teacher Mervin wasn''t for nothing. Shang knew exactly how the attack would move and what it would do. Shang moved his sword towards the side where the attack came from. And then, the fire hit Sword. CRRRR! The violent me hit Sword like a concentrated beam of water hitting steel. And then, Shang moved Sword along the sh. He knew that this was not a real weapon, and he also knew that the attack wouldn''t follow the rules of a real weapon. CRRRR! Sure enough, as the sh continued, Sword stayed in the fire''s path. If this were a normal weapon, the weapon would have bounced off. A Sword made of fire couldn''t just block something. It would continue unabated. If Shang had simply blocked the attack, the fire sword would have burned his body into several pieces. When the sh passed by Shang, he released another Fire st. BANG! Shang shot forward with his extended elbow. From such a distance, the Mage wouldn''t be able to evade. Even more, the Mage had never activated his Mana Shield! Shang''s elbow hit the Mage''s chest, but his right eye narrowed when he saw Magic Circles appear on the robes. "His robes have the same defense as my armor!¡¯ Usually, Mages didn''t buy these kinds of armors. After all, if someone actually managed to hit their body, it meant that their Mana Shield was broken, which meant that they were out of Mana, which meant that they were about to die anyway. Normally, Mages bought robes with Magic Circles that expedited their Mana regeneration. Yet, this Mage had bought exactly such a piece of armor! The Mage and Shang were sted apart by the force of Shang''s attack. The Mage coughed a bit due to the force his body had just experienced. Even though he was a powerful True Mage, his body couldn''t bepared to Shang''s. If Shang''s attack had actually hit him, the Mage would have been sted into several pieces. "That''s what | get from fighting in closebat with a physi," the Mage grumbled to himself. At the same time, his arms extended again. His robes were already burning violently again. Chapter 358 Chapter 358 The Focus of the Mage started to burn fiercely again. "Fireball!" the Mage shouted. An instantter, a huge fireball shot out of the Focus, right towards Shang. BANG! Shang evaded to the side with a Fire st. "Remote version!" the Mage added with a smirk. BOOOOOOM! Instead of continuing, the fireball exploded just as it passed Shang. Shang''s legs became severely burned, and the skin on the rest of his body didn''t have it any better. He hadn''t expected that the Mage could detonate his fireball from a distance! Luckily, the bit of Mana Shang had regenerated over the fight allowed him to heal his body, but he was out of Mana yet again. BANG! Nevertheless, Shang continued shooting at his opponent again. By now, he had gotten rather close. Only twenty meters were between them. BANG! The Mage also released his own version of a Fire st to escape, but Shang kept charging after him. Inparison to Shang, the Mage had to use his own Mana every time he did that. Several small embers were left behind as he retreated. As Shang shot after him, the Mage turned around with a grin. "Fire Mine!" Then, he snapped his finger. BOOOOOM! One of the small embers exploded violently just as Shang passed it. The right side of Shang''s body turned ck, and his right arm essentially became useless. Shang could only grit his teeth. He didn''t have any Mana to heal himself anymore. The Mage gained a couple of meters due to this attack. ¡°You know, it''s kind of unfair that you can control the temperature of your body!" the Mage shouted at Shang while retreating. "I! would have used my Fire Domain otherwise!" Shang''s brows furrowed. "You have a Domain?" he asked. This had been the first time Shang had spoken during the fight. BANG! Shang moved to the side again as he barely evaded a concentrated beam of fire. Yet, his right arm was nowpletely burned off. He knew that True Mages had a terrifying ability to regenerate Mana thanks to Mana Tranquility, but this Mage had been throwing a rapid avnche of attacks with intense power at him. Shang was certain that the Mage was using way more Mana than he was regenerating. ¡°Not your kind of Domain," the Mage shouted back. "It''s a Spell | invented! It makes the surroundings very hot!" ¡°Anyway, it''s time to end this fight!" he shouted with a smirk. Shang didn''t answer. By now, three fireballs were floating around the Mage. He had been preparing them while he was retreating from Shang. And then, the three fireballs shot at Shang. BANG! Shang shot upward, leaving only one fireball shooting directly at him. Then, Shang swung his sword, and a wave of fire left it. BOOOM! The fireball in front of Shang exploded as Shang''s ranged attack hit it. BANG! Shang released another Fire st and charged right towards the explosion. It was almost like he wanted to die! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! The other two fireballs exploded diagonally behind him, severely burning his body and sting him even faster into the explosion. Shang entered the explosion. But a momentter, a bloodied figure came out of the explosion. Shang had activated his Domain of Entropy again, and he had sacrificed his skin to survive the explosion. Shang was now very close to the Mage. His expression? The Mage only looked with disgust at Shang. "Ew," he said. BANG!N?velDrama.Org holds this content. And then, a spear of fire shot out of his robe, right towards Shang! Shang''s right eye narrowed, and he shot another wave of fire at the spear. Sword had absorbed a lot of Fire Mana just now. BOOOOOM! The two attacks hit and exploded. Behind the explosion, the Mage only smirked and lifted his hand again. There was another fireball in it. But then, his eyes widened. BANG! A ck beam shot out of the explosion and hit the Mage''s chest. The Magic Circles on his chest activated again, but this time, they broke. His robes would no longer protect him from now on! The ck beam had been Sword. Shang had thrown it towards the Mage. Normally, Shang wouldn''t throw his weapon at a Mage. After all, their Mana Shield would just block it by using up a negligible amount of Mana. But this Mage didn''t have a Mana Shield. The power of this throw was even stronger than when Shang had hit the Mage in the chest with his elbow. The Mage was thrown back and flew towards the ground, not being able to control his trajectory. BANG! His body hit the ground. CRACK! Several of his bones broke, and blood leaked out of his body as he rolled across the ground. Eventually, his body stopped, and he could see Shang approaching. The severely burned, skinless figure looked scary and simultaneously disgusting in his eyes. Sword returned to Shang, and he would soon reach the Mage. "Hey, is the Soma Universe X7 out yet?" the Mage suddenly asked. Shang''s world stopped. What did he just say?! Did he hear that right?! But... how?! ¡®Asmartphone?! He knows about smartphones?!¡¯ Shang thought in shock. Yes, the Soma Universe was a smartphone. Shang paused in his attack due to his shock. And then, the Mage only smirked. The fireball he had prepared earlier was gone. An instantter, his chest became red and then ck. "You don''t get my points! Fuck you!" he shouted with augh. Shang''s instincts were screaming at him. However, there was nowhere to go. And then... BOOOOOOOOM! The Mage''s body exploded with a violent explosion, and Shang was in the middle of it. Shang activated his Domain of Entropy by sacrificing his bones. This explosion seemingly took forever, and Shang''s body slowly copsed onto itself. When Shang ran out of bones, he had to sacrifice his flesh. And eventually, the explosion passed. The cheering returned. However, Shang was injured too heavily, and he died just a minuteter. He got the points, but he wouldn''t get the points for the next two levels. The trial was over. Chapter 359 Chapter 359 Shang slowly opened his right eye. He had died in the trial, but sure enough, his left eye hadn''t recovered. He looked to his side and saw Sword lying just beside him. As always, it wanted to stay by Shang''s side. Instead of standing up, Shang only continued lying on the ground, looking at the in sky of his inner world. The entire fight went through his head. ¡®If | had a working set of armor, | would have won,¡¯ he thought as he remembered the robes of the Fire Mage. The robes had blocked two fatal attacks. A luxury Shang didn''t have. ¡®Instead of overusing my Domain of Entropy, | could have used my armor to take a fatal attack. With that, | would have been able to survive thest explosion and continue. The next opponent wouldn''t have been a problem, even in my injured state. That would have given me an opportunity to regenerate.¡¯ "Sure enough, equipment is also a part of power.¡¯ And then, Shang''s mind went to thest few words the Fire Mage had said. The Fire Mage had managed to shock Shang by saying something that only someone from Earth could know. However, the God specifically brought people to this world to stop the Mages from being too powerful, and that Fire Mage had definitely been someone that was fully focused on the path of Magic. If the Fire Mage hadn''t said something like that, Shang would have killed him before the explosion became too dangerous. Shang furrowed his brows as he thought back to how the Mage behaved during the fight. He was very different from all the opponents Shang had faced before. He had even called out the names of his attacks. Additionally, he liked to talk during a battle. His behavior was unusual. Shang looked to his right and saw the jester looking at Shang with a grin. "Mind exining what was up with that guy just now? | thought you didn''t want the Mages to be even more powerful,¡± Shang said. The jester only snickered. "You''re right," he said. "However, he is... unusual." "In what way?" Shang asked. "His thinking process is very impulsive, sometimes irrational, and even random at points," the jester exined. "I try not to read the minds of you guys, but | can''t help to just subconsciouslybine all the clues you guys show into a picture that perfectly represents the current you." ¡°However, when | really talked to him, | was surprised more than once. Instead of going with the flow, he immediatelyined several times and told me that he wouldn''t do what | wanted." The jester snickered. "Of course, | showed him that he had no power, and he eventuallyplied." The jesterughed some more as he remembered his interaction with the Mage. ¡°After he arrived in my world, he immediately searched for a way to get rid of his warrior''s body." The jester''s grin widened. "And, surprisingly, he managed to gain the attention of a High Mage that also became interested in that idea. Together, they managed to find a way, and he managed to get rid of his warrior''s body." Shang was quite surprised when he heard that. This guy managed to get his of his warriors body? ¡°Don''t get your hopes up,¡± the jester said with a sneer. "| learn from my mistakes. You need, at least, a Mage King if you want to get rid of your warrior''s body." "Mage King?" Shang asked. "Like King Skythunder?" The jester only smirked. "They are Kings, but they are not Mage Kings." ¡®King, huh?'' Shang thought as he remembered something. "So, like the Ice King?" he asked. "Like the Ice King," the jester answered. Shang only nodded. "And you let him just do what he wants?" The jester snorted. "Of course, | wasn''t really nice when | talked to him again, but wouldn''t you know, he managed to convince me to let him live as a Mage." ¡°He knows that | want entertainment, and he offered something very interesting to me." "He argued that there were numerous paths in the past, which is true. So, there also had to be a path that was closer to Magic, interesting to watch, and also different." "Instead of going with the warrior''s path, he wants to create a more interesting path for Magic. Instead of increasing the diversity of the entire world, he wants to make the Mages more diverse." The jester leaned on his hammer. "He actually had a point, you know? That does sound interesting.¡± At that point, the jester''s grin widened. "But in order to keep him to his promise, | made it impossible for him to use Mana Shield." Shang''s brows furrowed.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. ¡®That exins a lot.¡¯ ¡°Mana Shield is the very reason why the world is so boring. The Mages don''t need to move a lot while fighting other Mages. They only stand there and bombard their opponent while their opponent does the same." ¡°As the Mana Regeneration bes stronger and stronger, the fights be longer and longer." ¡°But without Mana Shield, they are forced to get more creative." "So, to facilitate this creativity, | made it impossible for him to use Mana Shield." ¡°And he made quite some interesting innovations. Necessity is the mother of invention, you know? Why change something that works? But if it doesn''t work, you have to change it." Shang understood where the God wasing from. That Fire Mage had fought very differently from all the other Mages. Most notably, his movements. Instead of only using Mana Step and standing in ce, he charged toward Shang and even somewhat flew around in the sky. Additionally, he was also using trickery, like the Fire Mines or the remote explosions. At that moment, Shang realized something else. ¡®| didn''t have a chance to use Sword''s Entropy or Mana Step. There simply was no good opportunity.¡¯ But then, Shang also remembered that the Fire Mage had said that he wanted to unleash his Domain of Fire but couldn''t. It seemed like both of them had fought an opponent that disabled one of their weapons. Shang''s control over temperature made the Domain of Fire unusable, but the Mage''s ability to fight in the sky and hisck of Mana Shield made Shang''s Mana Step and Sword''s Entropy useless. It was a strange fight. "| got the points for that fight, right?" Shang asked. "You did," the jester said with a grin. "30 points in total. That''s a new record, you know?" "| have two options for your reward." "Want to hear them?" Chapter 360 Chapter 360 Shang only nodded. The jester put his hammer away and lifted his two hands. SHING! Two books appeared in his hands. First, he looked at his left hand. "Something that significantly increases the base strength of about 90% of warriors," he said. Then, he looked at his right hand. "Something that makes creating your own Path far easier and faster," he said. Shang hesitated for a bit. "Am | among those 90%?" he asked. "No, but your Teacher Mervin is," the jester said with a grin. Shang took a deep breath. He felt indebted to Teacher Mervin. After all, he had just spent five years training with Shang. Shang really wanted to help Teacher Mervin. However, the lesson Shang had learned came to his mind again, and he remembered why he had cried after Teacher Mervin left. His future. Right now, Shang had an opportunity to repay Teacher Mervin, but he also had the opportunity to help himself. This choice really was cruel. ¡®I''m already indebted to Teacher Mervin. Am | supposed to throw this opportunity away?¡¯ Shang really didn''t feel great about that thought. It took over two minutes for Shang to make his choice. "| choose the True Path option." The jester only grinned and handed the book over to Shang. "Don''t forget to bring this knowledge to the world. You are here to help all the warriors, not only yourself," the jester said. And then, he vanished. And Shang was alone again. Clink! Shang''s finger touched Sword. ¡®Well, notpletely alone.¡¯ Shang stood up and opened the book the God had left behind. It didn''t take long for him to finish the entire book. Just like with the ranged attack, the concepts inside the book were not incrediblyplex but far outside the norm and very unusual. Shang would have never even thought of such a method to utilize his mind and Mana. After Shang finished the book, he had already fully learned the concepts. Usually, it would have taken him months to apply this knowledge, but these books directly imnted the knowledge in his head. Shang sat down and closed his eyes. Then, he moved his Mana around and began to chant to himself as he gathered different concepts and memories. Like he had done this thousands of times before, Shang suddenly saw an image in his mind. There were two stars in a night sky. One was below, and the other was above. Between the two stars were white, differently shaped things that looked like shards of ss. Some of them were round and thick. Others were thin and long. In a way, it looked like a long, white line had been smashed into pieces. However, even if one used all the shards, the white line would look very crooked and unpleasant. The line would be thicker in some ces and would make curves in others. But they would create a path. Shang already knew what all of this symbolized. ¡®Every shard is something | have full control over. It represents my knowledge, my skill, and my mastery over this subject.¡¯ Someone that would look at this image for the first time would have no idea what shard represented what, but the book had made Shang into a master regarding this technique. Shang looked at the biggest shard. It was a gigantic square, nearly as wide as 30% of the distance between the two stars. ¡®That''s everything that Teacher Mervin has taught me in thest five years." ¡®| think this represents the Path Teacher Mervin is trying to build.¡¯ Shang imagined the square extending towards the other star. It would be a powerful, strong, and wide Path. Then, Shang looked at the smaller shards and focused on the ones rted to the Dean. In all this cluster of shards, Shang hadn''t noticed that the things he had learned from the Dean also fit onto a path. It was a sine wave. It started at the bottom star, curved to the left, curved to the right, passed the middle, went further right, curved to the left, and ended up at the upper star. It was a uniform Path. His Path would be longer than Teacher Mervin''s Path, but it wouldn''t be nearly as wide. In terms of area, Teacher Mervin''s Path was probably thrice of the Dean''s Path. Shang imagined some other patterns. Aspinning Path. A zigzagging Path. A narrowing spear. There were innumerable ways one line could look like. Then, Shang looked back at the shards he was able to see. He could create a Path with them, but the path would be incongruent, horrible, and unstable. It would be like someone was welding stuff together that didn''t belong together. Shang looked at the square that represented Teacher Mervin''s teachings. If all of his shards were thrown together, this shard alone would take up half of thebined area. Teacher Mervin''s lesson was invaluable for Shang. The things Teacher Mervin had taught him didn''t increase Shang''s power by much while fighting Mages, but Teacher Mervin also couldn''t teach these things to Shang. He could only give Shang a big part of his knowledge regarding fighting warriors. ¡®Even after five years, | only barely understand 20% of the things Teacher Mervin knows." For the next two hours, Shang continued inspecting the different shards he owned and analyzed what part of his knowledge they represented. Some people might believe that this was a bit underwhelming for a 30-point reward. Yet, this couldn''t be further from the truth. This was a visual representation of the very thing all warriors wanted to achieve.N?velDrama.Org content rights. As long as they had a shape in mind that conformed to their unlocked shards, they could find out what they were missing. For example, Shang knew that the mastery over his Affinity represented different shards that went in five different directions. Some of them weren''t even leading to the star Shang was aiming toward. Right now, Shang''s vision was essentially zoomed in on the ce between these two stars, but if he zoomed out, he could see many different stars all around the lower star. The lower star wasn''t actually on the bottom but in the very center of a vast map of stars. However, only one star interested Shang, which was why he was only focusing on it. The other stars represented other weapons, other fighting styles, other Affinities, and some other things. Just by watching this picture, Shang could learn so much about the things he knew and the things he didn''t know. Instead of blindly having to train and finding some inspirational spark, Shang could watch his progress and adapt his training. Sure enough, if this technique was avable to all the warriors, the number of True Path Stage warriors would increase very quickly. After several hours, Shang finally deactivated the image, and his consciousness returned. "Sure enough, the Star Map is worth the 30 points," he said to himself. Shang took a deep breath and stood up. Then, he took hold of Sword. ¡°Are you ready to return to the real world after five years?" he asked. "It doesn''t matter where | am," Sword answered. "As long as | am by your side." Shang only smiled. And then, he vanished from his inner world. Chapter 361 Chapter 361 For the first time in five years, Shang''s real body moved. As soon as Shang regained control over his body, he felt many tiny things moving over him. Insects. They thought that Shang was a corpse, and they were trying to eat him. However, Shang''s body was simply too powerful, making it pointless. Nevertheless, Shang released his Domain of Entropy for a moment to get rid of them. Over the five years, Shang''s ck piece of cloth that covered his left eye socket had deteriorated, gaining several more holes. Shang''s hair reached his butt, but he didn''t really care about that. More concerning was the long, humongous beard adorning his face. Shang moved his body around, but when he cracked his jaw, some of the hairs on his beard entered, and Shang had to cough several times. ¡®| hate beards for exactly that reason!" Shang grabbed Sword and quickly got rid of his beard. He decided to leave his hair. He never really had such long hair before, and he wanted to try it out before cutting off five years of "work". As for Shang''s facial features and body... They hadn''t changed. Shang was already an adult, and he could live for over 250 years. Five years counted as barely more than one year for a normal person. Nevertheless, he was 27 now. ¡®This means | have been in this world for around 13 years already.¡¯ ¡®Somehow, it doesn''t feel that long." ¡®Anyway, | should get a beast heart." Shang slowly dug out of the sandy ground and entered the Tide Serpent Zone again. Five years had passed, but nothing had changed down here. Just likest time, Shang felt like time didn''t exist in thiske. Nothing in the world mattered down here. Shang descended for a couple of minutes before he stopped. Shang furrowed his brows as he felt something peculiar. ''| feel like a beast is very close. | didn''t feel any kind of current, but my instincts are telling me that a beast is currently looking at me. ¡®That''s new.¡¯ Shang only needed a second to make an educated guess as to why he suddenly had that feeling. "High Mages and True Path Stage warriors can feel their surroundings with their minds. It essentially works like my Darkness Vision, but its effectiveness doesn''t depend on the Mana.¡¯ ¡®No matter where they are, they can essentially feel everything in their surroundings.¡¯ ¡®I''m obviously not on that level yet, but the five years of training brought me closer to the True Path Stage. | guess this could be called a Pseudo-Spirit Sense." Spirit Sense was the name of the ability to see one''s surroundings like that. Shang closed his right eye and felt his surroundings. The new sensations were still confusing, but he could tell the general direction of whatever was watching him. BANG! Shang released an Ice st and shot in that direction. Amomentter, Shang felt foreign currents, and his guess was confirmed. He could slightly feel living beings around him! As soon as Shang felt the currents, the location of his opponent was unveiled, and he directly charged to that ce. Suddenly, the currents stopped, and Shang''s instincts were telling him that whatever he was chasing was preparing an attack. In this instant, the image of a spear appeared in his mind. Shang knew that beasts didn''t truly have spears, but he felt like the image of a spear was urate. However, this was another new sensation Shang had never felt before. Nevertheless, he trusted his new perception. His body moved on its own after so many years of training, and Sword angled in such a way that it redirected the spear in Shang''s mind. CLINK! Shang felt something hit Sword and getting redirected to his left. CRRRR! Sword continued forward, grinding on whatever it was on. For just a moment, light appeared in the dark water as sparks flew. CRKSH! Sword went past the thing it was redirecting and hit something hard but definitely organic. Shang felt the familiar feeling of his sword cutting through scales, flesh, and bones. BANG! Sword easily passed through the entire thing, killing it. Shang quickly pocketed the corpse, retreated into the ground, and entered his inner world. Then, he looked at it. It was a fish with a thick and long horn. ¡®Initial Commander Stage,¡¯ Shang realized. Shang looked at the horn. ''So, this was the spear in my mind. | think a horn can bepared to a spear.¡¯ ¡®Teacher Mervin''s lesson didn''t show much effect during my fights with the Mages, but as soon as | fought a beast, | immediately realized that my power has increased by quite a bit.¡¯ ¡®As soon as the fish attacked, it was like Teacher Mervin was mimicking a spear. My body moved on its own, and | perfectly countered the attack.¡¯ Shang''s brows furrowed. ''And most shocking of all is that | didn''t even see my opponent. | have no form of Mana Vision in this lake, and I can''t see anything.¡¯ "My Pseudo-Spirit Sense is also very weak and very vague, but as soon as an attack wasunched, | somehow knew what kind of attack the opponent was using.¡¯ ''Is it possible that Teacher Mervin specifically trained me to rely on my Pseudo-Spirit Sense?" Shang thought about this for a while.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. ¡®It''s possible. Teacher Mervin already has a powerful Path, and he probably already has ess to his own Spirit Sense. He has many more years of experience than me, and he has probably already spent years changing his habits. | think he relies more on his Spirit Sense than eyes or Mana Sense." For a while, Shang remained silent. ¡®| really underestimated the amount of knowledge and experience warriors umte during the Commander Stage. There is so much more to know.¡¯ Then, Shang went to the corpse and dug out its heart. He performed the usual routine and strengthened his body. But when he was done, he noticed something else. "My body didn''t absorb more Mana than thest times, but the remnant will of the beast doesn''t feel nearly as powerful as thest times.¡¯ ¡®| don''t think that the will has be weaker but that my will has be more powerful. Maybe that has also something to do with my training with Teacher Mervin?" ¡®As things stand now, | can probably get rid of all the Mana in ten days. Previously, the same task took me about 13 days or so.¡¯ ¡®It actually makes sense. If my will is stronger, it will exhaust the beast''s will quicker, allowing me to strengthen my body earlier than usual." Shang took a deep breath. ¡®I''ve never imagined that these five years of training made so much difference.¡¯ ¡®| have some kind of Pseudo-Spirit Sense." "My mind subconsciously produces familiar images when an opponent attacks me.¡¯ "My will has be more powerful, allowing me to strengthen my body quicker.¡¯ ¡®Andstly, | have gotten way better at fighting warriors and beasts." "Five years, huh?" ¡®These five years were definitely worth it!" Shang looked at his inner world. "For the foreseeable future, | should get more familiar with my Affinity. Thest time my Affinity received any kind of strong boost in power was when | managed to move its core around inside my body.¡¯ ¡®I''ve neglected training it.¡¯ For now, Shang didn''t want to leave the Tide Serpent Zone. Yes, he was very powerful, but if even one Mid True Mage crossed his path, Shang could very likely die. This was a perfect time to train in peace. And after five years, Shang no longer cared about returning to the Skythunder Kingdom quickly. He might as well stay here until he could attempt the journey back. Shang sat down and concentrated on his Affinity. Whenever he could strengthen his body again, he would leave and get another heart. He remained in this routine for quite a long time. Chapter 362 Chapter 362 Shang spent a bit more than a year strengthening his body and Affinity. After that year, Shang reached the Early Commander Stage, but his control over his Affinity hadn''t been strengthened by much. The main problem was probably his weak mind. Sadly, there was no cure for that due to his Warrior''s body. However, Shang wanted to reach a breakthrough in his control over his Affinity before he left this ce. On top of that, he wanted to strengthen his body a bit more. After all, the rtive powerpared to beasts on his level always fell after a breakthrough. Shortly before Shang had made his breakthrough, he had about 82% of the power of an Initial Commander Stage beast, but after his breakthrough, he only had about 60% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast. In terms of total power, that was still far more than before, but it could definitely be better. So, Shang continued training his Affinity and strengthening his body for another year. After that year, the power of Shang''s body returned to about 73% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast, and he finally managed to make a breakthrough in his Affinity. ¡®My new ability should give me more defensive power against Mages and more offensive power against beasts,¡¯ he thought as he looked at his left arm. ¡®Additionally, | already know what my next milestone for my Affinity will be, but that will probably take another couple of years.¡¯ ¡®For now, | don''t want to stay inside thiske any longer.¡¯ With another two years passing, Shang''s body was now 29 years old. Seven years ago, Shang had been a newbie rting to Commander Stage warriors, but now, he was experienced. ¡®| might actually have a chance of winning against Teacher Mervin now, but that''s because of the Procedure and my Affinity. If our physical power were at the same level, | would probably still miserably lose,¡¯ Shang thought with a bitter smile. ¡®There''s plenty more to learn.¡¯ ¡®Anyway, | should get ready for the big event.¡¯ Shang left his inner world and returned to his body. After leaving the sandy ground, Shang swam towards the center of theke, but after only two kilometers, he stopped. The only reason why he was here was to not be directly near the gue Rat Zone. For a moment, Shang didn''t move, but his heartbeat began to speed up. He was getting nervous. ¡®It''s a gamble, but | need to do this.¡¯ Over thest two years, Shang had realized something. ording to his math, his body would reach its peak at around 78% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast. Obviously, this was lower than the 82% he had had at the Initial Commander Stage.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. What was the difference? The Abomination he had absorbed. If Shang continued training without absorbing any Abominations, he estimated that the maximum potential of his body would always remain at the 75% mark. As soon as he reached the 75% mark, he would need to reach the next level, which would mean his strength would fall by another 20% to 55%. Inparison, if Shang exclusively only absorbed Abominations, he was sure he would be able to reach 100% of the power of an equivalent beast. With the 20% drop, this would mean that he would be at 80% of the power of an equivalent beast after a breakthrough. This meant that the lowest point of only absorbing Abominations was 5% higher than the highest point of absorbing whatever beast. This difference in power was astronomical. The Abomination-absorbing Shang would be more powerful than the other Shang after he had strengthened his body for another couple of years. This difference in power represented probably over three points in a theoretical trial. Sadly, Shang couldn''t only absorb Abominations. Every time he summoned one, he would attract the attention of the resident Zone Beast. Most Zone Beasts probably didn''t exactly care about Shang due to the Thunder Horse''s mark, but if they suddenly saw several Abominations appear around him, they would very likely want to kill him. This left Shang with only a single way to absorb Abominations, and he was about to try out this method right now. He would need to summon Abominations, absorb one, and immediately flee to another Zone as the other Abominations distracted the Zone Beast. However, it was still dangerous. What if the Zone Beast decided to follow Shang into a different Zone? For example, the Empress Cobra also dealt with the Abominations in the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. If Shang were to summon Abominations in the Empress Cobra Zone and flee to the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, the Empress Cobra would very likely chase after him and kill him. Additionally, he could probably never allow himself to enter the Spirit Sense''s range of that Zone Beast again. Absorbing an Abomination represented going scorched earth with a Zone Beast. Every Zone Shang performed that act in would be inessible to him. Sadly, that was the only way Shang could think of. He couldn''t control how many Abominations appeared. At most, he could probably somewhat control where they appeared. Performing that trick was definitely very risky and dangerous, but if Shang wanted to reach his full potential, he needed to absorb Abominations. Right now, Shang was around five kilometers deep in the ancientke. The distance to the shore of the gue Rat Zone was about four kilometers. After all, the ground went inward the deeper one went in theke. So, even though Shang was four kilometers away from the shore, he was only a bit more than two kilometers away from the sandy wall. ¡®Zone Beasts have a terrifying Spirit Sense, but I''m pretty sure that gue Rat can''t feel the Abominations if they appear down here. There is quite a lot of distance to the ce where the gue Rat lives, and there''s also a ton of water between us." ¡®Additionally, the terrifying pressure down here should kill all the Soldier Stage Abominations and the weaker General Stage Abominations, somewhat containing themotion.¡¯ ¡®First, | summon the Abominations. Then, | quickly absorb one. After that, | will flee to the gue Rat Zone, kill any Mage | see, and directly run to the northwest, to the next Zone.¡¯ ¡®The Zone to the northwest is the Ancestral Mountain Zone. As long as | run up the mountain, the Mages should stop chasing. After all, they don''t want to die." Funnily enough, the Ancestral Mountain Zone didn''t get its name from its Zone Beast but from the fact that the entire Zone was essentially one huge mountain. The reason why it wasn''t named after the Zone Beast was that no one had ever seen the Zone Beast. It obviously lived on top of the Ancestral Mountain, and it definitely had a Light Affinity. But that was all the humans knew about the Zone Beast. Shang didn''t want to remain in the gue Rat Zone for obvious reasons. He would only run through it, get to the mountain, find a safe ce there, and then enter the ckshadow Kingdom. Yes, the Ancestral Mountain Zone belonged to the Grandmountain Kingdom for the simple reason that the ckshadow Kingdom really wasn''t very interested in that Zone. They were not the biggest fans of a Zone filled with Light Mana. ¡®The resident Governor should be in the Deepcore Turtle Zone, and | doubt that they will act due to some rogue barbarian.¡¯ Shang closed his right eye to prepare himself mentally. He only hoped that he wouldn''t die. And a couple of secondster... He activated his Domain of Entropy. Chapter 363 Chapter 363 Shang activated his Domain of Entropy but didn''t use it to destroy the matter around him. It didn''t have any offensive capabilities in this state, but the Abominations would surely sense it. For several minutes, Shang simply waited in the middle of theke. Since his Domain was destroying nothing, the beasts also didn''t notice it. After about ten minutes, Shang felt something. He felt a kind of connection with something very distant. It was like Shang was feeling innumerable sleeping presences far away. Thest time Shang had summoned Abominations had been on ident during his breakthrough. Obviously, he hadn''t had the time to concentrate on these presences since he had been busy with his breakthrough. But this time, he could fully focus on them. The presences all had different levels of power. Most of them were incredibly weak, and Shang was pretty certain that these weak presences symbolized Soldier Stage Abominations. There were also a lot of more powerful presences, which should be the General Stage Abominations. The strongest presences, which should be the Commander Stage Abominations, were only about 20 in number. ¡®I can control what | summon?¡¯ Shang thought with furrowed brows. Shang slowly reached out to one of the Commander Stage Abominations and slowly pulled. He felt the presence steer, but along with it steered about 20 General Stage Abominations and around 400 Soldier Stage Abominations. Shang stopped pulling on that one and focused on another Commander Stage Abomination. However, 20 General Stage Abominations and 400 Soldier Stage Abominations still steered, but they were different ones. Now, Shang slowly understood what was going on. ¡®This is basically a hierarchy or an org chart,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®If | pull a manager out of an org chart, | will pull all their employees with them.¡¯ That''s when Shang realized something else. ¡®One Abomination is always superior to 20 other Abominations. Then, since | can sense 20 Commander Stage Abominations, it means that this is the army of a True Path Stage Abomination.¡¯ "However, | can''t feel the True Path Stage Abomination." ¡®| also don''t feel any kind of superior connectioning out of the Commander Stage Abominations. It''s almost like there is no True Path Stage Abomination superior to them." Shang wasn''t sure what he should think about that, but he also knew that he probably wouldn''t be able to find out the reason. Because of that, he focused on his n. "Seems like I''m forced to summon a total of 421 Abominations if | want to absorb a Commander Stage Abomination.¡¯ ¡®That''s a lot of destruction and power. Every single one of them can explode with incredible force. If 1 were to summon them ina Zone filled with humans, | might end up killing hundreds or thousands of humans." Shang felt a pit appear in his stomach when that thought entered his mind. He could deal with killing his enemies but being responsible for an entire city being wiped out just for being near him was not something he wanted to imagine. ¡®Summoning these beasts would count as bringing a cmity upon the ce where | am. | know | can somewhat control the Abominations, but | don''t think that they will just wait for their deaths if | order them. They will probably still retaliate if anything attacks them.¡¯ ¡®| should be careful in which Zones | activate this ability.¡¯ Then, Shang pulled on one of the Commander Stage Abominations. The presence grew more powerful and present alongside its subservient presences. And a couple of secondster... SHING! The Commander Stage Abomination appeared right in front of Shang. It looked exactly like the one Shang had absorbed. He felt a deep connection with it, but its appearance was still very alien to him. SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! Two secondster, all the General Stage Abominations appeared around theke. Apparently, they had somewhat spread out while being summoned. Andstly, the Soldier Stage Abominations appeared all over theke. As soon as they appeared, nearly half of them died to the pressure deep inside theke, while the other ones appeared in shallower waters. Shang''s heart was already racing. There was no way back now! Shang immediately grabbed the Abomination, and it entered his body without any resistance. Shang felt his body explode with power as his body instantly reached 78% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast. At the same time, Shang felt the Abominations bing angry. They hated this ce! They hated everything they could see! It was like their life''s purpose was to destroy the entire world. At that moment, Shang''s suspicion was confirmed. He couldn''t just ask them to die. They would attack and destroy, no matter what Shang said. The only thing he could do was to direct their hatred in one direction. And Shang did just that. "Destroy the bottom of theke!¡± he ordered them with his mind. Like an avnche, all the remaining Abominations violently charged towards the bottom of theke. After giving the order, Shang immediately charged toward the surface. BZZT! Just two secondster, the Thunder Horse''s mark activated, which meant that something very powerful had taken note of Shang. ¡®Pretty sure that''s the Tide Serpent.¡¯ BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! As Shang retreated, the water around him suddenly started to vibrate. At the same time, Shang could hear the sounds of distant explosions. When the Abominations decided to blow themselves up, they could unleash terrifying power. A Soldier Stage Abomination had a shot at killing a Commander Stage beast if it exploded. A General Stage Abomination could do the same with a True Path Stage beast.N?velDrama.Org content rights. This was the epitome of Shang''s Entropy, the ability to sacrifice parts of himself to unleash an insane amount of power. And, right now, hundreds of smaller Shangs were using that ability to wreak havoc. It was terrifying. More and more explosions shot throughout theke as Shang reached the surface of theke. Shang didn''t know how much the Abominations destroyed, but it had to be a monumental amount. Eventually, Shang broke through theke''s surface and came into contact with air for the first time in over seven years. Just as before, the sky was dark and filled with Darkness Mana. However, that was good. With so much Darkness Mana, Shang could make full use of his Darkness Vision. After sting into the air, Shang threw a nce at theke below him. Silence. Theke was calm. It was like nothing was currently happening inside theke. It was truly like theke was an entirely different world from the surface. Shang quickly focused on the shore of the gue Rat Zone and saw two towers with a shield around them. He knew that he had either already been spotted or would soon be. The two towers were built on top of a cliff, which was about five meters high. The cliff went around the entireke. At that moment, Shang''s right eye opened wide in shock. "Cliff? | don''t remember there being a cliff! Shang remembered the time he had fled to the Tide Serpent Zone. Back then, he had entered it via a small beach. There had been no cliffs! And then, Shang had a terrifying thought. He quickly focused on the Mana in his surroundings. He couldn''t feel any Water Mana due to his low Affinity towards it. ¡®But with so many Abominations blowing up at the same time, the amount of Water Mana should reach densities where even | can feel it!¡¯ ¡®Unless!¡¯ Shang looked around. No steam. No additional Water Mana. A cliff where there had been no cliff before. And then, Shang realized. ¡®The Abominations are destroying the water! They are not transforming it into steam or Water Mana, butpletely destroying it!" ¡®Energy can''t be created or destroyed? Bullshit!" ¡®They are literally doing just that!¡¯ Shang''s nervousness rose. ¡®Every time an Abomination appears, it permanently destroys its surroundings. It is not converting things from one thing into the other, butpletely destroying them! ¡®Then, doesn''t that mean that this world will eventuallypletely stop existing?!" ¡®Over years and years, the Abominations will slowly chew away on the world.¡¯ ¡®Is there a way to create more Mana?¡¯ Shang had no idea. Creating Mana was something that was so far beyond his level that he couldn''t even make a guess. ¡®The Abominations are not just destroying life, but the world itself!" Chapter 364 Chapter 364 Shang quickly shook his head to regain his focus. ¡®| don''t have time to think about that right now! I can think about that stuff when I''m safe!¡¯ Shang focused on the distant towers again as he summoned a hood made of fish scales. He didn''t want the Grandmountain Kingdom to recognize him. If they recognized him, they would know that he only had one eye, which was basically unique in this world. Then, if Shang appeared back in the Skythunder Kingdom eventually and they connected the sudden appearances of the Abominations with his identity, the Kingdoms might decide to ignore the war to deal with Shang. After all, someone like him was a threat to all of them. Shang had to keep his identity a secret if he wanted to live openly inside the Skythunder Kingdom again, and he couldn''t allow his identity to be connected to the Abominations. By now, he could see two Mages standing on each tower, and they were talking with each other as they nced at theke. They noticed that the water level was dropping. ¡®They will see me soon, but I can''t kill them. These towers are fortified with a gigantic Mana Shield that uses Mana stored in Mana Crystals. Exhausting the supply of one tower would be like trying to break through a Peak True Mage''s Mana Shield. By the point | broke it, the Mages would have already contacted their superiors." ¡®Additionally, they will notice the power of my attacks, giving them an inkling of my power. Right now, my advantage is that they don''t know how powerful | am." If | get chased by a Late True Mage, | might not be able to escape in time, and if a Peak True Magees after me, only death awaits me.¡¯ ¡®| have to keep my power a secret, and | will only have a single opportunity to unleash my power!¡¯ BANG! Shang released an Ice st and shot towards the northwest, past the northern tower. At that moment, the Mages noticed Shang. After all, he was literally exploding through the sky. "Stop or we will kill you!" one of the Mages in the northern tower shouted loudly. Of course, Shang didn''t stop, and he unleashed a Fire st to keep his speed at its peak. "Attack!" the Mage ordered. Amomentter, the tower began to light up as the two Mages focused their Mana on it. Asecondter, a huge fireball appeared above the tower, which directly shot at Shang. Shang immediately released a ranged attack at the fireball with his sword, the recoil throwing him further towards the north. BOOOOOM! The fireball exploded in the distance as Shang kept going. "Change to crowd control!" the Mage shouted. The light of the tower started pulsating quickly, and about ten small fireballs appeared above it. And then, the ten fireballs shot toward Shang one after the other. Blocking one powerful attack was easy for Shang, but he couldn''t possibly unleash his ranged attacks fast enough to block all of these small fireballs. Even more, as the tower kept firing, more fireballs appeared around it. It essentially acted as a gigantic machine gun! However, when Shang saw that, he didn''t be nervous. ¡®| knew it was the correct decision to strengthen my Affinity before leaving the Tide Serpent Zone!¡¯ Shang let go of Sword, which automatically clung to Shang''s body. Then, Shang extended two fingers each on his hands. Sssss! Shang''s body began to release steam as it heated up. Shang pointed two of his fingers at one of the fireballs. BANG! An icicle shot out of Shang''s fingers and hit the fireball. BOOOM! The fireball exploded in the distance, and Shang did the same thing to the next one. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Shang shot down each and every fireball as the recoil of his ability threw him further and further north. This was one of Shang''s new abilities he had gained after strengthening his Affinity for two years. He had gained the ability to somewhat spread the temperature fluctuations over a wider area of his body while gaining the ability to focus his sts more. There wasn''t a lot of destructive power in these icicles, but they could be used in quick session. If the fireballs were as powerful as the first one, the power of the icicles wouldn''t be enough to detonate them. However, these fireballs were smaller, and Shang could detonate with no problem. Shang called this new ability Icicle, a simple but very descriptive name. By now, Shang had already passed the northern tower and was over two kilometers to its northwest. From such a distance, it became much harder for the Mages to focus on him. If they were using their own Spells, they would still have very high uracy from such a distance, but they were using the tower''s Spells. Sadly, they couldn''t use their own Spells. If Shang could react fast enough to deal with these fast-moving fireballs, he would very likely be able topletely evade their Spells. Shang had been forced to directly destroy the fireballs since they were so fast that he couldn''t avoid them. The Mages watched with shocked eyes and gnashed teeth as Shang kept gaining more and more distance. He was near the northern border of the gue Rat Zone, which was close to the Core Tiger Zone, which belonged to the ckshadow Kingdom. There were not many of their forces stationed there, but there were several towers to keep watch over the border. However, there were still around three kilometers more until Shang reached the border to the north, which was just enough not to get into the range of the towers without some loss in uracy. Yet, this ce was also not close to their headquarters, which was where their main force in the gue Rat Zone resided. It was almost like this invader knew exactly how their forces were distributed in this Zone! One of the Mages quickly summoned a Communication Crystal. ¡°An unknown male with a big sword just came out of the Tide Serpent Zone, shot across the sky by using several explosions, destroyed the tower''s fireballs, and entered the gue Rat Zone north of our tower! He keeps charging towards the west!" the Mage quickly reported. Then, the Mage very quickly recounted Shang''s abilities. The person on the other side of the Communication Crystal raised an eyebrow. It was the young man with icy blue hair, the leader of the gue Rat Zone. He was a Peak True Mage. He had expected an assault from the ckshadow Kingdom when the emergency Communication Crystal rang, but he hadn''t expected that. Someone exploding through the air? He was carrying a big sword? The big sword made the image of a barbarian appear in the leader''s mind, but barbarians couldn''t explode through the sky with fire and ice, and they certainly didn''t have the necessary control over Mana to summon icicles. ¡®Is that a warrior?¡¯ the leader thought with furrowed brows. ¡®| don''t know what the Skythunder Kingdom is nning this time, but this doesn''t sound like any of their two warriors in the Fourth Realm, which means this is a warrior at the Commander Stage." ¡®But why only one? Also, shouldn''t they have tried a more subtle approach?¡¯ ¡®Is this a rogue warrior?" ¡®This far in the north?" This entire thing didn''t make much sense to the general, but he guessed that this was probably a solo warrior. He didn''t think that this was some borate ploy from the Skythunder Kingdom. "Understood. Keep guarding theke," the leader answered. After cutting the connection, the leader was looking at the hall. There were five Late True Mages in the hall. The emergency Communication Crystal had gone off during a meeting. "Esther," the leader said. "Yes!" Esther, a Mage with green hair, shouted as she stood up and saluted. ¡°We have a warrior invading from the Tide Serpent Zone and charging towards our western border. He is powerful enough to block the attacks of the towers.¡± "Get your unit and deal with him." "Yes, sir!" Esther answered as she ran out of the hall. At the same time, Shang had alreadynded and was running towards the west at his full power, his face hidden by the cloak made of fish scales. He saw some Adepts and barbarians scattered around the ce but ignored them. They were only looking at him with confusion. Why was this barbarian in such a hurry, and how was he so fast? After about five minutes, Shang had already crossed half of the gue Rat Zone. "Leader?" Shang stopped. Shang''s heartbeat quickened as he heard a familiar voice. He looked over at the person that had just called him leader. It was Lash, Shang''s first follower from back then, the one he had taught about fighting. Lash was still at the Peak Fighter Stage, but his body had be very powerful. He was probably only waiting for the Ascension. Right now, Lash was looking at Shang with shock. Lash had thought that Shang had died seven years ago, but now, he was here! "Is that you, leader?" Lash asked. At that moment, Shang gnashed his teeth and clenched his fists so tightly that blood came out of his hands. Shang''s entire body began to shake in stress.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. "I''m sorry," Shang said quietly. "| can''t get recognized." Then, Shang pointed two of his fingers at Lash''s head. BANG! An icicle punched through Lash''s head, and Shang continued running. Lash''s corpse fell to the ground, a shocked expression on his face. Chapter 365 Chapter 365 Shang kept charging towards the west on autopilot. He felt like a hole had opened up inside of his chest, but he couldn''t deal with that now. He had to get to safety first! He kept running towards the west, past several barbarians and Mages looking at him with confusion and surprise. They had no idea what was happening. Suddenly, Shang''s instincts were screaming at him, and he quickly took to the sky with an Ice st. BOOOM! A huge fireball exploded at the ce where Shang would have just reached, but he managed to avoid it. Shang quickly looked towards the southwest and saw five Mages preparing Spells. The amount of Mana they were giving off told Shang that they were Mid True Mages. He couldn''t feel all of their Affinities, but he could feel two of them. ¡®With at least two Mid True Mages, this is probably a Circle led by a Mage at the Late True Mage Realm, which means one of the people with an Affinity | can''t feel is at the Late True Mage Realm.¡¯ ¡®| just hope the Late True Mage is not of the powerful kind, or | will die.¡¯ BANG! Shang kept charging towards the west. He couldn''t waste his time with these Mages right now. The longer he remained here, the more backup they would receive. Additionally, if Shang showed his power right now, they might decide to send a Peak Mage after him. Esther, the leader of this Circle, narrowed her eyes when she noticed that the intruder just kept running to the west. She didn''t know what he was nning, but his actions were strange. "Shoot him down!" shemanded. The Mages performed Mana Step twice in a row, depleting their Mana by quite a bit. However, they managed to close the distance to Shang by quite a bit. And then, all five Mages prepared their Spells, and they shot at Shang. Two of the Spells were targeted directly at Shang, while the other three Spells targeted a wider area. BANG! Shang flew higher into the sky, a bit of blooding out of his body. He couldn''t remain airborne indefinitely, but it was a necessity right now. Dodging while being in the air was easier for Shang than being on the ground. The smaller Spells missed him, but one of the bigger Spells would hit. Awave of icy mist engulfed Shang''s surroundings. This Spell was called Ice Wave. BANG! BANG! Shang quickly released two Ice sts to keep his body warm. Normally, the Ice Wave Spell froze the target, but with Shang''s control over his temperature, he managed to shrug off the Spell while gaining more speed. The Mages were quite surprised when they saw that Shang seemingly ignored the Ice Wave Spell. Shouldn''t he have been frozen? What was going on? "Ice Spells only concentrated from now on," Esther ordered. She didn''t know how the intruder managed to brush off that Spell, but wide-range Ice Spells obviously didn''t work. The Mages used another two Mana Steps and prepared their next Spells. This time, Shang had to deal with a Lightning Net Spell after avoiding the other ones. Shang put his left hand onto Sword and released a ranged attack shortly after. BANG! A ck wave hit the Lightning Net, nullifying it. However, in exchange, Shang''s left arm lost quite a bit of life energy. ¡°Only wide-area Spells from now on!" Esther ordered. She had seen that Shang managed to evade all the concentrated Spells, but he had to actually expend effort to deal with the wide-area Spells.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. The Mages used another two Mana Steps to get even closer. ¡®They are using more Mana than they are regenerating by using Mana Step in such quick session. In the short term, they are faster than me, but that won''t hold for long." By now, Shang felt the Darkness Mana lighten, and the Light Mana be denser. He was reaching the border. But then, five wide-range Spells shot at Shang, and the most dangerous Spell was the Wind Wave. By now, Shang knew that the Wind Mage was the Late True Mage. ¡®If | get hit by that, | will be severely injured.¡¯ BANG! Shang released another st and hit the ground. He quickly ttened his body. WHOOOM! The powerful Spells shot past him. Shang hadn''t been flying high in the sky, which allowed him to quickly evade to the ground. "Do it again!" Esther shouted. The intruder had managed to evade the Spells, but all his momentum was gone. Without his momentum, it would be much harder to evade. The next Spells quickly shot at Shang, and he looked at them. If he got hit by that, he would die. This was a pure wave of destruction. "Ishah!" BANG! The Spells missed Shang as he appeared around 500 meters further to the west. Shang didn''t pause and immediately continued running. "Quick! Follow him! He used up all his Mana by using Mana Step! He has nothing left to counter our Spells!" Esther shouted. There was a reason why no warrior used Mana Step. It was simply too unpractical. The warriors needed their Mana to control their Affinities, but they didn''t even nearly have as much Mana as a Mage. Aauick step over a big distance was definitely useful, but the warrior would no longer have ess to any of their abilities that needed Mana after that. The Mages performed another two Mana Steps. By now, they were only about 500 meters away from Shang. Then, the next storm of wide-range Spells shot at Shang. BANG! Shang sted into the air again and ced his feet on Sword as he angled his body. WHOOOOM! Astorm of destructive Mana reached Shang, but Sword parted it like a stone between the waves. The wide-area Spells didn''t have enough destructive power to damage Sword, allowing Shang to block it. But wait, why hadn''t he done that earlier? Because his position had been suboptimal. He had been on the ground previously and had been to the north of the Mages. The force of the attack would have pushed him closer to the Core Tiger Zone, which was not where he wanted to go. But now, Shang was already northwest of the Mages, which meant that his back was now to his goal. Shang felt a powerful force push his body away, and he elerated even more as he was thrown towards the Ancestral Mountain Zone. When Esther saw that, she gritted her teeth. Their attack had not only not hindered the intruder but even aided him! Even more, her Circle was running low on Mana. They had been using Mana Steps several times while unleashing one Spell after the other. "We can''t unleash any more wide-range Spells," she said with annoyance. "We will follow while recovering our Mana. When we are full again, we will kill him!" After giving her orders, Esther cast aplicated Spell, which took about three seconds toplete. When she finished her chant, a green wind appeared around the Circle. Blessing of the Wind! The five Mages quickly began charging after Shang, their speed a bit slower than Shang''s. However, only Esther was using up Mana while everyone else was recovering Mana. For now, they had lost their momentum, but they would very soon explode forward with another assault. With the high density of Light Mana, Shang could watch the Circle without turning his head. ¡®The leader is using up Mana while the others recover. ¡®Bad idea.¡¯ Chapter 366 Chapter 366 For about half a minute, the Mages were only following Shang as he fully entered the Ancestral Mountain Zone. In front of Shang was something that looked like the end of the world. It was just a giant wall of stone that stretched into the sky seemingly forever. No one knew how high the Ancestral Mountain was, but they were sure it was over 15 kilometers tall. It was absolutely gigantic. Shang only needed to traverse another two kilometers until he reached the Ancestral Mountain. "If he reaches the mountain, we won''t be able to catch him anymore!" Esther shouted. "We attack now!" The other four Mages nodded. And then, they all released several Mana Steps. SHING! The five Mages suddenly appeared between Shang and the mountain, their Spells ready. They had unleashed four Mana Steps to get here. Shang had already expected that something like this would happen, which was why he hadn''t unleashed many sts in the past 30 seconds. His body was fully healed, and the Mana inside his body was also full. Sadly, the Mana inside his mind needed a couple more minutes to replenish, which meant that Mana Step wasn''t avable to him right now. But he only needed to ovee this one assault. Only ten Spells were between him and safety. The Mages didn''t prepare any wide-area Spells since Shang could somewhat deal with them. However, they also knew that Shang could very likely evade all of the Spells if theyunched them at the same time. Because of that, they entered a rotation. The first person to use their Spell was the Ice Mage. A huge ice spear appeared above her, which directly shot at Shang with incredible speed. BANG! Shang released an Ice st to jump into the sky, evading the first Spell. That was when the second ice spear appeared. WHOOOM! The ice spear was turned into Ice Mana, which quickly entered Sword. Shang had just spent 50% of his body''s Mana by unleashing the Domain of Entropy. An instantter, a fireball shot at Shang. BANG! Shang evaded to the side with a Fire st, evading the fireball. Shang already knew that the next Spell woulde very soon, and he wanted to evade further into the sky. But then, he saw what Spell the Mage actually unleashed. It was the Fire Pir Spell. The Fire Pir Spell was, as the name suggested, a fire pir that moved forward. If Shang evaded upward, he would still be hit. However, this was a good thing. At the same time, Esther gnashed her teeth. ¡®| gave specific orders not to use wide-range Spells!¡¯ sheined inside her mind. Shang put Sword beneath him and stood on it. The fire pir reached Shang. The powering from the bottom of the fire pir hit Sword, throwing it and Shang further upward. The remaining heat from the wall of fire that had just been in front of Shang still hit him, though, burning his skin. The only thing he was wearing currently was his old pair of pants, which also caught on fire. As Shang''s burned body was thrown higher into the sky, he released a Fire st to cool his body. After that, he released a bit of Ice Mana to stop his pants from burning. When Esther saw that, her eyes became bloodshot. Then, she put her hands beside her to stop the Water Mage from firing. The Water Mage''s task had been to push Shang further away if he managed to get past the first couple of Spells. Water wasn''t very destructive, but it was amazing at pushing something away with a concentrated beam. However, if the Water Mage were to release her Spells now, Shang would be thrown further into the sky. At that point, he would have gained enough height to fly past them. The Water Mage threw a venomous nce at the Fire Mage, who only watched with horror at what he had done. With the Water Mage out of the picture, Shang had essentially already ovee six Spells. Four more to go. Next, a gigantic rock shot at Shang. CRRR! The Ice Mana inside Sword came out and increased Sword''s size. Sword became wider and several meters longer. And then, Shang swung Sword. BANG! Shang cut the boulder apart, the increased length and width of Sword making the two halves shoot past him. If Sword hadn''t be bigger, the two halves might have taken Shang''s shoulders off his body.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. That was when Shang saw the second bouldering for him. The Ice Mana inside Sword had already been used up, and it returned to its normal size. ¡®After that, only the leader should be left. | don''t think the Water Mage is very dangerous.¡¯ Shang let go of Sword, which automatically clung to his body. BANG! Shang pointed his left hand at the boulder and released an Ice st. Shang was thrown further away, but the force of the st slowed the boulder down. BANG! Then, Shang released a Fire st, which resulted in the boulder stopping. However, Shang was now flying away at rapid speeds. BANG! Another Ice stter, Shang managed to stop in the sky. BANG! Shang released another Fire st, his body releasing a mixture of icy mist and steam as his temperature was all over the ce. Some blood was already starting to flow out of his body. But now, Shang was shooting at the huge boulder, which was currently very slowly beginning to fall. BANG! Shangnded on the boulder, his knees buckling. And then, Shang pushed with all of his power. BANG! The boulder immediately shot at the leader of the Circle with frightening power and speed. Esther''s frustration reached levels she had never thought possible as she saw the Spell of her own Magee at her. BANG! She released a Wind Bullet Spell, which fragmented the boulder into many small pieces, but that meant that she had used up one of her prepared Spells. As the rubble of the stone bounced off their Mana Shields, the Mages looked at the sky. And that was when they saw Shang, and their eyes widened. Wasn''t he supposed to be fleeing? Why was he directly in front of Esther?! Blood flowed out of several parts of Shang''s body, and for some reason, he seemed much thinner than before. That was when dark energy came out of Sword. It was Darkness Mana! BANG! Sword hit Esther''s Mana Shield, the Darkness Mana stretching across it like lightning. CRACK! Esther''s Mana Shield broke. She had never gotten an opportunity to regain her Mana. Keeping up Blessing of the Wind for five people was very draining, and she had also used a lot of Mana Steps. This strikepletely destroyed her Mana Shield. And then, Esther watched in horror as the intruder''s sword came for her head. It stopped. Sword stopped right in front of Esther''s forehead. BANG! Suddenly, her Focus was pped to the side, falling apart into itsponents. And then, a strong hand grabbed her throat and pulled her away. Her body was flung around, and she suddenly faced her Circle of Mages, her body held by Shang''s hand at the back of her neck. "You do anything, she dies!" Shang shouted. Silence. Chapter 367 Chapter 367 After several minutes of noise while chasing the intruder, the battlefield became silent for the first time. The Mages still couldn''tprehend what they had just witnessed. Aphysi had managed to take a Late True Mage hostage while surrounded by four Mid True Mages?! Weren''t Late True Mages supposed to be unbeatable for every physi except for that one physi in the Skythunder Kingdom?! ¡°Let go of our Head!" one of the Mages shouted angrily. Shang tightened his grip, making Esther open her mouth in a silent scream. "| don''t want to fight with your Kingdom," Shang answered with a deeper voice than normal. He didn''t want any of them to recognize him by voice, even if the chances were minuscule. Additionally, he also hid his face behind Esther''s lifted body. "| only want to enter the ckshadow Kingdom," Shang added. The Mages gnashed their teeth and looked at each other. If theyunched a Spell, their Head would definitely die. Additionally, they probably couldn''t keep Shang here. He already stood closer to the mountain than them, and chasing him up the mountain was impossible. "Why would we let you do that?" one of the Mages asked with narrowed eyes. "Because | am not here on a mission, but on ident," Shang said. "You are allowed to cast a truth verification Spell if you want, but | warn you, | know the chant. If | hear anything else, she dies." The Mages looked at each other, but eventually, they nodded. One of them stepped forward and chanted a Spell. After around five seconds, the chant was finished, and the Mana in the surroundings had changed. The Truth Verification Spell was now active. m not here by free will," Shang said, knowing that the Mages were now able to see whether he was telling the truth or not. "I never wanted toe here. | am not being paid to be here. | am not on a mission. No Kingdom, Duke, Mage, or whatever gave me the mission to do anything to the Grandmountain Kingdom or interact with it." m here due to a cruel twist of fate outside of my control, and | only want to get home. | am not interested in the war or any sort of conflict between the Kingdoms. | only want to return to the Skythunder Kingdom and traveling across the ckshadow Kingdom is my best chance at getting back." "That is everything | want," Shang finished. The Mages looked with surprise at one another. The intruder had spoken the truth. They talked to each other for a bit until one of them looked at Shang, who was still behind Esther. "Will you release our Head?" she asked. "| promise that | will let her go uninjured as soon as | pass your military forces at the north of this Zone," Shang said. Surprisingly, the Mage didn''t react the way Shang had expected. They had just heard that they could get their Late True Mage back without any injury. They didn''t even need to give the intruder anything. He only wanted to leave. Yet, instead of relief, Shang saw a bit of anger and frustration in their faces. "You are talking nonsense," the female Mage said. "Go through the ckshadow Kingdom to return to the Skythunder Kingdom? Do you know what they do to powerful physis?" ¡°Feed them to their beasts," Shang said. "| know that." "Then why would you want to go there?" the Mage asked. Shang was a bit confused why the Mage was asking such an irrelevant question. For all intents and purposes, they should happily send him on his merry way to get ughtered by the ckshadow Kingdom. Why would they warn him instead? ¡°Let that be my problem," Shang said. "The ckshadow Kingdom might be allied with the Skythunder Kingdom, but if they stand in my way, | won''t show any mercy. As | ran through the gue Rat Zone, | didn''t kill a single Mage of your Kingdom, even though | had the opportunity. | don''t want to kill people that don''t go against me." At that moment, a feeling of guilt rose up in Shang''s chest as he remembered Lash''s shocked eyes before he died, but Shang quickly buried the guilt again. Now was not the time. "If the ckshadow Kingdom tries to stop me, | won''t have a problem with killing a couple of Mages or Summoners." The Mages looked at each other again, and they became increasingly frustrated. At the same time, Esther began to struggle in Shang''s grip. She hadn''t done that before. Of course, Esther was as helpless in Shang''s hand as a tiny lizard. One squeeze and her head would separate from her neck. "We went against you. Why didn''t you attack us?" the female Mage asked. Shang was surprised by this question too. ¡®What''s up with their weird questions? Why would they care?¡¯ ¡®I''m offering a great deal here. I''m sure you would much rather keep a Late True Mage alive than kill some random warrior. Why aren''t they epting?!¡¯ Shang thought with frustration. ¡°Because this is easier. My goal was to get to the Ancestral Mountain to wait for an opportunity to escape initially, but that has way too many risks. I''d much rather prefer leaving straight away," Shang answered. The Mages looked at each other with frustration as Esther''s struggle intensified.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. It was like she was trying to escape her death. Sure, she was currently in Shang''s hands, but Shang was negotiating instead of torturing or killing her. Additionally, she hadn''t struggled at the beginning. That had only started as Shang talked more with the Mages. The Mages talked to each other for several seconds. And then, they turned to the hanging Esther, their eyes unwilling. They were filled with frustration, guilt, and helplessness. When Shang saw their expressions, he knew what was going on. He had had the same expression just a couple of minutes ago! This was exactly what he had looked like before he had killed Lash! "Thew must be upheld," the female Mage said with a deep voice as she looked into Esther''s panicked eyes. Esther felt like her world was ending. "I''m sorry," the female Mage said. "We can''t negotiate with the enemy." And then, their Foci lit up with prepared Spells. Shang gnashed his teeth. CRK! Shang''s hand tightened, and Esther''s head was squeezed off her body. And then, he exploded towards the mountain. "So, this was why they asked these questions." ¡®They tried to find a way to ease the pain of what they were going to do! If | was some sort of monster or enemy to the Kingdom, they could say that they did the right thing. They could say that they were only protecting their home.¡¯ ¡®However, my intentions were only to escape without going against the Grandmountain Kingdom. I''m pretty sure all four of them wanted to ept the deal.¡¯ ¡®Yet, theirw states that they are not allowed to negotiate with the enemy." ¡®They were forced to do something they didn''t want to do." ¡®Just like me earlier.¡¯ Esther''s corpse was destroyed by the Spells, which quickly followed Shang. However, these Spells weren''t nearly as deadly or urate as the previous ones. It wasn''t that they didn''t want to kill Shang. It was just that they had already given up. They knew that they wouldn''t be able to stop Shang. So, they simply stopped trying and performed the motions without any enthusiasm or goal behind them. After Shang evaded the Spells, the Mages stopped chasing. They knew that it was already over. Shang reached the Ancestral Mountain. BANG! Shang exploded upward,nded on one of the cliffs, and continued jumping. Shang was moving at insane rates up the mountain. This was why it was impossible for them to follow Shang up the mountain. Shang was amazing at moving through the air, and he had an insanely powerful body that allowed him to move up the mountain like he was running on the ground. With every jump, Shang ascended another twenty meters. He didn''t even need to use his sts to traverse the mountain. And the Mages? Of course, there were Spells for them to traverse such a tall mountain. There was a Spell that allowed their Mana Shield to cling to the wall and ascend. However, there were several problems with the Spell. It cost a lot of Mana, and it was slow. But the biggest problem was that they couldn''t use Mana Step in such an environment. For Mana Step to work, the ground had to be somewhat even. If they followed Shang up the mountain, they wouldpletely lose any mobility. Mana Step was one of the most powerful weapons for fighting beasts and physis. Sure, they might be able to kill a normal warrior, but by now, they knew that they wouldn''t be able to get Shang. If they couldn''t get him on the ground, they wouldn''t be able to get him on the mountain. Even more, they might actually die while trying to kill him. There was no point in chasing him. He had already escaped. Chapter 368 Chapter 368 The four Mages stood in arge hall in front of the gathered leaders of the northern offensive. "So, to summarize," the blue-haired man, the Peak Mage, said, "the warrior managed to evade all your Spells, caught Esther due to an error in her judgment, and wanted to negotiate with us. But instead of epting his offer, you followed thew and attacked him. Is that correct?" There was currently a Truth Verification Spell active, and the Mages were forced to speak the truth. They nodded. The blue-haired man furrowed his brows and looked at the table with furrowed brows as he leaned back. No one spoke anything for ten seconds. "You followed thew. You may leave," he said. The four Mages performed a respectful salute and left the hall. After they left, no one in the hall spoke for a while. Most of them were looking at the chair Esther had recently upied. "I''ll take responsibility," the blue-haired man said. "| misjudged the intruder''s power and sent a force with inadequate power to handle the situation." The others didn''t disagree. Yes, every single one of them would have made the same mistake. Half of them would have probably sent an even weaker force after the intruder. However, they were not the ones that had issued themand. When something went wrong, it was always the fault of the one that gave the orders. The blue-haired man looked calm and cold on the surface, but one of his fists was clenched so tightly under the table that blood started to flow out. Was he an emotionless husk? Of course not. He was a human, and just like any other human, he had feelings ofradery and kinship. He had known Esther for years, and they had worked together for a long time. The blue-haired man was absolutely furious at Shang, and he hated him with his entire being. "Strengthen the northern border," the blue-haired man ordered with a calm tone. "If he shows up again, immediately contact me. | will deal with him personally. He can''t hide on that mountain forever. At some point, he has toe down from there." One of the other people nodded, took out a Communication Crystal, and gave the order. The blue-haired man looked calm, but his rage, hatred, and frustration only grew. He wanted to do nothing more than charge after the intruder and kill him personally. He wanted to take revenge for one of his friends. However, the benefits weren''t worth the cost. First of all, he would need to spend a long time searching on a mountain filled with beasts. The mountain was gigantic, and there were innumerable caves and rocks to hide behind. It might take days, if not weeks, to find the intruder. And then? Even though Esther had been low on Mana, Shang had managed to kidnap her while surrounded by Mages. The blue-haired man was certain that he could tear Shang apart on t ground, but fighting in the mountains was insanely disadvantageous for him. Even more, Shang was very likely faster than the blue-haired man. If the fight went badly for him, he could just retreat. What was he supposed to do then? Was he supposed to gather five Circles of True Mages to surround him after days of searching without any assurance of sess? Even more, many of his Mages would definitely die if he did that. As soon as Shang managed to reach one Mage, he could kick them off the mountain. Yes, Mages were powerful, but they couldn''t survive a fall of hundreds of meters. They couldn''t fly yet. So, even though the blue-haired man wanted to kill Shang more than anything else, he couldn''t go through with it. Such a discement of forces would put the frontline in danger. If the ckshadow Kingdom decided to attack, they might lose one or two Zones. It was just one warrior but going after him with any chance of sess meant putting the entire Kingdom at risk. There was nothing he could do. ¡®You will have toe down the mountain at some point,¡¯ the blue-haired man thought. ¡®And when that happens, | will be there to kill you!"This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. ¡®In my entire life, | have never known defeat while fighting anyone on my level!¡¯ ¡®And you definitely won''t be the first person to do so!" The other people at the table acted like they hadn''t noticed anything, but it was impossible not to notice the blue-haired man''s current state. Even though he kept hisposure, his mood was influencing the room. The room had be freezingly cold. Such a phenomenon to control the surroundings to such a degree was only something that True Path Stage beasts and High Mages had. Yet, the blue-haired man had the same ability. He had already grasped his own "Path". If he wanted, he could reach the High Mage Realm by tomorrow. He could resist Initial High Mages with his current power. And this incredible power was why he was responsible for the northern front as long as the Governor didn''t directly take control. As all of this was happening, Shang ascended the mountain. He had already seen a couple of Soldier and General Stage beasts clinging to the walls and flying through the sky, but they avoided him. By now, Shang had reached a height of at least five kilometers, and he had seen a couple of caves. However, he didn''t want to enter any of these caves for now. He wanted to enter one that was higher up. The stronger the beasts in the surroundings were and the further away he was from the Mages, the lower the chance of being spotted. As Shang ascended, the light became brighter and brighter until it was blinding. Even though Shang''s eye had been strengthened by his training, if he looked up, he might still be blind. Shang was sure that the light from above came from the Zone Beast. Its power was so terrifying that just looking at its general direction could take away one''s sight from kilometers away. Eventually, when Shang spotted the first Commander Stage beasts, he decided to enter a cave. Inparison to the blinding outside, the cave was incredibly dark. The cave also wasn''t small, and it seemed to stretch into infinity. Shang guessed that there was a gigantic maze of caves inside this humongous mountain. Surprisingly, the darkness inside the cave was thick and filled with Darkness Mana. It was almost a certainty that some Earth and Darkness Affinity beasts lived here. ¡®Isted from the outside by the blinding light, forever hiding inside the mountain,¡¯ Shang thought. ''It almost seems cruel. Who would have thought that such a bright ce hides such cruelty?¡¯ Shang checked the outside of the cave for a while and then focused on the inside. Right now, Shang was at the border of light and dark. It was too dark for Light Affinity beasts, too bright for the Darkness Affinity beasts, and too close to the surface for the Earth Affinity beasts. It was a safe haven between light and dark. One could also call it twilight. ¡®This is a good spot,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I don''t think many beastse here.¡¯ After five seconds of just standing in the middle of the cave, Shang took a deep breath. Then, he walked over to one of the walls and sat down. For several minutes, he did nothing. He knew what was about toe, but he didn''t want to confront it. Yet, he had to. He knew that he couldn''t run from it. But he didn''t want to. But he had to... After several minutes of not moving, Shang''s head slowly sank. He grabbed his head as he looked down. He could see Lash''s shocked eyes like they were right there. Had he done the right thing? Chapter 369 Chapter 369 At this moment, Shang was sitting near the wall with his left to the bright outside of the Ancestral Mountain and with his right to the darkness-filled depths of the Ancestral Mountain. ¡®Was it the right choice?¡¯ he asked himself in his mind. Right now, Shang was feeling deep regret and guilt. Lash had been with him for months, and he had been Shang''s second inmand. Lash had done whatever Shang had wanted, and he had supported Shang every time. ¡®| had to protect my identity!¡¯ Shang thought. "But..." ¡®But what were the chances of the Grandmountain Kingdom connecting me to the Abominations?'' ¡®I''m already nning on being very careful with the Abominations. What are actually the chances that someone would even think about a warrior being connected to the appearance of Abominations?¡± ¡®And even if they connected it, would Lash have even told them?¡¯ ¡®| told Lash a lot about how the actual world works, and he knows that the Mages are essentially only enving the barbarians. He definitely wasn''t happy with the Mages.¡¯ ¡®The Mages probably wouldn''t even have looked at him or asked him. After all, why would some random barbarian have information on a masked warrior that suddenly appeared in their Kingdom?" ¡®Lash would have needed to proactively go to the Mages and tell them of my identity, and even if they knew my identity, they probably wouldn''t connect me to the Abominations.¡¯ ¡®Lastly, even if everything came to pass, maybe they wouldn''t actually contact the Skythunder Kingdom. After all, they apparently have a Law that forbids it from negotiating with the enemy.¡¯ ¡®Was it the right choice?" ¡®Couldn''t | have just let him live?¡¯ "He was about to reach the Champion Stage soon. After that, the Mages would have treated him very differently. The Ascension to the Champion Stage is obviously insanely expensive, and they wouldn''t want to just throw such a barbarian away.¡¯ ¡®They would have probably offered him to live in peace and father plenty of children so that they would get more powerful barbarians. Additionally, he would have probably gotten ess to plenty of beasts until he reached the Peak Champion Stage. At that point, they might try to find a way to get him to the True Path Stage.¡¯ "Sure, he would have maybe died during that Ascension, but that would have been decades from now, and he would have lived a happy life until then.¡¯ "He had been under the Mages for so long, and he was so close to actually living a decent life.¡¯ Silence. ¡®But now, he''s dead, and | killed him.¡¯ "He didn''t look at me with enmity, anger, betrayal, or simr emotions." Shang remembered the eyes with which Lash had looked at him. They were shocked and surprised in a positive way. In his mind, he was obviously happy that an old friend was still alive. His thoughts were filled with Lash''s shocked expression. Shock and betrayal. That was what Shang saw in these eyes. Lash had never believed that Shang would kill him. After all, Shang was his old friend, right? Shang had taught him everything about power. Shang had trained him in many different fighting techniques. Shang had even given him theplete version of the barbarian''s body strengthening technique. Lash had followed him! Lash had always wished to be as powerful as Shang! Shang had been Lash''s idol! Shang had been Lash¡¯''s leader! Lash would have followed Shang into death! ¡®Would he have actually told them?'' Shang thought as his breathing quickened. ¡®Was it necessary?¡¯C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. ¡®Was it the right choice?!" ¡®It would have only been a small possibility that he would leak my secret!¡¯ ¡®Only a little bit!" ¡®Couldn''t | have just let him live?¡¯ ¡®Ahappy and long life for one of my old friends in exchange for just the slightest bit of risk to myself.¡¯ Shang heard his heart beating rapidly in his ears. ¡®| didn''t want to kill him." ¡®I never wanted to kill him!" I didn''t want to do it!" "But | had to!" ¡®It was to protect my identity!" ¡®Lhad to!" Shang looked with a widely-opened eye at the ground. ¡®Did |?" ¡®Was it really necessary?¡± ¡®Or did | simply think it was necessary?¡± ¡®| mean, Lash was part of a Kingdom that waged war with the Skythunder Kingdom, right?" ''Lash''s existence would have endangered the people of the Skythunder Kingdom, right?¡¯ ¡®Shut up, Shang!¡¯ Shang thought as he gritted his teeth. ''You''re trying to find excuses for your choice!¡¯ ¡®You don''t fucking care about the war or the Skythunder Kingdom as a whole. Who the fuck cares if he was a danger to the Kingdom?! Even more, he was on the northern frontlines, not the southern ones! He''s probably never even seen a warrior until today!" "Stop finding excuses for your actions! ¡®This was your choice!" ¡®This was what you have decided in a stressful situation! ¡®This is all on you!¡¯ ¡®If you could travel through time and get the opportunity to choose differently, would you?" Silence. After that thought, Shang''s coherent train of thought ended, reced by confusing thoughts. Shang knew that he was thinking about something, but he wasn''t sure what he was thinking about. He was just looking at the ground, uncertain what he was thinking about. ¡®Would |?'' Shang thought after a while. ¡®Would | choose differently?" If | got another chance, would | choose differently?¡¯ Shang didn''t get an answer for a long time. After several hours of just doing nothing, Shang''s nervousness and guilt only began to increase. He hadn''t found his answer yet, but he knew what the answer would be. Shang clenched his fists with all his power. Rage, helplessness, and guilt overwhelmed him. Then, Shang put his hands to his head. ¡®would make the same choice.¡¯ "My life and my goal are too important.¡¯ ¡®| can''t risk them under any circumstance.¡¯ After having that thought, Shang felt a deep hole open up inside his chest. He didn''t want to do it, but for his goal, he had to. "My goal is more important!¡¯ Shang repeated in his mind. "My goal is more important than anything else!" ¡®| want to be powerful, and | want to rule over my own life!" ¡®| want to get rid of this horrible God that only sees me and the entire world as a ything!" ¡®| want to be so powerful that | never need to fear anything!" ¡®| want to be so powerful that | don''t need to fear about anyone close to me!" ¡®All of my problems will be resolved when | am the most powerful!" ¡®And to achieve that goal, | have to make the cruelest and most optimal choices!" ¡®There are so many talented people in this world, but no one is the actual strongest.¡¯ ¡®Why? Is it because they are just not trying hard enough? Is it because they are not talented enough?" ¡®No, it''s because they don''t dare to sacrifice everything in their life to achieve true power!¡¯ ¡®Only by dedicating my entire existence to power will | ever have a shot at reaching it!¡¯ ¡®I can''t risk my life!" ¡®Even if | have to sacrifice teacher, Duke Whirlwind, Mattheo, Astor, Lash, or whoever else, if they are a risk to my goal, | have to do it!¡¯ If | don''t, all my previous sacrifices will be for nothing!" ¡®| have to continue sacrificing so that my previous sacrifices don''t be meaningless!¡¯ ¡®It''s all or nothing!¡¯ ¡®LT have to do it!¡¯ ¡®Now, get over your pathetic crying, Shang! You made your choice! You decided on your Path!¡¯ ¡®Regret and guilt don''t contribute anything to achieving your goal!" ¡®You''ve already sat here, doing nothing, for long enough!" "Do what you came here to do and strengthen your body!" Shang took a deep and aggressive breath. His feelings were still screaming at him. They were telling him that he was making a mistake. They were telling him that what he was doing was wrong. They were telling him that he didn''t have to be that extreme to himself and the people around him to achieve his goal. It was fine to feel for others. However, Shang''s logic and mind were fighting against these feelings. This was the most logical decision! He had to put his everything into his choice! Shang quickly shot to his feet, his heart beating rapidly and his vision vibrating slightly at its edges. ¡®| have to strengthen my body,¡¯ he thought. And then, he walked into the darkness-filled cave. Chapter 370 Chapter 370 Shang went into the dark cave. He thought that his mind was focusing on his surroundings and how to find a powerful beast, but he noticed several times that his attention was slipping. ¡®I''m not focused!¡¯ he thought with frustration. ¡®| made my choice!" ¡®| don''t have time to think about these feelings!¡¯ "Fucking focus!" Shang''s mind kept passively inspecting his surroundings as he went deeper into the cave. First, Shang walked upwards, but he noticed that the beasts he found only became weaker. So, he decided to walk down. ¡®The higher | go outside the mountain, the stronger the beasts, but it''s the opposite in this cave." As Shang found the first Commander Stage beasts, his focus increased. The danger of his surroundings was pulling his mind away from its painful thoughts to focus on staying alive. After a while, Shang reached a ce where he could see Early Commander Stage beasts, but he went further. ¡®Everything for my goal! Even if absorbing a more powerful beast is way more dangerous, the increased efficiency is worth it!" ¡®It''s all for my goal!" But was that the true reason? Was the increased efficiency really the reason why he was seeking out a Mid Commander Stage beast to absorb? Shang kept descending until his Darkness Vision picked up a beast. It was lying in wait on the top of the cave. Its gigantic pincers were ready to strike at anything that came close to it. It was a beast with a Darkness Affinity. BANG! Shang charged upward with an Ice st. He arrived so quickly that the beast barely had time to react. If an ambush hunter got the opportunity to strike first, it would be able to unleash a terrifying amount of power. However, if that same ambush hunter got ambushed, it would find itself in a lot of trouble. The majority of the beast was buried inside the ceiling, with only its gigantic pincers peeking out. This was not a good position to evade an iing attack. BANG! Sword punched through the pincers, cutting them off the beast''s head. The beast screeched and exploded out of the ceiling. BANG! Shang released another st with his left leg and kicked the approaching beast with his right. BOOOOM! Shang''s leg broke in several ces, but the beast was violently thrown into the hole it had created to wait for its prey. BANG! Shang released another Fire st and cut through the entire beast with his sword. The beast was dead. The corpse fell to the ground, and Shang looked for its heart with more aggression than usual. And then, he found the heart... Both halves. Shang took both halves into his hand and looked at them with gritted teeth. BANG! The heart was destroyed as his grip tightened. "Useless!" he shouted. ¡°What am | supposed to do with a destroyed heart?!" "| need aplete one!" BANG! Shang''s healed leg broke again as he violently kicked the corpse to the side, into the wall. Then, he followed the corpse and continued punching and kicking it. He was umting one injury after the other, but he didn''t care. He was frustrated! He was angry! He hated that corpse! He hated the destroyed heart! He hated this mountain! He hated this cave! He hated the Mages waiting outside for him! He hated... Then, Shang suddenly stopped. His Mana was mostly depleted, but it was still enough to heal his injuries. For a while, Shang didn''t move. ¡®| should get an actually useful heart,¡¯ Shang thought with surprisingly calm thoughts. Shang walked through the cave with loud steps. It was almost like he wanted to get noticed. His right eye was narrowed, and his brows were scrunched into an expression of cold and deep hatred. Shang was doing his best to bury all his negative feelings, but they still made their presence known. "Focus on power!¡¯ "Focus on power!¡¯ "Focus on power!¡¯ Shang kept repeating this thought to himself. After some minutes, Shang found another Mid Commander Stage beast. "Focus on power!¡¯ BANG! Shang shot at the beast, which was currently sitting on top of some eggs. BANG! CRACK! Sword punched through the beast''s powerful armor, but the attack wasn''t enough to kill it. The beast roared in anger. It had to protect its eggs! BANG! Shang reached it again and killed it with his next attack. "Focus on power!¡¯ Then, Shang saw the eggs. "Focus on power!¡¯ BANG! The eggs were burned to ash with a powerful Fire st. "Focus on power!¡¯ Shang dug through the corpse until he found its heart. "Focus on power!¡¯ Shang shoved all the Mana inside his body outside. "Focus on power!¡¯ Then, he rammed the heart into his throat, essentially forcing it into his stomach. The heart was too big to be eaten in one bite, but Shang didn''t care. He just shoved it right in. The pain was unimportant! "Focus on power!¡¯ Then, Shang walked back up the cave as his entire mind focused on tearing out the Mana of the heart. This was his Mana! This Mana would help him be more powerful, and he was going to take it! Shang''s body exploded in several ces as he continued walking upward. He had to injure his body to properly absorb the Mana. However, no matter how injured Shang became, he only continued walking upward. "Focus on power!¡¯ While his body became more injured, Shang kept tearing the Mana out of the heart. The previous times he had strengthened his body could bepared to a tactical assault. It was like a precise machine that perfectly took something apart and distributed its gains. But this time, it was like Shang was a raging beast. His mind violently tore chunks of Mana out of the heart and just rammed them into suitable parts of his body. "Focus on power!¡¯ Part of Shang''s body began to cramp up, and the veins on his head began to throb aggressively. His vision began to swim, but he barely noticed. Shang only continued walking, his right eye filled with hatred. After an hour of slow walking, Shang arrived back at the spot where he had sat earlier, between the light outside and the dark inside. The will of the dead beast had awakened, and it was fighting Shang at this moment. The will itself was far weaker than all the previous times Shang had strengthened his body. However, this wasn''t a good thing.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. As the will awakened, the undigested Mana inside his body began to revolt. Usually, the foreign Mana was detained inside Shang''s stomach, but this time, he had absorbed too much to digest. Shang fell to his knees as insane pain assaulted him. Then, he puked out a fountain of blood, guts, and muscles. He kept puking for nearly ten minutes. It was like he was puking more than his entire weight. It was ridiculously painful. Eventually, the puking stopped, and Shang focused on his body. When he saw the result, his entire body tensed with frustration. "Useless!" he shouted with hatred. His body had been strengthened by barely 1.5 times the normal amount of absorbing a beast on an equal level, but he needed to wait about 1.8 times as long to absorb another beast! This was supposed to increase his efficiency, not decrease it! ¡®I''m a fucking idiot!" ¡®Why can''t | do anything right?!" he thought aggressively. Shang sat down at the wall to deal with the foreign Mana inside his body. It would take over 20 days. And in those 20 days, he would have plenty of time to think about why this strengthening process had been so much less effective than the other ones. Chapter 371 Chapter 371 Shang stood at the edge of the cave and looked at the surroundings of the mountain with cold, calcting, and calm eyes. He had calmed down. The 20 days of waiting for the foreign will to vanish had given him plenty of time to think about his actions. Eventually, he came to a conclusion. ¡®lost control.¡¯ ¡®Being emotional brought me into unnecessary danger.¡¯ ¡®| need to keep my rage in check.¡¯ ¡®I can''t listen to my emotions.¡¯ These had been his thoughts. And with the help of these thoughts, Shang managed to wake up and get rid of his rage. His rage had transformed into frustration. Hisck of control over his emotions had messed up his training efficiency, and he couldn''t allow that to happen again. After absorbing the first beast, Shang had followed his usual routine, and it worked out very well. He continued absorbing Mid Commander Stage beasts, and the efficiency was now about 20% better than absorbing Early Commander Stage beasts. Shang also wasn''tpletely helpless for an entire week after absorbing one. ¡®Oveing the regret of my choices helped me in solidifying the importance of my goal, strengthening my willpower. ¡®Many people fear emotional pain, but oveing such pain can do wonders for your willpower.¡¯ ¡®The pain of my past gives me strength for my future.¡¯ It had been three months since Shang had reached the Ancestral Mountain, and he was finally ready to leave. Enough time had passed that the appearance of Abominations wouldn''t be connected to his presence. After all, if Abominations had appeared right after he arrived here, it would have been awfully coincidental, right? Shang''s body had also reached about 83% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast''s body, and it was time to push that efficiency more by absorbing another Abomination. Lastly, Shang had spent most of thest three months searching for powerful ore in the Ancestral Mountain. He had to go to some dangerous ces, but he was very good at sensing danger and escaping. And finally, he upgraded Sword to the Peak Commander Stage. This was about as powerful as Shang could make Sword with his current power. The next upgrade would be for the Initial True Path Stage, and those kinds of ores only existed near True Path Stage beasts. Additionally, since this was an entirely new Stage, he would need to get the ores for his four different Affinities again. Upgrading Sword to the Initial True Path Stage would be arduous and difficult, and it was not something Shang could attempt right now. It was time to leave. It was time to enter the ckshadow Kingdom. "Are you ready?" Shang asked Sword. "Ready," it answered. Shang nodded. And then, he activated his Domain of Entropy. Shang focused on the presences, but then his right eye widened in shock. ¡®I can feel it?!¡¯ he thought in shock. At this moment, Shang could feel one presence that was vastly more powerful than all the other ones. ¡®A True Path Stage Abomination!" ¡®But how?!" "My level didn''t increase, and | didn''t really be any more powerful than previously!" "How can | suddenly feel one?!" ¡®What changed?!¡¯ Shang didn''t know what had changed, but something had to have changed. Shang slightly pulled on the True Path Stage Abomination, and sure enough, he felt it respond. However, Shang very quickly stopped interacting with it. Summoning Commander Stage Abominations still counted as a somewhat normal urrence. But Shang had never heard about True Path Stage Abominations appearing. The appearance of Commander Stage Abominations would raise some eyebrows in the Kingdoms, but it was nothing too concerning. However, if a True Path Stage Abomination appeared, they would all realize that something had to be wrong. ¡®I can''t summon one. If | summon a True Path Stage Abomination, the entire world will take note of their appearance, and someone is bound to connect these Abominations to me." Shang ignored the True Path Stage Abomination and focused on one of the Commander Stage Abominations. After several minutes, the Commander Stage Abomination was close to being summoned. It always took a couple of minutes to summon them. Shang tried to control where the Abominations would appear, and he hoped that it worked. If he could control where they appeared, things would be easier. The wills of the Abominations somewhat resisted, but they eventuallyplied, and Shang could feel where they would appear. Shang managed to somewhat control where they appeared, but he also noticed that there was no way back now. Their locations had been set, and the destructive will of the Abominations had been awakened. They woulde out, even if Shang wanted them not to. SHING! SHING! SHING! Over 400 Abominations appeared near the foot of the Ancestral Mountain. The Soldier Stage Abominations were on the ground, while the General Stage Abominations were on the first few kilometers of the mountain. Of course, the Commander Stage Abomination was right in front of Shang. This was why the Abominations hadn''t been the biggest fans of their deployment. Their Commander Stage Abomination would appear somewherepletely else than them. However, they followed Shang''s orders. Shang immediately shoved his hand into the Abomination''s torso, which didn''t resist at all. It was almost like it was happy to be absorbed by Shang. It was like this was its purpose. It was supposed to make Shang stronger! It only took two seconds to absorb the Abomination, but in these two seconds, hell broke loose. All the Abominations started to charge away from the mountain. This had been Shang''s order. In the Tide Serpent Zone, Shang wanted to keep the Abominations a secret, but now, he wanted them to attack the Grandmountain Kingdom. Shang knew that several powerful Mages would be waiting for him, and he had to distract them. When the Abominations appeared, all the people in the Ancestral Mountain Zone watched in horror as their world broke down. The Ancestral Mountain Zone was extremely safe since the beasts all either lived in very deep caves or very high up the mountain. There were basically no beasts at the bottom, making this Zone a great ce for the Fighter Stage barbarians and Adepts. The barbarians were the most talented of the Kingdom, and they were at the northeastern frontlines to increase their power. Most of the talented Mages were also here since this ce allowed them to fight the enemy without too high of a chance of death. This ce was supposed to be a paradise for growing more powerful. But now, a horde of Abominations had suddenly appeared?! ¡°Everyone below the True Mage Realm, fall back immediately! Barbarians, flee!" The blue-haired man had moved his headquarters to this Zone, and he had immediately given the order. The Adepts and barbarians fled in terror. The Abominations screeched in hatred. Most people couldn''t react fast enough and... BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOM! It was like an army of True Mages bombarded the Zone with destructive Spells. It was hell. When Shang saw that, his chest tightened, but he narrowed his right eye and pushed the feeling down. He had no other choice. He had to summon the Abominations to strengthen himself. After absorbing the Commander Stage Abomination, Shang''s body had reached 87% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast, and Shang suspected that his maximum was now at around 90%. If he could avoid killing these weak people, he would do so, but he couldn''t. He needed the Abominations to be more powerful. And his power was the most important thing in the world. BANG! Shang exploded off the cave and shot through the sky towards the north. BANG! BANG! Shang kept unleashing more and more sts as he lengthened his fall. As Shang kept soaring through the sky, the Grandmountain Kingdom responded with their own attacks. They couldn''t allow themselves to keep themselves back because of the weaker Adepts and barbarians. They had to get rid of the Abominations right now! Because of that, even more explosions and more destruction appeared on the ground. Right now, Shang was "flying" through a light-filled sky peacefully as everything several kilometers below him exploded with blood and guts. As Shang kept moving forward in the sky, he noticed that the Zone Beast hadn''t reacted. It was definitely there, and Shang could feel its presence due to the intense Light Mana it gave off, but it didn''t seem to care about the Abominations. The beasts also didn''t care much. ¡®| guess the Abominations are too weak for the Zone Beast to care. After all, Zone Beasts are, in general, only interested in Commander Stage Abominations. Additionally, none of the Abominations are anywhere near the top of the mountain, and they are even running away from the problem. The Zone Beast probably thinks that this isn''t its problem.¡¯ As Shang looked down, he saw several gigantic explosions of ice, far bigger than any other explosion down there. Shang looked at the source of the explosions and noticed a blue-haired man, and when Shang saw him, he felt a terrifying feeling of danger. ¡®| can''t possibly fight him! He''s far beyond my level!¡¯ Luckily, the man was too busy dealing with the army of Abominations, and he didn''t notice the distant Shang in the sky. Shang peacefully glided through the sky, and he eventually went past the border of the Zone to his north. This was where Shang''s knowledge about the surrounding Zones ended. The only thing he could tell was that it was an icy tundra with not that many mountains or hills. It was rather t, like the former Battlefield.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. Shang could see several Mages stationed at the south of the border, and they were rapidly moving around. They had obviously noticed what was going on, and they were probably nning on invading. This was a god-sent opportunity! All the Mages focused on the Ancestral Mountain Zone, which was why they mostly ignored the sky. Thanks to that, Shang managed to get past the stationed defenses. And he eventuallynded about five kilometers to their northwest. Chapter 372 Chapter 372 Knock, knock, knock. Ayoung man knocked on a big wooden door. "Come in," came from behind the door. The young man with grey hair opened the door and walked into the room. It was a nice and cozy study with a couple of books. On the table at the back of the study sat a friendly-looking old man who was currently reading a book. "Sir, we received one moreint from the Water Emperor, two more from the Wind Emperor, and four more from the Twilight Royalty," the young man said with professional politeness. The older man on the table only sighed in helplessness. "Is it because of the increased quantity of Abominations again, Wester?" the old man asked. Wester, the butler, nodded. "Correct, sir." The older man sighed once again. "By how much did it increase this time?" ¡°Compared to 20 years ago, the quantity of Abominations has doubled, sir," Wester exined. The older man rubbed his temple with one of his hands. "| guess we can''t chalk this up to coincidence anymore." "| was surprised that you managed to do that until now," Wester said with an unchanging expression. Once again, the older man sighed. "So, the Child of Cmity actually is out there, and they have reached the Adept Realm." "It seems so, sir," Wester said. "Well, | guess we have to widen the scope of our search. How long ago did the old Child of Cmity die?" ¡°About fourteen years, sir," Wester answered professionally. ¡°Fourteen years, huh?" the old man mused. "That''s a bit more on the faster side for reaching the Adept Realm, but not completely outstanding yet. However, it is still far faster than for any of the Areas." Wester didn''t answer. "It seems like the Child of Cmity has been born outside the Areas, but we should still be careful." ¡°Wester,¡± the old man said as he made his decision. "Get Sarah to inspect every Adept below twenty years of age. However, for the Areas, it should be fine if we ask the supervisors to do it." Wester nodded. "Searching through that many people will take far longer than thest time. Thest time, we only looked at newborns. This time, it might take several weeks." "| know," the old man said with a sigh. "That''s why | didn''t want to give the order previously. The other Emperors will probably try to do something sneaky while such arge portion of our forces are upied. | swear, they onlyin so much so that they can bite a huge chunk out of our territories." ¡°But that''s what | get for volunteering to be the one responsible for keeping the Child of Cmity in check. It worked out great for so many years, but now, it''s suddenly a problem."N?velDrama.Org content rights. The old man sighed once again. "| wonder if this is your doing, Lucius,¡± he said to no one in particr. "Is this some kind of hint for us?" "Well, it doesn''t really matter," the old man said as he leaned back to read the book some more. "Wester, please go ahead with the search." "Of course, sir," Wester said. Then, he performed a polite bow and left the study. After Wester left the room, the older man groaned. "Who cares about more Abominations? It''s just two ants instead of one. Just stopining,¡± he grumbled to himself. Then, he focused on his book again. Acouple of minutester, over a thousand lightning bolts shot away from the mansion, followed by a bright beam of grey light. Wherever the beam passed, space seemed to warp. ¡°By order of the Lightning Emperor, you are hereby tasked to check your Area for the Child of Cmity. We suspect they are below twenty years old and have reached the Adept Realm." Aman with golden armor sparkling with lightning spoke these words to a young man with white hair wearing some simple robes. ¡°Understood,¡± the young man answered respectfully. "I will have an answer by tomorrow." The man in golden armor nodded. BANG! With an explosion of lightning, the man in golden armor vanished again. The middle-aged man with grey hair narrowed his eyes. Asecondter, he also exploded into a bolt of lightning, but the bolt was far weaker and slower than the bolt of the man with golden armor. Over the next hour, the man visited five Archmages, but none of them had any idea about the person their supervisor was looking for, but they promised that they would check every Adept below 25 years old, just to be safe. The supervisor told them that he needed an answer by tomorrow. And then, the supervisor went to thest Archmage in his responsible Area. BANG! Alightning bolt struck down on a grassy hill, singing the grass around it. After the lightning bolt vanished, the supervisor was unveiled. In front of him stood a tall and muscr man who only wore white pants. Right now, that man stood on the hill, his entire body sweaty and vibrating with power as Lightning and Wind Mana around him came out of his being inplex and mystical ways. The man''s eyes remained closed, even though the arrival of the supervisor couldn''t go unnoticed. "| have a couple of questions and a task for you," the supervisor said emotionlessly. "Shoot," King Skythunder answered without opening his eyes. "You have noticed that there are far more Abominations appearing all around the world in thest couple of years, right?" the supervisor asked. "| don''t know about the world, but my Kingdom has more than usual. If you want the specific number, ask someone from the Council. | don''t really care," King Skythunder answered. The supervisor''s brows furrowed. He really didn''t like this Archmage''s attitude. "Do you know about any young human that could possibly be rted to the Abominations? It could be anything. Anything that could connect them to the Abominations in some way," the supervisor said. King Skythunder only smirked while his eyes remained closed. "Do | look like someone thates into contact with a lot of weaklings? Well, ignoring the High Mages,¡± he answered. "That was not my question," the supervisor said with a deep and threatening tone. "Do you know about such a person or not? I''m here on the orders of the Lightning Emperor personally!" King Skythunder''s smirk widened. Then, he opened his eyes and looked at the supervisor. "No." When the supervisor saw King Skythunder''s expression, rage bubbled up inside of him. His instincts were telling him that King Skythunder was lying, but that didn''t make much sense. King Skythunder was a crazy person, but he wouldn''t resist the Lightning Emperor''s orders. After some seconds, the supervisor snorted aggressively. ¡®He''s trying to mess with me. I''m pretty sure he only wants to get a rise out of me." ¡®| swear, every time we meet, he somehow tries to provoke me without actually going against my orders.¡¯ ¡®Does he have a death wish?! "Fine," the supervisor said. "| want you to inspect every single Adept below twenty years of age for any kind of possible connection to the Abominations." "You do it. This is your Area, not mine," King Skythunder answered with a smirk as he closed his eyes again to focus on his training. Rage exploded inside the supervisor''s chest, but he didn''t say anything. He had learned that arguing with King Skythunder only ended up with him bing angrier. Sadly, he couldn''t kill King Skythunder since that would destroy the equilibrium of his entire Area. Additionally, the Skythunder Kingdom was doing an amazing job at fostering powerful Mages. Without another word, the supervisor left. He didn''t really think that the person everyone was searching for was within the small Skythunder Kingdom, which was why the supervisor didn''t search through it. Also, the King of that Kingdom had already said that he didn''t know of anyone. And a dayter, the supervisor gave his feedback to the man with golden armor. ¡°My Area doesn''t have a person connected to the Abominations." Chapter 373 Chapter 373 Shangnded in an area that resembled a burned forest. All the trees he could see were ckened and without any foliage. They looked almost like ck needles that pierced the sky. The air was dry and filled with static electricity. It wasn''t difficult for Shang to guess the Affinity of the resident Zone Beast. To the southeast, Shang could hear the distant sounds of battle. As time passed, the sounds only became louder and not quieter. "Seems like the ckshadow Kingdom is assaulting the Grandmountain Kingdom.¡¯ ¡®Right now, everyone is upied, giving me the perfect opportunity to flee. | don''t want to create another huge incident just one Zone away from thest one. | think | should go to the next Zone directly.¡¯ Shang started running through the dead Zone. From time to time, he could see lightning bolts strike the dead trees near him, which exined why they all looked so dead. Shang also saw a couple of Mages and Summoners run past him towards the southeast, probably joining the battle. It wasn''t easy for Shang to hide in this ce, but everyone was too busy charging towards the south anyway. They didn''t really pay much attention to their surroundings. It took Shang nearly an hour, but he eventually managed to reach the northern edge of this Zone. Luckily for him, the ckshadow Kingdom didn''t really put many guards on the borders between their Zones. All the soldiers were probably busy guarding against the Grandmountain Kingdom. Shang could see a couple of Summoners, but he estimated that they were only at the Early Commander Stage. ¡®Wait, what are actually the levels of the Summoners? | mean, they are not warriors. So, | guess saying that they are at the Commander Stage would be wrong." ¡®They are more akin to Mages, but their power can''tpare to a Mage. Calling them True Mages would be overestimating their power.¡¯ ¡®| guess | should call them True Summoners and the lower ones Adept Summoners and Apprentice Summoners. That makes sense.¡¯ Shang easily got past the two True Summoners defending the border and entered the next Zone. As soon as he reached the next Zone, the temperature spiked. Thest Zone was already quite warm, but this one was just way too hot. Shang could seeva flow around the Zone like a river, and basically the entire thing was made of ck rock. The Zone Beast obviously had a Fire Affinity, but inparison to the Volcano Wyrm Zone Shang knew, this Zone was less of a volcano and more of a caldera. The further one went towards the middle of the Zone, the deeper and hotter it got. ¡®This is a good spot to remain for the next two weeks,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the rocky terrain filled withva. There were plenty of caves and beasts he could see. Shang looked around for a while and could see a couple of Summoners, but they were all only Adept Summoners with only very few True Summoners. "Still too close to the border for Apprentice Summoners, but not close enough to the border for the True Summoners." ¡®Additionally,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at thevake in the middle of the Zone. There was a big ind made of obsidian in the middle of thevake with two ck walkways connecting it to the shore. On the ind, Shang could see several tall, ck buildings. This was obviously some form of fortification or city. ¡®Looks quite big. Could be that a Duke lives here. | should be careful not to approach." Shang was confident in being able to escape the notice of a True Mage, but a High Mage was somethingpletely different. ¡®The Spirit Sense of a High Mage is fully developed, and they can probably feel everything in their surroundings for at least five kilometers in radius. | have to stay near the edge of the Zone and get away from the south. If the Duke decides to go to the frontlines, they might notice me.¡¯ Shang frowned. ''So many unknowns. Usually, | know what awaits me, but | have no idea about how the ckshadow Kingdom operates. | guess there''s a High Mage there, but it''s also possible that there is no High Mage in that city." Shang quickly traveled towards the east of the Zone, doing his best to avoid approaching the big city at its center. About 30 minutester, Shang found a hidden cave near the east of the Zone, and he decided to remain there. Finally, Shang could calm down. This entire operation had been fraught with unknown variables, and he was d to finally find a rtively safe ce. After getting familiar with the cave, Shang moved his arms around and looked at them with furrowed brows. ''l feel like | could directly absorb another Abomination, but | can''t take any risks. The way | am absorbing the Abominations is obviously very different from how barbarians strengthen their bodies normally. Instead of tearing the foreign Mana out of their heart and making it mine, the Abominations basically enter my body on their own.¡¯ ¡®It doesn''t feel like there are any side effects, but | should still be careful. | think waiting for two weeks is best.¡¯ "Until then, | should get more familiar with my Fire Affinity. This ce is filled with Fire Mana, and | should take advantage of it. I''m not too far away from my next checkpoint regarding fire anyway. Should, at most, take a month." Shang nodded once when he finished his n and sat down in the middle of the cave. Then, he concentrated on his Fire Affinity until he would achieve a breakthrough in that regard. Sadly, Shang would be interrupted by something else just two dayster. Agroup of beasts was approaching Shang''s cave. Thanks to his Pseudo-Spirit Sense, he could feel their approach, even though they all did their best to enter the cave covertly. Shang''s mind focused on the beasts, and he quickly saw a young woman riding on one of them. ¡®Mid Adept Summoner with four beasts, including the Companion Beast.¡¯ Shang inspected the cave and noticed that there was no sign of him having been there, which was good. Shang took a deep breath and closed his right eye for a second. Then, he opened it again, conviction shining inside it.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. ¡®| can''t risk getting found." BANG! Shang immediately exploded out of the cave with a Fire st, his speed iprehensible for a mere Adept Summoner. The Adept Summoner had onlye here to hunt for hidden beasts. She had always wanted one of the Hidden Fire Lizards that lived in these caves. With such a beast, she could take her enemies by surprise, increasing her power. However, before she could even do anything, her entire world broke down. After a loud BANG, she saw the head of her Companion Beast leaving its body. She couldn''t evenprehend what had just happened. And she wouldn''t get the chance to. BOOOM! A heavy fist hit the side of her head, caving it in. She was still alive, but she had lost all consciousness due to that hit. Shang only coldly looked at the unconscious girl and fled towards the north. The beasts that had just been under the Summoner''s control only realized that they were free after Shang had already left. And as soon as they saw the corpse of the Companion Beast and the unconscious Summoner, rage and hatred exploded inside of them, and they attacked. In a matter of seconds, the girl and the beast were torn to shreds and consumed. After that, the beasts fled in all directions. This was not amon urrence, but it happened from time to time. Beasts sometimes went out of control and killed their Summoners. The investigators would search for the young Summoner a couple of dayster and find traces of her. After inspecting her former beasts and the ce of her death, they would judge that this had been exactly such a case. And with that, this incident ended. No one even suspected that she had been killed by another human. After all, there had been no traces of Magic or a struggle. It was like her beasts had suddenly gone out of control and had attacked her. In the meantime, Shang found a new cave and concentrated on his Fire Affinity again, and just three weekster, he finally achieved his breakthrough. Chapter 374 Chapter 374 After achieving his breakthrough in his Fire Affinity, Shang left his new cave and scouted the Zone to the east of this one. The next Zone was filled with mountains made of metal with absolutely no vegetation on them. But just like the previous one, this one also had several caves. After checking everything, Shang went to the border between the two Zones while still retaining about five kilometers of distance to the next Zone. Then, Shang closed his eyes and connected with the Abominations. Just likest time, Shang summoned a Commander Stage Abomination together with its army. SHING! SHING! SHING! In an instant, the eastern half of the Zone was filled with Abominations, and Shang quickly absorbed the Commander Stage Abomination. After that, he ordered the Abominations to kill everything towards the west, and they followed. Just likest time, the Abominations went wild and attacked everything they could see while Shang ran towards the east. With his newly absorbed Abomination, his physical power was now at around 90% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast, and Shang could feel that he could soon make a breakthrough. BZZT! The mark of the Thunder Horse got activated as Shang was retreating, which meant that the Zone Beast had noticed him. Just likest time, Shang''s fear intensified. Every time he decided to summon Abominations, he was ying with death, but in his mind, the risk was necessary. How was he supposed to be the strongest if he couldn''t unveil his full potential? As Shang fled towards the east, more and more explosions appeared west of him. He had no idea how many humans and beasts he had doomed by summoning this group of Abominations. ¡®Every time | summon the Abominations, innocent people die. Not everyone wants to fight a war or kill me, but these people die nevertheless,¡¯ Shang thought with a frown as he fled towards the east. ¡®In order to increase my power, everyone around me suffers.¡¯ ¡®| don''t like it, but | have no other choice. My power is more important than anything else!¡¯ ¡®| can''t let anyone notice the connection between the Abominations and me! If anyone notices, | will be the enemy of the entire world!" The more Shang summoned Abominations, the more isted he felt. Back when he realized that his Affinity was actually Entropy, he already knew that he would be the enemy of everything alive, but he hadn''t expected it to be this extreme. Shang would endanger everyone around him just by bing stronger, which was the exact opposite of why many people wanted to be powerful. Many people wanted to be powerful to be safe and to have the ability to protect their loved ones. But the more powerful Shang became, the more dangerous it became to be close to him. Shang didn''t like this one bit, but there wasn''t much he could do. He could only get used to it. The couple of guards at the border between Zones got distracted by the carnage towards their west, and they ran towards the big city in the Zone with horror. Their family and friends lived there! If they didn''t help, everyone they loved would die! Shang easily passed through the border and continued running. The explosions became more and more violent, but the explosions didn''t reach a ridiculous level of power, which meant that the Zone Beast didn''t be active. However, some of the explosions were still quite powerful. ¡®Either a High Mage or a True Path Stage beast is decimating the Abominations,¡¯ Shang thought. Theoretically, a General Stage Abomination had the power to kill something in the Fourth Realm, but that was only theoretical. Entropy couldn''t be unleashed from over a kilometer away, while a High Mage or True Path Stage beast couldunch devastating attacks from several kilometers away. So, even though the Abominations could kill someone on that level, they never got the chance to unleash that power. After all, they would die far away from these powerful beings. However, many weaker people would still die to these Abominations. After all, not everyone could flee from such a horde. Many lives were lost this day. Shang eventually found a safe cave in the new Zone and waited for a couple of days to let things blow over. No one followed him. After that, he went outside and scouted out the Zone.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. There was a sizable town in the middle of the Zone, but it couldn''t be counted as a city. Shang was quite confident that there wasn''t any High Mage in this Zone. "Sadly, | still can''t enter the town. | look out of ce, and I''m certain that they have some kind of Magic Circle to scan the physical power of people. After all, there are bound to be physical fighters in this Kingdom. They are just not nearly as powerful as the barbarians and warriors.¡¯ Right now, Shang felt like a fugitive that had just escaped prison. He couldn''t show himself in public, and he could only watch other people from a distance. He couldn''t interact with anyone else. Right now, Shang felt like the entire world was against him, and it felt very isting. After a couple of minutes of staring at the town, Shang could only sigh. ¡®| only need the Abominations to heighten the maximum potential my body can reach. | don''t need to exclusively absorb Abominations." ¡®Right now, my upper limit should be around 94% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast. If there are too many Abominations appearing one after the other, the ckshadow Kingdom is bound to be suspicious.¡¯ ¡®| should keep low for a couple of months.¡¯ "Until then, | should focus on training my swordsmanship." Shang left the mountain from which he had watched the town and went back to his cave. Another long session of training with Sword began. Every two weeks, Shang would go out, hunt a beast, absorb it, and return to his cave. All of this continued for about three months. Shang could see quite some progress on his Star Map, but there was still a long way to go. Shang slowly stood up and wanted to summon the next army of Abominations, but he soon noticed something after thinking about his journey. ¡®| think | should be 30 now,¡¯ he thought with surprise. ¡®| have already been in this world for around 16 years.¡¯ ¡®That''s just six years less than | have been on Earth, and | don''t even remember my first three years on Earth.¡¯ Shang remembered when he had arrived at the Warrior''s Academy as a fourteen to fifteen-year-old boy. He had been amazing at fighting beasts, but Mages and warriors had dominated him. Shang had needed to fight people below his level for several months just to be barely average. For a while, Shang was caught up in nostalgia. Back then, Shang was among peers. He had so many ssmates to fight and learn from. And now? Now, he felt alone and isted. But he also felt powerful. Back then, his body had been fourteen. Now, he was thirty. Back then, he had been a teenager. Now, he was a true adult. And everything had changed. For a while, Shang only stared aimlessly into space. He wasn''t sure if he wanted to go back to that time or not. ¡®| don''t think so,¡¯ Shang thought as he clenched his right fist. ¡®Back then, | was reliant on others." ¡®Now, | rely on myself, and | am finally powerful enough to travel through a Kingdom that wants me dead." ¡®I finally have some sort of control over my own life!" And then, Shang focused on the Abominations. Chapter 375 Chapter 375 Right now, Shang stood on top of a hill, overlooking the border between two Zones. The Zone he was currently in was filled with icy hills, and the Zone to its east was filled with canyons, small mountains, and craters. Shang could see several huge towers and groups of Mages. He could even see two High Mages. For thest two days, Shang had been watching that border, noting all the forces that were stationed there. This border was special. This was not only the border between two Zones but the border between two Kingdoms. This was the border between the ckshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom. Shang had been inside the ckshadow Kingdom for another two years, strengthening himself and training with Sword. By now, Shang was 32 years old. He had been gone from the Skythunder Kingdom for around ten years, but now, he was very close to being able to return. While the ckshadow Kingdom enved physical fighters and fed them to their beasts, the Spirit Spring Kingdom was very different. Even though they had a different kind of Summoner in their Kingdom, called a Spiriter, their entire Kingdom waspletely different from the ckshadow Kingdom. While the Summoners enved their beasts, the Spiriters built a connection. The beasts willingly fought for them, and the bond between a Spiriter and their beasts was a close one. Additionally, the Spirit Spring Kingdom was right beside the Skythunder Kingdom, and they also had some warriors travel through their Kingdom from time to time. After all, the Skythunder Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom were close allies, and plenty of warriors were sent to the Spirit Spring Kingdom to help put pressure on the Magic Purity Kingdom. If Shang managed to enter the Spirit Spring Kingdom, he would be able to return to the Skythunder Kingdom without any problems. He wouldn''t even need to hide anymore. ¡®It''s been over ten years,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the border. Over thest couple of days, Shang had been thinking about his journey and how he had changed over its course. He had been sent to the central-west of the Grandmountain Kingdom by that powerful Mage. He had quickly been found and transferred to the northeastern front to fight the ckshadow Kingdom. There, he had learned about the barbarians. Then, he spent around seven to eight years in the Tide Serpent Zone until he fled to the Ancestral Mountain Zone. After that, he went to the ckshadow Kingdom and trained for two years. Shang had summoned over ten armies of Abominations over these two years, terrifying the ckshadow Kingdom and ending many innocent lives. By now, Shang had made his peace with his nature. If he had to be the reason for many innocent people to lose their lives to be powerful, he would do so. His power was the most important thing in the world. Shang had also been found several times over thest two years, but he always managed to kill the person that found him before the news could get out. Shang''s feelings regarding killing innocent people that only wanted to fight beasts or travel the wilderness had numbed. The more he did it, the easier it became. Even the incident with Lash only felt natural to Shang now. Lash had been a danger to Shang''s survival, which meant that he had to die. Over the past ten years, Shang had changed so much. Back then, Shang had been at the Peak General Stage and uncertain of how he should act. Should he help others, or should he take everything for himself? Now, Shang was 32 and at the Mid Commander Stage. Right now, his body was at around 85% of the power of a Mid Commander Stage beast, but his upper limit was already approaching 100% due to all the Abominations he absorbed. Right now, Shang wore his nearly destroyed ck armor. For the past two years, he had been running around without a shirt, but since he would be among humans again soon, he decided to bend the armor into shape again with his power. There were still several holes and huge dents in the armor, but it covered his upper body well enough. His big sword hung on his back. His ck pants were nearly destroyed. The long ck piece of cloth that covered his left eye looked old and in just as bad of a shape as his other pieces of clothing. Shang''s hair was long and ck, but it had obviously not been taken care of, making it look dirty. Shang''s current appearance wouldn''t have felt alien or strange to the younger Shang, but his aura hadpletely changed. Back then, Shang had given off a hardworking but insecure aura. He was like a teenager that wasn''t exactly sure what they should do. Back when Shang had met the Dean for the first time, he had be irritated by him. The Dean had appeared coldhearted and cruel. It was almost like he hadn''t been a human but a coldhearted monster. Shang hadn''t known why he had disliked the Dean so much when they had just met back then. And now? Well, if Soran were here and if he were to see Shang stand on the hill like this... He might confuse him with the Dean for a second. Over thest 18 years, Shang had very slowly be more and more simr to the Dean. In the beginning, Shang felt bad for killing a hog. Then, he had gotten used to killing beasts. Later, Shang felt horrible for killing the beggars who just recently joined the bandits. Then, he had gotten used to killing his enemies, even if they were humans. After that, Shang felt horrible for trying to kill a teenager that wanted to steal his gold. Then, he had gotten used to killing anyone that went against him, regardless of power or age. When Shang killed Lash to protect his identity, he felt horrible once again. Then, he got used to killing his old friends as long as they posed a danger to his life. Even if their intention wasn''t to do so. Lash was the first human Shang killed in the real world that had absolutely no intention of hurting him, which was why that incident weighed so heavily on his mind. But as Shang continued killing more and more people in the ckshadow Kingdom that just happened toe close to his hiding ce, he got used to these feelings. And by now, he didn''t even feel them. When Shang had arrived at the Grandmountain Kingdom, he couldn''t have imagined killing anyone that didn''t have malicious intentions toward him. Now, it was the norm. Teacher Mervin, Vice-Dean Soran, and Teacher Loran tried to teach Shang that life could only be enjoyable if one felt love, friendship, andpanionship. Excessive hunger for power only ended in tragedy and sadness. Maybe they would have seeded. But the trials, which forced Shang to kill Mages and warriors, the hostile environment of the Grandmountain Kingdom, and the God''s answers and wisdom made it impossible for their teachings to take hold.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. People could influence their own growth and path to a great degree, but the environment in which they lived also had a significant impact on their future development. If Shang had remained in the Skythunder Kingdom, he would have probably be a person that was basically a mix between the Dean and Duke Whirlwind. Someone that could make difficult decisions if needed but someone that could still work with others and help them. Sadly, this was not what happened. Shang had been thrust into a hostile environment ten years ago... And he developed a hostile mindset. Friends changed people. Enemies changed people. Superiors changed people. The world changed people. And Shang had been changed. He was no longer a teenager. He was a real adult now, and his personality had solidified. This was who Shang had be. And it would be very difficult to change it in the future. Alex would hate Shang. Chapter 376 Chapter 376 After watching the border for a while, Shang contacted the Abominations. By now, he had gotten pretty good at it. He no longer needed several minutes to summon them but only about two. That was way faster than before, but still not fast enough to use during a fight. After summoning Abominations so often, Shang had gotten a good feeling about how the Zone Beasts would react. Most of them didn''t seem to care about the Abominations as long as there was no Commander Stage Abomination amongst them. Theoretically, Shang counted as a Commander Stage Abomination, but if he immediately fled without damaging anything, the Zone Beast would most likely leave him alone. Of course, the Thunder Horse''s mark also yed a role in that decision. SHING! SHING! SHING! The Abominations appeared north of Shang''s current location and directly charged towards the east, at the border. Shang consumed the Commander Stage Abomination within a second and jumped into the sky. Just like before, fighting immediately broke out as the border between the Kingdoms focused on defending against the Abominations. The eyes of the guards widened in shock and terror as they saw an army of Abominations appear close to them. In an instant, all the Mages went into formation and activated the gigantic Magic Circles on the towers they had built. BOOM! BOOOM! BOOOOOM The towers kept shooting incredibly powerful bolts made of Darkness Mana, dissolving the Abominations before they coulde close. But even more... WHOOOOOM! Agigantic wave of ice washed over the army of Abominations, taking out over ten of them! The High Mage of the ckshadow Kingdom had be active! The High Mage looked with narrowed eyes at the Abominations as his Focus with three Amplifiers created one Spell after the other. "Need help?" The High Mage heard these words inside his mind and nced over at the defenses of the Spirit Spring Kingdom. This was how fellow High Magesmunicated most of the time. Instead of talking, they projected their thoughts into the minds of the people around them via their Spirit Sense. This was far faster than talking since the concepts could be exchanged directly. They didn''t need to be tranted intonguage and then tranted back. "Keep to your own matters, Milk Boy!" the High Mage of the ckshadow Kingdom sent back with coldness and arrogance. The High Mage of the Spirit Spring Kingdom only furrowed his brows. "Why am | even trying, Stiff Brick?" he asked sarcastically. The High Mage didn''t answer. Even though the two Kingdoms were allied, they still had severe disagreements in their philosophy. Milk Boy and Stiff Brick were not the names of the High Mages but derogatory terms for the people of the other Kingdom. The ckshadow Kingdom saw the Spirit Spring Kingdom as soft babies that wanted harmony, happiness, and peace above anything else. They even treated their beasts as equals, and the ckshadow Kingdom thought that to be ridiculous. The people of the Spirit Spring Kingdom had no spine and bent to anyone''s will in the ckshadow Kingdom''s eyes. That was why they called the residents Milk Boys and Milk Girls. Meanwhile, the Spirit Spring Kingdom thought the ckshadow Kingdom to be cruel for no reason. Their own Kingdom is warring severely amongst each other to gain power, making the entire Kingdom unsafe for the younger people. Inparison to the Skythunder Kingdom, the ckshadow Kingdom''s internal wars were far more open and brutal. While the Dukes in the Skythunder Kingdom only used schemes and indirect attacks, assassinations and direct warfare were far more common inside the ckshadow Kingdom. Even more, the Queen of the ckshadow Kingdom was one of the younger and weaker ones. If a couple of High Mages worked together, they could potentially kill her. Her rule wasn''t nearly as irond as King Skythunder''s. This created a very hostile environment for the people of the ckshadow Kingdom, making them cynical, bitter, pessimistic, and stubborn. Because of their cold, closed, and stubborn nature, the people of the Spirit Spring Kingdom called them Stiff Bricks. The only reason why they even were allies was due to the threat of the Magic Purity Kingdom. Of course, they still didn''t trust each other one bit, which was why there were two High Mages stationed at the borders. The guards kept decimating the Abominations without a problem. Usually, the Abominations ended several innocent lives whenever Shang summoned them, but this time, not even a single person would die. This was a fortified border between two Kingdoms, and their firepower was immense. "Hm?" The High Mage of the Spirit Spring Kingdom suddenly looked towards the sky. He felt something briefly enter his Spirit Sense. When he looked up, he saw a flying lizard surrounded by icy mist as it was rapidly flying towards the Spirit Spring Kingdom. ¡®Only a Blizzard Lizard,¡¯ the High Mage thought as he focused on the Abominations again. It was normal for beasts to flee in panic when an army of Abominations appeared. Sure, some of the beasts would directly attack them, but there were also beasts that didn''t want to fight. The Blizzard Lizard had obviously been startled by the Abominations and fled in a random direction. The High Mage didn''t really care about the Blizzard Lizard. If the roles were reversed, the people of the ckshadow Kingdom would shoot down the beast. After all, it was a Commander Stage beast, and it could serve as good food for the beasts of their Summoners. Additionally, they didn''t like it when anything entered their Kingdom from another Kingdom. That included beasts. However, the people of the Spirit Spring Kingdom didn''t really care. They somewhat lived in harmony with the beasts, and they didn''t kill them as long as it wasn''t necessary. Additionally, the Blizzard Lizard would soon leave the Spirit Spring Kingdom again. After all, it was a beast with an Ice Affinity, and it wouldn''t enjoy staying in a Zone ruled by a Zone Beast with an Earth Affinity. Of course, the High Mage didn''t really inspect the Blizzard Lizard. It would be strange to thoroughly inspect a random beast while a huge battle happened just in front of him. A minuteter, the Blizzard Lizard began to rapidly fall to the ground. From the outside, it looked like the beast was diving toward the ground. After all, all the icy mist kept the body behind it hidden. Only someone with a Spirit Sense could look through the icy veil and see that the Blizzard Lizard had already died. Inside the icy veil, a nearly frozen Shang could be seen. His body''s temperature was dangerously low, but he kept it in check by releasing his own icy mist. Shang had had enough time toe up with a n, and this was it. With his Pseudo-Spirit Sense, he could somewhatmunicate with beasts, but this method ofmunication was very primitive. Shang caught the Blizzard Lizard and sent threatening and aggressive signals toward it while ordering it to fly towards the east. Of course, Shang''s power was far greater than the beast''s, and it followed Shang''smand. BANG!C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. The beast''s body hit the ground, and Shang put the body into his inner world. After that, Shang charged away to hide for the next couple of days. He wanted to let things blow over. And like that, Shang entered the Spirit Spring Kingdom. There was no huge problem or fight. After years of doing this, Shang had be incredible at evading the watching eyes of the Kingdom, and his finesse had been proven by getting past the border without an incident. As Shang ran through the Zone, a light appeared in his right eye. ¡®| only need to wait a couple of days, travel across two Zones or so, and no one will bat an eye at my appearance.¡¯ ¡®Ten years!" ¡®After ten years, I''m finally on my way home!¡¯ Chapter 377 Chapter 377 Shang walked on a road towards a big city in the middle of the day. The side of the road led into thick forests, which were filled with weaker beasts. A couple of people had already passed him on his journey, but they didn''t talk to him. Shang had seen plenty of people riding on beasts. This seemed to be nothing unusual in the Spirit Spring Kingdom as even very weak merchants rode on beasts. Eventually, Shang reached the gates of the city. The gates were made of wood, but Shang could tell that this wasn''t normal wood. The wood the gates were made out of was probably as powerful as Commander Stage ore. Several guards were checking the Space Rings of the people that wanted to enter the city, and quite a long queue had already formed. Shang only stood at the end of the queue, not looking at anyone else. The people around Shang threw careful nces at him. For some reason, they didn''t feelfortable being near him. However, they didn''t want to be rude. So, they didn''tment. Shang waited for several minutes in the queue until it was his turn. "Space Rings," the woman on arge wolf ordered as she saw Shang.N?velDrama.Org content rights. The guards of this city were Spiriters, and they used their beasts to keep watch over everything. Grrrr! At that moment, the wolf the woman was riding on started to growl at Shang. The Spiriter was quite surprised when she saw her beast''s reaction and connected with it mentally. Of course, the beasts weren''t very smart, and they could only transmit primitive feelings toward their Spiriters. Right now, the wolf was transmitting a feeling that identified Shang as an enemy. The wolf wanted to kill Shang. When the Spiriter felt these feelingse from her beast, her eyebrows furrowed, and she looked at Shang. "What is your business here?" she asked with a chilly tone. "| want to buy a map," Shang answered evenly. The Spiriter''s eyes narrowed. "What kind of map?" "Just a general one of the Spirit Spring Kingdom," he said. "As you might have noticed, I''m not from here." After Shang said these words, the Spiriter took a closer look at Shang. The density of Mana around him was rather weak, but the threat she felting from Shang was enormous. She quickly knew what was going on. "You''re a warrior?" she asked. "Yes," Shang said. "| want to get back to the Skythunder Kingdom. I''ve been away for a long time." The gates had a perpetual Truth Verification Magic Circle active, and the Spiriter could tell that Shang was speaking the truth. However, her eyes only became colder. Now, she knew why her beast saw Shang as an enemy. "Did you kill any beasts?" she asked. "Yes," Shang answered. Acold gleam appeared in her eyes, and Shang could feel detest and anger radiate from the Spiriter. For a couple of seconds, she only red at Shang with hate. "Space Ring," she ordered again with an icy tone. Shang took out his Space Ring and threw it over. When the Spiriter saw the contents of the Space Ring, she had to control herself not to destroy it and attack Shang right then and there. Corpses. So many beast corpses and beast parts! The Spirit Spring Kingdom worked in harmony with the beasts. Especially the Spiriters saw beasts as humans. To a Spiriter, seeing a Space Ring filled with beast corpses was like seeing a Space Ring filled with human corpses for others. She gritted her teeth in anger and hatred, but she threw the Space Ring back to Shang. ¡°You may enter," she said with a controlled but icy voice. Shang nodded and passed her. At this moment, the Spiriter felt frustrated, helpless, and angry. The people of the Spirit Spring Kingdom were forbidden from killing beasts without a good reason. After all, the humans and the beasts had to work together. However, ever since the Skythunder Kingdom had gained its new King and joined the war, people from the Skythunder Kingdom appeared in the Spirit Spring Kingdom. To them, killing beasts was normal. Killing a beast was like picking up gold off the ground. Many years of diplomacy and negotiations took ce after a humongous outrage went through the Spirit Spring Kingdom''s citizens due to the Skythunder Kingdom''s brutality. Eventually, the Skythunder Kingdom decided to only send warriors and Mages to the Spirit Spring Kingdom if it specifically requested them. However, if they wanted them to be present, the warriors and Mages would be allowed to live simrly to how they lived in the Skythunder Kingdom. That included hunting beasts for resources. Seeing a warrior in the Spirit Spring Kingdom was unusual, but it wasn''t overly rare. However, whenever someone of the Spirit Spring Kingdom saw a warrior, they would grit their teeth with hatred. Yes, the warriors were there to protect them from the Magic Purity Kingdom, but they also killed beasts. To them, such a warrior or Mage could bepared to some kind of ogre that protected a vige but walked into the vige to eat a child from time to time. They hated the ogre, but they needed it. As Shang stepped into the city, he saw a ton of beasts everywhere. There were bigger beasts that pulled carriages, smaller beasts that used their fire to cook food or melt ore, small flying beasts that delivered things from building to building, and there were even bigger beasts that patrolled the streets to keep everything in order. While the Skythunder Kingdom used warriors to keep the public in order, the Spirit Spring Kingdom used beasts. As Shang walked through the streets, one beast after the other looked at him with a mix of emotions. Anger. Enmity. Fear. Of course, the people noticed the beasts¡¯ actions, and they grew just as wary of Shang. The street, which had just been lively, had now be very silent as everyone looked at Shang. Step. Step. Step. Shang''s steps echoed throughout the silent street, only interrupted by some beast or human shuffling out of his way. Being in such a position had a special feel to it. If this had been a decade earlier, Shang would feel ufortable, but not anymore. Over the past ten years, Shang had gotten used to this feeling of istion. Bing more powerful meant killing the people around him. He was Entropy, the enemy of everything living. He was with the Abominations, the enemy of everything living. Shang was isted. And he was used to being isted. Eventually, Shang found a shop that sold maps. The clerk in the shop treated Shang very coldly and directly demanded to know what he wanted. "A general map of the Spirit Spring Kingdom. Doesn''t need to be very detailed," Shang said. "200 gold," the clerk demanded with a cold voice. Obviously, this price was ridiculous. Such a map was, at most, worth one gold. However, Shang pulled out 200 gold and put them on the counter. When the clerk saw the gold, he sneered in disdain, pocketed it, grabbed a map, and threw it to Shang. "Now, leave my store!" he demanded. Shang didn''t say anything else and just walked out of the store with his map. The streets hadn''t recovered their liveliness. Shang could feel an intense feeling of rejection emanate from the entire city. They hated him. They wanted him gone. After a couple of minutes, Shang walked out of the city again. The people waiting in the queue outside whispered to each other as they saw him pass. And then, Shang walked into the forest. He had gotten what he had been here for. Chapter 378 Chapter 378 Shang followed the map and traveled through Zone after Zone. It took him about two days until he finally arrived at the southwestern border of the Spirit Spring Kingdom. Inparison tost time, Shang didn''t need to slip past the border without being noticed. This time, he could openly stride through the border. As Shang approached the border, a couple of beasts noticed him and growled. The Spiriters had to calm theirpanions down to stop them from attacking Shang.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. It wasn''t unheard of for a beast on this border to lose control and attack a warrior that approached. These incidents were treated as idents, but the warriors of the Skythunder Kingdom were certain that the Spirit Spring Kingdom had done that on purpose. Because of that, all the warriors that traveled to the Spirit Spring Kingdom were instructed to be very careful near the border. As long as they managed to survive for a couple of seconds, the Spiriters would "heroically" leap in and stop their beasts. After traveling through four of the five Kingdoms of the world, Shang had already seen the rtionships between the Kingdoms with his own eyes. While the public believed that this was a war between two united fronts, this couldn''t be further from the truth. The ckshadow Kingdom hated the Spirit Spring Kingdom. The Spirit Spring Kingdom hated the ckshadow Kingdom. The Spirit Spring Kingdom hated the Skythunder Kingdom. The Skythunder Kingdom was wary of the Spirit Spring Kingdom. This was definitely not a united front but a makeshift alliance that could crumble at any moment. The only two allies Shang hadn''t seen meet each other were the Magic Purity Kingdom and the Grandmountain Kingdom, but he guessed that their rtionship was very simr. The Magic Purity Kingdom was probably arrogant beyond belief just based on its policies and its name. They probably treated the Grandmountain Kingdom as lower people that did their dirty work. The Grandmountain Kingdom was therefore probably also not the biggest fan of the Magic Purity Kingdom. There was no peace,panionship, or harmony between the Kingdoms. Every Kingdom hated every other Kingdom. If there weren''t this gigantic war going on, the Kingdoms would probably attack each other. This was not a peaceful world but a world on the brink of breaking apart. The only thing that kept the Kingdoms from falling into an abyss of bloodshed was their will to survive. No Kingdom could stand alone against the others. However, even though the Spiriters were more than willing to send their beasts to kill Shang, they didn''t do so this time. They felt that Shang was very dangerous. Yes, it was an "ident" that some beasts went out of control and attacked warriors, but there were also "idents" of warriors killing the beasts of Spiriters. "Halt!" the most powerful Spiriter shouted from the back of her gigantic bear. She was the most powerful person here, at the Late True Spiriter Realm. Inparison to the border between the Spirit Spring Kingdom and the ckshadow Kingdom, no truly powerful people were here. Even though the Spirit Spring Kingdom hated the Skythunder Kingdom, they knew that the Skythunder Kingdom wouldn''t try anything sneaky. Because of that, they didn''t need to station a powerful force here. There were only three True Mages here, and they were all at the Early True Mage Realm. If Shang had even been slightly noticed at the border between the Spirit Spring Kingdom and the ckshadow Kingdom, his death would have been a certainty. But this border was so weak that Shang could probably annihte all the stationed forces here on his own. So, even though the rtionship between these two Kingdoms wasn''t the best, it was obviously far better than the rtionship between the ckshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom. After Shang heard themand, he stopped. "Space Ring," the Spiriter demanded. Just likest time, Shang threw the Space Ring over. The Spiriter looked through the Space Ring, and her eyes narrowed with hatred. CRACK! The Space Ring was destroyed in her grasp. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Asea of blood and corpses appeared around her as soon as the Space Ring was destroyed. A horrifying stench went through the entire border. The Spiriters'' faces turned white, and some of them even began to heave due to the disgusting stench. The beasts grew unruly and wanted to attack, but the Spiriters did their absolute best to keep them from attacking Shang. They didn''t want theirpanions to join the pile! Shang coldly looked at the Spiriter that had destroyed his ring. "| apologize," the Spiriter said coldly. "| lost control when | saw the contents. Naturally, we will rece your Space Ring." She took out a Space Ring and threw it toward Shang. It was just as good as the one Shang had had previously. Shang evenly looked at the Spiriter. Then, he willed his corpses to enter the new ring. Amomentter, the sea of blood and corpses vanished, only leaving behind a couple of big and bloody stains. Shang knew why she had done that. This was not an ident. She wanted to show the people around her what kind of monsters the people of the Skythunder Kingdom were. She wanted to get everyone to hate the Skythunder Kingdom by showing his deeds to them. Shang was not a fan of being a public disy, but he also didn''t see it as such a big deal. He hadn''t lost any of his belongings. Additionally, he couldn''t just go around and kill everyone here without a very good reason. Shang was so close to being home again, and he didn''t want to be hunted by the Skythunder Kingdom as well for causing an international incident. "You may leave," the Spiriter said coldly. "We apologize for the ident." Shang didn''t answer and walked past everyone. Everyone at the border watched Shang with hatred. The quiet noise of his steps echoed throughout the border. And he walked past the wall. He continued walking for another two minutes. And eventually, Shang saw another wall in front of him. On the walls, Shang could see a couple of Mages... And warriors! It had been so long since Shang had seen another warrior. Ten years ago, Shang had been dumped at the western part of the Grandmountain Kingdom. Yet, instead of traveling to the southeast, he had traveled to the northeast. In thest ten years, Shang had traveled to all corners of the world. He had been at the southern edge in the Skythunder Kingdom. He had been in the west of the world by being in the Grandmountain Kingdom. He had been in the north, in the ckshadow Kingdom. And now, he had been in the east, in the Spirit Spring Kingdom. In thest ten years, Shang had traveled the entire world and had seen many different cultures and Kingdoms. Not many people could im to have traveled as far and wide as Shang. From someone that had only known one part of the Skythunder Kingdom, Shang had be someone that knew the entire world, except for the Magic Purity Kingdom. And now... Shang approached the wall. "Heeeey!" The warriors on the wall lifted their weapons in a unified shout. It wasmon to wee theirrades back. It was difficult to live in the Spirit Spring Kingdom as a warrior, and the warriors stationed here knew how hard it was. Because of that, they always weed theirrades home with a cheer. Shang looked at the wall with the warriors. "I''m home!" Shang said. Chapter 379 Chapter 379 Shang walked towards the border, and the gate opened without anyone questioning him. As soon as he stepped past the gate, Shang saw several warriors walk over to him while the Mages threw careful nces at him. Obviously, they felt the threat Shang posed, and they were a bit taken aback that a warrior could give off such a strong pressure. "Wee back!" a Late Commander Stage warrior shouted with augh. "I''m home," Shang said with an unchanging expression. When the warriors saw how dull and emotionless Shang said these words, they lifted an eyebrow in confusion. Most warriors would have a get-together with the border guards and tell their stories, but Shang obviously didn''t seem to be in the mood. Wasn''t he happy being back in the Skythunder Kingdom? ¡°Everything alright?" the strongest warrior asked with concern. Shang took a deep breath. He was d to be home, but the feelings weren''t as strong as he had imagined them to be. He felt more relief than happiness. It was like he had finally finished a tiresome task. He didn''t feel any kind of achievement or happiness for a task well done. "It''s been too long," Shang said. "I''ve been gone for over ten years." The jaws of several warriors dropped when they heard that. Ten years at the frontlines of the Spirit Spring Kingdom?! It was a miracle that Shang was even still alive! No wonder he looked so tired! "But it''s finally over, right?¡± the leader asked. Shang nodded. "It is." "Was it worth it?" the leader asked, obviously referring to the powerful feeling of pressure Shang gave off. The leader had to keep his shock in check since he felt like he would be helpless in front of Shang. Being at the front for ten years had obviously done wonders for Shang''s strength. Shang thought about his journey and what he had learned. He had learned how to strengthen his body. He had trained his Affinity. He had spent five years training with Teacher Mervin. His power was absolutely iparable to the time he had left the Skythunder Kingdom. "Yes, it was worth it," Shang answered. The leader smiled when he heard that. "d to hear! You obviously want to get home. So, we won''t keep you any longer." Shang nodded. "Thanks." "Where do you need to go? A couple of things have changed in thest decade." Shang threw a nce at the warrior, but he felt no ill intentionsing from him. "Storm Eagle Zone," Shang said. At that moment, the mood in the atmosphere shifted, and Shang slightly narrowed his eyes when he felt the shift. Something had happened. The warriors appeared more taciturn and careful, and Shang could even see some pity in their eyes. "| take it something has changed there?" Shang asked. The leader nodded. "A bit less than ten years ago, some kind of procedure that allowed warriors to have incredibly powerful bodies was unveiled." After that, the leader narrated the specifics of the Procedure, which Shang was very familiar with. However, Shang didn''t interrupt him and let him talk. ¡°After the Bloodline Infusion became public knowledge, things quickly started to change in the south of the Kingdom." "Countless warriors underwent the Bloodline Infusion." "For the first two years, there weren''t any problems, but after those two years, the Mages started to protest against the Bloodline Infusion.¡± "The warriors that had undergone the Bloodline Infusion have shown incredible Battle-Strength, and the Mages felt threatened. For now, only General Stage warriors were dangerous to the Adepts, but what when those same warriors reach the Commander Stage? What when they reach the True Path Stage?" Shang only nodded. He could imagine that the Mages felt threatened. "Things only got worse over the next couple of years. More and more warriors that had undergone the Bloodline Infusion began to die or vanish mysteriously." When Shang heard that, his right eye narrowed, and a cold light appeared in it. "As more warriors died, more of them decided against undergoing the Bloodline Infusion. After all, only the warriors that had undergone the Bloodline Infusion vanished. Nothing had changed for the normal ones." ¡°At the same time, several political setbacks have cost Duke Whirlwind the Ice Wyvern Zone and the Empress Cobra Zone." Shang didn''t react as he heard these words. At that moment, the leader snorted. "It''s obvious for everyone to see that the Council has a problem with the Bloodline Infusion, and they are working in secret to get Duke Whirlwind to abdicate his position.¡± ¡°Every time a small incident happens in the Storm Eagle Zone, they blow it up beyond proportion and frame it like it''s because of Duke Whirlwind''s mismanagement." ¡°Over half his Mages have already left his territory to join other Dukes, and the remaining Mages try to dissuade Duke Whirlwind from further investing in the Bloodline Infusion. After all, when the Bloodline Infusion stops, the other Mages won''t care anymore." After he said that, the leader went quiet. "Is it fear or arrogance?" Shang asked. The warriors looked at each other. Then, they nced at the Mages on the walls. Surprisingly, the Mages only sighed and showed that they didn''t really care. One had to remember that the Mages were not one collective hivemind. Every Mage was an individual, and they all had different beliefs. The Mages stationed here had worked closely with the warriors for years, and they didn''t see them as beneath them or something like that. They also thought that these actions of suppressing the warriors were stupid. Warriors were part of the Skythunder Kingdom, and by increasing the power of the warriors, the Skythunder Kingdom would increase in power. "They think it''s arrogance, but we think it''s fear," the leader said. "The Mages still have Mana Tranquility, which still gives them an edge, but the introduction of the Bloodline Infusion shows a trajectory upward for warriors." "It is like a distant beast that had suddenly closed half the distance to you."N?velDrama.Org holds this content. "If it managed to close half the distance, there''s a possibility that it might close the other half too." Shang crossed his arms and looked coldly forward, towards the southwest. "What about the Dean of the warrior''s academy?" he asked. "The Council is trying to send him to the frontlines bordering the Magic Purity Kingdom, but Duke Whirlwind is refusing to let him go... for good reason," the leader said. Shang nodded. "Thank you for the info," Shang said. The leader nodded with a concerned look. "Be careful when you return. | presume that some Mages are responsible for the disappearances of the warriors." Shang''s right eye only narrowed even further. Then, Shang stepped forward and walked away from the border. The warriors only watched Shang leave with concern in their eyes. Shang was obviously powerful, and they didn''t want him to die. "You don''t need to worry for him." The leader turned around as he heard one of the Mages say something. ¡°What do you mean?" he asked. The Mage only watched Shang''s leaving back. "He is more powerful than you think." The leader was quite surprised when he heard that. He was a Late Commander Stage warrior, but the Mage that had spoken was an Early True Mage. The Early True Mage was quite a bit more powerful than the Late Commander Stage warrior. "| have the feeling that | wouldn''t be able to resist if he were to attack me," the Early True Mage said. ¡°And I''m pretty certain a Mid True Mage won''t feel any different." The warriors only looked with shock at the Mage. Then, they looked at Shang, who was still walking away. "Pity on the fool that attacks him,¡± the Mage said. In the distance, Shang only looked forward with a cold expression. ¡®You''re afraid that the beast has already closed half the distance?" "Unfortunately, the beast is already right in front of you!" Chapter 380 Chapter 380 Shang traveled through multiple Zones within the day. Most of them were unfamiliar to him, but the constant presence of the warriors and Mages gave him a feeling of security and familiarity. He was in the Skythunder Kingdom. He didn''t need to hide any longer. Eventually, Shang reached a wastnd without any vegetation. It was filled with hills and pieces of dried rock. After counting the Zones he had gone through, Shang was quite certain in which Zone he had arrived. The Colossal Worm Zone, the Zone east of the Skythunder Zone. Shang traversed it without any issues. This was Zone for Earth Affinity beasts, and the powerful ones were below the ground. Any beast above ground was no threat to Shang in this Zone. It waste in the evening when Shang reached the southwestern border of the Colossal Worm Zone. In front of Shang was a desert with tons of lightning striking down. Shang knew all too well where he was. He had been here before. Shang entered the Thunder Horse Zone and traveled towards the south. After just a couple of minutes, Shang reached the border to the next Zone and began to run down the massive slope. Luckily, the Thunder Horse hadn''te to visit him. It was the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, and Shang could see Duke Mithril''s castle from where he was currently. ¡®| haven''t forgotten the bounty you put on my head,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®It might take a couple of decades, but | will eventually pay you back for the bounty.¡¯ Shang avoided the middle of the Zone and ran alongside its edges until he reached the southern border. It was already quite dark, but as soon as Shang reached the border, it became pitch ck. The surroundings were filled with Darkness and Water Mana, and a normal human would have issues seeing their own hand in front of them. The Empress Cobra Zone. Formerly part of Duke Whirlwind''s territory. As Shang arrived at the border, his right eye narrowed. ¡®If I''m going to be attacked on my way to the Storm Eagle Zone, it will be here. This is the perfect Zone to create an ambush. Additionally, the high density of beasts during the night makes it easier to frame it as an ident.¡¯ Shang only remained on this spot for a couple of seconds until he continued. His speed picked up quite a bit, mimicking the speed of an Initial Commander Stage warrior with the power of the Procedure. It would take him quite a bit longer to get through the Zone like this, but the potential payoff was worth it. For a couple of minutes, Shang continued traveling along the road. The wild beasts that came out of the poison swamps during the night very quickly fled when they saw him. Suddenly, Shang''s right eye nced to the right, but he quickly focused his eyes forward again as he tried to suppress a smirk. Just now, he had felt a burst of Darkness Mana. And the Darkness Mana felt very purposeful and orderly. He was pretty sure that he had just triggered some form of Magic Circle. However, Shang continued traveling down the road like he hadn''t noticed. As Shang continued, the surroundings grew quieter and quieter. Most of the beasts had vanished from this part of the Empress Cobra Zone, which hinted at a powerful threat that was present. Shang only continued traveling. And then, Shang smirked. Right now, a powerful bolt of Darkness Mana mixed with something else shot towards him from the side of the road. Anormal warrior might not have noticed the silent and deadly bolt in such deep darkness, but Shang could feel and see it with no problem. Shang had Darkness Vision and his Pseudo-Spirit Sense. And for the first time, the images his two senses gave him differed. Shang''s Darkness Vision showed three people... But his Pseudo-Spirit Sense showed four. Far behind the other three was one additional person sitting inside a silent stream of mixed Mana. This stream of mixed Mana had obviously been created by a Magic Circle, and it isted the person inside from all the Mana in the surroundings, making it impossible to sense them with any kind of Mana Sense. Additionally, Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense also showed him a couple of inactive Magic Circles. It was quite difficult for Shang to notice them since he had no idea how Magic Circles worked, but it was no problem for him to carefully feel the surrounding couple of meters. ¡®Two Initial True Mages and one Mid True Mage. The person inside the Magic Circle doesn''t radiate any kind of threat. They probably don''t have a lot of power.¡¯ ¡®| was afraid that you guys wouldn''t show up!" BANG! Shang suddenly elerated and exploded forward with an Ice st. Shang''s speed multiplied by several times, and he easily sidestepped the Poison Bolt. The eyes of the Mages widened in shock when they saw their target suddenly reach incredible speeds. In an instant, Shang reached the Mid True Mage, evading all the different Magic Circles on the ground while doing so. BOOOM! As Sword hit the Mana Shield of the Mage, a bolt of violent Darkness Mana exploded out of it. CRACK! With one attack, the Mana Shield broke! One had to remember that Shang''s body was around 85% as powerful as the body of a Mid Commander Stage beast. Together with his insane speed and the Mana-destroying properties of his Darkness Mana, he could destroy the Mana Shield of a Mage of his level in one strike. Additionally, this was obviously not a very powerful Mage. Shang even guessed that he was a weak one that hadn''t even undergone Mana Tranquility. However, a Mid True Mage was definitely enough to deal with all the warriors that had undergone the Procedure. After all, they had only had ten years to grow. SHING! After destroying the Mana Shield, Sword beheaded the Mage. The other Mages froze in shock and horror. This couldn''t be real! BANG! Shang exploded to one of them, destroyed their Mana Shield, and beheaded them in another instant. "Ishah!" Before thest Mage could react, Shang had already arrived in front of him. BANG! The third Mage was beheaded too. BANG! Shang immediately exploded towards the Magic Circle before thest person could react. BANG! Shang''s hand broke through the Magic Circle, took hold of the thing the person was holding in their hand, and pulled it out. It was a Communication Crystal. The person had just summoned the Communication Crystal after Shang had killed the third Mage. However, Shang had been so fast that the person hadn''t even been able to activate it. An instantter, Shang''s other hand went to their hand and ripped off a finger. Shang heard a pained grunte from inside the Magic Circle as he looked at the finger in his hand... Or, more precisely, the Space Ring the finger wore. Shang put the finger into his inner world and took hold of the person''s neck. Then, he yanked them out. It was a young man with long ck hair. His body was quite powerful, being at around the Initial Commander Stage, but he hadn''t undergone the Procedure. An unfamiliar face stared with horror at Shang. However, Shang didn''t need to see the face of the person to know who they were.N?velDrama.Org content rights. The aura the person gave off felt somewhat familiar to Shang. Together with all the other clues, it wasn''t very difficult for him to guess the identity of this person. ¡°What a pleasure to finally meet you face to face, Kiva Orvis," Shang said with a malicious smirk. Kiva Orvis felt a cold shiver run down his back. "Or should | say..." "One?" Chapter 381 Chapter 381 When Kiva heard these words, his body became filled with terror. He hadn''t known who Shang was earlier, but now, he knew who stood in front of him. Kiva''s insides shook, but he did his best to hide it. "Then you should know how stupid it would be to kill me," Kiva said with a calm voice. Shang only smirked and looked into his eyes. "Why?" "You know who | am, and you know how much my life is worth," Kiva said. "Killing me would bring you nothing but momentary satisfaction while keeping me as a hostage gives you mary satisfaction. One is worth more than the other." ¡°You should know how expensive it is to be more powerful. Don''t throw millions of gold out of the window just because you feel like it," Kiva said. Shang nodded along. Yep, Kiva Orvis was probably worth over 50 million gold. "You know, you would have a point in other circumstances," Shang said. Kiva''s insides tightened. ¡°However, you tried to kill me back then, Duke Mithril has put a bounty of 20 million golds on my head after that, and you are actively killing the warriors," Shang said. "Why would you care about the people I''ve killed?" Kiva asked with narrowed eyes. "You''ve probably killed just as many people as me. | refuse to believe that all the people you''ve killed are deserving of their death." Acouple of instances of Shang killing someone innocent shot through his mind. "You''re right," Shang said. "| wouldn''t care as much about the warriors under normal circumstances. Sure, | feel some kinship with them, but not enough to risk my life for them." "However, this is not a normal circumstance." ¡°Let me just say that someone | don''t want to anger is invested in the warriors¡¯ survival." Shang''s smirk widened. ¡°Also, Duke Mithril, as well as his people, are my enemy, and | don''t like to keep my enemies alive just for some money." ¡°Additionally, you''ve seen my face, and | want to keep my return a secret for now." Kiva wanted to negotiate some more, but he quickly felt himself being pulled away as Shang ran off with him. Of course, Shang pocketed the corpses and their belongings. "Wh-what are you doing?!" Kiva shouted in Shang''s grasp. "You know, | don''t like lying," Shang said with a neutral voice. "| need to send Duke Mithril a message, and the message needs to be authentic." Kiva wasn''t sure what Shang meant, but his fear increased more and more as time passed. Shang charged into the swamp with Kiva Orvis and quickly searched for a good ce. And just a minuteter, Shang found a suitable ce. Between a couple of half-dead trees, Shang saw a gigantic millipede oozing poison. A terrifying poison swamp had already formed around it, which released a sizzling noise. The millipede looked over and saw Shang. Shang only narrowed his right eye and looked at it. In an instant, the millipede dove into the swamp and fled. This was an Initial Commander Stage Swamp Millipede, and this was its nest. Then, Shang stopped right beside the poison swamp. "Do try not to drink everything at once, alright?" Shang said. At that moment, Kiva Orvis'' world broke down, and his being was consumed by fear. "No, please-" SPLASH! Shang shoved him into the poison swamp. SSSSSSSS! Which immediately began to sizzle. Shang felt a burning sensation on his hand, but it wasn''t a big deal. Kiva kept violently thrashing around below the surface as Shang''s hand kept his body underwater. The swamp had turned silent, except for the sounds of violent sshinging from this ce. asionally, Kiva''s hands and feet broke the surface, but they looked worse and worse as the seconds ticked by. Eventually, Kiva''s skinless right hand fell off as he tried his best to escape. For 30 full seconds, Shang kept Kiva''s body in the poison swamp. Until he stopped moving. Shang used his Darkness Mana to see if there was any life energy left in Kiva''s body. There wasn''t. He was dead. Ssh! Shang pulled him out and looked at him. Half his legs were gone. His right arm was missing at the middle of the forearm. The skin of his entire body had burned off, and even a huge part of his flesh was missing. Obviously, his organs were also severely injured. Kiva''s face basically didn''t exist anymore. His eyes and nose were gone, just like his skin.N?velDrama.Org content rights. Inparison to Kiva Orvis'' corpse, Shang''s hand had only reddened. When Shang saw him, he was surprised by what he was feeling. Nothing. He felt nothing. He didn''t feel regret. He didn''t feel satisfaction. He just felt nothing. It was like this was nothing special. It was like this was normal. "Seems like I''ve truly gotten used to these kinds of things,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the ravaged corpse. ¡®Anyway, | should get onto delivering the message to Duke Mithril.¡¯ Shang put Kiva''s corpse into his inner world and ran towards the north. This time, he didn''t need to run slowly to lure out his enemies. As Shang ran towards the north, he retrieved a ck mask from his inner world. This was the same mask he had worn when he had acted as Zero. Then, he put it on. After fighting the Mages and Kiva Orvis, Shang changed his ns. Instead of openly striding into the warrior''s academy and getting spotted, he decided that he wouldy low. If no one knew that he was here, no one could watch him. That would make it far easier to ruin Duke Mithril''s territory. After all, if one didn''t know what one was fighting against, one wouldn''t be able to prepare oneself adequately. Two minutester, Shang arrived at the border between the Empress Cobra Zone and the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. It was currently night. Shang scouted the surroundings and made sure that nobody was around. Luckily, no sane person traveled through the Empress Cobra Zone during the night unless they were at the Late General Stage or higher. The Empress Cobra Zone was deadly during the night. When Shang saw that no one was around, he summoned a couple of sticks he had picked up on his way here. Then, he went to work. It took a couple of minutes, but Shang eventually managed to recreate the image in his mind. Lastly, Shang positioned everything how he wanted. Aminuteter, Shang looked at his creation. The three headless corpses of the Mages were lying on the ground. Behind them, where their heads were supposed to be, Shang had stabbed one stake each into the ground. And on top of the stakes were their heads, their gazes focused on Duke Mithril''s castle. Originally, Shang wanted the corpses to hold the stakes, but it proved to be quite difficult to make corpses stand up without copsing. So, he scrapped that idea. However, behind the stakes was one more stake, far bigger than the others. Like a tree, it continued for around two meters, which was where Kiva''s ravaged corpse hung. One additional stick was ced horizontally to spread Kiva''s arms. Yes, Shang had crucified Kiva''s corpse. Lastly, Shang took out a couple of Space Rings and three Foci. And he ced them near the corpses. All of their belongings were in there. Literally nothing was missing. This was a message, and it conveyed three things. First, that someone hated Duke Mithril. Second, that the person sending the message was very powerful. Third, that the person wasn''t interested in wealth. The person was only interested in Duke Mithril''s death. This was why Shang had left the Space Rings here. ¡®| don''t need money,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®On my journey, | have killed so many beasts and Mages. | probably have over 200 million gold in my inner world, and even if | need more, | have plenty of ways to get more.¡¯ Shang nced at Duke Mithril''s castle. ¡®This is worth far more than a couple million gold.¡¯ ¡®Let''s hope you don''t start panicking and do something reckless as your territory crumbles around you." ¡®Fear of the unknown is a terrifying thing, and it makes smart people do stupid things. The attack against the warriors is a prime example." ¡®Duke Mithril, you might not fear me today, but the terror of this message will only intensify as more and more things go wrong for you.¡¯ Shang smirked. ¡®Let''s have a good, clean match, okay?¡¯ Chapter 382 Chapter 382 Shang kept his mask on. By now, he was also wearing a thick, ck cloak made of animal fur. In a way, he looked very simr to the time he had exited from Duke Whirlwind''s garden. But these two Shangs couldn''t be any more different. Acouple of minutester, Shang arrived at the border of the Storm Eagle Zone. He hadn''t seen any other person on his way here. For the first time in over a decade, Shang could see the Farm Line and the Wild Forest again. Shang''s Darkness Vision showed him plenty of scouts keeping watch over the roads, and he could also see many weak beasts inside the Wild Forest. He even saw a couple of Pest Cats. Shang would have never thought that seeing Pest Cats would make him feel nostalgia. Scenes of when Shang had just arrived here shot through his mind. The scout that had weed him. The Farm Dogs. His first look at Warrior''s Paradise. His run-in with Teacher Loran. After that, all the people he had met in the warrior''s academy shot through his mind. Soran, Ranos, Mervin, the Dean, Elver, Sarah, Astor, Mattheo... There were a lot of people. ¡®| wonder how they are doing right now.¡¯ ¡®Well, now that I''m back, | can check up on them whenever | want.¡¯ ¡®But first..." Shang''s gaze moved slightly towards the south. Many kilometers away, Shang could see the tops of a couple of green towers. ¡®Let''s get everything sorted out first." Shang surrounded himself with a coat of Darkness Mana, which seemingly blended in with the surroundings. His years of training his Affinity had made it possible to create something like this. It wasn''t very effective against True Mages, but Adepts and General Stage warriors wouldn''t be able to see him with the coat of Darkness Mana during the night. Shang left the path and entered the Wild Forest. None of the beasts noticed the ck shadow shooting through their forest. About a minuteter, Shang stopped. He seemed to be in the middle of the forest, but Shang''s Darkness Vision and Pseudo-Spirit Sense could see the huge, green castle just two or three kilometers in front of him. This was a good ce. Then, Shang summoned something he hadn''t summoned in over ten years. An emblem picturing a tornado appeared in Shang''s hand. It was the emblem Duke Whirlwind had given him before he went to the northern Ice Wyvern Zone. And then, Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense entered the castle. Perception was an interesting thing. On Earth, there was an urban myth that one could feel when someone was watching them. Of course, there had never been any scientific evidence to support that hypothesis. But in this world, things were different. A powerful person could feel when someone was watching them, as long as the watcher wasn''t more powerful than them or very good at hiding their perception. Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense was somewhat like a radar, which Shang could control. If he wanted to only look at a couple of meters in front of him, his Pseudo-Spirit Sense would only sense those couple of meters. In a way, one could say that Shang wasn''t looking at Duke Whirlwind. He had only been looking at the walls earlier and hadn''t stretched his senses further. But now, Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense stretched into the castle. In essence, Shang was now looking at Duke Whirlwind, who was inside his castle. And Duke Whirlwind looked back. Someone of his power would notice when someone of Shang''s power looked at him. As soon as Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense had felt Duke Whirlwind, he had taken a deep breath. "So powerfull!¡¯ Duke Whirlwind was like a sun! Its power was unmistakable and unignorable. Shang hadn''t felt anyone with such incredible power in thest ten years, except for the Zone Beasts and the God, but they were in a league of their own. After such a long time, and even though Shang had grown by so much, Duke Whirlwind''s power only seemed even greater than before. For an instant, Shang felt a powerful pressure assault him as Duke Whirlwind noticed him. It was like a Zone Beast was looking right at him. But an instantter, the pressure vanished. This was why Shang had taken out Duke Whirlwind''s emblem. He didn''t want the Duke to identally kill him. Awindow of Duke Whirlwind''s castle opened, and he quietly left through it. WHOOOM! Shang''s hair was blown back by the powerful wind that had suddenly arrived. The wind hade from Duke Whirlwind suddenly appearing in front of him. In an instant, Duke Whirlwind had closed the two kilometers that had been between them. This was just Mana Step, but the effects were incredible when used by Duke Whirlwind. Right now, Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with furrowed brows. His green hair was still long, and he still looked to be in his mid-thirties. He hadn''t changed one bit. "| don''t recognize you," Duke Whirlwind said coldly. Someone of Duke Whirlwind''s power didn''t remember people by their appearance or the clothing they wore but by their unique aura. And Shang''s aura didn''t feel familiar at all to him. Shang slowly put away his cloak and his mask. Then, he looked into Duke Whirlwind''s eyes. Duke Whirlwind''s brows furrowed more when they saw that Shang only had one eye. That seemed familiar. Then, Duke Whirlwind''s eyebrows shot up as he remembered. George had told him that Shang had told him that he had lost an eye while fighting Vice-Commander Wilbury. But this couldn''t be Shang, right? Shang had only been a Peak General Stage warrior back then, and he had been thrown into a Kingdom that killed every warrior on sight! Duke Whirlwind was certain that Shang had already died! Then, Duke Whirlwind saw the nearly-destroyed, ck chest te Shang wore. Hadn''t this been his gift? Shang noticed that Duke Whirlwind looked at his chest te. "That thing saved my life more than once," Shang said. "Sadly, it''s been broken for a long time." Everything pointed to this being Shang, but Duke Whirlwind still wasn''t certain. Items could be faked. Words could lie. Appearances could be changed. But it was nearly impossible to change an aura. And Shang''s aura was nothing like how he remembered. "Prove your identity," Duke Whirlwind said evenly.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Shang lifted his left hand. Some ice appeared on it. Then, some fire appeared on it. Some Darkness Mana appeared on it. And,stly, some Light Mana appeared on it. Shang put his hand down again. Duke Whirlwind''s eyes had widened. Something like this couldn''t be faked unless the person in front of him was an Archmage, and he doubted that an Archmage would y such a trick. Now, Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with shock. How could someone''s aura change this much in just ten years?! For a while, Duke Whirlwind remained silent. His expression slowly transformed from shock into pity. Someone of Duke Whirlwind''s power could tell a lot about someone''s personality based on their aura. When Shang saw Duke Whirlwind''s expression, he felt a slight sting in his chest for some reason. He wasn''t sure why. "Shang," Duke Whirlwind said with a soft voice filled with pity. ¡°What happened to you?" Chapter 383 Chapter 383 Shang only looked at Duke Whirlwind. "A lot of things happened, and | came back with a lot of information regarding the Grandmountain Kingdom." Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang with aplex expression. He wasn''t sure if Shang understood what he had actually meant. However, Duke Whirlwind was also interested in what actually happened to Shang in thest decade. What could change someone to such a degree? Shang told Duke Whirlwind basically everything except for the trial and the Abominations. He only used the Abominations once, which was when he escaped from the Grandmountain Kingdom initially. As Duke Whirlwind listened more to Shang''s story, his focus shifted to the actual intelligence Shang brought back. The information he brought back was monumental! How the barbarians trained. The way the Grandmountain Kingdom organized its forces. Insight into the distribution of their forces. And, most importantly, the method the Mages had created to stack so many Strengthening Spells on a single barbarian. Shang had been that researcher''s ything for several months, and he had also been under the effect of these Spells while assaulting the gue Rat Zone. During these months, he had learned a lot about how the Mages aplished these things. When Shang came to the part where he killed Lash, Duke Whirlwind noticed that something wasn''t right. Doing this was unlike the Shang he had just heard of a minute ago. Duke Whirlwind would have bet that Shang would have simply trusted Lash. After all, he was an old friend, and the Mages wouldn''t even interrogate him. Duke Whirlwind even remembered hearing about a simr incident before Shang had left. Acouple of students of the Warrior''s Academy had found out about Shang''s Affinity, but even at the behest of the Dean, Shang had decided to keep them alive. That risk was far greater than the risk Lash had posed, but Shang had still let them go. Even when Shang arrived at the Grandmountain Kingdom, he didn''t seem much different from what Duke Whirlwind was hearing. But after Shang left the Grandmountain Kingdom and returned, it was like they had been switched out. Something must have happened in the Tide Serpent Zone, and that something was the catalyst for Shang''s rapid change. But what could have motivated Shang to change that drastically in a Zone without any humans and only beasts? After that point, Shang''s tales became much darker, but Duke Whirlwind noticed that Shang didn''t seem to notice the change in his behavior. Shang had killed several weak people that had only identallye close to his hiding spots. The chances of them actually finding Shang were slim, and if Shang wanted to escape, they would never find him. However, instead of simply leaving, Shang always killed them. And by the way Shang was talking, it seemed to be the only solution. It was like, in his mind, this was the only thing he could do. It was the only solution he coulde up with to the problem at hand.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. ¡®Is he so used to killing everything that poses a risk that he now even perceives a minor inconvenience as a risk and treats it as such, regardless of the cost?¡¯ Duke Whirlwind thought. "He doesn''t even seem to think about his actions or the impact. It''s like he is forcing himself to do these things just to prove something to himself." Several potential reasons shot through Duke Whirlwind''s mind, but he couldn''t be certain. Maybe Shang had always been like this, but he hadn''t noticed? Maybe Shang was subconsciously venting? Maybe Shang was so aggrieved by his own guilt that hepletely blocked it out of his being, isted the feeling, and acted like an emotionless machine? Even though Duke Whirlwind was old and knew a lot about people, he couldn''t be certain. As Shang continued narrating, the Duke stopped paying attention. "He seems more and more like George,¡¯ Duke Whirlwind thought. ¡®| don''t think that''s a good thing. I''m pretty sure it would be better if he could get some empathy back, even if it were for the sole reason of not killing absolutely everyone that even slightly steps in front of his goal." Duke Whirlwind mulled over these thoughts for a bit, but in the end, he only released a hidden sigh Shang couldn''t see. ¡®But that''s not my business,¡¯ he thought helplessly. ¡®I''m not his teacher or father. It''s not my ce to dictate how another adult should act.¡¯ ¡®This is his life, not mine, and | should afford him the freedom to make his own choices." ¡®If that is what he wants, it''s fine. | only hope that he won''t be an enemy in the future due to some ridiculous reason born of his own paranoia." And then, Duke Whirlwind''s thoughts were pulled back to Shang''s tale. He had been ambushed in the Empress Cobra Zone? Duke Whirlwind''s eyes became colder as he heard Shang narrate the battle, which had been very short. Duke Whirlwind had to keep his facial expressions in check as Shang told him how easy and natural it was to kill a Mage on his level. He didn''t even see it as anything special. It was just normal. It was just a bit of practice. At that moment, Duke Whirlwind focused more on Shang''s aura in terms of threat. The more he looked at Shang''s aura, the more he realized how threatening it actually felt. And he became even more shocked when he realized something. "Shang feels as powerful as George was when he had just advanced to the True Path Stage. "He might actually be the third strongest physi in existence right now.¡¯ Just ten years. In just ten years, Shang had grown by so much. It was ridiculous! Really talented warriors reached the Initial Commander Stage in their early thirties, but Shang was already at the Mid Commander Stage, and his Battle-Strength was ridiculous. And then, Duke Whirlwind had a shocking thought. "He might actually be able to defeat an average Peak True Mage as a Mid Commander Stage warrior.¡¯ Duke Whirlwind would have never thought that he would one day believe something like this. He also realized that this insane growth couldn''t have onlye from what Shang told him. Shang mostly skipped the parts where he was training. He had basically said that he had remained in the Tide Serpent Zone for seven or eight years to train, and that was it. ¡®Something must have happened in the Tide Serpent Zone. Not only did he suddenly be incredibly powerful for his level, but his personality also underwent a drastic development,¡¯ Duke Whirlwind thought. ¡®What could have happened in such an isted Zone?¡± Then, Duke Whirlwind heard of what Shang had done to Kiva Orvis, and a cold shudder ran down his spine. That was very unusual for Shang! He would have never done something like this ten years ago! ¡®However, as much as it pains me to admit, his actions are very effective, Duke Whirlwind thought with a frown. ¡®The psychological impact won''t be great at the start, but if | manage to push further, this event will gain more and more significance in my enemy''s mind." ¡®I need to make use of that." Then, Duke Whirlwind noticed that Shang had stopped talking. ''| think it would be best to treat Shang simrly to George.¡¯ ¡®Be honest, don''t be his enemy, and treat him like an equal." Chapter 384 Chapter 384 Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang. "That message was a good idea. Do you have anything else nned, or did you just want to give me an opportunity to strike?" Asmirk appeared on Shang''s face. "| do have something in mind," he said. "Tell me," Duke Whirlwind said. "While traveling through the ckshadow Kingdom, | noticed that my Affinity has given me a peculiar ability.¡± "Oh?" Duke Whirlwind uttered in interest. ¡°My Affinity is very simr to the Abominations'' Affinity, which makes me their perfect counter. | have heard from some people that the urrences of Abominations have increased. That''s correct, right?" Shang didn''t actually know that, but he assumed that they did. He had already realized that his increase in power was also increasing the power of the Abominations. Duke Whirlwind nodded. "Yes, they now appear more frequently and at increasingly random ces." Shang also nodded. "Surprisingly, | didn''t see a single Abomination in thest ten years, which is a bit unusual. That makes me think that | have a deterring effect." "Deterring effect?" Duke Whirlwind asked with a raised eyebrow. Shang nodded again. "Yes, and not only that. | can also slightly feel where they will appear. It''s not perfect, but | can feel them sometimes before they appear.¡± An interested gleam appeared in Duke Whirlwind''s eyes. ¡°And, with my deterring effect, | can somewhat control where the Abominations don''t appear.¡± Now, Duke Whirlwind understood what Shang was suggesting, and he took a deep breath. "Shang, I''m not sure if I''m a big fan of your suggestion," he said. "You are sending the enemy of the entire world to a ce with innocent civilians just to hurt your enemy." Shang only looked evenly at Duke Whirlwind with an even look. "Didn''t you do the same thing when you imed the battlefield for the Ice Wyvern?" "No, | didn''t," Duke Whirlwind said. "The Abominations would appear regardless, and | had no hand in where they appeared. | simply put more Ice Mana at the ce where they would appear. Literally not a single life was ended under my order. This is very different from actively deterring the Abominations from appearing in one ce and making them gather at another." "So what?" Shang asked. "So what?" Duke Whirlwind asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yeah, so what?" Shang repeated. "Enemies are enemies. | don''t see Duke Mithril any different from the Abominations. Both things want us dead. What''s the difference between dying to an Abomination and dying to Duke Mithril?" Duke Whirlwind could understand Shang''s point, but it still didn''t sit right with him. Yes, Duke Mithril was his enemy, but Duke Mithril was a human with a human mindset. Abominations were mindless monsters that only destroyed. "Where would you prefer they appear?" Shang asked. "Your territory or his territory? They will appear regardless. If a cmity is unavoidable, why not, at least, make the best of it?" Duke Whirlwind was not a fan of that idea. It felt dirty. It felt a bit like betraying humanity. But then, Duke Whirlwind thought about the Storm Eagle Zone and all the people he saw there every day. He didn''t want them to get hurt. And now, there was a solution to this issue. Duke Whirlwind took a deep breath. "Fine," he said. Shang nodded once more. "By traveling a bit around in the Storm Eagle Zone and the Empress Cobra Zone, | think | can focus the Abominations'' appearance on the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. Do you want me to do that?" Duke Whirlwind took another deep breath. "When will it be?" he asked. ¡°About two weeks," Shang answered. "Fine," Duke Whirlwind said. "Please keep this a secret, and | also want you to remain hidden for a while longer. Your sudden return won''t go unnoticed due to your new power, and | don''t want your reappearance to be connected to the sudden increase of Abominations in Duke Mithril''s territory." Shang nodded. "No problem."This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. "| would suggest that you remain hidden for about six more months. After that, you cane back openly. In the meantime, | will make it seem like your message came from a Mage, not a warrior. That will pull suspicion away from you." ¡°Regarding the border guards that saw you, you don''t need to worry," Duke Whirlwind added. "Those guards are on my payroll, and their degree of loyalty is high. Even if someone came to investigate, they would only say that a rtively powerful warrior came back." "They wouldn''t be lying, but Duke Mithril won''t suspect a thing. He doesn''t take warriors seriously, and he will refuse to believe that a warrior could kill his Mages so quickly that they couldn''t even give off a warning." Shang nodded again. "Thanks," he said. "No problem. You have helped me far more than I have helped you already. The intel you brought back from the Grandmountain Kingdom is very valuable, which will make it harder for the Council to take my territory away." ¡°Additionally, you''ve dealt with the ambushers. They will quickly be reced by new ones, but this is still a strong blow to Duke Mithril. After all, you killed Kiva Orvis and three True Mages." Then, a smile appeared on Duke Whirlwind''s face. "I think it''s only appropriate for me to give you something in return. Do you want anything in particr?" Shang already knew what he wanted. "A new set of armor," he said. "Obviously," Duke Whirlwind answered with a chuckle. "It was already nning on giving you a new set, but that isn''t even nearly enough to repay everything. Do you need anything else?" Shang looked at Duke Whirlwind. "There are a couple of things | need." ¡°What do you need?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "Ore," Shang said. Duke Whirlwind looked at Shang''s sword with a thought. "| need more of that special ore," Shang added. "I can feel that it bes harder to use my actual Affinity with my weapon. | think it''s because it has be too powerful for the General Stage ore | received back then." Duke Whirlwind nodded. "The ore isn''tmon, but there are a couple of people that are interested in these unique pieces of ore. It shouldn''t be too difficult for me to get you quite a bit." "Thanks," Shang said. ¡°However,¡± Duke Whirlwind added. "It won''t be easy to get you the True Path Stage ore." Shang hadn''t asked for True Path Stage ore, but Duke Whirlwind could already tell that Shang needed that too. "| can''t purchase all of them at once, and they also cost a lot of money. Additionally, the Darkness Affinity ore will raise a lot of eyebrows.¡± "The best | can do is to get the Light Affinity ore and the Ice Affinity ore within the next decade, but that will already cost me a lot of my wealth," Duke Whirlwind said. "| can pay for it," Shang answered. "Do you have True Path Stage materials?" Duke Whirlwind asked in a t tone. "No," Shang answered. "But | have-" "Then, it doesn''t matter," Duke Whirlwind said, interrupting Shang. "Trades on this level are no longer conducted with gold. The people that have these things are only interested in things at the True Path Stage. No amount of gold will get you what you want." Shang could only sigh when he heard that. He had so much gold, but apparently, the gold was only useful for Commander Stage things. ¡®At least I''m not alone anymore. | finally have someone | can talk to again.¡¯ Chapter 385 Chapter 385 Shang talked with Duke Whirlwind for a time longer, and he also finally heard of what happened after he had gone through the portal. However, Shang wasn''t very surprised. He had already suspected that this powerful Mage that had forcefully teleported him had dealt with the Storm Eagle. Funnily enough, Duke Whirlwind hadn''t seen the powerful Mage. He had only seen how the Storm Eagle was thrown into the distance like a child, but he hadn''t seen the being that did it. Of course, Shang didn''t keep the powerful Mage a secret, and things now made much more sense for Duke Whirlwind. One thing of note that happened, except for this entire political struggle, was that Vice-Dean Ranos managed to reach the True Path Stage. Apparently, he had worked on his Path for a very long time, and he finally managed to advance, and sure enough, he stayed true to his strengths. Vice-Dean Ranos could maybe take down one of the weaker High Mages, which was impressive beyond belief for someone that hadn''t undergone the Procedure. Luckily, the technique for strengthening one''s body Shang had gotten in the Grandmountain Kingdom could rectify part of that problem. It would be difficult to start sote, but Duke Whirlwind was certain that the Dean would find a way to make it work. Sadly, the Dean hadn''t advanced to the Mid True Path Stage yet, but Duke Whirlwind assumed that it would, at most, take another decade. Duke Whirlwind was also approaching his breakthrough, which would make it far harder for the Council to do anything to him. This was also one of the biggest reasons why they were putting so much pressure on him. They didn''t want to see him advance to the Peak High Mage Realm. Yes, Duke Whirlwind was at the Late High Mage Realm right now, which was equal in level to four of the five members of the Council. He was no joke, even amongst the most powerful Mages in the entire Kingdom. After they talked for a while, Duke Whirlwind told Shang what he should do. For now, he had to remain hidden, and Duke Whirlwind suggested to Shang to enter the Caves for the time being. He could deal with Late and Peak Commander Stage beasts, and the teams of hunters and Mages that could fight those preferred going to the Canyon over going to the Caves. It was just easier to get there. The deep Caves would give Shang a ce to train while keeping him hidden. Shang agreed and left Duke Whirlwind''s ce. The Duke also gave him some hidden pathways that were not public knowledge to enter the Caves. After saying his goodbyes, Shang entered the Wild Forest and went to a specific ce. Abit of diggingter, Shang entered the upper parts of the Caves and quickly traveled down. It took half an hour, but Shang eventually reached a depth of around ten kilometers, which was where the powerful Commander Stage beasts resided. Shang quickly went through one more session of strengthening and focused on his swordsmanship again. The Star Map had changed a little bit over the past couple of years, but the change wasn''t very significant. Acouple more shards appeared between the stars, but it wasn''t that much. Shang had a long way to go. ¡®A Path that allows me to be the strongest in the world,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the shards on the Star Map. ¡®Teacher created a thin path that curved like a sine wave.¡¯ ¡®Teacher Mervin is trying to create a wide and powerful path that goes from the Origin Star to another one.¡¯ ¡®Teacher Mervin is definitely on a better way than Teacher, but | think | have to create an even more powerful one.¡¯ Shang looked at the shards, and he noticed something peculiar. Everything seemed to be absolutely random, but after filtering the shards ording to dates ofprehension unveiled something very interesting. The Origin Star was surrounded by very many stars all around it. There were probably over 50. Some were for swords, some were for spears, some were for Magic, some were for Affinities, some were for healing, some were for the mind. Shang couldn''t see what the Stars all represented, but he could make some educated guesses based on some very small Shards leading to a couple of them. Basically everything was there. Obviously, creating a Path to every single Star was just impossible. Shang didn''t even have the Affinities required to reach them, and some were just pointless for Shang to reach. Right now, Shang''s shards were strewn randomly towards the Origin Star''s north. When Shang had seen the Star Map for the first time, his focus had been on theprehension he had received from Teacher Mervin, which had led to one specific Star. But by filtering by date ofprehension, Shang found something interesting. The Shards he had gotten over thest couple of years weren''t on the potential Path between these two Stars. Instead, nearly all of them pointed towards a Star two ces to the right of the Star Teacher Mervin had aimed for. In short, everything Shang hadprehended regarding swordsmanship in thest couple of years made no progress on his Path to that one Star. After all, they all pointed towards the Star, two ces to the right of it. Shang found that interesting since he had trained in swordsmanship, which should give him progress towards the northern Star. Yet, it didn''t. After that, Shang started topare the different Shards, and he quickly found the reason. ¡®It''s obvious, but it''s also not obvious,¡¯ Shang thought when he found out. ¡®There isn''t just one sword.¡¯ ¡®The Star to the north is for thin and long swords, the kind Teacher Mervin uses. It also represents Sword''s original form.¡¯ ¡®But the Star two ces to its right is for heavier swords. I''ve been training my swordsmanship with a rather heavy sword the past couple of years, which means | will make progress towards the Star that represents heavier swords.¡¯ ¡®There is definitely some logic to how the Stars are aligned, and I''m pretty sure that the Star between those two is also rted to swords. However, | don''t even have a single shard leading to there." Shang looked at the two gatherings of shards andpared them. One was extremely fast but didn''t have a lot of weight and power. The other was slow but had a lot of power. ¡®The middle ground would be something with good speed but also good power. It would be slower than the long sword but would have more power. It would also be easier to swing than the heavy sword but would be faster.¡¯ Shang thought back to all the weapons he had seen and learned about, and one of them sprang out to him. "Sabers?'' he thought. ¡®I mean, not the Arabian kind, but the far eastern kind. They do count as swords, right?" ¡®| mean, a saber is basically a sword with only one edge instead of two. A katana also only has one edge.¡± "Wait, does that make katanas sabers?'' Shang thought about this for a bit. ¡®Probably not, but | could find some arguments for that.¡¯ ¡®I''ve seen a couple of warriors that used long and heavy sabers. They are quite fast and pack a lot of weight. Sure, they are not as fast as a regr longsword, but they are still quite fast." ¡®Are there any other sword-rted Stars?¡¯ Shang looked at the Star left of the Longsword Star, and he found an absolutely tiny shard. It was when Shang had used his skinning knife to shave. ¡®| guess that Star is for knives and daggers.¡¯ Then, Shang looked at the Star right of the Heavy Sword Star. He had a couple of shards there, but not that many. All of them had beenprehended when Shang acted as a barbarian with his ridiculously heavy sword. ¡®| guess that counts as a sword somewhat, but that''s already stretching the definition.¡¯ Then, Shang evaluated all the Stars again from left to right. Longsword Star, extremely fast but weak power. Saber Star, quite fast and okay power.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. Heavy Sword Star, okay speed and quite powerful. Colossal Sword Star, very slow but extremely powerful. In his mind, Shang drew a couple of lines that connected the Stars, and the resulting image appeared familiar to him. ¡®One point at the bottom. Two points that are quite far away and spread apart. Two points a bit higher than those two but not as far apart." Shang looked at the image. ¡®It''s a diamond.¡¯ Chapter 386 Chapter 386 BANG! Shang was thrown away, and his arms broke. However, they were quickly healed by his warrior''s body. He quickly caught himself and charged forward again. In front of him was a massive beetle with two gigantic horns. It looked very simr to a stag beetle from Earth. Shang had been fighting this specimen for several minutes by now, which was very unusual for him since most of his fights only took a couple of seconds. However, Shang wasn''t fighting the beetle to kill it but to train himself. Right now, Shang had made Sword burn off a bit of its mass and made it transform into a long saber with a thick back. The feeling Sword gave him when he swung it was very different from normal. ¡®Sure enough, without using my Affinity or Domain, fighting a Late Commander Stage beast isn''t that easy, but that''s exactly what Ineed." At this moment, Shang was only fighting the beetle with his swordsmanship, which definitely wasn''t bad. After all, he had trained with Teacher Mervin for five years. Teacher Mervin had an incredibly weak bodypared to beasts, but he could still fight a beast on his own level alone, which was insane. If Teacher Mervin had Shang''s physical power, he could turn that beetle into several pieces in no time at all. Shang couldn''t achieve something like that yet, but he knew that as long as he kept going like this, he would eventually be powerful enough to rival that feat. Right now, Shang''s body was nearly as powerful as the body of an Initial True Path Stage warrior, even though he was only at the Mid Commander Stage. The difference in power between humans and beasts became more and more ridiculous as their level increased. After seeing the image of the diamond, Shang''s Path was basically set. Shang wanted to create a Path that could lead him to the absolute top, and he fought with different kinds of swords. So, logically, wouldn''t the best Path be the Path that included all the different variations of swords? It would take an insanely long time, but it seemed doable in Shang''s mind. Also, diamonds represented purity and the peak of hardness, right? Shang could tell that the True Path essentiallyid a foundation for all his future powers. He knew that there were probably around nine Realms in this world, and the True Path Stage represented the fourth. From the first third, Shang would enter the second third of the Realms. Additionally, just by looking at how different the required training was to reach the True Path Stagepared to the previous ones already showed that this Stage was special. The True Path might even decide someone''s future potential and upper limit. Shang knew that if he became sloppy now, he might never achieve his goal. He had already sacrificed so much, and he couldn''t let these sacrifices be in vain. One additional thing that convinced Shang that this was the right Path for him was his training with Teacher Mervin. Back then, Shang thought it impossible to counter absolutely every possible form of attack. Surprisingly, he was right. It actually was impossible. That was if he only used one weapon. The weapon might be too slow to block or parry a fast attack, or it might not be heavy and sturdy enough to block a slow but really powerful attack. However, if he could change the ratio of speed to power between his weapons at will, this would be possible! He would have an answer for every kind of attack! Of course, transforming a weapon at will was basically impossible. After all, Sword could only be lighter, not heavier, during a fight. But Shang actually didn''t think about this problem too much. There had to be some way to make this possible. The God himself had said that there was always a way! Right now, Shang couldn''t imagine how he could achieve something like that, but he trusted that, in the future, he would find a way. At this moment, he was too inexperienced, but when he gained enough experience in the future to achieve something like that, it would be a shame if Shang hadn''t made the proper preparations for that moment. Shang trusted in his future self, but to help his future self, he had to give his best right now! Shang essentially saw himself as someone that prepared the ingredients for a grand feast without being able to cook it. However, when he eventually learned to cook it, all the ingredients would be ready! And right now, Shang was working on his saber skills. The reason why he started with the saber was that it was the Star with the least Shards, namely none. Of course, Shang could focus on one weapon at a time until he created a Path, but he decided against it. What was the reason? Cross Comprehension! At least, that was what Shang called it. It essentially meant that parts of one category could make it easier to understand a different one due to ovepping concepts. Agood example would be science. If one had already learned an insane amount about math, understanding physics would be easier since physics included a lot of math. Aperson that knew a lot about math would have it easier to understand physics than one that didn''t. And if one understood physics and math pretty well, biology would also be easier since there are also a lot of ovepping concepts. With biology, one could understand psychology better, and so on. There were ovepping concepts everywhere, and Shang was also certain that the same thing was true for the different swords. Yes, he had to fight differently with the different weapons, but in the grand scheme of things, the attacks still all looked very simr.C0ntent ? 2024 (N/?)velDrama.Org. Shang was sure that knowing how to swing a saber would make it easier to learn how to use the other weapons, which would make it easier to understand the other weapons, which would... and so on. It was a positive feedback loop. BANG! Suddenly, Shang used his Affinity and fled from the beetle. The beetle tried to chase, but Shang easily managed to escape. Shang could have also killed the beetle, but that would reduce his future training partners. After Shang left, he summoned something from his Space Ring. It was a Communication Crystal, and it was currently ringing. Shang had gotten the Communication Crystal from Duke Whirlwind, and only he could reach it. "Yes?" Shang asked. ¡°Tomorrow is the day. You said two weeks, right?" Duke Whirlwind said. For a second, Shang had to think about what Duke Whirlwind meant. "The Abominations, right?" Shang asked. "Yes, do you know where and when they will arrive?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "I''m going to travel across the surrounding territories and do my best to redirect them. | will give you more information in a couple of hours," Shang said. "Good, thank you," Duke Whirlwind said before cutting the connection. Shang put the Communication Crystal away and furrowed his brows. ¡®Two weeks are already over? It barely feels like a day.¡¯ ¡®| guess I''ve gotten too used to training for long periods of time.¡¯ ¡®| should get ready and decide on a good time. It would be best if Duke Whirlwind could make Duke Mithril leave when it happens." Then, Shang smirked. ¡®Tomorrow, your second present will arrive, Duke Mithril!¡¯ And then, Shang left the Cave. Chapter 387 Chapter 387 Shang traveled across the Storm Eagle Zone, the Ice Wyvern Zone, and the Empress Cobra Zone while checking up on his connection to the Abominations. Had he lied when he had said that he could redirect Abominations to appear somewhere else? No. Over the past two years, Shang had noticed that some Abominations, connected to specific Zones where he had been, had felt unruly, which meant that they would soon appear. If they didn¡¯t receive amand, they would just appear as normal, but if Shang gave them amand, he could make them appear somewhere else. Sadly, he couldn''t stop them from appearing entirely. He could only tweak their destination. Of course, the Abominations actually weren''t intending toe to these couple of Zones in the next couple of weeks. But that didn''t matter. Shang would summon them regardless. After checking through the Zones, Shang noticed that none of the Abominations were nning oning, which was a good thing. After all, he had told Duke Whirlwind that he had a kind of deterring effect on them. Wouldn''t it be suspicious if Shang said that some Abominations were about to appear, redirect them, and then a new wave would appear just a weekter in the Zones where Shang was supposed to be? Because of that, Shang had to inspect the Abominations. His n would have worked either way. If the Abominations weren''t interested ining, Shang would summon them. If they were interested ining, Shang would redirect them. After checking through all the Zones, Shang contacted Duke Whirlwind again.N?velDrama.Org content rights. "| think they will appear tomorrow at around noon. | can''t be entirely sure about the time, but | shouldn''t be off by more than half an hour." "Understood," Duke Whirlwind said through the Communication Crystal. "! will get Duke Mithril to leave for a couple of hours." "Will he be suspicious?" Shang asked. "He might, but it doesn''t matter. There is no known way to control the appearances of the Abominations. Not even the Kings can do that. He might believe that | am responsible for that, but no one would believe him." ¡°Of course, we have to be careful how we do things in the future. If this keeps happening, even an idiot will suspect me,¡± Duke Whirlwind said. "No problem," Shang answered. "I''ll keep you informed about the Abominations, and you tell me what you want me to do with them." "Sounds good. I''ll tell you when Duke Mithril leaves. After | contact you, we can''te into contact for at least three days. Go back to the Caves when everything is over. | will contact you eventually," Duke Whirlwind said. "Alright," Shang answered. Then, he cut the connection. Shang put the Communication Crystal away and looked at the ce in front of him. Right now, Shang was inside a cave at the edge of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone and the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. From his current ce, Shang could see the entire Adamantite Behemoth Zone and Duke Mithril''s castle. His castle was quite big, and a lot of people lived around it. This single ce was where all the people inside the Adamantite Behemoth Zone lived. It was supposed to be one of the safest ces in the Kingdom. After all, a Duke was literally living in the middle of this town. But today, it would be one of the most dangerous. And then, Shang just waited. When thete morning arrived, Shang saw someone leave the town with quite a bit of speed, and Shang could see the distortion of Mana around them even from such a distance. ¡®That has to be Duke Mithril." Asecondter, Shang''s Communication Crystal rang. ¡°He should have just left. We''ll talk in a couple of days," Duke Whirlwind said before cutting the connection. Shang didn''t know how Duke Whirlwind managed to lure Duke Mithril out of his home, but it wasn''t important. There were probably a couple of ways. After Duke Mithril left for a while, Shang took out an intricately designed metal te. He put it on the ground and spoke some strange chants for a couple of seconds. Asecondter, the te began to shine, and Shang could feel a lot of Light Manae out of the te, which directly shot towards the distant town. Acouple of secondster, the te showed several moving images of the town. It was like Shang was watching the town filmed by a flying drone via a tablet pc. Obviously, Shang couldn''t create something that intricate. ¡®It sure helps to have a High Mage as an ally,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the te with a smirk. Shang only needed to use a bit of Mana to activate it. The Mana that the Spell actually used was already stored inside the te. Someone like Duke Whirlwind obviously also had at least one Light True Mage in his army. As Shang looked at the town on the te, he got reminded of thest time he worked for Duke Whirlwind. Back then, Duke Whirlwind had only asked Shang to catch a couple of traitors as an easy mission. He obviously didn''t really need Shang to do that task. The main purpose of the task was to get Shang used to working for him and to draw him in. Shang didn''t exactly see a problem with that. Resources were resources, and Duke Whirlwind could get resources that Shang couldn''t. Agood example was the Entropy ore, the True Path Stage ore, and a good set of armor. It would have been impossible for Shang to get these things outside of the Skythunder Kingdom, which was why he had returned. ¡®Last time, | only performed an easy and unimportant mission for Duke Whirlwind, but right now, it''s almost like we are partners. Of course, he is still vastly more powerful than me, but my powers have be irreceable for him.¡¯ As Shang looked at the town, he noted down all the defenses they had in ce. They were pathetic. Sure, there were a couple of Commander Stage warriors and like ten True Mages in the city, but they were missing a lot of heavy weaponry and Mage towers. However, Shang wasn''t surprised by that. This Zone was one of the safest. The Zone Beast never made any issues, the powerful beasts lived underground, it was nowhere near any of the frontlines, and lastly, a Duke lived here. Beefing up the defenses would be a waste of money. This Zone was nothing like the Ancestral Mountain Zone, Core Tiger Zone, or the border Zones of the ckshadow Kingdom. Those Zones were heavily fortified since they bordered an enemy Kingdom. Summoning an army of Abominations there only made the Kingdoms use up a bit of Mana. But here, things would be far more devastating. Agoodparison would be an elite striking force. If one set an elite striking force of ten highly trained soldiers into the middle of New York on Earth, they would do a lot of damage and im many lives. After all, the police would need to gather, and they weren''t trained to deal with such a highly trained unit. They would need to wait for something like a SWAT team or something simr, and even then, it would be problematic. But if one sent the same unit towards a fortified location on the frontlines of a war, they would barely achieve anything. After all, everyone was on high alert and armed to the teeth. After looking at the town for a while, Shang knew that the Abominations would do a lot of damage. However, he wanted more. He wanted Duke Mithril to pay! He wanted to hurt Duke Mithril as much as he could! ¡®Put a bounty on my head?¡¯ ¡®| will make you pay more for my head than you would ever be willing to pay! Chapter 388 Chapter 388 When it was shortly before noon, Shang got to work and connected with the Abominations. This time, he would summon more than usual. As the time to act came closer, Shang''s emotions became unruly. He got a bit nervous and apprehensive about the actions he was about tomit, but he only gritted his teeth and suppressed these insecurities with rage and anger. "He must pay!" he told himself as he contacted the Abominations. ¡®| will make him pay! Shang connected with two Commander Stage Abominations and their inferiors. It took a lot of his concentration, but he eventually managed to split one of the Commander Stage Abominations from the others. One of the Commander Stage Abominations would appear right in front of him while all the others would appear at the same ce. Shang''s emotions continued to intensify, but he kept suppressing them with more and more anger. ¡®Every enemy must die!" Then, Shang''s angry gaze went to the middle of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. ¡®Come! SHING! SHING! SHING! Over 800 Abominations appeared near the middle of the Zone as one of the Commander Stage Abominations appeared right beside Shang. Shang immediately consumed the Abomination. At this moment, the guards in the town looked with shocked horror at what they were seeing. No! This couldn''t be! The rm immediately rang throughout the town, and all the powerful Mages and warriors readied their weapons. The assault began literally five seconds after the Abominations had appeared, which was an insanely fast reaction. The first couple of attacksnded, killing several Abominations. The forces were ready for the Abominations'' counterattack, but they were surprised when nothing happened. The Abominations didn''t charge at the town. What were they doing? Why weren''t they attacking? And then, all the Abominations began to charge. However, they didn''t charge at the town. No, they ran away from the town. For a second, some confusion and relief appeared in the forces¡¯ minds. After all, they only needed to hold out for about three minutes or so. That would be when the Empress Cobra would arrive to deal with the Abominations in this Zone. As long as the Abominations didn''t attack the town, everything would be fine. Shang''s right eye became bloodshot as he gritted his teeth so hard that blood came out. ¡®My enemies must die!" ¡®They must die!" ¡®Leniency means putting myself at risk!" ¡®Every problem must be dealt with!¡¯ ¡®Leniency is recklessness!" ¡®Leniency is carelessness!" ¡®The crueler | am, the more people will be afraid of going against me in the future!¡¯ "For my future, | have to kill!" The Mages didn''t stop their assault, but they also weren''t as scared as before. The Abominations weren''t attacking them. That was good. But then, the atmosphere slowly began to change. After some seconds, the more intelligent ones amongst the Mages realized where the Abominations were going toward. No, this couldn''t be real! This couldn''t happen! This was a nightmare! "KILL THEM!" the superiors shouted as they unleashed absolutely all their Mana at the Abominations. The assault was devastating, but there were simply too many Abominations, and they didn''t even have nearly enough Mages or heavy weaponry to deal with them in a timely manner. They simply didn''t have enough firepower! Soon, a couple of Soldier Stage Abominations reached their target. BOOOOOOM! As soon as they reached their target, they exploded, but only a tiny bit of metal vanished. When the Mages saw that, their fear only intensified. They had to stop them! Then, the General Stage Abominations reached their target and exploded. BOOOOOOOOOOM! Huge chunks of ore vanished one after the other. Andstly, the Commander Stage Abomination reached its target. BOOOOOOOO000000000000M! Over a hundred meters of ore were turned into nothingness. Ssh! Ashower of blood appeared. In the middle of the Zone, the gigantic horn of the Adamantite Behemoth had a sizable chunk removed from it, and blood was flowing out. For a beast of such size and power, this only counted as a scratch wound. But a scratch wound still hurt, even if it was not dangerous at all. And then, the ground began to tremble. Shang watched everything with a bloodshot eye. ¡®Die!¡¯ Back when Shang had arrived in this Zone, he had been shocked by the gigantic horn. ¡®Die!¡¯ And he had been surprised that Duke Mithril had decided to ce his castle that close to the Adamantite Behemoth. ¡®Die!¡¯ Sure, it hadn''t moved for an eternity, but that wouldn''t always stay true, right? ¡®Die!¡¯ If it turned in its sleep, it would tten the entire town together with Duke Mithril''s castle. ¡®Die!¡¯ If that happened, over a thousand people would die. ¡®Die!¡¯ CRAAAACK! The metallic ground cracked in the surrounding kilometers, and the gigantic horn began to move. ¡®Die!¡¯ CRAAAAAAACK! Ahumongous head came out of the ground, and all the Abominations around it began to explode due to the sheer amount of Metal Mana that assaulted them. ¡®Die!¡¯ And as the head appeared, it became obvious that Duke Mithril had built his castle on the end of the Adamantite Behemoth''s snout. ¡®Die!¡¯ The fate of the town was sealed. The head moved. The foundation cracked. The buildings copsed. The castle broke apart. The homes were tumed into rubble. "| WANT YOU ALL TO DIE!" And the entire town toppled over like a toy building. The metallic foundation beneath it was lifted as well.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. The buildings had already copsed, and there was nothing to hold the foundation up. With a simple lift of its head, the Adamantite Behemoth flipped the hundreds of meters thick chunk of ore over. BOOOOOOOOOM! And it buried the town beneath it. Shang''s heart was beating violently in his ears as he was consumed by rage. In his rage-filled state, he couldn''tprehend what he had just done, and he preferred it this way. After seeing what he had done, Shang immediately charged towards the west, to the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. The Adamantite Behemoth looked at the Abominations around it with annoyance, gathered some Mana, and flooded them with it. All the Abominations vanished. At that moment, some lightning appeared around the fleeing Shang. The Adamantite Behemoth nced towards the west with annoyance and boredom. That one was too far away, and it really didn''t want to get up. Asecondter, more metal appeared around its horn, healing the injury. And then, it simplyy down again. More metal appeared above its head until it hadpletely disappeared. It looked just as before, except for one difference. There was one really big piece of ore lying a couple of hundred meters beside the ore. No one would even think that a castle and a town had been there just a moment ago. And the Adamantite Behemoth Zone fell into silence. Chapter 389 Chapter 389 "82 Apprentices, 137 Adepts, 12 True Mages, around 200 warriors of varying strengths, and over 800 normal people." Ack-haired woman stood in a cave-like room with several other people. All of them wore ostentatious robes filled to the brim with Magic Circles. Right now, she was looking at a blonde man who looked to be on the younger side. The blonde man kept his arms behind him to seem dignified, but his fists were clenched in rage and frustration. ¡°How do you exin these heavy losses, Duke Mithril?" the Head of the Council asked as she looked at him. Duke Mithril, the blonde man, seemed cold on the outside, but a deep hatred and rage were rampaging inside of him. He had just lost his home, a huge part of his wealth, and arge portion of his forces. And now, after all of this, he still had to justify everything in front of the Council. "| believe this has been a strike aimed specifically at me," Duke Mithril said coldly. "By whom?" one of the Council asked. Duke Mithril looked to his left. Agreen-haired, charismatic man stood a couple of meters to the left of Duke Mithril.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. "It''s Duke Whirlwind," he said. ¡°What is your response to these usations, Duke Whirlwind?" the Head of the Council asked. Duke Whirlwind only smiled charismatically. "They are only an attempt to shift me onto me," Duke Whirlwind said as if it weren''t a big deal. "I called him over to trade. We had a trade. He left. The timing was just very unfortunate." Duke Mithril wanted to snort, but he kept himself in check. "Yes, very unfortunate," he repeated. "I rarely leave my castle, and the one time | do, and the one time it is you who calls me, a never-before-seen attack of the Abominations appears in my territory." "Duke Mithril, please don''t make such ims without the relevant information,¡± Duke Whirlwind said. "The only witness to these events is a merchant that was on his way to the Storm Eagle Zone from the Volcano Wyrm Zone. He saw an army of Abominations, but his estimates range from 100 to 1000, which is not very reliable.¡± ¡°We all know that most Abomination invasions consist of 100 to 400 Abominations, which is well within his estimated range. The chances are overwhelmingly in favor of this just being a regr Abomination invasion," Duke Whirlwind exined. This time, Duke Mithril couldn''t stop himself from snorting. "If this were a normal-sized invasion, my defenses would have been able to take care of them." The Council remained silent as they watched the two Dukes bicker with each other. ¡°Would they?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "Yes, they would have," Duke Mithril confirmed. "Duke Mithril, you seem to forget that we are neighbors, and it ismon for neighbors to look at their neighbors¡¯ houses," Duke Whirlwind said with a raised eyebrow. ¡°Are you using me of something?" Duke Mithril asked with a dark tone. "Lam," Duke Whirlwind said. The atmosphere shifted a bit after Duke Whirlwind said that. "While it is true that, with you present, your castle exceeded the updated defense mandates, this is not the case if you are absent.¡± "Just based on the report of losses, we can easily deduce how many people have defended your castle." ¡°Twelve True Mages died, but a town with over 1,000 people living in it must be defended by a collective force of 30 True Mages," Duke Whirlwind said. "| know that," Duke Mithril answered, "which is why there also were hundreds of warriors stationed near my castle with the necessary fortifications." ¡°Necessary fortifications," Duke Whirlwind repeated with a snort. "That''s a lie." The Council furrowed their brows at Duke Whirlwind. He better have proof to make such a im! "Council, if | could direct your attention to this Light Vision Array for a moment," Duke Whirlwind said as he took out a te filled with Magic Circles. "You made pictures of my home?!" Duke Mithril shouted in outrage. "This is a breach of privacy! This is proof that you were nning on disturbing the peace of the Kingdom by attacking me!" Duke Whirlwind only smirked. "| was concerned for your people, Duke Mithril," he said. "I''ve noticed that there is a distinctck of heavy ballistae on the walls, and | feared that there would be troubles. | wanted to bring this to the Council''s attention earlier, but I''ve been held up in the Storm Eagle Zone. The Zone has be a bit more difficult to manage in thest couple of years." "Show us the pictures," the Council demanded. Duke Whirlwind nodded and activated the Light Vision Array. Asecondter, the images that Shang had taken were there for all to see. There were only five heavy ballistae on the walls. "One heavy ballista armed by a Commander Stage warrior counts as one True Mage in terms of defensive power," the Head of the Council said. "With the twelve True Mages we''ve lost, this woulde to 17 True Mages in terms of defensive force. If we were generous, we could give you another three for the presence of all the Adepts and warriors, but that would be the upper limit." ¡°Duke Mithril, could you exin these pictures to us?¡± she asked. "They are correct," Duke Mithril said. "As you all know, | haven''t left my castle in several weeks, and | found the constant presence of over 30 True Mages, while | was there, to be a waste of resources." The Council nodded, and the Head of the Council looked at Duke Whirlwind. Right now, Duke Whirlwind could see a cold,plex, and threatening re in the Head''s eyes. She was obviously threatening him covertly. "Duke Whirlwind,¡± she said with a cold voice. "Do you have anything to say against that?" Duke Whirlwind only looked at the Head. "That would be enough to defend a town." "However, he wasn''t there." Duke Mithril gritted his teeth and red at Duke Whirlwind while the eyes of the Council narrowed coldly. ¡°Because you lured me away! This was all your n!" Duke Mithril shouted while pointing at Duke Whirlwind. "| did invite you, yes," Duke Whirlwind answered. "However, defending your towns is your duty." "Why didn''t you just order three Circles back to the town for a day while you left? That couldn''t have taken very long. You have a territory and force equivalent to two Dukes. Are you telling us that you can''t spare three Circles for half a day?" Duke Whirlwind asked. This was an unassable argument. Duke Mithril quickly tried to find a counterargument. What about Duke Whirlwind''s biggest city, Warrior''s Paradise? As soon as Duke Mithril thought of that, he immediately threw that argument to the side. Warrior''s Paradise was about as fortified as it got. It was probably the most fortified location in the entire Kingdom, except for the Skythunder Zone. 2,000 Abominations could appear there, and they wouldn''t even reach it before they all died. "I''ve heard enough." Everyone immediately stopped everything that they were doing and looked at the throne. "Duke Whirlwind,¡± King Skythunder said as he cleaned his nails with a long piece of metal. "Did you summon the Abominations?" "No, my King," Duke Whirlwind answered. King Skythunder nodded without looking at him. He was too preupied with cleaning the dirt out from beneath his nails. ¡°Duke Mithril," King Skythunder continued. "At the time of the assault, your castle did not fulfill the defense mandate. Is that true?" Duke Mithril''s mind tried toe up with a way to rationalize that it actually was fortified... But the more he hesitated under King Skythunder''s attention, the more scared he became. "Yes, my King," he said with a defeated voice. King Skythunder nodded. "There. Everything''s resolved," he said. "Council, you can decide the punishment." The Council looked at each other as they talked with their Spirit Senses. Acouple of secondster, they came to a consensus. The Head of the Council stepped forward and looked at Duke Mithril. She also threw a cold nce at Duke Whirlwind, but he didn''t react. ¡°Duke Mithril has not fulfilled his duties to the Council''s expectations," she proimed. "Therefore, the Adamantite Behemoth Zone will be handled by someone else of the Archduke''s choosing." Duke Mithril gritted his teeth. He had just lost his most important Zone. ¡°Additionally,¡± the Head of the Council continued. "Since the Empress Cobra Zone is now in an isted position, the control over this Zone will also transfer to another Duke, which will be left for the Archduke to decide." When Duke Mithril heard that, his face turned white. He had just lost two Zones! Even more, the reasoning of the Council for taking away the Empress Cobra Zone as well was shoddy, which could only mean one thing. Duke Mithril was thrown out of the secret alliance to deal with Duke Whirlwind. Duke Mithril had screwed up, and King Skythunder had taken note of everything. Even though the Council was united, King Skythunder was unassable. If King Skythunder didn''t like someone, the Council couldn''t possibly act favorably toward them. King Skythunder didn''t make much of his own opinion known in this session, but the Council knew him for decades, and they could tell what he thought of someone. And they saw that King Skythunder didn''t like Duke Mithril. Because of that, they threw Duke Mithril to the side. He would still get to keep his other territories, but he would only do the basics of what a Duke was supposed to do. Duke Whirlwind didn''t say anything as he watched everything unfold. This seemed like a win, but it only reced one enemy with a different one. He knew that he wouldn''t get these territories. The Archduke was his enemy, just like the Council. Chapter 390 Chapter 390 "The Adamantite Behemoth Zone and Empress Cobra Zone will be under Duke Torrent''s rule from now on." Shang looked at his Communication Crystal as he heard these words. "That''s the Duke to the east of the Zones, correct?" he asked.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. "Correct," Duke Whirlwind answered. "That means that Duke Mithril is left with the Ice Wyvern Zone, the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone, the Volcano Wyrm Zone, and the Thunder Horse Zone, right?" "Right." Shang furrowed his brows. He had hoped that Duke Whirlwind would get something back, but that thought had obviously been naive. ¡°What''s your rtionship with Duke Torrent?¡± he asked. ¡°Duke Torrent and | have been good friends for a long while, but she follows the Council''s orders perfectly. Our old friendship doesn''t matter at this point since she will go against us just like Duke Mithril," Duke Whirlwind answered. When Shang heard the word "us", he felt a bit strange. Was this a feeling ofpanionship? He wasn''t sure. "What do we do now?" Shang asked. ¡°For now, we need toy low," Duke Whirlwind answered. "If any Abominations appear in the Storm Eagle Zone, don''t stop them, but it would be better if they appeared in the wild or near Warrior''s Paradise. The Farm Line is also not easy to attack, but many people will still die." ¡°But we also need to be attacked by the Abominations to make it seem like we have nothing to do with this attack." "That shouldn''t be a problem," Shang answered. "Good," Duke Whirlwind said. "For now, keep training. Your armor is already done, but | will only give it to you when you officially return. I''ve already made it seem like it''s a present for George, and you will just be the benefactor of a coincidence." "Thank you," Shang answered. "No problem." After Duke Whirlwind said that, a couple of seconds of silence happened. ¡°You weren''t responsible for the manner in which things went down, right?" Duke Whirlwind suddenly asked. Shang''s insides shook a bit, but they tensed immediately as Shang repressed these feelings. "| can only somewhat control where they appear. | can''t tell them what to do," Shang lied. "| thought so," Duke Whirlwind answered. "ording to the witness, the Abominations appeared near Duke Mithril''s castle, which was what we agreed on. However, it also makes sense that the Abominations would attack the ce with the densest Mana, which would be the horn of the Adamantite Behemoth." "| should have thought of that while we were nning," Duke Whirlwind said, and Shang could hear a sigh through the Communication Crystal. "Shang, | just want you to know that this was not your fault.¡± Shang''s insides shook again. "You only diverted a cmity from your home to a different location, and whatever happened was not in your control." "| should have considered the Abominations'' nature while we were nning.¡± "If | had known that they would attack the Adamantite Behemoth''s horn, | would have told you to summon them west of the town, not around it." "| know that this probably weighs heavily on your mind, and | know that you are probably ming yourself for how things turned out. After all, we only wanted to weaken Duke Mithril''s forces, not doom over a thousand people to die.¡± "Just, don''t me yourself, okay?" "You were not to me." "This was not your doing.¡± "Okay?" Shang knew that Duke Whirlwind was ming himself, and he wanted to do nothing but protest. It had been him! Duke Whirlwind had been the one that had no control over anything! Shang had nned to do that ever since he had arrived back at the Skythunder Kingdom! He had concocted these schemes, and even if Duke Whirlwind had told Shang not to do anything, he would still have done it! Yet... "We just had bad luck," Shang said as he tried to sound as normal as always. "There''s nothing that we could have done." "You''re right," Duke Whirlwind answered, "but as the more experienced one and the one that came up with that n, it was my duty to know better." "You had nothing to do with it, okay?" he repeated. Shang gritted his teeth. "| know," he said. "Sorry, but | don''t want to talk about that right now. | need to train to distract my mind." ¡°Understandable,¡± Duke Whirlwind said. "I''ll leave you to it. If you have any news regarding the appearance of the next wave of Abominations in my territory, tell me." "| will," Shang answered. "Good. Later." "Later." And then, the connection was cut. Shang immediately put the Communication Crystal away. He feared, if he kept it inside his hand, that he would throw it against a wall and destroy it. "It''s not you! It''s me!" Shang shouted inside the cave. ¡°But I''ve done the right thing!" "It was the right thing to do!" ¡°My enemies must die!" ¡°Leniency is weakness!" Shang breathed heavily as rage swallowed all his other emotions. "It was the right thing to do," Shang repeated calmer. For the past couple of days, Shang had been fully immersed in training. When there was a quiet moment, Shang''s insides churned, which was why he avoided all quiet moments. He had done the right thing! Why was his preconceived and faulty notion of morality from Earth making so many issues for him?! He was supposed to feel happy for finally dealing such a heavy hit to his enemy! Yet, there was nothing positive about this! He only felt angry! ''L hate it!¡± ¡®| hate this feeling of weakness!¡¯ hate it!" Shang quickly grabbed Sword and charged deeper into the cave. ¡®Only strength can cure me of this weakness!" ¡®| can''t keep wasting my time pondering over these useless things!" ¡®Lhave to train!" After a while, Shang found his next opponent, and his saber quickly attacked it. As soon as the fight became dangerous, Shang''s mind calmed down and turned to tranquility. His mind knew that it had to fully focus on the fight, or things might go badly. His mind was only calm when he was in danger. Chapter 391 Chapter 391 Shang kept drowning himself in training with his saber. He fought one beast after the other without any pause. During these fights, his mind was calm, and he was focused. His survival and power were the only important things. About a monthter, Shang summoned some more Abominations in the Storm Eagle Zone, but he only summoned them around Warrior''s Paradise. The Abominations couldn''t even end a single life during that fight. Surprisingly, the Storm Eagle didn''t decide to leave. It probably was still a bit afraid of getting involved too much. Sure, if there were a Commander Stage or True Path Stage Abomination, it would definitelye out and kill it, but the Commander Stage Abomination vanished so quickly that it couldn''t be sure if there had even been one. Shang''s return was still kept secret, even from the Dean. Right now, Duke Whirlwind wanted to be careful more than anything else. Luckily, Shang managed to keep himself away from any prying eyes. He had be very good at hiding after years of staying inside hostile Kingdoms. Duke Whirlwind and Shang talked from time to time, but it was mostly about how to deal with their next target, Duke Torrent. Duke Torrent was an Early High Mage with a Water Affinity. She was generally seen as approachable, likable, and friendly. Additionally, since she was the second-best healer in the entire Kingdom, right after the Archduke with her Light Affinity, she was very popr amongst the popce. Due to her abilities, nearly no one died under her rule while being attacked by the Abominations, which was very rare. After all, only extremely fortified locations could im to have such a low fatality rate amongst their forces. However, when Shang heard about these qualities, he only narrowed his right eye. She was his enemy, just like 90% of the world, and her beloved status only made it harder to assault her public image. Inparison to Duke Mithril, she followed all the Council''s orders perfectly, and there was nothing Shang could bring to light that could taint her image in the Council''s eyes. Duke Whirlwind and Shang talked a lot about how to deal with her, but it just seemed too difficult. That was until Shang got an idea. But as soon as Duke Whirlwind heard that idea, he shot it down. He couldn''t possibly do that. Shang tried to convince him, but Duke Whirlwind refused to do something like that. He knew that nothing would happen, but he still saw it as a breach of trust. Shang asked him what else they could do, but Duke Whirlwind kept shooting down the idea, and by the looks of things, he wouldn''t budge. In the end, Shang could only groan in frustration. Without Duke Whirlwind''s support, he couldn''t do these kinds of things. Well, he could do them, but that would be akin to betraying Duke Whirlwind, which was bad for Shang. What had Shang''s n been? Kill a couple of isted and powerful Circles of Duke Torrent. Now, if it were only that, the Duke wouldn''t mind as much, but the important bit was what came after. Shang would have killed Circles filled with Mid True Mages, which wouldn''t be easy for him but also not too hard. Of course, Duke Torrent would quickly investigate what had happened, and she would just happen to find evidence that brought her to one solid conclusion. A powerful warrior had to have killed them. Shang would have killed the Mages in a way that made it certain that they had been killed by a warrior. Together with the power of the dead Circles, only two suspects woulde to mind. The Dean and Vice-Dean Ranos. Duke Torrent would use them of treason, and they would be brought in front of the castle. ATruth Verification Spell would have been activated, and they would have been questioned thoroughly. Duke Torrent would have been certain of their guilt since they were the only two warriors with enough power to achieve something like that. However, since both of them didn¡¯t even know that Shang was back, their innocence would be proven. After all, they genuinely wouldn''t know who had killed the Circle or Circles. After that, Duke Torrent would have to take a loss and apologize publicly. using someone of treason was a risky maneuver. After all, the Kingdom couldn''t just investigate everyone that was used and treat them like criminals. It was simr to the time Shang had asked the Inquisitor to read the mind of one of the warriors in the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. If they proved to be a traitor, Shang would have found a criminal and would have been rewarded. But if he had used them unjustly, he would have had to pay the price. So, Duke Torrent''s spotless track record would have received a thick and grimy stain. Shang thought that this was a good n. After all, nothing would happen to the Dean or Vice-Dean Ranos. They would just need to talk a bit, and that was it. However, Duke Whirlwind refused. ording to his words, this was like manipting or betraying his two most powerful warriors. It would give him short-term gains, but the broken trust would be more expensive in the long run. Ata very frustrated moment, Shang had nearly given a solution to that as well, but he kept himself in check. If he gave that solution, Duke Whirlwind might lose all trust in him. The conversation ended, and Shang got time to think about what he had just been about to say. For a moment, it felt surreal to even have such a thought in his mind. Kill the Dean and Vice-Dean Ranos after they showed signs of betrayal? They had been his teachers for years, and they had helped him. ¡®| can''t believe | actually thought of something like that,¡¯ Shang thought. "Yes, it would be a solution, but it''s just wrong.¡¯ It just seemed like the simplest, most direct, and efficient method of solving the problem." For some time, Shang thought about what kind of things he had done, but he quickly focused on training again. He couldn''t waste time on such unimportant matters of earthly morals! And just like that, six months passed, and it was time for Shang to officially return to the Skythunder Kingdom. Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. Chapter 392 Chapter 392 About six months after Shang arrived in the Storm Eagle Zone, he prepared to officially return. He traveled through multiple Zones in disguise until he arrived at one bordering the frontlines. Inparison to the rich ces all over the Kingdom, this Zone looked barren. There were no farms, no trading hubs, and no cities. There were only lots of warriors and Mages stationed here who were preparing for the next assault on the Grandmountain Kingdom. This Zone was the Hurricane Wolf Zone, and the Zone bordering it, which belonged to the Grandmountain Kingdom, was the Explosion Gecko Zone. Shang and Duke Whirlwind had alreadye up with a good n to let Shang return. Duke Whirlwind had told Shang that it had been quite a while since there had been any Abominations appearing in these two Zones. If Shang could redirect them more towards the Grandmountain Kingdom''s frontlines, he could charge through without any suspicion. But wait, wouldn''t someone be suspicious if Abominations appeared around Shang? No, why would they? Abominations appeared all the time, and the Zones were already on high alert for the next wave. The wave would be expected, not unexpected. Duke Whirlwind had nned everything in detail with Shang, including what things the Skythunder Kingdom would find in his Space Ring. Shang even changed Sword''s appearance again to its Colossal Sword size. That would make it more believable for Shang to have blended in as a barbarian in the Grandmountain Kingdom. Theoretically, due to the way the border was set up, Shang could cross it without being noticed, even without the Abominations. The Hurricane Wolf Zone was filled with thin but incredibly tall spires, housing many flying beasts. Shang only needed to climb one, "persuade" a beast to carry him, and fly to the Explosion Gecko Zone without anyone noticing. After all, these flying beasts kept flying across the border all the time. They were about asmon as birds for the border guards, and they wouldn''t look at them. Inspecting every single flying beast that flew kilometers above their heads would require a tremendous number of resources, and the Grandmountain Kingdom was already short on resources concerning this frontline. In the war against the Skythunder Kingdom, the Grandmountain Kingdom wasn''t focusing on winning but on buying time and surviving. They were focusing their entire power on fighting the ckshadow Kingdom while waiting for the Magic Purity Kingdom to deal with the Skythunder Kingdom. Shang could get back to the Hurricane Wolf Zone from the Explosion Gecko Zone in a simr way, but inparison to the Grandmountain Kingdom, the Skythunder Kingdom actually spent the resources to check the beasts flying towards them from the Grandmountain Kingdom. They had caught quite a few spies that way. If Shang returned via this way, it would look very suspicious to the Skythunder Kingdom. If Shang were an ally, why would he try to sneak into his own home, and how did he know about the beasts and how the defenses were set up? So, while Shang could get to the Grandmountain Kingdom this way, he couldn''t return the same way. Additionally, Shang could just start "flying" with his sts since that tool was too good for escaping. Some of Duke Whirlwind''s enemies might suspect Shang of having returned earlier and being responsible for the death of Kiva Orvis. Taking all of this into consideration, this meant that Shang had to break through the frontline. Only in this way would he not receive any suspicion at all... Well, after he probably got thoroughly interrogated, but Duke Whirlwind had already set everything up for Shang to deal with that. Due to the distance to Duke Whirlwind, the resident Duke wasn''t involved in the conflict between the Council and Duke Whirlwind. His territories were so far away that it was pointless to involve him. After all, even though the Council was united against Duke Whirlwind, they still couldn''t allow anyone to talk to King Skythunder about this. The fewer the people that knew the specifics, the better. Because of that, the resident Duke was not involved in this inner conflict at all. He and his forces would be neutral in the matter. After arriving at the Hurricane Wolf Zone, Shang quickly climbed one of the spires, grabbed a powerful bird, and used it to fly across the border. He flew the bird right into another powerful beast and made it appear that both beasts had heavily injured each other in a fight. Both of the beasts fell to the ground, and Shang kept himself hidden between their bodies. After Shangnded, he put the corpses into his inner world and hid amongst the crevices of the Explosion Gecko Zone. And then, he waited. Sure enough, a couple of minutester, a curious barbarian arrived at the spot, searching for the corpses. He had probably seen the two corpses and believed that he could make some money with them. Shang used his Pseudo-Spirit Sense to check the surroundings and noted that no one was close. BANG! Shang exploded forward, killed the barbarian, and pulled him into a hiding spot in less than three seconds. The kill was clean, quick, and efficient. After searching through the corpse, Shang found the things he was searching for. Shang pulled out a silver needle from his inner world and put it into the corpse''s right biceps. Asecondter, a light image appeared on the corpse''s shoulder. It was the insignia of this frontline. This was a vital piece of information the Skythunder Kingdom had received during their long war, and they were waiting for a good opportunity to use it. But today, Shang would use it. After a while, the image disappeared, and the needle shone.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. Shang stabbed his own biceps with the needle, and the same image now appeared on his biceps. Shang put the silver needle away and focused on the heavy cor of the barbarian. This frontline was not for the talented barbarians but for the criminals. Basically every single barbarian wore these cors here. Shang retrieved a couple of exquisitely crafted tools and put them on the cor ording to Duke Whirlwind''s instructions. Clink! The cor opened on its own! "Having a High Mage helping me makes a tremendous difference.¡¯ Shang put the cor on his own neck and closed it. After that, he put the tools away from the cor, and all its function resumed like nothing had happened. After all of this had happened, Shang was supposed to destroy the tools, but he put them into his inner world instead. After all, Duke Whirlwind didn''t know about Shang''s inner world, and the reason why Shang was supposed to destroy the tools was to keep his Space Ring clean of any suspicious things. Shang changed his outer appearance to appear more like a barbarian. He even got rid of the bandage that hid his empty eye socket. By the end, Shang stood in the middle of the crevice with a bare upper body, nearly destroyed pants, rough hair, and a humongous sword. Lastly, Shang took out a te and recited a strange chant. After Shang was done, the te began to shine and vanish. At the same time, Shang felt many different kinds of Mana envelop his body until they eventually vanished. Shang didn''t look any different, but something crucial was now very different. Anyone that looked at Shang would think that he was at the Mid General Stage with an average Battle-Strength. Only a High Mage would be able to see through it. Was there a High Mage here? Yes, but they couldn''t be bothered with inspecting every single barbarian all the time. They had people for that. Shang went through his mental checklist and saw that he was done with the preparations. He cleared the surroundings, prepared himself mentally, and walked out of the crevice. He walked towards the frontlines in a leisurely manner. It was almost like he was supposed to be here. Chapter 393 Chapter 393 After a couple of minutes of walking, Shang reached the actual frontlines. He could see several huge walls, over ten Mage Towers, around 20 True Mages, and hundreds of barbarians. 20 True Mages was a bit on the meager side when it came to fortifications on a war front, but the hundreds of barbarians easily made up for that.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. The fact that there were ten Mage Towers with only 20 True Mages told Shang that the Grandmountain Kingdom wanted to lose as few True Mages as possible. One Mage Tower generally had two True Mages inside of it. They could work with the Magic Circles and perfectly split up the work. One of them would n, choose the attacks, and keep the Magic Circles running, while the other one only needed to aim and fire. The Mana would mostlye from Mana Crystals, which were stored inside the Mage Tower itself. So, with 20 True Mages, the ten Mage Towers could be used to their full force. Obviously, the Grandmountain Kingdom saw their True Mages as more valuable than their actual resources. Otherwise, they wouldn''t have built just as many Mage Towers as it needed True Mages to operate them. They just didn''t want to lose more True Mages. As Shang looked at the army of barbarians, he saw hopelessness, fear, and frustration. Based on how the defenses were set up, Shang could very well imagine how everything would go. Acouple of Adepts would herd the barbarians to the front while the True Mages shot at the enemy from their safe Mage Towers. Naturally, an army of Fighter Stage barbarians was not very threatening to the Skythunder Kingdom. After all, most warriors could cut through them like cutting grass. But that was not the purpose of the barbarian army. Their purpose was just to slow the advancing offense down to give the Mage Towers more time to rain death on their enemies. In short, the barbarians were cannon fodder. Their purpose was to give their life to buy time. That was all. As Shang arrived at the actual gate of the encampments, a couple of True Mages were eying him suspiciously. They were not constantly in their towers. When there was no threat, a quarter of them would manage the encampment. "Stop, cannon fodder!" one of the True Mages shouted at Shang with a strict voice. Shang only stopped and looked down at the ground. He wanted to appear fearful. "You don''t seem familiar. Identify yourself!" he ordered as he looked at the gigantic sword on Shang''s back. He didn''t remember seeing such a huge weapon. "Jaimy, stop being so paranoid," the other True Mage groaned with annoyance. "He''s just another barbarian. We go through barbarians like pieces of paper. Of course you won''t recognize all of them." "| like to be careful,¡± the other True Mage said with furrowed brows. "You! Identify yourself!" he repeated. "My name is Kernal. |e from the Strong Stone Tribe," Shang said slowly as he looked at the ground. Right now, Shang was borrowing one of the names of the barbarians he had taught and another barbarian''s tribe. He was essentially mixing the two identities to create a new one. The True Mage stepped forward and chanted a short Spell. Shang didn''t look up. Asecondter, Shang''s right biceps shone with the emblem of the frontline. "See?" the other True Magemented in boredom. "Stop being so paranoid." The other True Mage only narrowed his eyes. "Show me your cor!" Shang slowly lifted his head and looked upward to show his cor. The True Mage stepped forward, touched the cor, and chanted a Spell. Acouple of runes appeared on the cor for around three seconds. The True Mage only furrowed his brows and looked at Shang. "Look at me," he ordered. Shang looked the True Mage in the eyes. The True Mage only sneered. "We''re really scraping the bottom of the barrel here. We even get cripples now." Shang didn''t look away, and he did his best to keep his thoughts a secret. "Go in," the other True Mage ordered Shang. Obviously, he had gotten quite annoyed with Shang''s presence. Shang wasn''t sure if he should follow the new order or the old order. SLAP! The first True Mage pped him, and Shang had to act like it hurt a lot. After all, even though a True Mage''s body wasn''t very powerful, Shang was currently mimicking a Mid Fighter Stage barbarian. Shang even bit his cheek to make it appear like the p had injured him. "You''ve received an order!" the first True Mage shouted aggressively after pping Shang. Then, Shang quickly scurried into the base. The first True Mage sneered at the leaving Shang while the other one just looked forward in boredom. After some scurrying, Shang started to walk normally again. ¡®Sure enough, everything went just as nned,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang wasn''t exactly angry at the True Mage. It wasn''t because Shang was such a good person, but because Shang literally saw that True Mage as less than dirt. Why should Shang get angry at an ant? Shang might have felt quite some anger on several asions in thest couple of months, but something like this was insignificant to him. Additionally, Shang''s focus was on something else. Ever since he had gotten close to the encampment, he had felt some kind of spying force interact with his being. This was nothing new to Shang. This was the feeling of being inside a High Mage''s Spirit Sense. Shang didn''t dare to activate his own Pseudo-Spirit Sense for fear of being discovered by the High Mage, but he could still feel the High Mage''s Spirit Sense. Shang hadn''t seen the High Mage, but he felt like they were quite a bit weaker than Duke Whirlwind, which wasn''t very surprising. Duke Whirlwind was one of the most powerful High Mages in the entire Skythunder Kingdom. He could probably even win against most members of the Council. After entering the camp, Shang walked around, talked with some barbarians, and simply focused on wasting time. He had to wait for a good opportunity to summon the Abominations. Chapter 394 Chapter 394 Shang spent the next couple of days just waiting in the camp. He obviously couldn''t train in his usual way in the encampment, but he could consume another beast heart at least. It might not be the heart of an Abomination, but Shang didn''t need to exclusively only use beast hearts. By now, Shang''s power was at around 97% of a Mid Commander Stage beast, and he felt that he could still grow by quite a bit. In at most three more months, he should be ready to advance to the Late Commander Stage. Finally, five days after Shang had arrived, something happened. The normal barbarians didn''t feel like anything had changed, but Shang managed to pick up on the subtle cues. Several of the Mage Towers were deactivated as the Mages left them. They didn¡¯t seem to act suspiciously, but they quickly made their way to the northeast of the Zone. The Mages that managed the camp were reduced from around six to only two as the other Mages entered the Mage Towers. But there was one change that was even more important. The Spirit Sense of the High Mage had vanished. ¡®And that''s my cue to leave,¡¯ Shang thought with a smirk. The reason why Duke Whirlwind had chosen this specific frontline and this specific time was the Skythunder Kingdom''s n for the war. Over the past couple of months, the Skythunder Kingdom had gathered more and more forces on this frontline, forcing the Grandmountain Kingdom to also station more forces here. But then, with the help of some Magic, the forces of the Skythunder Kingdom left without the Grandmountain Kingdom noticing. The walls, towers, and defenses were still manned to the absolute brim on the Skythunder Kingdom''s side, but there was nothing behind them. The defenses were essentially only a cardboard cutout. Everyone else had traveled further north to attack a different frontline, which was at the northern end of this Zone. Of course, something like this didn''te without risks. If the Grandmountain Kingdom decided to attack this ce right now, the defenses of the Skythunder Kingdom might be breached, which would be devastating. However, the Skythunder Kingdom was certain that the Grandmountain Kingdom wouldn''t do that. They were simply too intimidated. They were doing their best just to keep the Skythunder Kingdom at bay, and they were even failing at that. Actively attacking such an enemy? That was suicide! At least, that was how the Grandmountain Kingdom saw things. With half of the True Mages and the High Mage gone, Shang could finally try escaping. ¡®Originally, | wanted to summon some Abominations, but | think the timing might make it a bit suspicious,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked around the calm camp. ¡®I should just go for it.¡¯ Shang looked up and saw that around four Mage Towers were active. ¡®Why don''t we help the Skythunder Kingdom a bit? After all, | only need to keep my ability to escape a secret. My power doesn''t necessarily need to remain a secret.¡¯ ¡®It might actually be even better if Duke Whirlwind''s enemies believe me to be a powerful warrior. That might motivate them to strike me, which would open them up to a counterattack.¡¯ Shang only smirked as he looked at the Mage Towers. ¡®Might as well put on a show." Shang had already looked at the Mages. There were one Peak True Mage, two Late True Mages, five Mid True Mages, and 13 to 15 Early True Mages. Together with the High Mage, it would have been basically impossible for Shang to escape. However, the High Mage, the Peak True Mage, one of the Late True Mages, and all five Mid True Mages had left for the north. This meant that there were only one Late True Mage and 13 to 15 Early True Mages left in the encampment. From the outside, just like the Skythunder Kingdom''s side, the defenses looked to be fully manned, but most of their power had secretly left them. Shang nced at a ratherrge building in the middle of the encampment. This was where the leaders of the frontline lived and met. It was essentially themand center. Shang quickly walked over. "Halt!" the single True Mage that defended the entrance ordered. Normally, there were two, but this time, there was only one. "| have a message for Major Sparker from Lord Hario!" Shang said respectfully with a salute. Over thest couple of days, Shang had had plenty of time to find out the titles and names of all the important people. The True Mage only furrowed his brows at Shang. "And why would hemission your services instead of using the Communication Crystal?" he asked. "Sir, | don''t know!" Shang said. "I''m only following orders!" The True Mage kept eying Shang suspiciously. "Did Lord Hario tell you something that you should tell the guard of themand center?¡± "No, sir," Shang said. "Only Major Sparker is allowed to hear the message."Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. The True Mage kept eying Shang. "You do know that if you are lying, you will be executed right then and there, right?¡± "| know, sir!" Shang said. "I''m just following orders!" The True Mage kept looking at Shang suspiciously. However, Shang''s power was truly pitiful. The True Mage could probably beat Shang up with only his body. Even if that barbarian tried anything fishy, he wouldn''t pose any danger. And if Shang was actually under the orders of Lord Hario, the True Mage might get severely punished. "Go in," the True Mage said with a cold voice as he opened the door. "Thank you, sir!" Shang said as he quickly ran into the building. Shang hurriedly ran up the stairs until he was in front of the biggest door. Then, he knocked. "Enter!" came the order from behind the door. Shang quickly opened the door and looked at the Mage standing beside the table with a worried expression. When Major Sparker saw Shang, he furrowed his brows. Why was a lowly barbarian inside here? "Major Sparker!" Shang shouted as he stepped forward with a crestfallen face. "I bring bad news!" Major Sparker wasn''t a fan of Shang stepping closer, but he was more concerned with the news. "What''s the news?" Shang continued stepping forward with nervousness. "A sword has been found!" Major Sparker furrowed his brows in confusion. BANG! Major Sparker''s eyes opened widely in terror as he looked down. An absolutely enormous sword had pierced his chest. It was so big that its edge went from his neck to his pelvis! How had this sword been so fast?! "Inside your chest," Shang said with a smirk. "Well, torso." SHING! Shang''s sword cut upward and bisected the Late True Mage like a sausage. Without their Mana Shield active and while being in weapon''s distance of Shang, Mages were really not scary. Shang quickly cut Major Sparker''s head off, dumped it inside his Space Ring, and put Major Sparker''s Space Ring into a small sack that hung on Shang''s waist. Sadly, Space Rings couldn''t be stored in other Space Rings. Sure, Shang could also put the Space Ring in his inner world, but he wanted this Space Ring to be found by Skythunder Kingdom''s border guards. Shang slowly walked down the stairs and stopped in front of them. Then, he took a deep breath. "SKYTHUNDER KINGDOM SENDS THEIR REGARDS!" BANG! Sure enough, the front door burst open as the True Mage charged in. CRACK! Shang quickly arrived in front of him, tore his head off, pulled the corpse into a corner, and pocketed the Space Ring together with the head. From the side of a wall, Shang nced through the opened door. It was forbidden for barbarians to approach the building unless specifically ordered. Even though Shang had shouted, only the guard had heard him. Shang saw that no one had noticed and smirked. Then, he stepped out of the building... And looked at the Mage Towers with a malicious smirk. Chapter 395 Chapter 395 BANG! Nearly all the barbarians and Mages winced and looked in shock at themand center. Its roof had just exploded off, and everyone could see mese out from beneath the destroyed roof. For two seconds, no one could react. "HELP!" Shang shouted as he ran out in a panic. There were burns all over his body, and he was bleeding in multiple ces. His face was full of terror. ¡°Lord Sparker has been assassinated!" he shouted. The True Mages quickly looked at each other in shock. Silence. They were waiting for orders... But there was no one left to order them! The High Mage, the Peak Mage, and one of the Late True Mages had left. And thest Late True Mage had just been killed! ¡°Tower Three, check themand center! We will protect you from the other towers!" one of the Mages shouted under these stressful circumstances. This person was somewhat the unofficial leader amongst Early True Mages. "Understood," one of the Mages in Tower Three said. The two Mages in Tower Three quickly left their Mage Towers and ran toward themand center. Shang ran towards them, fear in his eyes. When he saw that they had already activated their Mana Shields, he got annoyed. Then, Shang seemed to stumble. His left arm went towards the ground to catch him while his right arm went to his back. An instant of silence. Then, Shang looked upward with a narrowed right eye. BANG! Before Shang hit the ground, he exploded forward with a Fire st, cooling his body. BOOOOOM! Shang''s humongous sword hit the Early True Mage''s Mana Shield, breaking it in an instant. No one could react in time. As soon as the Mana Shield broke, Shang pointed his left index and middle fingers at the forehead of the Mage. BANG! nce of fire left Shang''s two fingers and blew the True Mage''s head off. After having trained his Affinity for so long, Shang had also upgraded his Fire Affinity. Now, he could concentrate the fire in a small beam. It didn''t have nearly as much recoil as his sts, but the damage was much greater. This attack was basically useless against a Mage with Mana Shield since its power was too small in exchange for the burden it put on Shang''s body, but a weak True Mage without a powerful body would die to that attack. It didn''t have a lot of range, but it was still quite strong when someone was directly in front of it. One could imagine the attack as the muzzle sh of a high-caliber gun without the bullet. Shang called it Fire Lance. BANG! Shang released an Ice st and immediately arrived at the second Mage. His sword destroyed the Mana Shield, and another Fire Lance also killed the second Mage. In less than two seconds, Shang had killed two Early True Mages with their Mana Shields active. "Kill him!" the unofficial leader shouted. Shang had already put the corpses away into one of his Space Rings while pocketing their Space Rings when the unofficial leader shouted. Due to Shang''s earlier rm, the Mage Towers had already activated their Mana Shields and were ready to fire. The barbarians looked with horror at the Mage Towers and Shang. They had to flee! Just by being close to Shang, they would die to the Mage Towers! When the barbarians were about to run, the Mage Towers had already fired. Several powerful fireballs were flying towards Shang with quite some speed. BANG! Shang charged to the side and avoided the explosions. However, around twenty barbarians were turned to ash by them. The True Mages truly didn''t care about the barbarians. Shang immediately charged to the closest tower that wasn''t upied... And kicked. BOOOOM! Agigantic part of the Mage Tower''s wall exploded off, making the entire thing fall over. One had to remember that Shang was essentially as strong as a Mid Commander Stage beast. One only needed to rece Shang with a twenty-meter-long rhinoceros to know what devastating damage Shang could cause to a five-meter-tall tower. Even more, the Mage Tower''s defenses were their impressive Mana Shields, not their structural integrity. One Mage Tower could resist as much abuse as the Mana Shield of a Peak True Mage. When the True Mages saw the tower copse, their minds were filled with shock, realization, and fear. They weren''t afraid of Shang''s power. No, they were afraid for their unmanned Mage Towers! Usually, in the case of an enemy attack, one of the leaders of the encampment would remotely activate the unmanned Mage Towers¡¯ Mana Shields until True Mages arrived to man them. Activating the Mana Shields cost a lot of resources, which was why only Late True Mages and higher had the power to do that.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. However, there were no Late True Mages or stronger present! They couldn''t activate the Mana Shields! As the tower crumbled, Shang immediately put it inside one of his new Space Rings,pletely filling it to the brim. Usually, this wouldn''t be possible since there were Magic Circles imprinted on them to prevent that, but by toppling the tower, those Magic Circles got deactivated. BANG! After the toppled Mage Tower vanished, Shang immediately exploded to the next one. Three fireballs shot at him, but Shang managed to avoid them. For now, the Mages were trying to kill him with the normal Spells, which made it easy for Shang to avoid getting hit, but that would soon change. BOOOOM! Shang destroyed another unmanned tower, filling another Space Ring with it. "Change to Speed Spells!" the unofficial leader shouted. When Shang heard that, he frowned. ''Now, it bes a bit dangerous.¡¯ He nced at one more unmanned tower. ¡®But | can still destroy onest one. | can''t pocket it, but destroying it should be enough." Shang went from the side of the towers to the southeastern side of the encampment. Now, onest Mage Tower was between Shang and the Skythunder Kingdom. At that moment, Shang could feel several Spells with a lot of speed andrge areas of destruction. They didn''t have as much power as the earlier ones, but they were faster and bigger, making it harder to avoid them. Waves of wind, Fire Waves, and storms of icicles were shooting at Shang. Shang looked at the tower. "Ishah!" BOOOOOM! It was like a gigantic cannonball had shot through thest unmanned tower, and it exploded into pieces. Shang arrived around 500 meters away from the tower, which had just started crumbling. Behind the exploding tower, a mix of destructive Mana tore through the encampment. Over 60 barbarians died in that attack. Shang only nced back with a grin. And then, he began to run towards the Skythunder Kingdom. The Mages quickly found him again and aimed their Spells at his new location. BOOOOM! BOOOOM! Shang''s surroundings were torn apart by the gigantic forces of destruction, but with the additional distance, Shang managed to survive the explosions. He didn''t manage topletely avoid all of them, and a couple of his bones broke, but they were quickly taken care of by his warrior''s body. BOOOOOM! More explosions urred, but the further Shang got away from the Mage Towers, the easier it was to avoid their Spells. In this situation, Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense did wonders for his ability to feel the Spells and avoid them. The Mages'' fury increased as they realized that Shang would escape. But there was nothing they could do! And after around half a minute, Shang escaped the range of the Grandmountain Kingdom''s towers. Shang only smirked, put one of his hands at his cor, and just broke it off. CRK! Shang squashed the metallic ring into a ball and let it fall to the ground behind him. Then, he continued running towards the Skythunder Kingdom. He wanted to walk there leisurely, but if the High Mage returned early, Shang might die. He just wanted to be on the safe side. After around two minutes, Shang entered the range of the Skythunder Kingdom''s Mage Towers, and he stopped. They hadn''t yet shot at him, but they had definitely noticed the destruction in the distance behind him, and they had definitely seen him already. SHING! Duke Whirlwind''s emblem appeared in his hand, and he lifted it upwards for a couple of seconds. SHING! BOOOOM! After that, two destroyed Mage Towers and a couple of corpses appeared in front of Shang. With a small jump, Shangnded on top of the destroyed Mage Towers and grabbed the head of Major Sparker. He lifted the head high with a wide grin. "Tell Duke Whirlwind that Shang is finally back!" Chapter 396 Chapter 396 ¡°Your name is Shang, correct?" an older True Mage with grey robes said as he looked at Shang. Right now, Shang was in a closed-off room with the grey-robed True Mage. "Correct," Shang said with a wide grin. "It''s been so long since | used my true name. It feels weird to hear it from someone else''s mouth." Shockingly enough, Shang''s legs were on the table. Usually, Shang would never act like this. He was a serious person that wanted to get things over with as quickly as possible. But this time, Shang was acting differently. After talking with Duke Whirlwind, they decided that Shang should take on an entirely different personality when he returned. After all, Shang had one eye, and the warrior that hade from the Spirit Spring Kingdom six months ago also only had one eye. In order to make the Aura between these two people as different as possible, Duke Whirlwind instructed Shang to act differently. True Mages couldn''t recognize people by their Auras, but they still felt it subconsciously. Instead of knowing what was different, they simply felt that something was different, but they didn''t know why. The grey-robed True Mage only looked at Shang evenly. He was an Inquisitor, and it was his job to make sure that Shang was not some sort of exotic spy.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. "Tell me what happened. How did you leave the Skythunder Kingdom, what happened in the Grandmountain Kingdom, and how did you return?" the Inquisitor asked. Shang''s grin only widened, looking like he was ted at the prospect of telling his grand story. Of course, Duke Whirlwind and Shang had already gone over the story he should use thoroughly. During the attack of the Storm Eagle, Shang fell into the ck structure at the bottom of the Storm Eagle Zone. In the hope of escaping, Shang entered a portal, which brought him to another ck structure. When Shang talked about the powerful Mage that had teleported him, the Inquisitor didn''t believe him. However, at the urging of Shang, the Inquisitor contacted Duke Whirlwind to confirm. Duke Whirlwind put on an amazing performance of being shocked that Shang had returned. After that, Duke Whirlwind gave a recounting of the event that happened in the Storm Eagle Zone. Something had thrown the Storm Eagle away without injuring it too heavily, which meant that there had been something with insane power near the Storm Eagle at that time. Duke Whirlwind also ordered the Inquisitor to keep quiet about that matter and that he would inform King Skythunder. He also told the Inquisitor that he would send someone over to receive Shang. The Inquisitor made it clear that Duke Whirlwind wasn''t allowed to order him since he wasn''t in Duke Whirlwind''s forces, but he did it in the politest way possible. He also told Duke Whirlwind that Shang had to clear the inquisitorial inspection first. Duke Whirlwind said that he never intended to interfere in it. He was simply convinced of Shang''s innocence, which was why he was sending someone. They could continue investigating him until they were satisfied. After having that cleared up, the Inquisitor returned to listening to Shang''s story. ording to Shang, he had managed to stay hidden during the first couple of years until he was found by a Governor. Of course, there had been a Truth Verification Spell active this entire time, but Duke Whirlwind had obviously thought about that. Shang was currently under a Spell that fooled the Inquisition''s Truth Verification Spells. Shang could control the results the Spell showed. If he wanted it to show truth, it would show truth. If he wanted it to show a lie, it would show a lie. However, Shang''s story still had to be logically sound, or the Inquisitor would be suspicious. After Shang had allegedly been found by a Governor, he had been sent to the northern frontlines. The important difference between this story and the truth was that, in this version, Shang had already reached the Commander Stage before being found. Of course, the Mages were surprised that an unknown barbarian had reached the Champion Stage and inspected him. And what they found shocked them. The very thing they had been desperately searching for was right in front of them. Over the next couple of years, Shang was under constant supervision by the Grandmountain Kingdom''s best researchers. Shang had only said that he had eaten something funny. One would think that such a wild bunch of researchers would kill and dissect Shang, but that would be stupid. He was the only living member with the perfect body they had always wanted, and if they killed him, they couldn''t keep experimenting on him. Shang only brushed the years of torture off as unimportant. Eventually, Shang managed to go to a Tribe and live there after the researchers were finished experimenting on him. Acouple of years of calm training followed. But then, the Mages were urging Shang to get a wife and have kids. They wanted to see if that body could be given to his kids. They didn''t want to force him since they were afraid that he would do something stupid and kill himself, which would kill the only person with the perfect body in the world, ording to their knowledge. That was why they only pushed him in that direction. Eventually, Shang managed to get the Mages to allow him to change tribes for the reason that all the women there were ugly. And he managed to get to the closest tribe towards the south of the Kingdom. After that, Shang kept watching over the frontlines from a distance. Until today, when he saw several Mages leave the encampment. Shang charged in, wreaked havoc in the encampment, and that was how he had returned. Of course, the Inquisitor asked many questions to verify everything Shang had said, but Shang and Duke Whirlwind had already nned out everything in excruciating detail. The interrogation took nearly six hours. By the end of it, the Inquisitor had no more questions. However, Shang could still see some suspicion and doubt in the Inquisitor''s eyes. "The interrogation is over," the Inquisitor said. ¡°However, there is onest thing | must do to verify the truth." Shang furrowed his brows. The Inquisitor stood up and looked at Shang. "| need to read your mind to confirm that everything you have said is the truth." Chapter 397 Chapter 397 Shang''s right eye narrowed as soon as the Inquisitor asked for a Mind Read. The entire time, the atmosphere had been somewhat jovial due to Shang''s arrogant and joking retelling of the past ten years, but as soon as that question popped up, the entire atmosphere shifted to the opposite. "Are you serious?" Shang asked with a dark tone. The Inquisitor was quite shocked by the sudden pressure Shang was exhibiting on him just by getting genuinely upset, but he didn''t let it show. His eyes inspected Shang. Shang was in the middle of a room inside a fortification guarded by over 30 True Mages. Additionally, even the resident Duke wasn''t far away. On top of that, the Inquisitor had had his Mana Shield active ever since the interrogation started, andstly, Shang''s weapon was ced in apletely different room. So, even though Shang''s mood put a lot of pressure on the Inquisitor, he wasn''t scared. "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear," the Inquisitor said in a strict tone. BANG! The table between them exploded into pieces as Shang''s fist hit it with all his power. ¡°How dare you?!" Shang shouted with genuine anger. His right eye showed genuine hatred and absolute rage inside it. The Inquisitor''s insides shuddered at the outburst, but he kept his appearance under control. SHING! Ahead appeared in Shang''s hand, and he held it in front of him by its long hair. ¡°Look at that!" Shang shouted. "I killed a Late True Mage, several Early True Mages, took down three Mage Towers, and donated these things to the Skythunder Kingdom!" "| severely weakened one of the Grandmountain Kingdom''s frontlines, and | was so happy to finally be back home that | donated all of that stuff!" "| fucking did more for the Skythunder Kingdom than the majority of Mages do in their lifetime!" "| answered questions under a Truth Verification Spell for over six fucking hours!" ¡°And yet, you want to dig around in my mind?!" "The Skythunder Kingdom should treat me like a hero, but instead, you''re treating me like a traitor!" BANG! Shang threw the head of the dead Mage against the wall, and the head exploded into a shower of gore. "What''s the fucking point of giving you fucking disrespectful, heinous, scheming little shits anything if you just treat me like a fucking rat that just shat in your bed?!" The Inquisitor took a deep breath. He could practically feel Shang''s burning hatred and rage in the air. That anger was so very genuine. For the past six hours, Shang had joked around arrogantly while retelling everything, but as soon as the Inquisitor had asked for a Mind Read, it was like a switch had been flipped inside Shang. Adeep hatred and anger exploded out of Shang, and the Inquisitor was a bit surprised that Shang still had control over his faculties. He had expected Shang to attack him immediately. However, all of that made the Inquisitor only more suspicious. "This is not a question, a request, or a suggestion," the Inquisitor said slowly and coldly. "This is an order.¡± "You will undergo a Mind Read. It doesn''t matter if you want to or not." For two seconds, silence came over the room as the fire in Shang''s eye retreated. However, for some reason, the atmosphere only became colder. "If that is the stance of the Skythunder Kingdom, so be it!" Shang said coldly. Then, Shang extended his hand to his right and opened it. For just a second, seemingly nothing happened. Bang. Adistant sound of something exploding could be heard in the room. Bang! Asecond sound came, this one louder. BANG! The wall of the room exploded, and something entered. When the Inquisitor saw the object, fear appeared in his eyes for the first time. It was Shang''s sword! Somehow, Shang''s sword had broken past three walls and had entered of its own volition! As soon as Shang was reunited with Sword, the pressure he put on the Inquisitor multiplied. The Inquisitor felt like he would be helpless in front of Shang. ¡°What are you doing?!" the Inquisitor shouted in outrage. "Are you betraying the Skythunder Kingdom?!" Shang''s expression turned into a sneer. ¡°What''s it to you? In your eyes, | am already a traitor." Shang readied his sword. ¡°Might as well act like it.¡± BOOOOOM! One entire side of a rather big building exploded outward as a round thing shot through it like a cannonball. BANG! The round thing hit the hard walls and stopped as waves of instability spread across it. The entire encampment looked with shock at what had just happened. The Inquisitor had been shot out of the building and had hit the walls! Inside his Mana Shield, the Inquisitor puked a stream of blood. Even though Shang''s sword had been stopped by his Mana Shield, the force of the attack had severely injured his organs. At the same time, genuine fear and terror appeared inside his eyes. That attack had destroyed over 70% of his Mana reserves! It was like he had been hit full force by a gigantic beast! Step. Shang slowly stepped out of the dusty cloud that had formed around the building, his sword trailing behind him. "| killed several Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom!" Shang shouted. "| destroyed three Mage Towers and gave you two!" "| answered your questions under a Truth Verification Spell for six hours!" "Yet, you still treat me like a traitor?!" Shang''s voice echoed throughout the base. "Well, if it''s a traitor you want, it''s a traitor you''ll get!" As Shang was talking, all the Mage Towers activated and locked onto him. Several more True Mages summoned their Foci and prepared their Spells on top of the walls. They were waiting for orders.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. Shang nced around the base, and a derisive smirk appeared on his face. ¡°I''ve broken through one encampment," Shang said. WHOOOM! At that moment, the air around Shang began to vibrate with power. The ground around him slowly turned into dust, which slowly floated upwards before it vanished. He had activated his Domain. At that moment, all the onlookers felt a feeling of mortal threat. It was like a gigantic True Path Stage beast was in the middle of their base! "| can break through another," Shang slowly said as his right eye narrowed. The eyes of the Inquisitor were filled with terror. "Kill him!" he shouted. BANG! Shang shot forward and reached the Inquisitor in an instant. The Inquisitor had been too intimidated to use Mana Step. He was only a Mid True Mage. BANG! Shang''s sword hit his shield and broke it apart. As all this happened, the Mages only looked with uncertainty at what was going on. They were at a crossroads. The Inquisitor didn''t have the authority to give them orders, which was why they hadn''t attacked yet. At the same time, they didn''t believe that Shang was a spy. No spy acted like that. However, they couldn''t just let an Inquisitor die in the middle of their base while there were so many soldiers around him! Shang slowly lifted his sword above himself. The Inquisitor was out of Mana. There was nothing he could do. "You''ll get the traitor you''ve been so desperately searching for," Shang said with a mad grin. The Inquisitor looked at Shang''s raised sword with terror. He was going to die! Suddenly, Shang''s grin vanished. He quickly nced to his right and jumped back. SHING! Atiny pebble shot past the ce Shang had just been standing. Its speed had been terrifyingly fast! Shang''s eyes focused on a man with short brown hair, wearing quite expensive robes. Right now, the man was looking at Shang with an eyebrow raised in surprise. He hadn''t expected Shang to sense his Spell and avoid it. The Spell hadn''t been meant to kill Shang but to simply injure him and throw him away from the Inquisitor. But the man was still quite surprised. Sure, that hadn''t been a serious Spell, but avoiding the Spell of a High Mage was still very impressive. As soon as that man appeared, the Mages released a sigh of relief. Their Duke was here. Everything would resolve itself now. The Duke looked at the Inquisitor, who was still inplete shock. Then, he nced at Shang. Andstly, he looked back at the Inquisitor. ¡°What is going on here?" Chapter 398 Chapter 398 The Inquisitor slowly stood up, took a deep breath, and saluted in front of the Duke. "Sir, | requested a Mind Read, but instead ofplying, this warrior attacked me," the Inquisitor said. The Duke furrowed his brows and looked at Shang. "A Mind Read is standard procedure for anyoneing from an enemy Kingdom. Why did you refuse?" Shang only snorted in disrespect. The Duke narrowed his eyes. It was like Shang wasn''t respecting the Duke at all. "| killed the strongest Mage present on the enemy encampment, killed three more Early True Mages, destroyed three Mage Towers, donated two of those Towers to the Skythunder Kingdom, answered his questions under a Truth Verification Spell for six hours, but instead of showing me any kind of respect, you treat me like shit and want to dig around in my brain?" ¡°After ten years, | finally managed toe home, | give the Skythunder Kingdom some presents, but instead of being treated with respect, | get treated like a piece of shit and a traitor." At that point, the Duke interrupted Shang. "A Mind Read is still standard procedure." ¡°Fuck your standard procedure!" Shang shouted. Silence. The Duke only narrowed his eyes threateningly. Shang''s right eye narrowed as his grin widened maliciously. Then, he lifted his sword and readied it. The Mages almost couldn''t believe what they were seeing. This warrior wasn''t showing any respect to the Duke at all! Did he have a death wish?! "You do know that I have enough justification to kill you on the spot, right?" the Duke asked threateningly. Shang only smirked, pointed his left arm towards the Duke, and taunted him toe at him. The atmosphere turned tense, and Shang could feel the insane pressureing from the Duke. But on the other side, the Duke also felt a bit nervous. Something was telling him that attacking Shang was a very bad idea. Logic told him that he should be able to turn Shang into dust in an instant, but his instincts were telling him that Shang had the power to threaten his life if it came down to it. Of course, Shang didn''t have that power. However, if he sacrificed an arm... For nearly five seconds, the two only looked at each other. The Duke had expected that he could make an appearance and the unrest would be resolved. However, this warrior was proving impossible to reason with. The Duke wanted to kill Shang, but his instincts were against that decision. AHigh Mage''s instinct had been honed by years of battle, experience, and research, and it was very reliable. The Duke didn''t like it at all, but he came to a decision.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. ¡°Put your sword away," the Duke said coldly. "I will call the Chief Inquisitor, and she will make the call." Shang looked at the Duke for another second before putting his sword to the side. "Fine," he said. At that moment, the Mages around them released another sigh of relief. Something like this was far beyond their ability to manage or control. When the Duke saw that Shang had put his sword to the side, he summoned a Communication Crystal and contacted the Chief Inquisitor. It took about ten minutes until the Chief Inquisitor appeared. The Chief Inquisitor was an older woman with grey hair and grey eyes, but one could see an unfathomable amount of wisdom and power in her emotionless eyes. "She isn''t a truly powerful Peak True Mage, but she''s definitely stronger than the average,¡¯ Shang thought when he saw her. The Chief Inquisitor threw a look at Shang, but her expression didn''t change. After that, she walked over to the Inquisitor and wordlessly put a hand on his head. It was normal for Inquisitors to have their minds read by the Chief Inquisitor. The Inquisitors were the judges of traitors, and having a traitorous Inquisitor would be devastating. Because of that, their minds regrly got read by the Chief Inquisitor. The Chief Inquisitor''s eyes opened after a couple of seconds. Then, she looked at Shang and back at the Inquisitor. "The rules andws keep the Kingdom safe and in order," the Chief Inquisitor spoke slowly. "But while we do have the power and authority to request a Mind Read from everyone, we must keep in mind that what is natural for us might be a devastating event for someone else." ¡°A Mind Read is not without consequences, and we must have a good reason to request one.¡± "In this case, this was not the case." The Inquisitor only lowered his head in respect as he listened to the Chief Inquisitor. Then, the Chief Inquisitor looked emotionlessly at Shang. ¡°Human cooperation is the basis of our survival, Shang," she said, obviously having found out Shang''s name via the Mind Read. "While | do agree that the Mind Read was excessive, you had the power to refuse without trying to kill one of my Inquisitors." Shang''s right eye focused on the Chief Inquisitor. "And if | didn''t have that power, | would have to eat the abuse up like a pathetic weakling.¡± Then, Shang''s eye narrowed. "If that''s your philosophy, your Inquisitor should also eat my abuse up like a pathetic weakling." Silence. The Duke furrowed his brows. However, the Chief Inquisitor''s expression didn''t change. "It is your choice whether to ept my advice or not," she calmly said. Then, she looked at the Duke. "There is no good reason to perform a Mind Read. | do not think he is a traitor." The Duke nodded. "Thank you, Mnie." The Chief Inquisitor performed a polite bow, turned around, and left. Then, the Duke turned to Shang with a cold expression. "You may stay in the Skythunder Kingdom. Everything you have done, including your damage done to the Grandmountain Kingdom, the things you have donated to the Skythunder Kingdom, and how you have conducted yourself in this base, will be reported to the Council." ¡°Leave the base in the next ten minutes after gathering all your things. This is a military encampment, and you are not part of the military.¡± Shang rxed and nodded. "! will do so." The Duke didn''t react to Shang''s word. He only turned around and left. After the Duke left, Shang shot another sneer at the Inquisitor before leaving. He had everything that he needed, and he walked out of the encampment just half a minuteter. The Mages were unsure what they should think about this incident. Shang had shown disrespect to the Inquisitors and even the Duke. Just his mere presence had put them in danger, and worst of all, he was a physi. But on the other hand, Shang had done an incredible service to the Skythunder Kingdom. They didn''t like Shang, and they didn''t want to be near him, but they couldn''t deny his power and worth. As Shang left the encampment, his arrogant facade slowly vanished as a calm but cold expression appeared on his face. However, there was just the slightest bit of excitement visible in his eye. When Duke Whirlwind had given Shang instructions on how to deal with the interrogation, this situation had alsoe up, and Shang had acted ording to Duke Whirlwind''s suggestions... More or less. "Shang, you have to prove your power and worth to the Skythunder Kingdom," Duke Whirlwind had said. "But you also have to show that they can''t just push you around. You have that level of power now." ¡°Remember, even though most people don''t see the impact, you must remember that the ruler of this Kingdom is King Skythunder, not the Council." "The Kingdom might appear like an extension of the castle, but in its deepest core, it is still ruled by King Skythunder." ¡°People believe that following orders is the best way to live prosperously and peacefully in the Skythunder Kingdom, but that''s only true for the 99% at the bottom.¡± "You are part of the top one percent, and you have to show that you won''t allow anyone to push you around.¡± "If the Inquisitor requests a Mind Read after the interrogation, remember this." "Be angry, refuse, and don''t budge under any circumstance." "Show your power and make everyone around you realize that they are not the ones in control. You are!" After that, Duke Whirlwind talked about the details of what Shang should do. At the moment, Shang only scratched his cheek. ¡®| was supposed to shout at the Inquisitor and refuse until the Chief Inquisitor was forced toe.¡¯ ¡®| mean, that''s what happened." "However, | think Duke Whirlwind had something else in mind.¡¯ ¡®But it worked, right?" Chapter 399 Chapter 399 Shang waited a couple of kilometers away from the base for another six hours. And after these six hours, his escort to the Storm Eagle Zone finally arrived. When Shang saw the group, he raised an eyebrow. ¡®That''s quite a strong escort.¡¯ In front of Shang stood six people. Five of them were True Mages, with four of them being at the Mid True Mage Realm and the leader being at the Late True Mage Realm. Thest person wasn''t a Mage, but someone Shang knew very well. In front of Shang stood a red-haired man who looked to be in his early thirties. He wore powerful red armor, and his eyes were cold. Shang only smiled a bit. ¡®Seems like reaching the True Path Stage made Vice-Dean Ranos younger.¡¯ Yes, it was Vice-Dean Ranos. Vice-Dean Ranos and Shang''s Spirit Senses had already sensed each other earlier. Shang wasn''t exactly surprised when he felt Vice-Dean Ranos'' Spirit Sense, but Ranos was very surprised. ording to his estimates, Shang was in his early thirties, but he had already made progress on establishing his True Path. Additionally, when Vice-Dean Ranos felt Shang''s power, he could barely believe his senses. Right now, Shang felt like an incredible threat to Vice-Dean Ranos. He felt so dangerous that Ranos wasn''t even sure if he could beat Shang. Lastly, Shang felt very different from the young boy he used to know. Shang felt much colder. The two of them only looked at each other for a while. ¡°Congrattions on reaching the True Path Stage," Shang said. Vice-Dean Ranos'' eyebrows furrowed. "I''m not sure if | should gratte you or pity you,¡± he said. The other Mages were also shocked when they felt Shang''s pressure. How could a warrior at the Mid Commander Stage feel so incredibly powerful?! After the short exchange, silence returned. Instead of talking like old times, Shang and Ranos only looked at each other with evaluating gazes. ¡°Let''s go," Ranos said as he turned around to leave. ¡°You don''t want to know what happened?" Shang asked. "You are you. | am I," Ranos answered before leaving. "Fine," Shang said. Then, the group traveled southward towards the Storm Eagle Zone. On the way, some of the Mages asked Shang some questions, but Shang only gave them quick and curt answers. They realized that Shang wasn''t a big fan of talking, and they focused on telling Shang about what had changed in thest ten years. Shang already knew all the changes, but he still acted like he hadn''t heard of these things before. ¡°Are the warriors that underwent the Bloodline Infusion still being hunted down?" Shang asked after a Mage told him that some warriors were vanishing. "Yes," the Head of the Circle of Mages said. "Nearly all the General Stage warriors that underwent the Bloodline Infusion don''t dare to exit the Storm Eagle Zone or even the academy.¡± The Mage narrowed his eyes. "Recently, even some of the warriors in the Storm Eagle Zone started vanishing. It''s not as bad as in the other Zones, but it''s worrisome." Shang slightly narrowed his right eye. "Sounds like | should investigate." "You don''t need to investigate," Vice-Dean Ranos chimed in. "We basically know who is doing these things." ¡°And why are you not attacking them?" Shang asked. "We can only defend ourselves," Vice-Dean Ranos exined. "If we take up the initiative and kill them without them directly threatening us, the Council will use us of treason. They will make it look like we attacked an innocent group of Mages that were just minding their own business." Shang looked at the back of Vice-Dean Ranos'' head, who was currently running in front of Shang. "Who gave that order?" "This is a joint decision between Vice-Dean Soran and me," he answered. ¡®Thought so,¡¯ Shang thought. ''Duke Whirlwind told me that | can''t ept being pushed around, but this sounds exactly like being pushed around." "Does Duke Whirlwind know?" Shang asked. For a while, Vice-Dean Ranos didn''t answer. "Most of it," he said. However, at the same time, Vice-Dean Ranos'' voice appeared inside Shang''s head. Obviously, he didn''t want the Mages around him to know. "Duke Whirlwind might be an ally, but he is still a Mage," he said via voice transmission. "Right now, he is helping us, but if we warriors actually be strong enough to threaten the Mages¡¯ supremacy, he will stand with his kind." "In his eyes, we are illegal mercenaries to him. He will keep helping us, but as soon as things actually be serious, he will abandon us." "If we attack the Mages, he will wash his hands off the matter and throw us in front of the Council with a smile," he exined. Shang looked at Vice-Dean Ranos with a curious gleam in his eyes. "How did youe to that conclusion?" "He''s a Mage," Vice-Dean Ranos answered via voice transmission. "That''s what Mages do." "That seems like an overgeneralization.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights. At that point, Vice-Dean Ranos nced at Shang with a cold light. "You might be powerful, but you are still young, boy," Vice-Dean Ranos transmitted. "When you''ve lived as long as me, you will see that the Mages are all of a piece." ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Shang thought without answering Ranos. ''So, it''s not only the Mages that view the warriors in an unfavorable light, but the warriors also see the Mages in this way.¡¯ ¡®I''m convinced that Duke Whirlwind is not like Vice-Dean Ranos makes him out to be. | gave him the suggestion to frame Vice- Dean Ranos for something that happened, but he was adamantly against it.¡¯ ¡®Duke Whirlwind would throw the warriors in front of the Council?¡¯ ¡®| doubt it." At that point, Shang also remembered that Vice-Dean Ranos'' entire existence was built around killing Mages. What led him to choose such a path? ¡®He must have been betrayed and attacked by Mages more than once. His negative experiences with Mages clouded his judgment until he believed that every Mage is a selfish monster.¡¯ At that point, Shang had a funny thought. ¡®In Earth-terms, he could bepared to some form of bigot or racist, right?¡¯ Chapter 400 Chapter 400 Shang and Ranos stopped talking after that. Ranos thought that Shang was angry at being called a young boy, but he actually wasn''t. In Shang''s eyes, Ranos seemed to be someone that was stuck in their way and wasn''t willing to look at the Mages as individuals instead of as a group. Because of that, Ranos'' opinion of Shang was not very important to him. After a couple of hours, they reached the Ice Wyvern Zone. While they were traveling through it, Shang didn''t feel any suspicious Mages with his Pseudo-Spirit Sense, which probably meant that they knew that a powerful group of Duke Whirlwind''s people would be traveling through here. Some minutester, they reached the Storm Eagle Zone. Shang had been here for several months, but now, he could officially walk amongst people again. As Shang ran through the Farm Line, he fell into nostalgia. He still remembered the first time he hade here. Everything here had been more powerful than him by a lot. Shang and the group reached Warrior''s Paradise in the middle of the night, after which they split apart. The Mages returned to whatever they were doing previously while Ranos and Shang entered Warrior''s Paradise. As Shang entered, more of his memories awakened. The first time he hade here, it had also been at night. "You''re back." Shang looked in front of him and saw a familiar face. The Dean. His Teacher. "I''m back, Teacher," Shang said as he looked at him. The two of them only looked at each other for a while. Vice-Dean Ranos had vanished as soon as the Dean appeared in front of Shang. As Shang looked at his Teacher for the first time in ten years, he was surprised. His Teacher felt very simr to him, but there were still some differences. The Dean felt cold to Shang, but there was a certain honor and righteousness to his coldness. These were qualities Shang couldn''t identify with. To Shang, his power was the most important thing, and he would do anything to be more powerful. That included lying, deceit, and plotting. In the past, Shang had seen himself as a very honest person, but that image had vanished as soon as he began talking to Duke Whirlwind again. He had be ustomed to lying and hiding in thest ten years. Shang wasn''t sure, but he guessed that this change had appeared inside of him after he had killed Lash. But in a way, Shang was also d about the Dean''s aura. He knew that he didn''t need to worry about the Dean as long as he didn''t betray him. "Tell me what happened," the Dean said as he started walking towards the academy. "| can tell you some things, but | can''t tell you everything,¡± Shang said as he followed him. "That is your decision, but might | ask for the reason?" ¡°Because | don''t want to involve you in politics," Shang answered. The Dean threw a cold look at Shang. For a while, he didn''t say anything, but he understood what Shang meant. After some seconds, he sighed. "This was why | didn''t want you to ept his mission back then," the Dean said. Shang knew what the Dean was referring to. Back when Shang wanted the Entropy Ore, Duke Whirlwind had offered it at a high price. Shang could have purchased it with his contributions, but he chose the alternative. Work for Duke Whirlwind on a mission. He hadn''t thought much of it back then, but after the Dean spoke these words, Shang realized the far-reaching effects this choice had had on his life. Shang had officially always been under the Dean''s neutral faction, but as soon as Shang had returned to the Skythunder Kingdom, he had searched for Duke Whirlwind first. However, that had been the logical choice in Shang''s mind. Duke Whirlwind had given Shang the ore, his emblem, had done his best to protect him from the Thunder Horse, had given him his armor, and had protected him. Additionally, Duke Whirlwind was very charismatic and honest. Without noticing, Shang had left the Dean''s camp and had joined Duke Whirlwind. "Do you think he maniptes me?" Shang asked. "No," the Dean answered with a shake of his head. "| am good friends with Jerald, and | know how he thinks and what he wants. | know that he knows that manipting powerful allies will only drive them away with time. He helps them honestly, and he knows that they will help him back." "But he is still involved in the politics, and he wants to be the King. This is why | like to keep a certain distance from him." "Bing King means bing enemies with every other powerful person in the Kingdom. Following him will most likely end in my death," the Dean exined. Shang nodded. "But with great riske great rewards." "That''s true, but the rewards are not what | need right now," he answered. "What do you need?" Shang asked. "Peace, quiet, and time." Shang furrowed his brows. "Did you give up on bing more powerful?" If this had been in the past, the Dean might have be irritated at Shang''s question, but he could feel Shang''s power. Shang felt like a genuine threat to the Dean, which meant he was incredibly powerful. This questioning from Shang was justified. "No," the Dean said. "You have already made progress on your True Path, and you should be able to judge my power urately." Shang nodded. ¡°What do you think of it?" the Dean asked. Shang looked at the Dean. ¡°Fragile and hasty," he said. The Dean nodded. "Don''t make the same mistake I''ve made.¡± "| won''t," Shang said. Then, he used his Pseudo-Spirit Sense to check if anyone was listening. After that, his Pseudo-Spirit Sense came into contact with the Dean, and Shang used a voice transmission. "In thetest trial, Teacher Mervin was one of my enemies," he said via voice transmission. The Dean stopped walking for about a second before he continued. "What happened?" he asked. "He trained me for five full years inside the trial," Shang answered. The Dean looked at the academy, which was only a couple hundred meters away from him at the moment, with nostalgic eyes. "If | had the luxury of having such a good teacher, | might not have made the very mistakes | still regret to this day," he answered. Shang could hear deep respect emanate from the Dean when he talked about Teacher Mervin. ¡°But without you, Teacher Mervin would havemitted your mistake," Shang answered. "He saw what you have done, learned from it, and is still in the Commander Stage because of it." "Someone had to be the first to make this mistake so that others wouldn''t.¡± The Dean didn''t answer for a while. "Yet, it is my mistake to bear,¡± he answered, but at that moment, some fire appeared in his eyes. "But | will rectify it." "Is that what you meant earlier?" Shang asked. "The way you are working on your power right now?" The Dean nodded. "I am focusing on establishing a new True Path. Then, | will destroy my old one, fall to the Commander Stage again, and rejoin the True Path Stage as a new warrior." "That''s possible?" Shang asked. The Dean nodded. "This was the second thing | focused my studies on. It is very costly, time-consuming, risky, and hasn''t been tested yet, but it should work." "Does it have negative consequences?" Shang asked. "Yes," the Dean answered. "Everything that has led up to my current Path will vanish from my mind." ¡°Additionally, creating a new Path is very difficult for me since | can''t fight any beasts or Mages on my level. | have to theorize everything without any practical testing."N?velDrama.Org content rights. Shang raised an eyebrow. "But if you were to fall to the Commander Stage right now, that problem would be solved to some degree." "It would, but | can''t," the Dean answered. "Right now, it would take a Peak True Mage to threaten me, which makes it very difficult to assassinate me. If | fall to the Commander Stage, | could be killed by a Mid True Mage since | would have forgotten my previous Path." m the core of the powerful warriors of the world, and if | fall, the warriors will receive a heavy hit." "For the warriors, | have to keep myself safe and powerful, even if it makes it difficult for me to be more powerful in the future." Shang didn''t say anything for a while. ¡°What about Vice-Dean Ranos? Couldn''t he take up that role?" he asked. ¡°He could, but his hardline stance against Mages would damage the warriors as a whole. | wouldn''t like to give him full authority over warriors.¡± Shang could only agree. "What if it is Teacher Mervin?" Shang asked. "If he were at the True Path Stage, | would dly hand him control," the Dean answered, "but that might take a couple of decades more. Creating a True Path consumes a lot of time." When Shang heard that, a smirk appeared on his face. "Teacher, don''t you want to know how many points I''ve gotten in the trial?" he asked. At that moment, a light appeared in the Dean''s eyes, and he turned to Shang. "Did you get a good reward?" he asked. Shang only grinned. "I''ve gotten 30 points. What do you think?" The Dean''s eyes widened in shock. 30 points was ridiculous! He knew that Shang was way more powerful thanks to the Procedure, but the Dean would have expected 20 points, at the most. 307! How did he even do that?! ¡°My reward is something that allows you to view your progress on creating your True Path. You should remember the concept of a video game from Earth." "You could look at it like a talent tree." ¡°And its help in creating a True Path can''t be overstated." "Who knows? With it, Teacher Mervin might reach the True Path Stage in just a couple of years." ¡°Leaving you to focus on your own True Path again.¡± Chapter 401 Chapter 401 The Dean was immediately interested, but he told Shang that they should talk about it when they arrived in his office. The two of them currently walked towards the gate of the academy, and Shang saw another familiar face. Teacher Loran was still guarding the gate at night. When Teacher Loran heard them approach, he stood up from his chair and bowed politely to the Dean. Then, he looked at Shang. "You''ve returned,¡± he said with eyes that spoke of shock and nostalgia. The weird boy he had met that day had grown up. Sadly, the changes were not to Teacher Loran''s liking. Shang felt too much like the Dean. When Shang saw Teacher Loran, he also had a look of nostalgia in his eye. Back then, Teacher Loran had been an impossibly powerful monster to Shang. And now? Teacher Loran was at the Late Commander Stage, and his Battle-Strength was on the weaker side. He wouldn''t be categorized as a weak Late Commander Stage warrior in the trial, but he would also not be categorized as an average one. As soon as Shang felt his power, he realized that Teacher Loran had long since given up on bing more powerful. He probably only wanted to teach students and live the rest of his life in peace. "I''m back," Shang said as he looked at Teacher Loran with aplicated gaze. ¡°Are you disappointed?" Teacher Loran asked. Shang slowly shook his head. "No. You''ve helped me and many others be stronger. Without you, | wouldn''t be where | am today." Teacher Loran looked at Shang with a strange gaze. "Is that a good or a bad thing?" he asked. By the tone of his voice, Shang could tell that the question was more directed at himself. It seemed like he felt that he had failed Shang. When Shang heard Teacher Loran''s voice, he felt a tinge of guilt. m who | am," Shang said. Teacher Loran only looked at Shang with pity. Then, he wordlessly opened the gate. "Go inside," he said. "You are still one of us, even if you have changed."N?velDrama.Org holds this content. "Thank you," Shang said. The Dean and Shang entered, and Teacher Loran closed the gate. He only sighed. "Sorry, | couldn''t be who you wanted me to be,¡¯ Shang thought. "Sadly, my goal requires me to sacrifice everything that''s important to me.¡¯ As Shang walked through the quiet academy, one memory after the other assaulted him. This was his home. This was where he had learned to fight. The Dean led Shang to the fifth floor of the main building, and the two of them entered his office. "Tell me more about the reward," the Dean asked. Shang nodded and handed the Dean the second book. Whenever Shang got a reward from the trial, he received two books, one for himself and one for the warriors. The Dean read through the book for several minutes, and the further he got, the more his eyebrows furrowed. After only five minutes, the Dean put the book down and looked at Shang. Surprisingly, he hadn''t read all of it. "Tell me what effects the Star Map has. What happens when you use it?" he asked. Shang told the Dean in detail what he saw and what he could do with it. There were a lot of uses, and Shang needed several minutes to exin all of the intricate uses. The Dean''s expression became more serious as Shang told him more about the Star Map. "Truly, the Star Map is worthy of being a reward for such a ridiculous number of points," he said. The Dean took the book into his hand and looked at Shang. "The knowledge and principle inside his book are so advanced that it is ridiculous." "In order to create it, you would need to know all the goals of what you want to achieve. It maps out all possible knowledge that any physical fighter could possibly know and umte before the True Path Stage." Shang knew that the Star Map was incredible, but only after he had heard the Dean put it into words did he truly realize how incredible it really was. "This is a technique that is hundreds if not thousands of years in the future of a flourishing path for a physical fighter. It requires hundreds of years of research by someone far beyond my power, and they would even have to have mastery over Magic and have unprecedented knowledge about all weapons and Affinities.¡± "Theplexity and principles of this technique are beyond reasonable for all physical fighters at the moment." The Dean put the book down and continued looking at Shang. "Tell me, how am | supposed to rationalize where that techniquees from?" he asked. "Nobody will believe that | was the one that created it." When he heard that, Shang took a deep breath. Right, how could the Dean rationalize the origin of this technique? ¡°We two know that there have been exceptionally powerful warriors in the past," the Dean continued, "but the world doesn''t know." "In over thirty years of being the Dean of this academy and umting all possible knowledge | could find, | have not found information on the past age of warriors even once." ¡°Everyone believes that the Mages have been supreme since the beginning. Thus, nobody will believe us when we say we found it in some ruin." "So, how can we publicize this technique?" the Dean asked. Shang didn''t know the answer to that. "He''s right,¡¯ Shang thought. ''This technique is far beyond the current level of physical fighters. The God has probably set up the rewards in such a way that they would help warriors step by step.¡¯ ¡®As the average power of the warriors continues to grow, the average power of the people he sends in here from Earth will also increase. This will result in them gaining more and more points.¡¯ ¡®The first reward, the ranged technique, was appropriate for the current warriors. It had some exotic concepts, but a talented warrior coulde up with them with enough creativity.¡¯ ¡®But theplexity of this technique is far beyond anything currently possible to achieve." ¡®The ranged technique was worth 22 points, but this one is worth 30. It might not sound like a huge difference, but eight points represent nearly an entire level of Battle-Strength against all three kinds of opponents.¡¯ ¡®It''s the difference between an Initial Commander Stage warrior killing an Early True Mage and killing a Mid True Mage." ¡®These two levels can''t bepared." ¡°But there must be a way to publicize it without backfiring," Shang said. "He wants us to seed, and he didn''t give me any hints on how to bring this technique to the warriors. This means that he doesn''t think that we need his help." The Dean only looked at Shang with an even look. "Or he just wants to throw us in a problematic situation and see what we do. We are his entertainment. Don''t forget that." Shang frowned. Yes, that could also be it. The Dean and Shang both tried to think of a solution for several minutes. They couldn''t say they created it. They couldn''t say they found it. They obviously couldn''t say that they got it from some kind of God. Sadly, no matter how long they thought, they couldn''t find a solution. "| can''t think of a solution," Shang said. ¡°Me neither," the Dean answered as he looked at the book longingly. "We could keep it a secret between the two of us, but I''m pretty sure that we will anger him if we do that. | don¡¯t think it''s a good idea to get on his bad side." Shang frowned. He couldn''t disagree with that. Chapter 402 Chapter 402 Eventually, Shang came up with an idea, but it wasn''t a very good one. "We could just make copies of the book and dump them all over the Kingdom," he said. "Nobody would be able to link it back to us. "That''s wrong,¡± the Dean said. "The Spell to copy the books leaves traces of someone''s aura behind. Whoever copies the book will be found by the Dukes, and they will undergo a Mind Read. In the end, it will be linked back to one of us." ¡°Even if we send a proxy and kill the proxy after making the request, the Mages aren''t stupid. They know what will happen if they copy this book. As soon as they get their hands on the book, they will immediately report it to their superiors." ¡°Additionally, it requires a lot of resources to make copies of books. We would need a True Mage, and they would never ept the request." "The Bloodline Infusion is one thing, but this technique is something else. This technique is so advanced and useful to warriors that it puts the Bloodline Infusion to shame. The Bloodline Infusion might increase the power of the warriors, but that doesn''t be relevant as long as they don''t reach the True Path Stage." "This technique might create hundreds of True Path Stage warriors within the next century. That would be akin to 100 new Dukes. The warriors would literally advance faster than the Mages." When Shang heard that, he furrowed his brows. "That doesn''t seem right. Why would this technique make warriors advance faster than Mages? Don''t the Mages still have all their inheritances?" "They do," the Dean said. "However, | don''t think they are present in this ce." Shang raised an eyebrow. "With ce, you mean the five Kingdoms?" The Dean nodded. "You''re not stupid. You should have realized that there is a wider world. Just the fact that we got to ask nine questions tells us as much. The powerful Mage that threw the Storm Eagle away is additional proof." "| think the Mages on the outside have something simr or even better in the outer world, but that thing is not present in this ce." "While the Bloodline Infusion looks like a problem to the Mages, this technique will look like a genuine threat. | fear that the Council will immediately get rid of it with whatever means necessary." At that moment, Shang got another idea. "What about King Skythunder?" "What about him?" the Dean asked. "Couldn''t he stop them?" he asked. ¡°He could, but why would he? This is something that might involve the outer world, and I''m sure that King Skythunder knows that. He might entertain us by allowing us to have the Bloodline Infusion, but | doubt that he would want to risk his life for us." ¡°Also, we wouldn''t even be able to get ahold of him. Getting an audience with King Skythunder is beyond difficult." Everything the Dean said made sense to Shang. Copying the things inside the book was impossible without King Skythunder''s explicit permission. The Council would immediately kill them and everyone involved in the matter. "What if we only taught this technique verbally and only to a select few warriors?" Shang asked. "Too dangerous and too inefficient," the Dean answered. "If only a single warrior with that knowledge receives a Mind Read, everything will be over." ¡°What about the Mind Barriers? The traitors always have those," Shang said. "That Spell is too advanced," the Dean said. "Soran is the best Mage among us warriors, but he doesn''t even know nearly enough to perform that Spell. Additionally, the Spell is top secret and only gets taught to Inquisitors and High Mages." Shang could only sigh. No matter what he came up with, it wouldn''t work. There were problems upon problems. Shang tried his best to split up the problems into individual chunks. The end goal was to have King Skythunder approve of the Spell. To get his approval, they needed a good argument and a clear origin for the technique. But all of that didn''t matter if they couldn''t even meet him. At that moment, Shang thought of an idea. However, it was very risky. "What about Duke Whirlwind?" Shang asked. "Jerald?" the Dean asked with a bit of surprise. Then, he furrowed his brows and scratched his chin in thought. "Jerald is someone that also values honesty. He knows that he is risking his life by getting involved, and the bare minimum he would ask for would be the origin of this technique, which we can''t exin." "If we showed the technique to him, he probably wouldn''t betray us, but he also wouldn''t help us. This matter would be too dangerous for him. He would simply ask us never to speak of this matter again." Shang looked at the table with furrowed brows. ¡°And if we had a good exnation?" Shang asked.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. The Dean thought about that for a bit. "Not sure. He would either decline or help us. This is a high-risk, high-reward situation for him. He would be risking his life, but the potential rewards are tremendous. He wants to be King, and he essentially counts as the ruler of us warriors. He would gain a group of loyal followers that might be able to fight High Mages." "The reward is tremendous, but the burden of convincing King Skythunder would fall on his shoulders." "It is possible, but the origin of the technique is the very problem that stops us from even asking him for help." Shang didn''t answer the Dean and only looked at the table in contemtion. ¡®Just like Teacher, Duke Whirlwind is someone that highly values honesty. There might be a way to get him to our side if we are honest.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, even if we can''te up with a good origin for the technique, he might be able to." ¡®It seems like it is impossible to publicize this technique without Duke Whirlwind''s help.¡¯ Shang closed his eye and took a deep breath. Then, he looked at the ceiling for a bit. He was weighing his options. After a couple of seconds, Shang took another deep breath. "Okay," Shang said with conviction as he opened his eye. The Dean looked with a raised eyebrow at Shang. "I''ve decided." "I''m going to ask Duke Whirlwind for help." The Dean only looked at Shang with a skeptical expression. "And how do you n to exin the origin of the technique to him?" Shang looked at the Dean. ¡°With honesty." Both of the Dean''s eyebrows rose. "I''m going to tell him," Shang said. "About the trial, about Earth, and about the God." Chapter 403 Chapter 403 The Dean narrowed his eyes. Obviously, he was not a fan of that suggestion. "You will do no such thing," he said with a threatening voice. "Why not?" Shang asked. "What speaks against it?"This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. "This is about our origin and source of our power! He will also realize how we can remotely control our weapons! If the information gets out, we will attract the attention of the truly powerful Mages of this world! This goes beyond this little ce where we are in. This pertains to the dark past and the fate of the Mage Emperor!" "If they believe us, we will be branded as followers of the person that killed the person they view as a God! If they don''t believe us, they will kill us for disrespecting the Mage Emperor''s image!" "Jerald doesn''t even need to betray us for that to happen. A powerful Mage mighte from the outside and simply read his mind. What then?" "You can''t possibly think about doing that. You are putting our lives on the line!" the Dean shouted with anger. Shang had never seen the Dean get angry, but this time, he was genuinely angry. However, Shang only narrowed his eye as he looked at the Dean. "We are constantly putting our lives on the line. We are constantly fighting against powerful enemies, and we can die whenever. What makes this so different from all the other times?¡± "The difference, Shang," the Dean said with a threatening tone, "is that our power won''t increase. You and | can use the technique just fine. When we find a solution in the future, we can still disperse it amongst the crowd, but for now, only us two can use it.¡± ¡°And how is that good in any way?" Shang asked. "You are getting older, and at some point, you won''t have the time to create a new Path anymore. You will die with your current power. Is that what you want?" At that moment, the room became colder. ¡°My power is not for you to judge, boy," the Dean said with a dark tone. "I know my power the best, and even though you are powerful, you are still a child in front of me. I''m over 150 years old, while you are barely 30. Do you think your bit of hard training can ovee 120 years of battle experience?" Surprisingly, Shang only sneered. "120 years of battle experience? Excluding that sparring match against King Skythunder and your trampling by the Mountain Exploding Turtle, who have you actually fought ever since you reached the True Path Stage?¡± BANG! The Dean stood up with an explosive sound, his spear appearing inside his right hand. He looked at Shang with a gaze that spoke of coldness and rage. Shang also stood up, but inparison to the Dean, he slowly stood up and summoned his sword leisurely. At that moment, the pressure of the two warriors clouded the room. If a third person were in here, they would think that the end of the world had arrived. As they continued looking at each other, the air seemed to warp slightly under their pressure. The Dean''s presence and Shang''s presence had an invisible fight in the atmosphere between them. This was a battle of willpower and determination. Suddenly, Shang''s arm moved just a little bit and his right eye widened. SHING! The Dean put his spear in front of him in a blocking motion. At that moment, the Dean''s breathing slightly increased, but it wasn''t very visible from the outside. Shang only looked deep into the Dean''s eyes. They only looked at each other for several seconds. Then, the Dean slowly put his spear down and looked at the floor. A look of bitter realization could be seen on his face. ¡°Have | becent?" he asked quietly. "You have becent," Shang answered calmly as he also put his sword away. "You''ve been the Dean of this academy for decades. Due to the weakness of your Path and body, you have avoided fighting anyone else for too long.¡± "You see the overwhelming power of your enemies and think that fighting back is futile, which is why you avoid fighting.¡± "You say there''s nothing to gain for you? As | see it, there is nothing to gain for you as things stand right now." "If there were other True Path Stage warriors, you would count as below average, even if their Paths are just as weak and fragile as yours.¡± "You''ve lost your edge.¡± "You''ve lost your will to fight." "You''ve lost your courage to put your life on the line." Silence. Earlier, when their presences had shed, they had been equal. However, the longer the sh continued, the more uncertain the Dean felt. The Dean had realized what he had been feeling. It was fear. It wasn''t fear for his life or fear of Shang. No, it was fear of fighting. He didn''t want to fight. Why? Because he felt like he would lose, and he couldn''t take another loss. The room remained silent for several seconds. "What about him?" the Dean asked absentmindedly. "If he didn''t want us to tell others, he would have told us," Shang answered. "What if he doesn''t want it, and he simply didn''t tell us toy a trap for us for entertainment?" "| doubt it," Shang answered. "I can imagine the trap part, but | don''t think that he would kill us. We are his toys, and he knows that if he destroys his toys, he can''t y with them anymore." ¡°Additionally, | think he really doesn''t care about if the world knows about him or not." ¡°He represents the absolute peak of the world. He is to the world what King Skythunder is to the Skythunder Kingdom. Everything the people below him do has no effect on him." ¡°It makes no difference if people know of him or not." "They can''t change anything regardless." Shang sighed. ¡°Andstly, | don''t think that anyone of significance would even believe us. In this world, both of us are nothing but children in a separate yground while all our parents are watching. There are Mages that have lived for thousands if not tens of thousands of years." ¡°What could such weak and isted people from the world actually know of the greater cosmos?" "If | were to shout the truth to the entire Kingdom, everyone would simply think of me as an insane person, especially the powerful Mages." "They would think that | couldn''t handle that warriors are so inferior to Mages. So, | made up some God and some distant past that didn''t exist where warriors were actually powerful.¡± "In the end, telling him won''t put us into danger, and it gives us an opportunity to bring the technique to the warriors." "Don''t forget, he wants us to increase the power of the warriors, and the rewards are this power we have to bring to them. Keeping it for only us two might be fine for us, but he might view it as breaking our agreement." "| don''t know about you, but I''d rather take the risk than maybe anger him," Shang said. The Dean thought about Shang''s words for a while. Then, he sighed. "Fine," he said. "When Jerald arrives to wee you back, we will tell him." Shang nodded. "Thanks, Teacher." "Don''t call me that," the Dean said. Shang raised an eyebrow. "You are stronger than me, and even if you are not, in a decade, you will be." "Call me George." Shang smiled a bit. "Okay, George." Chapter 404 Chapter 404 After this issue was resolved, Shang told George about thest decade. He remained mostly truthful throughout his retelling, even telling him about the ckshadow Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom. Of course, George realized that things weren''t adding up. After all, Shang had just returned from the Grandmountain Kingdom. The Spirit Spring Kingdom was on the other side of the world. However, he also knew that this was probably rted to the political thing Shang had referred to earlier. So, he didn''t ask. Naturally, Shang didn''t tell George about his control over the Abominations. This was a secret Shang couldn''t tell anyone in the world, lest he was viewed as the enemy of the entire world, which he kind of was. After hearing everything about thest decade from Shang''s mouth, George could see how Shang had changed so much. He definitely hadn''t had it easy. George had a look of nostalgia in his eyes while listening to Shang. Hearing of Shang''s problems, he was reminded of the time he had been hunted. He hadn''t always had Duke Whirlwind as his backer, and there had been no Warrior Academy back then. The Mages realized that George was very talented and powerful, which made them fear him. George had been on the run from an angry noble of the Mages more than once. That was until the young Duke Whirlwind saw his potential and recruited him. All of this happened around 80 years ago. George also told Shang a bit about his past. Shang was no longer the young boy that didn''t know how important some secrets were. Additionally, it felt good to tell someone else about the things he had gone through. After listening to George, Shang also finally learned what happened to the person that came from Earth that hade before George. "That''s when | killed him," George said after telling Shang about his teacher. Shang nodded. "Understandable." George''s predecessor was someone that acted kind and acted like he wanted to help everyone, but he had actually used George as a guinea pig for his experiments. In a way, George''s predecessor was simr to that researcher in the Grandmountain Kingdom that had experimented on Shang for a couple of months. George knew that his predecessor would get rid of him if he ever managed to be a threat to him, which was why he had fled one day. And when he gained the power to kill him, he did just that.N?velDrama.Org content rights. Several yearster, George found a young boy that had been banished into the wilderness by his vige due to something his parents had done. George saw the willpower in his eyes and epted him as his disciple. That was Soran. Acouple more yearster, Soran and George were traveling somewhere when they saw a young girl cowering in front of a beast that had just killed her family. George sent Soran to fight the beast since it was just the right power for Soran, and he won. The girl looked with shiny eyes at Soran and swore that she wanted to follow them. George and Soran declined and left. However, the girl kept following them, thinking keeping up with them was some sort of examination she had to pass. George just wanted to keep going, but Soran kept holding him back since he felt bad for the girl. When she copsed in the middle of the road, Soran pleaded with George to ept her, and he eventually relented. That was when Viera, George''s second disciple, joined the group. Viera kept clinging to Soran all the time, and Soran quickly learned to regret his decision to ept her. Several more yearster, Soran convinced George to start an academy. He had unjustly lost his home in the past, and he didn''t want the same thing to happen to others. He wanted to create a ce for the people that wanted to be powerful but couldn''t be Mages. George was not a fan of it. Sadly, Soran went to Duke Whirlwind and told him about the idea. After all, Soran wanted to create the academy. This was his thing, not his teacher''s. And after that day, Duke Whirlwind kept pestering George with that idea. One had to say that Duke Whirlwind was far better at convincing George than Soran. And with that, the Warrior Academy was born. About twenty yearster, George reached the True Path Stage, and the Warrior Academy reached global fame. About 40 years have passed since that day. Shang was quite interested in George''s past. He also definitely had it quite rough. After George told his story, he remained silent for some time. It seemed like he was contemting something. Shang noticed it and didn''t say anything. "Tell me the truth of what happened," George suddenly said. Shang raised an eyebrow. "That''s something of political interest, and it would be better if you didn''t know about it." George could only sigh. "We are about to tell Jerald the truth about our existence. We are in this together now. Remaining neutral while we are asking him for such a gigantic favor would be unfair to him." Shang''s eyebrows rose in surprise. "Does that mean...?" "| might as well join Jerald''s camp," George said with a bit of defeat in his voice. "However, | can''t speak for the academy or the warriors. With the Star Map published, Mervin will soon advance to the True Path Stage, and | want everything as it is right now for him." "I''ve be too old, and my perspective is skewed by years ofziness andfort. If he wants the Warrior Academy to remain neutral, fine. If he wants it to join Jerald, fine." "In the end, it''s his choice." "But I, as an individual, will join Jerald''s camp." Shang nodded. "And Ranos?" ¡°Forget it," George answered directly. "Duke Whirlwind is a Mage. In Ranos'' eyes, Duke Whirlwind is just like the Council, the enemy." ¡°What do you think Mervin will decide?" Shang asked. "| don''t know," George answered. "Mervin is very wise. He says things and makes choices that seem naive or stupid when you hear them but always work out perfectly in the long run. I''ve long since given up predicting what he thinks." Shang had tough a bit at George''s helplessness. George had always seemed like a cold and unfeeling colossus in Shang''s eyes, but as soon as he got to know him a bit more, Shang realized that he was actually a bit sentimental. George was also just a human. "So, tell me. What really happened?" George asked. Shang only smiled. "Well, everything was true. | only kept out thest part." Then, Shang told George everything he had told Duke Whirlwind and how he had a deterring effect on the Abominations. "So, you''ve actually been back for over six months," George said. "Honestly, | should have known. | couldn''t think of another person that could have done that to Jera Orvis'' son." At that point, Shang and George heard the voices of peopleing from outside. Morning had arrived. And just a bitter, George took out his Communication Crystal. Duke Whirlwind was calling. After talking with Duke Whirlwind for a bit, George put the Communication Crystal away. "He will be here within 30 minutes," he said. Shang nodded. "And we''re going to tell him," he said. George nodded. "We will." Chapter 405 Chapter 405 After around 20 minutes, Duke Whirlwind appeared in front of the academy. During the day, there were no guards in front of the gates since there were plenty of powerful teachers walking around. They would notice if someone entered that shouldn''t have entered. Shang looked out of a window of George''s office and looked at the packed training grounds. Shang couldn''t help remembering the time when he had been one of those students. Duke Whirlwind walked alongside the road towards the main building, being greeted by several students and teachers. He greeted them back with a smile and entered the building. Duke Whirlwind didn''t need to ask where George and Shang were currently. After all, he had a Spirit Sense. After getting to the fifth floor, Duke Whirlwind entered the office without knocking. Why would he? The two upants already knew that he was there. When he entered, he looked at Shang, and a bright smile appeared on his face. "Shang, so good to see you after so many years." ¡°He knows,¡± Shang said. This took Duke Whirlwind by surprise, and he looked at George. George only nodded. "! know that he''s been back for a while." At that point, Duke Whirlwind''s smile became a bit awkward, but Shang and George could feel the hidden frustration and anger inside it. Duke Whirlwind had trusted Shang and had treated him as one of his closest people, but he had told someone else about their coboration without asking him first. This might not be a betrayal, but it was a sign of untrustworthiness. "Don''t immediately assume bad things, Jerald," George said. "He told me that he couldn''t tell me anything because | took on a politically neutral stance." Duke Whirlwind raised an eyebrow as he sat down in one of the chairs. "And that means?" he asked. George only sighed. "It means that | have stayed neutral for long enough.¡± Duke Whirlwind''s eyebrows rose in surprise. "Yes, Jerald," George continued. "I''m willing to be part of your camp. However, | can only speak for myself, not the academy." Duke Whirlwind was quite surprised when he heard that, and he looked at Shang for confirmation. Shang nodded. "Yes, George is willing to help us against the Council and the other Dukes." Duke Whirlwind almost couldn''t believe it. He had tried to get George to be a true ally for several decades, but after only a single conversation with Shang, he had actually joined him. ¡°Are you sure?¡± Duke Whirlwind asked. "You were always so against it.¡± George nodded. "That was because | have becent without realizing it. | valued my safety and ego above my power." George looked at Shang. "Seeing him reach my power in only 15 years opened my eyes to my stagnating life." "The time to stay on the sidelines has passed. If | want to progress further on the path to power, | need to be willing to risk my life again.¡± Duke Whirlwind could only sigh when he heard that. He had been with George the longest, and he felt pity when he saw that George had essentially stopped growing. However, he nevermented on it. He didn''t want to hurt George''s feelings. "That''s good to hear,¡± Duke Whirlwind said. "This also makes it easier for me. To be frank, | really don''t enjoy lying to you, George, but you know why I''m doing it." George nodded. "I know. If you tell me everything, | will inevitably be drawn into the conflict. You were only respecting my choice." "It''s good that you know," Duke Whirlwind said.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Then, he looked at Shang. "So, what have you already told him?" ¡°Everything you know," Shang said. Then, he looked at Duke Whirlwind. "And more." This made Duke Whirlwind raise an eyebrow. Sure, he was pretty certain that Shang hadn''t told him everything about what had happened to him, but that was normal. Everyone had some secrets they wanted to keep hidden. However, acknowledging it openly was weird and a bit hurtful. It was like talking to a friend and telling them that they were not their best friend and that they had a much better friend. "That''s understandable," Duke Whirlwind said without the atmosphere bing awkward. "He is your Teacher, after all." Shang only sighed, and Duke Whirlwind noticed that the atmosphere shifted subtly. ¡°And now, I, or more precisely we, will be telling you these things as well," Shang said. Duke Whirlwind raised an eyebrow and looked at the two of them. "Okay, and what''s the asion?" "We need your help," George said. "I''m taking it that this help will not be of the easy and simple kind, yes?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "You might lose your life," George said. Duke Whirlwind''s eyes narrowed a bit. He was constantly under the threat of losing his life, but he knew George. If George phrased it like that, it meant that this would be far more dangerous than Duke Whirlwind''s current situation. "Is that why you decided to join me? To repay me for the favor?" Jerald asked. "No," George said. "I genuinely realized what''s wrong with me, and | realize now that | need a true ally, not just a friend." Duke Whirlwind looked at George closely to make sure that he wasn''t lying or obfuscating the truth. ¡°Alright, what is this favor?" As soon as Duke Whirlwind asked, George pushed over the book of the Star Map. "Read it," he said. Duke Whirlwind looked at the book with furrowed brows. Then, he opened it and read it. Due to his powerful mind, Duke Whirlwind read it far faster than George. The more Duke Whirlwind read the wider his eyes got. This was ridiculous! The concepts in here were so ethereal, massive, and advanced that Duke Whirlwind would refuse to believe that such a technique existed if he wasn''t reading and understanding it at this very moment. After Duke Whirlwind had read it, he put the book down. It was like his world had undergone an upheaval. How could something this advanced exist?! And, even more, how could something that advanced be specifically for physical fighters?! Weren''t Mages supposed to be the strongest and most advanced kinds of people?! But then, Duke Whirlwind remembered that powerful Mage that had thrown the Storm Eagle away like it had been a child. ¡®Right, even though I''ve never seen anything like it, there could be far stronger and more advanced techniques outside this ce,¡¯ Duke Whirlwind thought. "Is this a technique from the... outside?" Duke Whirlwind asked, trying to find the right word. "Kind of," Shang answered. "Ites from the very distant past when physical fighters were just as powerful as the Mages." If anyone else had said this to Duke Whirlwind, he wouldn''t believe them. However, he knew Shang and George. Additionally, he had seen the Star Map with his own eyes. ¡°And how did youe by this technique from the past?" Duke Whirlwind asked. Shang and George shared a look. Then, Shang looked back at Duke Whirlwind. ¡°What we are going to tell you now is the truth, and it will sound ridiculous. However, | can assure you that we are not lying. It will also answer many open questions you have about us but don''t want to ask." Duke Whirlwind wasn''t sure how he should feel about Shang''s warning. Additionally, Duke Whirlwind noticed that Shang had said "we" instead of "I". This meant that the two of them were potentially connected on an even deeper level than just teacher and student. ¡°Let me finish everything before you ask any questions, okay?" Shang said. Duke Whirlwind furrowed his brows. "Alright." Then, Shang began. "| received the Star Map from the God of this world." Chapter 406 Chapter 406 The things Duke Whirlwind heard Shang talk about were unbelievable. They almost sounded like ramblings or fever dreams of a religious zealot. However, Shang wasn''t talking about this so-called God with respect, which gave this entire conversation a more realistic feel to it. It took a long time for Shang to finish retelling his story and all the details he hadn''t told Duke Whirlwind yet. Of course, Shang kept his true connection with the Abominations still a secret from both of them. After Shang was done, Duke Whirlwind only looked at the two of them with aplex expression. If he didn''t know them very well, he would believe that they were crazy. Several seconds of silence passed. "Do you have any additional proof, aside from the Star Map?" he asked. ¡°Our weapons,¡± Shang said. At that moment, the gigantic Sword began to hover in the air. "As I''ve said, they are alive," Shang said. "You can check if we are using any form of Mana to remotely make them do that. We don''t know enough about Magic to fool your senses." Duke Whirlwind kept looking at the hovering sword and tried his very best to feel any kind of Mana leave Shang''s body to manipte the weapon. Weapons weren''t alive. They couldn''t just do things of their own ord. However, no matter how much Duke Whirlwind looked, he simply saw no indication of Shang manipting his weapon. Duke Whirlwind had seen Jerald''s spear levitate a couple of times, but he had simply assumed that this was something warriors could do at the True Path Stage. He hadn''t even thought about his weapon being alive. ¡°| can also show you proof of my inner world," Shang said. Shang took off one of his Space Rings and showed it to Duke Whirlwind. "Focus on it," he said. Duke Whirlwind looked at the Space Ring. SHING! And suddenly, the Space Ring was gone. Duke Whirlwind''s eyes opened widely. He was certain that these two didn''t have the magical knowledge to just make a Space Ring disappear right in front of him without any sign. And putting a Space Ring into another Space Ring was impossible! Even more, Shang and George didn''t even have any other Space Rings on them. "What''s the limit of your inner world?" Duke Whirlwind asked. "There is no limit," Shang said. "The only two requirements are that | can only store dead things and things that | can lift." Duke Whirlwind rubbed his chin in thought. SHING! Then, a massive piece of ore appeared in front of him. It was nearly two cubic meters big. "You can lift that, right?" he asked. SHING! The piece of ore vanished without a problem. Duke Whirlwind had felt no Mana or force interact with the ore, but it still vanished. Even more, he had put a small tracking Magic Circle on it. Even if it were inside a Space Ring, he would still be able to feel its whereabouts. But it had just vanished! It was like it no longer existed! By now, it became very difficult for Duke Whirlwind to deny the truth. There was too much evidence. Duke Whirlwind looked at the ceiling for a while, unsure of what this meant for the world. There had been powerful physical fighters in the past? This entire world is just entertainment for some God? It was difficult to take in. After a minute of silence, Duke Whirlwind sighed. ¡°You can keep the ore," he said. "It was the special Commander Stage ore you''ve asked for. There''s currently a tracking Magic Circle on it, but as soon as you melt it down, it will vanish." Then, Duke Whirlwind looked at Sword. "Although, it probably won''t be molten down but consumed. | mean, your weapon is alive, apparently." Shang was happy to hear that this was the Entropy Ore he desperately needed. He quickly summoned the ore and put it beside him. Then, Duke Whirlwind saw Sword hover over the ore and stab into it. It was like the ore didn''t exist for it. And then, Duke Whirlwind saw the ore shrink. By now, he had epted that Shang and George were telling the truth, but it was still weird to see a living weapon that absorbed metal. "| always wondered which smith could make a weapon for the True Path Stage, George," Duke Whirlwind said as he looked at the spear behind George. ¡°Now, you know," George said. Duke Whirlwind nodded, and his gaze went to the book on the table. ¡°And this is the reason why you''re telling me all of this, right?" he asked. "It was his idea," George said, ncing at Shang. "I didn''t want to share all of this, but he made me realize that it''s better this way." Duke Whirlwind wordlessly took the book into his hands again and leafed through it. "We need King Skythunder''s permission," Duke Whirlwind said neutrally. "Yes," George said.N?velDrama.Org content rights. ¡°And you couldn''t find a way to get hold of him, which was why you came to me," Duke Whirlwind added. "Yes," Shang said, "and we couldn''t find a reasonable exnation for the technique''s origins." At that point, Duke Whirlwind''s right eyebrow rose, and he looked at Shang. "Really?" Shang and George were a bit surprised by Duke Whirlwind''s surprise. "Yes," Shang answered. Duke Whirlwind only looked with skepticism at Shang and George. "What do you think | thought when | first looked at the technique?" Shang and George remained silent for about a second. Then, George frowned as Shang put his right hand to his face in embarrassment. How hadn''t they thought of that? Duke Whirlwind only chuckled when he saw their reactions. "Well, you two are not used to lying," Duke Whirlwind said. "From the outside," Shang said with a voice that showed that he thought of himself as an idiot. "| got this technique from a powerful Mage from the outside," Shang repeated. Duke Whirlwind chuckled again. "There is your origin," he said with a smile. Duke Whirlwind closed the book and held it in his right hand. "This technique will cause a major upheaval in the entire Skythunder Kingdom. Basically no one knows about the outside world. Everyone believes that the Abyss at the edges of the outer Zones is the end of the world.¡± "Introducing this technique will reveal the outer world to everyone, and things will change." ¡°Even more, we know that the truly powerful Mages know about us. After all, one of them literally threw a Zone Beast away ten years ago." "A lot of questions will be asked. Questions like, where are we? Why are we here? Why are the Kings the most powerful Mages when there are so many stronger ones outside?" "| can tell you for a fact that the Council will do their absolute best to stop us. This is not like the Bloodline Infusion in the least. This is far greater. The members of the Council mighte personally to kill us when no one is around." Shang and George had anticipated something like that, but they hadn''t fully realized that even the Council might appear personally. One had to remember that every member of the Council was a Late High Mage, at least! "Do you have a solution?" Shang asked. Duke Whirlwind leaned back and rubbed his chin in thought. "| can see why you said that this might be very dangerous to me," he said. But then, Duke Whirlwind smirked. "But | think | got this!" Chapter 407 Chapter 407 "What brings you before us today, Jerald?" Duke Whirlwind performed a short and polite bow in front of King Skythunder, who currently sat on his throne with an interested gleam in his eyes. On the left side of the room was the Council, while the Archduke was on the right side. Duke Whirlwind stood in front of the throne together with Shang and George. "King Skythunder, Council, Archduke," Duke Whirlwind said as he summoned several books. "Please look at these books." After that, the three books floated over to the present people, who looked at the books with furrowed brows. For a while, silence fell over the pce as everyone was entranced in reading. "Hahahaha!" King Skythunder was the first to finish reading due to his powerful mind, and he burst outughing. Meanwhile, the Councils¡¯ eyes widened more and more as rage, fear, and frustration became visible in them. "Outrageous!" "sphemy!" "This must be a trick by the Magic Purity Kingdom!" "This would destroy millennia of hard-fought peace!" Obviously, the Council very quickly protested. "Jerald," the Archduke suddenly said with a rtively calm voice. "You did well bringing us this dangerous weapon. | assume you already took care of all the people that havee into contact with this?"N?velDrama.Org content rights. Duke Whirlwind didn''t answer. The Archduke looked at Duke Whirlwind with furrowed brows. She had just given him the possibility to correct the course of his action. As long as he said that he was handing it over, he didn''t need to die. The Council kept shouting, and some of them even destroyed the books in anger. This was sphemy! This would overturn the natural order of things! Mages were chosen by the world to be the most powerful existences! It had always been like this, and it will always be like this! "Jerald." The hall fell into silence as King Skythunder spoke. "What do you n on doing with this Star Map?" he asked with a smirk. Duke Whirlwind only smiled politely. "That, of course, depends on your judgment, my King." "| bring this technique before you today so that you may decide what we all should do with it.¡± King Skythunder leaned back on his throne. Then, he looked to his right at the Council. "Any opinions, Council?" "Destroy it," the Head of the Council answered coldly. The four others beside her nodded in agreement. "Destroy it and get rid of everyone who knows about it," she said. King Skythunder only smirked. "You want me to kill you?" he asked. A shiver ran down the Council Head''s back. ¡°Excuse me, my King," she quickly said. "| have phrased my statement incorrectly." "What | meant to say is that every trace of this sphemous technique ought to be eradicated. Naturally, this does not include the people present in this hall. Everyone in here is loyal to our King." ¡°What are the reasons for this decision?" King Skythunder asked. "Instability," the Head of the Council said. "Our internal conflict makes the Skythunder Kingdom more resilient, but having too much conflict will make it unstable." "Introducing this technique to the public would allow the warriors to close the gap between them and us, and after years of being on the weaker side, they will get lost in what it means to be responsible for your power." ¡°A war between the warriors and Mages will ur, and this war will only ur inside the Skythunder Kingdom, allowing our true enemies to attack us." ¡°For the safety of the Skythunder Kingdom, we can''t allow this technique to be released to the public.¡± King Skythunder''s expression didn''t change, and he looked to his left at the Archduke. "What do you think, Miriam?" The Archduke seemed calm. "I think this is a trick of the Magic Purity Kingdom''s King," she said. "The existence of this technique makes no sense. Mages have ruled supreme over thesends for thousands upon thousands of years, and we Mages have not managed to create something this advanced while being the strongest and most intelligent." "| believe the Magic Purity Kingdom has created this Star Map to corrupt our warriors. Practicing in it might change the warriors¡¯ perception and see the Mages as their enemies, creating a civil war within the Kingdom." "| also believe that this technique can''t aplish what it promises to aplish. There are only two True Path Stage warriors in the world, and it''s impossible to create something like this without looking at thousands of them. There is simply no way to create something this advanced." King Skythunder only rubbed his chin with a smirk. Obviously, he found the current situation very interesting and amusing. "Jerald," King Skythunder said as he looked at Duke Whirlwind. "What are the origins of this Star Map?" Duke Whirlwind smiled politely and looked over at Shang. "He was the one that brought it to me. It might be better if he tells you where he got it from." Everyone''s gaze focused on Shang, and he felt quite a bit of pressure. It wasn''t as bad as thest time he was here, but it was still a lot of pressure. King Skythunder looked at Shang with interest. He remembered this warrior. "Tell us, Shang," King Skythundermanded. Shang stepped forward and performed a short and polite bow. "In order to tell you of the origins of the technique, | have to tell you about my ten-year stay in the Grandmountain Kingdom." When they heard that, the Council furrowed their brows. Obviously, they didn''t know the whereabouts of some random warrior, but the fact that Shang had been in an enemy Kingdom for over ten years was concerning. The possibility of the Star Map being a trap by the enemy increased. "Tell us," King Skythunder said as he leaned back on his throne again. Shang nodded and began narrating his tale. When the Storm Eagle attacked the ck building, Shang fell into it and entered a portal. After that, he met a truly powerful Mage that forcefully teleported him away. "He''s lying," the Head of the Council said. "Mages can''t teleport others." The other members agreed. However, there was an interested gleam in King Skythunder''s eyes. "Describe the Mage''s appearance.¡± Shang did just that, and after he was finished, King Skythunder grinned. "Did she wear some special ornaments or armor?" Shang shook his head. "No, she was dressed in in purple robes." King Skythunder nodded. SHING! Suddenly, an image appeared in front of King Skythunder. Even though King Skythunder didn''t have a Light Affinity, controlling the Light Mana enough to create an image wasn''t difficult for him. Even Adepts could do that as long as they had a Light Affinity. One had to remember that one could technically control all kinds of Mana. An Affinity was just that, an Affinity. Of course, controlling the kind of Mana one had no Affinity for took maybe hundreds if not thousands of times more practice. The image depicted a woman with silver hair in silver armor. There were wings made of lightning on her back, and she carried a spear. "Is that her?" King Skythunder asked. As soon as Shang saw the image, his right eye widened in shock. "Yes, that''s her," Shang said in surprise. How did King Skythunder know her?! Chapter 408 Chapter 408 King Skythunder only continued smirking. "You''ve been quite lucky to catch a glimpse of her in real life. | still didn''t have the pleasure," he said. The Council, the Archduke, Duke Whirlwind, and George were all shocked. The first two were shocked since King Skythunder had basically confirmed that Shang wasn''t lying, while the second two were shocked that King Skythunder actually knew this powerful Mage. "She''s the Starlight Queen," King Skythunder said. The Council furrowed their brows. They hadn''t heard of such a queen before. But when Shang heard the word queen, he realized the deeper meaning. The meaning of King and Queen in the outside world was different from here. Here, being a King meant having a Kingdom. But on the outside, it represented a Realm. For a short moment, Shang wrung with himself. Should he ask or not? In the end, he decided to ask. ¡°Queen, as in like the Ice King?" he asked. The Council grew more confused. They also didn''t know of an Ice King. Alook of interest and surprise entered King Skythunder''s eyes. "Can you describe this Ice King to me?" he asked. Shang nodded and described the appearance of the Ice King, the powerful lion he had fought. "Interesting," King Skythunder said after listening to Shang. "You seem to havee in contact with quite some high-ranking existences. Yes, Queen, as in simr to the Ice King." Shang knew what that meant. This meant that the Starlight Queen was one of the most powerful Mages in the entire world! "Continue," King Skythunder said. "I''m interested in your story now." Shang didn''t dare to ask how King Skythunder knew of the Starlight Queen and the Ice King. Over the next couple of minutes, Shang told them about what he had experienced in the Grandmountain Kingdom. Naturally, he didn''t go into detail on the unimportant parts. It was a shortened version of what Shang had told the Inquisitor. But there was one addition.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. One day, Shang was visited by an extremely powerful and mysterious man who took an interest in him due to his Battle-Strength as a mere physi. King Skythunder asked for a description of the man, and Shang described the God. Shang never spoke of the truth regarding the God''s existence and only called him a mysterious but powerful man. "He doesn''t sound familiar," King Skythunder said. Shang nodded. He had already expected that. There was probably not a single person alive aside from Shang, George, and Duke Whirlwind who knew of the God. Oh, and that one Mage in the Magic Purity Kingdom. Shang told King Skythunder how that man had put him through a trial. He had to fight several beasts to prove his power. At one point, after Shang had defeated a blue lioness, the powerful man told Shang that this species was the mate of the Ice King. Sadly, he couldn''t get one of the Ice King''s children to fight Shang. ¡°And after | defeated the lioness, he handed me the Star Map," Shang said. "He said he is interested in seeing the warriors be more powerful. He called the current state of affairs boring.¡± "I''ve been using this technique for a couple of years now, and it has helped me immensely in my progress. | don''t think it is fake," Shang said. Right now, the Council was frustrated and confused. They had never heard of these kinds of existences. "Interesting," King Skythunder said as he looked at the book in his hands. "It seems like someone that shouldn''t have gotten involved got involved." King Skythunder remained quiet for a couple of seconds while contemting something. ¡°| can tell you all that this technique is genuine," he said. When the Council heard that, it was like their world had broken down. It was actually real?! But how?! At that moment, King Skythunder''s smirk returned. "After all, this isn''t the only Star Map." At that moment, Shang, George, and Duke Whirlwind also looked at King Skythunder in shock. "It isn''t?" Duke Whirlwind asked. King Skythunder nodded. "Yes, but | can''t borate on it right now." The book in King Skythunder''s hand vanished as he looked at the people in his hall. "The meeting ends now," he said. "I can''t make a decision on this matter at this very moment. Let''s just say it needs further deliberation." None of the people present were happy about hearing this. The Council wanted to ban that technique and kill everyone that knew about it, while the three visitors wanted to know if they could survive or not. After all, if the technique was regarded as forbidden or something simr, Shang and George might very well lose their lives. However, none of them dared to object. "Until | say otherwise, Shang, George, and Jerald are not to be attacked," King Skythunder said as he looked at the Council. The Council politely bowed to the King. Then, King Skythunder looked at the three visitors. "You may leave. | will let Jerald know about my decision." "Thank you, King Skythunder,¡± the three of them said with a respectful bow. The group dispersed, leaving King Skythunder alone inside his halls. For several minutes, King Skythunder only continued sitting on his throne. Eventually, he left his castle and walked over to a nearby hill. He sat down and looked at his Kingdom for a while. Then, he took out a Communication Crystal that looked very different from the normal ones. It was purple, and there was a lightning bolt in the middle of it. "You might want toe here for a second," he said. "I''ve found something very interesting.¡± King Skythunder put the crystal away again and looked at the Skythunder Zone. Acouple of minutester, someonended a couple of meters away from him. "Is there anything you need?" the Supervisor asked with a bored tone. He wasn''t a big fan of going somewhere just because one of his employees wanted him toe. However, King Skythunder never contacted him, which meant that this had to be something important. King Skythunder didn''t look at him and only summoned a book. Then, he threw it over. ¡°Look what I''ve found floating around in my Kingdom," he said. The Supervisor looked at the book with furrowed brows and read it. After just a short moment, his eyebrows rose in surprise. "Someone adapted the Star Map for physis?" Chapter 409 Chapter 409 The Supervisor looked at the Star Map for a while longer, trying to understand who had adapted it to physis and why. "This isn''t something that could be created by someone from this Area,¡± the Supervisor said. "Even | would need thousands of True Path Stage warriors and hundreds if not thousands of years of research. | doubt that a High Mage or even an Archmage could create something like that." King Skythunder didn''t look at the Supervisor. "I also can''t find out who made this copy. Apparently, it''s the original." The Supervisor analyzed the book and realized that he also couldn''t tell anything about the creator. Every book must have been written by someone, and they must have left a piece of their unique aura behind. One could find out a bit about their temperament, their power, their Affinity, and a couple of other things just by analyzing the book. Of course, the amount of information one could find out depended on the powers of the writer and the analyzer. "Same for me," the Supervisor said with a frown. "I can''t tell anything about the person that made the copy. Where did you get it from?" ¡°One of the warriors in my Kingdom said that they got it from a powerful Mage that made him go through several trials. Only when he proved that he could win against an Ice Lioness one level above him did he get the book," King Skythunder answered. "Oh?" the Supervisor uttered. "That''s very impressive for a physi. It seems the Area has done its duty, even if it is in a direction that might not be too desirable."Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. ¡°He wants to publish this technique to every warrior," King Skythunder said. The Supervisor frowned as he looked at the Star Map for a while longer. "Well, the normal Star Map isn''t avable in this Area for a reason. Logically, this one also shouldn''t be allowed to spread in here ording to the rules," the Supervisor answered. ¡°However, not even | know of this particr Star Map. Additionally, | don''t know who created it." Acouple of seconds of silence and deliberation passed. "| have to ask the Manager for advice," the Supervisor said. "Thank you for bringing this to my attention." King Skythunder didn''t answer. After the Supervisor realized that King Skythunder didn''t answer him, he left with the book without saying anything. King Skythunder only continued sitting on the hill, looking at his Kingdom. Asmall grin could be seen on his face. Meanwhile, the Supervisor flew over to his home in the Magic Purity Kingdom and took out a Communication Crystal that looked just like King Skythunder''s. "Yes, what do you need?" said a voiceing out from the Communication Crystal. "Sir, a Star Map adapted to physis has appeared in Area 23," the Supervisor said. ¡°A Star Map adapted to physis?" the voice asked with a bit of surprise. "Correct, sir," the Supervisor said. For a while, nothing came out of the Communication Crystal. "Do you have the original?" the Manager asked. "Yes," the Supervisor answered. "I''ll be there in two hours." "Thank you, sir," the Supervisor said. The connection of the Communication Crystal was cut, and the Supervisor only waited in silence. BANG! About two hourster, a golden lightning bolt hit the ground in front of the Supervisor, and a man in pure golden armor appeared. He had silver hair and seemed to only be about 20 years old. The Supervisor handed over the book to the Manager, who read and fully understood it in barely 20 seconds. Then, the Manager frowned just like the Supervisor when he had read through the Star Map. "| can''t tell anything about the creator of this book," the Manager said. The Supervisor looked with shock at the Manager. Even the Manager couldn''t?! But the Manager was an Illustrious Mage Lord, and he was a fully-fledged member of the Lightning Manor! "Sir, what do we do with the technique?" the Supervisor asked. "Tell me how this technique appeared in Area 23 first," the Manager ordered. The Supervisor quickly recounted everything King Skythunder had told him. "That Mage doesn''t sound familiar," the Manager said. "This technique must have been created by a Mage Lord, at the least, and | know a lot of them. However, I''ve never heard of someone that has such an entric appearance." "A Mage Lord?" the Supervisor asked with a bit of surprise. He had thought that some special technique had been used to hide who had written that book. He hadn''t expected that a Mage Lord would be part of this. Most Mage Lords followed one of the Emperors, and only a select few were unaffiliated. If this specific Mage Lord were unaffiliated, it wouldn''t be a big deal. However, if one of the affiliated Mage Lords interfered with the Areas under the Lightning Manor''s jurisdiction, this could be an international incident! The Manager nodded. "I can''t make a judgment on the technique until we know where ites from and who created it,¡± he said. "I''ll have to ask the Reconnaissance General." "The Starlight Queen?" the Supervisor asked in shock. When he had gotten ahold of the technique, he would have never expected it to even reach the Starlight Queen''s eyes. This was only some technique for Commander Stage warriors! "I''ll contact you when | know more," the Manager said. BANG! And with an explosion of golden lightning, he vanished. The Supervisor only looked with surprise at the ce where the Manager had just been. The only thing he could do now was to wait. This was now in the hands of people far outside his Realm. Meanwhile, a golden lightning bolt shot with unimaginable speed past the sky. With this speed, it would barely take a minute to travel from the southern edge of the Skythunder Kingdom to the northern edge of the ckshadow Kingdom. It was ridiculously fast! About two hourster, the lightning bolt shot further up into the sky. It had already been flying far above theyer of clouds, but a secondyer of clouds appeared above it. The clouds were far darker, and they were filled with lightning. Luckily, the Manager knew this area very well, and he got past the dangerous bolts in just a couple of minutes. Eventually, the Manager appeared above theyer of clouds andnded in front of an unimaginably big castle. He walked past the entrance, greeting the guards that were on duty, and directly walked along the biggest hallway. Just before the biggest door, the Manager took a turn and walked to the left into a smaller hallway. Acouple of kilometers further, he entered another hallway to his right, which led into yet another hallway. Some more kilometers further, he went to the left again and then stopped at a door to the left. He waited in front of the door for a couple of seconds without doing anything. Then, the door opened on its own, and he stepped inside. The Manager entered an area that looked a bit like an office from Earth. There were plenty of desks, and the Manager could even see a couple of Mage Lords going through several documents. Mage Lords were the lowest-ranking people in the Lightning Manor, barely good enough to handle some documents. Luckily, as the manager of a fifth of the Development Areas of the Lightning Manor, the Manager was of a higher ranking than these mere document processors. The Manager entered and walked past all the working Mage Lords until he arrived in front of a desk at the end of the room. It looked just like any other desk, but the person sitting and working there couldn''t bepared to everyone else in the room. "Is there something to report?" the Starlight Queen asked in a professional tone that hid her boredom. "Yes, my Lady," the Manager said with the highest respect. The Starlight Queen was one of the most powerful people in the entire world! She was the General of the Lightning Manor''s Reconnaissance Division, essentially ruling over a quarter of all its forces! She was responsible for managing all Developing Areas and all the information gathering for the Lightning Manor. The Manager took out the Star Map and respectfully handed it over. "This arrived in Area 23, and | can''t discern any information about the creator of the technique or the writer of the book." This piqued the Starlight Queen''s interest, and she looked at the book. The book opened and immediately closed again. She had read and understood the entire thing just by doing that. Then, she looked at the book with furrowed brows, just like the Supervisor and the Manager had done. "Me neither," shemented. The Manager''s jaw nearly hit the floor. Chapter 410 Chapter 410 The Manager couldn''t believe what he was hearing. He had already been surprised that he couldn''t glean any information from the book, but it was somethingpletely different if not even the Starlight Queen could do so! ¡°What should we do, my Lady?" the Manager asked. The Starlight Queen looked at the book for a while longer. "Tell me where that techniquees from." The Manager quickly told her everything he had heard from the Supervisor. "Hmm," the Starlight Queen muttered after hearing everything. "Getting an Ice Lioness from the Ice King''s Domain is not an easy feat. It had either been captured by a very weak force that didn''t enter the Ice King''s eyes or someone above its power." ¡°Additionally, | believe that the person had disguised themselves, which is why they don''t feel familiar," she added. ¡°My Lady, what if the small warrior that got that book was lying?¡± the Manager asked. "No, he wasn''t,¡± the Starlight Queen said with confidence. This confused the Manager a bit. When the Starlight Queen saw the Manager''s confusion, she exined. "Mage Kings have a deeper connection to the world and reality itself. What you have spoken about resonates with reality. There are some obfuscations, but the retelling of the Mage''s identity rings true with reality. That''s how I know that the warrior didn''t lie about the identity of the Mage." "Thank you for exining, my Lady," the Manager said respectfully. The Starlight Queen looked at the book for a bit longer. ¡°What should we do now?" the Manager asked nervously. After looking at the book some more, the Starlight Queen sighed. "| have to ask the Custodian," she said. The Manager''s heart shook. The Custodian?! He was a mysterious yet very friendly man. Not much was known about him. However, he was one of the absolutely most powerful Mage Kings in the entire world. The legends even said that he could be an Emperor if he chose to. The Custodian was the second-highest ranking member in the entire Lightning Manor, a power that ruled over about 10% of the entire world! "You can leave," the Starlight Queen said. "I will inform you on how to proceed." "Yes, thank you, my Lady," the Manager said before walking out of the office. The Starlight Queen continued looking at the book for a while, but she just couldn''t glean any additional information from it. That frustrated her quite a bit. ¡®Did one of the other Emperors personally interfere?¡¯ she thought with doubt. ''I don''t think so. There was basically no attempt to conceal this Star Map. Additionally, why would an Emperor be interested in creating some more physis in the Fourth Realm? That would have no impact on anything.¡¯ After a while, the Starlight Queen stood up and left the office as well. She walked past the small corridor and entered a gigantic door. Now, she was inside a humongous and grand hall with no people inside. She walked through the hall until she arrived in front of two small doors. She went to the door on the right and pressed a button. Asmall bell rang inside the room behind the small door. Acouple of secondster, a meticulously dressed man opened the door and looked at the Starlight Queen with a polite smile. "Good evening, Sarah. How has the year been treating you?" Wester, the butler and Custodian, asked. "Thank you for asking, sir. This year has been very smooth," The Starlight Queen said. "Good to hear," Wester said. "Now, what brings you here this evening?" The Starlight Queen summoned the book and respectfully handed it over. "This appeared in Area 23, and | can''t glean any information about who wrote it from it," she said. "Oh?" Wester uttered with a bit of amusement. "That''s quite rare. You''re normally so astute and knowledgeable." "I''m sorry, sir," the Starlight Queen said. Wester chuckled a bit. "I''m only joking, Sarah. Don''t take it to heart. You''re doing an amazing job." "Thank you, sir," the Starlight Queen said with utter respect. Wester slowly leafed through the book. It was almost like he was reading it like amon person from a vige. After a while, a small smirk appeared on his face. "Ah, that exins it," he said. "The aura faded with time." The Starlight Queen''s eyes opened widely. "It faded?! How old is this book?!" "At least 300,000 years old," Wester said. "300,000 years?!" the Starlight Queen repeated in shock. Wester nodded. "At least," Wester repeated. "It might have evene from before the Mage God''s time." The Mage God! The Mage God was just an ancient legend. It was said that, in the past, every path was equal in power. That was, until the Mage God appeared. The Mage God was the reason why the Mages were as powerful as they were today. Most Mages that heard the story would only believe it to be some fairy tale. After all, how could physis, Summoners, or whatever have ever reached the power of the Mages? They were all just too weak. However, the Starlight Queen knew that it was real. "Your mastery over Time is still something that needs some work, Sarah," Wester said. "By using some of the powers of Time, we can recover the lost aura from the book." Agrey light appeared around the book, but nothing seemed to happen for a while. But a couple of secondster, the Starlight Queen noticed that something had appeared on the book. It was an aura! After it appeared, she could immediately tell who had created it. There was a certain tranquility to the aura, but it also hid deep violence. There was arrogance but also a drive to be peaceful and humble. They were very contradicting traits. The person''s Affinity was definitely Fire, but they also had some mastery over Earth and Water. She could also tell that the person was at the level of a Mage Lord when they created that technique, far below her current power. However, there was something very weird about the aura. It somehow felt very different from all the other auras the Starlight Queen had ever felt. It felt very alien. "Oh?" Wester uttered with a bit of positive surprise. "It''s a Weapon Master''s aura." "A Weapon Master?" the Starlight Queen asked with confusion. Wester nodded. "They were one of the most powerful people before the Mage God''s time. They focused on fighting with weapons, and they relied heavily on their body''s power.¡± The Starlight Queen''s eyes widened in surprise again. "But the power | can feel from the aura on the book rivals the aura of a Mage Lord. Does that mean that...?" Wester nodded. "Correct," he said as he closed the book. "Ites from a time before the Mage God." "That means it''s, at least, 500,000 years old, right?" she asked in surprise. Wester nodded. "At least. Could be more." It was hard for the Starlight Queen toe to grips with that. 500,000 years! This book was over 500,000 years old! How did it even stay in one piece for so long?!N?velDrama.Org content rights. "What should we do with it?" the Starlight Queen asked. "You mean regarding Area 23?" Wester asked. The Starlight Queen nodded. "| don''t think it''s a big problem if we release it to the public," Wester said. "| wouldn''t have an issue with it spreading.¡± ¡°However,¡± Wester added as a small smile appeared on his face. "The Master might be interested in looking at this book. He likes to revisit old memories. | might as well ask him what to do while | give it to him as a pleasant surprise." The Starlight Queen couldn''t be more shocked. The old Master?! This book that appeared in one of her Areas would even reach the Lightning Emperor?! "Please give me a couple of minutes," Wester said politely. "I''ll tell you how we will proceed soon." "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir," the Starlight Queen said politely. Wester nodded, left his room, and went through the small door beside the one that led to his room. He walked through a very long corridor for quite a while until he reached a small wooden door. He knocked politely but entered quickly after. The Lightning Emperor always told him that he shouldn''t knock, but Wester, as the Custodian and butler, felt it to be appropriate, which was why he was doing so regardless. When Wester entered, he saw an old man slowly reading through an old book. ¡°Wester, what brings you here?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a peaceful smile. Wester slowly took out the book and held it in his right hand. The Lightning Emperor looked over, and when he saw the book, his eyes widened a bit in pleasant surprise. "Oh? That''s the Weapon Master''s Star Map," he said. Then, his eyebrows rose a bit further. "Is that the original copy?" The book floated over to the Lightning Emperor, and he looked at it. "Sure enough, that''s the Tranquil Hammer Lord''s aura," he said. "He was the one that made the technique back then." Abitter, one of the books flew down from the gigantic bookshelf. It was identical to the book that Wester had brought with him. The Lightning Emperor''s eyes grew distant as old memories resurfaced. "| met him once, you know?" he said. Then, he released a humorous chuckle. "I still remember why he created this technique." "He was always someone that acted very peaceful, but if you angered him in any way, he would never forget it and retaliate." ¡°But the funny thing is that he wouldn''t attack you. After all, he was doing his best to keep his wildly prideful personality away from others." "One of his rivals once taunted him about his disciples. He said that the Tranquil Hammer Lord was powerful but that he couldn''t teach any of his disciples." "The Tranquil Hammer Lord took it personally and went on to create this technique." ¡°And sure enough, after he made it, every other Weapon Lord, including the one that taunted him, came to him to ask for it." "The Tranquil Hammer Lord gave everyone a copy, but he specifically created it so that the one Lord that taunted him couldn''t properly use it.¡± "It was quite a spectacle back then.¡± The Lightning Emperor looked at the ceiling with a smile on his face. "Good times." Chapter 411 Chapter 411 The Lightning Emperor told Wester a bit more about the old times. Wester wasn''t particrly interested, but he still listened intently. ¡°By the way, where did you get this book from?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Not even | have an original.¡± "Someone handed this book to a talented warrior in Area 23," Wester said. "Oh, | wonder where they got it from," the Lightning Emperor said. "Who gave the warrior this book?" Wester told everything he had heard from the Starlight Queen to the Lightning Emperor. The Lightning Emperor knew that the description of that person fit with reality. With his power, it wasn''t very hard to discern truth from falsehood. "Interesting," he said. Then, the Lightning Emperor closed his eyes for a couple of seconds. "There are about two Mages that fit the description, but they haven''t been to Area 23 in the recent 100 years," the Lightning Emperor said. In just a mere couple of seconds, the Lightning Emperor had looked through his entire territory and had read everyone''s aura. Additionally, he had read the past of the two Mages. Sadly, this didn''t work for finding the Child of Cmity. Maybe if they became more powerful and unleashed their Cmity Affinity, this could be a possibility. But as it stood now, there were simply too many people to look through. Yes, he managed to look through everyone, but he only looked at the Ancestral Mages and more powerful, and he only looked at their general auras. If he wanted to find the Child of Cmity like this, he would need to look through everyone and deeply analyze their Affinities. The Affinity of the Child of Cmity looked like a Fire, Ice, Darkness, or Light Affinity at a cursory nce. Only when a powerful Mage looked very closely or administered a bloodline test would they be able to identify the Child of Cmity. "Do you want me to investigate?" Wester asked. "No, it''s fine," the Lightning Emperor said with a smile. "It''s been a long time since the Purge, and | was never a great fan of it. In actuality, | feel quite a bit of regret." "Wasn''t it the Mage God''s degree?" Wester asked. "Well," the Lightning Emperor said slowly. "Kind of, but not really.¡± Wester raised an eyebrow in suspicion. The Lightning Emperorughed a bit in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, you see, when Lucius defeated the Grand Master of Weapons, he got really angry." ¡°He went into the fight with absolute confidence, but his overconfidence nearly cost him his life. He had severely underestimated the Grand Master of Weapons." ¡°And after winning, he ordered us in anger to never allow another Emperor from any other Path to rise again." ¡°After oveing hisst opponent, he quickly focused on achieving his goal and left our world. You know, he wanted to fix the issue with the Abominations, which was his very reason for going this far in the first ce." "The gue of the Abominations was far worse back then. We even saw some King Abominations from time to time." ¡°But after Lucius left, the threat of the Abominations diminished to the pitiful annoyance it is today." "As for hisst decree, | think everyone went a bit overboard,¡± the Lightning Emperor said with an embarrassed smile. Wester thought about the ridiculous weak other Paths and called the Lightning Emperor''s words an understatement. That was not ¡°a bit" overboard. "You never told me," Wester said. The Lightning Emperorughed with embarrassment again. "| mean, it''s kind of embarrassing. Lucius only told us to stop other Emperors from rising, but things turned out this way." ¡°Back then, we feared that some hidden King might be an Emperor. So, we killed all the Kings and their inheritances." ¡°After that, things basically happened on their own. The Mage Kings were interested in the other Kings¡¯ and Lords'' possessions, and the Mage Lords were interested in the possessions of the Ancestrals." "That continued until only the weakest people of every Path were left, and since everyone heard Lucius¡¯ decree, they burned all the inheritances they found to show their loyalty." "| feel a bit bad about the other Paths losing all their inheritances. So, why not allow a small resurgence?" the Lightning Emperor said. "And the decree?" Wester asked. "Wouldn''t the current situation suit the Mage God? After all, he ordered that no other Emperors are allowed to exist." The Lightning Emperor chuckled a bit. "Lucius was a very heated fellow. | can''t count the times he shouted or ordered something in anger just to apologize to us a couple of dayster and rescind the orders." "I''m pretty sure this would have gone the same way if he remained in this world for longer. He probably would have said that we didn''t need to be this brutal and that we should only be careful that they don''t take their revenge on us." "When Lucius was angry, he could go on a killing spree, but after he calmed down, he was always embarrassed about his actions. He was a weird guy." The Lightning Emperor''s eyes grew distant as a content smile appeared on his face. ¡°But he was our leader, and we would have followed him everywhere." Acouple of seconds of silence passed. "What about the Star Map?" Wester asked. "It appeared in a Development Area, and its appearance might break the equilibrium." "Oh, right," the Lightning Emperor said. "I totally forgot the reason why you even came here." "Just introduce our Star Map to them as well. Of course, we only give them ess to the one for True Mages. We don''t want to go overboard," the Lightning Emperor said.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. The Star Map floated over to Wester, who looked at it with furrowed brows. "You don''t want to keep it, even though it''s an original?" "No," the Lightning Emperor said. "Somehow, this ancient book found its way to a young warrior. | think he should keep the original." Then, the Lightning Emperor grinned a bit. "Also, | only need to wait a bit until he dies. Someone in the Fourth Realm can live for barely a millennium. | can wait that long." Wester pocketed the book and nodded. "Where do you think the book came from, sir?" "It''s probably Mirana''s copy," the Lightning Emperor said. "She lost quite a few books in her lifetime. This one probably got sold somewhere as an oddity, and some Mage got it." ¡°And what about the Mage?" Wester asked. "You couldn''t find him." "So?" the Lightning Emperor said with a chuckle. "New Spells get invented all the time. It''s quite refreshing to get surprised like this. Additionally, they didn''t exactly do anything wrong. They just gave someone a technique they thought the person could use. "There''s no reason to hunt someone down just because they entered one of our Development Areas and gave someone a technique. We don''t need to be that cruel." Wester nodded. "Then, | wish you a pleasant evening, sir." "Thanks, you too, Wester," the Lightning Emperor said as the book he was reading before Wester''s arrival returned to him. Wester left the Lightning Emperor''s study and walked back to the grand hall. The Starlight Queen was still waiting in front of the two small doors when Wester returned. As soon as Wester returned, he summoned two books. One of them was Shang''s book, while the other one was a modified Star Map for Mages. "The new Star Map will be introduced to Area 23. To not break the equilibrium, a modified Star Map for Mages will also be introduced," Wester said. The Starlight Queen pocketed the two books. "And its origin?" she asked. ¡°Not important," Wester said. "The Lightning Emperor didn''t deign to pursue the matter." The Starlight Queen bowed politely. She understood the subtle nudge Wester had given her. He had told her not to ask about such things. When the Lightning Emperor spoke, she only needed to know the necessary information. "Oh, and make sure that the original copy enters the hands of that one warrior that got it. This is Master''s order," Wester said. "| will, sir," the Starlight Queen said. Wester nodded. "Then, | wish you a pleasant evening, Sarah." "Thank you. You too, sir," the Starlight Queen answered. Wester walked back into his room while the Starlight Queen went back to her office. After arriving, she called the Manager over, handed him the two books, and gave him the instructions Wester had given her. The Manager returned to Area 23, handed the books over to the Supervisor, and gave him the same instructions. But the Supervisor was the first person to do something other than just forwarding the books and instructions. As soon as the two books arrived in his hands, he started to produce copies on a massive scale. His superiors wanted these books to be introduced to Area 23. It was his job to do just that. Chapter 412 Chapter 412 The Supervisor created thousands of copies of both books in a matter of minutes. After he was done, he took all the copies and the originals with him and left. Acouple of minutester, he arrived on the hill beside King Skythunder''s castle. King Skythunder was still looking at his Kingdom. "So?" King Skythunder asked without looking at the Supervisor. The Supervisor summoned hundreds of copies of both books and dumped them beside King Skythunder. "The Star Map for warriors will be introduced into the entirety of Area 23. To not upset the bnce, a modified version of the regr Star Map will also be introduced," the Supervisor said. "These are the copies for your designated area. | will hand the other copies over to the other four." "The original copy of the Star Map must go back into the hands of the warrior that received it. That''s an order from above," he said. ¡°How far above?" King Skythunder asked. "That''s not your concern," the Supervisor said. "Distribute these copies over your area and give the original copy back to the warrior that brought it. Those are the orders."This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. King Skythunder slowly stood up. "Fine." BANG! The Supervisor left in an explosion of lightning without saying another word. King Skythunder slowly turned his head to all the books, and a grin appeared on his face. "Things are about to be more interesting.¡± "It''s been getting a bit boringtely. This should shake things up." A couple of days passed. Eventually, the fateful day arrived. King Skythunder was back on his throne, and he looked at the people gathered in front of him. The Council was to his right, the Archduke to his left, and all twelve Dukes of his Kingdom in front of him. He had gathered all of them for this day. "A couple of days ago, | received a peculiar technique that allows Commander Stage warriors to look at and n their future True Path. I''m sure most of you have already heard about it," King Skythunder said. The Dukes didn''t deny it. Something like this quickly made its rounds through the ranks of powerful Mages. "I''ve made my decision," King Skythunder said. BANG! Hundreds of books appeared in the middle of the room, and the Dukes felt like their world had broken down. They knew what this meant! Only one Duke was happy about the development. "The technique will be distributed over the entire Kingdom," King Skythunder said. The expressions of the Mages looked horrified, frustrated, and even angry. Usually, they would never dare to be angry in front of their King, but they couldn''t resist showing their true feelings this time. King Skythunder only smirked when he saw their helpless anger. ¡°However, there are two more things. You won''t like one of them, but the other one will be to your liking.¡± The gathered people looked at King Skythunder with hopeful eyes. They hoped that these two things would change the future as it looked right now. Because, as things stood currently, the True Path Stage warriors would probably outnumber the High Mages ten to one in only a century. Sure, they wouldn''t be very threatening, but the sheer number of them was still intimidating. ¡°First, the technique will also be distributed over the other four Kingdoms." Adeep shock went through the gathered crowd. Why?! That would make the other Kingdoms even more powerful! Even if they didn''t have warriors right now, they would very quickly put a tremendous number of resources into developing warriors. This Star Map was simply too good to pass up! They would be strengthening all the other Kingdoms with this move! Why would King Skythunder decide something like this?! "Why?" one Duke asked in shock. He knew that asking such a question was a very bad idea, but he just couldn''t help himself. "Why?" King Skythunder repeated with a smirk. "Because | want to." The Duke that had asked the question quickly looked at the ground with a horrified expression. "My deepest apologies, my King. | was not in the position to ask such a question." King Skythunder could feel the terror that went through all the gathered Dukes. "The second thing," he said with a smirk. BANG! Another stack of books appeared. "This is the same technique but adapted to Mages." Silence. Overwhelming silence. All the gathered people were shocked beyond belief. The same technique but for Mages? They had already feared the warriors after they received this technique, but if the Mages had ess to a technique of the same level, they didn''t need to fear anything. In fact, the current prosperity of the Mage Path meant that there would be even more High Mages than True Path Stage warriors. After all, there were far more Mages, and everything regarding them was much more advanced. A hundred True Path warriors in a hundred years? Pfft, they would get over five hundred High Mages in a hundred years! "This will also be distributed over all the other Kingdoms," King Skythunder said. And just like that, their good mood was gone again. From nervousness, to fear, to happiness, to fear again. King Skythunder watched everyone''s emotions flip again with a smirk. "Do you not wish for powerful enemies?" he asked. Everyone looked at King Skythunder, but no one dared to speak. "If there is no one to push you, your power will stagnate," King Skythunder said. "If there is no danger, there is no motivation to be more powerful.¡± "We only grow stronger by having something dangerous chase us." "We can get this motivating danger from inside our home or from outside, but | believe that everyone here would rather choose danger from the outside." ¡°After all, when the danger is in your home, you have to be careful that you don''t destroy it, but if it is outside, you don''t need to hold back." Everyone knew what King Skythunder meant. He was talking about the hidden and subtle scheming between the different Dukes. It was troublesome to hurt all the other Dukes with all the rules in ce. But when it came to the Magic Purity Kingdom or the Grandmountain Kingdom, they didn''t need to care about these things. "| want these two techniques distributed over all cities and towns," King Skythunder ordered, "and | don''t want to see the Star Map for warriors identally vanish." "If it isn''t distributed to my liking, the responsible Duke will be held ountable." ¡°Even if it was one of their servants that went against the order." "Understood?" "Yes, my King!" everyone echoed. After that, every Duke pocketed a portion of the books. Even the Council and the Archduke took some for themselves. When all the books were stashed away, King Skythunder summoned one additional one, which flew over to Duke Whirlwind. ¡°Make sure this one enters the hands of Shang," King Skythunder transmitted. Apparently, he didn''t want to make too much trouble for Shang by telling everyone about it. "Yes, my King," Duke Whirlwind answered via voice transmission. "You may all leave," King Skythunder said. The Dukes politely bowed in front of King Skythunder onest time and left. Today had been a bittersweet day. The warriors would rise, but so would the Mages. Right now, they were not sure of the future. But they were sure of one thing. The future would not be as calm and peaceful as the present. Chapter 413 Chapter 413 "King Skythunder gave his permission to distribute the Star Map," Duke Whirlwind proimed with a victorious smile to George and Shang. He told them all about what had happened and what changes would ur in the next couple of days. However, Shang and George only felt relieved. This made things so much easier. "That''s good to hear, Duke Whirlwind," Shang said. When Duke Whirlwind heard that, he did a double take. "Duke Whirlwind?" he asked. Shang raised an eyebrow. "Shang, | thought we were closer than that," Duke Whirlwind said. "Just call me Jerald." "Oh," Shang said. "| wasn''t sure if that was appropriate." "You are no longer subservient to me, Shang," Jerald said. "We are on equal footing, and we are working towards the same goal. Our powers might still be quite far away from each other, but it will only be a matter of time." "I''ve seen how determined you are, Shang, and | know that you might be the very warrior topletely close the gap and maybe go even further.¡± Shang wasn''t sure what he should say to that. Yes, that was his goal, but it felt a bit weird hearing ite from someone else. It sounded unreal. Jerald, George, and Shang talked for a while longer. They had to n how to properly distribute the Star Map and how they should teach the warriors. Thanks to the God, Shang hadprehended the Star Map in an instant, but for everyone else, learning the Star Map was definitely not an easy undertaking. Jerald learned it, and it took him about three days to master it. That wasn''t a lot of time, but one had to remember that Jerald was a Late High Mage. His mind was beyond powerful. George still hadn''t mastered the Star Map, and ording to his estimates, he would need another three weeks or so to learn it. They guessed that an average Mid Commander Stage warrior would probably take several months to a year to learn the Star Map. They had to create a proper schedule to teach this technique to warriors. Having someone teach someone in person expedited training several-fold. In the end, it was decided that George would be the one teaching the warriors after heprehended the Star Map himself. Of course, Shang had also been a possibility, but all three of them voted against it. Shang was growing very quickly, and forcing him to teach someone else would break his momentum. At such a high level, one didn''t count training in hours but in days. People on this level didn''t train a couple of hours at a time but several days at a time. Additionally, motivation, inspiration, and creativity came and went at seemingly random times. If one felt particrly motivated to work on one''s power, one should take advantage of it. Having Shang focus on something else might break the flow of his training, which would be bad. Inparison to him, George was basically standing still. He was only waiting for Mervin to finally reach the True Path Stage so that he could create his new and improved Path. It wouldn''t be a loss if George sacrificed some of his time to teach others. Obviously, Jerald didn''t have any time to spare due to his packed schedule, and on top of that, he was a Mage. The warriors definitely wouldn''t be big fans of having a Mage teach them a technique specifically for warriors. ¡°After | master the technique, | will teach it to Ranos and Soran. They will then teach it to the most talented Commander Stage warriors while | teach it to the other teachers," George said. "After that, the teachers can teach the technique to everyone else." Jerald and Shang nodded. Ranos and Soran would learn the technique very quickly, which made them perfect for passing on the knowledge. The teachers would probably also learn the technique in quite a short amount of time. Everything would go very smoothly. It was almost like running an academy was quite effective at teaching things. "| also know the strengthening techniques that the barbarians use," Shang said. "We can also teach that." "We already know of the technique," George said. "Over the years, many barbarians fled to the Skythunder Kingdom. We already know the entire thing.¡±N?velDrama.Org content rights. Shang raised an eyebrow. "And why did we never teach that?" "Before the invention of the Bloodline Infusion," George answered, "the strengthening technique only worked for the Soldier Stage, which is basically worthless. After all, we didn''t have ess to this so-called Ascension of the Grandmountain Kingdom." ¡°Over the past couple of years, | was also focusing on adapting the barbarian strengthening technique to the Bloodline Infusion. This was my second big project, the first one being the Path Reforging." Shang still wasn''t quite sure what the problem was. "You don''t need to adapt it. I''ve been using it for a decade now, and it works just fine." George and Jerald looked at Shang. Then, George gestured to Jerald to exin things since the issue was more rted to the Mages. ¡°Lack of information, fear, and politics, Shang," Jerald said with a sigh. Shang raised an eyebrow. "We only have ess to the few barbarians that flee to our Kingdom, and we can only listen to their first-hand ounts. We can''t actually look into the Grandmountain Kingdom and see how things really are, making the information foggy and unreliable." "So?" Shang asked. "I''ve been there for a long time, and | can give you all these things." ¡°We know," Jerald said, "and your recounting of the events definitely helps. After all, your recounting will be from the viewpoint of a warrior and not from a barbarian." ¡°However, that only solves one of the issues," Jerald continued. "Another problem is that the Council and the other Dukes are making problems. They don''t want warriors to eat the hearts of beasts. It seemed, and mind the pun, very barbaric to them." "Okay," Shang said, "but the Council is already our enemy, just like the other Dukes." Jerald nodded. "Yes, now they are, and that problem has basically resolved itself. | can introduce the technique immediately, and it wouldn''t change how the Council acts towards us. They know that if they try anything, | can just go to King Skythunder, and he will side with me on the issue." "Their threats were more implied and more subtle than actual threats. They wouldn''t directly disallow the usage of the technique, but they would ramp up the pressure on my territory." ¡°But now, that''s no longer an issue." Shang nodded. "So, can we introduce it?" Jerald and George looked at each other. "| have been running tests for the past decade on a select few warriors that have undergone the Bloodline Infusion," George said. "In about a decade, when they reach the Commander Stage, we can introduce the technique." "In a decade?!" Shang asked in shock. "How is this such a problem?" "Side effects," George said. "Side effects?" Shang asked. "It has side effects?" "We don''t know yet, which is the problem," George said. "Usually, | would just go ahead with the introduction, but there are signs that things could go bad." "In what way?" Shang asked. "Shang, you have interacted with several barbarians in the past, right?" George asked. Shang nodded. "Then you should understand our concern." ¡°It might be possible that the strengthening technique has a degenerating effect on the mind." ¡°Every barbarian we met was dumb as a pile of rocks. There might be a possibility that the barbarian strengthening technique is responsible for that." Shang looked with a surprised gaze at George. Chapter 414 Chapter 414 Shang thought that assumption to be stupid, but he could see where they wereing from. Yes, the barbarians were very simple-minded, almost like beasts. They even lived in tribes and just followed the strongest one blindly. "So, you think that the barbarians¡¯ minds be more simr to beasts," Shang said. "Correct," George said. "We don''t know it yet, which is why we are running the tests. Some deaths or some heightened aggression would be eptable, in my opinion, but decreasing the warrior''s intelligence would not make them stronger but weaker." "They wouldn''t even be able to create any sort of True Path, which would force them to follow the barbarian path to the end, which means they will just be beasts. That''s not our goal. We want warriors." "| see where you''reing from," Shang said, "but | really doubt that side effect actually exists. I''ve been using that technique for ten years, and | haven''t changed." George and Jerald raised an eyebrow each. "Okay, bad choice of words," Shang said. "What | meant is that | didn''t be dumber." "We know," Jerald said, "but the things we saw in those barbarians¡¯ minds are very worrisome. We saw their lives and how horribly they performed in school. They were being taught the most basic things, but they still-" "Wow, wait a second," Shang said as he interrupted Jerald. "What did you just say? Schools?" Jerald furrowed his eyebrows. "Yes, schools. We''ve seen the schools in their minds." ¡°What schools?" Shang asked in shock. "There are no schools for barbarians." "Shang, we''ve read their minds. We saw the schools. There are schools," Jerald said. ¡°No, there are not!" Shang shouted. "I''ve been at the northern border where all the elite and talented barbarians go, and not even one of them talked about any sort of school. How would schools even be possible? Everyone lives in a stupid fucking tribe with the most backward ideologies." "| led over ten of the most talented barbarians for months, and I''ve taught them basically everything they know. They didn''t even know about the most basic concepts, and | had to teach them all of these concepts." ¡°Even more, they learned the concepts pretty quickly as soon as they actually listened to me."Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. "They are definitely not dumb. They are just extremely uneducated since there are literally no schools anywhere. I''ve never heard anyone mention any schools in several months, and | was surrounded by the most talented barbarians!" Jerald and George furrowed their brows. That didn''t seem right. Jerald''s Inquisitors had inspected the minds of several barbarians, and the Inquisitors'' loyalty couldn''t be questioned. This meant that whatever the Inquisitors reported had to be true, and the barbarians¡¯ minds also hadn''t been altered in any way. For a while, there was only silence. Then, Shang got an idea. "Have there been barbarians that didn''t see any schools?" he asked. "Yes," Jerald answered, "and they are even dumber than the rest." "So," Shang said, "what if the schools are only a front?" "A front?" George asked. "Yes, a front," Shang said. "As I''ve already stated, I''ve been with the most powerful barbarians, and | know how they live. They didn''t go to any school, and | would assume that, if there were schools, the most talented barbarians would go to them." "| severely doubt that the trash barbarians on the southern border got something like an education while the talented barbarians in the north got nothing like that." ¡°However, what the Inquisitors have witnessed in the minds of the barbarians probably isn''t fake, which means that there are some schools for the trash barbarians.¡± ¡°But then, why would these barbarians with an education get sent to die on the southern front? That seems like a stupid waste of resources.¡± "Unless the school they went to somehow managed to weaken the enemy, right?" Shang said. Jerald scratched his chin as his brows furrowed. "So, you''re saying that the weak barbarians in the south go to school so that the Skythunder Kingdom thinks that the barbarian strengthening technique makes them dumber, dissuading them from using the technique ourselves?" Shang nodded. George and Jerald looked at each other for a while. "| mean, it could be possible," Jerald said as he looked back at Shang, "but this n seems too strange to be real." ¡°| can tell you that there are no schools!" Shang said. "I am sure that the talented warriors didn''t visit any kind of school, and I can assure you that they learn quite quickly when you teach them." ¡°Additionally, | know exactly how the technique works since I''ve been using it for a decade. | even used it in unintended ways. For example, I''ve absorbed beasts one level above myself.¡± "I''ve seen how the technique interacts with my body, and | can tell you that my mind can block off all the foreign Mana in my body. When the foreign Mana starts to reawaken, it tries to take over my mind, but this is not some kind of subtle takeover." "No, it directly attacks it, and my willpower has to resist its force. This is not some war over resources where it gains control over some, and | get control back. This is a stalemate. It''s one frontline.¡± ¡°If the wall in my mind breaks, | will turn into a beast. This means that the foreign Mana didn''t even reach my mind. If it did, | wouldn''t be here right now." "If it can''t even touch my mind, how is it supposed to change it?" "| can assure you that there is no way that the strengthening technique has some kind of subtle effect on someone''s mind,¡± Shang said. Jerald and George looked at each other again. ¡°Alright, | believe you," Jerald said. "I will ask some of my Inquisitors to review the things they have seen in the barbarian''s minds. I''ll tell them to look for any clues that the schools might be fake and designed to fool us." Shang nodded. "Thank you." Jerald nodded too. "If this actually proves to be true, I''ll have tomend the Grandmountain Kingdom. They actually managed to stop us from making use of this technique for maybe even centuries." "| mean, they are Mages, just like you," Shang said. "They''re not dumb." "True," Jerald said. Jerald summoned his Communication Crystal and gave several orders. The three of them talked and nned some more, and Jerald got his answer the next day. Yes, there were a couple of subtle signs that made the schools seem a bit fake. For example, the teachers were teaching simple things, but they were exining them inplex ways. One could say that the teachers were all very bad at teaching. Sure, there might be some bad teachers in a normal school, but they couldn''t literally all be bad. After reviewing everything, Jerald decided that the barbarian strengthening technique would also be introduced. And finally, all the matters regarding different techniques and the warrior path were taken care of. From now on, Shang only needed to concentrate on his own power and the threat of the Council and other Dukes. After talking about everything, Shang left the room and searched for a ce to train. From now on, he could fully focus on his own power. He was no longer being hunted. He no longer needed to run from Zone to Zone. He could walk around openly. He had powerful beasts all around him. After over ten years, Shang could finally put his entire focus on his power. And he would take advantage of this opportunity! Chapter 415 Chapter 415 Over the next couple of years, everything went as nned. Nearly half of the Commander Stage warriors hadprehended the Star Map by now. It had, by all intents and purposes, be standard and normal to train with the Star Map. Of course, the Mages had also received their Star Map. With both Star Maps introduced, the political climatepletely changed. The war between the Kingdoms nearlypletely stopped as everyone was busy interacting with the Star Map. This would change the entire world, and they knew it. The one that could make use of the Star Map the best would have an overwhelming advantage over all the other Kingdoms. It was an arms race. The Kingdoms took out their saved-up resources and pumped them all into talented True Mages. The more High Mages they got, the better. One High Mage could take down a normal frontline on their own. One High Mage was worth more than 50 True Mages. Originally, the Dukes feared that the other Kingdoms would now start to focus on creating warriors. After all, the warriors had also received their own Star Map. However, with the introduction of the Mages¡¯ Star Map, the warriors became even less relevant. All the Kingdoms fully focused on their Mages now, and warriors were mostly ignored. Even the Grandmountain Kingdom began to ignore their barbarians. What was the point of having a thousand Fighter Stage Barbarians when they could get more High Mages? The only thing the barbarians were useful for was to act as cannon fodder and dy the enemy attacks. But a High Mage could win the entire battle. One was fighting not to lose, while the other was fighting to win. The Council also didn''t have much time to go against Duke Whirlwind. They were too busy with increasing the efficiency of training for the future High Mages. Of course, they were still nning on dealing with Duke Whirlwind, but the High Mages took priority right now. The warriors were definitely a danger to the Mages, but there was a much greater danger. The Magic Purity Kingdom. The Magic Purity Kingdom was the most advanced Kingdom when it came to knowledge about the Path of Magic, and with the Star Map, they would shine even more. They already had the most High Mages, and the number could very well skyrocket even more after the introduction of the Star Map. Forget the potential future problem with the warriors! Right now, they had to keep up with the number of High Mages, or they would be run over! Due to that, the next couple of years were rtively rxed for the Storm Eagle Zone. The number of vanishing warriors reduced, and with that returned a newfound motivation to undergo the Bloodline Infusion. Additionally, a new strengthening method that only the people that had undergone the Bloodline Infusion could use had appeared! It was said that, with the Bloodline Infusion and this technique, a warrior could have a body equal to a beast!Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. How did the Warrior Academy handle the technique? The Grandmountain Kingdom changed the technique into iplete sets and demanded years of servitude to get it. But the Skythunder Kingdom and the Warrior Academy were different. As soon as the technique was announced, books were created, and they could then be purchased in any bookstore in the entire Kingdom. The price? 25,000 gold. Such a sum was unobtainable for a normal person, but a General Stage warrior could get that with some months of work. Back then, Shang had sold the corpse of the Initial General Stage Vanishing Snake for around 2,000 gold. ATrash Bird was worth around 500 gold each. With the Bloodline Infusion, the warriors wouldn''t need to hunt in teams anymore. Now, they could hunt beasts on their own, which meant that they would also get to keep all the money. 25,000 gold only equated to about 50 Trash Birds. Hunting 50 Trash Birds might not be possible in a day, but it was definitely possible within a couple of weeks. One could say that 25,000 gold was even on the cheap side. After all, this technique would follow the warriors for maybe their entire lives. One had to remember that the cheapest Focus cost several hundred thousand gold. 25,000 gold was nothing inparison. For the first time in a long while, the Warrior Academy was flooded with requests for the Bloodline Infusion. Luckily, they had already hired several Adepts and warriors to perform the Bloodline Infusion. Over the past years, the Bloodline Infusion had transformed from the gory mess Shang had gone through to a streamlined and clean process. For example, the warrior no longer needed to stay awake. With some new Spells, the Mages could now stop the subconscious rejection of foreign material. This meant that the warriors no longer needed to have an insane resistance to pain. Another change was that the back no longer needed to be cut open. Instead, two holes would be created, one near the bottom and one at the neck. The old marrow would be sucked out on one hole while the new one would be siphoned in via the other. The Warrior Academy had also created some medication that made the following process of one''s mind basically burning away easier. So, right now, the Procedure looked like this: Warrior receives medication. Warrior gets sedated. Two holes are created. Marrow gets sucked out, and the new one gets put in. Holes are closed. Warrior stays unconscious for a couple of hours. Warrior wakes up with a new body. It would be like they had simply gone to sleep for a while. Now,pare this new Bloodline Infusion to the one Shang had gone through. It had definitely be much easier and quicker. One team could perform about two Bloodline Infusions per hour, which was astonishingly fast. Sadly, all the equipment, time, and medication were still expensive. Awarrior would need to pay about 125,000 gold for a Bloodline Infusion. Of course, something like this was unachievable for a Soldier Stage warrior to get, which was why the Bloodline Infusion was sold on a credit basis. The warrior simply had to pay back the cost within the next ten years. But even at that price, it was definitely worth it. With the Council mostly ignoring the warriors for now, the warriors finally received a moment to breathe. The entire world went into silent preparation. The wars halted. The attacks on the warriors halted. The Dukes kept to themselves. For just a couple of years, the world was at peace. But that peace wouldn''tst long. Chapter 416 Chapter 416 Five years had passed, and Shang was 37 now. For the past five years, Shang had mostly stayed within the Caves, training against the beasts. He had mostly focused on the Colossal Sword Star and the Saber Star. He had already received the True Path Light Ore from Jerald, but Shang wouldn''t use it yet, even if he had ess to all of the ore he needed. The reason was that Sword needed to change shape several times, which would consume ore. Upgrading it to the True Path Stage would make this process far more expensive. After five years of constant training, Shang''s Star Map had made quite some progress. His shards leading to the other Stars were now nearly as wide and impressive as the shards leading to the Long Sword Star. This was astonishing progress. After all, it meant that Shang managed to copy the progress he had made after fighting Teacher Mervin for five years, nearly three times over in just five years. The concept of Cross Comprehension turned out to be correct, and Shang noticed that some principles ovepped, allowing him to make tremendous progress on all of them. Sadly, there was still a long way to go. He was probably not even 10% of the way to his goal. The Path he was trying to create was simply too wide and powerful, and it demanded an insane amount of training and comprehension. Right now, Shang was at the Late Commander Stage, with his body being around 90% as powerful as the body of a Late Commander Stage beast. Over the past five years, Shang had only absorbed a couple of Abominations for several reasons. First of all, Shang truly realized how long creating his Path would take. Increasing the power of his body was nothing in comparison. He didn''t need to constantly absorb beasts and Abominations. Second, Shang didn''t want to summon too many Abominations. His ability to summon them was still his deepest secret, and he couldn''t allow anyone to suspect him. Because of that, Shang only absorbed Abominations when they were about to appear on their own. In essence, he didn''t even summon them. He simply took advantage of their regr appearance. Five years ago, Shang would have counted as the most powerful warrior in the world with his current power. After all, even George would have been helpless in front of him. However, times changed. Mervin had reached the True Path Stage, and with his powerful and wide Path, his power also easily eclipsed George''s. Even without the Bloodline Infusion, Mervin could fight the weakest True Path Stage beasts. Maybe he wouldn''t necessarily win, but he could fight and flee from them. And that wasn''t even everything. Mervin could do the same thing to the weakest High Mages. His Battle-Strength was evenly divided against all three possible opponents he could fight. As for fighting against warriors? Shang had a more powerful body than Mervin, but Mervin was also exceptionally good at fighting other warriors. ording to Shang''s estimates, if he were to fight Mervin right now, he would estimate that he would lose, but it would still be a long and arduous fight. Teacher Mervin managed to gain enough power to fight the weakest Mages of his level without the Bloodline Infusion or barbarian strengthening technique. This showed how incredible his power was. But, surprisingly, Mervin wasn''t the only one that reached the True Path Stage in the past five years. The Commander of the guards of Warrior''s Paradise also reached it. His Path was also more impressive than George''s, but it wasn''t as impressive as Mervin''s. Nevertheless, he also counted as a truly powerful warrior now. When Shang hade to this world a bit more than 20 years ago, there had only been one True Path Stage warrior, and he had been very weak inparison. Now, there were four, and three of them were definitely not weak. The world was changing. About a year ago, George had handed over the position of Dean to Mervin. Mervin had already been informed prior, and he had epted the position. Just a couple of months ago, George had gone through with his n. After years of research, George had finally done what he had wanted to do for a while. He took some medication while Jerald cast several Spells, and eventually... George fell to the Peak Commander Stage and forgot most of his knowledge aboutbat, which included his Path. George had stayed unconscious for several days, and his mind had gone through one shock after the other. Forgetting a Path was not something easy to do. After George woke up, he had forgotten many things. Memories were missing.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Concepts were missing. General knowledge was missing. However, his personality didn''t take a heavy hit, and he mostly remained the same. He had to relearn many things, which took a long time, but a couple of weekster, he recovered as much as possible. Of course, since George was already about 155 years old and since Commander Stage warriors could only live for about 250 years, his appearance had changed. Abig part of George''s hair had turned gray, and several wrinkles appeared on his face. Right now, he looked like he was in his early sixties, in Earth terms. He looked about as old as Teacher Mervin had looked before reaching the True Path Stage. Inparison to George, Teacher Mervin had gotten younger, and he looked like he was in histe thirties. In a way, it was like George and Mervin had switched ces. After George was ready to train again, he surprisingly joined Shang. Shang was quite shocked when George asked for advice and training from Shang. It was a strange feeling for Shang. He had always seen the Dean of the Warrior''s Academy as an incredibly imposing giant, and Shang had always learned from him. But now, he was supposed to be George''s teacher. However, it made sense. George had forgotten most of his Battle-Strength, and he needed someone very powerful to teach him again. Shang was the perfect choice. Usually, Shang would have declined. After all, he didn''t have time for students. However, George was different. George had taught Shang in the past, and Shang wanted to repay him. So, Shang epted. First, Shang let George fight against a beast one level below him. This seemed like overkill for someone that was essentially a newbie. However, Shang thought this was just right. After all, George had already gotten the Bloodline Infusion. Obviously, George would undergo the Bloodline Infusion as soon as he forgot his Path, and yes, the Bloodline Infusion could now be used on Commander Stage warriors, but only if their Path was not very developed yet. George performed horribly against the beast, but he didn''tin or lose motivation in any way. In fact, his determination only increased as he fought and lost to more beasts. After a while, Shang made a frightening discovery that made him remember the truth. The level at which George was adapting to his enemies was frightening. He adapted so quickly. It was like he never made the same mistake twice! When Shang saw that, he remembered who George actually was. George was someone that had reached the True Path Stagepletely blind. He had had nearly no idea how to reach it, and he just worked on himself without end. In apletely unknown environment and without any predecessors to guide him, George had managed to essentially create the True Path Stage. He had done everything on his own, and such a feat had only taken him a bit more than a century. ¡®George''s previous Path might have been weak, but now I''m thinking, how many randomly scattered Shards are actually in his Star Map?'' Shang thought. While watching George advance, Shang was inevitably reminded of Lash and the other barbarians. Whenever Shang thought about Lash, a sting of pain appeared inside his chest, but he pushed it away. Nevertheless, Shang couldn''t helpparing them. Lash had already learned at an incredible rate, but he was nothingpared to George. George learned several times faster than Lash, and his power grew incredibly quickly. Shang spent a couple of months focusing on George, but he eventually started to fully focus on himself again. George had gotten used to fighting again, and he didn''t need Shang''s help anymore. Seeing George advance only increased Shang''s determination. "Fuck, if | don''t hurry up, he might actually overtake me,¡¯ Shang thought as he went back into training. Chapter 417 Chapter 417 Shang stood in the middle of an encampment. He could see several tall towers and buildings. There were also plenty of True Mages and warriors stationed on the walls. The camp blocked a tall but rtively narrow crevice that led towards the northwest. Right now, the people inside the encampment looked at Shang withplex expressions. They had gotten information from Duke Whirlwind about what was about to happen, and they had no idea what they should think about this. Why would this warrior even consider doing something like that? Right now, Shang''s colossal sword was on his back, ready to be unleashed. He stretched his legs and arms for a bit and made his bones pop all over his body. A fire of determination could be seen in his right eye, but he was also a bit nervous. This wouldn''t be easy. After Shang was done, he looked over his right shoulder at a young man. The two of them shared a knowing look. Then, Shang looked at the northwest again.N?velDrama.Org content rights. He took a deep breath and readied himself. He lowered his stance. BANG! And he shot forward with all of his speed. The stationed people looked with shock at Shang''s speed. How was he so fast?! In what felt like an instant, Shang had left the encampment behind as he shot towards the northwest. He still remembered his conversation with Jerald. ¡°You want to assault a frontline all on your own?" Jerald had asked with shock. Shang only nodded. "I''ve had enough practice against beasts, but | haven''t fought a Mage in over five years. If | want to keep the efficiency of my training at the peak, | need morebat experience against them." Jerald knew what Shang meant, but that still sounded way too reckless and suicidal. Assaulting a frontline alone was only something a High Mage could do. Even more, there was a high chance that the enemy also had a High Mage guarding the frontline. If Shang met a High Mage, he would definitely die. Shang also knew that, but he wanted to do it anyways. One had to remember that a very powerful Peak Mage was weaker than nearly all the weakest High Mages. The reason for that was the difficulty of bing a High Mage. Avery powerful Peak Mage would be close toprehending their own Path, although it was called different for them. Inparison to warriors, Mages needed toprehend a deeper meaning regarding their Affinity. They needed to perfectly comprehend one small aspect regarding their Affinity, which gave them a powerful boost in battle. For example, most Fire Mages concentrated on the concept of Kindling. This represented the birth of fire, and they needed to know this aspect if they wanted to understand more about fire. AHigh Mage that hadprehended Kindling could transform their surroundings into a hellscape by summoning fire everywhere. They could even set other people and beasts on fire. The only way to resist this influence was to have a Spirit Sense. With a Spirit Sense, one could block the influence of the opponent''s will if it got too close. Without a Spirit Sense, one would just burn to ashes without being able to resist or evade. These kinds of Fire Mages were walking weapons of mass destruction. They could set hundreds of meters ofnd aze by only using their Mana and without even casting a Spell. Avery powerful Peak Mage could harness part of that power, but not fully. This meant that even the most talented Peak Mage would have immense trouble fighting against the weakest High Mage. Jumping levels was possible before, but the gap between the Peak of the Third Realm and the Start of the Fourth Realm was basically uncrossable. Every single High Mage had once been an extremely talented Peak Mage before. Even the weakest High Mage was a genius. So, if Shang met a High Mage, things would get very troublesome. Shang was certain that he didn''t have the ability to kill a High Mage. He could only evade their attacks and run, and even just that might kill him. And if he met a Wind High Mage, he wouldn''t even be able to do that. For example, Jeraldprehended Movement. Jerald''s offensive power was only average for his level, but his speed was unreal. Jerald had also used the concept of Movement to create his own Flying Spell. Usually, only Archmages could fly, but Jerald managed to fly by incorporating Movement into aplicated Spell. This was also the reason why there were so few people that could fly in the five Kingdoms. Not only did one need toprehend Wind''s Movement, but one also needed to create and use a veryplex Spell. The more powerful the Mages grew, the more diverse their fighting styles became. While a Fire High Mage would be a walking cmity, a Wind Mage would be a very quick ranged attacker. Earth High Mages were waves of destruction, while Lightning High Mages were concentrated but very explosive cannons. When it came to Shang''s survival, it fully depended on what kind of High Mage he would meet. He wouldn''t be able to kill any High Mage, but he could survive being near some of them. A Fire High Mage was on the less dangerous side for him. Yes, the Fire High Mage was very destructive, but Shang''s Pseudo- Spirit Sense could block off their influence. The only thing he needed to do after that was to evade their bombardment of explosions, which still wouldn''t be easy but doable. An Earth High Mage would be annoying, but they would be even less dangerous than a Fire High Mage. They would transform the terrain and create waves of stone and earth to block and bury Shang. With Shang''s mobility, he could survive for a while, but he would need to flee very quickly. AWind High Mage would just kill Shang. They were simply too fast. ALightning High Mage would be just as bad. While the Lightning High Mage wasn''t as fast, their attacks were insanely fast. Surprisingly, a Water High Mage would also be troublesome. Water High Mages generallyprehended the concept of Raindrop, and they could shoot these extremely dense raindrops like bullets from a machine gun. An Ice High Mage could create waves of sharp and powerful icicles, which would also be troublesome for Shang. He could evade some of them, but not tens at once. A Metal High Mage would be in the middle. They generallyprehended the concept of Sharpness, which would allow them to split the atmosphere apart. It was a bit simr to the Wind de Spell but cleaner and faster. A Light High Mage would be annoying but not a problem. Light High Mages focused on taking away an opponent''s ability to see things while slowly burning them from the outside. With Shang''s Affinity, he could regte his body''s temperature. Darkness High Mages were very simr. They distorted the surroundings and would slowly freeze their opponent. Right now, Shang couldn''t even kill a Light High Mage, but he could flee for a while from some of them. And because of that, he decided to go through with this reckless mission. He wanted to push himself further, and it was impossible to push oneself without genuine danger. After a while of running, Shang entered a foreign Spirit Sense. Just as the intel he had received from the Skythunder Kingdom had said, an Initial High Mage was watching over this frontline. And her Affinity? Metal. Chapter 418 Chapter 418 Shang charged with all of his speed toward the northwest. The High Mage had already spotted him, and Shang readied himself for an assault. "Identify yourself!"N?velDrama.Org content rights. Shang received a voice transmission from the High Mage of the Grandmountain Kingdom. Traitors from the Skythunder Kingdom were very rare, but they existed. Seeing Shang charge at them could also be interpreted as fleeing from the Skythunder Kingdom. Because of that, the High Mage asked before shooting. ¡°My name''s Shang, and I''m here to destroy your frontline!" Shang answered. No more answer came. At least, not a vocal one. Instead, Shang got a different kind of answer. WHOOOM! All the different Mage Towers came online and focused on the rapidly approaching warrior. There were eight Mage Towers in total that could get a clear shot on Shang. Obviously, the High Mage didn''t think that they needed to take care of Shang personally. After all, he was only a warrior. What could a mere warrior possibly do against several Mage Towers? Additionally, the High Mage was preupied with watching out for any other forces. Asingr warrior charging at them? That smelled of a scheme. The Skythunder Kingdom was probably nning something, and this warrior was obviously a distraction. The High Mage had to remain ready to act when the Skythunder Kingdom''s other forces inevitably got involved. Just a secondter, one of the Mage Towers fired at Shang. They didn''t need to use all their Mana to deal with a single warrior. A huge fireball appeared above the Mage Tower, and it quickly shot at Shang''s current location. Shang took out his colossal sword and struck the ground with its blunt side. BOOOM! Shang used his sword simr to a vaulting pole but for a horizontal adjustment of his trajectory. Instead of jumping up, he threw himself to his left, evading the Fireball. Shang had trained a lot with his colossal sword in the past five years, and this was one of the unique uses that a colossal sword brought with it. The Mages were quite surprised that Shang managed to evade, but they weren''t perturbed. Another two towers came online, and they allunched a barrage of Fireballs at Shang. BANG! Shang hit the ground again, but this time, he threw himself into the air. The three fireballs exploded beneath him. "Tch, idiot," one of the Mages in the towersmented. Didn''t that fool know that it was basically impossible to evade while being in the air? He had essentially transformed himself into a stationary target. The three towers readied another three fireballs and shot at him. When Shang saw the fireballs, a gleam appeared in his eyes. ¡®Let''s see if it works.¡¯ Instead of sting to the side, Shang remained in the air. The Fireballs had been shot at him in a spray pattern, just in case. After all, what if he managed to evade? One of the Fireballs wasing right at him. Shang readied his sword and angled it so that its t side pointed at the Fireball at an angle. The Fireball arrived. Just before the Fireball hit Sword, Sword released a small coating of fire. The Fireball hit Sword. CLINK! Atiny explosion urred at the ce where Sword and the Fireball met. Yet, surprisingly, the Fireball didn''t explode! Instead, it was redirected to Shang''s left and passed him! It was like a ricocheting bullet! The other two Fireballs passed Shang harmlessly, and a grin appeared on Shang''s face. ¡®It worked!¡¯ In thest five years, Shang had also gotten more familiar with his Affinity, granting him even finer control over it. With the knowledge Shang had rued in thest five years, he hade up with that idea. Why not try to deflect a Spell? Sadly, just with a sword, this was basically impossible. After all, if the enemy Spell hit anything foreign, it would detonate. But what if it got deflected by something simr? Shang had worked long and hard on that trick, but it had paid off. As long as Shang could create a small coating on his sword that fit the Element of the Spell that shot at him, and as long as he managed to very finely control his movements, he could deflect the Spell. This was one of the reasons why Shang wanted to fight some Mages. He had to see if his ideas actually worked. The Fireball passed by him and hit one of the walls of the crevice. BOOOOM! Three explosions appeared around Shang, but none of them hit him directly. With his physical power, this bit of destruction didn''t bother him. His skin only got singed a little bit. When the Mages saw that, their eyes widened. Did that warrior just redirect an attack from a Mage Tower? One had to remember that the Fireballs the Mage Towers shot had the power of a general Spell a Late True Mage would unleash. Even a Peak Commander Stage warrior couldn''t take such a Spell directly and survive. There was simply too much power in such a Fireball. Yet, this warrior just blocked it. It took a while for them to process what they had just seen. "Stop wasting time and attack him with all towers," a Late True Mage ordered the Mages in the towers. "Yes, sir!" the Mages answered. After that, all eight Mage Towers readied Spells. By now, Shang was only about a kilometer away from the first Mage Towers. He had closed the distance by quite a bit. ¡°Use Area Denial Spells," the Late True Mage ordered. The Spells the Mage Towers had readied changed Element. At this moment, waves of Icicles and concentrated areas of Wind des reced them. Area Denial Spells didn''t have as much power as the Fireballs, but if there were eight of them, that wouldn''t make a difference. A concentrated wave of pure destruction would travel across the entire crevice. Evading such a powerful wave was impossible. "Fire!" WHOOOOM! All eight towers fired at once, creating a destructive wave of Wind des and Icicles. Everything the wave touched, including the hard stone at the walls of the crevice, was cut into dust. It was like a gigantic meat grinder. Shangnded just before the wave arrived. He lifted his colossal sword and hid his body behind it while he kept running forward. Then, the wave arrived. KRRIIIIIII! Ahigh-pitched and ear-grating sound echoed throughout the crevice. It was like a circr saw that wasn''t meant to cut metal was trying to cut metal. Inside the wave, powerful forces of destruction traveled past Shang. The sound came from Sword blocking the wave. Sword heated up a lot, and several small cuts even appeared on it. Sword had been made with Peak Commander Stage materials, but it couldn''t resist such a wave without any damage. Shang had to do his best not to get pushed back by the wave, but the power of his body allowed him to do just that. Asecondter, the wave fully passed by Shang, and he was revealed. The eyes of the Mages opened widely in pure shock. Sword had turned orange due to the heat, and some remnants of the destructive forces slowly went past it. Shang pulled Sword to the side, the sword leaving behind ck steam. This was another usage of such a colossal sword. It could hide Shang''s entire body like a tower shield. The Mages still couldn''t believe what they were seeing. How did a random warrior survive such a barrage of Spells?! Shang held his sword low to the ground while it pointed backward. BANG! Then, Shang unleashed a Fire st, and his speed became even faster than before! At that moment, the first signs of nervousness appeared among the Mages. WHOOOM! But just at that moment, the area around Shang seemed to transform. Everything seemed to warp, and it looked like reality was being cut apart. The High Mage got involved. Chapter 419 Chapter 419 The world around Shang transformed into splintered reality. Of course, a High Mage didn''t have the power to achieve something like that, but the shower of clean cuts in the atmosphere made it look like it. Shang narrowed his right eye, and he focused his Pseudo-Spirit Sense on the area around him. As Shang continued running, everything seemed to be cut apart, but he never got touched by the cuts. It was like he was not part of the reality that was cut apart. When the High Mage saw that, they narrowed their eyes. They knew what that meant. By now, Shang had nearly reached the first Mage Tower. His muscles bulged as he readied himself for his attack. The Mages had thought that the High Mage would take care of Shang, which was why they hadn''t readied another Spell. Sadly, they had been mistaken. Shang reached the Mana Shield of the first Mage Tower and struck. WHOOM! Sword was suddenly surrounded by ck mes as it used its power of Entropy. The shields of these towers were as powerful as the shields of Peak True Mages. If Shang wanted to destroy it in one hit, he needed to use the Entropy Ability of Sword. And then, Sword hit. BANG! The eyes of all the Mages widened in shock as the Mana Shield of the tower broke into pieces immediately. What?! How?! Did that mean that this warrior could destroy the Mana Shield of a Peak True Mage just like that?! BOOOOM! The tower immediately broke into pieces as Shang charged through its wall and reached its inside. The Mages on the top felt the ground copse, and they tried to escape. However, Mana Step was only usable on the ground! They couldn''t use it due to the tower copsing beneath them! BANG! Shang''s body punched through the upperyer of the tower and appeared between the two Mages. For a moment, time seemingly froze. The Mages hadn''t expected Shang to reach the inside of the tower this quickly, which was why they hadn''t even activated their Mana Shield. BANG! BANG! Both Mages exploded into pieces just a momentter as arge sword cut through them. Due to using Entropy, Sword had transformed from its Colossal Sword State into its Great Sword State. Amomentter, Shang lightlynded on a piece of falling debris. BANG! And he shot out of the falling tower, punching through part of the copsing ceiling. He was shooting right at the second Mage Tower. But at that moment, Shang''s instincts screamed at him. Something terrifying wasing his way. Shang looked to his right and saw a young woman with long grey hair and ck robes unleashing a Spell. This was the High Mage.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Right now, a terrifying cut in the shape of a crescent was flying toward Shang. The destructive power of this Spell couldn''t bepared to the Spells the Mage Towers had unleashed. As soon as Shang saw the Spell, he shed toward it. Awave of hard ice left Shang''s sword. CLINK! The hard ice was split apart in an instant, barely weakening the Spell. After finishing the sh, Shang had already readied his left arm and pointed it at the approaching sh. CLINK! An icicle left Shang''s left hand, which was also cut apart by the cutting wave. Lastly, Shang barely managed to put the edge of his sword between him and the wave. In its earlier form, Sword would have been too cumbersome and heavy to perform such a maneuver, but it was no longer in its earlier form. This was the Great Sword State, not the Colossal Sword State. The Colossal Sword State was mainly used for defense and rare but heavy counterattacks. But the Great Sword State was mainly used for explosive offense with still a bit of defense. CRACK! As the wave hit, a several-centimeter-deep cut was left on Sword''s edge. It didn''t quite reach its middle, but it was definitely a brutal cut. Shang could feel the pain Sword was under, but it could handle it. But despite all that, Shang managed to survive the cut with only some deep cuts at the sides of his upper arms. The wave had been broken, but its scattered power still managed to graze him. When the High Mage saw that, her eyebrows rose in shock. Did a mere warrior just survive one of her Spells?! BANG! Shang exploded forward again, but he wasn''t shooting at the High Mage but at the second tower. The Mages inside the tower quickly activated their Mana Shields and tried to jump out of the tower. However, without their Mana Step, they were just too slow. More ck mes appeared around Sword. BANG! The Mana Shield was broken apart just like the first one, and Shang directly shot at the two Mages at the highest level of the tower,pletely ignoring the walls. The walls were nothing but air to him. Shang reached the first one instantaneously, and some ck mist appeared on Sword as Shang''s left arm withered by a bit. Shang''s attack was very fast, even faster than before. After all, Sword had transitioned from its Great Sword State into its Saber State. In the Saber Stage, Sword was fully focused on pure offense and speed. BANG! ck lightning exploded off Sword and traveled across the Mana Shield. CRACK! The Mana Shield was broken apart in a single attack. This was only a Mid True Mage, and by using Darkness, Shang could destroy their Mana Shield in one attack. The two of them were still in the air as the Mage looked with shock and horror at their broken Mana Shield. An instantter, they could only see Shang''s right hand, which was holding his sword,e closer to their face. BANG! With a backhand, Shang punched the head off the Mage''s body. Then, he put his feet on the body. BANG! And exploded towards the second Mage. "HELP!" The second Mage shouted, but Shang had already reached them. BANG! Another explosion of ck lightning urred. BANG! Then, Shang kicked the Mage, turning them into several pieces that shot into the distance. WHOOOOOM! At that moment, Shang felt another terrifying threat approach. Several gigantic spears of metal were shooting toward him. It was almost like it was raining spears! Shang could try blocking some of the spears, but the others would still skewer him. He was also too slow to evade, and Mana Step couldn''t be used in the air. Amomentter, a shower of spears nketed the copsing tower with Shang still inside it. For just a moment, it seemed like the invading warrior was dead. BANG! That was until Shang shot out of the dusty cloud of former stone. At the moment, some Magic Runes were swirling around Shang, and he was uninjured. Jerald had long since given Shang his present, and it was definitely very powerful. The new ck armor he wore could even protect him from a High Mage''s Spell. Even better, it only activated if Shang was about to receive a severe injury. That was why it hadn''t activated when he had been cut by the first wave of cutting metal from the High Mage. In basically an instant, Shang reached the third Mage Tower. But at the same time, the next Spell of the High Mage had already appeared. The High Mage was no longer warming up, and she was even using her Focus now. Two metallic cuts shot right at Shang. Earlier, Shang had barely managed to block one of them. Now, there were two. From now on, this mission wouldn''t be as easy as before. Chapter 420 Chapter 420 BANG! Shang exploded diagonally to his left, but he wouldn''t be fast enough to evade the two cuts since they were very wide. CRACK! That was, if the Mana Shield of the Mage Tower weren''t between him and the cuts now. Yes, instead of attacking the Mana Shield, Shang had charged around it, using it as a shield. The Mana Shield cracked apart, and the remaining force of the two cuts was no longer dangerous to Sword. Shang easily blocked the remainder. When the High Mage saw that, her eyes widened in horror, and she gnashed her teeth. She had just destroyed her own Mana Shields! The next moment, the other Mages only saw Shang explode into the tower. BOOOOM! The tower blew apart. BANG! Amomentter, blood and chunks of flesh shot out of one side like they had been shot out of a cannon. BANG! In the next instant, a head shot out of the copsing tower. Both Mages inside the tower had obviously died. BANG! Then, everyone saw Shang shoot at the fourth tower. The High Mage grew infuriated. Some mere warrior had managed to kill six Mages and destroy three Mage Towers under her watch! She had never received such a disgrace! She narrowed her eyes. SHING! And vanished. She had had enough of fighting Shang from several hundred meters of distance! This distance gave him a chance to react to her Spells, and she couldn''t allow more of her Mages to die! As Shang was close to reaching the fourth tower, the High Mage appeared just about twenty meters away from him on the ground. From such a distance, Shang would barely be able to react to her Spells. At the same time, she and her Focus had already readied another two Cutting Waves. Then, from just twenty meters away from Shang, she unleashed both Spells. When Shang saw her, a fire appeared inside his right eye. The two Cutting Waves were unleashed. And they hit Shang. BANG! BANG! But then, more Magic Runes appeared around Shang. Shang was no longer wearing the cheap shit. This was an extremely expensive set of armor that Jerald had specifically prepared for Shang. It could block more than one Spell. This was the advantage of being a member of a Kingdom. Such an amazing set of armor would have been impossible for Shang to get his hands on anywhere else. When the High Mage saw that, she furrowed her brows, but she also saw how the Magic Runes had acted. They had just unleashed theirst bit of power. Shang''s armor wouldn''t be able to block another attack for, at least, several more minutes, which might as well be days in such a high-speed battle. He would die to her next set of Spells. BANG! Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock. Shang hadn''t attacked the tower. No, he had charged at her! It would have been impossible for Shang to reach the High Mage earlier, but it became possible if there were only 20 meters between them. This might as well be within arm''s reach for Shang. The High Mage had just unleashed all her prepared Spells, and she hadn''t expected Shang to reach her this quickly. At thest moment, she aborted the chanting of her offensive Spell and switched to Mana Shield. AHigh Mage could create their Mana Shield at terrifying speeds, and it activated just as Shang reached her. Shang''s saber immediately hit her Mana Shield, an explosion of ck lightning going across it. The High Mage noticed with shock that this attack had exhausted 10% of her Mana! BANG! And a second explosion of ck lightning appeared just a momentter. Sword''s Saber State was far faster than its Great Sword or Colossal Sword States. For a moment, the High Mage was shocked that Shang could hit her again. Usually, if a beast or a warrior hit a Mage''s Mana Shield, they would be thrown into the distance by the force. But then, she realized that Shang was attacking her from above. This meant that her Mana Shield wasn''t being thrown away but nailed into the ground! Nevertheless, she didn''t lose her entireposure. She would be able to cast four or more Spells before Shang could get through her Mana Shield. So, she quickly readied her next Spell. When Shang saw her prepare her next Spell, a small glimmer appeared in his right eye. He unleashed his next attack, but this time, there was no ck lightning. No, this time, there was ck fire! BOOOOOM! The ck fire hit the High Mage''s Mana Shield, and her eyes widened in shock. She just lost 30% of her Mana in one strike! In less than a second, this warrior had exhausted over 50% of her total Mana! She quickly looked at Shang, and she saw a smirk. Sword had returned to its original state, the Long Sword State. And, right now, there was more ck fire around it. The High Mage realized that this was the attack that consumed so much of her Mana. She would probably be able to finish and unleash her Spell before the next attack hit. But what if this warrior had something else up his sleeve? What if he had more surprises? Even more, she felt a terrifying feeling of deathing from Shang. Shang swung down. SHING! But the High Mage had vanished. Shang easily stopped his strike as the ck fire vanished, and his smirk widened. Obviously, Shang couldn''t use Sword''s Entropy again. It would essentially kill Sword. This had been a bluff. Shang knew that he couldn''t kill the High Mage. If she actually went through with unleashing her Spell, there was a 90% chance of Shang dying immediately. However, he was sure that he could bluff his way out of this predicament. He knew that there were too many unknowns about his power in the eyes of others. Fear of the unknown was a terrifying thing, and Shang knew that he could use it to his advantage. An instantter, the High Mage appeared nearly an entire kilometer away from Shang. Her Mana was already recovering at a rapid rate. In fact, she regenerated about 5% of her Mana per second.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. When Shang saw that the High Mage had appeared far away, he knew that this was his best chance. Some of the Mage Towers readied more Spells, but due to the Shang basically being inside the encampment and their disorganized state, they were essentially no threat to Shang. BANG! Shang evaded a couple of Spells as he shot into the sky. This time, he was not charging at a Mage Tower. Shang quickly reached about a height of a hundred meters and looked at the encampment. There were probably around 200 barbarians and maybe 15 more True Mages just scattered around. They had all been watching with helpless shock as Shang had essentially torn through nearly half of their Mage Towers. At this moment, time seemingly froze. Shang was looking down as the people of the Grandmountain Kingdom looked up at him. SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! An instantter, around 50 ck balls appeared above Shang. SHING! Then, something strange appeared in Shang''s left hand. It was a gigantic... shovel? It was over three meters long and nearly two meters wide, making it look more like a spat. Shang pulled the gigantic shovel back. And at that moment, the Mages realized what was about to happen. The barbarians had no idea. With terror, the Mages immediately used Mana Step to flee. And then, Shang swung the gigantic shovel downward toward the ck balls. The Mages knew these balls. These were Firebombs! They were used to destroyrge waves of beasts! An instantter, the shovel hit the Firebombs with its backside, its round shape shooting the Firebombs in different directions. The people in the encampment looked with horror at the shower of Firebombs. The Mages in the towers looked with horror at the Firebombs. And the High Mage looked with horror at the Firebombs. And then, the Firebombs hit the encampment. BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! Chapter 421 Chapter 421 Hell. Inferno. Destruction. Pure destruction. Everywhere Shang looked, something exploded. It was like a huge bomber from earth was carpet-bombing a military encampment. People died. Many people died. Probably around 150 of the about 200 barbarians and around four True Mages died during that attack. And Shang didn''t feel any guilt or regret. These were not innocent people. These were soldiers who were at war with his home, the Skythunder Kingdom. Every person that remained alive could very well represent a future dead warrior. This was nothing like the time Shang had made the Adamantite Behemoth flip over Duke Mithril''s town. No, everyone in here was a soldier, and they would fight the Skythunder Kingdom. The Skythunder Kingdom was the only home Shang had in this world, and he wanted to keep it strong and prosperous. Shang saw scattered and burned pieces of flesh everywhere, and he saw the horrified and terrified faces of the injured survivors. ¡®This is war!¡¯ Shang told himself. In the distance, the High Mage looked with horror at the ckened craters that had once been her encampment. This couldn''t be real! This must be a dream! One single warrior had done all of this?! BANG! While the High Mage was distracted, Shang sted towards the fourth tower from above and readied his sword. BANGBANGBANGBANG! Shang unleashed a flurry of attacks. The Long Sword State was by far the fastest one, and Shang had realized that he had never truly made use of Sword''s speed in this State. Shang had always tried to unleash maximum power with each strike, but this was wrong for such a thin and nimble sword. By training with the other kinds of swords, Shang had realized that it was way better to essentially turn the Long Sword State into something that was essentially a blender. Each strike was apanied by ck lightning, and in just five swings, the shield broke. However, Shang''s entire body had withered a lot. In the Long Sword State, Shang could unleash way more elemental attacks, but this increased offense also took a heavy burden on his health. Shang used thest of his Mana to regenerate his body, but that was it. He no longer had any Mana inside his body. Any future injury would stay for a while. BANG! Shang unleashed another st and broke through the roof of the tower. SHING! SHING! SHING! In less than a second, several shes could be seening out of the walls of the tower, and it copsed into pieces. Of course, there was also flesh amongst those pieces. By now, the High Mage had recovered from her shock, and a fire of absolute hatred appeared in her eyes. She wanted that warrior dead! She quickly readied several Spells and waited for Shang to charge toward the next tower. But then, her eyes widened in shock. Shang hadn''t left the copsing tower. She quickly concentrated on her Spirit Sense, and she finally found him.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. He was fleeing! Shang was on the ground in front of the towers outside the encampment, running towards the Skythunder Kingdom! After all of this, he was running just like that?! The High Mage gnashed her teeth in hatred. ¡°No, you don''t!" SHING! And she used Mana Step. She appeared close to the walls of her encampment. BANG! She unleashed her Concept of Cutting and sted the walls in front of her apart. She needed a clear path for her Mana Step to work, and she didn''t have time or the nerves to jump over the walls. Then, she saw Shang just a kilometer away from her, and she unleashed over 30 metallic spears in his direction. It was like a gigantic shotgun had shot at Shang. Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense quickly calcted the trajectory of all the spears. There was no safe ce for him at the current distance from the High Mage. "Ishah!" SHING! Shang appeared over 500 meters further away and went a bit to the left. SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! Several spears shot past Shang. Not a single one hit him. And he had never stopped running. When the High Mage saw that Shang managed to evade her Spell by using Mana Step, her anger exploded even more. SHING! She also used Mana Step, and she appeared just 500 meters behind Shang. An instantter, she had readied another 30 spears. BOOOM! And she unleashed them at Shang again. This time, Shang was out of options. Sword was too small to block. He was not fast enough to evade. He couldn''t use Mana Step since one use of Mana Step used up all the Mana inside his mind. His armor was still regenerating its Mana. He would be hit. Shang quickly sted into a ce where the least spears were and readied himself. He jumped forward and kicked toward one of the approaching spears. BANG! The spear pierced Shang''s shoes. Then, it pierced Shang''s foot. It pierced his leg. It pierced his abdomen. And, finally, it came out of his shoulder. Just when the spear came out of his shoulder, Shang grabbed it with both of his hands. It took a lot of power, but Shang managed to hold onto that spear. If it hadn''t gone through his entire body and if it hadn''t been grabbed by Shang''s hands, it would have simply shot through him. But, like this, Shang managed to borrow the power of the spear, and he was thrown into the distance along with it. The High Mage''s eyes widened. Such a method to resist her attack hadn''t even entered her mind! Even more, Shang didn''t only resist her attack, but it was even helping him escape! All the spears around Shang started to fall to the ground as he traveled for nearly two kilometers like this. Then, Shang pulled out the spear, threw it to the side, and unleashed another st to keep his speed up. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang was unleashing one st after the other, his body bleeding in several ces. He was burning up his vitality like a meteor! The High Mage used another three Mana Steps and was now only 300 meters away from Shang. She was ready to unleash her next Spell. Shang looked back, and he only smirked. The High Mage was just about to unleash her Spell when she suddenly felt a terrifying attacke her way. SHING! BOOOOOM! She used Mana Step to retreat as the ce where she had just been was buried by a shower of humongous rocks. Her Spirit Sense quickly noticed the person that had unleashed that attack, and she gritted her teeth in frustration. The Duke of this Zone of the Skythunder Kingdom had arrived. And he was rapidly charging after her with Mana Step as his Focus readied more Spells. The High Mage threw one hateful nce at Shang. She knew that she couldn''t kill him today. She unleashed one Mana Step after the other to retreat back to the Grandmountain Kingdom as the Duke charged after her. The High Mage of the Grandmountain Kingdom had already used quite a bit of her Mana, and the Duke knew it. This was the best opportunity to get rid of her! The Duke shot past Shang in less than an instant. Finally, Shang could stop and look back. He was bleeding all over his body, but his passive regeneration would take care of these issues. Acouple of secondster, Shang saw several True Mages shoot past him with Mana Step, and some more secondster, Commander Stage warriors followed. The Skythunder Kingdom knew what Shang had nned. When they saw the terrifying number of distant explosions, they knew that Shang had seeded, and they had prepared themselves for an all-out assault. Today, the Skythunder Kingdom would take another Zone from the Grandmountain Kingdom! Chapter 422 Chapter 422 Shang slowly walked back to the Skythunder Kingdom as one soldier after the other charged past him toward the Grandmountain Kingdom. ¡®I''ve got quite some good gains from this excursion,¡¯ Shang thought as he continued walking. ¡®| know how powerful the weakest High Mages are now, and | could test several of my new techniques.¡¯ ¡®| even managed to severely damage the High Mage''s shield, although that was luck. She just so happened to arrive in front of me of her own volition, and | just so happened to be above her.¡¯ ¡®In a normal fight, she would just keep her distance with Mana Step and slowly kill me from afar.¡¯ ¡®Right now, my speed isn''t fast enough to truly keep up with a High Mage. | guess | need to reach the Peak Commander Stage first before | can try.¡¯ Shang nced at Sword, who was much smaller than before the attack. ¡®Luckily, | have a lot of money. With all the beasts and Foci | gathered, | don''t need to care about this bit of ore." ¡°How''s the Entropy looking?" Shang asked Sword with a voice transmission. ¡°No problem," Sword answered. "I don''t need more right now." Shang nodded. "How was the pain?" He still remembered that Sword had also been injured quite a bit. "| don''t like it, but | have to get used to it," Sword answered. "Sorry about that," Shang said. "There is nothing to be sorry about," Sword answered. "Power requires pain." Shang smiled a bit. He could empathize with Sword a lot. They were very simr. After a couple of minutes, Shang reached the outpost of the Skythunder Kingdom. There were definitely far fewer people here than before. Shang walked through the gates without being stopped, while many eyes looked at him with shock. This madman actually survived! They had all seen the distant ck clouds. Such ck clouds couldn''t be created by a Mage Tower, and they represented a vast burning area. This meant that something really big and mmable was burning, which could only be the enemy frontline. Additionally, their Duke had already told them to get ready for battle, basically confirming that Shang had severely weakened the enemy. All of this was basically unbelievable to everyone present. Only a High Mage could pull something like that off. Not even a Peak True Mage could do that. And there had never been a warrior that had managed to do something like that. It was very hard to believe, but this could only mean that Shang was more powerful than a Peak Mage. And he wasn''t even at the True Path Stage yet! The present people felt like the world was changing.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. Just 30 or so years ago, the first True Path Stage warrior had appeared. Then came the Bloodline Infusion. Then came the Star Map and the barbarian Strengthening Technique. And now, just five years after that, the first warrior that could actually resist a High Mage had made his debut. "What were those ck clouds?¡± Shang looked over and saw a Mid Commander Stage warrior ask him that question. ¡°About 50 Firebombs," Shang answered. Everyone''s eyes widened again. That was a lot of Firebombs! No wonder the clouds had been that thick and ck! ¡°How did you manage to detonate the Firebombs with a High Mage there?" the same warrior asked. "Couldn''t they just stop all the projectiles with their mind?" "Well," Shang said. "The High Mage was a bit far away when | used them, and she hadn''t been prepared for them." "Oh? It was a she? How did she look?" the same warrior asked. Shang furrowed his brows. "Come on, man. She''s a High Mage of the Grandmountain Kingdom," Shang answered. The warrior went a bit red in the face and looked away in embarrassment. After that short exchange, most of the people lost their trepidation and also asked their questions. Shang answered most of the questions vaguely since he wanted to keep his powers a secret. The Skythunder Kingdom might be his home, but there were also a lot of enemies here. The less his enemies knew about him, the better. Funnily enough, Shang was morefortable with revealing his powers to the Grandmountain Kingdom than the Skythunder Kingdom. One reason was that Shang didn''t need to live there. Another reason was that, since he didn''t live there, the Grandmountain Kingdom couldn''t create an ambush for him. An additional reason was that Shang didn''t need to interact with them. Lastly, the Grandmountain Kingdom couldn''t just send an incredibly powerful High Mage after Shang to kill him. Such a High Mage would be personally attacked by the Council and die. But if Shang unveiled some of his more sensitive powers to the Dukes and Council, it was possible that a member of the Council might assassinate him in the wild. The Grandmountain Kingdom was no immediate threat to Shang, but the Council and Dukes were. That was why he didn''t go into detail regarding how he had fought. The present people only knew that Shang managed to evade the Spells of the Mage Towers, somehow destroyed four of them, somehow managed tounch the Firebombs, and somehow managed to retreat. They didn''t know how Shang had achieved any of these feats. Several of them even doubted Shang''s words due to theck of descriptions. They could ept the Firebombs, but how did he manage to break through the Mana Shield of four Mage Towers while a High Mage was attacking him? Breaking such a strong Mana Shield definitely wasn''t easy. A couple of minutester, several warriors and Mages returned from the Grandmountain Kingdom to man their positions again. Apparently, the fight had ended. The other soldiers immediately asked the people what had happened, and they told them. The enemy had lost half their Mage Towers, and the entire encampment had been reduced to basically something that amounted to a bumed crater. Destroying thest four Mage Towers hadn''t been very difficult. Especially since two of them hadn''t even been manned. The Mages that were supposed to be there had probably fled. The army of the Skythunder Kingdom didn''t even need to really fight. They onlyunched a couple of Spells and created some defensive Spells to take down the Mage Towers. Now, if there were eight Mage Towers firing at them, many Mages and warriors would have died under the avnche, but with only two of them firing, all the Earth Mages could focus on defending from only those two towers, making the fight very easy and straightforward. After that, they cleaned up the ce without much trouble. This could barely be counted as a battle. As all the soldiers heard the retellings of how the battle had gone, they looked at Shang with shock once again. The soldiers had confirmed everything Shang had said. He really had taken down a frontline all on his own! Ashort momentter, a Peak True Mage, wearing some shiny armor that looked more like it should belong to a warrior, walked up to Shang. "Shang, correct?" he asked. Shang nodded. "You''ve performed a valuable service today. Duke Quake wishes to meet you at the conquered frontler to thank you personally. The enemy High Mage fell to Duke Quake thanks to her already weakened state," the Peak Mage said with a lot of respect. The Peak True Mage waited for an answer, but none came. In fact, Shang wasn''t even looking at him. Right now, Shang was looking with shock behind the Peak True Mage. The Peak True Mage furrowed his brows and turned around. Then, his heart stopped. Standing alone in the crevice was one man. White lightning crackled around his body as his long, white hair stood up straight due to the electricity all around him. He wore the robes of a Grandmountain Kingdom''s Governor. And in his right hand was the head of Duke Quake. When Shang saw that High Mage, he knew he had no power to flee. This was not an Initial High Mage. Shang estimated that he was a Mid High Mage. He couldn''t bepared to the earlier High Mage Shang had fought. At that moment, the conversation Shang had had with Jerald went through his mind. "Shang, do you want me to apany you?" "Why?" "What if the Governor or another more powerful High Mage is near the frontline? Assuming you manage to destroy the frontline, the Skythunder Kingdom will attack, but it will also be open for a counterattack." "That would be stupid," Shang answered. "Sure, we would be open to a counterattack, but if such a powerful High Mage were to enter the Skythunder Kingdom, the Council and surrounding Dukes would immediately be rmed. Entering the Skythunder Kingdom would be akin to throwing their life away." "Shang, | know what you are trying to say, and what you say makes a lot of logical sense. However, sometimes, even very powerful people do very stupid things in the heat of a moment." "You think so?" Shang asked with skepticism. "I''m not sure. | would believe that such a powerful Mage would know better." "Shang, even powerful Mages are just humans, and humans lose control over their emotions sometimes." "| can apany you if you want, Shang, just to be safe." Shang only looked at Jerald with furrowed brows. "No, that''s not necessary." Chapter 423 Chapter 423 Shang only looked with shock and horror at the powerful Governor of the Grandmountain Kingdom. ¡®Jerald was right.¡¯ ¡®I''ve lost control over my own rage more than once. Why did | think that other people have perfect control over their emotions just because they are more powerful?¡± ¡®They are also just human!" ¡®After making sure that there was not the slightest risk of revealing my power so many times, | did the very thing | was trying to avoid." ¡®| took an unnecessary risk.¡¯ "Shang, you''re such a fucking idiot!" ¡®Not everything has to be logical!¡¯ ¡®Humans don''t always act ording to logic! You should know that!¡¯ ¡°Not necessary?" Shang remembered Jerald say. "You''re probably right. The chances of some powerful High Mage losing control over their emotions are rather small.¡± For a second, the Governor looked at the outpost with pure hatred. Meanwhile, Shang felt like he had just looked death in the eyes. Suddenly, the Governor''s gaze shot to the sky. "But | don''t like taking chances." Shang also looked up, and he could see someone with long green hair and green robes hovering in the air. "I''m stilling with you, Shang. Just to be safe." The Governor felt an incredible threating from this figure, and when he saw the Focus with four Amplifiers, all his rage vanished. His eyes immediately widened in shock and terror. ¡°And, hey, if it turns out that I''m incorrect, you canugh at me for being too paranoid." Shang released a deep breath. ¡®Luckily, there was someone smarter than me around me.¡¯ ¡®This time, I''ve actually overestimated the enemy, which can be just as bad as underestimating them. | thought that they were smart enough not to do something so stupid, but | was wrong.¡¯ ¡®And | would have been forced to use Entropy again." Shang looked at Jerald, who was flying in the sky. "I''m sorry for being so stupid and stubborn, Jerald. You were right," Shang transmitted. Jerald only smirked. And then, his Focus shone with green light. SHING! The Governor vanished as he used Mana Step to retreat. BANG! Yet, in the middle of his Mana Step, he suddenly hit something solid and was thrown back. Aviolently shaking green wall of wind had appeared in front of him. It looked almost like a gigantic welding torch was spewing green fire. The Mana Shield took a heavy hit, and the Governor''s concentration was broken as his rapid, unprepared stop shook his organs and brain around. Jerald lifted his right hand and pointed upward with his index and middle fingers. Some peaceful green wind appeared above them. Then, he pointed at the Governor. CRRRRRRRRRRRRR! In an instant, a gigantic, rotating drill of wind appeared above the Governor''s Mana Shield. The sheer force of the green drill echoed for kilometers, blowing the eardrums out of any General Stage or weaker beings. Sparks of pure Mana flew everywhere, illuminating the entire crevice. And then, the Mana Shield and the drill vanished. The Governor fell to his knees in a cold sweat. All his Mana was gone. He knew that Jerald had been more powerful than him from the beginning, but he hadn''t thought that the distance between them was that great. Then, the Governor''s head shot up as he looked at Jerald again. His Focus was shining with another prepared Spell! "| surrender! | will follow-" BANG! Agreen streak of wind passed, and his head vanished. Jerald only smirked. "Oops." It was nothing unusual for a defeated High Mage to surrender and join another Kingdom, especially when they were someone of status. AHigh Mage was very valuable, and even though they acted like they were loyal to their Kingdom, their loyalty wasn''t actually as strong. When faced with death, many High Mages would dly abandon their Kingdom and join the enemy. High Mages were rare, and every Kingdom needed them. They would always be epted with open arms. Of course, they would need to give reparations for their past actions, which meant a lot of work for them for a couple of decades. But after that, they could fully join the Kingdom. What were a couple of decades of work in exchange for survival and another shot at bing more powerful? Shang looked at the headless corpse and wasn''t surprised in the least that Jerald had killed the Governor.N?velDrama.Org content rights. If this Governor joined the Skythunder Kingdom, the Council would get another powerful pawn to use against Jerald. And, even more, this pawn would have a personal vendetta against Jerald. After all, Jerald would be the reason that the Governor had to betray his Kingdom and work his ass off for several decades. Jerald, obviously, wouldn''t overlook something like that. It was better to immediately kill the Governor. The other people still couldn''t believe that they had survived. When they saw the infuriated Governor, they believed that they would die today. Such a powerful High Mage could use theirprehended Concept to kill all of them within seconds. They genuinely hadn''t known that the Duke of the Storm Eagle Zone was here. Some of them fell onto their butts in shock. This day was just too much for them. Jerald slowlynded beside Shang with a smile. "| told you," he said. Shang only looked to the side in shame. "Yes, you did." ¡°Powerful Mages are also just people," Jerald said. "They feel anger, happiness, and sadness just like you and me. When you can lose control over your emotions, others can as well.¡± Shang only nodded without saying anything. Shang wasn''t perfect. He couldn''t predict everything. Logically, it had made no sense for the Governor to appear here, but things didn''t always go ording to logic. Sometimes, people did dumb things. Even the powerful and old ones. SHING! The air around Jerald and Shang shook as someone new arrived. This was the very reason why it had been stupid. Every Kingdom was surrounded by a gigantic and powerful Magic Circle that reacted to powerful presences andmunication signals. This Magic Circle had been how the Mages of the Grandmountain Kingdom had found Shang after he had used his Communication Crystal to contact George. And it also alerted the leaders of the Kingdoms about any High Mage that crossed their border. So, when the Governor came here, the Council had immediately been informed. A Mid High Mage was someone with the power of an average Duke, and they knew that Duke Quake was the weakest and newest Duke. They knew that he wouldn''t be able to resist such an enemy. Shang and Jerald looked over and saw an older woman with ck hair and cold eyes. It was the Head of the Council, a Peak High Mage. Four of the five members of the Council usually lived in the northern half of the Kingdom since they had to react very quickly to any powerful High Mage that arrived, and the Head of the Council lived at the southern border of this Zone. It had barely taken her a minute to arrive here. In that minute, the Governor could have decimated the entire camp several times over and retreat, but their location would have already been revealed to the Head of the Council. AMid High Mage couldn''t run for very long while being chased by a Peak High Mage. This was why it had been a very stupid idea for the Governor to arrive. ¡°How nice of you to join us, Council Head," Jerald said with a polite smile. As soon as she had felt the presence of Jerald, she had known that the enemy was most likely already dead. She was enemies with him, but she also knew how powerful he was. The Head of the Council looked at the headless body and the corpse of Duke Quake just a couple hundred meters away from it. She wasn''t surprised that the enemy was already dead. Then, she looked at Jerald with an emotionless expression. ¡°What happened here?" Chapter 424 Chapter 424 Jerald told the Head of the Council what had happened with the Governor except for one small detail. In Jerald''s retelling of the story, the Governor just died too quickly. Jerald simply hadn''t anticipated for him to die with only one Spell. Obviously, the Head of the Council knew that this was bullshit, but the only other person that had witnessed what had happened was Shang, and she knew that Shang would have Jerald''s back. The other people had been blinded by the light of the Spells, and they could barely tell what had happened since everything had happened so quickly. Even more, the Governor had used a voice transmission to surrender since it was faster. So, there was nothing the Head of the Council could do about this incident. She simply had to ept that the Governor was now dead. But that was still a good thing. It was rare for a High Mage to die in the war, but it was even rarer for an actual Governor or Duke to die. Governors and Dukes were usually at the Mid High Mage Realm, while the weaker ones led the offense and defense in the war. The Duke of this area had been the newest member of the Dukes since he had been exceptionally talented. He had been able to fight Early High Mages while still being an Initial High Mage. Additionally, there weren''t enough Mid High Mages for all the Zones, which was why he had gotten the position. The Head of the Council looked at the corpse of Duke Quake with furrowed brows. Sadly, this shining light had now vanished. "What led to this incident?" the Head of the Council asked. "| wasn''t present for the entire thing. You should ask Shang," Jerald said, gesturing to Shang. The Head of the Council threw a cold nce at Shang. Then, she looked toward the Peak True Mage, that had just talked to Shang a minute ago. "Commander, report!" Jerald only bitterly smiled while Shang''s expression didn''t change. He wasn''t surprised in the least. The Peak True Mage ran to the Head of the Council and bowed deeply in respect. After that, he recounted everything that had happened. When the Head of the Council heard of Shang''s deeds, she threw an evaluating nce toward him. What she had heard sounded unreal. ALate Commander Stage warrior managed to destroy an entire frontline that was guarded by a High Mage. After listening to everything, she turned to Jerald with a strict gaze. "Duke Whirlwind, what exnation do you have for the death of Duke Quake?" she demanded. "My exnation?" Jerald asked with a polite smile. "My exnation is that one of our Initial High Mages died in exchange for the life of an Initial High Mage of the Grandmountain Kingdom, a Mid High Mage, and an entire Zone." The Council Head''s eyes narrowed. "Are you suggesting that the life of one of our Dukes is worth less than the life of a Governor from a dying Kingdom? With time, the Grandmountain Kingdom will fall. Your actions today have caused the Skythunder Kingdom unnecessary losses." Shang had to try his best not to snort in disgust right now. Duke Quake and the Governor couldn''t bepared in value? That''s right! The Governor had killed Duke Quake probably just as quickly as Duke Whirlwind had killed the Governor. Obviously, the Governor''s life was far more valuable than Duke Quake''s. Yet, she was making it seem like Jerald had caused the Skythunder Kingdom immense losses. Jerald only smiled politely, but his smile definitely didn''t reach his eyes. ¡°Are you trying to force things, Susan?" he asked in a friendly but threatening voice. As soon as Jerald spoke these words, the entire atmosphere turned cold. The Head of the Council narrowed her eyes as her surroundings turned darker. "| have no problem with ying the game," Jerald said, "but we have to act ording to the rules." The surroundings of Jerald also seemed to warp with energy. ¡°Otherwise, we can''t y the game, Susan," Jerald said, his polite smile giving off a very threatening vibe. For a couple of seconds, the two of them only stared at each other. "Ugh." Suddenly, Shang heard someone groan and looked over. The Peak True Mage had just lost consciousness. And then, Shang''s surroundings vanished into darkness. Two humongous and cold eyes appeared in front of him, and he felt like he was staring into the Abyss. In what seemed like an instantter, Shang slowly opened his eyes and shook his head. His head felt foggy and scattered. "Finally awake?" Shang heard Jerald say with a chuckle. That was when Shang realized that he was lying on the ground. "What happened?" he asked as he slowly sat up and looked around. He could see the Peak Mage rub his head as he slowly walked back to the encampment. The Head of the Council was gone. "Susan and | had a talk, and she doesn''t like listeners," Jerald said. At that moment, Shang remembered the eyes. "That was her?" he asked. Jerald knew what Shang was referring to and nodded. "That''s her signature Spell, Soul Abyss. She''s a Peak Darkness High Mage, and she mainly fights with Spells that attack your mind. She''s a terrifying opponent." "Sorry for not intervening, but | believed that it was better to talk to her alone. Her actions today went beyond the usual political game, and | wanted to have a real talk with her. | can flip the table, but we both don''t want that." Shang slowly stood up. He had a droning headache, but he could deal with it. ¡°What did her Spell do to me?" he asked. ¡°Her Spell can do many things, but | made sure that she didn''t do anything invasive. She knows that she can''t just do as she pleases with my friends. She simply put you to sleep." Shang looked around the area. "What happens now?" ¡°Nothing, really," Jerald answered. "We had a talk, and the issue got resolved. We can return home now." "That''s it?" Shang asked. Jerald nodded. At that moment, Shang realized that the two corpses were also gone. "She took them with her," Jerald said when he noticed Shang''s gaze. Shang nodded. That made sense. Shang was still a bit confused due to the Spell, and he slowly walked toward the southeast. "Oh, by the way, you will get a medal and the title of Count." Shang stopped, blinked twice, and looked at Jerald. "Huh?" N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Chapter 425 Chapter 425 BANG! Shang exploded forward with a st, his sword in its Saber State shing downward. CLINK! Along sword parried the attack and tried to push the saber to the side. However, Shang''s attack had only been a feint, and his power was actually focused on pushing his opponent away. The opponent''s sword didn''t have enough power behind it to push Shang''s saber away, which resulted in the person holding it being flung backward. Shang immediately exploded after them. His opponent was open. This was the perfect opportunity to strike! ck mes appeared around Sword, and it struck the enemy''s sword. CRACK! The sword broke into pieces, and Shang''s sword continued shing forward. But he missed. Where his opponent had just been was now a hole in the ground. SHING! Suddenly, a sword shot out of the hole, right toward Shang''s head. BANG! Shang shed the sword away. SHING! And then, Shang''s eyes widened. Right now, a second sword hade out of the ground beneath him, and it had stabbed him in the butt. The entire sword was inside Shang''s body right now, and he knew that his opponent could kill him now if he so chose to. The ground below Shang moved to the side to reveal the head of a smiling man. ¡°My dear Count Sword, your creativity is stillcking," Mervin said with a smile.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. Then, Mervin pulled his sword out of Shang''s butt and stepped out of the ground. Shang quickly healed his body and sighed helplessly. "I still can''t win, huh?" he asked. "This is our first fight, Shang," Mervin said. "I don''t think the word still is appropriate here." "Right," Shang said, turning to face Mervin. Amomentter, a thundering apuse echoed throughout the courtyard. This had been an exhibition match between Shang and the new Dean of the Warrior''s Academy, Mervin. Shang had asked Mervin for a sparring match to see how far he hade and to learn some new things. Mervin had no problem with the match, but he also wanted to show the students of the academy how strong a warrior could be. "Don''t be too hard on yourself, Shang," Mervin said. "You nearly had me a couple of times, and | actually had to resort to such an unorthodox technique. | don''t usually use my Earth Affinity in such a way, but | just couldn''t help it. | needed all of my power to win against you." Sure enough, Mervin hadn''t exaggerated. His armor and clothing were cut in several ces, and some blood was still flowing from some open wounds. The fight definitely hadn''t been easy. Of course, Shang couldn''t use all his powers. For example, he didn''t use his Darkness Affinity, although it also wouldn''t have helped much. He also hadn''t worn Jerald''s armor since Mervin didn''t have aparable set. "Give it a couple of years," Mervin said. "My Path is set while yours is still developing. In a couple of years, you will overtake me. It seems like your Path is far grander than even mine." Shang didn''t disagree. He wanted to tell Mervin that the stability of his Path was all thanks to him, but he just couldn''t tell another person about his secrets. Shang knew Jerald, and he had known that he could trust him. Mervin, on the surface, appeared even more trustworthy, but Shang couldn''t really look through his personality. Additionally, there was actually no need to tell Mervin where he hade from. "Thank you for the fight, Teacher Mervin," Shang said with a short and polite bow. Mervin reciprocated the bow. "The pleasure is all mine, Count Sword." "You really don''t need to call me that," Shang said. "Why not? It''s your title," Mervin said with a smile. Shang only sighed. Now that Shang was no longer part of the Warrior''s Academy, Mervin stopped acting like a serious teacher. He joked around more now, and this was one of his jokes. Acouple of weeks ago, Shang had been given his title. The ceremony had been held in Jerald''s castle, and all the Mage nobles living in the Storm Eagle Zone had watched, even if there weren''t many. Every noble with a rank of Count or higher received a unique title. This was also how Jerald had received the title of Whirlwind. Shang''s title was Sword. During the ceremony, Shang also received his own territory to manage. In the beginning, Shang had not been even the slightest fan of that. He wanted to focus on his power, not manage some town or something. It would only distract him. But when Shang saw his territory, all his worries vanished. It was just a random part of the Wild Forest. There was literally nothing to manage as long as Shang didn''t make it so. Usually, the Dukes gave the Counts the goals they wanted them to achieve, and it was the job of the Counts to make it happen. Procuring gold, warriors, and Mages were the mostmon goals. And Jerald''s goal for Shang''s territory was that it shouldn''t bring in less than it does now, which was basically zero. If Shang wanted, he could create a castle or even a small town in his territory since it was quite big. He could theoretically manage everything in there and demand taxes, which definitely wouldn''t be little. Or he could just do nothing. And, obviously, Shang chose thetter. The main reason why Jerald had granted Shang the title was to take the first step towards making the warriors equal to Mages in terms of status. If there was one warrior Count, there could be more in the future. Naturally, having a dirty peasant warrior amongst their ranks made the other Counts in the other Zones protest. They immediatelyined to the Council, who saw this as a prime opportunity to throw more dirt onto Jerald''s image. However, the Head of the Council surprisingly shot that idea down. "Count Sword has the power and the achievements to be a Count," she had said. The Council was horrified that their Head had said something like that, but they couldn''t get a reason as to why she had said these things out of her. Of course, the protests didn''t let up, and the other noble Mages only grew angrier. They just couldn''t ept that a warrior was now a Count. They could ept a warrior Baron but not a Count. That was too high for mere warriors. After all, a Count was in practice just one step below a Duke. There was also the Liaison Rank, which would give someone temporary authority on the level of the Duke of the territory, but it wasn''t a permanent Rank. Shang and Mervin exchanged a couple more words, and Mervin held a grand speech for all the students,plimenting Count Sword for his power and naming him the second strongest warrior in the world. Shang didn''t feelfortable hearing all these praisese from Mervin. He was a rather proud person, and he agreed with everything Mervin said, but it felt so strange and weird hearing these thingse out of someone else''s mouth. It didn''t feel real. While Shang was the target of contempt from the other noble Mages, for the students in the Warrior''s Academy, he was their hero. He was a young warrior that managed to be the first warrior Count in history! In the students¡¯ minds, Shang had reached the same level of mystery as the original Dean. After talking with some people, Shang left the academy again. Another long period of isted training was about to begin for him. Chapter 426 Chapter 426 In the next ten years, the effects of the Star Maps started to show results. The Skythunder Kingdom had received over 30 new High Mages, which was more than they had anticipated. There had been so many Late and Peak True Mages that had been stuck atprehending the unique Concept they needed to advance, and when the Star Map appeared, many of these people finally managed to do the jump. At this moment, the Skythunder Kingdom had around 60 High Mages, which was a shocking number. Every single encampment near the frontlines was now defended by a High Mage, which had been merely a dream just ten years ago. Of course, the Grandmountain Kingdom and the Magic Purity Kingdom also had received a burst of new High Mages. As time passed, the importance of True Mages and Commander Stage warriors only shrunk, but they were still important. While the High Mages fought, the soldiers fought each other, and if one side won, they could assist their High Mage in the battle. One True Mage wasn''t an issue for a High Mage, but if 20 True Mages suddenly started throwing Spells at the High Mage while they were still dealing with another High Mage, things could turn bad very quickly. If they evaded with Mana Step, they couldn''t create another offensive Spell to deal with the High Mage, and if they didn''t evade, the Spells would consume their Mana since they would hit the Mana Shield. Attacking the forces would also require concentration, time, and Mana, which could prove fatal when another High Mage was attacking them. One could say that having the support of an army increased the High Mage''s power by about 30%. Of course, if one of the High Mages was clearly stronger than the other, even these 30% wouldn''t make a difference, which was why the importance of the True Mages had fallen. They could only help, not win. But there weren''t only new High Mages. In thest ten years, about 15 new True Path Stage warriors also appeared. Just like with the High Mages, these True Path Stage warriors had been Commander Stage warriors that had been stuck at theter levels of the Commander Stage. The impact a True Path Stage warrior brought to the battlefield wasn''t as great as a High Mage, but it was definitely not little. If a True Path Stage warrior managed to slip past the enemy''s frontlines, they would create a bloodbath. The enemy either needed to dedicate several Mage Towers to dealing with the True Path Stage warrior, significantly reducing the pressure on the enemy''s army, or look at the True Path Stage warrior cutting through every Mage that wasn''t located in a Mage Tower right now. And if a True Path Stage warrior could go and support their High Mage, things would go bad. AHigh Mage was definitely more powerful than a True Path Stage warrior, but it wasn''t to such a degree that they could kill them with a flip of their hand. Asimple Spell thrown their way wouldn''t be enough to kill them due to their resilience and speed, which meant that the High Mage needed to dedicate around three serious Spells to deal with them. That were three Spells that wouldn''t attack the other High Mage, which was devastating. Sadly, all the new True Path Stage warriors hadn''t undergone the Bloodline Infusion. They had already created simplified versions of their Paths when the Bloodline Infusion was invented, making it impossible to find a fitting beast for the procedure. So, while the True Path Stage warriors were still helplessly inferior to the High Mages, they definitely weren''t useless. If one thought of High Mages as a soldier, True Path Stage warriors would be their dogs. Having a dog helping them was definitely better than not having one, but it was not worth as much as another soldier. In the past ten years, the Grandmountain Kingdom lost another four Zones while it had only gained two more Zones from the ckshadow Kingdom, which meant that the Grandmountain Kingdom was shrinking. The Skythunder Kingdom was no longer in the shape of a circle at the southern end of the world. Instead, it had transformed into an oval. Due to the new Zones, the Skythunder Kingdom even had to create three new Dukes, raising the number of Dukes to 15. The war was reaching a new level of intensity after years of peace. Especially the Magic Purity Kingdom had started to assault the Skythunder Kingdom with more power while still Keeping the pressure on the ckshadow Kingdom. While the war with the Grandmountain Kingdom went great, the newsing from the north was worrisome. There were a lot of new High Mages in the Magic Purity Kingdom, and the Skythunder Kingdom was now under more pressure than ever before. The world was rapidly changing. But Shang saw none of that. For the past ten years, Shang had only been training in seclusion, deep in the Caves. Every couple of weeks, he heard some new developments from George and Jerald, but none of these things actually concerned him. Jerald always told Shang that he should concentrate on training and that he shouldn''t think about the outside world, but Shang knew that Jerald was under a lot of pressure. The Council demanded more and more powerful warriors to be sent to the frontlines, and nearly half of all the True Path Stage warriors came from the little Storm Eagle Zone. Yet, they still demanded more. Their goal was obvious. They wanted Jerald to send Shang, George, and Mervin to the frontlines. They wanted to deal with Jerald''s closest allies since that would weaken Jerald''s hold over the warriors. Yet, Jerald always managed to keep those three away from the frontlines. Shang knew that Jerald was under a lot of pressure, which only strengthened his resolve in training. ¡®It''s been so long,¡¯ Shang thought as he descended further into the Caves. He was still wearing Jerald''s armor, but it looked old and ragged after over ten years. Shang still looked to be in his early twenties, even though he was 47 years old now. ¡®I''ve been in this world for around 33 years now, and Earth seems so distant and unimportant.¡¯ ¡®I''ve trained for so long in the Caves.¡¯ Shang continued descending more. ¡®But after 33 years, it''s finally time.¡¯ ¡®I''m now at the Peak Commander Stage, and my body is just as powerful as the body of a Peak Commander Stage beast." "My Path has been around 30%pleted.¡¯ ¡®And now, it''s time.¡¯This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. Shang descended more and more until the caves became bigger and bigger. Shang still remembered the Exploding Mountain Turtle from the Day of Chaos. ¡®After 33 years, I''m finally there." Shang remembered how helpless he had been. George had fought the Exploding Mountain Turtle several kilometers away, and Shang had only been able to watch. ¡®Today, | will fight my first True Path Stage beast!" Chapter 427 Chapter 427 Shang slowly walked down the Caves with a narrowed eye. His focus was at its peak, and he kept watch over his surroundings with all of his concentration. This was no longer the safe area where only Commander Stage beasts lived. No, this was the ce where the True Path Stage beasts lived. Shang''s body had already reached the most powerful state possible for a Commander Stage warrior, which meant that he wouldn''t be able to be more powerful without working on his Path. Theoretically, Shang could break through the True Path Stage without a Path by relying on the barbarian strengthening technique, but that would lock him out of the warrior Path. At that point, he would be like King Skythunder, someone with a powerful body but no advanced techniques. This was not what Shang wanted. He wanted to push himself further and further. He wanted to create the ultimate Path for anyone using a sword. Shang had already been working on his Path for over 20 years by now, and he wasn''t even halfway done. There was so much more to learn and so much more power to gain. As Shang slowly stepped down the Caves, he felt like he was alone. There were no beasts anywhere. The Caves were dark, but Shang could rely on his Pseudo-Spirit Sense to make sense of his surroundings. Yet, there was just nothing there. Only walls. Shang continued walking forward. By now, the tunnels had reached a width and height of over a hundred meters, which was far bigger than the upper Caves. Being alone in such a grand structure had a certain feel to it. Suddenly, Shang focused on his right and furrowed his brows. He could feel something charging at him. Since Shang wasn''t at the True Path Stage yet, his Spirit Sense also wasn''t as big and urate as it was supposed to be, which meant that the beasts would most likely find him first. And, sure enough, the first beast had already found Shang and was charging at him with a lot of speed. Shang couldn''t see it yet, but the closer it got, the clearer the image his Pseudo-Spirit Sense sent him became. The beast was really long but not very wide. Of course, Shang was talking in terms of average size for a True Path Stage beast. Even though the beast wasn''t very big for a True Path Stage beast, it was still a good twenty meters wide. But its length was definitely impressive. Shang estimated that it was nearly 200 meters long. Obviously, it had already seen him. Shang readied himself mentally and took out Sword. He had never fought a True Path Stage beast before, and he also hadn''t fought such a big beast before. The beast reached Shang''s cave in just a couple of seconds due to its incredible speed, but Shang had felt the vibrations already earlier. By now, Shang also knew what it was. It was a gigantic centipede. Its entire body was ck, and there were three rocky spikes on every segment of its body. Its head had two gigantic pincers, and its eyes had already focused on Shang. Right now, it was charging toward Shang from the ceiling. Shang only watched it. Usually, he would have already charged forward, but he could tell that this would be a bad idea. BANG! Sure enough, Shang was right. As soon as the centipede could see Shang, the rocky spikes on its back exploded off and flew right toward him. Shang easily evaded the first spike. It was fast, but not super fast. Additionally, it didn''t have that much power. Shang could probably block it with his sword. However, that was not the problem. If it were only one spike, this would be easy. But the centipede shot over 30 spikes per second. It was almost like a gigantic machine gun was shooting at Shang with huge spikes. BANG! BANG! Shang sted to the side and then sted away once again, but the avnche of spikes just didn''t end. There came more and more, and the centipede kept charging toward Shang as he retreated. In just a single second, Shang had needed to evade over ten of the 30 fired spikes, which forced him to use several sts already. ¡®This definitely isn''t a weak beast, and it definitely isn''t at the Initial True Path Stage. It''s most likely an average or above-average Early True Path Stage beast.¡¯ Shang smirked. ¡®Just right as my first opponent." Shang stopped evading towards the back and began to charge directly at the centipede. The centipede didn''t stop and kept running at him. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang parried most of the spikes shooting at him and got closer to the centipede. That was when the centipede reached him and readied its pincers. As soon as Shang saw the centipede ready its pincers, his insides shook. His instincts were telling him that these pincers were far deadlier than he had anticipated. Amomentter, a small light appeared in Shang''s right eye, and his body withered to a considerable degree. Then, he charged forward. Just when Shang was about to reach the domain of the pincers, he used a powerful Ice st to change his trajectory. He was now trying to pass below the centipede''s head. But at that moment, the pincers angled downward. Shang had expected the centipede tomit to the attack and miss him, but it had waited with its attack. And then, the pincers struck. They were incredibly fast, far faster than the centipede''s body and its spikes. CRACK! The pincers crushed Shang''s entire body, turning him into dust. Or, at least, they would have. As soon as the pincers crushed Shang, he transformed into Darkness Mana and vanished into the surroundings. An instantter, Shang appeared below the centipede''s head. It was almost like an even deeper darkness than the darkness around them had hidden him.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Ten years was a lot of time, and Shang learned a couple of new tricks. This was one of them. Shang called it Shadow Image. By sacrificing quite a bit of his life energy, Shang could create an image with his own aura and could control it for a short time. At the same time, Shang would use another new trick, which he simply called Vanish. By sacrificing even more of his life energy, he could hide his aura to a certain degree. Now, since Shang wasn''t a Mage, these two abilities were not very powerful. If Shang only created a Shadow Image but didn''t use Vanish, the enemy would immediately be able to tell where he was. If Shang only used Vanish but not Shadow Image, the enemy would still be able to feel the slight traces of his aura. But with both tricks at once, Shang could fool the centipede. Sadly, in order to fool something this powerful, Shang needed a darkness-rich environment. Additionally, beasts weren''t the smartest beings. AHigh Mage would very likely not fall for that trick. These two abilities had tons of weaknesses, but on the right asion, these weaknesses didn''t matter a lot. At this moment, Shang was below the head of the centipede. And then, he readied his sword. An instantter, the air around Sword began to vibrate and warp. Chapter 428 Chapter 428 Shang shed upward. CRACK! Sword easily cut through the thick armor of the centipede. Obviously, Shang wouldn''t attempt to kill a True Path Stage beast with a Commander Stage weapon. In thest ten years, Shang had also gotten the Darkness Ore from Jerald, and Shang had openly bought the Fire and Ice Ore himself. He had basically gone public with a Temperature Affinity, making his purchases reasonable. After that, Jerald had given Shang the ore he needed to upgrade Sword to the Early True Path Stage. However, Shang''s funds had essentially dried up. These kinds of materials couldn''t be bought with gold, but Jerald sold them for gold anyway. Shang had paid over a billion gold for all the ore, which was an unreasonable amount for a Commander Stage warrior. Decades of Shang gathering Foci, materials, and gold had vanished in just an instant. However, it allowed him to upgrade Sword, and he wasn''t worried about the future. With such a weapon, he could now hunt True Path Stage beasts, which he could trade for even more ore. As Shang''s sword cut into the armor, it suddenly shone brightly. It was the ranged attack Shang had introduced to the world, but it was slightly different this time. There was no Element in the sh. Additionally, the power of the sh didn''t exactly leave the domain of his sword. How had the warriors of the past managed to fell such gigantic beasts with theirparatively tiny weapons? This was the answer. As long as there was living matter, the ranged attack could be used as an extension for the actual sh. It was like Shang''s sword had transformed to be over 20 meters long, but only while being inside an enemy''s body. Sadly, the actual power or weight of the strike didn''t change. It simply extended the attack''s reach. After cutting through half the body, Shang felt his sword slow down. The centipede''s body was thick and massive, making it very difficult for him to cut through the entire thing. BANG! A Fire st came out of Shang''s left leg, shooting it upward. BANG! With a powerful kick, his left leg hit the back of his colossal sword, pushing it forward. CRRRRK! The sword continued going. BANG! BANG! Shang kept hold of his sword and released two more sts, shooting himself past the centipede. CRACK! CRACK! The centipede''s sharp, hook-like legs were torn out of the walls as its body was pulled away from the wall. Shang''s arms bulged as he continued shing forward. His sword was making more progress through the centipede''s body, and the continued power of Shang''s sts gave him more strength than the centipede could muster from its current position. And then... CRACK! Shang''s sword cut through the centipede''s entire body, and its head started to fall to the ground. Blood exploded out of the body, bathing Shang and his surroundings in a crimson red. Such a feat would have been impossible if Shang''s body hadn''t already reached the absolute peak of the Commander Stage. This beast was two levels above him, and its body had immense powers. For just a moment, time had seemingly stopped, and Shang took a deep breath. BANG! Shang''s right eye shot open in terror. His armor had just activated! This meant that he would have died without it just now! Shang quickly focused on his surroundings again, and he realized what was going on. The spikes were still firing! BANG! Blood exploded out of Shang''s body as he used another st to evade the following spikes. The temperature all over his body had been thrown all over the ce by the continued uses of the sts, and Shang had gone past his usual limit, injuring him. At the same time, the half of the centipede that had been wrestled out of the wall was pulled back by the other half, and the feet dug into the wall again. Shang almost couldn''t believe what he was seeing. He had cut off that thing''s head! How could it still attack and move?! The former neck of the centipede retreated from Shang as the centipede''s back turned to face him. Asecond head!N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Or was this its actual head?! Shang looked at the falling "head" he had cut off. That definitely was a head! He knew the centipedes often had a tail that mimicked their head, but Shang wasn''t stupid. He could tell a tail from a head, and this definitely was a head! Shang had never heard of a beast that had two heads! ¡®| shouldn''t be surprised,¡¯ he thought with a narrowed eye. ¡®Not much is known about True Path Stage beasts.¡¯ BANG! BANG! Shang kept exploding left and right to dodge the continuing assault of the spikes. At that moment, Shang used all his Mana to heal his body. The sts, Shadow Image, and Vanish had used up a huge amount of his life energy, and he needed to refill it. However, Shang was now out of Mana. Any new injury would stay with him for the duration of the fight. The fight had proven to be more difficult than he had thought. Shang prepared himself mentally again while dodging the spikes and then shot toward the centipede again. WHOOOOM! But at that moment, Shang felt a powerful pulse of Manae from behind him, and he felt an immense feeling of danger. At the same time, the centipede stopped shooting its spikes at Shang and stopped moving. Shang turned around and saw something horrifying. The head he had cut off hadnded on the ground, and blood was scattering over the entire floor. This was not the normal speed at which blood spread, and this also wasn''t the normal amount. It was like all the blood in the centipede''s body had gathered inside the head, and it had exploded forth. Even more, the blood didn''t flow in natural pathways. Right now, Shang was in the air in the middle of the cave, and he could see all the blood. It had transformed into aplex diagram! Even more, all the spikes the centipede had shot earlier had perfectly been ced at the important ces inside the diagram. This meant that it had nned all of this from the very beginning! The spikes weren''t there to kill him but to set up this kind of ritual! An instantter, the entire cave turned a bloody red, and there was even red light inside the cave now. The head dissolved instantly, and at that moment... It was like a switch had been flipped. The walls of the entire cave turned red. And then, they turned into a lustrous ck. When Shang saw that, his eyes widened. ¡®That''s metal!" But hadn''t the centipede been a beast with an Earth Affinity?! And then, Shang felt a terrifying amount of Mana gather around the centipede. CRK! CRK! Its exoskeleton began to crack at multiple ces until there were several holes. And then, long metallic arms came out of the holes. The first five segments of the centipede now had two gigantic armsing out of them each! BANG! The centipede fell to the ground. In this form, it was easier to fight while on the ground. The first five segments righted themselves like it was the head of a gigantic cobra. Then, the arms extended towards the walls and ground of the cave. Several spikes the centipede had shot earlier that hadn''tnded in the diagram were now being grabbed by the arms. And then, the arms pulled back. The fingers and ws of the arms melded with the spikes until it was just one continuous mass. And when the spikes came out of the walls, more than just the spikes was pulled out. Ridiculously long scissor-like scythes were pulled out. It was like one had taken the pincers of the centipede and had transformed them into long scythes! Shang was immediately reminded of a mantis. The scythes all stopped above the centipede, all ready to strike. BANG! BANG! At the same time, the metallic cave closed around the two exits. The blood on the ground rose by a level until it was two meters deep and stopped. Shang could feel corrosive powerse from the blood. Acouple of spikes were still sticking out of the walls, representing tiny spots of safety. SHING! Then, the centipede pulled its scythes to the side, cutting through the air. ¡®This is not an average beast!¡¯ Shang thought with shock. And then, the centipede exploded towards Shang. Chapter 429 Chapter 429 The centipede charged at Shang with incredible speed, throwing the corrosive blood to the side. Its scythes shone in the red light of the metallic cave. For a moment, Shang was overwhelmed by the possible angles he could be attacked from. Usually, beasts only had one to three different attacks they couldunch, making their offense rather predictable. But there was so much going on right now! There were ten scythes, two gigantic mandibles, several spiky legs, and even more spikes that could beunched at Shang at any moment! Right now, the centipede was facing Shang with its raised underside, pointing the spikes away from him, but he knew that if he managed to get past all the other weapons, the spikes would continue raining on him! Shang nced backward and saw that only around a hundred meters were left to the end of the cave. For just a moment, Shang felt like he was about to die. But then, his right eye narrowed. This wasn''t the first time he was fighting something so powerful in rtion to his own power! Shang knew that he had to go all out and that he couldn''t die now! However, he also knew that the offense was just too massive and imprable! How was he supposed to get through so many scythes?! ¡®| immediately have to get rid of some of its weapons! As long as it gets one chance to attack, | will die!" This thing was an absolute killing machine. Even a single scythe was already something Shang had to use all his power to block, and it had ten! ¡®| have to use all my power to weaken it immediately!¡¯ Shang nced at the blood pool beneath him. Jumping into it would definitely injure him. Shang gritted his teeth. Then, he jumped into the pool. As soon as Shang''s feet touched the pool, it started to vanish. The air and blood around Shang started to turn into pure Mana. Right now, Shang''s right eye shone in a ck light. Domain of Entropy! Shangnded on the corroded metal beneath him and pulled his sword back. CRRRR! Then, Sword began to burn with ck fire. Shang''s stance lowered as the centipede was close to reaching him. The Domain of Entropy intensified. "Ishah!" BANG! Shang shot to the other end of the cave in an instant, leaving behind an empty trail devoid of blood. CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! Amomentter, all the legs on the centipede''s left side broke off, followed by two scythes. Shang had used his one use of Mana Step together with Sword''s Entropy and a colossal price for his Domain of Entropy. The centipede fell to the side, creating waves with its blood as Shang jumped out of the pool, deactivating his Domain of Entropy. Shang''s body hadn''t been injured in any ce, even though he had just turned so much blood into Mana. That was because Shang had sacrificed something else. The ck armor Shang had worn was turning into dust and scattering across the cave as more Mana. Shang had sacrificed the armor Jerald had given him. However, he hadn''t had any other choice. Turning so much blood into Mana would have killed him, and he couldn''t sacrifice Sword. "Sword!" Shang shouted immediately as he threw it at the centipede. Sword had transformed into its Great Sword State, and it shot right at one of the scythes that had been cut off. As soon as Sword touched it, the scythe turned into liquid metal, which wrapped around Sword. At that point, Sword changed its angle and shot toward the second scythe, absorbing it as well.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. With impressive speed, it suddenly turned around and shot toward Shang again, but it looked more like a throw than actual flight. Sword was now at the True Path Stage, which meant that it could fly with quite some speed. At the same time, the centipede was slowly righting itself. Half its legs were gone, which meant that it had to use around three scythes to keep its body in bnce. Even more, that was only useful for the front of its body. The legs way at its back still only had one pair. That was the problem with being so long and still using legs. If one lost their legs, their back would be nearly immobile. Right now, the centipede was like a human without their legs. They needed to pull themselves forward with their arms. Even more, it had to use the three remaining scythes from the very side it needed them the most. Right now, only the five scythes on its right side could be used as weapons, but that was still terrifying enough. However, the centipede''s power couldn''t bepared to its peak state anymore. Earlier, Shang would have been helpless in front of it, but now, he had a chance! Swordnded in Shang''s hands. BOOOOM! Sword hit the ground hard as Shang''s arms trembled with strain. Sword had already be quite a bit heavier by being at the Early True Path Stage, but now, it had also absorbed two of those scythes. From its Great Sword State, Sword had grown to a State even more ridiculous than the Colossal Sword State. At this moment, Sword was over five meters long and nearly a meter wide. It became nearly unwieldable to Shang. "| will help you!" Sword told Shang. Then, Sword became lighter, and Shang could actually lift it. Sword had only managed to reach Shang with all this weight by using the momentum of Shang''s throw, and the weight hadn''t truly settled in until itnded. Right now, Sword couldn''t fly anymore. All this additional weight and mass that wasn''t part of its usual body was weighing it down. However, it could still use its power of flight to reduce its weight in Shang''s hands. Shang slowly lifted up Sword, barely able to keep it in bnce. Shang gritted his teeth under the strain. CRK! CRK! CRK! Shang saw the centipede pull itself forward with its scythes as it readied all its other weapons. Sword shone in the red cave with a metallic luster. Shang lowered his stance and readied himself to strike. Then, the centipede jumped forward. And Shang struck forward. Chapter 430 Chapter 430 Sword swung forward very slowly. Shang had to swing very early. Otherwise, his swing wouldn''t be able to hit the centipede before it reached him. Of course, that also meant that the centipede had already been prepared for the slow attack. The gigantic sword swung towards the centipede, and it quickly tried to swat it away with one of its scythes. CRACK! However, the scythe immediately broke into two pieces under the swing. "Sword, absorb!" Shang immediately shouted. Sword thought that was a bad idea since Shang could barely swing it now, but it trusted Shang. The cut-off scythe was absorbed, and Sword grew even heavier and bigger. The centipede was shocked that its scythe had been broken by the attack, and when it saw the sword continuing to swing, it jumped back by using all its scythes. The swing was just too slow to hit it, and itpletely missed. BOOOOOOOM! The floor of the cave exploded as Sword hit it. Sword easily cut through it until it was halfway stuck in a diagonal angle. Shang looked forward with a narrowed eye. He saw the centipede''s frontal body high in the air while its tail was still on the ground.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Right now, the centipede''s head reached the ceiling, which was nearly a hundred meters above the ground. It looked incredibly imposing. It was like it was ready to strike. Shang pulled at Sword with all of his power, and together with Sword''s help, he barely managed to pull it out of the ground. However, lifting it would be impossible. Shang used all his power to lift the handle over himself while the tip of Sword still remained on the ground. The centipede angled its body backward when it saw the dangerous weapon move. Its scythes dug into the ceiling and moved its body back. With one swing, it threw itself around 300 meters away from Shang, right to the other end of the cave. It slowly curled its body on the closed entrance and showed its back to Shang. It was intimidated by the powerful weapon and decided to use ranged attacks. When Shang saw that, hope appeared in his right eye. This was what he had hoped for! If the centipede attacked with its scythes again, Shang would most likely die. This was why he had tried to intimidate his opponent into retreating, which worked. This would never work on a Mage, but beasts weren''t as smart as Mages. And then, the centipede began to fire. BANG! Shang let go of Sword and exploded to the right with a Fire st. But instead of taking to the air, Shang just kept running. When he reached the round wall, he kept running as the spikes shot past him. When Shang reached the ceiling, he only continued running. He knew he had enough speed to run along the walls like a car going through a loop. Several of the spikes reached him, but Shang batted them away with his free arms. This was a very risky maneuver. If he messed up the timing even once, he would be impaled and nailed to the back of the cave. Shang reached the wall again and ran down. His speed became even faster. Then, Shang extended his arms and grabbed Sword''s handle as he passed by it. CRACK! Shang''s arms broke, and his muscles tore as his momentum kept pushing him forward. Shang used the little bit of Mana he had recovered during thest couple of seconds to keep his arms in working shape. BANG! BANG! Then, he unleashed two more sts to strengthen his momentum. Luckily, the centipede had anticipated for Shang to continue, which was why the spikes hit the ce in front of Shang, giving him a free moment. As Shang kept pulling and repairing his arms, Sword began to move under the force of Shang''s momentum. BANG! BANG! Shang released another two sts, his legs exploding with blood. Shang managed to barely pull Sword to the wall when he felt his grip on the wall slip. He wasn''t fast enough to run up the wall with Sword. So, Shang let Sword go. It was still moving upward at this moment, but it would begin falling soon. After Shang let go, he used another st to elerate again. He ran up the wall, ran over the ceiling, ran down the wall, jumped over the blood, and reached Sword again, which still had some of its upward momentum remaining. Shang was running with so much speed that he hadpleted a loop before Sword had even lost all its momentum. As Shang grabbed it again, he kept pulling more and eventually managed to get it halfway to the ceiling before he had to drop it again. Shang exploded forward again, blocking more spikes. And when Shang reached the ceiling next, he grabbed Sword again and pulled. He managed to awkwardly pull it to the other side of the cave, and this time, he didn''t let go. He pulled more, and thanks to Sword''s weight, Shang''s speed increased even more. Shang jumped over the pool while holding the gigantic Sword, the sword being pulled through the corrosive pool of blood. "Entropy!" Shang shouted. Sword immediately produced ck fire, and the blood around it was turned into nothingness. Shang kept pulling and ran up the wall again, leaving behind a ck streak. In one loop, a ck ring of fire was created, but Shang didn''t run in a perfect circle but slightly angled towards the centipede. So, the ck ring wasn''t actually a ring but the beginning of a spiral. As soon as the momentum had been established, it became incredibly easy to keep Sword''s momentum. ¡°Absorb just as much metal from the walls as you are using up!" Shang shouted. Sword did just that, bncing its Entropy with the metal it absorbed. By now, it had be very difficult for the centipede to actually target Shang. The ck fire all around the end of the cave was messing with its Spirit Sense, which it relied on to target Shang. Shang kept running across the cave in what felt like a straight line. More of the blood vanished as the ck fire stretched across the end of the cave. The spikes stuck in the walls and ground werepletely decimated by the gigantic sword. More and more of the ck fire umted, and Shang reached the halfway point to the centipede. CRACK! At that point, Sword cut through something that felt different, and Shang''s right eye shone. The next moment, all the corrosive blood turned into normal blood. ¡®l knew it!¡± The diagram Shang had seen earlier was probably the reason for the corrosiveness of the blood, and this had been one of Shang''s targets. As soon as the blood lost its corrosive properties, Shang stopped jumping over it and just ran through it. This made the building and keeping of the momentum much easier. Shang sped up even more, and the ck mes kept getting closer and closer to the centipede. And then, Shang''s angle changed. He turned more towards the centipede, making the loop bigger. "Sword, release 80% of your mass in one burst!" BOOOOOM! The ck fire behind Shang exploded in intensity and size,pletely throwing the centipede''s perception off. Its aim decreased even more, and it kept missing Shang. When Shang was only a hundred meters away from the centipede, he ran down the wall, gaining onest burst of momentum. Then, he directly charged at the centipede. The centipede noticed that Shang was now charging at it, and it immediately targeted him again. Shang jumped. The spikes passed under him. BANG! Shang used a st topletely stop his momentum in the air, but he let Sword continue swinging. At this moment, a blood-covered and heavily injured figure was holding a gigantic sword covered in ck mes in the middle of the air. Then, he pulled it upward with all of his power. Sword began to shine, and the ck fire on it focused on its tip. Finally, Shangpleted his swing... And it was a ranged attack! A humongous wave of ck fire left Sword as it turned back into its Great Sword State. The wave of ck fire was absolutely gigantic, and the centipede immediately attacked it with its scythes. However, its scythes only turned into dust. It tried to move to the side, but the wave was just too big. Its body also began to turn into nothingness. An Early True Path Stage beast couldn''t resist the force of Entropy. Eventually, the wave hit the back of the cave. And it exploded! BOOOOOOOOO0O0O00M! Chapter 431 Chapter 431 Everything in front of Shang exploded, and he was thrown back into the ck fire. Luckily, Entropy couldn''t hurt him. The explosion shook the entire cave, and if everything around Shang weren''t made of metal, he would fear a cave-in. After a couple of seconds, the rumbling finally calmed down. Ssh! Shang peeked his head out of the sea of blood and looked forward. Agigantic crater had appeared at the previously closed entrance. It was over a hundred meters wide and perfectly circr. For all intents and purposes, it was like someone had detonated several tons of TNT in this ce. There was nothing left of the centipede. The explosion had eaten up its entire body, leaving nothing behind. Shang slowly stood up. "Are you okay?" he asked. "It''s fine," Sword answered. Shang was worried that this much stress on Sword would have taken a toll on it, but everything seemed to be okay. "Good," Shang said. ¡°What do you think this thing was?" he asked. "| don''t know. I''m a weapon," Sword answered. Shang only sighed. Sword was always like this when he wanted to talk. Shang thought back to what the centipede had done. ¡®This kind of ritual it performed with its second head was definitely not normal. | doubt that a True Path Stage beast can learn something like this naturally.¡¯ ¡®The diagram that appeared on the ground was far too detailed and advanced for a mere beast toe up with. In fact, it looked like aplex Magic Circle.¡¯ ¡®However, it definitely was a beast.¡¯ Shang tried toe up with a usible origin or exnation for the beast''s abilities, but this time, he just couldn''t find an answer. He had been able to find out how Vice-Commander Wilbury had found Shang, but this time, there was simply too little information. ¡®One thing is for certain. It''s definitely not a normal beast, and it''s definitely not a weak or average one.¡¯ ¡®In fact, in a certain sense, the centipede felt even more powerful than the Ice King, but that isn''t necessarily due to its power.¡¯ ¡®The Ice King had mastery over everything, and it was dangerous to every kind of opponent.¡¯ ¡®Meanwhile, the centipede was only powerful in a melee match-up, and its speed also wasn''t ridiculous.¡¯ ¡®While fighting it in close quarters, it''s probably more dangerous than the Ice King, but a Mage could definitely keep it at bay and fight from range. The spikes shouldn''t be that big of a deal for a Mage to handle.¡¯ ¡®It''s like this centipede was specifically designed to deal with warriors.¡¯ ¡®That would also exin where it got its abilities from.¡¯ Shang sighed.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. ¡®However, | refuse to believe that an Archmage can design something like this, which means, if it was designed by a human, it must have been designed by someone more powerful, and those people don''t appear in this ce.¡¯ ¡®And if those people wanted to deal with me, they would juste themselves and kill me.¡¯ ¡®It seems like, for the time being, the origin of this thing remains a secret.¡¯ Shang used a little bit of his Domain of Entropy to get rid of the blood on his body. By now, his body was well on its way to recovery, and it would only take a couple more seconds to fully heal. "Sadly, the attack destroyed the entire thing. | think that thing would have been worth a lot of money, but I guess that''s gone now." ¡®But the fight wasn''t for nothing. | can feel that I''ve gained several new shards on the way to the Colossal Sword Star.¡¯ Shang walked forward and felt strangely naked. Then, Shang remembered that he had sacrificed his armor to deal with the thing. ¡®| can''t ask Jerald for another set without paying. | should hunt some weaker True Path Stage beasts and store their corpses to pay him.¡¯ Shang looked at the cave and noticed that the metal was slowly turning into stone again. He wasn''t surprised by that. Metal summoned by Mana would quickly turn back into Metal Mana after a while. Shang also saw that the ce behind him had huge crevices going through it in a spiral shape. The crevices were also severely burned. It looked strange and unnatural. ¡®Well, whoeveres through here in the future will be confused by the spiral.¡¯ Shang summoned some spare clothes and put them on. After that, he took hold of Sword again and walked deeper into the caves, but he avoided going further down. He didn''t want to meet beasts that were too powerful. Over the next couple of minutes, Shang searched for his next opponent, and eventually, he found them. It was a humongous toad that nearly filled out the entire tunnel. ¡®Initial True Path Stage,¡¯ Shang thought. Without waiting, Shang immediately charged at it... And killed it in a couple of seconds. Now, the gigantic corpse of the toady before him, its head split. There had been no fancy surprises during the fight. The toad had only summoned some huge boulders and shot them at him, and when Shang got close, the toad tried to kill him with its tongue. Sure, the tongue had been surprisingly fast, but that was about it. There was nothing too fancy. After that, Shang tried to put the corpse away, but it was simply too heavy. A tedious and disgusting process of cutting the corpse into carriable piecesmenced, and Shang finally managed to put it away. He did his best to keep the organs in one piece. In the end, only a pool of blood remained. ¡®That was easy,¡¯ Shang thought. Sure, the toad''s body had been a level above Shang, but Shang''s Affinity, speed, technique, creativity, offensive power, and explosiveness more than made up for the difference. After the fight, Shang continued. He had fought two True Path Stage beasts now, and he was confident that he now had a good feeling for his enemies¡¯ power. The next beast was another Early True Path Stage beast, and Shang fought without holding back. However, the fight also ended in just a couple of seconds. The next one was another Initial True Path Stage beast, and Shang could feel that it was about average. Starting with this opponent, Shang decided to get back to actually training. Instead of making use of all of his advantages, he concentrated on only winning with his body and swordsmanship. This entire process repeated itself a couple more times until Shang was finally done. Nearly an entire day of hunting and fighting had given Shang 13 corpses of beasts at the True Path Stage. ¡®That should be more than enough for more ore and another set of armor.¡¯ Then, Shang exited the deeper caves again. Chapter 432 Chapter 432 Shang left the Caves for the first time in a long while. He jumped out of the hole in the ground and appeared in the Wastnd. At the moment, it was in the middle of the day, and plenty of warriors and Mages were running around, earning money. Inparison to 30 years ago, the number of beasts Shang could see had been drastically reduced. With the increased power of the average warrior, they didn''t need to form teams anymore, essentially multiplying the number of hunters. However, in order to stop the hunters from eradicating the entire beast poption, several new rules had to be put into ce. For example, hunting in the Caves now required a hefty entrance fee. Additionally, more beasts in the Wild Forest had been put on the cklist so that they could grow up and be hunted in the Wastnd. The Day of Chaos had also be much more manageable due to the reduced number of beasts. But when Shang looked at Warrior''s Paradise, it looked just like always. It was still as imposing as back then. In fact, it had even grown a bit in the past decades. The Earth Mages slowly widened the teau Warrior''s Paradise was on, allowing it to expand. In the past three decades, it had probably gotten wider by around 200 meters. Shang traveled towards the street that led to Warrior''s Paradise and jumped. With a bit of finesse and control, Shang could essentially run up the two-kilometer high road and easilynd on it. He didn''t even need to use his sts or a Talisman. As soon as Shangnded on the road, he looked at the Wastnd again. Memories entered his mind, and he remembered the first time he had seen this view. Back then, he had seen how the warriors and Mages managed to jump up to Warrior''s Paradise with their Talismans, and he also remembered how intimidated he had been when he had seen the Mages st the beasts apart with ease. Shang had been around 15 years old at that point. Now, he was 47. 32 years had passed. Back then, he had still struggled with his persona from Earth, and this world had been new and magical to him. Now, it was just normal. Shang could also see the asional student pass him. Not everyone visited all the sses. When he saw them, he felt like he had been one of them not too long ago. But now... "Greetings, Count Sword," one of the students said with a polite bow. "Greetings, Count Sword," the other ones echoed. Shang only nodded toward them in acknowledgment. Back then, he had been one of them, and he had even received quite some ridicule from the other students. After all, Shang had been a weakling when it came to fighting other warriors. Shang slowly walked to the gates of Warrior''s Paradise. During the mornings and evenings, the gate was always packed, but during the middle of the day, the traffic was fine. Shang simply walked past everyone. "Greetings, Count Sword," the guards shouted with respectful salutes. Shang nodded at them and simply entered the city. As a Count, he didn''t need to be subject to searches and could just enter. As Shang walked along the streets, nearly everyone politely walked out of his way and greeted him. Shang was sort of an attraction to these people. After all, they saw their Duke much more often than the mysterious Count Sword. When Shang reached the marketce, his eyes fell on a building. ¡®This was the ce where | sold the General Stage Vanishing Snake.¡¯ Back then, the Adept that had run the shop had been unfathomably more powerful than Shang. Thinking about the shop also reminded Shang of someone. ¡®| haven''t seen Teacher Niria, Astor, Sarah, and Mattheo in over 20 years.¡¯ ¡®| wonder what happened to them." As Shang turned to leave, he noticed another building. He had never been inside the building, but the sign woke more memories. "Gerbon National Resource Trading Firm." The first time Shang had openly walked through the academy, some youngster from exactly this trading firm had sent his goonies at him. "Stars Gerbon was his name, right?" Shang looked at the building for a couple of seconds before continuing toward the academy. As he thought about the trading firm, he also remembered all the merchants that had sold all kinds of things in the academy. He still remembered how Shang had purchased the Fire Ore from one of them. The merchant had told Shang that the ore hade from the distant Volcano Wyrm Zone, which was why it had been so expensive. Storm Eagle Zone, Empress Cobra Zone, Adamantite Behemoth Zone, Thunder Horse Zone, Volcano Wyrm Zone. That was the path to get to the Volcano Wyrm Zone. It definitely was quite far away, but for the current Shang, this little bit of distance seemed irrelevant. Shang walked through the gates of the academy and saw many students training on the fields. Shang was supposed to meet Jerald in the basement of the academy to inspect all the beast corpses, which was why he was. there. As soon as Shang entered the academy, most of the students noticed him and stared. Some of the teachers hadplicated expressions on their faces. They remembered Shang, but they were scared of greeting him. He simply seemed too distant right now. The loud academy became quieter as everyone started looking at Shang with different expressions.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. Most of the students looked at him with shock and humongous respect. Some of the teachers smiled, some looked respectful, and some others had uncertain expressions on their faces. Shang stopped after everyone started staring at him. Then, his gaze wandered around the students on the fields. "| have once been a student here,¡± he slowly said, his voice echoing throughout the courtyard. ¡°Listen to your teachers. They have a lot of experience, and to gain such experience, plenty of errors must be made." "When they say that something might result in something bad happening, listen to them. Instead of repeating the errors of the past, listen so that these errors stay in the past." "| wish you all a bright future in this academy." Shang wasn''t usually one for speeches, but he felt like this was the right time to give one. Abit after Shang was done with his speech, a couple of students started pping politely. Most of them felt thankful to hear Count Sword speak publicly, and they engraved his words deep into their minds. Shang wanted to continue walking forward, but his eyes fell on one person. Instead of walking towards the building, Shang entered one of the training fields and stopped in front of a teacher. This teacher was very tall, and his stature was wide and powerful. He had a gigantic sword on his back, which was about as big as Sword when it was in its Great Sword State. Right now, the teacher was looking at Shang with aplex expression and a bit of fear. Shang looked at the teacher for a bit. Then, a small smile appeared on his face. ¡°Long time no see, Astor." Chapter 433 Chapter 433 Yes, the teacher in front of Shang was Astor. Right now, he was at the Early Commander Stage, and his Battle-Strength felt about average to Shang. "So, you''re a teacher now, huh?" Shang asked with a friendly smile. Astor looked around and saw that everyone was looking at them. "Greetings, Count Sword," Astor said, taking a step back and bowing politely. Shang raised an eyebrow. "Is this really necessary, Astor? We''re friends." When Astor heard these words, a surprised expression appeared on his face. But then, his expression transformed into an ufortable one. "I''m sorry, Count Sword, but | have to get back to teaching.¡± When Shang heard that, a small tinge of sadness appeared inside his chest, but he quickly got used to it. ¡®Yes, what have | even been expecting?" "| understand," Shang said. Then, he turned to the students of Astor''s ss. "Your teacher taught me many things when | was young. He is very knowledgeable and very experienced. You can count yourself lucky for having such a teacher." The eyes with which the students looked at their teacher became more respectful, and there was even a bit of wonder and shock in their eyes. Shang nodded once more at Astor and turned around. ¡®What did | even think when | said that?¡¯ Shang thought as he walked towards the main building. ¡®Astor has probably heard that | returned 20 years ago. Maybe he even searched for me or waited for me to look for him." ¡®Yet, instead of doing that, |pletely vanished. | never looked for him to talk or anything like that.¡¯ ¡®I''ve been in the same ss as Astor for two years, but 30 years have passed since then.¡¯ ¡®Friends? At most, we are old acquaintances." Shang released a silent sigh. ¡®It feels like not much time has passed for me, but that''s due to the long istion of training. When there is no external stimulus, time passes at a rapid rate.¡¯ ¡®But for others, it must feel like | have been gone for their entire life. Obviously, they wouldn''t view me as someone close to them." ¡®| doubt that Sarah would react any differently. She would probably just greet me respectfully but with a cold voice, and Elver and | have never been close." ¡®It probably wouldn''t be difficult to talk to Mattheo, but that''s because Jerald is raising him to be a politician. He should be very good at expanding his social circle.¡¯ However, when Shang thought about Mattheo, he felt very distant from him. Mattheo felt more like a youngster than someone of Shang''s age, even though Mattheo was even older than Shang. "Power, huh?¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the sky. ¡®Power changes my entire outlook.¡¯ ¡®The friends | had back then don''t feel like my friends anymore, and the colossal giants I''ve looked up to have transformed into people | can easily talk to.¡¯ At that moment, Shang remembered hisst trial. After Mervin had killed himself in the trial, Shang realized what his future would turn into, and this future was now real. People he once knew had no connection with him anymore. Shang would continue training in istion as they slowly progressed in life. Maybe Astor was already a father? Maybe Sarah had already begun learning to smith? They were no longer the same people, and to the same extent, Shang also wasn''t the same person anymore. ¡®Right now, there''s only George, Jerald, and Mervin left. | can count those three as my friends, but that''s because we are all of simr power and follow a simr goal.¡¯ ¡®As time progresses, these friendships will probably also deteriorate. After all, I''m nning on reaching further than anyone else.¡¯ Shang stepped into the building and walked into a hallway to his right. ¡®But all of that is necessary. There are so many talented people in this world, and I''m certain that there are many people much more talented than me." Shang put his hand on a wall. A momentter, the wall opened, and a staircase that led down appeared. ¡®Yet, all these unimaginable geniuses didn''t manage to be the most powerful person in the world.¡¯ Is it because they didn''t try hard enough?" ¡®Is everyone else justzy?¡¯ ¡®Of course not.¡¯ Shang walked down the stairs into the basement. ¡®If | want to keep up with them and even surpass them, | have to sacrifice more than anyone else." ¡®| can''t waste my time with friendships, outings, family, romance, or simr things.¡¯ ¡®If | want to be the most powerful, | must dedicate my entire life to my goal.¡¯ At that moment, an image appeared in Shang''s mind. It was a scene where Shang and George were much older, and they were looking at each other like strangers. It was a sad and heavy feeling. ¡®However, this is a pain | have to bear if | want to reach the top.¡¯ Shang slowly walked through the basement and opened one of the doors. Behind the door was a long and high room. Shang remembered that he had fought the General Stage warriors and Adepts in this very room. Once a month, a secret marketce appeared here for sensitive wares and even wares for the True Path Stage. Right now, the room was empty. Shang slowly walked to one of the walls and leaned on it. CRK! Shang quickly stood up again as a crack appeared on the wall. ¡®| should remember that I''m quite heavy now." Shang had to chuckle a bit at the sudden change in mood. Shang seemed chippier than usual today, but that actually wasn''t the case.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. He wasn''t the biggest fan of his current feelings and his current situation. However, one shouldn''t forget that Shang was 47 years old now. He was no longer a young adult, and he hade to terms with his life over the past few decades. As Shang waited for Jerald, he thought about his Star Map. ¡®I''m a bit over 33% done thanks to that brutal fight against the centipede, but it''s still just 33%.¡¯ "My progress will probably elerate as | learn more, but | still think that it will take another 20 years at least.¡¯ ¡®| have the Star Map, and | train every day, all day. Yet, it would still take me about 50 years in total toprehend my Path.¡¯ ¡®Honestly, without the Star Map, | probably wouldn''t be able to finish this Path in my lifetime.¡¯ ¡®But it will all be worth it.¡± ¡®Without a solid foundation, | can''t reach the top.¡¯ At that moment, one of the doors opened, and Shang looked over. Jerald had arrived. Chapter 434 Chapter 434 As Jerald entered the room, he looked at Shang with a smile. "You''re not wearing your armor?" he asked. "Yeah, about that," Shang said. Jerald raised an eyebrow. "| need a new one.¡± Jerald''s eyebrows rose in surprise. "I take it you had a very tough fight?" Shang nodded. Then, he began to recount everything about the centipede and his fight with it. Jerald knew everything about Shang except for his control over Abominations, which was why Shang didn''t need to keep anything a secret. After Shang recounted everything, Jerald''s brows furrowed. "Shang, I''ve fought maybe hundreds of True Path Stage beasts in my life, and | can tell you that not even one of them had any sort of power even simr to that centipede." "I''m not exaggerating," Shang said. "This is exactly what happened." Jerald nodded. "I know. If this came from anyone else''s mouth, | wouldn''t believe them, but | know you." Jerald rubbed his chin in thought. "This doesn''t sound like a beast at all. You said you saw a huge diagram. Do you still remember how it looked?¡± Shang nodded. Even though Shang''s mind was far below the power of his body, it still was vastly more powerful than a normal person''s mind. Because of that, he remembered about 60% to 80% of theplex diagram. Jerald summoned some paper and handed it to Shang along with a pencil. He knew that Shang probably didn''t carry such stuff with him. Shang reconstructed the diagram as best as he could and handed the paper back to Jerald. When Jerald looked at it, his eyebrows shot up in shock. "That definitely didn''te from a beast," he said. "You see how these circles are positioned in rtion to each other? That follows themon Marnur Nomenture for clean and dispersed creation for Magic Circles. When beasts use Magic, they don''t use it in such a methodical and clean manner." "These Runes also follow the ssic Old Magic Library cement. The position-" "Jerald," Shang interrupted, "You know that | don''t understand anything you say." "Oh, right," Jerald said with a short chuckle. "In short, this is a Magic Circle that follows all themon conventions for smart Spell Casting. This is 100% a Magic Circle that has been designed by a Mage." ¡°And even if a lot of it is missing, | can tell you that the design of this Magic Circle is far beyond my level. The Runes interact in very unusual, unknown, and strange ways. It''s like there are concepts in these Runes that us High Mages don''t know about." Shang raised an eyebrow. "High Mages, as in all of them or only the ones in the five Kingdoms?" Jerald looked at Shang with a quick and surprised nce. "You think thises from outside the five Kingdoms?" ¡°After what you''ve told me, yes," Shang answered. "You are basically already at the highest level in the five Kingdoms, and | think you can even estimate the power of the Kings. If this Magic Circle shows concepts that not even you know about, it can onlye from the outside world." Jerald looked at the ceiling as he hummed. "That might actually be the case." "So, what do you think about the centipede?" Shang asked. "From where it came from?" Jerald asked. Shang nodded. Jerald looked at the diagram for a bit longer. "There has been scientific research into the potential creation of beasts. You know, man-made beasts. The Skythunder Kingdom was once thinking about recing the warriors with beasts that followed orders and were specifically designed to do one task." "However, the more the Skythunder Kingdom learned about how to make something like that, the more they realized how incrediblyplex and monumental this task would be. In fact, not even the King we had at that time could wrap his mind around all the concepts." ¡°Because of that, the project was canceled." Shang looked at Jerald. "So, you think this was one of these man-made beasts?" "Most likely," Jerald said with a nod. "Then, how did it get here, and why was it here?" Shang asked. Jerald hummed some more as he continued looking at the diagram. Then, his eyebrows rose as he got an idea. "Invasive species," he said. Shang''s eyebrows also rose. "So, you don''t think it was put here deliberately but simply entered this ce on ident?" Jerald nodded. "Probably. If someone that could design or control such a creature wanted you dead, they wouldn''t need to use the creature. They could just snuff you out like a candle."Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. ¡°Because of that, | don''t think that you were deliberately targeted." "| think this thing simply came to this ce on ident and lived inside the deep Caves." "Maybe, in the outside world, these creatures aremon and fulfill a certain purpose?" Jerald mused. ¡°A purpose?" Shang repeated as he thought back to the fight. He could think of one purpose. "To deal with physis?" he asked. Jerald furrowed his brows. "From what you''ve told me, it sounds very likely. It traps the warrior in a very small area, taking away their flexibility. Its wall of scythes is nearly imprable by anyone fighting in close range. It seems like a perfect counter to a physical fighter." ¡°However, | don''t see a reason to create something like that," Jerald said. "From what you told me, all the other Paths have deteriorated into what they are now. You said the God said that the Mages in the outside world reign supreme." "| don''t see why anyone would want to design a creature to kill physis when physis can''t even deal with an Archmage," Jerald said. Shang scratched his chin in thought. "What about the past?" he asked. "The past?" Jerald repeated. Shang nodded. "What if these beasts had been designed many years ago when the other Paths were still in their prime? That would make sense, right?" Asmall light appeared in Jerald''s eyes. "You mean they are like wild dogs? Dogs that once fulfilled an essential service but became obsolete due to changes in the world?" "Yes, | can see that being true," Jerald said. "Maybe the centipedes were once used to kill physis, but after all the physis vanished, there was no use for the centipedes anymore. The Mages at the time might have simply thrown them to the wild, and they became a wild species." That exnation seemed logically sound. That would exin how the centipede could use such aplex Magic Circle. Thatplex Magic Circle had probably been integrated into its DNA if this world had something like DNA. ¡°Anyway, we went a bit off-topic there," Jerald said. "You said you hunted some True Path Stage beasts and want to sell them?" Shang nodded. "| want more ore for the True Path Stage to continue with my training, and | also need a new set of armor." Jerald nodded. "The ore is not a problem, but the armor is quite expensive. I''m sorry, but | can''t pay that out of my pocket." Shang nodded. "! wouldn''t want you to. How much do you need?" Jerald grimaced a bit. "It''s quite expensive. If | want to break even, | would need the bodies of four Initial True Path Stage beasts.¡± Shang didn''t immediately answer. "That''s it?" he asked after a couple of seconds. Jerald raised an eyebrow. "Yes, that''s it.¡± ¡°Oh, then we don''t have a problem." Jerald looked at Shang with surprise. "How many beasts did you hunt?" "A few." Chapter 435 Chapter 435 As Shang summoned one beast after the other, Jerald''s eyes widened. Shang had hunted way more than he had thought. Jerald knew that this was the first time Shang had hunted True Path Stage beasts, and he hadn''t expected him to kill so many on his first trip. Shang sure didn''t take it easy. ¡°Ancestral Boulder Turtle," Jerald said as he saw the corpse of a gigantic turtle. "| was the one to find that species and name it.¡± ¡°Darksky Specter, they usually live in the Empress Cobra Zone, but | guess this one found its way into the Caves somehow." ¡°A Mithril Badger? What''s a Metal Affinity beast doing in the Caves?" ¡°Blizzard Spreader. They are usually deep in the mountains of the Ice Wyvern Zone." "Shang, you have quite an assortment of beasts with different Affinities here. Are you sure you hunted all of them in the Caves?" Jerald asked. Shang nodded. ¡°Hmm, does that mean that the Caves actually spread further than just the Storm Eagle Zone?" Jerald mused. "It''s possible. If there are no connections above a certain depth, we wouldn''t be able to find the weaker ones. It''s possible that there are some tunnels leading to other Zones, but they only connect to our Caves on a very deep level."This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Shang continued pulling out more beasts, and eventually, Jerald had pocketed all of them. ¡°But honestly, Shang, you need to use a Transport Ring. The corpses are worth far more when they are in one piece." "Transport Ring?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. "If you mean my Space Ring, it''s not nearly big enough to hold such a huge corpse. Additionally, | can''t even lift them, making it impossible for me to put them into the Space Ring anyway." Jerald chuckled a bit. "Shang, do you honestly think that we Mages have never faced this problem? Do you really think that we didn''t already find a solution to that?" Shang rubbed the back of his head. "Sounds reasonable." "The solution to this problem is a Transport Ring," Jerald said as he took off one of his rings. "They are simr to Space Rings but different.¡± "They have a muchrger capacity, and they are more resilient. Additionally, they have more Magic Circles, which make it possible to store very heavy things." "The downside is that they are not easily essible. You need to gather additional external Mana and draw an additional Magic Circle on the ground if you want to store something or take something out. That makes it impossible to use the Transport Rings during a battle or while traveling, but it gives you the option to store an entire corpse." The ring Duke Whirlwind had on his finger flew over to Shang. "You can take mine in exchange for two of the weaker corpses. | will also design some kind of gadget that allows you to ess the ring without needing to draw a Magic Circle. Is that okay?" Shang nodded. "Thanks." Jerald also nodded. "How many corpses do you want to exchange for ore, and what kind of ore do you need?" "| want everything converted into Element-Neutral Mid True Path Stage ore," Shang said. "All of it?" Jerald asked. "That''s a lot of ore, you know?" "| don''t have any other use for the corpses for now. If | need anything else, | will just hunt some more beasts." Jerald snorted. "Hunt some more," he repeated. "Killing a True Path Stage beast is not something that a High Mage does because they are bored. They might be able to deal with the beast, but they can''t lose their concentration, and they need to be mindful of being ambushed by other beasts." "Yet, you talk about it like you are simply walking into your garden to pluck an apple." Shang didn''t think that hunting some True Path Stage beasts was anything special. In fact, killing them had been far easier than he had expected, well, except for the centipede, of course. "| don''t see a problem with hunting more of them. I''m nning on using them as my standard sparring partner for now anyway. | will probably spend the foreseeable future fighting True Path Stage beasts to train my swordsmanship.¡± Jerald chuckled once again. "Quite some grand wordsing out of the mouth of someone at the Peak Commander Stage.¡± Shang furrowed his brows. "I''m joking, Shang,¡± Jerald said. "I''m praising your power." After that, Shang and Jerald talked about some general things. Shang asked if there was news from the Council or the other Dukes. He wanted to know if they tried to deal with Jerald. Jerald said that they didn''t have the time right now. The Magic Purity Kingdom was putting more and more pressure on the Skythunder Kingdom, eating up all the focus of the leaders. However, the pressure the ckshadow Kingdom was under had also dropped. The Grandmountain Kingdom was still attacking them relentlessly, but the Magic Purity Kingdom had lessened its offense on them. Right now, the Magic Purity Kingdom saw the Skythunder Kingdom as an even bigger threat than before. The addition of the True Path Stage warriors had made it harder for the Magic Purity Kingdom to attack the Skythunder Kingdom. Shang was d to hear that there were currently no issues facing the Storm Eagle Zone, except for the normal ones. After they talked for a while, Shang left for the Caves to continue his training. However, just three dayster, Jerald contacted Shang to tell him that all the ore had arrived. Shang met Jerald behind his castle. Jerald only smirked. SHING! BOOOOOOM! Agigantic boulder of ore appeared in front of Shang. Shang could only look at it with a shocked eye. This boulder was probably five meters wide and five meters high! That was a lot of ore! "That''s all for me?" he asked. Jerald nodded. Shang went forward and tried to lift the boulder, but it was simply too heavy. So, Shang used Sword to cut through the boulder and stored the pieces in his inner world. SHING! BOOOOOM! Another boulder appeared on the ground in front of Shang, and it was just as big as the previous one. Shang could only look with shock at the boulder. Then, he looked at Jerald, who was only smirking. "That one too?" Jerald onlyughed. As Shang cut through that one too, a third boulder appeared. Shang only looked at Jerald in surprise. "How many boulders did you bring?" Jerald only smirked. "A few." Chapter 436 Chapter 436 Jerald dumped six additional boulders beside Shang, shocking him quite a bit. When Jerald had asked if Shang knew how much ore he would get for the corpses, his concerns hadn''t been for nothing. That was a lot of ore! Shang put all the ore into his inner world and talked a bit longer with Jerald. Then, he left for the Caves. His armor would need another two weeks to bepleted. The next two weeks, nothing of note happened, and Shang got his armor. It looked just like thest one and was even a bit better. Now, it could block two Spells of an Early High Mage, which was better than being able to block three Spells from an Initial High Mage. Thus, another long period of isted trainingmenced. About four yearster, some piece of interesting news came to Shang. George had advanced to the True Path Stage again, and this time, his Path was very good! It was about as good as Mervin''s, which was incredible! Additionally, George had undergone the Bloodline Infusionpared to Mervin. By now, a couple of warriors had already managed to reach the Early True Path Stage, and Mervin had also already reached that level. However, with George being back at the True Path Stage, his powerful Path, and his powerful body, he had regained the title of most powerful warrior in the world. Obviously, George had also used the barbarian strengthening technique, which meant that his body was as powerful as it could get. With George''s incredible talent and experience, he was certain that he was more powerful than the average Initial High Mage. George also tried hunting True Path Stage beasts, and his power proved to be incredible. It wasn''t very hard for him to kill a True Path Stage beast. Compared to the time George had been helpless against the Exploding Mountain Turtle, George was now much more powerful. Even though he was one level lower than he had been back then, George was now vastly more powerful than back then. George even fought an Early True Path Stage beast, and even though he didn''t manage to kill it, he forced it to run away. At the Early True Path Stage, Mervin only managed to equally fight an Initial True Path Stage beast due to the weakness of his body, which demonstrated the difference between him and George now. After George tested his power for a couple more months, he went to Shang. And he challenged him to a duel. The two of them fought. Who won? Shang. And it wasn''t even close.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. The very reason why Shang hadn''t been able to win against Mervin back in the trial was now the reason why he won against George. Shang could unleash so many strange attacks, and he could even transform his weapon in the middle of the fight,pletely transforming his fighting style and rhythm. Whenever Shang changed weapons, George felt like he was fighting apletely new person. They had been about equal when Shang fought with his Colossal Sword, but as soon as he changed to his Great Sword, he took George by surprise more than once, winning the fight. Shang hadn''t even used Sword''s Entropy on George since he feared that he would identally kill him. Even Shang had been surprised by how easily he had won. George''s Path was impressive, but while he was fighting him, Shang felt like George''s Path was about equally as powerful as his own. If he only counted one of his four weapons. So, now it was official. George had regained his title as the strongest warrior in the world, but he lost it to Shang afterward. Just 14 years ago, Shang had lost against Mervin, but now, Mervin also wouldn''t be able to win. Shang had officially be the strongest warrior in the world. George didn''t seem to be surprised. He had expected losing. However, that was still far better than not fighting at all. Back then, George didn''t even dare fight Shang, but now, he had tried it. George had returned to his younger self, someone that was willing to risk their life for power. The two of them talked for a long while and talked about the past. They shared their perspective and experiences when they met each other. None of them were surprised about what the other person had thought back then. After a while, George left again, and Shang''s training resumed. Another year passed. By now, there were over 25 True Path Stage Warriors and over 80 High Mages. When Shang arrived in this world, there had only been one. Now, there were 25. Many things could change in over 30 years. Even the first warriors that had undergone the Bloodline Infusion managed to advance to the True Path Stage, and their appearance immediately made everyone realize that warriors were no joke. The very moment when the Skythunder Kingdom realized this was when George killed a High Mage of the Magic Purity Kingdom. Initially, the other soldiers were only fighting to gain time for a High Mage to arrive. After all, the enemy had taken them by surprise. But then, George had managed to kill the High Mage on his own. At that moment, the entire world had seeminglye to a halt. AHigh Mage had died to a warrior. It was beyond shocking. As soon as the news got out, many warriors in the world started training with new fervor. They could be as powerful as Mages! It was possible! The people that wanted to join the Warrior''s Academy and undergo the Bloodline Infusion skyrocketed. Luckily, the Bloodline Infusion had be so simple that it could be performed by a Commander Stage warrior on their own, which meant that it could be performed basically anywhere. The Warrior''s Academy was no longer the only ce that offered to do the Bloodline Infusion. After another two years, it had be normal and expected of warriors to undergo the Bloodline Infusion. At the same time, due to the addition of the True Path Stage warriors, the frontlines stabilized again, even though the Magic Purity Kingdom had increased their pressure even more. The help of the True Path Stage warriors had be integral and invaluable. While the Skythunder Kingdom''s frontlines rejoiced at the warriors¡¯ arrival, the Council and Dukes didn''t like it. They started to feel threatened. They had secretly and even openly gone against the warriors in the past, and they feared retaliation. What about when the warriors became powerful enough to threaten the Council? What would they do then? Additionally, they still felt that warriors were beneath them. Warriors had always only done the peasant work at the frontlines. They had only been cannon fodder so that the Mages could do their work. Warriors were dogs! They were there to serve the Mages! And with that, the focus of the Council and Dukes went from the frontlines back to the warriors. They had to deal with this threat! And they knew where they would start! One more year passed. Shang was currently training in the Caves again. Right now, he was 55 years old, and he had been in this world for over 40 years. From a young boy, he had transformed into a stalwart man that looked to be in theirte twenties. Shang was in the prime of his life. But today, something happened. In fact, he got an unannounced visitor. Shang''s Pseudo-Spirit Sense had picked up something that moved towards him. It was not a human. It was not a beast. When Shang saw it approach, he felt like his heart had stopped. He hoped that his guess didn''t prove to be true! The thing approached and stopped in front of Shang. Sword left Shang''s hands and floated over to the thing, touching it. What was the thing? It was George''s spear... And it was alone. And then, the words Shang feared the most entered his mind. "George was killed by an Early High Mage," Sword transmitted. Chapter 437 Chapter 437 "Jerald, | need you toe here right now,¡± Shang said to his Communication Crystal. "Did something happen?" Jerald asked with a serious voice. "Yes, something serious has happened. Come to the Caves," Shang answered. ¡°Are you in danger?" Jerald asked. "No." "| will be there in five minutes," Jerald said before cutting the connection. For the next five minutes, Shang only waited in the middle of the cave. The spear had already told Sword about everything that happened, and Sword had told Shang. The day Shang had feared for many reasons had finally arrived. He had lost one of his friends, and he knew that there was nothing he could do about it right now. When Shang had fought Mervin in the trial, he hade to the realization that one day, one of his friends would die, and he would be forced to stand by and only watch. Shang had put his power before everything else, and this was the sacrifice he had chosen to make. The Council very likely already had preparations in ce in case news got out, and someone came to take revenge. Either an even more powerful Mage would wait near the killer, or the Council had prepared some kind of surveince Magic Circle to record Shang''s act of killing a High Mage of their Kingdom.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. In both cases, Shang would die. As Shang waited in the darkness, his memories of George yed in his mind. He remembered when George had invited him to his office. Back then, Shang hated George. George seemed so cold and brutal in his eyes. Yet, as more time passed, Shang realized that George had actually sacrificed a lot for the warriors. Without him, the warriors would still be the Mages'' dogs. There would be no Bloodline Infusion. There would be no True Path Stage warriors. There would be no basic training techniques for the Caterpir ss. And without George, Shang would have never achieved that many points in his trials, effectively making the rewards Shang had already given the world also one of George''s aplishments. He had zed a trail for the warrior''s Path. Even when George had already reached 160 years of age, he had still been willing to start anew. He had gone through the terrible shattering of his Path and had managed to create an even better one. He had also been the first warrior to kill a High Mage. George had been a legend. He had been the progenitor of all warriors. And the way he had died had been pitiful. A Poison Early High Mage had staged an ambush in Empress Cobra Zone. From time to time, George had left the Storm Eagle Zone to fight against different beasts in the Empress Cobra Zone, and that was where the High Mage had prepared everything. As soon as George arrived near the High Mage, she activated a huge Magic Circle that isted the surroundings, essentially trapping George in a gigantic cage. Then, she used millions of Poison Mana Crystals to fill the entire area with poison. George had aggressively attacked the barrier, destroying an insane amount of Mana Crystals that were used to power it. However, there had been just too much Mana. The amount of money expended by using these Mana Crystals probably came to around ten True Path Stage beast corpses. In the end, the poison consumed all of George''s life energy and turned him into a desecrated corpse. ording to the spear, George looked very simr to Kiva Orvis'' corpse after Shang had drowned him in poison. After that, George''s corpse was stored in a Space Ring, and the High Mage left. That was when the spear made its escape. Before George died, he transmitted hisst words to his spear, and the spear buried itself into the ground as George died. The spear continued digging through the ground until it entered the Caves. As it flew through the Caves, the beastspletely ignored it. To them, the spear was only a flying stone. And that was how the spear came to Shang. There were three parts to George''sst message. The first part was for his spear. He had thanked it for being hispanion through these many years. The second part was for Shang and Jerald. "Thank you for being my friends in this hostile world. | always missed Earth and wanted to return, but thanks to you two, | managed to find a home in this ce." "Today, | will die not to power but to wealth." "As myst wish, | want you to kill every single member of the Council and all the Dukes!" He didn''t have much time for hisst words, which was why he had left this brief and simple message. George hadn''t wanted to die. George died angry and aggrieved, and hisst message showed that very well. Instead of wishing only the best for his friends, his entire mind was focused on revenge. He could only think about revenge in thest moments of his life. Understandable, considering the circumstances of his death. The third andst part of George''sst message was a technique for warriors. It was something that he had been developing for a while, and it was nearly done. It only needed a bit more work. It was actually ironic. If the technique had beenpleted already, George might not have died. The technique would allow someone to remotely control their weapon with the force of their Path. The power wouldn''t be very strong, and it wouldn''t be very fast. However, by using some clever tricks, the technique could put more lift on the weapon than the warrior and the weapon weighed. George had created a technique to allow someone to fly by standing on their weapon, but they had to be at the True Path Stage first. The only drawback was that the warrior couldn''t fight while in the air since all their power was focused on keeping their weapon in the air. If George had had theplete version of the technique, the High Mage probably wouldn''t have noticed him. After all, he wouldn''t have walked to the Empress Cobra Zone but fly there. Sadly, there were no ifs in the world. George was dead, and there was nothing Shang or Jerald could do. Shang could only clench his fist in frustration and rage. He couldn''t do anything right now. The Council would be prepared if he tried to do anything, and Shang would die. If Shang had decided to take an easier Path, he would already be at the True Path Stage and would be powerful enough to make a difference. However, Shang had chosen his Path. He knew that he would spend untold amounts of time in his Stages since he wanted to always reach the peak of his foundation. Shang wanted to do nothing more but charge right at the killer, kill them, kill the Dukes, and kill the Council. But there was nothing he could do right now. "Shang?" Shang felt Jerald''s Spirit Sense. Shang didn''t answer. Acouple of secondster, Jerald arrived, and he saw the lonely spear. Jerald took a deep breath. "Is he...?" Shang nodded. Jerald closed his eyes for several seconds. "Who did it?!" Shang could feel Jerald''s suppressed rage and hatred in his voice. Chapter 438 Chapter 438 Shang told Jerald everything that had happened, and he could see Jerald''s rage and hatred in his eyes. "The Council," Jerald said with a venomous voice. Shang had never heard Jerald be this emotional before. He had always been very polite, friendly, and jovial, but now, he looked absolutely enraged. Shang didn''t say anything. ¡°Are you going to take revenge?" Jerald asked with a dark voice and narrowed eyes. Shang slowly shook his head. "Not yet." ¡°Not yet?!" Jerald shouted in outrage. "George died, and you''re not going to do anything about it?!" Shang furrowed his brows and looked at Jerald. "I''ve told you of the Path | have chosen. Going now would be suicide." Jerald clenched his fists until blood poured out, but then, he took a deep breath. "I''m sorry," Jerald said. "I''ve lost control over myself." "Me asking you to take revenge was stupid and hypocritical of me. | could do it just as well with my power. I''m genuinely sorry, Shang," Jerald said. "| don''t fault you," Shang answered. "We all say horrible things in horrible situations. You were the one that told me that even High Mages lose control over their emotions and do stupid things sometimes." Jerald released a chuckle, but it sounded very unnatural and forced. Obviously, he was not in the mood tough or joke around. "Do you have any ns?" Shang asked. Jerald looked to the side. "I''ve made several ns over the past decades, but it isn''t time yet to put them into motion." Then, Jerald looked at Shang. "All of them require you to reach the True Path Stage first. | need someone that can kill a Mid High Mage." Shang nodded. "What ns?" Jerald took another deep breath. "I was stuck between three of them, not sure which one | should choose." Then, an aggressive light appeared in Jerald''s eyes. "But now, I''m sure which one | will choose." He looked deeply into Shang''s eye with a severe gaze. "This is the most dangerous n, and you will have to fight many High Mages one after the other. You will be the one in the most danger during all of this, and the entire n''s sess lies on your shoulders. If you mess up, everyone will die, including me." "No problem," Shang answered immediately. Jerald was a bit surprised by Shang''s quick eptance. "You are not afraid?" "I''m not afraid of fighting," Shang said. "I''m afraid of not being able to fight at all, which perfectly reflects my current situation.¡± At that moment, Shang''s voice began to quiver a bit. "You don''t know how much | want to just run out there and kill all the Dukes and the Council.¡± "| want to kill them so badly." Shang closed his eye and took a deep breath topose himself. "Yet, | am stuck here due to the Path | have chosen." ¡°Right now, | don''t have the power to make a difference, and | won''t get that kind of power in the foreseeable future." "My friend just died, but | can only watch and do nothing.¡± "| can only train." "That''s it." Jerald could feel Shang''s frustration. He was in a simr situation right now.N?velDrama.Org holds this content. His n wasn''t ready to be put into motion yet, which meant that he could also only sit by and watch. For the next while, no one spoke a word. ¡°What does it want to do now?" Jerald asked, referring to the spear. "Revenge," Shang said. "George''s dying wish is its purpose." "It doesn''t matter what it needs to do. It only wants to kill everyone that George wished dead." Jerald only looked at the spear. "Can | talk to it?" he asked. "These kinds of weapons can onlymunicate with their owner and other weapons," Shang said. "Not even | can talk to it. Sword has to tell me what it says." Jerald only nodded. "Then, nothing changes for the foreseeable future," he said. ¡°Nothing changes," Shang confirmed, "at least, until it is time." "Until it is time," Jerald said with a nod. "Do you want to make George''s death public?" Shang asked. Jerald slowly shook his head. "No, it''s not the right time. For now, the Council doesn''t know that their secret has been exposed. They will probably leave some trails in the Empress Cobra Zone that make it seem like a huge fight between a beast and George has taken ce." ¡°Additionally, they will probably throw George''s corpse to a random True Path Stage beast to get eaten. It is the safest way to keep the lie believable." "George has shown himself only a bit more than you in thest couple of years, and his disappearance won''t raise any eyebrows.¡± "In a couple of months, | will act like | am searching for him, and | will probably find some traces that lead to a beast. | will kill the beast as revenge and return.¡± ¡°Over the following years, | will act suspicious towards the Council. After all, acting like |pletely bought the lie would be unbelievable. They already expect me to suspect them, but without solid evidence, | would be helpless." "For the next couple of years, the deaths of the warriors will increase while more and more of them will be sent to the frontlines.¡± ¡°For now, there''s nothing | can do about that." "| have to eat all of this up until you reach the True Path Stage." ¡°But then, we will take our revenge." Shang nodded. "Then, that''s the n." Jerald also nodded. "Shang, | don''t want you to rush things for the sake of revenge. If you are not fully prepared, everything will be for naught. | need you as powerful as you possibly can be." "Don''t worry," Shang answered. "| know. | only hope that you are not also gone when the time arrives." "You don''t have to worry about that," Jerald said with narrowed eyes. "As long as several members of the Council or King Skythunder don''t attack me, | won''t die. | can promise you that." Shag nodded. "Then, that''s good to hear." Jerald also nodded, and after that, Jerald left. They had to wait for Shang to reach the True Path Stage first. After Jerald left, the spear hovered over to the walls of the cave and leaned against it. It looked just like a normal weapon. For a while, Shang looked at the spear. ¡°Sword, if | were to die, would you also want to take revenge?" he asked. ¡°My goal is to be the strongest weapon,¡± Sword answered. "With enough power, | can take revenge." Shang only nodded. Sword was different from the spear. The spear just wanted to take revenge, while Sword only wanted power. After asking Sword that question, Shang continued training. He had to be more powerful! Chapter 439 Chapter 439 Shang continued training inside the Caves. For multiple years, Shang had seemingly vanished from the face of the world. People knew about the mysterious Count Sword, but nearly all of them had never seen him. Some of the people even doubted that Count Sword actually existed. After all, someone must have seen him somewhere, right? However, deep in the Caves, Shang was training hard every single day. He only focused on his own power, nothing else. And his progress was astounding. When Shang had just reached the Peak Commander Stage, he would have had a shot at killing an average Initial High Mage. But now, Shang could even fight an Early High Mage, probably. Shang''s physical power had not increased in any way. His increase in power was all due to his diligent training in his Path. As Shang continued training, George''s Spear kept following him. It didn¡¯t help ore close, but it stayed in the same general vicinity of Shang. Shang guessed that he and Sword were the closest people to George''s Spear, which was why it was following them. Acouple of months passed. One day, George''s Spear approached Shang of its own volition. Shang was a bit surprised since the spear had never initiated a conversation before. Sword left Shang''s hands and floated over to the spear, touching it. "It is asking why you are not making use of your Affinities," Sword told Shang. ¡°Because | want to train in my swordsmanship," Shang answered, looking at the spear. "Right now, | am forging my Path, and | only use my Affinities in a genuine fight. If | used all my abilities the entire time, my opponents wouldn''t be able to live for long.¡± George''s Spear didn''t move. "It says that this was not what it meant," Sword said. Shang raised an eyebrow. "It says that splitting your Affinities and swordsmanship into separate categories is stupid," Sword said. Shang furrowed his brows. "Can you exin what you mean?" "It says that you should take the ranged technique you earned as an example. Using it without an Affinity makes it far weaker. It is definitely a technique designed for weapons, but its power gets elevated by using an Affinity, something George didn''t have ess to." "If you canbine the ranged attack with an Affinity, you should also be able tobine other attacks with your Affinity." "It has seen us fight multiple times before, but we only use our Affinity like this with the ranged technique, not with everything else.¡± Shang rubbed his chin with furrowed brows as he fell into thought. "It says that you are pursuing George''s Path, the Path of someone that didn''t have ess to an Affinity. Warriors like Mervin take advantage of their Affinities and increase the power of their techniques in this way. They never strike with only their weapons. In some form, their Affinity is always part of their attacks and defenses." Shang thought back to his fight with Mervin about 18 years ago. Sure enough, Mervin had used his Metal Affinity in nearly every attack. It had made his sword move faster and release more power. Shang also remembered the different warriors he had fought in the trial. Even the average Late Commander Stage warrior used their Affinity inbination with their techniques. "How can | integrate my Affinities into my techniques? Even more, how can | integrate them in a way that doesn''t constantly sap my life energy?¡¯ Shang thought about his weapons and about his Affinities. His Colossal Sword was very defensive and with a heavy focus on a counterattack. His Great Sword was focused on unleashing few but very devastating and explosive attacks. His Saber was focused on a good number of attacks with a good amount of power. His Long Sword was focused on rapid attacks that relied heavily on using Shang''s life energy and Affinity. His Fire Affinity was mostly used with ranged attacks. His Ice Affinity wasn''t really used in any of his attacks. His Light Affinity wasn''t used at all. His Darkness Affinity was mostly used with Shang''s Long Sword. ¡®There definitely is a lot of untapped potential there,¡¯ Shang thought. Then, Shang got an idea. ¡®Four Affinities." ¡®Four weapons.¡¯ "Maybe | can further distinguish the different weapons by also creating attacks that follow one of the Affinities?¡¯ ¡®Not all Affinities are suitable for all weapons. For example, my Darkness Affinity is not very useful with my Colossal or Great Sword. The additional damage it provides is more of a per-hit-thing than a multiplier on existing damage.¡¯ ¡®At the same time, my Ice Affinity can increase the power of my weapon, making it the opposite, but | rarely use it in such a way since it wouldn''t be worth the life energy.¡¯ ¡®| don''t need to use everything with everything. Sure, | can still use ice and fire to move around, but when ites to attacks, it should be fine if | design my techniques around a certain weapon and Affinity.¡¯ ¡®How would | assign them?¡¯ ¡®The easiest would be my Long Sword. My Long Sword and my Darkness Affinity perfectly go hand-in-hand.¡¯ ¡®The next one is a bit more difficult. For my Saber, | could imagine fire and ice. With ice, | would increase the power of my rapid attacks, while fire would do the same thing but in a different way. | could also use fire with the ranged technique while using my Saber.¡¯ ¡®My Great Sword seems simr, but it''s actually easier to assign a partner to it. My Great Sword doesn''t release many attacks, but they are all backed by its powerful weight and power. Fire is just like my Darkness Affinity, a per-hit thing. Ice increases the existing power of my attacks.¡¯ "So, Great Sword should go with ice.¡¯ ¡®That would pair Saber with fire.¡¯ ¡®And my Colossal Sword with Light?" At that moment, Shang only looked forward with uncertainty. ¡®I''ve never really used my Light Affinity. It basically just exists." ¡®| mean, a Light Affinity isn''t very useful in a fight due to my warrior''s body. If | didn''t have that, | could use it to heal myself, but using my warrior''s body is just way better.¡¯ Shang looked to the side. ''However, everything | know about the Light Affinity is stuff | learned as a Soldier Stage student. | can imagine light being useless in a fight at such a level, but is that still the case at higher levels?¡¯ ¡®| mean, Earth hadsers." ¡®| don''t think | have the power to create something like aser, but maybe there is something | can do.¡¯ ¡®But that might not even be the right approach. My Colossal Sword is focused mostly on defense, and my Light Affinity is also mostly focused on defense.¡¯ ¡®Is there a way to use light in a defensive manner without just healing?¡¯ Shang mulled over that thought for a while. ¡®There might be, but | don''t know. This is essentially new territory to me, which means | would need to start from ground zero.¡¯ But then, Shang''s eyebrows rose. ¡®No, | don''t have to start from zero!" ¡°Thank you," Shang said to the spear. "You have given me a lot to think about."Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. "It says that it only helped because it couldn''t look at the talent you were wasting," Sword told Shang. Shang only smiled a bit. "Thank you anyway." After that, the spear went back to the wall. And Shang took out his Communication Crystal. While the warrior Path would mostly be unknown from now on, the Mage Path was very clear for everyone to see. Why not ask a Mage? Shang contacted Jerald and asked about uses for a Light Affinity that were not rted to healing. And Shang finally got his answer. Yes, that would work! He could finally make use of his Light Affinity! Chapter 440 Chapter 440 Acouple of minutester, Shang left the Caves and went to where Jerald was currently. Jerald simply handed Shang severalrge books, and Shang left for the Caves again. As soon as he came back, Shang read through all the books. These books were Spell Compendiums, and they basically listed every standard True Mage Spell known to the Skythunder Kingdom. Something like that would go for an extraordinary price, but Jerald just gave them to Shang. Sure, these Spell Compendiums were extremely valuable, but their value was still perceived in gold. Shang could hunt True Path Stage beasts. If he wanted to repay Jerald, he would only need to hand over a single corpse, and he would have repaid far more than he owed. Naturally, Shang wasn''t interested in learning Magic. He only looked at the Spells and how they worked to gain inspiration for his techniques. Shang was no longer on a level where he needed to learn other people''s techniques. No, he needed to create his own techniques. Additionally, with Shang''s powerful Path, he was more than qualified to create such techniques. Over the next two years, Shang''s Path didn''t make much progress. He was fully focused oning up with new techniques and trying to manipte his Mana and Affinities well enough to actually use them. He created a couple of duds, but he also found a couple of useful ones. Aftering up with a good framework for his future fighting style, Shang went on to make his new fighting style an actual reality. The beginning was hard since this was a new field for Shang. Three yearster, Shang had only made marginal progress. At least, that was how it felt. When Shang actually looked at the Star Map, he noticed something. The Shards that had symbolized Shang''s different Affinities were starting to connect to Shang''s Paths. This didn''t increase the actual progress of his Path but made it wider and more powerful. By now, all four Paths were even wider than Mervin''s Path, showing their ridiculous power. Shang realized that he was onto something big, and his determination to continue pursuing this path only increased. Five yearster, Shang managed to fully integrate his Affinities with his Paths. In thest ten or so years, Shang''s Path hadn''t advanced upward but had gotten far wider. Right now, Shang''s Path was still stuck at a bit more than 50%, but it couldn''t bepared to its earlier version. From this point onward, Shang focused on progressing his Path again with its new width. Over the past couple of years, even more True Path Stage warriors and High Mages appeared. Sadly, the number of deaths amongst the True Path Stage warriors rose. They started to be sent on reckless missions or just mysteriously vanished. Most of all, the warriors that died were all warriors that were not too happy with the Mages. By now, the warriors started to realize that the Council was behind all of this. Sadly, they simply didn''t have the power to go against the Council. But there was something they could do. Fewer warriors appeared on the critical frontlines, even when great rewards were promised. More warriors only did the necessary things that were expected of them but didn''t go beyond. They simply did the bare minimum and tried to stay alive. Additionally, many powerful warriors didn''t even announce their new power or show themselves in public. When nobody knew that they existed, they couldn''t be forced to fight on the frontlines. In short, they had given up on the Skythunder Kingdom. If the leaders didn''t respect them, they also wouldn''t show respect. Because of these slow changes, the frontlines between the Skythunder Kingdom and the Magic Purity Kingdom became bloody again. The pressure on the Skythunder Kingdom increased, and the Council was forced to lower the pressure they put on the warriors. Sadly, there was no way to announce such a thing. Everything they had done previously had been done in the shadows. If they announced now that they were no longer doing these things, it would be like telling everyone that they had been responsible for most of the warriors¡¯ deaths. Many things were changing in the world over the years, but for Shang, nothing changed. He was still deep in the Caves, working on his power. By now, Count Sword had beenpletely forgotten. The general lectures on politics still included him, but he was basically only a footnote, and nobody really cared. Even if Count Sword actually existed, he had been only a very powerful and talented Peak Commander Stage warrior. By now, there were many Early True Path Stage warriors and even a couple of Mid True Path Stage warriors. There were even a couple of warriors that reached Mervin''s level of power. The entire world was changing, and even if Count Sword actually existed, he would only be a relic of the past. He might have been outstanding back then, but would he still be outstanding today? Also, if that guy actually were so powerful, why wasn''t he at the True Path Stage yet? Wouldn''t he have shown himself? True Path Stage warriors needed resources and experience. Wouldn''t he want to fight Mages? How could he fight Mages if he didn''t show himself? However, even if Shang knew about all of this, he didn''t care. He was working on something important. His power was increasing day by day, and Shang could see the sheer power his Path symbolized. Shang remained deep in the underground, and more time passed. Two yearster, some bad news reached Shang. Ranos had died. He had most likely been killed by the Council. Shang could only take a deep breath and continue working on his power. This was the future he had chosen. He knew that more and more of the few people he knew would leave him. The only thing he could do was train. Power was the most important thing to him. One yearter, Soran died. He had also most likely been killed by the Council. Shang still remembered the Vice-Dean. Soran had never truly been Shang''s biggest fan, but it was still sad to see one of George''s students go. George''s other student, the woman Viera, had been sent to the frontlines as punishment. She had gone overboard while hunting beasts and had endangered the ecosystem. Shang guessed that she also wouldn''t stay alive for much longer. It looked like the Council was systematically getting rid of all the important people in the old Warrior''s Academy. One yearter, Teacher Niria died. She had been the one that gave Shang the quota for the Day of Chaos, and she had also been the one that gave him the Darkness Ore. He hadn''t seen her in 50 years. Then, one yearter, Mattheo died. This had hit Jerald very hard. Mattheo had been his sole heir, and he had had a bright future ahead of him. He had been a powerful Peak Commander Stage warrior and a powerful Peak True Mage at the same time. He had probably been the most powerful person in the Commander Stage aside from Shang. And exactly that had been the problem. He was too powerful, and he was Jerald''s son. He was the biggest threat to the Council. Yet, even though Jerald''s son died, he had never urged Shang to hurry up. He knew that Shang needed a lot of time. One friend after the other left Jerald''s life, and it was very difficult for him. As more and more deaths happened, the warriors became more and more unruly, which forced the Mages to assume a more authoritative stance. The warriors were not happy, and more than one of them fought the Mages, that came to bring them to the frontlines, to the death. The Skythunder Kingdom''s power was rising, but with the new developments, it was not rising nearly as quickly as it could. As Shang heard about these developments, he realized that the Skythunder Kingdom was bing more and more like the Grandmountain Kingdom. Shang could only continue training. Two yearster, a major development in the war happened. The ckshadow Kingdom had been reduced to only 30% of its size, and in its desperation, it attacked the Spirit Spring Kingdom. The Grandmountain Kingdom had gained a lot ofnd, but it had lost even more. By now, nearly all of its originalnds were upied by the Skythunder Kingdom.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. The Skythunder Kingdom had doubled in size, and the Grandmountain Kingdom and ckshadow Kingdom shared thends of the original ckshadow Kingdom. Right now, the Skythunder Kingdom took up the southern, southeastern, southwestern, western, and northwestern parts of the world. It had be even a bit bigger than the Magic Purity Kingdom. They even had to create a subsidiary Council made up of former Dukes to control the westernnds. However, the ckshadow Kingdom''s sudden betrayal changed the entire war. The Magic Purity Kingdompletely stopped putting pressure on the ckshadow Kingdom, focusing all its power on the Skythunder Kingdom. The Grandmountain Kingdom kept attacking the ckshadow Kingdom to force them to attack the Spirit Spring Kingdom with more aggression. Meanwhile, the Skythunder Kingdom had to resist the Magic Purity Kingdom and also had to help the Spirit Spring Kingdom against the ckshadow Kingdom. The intense brutality on the Skythunder Kingdom''s frontlines forced them to conscript nearly all the warriors into battle, but the warriors were not happy at all. It was only a matter of time before a civil war broke out, and everyone knew it. The five Kingdoms 50 years ago had been peaceful inparison to the ones today. The Grandmountain Kingdom was dying. The ckshadow Kingdom was dying. The Spirit Spring Kingdom was dying. The Skythunder Kingdom was on the verge of copsing. Only the Magic Purity Kingdom was somewhat stable, but they also didn''t have it easy. The entire world had gone to shit. Shang was 73 years old now, and he looked like someone in theirte 30s. He had been in the Caves for so long. Right now, his Path was around 80% done. Only 20% more. However, these 20% represented another decade of training. Shang guessed that he would only reach his goal when he was about 85. What would the world look like in another decade? Chapter 441 Chapter 441 The world continued to change as more years passed. Shang kept being isted from the world, only hearing some news from Jerald. Jerald''s jovial and polite demeanor had vanished to arge degree after even his son had died. Around 60 years ago, Jerald had been friends with basically all the different Dukes, had been on good terms with the Council, had George as a close friend, and had a son. He had been at the prime of his life, and he had even owned quite a lot of Zones. Everything had been going great. And then, over the next 60 years, everything he owned began to vanish slowly. He still had his personal power and wealth, but that was about it. He only had one Zone now. He was enemies with the Council. He was enemies with all the Dukes. George was dead. Mattheo was dead. Some of his close subordinates were dead. And, worst of all, he knew who was responsible, but just like Shang, there was nothing he could do at the moment. He could only swallow it until it was time. Jerald''s goal of bing King had shifted. Now, vengeance was above his goal of bing King. He wanted to kill all the people that had taken everything from him! And the key to all of that was the weak little boy he had found inside one of his gardens around 60 years ago. As more years passed, it became harder and harder for Jerald to keep up the mask. At some point, he even started topletely ignore all the orders the Council sent to him. This was already a grave vition of his position, and it was enough reason for the Council to take the Storm Eagle Zone away from him. Yet, the war and impending civil war were the primary focus of the Council''s mind. They couldn''t afford to anger another Late High Mage with incredible power. In fact, the situation was so bad that even two of the members of the Council had died on the frontlines. They had been the victims of extremely borate traps with several exceedingly powerful High Mages attacking them at the same time. Five yearster, the Council did something that no one could have seening. They offered Duke Whirlwind a seat on the Council. The Skythunder Kingdom was rich with High Mages but poor with truly powerful High Mages. There were plenty of candidates for being a Duke, but only very few for being a member of the Council. With this move, they extended an olive branch to Jerald. This essentially meant that Jerald''s past conduct would be swept under the rug, and he could join the Council as a full member. He would gain a vast amount of authority over the entire Kingdom. However, this would also represent the stagnation of warriors. Jerald was the only reason why there were even so many powerful warriors in the first ce, and the Storm Eagle Zone still acted as a safe haven for all the warriors that didn''t want to join the war. There were several Circles traveling across the entire Kingdom, searching for warriors that hadn''t been on the frontlines yet, and if they found one of the warriors, they would be forced to fight for the Kingdom. They were everywhere except for the Storm Eagle Zone. But if Jerald epted the invitation, that safe haven would vanish. What did Jerald do when the invitation arrived? He didn''t answer. The Council sent three more invitations, but Jerald always blew them off, telling them that he needed more time to think. Because of that, the Council was stuck in limbo. However, they would never forget this insult. When the war calmed down, they would take care of Jerald. By now, the rtionship between the Council and Jerald had be unfixable. As more time passed, the Council even sent out a decree that people should avoid the Storm Eagle Zone. On the surface, it was phrased like an embargo because Jerald wasn''t running his Zone like they wanted him to, but most people had already seen the truth. Duke Whirlwind was one of the oldest and most powerful Dukes, and he could probably even look eye-to-eye with the Council. Officially, Jerald was below the Council, but unofficially, he had assumed a position opposing them at the same height. Two yearster, the guards stationed at the borders of the Storm Eagle Zone had quintupled in size. There were even two True Path Stage warriors and a High Mage standing guard. Whenever anyone under orders of the Council or another Duke tried to enter the Storm Eagle Zone, they would be dissuaded in a very rough manner. One time, a messenger tried to pass the border anyway since he was delivering orders from the Council personally. The messenger was executed on the spot. Quickly after that, public outrage urred, fueled by the Council. They called Duke Whirlwind a deserter and traitor. Traveling to the Storm Eagle Zone was made illegal, and powerful guards were stationed at its borders. However, the Council still didn''t dare to attack. If they actually attacked, they would lose many High Mages, and they couldn''t afford these losses during this intense war. Everything had to wait until after the war was over. Nevertheless, the Council sent several people to demand Duke Whirlwind to give thend he illegally upied back to the Skythunder Kingdom, but the messengers were always turned away at the border. The Council used these incidents as proof that they were the reasonable ones and that it was Duke Whirlwind that refused to let things end peacefully. During such a dangerous time, Duke Whirlwind was not helping the Kingdom but putting its citizens in even more danger. He was power-hungry, selfish, and had no concept of loyalty. Jerald didn''t react to these usations. Sadly, many people believed the Council, and over 50% of the people living in the Storm Eagle Zone left it. Even more, most of these people were Mages. If one only looked at the Mages, one would see that over 90% of them had left the Storm Eagle Zone. In terms of True Mages, the Storm Eagle Zone now had only around 15 left. Adepts and Apprentices had nearly vanished. Essentially only Adepts and Apprentices directly rted to the 15 True Mages were left. Adepts and Apprentices were not powerful enough to make a difference in the war, which was why they couldn''t stand up for what they believed in. Some of them wanted to remain, but when faced with the Council''s overwhelming power, they could only flee. At least there were three High Mages left in the Storm Eagle Zone, including Jerald. The other two High Mages had worked for Jerald for a very long time, and they trusted him with their lives. Sadly, they were only at the Initial and Early levels. However, when something bad happened, something good coulde along with it. The Storm Eagle Zone had be the safe haven of all the warriors, and as the tension between the Council and Duke Whirlwind increased, most of them chose Jerald''s side. At this moment, the Storm Eagle Zone had over 2,000 Commander Stage warriors, which was an insane number. And it even had over 100 True Path Stage warriors. 100 True Path Stage warriors. This was a ridiculous number for only one Zone. Sure, the Skythunder Kingdom had over 400 High Mages by now, but that was for over 50 Zones. 100 True Path Stage warriors in one Zone was simply insane. This was exactly why the Council didn''t want to invade the Storm Eagle Zone yet. Killing over 100 True Path Stage warriors and Jerald would result in catastrophic losses. With so many warriors now refusing to fight on the frontlines, the casualties amongst the Mages skyrocketed. By now, the Council didn''t reside in their homes anymore but personally manned spots at the frontlines. It had gotten that bad. And while all of this was going on, Shang was training. The world was undergoing a revolution. But in the Caves, there was only silence. Seemingly no time passed for Shang. There was only himself and Sword.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Training day in and day out. Fighting so many beasts. Coming up with so many techniques. The Caves were quiet since Shang had chosen a ce where only very few True Path Stage warriors came to. What was that ce? Where the Mid True Path Stage beasts lived. Shang was already training against them daily. He wasn''t even at the True Path Stage yet. Chapter 442 Chapter 442 Shang kept training. This was the only thing he could do. He had chosen his future, and his future was now here. Basically everyone he knew had left in some way or another, except for Jerald and Mervin, and he hadn''t seen or talked to Mervin in a very long time. Everyone else was gone. The only thing Shang could do was ept it. He had chosen his goal, and he had decided to put his goal above everything else. If he wanted to achieve his goal, he had to be willing to sacrifice everything else. And he knew that. It still hurt whenever he heard of a death, but Shang knew that this was the choice he had made. And, even though it hurt, he didn''t regret his choice. This was his life. Power was his life. There was only power. Shang didn''t even know why he wanted power so much. It was just what he wanted. Maybe it was a fear of betrayal? After all, power and training could never betray him. Maybe it was a fear of future loss? What was the point of having a friend if they would die one day? Maybe it was just to spite and kill the God? He only saw Shang as a ything, and Shang hated this feeling. Maybe it was just hispetitive mindset from Earth? After all, he enjoyed fighting and winning more than anything else. Maybe it was all of that? Nevertheless, everything culminated in Shang''s dedicated pursuit of power. He wanted to achieve something that had never been done before. He wanted to reach ces where no one had been before. This was all that was on his mind. Over the many years, Shang''s mindset had solidified even more. During these years, he realized that his outbursts of anger had been irrelevant most of the time. He realized that his anger had only appeared due to his own pain and weakness. Now, he was calm. Shang''s temper was no longer explosive but calm and collected. The very thing Shang had feared when he was just a kid had be a reality. Shang had be the version of George he had seen when they met for the first time. However, Shang couldn''t be any happier about that transformation. George had represented immortal dedication to a goal. George had represented a perfect mindset for bing powerful. And now, Shang was this representation. In a quiet moment when Shang actually got time to think, he realized that he had finally be who he had always wanted to be. Someone that actually had a shot at bing truly powerful. Never-ending dedication. Unbreakable discipline. Goal focused. Calm. Calcting. Creative. Experienced. Visionary. For the first time, he could look up at the proverbial mountain that represented the peak of power and not be intimidated. For the first time, he thought that he could do it. He had a shot. He was finally prepared. Shang continued training like an inexhaustible machine. There were no breaks. His entire mind focused on nothing but battle and power. 50 years of istion had solidified Shang''s personality. And two yearster, it was finally time. The world had changed into something unrecognizable, and Shang did so as well. Shang was now 82 years old. And Shang had finished his Path. He was done. As Shang looked at his Star Map, he could see the unbreakable diamond he had envisioned back then. It had seemed like an insurmountable hurdle. It had seemed like an impossible task. But now, Shang was here. The lines of the diamond were thick and pronounced, and Shang had even connected the different Stars at the top. Shang''s mastery over his Affinities gave the diamond beautiful ents, and the Shards inside it were all clear and clean. His Path had be a reality. The ultimate Path he had dreamed of. It was finallyplete. After Shang''s Path had beenpleted, he could only stare at it for several hours. Over 50 years of work. 50 years of unending, dedicated, hard work. It was the work of his life. It was his greatest achievement. It was perfect. It was beautiful. It represented his future. And it represented his past. Shang closed his right eye, and he could feel his Path. It was so powerful. It was so grand. It was perfect. Amomentter, Shang gathered all his insights into one gargantuan concept. His Path had beplete, and it was now bing a reality. Shang felt his mind be clearer. The images in his surroundings became clearer. Every detail became clearer. His perception stretched further. In the past, Shang had only been able to feel about two to three kilometers of his surroundings. Now, it stretched to five kilometers, and every single detail in these five kilometers was clear. His Pseudo-Spirit Sense had be a real Spirit Sense. And he hadn''t even reached the True Path Stage yet. He had only solidified his Path, and the actual advancement to the True Path Stage wouldmence soon. With his new Spirit Sense, Shang could also feel other kinds of Mana.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. He could finally feel the thick Earth Mana in his surroundings, and he could also feel the bit of Wind Mana in the air. He could probably even use them, but his usage would be on par with someone in the Apprentice Realm, weak beyond comparison. But he could still feel the Mana. And, finally, he could also feel the Thunder Horse''s mark on his body. Over the many years, the mark had be incredibly weak, and it had probably even lost most of its power. Shang guessed that only Zone Beasts could feel it if they really concentrated on him. It didn''t have the power to send a signal anymore. It had essentially transformed into an empty battery, a remnant of the past. For a while, Shang only concentrated on all the different kinds of Mana he could feel. He could even feel some Mana that feltpletely unfamiliar to him. He didn''t even know what they represented, but he could feel their presence. Acouple of hourster, Shang slowly stood up. Then, he put Sword to the side. As Shang slowly opened his right eye, a calm light appeared in it. "It''s time." Chapter 443 Chapter 443 After looking at his surroundings with his new Spirit Sense for a while, Shang sat down again and closed his right eye. It was time to reach the True Path Stage. It had been so long. He had worked so much. 50 years of training tirelessly with unending discipline and enthusiasm. How long would a normal talented person have taken, someone that didn''t dedicate 100% of their life to their own power? Probably over 150 years. Maybe even over 200. The danger of dying of old age would have been a real possibility. But now, it was time. Shang concentrated on his Path and willed it to be a reality. It took several hours, but eventually, his Path began to manifest. Shang felt a certain feeling of order enter his body, and he felt how it strengthened him. It enveloped his entire being, and Shang felt how his connection with the world deepened. Shang pulled this certain feeling deep into his chest and gathered it in one ce. This was how the warriors reached the True Path Stage. All the Mana in the surroundings entered Shang''s body. Even the unknown kinds of Mana. When someone elevated in power at this level, they absorbed all kinds of Mana of the surroundings to strengthen their being. The Mana in the surrounding kilometers began to gather at Shang''s ce, but new Mana simply flooded the empty spaces again. Mana was unending, and it filled the entire world. As Shang absorbed more and more Mana, the connections of Mana he had established when he reached the Commander Stage began to strengthen even more. The cirction of Mana inside Shang''s body intensified severalfold, and he felt like he was ascending. It was such a mysterious but empowering feeling. It was like he was leaving his old body behind and inhabiting a new one. As the connection strengthened even more, the different strands of Mana started to connect with each other. They didn''t connect the different parts of Shang''s body with each other anymore but directly connected with each other. Shang willed them to be even more powerful, and at that moment, a change happened. Shang felt the strands of Mana dissipate at the same level as they were being built. It was like there wasn''t enough power to tie them together. It was like someone needed to hold so many things that they would need three arms. Shang simply couldn''t concentrate on everything at once. However, Shang had already expected that. This issue was the very reason why a warrior needed to have created their Path. Every warrior without a Path could have also reached that step, but this would be the very step that made them fail. Shang visualized his Path and willed it to take control of his entire being. As soon as that happened, the different strands of Mana slowed down, but they also stopped dissipating. The streams of Mana began to move and extend to different locations than before, and this time, they stayed stable. They crisscrossed over his entire body and slowly created something that looked like awork. It took several minutes for all the strands topletely connect to each other, and when they were done, something changed again. Even more Mana entered Shang''s body. The strands of Mana pulled at the surrounding Mana like they were a bottomless hole. More and more Mana entered Shang''s body for several more minutes. As more time passed, Shang''s body began to shine in a blue light. To Shang, the Mana inside his body felt like a steady wind. It was circting inside it in a rapid stream, strengthening his entire body. At some point, Shang felt like he was at his limit, but he had already learned how to advance to the True Path Stage. He suppressed the feeling and began to absorb more Mana. This was necessary since the body didn''t naturally absorb enough Mana to make the breakthrough. It was like Shang was forcing himself to eat more and more, even though he felt full. The instinct of spitting out the Mana screamed at Shang.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. However, Shang''s expression didn''t even change. He had gone through so much pain in his life that this little bit of difort barely counted as a mere annoyance. Shang shoved more and more Mana inside his body until he felt that it became impossible to absorb more. His body had reached Mana saturation. Then, Shang took a deep breath. And willed all of the strings of Mana inside his body topress. They had be far wider in the past minutes, and Shang would need topress them. If he didn''t do that, he basically wouldn''t be able to move the Mana around. It was simply far too pressurized and massive. Shang remained sitting on the floor for several minutes, his eye closed. He felt like his soul and body were cramping, but this was an expected effect that every warrior had to go through. If a warrior couldn''t even deal with this bit of difort, they didn''t deserve to reach the True Path Stage anyway. All the strands of Mana became thinner and morepressed. Shang felt the pressure inside his body climb to new heights. It was like he waspressing air between his two hands. Yet, Shang only continued in a methodical manner. In the next hour, the Manapressed to only half of its initial volume. Another hourter, it halved its volume again. At that point, Shang felt like he had hit a limit. It was like he couldn''tpress it anymore. ¡®This is the moment,¡¯ he thought with a bit of excitement. Who wouldn''t be excited after finally achieving their goal after 50 years of hard work? Shang gathered all his power and willpower. BANG! And unleashed everything in one finalpression. It was difficult, and Shang only made tiny progress. However, just five secondster, something happened. Shang felt like he had suddenly lost his grip on his Mana. He felt like the air he was trying topress with so much force had suddenly vanished. Shang knew what that meant. Shang looked at the strands of Mana inside his body and saw that they had reduced their volume by another 90%. This was it. Earlier, Shang had felt like the Mana inside his body was a wind blowing through his body in a loop. Now, it was like it was a river. Yes, the Mana had transformed from gaseous to liquid. He had done it! There was now awork of veins filled with liquid Mana inside his veins, and the Mana was moving rapidly through his body. And the very engine that made something this condensed and powerful move was Shang''sprehension of his Path. Everywork of veins was unique, and no human had the samework. Their Path and Concepts decided what kind of network their Mana would build. Theworks didn''t have different strengths or weaknesses. They looked different, but they were all equally good. They were only aligned differently to make it easier to interact with one''s Path. After looking at his body for several minutes, Shang finally opened his right eye and activated his Spirit Sense. When he saw what he could see with his Spirit Sense, a smile appeared on his face. He could see the surrounding 20 kilometers! High Mages could only see the surrounding five kilometers! At that moment, Shang was certain that he had created something incredible. Chapter 444 Chapter 444 Shang could see so incredibly far. He could see hundreds of True Path Stage beasts and even some beasts in the fifth Realm. It had been an unknown if such powerful beasts were in the Caves, but now, he knew. Shang could feel three, and he could also see the bottom of the Caves. Shang was already around 20 kilometers deep in the cave, and the actual end of the Caves was another 15 kilometers down. At the lowest part, Shang could see a gigantic open space several kilometers wide and high. Right now, the space was upied by the most terrifying beast in the Caves. However, as soon as Shang looked at the beasts, he felt like they were looking back. When Shang felt that, he immediately looked away. For about a second more, Shang felt the Spirit Senses of these terrifying beasts, but they retreated after that. They didn''t inspect Shang closely enough, which was why they hadn''t realized that he essentially felt like an Abomination. They only gave him a cursory nce, and when they felt that a measly True Path Stage being had looked at them, they lost all interest. To them, it was like an ant would randomly face their direction while walking around outside. It was irrelevant and unimportant. Shang took a deep breath when he felt their Spirit Senses retreat. He felt like he had just dodged a bullet. ¡®I''ve be powerful, but | need to remember that there are many more powerful beings in this world. | can''t just randomly look at everyone." ¡®Luckily, I''m so much weaker than them that they didn''t even deign to take a closer look at me." After Shang had seen these beasts, he came to a realization. Yes, the most powerful beings in the five Kingdoms were the Zone Beasts, followed by the Kings. However, that wasn''t entirely correct. While the Zone Beasts and Kings gathered all the attention to them, one could easily overlook the terror that was the beasts in the Fifth Realm. There were around three of these beasts in each Zone, and every single one of them represented the power of a King. This meant that the Skythunder Kingdom had over 100 beings with the power of a King inside of it, while there was only a single human with that power. The difference was absolutely astonishing and massive. After looking away from the beasts, Shang turned his perception to the Caves above and around him. He could see four True Path Stage warriors fighting against Initial and Early True Path Stage beasts right now. ¡®Four at once?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®That''s quite a lot. However, it does make sense. Jerald said that there are now very many True Path Stage warriors in the Storm Eagle Zone.¡¯ Shang looked at the warriors, and what he felt made him happy. They felt so incredibly weak. Even the Early True Path Stage warriors felt so very weak to him. "My training didn''t betray me.¡¯ ¡®| spent over 50 years in here while everyone else in the world advanced several levels.¡¯ ¡®Yet, after all this time, | finally took my step forward, and my step is far bigger than anyone else''s several steps.¡¯ ¡®True to the proverb, sharpening the axe doesn''t take time away from cutting wood.¡¯ At this moment, Shang felt very powerful, and he was happy. He had taken the biggest step in his journey to power, and making progress felt magical. This was why Shang loved training.This text is ? N?velDrama/.Org. He loved seeing the results. This was why he had decided to forsake everything else in his life. And, for the first time, he thoroughly felt that it had been the right choice. After looking at everything for a while, Shang decided to get to the next point on the agenda. He searched through his memories and found that something new had appeared. In Shang''s memory, he stood in front of the God inside his hall. ¡°For my fourth question,¡± the blonde Shang with two eyes said. ¡°At this point in my journey, | must have already reached the Fourth Realm, which means that | would want to reach the Fifth Realm." "So, how can | reach the Fifth Realm?" The God in Shang''s memory only smirked. "You think I''ll make it this simple?" he asked. The blonde Shang looked worried. "| don''t want old stuff. | want new stuff," the God said. "| don''t want everything to go back to how it once was. | want to see new Paths. | want to see what the humans cane up with in apletely changed environment from back then." ¡°Was this your n from now on, asking me how to progress to the next Stage?¡± the God asked with his typical smirk. The blonde Shang only looked at him with an uncertain expression. Yes, that had been his n. "Then, go and change your n because I''m not going to answer these kinds of questions," the God said as he leaned back on his throne. The blonde Shang furrowed his brows and scratched his chin in thought. Several seconds passed. ¡°Okay, then, what about an optimal way to find my way forward in the future? You know, not something specific but just a general guideline, something that helps me in spurring on my own creativity," the blonde Shang said. The God looked at the side and evaluated the question. "Sure, | can answer that, but this answer will be applicable to all Realms. | don''t want to hear that question another five times or so. The blonde Shang nodded. At that moment in Shang''s memories, a second God appeared, and it looked like he had stepped past the scene as he was addressing him directly. ¡°Editor''s Note: Answer has been changed due to your unnned Affinity," he said. Then, everything returned to normal, and the God gave his answer. "The most important thing is creativity and the willpower to transform that creativity from mere ideas into something applicable in reality." ¡°Look at all the different powers you have and try tobine them with each other in all kinds of manners. Even if you think that something shouldn''t work, you might find yourself surprised when it actually works." "Trial and error is the best way to find new possibilities, and as these new possibilities be more and more numerous, you will gain more knowledge and experience. Eventually, you canbine some of them into something that you couldn''t have thought of earlier.¡± ¡°As for a specific guide to reaching the next Realm without any sort of person guiding you towards it, you should always try to find a way to elevate yourself." ¡°For example, True Mages needed toprehend a Concept to advance to the High Mage Realm. However, inparison to the True Path Stage that your predecessor created, it isn''t unchangeable.¡± ¡°After bing a High Mage, the person in question canprehend more Concepts from different Elements. To reach the Archmage Realm, they need toprehend one Concept, which is on a higher level than the other Concepts they know." ¡°However, if they truly want to stand out, they canprehend several other Concepts before making the breakthrough and incorporate them in their Main Concept." ¡°For example, the Duke in the ce where you will be sent soon has the Concept of Wind Movement as his main Concept, but he also knows the Concept of Water Drop and the Concept of Lightning Spark." "If he gets serious, he can create Wind Spells that include the strengths of these Concepts from different Affinities, essentially making him far more powerful than average High Mages." "You can see this as two different kinds of elevation, and you could theoretically create a method to advance with both of them. Right now, the Mages all use the higher-level Concepts as their basis for bing an Archmage, but with a bit of creativity, effort, and research, they could also find a way to be an Archmage bybining several lower-level Concepts. However, nobody has currently found that open Path yet. The current Path just works too well.¡± "If you want to find a way to the next level, you have to find something simr. You have to find something that elevates what you have created." "| can think of over 20 different ways a True Path Stage warrior could advance to the next level, and all the different Fifth Realms would be unique and different from each other." ¡°Experiment, try things out, work on yourself, work on your weapon, work on the surroundings, and try to find that spark of inspiration that makes several or all of these things click together in one cohesive picture." "Just creating another Path or making the Path longer isn''t enough." "It needs to transform into something new." "That''s the answer to your question.¡± Chapter 445 Chapter 445 Shang''s new memories swept through his mind in an instant, and he opened his right eye again. "Once again, I''m d that | didn''t ask a stupid question, even though | was so young back then. It''s a nice feeling to have a younger version of yourself help you far in the future. | just hope the questions stay relevant.¡¯ ¡®| should keep that habit alive. Right now, many things feel impossible. For example, | still don''t know how | canbine all the different kinds of attacks into one cohesive battle style. | do have all the attacks, but they are distributed over four different weapons, and | can only use one of them at a time.¡¯ ¡®| simply trust in my future self to make these things possible. Right now, | have the opportunity to create a foundation for my future self. In the future, | will be grateful for my mindfulness in the past, which is currently the present.¡¯ ¡®Try out new things and find a way to elevate my being, huh?" Shang scratched his chin as he mulled over these words for a while. ¡®| have some ideas, but | have no way of knowing if they are actually realistic or not. However, | shouldn''t be too worried about these things right now. | just reached the True Path Stage, and I need to get used to this level first. Finding a way forward at this point would be inefficient since |ck the necessary experience right now." ¡®For now, | need to keep my Battle-Strength high. To keep my Battle-Strength high, | need to know a lot of things, and knowing a lot of things means gaining experience, which will help me to advance in the future.¡¯ "My future progression will be built on what | decide to do in the True Path Stage.¡¯ ¡®Never tire." ¡®Never stop trying.¡¯ ¡®Always go forward." "My future self will thank me for it.¡¯ Shang nodded once and stood up. It was time to test his power. "Finally done?" Shang immediately became startled and jumped to the side. He had grown used to his Spirit Sense, and his Spirit Sense could see basically everything. So, when someone suddenly asked him something from right beside him, he was taken off guard. Shang hadn''t felt anyone near him just now! Shang looked at the ce with shocked eyes, and his eyes only widened even further. The jester! It was here! This was the first time that the God had actually shown himself in the real world! "What, you think | can''t enter my own world?" the jester asked with a mechanical smirk. "This is my world, and | can appear wherever | please." Shang slowly calmed down and took a deep breath. "I was simply surprised because | didn''t see you with my Spirit Sense." "Spirit Sense, huh?" the jester asked with a smirk. "So, how does it feel? When you just came to this ce, you couldn''t even imagine how it feels to perfectly see kilometers of your surroundings with just your mind." "Quite different from Earth, right?"This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Shang had already thought about these things many times, and he hade to the realization that it was impossible for him to emte the feeling of being on Earth. He had simply been in this world for too long, and all the magical things had be reality. Right now, Earth felt more like a fantasy world than this ce to Shang. "Well, that''s what time can do to someone," the jester said, reading Shang''s mind. "Why are you here?" Shang asked. The jester waddled around the cave with his short and mechanical legs. Maybe the God intended it to be funny, but with his terrifying presence, perceiving the situation to be humorous was an impossibility. "Three things, actually,¡± the jester said as he looked at the walls of the cave. "I thought that appearing myself to tell you of these things would be the best way." "What things?" Shang asked. "Two major changes and a small gift," the jester said. "Okay, I''m listening," Shang said. The jester lifted his right arm and extended one finger. "First, congrattions! You''ve been promoted!" he said with a smirk. Shang blinked a couple of times. "Promoted? What do you mean?" "You are no longer the medium to create future entertainment. You are now the entertainment yourself!" the jester said with a wide grin. Shang only looked at the jester. He thought that he didn''t need to ask since the jester read his mind anyway. "| want to hear you ask," the jester said. Shang took a deep breath. "What does that change entail?" he asked. "It means that you are currently bringing me more entertainment than the potential entertainment you can create by making every other warrior stronger." "You see, you''ve managed to reach a level of power that | have not foreseen. Your Battle-Strength currently rivals the greatest geniuses in the entire world, and seeing such a talented person create a Path for themselves is far more interesting than simply making them make other warriors stronger.¡± "| don''t want to see you theorize a way to reach the Fifth Realm. No, now, | want to see how far you can go. | want to see how many Realms you can advance before you run out of steam." "So, congrattions, | don''t need you to give techniques to the warriors anymore. You can now fully concentrate only on yourself.¡± "Also," the jester said, a bit of his mirth vanishing, "in the next trial, you will probably get so many points that the rewards you would get are so advanced that the other warriors can''t even make use of them. It''s like you show them a way to create a microchip when they haven''t even learned how to make stic." "They just can''t use that stuff because they are missing the basic requirements that allow them to reach the level of power required to make use of the rewards, essentially making them useless to 99% of warriors." "You know, | was expecting the warriors to slowly progress over time. The foundation grows wider and wider until one person breaks the record. Then, the record gets broken again, and again, and again." ¡°But, right now, you are at like the eighth again." "You basically skipped the entire process." Shang could see where the God wasing from. Just the Star Map was already so advanced that the Mages in the world refused to believe that some warrior created it. The previous rewards, like the basic techniques or the ranged attack, had elicited no suspicion. Sure, a warrior coulde up with that. And if the most powerful warriors were maybe at the fifth, sixth, or seventh Realm already, no one would have doubted that the Star Map had been created by a warrior. This showed how advanced the technique was inparison to the current level of warriors. "So, | don''t need to care about other warriors anymore, right?" Shang asked. "Correct," the jester said. "Do whatever you want. As long as you don''t purposefully decide to eradicate all warriors or suppress their progress, | don''t care." Shang nodded. ¡°And the other change?" The jester smiled. ¡°With you getting promoted, someone else has to take your job." Shang knew what that meant. ¡°A new person from Earth will be introduced to the Storm Eagle Zone soon. If you find him, help him get started on the journey. You don''t have to look after him, but | don¡¯t want this guy to perform horribly just because you keep relevant information from him. Chapter 446 Chapter 446 Shang didn''t know how he felt right now. Someone else from Earth was nowing to this world, and they would be far younger. Time sure passed quickly. It was already time for the next generation to take over. However, this time, it wasn''t because the older generation had reached its limit. Shang had been sent to this world because George had stopped advancing and was only working on making the warriors more powerful. For the God, George''s personal power had stopped being useful, requiring someone else to take over. In a way, George had been transformed from the main character into a supporting character when Shang arrived. But this time, it was different. Shang''s usefulness to the God had advanced to such a stage that using him to strengthen warriors would be a waste. As Shang thought about the new person, he also realized something. He realized that he felt hopeful for the rewards they could bring. The first two trials still had a lot of unimed rewards, and some of these rewards could be very useful to the current Shang, even if they were only useful for inspiration. They would represent something new that was currently unknown to the warriors. At the same time, Shang was also reminded of his first couple of years in this world. The world had been alien and magical to him back then. The new person would go through a simr experience. For just a split second, Shang thought that it would be interesting to relive these experiences, but when he thought about all the power he would have to give up, he immediately stopped wanting that. He had worked so hard for his power, and he wanted to advance even further. Right now, he felt as great as never before. Being powerful felt so incredibly good, and he wanted more of that feeling. "Alright," Shang said. "Jerald already knows about you anyway. | will just tell him to keep a lookout for the new person." "Good," the God said. ¡°Now, for thest thing.¡± Shang remembered that the God said that there would also be a small gift, and he grew interested. "Don''t get too excited,¡± the jester said with a smirk. "This is only something that will help you in the short term. After that, my little gift will lose all its value." Shang was still interested.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. "You see," the jester said, "You are my prime entertainment right now, and | want to give you the best possible start. | want to truly see how far you can go." "Because of that, | will temporarily give you the power to summon a True Path Stage Abomination alone and without anyone noticing.¡± "| want your body to be at its peak when you take the trial, and this is the best way to assure that." "You have three years to reach the optimal state for your body in the Initial True Path Stage." "| don''t want you to advance." "| don''t want you to abuse this little gift." "| don''t want you to waste time.¡± "You get three years, and three years should be just enough to get your body to its optimal condition if you follow the schedule." "Do | make myself clear?¡± the jester asked. Shang nodded. This was an incredible gift! Shang had already feared how he could strengthen himself to his peak before the trial started. Logically, Shang needed to summon True Path Stage Abominations, but these True Path Stage Abominations would cause a gigantic uproar, and they woulde with a literal army of weaker Abominations. Initially, Shang had been stuck between two decisions. First, with his increased power, the average power of the Abominations across the world should also increase. Right now, the appearance of a True Path Stage Abomination would be something monumental, and all the Mages from the outside would look through this ce with a fineb. However, in a decade or two, the appearances of True Path Stage Abominations would have be so normal that no one would suspect that Shang had specifically summoned one of them. The other possibility would have been very risky and very greedy. It was essentially just summoning them and hoping for the best. The rewards in the trials were just too valuable to give up. However, this would alsoe with incredible danger to Shang. But now, this problem had been solved, and Shang could have both. He would get his optimal body without any risk, and after that, he could simply wait for a couple of decades to continue advancing without raising any suspicions. "This only counts until the trial starts, right?" Shang asked. "Correct," the jester answered. Shang nodded. "I''m fine with that." The jester also nodded. "I don''t want you to abuse this in any way." "| understand," Shang said. He knew that making the God angry would result in a terrible fate for him. Then, the jester grinned widely. "Good, then, I''m looking forward to your performance in three years." Shang nodded. "I will do my best." Shang didn''t say it, but it was very clear that he wasn''t doing it for the God but for his own power. Obviously, the God knew that, but he didn''t care. It didn''t matter why his ythings followed his orders. As long as they followed them, he didn''t care. An instantter, the jester just vanished. It was like he had never existed. After the jester vanished, Shang took a deep breath. Then, he prepared himself. ¡®Might as well start now.¡¯ Shang used his Domain of Entropy to connect with the Abominations. Sure enough, he could feel 20 True Path Stage Abominations and their armies. When Shang extended his perception to one of them, he began to pull. The line that connected them to the other Abominations was suddenly cut, isting them. As Shang pulled, the smaller Abominations didn''t get pulled along with the big one. It proved to be quite easy to summon the Abomination, and just two minutester... SHING! The Abomination appeared right in front of Shang. Inparison to Commander Stage Abominations, this one had four muscr arms, and it stood in a slumped but upright position. It also had hands that reminded Shang a bit of human hands, but they weren''t even nearly developed enough to grab anything. However, the Abomination''s face was still filled with ck tentacles that extended toward the ground. Allin all, it looked terrifying, but Shang had gotten used to the way the Abominations looked. Additionally, Shang always felt a deep connection with them. It was like they were one and the same thing. The Abomination extended one of its arms, and Shang touched it. Amomentter, the Abomination got absorbed into his body, and Shang felt his power increase. This was nothing new to Shang. It was the same as always, just with a more powerful Abomination. After absorbing the Abomination, Shang checked his surroundings with his Spirit Sense. Not a single beast had reacted. Usually, the beasts would go wild if an Abomination appeared in their vicinity, but this time, it was like absolutely nothing had happened. Sure enough, the God''s istion had worked. Shang closed and extended his fingers again and felt the raw power in them. ¡®l can''t wait for the trial!" Chapter 447 Chapter 447 After absorbing the Abomination, Shang took out his Communication Crystal. "Yes?" came the neutral voice of Jerald. "I''ve advanced." Silence. "Really?" Jerald said with a much brighter and shocked voice. "Yes, I''ve reached the True Path Stage. I''ve created my True Path,¡± Shang answered. "Finally," Jerald said with exhaustion. "Finally, it''s time." ¡°Not entirely," Shang said. "I want to undergo the trial before we do anything. This can increase my power even more." "Oh, right," Jerald said, some of his good mood gone. "Yes, as discussed, it would be better if we do everything after the trial. Do you know when you will take it?" "There have been some changes," Shang said. "Changes?" Jerald asked with skepticism. For just a moment, he thought that Shang would go back on what they had agreed on. ¡°Not from my side, but from his side. You know who I''m talking about," Shang said. Jerald didn''t know who Shang meant. "The God," Shang said after a while. "Wait, he contacted you? He can just do that?" Jerald asked in surprise. "Yes, he can," Shang said. "| was also a bit surprised, but it shouldn''t actually be surprising when you think about it. This is his world. He can do whatever he wants." "| guess so," Jerald answered. "What changes?" Shang told Jerald that he was now responsible for his own power, not the warriors¡¯ power and that there would also be a new personing soon. "So, he''s sending another one to take over your job?" Jerald asked. "Correct," Shang answered. "He said that it would be a man since he kept referring to him as he. | can imagine that he would have received simr instructions to me, which means that he will probably only appear sometime in the next three years and not immediately." "| have been tasked with helping him a bit by exining several things to him. | would ask you to pay attention to people that are simr to how | was when you found me. Of course, as long as he doesn''t actively show signs, it will be difficult to find him. It might even be possible that he doesn''t even know about me. After all, | also didn''t know about George being someone like me back then." ¡°However, he will almost certainly appear somewhere in the Storm Eagle Zone, and he will most likely try to enter the Warrior''s Academy." "It might take several months to three years until he gains the power and experience to get through the Warrior Academy''s exam.¡± "Could you keep me informed about new students that might possibly be him?" Shang asked. "No problem," Jerald answered. "Thank you," Shang said. "Then, | will continue training until it is time for the trial. | will contact you when it''s time." "Wait a second," Jerald said. "Yes?" "| want to see how powerful you have be. Is it fine if |e over right now?" Jerald asked. Shang could understand why Jerald wanted to check Shang''s power. After all, Jerald''s ns hinged on Shang being powerful enough to fight Mid High Mages. An Initial True Path Stage warrior that could fight such a powerful Mage should be an impossibility. However, when it came to Shang, Jerald estimated that it was possible. But that was still only an estimation. He wanted to see how powerful Shang had truly be. "Sure," Shang said. "Alright," Jerald said before cutting the connection. Shang put his Communication Crystal away and waited. Acouple of minutester, Shang felt Jerald enter the Caves. Shang watched him for a couple of seconds. His entire perspective had changed. Jerald was no longer a humongous giant whose power was inestimable by Shang. This time, Shang was powerful enough to actually estimate Jerald''s power. And what he felt was beyond impressive. Jerald was still a Late High Mage, but he definitely didn''t feel like one. No, he was far more imposing and powerful. Shang estimated that he could fight a Mid High Mage without any issues, and he even hoped that he might have a tiny chance against a Late High Mage. However, when he saw Jerald''s power, Shang felt minuscule. He had the same kind of power and aura as all these powerful geniuses in the trials, and he was a Late High Mage. One had to remember that a powerful genius True Mage would be average when they became a High Mage. However, Jerald had this genius aura as a Late High Mage. This was beyond impressive. Shang even estimated that Jerald might be the most powerful Late High Mage in all five Kingdoms. ¡®If someone can be an Archmage, it will be him,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l can understand why the Council fears pushing him to the edge.¡¯ ¡®At least, they feared him in the past,¡¯ Shang thought with a sigh as he remembered that Jerald¡¯''s son, Mattheo, had already died. The world had changed too much in thest decades, and nothing was how it had been in the past. ¡®I''m already thinking like an old man,¡¯ Shang thought with slight amusement. ¡®| mean, I''m already 82." "| can sense you, Jerald," Shang transmitted to him. Jerald''s eyebrows shot up as he tried to find Shang with his Spirit Sense. ¡°How are you doing that?" Jerald asked after he realized that he couldn''t find Shang.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. "The range of my Spirit Sense is bigger. I''m where | always am," Shang answered. Jerald''s jaw nearly dropped when he heard that. There were nearly 20 kilometers between them right now! Jerald stopped advancing, and a solemn expression appeared on his face. "You have to keep that a secret, Shang," Jerald said. "| know," Shang said. "Then why did you tell me?" Jerald asked. "Because | trust you," Shang answered. Jerald could only sigh. "Fine." Shang understood why he should keep his Spirit Sense a secret. In the five Kingdoms, there hadn''t been a single High Mage with such a far-reaching Spirit Sense. If, suddenly, a warrior could achieve something not even any High Mage in the known past could have achieved, the panic and fear of the five Kingdoms would explode. Maybe even the Kings would directly try to eliminate Shang. No one wanted someone they didn''t know that had lived in their lands to be more powerful than them. After all, what if that person had a horrible life in their Kingdom, and they med the King? What if the King had already offended that person but simply didn''t remember the incident because the person had been so weak that they didn''t even stay in the King''s memory? This was something very dangerous. Because of that, Shang had to keep it a secret. His ability to flee from a High Mage as a Late Commander Stage warrior was definitely impressive, but there had been Mages that could do something simr. Additionally, the details were not clear to the public. However, creating such a Spirit Sense signified that Shang had gone further than any Mage had ever gone in the five Kingdoms. It was unprecedented and potentially dangerous for the Mages. After a couple of minutes of traveling through theplicatedyout of the Caves, Jerald could finally see Shang with his Spirit Sense. And he stopped advancing. His eyes widened in shock. For several seconds, he remained silent. Then, a relieved smile appeared on his face, as a couple of tears appeared in his eyes. ¡°Mattheo, George, | can finally take revenge," he quietly said to himself. "Thank you, Shang," Jerald said. "I''m relieved now." Shang nodded, and a small smile also appeared on his face. "We''ve waited for long enough." "We did. After feeling your power, | can rest assured about our n." Shang nodded. Jerald wanted to turn around, but he suddenly got an idea. "Say, Shang?" Jerald asked. "Yes?" "You haven''t fought a Mage in several decades, right?" "Yes, sadly," Shang answered. "I have a lot of things | want to try out, and | need to properly optimize my techniques further." At that moment, a small grin appeared on Jerald''s face. "| think you''re strong enough that you might benefit from training with me," Jerald said. Shang''s eyebrows rose when he heard that. Train with Jerald? He hadn''t even thought of that! ¡°How about we spar for a couple of weeks so that you can properly test your techniques?" Jerald asked. Shang thought about that for a bit and quickly nodded. "That would be great. Thank you." "No problem," Jerald answered. "I''ll arrange everything. | will be back in, at most, three hours." Shang nodded, and Jerald left. And two hourster, he returned. Once again, Shang would be training with someone he couldn''t possibly beat. Chapter 448 Chapter 448 Jerald took it easy on Shang. After all, Jerald was far more powerful than him. For now, Jerald decided to emte a normal Mid High Mage. He simply slowed his movements and used less Mana for his Spells. Sure enough, Shang had shown incredible power. In fact, Jerald had to do his best not to increase his power by more since Shang kept pushing him back at frightening speeds. The new techniques Shang hade up with in thest 50 years were especially terrifying. Just the fact that Shang had created such an effective technique against Mages in his Colossal Sword State was impressive. Jerald also felt the power of Shang''s attacks on his Mana Shield. Initially, it wasn''t anything too special, but as Shang entered his Great Sword State, the power ramped up significantly! And when Shang entered his Saber State, the fight hadpletely changed yet again. But the most terrifying state was the Long Sword State. At least for Mages. Shang had dealt significant damage to Jerald''s Mana Shield in that state, and he even had to stop Shang before hepletely ran out of Mana. Shang had managed to break the Mana Shield of a Late High Mage, although Jerald had been fighting with the strength of a normal Mid High Mage. At that point, there was no more doubt. Shang had definitely reached a level where he could kill an average Mid High Mage. That was a jump of two levels! Against a Mage! Back when Shang had been in the second trial, he hade to a draw with the powerful Early True Mage. Fighting against an average Mid True Mage should have been about as difficult, maybe a bit easier. But this time, Shang had been on the offensive several times, and he could have probably progressed even faster if he wasn''t testing out several of his new techniques. Additionally, his body wasn''t even at its peak for his level! It was only a bit more than 80% as powerful as an Initial True Path Stage beast. After a while, Jerald decided to fight with his Full Mana, but without using any special Spells or tactics. In essence, Shang was now fighting an average Late High Mage. And it was rough. Jerald essentially yed with Shang, and Shang''s offensive had been weakened significantly. From this moment on, he only rarely managed to deal more damage to the Mana Shield than Jerald recovered Mana, and the terrifying thing was that Jerald would just recover more Mana after the short offense. In short, Shang didn''t manage to win. Over the next couple of weeks, Shang''s techniques became more efficient and flowed into each other. Near the end, Jerald wasn''t sure if Shang could win against an average Late High Mage or not. It looked about even. Jerald also couldn''t be sure if he hadn''t overdone it with weakening himself. After all, if this were a game, he would essentially be using only five of his over 30 buttons. Because of that, he couldn''t be sure if Shang could win. ALate High Mage, when pushed to the brink, could unleash significant power. After all, they would die otherwise. However, Shang could probably do the same if he faced death. For Jerald, it was all up in the air, and he couldn''t be sure if Shang could win or not. Nevertheless, Shang''s power was higher than Jerald had hoped before he reached the True Path Stage. With this power, his n could definitely work. Jerald had to take some breaks to manage his Zone every couple of days, but he always returned rtively quickly. After around three months of training, Shang''s power stopped increasing, which meant that he had gotten used to fighting Mages again and that he had solidified his theories into practical applications. From now on, Shang''s progression of power would return to normal, and it would take a long time for him to make any major leaps. At that point, the two of them stopped their practice. There was no more point in continuing. At that point, Jerald shared his n with Shang, and Shang finally realized why Jerald had said that his power would be the key to sess. He definitely hadn''t exaggerated. If Shang messed up, Jerald might very likely die. Jerald was truly trusting Shang with his life. This had never truly happened before. Sure, there had been the barbarians, but it had been ingrained in their traditions to trust their leaders with their lives. But when it came to someone as powerful and talented as Jerald, this was somethingpletely different. At the same time, Shang also felt guilty that he didn''t tell Jerald the truth about his connection with the Abominations. Jerald trusted Shang with his life, but Shang couldn''t do the same thing in return. Shang was simply too afraid of what might happen. Shang knew that his very existence would bring cmity to the entire world. The more powerful he became, the more powerful the Abominations across the entire world became. It might already be possible that Shang had indirectly killed millions of people just by bing more powerful, and it would only get more extreme as more time passed. Assuming Jerald knew of Shang''s secret in the far future, what would happen when Shang vastly overtook him in power? At some point, Jerald''s home or Kingdom might be assaulted by Abominations that were far too powerful to resist. Jerald might lose everything. And if he somehow managed to survive, what would he think? He knew that it would only get worse. At some point, he would die to the Abominations. Shang couldn''t always be around and protect him then! Even more, the catastrophic effects of the Abominations would only strengthen.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. One life in exchange for saving the entire world. Shang didn''t want to force Jerald into making such a decision. If Shang were in Jerald''s shoes, he knew what he would do. He couldn''t allow himself to die. He couldn''t allow someone that would be responsible for his death in the future to continue living. These thoughts made it impossible for Shang to share his deepest secrets. After the two of them talked about the n some more, Jerald left. He also had to prepare himself for the n. After all, it wasn''t only Shang that needed to do something. Shang stayed in the Caves. For the next three years, he mostly focused on working on his Affinities and his control over Mana. Creating more techniques would take too long at his current level. Shang managed to push his body to the peak just a couple of weeks before the deadline arrived. And then, it was finally time for the trial! Chapter 449 Chapter 449 Shang entered his inner world together with Sword. It was finally time. Right now, Sword was in its Colossal Sword State, making it over two meters long and half a meter wide. Shang was wearing a ck suit of armor that covered his entire body, and his hair had been shortened so that it only went a bit over his shoulders. Wrapped around his left eye socket was a ck band made of cloth. In the past 50 years, Shang had aged quite a bit, but after he reached the True Path Stage, his perceived age receded. Right now, Shang looked like he was in his early twenties again, which was understandable considering his longevity. If a True Path Stage warrior could live as long as a High Mage, Shang could live to be up to 500 years old. This meant that not even 20% of his life had passed. In a way, he looked very simr to the time he had returned to the Skythunder Kingdom. The only difference was the size of his weapon and his armor. "We can begin," Shang said. The big stele in the middle of his world vanished, and the old familiar wheel returned.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. Just like always, the jester sat on the wheel with a smirk. ¡°What did you decide regarding the warrior category?" Shang asked without looking at the jester. "Well," the jester answered, "| gave it some thought, and | decided..." "That | will get rid of that category." Shang furrowed his brows. "Any special reason?" he asked. "You''ve created something interesting, Shang," the jester said. "Connecting four Stars is not something unprecedented, but it is very rare, even in the grand scheme of things." ¡°And I''m very interested in what someone like you cane up with." "If | were to give you the opportunity to fight against ancient warriors, you would take inspiration from their fighting style, which might very likely make you emte these old fighting styles." ¡°However, that''s boring, and | want something new. That''s why | got rid of the warrior category." ¡°| want to see what you cane up with without anyone to guide you." Shang nodded expressionlessly. Naturally, he wasn''t a big fan of that. Not being able to see others that were simr to him made it only harder to progress. Being able to fight ancient warriors would give Shang some insight into what they were aiming for with their power, giving him an inkling as to where he should focus his attention and time. But without it, things would be difficult. ¡°Of course, the rewards have been rescaled,¡± the jester said. "Since you can''t gain as many points as previously with one category missing, I''ve scrapped some of the more useless rewards and increased the overall quality. Additionally, | also got rid of rewards that are useless to you but useful to other warriors." "This is your trial now, not a trial to see how far the warriors havee." Shang didn''t answer. After some seconds, the jester''s smirk widened into a grin. "Beast category,¡± the mechanical female voice reappeared. "Level one: Weak True Path Stage beast." The wheel began to spin, and Shang felt like there were far more options on the wheel now. There were so many options that it nearly became impossible for Shang to make them out, even with his Spirit Sense. There were probably over a million, which was insane. That was when Shang realized that the God was probably including every single beast in the world. Over a million different kinds of True Path Stage beasts. That meant that there were probably over a billion beasts in the world that had already reached the True Path Stage. Thinking about such a number made Shang feel unimportant and minuscule. He had expected that the world would be big, but he hadn''t expected it to be that big! If there were that many True Path Stage beasts already, how many Commander Stage, General Stage, and Soldier Stage beasts would be there? A hundred billion? A trillion? Ten trillion? Earth had already been overfilled with humans, and they had only been about seven to eight billion. How many humans were in this world that so many beasts could also live here? How big was this world? A hundred thousand kilometers wide? Amillion? Ten million? Shang had no idea, but he was sure that it had to be absolutely gigantic. No wonder the God called this world his main world. Earth couldn''t even begin topare in size. After a couple of seconds, the wheel stopped on something Shang couldn''t make out. The field reserved for this beast was just too narrow for Shang to make out the picture. But then, the picture became bigger and overtook the wheel. It was a stork wearing a stupid fish costume. SHING! At that moment, Shang''s opponent appeared, and he looked over. It was a thirty-meter-tall stork with scales for feathers, which looked very unusual. Its beak looked very violent, and its scales were oceanic blue. Shang slowly took out his sword and waited. The jester lifted his hammer with a grin. DING! And hit the bell! The stork opened its eyes and looked at its opponent... Just to see a gigantic wave of firee toward it! BOOOOOOM! The stork screeched as a huge part of its body exploded into the surroundings. Acouple of secondster, it died. Shang put his sword on the ground and returned to waiting. At that moment, the jester whistled with positive surprise. "Isn''t that one of your techniques for your Saber?¡± "It is," Shang answered. "That''s why it was quite a bit slower and didn''t have as much power." Yes, this was one of Shang''s new techniques. This was no longer the typical ranged attack but something far more advanced. After Shang had created that technique, his body always cooled down a lot whenever he used it. The technique could, at most, be used three times in a row before Shang had to heat up his entire body again. However, its power had been beyond impressive. Inparison to the normal ranged attack, this one gathered all the destructive energies into a small point, releasing them when they hit something solid. Sadly, while using his Colossal Sword, Shang couldn''t concentrate the energies properly, creating this massive wave, which essentially reduced the attack''s power. Yet, one had to keep in mind that Shang could only use it three times in a row before he had to slowly warm his body again... At least, that was how it was when he had still been at the Commander Stage. This technique was part of Shang''s Path, and his Path also included his four Affinities. When Shang reached the True Path Stage, his body had adapted to his Path, making it far easier to use it. After releasing that attack, Shang''s body only cooled down by a little bit. The Mana inside Shang''s body made use of the cold bacsh created by the technique, distributed it over the entire body, and even absorbed some of the Ice Mana that had been created back into Shang''s body. While Shang had only been able to use that attack three times in a row back at the Commander Stage... Now, he could use it probably over 20 times in a row. His new Battle-Strength couldn''t bepared to the weak and frail Shang that had just returned to the Skythunder Kingdom. Now, Shang could kill a beast on his level from about three kilometers away by swinging his sword just a bit. Shang''s Battle-Strength had advanced to a level where a casual ranged attack had the same power as an offensive Spell of a Mage on his level. Chapter 450 Chapter 450 The second beast only did marginally better. It nearly died with the first attack, but Shang had to unleash a second one to finish it off. When Shang thought about his next opponent, he got a bit annoyed. WHOOOM! SHING! ck fire gathered on the sword and was thrown into the distance, transforming it into a saber. Shang didn''t want to use several attacks to get rid of the next beast since it would be a powerful one, which was why he had transformed Sword into its Saber State. Shang didn''t really care about the ore he had just now essentially thrown out of the window. He had so much ore that this was no issue at all. Some secondster, Shang''s third opponent appeared. It was some wolf with metal armor. Its appearance and power weren''t really important since it would die very quickly anyway. Shang pointed his Saber downward, its tip touching the ground just a bit behind Shang. The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! Amomentter, Shang''s Saber rapidly moved forward on the ground. As it moved forward, it left a straight line of burning red on the ground. As the line reached a length of a bit more than a meter, a spiky and sharp tip appeared at its front. It looked just like a primitive spear! At that instant, the muscles on Shang''s right arm bulged, and he shed forward like he was trying to throw something, that was lying on the ground, forward with his Saber. SHING! The fire spear immediately shot forward with incredible speed just as the wolf opened its eyes. The wolf very quickly noticed the attack with its terrifying instincts, but its body was just too slow to evade. The tip of the Fire Spear touched its torso. BOOOOOOOOOM! Agigantic explosion urred, releasing a destructive wave of Fire Mana in a cone! Shang calmly inspected the area of destruction with his Spirit Sense. The wolf was still alive but severely injured. Shang lifted his Saber and shed forward. Another fire spear was created above Shang, and it shot forward just like the first one. BOOOOOOOM! And the wolf was dead. A powerful Initial True Path Stage beast died just like that. This was one of Shang''s new techniques. Due to the fiery and bright streak the spear left behind as it traveled through the air, Shang decided to call it Shooting Star. Shooting Star was the epitome of a warrior''s ranged technique, and it perfectly symbolized Shang''s fighting style in the Saber State. Explosive domination from range. The corpse vanished, and the apuse appeared. The wheel returned, and Shang waited for his next opponent. The next one was another bird, and from the looks of it, it didn''t have a lot of defensive powers. One Shooting Star, and it was dead. The next opponent was some bug, and its defense looked rather solid. One Shooting Star wouldn''t be enough. However, that wasn''t an issue. One had to remember that Shang''s Saber was also focused on speed. His attacks weren''t intended to kill an enemy in one hit. No, they were supposed to be unleashed in a barrage! The tip of Shang''s Saber traveled forward on the ground, releasing a Shooting Star. As the first Shooting Star was already on its way to its opponent, Shang''s Saber continued swinging, creating a bright Halfmoon. As soon as the tip of Shang''s Saber arrived above him, the fiery Halfmoon also shot forward! At the same time as the Halfmoon shot forward, Shang''s Saber also stopped above him.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Then, he turned it around, and shed forward again, creating another Shooting Star! All three attacks had beenunched before the first one had even reached its target! BOOOOM! CRRKKSSHH! BOOOOM! The Shooting Star exploded on the target, destroying a huge part of its armor. The Halfmoon didn''t explode when it hit the target but burned itself into the enemy''s body. Thest Shooting Star hit the crevice that the Halfmoon had left behind and exploded inside the target''s body, blowing it into pieces. The opponent was dead. Shang put his Saber to the side again, his body having only gotten a bit paler. Its temperature had lowered by just a couple of degrees. This short barrage was a taste of Shang''s true fighting style while being in the Saber State. The Halfmoon was called Hidden Sun. Shang called it that due to three reasons. First, it was a fire attack. Second, a Halfmoon couldn''t easily be seen while the sun was shining. Third, Hidden Sun would catch the opponents by surprise since they would be distracted by the first Shooting Star, likely making them miss this second attack. This was Shang''s standard attack pattern in the Saber State. Swing upward, Shooting Star, Hidden Sun, swing downward, Shooting Star, Hidden Sun, swing upward, and so on. This assault was relentless, powerful, and it also alternated the kinds of attacks, strengthening them both. Shooting Star was better at dealing with armor, while Hidden Sun could deal more prating damage to weaker parts. Shooting Star destroyed the armor, Hidden Sun cut through the exposed body, and another Shooting Star exploded inside the body. And this pattern could be repeated for up to 20 attacks in a row before Shang had to deal with the temperature of his body... At least, if he were standing still. Now, if he kept charging around with his Ice st... Yes, this barrage could be kept up indefinitely. The tiny swings in temperature could be easily handled. If a body''s temperature suddenly fell by twenty degrees and then increased by twenty degrees, the body would rupture and break in many ces. However, if it was only a change of one degree, it wouldn''t be a problem. The Ice sts would repay the cost of Shang''s attacks, and the attacks would repay the cost of the Ice sts. In his Saber State, Shang had managed to create a perfect equilibrium with his temperature without needing to injure himself or needing to take a break. Shang could release infinite Ice sts and infinite Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns. His speed was ridiculous. His offensive power was ridiculous. His sustain was ridiculous. And this was only one of his four weapons! Chapter 451 Chapter 451 The corpse of the bug quickly vanished, and the cheering returned. An average beast, a level above him, wasn''t very difficult for Shang to kill. He only needed to release three attacks and didn''t even need to move from his spot. Shang''s offensive power in his Saber State was insanely powerful. He could essentially release over ten attacks equivalent to basic Spells of High Mages in just a single second. The wheel returned and began to spin again. ¡°Level six: Powerful Early True Path Stage beast." Shang looked at the wheel with a bit of subdued interest. When it stopped, the picture itnded on erged, and Shang could see the image of an old tortoise with a cartoony castle on its back. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and he looked over. It was big. Like, really big. Shang guessed that it was probably around as big as the Exploding Mountain Turtle he had seen back then at around 500 meters high.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. It was a gigantic, ck tortoisepletely surrounded by a thickyer of ck metal. Even its eyes, ears, and mouth were surrounded by the metal. In a way, it looked like a humongous statue made of metal. However, the Exploding Mountain Turtle was obviously not on the level of this imposing armored fortress. Shang could already guess why the tortoise counted as a powerful beast. There were two ways to be truly powerful in general. The traditional and most-used way was to eradicate all weaknesses and be good at everything. Good speed. Good attacking power. Good defense. Good tactics. However, there was a second, rarer way. It was to push one aspect so incredibly high that the others didn''t matter anymore. If one got ess to insane speeds, defense didn''t matter. The opponent wouldn''t even be able to unleash an attack before they died. Offensive power also wouldn''t matter as much since thebatant could make up for theirck of offense by simply attacking an insane number of times in a short moment. This tortoise had obviously pushed its defensive powers to the absolute limit. If it was impossible to injure it, it wouldn''t die. It could just slowly suppress its opponent into nothingness. Sure, its offensive power and speed were probably not very great, but it had all the time in the world to win. It probably wouldn''t mind slowly exhausting its opponent to death over several hours. At some point, its opponent was bound to make a mistake. "High defense is the weakness of my Saber State. | wonder if the God chose this opponent on purpose,¡¯ Shang thought. Yes, Shang''s Saber State had an insane offensive power, but it was released in the number of attacks he released, not the attacks¡¯ individual power. One turret from Earth could kill thousands of people in one continuous barrage, but it couldn''t punch through a tank with the same ammunition. The tank could just drive forward and drive over the turret. Did that mean that the turret didn''t have a lot of destructive potential? Of course not! After all, it had killed thousands of humans already. It simplycked the necessary power to prate the tank''s armor. Shang''s Saber State was essentially such a turret. Shang considered changing his Saber into a Great Sword. He would need to evade for a couple of seconds to let Sword absorb the ore, though. ¡®Actually, this tortoise is just perfect for testing my other attack.¡¯ In the end, Shang decided to leave his Sword in its Saber State. The jester slowly lifted its mechanical arm and hit the bell with its hammer. DING! Shang immediatelyunched several Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! All of them hit the tortoise''s head, but it only heated up. However, heat could also kill a beast, and Shang could see that the tortoise was already in a bit of pain. SHING! SHING! SHING! At that moment, over thirty metallic spears appeared around the tortoise. BANG! BANG! BANG! The metallic spears intercepted Shang''s attacks and made them detonate early as its head cooled down again. Shang continued unleashing his attacks, and he even started to use Ice st to keep his body at a good temperature while running around the area. After around ten seconds, Shang had already unleashed over a hundred attacks, and he didn''t need to stop anytime soon. He could continue this barrage until tomorrow. After these ten seconds, some of his attacks began to connect with the tortoise''s head, but it wasn''t because of Shang''s overwhelming offense. The tortoise simply let some of them through so that it didn''t waste too much Mana. Just like Shang, the tortoise could probably continue keeping up its defense indefinitely. Its entire power was based on long and drawn-out battles. ¡®Sure enough, Shooting Star and Hidden Sun won''t get me far against this tortoise,¡¯ Shang thought. BANG! Suddenly, Shang changed his trajectory and kept using Ice sts to advance toward the tortoise. During the advance, he still kept shooting attacks at the tortoise. His attacks might not have the power to injure the tortoise, but they stopped it from using its spears to target Shang. As Shang approached the tortoise, he had a thought. ¡®Is this how Mages fight each other?¡¯ he thought. ''Is this the kind of battle the powerful Mages have with each other?" Shang imagined several hours of only this happening until one of the opponents made a mistake. Sure, a couple of seconds and maybe even minutes were interesting, but several hours? The two opponents were probably the only two that wouldn''t get bored by such a fight. Shang could understand why the God was bored. "Right?" the jester suddenly shouted from his wheel. "It''s boring!" Shang didn''t answer. After a while, Shang reached the tortoise''s gigantic leg. By now, the spears no longer appeared above the tortoise but beside its body. It could summon the spears wherever it wanted. Shang just kept unleashing his assault. But then, his attacks suddenly changed. Shang''s Saber touched the ground and swung forward like he was releasing another Shooting Star, but this time, he wasn''t using Shooting Star. A fiery red line appeared on the ground, and it traveled forward until it was below the tortoise. CRRRRRRRRR! As soon as the line arrived below the middle of the tortoise''s gigantic body, a gigantic pir of me shot upwards. It was like a gigantic welding torch had appeared below the tortoise. The tortoise was used to using its spears to stop the attacks, but this time, the attack was not explosive, which meant that its spears didn''t work. The violent mes simply went around the spears. When the tortoise saw that, it changed its tactics. All the spears pointed towards Shang, and it fired. BANG! Shang kept using his Ice sts to move around at incredible speeds. His speed was far faster than the tortoise, and it was even a bit faster than its spears. He had to be careful not to get hit by the spears, but that wouldn''t be a problem in the short run. Sure, if he did that for multiple hours, he might slip up, but not in just a couple of seconds. While bursting around the tortoise, Shang kept releasing more and more pirs, and the violent me below the tortoise never stopped burning. Just two secondster, the tortoise''s belly started to turn red with mes, and Shang could tell that the tortoise was in quite a lot of pain. At that moment, the tortoise''s attacks stopped, and the next moment, its belly began to grow. It was like the tortoise''s belly was trying to grow until it reached the ground. CLINK! But then, the metal of its belly suddenly fell off and hit the ground. Its belly wasn''t growing. It had simply created another wall of armor beneath its outer wall and dropped the old one. The newyer was still a bit hot but not nearly hot enough to injure the tortoise. Additionally, the newyer of metal on the ground severely weakened Shang''s mes. It seemed like Inferno didn''t work. Yes, Inferno was the name of this attack. Shang had specifically created it to deal with enemies with a lot of defensive powers while he was using his Saber. It was meant to burn the opponent alive by adding more and more heat to their bodies. Sadly, as a very powerful beastpletely focused on defense, this didn''t work. The tortoise had used quite a smart way to deal with Inferno. ¡®Well, seems like Inferno doesn''t really work,¡¯ Shang thought. The only thing he was feeling right now was a bit of disappointment and annoyance. ¡®| don''t really want to dodge its attacks while Sword absorbs some ore. I''ll just end it now." Shang changed direction and charged away from the tortoise again while switching back to Shooting Star and Hidden Sun. The tortoise also changed back to its spears to intercept Shang''s attacks. After Shang swung his Saber upwards, he didn''t release another Shooting Star. Instead, he pulled his Saber even further back. His left leg rose topensate for Shang bending backward by so much. And then, he shed forward with all his power... And threw his Saber at the tortoise''s head! The Saber flew with even more speed than Shooting Star. WHOOOM! At that moment, ck fire appeared around the Saber, and it transformed into a shining ck bullet. And it hit the tortoise''s head. CRACK! It immediately broke past the armor! CRACK! And shot out of the other side of the tortoise''s head. The tortoise''s assault stopped, and a muffled moan thundered throughout the surroundings. If Shang had to describe it, he would say it sounded like a crying mountain. Amomentter, ck fire came out of the holes in the tortoise''s head. At the same time, Shang caught Sword. At this level, Sword could fly with a lot of speed, and it had already returned to Shang. However, now, Sword was in its Long Sword State. BOOOOOM! And then, the tortoise copsed. It was dead. This was Shang''sst new attack for his Saber State, and he used it as a hidden trump card that either killed his opponent or severely injured them. If Shang were forced to use this attack, it would mean that his opponent could deal with his barrage of attacks, and they would have already gotten used to Shang''s rhythm. However, the wind-up of this attack was nearly identical to how Shang released a Shooting Star, and the increased speed would also take the opponent by surprise. And if the opponent was still alive after that, Shang would surprise them by transitioning into his Long Sword State. It was an incredibly deadly attack hidden amongst a flurry of normal attacks. Shang called this attack Star Shatter. Chapter 452 Chapter 452 The corpse vanished, and the apuse returned. The wheel began to spin. ¡°Level seven: Weak Mid True Path Stage beast." At that moment, Shang took out some ore and allowed Sword to return to its Saber State while he waited for his opponent. His Long Sword State was not very good against beasts but devastating to Mages. His Long Sword State wouldn''t be very useful in the beast category. Sword returned to its Saber State just when the new picture appeared, but Shang didn''t even look at it. SHING! When Shang saw his next opponent, he raised an eyebrow. ¡®A hippo? That''s a new one.¡¯ It was a massive hippo, nearly 200 meters long and 50 meters high. ¡®Aren''t hippos usually pretty powerful?¡¯ But as he looked closer at the hippo with his Spirit Sense, he realized why. Shang felt a lot of Water Manae from it. Shang had gained the ability to feel all kinds of Mana after he reached the True Path Stage, which was how he was able to tell that the hippo had a Water Affinity. Water wasn''t very good in one-on-one fights. DING! The bell rang, and Shang unleashed more Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns. The hippo was dead within five attacks. It didn''t even take a second. ¡°Level eight: Average Mid True Path Stage beast." Shang just waited. SHING! Eventually, a huge brown pangolin appeared in front of Shang. "Why do | only get beasts with a lot of defense this time?¡¯ he thought. DING! The bell rang, and the pangolin immediately had to deal with a barrage of attacksing at it. It turned into a ball and summoned boulders, which it threw at the attacks while rolling around the area. Acouple of Shang''s attacks hit, but its defense was powerful enough to shrug those couple of attacks off. It was simr to the tortoise from before when it came to its defense. However, it was an average beast, not a powerful one. Shang changed tactics and burst after it while releasing more attacks. As Shang ran beside its body, he changed his attacks to Inferno. One hot pir of fire after the other appeared around the pangolin''s rolling body. The pangolin focused on evading the pirs while assaulting Shang with stones. Its offensive powers were about as powerful as the tortoise''s as well. However, avoiding the mes proved impossible. Shang was very good at aiming Inferno. Sure, the rolling motion did a lot to distribute the heat over the entire body, but that only meant that Shang needed to spend some extra seconds. After around 15 seconds, the pangolin started to spasm and returned to its normal form. Its entire body was burning violently, and it even started melting in some ces. It was dying, and three secondster, it was over.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Sure enough, the pangolin might have the same offensive and defensive powers as the tortoise, but that was because it was an entire level stronger than it. Additionally, it didn''t have the ingenious method that the tortoise had used to defend itself from Inferno. The corpse vanished, and the cheering returned. ¡°Level nine: Powerful Mid True Path Stage beast." This time, Shang looked over at the wheel. The next fight definitely wouldn''t be easy, but it also wouldn''t be hard. When the wheel stopped, Shang could see a smiling spider sitting on a throne of ice. SHING! The beast that actually appeared surprised Shang by a bit. It was small. Shang had been fighting beasts that were hundreds of meters long, but this spider was barely five meters wide. Quite small for a True Path Stage beast. However, that wasn''tpletely unusual. Most of the smaller True Path Stage beasts were this small to take advantage of their speed and flexibility. After all, hitting a smaller target was harder than hitting a big one. Ice Affinity, a lot of speed, obviously a lot of offensive power, and probably also quite good defense,¡¯ Shang thought. This powerful beast was good at everything. The spider had very long and thin legs with aparatively smaller abdomen. The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! Shang already began releasing his attacks, and the spider looked over. Shang could feel that it wasn''t too worried. SHING! With no sound, the spider shot forward, directly at the attacks. Two of its legs turned icy blue and attacked Shang''s attacks. DING! DING! DING! Surprisingly, Shang''s attacks didn''t explode, and the spider even managed to divert them. It kind of reminded Shang of himself when he was charging at an enemy Mage. It seemed like Shang''s offense was useless against the agile spider. However, when Shang saw how it dealt with his attacks, he only smirked a bit. As if he hadn''t considered such an opponent while creating his battle style. After releasing another Shooting Star, Shang''s Saber went to the side and released a horizontal sh. The Hidden Sun he released was now angledpletely differently. BOOOOOM! Due to the new angle, the Hidden Sun connected with Shang''s opponent, but the spider''s body only heated up by a bit. Sure enough, it also had a lot of defense. After swinging his Saber to his left, Shang slightly changed the angle at which he was holding his Saber and swung to his right again. However, what the spider didn''t see was how Shang''s Saber slightly paused at a certain spot before continuing. Another Hidden Sun shot at the spider, and it used one of its legs to deflect. Whoosh! However, its leg missed! The crescent-shaped Hidden Sun had suddenly copsed into itself! It folded at a certain ce, and the two parts of the crescent turned into one line. One could easily imagine this picture by taking a thread of wool and folding it. It would still be in the shape of a line, but the line would point forward instead of from side to side. The Hidden Sun had transformed into a Shooting Star mid-flight! Yes, Shang could do that, but it would slow his offense by a bit. But a bit of variation was deadly against opponents that dealt with his attacks by anticipating their trajectory. From this moment onward, Shang kept releasing Hidden Suns that copsed into Shooting Stars at different ces, making it nearly impossible to foresee where the attack came from. The spider was slowly umting damage, but it would still take a while to kill it. And just a secondter, it arrived in front of Shang. Obviously, it was a beast that loved fighting in close quarters, which was also why it hadn''t released a single ranged attack. ¡®| guess this is how a Mage feels while fighting me,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the spider. Four of the spider''s legs turned blue, and it lifted its body to stab Shang with them. BANG! BANG! Shang very quickly released two Ice sts to change his trajectory, evading two of the legs. Then, his body spun until his feet pointed to his right, evading the third leg. Thest leg pointed right at Shang. Then, he swung his Saber. CRACK! Shang parried the leg, cracking its icy armor. BANG! As soon as the Saber cracked the armor, it released an explosion, breaking the leg off the spider''s body. Then, Shang simply sted away with another Ice st. ¡®But I''m not a Mage.¡¯ One couldn''t fault someone fighting Shang for thinking that he was bad at closebat after he released such an intense barrage of ranged attacks. However, Shang was a warrior. Warriors thrived in closebat. The spider also jumped back when it realized that it had lost one of its legs. BOOOOM! Suddenly, the ground below it exploded with fire. Shang had used Inferno. The spider felt the heat building up and jumped to the side. BANG! That was when Shang arrived in front of it with a burning Saber. CRACK! BANG! Another leg was destroyed. At that moment, a terrifying amount of blue and spiky silk shot out of the spider''s mouth. This was a powerful beast, and it obviously had trump cards. BANG! BANG! Shang retreated with two Ice sts and released a couple of Hidden Suns at the, destroying it before it reached him. Then, Shang went back to his basic attacking pattern and alternatingly used Shooting Star and Hidden Sun. With two fewer legs, the spider couldn''t even muster a proper defense, and it slowly died over the next three seconds. This was the first opponent of the trial that forced Shang into fighting at close range. The ninth opponent was the first one that managed to reach Shang. This, more than anything, showed how far Shang''s Battle-Strength had progressed. Chapter 453 Chapter 453 The wheel slowly returned. ¡°Level ten: Weak Late True Path Stage beast.¡± The wheel spun, and Shang looked over. This would be thest fight where he could take it easy. After that, he would need to get serious. Some secondster, the wheel stopped, and an image appeared. It was a green ant with wings soaring through the sky. It also had cartoony eyes and a smile. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and he looked over. It was just a green ant, which was about 50-meters-long, not very big for a True Path Stage beast. "Understandable. Ants are weak on their own but powerful in a group. Funny that | get to fight another one. Didn''t | fight an ant for the tenth levelst time as well, or was that in the seventh? Not sure.¡¯ The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! Shang immediately began to unleash his Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns, but sure enough, the opponent''s defense was just too powerful. The spider from before had quite a good defense, but it hadn''t been ridiculous. However, the ant mostly focused on defense and was a level higher. Of course, the trade-off was that it was probably very slow, straightforward, and weak. As soon as Shang saw that Shooting Star and Hidden Sun didn''t work, he changed his approach. He charged towards it. BANG! At that moment, a spear made of wind shot at Shang from the ant''s mouth, and Shang''s eyes widened. Fast!" Shang barely managed to evade. This beast was three levels above him, and the difference in speed was quite big. If Shang weren''t so good at dodging Spells, he would have been hit just now. Shang quickly readied himself to evade again, but he realized that the ant was still preparing its next attack. Sure enough, its offensive capabilities were not that great. This wind spear was probably the only offensive attack it knew. However, if one imagined an entire colony of ants using that attack... That sure would be terrifying. ¡®The Pest Cats are already a big problem in the Five Kingdoms. What kind of menace would a hive filled with these ants be?" The ant mindlessly ran towards Shang as it released its next spear. Even True Path Stage ants weren''t very smart. After evading the first attack, Shang had it easier to avoid the second. The ant released two more attacks, and Shang finally arrived close to it. BANG! A fiery pir came out of the ground below the ant. Shang would need to use Inferno to kill the ant. The ant seemingly ignored the fiery pir and homed in on Shang with its attacks while charging toward him. It was like it wasn''t even alive. Shang released one Inferno after the other, but it only caused a bit of damage over the next couple of seconds. However, with the ant attacking like a primitive machine, it wasn''t really a problem for Shang to continue attacking. It was exceptionally easy to hit Inferno on a target that moved in obvious ways. Sadly, it still took Shang far too long. In fact, he needed to bombard the ant with Inferno for nearly 30 seconds, which was an insane amount of time for two combatants fighting at the True Path Stage. Eventually, the ant fell over and stopped moving after unleashing onest spear. Shang made sure that the ant was dead by using a couple more Infernos. Just two secondster, Shang heard the cheering return, and he stopped. He took a deep breath and closed his right eye. ''This was annoying. Obviously, my Saber State doesn''t cut it when ites to opponents with such a strong defense.¡¯ ¡®Well, time to change weapons.¡¯ As the wheel slowly appeared again, Shang summoned a sizable chunk of ore and stabbed Sword into it. ¡°Level eleven: Average Late True Path Stage beast." As the wheel began to spin and Sword absorbed some more, Shang remembered something. "Oh, right! | didn''t fight anything for level ten thest time. The Ice King gave me two points, and | stopped after that. It should have been at the seventh level then.¡¯ ¡®| think | didn''t even attempt level eleven back then since it was basically pointless. Sword wasn''t powerful enough back then, and | didn¡¯t have that much ore to spare." ¡®But this time, things are different.¡¯ Shang looked at the wheel, and the image of his next opponent appeared. It was a blue hedgehog wearing running shoes and giving a thumbs-up. Just like all the other images, this one didn''t seem familiar to Shang. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared. Sure enough, it was an over 200-meter-long blue hedgehog, and Shang could feel a ton of Ice Mana circting inside its needles and feet. ¡®An ice hedgehog? | mean, icicles are spiky, and a hedgehog is spiky.¡¯ By now, Sword had finished absorbing the ore, and it returned to its Colossal Sword State. Shang slowly lifted his gigantic sword and held it in front of him. Sword was at the Late True Path Stage, and its weight was not negligible for Shang. His speed would suffer quite a bit with such a heavy sword. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! Shang''s body expanded a bit as his muscles seemed to be on the verge of bursting. At the same time, the hedgehog noticed its opponent. In response to seeing its next meal, it stood up on its two hind legs, making Shang lift an eyebrow. SHING! Then, ten insanely long ws made of ice shot out of the hedgehog, nearly reaching the ground. ¡®With those ws, that thing looks more like a sloth now.¡¯ ¡®But | get it. | can''t attack it from the back or sides due to the needles, and if | attack it from the front, | have to get through the ice ws. Definitely stronger than a weak beast.¡¯ ¡®However, it still doesn''t count as a powerful one.¡¯ BANG! The next moment, light exploded out of Shang''s body, making him resemble the sun during noon. The light was bright, blinding, andpletely hid Shang''s body behind it. The hedgehog squinted its eyes, but it wasn''t really relying on its eyes anyway. Just like everyone at the True Path Stage, it relied on its Spirit Sense, and it could feel Shang. BANG! Then, Shang shot forward, leaving a bright streak of light behind. Even though Shang waspletely hidden by the light, the hedgehog could still see him with its Spirit Sense. And then, it roared.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. CRK! CRK! CRK! In an instant, the surrounding kilometer was covered by ice, and Shang had to be careful not to slip identally. Some icy blue Ice Mana appeared on the hedgehog''s hindlegs, and it also shot forward. When Shang saw the hedgehog slide forwards without even really using its legs, he was quite impressed. It was really fast for such a huge beast. Shang charged toward the hedgehog, and the hedgehog charged toward him. Right before the two of them reached each other, the light around Shang seemed to move. The blinding light slowly pulled together, and it nearly stopped shiningpletely. However, when the hedgehog saw what had just happened, it became confused. The hedgehog now saw several Shangs! Well, not exactly. It saw many illusory images of Shang. It was like everything around Shang had be distorted, making him appear in several ces at once. Additionally, the hedgehog couldn''t see where the real Shang was, even with its Spirit Sense! This was the first new technique of Shang''s Colossal Sword State. He called it Distortion. Chapter 454 Chapter 454 The hedgehog didn''t know what to attack. Its ws reached the ground, but they weren''t long enough that it could sweep them over the entire area without lowering its body, which was something it didn''t like to do. Lowering its body would result in its behind rising, giving the opponent an opening. As it stood right now, the opponent would only find needles at the hedgehog''s back. In the end, the hedgehog decided to use one of its two sets of ws to strike Shang. It struck towards the middle of all the Shangs. After all, it would hit most of them by striking there. CRRRRK! The ws slightly dug into the ground and moved to the side, dispersing many of Shang''s copies. However, it didn''t hit anything solid. It had missed. At that moment, Distortion ended, and the real Shang was revealed. He was at the very front. Shang jumped and charged toward the hedgehog''s head. At that moment, the hedgehog swung its second set of ws right at Shang. The ws reached Shang, and they were about to hit. At that moment, Shang''s body atrophied quite a bit, symbolizing that he had used a considerable portion of his life energy just now. He lifted his Colossal Sword. WHOOOOOM! Just before the icy ws hit Shang, a bright burst of light came out of Shang''s body. At that moment, the hedgehog became blind. Even its Spirit Sense had been blinded somehow! It was like this bright light had gotten rid of the surrounding area! At the same time, the hedgehog felt its ws hit something big and soft. It was almost like it had hit a huge hand. BANG! Then, its ws were thrown to the side. The soft thing the hedgehog''s ws had just hit had be hard and rubbery, and it bounced back with a lot of power. It was almost like the gigantic hand had pushed its ws away! This was another one of Shang''s new techniques in his Colossal Sword State. It created a disorienting light and pushed an attack to the side just by using the powers of light. However, even with Shang''s powerful body that was adapted to his techniques, it still cost him a lot of life energy. In fact, it consumed over fifty percent, which would need to be replenished by fifty percent of Shang''s Mana. But it was worth it. The attack was powerful enough to throw such a powerful attack to the side, which was not an easy feat. Shang called it Brilliance. The hedgehog''s equilibrium had been thrown off, and its mind became disoriented. For a beast, such a state was very difficult to recover from in less than a second. Unleashing this attack only had defensive and preparatory purposes, and it cost a lot of Shang''s resources. However, he was willing to make the sacrifice. After all, this attack was not meant to be used on its own. It was used to prepare Shang''s next attack. Shang arrived at the hedgehog''s head, his Colossal Sword still lifted above him. WHOOM! At that moment, the bright light in the surroundings created by Brilliance was sucked into Sword, and the world returned to normal. The hedgehog was still a bit disoriented, but it would recover very soon. At that moment, Shang''s arms bulged. His Sword had gotten several times heavier! When Shang had theorized about the connection of his four Elements to the concept of Entropy, he realized that light symbolized an increase in energy while darkness represented a decrease.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. And after years of experimenting, Shang finally managed to make use of that concept! He could now use his Light Affinity to increase the weight of his Sword even more, even if only for just a moment. The substantial increase in weight was also the reason why Shang always shed upward while using Brilliance. He had to have his Colossal Sword above him if he wanted to make full use of its new weight and power. As Shang shed forward, something else happened as well. WHOOOOM! ck fire burst out of Sword! The Colossal Sword had the most weight, even in its base form, and with the added weight of the light, it became even more ridiculous. Sword''s Entropy also released power based on the mass of matter and energy it was burning. Lastly, the difference in mass between Sword''s Colossal Sword State and Great Sword State was by far the biggest. Yes, Shang''s Colossal Sword State was fully focused on defense. It hid his body. It blocked attacks. It disoriented its opponents. However, Shang had created his entire Colossal Sword State around this very moment. The goal of the Colossal Sword State was to get close to the opponent and open them up for a devastating attack. And this was Shang''s most devastating attack. Yes, this attack was the strongest attack Shang could release in all of his States. The sheer power of everything was just ridiculous. Shang''s Colossal Sword struck... And it hit the hedgehog''s head. BOOOOOOOOOM! The hedgehog''s head exploded! Its flesh, bones, and brain were scattered across the area hundreds of meters behind it! It was like a cannonball had hit a human''s head! Shang''s most powerful attack. If this one failed to do any serious damage to an opponent while they didn''t evade, Shang might as well give up. If this attack didn''t manage to break through the opponent''s defense, nothing else could. Shang and the corpse fell to the ground. Obviously, the hedgehog was dead. This was Shang''s Colossal Sword State. He would start with Distortion to get close. Whileing closer, Shang had two other techniques he could also use, but they hadn''t been relevant against the hedgehog since it hadn''tunched any ranged attacks. Then, Shang would shine like the sun in a brilliant explosion of light... And everything would culminate in thest attack. The light representing the life-giving sun would vanish, giving way to the icy assault of the Great Sword State. The warm and bright day would vanish, and the cold and deadly night would arrive. After thest brilliant ray of light... Dusk would arrive. And Dusk was the name Shang had given to it. Chapter 455 Chapter 455 Shangnded beside the corpse and quickly put his hand to it before it vanished. The corpse barely shriveled up, but Shang managed to refill his entire Mana and life energy beyond its normal maximum. Then, the cheering returned, and the corpse started to vanish. Shang quickly took out more ore and stabbed Sword into it, returning it to its Colossal Sword State. The Colossal Sword State was simply the best State when it came to killing beasts and closing in on opponents. It was a perfect starter for any kind of fight. ¡°Level twelve: Powerful Late True Path Stage beast." Shang took a deep breath as the wheel returned. ¡®The next fight is not going to be easy. No matter what | will fight, | doubt that | will be able to end it by only closing in and using Dusk. That might work against normal beasts, but powerful ones have terrifying instincts and hidden weapons." ¡®Additionally, the speed gap is only going to get bigger, and | might even need to use more power with Brilliance to actually create an opening.¡¯ Shang nced at the wheel. ''I will probably have to use more than one State during this fight." ¡®Luckily, my Great Sword State is the ultimate counter to beasts.¡¯ Allin all, every State Shang had created was good for something. The Colossal Sword State was great for starting the fight against any kind of opponent. The Great Sword State was great for killing beasts. The Saber State was a good allrounder, useful for basically everything. The Long Sword State was great for killing Mages. The best part was that Shang could transition into any kind of State from his Colossal Sword State. If necessary, he could burn more to immediately get to the Long Sword State, for example. The Colossal Sword State would always be his starter, but after that, he could choose which State he wanted to use. The only drawback was that Shang couldn''t go back to higher States during the fight, but that wasn''t really an issue. The Great Sword State wasn''t very useful for fast and flexible opponents anyway. Might as well use more of Sword''s mass to strengthen the attack and immediately go to the Saber State. Nimble opponents wouldn''t have it easy evading the barrage of Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns. But if the opponent wasn''t as fast, Shang could directly enter the Great Sword State and unleash devastating attacks. Sword finished absorbing the ore just when the wheel stopped, and Shang looked over. The image of his opponent grew, and he finally saw what kind of opponent he would be fighting. It was a cartoony lightning bolt with a devious smirk. Shang raised an eyebrow. He wasn''t quite sure what this image represented. SHING! Then, Shang''s opponent appeared, but this time, it didn''t appear a kilometer away from Shang. No, this time, the God apparently had something else on his mind. The opponent appeared in the sky, about three kilometers away from Shang. It was a Serpent. It had white scales, four small feet with sharp ws, and an imposing head. The scales on its head were sharp, jagged, and made the Serpent look simr to a viper. And the beast was absolutely massive. Shang guessed that it was probably over 500 meters long and nearly 30 meters wide. It looked like a snake that could swallow the world. Right now, it was just hovering in the air with closed eyes, curled into a ball. ¡®Sure enough, this won''t be easy." Serpents were always problematic for two reasons. First of all, a lot of them could inherently fly, making it very difficult for anyone to reach them. The second problem was that they were essentially the Mages of the beast world. They could release terrifying Spells while still having very powerful bodies. However, even a powerful Serpent was weaker than an average Mage of its level. There were two reasons for that. First, even though the Serpents had terrifying Spells, their Spells were not as varied as the Mages¡¯ Spells. They also didn''t have ess to a Focus. Second, and most important of all, Serpents didn''t have ess to Element-Neutral Spells. That meant no Mana Shield and no Mana Step. Due to these two reasons, even an average Mage could kill a powerful Serpent on their level. The fight wouldn''t bepletely effortless, but it also wouldn''t pose a real danger to the Mage. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! Shang prepared himself, and the Serpent opened its eyes. BANG! Shang shot forward as he activated Distortion. He was also using Fire and Ice sts to fly upward. With his new body, Shang could stay in the air for a very long time with his sts. He couldn''t stay there indefinitely, but he could stay long enough that it wouldn''t be a big concern during a fight. When the Serpent saw Shang, it extended its body and released a world-shattering hiss. The air around Shang seemed to vibrate by the sheer power of the hiss. BANG! BANG! Several bolts of lightning appeared in the air and shot to a ce behind the Serpent. There were hundreds! The air around the Serpent became filled with electricity and friction as a humongous ball of lightning formed behind it. Shang could feel that the Lightning Mana inside the Serpent had dropped drastically. It had probably wasted over 70% of its reserves for that move!This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Shang decided to slow his approach. After all, if the Serpent decided to throw this humongous ball at him, he would die. That was simply too much power. However, instead of immediatelyunching an attack, the Serpent began to coil around the ball. At that moment, Shang looked at a gigantic Serpent that calmly circled a humongous ball of lightning like it were its egg. Random lightning bolts shot out of the ball. Eventually, the Serpent faced Shang again. Then, a brief sh of lightning appeared in its eyes. And Shang immediately had to dodge! Chapter 456 Chapter 456 Shang''s instincts shouted at him to dodge to the side, and he did just that. BANG! Just an instantter, a terrifyingly fast bolt of lightning shot past the ce where Shang had just been, even touching his body. Shang''s armor became seared on the side, but it was powerful enough to somewhat resist the terrifying lightning bolt. However, if Shang had been hit by that, the Magic Circles on his armor would have been activated, which meant that he would have received a life-threatening injury. These lightning bolts were no joke. Shang''s right eye quickly focused on the Serpent, and he prepared himself. He now knew what he had to look out for. BANG! Shang continued charging toward the gigantic Serpent in the sky. And then, a second lightning bolt shot at Shang. At that moment, Shang didn''t evade. He had just extended his Colossal Sword and quickly angled it so that its tip pointed right at the lightning bolt. Then, the tip of his sword began to shine with bright light. The lightning bolt hit the tip of the sword. DING! As soon as it hit, the lightning bolt didn''t explode. Rather, it got dispersed like a tidal wave hitting a boulder! The lightning sted past Shang with its incredible power, but none of the bolts hit him. This was one of Shang''s new techniques for the Colossal Sword State that was designed to counter Mages. Like light hitting a crystal, the enemy''s attack would be split and scattered over the surroundings. Shang called it Refraction. Of course, in order for the attack to work, Shang had to sacrifice some of his life energy and hit the attack at the perfect spot. If he were just slightly off, the majority of the attack''s power would still hit him. Luckily, he had had enough practice with Jerald to get the timing down. Otherwise, things would have been troublesome since the lightning bolts were so insanely fast. Shang closed in on the Serpent, now only a couple hundred meters away from it. When the Serpent saw how Shang had dealt with its attack, more lightning gathered in its eyes. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang''s right eye widened in horror. Three lightning bolts had just been shot at him! This attacking speed was something he would have expected of an average Late High Mage with a Focus, not a Serpent! Even more, Shang had been prepared to use Refraction again, which was why he hadn''t been prepared to dodge. The attacks would hit! DING! BANG! BANG! Shang managed to get rid of one of the lightning bolts, but the other two perfectly hit him in the chest. At that moment, the Magic Circles on his armor activated, and they blocked the two attacks. But just a secondter, the Magic Circles copsed. This meant that the armor had used up all its stored Mana. Due to the power and frequency of the lightning bolts, their power was only at the upper level of a Mid High Mage''s Spell, and that was exactly what the armor was designed to block. However, all its Mana had been used up. Yet, if Shang hadn''t had the armor, he would be dead right now! Ironically, this time, Shang would have nearly be a victim of his own fighting philosophy. Kill a powerful enemy so quickly that they couldn''t even unleash their power, making it irrelevant. The Serpent had just tried to do that, but Shang''s armor had saved him. Shang narrowed his right eye. ¡®| didn''t expect such a rapid barrage of attacks. It seems like Refraction won''t be enough." Due to the power of the lightning bolts, Shang had been thrown back quite a bit, making the distance between thebatants larger. BANG! BANG! Shang quickly unleashed two sts and shot at the Serpent again. BANG! The Serpent unleashed another two lightning bolts... But they missed! Just before the lightning bolts had been fired, the light in Shang''s surroundings warped again. He had already used Distortion earlier, but he hadn''t spread it over a great distance since he wanted to preserve his life energy. He wasn''t sure if it had been a coincidence or not, but the Serpent had still hit him through Distortion back then. But this time, Shang used far more life energy for Distortion and spread it over arger area. And, sure enough, the Serpent missed its attacks. By now, the surrounding ten meters were filled with blurry images of Shang, and the Serpent couldn''t tell which one was the real one. Not even with its Spirit Sense. Then, more lightning appeared in the Serpent''s eyes. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, a gigantic wave of lightning came out of the lightning ball and swallowed all of Shang''s images. SSSSSSS! At one spot in Shang''s area of Distortion, the wave of lightning dispersed across the surroundings. However, Shang hadn''t been able to use Refraction due to the sheer size of the attack. Instead, he had simply put his Sword in front of him and hid behind it. The Colossal Sword was big enough topletely hide his body. Shang remained uninjured, but he was pushed back again by the power. Shang''s Spirit Sense concentrated on the Serpent with frustration.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. "My Saber State won''t be able to unleash enough offensive power to injure the Serpent, which means | have to get close somehow.¡¯ ¡®Yet, no matter what I do, | get pushed back." ¡®If | use Distortion, it just uses this huge wave. Sure, | won''t get injured, but | will be thrown back.¡¯ If | don''t use Distortion, | will be killed by the lightning bolts. | can deal with one of them. Maybe | can even deal with two, but | can''t possibly deal with three." Shang tried to find a way to get closer. Mana Step was no option since he was currently in the sky. His Colossal Sword State was already the strongest State when it came to closing distance. The other States wouldn''t help. At that moment, the gigantic ball of lightning began to shrink by quite a bit. After unleashing so many attacks, it had already shrunken by quite a bit. Shang had already realized that it was the ball that released the lightning bolts, and there was only a limited amount of Mana inside it. But now, it suddenly shrank even more. Then, Shang saw a blindingly bright light. BOOOOOM! With a huge explosion, a brightly-white shining beam of concentrated lightning shot right at him. His Distortion had just been broken, and the Serpent could finally see the real Shang. You can deal with my small lightning bolts? How about a big one, then? Refraction wouldn''t work on a bolt with such immense power. The sheer explosive power would be so great that the streaks of dispersed lightning would still hit him. Additionally, lightning had the terrifying property of traveling across the body to deal more damage. Refraction was useless right now. Chapter 457 Chapter 457 Yet, when Shang saw the insanely powerful lightning beam, he wasn''t worried in any way. "Seems like | won''t be able to use Dusk against the Serpent.¡¯ At that moment, Shang''s Colossal Sword was already in a blocking position, and that position was just perfect. He only angled it a bit more. ¡®But | didn''t expect to use Dusk anyway." ¡®Luckily, | thought of this possibility." WHOOOOM! At that moment, a terrifying amount of light gathered around the Colossal Sword, and it all went to the same point. Shang''s body atrophied tremendously. He had just used up basically all of his life energy, and he quickly converted about 80% of his Mana into more life energy, making his body instantly healthy again. With the overcharged life energy from absorbing the hedgehog, Shang had essentially used 150% of his maximum life energy just now, which was an insane amount. However, that meant that Shang wouldn''t be able to use Brilliance again as long as he didn''t want to fight as a nearly lifeless husk for the rest of the battle. That essentially meant that he couldn''t use Dusk. Without Brilliance, Dusk could easily be evaded. Then, the pure beam of lightning hit the Colossal Sword at the exact point where all the light had gathered. DING! At that moment, a humongous wave of light exploded out of the Colossal Sword. For just an instant, the beam of lightning seemed to pause in front of the sword. And then, Shang pushed forward. BANG! The lightning beam shot at the Serpent! The Serpent hadn''t been prepared for such a fast and powerful attack right after it had unleashed its own. It could barely move part of its body to the side.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. BOOOOOM! The beam of lightning tore through half the width of the Serpent, leaving a humongous burned hole behind! If the Serpent hadn''t moved to the side by a bit, it would have been sted into two pieces! And then, the lightning traveled across its body, severely burning it in several ces before it finally used up its power. However, even worse was the fact that the Serpent''s body had seized, making it unable to act for a while. This was Shang''s alternative to Dusk. If an enemy used a truly powerful energy-based attack, Shang could use this technique to severely injure or even kill them. Of course, depending on the power of the attack, this technique could possibly be even more costly than Brilliance. With the light-themed names for all the techniques in the Colossal Sword State, the name of this attack came naturally. Reflection. That was the name. Refraction and Reflection were the two attacks Shang had developed to close the distance between him and enemy Mages. Refraction was cheap to use and could disperse energy-based attacks. Reflection was very expensive and could reflect energy-based attacks. Sadly, these two attacks were only useful against Fire, Lightning, Light, Darkness, and some Wind Affinity Spells. Earth, Water, Ice, and Metal Spells weren''t affected by these attacks. But that also wasn''t an issue. Shang could just parry those attacks and redirect them. After all, they were simply a mass of matter that was thrown at him. Shang continued charging at the Serpent, who was still unable to act due to its lightning. But before Shang even reached the Serpent, he had already swung his sword. WHOOOM! ck fire gathered around the sword, and he shed forward. Then, a wave of ck fire shot directly at the injured part of the Serpent''s body! This attack wasn''t nearly as strong as Dusk or even Star Shatter, but it would, at least, make use of Sword''s Entropy. At that moment, the Serpent regained a bit of its control. WHOOOM! Ahumongous wave of lightning shot right at the wave of ck mes. In the Serpent''s current state, it couldn''t rely on its ability to aim. So, it decided to use a huge attack to block Shang''s attack. In just an instant, the wave of ck fire cut through the wave of lightning, but it had shrunk by quite a bit. The Serpent barely managed to move part of its body to the side. BOOOOM! And the attack hit! Sadly, the attack didn''t manage to hit the already injured part of the Serpent, but a healthy part just beside it. Ahumongous cut appeared on that part, several meters deep! Blood exploded out of it, but the Serpent was still in fighting condition. It was injured heavily, but it could still fight and survive. And, finally, Shang reached it! He had closed the distance! At that moment, Shang was no longer carrying his Colossal Sword but his Great Sword. Then, Shang did something that no one would have expected. His entire body exploded with a humongous amount of fire! The explosion of fire was so powerful that even half of the Serpent''s body was pushed away, right into the humongous ball of lightning. Yet, the Serpent was the controller of this ball of lightning, which meant that it didn''t receive any injuries, but the fact that such a massive beast was thrown back by an explosion of fire already showed how powerful that explosion was. Sadly, the power was dispersed, and the scales facing Shang only became slightly seared. The Serpent didn''t get injured. However, that hadn''t been the point. After the fire vanished, Shang''s body was revealed. It was a deep blue, and he looked almost like an icy statue. But his right eye shone with a fire of determination. And then, Shang swung his Great Sword from one side to the other. WHOOOOOM! A terrifying amount of Ice Mana was released! Yet, surprisingly, it didn''t interact with the ball of lightning or the Serpent in any way. It was almost like the Ice Mana was released into the surroundings. At the same time, Shang''s body exploded with blood, and he had to use the remainder of his Mana to fix it. He had no more Mana, which meant that any injury he would receive now would stay for the remainder of the battle. But all of this was worth it. The Ice Mana surrounded the surrounding two kilometers, with Shang and the Serpent being in the middle. Aterrifyingly cold wind picked up, and the Serpent felt its body temperature drop rapidly! All the light inside the domain of ice vanished, leaving only a cold, dead, and dark wastnd of icy death. The Serpent had prepared its ball of lightning to unleash attacks faster. It had transformed its internal storage of Mana into an external one to get rid of one step to conjure an attack. And now, Shang had done the same. His body temperature was also dropping rapidly, and this was just what he wanted. In thisnd of icy death, he could release all of his umted power without needing to worry about where to st with his Fire st. Shang had prepared the battlefield, and he had transformed it into an advantageous one for him. The cold temperatures benefited him and hindered his opponent. Shang only used this specific technique against beasts since they couldn''t use Mana Step. Mages could just release a couple of Mana Steps and escape the domain, but beasts couldn''t. That meant that the beasts would be stuck in this domain. This was the technique that prepared Shang for an unending assault in his Great Sword State. Everything around him would transform into a dark wastnd of icy death. He called it New Moon. Chapter 458 Chapter 458 The Serpent was now in Shang''s domain. As soon as it realized that its body temperature was dropping, the humongous ball of lightning expanded to envelop the Serpent. It absorbed parts of its own lightning to keep itself warm while also making it more difficult for the opponent to hit it through all the lightning. Shang quickly saw his opportunity. Aterrifyingly cold wind gathered on his Great Sword. And then, he shed forward. It looked like Shang would miss, but at thest moment, the length of his Sword grew by several times! Ahumongous and icy edge formed in front of Shang''s Sword! The icy edge entered the ball of lightning. WHOOSH! However, the attack missed! The ball of lightning had canceled out the Ice Mana inside the icy edge, dispersing it. But the ball of lightning also shrank. At that moment, part of the Serpent''s body was revealed again. More Ice Mana gathered on the Great Sword, and Shang shed forward again. CRACK! The icy edge hit the scales and exploded! However, the strength of the icy edge wasn''t its hardness but its unreasonable sharpness! Even though it shattered immediately, it still left behind a terrifying cut. And that wasn''t even everything! The splinters of ice exploded in all directions, but nearly half of them exploded right into the cut the icy edge had just made! The splinters were just as sharp as the icy edge and lodged themselves inside the Serpent''s flesh. But just momentster, they all dispersed into seemingly nothing. Of course, Mana didn''t just vanish without using Entropy. All the splinters transformed into Ice Mana and entered the Serpent''s body, freezing it! Asizable chunk of the Serpent''s body was nowpletely frozen! This was another one of Shang''s new techniques in his Great Sword State. Its goal was to leave a superficial injury on a target with terrifying defense. Then, the hit part would cool down significantly and freeze. Shang called this attack Frostbite. At that moment, the Serpent realized that it was in a truly life-threatening situation, and it acted. BOOOOM! A huge portion of the ball of lightning exploded, bathing the surroundings in a terrifying wave of lightning. However, an equally terrifying mass of Ice Mana gathered in front of Shang, canceling out the lightning. This was his domain, and he could use all the Ice Mana in here. Yet, the Serpent''s attack still showed some effect. The area of New Moon around the two of them shrunk by a lot. Previously, it had been two kilometers wide. Now, it was only one kilometer wide. If Shang hadn''t controlled New Moon to slightly expand to let the lightning disperse into the surroundings, it would have been brokenpletely. Of course, after the expansion, Shang contracted New Moon again to restore the previous density. Amomentter, Shang could see that the lightning ball had shrunk even more. Even if the Serpent tried its best, it couldn''t hide its full body inside of it anymore. The Serpent''s goal had to be to throw the opponent away and to get rid of the icy domain, but it had aplished none of that. When it realized that even this attack had been useless, it decided on the next best thing. It would escape the domain! The Serpent and the lightning ball moved away from Shang in an effort to escape. Shang quickly shot after them... And New Moon followed! Shang was the core of New Moon, and it would be wherever he was. At that moment, Shang saw his opportunity. Shang willed New Moon to use a lot of its power to slow down the Serpent. Aterrifying cold wind picked up in front of the Serpent, and it felt its head beginning to freeze. On top of that, it was pushed back! The ball of lightning quickly went in front of the Serpent''s head, blocking the cold wind and dispersing it. However, the ball of lightning was also shrinking. In that instant, Shang arrived at the frozen part of the Serpent''s body. More Ice Mana had already gathered on his Great Sword, and it had changed its shape once again. It had be longer again, but this time, there was no emphasis on the edge. There was only an icy and sharp pir that ended in a terrifyingly thin and long point. And then, Shang stabbed forward, right at the frozen part. CRACK! The thin point hit the frozen part of the Serpent''s body andpletely buried itself inside it. Frostbite used extremely sharp but brittle ice, but this technique did exactly the opposite. There was not much sharpness to the ice, but it was very tough. As soon as the needle-like Sword punched through the icy exterior, all the Ice Mana gathered onto its tip. And then, it exploded. CRACK! The frozen part of the Serpent exploded off, and the splinters scattered everywhere! Blood exploded out of the Serpent''s body as nearly half the width of that portion of its body had now also vanished! The hole was just as big as the one the wave of ck fire had left behind! This was another one of Shang''s new techniques. Frostbite was responsible for breaking the opponent''s defense, freezing part of its body, and creating a weak point. Then, this attack would follow next andpletely destroy that part. Shang called this attack Piercing Cold. Frostbite and Piercing Cold had been designed to be used in alternating order to deal with beasts that had powerful defensive powers. The Great Sword State had been designed to deal with the powerful defenses of the beasts. As the parts of the Serpent''s frozen body scattered across the surroundings, they suddenly started to vanish. At the same time, New Moon grew bigger! It had converted the frozen parts into Ice Mana! New Moon made Frostbite more powerful. Frostbite made Piercing Cold more powerful. And Piercing Cold made New Moon more powerful. It was a positive feedback loop. The only drawback was that Shang couldn''t absorb these parts for more life energy with Darkness Absorb. At that moment, the Serpent grew desperate, and it decided to sacrifice the entire ball of lightning. BOOOOOOM! The entire ball contracted for an instant and exploded into the surroundings, consuming everything. However, Shang had already seen that moveing, and he had prepared himself. Just when the ball of lightning had contracted, Shang had willed for all of New Moon to gather around him. Aterrifying nova of lightning scattered across the horizon, growing weaker and weaker the further it traveled. Yet, the power was very dispersed, and there was actually nothing that stopped it. The Ice Mana had already vanished. The spot where Shang was standing was surrounded by all the gathered power of New Moon, easily resisting the dispersed power of the lightning. As the wave of lightning passed, Shang saw the Serpent fleeing. If he didn''t attack now, it would escape and prepare another ball of lightning. But Shang could also feel that the Serpent was in a panic, and he knew that now was his best shot at dealing a devastating blow. All the Ice Mana gathered inside the Great Sword in an instant, and it grew to a terrifying size in an instant. The Sword was now hundreds of meters long! Yet, it was still somewhat easy for Shang to swing it. The ice he had used to create this edge was brittle, weak, and light. Shang had already lowered his Great Sword earlier, and now, he was prepared to sh upward. And he did just that. It seemed like a normal attack, but nothing could be further from the truth. All the power of New Moon had been gathered to create this gigantic sword, and all of that was for one purpose. To deliver destruction. The Serpent used its Spirit Sense and saw that a weak but humongous edge was shing toward it. It knew that it wouldn''t be able to evade since the tip of the sword was moving at insane speeds. At that moment, the Serpent realized that its life was over. Even though the attack looked weak, its instincts were screaming at it to evade. Then, the attack hit the middle of the Serpent''s body. The tip of the Sword shattered. BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Ack sun appeared on that spot and exploded, consuming the surrounding 50 meters in ck fire! Beneath the ice, Sword had released Entropy and had pushed it into the icy edge. Sword could control Entropy to some degree, and it could keep its explosive power docile while inside the icy edge. But as soon as the icy edge broke, all the umted and pressurized power of Entropy would explode forward. Wherever the icy edge broke would be the ce where Entropy would also explode. The ck sun raged about 200 meters away from Shang for over two seconds, illuminating the surroundings in a weird, ck light. This was Shang''sst new technique in his Great Sword State, and it symbolized a transition to the Saber State. New Moon vanished. The cold receded. And Dawn arrived. But after a night of terrifying cold, the following day wouldn''t be warm and pleasant. What would follow would be a barrage of cosmic destruction. There would be Shooting Stars, Hidden Suns, and Inferno. And it would all culminate in the destruction of the very thing that gave everything light and life. The Star would Shatter. And Darkness would arrive. These were three of the four States of Shang''s sword. The day would begin with bright and illusory light, and it would culminate in Dusk.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. The night would arrive with a cold moon and an avnche of icy death, and it would culminate in Dawn. The new day would begin with a barrage of cosmic destruction, and it would culminate in the Star Shattering. And then, only Darkness would remain. Chapter 459 Chapter 459 As Dawn vanished, Shang could finally see the Serpent again. It had been broken into two pieces, and it was falling towards the ground. Just because someone was very powerful didn''t mean that they didn''t need their organs. In fact, starting at the General Stage, the organs inside someone''s body had already stopped their old functions and assumed new ones. They were responsible for moving Mana around and generating life energy. Without organs, someone''s life energy would very quickly deteriorate until they died. Even getting rid of just one organ already put a major dent in someone''s ability to generate life energy. With most of the Serpent''s organs gone, it was already basically dead. Beasts didn''t have the luxury of quickly being able to recover parts of their bodies. They needed a bit of time to recover everything. As the Serpent fell to the ground, Shang charged forward and put his arm on one of the halves, quickly regaining all his lost Mana and life energy. Acouple of secondster, the cheering returned, and the corpse vanished. Shang took a deep breath. ¡®The fight definitely hadn''t been easy, but | won. The start was rough, but as soon as | managed to unleash New Moon, | gained control over the fight.¡¯ "Sure enough, the Great Sword State is best for dealing with beasts.¡¯ As Shang looked at the vanishing corpse, he thought about something he didn''t like. ¡®Any random Late High Mage could have defeated this Serpent. I''m honestly not sure if | can win against an average Late High Mage at this point." ¡®Additionally, a very talented Mid High Mage will very likely also win against the Serpent. ¡®But my power has already made a great jumppared to thest trial.¡¯ ¡®Last time, level six in the Mage category had already ended my trial, but this time, I''m certain that | can reach level nine. With luck, | might even beat level eleven, but I''m honestly not sure.¡¯ As the wheel returned, Shang fed more ore to Sword. ¡°Level 13: Weak Peak True Path Stage beast." ¡®Level 13 in the beast category, huh? Last time, | only barely beat level nine, but | got ten points due to the Ice King''s sheer power.¡¯ ¡®This time, I''m already at level 13, and | doubt that | will lose against my next opponent." ¡®Level 15 will be aplete impossibility. I''m certain that | can''t even beat a single one of the beasts that can appear there." ¡®Level 14 will be dependent on luck. If | get an all-around average beast, | will most likely win. If | get one that focuses on defense, | will probably also win. However, if | get one that specializes in speed, | will be helpless.¡¯ Due to Dusk and the Great Sword State, Shang''s preferred opponents were now beasts that focused on defense. In the past, these exact opponents had been his bane since he hadn''t been powerful enough to even injure them. Funny how things changed. As the wheel finished spinning, Shang pulled his Colossal Sword up and readied himself for battle. He always started in the Colossal Sword State unless the opponent wasn''t in the least bit dangerous. Shang''s opponent was chosen, and he looked at the wheel. The image made him raise an eyebrow. It was a bowl of seared shrimp. SHING! At that moment, Shang''s opponent appeared, and he wasn''t really surprised. It was a shrimp. It was just a shrimp. Sure, it was about 50-meters-long, but it was still just a normal shrimp. There was nothing special about it except for its size. ¡®| guess these kinds of beasts are bottom-feeders in gigantic oceans, which is surprising considering that they are at the Peak True Path Stage.¡¯ The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! The shrimp''s antennae moved around and pointed at Shang. Then, the shrimp turned to him. BOOOOM! And it exploded forward with terrifying speed. Shang had already been prepared, but the shrimp''s speed was still far higher than Shang''s. Sadly, Shang knew that the shrimp only counted as a slow beast within its level. This was a Peak True Path Stage beast. Its body was four levels above Shang''s body, making the difference in speed absolutely ridiculous. With his sts, Shang could move as fast as an average Mid True Path Stage beast, but a Peak True Path Stage beast, even a comparatively slow one, would be fast than Shang by multiple times. Speed hadn''t been a big factor in Shang''s fight against the Serpent since it had barely moved, mostly standing its ground. If Shang hadn''t been prepared for such an explosion of speed, he would have been unable to react. The shrimp reached Shang in what felt like an instant. To the current Shang, the shrimp''s speed and a Mage''s Mana Step felt equally fast. Obviously, Mana Step was many times faster, but Shang couldn''t think fast enough to feel the difference between the two. It was like when someone spoke to someone else face-to-face. One person would see the other one move their mouth and hear their voice at the same time, even though the speed of sound and the speed of light couldn''t bepared. But to the person, both things were so fast that they couldn''t even feel the difference. The same thing was true for Shang now. As soon as Shang had seen even the slightest bit of movementing from the shrimp, he had swung his Colossal Sword upwards, not knowing if it would connect or not. But that didn''t actually matter. One of the shrimp''s shears immediately went past Shang''s Colossal Sword and went for his body. WHOOOOM! Then, the shears stopped, and Shang''s body atrophied tremendously. At the same time, a blinding light exploded out of his body, throwing the shrimp into absolute confusion. Brilliance! Shang had used up all of his life energy to stop the attack, including the additional life energy he had absorbed from the Serpent''s corpse. He couldn''t be certain how powerful the enemy''s attack or defenses would be, which was why he had simply unleashed everything at once to be sure.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. As the shrimp''s shear bounced to the side, all the light vanished and entered Shang''s Colossal Sword, increasing its weight tremendously. Then, the Colossal Sword swung down. The shrimp counted as a weak beast, which meant that its battle instincts were terrible. Asmarter beast might have jumped back. ck fire appeared on Shang''s Colossal Sword... And it connected with the shrimp''s head! Dusk! CRAAAAAAAAACK! The shrimp''s head didn''t explode. Obviously, its shell increased the shrimp''s defenses to the point that it was probably about three times as durable as the hedgehog from earlier. However, a fully-loaded Dusk still had terrifying power, and it broke past the shell. The sword entered the shrimp''s head, but it was stopped after cutting through half of it. Even with a fully-powered Dusk, Shang couldn''t bisect the enemy''s head. But it was enough. ck fire exploded out of the cut Sword had left behind. It looked simr to a crack on a highly-pressurized pipe. Just like how the water would violently shoot out of the crack, the ck fire shot out of the shrimp''s head. Naturally, the ck fire had turned the insides of the shrimp''s head into nothing but Mana. BOOOM! And the shrimp copsed. Chapter 460 Chapter 460 The cheering returned, and Shang refilled his life energy with the shrimp''s corpse. Then, the wheel returned "Wait a second," Shang said The wheel stopped descending and just paused "Yes?" the jester asked "If my armor breaks and bes useless, will it be repaired?" Shang asked "Depends on if you lose or win," the jester answered. "If you win, no, your armor is the price you''ve paid to win. If you lose, it will be repaired.¡± Shang nodded. His armor was extremely important. Without it, he would have died to the Serpent, and he was sure that it would also save him in the Mage category. "Then, | won''t fight,¡± he said "Smart move,¡± the jester said There were three possible ways the next fight could have gone. First, Shang died, and his armor brokeContent (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Second, Shang won, and his armor broke. Third, Shang won, and his armor survived Ifthe first case happened, Shang would lose out If the second case happened, Shang would also lose out. After all, Shang wouldn''t be able to rely on his armor during the Mage category since he couldn''t just reforge it like his sword His armor would have been traded for exactly one point since level 15 would be absolutely impossible for Shang to beat However, if Shang had ess to his armor, it would very likely pay out with more than one point in the Mage category. Shang''s armor had already paid two points in the beast category by helping him win against the Serpent. His next opponent also wasn''t a big problem, but Shang would have never reached that opponent without his armor. In the Mage category, Shang was most worried about the powerful Mid High Mage. The Mages before that opponent shouldn''t be that difficult, but just like the Serpent, the powerful Mid High Mage represented more than one point. If Shang beat the powerful Mid High Mage, he would definitely beat the weak Late High Mage that followed. But without ess to his armor, Shang wasn''t confident in beating the powerful Mid High Mage. So, as long as the first two options happened, Shang would sacrifice more than he would gain, even if he won. The only possible way to go forward without a loss was the third option. But what were the chances of his armor surviving? Not very high Shang would be fighting a beast that was so powerful that the Magic Circles on his armor wouldn''t even be able to stop their attack. If Shang got hit, he would die, and Shang believed that he very likely wouldn''t be able to win without being hit. The speed of his opponent would just be ridiculously fast. Lastly, Sword was only at the Late True Path Stage. If Shang had to block a physical attack with it, it would very likely break into pieces, killing it. Because of all these factors, Shang found it to be a bad idea to fight an average Peak True Path Stage beast. ¡°Let''s see what kind of opponent you would have fought," the jester said with a smirk as the wheel spun. Shang was also interested in what his opponent would have been. Eventually, the wheel stopped, and the image of his opponent grew bigger. When he saw the image, Shang sighed. It was a smirking cheetah running through the air. "Oh wow, that would''ve been bad for you," the jester said with a chuckle. "A very fast beast with a Wind Affinity, huh?" Shangmented. "Yep," the jester said Shang could imagine how that fight would go. He would prepare himself The cheetah would run at him. The cheetah would move its ws past Shang''s sword, and it would cut him into pieces. On the off-chance that Shang managed to get Brilliance off, he would survive the attack, but he doubted that his follow-up attack would connect. That opponent symbolized the worst-luck possible. ¡°And with that, the beast category is over," the jester said as he jumped off the wheel, which quickly vanished. "13 points.¡± "Very impressive." ¡°But you are only at the True Path Stage for now. Reaching such a high Battle-Strength in this level ismendable, but it will be useless if you can''t create an equally outstanding Fifth Realm." ¡°Exceptionalism turns to strong, turns to above-average, turns to average, turns to below-average, turns to trash," the jester said with his smirk. Shang didn''t answer, but he agreed. Creating such a powerful Path had opened up the way to the very top, but every additional step had to be just as outstanding as the first one. Only a road paved with exceptionally powerful rocks could hold until it led to the very end. ¡°How good is my Path right now?" Shang suddenly asked. At the moment, you have the potential to reach my level," the jester said with a smirk. "However," the jester added with a malicious chuckle, "that might not be as special as you think." "At the moment, there are more than 1,000 High Mages with an equally powerful Path, but that number drops to 200 for Archmages and then again to 30 for Ancestral Mages. Then, it drops to merely four Mage Lords and to only a single Mage King.¡± The jester''s smirk widened. "And there''s not a single Mage Emperor that has the potential to reach my level.¡± As you can see, being outstanding at your current level is definitely noteworthy, but it doesn''t say much.¡± "There are about 1,000 people on your level that are just as hardworking and powerful as you, but that number bes zero the further we go up thedder.¡± Shang took a deep breath when he heard that there were a thousand people just as powerful as him in the world in terms of Battle-Strength That was more than he had expected However, it still proved that Shang''s current method of training was effective. Shang already knew that there were billions of True Path Stage beasts in the world Just how many humans were in the world? How many High Mages were there? Maybe there were also billions of High Mages. And Shang was in the top 1000. As long as he kept going As long as he kept training without pause As long as he kept working hard. He would break into the top 200. Then, into the top 30 And eventually, he would reach the very top. Shang took another deep breath ¡°We can start.¡± Chapter 461 Chapter 461 Shang had transformed Sword into its Colossal Sword State again, but due to the God''s answer, he had decided to stop with the beast category. Shang quickly transformed Sword into its Saber State for the Mage category. He didn''t really mind all the ore he had wasted by doing that. He had more than enough ore. The wheel began to spin, and just likest time, there were now Affinities on the wheel instead of pictures. Shang didn''t really care about what Affinities his first few opponents had, and he simply waited for his opponent. The first Mage appeared, and Shang simply looked at them without any changes to his expression. The bell rang, and the Mage opened their eyes. They were immediately greeted by a Shooting Star. BANG! Surprisingly, even the weak High Mage managed to get their Mana Shield off before Shooting Star hit, surprising Shang by a little. However, Shang just continued unleashing Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns one after the other, and before the Mage had even readied their first Spell, their Mana Shield already broke. It took three attacks to break the Mana Shield. The Mage couldn''t evenprehend what had happened before the next attack blew them apart. And that was level one. Level two literally wasn''t any different. Level three, on the other hand, saw some slight changes. The Mage managed to get Mana Shield plus Mana Step off very quickly, and their Focus was already condensing a Spell. However, Shang only needed to angle his new attacks to the Mage''s new spot. The Mage used Mana Step once again, and Shang continued shooting at their new location. Obviously, the Mage was trying to exhaust Shang''s Mana. After all, such an insanely powerful offense had to cost a ridiculous amount of Mana, right? With every Mana Step, the Mage managed to evade about five attacks. In the Mage''s mind, the cost of Mana Step had to be lower than what the opponent was using with these five attacks. But eventually, Shang''s attacks began to connect again as the Mage grew more worried with the increasing expenditure of Mana. The Mage''s Focus even managed to shoot two Spells at Shang, but with the distance between the two of them and Shang''s speed, those weren''t exactly hard for Shang to evade. And then, the Mage died. While the first two fights couldn''t even be called fights, the third one at least gave the opponent an opportunity to somewhat resist Shang''s assault. That showed the sheer difference between an average Mage and a powerful one. With level four, the fight returned to its previous state. The Mage couldn''t even get one Spell off except Mana Shield, and they died within ten attacks. The difference in terms of Mana became apparent at this point. Shang had needed three attacks to destroy the Mana Shield of an Initial High Mage, but he needed nine attacks for the Mana Shield of an Early High Mage. Things would only be even more terrifying as the levels of Shang''s opponents increased. Luckily, a Mage''s defense was fundamentally different from a beast''s defense. One could look at a beast''s defense as a threshold one had to break. If a beast theoretically had a defensive rating of 100 and one unleashed an attack with 100 power, the beast wouldn''t receive any damage, no matter how many attacks of that power were unleashed. If the attack had a power of 101, the beast would take damage with every attack. This meant that a beast had a defense that needed a minimum amount of power to be pierced. With Mages, that wasn''t the case. Everything that hit a Mage''s Mana Shield would consume the Mage''s Mana. If the Mana Shield had a defensive rating of 100, and one attacked it with an attack with 1 power, the shield''s defensive rating would drop to 99. However, a Mage also regenerated Mana at a terrifying rate, which meant that the Mana Shield would also regain its power very quickly. This difference in the kind of defense made the Saber and Long Sword States so terrifying against Mages. They unleashedparatively weak attacks but with insane attack speed. Speaking more of hypothetical numbers, it would take an insane amount of concentration, preparation, and power for Shang to unleash an attack with 200 power, and that attack would probably also be very slow and a one-time thing. Shang definitely couldn''t use such an attack in rapid session. However, it would be incredibly easy for Shang to simply unleash 20 attacks with 20 power, creating a collective offensive of 400 power. It would take less time. It would be faster. It would deal more damage. It would be easier. With such an offensive, a Mage with 400 defense would crumble in only one wave, while a beast with only 30 defense wouldn''t even receive a scratch. This was the very difference in defense between Mages and beasts. Level five wasn''t very difficult for Shang. The Mage managed to release a Spell and perform Mana Step, but the fight only took something like three seconds. As the corpse vanished, Shang furrowed his brows.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. He knew that he would reach the ninth level, but the sixth level would still not be easy. Shang was sure that he would win, but the next fight would require Shang to at least pay attention. The wheel returned, and Shang looked over. This time, his opponent''s Affinity might be relevant to how the fight progressed. The wheel began to spin, and Shang watched it. Inparison to the beast wheel, the pictures on the Affinity wheel were easy for Shang to discern. And as Shang looked at it, he also realized that he could discern some of the smaller fields now that he hadn''t been able to discern before. There were a couple of rare, mixed Affinities that Shang didn''t know about. For example, there was a Blizzard Affinity and even a Twilight Affinity. However, the most interesting things were the three new Pure Affinities. Shang already knew about Space, but there was now also Time and Gravity. "So, there are also Time and Gravity Affinities, huh?" However, that wasn''t even everything. There was one spot on the wheel. The spot was so insanely small that it looked like a slightly bigger ck line, even with Shang''s powerful Spirit Sense. If Shang hadn''t focused on the wheel that much, he would have missed it. The collective size of the Space, Time, and Gravity Affinities was already so small that Shang needed to be at the True Path Stage to even see them. The wheel was several meters wide, but the collective width of these three Affinities was probably in the range of single or double-digit micrometers. And that slightly bigger ck line? Probably nanometers. These Affinities were ridiculously rare. It was so rare that it was impossible to visualize. Getting one of the three rare Pure Affinities was probably one in several million. But getting whatever was in that ck line was probably one in several billion if not trillion. At that point, the wheel stopped spinning, and Shang finally saw what kind of opponent he would be facing now. The Affinity of his new opponent was... Earth. Chapter 462 Chapter 462 Shang didn''t remember thest time he had fought an enemy Mage with an Earth Affinity that wasn''t aplete pushover. ¡®A powerful Early High Mage with an Earth Affinity, huh? | wonder how they fight.¡¯ SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a tall man with brown hair and a rough, long beard. He looked a bit like a barbarian. Shang didn''t enter his Colossal Sword State. For now, the Saber State should be enough, and the Colossal Sword State was not as great when it came to dealing with Earth Mages. The reason was that Refraction and Reflection didn''t work that well against Earth Mages. Additionally, Shang didn''t think that it was necessary to enter his Colossal Sword State yet. The Saber State should still be enough. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! Shang immediately unleashed his Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns at the Mage. When the Mage noticed the assault, his eyes narrowed. In an instant, he had already created his Mana Shield. SHING! He also used a Mana Step immediately to gain some distance from Shang. When Shang saw that, he sted forward with an Ice st while continuing his assault. CRK! At that moment, two huge ws shot out of the earth around the Mage, and they grabbed the Mana Shield. Then, they moved the Mana Shield to the side, making Shang''s attacks miss. The ws could move through the earth, and they pulled the Mage with them. Shang got reminded of the first talented Mage he had ever fought back in the first trial. That Mage had been a Lightning Mage, and he had surrounded his Mana Shield with lightning to achieve a simr effect. Shang didn''t know how much Mana it cost to move the Mana Shield around with the ws, but he assumed that it was probably cheaper than Mana Shield. Additionally, moving the ws probably didn''t count as using a Spell. The Mage could probably just move them as long as they existed. The Mage wasn''t moving particrly fast with the earth ws, but he was very good at moving them, just barely enough to avoid Shang''s attacks. ¡®Interesting. An Earth Mage with a lot of mobility. That''s usually the weakness of Earth Mages.¡¯ Shang continued sting toward the Earth Mage while he continued unleashing his barrage of attacks. The Mage had to move from side to side to avoid the attacks, but he also had to move away from Shang. The Mage wasn''t stupid, and he knew that it would be a bad idea to let such a powerful warriore close to him. However, that made it more difficult to avoid Shang''s attacks. Whenever the Mana Shield was moved to the side, its retreating speed from Shang slowed down, allowing him to catch up. When there was only a kilometer left between them, the Mage used his first offensive Spell. WHOOOOM! A huge wave of earth suddenly appeared between the two, and it was moving right toward Shang. When Shang saw the wave, a bit of surprise appeared inside his right eye. "His wave is cutting off my Spirit Sense. | can''t see anything behind the wave.¡¯ Shang continued releasing his attacks, but this time, they hit the wave between him and his opponent. After three attacks, a hole opened up inside the wave, and Shang''s Spirit Sense could finally see what was behind it. And he immediately sted to the side. SHING! An earthen spear, cloaked in green Mana, shot past Shang at speeds that should be absolutely impossible for an Earth Affinity Mage to achieve at this level. If Shang hadn''t already expected that attack, he would have been hit. The Mage narrowed his eyes when he saw that Shang had evaded his attack. If Shang had been in the Mage''s ce, he would have done the same thing. Make the opponent expect one attack with a certain speed, but then release an even faster one behind the first one. Shang knew that the Mage had been judged to be powerful, and Shang had immediately assumed that the Mage would choose the best course of action based on what he would do. That was how Shang had known that this attack woulde. He hadn''t known how the Mage would manage to release such a fast attack, but he assumed that the Mage had a way to achieve that. But after seeing the attack, Shang realized what the Earth Mage had done. ¡®Sure enough, this is a genius." The green Mana around the earthen spear had been Wind Mana, and the way the Wind Mana behaved was very, very familiar to Shang. This was the Concept of Wind Movement. Jerald knew the same Concept. ¡®The Earth Mage''s main Concept is probably some kind of connection to the ground. The wave is humongous, and moving the ws that quickly through the Earth also can''t be easy. But as a powerful Early High Mage, he alreadyprehended a second Concept from a different Affinity and incorporated it into his Main Concept.¡¯ ¡®If | remember Jerald''s words correctly, most Earth Mages go for the Concept of Base, a Concept that allows them to control the Earth around them with incredible skill as long as they have physical contact with it.¡¯ ¡®The ws around his Mana Shield keep him mobile, but they also keep the connection with the ground. By using the Earth ws, he has essentially entered a continuously based state.¡¯ Shang had analyzed everything in the blink of an eye, and he had already continued his assault. The secondary n of the Mage had also failed since Shang had already seen iting. If the opponent somehow managed to avoid the attack, they would have moved to a ce where there was no hole inside the Earth Wall. At that point, the Earth Wall would hit them. But Shang only evaded to the side and then evaded back again, the wave harmlessly passing by him. Shang''s speed increased as he released more sts, and the Mage had to use another Mana Step to gain distance. Every usage of Mana Step was expensive and would exhaust the Mage''s Mana by a lot. When Shang saw that his opponent had used Mana Step, a fire appeared in his right eye. BANG! Instead of releasing another Shooting Star, Shang threw his Saber forward. The speed of the Saber was far higher than the speed of Shooting Star, and Shang was betting on the fact that the Mage wouldn''t be ready to use another Mana Step immediately after using the first one. He would feel safe with the additional distance, and he would be nning his next offense. The Mage''s eyes widened as he saw the ridiculously fast ck beam shooting at him. BOOOOOM! The ck fire around Sword exploded as it hit the Mana Shield, and the Mage realized in terror that he had just lost 50% of his Mana! How powerful was this attack?! WHOOOOM! In the next instant, the area around the Mage turned pitch ck, and not even his Spirit Sense could properly make sense of his surroundings. Then, he saw an eye in the darkness, and his hair stood up.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. How?! How had his opponent already arrived in front of him?! There had been nearly two kilometers between them?! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! In just an instant, four ck bolts of lightning hit the Mage''s Mana Shield in different ces. The attacks had been so fast that the Mage hadn''t even been able to react with Mana Step! The Mage finally used Mana Step, but... He had no more Mana! He didn''t have enough Mana to use Mana Step! Ack edge grew bigger in the Mage''s vision. Shang''s body passed the Mage. And the Mage fell into multiple pieces. Chapter 463 Chapter 463 As the Mage died and the cheering returned, Shang took a deep breath. His body had be smaller by a bit. His Long Sword State could be likened to a meteorite. It had iprehensible offensive power, but every single action sapped Shang of his Mana and life energy. If the offensive power in this State weren''t enough, Shang would vanish. The opponent wouldn''t even need to kill him since his own powers would do that for them. Shang recovered the lost life energy by absorbing the corpse. Luckily, the Mage''s meager life energy was just enough to recover the bit of life energy Shang had used. Shang summoned some more ore and returned Sword to its Saber State before the wheel appeared. ¡°Level seven: Weak Mid High Mage." ¡®This is the first time I''ve reached level seven against the Mages. On my first time, | used Entropy on level six, and during my second time, the fight on level six ended in a draw.¡¯ This represented a major step in Shang''s growth. He could now defeat nearly every single Mage that was one level above him, except for the very select few that had created a simrly impressive path as Shang. Finally, Shang had reached the power necessary to jump two levels against Mages. Shang wasn''t certain if he could win against a powerful Mid High Mage, but he was confident in fighting an average one. The wheel stopped, but Shang didn''t look at it. The Affinity of his opponent wouldn''t matter. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and the bell rang. Shang immediately unleashed Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns, and his opponent summoned Mana Shield and retreated with Mana Step. Then, Shang''s opponent unleashed an illusory hand that swatted some of Shang''s attacks to the side, but some of them still got through. Every Mage had ess to this kind of Spell, but only the prideful and arrogant ones actually used it. They believed that they were good enough to block all the Spells with this Spell, but that very often wasn''t the case. When the Mage realized that they couldn''t block all of Shang''s attacks, they stopped and looked at him with venom in their eyes. SHING! And they used a Mana Step to arrive directly in front of him! At the same time, they used the same Spell again to attack Shang. This Spell created some kind of forcefield that mimicked the shape of a gigantic, illusory hand.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. The Mage probably wanted to p Shang away for his disrespect of hitting them. When Shang saw the Mage getting close to him, his expression didn''t change. BOOOOOM! Star Shatter! The Mage was thrown back with incredible force and lost nearly 20% of their Mana! While they were still being thrown back by their opponent''s attack, Shang had already arrived in front of them. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! An iprehensibly fast barrage of attacks hit their Mana Shield, and their Mana dropped at astonishing speeds! For a second, the Mage fell into a panic, and they didn''t know how they should react to such an assault. They had never fought a physical fighter before! What were they supposed to do?! Then, they decided to use Mana Step. In an instant, they appeared a kilometer away from Shang. WHOOOOM! But Shang had also appeared there! It was like the two of them hadn''t moved! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! CRACK! The Mage''s Mana Shield cracked, and an instantter, the Mage was cut into pieces. Shang took a deep breath and refilled his exhausted life energy with his Mana. Then, he absorbed the corpse and regained some of it. This time, there wasn''t enough to refill all his wasted resources, but the waiting time between levels would give Shang enough time to return to his peak. As the wheel returned, a long ck streak in Shang''s inner world started to dissipate. The ck streak had led from Shang''s original spot to his current one. This was one of Shang''s new techniques for his Long Sword State. Shang had used Mana Step quite often in the past, and it had saved his life many times. However, from this point on, Shang wouldn''t use Mana Step anymore unless there was some kind of fringe case where it would actually be useful. Just like Shang had found new ways to incorporate his Light Affinity into his fights, he had found new ways to use his Darkness Affinity. This technique was created by supplementing Mana Step''s significant Mana cost with life energy. The effect of this technique was nearly identical to Mana Step, but instead of consuming 100% of the Mana inside his mind, Shang now only used 20% of the Mana in his mind and about 5% of his life energy. Mana Step left no traces, but this technique left a ck trail behind due to the life energy that had been turned into Darkness Mana. Shang called this new technique Shock. Shock''s purpose was to get close to his opponents, and it could be used up to five times in a single fight. Shock was the main reason why Shang''s Long Sword State was so fast. The barrage of attacks that had killed hisst two opponents used a simr principle. To create this never-ending assault of attacks, Shang was continuously consuming his life energy to increase the speed of his sword. At the same time, Shang would load his sword with a significant amount of Darkness Mana with every attack, consuming his life energy even more. This created a rapid explosion of powerful attacks in a tiny timeframe. Shang called this technique Anger. Shock and Anger were Shang''s two main techniques inside his Long Sword State, but he had a couple more. The Earth Mage had been buried in darkness nearing the end of their battle, clouding his sight and Spirit Sense. The technique Shang used to aplish that was simr to New Moon, the icy domain during his Great Sword State. However, the domain was a lot smaller than New Moon, and it didn''t grant Shang any additional offensive power. It simply clouded his opponent''s senses, making it more difficult to foresee what Shang would do next. The Darkness Mage Shang had fought in thest trial had used something simr but on a much grander scale. If Shang were to do that, he would need to kill himself to get enough life energy. That was obviously not a very good idea. However, he could keep a little domain of darkness around him without using much of his life energy. Shang called this domain of darkness Istion. There were two more techniques for Shang''s Long Sword State, but they hadn''t been necessary yet. As Shang was recovering, he looked at the wheel. ¡°Level eight: Average Mid High Mage.¡± Chapter 464 Chapter 464 Shang watched the wheel while Sword recovered to its Saber State. The wheel stopped, and the Affinity of his opponent was... Metal. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and Shang looked over. It was a woman with silver hair and sharp eyebrows. In a way, she looked a bit like Sarah. The Mage also had this aura around her that pushed people away from her. The jester slowly lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! As always, Shang started his assault of Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns. The Mage activated Mana Shield and used Mana Step, as always. Shang''s attacks continued as he sted toward his enemy. At that moment, the Mage narrowed her eyes and moved her fingers to the side. SHING! BANG! Asmall needle made of metal left her hand and hit a Shooting Star, making it explode prematurely. BANG! BANG! BANG! The same thing happened for all of Shang''s other attacks. "Seems like my basic assault won''t get me very far against this opponent.¡¯ Shang switched his offensive style and only unleashed Hidden Suns. The Mage used another needle to stop Hidden Sun. Whoosh! Yet, the needle missed! Hidden Sun had suddenly copsed into a Shooting Star at a random spot. This was the same thing Shang had used against that one spider on level nine in the beast category. It was the bane of people that could block his attacks with precise strikes. BANG! The new Shooting Star hit her Mana Shield, and she lost about 4% of her Mana. She tried to parry the next two attacks again, but they just copsed at random ces, making it impossible for her to foresee where she had to throw her needles. After getting hit by three attacks, she decided to change her approach. Instead of only shooting one needle at a time, she shot a bunch of needles at once. That did the trick, but it also required her to use more Mana.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Although she was still recovering more Mana than she was using, she wasn''t recovering much. Then, her Focus lit up. SHING! Space in front of her seemed to warp as a nearly imperceivable cut traveled across reality toward Shang. This was the same attack that one High Mage had used while Shang was assaulting one of the camps of the Grandmountain Kingdom. BANG! Shang used an Ice st to jump over the attack, but a second slice quickly shot at Shang''s new location. BANG! Shang sted toward the ground again, avoiding the second one. A powerful High Mage would have probably timed that attack better, but a powerful High Mage also had the ability to foresee their opponent''s attacks to a certain degree. As an average Mage, Shang''s opponent didn''t have that ability. She had to act ording to what Shang did, giving him more space to avoid her attacks. Then, Shang started to alternate his attacks. Sometimes, he was using normal Hidden Suns. Sometimes, he was using normal Shooting Stars. Sometimes, he was using copsing Hidden Suns. This increased Shang''s attack rate while still being very difficult to foresee. Instead of risking getting hit, Shang''s opponent decided to use the Needle Array to block every Spell. Now, she was using just as much Mana as she was recovering. Shang had a pretty good grip on his opponent''s fighting style by now. "She can use these needles whenever she wants, and even though they don''t take much Mana, getting hit by one will still be troublesome enough to force my armor to use its Magic Circles." If this Mage were on Shang''s level, he could probably just walk through these needles. The most they would do would be to draw a bit of blood from Shang. These needles used very little Mana, but for a Mid High Mage, very little Mana was still enough to threaten Shang. ¡®Seems like | have to enter my Long Sword State again.¡¯ Shang came closer to the High Mage until only 800 meters were between them. Then, just when Shang was about to unleash a normal Shooting Star, he threw his Saber instead. The Mage''s eyes widened, and she shot a Needle Array at Shang''s Saber. CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! The needles harmlessly bounced off Sword, and it reached her Mana Shield. BOOOOOM! Star Shatter! She lost a lot of her Mana, and she was thrown into the distance. SHING! But Shang was already in front of her! Shock! Then, the world around her turned ck. Istion! But inparison to thest Mage Shang fought, this one knew what to do. ANeedle Array appeared in her hands. But then, her eyes widened. Four other Shangs had appeared around her, and all of them looked real! They all lifted their swords with impressive speed. At that moment, the Mage narrowed her eyes. She would let the attack hit. She knew that four of the five Shangs had to be illusions, and she knew that she would only get hit by one of them. At that point, she would know who the real one was. All five Shangs struck forward. At that moment, she realized that they wouldn''t strike her at the same time. There was a tiny gap between whenever a strike would hit. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! The Mage took a deep breath in terror. All five attacks had sapped her Mana! And she still didn''t know who the real one was! This was another new technique for Shang''s Long Sword State. In the Commander Stage, Shang had created Shadow Image and Vanish, and this technique was a more refined fusion of these two. Istion already made it easy for Shang to use Vanish due to all the Darkness Mana around him, and creating a couple of Shadow Images was also easy inside Istion. When Shang used this technique, he would quickly move around in an invisible state and hit wherever one of the Shadow Images would hit their opponent. This meant that Shang''s opponent wasn''t surrounded by four illusions but five! This technique was designed to throw the enemy into a panic. They would be unsure what they should attack, and they were more likely to make mistakes due to the high pressure this technique put on their mind. They would believe that they would be attacked by everyone around them. Shang decided to call this technique Paranoia. And Paranoia did its work. The Mage fell into a panic, and she decided to attack all five Shang''s with a Needle Array. But the needles shot through all the Shangs without injuring them! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Another five attacks hit. Then, the Mage''s terror exploded. A humongous amount of Metal Mana gathered around her, and an instantter, it exploded outward. It seemed like the reality around her was cut apart by hundreds of cuts spreading out from her location. She would destroy everything around her! Sure enough, the darkness around her vanished, just like the five Shangs. SHING! And then, the darkness returned, just like the five Shangs. When Shang had seen her prepare her attack, he had used Shock to retreat into the distance. Then, he had used another Shock toe close again. Shang''s attacks were too fast to react for her in her current state. BANG! BANG! CRACK! SHING! SHING! And she was dead. The third attack broke her Mana Shield, and thest two split her into pieces. Shang''s body had shriveled up by quite a bit, but he could probably recover before the next fight started. He knew that the next opponent would not be easy. Chapter 465 Chapter 465 The corpse vanished, and the cheering returned as Shang took a deep breath. Additionally, Shang summoned some ore to make Sword return to its Colossal Sword State. The next fight would be very difficult, and Shang had to be in his strongest form if he wanted to have a chance. Shang looked at the wheel, which had just returned. ¡°Level nine: Powerful Mid High Mage." The wheel began to spin, and Shang waited. Eventually, it settled on one of the rarer Affinities. It was Light. ¡®A powerful Light Mage?¡¯ Shang thought with furrowed brows. Shang hadn''t fought a Light Mage before. The Light Affinity was rare, and Mages that had it generally weren''t the biggest fans of directly fighting against their opponents. However, Shang was no longer fighting new or average Mages. No, he was fighting a genius High Mage with a Light Affinity. If Shang managed to make Light usable in a somewhat offensive manner, a High Mage could aplish the same thing. Shang also remembered the Archduke. The Archduke also had a Light Affinity. If she didn''t have a lot of power, she wouldn''t be the Archduke. Shang knew how Light Mages could fight. After all, he had received many expensive Spell Compendiums from Jerald back then. Not much was known about how Light High Mages fought since the Affinity was so rare, but Jerald had also told Shang about how the Archduke actually fought. The Archduke''s main Concept was Illumination. Based on the name, the Concept felt weak and unusable during a battle, but nothing could be further from the truth. Shang''s Brilliance and Distortion were rted to the Illumination Concept. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and he looked over. It was a young woman with white hair, a peaceful smile on her face. Shang readied himself. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! Shang immediately exploded forward in his Colossal Sword State. He also activated Distortion, but he wasn''t very confident if it would work against a Light Mage or not. The woman opened her eyes, and she looked in Shang''s direction with an interested gleam in her eyes.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. She was surprised that there was actually a physical fighter in the world that could fight her. On top of that, the physical fighter actually used Light. This definitely interested her, but she didn''t lose her cool. She had been in many strange battles, and she could very quickly adapt to a new situation. In an instant, her first Spell was already finished, and it actually wasn''t Mana Shield. She smiled a bit at Shang before everything around Shang vanished into a domain of pure Light. This was very simr to Istion, but instead of Darkness, Shang''s enemy was using Light to achieve a simr effect. While Istion used the principle of nothingness and solitude in Darkness to get rid of the world around a person, the Mage achieved the same result but with the pr opposite. Instead of making the world around Shang feel empty, it felt too full. It was like there was so much stuff around Shang that he couldn''t see past any of it. His right eye didn''t help, and his Spirit Sense was obviously alsopletely useless. Even more, Shang didn''t know how this Spell worked exactly. Did she cast a Spell on his mind? After all, it was possible that this domain of Light actually didn''t exist in reality. Maybe it only existed in Shang''s perception? Did she cast everything in her surroundings in this domain of Light? Did she only create a small area of Light around Shang and move it along with him? Shang furrowed his brows and deactivated his Spirit Sense. Then, he focused on something he hadn''t used in a long time. Mana Vision. ASpirit Sense was strictly superior to Mana Vision, and Shang hadn''t used Mana Vision in a very long time due to that. Shang still couldn''t see his opponent, but he saw something else. He could finally tell how the Mage had used the Spell. Even though Shang couldn''t see out of the domain, he could tell how big it was due to the density of Light Mana around him. Right now, the domain was about ten meters wide, and it surrounded Shang as he kept running forward. Shang tried to absorb the Light Mana around him, but there was actually a will on it, making it impossible. BANG! Shang suddenly sted to the side. The domain perfectly followed him. There wasn''t even an instant of hesitation. This told Shang something else. ¡®There is a will on the Mana, and it perfectly keeps following me. Controlling this domain to such a degree makes it impossible for it to have been passively cast on me." ¡®If it were passively cast on me, it would either grow weaker as | move, or there wouldn''t be a will on it." ¡®That means she is actively channeling the ability, making it impossible for her to personally cast any other Spells.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, the Mana usage of such a Spell has to be high." BOOOOOOOOM! Shang was thrown back, and the Magic Circles on his armor activated. Just now, Shang had only seen one side of his surroundings suddenly turn dark, and the next moment, he had been hit by something massive, fast, and heavy. If Shang''s armor hadn''t activated, he would have transformed into a blood stter. Even though the Mage herself couldn''t cast any other Spells, the same thing wasn''t true for her Focus. While she kept the domain of Light alive, her Focus would create one offensive Spell after the other. The Spells of a Mid High Mage were already insanely fast and quite hard for Shang to dodge. Without being able to see the Spell, dodging becamepletely impossible for Shang. He couldn''t even block this fast. The Magic Circles on Shang''s armor deactivated again, but the armor could still block one more attack. Shang''s spinning body quickly righted itself, but Shang had lost all sense of orientation already. Shang knew that he had been hit by a humongous boulder. If it had been a Fireball or a Lightning Bolt, Shang would know where he would need to run to find the Mage. However, the humongous boulder had thrown Shang away and had made him spin wildly, making itpletely impossible to judge from where the attack had actuallye. ¡®Not surprised that she''s a powerful Mid High Mage. The ability to iste an enemy from a distance is terrifying." ¡®| need to do something before she fires another boulder.¡¯ Shang''s right eye narrowed. His hair stood up, and parts of his body began to vanish. There was only one thing that could get rid of this Spell. Domain of Entropy! Chapter 466 Chapter 466 As Shang activated his Domain of Entropy, the Light around him began to vanish. At that moment, Shang managed to get a glimpse of the outside world, and he could finally see where his enemy was. The Mage was about to fire another boulder, but she stopped as she realized that part of her Spell had been broken. She furrowed her brows and intensified her chanting. WHOOOM! More Light Mana buried Shang, cutting him off from the outside world again. Right now, Shang was using up the Mana inside his body to keep the Domain of Entropy going, but the added amount of Light Mana was consuming Shang''s Mana like crazy. BANG! Shang exploded forward and lifted his Colossal Sword. Then, he swung. WHOOOOM! Agigantic wave of ck fire came out of the Colossal Sword, and it charged directly at Shang''s opponent. The young woman furrowed her brows. She wouldn''t be able to evade this attack while keeping her domain active. Her Domain of Light had to be channeled by her, and if she wanted to use Mana Step, she would need to stop her channeling. A Focus couldn''t channel Mana Step for a Mage. In the end, she continued channeling. BANG! The gigantic ck wave hit the Mage''s Mana Shield, consuming a lot of her Mana. However, she was a Mid High Mage, and this wasn''t nearly enough to break her Mana Shield. Then, she unleashed the boulder she had just prepared and threw it at Shang. SHING! Ack streak appeared, and her Domain of Light moved nearly a kilometer to the side. The boulder missed the target by a lot. SHING! With closed eyes, Shang immediately used Shock again to get to the Mage. With the previous glimpse of the world, Shang had remembered where he was and where his opponent was. As long as his opponent didn''t move, he knew exactly where she was. Shang released Anger as soon as he arrived. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Five quick and powerful attacks hit the Mage¡¯s Mana Shield, and Shang''s body atrophied by a bit. When the Light Mage realized that Shang had arrived in front of her, she grew a bit panicked. He had just destroyed a lot of her Mana! Amomentter, the dense Light around Shang vanished, and he could finally see the world again. His opponent had just used Mana Step, and she was around a kilometer away. SHING! Shang used another Shock. But his opponent used Mana Step again. Shang''s brows furrowed, and he sted forward with his Ice and Fire sts. He only had a limited number of Shocks avable, and if his opponent kept using Mana Step, Shang would lose ess to his movement skill. Alight appeared in the Mage''s eyes. Just as she had thought, her opponent was injuring themselves with these powerful techniques. The Mage knew a bit about the Darkness Element, and she knew that some Darkness Mages could sacrifice their life energy to explode with terrifying power. When she saw that Shang didn''t use Shock anymore, she stopped using Mana Step. An instantter, the Light Domain around Shang appeared again, cutting him off from the outside world. However, he still knew where his opponent was. BOOOOOOOM! At that moment, Shang was hit by another gigantic boulder, and his armor activated again to block the attack. Shang had thought that he had more time, but he had been mistaken. Shang activated his Domain of Entropy again to gain a glimpse of the surroundings.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org. But as soon as he activated it, a terrifying torrent of Light Mana assaulted him. Shang felt over 50% of his body''s Mana drain in the blink of an eye. "She''s trying to exchange her Mana for mine since she knows that she has more Mana!" Shang still couldn''t see the surroundings, and his Mana was vanishing at rapid rates. ¡®Sure enough, | can''t win against her without sacrificing everything." Shang took a covert, deep breath. ¡®| only hope that | can still beat the Weak Late High Mage after that.¡¯ ¡®| won''t be recovered for my battle with the average Late High Mage.¡¯ Shang clenched his fingers around Sword''s hilt. Sword knew what Shang had nned. "I''m ready,¡± it told Shang. "I''m sorry," Shang transmitted. Then, Shang used up all of his body''s Mana and life energy in one explosion. WHOOOOM! Domain of Entropy erged and consumed the entire Domain of Light. Time seemed to stop. At that moment, the eyes of Shang and the Mage met. At that moment, Shang''s body and hair seemed to slowly vanish and turn into nothing. For some reason, the Mage felt like she was looking into the face of death. However, everything happened too quickly. She couldn''t properly react to the changing circumstances. BANG! Shang released Shock to get to his opponent, but this time, no Darkness Mana was left behind. Shang kept his Domain of Entropy active, and it consumed the earth, air, and darkness around him as he arrived directly in front of his opponent. Some slight ck mes appeared around Shang''s body, and even Sword burned with them. And then, Shang struck forward. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Five very fast attacks were unleashed, and the Mage''s eyes opened wide in absolute terror. Her opponent had just consumed over 50% of her Mana! Inparison, the earlier barrage of Anger had only consumed 15% of her Mana in total. This attack was on apletely different level! However, Shang had paid an equally heavy price to unleash that technique. Sword had transformed from its iconic, long shape into the shape of a slightly bigger short sword. Additionally, Shang''s skin had vanished, and his muscles looked incredibly atrophied. In her terror, she released another Mana Step. Yet, she didn''t move! She had used her Mana Step, but her body didn''t move! At the same time, Shang''s body atrophied even more. He now looked like an undead husk. Shang had used his Domain of Entropy to destroy the Mana Step Spell in the atmosphere. However, that had cost Shang a lot of his body. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! CRACK! Shang quickly attacked five more times, and the fifth attack destroyed his opponent''s Mana Shield. Yet, Shang had lost his legs and looked like a person drawing theirst breath. Additionally, Sword''s shape had changed into nothing more than a dagger. Time seemingly stood still again. Shang didn''t move. He couldn''t move. He was so weak that he couldn''t even extend his arms to kill his opponent. If he forced it, his arm would fall off before he could even reach her. He was slowly turning to dust. At that moment, the dagger in Shang''s hands left his grasp. And it flew directly at the Mage! SHING! The dagger pierced through her skull. She died with a shocked and terrified expression on her face. The dagger quickly left her head again, flew behind her, and pushed her toward Shang. Shang collided with the corpse, and some of his bones broke. However, he now had physical contact with the corpse, and he could absorh its life energy. Luckily, this Mage had a Mid Commander Stage body, which meant that it could, at least, refill Shang''s life energy by about 20%. That was more than enough to survive. Shang had won. This had been Shang''sst resort. Hisst technique. If everything else failed, Shang would use this technique. Shang would use his Domain of Entropy to cancel out any kind of Spell. At the same time, he would consume his body, life energy, and Mana to increase the power of his attacks. Sword would do the same thing, sacrificing small pieces of itself to strengthen the attack. As long as Sword was still the size of a dagger or bigger, it could recover. Of course, being reduced to such a degree was also incredibly painful and terrifying to Sword, which was why Shang had apologized earlier. This technique represented thest exchange. After this technique, one or bothbatants would be dead. There was no other oue. This technique was on the border between Darkness and Entropy. Shang called it Silence. Chapter 467 Chapter 467 Shang slowly absorbed all the life energy out of the corpse. His flesh recovered, but there wasn''t enough for his skin. When the corpse turned into a husk, it started to vanish, and the cheering returned. Shang slowly sat back up and closed his right eye. He summoned some ore and stabbed the little dagger into it. This time, Sword was absorbing the ore much slower than previously. Just like Shang, it was in an incredibly weakened state. Meanwhile, Shang focused on the Mana in the surroundings and did his best to absorb it as quickly as possible. Some skin already appeared again as the wheel returned. ¡°Level ten: Weak Late High Mage.¡± The wheel began to spin, but Shang only kept focusing on the surroundings. If he wanted to beat the next level, he had to recover as much as possible. Just before the wheel stopped, Shang had recovered his skin, but he was still missing a lot of life energy and Mana. He had managed to heal his body, but he would need to rely on his passive regeneration for the next minute or so. SHING! Shang''s opponent appeared, and Shang opened his right eye. It was an older man with fiery red hair. Shang slowly stood up and waited. The jester lifted his hammer and struck the bell. DING! Shang pulled out Sword from the heap of ore. By now, it had recovered to its Saber State. That was sadly everything it managed to recover in this short amount of time. However, that was already enough. The Mage opened his eyes and cast his Mana Shield. Shang readied his Saber and started his barrage of range attacks. DING! DING! DING! The Mage summoned an illusory hand and threw all of Shang''s ranged attacks to the side. There were three levels between them, and Shang''s attacks were simply too slow. However, Shang only continued unleashing his attacks. He even made use of the transforming Hidden Suns. But the Mage just kept parrying all of them. Shang only continued. Five seconds passed. Five seconds was a lot of time in a fight of such a level. Most of Shang''s fights ended within five seconds, after all. The Mage only continued parrying the attacks with a smirk. Another five seconds passed. ¡°How long can you keep this up?¡± the Mage suddenly asked with a smug voice. Shang didn''t answer. Five more seconds passed. "Quite impressive, actually," the Mage said. "Seems like you have a lot of Mana for a physi.¡± After five more seconds, the Mage''s eyebrows furrowed. That physi should have long since run out of Mana. How could he still keep up this offense? One had to know that using this illusory hand to such a fine degree cost the Mage a lot of Mana. In fact, he had already used up nearly 30% of his total Mana. His n had been to simply oust the physi. But he grew less and less confident in his n as time dragged on. BANG! Suddenly, Shang charged forward, slowing his offense. When the Mage saw that, his smirk returned. "Finally out of Mana, huh?" The Mage only looked at Shang with a smirk. His Focus had already prepared his offensive Spell. He could kill this physi whenever he wanted, but he wanted to see what else the physi would do. The Mage enjoyed toying with his opponents. As soon as Shang reached about a distance of 100 meters from the Mage, he changed his attacks. Suddenly, one fire pir after the other appeared below the Mage as Shang switched to Inferno. The Mage onlyughed. "Is that your n now? You''re low on Mana, and you want to use this technique to force me to use Mana Step so that | waste my Mana, too, huh? Well, too bad for you. | know what you''re nning, and I''m not moving from this spot. Let''s see your dying gasp." Shang kept unleashing Infernos as the Mage just kept standing on the spot, surrounded by fire. After the fifth Inferno, the Mage was still confident. After the tenth, he grew suspicious. And after the fifteenth Inferno, he grew worried. SHING! He used Mana Step and retreated. When Shang saw that, a gleam appeared in his eyes. His Saber burst into ck mes, and Shang threw it forward. Out of reflex, the Mage used his invisible hand to p the Saber to the side, but the invisible hand was destroyed! And Star Shatter hit the Mage''s Shield. BANG! Nearly 20% of the Mage''s Mana vanished with that attack! But then, Shang appeared right in front of the Mage, his right eye shining in the newly created darkness. The Mage immediately used the Fireball that the Focus had prepared. SHING! Shang used Shock to evade to the side. SHING! Then, he used Shock to return to the Mage. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! CRACK!Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Anger! The fifth attack already broke the Mana Shield since the Mage had taken so much damage already. The Mage''s face transformed into a grimace of fear as Sword stabbed through his head. The fight was over. Shang pulled Sword out and absorbed the meager life energy and Mana from the Mage''s corpse. He was at around 50% of his max now. The corpse slowly vanished, and the cheering returned. The wheel returned, but it didn''t immediately start spinning. "So, wanna try level eleven?" the jester asked. Shang took a deep breath. SHING! Then, he summoned some spare clothes and put them on. Wait, what about his armor? Obviously, he had sacrificed it to Entropy. Otherwise, he would have died in thest fight. He had been fighting thest battle naked. "No," Shang answered. "With my armor, | would have a shot, but | don''t anymore." The jester only smirked. "You know, you should get used to that." Shang nced at the jester. "You know, you''ve already reached levels where every set of armor has to be custom-made by your friend. There are no major advancements in terms of these kinds of armor. There are plenty of Mage robes, but the kind of armor you need doesn''t really exist." "Who will forge your armor in the future? Who knows how to forge it? Who will develop the specific Magic Circles you need?" Shang''s brows furrowed as the jester only grinned. "You should get used to fighting in normal clothes again." Shang only wordlessly nodded without looking at the jester. He knew that the God was right. The jester jumped off the wheel, and the wheel vanished. "And that concludes the trial," he said. "Time for the rewards." Chapter 468 Chapter 468 Shang released a long sigh. Going through the trial was always filled with stress. Even though his life wasn''t technically on the line here, the continuous fights against stronger and stronger opponents sapped his strength by a lot. "You got thirteen points in the beast category and ten points in the Mage category," the jester said. "That''s a total of 23 points without a warrior category." "It was definitely the right decision to promote you." Shang didn''t answer. He knew that his power had grown tremendously, but that didn''t just ur naturally.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Shang was 85 years old, and he had spent over 50 years inplete istion. About 70% of his life had been nothing but training day in and day out in istion. Was it easy to do something like that? Of course not! Shang also wanted to take breaks. He also wanted to do something else. However, he couldn''t allow himself to rx. His goal was too important to him, and any moment that wasn''t spent on getting him to his goal was a waste of time. ¡°What are the rewards?¡± Shang asked. The jester smirked. SHING! Three small things appeared above his right hand, and Shang looked at them. One was a small set of armor. One was a small book. One was a big question mark. "| have three things to choose from. You may only take one," the jester said. At that moment, the little armor floated forward and grew to its normal size. It looked just like Shang''s previous armor. "The first option: An armor just like your weapon.¡± Shang took a deep breath as he heard that. An armor just like Sword? "So, it regenerates, adapts to my needs, and it grows stronger by giving it ore?" Shang asked. The jester nodded. "Exactly." "With this armor, you will never have issues with your armor again, just like with your weapon." Shang closed his right eye in thought. That reward was more than useful. In fact, it was terrifyingly useful. The God had already confirmed that getting better armor was basically impossible in this world, and Shang couldn''t possibly focus on also creating armor. Something like that required decades of research, and Shang couldn''t spare any time for that. But with this set of armor, he would never have to worry about such things again. Without the armor, any attack that hit Shang would severely injure or kill him. With the armor, he would get at least two additional lives per battle. Maybe even more! This armor would also allow Shang to get further in future trials, assuming he managed to advance to the Fifth Realm eventually. Shang was definitely tempted. ¡°What''s the next reward?" Shang asked. However, he wanted to listen to all the rewards first. The first reward was already far more than Shang had expected, and he wanted to know if the other two rewards were just as outstanding. The armor shrunk and returned to the jester''s hand as the book grew and floated forward. "An Element-Neutral technique that''s adaptable to every kind of weapon and Element," the jester said. "You can use it as a baseline for all your future techniques. You don''t need to study Magic anymore, and its power is greater in nearly all aspects than your current techniques." Shang had to take another deep breath again. He knew how terrifying something like that was. An adaptive technique was essentially only a blueprint. It had certain principles inside it that could be filled with all kinds of weapons or Elements. This couldpletely transform Shang''s fighting style again and elevate it to new heights. Even more, the technique might even give Shang the inspiration he needed to theorize a way to reach the Fifth Realm. It would save him decades of time in his training! Reaching the fifth Stage was a monumental task. Shang had to create a path forward without knowing where he had to go. It was very possible that Shang wouldn''t even reach the Fifth Realm in his life, and he knew that. Maybe, in the future, he would find a way, but he had already taken several incorrect steps before that moment, forever making it impossible to reach it. Even more, the technique might even be useful in the Fifth Realm! While the first reward would increase Shang''s chance of survival several-fold in the future, the second reward would increase Shang''s chances of actually realizing that future several-fold. However, the armor was useful forever, while the technique might lose its effectster on. But the technique might have given Shang enough inspiration to create something even better, which he wouldn''t have been able to create without it. Both rewards were terrifyingly useful for Shang''s journey. Shang didn''t want to give up either of them since both were so incredibly useful. ¡°And the third?" Shang asked. The book returned to the jester''s hand, and the question mark moved forward. ¡°I''m not telling you what it is," the jester said. "Then how am | able to make a decision?" Shang asked. "Why are you even offering it? You know me. | would much rather take something that will certainly benefit me than take a risk." The jester only grinned. "I''m offering it because of fate." Shang raised an eyebrow. "Fate?" The jester looked at the question mark. "Long ago, someone created this thing. Then, they sacrificed a lot of Mana to influence fate." "They used everything so that, one day, this thing would find its way to its rightful owner." ¡°They were certain that they have seeded and that this thing would eventually find its rightful owner." Shang nced at the jester. "Does fate even exist?" The jester chuckled. "In a way, it does," he said as he looked at Shang. "Fate is my will." "So, did they influence your will?" Shang asked. ¡°Of course not," the jester said with augh. "There is no one that can influence my will. This thing is in my hands, and | may do with it what | want." Shang remained silent for a while. "Am | the rightful owner?" "Maybe," the jester said with a grin. "Did that person know me?" Shang asked. "No." "Would it be useful for me?" ¡°Of course," the jester said. "| may enjoy joking around, but | still believe in fair rewards. It will definitely be useful to you." ¡°However, the question is, is it more useful than the other two rewards?" The question mark floated back to the jester''s hand. "I''m only offering it because | like to tempt fate, which is essentially my will." ¡°Was fate on that person''s side?" "Was fate not on their side?" "| want to find that out right now." As Shang heard that, his right eye focused on the jester. "Was that on purpose?" Shang asked. The jester knew what Shang was thinking, and he grinned widely. ¡°How very interesting," he said. "| do what | want, but what | want is exactly what that person thought and hoped would happen." "Was it truly a coincidence that | said these things?" "It is what | wanted to say." "Did they foresee what would happen, or was this just luck?" "Can sheer belief change things that far in the future?" The jester rubbed his chin as he smirked. ¡°How very interesting," he repeated again. The armor and the technique vanished as the question mark floated over to Shang. Yes, Shang had decided to take the question mark because of the God''s words. The jester had mused about if fate was on the person''s side or not after Shang asked if he was the right person for this reward. The fact that this was even a question showed that Shang was indeed the right person for this thing. And Shang already had a good guess what this was about. He assumed it had something to do with his Affinity. This was basically the only thing that could distinguish him over such vast stretches of time from everyone else in the world. Shang might be able to find a way to create useful armor for himself in the future. Shang might be able to create techniques even more powerful than the second reward. However, the third reward might be something that was unachievable by Shang. Shang''s goal was the very end, and to get to the very end, he needed everything. If he could get the first two on his own, and he needed thest thing to realize his goal, the choice became obvious to Shang. Even though he didn''t know what the reward was, he knew that he had to take it. ¡°Fate. How very interesting," the jester said onest time before he vanished from Shang''s inner world. Asecondter, the question mark vanished, and something else appeared in its ce. A book and a letter. Shang looked at the book. He couldn''t distinguish anything from the cover. Then, Shang looked at the letter and read it. And the more he read, the more his heart and mind shook. Chapter 469 Chapter 469 Shang took a deep breath after he finished the letter.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. The contents of this letter were beyond shocking. Then, Shang read the letter again to make sure that he hadn''t missed anything crucial. "If you are reading this, it means | am dead." That was how the letter started. ¡°My name is Lucius Volstad, and | am the Mage God, formerly known as the Mage Emperor." Shang remembered the corpse the God had kicked around the room. This was a letter from this person. This was a letter from a person that was on the same level as the God of this world. "If you can read this, it means that you are the sessor to my legacy." "Just like you, | have been cursed with this Affinity that binds me to the Abominations. | have control over Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness." "You and | are known as the Children of Cmity in this world. The more powerful we be, the more powerful the Abominations be.¡± ¡°Our rise to power is their rise to power." "If we are weak, only Abominations up to the Third Realm appear, but if we are powerful, even Abominations of the Ninth Realm can appear.¡± "If a Child of Cmity in the Ninth Realm doesn''t help the people of this world, an Abomination Emperor will destroy the world." ¡°As you probably already know, the Abominations are also our source of power, and we need them just as much as they need us. "In the eyes of the world, we are the enemy. We are the very thing that threatens the existence of the very world we live in." "The solution the world hase to is to keep the Children of Cmity as weak as possible for their entire lives. If a Child of Cmity is found, they will be given a home, plenty of wealth, freedom, longevity, and status." ¡°However, they are not allowed to be more powerful. For if they be more powerful, the world suffers." "If a Child of Cmity dies, a new one will be born after a few seconds. The Children of Cmity can''t be eradicated, or the world would have already done so." "The only solution the world cane up with is to simply keep them alive and weak." "However, that is not the solution | have in mind." "The solution of the world will only dy the inevitable, while | want to stop the inevitable altogether." "| believe that, if one of us were to reach Godhood, we would find a solution to the problem." "There has to be a solution to this problem!" "| refuse to watch the world | love crumble around me!" "Sadly, since you are reading this letter now, it means that | have failed and that | am most likely dead." "Since | am dead now, | am asking you to realize my dream." "| want you to reach Godhood and achieve what | couldn''t." "| ask you to get rid of the debilitating disease this world is suffering from, the Abominations." "| know it is a lot to ask, but | hope you love this world just as much as | do." ¡°And if you don''t, that is also understandable. Being cursed with this Affinity forces us to sacrifice millions of innocent lives just to realize our own power." "You might feel that your very existence makes you the enemy to the world." Shang felt a little sting when he read that passage again. ¡°But that is not the case! | have arge group of close friends, and we have all worked and became powerful together. They would risk their lives for me, and | would risk my life for them." "Sadly, they do not know of my secret. To them, | am only a very talented Mage." ¡°Again, | implore you to save the world! Please, be powerful and stop this rotting disease!" Shang could tell that Lucius, the Mage Emperor, was basically pleading at this point. Such a proud and powerful person was begging a True Path Stage warrior to do something they couldn''t. Shang could tell that Lucius loved the world a lot if he was even willing to beg an unfamiliar person. Someone of such level had to have a lot of pride in their body, but he was willing to throw it away. "| don''t know if you will ept my wish or not, but | will assume you have epted." "| will now tell you how to achieve Godhood." Shang took another deep breath. When he read that sentence for the first time, his entire body shuddered. "The world believes that achieving Godhood is impossible. They believe that it is simply impossible for a normal human to reach the legendary and elusive Tenth Realm." ¡°But the people at the very top, the Kings and Emperors, know the truth." "There is a way to achieve Godhood, but it requires two things." "The first thing is a perfect foundation and Path. Your foundation and Path have to be so powerful that not even a single person in the entire world can win against you in a one-on-one duel as long as they are on your level, and this trend has to continue for your entire journey.¡± "You can''t allow yourself to fall from the peak even once. The very thing that will break your Path will leave an eternal stain on it unless you scrap the entire thing and begin anew." ¡°As of the time | am writing this letter, | am the only one alive with such a powerful Path." ¡°But there have been people before me with an equal Path, and | am certain that there will also be people after me with such a powerful Path.¡± "Yet, even though there have been people with such powerful Paths, not even one of them managed to achieve Godhood, and that''s because of the second requirement." "Fulfilling the second requirement is less a test of power, but a test of willpower." ¡°And it is the very thing that forced me tomit this atrocious war and genocide of the other Paths." "Please know that | never wanted to kill all the other Paths. | never wanted that." "But | had to." "The reason will be clear very soon." "The second requirement is Mana." ¡°As of the moment of writing this letter, the world barely has enough Mana to support a single person achieving Godhood, and over 90% of that Mana is stored in the form of living things." "To achieve Godhood, you have to kill nearly every other Ninth Realm person and beast in the world." ¡°Only with this will you have enough Mana to achieve Godhood." Shang took a deep breath. It made a lot more sense now why the Mage Emperor had destroyed all the other Paths. He didn''t do it because he wanted to but because he had to. 90% of all people at the Ninth Realm. Shang didn''t know how many there were, but he guessed that there were maybe ten. That would leave only one person in the Ninth Realm alive besides Lucius. And that had probably been the only other Mage at the Ninth Realm. And all the Ninth Realm experts from the other Paths? Lucius had killed them. Chapter 470 Chapter 470 Shang had already suspected that the God hadn''t told Shang the entire truth at the beginning, and this confirmed it. Shang continued reading. "Several of my friends have probably reached the Mage Emperor Realm after my death. Since | am dead, it means that the Mana stored in my body has been freed up and returned to the world.¡± "It pains me to write this, but for the good of the world, they must be sacrificed when the time is right." "The world can only support one God and one Emperor at any given moment." ¡°And that might not even be true for you, Sessor. | don''t know how much time has passed before you got hold of this letter, but the Abominations keep reducing the Mana in the entire world." ¡°It might be possible that the world can''t even support that single additional Emperor anymore." "You might need to kill everyone." "It might even be impossible to gather enough Mana to reach Godhood, even if you kill everyone." "| don''t know, and that thought scares me." "It would mean that the Abominations have won." "| can just hope that it isn¡¯t toote yet." ¡°For the good of the world, we have to be sinners." "| don''t know what will kill me in the future, but it must be something of incredible power." "| can only hope that you will find a way to ovee this hurdle and free the world of this disease." Shang knew that hurdle very well. The God. By now, Shang could guess what happened back then. Lucius became a God and tried to find a solution to the Abomination problem. Then, the God and Lucius fought for some reason. Maybe Lucius wanted to free up more Mana for the world by killing the God? But he lost against him and died. Shang could empathize with Lucius. Lucius wasn''t a bad person. He was simply someone that had tomit horrible actions for the good of the world. "| can only hope that you can do what | couldn''t.¡± "To help you on fulfilling our wish, | have added a Spell to this letter. | have felt the hands of fate, and | am certain that the Spell wille into your hands at the same time as the letter.¡± Shang looked over at the book. Sure enough, Lucius was right. The Spell was here. "| don''t know which Path you tread, which is why | designed this Spell to be usable by every Path." "This Spell was the very Spell that allowed me to be powerful and build friendships." "I call it Humanity." "| designed the base version of this Spell when | became a High Mage, but | have refined it over the next couple of millennia to its current state." ¡°Humanity allows you to choose up to two Elements, and when you use it, while the Spell is active, no one in the entire world can see your true Affinity." "Not even Emperors." ¡°As long as the Spell is active, beasts, humans, and everything else will perceive you to be a normal human with your chosen Affinity." ¡°Beasts will no longer be overly aggressive towards you, and humans won''t feel this feeling of alienationing from you." "With this Spell, your status as the Child of Cmity will remain hidden." ¡°However, take care, Sessor. Just because people can''t see your true Affinity doesn''t mean that they can''t know that you are the Child of Cmity." "If Abominations keep randomly appearing around you, other people might suspect you, and they might end your life just to be cautious." "You can''t allow anyone to connect you to the Abominations." ¡°After telling you all of these things, | can only hope that you share my ideals." "| can only hope that you wish for the world to survive and not see it destroyed." "| wish for this letter never to appear in the world since it means that | have failed in my duty, but if it does, remember the following words." "The world is not cold." "The world is not your enemy." "Treat the world how you want to be treated." m Lucius Volstad, the Mage God, and | hope you will be more powerful than me in the future." And then, the letter ended. Shang took another deep breath. Everything about this letter was shocking. This letter represented thest words of one of the most powerful people that had ever lived. Shang put the letter to the side and opened the book. As Shang read through it, he was surprised. The Spell was so easy! However, the book was absolutely gigantic. It probably had thousands of pages only dedicated to this single Spell. That was when Shang realized that the Spell wasn''t actually easy but that Lucius had managed to simplify the insanelyplex principles in the Spell to a ridiculous degree. Creating such a Spell could only be done by an unimaginably powerful Mage, but the application of it was very simple and direct. Shang took a bit over an hour to read the entire thing, and he had already understood it after reading it. The God had put no Comprehension Spell on this book! But Shang, a warrior, still understood itpletely after reading it once! Lucius was just that good at exining the principles! Shang closed his right eye and drew aplex diagram in his mind. He followed the simple instructions to create the diagram and spoke someplex and ethereal words. After around five minutes, Shang had created a diagram in his mind that was so huge andplex that no normal human could possibly remember it. When Shang put thest line on the diagram, he also stopped the chant. At that moment, the diagram in his mind shone for an instant before vanishing. It had worked!This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Shang felt the very subtle drain of Mana from his mind, but the drain of Mana waspletely negligible. As long as his mind wasn''t fully drained of Mana, the Spell would remain active. Shang didn''t even need to focus on the Spell since it worked autonomously. Additionally, Shang regenerated his Mana several times faster than the Spell was using it. Shang didn''t feel any different, but he knew that the Spell was taking effect. From this day forth, Shang no longer needed to hide from the powerful beasts. From now on, they would view him as a normal human. If Shang could choose his reward again, he would definitely choose the same reward. It was just that good! After a while of thinking about the new possibilities this Spell opened up, Shang stood up. The trial was over, and he had received his reward. Now, it was time to return to the world and deal with the Council! Chapter 471 Chapter 471 Before Shang left his inner world, he thought about Lucius¡¯ words again. ¡®I''m not sure how to feel about what I''ve read,¡¯ Shang thought as he furrowed his brows. ¡®The world is not bad? Maybe, but | don''t know. I''ve felt the effects of the persecution of the other Paths personally.¡¯ ¡®I''ve seen how the Council and the Dukes suppress the warriors just because they fear their power.¡¯ ¡®The Skythunder Kingdom would be the most powerful Kingdom as long as the Council supports the warriors. The warriors didn''t even want to rise up initially, but everything the Council had done over the past decades has pushed them away from them." ¡®Everyone is only interested in their own power, and I''m not any better. To achieve my goal, I''m even willing to push the world into a cmity.¡¯ Shang was not someone that loved the world as much as Lucius.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Someone of Lucius'' power didn''t need to fear anyone, and he could appreciate the beauty of the world. But Shang was in the middle of a huge war just because he was not a Mage. Amomentter, a different thought entered Shang''s mind. ¡®Although, Jerald is not like the other Mages. Mages, as well as warriors, are willing to follow him. The only reason why we have so few Mages is that they are afraid of fighting against the Council. No one wants to join the side that is most likely to lose ina war unless their very lives are on the line.¡¯ ¡®King Skythunder also doesn''t seem to care a lot about warriors and Mages, but that''s understandable. From what | know, he has once been a barbarian before he became a Mage. He has a different outlook." At that point, Shang thought about the world he had seen around 70 years ago. The farmers in the Farm Line had peaceful lives, and the students of the Warrior Academy had been in high spirits. They were young children that looked at the future with bright and glowing eyes. The hunters and Mages had no big conflicts back then, and Warrior''s Paradise had been bustling with activity and life. As Shang thought about the time he had been a teenager, he could imagine finding the world beautiful. For a while, Shang only evaluated his own thoughts. ¡®| don''t know if | find the world beautiful or not,¡¯ he thought. ¡®Lucius¡¯ words don''t change a thing.¡¯ ¡®However, if | actually have a chance to get rid of the Abominations without jeopardizing my own growth, | will do it." Even though Shang felt a deep connection with the Abominations, there was still a fundamental difference between them. The Abominations wanted the world to stop existing. Shang didn''t want that. Being in a lonesome void of nothingness as the only living being was not something Shang wanted. If he wanted to live, the vast majority of things around him also had to live. So, despite the deep connection, the Abominations still counted as enemies to Shang. ¡®Nothing changes." After making up his mind, Shang left his inner world. Inside a humongous cave deep underground, Shang opened his right eye. "Wee back." Shang looked over and saw Jerald beside him. Jerald had been keeping watch over Shang''s body while he was undergoing the trial. Additionally, Jerald wanted to know how everything went. Shang nodded and stood up. Jerald began to evaluate Shang with furrowed eyes and hummed a bit. "You feel different," he said. "| presume this has to do with your reward?" Shang nodded. "Nobody in the world can see through my real Affinity anymore. That means that | also won''t be immediately hunted down by the first beast that sees me.¡± Jerald scratched his chin a little. "That is great to hear, but it doesn''t sound like your power has increased." "It hasn''t," Shang answered. "To be honest, | could have chosen two other rewards that would have increased my power, but | value my future above my current power.¡± Jerald sighed. "That''s not a problem. Making the n seed is definitely important, but it is only of momentary importance, and it only functions as an intermediary goal. The true goals we have chosen for ourselves always take priority.¡± "Sorry," Shang said. "No, it''s fine," Jerald said. "| would have done the same thing." One of the reasons why they had waited for the trial was for the reward. If Shang got something that increased his power even more, the n had a higher likelihood of seeding. Sadly, it seemed like the wait had been pointless. The reward hadn''t increased Shang''s power, but at least it had given him a more secure future. Of course, Jerald wished for Shang to have chosen a reward that increased his power immediately. After all, the purpose of the n was to take revenge for Jerald''s fallen territory, his fallen friends, and his dead son. But Jerald also knew that he couldn''t force his own priorities and wishes on Shang. Shang was already trusting Jerald with his life, and Jerald didn''t want to betray that belief. Shang told Jerald about the trial, and he also mentioned some of the stuff he had learned from Lucius'' letter. Naturally, he didn''t tell Jerald about the Children of Cmity and their status in the world. After hearing everything that happened in the trial from Shang, Jerald released a sigh. "It seems my worries were unfounded," he said. "Your power should be enough for the n. However, you will still be in danger.¡± "| know," Shang answered with a nod, "but | don''t care. | might seem cold most of the time, but | cared for George and the entire Storm Eagle Zone. The prosperous and livelynd from back then no longer exists, and I''m not a big fan of that." Jerald smiled a little bit. "That''s good to hear." Shang hadn''t left the Cave, and he could only imagine how the atmosphere in the Storm Eagle Zone was, but Jerald was there every day. There were so many guards stationed across the entire territory, and every person was meticulously investigated all the time. The oppressive power and authority of the stationed soldiers intimidated all the normal citizens to the point where they only left their houses when it was absolutely necessary. Hustle and bustle hadpletely vanished from Warrior''s Paradise, and a cloud of grey uncertainty and fear hung over the entire Zone. While the dead air in Warrior''s Paradise had been an oddity in the past, now it was a suffocating pressure. The Warrior''s Academy had more students than ever, but there was no youthful happiness there. The increased sizes of sses and urgency eradicated joyful training and reced it with authoritarian drills. The students no longer viewed their future with colorful and bright eyes but with cynical, grey eyes filled with uncertainty. They felt like they were no longer working for a bright future but working towards a gruesome death on the battlefield. Due to the insane number of powerful warriors living here, even the Wastnd had basically been cleaned of all beasts. It even reached a state where hunting had been strictly prohibited for everyone until the environment recovered. The same thing was true for the Canyon and the Wild Forest. Entering the Wild Forest to fight beasts required explicit permission, and it was mostly reserved for the students to gain practical experience. The Farm Dogs were no longer useful due to the presence of so many powerful warriors, and they simply sat around the farms in a monotone state of boredom. They no longer had a purpose. The farmers were overworked. They were earning more than ever before, but they didn''t want to work anymore. Life was simply too stressful. In the past, Jerald had been proud of his territory, but now, he felt pain whenever he looked at it. He didn''t want to put everyone under so much pressure, but it was necessary. He couldn''t allow the Council to infiltrate his territory and destroy it from within. After Shang and Jerald talked about the trial, Jerald went to the next topic. ¡°Are you ready to see him now?" Jerald asked. Shang nodded. "I think now is the best time. | might not know him, but | can guess how he feels since we came from the same ce." They were talking about the new person the God had sent to this world. Jerald had already found him a couple of months ago, but Shang was too busy readying himself for the trial. "So, you will now officially return to the world, huh?" Jerald asked with a slight smile. Shang nodded again. "I''ve been gone from the world for nearly 50 years, and I''ve lived in istion for all of it." ¡°Returning to be amongst people feels strange, but it is only natural.¡± Jerald chuckled a bit, and Shang raised an eyebrow. "| have something prepared for your return," Jerald said. For a second, Shang wasn''t sure what Jerald meant, but then he remembered. ¡°Right, | asked you to prepare an armor since mine probably won''t survive the trial," he said. Jerald nodded. "Yes, but this time, | decided to take some liberties regarding its design." "You will be my second-inmand from now on, and you represent my strongest military power." ¡°| need you to look the part." Chapter 472 Chapter 472 Adoor on the fifth floor of the Warrior Academy''s main building opened. Two people stood in front of the door. One was a tall man with blue hair and a gigantic sword strapped to his back. The other person was a teenager with ck hair, carrying a ck spear on his back. "Enter," the teacher said. The student hesitated a bit. "Am | in trouble, Teacher Astor?" he asked with a voice that betrayed his nervousness. "No," Teacher Astor said with a calm voice. "Someone important wants to meet you, and I''m only here to escort you." "Why?" the student asked. "| don''t know," Teacher Astor answered.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. That didn''t help in alleviating the student''s worries. Eventually, he just entered the room, and Teacher Astor closed the door before leaving. The student looked around with anxiety, and he eventually sat down in a chair beside a big desk in the middle of the room. The student slowly caressed the handle of his spear to give himselffort. As long as his weapon was beside him, he didn''t need to feel so scared. "Have | done anything wrong?¡¯ the student thought in worry. ¡®Did someone find out that | sneaked into the Wild Forest to fight some beasts? But | didn''t kill any of them! | didn''t damage the ecosystem!" The student waited inside the room for several minutes, his anxiety only bing stronger. ¡®Calm down, Oliver! Teacher Astor said that you are not in trouble! It''s only that someone important wants to meet you... someone so important that even Teacher Astor seemed uncertain...¡¯ Oliver, the student, just couldn''t calm himself down. He knew Teacher Astor very well, and he was always friendly, helpful, and forting. He was also a very good teacher! But, just now, Teacher Astor seemed conflicted, nervous, and uncertain. That meant that someone of even greater status than a teacher or Vice-Dean of the Academy would want to meet him. ¡®What would such a person even want from me? I''m barely average in my ss. | can''t imagine that some powerful warrior suddenly saw my talent and decided to take me in as their disciple.¡¯ ¡®But then, what would such a person want from me?" As Oliver continued stewing in his thoughts, his eyes darted toward the door of the room. For some reason, he felt like something or someone was approaching. The atmosphere in the room seemed to be more oppressive and darker the more Oliver looked at the door. nk. Then, Oliver heard the sound of a heavily armored boot stepping on the ground outside. Oliver''s heartbeat sped up, and he felt like the pressure in the room only increased. nk. nk. nk! The footsteps grew louder, and Oliver already started to sweat. He had only felt this afraid while fighting powerful beasts. But he was only hearing footsteps right now! When did he suddenly turn into such a scaredy cat?! When Oliver heard the footsteps stop in front of the door, his body froze as his fight-or-flight instincts got triggered. He felt like he was about to die! Then, the door opened. The door opening felt like an eternity to Oliver, but it actually opened at normal speeds. Oliver didn''t dare to move and only sat stiffly on his chair as he looked at the ck figure that had stepped through the door. It looked like a ck titan or ck demon! The figure was entirely clothed in extremely dense, pitch-ck te armor. Not even a single bit of its actual body showed through the armor. Additionally, several ck spikes came out from the armor, making it appear like a demon king was wearing it. Oliver immediately connected the armor he was seeing with how many main antagonists in fantasy games looked. It looked imposing, evil, and powerful! After a bit, Oliver dared to look up, and his eyes fixated on a single, cold, ck eye. Only then did Oliver realize that this was a person. The person in front of Oliver only had one eye, and the other eye was hidden behind a big, armored, metal eyepatch with the symbol of a flying sword on it. The metallic eyepatch connected to a metallic ring going around the person''s head, and Oliver could see short and spiky ck hair above the metallic eyepatch. As soon as the ck titan entered the room, time had seemingly frozen for Oliver. He didn''t dare to move. His instincts didn''t allow him to move. He could only look in fear at the one eye looking back into his. Several seconds passed. Then, Oliver finally took a deep breath. ¡®Who is that?! he thought in panic. He had seen True Path Stage warriors before, but none of them had such a sinister presence and overwhelming pressure. "Stand up." manding voice came from the figure, and Oliver slowlyplied with the order. The figure in front of Oliver nced at the chair beside him. "The chairs in here can''t bear my weight, and | don''t want to talk down to you. It''s better when we talk face to face," the figure exined. As the figure spoke more, Oliver''s tense nerves began to calm down. The pressure in the room also seemed to lessen for him. Several seconds of silence passed. ¡°Don''t you have any questions?" the figure asked emotionlessly. Oliver''s nervousness returned, and he took a deep breath. "Who are you?" Oliver asked, trying to sound unintimidated but failing. m Count Sword," the figure answered. At that moment, Oliver''s eyes widened in shock. He had heard about Count Sword in history ss! He was the first warrior that had ever gotten a noble title, and it was even said that he managed to take down an entire outpost of the Grandmountain Kingdom on his own while still being at the Commander Stage! Oliver could scarcely believe that he stood in front of such a legend! ¡°But you may call me Shang," the figure said. At that moment, Oliver became nervous again. Why? How? Why would Count Sword tell him, a normal student in the Warrior Academy, to call him by his first name?! Acouple of seconds of silence returned. ¡°Don''t you want to let your spear go?" the figure asked. Oliver grew more nervous. The truth about his weapon was one of his biggest secrets, and he knew that he couldn''t let anyone realize what kind of weapon he was using. Otherwise, every powerful warrior would covet him! But at that moment, something shocking happened. The Great Sword on the figure''s back began to levitate on its own, and it approached Oliver. Oliver felt his spear shake. But he knew that there was nothing he could do. He was simply too weak. As the sword approached Oliver, his spear began to levitate on its own and joined the sword. The two weapons touched each other in the air and simply floated there. In the beginning, Oliver was scared for his weapon. What if Count Sword''s weapon could absorb his weapon?! But as he saw nothing happen, he felt his nerves calm down. "What is going on?" Oliver asked. The figure looked at the two weapons with aplex expression. It was almost like he was getting reminded of old memories. "Inheritance," the figure said. ¡°Now, tell me, did something new happen on Earth?" Chapter 473 Chapter 473 Shang saw a bit of his young self in Oliver. Sure, Shang had already been different from Oliver back then, but there certainly were simrities. "Earth?" Oliver asked with a shocked expression. "What do you mean?" Oliver tried to seem oblivious, but Shang could easily tell that Oliver knew what Shang was talking about. "You are not the first person sent from Earth to this ce, and you won''t be thest. These words have been said to me by my predecessor, and now I''m speaking them to you,¡± Shang said evenly. "Just like you, | havee from Earth. | was sent here when | was in my early twenties, and | was a retired professional MMA fighter back then." Oliver still looked shocked. There was someone else from Earth here?! He had thought he had been the only one! "So, you also came from Earth?" Oliver asked. "That''s what | said," Shang said coldly. Oliver flinched a bit at Shang''s cold voice. Oliver couldn''t imagine someone like Shang being from Earth. ¡°What was your job on Earth?" Shang asked. Oliver looked a bit uncertain. "Well, | was researching semiconductors." "What''s that?" Shang asked. "| basically designed microchips." Shang furrowed his brows. "That doesn''t seem very fitting to this world. Why did the God send you here?" Oliver scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed and nervous smile. "Well, | also loved ying RPGs, and I-" "The missile?" Shang asked with raised eyebrows. "No, not the missile. You know, role-ying games," Oliver quickly corrected. Shang''s brows furrowed. "Please keep your sex life out of this discussion." Oliver looked even more shocked and appalled. "No, that''s not-" "Why did the God send you here?" Shang asked again. Oliver wanted to correct Shang regarding the RPG thing, but he couldn''t bring himself to say anything. The pressure Shang exertedpelled him to follow hismands. "| was also an amateur strongman. | never really made it to the professional circuit due to my studies, but | enjoyed it." Shang nodded. "| think | was chosen because | have been working in research but also because I''ve had some regrets. My job was paying very well, but it also filled my life with grey boredom." "Makes sense," Shang answered. "Tell me what happened after you came here." After that, Oliver began to tell Shang about his life here. He had been in this world for a little less than three years. In the beginning, he had lived in the middle of the Empress Cobra Zone. Living there had been incredibly dangerous, and he had nearly died several times. However, he learned how to survive by staying in the territory of a very powerful beast. The beast was so powerful that it completely ignored Oliver, while the other beasts didn''t dare toe close. Oliver had no idea where he should go or what he should do. He traveled around, but he only found more swamp wherever he went. Eventually, about a yearter, he came across a Mage that was hunting in his area. Oliver went to the Mage, and the Mage told him where to go with an annoyed and disgusted voice. Oliver reached a small vige in the Empress Cobra Zone, and he lived there for a couple of weeks. After living there for a bit, Oliver heard of Duke Whirlwind and the Storm Eagle Zone. He had heard from the God that the strongest warriors in the world lived there and that it would be a good ce for him to start. No one paid a weak Soldier Stage warrior any attention, and he was let through to the Storm Eagle Zone with only a small inspection. Oliver waited a couple of months for the next tryouts for the Warrior Academy and joined. He had only barely passed. ¡°Only barely?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. "You lived in the wilds for a full year. How did you only barely pass?" Oliver looked with shock at Shang. "| had to defeat a Pest Cat! | think a year is a very short amount of time! | was only a normal guy on Earth! A year prior to that, | could have never imagined felling such a mighty beast!" Shang furrowed his brows. Then, he looked at the power of Oliver''s body. "You''ve been in this world for three years?" he asked. Oliver nodded. "Why are you only at the Mid Soldier Stage?" "What do you mean with only?" Oliver asked. "My current body is barely 17. Considering that | managed to reach the level of my current ssmates without having any foundation before | arrived here, | would say I''ve done well for myself." Shang''s brows furrowed. At that moment, Oliver no longer reminded Shang of his past self. "How do you train?" Shang asked. Oliver told Shang how he trained. It was essentially a high-intensity workout from Earth. It was about as intense as the training routine of a professional athlete. "You do know that you are no longer on Earth?" Shangmented. ¡°Of course," Oliver answered with a bit of annoyance. By now, most of his fear had vanished, and he definitely wasn''t the biggest fan of Shang''s arrogant and cold demeanor. It was like nothing Oliver did was good enough for Shang. "Then why are you training like you are still on Earth?" Shang asked. "Have you not realized the power that Mana has?" "| don''t have time for more training," Oliver said. ¡°What could be more important than training?" Shang asked. "Seeing the world, having a social life, learning more about Magic, learning more about the surroundings?" Oliver answered with an annoyed expression. Shang looked evenly into Oliver''s eyes for several seconds. "He''s not like George or me,¡¯ Shang thought. ''From my perspective, he only has the determination and willpower to be an average Commander Stage warrior at the very most. | don''t see any value in training someone like this.¡¯ "However, my perception can''tpare to the God''s. There must be something special about him that | can''t see." ¡°Fine, you live your life however you want. It''s not up to me," Shang said. "You''re right. It''s not," Oliver said with a venomous voice. Shang didn''t get angry.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. "| will now tell you everything you need to know. The God told me to inform you about all the relevant things, and | will do that now. "He told you?¡± Oliver asked with shock. He hadn''t expected that the God could talk to them when they were already here. Shang nodded. "First, regarding the trial-" ¡°Wait a second,¡± Oliver said as he rubbed the bridge of his nose. "So, you''re only here because he ordered you?" Oliver asked. "Yes," Shang answered. Oliver''s brows furrowed. "And if he didn¡¯t order you? Would you havee here?" "| have more important things to do," Shang answered immediately in a neutral voice. Oliver slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath. After some seconds, he released his deep breath. "Do you need anything from me?" "No," Shang said. "I only need to tell you about the relevant things." "Not interested," Oliver said with a curt voice. Shang raised an eyebrow. "Not interested?" "Yes, I''m not interested. You can keep your information to yourself.¡± Shang frowned. "Are you throwing a tantrum because I''m not helping you out of the goodness of my heart?" Shang asked with a deadpan voice. "| have morals and standards," Oliver said. "I''m not interested in receiving ingenuine help. If you want to help me, good. If you don''t, then don''t." "Are you seriously jeopardizing your future because of some pointless ideology?" Shang asked. Oliver''s eyes narrowed, and his spear floated back to his back. "Do you need anything else from me, or can | leave?" he asked with cold politeness. Shang looked at Oliver for a couple of seconds. "You can leave.¡± Oliver nodded once, said a cold goodbye, and left the room. Shang remained in the room for a while longer and scratched his chin. Then, he also left the room. As he said earlier, he had more important things to do than to pacify some Soldier Stage warrior''s hurt feelings. Chapter 474 Chapter 474 As Shang left the room, he put on his helmet. Count Sword couldn''t appear in public yet. The armor and the helmet isted Shang from all eyes and even Spirit Senses. They could see the ck armor, but they couldn''t see behind it. Naturally, Shang had worn the helmet on his way to the academy as well and had only taken it off in front of the room. As Shang stepped out of the building, the drills in the academy became quieter. When Shang appeared, the atmosphere turned oppressive for everyone around him. Funnily enough, this wasn''t the effect of Shang''s connection to the Abominations. After all, that had been hidden by Lucius¡¯ Spell. The reason for this change in atmosphere was Shang''s decades of living in istion amongst beasts. When Shang had left Jerald''s garden back then, one of the guards had told him that he felt very dangerous to him and that other people would feel the same. After living amongst humans, Shang''s aura had retreated. But now, it hade out again, and he no longer cared about suppressing it. It didn''t matter what others thought of him. Shang slowly walked through the fields of the academy as many students and teachers looked at him apprehensively. When Shang left the academy, most students released the breaths they had been holding. The same thing happened when Shang passed through Warrior''s Paradise. When he reached the gates, he saw some nervous and scared guards. They had to investigate every suspicious individual, and Shang was more than suspicious. However, they also felt terrified. "S-Sir!" one of the guards shouted nervously. SHING! Something appeared in Shang''s hand, and he pointed it at the guard. The guard looked at it, and his eyes widened. Then, nearly all of his fear and nervousness vanished. "You may pass, sir!" He was relieved that he didn''t need to search Shang. Shang had just shown Jerald''s personal emblem to the guard. This emblem was different from the emblem Shang had received many years ago. The emblem from back then showed that Shang was Jerald''s friend. The new emblem, on the other hand, gave Shang Jerald''s full authority. Everything Shang said and ordered would be like if Jerald said or ordered these things. Shang represented Jerald personally. Not even George had had that luxury back then. Shang stepped past the gates and walked down the road. As he continued walking, his speed increased, although it still looked like he was merely walking. In a matter of seconds, Shang reached a speed of over 200kph without even exerting himself. After a while, Shang reached Jerald''s castle and entered through the front gate. The guards didn''t even stop Shang since they had already been informed by Jerald about his arrival. The inside of Jerald''s castle was quite simplepared to its outside. It had a very homey feel to it. Shang could even see several happy paintings of Jerald with a woman and a young Mattheo. Shang had already heard about Jerald''s wife. She had died a couple of years after giving birth to Mattheo. Jerald had lost his family, but he still enjoyed looking at the paintings and remembering them. Shang walked up the steps and walked to a closed door.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. Shang opened it without knocking and entered. Several humongous Magic Circles filled with piles of valuable materials filled the room, and in the middle of these circles sat Jerald. Jerald''s eyes were closed, and he didn''t greet Shang. Shang went to the side of the room and sat down. He closed his eyes and focused on his Spirit Sense. This was a sensitive time for Jerald, and Shang was here to make sure that nothing went wrong. For many hours, Shang only sat there, keeping watch over the surroundings. For once, his mind was not focused on training. Sword remained at Shang''s side and also stayed silent. They didn''t need to talk. Eventually, night arrived. Nothing had changed inside the room. Then, day arrived. Night arrived. Day arrived. Shang remained in the room for seven days, and he didn''t move even once. His mind had also never been distracted during that time. Then, finally, the Mana in the room emptied as more Mana was pulled in from the outside. All the materials in the Magic Circles had also turned into pure Mana already. A powerful wind picked up inside the room. Luckily, there was nothing there for the wind to destroy. Shang simply remained sitting at the room''s wall. Acouple of secondster, Jerald opened his eyes, and Shang could see a powerful storm inside them. Shang could also see terrifying rainclouds and lightning being apanied by the wind. The storm in Jerald''s eyes was truly powerful and intimidating. As Shang saw them, he felt like these were not three different concepts but one singr concept. It was a true Storm. Asecondter, Jerald closed his eyes again and took a deep breath. The wind and Mana inside the room calmed down, and it returned to its prior state. Shang slowly stood up and cranked his neck. Jerald''s body slowly floated upward, and he extended his legs to stand up. "Thanks," he said to Shang in an even voice without even looking at him. This was unlike Jerald, but Shang knew why Jerald was like this. Jerald had kept his emotions and urges suppressed for decades. For decades, he had acted like nothing was wrong and led his falling territory. But now, everything was ready. His mind was no longer focused on being nice but on taking revenge. He had kept himself in check for too long. Finally, he could let go and do the very thing he had wanted to do for so long. "| presume it was a sess?" Shang asked. Jerald slowly nodded. "| managed tobine the Concepts of Wind Movement, Water Drop, and Lightning Spark into a single Concept. | don''t know the name of this Concept, but I''m going to call it Storm." "If | so chose to, | could be an Archmage in a couple of years." At that moment, Jerald''s eyes narrowed. "But, just like you, I''m not willing to jeopardize my future. Even though | can be an Archmage, | know that | would be wasting a huge part of my potential if | were to do so." "I''ve made great strides in the Concept of Breeze as well, and | will not advance to the Archmage Realm as long as | don''t understand it." Jerald took a deep breath. "But | am also finally at the Peak High Mage Realm. With my current power, | can rival thebined might of the Council on my own. ¡°Everything is prepared." Shang nodded. "When will we start?¡± "I''m going to inform King Skythunder. | believe it won''t take more than a couple of days." Shang nodded. Jerald then looked at Shang. "! want you to stay ready. | will inform you about how things will continue when I''m back." Shang nodded again. "If it''s only a couple of days, | might as well stay here," he said as he sat down at the side of the room again. "That''s fine," Jerald said as he walked over to the door. "Just wait for me." "| will," Shang said. Then, Jerald left. It was finally time. Chapter 475 Chapter 475 There were seven people inside a humongous hall that looked like a cave. This was King Skythunder''s throne room. At the moment, the five members of the main Council, the Archduke, and King Skythunder were waiting for the meeting to begin. The five members of the Council were not happy to be there. They had a war to fight, and every second they were away from the frontline was endangering the Skythunder Kingdom. Yet, King Skythunder had still called them all to gather here today. It wasn''t possible to refuse an order given by King Skythunder. Even more, the five members of the Council didn''t even know why they had been called. They only knew that this was a meeting. They waited in this ce for several minutes. No one dared to speak up or ask. Eventually, the five members of the Council looked toward the south simultaneously. Their eyes narrowed, and their brows furrowed. Someone they didn''t want to see at all had just entered their Spirit Senses. King Skythunder only remained sitting on his throne, a small smirk on his face. About a minuteter, the door to the hall opened... And Jerald stepped in. As soon as they saw Jerald, the Council realized that his aura had changed significantly. Not only was he far more powerful, but the friendly and polite aura around him had turned into cold apathy. The only thing that confirmed to them that this was indeed Duke Whirlwind was his appearance and his incredible power. When they felt his sheer power, they had to take deep breaths. In the past, Jerald had been about equal to the Council, but that was because he was more powerful than four of the five members. But now, Jerald''s power was truly equal to the entire Council. If all five of the Council membersbined their powers and attacked Jerald at the same time, the oue would be uncertain. Jerald could fight the entire Council on his own, and this thought terrified them. However, when they shot a nce at King Skythunder and the Archduke, their emotions calmed down. Yes, Jerald could rival the Council, but the Archduke was just as powerful. Just like Jerald, she could rival the entire Council on her own. And then there was King Skythunder. In front of King Skythunder, Jerald didn''t count for anything. Jerald slowly stepped into the middle of the hall and stopped. ¡°Are you here to negotiate a peaceful resolution after everything you have done to us?" one of the Council members asked with a cold voice. Jerald didn''t even acknowledge the Council member. Instead, he looked at the King and bowed politely. "My King, may | start?¡± he asked.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. King Skythunder''s smirk widened a bit. "Everyone," he said as he looked at the Council and the Archduke. "I called you all today because Jerald has something to tell us. Jerald, you may begin." Jerald nodded once, and his eyes traveled over the eyes of the Council members until theynded on the Council Head. Jerald looked at the dark-haired Council Head for a couple of seconds. ¡°I''ve had enough," Jerald said. The Council didn''t react. "I''ve had enough of this stupid and idiotic political game." One of the Council members snorted. "You call this a game? We are running a Kingdom here, and we are doing our best to keep it prosperous and alive. This is not a game, Whirlwind." Jerald looked at the Council member that had just spoken up. "Yes, this is a game. You either refuse to acknowledge it because you like ying it so much, or you truly have lost your connection to reality." "Get your head out of your ass." After Jerald said that, the entire room fell silent. Four of the Council members were shocked when they heard that, while the Council Head narrowed her eyes. The Archduke only smiled in embarrassment as she scratched the side of her head with her right index finger. No one had ever spoken like that in these halls! Insulting people like this and using such crassnguage was not bing of a leader of this Kingdom! Yet, Jerald had insulted them like this was some mere pub! ¡°Whirlwind! Do you realize how heavy the punishment is for disrespecting the leaders of this Kingdom?!" another Council member shouted with an usatory voice. Jerald snorted in disgust. "You are delusional. You are so used to everyone ying your little game that you believe everyone has to follow it, if they like it or not." "You want to punish me? Fine! Go ahead! Try it!" Jerald said with narrowed eyes. At that moment, Jerald''s cold aura expanded until it enveloped the entire throne room. This was even more disrespectful than the words he had said before! By expanding his aura like this, Jerald was essentially telling everyone that he was the one in charge. He was doing that in front of King Skythunder! ¡°Heresy! sphemy!" another member of the Council shouted as he pointed at Jerald. "You are disrespecting our King! For this offense, you will be put to death!" Jerald''s eyes focused on the person. "Do it.¡± The Council member''s eyes narrowed, but his nervousness grew as he kept looking into Jerald''s eyes. He looked at the other members, and they were just as nervous. "Come on!" Jerald shouted. "Do it! I''m standing right here!" At that moment, a terrifying storm cloud appeared in Jerald''s right hand. It was small, but the Mana inside of it was terrifying! The Council activated their Mana Shields, but they didn''t step forward. They only looked at Jerald with narrowed eyes. Several seconds of silence passed. Then, Jerald dismissed the storm cloud. ¡°Look at you," he said with disdain. "You shout orders and judge everyone, but you don''t realize that there isn''t anyone here to carry out your orders." "If not even you dare to carry out your own orders, who can?" Jerald asked. The members of the Council were enraged and frustrated as never before. They wanted to do nothing but just attack and kill him. But they couldn''t! They could die! "My King," one of the Council members said as he bowed in front of King Skythunder. "We fear that we are not powerful enough to handle this rebellion. If you don''t do something, the Skythunder Kingdom might be doomed." The Council Head furrowed her brows, but the other members also bowed politely to King Skythunder. King Skythunder only cleaned the underside of his nails with a smirk. "Then what''s the point of having you?" The emotions of the Council underwent another upheaval. ¡°But, my King, he had disrespected you by enveloping the entire throne room with his aura!" one of them argued. King Skythunder stopped cleaning his nails and looked at the person that had just spoken without any amusement. "Do you think I''m blind?" he asked. The Council member went white in the face. "No! No, | would never!" "Then, do you think I''m stupid?" "No! Never!" the Council member shouted in absolute horror. "Then why are you telling me about things that happened mere seconds ago directly in front of me?" He asked with an uncaring voice. "| must apologize, my King!" the Council member shouted. "| should have never questioned your judgment!" King Skythunder looked at the Council member for a couple of seconds more before he went back to focusing on his nails. The Council member released a deep sigh. "Jerald," King Skythunder said. "I don''t like waiting. Tell us what you want to tell us." Jerald nodded. Then, he looked at the Head of the Council with a cold gaze. "The Storm Eagle Zone is officially dering war on the Skythunder Kingdom." Chapter 476 Chapter 476 Silence. The Council and even the Archduke were absolutely shocked by what Jerald had just said. He had dered war on the Skythunder Kingdom while literally standing in front of King Skythunder! That was crazy! That was suicidal! "You dare-" "¡°AHAHAHAHA''"" One of the Council members wanted to shout, but King Skythunder''s loudughter interrupted him. Everyone looked over, and they saw King Skythunderughing loudly. "So that''s what you meant when you said something very interesting was going to happen today!" King Skythunder said after he stoppedughing. His smirk vanished, and a malicious grin reced it. "| expected many things, but | didn''t expect this." "You do realize that you are literally dering war on my Kingdom while standing in front of me?" "Lam," Jerald said calmly. ¡°And what gave you the balls to do something like that directly in front of me?" King Skythunder asked as his aura intensified, and Jerald''s aura was pushed back like it was a little kid. Yet, Jerald only looked with an even expression at King Skythunder. ¡°Because you don''t care," Jerald said. The Council became even more shocked. Did Jerald actuallye here with a death wish? King Skythunder narrowed his eyes as he looked at Jerald. "And what makes you believe that?" ¡°Because your shift will be over soon," Jerald said. Silence. The Council was unsure what Jerald meant, but at the same time, a small glimmer appeared in King Skythunder''s eyes. "borate," he ordered. "| know about the Lightning Emperor and the Lightning Manor," Jerald said. The Council furrowed their brows while the Archduke was surprised. King Skythunder continued looking at Jerald for a couple of seconds. "Interesting. How truly interesting. How did youe by this knowledge?" "Shang," Jerald answered. "Shang met the Starlight Queen, and she said that the ck building belonged to the Lightning Emperor." "| read about the Lightning Manor in one of the records myte son has recovered from the Old King''s Trial." At that point, Jerald''s aura grew even colder as he focused on the Council. "Before you murdered him, just like my best friend.¡± "Baseless usations!" one of the Council members shouted. "Who are you trying to fool?" Jerald asked with a cold voice. "I know you did it. You know you did it. The Archduke knows you did it.¡± ¡°Everyone in here knows you did it. You are putting up an empty front while everyone knows the truth." "We did no such thing!" another member of the Council shouted. Jerald only looked with disgust at the Council. ¡°Look at you," he said slowly. "You are so lost in this little game of yours that you believe everything in the world belongs to you." ¡°Have you not realized that there is a far bigger and wider world out there? We have heard of powerful Mages appearing more than once, and we have confirmation of their existence." "Yet, here you stand,cent in your little bubble that you can rule over." "You have been looking down on everyone in this bubble for so long that you have been blinded to the powers that exist above you." "You have forgotten the most important thing in the world." ¡°And that is?" asked the Council Head. For the first time today, she had actually spoken up. "It''s not status that rules the world, but power!" Jerald shouted as he created the powerful storm cloud again. The Council prepared themselves for a fight, but they were nervous. Jerald was very powerful! m willing to fight right now!" Jerald shouted aggressively. "| am willing to risk my life just to kill all of you! What use is your political power and your status when | just kill you right this instant?!" Jerald''s fury was so great that the entire hall shook. His voice even broke a bit near the end. This was the fury of someone that had his best friend and his son killed. This was the fury of someone that had been suppressed for decades. And, finally, he no longer needed to hold it back! He hated the Council! The breathing of the Council members quickened, and even the Head of the Council grew nervous. The Council looked at King Skythunder with hopeful eyes, but King Skythunder only looked at Jerald with a pondering expression. "What are you proposing?" King Skythunder asked. "I don''t believe you are here to kill my Council right in front of me. You know that would be too much." When the Council heard that, their world fell apart. If King Skythunder wanted to kill Jerald, he would have simply killed him by now. But instead, he was asking about what Jerald was proposing! Jerald dispersed the storm cloud again and looked at King Skythunder. "The Skythunder Kingdom is no longer what it used to be. In the past, you always interfered when things got too out of hand." King Skythunder didn''t react. ¡°But that stopped happening as soon as the Star Map appeared. | believe | know what your duty is and why you are here now, but | think you would prefer if | didn''t speak about it publicly." King Skythunder only nodded lightly with an interested expression. ¡°Everything here doesn''t matter anymore to you. You have spent nearly 150 years here, and your merits must have grown to an astounding degree. | know you, and | know that you are not someone that decides to retire in this little ce amongst people that are all weaker than you." "You are not here to live out your life in peace and luxury. No, you are here to earn something that you need to be more powerful." ¡°And | believe you have already earned it, which is why you no longer care about the Skythunder Kingdom." ¡°After all, you will be gone soon."N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. King Skythunder only chuckled a bit. "That''s all well and nice, but what is your actual proposal?" The Council grew even more confused and concerned. Instead of talking to King Skythunder with respect, Jerald was talking to him like they were equals. Even more, Jerald wasn''t calling him "my King" anymore and simply said "you". At that moment, Jerald''s gaze went to the Council again. "My proposal consists of only two sentences." "| will not join the war." "If a member of the Council joins the war, | will join the war." "That''s it." The Council grew enraged again, but right now, King Skythunder was speaking for them, and they had no right to speak up. "What about me?" the Archduke asked with a grin. Jerald looked over. "I believe you and our King have known each other even before he has be King." The Council wasn''t sure what Jerald meant, but the Archduke only chuckled a little. "Impressive," was the onlyment she gave. While the Council didn''t know what Jerald meant, the Archduke knew it. Jerald had essentially told her that he knew that she was also working for the Lightning Manor, which meant that she wouldn''t interfere as long as King Skythunder didn''t. The Archduke had been impressively impartial for the past decades. She never involved herself in anything, and she never joined any sides. She was only doing her job and the bare minimum without helping anyone. During the meetings, she was also very often overlooked since she never said anything. She was essentially just there. While this could be considered normal during peaceful times, these times were anything but peaceful. The entire Skythunder Kingdom was copsing, but the Archduke acted like it had nothing to do with her, just like King Skythunder. "These are the terms of the war," Jerald said as he looked at the Council again. "| don''t care if you ept them or not. If you are not happy with them, try and stop me. | would be happy to kill you right here and now." "You dare-" One of the Council members shouted, but Jerald simply turned to King Skythunder again. "That was everything. | will be leaving now. Then, Jerald turned around and walked towards the exit of the throne room. King Skythunder leaned on his left fist as he watched Jerald leave with an interested grin. He was not going to stop him. When the Council saw that, the pressure on their shoulders multiplied. They were now at war with a Zone that had over a hundred True Path Stage warriors. But, in the end, they realized that it actually wasn''t so bad. They just needed to send a strong striking squad. The warriors might be strong, but they couldn''t possibly resist an assault of five Mid High Mages, right? After Jerald left the castle, he turned around and looked at it with narrowed eyes. ¡®George, Mattheo, | will make all of them pay!¡¯ Chapter 477 Chapter 477 Rain poured down on the border between the Empress Cobra Zone and the Storm Eagle Zone. Several True Path Stage warriors were stationed at this border. Usually, they were joking around, but today, they were not in the mood for jokes. Two days ago, Jerald had made it public that they had dered war on the Skythunder Kingdom. The reactions to these words were very mixed. Some of the people were happy that they could finally fight for their freedom, while others were scared and thought Duke Whirlwind to be a suicidal maniac. However, Jerald''s following words had calmed down most of them. He had promised that King Skythunder wouldn''t get involved and that he had given his permission for the war. Additionally, neither the Council nor he would get involved. The reason for this decision was their united love for the Skythunder Kingdom. Both parties wanted the Skythunder Kingdom to prosper, but they severely disagreed on the manner in which it should be run. To not destroy the entire Skythunder Kingdom, it was decided to wage war in such a way. Sadly, this only transformed the certain doom into a highly likely one. What were they supposed to do against the Skythunder Kingdom? They had over 300 High Mages! Meanwhile, half of their True Path Stage warriors didn''t even undergo the Procedure and couldn''t even strengthen their bodies with beast hearts. While half of the warriors could fight Mages on their level, the other half couldn''t. This meant that they essentially only had 50 True Path Stage warriors. 50 against 300. Today, an emissary of the Skythunder Kingdom arrived at the border. It was an Initial True Mage clothed in the robes that symbolized that the person wearing them was a diplomat. The diplomat stopped a kilometer away from the border and took out a luxurious scroll with many seals. "The traitorous Duke Whirlwind has robbed the Skythunder Kingdom of one of its territories and imed it as his own. Two days ago, the traitorous Duke dered war on the very Kingdom that he had called home for nearly 200 years." ¡°Every man, woman, or child that decides to support the unjustified revolution of Duke Whirlwind will be viewed as a traitor and will be put to death under thews of the Kingdom." "The Council orders the warriors to leave their stations and enter the Empress Cobra Zone. You will be subject to a Mind Read, and if you are found to be innocent, you will join the Skythunder Kingdom without any punishment." "In two days, the Skythunder Kingdom will assault Duke Whirlwind''s imed territory with its full force. Anyone that has been found to support Duke Whirlwind will be seen as an enemy and put to death." "You have two days to decide.¡± The diplomat closed the scroll, put it away, and walked away again. His words had hit the warriors hard. It was one thing to know that they were going to war, but it waspletely different when the Kingdom they had once called home threatened them with execution. If anyone had still refused to believe that this was now their reality, the words of the diplomat now woke them up. The words of the diplomat had been augmented by Magic, and they had been carried many kilometers into the distance. Thousands of normal citizens had heard the words, and it would be impossible to keep them hidden from the general public. The citizens fell into terror, while the warriors grew nervous. "Citizens of the Storm Eagle Zone." Suddenly, Jerald''s voice echoed throughout the Storm Eagle Zone. ¡°Anyone below the Fourth Realm is allowed to leave without being stopped. This is not your war, and | don''t want you to suffer in this war." "While the Council believes that it is just to kill every man, woman, or child that merely lives in an enemy border, | am not of that belief." "When we inevitably conquer thends of the Skythunder Kingdom, we will not raze everything to the ground." ¡°When we enter your new home, you are allowed to join us again.¡± "The Skythunder Kingdom believes that we are weak, but they have not realized our true power." ¡°If | were not confident in winning, | wouldn''t have dered this war." That was thest sentence Jerald said. In the following hours, the popce was split in two. Many of them trusted their Duke. The old people remembered how everything had been back in the good old days, and many younger people had seen how the world became worse and worse over time. However, the fear of losing one''s life was terrifyingly powerful, and the other part of the popce wanted to run away immediately. There was no point in gambling with their lives! Fleeing to the Skythunder Kingdom was the only correct choice because this was the only choice without a risk to their lives! Acouple of hourster, the Exodus happened. Thousands of citizens left the Storm Eagle Zone in panic and fear. The guards watched them leave with worried expressions. The very few Mages that had been in the Storm Eagle Zone weren''t amongst the people that left. They had already made up their mind to be here, and they would stay here. Surprisingly enough, there were also very few Commander Stage warriors that left. The reason for that was the power of the Commander Stage warriors. They were already powerful enough to feel the authoritarian w of the Council, and if they hadn''t been protected by Duke Whirlwind, they would have probably already died on the frontlines. They knew how their life in the Skythunder Kingdom would look like if they decided to leave, and they were not interested in leading such a life. The number of General Stage warriors that left was higher. They could still make a living in the Skythunder Kingdom, and they didn''t need to risk their lives on the frontlines. As long as they didn''t advance to the Commander Stage, everything would be fine, and they knew that. The amount of Soldier Stage warriors that left was terrifying. They were so new on their path to power that they could still convert to the Mage path if they wanted. Not everyone had the talent to be a Mage, but even if they couldn''t, they could survive as strongermoners at least. So many people dreamed of bing powerful, but as soon as their actual life was on the line, living in mediocrity didn''t seem so awful anymore. Only when morning arrived did the tide of emigrants stop. The Storm Eagle Zone had lost nearly 40% of its citizens. Shops were empty. The Farm Line was mostly empty. The Storm Eagle Zone looked even deader than previously. Several hours of silence and anxious calm passed. And then, a group of five True Path Stage warriors fled. While the citizens were allowed to flee without repercussions, the same thing wasn''t true for the True Path Stage warriors. These five True Path Stage warriors were now official enemies of the Storm Eagle Zone. In the evening, another group of five warriors fled. And early on the next morning, another five left. The Storm Eagle Zone was now only left with about 85 True Path Stage warriors. And then, it was time.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. The Skythunder Kingdom''s striking squad had arrived. Chapter 478 Chapter 478 The warriors took a deep breath out of fear when they saw the force slowly approaching them. Five Mid High Mages and ten Early High Mages. Nearly 40 of the 85 True Path Stage warriors were at the Initial True Path Stage, essentially making them useless against this force. Another 40 were at the Early True Path Stage, but only about ten of them had undergone the Procedure. That left only five Mid True Path Stage warriors, and only one of them had undergone the Procedure. Fifteen people against 85 people. Yet, this force of merely 15 people severely outssed the 85 people. The Mid High Mages would very quickly deal with the Mid True Path Stage warriors, and then they would decimate the Early True Path Stage warriors. The fifteen Mages stopped around two kilometers away from the border.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. "This is yourst chance to join the winning side in this five-minute war," one of the Mid High Mages spoke. The warriors on the border felt terrified. If they didn¡¯t do anything now, they would all die! Many of the warriors looked at each other. They had decided to remain part of the Storm Eagle Zone, but when they saw the Skythunder Kingdom''s forces with their own eyes, their beliefs wavered. Silence. And then, one warrior began to flee. He was the single Mid True Path Stage warrior that had undergone the Procedure. He was the third strongest warrior in the world due to the Procedure. Sadly, he couldn''t enter the top two due to his mediocre Path. The two strongest warriors were the Dean of the Warrior Academy, Mervin, and Duke Whirlwind''s General. Both of them were at the Mid True Path Stage. Even though both of them hadn''t undergone the Procedure, their experience and powerful Paths allowed them to triumph over the fleeing warrior. When the warriors saw such a powerful warrior leave without being stopped, they felt hope. Maybe they could flee too? And then, one warrior after the other fled. As soon as they arrived at the Mages'' side, their Space Rings were confiscated, and they were put into powerful handcuffs that blocked the usage of Mana of any kind. The Mages didn''t take any chances when it came to these warriors. It was very possible that this was a ploy to take the Mages by surprise, and they wouldn''t allow something like that to happen. Over the next couple of minutes, nearly 20 True Path Stage warriors fled to the enemy''s side. The Storm Eagle Zone had only around 65 True Path Stage warriors left. The Skythunder Kingdom had managed to reduce the Storm Eagle Zone''s power by a third without evenunching a single attack. When ten minutes passed without someone leaving, it became clear that this was the point where the fleeing of the warriors ended. Everyone left in the Storm Eagle Zone was loyal and would fight with their lives on the line. Meanwhile, in an isted building near the frontline, five people were watching everything that happened with their Spirit Sense. "This should be everyone," Jerald said with a dark expression. "I wouldn''t have expected for so many True Path Stage warriors to leave.¡± "It doesn''t matter," Shang said, wearing his helmet and armor. "We''ve talked about this. The warriors that aren''t willing to fight for their own future are worthless." "If you want to live a good life, you have to fight for it. The Council is trying to suppress the warriors, and the 35 warriors that have left are not willing to fight for their freedom." "They have the power to fight but are too afraid to use it." At that moment, Shang''s aura grew darker. "And if they are not willing to fight for their futures, their futures are forfeit." Jerald sighed. "It pains me to say it, but you''re right." Then, he turned around and looked at the other three people in the room. "Are you ready to go?" Right now, Shang stood in the middle of the room, and he was surrounded by several Magic Circles. Vast quantities of Mana surrounded him, and his armor was shining in multicolored light. Three other people stood around him, and they were casting several Spells on Shang. About five secondster, all the light emanating from Shang''s armor vanished, but it was reced by something else. Red, grey, and ck lines traveled across his armor and his helmet. It was almost like his armor had transformed into a volcano with several streams of magma flowing down from the top. "We''re ready to go,¡± one of the Mages said as he stepped away from Shang. Shang felt a heavy pressure suppressing him, but it wasn''t nearly enough to slow him down in any way. Jerald looked at Shang''s armor, and he felt the incredibleplexity of the Magic Circles and the heavy pressure of the Mana emanating from it. The sight was amazing and terrifying. After so many years, the information Shang had brought back from the Grandmountain Kingdom was finally put to use. Shang had been the victim of months of experimentation, and the knowledge he had gained from that experience was now increasing his power. Project Primal Assault was what the Grandmountain Kingdom had called it. They had put several augmenting Spells on Shang''s body back then to push his power far beyond its usual limitations. However, this project had still been in its early stages, and it had been developed by a couple of True Mages. After having ess to this information for decades, the three High Mages of the Storm Eagle Zone and Jerald had transformed it into something far more advanced. Instead of putting the Spells directly onto Shang''s body, Jerald had designed an armor that could do it for him. This was not a duel. This was a war. And in war, no one fought alone. If Shang were alone, the force of the Skythunder Kingdom could be enough to kill him. But he wasn''t alone. He had four powerful High Mages and decades¡¯ worth of research on his side. All four of these High Mages had put thousands of hours of their time into increasing Shang''s power as much as possible for this very day. This was the power of having strong allies. "Good," Jerald said with a malicious grin. His revenge was finally here! George! Mattheo! It was finally time to take revenge! "Then let them see the power of Project ck Scythe." Chapter 479 Chapter 479 The atmosphere at the border tensed. The warriors looked with determined but worried eyes at the enemy, while the Mages looked with calm and cold eyes at the warriors. The pressure in the surroundings was intense. Suddenly, everyone looked over at the wall. Jerald slowlynded on the wall with a cold expression. At that moment, the warriors grew hopeful as the Mages grew worried. "Duke Whirlwind, ording to the proposal you have given, you are not allowed to interfere in the war," the leading Mid High Mage said. The Mid High Mage was more than worried when he saw Duke Whirlwind. He knew that Jerald could tear their entire force to pieces on his own. Jerald calmly looked at the Mages. Then, he started hovering again and stopped in front of the wall. Lastly, he turned to the warriors. "Warriors of the Storm Eagle Zone!" he proimed. "Today, you have shown that you are willing to fight for a brighter future for yourselves." "In front of a seemingly overpowering force, you have not capitted, and you have held steadfast. You are willing to risk your lives so that you and your descendants might live in greenernds with a brighter tomorrow." "For that, you have my eternal gratitude and my respect." Jerald bowed politely to the True Path Stage warriors on the walls. After that speech, the True Path Stage warriors grew more confident. Their leader didn''t seem worried, and that gave them hope. "Your willingness to fight for a brighter tomorrow is everything | need." "| don''t need you to actually fight this battle.¡± "Today, none of you will die!" When the warriors heard that, their jaws nearly hit the floor. They didn''t need to fight? But how? Why? ¡°Duke Whirlwind,¡± the leading Mid High Mage said with a threatening tone as he summoned a Communication Crystal. "The main Council and the secondary Council are ready to work together to kill you if you join this war!" Jerald scoffed as he turned to the Mages. "| don''t need to join this war to win," he said with confidence. The Mages only furrowed their brows, but they also grew worried. "The Council''s obsession with protecting the prosperity of the Mage Path has blinded them to the strengths of other Paths." "Is a Mage more powerful than a warrior? Possibly." "Is a warrior more powerful than a Mage? Could be, but not on the average yet." "Can | conquer the Skythunder Kingdom with 100 True Path Stage warriors? No." "Can | conquer the Skythunder Kingdom with 100 High Mages? Maybe." Then, Jerald smirked in disdain.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. "Can | conquer the Skythunder Kingdom with a single warrior and three High Mages? Easily!" Everyone was shocked when they heard Jerald''s words. What was he talking about? How could four peoplepare to a hundred?! "The Council is blind to the true potential of the warriors!" ¡°A warrior isn''t at their strongest when they fight a Mage. No, they are at their strongest when they fight with a Mage!" "Count Sword, it is time." Count Sword? All of these warriors were over 80 years old, and they had heard of Count Sword. Count Sword was still alive? The Mages furrowed their brows. They had heard of a Count Sword in the past, but that was decades ago. Ever since then, this elusive warrior had never shown themselves again. From what they remembered, Count Sword was also one of the reasons why the warrior''s Star Map even existed. Acouple of seconds of silence passed. Creeeaaak! Then, the gigantic gates of the castle opened, and everyone looked over. And when they saw who had opened the gates, their eyes widened. How had they not felt this person with their Spirit Senses?! They could see him with their eyes, but they couldn''t see him with their Spirit Senses! It was almost like this person wasn''t real! Shang''s heavy and metallic footsteps echoed throughout the surroundings as he slowly walked through the gate. But when the warriors and Mages saw him, they were surprised. Initial True Path Stage? However, for some reason, they also felt that he was dangerous. But he was only at the Initial True Path Stage! Shang''s appearance waspletely hidden behind his heavy set of ck armor, making him appear like he wasn''t even human. It was like he was a walking piece of metal! It was like he was a demon! Eventually, Shang stopped in front of the wall as the gates closed behind him. Jeraldnded back on the wall and only watched with a malicious smirk. It was time for revenge! Shang slowly looked at the leader of the Mages, and he slowly drew his sword. Right now, he was in his Long Sword State since Project ck Scythe was designed to be used in this state. Of course, Shang was going to use his Darkness Element, but that didn''t matter. He knew that he would need to be careful in the outside world, but in the five Kingdoms, it didn''t matter what kind of Affinity he presented himself with. Today, he would show them what it meant for a Mage to fight someone that specialized in killing Mages. Shang slowly lowered his sword. It seemed like time was at a standstill. The Mages went into formation and prepared themselves for a battle. And then, it began. SHING! Shang vanished. A ck streak was left behind. Several explosions echoed throughout the surroundings in such quick session that it almost sounded like a singr explosion. The eyes of the Mages opened in shock and horror. They slowly turned around. The ck figure of Count Sword stood behind their leader... And he held their leader''s head in his left hand! But what about his Mana Shield?! He had activated his Mana Shield! He couldn''t have destroyed the Mana Shield in so little time! Everything fell into a terrified and shocked silence. Jerald gritted his teeth as fury appeared in his eyes. He could finally vent all his hatred! It was finally time! This was not going to be a war! This was going to be a one-sided ughter! Jerald was not here to fight his enemies to the death. No, he was here to execute them! And Shang was his executioner! Chapter 480 Chapter 480 An instant after Shang had killed the leader, he extended his arms to the side. WHOOOOOM! The surrounding kilometer was consumed by darkness! Inside his armor, Shang''s body had already shriveled to a terrifying degree, but a mere instantter, light blue water came out of his armor, and it immediately got absorbed by his body. Shang''s body regenerated in an instant. At the same time, a grey cloud of pure Mana came out of his helmet and drilled itself into Shang''s head, forcefully refilling the Mana he had wasted by using Shock. In the isted building a couple of kilometers away, two Mages furrowed their brows. One of them was channeling healing water into a Magic Circle, while another one was channeling grey Mana. Count Sword had just used up a terrifying amount of life energy. If they hadn''t been informed by Jerald prior to this, they would have been shocked. SHING! SHING! SHING! Several Mages used Mana Step as they escaped from the pitch-ck domain. In the next instant, they saw the ck domain vibrate as streaks of aggressive ck shot out of it and flew in random directions. The Mages were in horror, and they readied all their Spells. Then, they immediately unleashed them at the ck domain. The ck domain was immediately destroyed, and the darkness vanished. But what they saw only left a cold feeling of terror in their hearts. Where the ck domain had once been were now the scattered body pieces of three additional Mages!Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Inside the building, the Mages were pouring in healing water and Mana like crazy. BANGBANGBANGBANGCRACK! Acacophony of rapid explosions echoed through the surroundings again, and the Mages looked over to see another one of their squad getting cut into pieces. SHING! Ack streak appeared again. BANG! Another Mage died! At that moment, the Mages'' terror reached new heights. Five of them dropped everything and used Mana Step to flee. The other fiveunched Spells in panic at the horrifying ck figure. Yet, the figure was just too fast! Even worse, they couldn''t even follow it with their Spirit Sense! Another ck streak appeared, but this one led away from the Mages. Silence. An instantter, the Mages that were still willing to put up a fight felt one of their fleeing colleagues¡¯ life vanish, reced by scattered body pieces! Then, another one. One more. Thest two managed to leave the area of the remaining Mages'' Spirit Senses. Silence. Horrifying, terrible silence. In the isted building, the three Mages furrowed their brows. "He left our area of effect," one of them said. Two seconds of worried silence passed. Then, the Magic Circles rebuilt the connection to Shang, and the two Mages immediately put more Mana and healing water into the circle. Shang had lost quite a bit of life energy and Mana, but it was still manageable. At that moment, the Mages on the frontlines felt more ck streaks being left behind in their Spirit Sense, and they were rapidly advancing towards them! "| surrender!" one of the Mages shouted in terror as he threw his Focus to the side and fell to his knees. One of the other Mages exploded in anger when she saw that and unleashed her prepared Spells directly at the Mage that had surrendered. The surrendering Mage had deactivated his Mana Shield as proof of his surrender, and if the Spells hit him, he would die. WHOOOM! Suddenly, all the Spells the Mage had unleashed vanished as the ck figure appeared between her and the other Mage. At the same time, the Mages in the isted building had to pour even more healing water into the Magic Circle. The area around Count Sword had transformed into and of death. Earth, air, water, light, darkness, everything around him vanished. Then, another ck streak appeared. The Mage that had just unleashed her Spells died in an instant. "|-I-I surrender!" another Mage shouted in terror as she fell back in tremendous fear. "| surrender!" a third one shouted as he fell to the ground and cradled his head in his arms. om BANG! The Mage that hadn''t surrendered was killed by Shang before she could. Silence. There were only three cowering Mages left. The twelve other Mages had died. The battle hadn''t even taken ten seconds. The warriors looked with shock at the area in front of them. They couldn''t believe that this was reality. This was a force that would have killed all of them! Yet, only a single warrior had killed them faster than even Duke Whirlwind probably could have! This hadn''t even been a battle! This had been a one-sided execution! At this moment, only a single thought went through all the warriors¡¯ minds. This was true power! This was the true power of a warrior! Right now, Count Sword had stopped near the three cowering Mages. He had stopped his assault, and he only stood there motionlessly. It was almost like he had turned into a statue. Then, he slowly turned his head and looked at Duke Whirlwind, who was still up on the wall. Everyone else also looked over. They knew what this meant. Count Sword was asking for orders on how to deal with the three Mages that had surrendered. Only a cold and apathetic light was visible in Jerald''s eyes. "If we hadn''t had the power to protect ourselves, you three would have been more than happy to ughter thousands of my people," he spoke coldly. ¡°Only when you witness true power did you decide to turn back." ¡°Remember this for your next lives." At that moment, the three Mages¡¯ eyes showed pure terror. "When you live by the sword, you die by the sword." Shang turned to the three Mages. Their eyes opened in horror, and they fell back. They were in such a panic that they couldn''t even formte any Spells. Shang readied his sword. The Mages screamed and screeched in absolute terror. "NO! PLEASE-" "I''M SORR-" "| DIDN''T-" And their screams stopped abruptly one by one. The warriors on the walls and the cuffed warriors in front of the walls took in deep and terrifying breaths. Count Sword stood in front of the corpses, his armor and sword covered in blood. Then, he turned to the cuffed warriors that had fled the battle before it began. The warriors¡¯ faces whitened in terror. He wouldn''t kill them, right? They were warriors! They were part of the Storm Eagle Zone! They were Duke Whirlwind''s people! The warriors looked with horror at Duke Whirlwind, but Duke Whirlwind only looked at them with disgust and apathy. ¡°Powerful people that are not willing to risk their lives for a brighter future are a disease to my Kingdom." "If you are not willing to risk your lives for a brighter future, you do not deserve a future." The cuffed warriors froze in terror. Then, they looked at Count Sword. Count Sword slowly lifted his sword. Screams. Terrified screams. Yet, they all ended abruptly. Three secondster, Count Sword stopped in front of the wall again. Jerald was watching the corpses with a burning fury visible in his eyes. He gritted his teeth as his entire face tensed into a grimace of absolute fury and hatred. I will kill everyone that is responsible for your deaths, George, Mattheo!" TIL kill them all!¡¯ Chapter 481 Chapter 481 Silence. The reactions of the warriors were mixed. On one hand, they were happy that they had such a powerful warrior on their side. But on the other hand, they felt a cold shiver when Jerald had ordered the execution of not only the surrendering Mages but even the warriors.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. These warriors had been theirrades just one hour ago. Nearly everyone knew each other, and now, these warriors had died. Yes, they had fled to the enemy, but their lives had been on the line. Staying here would have seemed like a death sentence. But a good portion of the warriors also felt vindicated. These traitorous warriors had been willing to leave their former companions to fight for themselves! They deserved death! Up on the walls, Mervin nced at Shang with a smile, but when he looked at Jerald, his expression turned to concern. He had never seen Jerald this angry and cold before. "The enemy''s forces have been eradicated," Jerald proimed as he turned to the warriors again. ¡°Now that they have been weakened, it is time to im what is ours!" "Today, we will take back the Empress Cobra Zone!" Jerald shouted with a heroic voice. "And to achieve victory, | have something for each and every one of you!" At that point, 65 books appeared above Jerald, and each book hovered over to one of the warriors. The warriors looked with surprise at the books, and they opened them. Acouple of seconds of silence passed, after which the warriors eximed in shock. This was possible?! "This was thest present of the first Dean of the Warrior Academy, my dear friend George," Jerald announced. "He has created this technique, but it hadn''t beenpletely finished. | have finished it in thest decades, and now, it''s time to take revenge for him!" At that moment, something appeared beside Jerald, and he grabbed it. It was George''s spear! Some of the warriors recognized the spear. After all, George had been a legend to all of them. Sixty years ago, there had been only a single True Path Stage warrior, and every warrior knew about him. All of the True Path Stage warriors standing in front of Jerald were over 100 years old, and they all remembered George''s legend. "For too long have | needed to keep the true cause of his death a secret, but now, | can finally tell you all!" After that, Jerald recounted George''sst moments inside the Empress Cobra Zone, and he didn''t hide the truth. He told all of them about the ugly reality that was George''s death. The warriors grew furious when they heard that, and their eyes narrowed. They could ept that George had lost to a High Mage in a fight, but they couldn''t ept the despicable manner in which he actually died. ¡°Learn the Weapon Flying Technique. You have an hour," Jerald ordered. The warriors immediately opened the books again and read through them. The concepts weren''t easy to grasp, but all of the present warriors were experienced True Path Stage warriors. Comprehending the technique in an hour was possible for them. Jerald had kept the Weapon Flying Technique hidden until now, specifically because he knew that some warriors would flee to the enemy. If the Skythunder Kingdom performed Mind Reads on the warriors, they would know about the technique. In fact, none of the warriors had known anything about their battle n until now for exactly this reason. While the warriors wereprehending the technique in silence, Jerald assigned new positions. After all, many powerful warriors with illustrious positions had left. The two most powerful warriors, Mervin and the general of Jerald''s army, wouldmand half of the army each. Originally, Mervin was not in a leadership position since he wasn''t interested, but since the third most powerful warrior had left, he now had to step up. The general of Jerald''s army was the very officer that had protected Shang during his first Day of Chaos. His name was Perov. Below Perov and Mervin were all 63 True Path Stage warriors, and there was no squad leader or something like that. They would all directly follow themands of Perov and Mervin. If necessary, the two of them could name temporary squad leaders for missions. Shang received a separate role. His authority would be on the same level as Jerald''s, but he wouldn''t control the army under normal circumstances. He would leave everything for Mervin and Perov, but he could take control if he wanted to. The three High Mages also left their isted building and joined Shang. Without the Magic Circles, they couldn''t refill Shang''s life energy and Mana, but they could still keep the augmenting Spells on him active. The three Mages received authority above the normal True Path Stage warriors but below Mervin and Perov, but that also wasn''t really important. The three Mages would follow Shang most of the time. About an hourter, all the warriors hadprehended the Weapon Flying Technique, and they were ready to go. Jerald handed out additional Communication Crystals to everyone, which would rece their old ones. The soldiers could contact Mervin and Perov, while Mervin and Perov could contact the soldiers, Jerald, and Shang. Shang could contact everyone. Mervin and Perov left 15 of the weaker but more experienced warriors in the Storm Eagle Zone in case something happened. The others would join the assault. At that moment, Shang left towards the northeast with the three Mages following him. He was traveling at barely 100 kph, which was slow enough for the Mages to follow him without needing to use Mana Step. They kept the augmenting Spells on Shang active all the time in case there was an emergency somewhere. If Shang left their location, his augmenting Spells would be able to keep running on their own for a bit more than five minutes. That would give him enough time to reach any ce inside the Empress Cobra Zone. Of course, Shang wasn''t nning on attacking anything right now. He was only here in case something went wrong. While Shang and the Mages traveled toward the northeast, the warriors all jumped on their weapons. Due to their terrifying fighting instincts, they very quickly got used to keeping their bnce while their weapons were flying around below them. Flying like this cost some Mana, but they could keep flying for several hours without any issues. Mervin and Perov flew in front of their respective units. Then, they gave the order to charge. SHING! SHING! SHING! 50 warriors shot into the sky, past theyer of clouds above the Empress Cobra Zone. Everything in the Empress Cobra Zone seemed as peaceful as always. Yet, no one had any idea that a proverbial rain of arrows had just beenunched at the Empress Cobra Zone. Chapter 482 Chapter 482 Swamp Lake City was the biggest city in the Empress Cobra Zone. There was already a heavy cloud of fear above the city since the war between the Skythunder Kingdom and the Storm Eagle Zone started today, but the citizens were somewhat confident that the forces of the Skythunder Kingdom would stop the traitorous Duke Whirlwind. There were three High Mages inside the city today just to make sure that no leftover warriors from the Storm Eagle Zone damaged the city. Of course, the High Mages weren''t very powerful. There was one Early High Mage and two Initial High Mages. One had to remember that the force that had attacked the Storm Eagle Zone represented some of the most powerful High Mages in the entire Kingdom. A mere defensive force of a random city couldn''tpare, even if the force had been strengthened. The High Mages were talking to each other via their Spirit Senses, and they were making bets on how long the Storm Eagle Zone could hold out. These Mages were used to dangerous situations, and this bit of danger today wasn''t something that fazed them. Suddenly, all the Mages looked at the sky, and their eyes widened in terror. Just now, they had felt over 20 True Path Stage warriors falling toward the city at incredible speeds! They almost couldn''t believe what they saw with their Spirit Senses! The Mages immediatelymunicated with each other. What were they supposed to do?! They could deal with some warriors, but not with over 20! In just an instant, there were three different opinions from three different Mages. Flee! Surrender! Fight to the death! The Mages immediately fell into a heated argument. Luckily,munication via Spirit Sense was several times faster than communicating with words. "| don''t care what you decide! I''m outta here!" And then, the only Early High Mage fled towards the north. Since the Mages could see the warriors, the warriors could also see the Mages, and they saw that one of them had fled. Over ten of the warriors stepped on their weapons again. Until now, they had been in a freefall. Their weapons used the force of the fall and redirected it towards the side, making them shoot after the Mage. The other two Mages watched the strongest of them leave with horror. The Early High Mage had a chance to flee, but they didn''t! As soon as they saw him flee, they agreed. Surrender! They jumped down from the walls, deactivated their Mana Shields, and fell to their knees, their hands held up in a surrendering fashion. The few True Mages that were in the city watched all of this with confusion. What was going on? And then, the warriors arrived. BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! Their heavy bodiesnded outside the city, leaving humongous craters behind. A True Path Stage warrior could survive such an insanely fast fall without any issues. The True Mages and citizens looked with horror at the warriors that had transformed the outside beyond the walls into craters. Their fighting spirit immediately left them. Several warriorsnded around the High Mages, but they didn''t attack them. Instead, they pointed their weapons at them in a threatening manner. The High Mages didn''t dare to move. The other warriors entered the city, killed everyone that resisted, calmed down the popce, and assumed control. Obviously, the citizens were in a panic, but the warriors kept shouting that everyone that stayed where they were without attacking anyone would be fine. Of course, a couple of citizens still fled in panic, but the warriors killed them. Orders had to be followed. It didn''t matter who fled. If someone fled, they were put to death. Eventually, the city fell into a terrified silence. Over 100 people died when they tried to flee, scaring the remaining citizens intopliance. It seemed cruel, but this decisiveness and cruelty actually saved more people than it cost. One had to remember that this was the Empress Cobra Zone. If everyone that tried to flee were allowed to flee, the remaining people would realize that they could also flee and would follow. Eventually, probably over 50% of people would have fled... Right into the deadly swamps of the Empress Cobra Zone. Just a random Pest Cat could kill hundreds of normal citizens. The Empress Cobra Zone was deadly for normal people, and they could only live inside the settlements. Acouple of minutester, an additional group of ten warriors returned to the city. This was the group that had gone after the Early High Mage, and they had returned after killing him. AHigh Mage could move at incredible speeds in short bursts, but that consumed a crazy amount of Mana. In along chase, the High Mage would be caught by a warrior. If necessary, warriors could move at their full speed for hours on end. During these minutes, the Mage had reached the border of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, but he was very quickly killed after that. There were no guards between these Zones since they all belonged to the same Duke. Most of the warriors in the second group joined the warriors in the city, while Mervin, who had been in the group, went over to the High Mages. The High Mages realized that this warrior was more powerful than them, and they knew that he had to be the leader of this terrifying force of True Path Stage warriors. One of the warriors reported everything that had happened to Mervin, and he nodded with a smile, giving his thanks. He walked over to the Mages. "You can stand up," he said with a polite voice. The two Mages looked at each other with nervous eyes andplied. Mervin smiled and nodded. "Good. Our policy for every High Mage of the Skythunder Kingdom that didn''t resist our advance will now take effect." "Both of you will undergo a Mind Read performed by Duke Whirlwind personally. He will then decide what to do with you." The two Mages looked nervously at Mervin. Obviously, they were scared of having all their dirty secrets brought to light. "You will do no such thing." At that moment, everyone turned to a seemingly empty spot when they heard the voice of a woman echo throughout their minds. An instantter, the space on the spot warped, and someone stepped out. It was a younger woman with long blue hair and blue robes. Beside her was a Focus with four Amplifiers, representing a truly powerful High Mage. When the warriors felt the power of this new Mage, they had to take in a deep, terrified breath. They immediately knew who that was. Just now, the warriors had taken control over the entire city, but with the appearance of only one person, the control had been completely taken away from them again. m willing to talk with Jerald about joining his Kingdom with every Mage serving me, but | will not allow the minds of my people to be read!" she said with a strict voice.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Her aura engulfed the entire city. If she willed it, all the warriors would be turned to corpses in less than 30 seconds. She had that power. After all, she was a Late High Mage. While the warriors looked with terror at the High Mage, Mervin only held his polite smile. ¡°Duke Torrent. We''ve been expecting you," Mervin spoke politely. Chapter 483 Chapter 483 Duke Torrent wasn''t surprised when Mervin said that they had expected her. She was the ruler over these surrounding Zones, and it would be foolish not to expect her to appear in one of them. But Duke Torrent wasn''t very worried about their preparations. After all, she hadn''te here to fight but to negotiate. "| want to speak with Jerald," Duke Torrent demanded. "I am willing to sign a contract that binds me to his side, but | am not willing to undergo a Mind Read." Mervin only continued smiling politely. "Please wait a moment." Mervin took out a Communication Crystal and activated it.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Inparison to the normal Communication Crystals, this one directly connected to someone''s Spirit Sense, making it impossible for anyone in the vicinity to overhear the conversation. Mervin contacted Jerald and reported everything to him. Acouple of secondster, Mervin put the Communication Crystal away again. "I''m sorry, but Duke Whirlwind will not be directly negotiating with you." Duke Torrent''s eyes narrowed. She was a Late High Mage, and if she so chose to, she couldy waste to every single person here! This was obviously a sign of disrespect from Jerald. "| will," a dark voice spoke from behind Duke Torrent. Duke Torrent''s eyes opened widely, and she blinked away with Mana Step. Then, she looked back and noticed that a ck figure was standing at the spot where she had just been. Right now, the ck figure was looking at Duke Torrent, but she couldn''t actually see the person behind the armor. This made her feel like she wasn''t actually meeting gazes with a human but with some sort of otherworldly machine. She took a deep breath as she looked at the ck figure. "| presume your word equals Jerald''s word, Count Sword?" she asked. Shang wasn''t surprised that she already knew about him. The Council obviously had some sort of way to glean what had happened during the battle. They probably already knew about Shang''s power and his identity. "It is," Shang answered slowly, "and | assume you are here under orders of the Council?" "Partially," Duke Torrent said. "Originally, my orders were supposed to be to gauge your power, give feedback to the Council, and then assault you with a force powerful enough to kill you." "However, I''m not as blind as the Council. | know Jerald, and | know that he wouldn''t have dered this war if he wasn''t confident in iming victory. I''ve known him for a long time." "If Jerald is confident in his chances with the mere forces he has right now, his chances will skyrocket even more if he has my assistance. | don''t know if he can win against the Council in a direct battle, but | am powerful enough to distract one of them during the battle, giving him an edge." "There is no reason for me to stay at the Council''s side. | know who is going to win this war, and it isn''t the Council," Duke Torrent spoke emotionlessly. "| have 24 High Mages loyal to me, and | will bring them with me." Shang looked at Duke Torrent for a while longer. "And what are your demands for such grand help?" Duke Torrent wasn''t sure if Shang was sarcastic or not. "| am willing to sign a magical contract with Jerald with our lives on the line." "| will follow all of Jerald''s orders without question as long as they are not obviously meant to severely injure or kill me for the next 50 years. | will also hand over all themand of my forces to him and anyone he deems fit tomand them. If | break the contract, | will die." "In return, neither | nor any of my High Mages will undergo a Mind Read, torture, or interrogation by the orders of Jerald, you, or whoevermands your armies. If Jerald breaks this contract, his life will also be forfeit. Of course, he is free to read through the contract to verify what | just said." "These are my demands." These terms were actually pretty good. Jerald would gain a Late High Mage and 24 additional High Mages for basically nothing. He simply wasn''t allowed to dig into their pasts. A proper magical contract couldn''t just be messed with or broken. This was something created and enforced by two willing parties, and both parties had enough experience to write solid contracts without loopholes. What Duke Torrent had said only counted as the basics of the contract. Obviously, there would be uses regarding confidentiality of information and simr things. At that point, it wouldn''t even be necessary to read anyone''s mind to ascertain their loyalty. After all, they would be bound by the contract. If winning the war was the main goal, this offer would have zero downsides and many upsides. It was purely beneficial. "So, you don''t want to be persecuted for anything you have done or ordered in the past. Is that correct?" Shang asked. "This is how war works, Count Sword," Duke Torrent said. "I know that my offer is more than eptable, and | know what | can ask for.¡± "And if | refuse?" Shang asked. Duke Torrent wasn''t fazed by the question. "Even if you somehow got the power to kill me, you wouldn''t be able to stop me from leaving or killing several of your warriors. You might be powerful, but | am confident in my speed. | will be able to flee after taking a good chunk of your warriors with me, and then, we''ll see what happens from there." "What will it be?" By now, the nervousness of the warriors had returned again. Count Sword might be able to rival the Duke, but they couldn''t. Any stray Spell from such a powerful High Mage would kill them in one hit. In a way, Duke Torrent currently had about 20 True Path Stage warriors as hostages while negotiating with Shang. Additionally, her offer was amazing. They would gain so much power by simply not investigating the past of all the Mages and the Duke. Depending on the power of the High Mages, this could result in doubling the effective power of the Storm Eagle Zone, and that didn''t even include Duke Torrent herself! Count Sword acted as the representative of Duke Whirlwind. Therefore, he had to act ording to Duke Whirlwind''s priorities. Duke Whirlwind would never refuse such an offer. Right? Chapter 484 Chapter 484 Shang only looked at the distant Duke Torrent. ¡°For winning the war, it would be stupid not to ept your offer.¡± "However, epting your offer would nullify half of the reason why this war even started in the first ce." Duke Torrent narrowed her eyes. She definitely didn''t like what she was hearing. ¡°We want the warriors to finally have a ce where they can thrive, but that is only half of the reason." "Duke Whirlwind is a human just like all of us, and as a human, he has his own desires." Shang slowly took out his sword. "And his greatest desire right now is revenge." Duke Torrent immediately started to cast several Spells. She had never expected that they would refuse her offer, but she was still ready to act. The warriors felt like their end had arrived. They would die to Duke Torrent today. However, Shang wasn''t worried. He couldn''t receive any healing or Mana right now, but all his augmenting Spells were still active. His speed, power, defense, thinking speed, perception, regeneration rate, life energy storage, and Mana storage were still boosted. Fighting against an average Late High Mage would very likely result in Shang''s death normally, but this was not the case with the current Shang. As soon as Shang readied his sword, his surroundings started to distort and transform. The air, water, and earth around him started to fall into pieces and transform into pure Mana. All of this took a while to describe, but Shang had actually already shot forward as soon as all of this happened. SHING! Shang released Shock, but this time, there was no ck streak. Shang had activated his Domain of Entropy, and he generally only used that during one situation. In an instant, Shang arrived in front of Duke Torrent. His speed was far faster than Duke Torrent had anticipated. Nevertheless, she had already readied one of her personal Spells. Water drops gathered around her body, and an instantter, green wind surrounded them. BANG! The water droplets exploded outward at speeds that could only be achieved by using a Concept from the Wind Element. SSSHHH! Yet, the droplets between Shang and Duke Torrent vanished as soon as they reached Shang. Below Shang''s armor, his body began to deteriorate. Then, Shang shed forward. Sword was already burning with ck fire. Shang was using Silence from the get-go! Shang couldn''t allow Duke Torrent to kill any of the warriors here, which meant that Shang had to kill her in an instant. Duke Torrent''s eyes widened when she saw that her Spell had failed. How?! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Five rapid explosions urred around her, and her mind briefly stopped as she felt over 40% of her entire Mana vanish! How was it possible for an Initial True Path Stage warrior to unleash such devastating power?! She immediately activated Mana Step, but the Mana that left her body to create the Spell also vanished in an instant! She couldn''tprehend what was happening right now! Shang unleashed another five attacks, and Duke Torrent fell into a panic. She used several Mana Steps in quick session. Whatever was stopping her from unleashing Mana Step must have some sort of limit or cost associated with it! BANG! At that moment, Duke Torrent left with an explosion. By using so many Mana Steps, she had created a humongous Mana Step that took her over five kilometers away. Shang had not interfered this time. Shang''s body had already atrophied to a horrifying degree, and his skin had already vanished below the armor. If he stopped this many Mana Steps, he might not be able to continue fighting. Duke Torrent had moved so far away that she couldn''t feel Shang anymore, but Shang could still feel her due to his gigantic Spirit Sense. Shang readied his sword, which had turned into a short sword by now. SHING! Shock! Shang released three Shocks and arrived in front of Duke Torrent in less than a second. Duke Torrent had been prepared to flee, and her Focus had already readied another Spell. A powerful beam of concentrated water supported by the sharpness and speed of wind shot directly at Shang. SHING! Shang released hisst Shock to arrive behind Duke Torrent, making her Spell miss. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Then, Shang released Anger as he deactivated his Domain of Entropy. CRACK! The sixth attack destroyed Duke Torrent''s Mana Shield, and Shang immediately shed her Focus to the side, turning it into fragments. Duke Torrent could only look with horrified eyes at Shang. She couldn''t ept reality at this moment. Shang dropped his sword and lunged forward. His body barreled over Duke Torrent, throwing both of them to the ground. Shang was above her, and his right arm was gripping her throat tightly. At that moment, Duke Torrent felt a powerful forcee from Shang''s right hand, and she felt her body atrophy as her life energy was siphoned out of her. She tried to screech in terror, but Shang''s grip on her throat made it impossible. She could only look with terrified eyes at the image in front of her eyes. Since Shang''s Domain of Entropy had destroyed his skin, blood was now seeping out from all the little holes and crevices of his armor. Even the eyeholes of his armor were leaking blood onto Duke Torrent''s body below him. Duke Torrent had never been this terrified before. To her, it felt like an eternity had passed. She felt herself vanishing. She felt like she was being eaten by some kind of demon. Her death was so close. And then, the absorbing force receded and vanished. Yet, the grip on Duke Torrent''s throat was still tight, stopping her from saying anything else. For several agonizing seconds, the terrified Duke Torrent only looked at the bleeding eyeholes of the ck armor above her. Then, more seconds passed. This moment so close to death but not actually dying was agonizing for Duke Torrent. The uncertainty. If Count Sword wanted to kill her, he could have killed her already. But he hadn''t killed her. ¡°Your death is certain," the ck armor above Duke Torrent spoke in a cold and raspy voice. She couldn''t react to these words. She was just in too much horror. ¡°But the manner in which you die and the fate of your loved ones is not certain." By now, Duke Torrent could process some of these words, and these words terrified her. At that moment, two light footsteps echoed throughout the swamp around them. Duke Torrent''s Spirit Sense was still working, and she saw what had just happened. Duke Whirlwind had justnded beside the two of them, and he was looking at her with the coldest eyes she had ever seen in her life.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. For several seconds, he only looked apathetically into Duke Torrent''s terrified eyes. "Sophia, Bryston, Kerrington, Lucia..." Duke Torrent''s terror reached even greater heights. Duke Whirlwind had just recited all the names of her family and friends! ¡°Will you let your crimes be their crimes?" Jerald slowly asked. "Will you ept death for your punishment, or will you force yourself and all your loved ones into a fate worse than death?" "Will you let me read your mind and die with dignity, or do you want to doom your family and friends into an eternity of torture and suffering?" Jerald only looked with unending apathy at Duke Torrent. "Which will it be?" "I''m not above killing innocent people anymore." "That mindset died together with my son." Chapter 485 Chapter 485 Jerald waited for half a minute before putting his hand on Duke Torrent''s head. He attempted to read her mind, and he seeded. For the next five minutes, Jerald only remained silent with his hand on Duke Torrent''s head. Then, he pulled it back. "You''ve offered me valuable information," Jerald said coldly. Then, something appeared in his hands. It was George''s spear! Jerald put the spear to Duke Torrent''s head while tears rolled down the sides of her head. She knew that she would die. She didn''t want to die! But, at least... "You don''t need to worry," Jerald said. "Your loved ones will soon join you." At that moment, Duke Torrent''s eyes widened in horror. CRACK! The spear pierced through her head, killing her instantly. Shang let go of the corpse''s neck, and his head turned to Jerald. "| lied," Jerald said with a sigh. "I don''t n on doing anything to her loved ones." "| just wanted herst thoughts to be as horrible as possible." Shang nodded and slowly stood up. "What did you find out?" "| know now who is responsible for George''s and Mattheo''s deaths," Jerald said. Shang''s eye shone below the bloody armor. "The Council made the decision for both, just as expected. They ordered Duke Torrent to get rid of both of them. I''m not surprised that she refused the Mind Read this fervently." ¡°Duke Torrent gave the specific orders to two different High Mages. The one that killed George is called Ry, and the one that killed Mattheo is called Ugna. Both of them are part of Duke Torrent''s people.¡± ¡°Ry is currently guarding the main city of the Deepwater Shark Zone, and Ugna is in the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone." ¡°With Duke Torrent''s death, we killed the middleman. Now, we only need to kill the two agents and the Council. After that, our revenge will beplete." Shang nodded. He could finally put a name to the person that killed George. "Should | deal with them right now?" Shang asked. Jerald nodded. "When they hear of Duke Torrent''s death, they will immediately flee. We can''t waste any time." At that moment, Jerald threw George''s spear to Shang, who caught it. "George deserves his revenge. You should take out Ry as quickly as possible." After that, Jerald transmitted a description of Ry to Shang. ¡°Before you leave, | have something else," Jerald said. "Is it about the thing we''ve feared?" Shang asked. Jerald nodded.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. "It is as we thought, but we were already prepared for that eventuality," Jerald said. "Susan has already heard about your power, and she realized that she can''t muster enough power to kill you without the Council interfering." ¡°Most of the Dukes are at crucial positions on the frontline, and if she moves even one of them, the Magic Purity Kingdom will launch a devastating offensive." "She is fighting a war on three fronts, and losing one of them means her death." ¡°Because of that, she decided to forsake her bright future and be an Archmage immediately." Shang nodded. They had expected such a development. "How long?" he asked. ¡°It will take her three months, which is shorter than expected," Jerald said. "| expected six to twelve months, but three months should also be enough." "We have to achieve victory within three months, or we will have to face an Archmage, and we both know that I''m not powerful enough to fight against Susan while she is an Archmage.¡± Jerald looked deeply at Shang. Surprisingly, even in Jerald''s current state of mind, Shang could still see genuine concern in his eyes. "This is yourst chance to back out," Jerald said. "I can directly assault the Council personally, and | have a chance at victory. The only reason why you are part of the n is to save me from that danger." ¡°However, if Susan reaches the Archmage Realm, you know what you would need to do." "If you were to flee the five Kingdoms right now, she wouldn''t be able to find you, and | would assault the Council." ¡°But if you stay here, we have to win within three months, and if we can''t win in that timeframe, you have to sacrifice something." Shang took a deep breath. If Susan reached the Archmage Realm, Shang would need to unleash Entropy and sacrifice something. It was a risk. Shang could directly flee without any risk, or he could risk part of himself to help Jerald. Three months. That was all the time they had. "I''ll remain," Shang said. "It''s not only you that wants revenge, but me as well. Not only because of what happened to all the people | know but also because of myself. The Council has suppressed me as well, and | don''t like being suppressed." Jerald managed a weak smile. "Then, we are in this together." Shang nodded. "We are." For several seconds, none of the two said anything. "Then, | will proceed with the next step," Jerald said. Shang nodded. "I hope it works." "It will," Jerald said with cold confidence. "I''ve been in this political game for far too long, and | know how everyone acts." ¡°Not everyone is like the Council, and not everyone supports what they do. There are still a few powerful High Mages out there that don''t want to see the warriors being suppressed." ¡°Right now, they are afraid of joining since they believe that we will lose." ¡°But things will change very quickly when we are in a favorable position.¡± "Sometimes, when someone''s life is on the line, they don''t decide to bite back but decide to fall in front of you with their belly up.¡± Shang nodded again. "I hope so." Jerald nodded back and took to the skies. Shang cleaned up his bloody armor and ran back to the city. By now, his Spells had worn off, and he needed them renewed. Shang carried George''s spear in his hand as he traveled to the three High Mages. At that moment, Shang looked towards the northeast with a shining eye. "You will get another portion of your revenge in just a couple of minutes." George''s spear didn''t answer. Chapter 486 Chapter 486 Shang and the Mages traveled to the northeast for several minutes. The Deepwater Shark Zone was adjacent to the Empress Cobra Zone, and it was also the ce where Duke Torrent''s mansion was. Of course, most of her belongings were in her Space Ring, which Jerald had taken. There wasn''t a lot of stuff in her mansion. When they arrived at the Deepwater Shark Zone, they saw a giganticke, nearly 100 kilometers wide. The city Shang was looking for was in the north of that Zone. Shang got his Spells renewed once again and took to the sky. For today, he would use George''s spear to fly. Shang traveled high into the sky and stopped above the city. From such a height, no one would be able to see Shang, and he was also outside Ry''s Spirit Sense. However, Shang''s Spirit Sense was much bigger, and he could see everyone. ¡®Ry and two additional Initial High Mages.¡¯ Ry herself was an Early High Mage. For a while, Shang looked at the city and created a n to attack. Eventually, he took out some ore, and Sword entered its Saber State. Then, Shang took a deep breath and focused. Up in the sky, he stood silently on George''s spear. Then, he angled George''s spear so that he faced diagonally downward. He pulled his Saber back and closed his eye. He had to rely on his Spirit Sense for this one. SHING! SHING! Shang released two rapid Shooting Stars at different angles. BANG! BANG! BANG! Then, Shang elerated downward by releasing several sts. The Shooting Stars were still faster than him by quite a bit. Mere momentster, the three High Mages in the city looked upward.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. The eyes of the two Initial High Mages opened wide in shock. BANG! BANG! However, Shooting Star was just too fast for them to react, and both Shooting Stars punched through their bodies and exploded. Luckily, no people were beside them. They hadn''t even been able to use a Mana Step or Mana Shield. By using Shooting Star from such a great distance, its power was several times weaker than normal. It wouldn''t even be enough to injure an Initial True Path Stage beast. However, Mages had fragile bodies, and it was still far more than enough to kill an Initial High Mage. Both Mages died instantly. Ry looked with horror as two of her friends died, and she immediately activated Mana Shield. That was when Shang entered her Spirit Sense, and she looked over. When she saw the ck armor, her face turned to terror. Duke Torrent had informed her of Count Sword, and she knew that she couldn''t win a fight against him. SHING! She immediately used Mana Step to flee, but Shang shot after her. He used several sts to make him shoot toward her. That was far faster than using the Weapon Flying Technique. Ry used over eight Mana Steps in rapid session before using another six to shoot in a different direction. The first eight had taken her eight kilometers away, while the other six took her another six kilometers in another direction. Her opponent would believe that she would continue running toward the north, but she was actually running toward the east now. This maneuver cost her nearly 80% of her Mana reserves, but she had escaped. Of course, she didn''t know about the size of Shang''s Spirit Sense. With Shang''s current speed, it only took him five seconds to enter her Spirit Sense again. Ry used more Mana Steps. Thankfully, five seconds had been enough to recover a lot of her Mana. By now, she had entered the Zone northeast of the Deepwater Shark Zone, the Cloud Serpent Zone. Sadly, Shang reached her even faster this time. Instead of continuing to run, she decided to fight. She didn''t have enough Mana to escape Shang''s Spirit Sense anymore. By now, Shang was sting forward on the ground, and he was a bit slower than before, but not by much. When he was within a kilometer of Ry, he pulled his Saber back. Then, he threw it. BANG! Star Shatter! Star Shatter immediately destroyed her Mana Shield, and Shang used Shock to arrive beside her in an instant. Ry released a Poison Bolt that had been prepared by her Focus, but Shang easily sidestepped it. CRKSH! An instantter, a spear pierced through her chest, with Shang holding its shaft. ¡°Look at the weapon," Shang slowly said. He actually didn''t need to order her. She already looked with horror at the weapon that had pierced her body. She recognized it. Then, Shang moved the spear upward with enough force to bisect her vertically. She was dead. For some seconds, Shang only looked at the corpse. ¡°Only the Council is left now," he told the spear. Of course, he also had to deal with Ugna, who had killed Mattheo, but the spear probably didn''t care about that. The spear didn''t answer. Shang grabbed Ry''s Space Ring and destroyed the corpse. Then, Shang turned around and ran back to the border of the Empress Cobra Zone. There were more people he had to kill. After returning to the Empress Cobra Zone, Shang and the three Mages traveled toward the northwest. A couple of minutester, they arrived at the three-way border between the Empress Cobra Zone, the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, and the Ice Wyvern Zone. There were still no guards near the border. Shang got his Spells renewed and took to the sky again. He flew towards the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone and arrived at his destination three minutester. This was a newly built city, and Ugna was defending this ce on his own. The Skythunder Kingdom didn''t have many High Mages to spare. Shang made Sword return to its Saber State again. Then, he shot Star Shatter at Ugna from seven kilometers away and sted after it. "Mana Shield!" he transmitted to Ugna with an urgent voice. Ugna grew confused, but when he felt an impossible powere towards him at insane speeds, he followed themand and activated Mana Shield. CRACK! Star Shatter broke through the Mana Shield, and Sword pierced through the ground beside Ugna. Ugna only looked with terror at the attack that had just consumed all his Mana. Then, the sword began to hover and suddenly shot toward his torso. CRKSH! Ugna looked in terror at the Long Sword piercing his body. Suddenly, he felt a powerful pull, and the Long Sword pulled him toward the sky. Whenever he tried to use Mana, the Long Sword released some Darkness Mana thatpletely broke his concentration. Two secondster, he suddenly felt a powerful hand grab his throat, and he looked at the ck figure in front of him. ¡®Far easier to make them waste all their Mana instead of chasing after them,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang pulled Sword out of Ugna and used Darkness Absorb to keep him weak and helpless while taking away the Space Ring. Then, he pulled him towards the Empress Cobra Zone. Ugna couldn''t even say anything due to all the terror and pain he felt. Eventually, theynded in a seemingly random ce. However, they weren''t alone. Jerald was here as well, and he looked at Ugna with rage-filled eyes. This was the person that had killed his son! This was why Shang hadn''t directly killed Ugna. Shang threw Ugna forward, whonded weakly in front of Jerald. The eyes of the two of them met. One was filled with rage. One was filled with terror. Chapter 487 Chapter 487 After a couple of minutes, the horrifying screams of the High Mage stopped. Jerald stood up and stepped away from the desecrated corpse. He cleaned his robes of the blood and looked at Shang.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. "The next phase of the n needs another two hours of preparation. For now, | only need you to stay with the three High Mages. If we need you, someone will call you." Shang nodded. He knew the n, and he knew that the next step was crucial. Shang walked away and entered Swamp Lake City. As he walked through the streets, he saw many uncertain and terrifiedmoners. The assault had only happened two hours ago, and they were still uncertain about what would happen to them. Yet, they were not the ones that had to be afraid. Jerald didn''t care about them. The ones that had to be afraid were the True Mages. A True Mage already counted as someone quite powerful in the five Kingdoms, and many of them were already decision-makers. Right now, all of the True Mages in this town were put into magical restraints that made it impossible for them to cast any Spells or use their Focus. They were all waiting in terror. Over 100 True Mages were currently waiting in front of one building with fear. All the True Mages in the entire Empress Cobra Zone had been gathered in this spot. Inside the building were five of Jerald''s Inquisitors, and they would read the minds of all the True Mages. Of the True Mages that entered, only about 60% came out. The other 40% had been killed. The Inquisitors judged the True Mage''s past actions and gave one of four different judgments. If a Mage had actively been going against the warriors without only following orders, they were put to death. If a Mage had only followed the orders and carried them out dutifully, they would be put to work for 50 years, after which they would be free. If a Mage did their best to screw up the orders to kill the warriors, declined a couple of them, or just showed kindness to the warriors they were sent to kill, they would be allowed to join as a citizen, which meant that they werepletely free. Jerald and the Inquisitors knew that they couldn''t expect everyone to put the lives of the warriors above their own. Sometimes, refusing an order could result in the Mage going to prison, the frontlines, or directly being executed. The crux of the matter was if they supported the war against the warriors or not. On very rare asions, a Mage might have even helped the warriors secretly. Maybe they helped one of them flee? Maybe they purposely acted like they didn''t find the warrior? Maybe they warned them beforehand? These kinds of Mages were allowed to join Jerald''s army, of course only if they wanted to. They would also receive payment, referrals, and maybe even a title. Of the 100 Mages, around 40 were directly killed, around 35 were put to work, around 22 became citizens, and only three of them received rewards and status. Was it wrong to punish someone for only following orders? That was debatable... On Earth, that is. In this world, power ruled. If there were two powerful beasts in a fight and a hunter had to attack one of them, they could only hope that they attacked the beast that would lose the fight. Because if they didn''t, the hunter would die. "| don''t care about your reason. You went against me, and for that, you deserve death." That was the general ideology of this world. Inparison to the True Mages, the Adepts and Apprentices were ignored. Even if they harbored hatred for the warriors, it wouldn''t matter. They couldn''t have done too much harm with their power, and by only leaving the pure leaders alive, the pack would eventually adapt to reflect the same mentality. And if they didn''t, the leaders would be the ones cleansing them. What about the warriors that hated Mages and tried their best to kill every Mage they could find? After all, it wasn''t only the Mages that hated the warriors. If there were Mages that hated warriors to such a degree that they would kill every warrior they saw, there were also bound to be warriors that did the same but against the Mages. What happened to them? Nothing. Was this hypocritical? Yes. So? It didn''t matter. The warriors were Jerald''s people, and he wouldn''t persecute them as long as the Mages they killed didn''t belong to Jerald. Of course, now that some Mages were part of Jerald''s territory, these warriors were not allowed to touch them without a very good reason. In short, the Mages were not allowed to vent their hatred on warriors, but the warriors were allowed to vent their hatred on Mages, as long as these Mages didn''t belong to Jerald. Naturally, the warriors that were mentioned here weren''t at the True Path Stage. Themanders knew what was important. They wouldn''t allow their most powerful warriors to act like bloodthirsty savages. Shang stepped past the building and stopped at a random ce in the city. No one dared to interact with him. For the next two hours, Shang only waited while talking to the three High Mages beside him. And then, it was finally time. Everything had been prepared. The war had only started around five hours ago, but over 20 High Mages of the Skythunder Kingdom had already been killed. And now, the next part of the offensive would take ce. But this part was not a physical attack but a mental one. 20 True Path Stage warriors gathered in front of Jerald, and he handed each one a Space Ring. After that, he gave his orders. The warriors quickly went into formation, jumped on their weapons, and flew away. Shang watched them fly away with an interested gaze. ¡®| wonder how effective this will be.¡¯ Shang knew a lot about fighting, but he wasn''t involved in politics or nning an entire war. The only thing he could rely on was his personal power, and this part of the n didn''t need Shang''s power. Chapter 488 Chapter 488 After the warriors took to the sky, they split up into four groups. One group went to the northeast, one to the north, one to the northwest, and one to the west. They reached a height of eight kilometers and continued flying for a couple of minutes. The groups were entering the Deepwater Shark Zone, Adamantite Behemoth Zone, Northern Ice Wyvern Zone, and Ice Wyvern Zone. As soon as the groups entered their respective Zones, they took out the Space Rings they had received from Jerald. SHING! A huge stack of papers floated around them. Even though warriors weren''t Mages, their minds were still powerful enough to levitate some letters. And then, the warriors scattered the letters across all four Zones. Every warrior had received 5,000 letters, and they would distribute all of them. That was 25,000 letters per Zone. With such a vast amount of letters, it would be impossible to bury their contents. The High Mages in the Zones didn''t even feel the warriors pass over them since they were outside the range of their Spirit Senses. They only saw several letters slowly floating down. Of course, the Mages immediately inspected the letters from afar to make sure that there wasn''t a malicious enchantment on them. There wasn''t. With their Spirit Senses, the High Mages could read the letters while they were still several kilometers above the ground. All the High Mages read them, and the reactions were mixed. Some of the High Mages became white in the face with horror and immediately destroyed all the letters they saw. Some High Mages only looked at the ground in uncertainty and fear. Some High Mages became shocked and looked at their colleagues.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Some of them looked at their colleagues with fear. Some of them looked at their colleagues with cold gazes. Even though many High Mages tried to get rid of all the letters, they had been scattered across the entire Zone. Manymoners would read the letter they found in front of their door, in their fields, on the streets, or just anywhere. It was impossible to bury its contents. Its contents would spread across the Zones and even across the entire Kingdom. The letters were all identical, and they had multiple parts. The first part spoke about the Storm Eagle Zone''s triumphs. They had killed five Mid High Mages, 14 Early High Mages, and eight Initial High Mages without losing a single person in the Fourth Realm. This already terrified many Mages, and some of them even refused that this could be real. Then, the next bombshell dropped. Duke Torrent had died, and Duke Whirlwind had read her mind. The next part spoke in detail about what Duke Whirlwind had learned, including the Council''s n of making their Head reach the Archmage Realm. But the next part was even more shocking. It was a n of assault with dates and times! Tomorrow at 12 pm, the Storm Eagle Zone would attack the Deepwater Shark Zone. The day after, at the same time of day, they would attack the Ice Wyvern Zone. The day after, the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. Then, the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. Every day, Jerald would conquer one more Zone. Many Mages thought that this was some kind of scheme. No one would tell their opponent what they were going to do beforehand, right? However, the letter wasn''t over yet. The next part spoke about what would happen to the inhabitants of the conquered Zones. Everyone beneath the Third Realm was allowed to join Jerald''s territory as a citizen without being inspected or questioned. Everyone in the Third Realm would need to have their mind read by an Inquisitor. The letter detailed what criteria someone was judged by and what the punishments were. The next part of the letter was also itsst part. It spoke about the High Mages. Jerald had read Duke Torrent''s mind, and he knew the names of all the High Mages that belonged to her and what they had done. Every name was individually listed with an addedment. Julian: May join as a citizen without undergoing a Mind Read. Herald: Will undergo a Mind Read, and if nothing surprisinges to light, will be put to work for 100 years. Stanner: Will undergo a Mind Read but will very likely receive the title of Baron and a voluntary job as an officer in Duke Whirlwind''s army. Karmen: Will be put to death. It named all the High Mages in this manner. Then, the letter ended. Even though the letter was supposed to alleviate the citizens¡¯ fears, they were still afraid of the war. What if they died in the crossfire? But that actually didn''t matter. The targets of these letters were the High Mages. The High Mages that had been judged to be executed grew terrified, angry, and distanced themselves from theirrades. They were afraid that theirrades would leave and betray them. They grew incredibly suspicious of their previousrades and became hostile. The ones that had been judged to be put to work had lost expressions on their faces. They, obviously, didn''t want to be put to work for such a long time and lose all their wealth and status. Most of those High Mages decided to fight against Duke Whirlwind''s forces, but the previous group still suspected them with hostility. The ones that had to undergo Mind Reads but were most likely safe felt either terrified or felt aplex mix of emotions. The ones that were terrified knew that Jerald would find their secrets, and they would most likely die. The ones that felt aplex mix of emotions felt this way due to the decision they had to make. If they decided to resist and join theirrades, they would most likely die. If they decided to go to Jerald''s territory, they would be able to survive and continue living their current life, but they would be leaving theirrades behind. Yet, most of them didn''t trust the contents of the letter. What if Duke Whirlwind only did this to split their forces and make them fight against each other? They wouldn''t trust these letters and would stay with theirrades. ..-At least, that was the initial n. Over the next couple of hours, all their previousrades looked at them with hatred, suspicion, and usations. They called them traitors! In a big city in the Ice Wyvern Zone, it even went so far that three High Mages killed two other High Mages. These three High Mages had been judged to be executed, and the other two could join Jerald''s camp without any issues. The two Mages had still decided to help their colleagues, but the paranoia of their colleagues was so great that they were killed. In other cities, the angry and suspicious High Mages basically did their best to drive the other High Mages away. Of course, that wasn''t their intention. They were simply so stressed, panicked, and angry that they had to vent their emotions somewhere. In the next twelve hours, another two High Mages died, and two High Mages managed to flee to the Empress Cobra Zone. Of the 18 High Mages left in Duke Torrent''s former group, four had been killed, and two joined Duke Whirlwind. Now, there were only twelve left. The letters had shown their effect. This part of the n had proven to be a great sess! Chapter 489 Chapter 489 A full day passed, and it was finally time to assault the Deepwater Shark Zone. The letters hadn''t lied about Jerald''s ns for attack. He would attack the Zones as described at the described time. Shortly before 12 pm, Shang took to the skies by flying on Sword. After some minutes, Shang scanned the entire Deepwater Shark Zone, except for the deep depths of theke. After all, the Skythunder Kingdom was their enemy, not the beasts. Shang also doubted that the Skythunder Kingdom would have some kind of ambush nned while being at the bottom of ake. The risk of identally having to fight a powerful beast at the bottom was too high. Even if the beast were killed, everyone outside theke would notice the battle most likely. After scanning the entire Deepwater Shark Zone, Shang only saw a single Initial High Mage, and the Mage was just standing in front of the biggest city of the Deepwater Shark Zone with a worried expression. High up in the air, Shang summoned a Communication Crystal. "Mervin, Perov, there is only a single Initial High Mage stationed in the entire Zone, and she''s just waiting in front of the city. I''m unsure of her intentions." "Affirmative," Perov answered. "My unit will take it from here.¡± Shang put the Communication Crystal away and simply stayed in the air. By now, his augmenting Spells had already faded, but he didn''t need them right now. After a while, Shang saw several warriors enter his Spirit Sense. They were charging towards the biggest city while the other warriors swept through the surroundings of the hugeke. Eventually, the group of warriors and the Mage entered each other''s Spirit Sense. Then, Shang saw the warriors suddenly halt, and he furrowed his brows. The warriors only stood there and waited. Obviously, the Mage and the warriors were talking, but Shang couldn''t think of any words that would halt the assault of this group of warriors. After some seconds, Shang saw one of the warriors take out a Communication Crystal. The warrior looked at the Communication Crystal for a couple of seconds before putting it away again. Then, everyone continued waiting. The Mage continued standing in front of the city while the warriors continued standing a couple of kilometers away from her. Shang had no idea what was going on. Two minutes passed. Then, Jerald arrived, and Shang''s eyes narrowed. What could possibly bring Jerald to this ce? Just showing up to a battle could create suspicions that he secretly interfered in the battle.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. It was very dangerous for Jerald to be here. While the other warriors waited in the distance, Jerald stepped closer as he took out some form of shining golden crystal. Shang recognized the crystal since he had used a simr one in the past. It was a Magic device that allowed Mages to record the surroundings, simr to a camera. Shang had used the crystal back then before he made the Adamantite Behemoth annihte Duke Mithril''s home. m Duke Whirlwind," Jerald said to the crystal with a severe tone. "As you can see, | am currently standing between my army and the enemy." Jerald moved the crystal around to show the current state of affairs. "| have not gotten involved, but | have been summoned here by the sole defender of Startrade City." Jerald showed the distant Mage to the crystal. "It is currently 12:02 pm, and we have not yetunched our attack due to a concerning matter." "The Council created a diabolic scheme to frame me for an atrocity." Shang raised an eyebrow when he heard that. Jerald stepped forward and closed in on the enemy Mage. The Mage only looked at the crystal with enraged and pained eyes. She had definitely made a decision that was not easy to make, based on her expression. "Please introduce yourself. This will be proof of the Council''s horrible and horrifying n," Jerald said. "Countess Conny Deepsea," the High Mage said with a stressed voice as even some tears gathered in her eyes. Jerald nodded. "You were the one that summoned me, correct?" "Correct," she answered. "Why have you summoned me?" ¡°Because | can''t take it anymore," she whimpered. "I''ve worked so long for the Council. | have been loyal, and | have performed my duties with all of my will and loyalty." "Yet, they have chosen me for this horrible mission." Jerald nodded. "And what is your mission?" Conny took a deep breath. "To blow up Startrade City and me it on you." Shang took a deep breath as he looked at the city. This was a major trading hub, and there were over 20,000 people living there! ¡°How was the n supposed to go down?" Jerald asked. "| have received a very powerful Magic Circle, and | have nted it below the city. It is hidden by many cloaking Spells, and it is impossible to find it without very closely examining the entire city." ¡°It will explode as soon as | leave from the vicinity of the city, when I die, when my mind is read, or when | manually trigger it." Jerald nodded. "And what did they do to convince you to do this? After all, you would not survive this mission." Conny broke down into tears. "They have my husband and my two children. They are willing to foster them into powerful members of the Skythunder Kingdom if | go through with this mission." "They didn''t mention what would happen to them if | were to decline the mission, but | know what they were implying.¡± "If | were to refuse, all of us would die." Jerald kept holding the golden crystal. "And why did you decide to inform me about this?" ¡°Because | don''t trust the Council anymore!" Conny shouted with a desperate and furious voice. "| have neither supported nor hated the warriors. | don''t care what happens to them!" ¡°However, | can acknowledge that they have helped us in the past, and without their support, we might have already be the Magic Purity Kingdom." ¡°But as soon as the warriors gained the potential to threaten them, they immediately treated them like enemies!" "It didn''t even matter if the warriors wanted to rebel or not!" "Just because they had the power, they became the targets of the Council''s suppression and hate!" "| don''t care for warriors, but after seeing what the Council has done to an integral ally, | can''t trust them anymore!" ¡°Would they really leave my family alive?" ¡°What if my family found out the secret of my death and searched for revenge?" "As soon as the warriors became a threat, the Council attacked them, and | fear that the same might happen to my family." "| fear that they will just kill my family regardless of if |plete the mission or not." "That is why | have called for you." "| don''t care which side wins!" "| don''t care if you kill the Council or if you get killed by the Council!" "| just want my family back, and you''re the only option | have left!" Conny fully burst out crying at this point. "| only want my family," she whispered. Jerald continued standing in front of Conny with the golden crystal. "Where is the Magic Circle located?" he asked. Conny gave the precise location to Jerald. "It will be difficult to deactivate it since it''s surrounded by a Magic Circle that notices other presences. If anyone at the Fourth Realm gets within 50 meters of it, it will explode." "That won''t be a problem. We have a way to deal with it," Jerald said. Asecondter, Shangnded in front of the city. Shang had his Domain of Entropy, and he could deactivate the Magic Circle surrounding the explosive Magic Circle with it. The Mage continued crying. Shang turned to Jerald and the Mage and approached them. He stopped in front of them. Jerald looked at the Mage. "You have done a great service to humankind as a whole today," he told the Mage. "I will publicize this recording. | don''t think that the Council has killed your family yet, and if your family suddenly disappeared, it would prove what you have said to be true." "What are the names of your husband and two children?" "Joran, Leticia, Maer," she said through tears. Jerald nodded and looked at the crystal. "Joran, Leticia, and Maer Deepseaa. Let''s all hope that the Council hasn''t yet killed them." The Mage continued crying. "Today, Conny Deepsea has saved 20,000 people. | will ept her as a citizen in my new Kingdom due to her contributions, but she still has to pay somewhat for her actions in the past. Because of that, she will have to work in the Storm Eagle Zone, but only for ten years. After that, she will join us as a fully-fledged citizen." ¡°Are you d that the 20,000 citizens are now safe, Conny?" Jerald asked. Conny only nodded without looking up. Jerald smiled and looked at the crystal again. "To all the people in the Skythunder Kingdom, you now know the true face of the Council!" "Decide if you truly want to join them or not!" The crystal pointed at Shang again. "We can call ourselves lucky that Count Sword was here with his unique power to stop Magic Circles." "With the Magic Circle diffused, the citizens managed to survive!" At that moment, Conny noticed that something wasn''t right. Earlier, it had sounded like Duke Whirlwind was confident in Count Sword''s power, but now, Duke Whirlwind was talking like they had already diffused the Magic Circle. Then, the golden crystal was deactivated. BANG! Shang exploded forward and wrapped his hands around Conny''s neck. Her eyes opened wide in terror. The Mana and life energy inside her were vanishing! She couldn''t do anything! Chapter 490 Chapter 490 After a couple of seconds, Conny lost consciousness. However, Shang didn''t kill her. "Good work," Jerald said. Shang looked at Jerald. "Are you sure she was lying?" he said. "I''ve been in this political game for long enough, and | can feel when someone is being deceptive.¡± "90% of what she said was probably the truth, and there probably is a Magic Circle in there with a lot of power." "However, | think that she uttered two lies." ¡°Detonating an entire city would be too risky and unbelievable. It would be very difficult to frame us for the destruction. After all, we would have no reason to. Themon people might believe it, but the experienced Mages wouldn''t believe it. They would know that all of this seems suspicious." ¡°Because of that, I''m certain she lied about what manner of Magic Circle is in there." "| don''t think it''s arge-scale explosion, but a focused release of destructive energy." "The Council has many ways to gather information, and they probably also know that you have some sort of power that helps you in dealing with Magic." ¡°And exactly that is what they bet on." "They want you to enter since you would seem to be the best person for the job." "Their n wasn''t to frame us but to kill you." "They know that you are the most important piece in this war. If you die, we have no chance of winning the normal way.¡± "The second point where she lied is probably her trust in the Council." "I''m certain that what she said about her family is true, but | think she didn''t bet on us. Instead, she trusts the Council to let her family live after she aplished her mission." "You would enter the city, go to the Magic Circle, and she would detonate it remotely." ¡°Her family would be safe, and she would have aplished her mission." Shang took a deep breath. This n was truly devious. Even he had fallen for it. He would have entered the city to deactivate the Magic Circle, but he would have died during the process. Luckily, Jerald was very experienced in these sorts of things. ¡°Of course, | could also be wrong, but | doubt it," Jerald said. Asecondter, Jerald cast a Spell, and some Natural Mana entered Conny''s head. "This will ensure that she stays unconscious during all of this.¡± Then, Jerald took out the golden crystal again. "Shang, please enter the city." Shang knew what Jerald was nning, and he slowly walked to the city. The golden crystal activated again and recorded Shang entering the city. After that, Jerald deactivated the crystal again. Then, he smirked as he put the scene he had just recorded between when Shang hadnded and when he approached them. Like this, it would look like Shangnded, entered the city, came out, and approached them. Jerald entered the city together with Shang. He wasn''t supposed to get involved, but if the Council decided to intervene softly by creating a powerful Magic Circle, he would also softly intervene by apanying Shang. The two of them reached the house under which the Magic Circle was located and got rid of the house. Acouple of secondster, several Magic Circles were revealed, and when Jerald saw them, he smirked. ¡°Abyss Cometh," Jerald said. "That''s the Spell that has been stored here. It''s one of Susan''s most powerful offensive Spells." ¡°Even | would lose nearly 70% of my Mana if it hit me." This meant that Shang would die without a doubt. His armor didn''t matter against such a powerful Spell. "But it seems like | was right," Jerald said. "Abyss Cometh is a very powerful Spell, but it only epasses a very small area." ¡°Want me to deactivate it?" Shang asked. Jerald looked back at the distant warriors. Acouple of secondster, the warriors left until they were outside Jerald''s Spirit Sense. "| told them that the specifics of your power need to remain confidential," Jerald said. "I''m 80% sure that you can deal with the Magic Circle, but 80% is lower than 100%, right?" Jerald said with a smirk. Then, Jerald activated Mana Shield. "Just wait here." Jerald slowly floated towards the Magic Circle as Shang watched, and when he was just ten meters away from it... T CHITIN III! An intense, ck me shot out of the ground and epassed the surrounding 15 meters. It sounded shrill and ethereal. In a way, it sounded like the ghost of a huge circr saw cutting through metal. After just half a second, the ck fire vanished, and Jerald was revealed. "Very powerful,¡± he said. "It actually managed to consume 80% of my Mana." "Seems like Susan has been working on her Darkness Concepts." The surrounding 15 meters had vanished, but the house on top of the Magic Circle had been wide enough that no other house had been affected by it. Jerald floated back andnded beside Shang. "You got rid of the Magic Circle," he said. Shang nodded. After that, the two of them turned around and exited the city again. They stopped beside the unconscious Conny, and Jerald woke her up. Conny slowly regained consciousness, and her eyes opened in shock and horror. She immediately jumped up, looked at her surroundings, and activated Mana Shield. Then, she noticed that her connection to the Magic Circle had been broken, and her eyes opened in horror. She immediately noticed that Shang was beside her, and pure terror and sorrow entered her eyes. She had failed! Her family! No! "Count Sword dealt with the Magic Array," Jerald said with a smirk. "Aren''t you happy?" Conny only looked with shock and horror at Jerald. She could tell by his smirk that he knew exactly what her real n was. ¡°It seems like you have no other choice but to trust me now," Jerald said. "After all, we have the recording, and the tragic retelling of your story will be distributed over the entire Kingdom." ¡°Even the Council will believe that you have betrayed them." Conny couldn''t formte a proper thought. "For the record, | do believe the thing about your family," Jerald said, "And | do believe that you have epted this mission for their sake." "But the recording will do the trick. The Council can''t afford to kill your family like this, even if they believe that you have betrayed them."This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Even more, if you were to run to the Council and tell them about the truth, they would just kill you and frame it on me." ¡°But | don''t need to kill you." ¡°After all, | am the only person that can reunite you with your family." "You''re stuck with me now if you like it or not," Jerald said with a smile that didn''t reach his eyes. Chapter 491 Chapter 491 It was difficult for Conny to ept her new circumstances. She had bet on the Council and had lied to Duke Whirlwind to achieve her goal. Yet, the lies she had told had been transformed into reality. The words she had spoken had been intended to be a reality. Count Sword was supposed to die in the city, and she was about to die. But now, everyone was alive, and the entire world would believe that she hadpletely betrayed the Council, even though that had never been her intention. Sadly, she had to ept her new circumstances now. Her family truly was in danger, and she wanted to save them. Now, the only way to save them was to work for Duke Whirlwind. She hadn''t wanted to betray the Council, but now, she didn''t have any other choice. She had to work for Duke Whirlwind now if she ever wanted to see her family again. Jerald contacted the warriors and informed them about how to proceed. Several of the warriors approached Conny, and she looked at them with an apathetic expression. She only cared about her family. She didn''t really care about what would happen to her. ¡°ording to the words I''ve spoken," Jerald said with a polite smile, "You are going to be put to work for a couple of years. Your intentions do not matter. The fact is that you have helped us." Conny remained silent. "When you are done working, the internal war of the Skythunder Kingdom should already be over, and if everything goes ording to n, you will see your family again." Conny looked at Jerald with hopeful eyes when she heard that. "From what | have gathered from Duke Torrent''s memories, you are not one of the people that went against the warriors ina zealous manner. It''s not too bad to have someone like you amongst my people." "Just look at it like an annoying vacation." After Jerald said that, Conny was taken away by the warriors. She didn''t even think about resisting. The fate of her family was now deeply connected to Duke Whirlwind''s sess. The warriors entered the city and took control of it. Just like with the Empress Cobra Zone, the normal citizens were mostly ignored while the True Mages were to be investigated by the Inquisitors. Another big group of True Mages would die today. As the warriors took control of the Deepwater Shark Zone, Jerald met up with some of the new High Mages he had gained in the past couple of days. It was time to duplicate the golden crystal. Of course, duplicating something like that was way more costly than just duplicating a simple letter, but it would all be worth it. The High Mages listened to Jerald''s orders and forwarded them to the army of True Mages below them. In an hour, over 200 True Mages were busy duplicating the golden crystal. After around six hours, the Mages finished duplicating the golden crystals, and they brought them over to the True Path Stage warriors. The True Path Stage warriors put the golden crystals into their Space Rings and took to the skies. This time, they would disperse the golden crystals over far more than just the surrounding Zones. They scattered and flew in different directions. 50 of the 65 True Path Stage warriors were dispersing their wares this time, and every warrior would go to a different Zone. Yes, these crystals would be dispersed over 50 different Zones. That epassed nearly the entire Skythunder Kingdom, including the rtively new Western Skythunder Kingdom, the ce where the Grandmountain Kingdom had once been. Over the next hours, 200 crystals per Zone were distributed amongst the viges, cities, and even amongst some crossroads in case the guards in the cities decided to confiscate everything. Just duplicating these crystals had cost Jerald over 500 million gold, which was an insane amount of money. But Jerald was certain that it would be worth it. The citizens and guards in the different cities looked at the crystals and watched them.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. This time, the reactions were far more intense than when Jerald had distributed the letters. This was indisputable evidence that the Council had threatened one of their own High Mages with her family! If the Council dared to do something like this to their most powerful people, what would they be ready to do to people that weren''t as important?! Even very loyal Mages started to look at the Council with anger and disgust. Many of them knew of Conny. After all, there weren''t that many High Mages, and they knew that she had been very loyal. Yet, they still dared to threaten her with her family?! The heartbroken disy Conny had put on gave the entire situation more emotional weight than it would normally have. Of course, many of the Mages hated the warriors and Jerald, and they certainly wouldn''t do anything drastic. However, they also started to dislike the Council. Some of the more neutral Mages started to look at their families with more concern. It didn''t feel real that the Council would start to threaten them with their families, especially after everything that hade out today. Yet, their feelings still told them that they should be careful. Because of that, many of the Mages decided to relocate their families to be closer to them. For a High Mage, lifting a castle out of the ground and cing it down in a new location was not something difficult. Especially the newer High Mages and the ones not stationed near the frontlines grew worried. The ones near the frontlines wouldn''t get pulled into this gigantic political war, and their families would be safe. But what about them? They hadn''t been called to stop Duke Whirlwind yet, but how long would that persist? How long until the Council decided to simply throw everything they had at Duke Whirlwind in an effort to weaken him? When that happened, all these Mages would die. Were they powerful enough to take care of Duke Whirlwind''s army and Count Sword if they all attacked at once? Probably. After all, thebined offensive power of 100 High Mages was terrifyingly powerful. But what about Duke Whirlwind himself? Everyone knew that the agreement between Duke Whirlwind and the Council was not set in stone. At the moment, Duke Whirlwind didn''t get involved so that his army could gain more power. Like this, Duke Whirlwind would manage to weaken the Council''s forces without directly attacking them. But if all the High Mages in the territories attacked Duke Whirlwind''s army, Duke Whirlwind would certainly get involved himself, and everyone knew that Duke Whirlwind would kill all of them. After that, it would be Duke Whirlwind, his army, and the Council. The Council wouldn''t have any more forces to pull from withoutpromising their borders. Duke Whirlwind would win the war. All the High Mages were afraid of this eventual battle. Would they want to battle Duke Whirlwind''s forces? Of course not! Nobody wanted to fight in a war! Did the Council know that no High Mage would want to fight? Of course! So, what would the Council do to convince these High Mages to enter a suicidal battle? These were the thoughts of most of the High Mages. In the golden crystal, they had already seen one possible answer to that question. Meanwhile, the warriors were not fighting because they were forced to but because they wanted to. They wanted to fight for a brighter tomorrow for themselves. Duke Whirlwind didn''t need to threaten them with anything. They followed out of their own free will. As the Mages started to worry about their future, another bombshell arrived. The warriors were distributing the next set of letters. Chapter 492 Chapter 492 The next letter that arrived detailed everything that had happened today, giving further information about what everyone had seen in the golden crystals. And just like yesterday, the losses of Duke Whirlwind¡¯s forces were still at zero. Even though everyone had expected it, seeing that Duke Whirlwind had taken over two Zones without fighting personally and without losing a single person was shocking. On top of that, Duke Whirlwind also publicized the names of the High Mages that joined him. Not counting Duke Whirlwind himself, Duke Whirlwind now had six High Mages. That wasn''t a powerful army, but it was still more than he had started with. ¡®Two days of war had passed, Duke Whirlwind had conquered two Zones, and instead of his army bing weaker, it was bing stronger! Usually, during a war, both sides would lose soldiers and would be weaker, but Duke Whirlwind was bing stronger instead of weaker during the war! And the Skythunder Kingdom? They had lost around 30 High Mages already. That was nearly 10% of all the High Mages in the entire Kingdom, and there had even been five Mid High Mages amongst them! One of the Mid High Mages had even been a Duke! Not only that, but they had also killed a Late High Mage, Duke Torrent. A Late High Mage was someone that could be in the Council if they so chose to! The entire Skythunder Kingdom only had a bit over ten Late High Mages, and that included both Councils! By now, the True Mages and High Mages started to believe that Duke Whirlwind actually had a shot at winning. They hadn''t believed it up to now. After all, the Council had been their rulers for an eternity, and they had always been the symbols of power. How could anyone fight against that? But now, they had to ept reality. The Council might actually lose. An hour after the letters arrived, the Council gave its answer to everything that had happened today. The first thing they did was to show that the golden crystals had been tampered with. They exined in detail how one could see the faults in the recordings on their own, and sure enough, the people noticed the faults. They could verify that one scene had been swapped in. The Council immediately denounced Duke Whirlwind for using such despicable means to ruin the image of the Council and said that they would never threaten anyone with their family. They publicized the names and locations of Conny''s family, and everyone was free to check up on them. They were all free, and they were all healthy. Then, the Council said that the only reason why Duke Whirlwind hadn''t lost anyone yet was due to the Council having to focus on the borders. The Magic Purity Kingdom and the Grandmountain Kingdom were still problems. If the Skythunder Kingdom weren''t threatened by two other Kingdoms, they would have crushed Duke Whirlwind long ago. That had been the answer of the Council. But it failed miserably. Yes, everyone could see that a scene had been swapped. Okay. But that wasn''t the issue! That was not why everyone was mad! So what if that scene was swapped? The actually important scene hadn''t been doctored! In a way, the Council had proven the authenticity of the important scene while trying to invalidate the entire recording by focusing on an error in an unimportant scene. Also, what would the health of Conny''s family even prove? That only proved that Duke Whirlwind''s n had worked! He had publicized this recording specifically to protect Conny''s family! Most of the High Mages had waited for the Council''s answer, but the Council''s answer had not been to their satisfaction. Instead of bringing out actual proof that they hadn''t threatened anyone else''s family before, they tried to invalidate everything the recording showed by highlighting a fault in an unimportant part. This could be likened to two people having a discussion, and one of them started to criticize the grammar and method of speech of their opponent instead of addressing the actual argument. It was sneaky, shady, and cheap. True Mages were not stupid, and nearly all of them noticed this.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. Of course, breaking the loyalty built over decades for so many people was immensely difficult... But it still worked on many of them. So many High Mages had been on the fence before. The only thing that had stopped them from jumping to Duke Whirlwind''s side was that they had to undergo a Mind Read. AMind Read would unveil all the secrets a Mage had. It would show how they trained, what sort of techniques they used, what Spells they had created, what shady things they had done, how they managed everything, how much wealth they owned, where they stored their valuables, and so on. It showed everything! Would the High Mages trust Jerald to keep all these sensitive secrets safe? Of course not! That was why not that many people had switched. But now, the option was way more enticing. After all, they might actually die if they didn''t convert to Duke Whirlwind¡¯s camp. The High Mages that had gone against the warriors in the past put a lot of pressure on everyone out of fear. They proimed that they would never betray their Kingdom, but deep inside, they were just angry that they didn¡¯t have the option to do so. Slowly, the High Mages started to gather their things and families. The Council noticed. What did the Council do against that? Well, what could they do? They had used the Mages to suppress the warriors in the past, but now these very Mages were leaving them. Arich person couldmand their service staff to throw a guest out, but if the service staff rebelled, who would be left to throw them out? Only the owner. And the Council certainly didn''t have the manpower to stop all these High Mages from leaving. After all, most of them were stationed near the frontlines and couldn''t leave easily. That was until one of them volunteered to do something drastic. The Council gathered and listened to that person''s n, and in the end, they all agreed. The Council might not be allowed to get directly involved in the war, but they were still allowed to police their own people. Even more, the n also included a surefire way to deal with their biggest problem, Count Sword. As one High Mage after the other was leaving, the Council was preparing their counterattack. And tomorrow, they would put it into motion! Chapter 494 Chapter 494 Silence. Nothing? Did they all hear that correctly? "Nothing?" Jerald asked with a deadpan voice, showing that he didn''t fully believe her. "Well, we would like to survive, but that''s about it," Sylvia said with a chuckle. More silence. Shang furrowed his brows. This couldn''t be that simple. "You do realize that | will have to read your mind?" Jerald asked. Sylvia nodded. "Yes, | know." Even more silence. ¡°And you are fine with that?" Jerald asked. "Yep." ¡°And if | find out that you have done something horrible in the past, | might directly kill you. You know that, right?" Jerald asked. "Mhm," Sylvia said with a nod. Everyone kept inspecting Sylvia and the seven Mid High Mages. Even the Mages didn''t show any reaction. It was like they had epted everything that would happen. Jerald looked at the Mages. "Yes, | know," Sylvia said. "You can read their minds too. They''ve already agreed." Jerald furrowed his brows. This situation was more than suspicious. For some seconds, Jerald evaluated his options. After a while, Shang arrived beside Jerald, the three High Mages behind him. As soon as the Mages arrived, they started to create several Magic Circles. "If your intentions are as you im, you surely won''t mind if Count Sword enters his strongest state, right?" Jeraldmented. "Go ahead,¡± Sylvia said. The surroundings fell into silence again as the Mages created their Magic Circles behind Jerald. If anyone tried to attack them, Jerald would be between them and the attackers. Some secondster, the Magic Circles were ready. If necessary, the Mages could supplement Shang with Mana and life energy. In this state, he could even win against someone from the Council. "Alright," Jerald said as he lifted his right hand. "I will read your mind now." Jerald had already activated his Mana Shield, just to be safe. Additionally, he was ready to use Mana Step in an instant. Sylvia lowered her head with a smile. The atmosphere was even tenser than if this were a battlefield. Shang used all his concentration to check the surroundings. The Mages still didn''t move. They just waited. Then, Jerald''s hand touched Sylvia''s head, and he began to read her mind. She didn''t resist. All of Sylvia''s life shot through Jerald''s mind. This was the mind of a Council member, which meant that Jerald now got information about every single meeting the Council had had ever since Sylvia had be a member. As he continued reading, he also saw their reactions to the war and what they had nned. Sylvia hadn''t lied. She was supposed toe here to distract Jerald while the other seven Mid High Mages were supposed to kill Shang. But Jerald saw all of this from Sylvia''s angle. She had intended to betray the Council even before she hade up with that n. She had created this entire n just to screw the Council as much as possible. By proposing this n, she managed to leave the Skythunder Kingdom without any suspicion with her seven most powerful High Mages. Even more, by having Susan cast Darkness¡¯ Veil, Jerald could even im that the Council had broken the agreement. Lastly, by taking so many Mages from the frontlines with her, Sylvia had forced the Council to send even more of their forces to the frontlines. After a couple of minutes of nothing happening, Jerald retracted his arm. Shang released a deep breath. Thest couple of minutes had been tense for him. Sylvia opened her eyes and smiled at Jerald. When Shang saw Jerald''s expression, he raised an eyebrow. Jerald looked ufortable. "Take this as a confession," Sylvia said with a chuckle. Then, her cheeks turned red. Jerald took a deep breath. AMind Read couldn''t be faked, at least not by someone in the Skythunder Kingdom. Maybe King Skythunder could do something like that, but he wouldn''t get involved. This meant that everything Jerald had seen was the truth. Sylvia had honestly onlye here to survive. She had been unhappy with the Council for several years now. In her mind, suppressing the warriors was doing more damage than good. Sylvia wasn''t against it due to some moral issue but due to her concern for the Kingdom as a whole. The warriors were on the rise, and everyone knew that Jerald was on the warriors¡¯ side. She had still been uncertain about how things would turn out until just recently. After all, the Council was extremely powerful. But as soon as she heard of Count Sword, she knew that the Council was already doomed. Additionally, she knew that the man she idolized wouldn''t make such a childish mistake. Yes, Sylvia had a crush on Jerald. Sadly, due to her position, she had never been able to spend any time with him or confess her feelings. After all, her job and responsibility were more important than some crush. She had also always tried her best to stop the Council from making all of these stupid mistakes, but she had been alone against four other members. But now, she realized that her only chance at survival was by joining Jerald''s camp, and she actually didn''t feel that bad about this development. Sure, it felt a bit bad to be beaten by Jerald in warfare and politics, but he had won fair and square, in her opinion. She could ept a loss. After some seconds of silence, Jerald released a sigh. "We will talk about thister. | don''t have the time or resources to think about such stuff at the moment," he said with an exhausted voice. "| know what you mean," Sylvia said. Sylvia continued smiling, but she also twiddled her thumbs now. This was a sign of nervousness. Earlier, Sylvia hadn''t been nervous, but as soon as her feelings were out in the open, she became nervous. "Jeremy," Jerald said as he looked at one of the High Mages. He had learned all their names by going through Sylvia''s memories. "You''re next." The Mage stepped forward and lowered his head. Jerald went through one mind after the other until he had read every Mage''s mind. They were not allpletely clean, but they also hadn''t truly supported the Council''s decision to suppress the warriors. In a way, they had all resisted these decisions in their own ways. But that was already better than most Mages. After everything was over, Jerald looked at the eight Mages. ¡°Wee to my Kingdom!"This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Today, Jerald had gained a powerful Late High Mage and seven Mid High Mages. Chapter 495 Chapter 495 The announcement of Sylvia Eternalfrost joining Jerald''s side raised several eyebrows and evoked skepticism from all the warriors. Hadn''t Duke Whirlwind promised that he would get rid of the Council? Had their trust been misced in him? Luckily, Jerald''s next words cleared up a big part of the issue. He said that Sylvia had allowed him to read her mind, and he had seen with his own eyes how every other Council member had supported the suppression of the warriors. He promised everyone that Sylvia would be the only member of the Council that would stay alive. He would kill everyone else. Obviously, another important part was that Sylvia had voted against assassinating George and Mattheo when the Council had voted on it. She truly hadn''t supported these decisions. Sadly, one person only represented 20% of the main Council, and she was outvoted four to one. After talking with all the warriors, Jerald went back to Shang to talk to him. "| have learned some interesting things by going through Sylvia''s memories," Jerald said. "I''m listening," Shang answered. "The fact that Susan wants to reach the Archmage Realm has been a lie, which has been transformed into the truth, and then transformed back into a lie again.¡± Shang raised an eyebrow. "The Council is far worse off than we expected," Jerald said with a small smirk. "The Council might have made some dumb decisions in the past, but they are not actually stupid. Their power had simply gone to their head." ¡°But when you ughtered their force, they woke up from their delusions. What do you think? What was their decision as soon as they heard of your power?" Jerald asked. "| would guess that they would pool their forces and strike us down immediately before we had any chance to gain a foothold,¡± Shang said. "That wouldn''t be that dumb," Jerald said. "In a way, this would have been a safe bet. However, they had somethingpletely different nned, and that n would have been even safer. Like | said, they''re not stupid.¡± "Oh?" Shang asked. "What was their n?" Jerald''s smirk widened. "They wanted to flee." "Flee? To where?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. "The Magic Purity Kingdom," Jerald said. ¡°After they saw your power, they immediately realized that their chances of victory were small without personally getting involved and attacking me. However, the Council has lived infortable safety for too long, and they don''t want to risk their lives." Shang looked at the ground for a bit as he was thinking about that. "Can they actually flee, though? They''ve cost the Magic Purity Kingdom so many lives and resources. Wouldn''t the Magic Purity Kingdom just kill them?" "Shang, this is politics, and personal emotions and agendas have no ce in politics," Jerald said. "Only numbers matter." "It doesn''t matter that the Council has cost the Magic Purity Kingdom so many resources. If the Magic Purity Kingdom killed the fleeing Council, they would have gotten their revenge, but several of their most powerful Mages would also die. For what? Only for some personal belief, nothing material.¡± "But if they epted the Council, they would have gained several very powerful High Mages, making the Magic Purity Kingdom even more powerful. If they epted the Council, their chances of overtaking our entire world would skyrocket." Shang scratched his chin. "Then why did Susan say that she was nning on reaching the Archmage Realm to Duke Torrent and everyone else?" "A present for the Magic Purity Kingdom," Jerald answered. "By giving the losing side of the internal war hope, they would keep the war going. Instead of fleeing as well, the Mages would continue fighting us, weakening both sides." "The only party that would benefit from that would be the Magic Purity Kingdom, and this had been their n." Shang looked to the side for a moment. "But you said that the lie turned into truth and then into a lie again. This means that something has changed, right?" Jerald nodded. "Indeed." Jerald''s smirk widened even more. "King Skythunder got wind of it." Shang''s eyebrows rose. That wasn''t good for the Council. "And what did he do?" he asked. "King Skythunder told them that they were the most powerful Mages in the Skythunder Kingdom and that they had decades to shape the Skythunder Kingdom into whatever they wanted.¡± "Yet, even with nearly omnipotent power and authority, they managed to screw up everything to the point that the very Kingdom they had ruled for an eternity started to turn against them." ¡°Everything that was happening was their own fault, and he wouldn''t allow anyone to escape." Jerald chuckled a bit. "If he found any member of the Council outside the Kingdom, he woulde for them personally, and he also said that no Mage in the Five Kingdoms, including the Kings, would be able to stop him." At that moment, Shang snorted with amusement.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. He was happy that the Council had gotten the shaft. "Because of that," Jerald continued, "they were forced to continue the war. If | win, they will die. The only way to survive is to kill me. "Their backs are against the wall." "With their new situation, they quickly tried to find a way to win against us. Of course, Susan''s ascend to the Archmage Realm quickly became a possibility again." "But, it turns out, Susan wouldn''t need three months, but six months." Shang was quite surprised. Six months was a lot of time. Did it truly take that long for Mages to reach the next Realm, even though they already knew the Concepts necessary to advance? Then, he remembered that Jerald had said that he would also need several years to advance if hepletely ignored comprehending any additional Concept. "That was their second n after the first one failed," Jerald said. "However, that n got changed yet again when we distributed all the letters." "They expected the war to take much longer. They thought that we would slowly consolidate every Zone we conquered before advancing.¡± "Ironically enough, their initial lie was one of the factors that made me decide to assault the Skythunder Kingdom at such a rapid rate. If we had more time, | would also slow my advance to consolidate the new Zones." "Their very lie made it impossible for their next n to seed." ¡°And then?" Shang asked. "Well, then everything returned to how you know it. They tried to kill you in the Deepwater Shark Zone, and when that failed, Sylvia proposed the next n." "The Council should still be in the dark, and they don''t know of Sylvia''s betrayal yet. Right now, they should just be waiting for news." Then, Jerald looked towards the west with a sneer. ¡°How about we give them the news they are so desperately waiting for with the next set of letters?" Shang also smirked. Chapter 496 Chapter 496 Three hourster, the warriors assaulted the Icy Wyvern Zone. There had been two High Mages present. The other High Mages had fled towards the north. Of the two High Mages, one was epted into Jerald''s ranks, while the other one was executed. The second High Mage had believed that his actions had always been reasonable in the past, but after reading his memories, Jerald didn''t agree. This was one of the High Mages that believed his actions were not his responsibility as long as he only followed orders. Even after taking their third Zone, Jerald''s army hadn''t lost a single member. In fact, they had gained several High Mages instead of losing anyone. Acouple of hourster, the next set of letters was created, and the warriors distributed it across the surrounding Zones. By now, the High Mages grew panicked and tried their best to get rid of all the letters, but they couldn''t destroy all of them. Some of them still slipped through. After that, the High Mages ordered the Mages to kill anyone speaking about the contents of the letters. In just two hours, they had killed hundreds of civilians, terrifying the general public. Over the next couple of hours, the civilians and even a sizable chunk of True Mages decided to leave. Theirmanders had lost their minds, and they didn''t feel safe in their presence anymore. This day, the letters included the fact that Sylvia Eternalfrost had joined Jerald with seven Mid High Mages. That was a terrifying amount of power! Even the most stubborn and fanatic people started to fear Jerald now. Jerald might actually win this war! Today, the biggest exodus of forces from the Skythunder Kingdom took ce. The letters from today had been the straw that broke the camel''s back. In just three hours, Jerald read the minds of 20 new High Mages! Luckily, only two of them were executed, while only three were put to work. The other 15 had been clean. At the same time, fighting broke out in many different Zones. Many Mages wanted to convince their friends to join them in going to Jerald''s camp, but many of these friends were afraid of the things they had done in the pasting to light. Their fear drove them mad and made them attack their friends. Another ten High Mages had died in these battles. In the beginning, Jerald had only had three High Mages below him. The Skythunder Kingdom had had over 300. Then, 15 died on the first assault, and another five joined them when Jerald took the Empress Cobra Zone. One of them had been Duke Torrent.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. Then, Shang killed another five High Mages when he had searched for revenge. About 15 High Mages died in internal fighting over the next two days. Eight Mages joined Jerald. This was Sylvia''s group. Then, another 20 Mages joined him. The Skythunder Kingdom had lost nearly 70 High Mages in just three days. 70 High Mages! By now, there were even some Zones that didn''t even have a single High Mage within them since over 200 High Mages were stationed on the frontlines. Finding a High Mage outside Jerald''s territory had now be just as difficult as back when Shang had newly arrived in this world. There was only one High Mage per several Zones. Things looked dire for the Council. The Council had always quickly given an answer after every set of letters, but this time, they remained silent. They were probably arguing fiercely. After Shang and Jerald saw the results, Jerald decided that thest phase of the n could nowmence. He knew that the Council was desperate and that they would soon attack with everything they had. They knew that if they waited, they would eventually be suppressed into nothingness. If they did nothing, Jerald would eventually stand in front of King Skythunder''s castle with over a hundred High Mages, ready tobine their powers to create terrifying Spells that could even hurt the Council members. At that point, it would be even more difficult to win against Jerald than if they had attacked him on the first day. The Council was like a kettle ready to explode, and Jerald knew it. He expected that they would attack tomorrow or a dayter after they had gathered all the most powerful Mages in onest assault. Jerald sent Shang out to scout the surrounding Zones, and after about an hour, Shang returned with all the locations of the High Mages. After that, Jerald sent several warriors to go to ces without any High Mages to surveil the True Mages with their Spirit Senses. He was waiting for a sign. And a couple of hourster, Jerald got his sign. The warriors had overheard several True Mages talking with concern to their friends on the front. The Skythunder Kingdom hadunched several assaults at the Magic Purity Kingdom. When Jerald heard that, he smirked. This assault was to intimidate the Magic Purity Kingdom and dissuade them from attacking them for the next couple of days. The Magic Purity Kingdom would need to consolidate its forces and ready a counterattack, which would take several days. During these several days, the Skythunder Kingdom would not be under any threat of attack. Of course, these assaults were costly. Another 20 High Mages died just on this day alone, but they also killed around 20 High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom. It had been a bloody battle. After hearing about this, Jerald gathered Shang and Sylvia. Originally, only Jerald was supposed to take part in this phase of the n, but with Sylvia, Jerald could do even more damage. Jerald told Sylvia and Shang about what he had nned for today. Shang had already known about Jerald''s n, but Sylvia became very interested. Her admiration of Jerald rose even more. She didn''t directly announce it, but Shang could feel some happiness emanate from Sylvia. She was probably excited that she could finally help Jerald. After they discussed everything, Jerald took to the skies. Shang transformed Sword into its Colossal Sword State and jumped on it. Then, he looked at Sylvia. Sylvia only smiled and lightly jumped on Sword''s humongous body. Sylvia couldn''t fly yet. And then, the two of them also took to the skies. Chapter 497 Chapter 497 Shang and Sylvia flew for several minutes in silence. Sylvia only stood behind Shang with her typical smile on her face, while Shang only looked forward. Of course, he still kept his vignce up regarding Sylvia. Mind Reads were extremely difficult to manipte, and Jerald would have noticed any discrepancies anyway, but Shang still liked to be careful. He didn''t know her, and he wouldn''t take any chances. Of course, Sylvia noticed Shang''s senses, but she didn''t say anything. The two of them reached the skies of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone in just a couple of minutes. Right now, they were flying at the height of over ten kilometers, making it incredibly difficult to spot them from the ground. Then, Shang changed directions and flew towards the northeast, towards the Cloud Serpent Zone. The beasts in the Thunder Horse Zone were flying high in the sky, and Shang didn''t want to get into a battle with one of them. Of course, as a beast with a Wind Affinity, the Cloud Serpent''s Zone was also filled with flying beasts, but there was a difference. The Cloud Serpent Zone was a humongous gathering of tall mountains, and as long as Shang didn''t directly approach them, the chances of getting noticed would be lower. Naturally, there was still some risk, but it wasn''t as high as if they had gone through the Thunder Horse Zone. They entered the Cloud Serpent Zone a couple of minutester, and Shang avoided all the peaks. Luckily, since they were so high up, the distances between the peaks were massive. Some beasts noticed them, but they weren''t interested in fighting them. Shang guessed that the beasts had felt Sylvia''s Aura, and they had been intimidated by her. After all, she was a pretty strong Late High Mage, and a High Mage on such a level could fight any beast in the True Path Stage. Even powerful Peak True Path Stage beasts would most likely lose to her. This was simply the supremacy that Mages had over beasts. They continued traveling to the north, and a couple of minutester, they entered a humongous, brown wastnd. Shang got reminded of the Wastnd in the Storm Eagle Zone. This Zone looked very simr to that one. This was the Colossal Worm Zone, the Zone east of the Skythunder Zone. Shang could see some Soldier and General Stage beasts on the surface, but the truly powerful beasts were underground. There were nearly no flying beasts in this Zone, and the two didn''t get interrupted in their journey. Some more minutester, they reached the Zone northwest of the Colossal Worm Zone. The Pontiff Turtle Zone. Surprisingly, the Pontiff Turtle Zone was just one gigantic crater with an impossibly bright light at its bottom, bathing the entire Zone in bright light. Shang couldn''t see the Pontiff Turtle through all the light, and he was too far away to see it with his Spirit Sense, but that wasn''t really a problem. After all, he wasn''t here for the Pontiff Turtle. Shang also saw many beasts with Light Affinities, something Shang had rarely seen in the past. To his surprise, most of them were insects. These insects had incredibly tough exoskeletons, hard horns, and powerful stingers. Shang looked at their fights and noticed that they mostly used their Light Affinity to heal themselves. He saw nearly no beasts unleashing any kind of ranged attacks. The entire Zone was basically filled with beasts that exclusively fought in close quarters. Ironically, the Zone with the purest and most benevolent Element was actually the most brutal and bloody one. The beasts just kept tearing each other to pieces while healing their own injuries. The two of them continued flying, and about two minutester, they arrived at their goal. Shang stopped at the northeastern border of the Pontiff Turtle Zone and scanned his surroundings. He didn''t feel any High Mage in his Spirit Sense. Shang quicklynded about three kilometers away from the northeastern border of the Pontiff Turtle Zone, between two outcroppings at the edge of the crater. Sylvia jumped down from Sword and simply waited with a smile. Shang had to take a deep breath. He could fly for hours, but carrying someone else with him had consumed a lot of his body''s Mana. This was also why they didn''t actually wait in the sky. Shang leaned against one of the walls and closed his right eye to recover his Mana. Sylvia remained silent for a while. Acouple of minutes passed. "You know, this was the first time I''ve ever flown," Sylvia said. Shang opened his right eye and looked at her briefly. He had subconsciously assumed that she had already flown before. After all, she was more powerful than him without the augmenting Spells. Meanwhile, Shang had grown used to flying by now, and it wasn''t anything special anymore. At that moment, Shang remembered the time he had used the Gliding Talisman with Sarah, Astor, and Elver to get to the Caves after jumping off Warrior''s Paradise. Back then, Shang had felt wonder while soaring through the sky. He also remembered that he had said that he wished he could fly on his own in the future. Without noticing, that wish had be a reality. Yet, Shang didn''t feel like it was anything special. It was just normal. ¡®It''s actually funny. | loved the feeling of freedom while gliding through the sky, but now, | feel like I''m not free at all." ¡®| have to take revenge." ¡®| have to help Jerald.¡¯ ¡®lhave a mission to finish.¡¯ ¡®| have to find a way to advance.¡¯ ¡®| have to keep most of my secrets to myself.¡¯ ¡®It doesn''t feel freeing at all."N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. "That''s nice," Shangmented absentmindedly as he looked back at the wall on the other side. "You seem troubled," Sylvia suddenly said. "What''s it to you?" Shang asked. Sylvia didn''t seem to take Shang''s rudement to heart. "Is it bad of me to want to learn more about Jerald''s friend?" "What makes you think that we are friends?" Shang asked. Sylvia only chuckled. "You have this certain aura of friendship between you two. | believe you two trust each other with your lives.¡± Shang remained silent for a bit. Then, he sighed. "Sorry, | shouldn''t be this hostile for no reason," he said. Sylvia raised her eyebrows in surprise. She hadn''t expected that. "What brought on that change?" she asked. Shang sighed again. "It''s just been a very long time since I''ve really talked to anyone except Jerald. I''m busy with training all the time, and whenever I talk to someone, | feel like I''m wasting my time." Sylvia looked with a skeptical expression at Shang. "That sounds unhealthy.¡± "Is it?" Shang asked rhetorically. "It seems more unhealthy to me to die in battle because | didn''t train enough in the past." Sylvia pushed the long hair on her right to the side. "You know, that''s not how fights work." Shang raised an eyebrow as he looked at Sylvia. "You know, when you''re weaker, you don''t attract much attention, and when you''re stronger, you attract a lot more attention.¡± "If you be stronger in 50 years, you will fight against just as powerful enemies as if you be stronger after 150 years. They will just be different people." "So, by training all the time, you are making it unnecessarily hard for yourself. What''s the difference between reaching the True Path Stage at 100 years of age or 150? As long as you aren''t in danger of reaching the end of your longevity, it seems bad to train with such fervor." Shang''s expression returned to neutral. "Easy for you to say," he said. "You have thousands if not millions of years of teachings to fall back on, while | have nothing." ¡°It might very well be possible that | will die of old age before | even manage to create a Fifth Realm for warriors." "So?" Sylvia suddenly asked. Shang furrowed his brows. "I think ''so'' isn''t appropriate here.¡± "| mean, it kind of is," Sylvia said. "So what if you don''t reach the Fifth Realm? What if you do your absolute best and still fail?" ¡°I''m not sure if the motivation to keep on training without doing anything else has that big of an impact on your power." ¡°And even if you seed, what''s the point? Wouldn''t you have led an empty life regardless?" she asked. Shang''s neutral expression remained. Acouple of decades ago, these words might have made him question his ideology, but that wasn''t the case. "| can kill an average Mage two levels above me confidently, and | even have a chance at winning against one three levels above me," Shang said. Then, he looked at Sylvia. ¡°How many levels can you jump?" Sylvia felt a bit put on the spot and didn''t answer immediately. Then, Shang looked away again. "| think you are not in a position to advise me on how to be stronger." Sylvia looked a bit ufortable and annoyed, but she didn''t say anything else. The two of them continued waiting in silence for a couple of hours. And then, their target finally arrived. Chapter 498 Chapter 498 After a couple of hours, a High Mage entered Shang''s Spirit Sense. He was traveling at normal speeds for a High Mage that wasn''t using Mana Step. Obviously, he was conserving his Mana. The Mage was a middle-aged man with a brown beard and long red hair, wearing the typical robes of a Duke. "He''s here," Shang said after hours of silence. Sylvia checked the surroundings with her Spirit Sense, but she couldn''t find the Mage. She had already been informed that Shang could feel others from much further away than normal, but she was still a bit surprised when she saw it with her own eyes. ¡°We will go ording to the n," Shang said. "I will attack him with a barrage of powerful attacks, forcing him to use up several Mana Steps to evade. You will attack, but you shouldn''t go all out yet. Keep your Mana full." "When | get close, | will put pressure on him and counter his first three Mana Steps. When you see me get close, | need you to release your most powerful Spells. Of course, it would be appreciated if you didn''t hit me with those," Shang said. Sylvia nodded. At that moment, Sylvia summoned her Focus and readied several Spells. Shang lifted his Colossal Sword and also readied himself. There were two more Late High Mages in the Skythunder Kingdom that weren''t part of the Council. Originally, Jerald was supposed to take out one of them, and then they would prepare themselves for the final battle. However, with Sylvia now having joined them, they could take out both of them. Since these two Mages weren''t anywhere close to Jerald''s Zones, Shang and Jerald had to fly to them. Shang might be able to carry one person, but he couldn''t carry his three High Mages with him. Because of that, he would have to fight without his augmenting Spells. Shang didn''t have a lot of confidence in taking out a Late High Mage without his augmenting Spells, but with Sylvia helping him, it should be easy. Shang didn''t fully trust Sylvia, but he trusted Jerald, and Jerald had said that Shang could trust Sylvia. Shang decided to believe in Jerald, but he still kept his guard up. He didn''t want to fight against two Late High Mages at the same time. At that point, he would have no other choice but to use Entropy, and he would need to hit both of them at the same time. And after that, he would be so weakened that he wouldn''t even be able to flee. The Council would notice the battle immediately, and they would arrive within a minute. So, even though Shang was confident in taking out the Duke with Sylvia, he wasn''t confident in surviving if Sylvia decided to betray them, just like she betrayed the Council. Or, maybe, she had never betrayed the Council in the first ce, and this was all a huge scheme? Shang kept looking at the Duke and took out a Communication Crystal. "We will enter battle in one minute," he said. "Okay," Jerald answered through the crystal. Shang put the crystal away again. Inparison to Shang''s target, Jerald''s target wasn''t on the move, allowing him to attack whenever he wanted. They would attack at the same time. After all, if one of them attacked first, the Council would be warned, and they would join the other Late High Mage in case they were also ambushed. The seconds ticked by, and Shang gathered power in Sword. "Gol!" Shang shouted with a voice transmission to Sylvia. Sylvia narrowed her eyes. BANG! BANG! Shang exploded forward with two Ice sts and reached his top speed in an instant, his Colossal Sword dragging behind him. SHING! Sylvia used three Mana Steps in quick session, and as soon as she arrived at her target location, she felt the Duke just three kilometers away from her, just where Shang had told her he would be. The red-haired Duke''s eyes opened wide in shock. ALate High Mage with prepared Spells? Then, he noticed that this was the traitorous Council member, Sylvia Eternalfrost. The Duke had not been prepared for a battle at all! Yet, he was still very experienced, and he activated his Mana Shield by instinct. At that moment, all of Sylvia''s prepared Spells had already shot forward. Avast area above her was filled with icy spires and humongous boulders that seemed to be some sort of fusion of ice and earth. Then, it all rained down on the Duke. To the Duke, it was like the sky was copsing. It was like a frosty mountain above him had exploded above him, and all the debris was now rapidly shooting at him. AHigh Mage could only react so fast, and activating Mana Shield made it impossible to use Mana Step as well. Then, the gigantic avnche arrived. BOOOOOOOOOM! Over a hundred meters of the Duke''s surroundings exploded with ice and stone, destroying everything. The Duke was thrown back, his Mana reserves having taken a strong hit. An instantter, fire gathered around him. SSSSSSHH! Yet, the icy boulders that had exploded had given off some kind of icy mist, and the Duke felt his Fire Mana being canceled out. The icy mist also weakened, but it would take too much Fire Mana to get rid of all the icy mist around him. SHING! The Duke used Mana Step and moved to the side. Due to the force of the strike, the icy mist was rapidly moving backward, and if he decided to step away from his opponent, the icy mist would engulf him again in a short amount of time. The Duke was quickly readying his first offensive Spell, but he couldn''t finish it before something happened. A huge crescent made of ck fire was shooting at him! The Duke gritted his teeth and used Mana Step again. SHING! The crescent missed him and hit a hill behind him, destroying the entire thing. At that moment, the Duke noticed Shang and his Great Sword. Shang was only a kilometer away from him at this point, and his Great Sword was growing into a humongous icy shape. BANG! Another huge spire made of ice hit the Duke''s Mana Shield. He didn''t avoid the Spell this time. If he continued using Mana Step, he would forever remain in a passive position! And then, Shang shed forward with his humongous icy sword. The Duke moved his arm to the side, and a big wave ofva shot out right at the iing sword. Surprisingly, the ice on the sword immediately broke apart, but then the Duke saw the ck fire inside the Sword. Dawn! BOOOOOOM! The surroundings exploded again, but the Duke had evaded with Mana Step. Then, the Duke stretched his arm forward again.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. BANG! Another huge wave ofva exploded as it hit another icy spire shot by Sylvia. BOOOOOOOOOOO0000M! Yet, the Duke was thrown to the side in an instant by something else. Astreak of ck fire had shot at him at insane speeds, and he hadn''t been able to ready a Spell to counter it. Star Shatter! The Duke managed to recover his bnce. SHING! Just to see Shang appear directly beside him after leaving behind a ck streak. In the next moment, the area around Shang started to vanish. Domain of Entropy! The Duke gritted his teeth, and his Focus shone. Aviolently burning spear made of fire shot at Shang. Shang had only seen it for an instant before it hit him. It was way too fast to react to for him. BANG! Shang''s armor activated and blocked the strike. This had been his n all along since that would waste one of the Duke''s Spells. The Duke gritted his teeth, and sweat was running down his forehead. He was halfway through preparing his own Spell when he suddenly noticed something. A five-meter-long but very thin needle of ice was floating beside Sylvia. Earth Mana infused with the Concept of Base connected the ice needle to the ground... And that Earth Mana seemed to warp due to immense strain. The Duke knew that Spell. It was Sylvia''s most powerful Spell and the reason for herst name, Eternalfrost. The Duke immediately canceled his Spell and cast Mana Step. Yet, just when he used it, the Mana for the Spell vanished! BANG! Eternalfrost shot forward. Its speed was unparalleled. BANG! Shang''s right eye widened. He hadn''t even seen the Spell arrive... But, right now, he only saw two holes in the Duke''s Mana Shield. And between the two holes stood the Duke, with his torso having an identical hole to the two on his Mana Shield. In less than a second, the icy needle had already traveled so far that it even left Shang''s Spirit Sense. ¡°Hey, you!" Shang looked over and saw Sylvia shouting at him with a grin. "You might have stronger Battle-Strength, but | still have more power! You got that?¡± Asecond of silence. Then, the Duke''s corpse fell to the ground. Chapter 499 Chapter 499 Shang knew that Sylvia couldn''t be weak, but her Spells had been more powerful than he had expected. Especially thatst one. Even without Shang, Sylvia would have probably been able to kill the Mage, but not before the Council arrived. But now was not the time to think about such stuff. Shang destroyed the body and collected the Focus and the Space Ring. While running towards Sylvia, Shang fed Sword more ore, and when he arrived, Sword had already recovered to its Colossal Sword State. Sword flew over to Sylvia, and she lightly jumped on top of it. As Shangnded in front of her, he threw the Focus and Space Ring to Sylvia, who started to cast a couple of Spells. Shang and Sword took to the skies. ording to their estimates, the Council would arrive in, at most, a minute. After a couple of seconds, Shang''s Spirit Sense picked up a High Mage. One of the Council members was rapidly charging towards the ce where Shang and Sylvia had just fought, but the two of them were already 15 kilometers away. The High Mage wouldn''t be able to track them from such a distance. At that moment, Sylvia threw the Focus and Space Ring back to Shang. "There was a tracking Magic Circle on the Space Ring, but | dealt with it." Shang nodded and put the two things away. Now, Shang trusted Sylvia. This fight had been the best opportunity to backstab Shang and Jerald. Shang would have almost certainly died, and Sylvia would have thought that she would easily survive. Yet, she hadn''t betrayed them. She had done exactly what had been asked of her, and she had helped Jerald and Shang eliminate a major threat.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. There was no point in gaining their trust with this act for some act of betrayalter. This opportunity would have caused the most damage to Jerald. This could only mean that Sylvia had truly joined their side without any scheme in mind. Just as Shang and Sylvia entered the Cloud Serpent Zone, Shang''s Communication Crystal rang. ¡°Are you done?" Jerald asked. "Yes, the mission was a sess," Shang answered. Shang could hear a sigh from the other side. It seemed like Jerald had also had some worries regarding this mission. "That''s good," he said. ¡°How did it go on your end?" Shang asked. ¡°Everything went well," Jerald answered, and Shang could hear some satisfaction in his voice. "You''ve waited a long time to do this, huh?" Shang asked with a small smirk. "You have no idea," Jerald answered. "I''m so d to finally be rid of that annoying pest.¡± As said previously, the Skythunder Kingdom had two Late High Mages that were not part of the Council. Shang and Sylvia had dealt with one of them, Duke stfurnace. And the other Late High Mage? Well, it was none other than one of Shang''s old ¡®acquaintances¡¯. Duke Mithril. Shang still remembered all the trouble Duke Mithril had caused him and Jerald. Even when the Skythunder Kingdom had been rtively peaceful, Duke Mithril had still been a major pain in the ass. He had sent traitors to Jerald¡¯s territory, and he had even set a high bounty on Shang''s head. All of this happened over 60 years ago. And now, Duke Mithril had finally been killed. Back then, Duke Mithril had been a Mid High Mage, but he had obviously made some progress over thest 60 years. But that didn¡¯t matter anymore. Inparison to Duke stfurnace, Duke Mithril had been stationed on the frontlines. Jerald wasn''t a big fan of attacking someone on the frontlines since the other Kingdoms were also his enemies, but his problems with Duke Mithril were personal. He simply hated that guy. "| noticed a Council member arriving with my Spirit Sense, but he didn''t find us," Shang said. "Makes sense," Jerald answered. "I''ll meet you two back in the Empress Cobra Zone. I''m confident that the final battle will happen within the next 24 hours. The Council is on a timer, and they know that." "| know," Shang answered. "We will be prepared.¡± "Hey, can you say hi to Jerald from me?" Sylvia asked from behind. Shang''s brows furrowed. He didn''t say anything for three seconds. "Sylvia says hi," Shang said. Silence. Then, he noticed that the Communication Crystal had been deactivated for a while already. When Shang had said that they would be prepared, Jerald had assumed that the conversation was over, and he had hung up. Shang only looked forward with furrowed brows. "He says hi back," Shang said. "Count Sword, | can see if the Communication Crystal is active or not," Sylvia said with a giggle. Shang slowly put the Communication Crystal away and only looked forward with an annoyed expression. Sylvia only looked at him with amusement. "Call me Shang." "Hm?" Sylvia uttered. "You''ve proven that you''re trustworthy. You can call me by my name, Shang." Sylvia only smiled. "Thank you, Shang." Shang only nodded. ¡®That should take care of the awkwardness." Half a minute of silence passed. "You''re pretty powerful," Shang said. "Thanks, Shang,¡± Sylvia answered with a polite smile. Another couple of seconds of silence passed. "Sorry for being such an asshole earlier. | still didn''t fully trust you," Shang said. ¡°Aw, that''s nice to hear. Thanks, Shang,¡± Sylvia said with a bright smile. "Mind if | ask you a question?" "Go ahead," Shang said. ¡°How did you lose your eye, and can''t you just recover it?" she asked. Shang frowned. "| fought an Abomination," Shang said. Sylvia looked a bit ufortable. "| understand," she said with a sigh. "I''ve seen something simr before. | know of a True Mage that lost her left leg to an Abomination." Shang didn''t show it, but his interest was piqued. "Is there a way to regrow such a lost part?" he asked. If there were a way for Shang to regain his eye, he wouldn''t say no. Surprisingly, it wasn''t that he missed his eye. No, if he managed to regrow his eye, he would have something to sacrifice to Entropy again. He would only return to his current state, and he had gotten used to this state. That could save Shang''s life without severely impacting his future Battle-Strength. Sylvia only shook her head. "No, we never found a way.¡± Shang took a deep breath, but he kept it hidden from Sylvia. ¡°But that doesn''t mean that there is no way," Sylvia said. "After all, there is supposed to be an outside world, right? Maybe the Mages in the outside world found a way." ¡°Supposed to?" Shang asked. "| mean, yeah. You and Jerald said so, right?" Sylvia added. "You make it sound like you don''t believe it," Shang answered. Sylvia furrowed her brows. "It''s not easy to simply ept something like this. If what you two said is true, it would mean that the entire world we know is only a weak, small part of the actual world." "Think about it. After having reached the peak in power in the world and having believed yourself to be one of the strongest for maybe even centuries, it wouldn''t be easy to ept that you have been wrong all this time." ¡°Most of the Council still believe that there has to be a different exnation. They refuse to believe that there is an outside world.¡± "The powerful Mage that beat the Storm Eagle could have been some powerful Mage that lived in seclusion and onlyes out when the world is in danger." "The same Mage could have also created the Star Map." Shang''s brows furrowed again. ¡°And the words of King Skythunder?" he asked. "Well," Sylvia said as she trailed off. "King Skythunder is not the most trustworthy person. You saw him. It''s likely that he would purposefully misrepresent the truth just to exhibit his power over us." "It could also be that he and Jerald simply agreed on a lie before they met with the Council from back then regarding the Star Map. Also, | wasn''t a member of the Council back then." Shang looked back at Sylvia. "Is that why the Council believes that they still hold power over everything? They simply refuse to ept that they are not as powerful in the grand scheme of things as they believe they are?" Sylvia raised an eyebrow. "Would you?" "Yes," Shang said immediately. Then, Shang looked forward again. "That might actually not be such a bad thing." Chapter 500 Chapter 500 Shang and Sylvianded at the meeting ce and waited for Jerald. The frontline where Duke Mithril had been was much farther away than Shang''s target. Half an hourter, Jerald also arrived. "Tell me how the fight went," Jerald said. Shang nodded and recounted the fight. After Shang was done, Jerald also nodded. "Good work, Sylvia," he said as he looked at Sylvia. "No problem, Jerald," Sylvia said with a bright smile. Jerald looked a bit ufortable when he saw her smile like that, and he looked back at Shang. "I''m going to give the orders and prepare everything. | need you two to stay near the northern border of the Empress Cobra Zone." Shang and Sylvia nodded. "I''ll contact you with further orders," Jerald said before leaving. Shang and Sylvia traveled to the northern border and waited there for Jerald. After just half an hour, Shang noticed over 30 True Path Stage warriors take to the sky. The next andst set of letters would be distributed today. The Mages had gone all out to finish the letters as quickly as possible, and the warriors would distribute them over the surrounding ten Zones. Acouple of minutester, all the High Mages Jerald had gained over the past couple of days gathered at the northern border of the Empress Cobra Zone. Their mood was not great. They had all heard about what would happen, and they had all seen and read the letters. Not many of them talked, and they only waited with stress and worry. They knew that thest battle would take ce, and inparison to all the previous ones, they knew that there would be casualties today. In the past few days, the war had been fought with mind games and stratagems, but today, two armies would sh head-on. The warriors distributed the letters, and the reactions to the letters were more pronounced than before. This time, nearly everyone decided to evacuate from the surrounding Zones. For the next few days, the citizens would stay in Zones far away from the Empress Cobra Zone. This time, the letter didn''t include any judgments of High Mages or the next target. No, this time, the letter was shorter than before. It spoke about the assassination of Duke Mithril and Duke stfurnace, and then it talked directly about the final battle. Jerald made it public where his entire army would gather. For the next two weeks, the army would stay in that ce and not move. The purpose of that was to tell the Council that there were no more hidden schemes they could pull. They couldn''t slowly take out one warrior or Mage after the other before the final battle. In a normal war, this act would be stupid. After all, the goal of a normal war was to conquernd and not necessarily to get rid of every enemy soldier. As long as the enemy army could surround the enemy''s location, they would gain the upper hand in the long run. But this was not a normal war. This was not a war aboutnd or resources but a war to kill one''s enemies. All of Jerald''s forces would stay in one ce, and if the Council wanted to deal with him, they would need to attack all of Jerald''s forces at once. Under normal circumstances, the Council could simply ignore Jerald''s army for this time and conquer all the other Zones, but the problem for them was that they were on a timer. They had justunched an intense offensive on the Magic Purity Kingdom, and the Magic Purity Kingdom would strike back with a vengeance very soon. If they didn''t fortify their borders in the next couple of days, the Magic Purity Kingdom would invade the Skythunder Kingdom and im several Zones in only a couple of minutes. If the Magic Purity Kingdom still didn''t feel any resistance, they would take advantage of the opportunity and directly cut off the eastern Skythunder Kingdom from the western Skythunder Kingdom. That would be catastrophic for the Skythunder Kingdom. Or they might just directly go for the throne. The publicly acknowledged reason why it was important for the armies to im the territories first was to support the King in his battle. If the most powerful Mages in the Kingdom were taken care of, the strongest Mages in the other Kingdom could help their King in winning the battle with the other King. Five Peak and Late High Mages couldbine their powers to unleash Spells that exhibited the power of the Archmage Realm. Of course, the true reason was very different. Shang and Jerald knew that the Kings were simply employees of the Lightning Manor. They weren''t supposed to fight each other but rule over several territories. The reason for that wasn''t clear to them, but that was most likely how it worked. Presumably, if one King lost all his territories, he would also lose his job and would be forced to leave the five Kingdoms. And because of all of that, the Council couldn''t afford to wait and slowly regain their territories. They had to end this internal war in the next couple of days, or they would soon die to the Magic Purity Kingdom or King Skythunder. After about an hour, the warriors returned and also stopped on the northern border of the Empress Cobra Zone. Even all the True Path Stage warriors from the Storm Eagle Zone were here. All 65 had been summoned. Right now, the Storm Eagle Zone waspletely undefended, but that wasn''t a big concern. Jerald had also gained an additional 30 High Mages ever since the war started, with nine of them being Mid High Mages. Right now, 65 True Path Stage warriors, around 35 High Mages, Jerald, Shang, and Sylvia, were all in the same location. This force alone could already rival one of the weaker Kingdoms. Shang''s three High Mages had already set up their Magic Circles in a heavily fortified building. Five of the Mid High Mages were stationed around the building. With theirbined powers, they could even fight a Council member. Their entire job was only to protect this building and maybe attack an enemy if they entered their reach. Everyone knew that Count Sword, with all the augmenting Spells and Magic Circles, could rival a Council member. The fight between the Council and Jerald would decide the oue of the war. Everyone else was just fighting for an opportunity to help in that fight. If the High Mages of Jerald''s forces managed to get rid of the other High Mages, they couldbine their powers and shoot powerful Spells at the Council. That would be almost like another Council member helping Jerald. All the other High Mages were stationed behind the warriors but in front of the five Mid High Mages protecting the fortified building.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. The warriors were supposed to get close to the enemy Mages and force them to deal with them. If the enemy Mage decided to ignore the warriors, the warriors would quickly go on the offensive and attack their Mana Shields. If they attacked the warriors, they would need to spend significant amounts of Mana and time to deal with them. After all, a warrior could be very slippery and agile. During that time, the enemy Mages would decimate their forces. The n was set up. Everyone had been gathered. Now, they only needed to wait. Eventually, the Skythunder Kingdom''s army would arrive. And then, the final battle would begin. Chapter 501 Chapter 501 The ck clouds above the Empress Cobra Zone kept it in perpetual darkness, which didn''t help the nervous mood everyone was in. The soldiers rarely talked since they had to be at the peak of their concentration at all times. They knew that the enemy would show up. They just didn''t know when and where they would appear from. Sylvia had already shown the power of Susan''s Darkness¡¯ Veil, and Susan would certainly take advantage of that Spell yet again. Everyone knew that Susan''s entire army would be hidden from view until it was ready to strike. Whenever that would be. And worst of all, there was no counter to Darkness¡¯ Veil. Neither Sylvia nor Jerald coulde with any kind of Spell or Magic Circle that would be able to feel Darkness¡¯ Veil. This meant that the first attack for Susan and the Council would be free. They had the initiative, which was a scary thought since she had tens of High Mages following hermand. Aconcentrated attack of so many High Mages was devastating. Everyone knew that many people would die during the first attack. They only hoped it wasn''t them. Hours passed. Shang kept standing in front of the five Mid High Mages that stood in front of the fortified building. His right eye was closed, and he kept his focus on his surroundings. Jerald hovered in the air. Luckily, even though his Flying Spell cost a lot of Mana to activate, it didn''t cost a lot of Mana to keep up. Jerald hovered above the army like a beacon of hope and power... Or like a target. The wait was tense.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. It felt like forever. Shang''s right eye shot open! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! Suddenly, over 80 High Mages appeared in a half-circle formation behind where everyone was facing! Even more, nine of these over 80 High Mages were Late High Mages. The four remaining members of the main Council had obviously also gathered the five of the secondary Council in the Skythunder Kingdom''s west. Darkness¡¯ Veil could keep the Mages hidden, but it couldn''t hide the fluctuations of Mana. Shang had opened his eyes when he felt an astronomical amount of Mana basically shooting at a location behind them. This was the absorption of Mana of over 80 High Mages preparing Spells. Huge fireballs, storms of icicles, space-cutting waves of metal, gathered bolts of lightning, cutting storms, heavy boulders, all of this appeared in a giant cacophony of destruction above the enemy High Mages. They had all prepared their Spells in an instant! It had been so fast that no one had moved from their spot yet. Their bodies were just starting to get into a battle stance. At that moment, only terror, fear, and anticipation existed in the minds of Jerald''s forces. On one hand, the moment they had feared had arrived, but on the other hand, the torturous wait was finally over. "Charge!" Jerald''s Spirit Sense transmitted to everyone below him. The warriors¡¯ knees angled at the same time. The Mages were all casting the same Spell. Then, the wave of destruction shot at all of them. Even though the wave of destruction looked like one entity, it was actuallyprised of many small, targeted attacks. It looked like a singr wave, but the Spirit Sense of everyone could immediately pick out the very attacks that were targeted at them specifically. Shang also felt the Spells targeted at him. Three Council members. Three Council members were targeting him with their Spells! Three Late High Mages. At the same time, it also became apparent who was targeting Sylvia and Jerald, and it also became clear what the Council''s strategy for this battle was. Jerald had five Spells targeted at him, with one of them being a fast and powerful Darkness Spell. Five Council members were targeting Jerald, including Susan. Sylvia was being targeted by a fast bolt of lightning, which was increasing the humidity around it to give it a wider range. This Spell was the best of both worlds. It was as wide as an area of effect Spell, but as soon as something entered the area of effect, the bolt of lightning would home in on the target with a concentrated strike. This was an opponent that Sylvia would have big troubles with. And now, their n was clear. Sylvia could fight one Council member equally, and the Council had also sent one member to her. Jerald could fight five Council members equally, with Susan amongst them, and the Council had also sent five members, including Susan, at him. Shang was not nearly as powerful as Jerald, even with his augmenting Spells. At most, Shang could maybe win against two Council members. But they had sent three to attack Shang. Obviously, they wanted to stall Jerald and Sylvia until Shang was killed. Then, the three Late High Mages would join the fourth one and kill Sylvia. Lastly, all nine Council members would focus on Jerald. Jerald could fight five, but he couldn''t fight nine. But the Council also knew that Jerald would take some of them with him to the afterlife. Shang focused on the three Spellsing at him. Shang had barely been able to react to Duke stfurnace''s attack, and he hadn''t even truly seen Sylvia''s Spell. But that had been when he hadn''t been under his augmenting Spells! Now, he could discern their characteristics and react appropriately. Aconcentrated and massive beam of fire, a morphing column of stone, and a spear of sparking wind shot at Shang. All the Council members knew more than one concept, and this became clear when looking at their Spells. The beam of fire looked normal on the outside, but Shang could feel Earth Mana inside it. This meant that the beam wouldn''t explode as soon as it hit its target. Instead, it would punch through its target like a zingly hot spear. The column of earth had a lot of Water Manae off it. Inparison to normal earth, this column could flow and change its shape like water while still being as hard and heavy as the toughest rock. But the most concerning was the third Spell. The biggest problem for Shang when fighting Mages above his level was speed. The main reason why he always lost was due to the attacks of his opponents vastly outssing his own speed. Nearly Shang''s entire defense relied on being able to avoid and parry attacks, and one needed speed for both of these. And the spear of sparking wind? Its speed was unreal! Itbined the Wind Element''s base speed with the Lightning Element''s additional speed. Inparison to the other two Spells, it didn''t have the raw and destructive power, but it more than made up for it with speed. This Council member was the perfect counter to Shang. The spear of wind would hit Shang first, with the other two Spells hitting him simultaneously shortly after. Their n was obvious. Shang would need to defend from the first Spell, which would lead him open to a devastating strike right after. That would be when the other two Spells would kill him. Chapter 502 Chapter 502 Everyone reacted at the same time. As the Spells were shooting at Jerald''s army, the warriors jumped with all their power. In the past, this would have been a death sentence to the warriors. After all, they would be sitting ducks in the air. But things had changed. While still shooting upward, the warriors allnded on their weapons and shot forward. Meanwhile, the Spell all of Jerald''s Mages were casting was Mana Step. Earlier, the warriors had blocked the Mages¡¯ path, but with them jumping away, the Mages were free to Mana Step into any direction. Sylvia managed to avoid the Spell that was targeted at her with a simple Mana Step. As a Late High Mage, she could react to an attack from another Late High Mage. However, the other Mages were not as lucky. Just like the Council members had chosen their targets, all the other High Mages had also chosen their targets... And only a few of them had attacked the warriors. Only ten Spells had been shot at the collective army of 65 True Path Stage warriors, and the Spells all missed. This was only a show to force the warriors to break their formation. The ten Spells were never meant to kill the warriors. With the nine Council members targeting Jerald, Sylvia, and Shang, and with ten Mages targeting the warriors, there were still about 60 Spells unounted for. 20 of the remaining 60 Spells were shooting at the fortified building. Susan had had enough time to scout out everything ande up with a n, and when she saw the five Mid High Mages defending the building, she decided to deal with them directly. 20 Mid High Mages were targeting the five Mid High Mages withbined Spells, exhibiting the power of the Spells of a Peak High Mage. Five Mid High Magesbined their powers into one in four groups, meaning that four Peak High Mage Spells were shooting at them. These were all the Mid High Mages the Council had ess to. All the other Mages were Early High Mages, and there wasn''t a single Initial High Mage in the army. The nine Late High Mages targeted Jerald, Shang, and Sylvia. The 20 Mid High Mages targeted the building. Ten of the 55 Early High Mages were forcing the warriors to break formation. And the remaining 45 Early High Mages were attacking the Initial High Mages of Jerald''s army. Even more, three Early High Mages were targeting one Initial High Mage each. This was devastating! If these attacks had beenunched by Initial High Mages, Jerald''s Initial High Mages would be able to react... But the enemy didn''t have Initial High Mages. The 15 Initial High Mages of Jerald''s army that had been targeted weren''t fast enough to react with Mana Step. All the Mages of Jerald''s army had had their Mana Shields active for hours by now, but what difference did that make when they were targeted by three High Mages a level above them? Nothing. The Initial High Mages'' eyes opened in horror and shock. They knew that they would die. Jerald had about 30 High Mages, but around 20 of them were Initial High Mages. In just an instant, 15 of the 20 Initial High Mages died, leaving five of them... And three of these five were inside the building to keep Shang''s augmenting Spells active. Nearly every single Initial High Mage outside the building was killed in the first attack. Half of all High Mages under Jerald died. This was a devastating blow. At the same time, the four Peak High Mage Spells cast by the 20 Mid High Mages were shooting at the five Mid High Mages defending the fortified building. The Mana Shield of a Mid High Mage couldn''t resist the power of a Peak High Mage''s Spell. The five Mid High Mages looked at the Spell. Jerald had already received devastating losses, and it would only get worse from here. Or would it? BOOOOOOOOM! The four extremely powerful Spells arrived, but before they could hit four of the five Mid High Mages, a gigantic shield appeared around them. Darkness¡¯ Veil was probably the best Hiding Spell in the Skythunder Kingdom, but that didn''t mean that there weren''t others. The eyes of the 20 High Mages opened in shock when the gigantic shield appeared. This shield was obviously created by a powerful Magic Circle... But they hadn''t seen such a Magic Circle! Susan also hadn''t warned them about it!N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. Where did that Magic Circlee from?! CRACK! Yet, the four Spells were simply too powerful, and after blocking them for an instant, the four Spells broke through. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! But the five Mid High Mages immediately shot their own Spells at them. This short moment had given them enough time to condense an offensive Spell each. Even more, the barrier had weakened the attacking Spells substantially. Back then, George had been killed by someone essentially drowning him in wealth. And today, four extremely powerful Spells were stopped by throwing wealth at them! Mana Crystals with a collective value of 1.5 billion gold had been sacrificed at this very moment. This was 75% of all the umted wealth Jerald owned. All for this single barrier. The four attacking Spells were destroyed, and the Five Mid High Mages were ready to fight back. Of course, five Mid High Mages couldn''t win against 20 on their own. But they weren''t alone. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Like a barrage of rockets, the 20 most powerful warriors exploded into the group of Mid High Mages! The other 45 warriors shot at the 55 Early High Mages. In the sky, violent storm clouds were gathering. This was a sign that Jerald was also unleashing his power. At the side, the remaining four Initial High Mages, five Early High Mages, and three Mid High Mages were readying their Spells to shoot at the army of Early High Mages. In the back, Sylvia was preparing her Spells against her opponent. In the sky, Jerald was preparing his Spells against the Council after having dealt with the initial attack. The battles were set. 15 people on Jerald''s side had already been killed. However, in total, 16 people died. And, in fact, the 15 Initial High Mages died after the sixteenth person. Just before the Spells hit the 15 Initial High Mages, a bright explosion of light appeared in the middle of Jerald''s camp. An instantter, a humongous explosion of lightning and wind exploded 500 meters away. Since Darkness¡¯ Veil couldn''t hide Mana fluctuations, the ambushing Mages couldn''t activate Mana Shield. Their n was tounch their attacks, activate Mana Shield, and begin the battle. That should be easy. However, the attack of one Council member was just too fast. Lightning and Wind. The fastestbination of Elements. And when Shang used Reflection with his Colossal Sword on that attack... Well... The other two Council members looked with horror as their fellow Council member was turned into dust by his own Spell. The first casualty in the war had been one of the Council members, something no one would have expected. And then, their attacks arrived at Shang''s location. BOOOOOOOOM! Chapter 503 Chapter 503 After the bolt of lightning was reflected by Shang, he immediately focused on the other two attacks. Just as the enemy had predicted, Shang couldn''t easily deal with these two Spells after dealing with the first one. WHOOOM! At that moment, Shang''s surroundings began to turn into dust as he activated his Domain of Entropy. At the same time, he put his Colossal Sword in front of him. BANG! Shang was blown into the distance by the flexible column of earth while the beam of fire had turned into pure Mana. At the same time, all of Shang''s skin and a lot of his muscles had been sacrificed to the Domain of Entropy, filling his armor with blood. Shang immediately healed his body by using up nearly half of his life energy. The Mages had only been distracted for an instant by the death of theirpanion, and they had already focused on Shang again. While Shang was still flying away, healing water came out of his armor, refilling his life energy. This was exactly why Shang had decided to destroy the second Spell with his Domain of Entropy instead of using his armor. As long as his armor remained in one piece, he wouldn''t run out of life energy anytime soon. Shangnded around a kilometer away. The force of the pir had truly been extraordinary. But just an instantter, a wave of hard fire swept towards him, and Shang could also feel the air above him fill with Earth and Water Mana. ¡®They both use Spells associated with physical force. | can deal with energy-based Spells with Refraction and Reflection, but dealing with these kinds of Spells makes it very difficult to get close with my Colossal Sword.¡¯ Shang''s right eye shone. BANG! Then, he exploded to the side. Due to the distance, Shang was fast enough to avoid the wave of hard fire, but the second Spells had already been prepared. Shang could see something like clouds made of muddy earth being created above him, and a momentter, several terrifying spikes shot at him from the sky. CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! Shang continued running as he parried the spikes one by one. Without his augmenting Spells, he wouldn''t have been able to do that.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. But then, the next Spell had already arrived. Several pirs of fire came out of the ground in front of Shang. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang unleashed one Fire st after the other as he burst through the pirs of me. They had been terrifyingly hot, but Shang managed to keep his temperature on a safe level thanks to his Fire sts. Luckily, there had been no Earth Mana inside these fire pirs. Shang managed to get further and further away from the Mages. The two Council members looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. They were supposed to kill their target first, and Shang''s constant running away made that difficult. They exchanged several ns with their Spirit Senses in an instant. SHING! SHING! They both vanished with Mana Step and arrived around 500 meters away from Shang. Their Foci had already prepared their next set of Spells. The Mages cast another two Spells before releasing all four of them at once. Count Sword wouldn''t be able to block all of that! Shang could see several pirs of fire and earth shoot at him from several directions, and he also noticed two additional waves of earth and firee at him from the side. He could only block with his sword in one direction. However, he had already expected something like this. He had already reached his target, and these Spells didn''t matter anymore. WHOOOOOM! At that moment, a gigantic explosion of light urred that could be seen from tens of kilometers away. However, this was only one explosion amongst many. After all, nearly 100 High Mages in total were fighting here. There were gigantic explosions everywhere. Because of that, the huge explosion of light went unnoticed, except for the two Council members following Shang. BOOOM! Their Spells hit the huge dome of light, destroying a big part of it, but their Spells were still stopped in the end. Deep inside the dome of light, Shang''s body atrophied to a terrifying degree, but healing water arrived just an instantter. At the same time, the light around Shang entered his Colossal Sword, which quickly started to burn with ck fire. The two Council members were still over 500 meters away, and Shang couldn''t get there quickly enough. But that didn''t matter. After using Brilliance, Shang ran forward and swung down. Yes, Shang couldn''t reach the Council members. However, one had to remember that this wasn''t a duel. This was a war! CRACK! Under Dusk''s impossibly powerful force, the Mana Shield of a Mid High Mage broke into pieces, and the Mage themselves was turned into dust. Yes, this had been Shang''s goal. If he couldn''t get close to the two Council members easily, he would simply go for someone else. The Mid High Mage that had just died had been fighting a warrior while one of the five Mid High Mages that defended the fortified building were helping him. Due to the cacophony of destruction happening around everyone, the Mid High Mage hadn''t noticed that the brilliant explosion beside him had been targeted at him. Additionally, Brilliance also distorted Spirit Senses, making it difficult to notice Shang''s approach. The warrior that had been fighting the Mage looked with shock at Count Sword. Shang could see gratitude in his eyes. BANG! However, Shang had to st away again as the two Council members resumed attacking him. Luckily, the two Council memberspletely ignored the warrior. Shang was of much higher importance to them. The warrior narrowed his eyes and charged at another Mid High Mage, who was currently pushing back another warrior. At the same time, Shang was charging at the Council members again, his sword now in its Great Sword State. As Shang charged at them, his body seemed to grow hotter and hotter. Shang''s entire body received severe burns, and it became more and more difficult for him to move. The two Council members noticed that something was going on. Count Sword''s aura had grown unstable. Nevertheless, they had already prepared their next set of Spells. And then, Shang stopped. The air around him warped as hot and cold fought each other. Then, a pause. For just a moment, everything seemed to stabilize around Shang. WHOOOOOOOM! Adomain of extreme cold suddenly shot out of Shang¡¯s body,pletely epassing the surrounding two kilometers, including the Council members. The domain had arrived in an instant, and they hadn''t been able to react. Their entire world turned into an icy hell, and they could feel their Mana slowly being drained as the icy coldness tried to get past their Mana Shields. Shang had activated his icy domain. New Moon! Chapter 504 Chapter 504 In the beginning, the Ice Mana in New Moon only consumed a bit of the Council members¡¯ Mana, but just a bitter, it started to rapidly consume their Mana. All of the Ice Mana inside New Moon was rapidly moving at them. It was almost like Shang wanted to drown them in it. Usually, Shang used New Moon against beasts to make it easier to st around and to use Frostbite and Piercing Cold, but these two attacks didn''t help against Mages. The power of these attacks was low, and they were aimed at breaking through armor, not Mana Shields. Because of that, Shang was simply shoving as much Ice Mana as he could at them, consuming their Mana. The two Mages were surprised that Shang could summon such a powerful domain of ice. They hadn''t heard about that ability before! However, they were not inexperienced, and they knew how to deal with such domains. SHING! SHING! They both used Mana Step and retreated from the domain. They had noticed that Shang''s body had grown unstable before summoning this domain, which meant that it had cost him a lot. The best option was to retreat until it vanished. But when Shang saw them retreat, his right eye shone. All the Ice Mana in New Moon stopped moving towards them, and Shang charged in a different direction. Asecondter, Shang arrived at a different battlefield. The constant explosions happening in his domain consumed his Ice Mana like crazy. Shang quickly gathered all the Ice Mana inside New Moon and threw it at 30 of the Early High Mages fighting the warriors. Domains were summoned all the time in such a war, and it was normal to be inside someone else''s domain, even if they were not fighting the owner of that domain. Because of that, the Mages ignored the domains they were in unless it was the domain of someone they were fighting currently. The 30 Early High Mages realized that their Mana was rapidly being consumed, and their eyes widened in shock. SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! All 30 High Mages used Mana Step and retreated from the domain. In just this short second, Shang had already used up all of New Moon''s Ice Mana. He had thrown all of it at the Early High Mages. He hadn''t killed even one of them, but he was sure that he had consumed at least 10% of each Early High Mage''s Mana and also forced them to abandon their current Spells in order to cast Mana Step. The warriors didn''t wait and immediately shot after the retreating High Mages. They had the initiative now, and their opponents had been weakened slightly. The Council members noticed that Shang had given another substantial helping hand to his allies and gnashed their teeth. They were supposed to kill him, but he somehow managed to help his allies! The two of themmunicated via Spirit Sense and decided on a change of ns. Their target was constantly running away from them and helping his army? Fine! Then, they would just do the same! Their eyes focused on the battlefield with all the Mid High Mages and prepared their Spells. Shang noticed that, and his right eye narrowed. He pulled his Great Sword back, and it caught on fire. Then, Shang shot a wave of ck fire at them. The two of them quickly noticed and used Mana Step. They could feel the pure destructive power inside that attack, and getting hit by that would be bad. The ck wave of fire missed, and the two of them looked at the distant Shang. He was currently three kilometers away from them, which wasn''t an easy distance to bridge. If they decided to attack him, they would need to use two consecutive Mana Steps to get close enough so that he couldn''t avoid their attacks, and they knew that he would only retreat again. In the end, they decided to focus on another battlefield. BANG! Suddenly, a spear of firended on one of their two Mana Shields, and they focused on Shang again. How had heunched such a fast attack from so far away?! Then, they noticed that several more Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns were already shooting at them. Even though there was a great distance between them, the bodies of the two Mages were too weak to avoid Shang''s ranged attack. They would either need to block them with Spells, use Mana Step, or block them with their Mana Shields. Meanwhile, Shang was fast enough to avoid their Spells from such a distance. Even worse, he could even unleash his attacks while running! The two Mages quickly conjured two forcefields in front of them and moved them around, destroying Shang''s ranged attacks. They specialized in fighting Mages, and Shang''s ranged attacks were not difficult for them to block. Three seconds of attacking and blocking passed. They were sure that Shang had to run out of Mana at some point, even with the augmenting Spells. He was just unleashing too many attacks. Another three seconds passed. The Mages started to furrow their brows. Their opponent didn''t seem to grow tired. They were sure that Shang had already unleashed over 200 ranged attacks, and the fact that he wasn''t tired yet was shocking them. One of the Mages noticed a glint of fire at the corner of his eyes and followed it with his Spirit Sense. Then, his eyes widened in horror. This was one of Shang''s hidden attacks, and it wasn''t shooting at them! BANG! The Shooting Star hit one of the Mana Shields of the Early High Mages. How long?!N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. How long had their opponent been doing that?! They had been so focused on dealing with Shang''s ranged attacks that they hadn''t paid attention to their surroundings. After all, even though they could block all of the attacks, they still had to concentrate on them. Had Shang attacked other Mages all this time as well?! Shang noticed the change in his opponents¡¯ eyes and snorted. ¡®They noticed, huh?¡¯ Yes, Shang had been shooting at other Mages as well during thest four seconds. Shang hadnded around 25 hits on different Early High Mages during these four seconds. Five of these shots had led to the immediate death of an Early High Mage, while the others had turned the tides of the individual battles. When the two Council members noticed, their rage exploded. They had been yed for fools! They immediately decided that they had to deal with Shang immediately! First, they would- WHOOOM! Their eyes shot open as an impossibly fast ck bolt of fire shot at one of them out of nowhere! This attack was much faster than Shang''s previous ranged attacks! At the same time, they also felt the incredible power in this attack and knew that they couldn''t allow themselves to get hit by it! SHING! SHING! They both used Mana Step to avoid the attack. Shang smirked. Star Shatter suddenly started to change direction mid-flight! One shouldn''t forget that Sword could control its trajectory to some degree. BANG! An ear-shattering collision reverberated throughout the surroundings as Star Shatter hit a Mana Shield. But the Mana Shield was still in one piece. However, the owner of the Mana Shield''s face turned white in shock. That had just consumed 30% of his Mana! An instantter, a needle of ice shot at him. He gritted his teeth, canceled his Spell, and used Mana Step to evade to the side. His opponent nced at Shang and smiled. "Thanks," Sylvia transmitted. She had been on the defensive this entire time due to her opponent''s powers, but Star Shatter had more than equalized the ying field. In fact, she had the advantage now! The two Council members noticed what happened, and their shock and anger grew. First, Shang had killed a Mid High Mage. Then, he had interfered with the Early High Mages'' battles several times. And now, he had interfered in Sylvia''s battle! He had impacted every battlefield except for Jerald''s! Chapter 505 Chapter 505 This was bad! Shang had interfered with so many different battlefields! If they didn''t put a stop to it, they would lose the entire war! The two Council membersmunicated with each other and decided to go all out. They had been fighting with a neutral expenditure up to this point, only using as much Mana as they were regenerating, which was also why they were both at 100% of their Mana capacity. They had thought that they could deal with Shang while still having enough Mana to help the others directly after that, but that wasn''t the case. If they wanted to deal with Shang, they would need to burn through their Mana! They would no longer hold back! SHING! But before they could form a n, Shang suddenly appeared between the two of them after leaving behind a ck streak. Shock! Sword entered Shang''s hand after flying back. Shang had made full use of all of his abilities to impact the other battlefields, and now, he was in his Long Sword State. BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! Shang unleashed Anger and hit the Mana Shield of one of them five times before he could even react! At the same time, Shang''s body atrophied considerably, but his armor was healing him. SHING! SHING! BOOOOOOM! A humongous explosion appeared at the ce where Shang had just been. The two Mages had released both their Spells on that spot, and if Shang hadn''t retreated with two Shocks, he would have died just now. At the same time, an Early High Mage opened her eyes in shock. Where did that warriore from?! How had he gotten so close to her?! Shang''s expression didn''t change. He hadn''t retreated in a random direction. BANGBANGBANGCRACK! After arriving beside the Early High Mage, Shang used Anger, destroying her Mana Shield in an instant. SHING! SHING! Shang used another two Shocks. The eyes of one of the Council members opened in shock as Shang arrived in front of them again. They had just released their Spells, but Shang had retreated, killed an Early Mage, and returned in less than a second! This was ridiculous! If Shang were fighting alone, all of the Mana in his mind would have already been used up since he had used Shock five times already. However, Shang had contacted the three Mages in the fortified building just as he entered his Long Sword State and had told them about his n. For the next five seconds, they would pour as much Mana and life energy into the Magic Circles as they could, keeping Shang at his peak. However, they would run out of Mana after the five seconds were up. Shang''s expenditure of life energy and Mana was crazy! BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! Shang hit the Mana Shield of one of the Council members again with Anger. The Council member realized with horror that 20% of his Mana had already vanished, and he used Mana Step to retreat. At the same time, the other Council member released a terrifying wave of fire at Shang, who was only a couple of meters in front of him. SHING SHING! BANGBANGBANGCRACK! SHING SHING! The Council member gritted his teeth in hatred. Shang had just retreated, killed another Early High Mage, and came back again! But just as Shang arrived in front of the Council member again, the Council member''s Focus exploded with a violent wave of fire and earth. However, Shang had already expected that. SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! This time, Shang used Shock four times in a row. Then, Shang looked at the person in front of him. The person noticed Shang and narrowed their eyes. Their hand pointed at Shang in an instant. BOOOOOOOOOOM! Abyss Cometh! Yes, Shang had just arrived in front of Susan. SHING! SHING! SHING! Of course, Shang was already retreating again. He had never intended to attack Susan. He knew that he wouldn''t be able to fight her on his own. BANG! An instantter, a terrifying, spiraling bolt of green lightning hit one of the Council members near Susan and threw him into the distance. Susan narrowed her eyes. She had wasted one of her offensive Spells on Shang just now, giving Jerald an opening. Susan quickly focused on Jerald again and continued casting Spells. Even though Shang hadn''t done anything really, his actions resulted in one of the Council members losing around 40% of their total Mana. SHING! Shang arrived in front of one of his opponents again. BOOOOOM! The area around Shang exploded again before he could attack. SHING! SHING! He arrived in front of his other opponent. BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! The other member had been two kilometers away, and he hadn''t had a Spell prepared to deal with Shang when he was so close to him, leaving him open to Anger. The Mage quickly created another Spell and unleashed it. BOOOOM! SHING SHING! Shang retreated with another two Shocks. BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! Sylvia''s opponent''s face whitened as he suddenly felt 20% of his total Mana vanish. At the same time, the two Council members fighting Shang gritted their teeth so violently that blood flowed out of their mouths. He was ying with them! Earlier, they had chased him, and he had interfered with other battlefields! Then, they had decided to also interfere, but Shangpletely stopped them! Lastly, they decided to go all out, but Shang was so insanely fast that they couldn''t catch him! The two of them had to prepare powerful close-range Spells to kill Shang as soon as he came close to them, but whenever they unleashed them, he would just run to a different battlefield, interfere, and return again! They couldn''t kill Shang because he was retreating all the time! They couldn''t interfere with other battlefields because, if they did, Shang would hit them with his horrifying barrage of attacks! There was nothing they could do! He was simply too fast! This was so frustrating! They had to put a stop to this! No matter the cost! Fire suddenly appeared around the Fire Mage''s body, burning everything in the surrounding 100 meters to ash. Fire also appeared in his eyes, and he looked at Shang. SHING! Shang arrived in front of the other Council member. SHING! Then, the other Council member arrived in front of Shang at the same time. The Council member''s hand shot forward, right at Shang. SHING! Shang retreated. SHING! The other Council member used Mana Step again and arrived in front of Shang again. SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang kept retreating while the Council member kept chasing. If Shang stopped, he would be hit by a terrifying Spell. Shang could no longer interfere with any other battlefield. "I''m nearly out of Mana!" At that moment, Shang heard the message from the Mage responsible for refilling the Mana in his mind. Shang had used way too many Shocks. Even a High Mage''s Mana reserves would run out at this point. "What about you?" Shang asked the Mage responsible for refilling his life energy. "I still have about 50% left." "Okay, be ready to use all of that now." "Understood," the Mage answered. SHING! Shang used onest Shock. SHING! The burning Mage appeared in front of Shang again.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Shang''s stance lowered as his arms strained. The burning domain around him turned to pure Mana as the earth around him turned to dust. Sword began to burn with ck fire. Chapter 506 Chapter 506 The intense fire around Shang vanished just as Shang''s skin began to vanish. The Mage extended his hands forward. His Focus and his body were shining with incredible amounts of Fire Mana. Shang narrowed his right eye. BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! Ahumongous explosion appeared. The Magic Circles of Shang''s armor appeared and blocked the attack. At this moment, Shang had decided to use his armor to block the attack while his Domain of Entropy took care of the fire domain. And then, Shang''s sword shot forward. Silence! BANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! Five rapid strikes urred, and Shang''s body was beginning to vanish. However, a wave of healing water came out of his armor, healing his body in an instant. The Mage supplying Shang with life energy was pouring everything he had into it. Then, the Mage moved his burning hand forward again. Shang gritted his teeth. WHOOOOM! His Domain of Entropy canceled the huge explosion, but half his body vanished again, the healing water healing it in an instant. BANGBANGBANG! CRACK! All the fire vanished. The Mage''s face turned white. His Mana Shield just broke! Shang''s left hand moved forward, grabbing the Mage''s throat. SHING! BOOOOOOM! Shang vanished with the Mage in his hands as a terrifying spire of stone shot out of the ground where Shang had just been. The Mage in Shang''s arms atrophied until he was a dry husk of a corpse. The Council member was dead! His fire domain, Explosion Spells, and his constant use of Mana Step had severely depleted his Mana reserves. It had only taken nine hits with Silence to consume his remaining Mana. The other Council member realized with horror that his colleague had died.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. However, he also noticed that Shang''s weapon had gotten even smaller than before. By now, it was only as long as a short sword. Additionally, Shang had used so much Mana in the past seconds that it bordered on ridiculousness. He knew that Shang was nearing his end. "Status?" Shang asked the Mages in the building. ¡°I''m out," the Mage responsible for refilling the Mana in Shang''s mind answered. "20% left," the Mage responsible for healing Shang answered. The third Mage was only responsible for keeping the Magic Circles active and directing all the Mana. "Be ready to use thest 20%," Shang said. BOOOOOM! SHING! Another huge explosion of earth appeared below Shang just after he retreated with Shock again. SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang used three Shocks in session. This time, the Mana in his mind didn''t get refilled. After using the third Shock, Shang arrived beside another Mage. The area around Shang seemingly turned into nothingness as he activated his Domain of Entropy again. ¡°Eternalfrost!" Shang transmitted to Sylvia. Yes, Shang had arrived in front of Sylvia''s opponent again. The Mage hadn''t been prepared for Shang to get involved yet again. He had to put 100% of his concentration into fighting Sylvia, or he would lose. When he noticed Shang arrive beside him, he gritted his teeth and canceled his Spell. He used Mana Step- It didn''t work! His Mana Step didn''t work! Shang''s body atrophied again. Mana Step! Mana Step! Mana Step! The Mage used ten Mana Steps in a row, but none of them worked! Shang''s skin and most of his muscles had vanished. Even though he was being bathed in healing water, his body was vanishing too quickly! BANG! Aneedle of ice broke past the Mage''s Mana Shield, turning his body into multiple pieces. ¡°I''m out!" the Mage responsible for the healing water told Shang. At that moment, the healing water stopped while Shang''s body had only recovered to half of its peak condition. Shang gritted his teeth. SHING! BOOOOM! Shang used onest Shock to disappear from the ce where he had just been, and just an instantter, that ce exploded with earthen spires again. Shang grimaced. His body was still atrophied to a considerable degree, and he had overdrafted the Mana in his mind with thatst Shock. Sword had turned into a short sword. The defenses of his armor had already been used up. Then, Shang saw another earthen spire shoot at him. SHING! BANG! Someone appeared between Shang and the spire, throwing the spire to the side. "This one is more to my liking," Sylvia told Shang with a smirk. The Council member with the Earth Element gritted his teeth as Sylvia appeared between him and his target. An instantter, humongous icicles and gigantic boulders appeared above Sylvia, which quickly shot at the Council member. Another battle broke out, and Shang only breathed heavily. He was spent. Shang inspected his surroundings and noticed that everyone was still busy fighting. Sylvia was fighting one of the three Council members that had attacked Shang. The battle against the Early High Mages would soon be over. Shang''s involvement had resulted in the Council losing double the number of soldiers as Jerald. However, the battle against the Mid High Mages was still very brutal and close. Right now, nobody was focusing on Shang. When he saw that, Shang summoned a big piece of ore and stabbed Sword into it. Shang closed his right eye and focused on the Mana in the air. Acouple of seconds passed. Then, some healing water and Mana came out of Shang''s armor again. "I''m at 40%," the Mage responsible for the Mana said. "I''m at 30%," the Mage responsible for the healing water said. At that moment, Shang was happy that High Mages could recover their Mana at such a rapid rate. Shang returned to his peak condition again. CRK! He pulled his Colossal Sword out of the ground beside him and held it up. Then, his right eye narrowed as he looked in a certain direction. BANG! BANG! Shang used several sts in a row to elerate. Amomentter, the light around him distorted, making it appear like there were several Shangs charging forward. Some light gathered on the tip of Shang''s Colossal Sword. The next moment, someone turned to Shang, and their eyes narrowed. Shang also looked forward, and their eyes met. Susan and Shang looked at each other. Susan prepared a Spell. And ck fire appeared on Shang''s Colossal Sword. Chapter 507 Chapter 507 Shang knew that he couldn''t possibly beat Susan, but that also wasn''t his goal. Susan was the biggest issue for Jerald, and as long as Shang managed to distract Susan for a while, Jerald would be the one fighting her. Even though Shang was using Distortion to approach her, he could feel that Susan knew exactly where he was, which didn''t surprise him. Susan was a Peak High Mage, and she even had a Darkness Affinity. Darkness Affinities dealt with a lot of subterfuge and illusions, making them simr to Light Affinities. For a moment, the two of them only looked at each other. Then, Susan''s shoulder moved just a tiny bit. When fighting another person physically, looking at the shoulders was the best way to see when an attack wasing. As soon as Shang saw the slight movement, he immediately summoned all his Mana and life energy. Shang knew that he wasn''t fast enough to react to Spells after they were already cast, which meant that Shang had to guess what kind of Spell Susan was going to use and act appropriately. It was a guessing game for Shang. BANG! Just as Shang put his sword in front of him, a ck streak hit it. The ck streak was thin and barely visible, but the power inside it was horrifying. As the ck streak hit Sword, Shang''s entire body atrophied to a terrifying degree as he summoned more and more Light Mana. The spot where the streak and Sword touched started to shine brightly. Half of Shang''s body mass vanished. He barely looked like a skeleton with some skin. Shang gritted his teeth. Then, he grunted and pushed his sword to the side. CLING! The streak bounced off Sword and shot to the side, missing Shang. Shang had to take a deep breath after that. Originally, he wanted to use Reflection, but he just couldn''t muster enough Mana and life energy to make it work. His body was simply not powerful enough to reflect Susan''s casual Spell. Because of that, Shang changed Reflection to Refraction at thest second. Directly after using Refraction, Sword began to burn with ck fire, and Shang swung forward. Awave of ck fire shot at Susan. While still swinging upwards, Shang stopped his swing and held his Great Sword in front of him. TCHIIIIIII! The ck wave of fire was blown apart, and a wave of destructive ck energy hit Sword. Like a stone in front of a blowtorch, Sword cut apart the ck energy, resulting in most of it missing Shang. Most of it. Since the Great Sword State wasn''t as wide as the Colossal Sword State, the sides of the st still hit Shang''s shoulders and parts of his torso and legs. These parts immediately vanished, and Shang felt a terrifyingly powerful force of Darkness Mana entering his body, consuming his life energy. Then, Shang''s right eye shone. All the Darkness Mana inside of him suddenly transformed into Light Mana, healing his body. In just an instant, Shang was nearing his peak again, and the healing water he was receiving finished it. This was Abyss Cometh, one of Susan''s strongest Spells. Luckily, it didn''t only destroy the target''s body but also tried to poison them with Darkness. Without that secondponent, Shang wouldn''t have been able to heal his body this quickly. This had been the first time in Shang''s life that he had been poisoned by pure Darkness Mana. He had theorized that he would be able to transform this kind of Darkness Mana into Light Mana, but he had actually never tried it. Sadly, this only worked on pure darkness. Poison Affinities would still poison him sessfully. Just when the wave of darkness passed Shang, his sword caught on fire again and swung upward, releasing another wave of ck fire. When Shang''s Saber reached its peak, he immediately pulled it back and threw it forward. Star Shatter! He knew that he couldn''t block the next attack, and this was the best alternative. As soon as he threw his Saber, he immediately released three sts from his feet to jump upward. BANG! Athin, ck streak destroyed the wave of fire. Then, it flew past Star Shatter. CRACK! It hit Shang''s chest, his armor exploding into pieces. BANG! And everything below the middle of Shang''s chest exploded and shot into the distance. The healing water and Mana stoppeding from his armor since it had been obliterated. Shang could only grit his teeth and use his life energy and Mana to recover, his entire body regrowing in an instant. BANG! The sound of a loud collision reverberated throughout the battlefield. Star Shatter had hit Susan''s Mana Shield! When Susan felt 15% of her Mana vanish, she frowned and looked at the Long Sword touching her Mana Shield. Then, her fingers moved with imperceptible speeds, and she pointed at Sword with two fingers. When Shang saw that, his face whitened. BANG! Aconcentrated needle of Darkness and Metal Mana shot out of Susan''s fingers and hit the side of Sword''s de. CRACK! Shang''s expression turned to horror. Sword broke into pieces! Time seemed to stop as Shang saw Sword being thrown into the distance, only its hilt and a bit of its de left. However, Shang knew that Sword wasn''t dead yet. If this had happened in the past, Sword would have died without a doubt. Luckily, while creating Silence, Shang and Sword had made it possible for Sword to survive as long as it still had enough of its de left to rival a dagger.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Shang knew that Sword was still alive, but it was probably in immense pain, and it also wouldn''t be able to help in the fight anymore. SHING! Shang used Shock to grab Sword out of the air. ¡°Are you ok?" "Can''t... help. Nearly... dead," Sword answered with difficulty. Shang couldn''t answer since he had to use Shock again. SHING! The terrifying ck streak shot past the spot where Shang had just been. SHING! Shang immediately used Shock again, and a small needle of Darkness and Metal Mana shot past him. Susan''s speed and offensive powers were absolutely terrifying! Shang had only managed to hit her once with Star Shatter. All the other times, Shang had been busy with barely surviving. As Shang fought against Susan, his opinion of Jerald''s power reached new heights. ¡®Jerald managed to fight Susan and four other Late High Mages at once for nearly 20 seconds.¡¯ ¡®Meanwhile, I''m barely staying alive after only one second.¡¯ Chapter 508 Chapter 508 SHING! Shang had to use Shock once more to avoid another one of Susan''s Spells. SHING! And then, Shang used his fifth andst Shock to retreat even more. Shang waspletely out of Mana, and his head hurt like hell. Then, he saw Susan prepare another Spell in the distance. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang used three sts to shoot to the side. BANG! His left shoulder was sted off by another ck streak. Luckily, Shang had been far enough away to avoid being hit in the head. SHING! But then, Susan used Mana Step to get closer to Shang. There was no way for Shang to avoid the next Spell, but he tried anyway. Ding. Shang heard something quiet hitting something else. However, that tiny sound had managed to slightly disturb Susan''s concentration, her ck streak only obliterating the lower left side of Shang''s head. Luckily, his brain was uninjured. Susan''s brows furrowed, and she looked to her right. Aspear had just hit her Mana Shield. It hadn''t even consumed 1% of her Mana, and the attack had been pathetically weak, but it had resulted in her missing her killing blow. Shang also noticed the spear. It was George''s spear! It was impossible tomunicate with the spear as long as one wasn''t a simr weapon or its owner, but Susan and Shang could somehow still feel the spear''s feelings. "| hate you!" This was what they felting from it. Susan only snorted. Then, her hand pointed at the spear. BOOOOOOM! George''s spear turned into dust as Abyss Cometh consumed it. George''s spear had followed him to the grave. Then, Susan focused on Shang again. Suddenly, Shang''s body was gripped by several brown tentacle-like things. Susan shot another Spell at him. BANG! Everything below Shang''s chest was obliterated again, thanks to the tentacles. Without them, Shang''s head would have been destroyed. Shang''s pitiful and heavily injured body was thrown away from Susan, and he used hisst bit of Mana and life energy to heal his organs. Without his organs, he wouldn''t be able to condense more life energy, which would mean that he would die from his injuries. Susan frowned and looked at the person that now stood between her and Shang. It was Sylvia. "It''s my turn now to help you,¡± Sylvia transmitted to Shang with a smirk. Susan''s Spirit Sense epassed the battlefield at this moment. She didn''t like what she saw. All the Early High Mags had died, and her Mid High Mages were severely outnumbered. Jerald had already killed two of the Council members that had been fighting him in the short time Susan had been upied with Shang. "The war is lost," Susan transmitted to Sylvia and Shang. "| will die soon." Then, her Spirit Sense focused on Shang, and he could feel a terrifying murderous intente from Susan. ¡°But not before | kill you," she stated with a cold voice. BANG! An icy needle exploded on Susan''s Mana Shield. "Don''t talk during a battle, Susan,¡± Sylvia said with a grin. Susan''s expression didn''t change. CRRRRR! Then, a terrifying amount of burning Darkness Mana began to surround her. SHING! And she arrived directly in front of Shang! SHING! BOOOOOM! Sylvia arrived between Shang and Susan, Abyss Cometh hitting Sylvia''s Mana Shield. CRACK! Sylvia''s Mana Shield broke apart, and Abyss Cometh shot at her. At that moment, Shang grabbed Sylvia and pushed himself in front of her. CRRRRRR! The outside of Shang''s body vanished, but he knew that he could take the Spell. After all, it had just wasted enough power to break through a Late High Mage''s full Mana Shield. Sylvia and Shang were sted into the distance. Both of them were still alive. Frustration appeared on Susan''s face. SHING! She arrived in front of them again and pointed her hand at them. CRACK! CRACK! BANG! Yet, three of Sylvia''s Mid High Mages appeared in front of them, ovepping their Mana Shields. Abyss Cometh broke through two Mana Shields, but the third one managed to block it. Now, there were five weak people in front of Susan. "RAAAAH!" CLINK! CLINK! CLINK! Suddenly, three warriors appeared around Susan, attacking her Mana Shield with their weapons. DING! DING! DING! Additionally, even more weapons were thrown at her from a distance. All the warriors that Susan considered worthless ants were now attacking her. They didn''t deal much damage, but their intent was clear. They were going to kill her, even if it killed them! Susan gritted her teeth in rage, but her eyes never left Shang. Count Sword was the reason for all of this! Susan ignored all the attacks and created her next Spell. She would die, but she would take Count Sword with her! Then, Susan pointed her hand at the five weak people in front of her. CRRRRRRRRR! The ground shook as a humongous drill made of wind and lightning hit the side of Susan''s Mana Shield. The sheer power of this attack was unreal! Susan released Abyss Cometh, but the impossibly powerful drill threw her to the side, making her attack miss. BANG! BANG! BANG! Swathes of lightning battered the ground around the five weak people, and a figure d in lightning and windnded between them and Susan. Jerald''s eyes reflected the image of an apocalyptic storm as he red at Susan. Susan looked at Jerald afternding in the distance. Then, she looked with hate at Shang. She spat to the side, a rare showing of emotion from her. ¡°Lucky shit,¡± she said. After that, a terrifying amount of Darkness Mana gathered around her. Jerald only watched. BOOOOOOOM! And Susan exploded. She had killed herself.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Except for a couple of distant explosions, everything returned to silence. For three seconds, nobody moved or said a thing. Then, a Mage arrived beside Shang and cast a Spell. Shang''s body was bathed in healing water by the Mage that usually sent the healing water to him via the Magic Circles. Shang''s body rapidly healed. At that moment, Jerald turned around and focused on thest Mages of Susan''s army. CRK! CRK! Bolts of lightning crackled in the sky as the wind pushed them forward. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Thest five Mid High Mages of Susan''s army were killed in an instant by the bolts of lightning. The mood was still tense, and the atmosphere was still oppressive. However, that would soon change. ¡°Everyone, we won!" Jerald announced with his Spirit Sense. "The Council and its supporters are dead!" And then, the warriors cheered loudly. Chapter 509 Chapter 509 As all the warriors cheered around him, Shang only released a deep sigh. He hade too close to death too many times in thest couple of seconds. Shang only looked at the dark sky above him. ¡®The two Mages that killed George and Mattheo are dead.¡¯ ¡®Duke Torrent and Duke Mithril are dead.¡¯ ¡®The Council is dead." "Susan is dead.¡¯ ¡®Everyone that was involved in George''s and Mattheo''s murders is dead.¡¯ Then, Shang looked to the ce where George''s spear had died. ¡®| guess it didn''t have much reason left to live. It only lived for revenge, and when it saw that the revenge would soon be completed, it went in to attack Susan on its own." Shang sighed. "Count Sword, you saved my life! | can''t thank you enough!" Shang looked to the side as one warrior ran up to him, some tears in his eyes. Shang didn''t know who this was. "Count Sword, | don''t know how to repay you! You saved my life!" Shang looked over and saw another warrior approach him. Shang also didn''t recognize that one. "Count Sword, you saved my life!" "Mine as well!" "Count Sword!" "Thank you so much, Count Sword!" "You''re our hero, Count Sword!" One warrior after the other arrived near Shang, everyone standing around him. They were all shouting their thanks at him. ¡®Right,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l guess | saved a couple of lives while getting involved in the other battlefields." "You saved my life as well," Sylvia said with a smile. "| think you saved mine as well, Shang." Shang looked with surprise at Jerald, who was also walking over. For the first time in a long while, Jerald''s warm smile was back on his face. "Susan was giving me a lot of trouble. | think, if you didn''t distract her, | would have died to her in the end," Jerald said. Jerald was the most powerful person here. Jerald was the one that dered the war and led everyone to victory. Jerald was everyone''s leader. Yet, everyone was crowding around Shang instead of Jerald. Shang wasn''t sure what to do in this situation. He had never been in such a ce before. ¡°Ehm," Shang slowly said. "No problem, | gue-" However, Shang couldn''t finish his sentence as several warriors grabbed him and lifted him up. "Three hip-hips to Count Sword!" one of them shouted. Shang felt quite embarrassed at this point. "Can | maybe put on some pants first?" Since Shang''s armor had been destroyed and since his body had been sted apart several times, all his clothing was gone too. Yet, the warriors didn''t give him any opportunity to do so and threw him in the air. "Hip, hip, hooray!" they echoed. As Shang flew through the air, he felt very awkward and embarrassed. But as he saw all the smiles on the warriors¡¯ faces, he decided to just go along with it. If it made them this happy to throw him in the air, he should let them. nk! Shang''s half-destroyed helmet ttered on his face, making him take it off. The Spirit Senses of all the warriors and Mages homed in on Shang''s face. This was the first time they saw it. When they saw his ufortable expression, their smiles only widened. Whenever they had seen Count Sword, he had seemed like an ice-cold machine. It was like Count Sword was an emotionless construct only made for killing Mages. Seeing such a rtable human expression on his face made him much more likable in everyone''s eyes. After throwing him in the air three times, the warriors put him down, and Shang finally got an opportunity to put on some clothing. His clothing simply consisted of some ck pants and a ck shirt. And then, the warriors swarmed Shang again with their thanks and well-wishes. The remaining Mages only looked with smiles at the group of happy warriors. They had seen the warriors fight with everything they had, and the warriors deserved their newfound freedom in the Mages¡¯ opinions. At that moment, Shang looked through everyone that was alive. Alot of people died. Originally, there had been 65 True Path Stage warriors. Now, there were only 17. Originally, there had been 30 High Mages. Now, there were seven, including Sylvia. There were three Mid High Mages, and three Initial High Mages left, thetter three being the ones that had supplied Shang with Mana and healing water. There had been nearly 100 people under Jerald at the start of the battle. Now, there were less than 30. The battle had been bloody and brutal, and if Shang hadn''t interfered in so many battlefields, he, Sylvia, and Jerald might have been the only survivors. Shang was probably responsible for saving every survivor''s life in some way. No wonder they were this thankful to him. During the battle, Shang''s actions seemed like they hadcked any impact. He had attacked some Mages here and there, but it felt like he hadn''t made a big difference, especially since his two opponents had still been alive at that point. Only after the battle did the true impact of Shang''s actions show itself.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. As Shang was bombarded with thanks and questions, he only gave short and ufortable answers. It felt weird that the warriors had such intense feelings of gratitude because of actions that had been easy for Shang. He had only thrown a couple of attacks. Yet, who could fault them? These simple actions from Shang saved their lives. Jerald only looked at Shang with a smile as he was being swarmed by warriors. ¡®You''re always so isted and don''t want people to get close to you.¡¯ ¡®But this time, you can''t avoid it." ¡®| hope you find more friends andpanions, Shang,¡¯ Jerald thought. ¡°Alright, that''s about enough. You can partyter." Everyone''s eyes widened in shock as they looked at the sky. Aperson was slowly floating down andnded a bit outside the gathered group. The warriors and Mages immediately became nervous again. They weren''t sure what would happen now. Jerald only smiled. Then, he bowed respectfully. "My King," he said. The warriors and Mages saw what Jerald was doing and copied his actions, also bowing politely. "My King," they echoed. Of course, Shang did the same thing. King Skythunder looked around the gathered group, a smirk on his face. Then, he looked at Shang. ¡°Whatever Spell you used to keep your real identity secret has worn off. You should reactivate it soon," King Skythunder transmitted to Shang. Shang''s eyes widened. Since he had used up all the Mana in his mind, Humanity had worn off. "Thank you, my King," Shang transmitted back. King Skythunder''s smirk only widened. "Shang, Jerald," he said after throwing a nce at both of them. "You two have fought impressively.¡± "Thank you, my King,¡± both of them said. King Skythunder nodded. "Walk with me. | want to talk to you." Shang and Jerald rose and approached King Skythunder. Then, King Skythunder turned to the rest of the group. "Do whatever you want, but | don''t want any Spirit Senses listening in on the conversation." Everyone bowed once more. Then, Shang, Jerald, and King Skythunder walked away. Chapter 510 Chapter 510 King Skythunder, Shang, and Jerald walked for a couple of kilometers in silence. When they were outside everyone else''s Spirit Sense, they stopped. King Skythunder turned to Shang. "Reapply your Spell." "That might take a couple of minutes, my King," Shang said. "Then, we''ll wait a couple of minutes," King Skythunder answered. Shang nodded and focused on casting Humanity. "Also, | won''t be your King for much longer. My name is Agon Skythunder. You can just call me Agon," Agon said. ¡°And stop with all this bowing nonsense. I''m sick of it." Jerald and Shang looked with surprise at Agon Skythunder. "Okay, Agon," Shang said. "Thank you, Agon," Jerald said with a smile. Agon only nodded. After that, Shang focused on Humanity and began to draw some lines in the air with his finger. Jerald and Agon could see which lines Shang was drawing, but the full diagram and where the lines would be ced were in Shang''s mind, which meant it was invisible to them. Out of interest, Jerald and Agon looked at the lines Shang was drawing, but they gave up after the eighth line or so. The lines Shang was drawing seemed to follow no rhyme or reason. They had no idea where Shang would ce these lines. Shang created thousands of lines, surprising both Jerald and Agon. Shang could cast a Spell that required this many lines? The mostplex Spell Agon knew didn''t even have a quarter of that. How could a warrior remember such an intricate diagram? After around five minutes, Shang was finished with the Spell, and it entered his mind once again. Agon watched Shang with interest as the hostile aura Shang gave off vanished. No matter how hard Agon tried, it was impossible for him to connect the current Shang to the hostile aura he had just stopped emanating. Shang opened his eye again and looked at Agon. "I''m done." "Good," Agon said with a nod. Then, he summoned a Communication Crystal and looked at it for a couple of seconds. He put the Communication Crystal away. "He should be here soon." Shang and Jerald looked at each other with a bit of confusion. BANG! Suddenly, a couple of secondster, a white lightning bolt hit the ground beside Agon. Shang and Jerald looked in shock as a person stepped out of the small crater. It was a young man with white hair and simple white robes. However, the power he was emanating was unreal! Agon seemed like a tiny firefly beside the raging sun.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. The young man looked at Agon, who only gestured to Jerald with his head. The young man looked at Jerald for a couple of seconds without saying anything. At that moment, Jerald grew nervous. "Did you reach the High Mage Realm afterprehending two Concepts?" the young man asked. Jerald looked surprised. "Yes, how did you know?" The young man only nodded and summoned a stack of papers. After that, some lightning bolts hit the pieces of paper in front of him in different ces. "Youprehended a Complex Level Two Concept beforeprehending a Pure Level Two Concept?" he asked. Jerald was a bit confused about the terminology, but he could guess what it meant based on context clues. "Yes, | call it Storm," Jerald said. "Show me," the young man said emotionlessly. Jerald lifted his right hand and summoned a small storm cloud in it. The young man looked at it and nodded while more lightning hit the pieces of paper in front of him. "The proper name for this Concept is Summer Drizzle," the young man said. Jerald looked with surprise at the young man, but he quickly realized that he probably hadn''t been the first one tobine these Concepts. It was actually logical for this Concept to already have a name. After a couple more seconds, the lightning stopped hitting the sheets of paper, and the young man nodded. ¡°Everything looks fine. You''re eligible for the position," the young man said. ¡°What position?" Jerald asked. The young man furrowed his brows. Then, he looked at Agon with annoyance, who only grinned. The young man could only sigh. "The position of Assistant Supervisor," the young man said. "I''m the Supervisor of Area 23, the ce that you know as the five Kingdoms. As an Assistant Supervisor, you will assume the role of one of five Kings." Shang''s and Jerald''s eyes opened wide in shock. King?! They looked over at Agon, who only shrugged. "As you''ve said, Jerald. My shift will be over soon." "Thank the Mage God," the Supervisor grumbled. Agon didn''tment. "But, sir," Jerald said. "Aren''t Kings supposed to be in the Archmage Realm?" "Don''t call me sir," the Supervisor grumbled with annoyance. "We''ll be working together from now on. Call me, Relon." "Okay, Relon," Jerald said. "| thought Kings were supposed to be in the Archmage Realm." "Change of policy," Relon answered. "With the recent resurgence of the secondary Paths, we decided to employ Peak High Mages as Assistant Supervisors from now on. That makes it seem like the Mages are not that untouchable to the secondary Paths." "And the other Kings?" Jerald asked. "They will leave together with Agon soon. We will stage a big battle, and the public will think that all the Archmages died in one big fight. Due to the imbnce of forces, the current Assistant Supervisor of the central area will also be taking several Peak and Late High Mages with him, saving the other areas from destruction." Shang and Jerald felt a bit ufortable at this moment. They had known that all of this belonged to the Lightning Manor and that everything was orchestrated to some degree, but seeing it happen right in front of them still felt unreal. The Magic Purity Kingdom was like the big antagonist for the Skythunder Kingdom. It felt like a powerful and cruel giant. Yet, a humongous portion of its forces would simply leave the five Kingdoms soon. Just like that. ¡°Read through this and sign it," Relon said as the stack of paper floated over to Jerald. Jerald was still a bit perplexed, but he read through the sheets of paper. But the more he read, the more his eyes widened. These sheets of paper exined absolutely everything about Area 23 and why it even existed in the first ce! "Is he your plus one?" Relon asked as he looked at Shang. Jerald looked up from the piece of paper in surprise. Then, he remembered that he had just read about the part in the contract that spoke about the option to have one more person work for the Assistant Supervisor. This also exined how Miriam, the Archduke, was connected to Agon. She was his plus one. "Yes, he is," Jerald said. Shang only looked at Jerald with a raised eyebrow. Relon nodded and took out a second stack of papers. This one was much smaller than the first stack, and he quickly filled it out as well with his lightning. Then, the second stack of papers floated over to Shang, who also read it. The more Shang read, the more his eye opened as well. This answered so many questions! Chapter 511 Chapter 511 Shang and Jerald read through the lengthy contract while absorbing all the information. There was a lot written down in the contract, but their minds were fast enough to read through all of it in a rtively short amount of time. The five Kingdoms were known as Area 23, and it was one of about 100 Areas created for different fields of research. All these 100 Areas belonged to the Lightning Manor, and the contract also introduced the Lightning Manor. The Lightning Manor owned around 10% of the world. There were nine other powers that also owned 10% each, but the contract didn''t name them. It only said that they existed. The Lightning Emperor was the leader of the Lightning Manor, and he was one of the ten Mage Emperors of the world. The levels of the world went like this: Apprentice. Adept. True Mage. High Mage. Archmage. Ancestral Mage. Mage Lord. Mage King. Mage Emperor. The Mage Emperors were the absolute strongest beings in the world, and they were unfathomably old and ancient. The contract conveyed all of this so that the person signing the contract knew how powerful the organization was they now worked for. The Lightning Manor consisted of one Mage Emperor, eight Mage Kings, and over 7,000 Mage Lords! Just one single Mage Lord was unfathomably more powerful than even the strongest Zone Beast in Area 23, and the Lightning Manor had over 7,000 of those! The contract also introduced the eight Mage Kings with pictures and names, and Shang noticed a familiar face. The Starlight Queen! When Shang saw her, he had to take a deep breath. Shang had met such a legendary existence. The Starlight Queen might actually belong to the 100 strongest humans in the world. After introducing the Lightning Manor, the contract went into introducing more of the Areas. The 100 Areas were divided into five groups, with 20 being in each one. Areas one to twenty were responsible for testing new Spells, crafts, and techniques. When the Lightning Manor created something new and wanted to test it, they would introduce the relevant technique into one of the Areas. The technique would be quickly spread throughout the Area, and the Lightning Manor would see how this technique would work when given to a great number of people. The stronger people in these Areas were often switched out. The True Mages and more powerful would be sent to the outside world, leaving the Area filled with Apprentices and Adepts. With that, the knowledge of the predecessors was gone, making the remaining people more likely to try out the new technique. Area 21 to 40 were isted experiments. The Lightning Manor made it nearly impossible toe into contact with the outside world and let everything develop on its own. The goal was to see what kind of Paths and techniques would be created in such a vacuum. The Mage Path had basically already been perfected, and this was a good and bad thing. It was good because the Mage Path was extremely solid, with a clear direction from beginning to end. The bad was that there was a severeck of innovation. The Mage Path worked extremely well, but that didn''t mean that there wasn''t a better way. Any interesting Paths or techniques created in these Areas would be sent to the Lightning Manor to be evaluated, and if they proved to be usable, the Lightning Manor would sell them to the public. Of course, a lot of times, the technique would be refined further by a couple of Mage Lords dedicated to improving these techniques. Areas 41 to 60 were dedicated to natural research. Different biomes, matter, kinds of Mana, and beasts would result in the creation of different natural treasures. The Lightning Manor mixed and matched all the different kinds of beasts, biomes, kinds of Mana, and so on, and looked at what kind of natural treasure would appear as time passed. These Areas didn''t have any humans except for the employees of the Lightning Manor. Areas 61 to 80 were the Recruitment Areas. The Lightning Manor gave everyone living in these Areas amazing techniques but let the people in the Areas develop independently. This created a ce where everyone had ess to the best techniques, even if they didn''t have any money. It essentially got rid of the advantage or disadvantage of status, allowing everyone to battle on an equal ying field. The people that managed to rise to power in this kind of Area had to be the most talented among all of them. The best of these people were directly recruited by the Lightning Manor, while many of the others were simply sent to the outside world when they reached the High Mage Realm. Around 1,500 of the over 7,000 Mage Lords of the Lightning Manor came from these 20 Areas. Lastly, Areas 81 to 100 acted as reserves. Depending on what the Lightning Manor needed, one or more of these Areas would be assigned to one of the other four groups. Since the five Kingdoms were Area 23, this ce belonged to the second group. This exined so many things. This exined why there was basically zero knowledge about the outside world in this Area. This exined why there were Summoners, Spiriters, Barbarians, and warriors in this Area, even though the Mage Path was objectively the best at the current moment. If everyone in Area 23 had ess to the Star Maps of the outside world, all the incredible Spells, and all the valuable treasures and crafts, there would basically be no other Path. Nearly everyone would be a Mage. After talking about the Areas, the contract talked about the specific duties Jerald would have as an Assistant Supervisor. It has been proven over many years of research that war and fear were the best motivation for people to innovate and be stronger. Fear of losing one''s life. Fear of losing a loved one. Fear of bing old. Fear of bing poor. All of these things could be solved by bing more powerful. Because of that, there always had to be an external enemy present. The people would band together and be more powerful by helping each other when they all were afraid of the same enemy. Beasts were too passive to act as such an enemy, and the Abominations weren''t stoppable. In order for the fear to motivate someone to be stronger, there also had to be hope. The Abominations didn''t offer such a hope. Because of that, other humans had to act as these sorts of enemies. For Area 23, specifically, this enemy was the Magic Purity Kingdom.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. The Assistant Supervisor of the Magic Purity Kingdom had been tasked to create an elitist and purist society that abhorred every human that wasn''t a Mage. Like this, the Magic Purity Kingdom would act as themon enemy of all the other Kingdoms. The other Paths had already been integrated into the other Kingdoms, and they represented a big part of the Kingdom''s power. The Magic Purity Kingdom saw such a form of symbiosis as heretical to the Mage Path and would kill not only all the people of the other Paths but also the "sympathizing" Mages. Of course, as themon antagonist, the Magic Purity Kingdom also needed the power to fight all other Kingdoms, which was why it received a couple of techniques and Spells from the outside world. As an employee, it was Jerald''s job to increase the power of his assigned territory and make it go to war with the Magic Purity Kingdom. An Assistant Supervisor was not allowed to publicize any knowledge about the outside world or introduce techniques and Spells without authorization. If the Assistant Supervisor managed to conquer the capital of the Magic Purity Kingdom without fighting themselves or cheating, the Assistant Supervisor would get a bonus. If the Assistant Supervisor''s own capital were conquered, they would be let go with only getting 50% of what they had earned over their career. In short, it was Jerald''s job to increase the power of the Skythunder Kingdom and conquer the Magic Purity Kingdom. Of course, Shang''s contract differed. As aplus one, he was only responsible for helping the Assistant Supervisor do their job while still being under simr restrictions. But inparison to the Assistant Supervisor, the plus one was allowed to join fights as long as they were not a Late High Mage or more powerful. The contract specifically mentioned that this restriction was based on one''s Realm, not one''s Battle-Strength. The minimum duration for this job was 50 years, but it could be expanded for additional benefits. Then, the contract talked about payment, and Shang had to raise a skeptical eyebrow. Pay: being allowed to plunder the area without endangering the long-term development. Chapter 512 Chapter 512 Shang and Jerald had to raise an eyebrow at the payment. "The pay is a bit... strange," Jerald said. "The pay is worth it," Agon spoke up from beside the Supervisor. "In the outside world, all the resources in the Fourth Realm are plundered by Archmages, and all the resources of the Fifth Realm are plundered by Ancestral Mages. These resources are worth a lot and the more powerful Mages sell them to the Mages that actually need them." ¡°But here, you have none of these Mages. Remember that there are Archbeasts and Ancestral Beasts in this ce, and their presence creates powerful and useful resources. | have plundered so many herbs and ores that only grow in the presence of the Zone Beasts that | have been basically shooting through my Concepts," Agon exined. ¡°Archbeasts?" Shang asked. Agon nodded. "In the outside world, the beasts are named after the Mage Realms starting at the third Realm. True Beasts, High Beasts, Archbeasts, and so on." Shang nodded. "Makes sense." Jerald scratched his chin as he looked at the contract.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. ¡°Even better," Agon added with a smirk, "it doesn''t matter how much you work. It only matters how good your results are.¡± On the side, Relon only snorted. He had seen how Agon had basically pawned off all his duties to the Council while getting paid for doing essentially nothing. He wasn''t the biggest fan of that. ¡°Am | being allowed to reach the Archmage Realm during my employment?" Jerald asked. "No," Relon answered. "If you reach the Archmage Realm, you will be fired.¡± Jerald furrowed his brows. "Then, | will choose to be contracted for 100 years," Jerald said. "Smart choice," Agon said with a smirk. If the Assistant Supervisor managed to fulfill their duties for 50 years, they were allowed to leave with all their possessions and gains. However, if an Assistant Supervisor managed to fulfill their duties for 100 years, they would also be eligible to participate in the Lightning Manor''s entrance exam for talented Archmages. This opportunity was worth a lot. After all, if one managed to join the Lightning Manor, their path to power would essentially be free of obstacles. Of course, getting through the entrance exam was beyond difficult. Just the most basic requirement was to have reached the High Mage Realm with two Concepts alreadyprehended and to have reached the Archmage Realm with two level two Concepts alreadyprehended. That was just the most basic requirement. Right now, Jerald only knew one level two Concept, which was the Concept of Summer Drizzle. Jerald was sure that he couldprehend the level two Pure Concept for Wind, which was Breeze, in the next two decades. But he also nned onprehending a third one during his employment here. After that, he would enter the entrance exam of the Lightning Manor. "Is it possible to alter the n of how Area 23 is being run?" Jerald asked. "I''m the one that decided on everything," Relon said. "If you have a good suggestion, | have the power to put it into effect." Jerald nodded. "That''s good to hear." Then, Jerald signed the contract and looked at Shang. "How about you?" Shang signed the contract without hesitation. "Sounds good," he said. As aplus one, Shang sadly didn''t get any of the additional rewards that Jerald would get, but he would still be free to plunder the lands. Wasn''t this literally what the God said to do? The God had said that when one was amongst the strongest in a given area, it was best to plunder it for everything it was worth and leave. Additionally, Shang''s job was more than easy toplete. Shang knew that Jerald would rule over the entire Kingdom and manage everything personally. He wasn''t like Agon, who only watched while his Kingdom was being run by others. Shang would only need to help on the frontlines a couple of times, and when he wasn''t in the frontlines, he could do whatever he wanted. With the Council gone, Shang could finally go wherever he wanted in the Skythunder Kingdom. He could fight all the different beasts. He could search for his own ore. He could train whatever he wanted. And if he ever needed to train against a Mage, he could simply attack the Magic Purity Kingdom. This was a paradise for Shang. He was free topletely focus on himself with nearly no restrictions. He now had 100 years of free training in front of him, but after that, he would need to enter the outside world. Relon collected both contracts, created a copy each, gave the copies to Shang and Jerald, and pocketed the originals. ¡°Wee to my team, Jerald, Shang," Relon said with a polite smile. "Let''s wish for a good century!" "Thank you, Relon," Jerald said with his own polite smile. They had only talked for a bit, but Relon was already much happier with Jerald than he had ever been with Agon. "If you need anything, just ask me. | can also help you with questions regarding understanding Concepts, but please keep these kinds of questions to a minimum. | also have to work," Relon said. "Thank you. | will," Jerald answered. ¡°Now, since you''ve signed the contract, it''s time to give you your basic equipment," Relon said. Shang''s and Jerald''s eyes shone. They had read about that in the contract, and they looked forward to it very much. Two books appeared in Relon''s hand, and they floated over to Jerald and Shang. Jerald and Shang looked at them with burning eyes. This was the Star Map for bing an Archmage and bing an Ancestral Mage! They had only had ess to the Star Map for bing a High Mage! Naturally, these Star Maps were forbidden from being given to the public. They weren''t sure how expensive these Star Maps were in the outside world, but they expected that they cost a lot. After all, these Star Maps were extremely valuable to High Mages and Archmages. Sadly, there was no Star Map for warriors, but that didn''t mean that the Star Map for Mages was useless to Shang. Shang wasn''t sure how to proceed from now on, and the Star Map of the Mages might give him some ideas. After handing over the two Star Maps, Relon summoned a Communication Crystal and gave it to Jerald. This Communication Crystal could contact the other Assistant Supervisors and the Supervisor, but only Jerald was allowed to use it. It was strange to think about the fact that Agon had probably chatted with the Magic Purity King casually while their Kingdoms were at war. Lastly, Relon took out two more books. This was a guide for all manners of ore, herbs, beasts, and treasures in general. This would make it easier for them to make use of all the things in their Kingdom. It was almost like the Lightning Manor wanted them to harvest the entirend. ¡°And that should be it," Relon said. "Agon, please show them the portal to the meeting ceter. They''re going to need it in three months." "Sure," Agon said with boredom. Relon only snorted at Agon''s bored answer. Then, he nodded at Jerald and Shang. "Just call me if you need anything." "| will, thank you," Jerald said. Then, Relon turned into a lightning bolt and shot into the distance. Jerald and Shang were now officially working for the Lightning Manor. Chapter 513 Chapter 513 Relon left, leaving Agon, Jerald, and Shang alone. ¡°Well then,¡± Agon said. "You won the civil war today, and | think it''s time for you and your forces to contribute to the defense of the Skythunder Kingdom.¡± Jerald and Shang nodded. They knew that they now had to defend against the Magic Purity Kingdom with a severely weakened Skythunder Kingdom. Nearly all the Late and Peak High Mages had died, and the Kingdom had even lost nearly 30 Mid High Mages, which represented 60% of the Mid High Mages they had before the war. The Skythunder Kingdom had probably lost over 50% of its entire power in this war, making it very difficult to defend against the Magic Purity Kingdom. ¡°What would be the best way to do that?" Shang asked. Agon only snorted. "That''s not my problem. You guys were the ones to get the Skythunder Kingdom into this mess, and it''s your job to get it out of it.¡± Sadly, Agon was right. ¡°How long until your shift ends?" Jerald asked. "Should be four months," Agon answered. "We will have a meeting in three months so that everyone can get acquainted with each other. A month after that, we are going to stage the big battle and leave." "So, we have to survive for four months," Jerald said. "Do you think all your problems will be resolved when the old Assistant Supervisors leave?" Agon asked with a smirk. "Yes," Jerald answered, surprising Agon a bit. "Oh?" Agon said. "That sounds interesting." ¡°Anyway,¡± Agon continued, "For today, you have won the civil war, and your people probably want to party for the day. | think this is a good time to make it official." Then, Agon walked towards Jerald''s group while Shang and Jerald followed him. When they arrived, Jerald''s people released a sigh of relief. Jerald and Shang were still alive. They had feared that King Skythunder would kill the two of them. "Everyone," Agon spoke loudly as everyone listened, "You have fought a great battle today, and all the warriors are no longer being suppressed by the Council. You have all achieved the freedom and status you wanted." The warriors grew excited when they heard that. Hearing something like thise from King Skythunder''s mouth made everything so much more real. ¡°Let''s all go back to my castle. You can all celebrate there for the day," Agon announced. The warriors and Mages almost couldn''t believe it. They were allowed to celebrate inside King Skythunder''s castle?! Only very few people in the Kingdom had been allowed to go there, and now, they could celebrate in the most sacred ce in the Skythunder Kingdom?! ¡°Let''s go," Agon said before he started to walk northwards casually. "You all earned it," Jerald said with a warm smile. "I''m lucky to have such strong, loyal, and capable people helping me." The people cheered, and everyone followed King Skythunder toward his castle. They passed through the Adamantite Behemoth Zone, the Thunder Horse Zone and eventually reached the Skythunder Zone. When the warriors saw the gigantic skeleton that was King Skythunder''s castle, they felt humbled.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. They could feel that this skeleton came from a beast that was beyond powerful. When Shang saw the skeleton again, he remembered the first time he had seen it. ¡®Back then, | wasn''t sure who killed the Zone Beast below the Storm Eagle Zone.¡¯ The image of Relon shot through his mind. ¡®Now, | know." This powerful Zone Beast had probably made too much trouble, making it difficult for the humans to settle there. Because of that, the Supervisor at the time got rid of it. ¡°How powerful is Relon?" Shang asked Agon via voice transmission. ¡°Not sure," Agon answered, "but | think he should be in thete Ancestral Mage Realm, more or less. Supervisors must be more powerful than every beast inside their Area.¡± ¡®Late Ancestral Mage Realm,¡¯ Shang thought with a deep breath. ''He''s probably an entire Realm above Agon, and Agon is already impossibly powerful." The more powerful Shang became, the more powerful Agon felt to him. It was like there was no end to Agon''s power. ¡°And you?" Shang asked. Agon chuckled a bit. "Quite bold of you to ask me such a question.¡± ¡°| mean," Shang answered, "we are on a first-name basis now, and you said you had enough of all of this bowing shit." Agon snorted. "You''re right. | guess old habits die hard." "I''m at the Late Archmage Realm." Even though Shang had expected something like that, he was still surprised. The true level of all the Kings was a mystery to everyone. Most people believed that the Kings were in the Initial or Early Archmage Realm. Yet, Agon was at the Late Archmage Realm. No wonder he felt that powerful to Shang. ¡°What about the others?" Shang asked. "They''re all weaker than me," Agon answered with a smirk. "The old man in the Magic Purity Kingdom is at the Mid Archmage Realm, but | know two level three Concepts while he only knows one.¡± Now, this surprised Shang a lot! Level three Concepts were necessary to reach the Ancestral Mage Realm, but both of them already knew these Concepts while not even being Peak Archmages. Even more, Agon knew two! Then, Shang realized why it was like that. The pay. The Kings could harvest resources from Archbeasts and Ancestral Beasts without anypetition from other Mages. They were essentially drowning in the resources that they needed to advance. The two of them stopped talking after that, and everyone traveled toward the huge castle in the middle of the Skythunder Zone. All the warriors and Mages felt wonder as they entered the gigantic castle. Yet, when they saw the cave-like throne room, they became a bit surprised. The throne room did not look as they had expected. Agon slowly went up to his throne and sat down. Amomentter, the Archduke, Miriam, also appeared inside the throne room with a smile. The warriors and Mages were a bit apprehensive about Miriam''s presence. After all, they didn''t know if she was involved in suppressing the warriors or not. "You don''t need to worry," Jerald told his people. "The Archduke has remained neutral just like King Skythunder." The warriors and Mages calmed down, and the good mood returned. "Did you bring the stuff, Miriam?" Agon asked. Miriam''s smile widened. SHING! Then, a huge assortment of expensive food and beverages appeared in the hall. Obviously, none of the present people needed to eat, but it was still fun to eat sometimes. Several sses of wine flew to the Mages while several sses of mead flew toward the warriors. Agon himself took a ss of mead. Then, he lifted his ss, and everyone else followed. "To a bright future and prosperous coboration between the warriors and Mages!" Agon shouted. "Hey!" everyone shouted. Then, everyone downed their drinks. After everyone drank, Agon stood up and cracked his knuckles and neck. Agrin appeared on his face, and he looked at some of the warriors. "Let''s start this celebration with some blood!" "Who wants to brawl with me?!" he shouted. Silence. The people only looked with shock at King Skythunder. Nearly no one of the present people had seen him before, and they were shocked by his conduct. Miriam only smiled helplessly. Chapter 514 Chapter 514 After an awkward couple of seconds, Mervin stepped forward with a smile and lifted his fists. Agon and Mervin fought for a while, but Agon lost due to Mervin''s experience, even though Agon had a more powerful body. When everyone saw Agon''s bloodied but grinning face, the atmosphere changed. "Who''s next?!" Agon shouted at everyone. After that, the party actually got going.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. More warriors stepped forward to brawl with Agon. Agon won several fights, but he also lost a couple of them. As time passed, people even started to bet andment on the fights whileughing loudly. Instead of some official celebration, everything turned into a degenerate brawling fest like in a normal bar. And the warriors loved it. When Agon saw the warriors argue with each other about who got to fight King Skythunder next, he could only grin. He preferred this casual and rough environment way more than the uptight environment when only Mages were present. Shang only watched everything from the sidelines. Or, that was what his original n had been. Instead of leaving Shang alone, the warriors and Mages joined him and roped him into several conversations. Jerald spent most of his time talking to Miriam, Sylvia, and everyone else. He wasn''t one for brawls. Everyone partied through the day and night, and when the next day arrived, the atmosphere around Agon changed. "| know that you all want to continue, and | want to do so as well, but we have a Kingdom to defeat," he said. The mood in the castle immediately turned serious. Even though the civil war was won, everyone still knew that there was an actual war going on. The Magic Purity Kingdom would soon attack again. After a night of partying, it was now time for the official business. "| hereby announce that Duke Whirlwind will now assume the mantle of Advisor. His authority will be on the same level as the Archduke," Agon announced. Jerald stepped forward and bowed to King Skythunder. This was an official deration, and Jerald had to act the part. "Count Sword will now assume the mantle of Duke Sword," Agon announced after that. Shang also bowed. "As your first order, Advisor Whirlwind, | want you to deal with the Magic Purity Kingdom," Agon said. "| will, my King," Jerald answered. After that, Jerald started to give different orders, but instead of only giving them, he also exined why he was giving them and what his reasoning was. He also told them that he had a n for the future but that it would take a couple of months of preparation until it would work. Everyone would only need to defend the frontlines for a couple of months. After that, things should get easier. Jerald also told them that he would help on the frontlines. Usually, Jerald would be forbidden from interfering in the war due to his new position of Assistant Supervisor, but his employment would only truly start when the old Assistant Supervisor left. That meant that, for the next four months, Jerald could still get involved in the war himself. After handling the matters regarding the frontlines, Jerald gave orders regarding cleansing the Skythunder Kingdom. The entire Skythunder Kingdom now belonged to him, and it was time to clean the Skythunder Kingdom of the True Mages that had suppressed the warriors in the past. All of Jerald''s Inquisitors now had to work overtime to read the minds of all the True Mages in the Kingdom, which would take a long time. Additionally, there were still about 100 High Mages left, who were all stationed at the frontlines. But for their services in defending the Skythunder Kingdom, Jerald decided to pardon their actions. The people that were currently stationed at the frontlines were mostly people that were basically always stationed there. These were the most stalwart defenders of the Skythunder Kingdom, and they had protected the Skythunder Kingdom for decades. These kinds of people rarely got involved in internal politics. Their entire job was to defend the Skythunder Kingdom, and they weren''t picky when it came to who helped them in fulfilling their duties. They didn''t care if their frontline was filled with warriors or Mages. As long as these people were powerful, these High Mages would be happy. On this day, everyone moved out. On their way to the frontlines, the warriors and High Mages also informed all the cities and towns they passed by about Jerald''s victory over the Council. Amore official announcement would arriveter in the day. The Skythunder Kingdom was in an uproar. The revolution against the Council had actually been a sess! The Council was no more! Shang was also sent to the frontlines. Sadly, Jerald didn''t have the time to create another set of armor for him, which meant that he wasn''t as powerful as in the civil war, but he was still extremely powerful. Shang knew that he would need to stabilize the frontlines over the next couple of months. Jerald had already told him about his n, and if it seeded, Shang would be able to rx most of the time. There was still a bit of work to do before Shang could return to increasing his power. When the warriors arrived at the frontlines, the people were concerned. The fact that the warriors were now at the frontlines again meant that Jerald had won, but that also meant that a huge chunk of the High Mages had been killed. But, on the other hand, this also meant that the Kingdom would be more stable internally. They could now focus all their power on defending against the Magic Purity Kingdom. Acouple of hourster, the official announcement was printed and distributed across the Kingdom, and there was one part of the announcement that put the people of the Skythunder Kingdom into an uproar. All the citizens were ordered to retreat from the western Skythunder Kingdom. The western Skythunder Kingdom would be abandoned. 50% of the Skythunder Kingdom would be abandoned. The reason was simple. The Skythunder Kingdom didn''t have the power to defend such arge territory. They had to consolidate their forces so that they could defend the original Skythunder Kingdom. The people had seven days to evacuate, and Jerald would personally defend most of the western borders for this timeframe. At the same time, all the Inquisitors traveled through thends, gathering all the True Mages and reading their minds. As soon as Jerald had taken control of the Skythunder Kingdom, the lives of the citizens drastically changed. Massive amounts of True Mages were killed. 50% of the poption lost their home. The first couple of days after Jerald took control of the Kingdom were the most horrible days for the citizens. Sadly, this was the only way to protect the Skythunder Kingdom. They had to get rid of the Mages that believed in the philosophy of the Council, and they had to abandon the western Skythunder Kingdom to ensure its survival. It was horrible for every single citizen, but all of this was necessary to preserve the Skythunder Kingdom. During the first day, Jerald had be more hated than the Council had ever been. Sadly, that was the price Jerald had to pay for his revolution. Chapter 515 Chapter 515 While the next couple of days were filled with panic, rage, and torture for the normal citizens, the frontline had a rare moment of peace. The Magic Purity Kingdom was still trying to recover from the sudden assault the Skythunder Kingdom hadunched two days ago. But everyone knew that the Magic Purity Kingdom would strike very soon with a vengeance. Jerald had gone to the western Skythunder Kingdom and readied himself to defend the border from any attack. Sylvia and Shang went on standby in the middle of the northern border. And then, everyone waited. Two days passed. ¡°Attack on the Starkwhite Serpent Zone!" Shang looked at his Communication Crystal after he received that message. He put the Communication Crystal away and sted into the sky with his Saber. Shang decided that he should act in ordance with Humanity from now on and only use his Great Sword and Saber States. Humanity gave the other people the impression that he had a Temperature Affinity, which was made of Fire and Ice Affinities. The assault happened two Zones over, and Shang took nearly two minutes to get there. Sadly, everyone knew how rapidly these battles happened in the Fourth Realm. The battle would already be over before Shang got there. However, the defending forces of the Skythunder Kingdom had gotten explicit instructions on how to fight the war in the next couple of months. Due to the current weakness of the Skythunder Kingdom, the wars had to be fought differently. The High Mages were supposed to enter a one-on-one duel with the enemy High Mages while retreating from the frontline. The battle between the soldiers would end very quickly, but if two Mages of simr power dueled with each other, the battles would take forever. Usually, as soon as one of the armies won, the winning army would support their High Mage in taking down the enemy High Mage in a very short amount of time. While a duel between two High Mages could take hours, as soon as some external force was introduced, the battle could end in seconds. Because of that, the High Mages were instructed to explicitly only fight in one on one duels while retreating from the other soldiers. They had to buy time. As Shang sted through the sky, his Spirit Sense picked up the fight. Two Initial High Mages were chasing an Initial High Mage from the Skythunder Kingdom. The Mage of the Skythunder Kingdom was nearly out of Mana due to all the Mana Steps he had to use. They were fighting 20 kilometers away from the frontline, in the middle of the Starkwhite Serpent Zone. Shang homed in on the battle and sted toward them. As soon as he entered everyone''s Spirit Sense, the two Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom threw a nce at him. Initial True Path Stage. Shouldn''t be a problem. If they had more time to inspect Shang, they might have felt the unreal sense of threat he gave off, but they were too busy trying to kill the High Mage. They only threw him a cursory nce before focusing on the Mage again. Shang pulled his Saber back... And then, his assault began. Shang started to shoot Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns while sting through the air toward them, and the eyes of the Mages immediately widened. That was an insane assault! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang''s attacksnded on their Mana Shields, and the two Mages were soon forced to use Mana Step. Shang chased them while releasing more and more attacks while the Mages kept retreating with Mana Step. Eventually, they retreated so much that they were close to the frontlines again. Shang''s brows furrowed when he saw 50 True Mages from the Magic Purity Kingdom readying Spells to support their High Mages. This meant that every Commander Stage warrior and True Mage on the Skythunder Kingdom''s side had been killed. In an instant, Shang was assaulted by an avnche of Spells. However, his speed was simply too fast, and he was too agile in the air. The High Mages realized with horror that their army couldn''t do anything against that warrior. But instead of retreating even more, they decided to release their own Spells. They were already nearly out of Mana due to all the Mana Steps they had used in thest couple of seconds, and they knew that they wouldn''t be able to retreat.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Shang kept focusing on the High Mages as the sky around him exploded with one destructive Spell after the other. CRACK! Shang broke through one of their Mana Shields and immediately incinerated the Mage. Then, he focused all his power on the other Mage. That Mage also died very quickly. When the Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom saw that, their faces whitened. They all immediately used Mana Step to retreat, but their Mana Steps barely took them 100 to 500 meters away, depending on their level. That wasn''t nearly fast enough to retreat. Shang shot one Shooting Star at each Mage, and in just three seconds, all of them died. It was a massacre. "| dealt with everything. Keep watch over this area. If anyone shows up, inform Commander Mervin," Shang told the Mage he had just saved via voice transmission. These Mages weren''t allowed to contact Shang directly. The reason for that was that they only knew about the state of their assigned area and didn''t know about the state of all the other areas. If Shang went to a battlefield where he wasn''t desperately needed because the resident High Mage called him, he might not arrive in time for a more critical battle. Because of that, Mervin was coordinating everything and telling Shang where to go. ¡°Understood. Thank you, Duke Sword," the Mage said with a respectful bow. Shang nodded, sted towards the south again, and took out his Communication Crystal. "Starkwhite Serpent Zone has been dealt with," Shang said. "There are four other assaults happening right now," Mervin answered. "One even includes a Mid High Mage, but Sylvia is currently dealing with that." "What about the other three?" Shang asked. "We should have the upper hand in those battles. | think it would be better for you to wait." Shang nodded. "A fifth one!" Mervin suddenly shouted. "Two Early High Mages have attacked a border with only two Initial High Mages!" Shang frowned. This was bad. The two Initial High Mages would already be dead before Shang could arrive. "Where?" Chapter 516 Chapter 516 Shang sted towards his next target, but on his way there, he contacted Mervin again. Shang was quite sure that the two Early High Mages wouldn''t directly invade the Skythunder Kingdom but split up as soon as they crossed the border and attack the neighboring two borders from behind. Mervin said that he also suspected that, but he didn¡¯t want Shang to be too conspicuous. If they lost a border, it was still fine. However, if Shang kept going from border to border in one straight line, the Magic Purity Kingdom would know where he would strike next and stage an ambush. Without his Augmenting Spells, Shang might die if two Mid High Mages assaulted him at once. After listening to Mervin, Shang shared a n he had with him. Mervin wasn''t the biggest fan of the n. It was a risk, but it could pay off in a big way. ¡°Well, you''re a Duke now, which means | technically have to listen to your orders," Mervin said with a slight chuckle. "If you want to do it, sure." "Thanks, Mervin,¡± Shang answered. Shang hadn''t stopped sting through the sky as he talked with Mervin. In the Peak Commander Stage, Shang hadn''t been able to st through the sky without pause, but everything changed as soon as he entered the True Path Stage. His body had been reforged with his Path, which included his Ice and Fire Affinity. The strain on his body wasn''t nearly as much as it had been back then, which meant that Shang could st through the air indefinitely. This method of flying was also faster and less draining than the Weapon Flying Technique. 30 secondster, Shang arrived at one frontline in the middle of the north. No one had attacked yet. Shang''s wide Spirit Sense inspected the border of the Magic Purity Kingdom. Two Initial High Mages. The border of the Skythunder Kingdom was defended by an Early High Mage, which meant that the Magic Purity Kingdom probably didn''t intend to attack this one. Shang could decimate the Magic Purity Kingdom''s border, but that would move the Magic Purity Kingdom to attack with even more ferocity, which was not something the current Skythunder Kingdom wanted. So, Shang just continued to the next one. Half a minuteter, he arrived at the next one. The Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom were currently gathering and preparing for an assault. This was obviously outside the enemy''s Spirit Sense, but Shang''s Spirit Sense was unnaturally big, which was how he found out. Shang informed Mervin, who decided to redirect the Early High Mage from the border Shang had just passed by to go there. It was risky since the other border would now have no one in the Fourth Realm protecting it, but the Skythunder Kingdom had to do these risky maneuvers since they simplycked the manpower to support one border withoutpromising another. 30 secondster, Shang arrived at the next border. He saw that two Initial High Mages were preparing to assault this border as well, but that wasn''t surprising. After all, this was the border beside the one where the two Early High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom had broken through. They were only waiting for their colleague to attack. Shang stopped on top of a mountain west of the border. He already saw the Early High Mage charging towards this ce from the west. A minute passed. The Early High Mage was now only eight kilometers away from the border.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. At that moment, the Magic Purity Kingdom''s borderunched its attack. Two Initial High Mages were attacking with 100 True Mages. As the Mages entered the Spirit Sense of the two defending Initial High Mages, the Skythunder Kingdom''s border also readied for battle. Shang sted into the sky again. Then, he looked at one of the enemy Initial High Mages. WHOOOM! His Saber burst into ck mes, and he pulled it back. And then, he threw it. The eyes of the Mages widened when they suddenly saw an impossibly fast ck streak shoot toward one of them. BANG! Star Shatter immediately killed one of them. For a second, the assault paused. Then, everyone saw the sword fly away again, towards the Skythunder Kingdom. The remaining High Mage immediately took out a Communication Crystal and informed the Magic Purity Kingdom about it. Then, the army retreated. At the same time, Shang saw the Early High Mage stop. He hadn''t entered the Spirit Sense range of the High Mages of the Skythunder Kingdom yet, which meant that the Skythunder Kingdom shouldn''t know that he had been ready to attack the same border just now. In these two seconds, Sword came back to Shang, and he summoned some ore. BANG! Shang sted towards the Early High Mage while Sword returned to its Saber State. When Shang entered the range of the Early High Mage''s Spirit Sense, the Early High Mage did something unforeseen. SHING! He used Mana Step, but this wasn''t just any Mana Step. This was the Magic Purity Kingdom''s special Mana Step. This special kind of Mana Step was one of the advantages the Magic Purity Kingdom had gotten from the Lightning Manor so that they had a shot at fighting all the other Kingdoms alone. Sadly, it was impossible for the Skythunder Kingdom to find out how this Mana Step worked. Whenever they tried to read the mind of a High Mage of the Magic Purity Kingdom, the High Mage would simply die. This was also a present of the Lightning Manor. This made it impossible to learn this special Mana Step. And traitors basically didn''t exist amongst the Magic Purity Kingdom. They were all too indoctrinated to hate everything that didn''t follow a purely magical Path. So, what did this special Mana Step do? As soon as the High Mage used it, he shot a kilometer into the sky. Yes, this special Mana Step could be used to move vertically. But the tradeoff was that it cost around double as much Mana as the normal Mana Step, which was also why the Magic Purity Kingdom didn''t use this Mana Step to attack the Skythunder Kingdom. The frontlines were mostly set up between gigantic mountains, making it very difficult to climb over them without being noticed. The High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom could theoretically use two Mana Steps to gain enough height to get past the mountains and then use another five to enter the Skythunder Kingdom, but that would cost them nearly 80% of their Mana. They would essentially be severely weakened as soon as they arrived in enemy territory, which wasn''t a good thing for them. SHING! The Mage used another Mana Step to gain more height. ¡®But it''s quite useful for retreating,¡¯ Shang thought. WHOOOM! Shang''s Saber caught on fire again, and he threw it. SHING! SHING! The Mage used two quick Mana Steps before he noticed Star Shatter. SHING! He changed his angle and used Mana Step again to avoid Star Shatter. Shang only smirked. Sword could also change its trajectory. The Early High Mage felt safe for a second. CRACK! Star Shatter broke through the weakened Mana Shield and killed the High Mage. This kind of retreat was useful against other Mages, but it didn''t work for Shang. In fact, his opponent only weakened themselves unnecessarily while using this kind of Mana Step in front of Shang. As soon as the Mage died, Sword returned, and Shang gave it more ore. Then, Shang continued sting towards the west with his Saber. Chapter 517 Chapter 517 Shang continued towards the west after killing the Early High Mage. The Magic Purity Kingdom now knew about Shang. However, Shang didn''t change his n. After all, he wanted them toe after him. In a couple of seconds, Shang reached the next border. Surprisingly, the border was not being attacked right now. In fact, Shang could see an Early High Mage retreat further into the Magic Purity Kingdom. Just like thest one, this one used the special Mana Step to retreat to the Magic Purity Kingdom. The only difference was that this one seeded since Shang wasn''t there. They knew that they couldn''t kill Shang with only a couple of Early High Mages and Initial High Mages. Attacking this border would be suicide. Shang continued further to the west and arrived at the next border half a minuteter. This time, Shang decided to stop again since he saw three Early High Mages ready for an assault, even though this border only had a single Initial High Mage defending it. ¡®Guess that''s their first attempt at dealing with me. They know that | killed an Early High Mage pretty quickly, but they still refuse to believe that a mere warrior can be this powerful,¡¯ Shang thought. After a while of waiting, the three Early High Mages attacked. Shang''s right eye narrowed as he readied his Saber. BANG! He immediately sted towards the three Early High Mages,unching Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns. In the beginning, the Mages were not very surprised. After all, they had heard that this warrior was very powerful. However, the sheer offensive power of Shang''s assault surprised them, and it got even worse when Shang showed no sign of stopping. His Shooting Stars were so fast that it was nearly impossible for the Mages to defend against them. They could only barely hold on by parrying Shang''s ranged attacks with their forcefields. However, that meant that only their Foci could cast Spells, and Shang was also fast enough to avoid those attacks. The most terrifying aspect of Shang''s power in the Saber State was that he could rapidly move around while unleashing such terrifying power. Mages couldn''t do that. On his own, Shang was locking down three Early High Mages, not giving them a chance to retaliate but also not injuring them. BOOOOOM! At that moment, over 20 of the Magic Purity Kingdom''s True Mages died. The Initial High Mage of the Skythunder Kingdom was attacking them! The Early High Mages realized that this would be troublesome, and they decided to attack the Initial High Mage with their Foci. However, the Initial High Mage already knew that this would happen and remained at a distance, giving them enough time to evade. Shang noticed that the Mages grew desperate. He could keep them locked down, but he couldn''t keep their Foci locked down. Shang gave some orders, and the people of the Skythunder Kingdom retreated. He wouldn''t allow the three Mages to target the Skythunder Kingdom during their fight. Acouple of seconds passed, and then Shang noticed something enter his Spirit Sense. Shang''s right eye shone. BANG! Shang sted directly at the Mages. There was no longer any need to buy time. The Mages had been able to deal with Shang''s attacks when he had been two to three kilometers away, but as soon as Shang came within a kilometer of them, they couldn''t parry the attacks anymore. The Mages tried to use their Foci to hit Shang up close, but he was just too agile and fast! SHING! SHING! SHING! The three Mages used Mana Step to split apart from each other. Shang was now forced to attack one of them if he actually wanted to hit them since the distance had now grown again. Shang only narrowed his right eye. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shangpletely stopped attacking two of them and shot all his attacks at only one of them. The Mage''s face whitened, and they used Mana Step to retreat, but Shang just followed them. The other two Mages could now cast Spells again, which nearly tripled their attacking speed from how it had been previously. Yet, Shang still kept dodging most of the Spells, and the ones he didn''t dodge, he dealt with by throwing a Shooting Star at them. The Mages grew more panicked, and a secondter... CRACK! The Mage Shang had focused on died. BANG! Shang immediately charged at the other two Mages. The Mages used several Mana Steps, but that would only buy them some more time... And that was exactly what they wanted. Suddenly, Shang''s brows furrowed, and he sted away from one of the Mages. BOOOOOOOM! Aterrifying explosion appeared at the ce where he had just been, but Shang wasn''t safe yet, and he sted away again. BOOOOOOM! Astorm of ice erupted on the ce where Shang had just retreated to. The two Early High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom released sighs of relief as they looked at the new arrivals. Two Mid High Mages from the Magic Purity Kingdom had appeared. They were intent on killing Shang today. Shang looked at the two Mid High Mages with a narrowed right eye. If he had his armor, he might be able to win, but without his armor, it was too risky. Their Spells were too fast to evade from close range, and Shang wouldn''t be able to injure them from a distance in his Saber State. The two Mages continued releasing more Spells, and Shang kept retreating in the air. SHING! SHING! They closed the distance to Shang by using two Mana Steps. From this distance, it would be difficult for Shang to avoid their Spells. "Careful!" One of the Mid High Mages opened his eyes wide as he heard one of the Early High Mages shout at him. An instantter, he saw why the Early High Mage had warned him. But it was already toote. CRACK! BANG! CRACK! Two holes opened up in the Mid High Mage''s Mana Shield, and his head was transformed into an icy, bloody mist. SHING! SHING! In an instant, a new person appeared just 500 meters away from the other Mid High Mage after using two consecutive Mana Steps. Aterrifyingly powerful icy needle hovered above the new person, and it was pointing right at the Mid High Mage. Sylvia only smirked. CRACK! BANG! CRACK! Eternalfrost killed the second Mid High Mage. The power of this Spell was just too much for a Mid High Mage to defend against. BANG! BANG! BANG! While Sylvia killed the second Mid High Mage, Shang focused on one of the Early High Mages again, not giving them a chance to retreat. The other Early High Mage became terrified and used several Mana Steps to retreat. "Bet | can hit him from here?" Sylvia transmitted to Shang as she readied another Eternalfrost. "Can you? He''s pretty far away," Shang answered. ¡°Just watch," Sylvia answered with a confident smile. BANG! Eternalfrost shot into the distance. The Early High Mage became horrified as he saw the powerful Spell approach him. He used one more Mana Step. Suddenly, an earthen tendril came out of the ice needle, redirecting it to the Mage''s new position. The Mage''s eyes widened. CRACK! His Mana Shield blew apart. However, the needle had missed him, hitting the ground just behind him. ¡°Well, you got his Mana Shield," Shang transmitted to Sylvia. Sylvia only extended her right hand with a smirk. Then, she snapped. BANG! The icy needle exploded into a storm of ice. Without the Mana Shield, the Early High Mage basically had no defense, and he died. At the same time, Shang killed the other Early High Mage. "See? | got him," Sylvia transmitted to Shang. "You still missed him," Shang answered. "He died to my Spell! How can you say that | missed him?!" Sylvia asked with annoyance. "Eh, maybe," Shang answered. "Anyway, we don''t have time for that." BANG! Then, Shang sted away.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Sylvia only snorted. "Sore loser." Chapter 518 Chapter 518 Shang kept traveling to the west, but surprisingly, the next four frontlines were not being assaulted. Shang even saw some of the more powerful High Mages retreat. It seemed like the assault for the day was over, but the Skythunder Kingdom had still lost over ten High Mages. But the Magic Purity Kingdom lost even more. With Shang and Sylvia''s involvement, over 30 High Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom died. Luckily, the Magic Purity Kingdom didn''t take prisoners and killed everyone from any other Kingdom on sight. This meant that they didn''t know that the Skythunder Kingdom was severely weakened right now. They probably believed that the Council was readying themselves for a devastating counterattack, making the Magic Purity Kingdom go on the defensive. "Shang, Jerald''s Communication Crystal is deactivated!" Mervin told Shang via his Communication Crystal. "Deactivated?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. He knew what that meant. If Jerald were dead, his Communication Crystal would say that the Mage it belonged to wasn''t present. However, if it were deactivated, it meant that Jerald deactivated it manually. That could only mean one thing. Jerald was fighting someone extremely powerful and couldn''t afford to be distracted. This was more than shocking since not even Susan would be powerful enough to make Jerald deactivate his Communication Crystal. This meant that Jerald was fighting someone that was about as powerful as him. "Yes, it has been deactivated for more than a minute by now!" Mervin told Shang. "Where is he?" Shang asked. The Communication Crystals also continuously transmitted the location of their owner, and Mervin knew where Jerald was. Mervin gave Shang Jerald''s coordinates, and Shang quickly sted towards the west. It would take Shang several minutes to get there since Jerald was so far to the west. Even more, there was no one else present to quickly reach Jerald. For the next couple of minutes, Shang kept asking Mervin if Jerald''s Communication Crystal was still deactivated, and Mervin said that it was. This meant the fight was still going on. After around seven minutes, Shang finally saw Jerald in his Spirit Sense. BOOOOM! BOOOOM! Ahumongous storm cloud was above Jerald, releasing several strikes of green lightning at his opponent. Just like Jerald, the Mage of the Magic Purity Kingdom could fly in the sky, but inparison to Jerald, he was flying in a simr way to Shang. Several small explosions of fire kept the Mage airborne, and the explosions even allowed the Mage to dodge most of Jerald''s Spells without using Mana Step. AMage that could avoid enemy Spells without using Mana Step was a terrifying concept. This gave them a huge advantage in terms of Mana. Jerald wasn''t as agile in the air. He could fly with a lot of speed, but the eleration of his flight wasn''t fast enough to dodge the Spells of another Peak High Mage. BANG! One of Jerald''s lightning bolts was stopped by a huge hand ofva. When Shang saw that hand ofva, his right eye narrowed. He had already learned the new Star Maps for High Mages and Archmages, and he had learned about all the different Concepts that were avable. This was a Complex Level Two Concept made of Fire, Earth, and Water Affinities. It was called the Concept of Cinder. Cinder was essentially a weaker version of the Concept of Lava, which was only essible to powerful Archmages since it was a Complex Level Three Concept. This meant that Jerald''s opponent had a Concept on the same level as Jerald''s Concept of Summer Drizzle. This opponent was beyond powerful. Shang hadn''t even been able to win against Susan with the help of his Augmenting Spells, and this person was even more powerful than her. When Shang saw the power of this Mage, he knew that he couldn''t get involved in the fight. Joining the fight might result in Jerald getting distracted since he cared about Shang. The person fighting Jerald was a young man with red hair, wearing crimson red robes. BANG! A fast bolt of burning earth strafed Jerald''s Mana Shield. BANG! A huge bolt of lightning destroyed one of the huge hands ofva. The enemy Mage was sting to the side while condensing a new hand, Jerald continuing to attack him. The more Shang watched, the more suspicious he grew. The Magic Purity Kingdom should have had enough time to send reinforcements to this ce, but this Mage was the only person here from the Magic Purity Kingdom. Was this some kind of ego thing? Did the Mage want to win on his own? Then, Shang noticed something else. At that moment, Shang''s right eye widened in surprise. But after an instant, a smirk appeared on his face. His eye focused on the Mage. And then, he sent a voice transmission. "No, the new Soma Universe isn''t out yet." At that moment, the Mage''s eyes widened in shock. For just a single instant, he stopped moving. BOOOOOOM! A humongous lightning bolt hit the Mage in the chest, the fire on his robes vanishing. An instantter, the Mage''s robes blew apart, and his chest received severe burns. BOOOOOOOM! The Mage''s body hit the ground with ridiculous force, creating a huge crater. Jerald readied the next Spell. "Wait!" Shang transmitted to Jerald. When Jerald heard Shang, his eyes widened in surprise. Shang was here? Jerald looked at Shang, conflict in his eyes. This opponent was too powerful to spare. Jerald might have lost the battle if the Mage hadn''t suddenly stopped attacking him. This was his only shot at getting rid of the Mage! Yet, Jerald also trusted Shang. Shang must have a good reason to tell him to stop. "| think he''s the new Assistant Supervisor of the Magic Purity Kingdom," Shang transmitted to Jerald. "I don''t think you are supposed to kill each other." At that moment, Jerald''s eyes widened. That actually made a lot of sense! ¡°But then, why did he attack me?" Jerald asked. "Because he''s an idiot that loves fighting. He probably wanted to test the power of his new colleague." "| know him," Shang added. "He''s also from Earth." Jerald grew shocked, but then he remembered that fire Mage Shang had told him about. That was the fire Mage? BOOOOOM! The area around the fire Mage exploded, and he looked around with eyes burning with rage. Eventually, he saw Shang. "You!" the Mage transmitted with anger. "Stop throwing a tantrum," Shang transmitted back. "You used the same trick against me when | fought you in my Commander Stage trial." The fire in the Mage''s eyes vanished as shock reced it. "Wait, does that mean that | lost?" "Yes, you lost," Shang answered. The fire Mage looked at Shang, then at Jerald, and back at Shang again. Amomentter, all the fire vanished, and the fire Mage released a sigh. "This is not fair," hemented. "You started it," Shang answered. The fire Mage only groaned. Then, he let himself fall on his back as he looked at the sky with a groan. "This sucks!" Jerald only watched with a raised eyebrow.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org. He had just fought for his life, but the entire atmosphere had suddenly changed to this. "What''s your name?" the fire Mage asked Shang. "Shang," he answered. "Fuck you, Shang." "You ruined a great fight." "Hope you''re happy!" Chapter 519 Chapter 519 Shang and Jerald only looked at the fire Mage without amusement. During the fight, Jerald had already realized that this fire Mage was special. First of all, he hadn''t used Mana Shield, and second, he had spoken quite a bit during their battle, which was a bit unusual. "Why did you attack Jerald?" Shang asked the fire Mage. "Oh, so your name is Jerald, huh?" the Mage said as he looked at Jerald. "Name doesn''t sound familiar." "Okay, but why did you attack him?" Shang asked. "| wanted to see how powerful my new colleague would be," the Mage said. "So, you''re the new Assistant Supervisor of the Magic Purity Kingdom?" Shang asked. The fire Mage turned to Shang and furrowed his brows. "Are you his plus one?" m," Shang said. The fire Mage didn''t seem impressed. "| dunno. You seem a bit weak for such a position.¡±Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. "| still won against you in my trial," Shang said. "You did, huh?" the fire Mage said, looking away in disinterest. "| guess we don''t get to keep our memories if we fight. Speaking of, shouldn''t | be dead if | lost?" Shang furrowed his brows. "The enemies in the trial are not the real ones. Don''t you know that?" Shang asked. "They''re not?" the fire Mage asked with surprise. "Then how can we fight them?" "The God just makes copies," Shang said. At that moment, the Mage''s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he nced at Jerald. Jerald didn''t seem surprised. ¡°Wait, you told him about the God and the Trial?" the fire Mage asked. Shang only nodded. "Why?" the Mage asked in shock. "Why not?" Shang asked. "You''re not supposed to tell others!" the Mage said. "This is supposed to be a secret that only we know about!" "Says who?" Shang asked. ¡°Common sense says so!" the Mage shouted in annoyance. "Didn''t you watch any anime or read fantasy novels?! We are the isekai people, and our origins are supposed to remain a secret! We are the main characters!" Shang slowly blinked once. "What?" he asked in an annoyed and bored tone. ¡°Have you never heard of isekai?! What boring life did you live on Earth?!" the Mage shouted in annoyance. "| was a professional MMA fighter,¡± Shang said. "Shows and games were not my highest priority.¡± The fire Mage only snorted. "So, you were a normie, huh?" Shang slowly blinked once again. "Normie?" he asked with boredom. ¡°You know, like a normal person. Someone that goes outside, does sports, has a job, has a family. That kind of stuff," the Mage said. "You didn''t have a job?" Shang asked with furrowed brows. ¡°Hell no!" the Mage shouted. "I''m not going to waste my life for some soulless international conglomerate that sucks out the souls of people to gain a profit.¡± Jerald only listened to the conversation with a confused, raised eyebrow. In Shang''s mind, the fire Mage''s previous persona from Earth was put into the loser category. But he definitely wasn''t weak in this life. ¡°By the way," the fire Mage added. "When did you actually fight me? That should''ve been quite a while back." ¡°Around 60 years ago in the Commander Stage trial," Shang said. The Mage''s face transformed into a mask of skepticism. "| was a Late High Mage 60 years ago." "So?" Shang asked. "What do you mean, so?" the Mage asked with annoyance. "How could we have fought?" Shang only looked with boredom at the Mage. "He''s a God," he slowly said with annoyance. "If he can already make copies of people, he can probably also make copies of past versions of people.¡± The Mage''s eyes widened in surprise and realization. "That actually makes a lot of sense." "Why are you so surprised about these things?" Shang asked. "You should''ve been in this world for much longer than me." "Yeah, and that''s why I''m surprised, you know?" the Mage added. "I know so much about Magic that these feats just seem that much more unrealistic. Tell some stupid guy from some isted ind that the world is t, and they believe you. Tell the same thing to a scientist, and they won''t believe you." "Wait, it isn''t t?" Jerald asked from the side as he looked around. "No, it..." the fire Mage answered, but he trailed off. Was this world t? He actually wasn''t sure. Earth wasn''t t, but this one? "Hard to tell,¡± the fire Mage said. "I can see very far, but everything just bes more blurry and blue the further away it is. It could be t, or it could be just a very, very big sphere." "Okay, stop," Shang said. "How did we arrive at this topic? What are you doing here?" "As I''ve said, | wanted to test the power of my new colleague," the fire Mage said. "Okay, cool, and what now?" Shang asked. The fire Mage rubbed the back of his neck. "| dunno.¡± "You don''t know?" Shang asked in annoyance. "Yeah, | just wanted to have a good fight. Guess I''ll just go back and work on my power a bit more. The fight highlighted some of my weaknesses," the fire Mage said. Shang slowly blinked once more. "Are you sure you have been here for such a long time? You act like | would imagine you to act on Earth." ¡°Of course | do!" the Mage answered with a snort. "Why would | change when my personality is already perfect?" Shang only kept looking at the Mage with annoyance. "Okay, bye," Shang said. Then, Shang flew over to Jerald to inform him about what had happened and to n for the next couple of days. Jerald kept listening to Shang and nodded a couple of times. "Hey!" the fire Mage suddenly said as he looked at the two of them with annoyance. "What?" Shang asked impatiently. "Don''t you want to know who | am?" the fire Mage asked. "No," Shang said. Then, Shang continued talking with Jerald. ¡°What do you mean with no!?" the Mage shouted. "We bothe from Earth!" "So?" Shang answered. "The version of me that has lived on Earth has already died. | have no more connection to that ce except for a couple of distant memories." ¡°How could you say something like that?" the Mage asked with a shocked voice. "Earth is where we came from!" "Okay, cool, can you go now?" Shang answered. "We have important things to discuss." The Mage couldn''tprehend how Shang didn''t care about these things. They both came from Earth! Why didn''t he care?! As he saw Jerald and Shang continue talking, the Mage''s face grew red in frustration. "My name is Charles Pendragon, and I''m-" "| don''t care!" Shang shouted more forcefully. "Go away!" Charles'' face only grew redder. He had such a cool name, but Shang just didn''t appreciate it! Charles only looked on as Shang and Jerald discussed their potential ns for the next day, as if Charles wasn''t even here. After a while, Charles only looked at the ground. Then, he turned around and silently left, going back to the Magic Purity Kingdom. For some reason, he was reminded of his life on Earth. Jerald and Shang barely noticed him leaving. Chapter 520 Chapter 520 After talking with Jerald for a while, Shang left again. From what Mervin had told him, the frequency of the assaults had decreased tremendously.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Shang and Mervin were in agreement that the Magic Purity Kingdom probably feared a counterattack from the Skythunder Kingdom with all their forces. Luckily, they didn''t know that what they had encountered today was basically all the avable forces the Skythunder Kingdom possessed. If the Magic Purity Kingdom knew of the civil war, they would have probably gathered the majority of their forces in one all-out attack. That would have proven to be devastating for the Skythunder Kingdom. Nevertheless, Shang remained on standby in case the Magic Purity Kingdomunched another assault. But when three days passed with only some unimportant skirmishes happening, Shang decided that he no longer needed to remain on standby. After all, Sylvia was also ready to intervene. Additionally, Jerald would soon return from the western Skythunder Kingdom. Most of the citizens of the western Skythunder Kingdom had already evacuated to the central Skythunder Kingdom. They didn''t do so willingly but because they had to. The Magic Purity Kingdom was infamous for its hatred of impure people. Every citizen and Mage that lived together with warriors was an enemy to the Magic Purity Kingdom. The Skythunder Kingdom became way more crowded, but there was still enough space for all the new citizens. They simply had to add one or two more towns per Zone, which wasn''t that much. Jerald''s Inquisitors were working overtime, and they had already executed over a thousand True Mages in the past couple of days. It was a bloodbath, and it weakened the Skythunder Kingdom. However, this would ensure longtime prosperity and unity. Jerald became extremely hated amongst the citizens, but there was nothing major they could do. The most they could do was to emigrate to the Spirit Spring Kingdom, and quite a bit of the citizens did so, but that wasn''t really that damaging to the Kingdom. Yes, citizens brought in taxes and business, but gold and normal goods had nearly zero impact on a Kingdom''s actual power. The True Path Stage resources were the most important things for a Kingdom''s power. As Shang left his position, his mind wandered away from the war and entered training mode. It had been quite a while since he had been able to train to his heart''s content, and even more, he could now train wherever he wanted in the Skythunder Kingdom. But before he actually started training, he had to think about a way to actually progress. Shang had talked a lot with many different True Path Stage warriors about how they were progressing in level, and he could only furrow his brows when he heard how they progressed. Or, more like, how they didn''t progress. The few Mid True Path Stage warriors had reached that level by strengthening their bodies. That was it. In the General Stage, the warriors had advanced by focusing on their Mana Maniption, which culminated in the creation of their Domain. Then, in the Commander Stage, they focused on refining their techniques and creating their Paths. During all of this, the strengthening of their bodies was only secondary. But now, the warriors were exclusively only strengthening their bodies by eating beast hearts. And the reason for that was obvious. No one knew what they should do to advance. They had already created their Paths. How were they supposed to refine their techniques even more when their bodies had already perfectly adapted to their Paths? They had already created incredibly powerful techniques bybining all their insights. They just couldn''t imagine a way to increase their proficiency in their techniques even more. Additionally, what would the creation of new techniques even bring? Sure, their Battle-Strength might increase by a bit, but their strength increased by way more if their body simply advanced another level. Of course, every warrior knew that this method of training only worked until they reached the Peak True Path Stage. After that, they would probably be stuck. Inparison to the warriors, the Mages knew exactly what to do. They wouldprehend more Concepts andbine them into more powerful Concepts. The warriors had already thought about doing that as well, but how would that even work? They had a Path that led to their chosen weapon. Were they supposed to learn another weapon and create another Path? And then what? Fuse the Paths? How would that even work? Additionally, their bodies wouldn''t even undergo the transformation they had undergone when they reached the True Path Stage the first time. Lastly, there should be a way to reach the next Realm without having toprehend multiple weapons. Shang was in a simr predicament. He didn''t know how to advance, but he also wasn''t sure if he should increase the power of his body. Increasing the power of the body definitely wouldn''t be a bad thing for a normal warrior. After all, the minor breakthroughs were not nearly as important as the major breakthroughs between Realms. Anormal warrior could just increase their body to the peak and then focus on finding a way to the next Realm. However, things were different for Shang. Shang knew that he had to create something that transformed his being in a vastly more powerful way than normal warriors. Maybe the keys to this particr transformation were the individual breakthroughs? Sure, they weren''t as important, but if Shang could transform himself a little bit per normal breakthrough, he might gain enough momentum to achieve a significant transformation when it was time to reach the Fifth Realm. ¡®A Path is just as the name suggests, a path,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®It must lead somewhere. The warriors have established their Paths, and now, they only have to walk it to the end." ¡®Just like with the Star Map for Mages, there must be something further along the Path that the warriors canprehend.¡¯ "Sadly, no one knows what this thing looks like or what it needs to get there." Shang imagined what it would look like to reach the next Realm for a normal warrior. Someone with a longsword might gain new powers or some kind of mystical aura. Maybe it would be simr to the condensation of a Domain? The control over one''s Mana was definitely important, but not nearly as important as for Mages. Maybe there was also some kind of more refined control over the body? What about control over the Mana in one''s body? There were so many ways. Shang could work on the Mana pathways inside his body. Maybe he could change them, make them wider, build upon them, or refine them? Shang could also work on his weapons. Just swing his swords a couple more times until he grew even more familiar with it? Maybe he could work on the maniption of his Mana in such a way that it increased its power even more? Maybe he had to get more familiar with the Mana in his surroundings to gain some sort of ability to borrow the power of thetent Mana in the atmosphere? Maybe he should concentrate onprehending a Concept and integrating it into his Path? Maybe he had to train to reach a certain state of mind that allowed a more intimate fusion with his weapon? There were so many possibilities, and Shang was sure that several of them would work. After all, the God had said that there were innumerable Paths to power, and depending on which method one used, one would tread a different Path. Physical fighters were already split into barbarians and warriors. What if that would only continue? Awarrior that integrated Mage Concepts might be a Magic Warrior. Awarrior that focused on the Mana in the surroundings might be some kind of Domain Warlord. Awarrior that focused on creating more Paths for more weapons might be something like a Weapon Master. It wasn''t that there was no way to advance but that there were too many ways, with no one knowing what was possible and what the end result would be. ¡®What is it that | want to be?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®What kind of warrior do | want to be?¡¯ Shang thought about how he had trained in the past and how he fought in general. His four weapons and four Affinities came to mind. Then, he remembered the thought he had whening up with the concept of his Path. ¡®In the future, there might be a way to fuse all of my weapons together and use all of them whenever | want. ¡®Four weapons.¡¯ ¡®Four minor breakthroughs.¡¯ ¡®One major breakthrough." Then, a light appeared in Shang''s eye. ¡®| think | know what I''m going to do." Chapter 521 Chapter 521 As Shang continued thinking about his Path forward, everything seemed to click into ce until one whole n was created. ¡®There must be a way to further one''s Path without needing to branch out into other weapons. Just like the Star Map, there must be a point beyond the Path where it can lead to, and that point represents the Fifth Realm.¡¯ "Depending on the power of the warrior''s Path, that point might create an even bigger divide in terms of power since itpletely relies on what kind of Path a warrior has chosen to create.¡¯ ¡®It would be the natural progression. It''s not as bad as only increasing the power of the warrior''s body but also not very outstanding. It''s just normal, like all the previous major breakthroughs." At that moment, Shang''s right eye narrowed. ''However, that isn''t enough for me. Just based on the width of my Path, | would need to push all four of my Paths even further. Additionally, my individual Paths are already far wider than the Paths of every other warrior.¡¯ "Sure, my power would increase by a lot, but if | want to reach Godhood one day, there must be more." ¡®The normal n for warriors would be to advance with their bodies until they are at the Peak True Path Stage. Then, they would focus on increasing the power of their minds by a bit to allow them to learn things quicker. Lastly, they would focus on creating their advanced Path.¡¯ ¡®If | were to follow that n, | would be at the Peak True Path Stage with no further advancement in my Path. After that, | would focus on furthering all four of my Paths at once.¡¯ ¡®In the end, | would have reached the next level of my four Paths and reach the Fifth Realm." ¡®But that''s not enough!" Shang looked towards the south. In his mind, he was looking towards the Storm Eagle Zone. This was the ce where he hade up with his Path, and it had appeared like a monumental undertaking back then. Now, he would undertake another monumental task. If any other warrior heard of Shang''s n, they would believe him to be insane. ¡®It requires the furthering of one Path to reach the fifth Realm." ¡®But | will make that the prerequisite for my small breakthroughs!" ¡®| willprehend the necessary information to reach the Fifth Realm with one of my Paths in the Initial True Path Stage and use thatprehension to reach the Early True Path Stage." ¡®After that, | willprehend another one to reach the Mid True Path Stage.¡¯ ¡®Then, another one to reach the Late True Path Stage.¡¯ ¡®And onest one to reach the Peak True Path Stage." Shang''s right eye shone with a light of ambition. ¡®And | will fuse my four Paths into one to reach the Fifth Realm!" For a while, Shang only looked at the south. He knew how insane this task would prove to be. Other warriors would spend decades, if not centuries, to further only one Path to reach the Fifth Realm, but Shang would need to do that four times and then do something even more insane to actually reach the Fifth Realm. When Shang had reached the True Path Stage, the 500 years of total longevity of people in the Fourth Realm felt like so long, but now, it felt so very short. He only had a bit more than 400 years left to do five to six times as much work as other warriors would do in that timeframe. As Shang thought about the monumental task ahead of him, his mind wandered to the victory celebration from a couple of days ago. Shang took a deep breath. He had enjoyed the celebration, and being surrounded by people that liked him felt great. But now, Shang could only release a bitterugh. ¡®What did | think?¡¯ he thought. ¡®| already knew that | wouldn''t have time for others.¡¯ ¡®Why am | suddenly regretting it?¡¯ Acouple of days ago, Shang had received a glimpse of something he wasn''t allowed to have. That left a bittersweet taste in his mouth, but Shang''s priorities were already set. His power was the most important thing in the world. If he had to sacrifice everything else in his life for power, he would do so. ¡®Over a thousand people in the world have worked just as hard as me, but that number drops significantly the further | advance.¡¯ ¡®That''s because the others were invaded bycency.¡¯ ¡®They managed to keep their discipline for a hundred years, but as soon as it went on for more centuries or even millennia, their discipline weakened, andcency took hold.¡¯ Shang''s right hand formed a fist, and Shang looked at it with narrowed eyes. ¡®Never becent.¡¯ ¡®Always continue forward." ¡®Never stop.¡¯ ¡®As more and more time passes, fewer and fewer people will be on my level, and eventually, only | will be left." ¡®There definitely are more talented people out there than me, but talent without hard work is useless.¡¯ ¡®What''s the point of learning things thrice as fast when you fight someone that trains five times as much as you?¡¯ ¡®Always continue!¡¯ Shang looked towards the south again. "Sharpening the axe doesn''t take time away from cutting wood. If | want to achieve my goal, | need a n.¡¯ At that moment, something appeared in Shang''s hands. It was one of the books Relon had given to Jerald and Shang. This was the guide for all the different resources and natural treasures. Shang opened the book and read. ¡®There must be something in there that can help me in training.¡¯ As Shang read through the book, he saw several resources that could be used to temporarily heighten the sensitivity towards specific Elemental Mana. Shang remembered the several piles of resources that had been around Jerald when he had advanced to be a Peak High Mage. He found a couple of these resources in the book. ¡®The God designed this world, and he wants variety. | don''t think that he would have only made something like this for Mages. There must be something that can also be used by warriors.¡¯ Yet, Shang didn''t find any of these resources after going through 75% of the book. Shang furrowed his brows but continued. When he arrived at thest 10%, theyout of the book changed. Before this spot, a lot of space had been dedicated to each resource, but now, there were only the names, a couple of descriptions, and one or two sentences about what the resource could be used for.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. The first 90% were dedicated to valuable and useful resources, and thest 10% was just a dumping ground for random stuff nobody cared about. And that was where Shang found vastly more interesting resources. The Mages were only interested in resources useful to Mages, and since there were basically only Mages on that level, every resource not useful to Mages was essentially worthless. The level or rarity of these resources didn''t matter. ¡®That''s why these things are in the back. Of course the Mages don''t care about resources useful for warriors.¡¯ "But | do!¡¯ Chapter 522 Chapter 522 Shang was walking through a brown wastnd filled with extremely tall spires. The wind was incredibly strong. A normal human would have a very hard time walking through this ce. From time to time, Shang could see a couple of other warriors jumping from spire to spire in search of a beast they could hunt. Several big beasts were flying through the distant sky, and many other beasts were crawling along the spires. Today was the first time Shang had actually entered the Canyon in the Storm Eagle Zone. For decades, he had only trained in the depths of the Caves since he had wanted to keep his existence a secret from the Council. But with the Council gone, Shang could now go wherever he wanted. The spires around Shang were the Eternal Spires he had seen from a distance during his first Day of Chaos. They were made of extremely valuable ore, and many of the warriors were also mining from them while their colleagues defended them from the assault of the beasts. This was an area where only Commander Stage beasts lived, and only the most powerful warriors below the True Path Stage could attempt to mine the ore here. Several beasts took note of Shang as he slowly walked through the Canyon, but none of the beasts dared to attack him. Beasts had powerful instincts, and they could feel a terrifying aura of threating from Shang. Acouple of warriors also noticed Shang, but they didn''t recognize him. Funnily enough, they only knew Duke Sword with his armor on. Sadly, Shang''s armor had been destroyed by Susan, and Jerald hadn''t had the time to create a new one. Eventually, Shang reached the end of the Canyon. Only very few warriors had ever stepped past the Canyon. After all, thend beyond this ce was filled with True Path Stage beasts. Only True Path Stage warriors that had formed a team went to this ce, and there weren''t many of those. Especially now. Additionally, the Storm Eagle Zone didn''t have many High Mages in it. This meant that no one was currently in thend beyond the Canyon. As Shang stepped past thest Eternal Spire, the wind picked up even more. Anormal human would be flung through the sky, but this wasn''t an issue for Shang. His body was several tons heavy, and the little area his body took up wasn''t nearly enough for the wind to impact him in any major way. Acouple of minutester, Shang arrived at a small cliff and looked forward. For the first time, Shang saw an area that nearly no one had ever seen. The Crater. Thend in front of Shang lowered more and more, simr to the Northern Ice Wyvern Zone. The name Crater was urate. As soon as Shang stepped past the cliff, the wind picked up even more. The sheer amount of Wind Mana the Storm Eagle gave off was creating a terrifying storm. Even though Shang didn''t have a great Affinity for Wind Mana, he could feel the Wind Mana very clearly. For a while, Shang stood only a bit in front of the cliff after jumping down. Thend angled further and further down, and the horizon in front of Shang created an image he had never seen. There was nothing he could see in the distance. Only a blue sky. It was like Shang had arrived at the end of the world. Shang angled his head down a bit, and his right eye followed the slope of the Crater. There were a couple of round stones, but they weren''t taller than two meters. The fact that these stones were still here despite the constant storm spoke volumes about their hardness. When Shang''s Spirit Sense inspected the stones, he realized that he was looking at True Path Stage ore. There was so much! The entire Crater was littered with True Path Stage ore! At that moment, Shang remembered what Agon had told him. The permission to plundernds without anypetition was extremely valuable. Shang was sure that if there were more True Path Stage warriors, this entire ce would have been cleaned of ore. Even more, if Agon were an entrepreneur, he might have harvested all of this himself to sell to the warriors. Even if one didn''t need the ore, one could still sell it for an amazing profit. It was literally like picking money off the ground. Then, Shang''s gaze focused on the horizon again. He tried to estimate how far he could see. He was sure that he could see further than his Spirit Sense, but he still couldn''t be sure how far he could see. But one thing was clear. ¡®The Storm Eagle Zone is actually bigger than the maps made it out to be,¡¯ Shang thought.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. On the maps, the Storm Eagle Zone was about as big as every other Zone, around 80 to 100 kilometers across. But as soon as Shang reached the Crater, he was sure that it was at least 150 kilometers from north to south. At that moment, Shang''s right eye was pulled to a certain spot in the distance by some subtle movement. For a bit, Shang wasn''t sure if the ck thing in the distance had actually moved or not. But then, Shang saw it move a bit, and he recognized something. It was a feather! For just a moment, Shang had seen a feather poking out of the ck object in the distance. Now, Shang knew what he was looking at. ¡®The Storm Eagle." ¡®That gives me a good reference." For the first time in a long while, Shang''s mind went back to Earth. Specifically, he remembered math ss from high school. Shang knew that the Storm Eagle was about two kilometers long, and he could see how big it looked from here. He did some simple calctions in his head and quickly came to a result. ¡®Something between 40 and 80 kilometers from here. Too much guess work to get to a concrete result." ¡®That means that the Storm Eagle Zone is probably around 150 to 200 kilometers from north to south.¡¯ After satiating his curiosity, Shang stepped forward and walked to one of the huge stones of ore. He pulled out his Great Sword from the back and put it to the stone. ¡°Early True Path Stage," Sword told Shang. "What about the others? Can you make an estimate?¡± Shang asked. "They are simr in level. If you want the valuable stuff, we need to go deeper into the Crater." Shang nodded. "I just wanted to know." For the first time in a long while, Shang was interested in knowing more about his surroundings. The thought that not many people had been here made all of this that much more interesting. Shang continued walking forward, but he wasn''t walking in a straight line. Thanks to his huge Spirit Sense, Shang could avoid being noticed by Late True Path Stage beasts and more powerful. He didn''t really care about the Initial to Mid True Path Stage beasts, but the more powerful ones could be troublesome. Shang wasn''t here to fight but to search for something. From time to time, Shang felt the senses of a True Path Stage beast focus on him. When that happened, he simply looked back. Most of the time, the beast would look away again. But of course, there were some that wanted to fight. Shang simply released one attack. If they survived, they would realize they were outmatched and would flee. If they died, Shang collected the corpse. He didn''t really care either way. Cling... cling... cling. After a while, Shang heard some sounds that sounded like a bigger wind chime. When he heard these sounds, he had to smirk. "Sure enough, just like the book said." Shang had already found the origin of the sound, and he had been walking toward it for a while now. After a bit, Shang arrived in front of a two-meter-tall piece of ore. The sounds of wind chimes had be louder and more numerous. It was like there was a wall of wind chimes hanging in front of him. Shang couldn''t suppress a grin when he saw the stone in front of him. There was a vine covering the entirety of the stone, and there were long, metal-like things hanging from it. The sound came from these things hitting each other in the wind. If one didn''t know any better, one would think that these things were long des. But, in fact, they were seeds. Shang looked at the wall filled with seeds for several seconds. ¡®Wind de Seed." ¡®Increases familiarity with swords!¡¯ Chapter 523 Chapter 523 Shang spent the next couple of hours going to different Zones and harvesting resources. He had found a couple of interesting resources in the book, and he managed to collect a couple of them. Sadly, not all the useful resources could be found within the Skythunder Kingdom. After Shang collected all of that, he contacted Jerald and asked how he should consume them. Jerald was an experienced Mage, and he knew the basics of preparing such treasures. ¡°Well, we Mages mainly use Mana and Essence Gathering Magic Circles, but that doesn''t necessarily increase the potency of the resources," Jerald said. "These Magic Circles act more as workarounds for our weaker bodies. After all, the resources we need are on a level that''s several times higher than the levels of our bodies." "| think you can just eat them with your strong body. | would advise you to consume one of them, train a bit, remember how you felt, and do the same thing for every other resource. After that, you can try to mix and match them, but keep in mind that some of the results might weaken the effects. You''ll have to try and see what works for you." "Okay, thanks," Shang answered before putting the Communication Crystal away. In the west of the Skythunder Kingdom, Jerald looked at his deactivated Communication Crystal with interest.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. ¡®It''s actually shocking to think that he has achieved his current power without ever consuming any of these treasures,¡¯ he thought. ¡®| wonder what he can achieve with them.¡¯ Right now, Shang was back in the Caves inside the Storm Eagle Zone. He could go wherever he wanted, but he wanted to be in a safe and familiar location for the different tests he would be running. Shang readied all the different treasures he had retrieved in thest couple of hours and put them in front of him. Just like Jerald said, Shang would try one at a time and make an analysis based on how helpful they had been for his training. The first thing Shang decided to try out was a Wind de Seed. Sword had already returned to its Long Sword State since that conformed the most to the image of a normal sword. There were also treasures that could increase the familiarity with blunt weapons and heavy weapons. Those were definitely more useful when it came toprehending the Great Sword and Colossal Sword States. Shang took one of the Wind de Seeds and put it in his mouth. As his teeth touched the Wind de Seed, he felt like he was biting on metal. CRK! Shang bit down, and he felt like he was biting down on a stone. However, due to his power, the Wind de Seed still broke apart. CRKSH! CRKSH! CRKSH! Shang kept chewing, and it definitely wasn''t pleasant. However, an unpleasant sensation or taste wasn''t something that would stop Shang. After a while of chewing, Shang swallowed the seed and closed his right eye. Right now, he was focusing on the remains of the Wind de Seed in his stomach. For a while, nothing happened, but then, Shang felt some form of Mana go past the sides of his stomach to enter his body. The Mana felt a bit simr to Wind Mana, but it also was very different. This could bepared to looking at the tomato sauce on a pizza. Yes, it was a bit like tomato, but it was also very different. Shang continued watching the Mana for another five minutes, but nothing seemed to change. The Mana was just going through his body without any noticeable effect. ¡®| guess that''s what it looks like when the Wind de Seed shows its effect.¡¯ ¡®| should try it out.¡¯ Shang grabbed his Long Sword and readied himself. SHING! He released a sh with the intent to kill, something he regrly did while training. Cling! As the sh finished, Shang heard an unfamiliar and unusual sound. It was like he had returned to the Crater where he had found the Wind de Seeds. Just now, he felt like he could hear them dance in the wind again. Shang took note of that and released another sh. Clenk! Shang nearly winced when he heard that sound. The previous sound had sounded like the Wind de Seeds dancing in the wind, but this sound sounded like one of the Wind de Seeds had hit a stone. It was like the beautiful melody had been ruined. Shang furrowed his brows and performed a couple more attacks. Cling! Clenk! Cling! CLIIIINRRRR! When Shang heard the newest sound, he paused. That sounded way different! The normal sound felt pleasant and harmonious. The other sound felt bad and unfitting. But this newest sound had some form of beautiful feel to it. It was like the vibrations of the Wind de Seed had synchronized with the Mana in the surroundings, creating a beautiful resonance with the world. ¡®Is that how it works?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®The worse my attack, the uglier the sound. In turn, the more beautiful the sound, the better the attack.¡¯ Shang decided to do some more testing and shed several more times. After a hundred attacks, Shang got the good sound 27 times, the bad sound 72 times, and the beautiful sound appeared only once. By this point, Shang realized how useful the Wind de Seeds actually were. In fact, they were acting very simr to the Star Map, but instead of showing a concrete map, the Wind de Seed only gave Shang signals based on if the direction he was moving in was correct or not. However, that also created a couple of questions. "How does the Wind de Seed know what | want? Is it following some kind of overarching principle of the world? If so, its help might prove damaging.¡¯ Shang had his own style of fighting, and he wanted to further that style. Yet, if the Wind de Seed gave him directions towards a more generally liked battle style, it might result in Shang''s battle style bing good but ordinary. But Shang wasn''t okay with ordinary. He wanted to reach Godhood! ¡°What do you think?" Shang asked Sword. ¡°Not sure yet,¡± Sword answered. "Perform the same attack multiple times in slightly different ways. | have a suspicion." Shang nodded and did just that. He performed the same attack over a thousand times with slight variations. About 80% of the time, he received the disgusting sound, and the other 20% were the good sound. The beautiful sound didn''t appear once. "That helps a lot," Sword told Shang. "Do the same with another attack." Shang followed Sword''s instructions and did just that. The disgusting sound appeared 70% of the time, but the beautiful one also didn''t appear even once. "Do one of the ones with the beautiful sound and put variations to the attack," Sword said. Shang did just that. During this specific set of attacks, Shang managed to create the beautiful sound about 10% of the time. Surprisingly, the good sound appeared for the remaining 90%. The bad sound didn''t even appear once. "| think | get it. Do the same with that one," Sword said as it transmitted the image of an attack to Shang''s mind. Shang nodded again and followed Sword''s instructions. This time, Shang got the disgusting sound for 70% of the time and the good one for 30%. The beautiful sound didn''t appear. "Yep, | got it," Sword said. Chapter 524 Chapter 524 Sword highlighted some things it was feeling during the different attacks, and Shang understood what the Wind de Seeds were doing after listening to Sword''s results. When Shang was training, Sword also always gave feedback. Just like when Shang had been at the Soldier Stage, Sword was. telling him when a strike felt good or bad. Shang also felt if attacks were good or bad, but he couldn''t bepletely urate. As the weapon, Sword essentially was a participant, but it could also see the attack from a different angle than Shang. This made Sword''s feedback invaluable. While Shang had to focus on performing his attacks perfectly, Sword didn''t need to do anything and could simply watch everything with all of its focus. Sword gave the following feedback. When the same attack was performed, there were always only two different sounds present. Either the ugly and good one or the good and beautiful one. There were nobinations of ugly and beautiful. There were never all three sounds present during one attack, no matter how often it was repeated. When the ugly and good sounds appeared, Sword always felt that the attacks with the good sounds were better. When the good and beautiful sounds appeared, Sword always felt that the attacks with the beautiful sounds were better. Now came the interesting part. When the attacks with the ugly and good sounds produced an attack with a good sound, it felt not better nor worse than when the attacks with the good and beautiful sounds produced a beautiful sound. The same was true the other way around. When the attacks with ugly and good sounds produced an ugly sound, it felt just as bad as when the attacks with good and beautiful sounds produced a good sound. "This means that great performance increases the level of the sound by one," Shang said. "Correct," Sword answered. "However, the absence of all three sounds appearing at once and the ugly and beautiful sound never appearing during the same set of attacks means that there is an additionalponent, and thatponent is not influenced by how well you perform the attack." Shang nodded. "There must be something that | can''t control that impacts the result of the attack." ¡°But what could that be?" Shang asked. "| don''t know," Sword answered, "but it has to do something with you. | don''t do anything during all of your attacks, and | specifically stopped myself from doing anything while we were testing.¡± Shang furrowed his brows. As a living weapon, Sword could help with a couple of attacks, but Shang didn''t think that whatever Sword was doing had any impact on the performance of the attack. After all, it was just a weapon, and Shang was the one swinging it. "We need more testing," Sword said. Shang nodded. After that, Shang performed one attack until he got the better sound, switched to another attack until he got the better sound, and switched back again. He couldn''t always perform the attacks perfectly, but he wanted the time between the two attacks he wasparing to be as short as possible. That was why he was always switching as soon as he got the good one. If Shang managed to create the good sound, switch, and then immediately produce the beautiful sound, Shang couldpare them very well. There must be some kind of difference. However, this proved to be far more difficult than he had anticipated. Even after several hours, Shang couldn''te to a conclusion, and at that point, even the sound the Wind de Seed produced became quieter and quieter. Eventually, the soundpletely vanished. Shang immediately consumed the next seed. In truth, his n had actually been to train his Great Sword State first since he wouldn''t be running out of sparring partners anytime soon, but he wanted to understand the Wind de Seed first. By now, Shang also realized that there was no variation inside the different levels of sound. The good sound always sounded the same. The bad one always sounded the same. The beautiful one always sounded the same. No matter how horrible Shang performed the attack, the ugly sound always sounded just as ugly. The attack was either perfect or not perfect. Shang continued training just like this for two entire days. Yet, they still couldn''t find the difference. Sadly, after two days of continuously swinging his sword, Shang had to take a break. The outer side of his right lower arm felt fatigued. Shang only took a deep breath and closed his right eye. He hated waiting like this. But there was nothing he could do. Eventually, one would run out of stamina. He could still perform one of the attacks since that attack wasn''t as strenuous on that part of the body as the other one, but without the second attack, Shang wouldn''t be able to- "Wait a second," Shang suddenly said as he opened his eye. Then, he looked at his right arm with furrowed brows. ¡®Not as strenuous?¡¯ Shang thought with skepticism. ¡®Both of them use my triceps to stretch the arm, which puts strain on my tendon, and my tendon is also the thing that''s feeling fatigued.¡¯ ¡®Yet, how is it possible that one of the two attacks doesn''t feel as strenuous as the other one?¡¯ ¡®| need to test that right now." Instead of waiting for his body to recover, Shang continued doing the same thing, but this time, he was paying special attention to his tendon. Shang continued swinging his sword as he paid close attention to what happened to his tendon during the attacks. After a while, the effects of the Wind de Seed vanished again, but that was no longer relevant. The performance of the attacks didn''t matter right now. Shang continued swinging his sword for another day, his body getting injured more and more. Without the sound of the Wind de Seed, Shang entered a special state. His entire mind was only focused on the ce where his tendon was. He saw it moving one way. He saw it moving the other way. He saw it moving one way. And so on. Left. Right. Left. Right. Shang didn''t notice it, but his arm was sending incredibly powerful pain signals toward his brain. His arm was essentially screaming that it was about to be destroyed due to overuse. Yet, Shang''s sensitivity to pain had been ground down to such a degree that he didn''t even notice it. The muscles in his arms were cramping as he continued swinging his sword, but Shang only kept focusing on that spot. All his senses werepletely focused on it. PSSSHH! Shang''s right eye shone as he suddenly felt pain.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Something had happened inside of his arm that was so painful that even he took note of it. And Shang saw what it was very clearly. ¡®It''s actually not my tendon that''s hurting,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at a specific part below the tendon. At that location, one of the Mana pathways in his body had ruptured and was leaking out Mana. ¡®It''s the Mana pathways!¡¯ Shang thought. Shang ignored the pain and performed the good attack again. At the same time, he was following how exactly his Mana moved throughout his arm. While performing that attack, Shang''s Mana was going to his sword in a uniform manner, putting the same amount of strain on every Mana pathway. Then, Shang performed the other attack, and he saw how arger chunk of his Mana traveled through the ruptured Mana pathway. However, that also made sense. That attack required more power from that spot than the other one, which meant it needed more Mana. ¡®If the Mana pathway were wider, had a lower angle, or were tougher, this wouldn''t be an issue." Then, Shang realized it. Now, he knew what the uncontrobleponent of the Wind de Seed''s judgment was. "Unfitting Mana pathways!" ¡®The pathways my Path has created are not perfect!¡¯ Chapter 525 Chapter 525 An older man dressed in white robes sat behind a table with several books and sheets of paper. The room looked like the typical study a True Mage would have, filled with books and plenty of arcane trinkets. Right now, the older man was waiting for his client. This one was going to be a big one. Yesterday, the Mage had been contacted by a Peak True Mage with an offer. Someone needed his expertise, but in exchange, he would need to sign a confidentiality contract and undergo another Mind Read. Something like that was insane, but the Peak True Mage assured him that the payment he would receive would be enough until the Mage either died or reached the High Mage Realm. The reward was too alluring. So, the Mage agreed. And, right now, he was about to meet this mysterious client. Acouple of minutes passed. Eventually, someone knocked on his door.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. "Come in," the Mage said with calmness in his voice. This was just another client. Nothing special. The door opened, and a ck-haired man with a metallic eyepatch stepped in. The Mage looked at the obvious warrior for a bit. ¡®Probably one of the True Path Stage warriors,¡¯ he thought. "Please, sit down," the Mage said professionally, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. The warriorplied and sat down. "I''m Professor Callen. | dedicated my life to researching how beasts work and how their bodies differ from ours," Callen said. Callen made a pause here, obviously waiting for the warrior to introduce himself too. ¡°My name is Shang," Shang said. "People generally know me as Duke Sword." For the first time, Callen was surprised. Duke Sword? THE Duke Sword? He was someone on the level of the previous Council! "Hello, Duke Sword," Callen said after calming down. "Now, what do you need?" ¡°How do beasts store their Mana, and how do they transport it from one ce in their body to the other?" Shang asked. At that moment, a picture floated over from one of the walls and stopped beside Callen. Shang could see the silhouette of a wolf on it, but there were some additional things inside the wolf''s body. "This," Callen said as he gestured to a blue-colored circle in the wolf''s chest, "is the Beast Core. The Beast Core stores all the Mana the beast absorbs." ¡°As you know, such a core doesn''t exist in our bodies. Inparison to beasts, we store our Mana in our minds and all over our bodies. When you are a Mage, you generally use your mind as your Mana Storage, which you could view as just another Beast Core." "Inparison, warriors store their Mana all over their bodies. This is also one of the leading theories regarding the beasts¡¯ superiority in terms of physical power over the normal human body. Of course, when | am talking about the normal human body, | am referring to one that didn''t undergo the Bloodline Infusion." "Warriors do not have a central Mana storage inparison to beasts. Because of that, every part of your body has to store the Mana individually, making it much harder for the body to store additional Mana." Shang nodded. "Then how can warriors that have undergone the Bloodline Infusion reach the power of beasts without a central storage?" "That''s a good question, Duke Sword," Callen said with a friendly smile. "The reason for that is training." "Training?" Shang asked with a raised eyebrow. Callen nodded. "The Bloodline Infusion has strengthened the individualponents of your body, giving them much greater potential to hold Mana. Of course, with only the Bloodline Infusion, you would still be only half as powerful as a beast on your level." "That''s why you have to eat beast hearts and force their Mana into your body. You are essentially strengthening your storage by putting significant strain on it several times. Sound familiar?" Shang nodded. "Just like training your muscles." Callen also nodded. "Precisely. You are training your body to hold more Mana. Now,pared to warriors, beasts don''t have that problem. All the Mana they consume simply enters their Beast Core, which then refines the Mana." At that moment, Shang got a thought. "But if we can train our bodies to hold more Mana, couldn''t beasts do that as well?" Callen''s smile widened. "They can." Shang''s eyebrows shot up in surprise. "They actually can?" "Mhm," Callen said with a nod. "We have run several experiments on beasts, and we''ve realized that we can increase the powers of their bodies even further by making them do specific exercises after eating a meal. We found out that their bodies can actually grow to be double as powerful as they are normally without advancing in level.¡± ¡°Of course," Callen added, "beasts only follow their instincts, and they never think about training their body to hold more Mana. We needed to use several Spells to force their minds to perform specific tasks to push the Mana into their bodies. No matter how hard we tried to teach them without the Spells, they were just not able to do it." "So, a beast body has much greater potential than a human body, even if that human has undergone the Bloodline Infusion. The reason for that is the central Mana storage that the beasts have." ¡°But since neither side can use the other side''s advantage, powerful warriors and beasts have equally strong bodies." Shang nodded. He hadn''te here for a lesson on beasts, but it had definitely paid off. He had already learned a lot. Shang gestured to the picture with his head, and Callen continued. "The blue lines signify the Mana passageways. If a beast enters a fight, its Manaes out from the Beast Core and gets distributed over the entire body, allowing them to unleash incredible power." "Sadly, or luckily depending on your viewpoint, the Mana stored inside a beast''s Beast Core is slightly different from the Mana stored inside different parts of its body. That means that healing from an injury takes several times longer since the Mana from the beast''s Beast Core first needs to be transformed into the kind of Mana they need." ¡°Because of that, warriors can regenerate from their injuries much faster than beasts. Even normal warriors that haven''t undergone the Bloodline Infusion." Shang nodded as he looked at the picture. When he saw the Mana pathways, he knew that he hade to the right guy. SHING! Acouple of sheets of paper appeared in front of Shang, and they lightlynded on the table. Callen looked at them from a distance, and Shang pushed them forward. "Take a look," Shang said. Callen took the sheets of paper and analyzed them. "Mana passageways for a True Path Stage warrior. | saw one of those before. | was so entranced by this revtion that | couldn''t focus on my work for several days." "Those are my pathways," Shang said. Callen nodded. "I thought so. The passageways in this picture are far moreplex and numerous than the ones | saw before. | presume the reason why you are here is rted to your passageways?" Callen asked. Shang nodded and pointed at a specific spot that represented the pathways in his right arm. Shang exined in detail how he would move his arm and how his Mana would move during one of his attacks. Then, Shang exined how he would move his Mana and arm in a different attack. However, before Shang could even finish... ¡°And your Mana passageway started to hurt, correct?" Callen asked. When Shang heard that, a glimmer appeared in his eye. Chapter 526 Chapter 526 When Shang confirmed that this was the problem, Callen started to stroke his beard in thought. "| want to alter my pathways," Shang said. Callen''s brows furrowed at that point, but he kept thinking. "It''s risky," Callen said after several seconds. "From what I''ve heard, the passageways form during your breakthrough, and they have essentially been created by your Path, correct?" Shang nodded. "This means that these Mana passageways are a natural extension of your Path. Messing with them might weaken your Path or directly make it impossible to use it in the future. It would be like you knowing the theory but not being able to put it into practice. Shang knew what that meant. He had created all of his techniques before he had created his Path. Back then, using his techniques had cost several times more life energy and Mana than now. If everything returned to how it was before, Shang would only be able to use a single Shock before running out of Mana. One Anger and his body would have already atrophied to a terrifying degree. It would essentially cripple his Battle-Strength. This was also the reason why Callen had to undergo another Mind Read before meeting Shang. If Callen gave Shang incorrect information on purpose, he could essentially cripple one of the Skythunder Kingdom''s strongest assets. "| would advise against changing your Mana passageways," Callen said. "Instead, | would suggest altering your techniques to fit your Mana passageways. For example, you could change this movement to be a bit more like this."Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Callen gave a couple of examples of how Shang could change the movement of his Mana for different attacks while pointing at different parts of the pictures. Shang only frowned. Then, he stood up and pulled out his Long Sword. Callen wasn''t panicked. Shang swung his sword a couple of times and implemented Callen''s changes. After a couple of swings, Shang''s frown deepened, and he ate a Wind de Seed. Callen wasn''t surprised that Shang was using something to help in his training. Every Mage did that. Shang swung around a hundred times, and eventually... CLIRRRRR! The beautiful sound appeared. This meant that Shang had performed the attack perfectly and that it conformed to his Mana pathways. However, Shang didn''t like that. Yes, everything worked out, but the attack just felt wrong. It felt like this attack had been created by someone else. It didn''t feel like his own. "What do you think?" Shang transmitted to Sword. "It''s good, but | don''t like it," Sword answered. "It feels wrong." Shang remained in thought for a couple of seconds. Eventually, Shang put Sword away and sat down on the chair again. "It resolves the issue, but | don''t like the result. The attack doesn''t feel like me," Shang said. "Then that won''t work for you," Callen said as he returned to thinking. Shang raised an eyebrow. "| expected you to tell me that my feelings aren''t important in that regard," Shang said. "Oh no, they are probably the most important," Callen added. "Us Mages often use Spells that are known by several Mages, but we also all have our own Spells, Spells that we create. These Spells evoke a certain feeling of familiarity and belonging, and it has been proven several times that having these feelings is a tremendous help in advancing.¡± "A Spell you don''t like is very hard to develop further, and it is harder to establish the fine control over Mana you need to reliably use it. These feelings are of utmost importance." When Shang heard that, some of the nervousness he hadn''t known he felt vanished. For just a second, he had believed that he was being overly difficult. "So, is there a way to change my pathways?" Shang asked. Callen frowned. "As | said, it''s very risky. The uracy and number of minor adjustments necessary are shocking, expensive, and time-consuming to perform. This would be a project that continues for years, and if a mistake is made, a blueprint of how the passageway has been before the alteration has to always be at hand." ¡°If you don''t mind the question, Duke Sword, what is the level of your mind?" Callen asked. "Initial True Mage Realm," Shang answered. "Hmmm," Callen hummed as he fell into thought again. "| don''t want to be responsible for potentially crippling one of our Kingdom''s strongest assets," Callen said. ¡°Because of that, | think it would be better to teach you the process and Spells. They might be a bit hard for an Initial True Mage to understand, but with enough time and dedication, you should be able to master the process." ¡°At that point, you can mess with your own passageways as much as you want." "Would you be okay with that?" Callen asked. Shang released a sigh and nodded. This was not a sigh of eptance but one of relief. Shang didn''t feelfortable with giving someone else full control over his power. It was much better when he could do everything himself. Callen nodded. "We might need to spend a couple of months together until you can use the Spells with adequate mastery. These areplex Spells since we are changing the fundamentals of your very being. We are changing the very thing that tells your body what it has to recover to. After all, it would be senseless to spend time and effort to change your passageways just for them to recover to their old state after an injury." "That''s fine," Shang said. "Thank you, Professor Callen." Callen only smiled. "That''s my job. Now, | hate to ask this question, but | need to know before |mit that much time to help you." ¡°Payment, right?" Shang asked. Callen onlyughed sheepishly and nodded. ¡°Are five True Path Stage beast corpses enough?" Shang asked. Silence. Callen only looked at Shang with a skeptical expression. ¡°Not enough? What about ten?" Shang asked with a frown. "Wait, wait, wait," Callen said. "You are offering five True Path Stage beast corpses? Like, entire ones or only some parts?" ¡°Entire ones, of course," Shang answered. "I am carrying several of them in my Space Ring, and | don''t really have a use for them. If | need more, | just hunt more." At that point, Callen took a deep breath. Five True Path Stage beast corpses. If he sacrificed his entire wealth, he might be able to get half a leg of an Initial True Path Stage beast. "Is it enough?" Shang asked. "Yes!" Callen almost shouted, losing hisposure. "That''s more than enough!" Shang nodded. "Then, that''s going to be the payment." The two of them exchanged a couple of pleasantries, and eventually, Callen left to inform several people that he wouldn''t be avable for several months. And then, Callen began to teach Shang everything he would need to change his Mana pathways. Chapter 527 Chapter 527 Professor Callen first performed a couple of tests to see how good Shang''s spellcasting was. It couldn''t be that bad, right? It was, in fact, that bad. Callen had expected that even warriors knew the basics at least, but he was mistaken. Shang''s spellcasting ability could dominate a Mid Apprentice, but a Peak Apprentice would easily outss him. Callen only took a deep breath and slowly released it. This would be a lot of work. While Shang was learning under Callen, Jerald returned from the western Skythunder Kingdom. 90% of the citizens had evacuated, while the remaining 10% had decided to stay. They refused to believe that the Magic Purity Kingdom would kill them. After all, they were just normal citizens, apprentices, and a couple of Adepts. For a couple of days, nothing happened. After all, the Magic Purity Kingdom didn''t expect the western front to bepletely without any defense. Two days after Jerald left, one of the frontlines of the Magic Purity Kingdom attacked the border of the Skythunder Kingdom. Yet, there was nothing to attack. They only saw empty walls and buildings. The attacking force immediately grew suspicious and prepared for an ambush. But nothing happened. After a while, the force sent out a couple of True Mages to scout the surroundings. Surprisingly, the Mages didn''t face any resistance, and they were even weed by several vigers throwing themselves before the Mages'' feet in obedience. One of the Mages decided to read the minds of a random viger, and what he saw shocked him. The Skythunder Kingdom gave up nearly 50% of itsnd? As soon as the Mage found out, he informed his superior, who informed his superior. Acouple of hourster, several groups of True Mages entered the western Skythunder Kingdom via several borders. They didn''t face any resistance. The True Mages split up and read the minds of random people scattered all over multiple Zones. Sure enough, the Skythunder Kingdom had retreated. However, there was something even more interesting.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. The Magic Purity Kingdom finally knew about the civil war. And with that, everything suddenly made sense. The Skythunder Kingdom had been weakened to a ridiculous degree, and they couldn''t possibly defend such arge area. The leaders of the Magic Purity Kingdom were informed, and several orders were given. The Magic Purity Kingdom would annex all of the abandonednd. As soon as the order was given, the True Mages retreated back to the Magic Purity Kingdom. This confused the few remaining citizens. Wasn''t the Magic Purity Kingdom annexing them? Why did they leave? Then, a group of High Mages entered the western Skythunder Kingdom. They split up, and one of the High Mages appeared in front of arge city that was mostly empty. There were only a couple of citizens left. The few citizens looked at the old Mage with confusion. Would this be the new ruler of the city? The High Mage''s Spirit Sense inspected the entire city and all the people within it. Then, the High Mage snorted and lifted his right hand. Snap! BOOOOOOOOOM! The High Mage used his Concept and burned the entire city to the ground in a storm of fire. None of the citizens survived for more than three seconds. Half a minuteter, the fire vanished. Only ash, coal, and burned rubble remained of the previous city. "Dirty bastards," the Mage said as he spat to the side. "You think you can join our holy empire with these dirty hands of yours? What audacity!" The powerful Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom called every Mage and citizen of other Kingdoms bastards. After all, just like bastards, they were a mix of two things. They appreciated Magic, but they also decided to ept these stupid, primal, and disgusting warriors. People like that didn''t deserve to live! To the Magic Purity Kingdom, these citizens and Mages weren''t any better than the scum that kept calling themselves warriors. After the High Mage finished razing the first city, he thoroughly searched the entire Zone for any survivors. He wouldn''t allow any bastard or scum to survive! Today would be a day of genocide and horror. Over the next several hours, over ten Zones were thoroughly cleansed of any human life that didn''t belong to the Magic Purity Kingdom. And within the day, the entire western Skythunder Zone had been cleansed. Every single citizen, without exception, had been killed. There wasn''t even a single survivor. Even though not many citizens had remained, there had still been over 20,000. Over the next couple of days, the Magic Purity Kingdom set up new borders and defenses. The western Skythunder Kingdom was no more. Now, it was the western Magic Purity Kingdom. At this moment, the Magic Purity Kingdom owned around 50% of Area 23. It owned a huge chunk in the middle, which stretched all the way to the western border. The other Kingdoms now assumed the shape of a half circle going around the central part of the Magic Purity Kingdom. The Grandmountain Kingdom and ckshadow Kingdom have shrunken significantly, taking up the northern 15%. The Spirit Spring Kingdom in the east took up 15% of thend, and the Skythunder Kingdom in the south took up 20% of the land. The Magic Purity Kingdom was as big as never before. Just 50 years ago, they had been fighting the Skythunder Kingdom equally, but now, they were the strongest Kingdom by far. And why? All because of the Star Map that had been introduced to Area 23 around 50 years ago. Soon, the Magic Purity Kingdom would take over the world. But for now, it had to consolidate its newnd. Citizens had to be migrated, infrastructure had to be built, the Zones had to be transformed, and many other things. For the next six months, the Magic Purity Kingdom would focus on its newnd, but after that, it would destroy the Skythunder Kingdom! At least, that was the n. Sadly, things often didn''t go as nned. Chapter 528 Chapter 528 "No, the Equteral Rune goes on top of the Trinominal Rune," Callen said as he pointed at two Runes inside a Magic Circle between Shang and him. Shang rubbed the bridge of his nose in stress and started from the beginning again. There was so much to remember and look out for! It was like Shang had to do aplex equation while talking with someone and leading them toplete a yet unknown part of the equation. He had to keep so many different things in mind. He had to draw the Rune correctly, transform his Mana into just the kind of Mana he needed, precisely control the shape of his Mana, and even had to evoke certain emotions sometimes. It took Shang several minutes to do the calctions for the Magic Circle every time, and when he finally started to draw it, some part of the equation always slipped his mind, vanishing into the aether. It was so hard to keep all the information ready and finished while then doing somethingpletely different. It was like Shang had to y an instrument with his left hand and fight someone with his right while solving math equations in his head. There was just too much different stuff at the same time. They had already been at this for two weeks, and Shang hadn''t even managed to finish one Magic Circle. One had to remember that the Magic Circles Shang needed to draw would be different every time. One Magic Circle only corresponded to one specific change in one specific location in one specific Mana pathway. If anything changed, the entire Magic Circle would change. The more Shang learned about spellcasting, the more impressed he became. The Mages were doing the same thing for their Spells, just in a different manner. They created the Magic Circle in their mind, infused it with the right Mana and the right shape, and then had to actualize it. And even when he managed to finish one, he would need several minutes to cast the next one. Shang was essentially learning how to cast a Spell for the True Mage Realm, and inparison to him, a True Mage could do all of that in less than a second. It was brutal. However, he was making progress. He was practicing one of the Magic Circles over and over again, and he eventually managed to finish it three weeks after he started learning. "Well, you might be aplete newbie when ites to Spellcasting, but your progress is still quite impressive, considering your starting position," Callen said with a smile. Shang rubbed the side of his forehead in exhaustion. This was more exhausting than fighting a Mid High Mage. Yet, Shang still felt pride when he saw the finished Magic Circle. For the first time while looking at a Magic Circle, Shang actually understood what was happening and how it worked. Shang looked at the Magic Circle for a couple of seconds before dispersing it. This was just the first step. "| need a ten-minute break," Shang said. Callen nodded. "You deserve it. In fact, I''m shocked that a newbie like you managed to practice Spellcasting without a single break in three weeks. Even True Mages take more breaks than you since it is so straining on our concentration." Shang only nodded half-heartedly. "Thank you for also not taking a break." ¡°No thanks necessary. After all, you paid me," Callen said. Shang absentmindedly nodded again and stood up. "| need to go out for a while. | wille back in ten minutes."N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. "Sure, I''ll be waiting," Callen said. Shang left the room, but as soon as the door behind him closed, his exhausted demeanor vanished, and his right eye narrowed. ¡®| got careless,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang jumped on top of Sword and flew into the wilderness. After around eight kilometers, Shangnded and sat down. After that, he started to draw several lines in the air. During practice, Shang had identally gone a bit too far one time, which resulted in the Mana in his mindpletely emptying. That meant that Humanity had deactivated, and Shang needed to activate it again. ¡®This is so much easierpared to Callen''s Spell,¡¯ Shang thought as he drew the lines with practiced ease. He had no idea what the different lines were doing or why they were there, but he could easily draw them. ¡®Equteral Rune next- wait!¡¯ Suddenly, Shang stopped. Lucius¡¯ Spell had never even mentioned an Equteral Rune. Yet, Shang could see it right there. For just a moment, Shang imagined thepleted Magic Circle for Humanity and inspected it. Most of it was still unknown to him, but about 2% of the Runes were now familiar to him. He had learned these Runes during Callen''s lesson. These Runes were at the very edge of the Magic Circle and rather small, which meant that they were the most unimportant Runes in the entire Spell, but they were there. "How did the book describe this passageway? Three goats happily jumping over a mountain and meeting up with an ancient tree,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang was essentially casting Humanity by reciting a story in his mind. Shang thought about how the book described the Runes Shang now knew and found some of the methods Lucius used to make this Spell so easy to cast. Every noun, verb, and adjective described one specific part of the Rune. Even more, the adjectives that described emotions also made Shang subconsciously draw these Runes with a certain emotion associated with them. ¡®Can | make use of that?¡¯ "Callen, | might need two hours," Shang transmitted to Callen. At that moment, Callen''s eyes opened wide in shock, and he looked around his office. "I''m talking to you with my Spirit Sense. I''m still outside," Shang said. "You can simply talk. | can hear you." "Oh, okay," Callen said with a bit of embarrassment. "Sure, | will deal with a couple of things then. We resume in two hours, okay?" "Sure, thanks," Shang said. Then, Shang focused on Humanity again. At the same time, Shang was analyzing how Lucius used different words to make Shang draw different Runes with different Mana and different emotions. After several minutes, Shang had finally created something like a framework, which he then used to simplify the equations for the Runes he needed for Callen''s Spell. "| resumed practicing, and | feel like I''m onto something. | will contact you when we can continue with the lesson. It might take a couple of days, though," Shang told Callen, who was going through documents. Callen only furrowed his brows. "Sure," he said. ¡®| hope he isn''t using this as an excuse toze around,¡¯ Callen thought. ¡®As long as he can''t cast the Spells, my time and freedom are severely restricted." Several days passed. ¡°Okay, we can continue," Shang transmitted to Callen. "Sure thing," Callen said, trying to smile politely. However, deep inside, he was annoyed. Yes, Duke Sword was paying him a lot, but he was also wasting his time by not continuing to practice diligently. That was very disrespectful. Shang returned to the room a couple of secondster. After that, they resumed practicing. However, when Shang got the instructions for his next Magic Circle, he asked for a moment of peace and closed his eyes. Callen furrowed his brows, but he didn''t say anything. Several minutes passed. Callen grew more and more frustrated by the second. "Okay, | think | got it," Shang said. Then, Shang started to draw lines, and he was several times faster than he usually was. When Callen saw that, all his suspicions immediately flew out of the window. The lines were mostly urate! However, the Magic Circle copsed after only 50% was done. Yet, Callen almost couldn''t move. Shang had finished 50% of the Magic Circle in barely 45 seconds on his first try! That was beyond shocking! Callen had expected that they would need another two weeks until Shang could finish that Magic Circle, but by the looks of things, he would be done by the end of the day! What the hell happened?! ¡°Where was my mistake?" Shang asked. "Oh, yeah, right," Callen said as he recovered. Then, Callen exined where Shang had made a mistake, and Shang corrected it. In just six hours, Shang managed to finish the Magic Circle. Callen could scarcely believe that this was real. Chapter 529 Chapter 529 ¡°Well done!" Callen said with a wide and pride-filled smile. "You made tremendous strides, and | think you can manage everything on your own now." Shang nodded. For once, he was also smiling. "To think that you managed to master my Spell in only ten weeks. I''m genuinely shocked. Originally, | thought we would be here for ten months to two years," Callen said. "Thank you, Callen," Shang said. "This is not thanks to me. This is all you, Shang," Callen said. Callen had stopped calling Shang Duke Sword a couple of weeks ago when Shang got annoyed by it. Shang had already given Callen ten True Path Stage beast corpses. Callen said that they hade to an agreement that he would only get five, but Shang said that he had offered him ten after he had offered five, so it was ten. Callen felt bad that Shang was giving him so many corpses, but Shang just kept saying that this was the agreement. Eventually, Shang left. The past ten weeks had been fun but also stressful for Shang. He hade to know Callen very well, and they had talked a lot. Yet, as Shang was flying away from Callen''s ce, he could only release a sigh. Once again, he had gotten a taste of the very thing he couldn''t have. ¡®True Mages only live for about 250 years, and Callen will most likely not make it to the High Mage Realm. Additionally, he''s already quite old. | think he''s already over 180 years old.¡¯ ¡®In less than 70 years, he will die.¡¯ ¡®And | will still be training.¡¯ ¡®It''s sad to think that | will never see Callen again, but that is the price of choosing such a Path.¡¯ Shang hated these moments the most. Yet, he didn''t regret his choice. If he ever wanted to have a shot at reaching Godhood, he needed to work harder than everyone else and dedicate his entire life to his power. After a while, Shang took out his Communication Crystal. "What''s the status?"N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. "Not much going on," Jerald answered. "The Magic Purity Kingdom is still consolidating their newnds, and | think they will continue to do so for a couple of months." ¡°When''s the meeting?" Shang asked. "Six days from now," Jerald answered. ¡°Alright. | will be there," Shang answered. ¡°See you there," Jerald said. Shang put the Communication Crystal away and returned to the Caves in the Storm Eagle Zone. The meeting between the new and old Assistant Supervisors would be in six days, which meant that the old Assistant Supervisors would leave in a bit more than a month. Area 23 would be thrown into chaos once again. Shang was a bit worried about the future, but he also had faith in Jerald. Jerald was much better at managing a Kingdom and war than him, and Shang knew that. Shang only needed to attack the targets that Jerald called out, and everything would work out. When Shang arrived at his usual training spot in the Caves, he took out a couple of the other resources he had gathered about ten weeks ago. He had only tested the Wind de Seed, and he needed to test the other ones. Over the next six days, Shang mixed and matched the resources in a certain way and even went out to gather additional ones. During these six days, Shang managed to find just the right bnce of resources necessary to increase the efficiency of his training for all of his four States. The Long Sword State was the simplest since it only needed Wind de Seeds. The Saber State needed abination of Wind de Seeds and Bloodlust Powder. Bloodlust Powder was the spores of a fungus living in the depths of Zones with a heavy presence of Darkness Mana. It was sort of a stimnt that heightened one''s instincts while also increasing their aggression. Asaber was often viewed as a more aggressive version of the versatile longsword, and Shang found out that a more aggressive mindset helped while training in his Saber State. The Great Sword State needed abination of Wind de Seeds and Icy Death Crystals. Icy Death Crystals were found in Zones with a lot of Ice Mana. While the Bloodlust Powder evoked explosive rage, Icy Death Crystals evoked a cold feeling of hatred. Explosive rage could increase someone''s power since it could unlock a bit of the hidden power in one''s body. Sadly, one wouldn''t have as much control over their power in this state. On the other hand, cold hatred strengthened someone''s willpower while fighting the very person they hated. Everything around them would vanish, only leaving the target in their mind, and their mind would dedicate all its resources to killing that target. This would increase control over one''s power. The Colossal Sword State needed, yet again, Wind de Seeds and Iron Wall Stalk. Iron Wall Stalks were tall nts living in Zones with heavy Metal Mana presence. It evoked a certain feeling of standing one''s ground and never giving up, no matter how strong the enemy appeared. Thesebinations worked best for Shang, and he was looking forward to trying them out. Now, Shang waspletely prepared for his long session of training. He knew his path forward. He knew what resources he needed to consume. He knew what he had to train. He knew how he had to train. He knew a Spell that could change his Mana pathways permanently. Everything was prepared and ready, and now, Shang only needed to put it into practice. Three months ago, Shang had had no idea how he could even possiblye up with a way to reach the Fifth Realm. Now, Shang had a detailed n. It might not be certain that he could reach the Fifth Realm, but Shang was sure that he could reach the Peak True Path Stage with a more-than-solid foundation. But that would have to wait. It was time for the meeting with the other Assistant Supervisors. Chapter 530 Chapter 530 Shangnded in front of Agon''s castle and entered. As always, the castle was empty except for the throne room. Shang entered the throne room and saw Agon and Jerald talking about random things. Agon and Jerald nodded at Shang. "Let''s go," Agon said as he walked to his throne. Instead of sitting down, Agon stopped in front of the throne and summoned his special Communication Crystal. He extended it towards the back of the throne and held it there for about five seconds. WHOOOM! Awave of Mana washed over the throne room as the walls shone in white light for just an instant. After the white light passed, Shang realized that he couldn''t view the things outside the throne room with his Spirit Sense anymore. This was probably some kind of istion Magic Circle. SHING! Acouple secondster, a violet portal appeared beside the steps that led up to Agon''s throne. ¡°Just hold the Communication Crystal you got from Relon to the throne, and everything will happen automatically,¡± Agon said as he walked towards the portal. "This portal leads to the meeting ce for all employees in Area 23. Obviously, no other person is allowed to know about all of this." Jerald and Shang only nodded. Then, the three of them stepped through the portal. After stepping through the portal, Shang could finally see where it led to. It was a natural teau. The teau was about 100 meters wide and filled with grass. Shang could see the clouds from the teau, and he could even see the ground with his Spirit Sense. Shang saw a lot of people, and his eyebrows rose when he felt their power. There were over 20 High Mages within a 20-kilometer radius, and they were all Mid High Mages or more powerful. There were even three Peak High Mages!Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. Three Peak High Mages! The Skythunder Kingdom only had one! As soon as Shang felt the power of all these Mages, he knew where he was. Only the Magic Purity Kingdom could have such powerful Mages. Additionally, based on the gigantic, white castle Shang could see near the base of the teau, Shang knew where he was specifically inside the Magic Purity Kingdom. ¡®This is probably their capital,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Luckily, the teau is nearly ten-kilometers-high, making it impossible for the Mages to see us with their Spirit Senses.¡¯ Yes, the teau was that high. Even more, it was basically just a massive wall with a 90¡ã angle. "To think that filthy scum would one day find its way to the Holy Mountain of my Magic Purity Kingdom." Shang narrowed his eye and looked at the person that had just spoken. It was an old man with white hair and a long white beard. The old man was looking at Shang with contempt in his eyes, and he wore simple white robes. However, when Shang saw him, he could feel the sheer power radiating off him. Shang felt like this man was on the same level as Agon. Of course, the identity of this man was obvious. "| presume you are the Assistant Supervisor of the central region?" Shang asked with a neutral voice. He specifically avoided calling him King. The older man narrowed his eyes, and Shang could feel monumental pressure building around him. It was like he was looking into the eyes of a pride-filled dragon. However, Shang didn''t even react to the pressure. He had gone through too many things to be intimidated by a person that wasn''t allowed to touch him. For a couple of seconds, Shang and the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom only looked at each other. Then, the King''s eyebrows rose in surprise as all the pressure vanished. After that, he looked at Agon. "Huh, you were right. He really didn''t get intimidated," he said with an interested and surprised voice. Agon only smirked. "Told you so." Shang raised an eyebrow at the sudden mood shift. "| must apologize for the joke," the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom said while smiling warmly and politely. "| simply wanted to see if Agon was overpraising you or not." Shang hesitated for about two seconds before answering. "Aren''t the Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom supposed to hate everyone not practicing Magic?" he asked. The King onlyughed. "That''s their role," he said. "But a role is just a role. The other paths require an antagonist they can fight against, and we fulfill that role." ¡°However, in the end, a role is just a role, and a job is just a job," the King added with a bit of mirth. "The very reason why | am here is to promote the growth of the other paths. Hating the other paths goes directly against the goal of my job and role." Shang was a bit surprised. The King of the Magic Purity Kingdom sure was different than Shang had expected. Shang had expected some arrogant old man. In fact, the initial expression and demeanor the King showed had been exactly what Shang had expected. "Nice to finally meet you,¡± Jerald suddenly said with a smile as he stepped towards the King. "My name is Jerald, and | will be the new Assistant Supervisor of the southern region of Area 23." The King only chuckled and walked over to Jerald. Then, they shook hands. "Nice to meet you, Jerald. You can call me by my name, Koran. We are all colleagues here, and there is no need to put up any pretenses,¡± Koran, the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom, said. "Thank you, Koran," Jerald answered. "You know, Jerald," Koran added. "I''m d that you got the job instead of Susan. | don''t think we need two antagonists in this Area." Jerald raised an eyebrow. "Susan would have gotten the job?" "Yes," Agon said from behind Jerald. "If you died, she would have received your job." ¡®That would have been bad,¡¯ Shang thought with aplex expression. "I''ve heard that you already met your new colleague, Charles," Koran said. Jerald onlyughed awkwardly. "Yes, we did.¡± "Trust me, | get it," Koran said with a chuckle. "He is a weird fellow. At a first nce, he might appear unreliable and impulsive, but that only holds true when nothing''s at stake. When there are actually important matters, he always proves to be a valuable and reliable friend and helper.¡± Shang only looked at Koran with a doubtful expression. That fire Mage didn''t seem reliable at all. ¡°By the way, where is he?" Jerald asked. ¡°He will be joining us in about half an hour," Koran said. "Just try to work with his... special personality, and everything will work out." Jerald onlyughed politely. SHING! At that moment, another portal appeared at the edge of the teau. Then, the King of the Grandmountain Kingdom stepped through. Chapter 531 Chapter 531 Aperson stepped through the new portal shortly after it appeared. "Seems like the guys from the Grandmountain Kingdom are here," Agon said with a snort. Shang and Jerald looked over with interest. They hadn''t met the leaders of the Grandmountain Kingdom yet, and they wondered what they would be like. The first person that stepped through was a thin, brown-haired man that looked to be in his thirties. He was about 165 cm tall, and he had several bags under his eyes. Shang thought that he looked like a thin programmer from Earth. Someone that didn''t move much while staying upte to y games. He had a very bored expression, and he looked likeing here was already too stressful for him. However, the amount of Earth Mana Shang could feeling off of this guy was insane. There was no doubt. This was King Grandmountain. "You look tired as always, Wilbur," Koran said with a polite chuckle. King Grandmountain, Wilbur, only moved his bored and annoyed gaze at Koran. "How long until the meeting starts?" he asked in a tired voice. "It will start in about an hour," Koran answered. Wilbur only nodded absentmindedly and walked to the side of the teau. Obviously, he wasn''t very interested in meeting the others. Jerald only raised an eyebrow and walked over. "Greetings, I''m-" "It doesn''t matter who you are," Wilbur cut off Jerald without turning around. However, he also didn''t sound aggressive. He simply sounded like talking to Jerald was too bothersome. "| will be gone in a month anyway. Introduce yourself to the others," Wilbur said. Jerald was a bit taken aback by King Grandmountain''s off-putting demeanor, but he still retreated without saying anything further. Asecondter, a middle-aged woman with beautiful blue hair stepped through the portal. When she saw Jerald retreating from Wilbur, she immediately knew what had happened. "| must apologize for Assistant Supervisor Wilbur Grandmountain," she said in a cold but polite tone. "He is very busy. If you need anything from him, please contact me. I''m his assistant. You may call me Mrs. Flowing Blossom, Mr. Whirlwind." Jerald was a bit surprised by the distant and overly polite form of address. "Thank you, Mrs. Flowing Blossom. | don''t mind. | can understand why Mr. Grandmountain is so stressed." Mrs. Flowing Blossom only nodded politely and walked over to Wilbur. Funnily enough, they didn''t talk, and Mrs. Flowing Blossom only waited obediently behind Wilbur. "Sure enough, not everyone is as approachable as Koran,¡¯ Shang thought. SHING! Two other people stepped through the portal. One was a middle-aged woman with long, brown hair, while the other was another thin man wearing a white coat. Shang recognized the coat the man was wearing as the coat that all the researchers in the Grandmountain Kingdom wore. However, Shang was more surprised about the woman. He recognized her. The woman also very quickly noticed Shang, and her eyebrows shot up in surprise. Then, her eyes narrowed, and she snorted. "I knew it." This was the Governor that had found him after he had arrived in the Grandmountain Kingdom. Back then, Shang had acted like an isted barbarian. Sadly, she had still sent him to the frontlines. Shang found it a bit awkward to meet her here. Jerald noticed the exchange. "You know her?" Jerald asked Shang. Shang nodded. "She was the Governor that sent me to the frontlines." "Oh, her," Jerald said with a small chuckle. Then, Jerald walked up to her and offered his hand. "Hello, I''m Jerald Whirlwind, and | am the new Assistant Supervisor of the southern area." The woman focused on Shang for one more second before looking at Jerald. Then, she shook Jerald''s hand. "Zara Cliffer, | am the new Assistant Supervisor of the northwestern area." After that, she gestured to the person beside her. "This is my assistant, Hans. You can contact me for important things directly, but pleasemunicate with Hans for unimportant matters." Jerald nodded politely and also shook hands with Hans. "I''m looking forward to working with you," Hans said with a bright and friendly smile. "The pleasure is mine," Jerald answered. Hans looked around Jerald at Shang. "Is this your assistant?" he asked. "He is my plus one, but he isn''t my assistant," Jerald said with augh. "He''s my friend, and he is the reason why | even got this job." Hans and Zara looked a bit surprised. How could an Initial True Path Stage warrior have such a big impact on Jerald getting the job? Their powers should be worlds apart. Hans also introduced himself to Shang, who did the same thing. Zara wasn''t really interested in talking with Shang. Apparently, she was still a bit annoyed that Shang managed to trick her back then. Acouple of minutester, the next portal opened. This time, the people of the ckshadow Kingdom stepped through. The leader was a tall woman with long, ck hair, and her eyes were frosty and prideful. This was Queen ckshadow. Apparently, Queen ckshadow didn''t have a plus one, and the same thing was true for her sessor. Behind her stood a tall and thin man with ck hair and ck eyes. A cold aura came off him, and most people felt ufortable being near him. "Surprisingly, the people from the ckshadow Kingdom are exactly as | expected them to be,¡¯ Shang thought. Koran''s demeanor was not what Shang had expected at all, and Wilbur was also different. Shang had expected King Grandmountain to be a chiseled and tall man. But the further Shang thought about it, the more Wilbur''s appearance actually made sense. Barbarians lived in the Grandmountain Kingdom, but the Grandmountain Kingdom wasn''t actually led by them. The researchers and Mages led the Grandmountain Kingdom. The introductions with the people from the ckshadow Kingdom were curt but polite. Queen ckshadow introduced herself in a polite but distant manner. Her sessor was even more extreme. "Yora Darksky, nice to meet you," he said in a t tone. Shang could hear that Yora wasn''t actually acting like someone superior in front of Jerald. In fact, Yora reminded Shang of someone. Himself. Yora''s demeanor was very simr to Shang''s own demeanor. Acouple of secondster, the next portal opened, and the people of the Spirit Spring Kingdom walked through. The leader was a brightly smiling young woman with white hair, and when she saw the new faces, her smile became even brighter.Content (C) N?v/elDra/ma.Org. She immediately jumped to Zara, the new Assistant Supervisor of the Grandmountain Kingdom, and introduced herself. "Hi, I''m R Spirit Spring, and can | say that your hair looks fantastic?¡± she quickly said. Zara was a bit taken aback. "Thanks," she said awkwardly. Then, she coughed to regain her bearings. "My name is Zara Cliffer, and I''m the new Assistant Supervisor of the northwestern area." ¡°Happy to meet you, Zara! | can already tell that the Grandmountain Kingdom will make a great resurgence soon!" R spoke loudly with a bright voice. "Thanks," Zara answered again with a bit of surprise. Then, R quickly jumped towards Jerald and introduced herself. Jerald only chuckled politely. "Nice to meet you, R. | think | will be working very closely with your sessor soon." R and Jerald talked with each other for a while, just exchangingpliments. After introducing herself to Jerald, R smirked and literally jumped over to Queen ckshadow. "Sunny!" she shouted happily as she threw herself at Queen ckshadow. Queen ckshadow''s face turned a bit red, and she gently tried to push R away. "What''s the matter with you, R?! This is an official meeting, not a yground!" "| can''t help it! | just missed you so much!" she shouted. While still hugging Queen ckshadow, R looked over at Yora Darksky behind her. "Yora, | also haven''t seen you in a while." Yora only nodded in greeting while R giggled. ¡®Well, she seems a bit chipper than | expected,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Anyway, | should also introduce myself.¡¯ Shang walked to R and slowly extended a hand. ¡°Ew, go away! You''re creepy!" R shouted as she threw a side-eye at Shang. Shang''s hand froze. Chapter 532 Chapter 532 Shang could only look at R Spirit Spring with raised eyebrows. He hadn''t expected that reaction. Some of the people that knew R only chuckled a bit, and Shang pulled his hand back. Then, he walked back to Jerald without saying anything else. It was a bit direct, but he could deal with people not liking him. No reason to make a big deal out of it. Then, thest two people stepped through the portal. Ayoung woman with short green hair and another young woman with long light-grey hair stepped through the portal. Shang could tell that the first one was a Peak High Mage while the second one was a Late High Mage. The two went and introduced themselves to all the present people until they eventually reached Jerald. ¡°Hello, I''m Fia Stormbright, and this is my plus one, Lira Stormbright, my sister," the green-haired woman said. ¡°Hello, you two. I''m Jerald Whirlwind, and this is my plus one, Shang Sword. Nice to meet you," he said. Everyone shook hands and introduced themselves. Now, only two people were missing. Shang simply waited at the side while Jerald was talking with Fia Stormbright and her sister. Shang knew what they were talking about. After all, Jerald had already told Shang about his future ns. If Relon actually gave permission, the Skythunder Kingdom would finally have a chance to resist the Magic Purity Kingdom. After a couple of minutes, one more portal opened, and Charles Pendragon stepped through. "Hey, hey, people! Charles Pendragon here!" he shouted loudly. "! will be the new Assistant Supervisor for the central area, and | don''t have a plus one since the old man is taking all the good Mages with him." From the side, Koran only sighed. "Why do you have to call me old man in front of everyone?" Charles only put his hands on his hip and puffed out his chest. "It''s not my fault that you''re old!" Koran only rubbed his forehead in annoyance. "You found a weird one," Agon said from beside Koran. "Yes, but he''s very talented and capable," Koran said. ¡°Even if he doesn''t seem that way," Koran grumbled. All the current leaders were talking in a group. They had even pulled Wilbur in, forcing him to participate. From what Shang could see, the five current leaders knew each other very well. The plus ones also seemed to know each other. At that moment, Shang noticed something. ¡°Where''s Miriam?" Shang asked Agon with a voice transmission. "She''s preparing everything right now," he answered. "Oh, okay," Shang answered.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. Everyone continued talking, and they eventually split into groups. Jerald was talking with the two sisters from the Spirit Spring Kingdom while Zara Cliffer tried to strike up a conversation with Yora Darksky, who didn''t seem interested at all. Meanwhile, Shang only stood at the side, not talking with anyone. "Sucks, doesn''t it?!" Charles suddenly said to Shang in a loud voice. Shang only furrowed his brows and looked at him. "I''m not sure what you mean." "| mean being ignored,¡± Charles said with a snort. Shang only raised an eyebrow. "I''m not being ignored. | simply don''t care about conversation very much." ¡°Hmph, that''s what someone that''s being ignored would say," Charles added with a snort. Shang only rolled his right eye, but he didn¡¯t answer. Acouple of seconds passed with Charles just standing beside him. "You should''ve seen Queen Spirit Spring when she arrived," Shang suddenly said. Charles was surprised that Shang was talking to him. "Oh? Why?" "She called me creepy," Shang added. Charles only snorted inughter. "You kind of look creepy." Shang looked at Charles. "How am | creepy?" "| mean, look at you," Charles said. "You constantly have this look in your eyes, eh, eye that makes people think you have something devious nned. Additionally, this eyepatch of yours makes you seem shifty." "You look like a bandit or a pirate." Shang scratched his chin. "That could be." "It is," Charles added. Shang only nodded. Charles looked at Shang for a while, wondering why he didn''t feel any sort of rejectioning from him. "Why are you suddenly so willing to talk?" Charles asked. "Huh?" Shang asked, not understanding what Charles meant. ¡°When we met a couple of months ago, you basically told me to fuck off," Charles said with furrowed brows. "Yeah, because we were in the middle of being invaded by your future Kingdom," Shang said. "Talking with you was not my priority." Charles raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "That''s all?" "What else?" Shang asked. "It''s not like | have anything against you. | don''t even know you." For a while, Charles only looked at Shang, but his nervousness calmed down. "Do you miss Earth?" he asked via voice transmission. "No, why?" Shang asked. Charles only sighed. "I miss Earth. There are no video games in this world. Like, | get that | am kind of living in a video game right now, but the video games always skip the boring part. No one wants to y a game where you literally sit in one ce for years, just thinking about stuff." "It would be so great if | could just skip the entire process of training. It''s so tedious and boring." "So?" Shang asked. "Training isn''t always fun, but the results are worth it. Also, being able to skip the process might not even be a good thing. You need practice to train efficiently, and if you skip it, your willpower might reduce, making it harder to train in the future." Surprisingly, Charles managed to strike up a conversation with Shang, which wasn''t easy. Even though Shang said that he didn''t care that Charles came from Earth, maybe, just maybe, he actually cared a bit. BANG! Some minutester, a lightning bolt hit the middle of the teau, and Relon stepped out of the small crater. He looked around and nodded at the present people. "Has everyone gotten acquainted?" he asked. Relon received a chorus of positive answers. "Good, then the first goal of the meeting has been achieved." ¡°Let''s start the meeting.¡± The groups broke up and stopped in front of Relon. "First, let me wee you all to the Lightning Manor. You are now all officially employed by one of the most powerful organizations in the entire world. Not many people can achieve that." After that, Relon went into a speech in which he exined some additional details that weren''t inside the contract. Those details were nothing crucial, just some specific stuff about how Relon was running the ce. He also talked a bit about what every Assistant Supervisor should look out for. Relon talked for about two hours. "Do any of you have any suggestions?" he asked after talking about how to manage everything. At that moment, Fia Stormbright, Lira Stormbright, and Jerald threw a nce at each other. Then, Jerald stepped forward. Relon nodded towards Jerald. "| have a suggestion." "Speak. We are all colleagues here," Relon said. The current leaders looked at Jerald with interest while Agon only smirked. Agon had already told them that Jerald had something big nned. ¡°Even with the weakening of the Magic Purity Kingdom in a month, it will still be difficult to further diversity in our Kingdoms," Jerald said. "While war is a great aggregator for growth, if too many people die, it will hinder growth. People in the Fourth Realm count amongst the powerful in Area 23, but they have not yet reached the level that we need them to be." "Yet, how are these people supposed to reach that level when they are getting incinerated on the frontlines?¡± Relon nodded. "I can see where you areing from. | presume you have a proposal regarding that?" Jerald nced at Fia Stormbright, who nodded back. Then, Jerald turned to Relon. "The role of the Magic Purity Kingdom is to be the antagonist. In many popr stories, the antagonist can only be defeated when many smaller camps of the protagonists band together." Relon raised an eyebrow as Jerald continued talking. "| propose to include the Spirit Spring Kingdom in the Skythunder Kingdom, and if they so choose to and ept, to fuse the Grandmountain Kingdom and ckshadow Kingdom." "With that, we will have three Kingdoms." "We have the antagonist.¡± "We have the protagonist working together with all the other paths." "And we have the neutral camp that lives with the other paths but uses them like tools." Jerald looked back at Fia Stormbright. "We already came to an agreement." Chapter 533 Chapter 533 The present people looked with shock at Jerald. Such a suggestion would change the entire structure of Area 23! "Impossible," Wilbur, King Grandmountain, said from the side with a snort. ¡°How is it impossible?" Jerald asked. "| can understand that the Skythunder Kingdom and the Spirit Spring Kingdom are very simr and that they could pull something like that off, but this will never work for the Grandmountain Kingdom and ckshadow Kingdom. The two Kingdoms have been enemies for too long.¡± Jerald only smirked. "So?" Wilbur furrowed his brows. "That''s not something you can just brush off like that." "Why not?" Jerald asked. "If we look past the enmity between the ckshadow Kingdom and the Grandmountain Kingdom, we can see that they have very simr philosophies. The Mages in the Grandmountain Kingdom enve the barbarians to be more powerful, and the ckshadow Kingdom does something very simr by enving beasts." ¡°Even more, your two Kingdoms were made to work together. The ckshadow Kingdom has Summoners, which are just a lesser-known path of Magic. However, these Summoners need strong food to strengthen their beasts." "And the Grandmountain Kingdom is creating all of this food by enving the barbarians." For some seconds, no one said anything. The thought of creating barbarians just to feed them to beasts felt terrifying. ¡°Are you even listening to yourself?" Wilbur asked with narrowed eyes. "You''re suggesting feeding humans to beasts!" "Teh." Wilbur looked at Queen ckshadow, who had just snorted in disdain. "| don''t see the problem," she said. "We''ve been doing that for decades, if not centuries." "This has nothing to do with you,¡± Wilbur said with a venomous voice. "This has a lot to do with me," Queen ckshadow said. "After all, you just said that feeding humans to beasts is horrible, but enving them is not an issue. Do YOU even hear yourself?" Wilbur looked at Queen ckshadow for a while longer before turning to Jerald. "It won''t happen. The Grandmountain Kingdom will not work together with the ckshadow Kingdom." Jerald only looked at Wilbur with a knowing smirk. "I''m sorry, but the decision is not yours." "What are you talking about? The Grandmountain Kingdom is my Kingdom. As Assistant Supervisor, | have a certain amount of freedom on how | can manage my Kingdom," Wilbur said. "I''m not talking about Relon," Jerald said. Then, he gestured to Zara Cliffer. "It''s hers." Wilbur looked at Zara Cliffer with narrowed eyes. Obviously, he was trying to intimidate her. Zara Cliffer looked at King Grandmountain with a slightly intimidated expression. After all, he had been her King for over a century. "God, what''s there to worry about?" Everyone looked over at Shang, who had just spoken. It was quite ballsy of him to speak up at this point. Shang ignored Wilbur and only looked at Zara. "You are not his subject anymore. You''re an employee of the Lightning Manor. You should know that he can''t just sabotage your work or kill you just because of some personal reason. It says so in the contract." "Who allowed you to talk here?!" Wilbur shouted in anger. "You''re just a plus one!" Shang blinked once. Then, he looked over at Relon, who was scratching his chin in thought. "Can | talk here?" Shang asked in a bored tone. Relon nced at Shang, nodded, and returned to thinking. "He did," Shang said to Wilbur. "Also, don''t you realize that you are literally the only person here that''s so against all of this? There are obviously useful facets to this proposal, and they deserve deliberation instead of an instant refusal." "Tell me, is this an ego thing?¡± Shang asked with a bored voice. ¡°Ego thing?" Wilbur repeated like he had just been pped in the face and couldn''t think straight. "Yes, an ego thing," Shang repeated. "You basically made the barbarians, but you can''t ept that warriors are just t-out better than barbarians in literally every single regard. Is sacrificing the barbarians to the beasts a hit to your ego? Can you not let go of a failed experiment?" "Silence!" Wilbur shouted, his voice shaking the teau. "A mere warrior in the fourth Realm can''t even begin toprehend the mind of an Archmage! Learn your ce, ve!" Silence. Everyone looked over at Wilbur with surprise. Even Relon had been taken out of his thoughts. Then, a couple of people sighed. "That exins it," Koran, the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom, said. "So that''s why the Grandmountain Kingdom is doing so horribly and why he was even willing to ally with my Kingdom." "He actually believes the things he has been teaching his Kingdom,¡± Koran said with another sigh. "Koran," Wilbur said with narrowed eyes. "This has nothing to do with ego, and | don''t believe these things. There are simply too many problems with the proposal." Koran only shook his head. Nobody would believe him now. There had been so many words he could have used to insult Shang, but he had used ve. The problem wasn''t the word itself but the reason why he chose that specific word. The Assistant Supervisors dispersed certain ideologies in their Kingdoms to achieve a goal. However, the Assistant Supervisors knew that these ideologies were lies created to strengthen the other paths. Koran''s Kingdom hated everything that wasn''t Magic, but he himself didn¡¯t have any issues with warriors or other Paths. He was simply ying his role as antagonist. Yet, Wilbur had actually lost the mindset of an Assistant Supervisor and had actually adopted the very ideology he was indoctrinating his Kingdom with. That was not how an Assistant Supervisor should think. Their minds and beliefs had to be separate from their Kingdoms. They were here to strengthen the different Paths, not to weaken them. "Wilbur," Relon said. Wilbur looked with a bit of nervousness at Relon. "| think you''ve been here too long," Relon said. At that point, Wilbur''s face whitened. "Don''t worry,¡± Relon said. "I''m not confiscating your payment or your rewards. Taking away 150 years of your hard work because of a slip of the tongue would be too cruel." "I''m just asking you to leave the major matters to your sessor from now on. Just take it easy for the next month. Don''t do anything stupid and simply wait for the end of your shift.¡± Wilbur gnashed his teeth. Then, he looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. He was at fault! "Wilbur," Relon said with a threatening voice. "| saw that look. Shang is employed by the Lightning Manor just like you. | can forgive a slip of the tongue, but if | see you try to sabotage things knowing that you shouldn''t do that, being let go and having your reward confiscated will be the least of your worries." "Do | make myself clear?" Relon asked with a strict voice. Wilbur closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yes," he said, trying to sound calm. "Good. Now, | think it would be better for you to leave the meeting early," Relon added. "Sure," Wilbur said with an annoyed voice. SHING! Aportal appeared, and Wilbur walked through it without saying anything. Then, Relon looked back at Jerald.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. ¡°Now, for your proposal." Chapter 534 Chapter 534 "| think your proposal has merit," Relon said. "If the people are under too much pressure, they don''t have any space or time to realize their potential." ¡°However, while | will allow you twobine your two areas, all parties involved in the merger must agree. As Assistant Supervisors, you all still have a certain amount of freedom regarding how you manage your areas," Relon exined. Jerald looked at Fia, and Fia only turned to Relon. "We already agreed," Fia Stormbright said. "We still have to iron out the details, but a couple of days after the old Assistant Supervisors leave, we will proceed with the merger.¡± Relon nodded. "I would suggest giving up the currentnd of the Spirit Spring Kingdom. Both of your Kingdoms are rather weak, and | don''t think you have the defenses to defend such a long border." "That was the n," Fia answered. "Good," Relon said. Then, he turned to Yora Darksky and Zara Cliffer. "If you want to merge or not is up to you. I''m not asking you toe to a decision right now, but I would like an answer within the next two weeks if you want to go through with it or not." Zara Cliffer and Yora Darksky looked at each other. They weren''t sure if they should. After all, the Grandmountain Kingdom and ckshadow Kingdom had warred for over a century by now. Nearly every living person had been born during the war, and it felt like something that would never stop. ¡°Any other suggestions?" Relon asked. Nobody answered. "Good, then the meeting is adjourned." BANG! Relon transformed into a lightning bolt and flew away. Most of the people remained standing there, not sure how all of this would go down. "Hey, you two." Zara and Yora looked at Charles, who only smirked at them. "I''m not as nice of a guy as the old man," he said. "If | have to y the antagonist, I''m going to be a real antagonist." "That means no enving other paths," he said as he looked at Zara. "You better increase your power soon, or you will lose your job right after you start it." Zara narrowed her eyes at the threat. However, she also knew that all of this was just part of the job and that Charles was just doing what he was supposed to be doing. The Magic Purity Kingdom was the antagonist, and Charles would act like it. Then, Charles looked at Jerald and winked at him before summoning his portal and leaving. Jerald was a bit confused by Charles. Thest time, Charles attacked Jerald, and after that, he was rudely told off by Shang. Why was Charles suddenly helping him? Agon returned to Jerald and Shang with a smirk. "Nice going, you two. | hate seeing that prick and his constant attitude saying that he''s too good for everything.¡± Agon obviously referred to Wilbur. "After seeing him, I''m not surprised that the Grandmountain Kingdom is such a shitshow," Shang said. Agonughed while Jerald looked at Shang with surprise. "Shitshow? I''ve never heard that word before." Shang blinked once. ¡®Talking with Charles reminded me of Earth. | don''t think shitshow is an actual word in this world." "| think you can guess the meaning," Shang said. Jerald nodded with a slight chuckle. After that, the three of them returned to Agon¡¯''s castle. "What''s the n?" Jerald asked. ¡°Regarding?¡± Agon asked. ¡°When you will leave," Jerald borated. "Oh, that," Agon said as he walked over to his throne. "After being driven into a corner, the Queen of the ckshadow Kingdom willunch an attack against the King of the Grandmountain Kingdom. As the two are fighting, the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom will get involved." "The King of the Skythunder Kingdom and the Queen of the Spirit Spring Kingdom see a chance to finally take down the King of the Magic Purity Kingdom after he leaves all his powerful Mages behind to help the King of the Grandmountain Kingdom and attack." "A big battle happens, and | willunch a Spell that will drain me of all Mana and kill all the other leaders. Zara Cliffer will take advantage of that moment and kill me when I''m out of Mana." "That''s how things will y out for the general public." "In truth, the Supervisor will make an Illusion Magic Circle. We will still fight openly, but at the moment when |unch myst Spell, the Magic Circle will activate. In truth, the Spell doesn''t cost me all my Mana, just half. | will intentionally miss, and we all fly up until we can''t be seen from the ground anymore." "Then, we will simply fly away from Area 23 while everyone thinks that we have died.¡± Jerald nodded. "What about the Space Rings?" "We will act like we destroyed them and most of their contents while scattering some random stuff across thend below us,¡± Agon exined. "Sounds good," Jerald said. Shang only looked at Agon. When he first saw Agon, Shang had been overwhelmed by his power. Now, Agon was someone familiar to Shang. And soon, Agon would leave, leaving Jerald in charge of the Kingdom. Many years ago, Jerald had told Shang that his dream was to be King, and now, that dream was about to be a reality. "Then, goodbye, Agon," Shang said. "I will start training soon, and | don''t think we will see each other again." Agon only smirked. "Your discipline regarding training is what made you so powerful in such a short amount of time. Based on how you were fighting, | can tell that youprehended four different Paths before reaching the True Path Stage." "For Mages, that would equate toprehending four different Concepts before bing a High Mage." ¡°I''m not entirely sure how the world will react to your true power. Maybe they will try to help you be even more powerful, or they might fear your potential.¡± "Be careful of whom you show your power to." "Just like your Affinity," Agon said. "Every powerful organization is searching for the Child of Cmity." Shang''s insides shook. He knew that Agon knew part of his Affinity, but Shang hadn''t thought that Agon even knew that he was the Child of Cmity. Shang had seen the term in the book Lucius had left behind, and he had thought that this term was a secret. Apparently, it wasn''t that big of a secret. "Why are you helping me?" Shang asked. "I''ve been born into the Grandmountain Kingdom as a barbarian, and they have denied me the opportunity to be more powerful," Agon said. "Everyone deserves a shot at power, including you." Shang took a deep breath. "Thank you, Agon. This means a lot to me." Agon nodded with a smirk. "Now, go train! | want to hear from you when you are the first warrior to reach the Fifth Realm." Shang also nodded. "It was nice meeting you, Agon." Agon only nodded again. Then, Shang left the castle and flew toward the Caves. Meanwhile, Jerald looked at Agon. "Child of Cmity?¡± he asked.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. "Oh? | was under the impression you knew," Agon said. "| know of Shang''s Affinity, but | don''t know about this Child of Cmity thing.¡± "Interesting," Agon said with a smirk. Chapter 535 Chapter 535 Shang returned to the Caves to continue his training. Right now, he didn''t need to fight anyone, and he needed an isted ce far away from any significant dangers. Sure, the Caves were dangerous since there were True Path Stage beasts and Archbeasts, but as long as Shang didn''t go too deeply into the caves, he wouldn''t meet any of those beasts. Additionally, since all the True Path Stage warriors and High Mages were on the frontlines, Shang also wouldn''t meet another human here. Lastly, he wanted to keep his training a secret. If people somehow realized that Shang was tampering with his Mana pathways, someone that might want to kill him could take advantage of that moment. However, the thing with his Mana pathways would only be a problemter. For now, Shang decided to focus on his performance regarding his attacks. Before he touched his Mana pathways, he wanted all of his attacks to be perfect. After all, what if the correct usage of the attack required different Mana usage than the incorrect usage? Shang wanted to perfect his attacks. He wanted to further his self-created fighting style until it was exactly how he wanted it to be. Then, he would adapt his body to his fighting style. "My Path constantly evolves and changes. The Mana pathways were created over three years ago, and I have gained a lot of experience since then. | have fought so many beasts and warriors, giving me plenty of opportunity to see the weaknesses in my fighting style. Shang looked at his right hand. ¡®For other warriors, your Path is set at the moment you reach the True Path Stage. After that, you have to perfectly remain within its boundaries and further it by following the guidelines they themselves had set when they reached the True Path Stage.¡¯ ¡®Yet, people grow and gain more experiences. Something that | view as perfect today might contain several ws that | will only notice decadester.¡¯ ¡®Then what? Am | supposed to tread this faulty Path to the end, knowing of all of its weaknesses and not being able to rectify them?¡¯ ¡®No thanks,¡¯ Shang thought with a sneer. ¡®No, | will continue to change the boundaries | have set in the past and will adapt them to my future self.¡¯ ¡®Many people would probably be against doing that. After all, the Mana pathways have essentially been created by the world. | never decided what kind of Mana pathways | would create. They just magically appeared when | reached the next Realm.¡¯ "Do | know better than the world what makes me powerful?¡¯ Shang narrowed his right eye. "Yes, | do!¡¯ Then, Shang looked up. ''The God has created this world, and he has set up all the rules that allow innumerable Paths to reach supreme power.¡¯ ¡®But even that might have ws.¡¯ ¡®| might not be able to build something better right now, but eventually, | will have gained enough experience to create something that only belongs to me." "My own Path.¡¯ ¡®A Path that nobody else in the world can follow.¡¯ Shang smirked. ¡®And isn''t that exactly what you want, God?'' Shang thought. No one answered Shang''s thoughts. ¡°Let''s start," Shang said to Sword as he readied it. Sword didn''t answer, but Shang knew that it was ready. Then, Shang ate the treasures he needed to train in his Great Sword Style. Yes, he would start with his Great Sword Style first. Shang knew that this training session would take a long time. After all, there were innumerable ways to swing a sword, and he would need to perfect each and every one of them. Every single swing needed the body to move differently, and it also needed very different amounts of Mana and ways it could move. Shang needed to perfectly execute every single possible swing at any given moment. He would essentially need to be a precise machine. He needed to program his body, Mana, and mind into performing every single task perfectly every time it was performed. The way forward was brutal. Warriors could swing their swords for days at a time. Some of them could even do it for weeks. But eventually, the monotony of training would set in. They would go out. Meet their children. Meet their partner. Meet their friends. Earn money.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. Do their job. Then, they would return to training again, and everything would be repeated. Anotherponent was the fear of risking one''s life. Most people wanted to be powerful so that they didn''t need to risk their lives. Everyone wanted to live, and their power was supposed to help them live. So, why would they want to risk their lives by fighting a powerful beast or a powerful Mage just to train? That was putting the cart in front of the horse. Yet, Shang was willing to do exactly that. For Shang, survival didn''te first but power. If Shang couldn''t be powerful, what purpose was there to life? Living a life without being able to be more powerful sounded like leading an existence worse than death to him. If his goal was to be the most powerful, he needed to be the one that worked the hardest and sacrificed the most. And he would do just that! As Shang continued swinging, his mind became colder and colder. People normally didn''t notice the distracting and clouding veil emotions cast on them since the emotions were constantly present. Shang achieved an emotionless state, but it wasn''t due to some thoughts or realization. This was simply the effect of the Icy Death Crystal Shang had ingested. The Icy Death Crystal influenced Shang''s mind with cold apathy and hatred towards an opponent, and right now, Shang was his own opponent. His entire mind focused on nothing but surpassing his previous self. There were no worries. There were no distractions. Shang didn''t even think about the feeling he felt when he said goodbye to someone, knowing that he would never see them again. Only the current version of Shang was in his mind, and he wanted to beat him! He needed to grow more powerful! Shang continued swinging his Sword deep in the underground. And yet again, the world above him moved through time without him. The world was changing without Shang''s presence or influence. Chapter 536 Chapter 536 One month passed while Shang was training in istion, and it was time for the old Assistant Supervisors to leave. Just as Agon told Shang and Jerald, the Kings and Queens had a grand battle at the border between the ckshadow Kingdom and Grandmountain Kingdom. Many powerful Mages were present, but they could only watch as people far beyond their power fought with each other. During that battle, the watching Mages came to a terrifying realization. Their power actually didn''t matter! The power of the Kings was so great that not even ten Peak High Mages could make a difference in the fight! This realization came when the most powerful Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom got involved. Five Peak High Mages and ten Late High Mages had banded together to assault King Skythunder, but they had all been decimated by a single explosion of lightning. Why had they been fighting the war?! What was the point of the war when they were all helpless in front of these powerful leaders?! Of course, the 15 Mages that had assaulted King Skythunder were actually just the ones that Koran would take with him to the outside world. They weren''t actually dead. First, Queen ckshadow "killed" King Grandmountain.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Then, she was "killed" by King Magic Purity. Queen Spirit Spring got involved and fought with King Magic Purity while King Skythunder attacked him from range. After a grand battle, King Magic Purity decided to expend a lot of Mana to kill her. That was when King Skythunder saw his chance and killed King Magic Purity. King Skythunder had won. But then, several spears of earth shot at him. It was Zara Cliffer! The spearspletely obliterated his body, leaving nothing but bloody dust behind. The watching Mages couldn''t believe what they had just witnessed. All the five leaders of the world had died! What did that mean for the world?! At that moment, Zara Cliffer shot forward and pocketed the valuable materials the leaders had dropped, but Yora Darksky did the same thing. In the end, they both got about half. This was a way to help the shrinking Grandmountain Kingdom and ckshadow Kingdom to survive. With these valuable materials, they could create more High Mages and Summoners. Then, everyone immediately retreated to their own Kingdoms, and the news spread across Area 23. All the Kings and Queens were dead! For the next two weeks, no Kingdom would battle each other. Too much had happened, and all the Kingdoms were embroiled in internal conflicts. The only Kingdom spared by internal conflict was the Skythunder Kingdom. The reason for that was that there were no contestants. Jerald was the most powerful Mage, without a doubt, and no one could possibly fight over leadership with him. As soon as King Skythunder died, Jerald immediately assumedmand of the Kingdom. But the other four Kingdoms had it far worse. In the east, Fia Stormbright had to contest with two other Peak High Mages. One of them wouldn''t be an issue since it was just R Spirit Spring''s plus one, and they were supposed to die to Fia Stormbright in a battleter, but the other Peak Mage was a problem. Fia Stormbright might have gotten the position, but she also needed to show that she was the most powerful by assuming control of her Kingdom. Luckily, her sister, Lira Stormbright, was helping her. In the northwest, Zara Cliffer also had to contend with two Peak High Mages. One was Mrs. Flowing Blossom, Wilbur''s plus one, and the other was the leader of the barbarian research department. She would also have it difficult. In the northeast, Yora Darksky had to contend with one Peak High Mage since Queen ckshadow didn''t have a plus one, but it also wouldn''t be easy. As for the Magic Purity Kingdom, things wereplicated. On one hand, the Magic Purity Kingdom had lost nearly all its very powerful Mages, leaving Charles Pendragon as the only Peak High Mage, but there was an issue. Charles was the most powerful Mage, but there was literally no one supporting him. His past conduct had made him appear ipetent to all the Mages in the Magic Purity Kingdom. Yes, Charles was very powerful, but not even a single person believed that he could lead the Kingdom. In their minds, Charles was more of a follower than a leader. Additionally, it was public knowledge that Charles couldn''t even use Mana Shield, which was seen by many as a curse. Mana Shield and Mana Step were the two things every Mage had. They were in the very center of the entire Mage Path, and everything revolved around these two Spells. Knowing these two Spells essentially meant being a Mage. And Charles Pendragon was missing one of them. So, was he actually a Mage? Right now, four of the five Kingdoms had to deal with internal conflicts. All the powerful Mages wanted as much of thend as possible. With no more Archmages present, they finally had a shot at bing King! Amonth passed. And then, things changed rapidly! During a debate between the two leading parties in the Spirit Spring Kingdom, something happened. Fia Stormbright was arguing with the other Peak High Mage about how the Kingdom would be run while Lira Stormbright and the other High Mage''s supporters looked on from the sidelines. But during the debate, someone invaded the castle and attacked Fia''s opponent. Fia''s opponent shouted at his supporters and Fia to help him. After all, this was an internal matter! However, instead of helping him, Fia helped the invader. But instead of attacking her opponent, Fia went over to her opponent''s supporters and stopped them from attacking. "Do you really think he can survive? The battle is already over!" she told them. The High Mages were furious, but they didn''t dare to do anything. After all, they didn''t want to die. They knew the invader very well, and they knew that Fia''s opponent would die very soon. It was the new King of the new Kingdom in the south of the world. It was King Storm of the Storm Kingdom! The Skythunder Kingdom was no more, and a new Kingdom took its ce. Advisor Whirlwind had assumed control of the Kingdom, crowning himself as its new King, King Storm! And King Storm was powerful! In just five seconds, King Storm killed his opponent andnded behind Fia. After that, Fia made her announcement. She wouldn''t be Queen Stormbright. No, she would be Archduke Stormbright of the Storm Kingdom! The Mages felt betrayed and protested, but Fia told them very clearly why she was doing this. Yes, most of the truly powerful Mages of the Magic Purity Kingdom were dead, but their High Mages still outnumbered the Spirit Spring Kingdom''s High Mages five to one! With the recent revolution in the previous Skythunder Kingdom, the Storm Kingdom had also been weakened by a lot. She announced publicly that the only reason why the Magic Purity Kingdom hadn''t already destroyed the Spirit Spring Kingdom was that the previous Skythunder Kingdom had helped them so much. Without the constant help of warriors and High Mages, the Spirit Spring Kingdom would have been destroyed over 50 years ago. She told everyone that her priority was not the culture or thend. Her priority was not to keep the spirit of the Spirit Spring Kingdom alive. No, her priority was the Kingdom''s people and beasts. The lives! And she refused to sacrifice every living being in her Kingdom just to keep the culture and spirit of the Spirit Spring Kingdom alive. Survival was the most important and the best way to survive for all the individual people and beasts was to join the Storm Kingdom. And then, she announced that they would sacrifice 70% of theirnd and only keep the 30% bordering the Storm Kingdom. Nobody was happy with that solution, but there was nothing they could do. Fia, Lira, and Jerald would only defend the Kingdom for a week. After that, they would only send forces to defend the new borders of the Storm Kingdom. It was up to the individual to decide if they wanted to join the Storm Kingdom or not. But that wasn''t really a choice. What could the previous Spirit Spring Kingdom do with only three Late High Mages? Even though ten of the Magic Purity Kingdom''s Late High Mages had died, they still had 15 of them left. Now, the Spirit Spring Kingdom was in the same dilemma the western Skythunder Kingdom had been in. But there was nothing they could do. It was either move to the Storm Kingdom or die to the Magic Purity Kingdom. At the same time, Zara Cliffer and Yora Darksky teamed up to get rid of their respective opponents. Then, they also announced their fusion, butpared to the fusion of the previous Spirit Spring Kingdom and the Storm Kingdom, this fusion was much, much, much more difficult to pull off. The internal warfare between people would continue for literal decades. Meanwhile, the fusion between the Storm Kingdom and the remnants of the Spirit Spring Kingdom went rtively smoothly. All the Late High Mages of the previous Spirit Spring Kingdom got a leadership position, surprisingly outnumbering the leaders of the Storm Kingdom. After all, the Storm Kingdom only had a single Late High Mage, which was Sylvia Eternalfrost. A lot of the new policies came from the people from the previous Spirit Spring Kingdom, making it much easier for Spiriters to live in the Kingdom. And King Storm very rarely opposed their policies. Because Jerald gave them so much freedom, the integration went rather smoothly. The Skythunder Kingdom had a lot of Mages and a couple of warriors. But the Storm Kingdom had a lot of warriors, a lot of Mages, and a lot of Spiriters. The world was changing. And Shang only continued swinging his sword in the Caves, not feeling any of the changes. Chapter 537 Chapter 537 Shang only kept swinging his sword. He wasn''t sure how long he had been swinging his sword, but he knew it had been a long time, judging by how many resources he had consumed. As more and more time passed, Shang''s mind seemed to vanish. He didn''t think about Jerald anymore. He didn''t think about the Kingdom anymore. There was just nothing. Only Shang and Sword existed. Shang had truly transformed into a machine that only performed one task over and over again. Time stopped maittering. The world stopped mattering. During his long and isted training in the Peak Commander Stage, Shang had still been contacted by Jerald time and time again with news. Jerald had always kept him up to date with the developments of the Kingdom. But now, nobody was contacting Shang, and he was thankful for that. The fewer distractions there were, the better. Only his power was important. Everything else was unimportant. Shang only focused on the feedback of the Wind de Seed. As more time passed, more and more of the good sounds appeared. Shang was making progress. Eventually, Shang managed to perfect one of the swings. Every time he used the attack, he would hear the sound signifying that he had seeded. It was a lot of work to get this down just right, but Shang knew that there was more he needed to do. Being able to unleash a perfect attack during practice was one thing. Doing the same thing during a chaotic battle was something entirely different. But for now, Shang only concentrated on being able to perform his attack. Performing the attack during a battle would be a task for the future. Shang focused on the next attack until he could perform that one perfectly as well. Then, the next one.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only And the next one. The time inside the Caves never seemed to move. There were always the same beasts, the same walls, the same Mana... Everything was always identical. The absence of night and day also made the area feel even more isted from time. But Shang just kept swinging. He just continued swinging. As more time passed, more and more of his attacks became perfect. He didn''t know how long it had taken him, but eventually, Shang managed to perfect even hisst attack in his Great Sword State. After aplishing that, Shang took a deep breath and repeated every single attack again. Everything was perfect. For just a moment, Shang paused. ¡®The first step isplete. Two more to go." Shang grabbed his Great Sword and walked deeper into the caves. He had to practice his attacks on actually moving targets that also struck back. Shang''s first opponent was a beast at the Initial True Path Stage. This beast had a body just as powerful as Shang, which gave him good practice. Even though attacking a moving target was very different from just attacking nothing, Shang managed to get back into his flow rather quickly. It only took him several hours of training against about 50 Initial True Path Stage beasts. Naturally, Shang didn''t kill all of them. After all, he would need these beasts again when it was time for his next State to be tested. After dealing with the Initial True Path Stage beasts, Shang went to the Early True Path Stage beasts. This time, things became much more difficult. Shang was definitely more powerful than the beasts, but he needed to switch attacks very often while preparing a different one, completely off-setting his rhythm. Additionally, Shang now needed to actually use his Ice Element in attacks, making it even more difficult to unleash everything perfectly. The Mana movement was identical, with or without using Elemental Mana. However, the addition of Elemental Mana made it harder to control. After all, there was a lot more power behind the second one. This time, it took Shang much longer. In fact, Shang even left the Caves and went to the Crater during the end of his training. The variety of beasts in the Caves had dried up, and Shang had essentially already fought against every single Early True Path Stage beast inside the entire Caves. Luckily, just like the Caves, the Crater also had basically no visitors, which meant that Shang wasn''t being interrupted during his training. Shang continued fighting against the Early True Path Stage beasts in the Crater, but he still avoided killing them. Funnily enough, Shang noticed that the performance of his attacks had be even worse after fighting the new opponents. | think I''ve underestimated the impact of variety on my performance,¡¯ he thought. Shang continued fighting the different beasts in the Crater for a long time. Eventually, Shang perfected his attacks again. But instead of changing to Mid True Path Stage beasts, Shang decided to try a further increase of variety first. Shang left the Crater, flew towards the northeast, and entered the Empress Cobra Zone. He flew deeper and deeper into the Empress Cobra Zone until he arrived at the deadliest part of the entire Zone. The True Toxin Swamp. This was where the True Path Stage beasts lived, and Shang immediately jumped into battle again. Sure enough, his attacks stopped being perfect, but their quality hadn''t dropped by too much. He was still seeding about 90% of the time. Perfecting his attacks in his new environment didn''t take as long as the first time. Then, Shang went back to the Caves and the Crater to test his attacks again. He wanted to make sure that he hadn''t lost his touch with the other opponents. He messed up once, but everything after that was perfect again. ¡®| think | need even more variety. If | want my attacks to be perfect, they have to be perfect no matter who my opponent is.¡¯ After making his decision, Shang shot toward the Ice Wyvern Zone. Eventually, Shang stopped above a mountain range encircling a forest. Shang knew this ce very well. This was Jerald''s garden, the ce where Shang had first appeared in the world. Shang''s Spirit Sense epassed the garden, but he couldn''t find a single beast at the Commander Stage. "Seems like the hedgehog died or left.¡¯ Usually, Shang might have fallen into memories, but this was not the case today. Shang wasn''t here for memories but to train. Shang flew towards the middle of the garden and sted through the thick sheet of ice above the centralke. This was one of the tunnels that led to the gigantic undergroundke below the Ice Wyvern Zone. The True Path Stage beasts and Archbeasts could only be found in the tunnels leading to theke and theke itself. This was Shang''s next training stop. Chapter 538 Chapter 538 Over the next several years, Shang traveled from one dangerous location to the next, always fighting powerful beasts. There were so many beasts Shang had never fought against, and he felt his Battle-Strength be more and more powerful. Eventually, Shang went through every single Zone that the Storm Kingdom owned. During all this time, Shang always flew through the air at a very high altitude to avoid being seen by others, and he always only trained in locations where no one else was. It wasn''t that Shang was afraid of being seen by others. Shang simply didn''t want to get taken out of his training mindset by having a conversation with someone. Shang finally had time to fully work on his power, and he wouldn''t allow anyone to interfere in his training. After Shang had gone through every single Zone, he decided to do the same thing again while fighting Mid True Path Stage beasts. Those beasts were already quite powerful, and Shang couldn''t fight them without actually using his Elemental powers. The fights became more stressful, and Shang had to react even quicker than before, making it even harder to perform his attacks perfectly. Like a machine, Shang went from Zone to Zone to battle all the powerful beasts. He was no longer seeing his surroundings. He only saw himself, his power, and his next training dummy. Everything had turned into a routine, and Shang was barely even conscious while fighting. It was like his body waspletely moving on its own. Over many years, some people managed to take a glimpse of Shang from afar, but they weren''t sure who that was. Weren''t nearly all the True Path Stage warriors at the frontlines? Was there actually a True Path Stage warrior inside the Storm Kingdom that wasn''t involved in the war? After a while, most people started to doubt when someone told them that they had seen a True Path Stage warrior. It wasmon knowledge that the True Path Stage warriors were all stationed at the frontlines. They must have just been confused. He didn''t know how long it took, but Shang eventually returned to the Caves. His attacks had be perfect yet again. Then, Shang did onest thing. He wanted to fight an average Late True Path Stage beast. This definitely wouldn''t be easy. Thest time he had fought one was during the trial. The averagete True Path Stage beast back then had been that ice hedgehog, and Shang had only killed it by using Dusk. If Shang were to go all out and use all of his States, he would definitely win without question. However, Shang''s goal was not to win but to train. This meant that the fight would take a long time, making it very dangerous for Shang. Nevertheless, Shang wanted to push himself even further. He needed his attacks to be absolutely perfect in absolutely every single moment. By now, Shang had alreadye to terms with the entire philosophy behind advancing inside the True Path Stage. In the Commander Stage, warriors were creating the blueprint for their fighting style. They were essentially creating their Path. However, their Path was only a concept at that point, and it wasn''tpletely perfected yet. While the Path dictated what the warrior could do, it didn''t dictate how well they could do it. In a sense, the Path represented a ruleset, and the warriors could create several techniques that followed that ruleset. But not every single performance was perfect. Humans made mistakes, and one couldn''t always perform perfectly. That was also why there were so many tries in the Olympics on Earth. Why would people need to throw a spear so many times? It was because humans couldn''t always be perfect. And exactly that was the goal inside the True Path Stage. The warrior in the True Path Stage needed to perfect their Path. They needed to push their Path to the limit and make perfect use of it. When they eventually seeded, they would be ready to reach the Fifth Realm. Over the past years, Shang had changed more than one attack. Sometimes, he felt like some of the attacks were superfluous or that there was an opening somewhere that couldn''t be closed with an attack that actually flowed into the one he needed in a smooth manner. By now, Shang''s Mana pathways fit his new fighting style even less. He had simply changed too much stuff. But overall, Shang was happier with his current way of fighting. He felt like it fit him even more. Shang quickly met his opponent, a beast at the Late True Path Stage. The beginning was rather easy for Shang, but as he used up New Moon, things became difficult. He had pushed the beast back with the overwhelming force of Ice Mana, but the Ice Mana was gone now. And now, the beast wasunching a terrifying offensive at Shang. For the first time in a long while, Shang actually got injured. He faced death more than once, and his mind always went to using Dawn. By using Dawn, he could severely injure the beast or even kill it. However, Shang always kept himself in check. He wasn''t here to win. He was here to train! Shang''s performance was horrible for the next couple of seconds, but he eventually got used to the strikes of his opponent. After a minute, it was like Shang wasn''t fighting a Late True Path Stage beast anymore. Its attacks became obvious to Shang, and Shang knew exactly how he had to move to deal with the attacks before they had even beenunched. It was like the beast was moving ording to how Shang wanted it to move. Time around Shang seemed to slow down. The beast was still moving at quite a bit of speed, but it wasn''t as overwhelming as during the first minute. For some reason, Shang''s attention was drawn to his sword, and he looked at it with interest. As he swung it, it was like he saw a line. Or was it a stream? It was like there was a line traveling further and further through time. Sometimes, the line was straight. Sometimes, there was a sine wave. Sometimes, there was a corner. It went up and down.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only And for some reason, the patterns repeated, and Shang could see the connection they had with his opponent. Then, Shang willed the line to break out of this pattern. At that moment, Shang''s right eye widened as he felt like he was about to realize something. "Stop!" Shang narrowed his right eye and forcefully distracted himself from the realization. Then, he immediately unleashed Dawn on the beast and killed it. Lastly, Shang fled from the area where he had just fought and sat down at his usual spot. ¡®| nearly took thest step,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®It seems like | am ready toprehend the very thing that other warriors need to reach the Fifth Realm.¡¯ ¡®However, it is not time yet.¡¯ ¡®| don''t know what will happen when |prehend this concept, but | believe it would be better if my Mana pathways fit into it beforehand." ¡®It seems like | have reached the peak of perfection for my Great Sword State.¡¯ ¡®Now, it''s time to deal with the Mana pathways. Chapter 539 Chapter 539 Shang sat down and closed his right eye. His Spirit Sense was fully focusing on his Mana Pathways. Over the past years, he had performed his attacks so many times that he perfectly knew where he would move his Mana. Right now, Shang was checking which Mana pathways he needed and which weren''t in use. Yes, there were several Mana pathways that hadn''t been used even once, but that didn''t mean that these Mana pathways were useless. In fact, these Mana pathways would be used in his other three States. Not every state needed every single Mana pathway. Some of them even existed solely for a single attack. In his Great Sword State, Shang was using around 70% of his Mana pathways. He could theoretically create more attacks to use all his Mana pathways, but that would be a waste of time. Some Mana pathways would only be used if Shang swung his sword with one arm from his hip, which would be quite difficult to do in his Great Sword State. After Shang checked all of his Mana pathways, he noted them down on a diagram. Luckily, there were a couple of magical artifacts that made it easy to project a picture onto a piece of paper. With Shang''s wealth, these artifacts didn''t cost a lot. In just a couple of hours, Shang had created several intricately detailed diagrams of the Mana pathways inside his body. Then, he went on to n. For now, he wouldn''t touch the shared Mana pathways. After all, he couldn''t be sure that any of his current changes wouldn''t interfere with any attacks from his other States. Redrawing fitting Mana pathways that were only used for a few attacks wasn''t very difficult. Shang essentially only had to create the pathways ording to a few guidelines. But the further Shang progressed, the more difficult it got. Alot of the pathways had to be used for several different attacks, which all had different conditions. Even more, Shang noticed that some of the Mana pathways he was working on were also in use in the Colossal Sword State. Changing his Mana pathways became more and more difficult the more he changed. One change needed several other changes on several other Mana pathways. Shang was essentially redesigning an entirework of intricate pathways and connections. "How am | supposed to give you such a sharp angle when the pathway leading into you requires such an intense speed and density of Mana?! It''s like you want me to create a normal roundabout on a highway! There are bound to be crashes!¡¯ Shang thought in frustration. ¡®| could create a sidelining pathway that throttles the speed of the Mana, but that would needlessly lengthen the pathway, making my attack need a bit more time to truly show its effect. | don''t really want to throttle my speed even more.¡¯ "Okay, and how can | give you that much speed when the location just before you is aplex intersection between several pathways? | mean, | could change the entrances of these two pathways so that this one leads directly into that one, but then | would need to make some more changes on the other one.¡¯Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. Then, Shang focused on the next one. And for several seconds, he only looked at the diagram. ¡®What?¡¯ he thought after some seconds. Right now, Shang was looking at aplex intersection of pathways. The oneing from the core of his body led to one that needed a lot of speed, but the one Shang was looking at needed just as much speed. However, Shang couldn''t use the same solution he had used before. There was already a different pathway there that needed just as much speed. ¡®But | need both of them for this attack,¡¯ Shang thought as he scratched the back of his head in frustration. ¡®It is literally impossible to get enough Mana to perform the attack with the current setup!¡¯ ¡®What does the original look like in that spot?" Shang looked at another diagram. After having made so many changes, Shang noticed a couple of interesting things with the original design. It was very simple. It was smooth. It delivered Mana equally to every part, and it allowed him to use every attack. In a way, it was simple but effective. Shang furrowed his brows as he looked at the intersection he was currently having problems with. ¡®| mean, it''s working, but the intersection can''t possibly give enough Mana to make full use of the attack. | can still use it, but there''s a lot of wasted potential here.¡¯ At that point, Shang stood up and grabbed Sword. Then, he performed the attack. During the attack, he also looked at the intersection inside his body. It was flooded with Mana and flowed through his pathways as quickly as possible. But with Shang''s new understanding, he could see that filling both of these wide highways of Mana was too much work for the single pathway before them. The density of Mana lowered a bit, but just an instantter, Shang''s muscles along the two pathways were releasing their own Mana, filling the two pathways again. Because of that, Shang had enough Mana to perfectly use that attack. After Shang was no longer using any Mana, he saw the muscles absorb Mana again. "So that''s how my body does it,¡¯ Shang thought. ''In hypothetical numbers, | have an output of 100 Mana per second, but to perform this attack, | need 150 mana per second for only one second. | can''t deliver enough Mana, but the muscles on the way to the location of the attack act as temporary storage. They give 50 extra Mana for this second and take that Mana back from the following second." Shang rubbed his chin. ¡®Does that have a disadvantage?¡¯ ¡®Let''s see, when | perform this attack, | take Mana from these muscles. So, if | were to move like this directly after the attack, what would happen?" Shang performed the attack and directly chained into a different attack. That was when he noticed that his second attack was very sluggish. In the past, he would have just assumed that it was the inertia from this previous attack, but Shang had seen the true cause this time. His muscles didn''t have enough Mana to perform the attack with all of their power. ¡®| would have never thought about using the attacks like this since it just felt impossible and wrong. However, if | can actually fix this mistake, | canbine my attacks even more freely.¡¯ ¡®There''s definitely something | can improve.¡¯ And then, Shang looked at the diagram riddled with changes and alterations. ¡®But how?" Chapter 540 Chapter 540 Shang was looking at the diagram with a bloodshot eye as he gripped his hair tight with his hands. He was stressed. There were so many changes that needed to be made across all the different pathways that it would essentially revert half of the changes that had been made previously.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only There were so many issues that needed to be resolved, and Shang hadn''t even reached the shared Mana pathways yet. Things would only get worse from now on. Now, Shang truly knew how incredible the Mana pathways actually were. Sure, they weren''t perfect, but they were good enough for everything. By just changing one tiny thing, Shang had made several attacks straight-up impossible to use. Shang had been looking at the diagram for hours now, trying to find a way to solve the current issue. However, he was reaching his limit. He fixed stuff here and there, but there were simply too many changes across the entire thing, and the new pathways felt completely different from the old ones. It was like the architectural style of these pathwayspletely differed from the natural one of his original pathways. After a while, Shang got distracted. He felt like it was bing impossible, and his mind was trying to think of a different solution. Shang looked at the old and new diagrams again and again. He looked back and forth. Right now, Shang wasn''t exactly thinking about anything in particr. He was just looking at stuff. Then, Shang looked at the outer pathways, which looked a bit more orderly and straighter than the natural ones. Shang looked where they led and scratched the top of his head. After that, he took out apletely new diagram and began to draw the outline of his body. Then, he put the original and new diagrams on top of each other and marked the spots where all his Mana pathways would lead to. After several minutes, Shang could see thousands upon thousands of individual small points on the diagram. Luckily, the magical paper could draw new stuff with terrifying uracy. It was almost like aputer screen. Anormal human would have huge issues with seeing all the individual points, but Shang''s eyesight was terrifyingly good. Then, Shang looked at the new diagram. Now, there was the outline of his body and just a lot of points. After that, Shang started to draw lines, connecting all the dots. All the individual points in one of his fingers went to the middle of the finger and then traveled down to the hand, where all the pathways from the fingers met. Then, Shang drew a huge pathway going through his arm, which ended in his chest. He did that for his entire body and looked at it. And he snorted. ¡®As if it would be that easy,¡¯ Shang thought as he threw the diagram to the side. ''l would essentially need topletely recreate all my Mana pathways. Even more, during the lengthy process, | would be mostly helpless. | would only be able to move at like a fifth of my speed with a fifth of my power without being able to use any Elements effectively.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, | am missing the boost from the advancement. If | change all the Mana pathways, | might lose ess to some of them permanently. It takes a lot of Mana to change a Mana pathway, and if | lose ess to too many of them, | might never be able to gather enough Mana to establish ess again.¡¯ Then, Shang looked at the diagram with all the changes again. ¡®| mean, | would need to start here, move over to here, do it here...¡¯ After a while, Shang stoppedmenting on what he was doing in his mind as he actually started to n. Shang''s brows furrowed more and more as he continued. ¡®| could actually do it,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I could actually make this work." ¡®Even more, the way | have designed all of this allows me to easily add in additional Mana pathways. Assuming my new pathways can''t incorporate all the ones for my other States, | can just add new ones. After all, all my current pathways are straight like pipes, and it''s not a problem to just add an additional one alongside the currently existing ones.¡¯ Shang scratched his chin as he looked at the diagram. "However, this is too easy. | refuse to believe that there is no problem with that. By now, | know that the world is very good at creating Mana pathways, and if the solution were so simple, | wouldn''t have my current pathways." After that, Shang did some math inside his head. Professor Callen had given Shang way more than just his Spell. After all, Shang also had to know how to simte his Mana''s movement before actually making the changes. Without that, Shang might build himself into a corner with no way to get out. It took Shang several minutes, but he eventually finished his calctions. And he was not happy. Sure enough, there was a humongous issue. ¡®In order to bring maximum speed to every spot in my body, | have to create central pathways that are extremely wide and extremely stable.¡¯ ¡®Yet, these humongous pathways require a lot of Mana to fill, and the Mana | can have inside my body is finite at any given moment.¡¯ ¡®In order to push the pressure to what I need, my muscles would need to let go of about 50% of their Mana. Additionally, the Mana required to actually move my Mana also increases drastically due to the greater volume that''s being moved.¡¯ ¡®All in all, | would lose about 50% of my physical power, making my body only half as powerful as a beast on my level.¡¯ ¡®The advantage would be that | could attack far faster and with more flexibility and diversity. But due to my weakened body, the speed of my attacks would remain about the same while their power reduces by quite a bit." ¡®Hmmmm,'' Shang thought as he tapped his finger on one of the diagrams. After a while, Shang looked at where he was actually tapping and noticed that he was tapping on the middle of the diagram''s chest. Then, Shang remembered the image Professor Callen had Shown him. ¡®Beast Core, huh?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang edited the diagram and added a round energy storage. Then, Shang realized that this was a bad ce. If any attack hit his chest, he would be done for. So, Shang changed the location to his neck. There was no more space inside of his head, but there was a bit of space left in his neck. Additionally, if he got hit there, he would die anyway. Then, Shang connected all the different Mana pathways to the Mana reservoir inside his neck. ¡®Hmmm,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the finished diagram for a while. After that, Shang performed some more math. And his findings were very interesting. ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®With a Beast Core, | can actually reach the same power as | currently have. But inparison to beasts, | would have already excavated the talent of my individual muscles." ¡®But instead of giving me additional power, my muscles are actually creating the pressure and Mana necessary to move the Mana of my Beast Core throughout my body.¡¯ ¡®| would gain the speed and flexibility of the pathways while not losing any power.¡¯ ¡®There''s just one issue.¡¯ ¡®It''s impossible to create the Beast Core just like that. | amcking way too much Mana to make something like that. A higher level also won''t help me since the Beast Core would also be of higher quality and would also need more Mana.¡¯ ¡®On my own, creating this is impossible. Lastly, no Mage can possibly help me since their Mana is external and can''t be properly absorbed in this way.¡¯ ¡®That only leaves one possibility.¡¯ ¡®The Breakthrough.¡¯ ¡®Just like with reaching the True Path Stage, reaching the Fifth Realm should also give me a ton of Mana to work with. Usually, warriors, Mages, and beasts just let the world do whatever it wants during the process, but if | take control of the process, | could shove all the Mana into creating a Beast Core.¡¯ ¡®Like that, | would be able to transcend to the next level.¡¯ Shang smirked. ¡®And isn''t that exactly what the God told me?" ¡®| perfect all my techniques, something that warriors would need to reach the Fifth Realm.¡¯ ¡®I do that four times.¡¯ ¡®| recreate all my Mana pathways." ¡®Then, | fuse all my Paths together and create a Beast Core during the advancement.¡¯ ¡®If that''s not a monumental transformation, | don''t know what is.¡¯ Shang looked at the new diagram with a smirk. ¡®Let''s get started.¡¯ Chapter 541 Chapter 541 And then, it started. The long process ofpletely reforming hiswork of Mana pathways. For now, Shang decided to keep his oldwork unchanged. Instead, he would add a secondwork connecting to the first one. Like this, he could still use all of his attacks without having to figure out what Mana pathways he would need exactly in the future. Then, when he understood all of his Mana pathways for all States, he would delete the oldwork and only use the new one. But, for now, he would keep both. Shang started to cast Callen''s Spell. It had been several years since he had cast it thest time, and he was a bit out of practice, but it only took a couple of hours to get back into the groove. After that, Shang started to actually change his Mana pathways. The first time he did it, he was quite nervous. After all, one mistake could essentially cripple him permanently. Because of that, he triple and quadruple-checked every Spell he was about to cast. When he finished the first Spell, Shang felt a burning sensatione from his right middle finger. At this moment, a new Mana pathway was forming inside his finger, and Shang suddenly felt like his entire body had been thrown into icy water. Shang''s right eye closed halfway. He took deep breaths. His shoulders sunk. For the first time in over 60 years, Shang felt tired. For the first time in forever, Shang wanted to sleep. In the next couple of seconds, Shang almost stopped thinking. SNAP! Then, he suddenly snapped to attention. All the heat returned, and the tiredness vanished. It was like nothing had happened. Shang looked with interest at his finger, and he saw the new Mana pathway. "Sure enough, creating a new pathway consumes a tremendous amount of Mana. This small Mana pathway needed so much of my Mana that | felt like | was about to die of hypothermia, even though that clearly wasn''t the case.¡¯ Then, Shang took a deep breath as hepared the size of this tiny Mana pathway with the far bigger ones he would need to build. ¡®I''m essentially ying with the energy reserves of my body. | can''t do anything that goes beyond all the Mana inside my body. The Spell is essentially acting just like Darkness Mana poisoning. If all my Mana gets used up while the poisoning hasn''t been resolved yet, | will die.¡¯ ¡®This means that | have to create the Mana pathways slowly and in small bursts. | can''t create an entire Mana pathway with one Spell. Luckily, | don''t need to create a full one with a single Spell. | can simply create 10% of a Mana pathway and then create another 10%." ¡®The process in and of itself isn''t dangerous. It''s only dangerous if | get impatient or make an error during the calctions. As long as | follow the rules and protocol, there won''t be a problem." ¡®| guess it''s a bit like driving. Kind of easy, but one mistake can have devastating consequences." Shang sat down and calcted his next change. After checking everything, again and again, Shang performed the second Spell. Anew Mana pathway appeared in Shang''s right middle finger, but it stopped growing at the halfway mark. Inparison to the first time, Shang felt a bit exhausted but not tired. He felt a bit cool but not freezing. ¡®That''s far easier. Alright, next one." Shang created the next Mana pathway. And the next one. And the next one. After a while, Shang''s mind returned to its state of routine, butpared to before, Shang was still extra careful. Whenever he noticed that he wasn''t checking everything in detail, his right eye widened, and he forced himself to check everything again. He couldn''t allow himself to becent in routine. This was different from training. In training, Shang essentially couldn''t identally take a step back. He would always step forward, even if some steps weren''t super great. But if Shang made a mistake here, he would be blowing his own brains out. Alot of time passed. Shang still had no idea how long he had been gone from the Storm Kingdom, but he knew it had been a really long time. And on this day, Shang reached his first checkpoint. Shang took a deep breath and inspected all his pathways. At this moment, there were innumerable disconnected pipes going throughout his body. If one looked at a tree and took away the trunk and the branches connecting directly to the trunk, one could see what Shang''s body looked like right now. It was essentially a mess of small tubes leading nowhere at the edges of his body. ¡®The Great Sword State specific Mana pathways are finished.¡¯ Then, Shang focused on the remainder of his body. ¡®Now, | need to create the entire base framework that | need for every State.¡¯ ¡®This will take a looooong time.¡± The Mana pathways Shang had ced were insanely numerous. Shang guessed that he was probably at over a million, and Shang needed several minutes for only a single one. But the base framework was even crazier. Shang wouldn''t need to create that many Mana pathways, but they would need to be insanely stable and big, which would require even more Mana. Shang knew that he would be ying with his life if he decided to create more than 10% of a medium Mana pathway with one Spell. And the big ones would take even longer. ¡®Well, at least | only have to do it once,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I will have to do the individual pathways for all four States, but | need to create the base framework only once.¡¯ ¡®Might as well create it now.¡¯ Shang had already been isted for a very long time, and now, he was about to create the entire base framework for his Mana pathways, which would take a great number of years. Yet, it didn''t matter. Shang had known from the very beginning that forging a new Path was extremely difficult.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. If the warrior Path were more powerful, Shang could probably simply ask someone to create a n of Mana pathways for him and let it bepleted by someone else in just a couple of years. What needed decades of Shang''s dedicated training and nning now would only take maybe a bit more than a year for warriors in the future. While perfecting one''s techniques was the most time-consuming process for all the warriors, this was actually the least time- consuming part for Shang. nning and recreating the Mana pathways took much longer than perfecting his techniques. But Shang was willing to do it. Chapter 542 Chapter 542 "Finally done!" Shang said out loud as he fell onto his back. ¡®That took sooo loooong!'' he thought as his mind rxed for the first time in a very long while. However, Shang also just couldn''t stop looking at his finished work. An intricate but very logicalwork of interconnected Mana pathways was now inside his body. Inparison to the chaotic growth of natural Mana pathways, the new ones were very straight and very orderly. Comparing the natural Mana pathways with the new ones would be likeparing the rootwork of a tree with a plumbing network. One was obviously much easier to understand and orderly than the other. Additionally, the new Mana pathwaywork was designed to make easy changes in the future. Shang could simply remove one and add one without needing to amend any other Mana pathways. Of course, the oldwork of Mana pathways was still inside Shang''s body, and he was still using it for anything that wasn''t his Great Sword State. Sadly, needing to keep bothworks active at all times had weakened Shang''s reserves considerably. Just like he had predicted, Shang now only had about 50% of his earlier power. But that didn''t mean that he was weaker from a Battle-Strength perspective. While his entire body moved slower and hit lighter, Shang''s ability to elerate and adapt to any kind of movement was insane. Some of Shang''s movements had be so bizarre that one would even think that some fundamentalws of physics just didn''t apply to him. For example, Shang could swing with all his power to his right, but in the middle of the swing, his sword suddenly moved in the opposite direction at the same speed. It was like inertia straight up didn''t exist. The way this worked was actually the sudden explosion of Mana. If one imagined Shang swinging at an explosive, one wouldn''t be surprised when Shang''s sword suddenly shot in the opposite direction after detonating the explosive. But if one imagined the same movement without the explosive, it would seem very unnatural. That was because the explosive force was inside Shang''s arm and invisible to the eye. Even more, since Shang''s muscles didn''t need to sacrifice their own power in order to achieve the density of Mana necessary to perform a powerful attack, Shang''s eleration was also insanely fast. While the top speed of Shang''s attacks was slower than before, his attacks reached their top speed multiple times faster than before. As an example, a space rocket was faster than a bullet. If the rocket had to elerate from zero, it would take a couple of seconds to travel a kilometer. A bullet wouldn''t need that long. But if the race went on for a thousand kilometers, and even if the bullet could travel that far, the bullet would lose the race with a tremendous gap. The space rocket was Shang''s old framework, while the bullet was his new one. It wasn''t weaker or better. It was just different. But the important part was that this different aspect would only be like this for a limited time frame. Eventually, when Shang reached the Fifth Realm, he would get rid of all the disadvantages of both frameworks and keep the advantages of both. But until then, Shang would need to fight with his current framework. After a while of admiring his new Mana pathway framework, Shang stood up and concentrated on the final step. ¡®Now, | need toprehend the very thing | stopped myself fromprehending earlier.¡¯ Shang grabbed Sword and performed a couple of practice swings. As he used his new Mana pathways, he felt the swings be as easy as never before. There were no awkward movements. It was like his body had specifically been created to perform these movements. It was like he was born to attack like this. Swinging his sword had never felt so good before. It was almost magical. It was almost like his sword was part of his body. Shang had expected to be out of practice after not fighting for so long, but he had beenpletely mistaken. In fact, it would be hard for Shang not to perform his attacks perfectly. While he had to actively concentrate on performing his attacks perfectly before, the attacks nowunched perfectly on their own. Shang only had to swing his sword in the mostfortable way, and that way was always the perfect way. It was like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle clicking together. It was like a square going in a square hole. It was like a bottle cap going onto a bottle. It just fit perfectly. The attacks and Shang''s body were made for each other. For the first time in a long while, the feeling of perfection returned to Shang. Shang had felt that feeling when he hadpleted his True Path many years ago, and now he was feeling the same feeling again. It was just perfect.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. It''s so easy,¡¯ Shang thought as his sword moved almost on its own. In fact, since Shang''s body was now weaker, his already heavy Great Sword should actually be even harder to swing. However, it simply wasn''t. In fact, it was very easy to swing. Even more, Shang''s body actually wasn''t as slow as he had predicted. Actually, was it even faster? But that shouldn''t be possible, right? His body was supposed to be weaker, and it definitely was weaker. So, how could his attack be even faster? As Shang continued swinging his sword in a trance of wonder, the world around him seemed to transform. Shang slowly began to feel a certain aura appear in his surroundings. It felt like... himself? Yeah, it did. As Shang swung his sword again, he felt his surroundings move with it. After a couple more swings, Shang''s right eye widened. ¡®I get it!¡¯ Then, Shang stopped. For a while, Shang closed his right eye and gathered his thoughts. He hadprehended it. He finally hadprehended the very thing a normal warrior would need to reach the Fifth Realm. And with thatprehension also came the knowledge as to why his attacks were so fast. If one consideredprehending a True Path as a level one Concept,prehending this thing that warriors needed to reach the Fifth Realm would be considered a level two Concept. A Peak High Mage that knew a level two Concept was far more powerful than a Peak High Mage that only knew a level one Concept. And the same thing was true in Shang''s case. ¡®Perfecting my techniques represents perfecting its existence,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang''s left hand let go of his Great Sword, which was unusual. Shang always used two hands in his Great Sword State. Shang''s right eye closed, and he swung forward. Swinging such a huge sword with only one arm would be awkward and cumbersome for Shang. However, the world helped push Shang''s sword forward. In the end, Shangpleted a smooth strike with only one hand. "My perfect control over the attack allows me to borrow the power of the Mana in my surroundings.¡¯ ¡®It''s like an additional hand pushing on my sword from behind.¡¯ ¡®It can''t swing the sword on its own, but it can definitely make it stronger.¡¯ Then, Shang smiled. ¡®This is it, huh?" ¡®This is the power of the normal Fifth Realm." ¡®Not bad." ¡®| don''t know if other warriors have alreadyprehended this thing in my absence, but I think | should still give it a name. Even if it already has one.¡¯ ¡®In a way, | am imposing my will on my surroundings, making my surroundings do my bidding.¡¯ "So, | think I''ll call it Impose." Chapter 543 Chapter 543 Shang tried Impose a couple more times and grew even more familiar with it. Impose increased his power by quite a lot, and it even allowed Shang to swing his Great Sword with only a single arm. It was almost like he was swinging his Great Sword like his Long Sword. When Shang had that thought, he suddenly stopped. ¡®| can swing my Great Sword like my Long Sword?¡¯ Shang thought as he scratched his chin. ¡®| mean, it definitely moves faster than before. In a way, my Great Sword can now move nearly as fast as my Long Sword, which is beyond impressive.¡¯R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only ¡®However, it doesn''t really feel like a Great Sword anymore. If | need speed, | will just use a different State.¡¯ ¡®| wonder, is there a way to use Impose in a different way?¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at his Great Sword. Shang closed his right eye and focused on the surroundings. After practicing for a while, Shang could feel how his mind moved the world around him. While he was swinging his sword, he simply wanted the swing to have more power, which was why the world was essentially pushing the Great Sword forward. Shang tested a couple of things and found out that he could also make the world gather on his Great Sword. It was a bit of a weird feeling. It was like all the Mana in the surroundings gathered around the Great Sword, fusing with it. When Shang tried to swing his Great Sword again, he could barely move it. It was like it had be many times heavier. "Sure enough, that feels more like a Great Sword. However, it shouldn''t be that heavy.¡¯ Then, Shang willed some of the world''s Mana to leave his sword. After leaving Sword, the Mana in the world could now be used to boost the power of Shang''s swing again. ¡®I can use both at a time, but | only have a finite amount of Mana in the surroundings. It''s up to me how | use it.¡¯ Shang tried a couple more swings with different uses of Impose, and he finally came to a result he was happy with. ''fifty-fifty,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l use half of the Mana to increase the weight of my Great Sword and use half to push it forward." "My attack will move slower than it would move with my old Mana pathway framework, but it is still quite fast. However, the power of my attacks is probably double as strong as with my own framework if | use Impose like that." ¡®| exchange a bit of speed for a tremendous increase in power. Seems fitting for my Great Sword State." After swinging a couple more times, Shang was finally done with training his Great Sword State. Asecondter, Sword started burning with ck fire, and Shang swung it to the side. Sword turned into a Saber. After that, Shang tried out Impose while using his Saber. The result was mixed. It kind of works a bit,¡¯ Shang thought with a frown. ¡®It only has about 30% of its usual power. Maybe a bit more. It definitely increases my power by a bit, but it isn''t nearlyparable to my Great Sword State.¡¯ ¡®| think | can push the speed of my Saber to the same level it was with my old Mana pathway framework, but the power will be a bit weaker.¡¯ ¡®However, that''s already better than | expected it to be initially. | still have the sudden eleration and agile movements of my new framework. So, all in all, my Battle-Strength increased, even if I''m not in my Great Sword State." ¡®But now the question is..." ¡®If Impose can exhibit some power in my other States, what will happen to my Great Sword State when | learn Impose for my Saber State?¡¯ "Does the power increase from 100% to 100% plus 30%?" ¡®Does it stay at 100%?" ¡®There might be some tremendous hidden potential in perfecting several Paths.¡¯ Then, Shang furrowed his brows. ¡®Actually, | remember Relon saying that one needed toprehend two Concepts before reaching the High Mage Realm in order to be eligible for the position of Assistant Supervisor.¡¯ ¡®This means thatprehending several Concepts before a breakthrough can probably increase someone''s power on a fundamental level. Otherwise, people could justprehend them after the breakthrough. | mean, they probably still can, but it might becking some effect that can only appear when youprehend it earlier." Then, Shang realized something. ¡®Like my huge Spirit Sense!¡¯ ¡®Yes, if |prehend another Path now, my Spirit Sense probably won''t grow, but if | had another one before my breakthrough, it would probably be even bigger.¡¯ ¡®Now, I''m fairly certain. The power of my Impose will increase the more different Imposes | know.¡¯ At that moment, Shang had to grin. ¡®Sure enough, the Path | have chosen leads to true power.¡¯ After thinking about his future for a bit longer, Shang decided that it was time to continue. For the first time in a very long time, Shang left the Caves. He sted into the air and shot towards the south. While Shang was sting towards the south high up in the air, he noticed something. ¡®Has Warrior''s Paradise always been this big?" Shang inspected the city for a couple of seconds. "Sure enough, it grew. Huh...¡¯ Warrior''s Paradise had grown from being two kilometers wide to being nearly four kilometers wide. The warrior academy had also grown a lot. At the same time, Shang could see hundreds of Commander Stage warriors in Warrior''s Paradise. That was a lot! "Guess I''ve been gone for a while.¡¯ However, Shang didn''t stop. He sted past the Canyon and reached the Crater, but while sting past the Crater, Shang had to raise an eyebrow. ¡®A team of three True Path Stage warriors? | guess the war is no longer as perilous as back then. Additionally, there''s even a Spiriter in the group. Seems like the fusion with the Spirit Spring Kingdom worked out." Since Shang was sting through the air at a great altitude, the people at the bottom didn''t see him with their Spirit Senses. Eventually, Shang stopped above thetter half of the Crater. Then, Shang closed his eye and activated his Domain of Entropy. It was time to reach the Early True Path Stage. After a bit of concentrating, Shang pulled a True Path Stage Abomination into the world. Surprisingly, Shang noticed that no Soldier Stage Abominations came with it. Sure, there were still 20 Commander Stage Abominations and 400 General Stage Abominations, but there were no Soldier Stage Abominations. Shang had to release a sigh of relief when he noticed that. 400 General Stage Abominations were still okay, but 8,000 Soldier Stage Abominations would have been ridiculous. All the Abominations appeared in the air near Shang, and Shang immediately consumed the True Path Stage Abomination that had appeared beside him. Meanwhile, the remaining Abominations were falling toward the ground. The group below Shang didn''t even know that a rain of Abomination would soon arrive at their ce. However, Shang wasn''t worried. He only looked towards the south. An instant after the Abominations appeared, a dark shadow in the distance moved. And then.... WHOOOOOOOOOOOM! Agigantic storm of Wind Mana swept toward the north! All the Abominations were consumed by the Mana, and Shang was flung toward the north with incredible speed. The group on the ground was also thrown toward the north. The huge storm even threw nearly all the beasts and warriors in the Canyon around. Some of the Eternal Spires even copsed. After flying for a couple of kilometers, Shang righted himself again in the air with a couple of sts. In the past, Shang would have been terrified of the possibility that a Zone Beast might try to kill him, but not anymore. With Humanity, Shang felt like a normal human to the beasts. The Storm Eagle had killed the Abominations, and it didn''t even look at Shang while doing so. In its mind, it had killed all the Abominations. Shang had nothing to worry about. ¡®But, sure enough, the Storm Eagle still feels incredibly powerful,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked towards the south. The Storm Eagle had thrown Shang into the distance with a mere p of its wings from tens of kilometers away. ¡®It''s kind of weird to think that Relon is probably even stronger than the Storm Eagle.¡¯ ¡®Anyway, | should reach the Early True Path Stage now with the Abomination | just consumed.¡¯ Chapter 544 Chapter 544 Shang arrived back in the Caves and concentrated on his body. All the warriors had increased their level by just focusing on their bodies, but Shang was about to do more. His body was now ready to reach the next level, but Shang also focused on Impose. Usually, Shang wouldn''t need more than a couple of minutes to reach the next level after absorbing an Abomination, but this time, Shang took several hours. He was trying his best to connect Impose with his body during the small breakthrough. However, that wasn''t easy. Impose was like a level two Concept, something that was necessary to reach the next Realm, not just the next level. Right now, Shang was trying to create a major breakthrough when he was only undergoing a minor breakthrough, which was impossible. The world decided what kind of breakthrough someone went through. Shang definitely didn''t have the power nor the Mana to undergo another major breakthrough, which only left a minor breakthrough. However, a minor breakthrough was just that. Minor. Minor breakthroughs didn''t change the body in a fundamental way. They were only checkpoints on someone''s way to the next major breakthrough. But Shang just kept on trying. There had to be a way to make this work. After a day of trying to make this work, Shang managed to change his minor breakthrough by a little bit. It wasn''t much, but Shang managed to summon a small storm of Mana that got absorbed into his body. That small storm of Mana went into Shang''s body, but it had no idea what it was supposed to be doing there. Shang wasn''t undergoing a major breakthrough, and the world only had ways to help people with their major breakthroughs. After pestering the world for so long, the world gave him some Mana. And now what? As soon as Shang felt the small storm of Mana, he shoved all of it into his Mana pathways and cast a Spell. In just a moment, all the Mana started to increase the density of the walls of his Mana pathways. Shang''s Mana pathways were bing harder. What purpose did that have? Shang wasn''t sure. Sure, his Mana pathways were more robust now, but that wasn''t really useful. His Mana pathways had already been strong enough to withstand everything Shang could throw at them. There wasn''t really a difference. ¡®But even if there is no difference now, that doesn''t mean that there won''t be a difference in the future,¡¯ Shang thought as a small glimmer appeared in his right eye. ¡®This increased density of my Mana pathways might not make a difference right now, but if | ever have more Mana than my Mana pathways can handle, this will pay off in a big way.¡¯ By now, Shang had reached the Early True Path Stage. "My body is only about 40% as powerful as the body of a beast, and the maximum | can push it to is 50% right now, but | already knew that would happen.¡¯ ¡®It actually doesn''t really matter. Even with a weaker body rtive to beasts on my level, my Battle-Strength is still stronger than with my old Mana pathway framework.¡¯ Shang stood up and focused on his body. ¡®Need to wait about three days before | can absorb another Abomination. Seems like the digestion of the Abominations doesn''t take as long anymore. Assuming | absorb one Abomination every five days, | might only need a year to absorb enough to reach the peak of my current level.¡¯ ¡®| think | should focus on reaching the peak of my current level first. Interrupting my training every three to five days would be too annoying.¡¯ Then, Shang looked towards the north, even though he was still inside the Caves. ¡®| wonder what changed in the world." ¡®| wonder how much time has passed.¡¯ Shang took out his Communication Crystal and looked at it. No one had called him during his training. ¡®I think | should visit Jerald." Then, Shang left the Caves and flew into the sky. Funnily enough, Shang''s speed was quite impressive right now. Since Shang had way less Mana saved up in his muscles, his body was weaker, but that also meant that his body was lighter. Yet, he still had the same quantity of Mana inside his body when everything was put together. This meant that Shang''s sts hadn''t been weakened while his body had be lighter. That made him quite fast while only using sts to move around. In the beginning, Shang hadn''t expected that changing his Mana pathway framework would change so many different things. Shang flew through the air with impressive speed. While flying, Shang looked at the Storm Kingdom below him. So much had changed. There were new cities, new towns, and new viges.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. There were even a lot of Spiriters and brand new wildernesses. Shang could even seepletely new beasts. And then, Shang saw something interesting. He saw a couple of warriors, and one of them was even at the Late True Path Stage. ¡®ALate True Path Stage warrior that isn''t even near the frontlines? Seems like things have calmed down a lot.¡¯ Then, Shang noticed something else. ¡®| think that''s the emblem of a Duke, right?¡¯ Shang thought as he saw an emblem on the warrior''s chest. "Seems like I''m not the only warrior Duke anymore. That would also exin why someone of his power isn¡¯t at the frontlines.¡¯ Eventually, Shang arrived at the Skythunder Zone. ¡®Wait, is it still called the Skythunder Zone? | mean, Jerald should be the King right now, right? Is it still called the Skythunder Kingdom?" As Shang was arriving near the Skythunder Zone, he saw a couple of True Path Stage warriors, High Mages, and really powerful Spiriters standing at the borders of the Zone. ¡®What are Spiriters in the Fourth Realm called? High Spiriters?" BANG! Suddenly, Shang hit something like a wall. Some blood appeared in Shang''s mouth, but all the injuries healed in an instant. Shang could barelyprehend the current situation, not because of the pain but because of the shock and surprise. Where did a wall suddenlye from? Even more, what was a wall doing 10 kilometers in the air?! After that, Shang saw the people at the border of the Skythunder Zone look up with hostile gazes. "Identify yourself!" the leader shouted with an aggressive voice. His Spirit Sense couldn''t reach Shang, but the leader could see Shang with his eyes. Shang rubbed his face as he looked at the area in front of him. There was nothing. Then, Shang extended his hand. WHOOOM! A barrier appeared in front of Shang. ¡®Hmph, guess that makes sense. Having so many warriors pass over your castle is probably annoying. Even for Jerald.¡¯ Then, Shang looked at the people at the border, who were about to jump on their weapons and fly up to him. "I''ming down," Shang transmitted to them. "! didn''t know that there was a barrier here." However, the group didn''t calm down. "| said identify yourself!" the leader shouted. Shang only furrowed his brows as he fell to the ground. ¡°My name is Duke Sword," Shang transmitted as hended about a kilometer away from them. "I wanted to visit Jerald." The leader furrowed his brows as he red at Shang. ¡°What business do you have with father?" Chapter 545 Chapter 545 Shang wanted to answer, but before he could, he blinked a couple of times in confusion. Then, he looked at the man he was talking to more closely. He looked to be in his early twenties, and he was an Initial High Mage. He had light blue hair, and he looked quite muscr for a Mage. After Shang looked at him for a bit, he could tell that the man really looked quite simr to Jerald. "You''re Jerald''s son?" Shang asked, almost unable to believe it. "Yes, | am Prince George. I''m asking again, why do you wish to talk to my father?" Prince George answered. "Prince George?¡± Shang repeated with surprise. It was more than obvious whom Jerald named his son after. "There''s not a Prince Shang, is there?" Shang asked. "Stop with these irrelevant questions!" Prince George shouted with authority. "You have been found flying above a no-flying Zone. That | am not already asking for your arrest is already a kindness on my part. | don''t want to retract that kindness." Under normal circumstances, Shang might shoot back with a passive-aggressivement, but he was still perplexed that he was talking with Jerald''s son. ¡°Well, | wanted this to be a surprise," Shang said as he took out a Communication Crystal. "But seems like | have to contact him the boring way." Then, Shang contacted Jerald. Jerald didn''t ept the request from his Communication Crystal for quite a while. Jerald had been talking with Sylvia while resting inside the castle. That was until his Communication Crystal rang. Jerald took it out with practiced ease and felt the aura from the person that wanted to contact him. Then, his brows furrowed. He didn''t recognize that aura. But it felt familiar. He had felt that aura before. But where? Even after two seconds, Jerald still couldn''t tell whom that aura belonged to, and he decided to pick up. "Yes?" "Hey, Jerald?" And then, Jerald''s eyes widened. He recognized that voice in an instant! Distant memories flooded his mind as the civil war from long ago reappeared inside his mind. Then, Jerald''s expression transformed to concern and a bit of worry. At the side, Sylvia realized that something wasn''t quite right with Jerald. His aura had suddenly changed. "What''s going on, honey?" Sylvia asked. Jerald didn''t immediately answer. "Hello?" Shang repeated after Jerald didn''t answer. "Yes, Shang?" Jerald answered awkwardly. "Yeah, hi, George the Second isn''t letting me into the Skythunder Zone," Shang said. "The Skythunder Zone?" Jerald repeated in confusion. "Oh, the Storm Zone! Right, give me a second." Then, the connection was cut, and Shang only looked at his Communication Crystal with furrowed brows. ¡°Alright, that''s enough!" Prince George shouted. This person had ignored him all this time after he was kind enough not to arrest him. "Your Communication Crystal will ring soon," Shang only answered. Prince George gritted his teeth. And then, his Communication Crystal rang. Prince George was quite surprised that Shang''s prediction hade true, and when he felt the auraing from his Communication Crystal, his eyes widened. "Father?" Prince George asked. Shang watched as Prince George remained silent for several seconds, probably listening to Jerald. After Prince George put away his Communication Crystal, he looked at Shang with aplex expression. "You''re Advisor Sword?" he asked in shock. ¡°Last | remember, | was Duke Sword,¡± Shang answered. "| guess my title changed during my absence." Prince George looked at Shang with aplex expression for several seconds. ¡°You know, father and mother told us a lot about you," Prince George said. "Us?" Shang asked. "I guess Jerald has more than one child right now. Who''s your mother? Is it Sylvia?" ¡°Our mother is Sylvia Eternalfrost, yes," Prince George said. Shang looked towards the Storm Zone for a bit. "Huh, she actually did it," he said. "Advisor Sword, I-" "Call me Shang," Shang interrupted. "I don''t like titles." "Okay, Shang," Prince George said. "I just wanted to say that | am really thankful for your contributions in the civil war back then. Without you, | probably wouldn''t exist." "Wait, this is Advisor Sword?" one of the other people said from beside Prince George. They had onlye to the realization now. After all, Shang was basically a legend. "Yes, this is Advisor Sword," Prince George said with a nod. "Father just confirmed it." The others almost couldn''t believe it. Shang wasn''t sure how he should answer these impressed gazes. ¡°Nothing to thank for," Shang told Prince George. "! fought the Mages also for my own freedom. Additionally, Jerald is the closest and probably only friend | have. It''s only natural for me to help out." For some reason, when Prince George heard that, his expression became even moreplex. "I''ll deactivate the Magic Barrier," Prince George said as he turned to the barrier. "Please, give me a second." While Prince George was opening the Magic Barrier, Shang only looked at him. ¡°How long have | been training in istion?" Prince George looked at Shang, still with this weirdlyplex expression on his face. It was like there was something that worried him. "When did you go into istion?" Prince George asked. ¡°About three months after the civil war ended." Prince George stopped for a second and turned to Shang. "You''ve been in istion for that long?" he asked in shock. Shang nodded. "I''ve been fully focused on my training.¡±R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only This was difficult for Prince George to grasp. How could someone train for that long? "| was born about eight years after the civil war ended," Prince George said. ¡°And I''ve just turned 67 this year." Shang''s right eye widened. "75 years?" Shang asked. Prince George nodded. "I''ve been in istion for 75 years?" Shang only looked forward for a while with aplex expression. "That means I''m 160 years old or so." ¡°Recreating my Mana pathway framework took that long?" Shang spoke to himself. Shang had expected that he would have been in istion for 30, maximum 40 years. He would have never expected to have been in istion for 75 years. No wonder so many things had changed. When Shang had left, Jerald''s shift had just started. And now, it was nearly over. So much time... Gone. Chapter 546 Chapter 546 Prince George deactivated the barrier, and Shang entered. Shang had taken note of Prince George''s demeanor, and he had noticed that it didn''t seem to fit the context. Prince George had said that he looked up to Shang, but he had this worried and concerned expression on his face. It was almost like he feared Shang. Shang double-checked if Humanity was still active, and it was. So, it couldn''t have been that. But then why would an Initial High Mage, and Jerald''s son on top of that, be apprehensive in front of Shang? ¡®Something isn''t right, Shang thought with furrowed brows. Nevertheless, Shang continued walking towards Jerald''s castle. Agon hadn''t taken his castle with him, which meant that Agon''s old castle was now Jerald''s. But it didn''t look like back then anymore. Jerald had essentially buried the husk of the exoskeleton beneath ore and stone, creating the image of a more traditional castle. Shang saw a couple of True Mages walking through the castle. Based on what he was seeing, Shang guessed that these True Mages were something like clerks that organized all the information of the Kingdom. Shang stepped into the castle and walked towards the throne room. He had already found Jerald with his Spirit Sense. He had changed. Jerald wore a long green beard, and he wore an old crown on his head. In a way, he looked exactly like one would expect a King to look. Regal, majestic, powerful, wise, old. Shang had difficulty epting Jerald''s new look and aura for a while. It was so different. In the past, Jerald had a kind but stalwart aura. He had the aura of a true leader that could unite the people behind amon cause. In a way, Jerald''s aura still felt like that, but there was one stark difference. Passion. Jerald, from the past, had this burning passion behind him that motivated everyone around him to fight for his cause. People wanted to follow him because they believed that he could lead everyone into a brighter tomorrow. Now, there was no more passion in Jerald''s aura. It was like Jerald had epted his ce in life and stopped advancing. He was content. He was okay with where he was. He didn''t need to suffer anymore or change things. He was fine with the life he was living right now. When Shang felt Jerald''s aura, he felt pain. Shang had believed that Jerald would keep advancing. After all, Jerald had a great drive and amazing talent. Yet, that wasn''t the case. One thought shot through Shang''s mind. ¡®Will | leave Jerald behind just like Astor has been left behind?" All the changes were still difficult for Shang to grasp. Shang had been doing nothing but train for the past 75 years. This wasn''t anything special to him, and since his mind was always fully focused on improving himself, Shang also didn''t feel the passage of time as strongly. Yes, he knew that he had been training for a long time based on estimates, but it didn''t feel that long. In terms of feeling, Shang felt like only three to five years had passed. It was like Shang had gone on a vacation, but when he returned, everyone had suddenly changed, and the world was different. It was like the world had moved on without him. Yet, while Shang felt like no time had passed, everyone else felt like an eternity had passed. Jerald had taken control of the Kingdom. Jerald had sessfullybined the Spirit Spring Kingdom and Storm Kingdom. Jerald had found love again. Jerald had gotten another child. Jerald had fought a long and difficult war against the Magic Purity Kingdom. Jerald''s children had fully grown up, and one of them had even reached the High Mage Realm. It was actually possible that Jerald was already a grandfather or even a great-grandfather. Jerald had gone through the entire life of a normal human, and every human could attest to how long one¡¯s life felt. And Shang hadn''t been present for any of this. Shang had also felt Sylvia''s aura for a brief moment, but she quickly left his Spirit Sense''s range. But for the brief moment Shang felt Sylvia, he could scarcely believe what he was feeling. Nervousness, shock, fear, uncertainty. This was how Sylvia had felt to Shang.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Together with Prince George''s reaction, Shang was certain now that something was up. And he was sure that Jerald was the reason. Shang''s eye narrowed as he stepped past the throne room and into Jerald''s personal living room. As he entered the room, Shang''s and Jerald''s eyes met. Shang could see worry, nervousness, resentment, and helplessness in Jerald''s eyes. And Jerald only saw cold apathy in Shang''s eye. When Jerald saw what he thought was cold apathy in Shang''s eye, he got the confirmation he needed. He had made the right choice. Jerald''s aura stabilized on refusal regarding Shang but eptance of his current situation. When Shang saw the hostile look in Jerald''s eyes, he felt like a dagger had been plunged into his chest. The pain immediately woke Shang''s anger and fighting instinct, and he red coldly into Jerald''s eyes. For a while, none of them spoke. "What is going on?" Shang asked coldly. "Isn''t this what you wanted?" Jerald asked coldly. "Stop being ambiguous," Shang said with a deep voice. "You know | hate that." "Do |?" Jerald asked with a cold voice as he looked away from Shang. "How can you expect me to know you when you never showed me who you really are?" ¡°What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Shang suddenly shouted in fury. "| have no fucking idea what''s going on! I''ve been training, and as soon as |e out to visit you, you act like | want to kill you!" ¡°Because that''s what you will do!" Jerald shouted in anger as he shot up from his chair. Shang''s brows furrowed with incredulity and anger. "What?" ¡°Agon told me," Jerald said. Shang only looked at Jerald. ¡°Agon told me about the Child of Cmity." ¡°He told me how you can control the Abominations and how your power also increases the Abominations'' power.¡± ¡°And | know why you never told me, Shang," Jerald said. Shang didn''t answer. "Knowing this secret of yours is like me holding a knife to your throat," Jerald slowly said. ¡°If | just inform Relon, you will be dead within minutes." ¡°And that''s why you never told me." Shang didn''t answer. Jerald only looked at Shang. ¡°Your power is the most important thing in the world, and you can''t allow anyone to threaten it." ¡°Because, if someone were to pose a danger to your life..." "You would kill them." "That''s why you never told me." "You didn''t want to kill me.¡± Silence. ¡°Well, now | know, and I''vee to terms with my fate." "| haven''t told anyone about this. So, | would like you to leave my family out of this." "Take it as a repayment for all the help you have given me in the past." Silence. Chapter 547 Chapter 547 Right now, Shang wasn''t sure what he should think or feel. He wanted to say that he was hurt and that he was shocked that Jerald would think that Shang would kill him. Yet, Jerald''s concerns were actually correct. Why hadn''t Shang told him? Because Shang was afraid. Not afraid of what Jerald would think of him, but afraid of Jerald killing him. Shang wanted to tell Jerald, but he wanted to be powerful enough to resist Jerald first. "| never wanted you to find out," Shang said slowly. ¡°Well, now | know," Jerald answered with furrowed brows. After a while, Shang looked to the side. "You are the only friend | have left in this world, and | didn''t want everything to break down between us." "You are willing to do some bad things for your own power, Jerald, but you still have morals, and you care about the greater picture," Shang said. "I was afraid that if you knew about the reality of my Affinity, you would tell the world. | was afraid that you would sacrifice me for the world.¡± "Is that such a bad trade?" Jerald asked with a deadpan voice. ¡°Of course it''s not a bad trade," Shang said. "Nearly everyone would choose to make that trade. Why would you want to doom millions, if not billions of people, to die early just so a friend of yours can continue on the path to power?" ¡°And that''s why | couldn''t tell you. You would do what''s right, but what''s right is not what | want," Shang said. Jerald snorted. "Power? For power, you are willing to sacrifice the entire world," he said with some disdain. "You don''t even need to die. You could just sit back, create a family, and live your life out in peace." "You can do anything you want. The only thing you can''t do is to be more powerful.¡± "Yet, even with an entire world at stake, you are not even willing to make such a small sacrifice," Jerald said. "You''re cold and selfish, Shang. You only think about yourself, and you will destroy absolutely anything that stands between you and your goal." "When we crossed eyes earlier, | was still uncertain about the image | had of you.¡± ¡°But instead of confusion, concern, and worry, | only saw hostility and hatred in your eye. You looked at me like you would look at an enemy." When Shang heard that, he felt a stinging paining from his chest. For a while, Shang didn''t answer. ¡°How can | not be cold and selfish with this Affinity?" Shang asked. "Working towards my goal means endangering everything | care about." "The Abominations kill people, and | can''t control every single Abomination that appears in this world. As | be stronger, everyone | care about will be under more and more risk unless they stand beside me all the time." ¡°And if they actually stand beside me, | need to fear for my own life. The more people spend time with me, the more likely they are to find out the truth about me."Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. "Shang, don''t talk like you didn''t have a choice!" Jerald shouted. "Your choice was not the world or your goal. Your choice was actually your life or your power!" ¡°Power is great and all, but what point is there to power when you are alone?" "What point is there to power when you feel nothing but grey emptiness all day?" "What point is there in living for a long time when the long time you have is wasted on so much training that years pass by like seconds?!" "You are putting the cart before the horse, Shang! We don''t live to be powerful. We be powerful to live!" "One little sacrifice, Shang. Just one little sacrifice of not training anymore would not only save millions, if not billions, of people but also allow you to live a happy and fulfilling life!¡± ¡°As long as you don''t train, you don''t need to be alone!" "Shang, there is no point to your training except for the reason that you want to!" Jerald shouted. ¡°And is that so bad?!" Shang shouted back with a narrowed eye. "Everyone else can be powerful, but I''m the only one that''s not allowed to?! Do | not have a right to be powerful like everyone else?!" Jerald took a deep breath. "No, you don''t," he said slowly. "Not when it literally risks the continued existence of the world." ¡°What''s even the point of bing powerful when everything around you will turn into a dead wastnd?" Shang and Jerald looked at each other for several seconds. "You want a greater purpose to my training?" Shang asked. Jerald''s eyes narrowed. SHING! Suddenly, something appeared in Shang''s right hand, and Shang threw it to the ground in front of Jerald. "There''s your purpose," Shang said coldly. Jerald furrowed his brows as he looked at the long letter Shang had just thrown to the ground. The letter floated over to Jerald, who then read it. The first couple of sentences already threw Jerald into wild shock. Shang had thrown Lucius'' letter over to Jerald. Shang only waited in silence while Jerald read the long letter. "This was part of the reward from myst trial," Shang said neutrally, looking at the wall with a calm expression. Jerald didn''t answer since he was still reading the letter. After a couple of seconds, Jerald finished the letter, his expression transforming to concern. "Is this your goal? You want to be powerful and stop the Abominations once and for all?" Jerald asked. "Do you remember when we went to Agon regarding the Bloodline Infusion?" Shang suddenly asked, not answering Jerald''s question. Jerald''s brows furrowed. "Yes?" "Back then, | asked you what your philosophy for bing powerful was. You told me that you invested in young and weak people so that they would one day repay you.¡± "You told me that, depending on one''s viewpoint, your philosophy could both be good and evil. Good because you are helping people, bad because you are doing it with the intention of being repaid." ¡°Actions and intentions." "The same thing is true for my case. | want to be powerful because | want to be powerful, not to save the world. However, when | am powerful, | am willing to do everything in my power to stop the Abominations." ¡°My intention is not to save the world, but my actions will save it." "Think of it what you will," Shang said evenly. Chapter 548 Chapter 548 Nobody said anything for a while. Jerald put the letter to the side, and Shang summoned it back into his inner world. ¡°Are you telling the truth?" Jerald asked. "Will you do your best to stop the Abominations?" Shang nodded. "The reason why Lucius failed is the God. The two of them have battled each other, and the God won." "| don''t n to lose against the God." ¡°Lucius didn''t know what he was up against, but | do." Then, Shang looked towards the ceiling. "And maybe that is one of the reasons why the God has sent me here." "There hasn''t been another God in a long while, and the God probably wants someone he can fight with. He certainly didn''t try to dissuade me from hating him." "| don''t know the origins of the Abominations, but I''m sure that the God knows of their origins. Yet, he didn''t tell anybody, and he didn''t do anything to stop them." "In fact, he even gave me this Affinity, knowing fully well that the Abominations will be more powerful." "Nevertheless, | want to kill the God and get rid of the Abominations. That''s my goal."Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. Jerald didn''t answer for a while. ¡°What if stopping the Abominations requires sacrificing your life?" Jerald asked. "| don''t know," Shang said after a couple of seconds. "When | have killed the God, | would have already reached the peak of power. By that point, there would be no more way to grow more powerful." "| don''t know what | would do then. Would my life be empty? Would | feel fulfilled?" "One thing is clear. |am not someone that survives just because | want to survive. If there is nothing but emptiness and aimlessness in my life, | might be okay with sacrificing my life for the world." "But first, | want to achieve my goals, and | won''t entertain any thoughts for after | have reached my goals." Jerald remained quiet for several seconds as he struggled with himself. ¡°How can | trust your words?" he asked. "Jerald," Shang started, "you said that | am cold, selfish, and apathetic." Jerald didn''t answer. "Then, tell me..." ¡°Why did | not flee towards the outside world during the civil war?" "You wanted to kill the Council no matter what. You wanted revenge for Mattheo and George." "Yet, you know very well that | view my own goals with the highest priority. Staying in the Skythunder Kingdom to fight the Council was an unnecessary risk." "| could have simply gone towards the south, past the Storm Eagle Zone, jump down the Abyss, and enter the outside world." "But | didn''t." "Why?" Shang asked. Jerald looked at Shang. By now, most of his hostility had vanished, reced by concern and worry. "Because of me," Jerald answered after a while. ¡°Because of you," Shang repeated. "I didn''t want to see my only friend in the world die. | didn''t want to see you lose your life while | had the power to help." "| have never gone against you, Jerald. | have always helped you." "You can never bepletely sure of the intentions of other people, but you can see their actions, and my actions have said that lam by your side and that | will help you." "Does knowing my secret change the impact of these actions?" "Does it change the fact that | risked my life for you and that you risked your life for me?" Silence. Jerald only looked to the ground with a worried expression. He didn''t answer for a long time. ¡°| wanted to hear your side of the story first," Jerald said quietly. ¡°Agon told me of the Child of Cmity. For several days, | couldn''t think straight. The one friend that had been by my side the longest is the enemy of everything that is alive, which includes me." "For a long time, | couldn''t understand how you can value your own power over the existence of the entire world.¡± "What is the point of having power when the entire world is dead and empty? You might as well be the weakest human at that point, and it wouldn''t even matter." ¡°Power is a tool, not a goal. It is a tool that we use to achieve goals." "For the longest time, | couldn''t fathom what kind of person you had to be to make this choice." "| knew that if | simply called Relon, you would be dead within minutes, and | would have saved maybe billions of lives." "Yet, even though | couldn''te up with an answer as to why you were choosing yourself over the world, | still trusted you." "Before | did anything, | wanted to hear your side of the story." "| wanted to hear your justification before doing anything." "But | was afraid of the answer." "| couldn''t think of a good justification, and | was afraid of hearing a bad one." "If that happened, | would need to kill you." Jerald looked at the ground with eyes filled with regret and guilt. "And | didn''t want to do that." "So, | simply waited." ¡°As soon as you came out of training, | would confront you." ¡°But you just kept training.¡± "Yet, | didn''t want to contact you. For, if | contacted you, | would need to make this horrible choice." "Years passed, and eventually, | even blocked out your existence." "| hoped that you would never return." "I continued on with life." "| remarried.¡± "| had children." "| led a Kingdom." "The dark days of dreading another encounter with you passed, and | was happy with life." ¡°And then, my Communication Crystal activated today." "My nightmares have be a reality." "The day | dreaded ultimately arrived, and | couldn''t run from it anymore." "The day where | would kill you arrived." Shang didn''t react. Jerald sighed. CRACK! Then, a previously invisible Mana Shield around Jerald appeared, and it broke into pieces. "| was never intending to die to you today." "| made myself appear weak to see your genuine reaction." Then Jerald looked into Shang''s eye, a relieved smile on his face. ¡°But my trust in you was not misced." "You actually have a justification | can ept." "I''m sorry for doubting you, Shang," Jerald said after releasing another sigh. They both looked into each other''s eyes. "The horrible choice never became reality for you, Jerald," Shang said. For some reason, when Jerald heard Shang''s voice, he felt dread. Shang''s voice sounded like a terrified man trying desperately to sound calm. ¡°But the choice | was terrified of has only arrived," Shang said. "Jerald, | have never gone against you." "| never tried to hurt you." ¡°| never wanted to hurt you." Shang took a deep breath. "But, today, you were nning on killing me." Jerald''s pulse sped up. "You asked how you could trust anything that | say," Shang said. "I told you that you can trust my actions." "Yet, how can | trust you when your actions and intentions were to kill me today?" Shang said. "Shang!" Jerald shouted. "I was trying to get to the bottom of this! | wanted to hear your side of the story first!" "You were uncertain,¡± Shang said. "For the longest time, you were uncertain about your actions. Every moment, there was a danger that you would go through with either decision." "You didn''t know what you wanted, Jerald," Shang said as his voice shook a bit. "You were too weak to be decisive." ¡°How can | be sure that you will not go back on your words in the future?" "When | be so powerful that every Abomination that appears is more powerful than you, and you live in perpetual fear for your own life and your family''s lives, how can | be sure that your decision won''t suddenly swing to the other side?" The two of them only looked at each other. Jerald looked worried, concerned, and a bit panicked. Shang looked cold but hurt. "| can''t trust you, Jerald," Shang said. Atear. Atear ran down Shang''s right cheek. Jerald''s mind froze. "| can''t trust you," Shang repeated in a quietly shaking voice. ck fire appeared where Shang''s right eye had been just seconds ago. Chapter 549 Chapter 549 A harsh wind blew. On top of a hill was a broken castle. Mere moments ago, this castle had been whole. Now, the back of the castle was missing. What had once been a room was now a ruin. Half-broken walls were behind Shang as the bright sun shone down on him. The bright sun didn''t reflect Shang''s feelings, but the weather didn''t care about the feelings of living beings. Shang''s body had be a husk. Nearly all his muscles had shrunk to a sickly degree, making him look like a skeleton with merely some skin on it. The two empty eye-sockets only strengthened this perception. About 140 years ago, Shang sacrificed his left eye. Today, he had sacrificed his right eye. Shang couldn''t possibly sacrifice his arms or legs since that would severely weaken his Battle-Strength. Organs couldn''t be sacrificed because that would reduce Shang''s maximum life energy tremendously. The ears or the nose weren''t enough to achieve any kind of significant power with Entropy. Shang had decided to go with the eye. Due to his Spirit Sense, he wasn''t reliant on vision anymore. However, all of this was actually only of secondary importance. In fact, Shang didn''t even really think about what to sacrifice. His mind had been somece else. Jerald. His friend. His only friend. His closestpanion. Shang''s life had always been surrounded by a cloud of darkness. His Affinity made it impossible for him to have friends orpanions. His goal made it impossible for him to have friends orpanions. He was alone. The world was dark. His life was dark. Yet, Shang was willing to walk through this darkness. In fact, Shang had walked into this darkness voluntarily. If he had just stopped searching for power, he wouldn''t need to be surrounded by this darkness anymore. But he couldn''t. He needed to achieve his goal. This was the only purpose of his life. Had he had more purposes back then? Maybe, but ever since Shang had stepped onto this dark path, all the other purposes vanished. Shang had to reach the end of the path, no matter what. The consequences didn''t matter. The sacrifices didn''t matter. The price didn''t matter. He wanted to reach it. He needed to reach it! Shang had always believed that he had already made his choice. He believed that he had alreadye to terms with his path. But he realized the true weight of his path only today. During this dark and lonely journey, Jerald had been like a visitor. Aray of light. Something nice in a ce of nothing but apathy. It wasn''t actually that hard to walk the path. Shang looked at the hand lying in front of his feet. The hand had Jerald''s Space Ring on it, and Shang had avoided it on purpose. If he destroyed the Communication Crystal that Relon had given Jerald, Relon would know that Jerald had died. For several seconds, Shang''s empty eye-sockets only stared at the hand. He didn''t move. The wind blew across the now exposed floor. The bright sun mercilessly shone down on the scene. The world was so bright. But Shang only saw darkness. Shang stood in front of the hand without moving. Step. Awoman walked out of the still-standing part of the castle behind Shang, and her eyes widened in horror at what she was seeing. Half of the castle was gone! What about King Storm?! This was one of the True Mages responsible for organizing everything in the castle, and she had heard and felt themotion. When she saw Shang''s husk and the solitary hand on the ground, she took a horrified breath. Then, the world around her moved. The power of the world around her gathered beside her head. Before she could say or do anything, her head separated from her shoulder. Shang didn''t move. His empty eye-sockets only stared forward. Acouple more True Mages arrived shortly, but they died as soon as they arrived. It took Shang two minutes to move, and the only reason he was moving was that he was seeing someone approach in his Spirit Sense. Sylvia was returning. There was a shocked and horrified expression on her face as she activated one Mana Step after the other. Shang stepped forward and scooped up the hand. Then, he put it into his inner world. Shang''s expressionless face stared toward the direction where Sylvia wasing from. He didn''t want to see her, but he couldn''t stop himself from looking at her onest time. She had also been a friend of Shang''s. She had been Jerald''s wife of 75 years and the mother of his children. Jerald had been a good father, and she had been a good mother. Jerald had only wanted to continue living. Shang had destroyed their happiness today. Sword left Shang''s back and hovered in front of him. Shang lightly jumped on it, and Sword flew away. In just a couple of seconds, Shang had reached a height of over eight kilometers. No one from the ground would be able to find him that high up in the air unless they were specifically searching for him with their eyes. Shang''s Spirit Sense epassed the ruined castle. Sylvia had arrived, and she was searching around the ruined castle in horror. No, this couldn''t be! He had to still be alive! Jerald had to be somewhere! After not finding any trace of Jerald for a while, she quickly left the castle again to search for him. He had to still be around somewhere. Shang''s expressionless face only stared in her general direction for a while. Then, he slowly turned around, and some distorting light gathered around him. In an instant, Shang''s body had vanished. With Distortion hiding his body, Shang flew towards the south. The barrier had be active again. Shang only activated his Domain of Entropy and flew past the barrier. The guards, including Prince George, looked upward with horror. The barrier had been breached!N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. Yet, they couldn''t find the culprit! Prince George immediately took out his Communication Crystal and contacted Jerald. And the Communication Crystal told him that no one with that aura existed. Chapter 550 Chapter 550 Nothing happened while Shang was flying southward. The sun shone brightly in the sky. People were doing their daily chores and meeting with friends. Warriors were hunting in the wildernesses in teams. It was a busy day like any other. Inparison to 75 years ago, the current Storm Kingdom was much better off. People didn¡¯t seem nearly as worried, and they had already returned to their previous selves before the Council had started to suppress the warriors. The Kingdom had transformed into how it had been when Shang had just arrived in this world. Growth. Innovation. Progress. Prosperity. These were the perfect words to describe the current Storm Kingdom. Jerald had done an amazing job. Just as expected. Shang flew across the Thunder Horse Zone and looked down. He could see the Thunder Horse walking around inside one of the cities, several children ying with it. Shang remembered how Jerald had given his best to shield Shang from the Thunder Horse''s eyes. After a while, Shang left the Thunder Horse Zone and entered the Adamantite Behemoth Zone. Shang saw a new city about ten kilometers away from the Adamantite Behemoth''s horn, further away than the previous one. Shang remembered how he had destroyed the city. Back then, Jerald had told Shang that he was sorry. Jerald said that he was responsible for the deaths of all of these people and that Shang shouldn''t me himself. After some time, Shang reached the Empress Cobra Zone. George had died to the Council here, and Shang also remembered his conversation with Jerald while traveling to King Skythunder for the first time. A big part of the conversation had taken ce here. For the first time during his journey, Shang stopped in the air. Then, he flew toward the west, toward the Ice Wyvern Zone. Shang passed by the three-way border and entered the Ice Wyvern Zone. Shang saw the city where he had exchanged the ice wood, Blizzard''s Edge. He saw the Southern Wild, where the guard had warned Shang of the bandits. He saw the Central Wild. Shang also saw the Northern Wild, the ce where he had nearly crashed with his sled wagon. Shang saw the ce where the vige with the ice wood had once been. There was no vige here anymore. Andstly, Shang saw Jerald''s garden. The Earth Fruit Hedgehog was gone, but everything else seemed to be the same as back then. Shang saw the boars, the wolves, the Pest Cats, and several other beasts and animals. Back then, Shang had gone through tremendous physical pain in an effort to be more powerful. He preferred the physical pain over the emotional one. Shang turned his expressionless face towards one part of the mountains. That was where he had met Jerald. Shang had been careful of him, and he had looked up to his power. This was where it all began. No one would have expected that the little boy Jerald had found in one of his gardens would grow up to be his best friend and then his killer. At that moment, Shang summoned something. It was the emblem Jerald had given him when he had received the mission to find Duke Mithril''s men. After a while, Shang flew towards the southeast again. He passed over the border. He passed over the Farm Line, where he saw a couple of the Farm Dogs. Shang saw the Wild Forest. He remembered the Storm Eagle''s offspring, the General Stage Vanishing Snake, and Chuck McGuiness. Shang''s youth had been painful, but it had also been filled with many people and exciting encounters. Shang saw the Wastnd and remembered apanying Sarah, Astor, and Elver in the Caves. He remembered Soraning to help Shang and putting the three of them under a Magic Contract. Eventually, Shang reached Warrior''s Paradise. He remembered all the teachers. Loran, the old man that guarded the gate during the night and taught the Caterpir ss. Teacher Niria, the teacher that taught about beasts and who had helped Shang with the Darkness Ore. Vice-Dean Soran. Viera. Vice-Dean Ranos. George... All of these people were dead. Teacher Mervin... Shang remembered the conversation he had had with Teacher Loran and Teacher Mervin during his second Day of Chaos. "Shang, power might be your primary goal, but you can''t forget about a time after." ¡°And what should | do, in your opinion?" "Get a team. Join a team of hunters. Take part in group missions. Try not to deny an invitation if an acquaintance gives you one. Just one thing, essentially. Be more amongst people." "In the end, it''s all up to you. It''s your decision. | only suggest that you try it, and | won''t force you. Even if you decide to ignore everything | said today, our rtionship won''t change. You are one of my students. | am one of your teachers." Shang still remembered the conversation clearly. Shang''s future had not been set in stone back then. He had all the options avable to him. For a while, Shang only looked at the Warrior Academy in Warrior''s Paradise. This had been his home for a long time. Then, Shang continued flying toward the south. He saw the Canyon and remembered the gigantic Exploding Mountain Turtle that had threatened the city back then. Shang flew higher into the sky to avoid the Spirit Senses and reach of the powerful beasts. Shang saw the Crater, the ce where all the True Path Stage beasts resided. He continued flying. The Crater continued expanding for a while, and Shang even started to see humongous and terrifying beasts. Archbeasts. Shang avoided looking at them closely. The beasts didn''t pay any attention to him. Eventually, there were no more beasts for a while. And that''s when the humongous Storm Eagle entered Shang''s Spirit Sense. The Storm Eagle was lying on the ground, terrifying amounts of Wind Manaing out of its body. It was truly gigantic. Even after all this time, the Storm Eagle was still impossibly imposing. Shang flew past the humongous Storm Eagle. And two minutester, Shang reached it.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only The Abyss. In front of Shang was only a bottomless cliff, and everything in front of him was covered in clouds. It was like the world had ended. For a moment, Shang stopped. He turned towards the north. The Storm Eagle Zone. The Skythunder Kingdom. Area 23. He remembered the life he had lived there. Area 23 had undergone tremendous changes, and Shang was responsible for many of them. Shang remembered everything he had grown attached to in Area 23. All of it had either disappeared, died, or changed tremendously. Shang hung onto the memories he had made in Area 23. And for the first time in a long while, he spoke. "| do not regret my decisions." "| only regret not realizing the truth of my path sooner." Shang turned towards the Abyss again. m the enemy of the world.¡± "There is no one in my life." "| have abandoned everything just so | may gain a shot at Godhood." ¡°| want power." ¡°And power needs sacrifice." "Goodbye, everyone that still knows me." "My name is Shang." "But | am not Shang." And then, Shang jumped into the Abyss. He left Area 23 and entered the outside world. Chapter 551 Chapter 551 ¡°And you think that''s a good idea... why?" A middle-aged man in expensive red robes was currently looking at a younger man wearing cheaper-looking grey robes. "| just want to be careful, sir," the younger man said with nervousness. The older man sighed. "Boy, do you have any idea how much money it costs to deactivate and activate the barrier?" The younger man looked with uncertainty at the ground. "I don''t know, sir, but | think carelessness can lead to worse oues." "Carelessness?" the older man repeated with a raised brow. "There is a difference between being careful and being paranoid. Checking the surroundings for beasts while going through a forest is careful. Buying a grade five mobile deflection barrier for a stroll through your garden is paranoia.¡± The younger man looked ufortable. "But, sir, what about the Lenner Family?¡± "They died. So?" The older man asked. "Yes, and they were our allies, sir. So, wouldn''t whatever targeted them target us next?" the young man asked. The older man raised an eyebrow and looked at the younger man for a while longer. "Is this about the rumors?" The young man didn''t answer, but his eyes looked nervous.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. The older man could only groan. "Really? You too?" "Sir, several people have confirmed the rumors," the younger man said carefully. "Boy, you have to pay attention to how much you believe of a statement," the older man said with a sigh while massaging the bridge of his nose in annoyance. ¡°Was the Lenner Family killed by only one person? Probably." "Was the Lenner Family killed by some kind of Magic that no one has ever seen? Maybe." ¡°Was the Lenner Family killed by something that was neither beast nor Magic? Very unlikely." "Was the Lenner Family killed by a literal white ghost? No." "Yes, several people have confirmed that one person in white clothing has destroyed the Lenner Family and then vanished, but that doesn''t mean that this person was some stupid ghost." "We are Mages, not farmers, boy. We know more about the world than anyone else, and there is no proof of the existence of ghosts. All these ghost stories can be exined with specific phenomena that can only happen in these ces." The younger man still looked nervously at the older man. When the older man saw the nervous look in the younger man''s eyes, he took a deep breath. Then, he pointed behind him. "You see that? Did the Lenner Family have that?" the older man asked. The younger man looked past the older man. The older man stood in front of a gigantic gate nearly 200 meters tall. Slightly in front of the gate was a nearly translucent bubble that gave off a terrifying amount of Mana. In the distance, a humongous castle made of wavy green metal stood on a hill. If someone with a Spirit Sense came to this location, they would be able to sense over 500 High Mages in that castle, and there were even ten Peak High Mages and one Archmage! Ding! Ding! "We have a Medium Grade Five Repulsion Barrier," the older man said with annoyance as he knocked on the barrier behind him with his knuckles. "This bad boy can resist an all-out assault of a Mid Archmage for over 30 seconds. The Lenner Family only had an Initial Grade Five Repulsion Barrier, and they didn''t even have the added scanning function." "Some Initial or Early Darkness Archmage probably hid amongst the visitors, reached the patriarch, assassinated him, and then destroyed everything from the inside." "We don''t have that problem, boy. If anyone tries to change their appearance or sneak in, we will know, and if they decide to attack directly, they wouldn''t be getting through the barrier before an Enforcer arrives." "We are not as helpless as the Lenner Family, boy. Get that into your head!" the older man said with annoyance. The younger man lowered his head a bit. He was only an Initial High Mage, and he was getting quite intimidated by his captain, who was a Late High Mage. Yet, the younger man was still nervous. "| understand all that, captain, but..." Adisgusted sneer appeared on the older man''s face when he heard the but. "What if it malfunctions?" Silence. "Malfunctions," the older man repeated. The younger man nodded hopefully. "That''s why | think we should deactivate it, inspect it, and activate it again. I''ve heard of several barriers that couldn''tplete their purpose due to an error that can only be found during an inspection," the younger man said. The older man snorted. "The manufacturer wouldn''t dare to let something like that happen. We could squeeze so much money out of them if they sold us a defective barrier." "| know, but," the younger man added, "what''s the point of getting money from them when we are all dead?" "Enough!" the older man shouted. "I''ve had it up to here with all of your whining! We know what we are doing, and we know how to defend ourselves from invaders and attackers! Get back to work and stop bothering me! We will not deactivate the barrier because of your paranoia!" While listening to the older man''s barrage, the younger man''s face scrunched up. After the older man was done, the younger man actually looked into the older man''s eyes with annoyance and disgust. "What? Got anyints?" the older man asked. The younger man pulled off one of his Space Rings. SHING! His grey robes were reced with a green shirt and some green pants. The older man raised an eyebrow. "Here," the younger man said as he shoved his Space Ring into the older man''s hands. "I quit." ¡°Really? You quit because of your paranoia?" the older man asked with a deadpan tone. "| don''t feel safe here," the younger man said with annoyance. "And you just keep dismissing all my arguments just because it costs a bit of money to check the barrier. You''re putting a couple of Mana Crystals over our lives, and | won''t work for someone this irresponsible." "Irresponsible? Pfft," the older man repeated with a snort. "Fine, then quit. Give me the SKP." The younger man put one of his fingers onto the side of his head and began to chant a Spell. The acronym SKP stood for Sensitive Knowledge Partition, which was the part of the mind that included all the information of a given subject that could be considered sensitive. During employment in certain ces, employees had to agree to set up such an SKP in their minds. SKPs had a high degree of resistance towards methods of mind reading, and that knowledge could also easily be deleted if someone didn''t want to work there anymore. Acouple of secondster, a wispy grey mist came out of the man''s head, and it floated over to the older man. The older man also cast a Spell. After looking at the grey mist for three seconds, the older man nodded and destroyed it. "You can leave," the older man said evenly. "Bye," the younger man said without any enthusiasm as he walked away from the older man. The older man didn''t say anything. For several minutes, the older man only stood alone in front of the gate and barrier. He was supposed to show the former new recruit the ropes of his new job, but it seemed like he would need to guard the gates alone for the remainder of his shift. "The people don''t know how good they have it here," the older man grumbled. The entrance of the huge castle was pointing to the west, and dusk was slowly arriving. The older man watched the dusk with calm interest. The dusks in this ce always looked amazing due to all the mountains and colors. It also gave him some peace of mind and distracted him from his stressful job. He often volunteered to show the new people around since he would get a shift of peace out of it, while his substitute inside the castle needed to manage all the security matters. As the older man watched the dusk, he noticed something moving at the edge of his vision. He furrowed his brows and looked down the long road. ¡®What is that?¡¯ he thought. ''I can''t feel anything there with my Spirit Sense, but | swear I''m seeing something.¡¯ Is that... a guy?¡± The older man squinted his eyes and quickly casted a Spell that improved his eyesight. Then, he saw what it was, and he took a deep breath. ¡®Is that a ghost?!" Chapter 552 Chapter 552 For a while, the older man couldn''t wrap his mind around what he was looking at. It was the silhouette of a tall and thin man wearing long and old white robes. There were several loose strands on the old robe, and it looked extremely old, almost ancient. The white of the robes was so stark that they almost seemed ethereal as they moved slightly in the wind. Even more, the man wearing the robes was standing on the road with his bare feet, which also seemed far too white to be from someone that walked around with bare feet. The hair of the man was extremely long and pitch ck, heavily contrasting his stark white robes. His hair was so long that it even reached his legs. But the most shocking thing was his face. Several pure white bandages surrounded the upper half of his face,pletely hiding his eyes. Only his nose, mouth, and hair were visible. And his expression was scarily neutral. It was almost like the older man was looking at a statue instead of a living human. Lastly, his aura was... haunting. As the older man tried to feel the aura of the silhouette on the road, he felt like he was trying to lean on air. It was like this person didn''t have an aura! By all intents and purposes, this man looked and felt more like an illusion or a ghost than a person. The older man''s mind shot through several scenarios and possible exnations. But his thoughts were interrupted as he suddenly had to take a deep breath. The distant "face" of the person had suddenly appeared right in front of him! Then, the older man couldn''t think anymore. A bloody hole had appeared on his forehead, and his corpse fell to the ground. At the same time, the surroundings of the corpse were warping and transforming, and an instantter, the older man reappeared on the spot with a bored look. Everything had happened so fast that no one would have noticed all of this unless they had already been looking at the older man. Of course, the older man that had reappeared wasn''t the real one. It was just an illusion created with light. Acouple of Spirit Senses washed over the area after feeling some Mana fluctuations, but they looked away again a secondter. There was nothing of concern happening near the front gate. None of the Spirit Senses noticed the ghostly figure in white robes standing beside the older man. This was Shang.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Or at least what he had turned into. Shang didn''t have any particr thoughts while doing all of this. This was just routine. His goal in life was to be more powerful, and everything he was doing right now was to achieve that goal. The way he gained his power didn''t matter anymore. And there were plenty of jobs for people with no care for morals. Shang turned towards the barrier and walked over. Then, he summoned a small medal made of metal and put it on the barrier. BZZT! BZZT! Some lightning came out of the medal, and a secondter, a hole opened up in the barrier. Shang walked through the hole, put a second medal onto the inside of the barrier, grabbed the first medal on the outside, and then retrieved the second medal. To exin, in the beginning, the first medal kept the hole open. If Shang took it away, the hole would close with him outside. Because of that, he put the second one on the inside to keep the hole open so he could grab the first medal. After also retrieving his second medal, the hole behind Shang closed, locking him inside the barrier. Shang simply stepped forward past the gate. The gate was only there for show, and Shang could easily step through the bars. Shang slowly walked along a wide and majestic path toward the castle. As Shang grew closer, the castle took up more and more of his world until it looked like a mountain. The castle was over five kilometers tall and 15 kilometers wide. Shang had seen many castles in his life, but this was still one of the biggest he had ever seen. After a couple of minutes, Shang reached the entrance of the castle. There was no one outside the castle and no one guarding the entrance to the castle itself. It was almost like there was no one living in the castle. Then, Shang knocked on the door. Acouple of seconds passed. The door creaked open, revealing a neatly dressed older gentleman. Asmall ck afterimage appeared between Shang and the older gentleman. Shang stepped inside, and the door behind him closed. The butler had closed the door, and he acted like there was no one there. Shang and the butler of the house were walking through the grand entrance hall and stepped into the first corridor to the left. Some people were looking at the butler walking into the first corridor on the left and looked away again. No one saw the actual corpse of the butler lying beside the front door. The butler stopped in front of the first door and knocked politely. The door opened, revealing a young woman with flowing green hair. Ack afterimage appeared. One second of nothing happening passed. The woman nodded, and the butler bowed politely. The door closed, and the woman sat down in the middle of her room, entering meditation. This was what every watcher had seen. In their mind, the butler had talked with the woman with voice transmissions, and the two of them parted ways. Even though people could talk with each other kilometers away, it was still a sign of respect to converse with them face to face, even if it was only done via voice transmission. As the head butler, the old man only initiated a conversation when he could have eye contact with someone. Sadly, none of the watchers noticed the woman''s corpse in the corner of her room. The butler continued walking towards the next door and knocked. The same process happened again. This continued for several minutes. Eventually, the butler reached a bigger door than the others. He knocked politely and waited with a warm smile. The sounds of ying children could be heard through the door. Eventually, a woman opened the door. The ying kids in the room became quiet and looked to the door. They were interested in seeing who was here to visit them. Then, the kids saw a weird white figure behind the door. Ack afterimage appeared. The kids returned to ying, and the woman closed the door again. Everything seemed fine in the yroom. Yet, there was no more life there. Shang walked towards the next door without hesitation, like a machine. This was not an easy job. But that was also why it paid very well. Chapter 553 Chapter 553 Shang and the image of the butler continued walking through the hallways one at a time. For the next three hours, nothing special seemed to happen on the outside, but in reality, a huge portion of the castle had completely died. Everything still seemed to be filled with life, but the life was only the cold maniption of dead light. But the scary part was that this illusion of light only affected someone''s Spirit Sense. In fact, the light looked chaotic if one looked at it with their eyes. Yet, every High Mage and higher only relied on their Spirit Sense. Looking at the world with a Spirit Sense was just superior to looking at the world with eyes. But Shang knew the truth. Ever since he lost his sight, he knew that eyes were not an inferior method of perceiving the world but a different one. Eyes could see light, while ears couldn''t. However, ears could perceive things from behind the person using them. One of the two might be better most of the time, but that didn¡¯t mean that it was always better. The same thing was true for eyes and Spirit Sense. A Spirit Sense was superior in over 99% of cases. But the remaining 1% of cases could still kill someone if they didn''t use their eyes for that. Shang learned that the hard way when he had been bitten by something while traveling towards the north after leaving Area 23. He hadn''t been able to sense the thing that had bitten him with his Spirit Sense, no matter how hard he tried. Luckily, he had been able to hear it, but it was still a terrifying experience to be attacked by something one couldn''t properly locate or sense. In the many decades since leaving Area 23, Shang had learned a lot about how Spirit Senses worked. And also how to trick them. The illusions Shang was conjuring wouldn''t be able to fool someone''s eyes, but they could fool someone''s Spirit Sense, and with everyone only talking with their Spirit Senses, this was a terrifying ability. In thest three hours, Shang had killed over 400 High Mages and over 5,000 people in total. Nearly 90% of the castle had turned into and filled with deathly cold light. Light was usually perceived to be warm and weing, but it could also be cold and clinical. It brought an illusion of life and warmth to a ruin filled with death and corpses. But after three hours, Shang noticed that some people started to grow suspicious. He had already intercepted a couple of people that had left their rooms to go to someone else''s room. Usually, these people would just directly talk with that person with their Spirit Sense, but Shang''s illusions couldn''t talk. Most of the time, the people would think that this had something to do with the visit of the butler. Maybe the Patriarch of the family gave them orders to remain quiet no matter who asked? Maybe they were searching for a traitor? But not everyone would believe something like that. Some of these people felt that something was foul, and they decided to check on the others with their own eyes. The worst spot was the children''s yroom. Shang had needed to intercept five people that wanted to go there. Of course, as these people suddenly started turning around and going back to their rooms without looking at their children, other people that watched all of this grew even more suspicious. Something definitely wasn''t right. Shang noticed that things became difficult to hide, and he decided to go for thest sprint. He had already killed the majority of High Mages. In everyone''s vision, the butler started to Mana Step towards the front gate and waited there. Then, he just stood there, doing nothing. WHOOOOOOOOM! Suddenly, the gigantic barrier surrounding the property turned an intense purple. At the same time, the amounts of Mana it was giving off also shot into the sky. It was like the barrier was entering overdrive! The strongest people in the castle had just been holding a meeting, but the strange actions of the barrier immediately drew their attention to the outside. The couple of Peak High Mages couldn''t perceive the barrier with their Spirit Senses since it was too far away, but they could still see the bright violet lighting off it. The Patriarch, an Early Archmage, extended his far greater Spirit Sense and checked the barrier. He found that it was rapidly burning through the stored Mana Crystals while activating all of its functions at once. The Patriarch immediately checked on the huge Magic Circle creating the barrier, and willed it to stop. But the barrier repelled his will! One of the functions of the barrier was to stop anyone from messing with it while emergency mode was active. This function existed to protect the castle no matter what. There were several Mages that could deactivate a barrier by using certain Spells to weave through the barrier and manipte the Magic Circle. The emergency mode would make it impossible for exactly that to happen. As soon as the Patriarch saw the barrier acting this way, he knew they were under attack. The first thing he did was to take out a light-blue Communication Crystal. But then, he gritted his teeth. The expensive barrier he had bought for his family could also iste Communication Crystals. There was no way to break the barrier. There was no way to deactivate it. There was no way to touch its resources. There was no way to contact the outside. The Patriarch knew that they would be isted until the barrier consumed all the avable Mana Crystals. If no one attacked the barrier, it would take ten minutes. At that moment, all the illusions inside the castle vanished.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Everyone had just been in an uproar, but as soon as the illusions vanished, the entire castle fell silent. Thousands of corpses appeared inside everyone''s Spirit Sense at the same time. WHOOOOM! Everyone turned towards the outside as something dark blocked the light of the purple barrier. Asudden explosion of darkness had appeared outside, and it covered the humongous castle in nearly an instant. The people had no idea what was going on, but they knew one thing. The darkness outside the castle felt cold and terrifying. At that moment, Shang had already entered the castle again and stood in front of the front door. Along, thin, and ck sword was in his right hand. The edge moved. Shang''s expression didn''t change. Chapter 554 Chapter 554 Shang vanished. The ghostly white figure that had just been standing in front of the door had vanished. Of course, that didn''t really matter since the Mages weren''t able to perceive him with their Spirit Senses anyway. At this moment, Shang was moving through the corridors at rapid speeds without making any noise and without being seen. Over the many decades, Shang hadprehended all the different forms of Impose. Yes, Shang was at the Peak True Path Stage right now. After gaining ess to all forms of Impose, Shang''s power exploded more and more, and he also managed tobine several of his Elements. For the past 40 years, Shang had been focusing onbining his four different Imposes into one. Sadly, without any sess. This was thest step Shang needed to take in order to reach the Fifth Realm, and it definitely wasn''t easy to take. However, even if he didn''t seed, he still managed to create more techniques and refine his fighting style even more. His current way of moving rapidly without making a sound and while being invisible to Spirit Senses was something he had created out of Shock and Distortion. The movement wasn''t as instantaneous as Shock, but it also didn''t require nearly as much Mana or life energy. Additionally, with Shang''s new Mana pathways, the cost of using his elemental attacks lowered even more. This ghostly, silent, and nearly imperceptible way of moving was called Ghost Step. At the same time, the Mages across the entire castle were activating their Mana Shield andmunicating with each other. Even though they were well-trained and experienced, suddenly seeing that over 80% of their loved ones had died was still a shock to them, making it much harder for them to organize. They were all searching for the enemy, but they couldn''t find them! It was like a ghost or phantom was attacking them! At that moment, most people realized what was going on. So, the rumors were true! This was probably the thing that had annihted the Lenner Family! The fear the Mages were feeling intensified, but they still did their best to focus on survival. SHING! SHING! Suddenly, all the Mages focused their Spirit Senses on one spot in the castle. Just now, two ck streaks had appeared and disappeared in a matter of single-digit milliseconds. It was so fast that they wouldn''t even have noticed if their minds hadn''t already been pushed to peak caution and rm. After the ck streaks disappeared, everyone could see that one of their friends had died again. Yet, even though they were looking at the very part where the enemy was supposed to be, they still couldn''t see them! The Patriarch gnashed his teeth. If he had ess to his barrier, he could use it to scan for the opponent! SHING! SHING! Several Mages used Mana Step and arrived in the hallway. They had already summoned their Foci, and they were ready to battle. Yet, the hallway waspletely quiet. The only thing here was the corpse of their friend. For a while, they only inspected their surroundings with narrowed eyes. Their minds were screaming at them with terror and fear, but they knew that they had to fight. SHING! SHING! Everyone looked at a different spot in the castle as another one of their friends died. What the hell was going on?! Why was everyone suddenly being killed without being able to move, and why was it happening all over the castle?! Several Mages used Mana Steps to arrive in different hallways. They all gathered into groups and inspected their surroundings, several Spells already readied. Silence. The enemy had managed to pick off a couple of their friends because they had been alone, but now, everyone was gathered in different groups. Nothing happened for several seconds. The hallways inside the castle were brightly lit with the warm fire of many candles, but it definitely didn''t feel warm right now. The brightness of the rooms made the Mages feel exposed.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Almost like there was no ce to hide. SHING! The Mages'' eyes opened wide in shock. Just now, a long ck streak had appeared, and it went through one of the groups in one of the hallways. Apanying the long ck streak were many small ck afterimages. As soon as the ck streak appeared, the Mana Shields of the five Mages in the hallway broke into pieces at seemingly the same time. After that, the Mages fell into multiple pieces. Most of the Mages almost couldn''t believe what they were seeing right now. What the hell was going on?! What kind of Spell could do something like that?! There were almost no Mana fluctuations, and there were no fluctuations of someone speaking an incantation. Additionally, there was no aftermath in the surroundings! When someone threw a fireball, everyone could still see the explosion and the smoke. When someone activated an offensive Darkness Spell, everyone could still see the concentrated Darkness Mana slowly dissipating into the surroundings. When someone used a Wind Spell, everyone could still feel the moving wind after the attack was over. But not this time. Everyone could still see the dissipating Darkness Mana from the big ck streak, but the small afterimages left nothing behind. They left no kind of Mana behind, but they were powerful enough to destroy a High Mage''s Mana Shield in nearly an instant. This should be impossible! Magic always left behind traces! Was this even Magic?! It must be Magic! What else was powerful enough to kill all of them?! It couldn''t be a beast! Beasts were dumb, and the enemy was not just blindly attacking them! But it also didn''t feel like Magic! What the hell was going on?! Was this actually a ghost?! None of them even thought about the possibility that a human was attacking them without Magic. This was not Area 23. The strongest physical fighters in this world were at the Commander Stage, and the concept of True Path Stage warriors didn''t even exist. Additionally, warriors were incredibly weakpared to Mages. None of these Mages had been threatened by any kind of physical fighter in thest century. This concept basically didn''t exist in their world. If anyone told them that there was a physical fighter that could rival a High Mage, they wouldugh at that person. Something like that couldn''t exist. Chapter 555 Chapter 555 As more time passed, the Mages became more and more nervous and fearful. They had over 50 High Mages on their side, and they had all prepared their Spells. They were all ready tounch a devastating wave of attacks at whoever was attacking them. Yet, they just couldn''t find the opponent! What were they supposed to attack when there was nothing to attack?! "Don''t panic," the Patriarch told everyone via voice transmission. "This is not a fight to kill the opponent but to survive. In ten minutes, at most, the barrier will deactivate. After that, the Enforcer will arrive very quickly." The other Mages nodded. The Patriarch was right. They only needed to survive for a while, not kill the opponent. ¡°Everyone gather at my location and be careful while you move," the Patriarch ordered. The Mages quickly made their way to the Patriarch. SHING! SHING! SHING! Yet, several of the Mages still died on their way to the Patriarch. The Patriarch gritted his teeth. He wanted to do nothing more than just directly jump toward one of his dying people and kill the attacker. Yet, he had learned by now that he didn''t have the ability to do so. As soon as he arrived, the attacker would have already retreated. And worst of all, the attacker didn''t even leave behind any trace of Mana! He could have gone upward, downward, left, right, anywhere! The bright light in the hallway only heightened the fear of the Mages. There was nowhere to hide. But they were also afraid of the dark. They already had a hard time finding the attacker. If everything became dark on top of that, it would only be even more difficult to find them! Eventually, thest 45 Mages gathered at the same spot. In this spot were the Patriarch, eight Peak High Mages, and all the other High Mages inside the castle. The High Mages quickly gathered and created a powerful Magic Circle to share all their Mana in one gigantic Mana Shield. This Mana Shield would even be powerful enough to resist the Spells of a Mid Archmage for a while. For several seconds, the Mages only kept watch over their surroundings. Except for the couple of weaker Mages running in panic through the castle, everything else was silent. The attacks had stopped. SHING! SHING! Or, more urately, the attacks on the High Mages had stopped. The ck afterimages returned, and every time they did, another corpse of a weaker Mage was left behind. "Get to the fifth floor in the middle of the castle!" the Patriarch ordered to everyone inside the castle. There were still the children, parents, and service staff left in the castle. The people that were near the ce the Patriarch had called out ran towards him, while the others despaired. Most of the people simply ran into their rooms and tried to hide there. Sadly, they couldn''t hide from a Spirit Sense, and they were killed. The ones that had been running towards the High Mages had also been killed. The High Mages could only grit their teeth helplessly as they watched their friends and family die around them without being able to help. If they left the collective Mana Shield, they would also die. This was the most frustrating and infuriating part of their entire lives. They had never felt this helpless before. Just like children, the only thing they could do was wait. After a couple of seconds, only a couple of Mages near the front door of the castle remained.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. In horror, those Mages burst through the front door and charged into the darkness outside the castle. As soon as someone touched the Darkness Mana outside the castle, all the Darkness Mana in their surroundings was pulled towards them. It was like all the Darkness Mana was water and the lives were drains. CRACK! The Mana Shields of the Mages broke within a second, and they were consumed by Darkness Mana. Every single person that had fled the castle had died. On the fifth floor, the Mages were silent, but deep inside, they were seething with fury and hatred. All their families and friends had died! Even their children had been killed! The castle fell into silence again as the killings stopped. All the High Mages waited, their destructive Spells ready to be unleashed any second. They only waited for their target to appear. As soon as their target appeared, they would rain pure destruction on them! Nothing happened for several seconds. There was only silence. One minute had already passed, which meant that they only needed to survive for nine more. The attacker hadn''t shown themselves in nearly a minute. Was it working? Was the attacker afraid of theirbined power? Cr. Something happened. All the Mages looked at the ceiling of the hallway. Just now, they had felt a small cut appear on the ceiling of the hallway a floor above them. They couldn''t see through the floor, but they could feel the change in the hallway above them with their Spirit Senses. Most of the High Mages were barely fast enough to take note of what was happening above them, but the Patriarch was fast enough. The Patriarch was an Early Archmage, and his mind was many times faster than the minds of his people. While the others were only just turning their attention to the tiny cut, he had already fully analyzed it. The cut was small, but it was very thick. It was almost like a huge de had left it behind. On top of that, there were signs of burning along the cut. And the burning felt very unnatural to the Patriarch. It felt way too dangerous to be normal fire! All of this happened in an instant. While the High Mages were looking at the cut for the first time, the ceiling above them exploded. The High Mages only saw a wall of ck mes charge at them. When the Patriarch saw the ck mes, he knew what had happened. The attacker hadunched an attack from the sixth floor, right above them. His attack had scratched the ceiling on the sixth floor and thenunched at the floor of the sixth floor, which was essentially the ceiling of the fifth floor. The attack then broke through the ceiling of the fifth floor,unching directly at the collective Mana Shield. SHING! The Patriarch used Mana Step. The attack felt way too powerful! With the Patriarch suddenly gone, the collective Mana Shield lost its biggest backer. And then, Dusk hit the Mana Shield. Chapter 556 Chapter 556 BOOOOOOM! One side of the gigantic castle exploded as a huge ball of ck fire consumed everything. The explosion was over a kilometer wide, but the castle was nearly five kilometers high. Even though the explosion was gigantic, it only broke the front side of the castle. The Mages could barely see what was going on since their Spirit Senses were destroyed as soon as they came into contact with the ck fire surrounding their massive Mana Shield. But they knew one thing. That one attack had just consumed over 90% of their Mana! How powerful was this attack?! This was ridiculous! Were they actually being attacked by a Mid Archmage?! This was the full power of Dusk. Not only had Sword reached the middle of the Fifth Realm, but Shang had also burned so much of its mass that it directly transitioned from its Colossal Sword State into its Long Sword State. On top of that, Shang had consumed an insane amount of Light Mana and life energy tounch that attack. Lastly, Shang used all four Imposes with it, boosting the power even more. The attack had been very slow and very telegraphed, but it had been beyond powerful. Yet, the Mana Shield still survived. SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang immediately attacked several times with his Long Sword. Shang''s Long Sword State was already his fastest state by far, but after using all four Imposes to boost its speed even further, its speed had reached ridiculous heights. It was like a ck circr saw was trying to saw through the Mana Shield. That was how fast Shang''s attacks were. CRACK! Just as everyone started falling, the Mana Shield broke. WHOOOOM! As soon as it broke, the darkness that had waited outside the castle rushed in through the gigantic hole Shang had made and consumed all the Mages. The Darkness Mana would have quickly been used up if the High Mages had their Mana Shields active, but with their Mana Shields broken, there wasn''t much resistance for the Darkness Mana. In a matter of seconds, all the Darkness Mana consumed the High Mages. Even though there wasn''t much resistance, after consuming so many High Mages, the Darkness Mana still ran out near the end. The darkness around the castle vanished, allowing the first rays of light to reach the surroundings of the castle again. The barrier''s oppressive purple light bathed the castle''s destroyed side in an oppressive hue. Shangnded beside the building, his Long Sword held beside him. It was impossible to discern what Shang was feeling at the moment. Half of his face was covered behind the white bandages, and the other half seemed like it belonged to a cold corpse. The Patriarch appeared a kilometer away from Shang, looking at him with narrowed eyes. For the first time, the Patriarch actually saw his enemy. Yet, he still couldn''t properly judge what kind of powers his enemy was using.N?velDrama.Org exclusive content. He had seen something ck move back and forth, but it had been too fast for even him to see. What kind of Magic was this?! Even more, the attacker only gave off the mental pressure of a Peak True Mage! How was that possible?! There were too many unanswered questions regarding that opponent. But one thing was clear. The opponent was now in the open, and the Patriarch could finally attack him! BANG! BANG! Several bolts of lightning appeared around the Patriarch, destroying the ground around him. His eyes turned white, and his body began to float. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, the rubble of the partly-destroyed castle began to levitate around the Patriarch. This was a Spell created by the Level Two Pure Concept of Lightning: Maism. As tons upon tons of stone began to rapidly orbit the Patriarch, Shang also felt his weapon being pulled to him. As a Level Two Concept, Maism didn''t only affect metal. It even affected one''s opponent and their belongings. The air around the Patriarch began to warp. BOOOM! The Patriarch''s white eyes widened. The biggest chunk of stone flying around him had just exploded with fire! The Patriarch looked at his opponent and noticed that something had changed. Shang''s Long Sword was burning and had grown suddenly! But that didn''t matter. The Patriarch spoke a quick incantation. And then, lightning appeared between the rubble before everything shot forward at Shang with unreal speed. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! While the rubble flew toward Shang, more lightning came out of the Patriarch, striking the barrier and the ground around him. The surrounding kilometer around the Patriarch had transformed into a hell filled with lightning. Shang only faced the Patriarch with his unmoving expression. Then, his Saber moved. BANG! BANG! BANG! The Patriarch''s eyes widened again. Shang hadunched several attacks at the mountain of rubble the Patriarch had thrown at Shang. But all his attacks seemed to vanish in one ce and reappear somewhere else! And in the end, they all exploded on the Patriarch''s Mana Shield! The Patriarch felt his Mana deplete at a rapid rate. His attack hadn''t even reached his opponent, while his Mana Shield had just taken five hits! What was this speed?! Eventually, the rubble reached Shang. SHING! SHING! SHING! But Shang''s body seemed to split into multiple parts as they all jumped right into the oppressive mountain of rubble and lightning! All the different Shangs jumped along the stone with ease as the bolts of lightning missed all of them. BOOOOOOM! The mountain of rubble exploded, and all the Shangs fused again. BANG! BANG! At that point, the Patriarchunched several terrifying Spells at Shang. Yet, Shang only vanished... And reappeared directly in front of the Patriarch. SIMI! So many ck explosions hit the Patriarch''s Mana Shield that it sounded like it was being attacked by a huge circr saw. The Patriarch''s face whitened, and he used Mana Step to retreat. But it didn''t work! How?! The Patriarchunched another three Spells, but Shang just vanished again, reappearing behind him. It was like this attacker could vanish and reappear whenever and wherever he wanted! The Patriarch used three more Mana Steps, and he felt like he was getting closer to sessfully pulling one off. CRACK! And then, his Mana Shield broke. The Patriarch''s eyes widened. SHING! And a sword pierced through his forehead. Silence. There was no more life within the barrier. The job was done. Chapter 557 Chapter 557 As silence returned to the surroundings, Shang''s face turned towards the Patriarch. He saw an extremely expensive Focus with five Amplifiers and several Space Rings on him. It was quite enticing to just take that. However, plundering the belongings of the targets of the mission was against the rules of the temple, with good reason. There were too many ways to track belongings, and if one Agent overlooked even one of them, the entire branch of the temple might bepromised. Additionally, part of the reason why the clients paid such a ridiculous fee was the loot. Most of the clients that ordered a hit on an organization, person, or family had the means to collect the loot, and one of the main reasons very often for why they wanted that target dead was something the target owned. Shang looked at the many corpses buried beneath the rubble. Nearly every person had a Space Ring that harbored all of their wealth. The amount of money buried in this ce was at least five times as much as Shang would get paid. Yet, Shang preferred the risk-free and secure payment. SHING! Shang summoned something from his Space Ring. It was arge container of blood. CRACK! Shang shed through the container with his sword, breaking it and dispersing all the contents onto the ground behind the Patriarch''s corpse. The bloodnded in a special way that painted an image. Behind the Patriarch''s corpse was now a two-meter wide blood-red silhouette of a person. There were no visible features on this silhouette, making it seem more like a shadow. Leaving this mark was also one of the temple''s rules. In order to not make the Enforcers dig too much into the matter, the Agents of the Temple of Blood always left behind a symbol. Normal Agents left behind the symbol of the Temple of Blood, which was a circle with three stains of blood of varying sizes inside it. Named Agents left their personal symbols behind. The special kind of blood the temple used to create these symbols was proof enough that it had been them. The bloody silhouette Shang had painted with the blood was his own sign. He was one of the Named Agents, and his codename was White Ghost. After leaving his sign, Shang walked over to the barrier and retrieved the emblem he had put on it. The barrier turned transparent again and acted like nothing had happened. After using the two medals again, Shang stepped past the barrier. From the outside, the area inside the barrier looked like a ruin. The middle of the gigantic castle had copsed, and there was no life anywhere close to or inside the castle. A dead ruin. Shang looked at the barrier once more. It was now using its normal amount of Mana Crystals again, which meant that it would remain active for around ten more days since no one was alive to refill its Mana Crystal storage. This meant that, at thetest, people would take note of Shang''s work in ten days. When one of these barriers ran out of Mana Crystals, the manufacturer that sold them would be informed, and they would send someone to investigate. However, people would most likely notice everything before that. Over 500 High Mages had died, and nearly all of these High Mages had important connections with the outside.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Someone would surely try to contact the High Mages, and after failing a couple of times, they would check up on them or directly call someone to investigate. Shang guessed that everything would be discovered in five hours at most. He would be long gone by then. SHING! Shang vanished. The sun still hung brightly and conspicuously in the sky, bathing the entire world in a warm glow of life. It was difficult to imagine that a huge ughter had just taken ce on such a warm and peaceful day. As Shang was running through the mountains, hills, and forests, all the light around him bent, hiding him from all manners of Spirit Senses. Shang avoided flying through the sky since it would be easier to find him there. Even though he was invisible to most Spirit Senses, he wasn''tpletely invisible to the eyes. In the sky, someone might notice the bending light around Shang. Additionally, Archmages had terrifyingly urate perceptions of their surroundings. The Mana fluctuations Shang left behind while walking on the ground would mostly be hidden by the different forms of life and Mana constantly interacting with each other, but things would be different in the sky. While running through the forests, Shang had to avoid several dangerous spots. This was no longer a ce where Zone Beasts stopped their strongest beasts from killing humans. No, the beasts in this ce loved attacking humans. If someone ran through the wilderness without a map, they would most likely die. Even as an Archmage. There were plenty of Archbeasts and Ancestral Beasts in the gigantic wilderness. If one wasn''t careful, they might enter the Spirit Sense of one of these. And the worst part about it was that the beasts constantly moved. Amap someone bought one day might bepletely outdated the next day. So, one either needed enough power to defend oneself from any random Ancestral Beast they met or something that could tell them where powerful beasts were without entering their Spirit Senses. This meant that one either needed a lot of power or a lot of money, and both things mostly came together. In this world, going outside was not something for poor or weak people. Going outside was a luxury only afforded to the powerful or rich. Shang theoretically had enough money to travel quite some distance in the wilderness, but just one trip would consume over 10% of his wealth. And Shang was definitely not poor. But then, how was he traveling through the wilderness right now? That was a perk of the job. The Temple of Blood had a method that allowed it to scry areas from far away. For the missions, the temple would use that method to tell their Agents where they had to go to avoid beasts. Shang had gotten a specific path to follow at specific times, and if a beast suddenly moved unpredictably, he would be informed. Because of that, Shang''s journey was uneventful, and about eight hourster, he reached his current home. The Temple of Blood. Chapter 558 Chapter 558 In front of Shang was a humongous sunflower. It was nearly three kilometers tall, and its yellow petals shone in the evening sun. It looked peaceful. But in truth, it was actually an extremely dangerous Ancestral Beast called the Yellow Sunbreaker. It didn''t pose a danger to everyone, but any Ancestral Mage that came close to it would be attacked. While being around the flower, it was better to be weak than strong. Shang walked over to the gigantic flower without any fear and stopped in front of one of its gigantic roots. He summoned a small emblem and put it at the base of the root. CRRRRRR! The emblem began to expand, pushing the root away from the stone beneath it. Acouple of secondster, a small cave was revealed behind the root. Shang simply stepped forward until he was inside the cave. CLING! Shang used his mind to pull the emblem, keeping the root upright back to him. BANG! The root copsed onto the hard stone beneath it with a lot of power. Luckily, there was no actual tension between the ground and the root. It was just gravity pulling the root down. Otherwise, the tools the Agents used to pass through this spot would need to be reced every time they walked through there. All the light was cut off by the root, and the cave fell into darkness. The cave was barely ten meters long, and it looked about as inconspicuous as any other spot around the Yellow Sunbreaker. Shang walked towards one of the walls and summoned a small jar of blood. This was simr to the kind of blood he had used to paint his sign, but there were still some differences. Shang dipped the tip of his finger in the small jar and painted a symbol on the wall that looked a bit like an overemphasized S. SHING! The wall in front of Shang lit up in red light fora moment and vanished.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. Shang only stepped forward. Five secondster, the wall behind Shang reappeared but without the sign. This was the only way to enter this specific branch of the Temple of Blood, and after seeing all of these precautions, one could understand how the Temple of Blood could still operate sessfully while being publicly targeted by basically every major organization. Even though Yellow Sunbreakers only attacked Ancestral Mages, High Mages and Archmages still didn''t dare to venture close to one. This kept any and all High Mages and Archmages away from this location. On top of that, Yellow Sunbreakers were very useful for the ecosystem. They absorbed Neutral Mana and released it into the surroundings as Fire Mana, Earth Mana, Light Mana, and even some of it as life energy. Yellow Sunbreakers were often surrounded by thick forests filled with life, specifically due to the life energy they give off. Their rtively peaceful nature and the strong Mana they give off attracted many High Beasts and Arch Beasts, filling the surroundings with life. Because of that, most of the local hegemons wanted to keep their Yellow Sunbreakers alive. They were essentially living fertilizer for theirnds. Additionally, they didn''t even need to guard it. Yellow Sunbreakers were not weak, and such a big specimen had to be in the Mid Ancestral Mage Realm at least. Only powerful wandering Mages, Enforcers, and the upper echelon of the organization controlling this territory could fight something like that. And that was where a branch of the Temple of Blood resided. It was an extremely secure location, especially since the power of the Yellow Sunbreaker distorted any Spirit Sense that tried to look at it from afar. No one would notice the extremely powerful andplex Magic Barrier below the flower as long as they didn''t directly stand on one of the Yellow Sunbreaker''s roots and focused on searching for a Magic Barrier. Lastly, this ce was in the middle of a thick forest, over 1,000 kilometers away from any kind of civilization. Inside the cave, Shang walked for a couple of seconds before some candles around him lit up. Of course, the light of the candles didn''t make a difference to Shang. Acouple of secondster, Shang stepped into a big hall inside the cave. This was a natural hall that was about 50 meters high and 20 meters wide. Some smaller roots could be seen on the walls of the hall. Surprisingly, they didn''t directly extend into the hall and kept themselves to the walls. Yet, if someone looked closer, they could see that the roots were actually pushed to the side of the cave by a lightly pulsating Magic Barrier. The Magic Barrier was pulsating with a gentle blue light, and Shang could feel quite a lot of Water Manaing from the bottom of the room and going into the roots. At the bottom of the hall was ake of incredibly clear water. This wasn''t just any water, but highly concentrated Water Mana. It was so concentrated that it even assumed liquid form. Just like how normal water evaporated into the surroundings, the Water Mana evaporated upward, filling the entire cave with a beautiful blue hue. The Water Mana then entered the Magic Barrier, which then fed it to the roots. This had several uses. First of all, one could inspect the surroundings with their Spirit Sense, but they couldn''t just look through someone''s body or into their body. By giving the Yellow Sunbreaker so much Water Mana, it treated them as a valuable source of Water Mana andpletely surrounded this hall with its roots, hiding the hall from any kind of Spirit Sense with its body. Additionally, by constantly giving the Yellow Sunbreaker Water Mana, it didn''t try to destroy this annoying stone in the middle of its rootwork. Of course, all of this came at a high cost. ALate Archmage with a Water Affinity needed to stay here during all times and focus on creating Water Mana for the Yellow Sunbreaker. That was quite expensive. Inside the natural hall were a couple of wooden huts. The Yellow Sunbreaker didn''t like metal or hard rock, which was why nearly everything in here had to be constructed with wood. The natural and simple feel of the surroundings would make one think that an environmentalist organization was living here, not the infamous Temple of Blood. Although to be fair, this location was special and looked very different from the ck, red, and purple color scheme the Temple of Blood preferred. And this was the entire branch of the Temple of Blood. There were only ten people in total stationed here, including Shang, and right now, there were seven inside the hall. Chapter 559 Chapter 559 Shang slowly walked down some wooden stairs. The entrance he had walked through was near the top of the hall. Of the seven people currently inside the hall, three were inside their small homes. Nine of the ten people associated with this branch had a lot of ambition and wanted to grow more powerful. That''s why most people were always busy with their own training. Shang was no longer in some separate Area made for developing different Paths. No, this was the real world, and the millennia of knowledge known to humanity were not a secret here. While the weak humans in Area 23 had only trained in istion and with some materials, the stronger and more experienced Mages here did more. For these people, their journey toward power was divided into five parts. Part one: Gain resources. Training without assisting resources was just making it more difficult for no reason. The quicker one managed to achieve their goals in their training, the more time they had left in their life. Around 10% of all High Mages didn''t die to some beast or other Mage, but due to their longevity running out. With only 500 years in total, everyone had to work on their own power with a lot of enthusiasm. Otherwise, all the training would have been for nothing. Yet, resources were extremely expensive. Because of that, a huge part of someone''s journey to power was about gaining the resources to expedite their training. Part two: Comprehending Concepts. After the person got their resources, they would focus onprehending their next Concept. With the help of the resources they had gained earlier, the Mages could save several decades in this process. Getting resources for a full decade could pay off big time by saving five decades of meditation. Part three: Creating Spells. AConcept only counted as that, a concept. One understood the Concept, but before one could make full use of the Concept, one needed to create a fitting medium. That medium was Spells. Afterprehending a Concept, the Mage would use the knowledge they had gained to create several powerful Spells. Most of the time, this didn''t take as long asprehending the Concept, but it still took quite some time. Part four: Practice. After creating the Spells, the Mage would find some weak opponents and be familiar with using their Spells during stressful situations. Most of the time, this was the shortest part of their training, but it was still irreceable. A weapon that couldn''t be used when someone was under stress might as well not exist. Part five: Inspiration. Inspiration was thest and most dangerous part of training. By fighting a powerful opponent, someone''s mind and body would reach their full potential, allowing their minds toe up with andbine several principles. When someone was stuck in meditation and felt like they were progressing way too slowly, they could go out and fight someone that was a genuine threat to them. Like this, they would be pushed to their limits, and they would unearth all their potential. Of course, there wasn''t a set rule as to how powerful an opponent should be. It was simply abination of risk and reward. The more powerful the opponent was in rtion to oneself, the more one had to push oneself to win. However, these fights were extremely dangerous. On the other hand, someone could take a slightly dangerous opponent and gain some scattered insights by some slight scares here and there when the opponentunched an attack. Very dangerous opponent, very great help. Very weak opponent, very little help. Surprisingly enough, the reason why so many Mages died to old age was precisely this part of their training. They were simply too scared to risk their lives, leaving the fifth part of one¡¯s journey to power out. It was still possible to be an Archmage without risking one''s life, but only the smartest and richest people could do it. The overwhelming majority still needed to risk their lives at some point. Gain resources,prehend Concepts, create Spells, practice, gain inspiration. This was the cycle of training for ambition-filled Mages. And the nine Named Agents in this branch were all very ambitious. Of the ten people in this branch, three were on leave, focusing onprehending their next Concept. Of the seven that remain, three were currently focusing on creating Spells inside their homes. The people that were focused onprehending Concepts needed their peace, which was why they meditated in some isted locations in the wilderness, away from others. The three people focusing on creating their Spells were still here because they didn''t need to fully focus on the process. If they got interrupted, they would, at most, lose around three minutes of work while still getting the opportunity to snatch up some good missions and practice their new Spells. For the people here, part two and part three of training often happened in short bursts of alternating order. In the middle of the hall were two people ying some sort of board game against each other. Those two were focused on gaining resources or gaining inspiration. They would mostly focus on earning a lot of money to exchange for resources, but if a particrly fitting opponent became the target of a mission, they could also gain inspiration. Those were the eight other Named Agents in this branch, leaving Shang as thest one. Just like thest two, Shang was currently in the process of gaining resources... Or, more precisely, was. Thetest mission had been worth a lot of money. That left only one person and the only person that wasn''t a Named Agent in this branch.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only The Keeper. The Keeper was the manager,mander, and defender of any given branch of the Temple of Blood. The Keeper was always present, and they never epted any missions. Their job was to run the entire branch ording to the rules of the Temple of Blood. In order to be eligible to be a Keeper, one needed to be an Ancestral Mage. Of course, with the special location of this branch, getting an Ancestral Mage in here wasn''t an easy feat. After all, the Yellow Sunbreaker loved attacking Ancestral Mages. Because of that, the Keeper in this branch was a bit special. The Keeper of this ce had another job as well. Keeper was only the secondary job of this person since it was too expensive and troublesome to smuggle an Ancestral Mage to this location. Because of that, the Territory Lord personally acted as the Keeper of this branch. The Territory Lord was the superior of all the Keepers in a given territory. A Territory Lord had to be a Mage Lord, at least. Chapter 560 Chapter 560 Shang reached the bottom of the stairs and slowly walked over to a small wooden tform above theke but was interrupted before he could reach it. ¡°How was the mission, White Ghost?" a younger girl with silver hair asked Shang. She wore a simple dress, and she didn''t look special in any way. That was the most dangerous part about her. In truth, she was extremely dangerous and powerful, but due to a Spell she had created, no one truly took note of her. Her codename was House Wife. Her codename represented her perfectly. It was very ordinary, boring, and uninteresting. Just like how she wanted to appear. Due to her peculiar powers, she mostly focused on assassinations in public ces and espionage. Shang knew her, and he always paid special attention to her. She was a pretty strong Early Archmage. Her power was definitely greater than the Patriarch Shang had killed a couple of hours ago, but she was still weaker than Shang by quite a bit. ¡°Nothing special," Shang said with an emotionless voice. "Really? Nothing?" the person beside House Wife asked. The person beside House Wife was a middle-aged man with a full beard and spiky brown hair, wearing a set of expensive brown leather armor. All in all, he looked like a hunter or mercenary. However, he was a very powerful Archmage. His Affinity was Earth, and he also dabbled in Darkness Concepts. He was amazing at hiding his presence and staying in wait. His patience was nearly unmatched, and he stalked his target for a long time if they were quite powerful. Eventually, he would wait at a ce where the target would pass by and create several truly powerful traps. Due to the required Mana and required set-up time, these Spells could release incredible power far beyond their level. His codename was Trapper, and he specialized in taking down single but very powerful targets. He was a Mid Archmage that had once killed a Late Archmage before they could attack him. And the shocking part was that the Archmage had their Mana Shield active. ¡°Nothing,¡± Shang answered Trapper.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Trapper snorted. "Are you trying to impress House Wife by saying that the mission was easy?" "Are you dumb?" House Wife said from the side. ¡°House Wife, you don''t know men," Trapper said with his deep voice. "Even though he refused your advances several times, it doesn''t mean that he isn''t interested in you." House Wife only raised an eyebrow. "That sounds more like a woman thing than a man thing," she said. Trapper snorted again. "You don''t get it. Many men want to conquer something. We don''t like getting something as a present, but we would enjoy the same thing if we took it with our own hands.¡± House Wife was very skeptical when she heard Trapper. "That''s the rapist in you talking.¡± "It''s called conquering," Trapper said with annoyance. "Please refer to it as such." "Same thing, different word," House Wife answered. Trapper spat to the side. "If it weren''t against the rules..." Everyone knew what Trapper was implying. But House Wife only snorted. "You? Come on, stalker. You might be a level stronger than me, but you wouldn''t even be able to find me. How are you going to use your little worm when you can''t even track me down?" Trapper narrowed his eyes. He wasn''t a fan of the nickname House Wife hade up. Trapper didn''t say anything for several seconds. "You know, that''s exactly why | was never interested in you," House Wife said with a derisive smile. "You look and act like a creep. Even now, you only look at me with narrowed eyes, thinking whatever creepy thoughts you have stashed in that misshapen head of yours." Trapper gnashed his teeth. "Why don''t you learn more from White Ghost?" House Wife said. "He''s distant, cold, and brooding. Many women think that''s cool, mysterious, and sexy." "Also, his dick is probably bigger than yours." Everyone could feel Trapper''s rage, and he even nced at Shang. At that moment, Shang''s head turned to House Wife. House Wife only smiled like an innocent girl, but her smile quickly faltered. For some reason, the more time passed, the more scared she became of White Ghost. After around two seconds, her pulse had doubled, and she felt a heavy mountain pressing down on her. "I''m sorry, okay?" House Wife said with a slight grimace, ncing at Shang. "I won''t do it again." Shang kept looking at her for three more seconds, and House Wife felt even more pressured. "Don''t do that again," Shang said coldly before looking away again. "| won''t," House Wife said with a grimace, looking away from Shang. Everyone knew that House Wife loved stirring up trouble and making different people mad at each other. It gave her an intoxicating feeling of control. However, everyone knew her very well by now, and House Wife''s tricks didn''t work anymore. Of course, Shang was still quite annoyed by her attempt. She hadn''t tried that on Shang before since she had always been a bit nervous around him. But after such a long time of none of her schemes working, she had probably grown frustrated and tried it for the first time today. And she quickly decided that it was also herst time. White Ghost had been part of this branch for over 80 years, but no one truly knew him. In 80 years, several people had tried to get to know him more, but it was impossible. There was this cold barrier around him. Whenever someone tried to create some kind of connection with him, they found their progresspletely halted at some point. No matter how much they talked with White Ghost, he never felt any closer than a stranger to them. It was almost like White Ghost wasn''t even a human but some form of machine that didn''t have human emotions. On top of that, nobody knew how White Ghost actually fought or what his abilities were. They only knew that he had one of the rarest Affinities in the world, a Twilight Affinity. His Twilight Affinity was also the reason why he had blinded himself and refused to heal his eyes. Light and Darkness'' biggest difference was rted to vision, but White Ghost believed that he could learn more about them by blending out the most obvious difference. That was why he had blinded himself. He wanted toprehend Light and Darkness on a more fundamental level. Shang left House Wife and Trapper behind and approached the solitary wooden tform above theke. This was where the Keeper and Territory Lord stayed. Shang wanted to im his reward. Chapter 561 Chapter 561 On the wooden tform in front of Shang sat a young woman with long blue hair. Her eyes were closed, and her feet were dangling in the water below. She was the Keeper, the Territory Lord, and the one responsible for providing all the Water Mana to the Yellow Sunbreaker. She had obviously overheard the conversation just now, but she didn''t care what everyone was talking about. Everyone was here to do a job, and she only cared about dealing with the missions this branch got. What her employees did in their downtime didn''t concern her. This branch of the Temple of Blood was a very small and specialized one. Other branches had thousands of employees with different specialties and powers. But this branch only had ten, and all of the Agents here were Named Agents with powers inside the Archmage Realm. The reason why this branch was still small was that there weren''t many humans located in the surroundings. This branch was responsible for everything in the surrounding 10,000 kilometers or so, but since there were no big cities in this ce, there weren''t that many missions. However, this was a profitable wilderness, and many High Mages and Archmages were using this wilderness to build their wealth. So, even though the missions were few, the money to be gained here was big. Maybe this was an additional reason why the Territory Lord decided to stay here? In the other branches, she might have been bothered more, while she didn''t get bothered in this one. "The mission isplete," Shang said. "I''ve heard," the Keeper said without turning away from theke. "News has already gotten out. Good job." SHING! After stretching out her left hand to the side, something appeared inside of it. Five tiny dark blue crystals were in her hand. When House Wife and Trapper saw the Mana Crystals, they took a deep breath. They knew that this was the reward, but it was still impressive to see so much money appear in front of them. If they got that, they wouldn''t need to work for decades. These five Mana Crystals were just a couple of meters away from them, but they knew that it was impossible for them to im them. Even if they could kill White Ghost, there would still be the Keeper. Five Grade Six Mana Crystals! One Grade Six Mana Crystal was the Mana an Initial Ancestral Mage could produce in one year. That was a lot of Mana! These five crystals represented an Ancestral Mage working for five years to condense and store Mana. Mana Crystals counted as the general currency for High Mages and above. The reason why they had been chosen as a currency was that every single Mana Crystal needed a lot of work to be created and that they could be used for nearly everything. They could power Magic Circles, barriers, Foci, be converted into artificially grown natural treasures, be crushed to increase the density of Mana around someone, and so on. Mana could be used for basically everything, and these Mana Crystals represented a fixed amount of Mana. And five Grade Six Mana Crystals were a lot of money! It was no surprise that House Wife and Trapper were that interested in Shang''s reward. House Wife''s espionage missions and singr assassinations gave her some Grade Five Mana Crystals each, but it needed a thousand of those to create a Grade Six Mana Crystal. An Initial Archmage would need to condense Mana for 1,000 years to create a single Grade Six Mana Crystal. These five Grade Six Mana Crystals represented around 250 missions for House Wife, which came to several years of work. Trapper could earn more money than House Wife since he targeted very powerful Archmages, but there weren''t that many Mid and Late Archmages in this location, which meant that he didn''t have that many missions. These five Grade Six Mana Crystals represented around ten missions for him. Yet, White Ghost got that much money from just a single mission. However, House Wife and Trapper knew that this mission couldn''t have been easy. The mission had been topletely eliminate the Martis Family, one of the prolific gathering families in the surroundings. Gatherers were powerful Mages that ventured into the wilderness to bring valuables back to civilization and sell them. This wilderness this branch of the Temple of Blood was responsible for was only one wilderness amongst many in the Natural Selection Company''s territory. The Natural Selection Company was the renter of the surrounding 100,000 kilometers. While all of thend for millions of kilometers around belonged to the illustrious Twilight Dusk Family, one of the ten rulers of the entire world, they couldn''t be bothered with micromanaging every single centimeter of their territory. Organizations of the Twilight Dusk Family''s caliber were only interested in high-end Ancestral Mage materials and stronger. Territories that didn''t deliver such quality goods were rented out topanies specializing in making money out of these territories without damaging their profitability and longevity. The Natural Selection Company was renting around a tenth of the Twilight Dusk Family''s weaker territories, and they had three Mage Lords. The Temple of Blood''s Territory Lord was also responsible for that territory. The Natural Selection Company was then contracting gatherers to harvest the territories ording to thepany¡¯s rules and methods. Many of these gatherers operated solo normally, but there were also big groups of gatherers that could manage a vast territory effectively. These big groups were called gatherer families, and the Martis Family had been one of them. To summarize, the Twilight Dusk Family allowed the Natural Selection Company to harvest around a tenth of their lower territories in exchange for money, and the Natural Selection Company employed several gatherer families to harvest these territories. And Shang''s job had been to eliminate one of these gatherer families. That was an insanely difficult mission! House Wife and Trapper knew that they couldn''t have done that. Sure, they had the power to kill all the Mages, but that wasn''t the problem. The problem was to kill all of them without letting even one of them escape and to finish the deed before an Enforcer could arrive. These were two different problems with contradicting solutions. To solve the first problem, one needed a lot of time. To solve the second problem, one couldn''t use a lot of time. Additionally, the chances of death if the Agent failed were very high. Most of the time, the Agents could just retreat if they failed a mission, but not this time. This time, failure meant that an Enforcer had arrived, and that could only end in the Agent''s death. Enforcers were the people responsible for managing all the different gatherer families and enforcing the Natural Selection Company''s rules. The gatherer families were supposed to work together, not against each other, and Enforcers acted as a form of police. Enforcers were directly employed by the Natural Selection Company, and they were all Late Archmages, at least. Trapper might be able to take down an Enforcer if he got the chance to follow one of them for several weeks and set up an ambush, but he would immediately die to one without preparation. House Wife would also die.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. And Shang? Same thing. Shang could take down an Early Archmagefortably, but a Mid Archmage would pose a huge problem to him. ALate Archmage would just kill him. So, even though Shang had received a lot of money today, he had definitely earned it. Chapter 562 Chapter 562 Surprisingly, Shang didn''t grab the five Mana Crystals immediately. "| want to exchange them,¡± Shang said evenly. The Keeper pulled her hand back. "For what?" ¡°Mind Flow Pellets," Shang said. The Keeper slowly turned her head and looked at the bandages around Shang''s head. That was just the natural instinct of wanting to have eye contact with someone while talking about something more serious. The Keeper looked at Shang silently for three seconds.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only "Fine," she said, turning around again. "It''s not my duty to question what you do with your reward. What kind of Mind Flow Pellet do you want?" "Grade Six," Shang said. When House Wife and Trapper heard that, they took a deep breath in shock. White Ghost sure knew what it meant to buy the good stuff! "| need five more Grade Six Mana Crystals," the Keeper said, extending her hand to Shang. SHING! Shang summoned five additional Grade Six Mana Crystals and handed them over. These ten Grade Six Mana Crystals were everything Shang currently earned in terms of money. He had gotten three Grade Six Mana Crystals by getting rid of the Lenner Family, five by getting rid of the Martis Family, and two for a couple of smaller missions. Usually, Shang would have needed to work several years for that much money, but the two missions regarding the Lenner and Martis Families hade at just the right time. The Keeper pocketed all ten Mana Crystals and closed her eyes while looking towards theke. No one said anything for several minutes. WHOOOM! Suddenly, a small grey portal appeared in front of the Keeper. She summoned nine of the ten Mana Crystals and threw them into the portal. Asecondter, a small sk came out of the portal before it closed again. The Keepers got to keep around 10% of what their people were paying in exchange for wares the Temple of Blood sold to their Agents. The central organizational department of the Temple of Blood, including the Territory Lord, took around 20% of a mission reward''s cut when the mission was put up. This was how they earned their money. The remaining 80% went directly to the Agent. This was how they earned their money. And when the Agents used their money, the Keepers got to keep 10% of it. That was how they earned their money. Every Agent basically bought directly from the Temple of Blood since the Temple of Blood sold its wares far cheaper than big trading firms, and they were also more trustworthy. So, in a way, a Keeper''smission basically equated to 8% of what their branch was bringing in. For such a small branch, that wasn''t a lot, but for branches with thousands of employees, things were different. Of course, as the Territory Lord, the Keeper of this branch didn''t rely on the money she earned as Keeper. The Keeper took hold of the bottle and extended it to Shang. While Shang put the bottle with the singr pill away, the others were looking at the ce where the portal had just been. No matter how many times they saw it, they were still surprised. This was a Spell that only an Ancestral Mage could cast who had understood the Grade Three Concept of Space, Distortion! Since there were basically no Mages with Space Affinities, the people thatprehended the Grade Three Concept of Space were nearly all Peak Ancestral Mages or higher. Of course, there were some Mages with a Space Affinity, but they were incredibly rare, and they were directly scouted by the big powers. This meant that only the most powerful Mages could cast this specific Spell called Space Tunnel. Space Tunnel allowed someone to connect one part of space with a different part of space, essentially creating a portal from one ce to another. Sadly, the portal was only very small and could only transport dead things, but it was still impressive. The thought of extending one''s hand and manipting something thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers away was awe- inspiring. "Is Room One avable?" Shang asked. "It is," the Keeper answered. "Since you made quite some money for this branch, I''ll let you use it for free this time." Shang nodded and turned around. Shang passed by House Wife and Trapper and entered a wooden hut to his left. He closed the door and willed for the Magic Circle to activate. WHOOOM! For a second, the hut shone in a bright light before returning to normal. At the same time, the liquid Water Mana below the hut was slowly being absorbed by it. The Istion Barrier of Training Room One was now in effect. These were specific training rooms for the Named Agents. Since the Named Agents wanted to keep their powers private, these training rooms isted them from the outside. Additionally, the Named Agents could also try out their Spells here since the Istion Barrier was very durable. Of course, attacking the barrier resulted in the barrier needing more Mana to operate. After every session, the Agent would need to pay for however much Mana the barrier had used during their istion. Butpared to the money everyone spent on materials, the cost of the training room wasn''t much. The only person that could look past the Istion Barriers was the Keeper, and if the Keeper wasn''t responsible for the Istion Barriers in a branch, the person responsible could also look past them. Of course, these people were under special restrictions and weren''t allowed to talk about any of the Agents¡¯ powers unless the Territory Lord gave explicit permission. Naturally, as the Territory Lord and Keeper, the blue-haired woman knew of Shang''s powers. However, she hadn''t been surprised. Mainly because she had already heard of Shang before he hade to her branch. When Shang had just been a Mid True Path Stage warrior, he had been scouted by one of the Temple of Blood''s recruiters. Due to Shang''s peculiar and unidentifiable powers, he had been very attractive to the Temple of Blood. First, Shang joined as a Trial Agent. A Trial Agent was someone that couldplete missions but had to be supervised during the mission. However, after Shang''s third supervised mission, the Territory Lord had already been informed about him. The reason? The missions had beenpleted, but every person that had supervised Shang had died during the mission. The Keeper of that branch back then and the Territory Lord both knew what had happened. Shang had killed his supervisor. However, there was no proof. Everyone basically knew that it had been Shang, but he was so good at hiding his tracks that not even the Keeper could prove it was him. The Keeper was quite frustrated and angry, but they could also see that this was an amazing quality for an Agent to have. Killing people and not being found out... wasn''t that exactly what the Temple of Blood was all about? So, the Keeper contacted the Territory Lord, who made a judgment on the matter. Shang would be promoted from Trial Agent to just Agent. Like that, they wouldn''t lose more people. After several decades, Shang''s sess in handling very difficult missions came to the Territory Lord''s attention again. She remembered that Shang had been the one killing the supervisors. That day, she decided to promote Shang to Named Agent and transfer him to her branch. She wanted to know what Shang wanted to hide so desperately and stop him from killing more people. Before that, Shang had always trained outside, far away from the branch. But here, he couldn''t train outside anymore since it was far too dangerous. So, Shang was forced to train inside unless he wanted to leave the Temple of Blood or die. Eventually, Shang was forced toe clean about why he was hiding. He had a Twilight Affinity. This concerned the Territory Lord. If he had a Twilight Affinity, why wasn''t he a member of the Twilight Dusk Family? Everyone with a Twilight Affinity could directly enter the Twilight Dusk Family. There was literally no reason not to enter. And then, the Territory Lord got her answer. Shang was not a Mage. As a Mage Lord, the Territory Lord had heard about the purge many, many years ago, and she understood why a warrior would want to avoid the organization of one of the people responsible for killing all the warriors. After talking for a while, the Territory Lord confirmed that she would only tell her higher-ups with his permission and nobody else. With Shang being the only one with such powers, he had proven to be very valuable to the Temple of Blood. That was how Shang ended up in this ce. Chapter 563 Chapter 563 After entering the training room, Shang walked over to the middle. He specifically chose Room One due to its size. The other rooms were only about two meters wide, just enough for a Mage to meditate. Surprisingly, many Mages preferred meditating in a smaller room since it was easier and cheaper to increase the density of Mana in the atmosphere. Room One was bigger at around five meters wide and high, and it was designed to test Spells. Of course, the Mages that actually tested their Spells in this room had to be careful since their Spells would damage more than just an area of five meters. But that''s what Mana Shield was there for. As a warrior, Shang needed a lot of room to train since he would be swinging his sword around. Luckily, he hadprehended his Saber State''s Impose afterprehending his Great Sword State''s Impose, which meant that he didn''t need to train in them anymore. And since Shang had joined the Temple of Blood when he had already reached the Mid True Path Stage, he hadn''t needed to show his Ice and Fire Affinities. Shang had already heard of the Child of Cmity more than once in the other branch, which meant that the existence of the Child of Cmity was not a secret. Sure, the weaker people didn''t know about it, but High Mages and above knew about it. Shang could theoretically still use his Ice and Fire Affinities, but he would need to act like they are weaker than his Twilight Affinity. It was not umon toprehend Concepts outside one''s Affinity, but due to the difficulty ofprehending Concepts one didn''t have an Affinity for, Shang couldn''t show his full power with his Ice and Fire Affinity while masking himself as someone with a Twilight Affinity. Of course, he preferred only using light and darkness, just to be safe. Shang summoned the bottle he had gotten from the Keeper and took out the pill. This tiny pill was worth ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. For the past 40 years, Shang had been trying to find a way to fuse his four Imposes. He had been consuming so many resources, and he had also fought three Mid Archmages before. These fights had been extremely deadly and dangerous, but Shang had needed inspiration. Yet, even with 40 years, three extremely dangerous fights, and a mountain of resources, Shang still hadn''tprehended the fusion. Shang knew that he was extremely experienced. After all, he hadprehended the very thing the warriors needed to reach the Fifth Realm four times already. Additionally, he had thrown everything atprehending this fusion. But he still hadn''t been able toprehend it. This meant that Shang was trying toprehend something that was insanely difficult toprehend for his level. Shang''s fears from when he had just been 80 years old had proven to be true. Back then, he had feared that his longevity might not be enough to reach the Fifth Realm, which was why he had thrown his everything toward training. And he was right. Shang had left Area 23 a little over 150 years ago, which meant he was around 310 years old right now. Whenpared to someone from Earth, Shang would be in histe sixties right now. He already counted as an old person. Most Archmages reached their level in their 200s. There were still some that managed to reach the Archmage Realm in their 300s, but they were more in the minority. There was a certain barrier of mindset stopping people. People that were willing to put their everything into power would easilyprehend a Level Two Concept in their 200s, 300 if the person were especially dumb. If someone hadn''t reached the Fifth Realm before reaching 300 years, they would be viewed as a cker. For example, the oldest Named Agent in this branch was 370 years old, but they were already a Late Archmage. They had reached the Initial Archmage Realm when they were just 220 years old. As for the person that took the longest to reach the Fifth Realm in this branch... That was Shang. In fact, Shang was the fourth oldest person in this branch while having the lowest level. But he was the most hardworking, and he definitely wasn''t untalented. Comprehending the fusion was just that difficult. Shang readied himself mentally for consuming the Mind Flow Pellet. A Mind Flow Pellet was a kind of medicine that sped up someone''s thinking process while weakening focus and concentration. In essence, this meant that the mind of the person would be more likely to experiment with new things while also thinking way faster than normal. Mind Flow Pellets were often used as substitutes for gaining inspiration by fighting a dangerous battle. However, Mind Flow Pellets were quite expensive. A Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet was designed to be used by someone in the Ancestral Mage Realm. Of course, ten Grade Six Mana Crystals for such a person wasn''t that much, but one had to remember one thing. A Mind Flow Pellet only worked for five hours. Five hours after consuming it, the mind of the person would return to normal. So, if someone wanted to make a lot of use of their altered state of mind, they would need to purchase them in bulk. Sadly, Shang could only afford one.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. This wasn''t the first time Shang had consumed a Mind Flow Pellet, and that was also the reason why the Keeper had looked at him that way when he told her that he wanted more of them. Shang had consumed over 2,000 Mind Flow Pellets in thest 40 years, but they had been Grade Five ones. Shang had consumed over 80% of the Mind Flow Pellets that the entire branch consumed. No one was using that many of them. By now, the Keeper suspected that the Mind Flow Pellets wouldn''t help Shang anymore. However, Shang purchased a Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet today, which was worth as much as 1,000 Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets. With the added strength of the Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet, Shang hoped that he could finallyprehend the fusion of his Imposes. Shang took a deep breath. And then, he consumed the Mind Flow Pellet. Chapter 564 Chapter 564 As Shang consumed the Mind Flow Pellet, he felt like his surroundings were distorting. Shang felt his concentration being pulled to random spots in the room while his mind was analyzing all kinds of things regarding the spot he was currently looking at with his Spirit Sense. Shang had been under the effect of Mind Flow Pellets before, but the previous ones hadn''t even been nearly as strong as this one. He knew that he had to redirect his attention toward his Imposes, but it wasn''t that easy. Right now, Shang felt like he was a stranger inside his own body, screaming at his body to focus on something specific from behind a soundproof wall of ss. His mind was simply not listening to him right now, and after a while, Shang forgot what he was supposed to do. The Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets were already optimized for someone in the Archmage Realm, and the important part was their mind. Shang''s mind was only at the Peak of the True Mage Realm, and it had already been impressive that he managed to retain control over his mind with a Grade Five Mind Flow Pellet. But the Grade Six one was on apletely different level. This Mind Flow Pellet was optimized for people inside the Ancestral Mage Realm. The distance between a Peak True Mage and an Ancestral Mage was the same as the distance between a Peak True Mage and a Zone Beast. Something like this could even influence a Zone Beast''s mind. Shang had waited so long to purchase this Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet specifically because he knew that it would be risky. There was no danger to his life or mind, but it would still be horrible if Shang had effectively thrown ten Grade Six Mana Crystals out of the window. This would mean that years of work had been for nothing. And, as it seemed right now, that was exactly what would happen. Yet, what was he supposed to do? Risking his life hadn''t worked. Buying a ton of Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets hadn''t worked. He had to take a risk. Shang had a couple of these thoughts, but most of his mind was just focusing on random things. After focusing on a random spot on the wall for what seemed like an eternity, Shang''s mind focused on the Istion Barrier around him. For a really long time, he only thought about the Istion Barrier. Shang was no longer a beginner in Magic Circles, and he could glean some information from the Istion Barrier after looking at it for what felt like weeks. The level of the barrier was still far beyond him, but Shang could make out a couple of insignificant and small parts. By now, Shang''s mind hadpletely lost control, and even his consciousness and will were only focusing on random things. Eventually, Shang got bored of the barrier, and his mind searched for something that was interesting. It had already looked at the hut. It had already looked at the barrier. And... that was it. That was everything that was inside the room. Eventually, Shang''s mind focused on his hands as he moved them in front of the bandages on his head. It was almost like he was trying to see his hands. "Impose, fusion, power." At that moment, Shang''s head moved to face Sword, who had just spoken. "Impose, fusion, power," Sword repeated. "Impose, fusion, power." "Impose, fusion, power." Sword repeated these three things for what felt like an eternity. "Impose, fusion, power," Shang eventually repeated. After that, Sword stopped talking as Shang became the one to repeat these three things over and over again. Shang thought about his Imposes. A fusion, huh? Imposes? Fusion? Imposes? Fusion? "Stupid," Shang said absentmindedly after a while. "They are already fused." And then, Shang focused on Sword as he moved it around in his hands. For what felt like weeks, Shang only focused on Sword. Sword was so interesting. He wondered how it worked. Time passed. Eventually, Shang put Sword to the side and rubbed his head. His thoughts were turning more and more chaotic until they stopped making sense. Shang gritted his teeth as he just tried to focus on his mind. After a while, the chaos started to calm down, and Shang could think rationally again. Then, he took a deep breath. "The effect is over," Shang transmitted to Sword. "I don''t remember a lot."Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. "You said something," Sword told Shang. "| managed to direct your mind towards your Imposes, and you said something peculiar.¡± "You said that they are already fused." Shang''s face didn''t show any reaction, but his mind went wild after hearing that sentence. Shang didn''t just throw the words he had spoken under the influence of the Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet to the side. After all, this was him talking while being under the influence of a mind-enhancing substance. Just four hours had passed since Shang had taken the Mind Flow Pellet, but it had felt like months to him. Yet, during these four hours, Shang had managed to find the very thing he had been searching for. Away forward. The Imposes were already fused. Shang stood up and began to train by swinging his sword around. Shang used all four States alternatively, but he still didn''t use his Fire or Ice Abilities. ¡®They are already the same,¡¯ Shang repeated in his mind. Time passed. And about four weekster... ¡®| think | got it,, Shang thought as excitement took hold of him for the first time in decades. ¡®Ican see it!" In Shang''s mind, the image of four big circles beside each other appeared. Every circle represented one of his Imposes. ¡®My Imposes are not their own things!" ¡®They are signs of something below them! It''s like awork of mushrooms! You see several different mushrooms and think they are their own nts, but they are actually one thing that''s just appearing in different ces!¡¯ In Shang''s mind, the four circles representing the Imposes began to shine. And then, the space between them began to shine. They were not four circles. They were just four segments of a huge line! After realizing that, Shang''s mind went past the Imposes and reached for the ce behind the Imposes. WHOOOOOM! And he understood it! Chapter 565 Chapter 565 As soon as Shangprehended the thing connecting his four Imposes, his mind began to clear. The world around him changed inside his mind, bing far clearer. It was like he had viewed the world through a dirty window before. Many more things just came naturally to Shang as he felt the world around him. In a way, it was like the world was telling these things to Shang. The four Imposes were just a sign of a far greater and more important ability. It was Shang''s connection with the world! The four Imposes controlled the world around Shang to aid him, but that was only a small part. There were many more things that allowed Shang to control the world around him. For example, his Domain of Entropy. The four Imposes had been separate at some point, but as Shang had continued training over the past 40 years, they had slowly grown into each other. One had to remember that if one strung four circles in a row, they still wouldn''t form a real line. The gaps between them above and below the middle point would still be there. So, while Shang had essentially trained towards a faulty goal, his work for the past 40 years definitely hadn''t gone to waste. These gaps had to be closed through more training, and Shang had done exactly that over the past 40 years. With all four of his Imposes connecting together to create a single connection to the world, Shang felt his control over the world strengthen. The Mana in his surroundings had never felt so clear before. Shang calmed down inside and absorbed the dense Mana inside the hut. WHOOOOM! But Shang stopped very quickly. He had felt something very interesting and peculiar. He had absorbed a lot of Natural Mana just now, but since his Mana reserves had already been full, the Mana left his body very quickly. However, instead of being released as Natural Mana, the Mana left Shang''s body as Light and Darkness Mana. Shang was quite certain that it would also leave as Fire and Ice Mana if Humanity weren''t active. m absorbing Natural Mana and am distributing Elemental Mana.¡¯Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. ¡®Isn''t that exactly what the Zone Beasts were doing in Area 23?'' Shang experimented some more with his new connection with the world, and his suspicion was confirmed. Shang was doing something very simr, if not identical, to what Zone Beasts had been doing but on a smaller scale due to his lower Realm. Of course, as a human, Shang could control his connection with the world. The Zone Beasts probably had that ability active all the time since it just felt natural. ¡®Archbeasts don''t have this ability, Shang thought. ¡®This means that this ability is only something an Ancestral Beast can unlock.¡¯ "So, that''s it, huh? That''s the reason why it took so much money, fighting, and training toprehend everything.¡¯ ¡®I''ve used the thing necessary to reach the Fifth Realm four times for my minor breakthroughs, and | used the thing necessary to reach the Sixth Realm to reach the Fifth Realm.¡¯ ¡®| skipped an entire Realm." ¡®But that''s the only way to create a true earth-shattering transformation. If | want to achieve Godhood, | have to do things that are far more difficult than what everyone else sets out to aplish.¡¯ ¡®For normal warriors, my theorized method of reaching the Fifth Realm can be called the Impose Stage since it relies on comprehending Impose.¡¯ ¡®And the Sixth Realm for normal warriors that I''ve theorized can be called the World Connection Stage.¡¯ ¡®But that doesn''t matter. The warriors are not rted to me anymore.¡¯ ¡®will reach a different Fifth Realm.¡¯ ¡®Afar more powerful one.¡¯ ¡®Even though my Imposes have never truly been separate things, a big part of my training had still been about unearthing the hidden connections between them." ¡®Additionally, since | am already no longer a warrior but something separate, | will also assume the word Realm instead of Stage for my future levels.¡¯ ¡®Because of that, my Fifth Realm will be the Fusion Realm.¡¯ ¡®The Fusion Realm is something that belongs solely to me. There is no second person that is walking this Path.¡¯ m the only one.¡¯ After deciding on the name of his future Realm, Shang decided to experiment with his ability to connect with the world. Shang released a normal strike. Then, Shang released a strike while using Impose. The strike was around three times as powerful as his normal strike at the same speed. Lastly, Shang willed the world around him to use all of its power in a strike. SHING! As soon as Shang willed it, all the Mana inside the little hut entered his sword in an instant. It was almost like the Mana teleported into it. The entire hut became devoid of Mana in an instant. Then, Shang shed forward. WHOOOOOM! The air around Shang shook as the sh passed in less than an instant. When the sh finished, an explosion of Darkness and Light Mana came out of Shang''s sword, dispersing into the surroundings. However, since Darkness and Light Mana were opposites, they very quickly mixed to create Natural Mana again. The same amount of Mana Shang had absorbed earlier was now released into the surroundings again. The released Mana didn''t have any offensive capabilities, but its previous power couldn''t be understated. When Shang shed forward with all the Mana inside his sword, it was like all the Mana had split apart into their individual components, and when that happened, an incredible power was unleashed. And when the Mana left his body, it fused together again. Even though the amount of energy in the room hadn''t lowered, Shang''s strike had still been around double as powerful and double as fast as with Impose. This was the power of Shang''s connection with the world. This was the power of the Fusion Realm. Of course, Shang hadn''t actually reached the Fusion Realm yet. He had just unlocked the door. Now, he needed to actually step through the door. "Keeper, | am ready to advance to the Fifth Realm.¡± Chapter 566 Chapter 566 The Keeper opened her eyes and looked over at Room One. "You''ve found what you''ve been searching for?" she asked evenly. "Yes," Shang answered. "I am ready to reach the Fifth Realm.¡± The Keeper didn''t answer for a while. "The first person with a Pathpletely separate from Magic that reached the Fifth Realm ever since the Purge," she transmitted as she absentmindedly looked forward. "History is about to be made. Too bad no one is going to know about it." Shang waited for her instructions. Advancing an entire Realm would change all the Mana flow in the surrounding kilometers, and this was a problem since the camp had to remain a secret. If Shang decided to advance in Room One, he would absorb way too much of the Water Mana on the bottom. Additionally, his breakthrough might pull the Yellow Sunbreaker''s attention towards the mysterious stone that constantly gave off Water Mana. However, breaking through outside the base would be extremely risky for Shang. After all, his breakthrough might attract several powerful Archbeasts and maybe even Ancestral Beasts. Usually, people would just break through inside a city after giving the rulers of the city some money for the inconvenience. But Named Agents from this branch were forbidden from leaving. The main reason was the secretive location of the branch and the fact that the Territory Lord was here. The Territory Lord of the Temple of Blood was the most wanted criminal of the Natural Selection Company, and if they found her, they might arrive with all three of their Mage Lords. It was difficult to find a fitting ce for Shang to reach the Fusion Realm. After thinking for a couple of seconds, the Keeper came to a decision and gave Shang his instructions. Shang remained in the training room and readied himself mentally. The next step was to create a Beast Core at the base of his neck. Luckily, Shang had already created the perfect version of his Mana pathways, and he had already created a good ce for the Beast Core. Shang recited the Spell that one True Mage had given him back then and practiced it a couple of times. It was of utmost importance that Shang didn''t make any mistakes during his breakthrough. Knock, knock! Someone knocked on Shang''s door, and Shang walked over. The Istion Barrier deactivated, and Shang stepped out of the training room. ¡°Hey, White Ghost," a younger man with green hair said. He was wearing a charismatic smile. "The Keeper told me | will be your bodyguard for your breakthrough." Shang nodded and stepped past the man. This was the Named Agent Desert Storm. Desert Storm was the only Named Agent older than Shang in this branch, and he was the second oldest person after the Keeper. He was also one of the only two Late Archmages in the branch.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. Inparison to most Named Agents, Desert Storm had never shown any peculiarly strange or off-putting traits. House Wife had this problem where she constantly tried to make people fight, and Trapper was a proud rapist. The other Named Agents also had their own issues, but Desert Storm had always appeared quite unusual due to theck of unusual traits. "| think | have to congratte you, White Ghost," Desert Storm said as he followed Shang. "You are already a Named Agent as a Peak High Mage. As an Archmage, you might even be able to fight Ice Princess for a bit." Ice Princess was another Named Agent of this branch and a Mid Archmage. Shang didn''t answer and walked up the stairs toward the exit. Desert Storm had issues starting a conversation with Shang, but he didn''t seem perturbed. Instead, it seemed more like Desert Storm was talking to himself while following Shang. The huge Istion Barrier around the branch opened, and the two of them stepped into the small cave below the Yellow Sunbreaker. The barrier closed behind them, and they used their medals to pass the huge roots of the Yellow Sunbreaker. Then, the two of them flew towards the east. When the two of them had been walking up the stairs, the Keeper had already transmitted the distribution of beasts in the surroundings, and she had told them where to go for Shang''s breakthrough. The two of them flew for about half an hour, which was a distance of a couple hundred kilometers. Eventually, the two of themnded near a dark cave that led directly into the ground. ¡°Let me go deal with it," Desert Storm said as he walked into the cave. The two of them had already seen the upant inside the cave with their Spirit Senses. It was an Early Archbeast. Desert Storm entered and quickly took care of the beast while inspecting the cave. ¡°Alright, everything''s clear," he transmitted to Shang. Shang calmly entered the cave. After a couple hundred meters, Shang reached the center of the cave and sat down without saying anything. "I''ll be waiting near the entrance. You just focus on your breakthrough, okay?" Desert Storm said with a smile. Shang wordlessly nodded. Desert Storm nodded back and walked to the entrance of the caves. The Keeper had kept track of the Ancestral Beasts, but there were too many Archbeasts to make urate predictions regarding their movements. That was why Desert Storm was here. While the breakthrough shouldn''t attract Ancestral Beasts, a couple of Archbeasts would probably be interested. As a Late Archmage, there were only very, very few Archbeasts that could fight Desert Storm. Shang wasn''t sure how long his breakthrough would take. Because of that, the Keeper would inform Desert Storm via Communication Crystal when an Ancestral Beast closed in on them. Of course, Desert Storm would be paid for his help by Shang. As Desert Storm waited near the entrance for the horde of beasts to appear, Shang took a deep breath and focused on his connection to the world. Then, the Mana in the surroundings started to flow toward him slowly, and as more time passed, the flow became stronger and stronger. Eventually, Shang felt like a bottleneck had burst, and all the Mana inside the surroundings started to enter his body violently. The breakthrough had begun. Chapter 567 Chapter 567 Shang focused on his body as the Mana in his surroundings violently entered his body like a flood. He began to visualize his connection with the world as he tried to pull in more and more Mana. Eventually, Shang felt the Mana interact with his body and change things. At that point, Shang fully concentrated on stopping whatever the Mana was nning on doing. The world wanted to reshape his body and advance him to the next Realm, but Shang wouldn''t give the world free reign again. He knew what he wanted, and he would force the Mana in the surroundings to follow his orders. After some time, the Mana inside Shang''s body stopped moving. When that happened, Shang felt like he was about to explode. Earlier, the Mana had gone through his body like water through a hose, but now, Shang was essentially holding down the end of the hose while more water began to push forward.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Then, Shang recited the Spell to reshape his Mana pathways. He had already done the calctions beforehand, and he only needed to recite it. Instead of willing his own life energy and Mana to build the Beast Core, Shang used his connection with the world to use the foreign Mana inside his body instead. It was difficult, but the Mana eventually followed the instructions of the Spell. All the Mana began to gather at a spot a tiny bit below where Shang''s cor bones met. It wasn''t exactly inside the neck, but it was still close enough. There were several reasons for that position. First of all, Shang wanted to create the Beast Core in a ce where he would die either way if he got injured there. Shang had already been injured several times in the abdomen and lower chest, and if he put it there, those hits would prove to be fatal in the future. So, might as well put the Beast Core in a ce where he would die either way if he got hit. Another reason for that position was to hide the Beast Core. If he put it inside his neck, Shang''s neck would seem unnaturally big to an experienced Mage. Sure, a normal person or a weaker Mage wouldn''t notice the unnatural curvature of Shang''s neck since it would be very subtle, but someone very powerful might be able to see it. All the foreign Mana inside Shang began to gather on that spot and create a Mana pathway. However, this Mana pathway was just very short and took the form of a marble with several channels leading outside. Usually, Mana pathways were so tiny that no normal person could see them, but the Beast Core would be visible to others. In fact, it would have about two centimeters in diameter when it was finished. Two centimeterspared to something that couldn''t be seen with the naked eye. This was a humongous difference, and this also showed how difficult it would have been to create this Beast Core without the help of the world''s Mana during advancement. All the Mana inside the cave shot into Shang''s body and immediately got converted into a humongous Mana pathway. Shang fully focused on manipting the Mana. He had never heard of anyone actively controlling the way the Mana of the world moved during a breakthrough, and he couldn''t be sure what would happen. All of this had only been theoretical since there hadn''t been a precedence case. After just a bit of time, even the Mana five kilometers around the cave started to flow towards it. Weaker beings wouldn''t notice the shift in Mana, but True Mages and more powerful would be able to notice it. This was the telltale sign of someone breaking through. The advancement process was very enticing to many beasts and even some humans since the person or beast advancing would be at their weakest. If someone interrupted the process, the person would have to fight with a half-finished body, weakening them immensely. The first beasts became very interested and walked over. However, most of them immediately stopped as soon as they actually saw the cave with their Spirit Senses. That green-haired man in front of the cave felt way too dangerous! Nearly all the beasts immediately turned around and left when they saw Desert Storm. Of course, there were always some dumb or very powerful beasts. But that didn''t matter. This was exactly why Desert Storm was here. While Desert Storm was busy defending the cave from a couple of attacking beasts, Shang was starting to sweat. Every second, more Mana than his entire body could store was flowing through his body and transforming into walls for Mana pathways. The pressure all this Mana put on him was horrifying, and Shang felt his Mana pathways scream under stress. Way too much Mana was moving through Shang''s body, and the Mana was mostly moving along the Mana pathways. At that moment, Shang remembered his minor advancements in the True Path Stage. He had been using them to strengthen his Mana pathways. Back then, he hadn''t been sure if there even was a use for that, but now, he knew. Without the continued strengthening of his Mana pathways, they would have already ruptured in multiple spots, eventually ending in Shang''s Mana pathwaywork beingpletely crippled. Sure, he would probably be able to repair everything, but he would probably need to buy a lot of expensive materials while spending years on repairing them. All this time, he wouldn''t be able to unleash even a third of his power. Luckily, Shang had been careful and had actually used the minor advancements to strengthen his Mana pathways. If other people had already walked down this path before Shang, everyone would have already known that it was imperative to strengthen the Mana pathways. Yet, Shang was the first, and fortunately, he had made the right decision. If anyone decided to follow Shang''s path, Shang could tell them what they needed to look out for, making it much easier for them. Of course, that won''t happen. Shang''s path was unique, and it only belonged to him. This was not a warrior''s path or a Mage''s path. This was his path. Shang didn''t know how long it took, but the Beast Core eventually appeared near the top of his chest. It had cost so incredibly much Mana to construct this Beast Core. It was absolutely unreal. There was still some Mana left wandering throughout his body. So, Shang decided to shove all the Mana into his new Beast Core to fill it. All the Mana inside Shang''s body flowed into the Beast Core, and in an instant, it had beenpletely filled. There were some scattered parts of foreign Mana left all over his body, and Shang simply shoved them into the walls of his Mana pathways to strengthen them a bit more. Andstly, Shang was done. His Beast Core was filled to the brim with liquid Mana, and it put immense pressure on Shang''s Mana pathways. That was a good thing! After all, the very problem why Shang''s body had been weaker than usual was thisck of pressure. With the Beast Core putting so much pressure on the Mana pathways, Shang''s Mana could fully concentrate on actually moving the body instead of moving itself. Shang had done it. He had reached the Fifth Realm. The Fusion Realm. Chapter 568 Chapter 568 Shang took a deep breath and focused on his Spirit Sense. As soon as thest piece of foreign Mana left his body, it was like a restriction was lifted from Shang''s mind. His perception instantly stretched to a distance of 20 kilometers, but it was just getting started. In an instant, it already reached the size a normal Archmage would have, 50 kilometers. And then, it easily sted past that threshold as well. It reached 100 kilometers. 150 kilometers. 200 kilometers. And then, it stopped at 250 kilometers. Shang''s Spirit Sense had grown from a radius of 20 kilometers to a radius of 250 kilometers. It couldn''t bepared to before anymore. This was on apletely different level. Shang''s Spirit Sense had been four times as wide in one direction at the True Path Stagepared to a High Mage, but now, it was five times as wide in the Fusion Realm aspared to an Archmage. The implication was obvious. Shang''s rtive power to his Realm had not only not dropped, but it had be even stronger! When Shang felt that, he felt that everything had been worth it. All his sacrifices. All the people he had killed. All his pain. Everything had been worth it. This was exactly what he wanted his life to be. He wanted to be the most powerful being in existence, and he was well on his way to that goal. Seeing one''s hard work pay off after decades in a big way felt beyond satisfying. m so happy,¡¯ Shang thought. Over the past 150 years, Shang''s emotions had dried uppletely.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. There had been no happiness, sadness, anger, or anything simr. Only the eternal path toward power had been on Shang''s mind. But now, for the first time in a long while, Shang was happy. This was why he was advancing. This was what he was living for. This was his calling. This was his goal in life. This was who he wanted to be. So what if people hated him? So what if people thought he was an emotionless monster? So what if the entire world rejected him? So what if everyone around him died? So what if his presence inflicted pain on every other living being around him? All of that didn¡¯t matter. This was his calling, and he wouldn''t stop. The opinion of the world didn''t matter. This was what he wanted, and he wouldn''t allow anyone to push him off this path. After basking in the rare feeling of satisfaction and happiness for a while, Shang focused on his memories. Sure enough, the thing he was searching for had appeared. In Shang''s mind, a scene appeared. A blonde and young Shang with a beer belly stood in front of the God, scratching his chin in thought. From an outside perspective, the current Shang and the past Shang couldn''t be any further apart. If one knew that this white ghost-like figure with nearly no aura was what this healthy young man would turn into... The feeling would be indescribable. The change had just been too big. How would someone even turn into something like that? What had to happen to change someone this severely? ¡°For my fifth question," the young Shang slowly said as he looked at the God. The God only smirked. "| don''t think that | can be truly powerful on my own. Humans are not made to work alone all the time. However, it is very difficult to find someone | can trust." "So, for my fifth question, can you please tell me how | can discern if someone is trustworthy or not?" the young Shang asked. The God only smirked. "Sure." Then, the God went into a long lecture about what one should look out for regarding other people. The entire scene just shot through Shang''s head at insane speeds. Eventually, it ended. ¡®I can''t expect my old self to only ask smart questions,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®There were bound to be some misses in my past questions. It was already impressive that there hadn''t been any misses until now. ¡®| don''t think | can rely on these questions in the future. The further | advance, the more disconnected and useless my past questions be.¡¯ ¡®Honestly, I''m not even sure what kind of question | was hoping for.¡¯ If | could ask the God another question right now, | wouldn''t even know what | would ask.¡¯ ¡®| know where to get resources." ¡®l know what to train... somewhat." ¡®| know where to get enemies.¡¯ "Maybe asking more about how exactly the Mages advance could help since that would give me a reference, but it also wouldn''t be that useful.¡¯ "Seems like the questions have mostly lost their usefulness." ¡®At least there''s still something else that''s useful.¡¯ After thinking that, Shang entered his inner world and looked at the stone tablet. "50 years, huh?" Shang uttered. The stone tablet showed that Shang had to undertake the trial within the next 50 years. "| presume you want me to reach the peak of my current level, just likest time, right?" Shang asked. At that moment, a word appeared on the tablet. "Yep." "Same asst time, then," Shang said. Then, several big pieces of ore flew over from one part of his inner world and entered Sword. Sword quickly reached the Colossal Sword State again, and for just a second, Shang focused on Sword. "Seems like fusing the Impulses was not the way tobine my four States into one, but | made some progress, at least." Sword''s States were still separate, but with Shang''s connection to the world, the attacks from one State wouldn''t be weakened as much while used in a different State. Shang could theoretically use Shock in his Colossal Sword State without wasting all of his Mana. It wouldn''t be as useful as in his Long Sword State, but it was usable enough. Shang left his inner world and focused on the real world again. With his Colossal Sword, he stood up. Then, he walked out of the cave. He had entered as a True Path Stage warrior. But he exited as a Fusion Realm... There was no word to describe what Shang was now. He was not a Mage, but his level was also far higher than the level of a warrior. He was simply his own thing. And that was what Shang wanted. Chapter 569 Chapter 569 Shang left the cave and walked over to the entrance. Desert Storm was simply sitting near the edge of the entrance, waiting for Shang. Of course, he had already noticed that Shang had finished his breakthrough. "Congrattions," he said with a smile as he stood up. Shang only nodded and walked past Desert Storm without answering. Right now, Desert Storm was more interested in Shang''s sword since it had grown a lot. It wasn''t too unusual to carry a small sword around, even if one wasn''t fighting with it. Some people used them as jewelry or essories, while others used them as materials for Spells that required external materials to show their full effect. The Maism Concept for lightning was one of these things. Some people also just transformed their Foci into the shape of a sword. A Focus didn''t specifically need to look like a round ball with several circlets around it. However, one thing was always the same. The Focus was not very big. And now, White Ghost was suddenly walking around with a humongous sword that was nearly three meters long. That was unusual. But Desert Storm already had a suspicion. In fact, he had alreadye to that suspicion while Shang was breaking through. When Shang had broken through, Desert Storm hadn''t felt White Ghost''s mind reach the Archmage Realm. In fact, he had felt White Ghost''s mind reach the High Mage Realm. Usually, this wouldn''t be anything unusual since White Ghost was known for continually hiding his power in front of everyone. He always made it appear like his mind was at the Peak True Mage Realm. That was obviously fake. Yet, during a breakthrough, someone wouldn''t have the time or concentration to mask the fluctuations of their mind from everyone else. But White Ghost''s fluctuations had still been the same, and everything had appeared very much like a True Mage reaching the High Mage Realm. The only difference was that there was much more Mana entering White Ghost''s body. Such a breakthrough couldn''t be faked without a third person focusing on faking the fluctuations. So, what did this mean? The only reasonable exnation was that White Ghost''s mind had reached the Initial High Mage Realm, but reasonable was only subjective here. How could a True Mage possibly kill Early Archmages? That only left one possibility, even though the chances of that possibility being the truth were just slightly higher than believing that a Peak True Mage could kill an Early Archmage. White Ghost wasn''t relying on his mind during fights, which meant that he wasn''t a Mage. However, Desert Storm still couldn''t wrap his mind around that. Believing any of these exnations was beyond difficult. It just seemed impossible. After walking past Desert Storm, Shang stopped. ¡°How long did | take?" Shang asked. ¡°About four hours," Desert Storm said. His politeness felt more artificial than before. It was almost like he was a bit more apprehensive than before. Desert Storm was not sure what he should think of White Ghost right now. He had always held a lot of respect for White Ghost. After all, White Ghost managed to seed in several extremely difficult missions while still being in the Peak High Mage Realm. His talent and power were probably one in a million in Desert Storm''s eyes. Yet, he wasn''t a Mage? Desert Storm had no idea what he should think of White Ghost anymore, which made him uncertain about White Ghost''s goals and actions. "We don''t need to change our route?¡± Shang asked. Desert Storm furrowed his brows and looked at Shang. After thest two questions, Desert Storm became even more suspicious. It was obvious that White Ghost''s secret would be unveiled during his breakthrough and that every person watching him would realize it. Under normal circumstances, White Ghost''s escort should have been informed prior to the start of the mission to avoid any misunderstandings. But Desert Storm hadn''t been informed, and this shocking revtion hade very suddenly. It was almost like it didn''t matter if Desert Storm knew or not. "No," he said slowly. For a while, Shang just stood there.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Desert Storm looked at Shang with slightly narrowed eyes. For some reason, the atmosphere felt tense. "| wonder what you did," Shang said quietly, almost like he was talking to himself. When Desert Storm heard that, all his suspicions were confirmed. He immediately knew what would happen now. WHOOOOM! Desert Storm immediately activated his Mana Shield. At the same time, intense Light Mana came out of Shang''s body,pletely isting Desert Storm''s vision and Spirit Sense from the outside world. The entire world seemingly turned white, and Desert Storm immediately activated Mana Step. But it failed. Desert Storm''s eyes widened in terror as he felt the Mana he had used to cast Mana Step suddenly vanish. At that moment, Desert Storm wasn''t thinking about Shang, surprisingly. No, the image of the Keeper appeared inside his mind. ¡®Are you serious?! | wasn''t even sure if | would go through with it! | was just looking through my avable options!" ¡®You didn''t need to immediately go for my throat! Are you honestly willing to sacrifice the second strongest Named Agent you have just because | looked towards the exit?!¡¯ ¡®I can''t spend my entire life in the Temple of Blood! | also need to think of my future!¡¯ ¡®But you will kill me just for that?!" ¡®| wasn''t even doing anything!" To Desert Storm, it was obvious that the Keeper was responsible for White Ghost suddenly attacking him. ¡®But | won''t just die! If you think I''ve shown you my full power, you are horribly mistaken!" "You want to kill me? Fine! I''ll kill your favorite pet!" Desert Storm immediately readied a storm of Mana Steps. He had felt that the Mana in the surroundings had subtly changed, and Desert Storm''s instincts were telling him that there was a limit to the suppressive effect of his Mana Steps. CRACK! But then, Desert Storm''s Mana Shield cracked, and his eyes opened wide in shock. An instantter, his entire body blew apart. The light in the surroundings had vanished. Dusk had arrived. Chapter 570 Chapter 570 Desert Storm''s body exploded as soon as Dusk hit him. In one strike, Shang had destroyed the Mana Shield of a Late Archmage. Dusk was just that powerful. Sadly, under normal circumstances, it was nearly impossible to hit a Mage with Dusk. If Shang hadn''t had the opportunity to unleash Dusk, the fight would have taken way longer. Shang put his Long Sword away. In order to break through Desert Storm''s Mana Shield, he had needed to effectively burn all of Sword''s body. After that, the chunks of Desert Storm''s corpse started to levitate around Shang, including all of his belongings. Asecondter, Shang''s body also started to levitate. Surprisingly, Shang wasn''t standing on Sword while levitating. After reaching the Fusion Realm, the control Shang had over his surroundings made it easy for him to fly. He wouldn''t need to unleash Ice and Fire sts to fly anymore, and he didn''t need to ride on his sword. From now on, Shang could just fly by controlling the world around him, just like any other Archmage. Then, Shang flew toward the direction of the Temple of Blood''s branch while all of Desert Storm''s belongings, including his corpse, followed him. Shang''s speed was just as fast as his full speed had been at the Peak True Path Stage. The difference was that Shang was basically just casually flying forward right now. He was neither using his Ghost Step nor his sts, which would increase his speed by a lot. Just by controlling the world around him, Shang had reached an insanely high speed. But that wasn''t very surprising. After all, this World Connection was something that only Ancestral Beasts couldprehend. This was something only a Peak Impose Stage warrior couldprehend before breaking through into the World Connection Stage. Sadly, it was impossible for Shang to see how the warriors advanced. He could only theorize the Stages, but he couldn''t put them into practice. After flying for a couple of seconds, Desert Storm''s corpse and his belongings were suddenly flung in a different direction. BANG! A blue wolf jumped backward as its body got surrounded by powerful icicles. Just now, several things had hit the ground in front of it, and it readied itself for a battle. Yet, no one attacked it. After a bit, the wolf inspected the things that had hit the ground in front of it and realized that pieces of a corpse and some funny metallic things were lying there. The wolf checked its surroundings with its Spirit Sense but didn''t find any enemy. Eventually, it just ate the corpse, the Focus, the Space Ring, and everything else. The more Mana something had, the better.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Shang didn''t even pause as he flew back towards the branch. After a while, he stopped and carefully inspected the thing in front of him. The Yellow Sunbreaker. Shang wasn''t sure if his newfound World Connection Ability would draw the Yellow Sunbreaker''s attention, which was why he stopped very far away. Even after reaching the Fusion Realm, it was still nearly impossible for Shang to estimate the Yellow Sunbreaker''s power. Shang had be far more powerful, butpared to the Yellow Sunbreaker, it was still nothing. He inspected the Yellow Sunbreaker very closely and didn''t even try to hide his Spirit Sense. After a while, Shang felt the Yellow Sunbreaker look back at him. Its Spirit Sense lingered on Shang for a bit, but Shang felt no dangering from it. It just seemed to be mildly interested. Right now, the Yellow Sunbreaker felt a bit confused. It was like a powerful and big male lion looking at another male lion. However, the other male lion was only like five centimeters tall. The other male lion should be an enemy, but no matter how the Yellow Sunbreaker looked at it, the other male lion wasn''t even close to being an enemy or threat. It was just weird and confusing. Eventually, the Yellow Sunbreaker lost interest in Shang and focused on something else again. Shang released a deep breath. The Yellow Sunbreaker didn''t care about him since their strengths were worlds apart. Shang flew forward and stopped in front of the root. Then, he walked forward and lifted the root with his right hand. The gigantic root moved, but it definitely wasn''t easy for Shang to move it. He had to use quite a bit of his power. Shang was slowly moving forward while keeping the root lifted above himself. It wasn''t easy, but he did it. He could now enter the branch without needing to use his medal. If anyone saw this, they would be beyond shocked. This root was massive and insanely dense! Not even an Ancestral Mage could lift this with just their bodies! Only a Mage Lord would have a body powerful enough to lift this root without any augmenting Spells. Yet, this Initial Archmage could lift this heavy root just like that?! Shang reached the entrance and drew the symbol needed to enter. The barrier deactivated, and Shang entered the branch. As soon as Shang stepped past the deactivated barrier, several Spirit Senses focused on him. The reactions were very mixed. House Wife was interested in the fact that White Ghost now felt like an Initial High Mage. Inparison, Trapper felt shocked. White Ghost had already felt like a minor threat to him before his breakthrough, but now, White Ghost felt like someone that could kill him easily! The difference was too great! The Keeper''s Spirit Sense didn''t show any reaction. When the barrier activated again behind Shang, House Wife and Trapper grew confused. What about Desert Storm? Didn''t the two of them exit together? Shang entered the great hall and walked down to the middle. House Wife and Trapper were looking at Shang with furrowed brows. Shang didn''t show any reaction. The Keeper didn''t look at Shang, but everyone could tell that she was focusing on him with her Spirit Sense. "What happened to Desert Storm?" the Keeper asked calmly. "He was eaten by a wolf," Shang said emotionlessly. House Wife''s and Trapper''s minds stopped working. Chapter 571 Chapter 571 The entire branch fell into silence. Eaten by a wolf? Then why hadn''t White Ghost also been eaten by that wolf?! Desert Storm was a Late Archmage, and he was the second strongest Named Agent of the branch! If there were a beast powerful enough to kill him, it would also be powerful enough to kill White Ghost! But even more than that, Desert Storm should have received information about whatever beast was approaching their location! He shouldn''t even havee into contact with such a strong beast! White Ghost''s statement couldn''t be a more obvious lie. But then, what happened if Desert Storm hadn''t been killed by a beast? Did he flee? No, that made no sense. If White Ghost were on the Temple of Blood''s side, he wouldn''t be lying for Desert Storm, and if White Ghost were on Desert Storm''s side, he wouldn''t have returned to this ce. So, did White Ghost kill him? Sure, White Ghost was very powerful, but he couldn''t possibly jump three levels, right? Especially after literally just reaching his new level. But then, what the fuck even happened?! Nothing made sense! "| see," the Keeper said after a bit. "It can''t be helped.¡± Trapper and House Wife looked with shock at the Keeper. Then, their eyes widened in fear and realization. The Keeper obviously wouldn''t have believed such a stupid lie. Yet, she didn''t contradict White Ghost at all and even epted his statement without even asking any questions. This could only mean that she was involved in whatever happened to Desert Storm, and since she got involved, it could only mean that Desert Storm had done something that the Temple of Blood didn''t like. He could have been a spy sent by a different organization to purposefully ept and screw up missions that would go against their goals. He could have also been someone that tried to gather information on the Temple of Blood and sell it to the Natural Selection Company. He could have also thought about leaving the Temple of Blood without wanting to sacrifice his Sensitive Knowledge Partition. Leaving the Temple of Blood wasn''t forbidden, but there were two things that stopped a lot of people from leaving. First of all, they had to pay a lot of money to buy their freedom. Second of all, they had to sacrifice their SKP. The SKP included all the knowledge they had gathered that involved the Temple of Blood in any way. Depending on how long someone had been part of the Temple of Blood, this could result in decades of information and experiences just getting deleted from their minds. This could severely confuse someone and even permanently weaken theirprehension abilities. Due to these two things, many people that wanted to leave thought about leaving quietly without anyone noticing. Trapper, House Wife, and even Shang didn''t know why the Keeper had wanted to kill Desert Storm. In Trapper and House Wife''s minds, Desert Storm had probably been killed by one of the Sweepers. The job of Sweeper inside the Temple of Blood was on the same level as the job of Keeper. Only Ancestral Mages could take up that role. Sweepers were responsible for getting rid of Named Agents that posed a danger to the Temple of Blood. If a Keeper grew suspicious regarding an Agent, they could send a Named Agent to kill that Agent or just kill them on their own, but they would also need to inform a Sweeper about everything that had transpired. However, if a Keeper grew suspicious regarding a Named Agent, they needed to inform the Territory Lord. If the Territory Lord deemed the Named Agent to truly be suspicious, they would send a Sweeper to take care of them. Keepers were not allowed to just randomly kill off Named Agents. While House Wife and Trapper thought that Desert Storm had been killed by a Sweeper, Shang thought about why the Keeper had sent Desert Storm to escort him. Surprisingly, Shang hadn''t gotten any information regarding what he should do with Desert Storm. The Keeper had only said that Desert Storm would guard him during his breakthrough. Yet, Shang knew that the Keeper wasn''t stupid. She knew about Shang being a physi, and she must have also realized that Shang had killed three of his escorts already while he had been a Trial Agent. She should have known that Desert Storm would have realized Shang''s secret and that Shang would kill him like the others. So, it meant that the Keeper actually wanted Shang to kill Desert Storm. But she hadn''t said why. It was certain that Shang was supposed to kill Desert Storm. There was no doubt about it. The Keeper could have just sent Shang to breakthrough in a different branch, with another Keeper keeping watch over him and isting everything. Shang was powerful, but he couldn''t possibly kill an Ancestral Mage. Surely, there had also been a way to make Shang breakthrough in secret without anyone else noticing. Sadly, Shang just didn''t know why, and he couldn''t possibly ask. Obviously, the Keeper was somehow skirting the rules by doing that. Shang wasn''t sure, but it felt very suspicious how the Keeper acted. House Wife and Trapper got a reminder that they shouldn''t step out of line today. The Keeper had gotten rid of Desert Storm, which meant that she could also get rid of them. While the two of them remained silent, Shang''s Spirit Sense focused on the Keeper. "| have a request. | will pay for it," Shang transmitted. He didn''t want this conversation to be public. "Speak," the Keeper answered. "| want to see a Beast Lord," Shang transmitted. At that point, the Keeper turned around and looked at Shang. There were not many Beast Lords in the world. In fact, there were only ten Beast Lords in the Natural Selection Company''s territory, which was also the Territory Lord''s territory. Every Beast Lord was very far away from each other, and it wasn''t easy to create a safe path to these locations. This definitely was not a simple request. R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Chapter 572 Chapter 572 The Keeper looked at Shang. Even though the Keeper knew that Shang was a physi, she wasn''t clear on all of his powers. Why would he want to take a look at a Beast Lord? A Beast Lord was far beyond his level.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. Yet, White Ghost was no child. This wasn''t just some child asking their parents about going somewhere. If White Ghost found it reasonable to pay the exorbitant fee of securing a way towards seeing a Beast Lord, he had to think that it was important. "The Temple doesn''t have the power to create a safe route towards a Beast Lord while avoiding all of the Ancestral Beasts," the Keeper transmitted. "There are simply too many Ancestral Beasts around the Beast Lord." Shang had already expected something like that. "How much to get an Elder to escort me?" The Keeper slightly narrowed her eyes as she looked at Shang. Agents were in the Fourth Realm. Named Agents were in the Fifth Realm. And Elders were in the Sixth Realm, and there were not that many of them. "If that were to happen, there better be no idents," she transmitted. The message was clear. Shang better not try to kill the Elder escorting him. ¡°How can there be idents?" Shang asked. "There is nothing that could possibly kill them except for the Beast Lord." The Keeper looked at Shang for several seconds. ¡°How long do you need to watch?" she asked. ¡°Only a couple of hours, a day at most," Shang answered. The Keeper remained silent as she looked to the side for a while. "400 Grade Six Mana Crystals," she said. Shang had expected an exorbitant price, but that was even more than he had thought. However, it made sense. Named Agents earned a hundred or more Grade Five Mana Crystals per mission, and since Elders were a level higher, they probably earned a hundred or more Grade Six Mana Crystals per mission. 100 Grade Six Mana Crystals was probably the bare minimum for the mission. Shang wanted to look at a Beast Lord to gain some inspiration for his next step. He had alreadyprehended the very thing that made an Ancestral Beast, and the logical next step was to find out what made a Beast Lord. Shang had never seen a Beast Lord in his life. However, the price made him hesitate. He didn''t exactly need to look at a Beast Lord. He only wanted to look at one. Was it really worth the 100 Grade Six Mana Crystals? "I''ll consider it," Shang transmitted. "That''s the price," the Keeper answered. Shang only nodded and walked toward Room One again. "This time won''t be free," the Keeper transmitted. "Just take it out of my next reward," Shang answered. "I''m open to epting newer and more difficult missions." The Keeper didn''t answer, but she didn''t need to. Shang entered Room One and activated the Istion Barrier. The Keeper would still be able to contact him since she was the one in control of the Istion Barriers inside the branch. There were not that many missions avable to this branch, which was why Shang decided to continue training while he waited. Shang took out his sword and focused on his surroundings. He wanted to experiment with his newfound power. However, Shang was also thinking about something at the same time. ¡®I''m not sure if | actually need to take a look at a Beast Lord. It would definitely be worth it when I''m at the Peak Fusion Realm, but | just entered the Initial Fusion Realm." ¡®Comprehending something akin to a level four Concept in the Fusion Realm is already beyond ridiculous, and | can''t even hope toprehend something akin to a level five Concept.¡¯ "So, why would I need to take a look at a Beast Lord right now? | won''t use whatever they need to break through for my small advancements. The thing the Beast Lords need will only be relevant when I''m close to reaching the Sixth Realm.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, when I''m at the Peak Fusion Realm, | can probably already look at the Beast Lord on my own. At the Peak Fusion Realm, probably only Peak Ancestral Beasts could pose a danger to me, and | wouldn''t even have enough Mana in my body to be appetizing to them.¡¯ As Shang had that thought, he realized how much he had actually grown. ¡®It''s funny, actually. It''s basically already a certainty that | will reach the Peak Fusion Realm, and as soon as | reach that, | will be stronger than nearly every single Zone Beast inside Area 23. Shang still remembered how imposing the Storm Eagle had been. It had been so huge, and it had taken so many people to just resist the residual wind it created while flying above the city. Its power had been unreal. But now, Shang was already close to rivaling these monsters. He just needed a bit more. ¡®For now, | should focus on gaining more resources and absorbing Abominations. | think the best way to do that would be to summon a couple of Abominations when I''m traveling to one of my future missions." ¡®While I''m not on missions, | should focus on bing more familiar with my power. | need to make better use of my World Connection and integrate it into my fighting style." ¡®Lcan still visit a Beast Lordter.¡¯ After nning everything, Shang began to swing his sword. He used his World Connection to move the Mana in the surroundings. Obviously, the Keeper saw what Shang was doing, and she finally realized what kind of power Shang hadprehended. For the first time in a long while, she actually grew shocked. White Ghost hadprehended the very thing that Archbeasts needed to be Ancestral Beasts, and he had used that very thing to reach the Fifth Realm. He had essentially skipped an entire Realm! At that point, she also realized why White Ghost wanted to take a look at a Beast Lord. The Keeper realized that Shang was even more talented than she had expected. And this gave her a lot to think about. Chapter 573 Chapter 573 Shang returned to training while waiting for missions. Acouple of dayster, Shang got a mission, but it was just a small one with nearly no reward. Over the next couple of months, Shang only got smaller missions from time to time, but that wasn''t too surprising. These hugely lucrative missions to kill an entire gatherer family were rare. After all, there were not that many gatherer families in the territory. Sadly, there wasn''t much he could do. He just continued doing these small missions while refining his World Connection. "| have a mission for you." Shang put his sword away and stepped out of the training room. Trapper was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant that he was tracking his next target. The Keeper was currently sitting with her back to Shang, but she wasn''t alone. m the one responsible for these missions!" House Wife shouted at the Keeper from behind. "I''m the stealthiest Mage in this branch!" "Seems like my mission is very lucrative if even House Wife is arguing this much with the Keeper,¡¯ Shang thought. "That might be the case," the Keeper said. "However, can you kill a Mid Archmage?" House Wife just furrowed her brows. "I can," she said. "Can you kill a Mid Archmage before they can contact an Enforcer?" the Keeper asked. "If | get them with their Mana Shield deactivated, yes," House Wife said. "Alright," the Keeper said. "Can you stay hidden when you and your target are the only humans around for over ten kilometers?" House Wife snorted. "That''s impossible. The best a Mage can do is to seem as unremarkable as possible, but we still look and feel like humans. No matter how unremarkable you look, when you''re the only other human around, you''re bound to be noticed." "Then you are not the right person for the mission," the Keeper said. ¡°But then the mission is impossible toplete!" House Wife shouted. "We can''t just follow one person in the wilderness without being noticed by their Spirit Sense." "This mission is- AH!" House Wife suddenly jumped to the left and activated her Magic Shield by reflex. Just now, something white had entered her field of view on the right. Usually, every Archmage had their surroundings constantly inside their Spirit Sense, which meant that nothing coulde close to them without being noticed. But that was exactly why she had been so startled just now. Obviously, the white thing that had entered her field of vision was Shang. Shang stopped behind the Keeper and waited for instructions. The sudden appearance of White Ghost gave House Wife thought. She hadn''t noticed him at all. Wasn''t that exactly what had been required of the mission? In the end, House Wife could only bitterly look to the side. SHING! A bloodred sheet of paper appeared in front of Shang, and he scanned it with his Spirit Sense. These sheets of paper were special since they transmitted the information they contained right into the reader''s mind, making it faster and easier to "read" them. Shang read through the mission. Target: Treasury Master of the Urbring Family. Goal: Observation and eventual elimination. Description: Follow the Treasury Master of the Urbring Family for five years every time he leaves the Urbring Family''s house and find out if he''s hiding something. If there is nothing suspicious, retreat. If he harbors a secret, eliminate him and forward the information. You are not allowed to take any of his belongings. Reward: Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. These were the details of the mission. Shang was not very happy with the mission, but he also didn''t decline it. Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals was a lot of money. The only problem was that he would need to waste five years of his life watching over someone. Five years for ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. If he were to earn two Mana Crystals per year, he would need 50 years to get enough to visit a Beast Lord. That seemed reasonable. "| ept," Shang said. Shang put the bloodred sheet of paper into his inner world and left the branch. He didn''t say anything while leaving. ¡®Seems like my training will change for the foreseeable future,¡¯ Shang thought as the Istion Barrier activated behind him again. Shang pushed through the roots of the Yellow Sunbreaker and took to the skies. Amomentter, the path towards the Urbring Family appeared in his mind with all the Ancestral Beasts marked on it. Shang still wasn''t sure how the Temple of Blood was actually surveying thend. It couldn''t be the Keeper since the Yellow Sunbreaker created a wall of roots around the branch. Not even her Spirit Sense should be able to get through that. Yet, whenever Shang left for a mission, all the Ancestral Beasts from thousands of kilometers around appeared inside his mind. Shang flew toward the Urbring Family while avoiding all the Ancestral Beasts. He didn''t specifically need to evade their entire Spirit Sense, but he shouldn''t get closer than 50 kilometers. Most Ancestral Beasts didn''t care about an Initial Fifth Realm human as long as they didn''te too close to them. Of course, there were also more docile beasts and more aggressive ones. The Yellow Sunbreaker, for example, was a very docile one. It didn''t even mind several humans in the Fifth Realm walking over its roots. But there were also beasts that preferred preying on humans, and if they saw one, they would immediately charge over and eat the human. That was why it was so important to have a way to navigate the wilderness, even as an Archmage. Normal Archmages had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 50 kilometers, which was just around the safe line regarding Ancestral Beasts. Because of that, Archmages could travel through the wilderness as long as there were no aggressive Ancestral Beasts nearby. There was maybe a 1% chance of meeting such a beast. But that was for every trip. After enough rolls, one was bound to hit the 1% eventually. Shang traveled for around 2,500 kilometers, which was around the halfway mark between the Urbring Family and the Temple of Blood branch. At that moment, the atmosphere around Shang suddenly changed. SHING! SHING! SHING! Hundreds of beings suddenly appeared a couple of kilometers to Shang''s right, and one of them appeared very close to Shang. It was an Archbeast Abomination. SHING! Shang swung his sword, and the Abomination turned into nothingness. Then, he simply continued on his way. Obviously, Shang had used this opportunity to absorb an Archbeast Abomination. While Shang was leaving, the Commander Stage and True Path Stage Abominations started topletely decimate the surroundings. Thousands of weaker beasts died. This would continue for several hours before one of the Abominations entered the territory of a particrly territorial Ancestral Beast. And one minuteter, all the Abominations were dead. In Area 23, the Abominations had been killed very quickly by the Zone Beasts, but that was because there was always a Zone Beast around.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only In Area 23, the Ancestral Beasts lived far closer to each other than was normal. In the outside world, one would only meet one Ancestral Beast every 500 kilometers or so while traveling in a straight line. After some more minutes, Shang arrived at his goal. The Urbring Family. Chapter 574 Chapter 574 Shang stopped around 200 kilometers away from the Urbring Family''s house. Or, more like, the Urbring Family''s city. The Urbring Family was one of the more powerful gatherer families, much more powerful than the two gatherer families Shang had destroyed. Because of that, their "house" was also far bigger. Several-kilometer-tall walls surrounded arge area that was nearly 30 kilometers wide, but there was actually no roof above these walls. Several powerful barriers and Magic Circles strengthened the walls, transforming everything into an extremely powerful fortress. Inside the walls were several smaller mansions and houses for the different groups inside the Urbring Family. In a way, the gigantic walls were seen as the Urbring Family''s house, but the house was actually just a container for a city. The Urbring Family was sizable and very powerful. The Patriarch of the Urbring Family was a Peak Archmage, someone that could kill Shang with a high likelihood. Shang would definitely not be able to kill the Patriarch before he could call an Enforcer, if he could kill him at all. Luckily, Shang was not here to kill the Patriarch but to keep watch over the Treasury Master. Even more, Shang suspected that it was actually the Patriarch that requested this mission. Even though the Patriarch was definitely much more powerful than the Treasury Master, their Spirit Senses were still equally as large, which meant that the Patriarch couldn''t secretly watch the Treasury Master. In fact, no one in the entire Urbring Family could watch the Treasury Master after leaving the Urbring Family''s house. One had to either be an Ancestral Mage with a greater Spirit Sense or be invisible to Spirit Senses. Shang guessed that the Patriarch suspected the Treasury Master of keeping a secret or embezzling funds. Shang had been working in this territory for several decades, and he knew the rules all the gatherer families had to follow. While the Natural Selection Company could harvest the territory for all it was worth, the same wasn''t true for the gatherer families. The Natural Selection Company paid money to the Twilight Dusk Family for all the resources in this area. The gatherer families were only contractors or employees. They were paid money to harvest the resources and send them to the Natural Selection Company. The gatherer families were not allowed to keep the resources they harvested for themselves. The Patriarch of the Urbring Family probably suspected the Treasury Master of keeping resources. Most of the time, this shouldn''t be a rational fear for anyone to have. After all, everyone was getting paid good money. But if one person found a valuable and secret location with several resources interesting to Ancestral Mages, things would be different.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. What if one found a secret garden filled with Grade Six Mind Flowers, the main ingredient for Mind Flow Pellets? Just one of these flowers could produce several Mind Flow Pellets and would go for over 50 Grade Six Mana Crystals. If someone found a whole garden of those, their wealth would have to be measured in Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Some people would definitely be enticed into keeping such a garden for themselves. But if the Natural Selection Company got wind of it... Well, the Enforcers were often searching for good reasons to kill a family and pocket all their belongings without having to pay them. And that was probably exactly why the Patriarch was most likely the one that requested this mission. The biggest indicator for it being the Patriarch that requested the mission was the fact that Shang wasn''t supposed to kill the Treasury Master if he didn''t break any rules. Shang wasn''t sure if the Treasury Master was inside the house at the moment. His Spirit Sense waspletely cut off by the powerful Magic Circles surrounding the house. But that wasn''t really a problem. He only needed to wait. At some point, the Treasury Master would either return or leave. After scanning the surroundings, Shang dug a small cave and buried himself in it. While he could stay invisible to Spirit Senses, he could still be seen. As Shang was surrounded by nothing but earth and stone, he fully focused on his Spirit Sense and kept watch over the Urbring Family''s house. Shang wouldn''t train for the next five years since it wouldn''t help much. Whenever Shang trained, he fully focused on his training, but that wouldn''t be possible in this case since he had to keep watch over the Urbring Family''s house. Without being able to focus, training wasn''t very effective. After several days of watching, Shang eventually found something to upy his mind that didn''t require too much focus. He simply tried to move the heavy Earth Mana around him more and more precisely. Of course, Earth Mana had literally zero impact on Shang''s power, but it was better than doing nothing. If Shang were to do nothing for the next five years, he would go insane. So, Shang just moved the Earth Mana around. Left and right. Up and down. Whenever someone entered or exited the Urbring Family''s house, Shang''s Spirit Sense quickly threw a nce at them. Eventually, Shang''s mind entered a rhythm. Several weeks passed. Suddenly, Shang''s Spirit Sense locked onto a person that just left the Urbring Family''s house. This was the Treasury Master. The earth above Shang silently split open. He hadn''t been able to do that several weeks ago but being able to move earth wasn''t something particrly impressive. Even some Peak Adepts could do that. Learning this skill wasn''t hard for someone with the mind of an Initial High Mage. Like a ghost, Shang flew through the forest as he followed the Treasury Master. It was currently night, and the forest was very dark. Yet, Shang''s white silhouette almost seemed unaffected by the dark. It almost seemed like this white silhouette was only an illusion. This was the effect of Shang''s peculiar ability to stay invisible to most Spirit Senses. Over the past 150 years, Shang had created an impressive ability to stay hidden. While training his Long Sword State and Colossal Sword State Imposes, Shang had also learned a lot about light and darkness. Additionally, the lie he told everyone about his eyes wasn''t aplete lie. Not being able to see actually helped Shang in viewing the world from a different viewpoint. So, after years of training, he had learned something surprising. He had actuallyprehended the level one Pure Concept of Light and Darkness. The level one Pure Concept of Light was called Illumination, and it could be used to distort sight and Spirit Senses. In fact, the powerful Mid High Mage Shang had fought in hisst trial had used that concept topletely cut his senses off from the surroundings. The level one Pure Concept of Darkness was called Shadow, and it could be used in the same way as the Concept of Illumination, but with darkness. Light could be used to fill the surroundings with light. Darkness could be used to empty the surroundings of light. One represented the addition of something, and the other represented the subtraction of something. They were two extremes. But if one knew both, one could manipte the two of them like a dial. Make more appear there. Make less appear there. After a lot of training, Shang had managed to essentially only delete himself from the enemy''s Spirit Sense. This ability was also the very reason for his codename, White Ghost. But Shang just called it Shroud. Chapter 575 Chapter 575 Shang followed the Treasury Master for several minutes. He wasn''t worried about meeting an aggressive Ancestral Beast since the Natural Selection Company gave the gatherer families ways to navigate the wilderness. The Treasury Master probably knew exactly where all the more powerful beasts were. Due to the size of Shang''s Spirit Sense, he didn¡¯t even need to hide from the Treasury Master''s Spirit Sense. Shang could simply follow him from 200 kilometers away. After a couple of minutes, Shang noticed something. The sensitivity of Shang''s Spirit Sense was very high since he couldn''t see, and without that sensitivity, Shang wouldn''t have noticed it. There was a small Magic Circle between him and the Treasury Master. It didn''t have a lot of Mana, and it was rather hidden, but it was definitely there. ¡®A temporary Sense Expansion Magic Circle,¡¯ Shang thought. These kinds of Magic Circles were used to connect one''s Spirit Sense to a different spot. The houses of the gatherer families were surrounded by these kinds of Magic Circles, but theirs were of the permanent kind. Because of that, the gatherer families could watch around 700 kilometers of their surroundings, giving them enough time to spot an Ancestral Beast and contact an Enforcer. Of course, thanks to Shang''s Shroud, he wouldn''t be seen by them. Mages could infuse these Magic Circles with their Spirit Sense. Their Spirit Sense surrounding their body would shrink while the Spirit Sense around the Magic Circle would grow. The Treasury Master was probably throwing several of these Magic Circles around and swapping between them to keep watch over a much greater area. "He''s probably worried that an Enforcer is following him.¡¯ The Treasury Master''s tactic of throwing Magic Circles out and swapping between them was pretty useful. These Magic Circles weren''t very expensive, and he scattered them behind him and around him. Eventually, nearly 1,000 kilometers of the surroundings were littered with them, and the Treasury Master was swapping between them. If there were an Ancestral Mage, they would have issues getting close to him.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. But Shang simply passed through them. Due to Shroud, he was invisible to all of these Magic Circles. "He''s quite suspicious.¡¯ Shang just kept calmly following the Treasury Master. And ten minutester, the Treasury Master stopped. He had reached his goal. It was the house of another gatherer family. The Treasury Master stopped in front of the door of the other gatherer family and waited. "He doesn''t seem like he''s trying to keep things secret. The Treasury Master was just openly standing there, in view of probably the entire gatherer family. This was definitely not some sort of shady deal. After all, the gatherer families were colleagues, not enemies. Because of that, they were in contact a lot. ¡®Probably official business.¡¯ Shang saw the Treasury Master of the gatherer familye out, and the two of them exchanged Space Rings shortly after. After some more talking, the Treasury Master left again. ¡®Could be an internal trade,¡¯ Shang thought. The gatherer families were not allowed to pocket the resources, but they still had their own belongings and wealth. The individual families often traded with each other. ¡®Would also exin why he is so careful.¡¯ This could be a regr exchange, which would mean that the Treasury Master probably carried the wealth of around 50 members of his gatherer family with him. The Treasury Master left and continued flying. Surprisingly, he wasn''t going home but somewhere else. Shang continued following him, and a couple of minutester, the Treasury Master stopped in front of another gatherer family. The same thing happened again. And again. After around two hours, the Treasury Master made his way back to the Urbring Family and entered the house without doing anything suspicious. Shang wasn''t surprised or disappointed. If the Patriarch of the Urbring Family suspected the Treasury Master of something, the Treasury Master probably also suspected the Patriarch of suspecting him. If the Treasury Master actually had a secret, he definitely wouldn''t unveil it in the short term. Shang knew that he would probably have to keep watch over the Treasury Master for a long time. After returning, Shang buried himself in the ground again and resumed waiting. Five dayster, the Treasury Master left the family again, and Shang followed. He traveled to a gathering of the Urbring Family''s members and killed a Late Archbeast. Then, he returned. 20 dayster, he left the house and traveled to the closest city. Shang couldn''t follow him there since every city here had an Ancestral Mage of the Natural Selection Company overlooking it. Shang was confident in hiding from an Archmage''s Spirit Sense, but he wasn''t confident in being able to hide from the Spirit Sense of an Ancestral Mage. However, Shang also didn''t need to worry. The Urbring Family''s Patriarch kept watch over everything inside his house, and the Ancestral Mage of the Natural Selection Company kept watch over everything in the city. If the Treasury Master had a secret, it definitely wouldn''t be located in the city. Half an hourter, the Treasury Master returned to his house. Seven dayster, he left again to kill another beast. Some dayster, he weed a visitor. Some dayster, he killed another beast. He visited one of the Urbring Family''s gardens and inspected it. He left the house and collected the Space Rings of some people. He killed another beast. He went on another round trip to some other gatherer families. He killed another beast. And so on. The job of following someone would seem interesting to many people that hadn''t done it before. Sadly, the truth was that it was very mundane and boring work. Nevertheless, Shang documented everything. He was supposed to gather information and deliver it to the client if the Treasury Master wasn''t doing anything suspicious. Shang kept shoving earth around while waiting for anything suspicious to happen. He didn''t enjoy this job at all, but it paid well. It was not an easy job, but he could do it. Chapter 576 Chapter 576 Shang continued watching the Treasury Master for several months. It was mundane work, but it paid well. Eventually, over two years passed. And finally, something suspicious happened. The Treasury Master left the Urbring Family every three months to travel to a couple of different gatherer families and exchange some wares. This was the very thing that happened the first time Shang had seen the Treasury Master. Originally, when the Treasury Master left for his regrly scheduled roundtrip, Shang hadn''t thought that anything suspicious would happen. By now, he had been convinced that the Treasury Master was innocent. Sure, he had once met with an unknown woman to have some fun, which was against the rule of meeting outsiders without informing an Enforcer, but it was just innocent fun. Shang knew that this was not nearly suspicious enough to actually conclude the mission. The Treasury Master stopped near the first gatherer family, and the two Treasury Masters exchanged Space Rings. After that, the two of them talked for a bit, which wasn''t anything unusual. It was just some conversation about the two families. Some minutester, the Treasury Master took out a Communication Crystal and informed the Treasury Master of the next family he was supposed to visit. He told them that he was having a conversation right now and that he would arrive a couple of minuteste. It was all very casual. The two of them continued talking for about two more minutes before the Treasury Master left again. Acouple of minutester, the Treasury Master reached the next family and exchanged Space Rings. And then, another long conversation happened. The Treasury Master took out his Communication Crystal again and called the Patriarch, telling him that he would bete. This wasn''t anything unusual. The Treasury Master enjoyed talking to the other Treasury Masters quite a bit. Maybe this was why the Patriarch became suspicious. After all, his Treasury Master always called him about beingte. In a way, the Treasury Master was always kind of missing for a couple of minutes. However, the other families always backed his im that he was just talking to them. The Treasury Master kept talking for a couple more minutes before leaving. As always, the Treasury Master kept throwing the Sense Expansion Magic Circles everywhere while traveling, which was understandable. After all, he was carrying a lot of wealth with him. Nothing unusual. "Oh?" Suddenly, the Treasury Master stopped and threw the Magic Circles toward his front. And then, he took a sharp right. ¡®That''s a new one,¡¯ Shang thought. Usually, the Sense Expansion Magic Circle the Treasury Master had dropped on his way to the first family would have already stopped working since they would have already used up all their stored Mana, but this time, they were still active. In fact, all of them were still active. One line from the Urbring Family to the first family. One line from the first family to the second family. One line from the second family to the edge of the Urbring family. ''He made a triangle of Sense Expansion Magic Circle,¡¯ Shang thought. ''No one can enter this area without being noticed by him.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, since he keeps talking with so many other Treasury Masters for several minutes nearly every time, a short absence wouldn''t even be noticed. On top of that, the other Treasury Masters would even back his im up. He did talk to them, after all." ¡®And the Patriarch probably can''t show too openly that he is suspecting his own Treasury Master of hiding something. The other Treasury Masters might actually side with his Treasury Master, or they might directly contact the Enforcers, which might prompt an investigation.¡¯ ¡®If an Enforcer investigates the Urbring Family and finds out about his secret, the Patriarch and the leaders would be executed.¡¯ There was a lot of scheming happening on both sides. As always, Shang easily passed by the Sense Expansion Magic Circles and entered the gigantic triangle. The Treasury Master flew faster than before, but Shang could still keep up with him. As long as he didn''t use one Mana Step after the other, Shang had no trouble following. Eventually, the Treasury Master reached a seemingly random ce in the forest and closed his eyes. Shang felt all the Sense Expansion Magic Circles in his surroundings "light up" one after the other. The Treasury Master was making sure that no one was watching. Then, he opened his eyes and began to cast a long Spell.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only WHOOOM! Suddenly, all the forest and ground below him for about a hundred meters brightly lit up. SHING! And vanished. After the forest and ground vanished, a deep hole appeared. It looked like a crater, but it curved to the side after a couple hundred meters, essentially making it a cave. ¡®That''s a very expensive Istion Barrier working together with a high-grade Illusion Magic Circle and an even better Cloaking Magic Circle. That''s a lot of money just to hide the entrance to a cave.¡¯ Shang quietly came closer. The Treasury Master entered the cave. Just as the Treasury Master passed by the entrance, Shang also entered just behind him. The Treasury Master couldn''t see Shang with his Spirit Sense, but for some reason, he felt nervous and watched. In an instant, the Treasury Master turned around. Nothing. The Treasury Master saw the entire entrance now from within the cave, and there was just nothing. But for some reason, he was still nervous and looked around. He kept looking at everything with his Spirit Sense, but he also looked around with his eyes. Something about the cave seemed different, but he couldn''t tell what. He was right. There was something different about the cave. The walls were slightly more illuminated than normal, but that was not something a normal person would notice, and since the Treasury Master relied on his Spirit Sense, he would be even less likely to notice it. The Treasury Master didn''t notice that the source of the slight illumination always came from a bit behind him. Eventually, the Treasury Master turned to the entrance and cast another long Spell. The Magic Circles activated again, hiding the entrance to the cave. The Treasury Master turned and traveled deeper into the cave. The deeper he got, the darker everything became. He didn''t see it, but behind him, a wall of pure ckness seemed to follow him. The Treasury Master became more and more nervous the further he traveled. He rubbed the sweaty back of his neck. He felt like something was breathing down his neck. The Treasury Master turned around several times out of nervousness, but there was nothing there. Yet, even while turning around, he still felt like something was behind him. After a while, he convinced himself that he was this nervous because he knew what would happen if anyone found out about his secret. This was simply the nervousness of doing something he knew was forbidden. Eventually, the Treasury Master reached a brightly lit room. The room was only around twenty meters wide, but the wealth it contained was shocking. Bones. There were a lot ofrge bones in here, but not just any bones. Those were the remains of a long-dead Beast Lord. Of course, since there were only bones left, the "corpse" wasn''t nearly as valuable as the entire corpse of a Beast Lord, but the bones alone were still worth quite a bit. In total, the bones were probably worth around five Grade Seven Mana Crystals, which was a ridiculous sum of money. When the Treasury Master saw the bones, he released a sigh. Seeing them somewhat calmed him down. After a while, the Treasury Master touched one of the bones and cast a long Spell. The bone began to shine brightly, and a couple of secondster, it vanished. But now, something new was in the Treasury Master''s hand. It was a Grade Six Mana Crystal. The Treasury Master was using a Spell to convert the Mana hidden in the bones to Mana Crystals. Of course, such a Spell was wildly inefficient and wasted a ridiculous amount of the Mana. The worth of the entire skeleton would drop from about five Grade Seven Mana Crystals to about a hundred Grade Six Mana Crystals. The Treasury Master did the same thing for two more bones. Just like that, he had earned three Grade Six Mana Crystals. While natural resources could be tracked and found by the Enforcers, Mana Crystals were liquid currency, making it very difficult to track them. And as a Treasury Master, he also knew how to properly hide his growing wealth. After converting three bones in total, the Treasury Master turned around and walked towards the exit. But he stopped. He still felt nervous. For some reason, he felt like his biggest treasure might have been stolen. The Treasury Master looked at a random spot on the ground and walked over. He cast severalplex Spells, and eventually, a small part of the ground split apart. Aton of Mana exploded out of that part, lighting up the cave. The Treasury Mater carefully went to his knees and took hold of the thing inside the smallpartment he had just unveiled. It was the Beast Core of the Beast Lord that had died here. It was extremely old, damaged, and had lost most of its Mana, but it was still worth more than the skeleton. As the Treasury Master looked at the Beast Core in his hands, the cave around him shimmered in colorful light... Revealing a white silhouette standing behind the Treasury Master. Chapter 577 Chapter 577 Shang took the Beast Core into his hand and inspected it, ignoring the headless corpse to his right. ¡®This thing is probably still worth about ten Grade Seven Mana Crystals,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®That is a hundred times of what | would need to look at a living Beast Lord.¡¯ After a couple of seconds, Shang put the Beast Core down and took out a Communication Crystal. "The Treasury Master of the Urbring Family hid the skeleton of a dead Beast Lord and its Beast Core. | killed the Treasury Master. The mission isplete," Shang said. Yes, Shang wouldn''t pocket anything. It was a lot of money, but it was too risky. The Temple of Blood was too mysterious, and Shang still couldn''t tell how they could inspect the surroundings this thoroughly and mark all the beasts. On top of that, the Territory Lord personally was his Keeper, and this ce was still within her Spirit Sense''s range. Sure, her Spirit Sense should be isted by the Yellow Sunbreaker, but Shang wouldn''t take any risks. Lastly, how was he supposed to transform something this valuable into actual disposable ie, and how would he exin his newfound wealth? It didn''t need a genius to connect Shang''s newfound wealth to this mission. "Good work," the Keeper answered through the Communication Crystal. "Return to the branch." Amomentter, a new route back to the branch appeared inside Shang''s mind. Then, Shang exited the room and went to the entrance of the cave. He took out some of the leftover expensive Barrier Disruptors he had purchased to destroy the two gatherer families a couple of years ago. The Temple of Blood sold them to make it easier for Agents to fulfill their duty. One could call it an investment to make sure that the mission was a sess. Asmall hole opened in front of Shang, and he used a second Barrier Disruptor to collect the first one. Then, he left with both of them. By now, the two Barrier Disruptors had used up all their Mana, making them useless, but members of the Temple of Blood were forbidden from giving outsiders ess to their equipment. Everything below Shang returned to looking like a normal forest. Shang flew back to the branch without pause. Over the past two years, he had absorbed about three Abominations, which wasn''t a lot. However, the Abominations¡¯ appearances didn''t seem suspicious since he was just taking advantage of the natural appearance of the Abominations. ¡®Two years for ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. That''s pretty good,¡¯ Shang thought as he pushed past the Yellow Sunbreaker''s roots.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Shang arrived at the end of the cave, but the barrier vanished on its own. That was because someone else was just about to leave for a mission. Asmall and slender light-blue-haired woman stepped past Shang without looking at him. After she walked past him, Shang entered the branch and closed the barrier behind him. Ice Princess wasn''t a fan of talking to others, just like Shang. "Oh, look who''s back. If it isn''t the old loser." Asmall and young man with spiky and long grey hair sat in the middle of the branch alone. Trapper and House Wife were focusing on training now, and this man was now focusing on earning money for resources, which was why he was here now. This was an Early Archmage with a Metal Affinity, and his specialty was killing others in a direct confrontation. His Battle-Strength was quite good, and he could even fight Mid Archmages for a while. Even more, he was rather young and was also the newest member of the branch. His codename was Spike Ball. Even though Spike Ball had just tried to provoke Shang, Shang just ignored him and walked to the Keeper. Spike Ball sneered and snorted when he saw Shang walk past him, but he didn''t say anything. Spike Ball was a very aggressive person, and he constantly insulted everyone around him. If it weren''t against the rules, he would probably challenge everyone in this branch to a one-on-one life-and-death duel. Shang guessed that Spike Ball was insecure and just wanted to prove to everyone and himself that he was strong. But all of that wasn''t relevant. Since it was forbidden to fight, Spike Ball was no threat, and his words were meaningless. Everyone knew him, and nobody cared about him. Except Trapper. Whenever Trapper and Spike Ball were in the same room, the entire branch would get annoyed by their constant arguing. It even got so bad at one point that the Keeper forced them into different rhythms regarding their training. This would stop them from being in the room and waiting for missions at the same time. Shang stopped behind the Keeper. "Report," the Keeper transmitted. Shang transmitted a rundown of what he had seen the Treasury Master do over the past two years. Then, he reported in detail what he had seen the Treasury Master do today. ¡°Well done," the Keeper said after Shang transmitted everything. SHING! Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals appeared in her hands, which then floated over to Shang. "There might be a chance that you will receive a bonus for this mission," she said. Shang put the Mana Crystals away. "Howe?" "The skeleton is too hot," she answered. "If the Urbring Family hands it over to the Natural Selection Company, thepany will question them regarding the missing bones and will demand the missing bones to be handed over.¡± ¡°However, they can''t hand over the missing bones since the Treasury Master converted them directly into Mana Crystals." ¡°Because of that, they can''t possibly hand the skeleton or Beast Core over. Instead, they will most likely contact us and trade with us." Shang''s expression didn''t change, and he didn''t move. "How much would the bonus be?" "If everything goes ording to n, | will pay for your trip to see a Beast Lord." Shang slowly nodded and walked over to Training Room One. He wanted to continue training while waiting for more information. While Shang continued training, the Patriarch of the Urbring Family received news about the mission he had ced. And his entire world broke down. This was bad! Chapter 578 Chapter 578 The Patriarch of the Urbring Family flew through the wilderness and eventually stopped at a seemingly random spot. He furrowed his brows and cast severalplex Spells. After a while, he moved further away and cast another Spell. Eventually, the Patriarch saw the ground below him vibrate and shine a slight bit. He had found the spot. WHOOOM! Agigantic fireball appeared near the Patriarch, and he threw it at the ground.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. BOOOOOOOOM! Agigantic explosion nearly 200 meters wide appeared below him, destroying the forest and ground... Except for an area in the middle that was about a hundred meters wide. The forest there looked the same as always. Yet, with the devastated ground around it, the small speck of forest looked extremely suspicious. Even the ground below it was still in one piece while there was just a singed crater all around it. The Patriarch narrowed his eyes and summoned more fireballs. BOOOM! BOOOOOM! BOOOOOOM! He kept attacking the barrier for about a minute, and finally, it broke. The explosion broke through the entrance, and the entire barrier copsed. However, the Patriarch stopped the explosion before it could go too far in the cave. Eventually, a big hole was unveiled before the Patriarch, and he entered it. Even though he had already seen everything in the cave via his Spirit Sense just now, he still wanted to see it with his own eyes. The Patriarch entered the big room, and his eyes fell on a headless corpse. The Patriarch had to take a deep breath, even though he knew exactly what was waiting for him. He had seen how powerful the barrier had been and how careful the Treasury Master had been all this time. Yet, surrounded by his impressive barrier and Sense Expansion Magic Circles, he still died. Nothing inside the cave seemed out of ce except for the headless corpse. There was no lingering Mana, and the assassin had also left this ce without destroying the barrier. There was no trace of any other living being having been here. It was almost like the Treasury Master had just randomly lost his head on his own. "Oh, William. Why did you have to be such a fool?" the Patriarch spoke quietly with a sigh as he looked at the corpse. The two of them had known each other for a long time, and the Patriarch had chosen this person as his Treasury Master. "We are already earning so much money. Why did you have to risk all of our lives for even more money?" After a while, the Patriarch pointed towards the corpse with one of his fingers, and the corpse started to slowly turn into ash. Then, the Space Ring of the former Treasury Master floated over to the Patriarch, who used his privileges to unlock it. He went through the former Treasury Master''s belongings, but there was nothing suspicious to be found. The only thing that could be considered to be slightly suspicious was the 15 Grade Six Mana Crystals. That was more than one would expect a Treasury Master to have as their personal wealth, but it wasn''t too shocking. Sure enough, the Treasury Master had been extremely careful about being found out, even keeping his Space Ring clean. Eventually, the Patriarch looked at the bones in the middle of the room. He wasn''t surprised that the skeleton of an entire Beast Lord fit into this small room. He had heard that Beast Lords could control the size of their bodies. After a bit, the Patriarch walked over and lifted a tiny piece of bone... Or, at least, he tried to. Even though the piece of bone was only a couple of centimeters long, it was still far too heavy for the Patriarch to lift with his body or mind. When the Treasury Master had transformed the bone, he also hadn''t been able to lift it. He had just touched it while it was lying on the ground. Then, the Patriarch looked at the shining Beast Core lying on the ground. He just looked at it for several seconds before sighing. He wanted to feel happy about finding so much money just lying around, but the oppressive weight of his find made that impossible. This was a double-edged sword. It could prove extremely useful, but it could also spell the doom of the Urbring Family. For just a short moment, the Patriarch would have preferred the Temple of Blood to just steal all the things here. ¡®White Ghost is frightening,¡¯ the Patriarch thought. As the mission giver, he knew which Named Agent hadpleted his mission. ¡®True to his name, he entered and left like a ghost. Even more, he didn''t even touch these things, even though they are worth a multiple of what | paid him.¡¯ "He''s able to control his greed under such circumstances." ¡®That''s a terrifying mindset. The Patriarch focused on the bones for a while. ¡®Around 20% of the bones are missing. If | deliver everything to the Enforcers, they would want to be reimbursed for the missing bones since they had been destroyed by one of my people." ¡®That woulde to one Grade Seven Mana Crystal." ¡®That would spell the end of the Urbring Family. We don''t have that kind of money lying around just like that. | would need to sacrifice a century of growth just for that.¡¯ ¡®Oh, William. What have you done?" The Patriarch sighed again. ¡®I''ve already broken the rules bymissioning the Temple of Blood. Might as well go all in.¡¯ ¡®| wonder, is that why they left all these valuables just lying around? Did they know that they would be able to trade for them without damaging their image?" Once again, the Patriarch sighed. Eventually, he took out a bloodred Communication Crystal. "| request an Ancestral Mage to trade with," he spoke. "Daniel Urbring,¡± a distorted voice came out of the Communication Crystal. "The travel fee is 20 Grade Six Mana Crystals. Do you ept?" Requesting an Ancestral Mage, even if it was just for a simple trade, was never cheap. 20 Grade Six Mana Crystals was quite a lot, even for the Urbring Family. "| ept," the Patriarch, Daniel Urbring, said. ¡°A representative will arrive within the next 20 minutes." Then, the Communication Crystal was deactivated. The Patriarch sighed once again. Acouple of minutester, the Patriarch felt a powerful Mage rapidly approaching, and in a matter of seconds, the powerful Mage appeared inside the cave. They wore dark-red robes, and several Spells were hiding their identity. The Patriarch grew nervous when the powerful Mage arrived. ¡°What do you have to offer?" the representative asked. "These bones and the Beast Core," the Patriarch said. The representative inspected all the different things. "Nine Grade Seven Mana Crystals," the representative said. ¡°Only nine?" the Patriarch asked with a raised eyebrow. "The rate is fixed," the representative answered coldly. "We don''t haggle. Take it or leave it." The Patriarch sighed. "Fine, but | can''t just ept the money right now. If an Enforcer searches me, | can''t hide it." "For 500 Grade Six Mana Crystals, we can distribute the money over several trading firms, who will give you favorable trades until all the money eventually reaches your pockets. It would take around 250 years to fully transmit all the money to you, but it is very safe and untraceable," the representative answered. The Patriarch waited for a while and nodded. "Fine, make it like that." After clearing up all the small things, the representative left with the bones and the Beast Core. The Patriarch could only look at the new Communication Crystal he received. Onest time, he sighed. Chapter 579 Chapter 579 Shang exited Training Room One just a couple of hours after entering and walked over to the Keeper, ignoring Spike Ball''s provocations. "The Patriarch of the Urbring Family has acted as expected,¡± the Keeper transmitted to Shang. "Are you still interested in visiting a Beast Lord?" Shang''s expression didn''t change, but he nodded. "Do you want to see any Beast Lord in particr?" the Keeper asked. "| would prefer a Beast Lord with a Light or Darkness Affinity," Shang answered. "There is one in my territory, but it''s around 700,000 kilometers away,¡± she transmitted to Shang. Shang nodded. 700,000 kilometers was really far away. After being so long in the outside world, Shang had learned a lot about the world and how it was split up between different powers. The world basically consisted of one solidndmass with plenty of small rivers andkes inside it. Of course, these rtively small rivers andkes were often hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers big. The humongousndmass was surrounded by an endless ocean. Inside the ocean were 50 big inds that surrounded the huge landmass, but even whenbined, theirndmass couldn''tpare to the continent. The continent was called Aterium, which was also the name of the entire world. So, how big was Aterium? The size of the entire world, including the endless ocean, was unknown. Maybe the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors knew, but the general public had no idea. As for the continent Aterium, it had a square-like shape, and it was roughly twenty million by twenty million kilometers big. The inds surrounding the continent were only about 500,000 kilometers wide each. While their width was not that much smaller than the continent, when looking at them from an area perspective, the difference in size between the inds and the continent was massive. When one said that a Mage Emperor ruled around 10% of the world, one was talking about Aterium, the continent. The 50 inds surrounding the continent were not under human rule. That wasn''t because humans were too weak but because humans wanted to leave some areas for beasts. Each of the 50 inds was ruled by a Beast King, the only Beast Kings in existence. Aterium, the continent, didn''t have a single Beast King. Humans had eradicated all of them. The territory of a Mage Emperor was about six million kilometers wide and long. The specific size varied from Mage Emperor to Mage Emperor. Every living Mage King belonged to one of the ten Mage Emperors, and there were about a hundred of them. The strongest people not belonging to the Mage Emperors were Mage Lords, but there were not that many unaffiliated Mage Lords. The vast majority of Mage Lords were part of one of the Mage Emperors'' forces. The few independent ones ruled organizations like the Natural Selection Company or the Temple of Blood. The Natural Selection Company was responsible for about 10% of the Twilight Dusk Family''s low-ranked territories, and their territory was about a million kilometers wide. The Territory Lord of the Temple of Blood shared this territory, which meant that the person sitting in front of Shang was responsible for all branches of the Temple of Blood in the surrounding million kilometers or so. When one ignored the fact that the world was owned by the Mage Emperors, one could say that the Keeper in front of Shang ruled over one times one million kilometers of the twenty times twenty million kilometers wide world. This meant that the person in front of Shang ruled over about 0.25% of the world. While the number seemed to be small, it was actually huge. Earth had an area of around 500 million kilometers squared. 0.25% of that would be about 1.25 million kilometers squared. That was a bit bigger than an area that was a thousand times a thousand kilometers big, which would be bigger than France and Germanybined. So, when the Keeper said that the Beast Lord was quite far away, she truly meant it. Shang would need to travel across nearly the entire territory, and there were plenty of dangerous areas on the way. When the circumstances were right, the Mana in the atmosphere could create dangerous and terrifying areas. There were areas with nearly no Mana, making it incredibly difficult for Spirit Senses to work since they relied on the Mana in the atmosphere. There were areas that naturally showed certain Concepts, and if one weren''t careful while traveling through them, one would most likely die. There were even areas filled with constantly mutating beasts, which meant that no one would know what one could expect. Of course, there were also man-made problems, like huge borders that would thoroughly inspect every single living being passing through them. Even worse, a Mage Lord''s Spirit Sense could only see the surrounding 10,000 kilometers, which was nothing inparison to the sheer distance of 700,000 kilometers. Whatever the Temple of Blood was using to scan the area for beasts also didn''t work for suchrge distances. There might even be territories of other Beast Lords on the way. Because of that, traveling to that one Beast Lord would be very dangerous.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Traveling through the wilderness without any sort of guide was only something a powerful Ancestral Mage could pull off safely. Shang estimated that if he tried to get there on his own, there would be a high likelihood of him dying. But that was why he was paying so much money. "| would like to visit that Beast Lord with an escort," Shang answered. "Fine," the Keeper answered. "Usually, such a long trip would cost you more than just a hundred Grade Six Mana Crystals, but the Temple of Blood earned a lot from your mission." "| will call one of the more powerful Sweepers to escort you. You will have to follow theirmands if you want to survive, and there better not be any idents during the journey," the Keeper said coldly. Shang nodded. "I will. There won''t be any idents." Even if Shang wanted to kill a Sweeper, he wouldn''t be even nearly powerful enough. "| will post the mission," the Keeper said. Shang nodded again before going back to the training room. This could be a risky mission, and it would take several days, if not weeks, and there weren''t that many Sweepers. It could take a while until someone epted the mission to escort Shang. Chapter 580 Chapter 580 Shang actually had to wait for a long time. It wasn''t that the Sweepers were fully booked but that the reward for the mission hadn''t reached adequate levels yet. Every month, the Keeper increased the reward for the mission by ten Grade Six Mana Crystals until one of the Sweepers epted the mission. By then, Shang had waited nearly one and a half years. "Someone epted the mission," the Keeper informed Shang. Shang stopped training and stepped out of the room. Spike Ball was sneering at him while Ice Princess was ignoring everything and waited with her eyes closed. Shang walked over to the Keeper. "The location of this branch is secretive, even for Sweepers," she transmitted to him. "You will leave the branch and wait at this location. Make sure that the Sweeper can actually find you.¡±Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Amap appeared in Shang''s mind. The ce where he was supposed to be waiting was around 5,000 kilometers away from the branch. This was still within the range of whatever the Temple of Blood was using to scan the surroundings, which meant that Shang could go there without any issues. Shang nodded and left the branch without saying anything. He had already received his instructions several months ago. From now on, he was only supposed to follow themands of the Sweeper. Shang''s survival was in the interest of the Sweeper since they were being paid good money to protect him, and they knew better than him what to do in the wilderness. Shang left the branch and traveled towards the east. He had been in this territory for over 150 years, and he knew it perfectly. Inparison to Area 23, there were no real Zones in the outside world. All of the surroundings were just normal forest from a temperate climate during early summer. But inparison to areas in temperate climates on Earth, there were no seasons here. What it looked like right now was exactly what it looked like all year. There wasn''t much to talk about regarding the wilderness in this area. Just normal trees, normal temperatures, plenty of animals, lots of beasts. One of the main reasons why there were no Zones, even though there were so many Ancestral Beasts, was that releasing one''s Mana in the surroundings was considered a provocation by beasts. If one of the Ancestral Beasts decided to transform its surroundings into and of ice, some other Ancestral Beast that walked by might take offense to that and attack. On top of that, Ancestral Beasts often didn''t even stay in one ce. Many of them traveled across thend while considering their immediate surroundings as their territory. Sure, there were some beasts that still transformed their surroundings, but they actually couldn''t transform that much of their surroundings into their element. In Area 23, the Zones had only been about 100 kilometers wide each, while there were often over a thousand kilometers between Ancestral Beasts. A small area of about a hundred kilometers was not very noticeable, especially when only a few beasts actually transformed their surroundings. Shang was living inside the territory of the Twilight Dusk Family, which was in the middle of the northern part of Aterium. More specifically, Shang was in the southern part of the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory. If he went further north, the world would be colder. If he went further south, the world would be hotter. The Lightning Manor''s territory was in the northwestern part of Aterium, and Area 23 had also been in the south of the Lightning Manor''s territory. After leaving Area 23, Shang traveled east for years. He faced so many dangers during his journey, but he survived. Shang simply didn''t want to remain in the Lightning Manor''s territory since he knew that the Lightning Manor was searching for him. Even if Jerald had only been a contractor, he had still technically been a member of the Lightning Manor. In Shang''s extremely lengthy journey, he had traveled for over four million kilometers, and he wouldn''t do that again. The number of close calls had been terrifyingly high. In fact, they had been so high that Shang even suspected that the God might have interfered to keep him alive during his journey. Of course, for the majority of the journey, Shang had actually joined different groups of Mages that were traveling from city to city. While the Lightning Manor might have searched for Shang, they didn''t ask the supervising Ancestral Mages of the city to keep a watch out for Shang. Shang had only been a True Path Stage warrior back then, and his capture hadn''t been a priority. But things were different now. Shang couldn''t allow himself toe close to any city anymore. The presence of the Temple of Blood was very strong in this territory, and based on the missions Shang hadpleted, it was possible for an Ancestral Mage to connect him to the Temple of Blood. While he hadn''t been a priority of capture back then, he definitely was now. This meant that Shang had to travel through the wilderness while evading all cities. Luckily, he didn''t need to do that on his own. This time, he would have a powerful Ancestral Mage escorting him. Someone on that level could travel freely across thend, mostly. There were still some extremely dangerous areas, but the Mage only needed to avoid those. These kinds of very dangerous areas were mostly stationary and didn''t move around. After some minutes of flying, Shang reached a seemingly random spot in a forest. There were no Archbeasts inside the range of Shang''s Spirit Sense, and the map told Shang that the closest Ancestral Beast was over 800 kilometers away. After verifying everything, Shang deactivated Shroud for the first time in a long while. The ethereal feeling and atmosphere around Shang vanished for the first time in decades, and he felt much more human than before. The bandages around his eyes still gave off a feeling of wrongness, but he only seemed like a scary human now. Shang waited for a couple of minutes until... The Sweeper appeared in front of Shang. Chapter 581 Chapter 581 A personpletely hidden behind a ck cloak appeared in front of Shang. The Magic Circles on the cloak made it impossible to see any part of the person. Shang wasn''t particrly surprised. Sweepers were powerful, and the Natural Selection Company was searching for them like crazy. Every single Sweeper was a big problem to the Natural Selection Company since they could take down extremely important people and deal huge damage to their finances. It was natural that the Sweepers would want to keep their identitypletely secret. Sure, the ck cloak would probably immediately give away the fact that they were Sweepers, but whoever was looking at them wouldn''t know which Sweeper they were. As the two people faced each other, one wouldn''t be able to overlook the contrast between the two of them. One side waspletely ck and hidden, while the other side was deathly white. "You are White Ghost?" the person inside the cloak spoke. Judging by the voice, it was a woman. m," Shang answered. ¡°Activate your ability to hide from Spirit Senses," the Sweeper said. Amomentter, Shang''s body seemed to be slightly brighter, and it was almost like the colors of his body didn''t fit into the surroundings anymore. It was like he didn''t belong there. The Sweeper watched Shang for about three seconds. ¡°Mages that know the level two Pure Concept of Light or Darkness can see through your veil. An Ancestral Mage might be able to notice you without knowing the relevant Concepts, but they would need to be very perceptive and careful.¡± ¡°Avoid any and all Ancestral Mages and avoid Light and Darkness Archmages,¡± the Sweeper ordered. "That was my n," Shang said. Shang had just met the Sweeper, and the Sweeper immediately answered an important question of his. Shang had never truly known just how effective Shroud was, and he couldn''t just test it since he would die if someone noticed him. "| don''t think that we will meet a Space Mage on our journey, but you also need to be careful of those," the Sweeper said. "They can sense the vibrations of space in their surroundings." Shang only nodded. Space, Time, and Gravity Mages were exceptionally rare and were all part of the Mage Emperors¡¯ forces. ¡°We will be traveling to the Sky Lantern''s territory," the Sweeper exined. "The Sky Lantern is a powerful bird with a Wind and Light Affinity. We will have to move through some dangerous ces. It''s imperative that you follow my orders, or | can''t guarantee your survival.¡± "| will," Shang answered. "Good. Then, we will start right now. Follow me," the Sweeper said before taking to the sky. Shang also took to the sky, and the two of them shot toward the east. The journey was silent. The Sweeper was traveling at speeds that a normal Initial Archmage could deal with, which was quite a bit slower than Shang could actually travel at.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. However, Shang didn''t inform the Sweeper about that. He didn''t want to appear too suspicious. If Shang could travel far faster than a normal Mage, the Sweeper might ask some difficult questions. After flying for a couple of minutes, the Sweeper took a turn to the left, and Shang followed. Shang didn''t know why they were changing directions, but he guessed that the Sweeper saw something with her Spirit Sense. Of course, if the Sweeper found an Ancestral Beast with her Spirit Sense, the Ancestral Beast would also see her at the same time. But as long as she immediately retreated out of the enemy''s Spirit Sense again, she could make it very difficult for the Ancestral Beast to chase her. Naturally, most Ancestral Beasts also didn''t care. After taking a long detour, the Sweeper continued traveling towards the east, but just a couple of secondster, she changed directions again. For the next 30 minutes, the two of them were traveling far more towards the south and north in alternating orders than east. If they were flying in a straight line, they could have reached the same distance in just four minutes. Shang didn''t say anything. The Sweeper knew how to navigate the outside world better than him, and he wouldn''t question her methods. "We are avoiding Archbeasts," the Sweeper suddenly transmitted to Shang, even though he didn''t ask. ¡°Howe?" Shang asked. "A battle against an Archbeast, even when very brief, might attract an aggressive Ancestral Beast. Battling an Ancestral Beast might attract an Enforcer that''s passing by. If an Enforcer sees me, the chances are high that Hamon Dre will make his way here," the Sweeper exined. Shang didn''t show any reaction, but he certainly felt the danger and risk. Sure, the chances of all of these coincidences lining up were low, but if it happened often enough, the coincidences would eventually line up just right. While the Sweeper could probably deal with an Enforcer, if the Enforcer actually managed to contact Hamon Dre, their deaths were very likely. Hamon Dre was one of the three Mage Lords of the Natural Selection Company. Sweepers were so important to kill to the Natural Selection Company that the appearance of any Sweeper might pull out one of the three Mage Lords. Hamon Dre stayed in a huge city near the west of the territory. The city was about 200,000 kilometers away from Shang''s current location. Sure, Hamon Dre would need a couple of minutes to reach this ce, but with his terrifyinglyrge Spirit Sense and speed, he could fly around and scan the surrounding 100,000 kilometers. Shang would never be able to escape that far in just a couple of minutes. The Sweeper might be able to escape, but the chances were very low. Even though the two of them hadn''t reached any dangerous location yet, Shang could already see how risky it was to travel through the wilderness without a guide. Usually, the Temple of Blood always gave Shang the locations of all the dangerous beasts, and he could just travel from one ce to the next after nning his route. But everything was different now. Traveling without such a guide was like trying to go through a maze without a map. There was bound to be a lot of backtracking, turning around, and taking detours. Shang knew that, without the Sweeper, he would have never reached the Beast Lord. If the rulers of the surroundings weren''t searching for him, he might be able to get there by joining different caravans and groups. But there were no ifs in the world. Chapter 582 Chapter 582 A personpletely hidden behind a ck cloak appeared in front of Shang. The Magic Circles on the cloak made it impossible to see any part of the person. Shang wasn''t particrly surprised. Sweepers were powerful, and the Natural Selection Company was searching for them like crazy. Every single Sweeper was a big problem to the Natural Selection Company since they could take down extremely important people and deal huge damage to their finances. It was natural that the Sweepers would want to keep their identitypletely secret. Sure, the ck cloak would probably immediately give away the fact that they were Sweepers, but whoever was looking at them wouldn''t know which Sweeper they were. As the two people faced each other, one wouldn''t be able to overlook the contrast between the two of them. One side waspletely ck and hidden, while the other side was deathly white. "You are White Ghost?" the person inside the cloak spoke. Judging by the voice, it was a woman. "I am," Shang answered. "Activate your ability to hide from Spirit Senses," the Sweeper said. A momentter, Shang''s body seemed to be slightly brighter, and it was almost like the colors of his body didn''t fit into the surroundings anymore. It was like he didn''t belong there. The Sweeper watched Shang for about three seconds. "Mages that know the level two Pure Concept of Light or Darkness can see through your veil. An Ancestral Mage might be able to notice you without knowing the relevant Concepts, but they would need to be very perceptive and careful." "Avoid any and all Ancestral Mages and avoid Light and Darkness Archmages," the Sweeper ordered. "That was my n," Shang said. Shang had just met the Sweeper, and the Sweeper immediately answered an important question of his. Shang had never truly known just how effective Shroud was, and he couldn''t just test it since he would die if someone noticed him. "I don''t think that we will meet a Space Mage on our journey, but you also need to be careful of those," the Sweeper said. "They can sense the vibrations of space in their surroundings." Shang only nodded. Space, Time, and Gravity Mages were exceptionally rare and were all part of the Mage Emperors¡¯ forces. "We will be traveling to the Sky Lantern¡¯s territory," the Sweeper exined. "The Sky Lantern is a powerful bird with a Wind and Light Affinity. We will have to move through some dangerous ces. It''s imperative that you follow my orders, or | can''t guarantee your survival." "I will," Shang answered. "Good. Then, we will start right now. Follow me," the Sweeper said before taking to the sky. Shang also took to the sky, and the two of them shot toward the east. The journey was silent. The Sweeper was traveling at speeds that a normal Initial Archmage could deal with, which was quite a bit slower than Shang could actually travel at. However, Shang didn''t inform the Sweeper about that. He didn''t want to appear too suspicious. If Shang could travel far faster than a normal Mage, the Sweeper might ask some difficult questions. After flying for a couple of minutes, the Sweeper took a turn to the left, and Shang followed. Shang didn''t know why they were changing directions, but he guessed that the Sweeper saw something with her Spirit Sense. Of course, if the Sweeper found an Ancestral Beast with her Spirit Sense, the Ancestral Beast would also see her at the same time. But as long as she immediately retreated out of the enemy''s Spirit Sense again, she could make it very difficult for the Ancestral Beast to chase her. Naturally, most Ancestral Beasts also didn''t care. After taking a long detour, the Sweeper continued traveling towards the east, but just a couple of secondster, she changed directions again. For the next 30 minutes, the two of them were traveling far more towards the south and north in alternating orders than east. If they were flying in a straight line, they could have reached the same distance in just four minutes. Shang didn''t say anything. The Sweeper knew how to navigate the outside world better than him, and he wouldn''t question her methods. "We are avoiding Archbeasts," the Sweeper suddenly transmitted to Shang, even though he didn''t ask. "Howe?" Shang asked. "A battle against an Archbeast, even when very brief, might attract an aggressive Ancestral Beast. Battling an Ancestral Beast might attract an Enforcer that''s passing by. If an Enforcer sees me, the chances are high that Hamon Dre will make his way here,¡± the Sweeper exined. Shang didn''t show any reaction, but he certainly felt the danger and risk. Sure, the chances of all of these coincidences lining up were low, but if it happened often enough, the coincidences would eventually line up just right. While the Sweeper could probably deal with an Enforcer, if the Enforcer actually managed to contact Hamon Dre, their deaths were very likely. Hamon Dre was one of the three Mage Lords of the Natural Selection Company. Sweepers were so important to kill to the Natural Selection Company that the appearance of any Sweeper might pull out one of the three Mage Lords. Hamon Dre stayed in a huge city near the west of the territory. The city was about 200,000 kilometers away from Shang''s current location. Sure, Hamon Dre would need a couple of minutes to reach this ce, but with his terrifyinglyrge Spirit Sense and speed, he could fly around and scan the surrounding 100,000 kilometers. Shang would never be able to escape that far in just a couple of minutes. The Sweeper might be able to escape, but the chances were very low. Even though the two of them hadn''t reached any dangerous location yet, Shang could already see how risky it was to travel through the wilderness without a guide. Usually, the Temple of Blood always gave Shang the locations of all the dangerous beasts, and he could just travel from one ce to the next after nning his route. But everything was different now. Traveling without such a guide was like trying to go through a maze without a map. There was bound to be a lot of backtracking, turning around, and taking detours. Shang knew that, without the Sweeper, he would have never reached the Beast Lord. If the rulers of the surroundings weren''t searching for him, he might be able to get there by joining different caravans and groups. But there were no ifs in the world. R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Chapter 583 Chapter 583 The Sweeper and Shang went towards the first barrier. The Sweeper took out aplex medal that looked a bit like the Barrier Disruptors Shang had used before but far better and more advanced.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. She put the medal on the barrier and spoke severalplex chants. After a couple of seconds, a hole appeared in the barrier. And then, she retrieved the advanced Barrier Disruptor. Yet, the hole stayed open! This surprised Shang quite a bit. Usually, Barrier Disruptors had to stay on the barrier because they were responsible for diverting the flow of Mana. By taking them away, the Mana would flow in the way it was supposed to again, closing the hole. If one wanted to create a permanent hole in the barrier, one would need topletely reprogram the Magic Circle running the barrier, and there were innumerable safeguards against that. Even though the barrier seemed to be permanently reprogrammed, Shang refused to believe that it actually was. This had to be something else. Shang''s mind also focused on the Peak High Mage on the ground, standing guard. There was barely a kilometer between the Peak High Mage and the barrier. They would have felt the slight change of Mana in the atmosphere. Yet, they didn''t. Everything the Sweeper had been doing just now was far beyond Shang''s ability. ¡°Hurry,¡± the Sweeper transmitted after stepping through the barrier. "It only stays open for five seconds." Like a white phantom, Shang''s body flew forward and passed through the hole in less than a second. And a couple of secondster, the barrier shut again. None of the surveince Magic Circles were triggered. Shang''s Spirit Sense investigated the small medal the Sweeper had used to get through the barrier. "It''s a Remote Disruptor," the Sweeper said after noticing Shang''s curiosity. "The Mana the normal Barrier Disruptors use to disrupt the barriers is shot into the barrier with a Remote Disruptor." Amomentter, the Sweeper tossed the Remote Disruptor over to Shang, who caught it. Shang''s face turned to the Remote Disruptor in his hands, and his Spirit Sense analyzed it. There were so many tiny Magic Circles in there that Shang didn''t even try to understand how that thing worked. Shang only had the mind of an Initial High Mage, and he assumed that this Remote Disruptor was on the level of an Ancestral Mage. Shang had looked at the normal Barrier Disruptors several times, and he could see how some parts of them worked, but this Remote Disruptor was just tooplicated. After a second, Shang tossed the Remote Disruptor back. "While normal Barrier Disruptors need to be tuned towards the barrier during their creation, a Remote Disruptor can adapt to any kind of barrier or Magic Circle," the Sweeper exined. "Additionally, they don''t need specialized Mana, and | can just use my own Mana to power them." "The tradeoff is that they are veryplex and expensive, but having one will save you money in the long run," she said. Shang only nodded, showing that he understood. The Sweeper put the Remote Disruptor away again and turned towards the east. After passing by the barrier, Shang and the Sweeper now stood in front of a mostly normal-looking area. In a way, it didn''t seem any different from all the forest around them. But there was just something weird about this forest. Shang couldn''t quite put his fingers on it, but this area just felt wrong. He felt like this ce wasn''t supposed to be like that. If Shang hadn''t known what was so strange about this area, he wouldn''t have known why all of this felt so wrong. It made sense that a ce with warped time, space, and gravity would feel strange. "When we enter, just keep going forward. It will take a long time, but we will eventually reach the end," the Sweeper exined. ¡°Due to the immense time eleration, just entering a millisecondter will put thousands upon thousands of kilometers between us. This means you will be alone in there." ¡°But you just need to go forward. Nothing else." Shang nodded. Shang''s Spirit Sense could easily pass around the dangerous area, but his body wasn''t thin enough to do that. As for the Spirit Sense that went into the area... It felt like it went on forever. "I''ll go in first," the Sweeper said. Then, Shang watched the Sweeper''s body enter the space in front of him... Ande out the other end in nearly an instant. It was like she had teleported. Shang only remained silent. Suddenly, something happened. The Sweeper casually stretched. Amomentter, Shang felt the Sweeper''s Spirit Sense make a careless sweep of the surroundings. After that, she rxed and put her hand to her head. And removed her cloak! Short ck hair came out from beneath the cloak, and a youthful face was unveiled. The Sweeper looked like a young woman in her early twenties, and she had this carefree look to her. In a way, she felt like someone that just didn''t care much about many things and simply went along with everything. It was this nonchnt disposition. Shang didn''t do anything for a while. He was very confused. The Sweeper took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth in what seemed to be rxation. It was almost like she just came out of a rxing bath. Shang wasn''t quite sure what he should do. "Hey," he transmitted after a while. WHOOOOOM! In an instant, the cloak surrounded the woman again, and a terrifying Domain of Darkness surrounded her. The terrifying domain shot towards the ce where she had just felt that voice transmission, but the dangerous area was in the way. Because of that, the domain hit nothing. She quickly turned towards Shang. And she stopped. Everything paused for around three seconds. Then, all the Darkness Mana vanished, and everything returned to normal. "Sorry, | forgot about you after so much time has passed," she transmitted with an emotionless voice. "| didn''t notice you due to your peculiar ability," she added. "It''s fine," Shang answered. "I''m now going to enter." "Go," she answered. Shang nodded and entered the Reality Tear. Chapter 584 Chapter 584 Shang entered the Reality Tear, and as soon as he did, his surroundings turnedpletely grey. The trees and the barriers were suddenly so far away that Shang couldn''t even perceive them anymore. Everything had just been stretched into infinity, and every direction went on for millions of kilometers. Except for the back. Shang could still perceive the barrier and everything else just behind him since that was the spot where he had just entered. Or, at least, he would have. The thing was, as soon as Shang''s Spirit Sense left the Reality Tear, it stopped moving. ¡®That''s the effect of time eleration,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Time for me is moving so incredibly fast that everything outside this space feels like it''s frozen in time, including my Spirit Sense.¡¯ Because of that, Shang could only feel an absolutely tiny spot of Mana and air, and it very, very slowly grew. It would take years for the Spirit Sense to make any significant progress, which was shocking. After all, a Spirit Sense was basically instantaneous. ¡®It''s shocking how fast time is moving in here,¡¯ Shang thought. ''Time might actually be moving billions if not trillions of times faster than the outside.¡¯ "Sadly, | can''t train in here.¡¯ As soon as Shang entered, he had already felt how difficult it was to move his Mana. It was like his entire body was moving in weird ways and that everymand Shang sent to his body would be fulfilled, but ina completely unnatural way. ¡®Training in here might even damage my instincts,¡¯ he thought. ¡®Additionally, there isn''t even any neutral Mana in here. | think the only kind of Mana in here is extremely warped Time, Space, and Gravity Mana.¡¯ Naturally, when he had heard about the attributes of the Reality Tear, Shang had thought about training in here. But, of course, it was impossible. Everything was in so much chaos that Shang didn''t even feel like he was in his own body anymore. ¡®| guess training in here would be too good. The God would probably even consider it to be cheating. Maybe he was the one that made everything warp in here to this degree.¡¯ For a while, Shang didn''t move. ¡®It''s weird,¡¯ he thought. ''I feel like I''m wasting time by being here, but I''m literally not." ¡®Even a year in here is less than a second outside, and my longevity doesn''t even run out.¡¯ ¡®All of this is so strange.¡¯ ¡®It''s so unnatural.¡¯ ¡®Well, it doesn''t really matter. It shouldn''t be a problem to get through this Reality Tear. Shang flew forward with all of his speed without using his sts. He was quite a bit faster than before, flying even faster than an Early Archmage. Everything inside the Reality Tear was isted, and Shang didn''t need to hide any of his abilities. After flying for a while, Shang used some Ice and Fire sts. He hadn''t used them in years, and he wanted to feel them again. Sadly, the surroundingspletely distorted how his sts felt to him. He kept using them for a while, but he eventually stopped. He didn''t want to get used to these strange feelings. If he did, he would feel this same feeling of bizarreness when he used his sts outside again, which might screw with his Battle-Strength. Shang just continued flying forward. The surroundings felt so strange to him. There was only extremely warped Space, Time, and Gravity Mana, which felt very unnatural. It was almost like Shang was not in the real world but dreaming. Everything was just so wrong and so warped. There was no sound, and there was nothing for Shang''s Spirit Sense to cling to. It was just monotone emptiness. Shang had no idea how long he had already been flying. It could have been just a couple of minutes. It could have been weeks. There was absolutely nothing to use as a reference to gauge the passage of time, and the Time Mana itself waspletely warped. Shang had no idea how far he had traveled already or how much time had passed. He only knew that he was going in the right direction since his body left behind small bits of Mana. Shang could feel these small bits of Mana and could easily tell if he was going in a straight line or at an angle. Because of that, Shang didn''t need to worry about losing his way. He kept going. And going. And going. And going. After an unknown period of time, Shang''s mind focused on the warped Mana in his surroundings. There was nothing for Shang to do in here, and his mind was desperately searching for something to upy itself with. Shang desperately wanted to do something productive, even though he knew that there was literally nothing productive that could be done in here. But that was just how he was. He always wanted to work towards something. He always put his mind, body, and focus toward achieving a goal. This was just his personality and how he was. This was the person Shang. Shang kept inspecting the different kinds of Mana in here. Yet, they all felt so wrong, and Shang felt like it was impossible for him to learn anything about them. They moved in such incorrect and unforeseeable ways that it feltpletely random. Everything was so random. Shang tried so many times to make sense of anything, but it was simply impossible. Shang had no idea how long he had tried toprehend his surroundings. He only felt like he had tried toprehend them for a long time. But in the end, Shang had to ept that he was making zero progress. This wasn''t something that was just very hard to understand and took many years to learn. No, Shang would be able to notice that. There would be tiny signs of order, tiny signs of a pattern. None of that was here. It was justpletely random. Eventually, Shang''s mind stopped looking at the warped Mana. The surroundings hadn''t changed. Space hadn''t changed. Time hadn''t changed. Gravity hadn''t changed. There was just grey emptiness in all directions, except for the small trail of Mana Shang left behind. This small trail of Mana was the only proof that Shang was actually moving forward. How long had he been in here?R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Ayear? Five minutes? He should arrive soon, right? Chapter 585 Chapter 585 He would arrive soon, right? More emptiness. More time passed. He should be nearly there, right? More time passed. More time passed. More time passed. More time passed. More time passed. Shang''s mind was desperately trying to cling to anything. There had to be something that could distract him, right? He could do something in here, right? Shang''s mind was scanning the surroundings crazily. Something. There had to be something! There was nothing. There was only grey emptiness. Eventually, Shang''s mind focused on his own body and inspected that thoroughly. Yet, Shang''s entire body felt surreal and wrong to him. All the proportions were messed up, and all of his flesh and blood were moving in random directions. His own body was like a fever dream. There was no sense behind anything. The more Shang''s mind focused on his own body, the more surreal it seemed. It was like his own body wasn''t actually a body but just a fleshy dimension that randomly moved and squelched in random directions. Was this a human? No, this was just randomly moving around biological matter. How did any of this work? Why was everything going in random directions? Where was his Mana going? How did his mind work? Why was everything so chaotic?! This wasn''t supposed to go that way! His blood wasn''t supposed to work like that! His Mana pathways werepletely random and chaotic! This was not a human body! This wasn''t even a beast''s body! This was just a random flesh dimension! What point was there to any of this?! What was this?! What is this?! What is this?! What is this?! What is this?! What is this?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! SNAP. Suddenly, Shang shook his head and focused his Spirit Sense forward again. For a while, he didn''t think anything. ¡®What the fuck was that just now?'' Shang thought. Shang focused his Spirit Sense on his body again. At first nce, it looked normal, but as soon as he focused more on it, he noticed that the warped time, space, and gravity were essentially messing everything up. But as soon as Shang''s Spirit Sense epassed his entire body in one image again, everything looked normal. As long as Shang looked at his entire body at once, everything would appear normal. However, as soon as he took a closer look and actually tried to follow what his body was doing, it became extremely chaotic. The warped time, space, and gravity still worked, and even though everything seemed to move in random directions, Shang, as an entity, still worked perfectly. ¡®| got lost in my own body,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I found no rhyme or reason to the space and time in my surroundings, and | gave up. However, | was essentially doing the same thing by looking at my body like this." ¡®Instead of random emptiness moving around, it was my body moving around. Of course | wouldn''t be able to make sense of anything. | can''tprehend the time, space, or gravity in this ce.¡¯ ¡®| think | dissociated,¡¯ Shang thought. ''It might not be the best idea to look at my body like this." Shang''s Spirit Sense focused forward again. And he continued. More time passed. More time passed. More time passed. ¡®| wonder how much time has passed.¡¯ More time passed. More time passed. Shang''s mind randomly looked around again. There was just emptiness everywhere.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. ¡®| wonder if this is what the world will look like if the Abominations destroy everything.¡¯ ¡®What would | do in that case?¡¯ Shang wasn''t quite sure if he was thinking about something, but he guessed that he was. He only knew that a random period of time had passed after having that thought. ¡®Wait, what was | thinking about?" Shang couldn''t find an answer. "Oh, Abominations, right,'' Shang thought. ''So, what would | do in that case? How would that be?" Shang felt his mind work. He wasn''t sure. "My goal to achieve power might make all of this a reality, right?" ¡®Would | be fine with living in such a world?" Shang felt like he was thinking about something, but he wasn''t sure. Eventually, Shang focused on his left arm. "Space and time are working in such strange ways in here.¡¯ "My arm looks so interesting.¡¯ Shang''s mind just kept focusing on his arm. ¡®Wait, wasn''t | thinking about something?¡¯ ¡®What was | thinking again?¡± More time passed. ¡®Oh, right! Abominations!¡¯ Shang''s mind was focusing on the Abominations again, but it was like his own mind was thinking in apletely different language. Shang just couldn''t tell what he was actually thinking about. He only knew that he was thinking about Abominations, but not about what specifically. ¡®It''s really strange how | can still move this arm even though time, space, and gravity are in such disarray,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at his left arm again. Shang moved it up and down. Up and down. Up and down. ¡®Wait, wasn''t | thinking about something?¡¯ Up and down. Up and down. "Doesn''t matter,¡¯ Shang thought as he focused on his arm. His Spirit Sense looked more closely at it, and Shang''s mind was quickly drawn into the chaotic world of his body again. The flesh was moving around so randomly. It made no sense. His Spirit Sense retreated from his body and looked at his arm in its entirety again. ¡®Yet, everything still looks normal when | look at it from a macro perspective." For some reason, Shang''s mind went back to the Abominations again at this point. ¡®Abominations, huh?'' Shang thought. ''This could theoretically be a reality if | be more powerful.¡¯ ¡®As long as | grow more powerful, the Abominations grow more powerful. ¡®Eventually, they will eat up the entire world, and this will be the result probably." Shang''s mind started to think about something again, but Shang just couldn''t tell what he was thinking about. Up and down. Up and down. Shang kept focusing on his arm. Then, Shang''s left arm stopped moving. Slowly, Shang''s right hand went to his left forearm. ¡®The big makes sense, but the small doesn''t make sense.¡¯ "So, what if | make the big smaller and smaller? When will it stop making sense?¡¯ Shang''s nails dug into his skin and began to scrape off parts of his flesh. Chapter 586 Chapter 586 Shang slowly scraped off a long piece of flesh from his left arm and looked at it with his Spirit Sense. He moved the bloody piece of flesh around in his right hand. It looked normal. But as soon as his Spirit Sense looked at the individualponents of this piece of flesh, it stopped making sense again. Shing ripped the piece apart again and looked at the two smallerponents. They still made sense. He held them together, and they still made sense. Eventually, Shang dumped one of the pieces since he only needed one. He ripped it apart and dumped one of the pieces again. It still made sense. He did the same thing again. And again. And again. After multiple times, the piece of flesh had be so small that Shang could barely rip it apart anymore. But it still made sense! Shang looked at his arm again, which had healed by now, but a simrly sized part of his arm as the piece of flesh he was carrying seemedpletely senseless in the grand scheme of things. The tiny piece of flesh made sense in its entirety, but if it were stuck to his arm, it wouldn''t make sense. It was so weird. And so interesting. ¡®Wait, wasn''t | thinking about something?¡¯ Time passed. Time passed. ¡®I''m sure that | was thinking about something important, right?¡¯ Time passed. Time passed. ¡®Abominations, right!¡¯ ¡®This world might one day be exactly like this if | be more powerful." Shang''s mind began to think about things again that Shang couldn''t understand. Then, Shang turned to his arm again. ¡®| wonder when my arm will stop making sense.¡¯ "How small does it have to be to stop making sense?" Shang''s right hand moved towards his left arm again. He put his nails on his left forearm again. And he pulled back. Abig p of meat was cut off, and Shang threw it away. His arm was bleeding profusely, and he felt a bit of pain. The feeling of pain was quite interesting.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. There was nothing for his mind totch onto in this void. There was no stimulus of any kind. But this feeling of pain was so bright. In a void of nothingness, this feeling of pain was like a bright star. Shang inspected the feeling of pain. Did he like it? No. Did he want to feel it? No. But it was just so interesting! At the same time, Shang''s arm began to recover, and Shang''s Spirit Sense was intrigued by the process. His arm still made sense, and even when it grew, it continued making sense. Even when it shrunk, it continued making sense. But as soon as Shang focused on the individualponents of his arm, everything stopped making sense. It was like a bunch of circles that made a perfect square. There was no connection between the two things. The space, time, and gravity were so warped that everything broke down. It was so bizarre. Shang tore off his left index finger and slowly smushed it in his right hand. Watching his finger transform into tiny parts of flesh, bone, blood, and skin while still making sense was so weird. Shang''s Spirit Sense focused on his regrowing finger. Then, he moved his right index finger to the regrowing stump and scratched the middle off. Shang''s pain receptors were screaming at him, but he didn''t pay them any attention. Shang saw his finger regrow from different directions now. It was so interesting. Shang watched his fingerpletely regrow with fascination. At the same time, the pain also vanished. Silence. Nothingness. ¡®Wasn''t | thinking about something?¡¯ Shang focused on his arm. ¡®What was | thinking again?¡± Shang''s right hand moved to his left forearm. And he tore off the skin of his forearm in multiple pieces until there was no more skin left. Shang''s pain receptors were screaming at him. But it just was so interesting. There was nothing for Shang''s mind totch onto in the surroundings. Yet, the pain was so bright. It was the only thing Shang could focus on. The Sweeper had said that this was a good spot to rethink one''s choices and to make peace with one''s past. But that didn''t feel very appealing to Shang. It was much more appealing and interesting to listen to the pain and watch his arm regrow from different shapes and sizes. Shang watched his arm regrow its skin. He watched it regrow its nerves. He watched it regrow its bones. Watching his arm be whole again after losing multiple parts, again and again, was so mesmerizing and interesting. Eventually, Shang grew bored with his left arm and focused on his legs. He hadn''t seen them regrow yet. For an unknown amount of time, Shang just yed around with his legs, tearing off different parts and watching his body regrow them. At some point, Shang grew bored with his legs. He put his white robes away and focused on his torso. He created an opening and took out all of his individual organs. It was so interesting to see all of the things that were usually inside his body on the outside. As more time passed, Shang felt like the pain had dulled. It wasn''t as interesting anymore. Maybe it just wasn''t strong enough? So, Shang''s hands went to his face. Sure enough, things became interesting again. There was so much to do and try out. It was so interesting. "Wait, what?" Shang suddenly stopped moving forward and stopped doing whatever he had been doing just now. Just now, his Spirit Sense stopped advancing, and he sensed an opening in front of him. ¡®Oh, it''s the end.¡¯ Shang''s mind focused on the exit of the Reality Tear. ¡®Finally,¡¯ he thought as he released a long sigh. ''l feel like | was close to going mad in here.¡¯ ¡®Honestly, next time, | should take a detour.¡¯ ¡®| don''t know what the hell is wrong with the Sweeper that she voluntarilyes in here." "She might actually be crazy.¡¯ "Shang took a deep breath and summoned his clothing again.¡¯ His body had already fully healed again. ¡®| don''t want to feel anything like this again.¡¯ And then, Shang left the Reality Tear. Chapter 587 Chapter 587 Shang calmed down and exited the Reality Tear. SHING! Shang appeared on the outside, and for a moment, everything overwhelmed him. There was so much around him. He was so unused to having so much to look at with his Spirit Sense. ¡°Let''s continue," the Sweeper said.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only To her, not even a second had passed since Shang had entered the Reality Tear. To her, it was just like someone taking one step toward her. Of course, she knew that Shang had gone through years of isted traveling just now, but Shang''s aura seemed to be normal and stable. He didn''t seem any different from before. Shang only nodded without saying anything. He just wanted to forget whatever happened in the Reality Tear. The Sweeper used her Remote Disruptor on the barrier, and the two of them left the dangerous area. After going through the barrier, Shang and the Sweeper continued flying toward the west. The barrier they had just passed was the furthest Shang had ever gone before. From this point forward, he would enternds he had never entered before. The journey returned to its previous pace. The Sweeper kept going left and right to avoid all manners of beasts, and Shang simply followed. Even though Shang hadn''t been here before, the area didn''t seem any different than the other ones, which was to be expected. It was the same climate with the same trees and the same beasts. The two of them didn''tmunicate during the journey. Apparently, the Sweeper didn''t mind that Shang had seen her appearance, but that was also to be expected. There wasn''t really anything she could do about it, even if she minded. What was she supposed to do? Kill him? Her mission was to protect him, and if Shang died during it, she would have to pay a lot of reparations to the Temple of Blood. So what if he saw her. It didn''t really make a difference. After all, she also knew his face. The two of them continued traveling for a couple more hours and passed by another border. Getting through that border was far easier than the previous one. Then, they passed by another border. By now, they had been traveling for half a day, and Shang assumed that they were over 50,000 kilometers away from the branch right now. 50,000 kilometers in only half a day. That was an insane amount of distance to cover in only half a day, and it was even more insane if one considered the fact that they traveled left and right all the time to avoid beasts instead of in a straight line. On his own, Shang had taken far longer to travel that far back then. Back then, he had to wait for fitting groups to travel with, and he even needed to earn money to pay for his travels. Shang also knew that, if he were traveling alone, he might have already died. Going outside for someone below the Ancestral Mage Realm was extremely dangerous, especially for someone from the Temple of Blood. For the next ten hours, nothing of note happened. They just kept passing by one border after the other while avoiding beasts. "We are going to reach the next dangerous area soon,¡± the Sweeper suddenly transmitted to Shang. "What do | have to look out for?" Shang asked. ¡°Nothing much. This is more something that | have to deal with," the Sweeper answered. "To the north is the central base of operations of the Natural Selection Company. The Chairman of thepany is living there, and we can''t afford to go anywhere close to him." "On top of that, there are far more people watching and patrolling the surroundings. This is the base of the Enforcers, and 80% of them live and train here. While | am confident in being able to avoid nearly all Enforcers'' Spirit Senses, | am not that confident in your ability." Shang didn''t protest since she was right. ¡°Because of that, we have to take arge detour to the south. The problem is that we will enter the territory that''s the very reason why the central base of operations for the Natural Selection Company is here in the first ce." "The Eternal Maw¡¯s territory," the Sweeper said. Shang was familiar with that title, but he didn''t interject and simply let the Sweeper continue to talk. "The Eternal Maw is probably the most powerful Beast Lord in the Natural Selection Company''s territory. While nearly all the Beast Lords reduce their sizes, the Eternal Maw does the opposite and makes itself as big as possible." "The Eternal Maw is a humongous worm with an Earth and a Darkness Affinity. We are not certain how big it is since the Natural Selection Company never publicized its dimensions, but we''re estimating that just its mouth is five kilometers wide. We have no idea how long the entire worm is." "While it ignores weaker Ancestral Mages and Ancestral Beasts, it aggressively goes after the more powerful ones. Because of that, itis strictly prohibited for any Mid Ancestral Mage or more powerful to go anywhere close to the Eternal Maw." "If one of those gets too close, the Eternal Maw will destroy humongous areas ofnd and consume that person. That by itself isn''t that big of a problem. If someone dies, that''s their problem." "The problem is that the Eternal Maw changes location by traveling towards its prey, which means that more powerful Ancestral Mages could enter its Spirit Sense. The Eternal Maw would then chase that Ancestral Mage, and more Ancestral Mages would appear inside its Spirit Sense." "In short, if the Eternal Maw moves, every powerful Mage in over a 100,000-kilometer radius might die to it. That would also include our branches." Shang imagined what that would look like. An impossibly gigantic worm just moving in one direction, its maw wide enough to easily engulf the Storm Eagle. ¡°Of course," the Sweeper continued, "even if the Eternal Maw ignored our branches, we still wouldn''t want it to damage the Natural Selection Company. Without the Natural Selection Company, we wouldn''t have any business here." "We have to slip past the defenses and travel between the defenses and the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense. That''s the only way to get you past this ce." "We can''t get too close to the defenses, or they might see us, and we can''t get too close to the Eternal Maw, or it will kill me, leaving you alone in this location." "| don''t think | need to tell you what that would mean for you." Chapter 588 Chapter 588 Shang and the Sweeper traveled toward the southeast for another hour. Eventually, the two of them slowed down and stopped. "You stay here. | will scout around for a bit," the Sweeper said. Shang only nodded. The Sweeper vanished, and Shang simply waited. Shang had no idea what defenses were in front of them, but they probably weren''t weak. About ten minutester, the Sweeper returned. "| found a good spot where we can pass. The person guarding that spot has an Earth Affinity, and he doesn''t seem very attentive," the Sweeper said. Shang only nodded again. The two flew towards the south for a couple of minutes and stopped again. By now, Shang could tell that the surroundings were different again, and they were different in a sense that reminded him of Area 23. The Earth and Darkness Mana of the Eternal Maw were reaching this ce. Since releasing so much of one''s Mana was seen as a provocation amongst beasts, nearly no Ancestral Beast dared to release its Mana like this. Because of that, this part of the world was very temperate without any particr Zones. But things were different for Beast Lords. There was nothing that could possibly threaten them except for Mages, but the Mages also didn''t mind the Mana the Beast Lords were releasing. In fact, the Mages wanted the Beast Lords to release their Mana. Because of that, the areas surrounding the Beast Lords could be considered Zones, but there were not nearly enough Beast Lords to cover Aterium in Zones. Right now, the two of them were still around 15,000 kilometers away from the Eternal Maw, but Shang could already feel quite a bit of Darkness and Earth Mana in the surroundings. Due to that, the nts also assumed darker colors, and the terrain grew more mountainous. SHING! At that moment, something appeared in the Sweeper''s hands. It was a ck cloak identical to the one she was currently wearing. ¡°Wear that," the Sweeper said while throwing the cloak at him. Shang caught it and inspected it. As soon as he made physical contact with it, he could feel his Mana and Spirit Sense enter the cloak. There were so manyplex Magic Circles inside the cloak that it was nearly impossible for Shang to understand them. "I''m only lending you this cloak," the Sweeper said. "These cloaks can only be bought and used by Sweepers since they are one of our most important assets to keeping us Sweepers hidden from the enemy." ¡°But I''d rather not risk my life unnecessarily by putting my life into the hands of your ability alone.¡± Shang was already infusing the cloak with his Mana as she was talking. "To make full use of it, you need to know the level two Pure Concept of Darkness, Blindness. Do you know that?" she asked. "No," Shang answered. The Sweeper hesitated for a moment and remained quiet. She was very skeptical right now. White Ghost was supposed to be a pretty powerful and talented Initial Archmage with a Twilight Affinity. Yet, even though he was that powerful, he didn''t know the Concept of Blindness? That was hard to believe. For a couple of seconds, the Sweeper argued with herself about whether she should question Shang or not. On one hand, he didn''t need to tell her his powers, but on the other hand, they might actually die if he kept his powers hidden. It was risky. "Fine," she said after a while. "Just know that we will both die if you are not able to stay hidden. The cloak should also help you in using whatever ability you are using to hide from other people''s Spirit Senses." Shang put on the cloak and used Shroud. He didn''t feel any different. "It''s a bit better," the Sweeper said, "but not by much." The Sweeper could only sigh. "| just hope this works." After that, the two of them traveled toward the east. Shang quickly found an Ancestral Mage with his Spirit Sense, but he purposefully didn''t look at them. Powerful beings could feel weaker beings'' Spirit Senses. They easily passed by the guard while bypassing several investigative Magic Circles. A couple of minutester, the two of them stopped again. "We''re about a hundred kilometers outside his Spirit Sense''s range," the Sweeper said. Shang inspected his surroundings. There were far fewer nts around, and the terrain had be rockier. He could also feel many Archbeasts and even five Ancestral Beasts! Five Ancestral Beasts! Shang rarely entered the range of one, but there were actually five inside his Spirit Sense''s range right now. Even more, Shang felt quite a couple of Archmages. The Archmages were fighting Archbeasts and collecting valuable nts and ore. This wasn''t anything surprising. After all, with danger came wealth. The Eternal Maw¡¯''s territory might be extremely dangerous, but there were many powerful beasts and powerful treasures here. As long as no one too powerful walked around, there wouldn''t be any issues. "| don''t know exactly how far we are away from the Eternal Maw," the Sweeper said. "It could be 10,500 kilometers. It could be 20,000 kilometers. Even more, | can''t check because finding out means dying." "| don''t need you to do anything, but if you are willing to make the journey a bit less risky, | have a task for you," the Sweeper said. "What task?" Shang asked. "| can''t check where the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense ends, but you can," she said. "It won''t attack you." "You want me to stay near the Eternal Maw¡¯s Spirit Sense?" Shang asked.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. "In a way, yes," the Sweeper answered. "First, | want you to travel towards the Eternal Maw. At some point, you should be able to feel its Spirit Sense since it doesn''t try to keep itself hidden at all." "You will also notice that you won''t find a single Ancestral Beast there anymore. There are a lot of Ancestral Beasts around these parts, but there will be none inside the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense." ¡°As soon as you know where it is, you cane back and tell me. | just need to know how far away we currently are from its Spirit Sense." ¡°Are you up for it?" Chapter 589 Chapter 589 Shang didn''t hesitate for long. "Okay," he said. The Sweeper nodded. "The Ancestral Beasts don''t dare to fight too much. They can all feel the power of the Eternal Maw in the distance, and they fear that they might attract its attention by fighting.¡± "The Archbeasts don''t mind too much since they know that they won''t attract the attention of the Eternal Maw. You might have to fight some Archbeasts, but you should be powerful enough to deal with most of them." "If any of them prove to be too powerful, simplye back to my Spirit Sense, and | will deal with them for you. You should be able to survive for a while with Mana Step and Mana Shield," the Sweeper said. Shang only nodded. "I''ll be waiting here," the Sweeper said. Without saying anything further, Shang flew towards the east. Thanks to his huge Spirit Sense, he could avoid nearly all the powerful Archbeasts without any problems. Sure, he entered plenty of Spirit Senses of Ancestral Beasts, but just like the Sweeper said, they only quietly remained in their spots. Additionally, Shang was still wearing the cloak the Sweeper had given him, which helped him even more in staying hidden. Shang continued traveling for a couple of minutes. Since he didn''t need to avoid every single beast, he didn''t need to zigzag around and could just go toward the east in a straight line. By now, the Sweeper was no longer in Shang''s Spirit Sense. The world around Shang became browner as fewer and fewer nts appeared. The Ancestral Beasts also became fewer and fewer. But the number of Archbeasts actually shot up. While the Ancestral Beasts had to be careful, the Archbeasts didn''t, and Shang could see more and more. ¡®Not there yet,¡¯ Shang thought as he continued. Suddenly, Shang''s instincts began screaming at him. Shang couldn''t see any beast that was attacking him, but he felt like he was under attack. He immediately realized that he was being attacked by one of those beasts that could hide from Spirit Senses. While Shang was essentially invisible to Spirit Senses, these kinds of beasts were extremely good at looking through that kind of camouge. On top of that, they often used their eyes to hunt. Shang couldn''t see or feel any kind of attacking his way, but he trusted his instincts. Shang immediately pointed his open hand to the ground, a bit to his left. While the Sweeper was not inside Shang''s Spirit Sense anymore, it didn''t mean that Shang wasn''t inside the Sweeper''s Spirit Sense. The Sweeper was more powerful, had a greater Spirit Sense, and could even hide from Shang. It was possible that she was watching him at this moment, and Shang didn''t want to show his true power or fighting style. The Mana in Shang''s surroundings moved and shot toward the direction where Shang was pointing his left arm to. CRR! The Mana immediately hit something and was blocked, allowing Shang to perceive the attacker simply by looking at where the Mana couldn''t move to. It was a huge snake, nearly 200 meters long. 200 meters was obviously humongous, but for an Archbeast, that was on the small side. Ancestral Beasts were often several kilometers big, and Archbeasts were mainly between 200 and 500 meters long. 200 meters was the lower end of the spectrum. But Shang had already expected that. These kinds of ambush hunters were often not the biggest. While the snake was charging towards Shang with its widely opened maw, Shang inspected it calmly with his Spirit Sense. "Should be an Early Archbeast,'' he thought. ¡®It isn''t that fast, and it doesn''t give off a very strong feeling of threat." "Shouldn''t be a problem.¡¯ The Mana surrounding the snake gathered in front of Shang''s hand in an instant. The Mana was so fast that it seemed like time and space didn''t matter to it. Then, Shang shoved his arm forward. BANG! The snake suddenly hit something and stopped in the air. It was like it had suddenly hit an invisible barrier! The snake hadn''t been injured, but its charge had beenpletely stopped. Shang had used his World Connection topress the Mana in the surroundings and created a shield. While Shang''s body was weaker than the Early Archbeast''s, his World Connection was of a higher Realm than the Archbeast. The Early Archbeast couldn''tpare to Shang''s World Connection. After the snake hit the invisible shield, Shang pulled his right hand back and formed a de with it. Then, he chopped. The Mana in the surroundings gathered on Shang''s hand and shed forward like a humongous but invisible de. CRACK! BANG! The invisible de broke the snake''s scales and threw it into the brown ground. By now, there were nearly no trees around, and the world looked more like a dead wastnd. A huge cloud of dust exploded from the spot where the snakended on the ground. It would seem like the snake had died, but Shang knew that it was still alive. After all, this was a beast a level above him. While his World Connection was very powerful, he couldn''t just kill a beast above his level with a p. Shang formed a tip with his index and middle fingers. The Mana of the world gathered in front of Shang''s fingers. Then, he stabbed toward the spot where the snake was. CRACK! A beam of concentrated and invisible Mana shot forward, hitting the snake, which had just tried to fly out of the crater it had just created with its body.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. The beam hit the snake on the top of its head, breaking its scales and cracking its skull. BANG! The snake hit the ground again. Shang gathered more Mana and stabbed forward again. CRACK! This time, the snake''s skull broke apart, destroying huge parts of the snake''s brain. Although severely injured, the snake was still alive, and it was clumsily trying to flee. Shang formed a fist, and the Mana transformed into a huge and heavy de. Then, he swung his fist downward. BOOOOM! The cracked hole in the snake''s skullpletely broke apart, and its entire skull copsed onto the snake''s brain. The snake hit the ground, and its body spasmed for a couple of seconds before stopping. It had died. Chapter 590 Chapter 590 The fight had been very short, and Shang hadn''t even moved a single step since the start. If another person were here, they would be shocked by Shang''s way of fighting. Shang''s "Spells" were very powerful, being able to block a beast a level above him with ease, and they could even severely injure such a powerful beast without needing much time to be prepared. Additionally, the Spells were even invisible! Lastly, the Spells didn''t even show any kind of Affinity! No one would be able to tell what kind of Element or Affinity Shang had used to kill his enemy. The Spells were invisible and didn''t show any signs of any kind of Affinities. Although, there was one possibility. Did Shang have a Space or Gravity Affinity? This was what these kinds of attacks from these kinds of people looked like, right? Of course, not a single person would even entertain the thought that Shang was using something that wasn''t Magic. But one thing was clear. No one would be able to tell what kind of Affinity Shang had and what kind of "Spells" he had just cast. And whilepletely keeping his true power hidden, Shang managed to kill a beast a level above himself. The only thing he had done was to imitate different movements of his different States and made the Mana of the world move in these ways. The first block had been created by Shang, mimicking his Colossal Sword State blocking an attack. The following sh had been created by Shang mimicking a sh with his Saber State. The forward stab had been created by Shang mimicking a stab with his Long Sword State. Andstly, the heavy attack was created by Shang mimicking a heavy, all-out attack with his Great Sword State. Shang had used swordsmanship to kill the snake, but he hadn''t used a sword. He had simply made the world act like he had a sword. Shang pocketed the corpse and continued flying toward the east. At some point, he should be able to feel the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense. Eventually, there were no more Ancestral Beasts in front of Shang anymore, but the number of Archbeasts only increased. Shang fully focused on his instincts as he continued to travel. By now, there were no more nts visible on the ground, but there was also something quite interesting. There were a lot of Archmages. The Archmages were scouring thend for any kind of ore or hidden treasures. In a way, all of this reminded Shang of the Wastnd in the Storm Eagle Zone in Area 23. By now, Shang no longer dared to fly in the open. There were no more huge nts to cover him, and there were way too many Archmages. While Shang was invisible to their Spirit Senses, he was still visible to their eyes. Like a ghost, Shang hovered slightly above the ground as he continued eastward. And then, he immediately stopped moving. Just now, it was like Shang had stepped into a different world. Since Shang wasn''t viewing the world with his eyes but with his Spirit Sense, he saw the world very differently from normal humans. Shang saw the world as Mana, essentially. Trees were aplex mix of Earth and Water Mana, and Shang could also see all the individual pieces of Mana leaving the trees due to their metabolisms. The ground was made of different forms of Earth, Water, Metal, and even Fire Mana. All of theseplexbinations had their own forms and feelings. In a way, one could say that all these differentbinations that made up different forms of matter were of a different color for Shang, and he could also see these colors slowly enter the surroundings. Nearly every piece of matter was giving a bit of its Mana off to the surroundings. In a way, one could imagine this as a stone ina river that had some paint on it. As the water passed by it, the color was also slowly washed off, following the river. This was happening to everything in Shang''s surroundings, and that was how he perceived his world. And just now, all of that had suddenly changed. All these small streams of color were no longer entering the surroundings but were charging toward the south-southeast. In Shang''s vision, nearly no Wind Mana from the sky was reaching him anymore, effectively making the sky seem nearly lifeless and ck. Even Shang''s Spirit Sense felt a pull towards the south-southeast, and he even felt like small chunks of his Spirit Sense were tom off. It was like there was a humongous ck hole towards the south that pulled in all manners of Mana. However, at the same time, Shang felt the ground give off a strong stream of brown Earth Mana. While the ground gave off Earth Mana regrly everywhere in the world, it was several times stronger here. It was like the ground was essentially trying to flood the surroundings in brown before also being pulled towards the south. Shang was certain that he had reached the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense. For a while, Shang focused on perceiving the world around him. He was supposed to visit the Sky Lantern and find out what made a Beast Lord a Beast Lord, but maybe he could also find that out here. Shang focused on his surroundings. It was like the world was being absorbed and pulled towards the south. However, that wasn''t anything new. That was simply the effect of the World Connection. Shang could also do that but on a far smaller and weaker magnitude. ¡®Forget it,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I need to see it if | want to know more, and that''s too risky right now." Shang marked the spot down where he felt the change in the world and traveled in apletely new direction. This time, Shang was traveling toward the southwest. He was closely traveling along the edge of the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense for a while. After some minutes, he stopped.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. He looked at the map he had created inside his mind and drew the edge of the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense on it. It was round, and with just that, he could easily calcte where the actual Eternal Maw was and where its Spirit Sense could reach. This wasn''t anything difficult for someone with the mind of an Initial High Mage. With that, Shangpleted his small task and traveled back to the Sweeper. Chapter 591 Chapter 591 After a while, Shang returned to the Sweeper, who still remained in the same ce. Without saying anything, Shang transmitted the map he made in his mind to the Sweeper. The Sweeper nodded. "So, the Spirit Sense starts at around 1,500 kilometers from here and might even reach the spot where we were nning on going." "Good job. This will help us a lot." Shang didn''t answer and simply stopped behind the Sweeper, ready to continue. The two of them continued traveling toward the east. The Sweeper decided that it would be best for them to travel in the middle between the Natural Selection Companies¡¯ defenses and the Eternal Maw''s Spirit Sense. They passed by several Ancestral Beasts, but only a few of them could see through their disguises. However, none of the Ancestral Beasts attacked. If Shang were alone, some of them might attack since they could simply move forward and consume him. That wouldn''t require them to unleash all of their powers, which meant that the Eternal Maw might not notice them. After all, it would basically be just like walking to them. Sadly, the Sweeper made that impossible for them. While they could easily devour this Archmage, that Ancestral Mage beside him felt extremely dangerous. For the next couple of minutes, the two of them continued traveling without any incident. They had seen hundreds of Archmages in thest couple of minutes. Sure enough, thisnd was brimming with natural resources. Due to the high density of Ancestral Beasts and the Beast Lord, the surroundings were brimming with extremely rare and valuable treasures. On top of that, the Ancestral Beasts also weren''t even nearly as aggressive as outside this territory. No wonder this was the most valuable territory of all the Natural Selection Company''s territories. This also exined why the Chairman lived so close to this territory. They had to protect it at all cost! The two of them continued traveling in a half-circle. Acouple of minutester, they reached the northeastern part of the territory. Just a bit more, and they would get out. However, something troublesome happened. A Mid Archbeast had found Shang but not the Sweeper. Because of that, the Archbeast thought that Shang was alone and decided to attack. While the Mid Archbeast wasn''t dangerous to Shang, it was still a huge problem. It would follow him and try to catch him, which would essentially broadcast their location to every human and beast in the surroundings. Additionally, some Ancestral Beasts might even decide to get involved after seeing that the Ancestral Mage beside Shang didn''t get involved. Even more, they couldn''t possibly break through the defenses like this. Lastly, the Sweeper couldn''t even get involved since there was an Ancestral Mage rather close to them. While they might overlook some Archbeasts fighting, they wouldn''t overlook the sudden appearance of dense Mana that only an Ancestral Mage could produce. Shang could kill it, but he would need to use his Sword, which would show that he was a warrior. "Can you deal with it?" the Sweeper asked with a voice transmission. "Difficult," Shang immediately answered. "My Spells aren''t very powerful.¡± The Sweeper remained silent for a bit as they continued to fly towards the southeast, but they didn''t have long. The beast would soon catch up. The Sweeper was evaluating all her options. She couldn''t fight herself, or she might draw the attention of that Ancestral Mage, any of the Archmages, or maybe even the Eternal Maw. They couldn''t retreat for too long, or more beasts might join in. They couldn''t break through the defenses with this thing following them. They could try to lure the beast to one of the Ancestral Mages, making it look like it was attacking that Mage, but there were several risks associated with that move. "| can increase the density of the surrounding Mana, which will strengthen that ability you use to imitate Ancestral Beasts," the Sweeper said. The Sweeper felt Shang''s Spirit Sense fixate on her. "You fought in my Spirit Sense earlier," she answered, "and | also fought plenty of Ancestral Beasts before. | can tell that you somehow managed to create a weaker form of their special ability.¡± "You shouldn''t need to worry. You are a Named Agent, and you should know that we can''t give sensitive information to others. Even if | wanted to tell someone about this ability, | would have to seriously consider the risks associated with it." "Your secret''s out, and you can''t do anything about it. Just ept it and deal with it," she transmitted. Shang looked like he considered the Sweeper''s words for a moment. Sure enough, she had watched him fight earlier, but Shang had already been prepared for that. Instead of connecting Shang to a physical fighter, she thought that Shang''s secret was that he could imitate an Ancestral Beast''s power with a Spell. Of course, creating such a Spell was amazing, and it was definitely something someone would want to keep hidden at all cost. But it was nothingpared to Shang''s true secret.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only "Fine," Shang answered. The two of them stopped, and the Sweeper focused on her surroundings. While most of her Spells would attract attention, just dumping some Mana into the surroundings to increase the density wouldn''t be an issue. By distributing Mana in such a vast area, the density didn''t even nearly reach the level of an Ancestral Mage. The Ancestral Mage close to them looked over with his Spirit Sense, but he quickly looked away again in boredom. There were a couple of beasts that could hide from his Spirit Sense, and he saw them fight all the time. At the moment, he saw an Archbeast attack something invisible, which was preparing for a counterattack by releasing Mana, but that wasn''t anything special or surprising. BOOOM! Shang stabbed his index and middle fingers upwards, and the concentrated Mana in the surroundings hit the Archbeast on the chin. The Archbeast was a red tiger, and it was flung upwards by the strike. The tiger didn''t get injured by the strike, but its attack was interrupted. The next moment, Shang felt a great amount of Darkness Mana gather around him. It wasn''t aggressive in any way and just surrounded him. The Sweeper had decided to gift Shang a ton of Darkness Mana for his next attack. Shang extended all his fingers and formed a de with his hand. The ck cloud of Darkness Mana gathered and assumed the shape of a saber. Shang shed down. SHING! And the red tiger''s head was bisected vertically. The Darkness Mana had weakened its defenses to such a degree that Shang''s World Connection had easily cut through it. The tiger died in an instant, but Shang didn''t put it into his Space Ring. The Sweeper turned around and continued flying while Shang followed. Crrrr! At the same time, the corpse on the ground began to slide toward the east as well. The Sweeper was making it seem like the invisible beast was pulling the dead beast away to consume it in safety. The Ancestral Mage looked over. He was a bit surprised by the power of the invisible beast, but as long as it didn''t attack their Archmages, he didn''t really care. A couple of minutester, the corpse was pulled out of the Ancestral Mage''s Spirit Sense, and Shang put it away. They had solved the problem. Chapter 592 Chapter 592 The two of them traveled for a bit more and eventually slipped past the defenses. They had officially left the Eternal Maw¡¯s territory, making the journey far easier. As soon as they left the Eternal Maw''s territory behind, they rapidly continued towards the east, zigzagging constantly. ¡°Are there any more dangerous territories?¡± Shang asked. "One more," the Sweeper answered, "but it is the least dangerous one. Usually, it would be quite dangerous, but if you have some insights into darkness, it won''t be a problem to get through it." Shang nodded. "And that''s it?" "Correct. After that, the only dangerous location would be the Sky Lantern''s territory, but it isn''t as aggressive as the Eternal Maw. By now, the two of them were about 200,000 kilometers away from Shang''s branch, which actually wasn''t even a third of the complete way. However, the two most dangerous areas were near the center of the Natural Selection Company''s territory, and they had just passed them. Shang and the Sweeper kept traveling for nearly three days after this spot. They broke through several borders, but none of the borders had been troublesome. Of course, there were more dangerous areas, but they didn''t need to go through them. By now, they had traveled for a total of four days, and they were only 100,000 kilometers away from the Sky Lantern. Even though the climate hadn''t changed previously, Shang could now see the difference. They mostly traveled towards the east, but they had also traveled quite a bit towards the south, and Shang could tell that the surroundings had be a bit hotter. The trees still basically looked the same, but Shang could see a couple of new kinds from time to time. After four days of travel, Shang and the Sweeper reached thest dangerous area on their journey. As Shang continued flying forward, he noticed that the amount of Darkness Mana in the surroundings grew higher and higher. He was even sure that, if he had eyes, he wouldn''t be able to see anything at a certain point. The Darkness Mana grew denser and denser, and Shang even felt his Spirit Sense being warped. Shang focused on the Concept of Shadow and used his Spirit Sense in tandem with it. The Darkness Mana in the surroundings began to illuminate inside Shang''s Spirit Sense, and he could feel it moving around. He could feel how the Darkness Mana hit certain spots and bounced off. He could feel spots that the Darkness Mana couldn''t get to. He could feel the general trajectory of Darkness Mana.Text ? by N0ve/lDrama.Org. Shang had never been in a location with such dense Darkness Mana, and he had never been able to feel the Darkness Mana this clearly. Of course, over the past couple of days, the Sweeper had informed him about this area. This was thest dangerous area, the Lake of Darkness. The Lake of Darkness wasn''t actuallyprised of water but of pure Darkness Mana. The Lake of Darkness was a 5,000-kilometer-wide basin filled to the brim with thick Darkness Mana. From the outside, it looked like ake of ck smoke that stretched into the horizon. The Lake of Darkness seemed mystical and magical, but it wasn''t actually that strange. It was simply the hunting ground of the Darkness Weaver Ants. The Darkness Weaver Ants were powerful beasts that worked and lived inrge groups. There were often tens of thousands, if not millions, of ants in one nest, and they marked their territory with thisyer of Darkness Mana. The size of their territory depended on how many Ancestral Beast Ants a group had. This specific territory was the biggest one in the entire Natural Selection Company. The next biggest one was only a tenth as wide. The size of the Lake of Darkness signified that this nest of Darkness Weaver Ants had a bit over a hundred Ancestral Beast Ants. They probably also had over ten thousand Archbeast Ants and probably over a million High Beast Ants. After adapting to his new surroundings, Shang already found more than a thousand Darkness Weaver Ants in his Spirit Sense. Funnily enough, most of them weren''t walking around but actually just being buried in the ground. The Darkness Weaver Ants were just waiting in the ground for any prey to approach them. Ironically enough, they looked more like ant lions than actual ants by doing that. Under normal circumstances, the thick Darkness Mana would severely disrupt one''s Spirit Sense, but by using the Concept of Shadow, Shang managed to perceive his surroundings clearly. The Sweeper had already exined to Shang that the ants were simply waiting for their prey to approach and enter. The Lake of Darkness moved in an ebb-and-flow pattern. Under normal circumstances, the Lake of Darkness was about 5,000 kilometers wide, but by saving up a lot of excess Darkness Mana, the Darkness Weaver Ants could expand theke momentarily to a size of 6,500 kilometers. As soon as any living being was engulfed by the Darkness Mana, they would enter a panic and run in a random direction. Due to the disorienting effect of the Darkness Mana, the beasts wouldn''t be able to tell the different directions apart, and a big group of them would enter the Lake of Darkness. That''s when the Darkness Weaver Ants would strike them and pull them back to the nest. The Darkness Weaver Ants were very weak on their own. They were slow, clunky, and they didn''t have much power. The best they could do was to close their pincers around a target, remain stuck on the target, and fill it with venomous Darkness Mana. In a way, walking through the Lake of Darkness was like walking through a dark room filled with mouse traps, just more dangerous. It would be a miracle if someone only triggered a single mouse trap at a time. Something like this could overwhelm even an Ancestral Mage. However, if one knew some Darkness Laws, it wouldn''t be difficult to get through the Lake of Darkness. Ironically enough, the ants weren''t very good at finding beings that were using the darkness to their advantage to hide. The Darkness Weaver Ants perceived their eternally dark surroundings by the movement of Darkness Mana, but if a person managed to simply make the Darkness Mana move around them without actually interfering with the continuous flow, the Darkness Weaver Ants wouldn''t see them. The Sweeper and Shang simply flew through the Lake of Darkness, avoiding the Ancestral Beast Ants while simply ignoring every other ant. Not a single ant was triggered, and the two of them flew out of the Lake of Darkness in just a couple of minutes. Sure enough, it had been easy to pass through it. Chapter 593 Chapter 593 Shang and the Sweeper continued towards the east. All the dangerous areas were now behind them, and the only thing between them and their target was distance. The Sweeper was amazing at avoiding all kinds of beasts. Even though they had been traveling for over four days by now, not even a single beast had attacked them during all this time. Even back when Shang had traveled in groups, they had been attacked by several beasts. But the journey had been very rxed with the Sweeper. The only problematic part had been the Reality Tear, but Shang had entered that of his own volition, knowing fully well what would await him. Twelve hourster, the two of them reached their goal. They had crossed the entire 700,000 kilometers. "The Sky Lantern''s territory is right in front of us," the Sweeper said. Shang didn''t need the Sweeper to tell him that. The surroundings were already saying as much. Areally strong wind had picked up in the surroundings. Normal nts were already nowhere to be seen, reced by nts that didn''t grow upward but in a diagonal manner. If one imagined some high grass being pushed backward by the wind, one could imagine how these nts looked. Shang guessed that this was the only way the nts could resist such a constant and powerful wind. Luckily, the wind seemed to always move in the same direction. Shang guessed that the wind was already over 150 kph fast, which would count as a devastating storm on Earth. Surprisingly, the wind also didn''t have the slight green tint of Wind Mana, but it was actually pure white, filled with Light Mana. It was almost like the wind was actually a continuous wave of light.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only "Is there anything | have to do?" Shang asked. "There isn''t much," the Sweeper said. "Compared to the Eternal Maw, the Sky Lantern is very peaceful. It even heals some beasts and even humans sometimes of dangerous ailments." Shang was quite surprised by that. He knew that, even though everyone could basically regrow their entire body easily, there were still some chronic ailments, but they were very rare. For example, there was a terrifying Spell that Poison Mages could use. That Spell essentially created a Poison Mana generator in someone''s body, which would slowly transform the victim''s Mana to Poison Mana. Of course, if the victim didn''t have a Poison Affinity, they would slowly sumb. Funnily enough, that Spell wasn''t actually meant to kill the victim but to rob the victim''s organization of resources. The victim could be healed, but due to the specific way the Spell worked, it would take a ridiculous amount of expensive resources. There were a couple more Spells from different Affinities that could create something simr, but the one from the Poison Affinity was considered the strongest. Of course, such Spells weren''t usually used during a normal fight since they took a lot of concentration, Mana, and time to be cast. During a battle, using these Spells would be idiotic. Because of that, only a rare few people would be inflicted by these kinds of Spells. These were not Spells for battles but for long wars. And, apparently, the Sky Lantern was willing to heal such people of such afflictions, which was very unusual for a beast. "There are only two small things you have to look out for," the Sweeper said. "First, don''t attack anything, even if it attacks you. The Sky Lantern doesn''t like aggression in its territory, and it will kill and consume anything that dares to show aggression to anything within its domain." When Shang heard that, he actually found it ironic. He had expected the Sky Lantern to be some saintly and peaceful beast after hearing about it from the Sweeper, but now, he could only snort. Would a peaceful and saintly being immediately kill anyone that showed even the slightest aggression? Sure, some punishment would be in order, but immediately killing someone and eating them was a bit extreme. Instead of a peaceful and tranquil elder, the Sky Lantern appeared more like an idealistic dictator now. It felt quite hypocritical to Shang. However, Shang wouldn''t act upon his distaste. He wasn''t nearly powerful enough, and the Sky Lantern didn''t concern him. As long as it didn''t try to hurt him, he wouldn''t care. "No aggression at all?" Shang asked. "No aggression at all," the Sweeper confirmed. Shang nodded. "And the second thing?" "Don''t use too much Darkness Mana," the Sweeper answered. "A bit is not a problem. We can probably keep our Cloaking Spells active, but we definitely can''t use any other Spell with Darkness Mana. The Sky Lantern is not a big fan of Darkness Mana." "For safety''s sake, | would even suggest deactivating our Cloaking Spells for now. While we can probably use them, | don''t want to take any chances." Shang nodded and deactivated Shroud. The normal colors of his body returned, making him appear more like a human again. The Sweeper also deactivated her Cloaking Spell, but she didn''t seem different at all. "I''m fine with staying here for up to a month, but that''s the most you will get. | can''t waste that much time," the Sweeper told Shang. Shang nodded. "That should be enough.¡± "Then, let''s go." Shang and the Sweeper entered the Sky Lantern¡¯s territory. The more they advanced, the more powerful the storm grew. Shang could even see some True Beasts being flung away by the powerful gales, which was quite impressive. The power of the wind in the surroundings was already as strong as when the Storm Eagle had flown across its Zone back then. The fact that there were still a couple of nts able to survive in this intense wind was already more than impressive. By now, Shang could also feel quite a lot of High Beasts and Archbeasts in the surroundings. Instead of fighting and hiding, they were simply lying on the ground with closed eyes. It was almost like they were just enjoying the wind and the Light Mana that followed. Over a long exposure, the wind in the surroundings was bound to injure most of these beasts. Being able to resist such a powerful wind was one thing, but staying inside it for days or weeks was something different. The powerful wind would definitely tear out hair and slowly grind away at the skin of some of these beasts. However, that was actually what these beasts wanted. While the terrifying wind was injuring them, the dense Light Mana in the wind was healing them. Even though beasts didn''t have the mental capacity to train, they were essentially training just by being in this ce. One had to remember that the powerful bodies of the beasts were that powerful naturally. Beasts could be quite a bit more powerful by training their bodies. The problem was just that they were too stupid to do that. But in this ce, they essentially didn''t need to do anything. They just needed to stay here. ¡®Is the Sky Lantern doing this on purpose? | mean, | wouldn''t usually believe that a beast would be that smart, but the Sky Lantern is a Beast Lord. Maybe Beast Lords are smarter?¡¯ The Sweeper and Shang continued traveling towards the east. More and more Ancestral Beasts appeared in their surroundings, but none of them looked at them. They definitely noticed the two of them, but they just didn''t care. And eventually, they reached the Sky Lantern. Chapter 594 Chapter 594 Eventually, Shang and the Sweeper found the Sky Lantern. Shang couldn''t see it, but his Spirit Sense painted a beautiful image. Up in the sky, there was a second sun, but inparison to the sun everyone knew, this one didn''t hurt anyone if they dared to look at it. The second sun was pure white and bright, but it didn''t injure anyone, and it also didn''t give off any warmth.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only However, the light the second sun was giving off feltforting. Shang felt the Mana inside his body start to move around on its own as if it were trying to heal something. Sadly, there was nothing to heal. After years of training and gaining more knowledge, Shang found out what his ability of Entropy actually did to his body. Humans were made of the body, the mind, and the soul. The mind was simply the brain perceiving the surroundings with the body, while the body was just that, the body. But the soul was something different. The soul was the very thing that dictated someone''s existence. The soul dictated how big something was and what it was made out of, and it represented the individuality of every person. When Shang''s arm was cut off, his body could simply regrow it, and it achieved this by using Mana to synchronize the body with the soul again. The soul still dictated that Shang had an arm, and the body would simply shape the Mana in such a way that Shang would receive a new arm that was identical to the old one. However, this didn''t work when Shang sacrificed something to his Entropy. When Shang had sacrificed his eyes, he had essentially transformed the eyes of his soul into pure power. Shang lost a part of his soul whenever he used Entropy. Additionally, Shang hadn''t sacrificed an insignificant portion of his soul. It was often said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and that wasn''t just a useless phrase. The eyes were the primary method a normal human used to perceive their surroundings. They were of utmost importance. So, even though the eyes were actually just a small part of someone''s body, they actually made up a significant portion of someone''s soul. By sacrificing both his eyes, Shang lost about 15% of his soul. But that was also the reason why Shang''s Entropy had been able to show such great effects in the past. If Shang had sacrificed something like his hair or his fingernails, he wouldn''t have been able to unleash a lot of power. These rtively unimportant parts didn''t even take up 0.1% of his soul. Sacrificing such stuff with Entropy would essentially achieve nothing. Because of that, all the Light Mana in the surroundings couldn''t heal Shang''s eyes at all. Even more, Shang''s soul wasn''t even injured. If it were just injured, there might be some hope to regain his eyes. Sadly, Entropy had taken these parts away, and it was like they had never been there in the first ce. Even if Shang found some kind of miraculous treasure that could heal someone''s soul, it would probably only strengthen Shang''s soul without adding his eyes back into it. Light Mana used life energy to heal someone''s body, but it couldn''t expand someone''s soul. For a while, the Sweeper and Shang only remained below the second sun in the sky, the Sky Lantern. While the second sun in the sky seemed peaceful, the same couldn''t be said for the ground below it. A powerful storm was raging around Shang and the Sweeper, more powerful than any storm on Earth. Yet, even here, some nts still managed to survive and thrive. Shang guessed that was probably due to the dense Light Mana in the surroundings. ¡°Your month of time starts now," the Sweeper transmitted to Shang. Shang didn''t answer. He just kept looking at the Sky Lantern. While the light made it impossible for any person to view the Sky Lantern with their eyes, the same wasn''t true for Spirit Senses. Shang could see the Sky Lantern clearly with his Spirit Sense. The Sky Lantern was a white bird, only about five meters long. It looked a bit like a peacock but also different. If there were no light around it, and if it were just walking down the street, it wouldn''t look more impressive than a General Stage beast. Sure, its white color was mesmerizing, but that would be about it. It wouldn''t look intimidating or very powerful without its light. Right now, this white bird was just standing in the sky. Yes, standing. It wasn''t flying or moving. It was simply standing in the sky like it would be standing on the ground. It was simply looking slightly toward the sky. Its eyes didn''t seem to be focused on anything in particr, and it was just standing there. In a way, it looked a bit like a shining statue. Shang''s Spirit Sense was fully focused on it, and he was trying his hardest to understand it. The Sky Lantern''s power didn''t feel aggressive or suppressive, but Shang could feel its weight. Just like a huge pet that didn''t want to crush its owner, the power around Shang could be pushed away, but he could still feel its massive strength, size, and magnitude. It was so powerful. Shang had never felt such incredible power before. Sure, he had met several beings that were stronger than the Sky Lantern, but none of these beings had actually shown their true power in front of Shang. The God always seemed like a mortal. The Starlight Queen had seemed like a normal Mage. The Keeper had never shown her power in front of Shang. And the Eternal Maw had been too far away from Shang. This was the first time Shang actually stood in front of something this powerful and actually being able to perceive its power. Shang sat down and focused on the Sky Lantern. As of this moment, only the Sky Lantern and Shang existed inside Shang''s Spirit Sense. Everything else became irrelevant. Shang was doing his best toprehend whatever made the Sky Lantern different from all the other beasts he had seen in the past. He could already feel that the Sky Lantern was very different from other beasts. There was just something unique about it. And it was Shang''s job to find out what that was. However, before Shang could truly get lost in hisprehension, something happened. Shang saw the Sky Lantern¡¯s head turn. And then, its eyes focused on Shang. Chapter 595 Chapter 595 The Sky Lantern turned its head and looked at Shang. At that moment, Shang felt like the eyes of the Sky Lantern were staring into his own, even though he didn''t have any. It was a weird sensation. As Shang''s Spirit Sense looked at the Sky Lantern, he felt its Spirit Sense investigate him. There were many beasts around this ce, but the Sky Lantern didn''t focus on any of them. It only looked at him. Amomentter, Shang''s body began to levitate on its own. The Sweeper looked at Shang with a bit of nervousness. If the Sky Lantern decided to do something to White Ghost, she wouldn''t be able to do anything. However, she also wouldn''t receive payment for her job. She could only wait. At least the Sky Lantern wasn''t known for killing humans or beasts without any reason. Shang felt himself being pulled upward, closer to the Sky Lantern. Yet, even though the Sky Lantern was moving Shang against his will, he felt like he could escape the grasp. But that was only because the Sky Lantern gave him the option. If it wanted, it could paralyze Shang indefinitely with just its mind. The minds of beasts were far weaker than the minds of Mages, but the Sky Lantern was so much more powerful than Shang that it didn''t matter that its mind wasparatively weaker. After a couple of seconds, Shang stopped in front of the second sun in the sky. There was only a canvas of white in front of Shang, but in Shang''s Spirit Sense, he saw the majestic white bird looking at him. And then, Shang felt the Sky Lantern''s feelings. Curiosity. That was the main emotion the Sky Lantern felt. It had seen many humans in its life, but this one felt very different from all the other ones. First of all, this human''s mind was very weak for someone in the Fifth Realm. Second, this human''s body was very powerful for someone in the Fifth Realm. Third, this human didn''t have any eyes. Fourth, the Sky Lantern could feel the human''s Twilight Affinity, which was supremely rare. Fifth, and most importantly, this human could use the World Connection that only Ancestral Beasts could use. Not only was this the first time a human could even use that, but exactly that human could also use it in the Fifth Realm. To the Sky Lantern, this human didn''t feel like a human. However, he also didn''t feel like a beast. It was very strange. From this distance, Shang could also study the Sky Lantern''s power better. By now, he could feel something that was very different from an Ancestral Beast. An Ancestral Beast consumed the Mana in its surroundings and converted it to Elemental Mana of its Element. That was the effect of the World Connection, and even Shang could do it. However, the Mana around the Sky Lantern was different. Instead of being expelled subconsciously, it was more like the Sky Lantern was expelling it in a controlled manner. It was like the Sky Lantern was telling its Mana how to behave after it left its body. So, instead of just creating an area filled with light and wind, the Sky Lantern actually created thisplex storm of wind and light consciously. It was almost like the Sky Lantern had designed its own territory. Its surroundings were doing what it wanted them to do. ¡®It is different from the normal World Connection,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®However, | could do something simr. | would just need to dedicate a bit of focus on my surroundings.¡¯ "So, that can''t be the secret.¡¯ The Sky Lantern looked at Shang for several minutes. For some reason, Shang didn''t feel nervous. He felt no feeling of enmitying from the Sky Lantern. If this were the past, Shang would be afraid of the Sky Lantern killing him due to him resembling an Abomination, but with Humanity, that was no longer a problem. Lucius had imed that not even a Mage Emperor could see through his Spell. Eventually, the Sky Lantern focused on Shang''s eye sockets. It closed its eyes, and the light around it became brighter as its focus gathered. Shang didn''t have much hope. In his mind, he knew that the Sky Lantern probably couldn''t do anything about his eyes. But maybe. Just maybe. Asmall glimmer of hope still appeared in Shang''s mind. What if it actually could? What if it actually managed to regrow Shang''s eyes? Shang''s heartbeat sped up a little. Maybe he was underestimating the Sky Lantern? It was a being of the Seventh Realm with a Light Affinity. If the Sky Lantern couldn''t regrow Shang''s eyes, only the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors with Light or Water Affinities would be left. However, would they even be able to do anything about this? In terms of raw power, as a Beast Lord, the Sky Lantern probably belonged to the top 100,000 strongest beings in the entire world. On top of that, it had a Light Affinity. It was already truly powerful. So, maybe, it could actually do it? More and more Light Mana gathered around the Sky Lantern. Shang''s eyes didn''t regrow. Eventually, the Light Mana dispersed a little. WHOOOM! Then, it gathered again, but this time, it was moving in incrediblyplex ways. Shang was shocked when he noticed that the Sky Lantern had summoned a humongous Magic Circle! A Magic Circle! This beast was actively using a Magic Circle! But how?! This wasn''t like that one centipede that just used the Magic Circle inside its DNA. No, the Sky Lantern was actually consciously creating a Magic Circle, which meant that it was casting a Spell! This beast was actually casting a real Spell! Theoretically, beasts could cast Spells. The problem was that their minds were too primitive to retain all the information necessary to create aplex Magic Circle. Additionally, it required many calctions and logic to create something like that. Only a human with an intelligent consciousness and mind could achieve something like that. And that''s when Shang''s mouth opened in shock. He understood. Acouple of secondster, the light around Shang vanished. His eye sockets were still empty. The Sky Lantern looked at Shang. "| can''t regrow your eyes, human," it transmitted. Shang understood. The thing that made a Beast Lord superior to an Ancestral Beast. It was intelligence. It gained sapience.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. And Shang knew... ¡®I can''t use that to reach the Sixth Realm.¡¯ ¡®| already have sapience!¡¯ Chapter 596 Chapter 596 Shang remained silent for a while. The Sky Lantern kept looking at Shang. It could understand why this human was so distraught. The human had arrived in front of it in hopes of having his eyes healed. Yet, to the Sky Lantern''s and the human''s surprise, the Sky Lantern didn''t have the ability to heal his eyes. "| might not have the ability to regrow your eyes," the Sky Lantern transmitted, "but there is someone out there that can." Shang was distracted by the fact that he hade here for absolutely nothing, but the Sky Lantern''s words pulled him back to reality. Wait, there was a way to regrow his eyes? "What way?" Shang asked via voice transmission. ¡°Far to the west of the world," the Sky Lantern transmitted, "lies the Holy Land of Life." "I''ve never been there, but | have met beasts that have been there." "The Holy Land of Life is the home of the Queen of Life." "ording to legend, the Queen of Life can heal any injury.¡± This was the first time Shang was conversing with a beast, but he couldn''t be bothered thinking about that right now. The Sky Lantern actually had a clue to get his eyes back! ¡°How can | get there?" Shang asked with a hopeful voice. When the Sky Lantern felt the human''s emotions turn from depression to eagerness, it felt d. It had felt a little bit guilty and ashamed that it hadn''t been able to heal the human''s eyes. ¡°After traveling to the west for many days, you will eventually reach the great ocean. Many beings believe this to be the end of the world, but if you continue going, you will reach the Holy Land of Life eventually," the Sky Lantern said. "But you must be careful. The Queen of Life can heal any injuries, but getting to her will be difficult. While | do not discern between beast and human, | can''t say the same for all the other beasts." "They will try to stop you, and they will not care for your words, emotions, or reasons." ¡°If you want to request the Queen of Life''s help, you must be powerful enough to resist thebined power of the Holy Land of Life." ¡®It''s talking about one of the inds around Aterium, the ones housing the Beast Kings,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Apparently, one of these Beast Kings has some way of regrowing my eyes." ¡°How can the Queen of Life regrow my eyes when you can''t?" Shang asked. "You are a Beast Lord, and you have a Light Affinity." Shang felt like the Sky Lantern was smiling at him, even though its demeanor didn''t seem any different from before.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only "The Queen of Life is the representation of life," the Sky Lantern transmitted. "Her Affinity is not Water, Light, Darkness, or whatever we consider Affinities." "Her Affinity is Life itself." Shang''s mouth opened slightly in surprise. "Life? Her Affinity is Life?" "Yes," the Sky Lantern answered. "Life can be an Affinity?" Shang asked. "Then, can Death also be an Affinity?" For some reason, Shang felt like the Sky Lantern was sighing. "You humans are so inquisitive," it transmitted as Shang''s body was slowly floating back to the ground. "Yes, there is an Affinity for Death. Let this be myst answer to yourst question." Of course, Shang had many more questions, but he knew that asking them would be foolish. "Thank you for your help," Shang said. Shang felt a slight feeling of acknowledgmente from the Sky Lantern. "Leave," it transmitted. "| will," Shang transmitted. Amomentter, Shangnded beside the Sweeper. The Sweeper had a couple of questions after seeing that Shang had been pulled towards the Sky Lantern and then pushed back. She wondered what had actually happened just now. Yet, she knew that she was only here to fulfill her mission. Her client''s affairs didn''t concern her. "We can return," Shang said. "Already?" the Sweeper asked. However, her tone didn''t sound surprised. Shang nodded. "I have gotten what | havee here for." "Alright," the Sweeper said as she turned around. Then, the two of them left the Sky Lantern''s territory. The trip hadn''t gone as Shang had expected. He hade to find a path to the Sixth Realm. Yet, the very thing that Ancestral Beasts used to be Beast Lords was something that Shang couldn''t possibly use. After all, he already had that thing. It was devastating. Shang had paid so much money to get here, but the trip had been pointless from the very beginning. However, Shang had received some clues about an issue he hadn''t even thought about. Naturally, Shang wanted his eyes back, but not for the reason one might expect. Shang''s Spirit Sense was already a more than adequate recement for his eyes, and while Shang wished to see again, that wish wasn''t actually very important to him. But if he got his eyes back, he could sacrifice them to Entropy again if he ever met something he couldn''t kill. Regaining his eyes would give Shang two powerful weapons. Sadly, that was far in the future. If Shang wanted to ask the Queen of Life for help, he would need to reach the Seventh Realm, at least. He might even need to reach the Eighth Realm. Of course, since there was a beast with a Life Affinity, chances were also high that there were humans with Life Affinities. However, such an Affinity would be even rarer than Space, Time, and Gravity Affinities. And that meant that these humans would be part of the Mage Emperor''s powers, and they would know about the Child of Cmity. Asking them for help would be like telling them that he was the Child of Cmity. After all, how else would he lose both of his eyes in such a peculiar way? ¡®But for now, | should focus on finding a way to the Sixth Realm,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I might not be able to copy the beasts¡¯ Path, but | might be able to find one for myself.¡¯ The Sweeper and Shang continued traveling toward the west wordlessly. They passed through the Lake of Darkness without issues. Then, they traveled for multiple days. They slipped past the defenses around the Eternal Maw¡¯s territory. But as they were traveling alongside the Eternal Maw''s territory, a Mage sitting on the ground opened his eyes. His hair was long and grey, but he looked like he was only 14 years old. But the most surprising part was his clothing. He wore robes that were half ck and half white. The robes of the Twilight Dusk Family! The Mage wasn''t very powerful, only being at the Late High Mage Realm, but he had an Ancestral Mage guarding him like a servant. "Gravity is being disturbed," he slowly said. ¡°Two humans are sneaking through my training spot." Chapter 597 Chapter 597 The Ancestral Mage respectfully remained at the young man''s side. "Any orders?" he asked. The young man with grey hair focused a bit more on the gravitational waves in the air. ¡°| was under the impression that Sirius Dre forbade anyone from entering this ce. | told him | need to focus on my training,¡± the young man muttered with cold annoyance.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. "Either Sirius Dre has be careless, or he has be careless," the young man said, both sides of his sentence referring to different things. "Sounds like he became careless,¡± the Ancestral Magemented from the side. The young man furrowed his brows. "If | want ament, | will ask for one." The Ancestral Mage summoned a tiny bit of Mana to stop the young man from noticing his rolling eyes. Why did he get stuck with this arrogant prick? Just because this guy had a Gravity Affinity, he was acting like the reincarnation of the Mage God. Nevertheless, the Ancestral Mage remained quiet. After some seconds, the young man snorted. ¡°Well, it doesn''t matter. Either way, these two are in a ce they shouldn''t be." "Kill them." The Ancestral Mage grimaced in difort. "| would need to follow them for- " "| said," the young man said after interrupting the Ancestral Mage, "if | want ament, | will ask for one." The Ancestral Mage narrowed his eyes. "This isn''t-" ¡°Follow your order!" the young man shouted with a strict voice. A fire of rage exploded in the Ancestral Mage''s eyes, and he looked into the young man''s eyes with unending fury. This arrogant, stupid piece of shit! "Fine!" the Ancestral Mage said through gritted teeth. And he vanished. After some seconds, the young man released a sigh. "I''m sorry, but | hope that you will understand one day," he said to himself. "| know better than you about all the dangers because | have been chosen by the Mage God." "The Mage God has granted me the Gravity Affinity, and the Mage God speaks through me." ¡°An Ancestral Mage can''t possibly make better judgments than God''s chosen." At this moment, the young man felt the heavy weight of responsibility and destiny on his shoulder. The fate of the world hinged on his decisions and rested on his shoulders. Meanwhile, Shang and the Sweeper continued to travel. They had no idea that they had been noticed by a member of the Twilight Dusk Family a couple of seconds ago. And they also had no idea that a powerful Ancestral Mage was currently following them. Usually, the Sweeper was the one following others without being noticed, but today, the roles were reversed. Of course, following a Sweeper without being noticed was incredibly difficult. Yet, the Ancestral Mage managed just that. For several minutes, he was silently following them without being noticed by either of them. After a while, Shang started to feel on edge, and even the Sweeper felt a bit nervous. However, the Sweeper only attributed her nervousness to the close proximity of the Eternal Maw. Being close to such a powerful and vtile beast was bound to take a toll on one''s nerves. For around two minutes, the Ancestral Mage continued following them. He knew that he couldn''t just attack them in this ce. Otherwise, his Spells might attract the attention of the Eternal Maw. As an Ancestral Mage of the Twilight Dusk Family, he was very powerful, but he couldn''t possibly survive an attack from something as powerful as the Eternal Maw. He just needed to follow them until they left the vicinity, kill them, and return. Suddenly, his Communication Crystal rang. The Ancestral Mage summoned the Communication Crystal and inspected it with his Spirit Sense. After he did so, he nearly broke it into pieces. "Yes?" the Ancestral Mage spoke into the Communication Crystal, trying his best to keep his rage in check. "Why are you not back yet?" the voice of the young man came out of the Communication Crystal. The Ancestral Mage gritted his teeth. "I can''t just-" "If | want ament, | will ask for one," the young man said. "You literally just-" ¡°Be quiet," the young man said with a firm tone thatmanded respect. "| want you to immediately deal with the intruders and return post-haste." "| do not need you to rely on your judgment. | need you to rely on my judgment." "| know what | am doing, and every second you''re not putting your trust into my decisions is another wasted second." ¡°Now, deal with them! Have | made myself clear?" the young man ordered. The Ancestral Mage''s entire body strained with suppressed rage. This guy! This good-for-nothing, idiotic, stupid, fucking, arrogant, piece of shit, son-of-a-bitch, shitstain cunt! He swore he would squeeze the fucking life out of this worthless waste of space! "Ye-... yes," the Ancestral Mage said, trying his absolute best to soundposed. "Good," the young man said before cutting the connection. When the connection was cut, the Ancestral Mage took a deep and shaky breath. He slowly put the Communication Crystal away, doing his best not to just break it in his hand. Then, he looked towards the southwest with a grimace. ¡®| swear, if | knew that | would have to y babysitter for such an entitled, arrogant, cond-... | wouldn''t have joined the Twilight Dusk Family,¡¯ the Ancestral Mage thought, stopping himself before he derailed into another avnche of insults. The Ancestral Mage took another deep breath. SHING! Then, he suddenly used Mana Step. At that moment, the Sweeper noticed an Ancestral Mage shooting right toward them with incredible speed. "We''ve been found!" she transmitted to Shang. Shang knew that this was a problem. "Then, the Chairman of the Natural Selection Company has already been informed?" Shang asked. For a slight bit, the Sweeper hesitated. "We haven''t been found by a member of the Natural Selection Company, but | don''t know if that''s better or worse." ¡°What do you mean?" Shang asked. "Someone wearing the Twilight Dusk Family''s robes is chasing us." Chapter 598 Chapter 598 Shang could barely process that they were actually being chased by someone belonging to one of the Mage Emperors before the person following them actually arrived just behind them. ¡°What do you want?" the Sweeper asked via voice transmission. But then, the Ancestral Mage shot directly at her, his fists surrounded by a dense shroud of Darkness Mana. The Ancestral Mage''s actions shocked the Sweeper immensely. Just this one action of shooting forward, trying to attack the Sweeper, created so many logical inconsistencies and questions. The guy had to know that the Sweeper was very powerful, right? After all, he was a member of the Twilight Dusk Family. But then, why was he attacking her at this moment?! He should know that any kind of powerful Spell from the two of them would directly summon the Eternal Maw to this ce! So, was he trying to attack and kill them without using any kind of powerful offensive Spell? For fuck''s sake, they couldn''t even use Mana Shield here! And even if he tried to actually kill her right here, how would that even work?! They could both use Mana Step to retreat more and more, and thoseparatively weak attacks wouldn''t injure them that much. Also, wouldn''t the Ancestral Mage have a way higher chance of killing them if he just followed them until they left the area? At that point, they would probably just die to him. And that wasn''t even everything! By fighting here, either of the twobatants could just unleash a powerful Spell on purpose to attract the Eternal Maw. If they were about to die, might as well take the opponent with them, right? What the fuck was going on?! Literally what the fuck was happening right now?! This made zero sense! What could possibly happen to make a powerful Ancestral Mage do something this incredibly idiotic and illogical?! As the Ancestral Mage shot forward with his darkness-covered fists, the Sweeper moved to the side. The Ancestral Mage''s attack missed, and the Sweeper summoned a sword made of darkness. Due to the Eternal Maw, neither of the two could unleash any powerful Spells, and they were both fast enough to avoid the Spells they would be able to cast. In this fight, casting a Spell would be like blowing a bubble toward the other person. Because of that, they had to rely on their bodies to make up for the loss of speed. The Sweeper shed forward with her Sword of Darkness, but the Ancestral Mage avoided it by flying backward for a bit. Then, the Ancestral Mage punched forward again, but the Sweeper held her sword in front of her opponent''s fist. The fist stopped, and the Ancestral Mage gritted his teeth. How was he supposed to attack her when she had a sword?! He couldn''t think of any way to get past that. After the attack stopped, the Sweeper shed forward with her sword, but the Ancestral Mage easily sidestepped. The Sweeper gritted her teeth. How was she supposed to hit her opponent with her sword?! Her sword needed so much time to gain speed, and before it gained enough speed to hit its target, the target had already moved. She couldn''t think of a way to deal with that issue. The fight continued going on like this. In the beginning, Shang had been very worried, but as time passed, he just grew incredulous. Shang could feel that the Ancestral Mage was incredibly powerful, probably even more powerful than the Sweeper, but he chose to attack them in a location that essentially made him harmless. And then, this ridiculous performance happened. Two Mages, who had never fought anyone in closebat ever since they had been teenagers or children, were fighting each other with fists and swords. Their disy was absolutely pathetic. There had been students in the Warrior Academy that had been better at fighting. These were Ancestral Mages! They were as powerful or even more powerful than Zone Beasts! Yet, even though this entire situation seemed beyond ridiculous, Shang could still feel the unending rage and killing intent emanating from the Ancestral Mage. But this made everything just that more surreal. It was like an enraged man was charging at someone with a child''s toy as a weapon. "What do you want?!" the Sweeper transmitted to the Ancestral Mage with rage. Every moment this guy kept attacking them was an additional moment they could be found by any member of the Natural Selection Company. This was not funny! "| have to kill you!" the Ancestral Mage answered after being bombarded by one question after the other while continuing to not- hit the Sweeper. ¡°What the hell are you even talking about?!" the Sweeper asked in anger. "You know as well as | that this stupid fight, if this can even be called a fight, won''t end in anyone''s death." "| have to kill you!" the Ancestral Mage transmitted with rage, hatred, and... something else. The Sweeper couldn''t be certain, but she felt like the Ancestral Mage felt shame right now. The "fight" continued for several minutes. Usually, fights between Ancestral Mages took a couple of seconds at most, but this fight had already dragged on for minutes. This fight broke every convention. And Shang was not nning on interfering. Sure, Shang would definitely manage to push the Ancestral Mage back, but then what? The Ancestral Mage''s mind was so fast that his Mana Step could be used faster than Shang could strike, and he would move by over a hundred kilometers when using one. Shang just wouldn''t be able to hit him. Additionally, even if he managed to drive the Ancestral Mage into a corner, he could just unleash a powerful Spell and doom them all to die. Everything was pointless. All of this was pointless. But then, Shang came up with a possibility. ¡°He''s most likely buying time for the Chairman of the Natural Selection Company to arrive," Shang said with a dark voice. As soon as Shang said that, the entire atmosphere changed. The atmosphere around the Sweeper grew dark. If that were true, she would need to do something very drastic! However, the Ancestral Mage''s aura changed in a way the two of them hadn''t predicted.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. It was panicked, afraid, and frustrated. "No!" he shouted with all of his power and conviction. "| have to kill you! No one else! | have to kill you! You must die by my hand!" The Sweeper and Shang only looked at the Ancestral Mage with shock. That sounded and felt way too real to be a lie. Additionally, even the Chairman probably wouldn''t want to attack them this close to the Eternal Maw. Was killing a Sweeper worth provoking the biggest source of revenue for hispany? But then they were on ground zero again. What the hell was going on?! Chapter 599 Chapter 599 Inevitably, the fight dragged on. No side could hit the other side. The Sweeper and Shang couldn''t retreat. If they did, the Ancestral Mage would regain the use of his Spells, and they would actually die. They also couldn''t go deeper into the Eternal Maw¡¯s territory. If they entered its Spirit Sense, it would just attack them. The only positive thing about this situation was that the Ancestral Mage was also cloaking himself with a Spell, just like Shang and the Sweeper. However, the movement of Mana could still draw attention. What were they supposed to do? What could they do? Were they doomed to fight this Ancestral Mage with foam fists until someone noticed them? However, the Ancestral Mage also said that he had to be the one to kill them, and if he ordered the Natural Selection Company to draw back, they most likely would. After all, he was a member of the Twilight Dusk Family. But then what?! Were they doomed to battle each other for all eternity?! Shang just continued shaking his head. He had trouble epting that this was actually reality. How was this reality? Why? WHOOOOOOOM! At that moment, the Ancestral Mage''s aura broke through the roof. The surroundings turned ck and white as an unending abyss of rage threatened to consume the Sweeper and Shang. It was like an angry God had suddenly descended to drown the world in an ocean of blood. And then... The Ancestral Mage continued punching, missing, and avoiding the sword. "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" the Sweeper shouted in confusion, frustration, and anger. How did that Ancestral Mage suddenly be so incredibly angry and then continue with this stupid charade?! Such anger couldn''t possibly be faked! It was obvious that the Ancestral Mage was extremely serious about this situation. The Sweeper and Shang felt like the Ancestral Mage was fighting with his life on the line, trying his absolute best to kill the two of them. But that made no sense! So, what actually happened when the Ancestral Mage exploded with rage? His Communication Crystal had rung, and he didn''t need to check to know who was calling him. Right now, the Ancestral Mage was so incredibly angry and frustrated, making him appear like someone that was desperately trying to grasp for theirst glimmer of life. Yet, he obviously wasn''t angry and frustrated at his opponents but at the young man. From the very beginning, the Ancestral Mage knew that there was no way for him to make any progress in this fight. He knew that this would only waste time. But what was he supposed to do? He tried to kill the two of them the smart way by following them and then attacking them outside, but the young man had to force him to attack them now. His job was to follow orders, and he would do his job.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only This was his first job while being part of the Twilight Dusk Family, and he wouldn''t throw it away after so many years of working his ass off. Of course, it was also the Ancestral Mage''s job to ept new orders from his superior, which was the young man. However, he was in the middle of a life-and-death battle. And distraction could result in his death, and he couldn''t possibly operate a Communication Crystal during it. Expecting him to answer a Communication Crystal call while literally fighting with his life on the line was too much. After a full minute, the Communication Crystal went silent again. The Sweeper and the Ancestral Mage had been exchanging hundreds, if not thousands, of attacks during that time frame. ¡°What the hell is wrong with you?! What do you want?! What is your goal?!" the Sweeper shouted at him while she was trying to hit him with her sword. Shang only continued slowly shaking his head. "I have no fucking idea what''s going on," he muttered. The Ancestral Mage''s eyes narrowed as rage burned in his eyes. "| must kill you!" he shouted. And then, he stopped his fist in front of the Sweeper''s sword again. The sword was an unassable defense. There was no opening. The lone sword of darkness might as well be an eternal titan guarding an empress. The Sweeper attacked again, but the Ancestral Mage just moved to the side a little bit to avoid the attack. The Ancestral Mage was as elusive as dreams. It was impossible to hit him. The Ancestral Mage might as well be a mystical phantom of wind stalking the endless steppes. Shang had no idea how often he had shaken his head by now. The fight continued. Minutes passed. The Sweeper kept shouting. The Ancestral Mage kept dodging. SHING! And then, something finally happened. After fighting for who knew how long, a fourth person suddenly appeared. It was a woman that looked to be in herte twenties. She had ck and white hair and wore the robes of the Twilight Dusk Family. As she appeared, all the Mana in the surroundings was pulled towards her, as her Spirit Sense eclipsed all three people. The Ancestral Mage immediately stopped fighting, flew back, and performed a polite bow. The Sweeper took a deep breath of shock as she looked in horror at the new arrival. Of course, due to her cloak, nobody could see her expression. Shang grew serious as well, but he still had some hope. This was the Twilight Dusk Family, not the Natural Selection Company. The members of the Twilight Dusk Family might not even suspect that Shang and the Sweeper were members of the Temple of Blood since the Temple of Blood itself wasn''t something they had to care about. So the Temple of Blood had a couple of Mage Lords, big deal. The Twilight Dusk Family had thousands of Mage Lords, Several Mage Kings, and even a Mage Emperor. What was a Temple of Blood in front of them? If they wanted, they could just send a Mage King to eradicate the Temple of Blood, and the issue would be solved. Of course, the woman that had just appeared was a Mage Lord of the Twilight Dusk Family. After she arrived, she looked at Shang and the Sweeper. Then, she looked at the Ancestral Mage. ¡°Night Soldier," she said. ¡°Light Bringer," the Ancestral Mage answered. "What is going on?" the woman asked with a neutral tone. Chapter 600 Chapter 600 Everyone just looked at the powerful Mage Lord that had just arrived. Under normal circumstances, this would be an extremely dangerous situation for Shang and the Sweeper, but the ridiculousness of the earlier situation made it difficult to feel any kind of genuine threat. ¡°Light Bringer,¡± the Ancestral Mage repeated, "the Dawn Seedling has ordered me to kill these two people since they have dared toe close to the Dawn Seedlings training area." The Light Bringer blinked once without any amusement. "I''ve heard. What | am asking is what was actually going on. What | have seen just now didn''t look like killing someone." ¡°Light Bringer, my original n was to follow these two until they left the Eternal Maw¡¯s territory. After sufficient distance was put between the Eternal Maw and us, | would have attacked." Shang took a deep breath. The earlier situation might have been ridiculous, but if the Ancestral Mage had actually gone through with his actual n, things definitely wouldn''t be funny. ¡°However, the Dawn Seedling had contacted me while | was following the two of them and demanded to know why | wasn''t back yet. | have tried to exin my n, but the Dawn Seedling refused to let me speak." "He said that he knows what he is doing and that his judgment is superior. Every second | am not following his judgment is another second of wasted time." The atmosphere subtly changed after the Ancestral Mage said that. "Then, he ordered me to immediately attack without letting me speak," the Ancestral Mage said. "So, | attacked. Due to the Eternal Maw''s proximity, | couldn''t unleash any powerful Spells, or | would die as well. That''s why | had to attack with my fists, but I''m not very experienced in physical fighting." After that, the Ancestral Mage became quiet again as he waited for an answer. By now, Shang and the Sweeper finally understood what had happened. Earlier, they couldn''t imagine any possible way this situation could have urred, but now, it was clear. They had believed that it was impossible for an Ancestral Mage to make such a stupid decision, and they had been right. The decision had been made by an arrogant High Mage that hadn''t experienced the world before. After a couple of seconds, the Light Bringer finally made her decision. "Night Soldier, do you know why | am here?" ¡°Light Bringer, | am not sure, but | think you have been called because the Dawn Seedling thought | was disobeying his orders," he said. The Light Bringer slowly nodded. "Did you anticipate that this would happen?" "Yes, Light Bringer,¡± the Ancestral Made said respectfully without any guilt whatsoever. The Light Bringer narrowed her eyes. "Was this your n? You wanted to hurt your Dawn Seedling by involving me?" ¡°Light Bringer," the Ancestral Mage immediately answered. "If there were any other reasonable way to fulfill the Dawn Seedling''s orders, | would have done so. The only other option would have been to go all-out from the beginning, dying together with my targets, but that would also endanger the Dawn Seedling." ¡°Light Bringer, please enlighten me on what | could have done better without disobeying orders," the Ancestral Mage requested respectfully. The Light Bringer remained silent for a couple of seconds, only looking at the Ancestral Mage. Shang and the Sweeper felt nervous. They were just standing there, not daring to move. "The Dawn Seedling told me that he has tried to contact you again," the Light Bringer said. ¡°Light Bringer, | can''t operate a Communication Crystal during a fight. While our fight admittedly looked ridiculous, my life was still in danger. While fighting another Late Ancestral Mage, | can''t allow myself to be distracted.¡± "I''ve joined the Twilight Dusk Family, and | am willing to fight with my life on the line. However, | am still human, and while | am willing to risk my life, | am not willing to throw my life away for nothing," the Ancestral Mage said with conviction. The Light Bringer looked at the Ancestral Mage for a while. ¡°And we wouldn''t want you to sacrifice your life for nothing," she said slowly. "It is a fact that the Dawn Seedling has conducted himself in an unbing manner. The Dawn Seedling will receive a reprimand."R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only ¡°Return to the Dawn Seedling and continue protecting him," the Light Bringer ordered. Surprisingly, the Ancestral Mage didn''t immediately leave or answer. Instead, he raised one of his eyebrows. "That''s it?" he asked, his voice no longer sounding official and respectful but very casual and annoyed. The Light Bringer narrowed her eyes and red at him. "This is not your decision. You are a Night Soldier. Your duty is to follow orders, not question them!" Both of the Ancestral Mage''s eyebrows rose in surprise. Then, he remained quiet for a couple of seconds. "You know what?" he slowly said. ¡°Fuck that! I''m not going to work for an organization that treats me like shit!" he shouted as his ck and white robes were reced with purely ck ones. "Here!" he shouted as he threw his robes over to the Light Bringer. SHING! CRRRRRRRR! Then, an avnche of objects left the Ancestral Mage''s ck and white Space Ring and entered a second one. Asecondter, the Ancestral Mage threw the ck and white Space Ring to the Light Bringer as well. Lastly, he put his finger on his head, and a grey cloud came out of it. This was his SKP, his Sensitive Knowledge Partition. Finally, he threw that to the Light Bringer as well. The Light Bringer just looked at him with narrowed eyes as all the Ancestral Mage''s things hovered beside her. For several seconds, no one said anything. The Ancestral Mage only looked with narrowed eyes at the Light Bringer. "I don''t remember why I am angry since | just lost a lot of my memories, but | probably had a good reason! | guess | quit instead of being fired, right? I''m not sure. | don''t remember." The Light Bringer''s eyes were filled with fury. Then, she snorted. SHING! And vanished. The Ancestral Mage crossed his arms with a satisfied but irritated expression. "That probably means | quit." After that, he turned to Shang and the Sweeper. "You!" he said, pointing at the Sweeper. "You''re nearly as strong as me!" "| need a job! What benefits does your organization have?" Shang and the Sweeper only silently looked at the Ancestral Mage. Originally, the Sweeper and Shang were supposed to die. Then, their fate changed to something ridiculous. And now, the person that was supposed to kill them was asking them for a job. Sometimes, it was impossible to predict the future. Chapter 601 Chapter 601 Shang and the Sweeper only looked at the Ancestral Mage.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only There had been too many plot twists in the past minutes, and they had some issues with actuallying to terms with reality. The powerful Ancestral Mage that wanted to kill them had now asked them for a job. "You have a Light Affinity?" the Sweeper asked. Even though he had long white hair and looked rather heroic, he had still cloaked his fists in Darkness Mana, which meant that his main Affinity was probably Light, but he also had some mastery over Darkness. The Ancestral Mage nodded. "Correct," he said without any worries. The Sweeper also nodded. "Hide your aura for a second. We are in a dangerous ce, and we shouldn''t talk here.¡± The Ancestral Mage only shrugged before suddenly vanishing. Even though he hadn''t moved, Shang and the Sweeper couldn''t find him anymore. They knew that he was here, but as long as he didn''t use any additional Mana, it was impossible to find him. His ability to stay hidden was shockingly terrifying, even better than the Sweeper''s ability. However, this wasn''t actually as surprising as one would think. First of all, the Ancestral Mage used two Affinities to keep himself hidden instead of one. On top of that, he had been able to join the Twilight Dusk Family, which automatically meant that he was in the top 1% of Ancestral Mages on his level. And he was a Late Ancestral Mage in addition to that! He could probably even fight Peak Ancestral Mages! Someone like that could create a terrifyingly powerful organization, and organizations like the Natural Selection Company or the Temple of Blood would want to make him join them desperately. But in the Twilight Dusk Family, he had only been an average soldier. In fact, judging by what the Sweeper and Shang had seen, he hadn''t even been that. He had been a mere servant to some arrogant High Mage. Such a powerful Mage was only good enough to serve some kid belonging to the Twilight Dusk Family. The difference in status and power was immense. Shang and the Sweeper flew towards the west. Luckily, due to the Dawn Seedling, nearly everyone belonging to the Natural Selection Company had retreated from this territory. This was the Natural Selection Company''s most profitable region, but when some snot-nosed brat from the Twilight Dusk Family told them to leave, they would leave. As the three of them were retreating, Shang thought about his past. ¡®To think that | have once been part of such a powerful organization,¡¯ he thought as the Lightning Manor appeared in his mind. After seeing the powerful Ancestral Mage, Shang was also reminded of Relon, the Supervisor of Area 23. If this Ancestral Mage was already so powerful, how strong was Relon, someone that was managing quite a big territory? Shang could only take a deep breath. I''ve barely reached the upper middle of the Temple of Blood, and | can already see a humongous peak in the distance.¡¯ ¡®In this world, there are between 500 to 1000 Archmages that have an equivalent Battle-Strength to me, and these are probably all part of the nine Empires.¡¯ By now, Shang knew that there were ten Mage Emperors in the world but only nine Empires. Eight of the ten Mage Emperors had their own Empires, but thest Empire was ruled by two Emperors, making them the strongest singr organization in the world. "So, if there are 900 Archmages on par with me theoretically, there are about 100 Archmages per organization.¡¯ "100 Archmages with a simrly powerful Battle-Strength to me per organization,¡¯ Shang thought. The thought was humbling. At that moment, the word Dawn Seedling appeared in Shang''s mind again. The person that had been able tomand the Ancestral Mage around like a servant. ¡®Is this Dawn Seedling someone on my level?" While Shang was thinking, the Sweeper found a way through the defenses, and they all slipped past them. After flying for some additional minutes, Shang and the Sweeper stopped. "We''re safe now," the Sweeper said, turning around. Amomentter, the Ancestral Mage reappeared. "So," the Ancestral Mage said awkwardly. "Yes?" the Sweeper asked after some seconds. ¡°About that job," he continued. "What organization do you belong to? You seem pretty strong, and you don''t have this leadership aura, which means you''re not in a leadership position in your organization. Your job has to be pretty good if you''re willing to work for them, right?¡± Shang and the Sweeper remained quiet for a bit. The Ancestral Mage felt a bit awkward since he couldn''t see through the expressions of any of the two people in front of him. One person''s face waspletely hidden behind a cloak, and the other person didn''t have eyes, making his face seem as lifeless as a corpse''s. "The identity of our organization is sensitive," the Sweeper said. "| can''t just tell you." The Ancestral Mage raised an eyebrow. "Okay, then, how good is the job? Does it pay well?" he asked. The Sweeper looked towards Shang and back at the Ancestral Mage. "The job I''m currently on took about ten days, and | earned around 300 Grade Six Mana Crystals." Immediately, the Ancestral Mage''s eyes widened, and his mouth opened a bit in shock. "That''s a lot," he said after some seconds. "I''m not sure, but | think that might have even been more than what | got in the Twilight Dusk Family. Don''t quote me on that, though!" The Sweeper''s aura didn''t change. "The payment isn''t the reason why everyone wants to join the Empires." "| mean, yeah, sure," the Ancestral Mage said, "but they should still pay pretty well, right? Speaking of, what actually happened earlier? | quit, right?" The Sweeper nodded. "You did, and you ranted quite a bit to someone you called Light Bringer. In truth, I''m surprised that we are still alive somehow. She just left after your rant." The situation had a bittersweet taste to Shang and the Sweeper. They were quite confident that the Light Bringer left them alive because she probably forgot about their existence. They were simply too unimportant to care about. On the one hand, they were lucky to be alive, but on the other hand, it also hurt a bit that they had been disregarded and ignored. ¡°What''s a Dawn Seedling?" The Ancestral Mage and the Sweeper looked over to Shang. This was the first time he had said anything in quite a while. "| still remember that since it''s public information," the Ancestral Mage said, facing Shang. "It''s actually pretty simple." "Night Soldiers are Ancestral Mages, and they are themon employees of the Twilight Dusk Family." ¡°Light Bringers are Mage Lords, and they are the manager and leaders of the Night Soldiers. They are also part of the Twilight Dusk Family''s main army." ¡°And Dawn Seedlings are younger Mages that are specifically being raised by the Twilight Dusk Family to be Mage Lords. To be a Dawn Seedling, you need one of two things." "First, have a Space, Time, or Gravity Affinity.¡± "Second, be able to win against an average Mage two levels above your own. Of course, I''m talking about the average Mage outside the Empires." "That''s about it,¡± the Ancestral Mage said with a shrug. Shang nodded. "What about Mages that can jump three levels?" The Ancestral Mage raised an eyebrow. "I''m not sure if that is even possible, and if there are actually Mages that can do that, their existence would probably be kept so secret that | would have no way of knowing if they existed or not." Shang only nodded again and looked away. "During thest trial, | was able to beat a powerful Mage two levels above myself, which can be seen as a jump of 2.5 levels." ¡®The difference between a jump of two levels and 2.5 levels is vastly greater than a normal person would assume. There might actually be over 100,000 Archmages that can jump two levels, but there might only be 500 that can jump 2.5 levels." ¡®| don''t think that the Twilight Dusk Family would raise such a powerful person to just be a Mage Lord. | assume that they would try to push these 500 people to be Mage Kings in the future." ¡®Obviously, most of them will fail, but those are probably the only ones that have a shot at bing Mage Kings.¡¯ "So, | think the Dawn Seedlings are not the ones that are on my level." ¡®There must be some hidden title for these people.¡¯ Chapter 602 Chapter 602 After answering Shang''s questions, the Sweeper and the Ancestral Mage continued talking. The Sweeper was going through some important questions while warning the Ancestral Mage about things he would have to go through if he actually decided to join their organization. The Ancestral Mage just kept nodding and dismissing the messages, saying that all of that was fine. It seemed like he didn''t have any particr aversions to doing things that required a colder mindset. As long as he was getting paid, he didn''t care. ¡°Alright, | need to contact my superior for anything further," the Sweeper said. "For safety''s sake, | will do so outside your Spirit Sense''s range."N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. "Sure," the Ancestral Mage said in boredom. "Since you have the ability to hide from my senses," the Sweeper continued, "I need my colleague to verify that you stayed on your spot." She lightly gestured to Shang. "Yeah, yeah, just go," the Ancestral Mage said, waving the Sweeper''s concerns away. The Sweeper looked at Shang for a bit. Then, she turned around and flew into the distance. Now, Shang and the Ancestral Mage were alone. Silence. "So, why are you here?" the Ancestral Mage asked. "Secret," Shang answered. Silence. "Why do you not have eyes?" "Secret." Silence. "| see a lot of Darkness and Light Manaing off of you. Are you more of a light kinda guy or more of a darkness sorta guy?" "Secret." Silence. "Is your dream tomit genocide on all conversations people try to have with you?" Silence. The Ancestral Mage furrowed his brows in annoyance as he looked at Shang, who just kept facing a random direction. "Why are you- wait, | don''t need to ask. | already know the answer." Silence. "Can you at least tell me your name?" "Secret." "Oh, hello, Secret! Nice meeting you! My name''s Mosuma!" Silence. ¡°What brings you here, Secret?" Silence. And that''s when the Sweeper returned. She looked at Shang. "Did he leave while | was away?" "No," Shang answered. The Sweeper nodded and looked at the Ancestral Mage. "I''ve talked with my superior. It''s unusual for an Ancestral Mage to ask for a job without knowing the name of our organization. Since you already know two important members of the organization, it is risky to just tell you which organization we belong to." "Because of that, our identity has to remain a secret for now. At the moment, you do not know enough to make you a danger if you decide to decline the job, which means you can still leave. However, as soon as you know the organization we belong to, you will be forced to ept the position." "Will you ept or decline?" The Ancestral Mage furrowed his brows and fell into thought. This was an unusual conundrum. "| need some general information to make that decision. Stuff like payment, restrictions, duties, and so on," he said. The Sweeper nodded and summoned a sheet of paper. "Here is the general information that you are allowed to know. You would be assuming the same job as me." Mosuma looked at the sheet of paper for a bit. Silence. "The pay is really great," he said after a while. "| also don''t see any issue with most other things." "It''s just the hidden identity that feels shady to me." Mosuma continued thinking for a while longer. "Does your organization have a Mage Lord? You can answer that at least, right?" he asked. ¡°More than one," the Sweeper answered. Mosuma hummed for a bit. Then, he nodded. "Alright, | ept!" he said with an arrogant smirk. "We will be colleagues in the future!" "Okay," the Sweeper answered. "Then, follow me. | will bring you to the person that will officially hire you.¡± After that, the Sweeper continued flying towards the west. Shang silently followed her. Mosuma''s expression turned to disappointment. He had just joined their organization, but the two of them only looked at him like emotionless robots and showed no reaction to his enthusiasm. That felt boring and depressing. But in the end, he just followed the two of them. About a dayter, the three of them reached the border with the Reality Tear again, but Shang told the Sweeper that he didn''t want to go through the Reality Tear again. So, the three of them had to make a detour that took an entire day. When Mosuma noticed that they had essentially wasted an entire day, he asked why they were moving in this way. ¡°Because the only way to get through that border directly is through a Reality Tear," the Sweeper said. "Oh," Mosuma answered. "Yeah, | get it. | went through one once, and | thought | was going crazy with boredom. Like, if you just had to wait on one spot, it wouldn''t be so bad, but you actually need to keep moving. That makes it difficult to just zone out." Mosuma kept talking about the Reality Tear he had gone through in the past while the Sweeper and Shang just kept ignoring him. Eventually, the three of them entered the area where Shang''s branch was located. Of course, the area of Shang''s territory was thebined area of about 15 gatherer families working together, and it was about 10,000 kilometers wide. Even if the Sweeper and Mosuma knew that Shang''s branch was somewhere here, they wouldn''t be able to find it. After entering the territory of Shang''s branch, the Sweeper stopped and turned to Shang. "The mission is over," she said. Shang nodded. "Thanks," he said. Then, the Sweeper turned to Mosuma. "You stay here. Someone wille for you shortly." Mosuma only shrugged. And the Sweeper just left without saying anything else. Shang had spent thest ten days or so with the Sweeper, but they had only been staff and customer. They didn''t even know each other''s names. Silence. "So, Secret," Mosuma said. "What will you be doing now?" But before Mosuma could finish asking his question, Shang already started flying towards the west. Mosuma only raised an eyebrow when he saw Shang leaving without a word. For just a couple of seconds, he waited in silence. "You''re Mosuma?" At that moment, Mosuma''s heart nearly burst out of his chest, and he jumped to the side. Someone had appeared beside him without him noticing! Surprisingly, it was a smaller woman with wavy blue hair. ¡°Eh, yes?" Mosuma answered. Shang''s Keeper, and the Territory Lord, nodded. ¡°Wee to the Temple of Blood." Mosuma blinked a couple of times. "| should have known," hemented. Chapter 603 Chapter 603 Shang flew back to his branch and arrived a couple of minutester. Since he was back within the range of the Keeper''s Spirit Sense, he didn''t need to avoid all manners of beasts anymore. He could just directly travel to the branch in a nearly straight line. Eventually, Shang reached the Yellow Sunbreaker. At first nce, it didn''t seem any different than usual, but Shang knew that this wasn''t true. The Yellow Sunbreaker was currently in a state of slumber. Shang had heard the Keeper tell him that she was going to receive Mosuma, which meant that she had to leave the Yellow Sunbreaker for a while. Obviously, she couldn''t just leave it awake. Without her there, it could crush the entire branch with its roots. Some secondster, Shangnded in front of the entrance root, but he wasn''t alone. ¡°Wee back," the Keeper told Shang from her spot in front of the root. The time it took for Shang to get here was enough for her to deal with Mosuma''s eptance ceremony. Shang only nodded without saying anything. CRRRRR! The Keeper''s mind lifted the incredibly heavy root, and the two of them entered the branch. Shortly after that, the Yellow Sunbreaker slowly woke up from its slumber. Inside the branch, Shang walked down the stairs behind the Keeper. The Keeper sat down at her usual spot and resumed managing her territory. Shang couldn''t tell what the Keeper was doing all day, but he assumed that she was probably communicating with all the different Keepers of her territory. ¡°Have you found what you were looking for?" she transmitted to Shang with a neutral voice. "You already know," Shang answered. "That''s right. | do," she answered. "Then why ask the question?" Shang asked. The Keeper remained silent for about two seconds. "Don''t you want to know why | didn''t tell you about the Beast Lords'' intelligence?" she asked. ¡°Because | know that you know that | would still have asked to see one," Shang answered. No one noticed, but the Keeper let out a tiny snort. Yet, she didn''t answer. "I''m open for missions if you have any," Shang said as he walked over to Training Room One. The Keeper didn''t answer. ¡°Had enough of your vacation, blind fuck?" Spike Ball asked Shang as he passed by him. Shang ignored him and just walked over to Training Room One. But when he wanted to enter, he felt that the Istion Barrier was already activated, which meant that someone was using it already. "Don''t try to enter my room, blind fuck," Spike Ball shouted with a sneer. "I paid for it, and I''m using it right now." Obviously, Spike Ball wasn''t using it. Instead, he only paid for it to provoke Shang, obviously. Shang slowly stepped away from Training Room One and walked over to Training Room Two without saying anything. Then, he entered and closed the door behind him. Spike Ball only snorted. "Pathetic worm doesn''t even dare toin," he muttered in disgust. Training Room Two was a bit smaller than Training Room One, but it was still big enough for Shang to train with his sword. He preferred using the other room, but this one was also good enough. But instead of training, Shang only sat down in the middle of the room and focused on his Path. ¡®| have been somewhat following the beasts¡¯ paths to reach the Fusion Realm, but that won''t work anymore." "Due to the Star Map, | knew what | needed to get to reach the True Path Stage, and due to the Wind de Seeds and so on, | knew what | needed toprehend to reach the Peak True Path Stage. Then, | focused onprehending the very thing beasts need to be Ancestral Beasts.¡¯ ¡®But now, | have no idea how to proceed.¡± ¡®I can''t look at the beasts.¡¯ ¡®| can''t look at the Mages.¡¯ ¡®l can''t look at the warriors." ¡®And on top of that, | need to create something outstanding. My goal can''t just be to reach the next level in any shape or form.¡¯ ¡®It must be a truly powerful transformation. | must create something that allows me to reach Godhood in the future.¡¯ ¡®But what?¡¯R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only ¡®What can | create?¡¯ All of Shang''s different powers shot through his mind. There was so much he could expand upon. It was like there was an infinite number of choices. But exactly that was the problem. There were so many viable Paths, but they couldn''t all support Godhood. Yet, there was no way for Shang to find out which Path would lead to the top and which wouldn''t. There were a few Paths that obviously wouldn''t lead to the top. Just increasing Shang''s physical power was a good example. But the vast majority of Paths could lead anywhere. One interesting Path was the Path of Mage Warrior. Shang already knew the very thing that he would need to understand to reach the normal Sixth Realm as a warrior, the World Connection. If he now also managed toprehend a level three Concept, he could probablybine both things into something incredible. Something like that would be worthy of Godhood. However, Shang had a warrior body, making this Path impossible for him to tread. Shang could alsoprehend more Paths, add more Imposes, and widen his World Connection by doing that. At some point, the power of his World Connection would reach terrifying levels, and the world around Shang would eventually be able to unleash so much power that Shang wouldn''t even need to move to fight. That was definitely a way forward. He could also just continue training more and more without thinking about anything in particr. Just slowly grinding away at every single w Shang could find. At some point, he should find something that would allow him to reach the next Realm. "I''ve got a mission for you." Shang slowly stood up and walked to the entrance of Training Room Two. The Keeper had just called him. Shang deactivated the Istion Barrier and opened the door. And then, he saw something horrifying. A frozen corpse. Chapter 604 Chapter 604 A frozen, bloody human body was lying in the middle of the branch, white mist slowly leaving the corpse''s opened mouth. Shang''s Spirit Sense enveloped the corpse and realized... This wasn''t a corpse. The person was actually still alive. They were just in a lot of pain and couldn''t move due to their body being frozen. Shang also knew the identity of the "corpse", and he wasn''t surprised in the least. It was Spike Ball. "That was me. He told me to run back to my mommy." Shang''s head turned to the person that had just spoken. It was a young man with a bright smile and fiery red hair. Shang also knew that person. He was one of the newer Named Agents, only having been part of this branch for about 20 years. He was an Early Archmage with a Fire Affinity. He enjoyed talking with others and telling stories. In a way, he was quite charismatic and would remind someone of the dead Desert Storm. However,pared to the dead Desert Storm, this guy actually had a huge issue. He was a pathological liar. He lied about nearly everything for no reason whatsoever. His codename was Fire Pir, and he specialized in killingrge groups. If Fire Pir were more powerful, he would have probably received the missions to get rid of the two gatherer families instead of Shang about four years ago. Shang obviously didn''t believe Fire Pir when he said that he was the one that had frozen Spike Ball. He already had a pretty good guess based on the fact that Fire Pir was now here. Ice Princess. Ice Princess was probably done with earning money and wanted to focus on her training. She probably wanted to enter Training Room One, but when she saw Spike Ball reserving it without using it, she got a slight bit irritated. Killing among colleagues was obviously prohibited, but there were always ways around rules. Spike Ball wasn''t dead right now. He was just very, very injured and in a lot of pain. So, Ice Princess didn''t break any rules. Sure, under normal circumstances, the Keeper would have probably intervened since Spike Ball now wasn''t in his top condition to ept missions, but she was probably just as annoyed with him. ¡°Help... me..." Spike Ball barely managed to contact Shang with his Spirit Sense. Shang just ignored him and walked over to the Keeper. "You don''t have to worry," Fire Pir said with a bright smile. "I will release himter!" Shang also ignored Fire Pir. Instead, Shang stopped behind the Keeper and waited. Amomentter, a sheet of paper appeared in front of him, and he scanned it with his Spirit Sense. Assassinate an Initial Archmage merchant. Details... details... details... details... Reward: 150 Grade Five Mana Crystals. The mission was an average one. Nothing special. Shang nodded, pocketed the sheet of paper, and walked up the stairs to the exit. ¡°Wait for a couple of minutes," the Keeper said. "There''s currently an Ancestral Mage traveling through the area." Shang stopped and waited. "You can go," the Keeper said about two minutester. Shang left and traveled to the target''s location. Within the next five minutes, Shang killed the target. Some minutester, he arrived back at the branch and epted his reward. This was how most of Shang''s jobs went. He would get his mission, travel to the target, fulfill the mission, ande back. Normally, such missions would be far more difficult. After all, this was an Archmage. If the Named Agent didn''t perfectly n and execute everything, they might very well die. Such a mission required a long time of preparation and nning. That definitely wasn''t easy. But that was also why this was such a high-paying job. After all, 1450 Grade Five Mana Crystals represented 150 years of an Initial Archmage focusing on nothing but condensing Mana. 150 Grade Five Mana Crystals could pay for about 15 Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets. But since Shang had such a powerful Battle-Strength and since he had such a wide variety of abilities, such a difficult mission barely took him 15 minutes. After epting his payment, Shang checked the entrance to Training Room One. Sure enough, the Istion Barrier was active, but he doubted it was Spike Ball. ¡®Guess | was right, and Ice Princess is now in there. At least she''s using it.¡¯ Shang entered Training Room Two and continued thinking. Some dayster, he got the next mission. Afterpleting the mission, he returned and continued nning. Eventually, more and more time passed. Over the years, Shang had created several Paths on which he could advance. Whenever he found one with some potential, he nned it out but didn''t train in it. The reason for that was that Shang was waiting. At the moment, he couldn''t make an informed decision on which Path he should follow, but that didn''t mean that it would always stay like that. For now, he was preparing himself for the right time. And eventually, the right time arrived. Today, Shang told the Keeper that he wouldn''t ept any missions for the next two weeks and retreated to one of the training rooms. He sat down in the middle, and his Spirit Sense seemingly vanished. Shang had entered his inner world. 50 years had passed. It was time for the trial. This was why Shang had been preparing himself. He knew that the trial would push him towards the right direction. Shang''s head looked towards the stone stele in the middle of his inner world. The deadline was in a couple of weeks, but Shang''s body had already reached its peak by now. But when Shang looked at the stone stele, his Spirit Sense was actually pulled toward a certain location on the stele. Near the top of the stele, above the rules of Shang''s inner world, was something. Shang only looked at that thing for a couple of minutes. He wasn''t sure what he was thinking about. What was Shang looking at? It was Jerald''s hand. Several decades ago, Shang had nailed it to the stele. It was supposed to symbolize Shang''s Path. It was supposed to remind him of his choices and his future. ¡®Never go back.¡¯ ¡®Remember your sacrifices.¡¯ ¡®Look at how far you''vee." ¡®Always walk forward." "We can start with the trial," Shang said after a while. Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Chapter 605 Chapter 605 Shang''s Spirit Sense returned, and he slowly sat back up again. His body wasn''t injured in any way, but the same thing couldn''t be said for Sword. Right now, Swordy beside Shang. It was only as big as a dagger. Shang slowly took a deep breath as reality set in. "| died," he said. At that moment, the jester jumped down from the Affinity wheel and walked over to Shang while slowly apuding. ¡°Not bad, not bad," the jester said with a wide grin. "Honestly, when you reached the True Path Stage, | didn¡¯t expect you to be so powerful in the Fusion Realm. | expected that you would justprehend your four Imposes and then breakthrough.¡± ¡°But no, you actually went a step further.¡± ¡°And, sure enough, your work wasn''t for nothing," the jester said as he stopped in front of Shang. Shang slowly stood up and fed Sword more ore. By now, Shang''s storage of ores was running low. Even worse, Shang was missing Entropy Ore. Sword had just consumed itsst piece of Entropy Ore, which meant it could only use its ability three more times. He just hoped that all of this had been worth it. "14 points in the beast category, but Dusk alone wasn''t enough to kill the powerful Peak Archbeast." ¡°Eleven points in the Mage category, but the powerful Late Archmage managed to oust you.¡± "25 points in total. You are nearly invincible in front of every beast in your Realm, and only Peak Archmages and a select few Late Archmages are a danger to you." ¡°Honestly, in terms of Battle-Strength for Archmages, you are probably in the top 10, which is quite impressive," the jester said with a smirk. Shang didn''t answer, but his head turned to the side. Top 10 for his Realm. This was obviously beyond impressive, but whenpared to some other numbers, it wasn''t as impressive as one might think. There were ten Archmages that were as powerful as him in the world. There might also be ten Ancestral Mages that were this powerful. There were about a hundred Mage Kings in the world. Yet, the longevity of these Mage Kings was probably ridiculous. For how long could a Mage King live? Ten thousand years? A hundred thousand years? If the Mage Kings lived for a hundred thousand years, and since there are a hundred of them, it meant that around one new Mage King would be born every thousand years. This was exactly how long an Archmage could live. This meant that only one of the top ten could theoretically be a Mage King in the future. And nota single one of them would be a Mage Emperor. Yet, Shang''s goal was to be a God. Yes, Shang was unfathomably powerful. He was so powerful that normal Archmages couldn''t evenprehend it. Even many Ancestral Mages would have a hard time grasping how powerful Shang was for his Realm. Yet, even that might not be enough to be a Mage King! All of this hard work and sacrifice just for a shot at maybe bing a Mage King! Shang hadprehended World Connection before even reaching the Fusion Realm. If there were nine other Archmages as powerful as him, it meant that there were nine Archmages that managed toprehend a level three Concept before bing Archmages. The powerful Mages Shang had been fighting back in the True Path Stage had only known one or two level two Concepts. The truly powerful Peak High Mages might have known three. And those powerful High Mages had been true geniuses! Yet, there had been at least nine High Mages back then that hadprehended a level three Concept! And probably only a single one of them actually had a shot at bing a Mage King! When Shang heard that he had reached the top ten, he hadn''t been happy. He only felt pressured. He had already sacrificed so much, and he had alreadymitted his entire life to nothing but his power, but there were still others on his level. Thepetition was tough. ¡°Aren''t you a sadd?" the jestermented with a slight chuckle. "You reached the top 10, but you are even more demotivated than before." "Do you think you aren''t powerful enough because you haven''t sacrificed enough?" the jester asked with a smirk. Shang didn''t answer. ¡°Are you unwilling to ept the obvious answer?" the jester asked. Shang didn''t answer. ¡°Let me confirm it for you," the jester said as he leaned on his toy hammer. "The biggest reason why you are not number one is not your personality.¡± "It also isn''t the fact that you''re not a Mage." The jester chuckled. "It''s background and money." Shang didn''t answer, and he only seemed to look in a random direction. "King Contenders," the jester said. "That''s the title of the strongest Mage per Realm per Empire, starting at the High Mage Realm." ¡°Every 1,000 years, the nine Empires hold a tournament. Every Empire sends its strongest Mage Lord. Of course, the Judgment Pce gets to send two since they also have two Emperors." "The ten strongest Mage Lords of the world fight for the position of Mage King. All ten of them are easily strong enough to be Mage Kings on their own, but due to theck of Mana in the world, there just isn''t enough Mana to support another Mage King." "If the world had infinite Mana, we would probably have a hundred Mage Emperors and over a thousand Mage Kings. Sadly, there just isn''t that much Mana left, which means that bing a Mage King is only afforded to the most powerful Mage Lord in the world." The jester chuckled again. "And no one can be a Mage Emperor." ¡°Right now, you are a King Contender.¡± At that point, the jester''s smirk widened. ¡°However, you''re not the strongest." "There are at least two Archmages that will 100% beat you in a fight while at the same level as you. "But how?" the jester said with an imitating voice. "How can they be so strong?" "Money and status." "These Mages are being personally taught by Mage Kings.¡± The jester spun his hammer around his arm as he marched back and forth. "They are allowed to travel the entire world." "They are allowed to fight whatever they want." "They get whatever treasure they want, and they get as much of that treasure as they want.¡± ¡°Mountains of Grade Seven Mana Crystals get poured into their bodies just to increase the Mana capacity of their minds by a single percent." ¡°Every time they try toprehend Concepts, they are surrounded by the densest Mana with the most wondrous demonstrations of the very Concepts they want toprehend." ¡°And then," the jester said as he stopped marching. He grabbed his hammer and pointed it at Shang. "There''s you." "You have to work for just a couple of Grade Six Mana Crystals." "You don''t have a teacher.¡± "You are restricted in choosing your location." "You can''t just train whatever you want in the open." "Hell, you''re not even a Mage.¡± ¡°And you don''t even know what you should do to reach the Sixth Realm." The jester put the hammer on the ground again and leaned on it. "No matter what you do, your background is infinitely weaker than theirs, as is your wealth." "When the perfect mindset has to contend with the perfect mindset supported by the ultimate background, the winner is obvious." Shang didn''t say anything. Several seconds passed. "Are you done?" Shang asked emotionlessly.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. The jester''s smirk transformed into a grin. "Then, show me my rewards," Shang added. Chapter 606 Chapter 606 The jester chuckled a bit. "You know, that''s what | like about you. There were plenty of ways you could have developed back when | brought you to this world, but | think | like the current iteration of you the most." "You sacrificed everything else in your life. Only power is left." ¡°But because of that, you can''t possibly sacrifice that as well. You already went all-in on power. So, if you lose now, you lose everything.¡± "Tell me, if you knew for absolute certain that it would be an absolute impossibility for you to ever reach the Ninth Realm, much less the Tenth Realm, what would you do?" Shang didn''t answer, but he didn''t need to. Both of them knew the answer.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only However, Shang''s mind wasn''t thinking about such hypothetical scenarios. The path forward might be extremely perilous and difficult, but it wasn''t impassable. As long as there was a chance, Shang would push forward with his entire existence. ¡°Alright, the rewards then," the jester said after a bit. Shang didn''t answer, but his head finally turned to face the jester. "To be honest with you,¡± the jester said with his trademarked smirk, "your power reached levels where there''s only one reward left that would fit your score. It''s basically the ultimate prize." ¡°However, | think that would be too restrictive for you. epting that reward would essentially lock you into one specific Path to Godhood, and | think it''s better to give you more options." "So, I''ve prepared three different rewards in total, but two of these rewards consist of two separate things, while thest one is effectively the thing | designed as the ultimate prize." The jester''s smirk widened. "And one more thing.¡± "| saw how hard you are trying to find a way forward, and | have taken a look at some of the potential Paths you have found.¡± ¡°Many of them don''t lead to Godhood, but it''s impossible for you to know." ¡°But it would also be a bit boring to see you choose a Path that makes it impossible to reach Godhood. A game needs genuine danger to be exciting. What fun would this little game be if you never had a chance of actuallying for my head?" Shang didn''t answer. "So, I''ve designed the three rewards with one of your theoretical Paths in mind each. You may choose which one you want." "Let''s start with the first one," the jester said as he lifted his right arm. CRRRR! At that moment, a pedestal broke out of the ground, and Shang could see two things on it. He knew what one of the things did, but he wasn''t sure what the other thing was for. "The first object of the first reward," the jester said as he walked forward to lift one of the objects. The object the jester was lifting was a small wheel with some symbols on it. It looked exactly like the Affinity wheel of the trial but smaller. The jester held the wheel up and showed it to Shang. "Your inner world will now have Mana from the outside world in it, making training in here just as good as training outside your inner world.¡± ¡°And even more," the jester added with a chuckle. "You get free ess to the Affinity wheel.¡± "That means you can spin it whenever you want, fight whatever you want, and you don''t need to be afraid of dying since you will automatically resurrect." Shang took a deep breath. He knew exactly why the God was offering this as a reward. Shang had already been worried about training his Fire and Ice Affinities. He could train his Light and Darkness Affinities without any issues in the Training Rooms, but he couldn''t possibly show the Keeper his Fire and Ice Affinities as well. Additionally, Shang would be able to always summon perfect training partners. The God had offered this reward to solve Shang''s current problem. With this, he could train whatever he wanted. "The second object of the first reward," the jester said as he put the small wheel down and lifted something else. Shang knew what that was. It was a ck cube. Shang''s grip on Sword tightened. "A second weapon of your choice," the God said. "It will start at the same level as your current one." ¡°What does this mean for Sword?" Shang asked, this being the first time he had spoken up in a long while. The ck cube spun on the jester''s finger, as he only smirked. "You will have a second sword, but you will always only have one Sword," he said. Shang only nodded. He knew what the God meant. After seeing the ck cube, Shang could think of two of the possible Paths he had theorized. This reward fit both of these Paths. CRRRR! Then, a second pedestal appeared with two objects on it. Just like before, Shang could see what one of them was. The jester lifted up one of the two things. It was a small suit of armor. "You already know this one," the jester said. "| offered you the same thingst trial." The jester put the small piece of armor down and lifted up the other object. It was the skin of a face. It was like someone had skinned a face and had made a mask out of it. "The Mask of Way Too Many Faces," the jester said with a chuckle. "You put it on, and your appearance and aura will change." ¡°Only very powerful Mage Lords can see through the disguise, and no, your superior doesn''t belong to the Mage Lords | consider very powerful.¡± Shang also knew why the God had offered this reward to him. With this reward, he could leave the Temple of Blood and go wherever he wanted. He could openly travel the world without fear of being followed or recognized. Additionally, the suit of armor also fit perfectly to one of the Paths Shang had theorized. "Now, as for thest reward." CRRRR! A third pedestal rose from the ground, and this time, there was only one item on it. "The ultimate prize," the jester said as he lifted it with just two fingers. It was a small pill. "This pill will get rid of your warrior body, and you gain full ess to your mind, like any other Mage," the jester said. Then, he chuckled a bit and looked at Shang. "And you get to keep your regenerative powers." "The advantages of both worlds without the disadvantages." "Isn''t that great?" The jester put the pill down and stepped away from the pedestals. "So, what will it be?¡± Chapter 607 Chapter 607 It took Shang a couple of seconds to decide. Especially the ultimate reward interested him. Even if Shang decided on a different Path than being a Magic Warrior, having a far greater Mana storage for his mind would help. He could use several more Shocks, and he would also be able to use Mana Step several times. He could still focus on another Path while taking the ultimate reward just to boost his Battle-Strength. Even more, this increase of Battle-Strength would follow him forever. Yet, there were two reasons that made him decide not to take the ultimate reward. First, Shang would need to focus on Magic until it was on the same level as his swordsmanship. While Shang knew that he was very talented when it came to physical fighting, he actually had no idea how good he was at understanding Magic. All of that essentially boiled down to time. Shang was already limited on time, and training in Magic on top of everything else would most likely be too much. And the second reason... The jester smirked as he read Shang''s mind. "Quite greedy, aren''t you?" Shang didn''t answer. The second reason rted to what the God had said many years ago. ¡°If you want to get rid of your warrior''s body, you would need the help of a King, and | don''t mean the Kings in your small Kingdom." This was what the God had said. Yes, Shang''s second reason was that he could get rid of his warrior''s body on his own in the future. But he couldn''t get any of the other four items on his own in the future. Now, only two potential rewards were left. It was clear to him what they symbolized. "I''ll take the sword and the ess to the trial," Shang said. CRRRR! The other two pedestals vanished into the earth again, leaving the one with the sword and the small wheel. Shang walked over and took hold of the cube. At the same time, the small wheel just vanished. It wasn''t necessary to use the trial. It was only a symbol for the reward. Shang focused on the cube and imagined it to take a certain shape. SHING! In an instant, the ck cube assumed the shape of a Colossal Sword. As Shang held the Colossal Sword in his hands, he focused on it. "Sword?" he asked. "Yes," the Colossal Sword answered. "Nothing has changed." Shang looked at the original Sword, which was currently in its Long Sword State. "Yes, | am also here," it told Shang. Shang nodded, and some of his hidden worries disappeared. Sword now inhabited both swords. He didn''t have to deal with a second intelligent weapon, and the new sword could still help him since it was controlled by Sword. "Since you inhabit both bodies, it would be fine if | were to only have one of you on my person?" he asked. "Suddenly having two swords would be suspicious." "It''s ok," Sword answered. Shang nodded again, and a lot of potential ideas came to him. Obviously, he needed two hands to use a Colossal Sword or a Great Sword. This meant that he could still only use one State at a time. However, having two swords also solved a huge weakness of Shang''s. In Shang''s mind, he imagined himself charging forward with his Colossal Sword State. A Mage was shooting at him. Then, Shang switched out his sword and summoned a Long Sword. With that, he could use Shock several times, arrive in front of the opponent, and then switch to his Colossal Sword again. One of Shang''s biggest weaknesses was that he couldn''t "go back" in States during a battle. But now, he could. Just this alone was already worth it. As Shang thought about what other things he could do with a second sword, his mind suddenly went elsewhere. Shang''s focus was pulled to the Colossal Sword. Then, to the Long Sword. And back to the Colossal Sword again. Big, small. Much, little. More, less. Plus, minus. Addition, subtraction. Zero.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only Entropy. Shang''s grip tightened as he suddenly thought of a new Path, one that felt much more in line with his actual Affinity. A different way tobine his Affinities. Shang''s original n when choosing the second sword hinged onbining two of his Affinities two times. He had already noticed that he was making progress while constantly using Light and Darkness, and he felt like he was on the cusp of understanding something crucial. Shang didn''t just sit around, doing nothing, for the past 50 years. He had realized that there were probably also Pure Concepts for the Entropy Affinity, and Lucius had probably used those to be the Mage Emperor. One of these Concepts had to be Twilight, a fusion of Light and Darkness Affinities. However, while Twilight counted as a Mixed Concept and an Affinity as well, it was probably a Pure Concept for Entropy. Of course, that also gave Shang enough info to find another potential Pure Concept of Entropy. Temperature. Originally, when choosing the second sword, Shang''s n had been toprehend the Concepts of Twilight and Temperature. One sword would fuse the aspects of light and darkness, while the other would focus on fire and ice. Like this, Shang could use all four of his Affinities at once. He would have solved his biggest problem. He would finally be able to use everything he had at the same time. However, after having received his new sword, Shang''s mind changed. And then, he turned to face the jester, who was still standing there, grinning. "You know," the jester said, knowing fully well what Shang was thinking about. "You already got your questions in the past." ¡°Buuuuut, since your question is more or lessmon knowledge for Mages, I''m willing to humor you and give you an answer,¡± he said. Shang''s heartbeat sped up by a bit. "Yes, it''s possible," the jester said. "You can also do it that way, but it would be quite a bit harder.¡± "But it''s still possible." Chapter 608 Chapter 608 The jester was digging inside one of its ears with its fingers in boredom. ¡°Technically, there are no levels for Concepts,¡± the jester said. "Theoretically, you couldprehend a level five Concept while being a Peak True Mage, and it would only be marginally more powerful than the level one Concept." "The goal is to learn everything about a given thing. The more you know about a thing, the stronger you be." ¡°Let''s take water, for example. The generally epted level one Concept for a Water Affinity is Drop, as in raindrop. You know how drops form, how they act, and what they do." "The generally epted level five Concept for a Water Affinity is Ocean. You effectively know the power of a huge body of water. You know what makes it an ocean and what makes it different from rain, rivers,kes, and so on." ¡°However, if you only know what oceans do but don''t know how anything else works, it''s not really that useful. A real ocean has streams inside it, and you don''t know what they do if you didn''tprehend the level four Concept of a Water Affinity, Stream." ¡°An ocean also produces and receives rain, which means you need the level two Concept, Rain, and to properly use that, you need the level one Concept, drop." "So, while you could use the more general knowledge of an ocean, youck all the specifics."Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. "Think of it as a car but without an engine, tires, seats, and so on. It''s the thing thatbines basically everything, but it''s not really that useful if stuff is missing." "Theoretically, you canprehend the Concepts in any order you want, and higher level Concepts don''t necessarily need to be that much harder toprehend." ¡°Let''s take the generally epted level two Concept Rain and the level one Concept Drop, for example." ¡°Usually, youprehend Drop, and then youprehend Rain. Comprehending Rain is much more difficult than comprehending Drop. You could say the difficulty toprehend Drop is a one andprehending Rain is a five." ¡°However, if you focus on Rain first, it would be easier toprehend than if you were toprehend Drop first and Rain second." "Quite unintuitive, eh?" Shang didn''t react, but he agreed. That made no sense. "That''s because thebination requirement switches ces," the jester exined. "When you firstprehend Drop and then try toprehend Rain, you are alsoprehending the method tobine the two. Bybining them, Drop is increasing the power of Rain, and Rain is increasing the power of Drop." "So, whenprehending two Pure Concepts of one Affinity, you actually are not learning two things but three things, two Concepts and a way to fuse them." "If you were toprehend Rain first, it would have a difficulty of five because you would have toprehend Rain without knowing what an individual Drop does, making it very difficult. After that,prehending Drop would have a difficulty of about 3.5 due to also having toprehend thebination." "In short, this means you canprehend a level two Concept before a level one Concept, but it would be needlessly difficult and inefficient.¡± "But it is possible." Shang nodded. "So, about my n..." "Well," the jester said, "Entropy is a bit special." "There''s no sense in me having to keep its first four Concepts secret since you already guessed them. If | were to put a level to them, | would say Temperature is the easiest, followed by Twilight, followed by Addition, followed by Subtraction." ¡°But inparison to water, for example, these four Concepts don''t lead into one another." ¡°For water, Drop leads into Rain, leads into River and Lake, and those two lead into Ocean. For water, the first two are basically mandatory toprehend first, but you could decide if you want toprehend River or Lake next. Rain leads into both of them, and they don''t particrly need each other." ¡°Understanding River is a bit more difficult than understanding Lake, which is why River is generally epted as the level four Concept while Lake is the level three Concept, but you could alsoprehend River first and Lake second." "That is the case for your first four Concepts." "All of your first four Concepts are separate, but they all lead into the fifth one together." ¡°Naturally, as soon as you know one,prehending the others will be harder." ¡°Let me put it into numbers. Comprehending Temperature first would be a one, Twilight would be a two, Addition would be a three, and Subtraction would be a four. If you were toprehend them in order, it would be 1, 5, 15, 50. If you were to comprehend them in the order you are nning on, it would be 3, 7, 12, 45." ¡°Luckily, your mind is already on the level of a High Mage, while everyone else has toprehend level one Concepts while being on the level of a True Mage. Comprehending Addition first would be a bit easier than a True Mageprehending a level one Concept, butprehending Subtraction second would be more difficult than learning a Pure level two Concept. It would be about as difficult asprehending a Mixed level two Concept." "In short, you have to achieve a level in Magic that would make you above average for a Peak High Mage." ¡°Luckily, you have about 640 years of longevity left, which is much more than any High Mage has toprehend the same thing." Then, the jester grinned. "But that isn''t even everything, is it?" "You also have toprehend two more Imposes for the two new States you want to create, and those Imposes have to be so powerful that they epass two of the Imposes that you already created." ¡°And then, when everything is finished, you even have tobine everything and transform your World Connection, which will be very difficult." "The Path you have nned is very difficult, but | have to say, it''s a very strong one." "That should answer your question, right?" the jester asked. Of course, the jester didn''t need to wait for an answer. "Good, then, good luck!" And the jester vanished. Shang didn''t move for a while as his mind thought about his path to the Sixth Realm. Finally, it was clear. Chapter 609 Chapter 609 After the jester left, Shang only remained standing, thinking about his future path. There was a lot to do. First, he needed toprehend the Concept of Addition. Then, he needed toprehend the Concept of Subtraction. After that, he would need to create two incredibly powerful and strong Imposes. Andstly, he would need to integrate everything. It was a lot to do, but Shang had known from the very beginning that this wouldn''t be easy. ¡®Luckily, | don''t need to do these things one at a time. They will not strengthen my body or help in any way during the small advancements. This is more of a do-everything-at-once thing.¡¯ ¡®These are the fourponents | need, and after gaining them, | can attempt a breakthrough." ¡®But first, | should advance to the Early Fusion Realm to strengthen my mind. The stronger my mind, the easier it will be to comprehend the two Concepts | need.¡¯ ¡®I still have several days left before | should return to the real world. | think | should use these days to be familiar with my second sword.¡¯ ¡®First, be familiar with my second sword. Second, reach the Early Fusion Realm. Third, try toprehend the Concept of Addition while absorbing Abominations during missions.¡¯ Shang nodded once and took hold of both of his swords. Asecondter, the Long Sword vanished. Shang had put it into his Space Ring. His Space Ring was easier to ess than his inner world, allowing for faster swapping of weapons. SHING! SHING! Shang swapped out his swords and moved Shock several times before swapping back to his Colossal Sword. It felt unnatural. Additionally, the Mana Shang left behind after using a technique was interfering with the follow-up technique. The Darkness Mana for Shang''s Shock made it difficult to properly create Brilliance, for example. Using Ghost Step instead of Shock made it a bit easier, but Shang still felt awkward. All of his techniques had been created to be used separately. ¡®That''s a problem,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®In the future, | will be using only two States instead of four, and | will even use them at the same time.¡¯ "My techniques need to flow better into each other, even if that might reduce their power by a bit." Suddenly, Shang shook his head. ¡®That shouldn''t be my concern now. That''s for when | create my two new Imposes." ¡®For now, | should just get familiar with fighting with two swords, even if it feels awkward.¡¯ After practicing for a couple of hours, Shang mostly got the hang of it. Then, he began to summon the wheel. Shang willed the beast wheel to appear, and it appeared. He willed for his opponents to be of a certain level of power and spun it. Sadly, he couldn''t just choose who or what he wanted to fight. He could only choose his opponent''s power. Shang''s opponent soon appeared, and he attacked it. After the fight, Shang directly summoned his next opponent. And his next one. And so on. While summoning his opponents, he was very careful not to summon opponents that were too powerful. Shang wasn''t young and inexperienced anymore. He knew exactly what kind of danger this wheel could pose to him. Using the wheel in the wrong way could hurt Shang. It could get rid of his fear. Fear of death. Fear of losing. At the moment, dying was still terrifying and morbid to Shang, and if there hadn''t been an incentive for him to earn more points, he would never have decided to fight a powerful Peak Archbeast or a powerful Late Archmage. These intense emotions and the fear of death were the very things necessary to unearth someone''s potential. On Earth, there were stories of mothers being able to lift cars to save their children. While the example might be a bit extreme, it showed an inevitable fact. Under fear of death or losing a loved one, humans could perform feats that they would never be able to perform otherwise. The same was true for Shang. The monumental risk of losing absolutely everything could increase someone''s power by a lot. Yet, if Shang kept on fighting powerful beasts in his inner world and dying, the feeling of death would dull.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only At some point, Shang would grow so used to dying that his body wouldn''t even send fear to his mind when he was actually fighting with his life on the line. But this fear was necessary to perform at his best. Because of that, Shang wouldn''t summon any truly dangerous opponents with the wheel. Every death would weaken his fear. Fear was a powerful motivator, and Shang had to save it for the times he really needed it. Additionally, Shang didn''t want to use any more of Sword''s Entropy. He was already out of Entropy Ore, and Sword only had a limited number of uses left. So, in the end, Shang decided to fight against powerful Mid Archbeasts. They were strong enough that Shang could injure them without using Sword''s Entropy but still quite problematic to win against without it. In the worst-case scenario, Shang would need to use a bit of Sword''s Entropy. For several days, Shang continued fighting different beasts, and he didn''t need to use Sword''s Entropy even once. Eventually, Shang was satisfied with his progress and stopped. It still felt a bit awkward to switch out weapons between different techniques, but he could now do it without any problems. Shang wanted to adapt his techniques to make it more fluent more than anything, but that wasn''t so easy. Every single technique of Shang''s had been perfected, and he had even created his Mana pathways to support these movements. If Shang wanted to change his techniques, he would need to also change his Mana pathways. For now, that was too much work. Instead of cramming two houses together andbining them, Shang decided that it would be easier just to build a third one between them. This would be where his new Impose would reside. But, for now, Shang needed to work onprehending Addition. Shang put his Colossal Sword into his Space Ring and left his inner world. Chapter 610 Chapter 610 After leaving his inner world, Shang walked over to the entrance of his training room. He exited and walked over to the Keeper. At the moment, Trapper and Ice Princess were sitting in the middle of the branch. After around 50 years, the branch had gone through one shift each. Usually, Trapper and House Wife would be epting andpleting missions right now, but there was a problem. House Wife was dead. During one of her missions to spy on someone, she was found by the target. While House Wife was amazing at staying hidden and fleeing, she was only average in a fight, and her target had actually been a level above her. She didn''t make it back. But Trapper was still alive, and he had even advanced a level. He was now at the Late Archmage Realm, and he was one of two. The other one was Ice Princess, who also had advanced. The old Late Archmage had advanced to the Peak Archmage Realm and had switched branches since there wasn''t a lot to do for a Peak Archmage in this branch. This meant that Trapper and Ice Princess were now the two most powerful Named Agents in the branch. As Shang walked past them, no one spoke a word. Usually, Trapper was a very chatty and boastful person, but in front of Ice Princess, he stayed silent.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Ice Princess was famous for not talking, never being able to take a joke, and directly attacking if she didn''t like something about someone. Trapper had learned that it was better for him to shut up and not look at her when she was near him. However, that didn''t quench his "thirst". In fact, Ice Princess was Trapper''s biggest target. He wanted her. The more powerful a woman was, the more he desired to "conquer" them. But Ice Princess was powerful, very dangerous, and it was against the rules to do anything to a colleague. Of course, Ice Princess knew Trapper, and she knew exactly what he wanted. However, in her mind, desiring her was only natural. She was beautiful, powerful, intelligent, and courageous. Others were allowed to desire her, but they were not allowed to show her disrespect. Trapper and Ice Princess had a unique dynamic. It was almost like both of them were ignoring each other but also challenging each other at the same time. The atmosphere between them was very tense and not the romantic kind of tense. It was like Trapper was about to do something horrible, and Ice Princess was about to slit his throat. When Shang walked past them, Trapper didn''t say anything. To Trapper, White Ghost was basically just Ice Princess but with a penis. To Ice Princess, White Ghost was someone that knew his ce. White Ghost didn''t disturb her with needless words, and he always kept to himself. ¡°| want to exchange my Mana Crystals," Shang said to the Keeper. ¡°What do you want?" she asked in a neutral tone, not looking at him. "Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets, the permission to train outside, and information on the location of Ancestral Beasts," Shang said. When the Keeper heard that, she actually turned her head and looked at Shang with her ocean-blue eyes from the side. "You are interested in training Magic?" she transmitted so that the others wouldn''t hear her words. "Correct," Shang transmitted. The only reason why Shang would want to train outside was to analyze how the Mana of the world worked. He could train his body and techniques in the training rooms without issues, and it wouldn''t make much sense for him to train outside. This meant that he was probably interested inprehending Concepts. "What do you have in mind?" she asked, turning around again. "| want to view Light from a new angle," Shang said. "| want to feel the light that fire produces." The Keeper moved her nails across her chin in thought. Fire did produce light, but it was a different kind of light. Mages wouldn''t usually look at fire when they were trying toprehend a Light Concept. However, that was mostly for the earlier Concepts. As an experienced Mage Lord, the Keeper knew a lot of very advanced Concepts, and she knew that the Pure level four Concept of Light was Dawn, which was rted to the sun, which was obviously rted to fire. There was definitely a connection there. Additionally, White Ghost wasn''t a Mage but a warrior. On top of that, he was already using an unorthodox path toprehend light, which was his voluntary blindness. If this were a normal Mage, the Keeper would be suspicious. Maybe they wanted to meet someone? Maybe they wanted to flee? However, White Ghost''s unusual methods of training and his obviously very powerful Battle-Strength spoke for him. White Ghost was smart enough to know that he couldn''t flee from the Temple of Blood without going through the proper channels. Lastly, his request was far easier to fulfill than White Ghost had probably anticipated. "That is not a problem," the Keeper answered. "There''s a beast very familiar with fire and light." "The Yellow Sunbreaker.¡± Shang''s body didn''t react, but he was actually quite surprised deep inside. He was shocked that he had missed that obvious connection. The Yellow Sunbreaker was essentially a huge sunflower. Its entire existence basically revolved around the sun, and Shang had felt quite a bit of Fire Manae from it from time to time. "The Yellow Sunbreaker is hunting by releasing its Mana and provoking other beasts into attacking it, but I''m canceling out most of its Fire Mana to keep other Ancestral Beasts froming close and attacking it," the Keeper said. "If the Yellow Sunbreaker dies, we will need to move locations." ¡°However, | can move the area where | cancel out its Mana to further away. I''ll leave the closest kilometer filled with its Mana. That won''t increase the danger at all while giving you a good training ground.¡± "It''s no problem. You don''t even have to pay anything for that." "So, how many Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets do you want?" Chapter 611 Chapter 611 After clearing everything with the Keeper and buying his Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets, Shang walked up the stairs towards the exit. He exited the branch and pushed himself through the root. As soon as Shang had exited, he already felt that the atmosphere was very different from usual. Usually, everything appeared normal, but now, everything around Shang felt brighter and hotter. Even the Yellow Sunbreaker''s roots felt quite hot. Yet, about a kilometer away, the dense Mana slowly thinned out until there was no special Elemental Mana left. Shang''s mind focused on the Yellow Sunbreaker for several seconds, making sure that it noticed him. However, the Yellow Sunbreaker didn''t react at all. That was exactly what Shang wanted. Since Shang''s inner world could now absorb the Mana from the outside, his inner world would also be filled with Fire and Light Mana. Usually, Magesprehended Concepts by simply sitting in such an area and focusing on the world. But Shang wasn''t a Mage. Shang believed that he couldprehend Concepts faster by activelybining them with his techniques. He would focus on the very thing he wanted toprehend and would swing his sword, trying to make use of these things. Of course, Shang couldn''t train like this on the outside. First of all, only the Keeper knew that he was a warrior. Shang was isted in the training rooms, but he wasn''t isted here. Second, Shang would also need to train his Fire Affinity, and he wouldn''t show that to the Keeper. Even Agon had known about the Child of Cmity. Shang refused to believe that a Mage Lord didn''t know about the Child of Cmity. Shang knew that he was the ultimate enemy of everything living. Even such a cold and opportunistic organization as the Temple of Blood wanted humanity to survive and thrive. The more powerful humanity was, the more jobs they would get. Because of all of these reasons, Shang would train inside his inner world, and since his mind wouldn''t be able to take note of his surroundings in the real world, he had to make sure that the Yellow Sunbreaker wouldn''t attack him. And that was why he had focused so intently on the Yellow Sunbreaker. He wanted to gauge its reaction. Luckily, it wasn''t interested in the slightest. It didn''t care that Shang was looking at it. Ahuman also didn''t care when an ant was looking at them. Shang walked down the small hill where the Yellow Sunbreaker was perched and found a good spot. He sat down in a cross-legged position and mentally prepared himself. ¡®| need to consume the Mind Flow Pellets with my real body. | just purchased a huge number of them, and if the Keeper doesn''t see me eat them, she might grow suspicious." It was a bit annoying for Shang to exit his inner world about every four hours, but it wasn''t a big problem. He was so quick at switching back and forth that he wouldn''t even lose any focus. It was a bit like eating a snack while working. However, before Shang started to train, he wanted to do something else first. Shang focused on his body and all the Abominations he had absorbed over thest 50 years. He had reached the peak of the Initial Fusion Realm, and he could breakthrough whenever he wanted. At the True Path Stage, Shang had needed to integrate his new Imposes into his small breakthroughs, but he didn''t need to do that now. Everything would hinge on the big breakthrough in the future. Some secondster, Shang willed the hidden power inside his body to burst forth and fill his entire being. WHOOOOM! Asmall wave of Light and Darkness Mana shot out of his body. If Humanity weren''t active, Fire and Ice Mana would have appeared as well. However, there wasn''t that much Mana Shang had given off, and just a momentter, all the Mana in the surroundings wildly entered Shang''s body. It was almost like someone had shot a hole into a bucket. First, the water in the bucket shot to the side, but then it all started to gather again and rush through the hole. At this moment, Shang was absorbing Mana like crazy. All the Fire and Light Mana in Shang''s surroundings vanished. He had absorbed all of it. Yet, just an instantter, it had been refilled by the Yellow Sunbreaker. It didn''t even notice that some of its Mana had vanished. Some secondster, Shang''s body stopped absorbing Mana, and Shang took a deep breath. He had reached the Early Fusion Realm, and his mind had reached the Early High Mage Realm. The Archmages in Shang''s branch all knew several level two Concepts, and they were all focusing on level three Concepts, and Ice Princess even knew one. Level one Concepts were nothing to them. Most High Mages also knew more than one level one Concept. Comprehending a level one Concept was something great for a True Mage but not for a High Mage.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only So,prehending the Concept of Addition shouldn''t be too difficult with the mind of an Early High Mage. After breaking through, Shang started. Shang threw the first Mind Flow Pellet into his mouth and immediately entered his inner world. If one looked closely at Shang, one would realize that his Spirit Sense had vanished. This always happened when Shang entered his inner world. Obviously, the Keeper had noticed that several times already in the past, but Shang had given her a good exnation. Deep Meditation. Sometimes, he was undergoing meditation that was so deep and concentrated that he even lost track of the outside world. It pulled all of Shang''s focus inward. Mages meditated a lot, but ironically, this Deep Meditation would actually be counterproductive for Mages. Mages needed toprehend their surroundings, not themselves. How were they supposed to learn about fire when they were only looking at their minds and organs? But the Keeper wasn''t suspicious about Shang''s weird training method. After all, he wasn''t a Mage. He was a warrior. Additionally, since Shang''s Battle-Strength was so crazily high, the Keeper thought that Shang probably knew what he was doing. But, of course, this Deep Meditation didn''t actually exist. It was just Shang entering his inner world. As soon as Shang entered his inner world, he took out his first sword and changed it to its Saber State. And then, Shang focused on the heat part of Fire and the augmenting and healing parts of Light. Addition represented the increase in energy. If an object was hotter, it had more energy stored inside it. If an object was heavier, it had more energy stored inside it. Shang had known since he had been at the General Stage that his Light Affinity represented an addition of mass, and he had also made use of that with Brilliance and Dusk. Light could increase the weight and mass of an object. The increase in mass was also how light actually healed people. It consumed Mana or life energy and converted it into matter, which was skin, bone, blood, organs, and so on in the case of healing. After four hours of swinging and experimenting, Shang exited his inner world, ate a Mind Flow Pellet, and entered his inner world again. And again. And again. His training had begun. Chapter 612 Chapter 612 Shang kept training, but eventually, he consumed all the Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets he had bought. However, they had already shown quite a good effect, and Shang had gained plenty of inspiration. He was not only focusing onprehending the Concept of Addition but also on how to apply it to his fighting style. After using up all of the Mind Flow Pellets, Shang also summoned some beasts to fight against. He didn''t want to fight them while being under the effects of the Mind Flow Pellet since it made it harder for him to focus. Shang wasn''t training against anything too difficult. He was mostly summoning powerful Mid Archbeasts, which were just one level above him. Every couple of days, Shang would return to his real body and check in on things. Just as expected, he was still just sitting near the Yellow Sunbreaker. Well, to be honest, it would be quite surprising if anything happened to Shang here. After all, a Mage Lord was literally not even a kilometer away from him. One day, while Shang checked on his real body, someone contacted him. "Come back to the branch," the Keeper transmitted to Shang. "The Yellow Sunbreaker needs to feed every decade, and we are already pushing it. If | don''t allow it to consume a beast, it might be interested in you." Shang nodded and stood up. Then, he walked back to the branch. "There is something else," the Keeper transmitted. "A very interesting mission might appear soon, and it pays very well. You are the best choice for the job, and for your sake, | would advise you to be ready for it." Shang wasn''t quite sure about this. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn''t mind epting such a mission. If this mission really paid that well, it would be a huge waste not to ept it. After all, Shang could more than make up for the lost time by consuming Mind Flow Pellets. However, there were two suspicious things. First of all, it was suspicious that the Keeper told Shang to be ready for it. Sure, Shang had a special set of skills, but there were also several other Named Agents. Just Ice Princess alone was extremely powerful. Even more, even if there were not a single fitting Named Agent in this branch for the mission, the mission could simply be given to a different branch. For example, one of the gatherer families Shang had annihted had been in the territory of a different branch. So, why specifically tell him to be ready? Second, not even the Territory Lord could foresee what kind of missions would appear in the future. As soon as the missions were created, they would already be forwarded to the relevant branches. So, how could the Territory Lord know that a client would soon arrive with a mission? This was very unusual. However, Shang was sure about one thing. The Temple of Blood didn''t want to kill or hurt him. If they wanted to do that, there would be no reason for such an borate setup. The Keeper could just tear Shang apart with her mind and make an example out of him, telling everyone that he had been nning to betray the Temple of Blood. This meant that going on this mission shouldn''t have any nefarious intentions... At least not towards Shang. Shang went into the branch and entered one of the training rooms. Shang didn''t feel it due to the Istion Barrier, but a couple of hourster, the entire branch began to shake. The Yellow Sunbreaker was battling a beast. Of course, the Keeper wouldn''t allow a beast to fight the Yellow Sunbreaker that was too powerful. The fight was difficult, but the Yellow Sunbreaker was the clear favorite from the very beginning. Naturally, the Yellow Sunbreaker won and pulled the corpse into the earth with its roots. While all of this was happening, Shang kept focusing on the Concept of Addition without entering his inner world. His progress had slowed down by quite a bit, but there was nothing he could do. This was his job, and if necessary, he had to be avable. The pay was more than enough. Shang remained in this position for three months. It was quite annoying that he couldn''t train under optimal conditions, but if the Keeper said that the mission paid well, it should be worth it. And then, the Keeper finally contacted him. "The mission is here," she transmitted to Shang. Shang stood up and walked out of the room. As he walked past the middle of the branch, he noticed something. Trapper was here, and he was looking at Shang warily. Shang walked past him, but his steps hesitated for just the slightest of moments. There was someone else here, and that person wasn''t sitting in the middle of the branch. Ice Princess was standing before the Keeper, and her expression was not friendly. In fact, she was filled with cold hatred and caution. When Shang noticed Ice Princess, he knew what this mission was. "Why do you disrespect me by assigning a partner to me?!" Ice Princess said coldly. "| am more than capable enough to deal with a Late Archmage!" "This one isn''t so simple," the Keeper said. "She is very talented. In fact, she doesn''t even belong to this area, and she''s only here because of political reasons." "This is a very important mission, and | can''t risk failure," the Keeper said. "Because of that, | am assigning White Ghost as your partner for this mission." "White Ghost will scout out the surroundings and give you an opportune moment to strike. A well-timed ambush will help you immensely." "You think | believe you?" Ice Princess asked with a chilly voice. "Giving us partners might be rare, but it happens. Yet, whenever it happens, you never assign White Ghost to anyone. You even decline every time when someone asks for him as a partner!" "What are you nning?!" Ice Princess asked directly. The Keeper slowly turned around, looking at Ice Princess with an emotionless stare. "| have my reasons for this assignment."N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. "You have no choice in the matter." At that moment, Ice Princess felt some heate from behind her, and she looked back. Shang was standing just a meter behind her. She hadn''t noticed him at all. Shang knew exactly why he was sent to apany Ice Princess. He didn''t say anything. Chapter 613 Chapter 613 Ice Princess kept looking at Shang with cold and hate-filled eyes. "She seems to suspect something,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang would have expected Ice Princess to argue about getting a partner, but her reaction had been a bit too strong. Either she thought that Shang was supposed to keep watch over her, or she thought that Shang was supposed to kill her. However, Shang was pretty certain that it wasn''t the second possibility. Ice Princess was too proud of her own power to think that anyone could possibly believe that an Early Archmage could defeat her. "Fine," Ice Princess said after a while, looking back at the Keeper. "Good," the Keeper said. Then, she focused on Shang and transmitted the mission to him. Target: Traveling Late Archmage. Description: The target has the appearance of a young woman with greenish-grey hair and a butterfly tattoo on her right cheek. Reward: Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. After inspecting the mission, Shang turned around and left without saying anything. He didn''t even ask anything of the Keeper. Ice Princess kept eyeing Shang with a venomous re, but she eventually followed. The two of them came out of the branch, and Shang used his medals to get past the roots. He didn''t want to show Ice Princess that he could just lift the roots. Shang waited in the front until Ice Princess stepped past him. He didn''t say anything, but his intent was clear. Ice Princess should go first. At this point, Ice Princess stopped honoring White Ghost with her attention and decided to ignore him. She took to the sky, and Shang simply followed her. As soon as she took to the sky, she started to shoot forward with all her speed. Obviously, she either wanted to embarrass Shang or she directly intended to leave him behind. Naturally, Shang couldn''t keep up with her in the normal way. As long as he only used his World Connection to fly, he could equal the speed of a Mid Archmage but not the speed of a Late Archmage. So, Shang had to use Ghost Step a couple of times. Ghost Step looked very simr to Mana Step, but it didn''t cost as much Mana as usual. Additionally, the speed difference between the two wasn''t that monumental. Shang could keep up with Ice Princess like this. Ice Princess acted like she ignored Shang, but she actually paid close attention. When she saw that Shang had actually managed to keep up with her, a cold glimmer appeared in her eyes. Shang noticed, but he couldn''t tell what exactly she was thinking about. The two of them traveled for several minutes. The mission target wasn''t anywhere close to the branch. In fact, it was on the border of the Keeper''s territory. The two of them still received the locations of all the Ancestral Beasts in the surroundings, even when they had already exited the Keeper''s Spirit Sense. Shang still had no idea how the Temple of Blood actually managed to pinpoint the locations of all the Ancestral Beasts. It took them nearly an hour to arrive at the location of their mission. It was around 25,000 kilometers away from their branch, which meant it was outside the Keeper''s Spirit Sense. It was also around 25,000 kilometers away from the next closest branch. In a way, this location was the furthest ce from any kind of branch. In hindsight and by knowing that this mission was suspicious, Shang could see the red gs immediately. However, if one didn''t know that Ice Princess was most likely nning something, one wouldn''t think much about it. After all, missions happened everywhere, and just like every ce in this territory, there was a gatherer family close to this ce.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. This ce wouldn''t appear suspicious. It would be just another mission. Additionally, it wasn''t the agent choosing the mission but the Keeper choosing the agent for the mission. That would make such a mission even less suspicious. Before they even stopped, Shang found their target. Inparison to Ice Princess, his Spirit Sense had a range of 250 kilometers. At the moment, the target was just sitting on a big boulder, far away from any big beasts. Surprisingly, she waspletely alone. There was no member of any of the gatherer families close to her. There were no cities or towns near her. There also wasn''t anything valuable near her. There also wasn''t any special kind of Concept being shown in her surroundings. There was nothing. This ce was about as normal and unassuming as it could get. But this also meant that there was actually no reason for the target to be here. What was she doing? There was only one answer. She was waiting. And since Shang already knew that this mission was quite suspicious, he could tell what she was waiting for. She was waiting for Ice Princess. ¡®| see,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®This is probably one of Ice Princess¡¯ friends, and she arrived to take her away.¡¯ ¡®If lce Princess just came here on her own, everyone would grow suspicious, but if she were chosen as the perfect agent for this mission, she wouldn''t evoke any suspicion. After all, it would be the Keeper choosing her.¡¯ ¡®Ice Princess may be incredibly arrogant, but she isn''t stupid, and I''m pretty sure that she has taken every precaution to not appear suspicious.¡¯ "Yet, the Keeper still found out." ¡®| don''t know how, but the Keeper still found out, and that''s why I''m here.¡¯ ¡®Yet, I''m still a bit unsure.¡¯ ¡®can imagine the Keeper thinking that | can kill a Late Archmage, but I''m not sure if she thinks that | can kill two Late Archmages.¡± ¡®Additionally, if | fail to take down the target and Ice Princess, the Temple of Blood''s secrets will be unveiled, and one of those secrets would even be the location of the Territory Lord.¡¯ ¡®If the Natural Selection Company got hold of the Territory Lord''s location, they could surround her location with their three Mage Lords. That would most definitely end in the Territory Lord''s death.¡¯ ¡®Yet, instead of a Sweeper, she sent me.¡¯ ¡®Is she trusting me with her life?¡¯ ¡®Never.¡¯ "So, there must be something else to her n.¡¯ Chapter 614 Chapter 614 Shang and Ice Princess came closer to the target. At the moment, Ice Princess didn''t act in any suspicious way, but Shang knew that it was only a matter of time. However, even if he was quite sure of his deduction, he still waited for the confirmation. In the end, the Keeper hadn''t told Shang that he was supposed to kill Ice Princess. They might have had an implicit understanding, but such implicit understandings couldn''t be trusted. After all, none of them ever verbalized their stance on the matter. As soon as they reached a distance of about a hundred kilometers from the target, Shang noticed that the target had moved a bit. While normal Archmages only had Spirit Senses with a range of 50 kilometers, there were still talented Archmages with a greater range. After all, Shang also had a far bigger Spirit Sense. It was logical that there would also be others that could achieve something like that. Ice Princess was powerful, but Shang didn''t think that she had a 100-kilometer-wide Spirit Sense. This probably meant that the target had such a big Spirit Sense. "Stop," Ice Princess said coldly. Shang stopped. "The target should be close. Do your job," Ice Princess said coldly. Shang''s job was to scout out the target and give Ice Princess information on their whereabouts. Shang didn''t turn to Ice Princess. "I''ve alreadypleted my job," Shang said. Ice Princess¡¯ eyes turned colder. "My Spirit Sense is greater than yours," Shang said. "| can see our target right now." "And she can see us," Shang added. Ice Princess didn''t react. "She is alone, and there are no Magic Circles," Shang said slowly as he slowly turned toward Ice Princess. "You can attack whenever." Silence. "| don''t need you to tell me what to do," Ice Princess answered coldly after a couple of seconds. "I willplete my task. You wait here." Ice Princess moved past Shang. "No," Shang said. "I am also part of this mission, and | will keep watch. | will apany you while staying hidden." "If there is a good opportunity, | will strike," Shang added with an emotionless voice. Ice Princess looked at Shang with cold hatred in her eyes. She wasn''t sure if Shang had meant their target or her with thatst remark. Silence. The atmosphere between the two became tenser and tenser. Several seconds passed. SHING! And at that moment, their target summoned her Focus and used Mana Step to quickly travel toward the two of them. However, she still would take a bit to arrive. ¡°Our target has noticed us," Shang transmitted to Ice Princess. Voice transmissions were nearly instantaneous. "If you want to kill your target, you should get ready and attack her." Ice Princess didn''t answer, and she kept focusing on Shang. Amomentter, the target reached a distance of about 50 kilometers from them. ¡°Well, if you won''t do it, | will," Shang transmitted to Ice Princess. SHING! Shang used Ghost Step and vanished from Ice Princess¡¯ view. At that moment, Ice Princess gritted her teeth, summoned her Focus, and readied several Spells while charging toward their target. Their target was also readying several Spells while charging toward Ice Princess. Both of them narrowed their eyes and scanned their surroundings. Obviously, if they were enemies, they wouldn''t do that. They would be too busy focusing on each other instead. Amomentter, the green-haired Mage closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Ice Princess had already told her about White Ghost and his abilities. They both knew that they couldn''t find White Ghost with their Spirit Senses, which only left sight. Of course, that was only true for average Mages. However, the green-haired Mage wasn''t an average Mage. She closed her eyes so that she could focus more on her instincts. Over many dangerous battles, she had honed an incredibly advanced and precise instinct, and this instinct had saved her life several times already. This time, she was using it to feel Shang''s approach. At the moment, Ice Princess hadn''t shown any direct signs of betrayal yet. Because of that, Shang couldn''t attack Ice Princess yet, which meant that he would attack her first. At least, that was what the green-haired Mage thought. Would Shang actually care about something like that? The green-haired Mage kept focusing on her surroundings as she came closer and closer to Ice Princess. By now, both of them had readied several Spells. The short instances of time seemed to stretch into eternity as both of them waited for Shang''s attack. Yet, it never came. And before they knew it, they arrived at each other''s side.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Both of them had several Spells, but they weren''t unleashing them at each other. Instead, they were just looking into each other''s eyes. Surprisingly, White Ghost hadn''t attacked the target, even though this had been his best opportunity to do so. It would be a stupid idea to let both of them meet up andbine their powers. But that was exactly what White Ghost had done. The two of them were a bit confused, but they decided to just ept the new situation. This was actually good for them. Inside the forest on the ground, Shang focused on the two of them. Usually, he would have attacked Ice Princess first and then focused on the green-haired Mage. After all, he didn''t care whether Ice Princess showed signs of betrayal or not. However, things were very different this time. All of these suspicious signs... The fact that the Keeper knew about the mission several months before it appeared. The fact that the Keeper specifically wanted Shang to do it. The fact that the Keeper knew about Ice Princess¡¯ uing betrayal. The fact that the Keeper didn''t send a Sweeper. The fact that she seemingly trusted Shang with her life. And,stly, the fact that Shang knew that the Keeper didn''t want to hurt or kill him. There was only one possible exnation. ¡®This is a test.¡¯ "Someone from the Temple of Blood is watching me at the moment.¡¯ Chapter 615 Chapter 615 So, what was Shang''s n? He was quite sure that he was being watched by some powerful person from the Temple of Blood. However, he couldn''t be sure why he was being watched. Was it a test for the position of Sweeper? Was it a loyalty test? Was it a way to make him unveil some of his secrets? Was his Battle-Strength being tested? Depending on the answer, it was best to show different things. If all of this happened simply to test his loyalty, the best course of action would be to take out his Communication Crystal and inform the Keeper that Ice Princess had betrayed them. Shang wouldn''t need to kill anyone, and he wouldn''t need to show his power. Technically, Ice Princess¡¯ betrayal was not his problem. He was not a Sweeper. Named Agents were instructed to try to stop the betrayer if they were confident in their power, but they were also free to simply retreat. In both cases, the Keeper of their branch had to be informed. However, what if this was a test to see how strong Shang actually was? Theoretically, if Shang''s Battle-Strength were actually as outstanding as the Keeper had imed, Shang should have the ability to fight the two Mages or dy them at least. If Shang just decided to retreat and call the Keeper, it essentially meant that Shang didn''t have the Battle-Strength that the Keeper imed. At least, that would be what the watcher of this situation would think. Shang''s grip around his Long Sword hardened. ¡®| don''t think that the Keeper would want to unveil my secret for nothing. | don''t trust in her goodwill, but | trust in her intelligence. Antagonizing me now would be pointless. Either she would gain a powerful enemy, or she would have to kill one of her best Named Agents. There''s no benefit either way." ¡®Fine, Shang thought as his stance lowered. ¡®If you wanted to kill me, you would''ve just done so. Because of that, even if the person that sees me finds out I''m a warrior, they won''t kill me or spread my secret.¡¯ ¡®T''ll deal with those two, but | won''t show my Fire or Ice Affinities.¡¯ "Usually, | would be confident in being able to take them down, but with only half of my Affinities, this won''t be that easy.¡¯ All of this had only taken a tiny moment, and the two Mages above Shang were still nning what to do next. "Careful!" the green-haired Mage shouted as she unleashed her Spells. She hadn''t seen Shang, but her instincts were screaming at her. Her instincts were telling her that she had to be careful and that something was targeting her friend. Several spirals of metallic wind shot past Ice Princess, curving around her body and shooting into the distance. The foreign Mage had a dual Affinity of Wind and Metal. Dual Affinities were vastly rarer than Mixed Affinities. Mixed Affinities were things like Temperature, Poison, or Twilight. They were one thing that was made up of two things. On the other hand, dual Affinities represented two separate things one person had an Affinity for. The two things were still separate and their own thing, but that also meant that the person had a full Affinity for both of them. If one person had 100 points of talent for their one Affinity, someone with a Mixed Affinity of Poison, for example, would have 30 points in Darkness, 30 points in Water, and 100 points in Poison. 30 points in Darkness and Water was not even nearly enough to make it part of someone''s main strength. At most, it would help themprehend Mixed Concepts involving Darkness or Water. They would still need to focus all of their mind on poison-specific things. However, with a dual Affinity, the person would have 100 points in two things each. This meant that they were just as talented in two things as a normal person was in one thing. For Magic, having dual Affinities was objectively better. But just like with everything else, there was a tradeoff. Both Affinities demanded attention. While a normal True Mage could be a High Mage afterprehending a level one Concept, a person with dual Affinities needed toprehend two level one Concepts. Sure, it was better toprehend more Concepts regardless, but this restriction made it impossible for someone to lead a mediocre life. Either they went all the way, or they failed. AHigh Mage with dual Affinities was either above average at least or not a High Mage at all. Aperson with dual Affinities couldn''t justprehend one level one Concept, reach the High Mage Realm, and live out the remainder of their days with a rtively high status. All or nothing. Sess or failure. Folding was impossible. The foreign Mage had dual Affinities of Wind and Metal. This meant that she hadprehended two Pure level two Concepts before reaching the Archmage Realm at least. Sure, this was basically true for every Named Agent in the Temple of Blood, but this was only the bare minimum. Almost certainly, this Mage hadprehended three level two Concepts before reaching the Archmage Realm. Maybe even four, but Shang doubted it. The foreign Mage felt dangerous to Shang, but not that dangerous. As the spirals of wind and metal swept past Ice Princess, a white light appeared in front of them. It was difficult to discern, but if one looked closely, one would be able to discern the shape of an illusory crescent de flying toward Ice Princess.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only BANG! The spirals of wind and metal shot through the shining crescent, destroying it and turning it into mere shards of light and shadow. However, there was no person behind the crescent. WHOOM! At that moment, illusory images appeared around the two Mages. Over a hundred illusory images depicting White Ghost were surrounding them. It was like White Ghost was haunting this area, being everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Ice Princess narrowed her eyes, gathering three of her prepared Spells in her hands, while the foreign Mage had summoned a violently twisting shield of metal and wind. Then, the actual fight began. Chapter 616 Chapter 616 BANG! Ice Princess crushed the Spells she had gathered above her hand, and an instantter, gigantic icicles exploded out from the two of them, wildly spinning around them and destroying all of the images. The two of them were not some helpless damsels. The foreign Mage closed her eyes, her hair serenely billowing in the ethereal symphony of Mana around her. It was like she was fusing with her surroundings. Suddenly, her eyes shot open, and a bright light appeared in them. Her right hand immediately pointed towards a direction diagonally below her. BANG! Aterrifying spiral of metal shot in that direction, its speed far faster than one would expect the Spell of a Late Archmage to be. CRACK! The sound of two powerful and hard things colliding reverberated throughout the area. The foreign Mage''s spiral was redirected to the side, but the thing that had blocked it was also thrown into the distance, breaking through tens of different trees. Shang''s original n had been to distract the two of them with the bright crescent he had unleashed earlier, build up his Distortion Domain around them, and then unleash an attack. However, the newest Spell from the foreign Mage had just ruined that n. "She''s stronger than | expected,¡¯ he thought. Right after Shang was sted away, Ice Princess spotted Shang and readied herself to unleash all her Spells at him. At the moment, Shang was still being flung away by the foreign Mage''s Spells, and he couldn''t defend himself from Ice Princess¡¯ Spells. Yet, the foreign Mage put her arm in front of Ice Princess, stopping her with furrowed brows. "Don''t waste your Mana," she transmitted. "He isn¡¯t the danger. He''s only buying time.¡± Ice Princess'' eyes exploded with rage, but it wasn''t directed at the foreign Mage. It was directed at White Ghost. Because of him, their carefullyid ns were ruined, and they had to improvise now. The two of them immediately turned towards the northeast and used Mana Step to leave. Both of them used five Mana Steps, traversing a distance of over a hundred kilometers. The next second, they used another five Mana Steps, but they slightly changed their directions. With the first five Mana Steps, they should be outside of White Ghost''s Spirit Sense, even if his Spirit Sense were bigger than normal. With the second five Mana Steps, they would change their trajectory unpredictably, significantly widening the cone of their possible trajectory. First, they could only be in the front. Then, they could be in the front, front left, or front right. Then, left, front-left, front, front-right, or right. Andstly, they could have gone anywhere. The longer they hadn''t been found, the less likely the chance of discovering them was. They stopped using Mana Step and focused on recovering their Mana storages while flying further away. Asecond of silence passed. Suddenly, the foreign Mage''s eyes opened wide, and she unleashed several Spells in one direction. WHOOOM! Several spears shot through a mirage of White Ghost, but they didn''t hit anything solid. Ice Princess gritted her teeth. White Ghost was still there! Somehow, he managed to follow them! "You can''t flee," the voice of White Ghost reverberated throughout the surroundings. Usually, Shang avoided talking during a battle, but this time, there was a specific goal as to why he was talking. The foreign Mage furrowed her brows. "He''s bluffing," Ice Princess transmitted in an instant. "He had trouble keeping up with my regr flying speed before." "What makes you think he didn''t put on a show?" the foreign Mage asked with a voice transmission. ¡°He''s only an Early Archmage," Ice Princess answered. "You have seen his mastery over illusions, subterfuge, and stealth," the foreign Mage transmitted back. "What makes you think he isn''t actually a Late Archmage?" "Do you know anything about this colleague of yours?" the foreign Mage asked with a transmission. Ice Princess gritted her teeth. She realized that she actually knew nothing about White Ghost. Ice Princess knew a lot about all of her colleagues, but White Ghost was the only exception. White Ghost was, fittingly enough, as elusive as a ghost. He had already been a Named Agent as a Peak High Mage, and he had even taken care of an entire gatherer family led by an Early Archmage. Was that something a Peak High Mage could do? No. The foreign Mage was right.R¨ºAdt??St chapters at Novel(D)ra/ma.Org Only White Ghost was most likely a Late Archmage. There was a slight possibility that he was a Peak Archmage, but Ice Princess doubted it. A Peak Archmage could earn much more money in other branches. Ice Princess had thought about many things just now, but the thinking speed of a Late Archmage was frighteningly fast. In truth, not even a tenth of a second had passed. "What''s your n?" Ice Princess asked. Surprisingly, none of Ice Princess¡¯ arrogance seemed toe out in front of the foreign Mage. Apparently, Ice Princess epted the foreign Mage as either an equal or a superior. "His Spirit Sense is bigger than normal, and he''s also quite fast," the foreign Mage transmitted. "Using several Mana Steps to flee will only exhaust our Mana storages." "The longer he is near us, the more likely the chance of an Ancestral Mage from the Temple of Blood finding us." "The only way out of this is to kill him quickly." Ice Princess nodded in response to the foreign Mage''s words. Shang noticed that the two of them were preparing more of their Spells, and he realized that his n had worked. Keeping up with the speed of two Late Archmages using Mana Step to flee was extremely draining on Shang''s stamina. If they kept fleeing, Shang would most likely need to give up. That was why he had talked earlier. He needed them to think that they had to kill him to escape, which was actually not the truth. Ice Princess had had the correct thought. Shang was at a lower level than them, and as long as they fled, they would be able to escape. However, Shang had banked on the fact that the talented foreign Mage thought more highly of others than Ice Princess. Because of that, she had assumed that Shang had hidden everything about himself and his true power. Shang''s n had only worked because his opponent was smart. If the foreign Mage were gullible and stupid, the two of them would have simply continued escaping, and Shang would have had no choice but to give up. Most of the time, the reason for a n seeding was because the target was not smart enough, but this time, the n seeded because the target was too smart. ¡®Now, | can attack them without fearing that they might escape.¡¯ Chapter 617 Chapter 617 The two of them were preparing more Spells, but Shang almost immediately attacked them. The two of them had just used several Mana Steps, and Shang didn''t want to give them an opportunity to recover. The foreign Mage was closing her eyes again, and Shang knew that she would most likely feel his attacking. Shang''s right hand let go of his Long Sword. SHING! His Long Sword vanished, and a Colossal Sword appeared in Shang''s right hand. A bright burst of light came out of the Colossal Sword, and Shang swung it forward with all of his power. As the Colossal Sword swung forward, its white light darkened as just the tiniest smidge of yellow joined the color scheme. Shang¡¯ hadn''tprehended the Concept of Addition yet, but he had already found a slight way to alter one of his attacks. The Keeper knew that Shang wasprehending light through fire, and this tiny bit of fire shouldn''t raise any eyebrows. After all, there was nearly no fire in the attack, and it only had a minor role in everything. By all intents and purposes, Shang still looked like someone focusing on Twilight. The attack was nowhere perfect, but Shang managed to add Brilliance to his Saber State''s Hidden Sun. Shang was using the energy-rich base of Hidden Sun and added more energy by increasing its mass with Brilliance. This was the first attack focusing on the Concept of Addition Shang had ever unleashed. Sadly, Shang would still need many more years toprehend the Concept of Addition, and this was the best he could do. WHOOOM! As Shang''s swing finished, a spinning crescent of light shot at the two Mages with incredible speed. Of course, as soon as the bright light appeared, the foreign Mage had already taken note of Shang. BANG! One of her fingers pointed at the spinning crescent, and a spear of metal, supported by the power of wind, shot at it. SHING! But before the spear could hit, Shang switched to his Long Sword and used Ghost Step. The instantaneous nature of Ghost Step made Shang arrive beside the white crescent before the spear. Shang''s arms were already perfectly positioned, and he switched his Long Sword to his Colossal Sword again. Shang only needed to move his Colossal Sword by a mere few centimeters. DING! Ashort and bright burst of light left Shang''s Colossal Sword. SHING! The metallic spear shot past Shang. It had missed the crescent! Shang had just redirected the trajectory of his own ranged attack with abination of Refraction and Reflection! The foreign Mage''s eyes opened wide in shock. This Mage was fighting in a way she had never seen before! Not only was he using a sword, but he was also voluntarilying close to his enemy''s Spells! Nevertheless, the foreign Mage shot several more Spells at the white crescent. "Keep your Spells ready in case he gets close," the foreign Mage transmitted to Ice Princess. Ice Princess didn''t know why a Mage would want to get close to their opponent, but she trusted the foreign Mage and nodded. SHING! Suddenly, Shang appeared beside the white crescent again. WHOOOOOOOM! Ahumongous explosion of light engulfed everyone, disrupting their Spirit Senses and sight. DING! The two Mages could feel the sound of the white crescent being redirected again reverberating through their distorted Spirit Senses. They knew that the foreign Mage''s Spells were about to miss the white crescent and that the enemy''s attack would soon reach them. Yet, it was impossible to tell where the attack woulde from. ¡°Release it!" the foreign Mage transmitted to Ice Princess. Ice Princess unleashed all her Spells, and a dome of sharp icicles appeared around them. The dome immediately started spinning, and the Light Mana in the surroundings was distorted and destroyed by the spinning dome of icicles.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. BANG! Suddenly, a huge part of the dome got obliterated, and some of the overflowing power also hit their Mana Shields. Luckily, the damage was negligible. The foreign Mage had already prepared several more Spells while Ice Princess had defended them. She immediately focused on her instincts again, and she quickly found her opponent. WHOOOOOOOM! Just when she found Shang, a domain of deep darkness consumed them. Their Spirit Senses didn''t get distorted this time, but they also couldn''t get past their ck surroundings. The world turned nearlypletely ck for the two of them. Nearly. There was one singr, white spot in the eternal darkness. It was White Ghost. However, White Ghost looked different. Even the foreign Mage could tell that he looked different from normal, even though she had seen him for the first time only a couple of seconds ago. He was so thin. It was almost like White Ghost wasn''t a living human but a dried corpse. It was like there was no life in his body. Yet, even in this thin and weak form, it was like he was the only thing in this world of unending darkness. By now, only an idiot would believe that White Ghost was at the Early Archmage Realm. This was not something an Early Archmage could do. At the moment, White Ghost wasn''t charging at them but just standing in the middle of space in the distance. Then, he lifted his left arm... And gently spun it. WHOOOOM! Amomentter, the world of darkness seemed to listen to him, and the dense darkness became aggressive. Ice Princess and the foreign Mage felt their Mana Shields quickly being consumed. The foreign Mage didn''t hesitate and made her Spells explode around her. She knew that such a domain of darkness had to be used up by canceling it with different Mana. The darkness immediately consumed her Wind and Metal Mana. BOOOOM! Then, Ice Princess also unleashed her Spells. BANG! After half of her icicles were used up, something changed. One of her icicles seemingly tore the world of darkness apart, and like a ck piece of cloth, the darkness was carried away by the spinning icicles. An instantter, all the darkness was scattered, and they had returned to the real world. Shang had sacrificed a lot of his life energy, but in front of two Late Archmages, his sacrifice didn''t mean much. But Istion had done its job. SHING! Shang used Ghost Step, and he arrived directly in front of the two of them. And at that moment, the foreign Mage unleashed another three Spells at him. Chapter 618 Chapter 618 Time seemed to stop. The thin and frail silhouette of Shang stood in front of the foreign Mage as three spirals of spinning metal were shooting at him. This was the moment that would decide the oue of this battle. The white crescent. The white world. The ck world. All of this was to make the two of them use up all of their Spells. Two Late Archmages could conjure Spells at a terrifying rate, and Shang''s only option to get past that was to use up all of his resources in a single barrage of attacks. As long as Shang could get past thest three Spells, nothing would be between him and his enemy. Yet, the three swirls of metal were about to hit him. If he retreated now, Ice Princess would be able to ready the next barrage of Spells. Shang swung his Long Sword with both of his hands. CRKSH! The first spiral of metal hit him. The left half of Shang''s abdomen below his torso exploded off his body, scattering across the world. A Mage''s body would have exploded from such an attack, but Shang''s body was powerful enough to survive this Spell. Shang''s sword continued swinging forward. CRKSH! The second spiral hit, and Shang''s upper right exploded off. The right side of his chest and his right arm were blown into the distance. Only a thin area of biological mass connected Shang''s upper-left half with his lower body. Yet, the Long Sword continued swinging forward, supported by Shang''s left arm. And then, the third spiral hit. CLING! Thest spiral hit the sword. The sword was blown out of Shang''s left arm, flying into the distance. And at that moment, Shang''s mind went wild. ¡®lL won! SHING! The world transformed yet again. It was like a second sun had suddenly appeared in the sky. It was Shang''s Colossal Sword, filled to the brim with Light Mana! Earlier, when Shang had bathed the world in light to hide the white crescent, he had actually absorbed the majority of the light with his Colossal Sword. This wasn''t just a simple summoning of light but Brilliance. This was where half of his life energy had gone to. The other half had vanished when Shang had summoned the world of darkness, Istion. Yet, Shang''s body was nearly destroyed, and the Colossal Sword was insanely heavy. WHOOOOOM! Suddenly, the Mana in the world around Shang gathered behind the Colossal Sword and pushed forward. World Connection! The brightly shining Colossal Sword shed down. No one could see it, but inside the brightly shining ball, the Colossal Sword burned with ck mes. The world had suddenly transformed, and the two Mages felt like the will of the world wanted to kill them. It was like their surroundings wanted to do nothing but end their existence! It was like the world was pushing them into the brightly shining Colossal Sword! They couldn''t react. And then... Dusk arrived. BOOOOOM! CRACK! Theirbined Mana Shield exploded! They took a shocked and terrified breath. The white light vanished. The Colossal Sword vanished. And then, the foreign Mage felt a body arrive in front of her. White Ghost''s chest lightly hit her chest... And it stopped. The foreign Mage''s terrified and shocked eyes slowly looked up, and she saw the white cloth directly in front of her eyes. Time seemed to stop. In the foreign Mage''s mind, White Ghost had just stopped in front of her. Why? Shouldn''t she be dead? In her panic-filled mind, she suspected that she might survive. It was hard for her to feel what White Ghost was thinking at the moment. This was how the foreign Mage perceived her current situation. Yet, from an onlooker''s perspective, things looked very different. At the moment, White Ghost''s withered left arm stretched past the foreign Mage... And the hand at the end of it was tightly squeezing Ice Princess¡¯ neck. As the foreign Mage was looking in shock and uncertainty at White Ghost in front of her, Ice Princess¡¯ body was withering at a visible rate, her skin turning ck and her muscles vanishing. Shang was absorbing her life energy to recover.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Amomentter, Shang''s newly recovered right arm slowly moved toward the foreign Mage''s head. The foreign Mage didn''t even notice it. Shang''s big hand engulfed the left half of her head. And then, he squeezed. It was like someone was scooping up snow from the ground. The foreign Mage died in an instant, and Shang absorbed her life energy. Amomentter, the two dried corpses started to fall toward the ground, and Shang took a deep breath. ¡®Not using my Fire and Ice Affinities definitely made things difficult. | also only had ess to two of my four States, and | even had to keep Silence a secret.¡¯ If | had ess to everything, | could have used a weaker Dusk, followed by Star Shatter, followed by Silence to quickly take care of them while using my Ice and Fire Bursts to move faster without using up so much of my life energy.¡¯ ¡®Things would have been far easier.¡¯ Shang took another deep breath. "But it worked out.¡¯ ¡®| showed incredible Battle-Strength while keeping my status as the Child of Cmity a secret.¡¯ ¡®The more powerful | am, the more the Temple of Blood would want to foster me.¡¯ ¡®Yet, it is always better to leave the other side the impression that | didn''t show my power on purpose." Like this, they will be under the illusion that | never nned on joining and that they made the decision to include me in their inner ranks.¡¯ ¡®They were the ones that found me.¡¯ ¡®They were the ones that convinced me to join them.¡¯ ¡®There''s no reason to doubt my allegiance.¡¯ Shang took out his Communication Crystal. ¡®Yet, to make it truly believable, there''s onest thing | have to do.¡¯ "Missionplete," Shang told the Keeper. "Sadly, Ice Princess was eaten by a wolf.¡± Silence. ¡®Appearing too loyal and perfect is bad.¡¯ Chapter 619 Chapter 619 The Keeper didn''t answer for several seconds. This was such an obvious lie that Shang was basically just directly making fun of her. He could just have said that Ice Princess had betrayed them. There was nothing wrong with taking care of a traitor. There might even be a reward. Yet, Shang came up with such an obvious lie. ¡°What really happened?" the Keeper asked through the Communication Crystal. "Why ask a question you already know the answer to?" Shang asked with an even voice. Silence. "I''m not throwing my life away by fighting such a strong wolf," Shang added. Suddenly, Shang felt quite an aggressive auraing out of his Communication Crystal. Things seemed different than thest time. When Shang had killed Desert Storm, the Keeper hadn''t acted like this, but this time, she didn''t like the answer. ¡°What really happened?" the Keeper asked again with a serious voice. "You already know what happened," Shang repeated. "She was eaten by a wolf.¡± ¡°What kind of wolf?!" the Keeper asked immediately. Silence.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. For several seconds, there came no answer from the Communication Crystal. "What kind of wolf?!" the Keeper repeated. "Give me a second," Shang said. "I''m doing something right now." "What can you possibly be busy with right now?!" the Keeper nearly shouted. No answer for several seconds. "It was a Late Archbeast wolf with a Wind Affinity. It''s currently about 80 kilometers away from me," Shang said. The Keeper gritted her teeth. It was like White Ghost wasn''t even trying to sound believable! ¡°Retrieve her corpse!" the Keeper ordered. "How?" Shang asked. Silence. "What do you mean, how?!" the Keeper asked. "Just kill the damn wolf!" "That wolf just killed a Late Archmage without any troubles. I''m not fighting that," Shang answered. The Keeper gritted her teeth. "What about the target of the mission?!" she asked. "| have her corpse." "How did she die?¡± "| killed her." Silence. The silence was very long, and Shang couldn''t tell what the Keeper was thinking about right now. ¡°But you can''t kill the wolf?¡± "No." Silence. "Why are you making this so difficult?" the Keeper asked after several seconds with a calmer voice. "| know that she was about to betray us. You don''t have to act like a wolf ate her." "But it did," Shang answered. "Although it''s taking its sweet time with it," he grumbled. "Killed her then," the Keeper said after taking a deep breath. "You don''t have to act like a wolf killed her." Shang noticed that the Keeper was very different from usual. Usually, it was an unspoken agreement that Shang would kill whomever he was sent on a mission with, and the Keeper knew that very well. She had sent Shang with Ice Princess, knowing that she would betray them. But then why was the Keeper suddenly acting like Shang wasn''t supposed to kill her? "You thought that she would betray the Temple of Blood," Shang said. "Yet, you still sent me on a mission with her. Why?" Usually, this wasn''t a question. It was obvious that the Keeper sent Shang with Ice Princess on the mission so that he would kill her. But, apparently, that wasn''t the case this time. For a couple of seconds, the Keeper didn''t say anything. Then, she took a deep breath. "She was supposed to escape sessfully and deliver incorrect intel." Silence. "| sent you with her to make it seem like | honestly wanted to kill her so that she wouldn''t suspect that | actually let her escape. | sent you because you are powerful enough to be a threat but not strong enough to win against Ice Princess and Samantha Wildfern together." ¡°ording to the n, you were supposed to inform me. Then, | would send a Sweeper and tell you to keep following them without risking your life, but due to their higher Realm, they would inevitably get away before the Sweeper arrives." "Ice Princess would unveil everything she knew to the Wildfern Family, and they would trade the information to the Natural Selection Company. The Natural Selection Company would pay a hefty price for the information, but it would lead nowhere." "This would sour the rtionship between the two families, taking pressure off us." Silence. Shang was so close to breaking his Communication Crystal. ¡®This means that no one was actually watching!¡¯ he thought with burning anger. ¡®| actually didn''t need to keep my powers a secret! Literally nobody was watching!¡¯ ¡®| risked my life for no reason whatsoever!" Shang didn''t say anything for quite a while. He had thought that he had seen through the Keeper''s n, but he had actuallypletely overlooked this possibility. Shang had thought that the Keeper knew how powerful he was and that this was some kind of test to see if it was worth investing more resources in him. Shang had essentially managed to fight 2.5 levels above himself and win, which would put him among the truly talented people of an Empire. He suspected that the Temple of Blood actually had the backing of one of the Empires, and he had thought that maybe some Mage Lord of this Empire was evaluating his power from the shadows. Everything would make sense in this way. Eventually, Shang took a deep breath. "You can''t fault me for the sudden appearance of this powerful wolf," Shang said. "No, | can''t, and | won''t," the Keeper said. "| made an incorrect call. | didn''t expect that a Late Archbeast could be so powerful. Did the wolf eat the entire corpse?" "Yes, everything," Shang answered. ¡°What about the target''s corpse?" the Keeper asked. "Still here," Shang answered. "Throw it to the same wolf with all the belongings," the Keeper said. This was unusual, but Shang understood why he should do that. The target wasn''t supposed to die this time. Shang lifted the dried corpse and its belongings with his mind and threw it at the wolf that had just finished eating Ice Princess¡¯ corpse. It was just some random wolf Shang had found. When the corpse flew towards the wolf, it became startled and fled for several kilometers. Acouple of secondster, it slowly came back and kept watch over its surroundings. This was suspicious. But after about a full minute of nothing happening, the wolf eventually wolved down the corpse. "The wolf ate everything,¡± Shang said. "Took long enough,¡± the Keeper answered. "Come back to the branch. We need to talk about your future." Chapter 620 Chapter 620 After dealing with both corpses, Shang flew back to the branch. He got past the roots of the Yellow Sunbreaker and entered. Trapper still sat in the middle of the branch, and when he saw White Ghost return without Ice Princess, he knew what that meant. He felt aplex mix of emotions. He was frustrated that he hadn''t been the one to "dominate", "conquer", and "ruin" Ice Princess. He was angry that Shang made it forever impossible for Trapper to realize this dream of his. He felt d that the arrogant bitch Ice Princess finally got what wasing to her. But more than anything, he felt shocked about White Ghost''s power. White Ghost could kill Ice Princess on his own? But then, he realized something.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org It probably wasn''t White Ghost that had killed her! White Ghost had probably only watched her while a Sweeper took care of everything. However, Trapper still became much more careful in front of Shang. This was now the second time when someone from their branch had died after going on a mission with White Ghost. By now, Trapper was sure that White Ghost was the Keeper''s most-trusted Named Agent. From now on, Trapper would make sure that he never showed even the slightest inkling of betrayal in front of White Ghost. Shang stepped past Trapper without paying him any heed. Then, he stopped in front of the Keeper. "|pleted the mission," Shang said. "Since Ice Princess is dead, | should get the entire reward." The Keeper didn''t immediately react. After some seconds, she turned around, but instead of only turning her head a bit, her entire body actually turned to face Shang. When Trapper saw that, his eyes widened. The Keeper very rarely moved from her position. Since she was the Territory Lord, nearly her entire mind was upied with thinking about bigger things than just this branch. Because of that, she rarely reacted to anything happening in this branch in any major way. After all, she had to overlook dozens of branches. Abitter, her eyes focused on Trapper, who moved his body back by a bit. "Go into a training room and activate an Istion Barrier or leave the branch for a bit. | will call you back," she said. Trapper looked at Shang for a bit with confusion and shock. ¡°Sure thing," Trapper said before entering one of the training rooms and activating the Istion Barrier. Now, only Shang and the Keeper were left... Or, more specifically, Shang and the Territory Lord. "Your talents are wasted here," the Territory Lord said. Shang didn''t answer. "| want to talk with you about your future. | think we can make better use of your talents somece else." ¡°Usually, | lead this kind of discussion with everyone that can fight with a Mage two levels above themselves. The important part here is the word fight. Winning is not necessary." "Being able to fight someone two levels above yourself means you can jump 1.5 levels. Being able to win against someone like this means you can jump 2 levels." Shang didn''t say anything and just listened. "| knew that you could jump two levels for a long time. Under normal circumstances, that would be more than enough for me to have this talk with you." ¡°But I''m not a Mage," Shang interjected, "right?" The Territory Lord nodded solemnly. "We have never epted any non-Mage in our inner circle since they are all too weak. Additionally, joining the inner circle means that the Temple of Blood will lose a mountain of resources. We are investing in new people in the hope that they will one day be Mage Lords and lead the Temple of Blood." "So, even if you could jump 1.5 levels, investing more resources into you will most likely end in a loss for us." "You traveled to the Sky Lantern so that you may gain inspiration on how to reach the next Realm. | know that all too well." "Yet, even when you gain inspiration, you can''t guarantee that your n will actually work, and you also can''t guarantee that your Battle-Strength won''t suddenly fall significantly." ¡°Additionally, even if you knew of a surefire way to reach the Sixth Realm with an incredible Battle-Strength, you can''t guarantee that you will be able to do the same thing with the Seventh Realm." "Investing in powerful Mages is already risky, and investing in you would be even riskier. In fact, investing in you would be akin to throwing a bunch of Grade Seven Mana Crystals into the wilderness and hoping that there would be more of them the next time we look." "It''s not realistic." "But things are different now," the Territory Lord added. "You took care of two Late Archmages in a very short period of time. Even more, one of them was the daughter of the Wildfern Family''s Treasury Master." When Shang heard that, he took a deep breath. When he had heard the target''s name earlier, he had already suspected that this might have some consequences. However, Shang hadn''t expected that he had killed someone this important. The Wildfern Family was on the same level as the Natural Selection Company, and they had four Mage Lords. Their Treasury Master was one of those Mage Lords. And Shang had just killed a Mage Lord''s daughter. Even though Shang had the backing of the Temple of Blood, this was still very dangerous to him. It was possible that the Temple of Blood''s neighboring territory, the one on top of the Wildfern Family''s territory, would suffer severe setbacks due to this. The Treasury Master of the Wildfern Family might directlye out and patrol his territory, killing every single member of the Temple of Blood he could find. In an act of desperation, the Temple of Blood might even decide to sacrifice Shang in hopes of appeasing the Treasury Master. "You''re not stupid," the Territory Lord said. "You know that this situation is problematic." "| know that it is not your fault. | was the one that misjudged your power, and | was the one that sent you on the mission." "However, all of that doesn''t matter." "I''m strong." "You''re weak." ¡°Even if | came forward and decided to take all the me, the Temple of Blood would still make you their scapegoat." Shang didn''t move, but his Spirit Sense kept focusing on the Territory Lord. "But that''s not what will happen," he said. "If it were, we wouldn''t be talking right now." "That depends on you," the Territory Lord said. "If you are valuable enough, the Temple of Blood won''t sacrifice you." ¡°And how am | supposed to prove my worth?" Shang asked. The Territory Lord looked at Shang with a serious expression. "You need to trust me,¡± she said. "You need to tell me everything about yourself." Shang didn''t show any reaction. Asecondter, the Territory Lord summoned a small Magic Rune in her hand. Shang knew this Rune. This was an SKP. "| need you to create a temporary SKP for this conversation,¡± the Territory Lord said. "The temporary SKP allows me to tell you secrets I''m normally not allowed to tell you. As long as we delete the SKP after the conversation, there won''t be any problem." Shang''s Spirit Sense focused on the Rune. ¡°But you are not creating one for yourself." The Territory Lord didn''t answer. ¡°You want me to trust you, but you''re not trusting me." The Keeper only looked with an emotionless gaze at Shang. "| have a choice." "You don''t." "Trust only goes both ways when all parties are simr in strength.¡± ¡°Either you trust me, or you die.¡± Chapter 621 Chapter 621 Shang didn''t show any reaction for a while, but he knew that he actually didn''t have a choice. Even if he were to use Entropy, he would probably need to sacrifice his entire body just to injure the Territory Lord. She was right. The gap in power was just too big, and Shang didn''t have any choice. The Rune for the SKP floated over, and Shang put it into his mind. And then, he took it out again and handed it back to the Territory Lord, but this time, the Rune was grey and filled with Mana. To Shang, it felt like just a moment had passed, but they had actually been talking for a long time just now. The Territory Lord inspected the grey Rune for a while before destroying it. "So, what happens now?" Shang asked. "I''m not sure," the Territory Lord said. "You''ve told me about several things thatplicate matters. The fact that you know a way for True Path Stage warriors to reach the Impose Realm, as you called it, is already worth a lot." "We''ve already talked about how weak physis are. The concept of a True Path Stage warrior doesn''t even exist. They have literally only existed in Area 23, and | wouldn''t even know about them if you hadn''t told me just now." "While True Path Stage warriors are not that useful, they represent a possible expansion for the Temple of Blood. Due to their different sets of powers, they might be more suitable for certain missions than Mages." ¡°However, that also represents a huge investment and expenditure for the Temple of Blood, and that''s not something | can decide whether to implement or not." ¡°But then, there''s also your problem with the Lightning Manor," the Territory Lord added. "So, | even told her about that, huh?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang thought it was a bad idea to tell the Territory Lord about his conflict with the Lightning Manor. In fact, Shang would believe anyone that unveiled such a secret to be an idiot. Yet, Shang had been the one to unveil it. Was he supposed to call himself an idiot? In fact, the current Shang didn''t know as much about the Territory Lord as the Shang from a couple of minutes ago. The other Shang had more information avable to make a decision, while the current one didn''t. In the end, Shang could only trust in his other self. He hoped that he knew what he was doing. "We''ve talked about many possibilities," the Territory Lord continued. "For now, | can''t tell you how things will continue, but | can tell you with quite a lot of confidence that you''re valuable enough. | don''t think that the Temple of Blood would want to make you a scapegoat.¡± Shang didn''t show it, but he felt quite relieved. These kinds of situations put Shang under even more pressure than an extremely dangerous fight. In a dangerous fight, Shang''s survival depended on his own power and his actions. Shang was extremely confident in his power and his ability to perform under pressure, which meant that a very dangerous fight wouldn''t put as much pressure on him. Yet, in this kind of situation, Shang''s fate was left to others. His power to influence the oue was minimal. That brought a lot of uncertainty into everything. "| need to talk with someone about how to proceed," the Territory Lord said. "You can continue training.¡± Shang nodded. "What about my payment for the mission?" Surprisingly, the Territory Lord snorted. "No matter what my discussions with the others will produce, you won''t care about the reward. Either you will not be wanting resources in any way soon, or you will be dead." ¡°And if nothing changes?" Shang asked. The Territory Lord looked at Shang with a bored gaze before turning around. Then, she threw some Grade Six Mana Crystals to Shang without saying anything. "| need some Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets," Shang said after catching the Mana Crystals. The Keeper took a deep breath. She took the Mana Crystals back and threw a box of Mind Flow Pellets to Shang. Shang didn''t show it, but he was quite shocked when he inspected the box. So many Mind Flow Pellets! That was probably 50 Grade Six Mana Crystals worth of Mind Flow Pellets! "A taste of how your future will be from now on," the Keeper said without turning around. Shang didn''t say anything for quite a while. "What do | need to do in exchange for this?" Shang asked.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. ¡°Not betray the Temple of Blood," the Keeper answered. "The Temple will continue to invest more into you. In the best case scenario, you will never leave it, be powerful, and bring it to new heights." ¡°However, you can also leave in the future as long as you can guarantee that you have no ill will towards the Temple and as long as you give the Temple of Blood more than it has invested in you." "We are a profit-oriented organization. You can negotiate with us, and you will find us quite receptive to trades when there''s money to be made," the Keeper said. Shang''s Spirit Sense focused on the box of Mind Flow Pellets for a while. "That sounds too good to be true," he said. "Shang," the Keeper said. Shang didn''t show any reaction to his name. He had already expected that he had told the Keeper about it. "You are right when we are talking about elite soldiers. Powerful soldiers have to do what the leaders want them to do.¡± ¡°However, you will only be an elite soldier when your talent has dried up. When you stop progressing at a rapid rate, it''s time to start the repayment process." ¡°At that point, you might need to do things you don''t want to do." "But as long as your growth doesn''t slow down, the Temple will not work you to the bone, and it will keep investing more into you." ¡°And if everything goes well, you will be one of the leaders of the Temple of Blood, and you get to decide on how to repay us, but by that point, you already own parts of the Temple of Blood, and repaying us is just shoveling money from your left pocket to your right pocket." "Don''t stop growing. As long as you be more powerful, you won''t miss a thing." Chapter 622 Chapter 622 After a while, Shang left the branch of the Temple of Blood to continueprehending the Concept of Addition in front of the Yellow Sunbreaker. ¡®As long as | keep growing more powerful, huh?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®| don''t think things are that easy." ¡®It might have been that easy for the Keeper, but it doesn''t mean that it will be that easy for me.¡¯ ¡®The Temple is not investing resources into the creation of Sweepers. Sweepers are not important enough to invest in. That means that my talent and potential peak in the future must be, at least, at the Peak Sixth Realm. Additionally, they would probably even want me to be quite powerful in that Realm.¡¯ ¡®While | am certain that | will reach that power, other people might not.¡¯ ¡®It''s also possible that they will take my current speed of growth as a representation and trade me to someone else for a lot of resources, believing that my rapid growth will stop soon.¡¯ ¡®Things definitely aren''t as simple as just bing more powerful." Sadly, there was nothing Shang could do about all of this right now. He had already done his best to show his value, and now, he could only wait. Whether he decided to put his everything into training or sleep for several years, his fate wouldn''t change. But just as always, Shang still put his everything into training. Power. Power was his existence, goal, motivation, worth, hobby, and love. There were about nine other Archmages in the world that were about as powerful as him, and two of them were definitely more powerful than him. The foundation of power for all of these people had already been built, and from now on, it all depended on how one built upon that foundation. Every additional level will be more and more difficult. Reaching the General Stage was easy. Shang even had to be careful not to reach it on ident. Reaching the Commander Stage was hard. Comprehending a Domain took a lot of work and even a dangerous fight. Reaching the True Path Stage had been agonizing. Shang had trained in istion for around 50 years without pause or doing anything else. Reaching the Fusion Realm had been even harder. Not only had Shang needed to fine-tune his Mana pathways, which had temporarily weakened his Battle-Strength, but he had also needed to create a Beast Core and evenprehend an Impose before even reaching the Early True Path Stage. Then, he even needed tens of Grade Six Mana Crystals toprehend World Connection. Shang had reached the True Path Stage when he was a bit over 80 years old, but he reached the Fusion Realm only when he was about 310. More than half of his life had passed. In Earth terms, Shang would have been around 55 years old when he reached the Fusion Realm. It waste. And now, things would get even more difficult. However, if Shang managed toplete it, his number ofpetitors would drop. Even if Shang''s Battle-Strength didn''t grow anymore, by the sheer fact that every peer of his would drop one by one, he would eventually be the strongest one. Sacrificing so much had been worth it. By sacrificing everything he was and owned in order to gain more power, he had reached his current ce. Once more, Shang confirmed that the Path he had chosen was the correct one. Without waiting for long, Shang threw a Mind Flow Pellet into his mouth and entered his inner world. He needed toprehend the Concept of Addition. Shang didn''t know how much time had passed. After who knew how long, Shang had used up the entire box of Mind Flow Pellets, but he kept on going. Shangprehended quite a bit. The Concept of Addition was quite an interesting oddity, and it was very different from the level one Concepts of Light and Darkness. In fact, the Concept of Addition was different from basically every other Concept Shang had heard of. Subtraction and Addition were absolutely unique. What made them so unique? Well, the Concepts of Fire acted upon Fire Mana. The Concepts of Time acted upon Time Mana. The Mixed Concepts, like Summer Drizzle, acted upon several kinds of Elemental Mana. And what kind of Mana did the Concept of Addition work on? Based on how other Concepts worked, one would think that it worked on Light and Fire Mana. But that was where it differed. The Concept of Addition worked upon every kind of Mana. Fire Mana, Light Mana, Darkness Mana, Ice Mana, Space Mana, Time Mana, Life Mana, Death Mana, and even Neutral Mana. The Concept of Addition worked not upon all kinds of Mana, but upon the very principle of Mana itself. ¡®Addition and Subtraction can work on their own, but they are most powerful while supporting something else.¡¯ ¡®Addition, Subtraction, Temperature, and Twilight, huh?"N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. Shang was pretty sure that he was onto something, and he actually decided to forgo some of his physical training so that he could concentrate more on these connections. For a long time, Shang only sat inside his inner world, not doing anything. Eventually, Shang''s focus went back to his inner world, and he took hold of his Colossal Sword. He swung forward. SHING! Bright light illuminated Shang''s inner world. Then, Shang swung a second time. Seemingly nothing happened. There was no light whatsoever. Yet, for the first time in forever, Shang actually smiled brightly. It worked! It actually worked! He had searched for a way to use all of his four States at once for centuries. Now, he saw the first sess. Shang put the Colossal Sword to the side and grabbed his Long Sword. He fed it some ore, and the Long Sword became a Saber. Shang swung forward. Nothing seemed to happen. There was no fire or light. Shang only smirked and held his Saber. Then, he slowly dropped it. And it hit the ground. BOOOOOOOOOOM! It was like Shang''s entire inner world was shaken. It was like something of unimaginable weight had just hit the ground. ¡®Light represents the addition of mass, but the power of light is scattered.¡¯ ¡®With the Concept of Addition, | can control in what way | want to add something.¡¯ "Make it brighter without making it heavier.¡¯ ¡®Make it heavier without making it brighter.¡¯ "Don''t go 50/50 but 100/0 or 0/100." ¡®With some more work, I''m sure that | can use my techniques for my Colossal Sword State in my Saber State." ¡®I finally have a way | canbine my States!" Chapter 623 Chapter 623 Shang had finallyprehended the Concept of Addition. For the first time in a long while, Shang actually returned to the real world. At that point, Shang also realized something. He had been gone for probably years, which meant that no one had been able to contact him for that amount of time. Most likely, Shang''s fate had already been decided by the higher-ups, and the fact that Shang was still alive meant that they didn''t decide to use him as a scapegoat. Shang stood up and slowly walked over to the branch. He entered and passed by one of the newer Named Agents and Fire Pir. Based on how the newer Named Agent was looking at Shang, Shang could already confirm that Fire Pir had fed the new Agent some horseshit. However, all of that didn''t matter. Shang might very likely leave soon and go somewhere else. If the Temple of Blood decided to invest in him, he would very likely be sent somewhere else. Shang stopped behind the Keeper and waited. "You kept me waiting for 13 years," the Keeper said. "Together with the 14 years you usedst time, you have sat in front of the Yellow Sunbreaker for 27 years." ''27 years is about what | expected,¡¯ Shang thought, but he didn''t answer. "Was it at least worth it?" the Keeper asked. Shang nodded. "Show me," the Keeper ordered. Shang didn''t move, and the Keeper could feel Shang''s suspicion and hesitation. Asking about someone else''s Concepts and powers was rude and could also be considered hostile. After all, if one knew what someone else could do, one would be able to counter the other person''s powers and create a n to kill them. "Your life is no longer your own," the Keeper said. At that moment, Shang was involuntarily reminded of something. Mervin had said something simr back when Shang had still been a Soldier Stage warrior. However, the intention and meaning behind these statements were very different. Mervin meant that Shang shouldn''t train in a suicidal manner since, if he died, he would inflict pain on everyone around him. Inparison, the Keeper meant that Shang''s freedom was now severely restricted. The Temple of Blood would invest a lot of resources into him, and they would make very sure that these resources didn''t go to waste. They were about to invest a lot, and they expected results from Shang. ¡®| guess that settles it,¡¯ Shang thought. ''My life is about to change significantly." ¡®However, that''s a good thing. I''m receiving resources in exchange for freedom and agency.¡¯ ¡®But isn''t that what | have been doing for the past centuries?¡¯ ¡®It''s just one sacrifice amongst many." "Fine," Shang answered. "I have no problems with showing you my results, but | don''t want to show them to the Named Agents." Shang directed the Keeper''s attention to the two people sitting in the branch. Two secondster, the two Named Agents looked at the Keeper with surprise before they left the branch. Obviously, the Keeper had sent them away. The Keeper turned around and looked at Shang with her cold, ocean-like eyes. Shang summoned his Long Sword and summoned some light. "Wait," the Keeper said. "You said you use your Long Sword for Darkness. Aren''t you supposed to use your Colossal Sword for that?"C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org ¡°Usually, yes," Shang said, "but this is different." "|prehended something that allows me to bridge the gap between my States." The Keeper nodded and motioned for Shang to continue. Just now, Shang had demonstrated the normal usage of light, and now, Shang would show the other usages. An instantter, the branch became even brighter, and the Keeper nodded. Then, Shang put his sword to the ground and lightly touched it with a finger. CRK! The floor didn''t break, but one could definitely hear that it was under more stress than before. "The Concept of Addition," the Keeper said. ¡®Just as expected. The Concepts are already known,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Trying to keep something secret that everyone knows about would evoke suspicion.¡¯ ¡®That means she probably also knows about the Concept of Subtraction.¡¯ "Yes," Shang said. "|prehended the Concept of Addition." "Good work, but what is your n?¡± the Keeper asked. "Why focus on a Concept when you are a warrior? Also, why did you specifically choose toprehend this Concept instead of the much more logical Concept of Twilight?" Shang hadn''t been asked such invasive and personal questions in literal centuries. It felt very different and alien, and it demonstrated very well how Shang''s life was about to change. Everyone had always given Shang his space and let himprehend and train whatever and however he wanted. But privacy was a thing of the past. "| want to change my States," Shang said. "I will use the Concept of Addition for a new State, which will create an additional Impose that can be added to my World Connection." ¡°After that, | willprehend the Concept of Subtraction and do the same thing," Shang said. The Keeper looked at Shang for a bit, and it was difficult for Shang to discern what she was thinking about. "You are no longer alone," the Keeper said. The sentence sounded friendly and caring, but it had an entirely different meaning whening from the Keeper. "The Temple of Blood is about to trust you with a lot of resources, and it expects reciprocity." "You are a very careful person, and | can understand why. However, the Temple of Blood requires honesty." "If we ever find out that you have lied about something, we will immediately severely restrict you in every aspect of your life. After all, if you lied about one thing, you could have lied about many more things." "You chose your words very carefully just now," the Keeper added. "You didn''t lie, but you were also not honest. You wanted to know how much | know and how much you have told me." "This kind of mindset has to change!" the Keepermanded with a strict voice that bordered on shouting. "We have decided to invest in you." "We are allies!" "Seeing you seed means seeing our investments pay off!" ¡°We are not interested in hurting you since that would transform our investments into losses!" "So, stop trying to keep things to yourself and trying to siphon information out of us!" "| know that you have four States! You told me!" ¡°Next time, be honest and directly tell me that you want to use the Concepts of Addition and Subtraction tobine two States each, not expand upon them!" "This has very different meanings!" "Am | understood?!" Chapter 624 Chapter 624 The current situation was very strange to Shang. For over two centuries, he had kept only to himself, not daring to tell anyone about anything rted to his powers. He couldn''t let anyone find out that he was the Child of Cmity. Because of that, he had to keep secret that he had four Affinities. Because of that, he had to keep secret that he had four States. Additionally, Shang also had an entirely separate issue that also forced him to keep secrets. Shang was being pursued by the Lightning Manor. They knew that they were essentially searching for the strongest warrior in the world, and if anyone found a really powerful Fifth Realm warrior, they would be easily able to connect the two people. Because of that, Shang even had to keep his identity as a warrior a secret. He even had to keep his name a secret. Hell, the Lightning Manor probably even knew that Shang was missing an eye he couldn''t regrow, which meant that Shang even had to keep his appearance a secret. Shang had even killed innocent people just because they might have potentially found out some little clue about some irrelevant secret of his. Secrets upon secrets upon secrets. And now, he was suddenly supposed to be honest? Right now, it was like Shang was standing in front of a dark abyss. He had to walk forward into the darkness, into a ce he had never been before. This reminded Shang of the time he stood at the edge of Area 23. He also hadn''t known what would await him. Back then, Shang had also been forced to enter a ce he had never been to before. He didn''t even know what it looked like. Shang had taken the plunge back then. After many minutes or even hours of falling, Shang had eventually broken past thestyer of clouds. Water. He had only seen water. And the ce he had jumped from? It was just a huge teau, about 2,000 kilometers wide and maybe 100 kilometers high. Agigantic teau in the middle of a humongous ocean. That was Area 23. With one jump, Shang''s world had be bigger. The thing he had viewed as the world had transformed into just a random teau in an endless ocean. Then, Shang had traveled toward the east for several days. He had seen a couple of other teaus with his Spirit Sense, but he hadn''t gone close to any of them. Eventually, he reached the shore and found several High Mages and True Mages walking through the wilderness and collecting things. Shang had left Area 23 and entered the real world. And, right now, Shang felt very simr to back then. 390 years. Shang''s body in this world was about 390 years old, but even if one added his distant life on Earth, Shang would only be a bit over 400 years old. Yet, for thest 240 of these 390 years, Shang had lived in absolute secret. Secrecy was a defense. If no one knew Shang''s secrets, no one would be interested in killing him. If no one knew Shang''s powers, no one would feel safe enough to attack him blindly. If no one knew Shang''s goal, no one would feel threatened. If no one knew Shang existed, no one would even interact with him. Secrecy was survival. And now, Shang was forced to abandon this weapon. He was forced to tell others about his secrets. Shang would have never done that. If he had a choice, he would never do that. In his mind, the past Shang that had decided to tell Jerald about his background had also been an idiot. It was unimaginable to him that anyone would voluntarilye up with the idea to tell anyone about the fact that Shang knew the God of the world. Everyone believed in the Mage God, and if Shang suddenly started iming that the real God was some crazy lunatic, they might just decide to kill him for disrespecting their God. It was insane. It was an unnecessary risk. Shang hated taking unnecessary risks. But this time, he was forced to. Shang took a deep breath. There was no more reason to hesitate. Hesitating would only slightly dy the inevitable, and it might even ruin his future. "Yes," Shang said.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. "I''m sorry." Silence. "| have lived in secrecy for around 240 years. Trusting others is challenging for me." Saying these things was very difficult for Shang. "You don''t need to trust us," the Keeper said with annoyance. "You only need to trust that we are smart enough not to throw money out of the window." "This has nothing to do with trust,panionship, love, friendship, or whatever. This is all about profit. We share a goal, and betraying each other won''t benefit either of us." ¡°Don''t trust in us. Trust in our effective mindset for business," the Keeper said. Hearing these words made it easier for Shang to ept his new reality. ¡®Right, | don''t need to trust them with my life or anything. As long as | am showing potential and growth, they would be stupid to throw me away. | only need to trust in their intelligence.¡¯ ¡®Of course, only to a certain degree.¡¯ "| will do so," Shang said. "If you suspect that | might keep things from you, tell me. | want to be honest, but | might subconsciously decide to keep things secret just because it''s what I''m used to." The Keeper furrowed her brows. "You''re an adult, not a child. I''m not here to help you in correcting your attitude. You are supposed to have the correct attitude already, and you are supposed to make it fit." Shang took a deep breath. "Fine, | understand." "Good," the Keeper said. When was thest time? When was thest time Shang had been forced to bow his head like this? Shang''s mind went further and further back in time. The Grandmountain Kingdom. Shang was in his 20s back then. This had been such a long time ago. "Now," the Keeper continued, "why didn''t you decide to focus on the Concept of Twilight?" Chapter 625 Chapter 625 As soon as the Keeper asked that question, Shang was thrown into a problematic situation again. Yes, he was supposed to trust them and tell them truthfully about his powers, but he couldn''t possibly tell them the real truth right now. Obviously, Shang decided to go with Addition and Subtraction first since that represented the concept of Entropy better. Additionally, the contrast between Addition and Subtraction made it more fitting for a dual wield style. Twilight and Temperature didn''t fit very well. Lastly,prehending Temperature would have been extremely difficult since Shang would be focusing on two Elements that weren''t rted to his Affinity. Addition was rted to Shang''s supposed Twilight Affinity since it included light. Subtraction was rted to Shang''s supposed Twilight Affinity since it included darkness. But Temperature? Fire and Ice? How was that rted to Light and Darkness? So, Shang couldn''t possibly be honest. ¡°Because | want to keep it as a joker," Shang said. The Keeper furrowed her brows. "Exin." "| have four States, and my goal is to reduce them to one." At that point, Shang''s mind had toe up with a possible exnation he might have used to exin why he had four States. This wasn''t easy at all, and it put Shang''s mind under a lot of pressure. He was walking a tightrope right now, and if he lost bnce, he might die. He couldn''t lie, but he also couldn''t bepletely honest. He had to be perfectly in the middle. ¡°As you probably already know," Shang said slowly, "| noticed that the way others reached the True Path Stage was not strong enough for my liking.¡± The Keeper''s expression didn''t change. "| had to somehow create more Paths since perfecting one Path wasn''t enough for me. Because of that, | decided to use Ice and Fire as secondary Elements. Ice is rted to Darkness, and Fire is rted to Light.¡± Shang''s mind was going wild as it tried toe up with a believable lie that he had also used during a time he didn''t remember while also trying to appear honest and natural in his delivery in front of a Mage Lord. "| made Light and Darkness the two ends of my States since | knew that fusing them would be the easiest. The problem was fusing everything else." ¡°Addition and Subtraction are easy fusions since both of them include parts of my Affinities. After that, | would be left with two things, each with parts of my Affinities. That should theoretically make it easier to fuse. The Concept of Twilight will then be used as a bridge to connect the two." "If | had chosen Twilight first, | would have needed toprehend the Concept of Temperature, and since | have no Affinity for either of the twoponents, | would be left with one State that | have a great Affinity for and one with no Affinity. That should be extremely difficult to fuse." "That''s why | chose Addition and Subtraction," Shang said. Shang was doing his absolute best, but he still hesitated and stuttered slightly in a couple of ces. There was just too much he had to pay attention to. The Keeper only kept looking at Shang, not reacting in any way. Several seconds of silence passed.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. The atmosphere was beyond tense. Then, the Keeper sighed. "Seems like we can''t trust you," she said. ¡°What are you talking about?" Shang asked with annoyance. "| was honest." "No, you were not," the Keeper said. "| know that you have four States because you have four Affinities. You told me, and the reason why you chose Addition over Twilight is that you can''t train in your Fire and Ice Affinities without revealing that you have them," the Keeper said with a cold voice. "But | don''t," Shang said. "Yes, | know that | am extremely powerful, but | refuse to believe that there is someone with four Affinities out there. That would just be ridiculous." "Shang," the Keeper said with a dark and threatening voice. "I didn''t make this up. You told me. You were the one that told me about it. There''s no point in arguing." "Okay, but that simply isn''t true," Shang said. The Keeper snorted. "Are you telling me you lied?" "Seems like that''s the only exnation," Shang quickly answered. The Keeper raised an eyebrow. "| don''t remember our conversation, but | can tell you with absolute certainty that | do not have a Temperature Affinity!" Shang said with conviction. "| have no idea why | said what | said, but it simply isn''t true." "It isn''t even a good lie! Nobody can have four Affinities at once. It''s not even clear if there''s someone with three!" "| assure you that | do not have a Temperature Affinity!" Shang shouted. The Keeper remained silent as she looked at Shang. Several seconds passed. "That''s it? You''re still denying it?" the Keeper asked. ¡°Of course | am!" Shang shouted. "My life is on the line! Also, the more | think about it, the more | think that you are the one actually lying!" WHOOM! Adense pressure appeared around Shang, and it became difficult for him to move. "What did you just say?" the Keeper asked with a very cold and threatening voice. "You''re lying!" Shang shouted as his body could barely move. ¡°And what, pray tell, makes you think so?" she asked with a venomous voice. ¡°Because if | had lied, | would havee up with a better one!" Shang shouted. Silence. The Keeper''s eyebrows rose. She looked at Shang for a couple more seconds without saying anything. "I''ve never seen you so invested in something," the Keeper said as the pressure around Shang vanished. Shang didn''t answer. "You''re always so distant and emotionless. | almost feared that you were just a machine following a predetermined path." "Yet, you can still be invested and actually shout. Who would''ve thought?" Then, the Keeper turned around and looked away from Shang. "Seems like I''m not as good at lying as you." Chapter 626 Chapter 626 Shang didn''t seem any different than usual, but deep inside, he felt like he had nearly died, which might actually have been true. ¡®I did it, somehow,¡¯ Shang thought without showing anything on the outside. ¡®Going on the offense had been the right call." Shang wanted to sigh so badly, but he couldn''t show any uncertainty on the outside. "So, what now?" Shang asked. "Do | just get resources now?" "You''re a special case," the Keeper said, still looking away from Shang. ¡°Usually, we would assign you to a very powerful Ancestral Mage to study under them, but you''re not a Mage. Assigning you to any Mage might not only not help you but even restrict your growth." "You''re the highest authority when ites to training as a warrior in the entire world. No one has the necessary knowledge to contradict what you think is best since your way has been proven to show the greatest results.¡± ¡°Under normal circumstances, your teacher would evaluate your growth and request resources from us based on what they would think would be best for you." ¡°We can''t do that with you." ¡°Of course, the Temple of Blood won''t just give you free rein since you can''t guarantee that you will reach a level of power that makes you valuable to us." Shang didn''t move. ¡°Because of that, we decided to make it a bit different for you." "We''re not going to blindly invest in you, but just pay you very, very well for your work. This will produce short-term results that will prove that you might be valuable in the future." Usually, Shang would have already told the Keeper that she should get to the point. However, he decided against it. Earlier, the Keeper had only been Shang''s employer. Now, they were deeply connected. Because of that, Shang just listened. "You don''t only represent a potentially powerful Sixth Realm warrior but also a potentially new division for the Temple of Blood." "Warriors," Shang said. "Correct, warriors," the Keeper confirmed. "The Temple of Blood will give you a great number of resources for every True Path Stage warrior you can produce. Additionally, the rewards exponentially increase the higher the warrior''s Battle-Strength is." All of this sounded very familiar to Shang. "You want me to create an academy?" Shang asked. ¡°How you do it is up to you," the Keeper said. "We want True Path Stage warriors. You get money. We don''t care how you do it." "There are several problems," Shang directly answered. ¡°Name them," the Keeper said. "| can''t show my face in public," Shang said. "The Natural Selection Company will connect me to White Ghost." The Keeper almost immediately answered. "We will make someone take the fall for you. We are going to send someone that fits the White Ghost persona and make them purposefully screw up a mission and get killed. A couple of yearster, you can walk around outside." Shang remained silent for a bit. That easy? Okay, that solved one of the problems. "| have no background and no track record. People would expect to have heard of such a powerful warrior," Shang said.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "We already have a background story for you," the Keeper answered immediately. "Additionally, our Agents in several different cities will change the records of some families and organizations. If anyone investigates your background, they will find some small incriminating information. Just enough to make it seem like that''s what you were trying to hide, but not enough to actually try something drastic." Shang was quite surprised. The Temple of Blood solved two huge problems that Shang had in nearly no time at all. ¡°What about the Lightning Manor?" Shang asked. ¡°For now, they won''t be a problem," the Keeper said. "Yes, they are searching for you, but you are essentially one of many thieves in a big city. Some of their people know about your aura and your characteristics, but no one is really investigating. They''re just waiting to find you somewhere by coincidence." ¡°Additionally, you are not even in the Lightning Manor''s territory anymore, and the Lightning Manor''s members only very rarely leave the Lightning Manor''s territory," the Keeper said. ¡°But they will find me at some point, right?" Shang asked. "If you perform well enough, yes," she said, "but at that point, they won''t care about your crimes anymore." "So what if you killed some random Peak High Mage temporary employee? They can just send or contract a new one. When they find you, they would be far more troubled and interested that someone in the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory is using their hard work to produce their own warriors." "Imagine them having hundreds or maybe thousands of True Path Stage warriors in a century or two. Then, they hear about a group of warriors in the Fifth Realm in a neighboring territory. They investigate, and they find out that one of their warriors is responsible." "They wouldn''t care even in the least about your previous crime. Yet, the only thing they can do is watch. They can''t just send one of their people to kill someone in the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory without informing them." ¡°What do you think will happen then?" the Keeper asked. Shang could only think of two possibilities. "Either they try to kill me in secret or they negotiate with the Twilight Dusk Family," Shang said. "And | think that the first possibility won''t happen. Sure, they would be angry that other Emperors now also have warriors, but to them, warriors are basically only a farming tool or a special breed of dogs." "Warriors are not that important to them, and | doubt that they would risk such a huge political fallout just for some warriors." "That''s right," the Keeper said. "At that point, you''re not some random warrior anymore." ¡°At that point, you will be the focal point of a trade between two Empires." Shang took a deep breath. "And, at that point, | would also pay back everything that the Temple of Blood has invested in me. Is that right?" "Correct," the Keeper said. "The Twilight Dusk Family will receive a lot of money from the Lightning Manor, and they will pay us a tiny bit of that, but that tiny bit is already worth a Mage Lord or more." ¡°And, during all of this, you will be the one that reaps the most benefits. Just killing you after paying so much for you would be a waste of resources.¡± "Instead, they would be the ones investing in you instead of us." "The Lightning Manor gets a Fifth Realm for their warriors." "The Twilight Dusk Family gets a huge amount of money." "The Temple of Blood gets all its investments repaid severalfold over." "You get to join and work for an Empire." ¡°Everybody wins." Silence. ¡°Are you allowed to tell me all of this?" Shang asked. "It''s up to my discretion," the Keeper said. "Usually, | wouldn''t tell this to anyone, but you''re a special case." "You''ve gone through enough intrigue and tragedy to understand how the world actually works. | think you''re smart enough to avoid doing anything stupid when your prospects look so good." Shang didn''t answer for several seconds. "You''re right," Shang said. Chapter 627 Chapter 627 "Show your pass." Shang stood in front of two huge gates, almost 200 meters tall. This was the entrance to a city, something Shang hadn''t been to in a very long time. At the moment, two Mages sat in some chairs beside the gate. Surprisingly, they were only Late High Mages, which was unusual. Most cities Shang had been to had Archmage guards, but this ce only had Late High Mages as guards. However, that actually made sense. After all, this wasn''t actually a city but a town. In Area 23, this town would have counted as probably the biggest city in the entire world, but out here, it was just a town. The town had a diameter of barely five kilometers, which was quite a lot for Area 23 and for Earth, but it wasn''t that big for this world. In Aterium, Ancestral Mages could create such a huge town in a matter of days. Construction time basically didn''t exist. After all, powerful Mages could just summon huge columns of stone, earth, and metal that perfectly fit the attributes the Mages wanted. The only problem was citizens. Why would anyone visit a new town? After all, everyone was already living in other towns and cities. But wait, what about viges? Viges didn''t exist. High Beasts were abundant. Archbeasts were also rathermon. Ancestral Beasts sometimes appeared. Who could defend a vige from those? The vige would need a very powerful Archmage to deal with the day-to-day problems, and that Archmage would also need to have a method to get rid of an Ancestral Beast somehow. But would such a powerful Archmage want to create a vige? No, they would just directly make a town. A vige didn''t even nearly give enough taxes to make all the work worth it. Because of all of this, viges didn''t exist, and everyone was already living in towns and cities. It was very difficult to create a new town due to theck of citizens, but if one managed to do it, one would earn way too much money. Shang took out a metallic sheet and showed it to the two guards. This was a citizens¡¯ pass, something that was issued by the town or city one lived in. If one decided to move, they would need to show their old pass to verify that they were not some criminal. After that, they would get a new one, and the old one would be destroyed. This was one of the biggest issues why Shang couldn''t have entered a city earlier. He didn''t have an old citizens¡¯ pass to show, which made it impossible for him to enter any towns and cities. Back when Shang had traveled to the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory from the Lightning Manor''s territory, Shang had mainly waited near the entrances of the cities and towns to find a group. There had been very few towns that let him in either way, but they were truly rare. Yet, with the Temple of Blood''s help, Shang had easily received a citizen''s pass. In the past few years, Shang had seen the advantages of being part of a powerful organization. Problems he couldn''t have solved on his own just dissolved like they had never mattered.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. When Shang showed his pass, the eyes of the two guards widened in shock. What was this supposed to mean?! Realm: Early Impose Stage. What the hell was an Impose Stage?! The two guards immediately suspected that Shang had shown them a fake pass, and they used several tests to verify the pass. Shang didn''t say anything during all of this. The guards grew more and more shocked as all the tests came back positive. This was actually real?! As ast resort, one of the guards contacted the city that had issued the pass. After several minutes of bureaucracy, one of the guards finally got someone that could verify the pass. "Yes, we issued that pass," the person on the other end of the Communication Crystal said. "Sir, could you please borate? You must understand that it is difficult to believe that this pass is real," the guard said with a lot of respect and care. The guard was talking to someone from a major city. Nearly every employee was an Archmage, and he couldn''t risk angering the other side. "You''re standing in front of a scary-looking guy with no eyes, right?" the other person asked. The guard nced at Shang. "Yes," he said. "Yes, his name is Shang, and he doesn''t have ast name," the other person said. "I still remember when he showed up in our city. One of my employees asked for help since she had no idea how to create his pass. | think that was about 120, maybe 130, years ago." "You''re calling regarding the Realm field, right?" Nervously, the guard nodded but then remembered that the other person couldn''t see his nod. "Yes, sir." "Yeah, that was a memorable day. Turns out, the guy is not a Mage," the other person said. The two guards froze and didn''t say anything for several seconds. Not a mage? Then, they looked at Shang with confusion. Then why did they even bother? Non-Mages were all weak and worthless. Why go through all this trouble? "Oh, let me give you a warning," the voice from the Communication Crystal said. "Don''t make a mistake and underestimate him. More than one Mage underestimated him and treated him like trash. Most of them aren''t alive anymore." The two guards took deep breaths. "Wait, so is he a criminal?" "No," the voice answered. "He just challenged them to life-and-death duels, and the Mages always agreed since they thought that they would earn some easy money by killing and robbing him. He made a loooooot of money that way. In fact, he''s kind of a small celebrity in our city. It''s a bit of a shame that he''s moving to your town. Although, he might just directly purchase your town with all that money." "Do you need anything else?" The guard with the crystal didn''t answer for a while before the other guard lightly shoved him. The guard quickly shook his head. "No, sir. That was everything. Thank you!" he said. ¡°Have a good one," the voice from the Communication Crystal said before cutting the connection. Over 500,000 kilometers away, inside a humongous city, a Mage with ck and white hair leaned back on his chair after putting his Communication Crystal away. "Shang is a worse name than Secret," Mosuma said with a chuckle. Chapter 628 Chapter 628 The two guards put the Communication Crystal away and looked at Shang. Ever since arriving, Shang hadn''t said a single word, which made him seem kind of spooky. The guards didn''t say anything for a couple of seconds. They were not certain how powerful Shang was, but he had to be powerful. After all, the person from the big city said that Shang might directly purchase the town. "What Realm does the Impose Stage equate to?" one of the guards asked nervously. "Fifth," Shang answered with an emotionless voice. The two guards swallowed. That''s high. Shang slowly extended his right hand, and the two guards felt a bit scared. All of this felt unnatural to them. Aphysi that''s more powerful than them with no eyes, who doesn''t talk at all? Spooky! The two guards looked at the outstretched hand anxiously. Some seconds passed. "My pass," Shang said. "Oh!" one of the guards uttered. "Do you intend to move here, or are you here to visit?" "Visit, for now," Shang answered.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. "That will be five Grade Three Mana Crystals, sir," the guard said carefully. Shang didn''t do anything for several seconds, and the atmosphere became even tenser. "| don''t have such small Mana Crystals," Shang said. "Oh, that''s fine! We can change!" the guard said before taking a deep breath. Interacting with this person was stressing him out. SHING! Shang summoned a Mana Crystal and showed it to the guards. "I don''t have it smaller." The guards¡¯ eyes nearly fell out of their heads. That was a Grade Six Mana Crystal! The entire yearly ie of the town was calcted in those! "Maybe, we can''t change," one of the guards said nervously. "| don''t think we have that much cash just lying around." "What now?" Shang asked evenly. "| think we can skip the entrance fee this time," the guard said with a nervous smile. "You were willing to pay, and it''s our fault that we don''t have the necessary money to give you the change. You can just enter." Then, the guard handed Shang''s citizen''s pass back to him. The guard was about to create a small opening in the town''s barrier, but before he could, a small rock hanging from his belt shone in a yellow light. "Oh, my apologies," the guard said, looking at the shining rock. "An Archbeast has been found in the town¡¯s vicinity. We can''t open the barrier right now. We would ask you to wait for a couple of minutes. The Town Lord will deal with it soon." The Town Lord... ¡®This truly is just a small town,¡¯ Shang thought. ''The Town Lord has to act personally just to kill an Archbeast.¡¯ Instead of answering, Shang took out his Long Sword. Surprisingly, the two Mages weren''t nervous at all, but it wasn''t for the reason one might expect. The concept of a sword didn''t connect with the concept of danger to them. Swords weren''t dangerous at all. They were things normal people yed with. Now, if Shang had suddenly summoned a Focus, the two of them would immediately be scared. But a sword? Who cares? Shang slowly turned around, his head facing a certain direction. Then, Shang swung his sword. Nothing happened. Amomentter, a small hole opened in the barrier, and a brown-haired Archmage flew through it. It was the Town Lord, and he was here to deal with the Archbeast. But just one secondter, something happened. The stones on the guards¡¯ belts stopped shining, and the Town Lord suddenly stopped in the sky, looking at a metallic sheet with a raised eyebrow. Shang silently put his sword back, nobody noticing the movement. "You can have the corpse," Shangmented. The two guards looked at Shang with confusion. The Town Lord looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. The Town Lord seemingly inspected Shang for quite a while. "You killed it?" he asked. Shang nodded. "How?" Shang''s finger tapped the sword hanging from his side. "With my sword." The guards became shocked yet again, and the Town Lord''s eyes narrowed. "Please wait here for a moment," the Town Lord said. "I need to verify." Shang nodded. The Town Lord flew away from the town for a couple of seconds before he arrived at the ce where the beast was supposed to be. When he arrived, he saw the beast, a humongous blue mosquito. It was cut in two halves. The Town Lord took a deep breath. "He''s really strong,¡¯ he thought. The Town Lord pocketed the corpse and returned to the town. Hended in front of Shang and smiled politely. "Please, | would like to invite you as a personal guest of mine," he said with a polite voice. The two guards took deep breaths. This person had really killed an Archbeast from such a distance?! And they hadn''t even noticed him do it! He had just moved his sword a bit! Of course, killing this beast hadn''t been difficult for Shang. The mosquito had only been an Initial Archbeast, and it had specifically been sent here by the Temple of Blood. It was supposed to give the public an exnation about how Shang met the Town Lord this quickly. After some polite talking, the Town Lord brought Shang into the town, and the two of them walked around. As soon as Shang entered, his Spirit Sense epassed the entire town. Right near the entrance was themercial district. There were shops, guilds, mission boards, and many other things. It took up around 20% of the town. Then, to the left and right of themercial district were the residential areas for High Mages and True Mages. They took up around 60% of the town. At the very back, at the ce furthest away from the entrance, were the mortal slums, the ce where people below the True Mage Realm lived. The houses were dirty, the people unwashed, and the crimes abundant. Usually, the mortal parts of a town or city were not that horrible and disgusting. After all, with good teachings and good surroundings, children would be powerful Mages in the future. It was worth it to invest in a good mortal area for a town. But not here. Obviously, the Town Lord hadn''t created the town as a long-term investment with regr ie but as a short-term investment to be resold quickly. Creating a flourishing mortal area was too expensive, and it wouldn''t increase the value of the town by much. The Town Lord led Shang around the town, introducing everything to him. Eventually, the two of them reached the Town Lord''s castle in the middle of the town and entered an isted space. As soon as the Istion Barrier was activated, the Town Lord''s polite demeanor vanished. He took out several different Magic Circles, Magic Runes, and emblems, putting them on the table. "This is for the main barrier," he said in a professional voice. "This is for surveince. This is the beast radar. This is the defense contract." The Town Lord showed everything to Shang and exined it. Shang nodded along. After some minutes, they were done. ¡°Alright, now give me the money," the Town Lord said. Shang summoned a huge sack full of Grade Six Mana Crystals and handed it over. The Town Lord nodded and put the sack away. "Now, we have to wait for about two hours to make it seem like we are negotiating.¡± Shang nodded. The Town Lord sighed in relief. "You can''t believe how d | am to finally be relieved of this job. | can''t meditate or anything while constantly having to deal with Archbeasts." Shang could understand what the Town Lord meant. Obviously, the Town Lord had also been a member of the Temple of Blood. "Don''t ruin my town, okay? I''ve built it from the ground up," the guy said. "| won''t," Shang answered. Chapter 629 Chapter 629 The two of them waited for another two hours. During that time, it was mostly the Town Lord talking and Shang listening. Shang wasn''t the best contributor when it came to conversations. Eventually, enough time passed that the two of them could leave without any suspicions. The istion barrier was deactivated, and the two of them left the room. The two of them walked towards the entrance of the town, but they were also talking with the powerful people of the town. Shang was officially the Town Lord now, and he had to introduce himself. There were two other Archmages in the town, but they would both leave with the previous Town Lord. This meant that Shang''s town was only made up of High Mages and weaker. In a way, it was just like a Kingdom in Area 23, but with one small difference. The Zone Beasts weren''t peaceful. What would an Area 23 with aggressive Zone Beasts look like? Bad. Now, it was Shang''s task to deal with any beast that couldn''t be handled by his employees. Even if an Ancestral Beast attacked. Of course, Shang wasn''t the first person in the world that owned a town while not being in the Ancestral Mage Realm. There had been predecessors, and they had found solutions. "Sir," one of the Archmages that would leave soon contacted Shang. "Some of my friends are living here. | just want to know how you n to defend the town from Ancestral Beasts?" "He''s been epted by our Security Agency," the old Town Lord answered. The Archmage was quite surprised. "Really? But you said they are very particr about their clients. So many people want to have a contract with them, but they only ept very few people." "| know, right?" the old Town Lord answered with a smile. "I was also surprised when | contacted them. They just listened for a while, talked with him, and then epted him." The other Archmage sighed in relief. "That''s good." There were innumerable ways to make money in this world. Wherever there was a need, there was money to be made. Some Archmages wanted to rule a town without being able to defend themselves from Ancestral Beasts. That was a need. That was where the Security Agencies came in. Security Agencies were groups of Ancestral Mages that dealt with emergencies. An Ancestral Beast attacking your town? No worries! The Security Agency will arrive very swiftly and get rid of it! The town would only need to survive for a couple of minutes, which wasn''t necessarily hard. Depending on the power of the surveince Magic Circle, one could find an Ancestral Beast while it couldn''t feel the town yet. The expensive barriers could also hold up for several minutes under the onught of an Ancestral Beast. That was enough time for the Security Agency to deal with the threat. Of course, depending on the quality of the Security Agency, they might fail in dealing with an Ancestral Beast or arrivete. In both cases, the town would lose a ton of money or maybe even get destroyed. But good Security Agencies were expensive. Not only would they keep the entire corpse, but they would also demand a multiple of the beast''s worth on top of that. An expensive Security Agency could bankrupt a town. But the Security Agency contracted to this town was extremely good while also being quite cheap. They only demanded double the beast''s worth on top of the corpse while also being extremely fast. The resident Security Agency had never taken longer than 90 seconds to arrive, and most of the time, they arrived within 30. That was insanely fast! Of course, this Security Agency was just a hidden branch of the Temple of Blood, and they only defended their own towns and cities.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. It was very much in their interests to see these towns flourish. Also, it wasn''t that demanding to protect these couple of towns. This town, for example, got attacked by an Ancestral Beast about three times per year. They only had to keep one Ancestral Mage on standby. But that alone already showed how much Shang''s worth had already changed in the Temple of Blood''s eyes. As a Named Agent, the Temple of Blood hadn''t invested anything in Shang. Now, Shang was responsible for an entire town, and an Ancestral Mage was held on standby just for him. The old Town Lord introduced Shang to all the important people, which all consisted of Peak High Mages. When the High Mages heard about Shang, they were quite nervous. Yes, the Security Agency dealt with Ancestral Beasts, but what about Archbeasts? Could this new Town Lord take care of them? "You don''t have to worry," the old Town Lord said with a smile. "| personally tested his power, and I''m certain that he''s more than capable of dealing with them." Sadly, not everyone believed the Town Lord. ¡°Just give him a chance," the old Town Lord said. "Even if he couldn''t deal with the Archbeasts, he would just activate the Istion Barriers, and the Security Agency would eventually repossess the town. There''s no danger in giving him a chance." It was difficult to convince the people, but the old Town Lord was very charismatic. Additionally, he had been the Town Lord of this town ever since it had been created. Eventually, all the important people gathered in front of Shang and the old Town Lord. The Town Lord officially handed his position over to Shang, who epted it. The people were still not convinced. After all, Shang wasn''t a Mage. How could a non-Mage defend a town? After a lot of talking, the old Town Lord sighed. "Fine, I''ll stay here for a couple of days just to be sure, alright?" Everyone immediately thanked him. Over the next couple of hours, Shang got acquainted with how the town was being run. When Shang heard what the main source of ie for the town was, he realized that he wouldn''t run out of money unless he really tried to screw things up. The town had a Pathfinder Magic Circle, and it rented its use to travelers. That was a lot of money! Just as the name suggested, a Pathfinder Magic Circle could find a path through the wilderness. In a way, it worked a bit like a sonar. When it was activated, it would send a wave of Mana in a certain direction and receive different signals back. Like this, the Pathfinder Magic Circle could locate all the Ancestral Beasts and Archbeasts. Pathfinder Magic Circles were incredibly expensive. The creators or designers of these Magic Circles needed to know several Elemental Concepts, but they were not the expensive part. The three most expensive parts were... The level two Pure Concept of Space, Distance. The level three Pure Concept of Time, Flow. The level two Pure Concept of Gravity, Pressure. Only the absolute elites of the Ancestral Mage Realm could create something like that on their own, but usually, it wasn''t just one person creating the Pathfinder Magic Circle. As long as someone in the group knew a Concept, it was okay. Creating a Pathfinder Magic Circle was insanely difficult and expensive. In fact, its price was calcted in tens of Grade Seven Mana Crystals. This Magic Circle alone made up about 70% of the town''s price. However, if one actually managed to get their hands on one of these, money wouldn''t stop flowing in. Not only would groups of merchants use it, but the merchants were also more likely to take routes with this town on them. That increased trade a lot. Additionally, it could be used to scout rare beasts, which would also be worth a lot of money. Even more, such a Magic Circle also made it possible for High Mages to travel through the surroundings and collect treasures from the wilderness. Pathfinder Magic Circles were amazing. And Shang''s town had one. Chapter 630 Chapter 630 After having met everyone, Shang retreated to the big castle in the middle of the town. This would be his home for the foreseeable future. ¡®| need to give the residents some time to get used to me,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®At the moment, they are still uncertain about my power, and if | implement all the changes | have nned now, many of them will leave." For the next couple of hours, Shang only remained on standby. There wasn''t much he had to do as the Town Lord. Most of the town ran all on its own, and he only needed to get involved if it was time to use the Pathfinder Magic Circle or if there was a beast. "There''s a Peak High Beast approaching the town," Shang transmitted to the two guards in front of the town. The two guards looked at each other with surprise. The Surveince Magic Circle didn''t show any reactions. Surveince Magic Circles had several ways in which they operated. Funnily enough, finding an Ancestral Beast was easier than finding an Archbeast for them. The reason was the sheer amount of Mana the Ancestral Beasts gave off. Of course, the sensitivity of the Magic Circle could be increased, but it would also consume more Mana Crystals. The setting the town''s Magic Circle worked on would find a Peak High Beast if it entered a 100-kilometer radius of the town. An Archbeast would be found within 250 kilometers. An Ancestral Beast would be found within 1,500 kilometers. The fact that the Surveince Magic Circle didn''t pick up the beast meant that it was over 100 kilometers away. But their Town Lord found it already? The guards had heard of Mages whose Spirit Sense wasrger than normal, but all of these Mages were extremely outstanding and rare. And their new Town Lord was one of these powerful people, even though he wasn''t even a Mage? "Should we deal with it, sir?" one of the guards asked. "Is it your job?" Shang asked. "It depends," one of the guards said. "If an adventurer team is interested, we generally leave it up to them. Right now, the beast is not within the critical zone of 25 kilometers of the town." "| see," Shang answered. Even though he had been led around, he still didn''t perfectly know what every single person in the town was responsible for. "Then continue as usual.¡± It was not yet time to change the rules of the town. After some minutes, the Peak High Beast appeared in the town''s Surveince Magic Circle, and about two minutester, a team of Mid High Mages led by a Late High Mage left the town. As long as they didn''t go past 250 kilometers from the town, they weren''t in danger and could walk around outside. The team quickly traveled towards the beast and engaged it. Even though they were two levels below the beast, theirbined firepower was enough to kill the beast without severely damaging the corpse. They pocketed the corpse, returned to the town, and sold it for around 450 Grade Four Mana Crystals. The town received around 20% of what it sold for. Shang had done absolutely nothing, but he had just earned about 90 Grade Four Mana Crystals. Of course, a lot of that would get reinvested into the town or be paid to the guards and other employees. Shang only continued watching the town. He had to learn as much about his town as possible. If he wanted his n to work, he needed to know how everything worked in the town. About half an hourter, a group of three Archmages arrived in front of the town. The guards greeted the three Archmages casually since they already knew them. This was one of the merchant groups. They traveled from town to town, buying things that were cheap in one town and selling them expensive in others. For example, Shang''s town had a lot of Metal High Beasts, which were on the rarer side. Usually, Metal High Beasts were more common in the northern parts of the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory or more southern, but that would already be outside the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory. The reason why there were a lot of Metal High Beasts walking around in this ce was the Silver Abyss. The Silver Abyss was a huge hole about 7,500 kilometers to the west of the town. It had been created by a very powerful Peak Ancestral Beast that couldn''t find any rivals anymore. It was the most powerful beast for over 10,000 kilometers around, and it decided that it would focus on itself. It no longer felt the need to hunt and consume other beasts. It was only interested in understanding more about the secrets of metal while staying deep underground. This phenomenon was actually quite natural since this was basically what every powerful Peak Ancestral Beast did. This phenomenon was called Hibernation, and this was thest but also most difficult step to bing a Beast Lord. Not even 1% of beasts that entered Hibernation could be Beast Lords. Most of them just died of old age. Since the Metal Ancestral Beast to the west was no longer keeping its Mana under control, the 500 kilometers around it had transformed into and of metal, drawing all the scattered Metal Beasts to it. Sadly, while Shang''s town got plenty of Metal High Beast, they never got any Metal Archbeasts. If one had paid attention, one would be able to guess why. Such a valuable location like the Silver Abyss was obviously very interesting to a certainpany. The Natural Selection Company. They were harvesting the natural treasures in and around the Silver Abyss, and that included the Metal Archbeasts. Metal High Beasts were not that interesting to them, which was why a lot of them could leave without being killed. The group of merchants entered the town and bought nearly all of the Metal Beast corpses while selling many other things. Another 500 Grade Five Mana Crystals entered Shang''s pockets. Eventually, the merchants requested the use of the Pathfinder Magic Circle, and one of Shang''s emblems shone a secondter with the request. The merchant group had already paid. One use of the Pathfinder Magic Circle cost one Grade Six Mana Crystal. For just basically pushing one button, this was a lot of money. Shang activated the Magic Circle. In just three seconds, it consumed over 200 Grade Five Mana Crystals as it gathered an insane amount of power. And then... WHOOOOOM! Every True Mage and higher could feel the wave of massive Mana shooting out from the town towards the east. The wave of Mana vanished, and a couple of secondster, a map appeared in front of Shang. Shang transferred the map to the person responsible for taking the requests, and that person handed the map to the group of merchants. The group of merchants gave their polite goodbyes and left the town. Some secondster, the person responsible for taking the requests handed the map over to the resident Adventurer''s Guild, who posted it. This showed the current distribution of powerful beasts for several thousand kilometers to the east of the town. The High Mages looked at the map with interest.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org The further one went away from the town, the more natural treasures one could find, but of course, it also became more dangerous. With luck, there were no Archbeasts or Ancestral Beasts close to these ces, and the group of High Mages could try a raid. Eventually, no one left. The setup of the beasts was too risky this time. Chapter 631 Chapter 631 Acouple of hourster, the Istion Barrier around the town was activated, and the important people were informed about an Archbeast that had been detected near the town. The normal people could see that the Istion Barrier had been activated, but they didn''t know the specific reason. However, they could guess that it was probably an Archbeast. The powerful people grew a bit worried. The Magic Circle was indicating a Mid Archbeast. It wasn''t super powerful, but it also wasn''t weak. Shang left his castle and flew towards the exit of the town. Since only Archmages and very powerful Wind High Mages could fly, nearly everyone looked at him. Usually, they were used to only seeing their Town Lord and his two Archmages fly around, but this time, they saw someone new. Many of them still didn''t know that Shang was the new Town Lord since only the elite had been informed of it. Since Shang was the owner of the Istion Barrier, he could pass through it without any issues. Shang had already found the beast with his Spirit Sense. SHING! In the sky, Shang''s body warped before it vanished. The guards and powerful people in the town were surprised when they saw that. Shang hadn''t shown any indication of using Mana Step, but he had essentially vanished just as fast as when their old Town Lord had used Mana Step. Their new Town Lord definitely wasn''t slow. The guards and elite looked at their shining stones with anticipation. As soon as the beast died, the stones would stop glowing. They waited. And five secondster, they stopped glowing. Once more, the people were surprised. That was really fast! Their Town Lord had probably taken nearly five seconds just to get to the beast, and the entire fight, including the journey, had taken about five seconds. This meant that their Town Lord had arrived near the beast and had killed it in an instant. Even though it had only been a Mid Archbeast this time, the speed at which their Town Lord had won still demonstrated his power. He could definitely also kill a Late Archbeast. Peak Archbeast? Possible, but they weren''t sure yet. But that wasn''t so bad. In the worst-case scenario, the Town Lord could call the Security Agency for such a beast. They would still request the price for an Ancestral Beast, but their town could probably handle that. This meant that their new Town Lord was most likely powerful enough to allow the town to survive. "See? | told you," the old Town Lord said to the elite of the town. The people released sighs of relief and thanked the old Town Lord again for staying. The old Town Lord nodded and said his goodbyes. The people were no longer afraid of dying the next time an Archbeast attacked, and he could finally leave. Shang returned some secondster, and he met the old Town Lord on his way in. The old Town Lord and the two Archmages said their goodbyes to Shang, and Shang reciprocated. Then, the three of them left. For a couple of seconds, Shang''s Spirit Sense followed the three Archmages. Then, he focused on his town. There was not a single Archmage in there. Since the town was rather close to the Natural Selection Company''s territories, there weren''t many opportunities for an independent Archmage to make a lot of money. Sure, the other two Archmages managed to earn money, but they did that by leadingrge groups of High Mages. Most natural treasures around were of the Third or Fourth Realm, and only very few were of the Fifth Realm. It was just a small town. In Earth terms, whilepared to other towns and cities in this world, this town would count as an average vige with a poption of about 3,000. One wouldn''t find many or maybe even any high-end jobs that paid a lot of money in such a small vige. This wasn''t a ce for entrepreneurs that wanted to make it big. Yet, the mayor of such a vige would still get millions of bucks per month to reinvest in the vige. Lots of small things could create something big. But the money wasn''t the important thing. The important thing was the location. Due to the Pathfinder Magic Circle, the town was important enough for plenty of merchants to visit, allowing the town to purchase a lot of exotic goods. Yet, since there were only High Mages and weaker here, the town also wasn''t interesting to any bigger organizations. Because of that, most citizens were working for smaller, independent businesses. This meant that Shang didn''t have to negotiate favorable trade deals with big organizations. But even more, this ce was perfect for building something entirely new. ¡®The mortal district is horrible and dirty. By investing money into it, | will anger some of the more powerful Mages, but that doesn''t matter.¡¯ ¡®Anormal town is reliant on its strong citizens to bring in the money so that it may gain more taxes, but | don''t care about the money." ¡®| didn''t receive this town to make money but to create a ce where warriors can flourish." For the next couple of days, Shang just watched the town. About every five days, a group of merchants arrived that stayed for some hours. Every two days or so, an Archbeast appeared. High Beasts appeared several times per day, but the adventurers and the guards dealt with them. Eventually, the end of the month arrived, and it was time for Shang to look over the earnings and expenditures. All in all, the internal expenditures for the month came up to about four Grade Six Mana Crystals. Luckily, there hadn''t been an Ancestral Beast near the town this month, or the expenditure would be twice or thrice as high. In terms of earnings, the town brought in about 28 Grade Six Mana Crystals.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. This meant that the town made a surplus of 24 Grade Six Mana Crystals. Sadly, Shang still had to pay for three other things. First of all, he had to pay the standby rate for the Security Agency, which came to one Grade Six Mana Crystal per month. Second, he had to pay the public bureau for inter-citymunications. This bureau was the very thing that allowed the guards to contact the officials of other cities without any issues. The bureau wanted around 500 Grade Five Mana Crystals per month. And then came thest and biggest expenditure. Territory tax to the Natural Selection Company. Technically, the town was inside the Natural Selection Company''s territory, and it wanted money every month. Eight Grade Six Mana Crystals per month. After deducting everything, Shang had around 15 Grade Six Mana Crystals left. 15 Grade Six Mana Crystals of tax-free profit for a month of doing nearly nothing. That was insane. However, while Shang owned that money, he didn''t really "own" it. The town belonged to the Temple of Blood, after all. While Shang was allowed to run the town how he wanted, the Temple of Blood didn''t want to see their investment get destroyed by a Town Lord that didn''t invest enough money into it. Shang had to inform the Temple of Blood every month about the financial situation of his town, and if he screwed up, he would find a new Town Lord on his doorstep just dayster. As Shang looked at the money, he thought about the best way to reinvest it. He could theoretically keep it for himself, but that would be dumb in the long run. After a while, Shang looked toward the north of the town. That was where the mortal district was. Chapter 632 Chapter 632 Shang''s Spirit Sense epassed the mortal district. It was essentially awlessnd. Nearly no True Mages were there. There were plenty of Apprentices and a couple of Adepts, but they were only the weakest of their level. The True Mages and High Mages would pick up the talented Apprentices and Adepts. There, they would be taught all about Magic. Most normal people in this town only became Apprentices by blindly practicing and imitating other Apprentices. Of course, there were some people that actually sold textbooks for Apprentices, but these textbooks were expensive. The normal people there lived in a poor state where they desperately tried to make money in any way they could. They had nearly zero resources from outside the town, and they also couldn''t easily exit the town since the mortal district was in the north and the exit was to the south. Additionally, they were forbidden from living outside and building anything outside. Why? Because the powerful Mages thought it would look ugly if some dirty shacks surrounded the town. That also meant that all the food the mortals desperately needed had to be farmed inside the town. Sometimes, some leftovers from some beasts were thrown away by the True Mages and High Mages. Some of the braver people would venture to these ces during the night and bring things back for the others. But that was a dangerous job. Any True Mage could kill an Apprentice or weaker if they so chose to. They just shouldn''t kill too many of them at once. The guards of the town mostly didn''t care. First of all, the guards straight-up just didn''t patrol in the north. Second, they had grown used to these beggars. Give money to one of them, and you will find five of them the next day, begging for more. However, even in such a poor environment, some form of leadership would still emerge. For the mortal district, this was the strong gangs. There was a gang that essentially ruled over all the tiny farms in the mortal district, and their people defended the farms from any beggar that tried to steal some food.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org There was a gang for prostitution, gambling, and other kinds of fun. There was also a gang that focused on solving conflicts. Of course, the person with more money would win the conflict most of the time. These three gangs were the rulers of the mortal district, and they were led by three weak True Mages, probably the only True Mages in the mortal district. At least, that was how it had been in the past years. Acouple of months ago, a new gang was on the rise, and surprisingly enough, it wasn''t led by a True Mage. It was led by some kind of extremely powerful physical fighter. This fighter had some weird power that transformed his surroundings into his desired Mana, making it easier to unleashplex attacks. This was a Commander Stage warrior, but the mortals didn''t know of the term. Yes, there were also warriors in the mortal district, not only Apprentices and Adepts. Wherever there were rocks and men, warriors would pop up eventually. It wasn''t very difficult toe up with the concept of hitting someone''s head with a rock. Of course, while the mortal district wasn''t very rich or advanced, they weren''t cavemen. The warriors there used spears, swords, and many different kinds of weapons. Surprisingly, there were actually around five times as many warriors as Apprentices and Adepts. The reason was that bing a Mage was too difficult in the mortal district. Nobody had any idea how to practice Magic, and there were only very few that could afford the textbooks. Sadly, due to the severeck of resources, everyone was basically traveling through the warrior path blindly. Especially their weapons were not very good. They also didn''t have any armor since there was barely enough metal for the weapons and since they had no ess to beasts. The life of a mortal in this town was horrible, and worst of all, they couldn''t leave. Sure, they could leave the town, but then what? Arandom Adept Beast or True Beast would kill them. Amortal probably didn''t have the Grade Six Mana Crystal necessary to request the Pathfinder Magic Circle. Even more, could a mortal travel toward the next closest town, which was around 5,000 kilometers away? The mortals in this town were doomed to live in poverty. The only two ways to live rtively decently were to either get epted by a True Mage as an aspiring Mage or to be a strong warrior and get a good position in one of the gangs. It was a shit life. From his humongous castle, Shang was looking towards the north while rubbing his chin in thought. Then, he looked through his Space Ring and looked at the detailed ns for the town. These were top secret since they also showed the cores of all the Magic Circles. ¡®50 meters, huh?'' Shang thought as he looked at the wall to the north of the town. The wall went 50 meters into the underground before it stopped. Then, Shang looked past the wall and into the wilderness. ¡®About three kilometers of grass followed by a thick forest. The grass only has rtively peaceful Apprentice Beasts and Adept Beasts." ¡®There''s also some ore buried in several locations, but even the best ore is only in the Mid Third Realm." ¡®Wood, wildlife, space, light, metal, fertility.¡¯ ¡®But we''re missing water.¡¯ "Well, that shouldn''t be an issue.¡¯ Shang looked north for a bit more before focusing on a High Mage in a ratherrge building. "| want to change part of the town," Shang said. ¡°Of course, sir. What do you wish?" the High Mage asked politely. He was the town nner, and he was responsible for the entireyout. ¡°| wish to expand the mortal district to the north. | want a tunnel to be built below the wall which leads outside." The town nner was quite surprised when he heard about Shang''s ns. After a while, Shang told the town nner everything he had envisioned. "Sir, several High Mages will not be happy with these changes," the town nner said carefully. "That''s not your problem," Shang answered. "I will deal with them." The town nner looked a bit ufortable, but he eventually sighed. ¡°Alright. I''ll create a n and give you an estimate." Chapter 633 Chapter 633 The town nner took a couple of hours toe up with a n. That seemed to be quite a long time, but it was actually frighteningly fast. After all, he had to consider the stability of the wall, theposition of the earth, the Magic Circles, and many different things. "Sir, | have finished a couple of ns. Please choose the one you would like to be implemented," the town nner told Shang. Several ns were transmitted to Shang''s mind. The first one was simply a tunnel leading outside, and that was it. The price was three Grade Six Mana Crystals. At first nce, that seemed insane. After all, Shang could just dig one himself. However, digging the tunnel was by far the cheapest part. The expensive part was the people Shang had to hire to alter the Magic Circles. If Shang wanted to control who could enter and who couldn''t, all the Magic Circles would need to have an additional entrance added. This would require someone from the Magic Circle provider toe and alter the Magic Circles. Of course, the first n was the cheapest one since all of these changes would have to be made regardless of what Shang wanted to do. The next n included these things, but it also included an additional wall that would epass another kilometer. That would cost four Grade Six Mana Crystals in total. The third n included all of these things and an extension of the Magic Circle on top of that. This meant that the Magic Circles from the town would also epass this addition. The town nner estimated the price to be around 25 Grade Six Mana Crystals. Those were the three main ns, but there were also a couple of additions Shang could choose from. He could build houses. He could build Magic Towers. Lastly, Shang saw the options for water. The first option was basically free since it was just a big vat that caught the rainwater. The next one was an artificialke, but Shang would need to hire several people to build a micro-ecosystem in theke so that the water didn''t be stagnant and dirty. The town nner had no idea how much that would cost, but he assumed it wasn''t that expensive. The most expensive option was going to the nearest river and digging a second branch that led through the outer town. The closest river was around 200 kilometers away, and it wasn''t that big. If Shang wanted a big river, he would need to reroute one from about 500 kilometers away. Shang looked at these options for a while. "| want the tunnel and the bigger river. That''s it," Shang said. The town nner felt a bit ufortable. "Sir, the Mages view the town''s appearance with great importance. They will not be very happy about this." "That''s my problem, not yours," Shang said. The town nner only sighed. "Yes, sir." Shang nodded. "Please contact the necessary people."Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. "| will," the town nner said before leaving his office to contact all the necessary people. After handling that matter, Shang contacted his general, a Peak High Mage that was responsible for all the matters of public security. "| have ns for expansion, and | need more guards," Shang told him. ¡°What do you have in mind, sir?" the general asked respectfully. "The mortal district to the north will receive a major upgrade soon. We will dig a tunnel towards the north, and we will allow the mortals to enter the wild, harvest resources, and use it to build their own district of the town." "The mortal district will be more important in the foreseeable future, and a lot of money will be invested in it. Of course, | don''t want these funds to be misappropriated, and | don''t want the district to be ruled by some gangs." "The mortal district will officially be part of the town now, and | expect it to be clean of organized crime," Shang transmitted. The general remained silent for a while as he thought about the possible ramifications. "Sir, | fear we will receive a major bacsh from the town''s elite," the general said. "The town''s elite is only interested in things that make them more money. They will view the mortal district as a dirty pimple that will consume their money." "That''s not your problem, general," Shang answered. "If there are anyints, they can directly contact me." "Yes, sir," the general answered respectfully. After that, Shang told the general all the details about how the mortal district should look and operate in the future. The general eventually told Shang that about twenty True Mages and three Initial High Mages should be more than enough to handle everything. Contracting these people would raise the monthly expenses for personnel by a couple of Grade Four Mana Crystals. It was negligible. They eventually settled on a n, but the n wouldn''t be set into motion yet. After all, everything would need to be built first. Some minutester, Shang looked north at the mortal district. Everything was still horrible there, but it wouldn''t remain like this for long. The main reason why the mortal district couldn''t flourish was that they were cut off from any form of natural resource. Nearly every mortal in the town hadn''t even seen the outside. They had been inside this town for their entire lives. Mortal districts appeared in every town or city automatically. True Mages or High Mages also had children. Of course, they would help their children and give them an education. However, if the parents suddenly died or if they threw their child outside for any reason, the children would find themselves on the streets without anything to their name. Eventually, they would meet each other, beg on the streets, maybe create their own broken-down houses, and so on. Then, they would have children of their own, and those children would have children. Eventually, so many beggars would gather in one ce that the area wasn''t that appealing for the Mages anymore, and they would move houses. And that was how mortal districts just popped up. Shang waited for a couple of hours, during which he had to kill another Archbeast. "Sir, | have finalized the n," the town nner contacted Shang. ¡°We can proceed whenever you wish." Chapter 634 Chapter 634 "Why did the prices increase?! One bag of grain was worth Mana Scrapsst week! Why is it suddenly one and a half?!" a dirty and thin woman shouted to a tall and burly thug standing in front of her. "That''s the price. Pay or leave," the thug said with a sneer. The woman gritted her fist in hatred and fear. These bastards! She could see how they extorted everyone and how they increased the prices for young and beautiful women so that they had no other choice but to pay with their bodies! Just the thought of sleeping with this arrogant piece of shit disgusted her. But what could she do? She had a daughter at home! She needed the grain! BANG! Suddenly, the woman was thrown to the side, hitting the ground. ¡°Move it!" a man from behind her shouted as he handed over a Mana Scrap to the ruffian. The ruffian took out a bag of grain and handed it over. How was she supposed to exin to her daughter that they couldn''t eat today? ¡°Mage Guards!" Everyone stopped moving and looked at the person that had just shouted. Someone had juste running towards them in a panic. ¡°Mage Guards areing!" the person shouted in horror. Almost everyone became white in the face. Mage Guards were terrifying! Whenever a Mage Guard noticed someone stealing trash in the actual town, they would punish them by breaking one of their hands. Mage Guards were terrifying existences to these people. From time to time, the people here would dare to venture outside their little vige and enter the Mage Town. There, they would scrounge for little bits of solid Mana. Apparently, the gangs were interested in these bits of solid Mana. In truth, these bits of solid Mana were just some random scrapings from some small Mana Crystals. They were so small and worthless that no True Mage would even look at them. But these little Mana Scraps were the very things that decided if a person survived or died in this part of the town. Yet, the Mage Guards were the very people that made such an excursion dangerous. The Mage Guards were the most feared enemy of the people here. And now, these Mage Guards were entering their homes?! This had never happened before! Everyone looked over, and sure enough, they saw six well-dressed people walking through the streets as everyone gave a wide berth to them. The Mage Guards walked past them with grimaces. These mortals smelled horrible! The people looked with fear at the Mage Guards as they kept walking. After a while, the people either followed them or hid in their homes. Yet, even though there were many people following the Mage Guards, not even a single person begged. They didn''t dare to. Eventually, the Mage Guards reached the huge wall. A huge hill of dung greeted them. The wall was the public toilet for the people here. The leader of the Mage Guards looked with disgust at the wall and waved his arm. SHING! All the dung in the surrounding 50 meters vanished into thin air, and the people watched with shock. They had seen some of these illustrious people making small things vanish, but they had never seen anyone making something that big vanish!N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Then, the leader of the guards nodded to one of his people, who then summoned a beam of fire. The guard burned and dried everything on that spot, and he also burned some of the stinking chemicals in the air. After that, another guard stepped forward, and she summoned a powerful wind that shoved all the dust and dirt over the wall. The leader of the guards looked at the wall and nodded. It wasn''t perfect, but it wasn''t nearly as bad as before. The people watched with fascination and nervousness. What were they doing? The guards just remained there and didn''t move. After some time, one person dared to step a bit closer. BANG! One of the guards flicked a finger, and the person was thrown back. Luckily, the person wasn''t injured. That person had been the one and only one that dared to step forward. Some minutester, the people parted ways again as some new people arrived. The guards parted ways and saluted respectfully to the new people. The leader of these new people looked at the burned wall and stroked his beard. ¡°Alright, let''s get to work," he said to the two people beside him. These were the town nner''s people, and they were High Mages. CRRRRR! The people watched in shock and horror as the earth near the wall started to levitate and vanish. It was almost like it was turning into nothing! Soon, a huge hole was created, but since it was supposed to be a tunnel, the hole essentially became wider and wider. The guards kept shoving people away as the hole became wider and wider. The deeper the hole became, the more the progress slowed down. The High Mages had to be careful that they didn''t touch the Magic Circles. Additionally, they had to be careful that parts of the wall didn¡¯t move since that might also interfere with the Magic Circles. Acouple of hourster, they stopped digging. The town nner''s people left, but the guards remained. While all of this was going on, the gang leaders tried to find out what was going on. Why were the guards suddenly here?! As the hours passed, nothing changed. Eventually, the people''s normal desires took priority, and they returned to buying food and hunting for Mana Scraps. Apparently, the Mage Guards were not here to hurt them. They just dug a big hole. Then, nothing happened for three days. But then, something big happened. Two new people arrived, and the shocking thing was that they could fly! The mortals had seen some flying humans from time to time, but none of them had seen one up close. Why were these flying celestials here? "| want this to be just like the main gates of the town," a person clothed in white with a white bandana around his eyes said. The other person, a woman with violet hair, crossed her arms as she made some calctions in her head. "| can do that," she said after a while. "I need around six hours, and it will cost you three Grade Six Mana Crystals and 250 Grade Five Mana Crystals." The person in white nodded. "No problem." The Ancestral Mage from the Magic Circle service nodded and began working right away. "The Magic Circles won''t work for the next six hours. | hope that won''t be a problem for you." "No," the person in white answered neutrally. The Ancestral Mage nodded, and she began working. The person in white flew away again, and the people started watching the woman with violet hair do stuff in the hole. After a while, the Ancestral Mage grew annoyed. She snorted, and a purple barrier suddenly blocked the view of the hole. Six hourster, a couple of lights shot across the barrier of the city. This was the Ancestral Mage testing if everything worked. Some secondster, the purple barrier vanished, and the Ancestral Mage flew away again. After around half an hour, the people from three days ago returned, and they continued digging in the hole. Some hourster, they stepped out of the hole and left. Eventually, more guards arrived, and the previous ones left. Two of the guards walked into the hole, and two of them stopped beside the hole, one on each side. The remainder gathered in the middle of the ce. In the middle of all the guards stood three people. One was a young woman. One was a young man. One was an old man. They were the three High Mages responsible for keeping the public order. The older High Mage stepped forward, and everyone in the mortal district felt their attention drawn to him. They didn''t know why, but for some reason, they just had to look at him. The older man only smiled warmly. "From today onwards, things will change," he announced with a friendly voice. "Maybe you won''t like it in the short term, but you will thank us in the long run." The people only watched with anxiety at the older man. The older man only smiled. Over the next couple of days, this smile would haunt the gangs. Chapter 635 Chapter 635 Over the next couple of days, the mortals became acquainted with the outside world. To them, it was literally like a new world had been made avable to them. There were rivers, trees, wild beasts, and many other things they had never seen before. The grand openness of the outside world even intimidated them severely, but they also realized the great potential. The water in the huge river was incredibly clean and plentiful. They would no longer need to purchase water from the people that owned big barrels! Additionally, the abundance of space also made it possible to build more farms. Would the scarcity of food finally end? Yet, the mortals had no idea what they should actually do with all of this space. Additionally, which plot ofnd belonged to whom? Also, there were no walls, and it felt dangerous out here. The guards watched the mortals, and over the next couple of days, the mortals became less fearful of the guards. Additionally, the guards also didn''t kick every mortal that passed their way. After all, the mortals weren''t breaking anyws right now. Then, the guards were basically assaulted with second-hand embarrassment. The way the mortals handled the outside world was pathetic. They were just randomly iming things and building things. And the very things they were building definitely didn''t look good. Of course, Shang also noticed these things, and he was already working on a solution. He hadn''t expected the mortals to be that terrible at creating new homes. But after a while, Shang realized why they were so incredibly bad at this. The gangs, or more precisely, theck of gangs. The three High Mages had watched the gangs over thest couple of days with their Spirit Senses, and it hadn''t been very difficult to make a list of all the gang members. All the gang members had been executed already. Yet, even though the gangs were a parasite on the mortals, they had also been their leaders. While Shang was dealing with the problem, he was contacted by someone. "Sir, the Guild Master of the Adventurer''s Guild wants to talk to you,¡± the town nner told Shang. "Thanks," Shang said absentmindedly as his mind stretched to a beautiful woman with fiery red hair. "You wanted to talk to me?" Shang asked. The woman with fiery red hair was the Guild Master of the Adventurer''s Guild, a very powerful person. She was a Peak High Mage, and nearly all of the True Mages and High Mages that made their living by killing beasts were under her employ. Although, it would be more fitting to say that they frequented the Adventurer''s Guild and epted the missions posted there. The Adventurers weren''t exactly employees. "Good evening, Town Lord," the Guild Master transmitted with a polite bow. "| wanted to talk with you about the town''s expansions towards the north." ¡®Just as I''ve thought,¡¯ Shang thought. "Yes?" Shang said. "You see, | know that a flourishing mortal district is important for a town''s long-term sess, and | can understand why you decided to give the mortals more space." Shang didn''t answer yet. "But," she said before waiting for a second, "| believe the expansion has been conducted too hastily.¡± "Okay," Shang said, "and how would you have done it?" "The town must stand as one entity," the Guild Master transmitted. "It is important that everything must stay within the confines of the wall so that the traveling merchants won''t think poorly of our town." "Sir, | believe it would be in everyone''s best interest to put a temporary halt on constructions outside the town walls and expand the wall itself. | believe moving the walls one or two kilometers further out wouldn''t harm the mortals while also keeping the town''s image. Of course, | understand that this will consume quite a substantial number of resources, but these are investments, not losses," the Guild Master exined. ¡®All of this sounds fancy and reasonable,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®At least if you want to keep the current status quo and don''t want to change anything.¡¯ "No and no," Shang said. "Things will proceed as nned. Thank you for your feedback." The Guild Master was taken aback by quite a bit and didn''t answer for a while. After some time, a cold gleam appeared in the Guild Master''s eyes. "I''m sorry for disturbing you," she said. And then, she walked away. Of course, Shang knew that she wouldn''t give up this easily. The next time she returned, she would talk in a very different tone. But Shang didn''t care particrly much. Instead, Shang talked some more with the town nner. Eventually, after asking around for a bit outside the town, the town nner found a solution to the problems. The solution was as simple as it was smart. "Sure enough, where there''s a need, there''s money to be made.¡¯ There was apany that focused on developing and improving mortal districts of towns and cities. ¡®There''s really apany for everything, huh?" ¡°How expensive are they?" Shang asked.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. "Their prices depend on the size of the town," the town nner said. "Since we are a small-to-average town and since we essentially need an entirely new mortal district, | would assume that they would ask for a couple of Grade Six Mana Crystals." Shang nodded. That was definitely far more expensive than necessary. After all, even True Mages could design and build something like this. However, the customers of these kinds ofpanies were all cities and towns. They knew what they could ask for. Additionally, their services were probably also top-notch since angering even one Town Lord or City Lord would put them under enormous pressure. "Call them," Shang said. "I think it''s worth the investment." The town nner did just that, and a couple of hourster, a Mid Archmage arrived near the town. Shang weed him in and talked with him about everything he had nned and what he wanted his mortal district to aplish. The agent nodded along, taking note of several things. Surprisingly, he didn''t seem surprised or shocked by anything. "So essentially, you want a natural progression mortal district, right?" the agent said. Shang was a bit surprised that what he wanted already had a name. The agent exined to Shang what a natural progression mortal district was, and Shang nodded several times. Anatural progression mortal district was a mortal district that was either created outside the city, partially outside the city, or inside the city but with a simted wilderness surrounding it. The mortals would mostly be left to their own devices. They would only be defended by threats they couldn''t possibly deal with on their own, but they had to defend themselves from everything else. These kinds of mortal districts promoted natural talent and true strength above book smarts and theoretical power. "Usually," the agent said, "Town Lords and City Lords wish for natural progression mortal districts to bepletely separate from the main town or city." ¡°Most of the time, they simply create it about ten kilometers away from the town. This not only improves the appearance of the town, but it also increases the perceived feeling of danger for the mortals." Shang told the agent that this wasn''t what he wanted. Shang had specific things in mind, and for that, he needed the mortals close to the town. The agent listened and created a n ording to Shang''s wishes. He showed the n to Shang, and Shang nodded. But it was expensive. Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. "Start the construction as soon as possible," Shang said. "| can pay you at the end of the month." "No problem," the agent said with a smile. Chapter 636 Chapter 636 The agent left to prepare everything, and he returned with several more people after a couple of hours. As soon as they arrived, they immediately started, and when Shang saw what they did, he became impressed. Sure enough, he had made the right call by getting a professional. First, they distributed enchanted pieces of paper that entranced the mortals and beckoned them to look at them. What did these papers do? Well, within just one day, every mortal that wasn''t a small child or younger learned to read. After that, they built several huge stone tablets with rules on them. The general confusion was reduced by a lot. With an epassing set of rules, people stopped doing some things while doing other things more often. Next, books with basic introductions to different jobs were distributed, and the people were encouraged to think about what kinds of jobs they would be most interested in. While all of this was going on, other Mages were already building several important buildings. Several big warehouses. Several bars. Designated farnd. But the majority were residential houses. However, there was one interesting thing about the residential houses. They were very different from each other. There were very big mansions, but there were also horrible shacks. The Mages made it specifically like this to create a clear image of status and power. More powerful people had to also look more powerful and live in a grander style. This would motivate the weak ones to work harder on themselves. As soon as most of the houses were finished, every mortal that still remained inside the town was essentially thrown out of the town. The northern part of the town was no longer meant for mortals to live in but for mortals to learn and work in. Marketces, smithies, and academies were created in this ce after essentially burning everything to the ground that was already there. All the mortals received prepared food from the Mages that would easilyst them for the next couple of days. Several Mages conducted interviews with the mortals to see what they would be good at and what they wanted to do. Eventually, the mortals were separated into different groups, and each group got a basic introduction to their future jobs. All of this took over two weeks, but that was already terrifyingly fast and efficient. Eventually, all the sses stopped, and the mortals were required to purchase further lessons by showing results. Hunters were required to hunt some weak beasts and hand them over to the Mages. Smiths were required to create some basic weapons and armor. And so on. Of course, since everyone had only received the bare minimum, they were all essentially still blindly going forward. The smiths only knew how to smelt ore, hammer it, and cool it. That was it. They had no idea how to create specific things. But that was the very thing that the Mages wanted to encourage, a natural progression. Of course, just like animals, the mortals were enticed to learn and grow by the potential payment and increase in status. Also, it felt great to be better than a peer. Shang watched the mortal district take shape with nearly no issues. It was like everyone knew exactly what they should do. Initially, Shang had been skeptical about the price, but now, he knew that the money was worth it. While Shang was watching the mortal district take form, he was contacted by someone. It was the Guild Master of the Adventurer''s Guild, and this time, she wasn''t alone. Several more people apanied her. The Guild Master of the Merchant''s Guild. The Guild Master of the Crafter''s Guild. These three people represented the economy of the town. The procurement of resources, refinement of resources, and selling of resources. "Town Lord, we would like to talk to you," the Guild Master of the Adventurer''s Guild said. Shang made it clear with his Spirit Sense that he was paying attention to them, but he didn''t say anything.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. ¡°We have talked amongst ourselves, and we all agree that an external mortal district will bring nothing but bad things to the town," the Guild Master exined. "We would ask you to reconsider." "No," Shang answered. "I didn''t purchase this town to keep making money but to transform it into something new." "Sir," the Guild Master of the Merchant''s Guild said, "with all due respect, we have been in this town for much longer than you, and we know how things work around here. Everything has been going well up to now, and it isn''t very difficult to uphold the current status quo. You just don''t need to change anything, and things will remain great." "No," Shang said again. "As I''ve said, I''m not interested in how things are. This is my town, and | have purchased it with a specific goal in mind." ¡°And what, pray tell, is that goal?" the third Guild Master asked. ¡°Not your concern," Shang answered. The three Guild Masters were shocked. Not their concern? They were the de-facto leaders of this town! Everything inside this town was their concern! The three Guild Masters looked at each other and nodded. "Then we have no other choice but to stop operations in protest of your policies until they change," the Guild Master of the Adventurer''s Guild said. "Okay," Shang answered. Silence. Several seconds of silence. The Guild Masters looked with annoyance and frustration at their Town Lord. "Do you not realize what consequences this will have for the town!?" "| understand the consequences," Shang answered. "| just don''t care." The eyes of the Guild Masters¡¯ widened in shock. "The revenue of your three Guildsbined isn''t even a quarter of what the Pathfinder Magic Circle pulls in. The entire town can stay in stasis indefinitely, and the town will still earn far more than it spends." "You don''t have the power you think you have, Guild Masters." Of course, the Guild Masters immediately exploded and stopped being polite at that point. But Shang didn''t care. They were just barking dogs. Eventually, Shang startedpletely ignoring them. But, very soon, the Guild Masters¡¯ showed their hand. Shang was contacted by the Temple of Blood. Someone had put up a mission for his assassination. Apparently, he was worth three Grade Six Mana Crystals. Chapter 637 Chapter 637 ¡®Three Grade Six Mana Crystals for a Town Lord? That''s a bit small,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡°How will we proceed now?" Shang asked as he faced the special Communication Crystal for the Temple of Blood. "We are going the official route," the Territory Lord told Shang via the Communication Crystal. "We are going to investigate your power. Then, we will find out that you are obviously so strong that we would need to send a Peak Archmage to take care of you. Additionally, they must be good enough to hide from all the surveince." "In the end, we will find out that the price is obviously not fitting for such a mission and decline the mission unless they are willing to pay vastly more. We''ll see where we go from there." "Alright," Shang answered. "Contact me again with updates." ¡°We will," the Territory Lord said before cutting the connection. Over the next couple of days, the mortal district became bigger and bigger, and the mortals began to be quite orderly. No one would have expected that these people had been aimless beggars just a couple of weeks ago. Eventually, all the teaching stopped, and the mortals were now effectively free to do whatever they wanted. Did they want to increase the proficiency of their craft to learn more? Were they fine with just living like this? Did they want to change? Yet, the decision most people made surprised Shang quite a bit. They didn''t care. Food was no longer an issue, and they could finally do whatever they wanted. They no longer needed to fear the guards to hunt for Mana Scraps. Water was also abundant, and they even had ess to better houses than they ever had. All the stress of their lives evaporated over the next couple of days, and the mortal district transformed from a small town into a site for a huge festival. Most of the smiths stopped smithing. Most of the farmers stopped farming. Most of the hunters stopped hunting. There were still a few individuals of each profession that continued doing their job, but over the next couple of days, over 80% of people stopped working and learning. They were in paradise! But that was how things were supposed to go. The agent had told Shang what the n looked like. Shang only watched the mortal district. By now, a month had passed, and Shang paid the agents for their work. Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals was a lot, but thepany had done an amazing job. As of this moment, the mortals looked like warriors after a battle. But this time, the partying came before the battle. Suddenly, Shang''s Spirit Sense noticed something, but he specifically didn''t look at the thing he had noticed. Instead, he waited. And a couple of minutester, Shang focused on the thing he had noticed earlier. Shang saw a cloaked and ethereal person with his Spirit Sense, and as soon as he actually saw their appearance, the cloaked person summoned some kind of emblem.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org BANG! The emblem exploded, scattering clouds of chaotic Mana in the surroundings. After a while, the clouds vanished... And the person was gone. Shang knew who that person had been. This was a Scout, a member of the Temple of Blood that was responsible for gathering more information on mission targets. "Seems like the next step of the n has beenpleted,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang had noticed the Scout pretty quickly, but he had specifically stopped himself from looking at them in the beginning. After all, if he did, the Scout would realize that Shang''s Spirit Sense had a range of 250 kilometers, which was insane. Sure, the Territory Lord knew about these things, but that didn¡¯t mean that the entire organization should know about the size of Shang''s Spirit Sense. Acouple of minutester, the Territory Lord contacted Shang again. "The Scout has brought back information. ording to him, you have a Spirit Sense with a range of roughly 150 kilometers, and you have a terrifying perception. Due to all these new pieces of information, | would judge that we need to send a Sweeper, not a Named Agent." ¡°Additionally, because of the Security Agency, your strong senses, and obvious talent, not every Sweeper can fulfill the mission.¡± "The new price for your head is 600 Grade Six Mana Crystals." Shang snorted. 600 Grade Six Mana Crystals? He doubted that the three Guild Masters had such funds. "Then, the problem is resolved," Shang said. "It most likely is," the Territory Lord answered. Shang nodded. "Thanks." Then, he cut the connection. More days passed, and the Guild Masters returned toining to Shang. Yet, it was like they were talking to a wall. It was impossible to get through to Shang. As days turned into weeks, the Guild Masters became quieter and quieter. They were still grumbling asionally, but their respective Guilds had also already resumed operations by now. What were they supposed to do? They couldn''t kill him. He was too powerful, and the Temple of Blood asked for a ridiculous sum of money. Should they leave and change towns? No, that would mean that they would need to start from scratch again and rebuild theirpany from the ground up in unfamiliar territory. Should they protest? They were already doing that, and it brought them nothing but frustration. Stop operations? They would be homeless while the Town Lord would keep making money. There was nothing they could do except bite the bullet and ept their new circumstances. And the problem with the three Guild Masters was resolved just like that. Shang hadn''t even needed to do anything except look at a guy once and ignore all the protests. The Guild Masters didn''t even dare to do anything underhanded to the mortal district. If they did and were found out, the Town Lord would have justification to banish them from the town and its territories. That would be a death sentence since they were just Peak High Mages. More days passed, and eventually, it was time for the mortal district to wake up from their dream of partying. Chapter 638 Chapter 638 The Mages from thepany left. They had created the initial form of the mortal district, and it only needed to grow naturally by now. As the Mages left, the food deliveries for the mortals stopped. However, the farms they had created were already bearing fruit. Of course, just a couple of weeks would have never been enough toplete a crop cycle, but there were plenty of supportive Magic Circles that sped up the process. Most of the mortals continued partying, but a few of them noticed that the farms weren''t tended to. Sure, they had food now, but what about in a couple of weeks? Some people startedining, but everyone just told them to shut up and mind their own business. Nevertheless, the number of working mortals went up from 20% to about 30%. The ones that had joined the workers felt shame. They were asking the farmers to continue tending to their farms while they continued partying. Because of that, they also focused on working away. Of course, most people still didn''t care. That was until one fateful day. Apack of Peak Soldier Stage wolves. Initially, when most people saw the pack on the horizon, they didn''t care. They were being protected by the Mage Guards. Yet, the few people that perfectly remembered the set of rules became nervous. They told everyone that the Mage Guards wouldn''t protect them from threats in the First and Second Realm. The people became a bit nervous, but they onlyughed nervously. The Mage Guards wouldn''t just watch as some wolves killed everyone, right? They were guards. It was their job to protect people, right? Right? The pack of wolves noticed the settlement. For a long while, the wolves looked at the Mage Guards. They could feel that these Mage Guards were extremely dangerous. Yet, the Mage Guards didn''t attack them. The wolves were very careful and scared. Over the next couple of hours, they came back, looked at the settlement, and walked away again. They were hungry. They were a big family, and they needed a lot of food. Every time they returned, they came a bit closer to the settlement. The Mage Guards didn''t do anything. By the next day, the wolves came within twenty meters of the settlement. Surprisingly, the majority of people had calmed down. The wolves weren''t dangerous. They had grown used to the wolves¡¯ presence. Then, a 16-year-old girl decided to step out of the settlement and slowly approached the wolves. She didn''t feel any ill wille from the wolves. Maybe they could work together?N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. The wolves were about two meters high each, which was extremely imposing. Yet, they were also fluffy, and their careful demeanor was endearing. Of course, most people thought that this was a crazy idea, and they were right. It was a crazy idea. But there were bound to be some crazy people in a group of thousands. The wolves shied away from the girl, constantly eyeing the closest Mage Guard. The Mage Guard didn''t move. The people were watching with interest. Eventually, one of the wolves dared to approach the girl. ¡°Hey, you don''t need to be afraid," the girl said with a smile. "We''re nice." She extended her arm to the wolf, and the wolf looked at it. Then, it smelled the hand carefully while carefully eying the closest Mage Guard. Slowly, the wolf''s tongue extended, and it began to slowly and carefully lick the girl''s hand. The girlughed and walked closer. "Ow!" she suddenly shouted as she pulled her hand back. The wolf''s teeth had lightly mped down on the girl''s arm, but it had let go immediately after she shouted. The wolf looked at the Mage Guard. The Mage Guard didn''t move. "Don''t do that again. That hurts!" the girl shouted while trying to sound friendly. The girl slowly approached the wolf again, and the wolf turned to look at her after a while. CRACK! "AAAAAAHHH!" The wolf bit down on the girl''s arm, breaking it. The girl screamed in pain and terror as she tried to pull her arm out of the wolf''s mouth. The wolf was looking at the closest Mage Guard. The Mage Guard didn''t move. Then, the wolf pulled the girl forward with its teeth. The girl fell forward, and the wolf''s huge maw enveloped her torso. CRSH! Horrifying shrieks and gurgles came out of the girl''s mouth as the wolf lifted her body in its mouth and ran away. The mortals were terrified and looked at the Mage Guard in terror and panic. The Mage Guard didn''t move. The other five wolves noticed that their partner hadn''t been attacked, and they grew hungrier as they eyed the little settlement. Then, they slowly approached. And then, the settlement fell into hysteria. Everyone screamed in panic and ran away. The wolves slowly advanced, entering the settlement. They were still afraid that the Mage Guards would do something. Yet, the Mage Guards never did anything. In a matter of minutes, the streets had been cleared as everyone had either fled or entered a building. The wolves sniffed around, and they stopped near one of the buildings. CRK! CRK! One of them scratched on the door, leaving behind huge crevices. Eventually, it created an opening and pulled the door apart with its teeth. A family of four was inside the building. The house was silent. The house was loud. The house was silent. Another wolf found someone inside a shack. Athird one hunted someone down that was running in the distance. Eventually, all the wolves found their victims and carried them away. It didn''t matter whether they were dead or alive. The wolves were still intimidated by the Mage Guards, and they didn''t want to stay longer than necessary. After a while, all the wolves vanished, and the humans slowly dared to exit their homes again. Yet, the terror of what had happened today could still be felt. This was terrifying! This was worse than being hunted by the Mage Guards! This was worse than being hunted by the gangs! And then, the mortal district entered a period of infighting and ming. Chapter 639 Chapter 639 The mortals immediately started panicking and ming each other. Why did the hunters not fight the monsters?! Weren''t they supposed to kill stuff like that?! How were the hunters supposed to fight?! They didn''t even have any usable weapons?! How were the smiths supposed to produce weapons when there were no materials?! How were the gatherers supposed to gather materials when the hunters didn''t keep the area safe?! No one was taking responsibility, but after a while, the people all started to focus on the hunters. Yes, the hunters didn''t have weapons, but still, it was their job to kill these beasts. All the different people gathered and started to me the hunters collectively. The hunters grew nervous and found one justification after the other, but the people kept shooting them down. Eventually, some of them cracked under the pressure and confessed. They were scared. They had simply been too scared. One had to remember that all of these people hadn''t even seen a beast before in their life. They had lived inside the town for their entire life, and there were no beasts inside the town. Suddenlying face to face with a two-meter-tall wolf was terrifying for someone that hadn''t even seen a beast before. Many of the hunters were already well on their way at the Soldier Stage, and some of them were even at the General Stage. But they had only fought humans before. At this moment, everyone wished the gangs back. The gangs had been horrible to the people, but at least they could survive under them. Sadly, nearly all the powerful people had belonged to the gangs, and all these people had been executed by the Mage Guards. There were barely a couple of General Stage warriors left. Yet, even though they were supposed to be far more powerful than the wolves, they had simply been too scared to fight them. At some point, the people demanded that some of the warriors form a kill squad to deal with the wolves if they returned. Of course, most of the hunters tried to get out of fighting these scary beasts, but some of them were forced into the squad. All five General Stage warriors were forced to join the kill squad with an additional 20 Peak Soldier Stage warriors. After a while, they epted their fate, but they also demanded some things. First of all, they wanted good weapons. Second of all, they wanted priority on food. Third, they wanted the good homes. Everyone except the smiths agreed, but the smiths were forced intopliance by the majority. Of course, the smiths also demanded several things, but the people were not aspliant. Sure, the smiths would get their food, but they wouldn''t get the fancy houses unless they showed that their weapons were amazing. Naturally, the smiths also wanted the gatherers to go out and gather ore. Having seen what happened to the hunters and smiths, the gatherers agreed rather quickly. They only wanted to have their food and have priority over the houses. Of course, there was still a great number of people that didn''t work, but they had transformed from the majority into the minority. The gatherers couldn''t go outside to create a mine and wanted the hunters to secure the surroundings, but after the hunters told them two sentences, the gatherers couldn''t argue with them anymore. "There''s ground right here. Create a mine here." The hunters began to train with each other, and they created ns for fighting the wolves. The smiths were preparing themselves and honing their craft. They had to be ready for when the metal would arrive. The gatherers were unused to digging in the ground, but they kept working hard. All of them worked for the entire day. The pressure of the wolves gave them power they had never thought they had. Yet, when they had to inevitably take a break, they saw something. So many people were just sitting around. Their district was in danger, but these fuckers were justzing around! Even more, the fields weren''t being worked on! Everyone that was working currently had been promised food, but the farmers weren''t making food! All the workers immediately protested, and the public forced the farmers to work. Now, over 80% of people were working. Over the next couple of days, the mine became huge, and a hill of stone had already formed. The miners started to shout at the people around them that they didn''t have time to get rid of all these stones. The smiths were still waiting for their metal, and they were already working their asses off. So, the public looked at the people that werezing around again. Builders and crafters. And they were sent to deal with the stones and other materials that had been found. The builders were unsure what they should do with the stones, but the public demanded that they do something with them. Eventually, they decided to use the stones to make roads. Over 90% of people were working now. "| can''t take care of my children right now! I''m busy working! You take care of them!" And like that, even the teachers and social workers had something to do. Of course, there were still a few people that didn''t do anything, but they were in the vast minority. Over 97% of people were working in one way or another. The beginnings were difficult. Some hunters died in a practice excursion. Smiths wasted materials and failed in smithing.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. Farmers were ruining crops. Gatherers still hadn''t found anything valuable. The roads that were being built were ruined due to the weather. Children ran away and got injured. It was brutal. Nearly no one had been prepared for their job. Nearly. The very few that had realized that things couldn''t possibly remain like this in the very beginning had had several days of practice over everyone else, and it showed. They were the better smiths, gatherers, and so on. And everyone in their surroundings noticed that. People decided to interact more with the people that were good at doing their craft. And with that, another hurdle had been crossed on the path of establishing a society. Status. Chapter 640 Chapter 640 Four dayster, the wolves returned. They had avoided this ce since the Mage Guards still scared them, but they had only found little food recently. Their hunger brought them back to the settlement. But before the wolves could reach the settlement, they stopped. Agroup of 25 humans hade out of the vige. The wolves became nervous since the five people at the front felt very dangerous to them. Yet, they had been able to run rampant in here thest time, and their hunger was egging them on. Because of that, they didn''t retreat. The hunters were taking out their weapons. Clubs made of wood and stone, wooden spears, big stones, and tomahawks. Their weapons were primitive, but this was the best the smiths could do without metal. Eventually, the wolves started to run toward the humans, and the hunters felt their hearts beat at insane speeds. One of the General Stage hunters took a huge stone in his hands and pulled back. Then, he threw. BANG! The huge stone hit the wolf''s head, exploding into gravel. The wolf screeched and fell over. The other wolves immediately stopped their advance and looked at theirpanion. The hurt wolf tried to stand up, but it immediately fell over again. It tried its absolute best to run away and retreat, but it had nearly no control over its legs and constantly fell over. Blood was leaking out of its nose and mouth. That stone had severely injured it. When the hunters saw the damage this single stone had caused, they almost couldn''t believe it. These wolves were over two meters tall! They were terrifying! Yet, a single stone had nearly killed one of them! The wolves hadpletely stopped advancing. And then, all the fear in the hunters¡¯ bodies was reced with fury. These wolves had killed their friends! These wolves were the reason why they had trouble sleeping over the past few days! The hunters shouted in fury and attacked the wolves. It was like the hunters had gone insane! The wolves immediately turned around and ran away, but several spears and stones stopped four of them in their tracks. In the end, only a single wolf escaped. The other five were attacked by the hunters with their weapons. Yet, some of the hunters had still been injured during thesest moments, and one of them had nearly died. They had been careless, but in the end, the five wolves were killed. When the people saw that, they exploded into cheers. And the hunters felt something for the first time. Sess. Pride. Status. Power. Admiration. The people were treating them like heroes, and everyone was thanking them profusely. Many women were looking at them with desire. Many people were bringing over their favorite dishes. Kids were asking them how they could be as strong as them in the future. For the next couple of hours, the people returned to partying. But the next day, the hunters brought down the mood. During their practice excursions, they saw even more powerful beasts. There were actually many beasts out there, but most of them avoided this ce. However, some powerful beasts would inevitably find their way here again. And they had to be ready for everything. The fear returned, and the people began working again. However, there was a new feeling in the air. Community. The hunters had used the smith''s weapons. The smiths had used the gatherer''s materials. Everyone walked on the builder''s roads. The children were talking about their favorite teacher. Everything was interconnected. This was amunity now. The wolves'' corpses were left for the hunters and the most outstanding people of their craft. For the first time, the people tasted beast meat. And it tasted amazing. The bones and hides were given to the crafters, who created weapons and coats for the hunters. Stone was tough but brittle. These bones were much better for prolonged use. More days passed. Eventually, the old food had been used up, and the missing days of thest crop cycle finally showed their effect. There wasn''t enough food for everyone left. The hunters were the first that got their food. The farmers got their food next. Then, the gatherers got theirs. The smiths got their food next. The remainder was split between the remaining workers. And the people that didn''t work? They got nothing. Eventually, even these stubborn sloths were forced to work by their hunger. Most of them decided to catch fish to deal with their hunger. And some of them were quite sessful at that, catching more than necessary. The people noticed the fish and wanted to trade them for food, but the fishers said that these fish tasted way better than some grain and rice. For one fish, they wanted more. While this was going on, the hunters left the small vige again to hunt. They needed to get food for the people. Just two weeks ago, they would have never done something like this. But after being admired and praised by the entire vige, they felt something new. Responsibility. Their people were looking up to them and betting on them. They had to care for the people. It was their duty. It was their job. More beasts attacked. More people died. But themunity survived and pulled together. The gatherers found metal. The smiths created real weapons. The farmers created plenty of food. The teachers got the children in order. Everyone was getting better. Everything was improving. The mortal district had finally taken form. Now, it would only take a couple of months until it was ready for the warrior academy. But before that, something happened. WHOOOOOM! ¡°Everyone! Immediately take shelter in your houses!" An insanely loud voice echoed throughout the mortal district, and its cadence had a bewitching effect on the mortals, making them follow the orders immediately.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. At the same time, the Mage Guards'' faces turned into expressions of fear as they fled into the town. The barrier around the town turned red as it worked at maximum capacity. The mortals had seen this phenomenon from inside the town, but they had no idea what this meant. They weren''t sure what was happening. And then, they saw something. Far to the east, some vigers spotted something. It was a moving mountain! The mountain was probably over five kilometers tall, moving with surprising speed towards the town. The humans almost couldn''t believe what they were seeing. In a matter of seconds, the mountain stopped beside the town. It was a humongous crab made of rock and stone. Just its shears were over two kilometers long, and its weight shook the entire world. The mountain was almost as big as the entire town! The crab raised one of its shears. BOOOOOOM! Suddenly, a humongous lightning bolt hit the crab in the face, sting it several kilometers away. Gigantic portions of its body broke off, falling to the ground. BOOOOM! Another huge lightning bolt blew the crab apart, scattering it across the surrounding kilometers. The mortals couldn''t form a rational thought. They couldn''t understand what had just happened. Some of them noticed a figure flying near the corpse, and they were quite certain it was a human with ck robes and silver hair, their body still crackling with lightning. Three secondster, the gigantic corpse of the crab vanished, and the human entered the town. This had been the first Ancestral Beast that had attacked the town ever since Shang took over. Chapter 641 Chapter 641 Not much of note happened for the next several months, and the mortal district was growing at rapid rates. There were many more people that focused on increasing their power, and even the children started to focus on bing more powerful. Almost all of them tried to be Mages, but not everyone had the talent to be epted into the new Mage Academy in the mortal district. The people that didn''t manage to join the Mage Academy joined the Warrior Academy instead. Or at least, they wanted to. Sadly, there were no fitting teachers avable for the Warrior Academy since the strongest people in the mortal district were busy hunting and defending everyone. After watching the mortal district for a couple of months, Shang decided that it was time to officially open the Warrior Academy. The thirst for power had already been deeply imnted in the people. Shang contacted his general. "| need some people recruited.¡± "Yes, sir?" the general asked respectfully. "The mortal district has taken form, and the people want to be warriors. However, they do not have strong warriors." "| need some Commander Stage warriors from other towns. | am willing to pay for their trip here and pay them handsomely." The general hesitated for a couple of seconds. "Warriors? Commander Stage?" Obviously, the general wasn''t really familiar with these terms. Shang did his best not to sigh. Then, he exined what a warrior was. The general listened, but he was still confused and concerned. "Sir, don''t take my words as disrespect, but | don''t understand why you would want to create warriors. Aren''t Mages just strictly better?" ¡°As of now, yes," Shang said. "However, we need to look into the future. You know that | am not a Mage but a warrior, and | am probably the first and only warrior of the Fifth Realm." ¡°Of course, Mages can travel far further on the path to power, but how many can actually pull that off? How many people would be happy with reaching the Fifth Realm?" ¡°Even if the warriors never reached the Sixth Realm, we would still gain several more warriors of the Fifth Realm." "Tell me, if we could double the number of Archmages, how great would that be?" The general thought about Shang''s words for a while. Sure, warriors didn''t have the talent of Mages, but reaching the Fifth Realm was already more than impressive. After all, the general was still at the Peak High Mage Realm. "| understand, sir," the general said. "| will ask some people from other towns and cities." "Thanks," Shang said before cutting the connection. Shang had to wait for a couple of days for feedback, but eventually, the general contacted him again. "Sir, one of the major cities has a flourishing mortal district, and they have several of these Commander Stage warriors," the general transmitted. "What''s the price?" Shang asked. ¡°One of the Ancestral Mages is willing to be the escort for the trip for five Grade Six Mana Crystals." Shang snorted. "Five Grade Six Mana Crystals for an afternoon of work. That''s good money." "Fine," Shang said. "| want 50 Commander Stage warriors, and | am willing to give every single one of them ten Grade Four Mana Crystals when they decide to move here. They are also allowed to bring their families with them." "Yes, sir," the general answered. The general contacted the Ancestral Mage again, and the two of them nned everything out. And three dayster, they arrived. An Ancestral Mage flew rapidly towards the town while a huge te of metal with people on it followed him. There were probably nearly 300 people there. Shang weed the Ancestral Mage and paid him. The Ancestral Mage put the people down on the ground and left shortly after. All the people now stood in front of the southern entrance of the town, unsure. The things they had been promised were too good to be true. These warriors were extremely powerful for warriors, but whenpared to Mages, they were worthless. A Peak Commander Stage warrior from this group couldn''t even win against a Mid True Mage, and they couldn''t even win against Late Commander Stage beasts on their own. As Shang looked at all these warriors, he was reminded of the earliest warriors of Area 23. They had been just as weak in front of the Mages. Shang slowly descended in front of them, but he stopped just a couple of meters above the ground since he wanted them to take note of him. The people all looked up at Shang, but his scary appearance made them nervous. ¡°My name is Shang Sword, and | am the Town Lord of this town." "And | am also a warrior.¡± When the people heard that, it was like their hearts had stopped. Awarrior? Awarrior that could fly? Awarrior Town Lord? This made no sense! "Some of you might not believe me, but it is the truth. | came from a distant ce to the west, and there, warriors have reached higher levels." "| do not know what you call the Realm you are currently in. Over there, the First Realm is called the Soldier Stage, the second one the General Stage, and the third one the Commander Stage." "You all are at the Commander Stage, the Third Realm."Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. ¡°Far to the west, the warriors have created the Fourth Realm already, the True Path Stage. On top of that, the warriors to the west have found ways to close the gap between them and the Mages." ¡°Over there, warriors and Mages are about equal in Battle-Strength.¡± "| have brought all of this knowledge to this ce with me, and | intend on increasing the power of the warriors in this ce." ¡°For the past few months, | have worked on the mortal district of this town, and all the people are hungry for power." "There are two reasons why | have brought you here." "First, my town doesn''t even have a single Commander Stage warrior that can teach the children. | have created a Warrior Academy, but there are no fitting teachers for it." "Second, some of you might have the willpower and discipline to reach the True Path Stage, and | am willing to help you." ¡°Any questions?" Shang asked. The people were still bbergasted. Shang had hit them with one impressive revtion after the other. There were stronger warriors? Warriors could close the gap between them and Mages? After a couple of seconds, one of the warriors stepped forward to ask a question. "Town Lord," he said carefully. "If | may ask, what Realm are you in?" "I''m at the Fifth Realm," Shang answered. "And as far as | know, | am the only warrior that has managed to reach the Fifth Realm." "The name of the Fifth Realm is the Impose Stage, and if you manage to reach the True Path Stage, | am willing to teach you how to reach the Impose Stage." Over the next couple of minutes, the people asked several inconsequential questions like payment, duties, and so on. Then, one of them asked an interesting question. "Sir, how can we bridge the gap between the Mages and us?" SHING! Shang summoned something and showed it to them. It was a bucket full of pills. "With this." Chapter 642 Chapter 642 The people looked at the bucket of pills with intrigue. This would bridge the gap between them and the Mages? "This is a Bloodline Pill," Shang said as he pulled out one of them. "When you consume Bloodline Pills, they will give your body the properties of a beast."N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. ¡°Of course, you won''t look or think like a beast. Your soul and mind have a blueprint of what your body is supposed to look like. Your muscles, bones, and organs will reach the density and power of a beast''s muscles, bones, and organs. However, you will still retain your current appearance.¡± "This increases your physical power by quite a bit, and we canpletely close the gap with some additional trainingter. In the end, you will have a body just as powerful as a beast of your level.¡± The warriors almost couldn''t believe what they were hearing. They knew how powerful a beast''s body was, and it felt unreal to them that they could be that powerful. Shang put the pill back into the bucket. Now, one apparent question was, where did these pillse from? What about the Bloodline Infusion Procedure? Well, the Bloodline Infusion had been created by George and refined by the many warriors that came after him. It had be quite easy to perform. However, this didn''t mean that the Bloodline Infusion was the optimal way to get a beast''s body. When Shang and the Territory Lord had talked about his future job, they had already nned out several things. The first thing the Territory Lord wanted to do was to simplify the Bloodline Infusion. It sounded too expensive, time-consuming, and primitive to her. So, she gathered all the information regarding the Bloodline Infusion Shang knew about and forwarded it to some specialists in the Temple of Blood. These specialists were the people that created all the gadgets and special Spells for the Temple of Blood, and the Territory Lord told them to simplify the Bloodline Infusion. Yes, George had been an impressive biologist, and he had reached the True Path Stage. Of course, the Bloodline Infusion had been a legendary aplishment. Yet, how could someone like Georgepare to a team of Ancestral Mages with over a thousand years of experience whose job it was to create such things? How could someone like George even hope to aplish what these specialists could? It took the specialists barely a couple of weeks to create the first pill, and they just needed three more months to perfect it. Even more, creating these pills was easy and cheap. One just needed to draw a couple of Magic Circles, gather a beast''s bone marrow with the same Affinity as the person eating the pill, and just activate the Magic Circles. That was it. When the pills were produced, the person would only need to consume about ten to twenty of them over the course of a day, and they would have their beast body. And the only pain the people would be under was a horrible bout of diarrhea that would go on for a day. In fact, the specialists had actually produced a way to even get rid of that, but it would double the price of the pill. Shang exined to the warriors what the pills did and how they worked. The more the day progressed, the harder it was to believe that this wasn''t just a dream. The world of these people waspletely turned upside down today. Eventually, Shang finished his introduction to their immediate future and flew back to the town. Amomentter, a High Mage appeared in front of the people. She took out over 400 buckets filled with pills and called the Commander Stage warriors up one at a time. The Commander Stage warriors needed to say their name, their power, what weapon they were using, and what Affinity they had. The High Mage would note down everything and hand the person a fitting bucket of pills. After about an hour, every warrior had received their bucket of pills, and the High Mage led them through the town. The warriors were not surprised by anything since they hade from a muchrger city. The Mages were throwing disgusted nces at the warriors, but they were also used to those. After a while, they reached the mortal district inside the walls, which basically only consisted of shops and academies. When the warriors saw everything, they raised an eyebrow. Spartan. Primitive. Simple. These buildings were not the greatest. While they had been touring the town, the High Mage had told them about everything that had happened ever since Shang had be the Town Lord. It felt weird to them that the people here had essentially formed a civilization just a couple of months ago, but there was also something exciting about this. It was like they were at the forefront of discovery, and even more than that, they would also be the first warriors that had a shot at reaching the True Path Stage they had just learned about. So, even though everything was simple and primitive, they were still excited about their future. Luckily, the academy was big enough for all the teachers and their families to live in. They were the only members of the mortal district that were allowed to live inside the town itself. The teachers of the Mage Academy didn''t technically count to the mortal district since they were True Mages and High Mages that just lived in the normal residential districts. The people all found their new homes and started to settle in. Some of the people of the mortal district noticed that there was amotion in the deste Warrior Academy, but they didn''t know what was going on. The next day, the Commander Stage warriors consumed the pills. The day after, they tested out their new powers and were shocked. They had grown so powerful! After that, Shang visited them again and handed over two things. He gave them the barbarian strengthening technique and the Star Map. He also exined all the relevant principles, and a couple of hourster, he left again. All of these things were more than incredible, and the warriors immediately felt their long-forgotten thirst for power reawaken. And for the first time, the Commander Stage warriors came out of the academy and entered the actual mortal district outside. Chapter 643 Chapter 643 When the Commander Stage warriors left the inner mortal district, all the people looked at them. Under normal circumstances, the Commander Stage warriors wouldn''t be noticed. After all, even though the mortal district could be considered a vige, there were actually several thousand people living in it. Obviously, not everyone knew everyone else. However, the thing that made these Commander Stage warriors stand out was their equipment. They had amazing weapons and amazing armor! Some people immediately asked these people where they came from and where they got their equipment from. The Commander Stage warriors just told them about what had happened. The mortals were shocked. These warriors came from a different town? Additionally, they were that strong?! When everyone heard that they had been brought over to serve as teachers, they became excited. Not only would they and their children have an opportunity to be even more powerful, but with these strong Commander Stage warriors present, they didn''t need to fear the beasts anymore. After all, these warriors were not part of the Mage Guards, and they wouldn''t just stand by and watch as several people died, right? Well, their happiness received quite a significant damper when they heard that the Commander Stage warriors had been instructed to only fight Commander Stage beasts. If a Soldier Stage or General Stage Beast attacked, they were forced to stay on the sidelines and watch. Otherwise, they would be banished from the town, which would essentially be a death sentence. The mortal district had to fight its own battles. But that wasn''t all. The next day, the Mage Guards would retreat into the town and stop standing guard. However, it was important to note that this didn''t mean that everyone could now do whatever they wanted. The Mage Guards would still uphold order in the mortal district, but they wouldn''t stand guard anymore. Instead of having several Mage Guards stand around the mortal district, the three High Mages would simply oversee everything with their Spirit Senses while not directly being inside the mortal district. At first, this didn''t seem like bad or good news. It just seemed neutral. But when the Commander Stage warriors exined, everyone understood why this was considered bad news. The Mage Guards had acted as a deterrent for over 90% of the beasts. They had seen the Mage Guards from a great distance and decided not to approach. But now, there would be no Mage Guards present, and the Commander Stage warriors would mostly remain inside the town since they weren''t hunting that often. This meant that the frequency of beast attacks might increase. Some of the people wanted to guilt trip the Commander Stage warriors into defending them, but they were having nothing of that. They wouldn''t sacrifice their lives for something this inconsequential. If they could sacrifice their lives to stop the beasts from attacking altogether, maybe, but sacrificing their lives would only stop one attack. A next one would soon follow. As the Commander Stage warriors passed by the talking people, one of them got an idea. "Hey, So, we are supposed to be teachers, right?" one of them said. "Our job is to teach as much as we can to basically as many people as we can, right?" The others nodded. That was their job description. They didn''t only need to teach fighting. If possible, they were encouraged to also teach other stuff like smithing, mining, hunting, and so on. "So, why not start now?" the guy asked. Some of them looked back and watched the concerned people looking at them. "The more we teach, the better our pay and benefits," one of them said. "Sure!" After that, some of the Commander Stage warriors asked some of the hunters to apany them. The Commander Stage warriors were about to hunt Commander Stage beasts for their hearts, and they might as well teach them about hunting. Maybe they also found a fitting target for them. Eventually, over 90% of the hunters decided to apany the Commander Stage warriors. These powerful warriors had suddenly appeared, and the hunters would take advantage of their power and wisdom. The remaining 10% remained in the mortal district in case something attacked, but that likelihood was low. After all, the Mage Guards would only leave on the next day. For now, they were still there. For the entire day, the warriors hunted Commander Stage beasts, and the more powerful warriors also allowed the weaker hunters to fight against some beasts. It was important for the hunters to get used to fighting beasts, and they could do so without worry while a Commander Stage warrior watched them. Early the next day, everyone returned. The Commander Stage warriors walked back into the town, the corpses of the Commander Stage beasts in their Space Rings, something the normal people of the mortal district had no ess to yet. All of them consumed their beast hearts and then met to discuss things. Some of them had found some very talented warriors, and they were interested in taking them in as students.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. However, there also had to be enough hunters in the outer mortal district to protect it from beasts. Because of that, everyone talked to each other about the best possible distribution. After that, they nned out everything regarding the academy. What kind of techniques were they teaching the students? How deep would their teachings go? When would the students receive their Bloodline Pills? How would they divide the sses? And, most importantly, who was going to be the dean and the vice dean? Surprisingly, this wasn''t easy at all since no one wanted to take up these positions. All of them had received a glimpse into a powerful future, and they wanted to focus on bing more powerful as soon as possible. While they could still train in their spare time as teachers, they feared that the dean and vice-deans would be too busy to focus on their training. In the end, they decided that they only needed 20 teachers in the academy to run it. Then, they also elected some special teachers for stuff like smithing and general knowledge regarding how to build and run a mortal district. Eventually, they decided on shifts. In the first year, there would be 18 teachers, one dean, one vice-dean, and five special teachers. The other 25 were allowed to do whatever they wanted during that time, which was most likely train. The next year, they would switch. As for the dean and vice-dean positions, the two people that epted these positions would get two years of training after that. Of course, that meant that some years, there were fewer teachers avable than in others, but that wasn''t a big problem. The teachers just needed to work a couple of minutes more, which wasn''t a big deal when sleeping and eating were hobbies and not necessities. And like that, even the Warrior Academy had been set up. The next day, the warriors informed everyone in the outer mortal district about the changes and about the academy. From now on, the children would be sent to the Warrior Academy unless they specifically wanted to follow their parents in doing their job. After all, it wasn''t necessary to be powerful to plow a field. From his castle, Shang watched all of this happen. Now, he only needed to wait for everyone to learn the things he had given them. Shang had written down everything the old warrior academy had known in several books, and he had distributed them amongst the teachers. Eventually, a True Path Stage warrior would emerge, and that''s when Shang would get involved. Chapter 644 Chapter 644 The next couple of years were rough for the mortal district. With the Mage Guards gone, many more beasts with more power arrived. Many hunters died during the defense, but the encounters where hunters died during the defense were not the worst ones. Just a couple of weeks after the Mage Guards left, a beast slowly closed in on the town. It was a Late General Stage beast. The most powerful warrior was at the Early General Stage. Their bodies were weak. Their weapons were weak. Their experience was little. There was no way they could win against such a beast. That meant that this beast could do whatever it wanted. Like a tyrant, it stepped into the mortal district. It didn''t feel any threating from the people, and it just leisurely walked around while gobbling up humans. Whenever such a powerful beast arrived, the people were forced to run back to the town. The mortal district outside the walls wasn''t defended by Mage Guards, but the mortal district inside the walls was. Of course, many people still died. A General Stage that was leisurely walking around was still faster than a normal person. And then, everyone had to wait until the beast left of its own ord. Many times, the beast would destroy several buildings and streets while just exploring. Even more, the beast''s presence made watering and maintaining the farms impossible. For every day the people couldn''t leave the town, the chance of famine urring increased. It was frustrating! It was horrible! They werepletely at the mercy of these powerful beasts! They hated it! Of course, this strengthened everyone''s thirst for power even more. They didn''t want this suppression to continue! Eventually, the General Stage warriors became rather powerful. When the mortal district had just expanded, six Peak Soldier Stage wolves had been a problem. During the first year, the warriors could band together and kill a single Initial General Stage beast.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. During the second year, they were confident enough to try their hands on an Early General Stage beast, and it worked out pretty well. But then, it became problematic. The strongest hunter was at the Early General Stage, and he wasn''t allowed to reach the next level since the teachers wanted him to work on his shaky foundation more. The teachers demanded that the hunters worked on their Battle-Strength more than on their levels. After two years, the first two hunters finally managed to defeat beasts on their level one-on-one. Of course, without the Bloodline Pills, this would have been impossible. Then, when the next Mid General Stage beast arrived, they banded together. All nine General Stage warriors had attacked the beast. One of the Early General Stage warriors died, but the others managed to take down the beast. This was an amazing aplishment! Sure, they had lost a powerful hunter, but from now on, they didn''t need to retreat into the town when anything below the Late General Stage attacked them. Of course, there had also been some Commander Stage beasts during these years, but they hadn''t been a problem. The Commander Stage warriors from the other town were used to hitting a beast on their level with a team of four, and with the addition of the Bloodline Pills and the barbarian strengthening technique, they could easily win against a beast on their level one- on-one. The Commander Stage beasts were not an issue at all. As for True Path Stage beasts, those were killed by the Mage Guards and Adventurers from the town. Six years after the establishment of the outer mortal district, even Late General Stage beasts stopped being an issue. And finally, ten years after the establishment, there were no problems with any beasts anymore. After ten years, the mortal district had transformed significantly. There were over a hundred General Stage warriors now, and their foundation was incredible. Even the worst General Stage warrior could beat a beast on their level one-on-one. Finally, everything was stable. People no longer needed to fear, and the warriors focused more and more on excursions. Instead of focusing on defense, they traveled further and further to find interesting things and fight strong beasts. Twelve years after the establishment, the first Commander Stage warrior appeared in the mortal district that hadn''t been part of the teachers. With that, the gap between teachers and the actual mortal district had basically vanished. After these twelve years, the mortal district had transformed significantly. The warriors had created their own walls with ballistae, and they had also created their own little town. It was now a genuine little town that would be able to live on its own in a ce like Area 23. Sadly, they were still reliant on the actual town since they were still helpless against True Path Stage beasts and stronger. The difficult and dark days of the past were gone. The people that had lived in the old mortal district under the gangs as beggars had now be true citizens. They no longer needed to scrounge for Mana Scraps. The birthrate increased, and the number of children visiting the Warrior Academy increased. On top of that, the number of talented Apprentices also increased since they now had ess to books and actual people that knew how to be Mages. Additionally, one shouldn''t forget that there was also a Mage Academy in the mortal district. The mortal district was flourishing. And then, it finally happened. Abit more than 20 years after the establishment of the new mortal district, the first teacher managed to reach the True Path Stage. It was a monumental asion and proof that the Star Map actually worked. The Path of the first True Path Stage warrior was about average. It was definitely stronger than George''s Path had been back then, but it wasn''t as strong as Mervin''s Path had been. The Warrior Academy held a grand festival, and everyone was invited. After the festival, the True Path Stage warrior was visited by someone. It was the Town Lord, Shang. This person would be Shang''s first student. Chapter 645 Chapter 645 "Is this truly what you want?" Shang asked as he faced his student. His student was a ck-haired man who seemed to be in his thirties, and he was also over two meters tall, which was quite intimidating. Surprisingly, he didn''t have an Affinity. However, not having an Affinity also increased someone''s physical power by a little bit. "Is fighting this aggressively truly what you wish for?" Shang asked. The student looked to the ground as he furrowed his brows in thought. "Do | have a choice?" the student asked. "Yes, you always have a choice," Shang said. "You can follow whatever Path you want to follow, Duma." Duma, Shang''s student, wasn''t quite sure what he should answer. "But what if my Path doesn''t lead to an Impose, Master?" Shang slowly shook his head. "The principle of Impose is to impose your will upon the world around you. The world is not the one that decides what gets an Impose or not. You are the one." ¡°Duma, you view yourself as a protector, not a killer," Shang said. "You told me that your goal is to protect your loved ones, correct?" Duma nodded. "Then, you should follow a Path that shows that. The Path you have established is a Path of the shield, and you broke into the True Path Stage with that. The dius you use as an actual weapon hasn''t received its own Path." "Yet, as soon as you became my student, you started to emte my way of fighting. You are using your shield to throw the enemy to the side, to crush them, and to break their bnce, but you are not using it to block an attack or push the enemy away." ¡°Watching me train and fight has given you the illusion that following my Path is the only way to be powerful." Duma didn''t look at Shang''s face. "Is what | have taught you over thest two years worth just this much?" Shang asked in an even voice. "Are you someone that simply follows what others do? Have | not taught you to think and decide for yourself?" None of the two of them said anything. At the moment, Duma''s imposing figure stood in front of the corpse of an Early True Path Stage corpse, but in front of Shang, he felt tiny. Shang was quite a bit smaller than Duma in stature, and Shang''s frame was also not nearly as broadly muscles as his. Yet, to Duma, his Master felt like an iprehensible monster. "Is this all you''re good for?" Shang asked after a while. "Following orders? Imitating others?" Duma didn''t say anything for a while. "Master," he said after a couple of seconds. "Not everyone can be like you." Shang didn''t answer. "You had to develop your Impose without any guidance. That requires tremendous confidence and talent." "Yet," Duma said as he looked at the ground, "I don''t have that." "You are asking me not to blindly follow what you are doing, but just thinking about the possible consequences of making a mistake horrifies me to the core.¡± "| don''t want to spend centuries to refine my power just to find out that my work has been for nothing all along.¡± "You have established several Imposes, and your Colossal Sword Path seems very fitting to my Path of Shield." "What is wrong with copying a bit from someone else? Isn''t that what everyone is essentially doing? After all, we are all learning from our predecessors," Duma slowly said. Shang didn''t say anything for several seconds.Belongs to ? n0velDrama.Org. "Do you know about the consequences of copying someone else''s Path?" Shang asked. "Their Path will never be yours, and while you might be able to create a weak Impose with their Path, you will never be above-average in Battle-Strength, and you can forget about reaching the Sixth Realm in your life." ¡°Master,¡± Duma said as he slowly raised his eyes to look at Shang, "I''m fine with that." Silence. ¡°Honestly, I''m okay with that. | don''t need to be outstanding on my level. Just reaching the True Path Stage was already like a dream hade true, and with your help, | might even be able to reach the Impose Stage." "In the Impose Stage, | would count as an elite member in any city. | could earn enough to live in a castle with my family. | would have enough money to give my children the best education and teachers avable for money." "| would even have enough money to travel to different towns and cities. How many people can im to have that kind of money?" ¡°Master, | honestly don''t care about the Sixth Realm. Just the Fifth Realm is enough for me," Duma said. Shang didn''t say anything for several seconds. "Fine," Shang said coldly. SHING! Then, Shang summoned a thick book and threw it over. Duma looked at the cover and saw the words Mana Pathway Rearrangement Spell. SHING! Shang summoned five additional thick books and also threw them over. These five books were introductions to a beast''s and a warriors Mana Pathways. ¡°If you want to actually create an aggressive Impose for your shield, you have to change your Mana Pathways. You created a defensive Path for your shield, and the world has created Mana Pathways that fit your Path." ¡°Read all of these books. Learn the Spell. Get more Adamantite Branch Seeds." ¡°After that, you only have to follow the sounds of the Adamantite Branch Seeds, and you will eventually create your Impose." "But you might need 100 to 200 years." Duma looked with shock and surprise at all the books he had received. His Master had always taught him in a very roundabout and difficult way, making it seem like creating an Impose was next to impossible. But now, his Master had handed him some things, and he said that reaching the Impose Stage would be easy? However, Duma realized why there was such a ring difference between the two ways his Master had taught him. The first way of teaching was to improve Duma¡¯s creativity, confidence, and fundamental knowledge about power. The new one was just his Master telling him to learn stuff until he knew it by heart. One favored understanding. The other favored just random information. Both ways would lead to the same location, but only by treading the first way would the traveler truly know why and how they had arrived at their goal. When Duma realized this, he wasn''t discouraged in any way. This was exactly what he wanted. In fact, he was happy that he didn''t need to risk his life forprehension anymore. He could simply learn, train in peace, and reach his goal. "Thank you, Master," Duma said. Shang didn''t immediately answer, but his head faced Duma. ¡°From this day on, our Master and Disciple rtionship ends," Shang said. Duma froze. "| have no desire to teach someone that is willing to waste their life on family, friends, status, and money," Shang said emotionlessly. "You may join the Warrior Academy again, the town guards, or the Adventurer''s Guild if you need money or resources." "You are on your own now.¡± And then, Shang took to the sky and flew away. For a very long time, Duma only looked at the ground with a crestfallen expression. These words had hurt him deeply. Was it wrong of him to choose his family? He wasn''t sure anymore. Chapter 646 Chapter 646 WHOOOOM! Shang swung his sword, and the world around him followed. At the moment, eight people were sitting on the grass on top of a hill in silence. They were all watching Shang''s swings attentively. At this moment, Shang was swinging with apletely new kind of sword. In a way, this new State could be seen as a mix of Shang''s Saber State and his Colossal Sword State. The sword was around 150 centimeters long, and it looked a bit like a long cleaver. It was curved and only had one cutting edge. In the middle of the cutting edge was a small "corner", which was used to gather all the power of a swing into one single point. From bottom to top, the sword looked a bit like a [-symbol. As Shang was swinging his sword, different kinds of Mana could be felt by the present people. Sometimes, there was extremely hot Fire Mana. Sometimes, there was extremely bright Light Mana. Sometimes, there was Light Mana thatpletely focused on mass. "This is not a Path that exists within the Star Map," Shang said during a swing. "| don''t know who has created the Star Map, but it has definitely been created by a person." Shang swung another time, the world seemingly warping around his new sword. "The Star Map we all know has a limited number of weapons, and only a few of them are swords." "Is a knife a sword?" "Is a dagger a sword?" ¡°A long sword is a sword." "A saber is a sword.¡± ¡°A great sword is a sword.¡± "A colossal sword is a sword." "Is a colossal mace with an edge a sword?" "Is a colossal axe a sword?" With every sentence, Shang performed another strike as the eight people listened intently. "There are only four swords in the Star Map that are definitely swords." "Yet, does that mean that those are the only swords?" Another swing. "No." "The Star Map has been created by a human, and the knowledge of humanity is limited." "Things we have known in the past might be incorrect." "Things we have known in the past might be correct." ¡°However, even if they are correct, it doesn''t mean that they include the entire picture." ¡°When someone knows that sword can sh, that knowledge will be true now and in a million years." "But a sword can do more than just sh." ¡°What about stabbing?" "What about parrying?" "The person that knows that a sword can sh is correct, but they do not know the entire picture." "In the same sense, the person that has created the Star Map might have gathered an impressive amount of knowledge and managed to transform it into a digestible form for weaker people, but it doesn''t mean that the Star Map includes all the Paths that can possibly exist." "The sword | am using right now is not in the Star Map." "In fact, the sword | am using doesn''t even have a name." "It''s not a saber. It''s too big for that, and the form doesn''tpletely fit." "It is not a great sword since it only has a single edge." "It''s not a cleaver since it''s too long and thin." "One could surely find a category that my sword would fit into the most, but it doesn''tpletely fit.¡± ¡°When | say that someone uses a sword, people don''t think of a saber. They think of a long sword." "A saber is a sword, but only when | say the word saber does the correct image appear in your mind.¡± "Such a word doesn''t exist for my sword." Shang kept swinging while he was talking to his students. "Some of you have asked me why | decided on creating a fifth Path, a Path outside the Star Map." "You said that | wouldn''t be able to rely on the Star Map anymore and that | would have to blindly find my way forward without any guidance.¡± SHING! Shang released an especially powerful sh, and the entire world seemed to follow his every will. "But isn''t that what | have been doing all this time?" The students kept listening intently and respectfully. "New knowledge gets created by pioneers that venture outside thefortable and known." ¡°Have the Mages achieved perfection?" ¡°Have the Mages reached their maximum potential?¡± "Will the Mages in five million years be just as powerful as the Mages today?" "Of course not." ¡°Power and innovation get born by fear andpetition.¡± ¡°As of right now, the Mages are growing very slowly, or maybe not even at all." "Yet, when a powerful ss of warriors appears, the Mages will realize that they might lose their position of dominance." ¡°And at that point, new kinds of Spells and weapons will be created by them, and their power will grow." "| do not know a surefire way to create a Path for my new sword." ¡°However, | am sure of one thing.¡± "The Path exists.¡± "How am | so sure?" "Because | know how Paths work." "| know how Imposes work." ¡°| know how power works.¡± "| know how the world works." "It might take me an unknown number of years, but | know that | will eventually create the path for this new kind of sword." "Inparison to others, | don''t search for the most fitting weapon for myself." ¡°Inparison to others, | don''t search for the most fitting techniques for myself." "Instead, | create my own weapons.¡±C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "| create my own techniques." Shang stopped swinging and put his sword away as he faced the eight people that respectfully watched him. "You are my disciples, and | don''t want you to be mere followers of others." "| don''t want you to just copy what everyone else is doing.¡± "When there is no path, weapon, or technique you arepletely happy with, it is not the one for you." "If there is nothing avable, create something new." Shang turned away and flew back to the town. "The lesson is over." Chapter 647 Chapter 647 Four decades had passed since Shang had taken over as the Town Lord. The mortal district was thriving with General Stage and Commander Stage warriors. Over ten of the Commander Stage warriors from the Warrior Academy had already reached the True Path Stage. Shang had taken all the True Path Stage warriors as his disciples, but only eight actually remained. Duma had been Shang''s first disciple, but Duma had no ambition inside him. There were a couple of others that also didn''t make the cut, but the eight remaining people were hungry for power. They listened intently to everything Shang told them, and they looked up to him as an icon. As far as they knew, Shang was the only warrior in the world that managed to reach the Impose Stage! Even more, Shang knew four different True Paths, four different Imposes, and he was evenprehending a fifth one right now! They knew that Shang was on apletely different level from them, but because of that, they were also willing to listen to all of his teachings. Additionally, they were deeply grateful that someone like their Master decided to sacrifice so much time for them and teach them. Of course, Shang wasn''t exactly doing this for them. Shang''s job was to create True Path Stage warriors and Impose Stage warriors. There were now several people that could teach Commander Stage warriors about reaching the True Path Stage, but as of this moment, there was only a single person that could teach True Path Stage warriors about reaching the Impose Stage. Because of that, Shang needed to teach these people. As long as two or three of them reached the Impose Stage, at least one of them should be willing to remain and teach the True Path Stage warriors. At that point, everything would work on its own, and Shang would no longer need to invest so much time into them. Right now, two True Path Stage warriors that hadn''t met Shang''s standards were still working in the Warrior Academy, teaching other warriors about the True Path Stage. Shang''s eight disciples were fully focused on themselves, and Shang was even willing to pay for the resources they needed, including their weapons and armor. With all the money at his disposal, it hadn''t been very difficult for Shang to find apany that was essentially the equivalent of an engineer''s office from Earth. Shang told them what he wanted. They sent a couple of Earth, Metal, and Fire Mages to create some ways to forge weapons and armor. And then, Shang paid them in exchange for the methods to create these things. Sure enough, having money was very useful. Shang''s disciples were extremely grateful, and they promised to pay him back, but Shang didn''t particrly care. He had all the resources he needed, and he was simply investing in them because of the Temple of Blood''s n. As of this moment, Shang had not yet been rewarded for his efforts. For that, Shang would need to convince a True Path Stage warrior to join the Temple of Blood. Every True Path Stage warrior that joined the Temple of Blood would Shang ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. Obviously, that was a ridiculous sum of money for a True Path Stage warrior. Not even the average Named Agent was worth that much. But that was exactly what the Territory Lord had meant back then when she said that they would pay Shang very, very handsomely for his results. For now, Shang didn''t intend to convince any warriors to join the Temple of Blood. Sure, that would him some money, but Shang was after the actual goal. He had to create Impose Stage warriors. At that point, the Temple of Blood would get involved directly and hire them. As long as they kept getting more Impose Stage warriors, they would get even more since the current warriors would raise new warriors. Eventually, the Temple of Blood would have its own secret unit of special agents. All defenses in the world were set up for either Mages or beasts. No one was setting up any defenses for warriors. With these special agents, the Temple of Blood couldplete missions that were impossible toplete before. Additionally, if the Lightning Manor eventually noticed, the Twilight Dusk Family would get involved. Right now, the Twilight Dusk Familypletely ignored the Temple of Blood. It was simply too weak to enter their eyes.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g But as soon as the Lightning Manor showed interest, the Twilight Dusk Family would quickly act like the Temple of Blood had been their most loyal subjects for thousands of years and that they wouldn''t simply betray them for a bit of money. While the Empires weren''t warring with each other, the tournament for the next Mage King every 1,000 years created a tremendous rivalry between them. The more resources they had, the more they could ram down their King Contender''s throat to increase their chances by 0.1%. All the resources the Temple of Blood could give him wouldn''t be enough to close the gap between him and the true King Contenders. For that, Shang would need to join an Empire. And that was why he needed Impose Stage warriors. However, Shang was also working on himself. Shang had delegated nearly all of his tasks to someone else, for good pay, of course. He only needed to activate the Pathway Magic Circle and call the Security Agency when an Ancestral Beast was spotted. Every month, Shang also held a public lesson for his eight disciples. When he wasn''t doing any of these things, he was working on his sword. And just three months ago, Shang had finally managed to create the Path for his new sword. Creating that Path had taken Shang nearly 40 years, which was far longer than any Path had taken him before that, even though his mind was vastly more powerful than back then. This was the difference between having a Star Map and not. The next step was for Shang to create the Impose for his new weapon, which would probably also take about 40 years. Additionally, Shang had also finally created a name for his new weapon. He called it Addum, and he would call his new State the Addum State. Chapter 648 Chapter 648 After finally creating his Path for his Addum State, Shang decided to go out and test it. He had to test out its power and get used to fighting with it in an actual fight. Over thest 40 years, the general and town nner had reached the Archmage Realm. For now, they still stayed in their old positions, but they would probably soon leave. Shang had decided to make the general his substitute. Whenever Shang went somewhere else, the general would take over the town and assume the duties of Town Lord. Today, Shang would leave for a couple of minutes, if not hours, and the general would assumemand of the town until then. After dealing with everything, Shang activated the Pathfinder Magic Circle and noted down the locations of powerful beasts. And then, he left the town as he shot toward the north. Just a couple of years ago, Shang had reached the Mid Fusion Realm, and with his Path for his Addum State having been established, Shang thought it would be a good idea to finally achieve the next milestone. As Shang kept flying towards the north, he remembered the time he had just arrived in this world. The beasts had been horrifying and powerful to Shang. Just Pest Cats had been extremely dangerous to him. And then, he saw the Earth Fruit Hedgehog, which he had called Hegemon. The power of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog had been insane. It ran as fast as a speeding car, and its needles could kill beasts from hundreds of meters away. Shang couldn''t have imagined what it felt like to have such power. Eventually, Shang had no problems with killing such beasts when he reached the Commander Stage. Shang had obtained powers that had seemed impossible to obtain. But before that, Shang had already seen beasts with much greater power. The Zone Beasts. The humongous Storm Eagle that endangered Warrior''s Paradise just by flying from one point to the other. The Ice Wyvern that had fought the Magma Wyrm above the northern battlefield. The mysterious Empress Cobra. The gigantic Adamantite Behemoth. The tranquil Thunder Horse. They had been natural catastrophes. Just their mere presence had severely affected the climate. In a ce where the Fourth Realm had been rare and where there had only been five people in the Fifth Realm, the Zone Beasts had been in the Sixth Realm. No human in Area 23 had evene close to threatening a Zone Beast, except for the Supervisor. And today, Shang would take down his first Ancestral Beast. After over 400 years of being in this world, Shang finally reached a level that allowed him to fight Initial Ancestral Beasts. About 20 minutes after leaving the town, Shang reached his target. His target wasn''t very interested in Shang since he felt a bit too weak to enter its eyes. Sure, Shang had the ability of World Connection, but the amount of Mana inside his body wasn''t even nearly on the level of an Ancestral Beast. Because of that, the Ancestral Beast didn''t look at Shang. Eventually, the Ancestral Beast appeared in Shang''s Spirit Sense, and when he saw it, he stopped for a moment. Shang had used the Pathfinder Magic Circle to find an Initial Ancestral Beast, and sure enough, he had found one. However, the Pathfinder Magic Circle didn''t show Shang what kind of beast he would meet. He only knew at which level it was. At this moment, Shang faced the north. The beast was so far away that it was impossible to see it with one''s eyes, but Shang could see it perfectly with his Spirit Sense. In the sky, about 250 kilometers away, floated a long snake colored in two different shades of blue. It was around five kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide. It had two horns on its head, one ocean blue and the other ice blue. Shang took a deep breath when he saw it. ¡®Aserpent with an Ice and Water Dual-Affinity.¡¯ Serpents were already quite powerful for their level, but this serpent even had a Dual-Affinity. Without a doubt, this serpent would enter the powerful category of the trial. ¡®Three levels above me with a Realm breakthrough between us." ¡®| know | can jump three levels against a powerful beast, but the Realm difference and the Dual-Affinity are a problem.¡¯ ¡®This is not just a powerful beast, but a really powerful one.¡¯ Shang hesitated for a while. ¡®I can win. The fight is not hopeless.¡¯ Silence. ¡®| haven''t fought an actually dangerous battle in so long.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, | want to test out my new Addum State.¡¯ Shang took another breath. Surprisingly, he was quite nervous, which was unusual. ¡®I''m not this nervous before a big battle usually. At least, | don''t remember being this nervous back then." "Have | trained in istion for too long?¡¯ "Have | avoided risking my life for too long?¡¯ ¡®Back then, | was so used to risking my life, but now, | feel nervous?¡¯ SHING! Shang summoned his sword and gripped it with all of his power. ¡®I can''t allow this to continue!¡¯ ¡®| can''t allow fear to influence my judgment!¡¯ ¡®Yes, fear is useful when ites toprehending something, but | can''t allow it to doom me to mediocrity!¡¯ "Might as well fight such a powerful beast. SHING! Shang put his Addum in his right hand and put his long sword in his left. And then, he charged at the serpent. Initially, the serpent didn''t pay Shang any mind. It wasn''t really an aggressive beast that attacked everything it saw. When Shang reached a hundred kilometers of distance, it still didn''t pay him any mind. When Shang reached fifty kilometers of distance, it only threw a quick nce at him. At that moment, Shang''s long sword became enveloped by Darkness Mana. SHING! As Shang shot forward, ck streaks of Darkness Mana were left behind, and he reached the serpent in less than a second. And then, Shang''s Addum shed forward. It didn''t seem special in any way, but underestimating it would prove to be a fatal mistake. Right now, the Addum was filled with Light Mana which increased the mass of the sword. As Shang swung forward, the serpent looked at him, and its eyes reflected a storm of ice and water.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org It felt the power of the sword, but it wasn''t scared. Chapter 649 Chapter 649 Shang shed toward the serpent. CRK! CRK! CRK! Yet, an instantter, powerful icicles shot out of the serpent''s body, and Shang''s sword broke through them. CRACK! Suddenly, a wall of spiky icicles shot toward Shang, but Shang managed to finish his sh. CRACK! The wall broke apart, but no blood appeared. Suddenly, the world around Shang started to change. ck clouds gathered, and water seemingly exploded out of the sky in a torrential downpour. Some isted bolts of lightning illuminated the surroundings, which had suddenly turned dark. As soon as the drops of water reached a certain distance, they transformed into terrifying icicles that seemed to break through anything they touched. At the moment, the serpent was several kilometers away from Shang. It had created a tyrannical armor made of icicles, transforming its exterior into a rough and jagged meaigrinder. One small part of its body had no icicles on it, which was the part that Shang had tried to attack. Earlier, the serpent had just exploded that piece of icy armor off its body and shot it right toward Shang. Shang knew that this move could prove to be a problem in the fight. The serpent gathered its power, but Shang wouldn''t give it the time to fully prepare itself and shot forward again with another Shock. Yet, just when Shang arrived, he felt the pressure in his surroundings intensify. The air around him became frighteningly cold, and the serpent opened its maw. Amomentter, a terrifyingly cold stream of Ice and Water Mana exited its maw, and it began to circle the serpent''s body. Shang had to stop his advance at that point since the stream had created a domain of absolute cold, and the added Water Mana made it even worse. Usually, a Dual-Affinity of Ice and Water wouldn''t seem very dangerous, but that couldn''t be further from the truth. Ice couldn''t easily change its form, but water could. The serpent could summon a chaotic storm of water, which changed its shape continuously while also taking up much more space. And then, as soon as anyone would get hit, the serpent would transform the Water Mana into Ice Mana. Right now, such a stream of terrifyingly cold water was between the serpent and Shang. The Water Mana was far below freezing, but the serpent''s control of both kinds of Mana stopped it from transforming into Ice Mana. Shang knew that this domain could prove to be difficult to prate. Shang readied his Addum, and it began to burn violently. Then, he shed forward. WHOOOOM! Ahumongous burning crescent shot out of Shang''s Addum. This was a new variant of Hidden Sun. Hidden Sun was optimized for rapid deployment in the Saber State, but with the Addum''s greater size, such an attack wouldn''t be that useful anymore. By using the Concept of Addition together with the World Connection, Shang managed to gather more Mana into the sh while also borrowing the world''s power. Hidden Sun was no longer a simple attack weaved into abination of other attacks but its own full-scale attack. The Hidden Sun hit the storm of ice and water. BANG! A huge amount of steam appeared in the surroundings, but the stream of icy Mana still continued. Shang had used a powerful attack, but he hadn''t managed to get through the stream. And then, the serpent attacked. Awall of water shot right at Shang, who had to use Shock to retreat to the side. The wall of water continued to travel for several kilometers, creating a 200-meter-wide line on the ground. As soon as the water touched anything, be it nt, beast, ground, metal, or whatever, it froze over in an instant and then broke apart into tiny snowkes. The serpent had created an icy wastnd filled with nothing but cold and deste death in an instant. A two-digit number of beasts had died just by being a couple of kilometers within the range of the fight. After seeing that attack, Shang knew that he couldn''t possibly allow himself to be hit. The sudden transformation of the Water Mana into Ice Mana was so violent that itpletely tore anything it touched apart after freezing it. This was the power of an Ancestral Beast, a Zone Beast. It couldpletely transform the climate for several kilometers around just by existing. ¡®| already used two Shocks. If | keep using them just to dodge attacks, | will lose in the long run.¡¯ Shang''s legs angled while he was in the air, almost like he was readying himself to jump off something. ¡®| have to fight with all my Affinities if | want to win.¡¯ ¡®| can''t use this with anyone present, but there shouldn''t be anyone watching me right now.¡¯ Shang gathered power in his legs, and the air behind his feet seemed to warp by a bit. It was almost like a transparent sheet of stic was being bent by something, making the world behind it seem distorted. BANG! An explosive sound reverberated throughout the surroundings, and the world behind Shang seemed to vibrate as waves rapidly passed through it. Shang shot forward at unreal speeds, and just a momentter, his entire body was hidden behind a chaotic storm of ice and fire. Shang was so fast that most Archmages wouldn''t be able to tell the difference between Shang''s current speed and using Mana Step. Shang had transformed into aet of ice and fire as the world behind him vibrated. This was a new kind of movement technique he had created after obtaining his World Connection. With World Connection, Shang could gather the majority of Mana in the surroundings andpress it. Just now, Shang had gathered a huge amount of Mana and hadpressed it behind him, creating a solid object of dense Mana. Then, he used that object to catapult him forward by jumping with all his power. This made the gathered Mana behind him vibrate and scatter, creating these waves that seemed to go through the world. The speed Shang achieved with that was incredible since he could actually use his physical body to move forward in the air instead of his World Connection. Ancestral Beasts exclusively fought in the air since the power of their bodies ruined the ground below them whenever they released some power. One could imagine two Ancestral Beasts fighting on the ground as two Olympic sprinters having to sprint through thick and deep mud. But by condensing his surroundings, Shang managed to create a surface hard enough to resist the full power of his jump. Of course, using this technique would show the world that he had the ability of Ancestral Beasts.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org If Shang were in the Sixth Realm, this wouldn''t be a problem, but Shang had this ability in the Fifth Realm. Some people might decide to get rid of him before he joined any major power. After jumping off the world itself, a storm of ice and fire appeared around Shang,pletely enveloping him. This had been created by manipting the temperature inside his body with insane uracy. If one could look at Shang through an infrared camera, one would be surprised by what one saw. Shang''s temperature looked like a rotating circle. As his head grew colder, his legs grew hotter. Eventually, Shang''s head would be the coldest part of his body and his legs the hottest parts. Then, the legs would cool while the head heated up, and eventually, they would switch temperatures. This created a terrifying amount of Ice and Fire Mana for Shang to use as he wished outside his body. Of course, he was using that power to increase his speed. He used the solid Mana to elerate to a terrifying speed in an instant and used the Ice and Fire Mana to further increase his momentum. Shang named this new kind of movement technique Comet. Comets were celestial objects made of ice and water, but if they traveled through Earth''s atmosphere, wouldn''t the friction still cause them to burn like a meteor? An object of ice and fire, just like Shang. That was why he called this technique Comet. Shang shot rapidly at the serpent, and he readied his sword. He shot through the stream of water and ice. sssss! All the water that touched him turned to steam, but a big part of Shang''s body nearly froze over. Using Comet was a delicate act of bnce, and the sudden drop in temperature in the surroundings managed to throw off that bnce. Comet was far more sophisticated than simply using Ice and Fire sts, but Shang hadn''t perfectly mastered it yet. Nevertheless, Shang managed to pass through the wall of icy water. Chapter 650 Chapter 650 After shooting past the wall of water and ice, Shang readied his Addum and loaded it with Light Mana. Shang was insanely fast, but the serpent could still follow his movements. Its eyes shone for an instant. WHOOOOOM! The wall of water and ice pulled in, enveloping Shang again. This happened way too quickly, and Shang had to cancel his attack while he dealt with the sudden change in temperatures. Amomentter, a terrifying hiss echoed throughout Shang''s body. It was almost like this wasn''t a sound but some kind of wave that traveled through him. Shang''s Spirit Sense warped, and his mind lost focus. CRK! CRK! CRK! The right side of Shang''s body was enveloped by water, which then exploded into ice. The right half of Shang''s body immediately turned into tiny snowkes, and Shang barely managed to regain his concentration, bncing out the temperatures around him. Shang''s body immediately regenerated, but he had used up quite a bit of his life energy. He was still surrounded by the terrifying storm of water and ice, but he managed to bnce the temperatures. Deep inside a dark storm of ice and water, a singleet flew against the stream, its fickle light nothing in front of the epassing storm. Before Shang could ready his next attack, the serpent had already prepared its own attack. In an instant, all the water around Shang stopped in the air like it had been put into stasis and transformed into terrifying icy spears, all pointing at Shang. Shang was inside the serpent''s world, and it could control everything around him. Shang would also have this ability, but in front of the overwhelming mana difference, he couldn''t create his own domain here. The icy spears immediately shot at Shang. It was impossible to avoid them since theypletely surrounded him, and Shang couldn''t block all sides of this body at the same time with his sword. However, Shang still had a way to block such an attack, but it would cost him life energy. CRRRRRR! Shang was enveloped by an over five-meter-wide sphere of violently burning fire. The icicles shot into the sphere and were turned into water, which then turned into steam. After all the icicles were destroyed, the fiery sphere vanished, and the burning Comet reappeared. It was impossible to see Shang while he was using Comet, but at this moment, his body had be a lot thinner. However, his body''s temperature hadn''t changed tremendously, and his body showed no injuries caused by rapid temperature changes. The reason was that Shang hadn''t used Fire Mana just now. The sphere of violent fire had been created by his Domain of Entropy. Afterprehending the Concept of Addition, Shang realized that he could incorporate it into his Domain of Entropy. The Concept of Addition belonged to Entropy, after all. Instead of using the base ability of Entropy, which was to equalize everything into the most basic form imaginable, Natural Mana, Shang used the Concept of Addition to increase the energy content around him by adding more heat. This consumed a significant amount of Shang''s life energy, but he managed to destroy all the icicles. And after blocking this attack, finally, Shang found an opening. He broke through the storm again and reached the serpent. SSSSSSSSS! Immediately, the terrifying hiss returned, and Shang felt like his world was being turned upside down. But this time, he had been prepared, and he managed to keep a hold of his mind.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. It was difficult to perceive his surroundings with such a distorted Spirit Sense, but Shang still managed to see a somewhat clear picture. In such a situation, it would have been helpful to have eyes. Shang felt the serpent evade to the left, and he changed his trajectory. BANG! At that moment, the icicles on the serpent''s body facing Shang exploded off, shooting right at him. CRRRR! The sphere of fire returned around Shang, getting rid of the icicles shooting at him. SSSSSSS! Another terrifying hiss reverberated throughout the surroundings, but it was different from before. Instead of attacking Shang''s mind, this hiss seemed to manipte the world around the serpent. Shang could feel how half the icicles on the serpent''s body suddenly transformed into water. And then, that water seemed to just break apart. For an instant, Shang wasn''t sure what had happened, but he immediately felt a change in the atmosphere. The density of Wind Mana in the surroundings had suddenly shot up drastically! Shang had no idea how the serpent managed to do it, but it somehow managed to transform Water Mana into Wind Mana. It wasn''t impossible to aplish something like that without having an Affinity for Wind, but it was incredibly difficult, and one would only be able to use very basic attacks in this way. And, sure enough, instead of forming a kind of attack with the Wind Mana, the serpent just shot the Wind Mana at Shang. Wind Mana was the essence of wind. Air was notpletely rted to wind. Only when air moved would it be rted to Wind Mana. This meant that pure Wind Mana, on its own, was already a powerful storm, depending on the density. If someone just dumped a ton of Wind Mana in front of them without doing anything else, the Wind Mana would transform into a terrifying storm. So, when the serpent had summoned so much Wind Mana, it naturally exploded into a storm. The storm of Wind Mana was pushing the serpent away from Shang, and it was pushing Shang away from the serpent. Before the Wind Mana hit Shang, he had already noticed that the serpent was pushed even further away, and he also noticed the storm of ice and water reach him again. The fiery sphere around Shang disappeared, revealing the burning Comet beneath it. And then, the Wind Mana reached Shang and pushed him away. BANG! Suddenly, Shang''s body stopped in the air. It was almost like Shang had been thrown against a solid wall. Amomentter, the terrifying storm of water and ice enveloped Shang. Deep inside the storm of water and ice, a burning figure hung on a transparent object that seemed to warp the world behind it. Shang had used his World Connection to create a solid object in the air to mitigate the effects of the Wind Mana. And then, Shang jumped off. BOOOOM! Waves traveled through the world behind Shang as he shot right out of the storm and toward the serpent. The speed of Shang''s advance had taken the serpent by surprise since it had expected Shang to be thrown away by the Wind Mana. The Addum in Shang''s hand shone brightly as Light and Fire Mana gathered. He was increasing the mass of the weapon while also heating it up to terrifying degrees. And then, he struck forward. CRK! Yet, just when Shang had started his sh, a terrifying w made of ice came out of the serpent''s body, right where Shang had nned on hitting it. Shang didn''t want to get rid of the Mana he had already gathered and struck the w since he couldn''t hit the body anymore. CRACK! As soon as the Addum hit the w, it created a terrifying, burning cut that went through the entire w. The cut traveled through the w and the arm until it reached the serpent''s body. The serpent''s eyes shone with blue light for a moment. CRACK! And then, the icy armor around the serpent''s body burst into mes. Amomentter, the ice turned to water, which then turned to steam. Warriors had the ability to make the power of their attack travel through an enemy''s body. That was how ancient warriors could kill beasts that were kilometers tall with weapons that were barely a meter long. Shang had done just that, which was how the serpent''s icy w had been bisected. Usually, Shang''s attack would have hit the serpent, cutting it in two, but the serpent had used a counter of its own. It hadpletely cut off all the connection between it and its icy armor and w. Because of that, Shang''s attack traveled through the icy w and armor, destroying the entire thing in an instant, but that was it. The entire thing was destroyed. There was no link between the icy armor and the serpent anymore. This was the exact ability the serpent had used against Shang''s first attack, and sure enough, it had proven to be troublesome. The serpent created some distance between it and Shang again, and while it was doing so, more ws made of ice appeared on its body. In just a moment, four ws of ice appeared on the serpent''s body. The ws were almost a kilometer long and made of powerful ice. It was almost like the serpent had transformed into some sort of lizard. Suddenly, one of its ws moved backward, almost like it was trying to throw something. And then, it actually made a throwing motion. SHING! Fast! BOOOOM! Shang was instantly shot into the distance, breaking through the thick storm of water and ice in less than an instant. Chapter 651 Chapter 651 After flying for several kilometers, Shang recovered by increasing the density of Mana in his path and burying his fingers into the surrounding Mana like he was sliding down a wall. The skin and quite some muscle on Shang''s back had been turned to snowkes when he had passed through the storm of water and ice. Luckily, he managed to block the primary attack by putting his Addum between him and his opponent. Since his Addum was a fusion of his Saber and Colossal Sword States, it was also very good at defense. Shang inspected his Addum, and he was d that he had used so much money to upgrade his two swords to the Initial Sixth Realm. There was one thick scar on the Addum''s side, which was terrifying considering that a weapon of this level shouldn''t receive any damage from opponents on its level. An Initial Sixth Realm weapon was only considered as such when it could resist all attacks someone at the Initial Sixth Realm could unleash. Yet, the Addum had still received some damage. It wouldn''t break anytime soon, but the scar clearly showed the sheer power of the attack. Of course, such a powerful attack had also broken a two-digit number of bones in Shang''s body, but he didn''t really care about that. His weapon was of a bigger concern. While Shang was preparing to attack the serpent again, the storm of ice and water in the distance suddenly changed. Earlier, the storm of ice and water had been a sphere around the serpent, ensuring that Shang would always have to pass through it by creating or closing distance. But now, the sphere was suddenly splitting apart and transforming. The storm gathered in many different locations, increasing thetent power in these locations. Amomentter, the transformation wasplete. Shang took a deep breath when he saw the serpent. Right now, the serpent gracefully flew in the air, four terrifying icy ws sprouting out of its body. The spherical storm of ice and water had thinned and transformed into one long line, which danced around the serpent''s body. It was almost like the storm had be a graceful and long ribbon. The power of the storm had intensified, and Shang knew that getting hit by it this time would be far more devastating than before. "Sure enough, this is an extremely powerful beast for its level.¡¯ The serpent''s icy ws cracked and moved as they prepared for an attack. WHOOOOM! And then, the serpent suddenly shot forward, right at Shang! Earlier, it hadpletely avoided Shang, but after realizing that it might lose in the long run if it kept creating distance, it decided to change its approach. That move where it had thrown off its icy armor had cost it way too much of its Mana. At most, it could do that one more time. That was why it suddenly decided to shoot at Shang. ¡®Serpents usually avoid closebat, but not this one, apparently." Shang used Comet again and also shot at the serpent. Suddenly, one of the serpent''s ws shot at Shang in a simr motion to earlier. Shang realized that the serpent was using the same attack. SHING! Shang used Shock to avoid the attack. Earlier, he hadn''t even been able to see it since it had been so insanely fast. BOOOOOM! One of the fingers on the serpent''s w exploded off, shooting forward at speeds that Shang couldn''t follow. However, this time, he had the time to actually feel the Mana in the surroundings, which allowed him to find out how the serpent had managed to create such a terrifying attack. From what Shang could feel, he summarized that the bottom of the w transformed into Water Mana, which was then transformed into Wind Mana. The terrifying amount of Wind Mana was thenpressed inside the w, and when the serpent made a throwing motion, it pushed the w forward. At the same time, the Wind Mana would explode out. Like that, the serpent was adding the power of a rapid expansion to its own physical power. It had essentially created an air gun. Afterprehending the principle of the attack, Shang could now anticipate it with more precision. SHING! Shang had to use Shock again as the streamer of icy wind passed by his location.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. Shang didn''t want to take any chances with that terrifying ribbon. Amomentter, one of the icy ws was rushing at Shang. BANG! Shang suddenly stopped in the air like he had hit solid ground. BOOOOM! And then, he jumped up with all his power, the world below him vibrating with waves. Shang had seen that the w wasn''t moving in the way it moved when using that terrifying attack, and he saw this as an opportunity. He gathered a ton of Mana in his Addum again and struck. CRACK! The w broke into the pieces, but not in the way that Shang had expected. The w broke into sharp icicles, which rained down on Shang. It was almost like Shang had punched a window. The force of Shang''s attack sted the icicles in front of him into the distance, but the icicles around him shot down. But then, they suddenly angled to the side, shooting right at Shang from all sides. Shang gritted his teeth. CRRRRR! The sphere of fire returned again, destroying the icicles. Shang''s body had be gaunt and withered again, but it recovered in an instant. ¡®lonly have 10% life energy remaining.¡¯ Shang immediately threw himself at the serpent again after solidifying his surroundings. At that moment, the ribbon of ice returned, and Shang had to throw himself to the side. He couldn''t allow himself to touch that ribbon, or his body would freeze over. Luckily, it had a lot of inertia due to its sheer power. Sadly, Shang''s charge was interrupted, giving the serpent another opportunity to attack him. The Serpent regrew its destroyed w and continued its attack. This time, Shang saw one of the ws move forward from a distance, and he knew that the serpent would use its terrifying attack again. Shang''s grip on his sword tightened. BANG! The finger on the w shot at Shang at insane speeds. Shang''s Addum was in front of him. Shang moved the handle forward. The two attacks hit. DING! Fire exploded. The w turned to water, but the water didn''t shoot past Shang''s sword. And then, light exploded as Shang moved his sword forward. The water shot at the serpent, but not at a critical location of its body, but at one of the ws. Since the ice had been melted into water, it no longer had any offensive properties, and even if it hit the serpent, it wouldn''t do anything. But suddenly, something appeared between the water and the serpent''s w it was shooting toward. It was the ribbon! The water shot with rapid speeds through the ribbon, and when it came out of the other side, it had already transformed into huge icicles. And then, it hit the w. BOOOOOOM! The entire w exploded. "Sadly, the ribbon just barely made it in time. If it had arrived sooner, | could have hit its body." ¡®But if | can''t get rid of its body, forcing it to use up more of its Mana is the next best thing.¡¯ One of the serpent''s ws had been destroyed, and the water had also absorbed a lot of power from the ribbon. But the fight wasn''t over yet. Chapter 652 Chapter 652 Just now, Shang had used a peculiarbination of Reflection and World Connection. Usually, Reflection could only reflect energy-based attacks, and neither water nor ice belonged to that group. The reason was that Shang needed the inherent power of the attack to remain. Shang wasn''t able to use Reflection on ice since the force of the sudden stop would turn the ice into powder. Throwing that powder at the opponent wouldn''t do anything, just like throwing water. The same thing was true for earth since it would break apart into multiple pebbles, and metal would getpletely bent to the point of uselessness. However, by transforming ice into water and then solidifying the area around the weapon, Shang caught everything. Then, he just needed to throw it back. Since water was very flexible and stuck together, it didn''t "break into pebbles". It essentially passed through the ribbon in one piece, which then created one big and sharp icicle. The circumstances had been perfect for this move, but this definitely wasn''t something that Shang would be able to use often. The circumstances had just been too specific. Nevertheless, it had worked, and one of the serpent''s ws had exploded. BANG! Shang didn''t hesitate and immediately shot at the serpent. But then, Shang gritted his teeth. The ribbon appeared between them again, and he had to stop his attack again. This gave the serpent time to react. Yet, surprisingly, it didn''t summon a new icy w. It just kept using its remaining three ws. "Sure enough, keeping this terrifying ribbon active is consuming a lot of Mana,¡¯ Shang thought, ¡®but it also stopped me several times already.¡¯ The serpent readied another w, nning on unleashing the terrifying attack again. However, the serpent wasn''t stupid. This time, it made sure that its opponent wouldn''t get the chance to use its ribbon to hurt it. "Using Shock takes too much life energy." ¡®Comet isn''t fast enough.¡¯ ¡®Reflecting it also consumed life energy.¡¯ ¡®Blocking it will injure Sword and break my bones, which will also consume life energy. ¡®It has over ten of these fingers remaining, and then there''s that terrifying ribbon.¡¯ ¡®I can''t win in the long run.¡¯ ¡®| have to end this as quickly as possible!¡¯ Shang focused on the ribbon. ¡®But if | use Javelin, the ribbon might weaken it too much." "So, | have to weaken the ribbon first, and quickly at that!" The serpent shot its w at Shang. SHING! Shang used Shock to evade, using up nearly all of his remaining life energy. Then, Shang shed forward after loading his Addum with Fire and Light Mana. Just like during the beginning of the fight, a terrifying crescent shot at the serpent. The serpent moved its ribbon between it and Shang. SSSSHHH! The fiery crescent froze and broke apart. Shang immediately used the same attack again, and the same process was repeated. Then, the serpent threw its w at Shang again. Shang angled his body, keeping his sword in front of him with his legs. BANG! The w hit the Addum, throwing Shang into the distance. The Addum received another scar, and Shang''s legs broke into pieces.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. However, Shang didn''t heal them this time. ¡®| can''t get hit another time. | don''t know if | have weakened the ribbon enough, but | have to try it now!" This was the moment that decided victory and defeat. Yet, surprisingly, Shang wasn''t as nervous as he had been before the fight. He had regained his old mindset when it came to fights. Shang stopped in the air and took a deep breath. Then, he shed forward. WHOOOOM! Another gigantic crescent appeared, but this time, it was made of ck fire. Shang had used his new Hidden Sun but with Sword''s Entropy. The serpent felt the incredible power inside that crescent and moved to the side to avoid it. They were several kilometers away from each other, giving it enough time to avoid the attack. At that moment, Shang''s Long Sword shone with Darkness Mana. SHING! Shang used Shock, his body bing even thinner. He arrived right beside the flying crescent. The long sword in Shang''s left hand stretched to his right, touching the crescent at the end. And then, it also started to burn with ck fire. And Shang shed forward. BANG! As Shang finished his sh, the ck crescent was pulled together into a thin line. This was the other attack Shang had used back then in his Saber State, Shooting Star. Shang had created a powerful Hidden Sun with Entropy and had then transformed it into a powerful Shooting Star with even more Entropy. Two concentrated attacks of Entropy. This was Shang''s new strongest attack, recing Dusk. And it was far faster than Dusk! Its name was Javelin. When Hidden Sun had transformed into Javelin, it also changed its trajectory, shooting at the serpent''s new location. Since the serpent had just moved, it couldn''t change its trajectory quickly enough to evade another time. It was forced to block. Its ribbon gathered in front of it in a folded shape, all its power concentrated. Javelin hit the ribbon and broke through it like it didn''t exist. However, the ribbon was extremely long. Like a piece of cloth, the icy ribbon was burning away as Javelin kept traveling through it. Shang could feel Javelin losing power. Eventually, Javelin destroyed the entire ribbon. In a panic, the serpent immediately put its three remaining ws between it and Javelin. Javelin broke through the first. Javelin broke through the second. CRK! And then, Javelin broke apart on the third w, but the third w shared its fate. The ck fire vanished. Javelin was gone. The ribbon was gone. The icy ws were gone. SHING! Suddenly, a streak of ck appeared, and a skeletal figure hit the serpent''s body. It was like a tiny mosquito hadnded on an anaconda. However, Shang''s new long sword, the former Addum, had stabbed through the serpent''s scales. The serpent wasn''t injured since Shang had barely used any power with that attack. But at that moment, the serpent felt like it was about to die, and an instantter, it felt a terrifying suction force pull its life energy away. Shang was absorbing the serpents life energy with Darkness Absorb. The serpent immediately shook its body, but it couldn''t create any significant power while its opponent was literally holding onto it. If it had appendages, it could just punch Shang and kill him. The serpent immediately tried to summon an icy w, but it had used up all its Mana already. The serpent''s body began to shake to throw Shang off. Shang had already fully healed. SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang used several Shocks to create humongous cuts across the serpent''s body, but that was only a side benefit. Shang used these Shocks to use up the life energy he had absorbed so that he could absorb more. In a terrified panic, the serpent spasmed and flopped around in the air, trying to get rid of Shang, but more and more ck cuts appeared across its body, and Shang kept on absorbing more of its life energy. Eventually, the serpent''s body became sickly and frail. Shang''s cuts kept getting more efficient, and eventually, he managed to cut the serpent''s head off. The fight was finally over. Shang took a deep breath. The appearance of all the Zone Beasts from Area 23 shot through his mind. They had been so powerful. They had basically been immortal. And now... Shang looked at the withered corpse. ¡®I did it!¡± ¡®I killed a Zone Beast!" Chapter 653 Chapter 653 Shang took a deep breath. Sure enough, the fight hadn''t been easy, but it had definitely done its trick. Before the fight, Shang had been far more afraid than during the fight. The worst thing that could happen to someone was that they became so afraid of dangerous fights that they refused to ever risk their lives again. Obviously, this wouldn''t be a problem if one''s goal was to just live a peaceful life, but for someone with Shang''s ambition, such a weakness would have been crippling. Shang needed to risk his life from time to time. It was important that he always remained used to andfortable during dangerous fights so that he could unleash all his power when it actually mattered. Additionally, dangerous fights were important since they pushed one''s mind and body to the limit, unlocking resources and strengths one had never thought existed. Just after this fight, Shang had already realized several things about his Addum, which would probably save him a couple of years in time. Shang summoned some ore and grabbed both of his swords. One of his swords had turned into a dagger, while the other one had turned into a long sword. As the swords absorbed the ore, Shang''s mind looked through the ground. Spirit Senses couldn''t prate solid matter nearly as far. At most, Shang could see around 20 kilometers into the ground. "Sword''s at its limit regarding Entropy. It needs Sixth Realm Entropy ore.¡¯ ¡®| know where there''s a lot of Entropy ore, but | can''t just go there.¡¯ Of course, the ce Shang was thinking about was Area 23. Based on context clues, Shang was certain that the ck columns in the earth in Area 23 were made of Entropy ore in the Sixth Realm. If Shang could get to Area 23, he could just go to one of these columns and cut off a kilometer or so of Entropy ore. The column was big enough, and if Shang only peeled off a ten-centimeter-thick sheet, nobody would notice. After all, he wouldn''t have broken through the pir. However, getting to Area 23 was basically impossible right now. It was already extremely dangerous getting away from it, and Shang still wasn''t strong enough to travel on his own. Sure, he had killed a really powerful Initial Ancestral Beast, but what if he met an aggressive Mid Ancestral Beast? He would just die. Well, he could enter the towns and make use of their Pathfinder Magic Circles, but that would cost a ridiculous amount of money. Additionally, the closer he got to Area 23, the more warriors would be known, and the more likely it was that someone would connect Shang to that one guy that killed an Assistant Supervisor 300 or so years ago. Lastly, Shang was now deeply connected to the Temple of Blood, and he couldn''t just leave like that. Sadly, Shang also couldn''t ask the Temple of Blood since that would be very suspicious. Why would anyone be interested in that stuff? Even more, Shang was fighting with Light, Darkness, Ice, and Fire Affinities. Shang couldn''t risk unveiling his secret. ¡®| guess | have to keep a lock on Sword''s Entropy for now. Luckily, | have plenty of other abilities to rely on. After the swords had absorbed the ore, Shang put his long sword into his inner world and his Addum on his back. Then, Shang turned to face the atrophied corpse on the ground. The atrophied head and the atrophied body had ttened a huge area, destroying trees and beasts. The blood that was leaking out was flooding the surroundings, but it quickly turned to ice due to the remnant Ice Mana in the air. It was very difficult to recognize that this had once been a snake. Sure, it was long, but that was where the resemnce ended. Everything had atrophied to the point that this was basically just a moldy skeleton with some thin skin covering it. For a while, Shang only looked at it. All the Zone Beasts he had seen in Area 23 shot through his mind. They had been cmities. They had been natural disasters. They had been higher powers. When Shang had just been at the Soldier Stage, the biggest beast he had ever fought had been that ice bear in Jerald''s garden, and it was only a couple of meters tall. And then, Shang saw the Storm Eagle. Awingspan of nearly four kilometers. ry that turned Shang unconscious. The speed to travel through the entire Storm Eagle Zone in less than a minute.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g As just a small Soldier Stage student, Shang had been less than nothing in front of that monstrosity. Shang could have seen himself as a teacher in the academy. Shang had dreamt about flying in the sky like Duke Whirlwind. Shang hadn''t been able toprehend the power of King Skythunder. And the Storm Eagle? It was impossible. How could any human reach such power? It was impossible to fight or kill something this monstrous. And now? Shang just focused on the corpse. It was around five kilometers long which was about as big as the Storm Eagle. It had destroyed kilometers of its surroundings during the fight. It had traveled tens of kilometers in an instant. Shang remembered the fight between the Ice Wyvern and the Volcano Wyrm he had seen from a distance. Back then, Shang couldn''tprehend how much power these two beasts must have released during their fight. It had been apocalyptical. And now? Shang looked at the vast streaks of frozen wastnd that cut through the forest like someone had taken a huge white pencil. So much of his surroundings had been destroyed. The size of the beast corresponded to the sizes of the Zone Beasts in Area 23. Its powers corresponded with the powers of the Zone Beasts. Yet, it felt so different to Shang. It was almost like he wasn''t on the level of power he had witnessed back then. But he actually was. He had done it. He had done the very thing he had seen as impossible back then. ¡®At this moment, | am far more powerful than any "King" in Area 23 had ever been.¡¯ ¡®But it''s not enough!" ¡®There''s still so much left!¡¯ ¡®I can grow vastly more powerful!" ¡®I can''t rx yet!" Shang focused on the corpse again and put it into his inner world. In its current state, it was mostly worthless. At most, its bones could be sold for like two or three Grade Six Mana Crystals. However, there was one thing that might be worth a lot. Its two unique horns. But for now, Shang couldn''t sell them. The Temple of Blood thought of him as being as powerful as a powerful seedling of an Empire, but that was very different from Shang''s true power. Shang''s true power was equal to a King Contender, and that was something on an entirely different level. Shang''s mere existence threatened the rise of a Mage King in the future, and the Mage Kings were the core of an Empire''s power. If an Empire found out about Shang''s power, they might kill him just so that he didn''t join any other Empire. So, for now, Shang decided to keep the corpse a secret. Eventually, Shang left the battlefield behind and flew back to his town. Chapter 654 Chapter 654 Shang returned to the town and took over as Town Lord again. He had only been gone for a couple of minutes, and nothing happened during those. After checking through the town and making sure that everything was alright, Shang looked at the mortal district again. It had changed so much. The part of the mortal district outside the town was now over two kilometers wide, and the warriors had built powerful and tall walls. The academies were packed with students. By now, the academy had probably reached the level of the warrior''s academy in Area 23. In just 40 years, it had closed a gap of 400 years. And how had the Warrior Academy achieved that? Powerful Mages. The Mages had built the academy. The Mages'' technology protected the town. The Mages set up the mortal district. The Mages had simplified the Bloodline Infusion and had created several methods to forge equipment. The academy in Area 23 had gone through several dangerous times. The Day of Chaos. The civil war. The threat of other Kingdoms. But instead of fighting the Mages, the Warrior Academy here benefited from them. By now, there were hundreds of Commander Stage warriors in the mortal district, and there was a two-digit number of True Path Stage warriors. As Shang thought about the True Path Stage warriors, his Spirit Sense moved and looked at his students. They were diligently training. At the moment, it was training time. They would get their free time in a couple of weeks. Shang demanded that his students train for three weeks at a time with zero breaks and zero distractions. That meant no family visits, no talking, no helping others, no running errands, no nothing. Three weeks ofplete istion and training. And then, they would get a week to do whatever they wanted. They could continue to train, which Shang encouraged, but ultimately, they could do what they wanted. The reason for this policy was a protest. Originally, Shang demanded four weeks of focused training with only three days of free time. However, Shang''s students banded together and collectively gave Shang an ultimatum. They wanted to be powerful to protect their loved ones, attain freedom, earn money, and so on. They said that by only training, their lives would grow dull, unstimting, boring, grey, and pointless. They found their own motivation to be powerful vanish, and training had turned from a hobby into something they hated. Their wives and children became estranged from them. Their friends started to vanish. If this truly was what their Master demanded from them, they would rather not be his Disciples. When Shang had seen their protest, he had snorted in disgust. He had seen it as a group of children throwing a tantrum. Worthless. Yet, even though Shang didn''t want to and even though he viewed it as a stupid decision, he still changed the schedule. Whether he liked it or not, his future was dependent on his Disciples¡¯ aplishments, and if he didn''t have any Disciples, his future looked bleak. Because of that, he was essentially forced to give in to the demands he saw as ridiculous. His Disciples had thanked him profusely, and they had also said that Shang was probably right in his methods. In their words, they were simply not strong enough to dedicate their entire lives to nothing but power. They deeply respected their Master for his dedication to power and were thankful every day that their Master was willing to teach them. But Shang didn''t care. He tried his best not to let it show, but he despised his Disciples. They were all so weak. He was throwing mountains of Mana Crystals down their gullets, but they could barely win against a beast a level above them. He was essentially presenting the way toprehend Paths and Impose on a tter, but the progress of his Disciples was slow. Shang guessed that they would probably need 100 to 200 years to create their Impose. Shang had only needed about 80 years, and he had done that blindly while alsopletely designing and reforging all his Mana Pathways. Without that, he would have probably only taken 50 years, at most. And now, some of them would take 200 years. How was it so difficult toprehend these things?! They were so obvious! Yet, his Disciples seemingly struggled with the most basic stuff and asked stupid questions with obvious answers! Shang tried to hide his dislike for his Disciples, but after years of being under Shang, some of them had seen through Shang. Some of them thought that Shang despised them as weak, but others said that this was simply how their Master was and how he showed affection. He was just that forceful because he wanted them to be strong so that they could achieve their goal! He was doing it for their good! But the others didn''t think so.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. They didn''t know why, but they were sure that their Master was gaining some kind of benefit by teaching them. Otherwise, there would be no exnation for why their Master would spend so much time on something he obviously abhorred doing with people he despised and hated. However, all of them agreed on one thing. Shang was extremely good at teaching. Even though hisments were often cold, distant, and scathing, his exnations were filled with logic and insight. Where other teachers would just recite something they had learned from a book, Shang very meticulously exined all the principles in extreme detail. Shang actually knew the intricacies of how basically every little bit of power of a warrior worked. It was almost like Shang could recreate an entire warrior from the ground up without any reference. The Disciples respected their Master deeply for his insight, perspective, and power. They knew that being Shang''s Disciples was giving them immense benefits. Sadly, studying under him was no fun. They were inadequate. They were slow. They werezy. They were stupid. The more perceptive ones among them were reminded of these things every time Shang talked to them. The others simply viewed Shang''s words as "tough love". But they had to get through that. They wanted to be powerful, and learning under Shang was the most optimal way to power. It was debatable whether Shang was a good or bad Master. Chapter 655 Chapter 655 "Sir, the person you''ve asked for has arrived." "Thanks," Shang answered the town nner before flying over to a new person that had just entered his town. ¡°Wee to my town," Shang spoke politely to the person floating in front of him. The woman floating in front of Shang chuckled politely. "Thank you, Town Lord," she said. "I''ve heard that you are interested in buying several Istion Chambers?" The person in front of Shang was a woman with long and beautiful grey hair wearing expensive golden robes. She was an Early Ancestral Mage. "Correct," Shang answered. "I''ve had some less-than-savory people skulking around my town, and since | am a follower of the mindfree doctrine, | can''t just read their minds. That''s why | want a couple of Istion Chambers.¡± Reading one''s mind was the most intrusive act one could possibly be, and there were severalws for exactly this act. Depending on the Empire that ruled thend, thews were a bit different. In the Lightning Manor''s territory, reading someone''s mind was prohibited. Of course, the Areas were different since they were isted. The mind was something sacred, and if one wanted to read someone else''s mind, one would need to get permission from the Lightning Manor, which wasn''t easy. Shang lived in the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory, and their rules were a bit different. The Twilight Dusk Family was more open to reading minds, but they also weren''tpletely open. Reading someone''s mind was essentially the same as killing someone in the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory. If you had a very good reason and justification for reading someone''s mind, it was fine, but just randomly doing it when hiring someone, for example, was a no-go. Of course, as a Town Lord, Shang couldn''t just do whatever he wanted. His town was part of the Twilight Dusk Family, and he had to follow the generalws of the Empire. If he wanted to kill someone or read someone''s mind, he had to have an actual reason. He couldn''t just do it because he wanted to. The mindfree doctrine that Shang had talked about earlier was a specific ideology that followed the Lightning Manor''s philosophy.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org A follower of the mindfree doctrine believed that minds shouldn''t be read, no matter what. If there truly were sketchy people skulking around Shang''s town, he couldn''t just kill them or read their minds. However, he could keep them in jail for a couple of months for investigation. Also, a mind read wasn''t the only thing that would allow one to find the truth of a matter. And the person floating in front of Shang was a specialist in one of these methods. The woman just smiled. "Ipletely understand. A big part of our clients also follow the mindfree doctrine, and we''re quite thankful," she said as sheughed politely. "After all, we wouldn''t be where we are today without our valued clients." "Do you know how our Istion Chambers work?" "Vaguely,¡±" Shang said. The woman nodded. "Well, let me exin it in more detail. We will be using special materials and Magic Circles topletely iste someone from the outside world. The inside and the outside of the chamber arepletely cut off from each other." "That means no Mana can enter or exit, and it is impossible to look inside or out. The istion puts a significant strain on someone''s mind, and theck of new Mana only intensifies that feeling.¡± ¡°After some time, the person inside the Istion Chamber will slowly start losing Mana and life energy, which creates an agonizing feeling of approaching death. If we were talking about normal humans, you could view it as slowly asphyxiating someone over three months." ¡°Of course, depending on how it is used, an Istion Chamber can also help calm someone''s mind." The woman exined all the details of the Istion Chamber for the next couple of minutes, and Shang just nodded along. "That sounds great. | would like tomission three of them whole and one more as individual pieces of metal in case the other three receive some damage," Shang said. The woman''s smile widened. "No problem. How strong do you wish for them to be?" "| want it to be absolutely impossible for an Archmage to escape and nearly impossible for an Initial Ancestral Mage to escape,¡± Shang said. The woman nodded. "How big should they be? How do you want them to be essed?" Shang answered a couple more questions. After a while, the woman nodded and handed over a sheet of paper she had created. It was the bill with all the details. 25 Grade Six Mana Crystals. Shang signed the bill and summoned 25 Grade Six Mana Crystals. The woman smiled brightly, created a copy, handed the copy to Shang, and pocketed the Mana Crystals. After that, Shang led her to his castle, and they entered the basement. Shang''s mind dug three huge rectangr holes and motioned for the woman to proceed. SHING! Three huge, ck, and rectangr objects appeared inside the hole, and the woman summoned several more materials. The Magic Circles of the town were shining withplex runes as the additional Magic Circles were integrated. After about an hour, she was done. ¡°And that should be it," she said with a smile. "The three Istion Chambers share the same energy source as your town''s barrier.¡± Shang nodded. After that, the woman summoned several huge ck stones and put them beside Shang. "These are the recement pieces that you ordered." Then, she exined how Shang could swap out destroyed or defective parts of his Istion Chambers. ¡°And that should cover everything," she said. Shang nodded. "Thank you. Everything''s to my liking.¡± After that, she said her goodbyes and left the town. Shang continued flying in the sky for a while and then went back to his basement. He activated the Magic Circles to iste his castle from the town and walked over to one of the huge ck stones. Shang''s hand touched it, and after a while, Shang smirked. SHING! Shang summoned both bodies of Sword and stabbed them into the ck ore. "Eat up." What material couldpletely iste all kinds of Mana? Entropy ore. How strong would the Entropy ore need to be to resist an Initial Ancestral Mage? At least in the Initial Sixth Realm. After a while, Sword had filled up with Entropy ore again, and Shang put the stones away. Shang had expected that it would be harder to find Entropy ore, but surprisingly, it wasn''t difficult at all. Where there was a need, there was money to be made. Chapter 656 Chapter 656 About 40 years after fighting the serpent, Shang managed to condense the Impose for his Addum. ¡®And with that, my second goal for the Fusion Realm is finished,¡¯ Shang thought as he held his Addum in front of him.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org ¡®Next, | have toprehend the Concept of Subtraction, which will be the most difficult or second most difficult thing I''ll have to do. Comprehending the Impose for my next weapon will not be as difficult asprehending the Concept of Subtraction.¡¯ ¡®The God told me thatprehending the Concept of Subtraction should be about as difficult asprehending a Mixed level two Concept, which is something not every High Mage can achieve. Comprehending a Mixed Concept means that you can also comprehend a Pure Concept, which means that you would haveprehended two Concepts before bing an Archmage, making you above-average at least.¡¯ ¡®As a warrior, | have toprehend something that less than 50% of High Mages canprehend.¡¯ In thest 40 years, Shang had also reached the Late Fusion Realm, which put his mind on the same level as a Late High Mage. "Maybe | should hunt more Abominations first before trying toprehend the Concept of Subtraction. My mind can still advance one level.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, | need to find a way to look at the Concept of Subtraction. For the Concept of Addition, | had the Yellow Sunbreaker, but | don''t have a fitting beast for the Concept of Subtraction.¡¯ ¡®| guess | should just ask the Territory Lord. | need to update her regarding my advances anyway." Shang activated the Magic Circle that isted his castle from the town and activated a tiny secret Magic Circle that created a hidden connection to the Communication Crystalwork of the Temple of Blood. Then, Shang activated the Communication Crystal and contacted the Territory Lord. "Yes?" the voice of the Territory Lord came out of the Communication Crystal. "| haveprehended my fifth Impose," Shang said. "What are the results?" the Territory Lord asked. ¡°As expected, my World Connection has grown more powerful, giving me about 20% more power for all of my other attacks. The more Imposes | learn and integrate, the more powerful everything bes,¡± Shang exined. ¡°And you n to reach the Sixth Realm byprehending another Concept and adding a sixth Impose?" the Territory Lord asked. "That''s only preparatory work," Shang said. "After I''veprehended all of that, | want to somehow push everything to the next level." ¡°One theoretical way to reach the Sixth Realm is to keep adding Imposes. | think | would only need five to sessfully reach the Sixth Realm, but | would probably ruin my entire foundation. Adding a sixth Impose would definitely be more powerful, but | believe that | would still take a step back if | only did that." "By adding Concepts to my Imposes, | can strengthen them even more. By adding two Imposes and two integrated Concepts, | believe my rtive Battle-Strength would either remain at my current level or fall just a little bit." The Territory Lord snorted. "But that''s not your goal, right?" "Yes," Shang answered. "I''ve used the World Connection to reach the Fifth Realm, something that normal warriors would comprehend to reach the Sixth Realm. | want to expand on that and theorize a way for a warrior to reach the Seventh Realm and use that to reach the Sixth Realm. But for that, | need a solid foundation, which is why I''m adding these Imposes and Concepts." The Territory Lord didn''t say anything for a couple of seconds. "Quite ambitious," she said after a while. "In fact, if | hadn''t seen youprehend World Connection as a Peak True Path Stage warrior, | would have called you idiotic and naive." ¡°But you are no longerpletely free," she added. "The Temple of Blood wants to know if your growth has kept up. You''ve already been in this privileged position for over 80 years, and we haven''t received even a single warrior yet. The Congregation is putting pressure on me, asking me for proof that you are growing well.¡± Shang knew what the Congregation was. The Congregation was the ruling body of the Temple of Blood, and the Territory Lord was one of the members of the Congregation. "| have obtained proof," Shang said. "What proof?" ¡°A corpse of something I''ve killed on my own," Shang answered. Silence. "Alright." Whooom! Some secondster, a tiny portal appeared in front of Shang, just about ten centimeters tall. Shang took out a Space Ring and pushed it into the portal, which then closed. Many kilometers away, beneath the Yellow Sunbreaker, the Territory Lord was looking at a Space Ring in her hand. She closed her eyes and inspected the inside. She wasn''t surprised when she saw a gigantic corpse. Shang was at the Late Fifth Realm, and a Peak Fifth Realm beast wouldn''t be enough. The bare minimum he needed to show was a strong Peak Archmage, and even that might not be enough. Of course, this beast was only two levels above Shang, but there was also a Realm gap in these two levels, which could be counted as another level. So, in a way, Shang had killed a beast three levels above himself, which should be enough to prove that Shang''s Battle-Strength wasn''t regressing. The Territory Lord was satisfied with this corpse. Shang''s Mana, the wounds caused by his swords, and the deteriorated condition of the corpse also showed that Shang had been the one fighting. The Territory Lord looked at the corpse for a bit. It wasn''t very easy to discern what kind of beast it was. "What kind of beast was this?" she asked. ¡°A serpent," Shang said. The Territory Lord raised an eyebrow. Aserpent? No serpent was weak. The Territory Lord looked at the horns to check the Affinity of the serpent, and that''s when she froze. For several seconds, she just wordlessly looked at the horns. Dual Affinity. After five additional seconds, she focused on her Communication Crystal again. "| need a very detailed rundown of the battle. You should understand that it is very difficult to believe that someone in the Late Fifth Realm could kill an Initial Ancestral serpent with a Dual Affinity.¡± "Sure," Shang answered. Then, he spoke in detail about his fight. He simply reced his Comet with Ghost Step in the retelling and reced Javelin with Dusk, but without the ck fire. ¡°Well done," the Territory Lord said. "I will present this corpse to the Congregation. You don''t need to worry about the payment. We will pay you way more than this corpse is worth." "Is there anything in particr you need?" she asked. "| want something that helps meprehend the Concept of Subtraction," Shang said. "I''ll look if we got something fitting,¡± the Territory Lord said. "The next meeting is in three months. | will tell you how much funding you will receive, and we can decide on something that will help you then." Shang released a sigh. "Thanks." "No thanks necessary," the Territory Lord said. "This is a cooperation. We don''t need your words but your actions." "Sure," Shang answered. "Good." Then, the Territory Lord cut the connection. Chapter 657 Chapter 657 Acouple of monthster, Shang got contacted by the Territory Lord again. The Congregation was happy with Shang''s progress, and they decided to give him funding worth 200 Grade Six Mana Crystals. 200 Grade Six Mana Crystals.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. That was an insane amount of money, and this was just one payment. Shang had already gotten quite a lot from the Temple of Blood, and they would continue supporting him in the future. One had to remember that 200 Grade Six Mana Crystals represented 200 years of condensing Mana for an Ancestral Mage, and Shang wasn''t even in the Sixth Realm. After looking at the avable funds, the Territory Lord came up with the best way for Shang toprehend the Concept of Subtraction, but she needed to talk with the Congregation again. When the Territory Lord talked to the Congregation, she was offering something. An investment. Of course, that investment would consume a huge amount of resources, and 200 Grade Six Mana Crystals wasn''t enough. However, the 200 Grade Six Mana Crystals had already been promised to Shang, and they essentially viewed them as losses. But if Shang were willing to spend these 200 Grade Six Mana Crystals to ease the cost of the investment, it wouldn''t be so bad for the Temple of Blood. After a lot of convincing, the Congregation finally listened to the Territory Lord and agreed. What was this investment? Well, 90% of all the profits from Shang''s town had to either be reinvested into the town or handed over to the Temple of Blood. After all, this was the Temple of Blood''s town, not Shang''s town. So, Shang''s town was an asset of the Temple of Blood, and investing in it was the same as investing in the Temple of Blood. However, not every investment was worth it. But when one of the investments suddenly became 200 Grade Six Mana Crystals cheaper, it might be worth it. The Territory Lord had the amazing idea to fit Shang''s town with a very expensive weapon. An Ancestral Beast. Several cities had something called a Beast Residence. A Beast Residence was a ce where beasts could live, and if any foreign Ancestral Beast came close to the Beast Residence, the beast inside the Beast Residence would attack the intruder. In a way, this meant that a city would receive an Ancestral Beast as a guardian. Of course, creating something like a Beast Residence was beyond expensive. Not only would one need hundreds of different Magic Circles, but one would also need to make a lot of space for the beast. However, the most expensive part was the beast''s training. It would be bad if the Ancestral Beast decided to eat visitors or attack the city. Because of that, the very fewpanies that specialized in that area had to invest a lot into training the Ancestral Beasts. Additionally, the Ancestral Beast would never truly be tame. If any human still did something it didn¡¯t like, that human would very quickly enter the afterlife. Allin all, setting up something like that would cost around one Grade Seven Mana Crystal. The advantage was that the city or town would be safer since there would be no reaction time for the Security Agency anymore. It would be like having an Ancestral Mage as a resident in the town. This meant that the Temple of Blood wouldn''t need to keep an Ancestral Mage on standby anymore for Shang''s town. Additionally, more powerful people would be interested in moving to the town. Of course, since this investment was also supposed to help Shangprehend the Concept of Subtraction, the beasts had to be fitting. After contacting one of thesepanies, the Temple of Blood made their choice. They would go with one of the cheaper options, but the reason why the option was cheaper wouldn''t be a problem for Shang''s town and might even prove to be a good thing. The Territory Lord talked with Shang about everything, and a couple of monthster, the professionals arrived. On this day, Shang had to wee over 20 Ancestral Mages. These 20 Ancestral Mages started to slightly alter the Magic Circles of the town to make itpatible with the new ones they were about to create. Then, they dug deep into the ground beneath the town while severely strengthening several spots so that the town wouldn''t sink into the earth. They created a huge underground cavern below the town, which was about three kilometers wide and high. Without the earlier strengthening of the ground, the town would have copsed above them. After that, they summoned a humongous crystal, which was several hundred meters wide. The crystal was ck and shimmered in dark blue light. This was an artificial object of concentrated Ice and Darkness Mana. After cing the object in the middle of the cave, they created several Magic Circles to gather the Mana in the surroundings, convert it to Darkness and Ice Mana, and infuse it into the crystal. When they were done with that, they ced a couple of smaller light crystals away from the cave in spots where they didn''t want the beasts to go. Sure, if the beasts felt a foreign beast, they would just shoot through there, but that wasn''t exactly the problem. They just didn''t want the beasts toe out of the ground near the mortal district and kill a couple hundred humans just by moving. After preparing and testing everything for several days, the 20 Ancestral Mages called their superior. And on that day, Shang met his first Mage Lord aside from the Territory Lord. The Mage Lord arrived near Shang''s town, and as soon as he did, the sky above the town became dark. That wasn''t due to his power but due to the two things levitating beside him. Two Ancestral Beasts. One had an Ice Affinity, and one had a Darkness Affinity. And from now on, they would live beneath Shang''s town. When Shang took note of the two beasts, he became a bit excited. Finally, he had something to help himprehend the Concept of Subtraction. Chapter 658 Chapter 658 BOOOOOM! The Mage Lord dropped the two beasts as soon as he arrived. Thousands of people were watching with interest. They had already been informed about what would happen today in advance, and they didn''t want to miss this spectacle. Not everyone had been able to see the beasts from a great distance, but now, it became clear what these beasts were. They were two huge worms called Abyss Worms. Each worm was around six kilometers long and a couple hundred meters wide. They were about as big as the Serpent Shang had killed. One of the worms was dark blue. It had sparkling blue scales, which gave off a white mist. The other worm was pure ck, and it didn''t have any scales. Instead, it had rough skin, which didn''t sparkle at all. As soon as the two worms regained control of their bodies, they lifted their heads, and the more powerful people felt an oppressive Spirit Sense inspect them. Nearly everyone became terrified at that moment. Two Ancestral Beasts were right in front of their home. Yet, the worms didn''t seem to be that interested. Sure, they looked through all the humans present, but they didn''t particrly focus on them. CRRRRR! The worms began to slowly move around above ground, leaving humongous crevices behind. They were inspecting this ce. All the smaller beasts around the town fled in terror, but many of them were still ruthlessly crushed beneath the worms'' massive weight. After a bit, they stopped and focused on the town. They weren''t looking at the town directly but at the Mana of the town. They felt how the town absorbed Mana and that it converted that Mana into Darkness and Ice Mana. One of the worms immediately dug into the ground, leaving a gigantic abyss behind, several hundred meters wide. The worm quickly found that the Darkness and Ice Mana became denser below the town, and then it found the huge crystal. That crystal was amazing! When the worm found the crystal, the other one immediately burrowed into the ground to get to the same spot. After looking at the crystal for a long time, the two worms began to coil around the huge crystal together. And that was how they would remain for the majority of the time. Up above the ground, the ground stopped shaking, and the humans were waiting for something to happen. And, sure enough, something else happened. It didn''t immediately be apparent, but the more sensitive Mages could feel that the Ice and Darkness Mana in the surroundings began to intensify. Luckily, they had already been informed about the uing changes. Now, there were three reasons why these two worms were one of the cheaper options. First, they were ugly. Alot of the cities used their beasts as a status symbol or attraction. They would purchase powerful and majestic tigers, who would just sleep beside the city. Obviously, these worms were not really pleasing to the eye, and they didn''t radiate status. The second reason was that the two worms created a climate. Like the Yellow Sunbreaker, the two worms hunted by drawing other Ancestral Beasts in. They would release their Mana and transform the surrounding 800 kilometers into an icy wastnd in perpetual darkness. Naturally, something like this was also not something that most cities and towns wanted. Creating a dark and icy wastnd of death would ruin the entire feel and atmosphere of the city and would make it look depressing. Surprisingly, the fact that they attracted more Ancestral Beasts was not an issue at all. After all, they were powerful enough to defend against basically all Ancestral Beasts. They both were Mid Ancestral Beasts, and they never fought alone. They could kill nearly every single Late Ancestral Beast, and Peak Ancestral Beasts basically didn''t walk around. In thest 80 years of being the Town Lord, Shang had only seen a single Late Ancestral Beast and no Peak Ancestral Beasts. But the third reason was the biggest reason why the worms were so cheap. The thing was.... The two worms were a pair. One male, one female. And they lovedying eggs. Alot of eggs. Within the next six months, this ce would be littered with Soldier Stage worms digging through the ground and hunting. So, in short, the worms were so cheap because the surrounding 800 kilometers transformed into a dark and icy wastnd of death filled with disgusting worms. That wasn''t the best look for a city. Of course, if the people could choose, they would have never agreed to these worms taking up residence near their town. Sadly, they didn''t have a choice in the matter. However, there were advantages to disadvantages and disadvantages to advantages.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. An area permeated with Ice and Darkness Mana would give birth to rare and valuable natural treasures. Almost every part of the wilderness was just neutral forest since nearly no Ancestral Beast dared to release their Mana to create their own zone. And since it was even rarer for two beasts to share the same territory, the things that would grow around the town soon were also even rarer. Also, specifically for Shang''s town, this would also have another use. With the cold and dark climate, growing crops would be nearly impossible. This meant that all the mortals would need to eat meat, and since there would be an overabundance of Soldier Stage worms soon, which were also very aggressive by the way, the mortals would need to learn to fight even more. Cold storms, perpetual darkness, a diet of pure meat, and the constant threat of the worms would push the mortals more toward power. The arrival of the two Abyss Worms signaled a tremendous change for the town, and Shang also decided to change the town''s name in reflection of the change. Up to now, Shang had still been using the name the previous Town Lord had given the town, which was Silver Wilderness Town. He had chosen the name back then since this was the town closest to the Silver Abyss. Shang decided on a new name for his town. Icy Bastion. Chapter 659 Chapter 659 About three weeks after the Abyss Worms had been moved to Icy Bastion, the first Ancestral Beast appeared near the town. Of course, the town noticed the Ancestral Beast when it was over a thousand kilometers away, and it would take a bit for the Ancestral Beast to get closer. Usually, due to an Ancestral Beast''s speed, Shang had always called for the Security Agency as soon as an Ancestral Beast was found by the Surveince Magic Circle. If an Ancestral Beast directly traveled towards the town, it would only need something like ten seconds to reach the town from over 500 kilometers away, which might just be barely enough for the Security Agency. But now, Shang could let the Ancestral Beaste closer without having to call the Security Agency. The Surveince Magic Circle also kept track of a beast''s power, and this one was only an Early Ancestral Beast. The Magic Circles of Icy Bastion had changed, and instead of goingpletely into lockdown, the town simply gave off a yellow warning light when an Ancestral Beast was found. This warning light would signify that the town would soon enter a short state of lockdown. Some of the more interested High Mages looked at the map and saw the beast around 1,200 kilometers to the north. Over the next couple of seconds, they saw the dot on the map move around aimlessly. Obviously, it hadn''t found the town yet. But it found something else pretty quickly. The Abyss Worms¡¯ territory. As soon as the beast took note of the territory, it started to travel towards Icy Bastion''s direction with quite a lot of speed. When it was just 600 kilometers away, Shang locked down the town. The barrier isted everything, not allowing anything to pass through. And when the beast reached a distance of 500 kilometers, things rapidly changed. The Ancestral Beast immediately stopped moving. Then, with terrifying reaction timing and uracy, it shot into the distance, away from Icy Bastion. It had seen what beasts lived here, and it knew that it had no chance against them. However, when the Ancestral Beast could see the worms, the worms could see the Ancestral Beast. CRRRRRRR! The ground below Icy Bastion shook violently. It was like a world-ending earthquake was happening! That was exactly why Shang had activated the Istion Barrier. BOOOOM! Acouple of kilometers away from the town, the two worms shot out of the ground, taking to the sky. The spectacle was shocking to the people. It was like a mountain range had beenunched out of the ground like a cannon and vanished over the horizon in less than a second, leaving two terrifying holes behind. On the map, the High Mages could see two dots rapidly approaching the sole dot running to the edge of the map. Eventually, all three dots left the map. Around a minute passed. And then, three dots entered the map again, but one of the dots had be far smaller. The worms were not in a hurry while traveling back, and they took their time. After around two minutes, they arrived at their holes again, but something new was apanying them. Aleg. The leg was a bit over 200 meters long, and it seemed to be the leg of some kind of big cat. Could be a tiger, a lion, or basically anything. For the people of Icy Bastion, looking at such a huge leg was awe-inspiring. Even though it looked small beside the humongous worms, it was still over 200 meters long! The two worms crawled back into their holes, the one with the Darkness Affinity pulling the leg with it. Shang knew why the worms hadn''t consumed the entire corpse. Thatst remaining leg would be used as nourishment for their eggs. The stronger ones of their offspring would be allowed to consume the leg, which would rapidly bring them to the Commander Stage in less than a year. The other 98% would be forced out of their home and would live in the icy wastnd around Icy Bastion. By now, the surroundings had alreadypletely changed, but the flora and fauna hadn''t yet adapted. At the moment, the area around Icy Bastion was filled with a thick sheet of ice while extremely thick, grey clouds blocked out nearly all the sunlight. On top of that, a thick and icy fog permanently clouded the wilderness, severely restricting visibility. Almost all the nts had already been buried beneath a thick sheet of ice and snow. While there had been some very few sightings of rare natural treasures, it wasn''t yetmon to find them. Nature had to adapt first.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. Meanwhile, the density of peaceful beasts had started to reduce. Since everything had only started a couple of weeks ago, there were still a lot of these peaceful beasts around, but it wouldn''t stay that way. Many Soldier Stage beasts could reach the General Stage by only consuming nts, but since there were no longer any nts, these beasts would be forced to either leave this area or kill other beasts for nourishment. One had to remember that, just because these beasts liked to eat nts, it didn''t mean that they couldn''t eat other beasts. Additionally, with the first Ancestral Beast killed, a huge wave of worms would soon appear. There would be thousands of them. The mortals were still adapting to the new environment while several of the High Mages left the town. For now, the town was shrinking, but as more and more rare natural treasures would appear, more people would return, and those people would also be more powerful than the old ones. But Shang didn''t care very much about all of that. He had chosen these worms because of their two Affinities, and Shang was working hard onprehending the Concept of Subtraction. Sadly, Shang knew thatprehending the Concept of Subtraction would take extremely long. However, he knew that he could definitely do it. His confidence didn''te from his own ability, for once, but from the fact that he could purchase Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets with all the money he would earn in the future. For now, he wasn''t getting much money, but when the number of True Path Stage warriors increased, he could refer some of the less talented ones to the Temple of Blood. But all of that needed time. And for now, Shang could only focus on reaching the Peak Fusion Realm while trying toprehend a bit of the Concept of Subtraction. Chapter 660 Chapter 660 ¡°Whew, finally back, baby!" a warrior in crimson armor and a spear shouted inughter after taking a swig of some beer. "Damn, | missed this ce!" Right now, the warrior was inside a huge and busy tavern in the middle of the mortal district. Two other warriors were sitting with him at the table. One of them had long green hair and carried a long curved sword. The other had ck hair and carried a dius with a big shield. "To your return!" the green-haired man shouted, lifting his mug. "To your return!" the ck-haired one echoed. "To my return!" the red-haired one shouted with a loudugh. The three of them mmed their mugs together and took three big gulps. "You haven''t changed a bit, you know," the green-haired one said with a grin. The red-haired oneughed some more. "Of course not! Why would | change something that''s already perfect? The chicks dig my toned body and smooth words." The other two warriors chuckled. They really missed their friend. Their friend had left to work for some mysteriouspany about 30 years ago, and he had only returned today. "Speaking of chicks," the green-haired one said with a smirk, "how are the chicks at your new ce?" The red-haired warrior took a deep breath and slowly exhaled to be dramatic. ¡°Man, the chicks," he slowly said. "They''re... special.¡± "Special? In what way?" the ck-haired one asked in interest. The red-haired one smirked and hit the ck-haired one''s side a couple of times with his elbow. "Why are you interested? Aren''t you married?" The ck-haired one became a bit red in the face. "Of course, but | want to hear about your adventures, you know? | don''t get out very much." The red-haired warrior snicked some more. "Oh, Duma. You''re such a nice little boy. You always take the sensible option and prioritize security. Isn''t your wife bored of you yet?¡± Dumaughed in embarrassment a bit. "No, | don''t think so. If she is, she is not very good at showing it. | mean, she... never mind." ¡°Now, I''m interested," the red-haired warrior said as he came closer with a smirk. "Come on, what did you just want to say? Come on, I''m your pal, your buddy. You can tell me." "Why don''t you tell him?" the green-haired man echoed with a smirk of his own. Duma felt a bit ufortable and looked to the side. "Well, she keepsining about all the work she has to do because of all our children. But... you know... she seems very enthusiastic about making another one, you know?" The other two immediately exploded into loudughter. ¡°Alright, enough about you,¡± the green-haired man said with a smirk before turning to the red-haired warrior. "This is about David. So, how''s the job?" David, the red-haired warrior, snickered a bit as he drank some more of his beer. "Lucrative." Then, he stopped talking. "Oh,e on!" the green-haired warrior shouted. "You can''t just give me a single word and expect that | ept that as an answer, David!" David chuckled some more. "Well, | can''t really talk a lot about it. Confidentiality is very important for thepany. | think you can imagine why." Duma furrowed his brows while the green-haired warrior seemed intrigued. "Bad stuff?" "Well," David slowly said, "depends on your viewpoint." That was all they needed to hear. When their friend, David, had just left, they just thought that he was joining some secret organization for research purposes. After all, there were only very few True Path Stage warriors, and they were kind of a novelty. But apparently, David didn''t join some research organization but a shady one. "Is it bad?" Duma asked with a worried but serious tone. "It''s fine," David said with a smile. "| had to get used to it, but after 30 years, | can say that it was worth it.¡± Duma was quite an empathetic person, and he could feel that David wasn''t telling the entire truth. Duma could feel that David had probably gone through some horrible moments in thepany he was working for, and he was just making light of it to not destroy the mood. ¡°Worth it?" the green-haired warrior asked as he leaned forward. "How... worth it?" David snickered a bit, and he leaned forward. David''s hand moved peculiarly, and the two warriors¡¯ Spirit Senses were pulled to his hand. There was just a tiny, short glimmer, but the two warriors had seen it, and their eyes widened in absolute shock. "Was that-" "Sssshh!" David shushed. The two warriors looked with shock at David''s hand and swallowed deeply. What had they just seen?! They had just seen several Grade Five Mana Crystals! Grade Five! They were True Path Stage warriors! One Grade Five Mana Crystal was like their entire worth, and David had just casually taken out several of them! ¡°Are you interested?" David asked with a smirk. Duma felt his insides shake. This felt bad! David had obviously gone through several bad experiences, and the sheer amount of money he had just shown painted a very clear picture. This was a job that not just anyone could do. Otherwise, it wouldn''t pay that well! This was really bad stuff! It would be beyond risky to get involved! "I''m good," Duma answered quickly, leaning back. The green-haired man could only sigh. "It''s really tempting, but | can''t just throw everything away, you know?" David leaned back and smirked as he drank a bit of his beer. "Your Master?" When Duma heard the word Master, his eyebrows fell, and he looked with difort at his own beer. The green-haired warrior nodded. "Yeah. I''m learning a lot from him, and | don''t want to disappoint him." David snorted, and the green-haired man looked at him with furrowed brows.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "Disappoint him?" David echoed. "From what I''ve heard, he''s about as hard to please as an Abomination." The green-haired man didn''t like that David was talking badly about his Master, but deep inside, he had to agree. Instead of reprimanding David, the green-haired man only looked to the side, not saying anything. "Why do you care so much?" David asked. "You''re his Disciple, yeah? You''re not supposed to be his Disciple forever. You''re like a child. At some point, you just have to leave your home and get one of your own.¡± "You were always the strongest amongst us three, except for that one time Duma reached the True Path Stage first, but that barely counts. What makes you so hesitant to leave your bitter Master?" David asked. "Can we drop the topic?" the green-haired man asked, looking at David with annoyance. "Sure," David said with a smirk. The three of them talked for a couple of hours. The green-haired man seemed disinterested in joining David''s mysterious organization initially, but the more they talked, the more interested he grew. David had be quite a lot more powerful after joining the organization. His equipment was also outstanding. On top of that, he had evenprehended a Concept! Lastly, he also only had to work for like one hour a week or so, which was insane! This was basically a paradise. For the next three days, David kept contacting the green-haired man, but then, the green-haired man had to return to training. After around ten days of nothing but training, the green-haired man started to question his life. Was he making progress? His equipment was terrible. He had only a very limited number of natural treasures that helped him. And he was essentially sacrificing his entire life for training. Was that truly how he wanted to live? Eventually, the green-haired man decided that something had to change in his life, and he contacted David. The green-haired man felt guilty for abandoning his Master, and he was afraid of telling his Master. However, David told him that this wasn''t anything unusual and that his organization would deal with it. He wouldn''t need to meet his Master again, and there would be no enmity between them. Ashamed, the green-haired man epted the deal, and some weekster, he left together with David. They entered one of the bigger cities, and David led the green-haired man to a shady bar that led to some deeply hidden cave beneath the city. And that was when the green-haired man was introduced to his new job. Special Agent of the Temple of Blood. Chapter 661 Chapter 661 Time passed. About ten years after getting the worms, Shang had given away the first True Path Stage warrior to the Temple of Blood. That particr True Path Stage warrior had been a red-haired man named David, and Shang didn''t have any use for him in the town. David wasn''t the most hardworking person, and he also didn''t care about teaching people. He was neither fit for bing outstanding nor for raising new warriors. Because of that, Shang told the Temple of Blood that they could take him. That was the first time Shang had actually been paid for bringing a True Path Stage warrior to the Temple of Blood, and the payment was extremely generous. Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals... For a True Path Stage warrior! The usual bonus for recruiting a High Mage was something like three Grade Five Mana Crystals, but Shang had received over 3,000 times as much! After getting these ten Grade Six Mana Crystals, Shang could finally buy more Mind Flow Pellets, and he did just that. As Shang sat in his castle, consuming one Mind Flow Pellet after the other, the world of the mortals hadpletely transformed. The number of hunters had shot through the roof. The worm infestation had proven to be a terrifying danger to the weaker humans. On their own, the worms weren''t directly a danger to the mortal district, but just by existing, they were threatening the mortal district. How? Food. There were two kinds of worms that could be born from the two Abyss Worms. Either they got a Darkness Affinity or an Ice Affinity. The threaty with the worms that had a Darkness Affinity. They were poisonous and inedible. The worms with the Ice Affinity could be eaten, but they were outnumbered one to ten by the worms with a Darkness Affinity. Even more, the worms also seemed to hate and kill each other, making it even more difficult to get a worm with an Ice Affinity. Of course, with all the worms present, the number of normal beasts had dropped to a frighteningly low level. If the worms were allowed to multiply even further, they would eventually fill out every square meter of the surroundings. Because of that, the pressure on the hunters had increased severalfold. They needed to kill every single worm they could find and bring back the small scraps of food they could find. The excursions of the hunters grew longer and longer as they tried to find food. The worms killed more and more beasts, and eventually, no beast other than the worms could be found for nearly a hundred kilometers. The icy wastnd had been transformed into and of worms. The Soldier Stage worms looked more likervae. In the Initial Soldier Stage, they were barely a meter long and 20 centimeters wide. In the Peak Soldier Stage, they were about five meters long and 40 centimeters wide. The mortals estimated that there were over 500,000 worms in the surrounding 100 kilometers. Inparison, there were barely 30,000 people living in the mortal district. By now, bing a warrior had be the default for people, and bing anything else had actually be difficult and even a symbol of status to a certain degree.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. When over 50% of the poption had to actively go out and kill worms, the few that didn''t need to go were quite special. Sadly, the number of Ice Affinity worms reduced more and more, and a famine appeared in the vige. That was when a hero emerged. Surprisingly, it wasn''t a warrior but a Mage. The Mage had been born in this mortal district, and she had been born with a rare Darkness Affinity. She had seen her superiors fight and hunt just so that she and the others could live in peace inside the town. She had always wanted to help them and make the lives of everyone around her easier. Because of that, she put her everything into studying, and eventually, she created something that would eliminate the famine once and for all. She had created a Spell that transformed the corpse of the Darkness Affinity worms into pure Darkness Mana! With that, she managed to create amodity that the merchants were interested in. Amerchant inside this town was viewed very differently from how normal people viewed normal merchants. Usually, one would just think of a merchant as a shopkeeper or a trader. That''s it. But here, merchants were almost otherworldly existences. The merchants were extremely powerful, and they were legendary existences that could traverse the outside world! They could travel to other towns and cities, which was the dream of nearly everyone! Of course, these supremely powerful visitors had never shown interest in anything the mortal district had produced. But now, the Darkness Mage managed to produce something like that. She had told everyone about her Spell, and after a long debate, the mortal district decided to trust her. They brought back as many corpses as possible and handed them to her. She worked day and night to produce as many Darkness Mana Crystals as possible, and when the merchants showed up the next time, she presented them with the Darkness Mana Crystals. One of the merchants looked at it with a frown and asked her how many she had. She told him she had around 800. The merchant''s frown deepened. The density and purity of these Mana Crystals were horrible and barely usable. The merchant asked the Mage how she had produced these Mana Crystals, but the Mage hesitated. The merchant told her that they certainly had better ways to get what they wanted than her backwater methods. Eventually, sheplied and showed her Spell. The merchant seemed quite impressed when he asked the Mage how she hade up with that Spell. Of course, such a Spell already existed, and the Spell this merchant had ess to was worlds better. After a bit of thinking, the merchant nodded once and told the Mage about his ns. Obviously, he can''t use these Darkness Mana Crystals. The money they would bring in would be less than the space they would take up in his Space Ring. However, he decided to invest in the Mage. He gave her a far more advanced Spell and allowed her to teach the Spell to any Mage she wanted since it wasn''t really worth a lot. Not only would the quality of the crystals increase, but she would also be able tobine several lower-ranked ones into better ones. The next time he would return, he would trade for the crystals. Yet, the young Mage wasn''t fine with that. Her people were starving at this moment! She couldn''t wait that long! The merchant hummed a bit, but in the end, he decided on something. He would trust in her, and he would pay her first. However, he didn''t carry any food with him. Food took up way too much room for its little worth. The Mage felt horrified when she heard that, but the merchant only smirked. Then, he handed another Spell to the Mage, and she looked at it. It was a way to create Light Mana Crystals out of Darkness Mana Crystals! Of course, a lot of Mana would be lost in the process, but this was amazing! With these Mana Crystals, the mortal district could create farms! And the famine was no more. Chapter 662 Chapter 662 30 years after the incident with the Famine, Shang had already sent two other True Path Stage warriors to the Temple of Blood. By now, there were over 20 True Path Stage warriors in Icy Bastion, and the number of them would only grow higher and higher as more time passed. Commander Stage warriors could live for 250 years, and there were still many Commander Stage warriors currently alive that would reach the True Path Stage. Because of that, Shang decided to station a permanent recruiter for the Temple of Blood in this town. It wasn''t easy to convince the True Path Warriors to join the Temple of Blood. After all, the Temple of Blood was too secretive, and many warriors weren''t willing to just randomly join some organization they knew nothing about. So, Shang had ordered David, the red-haired warrior, back to Icy Bastion to recruit some warriors. And sure enough, in just one month, he had recruited one of Shang''s bad Disciples. When Shang heard about that, he only snorted. That green-haired warrior was even stupider than most of his Disciples, and he was d that this Disciple of his was good for something, at least. With more Mana Crystals, Shang could buy more Mind Flow Pellets. Another 40 yearster, someone reached out to Shang. It was Duma, his ex-Disciple. Duma''s many children had grown up and had formed their own families. His youngest child was already over 40 years old. Today, he reached out to Shang because he wanted to leave Icy Bastion. Alone. His wife hadn''t been nearly as strong as him, which meant that she had eventually died of old age. After being together with his wife for nearly a hundred years, Duma couldn''t remain in this town anymore. Everything reminded him of his wife. His children could live on their own, and they were happy. They didn¡¯t need him anymore. He just wanted to leave and go somewhere else. That was why he had visited Shang. He wanted Shang to activate the Pathfinder Magic Circle. Shang only had one question. "Do you have the funds?" Duma''s face transformed into a mask of devastation. The funds? He didn''t even have a Grade Five Mana Crystal! How was he supposed to get a Grade Six Mana Crystal?! Duma begged Shang to just let him escape, but Shang just threw him out of his castle and ignored him. Duma had no idea what he should do now.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Every day inside Icy Bastion was a day filled with mncholy and pain. He was in this state for several days until someone came up to him. It was David. Now that Duma''s wife was dead, he was far more open to David''s persuasion. Duma was a good soul, and he was not someone that liked to kill people. But in the end, the pain of living here outweighed the potential dangers of his new job. Duma epted, and David brought him to the Temple of Blood. Would he be happy in the Temple of Blood? Probably not. 20 yearster, the next incident urred. A Peak Ancestral Mage visited Icy Bastion, and she immediately demanded to speak to the Town Lord. The guards had already been intimidated by her power, but when she took out an emblem, they froze in terror. It was the Twilight Dusk Family''s emblem! Of course, Shang very quickly showed up. The Ancestral Mage then told Shang about her reason foring here. She had gotten word that a Peak True Mage with a Twilight Affinity lived in Icy Bastion. Shang hadn''t heard about such a Mage, but the Ancestral Mage effectively directly pointed out the Mage with her Spirit Sense. She only talked to Shang to show politeness to his status as Town Lord. She didn''t actually need his help. Shang looked towards the Mortal District, and sure enough, there was a ck-haired woman that gave off fluctuations of Light and Darkness Mana at the same time. He didn''t know it, but this was the same woman that had been responsible for the mortal district''s abundance of food right now. Shang just allowed the Ancestral Mage to do whatever she wanted, and the Ancestral Mage moved towards the True Mage. Of course, the True Mage felt like she was dreaming. Some extremely powerful person, someone that was even more powerful than the illustrious Town Lord, had suddenlye here just to take her away to some paradise? This was like something out of a novel! She wanted to ept, but then she remembered something and deted. Her people needed her. She couldn''t just leave them behind. The Ancestral Mage asked why she was so important to her people, and she answered that they needed her to condense Light Mana Crystals for the farm. With a bored tone and manner, the Ancestral Mage asked for the method she was using. She handed over the method, and the Ancestral Mage snorted. She looked at the method as she summoned an empty book. Words rapidly appeared on every page of the book, and in less than a minute, the entire book had been filled. SHING! Then over 200 copies of the book were created in an instant, and she put the books to the side. She had improved the method several times. Now, the Affinity was no longer important for creating a Light Mana Crystal, and it would also be five times faster than before. The Ancestral Mage told the True Mage that she should get some Mages to take over. The True Mage almost couldn''t believe what was happening, but after looking through the improved Spell, she couldn''t deny the truth anymore. But then, she thought of her friends and family. She couldn''t just leave them behind. "They can juste with you," the Ancestral Mage said. Now, there was no longer any reason for her to decline, and she epted the invitation. Acouple of dayster, her family, a couple of friends, and she gathered near the town''s exit. For the first time, the little True Mage saw the illustrious Town Lord from up close since he was standing just beside her. Shang had to be present for any interaction with the Twilight Dusk Family. The Ancestral Mage had left a couple of days ago, and today, she had returned to take the little Mage away. She looked at the present people and nodded. But before she left with them, she threw a nce at Shang. Shang didn''t react. ¡°Why haven''t you joined the Twilight Dusk Family?" she suddenly asked Shang. Chapter 663 Chapter 663 The little True Mage was a bit confused.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. She didn''t know a lot about the Town Lord. Sure, the Town Lord had basically been a god to her a couple of weeks ago, but the person that hade to take her to the Twilight Dusk Family said that the Town Lord was weak and couldn''tpare to the Twilight Dusk Family. But now, that Ancestral Mage asked the Town Lord why he hadn''t joined? "| didn''t notice it previously," the Ancestral Mage said, "but you also have a Twilight Affinity. However, you are not a weak person, and you definitely already know about the Twilight Dusk Family. So, why didn''t you join?" ¡°Because I''m not a Mage," Shang answered evenly. Silence. The young Mage only looked at the Ancestral Mage in confusion. Why was the Ancestral Mage so quiet, and why had her eyes widened? Hadn''t she ever seen a warrior before? "What?" the Ancestral Mage asked after several seconds. "I''m not a Mage," Shang repeated. "I''m a warrior." ¡°A warrior?" the Ancestral Mage said. "You mean like these weak mortals that fight with swords and spears?" "Correct," Shang answered. ¡°But you''re..." the Ancestral Mage said before trailing off as she focused on Shang. "You''re too strong for someone that isn''t a Mage. Secondary Paths don''t be that powerful." "I''m the only one of my kind as far as | know," Shang said. This surprised the young Mage, and she looked at Shang in a new light. Didn''t that mean that the Town Lord was the strongest warrior in the world? The Ancestral Mage furrowed her brows and fell into thought. "| still think that you can join the Twilight Dusk Family. | can feel that your Battle-Strength is quite high," she said. "You mean join as a Night Soldier, right?" Shang asked. The Ancestral Mage nodded. "I''ve seen a Night Soldier that worked for a Dawn Seedling. | would rather not join the Twilight Dusk Family as a Night Soldier, Shang said. The Ancestral Mage narrowed her eyes a bit. She was a Night Soldier, a position she was very proud of. After all, she was part of an Empire! Yet, as she thought of some of her experiences, she could understand Shang''s reason. However, she still believed that the opportunities and payment were worth the hassle. "| understand," the Ancestral Mage said before turning around. "I''m going to leave now. | wish you sess in creating a new Path. It would be interesting to see something other than just Mages everywhere." Shang nodded. "Farewell." The Ancestral Mage left together with the young Mage and herpanions. Awarrior in the Late Fifth Realm was unprecedented in the world, but to the Twilight Dusk Family, it was just an oddity. It was like finding a differently colored lobster for them. It was amusing and interesting, but that was it. Everything returned to normal for Shang, and time continued to pass. 20 yearster, Shang reached the Peak Fusion Realm, and this would be thest breakthrough for a very long time. His mind was now at its highest potential, and Shang needed to focus onprehending all the key elements for reaching the Sixth Realm now. At this moment, Shang was around 590 years old, and he had been in the Fusion Realm for a bit more than 250 years. Shang''s speed ofprehending the Concept of Subtraction increased, but he knew that he still had a long way ahead of him. The Concept of Subtraction felt much moreplicated than the Concept of Addition, but that was actually only an illusion. After all, Shang also had toprehend thebination of Addition and Subtraction. Sadly, even though Shang had an amazing ce toprehend the Concept of Subtraction and expensive resources, he simply wasn''t a Mage. Comprehending such a difficult Concept wasn''t easy for a Mage, and Shang wasn''t even one. Shang could only continueprehending. 30 yearster, another monumental incident took ce. The first Impose Stage warrior appeared in Icy Bastion. It was one of Shang''s Disciples, a smaller man with white hair and a spear. This had been one of the more hardworking Disciples, and his goal was to travel the outside world without help. Quite a few people had this dream. Going wherever one wanted, whenever one wanted. Just leaving the town and going into the wilderness without fear. This was one of the greatest achievements known to man since one needed to be an Early or Mid Ancestral Mage at least. Butpared to Shang, this Disciple of his was still quite social, and he enjoyed talking with other people. The Disciple thanked Shang profusely for all of his teachings, without which he would have never reached the Impose Stage. He asked how he could repay his Master for everything he had done for him, and Shang told him what he could do. Teach more True Path Stage warriors to reach the Impose Stage. The Disciple was quite shocked. He had expected his Master to have some ulterior motive for raising warriors. After all, he always acted like he hated interacting with them. Yet, just when one of his students reached the same level as him, he only asked for that person to selflessly pass their knowledge onto the next generation? Was his Master truly so altruistic and noble? He didn''t seem like it, but what other reason could his Master possibly have? "| will do so, Master!" the Disciple shouted with deep respect. From that day on, Icy Bastion received a teacher in the Impose Realm, and Shang stopped teaching. Ten yearster, another Impose Stage warrior appeared, who was quickly drawn in by the Temple of Blood. The Temple of Blood was willing to grant the warrior ridiculously good payment so that he taught the True Path Stage warriors in the Temple of Blood. Another ten yearster, a third Impose Stage warrior appeared, and by the looks of things, it would only be faster. By now, Icy Bastion had over 400 True Path Stage warriors, and the mortal district was now nearly three kilometers wide. Icy Bastion was doing its job. Shang had arrived here over two centuries ago, and now, his town was finally producing Impose Stage warriors. And then, finally, ten yearster, it was time. Shang had finallyprehended the Concept of Subtraction! Chapter 664 Chapter 664 It had taken so many years and so many Mind Flow Pellets, but Shang had finally done it. By now, Shang was 630 years old. People in the Fifth Realm could live for about a thousand years, which meant that Shang was essentially over 50 years old if he were a mortal. If someone reached the Sixth Realm, they would have reached it in their 400s or 500s, at thetest. Yet, Shang still wasn''t done. He had onlyprehended three of the five things he needed to reach the Sixth Realm. Luckily, the next part Shang needed to focus on wouldn''t take too long. Sure, the creation of an entirely new Path was always difficult, especially without a Star Map, but Shang had gained a lot of experience, and his mind had be many times more powerful. Lastly, he even had ess to expensive resources. Over the past centuries, Shang had consumed over four Grade Seven Mana Crystals worth of Mind Flow Pellets, which would have been unimaginable to him beforeing to his town. This was the advantage of having a powerful organization backing him. Surprisingly, ever since the number of True Path Stage warriors joining the Temple of Blood had increased, the Congregation stopped demanding progress and proof from him. This meant that they were more than happy with the influx of warriors they were getting. Over the past centuries, the Temple of Blood had already created several methods to make perfect use of these warriors. The minds of the warriors were mostly weaker than their bodies, which was extremely useful for covert missions since Mages only judged another human''s power by feeling the Mana wavesing from their minds. The target of a mission might look around suspiciously, but they would ignore someone whose mind was like four levels below their own. Even more, the Temple of Blood had created a terrifyingly effective piece of equipment. It was an earring with quite an interesting ability. The earring would severely restrict the flow of Mana that would enter or exit someone''s mind, locking up someone''s Magic. They could still cast some very weak Spells, but these Spells would be at least two Realms below their own, making them worthless. Additionally, taking the earring off didn''t mean that one could immediately cast Magic. The mind and Mana would need to resynchronize first, which took a couple of seconds. However, that also severely weakened their strength in the eyes of others. A True Path Stage warrior would seem as powerful as a mere Adept. Assuming a Mid High Mage suddenly died in the middle of a city and no one paid attention, who would look at the Adepts for the perpetrator? And the best thing was that True Path Stage warriors were still unknown to the vast majority of people. Maybe they had heard about them one time a couple of decades ago, but that was about it. No one was really thinking about them. This meant that the Temple of Blood could essentially go nuts with missions. Powerful people that had been warned about an attempt on their life would find themselves dying in the middle of a heavily guarded city. Secret information from some organizations and households leaked out. The people that knew of the Temple of Blood became more nervous. It was like the Temple of Blood had found some kind of new powerful weapon. And even worse, the power of the people dying to this mysterious weapon only increased with time! It wouldn''t take long for Archmages to die to this mysterious weapon if things continued progressing like this! The Temple of Blood was earning a lot of money. Their investment in Shang had paid off. They hadn''t yet recouped their investments, but they would earn far more than they invested in the long run. That''s why they were no longer bothering Shang. Afterprehending the Concept of Subtraction, Shang focused on creating his new Path and Impose. Ever sinceing up with his n, Shang had already decided that he would change his fighting style from fighting with one sword to fighting with two swords at once. And then, in the Sixth Realm, Shang would focus onbining the two Swords into a single one again. But for now, he needed to use two. Because of that, Shang wasn''t nning on creating a weapon that was perfect for being used on its own. In fact, even his Addum hadn''t been designed to fight on its own. Shang''s Addum wasn''t as cumbersome as his old Colossal Sword, but it was definitely more on the heavy and slow side. The Addum definitely wasn''t made to be fast. And now, Shang focused on creating a sword that wouldplement his Addum perfectly. After a lot of experimenting, Shang finally came up with a perfect design, and it was a doozy. In fact, it couldn''t even be called a sword. It was a very long and thin stick. In a way, it looked like one of the weapons the fencers in the Olympic Games back on Earth used. Of course, something like that was absolutely horrible for shing and was only good for stabbing. However, Shang had a very good reason for creating something like that. After creating his sword, Shang focused on it. It was thin, long, and had no cutting edge. Then, Shang willed something to happen. CRRRR! Dark pieces of ice surrounded the sword, and in an instant, a long edge had been created. Now, the sword looked like a longer form of Shang''s old Long Sword. CRRRR! The dark ice around the sword changed again. The sword became shorter, but the de grew wider. Shang went through a couple more des before dispersing the ice around the sword. This was the idea Shang hade up with. Shang''s Addum attacked slowly but with incredible power due to its heavy weight and big size. Meanwhile, there was nearly no heavy ore in the smaller sword, essentially allowing Shang to swing it as fast as his naked hand. And even more, when Shang thought about what he could do with the Concept of Subtraction, he had to smirk. The Concept of Subtraction was already incredibly useful on its own, but with the addition of the Concept of Addition, its power became terrifying. There was a terrifying level of synergy between the two Concepts and Shang''s two new weapons. It took Shang 40 years to create the Path for his new sword and an additional 30 years to create its Impose. Shang''s newest weapon had beenpleted.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. Its name was Subsis. Now, Shang had six Imposes inside his World Connection, and he had perfected hisbat style. Only thest step remained, which was to somehow elevate everything to the next level. However, Shang knew that he probably wouldn''t be able to just create something like this by just sitting inside his little town while consuming some pills. He needed inspiration, and for that, he needed to travel the world. By now, Shang was 700 years old, someone that had lived seven-tenths of his life. He was definitely not a young person anymore. Many people might even call him an old man. And now, this old man would leave his town for the first time in a long while and travel the world. Chapter 665 Chapter 665 ¡°Are you excited about the show?" a young woman with red hair asked a stalwart man walking beside her. The young woman wore expensive Mage robes, while the tall man wore heavy armor with a huge axe on his back. Surprisingly, the woman was hugging the man''s arm as they were strolling through the city. ¡°Hell yeah, I''m excited!" the man shouted. "I''ve been waiting for this tournament for over ten years!"N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. The woman giggled as she hugged her boyfriend. "| know that you would have won if you had the chance to participate!" The man only coughed ufortably. "You know that | lost during qualifications. These are the finals we are talking about. | don''t think | could win even against the weakestpetitor." The girl furrowed her brows and pouted. "You keep saying that, but aren''t you in the Mid Diamond Body Stage? | thought there were like only 50 of you in the world." The man could only sigh. "Yes, but there are only 32 spots open, and | didn''t make it.¡± ¡°Also, there are over ten Late Diamond Body Stage warriors, and there''s even a Peak Diamond Body Stage warrior." Sadly, the woman wasn''tpletely fine with her boyfriend''s exnation. Was he really not even average in his level? But it wasn''t a deal breaker to her. As long as her boyfriend was still stronger than her, she didn''t mind. To her, strong men were attractive. She was an Initial Archmage, and her boyfriend was at the Mid Diamond Body Stage. The two had sparred from time to time, but her boyfriend always won, which was a good thing for her. Because of that, she still loved him dearly. However, what she didn''t see was that her boyfriend was pushing himself very hard. His girlfriend was only average for an Initial Archmage, but he had nearly lost to her in the sparring match. He had acted like it hadn''t been hard for him to win, but it had actually been extremely hard. Even more, to win her over, he had also advanced to the Mid Diamond Body Stage way too soon. But that didn''t matter. He had had a crush on her for years, and he finally managed to obtain her. Sadly, he didn''t qualify for the greatest tournament for warriors ever held. About ten years ago, Star City, one of the biggest cities in the southernnds of the Lightning Manor, had announced that they were nning on creating the first major Warrior Guild in the world. There had been several smaller warrior guilds before, but there hadn''t been a really prolific one. Star City would change that. Star City had already created its ns for the Warrior Guild. Only the strongest warrior in the world would be allowed to be the Guild Master of the strongest Warrior Guild in the world. Because of that, Star City had advertised in nearly every single other city and town. The strongest Warrior Guild! The strongest warrior! A tournament to decide the strongest warrior in the world, with the grand prize being 100 Grade Six Mana Crystals and the position of Guild Master! Everyone in the surrounding two million kilometers had heard about the tournament, which was essentially the entire southeastern corner of the Lightning Manor''s territory. The rise of the new warriors had been quite interesting for all the Mages. Their entire lives, they had believed that there was only the Path of Magic, but now, warriors in the Fifth Realm had appeared. Sadly, these warriors were quite weakpared to Mages, but that wasn''t too surprising. After all, they had created that Realm just 300 years ago. With enough time, they might be able to rival Mages at some point. But as it stood now, an average Early Diamond Body Stage warrior was weaker than the average Initial Archmage, while an average Mid Diamond Body Stage warrior could defeat an average Initial Archmage but not an Early Archmage. One could say that, in general, a warrior''s Battle-Strength in the Fifth Realm was about 1.5 levels below an Archmage of the same level. However, it was still very shocking to hear about something like warriors. And today, the grand tournament would be held, which would be the public''s first time seeing these legendary warriors of the Fifth Realm. After all, there were less than a thousand of them in the world! They were even rarer than Mage Lords! The two lovers were excited to see a fight between the most powerful warriors in the world! This wasn''t an event that happened every day! ¡°By the way," the woman said after remembering something, "you think these weird warriors from the rumors will show up?" The man only snorted. "These scam artists? | doubt it. They might be able to fool a couple of True Path Stage warriors with their bullshit, but here, they would need to prove their actual power against real Diamond Stage warriors." "| already told you that they are just a bunch of Mages disguising themselves as warriors. If they were to try something here, they would get unmasked. After all, they can''t keep their true powers hidden during a genuine battle." "Eh? Are you sure?" the woman asked. "The people that saw them seemed quite convinced." The man snorted again. "You''re not a warrior. Trust me. They''re not real warriors." The woman looked at her boyfriend with a bit of skepticism, but in the end, she believed him. The two of them walked towards the center of Star City. For today''s tournament, the Star Colosseum had been reserved. Star City was an absolutely gigantic city, nearly a thousand kilometers wide, and with over 100 million people living there. It was led by three Mage Lords and thousands of Ancestral Mages. It was a metropolis, one of the biggest cities in the entire world. And its biggest attraction was the Star Colosseum. The Star Colosseum was a humongous arena in the middle of the city. The arena was nearly ten kilometers wide, and there were several Magic Circles around the Star Colosseum that made the air clearer while bending space just enough so that even mortals could see the other side of the arena. It could house over five million spectators. Most of the time, Ancestral Beasts would be brought here to fight to the death with each other as entertainment. Sometimes, there were also public fights between Ancestral Mages being held here. The two lovers paid their entrance fee, one Grade Five Mana Crystal each, and entered the Star Colosseum. The entire thing was packed! When the two of them saw the sea of people, they had to take a deep breath. Seeing all of this could only be described as monumental. It was gigantic. The woman only snickered a bit. "| bet they don''t have something like that in Area 23, eh?" she asked as she lightly poked her boyfriend''s side with her elbow. The man could only sigh. "No, we don''t have something like that." Chapter 666 Chapter 666 Over a million people had gathered in the Star Colosseum, all waiting for the start of the tournament. Building the Star Colosseum had been beyond expensive, but it had been worth it. The cheapest tickets cost one Grade Five Mana Crystal, and they had sold over a million. Star City had made one Grade Seven Mana Crystal with just one event. The audience was waiting with bated breath, and a couple of hourster, it finally started. Aman with long silver hair appeared on a flying tform above the colosseum. Behind him stood ten more people with luxurious robes. "Wee, everyone!¡± the man with silver hair shouted, his voice echoing throughout the entire colosseum. This was the City Lord of Star City, Lord Starsky. His real name was different, but every City Lord of Star City would take up the title of Lord Starsky. This had been a tradition for over a hundred thousand years. When Lord Starsky announced the beginning, the colosseum fell quiet. Everyone present here had some form of status or power. After all, the entrance fee was one Grade Five Mana Crystal. They wouldn''t cheer like some mortals. "Today, everyone has been gathered for the greatest warrior tournament in history!" Lord Starsky announced. "We will all witness the birth of the strongest warrior in the world!" ¡°Let the games begin!" After that, the ten people behind Lord Starsky jumped down from the flying tform and positioned themselves around the colosseum, with three of them hovering above the middle. All ten of these people were Ancestral Mages, and it was their job to officiate the entire thing. "Contestant 1 and contestant 12, step into the arena,¡± the head judge ordered. Contestant 1 was the favorite to win the tournament, while contestant 12 was judged to be in the middle. Contestant 1 was the only Peak Diamond Body Stage warrior in the entire world. He had invented an entirely new method to absorb the powers of a beast, allowing him to strengthen his body a bit more and faster as well. Contestant 1 entered the arena. He was a slim man with green hair. He was a bit on the shorter side and wore an elegant green uniform. On his hips were two long and thin swords. Surprisingly, he wasn''t the youngest anymore. He looked to be in his sixties for mortal standards, but he still radiated a certain level of power. Contestant 1 calmly walked to the middle of the arena and stopped. There was a peaceful and kind smile on his face, making him appear like a gentle old teacher. Then, contestant 12 stepped forward. He had ck hair, and he also seemed to be on the older side. He wore imposing ck armor, and he carried a long ck spear on his back. Inparison to contestant 1''s kind expression, contestant 12 seemed far more serious. He had a constant frown on his face, making him seem like a fearsomemander. Surprisingly, contestant 12 wasn''t at the Mid Diamond Body Stage but at the Early Fifth Stage. Yes, Early Fifth Stage, not Early Diamond Body Stage. There was an important difference! Contestant 12 wasn''t in the Diamond Body Stage.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org The two of them met in the middle of the arena and looked at each other. ording to the rules, contestant 1 was supposed to fight contestant 32 in the first round, the publicly acknowledged weakest participant in the tournament. However, both contestant 1 and contestant 12 had wished to fight each other in the first round, and the organizers had agreed. The reason was the strong rivalry between them. Contestant 1 was the one that invented the Diamond Body Stage, and he ushered in the birth of warriors in the Fifth Realm. Sadly, by the time he had created it, many True Path Stage warriors had already died due to old age. It had taken a long time for contestant 1 to create this Stage and make it powerful enough to support a breakthrough to the fifth Stage. Many warriors had tried to continuously strengthen their bodies in the True Path Stage to step forward, but they just hadn''t been able to gather enough power to push into the Fifth Stage. But then, contestant 1 created the Diamond Body Stage. In order to create a Diamond Body, one needed to convert their marrow into a concentrated storage of Mana. Usually, the sheer amount of concentrated Mana would make the body explode, but the toughness of the bones could withstand the pressure. With that, a warrior with a Diamond Body was about 20% more powerful than a beast. Originally, contestant 1 had tried to create a Beast Core, but the pressure of so much Mana was impossible to contain with normal Mana Pathways. Sadly, it wasn''t easy to increase the power of one''s Mana Pathways. Because of that, contestant 1 had to use his marrow and bones. Luckily, it wasn''t very hard to condense a Diamond Body. One only needed a lot of time and a lot of beast corpses. Of course, as soon as contestant 1 had created the Diamond Body Stage, every True Path Stage warrior followed him and did the same. Finally, they could reach the Fifth Stage! Sadly, since the only increase in Battle-Strength was a 20% stronger body after entering the Fifth Stage, the power of the warriors had fallen inparison to the Mages. And then, there was contestant 12. Instead of following contestant 1''s example and condensing a Diamond Body, contestant 12 focused on something else. He had been sure that there was a better way to reach the Fifth Stage, and he had dedicated his entire life to finding that way. He just kept trying different things andprehending more Paths on his way. And eventually, when he had already been 450 years old, he found a way. By then, contestant 12 hadprehended four different Paths. His original Path with which he had achieved his breakthrough to the True Path Stage had been the Long Spear Path, but over the next centuries, he had alsoprehended the Composite Bow Path, the Long Sword Path, and the Tower Shield Path. After training with all four of the Paths at the same time, contestant 12 had found something. The Paths could connect, and they seemed to resonate with each other. After experimenting some more, he finally found a way tobine them. Contestant 12 slowly took out his spear without a word. SHING! Then, three more weapons appeared. posite bow hovered above contestant 12. Along sword hovered diagonally in front of him. A tower shield hovered to the left of him. And the spear was inside his hands. A mystical power seemed to connect the different weapons together. In a way, it was a bit like Impose, but it wasn''t the same. Impose felt powerful, strong, and fierce. But this force felt versatile, agile, and quick. This was the Stage contestant 12 had created. He called it the Weapon Variance Stage. Inparison to Impose, Variance, the force of the Weapon Variance Stage, didn''t strengthen one''s attacks. Instead, it granted remote control over several weapons. It was almost like one had grown several long, invisible arms that could wield different weapons. With this power, contestant 12 could use all four weapons at the same time. ording to his calctions, it was possible to reach the Weapon Variance Stage afterprehending three Paths in total, which would put the warrior on about the same level as someone with a Diamond Body. However,pared to the Diamond Body Stage, the Weapon Variance Stage had something that made it strictly superior. More potential. A Diamond Body was a Diamond Body. There was no better or worse Diamond Body. Every Diamond Body was the same. But when it came to the Weapon Variance Stage, one could increase their power before the breakthrough byprehending more Paths. For example, contestant 12 hadprehended four Paths before he had reached the Weapon Variance Stage, which made him just a slight bit below average for a Mage if he were an average warrior. Luckily, contestant 12 was also quite talented, and if he had had more time, he would haveprehended more than four Paths before the breakthrough. Nevertheless, due to his potential, contestant 12''s Battle-Strength was about as strong as an above-average Archmage. Of course, contestant 1 was also quite outstanding, but he could only fight evenly against a Late Archmage, someone a level below him. Meanwhile, contestant 12 was stronger than the average Archmage on his level. If one looked objectively at the two Stages, there was a clear winner. The Weapon Variance Stage was just better. However, that was only true for the moment. Contestant 1 and his people were already working on a way of creating Beast Cores inside humans, which could potentially push someone''s body to be 50% more powerful than a beast''s body. But, for now, the Weapon Variance Stage was better, and the reason why contestant 12 had a problem with contestant 1 was that nearly every warrior in existence was following contestant 1''s path. Of course, contestant 1 also had a problem with contestant 12 because he knew that contestant 12''s path was strictly better at the moment. However, contestant 1 was certain that his path would win out in the long run. They just needed more time to research the human body. Both contestants had problems with each other, and both of them saw the other as a rival. And that was why they wanted to fight in this tournament. Contestant 1 wanted to show the world that he was stronger than contestant 12. Contestant 12 wanted to show the world that he could fight contestant 1 while being three levels below him. The crowd had heard about the rivalry, and they couldn''t be more excited about the uing fight! This was going to be great! Chapter 667 Chapter 667 The two contestants looked at each other. Contestant 12 had already drawn his weapons, while contestant 1 just stood there with a kind smile. "Your smile sickens me," contestant 12 said. Contestant 1''s smile didn¡¯t change. "Is it because | am reminding you of someone?" he asked. Contestant 12''s eyes narrowed. "Yes, you two seem simr, but you couldn''t be any more different. Teacher''s smile was genuine. Yours isn''t." Contestant 1 only shook his head slightly. "I''ve told you many times. | don''t want to kill you or stop you in your path. | do not intend to gain your trust with a mere smile." "| want to push you," contestant 1 said. "| want to see how far you can go. | want to put you under more pressure so that you will one day grow stronger.¡± "Shut up!" contestant 12 shouted with a voice burning with fury. "Don''t use the words of Teacher! You are not Teacher, no matter how much you try to copy him!" Contestant 1 only slightly shook his head. "Why won''t you let this matter rest? I''ve never tried to imitate him." "| can''t let this matter rest!" contestant 12 said with a dark voice. "Not while the public is singing your praises." ¡°Have you heard what they''re saying?¡± contestant 12 asked with narrowed eyes. "| don''t listen to gossip," contestant 1 said with a chuckle. "They want to bestow you the title of Warrior Saint!" contestant 12 said with disgust. "All because you came up with this barebones Diamond Body. They say that you opened up the way to the Fifth Realm, but in truth, you''ve doomed nearly a thousand warriors to mediocrity, and you will continue to doom many more!" "The Diamond Body is a dead path! It leads to a dead end! Yet, the Warrior Council wants to make you the second Warrior Saint! They want to elevate you to the same position as the Progenitor Saint, the one that created the True Path Stage!" "| have no problem with people imitating myte teacher. Many people aspire to be him." Contestant 12 lifted his spear and pointed it at contestant 1. ¡°However, | can''t allow a copy to overtake my teacher! My teacher was only bestowed the title of Champion while you are about to be the second Saint!" contestant 12 shouted. The conversation was being transmitted to everyone in the colosseum, and they were talking animatedly via voice transmission with each other. 98% of watchers were Mages, and they didn''t know a lot about the warrior paths. But hey, drama was entertaining! After contestant 12 was finished with his tirade, contestant 1 only shook his head with an exhausted expression. ¡°I''ve known Teacher Mervin longer than you," contestant 1 said. Contestant 12 narrowed his eyes in anger when he heard contestant 1 speak his teacher''s name. "| know how you feel," contestant 1 said. "Teacher Mervin was an amazing warrior. He had been one of the very first to reach the True Path Stage, and his True Path had also been outstanding in its quality." "On top of that, he taught so many warriors. Nearly all of the truly powerful warriors today had once been taught by Teacher Mervin." "He has been an idol to us all.¡± "Yet, he has failed in the end," contestant 1 said with a sigh. "He tried to find a different way to the Fifth Stage. | remember telling him many times that it would be easier to research a way to reach the Fifth Stage by increasing the power of our bodies, but he adamantly refused." ¡°He wanted to create something else, and in the end, he died of old age." "Do you know how | felt?" contestant 1 asked with a soft voice. "| was so close to creating my Diamond Body, but Teacher Mervin refused to help me." "He chose death over helping me." ¡°He would rather die than help me in creating my way." Contestant 1 slowly shook his head. "| idolized him for over 300 years, but when | finally reached his level, he chose death over working together with me." Contestant 1 sighed. "How can someone this stubborn ever possibly be a Saint?" Contestant 12 gnashed his teeth.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g "| saved so many warriors¡¯ lives," contestant 1 said. "So many warriors would have died of old age without me." ¡°And yet, you are constantlyparing me to this stubborn old fool.¡± "Yes, he was a magnificent teacher, but he was also a stubborn mule. You''re idolizing your deceased teacher to the point of surrealism. Recognize that people have strengths and weaknesses," contestant 1 said. For the first time, contestant 1''s expression seemed to be annoyed. ¡°Also, I''m not the only one that''s resembling someone else, am |?" Contestant 12''s eyes widened in fury. He wouldn''t dare! "Don''t you also look like someone else?" contestant 1 asked. Contestant 12''s grip hardened on his spear. "Yes, my mannerisms are simr to Teacher Mervin''s, but | don''t blindly idolize him. Yet, you seemed to think like | did." "So, wouldn''t it be logical to assume that you are also idolizing a certain someone?" contestant 1 asked with a bright smile that seemed deeply fake. "You look a bit like-" BANG! Contestant 12 shot forward in an instant, his bow firing several arrows at contestant 1 while he shed forward with his sword and thrust with his spear. DING! DING! DING! BANG! Contestant 1 took out his two swords, deflected the arrow and the spear, parried the sword, and shed the tower shield in front of him with his other sword. Contestant 12 was thrown back, his bones creaking under immense force. Contestant 1''s body was vastly more powerful than his. Contestant 12 gnashed his teeth as he regained his bnce. "Is this so much of a trigger for you?" contestant 1 asked. "But then, why are you dressing like him? Why are you acting like him?" ¡°Maybe you are the one idolizing someone." "Tell me..." ¡°Are you idolizing the Fallen Saint?" Chapter 668 Chapter 668 "Shut up! He doesn''t deserve the title of Saint!" contestant 12 shouted. The audience grew a bit confused when they heard about the Fallen Saint. Although almost all of them were Mages, they had still heard of the Progenitor Saint and the one that invented the Diamond Body. But they hadn''t heard of a Fallen Saint before. Who was that? Many of the Mages were asking the warriors in the audience via voice transmission who the Fallen Saint was. The warriors didn''t like talking about the Fallen Saint, but the oppressive Spirit Sense of so many Archmages and Ancestral Mages was too much to handle. So, they talked. The Fallen Saint. He had joined the legendary warrior academy as a young boy at the Peak Soldier Stage. Originally, he had been very weak, and people believed him to be untalented and weak. But then, he started to grow with incredible power, and he had also been the one that had undergone the first Bloodline Infusion. Just that aplishment alone would him a title as a Champion, but this had only been the beginning. His power grew only more and more ridiculous as more time passed. He was the one that brought the Star Map to the warriors, the key to their sess. He was also the first warrior that received a noble title. Even more, ording to records, he had been the most powerful warrior that had ever lived. In the Early True Path Stage, he managed to overwhelm Duke Torrent, who had been in the Late High Mage Realm. That had been a jump of two levels against a Mage. And then, during the final battle of the Revolutionary War, he essentially won the entire war for everyone. ording to what the witnesses from back then had said, he had killed three Council Members with only the help of some Magic Circles while also supporting every other battle. However, thest three parts were considered controversial. Over 600 years had passed since the Revolutionary War, and only two people that had fought in the war personally were still alive. And these two avoided talking about the Fallen Saint for obvious reasons. As of now, the public''s opinion was split. One side believed that the Fallen Saint''s powers had been exaggerated, while the other side believed the tales about his power. In terms of aplishments, the Fallen Saint had contributed about as much as the Progenitor Saint. However, hisst actions had thrown the world of warriors into an internal conflict. ording to Queen Eternalfrost and Prince Eternalfrost, the Fallen Saint had killed the legendary King Storm, the benefactor of warriorkind. With the death of King Storm, Area 23 had been thrown into an age of instability. The Magic Purity Kingdom took advantage of their weakness andunched a full-scale assault on the Storm Kingdom. Over 80% of True Path Stage warriors and High Mages died, but before the Magic Purity Kingdom could annihte the former Storm Kingdom, a new King suddenly rose. No one had known the King before that moment, but his power was incredible. But he had also been thest King. Some monthster, the people of Area 23 saw their world change. The veil had been lifted. An impossibly powerful Mage with silver hair had stepped forward and publicly announced the truth about the world... Or Area 23, as they knew it. Ever since then, Area 23 had transformed from and of five Kingdoms into and of three Camps. From and of Kingdoms, everything had transformed into and of cruel games. Since Area 23 was on top of a gigantic teau, only people in the Fourth Realm could escape, which meant that everyone was stuck there... And the Lightning Manor encouraged fighting. In the end, the people were doomed to either live in war-tornnds for their entire lives or reach the Fourth Realm and escape into the peaceful outside world. Area 23 had forever changed, and that change had happened because of King Storm''s death. If the Fallen Saint hadn''t killed King Storm, there would be nearly ten times as many True Path Stage and Diamond Body Stage warriors right now. However, the Fallen Saint had also contributed an insane amount to the warriors. This was why people didn''t like talking about him. In honor of his aplishments, they had bestowed him the title of Saint, but due to his sins, they also tried their best not to talk about him. He was a symbol of a warrior''s power, but he was also a symbol of a warrior''s aggression. The warriors knew that the Mages were the undisputed rulers of the world, and the warriors didn''t want to associate with one of their kind that had killed someone from the Lightning Manor. They didn''t want to anger the Lightning Manor. To some people, the Fallen Saint was an inspiration, but they would never dare to say that publicly. What the Fallen Saint had done was disgusting and abhorrent. He had killed King Storm, his best friend and the warrior''s benefactor. He had been a monster. However, he had also been more powerful than everyone else. But the times had changed. All of this happened over 500 years ago, and the world had changed. The old warriors were dead, and the new warriors had taken over. The world was going forward, and at one point, the Fallen Saint would be forgotten. The warriors were doing their best so that this would be the case. After the spectating warriors exined this to the asking Mages, everyone''s attention went back to the fight. "Don''t speak of him!" contestant 12 shouted in fury. "He killed King Storm! Do notpare me to a monster like him! If it weren''t for him, Teacher would still be alive!" Contestant 1 snorted, but he didn''t answer.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Instead, contestant 1 slowly advanced on contestant 12 with his two swords. Over the next minute, contestant 12 attacked contestant 1 with all his power, but contestant 1 seemed to only be ying with contestant 12. He easily blocked contestant 12''s attacks while kicking his shield again and again. Surprisingly, the onlookers¡¯ opinions were split into two camps. One camp saw the sheer dominance of contestant 1, while the other camp was impressed by contestant 12 being able to fight contestant 1 for so long with such a difference in levels. The people talked to each other via voice transmissions as they watched the fight. "This is it? This is what the warriors in the Lightning Manor''s Empire can do? This is just sad." Contestant 1 and contestant 12 jumped away from each other, and they looked in the same direction. Due to how Spirit Senses worked, the audience was only allowed to converse via voice transmissions. Otherwise, everyone would automatically hear every conversation of every other person in the audience, which would be annoying and distracting. Yet, someone had dared to speak up without masking their voice at all, and to top it all off, he had ndered all the warriors present. Because of that, everyone had heard him. This was far beyond disrespectful! Everyone looked over with furrowed brows. There were five people, and all five of them were wearing enchanted cloaks that hid their auras and features. All their cloaks were differently colored, and they were positioned on three different levels, showing an obvious difference in status. There were two people at the lowest level. Their cloaks were red and silver. Then, there were two people in the middle. Their cloaks were ck and white. Lastly, there was one person at the top, and their cloak was ocean blue. The one in the silver cloak had spoken up just now. The officials of the tournament wanted to apprehend the troublemakers, but they were stopped by a voice transmissioning from Lord Starsky. "Don''t do anything reckless,¡± he told them with a serious tone. "The one in the blue cloak is a Mage Lord." Chapter 669 Chapter 669 The Ancestral Mages looked with furrowed brows at the five cloaked people. These people had disturbed the grand tournament, but they couldn''t just reprimand them. After all, there was a Mage Lord among them. Mage Lords were exceedingly rare. The Lightning Manor had around a thousand Mage Lords, but there were also a couple of unaffiliated Mage Lords. About 50 to 100 unaffiliated Mage Lords lived in the Lightning Emperor''s Empire without directly being part of the Lightning Manor. There were no known unaffiliated Mage Kings. This meant that these 50 to 100 people represented the most powerful people in an Empire aside from the forces below the Emperor. The three Mage Lords running Star City were part of this group of Mage Lords. This meant that this blue-robed Mage Lords was on the same level as the ruler of one of the biggest cities in the world, Star City. Because of that, the Ancestral Mages couldn''t just attack or offend the Mage Lord. "Talking openly is forbidden," Lord Starsky spoke from his flying tform. "I can feel that you are not from around here, which might exin your words. Let this be my first andst warning for all visitors." Lord Starsky managed to spin the current situation in such a way that he didn''t seem like someone that didn''t dare to reprimand someone in his city. "| was under the impression this was a tournament between warriors," the person in the silver cloak spoke up suddenly. Earlier, the person in the red cloak had interrupted the proceedings, but now, the person in the silver cloak also interfered. The Ancestral Mages and Lord Starsky narrowed their eyes. Lord Starsky had given them a way out earlier without disrespecting them, but they hadn''t taken it. This meant that they were obviously here to cause trouble. Lord Starsky''s mind extended toward the person in a threatening manner. WHOOOM! Yet, he felt the power of his mind being deflected by the person in the blue cloak. Unsurprisingly, the person in the blue cloak supported the two troublemakers. ¡®But why?¡¯ Lord Starsky thought. ¡®What would they get out of this?¡¯ It was very difficult to assess the mysterious Mage Lord''s power, but Lord Starsky could tell that they were not a pushover. Lord Starsky was a Late Mage Lord, which put him in the top 10 unaffiliated Mage Lords in the Lightning Manor''s territory. He had been around for a long while, and he knew basically every unaffiliated Mage Lord in the Lightning Manor''s territory and also plenty in other territories. Yet, the bits of aura he could feeling off the person in the blue cloak didn''t feel familiar. He was quite certain that he had nevere into contact with this person before. "What is your business here?" Lord Starsky asked coldly, his voice echoing throughout the arena. "Have youe here to cause trouble?" The person in the red cloak stood up from their seat and snorted. "Depends on what you view as trouble.¡± SHING! The red cloak covering the person''s body vanished, revealing their true appearance. It was a tall young man with short, fiery-red hair, wearing form-fitting red armor. Everyone could see an arrogant smirk on the man''s face as he held a long and red trident in his right hand. Tridents were part of the spear category. When everyone saw the person, they felt confused. An Early Diamond Body Stage warrior? Why was he suddenly causing trouble? However, the few Diamond Body Stage warriors and True Path Stage warriors in the audience noticed something else. This man''s aura felt different. Contestant 12''s aura was different from any other warrior''s aura due to his unique Stage, the Weapon Variance Stage. Yet, the red-haired man''s aura was different once again. His aura didn''t feel like the aura of someone in the Diamond Body Stage, and his aura also didn''t resemble contestant 12''s aura. But the majority of people couldn''t feel a difference and just assumed the warrior to be in the Diamond Body Stage. ¡°Haven''t you heard what my friend just said?" the young man shouted with an arrogant smirk. Then, he pointed his trident at the two contestants from his seat. "I thought this was a tournament between warriors. Yet..." His trident pointed at the distance contestant 1. "Why is a Barbarian," he said before his weapon moved to point at contestant 12, ¡°fighting a Weapon Master?" "| don''t see any warriors in the Fifth Stage here." This immediately enraged the warriors in the audience, but they didn''t dare to say anything. At the moment, there were thousands of Ancestral Mages in the audience, and even though the Ancestral Mages didn''t even look at them, the warriors felt intimidated and tiny in their presence. Yes, the strongest warriors of the world were fighting in the arena, but if one chose any person in the audience at random, the chances were quite high that this person could defeat the strongest warrior. The warriors were proiming their power in this tournament, but that was only true whenpared to their earlier weakness. In front of the Mages, they were still nothing. "Barbarian?" contestant 1 repeated, his voice sounding extremely insulted. ¡°Weapon Master?" contestant 12 repeated, butpared to contestant 1, he sounded confused. "Yes," the man in red repeated. "A Barbarian and a Weapon Master." Then, he looked at Lord Starsky. "I thought this was a tournament between warriors." By now, Lord Starsky had some suspicions, and he decided to y along. "If they are not warriors, what is a warrior?" he asked. The red-haired man harrumphed in confidence. BANG! Then, he jumped into the arena andnded a distance away from the two contestants. "| am!" he shouted as he raised his red trident. After raising it, he swung the trident to the side.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org BANG! Everyone could feel some sort of powere out of the trident, and a momentter, the walls of the arena in the distance rumbled a bit. The eyes of the watching Ancestral Mage''s widened with surprise and curiosity. They hadn''t felt such a force before, and they were intrigued. They hadn''t felt the red-haired man give off any kind of Mana, but the force had still managed to stretch to the walls of the arena, which were several kilometers away from him. That was very curious. "My name is Lei, and | am a warrior at the Early Impose Stage." Chapter 670 Chapter 670 Contestant 1 and contestant 12 looked at Lei with narrowed eyes. They had heard of these strange warriors that didn''t follow either of the two established paths, but they hadn''t seen one of them yet. ¡°What authority do you have to call me a Barbarian?" contestant 1 asked. "What else are you?" Lei said. "We can all agree that True Path Stage warriors are warriors, but that is where the lineage of warriors has ended in the Lightning Manor''s territory." Nearly everyone''s eyes shone in understanding and recognition. In the Lightning Manor''s territory? Now, they knew where these warriors wereing from and why they were making trouble. This was a rivalry between Empires. "The person that has created the True Path Stage was a pioneer for warriorkind, but the people that invented the Diamond Body Stage and Weapon Variance Stage were not." "They were pioneers for Barbariankind and Weapon-Master-Kind." "What is a Diamond Body?" Lei asked rhetorically. "Isn''t it just an expansion of the Bloodline Infusion?" The two contestants narrowed their eyes when they heard about the Bloodline Infusion. It was possible that the warriors in a different territory created a True Path Stage separately, but the chances of them creating something as specific as the Bloodline Infusion were incredibly low. This meant that the knowledge of these mysterious warriors derived from Area 23. ¡°Would you call the Bloodline Infusion a path of its own?" Lei asked with a smirk. "No, it isn''t. It is just a basic tool for warriors. It is an addition to a warriors power, not its own thing.¡± "Yet, look at you," Lei said to contestant 1 with a snort. "You refined the Bloodline Infusion and pushed it one step further. You managed to transform your spine into a storage for Mana, increasing the overall level of Mana inside your body." "That is an amazing aplishment," Lei said. "However, instead of using it to increase the warriors¡¯ powers, you say this is the path forward." ¡°At most, you are a Barbarian, but in truth, you are someone that ughtered the golden goose thatys golden eggs. You can increase your power quickly in the short term, but you will ruin your future.¡± ¡°And not just yours. You ruin every warrior''s future.¡± "Do you know what | think of your Diamond Body Stage?" Lei held his hand out. SHING! Asmall bottle of pills appeared in his hand. "That''s what | think of your Diamond Body Stage," he said before throwing the bottle over to contestant 1. Contestant 1 furrowed his brows, but he opened the bottle and analyzed the pills. But the more he looked at them, the more shocked he grew. Contestant 1 was probably the warrior that knew the most about the human body in the entire world, aside from Shang maybe, and he could tell what these pills could do. Contestant 1 was doing his best not to let anything show on his face, but deep inside, he felt like his world was breaking down. This was a heavy hit. What was moreplex, the Bloodline Infusion or creating a Diamond Body? The Bloodline Infusion, obviously. The Diamond Body only transformed one part of a body into Mana, while the Bloodline Infusion changed someone''s entire body into something else. Contestant 1 still remembered when the Bloodline Infusion had be public knowledge and the sheer amount of work that was required to perform it. And yet, this extremely advanced, invasive, and monumental procedure had been transformed into a mere bottle of pills. Something this fundamental.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. Something thisplex. Something this advanced. Had been transformed into a small bottle of pills. "Do you see this?" Lei asked. "We''ve transformed the Bloodline Infusion into a bit of medicine. You only have to take it for a day, and you will shit out your old body without any issues. Even children can take it.¡± "Do you think your so-called Diamond Body will be any different?" Lei asked with a smirk. CRACK! The bottle of pills blew apart as contestant 1 clenched his fist in anger. "The body of a Soldier Stage warrior is vastly different from the body of a True Path Stage warrior, and a Soldier Stage warrior can''t withstand the pressure of the Diamond Body traveling through their spine," contestant 1 said. "The Bloodline Infusion and the Diamond Body are monumentally different.¡± Surprisingly, Lei only continued smirking at contestant 1. "You''re right," he said. "They are different." "The Diamond Body is worse." Contestant 1 did his best to keep himself in check. "You think we haven''t done our research?" Lei asked. "You think we wouldn''t notice the obvious drawback of your Diamond Body?" "In exchange for more power, you lose control.¡± "You have so much Mana inside of your body that just releasing a tiny bit will fill all of your Mana Pathways. Performing intricate techniques requires incredible control, and with your Diamond Body, this will be very difficult." "Think about it. You have more physical power, but you have worse techniques." "Doesn''t that sound exactly like a Barbarian?" Contestant 1''s hands turned white as his grip on his swords tightened even further. Contestant 12 had never managed to enrage contestant 1 to this degree before, but this Lei did it in less than five minutes. ¡°And you," Lei said as he turned to the silent contestant 12, "your Path could be considered to be an actual Path, but it is not the warrior''s Path." ¡°Exin your viewpoint," contestant 12 said in an even voice. He wasn''t nearly as outraged as contestant 1. In fact, he felt actually quite good right now since Lei managed to publiclyy out the weaknesses of the Diamond Body for everyone to see in a beautiful manner. "Jack of all trades, master of none," Lei said. Contestant 12 didn''t react as strongly as contestant 1 to the critique. "You have taken the concept of a True Path, but instead of delving deeper into it, you just keep repeating the concept over and over again." "It is true that quantity is its own form for quality, but that is not what a warrior is about." "We start in the Soldier Stage, and we transform our bodies to reach the General Stage. Then, we go one step further and comprehend our own Domain, something made up of our mastery over Mana and our techniques." ¡°After that, we create our own Path. We create the very thing that will lead us forward." "Yet, instead of walking your Path, you create more Paths." "What''s the worth of a Path if you don''t tread it?¡± "It''s called a Path!" "It''s called the True Path Stage!" "As warriors, we need to travel down our Path, not create more of them!" Contestant 12 looked at Lei with furrowed brows. "I can follow your logic, but it is undeniable that the addition of more Paths can increase someone''s power tremendously." Lei smirked. "Sure, but that''s not what a warrior is about." ¡°A Barbarian is someone that fights with their body." "A Weapon Master is someone that fights with their weapons." ¡°A warrior is someone that fights with their techniques." "You are quantity." ¡°A warrior is quality.¡± "Therefore, you are not warriors." Contestant 1 snorted as he looked at Lei. "And what, pray tell, is a real warrior then?" Lei chuckled a bit and spun his trident. The air around the trident seemed to warp as a force rapidly moved through the world. "I''ll show you." "Today, I''ll show you the power of a warrior!" "The power of the Impose Stage!" Chapter 671 Chapter 671 The watching Mages talked to each other with excitement and interest. All of this was just a show to them. They didn''t specifically care about the politics between warriors, but the open drama was more than entertaining for them. Just for this show, paying the Grade Five Mana Crystal was already worth it. But for the warriors, this was quite an intense and emotionally charged conflict. They were warriors! Barbarians didn''t exist in Area 23 anymore, but everyone had still heard of them, and the reputation of the barbarians wasn''t the best. They seemed inferior and weak. Yet, this Lei guy called everyone with a Diamond Body a Barbarian. This was extremely disrespectful to nearly every warrior present. Many of the warriors had already created their Diamond Body, and even more of them were in the process of creating it. They had worked for decades, if not centuries, for their goal, and they couldn''t ept it when someone told them that all their hard work had been for nothing. Lord Starsky remained quiet. At the moment, he felt conflicted. On one hand, the sudden interruption from the foreign warriors was disrespectful towards him and Star City as a whole, and even more, if these warriors actually won against the present warriors, it would pull down the warriors¡¯ prestige, which would pull down the entire event with it, which would pull down the organizer, Lord Starsky himself. But on the other hand, if his warriors defeated the foreign warriors, it would increase the prestige of the warriors in the Lightning Manor''s territory. It all depended on who won. Lord Starsky was confident in his power and his status. Even if the mysterious Mage Lord were more powerful, they couldn''t just enter the city and kill him. The Lightning Manor would have issues with that. It was one thing when a Mage Lord living in the Lightning Manor''s territory killed another Mage Lord, but it was something different when a foreign Mage Lord did that. "| have made my decision," Lord Starsky announced. Everyone looked up at the floating tform. "This is an unusual urrence, but | believe that everyone has gathered here to witness the birth of the strongest warrior of the world." "Because of that, | decided to let this group of warriors partake in the tournament." The present Mages felt excited when they heard Lord Starsky''s words. ¡°How many of you will be joining?" Lord Starsky asked the person in the blue cloak. ¡°Two for now," the person in the blue cloak answered. "If both of them are defeated, | will send a third, but that will be thest one. Lord Starsky looked with interest at the four remaining cloaked figures. He hadn''t expected three. The first two were obviously the person with the red cloak, Lei, and the person in the silver cloak. Even though they were wearing enchanted cloaks, Lord Starsky wasn''t just anyone. Lord Starsky was amazing at feeling out someone''s power. The two people in the red and silver cloaks were well within the Fifth Realm, and the silver one was definitely more powerful than the red one. Inparison, the ones in the white and ck cloak had power that was well within the Sixth Realm, which made it impossible for them to be warriors. Of course, Lord Starsky could only tell someone''s actual power, not their Realm or level through the cloaks. If one of these two were an extremely powerful and talented Peak Archmage, they would also exhibit the power of someone inside the Ancestral Mage Realm, but that didn''t matter in this case. After all, how could a warrior possibly reach such powers right now? In the future, maybe, but not right now. "Does this mean that they are hiding the third person?¡¯ Lord Starsky thought. ¡®Are they that confident in their power?¡¯ "Maybe they thought that | would have declined their participation if | had a chance to feel out the third warrior.¡¯ Lord Starsky felt like they had won one over him, but it wasn''t a big deal. After a moment, the person in the silver cloak jumped into the arena, but they stayed near the side and didn''t take off their cloak. This was obviously the second participant. Lord Starsky informed his ten Ancestral Mages about how they should handle the current situation, and they nodded. ¡°Because of the new contestants, we are reshuffling the fights," the leader of the Ancestral Mages announced. "The new contestant going by the name of Lei will fight contestant 32 for a spot in the tournament. Contestant 1 and contestant 12 will remain at the edges of the arena for now." The current contestants were not inside the arena to keep their identities a secret. It made for a much greater show when the audience didn''t know who was about to enter. But it made no sense to keep the contestants secret again. Because of that, contestant 1 and contestant 12 could remain at the edge of the arena instead of having to retreat back into the waiting rooms. Contestant 1 and contestant 12 shot a nce at each other for a moment, but they walked to the edges of the arena separately without interacting with each other. What the people didn''t notice was that contestant 1 had tried to create some form of temporary alliance with contestant 12. These were foreign warriors, and they should be the enemy of both of them. However, contestant 12 declined immediately. From what he had seen, this Impose Stage was better than the Diamond Body Stage, making these foreign warriors more warrior-like than all the other warriors in this tournament. When everyone reached the edge of the arena, the Ancestral Mages called in contestant 32. The gates opened, and a younger man with brown hair, carrying a long spear and a tower shield, entered the arena. Everything that happened in the arena was transmitted to the people in the waiting rooms, and they couldn''t wait to tear these foreign warriors apart. How dare they call them Barbarian?! Lei just smirked, moved his trident to the back, and taunted contestant 32 by curling his fingers. Contestant 32 narrowed his eyes. N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Chapter 672 Chapter 672 As soon as the fight started, contestant 32 shot at Lei, who only grinned arrogantly. Contestant 32 was at the Mid Diamond Body Stage, while Lei was at the Early Impose Stage. In a way, Lei was one level below contestant 32. BANG! Lei hit contestant 32''s tower shield with his trident, and the two of them deadlocked. This surprised the onlookers quite a bit. A Diamond Body increased someone''s power even more, and contestant 32 was also a level above Lei. Yet, Lei managed to sh with contestant 32''s strength directly. With just this one sh, the warriors noticed that Lei wasn''t just talk. Contestant 32 quickly pushed Lei''s trident to the side, but Lei just used the force to spin his trident and used the butt of his trident to push the enemy''s spear to the side.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. The power of Impose that Lei had demonstrated earlier appeared again, and contestant 32''s spear was thrown to the side. BANG! But contestant 32 blocked with his tower shield. From that moment on, Lei released one attack after the other, and contestant 32 was constantly on the defensive. He was being flung further and further away, and his blocks became sloppier. And then... BANG! Ashield made of Mana appeared in front of contestant 32''s chest, blocking Lei''s attack. The warriors looked with grimaces at the twobatants. The two of them stopped moving, and Lei only smirked at contestant 32 while contestant 32 took a deep breath. "It was a good fight," contestant 32 said after taking a deep breath. Obviously, the warriors weren''t supposed to fight to the death. All the present warriors had received a Magic Circle that would block a fatal attack, and when that Magic Circle was triggered, the person using it would lose. "Eh, I''ve had better," Lei said with his arrogant smirk. The warriors furrowed their brows in annoyance. Lei didn''t even give them a basic form of respect. Contestant 32 left without saying anything, walking toward the edge of the huge arena. Lei snorted and also returned to his previous position near the edge. "The warrior known as Lei has defeated contestant 32 and will take his ce," the Ancestral Mage announced. Lei was now contestant 32. "Next fight, contestant 31 versus the foreign warrior in the silver cloak," the Ancestral Mage announced. The warrior in the silver cloak stepped into the middle of the arena as contestant 31 entered. Contestant 31 was an older warrior with blue armor and a huge sword. Surprisingly, the mysterious warrior didn''t take off their cloak and only summoned their weapon. When everyone saw the weapon, they were quite surprised. That was rare! It was aposite bow! Nearly no warrior at the Diamond Body Stage used a bow as their weapon of choice. Contestant 31 furrowed his brows and readied himself for the fight. No one knew how powerful this mysterious warrior would be. When the Ancestral Mage announced the start of the fight, contestant 31 shot forward. The mysterious warrior just pulled back the string, and a metallic arrow crackling with lightning appeared on the bow. Then, they loosened the arrow. Contestant 31 blocked with his huge sword. BOOOM! Contestant 31''s charge was immediately halted, his huge sword was fiercely pushed into his body, and he was flung backward. The watching warriors took a deep breath in shock. With just one arrow, contestant 31 was thrown into the distance. The mysterious warrior simply readied another arrow and fired at contestant 31 again. BANG! Contestant 31''s Mana Shield activated, signaling the end of the fight. The arrow would have killed him. This was brutal! By now, everyone was certain. The warrior in the silver cloak was more powerful than Lei! The Ancestral Mage announced the result, and the warrior in the silver cloak became the new contestant 31. Contestant 31 took a deep breath. "Your power has humbled me. Thank you for the fight, no matter how short it was," he said to the mysterious warrior. Surprisingly, the mysterious warrior bowed slightly in a polite manner before walking to the edge of the arena. Inparison to Lei, this warrior wasn''t nearly as arrogant and boisterous. After these two fights, the official tournament started. The fights had all been shuffled, and Lord Starsky had ced the four most interesting contestants as far away from each other as possible. He could already envision the semifinals and the finals. The different contestants fought each other in the first round. Contestant 1 easily won against contestant 30. Contestant 12 had a hard fight against contestant 16, but he won. Contestant 32, Lei, won against contestant 20 after an average battle. Contestant 31 destroyed contestant 18. Contestants 1, 12, 31, and 32 made it to the second round. Contestant 1 easily won against contestant 5. Contestant 12 had a difficult fight against contestant 9, but he won. Contestant 32 got his first opponent, who was actually difficult to defeat, contestant 13, but he won. Contestant 31 destroyed contestant 7. All four of them made it to the quarterfinals. Now only eight contestants were left. Contestants 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 31, and 32. The first match was contestant 1 against contestant 3. Contestant 3 was in the Late Diamond Body Stage, but contestant 1 won against him after a short fight. Contestant 2 fought against contestant 8 and won. The battle was quite long, but in the end, contestant 2 won. Contestant 31 fought against contestant 4. This time, the battle wasn''t as easy for contestant 31. Contestant 31 actually needed to move around the arena and shoot several arrows. Contestant 4 definitely wasn''t easy, especially since he was at the Late Diamond Body Stage. However, contestant 31 won in the end. At the moment, the confirmed warriors in the semifinals were contestants 1, 2, and 31. This left onest fight in the quarterfinals. Contestant 12 versus contestant 32. The battle was long and brutal, and the onlooking warriors and Mages were quite impressed. These two warriors were quite talented, and they both were powerful enough to fight an Archmage on their level. One had to remember that contestant 1 was at the Peak Diamond Body Stage, and contestant 2 was at the Late Diamond Body Stage. Yet, these two were actually in the Early Fifth Realm. If they were actually at the Late or Peak Fifth Realm, wouldn''t they be more powerful than everyone else? After a long and exciting battle, a winner emerged. The winner was... Chapter 673 Chapter 673 Lei snorted. Then, the Mana Shield around him slowly vanished, and the arrow that had triggered the Mana Shield fell to the ground. Lei had fought contestant 12 evenly, but with the addition of theposite bow, Lei had been forced to make several rushed and awkward movements. Because of the bow, Lei had lost. ¡°Weapon Variance, huh?" Lei said as he put his trident away. "It seems like | underestimated its power." Lei couldn''tin since both of them were at the same level. Lei had lost fair and square. Contestant 12 nodded. "The Impose Stage is more than impressive. It has been a long time since | had such a difficult battle against someone on my level." Lei snorted again, but the more perceptive people could notice that he actually only wanted to appear tough and dismissive. Some people could tell that Lei enjoyed thepliment. "Congrattions," Lei said as his arrogant smirk returned. "You might be amongst the twenty most powerful warriors in the world, but | wouldn''t bet on it." The warriors were immediately furrowing their brows, and even contestant 12 seemed annoyed. Contestant 12 was now among the top four in the tournament. Was Lei saying that there were over 16 warriors outside the tournament that could defeat him? That seemed unlikely. ¡°What? You don''t believe me?" Lei asked with a smirk. "Why do you think | was chosen specifically for this tournament?" "It''s because | am average," Lei said with augh. The people only looked at Lei with furrowed brows. "I''m the most average Impose Stage warrior. I''veprehended an average Path, which made for an average Impose. | have been in some dangerous battles, but they are notmon to me." ¡°I''ve been sent to demonstrate the average power of an Impose Stage warrior." ¡°And with my average power, | made it to the top eight here. That''s honestly quite sad." Most of the warriors became infuriated again. They obviously didn''t believe Lei''s words, and they felt like Lei was only saying these things to disrespect them. Contestant 1 furrowed his brows as he looked at Lei. It was difficult to admit, but he believed Lei. Lei was missing this certain aura that powerful people had. People like contestant 1 and contestant 12 radiated a special aura that made them appear different from others. Lei didn''t have that. Of course, everyone that managed to reach the Fifth Realm was a genius in their own right, but the different levels of geniuses only became more apparent the more powerful someone became. Lei might have been above average at the True Path Stage, but now, he was average. Contestant 12 also believed Lei, butpared to contestant 1, contestant 12 was d to hear that. He was d that he wasn''t the only warrior that brought warriorkind forward. ¡°Who created the Impose Stage?" contestant 12 asked. The attention of the onlookers was immediately pulled towards the two talking contestants again. Right, who invented the Impose Stage? Lei continued smirking. "It was my Master," he said. The people waited for an boration, but Lei was finished talking. ¡°And who is your master?" contestant 12 asked. Lei chuckled a bit and turned around. "Defeat my friend, and you will find out." After saying that, Lei walked to the edge of the arena. Contestant 12 narrowed his eyes. Lei had called the person that invented the Impose Stage master, which gave him a clue about the identity of said master. There had been a possibility that a powerful Mage hade up with the Impose Stage, but if that were the case, Lei wouldn''t have called them master. This was more appropriate for a stronger warrior. The onlookers became more excited as more intrigue was added to the game. After a short pause, the semifinals took ce. By now, night had arrived, and the contestants were fighting in a dark arena illuminated by artificial light that mimicked the light of torches. The first fight in the semifinals was contestant 1 against contestant 2. This was originally supposed to be the finale, but with the addition of the two mysterious warriors, things had changed. Contestant 1 and contestant 2 were friends, and they knew each other very well. The two of them fought for quite a while, but it was clear that contestant 1 had the upper hand. This wasn''t really a true fight but more of an exhibition match. Contestant 2 knew that he couldn''t win against contestant 1.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org After some minutes, contestant 1 won. It had been a fun fight. Contestant 1 was in the finals now, and his opponent would either be contestant 12 or contestant 31. Then, the second match in the semifinals took ce. Contestant 12 versus contestant 31. Contestant 12 looked at contestant 31 with a serious expression, but the more perceptive people in the audience noticed that there was a feeling of eptance in contestant 12''s aura. Contestant 12 knew that he couldn''t win against contestant 31. But he would still give his best. ¡°If your friend has been sent as a representation of the most average Impose Stage warrior, you have probably been sent as a representation of what the Impose Stage can achieve in the hands of a genius," contestant 12 said. Contestant 31 nodded wordlessly. "| know that | can''t win against you," contestant 12 said. "However, | would still ask you for some respect.¡± ¡°If I''m going to fight someone, | want to see who | am fighting.¡± Silence. The warriors and the Mages were interested in seeing what contestant 31 looked like. After some seconds, contestant 31 put their cloak away. Contestant 31''s appearance was now revealed, and when everyone saw them, they were shocked. It was a woman! No one had expected that. There were plenty of female Mages, but female warriors were basically nonexistent! Contestant 31 had long, silverish-white hair, and she wore form-fitting silver armor. People thought that she looked quite beautiful and heroic. Contestant 12 was also shocked when he saw her. ¡°Fighting a female Mage is one thing," contestant 31 said, "but fighting a female warrior is something else." "I''ve seen plenty of warriors going easy on me because | am a woman, and | don''t need such pity. That''s why I''m wearing the cloak," she exined. By now, the people had recovered from the shock, but when they looked closer at contestant 31 again, their shock returned but for a different reason. Her level! Contestant 12 took a deep breath and sighed helplessly. Contestant 31 was at the Early Impose Stage, just like Lei and him. Yet, she had won against contestant 4, who had been at the Late Diamond Body Stage. Sure, contestant 31 needed to move around a bit, but she had never been in danger of losing during her battle. At most, that battle had been a good warm up for her. Something like that would have been impressive for someone at the Mid Impose Stage, but she had done that at the Early Impose Stage. She had easily jumped two levels against a Diamond Stage warrior. In fact, after seeing her fight contestant 4, most people were confident that she could also win against contestant 2. And they had also thought that she might have a shot at defeating contestant 1. Yet, she was only at the Early Impose Stage. Contestant 12 wanted to fight contestant 1 to show how much potential the Weapon Variance Stage had, but contestant 31 actually had a real shot at winning. The difference between contestant 12 and contestant 31 was clear. In terms of potential, they were not on the same level. Chapter 674 Chapter 674 The battle between contestant 12 and contestant 31 went as expected. Contestant 12 never stood a chance. After contestant 12''s Mana Shield was deactivated, he only looked at the ground with an expression of mncholy and eptance. "It was a good fight," contestant 31 said. Contestant 12 didn''t immediately answer. "You know, I''ve never been truly talented.¡± Silence. "I''ve taken it easy during my earliest years. | couldn''t imagine dedicating so much of my time to bing more powerful as the truly outstanding people on my level." "| never gave it my all." ¡°And then, my wife was killed by a beast that had been just a bit more powerful than me." "If | had just put in a bit more effort, | could have protected her." Contestant 12 sighed again. "That''s when | actually started trying, you know?" he said as he looked at contestant 31. ¡°But no matter how hard | tried, there were so many people that were much stronger and smarter than me." ¡°My hard work didn''t matter." "| know that this doesn''t concern you," contestant 12 said, looking to the side. "I think | just lost control. Forget what | said." Silence. Most people were bored of the sob story. There were so many people in the world with simr stories. It was basically normal. ¡°How many people have you seen as superior to yourself?" contestant 31 asked. "More than 20?" "Much more," contestant 12 answered. ¡°And yet, you are in the top four in this tournament," contestant 31 said. "In my opinion, your self-pity is unjustified. Stop looking at your failures and look at your sesses." After that, contestant 31 walked to the side of the arena. Contestant 12 only sighed again before also walking to the side of the arena. The match between him and contestant 31 had hit him on a fundamental level. The Impose Stage. Was the Impose Stage truly better than the Weapon Variance Stage? Contestant 12 sighed once again. ¡®I thought increasing the overall power of warriors was my job,¡¯ he thought. Contestant 12''s name was Oliver, and he was Shang''s sessor. Sadly, Oliver hadn''t been chosen by the God due to his outstanding talent but due to his mindset. He was an altruistic person that liked to help others. To him, the benefits for the greater collective outweighed the benefits for the individual. And he had done quite a beautiful job. He had created the Weapon Variance Stage, an actually useful Fifth Stage for warriors.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. He had done exactly what the God had wanted him to do. But he wasn''t a genius. It was already a miracle that he reached the Fifth Realm, and he deserved every praise he could get for it. Sadly, that was his maximum potential. The Sixth Realm wouldn''t be possible for him to achieve in his lifetime. He was already over 600 years old, and he was only at the Early Weapon Variance Stage. While Oliver was thinking about his life, the finals started. Contestant 1 was fighting contestant 31. Contestant 1 took the battle extremely seriously. He couldn''t allow himself to lose against a warrior three levels below him! This would be the greatest humiliation of his entire life, and it would also humiliate every single warrior in the Lightning Manor''s territory! He would fight with his life on the line! In his mind, if he lost, he would die. The fight started, and contestant 1 immediately charged at contestant 31. Contestant 31 kept jumping away while firing arrows, but contestant 1''s body was too powerful. He easily blocked and parried the arrows as he shot toward contestant 31. Contestant 1 was not ying around. He was deadly serious. When contestant 31 noticed that her current strategy didn''t work, she also got serious. SHING! Herposite bow suddenly vanished, and a muchrger bow appeared in her hands. Contestant 1''s eyes narrowed while everyone else grew more excited. Then, she fired. BANG! For the first time, contestant 1 was halted in his charge, but he also hadn''t been injured. The arrows from the bigger bow flew faster and were much more powerful. When contestant 1 had been stopped, two smaller arrows shot at him, and he did his best to block them. Right now, contestant 31 was switching between her two bows regrly. The bigger bow was more powerful but couldn''t fire as many arrows, while the smaller bow was the opposite. By switching between them, her attacks became far more difficult to deal with. However, after adjusting his strategy a bit, contestant 1 still managed to close the distance between the two. Eventually, contestant 31 also used her arrows to create several Magic Runes and Magic Circles between her and her opponent. Everyone was watching with bated breath. Contestant 31 was insanely talented and powerful! Even the Mages were shocked. With that power, wouldn''t contestant 31 have a shot against an Archmage a level above her? Awarrior that could actually jump a level against a Mage? This was unreal! One had to remember that contestant 1 could win against an Archmage two levels below him but not against one just one level below him. Contestant 12, Oliver, could fight a Mage on his level. But contestant 31 could fight a Mage above her level. The ability to win against a Mage one level above oneself was something that would give someone the opportunity to join an Empire when they reached the Sixth Realm, and only 1% of Ancestral Mages could join one! Contestant 31 was a true genius! However, contestant 1 used all of his power and experience to move forward. As more time passed, contestant 1''s power also seemingly increased. And eventually, contestant 1pletely closed the gap. At that moment, the fight was over. It had been far beyond difficult, but contestant 1 had won. He had done it! He had defended the honor of all the warriors! However, only a minority of warriors shared his thoughts. There were three levels between the two opponents. Of course, the warriors were still happy that contestant 1 had won, but it was a bitter victory. Contestant 1 was panting violently, and his entire body was covered in sweat as his body shook. Inparison to him, contestant 31 seemed rather rxed. It was like she had just finished a nice workout. ¡°Lei is here to show everyone the power of an average Impose Stage warrior," contestant 31 suddenly said. Contestant 1 looked up from the ground and looked contestant 31 in the eyes. "| have been sent here to show the potential of the Impose Stage," contestant 31 said. "But this tournament is being held to find the strongest warrior in the world, and that is not me." ¡°And also not you," contestant 31 said. Contestant 1 didn''t show it, but he felt nervous and scared deep inside. ¡°Lei said that you will meet Master when you manage to defeat me. Originally, | expected to win against you, but | didn''t." "It seems like I''m still not strong enough to take Master''s ce." After she said all that, contestant 31 put her bow away and walked over to Lei, who leaned on the arena''s wall with a smirk. Suddenly, a small vibration went through the air, and only the Ancestral Mages took note of it. The Ancestral Mages looked at the source of the small vibration, Lord Starsky. At the moment, Lord Starsky was looking at the middle of the arena with an intense stare. The vibration had appeared because Lord Starsky had been so shocked that he had lost his cool for just a tiny moment. The Ancestral Mages looked at the ce where Lord Starsky was looking, and their eyes widened. Where did that guye from?! Somehow, someone managed to appear in the middle of the arena without them noticing it! How did they do that?! Contestant 1 took a while to notice that someone new had appeared rtively close to him, and his heart nearly stopped. He hadn''t noticed that guy at all! It was one of the cloaked people, the one wearing the white cloak. Was this their Master? Was this the person that created the Impose Stage? For some reason, contestant 1 immediately became intimidated. There was a unique pressureing off the person in the white cloak. It wasn''t the typical pressure of an extremely talented person but the pressure of something unnatural. For some reason, contestant 1 was reminded of someone. Back when contestant 1 was just a teenager, he had insulted one of his new ssmates for being a rich kid that got everything he ever wanted. Then, he went hunting with his friends, and that rich kid apanied them as a guide. When that kid had be a True Path Stage warrior, contestant 1 saw him again, and the pressure he was feeling right now was very simr to the pressure he had felt back then. Contestant 1''s name was Elver, and he had once been in the same ss as Shang. And right now, Elver realized who the person in front of him was, and he couldn''t decide how he should feel about seeing that person again. But one thing was clear. This exined where the Impose Stage came from. Chapter 675 Chapter 675 Elver, contestant 1, looked at the person in the white cloak in front of him. He was confident that this was Shang, the Fallen Saint, the person that had vanished over 500 years ago after allegedly killing Jerald. Earlier, Elver had been nervous about the mysterious Master of the foreign warriors. Contestant 31 had already been far more powerful than he had thought, and he had feared that he might lose against this mysterious Master. Yet, he still had some hope. But not anymore. Elver knew Shang. Elver had seen Shang''s power. Elver had seen what Shang could do. And he knew that he couldn''t possibly win. All the watching Mages looked at the person in the white cloak with shock. They hadn''t seen this person move at all! These powerful Mages automatically felt every small bit of movement inside their Spirit Sense, but this person had arrived in the middle of the arena without them noticing. This was also one of the reasons why Lord Starsky had been so shocked. He had felt the person move, but he had actually needed to pay attention to follow their movement. This was like someone feeling a slight tingle on their forearm and looking at it to confirm if there actually was something or not. It could be considered incredibly impressive to make a Mage Lord pay attention to one. But, of course, this wasn''t the only reason why Lord Starsky was shocked. The other reason was the power of that person. Earlier, he had dismissed the people in the white and ck cloak since they were well within the Realm of Ancestral Mages. A warrior couldn''t possibly be that powerful. At least not right now. Elver only looked at the person in white robes with aplicated expression without readying his weapons. The person in the white cloak slowly raised his right arm, gesturing for Elver to attack him. He also hadn''t drawn his weapon. "Why have you returned?" Elver asked with a voice brimming with an indistinguishable mix of emotions. Rage, hatred, uncertainty, fear, nervousness, curiosity, pity, excitement. Everything just blended together. Elver had often thought about what he would say to Shang if he ever reappeared again. In his mind, he had always envisioned himself shouting at Shang, demanding an exnation for why he had killed Jerald. He wanted to know what could have possibly moved Shang to do that. After all, Jerald and Shang had been the closest companions. But when Elver actually stood in front of Shang, he couldn''t decide on what he should feel or do. Shang was actually still alive! Awarrior that knew the deceased dean, the old teachers, and the world before the Revolutionary War. Oliver had also technically been alive before the war started, but he had only appeared in the warrior academy shortly before the war started, and by then, everything had already deteriorated. But Shang had lived back when there had been no fighting between warriors and Mages, an age of rapid development during rtive peace. Now, all the Kingdoms were gone, and the warriors knew about the outside world. The world of the five Kingdoms no longer existed. And as the oldest warrior alive, Elver felt alone. It was like he had been the only one that had witnessed and lived in the Storm Eagle Zone, Duke Whirlwind''s territory, part of the Skythunder Kingdom. But now, there was a second person. Someone that had gone through the same periods of time as him. All of Elver''s ns had vanished, resulting in the one simple question of why Shang was here. Shang, the person in the white cloak, didn''t answer. He only lifted his arm. "| can''t allow these two to fight just yet." Everyone''s attention was pulled to the floating tform. Lord Starsky looked with narrowed eyes at the person in the white cloak. "Due to the current standard of warriors, it would be unreasonable to believe that the person in the white cloak is a warrior." The Mages looked with confusion at each other. "The Battle-Strength of the person in white is well within the Sixth Realm, and believing that this is a warrior without any proof would be gullible and foolish," Lord Starsky said. The audience understood what Lord Starsky said and agreed with him. The strongest warrior in the world could barely win against a Mid Archmage. It would be idiotic to believe that there was a warrior that could win against an Ancestral Mage. ¡°If you want to fight, | require proof of your identity," Lord Starsky announced as he looked at the person in the white cloak. Shang didn''t do anything for around three seconds. "| know him," Elver suddenly said to Lord Starsky. "He is a warrior." The audience looked at contestant 1 with surprise. Contestant 1 was vouching for him? Lord Starsky threw a nce at Elver, and Elver noticed the deeper meaning behind it.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g The other Mages hadn''t taken notice of the nce, and they hadn''t received the message, but Elver did. And Elver could only lower his head and clench his fists in frustration. The meaning behind the nce was simple. Don''t speak up, warrior! The tournament signified the highest point of achievement for warriorkind. Warriors were as powerful as never before. Yet, Elver had been reminded of reality. Even in a tournament that was all about warriors, Elver, as the publicly acknowledged strongest warrior in the world, didn''t have the power to voice his opinion. He might be the strongest warrior, but in the end, Elver only had power equivalent to a Mid Archmage. And did a Mid Archmage have the right toin to a Late Mage Lord? "Fine," the person in the white cloak said. When Oliver, who was currently at the edge of the arena, heard that voice, his heart started to beat faster. Inparison to Elver, Oliver didn''t know Shang very well. He had only interacted with him once in his life. Shang slowly took off his cloak, revealing his long ck hair and the bandage around his eyes. When the entire cloak vanished, everyone could finally see Shang''s power. Peak Fifth Realm! Extremely high Battle-Strength! The audience didn''t want to admit it, but they knew that this new person could fight an Ancestral Mage. But the most shocking thing was something else. The power of his mind. Peak High Mage Realm. His mind was exceptionally weak. This could only mean one thing. This person was a warrior! And an extremely powerful one at that! Chapter 676 Chapter 676 When Elver felt Shang''s aura, all his doubts vanished. He did it. Shang had killed Jerald. Elver wasn''t a kid anymore, and he had lived for a very long time. He knew a lot about people, and just by looking at Shang, he could tell that Shang had killed Jerald. He knew that because Shang''s aura was way too sterile and apathetic. It was almost like he was deathly afraid of ever feeling any kind of positive emotion for another human being. Elver knew how something like that could happen. Committing an act so painful that only theplete eradication of emotions could keep one alive. People that didn''t know the old Shang wouldn''t be able to feel these kinds of things, but Elver had known him very well. Shang had killed Jerald. There was no doubt about it. "Why?" Elver asked, looking at Shang. "Why would-" "Traitor!" someone shouted from the edge of the arena. Oliver shot towards Shang, his face contorted in hatred and rage. "You killed him!" Oliver shouted as all his suppressed rage burst forth. "You killed him! You''re why so many of my brothers died!" Oliver summoned all of his weapons. Shang waved his right arm. BOOOOM! All weapons, except for Oliver''s spear, broke apart and turned into dust as Oliver was thrown against the wall of the arena. The onlookers looked with shock at the exchange, but only the Ancestral Mages and Lord Starsky could feel the true secret of that strike. Ancestral Beast! This was the ability that Ancestral Beasts had! Yes, Shang had unveiled his World Connection. Why? Because he didn''t need to keep it a secret anymore due to his age and Realm. An Initial Impose Stage warrior that knew World Connection would be akin to shocking the entire world since it meant that the warrior might have evenprehended this concept at the True Path Stage. But at the Peak Impose Stage, this wouldn''t be very shocking anymore. After all, people at that level were specifically working on comprehending the thing they needed for the next Realm. An Initial True Mage that knew a level one Concept would be seen as a monster, but a Peak True Mage that knew the same thing would just be seen as a True Mage that would soon be a High Mage. Even more, many Peak True Mages knew a level one Concept. Many of them were focusing onprehending even more before their breakthrough. The same was true for warriors. If World Connection was necessary to reach the Sixth Realm, Shang would simply be someone that had managed to take that step without actually breaking through. This meant, in the eyes of the public, Shang was ready to reach the Sixth Realm. Of course, unveiling the power of World Connection would still shock the world since it meant that Shang had found a way for warriors to reach the Sixth Realm, but it wouldn''t make him appear like an insanely talented monster. After throwing Oliver against the walls, Shang didn''t say anything. "MURDERER!" WHOOOOM! Suddenly, the entire arena was suppressed by an insanely powerful Spirit Sense. All the warriors in the arena felt like they couldn''t breathe anymore, and even Elver felt nearly unable to move. The next moment, a young man with green and icy-blue hair appeared in the sky. Shang didn''t look at the young man. "You killed my father!" the man shouted as he readied his Focus. This was George, Jerald''s son, and he was an Initial Ancestral Mage. At first nce, this would appear shocking. George, Jerald''s son, was already in the Ancestral Mage Realm? However, one had to remember that George was around 600 years old already. Reaching the Ancestral Mage Realm at that age could be considered average. It wasn''t unusual for him to be an Ancestral Mage. Especially when he had a very good reason for chasing power.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. George immediately cast several Spells as he shot forward. Then, he unleashed a terrifyingly fast spear made of ice. CRACK! The spear hit the Magic Circle surrounding the arena itself and broke apart. ¡°Outsiders are not allowed to interfere!" the Ancestral Mage in the arena told George. "This is a battle between warriors." George nearly exploded in rage. "He killed my father! He is a criminal that killed someone working for the Lightning Manor!" The head judge furrowed his brows. Acriminal wanted by the Lightning Manor? That would be problematic. "Do you have any proof?" the head judge asked. "Proof? He''s standing right there! We all know him! We all know what he has done!" George shouted in fury. "His name is Shang Sword, and he was bestowed the title of Count and then the title of Advisor by myte father, King Storm of Area 23! Father worked for the Lightning Manor as an Assistant Supervisor for Area 23, and he was killed by him!" The head judge wasn''t quite sure if he should believe this onlooker or not. It all seemed very strange. Why would a wanted criminal by the Lightning Manor appear in front of millions of people? That didn''t make a lot of sense. "Yes, it''s him!" Oliver shouted as he slowly stood up again near the edge of the arena. "This is Shang Sword, and he has killed King Storm!" Elver looked at Shang with an expression filled with pity before sighing. "| also recognize him. That is Shang Sword, killer of King Storm." Shang didn''t answer. The head judge looked at Lord Starsky and asked for orders on how to proceed. Lord Starsky had remained silent ever since Shang had taken off his cloak, and his expression had remained suspicious since then. It was like he was thinking about or nning something. When the head judge asked for orders, Lord Starsky threw a short nce at him. Then, Lord Starsky looked at Shang. And a smirk appeared on his face. "What a clever little scheme," Lord Starsky said. Silence. "You disguised yourself as a notorious warrior that everyone would recognize just so that nobody would doubt your identity.¡± By now, the onlookers talked to each other in confusion. "Sadly, you didn''t know that | am also quite proficient in the Light Concepts. I''m sorry, but your little Disguise Spell doesn''t work on me." "You''re not this Shang person.¡± "You''re just an Ancestral Mage disguising as a warrior to convince our warriors to move to your territory.¡± "Quite a clever trick, but it doesn''t work on me." Chapter 677 Chapter 677 The reactions to Lord Starsky''s words were varied. The Mages in the audience "realized" that Shang wasn''t a warrior but a Mage disguised as a warrior and looked at him with disgust. This exined so much. Of course, there couldn''t possibly be a warrior with the power of an Ancestral Mage. The chances of a Mage Lord disguising themselves was higher than the chances of such a warrior existing. Most of them felt like idiots since they had believed such an obvious ploy. Most of the warriors were confused and conflicted. Was Shang truly a Mage? However, as for the three people that recognized Shang... "Bullshit!" George shouted. "That is Shang Sword! | know that-" "Are you doubting the senses of a Late Mage Lord as an Initial Ancestral Mage?" Lord Starsky asked with a strict voice. George gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in fury and frustration. He wanted to do nothing more than to unveil Shang''s identity and have him get killed by the Lightning Manor. However, if he kept insisting that Shang was a warrior, Lord Starsky might actually kill him. While George''s desire for vengeance was strong, he also had a family and enjoyed life. He would love for Shang to die, but he wouldn''t sacrifice his life for vengeance. So, George stopped talking and only looked to the side with an enraged expression. Oliver and Elver looked at George and Lord Starsky. They hadn''t expected that things would go this way. They knew that this was definitely Shang in front of them. His aura felt too real. Additionally, if some Mage wanted to disguise themselves as Shang, they would have assumed the appearance of the Shang from back then. One eye, ck armor, strict expression. Instead, the person in front of them had no eyes, wore white robes, and had an emotionless expression. This was definitely Shang, but Lord Starsky was saying this wasn''t Shang. And Oliver and Elver knew why. It was to keep the warriors in his city. If Lord Starsky epted that Shang was a warrior, nearly no warriors would stay in Star City and work for the Warrior Guild. Shang''s power was just too overwhelming for a warrior, and all the warriors would follow him to learn from him. Of course, the warriors knew that Shang was the Fallen Saint and that he had brought terrifying cmities upon the warriors when he killed King Storm. However, the incentive of power would be too powerful. On top of that, they wouldn''t even need to learn directly from Shang. They could just learn from one of the other Impose Stage warriors. And where could one find the Impose Stage warriors? Well, for now, no one knew, but everyone knew that, at some point, it would be public knowledge. At the moment, they only knew that the Impose Stage warriors came from a different Empire. In the end, a huge portion of warriors would leave the Empire, and the Empire with the Impose Stage warriors would leave the Lightning Manor''s Empire in the dust when it came to warriors. And the only way to stop this from happening was to paint Shang as a Mage. "You sent your two strongest warriors into the tournament," Lord Starsky said. "However, they weren''t enough to triumph over our warriors. That''s why you created this disguise." Lord Starsky chuckled. "| presume you weren''t very confident in the disguise, which was why this Mage didn''t take part in the tournament from the very beginning.¡± ¡°Honestly, your first attempt was quite good, but this disguise feels more like you''re grasping for straws. It''s just sad." The audience animatedly talked to each other while the warriors frowned with uncertainty. Was all of this fake? And then, Shang sighed. "| knew this n wouldn''t work," he said. Amomentter, Shang snapped his fingers. WHOOOM! Suddenly, the power of his mind reached the level of a Mid Ancestral Mage. And then, he floated over to the person in the blue cloak and just stopped there. When everyone felt the power of Shang''s mind, they were convinced. This was just an Ancestral Mage!N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. When Lord Starsky saw that, he narrowed his eyes, and a bit of shock appeared in them. Obviously, Lord Starsky had been lying. There was no disguise. But when he had lied and said that there was a disguise, Shang had put on an actual disguise that confirmed Lord Starsky''s lie. And Lord Starsky was uncertain what the purpose of that was. "Well," Lei, the red-haired warrior, said as he stepped forward with contestant 31, "you''re right. We didn''t think it would work." Lord Starsky looked at Lei with narrowed eyes. "Come," Lei said to contestant 31 beside him. "We''ve only been in the Impose Stage for a bit more than 50 years. We can just return in 50 years or so. By then, | might not even need your help to win whatever tournament these people will organize." Contestant 31 just nodded wordlessly and followed behind Lei as the two of them floated over to their threerades. And then, Lord Starsky realized why Shang had put on a disguise. Shang had never been the mainponent of their plot! They actually didn''t need Shang! The powers of Lei and contestant 31 were far more than enough to convince plenty of warriors to switch sides! So what if Shang was an Ancestral Mage? In a couple of years, there wouldn''t be a single warrior left in the Lightning Manor''s territory that could possibly resist the power of the female warrior with the two bows! But then, why had Shang appeared? To bait out the biggest threat, the statement that these warriors were Mages. Earlier, Lord Starsky could still have said that these two warriors were Mages in disguise. Sure, they might have created some impressive new powers for warriors, but they were still Mages in the end. But now, Lord Starsky had only said that Shang was a Mage, and he had even said that the other two WARRIORS were quite strong. He had confirmed that the two of them were warriors. What if he said now that these two warriors were also Mages? Not many people would believe him. The three people put their cloaks back on and stopped behind the person in the blue cloak. "It was an entertaining spectacle," the person in the blue cloak said. "Thank you for having us." "We will be going back to Icy Bastion in the Twilight Dusk Family''s Empire." Chapter 678 Chapter 678 As the five cloaked people turned to leave, Lord Starsky decided that enough was enough. "You think you can just leave like that?" he asked with narrowed eyes. SHING! SHING! Lord Starsky''s two partners, that also led Star City, appeared beside him. Now, there were three Mage Lords standing flying above the colosseum, and the audience felt the pressure in the atmosphere increase. The five cloaked people stopped, and the person in the blue cloak turned to Lord Starsky. "Yes, | thought that we could just leave like that," they said. Lord Starsky snorted. "I was fine with your warriors joining the tournament since they were warriors, but your little stunt with the disguised Ancestral Mage went too far." "While the provoking words of your red warrior could be interpreted as banter betweenpetitors, your grant attempt at smuggling an Ancestral Mage into the tournament went too far." "You broke the purity of the tournament, and your actions were disrespectful towards the entirety of Star City." The more Lord Starsky talked, the more nervous the audience became. This was bad! If these Mage Lords decided to fight, there was a chance that everyone here would die! "So what?" the person in the blue cloak asked. "What will you do about it?¡± Lord Starsky snorted. WHOOOM! All three Mage Lords summoned their Foci. ¡°We''ll make sure that something like this won''t happen again." The watching Mages immediately became frightened and left the Star Colosseum. BANG! Or, at least, they tried to. As soon as they reached the edge, they were stopped by an invisible barrier. "Do you think, as the lord of Star City, that fighting inside Star City would give you an edge?" the person in the blue cloak asked with a slight chuckle. Lord Starsky''s eyes narrowed. "This does not involve the onlookers!" he shouted. The person in the blue cloak chuckled some more. "I decide who is involved or not." "This is breaking thews between the Empires!" Lord Starsky shouted. The person in the blue cloak only chuckled. "Well, if | wouldn''t have some hostages, | would die, right? Tell me, what''s the punishment for breaking thesews?" "It''s death," the person in the blue cloak said. "If I''m going to die either way, | might as well take a million people belonging to my killer with me to the afterlife. That''s at least something, right?" Lord Starsky only red at the person in the blue cloak as he talked with his twopanions via voice transmissions. This was a very difficult situation to navigate. BOOOM! Suddenly, seven Ancestral Mages in the audience exploded into a shower of blood. Lord Starsky gritted his teeth while the audience became horrified. "Do not attempt to damage my Spell," the person in the blue cloak said. "Anyone that tries to escape will share the same fate." At that moment, the warriors were confronted with reality. The warriors hade so far, and they had be so powerful. Yet, at this very moment, just one thought from the person in the blue cloak would eradicate hundreds of years of progress for the warriors. All the strongest warriors in the world were gathered. Over 95% of Diamond Body Stage warriors were inside the Star Colosseum.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. One thought and the warriors would need to start again. The warriors were so powerful, but in front of the truly powerful Mages, they were still nothing more than unimportant ythings. They had no autonomy. They were only alive because the Mages allowed them to be alive. Shang was already wearing his cloak again, which was why no one could see his expression at the moment. Right now, Shang''s expression was intense. It was a mixture of concentration, excitement, and nervousness. His payment was about to arrive. Of course, Shang couldn''t have just left Icy Bastion to randomly travel around the world. He belonged to the Temple of Blood, and they wouldn''t just take their eyes off him. Because of that, Shang had to convince the Temple of Blood to allow him to travel the world. So, he had told them of a good way to speed up the n. Join the tournament and show the Impose Stage to everyone. Naturally, Shang also included himself in the scheme, and his appearance would draw the attention of all the warriors and the Lightning Manor. If everything worked out, Lord Starsky would inform the Lightning Manor, and the Lightning Manor would contact the Twilight Dusk Family. Then, their n would finally beplete. But Shang also wanted to be paid for that. The n the Temple of Blood hade up with over thest centuries would finally beplete, and Shang would repay the Temple of Blood''s investment severalfold. Their cooperation would end, and both sides would be happy with the oue while separating on good terms. On top of that, Shang had done amazing work over the past centuries with the creation of the Impose Stage warriors. The Temple of Blood was more than happy with his results. Now, how does a goodpany treat its good employees? Badpanies would squeeze them harder and harder, but a goodpany would reward the hard workers to motivate others to work just as hard while also ensuring that the good workers kept being good workers. It was long-term gain instead of short-term gain. So, when Shang asked for onest thing before their cooperation ended, the Temple of Blood was open to the suggestion. Even more, Shang might one day be someone very important with his talent, and being on the good side of someone like that was very useful. And that was when Shang asked for hisst bit of payment, which would be paid right now. At the moment, Lord Starsky was in a difficult position. He couldn''t just let them go after announcing that he wouldn''t let them leave, but he also couldn''t recklessly attack, or his entire city might turn into ruins with literally millions upon millions of people dying. ¡°You thwarted our little scheme," the person in the blue cloak said. "We failed in our attempt, and that is already quite embarrassing for us." "Killing us seems a bit excessive, no?" The person in the blue cloak snickered. ¡°But | can understand that you want to release a bit of your anger. So, why don''t | apany you for a bit." A blue Focus appeared beside the person in the blue cloak, and they floated upward. ¡°Let''s have a friendly duel, Lord Starsky," the person in the blue cloak said. "Just you and me." ¡°And whatever happens, happens." It was here! Shang''s payment! Shang was searching for a way to reach the next Realm, and his opportunity was finally here. He got the opportunity to watch a fight between two Mage Lords! Chapter 679 Chapter 679 Lord Starsky looked at the person in the blue cloak with narrowed eyes. He wanted to kill all five people, but he couldn''t. Otherwise, the person in the blue cloak would essentially blow up Star City. Sadly, the only thing he could do wasply. If he managed to win against the enemy Mage Lord in a duel, he could kill them and then kill the other four. That was his only shot. "Fine," Lord Starsky said. Amomentter, his two partners left the arena. The colosseum was massive, but for Mage Lords, it wasn''t big at all. Being a hundred kilometers away from a Mage Lord was essentially like standing beside them. So, even though the two Mage Lords had left the arena, to the blue-cloaked person, it was still like they were standing just beside them. Obviously, Lord Starsky wasn''t ying fair. He was acting like he epted the fair duel, but the presence and constant danger of his two friends would put pressure on the enemy Mage Lord since they could attack at any moment. "Good," the person in the blue cloak said. Then, Lord Starsky and his opponent flew into the sky. The destructive power of a Mage Lord was too much for the arena to handle. The arena was built to withstand Ancestral Beasts, not Mage Lords. After ascending for around 150 kilometers, the two of them stopped. At such a height, the air became quite thin, and the surroundings were quite chilly. However, since Aterium was so much bigger than Earth, the two Mage Lords were still well within Aterium''s atmosphere. Of course, at such a height, only the Ancestral Mages could watch the fight. A normal Archmage only had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 50 kilometers. Many of the warriors and Archmages wanted to watch, but they were too scared to get closer. They had never seen Mage Lords fight, but they could imagine that the powers of destruction released during such a fight would be terrifyingly dangerous. Meanwhile, the Ancestral Mages became quite excited by the prospect of watching two Mage Lords fight. There were many things they could learn by watching such a fight. Of course, since Shang''s Spirit Sense had a radius of 250 kilometers, he could also watch the fight, but no one needed to know that. The size of one''s Spirit Sense was a strong indicator of a person''s Battle-Strength. Most people thought that Shang was an Ancestral Mage, but there were also a couple of people that knew that Shang was only at the Peak Fifth Realm. Having a Spirit Sense with a radius of 100 kilometers was already quite impressive and put someone in the top 5% of Archmages. A Spirit Sense with a radius of 150 kilometers would put one in the top 0.1%. These kinds of people could enter any Empire they wanted. Sadly, only the absolute strongest of these 0.1% could be the chosen ones of the Empire. Having a Spirit Sense with a radius of 200 kilometers counted as legendary for normal people. The general public wasn''t even sure if that existed. Of course, people like that existed, but their existence was kept very confidential. These people fought each other for the singr spot of King Contender in a given Empire, and if they failed to gain the spot, they would be the highest leaders inside the ranks of the Mage Lords. They would gain spots like an assistant to a Mage King or leaders over important territories. For example, the Manager responsible for Areas 61 to 80 in the Lightning Manor was one such person. Areas 61 to 80 were where a huge portion of the Lightning Manor''s Mage Lords came from, and managing these Areas was of paramount importance to the Lightning Manor. And a Spirit Sense with a radius of 250 kilometers? There wasn''t always someone like that in the world. Having a Spirit Sense with a radius of 250 kilometers was only possible if oneprehended five level two Concepts before bing an Archmage, which was absolutely ridiculous and nearly impossible to achieve. Only High Mages that used up a majority of their longevity while being given mountains of resources by an Empire could hope to achieve something like that, and even with all that, it was rare. The tournament for the next spot of Mage King happened every 1,000 years, and a Mage Lord could live for up to 25,000 years. So, theoretically, every Mage Lord had 25 chances to take part in the tournament if they were very quick. When the God had said that Shang belonged to the top 10, he wasn''t referencing the people that were currently in the Archmage Realm. Instead, he was referencing the currently ten strongest Mage Lords and how powerful they had been at Shang''s level. If Shang managed to keep his current Battle-Strength at rtively the same level whenpared to people on his level, he would reach the level of these Mage Lords. Of course, Shang''s power could also fall whenpared to others on his level. This was how legendary someone with a 250-kilometer-radius Spirit Sense was. At this moment, in all nine Empiresbined, there was only one Archmage with such a Spirit Sense. On Average, all Empiresbined would give birth to one of these people every 200 years or so, but there were times when there wasn''t a single one, and there were also times when there were three. As for the general public, none of them even entertained the thought that there could be an Archmage with a Spirit Sense of 250 kilometers.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. That was just ridiculous. If Shang said that he had a Spirit Sense with "just" 150 kilometers, he would already invite danger. Because of that, Shang acted like he couldn''t view the fight between the two Mage Lords. As for the Temple of Blood? They knew partially of Shang''s power. They thought Shang had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 200 kilometers, someone with the power to rival the secret elite of the Empires. That was also why they were so willing to invest in him. Shang''s influence over warriorkind was worth a lot of money, but his personal power was worth just as much. Because of that, the Mage Lord from the Temple of Blood fought at the height of 150 kilometers. Like that, Shang could still watch. Chapter 680 Chapter 680 The two Mage Lords faced each other as their Foci started to spin quickly. Lord Starsky and his friends still had no idea how powerful the Mage Lord in front of them actually was, which was why they were careful. However, they doubted that the foreign Mage Lord was more powerful than Lord Starsky. After all, Lord Starsky was a Late Mage Lord. The silence between the two of them was tense. Suddenly, an impossibly bright bolt of lightning shot out of Lord Starsky''s hands! At the same time, Lord Starsky''s Focus reced all the Mana in the surroundings with Water Mana, essentially creating a huge sea in the sky that wasn''t actually a sea. While all of this was happening, the Mana in the surroundings seemingly vanished. For just an instant, Shang felt like all the Mana in the world had vanished. Then, all the Mana was reced with Water Mana, and the violent bolts of bright lightning stretched into the horizon as they turned everything into a proverbial and literal sea of lightning. Lord Starsky¡¯''s two friends were protecting Star City from his Spell. Otherwise, the surrounding 50 kilometers or so would have been turned into dust. The sheer powers of destruction made it impossible for any Spirit Sense to see what was going on. All of this had happened in just a fraction of a second. The normal Mana vanished and was reced by Water Mana, which was then effectively reced with Lightning Mana. There wasn''t a single person below the level of a Mage Lord that hadn''t been shocked. It was just one move, but this single move showed the difference between an Ancestral Mage and a Mage Lord. When Shang felt the sheer power, he felt like apletely new world had been opened to him. Back when Shang had seen the Storm Eagle fly past Warrior''s Paradise, he had felt its power. If it wanted, it could have turned Warrior''s Paradise into rubble. Yet, Lord Starsky... If he wanted, he could have turned the entire Storm Eagle Zone, including the Storm Eagle itself, into a crater. The Storm Eagle would be just as helpless in front of Lord Starsky as a Soldier Stage beast would be in front of the Storm Eagle. Lord Starsky could release an explosion so massive that the Storm Eagle would be turned into dust like any other beast. There would be no difference. For the first time in a long while, Shang was reminded of his life back on Earth. This was it. This was the power a modern nuclear weapon had. It was a catastrophe. It was a cataclysm. It was a disaster. A force of nature. Aless experienced person might not have been able to discern all the different nuances in Lord Starsky''s attack. To them, everything would have just turned white with Lightning Mana. Luckily, Shang was quite experienced. ¡®I''m not sure, but | think there were two forces of equal power and two forces of lesser power in y. At least, that''s what | felt. There could''ve also been more.¡¯ ¡®If an Ancestral Mage needs a level four Concept to be a Mage Lord, and assuming Lord Starsky used his level four Concept just now, this probably means that he also knows a second level four Concept since there were two equal forces.¡¯ ¡®The lightning was incredibly powerful, but it has also been enhanced by some insanely strong Concept of Light. The water felt weaker, and I''m not entirely sure that thest thing was.¡¯ The white explosion of Lightning Mana only stayed for a fraction of a second before it vanished. Shang barely managed to feel how the Lightning Mana was rapidly pulled towards the Mage Lord in the blue cloak before everything was reced with dense Water Mana. The Mage Lord in the blue cloak had survived, and they had struck back. This time, Shang could feel an extremely powerful Concept rted to water attacking the enemy, but he could also feel three weaker Concepts supporting the stronger Concept. Shang wasn''t sure what these three weaker Concepts were, but they felt familiar. "Space Tear.¡± Shang''s head moved slightly to face the person in the ck cloak beside him, who had just transmitted these two words to him. The person in the ck cloak was the Sweeper that had brought Shang to the Sky Lantern back then, and when she had mentioned the Space Tear, she had referred to the Space Tear they had gone through on their journey. After hearing these words, Shang realized what these three Concepts were. Space, Time, and Gravity. However, they were definitely not level four Concepts, which meant that they were level three Concepts. Still, that was quite surprising and impressive. Shang wasn''t sure what Concept the Territory Lord, the Mage Lord in the blue cloak, had used as her main Concept, but he assumed it was the level four Concept of Water, River. It was impossible to tell how exactly these Spells looked or worked like for Shang. The powers were so devastating that it was just like Shang''s world changed colors again and again. An instantter, all the Water Mana vanished again, and Fire Mana filled with Light Mana reced it again. The sky above Star City changed colors rapidly as different kinds of Mana filled the surroundings and were absorbed again. Seconds passed. The world kept changing colors. Different kinds of Mana filled the world before vanishing. While Shang couldn''t stretch his Spirit Sense towards the two Mage Lords, he could look in a different direction, and what happened there was just as shocking. On the edge, over 200 kilometers away from Shang and over 300 kilometers diagonally away from the two Mage Lords, the different kinds of Mana were not nearly as overpowering. By looking at the very edges, Shang could see how the Mana acted. It was a cycle. It was like the tides. One kind of Mana stretched far into the distance. Then, that kind of Mana violently got pulled back to the point where it actuallypletely vanished. If Shang''s mind worked faster, he would be able to see a single moment where there was no Mana in the surroundings. Then, everything would be reced with a different kind of Mana again. And, most interesting of all, the Natural Mana outside the battlefield rapidly shot toward the two Mage Lords. It was like the battlefield was a drain, and all the Mana in the atmosphere was water. All the Natural Mana just vanished into the ce where the two Mage Lords fought. Another interesting thing was that Natural Mana entered the battlefield but never left.N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. This gave Shang an interesting thought. ¡®It''s the opposite of my Domain of Entropy. | transform Elemental Mana into Natural Mana, but they are transforming Natural Mana into Elemental Mana.¡¯ ¡®| think | get what they''re doing.¡¯ ¡®This is simr to my World Connection, but a more refined version of it.¡¯ ¡®While | borrow the power of the world and use it to strike my opponent, they are essentially absorbing the world before unleashing everything again.¡¯ "My way would be like throwing a big ball at my opponent while they are essentially throwing a small stone. Both are equally heavy, but one deals way more damage.¡¯ ¡®Compression and density." At the same time, Shang remembered the concept of a Diamond Body. ¡®Compression.¡¯ While the fight continued above Shang, he only focused on his own body. Specifically, he focused on his lungs. ¡®Absorb and release." Then, Shang focused on the edge of the battlefield again. ¡®I think | know what | should do to reach the Sixth Realm.¡¯ ¡®| just don''t know how long it will take me to pull it off." Chapter 681 Chapter 681 The two Mage Lords continued fighting for several minutes. If one of the two of them were noticeably weaker than the other, the fight wouldn''t take this long.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Fights between Mages with unequal powers would be finished very quickly, but fights between Mages withparable power could sometimes take hours. Such a long fight was essentially not a race to kill the other person quickly but to gain a slight advantage over Mana. The two Mages would contest and battle each other for every 0.1% of Mana with all their power. A fight between Mages either ended in just a couple of seconds or took hours. There rarely were fightssting a couple of minutes. That would only happen if one of the two sides made a horrible mistake. Seeing that the fight had already gone on for several minutes, the people knew that it wouldn''t end anytime soon. However, they were also quite interested in watching the battle. The longer it took, the better. After some minutes, Shang stopped paying attention to the fight. He had already found the thing he had been looking for. While the two Mage Lords continued fighting, Shang was nning how to actualize the thing he had conceptualized. BANG! Suddenly, the colorful show of light stopped, and the surroundings were filled with Natural Mana again. The onlookers looked with shock at the two Mage Lords. Why had the fight stopped? This fight had been too long for a short fight, but it had been way too short for a long one. Fights very rarely took a couple of minutes. What had happened? As everyone looked up, they could see that Lord Starsky was ring at the person in front of him with narrowed eyes. The Territory Lord still wore her blue cloak, but the position of her body and the unstable manner in which her Mana Shield vibrated told everyone that she had been on the losing side. It seemed like Lord Starsky had been on the winning side, but for some reason, the battle had stopped before that. For a while, everyone just silently looked at the two Mage Lords. "| didn''t expect you to be so powerful," Lord Starsky said. The Mage Lord in the blue cloak justughed bitterly. "Yet, you are still more powerful than me." Lord Starsky''s eyes narrowed further. "In respect of your power, | am willing to let you and your group go. Mage Lords of our level are rare, and | wouldn''t want to kill one of them for a mere disagreement." ¡°How humble," the Territory Lord said, "but I''m not on your level, Lord Starsky." Lord Starsky only looked at the Territory Lord with furrowed brows. "Leave," he said. "Thank you," the Territory Lord said before lifting her four people with her and shooting towards the horizon. And just like that, the group with the mysterious warriors that had crashed the tournament vanished. "What happened?" one of Lord Starsky''s friends asked Lord Starsky with a voice transmission. He knew that something couldn''t be right here. First of all, the duration of the fight was suspicious. Additionally, Lord Starsky wasn''t someone that let people that slighted him go. If Lord Starsky had actually managed to gain an advantage over the Territory Lord, he would have called his two friends to end her life in an instant before killing the group of warriors. He would have never let them go like this. Something definitely wasn''t right. "| don''t exactly know," Lord Starsky answered as he kept looking in the direction where the Territory Lord had flown in. ¡°What do you mean with you don''t know?" Lord Starsky''s other friend asked. "| mean, | don''t know why they wanted to fight me in the first ce," Lord Starsky answered. "Someone like that can just leave if they want to." Lord Starsky''s two friends raised their eyebrows in confusion. "During the fight, they had only put on a show," Lord Starsky exined. "It looked shy and fancy, but | felt no actual weight or will behind their Spells. It was like they were just randomly throwing stuff to look impressive instead of actually fighting." The two other Mage Lords were quite surprised. They hadn''t noticed any of that, and from what they had been able to feel, the foreign Mage Lord had been quite powerful. Yet, Lord Starsky was saying that they hadn''t actually been serious during the battle? "Shortly before the fight ended, they actually let themselves be hit on purpose by one of my Spells," Lord Starsky said. "That Spell was actually only meant to disturb the purity of Mana in the surroundings, but they actually walked into it on purpose and acted like they had been injured by it." The two other Mage Lords looked with uncertainty at each other. "What are you trying to say?" one of them asked. Lord Starsky furrowed his brows even more. "I suspect that they might have been an Archon." The mouths of the two Mage Lords nearly dropped. If they hadn''t had thousands of years of experience and practice, they might have identally shown their sheer shock to the masses beneath them. ¡°An Archon?! Are you serious?!" one of the two of them asked with nervousness and shock. Lord Starsky only nodded. What was an Archon? Archon was a title for a Mage Lord that hadprehended a level five Concept. In short, it was a Mage Lord that could be a Mage King if there were more Mana avable in the world. Archons weren''t exactly rare. About 10% of each Empire''s Mage Lords were Archons, which woulde to nearly 10,000 Archons in the world. However, Archons outside an Empire were extremely rare. Nearly all the Archons were part of an Empire since the Empires were the only way for Archons to actually be Mage Kings in the future. Finding an Archon that didn''t belong to an Empire was extremely difficult. In fact, it was nearly impossible. But one had appeared here? The chances were infinitesimally small! "Did they belong to a different Empire?¡± one of the Mage Lords asked. "Possible," Lord Starsky answered. "I''ll inform the Lightning Manor after the winners of the tournament have been crowned." The two other Mage Lords weren''t certain if it was a good idea to wait, but they knew their friend. He wanted to keep up the appearance that he had been the winner at all costs, and acting all flustered and nervous now would destroy that appearance. This was just one of his character ws that they had to deal with. Chapter 682 Chapter 682 After the group of five left, Star City crowned the champion of the tournament to find the strongest warrior. Contestant 1, Elver! Undeniably, Elver was the strongest warrior in the world. Sure, there might be that one Mage that had also learned how to be a warrior, but that couldn''t be counted. If any Mage could just take part in the tournament, any Mage Lord could win the tournament just with their insanely strong bodies. Only pure warriors counted, and Elver was definitely the strongest among them! The watching Mages apuded as the strongest warrior in the world received his prize, a humongous spear. This spear symbolized the creation of a path. The owner of the spear was at the forefront of warriorkind, and it was their duty to ze a new path. In essence, they were the head of the spear. However, while the Mages watched with interest, some of the warriors felt like this entire ceremony was a farce. Oliver and Elver knew Shang. They were certain that the person in front of them earlier definitely had been Shang. Shang, a Mage? They knew that he had a warrior''s body, and even if he didn''t, they couldn''t imagine him following the Magic Path. Ever since Shang had been at the Commander Stage, he had done things that warriors believed to be impossible. His power had always been a level above every other warrior. And things hadn''t changed. Just when they had expected that they knew what they could expect from Shang, he surprised them yet again. Elver would have expected to be able to fight Shang, at least. He didn''t expect that he would win, but he had expected that he would be able to attack him. Yet, when Shang had moved his fingers, everything became clear. Elver hadn''t been the target of that attack, but he could feel its power. By just moving his fingers, Shang had summoned powers of the Sixth Realm. He hadn''t even drawn his weapon. Fighting him would have been no different from fighting an Ancestral Mage. Fighting him would have been no different from fighting a Zone Beast. Elver, the strongest warrior in the world? No. All the warriors that had taken part in the tournament were the first warriors that reached the Fifth Realm. They were newbies in the Fifth Realm, and they still needed to be familiar with it. It was difficult to ept, but everyone in the Diamond Body Stage knew that they wouldn''t reach the Sixth Realm ever. In fact, the stronger and more introspective warriors even realized that the Diamond Body Stage wasn''t truly a real Fifth Realm. At most, it could be counted as a prototype for an actual Fifth Realm. It needed a lot of refining to be strong enough to act as a foundation for reaching the Sixth Realm. Elver, as the creator of the Diamond Body Stage, could see a possible way forward, but it would be difficult to create something like that. First, they needed to find a way to create a Beast Core. Then, they needed to find a way to fix the control issues of the Mana. Maybe something like different Mana Pathways would work. Lastly, after thinking about the Barbarians, Elver thought about a way to exchange control over power for more power. Something like using one''s rage to amplify one''s power. Create a Beast Core, change the Mana Pathways, create techniques to push the Mana even further... Then, when all of that was present, this might be a Fifth Realm that was powerful enough to act as a foundation to reach the Sixth Realm. But would they still be warriors at that point? If all of that became reality, these physical fighters could reach speeds several times faster than beasts while having bodies several times stronger than beasts. For a Mage fighting such a warrior, it would be like fighting a beast two levels above them. Very difficult but not impossible. These physical fighters would be just as powerful as Mages. ¡®Barbarians, huh?¡¯ Elver thought as he looked at the sky. He had just received his spear earlier. After a while, he sighed. "Maybe | was never supposed to be a warrior.¡¯ "My body has already been ruined by my iplete Diamond Body. | won''t be part of the future." At that moment, all the deceased teachers of the warrior academy under which Elver had learned shot through his mind, especially the old Dean. The old Dean had created the True Path Stage, but he also had the weakest Path out of every warrior in existence. It had been pathetic. Yet, his sacrifice allowed people like Mervin and Shang to be as powerful as they had. When Elver thought of his Diamond Body Stage, he felt something simr. ¡®| might not be part of the future, but my research will influence the future." Elver wasn''t sure what he felt. Regret, frustration, anger, eptance, mncholy, nostalgia... His path hade to an end. This was as far as he would go. From now on, he would focus on refining his Diamond Body further and further. His goal was to create real Barbarians. Barbarians that weren''t weaker than Mages or Shang''s warriors. While Elver was epting his role, Oliver gritted his teeth in frustration. When Oliver had lost to contestant 31, he had felt quite mncholic and had gone on about hisck of talent. He had said that his path might have also reached its end. Yet, when he had seen Shang, he had forgotten all of that. His desire for vengeance hadpletely consumed all his doubts. It was him! He was his teacher''s killer! He was King Storm''s killer! He ruined everything! He had brought the apocalypse onto warriorkind! And he was still alive! He needed to pay!C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org He needed to die! Die! Die! However, while Oliver''s mind was nearly blinded with rage, he hadn''t lost all of his rationality. All of his destroyed weapons were a strong reminder of reality. He was too weak. If Oliver wanted to take revenge, he would need to work much harder than before. He already had a good starting point for his Weapon Variance Stage. With enough Paths, it would definitely grow strong enough to support a breakthrough into the Sixth Realm. However, Oliver would need to find a way to reach the Sixth Realm first. Impose? Sure, Impose would work with these multiple Paths, but it would mean that Oliver''s form of warriors would alwaysck behind Shang''s warriors. They wouldprehend Impose in the Fifth Realm, while Shang''s warriors wouldprehend Impose in the Fourth Realm. If Oliver''s warriors just kept following the warrior''s Path, they would always be one step behind. Because of that, Oliver needed to create something new. There had to be something he could do to push the power of his weapons even further. Justprehending more and more Paths wouldn''t lead to an end, but it would definitely help. Comprehending a Path was likeprehending a level one Concept. It might not be super useful, but it definitely increased someone''s power. ¡®Weapon Masters, huh?¡¯ Oliver thought with narrowed eyes. ¡®Fine, you''ve always been the strongest warrior!¡¯ ¡®Might as well take the title!" ¡®T''ll show you that Weapon Masters are the most powerful physical fighters under the sun!" 700 years ago, there had been only a single path a physical fighter could take that had any sort of potential or power. The warrior path. Now, 700 yearster, there were three. Warriors, Barbarians, and Weapon Masters. And the differences between these three paths would grow more and more as time progressed. Chapter 683 Chapter 683 Shang stood in the middle of a crater with several crevices inside it. He was silently standing in front of a head and a body. He didn''t say anything for several seconds. "| guess it didn¡¯t work." A person wearing a ck cloak stood behind Shang. This was that one Sweeper that had led Shang to the Sky Lantern back then. Right now, it was her job to keep an eye on Shang. The Temple of Blood''s n was in its final stages, and they needed Shang to be avable whenever they were contacted by the Twilight Dusk Family. Shang was traveling the world, and to keep an eye on him, they hadmissioned the Sweeper that had escorted him back then. She was supposed to protect Shang from Ancestral Beasts that were too powerful, stop him from walking into dangerous locations, and make sure that he didn''t run away for whatever reason. In short, she was essentially Shang''s babysitter or guard. "No," Shang answered. ¡°I''m not surprised," the Sweeper said. "You''re trying to understand something far beyond your level. It took me over 300 years to learn how to absorb all the Mana in the atmosphere to strengthen my Spells, and I''m an Ancestral Mage." "It doesn''t matter," Shang answered before destroying the headless corpse in front of him. After that, Shang took to the sky and flew away. The Sweeper followed after Shang. "Why are you so desperately trying toprehend Void Casting at this very moment? From what | have seen, something like that would be used to reach the Seventh Realm, not the Sixth Realm." ¡°Comprehending Void Casting before reaching the Sixth Realm is already basically impossible, and you''re not even a Mage." "You''re just wasting your time," she said. "| need ten Grade Six Mind Flow Pellets," Shang said with an emotionless voice. ¡°Another ten?" the Sweeper asked. "The Temple has already made severalints thest time | gave you some. | don''t care how many Mind Flow Pellets you use, but the Temple might overthink their support of you if you keep siphoning that much money out of them." "Your concern is of no weight," Shang said neutrally. Silence. "Fine," the Sweeper said with a cold voice as she summoned a bottle filled with pills. "I shouldn''t have tried to help you." She threw the bottle of pills over to Shang, who pocketed them. Shang looked for an isted cave and tasked the Sweeper to create an Istion Barrier around it. He didn¡¯t want anyone to interfere. Then, Shang summoned something. When the Sweeper saw the object Shang had summoned, she took a deep breath. She wasn''t the one that suffered whenever this thing was summoned, but she still felt anxious. It was an Istion Chamber. Shang had taken one of the Istion Chambers from Icy Bastion with him. Istion Chambers cut off all kinds of Mana from their insides. Since Shang was trying toprehend Void Casting, he thought about using the Istion Chambers. Void Casting worked by rapidly filling a Spell with far more Mana than it could handle and then releasing all that Mana before it could destroy the Spell itself. It was a delicate act of bnce. If one used too much Mana, the entire Spell would explode into the Mage''s face. If one used too little, basically nothing would happen. However, while Mages used Void Casting to fill their Spells with more Mana, Shang was trying to use Void Casting to fill his body with more Mana. If Shang identally absorbed too much, his body would literally explode. In fact, it had already exploded several times. Shang''s life was always in danger whenever he absorbed too much Mana, and he had already nearly died five times. But he wouldn''t stop. Additionally, he had found that his body managed to absorb slightly more Mana each time he tried it again. Sadly, the speed at which this ability was growing was insanely slow. ording to the Sweeper, if Shang truly wanted to achieve Void Casting with his body, he would need about 1,500 years of training to pull it off. Shang had less than 300 years of longevity left... Shang''s training methods had already been more than intense, and he hadn''t taken a single break ever since the Sweeper had epted this job.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org He had also constantly searched for more beasts to try his new ability in dangerous moments. Yet, even with all of that, Shang would still need about 1,500 years. ording to the Path for the warriors Shang had created, the warriors would need toprehend Void Casting to reach the Seventh Realm. This meant that they would already be in the Sixth Realm, which had a longevity of 5,000 years. 1,500 years to reach the Seventh Realm from the Sixth Realm would be pretty impressive. Even more, a warrior in the Sixth Realm would have a more powerful body and mind than Shang. But Shang would be able to achieve that with the body and mind of a warrior in the Fifth Realm. However, all of that would still need five times as many years as Shang had left. Because of that, Shang''s training became even more insane. Instead of just fighting beasts, Shang was now searching for Ancestral Mages. He would attack them and then run into their Spells on purpose. If he didn''t manage to absorb a great part of the enemy''s Spell with his body, the Spell would blow him apart and kill him. That was literally insane. It was suicidal. It was irrational. Shang was forcing his body to either adapt or die. But it still wasn''t enough. His body still didn''t adapt fast enough. That was when Shang decided to use the Istion Chambers. He would starve his body of Mana for a significant amount of time. His body would crave more and more Mana, and it would try to absorb as much Mana as it could. But there was no Mana. And then, when Shang was about to die, the Istion Chamber would open and let Mana inside. It sounded simple. Yet, this seemingly simple process was the most painful thing Shang had ever experienced in his entire life. Chapter 684 Chapter 684 Shang waited in front of the Istion Chamber for a while. Even for him, entering wasn''t easy. He had trained inside the Istion Chamber three times before, and all three times had been terrifying. ¡°One month, 24 days, six hours," Shang said. The Sweeper took a deep breath.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g That was three hours more thanst time. Shang had nearly diedst time. "| understand," the Sweeper said. She wanted to convince Shang not to do something like that. If he didn''t stop, he would one day die to his insane training. However, she remembered how Shang had coldly brushed off her concern earlier, and she decided not to say anything. Shang approached the Istion Chamber and stopped near its entrance. His heart was racing, and his entire being was screaming at him not to enter. It didn''t show on the outside, but deep inside, Shang was terrified. He was in deep fear. Eventually, he took a shaky breath and entered. Then, he sat down in the middle of the Istion Chamber. "Do it," he said. The Sweeper''s expression wasn''t visible beneath her ck cloak, but she was also anxious. She had gotten to know Shang quite a bit over the past couple of years, and in some sense, she had a lot of respect for his willpower. She didn''t want to see Shang die. Nevertheless, it was his decision. The Sweeper only took a deep breath and closed the entrance. From the outside, it looked like a ck te appeared at the entrance of the huge ck cube, which then fused with the walls. Lastly, the Sweeper activated a couple of Magic Circles, one of which was a reminder to get Shang out. Then, she only sat down and waited beside the ck cube. Inside the cube, Shang was sitting in silence. Funnily enough, after the door had actually been closed, Shang''s fear and anxiety calmed down somewhat. There was no way out anymore. No Mana and no Spirit Sense could exit the Istion Chamber. Some of the Magic Circles absorbed all shaking of the Istion Chamber and kept it in ce. Shang couldn''t destroy the Istion Chamber, and since it was made of Entropy Ore, Shang couldn''t even use his Entropy ability to break out. Entropy Ore was immune to the powers of Entropy. Shang was stuck. No matter what he did, he would remain in this Istion Chamber for one month, 24 days, and six hours. Shang didn''t move at all. Even his mind almost shut down. Shang''s mind and body entered a deep state of trance. And so, time passed. After two days, all the Mana inside the Istion Chamber was used up. Mana was the very thing that allowed Mages and warriors to live. Being in an area without Mana was like being underwater as a mortal. Mana was as important for Shang as air was for a mortal. If Shang were to be teleported to Earth as he was now, he would die within two months. The amount of energy necessary for Shang''s body to keep operating was unreal, and only Mana could produce that much energy while simultaneously being absorbable. At this moment, the only Mana that Shang could feel was the Mana inside his own body. Four days after all the Mana vanished, Shang''s body began to crave Mana wildly. All the Mana stored in secondary locations had vanished. These were locations like skin, hair, and nails. From now on, Shang''s body would consume the Mana stored in his Mana Pathways and Beast Core. At this moment, Shang felt like he was slowly dying. The sensation Shang was feeling could bepared to someone that had a stic bag taped around their head. There was still gas in the bag, but the person knew that all the oxygen would vanish soon. Shang felt a cold feeling of approaching death. Just like thest couple of times he had been in here, Shang was reminded of the time in Jerald''s garden when he hadnded on his back and couldn''t breathe for half a minute. These two sensations were very simr. Just this time, the feeling would hold on for infinitely longer. By now, Shang''s mind had extreme difficulties staying calm. ¡®Just wait. Don''t think. | NEED MANA! | NEED- just calm. Don''t think. MANA! MANA!¡¯ Shang''s mind was in a constant battle with itself. Shang''s rationality was telling him that panicking now would result in his death, but the feeling of approaching death was so overwhelming that Shang couldn''t stop thinking about getting Mana. ¡®I need to stay calm. I''m dying! | need to stay calm. I''m dying!" It was so very difficult. It was horrifying. ¡®| should have nevere in here! Why did | decide toe here?!¡¯ But on the outside, Shang seemed calm. ¡®| don''t want to die! | don''t want to die! | don¡¯t want to die! Just stay calm. Just wait. As long as | stay calm, | will survive. | don''t want to die!¡¯ It was like Shang was drowning. Yet, this sensation of drowning would keep persisting for more than a full month without any pause. Shang had thought about suicide more than once. It was too much. He just wanted it to end. Yet, he always somehow managed to keep going. In this state, Shang spent almost 40 days. 40 days of constant drowning. And after these 40 days, all the Mana inside Shang''s Beast Core and Mana Pathways had been used up. This was when the real terror started. In order to keep producing life energy, Shang''s body was turning itself into Mana. The non-essential parts like skin, muscles, and bone were being turned to Mana for Shang''s organs and mind. BANG! Shang mmed his fists against the wall of the Istion Chamber. "Get me out!" "Get me out!" Shang knew that all this hitting, kicking, and punching wouldn''t aplish anything, but his body was essentially moving on its own. Shang was screeching in fear. He was dying! He was dying! He was dying! "Get me out! Get me out!" "Help!" "I''m sorry!" The bones in Shang''s arms broke as his flesh and blood started to coat the Istion Chamber. Shang could no longer stay calm. He screamed whatever came to mind. He punched whatever he could. The screeching of nails scratching against hard stone. The crunch of teeth breaking apart and digging into the gums. The squelch of bloody flesh hitting the ground. The screaming of a wild animal that was slowly dying. The pleading of a scared child. Shang was trying everything. He was apologizing for all his evil deeds. He was pleading for the God to kill him. He was scared. He was so scared. Two dayster, nothing inside the Istion Chamber moved anymore. Asack of flesh, blood and broken boney in the middle of the room. It didn''t move. Shang was dying. His mind was vanishing. He didn''t think anymore. He only looked at the wall where the door was supposed to be with his desecrated Spirit Sense. The wall wasn''t moving. He was dying. The wall wasn''t moving. He was dying. He was dying... He was dy... Dying... He was... Was... Was... For just a moment, rity returned to Shang''s mind. He knew that he wouldn''t survive. Onest time, he swore to himself that if by some miracle, he survived, he would never do this again... Just like thest three times he had been in here. This was not the first time Shang had been in this situation. And it wouldn''t be thest. This was Shang''s Path. This was his determination. He was going through the most terrifying experiences imaginable. And if these experiences increased his power, he would go through them again. It was horrible. It was terrible. But it increased Shang''s power. And that was all that counted. Chapter 685 Chapter 685 The Sweeper silently waited in front of the motionless ck cube. She was readying herself. She closed her eyes, summoned several materials, and readied a couple of Spells. And ten secondster, it was finally time. One of the Magic Circles around the ck cube exploded, symbolizing the end of the timer. The Sweeper immediately cast several Spells to break the other Magic Circles, and she immediately pulled out the door as soon as she was able to. As the door vanished, a storm of Mana entered the vacuum of the Istion Chamber while a horrifying stench of blood and guts exited the Istion Chamber. Just like the previous times, the inside of the Istion Chamber was coated with blood. And just likest time, Shang was in the middle of the room. He was merely a sack of blood and guts. His skin, bones, and a majority of his muscles had been turned to Mana. His organs were dried, and the blood on his body was congealed. He didn''t move. The Sweeper immediately shot towards him and ced five Mana Crystals filled with Light Mana around his body. After that, she dumped a bucket of greenish water on his body. Then, she grabbed the Space Ring Shang had given her before he entered and summoned the Grade Six Mind Flow Pellets. She forced one of them down Shang''s throat before she cast a long Spell. After some seconds, a grey light appeared on her fingers, and she lightly jabbed her fingers at Shang''s skull-less head. Shang''s mind jolted in confusion, and it tried its best toprehend what was going on. However, at the same time, the power of the Mind Flow Pellet entered Shang''s mind and made it very difficult for the mind to focus again. Shang''s feelings before he had lost consciousness slowly returned, and his confused mind immediately went into survival mode. Thest thing it had felt was approaching death, but now, it was suddenly alive again. This meant that it had survived! Under normal circumstances, Shang''s bodily functions would return to recovery mode, but with the Mind Flow Pellet, this had be extremely difficult. Shang''s mind was trying to give the order to absorb Mana and convert it to life energy, but the Mind Flow Pellet wouldn''t allow that order to go through. This meant that Shang was still dying. Shang''s subconscious was terrified beyond belief and tried its absolute best to do anything to keep itself and its body alive, but it was so difficult! It was dying! It was still dying! Shang''s subconsciousness explored all possible ways to stay alive. On the outside, Shang still wasn''t moving at all. After activating five more Magic Circles, the Sweeper finally took a deep breath. Shang would survive. In silence, she looked at the slightly quivering sack of guts and blood. She could feel the sheer panic and terror emanating from the sack. These were the feelings of a being that was dying but didn''t want to die. Silence. The Sweeper just looked at the sack. Thest moments before she had closed the Istion Chamber reyed in her mind. Abit more than one and a half months ago, she had closed the door while Shang calmly sat in the middle of the room. And the next time she opened it, this picture greeted her. No matter how many times she witnessed it, it was still a terrifying image. How much must Shang have suffered to transform into such a quivering mass of organs and blood? The Sweeper couldn''t imagine it. And even worse, this hadn''t even been the first time. Shang had done that three times already, this being the fourth time!N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. Doing something like that once, okay, people make mistakes sometimes. Maybe they didn''t know what would await them. But doing it again? And again? It made no sense, no matter how many times she thought about it. She couldn''t understand why someone would choose to do something like that to themselves. Was it worth it? She couldn''t imagine a world where such torture would be worth something. The Sweeper just silently looked at Shang. The Mana around him was moving in very abrupt ways, almost like it was uncontrobly seizing. This was the result of Shang''s subconsciousness trying everything it could with the ability of World Connection. The movement of the Mana around Shang essentially represented the uncontroble spasms of Shang''s body. The Sweeper kept watching and making sure that nothing went wrong. Shang''s mind was still thinking it was dying due to the Mind Flow Pellet''s effects, but he was actually not in any danger since the Magic Circles around him fed him just enough life energy to stay alive. The Sweeper just silently waited as the pile of guts quivered in fear and terror. In society, being hardworking and dedicated to training was amendable trait. Yet, what Shang was doing was notmendable. It was not healthy. Shang didn''t behave like a hardworking man but more like a self-destructive machine. He was like a monster that kept drinking blood constantly because it had a huge hole in its back where blood constantly flowed out. He was like a fire that reached for anything it could burn in a panic because the things it was currently burning had already turned to ash. He was a starving person that was eating their own skin to stay alive. And, worst of all, the very thing that was killing Shang was himself. He was the thing that desperately tried to end his life while he also desperately tried to survive the things he was doing to himself. How many more times? How many more times before Shang slipped up and died? What then? Would everything have been worth it? Why sacrifice so much just to die to yourself? When Shang finally sacrificed himself, what would be left? The mass of organs and blood quivered in fear and terror. The Sweeper silently watched. She didn''t want to see something like this again. Chapter 686 Chapter 686 Shang slowly stood up and cleaned his new body of all the dried blood. After that, he calmly put on a new set of robes and put new bandages around his eye sockets. He slowly stepped out of the Istion Chamber, leaving behind a bloody mess of human body parts. When he stepped out, he lifted his arm and pointed it into the Istion Chamber. BOOOM! A brutal explosion came out of the door of the Istion Chamber, and after it vanished, all the biological matter in the Istion Chamber was gone. Lastly, Shang put the Istion Chamber away again. The Sweeper only looked at Shang from the side. There was aplex expression on her face, which was hidden by her cloak. There were so many feelings she was feeling right now. Pity. Anger. Frustration. Fear. But also a bit of happiness and relief. Shang was definitely a monster, but in a very morbid way, she wanted to see how far he could go. If he somehow managed to keep surviving, what would someone like him eventually be? "There was a drop in efficiency," Shang said suddenly. The Sweeper didn''t answer. "Thest time, my body grew a bit more. I''m uncertain if it''s diminishing returns or if it''s rted to the time between sessions,¡± Shang exined. "The next session will be held in about ten years. | need to see if a longer period of waiting increases the efficiency again." The Sweeper took a deep breath. He had just recovered, and he was already nning the next time he would enter the Istion Chamber. "| fear that won''t be possible,¡± the Sweeper said. Shang turned slightly to face the Sweeper. "Have theye to a consensus?" The tournament of the warriors had happened 20 years ago, and the Twilight Dusk Family had contacted the Temple of Blood just two years after that. The Lightning Manor couldn''t just send its agents into the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory without disclosing their reasons for doing so. Otherwise, they would risk an international incident between Empires that would vite several agreements. So, the Lightning Manor had been honest and told the Twilight Dusk Family about Shang. Shang was someone that had been groomed by the Lightning Manor, and he was a wanted criminal. They demanded Shang''s execution while the Impose Stage warriors were supposed to be handed over to the Lightning Manor. The Twilight Dusk Family agreed to the first request but not the second. While the Twilight Dusk Family was talking with the Lightning Manor, they also contacted the Temple of Blood. Theoretically, the Temple of Blood was counted as a rebellious organization, but the Twilight Dusk Family hadn''t really cared about that. Their rule was unassable, and anyone that tried to make problems was just akin to a small child throwing a tantrum. The Temple of Blood gave all the information they had on warriors over to the Twilight Dusk Family. When the Twilight Dusk Family heard of the potential advantages of having something like warriors, their interest was immediately piqued. But that wasn''t everything. When they heard about Shang''s power, they didn''t believe the Temple of Blood at first. However, after several confirmations and proof, the Twilight Dusk Family eventually believed them. Awarrior that could be a Dusk in the future? For the Twilight Dusk Family, a Dusk represented an extremely powerful and extremely talented Mage Lord, someone that ruled over major parts of the Empire. Even more, ording to the Temple of Blood, this warrior had even theorized a Path for warriors up to the Seventh Realm, which was insane! Right now, the entire world only knew of warriors in the Fifth Realm, but they had actually already theorized a method to reach the Seventh Realm. That was worth an insane amount of money! After getting all the relevant information from the Temple of Blood, the Twilight Dusk Family actually sent one of their Twilights to negotiate with the Lightning Manor. Twilights were the Twilight Dusk Family''s Mage Kings, and they had nine of those. The Lightning Manor acted like they just wanted to grab some people in the Fifth Realm, but they were actually asking for something of unimaginable value.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. The initial price the Lightning Manor had offered was thrown out of the window, and the Twilight made a counteroffer that was seven magnitudes higher. The Lightning Manor''s initial reaction was just to walk away and forget all about the warriors. They weren''t even worth a fraction of what the Twilight Dusk Family asked for! However, after the Twilight exined why the price was so high, things very quickly changed. There was already a way to the Sixth Realm? Scratch that! There was a way to the Seventh Realm?! And there was one guy that hade up with all of that?! Even more, it was the one guy they had wanted to execute?! As soon as they heard of Shang''s powers and aplishments, they immediately stopped treating him as a criminal and began treating him as an extremely valuable employee they wanted to scout. They weren''t even thinking about killing him anymore. That would be such an insane waste! After going over all the information, the Lightning Manor also sent one of their Mage Kings to negotiate with the Twilight Dusk Family. And these negotiations had been going on for nearly 20 years by now. "They havee to an agreement," the Sweeper told Shang. "In two years, the Lightning Manor will send their people to collect all the warriors at the True Path Stage and higher, including you." Shang turned his head and looked away from the Sweeper. "So, it''s over, huh?" he asked. The Sweeper nodded. "You will be leaving the Temple of Blood soon, and you also don''t need to delete your SKP. The Lightning Manor paid for that privilege. They don''t want you to damage your mind." Shang remained silent for a while. The Temple of Blood. He had stayed in the Temple of Blood for nearly 500 years. And now, he was leaving. It was a weird feeling. ¡°How much did the Temple of Blood get?" Shang asked. The Sweeper looked at Shang. ¡°My worry over you using too many resources was unfounded," she said. "I don''t know the specific number, but | know that the Temple of Blood gained over 300 Grade Seven Mana Crystals." ¡°And | have no idea how much the Twilight Dusk Family actually got." Chapter 687 Chapter 687 For the next two years, Shang continued training as always. He was dead set onprehending Void Casting before his longevity would end, which was in about 280 years. Shang was around 720 years old now, which was very old already for someone in the Fifth Realm. Someone of such an age would normally be considered as someone whose Path hade to an end. They would only continue coasting along until their longevity ran out, never reaching the next Realm. Sadly, spending so much time in each Realm was the only way for Shang to get a solid foundation. If Shang''s Path had already been nned out in the beginning, he could have done a couple of training exercises for his body whileprehending the Concepts of Addition and Subtraction. Additionally, there would have probably also been better methods for warriors toprehend Void Casting. However, Shang was the strongest warrior. There was no Path he could follow. He had to create his own. If there had been a Star Map for his Addum and Subsis, he might have also saved a century. If he had a greater backer, Shang would have also received a far better area toprehend the Concepts of Addition and Subtraction. As it stood, Shang hadprehended these Concepts by looking at beasts with somewhat fitting Affinities, but that obviously hadn''t been the best method. With a better area, Shang would have maybe saved another century. In that case, Shang would only be a bit over 500 years old, giving him nearly 500 years toprehend Void Casting. That would be far easier. Sadly, these were only ifs. Shang could only hope that all these issues would vanish as soon as he joined the Lightning Manor. Nevertheless, Shang never wasted even a second of his life, and he continued training with everything he had. He let the Sweeper use several powerful Magic Circles that forced Mana into Shang''s body over and over again. Shang''s body exploded again and again, but he didn''t flinch. This was just normal pain, and he had grown so used to it that the concept of pain had be distorted. Whenever Shang felt excruciating pain, he wasn''t even sure what he felt anymore. Was it ufortable? Yeah, but he couldn''t really describe it.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org Was it pain? He didn''t know. In a way, Shang couldn''t feel pain anymore since what he felt whenever his body got injured had be so confusing and unimportant that he wasn''t even sure what it was or if he was feeling it or not. Additionally, he had witnessed the own destruction of his body so many times that he hadpletely dissociated from it. When Shang witnessed his chest explode and his organs shoot out of his body, he didn''t feel any different than when he saw a stone on a road break into pieces. It was like his body wasn''t him. It was like all these things that were happening to him were not actually happening to him. It was monotone, boring, unimportant, grey, and repetitive. After years of helping Shang with his training, the Sweeper had grown somewhat used to him. Sure, a high pain tolerance was important for a powerful Mage, but whenever she saw Shang train, it was like she was witnessing something that shouldn''t exist. Humans, animals, and beasts were supposed to feel pain and fear when they were injured, right? Ahigh pain tolerance was good and all, but this was just ridiculous. Was Shang even a human anymore? The more time she spent with Shang, the more abnormal and unnatural he seemed to her. Whenever Shang was training, it was like he was some kind of being from outside this world or reality. However, when Shang actually entered the Istion Chamber, everything was flipped to the other extreme. Over 99% of the time, Shang seemed like an otherworldly being that didn''t have human desires and human pains, but during this last percent, when he went into the Istion Chamber, it was the opposite. At that moment, the Sweeper felt like Shang was a horrified and scared child. It was like a poor and innocent child had been befallen by a tragic fate. Ironically, that fate was his own desire. These were the two extremes of Shang that the Sweeper had witnessed. Extreme apathy and detachment. Intense fear and emotion. There was no in-between. As the deadline of two years came closer, the Sweeper grew more nervous. For some reason, she didn''t want to leave Shang. Of course, the Sweeper wasn''t some teenage girl. She was over a thousand years old, and she had plenty of life experience. She looked inside herself and actually asked herself if she had taken an interest in Shang. Initially, she denied it. After all, she couldn''t empathize with Shang at all. For such interest to develop, one needed to be able to empathize with the other person. They needed to understand how the other person felt. And that didn''t exist between them. Nearly all the time, it was like the Sweeper was looking at a ghost with nothing human about it. But when the Sweeper actually analyzed her feelings more, she realized that the contrast between Shang''s two extremes had an intense pull on her. Everyone in the world had only seen that one version of Shang, but she was the only one that had seen the other version of Shang. His vulnerable side. His scared side. In a way, she knew Shang better than any other person in the entire world. In the end, she came to the conclusion that, yes, she had taken an interest in Shang. However, what about it? Would a rtionship even work out? Would he even care? No, it was impossible. She knew Shang better than everyone else, and that was why she also knew why it could never work. Shang was exclusively focused on his power, nothing else. He got rid of absolutely everything that could be a distraction. Love wouldn''t be any different from any other distraction to him. Because of that, she hadn''t spoken about her feelings until shortly before Shang was supposed to leave. Just when the two of them were making their way to the meeting ce, the Sweeper actually spoke up. She didn''t know why, but she just had to ask. "Would you mind if | also joined the Lightning Manor?" she asked. "| don''t care," Shang answered coldly. The Sweeper just looked at Shang, not surprised about his answer. ¡°Aren''t you interested in why | would ask you something like that?" she asked. "No." Silence. The Sweeper took a deep breath. ¡°Are you interested in a rtionship?" Shang remained silent for two seconds. "| changed my mind. | don''t want you to join the Lightning Manor." "| can''t use any more distractions." Silence. "Okay," the Sweeper said after some seconds. And the two of them flew towards the meeting ce in silence. Chapter 688 Chapter 688 Shang arrived near Icy Bastion. Just 20 years ago, he had been the Town Lord of Icy Bastion, but that was obviously no longer the case. The town had never truly belonged to Shang. He had simply been a form of administrator or manager for the town. For now, an Initial Ancestral Mage was acting as the Town Lord. Thanks to the Abyss Worms, the Town Lord didn''t need to be super powerful. At the moment, over 8,000 people were gathered near the main exit of Icy Bastion. They were all anxiously waiting for someone. From what Shang could see, there were about 50 Impose Stage warriors and about 600 True Path Stage warriors. The remaining people were the friends and family of these warriors. Shang recognized a couple of people that had joined the Temple of Blood already, but based on what they were talking about, their SKP had already been deleted. This meant that none of them remembered for whom they had been working. Most of them were confused, but they were also quite happy with the oue. They didn''t know where it came from, but all of them had earned a ton of money. At the moment, Shang was just looking at them from around 100 kilometers away. The Sweeper had left shortly before they entered the range of Icy Bastion''s Magic Circles. On the surface, this town belonged to the current Town Lord, and as a Sweeper from the Temple of Blood, the Sweeper couldn''t possibly show herself near the town. When she had stopped before the range of the Magic Circles, Shang had just continued. He didn''t face her. He didn''t say anything. He just continued flying like she hadn''t been there at all. The Sweeper closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Shang''s cold actions hurt her a bit, but she was not some emotional teen. She would get over it in a matter of minutes. She knew that they were from different worlds and that there had never been any possibility of things working out. Also, maybe it was for the better. Maybe having a rtionship with Shang was horrible and painful. Yet, there was one specific feeling that wouldn''t leave the Sweepers mind for a long time. Pity. In her mind, Shang''s life was filled with pain and tragedy. Like basically everyone else, the Sweeper had wished to have such an insanely high Battle-Strength as Shang. However, after witnessing what Shang was going through to gain so much power, she no longer envied him. She wouldn''t want to be this powerful if it meant living like Shang. In the end, she simply flew back to her branch and waited for her next assignment. Watching over Shang had been a job. Nothing else. Meanwhile, Shang entered the town andnded near the side of a road, waiting for the person that would lead everyone to the Lightning Manor. Of course, as the previous Town Lord, basically every person at the True Path Stage and higher immediately recognized him. They hadn''t seen him in 20 years, but no one could forget someone like Shang. His aura and appearance were unique. Shang just silently waited. Some of the True Path Stage warriors were interested in striking up a conversation. After all, Shang was no longer the Town Lord, and he would join the same organization as them soon. However, the True Path Stage warriors felt an intense pressure and feeling of rejection when they tried to approach Shang with their bodies or Spirit Senses. He wasn''t doing anything special, but the people that wanted to build a connection with him felt like this was a bad idea. Their instincts were telling them that they really shouldn''t try to strike up a conversation with him. Yet, there were still some people that managed to approach him. There were five Impose Stage warriors that walked up to Shang. He didn''t react to their approach. And then, the five Impose Stage warriors bowed with deep respect. "Master," they echoed respectfully. "I''m not your master," Shang said evenly. In the middle of the five people was a beautiful woman with silver hair. This was the person that had fought Elver in the tournament about 20 years ago. She counted as the second most powerful warrior in the Twilight Dusk Family''s Empire, which was an incredible achievement. She politely stepped forward and lowered her head respectfully. "Irrelevant of your feelings, you will always be our master." Shang snorted. "Then, understand that the feeling isn''t mutual, and don''t expect me to do anything for you." "We understand," the woman said respectfully. Shang didn''t say anything after that.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. The five people left after a couple of seconds. Apparently, they really had only wanted to show their respect to Shang as their former master. Of course, as basically the progenitor and inventor of the Impose Stage, everyone had the deepest respect for Shang. Even though Shang was being cold, curt, rude, and refusing, they didn''t think lesser of him. They respected Shang for his aplishments and what he had done for the warriors, not for the quality of his personality. After a long period of silence due to Shang''s arrival, the people started talking with each other again. Many of them felt nervous and blessed for being in the presence of the greatest warrior that had ever lived, in their opinion, but they also tried to be polite and act like he wasn''t there so that they wouldn''t bother him. Constantly being gawked at by thousands of people was probably ufortable. Of course, Shang didn''t care either way. His mind was much more focused on being frustrated about the fact that he was wasting precious hours. He could be training right now, but instead, he had to wait for some guy from the Lightning Manor. As more and more time passed, Shang became angrier and angrier. He wasn''t angry at anyone specific but at the situation. He wanted to train. He needed to train! Yet, training would be a dumb idea right now since it was a bad idea to show too much of his power to everyone, and his training would also be interrupted by the person from the Lightning Manor soon. As he continued waiting, he simply grew angrier and more impatient. The surroundings grew heavier and more oppressive for the people. The people became quieter again since they felt like talking would be a bad thing right now. Luckily, they only needed to wait a couple of minutes before the escort from the Lightning Manor appeared. Sure enough, the Lightning Manor was already showing its power. They sent a Mage Lord. Chapter 689 Chapter 689 Awoman with metallic-grey hair floated above Icy Bastion. The pressure she gave off was awe-inspiring, but not in a terrifying way. Her pressure felt more like a very tight and strong hug. She looked with a strict expression at the present people, but everyone could also feel some concerning from her. In a way, it was like she was a powerful and strict mother, and her eyes were reflecting these thoughts. These belong to me! This was what her eyes said. "Hello, everyone,¡± she said in a polite butmanding voice. "My name is Mistra Flowsteel, and | am a Bolt from the Lightning Manor. That means that | am one of the Lightning Manor''s Mage Lords." The present people looked at each other. Should they greet her? Should their leader step forward and greet her? Some people nced over at Shang, but Shang hadn''t moved at all. "Warriors at the True Path Stage, please form a line," shemanded. "Family and friends, please step away from the warriors. Impose Stage warriors, please wait near the side." The people slowlyplied, and after a couple of seconds, three groups formed. The True Path Stage warriors, Impose Stage warriors, and everyone else stood in different locations. When Mistra saw that, she nodded andnded near the gate of Icy Bastion. SHING! Asmall booklet appeared beside her, hovering in the air. Surprisingly, she actually put on some sses, which was very unusual. After all, there probably wasn''t even a single Mage that had issues with their eyesight, which meant that the sses were probably for something else. "True Path Stage warriors, step forward one at a time," shemanded. The first person in the line nervously stepped forward. They still weren''t entirely sure if everything would work out fine since a lot of the stuff that they had heard just sounded way too good to be true. Even more, standing in front of a Mage Lord was always a terrifying experience just due to their sheer power and status. Especially one that belonged to one of the Empires. "Name," she said. "Tarkus," the warrior said. "Who will you be bringing with you today?" "My wife, my three children, and two friends," Tarkus answered. Several tiny letters appeared on the booklet on their own, and Mistra nodded. SHING! The True Path Stage warriors and stronger looked towards the wall since their Spirit Senses had just picked up something. Athin but huge te of ss had suddenly appeared just outside the town. The ss was thinner than a centimeter, but the entire pane was probably nearly five kilometers wide. One could also see several circles that were a couple of meters wide on it. "Bring everyone to the Transport te, get yourself a circle, and stay inside it," Mistramanded. The warrior nodded and quickly waved his friends and family over. Then, they left the town, went onto the huge te of ss, and gathered in one of the circles. "Next," Mistra said. This was how things went for the next two hours. Eventually, all the True Path Stage warriors boarded the Transport te with their friends and family, leaving only the Impose Stage warriors and their friends and family behind. Mistra called the first Impose Stage warrior over and asked him the same questions. But after she got her answer, she had more questions this time. ¡°When did you reach the Impose Stage?" she asked. ¡°About 17 years ago," the warrior answered.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. ¡°How did you do it?" "| practiced my techniques until | achieved perfect execution and Synchronized Mana Flow." "What is Synchronized Mana Flow?" she asked, throwing a nce at the warrior. The warrior felt ufortable. "Well, Synchronized Mana Flow is when the Mana you use to perform your techniques travels through your body in such a way that it doesn''t injure the body anywhere while also flowing at intense and rapid speeds." "Oh?" Mistra slowly uttered as she moved her sses a bit to look more closely at the warrior''s body. The warrior felt more ufortable as Mistra just silently kept looking at his armored chest. "Show me a couple of your techniques," she said. The warrior looked around ufortably. It was a bit awkward to just start shing in the air with his weapon while strangers just watched him. "Okay," he said awkwardly as he summoned a long sword. Then, he performed a couple of shes. Luckily, he was so used to training his techniques that the awkwardness in the surroundings didn''t negatively impact his performance. ¡°Most interesting," Mistra said as a second booklet appeared beside her, which was rapidly filled with words. In fact, the words appeared on the booklet at a speed of over 20 pages per second. ¡°Alright, you can stop," she said. The warrior awkwardly put his sword away again and waited for more orders. "Okay, so, how can you ensure that the technique you are using isn''t incorrectly using your Mana Pathways?" she asked. "It depends on the technique,¡± the warrior answered. "My Mana Pathways were created by the world when | reached the True Path Stage, and they are perfectly made for the Path | have created. As long as | use techniques from my Path, | can be sure that my Mana won''t move in unsuited ways." Mistra nodded a couple of times as more pages were filled of her booklet. By now, she had written down many times more about this Impose Stage warrior than about everything she had written down about everyone that hade before him. ¡°What if you want to change your Path? What if you want to use other techniques?" she asked. The warrior smiled ufortably. "That''s... difficult. | would need to change my Mana Pathways." "Can you?" Mistra asked. "Well, | can''t, but | know someone that can," he answered. "Oh? What makes them able to change their Mana Pathways while you can''t?" she asked. "| mean, | could learn how to change Mana Pathways, but it is very dangerous, very time-consuming, and | am not confident enough to edit my Mana Pathways in such a way that | would create something better than the world." "You know, my Mana Pathways have already been optimized for the Path | have chosen, and | use many of them for many different techniques. By changing one of them, | would need to change even more of them since now other techniques don''t fit anymore, which would need me to change even more of them." "| would probably be left with a nearly unsolvable mess of Mana Pathways, and even if | managed to solve that mess, it would probably take me decades, if not centuries. | don''t think that''s worth it," the warrior exined. The booklet was turning like crazy, and the warrior felt quite intimidated by it. He had just talked for a couple of seconds, but the booklet had already written down thousands of pages of information by now. What the hell was this Mage Lord writing about, and how could she write that much about the little bit of information he was giving her? Also, how many pages did that booklet even have?! "Mhm," Mistra hummed as the booklet stopped writing. "So, how is this a problem for you but not for your friend?" "Well, you see-" "Wait!" Mistra suddenly said, lifting her hand. The warrior blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Yes?" "Is your friend amongst the Impose Stage warriors?" "Yeah, he''s-" "Alright!" Mistra shouted with a chipper voice before she realized that she had let her giddy and curious demeanor slip out. Mistra coughed once to return to her professional demeanor. "Then, | can just ask your friendter." "Okay," the warrior slowly and awkwardly said, unsure how to respond. Chapter 690 Chapter 690 ¡°Alright, next question,¡± Mistra said. "How do you know whether a technique has been performed perfectly or not?" "We use natural treasures," the warrior answered. "Oh? What kind?" Mistra asked in interest. "Wind de Seed..." SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! Suddenly, over ten different books appeared in the air, which opened and closed at nearly the same time after rapidly shooting through all the pages. Then, several more pages were added to the primary booklet. The warrior just looked at Mistra with an ufortable expression. On the side, Shang didn''t react, but he once more was reminded of the sheer difference between the old Dean, George, and a powerful Mage. Based on what just happened, Shang was sure that Mistra had just searched through several encyclopedias since she probably hadn''t known what Wind de Seeds were, and when she had found her answer, she wrote down a huge hypothesis in less than a second. She had done all of that in about two seconds. How long would George have taken? The gap between a normal warrior that was trying toe up with something and such an experienced Mage Lord was iprehensible. No wonder the Temple of Blood¡¯s team of researchers had simplified the Bloodline Infusion to such a degree that it felt unimportant, simple, and negligible. The warrior only waited awkwardly. "Yes?" Mistra asked after a while. "Is that all, or are there more treasures?" "Well, there''s also Fire Wave Berry-"C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! "...Grass." Mistra''s brows twitched a bit. SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! Then, she motioned for the warrior to continue. The warrior slowly named the next herb, and the entire process was repeated again. At the side, Shang felt second-hand frustration. He could imagine how frustrating it must feel for the Mage Lord. Her mind was moving so insanely quickly, but the warrior in front of her was talking extremely slowly and made several long pauses. Shang guessed that he would have already uttered a couple of passive-aggressivements by now if he were in Mistra''s shoes. Mistra kept asking a couple of general questions regarding the Impose Stage, which took a couple of minutes. Eventually, she came to herst question. ¡°And how did you find out about all of this?" she asked. "| learned all of that from Teacher Nareo," the warrior said. Then, he pointed to a warrior with brown hair who was standing in the group of Impose Stage warriors. Mistra nodded with a polite smile. "Alright. Thank you for answering all my questions! You may gather your friends and family and enter the Transportation te." The warrior nodded in relief. "No problem." The warrior left, and Mistra called over the next warrior. She asked the next warrior very simr questions but skipped the obvious ones this time. Mistra also asked this warrior to perform his techniques, which she observed very closely. ¡°And where did you learn all of this from?" "Teacher Nareo," the warrior answered. Mistra nodded and let that warrior leave again. There was nothing surprising about the next Impose Stage warriors. Almost all of them had learned most of their knowledge from one of three Impose Stage warriors. These three "teachers" were all in the Mid Impose Stage. "Oh?" Mistra suddenly uttered in surprise as she watched one of the Impose Stage warriors perform their techniques. "That''s surprising.¡± ¡°What is?" Duma, the Impose Stage warrior in front of Mistra, asked. ¡°Your Mana Pathways look very different from everyone else''s," Mistra said. Thisment took nearly everyone by surprise. Mana Pathways? She could actually see their Mana Pathways?! But how?! Spirit Senses couldn''t look into someone''s body! Shang had already expected something like this when he had seen Mistra put on sses. The sses were probably the reason how she could see the Mana Pathways. "Yes, that''s because | changed them," Duma said. Agleam of curiosity and excitement appeared in Mistra''s eyes before her booklet started to madly write more pages filled with words. This time, Mistra stayed silent for nearly ten seconds as her booklet madly kept writing. Then, it stopped. "Please continue performing your techniques," Mistra said politely with a wave of her hand. Duma awkwardly looked at the silently hovering booklet. It wasn''t doing anything. Then, Duma slowly lifted his shield. DRRRRRRRRRRRR! And the booklet madly started to write again. Duma felt even more awkward. He had literally just lifted his shield, and Mistra wrote down like 20 pages worth of information. Then, Duma pushed his shield forward. DRRRRRRRRR! And the booklet kept writing. This time, Mistra let Duma perform all of his techniques for nearly 20 minutes, and she even encouraged him to show more. She wanted to see everyst one of his techniques. "Are these all?" Mistra asked. "Yes," Duma answered. And then, something surprising happened. Mistra frowned. "Are you sure?" she asked with a bit of annoyance and disappointment. Duma became a bit nervous. "I mean, yes, those are all the techniques | would use in a fight." "Okay," Mistra said slowly, "but are there techniques that you wouldn''t use? For example, techniques that feel ufortable for your Mana Pathways?" "Well, there are some," Duma said. ¡°Perform those as well, please," Mistra said. "| mean, okay, but please keep in mind that | wouldn''t use them in a fight," he said. ¡°Of course," Mistra said with a polite smile. Then, Duma performed more techniques for ten minutes. ¡°Alright, that should be enough,¡± Mistra said with a satisfied smile. Duma nodded and put his weapons away. ¡°As a thank you, you can have this!" Mistra said as a second booklet came out of her primary booklet. Duma looked with raised eyebrows at the booklet. "Thanks, but what is that?" he asked. "| designed a Mana Pathway System that can incorporate all of your techniques. That should help you out a lot." Silence. Deafening silence. "What?!" Duma almost shouted. "You can go to the Transportation te with your friends and family now," Mistra said. "No, | mean, yes, | mean, wait a second!" Duma stuttered. Mistra raised an eyebrow. "Yes?" "What do you mean you designed a Mana Pathway System?" Duma asked. "| designed one," Mistra said with a bit of confusion. "| don''t get the question. You should know what a Mana Pathway System is, right? | mean, you changed your own." "Yes, | did, but it took me literally over a century toe up with my current one!" Duma almost shouted. "Yeah, that''s because you''re a warrior," Mistra said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I''ve been a researcher in the Lightning Manor for over 7,000 years. When you know your basics about biology and how power and Mana work, it''s not too difficult to come up with a Mana Pathway System. Probably even a True Mage or High Mage could do it." "Now, please, get to the Transportation te. | still have other people to interview," Mistra said. Duma''s hands were shaking as he looked at the booklet he was holding with a horrified and disbelieving expression. Eventually, Mistra grew impatient and simply shoved Duma out of the gate with her Spirit Sense. Asmall group of other people hurriedly ran after Duma. ¡°Alright, next!" Chapter 691 Chapter 691 Mistra continued summoning one warrior after the other, and eventually, she reached the Mid Impose Stage warriors. Those were the ones that taught nearly everyone else. In total, there were seven, but only three of them had apparently taken up the mantle of teacher. When she asked the Mid Impose Stage warriors questions, Mistra became a bit surprised. Their answers were different. They were far more detailed. The other warriors had exined what they were doing and why they were doing it, but they didn''t exin why the stuff they were doing actually worked. Yet, these Mid Impose Stage warriors were also exining why the things they were doing actually produced results. This time, Mistra took longer to ask the Impose Stage warriors about their thoughts, and she also started to jot down a lot of new things in her booklet. ¡°And where did you learn all of these things?" she asked near the end. ¡°Master taught me," the warrior exined, gesturing to Shang. "Oh?" Mistra muttered. This had been the first time anyone had directly been in contact with this mysterious white warrior. Everyone else had only talked about him in a very distant way like they had never actually met. "I''ve noticed that you and two other warriors were referred to as teacher by many warriors. Howe your disciples are calling you teacher, but you call your teacher master?" Mistra asked. "There are many teachers but only one Master," the warrior said. "We chose not to use the title master out of our respect for our Master." "We are teachers, not masters," he said. "Mhm," Mistra uttered. "And your master is not a teacher?" Surprisingly, the warrior didn¡¯t answer for two seconds. "No," he said. "What''s the difference?" Mistra asked. The warrior remained silent for a bit. Then, he looked over at Shang for a while and looked back. "Because we care about our students," he said. The reactions of the remaining warriors were very mixed. Some of them frowned at the warrior, while others looked ufortably to the side, while others seemed to silently agree. Of course, Mistra noticed all of these reactions, which piqued her interest. "Why are you saying something like that?" Mistra asked. The man took a deep breath and sighed. "I believe in being honest. Yes, Master has done incredible things for us, and he taught us things we could have neverprehended on our own. Even after all these years, | feel like my teaching ability is still far below his." "| do respect him deeply for that, but from a more emotional standpoint, | wish that | wasn''t just some number to him." "I''m not sure what he got out of it, but | know that he only taught us because of some mary gain. | don''t know who offered him the reward, but | know that''s the only reason why he even taught us." "He doesn''t care about our power. He doesn''t care about our happiness. He doesn''t care about our Battle-Strength." ¡°He just wanted as many Impose Stage warriors as possible, and he didn''t care who advanced." Silence. The reactions of the present warriors were mixed again. "Very interesting," Mistra said. "So, to summarize, you''ve had a verypetent and knowledgeable teacher, but he has been very cold and indifferent to you." "Correct," the warrior said. Mistra jotted down a couple of things and sent the warrior on his way. When she talked to the next warrior, Shang came up again. Mistra asked about Shang again, and the warrior basically said the same thing as the previous one. This time, the reactions were neutral or negative. The remaining four Mid Impose Stage warriors didn''t have as many problems with Shang as the first two. Mistra called the next one. "Please, don''t believe everything the previous two have said," the warrior said immediately before Mistra could ask her questions. ¡°Let me get through the questions first," Mistra said with a slight chuckle. "You will get your chance." "Okay," the warrior said. Later, the topic of Shang came up, and the warrior had something to say about it. "Being a teacher or a master is not about building a rtionship. We have parents, friends, and family to build rtionships. Having a master or a teacher means learning something. It is a transaction." "You teach me, and | will repay you in the future. That''s the rtionship between teacher and student. Anyone that believes that a master or a teacher has to coddle you like a child is naive." ¡°Master has done just that. He taught us, and he taught us very well. That is what | wanted to say," the warrior said. "Interesting," Mistra answered. "The first two have quite a lot of students under them, just like you. You three seem to be the most popr teachers amongst the Mid Impose Stage warriors. That''s correct?" The warrior nodded. "Why is your ideology so different from theirs?" Mistra asked. "They''ve always been like this," the warrior answered. "Initially, they tried to gain Master''s favoritism, but as soon as they were under him for a while, they onlyined. They cried all the time that they wanted more free time and that Master was supposed to help us achieve our goals by bing stronger." ¡°Master quickly told them that he wasn''t forcing them to stay and that they could leave whenever they wanted." "But they didn''t." "In my opinion, they simply werezy and are harboring resentment since Master didn''t allow them to. They don''t seem thankful at all to him, and | despise them for it." Mistra nodded a couple of times. "Why have you be a teacher?" "I''ve once lived in mediocrity, thinking that there was no way forward. | was a Commander Stage warrior in a different city, and | felt like | had reached the peak of my power." ¡°Eventually, Master saved me by bringing me to his town, and when | reached the True Path Stage, he took me under his wing.¡± "| never wanted to feel this hopelessness in my life again, and that''s why | want to teach people. | don''t want them to die an early death." ¡°Many warriors have talent far greater than what they have realized. They just need a teacher to help them unlock their talent." Mistra nodded. "Earlier, you said being a teacher and a student is transactional, but now, you''re talking about an altruistic motive. Howe?"N?velDrama.Org holds text ? rights. "Well, | also work on myself, and if a student reaches the Impose Stage, | want them to repay me with 200 Grade Five Mana Crystals." Mistra chuckled a bit. "Understood." Then, she called in the next warrior. His answer regarding his rtionship with Shang was rather neutral. "| was the first warrior beside Master that reached the Impose Stage. He asked me to take over his job of teaching for a while, and | did. | repaid my debt, and we have no rtionship anymore. That''s it. I''m not really a teacher, which was why | tried to find a way to further my power by epting a job in some organization. Of course, since | don''t have the SKP anymore, | don''t know what happened there.¡± Mistra nodded and called the next warrior. The next warrior was very respectful of Shang. He was the one that gave them the opportunity to be as powerful as they now were, and he would be eternally grateful for that. Mistra called in the second-tost Mid Impose Stage warrior, and his rtionship with Shang was... confusing? It was hard to find the right word. "| don''t know what to think of him," he said. "He taught me a lot, but his methods also kept me from my wife, and she died when | wasn''t even there. Up until the very end, | felt estranged from my own family." "| feel regret whenever | look at some of my distant children, but | can''t deny that Master''s methods are very effective." "He has given me what | wanted, power." "It just came at a price | wasn''t ready to pay.¡± ¡°But | don''t know if | can fault him for that. | could have also just left. No one was forcing me to stay." "In the end, | don''t know." Mistra nodded and sent the warrior away. He only had two friends follow him with their families. He wasn''t bringing any family himself. Then, it was time for thest Mid Impose Stage warrior. It was the woman with silver hair, the one that had taken part in the grand tournament a bit more than 20 years ago. She was very respectful, and she spoke of Shang with a lot of respect. When she left, she didn''t bring any friends or family with her butpared to thest warrior, she didn''t seem as sad and lonely. Now, only Shang and Mistra were left. Chapter 692 Chapter 692 Mistra gestured for Shang toe over, and Shang wordlessly walked up to her. All the warriors with their friends and families were gone, making the previously crowded area seem quite deste. "Name?" "Shang Sword," Shang said. "You''re still using thatst name?" Mistra asked with a raised eyebrow. Obviously, Mistra knew a lot more about Shang than about all the other warriors. "| didn''t have ast name previously. Might as well use it," Shang said evenly. "Why did you kill one of the Assistant Supervisors from Area 23?" Mistra asked neutrally. ¡°Personal reasons," Shang answered. "Those being?" she asked. "They''re not of your concern." Mistra raised an eyebrow at Shang''s very rude tone. "They are of my concern. | need to verify where your loyalties lie." Shang snorted. "What is loyalty worth when you are one of the nine strongest powers in the world? Even if | wanted to rebel, | would never reach the Eighth Realm without the help of an Empire. So, what''s the point?" Mistra had expected Shang to be a bit different from the other warriors, but she hadn''t expected him to be this cold to her. Wasn''t he in the least intimidated by her? If she wanted, she could turn Shang into dust with just her Spirit Sense. "You''vee up with the Impose Stage, a theoretical way to the Sixth Realm and even one to the Seventh Realm, correct?¡± she asked. Shang nodded wordlessly. "Then, what makes you think that you can''t create one for the Eight Realm?" "Creating the Path is not the issue," Shang said. "Then, what is? Why do you need an Empire?" she asked. Shang wasn''t quite sure why Mistra was asking these questions. "Because | need the required Mana to reach the Eighth Realm." "Why don''t you just absorb the Mana of the world like with any other breakthrough?" Mistra asked. Shang remained silent for two seconds. "Because there isn''t enough Mana." This time, it was Mistra that snorted. "That''s an interesting reason," she said. "You think there''s not enough Mana in the world? Have you seen how big it is? How can there not be enough Mana?" Shang''s Spirit Sense inspected Mistra very closely. She didn''t seem to be lying. "| see," Shang said. "I''m not in your department, then." Mistra furrowed her brows. "What''s that supposed to mean?" "I''m not in your department," Shang said. "Says who?" she asked. "Says whoever you are supposed to deliver me to." Mistra seemed to be confused and frustrated, but the confusion didn''t exactly lie with Shang. By what Shang could see, he had probably hit the nail on the head. She was most likely supposed to deliver Shang to someone else while all the other warriors would probably be under her. ¡°What makes you think that | have to deliver you to someone else?" Mistra asked. "| can''t speak more on this topic," Shang said. "I don''t want to ruin my chances with the Lightning Manor." "What''s that supposed to mean? | am the one that is evaluating your chances with the Lightning Manor. How can not answering me ruin your chances?" she asked. Shang didn''t move. Silence. Ten seconds of silence. "Well?" Mistra asked. "What''s your answer?" "| can''t speak more about that topic," Shang said. "You have to answer my questions!" Mistra said with a strict voice. "| will answer your questions, but | won''t speak more of these sensitive topics," Shang said. "What? How does that even make sense?!" Mistra kept asking very simr questions again and again, but Shang only kept quiet, not answering any of her questions. After two minutes of that, Mistra gritted her teeth and actually used her Spirit Sense to put Shang under pressure. Shang didn''t move at all. His Spirit Sense didn''t even shake in the slightest. Sure, his Spirit Sense was essentially pressed into the ground by Mistra, but it felt just as calm and neutral as before, just more squished. As more time passed, Mistra started to get creeped out. She had put so much pressure on Shang, someone two entire Realms below her, but he hadn''t reacted in any way whatsoever. Additionally, Shang had this extremely deste and white aura around him. Looking at him was almost like looking at an endless salt desert. It was almost like he wasn''t human. Mistra had never felt such a strange aura before, and together with Shang''sck of eyes, she felt quite creeped out. In the end, she gave up trying to get any important answers out of him. Even when she had straight-up threatened him, he didn''t move at all. "You''re at the Peak Impose Stage, right?" she asked after giving up on getting answers about the previous topic. "I''m in the Peak Fifth Realm, but I''m not at the Impose Stage," Shang said. Mistra furrowed her brows again. "What does that mean?" she asked.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "Can''t talk about it," Shang answered. "What''s the problem this time?! Why can''t you talk about it?!" she asked. "Sensitive information," Shang answered. Mistra tried to get more information out of Shang, but he just wouldn''t borate. ¡°Okay, then what about the Impose Stage? You came up with it, right?" she asked. Shang nodded. ¡°How did youe up with it?" Shang neutrally exined to her about the time he had found out about the Wind de Seeds. Then, he exined how he had come up with the concept of an Impose after analyzing the Wind de Seeds and his Mana Pathways. "Thank you for answering," Mistra said. "What about your Mana Pathways? | can see that you have far more Mana Pathways than everyone else, and you even managed to create a Beast Core. How did you aplish that?" "That is sensitive information," Shang answered. Mistra grew annoyed. "I am responsible for gathering knowledge about warriors and distributing several techniques. This is very well within my scope." "| understand," Shang said. "However, the specific way in which | managed to create a Beast Core is rted to a sensitive topic. | will tell the person | will be under all about it, and if it is truly within your scope, they will inform you." By now, Mistra had learned that she wouldn''t get anything further out of Shang regarding this topic. "Why did you buy Icy Bastion, and why did you decide to teach your students?" she asked. "The Temple of Blood was paying me for every strong warrior | managed to produce. That''s the entire reason. They gave me Icy Bastion so that | could openly raise warriors," Shang exined. "Alright," Mistra said. "Then, please perform your techniques." "Sensitive topic," Shang answered. Mistra frowned in annoyance. "| can see your Mana Pathways and your Beast Core. | can already tell basically everything about your techniques. There''s nothing sensitive about it." "Then you don''t need to look at them," Shang answered. Mistra took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright. Then, what about the Sixth Realm? You can tell me about that, right?" "| call it the World Connection Stage," Shang said. After that, Shang started to exin how the World Connection worked and how one could create it. Mistra''s booklet jotted down an insane amount of information as Shang kept exining. Inparison to the time she had asked about the Impose Stage, she was asking many more questions about the World Connection Stage. The way the World Connection Stage worked was far moreplicated and advanced, and she wanted to learn everything about it. Shang answered her questions regarding World Connection for nearly a full hour. Then, he demonstrated the ability. Eventually, Mistra was done talking about the World Connection Stage, and she asked about the theoretical Path to the Seventh Realm. "Sensitive topic," Shang said. "I will inform the relevant person, and they will inform you." Mistra really didn''t like that Shang put a stop to the flow of knowledgeing from his mouth, but there was nothing she could do about it. "You''re lucky I''m not allowed to kill you," Mistra grumbled. Shang didn''t react. "Get on the Transportation te," she ordered in an annoyed voice. Shang wordlessly left Icy Bastion and walked over to the Transportation te. Funnily enough, the very first circle on the Transportation te was still free. It seemed like everyone had wordlessly agreed that Shang would be the one to get that circle. Shang didn''t mind, walked over, and waited in the middle of the circle. After a bit, Mistra stepped onto the Transportation te. WHOOOOM! The huge te began to hover with everyone on it, and a couple of secondster, it shot into the distance. This marked the end of Shang''s time in the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory. From now on, he was a member of the Lightning Manor. Chapter 693 Chapter 693 Mistra gestured for Shang toe over, and Shang wordlessly walked up to her. All the warriors with their friends and families were gone, making the previously crowded area seem quite deste. "Name?" "Shang Sword," Shang said. "You''re still using thatst name?" Mistra asked with a raised eyebrow. Obviously, Mistra knew a lot more about Shang than about all the other warriors. "| didn''t have ast name previously. Might as well use it," Shang said evenly. "Why did you kill one of the Assistant Supervisors from Area 23?" Mistra asked neutrally. "Personal reasons," Shang answered. "Those being?" she asked. "They''re not of your concern." Mistra raised an eyebrow at Shang''s very rude tone. "They are of my concern. | need to verify where your loyalties lie." Shang snorted. "What is loyalty worth when you are one of the nine strongest powers in the world? Even if | wanted to rebel, | would never reach the Eighth Realm without the help of an Empire. So, what''s the point?" Mistra had expected Shang to be a bit different from the other warriors, but she hadn''t expected him to be this cold to her. Wasn''t he in the least intimidated by her? If she wanted, she could turn Shang into dust with just her Spirit Sense. "You''vee up with the Impose Stage, a theoretical way to the Sixth Realm and even one to the Seventh Realm, correct?¡± she asked. Shang nodded wordlessly. "Then, what makes you think that you can''t create one for the Eight Realm?" "Creating the Path is not the issue," Shang said. "Then, what is? Why do you need an Empire?" she asked. Shang wasn''t quite sure why Mistra was asking these questions. "Because | need the required Mana to reach the Eighth Realm." "Why don''t you just absorb the Mana of the world like with any other breakthrough?" Mistra asked. Shang remained silent for two seconds. "Because there isn''t enough Mana." This time, it was Mistra that snorted. "That''s an interesting reason,¡± she said. "You think there''s not enough Mana in the world? Have you seen how big it is? How can there not be enough Mana?" Shang''s Spirit Sense inspected Mistra very closely. She didn''t seem to be lying. "| see," Shang said. "I''m not in your department, then." Mistra furrowed her brows. "What''s that supposed to mean?" "I''m not in your department," Shang said. "Says who?" she asked. "Says whoever you are supposed to deliver me to." Mistra seemed to be confused and frustrated, but the confusion didn''t exactly lie with Shang. By what Shang could see, he had probably hit the nail on the head. She was most likely supposed to deliver Shang to someone else while all the other warriors would probably be under her. "What makes you think that | have to deliver you to someone else?" Mistra asked. "I can''t speak more on this topic," Shang said. "I don''t want to ruin my chances with the Lightning Manor." "What''s that supposed to mean? | am the one that is evaluating your chances with the Lightning Manor. How can not answering me ruin your chances?" she asked. Shang didn''t move. Silence. Ten seconds of silence. "Well?" Mistra asked. "What''s your answer?" "I can''t speak more about that topic," Shang said. "You have to answer my questions!" Mistra said with a strict voice. "I will answer your questions, but | won''t speak more of these sensitive topics," Shang said. "What? How does that even make sense?!" Mistra kept asking very simr questions again and again, but Shang only kept quiet, not answering any of her questions. After two minutes of that, Mistra gritted her teeth and actually used her Spirit Sense to put Shang under pressure. Shang didn''t move at all. His Spirit Sense didn''t even shake in the slightest. Sure, his Spirit Sense was essentially pressed into the ground by Mistra, but it felt just as calm and neutral as before, just more squished. As more time passed, Mistra started to get creeped out. She had put so much pressure on Shang, someone two entire Realms below her, but he hadn''t reacted in any way whatsoever. Additionally, Shang had this extremely deste and white aura around him. Looking at him was almost like looking at an endless salt desert. It was almost like he wasn''t human. Mistra had never felt such a strange aura before, and together with Shang''sck of eyes, she felt quite creeped out. In the end, she gave up trying to get any important answers out of him. Even when she had straight-up threatened him, he didn''t move at all. "You''re at the Peak Impose Stage, right?" she asked after giving up on getting answers about the previous topic. "I''m in the Peak Fifth Realm, but I''m not at the Impose Stage," Shang said. Mistra furrowed her brows again. "What does that mean?" she asked. "Can''t talk about it," Shang answered. "What''s the problem this time?! Why can''t you talk about it?!" she asked. "Sensitive information," Shang answered. Mistra tried to get more information out of Shang, but he just wouldn''t borate. "Okay, then what about the Impose Stage? You came up with it, right?" she asked. Shang nodded. "How did youe up with it?" Shang neutrally exined to her about the time he had found out about the Wind de Seeds. Then, he exined how he hade up with the concept of an Impose after analyzing the Wind de Seeds and his Mana Pathways. "Thank you for answering,¡± Mistra said. "What about your Mana Pathways? I can see that you have far more Mana Pathways than everyone else, and you even managed to create a Beast Core. How did you aplish that?" "That is sensitive information," Shang answered. Mistra grew annoyed. "| am responsible for gathering knowledge about warriors and distributing several techniques. This is very well within my scope." "| understand," Shang said. "However, the specific way in which | managed to create a Beast Core is rted to a sensitive topic. | will tell the person | will be under all about it, and if it is truly within your scope, they will inform you." By now, Mistra had learned that she wouldn''t get anything further out of Shang regarding this topic. "Why did you buy Icy Bastion, and why did you decide to teach your students?" she asked. "The Temple of Blood was paying me for every strong warrior | managed to produce. That''s the entire reason. They gave me Icy Bastion so that | could openly raise warriors," Shang exined. "Alright," Mistra said. "Then, please perform your techniques." "Sensitive topic," Shang answered. Mistra frowned in annoyance. "| can see your Mana Pathways and your Beast Core. | can already tell basically everything about your techniques. There''s nothing sensitive about it." "Then you don''t need to look at them,¡± Shang answered. Mistra took a deep breath and sighed. "Alright. Then, what about the Sixth Realm? You can tell me about that, right?" "I call it the World Connection Stage," Shang said. After that, Shang started to exin how the World Connection worked and how one could create it. Mistra''s booklet jotted down an insane amount of information as Shang kept exining. Inparison to the time she had asked about the Impose Stage, she was asking many more questions about the World Connection Stage. The way the World Connection Stage worked was far more complicated and advanced, and she wanted to learn everything about it. Shang answered her questions regarding World Connection for nearly a full hour. Then, he demonstrated the ability. Eventually, Mistra was done talking about the World Connection Stage, and she asked about the theoretical Path to the Seventh Realm. "Sensitive topic," Shang said. "I will inform the relevant person, and they will inform you." Mistra really didn''t like that Shang put a stop to the flow of knowledgeing from his mouth, but there was nothing she could do about it. "You''re lucky I''m not allowed to kill you," Mistra grumbled. Shang didn''t react. "Get on the Transportation te," she ordered in an annoyed voice. Shang wordlessly left Icy Bastion and walked over to the Transportation te. Funnily enough, the very first circle on the Transportation te was still free. It seemed like everyone had wordlessly agreed that Shang would be the one to get that circle. Shang didn''t mind, walked over, and waited in the middle of the circle. After a bit, Mistra stepped onto the Transportation te. WHOOOOM! The huge te began to hover with everyone on it, and a couple of secondster, it shot into the distance. This marked the end of Shang''s time in the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory. From now on, he was a member of the Lightning Manor. Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g Chapter 694 Chapter 694 The people looked at their new home. It was strange. From now on, they would live in apletely different ce, and even more, they were living amongst a lot of warriors. Additionally, these warriors used very different methods to achieve their power, and they probably also had their very own culture. In a way, the warriors from Icy Bastion had lived more in the Mages¡¯ society. After all, Icy Bastion fully ran on the same rules as nearly every other town or city ran on, and all of those were run by Mages. But here?Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. There probably wouldn''t be a lot of Mages. There wouldn''t be a lot of Mage merchants. There wouldn''t be any strong beasts. It was strange. In a way, everyone felt like they had arrived in a ce that was not as advanced as their previous home. Everything seemed a bit more primitive. However, it also had a certain purity and homeliness to it. Yes, the surroundings were curated by the Lightning Manor, but the town itself was being run and expanded by warriors. In here, the warriors were the ones in charge, not the Mages. At least, as long as one ignored that one was inside a Mage- controlled little world. The Impose Stage warriors could already feel everyone in the small town with their Spirit Sense, and the Diamond Body Stage warriors felt their arrival as well. Obviously, everyone had been informed about this day. The strongest warriors of the town were looking at the arriving people with furrowed brows. They weren''t extremely happy about their arrival. Sure, the Impose Stage had proven to be extremely powerful, but these people were also a threat to their culture. Would they change everything in the town? Even more, there weren''t many people here that could resist these Impose Stage warriors. Sure, there were far more Diamond Body Stage warriors than Impose Stage warriors present, but that didn''t matter. The strongest Diamond Body Stage warrior in the town was at the Mid Diamond Body Stage. Everyone stronger than this individual had already left the town to join the real outside world. They had traveled to Star City to join the Warrior''s Guild there under Elver. When the warriors saw Lei and the silver-haired woman present, they knew that they were helpless in front of the new warriors. The Impose Stage warriors would have more power and sway in this little world. For a while, the new warriors just looked at the old ones in the town. ¡°What are your orders, Master?" the silver-haired woman asked Shang. As the strongest warrior, Shang obviously would be the one in control. "| don''t have any orders," Shang said neutrally. "I will most likely not stay here." This took most warriors by surprise. He wouldn''t stay here? Why?! The silver-haired woman looked over at Mistra, who sighed. "Yes, he won''t be part of all of this," Mistra exined. "He is going to work somewhere else, but if he has relevant knowledge for advancing the overall power of warriors, he will tell us, and we will forward this information to all of you." The reactions to this news were mixed. Eventually, the five Impose Stage warriors that had bowed to Shang earlier in Icy Bastion stepped in front of him again and bowed once more. It was ast bow of respect. They knew that they would most likely not see their Master again, or if they did, it would be far in the future. Shang didn''t particrly care. "Before you do anything," Mistra said, "| need to inform all of you about the rules." The warriors nodded. Then, Mistra turned to Shang. "Someone is waiting for you just 500 kilometers to the north. Please go to meet them." Shang didn''t say anything and took to the skies. Then, he shot towards the north. The Impose Stage warriors watched as Shang left. Their Master had left them. From now on, they had to depend on themselves. Of course, things weren''t as drastic or dramatic as the warriors made them out to be. After all, Shang''s knowledge would still affect every warrior living here. Mistra turned to everyone present and began to introduce them to how things worked around here while Shang simply continued flying towards the north. Back in Area 23, he had started amongst warriors. Then, he had been fighting against Mages with the warriors. Then, after leaving Area 23, Shang was surrounded by nothing but Mages. When he got Icy Bastion, Shang was surrounded by Mages while having his own town of warriors below him. And now, Shang would be surrounded by nothing but Mages again. Wherever Shang would end up surely wouldn''t even have a single warrior. Shang guessed that he would end up in a ce with the strongest and most talented Mages in the entire world. Sure, warriors could close the gap between them and Mages, but how many warriors could actually reach the heights of Battle- Strength that these elite few Mages could achieve? The silver-haired woman was the closest, but at most, she might be able to jump one level against an Archmage. Sure, that was impressive, but that was only barely on the level of maybe being epted into the Lightning Manor in the Sixth Realm. She wasn''t on the level of the Mages that would be crafted into powerful Mage Lords, and the ce where Shang would go was even an additional level above that. Maybe in a couple of centuries, the warriors might produce one individual that could join the Mages that would one day be Mage Lords, but that would still be an entire level below Shang. In terms of Battle-Strength, Shang was an enigma for warriors. He was unnatural. No warrior was supposed to be this powerful this quickly. Eventually, Shang found someone near the edge of his Spirit Sense but acted like he didn''t see them. After advancing for another 50 kilometers, he actually looked at them with his Spirit Sense. When Shang saw them, he was immediately convinced of something. One fact immediately became clear to him. Except for the Starlight Queen, who had been too powerful for Shang to evaluate, Shang had never seen a true genius in his entire life. Until now. Chapter 695 Chapter 695 The person that Shang was supposed to meet was standing in the sky. That was something Shang could do, but it wasn''t something that just any Ancestral Mage could do. Naturally, the person Shang was about to meet was a Peak Mage Lord. He looked like a tall and handsome young man, but the clothes he was wearing were a bit different from what most other Mage Lords would wear. He wore simple silver trousers and a silver shirt. He had long silver hair, and there was something very rxed and casual about him. It was like he wasn''t part of a super powerful Empire but was just walking around in a city in his leisure time. However, when Shang felt his Aura, he immediately noticed something. It was so grand! Shang wasn''t quite sure how to put it, but he felt like the person in front of him was unique and special. In a way, it was like he had fused with the world around him. It was like the world was his stage. Everything in the world only existed to support him and lift him up. It was a sort of mastery over power itself. There was a lot of "character" in his Aura, which made it very easy to talk a lot about him since there was a lot to describe. Shang had never felt such an Aura before. It seemed like in front of this person, everyone else just looked grey and uniform. Shang had expected that he would meet extremely outstanding Mages beforeing here, but the sheer level of this guy''s Aura still surprised him since it was so much higher than everyone else Shang hade into contact with. Well, except for the Starlight Queen, but Shang had only seen her for like a minute or so. Just as Shang''s Spirit Sense locked onto the Mage Lord, the Mage Lord''s Spirit Sense looked back. ¡°Have you seen guys like us before?" the Mage Lord asked with a smile. "No," Shang answered as he flew closer to the Mage Lord. "Oh? Your reaction was quite subdued,¡± the Mage Lord said with a bit of surprise. "| assumed you met someone like us before." "| didn''t," Shang answered. Silence. As the seconds of silence passed, the Mage Lord raised his eyebrow. "You''re the silent type?" he asked. "| only talk when necessary," Shang answered. The Mage Lord nodded. "Sure thing. There are a lot of people like you in my unit. You''ll feel right at home," he said casually. Usually, Shang would have asked the Mage Lord why he had epted Shang this quickly, but after feeling the Mage Lord''s Aura, Shang knew that such a question would be unnecessary. If the Mage Lord had such an intense Aura, Shang probably also had one like that. Additionally, the Mage Lord was probably responsible for many extremely talented Mages, which meant that he knew exactly how the Auras of these people felt like. This meant that the Mage Lord could make an approximation of Shang''s Battle-Strength based on his Aura. Naturally, a unit or ssroom filled with the greatest geniuses in the world also needed teachers that were geniuses. Because of that, it was very likely for this Mage Lord to have once been part of the unit he was now leading. "What''s the hierarchy of your unit?" Shang asked. The man just chuckled. "We can talk on the way," the man said as he summoned a small te of ss. "Hop on!" Shang slowlynded on the te of ss, and the two of them shot into the distance at ridiculous speeds. By now, Shang was very good at estimating speeds, and the speed at which they were currently going was even shocking him. At this speed, they would travel across a million kilometers in barely 20 minutes, which was insane! The power of space was warping even Shang''s Spirit Sense. However, he still managed to see the Mage Lord just a couple of meters beside him... Or, more specifically, the lightning bolt he had turned into. At this moment, the Mage Lord hadpletely vanished, reced by a big bolt of lightning, nearly three meters wide and 20 meters long. "Is that an Empire Spell?" Shang asked. "Yep," the young man''s voice appeared in Shang''s mind. An Empire Spell was, as the name suggested, a Spell exclusive to one of the Empires. People that didn''t directly work for the Empire wouldn''t get any opportunity to learn this Spell, no matter how much money they paid. ¡°Howe the researcher from earlier didn''t use it?" Shang asked.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. "Not everyone gets ess to this one,¡± the man said. "Force and Reconnaissance get it free of charge. Logistics has to pay for it. Research, Diplomacy, and Administration don''t get ess to it." "| presume these are the different departments of the Lightning Manor?" Shang asked. "Well," the Mage Lord said, "there''s one more, but | can''t tell you about that yet. We gotta get you initiated first." Shang nodded. "What about the hierarchy of your department?" "That again? Why do you care about the hierarchy so much?" "It''s important," Shang said. The Mage Lord waited for boration, but Shang stayed silent. The Mage Lord scratched his cheek in thought, which seemed quite strange, considering he was a lightning bolt right now. "| can give you a rough description of every level''s power. Would that be enough?" "That would be enough,¡± Shang said. "Good," the Mage Lord added. ¡°At the bottom, we have the Sparks. They do not belong to any typical department of the Empire and are present in all of them. They are the Ancestral Mages we hired for misceneous things. You can view them as assistants, but don''t randomly order them around like servants. They are people like everyone else, and they just want to make a living.¡± ¡°Also, if you give excessive orders, they can report you to their superior, who will then question your social skills. That might sound harmless to you, but it''s actually quite bad." "We are an Empire. We are a group. Sure, we might not be family, but we are still one thing, and we need to act as one." "| don''t expect you to treat the Sparks like friends. | just expect you to treat them as you would treat any employee. Just normal and professional, you know?" Shang just nodded. "Good," the Mage Lord added. "Next, we have the Boltlings.¡± "The Boltlings are the talented Mages that haven''t reached the Mage Lord Realm yet. They are quite talented, and they are being nurtured to one day be Mage Lords." "Will | be a Boltling?" Shang asked. "No," the Mage Lord said. "The next level consists of two positions that have the same level of authority. They can give orders to people below them, but they can''t give orders to each other." "These two are the Bolts and the people of your group. | can''t tell you the title yet." "The Bolts are the normal Mage Lords. Every Bolt is responsible for an entire unit of Sparks. You can view them as the managers of the Lightning Manor." "The people of your group have a special status. | will talk more about thatter." "The next level is the Thunders. A Thunder is a very powerful Mage Lord that is responsible for several Bolts. There are ten Thunders per department, and these ten Thunders basically run one of the Lightning Manor''s seven departments." "These ten Thunders are subject to one of our seven Mage Kings. The Mage Kings don''t have any special titles. Just the fact that they are Mage Kings is already special enough." "Officially, the seven Mage Kings have the same level of authority, but unofficially, the Mage King responsible for the Administration Department is in charge since he is the only one that is allowed to contact the Ancestor, the Lightning Emperor, and basically all of the Ancestor''s orderse through his mouth." ¡°And that''s about it," the Mage Lord said. "Did that answer your question?" Shang nodded. "That''s enough." ¡°Now, let me ask a question," the Mage Lord said. "Why did you ask about the hierarchy before asking about basically anything else? Like your new home, your new job, how powerful everyone else is, and so on?" ¡°Because | don''t want some information that | have to fall into the wrong hands," Shang said. If the Mage Lord had eyebrows right now, he would raise one of them. "Could you borate?" "| don''t want the information | have to get into the hands of someone working for another Empire," Shang said. "I want this information to only reach the ears of the Lightning Manor." "Quite paranoid,¡± the Mage Lord said. Shang didn''t answer. "You know, a lot of new guys believe they have some huge secret that nobody has to know, but the truth is that the Lightning Manor is an Empire. As long as you don''t have some secret treasure stored away that allows you to be a Mage King, the Lightning Manor doesn''t really care," the Mage Lord said. Shang remained silent for a second. ¡°What about the reason why there are so few Mage Kings?" Shang asked neutrally. "What? The Mana Advancing Ritual?" the Mage Lord repeated with some amusement. "Sure, not everyone out there knows about it, but basically everyone inside the Lightning Manor knows. It''s not really a secret." "Is that what you tell the people?¡± Shang asked. "Yeah, what else? It''s the truth," the man said. Shang remained silent for a while. ¡°What position are you?" Shang asked. "My name is Lucin Sparkwraith, and I''m a Thunder." Chapter 696 Chapter 696 It wasn''tpletely as Shang expected, but it had been one of the options. A Thunder. Someone that controlled 10% of one Department. Someone that directly worked beneath a Mage King. Shang knew that he couldn''t possibly ask to meet a Mage King, which meant that a Thunder was his next best option. "Is that enough for you?" Lucin asked with a slight chuckle. Shang remained silent for a while. Based on Lucin''s Aura, Shang believed that Lucin truly was a Thunder. Shang had seen a couple of people working for an Empire before, and none of them had evene close to the grandness of Lucin''s Aura. A Thunder was probably the very person that people on Shang''s level were raised to be since there could only be one true King Contender. "You are nning on epting me into the Lightning Manor, correct?" Shang asked. "Of course," Lucin said with a chuckle. "Then, there''s no reason to kill me, correct?" Shang asked. ¡°As long as you don''t actively go against the Lightning Manor, no," Lucin confirmed. "You''re quite paranoid. You must really think that your secret is extremely important,¡± he added with some humor. Shang took a deep breath. It was difficult to make Shang nervous, but not impossible. At the moment, Shang was readying himself to do something he hated. He was about to put his trust in someone more powerful than him. Shang wanted to get the best kind of nurturing possible from the Lightning Manor, and for that, he needed to unveil a lot of his secrets, especially the true extent of his power. If he kept all of that secret, Shang would most likely get fewer resources than everyone else, just based on the fact that he was a warrior and not a Mage. From what Shang had guessed, the Lightning Manor was probably only putting Shang into this Department for show. He was more of an oddity to them. They probably didn''t expect Shang to ever reach the power of a Thunder in the future. They would give him more resources than a Boltling, which was why they were putting Shang into Lucin''s Unit, but they probably wouldn''t grant him the full benefits that someone from Lucin''s Unit would receive. That was why Shang was essentially forced to hand his life over again. "The Abominations have consumed so much Mana that only a limited number of Mage Kings can exist at a time," Shang said. "Oh? Interesting theory. How did youe up with that one?" Lucin asked nonchntly. "Mage Kings live for 100,000 years, and there are about a hundred of them. Every thousand years, a tournament is being held amongst all the Empires to decide on who gets to be the next Mage King." "The people taking part in this tournament are called King Contenders," Shang said. Silence. For the first time, Lucin didn''t immediately answer. "Who told you?" Lucin asked. His voice still sounded polite, but there was also something serious and sinister inside it. "The same person that gave me the Star Map," Shang said. Lucin remained silent for a while. "Who else knows?" he asked. "| told no one," Shang said. "No one?" Lucin repeated. "Yes." ¡°No one stronger than you?" "No one." "No one weaker than you?" "No one." "Did you tell anyone that is now dead?" "I told no one." Silence. More silence. "Do you understand now?" Shang asked. "That''s why | was so careful." Silence. "It seems like we have to hold an internal investigation," Lucin said with a sigh. "Stuff like that isn¡¯t allowed to get out.¡± "| don''t think it was anyone from the Lightning Manor," Shang said. ¡°Are you certain?" Lucin asked. "He didn''t seem like someone that would fit the Lightning Manor," Shang answered. Silence. "Alright," Lucin said. "I''m going to inform my superior. Such a leak isn''t something minor. You were smart not to tell anyone." ¡°However,¡± Lucin added, and Shang felt Lucin''s Spirit Sense intensify. It was like Lucin was paying far more attention to Shang than before. "Such a secret doesn''t feel like something you would just tell someone without reason." "Sure, you know about this special thing, but that special thing won''t increase your power or sway within the Lightning Manor. There is no gain with a lot of risk." "So, might there be another secret that you want to tell me?" Lucin asked. "Correct," Shang added. "I told you this secret so that you take me seriously. Additionally, the following things | say will put me under a lot of scrutiny, and if | kept something like this secret, it would appear suspicious." "I''ve decided to go all-in with the Lightning Manor." Silence.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "Okay," Lucin said after a while, "after knowing about something as sensitive as the King Contenders, you are basically forced to ride or die if you get my meaning." "So, telling us more about yourself won''t change your fate for the worse." Shang nodded. Then, he took a deep breath. ¡°How much do you know about the True Path Stage and Impose Stage?" he asked. "I''ve received Mistra''s report via voice transmission, and | read through it. So, yes, | know about them. She was also quite angry about your reluctance to tell her more, but in hindsight, that was the smart choice," Lucin said. "She asked me about what you said about the world, but she didn''t take you very seriously. | just told her the same lie | told you earlier, and she believed it." Shang nodded again. "A strong Path is the equivalent of a level one Concept. A True Path Stage warrior with a solid Path can fight a High Mage with a level one Concept. Do you agree?" "Sounds about right,¡± Lucin said. "Mistra said something very simr." "Before | reached the True Path Stage, |prehended four very powerful Paths," Shang said. "Yep," Lucin added. "That''s why you''re in my unit. The requirement to get into my unit is to have a fourfold Spirit Sense. | think you can guess what that means." Shang nodded. "When | was inside the True Path Stage, | was searching for a way to advance. The concept of a Fifth Stage of warriors didn''t exist yet, and | had toe up with a way to get there." "| found out about Imposes when | ate something that improved my perception for one of my four Paths. | theorized that | needed two things to create an Impose. My Mana needs to flow perfectly, and my technique has to be perfect." "I''ve heard,¡± Lucin said. ¡°But my problem was that | had four different Paths and that my fighting style was evolving. This meant that | needed to change my Mana Pathways." ¡°Huh, that was probably quite difficult since you had four different Paths," Lucin added. Shang nodded. "I found a way. | simply created more Mana Pathways. | created separate Mana Pathways for nearly every attack. Near the end, it increased the number of my Mana Pathways by a magnitude." ¡°Is that where your Beast Corees in?" Lucin asked. "Correct," Shang said. "Due to the additional volume my Mana Pathways can hold, there wasn''t enough pressure, which was why | needed a Beast Core. But there was a problem." ¡°Your Mana Pathways were too weak," Lucin said. "Yes," Shang said, "but | found a way to deal with this.¡± "| used the small breakthroughs." Silence. "| wouldprehend one Impose per small breakthrough, and | used the momentum of these Imposes to add more Mana into the walls of my Mana Pathways." "That''s a problem," Lucin said with a more serious voice. Shang didn''t say anything. "You need momentum to get through the barrier between Realms. By using your Imposes on each minor breakthrough, you are using that momentum." "Withoutprehending something else at the Peak True Path Stage, you can''t advance," Lucin said. Shang remained silent for a while. "| didn''t know that." "Wait, what?" Lucin suddenly asked. "How didn''t you know?" "| never nned on breaking through with just that,¡± Shang said. "| presume you also know about the World Connection?" Silence. "If a Path is a level one Concept, an Impose is a level two Concept. That would also make World Connection a level three Concept," Shang said. "When | was around 310 years old, | finally managed toprehend World Connection, and | broke through by using this." "Right now, my Spirit Sense is 250 kilometers big." Silence. Chapter 697 Chapter 697 After some seconds, Lucin actually halted. The huge lightning bolt vanished, revealing Lucin''s body again. At the moment, Lucin was looking at Shang with narrowed eyes, and his Aura felt very intense. "| need to verify this," Lucin said with a serious tone. Shang only nodded once. Amomentter, several pieces of metal appeared around Shang. There were thousands of them, and they were scattered across Shang''s entire Spirit Sense. ¡°Push every piece to the ground that you can see," Lucin ordered. Shang did just that. His Spirit Sense focused on all the pieces of metal he could see, and he pushed them toward the ground. In a radius of 250 kilometers around Shang, all the levitating pieces of metal started to fall to the ground. Lucin''s Aura shook. He was a Thunder, the second highest ss of Mage Lords in existence, just one spot behind the true King Contenders. Fooling him was incredibly difficult. And that was exactly why he was so shocked. Shang''s powers seemed to be genuine, and he couldn''t see any falsehood. That meant that he either wasn''t lying or getting help from a Mage King from another Empire. Both things would be extremely shocking. ¡°How many people know of this?" Lucin asked. "The Temple of Blood thinks that | have a Spirit Sense with a size of 150 or 200 kilometers. | didn''t tell them the truth since | didn''t want to die." ¡°Having another powerful Mage Lord joining one of your enemies might be annoying, but having a Mage King joining one of your enemies is devastating," Shang exined. "If my Spirit Sense is only 200 kilometers big, the Empires would want to recruit me. If it is 250 kilometers big, they might decide to kill me." Lucin furrowed his brows and scratched his chin as he evaluated Shang''s words. "Why are you telling me something like this? Do you not fear that the Lightning Manor might get rid of you?" Lucin asked. "There is always a chance," Shang answered. "However, | have a foot in the door with the Lightning Manor." ¡°Nobody else knows about all of this." "The Lightning Manor has already paid a lot of money for me." "| still have the way to reach the Seventh Realm for warriors in my mind." ¡°Lam already in your territory." ¡°And | was honest." "If | had to tell someone, | would choose this moment." Lucin nodded slowly. He could see where Shang wasing from. But it was still very difficult to believe all of this. He was a warrior! The warriors had just started appearing on the Lightning Manor''s radar maybe 500 years ago, and now, they had already produced a genuine King Contender. One had to know that Lucin had worked for the Lightning Manor for well over 10,000 years. 500 years was nothingpared to that. ¡°And why are you taking this risk of telling us?" Lucin asked. "We would have never found out if you didn''t tell us since we would have never even expected something like this to be possible. After all, warriors are still new." "Because of my goal," Shang said. "Which is?" "Bing the strongest," Shang said. "Bing the strongest?" Lucin asked. "Correct," Shang said. Lucin looked at Shang for a while without saying anything. Lucin wouldn''t take anyone seriously if they said something like that. After all, people that said that didn''t know the weight of what they were saying. However, Shang apparently had the power of a King Contender. He was already amongst the absolute strongest of his Realm. When he said that, it wasn''tpletely unrealistic. Lucin remained silent for several seconds. It was obvious that he was evaluating something. Having a potential King Contender join the Lightning Manor would have been an amazing incident. There was one tournament every 1,000 years, and there were not always Mage Lords present with a fivefold Spirit Sense. So, someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense would almost certainly reach the Mage King Realm in the future, assuming that their Battle-Strength didn''t regress. But this was a warrior. It was one thing to have warriors of the Seventh Realm, but somethingpletely different when they were in the Eighth Realm. Someone at the Eighth Realm was just one step away from the Emperors. Assuming Shang actually managed to win the entire tournament, would the Empires allow a Warrior King to be born? As a Thunder, Lucin had a huge amount of responsibility. A Thunder had, on average, 100 Mage Lords under them, who would have even more Ancestral Mages under them. Yet, the more Lucin thought about it, the more he felt like this entire thing was too big for him. It was his responsibility to manage the training of all these extremely talented people, but when it came to Shang, he had no idea what he should decide on. Nurture him? And what if Shang won the tournament? Then, the Empires would either need to crown a Warrior King or kill the victor of their tournament. Kill him? Then, another Empire might receive another Mage King, putting more pressure on them. Even more, the Lightning Manor''s philosophy wasn''t shady. Their philosophy was cooperation, justice, and power. The word power was third, not first. Killing a powerful Impose Stage warrior just because of their talent would severely conflict with the Lightning Manor''s philosophy. ept Shang but not give him enough resources to win the tournament in the future? That would be a huge waste, and they would also ruin their cooperation with him. Sure, he couldn''t reach the Eighth Realm without them, but who knew? Maybe he could damage the Lightning Manor in another way? Such geniuses always had special ways of dealing with bad situations. After a while of evaluating all his options, Lucin nodded. He transformed back into a lightning bolt, and the two of them flew into the distance. However, Shang noticed that their trajectory had changed. Earlier, they had been flying straight toward the north. Now, they were flying towards the northwest. "It''s funny,¡± Lucin said. "Earlier, | was making fun of your paranoia regarding your secret." ¡°But now, because of your secret, | have to consult my superior." ¡°Your fate will be up to her.¡± Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g Chapter 698 Chapter 698 Shang had already expected something like this. This was essentially the best-case scenario for him. Lucin could have just killed him. Lucin could have also just said that they would support him, but that would be worse than him asking his superior. How was it worse? Because the actual rise of a Warrior King would definitely need the approval of at least several Mage Kings, if not one of the Mage Emperors. Lucin would have obviously known that. So, the only reason why he wouldn''t have asked his superior would be that he was certain that Shang would never be so powerful. Which would be a bad thing for Shang. Luckily, he decided to ask his superior. This meant that Shang''s chances were genuine. The two of them continued traveling for nearly an hour, which was quite surprising to Shang. By now, they had probably traveled across over half of the Lightning Manor''s territories. They had probably traveled for over four million kilometers in total, which was insane. The further north they got, the colder everything became. The general climate had always been the same to Shang, just temperate, but that wasn''t because all of Aterium was like that. It was just that Shang had barely moved enough to notice a change in the climate. He had always stayed in the southern parts of the northern third of the world. Now, they were entering the northern parts of the northern third of the world. The short instances Shang managed to glimpse at his surroundings showed him apletely different world from what he was used to. Everything was extremely cold. There was ice and snow wherever he looked, and the number of Ice Affinity beasts also shot up. However, that was only on the ground. The sky had darkened considerably, and it only became darker the further north they traveled. The sky waspletely covered by ck clouds, which were constantly crackling with explosions of lightning. While there were plenty of Ice Affinity beasts on the ground, there were even more Lightning Affinity beasts in the skies. Even more, the Lightning Affinity beasts felt much more dangerous and powerful to Shang than the Ice Affinity beasts. It was almost like the Ice Affinity beasts were the prey of the Lightning Affinity beasts in the sky. After a while, the two of them began to fly higher and higher. They broke through the gigantic clouds, after which Shang''s Spirit Sense didn''t work correctly anymore. The power of all the lightning in the clouds had reached monumental levels. Shang guessed that a stray bolt could probably turn an Ancestral Beast into ashes. ¡°Only Mage Lords and people escorted by them can pass through the Lightning Sea," Lucin told Shang. "Everyone else turns to dust.¡± The Lightning Sea was thousands of kilometers thick, and the two of them were still ascending. Shang had never been so high up before. "It is said that the Lightning Sea exists because of the Ancestor," Lucin said. Shang was inclined to believe Lucin. The winds close to the Storm Eagle had been powerful enough to severely injure Commander Stage beasts and maybe even kill them. Only True Path Stage beasts had been able toe close. The levels of power here would be simr, just scaled up massively. Eventually, the two of thempletely broke past the impossibly thickyer of clouds. Shang''s Spirit Sense began to work again, and he could finally see the world again. The sky above Shang was cloudless and ck. At least, he assumed it was ck. Sadly, Shang couldn''t perceive the stars with his Spirit Sense. So, he didn''t know if there were any. Below Shang, there was just an infinite cacophony of nothing but destruction. The power of the lightning was absurd. And then, there was one other thing. A humongous purple castle was sitting on top of the destructive Lightning Sea. Surprisingly, Shang couldn''t feel any living being in the castle. "Impressive, isn''t it?" Lucin asked. Shang could only nod. "We use Magic Circles to iste the Spirit Sense of everyone. It''s hard to work when everyone is looking at everyone else all the time. Because of that, walls and doors block Spirit Senses in the castle," Lucin exined. "Is this the Lightning Manor?" Shang asked. "Correct," Lucin said. "The Lightning Manor is the name of the Empire, but it also refers to this castle right here." "This is the Lightning Manor, the ce where the Ancestor and the seven Mage Kings reside. Naturally, there are also quite some Mage Lords. Most of the Thunders run their Departments from here, and there are also a couple of Bolts that do the busywork of the Thunders." ¡°Additionally, since almost all of the Force Department and most of the Reconnaissance Department don''t have much to do, they also stay here most of the time." While Lucin exined everything, the two of them touched down at the grand entrance of the Lightning Manor. "Only the Kings are allowed to fly in here, so we have to walk," Lucin said as he stepped forward. Funnily enough, even though Lucin said walk, he was actually moving at nearly a kilometer per second. Every step he was taking just seemed to shrink the space between him and his destination. Naturally, Shang didn''t have any problems keeping up. He might not be nearly as powerful as Lucin, but his body was still extremely powerful. The two of them stepped past the huge gate and entered. There were several huge purple gs hanging on the walls, and the interior of the castle looked expensive but simple. Instead of filling every free space with decorations, the Lightning Manor preferred a minimalistic approach. When Shang stepped past the gates, his Spirit Sense expanded forward, filling the entirework of hallways like water. Nearly all the doors leading into rooms were closed, which blocked Shang''s Spirit Sense. As soon as Shang''s Spirit Sense filled the hallway, he felt nearly 20 extremely powerful Spirit Senses look at him. These were the Spirit Senses of some random people that were just walking through the hallway. Yet, every random person in here was a powerful Mage Lord, at least. Shang was very good at estimating someone''s power by looking at them with his Spirit Sense, but there wasn''t a single person in here whose power he could estimate. They all felt as powerful as the Temple of Blood''s Territory Lord to Shang, if not more powerful. Naturally, the Mage Lords were also interested in Shang. Why was someone with the mind of a Peak High Mage here? It was exceedingly unusual to have anyone weaker than a Mage Lord here. But the Mage Lords didn''t bother Shang. They just sent him a couple of curious nces. Nevertheless, getting inspected by around 20 Spirit Senses with such power was still quite intimidating. ¡°I''m working under Queen Primordium," Lucin said. "She''s responsible for the Reinforcement Department. My Contender Department is part of the Reinforcement Department, which means | also fall under her supervision." Shang wasn''t surprised that Lucin was suddenly telling him the things he wasn''t allowed to learn earlier. Shang was already inside the Lightning Manor itself. He would either join or die. There was no more reason to keep these things secret. "Queen Primordium is amongst the twenty most powerful Mage Kings in the world, and she might even reach the top ten. So, you should know that she is very outstanding, even amongst the already outstanding Mage Kings," Lucin said. "What about the Starlight Queen?" Shang asked. "The Starlight Queen has once stated that she is the fifth most powerful Mage King in the Lightning Manor. So, if we expand this to every Empire, she would probably be in the fifties," Lucin exined. "Is Queen Primordium the strongest Mage King of the Lightning Manor?" Shang asked. "No," Lucin answered. "The Custodian, the Mage King of the Administration Department, is the strongest. He''s not the strongest Mage King in the world, but he''s very close. I''m not entirely sure, but he should be somewhere within the top five." "Who''s the strongest Mage King in the world?" Shang asked. Shang usually didn''t talk much, but he couldn''t help himself right now.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. He wanted to know who the strongest people in the world were, aside from the Mage Emperors. Lucin sighed. ¡°You know, if the Custodian had been born earlier orter, he might have been the most powerful Mage King. Sadly, there is a Mage King currently alive whose power is not normal, even for Mage Kings." "In fact, he is so powerful that the Emperors had even stated that he might have been able to fight the Mage God back when he had still been a Mage King, but the Emperors are divided in that opinion." "His title is King Sanctified Death, and there might be a chance that the Emperors will allow him to be an Emperor." Chapter 699 Chapter 699 King Sanctified Death. Shang remembered that the God had once said that there was one Mage King that actually had a foundation that supported Godhood. Shang was quite certain that the God had referred to King Sanctified Death. Shang also knew what it meant when Lucin had said that the Emperors were debating about letting King Sanctified Death be an Emperor. The number of Mage Kings already needed to be kept limited, and that was also true for Mage Emperors. The world had ten Mage Emperors, and the world probably couldn''t support an eleventh Mage Emperor. So, when they were talking about letting King Sanctified Death be an Emperor... They were considering killing off one of the current Emperors. After all, as far as Shang knew, Mage Emperors could live forever. They wouldn''t just randomly die. ¡°Let''s continue,¡± Lucin said, motioning for Shang to follow him. Lucin continued down the hallway with Shang. They walked through a couple of different hallways, and they eventually reached a ce where no one else was walking around. The hallways didn''t seem any different from all the other ones, but for some reason, Shang felt like they were different. "This is where the Mage Kings live," Lucin exined. "There is no particr rule that forbids going to a Mage King''s room and knocking on their door, but people don''t need a rule for that. Common sense is already enough." Shang knew what Lucin meant. In some hugepanies with thousands of employees, there also weren''t rules against knocking at the door to the CEO''s office, but people still avoided doing that for obvious reasons. The same thing was true here. This hallway had far fewer doors than all the other ones, which meant that the rooms behind the doors were muchrger than any room anywhere else. As Shang walked through the hallway, he felt some strange feelings of grandeur. Behind each of these doors was a Mage King, one of the 100 strongest beings in the world. He could knock on any of the doors, and he woulde face to face with one of the strongest beings in the world. It was a surreal feeling. After walking for a bit, the two of them stopped in front of a seemingly random door. "This is Queen Primordium''s door. Don''t evere here on your own, understood?" Lucin ordered with a serious voice. Shang wordlessly nodded. "Good," Lucin said. Then, Lucin spoke some kind ofplex Spell and lightly touched the door. ¡°Now, we have to wait," Lucin said. "The Mage Kings are very busy, and interrupting them can cost us a lot of money. Because of that, we use this Spell to very subtly make it known that we are here. It might take several weeks for her to open-" Creeaak! Shang heard the door in front of him open. As soon as the door opened, Shang''s Spirit Sense flooded into the room, but it didn''t get very far. It was like the world ended just a couple of centimeters behind the door. It was like there simply was no more space, gravity, or time behind the door. It was like the room behind the door just didn''t exist. And Shang also didn''t see anyone open the door. The door had seemingly opened on its own. "My Queen," Lucin spoke politely as he performed a quick but respectful bow. ¡°What do you have to report?¡± Shang heard an emotionless, beautiful, but also strict voiceing from the door. The speaker wasn''t aggressive or annoyed in any way. Her tone had a distinct feeling of routine to it. Sadly, Shang''s Spirit Sense couldn''t see Queen Primordium. She was probably visible to normal eyes, but Shang didn''t have those. "My Queen, this is Shang Sword, the warrior that is about to join the Contender Department," Lucin said, gesturing at Shang. Shang didn''t feel anything change. "Yes?" Queen Primordium asked, obviously expecting more than that. "He has a fivefold Spirit Sense," Lucin said. "Really now?" Queen Primordium asked with a slight bit of surprise. Shang didn''t feel anything change in the surroundings, but he could guess that Queen Primordium was probably looking at him right now. "You are Shang Sword, correct?" "Yes," Shang answered. "You have a fivefold Spirit Sense?" m at the Peak Fifth Realm, and my Spirit Sense has a radius of 250 kilometers. That should be a fivefold Spirit Sense," Shang answered. Three seconds of silence passed.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "Who would have expected that the next True Contender would be a non-Mage," Queen Primordium mused. "How did you achieve such a level?" Shang answered Queen Primordium''s question and exined to her how he hadprehended World Connection at the True Path Stage. ¡°How peculiar," Queen Primordiummented after Shang was done. "Your words resonate with the world, which means that you speak the truth. Without the ability to feel the world''s resonance, | might not have believed you." Queen Primordium¡¯s words gave Shang a valuable piece of information. He had expected that someone as powerful as a Mage King probably knew of several ways to find out if someone was lying or not, but Shang had never known how they would find out the truth. "Tell me," Queen Primordium added, "Who has been your backer? Who has given you resources?" Shang told her about his position as a plus one for an Assistant Supervisor in Area 23 and how he had been able to essentially plunder Area 23. Then, Shang told her that he had to leave Area 23 because of a fallout with the Assistant Supervisor he was working with and that he had killed him. Obviously, neither Lucin nor Queen Primordium cared. Shang could kill 50 Assistant Supervisors, and the Lightning Manor would only tell him in an annoyed tone to avoid doing that again. After Shang told Queen Primordium about what he had used toprehend World Connection, she hummed for a bit. "That is very little," shemented. "Exin to me in detail how you trained afterprehending your four Imposes and before youprehended World Connection." Shang did just that. He never took even a single break. He always gave his all. He fought many powerful beasts. He risked his life several times. Queen Primordium asked for an even more detailed ount, and Shang went into even more detail. By the end, Shang had been talking for over two hours, just exining how he trained. Shang couldn''t see Queen Primordium''s reaction, but he could see Lucin''s reaction. Lucin''s jaw was strained in difort, and his lips were pressed together. When one heard someone say that they never took a break, one wouldn''t be surprised. A lot of people said that. However, this was the first time when someone was being actually literal in the meaning. Shang hadn''t taken any time to rest. No time for friends. No time for himself. No time for family. No time for hobbies. Even a machine or a Magic Circle would break down or cut out from time to time, but that wasn''t true for Shang. He literally never took a single break. Lucin couldn''t be sure what he should think about that. Shang was extremely powerful, but he had also sacrificed more than literally everyone else. That was when Lucin realized what kind of person Shang was. He was a person of extremes. With him, it was always either 0 or 100. There was nothing between those two numbers. "| understand," Queen Primordium said. "I have an unrted question." "Why do you not regrow your eyes?" Chapter 700 Chapter 700 Lucin also looked at Shang after Queen Primordium asked that question.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g He was also interested in the answer, but he wanted to wait with the question until they were more familiar with each other. "| can''t," Shang answered. "Curious," Queen Primordium added, "why not?" "The power of the Abominations took it from me," Shang said. Shang tried his best not to let it show, but he was extremely nervous right now. This was the most dangerous moment. "I''ve heard of that," Queen Primordium said. "Don''t resist. | need to confirm something." Then, Shang felt a smooth finger touch the side of his head. Shang did his absolute best not to act suspicious, and he didn''t resist. He trusted in the Lightning Manor''s philosophy that the mind of every individual was a sacred ce that wasn''t allowed to be looked into or manipted. As long as she didn''t read his mind, everything should be fine. Lucius, the Mage Emperor, had told Shang that his Spell, Humanity, couldn''t even be seen by an Emperor. After some seconds, the finger retreated from Shang''s head. "Indeed, your soul has been altered in more ways than one," she said. "Could you please exin?" Shang asked. "I would also like to know more about this." At this moment, Shang felt a mountain of relief. "There are two things wrong with your soul, and one of them is more troublesome to solve than the other,¡± she said. ¡®Two things?¡¯ Shang thought in confusion. Sure, he had two eyes, but that would only be counted as one thing. "When the Abominations blow up, they are using a very peculiar ability. They are using their own essence to fuse with the Mana in the world. The two forces cancel each other out and transform into pure destruction. This is how the Abominations are able to threaten beings several levels above them." ¡°If youe into contact with the explosion, you will be blown apart. However, if youe into contact with the essence of the Abominations, you will not be blown up but used as fuel." "In some cases, that can be worse than being blown up." ¡°How so?" Shang asked. "Injuring someone''s soul is difficult since it resides in a different space than the one everyone resides in. Don''t try to fully grasp this concept just yet. It is veryplicated, even for someone like me." Shang wordlessly nodded. ¡°For now, just imagine that your soul exists in a parallel reality that oveps our own. Imagine your soul as a cloud and your body as an anchor." "If the anchor gets damaged, the cloud can repair it." "If the anchor getspletely destroyed, the cloud will float away and disperse. That is death." ¡°However, nothing can touch the cloud. It is virtually invulnerable." ¡°When an Abomination explodes, it also just destroys the anchor." ¡°However, if an Abomination wants to explode, it pulls in all kinds of Mana around it, including Space, Time, Gravity, and the very Concepts that dictate life itself, Life Mana." "Your soul is made of Life Mana, and Life Mana can''t be touched easily." "But Life Mana is also Mana." "When an Abomination extends its essence to fuse with Mana, it does so on a fundamental level, which includes all forms of Mana, including Life Mana." "Life Mana dictates the very concept of existence. If you lose Life Mana, your concept of existence gets altered." "In your case, the part of your soul that represents your eyes no longer exists. In a sense, this couldn''t even be called an injury since there is nothing to heal." "You are you. You areplete. Having eyes would be just as abnormal for you as for another human to have wings growing out of their back." "Do you understand?" Queen Primordium asked. Shang nodded. "Thank you." "As for your other problem," Queen Primordium continued. "The part of your soul that is responsible for the priority connection between your soul-center and your soul-core has been altered, butpared to your eyes, this problem can be fixed." "| don''t understand," Shang said. ¡°It means that it is very difficult for your body to transfer Mana to your mind to strengthen it," Queen Primordium exined. Shang became nervous again, but this time for different reasons. "You can get rid of my warrior''s body?" Shang asked. ¡°Not me personally, no," she said. "To fix this change, you need someone that knows the level two Concept of Life, Change. I only know the level one Concept." "The Custodian might be able to help you,¡± she said. Shang took a deep breath. "How would that alter my body?" m uncertain," Queen Primordium said. "You would need to speak to the Custodian." "Is there a way for me to meet him?" Shang asked. ¡°You will meet him in a couple of seconds," Queen Primordium said. Shang became surprised, and Lucin also looked at Queen Primordium in shock. "| have verified that you truly have a fivefold Spirit Sense, but your identity as a warrior is troublesome," she exined. "It is within my authority to support you until you be powerful enough to join the tournament. | could do that without any issues." ¡°However, if you actually manage to win, my authority won''t be enough to secure the spot of King. That is up to the Emperors." ¡°My duty is to strengthen the younger generation and give them the best chance at winning the grand tournament, but it is also my duty to make sure that the resources we give to the new generation actually find use and don''t get wasted." "Investing resources befit of a King Contender into someone that can''t be a King, no matter how powerful they be, would be a waste of these resources." "That''s why we have to resolve this issue first, and | can''t solve it." ¡°Lucin, you remain here. | am going to take him to the Custodian." "Yes, my Queen," Lucin said with a respectful tone. "Follow me," Queen Primordium told Shang. Shang felt the wall of nothing walk out of the door that represented the edge of the world and move towards the left. Shang simply followed the wall of nothingness as they left Lucin behind. They didn''t say anything on their way and arrived in front of a smaller door beside a big gate. Queen Primordium politely knocked on the door, and a couple of secondster, the doors opened. This time, Shang could see who he was talking to. He looked like an adult man with grey hair, and he wore a very clean suit, surprisingly. He almost looked like a butler to Shang. "Nice to see you, Vana," Wester, the Custodian, spoke politely. Naturally, Wester also threw an interested nce at Shang. Chapter 701 Chapter 701 "It''s nice to see you as well, Wester," Queen Primordium answered. "| presume you''re here because of our young friend here?" Wester asked. "I think | already know why you''re here.¡± "How will we proceed?" Queen Primordium asked. Wester turned to Shang and looked at him while he scratched his chin in thought. "You have a fivefold Spirit Sense, right?" Shang nodded. "You''re not a Mage, right?" Wester asked. Shang nodded again. Wester absentmindedly nodded a couple of times as he fell into thought. "Difficult," Wester said. "We don''t really think about the supremacy of Mages in our everyday life. Everyone that we know is. already a Mage." ¡°Only when there is actual contrast can we take note of the difference." "I''m no different," Wester added. "| haven''t even entertained the possibility that a warrior might be powerful enough to rival King Contenders. That possibility just seems so far in the future.¡± Wester remained silent for a couple of seconds. Queen Primordium and Shang didn''t say anything. ¡°Past, present, and future," Wester said. "In the past, Mages were antagonistic to warriors. In the present, Mages are interested in raising warriors." "The future is still uncertain." "Will the past be repeated, or will there be cooperation?" Wester stayed silent for a while again. "The past dictates the future, but the past isn''t always correct. Regret is a word, and if the past were always correct, regret wouldn''t exist." "We are people of the present, not of the past." "These decisions can only be made by the people of the past," Wester said. "Then, this means..." Queen Primordium slowly said. Wester nodded. "! must ask the Ancestor." Abit of Shang''s nervousness returned. The Lightning Emperor. Lucius had said that not even an Emperor could see through Humanity, but there were many things an Emperor could do. Maybe there were other ways to find out about Shang''s Affinity. "You two wait here," Wester said before leaving his room and walking over to the bigger door beside his own. Right now, Shang wasn''t sure if he wanted to meet the Lightning Emperor or not. The closer he got to him, the more dangerous it would be, but Shang also didn''t want to be left in the dark. Shang wanted to ask the Custodian about his warrior''s body, but he decided that this was a topic better left forter. For now, it was important to see whether Shang would survive or not. Sure enough, the unveiling of Shang''s true power had created monumental waves, and the news would even reach the Lightning Emperor, one of the ten strongest beings in the world. Meanwhile, Wester was walking through the long corridor and stopped in front of a simple door. As always, he politely knocked and entered a momentter. ¡°Hello, Wester," an old man sitting behind a desk said in a friendly voice. At the moment, the Lightning Emperor was reading through a book while correcting some things. "Good evening, sir," Wester said as he entered the office. "Did we find them?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Sadly, no, sir," Wester answered. The Lightning Emperor released a long sigh. "And here | was hoping that | would finally have something positive to report to the others.¡± ¡°Ever since the Fifth Realm Abominations started appearing, the others have beenining more and more. You know, in the beginning, they actually didn''t care as much. Sure, they wereining a bit, but that was more for show." "But as soon as their towns and cities start to disappear, they suddenlyin. You know, I''ve tried to get their help for a long time, but they always said that they were too busy." "And now, suddenly, everyone is offering their help to find the Child of Cmity. Honestly, if they had offered their help earlier, we might have found the Child of Cmity by now." "But now..." the Lightning Emperor said before he released another sigh. "Let''s face it. Several centuries have passed, and the Child of Cmity must have found out about their status. Even more, they probably even found a way to hide.¡±Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. Wester remained silent. The Lightning Emperor wasn''t a fan of having a big social circle, and Wester was basically the only being below the Mage Emperor Realm that he talked to. Of course, that also meant that the Lightning Emperor didn''t have many people to vent his frustrations to. Wester was used to listening to the Lightning Emperor''sining. "You know," the Lightning Emperor continued, "we could have probably found them in the first couple of years, but since we only have ess to a couple of Mage Lords to scour the entire world, we couldn''t have searched as effectively as was necessary." "If the others had just agreed to search through their own territories, things wouldn''t be like this." ¡°Now, everyone''s willing to help. It took how many million deaths?" ¡°Around 80, sir," Wester said. "Huh?" the Lightning Emperor uttered in confusion. "80 million deaths, sir," Wester said. "At least, those are the number of deaths in our territory.¡± The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Only?" Wester nodded. "Kiran reacted very efficiently and effectively to the changing parameters." ¡°Well, that''s good to hear," the Lightning Emperor said with positive surprise. "Adam and Kali recently told me how many they lost. They lost over 700 million. | anticipated that we would be at something like 300 million." "80 million, huh. Seems like Kiran has done excellent work," the Lightning Emperor praised. ¡°Anyway, we should really get onto finding the Child of Cmity. | think the next course of action would be to make every Archmage outside our forces undertake a bloodline test. Give them a Grade Five Mana Crystal for their troubles," the Lightning Emperor nodded. "Yes, sir," Wester said. Silence. After around ten seconds, the Lightning Emperor looked away from his book and looked at Wester with furrowed brows. Having Wester standing there in silence and looking at him made the Lightning Emperor feel ufortable. "Do you need anything else, Wester?" he asked carefully. "Sir, I''m not here because of the Child of Cmity," Wester said. The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times in surprise. "But then why-" Silence. "Oh, | did it again, didn''t I?" he asked. "Yes, sir," Wester answered. The Lightning Emperor sighed. "I told you that you could just interrupt and tell me when | do that." "| know, sir," Wester said, "but | do enjoy listening to yourints." The Lightning Emperorughed a bit in difort. "Alright, as long as you know." ¡°Anyway, what brings you here then, Wester?" Chapter 702 Chapter 702 "Sir, do you remember the negotiations regarding the warriors?" Wester asked. "The ones that are happening right now?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "They ended a couple of years ago," Wester corrected. ¡°Huh, already? That''s fast." "Sir, we negotiated for 20 years," Westermented. "Oh, that much? I guess time flies when you''re having fun,¡± the Lightning Emperor added. "The negotiations have been finished, and we have received the warriors today. There was also the warrior amongst them that effectively created all the other warriors in the Twilight Dusk Family''s territories." ¡°Wait, you''re not telling me that he died, right?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "No, sir, he didn''t die," Wester answered without any annoyance audible in his voice. "In fact, he is standing near the throne room right now." The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times in surprise. Then, he looked at the throne room and directly at Shang. Shang didn''t feel any of this. "Oh, wow," the Lightning Emperor said in surprise. "Yes, | can see why you''re here now." "Goodness, that''s faster than | expected. Did | identally get distracted for 10,000 years again?" "No, sir, you didn''t," Wester calmly answered. ¡°| wonder how he managed to get a fivefold Spirit Sense without another Empire helping them. That seems almost impossible. Say, Wester, did we have a hand in that?" the Lightning Emperor said. ¡°He was already like that when he got here, sir," Wester answered. "| can ask him about how he managed to do that." "No," the Lightning Emperor said with a voice that hid a bit of excitement. "I hadn''t had the chance to use this Spell in a long time. Let me have some fun." "Of course, sir," Wester answered. Then, the Lightning Emperor closed his eyes, and his mouth very slowly recitedplex words. Nothing seemed to change, but Wester could tell that reality around them was warping. Small and slow waves extended from the Lightning Emperor''s library and extended toward Shang. Shang didn''t notice any of this. The waves slowly seemed to surround Shang, and a momentter, they traveled back to the Lightning Emperor. But this time, the waves had different forms and different colors than before. The majority of waves were either ck or white, but there were also very few blue and red waves. After some seconds, all the waves vanished, and the Lightning Emperor opened his eyes. Then, the Lightning Emperor frowned. He put his book away and put his hand on his chin with a troubled expression. Wester''s expression didn''t change, but deep inside, he was quite surprised. There were very few things that could motivate the Lightning Emperor to actually take things seriously. Most of the time, he was veryzy and joked around. It was rare to see him this serious. The Lightning Emperor remained silent for several seconds. "Difficult," he said. ¡°What do you mean, sir?" Wester asked. ¡°His personality is nearly unique," the Lightning Emperor said. "He is almost as apathetic as a cold piece of steel, but he is also the most motivated person | have ever seen." This surprised Wester quite a bit. The Lightning Emperor was over 300,000 years old, and he had seen a lot of people. Yet, this warrior in the throne room was the most motivated person the Lightning Emperor had ever seen? "Does that include the Mage God?" Wester asked. "Naturally," the Lightning Emperor nodded. "Lucius might have been very hardworking, but he also enjoyed talking to his companions." "This warrior, on the other hand, has zero interest in anything else. Power is the only thing that interests him in any way." "For what?" Wester asked. "For power," the Lightning Emperor answered. "Power for power''s sake, an empty goal. He is living for walking the path." "Someone like that does not know loyalty, humanity, happiness, or empathy. If he gets a chance to increase his power in exchange for betraying everyone he considers connected to him, he will do so." ¡°Assuming he wins the grand tournament and bes the first Warrior King in 300,000 years, he won''t just stop." ¡°He will continue refining his power, and he will do everything in his power to be a Warrior Emperor.¡± "If necessary, he will sacrifice the entire world and kill every living being." The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath. "If he survives, he will one day bring a cmity unto Aterium. In a way, you could also give him the title of Child of Cmity, but for a different reason." ¡°If we nurture him, he will end up endangering the entire world." Silence. "That sounds familiar," Wester said. The Lightning Emperor nodded with a frown. "Yes, he''s almost just like that kid." "That exins how he became so strong without backing," Wester said. Silence. ¡°How will we proceed?" Wester asked after some seconds. ¡°Under normal circumstances, | would order his execution immediately," the Lightning Emperor said. "Helping him is akin to inviting an Abomination into our home." ¡°But there are three things that make me hesitate." ¡°First, | said that he is nearly as cold as a piece of metal, the important word being almost."C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org ¡°Buried very deep inside is someone crying in pain, loneliness, and regret. Deep inside, he knows that what he is doing is not good for him or others." ¡°However, that part of him has been suppressed to such an intense degree that it is almost impossible to even touch that suppressed core.¡± ¡°But there is a chance. If a miracle urs, he could change into effectively another person.¡± "He is like this because a mountain of pain is suppressing him. He can''t escape or face it, which is why he can only ignore it." ¡°If we can somehow make him face the mountain, he might change into someone else." "Someone that values friendship, loyalty, and honesty." "In that sense, he is different from that kid. That kid can''t have these feelings, while this warrior can have them but refuses to have them." "The second reason for my hesitation is also precisely that kid," the Lightning Emperor added. "The others are still talking about that kid, and if things keep proceeding like this, he will be an Emperor eventually.¡± "He will most likely be the strongest Emperor, and the entire world will be under his rule." "| fear that no one can fight him. Us Emperors are old, and we rose at a time when all the spots for Emperors were essentially up for grabs. None of us are on his level because we are not willing to sacrifice everything for power." ¡°But this warrior might be." ¡°Of course, this is just a tiny hope." Silence. ¡°And thest part?" Wester asked. The Lightning Emperor looked at Shang. "He reminds me of Lucius." Chapter 703 Chapter 703 Wester raised an eyebrow when he heard that. "The Mage God?" he asked with uncertainty. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "In a way, he feels like an alternate version of Lucius. Lucius was a kind person that hid a dark core of desire and hunger. Nearly all the time, he was a pleasant fellow that elicited goodwill from everyone.¡± "Yet, on some very rare asions, he also lost his cool, and when that happened, he very often forgot what was right or wrong.¡± ¡°Naturally, after he calmed down, he became ashamed and tried to rectify his deeds as much as possible. He genuinely regretted some of his actions." "But this warrior is the opposite," the Lightning Emperor said as he rubbed his small beard. "He seems like someone that exclusively does selfish things and never does anything else." "Yet, who knows? Maybe, from time to time, he also does something good without realizing it. It might be on ident, but in a certain sense, there are no real idents." "If you make a decision, something inside you wants to make that decision. You might believe that you have done something you didn''t want on ident, but in the end, you wouldn''t have chosen what you have if there weren''t a small part of you that wanted to make that choice." The Lightning Emperor remained silent for a couple of seconds. "What are your orders, sir?" Wester asked. The Lightning Emperor remained silent. Then, some secondster, he sighed. "I don''t know." "You know, when I''m uncertain about someone, | tend to look into their eyes, but..." Wester didn''t answer. "Speaking of, why doesn''t he have eyes?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "| didn''t ask," Wester said. ¡°Well, it doesn''t matter anyway," the Lightning Emperor said. "Some people have very weird ways when it concerns training. For example, Mirana refused toe out during the day, and she also refused to look outside during the day. She wanted to keep her senses for Darkness Mana as sharp as possible.¡± ¡°Even more, Adam consumed parts of his own body to analyze the feeling of his own body toprehend the Life Concepts." ¡°And Kali even willingly entered aa for over 5,000 years when she became a Mage Lord to feel the effects of brushing past death." "| wouldn''t be surprised if that warrior decided to cut out his eyes for some arbitrary reason." ¡°Actually, did you know that-" "Sir," Wester interjected. "You''re getting sidetracked." The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Oh, yeah, right." Then, he frowned again and scratched his chin in thought. "What to do... what to do..." After some seconds, the Lightning Emperor leaned back in his chair with an uncertain expression. ¡°What would the other Emperors do?" Wester suddenly asked.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. "The others?" the Lightning Emperor repeated as he hummed a bit. Then, aplex expression appeared on his face. "Well, you heard why they are considering making that madman an Emperor," the Lightning Emperor said. Wester nodded. "Power, authority, destiny, and truth, right?" Wester asked. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "I think it would be simr in this case. Of course, that''s only assuming that this warrior was a Mage. As you know, the others aren''t the biggest fans of physis, especially Mirana." "If he were a Mage, they would probably invest in him for the same reason they want to make that kid an Emperor." ¡°Power is destiny, and everyone should get a chance at fulfilling their destiny." ¡°If we don''t allow that kid to be an Emperor, he might even try to kill one, and then what? Are we supposed to gang up on someone because they are trying to kill the very people that try to keep them weak?" ¡°Humans seek power, and denying someone their search for power is akin to muddling in the destiny of Aterium." ¡°Everyone deserves a shot at realizing their destiny." Then, the Lightning Emperor sighed. ¡°But then, why did we destroy all the other paths back then?" ¡°Based on that logic, shouldn''t we also give the Abominations a chance at life?" The Lightning Emperor sighed again. "Even more, another reason why they are willing to entertain the possibility of that kid bing an Emperor is the Abominations." "We are not powerful enough to stop them, which is why we need someone more powerful.¡± ¡°But then what? The first thing someone like that madman would do would be to kill every other Emperor to join Lucius in Godhood." ¡°And this warrior isn''t any better. He would do the same thing.¡± "Is this our destiny? Is our destiny to die to these crazy madmen?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "| refuse to believe that," he added. ¡°Lucius has be our God, and if Lucius wants something to happen, it will happen. If this madman is supposed to reach power, there is nothing we can do to stop him." ¡°But what if he isn''t supposed to reach power?" ¡°What if he has been sent as an adversary, someone that is supposed to unite everyone against them and wake us up from our comcency?" The Lightning Emperor remained silent again. And then, he groaned in exasperation. ¡°Man, this is just too much," he shouted with annoyance. "You know, I''ve followed Lucius ever since we were Apprentices. He was outstanding even back then, and | was just a bit more talented than others. | simply kept following him around everywhere, and whenever | feared that we would die, Lucius saved us." "| was never the one that decided what we would do. | was just there to help my friend achieve his goal. | was always just acting as support." "| never wanted to rule an Empire or something like that.¡± The Lightning Emperor sighed again. "| just want to go on adventures with Lucius again." Silence. Then, the Lightning Emperor suddenly grabbed one of the books, put his legs on the table, leaned back, and put the book on his face. "I''m taking a nap! | don''t want to deal with this right now!" Silence. Wester just looked at the Lightning Emperor evenly. ¡°Ask me again in a thousand years," the Lightning Emperor said, shooing Wester away with his right hand. Wester blinked once emotionlessly. ¡°And what should | do with him until then?" Wester asked professionally. "| dunno," the Lightning Emperor said with a shrug. "Just treat him like a King Contender until then. Who knows, maybe he will kill himself with his training before then?" Wester wanted to do nothing but groan or sigh, but he would never breach etiquette like that. If the other Kings knew how their Emperor came to some decisions... "| will do as ordered, sir," Wester said with a polite bow. Then, he slowly exited the room. Chapter 704 Chapter 704 Shang and Queen Primordium had been waiting in front of the gigantic gate for several minutes by now. It seemed like the decision wasn''t an easy one to make. The Lightning Emperor was probably checking every possibility thoroughly to make the best decision possible. And, finally, the door opened. Wester walked out of the gate and calmly closed it behind him. Then, he walked up to Shang and Queen Primordium. Shang''s insides were tensing up. The moment of truth had arrived. Wester looked at Shang and smiled politely. "Wee to the Lightning Manor," he said in a friendly tone. Shang released a sigh of relief. "Thank you." Wester nodded and then turned to Queen Primordium. "The Ancestor has decided that he will be treated as a Cloud." "Thank you, Wester," Queen Primordium said. Shang still couldn''t see what Queen Primordium was doing or what she looked like. ¡°Excuse me,¡± Shang suddenly said. "Yes?" Wester asked as he looked at Shang. "The part of my soul that is responsible for the priority connection between my soul center and my soul core has been altered," Shang said, repeating Queen Primordium''s words. "Queen Primordium has told me that | need someone with the level two Concept of Life to deal with that issue." Wester raised an eyebrow. "Oh? If | remember correctly, that''s what you warriors call a warrior body, right?" Shang nodded. "That sounds like something useful to a warrior, right?" "Yes," Shang answered, "but I''m not a warrior.¡± "You''re not a warrior?" Wester asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, the Impose stage that other warriors have is not an urate name for my Realm. | have four Paths, four Imposes, and | comprehended World Connection before | reached the Fifth Realm. That is how | created my fivefold Spirit Sense," Shang exined. "Oh, interesting," Wester mused. "You know, many years ago, there were other Paths as well, but due to something that happened, these other Paths don''t really exist anymore." Shang didn''t let it show, but hearing Wester''s words gave Shang a peculiar feeling. The Custodian was the first person, aside from the God and the people involved with the God, that had acknowledged that there had been other Paths in the past. Everyone else had believed that the Mages had always been superior and that the Mage God had just been an especially strong Mage. The fact that there had been warriors in the past had only been uttered by the God, but today, Shang had received external verification. "| know a bit regarding the old Paths," Wester said in a friendly tone, "and from what I''ve read, you are essentially using two different Paths. If I''m not mistaken, the thing that you call Impose was called Weapon Intent back then, and it was used by Fighters." ¡°Meanwhile, the thing that you call World Connection was something that was used by World Maniptors, people that fight by controlling the world around them." ¡°From what I''ve seen, you started out with a Weapon Master Path by creating so many Paths, went to the Fighter Path by creating so many Imposes, andstly, arrived at the World Maniptor Path byprehending what you call World Connection." Wester scratched his chin. "Sure enough, calling you a warrior would be a bit strange. You''ve created your very own Path." Shang grew a bit anxious and excited. There was someone standing in front of him that knew how the ancient warriors fought and trained! Maybe... ¡°| know what you''re thinking about," Wester said, "but | don''t think it would be a good idea to tell you how people from back then trained." Shang took a deep breath. He wasn''t sure if he was relieved or frustrated. "The past should stay in the past," Wester said. "You''ve done well enough creating your own Path, and | think you should continue.¡± "Do you already have a n for reaching the Sixth Realm?" he asked. Shang nodded. "Void Casting, but for my body." ¡°How very peculiar," Wester said. "You''ve now jumped into the Berserker Path." When Shang heard Wester''s words, some uncertainties in his mind vanished. Shang had been quite certain that what he had been trying to create would work, but he couldn''t bepletely sure. After all, no one had ever done that, at least as far as he knew. But now, the Custodian had talked about the very thing Shang was trying to create. And it was something that Berserkers had used in the past. ¡°From what I''ve read, Berserkers used this ability to overfill their bodies with Mana, vastly increasing their power and regenerative abilities for a short time. Naturally, there are more uses. For example, as you know, us Mages use Void Casting for our Spells, and there''s also a form of Void Casting that World Maniptors have used in the past." "Depending on how you use it and what form you create, the effects will be different.¡± ¡°But | think we strayed too far from the topic," Wester said. "This was about your warrior body." Shang nodded. ¡°Let me just take a look at your soul.¡± Wester extended one of his fingers and touched Shang''s forehead. Two secondster, he pulled his hand away. "| see," Wester said. "So, that''s why you don''t have any eyes." Shang just wordlessly nodded. ¡°As for your problem, yes, | can solve it." Shang took a deep breath. His warrior body... The fact that his mind was always an entire level lower than his body... This problem could be solved by the person standing in front of him! "What would be the effects?" Shang asked. "Well..." Wester said as he trailed off. He didn''t immediately answer, and he only looked at Shang. His conversation with the Lightning Emperor went through his mind. This warrior would not be thankful. This warrior might be the end of the Lightning Manor in the future. But then, on the other hand, the Emperors were saying that everyone deserved a chance at realizing their destiny. The choice was difficult. And finally, the Lightning Emperor''s orders shot through Wester''s head. Just treat him like a King Contender. In the end, Wester decided to do just that. "There are two ways to solve this issue," Wester said. "The normal way would be to return your soul to how it was supposed to be. You will be able to train your mind just like any other Mage."N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. "But the drawback is that your ability to convert Mana into life energy would be slowed by a factor of ten." Would Shang ept that? He wasn''t sure. ¡°And the other way?" Shang asked. "The other way won''t weaken your regenerative abilities, but you can''t actively train your mind. Your mind will continue to grow on its own, but that is dependent on time, not effort. As long as you live for long enough, your mind will catch up to your body." "However, there is another drawback." "You will be in strong perpetual pain.¡± Chapter 705 Chapter 705 Shang didn''t react in any special way to Wester''s words. "| would prefer the second way," Shang said. Silence. Shang couldn''t see it, but Queen Primordium was looking at him with furrowed brows. When the Custodian talked about severe pain, he was probably talking about some very serious pain, and to top it all off, Shang would have this pain for the rest of his life. Yet, Shang didn''t even ask the Custodian about the pain. This didn''t make Shang appear like someone that could resist a lot of pain but like someone that was hopelessly overestimating themselves. However, Shang had a fivefold Spirit Sense. So, maybe he actually knew what he was talking about. "You don''t care about the pain?" Wester asked with a smile. "It doesn''t matter," Shang answered. Silence. The two Mage Kings waited for Shang to borate, but Shang had already said everything he wanted to say. "Alright," Wester said. "Let me exin what is happening in your body right now and how we will change things." "Your soul is connected to your body via a tether. You could look at it like a thread connecting the two things." "The part on your body that connects to the tether is called the soul core." "The tether is made up of multiple connections." "The part of your soul that connects to the tether is called the soul center." "The closest thing to the soul is the mind since your soul core is in your brain. Because of that, your mind will be more powerful as your soul grows more powerful and vice versa." "The primary connection is the biggest connection within the tether that connects your body to your soul. This is the connection responsible for transferring your power back and forth." "With a damaged primary connection, it is nearly impossible to strengthen your soul since there is simply no connection, which also means that it is nearly impossible to strengthen your mind." "To strengthen your mind, you need to absorb Mana with your mind and push that Mana into your soul, which will then grow more powerful, which, in turn, will also increase the power of your mind." ¡°And since there is no primary connection, this process doesn''t happen." "In your case, your soul only bes stronger by gaining Mana via the much smaller connections, which means that you have to be many times more powerful to strengthen your mind just by a little bit." ¡°However, the tradeoff is that the Mana in your body is always in an over-full state since it can''t escape into your mind and soul as easily. That makes your Mana very vtile and prone to sudden transformations." "That is how you can transform your Mana into life energy in the blink of an eye." "The normal way to solve this issue would be to repair the primary connection. Your Mana would find a way to escape into your soul, which would strengthen your mind." "In turn, your body wouldn''t be over-filled with Mana, making it more time-consuming to transform your Mana into life energy. You could imagine it as a kingdom waging war against one or two enemies." "If they only have one enemy, they will put all their forces near the frontlines, ready to react in an instant, but if they are threatened by two kingdoms on two opposite borders, it takes a long while for the forces to react since they would be stationed in the middle of the kingdom." Shang listened intently. ¡°Now, the way that | am proposing to solve your issue would be to re-establish the primary connection, but on a different spot." "If you think back to the kingdom analogy | used, what | would be doing would be to take one of the two enemies and ce them behind the other enemy. Your forces would now only need to stand on one border." "In biological terms, I''m going to connect the tether to your center of life energy.¡± ¡°However, the soul isn''t meant to grow by absorbing life energy. Theoretically, it''s possible, but it takes more effort. Additionally, the soul doesn''t stop pulling Mana, which means that it will keep absorbing your life energy at a high rate." "The lower your life energy, the more life energy your body produces out of instinct. Your survival instincts kick in, you be awake, you be attentive, and your emotions go haywire. In that state, you will produce more life energy." "But outside an actively dangerous situation, this state only happens when your life energy is at about 70% of its maximum." "This means that your soul will keep absorbing your life energy until it reaches 70%, at which point you will experience said symptoms perpetually for the remainder of your life." ¡°It will be impossible for you to calm down." "Your mind will always go wild, and you will feel like you''re in the middle of a battle every second of your life." ¡°Additionally, the loss of great amounts of life energy feels like you are about to die." "Forever." Silence. ¡°Are you sure you want that?" Wester asked. ¡°How does itpare to being in an Istion Chamber?" Shang asked. Wester raised an eyebrow in surprise. "The loss of life energy is anxiety-inducing, but it can''tpare to being locked in an environment without Mana." Shang nodded. "Then, I''m fine with it." ¡°Are you sure?" Wester asked. "This will stay with you for the rest of your life."Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. "I''m sure," Shang said. Wester rubbed his chin as he looked at Shang. He wanted to ask why Shang was so sure, but he remembered what the Lightning Emperor had said. This person would sacrifice everything for his power. Even himself, his happiness, his loved ones, his health... "Alright," Wester said. "Then, as a new member of the Lightning Manor, look at this as my wee present to you." "| hope that you will be the pride of the Lightning Manor." "| will," Shang answered. "Thank you." Wester nodded. And then, he put his finger on Shang''s forehead. Chapter 706 Chapter 706 Shang felt his mind swim, and a secondter, he felt like something extremely important to him was being torn away. It was like someone had shoved their hands into his chest to tear out his heart! However, Shang didn''t move, and he didn''t say anything. He only gritted his teeth. Queen Primordium was looking at Shang with surprise, while Wester had a small gleam of recognition in his eyes. Sure enough, the Lightning Emperor had been correct. Wester was essentially inflicting the greatest pain anyone could feel by tearing apart Shang''s soul and establishing new connections. Yet, Shang was just gritting his teeth. This was an unreal amount of willpower and resistance to pain. After a couple of seconds, Shang got used to the pain, and he simply stood there motionlessly. Queen Primordium got surprised even more, and even Wester was surprised this time. An equivalent picture from Earth would be someone looking evenly at someone that was currently slowly cutting through the first person''s torso with a searing knife. Shang wasn''t showing any reactions anymore. Acouple of secondster, Shang felt something he had never felt before. It was extremely difficult to describe this feeling. The closest thing Shang could say would be that he felt like the world had be more real.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g It was like someone that had seen the world through the haze of tiredness was suddenly injected with adrenaline. They were more alert, took in all their surroundings in great detail, and wanted to do something. This was the effect of anchoring Shang''s soul. Earlier, Shang''s soul had only been anchored by the smaller connections of the tether, and now, the primary connection was re- established. ¡°And done," Wester said with a friendly smile as he pulled his finger back. "Your soul will now absorb life energy, and your Mana will transform into life energy.¡± Shang nodded. "Thank you," he said. For now, Shang wasn''t feeling very different. He felt a small feeling of fatigue in his body, but he wouldn''t notice it if he didn''t specifically search for it. ¡°As things look now," Wester said, "your mind will now start to strengthen. Near the beginning, it will be quite fast since your body is so much more powerful than your mind, but it will slow down very quickly.¡± "| estimate that your mind will reach the Initial Archmage Realm within five years, the Early Archmage Realm within 15 years, the Mid Archmage Realm within 45 years, the Late Archmage Realm within 135 years, and the Peak Archmage Realm within a bit more than 400 years." ¡°Naturally, if your body increases by a level, your mind will also grow faster." Shang nodded. "What happens if | remain at the peak of a Realm for a long while and my mind keeps strengthening?" "While the mind can advance individual levels without problems, it needs a concerted effort to push through a major breakthrough. When your mind reaches the peak of a Realm, it won''t advance unless you want it to." ¡°Assuming you wouldn''t want your mind to reach the Initial Archmage Realm, you would just need to do nothing. At that point, your soul will feel like it has been filled to the brim, and it will no longer absorb as much life energy since it isn''t growing anymore." Shang nodded. It was difficult for him toe to terms with his new reality. Ever since he had arrived in this world, his mind had always been so much weaker than his body. Practicing Magic had been an impossibility, and worst of all, nobody knew why Shang couldn''t exactly practice Magic. What had been wrong? What had been the thing that made it impossible for him to practice Magic? Today, Shang had learned all of that, and even more, he had gained the ability to practice Magic. Naturally, Shang wouldn''t practice Magic. Shang was already running out of longevity by only training in his physical Path. He didn''t have any time to waste on learning Magic as well. However, having a powerful mind was still extremely useful for many different things. First of all,prehending Concepts would be easier for Shang, which resolved one of his major problems. Shang knew that there were four Concepts of Entropy that needed to be fused into a fifth one. Shang hadprehended two of those with the mind of a Peak High Mage. The next time Shang would need toprehend these Concepts again would be when he was at the Peak Sixth Realm. Normally, Shang''s mind would be at the Peak Fifth Realm, which would allow him toprehend a level three Concept. But now, Shang''s mind would be at the Peak Sixth Realm, which would allow him toprehend a level four Concept. This meant that Shang would be able tobine his two weapons into one weapon. He would have everything connected. Fire went via Addition to Light, which went via Twilight to Darkness, which went via Subtraction to Ice, which went via Temperature to Fire. It would be a circle, and this circle would allow Shang to fuse his Addum and Subsis into one single weapon. Of course, that would be in the far future. "Then, everything is fine, correct?" Wester asked with a smile. "Thank you very much, Wester," Queen Primordium said. "Thank you, Custodian," Shang said respectfully. Right now, Shang was genuinely thankful. The Custodian had helped Shang ining closer to his goal. Wester nodded. "Then, | wish you two a good day.¡± "And, Shang, wee to the Lightning Manor!" Shang performed a short and polite bow. "Thank you, Custodian." After that, the Custodian walked back to his room and entered. "We''ll go back to Lucin," Queen Primordium said as she turned around. Shang nodded and followed after her. Alot of things happened today. Shang had joined the Lightning Manor. Shang had met a Mage Lord. Shang had met a Thunder. Shang had met two Mage Kings. The Lightning Emperor had decided on Shang''s fate. And, most importantly of all, Shang''s warrior body had vanished. What a day. Chapter 707 Chapter 707 Queen Primordium and Shang walked back to Lucin, who had been waiting anxiously for the result. "He is to be treated as a King Contender," Queen Primordium told Lucin. Lucin smiled and nodded. "Understood, my Queen." "Shang," Queen Primordium said. "Lucin will exin everything to you. As a new member of the Contender Department, your Official position is named Cloud." "As a Cloud, you have authority over Sparks and Boltlings. Your authority is equal to Bolts, and you must obey the orders of Thunders." Shang nodded. "Understood." ¡°Lucin will exin everything in detail to youter. | hope you won''t run out of longevity before youprehend Void Casting.¡± When Lucin heard that, he looked with shock at Shang. Lucin hadn''t known what Shang''s next ns would be, and when he heard that Shang wanted toprehend Void Casting next, he knew how insanely difficult it would prove to be. Under any other circumstance, Lucin would advise Shang not to practice Void Casting since it would be far too difficult for him to comprehend. However, Shang wasn''t a normal member of the Contender Department, but someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense. The difference in talent and effort required to get a fivefold Spirit Sense was far higher than getting a fourfold Spirit Sense. Lucin himself "only" had a fourfold Spirit Sense. This meant that he knew a lot about bing more powerful, but there was still a difference between someone on his level and someone on Shang''s level. After many years of raising King Contenders, Lucin knew that the best way for someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense to grow stronger was to let them do whatever they wanted and support them in their decisions. Trying to constrict them with conventional methods would only ruin their talent. "| won''t fail," Shang said evenly. After everything that had happened today, Shang had grown even more confident in his ability toprehend his own form of Void Casting. While a mind wasn''t that important for bing stronger as a warrior, it still allowed someone toprehend things faster. This meant that Shang''s mind growing more powerful would also speed up his training. At the moment, Shang''s biggest problem was his longevity. Shang was already around 720 years old, and he only had around 280 years left. While Shang could still retain a youthful appearance for now, that would stop when he reached the age of about 900. At that point, his body would slowly grow weaker, and his mind would start to be more lethargic. "Then, | wish you good luck," Queen Primordium said. Lucin and Shang bowed politely, and Queen Primordium went back into her room. After Queen Primordium left, Lucin released a sigh of relief. "I''m d that everything worked out." "Are you?" Shang asked. m," Lucin answered. "One of my favorite things is to watch one of my students reach incredible levels of power. | have alreadye to terms with my fate. In a bit more than 10,000 years, | will die of natural causes." "The only thing | can take sce in is that my legacy will live on with my students." Lucin started to smirk. "Did you know that the Starlight Queen was once one of my students?¡± "No," Shang answered emotionlessly. Lucin chuckled a bit. "She became a Mage King a bit more than 7,000 years ago. About 12,000 years ago, | was just a Bolt that was supposed to help the Clouds with their training, and the Starlight Queen was assigned to me when she was just an Archmage." "She also had a fivefold Spirit Sense back then, and | taught her until she was just a bit less powerful than me." Lucin chuckled some more. "And then, she shot past me and overtook me in power. | barely had her as my student for 3,500 years." "Is she the newest Mage King in the Lightning Manor?" Shang asked. Lucin nodded. "Correct. She still has over 80,000 years in front of her. Her life as a Mage King has just begun, essentially." "Give her some time, and she will enter the top ten."C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org "Oh, sorry, | got sidetracked," Lucin said with a loudugh. "I think we should actually get moving and get you acquainted with your new home." Shang wordlessly nodded. Lucin and Shang turned around and walked towards the exit of the Lightning Manor. The Lightning Manor building only housed the most powerful members of the Lightning Manor Empire. Shang had only been taken here due to special circumstances, and he knew that he wouldn''t see the Lightning Manor again for a long time. After the two of them walked out, Shang jumped back on the small Transportation te Lucin had summoned, and the two of them flew away from the Lightning Manor again. As they shot through the Lightning Sea, Shang thought about how his life was about to change. Two Mage Kings and one Mage Emperor had taken note of Shang, and they had not realized that he was the Child of Cmity. This meant that Shang''s identity was not in danger of being revealed. Even more, he had received the full support of the Lightning Manor after unveiling his true power. Today, Shang had be a true chosen of a true Empire. Shang''s way forward was supposed to be brightly lit with achievements and progress. However, for some reason... Shang felt like things wouldn''t go as smoothly. Something was telling him that something wasn''t as it should be. Shang focused on Lucin, who had transformed into a lightning bolt. Right now, Shang couldn''t see Lucin''s expression, and that worried him. Was Lucin truly who he made himself out to be? All of this went way too smoothly. Things couldn''t possibly be this easy, right? Shang''s hands began to shake a bit. He could feel that something horrible was about to happen. "So," Lucin said after a while of silence. ¡°What kind of Affinity do you have?" Shang couldn''t be sure, but just for a moment, he thought that Lucin''s voice sounded crafty and sinister. Chapter 708 Chapter 708 Shang''s heart began to race when he heard that question. What was up with that question?! Why would Lucin suddenly ask about his Affinity right after they talked to Queen Primordium and the Custodian?! Something strange had to be going on! Shang felt a pressure build up in his chest, and he felt like the Lightning Manor was no longer safe for him. What kind of game were they ying?! "Why are you suddenly asking that question?" Shang asked with a cold voice. "| heard two conflicting statements. The Supervisor of Area 23 says you have a Temperature Affinity, but I''ve also heard you have a Twilight Affinity. So, which is it?" Shang felt like the surroundings were pressing down on him. This was bad! Did Lucin know that Shang was the Child of Cmity?! Why else would he ask that question?! "| have a Twilight Affinity," Shang answered. "Darkness and Light Affinities were special in Area 23, and | didn''t want to be killed by the powerful Mages. Because of that, | used Fire and Ice as a mask. Fire is bright, and Ice absorbs the warmth like Darkness." "Oh? Interesting,¡± Lucin said with an amused voice. Shang focused on the lightning bolt that was Lucin beside him. Something was definitely wrong! Lucin was talking like he was taking joy in knowing about something that he shouldn''t. "Why did you ask?" Shang asked coldly. Lucin remained silent for about a second. "| mean, | need to know what kind of Affinity you have. | will need to approve a mountain of resources for you, and it''s also my job to make sure that these resources are actually useful for you. You will gain a lot of resources, but you can''t just waste resources because of that, get it?" Shang wasn''t sure if that was a lie or not. It sounded believable, but Lucin''s entire demeanor was too strange. Shang didn''t say anything for a while. He knew that Lucin was too powerful. In fact, it didn''t matter if Shang suspected something or not. Even if Shang used Entropy, he wouldn''t get through Lucin''s Mana Shield with that. In front of someone as powerful as Lucin, Shang was helpless. Because of that, Shang was doomed to wait in nervousness. "So, how are you nning onprehending Void Casting?" Lucin asked after a while. Shang focused on Lucin with suspicion. Why would he suddenly ask such a question? Was he nning something? Was he nning on leaving Shang to die in his own Istion Chamber? "Why do you care?" Shang asked with a cold voice. BANG! Suddenly, the two of them stopped moving, and Lucin transformed back into his human form. He was looking at Shang with furrowed brows. "Okay, what is going on?" he asked with annoyance. "Isn''t that what | should be asking you?" Shang answered with a cold voice. "Shang, why are you suddenly acting like this?" Lucin asked with annoyance. "We had no issues inmunicating when we were traveling to the Lightning Manor, but as soon as we got back, you were suddenly uncooperative, disrespectful, and aggressive." "Is this because you feel you''re better than me now?" Lucin asked. "Are you one of these types of geniuses, the ones that believe that everyone else is beneath them? | hope not. | can''t tell you how many of those | have seen die to their own blind pride." Shang snorted in disgust. "Don''t act like you don''t know what I''m talking about." "What?" Lucin asked in annoyance. "I genuinely have no idea what you mean." "You''re ying with me," Shang said. "I can feel when I''m in danger, and when I''m beside you, | feel like | will die to you any second." "You''re nning something, but instead of just killing me, you are ying with me because of some sick sense of entertainment,¡± Shang said coldly. Lucin was taken aback. Lucin hadn''t been this shocked and surprised in centuries. After several seconds, he could only say one sentence. "What the fuck are you talking about?" Shang didn''t answer and only focused on Lucin.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. He could feel that Lucin was just waiting for a good opportunity to kill him. "Why would | kill you?" Lucin asked as he ruffled his own hair in exasperation. "You heard Queen Primordium''s orders. If | were to kill you, | would most likely be killed in return. That would be akin to betraying the Lightning Manor." ¡°Even more, if we wanted to kill you, why wouldn''t we have done it in the Lightning Manor? Do you think we have time for something as stupid as ying around with someone''s emotions like that?" ¡°Honestly, | have no idea what you are talking about. Is this how you are normally? When you told me about your true power, you didn''t seem this suspicious and nervous, but as soon as you are actually safe, you start going crazy with suspicion, paranoia, and anxiety!" "This makes no sense!" Shang listened to Lucin intently. Shang could feel the falsehood of Lucin''s words, but the words he was speaking were very logical. On the surface, his words would seem perfectly logical and irrefutable. But Shang could feel that Lucin was lying. Lucin looked at Shang with surprise and shock. Lucin was extremely powerful and experienced, which allowed him to see how Shang was feeling. "Shang, what happened?" Lucin asked. "What happened when you were with Queen Primordium on your own?" "| didn''t know you for long, but | can tell that you have somehow changed in thest hour." "Something must have happened,¡± Lucin said. Shang was focusing on Lucin, but his mind went through everything that had happened automatically. The warrior body. Shang stopped focusing on Lucin. Instead, he focused on his own body. His life energy was low. He was extremely nervous. He felt like he was in danger of dying. And after looking inside for a while, Shang could also tell that he was feeling pain. Is this it?¡¯ Shang thought. ''Is this the effect of the Custodian''s operation?¡¯ Shang focused on Lucin again, who only looked at Shang with confusion. Shang suppressed his nervousness and thought about everything logically. Lucin was right. There was no reason for him to do all of this. Yet, even though Shang knew that, his sense of danger was still screaming at him. He was about to die! Something was about to attack him! He had to run! He had to fight! And that''s when it fully sunk in. There was no danger. This was simply the effect of the Custodian''s operation. And Shang realized that this would be his new normal. This was how life would be for him from now on. Chapter 709 Chapter 709 After realizing what the actual problem was, Shang told Lucin about the changes to his warrior''s body that the Custodian had performed. When Shang was done speaking, Lucin looked at him with a worried expression. "How do you feel?" he asked. "Like someone is nning on killing me," Shang said. "| can assure you that nobody within the Lightning Manor is nning on killing you yet," Lucin said. "Yet?" Shang repeated. "Well, you are essentially apetitor to the other Clouds since we can only send one King Contender into the Grand Tournament. It is obviously forbidden to kill your colleagues in the Lightning Manor, but that doesn''t stop some of them. From time to time, | still have to execute one of the Clouds for failing or seeding in a plot to assassinate another Cloud," Lucin exined.C¨°ntens bel0ngs to N?(v)elDr/a/ma.Org ¡°Right now, they barely know anything about you, but when they learn more about your true powers, some of them might plot to kill you." Shang didn''t like hearing that for multiple reasons. ¡®Great! | will also be the victim of actual assassinations, and with my newfound paranoia, it will be very difficult to discern who is actually out to get me. The friendliest and most normal people might appear like scheming enemies in my mind, and | might think that the actual scheming enemies are just nice people since | would think that | was just being paranoid.¡¯ ¡®| guess the best way is to treat everyone like they n on killing me. Like that, | can''t be unprepared.¡¯ This was one reason why Shang didn''t like what Lucin had said, but there was another. ¡°And | am not allowed to stop these assassination attempts from urring?¡± Shang asked. ¡°What do you mean with stop?¡± Lucin asked with a raised brow. "Kill the person that wants to kill me before they actually go through with the attempt," Shang said. Lucin sighed. "Shang, you can''t do that. In the Lightning Manor, we say that people are innocent until proven guilty. Even if one of the Clouds meets you alone, far away from anyone, while being followed by a masked individual more powerful than them, you can''t just assume that they are there to assassinate you." "Sure, it might look like they are nning on doing it, but they could also just be there for a different reason. What if the masked individual was just one of the Bolts that''s following the Cloud that doesn''t like to be seen by others? We have people like that." "You can''t just kill people because they look suspicious. Sure, if people actually say that they will kill you, that''s something different. At that point, you would have cause and an obvious show of malicious intent towards you, but even then, you can''t just kill them." "Clouds are very valuable to the Lightning Manor, and we can''t just let you guys kill each other wrongfully since every Cloud''s expenses can only be counted in Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Ignoring the fact that you would have killed someone of your own organization, you would still have cost the Lightning Manor several Grade Seven Mana Crystals." Obviously, Shang wasn''t the biggest fan of what he had just heard. "You do realize that if someone is willing to go through with an actual attempt, they would have realized the actual danger of failing, which means they would only go through with it if they were 100% certain of sess." "This means that an actual attempt will never just be an attempt but a sess," Shang exined. "That''s not true," Lucin said with quite some confidence. "You can ask a Bolt to act as your bodyguard, but they would request a part of the resources you want. Killing a Cloud is already difficult, but killing a Bolt is even more difficult since nearly all of them are Peak Mage Lords." "A battle between Peak Mage Lords would immediately attract the attention of some Thunders and maybe even a Mage King, and there is nearly no way to kill a Peak Mage Lord in an instant. You would need a Thunder for that, and nothing a Cloud can offer a Thunder would be worth the risk." Shang still wasn''t a fan of this policy. "So, to summarize, | am not allowed to kill anyone from the Lightning Manor, but if | want to be safe from the people of the Lightning Manor, | need to spend a ridiculous number of resources for a bodyguard." "Is that right?" Lucin sighed. "| know that the system isn''t perfect since it favors a malicious actor in a certain sense, but we can''t have it any other way if we actually want to believe in the good of people." "Sure, we could send a Bolt to supervise all of you all the time, but that would also make a lot of you ufortable since you have secret methods of training that you don''t like to be exposed.¡± ¡°Additionally, every Bolt is very talented, and they have be the strongest Mages out of billions of other Mages. We can''t just force someone like that to work as a bodyguard for thousands of years. Imagine, after everything you have achieved, you have to work for some High Mage and watch them train. That would be horrible." "We also can''t just look into everyone''s mind to see if they want to kill someone else. Ignoring the ethical problems with that, if we were to put this into action, you would have to be part of that. Would you want your mind read?" Shang didn''t answer. "| thought so," Lucin said. "This is why you have to ept the current rules, Shang." Shang still wasn''t a fan. "Okay, then, why not allow us to kill each other?" "Oh, no, no, no, no! You misunderstood," Lucin said quickly. "Although, | didn''t exin anything about your new position yet, which makes it understandable that you would misunderstand." "Shang, it''s not that you are not allowed to kill each other. It''s that you are not allowed to do it sneakily and with the help of others." "You are allowed to kill each other, but that must be done openly and with my permission." "The Lightning Manor allows you to kill each other, but it must know why you are killing each other, and you must ask for its permission." Chapter 710 Chapter 710 Now, things were different. Shang had thought that killing each other waspletely forbidden, but apparently, it wasn''t. ¡°And how does something like that go down?" Shang asked. "Well," Lucin said before transforming into a Lightning Bolt again. "Let''s continue on our way. I''ll exin while we''re traveling.¡± Shang didn''t answer, and the two of them continued shooting into the distance. "So, basically, in order to be as powerful as a Cloud, you need a lot of danger and actual fighting. Forever staying inside your little cave and meditating forever won''t get you this kind of Battle-Strength. If it did, we would have a thousand times more Clouds than currently." "In order to be outstanding, you must live an outstanding life. You must achieve things that others are too scared to do or can''t do, no matter how much they try. One bigponent of that is actual fights to the death." "We know that, and that''s why we have created a perfect environment for just that. You ever heard about this weird story about that guy that wanted to make the most venomous insect?" Lucin asked. "No," Shang answered. "So, there was this guy, and he wanted to make the most venomous insect. One day, he had this genius idea of putting a hundred of the most venomous insects he could find into a pot and making them kill each other until only one was left, believing that the strongest insect would embody the power of all the insects it had killed, making it the most venomous.¡± ¡°Of course, biology doesn''t work like that, and he failed miserably. However, his experiment demonstrated a very real concept." "A peerless genius isn''t necessarily very powerful. The word peerless means that the peerless in question simply doesn''t have any peers." "A peerless genius in a vige might as well be trash when there are a hundred better geniuses in the nearest town. Yet, how did these better geniuses be better? It was because, in order to be peerless, they needed to fight through many more peers than the peerless genius of the vige." ¡°Let''s imagine we have 100 peerless geniuses from 100 viges. If we lock them all into an arena and only allow one of them to leave, what will happen? They will start fighting.¡± ¡°Maybe half of them die, and the other half have gained valuable knowledge regarding fighting life and death battles, making them stronger for the next fight." "Then, another half die, and the remaining 25 might haveprehended something that made them superior to their opponents." "Then, even more died, but the ones that remained would have grown once again during their fight.¡± "In the end, we only have one guy left, but that one guy has learned so much that the past him couldn''t bepared to the current him." "We used 100 peerless geniuses to create one true peerless genius." "That''s how the Contender Department works." ¡°At the moment, there are a bit more than 110 Archmage Clouds in the Contender Department. Obviously, they can''t all be King Contenders. In fact, chances are high that not even one of them will be a King Contender since we burn through them so quickly." ¡°Even more, imagine all of them reaching the Mage Lord Realm. With their talent, they would reach the power of Thunders. eventually, and what then? We only have space for about 70 Thunders, and we got 110 potential Thunders in one generation of Archmages, which spans about a thousand years while Thunders live for over 20,000 years." ¡°Additionally, the quality of these Thunders would almost certainly be lower than our current Thunders since, in order for all of these Clouds to survive, we would have needed to coddle them in safety.¡± "So, in order to maximize the benefit, the Lightning Manor takes this venomous insect approach, but instead of simply ordering you all to kill each other, we are letting you have the choice." ¡°As an Archmage Cloud, you get your one Grade Seven Mana Crystal per century, but if you want more, you gotta join very dangerous missions, tournaments, tests, and simr. Additionally, if two Clouds agree on a life and death duel, the winner gets to keep all the belongings of the loser." ¡°Funnily enough, we don''t need to force you into dangerous situations. Since you are all geniuses, you are all used to risking your lives for amazing rewards." "What we don''t want is someone that kills another Cloud with borrowed strength. One-time Spells from a Mage Lord, an Ancestral Mage assassin, a powerful Ancestral Beast, and so on. If a Cloud is going to die, it will be in one of the tests or while fighting fairly against another Cloud." After listening to all of this, Shang interjected with a question. "And you still get assassinations with all of that?¡± "Sadly, yes," Lucin said with a sigh. "Imagine you have some kind of unresolvable enmity with another Cloud. You want to kill them no matter what, but whenever you challenge them to a duel, they decline. Whenever you join one of the big trials to kill them, they withdraw." "You have this unresolvable hatred, but there''s no way to kill that person officially. That''s when you think about assassination." ¡°Additionally, while everyone here can be considered a peerless genius amongst billions upon billions of people, there are still differences. You have a fivefold Spirit Sense. The others don''t." ¡°How are they going to win against you in a fair duel?" "They are certain that they would be powerful enough if they just had some more resources, and they are certain that they would win the grand tournament. Yet, there is only a single spot for the tournament."All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. "So, they try to assassinate you," Lucin exined. ¡°And what about me?" Shang asked. "In what way?" Lucin asked. "Will | be the target of an assassination?" "In the beginning, no," Lucin said. "Everyone will probably think that you are extremely weak and not worthy of being a Cloud. You will probably very quickly get challenged to a duel." ¡°How you deal with that will be up to you." ¡°Will you ept the duel, unveil your true power, and be a target?" "Will you decline and act like a pushover?" "It all depends on your actions." Chapter 711 Chapter 711 Lucin kept exining a couple of things to Shang regarding the Contender Department as they continued traveling for a couple more minutes. Eventually, Lucin transformed back into a human and stopped in a seemingly random location. Shang had taken note of their journey, and he guessed that the two of them were currently near the northern edge of the Lightning Manor''s territory, which would also be the northern edge of the continent Aterium. It had be quite cold by now, and Shang couldn''t feel a lot of Light Mana in the surroundings. He could see dense clouds butpared to the Lightning Sea, there was not much lightning here. The clouds Shang could see were the typical clouds of winter, grey and ever-present. As for the ground, everything had been covered in a thick sheet of ice and snow. ¡°Alright, we''re here," Lucin said. "Starting from this point, everything here''s reserved for the Clouds. The 100,000 kilometers from here to the edge of Aterium is all for the Clouds. This territory is off-limits for Sparks and Boltlings since the existence of the Clouds is kept secret." "A good number of Bolts know about the Clouds, but they are discouraged from talking about them. Additionally, even the Bolts don''t know exactly what a Cloud is and what is required to be one." "| would also ask you to keep the existence of the Clouds secret, but | don¡¯t think that will be a problem for you. You don''t seem like a very sociable person.¡± Shang didn''t answer. ¡°And that''s about it," Lucin said. "I told you everything you need to know on the way here. If you need anything, just contact me with your new Communication Crystal." Amomentter, Lucin threw over a new Communication Crystal with an image of a lightning bolt on it. Shang remained silent for a second. "That''s it?" he asked. "Yeah," Lucin said. "What more is there to tell?" "What about an SKP?" Shang asked. When Lucin heard that, heughed loudly. "That won''t be necessary. SKPs can make problems for yourprehension, which is why Clouds don''t need to get an SKP." "That sounds reckless," Shangmented. "What if someone escapes to another Empire?" ¡°Won''t happen," Lucin answered with a proud smirk. "We have our ways of making sure that no one is trying to run away without our knowledge." Shang remained silent. "But, hey, as long as you keep to the rules | told you, there won''t be any issues," Lucin said with a wink. Then, Lucin looked like he had just remembered something. "Oh, by the way, your new Communication Crystal also has all the training credits. If you need anything, just go to the shop on the grounds. Remember, you only get your next credits in a century. ¡°As for the location of the shop, I''m sure you''ll find it eventually. You can''t really miss it since it can''t miss you." ¡°Anyway, gotta go! Have fun!" Then, Lucin transformed into a lightning bolt again and shot toward the east. Shang just kept hovering in the sky. Now, he was alone again. After a while, Shang slowly flew toward the north. ¡®First, | need to get familiar with everything. After that, | need to see if there is a way toprehend Void Casting in here,¡¯ Shang thought. Obviously, Shang''s full focus was onprehending Void Casting since he was running out of longevity. With only the Istion Chamber,prehending Void Casting would have been nearly impossible in Shang''s remaining years. Yes, it was extremely effective, but it couldn''t be used constantly. Shang needed an alternative that he could use every day. As Shang kept traveling toward the north, he saw a couple of interesting spots. For example, he saw several Ancestral Beasts that had released their domains, but inparison to normal Ancestral Beasts, these didn''t seem aggressive at all. Shang assumed that these Ancestral Beasts were probably half-domesticated like the Zone Beasts from Area 23. Their job was probably to release their domain and to give some of the weaker people an opportunity toprehend rted Concepts. Shang had also seen around five people already, but they had all been High Mages. These five people were divided into two groups, and they were looking at different Ancestral Beasts. It was a bit strange to see High Mages sitting so close to an Ancestral Beast without fear. It kind of reminded Shang of the Thunder Horse. When Shang saw these five people, he could tell that they were also Clouds, but in the High Mage Realm instead of the Archmage Realm. All five of them had these unique and bright auras to them. It was almost like the world around them was greyed out, and they were the only ones disyed in color. It was a strange sensation, and if one didn''t actively look for these auras, one also wouldn''t take note of it. However, Shang could tell that these High Mages were extremely talented. Lucin had said that there were over 110 Clouds, but he had only talked about the Archmage Clouds.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Obviously, there were far more High Mage Clouds. Shang didn''t know how many High Mage Clouds there were, but he guessed that there were at least 500. As for Ancestral Mage Clouds, there were probably way fewer. Funnily enough, since Ancestral Mages lived for 5,000 years, one would think that there would be more Ancestral Mage Clouds than Archmage Clouds, but that wasn''t the case. Just by looking at these five High Mage Clouds, Shang''s guess had been verified. Their appearances had been young, but that wasn''t reflective of their age. Shang had felt the decay of old ageing from their auras. He was very familiar with this sensation since the decay of old age had also be stronger in his own aura. This was one of the biggest reasons why there were fewer Clouds, the stronger one became. Keeping one''s Battle-Strength. One would be a High Mage Cloud when one managed toprehend at least four level one Concepts while one was a True Mage. If someone managed to do that, they would have almost certainly used up over half of their longevity. Most likely, they would have reached an age of about 150 years. Comprehending four level one Concepts as a True Mage was essentially the same as what Shang had done. After all, Shang hadprehended four True Paths as a Commander Stage warrior. Yet, with Shang''s undying willpower and unending drive towards power that was willing to sacrifice everything, Shang had still only reached the True Path Stage in his 80s. It wouldn''t be strange that others needed more than a century. And then? Then, they needed toprehend four level two Concepts in their remaining years. Four level two Concepts could bepared to four Imposes. Shang had needed nearly 200 years toprehend his four Imposes, and with his added 80 years from before, he had then reached an age of nearly 300. Now, if Shang had started at the age of 150, he would have onlyprehended everything at 350 years. But what about other Mages? Was everyone as hard-working as Shang? No. So, when they started at 150 years of age and then needed more than 200 years... They would easily enter the 400s, and they only had 500 years of longevity in total. Bing a Cloud and staying a Cloud was a race against time. Nearly every single Cloud was quite old for their Realm. Ironically enough, the young people that represented the future big shots of the Lightning Manor could be considered old people by others on their level. People outside the Empires always looked up to the people inside the Empires, especially the powerful Mage Lords and the Mage Kings. In their minds, these people were unearthly geniuses that couldprehend Concepts as naturally as breathing. Yet, these people did not realize how much work and time these geniuses dedicated to their power. While others were outside having fun, these geniuses were studying Magic. The lives of the powerful were often not as easy as the weak assumed them to be. Chapter 712 Chapter 712 As Shang continued flying towards the north, he also saw the first Archmage Clouds. There were currently three of them sitting in a circle and talking animatedly about severalplex runes and Magic Circles they had drawn on the ground. However, before Shang could actually hear what the three of them were talking about, all three of them stopped talking and frowned. "Hey!" one of them shouted in annoyance. "Listening in on other people''s conversation is rude!" Shang was quite surprised when he heard that. He wasn''t specifically trying to remain hidden, but just by sheer habit, Shang had still looked at them in a very covert manner. Yet, all three of them immediately noticed his spying as soon as he actually paid attention. This only happened to Shang when he tried to look at someone more powerful than him. However, these three Archmages were all weaker than him. Shang also couldn''t feel anyplicated Magic Circles around them that could alert someone of foreign Spirit Senses. This meant that the three of them had noticed Shang just by instinct. After Shang heard theirint, he simply looked away again. He wasn''t actually really interested in what they were talking about. He had simply been looking around, and the three of them had just caught his Spirit Sense. The three couldn''t see Shang since he was outside their Spirit Sense¡¯s range, but they could still tell that he had looked away. "Probably a new Ancestral Mage," one of them said to the others. "They always snoop around because they are not used to everyone noticing their Spirit Sense." After that, the three of them resumed talking about whatever they had been talking about before. Acouple of secondster, Shang also saw a huge arena, almost as big as the one in Star City, but inparison to the one in Star City, this one wasn''t nearly as luxurious. The one in Star City had huge walls and an expensive floor, but this one was just basically a huge hole in the ground without any walls whatsoever. Shang wasn''t quite sure if this was where the Clouds practiced against each other or if they also fought to the death here. Nevertheless, the arena was rather barren, and Shang could only tell it was an arena by the couple of Magic Circles around it. Currently, there was no one near or in the arena. After that, Shang saw a single Ancestral Mage sitting in the sky above the clouds. They were just focusing on the cold wind around them. By the looks of things, they were trying toprehend a Concept. Shang could feel that this Ancestral Mage was just as outstanding as everyone else. Then, the Ancestral Mage suddenly opened their eyes and looked at Shang with annoyance. Amomentter, Shang felt a headacheing on, but it wasn''t so bad. Shang guessed that the Ancestral Mage probably got distracted by his Spirit Sense and got annoyed. Shang just looked away, ignored them, and continued flying toward the north. He didn''t see it, but the Ancestral Mage opened their eyes wide in shock. Why didn''t that Cloud react at all?! They had just used a powerful Spell that put pressure on someone''s mind, which would cause quite a bit of pain. The Ancestral Mage had felt that their Spell had worked, but that guy just hadn''t reacted at all. That made no sense! The Ancestral Mage kept looking at Shang for a couple more seconds in interest, but in the end, they looked away again. There were many strange people here. The next thing Shang saw was some kind of gigantic waterfall. It was over ten kilometers tall and over a hundred meters deep. The amount of water falling down from it was absolutely unreal. Shang saw two people meditating in front of it, but he didn''t look close enough for them to notice him, but he also wasn''t sure how strong they were because of that. Shang assumed that this was a spot toprehend the level four Concept of River, which probably meant that the people in front of it were Ancestral Mages. It was a bit surprising that Shang had seen just as many Ancestral Mages as Archmages in the new territory up to now. Acouple of kilometers further, Shang could see a huge hole, nearly ten kilometers wide and endlessly deep. Shang couldn''t even sense the bottom, which meant that it was unfathomably deep. The powers of Gravity and Earth were probably extremely strong down there. Shang couldn''t feel anyone near or in the hole, but it could also be that the people that were there were just too deep in the hole for Shang to feel. Acouple of secondster, Shang saw something that shocked him. He had seen a lot of interesting things in thest couple of seconds, but this one was by far the most shocking. It was a sword! It was a humongous sword! In the distance was a sword that was over 100 kilometers long, and it was stuck in the ground! Shang could feel an absolutely ancient and overpowering auraing from it, but despite its obvious age, it lookedpletely new.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Its shiny metal glittered in the mellow winter light, and the snowkes and icicles carried by the wind danced around it. Shang could feel an insanely brutal amount of aggressive Metal Manae off it. In fact, there was so much Metal Mana coming off it that Shang felt like he couldn''t even get close to it. Somehow, Shang knew that if he decided toe too close to the sword, he would be cut apart by the metal. This shocked Shang deeply. He felt like this sword was just as powerful as the Lightning Sea! This could only mean one thing. This sword had once belonged to a non-Mage of the Ninth Realm! For the first time, Shang was seeing an actual remnant of the past. Something physical that demonstrated the power of the physical fighters from the past! "Stop!" Chapter 713 Chapter 713 Someone shouted at Shang, and Shang felt his Spirit Sense being pushed away from the sword. Shang had no idea how someone could even do that. As soon as Shang felt someone attack his Spirit Sense, he fought against the force and began to gather his Mana. He was already extremely nervous and paranoid due to his new body, and the sudden attack woke his killing instinct. BANG! However, Shang was immediately shoved toward the ground by an irresistible force, and he was stopped from doing anything. "Calm down! | am not attacking you!" someone shouted. "Stop trying to look at the sword, and everything is okay!" Shang''s emotions were going crazy, but he did his best to keep his Spirit Sense from traveling toward the sword again. He knew that he was in apletely new area and that he had to learn the rules first. As soon as he did that, the force on his body let up, and Shang could finally stand up again. Shang''s Spirit Sense grew bigger again, and he saw the person that had attacked him. It was a woman with silver hair that seemed to be in her early thirties. She hovered above Shang and looked at him with annoyance. "Don''t you know that it''s forbidden to epass the Ancient Sword with your Spirit Sense?!" she shouted with frustration. "No, | didn''t know that," Shang said coldly. This took the woman by surprise, and she raised an eyebrow. "You didn''t? Are you new?" she asked. "Yes, | just arrived two minutes ago. Lucin brought me here and just left after exining some things," Shang said. "Oh, okay. That exins things," the woman said with a calmer voice. "Hi, I''m Sceva, and I''m one of the Bolts working under Lucin." ¡®That exins why | couldn''t resist her,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang took a closer look, and just as he had expected, she was a Mage Lord, probably even a Peak Mage Lord. Shang still had to get used to randomlying across Peak Mage Lords. When he had been a member of the Temple of Blood, the only Mage Lord he had seen had been the Territory Lord. The only other Mage Lord for hundreds of thousands of kilometers around had been the three leaders of the Natural Selection Company, but he had never seen those. And now, Shang wasing across them almost everywhere, and to top it all off, most of them were probably more powerful than the Territory Lord. Lucin could probably even kill the Territory Lord with just a mere wave of his hands. "Why is it forbidden to look at the sword?" Shang asked. Sceva raised an eyebrow. "You know, when ady gives you her name, the least you could do is to give her your own." "Shang," Shang answered simply. Silence. Sceva snorted in annoyance. It was no fun to talk to this guy. "Because this is one of the best ces in the world toprehend the level five Concept of Metal, Destruction." "Several powerful Mage Lords and even Mage Lords from the other Empires are sitting in front of the Ancestral Sword, and they are all trying toprehend this Concept. We can''t just allow everyone''s Spirit Sense to epass the sword, or the Mage Lords will never get their peace and quiet." Alevel five Concept. Something a Mage Lord needed to be a Mage King. "Where did this sworde from?" Shang asked. "Why should | tell you?" Sceva said with a snort. "You''re cold, disrespectful, and rude." "Sorry," Shang said coldly. Sceva raised her eyebrows in surprise. Was that an apology? It didn''t really sound like one. She just looked at Shang for a couple of seconds, but Shang didn''t do or say anything else. In the end, Sceva just sighed. "You''re a weird one. Anyway, this is one of the weapons from the Grand Weapon Master. Legend has it that he had been one of the Mage God''s strongest opponents back then. He used 32 weapons, and this is just one of them."All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. ¡®A Weapon Master that uses 32 weapons,¡¯ Shang thought. ''That is definitely not my Path, but the Grand Weapon Master was obviously extremely powerful during his time." "Sure enough, many ways lead to the top.¡¯ ¡°Anyway,¡± Sceva added, "you can look at the sword with your eyes if you want, but you can''t look at it with your Spirit Sense." Shang just stood there. Did he want to look at the sword? Of course! This was an impossibly powerful symbol of the ancient warriors. He could probably learn a lot from it. Yet... Shang just turned to the side and began to fly away. Sceva just looked at Shang with a raised brow. What a weird guy. Acouple of secondster, Shang saw a grand entrance that led into a hill. Surprisingly, there were two Bolts sitting beside the entrance, who were ying some kind ofplex card game that involved runes and Magic Circles. When Shang looked at them, the two of them looked back. "Hey, you here for your trial?" one of them asked. "I''m new," Shang answered. "I don''t know what this ce is." "Oh," the guy said. Then, he gestured towards the entrance. "That''s the Trial of Want. Everyone gets one chance per Realm to enter." ¡°And what''s that about?" Shang asked. "The Trial of Want is essentially a veryplex Magic Circle designed by none other than the Lightning Emperor himself. It tests the people that enter, and depending on your result, you get something amazing that you need." "But, just like with everything here, your survival isn''t guaranteed," the Mage Lord said with a chuckle. Shang just nodded. This sounded quite useful, but it also wasn''t what he needed right now. ¡°Are you two also working for Lucin?" Shang asked. "Yep," the other guy answered while cing another card in front of him. Shang looked at the entrance to the Trial of Want for a while longer before leaving. The two Mage Lords just continued ying cards. Shang still couldn''t get used to casuallying across so many Mage Lords. Chapter 714 Chapter 714 Shang continued to look around his new surroundings, and it didn''t take long for him to see the next Archmage. They were casting several Spells in the wilderness, and the surroundings became increasingly colder the closer one came to that Archmage. Shang avoided looking at them since everyone seemed to notice him when he did so. Shang definitely needed to get used to his new surroundings. He saw a couple more High Mages focusing on someplex diagrams that were written on an ancient wall. Shang also saw a Mage Lord ying some kind of string instrument made of wind and ice that seemed to be part of the sky. The melody it yed created a really strong headache in Shang''s mind, but he could also see a whopping 40 Clouds sitting there with closed eyes and listening to the melody. Surprisingly, most of them smiled contently, while only a couple of them seemed to grimace. Yet, judging by their expressions, the ones that grimaced didn''t think the melody was very painful. Meanwhile, Shang''s hand turned white as he pressed it with nearly all of his power on the side of his head to alleviate the monstrous headache he was feeling. Shang could deal with a lot of pain, but for some reason, this melody created such a strong headache that Shang immediately turned around to get away from the sound as quickly as possible. To Shang, the sound was absolutely horrible. It almost felt just like the operation the Custodian had done on Shang''s soul. Shang didn''t want to hear this melody ever again. He hated it! It made him angry! He wanted to kill whoever made that melody! He despised it! He absolutely hated it! This fucking melody! THIS FUCKING MELODY! IT NEEDED TO DIE! HE WOULD KILL- Shang took a deep breath. Shang had already gotten away from the melody, and he wasn''t hearing it anymore. He slowly breathed in, and he slowly breathed out.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. Shang didn''t need to breathe to survive, but slowly breathing in and out could calm someone''s nerves. He remained like this for several minutes. Eventually, Shangpletely calmed down. ¡®What just happened?¡¯ he thought as he put his hand to his chin in thought. ¡®It''s not like me to feel so much pain and to lose control over my emotions. This was just a bit of music. Why would it have such an intense effect on me?¡¯ For some reason, just thinking about the melody made Shang''s heart race with anxiety and even fear. Shang didn''t know what was up with that strange melody, but he vowed never to go to this ce again. Instead, Shang looked to a different ce. When he had been retreating from the melody just now, Shang had arrived at a new location. There was an extremely dark forest in front of him. The trees were ck. The ground was ck. The air was ck. Everything was ck. The only sign of life were three Mages that were very slowly walking through the forest, their expressions stressed and their eyes closed. The ck forest interested Shang a little, and hended in front of it. Then, he slowly walked towards it, just like the other Mages. Yet, when Shang reached the entrance of the forest, he stopped. His legs were shaking. He couldn''t walk forward anymore. Surprisingly, Shang''s mind was calm, and he looked at the current situation with cold indifference and logic. Yet, his body was showing all the signs of panic and fear. His heart raced. His hands uncontrobly shook. His legs wouldn''t move. His breathing quickened. ¡®Curious,¡¯ Shang thought as he took note of his panic-filled body. ''I don''t feel any fear, but for some reason, something inside of me refuses to let me advance." ¡®Sure enough, this ce is unlike any | have ever seen. No wonder the Empires have the strongest Mages in the world. With such magical locations, even an idiot could be a Mage Lord.¡¯ Shang stopped trying to enter the ck forest and turned around. As soon as he decided to leave, all the panic and fear in his body vanished. Shang took to the sky and flew for another couple of seconds. He found some more Ancestral Beasts with Mages sitting around them. He found a momentous mountain made of nothing but lightning. He found a pir of fiercely burning fire that was kilometers tall. He found a couple more Mages talking to each other. Eventually, Shang came across a Mage Lord that was seemingly just randomly sitting in the middle of a random clearing. Shang ignored him, but the Mage Lord didn''t ignore him. ¡°Hey, | don¡¯t know you. Are you new?" the Mage Lord asked. Shang stopped flying and turned to the Mage Lord. "I arrived just a couple of minutes ago." "Show me your Communication Crystal," the Mage Lord said. Shang summoned his Communication Crystal. "Yep, everything checks out," the Mage Lord said. "Wee to the Hibye!" "Hibye?" Shang asked. "That''s what we call this ce," the Mage Lord said with a snicker. "It''s because we constantly get new people while old people die. That''s why it''s called hi and bye, Hibye." "I''m Fleros. You can view me as sort of an administrator. If you need any resources, I''m the guy you wanna talk to. In a way, you could also say that I''m a shopkeeper," Fleros said. "Lucin should''ve told you about a shop, right? Or did he forget to mention that again?" "No, he mentioned it," Shang said. "I just assumed that there would be a noticeable building. He said that | can''t miss it." "Yeah, you can''t miss it because | literally know everyone here," Fleros said with a snicker. "I''ve been watching you for a while." "You did?" Shang said with a cold and apathetic voice. "Yep, can''t help it. | got a big Spirit Sense, you know?" Fleros said with a chuckle. "Anyway, you''re a strange one. You know that?" "I''ve been told," Shang said. "You know," Fleros added, "I''ve seen plenty of new people, but I''ve never seen a single one that had such a strong reaction to the Inner Heart Melody and the Outer Heart Forest." Shang could guess what Fleros was talking about. "And what do these two things do?" "The Inner Heart Melody gives strength to your deepest and most repressed desires, giving them the power to fight your greater self." "The Outer Heart Forest does the same, but instead of just awakening your deeply buried feelings, it manifests them as illusory apparitions that attack you." "Those two things are invaluable for clearing someone''s regrets and making them achieve inner peace and tranquility. You should know how incredibly helpful that is forprehending Concepts." "Or, maybe you don''t," Fleros added. "You seem to have about as much peace inside of yourself as Abominations." Chapter 715 Chapter 715 Shang only snorted. "That doesn''t make a lot of sense," Shang said. "Oh? Howe it doesn''t make a lot of sense?" Fleros asked with an interested smile. m not repressing anything deep inside myself," Shang said calmly. "| have my goal, and | am striving to achieve my goal with my entire being. If | suppressed something, | wouldn''t be able to follow through with my ns and training.¡± Fleros raised an eyebrow. "So, you''re saying that you''re not repressing anything and that we don''t know how our own training methods work?" "That seems to be the only exnation," Shang answered evenly. This took Fleros by surprise. "| know myself, and | know that my entire being is united in achieving one single goal. | know that | am not suppressing anything. Therefore, something else must be the reason why the Inner Heart Melody sounds so aggravating in my ears." ¡°Maybe it only works on Mages? Have you tested it on warriors?" ¡°What if the special circumstance of my body interferes with the Inner Heart Melody? My body is constantly at 70% life energy, and | feel anxiety, danger, and nervousness all the time. It wouldn''t surprise me if this Inner Heart Melody didn''t work on me due to that." "Don''t immediately assume that there is something wrong with me as soon as we meet," Shang exined coldly. Fleros'' smile vanished, and it was reced by a bit of confused concern. "Do you honestly not realize it yourself?" "There''s no point in talking about this," Shang answered. "I know myself." "Do you?" Fleros asked with concern. "Yes, | do," Shang answered with a slightly more aggressive voice. Fleros only looked at Shang with pity. Then, he took a deep breath and slowly shook his head. "Don''t ever go into the Outer Heart Forest," Fleros said. "I fear that you will die if you enter." "| wasn''t nning on going," Shang answered. ¡°All this stuff about tranquility and inner peace might be something useful for you Mages, but to me, it''s nothing but a waste of time. Every moment | sit around, doing nothing, is a moment wasted." Fleros wasn''t surprised that Shang was talking about warriors since he had already heard from Lucin that their newest member wasn''t a Mage. "Maybe you''re right,¡± Fleros said, but his voice didn''t sound convinced. "Who knows? You''re different from everyone else. Maybe there really is something else." Naturally, Fleros didn''t believe any of that. Fleros had seen many Clouds, and he knew a lot about people. He couldn''tpletely see through someone''s personality, but he could get a feel for it when he felt someone''s Aura. And when he felt Shang''s Aura, only one word came to mind. Chaos. Everything about him was in chaos. This warrior was like someone that blindly ran in a random direction with all of their power. They had no idea where they should go, but they knew that they had to run with everything they had. Someone like that very likely wasn''t at peace with themselves. Yet, Fleros had decided to take a step back and leave Shang a way out. Fleros knew that he couldn''t possibly change someone like that. Not on his own. Not in a short time.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Not right now. "Is there anything you need or want to ask?" Fleros asked after burying the topic. "| need to know how much | can tell you," Shang said. ¡°Anything you tell me stays with Lucin and me," Fleros said. "Nothing that you tell me will reach any other Cloud or Bolt unless you n on betraying the Lightning Manor, of course. Lucin has already informed me about your Spirit Sense, and he also roughly exined to me how you reached your current level.¡± Shang nodded. "Are there any mandatory events | have to take part in?" "Mandatory? No," Fleros answered, "but every one hundred years, we''re holding a wilderness hunt." "What''s that?" Shang asked. "We''re creating a simted wilderness with plenty of beasts, hidden caves, trials, secrets, and treasures. It''s very dangerous, but you get a shot at gaining incredible rewards. The riskier and more dangerous something is, the better the reward will be. There is even a shot at bing a Mage King''s temporary student." "Temporary?" Shang asked. Shang would have expected that some Mage Kings would have already epted some students, but they didn''t. Even more, the most talented person from the Hibye could only be a temporary student? "Being a temporary student is better than being a permanent student," Fleros said. ¡°How so?" Shang asked. "You see, when you''re a permanent student, your teacher has to make you fit into their everyday life. Mage Kings are very busy, and you might only get a shot at talking to them for maybe two weeks a year or something like that." ¡°But, in our case of being a temporary student, the Mage King stops doing their job for a while and hands it over to a different Mage King for about a century, and in that century, they are fully focused on training you." "That''s why it''s better." Shang nodded. "Makes sense. So, there are no mandatory events, right?¡± "Right." "Good," Shang said. "Then, | need a way toprehend a special form of Void Casting." "Oh? Tell me more," Fleros said with interest. Shang exined what he was trying to achieve, and Fleros listened intently. "Fascinating," he said with interest. "Are you sure this is even possible?" "The Custodian confirmed it," Shang answered, "and he even said that there were multiple ways to achieve what | want." Fleros'' eyes shot open with shock. "The Custodian?!" Shang nodded. "I met him due to my status as a warrior and my Spirit Sense. | presume Lucin didn''t tell you about that detail." Fleros sighed. "No, he didn''t. Wow, the Custodian. That really woke me up." "So, is there a way?" Shang asked. Fleros rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, our normal method of teaching Void Casting doesn''t seem to work for you." Chapter 716 Chapter 716 "Why not?" Shang asked. "You see, we fill a huge hall with a lot of Mana and insert several Concepts. The Mana in the hall moves around in rapid waves, and the movement of the waves makes it easier to look at the primal forces. It''s not that easy to exin to a non-Mage." "Fact is, what you want to achieve is not the standard form of Void Casting. The most effective form of Void Casting is using a unique Mixed Conceptprised of Space, Time, and Gravity Concepts to achieve apressive effect on the Mana around you." "But that is only something that the Empires know. The Void Casting that people outside use is more primitive, where people just force Mana into a small space with their minds. What you are trying to do is more simr to this form of Void Casting, but we only teach the better version, which is the one exclusive to Empires." "That''s why our method wouldn''t work for you. The core principles arepletely different," Fleros exined. Shang frowned. "But there should be some other way to help me achieve what | want, right?" ¡°Of course," Fleros said with a smirk, "and even if there isn''t, with enough money, we will simply make one for you." ¡°Right now, I''m still not entirely sure how you n onprehending your unique form of Void Casting. | would need more information to find a suitable training method. Could you tell me what you have already done and how it has affected your comprehension of Void Casting?" Shang nodded and told Fleros about the training he had done in thest 20 years. When Fleros heard about the Istion Chamber, he asked for confirmation several times. It was very difficult for him toe to terms with what Shang had done to himself. Eventually, he could only ept it, and he continued to listen to Shang. ¡°Okay, | think | know what you are trying to do," Flores said after a deep sigh. "While our Void Casting works with Concepts and the power of our Minds, yours is more of an instinctual action that requires significant altering of your body." ¡°You essentially want to change the sticity and tenacity of your Mana Pathways. You want to absorb arge amount of Mana in an instant, shove it into your Mana Pathways, and then explosively release it." ¡°Naturally, keeping this huge amount of Mana indefinitely would be impossible since that would essentially just signify a minor breakthrough. After all, that''s how Realms work. We just get the ability to retain and use more Mana." ¡°What you want to do is to not increase your Realm but still essentially gain the power of an increased Realm by temporarily increasing your power." "Is that correct so far?" Fleros asked. Shang nodded. Fleros had perfectly described what he wanted to do. In a way, Shang had expected that Fleros, as a powerful Mage Lord, could quickly understand what Shang was trying to do, but it still surprised him a bit. The principle that Shang had created over 20 years had beenpletely understood and simplified in a matter of seconds by Fleros.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. Once more, Shang could feel the difference between a warrior''s and a Mage''s mind. "Good," Fleros said. "Now, let me exin why your stunt with the Istion Chamber doesn''t give constant results.¡± Now, Shang grew interested. He didn''t know the answer to that question yet. ¡°By starving your body of Mana and forcing it to go into extreme Mana withdrawal, you are advancing your body into a certain direction by using up your momentum." This was not something Shang had expected. ¡°As you know, we all need momentum to achieve a breakthrough. | have heard from Lucin that you have used up that umted momentum in the Fourth Realm during every small breakthrough, correct?" Shang nodded. "This took the momentum that you gained byprehending your Imposes away from you, forcing you toprehend something else to reach the Fifth Realm. Of course, I''ve also heard that you hadn''t even tried to break through before that, but that doesn''t change the fact that it would have been impossible regardless." ¡°Anyway, what you are doing right now is the same thing but in a more unofficial or softer form. Instead of using up your momentum during a breakthrough, you are using it up in a moment of absolute crisis for your body." "The same force that has increased the power of your Mana Pathways to support the creation of a Beast Core is now changing your Mana Pathways again, but in a different manner this time." "This time, it is focusing on sticity. Your Mana Pathways can temporarily hold more Mana by simply having the ability to expand more than normal.¡± ¡°However, there is a limit to this expansion. Your Mana Pathways are not in a vacuum but inside your body, and the pressure of your body is also keeping them suppressed. Therefore, they can only expand so much." "The reason why you can''t train like that continuously is that you need to increase the tenacity of your Mana Pathways first." "You could say that sticity increases the volume of your Mana Pathways while tenacity increases the density. By absorbing these Spells from the Ancestral Mages you have been fighting against, you are essentially damaging and tempering your Mana Pathways. You could view it like hammering some steel.¡± ¡°However, when the tenacity increases, the sticity decreases." "But herees the kicker." "When the sticity increases, the tenacity DOESN''T decrease." "Your training is like eating and digesting. First, you need to eat. Then, you can digest. By continuously entering the Istion Chamber, you are essentially eating without digesting.¡± "So, your hunch of giving it more time between sessions was correct." "Now, since we know what your training is doing now, we can find ways to improve it." ¡°Apparently, you have the aspect of training your Mana Pathway''s sticity covered. | don''t think it''s possible to find a better way to increase it other than to get you to the Life Emperor and have him change your body manually." ¡°But there is obviously a lot we can do for the tenacity aspect." Shang had already be extremely interested. "Which are?" Fleros smirked. "I''ve already thought of a few." Chapter 717 Chapter 717 ¡°How many times do | have to tell you?! You can''t just use a retrograde wall rune near a spontaneous fountain rune!" "It works, doesn''t it?" "Yeah, sure, but you have toe up with apletely new diagram every time you want to make a new one if you keep randomly throwing things together!" "So what? Then, I''ll do just that. It''s not like | haven''t been doing that until now!"Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. Two men and a woman were sitting inside a deep and dark cave. A Peak Ancestral Beast looking like a centipede was just a couple of kilometers deeper in the cave, but it didn''t attack them. The cave was filled with thick Darkness Mana, but the three people sitting in the cave weren''t paying the Darkness Mana nor the beast much attention. They were far more focused on criticizing one guy''s Spells. The woman kept looking at one of the men with a raised eyebrow filled with concern and confusion. She had one icy blue eye and one red eye. Her hair and her robes were violet. Judging by her features and the Mana around her, she had a rare Temperature Affinity. Another guy was looking at the same man with a ridiculing smirk. He had white eyes but wore grey robes. His hair was grey, but it had white tips. Judging by his features and the Mana around him, he had a Dual Affinity. Light and Time. Thest guy was looking at the two of them with an annoyed expression. He had ck and blue eyes and hair. Simr to the woman, he wore purple robes but with a different shade. Based on his features and the Mana around him, he had a Dual Affinity for Darkness and Water, which also granted him an Affinity for Poison. All three of these people had Affinities that would shock the world, but in the Hibye, they were just like everyone else. All three of them were Peak Archmages. They had been talking about the purple man''s method for creating Spells for a while, wanting to convince him to follow a standardized pattern, but he kept refusing. Suddenly, all three of them stopped talking and looked with annoyance toward the west. Someone had just looked at them with their Spirit Sense, annoying them. The three of them looked back, but they were a bit confused when they saw the guy that looked at them. He wore torn white robes and had ck hair. Yet, he had no eyes, and even more, his Aura was very confusing. The three of them could feel that the Aura of this person was just as bright as theirs, which meant that he was also an outstanding genius, but at the same time, this guy only had a mind at the level of an Early Archmage. And to top it all off, he also felt a bit dangerous to them. Yet, how could someone like that feel dangerous to them? This guy was three levels below them! "Hey, can you see through his disguise Spell?" the purple man asked, thinking that Shang was hiding his true level. "No," the other two answered. "Quite impressive," the purple man said again. "I''m surprised that someone can fool all three of us." "Hey, do you think he looked at us on purpose to test his disguise Spell?" the woman asked. "Maybe," the white-grey man answered. "Hey, wait a second!" the woman transmitted to Shang before shooting out of the cave. The other two followed her. Shang stopped flying forward and kept hovering in the air. Acouple of secondster, the three of them arrived in front of Shang, looking with interest at him. Crazy, even at such a close distance, they couldn''t feel any sign of Shang having a mind at the Peak Archmage Realm. ¡°How does that Spell work? What kind of Elements does it use?" the purple woman asked Shang with interest. "Which one?" Shang asked evenly. "Duh, your disguise Spell," she answered. "You know, the thing that makes you appear like an Early Archmage. I''m willing to pay quite a bit for it.¡± The other nodded in agreement. A Spell that could fool the three of them was very valuable and could prove to be incredibly effective in the next Wilderness Hunt. During the Wilderness Hunt, people of a higher level were not allowed to attack someone of a lower level unless they were attacked first. If the three of them could look like Late Archmages, dangerous Peak Archmages wouldn''t challenge them, and if a Late Archmage challenged them, they would earn some easy money. It was an amazingly useful Spell. "What makes you think I''m not an Early Archmage?" Shang asked. The purple man snorted in annoyance. "Oh please. We can feel that you pose some danger to us. It''s impossible for an Early Archmage to be that powerful. You would need to have the ability to jump three levels against people with a fourfold Spirit Sense. | don''t think that''s possible. Therefore, you''re using a Spell to hide the power of your mind." Shang remained silent for a couple of seconds, eliciting some raised eyebrows from the three people. "I''m not using a Spell to hide the power of my mind," Shang answered. "I genuinely have a mind at the Early Archmage Realm." The three of them furrowed their brows in disbelieving expressions. "You know, | kind of feel insulted that you think | would fall for that," the purple man said. "I''m not lying," Shang said. "The reason why | feel dangerous to you isn''t rted to my mind. While my mind is at the Early Archmage Realm, my being is at the Peak Fifth Realm." "I''m not a Mage." This took the three of them by surprise. Not a Mage? When was thest time any of them had seen a human that wasn''t a Mage? They looked closer at Shang, and sure enough, now that Shang had said so, they could feel the pressure Shang''s body was putting on the space around him. They hadn''t noticed that earlier since they were used to only looking at someone''s mind. Bodies only became important when it came to beasts. For a bit, they were not certain what they should make of this. Chapter 718 Chapter 718 As soon as the three of them realized that Shang wasn''t a Mage, they started to rapidly talk to each other via voice transmissions. It took several seconds for them to say anything to Shang again. "So, you''re not a Mage, right?" the purple woman asked. Shang only nodded.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. "Then, what are you?" "You can call me a warrior," Shang said. ¡°A warrior?" the purple woman on the side repeated with surprise. "You mean like these strange guys from the Development Areas?" "Simr, yes," Shang said. Then, the woman raised an eyebrow. "Then, what are you doing here?" "I''m part of the Contender Department,¡± Shang answered. "You?" the white and grey man repeated with a disbelieving expression. "You are part of the Contender Department?" "That''s what | just said," Shang answered. Then, the purple man on the side snorted. "Oh yeah? Then, let''s see." Amomentter, he took out a Communication Crystal and pointed it at Shang. Suddenly, a short burst of light appeared, and Shang felt his Communication Crystale out of his Space Ring of its own volition. Obviously, Shang wouldn''t store something made by extremely powerful Mages in his inner world since he didn''t want its existence to be exposed. The Communication Crystal immediately disyed something to Shang. "You have been challenged to a life-and-death duel by Cloud Rowan. Do you ept?" When the three of them saw Shang''s Communication Crystal react like that, their eyes widened in surprise. Clouds could only issue such challenges to other Clouds, which proved that Shang truly was a Cloud. "Do you actually mean that?" Shang asked Rowan, the purple man. Rowan snorted in confidence. "Sure, if you''re down for it." "Why?" Shang asked. ¡°Nothing personal, kid," Rowan said with an arrogant smirk. "It''s just that it seems like | have to clean up the Contender Department today. | get that you warriors are bing stronger and that you guys have quite some momentum, but | think you are overestimating your own powers a little.¡± "Sure, you are probably more powerful than 99% of Mages if you are here, but that''s probably because you are a peerless genius among warriors." "Yet, there still is a difference between a peerless genius amongst warriors and a peerless genius amongst Mages." "Hey," the purple woman beside Rowan shouted. "I''m a peer.¡± "| know what | said," Rowan answered. The woman only snorted. The white and grey man didn''t say anything. "You have a Poison Affinity?¡± Shang asked. "Yep," the man answered, slightly altering the truth. "Sorry, but Poison Affinities are my weakness," Shang said evenly. "Poison acts on the body, and my body is my weapon." Rowan just looked with annoyance and disgust at Shang. He had feared that Shang might decline. Asecondter, the purple woman suddenly took out her own Communication Crystal. Shang''s Communication Crystal transmitted something to him again. "You have been challenged to a life-and-death duel by Cloud Cindy. Do you ept?" "Then, what about me?" Cindy asked with a bright smile. Shang''s mind focused on Cindy for a while. "What Affinity do you have?" Shang asked. "Why are you asking something like that?" Cindy said with a bit of annoyance. "I don''t know what kind of Affinity you have. So, why should | tell you about mine?" ¡°Because it is my decision if | want to ept or not," Shang answered. Silence. Cindy snorted. "Temperature," she said. "Oh, I''ve never seen someone with a Temperature Affinity," Shang said. Then, Shang sighed. "Sorry, but I''m not confident in taking on someone like that." "| get it," Cindy said with a nice smile. Shang nodded once and then focused on thest person, the white and grey man. "What about you? I''m up for a fight since | need some resources, but the other two are not people | want to fight against." Thest man looked at Shang with a rtively emotionless expression. "Light Affinity," he said. ¡°Light Affinity?" Shang asked. "Only a Light Affinity? The two others have such rare Affinities, but you managed to enter the Contender Department with only a Light Affinity?¡± The man looked with a bit of annoyance at Shang. "Entering the Contender Department is not about having a rare Affinity but about how much you can make of your Affinity." The other two remained silent. In a certain way, the white and grey man had the rarest Affinity of them all, a Dual Affinity of Light and Time. Just having a Time Affinity was already incredible, but having a Light Affinity on top of that was just crazy. Yet, nearly no one on their level had any experience with Time Magic, Time Mana, or Time Affinities, making it nearly impossible to feel the Time Mana around the white and grey man. Especially when he did his best to suppress his Time Mana. Shang''s Spirit Sense cycled through them like he was evaluating his options. "Who''s the strongest amongst you three?¡± Shang asked. The three threw a couple of nces at each other. ¡°Well, we all believe that we are the strongest, but we are unwilling to confirm it," Rowan said. "It''s better not to fight amongst friends." ¡°Even you?" Shang asked the white and grey man. "| have my ways,¡± he said emotionlessly. Shang hummed a bit and scratched his chin. ¡°If you are up for it, | think I''m willing to fight you," Shang said to thest person. The other two looked with surprise at Shang. "Alright," the man said emotionlessly as he took out his Communication Crystal. Asecondter, Shang''s Communication Crystal transmitted something to him again. "You have been challenged to a life-and-death duel by Cloud Erel. Do you ept?" Shang focused on his Communication Crystal for a couple of seconds. "What are you waiting for? ept!" Erel said. Shang focused on Erel for a second. Then, he focused on his Communication Crystal again. DING! Suddenly, Erel''s Communication Crystal released some blue light, which meant that the person he had challenged had epted his duel. The other two smiled victoriously and excitedly when they saw that. They were about to make some money! DING! But then, their eyes widened in shock as Cindy''s Communication Crystal also shone in blue light. DING! And then, even Rowan''s Communication Crystal shone blue. For a second, they were extremely confused. How? What? And then, they realized that Shang had only declined their duels verbally earlier. He hadn''t actually declined it officially. They hadn''t thought much of it since such a challenge would default to no after ten minutes of not being answered. Then, all three of them looked at Shang with shock. And as soon as they did, they noticed that Shang''s Aura had changed. He didn''t seem as uncertain and sociable anymore. Instead, he felt like a beast calmly waiting for its prey. "So," Shang said coldly. "Where do we fight?" Chapter 719 Chapter 719 The three of them looked with shock at Shang for quite some time. Earlier, Shang had seemed a bit uncertain. He had acted like a new member of the Hibye that wasn''t sure what he should do. But now, there was no more uncertainty. His Aura was stable and cold, with no anxiety or nervousness. And then, Cindy broke out intoughter. The other two looked at her with a bit of confusion.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g Shang didn''t react. "You''re a funny guy, Shang,¡± Cindy said. She had heard of Shang''s name when the Communication Crystal had told her that her duel had been epted. "You acted all nervous in order to bait us into fighting you." Cindy snorted. "But that doesn''t change anything. Power is power, and we are Mages while you are a warrior." "What''s the point of epting all our duels when you are going to die to Erel anyway?" The two others calmed down as well and looked at Shang with a mix of pity and disdain. "Where do we fight?" Shang asked again. "We have to wait for Lucin," Rowan said with a calm tone. "He has to officiate everything.¡± Shang only nodded. Then, everyone waited. The three of them were talking like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, while Shang only waited in silence. Acouple of minutester, Lucin finally appeared. He transformed from a lightning bolt into his human form again and stopped beside everyone. Then, he took out his Communication Crystal. "Alright, we have three life-and-death duels. It''s you three versus him, right?" he asked calmly. Everyone nodded. Lucin also nodded and started to give everyone a run-down on how things were going to y out. Since Shang had epted the duel with Erel first, he would be his first opponent, and the duel would take ce in five days in the big arena near the south of the Hibye. The other two duels would be held after Shang had recovered from his earlier duel, assuming he managed to win. Shang told them that it would, at most, take a couple of hours for him to recover. Because of that, all three duels were scheduled for the same day, with thetter two having a fluid schedule. ¡°Alright, then, please hand over your Space Rings," Lucin said. Everyone did just that. The policy to hand over the Space Rings immediately existed to make sure that the winner would truly get all the wealth from their opponent. "Dere your assets,¡± Lucin said. The three Mages named several buildings in several big cities and severalpanies. These Clouds received a lot of money, and to get even more money, they invested a lot of it. Like that, they would gain even more resources over the long run. Shang had nothing to dere. He named Icy Bastion, but he also said that it wasn''t his anymore. Nevertheless, Shang tried to be as honest as possible. ¡°Alright, if we find out that you own something you haven''t dered within the next five days, you will be executed before that moment. So, if you still haven''t dered something, now''s your chance," Lucin said calmly. No one said anything. ¡°And that''s everything," Lucin said before activating his Communication Crystal again. After a couple of seconds, several Mage Lords appeared behind Lucin. ¡°As policy demands, each of you will be watched and followed by three Mage Lords to make sure that nothing happens before the duels start," Lucin said. Then, the twelve Mage Lords got split between the fourbatants. "See you in five days," Lucin said with a nod before leaving. Shang focused on the three Mage Lords standing behind him for a while. ¡°Enjoy yourst days," Erel said with a cold voice. "Go get your affairs in order. | don''t enjoy killing, but that''s something | have to live with if | want to be powerful. You can''t reach supreme power without some sacrifice.¡± Shang didn''t say anything and flew away. Erel only coldly harumphed and also left. After Shang left, he felt that the three Mage Lords that were supposed to watch him had vanished. Of course, Shang was quite certain that the three of them were still watching him closely. They probably just kept themselves hidden so as not to distract Shang. Three Mage Lords. It would be nearly impossible to pull anything with such a powerful escort. None of Shang''s three opponents would be able to contact anyone else to transfer their wealth or to ask an assassin to take care of Shang. Even more, an eventual assassin would need to get past three Peak Mage Lords from the Lightning Manor. For the next five days, Shang would be the safest he had ever been. Sadly, due to Shang''s body, he still felt like the Mage Lords were about to kill him, but he had grown used to it over thest 20 years. Yes, when the three of them had said that Shang was an Early Archmage, they were somewhat right. Shang had already been in the Hibye for 20 years. For thest 20 years, Shang had strengthened his Mana Pathways with the method Fleros hade up with. However, that method was very expensive, and the Grade Seven Mana Crystal Shang had received when he arrived in the Hibye had only been enough for 20 years of training. That was why Shang hade out today. He needed money. Shang had thought about joining the Wilderness Hunt, but that one would only take ce in ten more years, and Shang refused to waste a full decade of his training. Shang needed money now, and on top of that, he needed to take as much advantage of this opportunity as possible. As soon as Shang showed his power, his life would be much more dangerous, and it would also be much harder to get money by fighting others. After all, they were free to decline the duel. Shang was quite certain that nearly no one would ept a duel with him after he fought the first three. Acouple of seconds after leaving, Shang reached a small cave. He sat down in the middle and just closed his eyes. He would remain like this for the next five days. The watching Mage Lords thought that Shang was mentally preparing himself for the duels, but that wasn''tpletely true. At the moment, Shang was inside his inner world, and he was summoning one powerful Mage after the other with the Affinity Wheel. Shang wasn''t mentally preparing himself, but physically. Chapter 720 Chapter 720 "Man, I''m so excited about the matches today.¡± "What''s there to be excited about? This warrior will get destroyed in less than a minute." "Yeah, | know, but | still want to know how he fights. | mean, he got epted into the Contender Department, right? This means that he has a fourfold Spirit Sense like everyone else. Even if he is a warrior, there must be something special about him, right?" "Sure, but he''s still a warrior. He''s probably extremely powerfulpared to normal Mages, but we are not normal Mages, are we?" "Who knows? Maybe he will hold out for a couple of seconds. | want to see what a warrior can do." ¡°What are you two talking about? You honestly think we will get to see the warrior''s power? Pfft, as if! | think he will explode before he can even show his power. Did you guys forget who his opponent is?¡± "It''s Erel, right? Do you know what Erel can actually do? I''ve never seen him fight, but I''ve heard he has a Dual Affinity of Time and Light."Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. ¡°Nope, no idea. No one ever saw him fight. He is getting all his resources from all the smaller trials, and due to his Affinity, no one has challenged him to a duel yet. Also, | heard that he isn''t the biggest fan of killing, which is why he never challenged anyone." ¡°Huh, but then why did he challenge the warrior?" ¡°Wouldn''t you? | mean, | feel kind of insulted that a warrior is in the Hibye. | have like three friends that are nearly as powerful as me, but they still weren''t epted into the Hibye. Yet, some random warrior got epted?" ¡°Also, maybe Erel just thinks that this warrior represents some easy resources. Wouldn''t you?" "Sure, but it still feels weird. | mean, is Erel truly as powerful as everyone thinks? No one ever saw him fight, after all." "No idea, could be, couldn''t be." Several members of the Hibye were slowly arriving at the central arena. Whenever there was a life-and-death duel, everyone would be informed, and they were allowed to watch. This had several reasons. First of all, by making this a public event, no one could use the Lightning Manor of choosing their favorites and having them win the duel. Second, this was a learning opportunity for everyone. Third, it would remind everyone that the path to power was dangerous and that they could die any day. Andstly, it was to dissuade people from challenging others. Sure, the Lightning Manor offered these life-and-death duels for everyone, but they still didn''t want the students to die to each other as much. The trials were less dangerous and more efficient in increasing someone''s power. By making this a public event, everyone would see what powers the winner had, allowing people to create counters for these powers. Additionally, people that were at a disadvantage against that winner would get an opportunity to see these powers and avoid falling victim to them. The duels would start in ten minutes, but there were already over 400 Clouds here. There were around 50 Ancestral Mages, 90 Archmages, and nearly 300 High Mages. Usually, duels only had around 50 people watching, and these people would be of thebatants¡¯ levels. But due to Shang, far more people were interested. They wanted to see what a powerful warrior could do, but even more, they wanted to see a Mage dominate and destroy that warrior. Mages were the most powerful, and since everyone here was a Mage, they wanted to see their own kind win. Sure, the other Paths are not worthless, but they couldn''t bepared to actual Mages that actually knew what they were doing. Over 99% of Mages were aimlessly creating and copying shit without knowing what the hell they were doing, at least, ording to the Clouds. And, in a way, they were right. Compared to the Clouds, every other Mage truly didn''t know what they were doing. In their minds, even a pig couldprehend a level one Concept before bing a High Mage. There was nothing special aboutprehending only one Concept before a breakthrough, while two Concepts were the bare minimum to be considered human. Only three Concepts were good in their mind, but only people thatprehended four Concepts before bing a High Mage were truly amazing Mages. This was the level of the Hibye. Back then, Jerald hadprehended two level one Concepts before bing a High Mage, and he hadprehended two level two Concepts as a High Mage. Maybe, with a lot of luck, he could haveprehended a third one, but that would still have been difficult. And with these aplishments, Jerald had been the most powerful normal Mage in Area 23, and he would have been a bit above average outside. Agon, King Skythunder, was more talented. He hadprehended two level one Concepts before bing a High Mage, nearly three Concepts before bing an Archmage, and during his stay as an Assistant Supervisor, he had gotten enough resources to push to three Concepts. With three level three Concepts as an Archmage, Agon had a good shot at bing a Boltling, someone that would be cultivated into a future Bolt. Someone that was powerful enough for an Empire to invest in them was someone truly outstanding. Agon would be someone on the same level as that Dawn Seedling Shang had met near the Eternal Maw. Agon could order Sparks around, who were powerful Peak Ancestral Mages. This was what it meant to be chosen. This was what it meant to be a future Mage Lord. Mage Lords were the most powerful and illustrious people outside the headquarters of any Empire. No one ever saw any Mage Kings or any of the Mage Emperors. Nearly every single human died before ever having seen one. Even over half the Mage Lords would never see a Mage King. Mage Kings were legends! This meant that Mage Lords were essentially the rulers of the world. Mage Lords represented the peak of power since Mage Kings basically didn''t really actually exist in the real world. And Agon had worked so long and so hard for his position as Boltling. And then, there was the Contender Department. And the Clouds thought that the Boltlings were okay. Some of them were not bad. Some of them were even good. But that was about it. It wasn''t really anything special or impressive. It was just a bit better than average. The Clouds were so powerful that they transcended the powers of the normal world. People with a fourfold Spirit Sense were legends. They were myths. No one knew if they even existed. This was not a level that anyone could realistically reach. Each Cloud represented the most talented person that had been born in thest 500 years for an area nearly 100,000 kilometers wide. Every Cloud was a once-in-a-trillion genius. If this were Earth, one Cloud represented the most outstanding person that had lived in thest 2,000 or so years on the entire net. One Cloud represented the most powerful person in Earth''s history. This was the Contender Department. And today, Shang would fight his first Cloud. Chapter 721 Chapter 721 Most of the Clouds living in the Hibye were standing or floating near the central arena. They all wanted to see this warrior getting stomped out like a bug. Eventually, it was time for the duel. Everyone waited with interested expressions as Lucin entered the arena. "Today, we will be holding one to three duels, depending on the oue," Lucin said. "Our first and maybe only duel will be between Cloud Erel and Cloud Shang." "Shang, huh?" some of the onlookers muttered under their breath. So, that was the name of the warrior. Of course, no one had ever heard of Shang. "Combatants, enter the arena," Lucinmanded. Asecondter, Erel entered. He wore white and grey robes, his eyes and hair sharing a simr color scheme. In any other ce, Erel''s appearance would make him look like a once-in-a-century genius, and everyone would be able to tell that he was outstanding. But here, he was just like anyone else. Everyone was outstanding. Erel stepped into the several-kilometer-wide arena and waited on one end. Duels would start with bothbatants on opposite sides of the arena. And then, it was Shang''s time to enter the arena. Everyone looked over at Shang with interest. Shang was still using his Shroud to keep himself invisible from Spirit Senses due to habit, but Shroud didn''t work on even a single one of the Clouds. Even several of the High Mage Clouds could see through it. Shang''s Shroud had been incredibly effective in the outside world, but here, it was useless. The perception of all of these Clouds was just too insane. However, the Clouds were still intrigued by Shang. First of all, he didn''t have eyes, which was very unusual. Sure, there had been one guy that had also spent some time without eyes, but that had been only temporary toprehend a Concept. If that person had entered battle, he would have regrown his eyes immediately. But this warrior was entering a battle without eyes. Why? What was the point? There was literally no reason to do that. Was he so arrogant that he believed he didn''t need his eyes to win? But hisck of eyes was not the only thing that intrigued everyone. The other thing was his Aura. Sure, everyone had very unique, colorful, and bright Auras here, but this warrior''s Aura was bright in a very unusual way. There were plenty of outstanding Auras that cast a certain light on some people. Some people had this charismatic and confident Aura that made them seem like born leaders. Some people had this innate feeling of control around them, almost like they knew what everyone around them would do before even they knew what they would do. Some people had this dark and domineering Aura that made them seem like an ancient evil that had been asleep for thousands of years just to return and wreak havoc on the world. Some people had this heroic Aura of an extremely powerful hero chosen by the Mage God himself. There were so many Auras, and all of them were outstanding and unique. But Shang''s Aura was different. The intensity of Shang''s Aura was just as strong as everyone else''s, but in contrast, it was like Shang''s Aura was empty. Shang''s Aura was a very intense emptiness. His Aura almost made it seem like the world around him was losing color and bing grey. It was like he was a corrupting influence on his surroundings. All of this was just a mental image created by closely examining Shang''s Aura. Obviously, his Aura didn''t change the world around him or anything like that. It was simply how his Aura portrayed him to be. All in all, the Clouds felt like Shang''s Aura wasn''t human. There was no charisma, hate, anger, friendliness, respect, disrespect, happiness, sadness, love, or anything human in his Aura. There was just nothing. It was like Shang had no capacity to feel emotions or make any coherent thoughts. It was like he was just following his instincts like a mortal worm in the ground. He didn''t know what he was doing or why he was doing it. He was just doing it. Aimless, thoughtless, brainless, goalless, emotionless. This was how Shang appeared to everyone around him. The Mages weren''t quite certain what they should think of him, but most of them still ended up looking down on him. How did such a simple and aimless idiot enter the Hibye? What happened to the Lightning Manor? This used to be a good ce for only the strongest of Mages. Lucin looked at Shang and Erel. "Are both of you ready?" SHING! Erel summoned his Focus, which was taller than him and extremely ostentatious. This Focus was probably incredibly expensive and powerful! "Ready," Erel said emotionlessly. SHING! SHING! Then, two things appeared in Shang''s hands. In Shang''s right hand was a huge and curved sword, his Addum. In Shang''s left hand was a long and thin metal bar, his Subsis. The Mages looked with interest at Shang''s weapons. They could feel that Shang''s weapons were harder and more durable than Early Ancestral Beasts. For the first time, the Mages were impressed by a warrior, but not due to his power. It was just very strange and unreal to see someone on their level lift something that insanely heavy. They couldn''t even attempt to lift something like that with their mind or body. It was just too brutally heavy. But here, a warrior stood calmly in the middle of the arena while carrying two of these things. Powerful or not, Shang''s physical strength was very impressive to the Mages. "Ready," Shang said. Lucin nodded. "Then, Three..." Erel''s Focus began to spin rapidly. "Two..." Shang didn''t move. "One..." Erel''s Focus sped up even more and began to shine in a bright light. At the same time, Erel''s left hand moved through the air in front of him. The world in front of him seemed to change. Waves spread out from him. The wind slowed down and stopped at several ces as time seemed to stop. The snowkes started to hover in the air without moving. The world was stopping. An irresistible feeling of age and destiny seemed to fill the arena. It was like the end of times had approached. Existence was about to cease to matter. Eternity in an instant. And as Erel''s Focus began to brighten, it seemed like the true end had approached. An eternity in light. Everything is everywhere at the same time. Perception stopped being relevant as there was no change to perceive. Everything was everywhere. "Gol" An impossibly bright light epassed the arena. All sight was taken from the onlookers along with their Spirit Sense. Everything was filled out with light, and their Spirit Senses stopped expanding. They were blind.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. It was impossible to perceive one''s surroundings. And then, all the Light was pulled into one tiny spot, so fast that only the Ancestral Mages could perceive it while it was happening. BOOOOOOOOOOOOM! The barrier around the arena shook with incredible force. Lucin took a deep breath in shock. The Clouds were confused. The warrior stood where Erel had once stood, covered in blood. But where was Erel? Was this one of Erel''s Spells? Was he using Light to be invisible? "Winner: Cloud Shang," Lucin said with a quiet voice. Chapter 722 Chapter 722 Silence. The onlookers still couldn''tprehend what they had just heard. Did Lucin just dere the warrior the winner? But how?! Just like any other Mage, Erel had had his Mana Shield active. It was impossible to break through a Mana Shield that quickly! The blood covering Shang slowly started to turn into ck dust before itpletely vanished. It wasn''t his own blood. Lucin had to take another deep breath as he thought back to what he had seen just now. As a Thunder, Lucin was powerful enough to easily perceive everything that had happened in slow motion. He knew exactly what had happened, and the sheer potential that Shang had just shown deeply shocked him. The fact that Shang had won so fast was mostly due to a devastating error made by Erel. Erel had used his first two casts to create two Domains. One Domain would slow down the time of everything in the arena, while the other Spell would distort everyone''s senses. This would make his opponent slower while also blinding them. If Erel had managed to hide within his Domain, this would have be a difficult battle for Shang. But exactly that was the problem. Erel had been greedy. He had set up both Domains without readying a Mana Step. If he had managed to get everything ready, he would have been terrifyingly powerful. But he didn''t. In terms of mortal fighting, this would be like Erel readying a flying back kick while Shang elbowed the back of Erel''s head before he could finish it. Was Erel powerful enough to put up an actual fight against Shang?All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Of course! But he had made one fatal mistake. He had taken Shang lightly. Due to being underestimated, Shang had essentially received one free shot. And that was everything he needed. So, what had happened exactly? As soon as Lucin had given the start signal, Erel''s two Domains were stretching across the arena. Meanwhile, Shang''s stance had lowered. Then, his body was surrounded by fire and ice, the temperature of his body fluctuating crazily. At the same time, the atmosphere around him solidified, and Shang''s feet pressed against the solid atmosphere. Simultaneously, Shang''s body withered as a streak of darkness appeared in front of him. And then, everything started. Shang jumped forward. The fire and ice around him exploded out. The streak of darkness transported Shang forward at the speed of a Mana Step. Everything around Shang exploded, and Space seemed to tear as Shang passed through it. The ck streak had essentially moved Shang''s starting point to the middle of the arena, which meant that Shang had essentially started to explode forward while being halfway to his target already. And as Shang exploded forward with iparable speeds, he lifted his Subsis. The Light Mana around the Subsis started to stop and be passive. This was the power of the Concept of Subtraction. It destroyed the will on the Light Mana around it, transforming it into something neutral. Of course, Shang''s body also became weaker the more Light Mana he turned neutral. After traveling for over a kilometer, Shang''s Subsis had destroyed enough of the Light Mana''s will to ruin the Domain. From a Domain that had been controlled by Erel, it had transformed into a dense and neutral mass of Light Mana. And when that happened, Shang''s Subsis did something else. Ever since Shang had taken part in the God''s trial for the Fusion Realm, Shang had already nned out how his two swords would work. From the very beginning, Shang had created the Addum for the purpose of fighting with two swords. The Addum wasn''t supposed to be used on its own. It needed the second sword to show its true power. And today, the true power of the Path Shang had created was unleashed. After destroying all the will, Shang''s Subsis used the Concept of Subtraction to absorb all the Light Mana in the surroundings. The Domain Erel had created had been absorbed by Shang''s Subsis. And then, all the power flowed into Shang''s body. Shang''s Mana Pathways expanded crazily, and they nearly broke under immense stress. There had been so much Mana shoved into Shang''s body that it was ridiculous! All the foreign Mana flowed through Shang''s body, and as it did so, Shang''s Concept of Addition transformed its properties. From extreme brightness, it was transformed into extreme mass. Shang was already swinging his Addum forward, and during that powerful swing, Shang used his Concept of Addition to push all the extreme mass Light Mana into his Addum. Shang also pushed all of his own Mana into it to strengthen it even further. Due to the overwhelming speed of Shang''s body, the Addum''s swing had already been filled with extreme power, but with the addition of so much Light Mana that increased its weight severalfold, the swing had reached a level of power that couldn''t be compared to anything in the Fifth Realm. Shang''s Addum had hit Erel''s Mana Shield. Erel''s Mana Shield broke like a thin pane of ss. The Addum cut through Erel''s body like it was air. Shang''s body continued speeding forward. Shang''s body hit Erel''s body. Shang was thousands of times heavier and harder than Erel. It was like a human from Earth being hit by a train going several times the speed of sound. Erel essentially stopped existing, only leaving behind some gore and blood. The explosive sound everyone had heard had been the power and momentum of Shang''s Addum traveling forward and hitting the edge of the arena. It was like half of the arena had crashed into itself. Shang''s fighting style for the Fusion Realm had finally beenpleted. The Concept of Subtraction would destroy the enemy''s Spell, turning it into a neutral resource that could be used by anyone. Then, Shang would use that resource by absorbing it with the Concept of Subtraction via the Subsis. Shang had designed his Subsis to siphon power out of the world and his opponent. Even though Shang hadn''t even nearlypletedprehending Void Casting, he could still use a bit of it already. By temporarily absorbing all the power gathered by his Subsis, Shang could transform the properties of the absorbed Mana. He could transform it into something that could increase the power of his own attack. And then, that absorbed power was added to the Addum with the Concept of Addition to unleash a terrifyingly powerful attack that vastly outssed what Shang could unleash with his own power. The Subsis was extremely fast, agile, and could steal power. The Addum was slow, heavy, and could unleash terrifying power. All of this gave Shang enough power to destroy his opponent in one strike. Chapter 723 Chapter 723 The people in the arena couldn''t believe what had happened. Only after a couple of seconds did it register that Lucin had dered Shang as the victor. He had won?! He had killed Erel?! "What happened?!" one of the Archmages shouted. "Yeah, what happened?!" another one echoed. "He shot forward, destroyed the Light Mana Domain, absorbed the Light Mana, and killed his opponent with one strike," an Ancestral Mage Cloud said. While the High mage and Archmage Clouds couldn''t see what had happened, the same thing wasn''t true for the Ancestral Mage Clouds. They were extremely talented and also an entire Realm above Shang. They had still been able to perceive most of the things that had happened inside the arena. The weaker Clouds looked at the Ancestral Mage Cloud with shock. How?! ¡°How did he destroy the light Mana Domain?" one of them asked. ¡°Not sure," the same Ancestral Mage answered. "It was the Concept of Subtraction," a different Ancestral Mage said. "Concept of Subtraction? I''ve not heard of that Concept," one of the Archmages said. "It''s an unusual one. It works on the basis of absorbing energy in all forms. It''s made of Ice and Darkness Affinities and is a Complex Concept. It can absorb energy or weaken it. In this case, he used the Concept of Subtraction to get rid of the will on the Domain by using up his own Mana," the Ancestral Mage exined. Shang wasn''t surprised to hear that someone knew the Concept of Subtraction. The Concept of Subtraction might be aplete unknown outside, but here, there were only insanely talented people. However, there was one thing that told Shang a lot, and he even grew a slight bit excited when he heard it. The Ancestral Mage had called the Concept of Subtraction a Complex Concept. That wasn''t true. Entropy was one Affinity, and the Concept of Subtraction was part of the Entropy Affinity and nothing else. This meant that the Concept of Subtraction was a Pure Concept, not a Complex Concept. And since the Ancestral Mage had called the Concept of Subtraction a Complex Concept, it meant that nobody knew about the Entropy Affinity. Now, one had to differentiate between two things. The people knew about the Child of Cmity but the people didn''t know about the specifics of the Child of Cmity¡¯s Affinity. This was extremely important to know! ¡®It''s understandable,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Maybe not even the Emperors know how the Child of Cmity works exactly.¡¯ ¡®Lucius was the Child of Cmity, but he kept everything about his Affinity a secret. After that, the Emperors immediately found each Child of Cmity and stopped them from bing more powerful.¡¯ ¡®This meant that every single Child of Cmity in history, except for Lucius, never even reached the Adept Realm.¡¯ ¡®Because of that, they couldn''t be sure what powers the Entropy Affinity has. In their minds, the Child of Cmity is simr to an Abomination, but the Abominations only show their powers in their pure forms, which is Entropy itself. They are not showing fire, light, ice, or darkness." "Sure, they might know that the Child of Cmity''s Affinity is made of these four Affinities, but that doesn''t tell them which Concepts would be considered Pure for that Affinity. After all, they had never seen anyoneprehend them."All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. This was important! ¡®That means that | don''t even need to keep the Concepts | n toprehend a secret. To them,prehending Temperature and Twilight afterprehending Addition and Subtraction would seem normal, although maybe a bit inefficient.¡¯ ¡®How interesting. This also means that someone else canprehend the Pure Concepts of the Entropy Affinity. Sure, it would be very difficult toprehend since they don''t share the Affinity, but it is possible.¡¯ ¡®Although, ording to the God, the first four Concepts all lead into one single level five Concept, which is something that only Peak Mage Lords canprehend, and these Peak Mage Lords are probably busy withprehending something else.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, they wouldn''t even know that it is possible tobine these four Concepts into a level five Concept.¡¯ ¡®That means everyone knows all theponents needed to understand the Entropy Affinity, but none of them realize that they are theponents." Today, Shang learned something very important. The Child of Cmity was known, but the Child of Cmity''s Path and its goal were a secret. The Ancestral Mage exined in more detail how Shang had won the battle, and when everyone finally understood what had happened, they realized that a bigponent of Shang''s victory was luck. Which was true. If Erel had only released one Domain and readied a defensive Spell, he would have vanished from Shang''s Spirit Sense, completely obscuring him. Shang had only managed to hit Erel since he had remembered where Erel had been when the Domain had appeared. In fact, for once, Shang believed that he had been lucky. Someone that could obscure Shang''s senses would be one of the hardest opponents for him to defeat. After all,pared to a normal Mage, Shang couldn''t releaserge-scale destructive Spells that destroyed huge areas, revealing the enemy. Shang had to get close and strike his opponent precisely. Erel had most likely been the most difficult opponent for Shang to defeat, but due to his recklessness, Erel had ended up being the easiest opponent. But the same thing wouldn''t happen again. Shang''s Spirit Sense focused on his next opponent, the woman wearing purple robes, Cindy. She had a Temperature Affinity. However,pared to Erel, Cindy didn''t have as much potential to win against Shang in his mind. Erel had been Shang''s counter, but Shang was Cindy''s counter. Rowan, with his Darkness Water Dual Affinity, would be in the middle for Shang. Shang would neither be at a disadvantage nor at an advantage. Cindy looked back at Shang. By now, her expression had changed. Earlier, she had still taken Shang easy, just like Erel, but now, she had realized that Shang was actually truly dangerous. However, none of these people were greenhouse flowers that had never seen the outside world. All of them had gone through tons and tons of life-and-death battles, and they wouldn''t crack under pressure. To her, this was a deadly and difficult fight, but it wouldn''t be her first deadly and difficult fight. Shang was a powerful opponent, but she was used to battling someone like that. "Shang, how long do you need to recover?" Lucin asked. Shang''s body had been injured by the power coursing through it, and he had also used up quite a bit of life energy and Mana to release so much power. Even more, while his body would recover just as fast as always, due to his new body, his life energy would take multiple times longer to recover. "Give me ten minutes," Shang said. Lucin nodded. "The next duel will happen in ten minutes," he announced to everyone. Chapter 724 Chapter 724 Everyone talked with each other while waiting for the next duel to begin. They had alle here to see the warrior get stomped out like a bug, but instead, the Mage had been stomped out. However, the people also knew that quite a bit of luck was involved in the battle. If Erel had taken the situation more seriously, he would have most likely won. But that was the crucial word of the sentence. Likely. The public sentiment had shifted from certain victory to likely victory. Sure, there had been a lot of luck, but the warrior had still moved at incredible speeds, and he even managed to destroy a Mana Shield with a single attack. These feats were very impressive, with or without luck. Very few of the present people were conceited people that couldn''t ept that they had been wrong after having been given proof. However, Shang''s power made the following duel even more interesting to them. They wanted to see what would happen. ¡°Ten minutes are up,¡± Lucin said. "Cloud Cindy, please enter the arena." Cindy narrowed her eyes and floated into the arena. Her mind was stalwart and focused. She would treat this like a genuine life-and-death battle. Cindy summoned her Focus, which was just as impressive as Erel''s Focus. Shang still carried his Addum and Subsis. Lucin looked at the twobatants and saw that they were ready. "Three..." Cindy''s Focus began to catch fire. "Two..." Cindy''s body began to be covered in frost, and white mist came out of her. "One..."Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g The white misting off Cindy''s body floated down, curved to the side, and floated up towards her Focus. At the same time, the mesing from her Focus rose higher, curved to the side, and touched Cindy''s hair. "Gol" WHOOOOOM! Wind. Impossibly powerful wind! The entire arena fell into a chaotic storm as the extremely cold and extremely hot air interacted with each other. All the Ice and Fire Manaing from Cindy transformed into pure Wind Mana, and even more, the amount of Wind Mana was several times higher than what Cindy had used. Cindy had created something that transformed all the Mana in her surroundings into Wind Mana, including her own Mana. In a way, this could be considered as pseudo-Void Casting. She was making use of all the Mana in her surroundings, but instead of absorbing it and using it for a Spell, she was using a Spell to manipte the Mana in the surroundings. Just this ability alone was already more than impressive. Cindy had created a way to use Void Casting without needing toprehend Void Casting. Only a true genius coulde up with something like that. When Shang realized that Cindy had transformed her fire and Ice Mana into Wind Mana, he realized that the fight wouldn''t be as easy. Shang could destroy the will of a Spell with his Subsis, but Shang could only truly make use of Mana that was either Neutral, Fire, Ice, Light, or Darkness. Wind was not part of Shang''s Affinities, which meant that absorbing Wind Mana would barely do anything. The effect would be so weak that it would barely matter. Of course, that was only true for now. Shang estimated that he would be able to absorb all kinds of Mana as soon as he truly comprehended his own form of Void Casting. But he didn''t have that yet, which made things troublesome. An impossibly powerful wall of wind hit Shang. BOOOM! Shang solidified his surroundings and used Comet, but the sheer power of the wind slowed him by over 90%! 90%! Shang was still moving as fast as a Peak Archbeast, butpared to his usual speed, this was nothing. A ck streak appeared in front of Shang, and an instantter, he teleported forward with Ghost Step. The wind couldn''t stop Shang''s Ghost Step. Then, Shang used a second Ghost Step to arrive directly in front of Cindy. SHING! But Cindy used Mana Step and arrived on the other side of the arena. In an instant, Shang turned around and used the direction of the wind to shoot toward Cindy. This time, he was far faster than usual since the wind was also pushing him forward. However, a genius like Cindy wouldn''t overlook such an obvious thing. She had already prepared her next Spells. WHOOOOM! An orange wall appeared in front of her. If a normal person looked at this wall, they would think that this was a space filled with peaceful and warm air. However, that wasn''t the case. This orange wall actually didn''t exist. It was just an image one would perceive since they wouldn''t be perceptive enough to see the wall''s true appearance. Actually, there was not one wall, but hundreds of them stacked side by side. Extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme heat, extreme cold, extreme heat... The amount of Mana inside these walls wasn''t very high, but due to how they were ced, the destructive effect was actually brutally strong. Shang could control the temperature of his body with incredible uracy and speed, but even he wouldn''t be able to adapt his temperature this quickly. If this wall hit Shang, he would turn to dust. And then, the wall shot towards Shang like the wind didn''t exist. The wall was so wide that Shang couldn''t even attempt to side-step it in a normal way. SHING! Shang was forced to use Ghost Step to evade to the side. An instantter, Cindy''s Focus began to burn brightly, but all the fire seemed to be swept away by the wind. At that moment, Shang felt an incredibly powerful feeling of danger. Shang could feel how beautiful little stars appeared around him. They had appeared without him noticing, which should have been impossible. After all, they were made of very dense Fire Mana, and Shang could feel Fire Mana very well. What Shang didn''t know was that Cindy had used a Spell that transformed the Fire Mana into Wind Mana, merged it with the storm around her, and transformed it back into destructive Fire Mana when it arrived at her target. As soon as the tiny stars appeared, it was already nearly toote for Shang to react. He couldn''t evade. He had to take it! BOOOOOOOOOOM! Chapter 725 Chapter 725 A humongous explosion appeared in the middle of the arena. The powerful storm inside the arena immediately destroyed all the smoke the explosion had created, revealing Shang. Shang''s body was nearly destroyed. His entire body was filled with cracks and burns. Shang had offset the power of the explosion by cooling his body rapidly, but that process required more control than Shang had. If Shang cooled his body a little too much, he wouldpletely freeze, stopping the function of his body and his mind in an instant. So, Shang had to err on the side of heat. It was better for parts of his body to burn away than to risk his brain freezing and being unable to think or act. The damage inside Shang''s body was severe, but he immediately used his life energy to heal himself. He could heal himself just as fast as with his old body, but every bit of life energy was just that more valuable since it wouldn''t recover nearly as fast. In past fights, Shang always managed to recover 10% to 100% of his life energy just by staying alive, giving him more opportunities to heal himself. Now, every bit of life energy wasted was permanent. The time Shang needed to recover even 1% of life energy would be longer than this fight would take. On top of that, Shang''s maximum level of life energy was already at only 70% due to his new body, making it even more difficult. These were the negative effects of Shang''s new body. But it was worth it. Having the ability to have a mind as powerful as his body was too valuable for Shang. But for now, Shang needed to heal himself. He used 30% of his life energy, leaving only 40%, and it would not go above 40% during this battle. It would only go down. DING! At that moment, something glittered in Shang''s hand. Shang''s Subsis had transformed! Instead of being a ck stick, there was now a beautiful and long icy edge on it, and even more, there were tiny red things moving into it. Shang had defended against the explosion, but he had also used his Subsis to absorb a lot of the Fire Mana. All the absorbed Fire Mana traveled through Shang''s body, being transformed in the process. And then, Light Mana entered Shang''s Addum. Shang shed horizontally. BOOOOOOOM! The arena shook! The eyes of the onlookers opened in surprise. All the wind had stopped! Shang had transformed the Fire Mana into Light Mana on the extreme end of mass. After that, he released the mass in the surroundings, making the surrounding space much denser and heavier. The wind didn''t have enough power to move that much, and since it had only been pushed by its own momentum, the wind very quickly lost its power. There was nothing that actually pushed the wind forward. It was just Wind Mana being Wind Mana. Shang''s body withered a bit, but he didn''t use any life energy to heal himself yet. As soon as the Wind Mana vanished, Shang shot at Cindy again. With all the wind gone, Shang finally regained full control over his body, increasing his agility to its usual levels. Cindy''s eyes sparkled. SHING! Cindy used Mana Step just before Shang arrived. Shang had expected something like that. If he couldn''t kill a Mage very quickly, it transformed into a battle of attrition. Every use of Mana Step was an additional 10% to 20% of Mana wasted by his opponent.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. Shang had fought hundreds of battles against powerful Mages inside his inner world, and he knew exactly how to handle them. About two more uses of Mana Step and Cindy would be critically low on Mana. Shang was currently in the arena on ground level, and Cindy had appeared in the middle at the very top, at the edge of the barrier surrounding the arena. From several kilometers high, she looked at Shang with a serious expression. Then, she took a deep breath. At that moment, Shang felt an unreal amount of Mana gathering around Cindy. It was difficult to believe that Cindy had ess to that much Mana! As soon as Shang saw that, he knew that Cindy wasn''t nning on having a drawn-out battle. She had managed to injure Shang once, but she hadn''t managed to kill him. On top of that, she had already used several Spells and two Mana Steps. She knew that if things continued like this, there was a very real chance of her losing. She felt that she wouldn''t win in the long run. Because of that, she had to end the fight immediately. And she was nning on doing just that. Cindy lightly touched her Focus. SHING! Her Focus vanished and reappeared at the bottom of the arena. Cindy had used Mana Step on her Focus. As soon as the Focus arrived, a fiery red wave shot out from it. It was an extremely dense wave of Fire Mana! However, when Shang felt the properties of this wave, he grew extremely shocked. He had never seen anything like it! Shang knew that this couldn''t be anything good, but before he could do anything, Cindy was already unleashing an extremely dense storm of Ice Mana. Astorm of ice from the top. Awave of fire from the bottom. And they met in the middle. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ! An extremely loud noise akin to a powerful circr saw reverberated throughout the arena as an intense white wall appeared in the ce the two kinds of Mana met. The intense wave of Fire Mana filled the bottom half of the arena andpletely buried Shang. However, Shang didn''t move or do anything. The intense wave of fire seemed to epass Shang like water, filling his entire body. But it wasn''t doing anything else. Everything around Shang and even a lot of space inside Shang was filled with this kind of Fire Mana, but nothing was burning or exploding. Since Shang knew the Concept of Addition and the Concept of Subtraction, he managed to see the Fire Mana''s attributes early, and that was exactly what shocked him so much. The Fire Mana was not truly Fire Mana. In a way, it could bepared to the effect of mass Shang had released with his Light Affinity earlier. Obviously, no one would consider a dense and heavy space to be light, and the same thing was true with the Fire Mana here. The properties of explosion and heat had been removed from the Fire Mana! Instead, it was filled with the properties of pration from ice! This meant that the Fire Mana had no destructive effect but could permeate everything. Meanwhile, the Ice Mana at the top of the arena was the pr opposite. The Ice Mana had the missing properties of the Fire Mana, making it extremely explosive. However, since there was no heat inside the Ice Mana, the explosion was harmless. The Fire Mana was harmless. The Ice Mana was harmless. But when the two of them met... The power inside that tiny white space in the middle of the arena was extremely powerful. Yet, that wasn''t the true danger. Shang''s body was filled with the harmless Fire Mana. And if he touched any of the harmless Ice Mana... The Fire Mana inside of him would transform and explode. Even more, all the Fire Mana was permeated with Cindy''s will, and if Shang wanted to get rid of that, he would need to use his own Mana or body. But since Cindy had used so much Mana, it would be nearly impossible for Shang to get rid of all of it while passing through the border. She had him. Shang''s Spirit Sense focused on the Focus just two kilometers beside him. It was unprotected, and Shang could destroy it with a simple hit without having to pass through the border. That would stop the outpouring of Fire Mana. Then, Shang focused on Cindy. Cindy obviously wasn''t stupid. This was too easy to counter. So, was she actually banking on the fact that Shang would destroy her Focus? Was this a trap? But what if she expected that Shang wouldn''t underestimate her, and destroying the Focus was actually the correct thing to do? Shang realized that this train of thought could continue indefinitely. It was a 50/50. Nevertheless, Shang had to make a decision now. If he didn''t do anything, either the Mana would be even denser, or Cindy would recover Mana, maybe both. But what should Shang do? Chapter 726 Chapter 726 Shang made his decision very quickly. He shot over to the Focus and blew it apart with his Addum. As soon as the Focus got destroyed, Cindy''s eyes shone. WHOOOOM! Cindy released even more of the strange Ice Mana, and since there was no more new Fire Mana entering the arena, the white wall moved downward. At this moment, the destructive white wall wasing closer and closer to Shang. There was no escape. Shang had to very quickly evaluate all his options ande up with a n. Ghost Step? Useless. Comet? Useless. Changing Temperatures? Useless. Destroying the will? That would nearly kill Shang and use up all his life energy. He might survive, but getting through the wall didn''t mean winning the fight. Cindy still had Mana left, and with Shang nearly dead, she would most likely win. Absorbing the Mana? Impossible due to the will. Reflecting the Spell? Not possible. Refracting the Spell? Not possible. Increase or decrease the mass in the surroundings? Won''t work. Release more Fire or Ice Mana to attack the border? That would just reshape the border, not get rid of it. Destroy the Fire Mana around him? That would make the area smaller, speeding up the approach of the border. Fill the surroundings with Fire Mana to change the density? The weird Fire Mana would adapt the properties of the normal Fire Mana, and everything around Shang, including himself, would explode. Shang took a deep breath as the white border approached. "Seems like | can''t win without showing some powers of the Child of Cmity,¡¯ Shang thought. "Several Mage Lords, and maybe even a Mage King, are watching the fight, which is why | didn''t want to use any of these abilities. However, that''s still better than dying.¡¯ If | don''t use them, | will die. If | use them, | might still survive.¡¯ ¡®| only hope that the conclusion | havee to earlier isn''t wrong." ¡®People know of the Child of Cmity, but they don''t know what the Child of Cmity can do." ¡®If that''s true, no one will suspect that | am the Child of Cmity.¡¯ ¡®Well, | don''t really have a different choice anyway.¡¯ Shang readied his swords and shot upward. In an instant, he reached the border. WHOOOOOOM! And then, everything around Shang started to transform into nothingness. Domain of Entropy! Shang couldn''t get rid of all the will or the Mana the normal way, but with the Domain of Entropy, this wasn''t a problem. The Domain of Entropy simply transformed everything into neutral Mana, including the border, and it wouldn''t even consume a lot of Shang''s body since he only had to get rid of the little bit of Mana that made up the border and not all the Mana in the arena. Shang''s Domain of Entropy worked very differently from the Concepts of Subtraction and Addition. As soon as Shang reached the border, the white border just vanished. At this moment, Shang was in the middle of the border, but there was a grey area around him, splitting the border in two. And then, he passed the border. ZZZZZZZZZ! The area below Shang continued exploding, but Shang was unaffected.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. His Domain of Entropy had also gotten rid of the Fire Mana inside his body. As soon as Shang entered the space filled with Ice Mana, Shang pointed his Subsis towards Cindy, its tip exiting Shang''s Domain of Entropy. Cindy only watched Shang with shocked and terrified eyes. How?! And then, Shang''s Subsis released a tiny bit of regr Frost Mana. CRK! All the strange properties of the surrounding Ice Mana vanished, and all the strange Ice Mana was transformed into regr Ice Mana. In an instant, the entire space above the border froze. Due to Shang''s Domain of Entropy, none of the Ice Mana had been around him, and since it had also lost its explosive properties, Shang had felt zero impact from the Ice Mana''s transformation. However, the intense freezing effect of the Ice Mana would have put a huge strain on Cindy''s Mana Shield. Shang felt the surrounding Ice Mana, and he could feel that Cindy''s will was still on it. That meant that Cindy was still alive. However, that wasn''t a big problem. Aterrifying amount of Ice Mana shot out of Shang''s body as his own body became hotter and hotter. And then, Shang shot forward with his Subsis pointed forward. The prating effect of Shang''s Subsis cut the solid ice in front of him apart, and the temperature of Shang''s body was kept at a healthy level. This was not an attack shooting at Shang but Shang shooting forward. This meant that the speed at which Shang traveled through the ice was decided by him, making it extremely easy to manage his own temperature. Shang shot through the ice at extreme speeds, and he arrived at the spot where Cindy had been earlier in nearly an instant. Cindy wasn''t there anymore, but Shang could feel the slight difference in the ice around him, which meant that Cindy had dug away and created a wall of ice behind her. Mana Step couldn''t be used to move through solid objects, and this ice was solid. Even more, they also couldn''t feel each other with their Spirit Senses for the same reason. Shang kept charging forward, following the trail. And then, Shang felt Cindy. When they were only 50 meters apart, Shang could feel Cindy with his Spirit Sense. Sure, the solid matter made Spirit Senses nearly useless, but Shang could still see the 50 meters around him. Cindy hadn''t noticed him yet due to the difference in their Spirit Senses. Shang pulled his Addum back and shed forward. BOOOOOOOOM! Everything for 500 meters in front of Shang exploded! Cindy''s Mana Shield vibrated under stress. BOOM! Since all the ice was now gone, there was now nothing between Cindy and Shang. How long would Shang need to travel 50 meters through the air without any obstruction? Cindy couldn''t even react. Shang immediately arrived beside her, and he hit her Mana Shield with his Addum. CRACK! The Mana Shield exploded. Cindy stopped thinking in horror. Thest thing she saw was Shang''s Subsis moving toward her eyes. SHING! Shang''s Subsis stabbed through Cindy''s head, and an instantter, her body started to wither and decay as Shang''s body recovered. The fight was over. Chapter 727 Chapter 727 Amoment after Shang killed Cindy, all the ice in the surroundings vanished as Lucin turned it back into Ice Mana. "Winner: Cloud Shang," Lucin announced. At the same time, the audience looked with shock at the picture in front of them. The warrior held a dried-up corpse up with his sword. He seemed uninjured. After the battle had started, everyone had already realized that this warrior might really have the ability to rival the real Clouds, but when they saw Shang actually win, it confirmed it. For the first time, the Mages felt a certain emotion. Nervousness, but not just any nervousness. The nervousness of seeing someone fundamentally belonging to apletely different ss reaching one¡¯s level. Yes, it was only one warrior, but all the Clouds were also "only one Mage". Such incredible freaks with such insane talents were always seen separately from the masses. They were unique. Yet, even though every Cloud was special, there was now someone else. Awarrior that was just as special. Before Shang had arrived in the Hibye, the Mages were generally a bit interested in warriors. Warriors were something interesting and unique. It was fun to watch them. But now, this interesting thing had actually managed to reach a level where it could be a threat to them. For the first time, this entertaining thing actually felt dangerous. Of course, the Clouds reacted very differently to Shang. Some of them were genuinely impressed by Shang''s power and were interested in learning more about him. They weren''t even truly thinking of him as just a warrior but just another Cloud. Some of them saw Shang as a danger to their future positions, just like any other Cloud. Everyone here wanted to be a Mage King, and with this warrior, there was now one more contender. Some of them feared Shang. Over half of the Clouds had unknown levels of Battle-Strength since they had never fought publicly. Because of that, no one knew how strong they actually were. But now, Shang had shown his power, and by killing two Clouds, he had shown that he definitely didn''t belong to the weaker half. He was one of the more powerful Clouds, and by seeing him fighting, some of the weaker Clouds realized that their chances of winning against him in a fight were slim. This made them fear and resent Shang. He was standing between them and their goal. And then, there were just a couple of Mages that saw themselves as Mages and Shang as a mere warrior. Warriors were trash, and it was a Mage''s duty to put these warriors back into their ce! So, while there were a lot of different reactions, one thing had be clear. Shang had be a target for a couple of Clouds. But he had already expected that. Now, what about the Domain of Entropy that Shang had used to pass by the white border? What did the Clouds think about that? Nothing. Every Cloud had strange powers that nearly no one could exin. All the Clouds were innovators, creatingpletely new kinds of Spells and ways to use Mana. All their powers were extraordinary. So, Shang''s Domain of Entropy seemed just like any other extraordinary power. As the strongest person watching, Lucin felt something strange from Shang''s Domain of Entropy, but that feeling wasn''t very strong. Even more, Shang''s identity as a warrior made the Domain of Entropy even less suspicious. Nobody knew how warriors worked since they had essentially nevere into contact with them. Because of that, they didn''t have a reference as to what was normal for a warrior to do and what not. Maybe every talented warrior could do that? "Shang, how long do you need to recover?" Lucin asked. "| need five minutes," Shang said. Cindy''s life energy had healed Shang, but his life energy still needed to recover a bit. Lucin nodded. "Then, the duel between Cloud Shang and Cloud Rowan will-" "Stop!" Lucin furrowed his brows, and everyone looked over to someone in the audience. It was Rowan, Shang''s next opponent. "Yes?" Lucin asked with a bit of annoyance. Rowan closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "| know when | am outmatched," Rowan said, his voice sounding surprisingly calm and epting of the circumstances. Some of the Clouds raised an eyebrow while some of them sneered in disgust. "You''re leaving?" Lucin asked. Rowan nodded. "Yes, I''m leaving." ¡°Are you sure about this? Once you''ve gone through with it, the only way to undo it is to get a fivefold Spirit Sense," Lucin said. Rowan nodded again. "It''s better than dying.¡± "Fine," Lucin said. "Then, your Focus, please." Rowan summoned his Focus, and it slowly floated over to Lucin. "Your Communication Crystal," Lucin said. Rowan summoned his Communication Crystal, which also floated over to Lucin. Lucin inspected everything and nodded. "The duels for today are over," he said. The Clouds threw a couple more nces at Shang, but most of them started to leave. Amomentter, Rowan floated up towards Lucin, and Lucin looked over at Shang. Then, he threw over a small piece of paper with insanely tiny writing. Shang read through it. "Convert everything,¡± he said. Lucin nodded. "You will get your prize in two days." Shang also nodded and flew away.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. "Follow me," Lucin said to Rowan. Rowan threw onest nce at the leaving Clouds with longing. He released onest sigh and flew after Lucin. So, what exactly had happened just now? Well, a Cloud had the ability to give up their status as a Cloud and be a Boltling. Naturally, something like that wasn''t something easy to do. First of all, the Cloud had to hand over 100% of their belongings, including their Focus. The only thing they would get to keep was their clothes, and also only if they were worth less than a Grade Five Mana Crystal. Second, they would need to get an SKP as a Boltling, making it a bit more difficult to train. Third, since they were now a Boltling, they were not supposed to train forever before reaching the next Realm. They were supposed to be Mage Lords. This meant that the Cloud would be forced to reach the next Realm in a timely manner, no matter how much theyprehended. Lastly, as Boltlings, they wouldn''t even receive a tenth of the resources they had received as a Cloud. In short, this meant that a Cloud would give up any ambition. As for the way to be a Cloud again by getting a fivefold Spirit Sense? If they couldn''t do that as a Cloud, it would be impossible as a Boltling. Naturally, Shang would receive everything Rowan had owned. It would be just like if Shang had killed him, just with him not dying. To Shang and the other Clouds, Rowan leaving was akin to him dying. They wouldn''t see him again, and he wouldn''t be a rival anymore. Today, Shang had gotten rid of three Archmage Clouds, which represented around 3% of all Archmage Clouds. And he also gained the wealth of three Clouds. As anew Cloud, Shang had been the poorest since he had only received his one Grade Seven Mana Crystal. People like Erel, Cindy, and Rowan had been Clouds for much longer, and they had earned a lot more resources. And these resources belonged to Shang now. Chapter 728 Chapter 728 Shang spent the next two days digesting the new experiences and information he had received by fighting Erel and Cindy. Shang had fought a lot of powerful Mages with the Affinity Wheel in his inner world, but not even a single one had been comparable to Erel and Cindy. The two of them had been onpletely different levels. By now, Shang could also tell how powerful the "powerful" Mages of the Affinity Wheel were. A Mage deemed to be powerful was someone that could jump one level, which meant they had a 50/50 shot at winning against an average Mage one level above them. How strong was that for an Empire? It was strong enough to be a Spark. It was not enough to be a Boltling. As Shang thought about everything that had happened, his Spirit Sense threw a nce at the stone stele in the middle of his inner world. He looked at Jerald''s hand. Jerald had been so powerful back then, but he would have only had a shot at bing a Spark, and only if he became an Ancestral Mage and kept his Battle-Strength. As for every other normal Mage in Area 23? They wouldn''t have been good enough to even be Sparks. ¡®| need to be more careful of these Clouds,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l expected Cindy to be an easy fight, but it wasn''t easy at all. If | didn''t use any of my abilities rted to Entropy, | most likely wouldn''t have won." ¡®There are bound to be more powerful ones among them." Cindy had used two things that Shang hadn''t expected to see. She had transformed Fire and Ice Mana into Wind Mana, and she had manipted the properties of Fire and Ice Mana. Shang''s fight against Cindy hadn''t been a truly desperate one, but it had been a bit dangerous at times. However, even such fights could help someoneprehend new things. This was why so many Mages sought inspiration when they were stuck. Two dayster, Lucin arrived in front of Shang. Right now, Shang was sitting in a random cave. It didn''t really matter where he was since he was mostly focusing on his inner world. By now, Shang could feel a bit of the outside world when he was in his inner world, which meant that he wasn''tpletely cut off anymore, but that ability only extended to roughly feeling the condition of his body. When Lucin''s Spirit Sense contacted Shang, Shang felt it, and he left his inner world. Lucin had already arrived in front of Shang, and he held a purple sack in one of his hands. "Here''s your reward," Lucin said with a smile as he threw the sack over. Shang took hold of it and inspected it with his Spirit Sense. Even though Shang had expected that he had earned a lot of money, his insides still shook when he saw the contents. Grade Seven Mana Crystals. 38 Grade Seven Mana Crystals. ¡°Most of thates from Rowan," Lucin said. "He was one of the stronger Clouds, but | think he made the right choice." Lucin didn''t say it, but Shang knew what Lucin was referring to. His fivefold Spirit Sense. Rowan was strong, but someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense was still on a different level. After all, there were still several abilities Shang hadn''t used in his fight. Shang hadn''t used Sword''s Entropy. He hadn''t used his own Entropy. He hadn''t used Silence. And he had only used his Domain of Entropy for a short time. Shang''s true power was still quite a bit higher than what the Clouds had seen, and Lucin knew that. Lucin didn''t know the specifics of Shang''s powers, but he knew that someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense had to be more powerful than just what Shang had shown. ¡°Are you going to spend it all on Furnace Pills again?" Lucin asked with a concerned raised eyebrow. Shang only nodded. Lucin sighed. "I would tell you to stop torturing yourself, but maybe that is exactly what allowed you to get a fivefold Spirit Sense in the first ce." Shang didn''t answer Lucin and left the cave. Lucin waited for a couple of seconds and started to leave. Amomentter, his Communication Crystal rang with a request for handing out resources. 2,000 Furnace Pills for five Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Buyer: Cloud Shang. Lucin sighed and approved the exchange. Many kilometers away, Fleros nodded as he received Lucin''s approval. "| only have 100 for now. The other 1,900 will take about a month to be made," Fleros said as he handed over 100 Furnace Pills. Shang wordlessly took them, nodded, and left. When Shang left, Fleros took out his Communication Crystal and sent out a request for 2,000 Furnace Pills. At the same time, a sheet of paper appeared on a desk in an office inside the Lightning Manor. The piece of paper began to float, and a middle-aged Mage Lord looked at it. He saw the secret sigil of the Contender Department and looked at the contents. It was a request for 2,000 Furnace Pills. The Mage Lord only shook his head in confusion. Why would anyone use that many Furnace Pills?All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. He put his own sigil on the piece of paper and showed it to the embedded Communication Crystal on his desk. The paper vanished. Many kilometers away, a piece of paper shot out of a shining circle in a ce that looked a bit like a shop. A female Mage Lord looked at the piece of paper and furrowed her brows. She put on some sses and looked at a wall filled with several Magic Circles. "We only have 47 left," she muttered. After she said that, she hung the piece of paper on a different wall, where several other pieces of paper were also hung. She took out her Communication Crystal and contacted someone. "| need 2,000 Furnace Pills for an order." "2,000?" the person on the other end asked. "Yes, 2,000," she confirmed. "Some people these days," the other person answered. "Sure, I''ll get on it.¡± The Mage Lord hung up. Many kilometers away, a different Mage Lord contacted someone else with his Communication Crystal. ¡°Lord Vasttremor! It''s a pleasure to hear from you!" the person on the other side spoke politely. "We need 2,000 Furnace Pills," the Mage Lord said. Silence. "2,000 Furnace Pills?" "Yes, 2,000 Furnace Pills." ¡°Of course, of course!" the other person said. "We''ll get right to it. I''ll have to make some adjustments to my staff, but it should work out. You can expect the wares in a bit less than a month." "Thanks," the Mage Lord said. "No, thank you!" the other person said. The Mage Lord hung up, and a Peak Ancestral Mage was quickly rearranging all the work for his hundreds of Ancestral Mages. "We got a priority order from the Lightning Manor!" he announced with a big smile. The other Ancestral Mages only sighed. This meant that they had to work even more. This was the Grand Pill Pavilion, one of the leadingpanies dealing in pharmacy. And for the next month, nearly all of the big members would do nothing but focus on Shang''s order. Chapter 729 Chapter 729 After getting 100 Furnace Pills, Shang left. He traveled for about a minute and arrived at a certain ce within the Hibye, the center. In the very center of the Hibye, there were several tall buildings. There were about 50 of them, and each one was over a hundred meters high and nearly half a kilometer wide. All of these buildings were mansions. And the people living here were the Mage Lords under Lucin and Lucin himself. Naturally, each mansion had several expensive Magic Circles that enhanced someone''s speed ofprehension, and a couple of Mage Lords were essentially always present. The Bolts working under Lucin worked in shifts of 33. Each century, the shift would change. This meant that a Bolt working under Lucin had to work for one century and then got two centuries off. During these two centuries of free time, the Bolts either trained at their house, traveled the world, or went to different ces to comprehend more Concepts. But at least five were always at home. As for Lucin, since he had effectively already reached the peak of his power, he worked all the time. Most of the time, Lucin was inside his house or floating somewhere near it. The reason for that was the size of the Hibye and the location of Lucin''s house. Just like the Clouds, Lucin had a fourfold Spirit Sense, and since a normal Mage Lord had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 10,000 kilometers, Lucin had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 40,000 kilometers. Since the Hibye was around 100,000 kilometers wide and long, this meant that Lucin could see nearly the entire thing as long as he was in the middle. Lucin was the biggest reason why the Hibye was so safe from external threats. Nearly all the clouds were under constant supervision by a Peak Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense. Even the Clouds had it extremely difficult to hurt anyone without Lucin''s permission. And, sure enough, Lucin was above his house right now, looking at his Communication Crystal. Shang stopped a couple of kilometers away from the mansions and sat down on a random hill. Of course, Lucin had noticed that Shang had arrived, but he could already guess why he was there. This was an obvious solution to Shang''s problem. Shang knew that several people might decide to target him, but since doing something like that was forbidden, the perpetrator would need to do it without anyone noticing them. Therefore, the best way to deal with such a hidden threat was to stay in the most public and safest ce, which was directly beside where all the Bolts and Lucin lived. It was one thing to kill someone at the edge of Lucin''s perception, but it was somethingpletely different to kill someone just a small distance away from him. After sitting down, Shang took out the bottle of Furnace Pills and grabbed one of the pills. Lucin didn''t look at Shang, but he still sighed. Shang was quite close to Lucin''s house, which kind of made it difficult for Lucin not to look at him. He didn''t really want to see Shang eat a Furnace Pill, but there wasn''t really anything he could do.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. Surprisingly, there were no other Clouds near the mansions of the Bolts, even though this had to be the safest ce. The reason was the Bolts¡¯ and Lucin¡¯s annoyance. Being close to the mansions was akin to someone sitting directly in front of someone else''s house. It was just weird, annoying, and awkward. Because of that, all the Mage Lords that were in the mansions stared at Clouds that came here with their Spirit Senses. You want to weird me out? I''m going to weird you out! Since being looked at by several people was very distracting,prehending Concepts or creating new Spells became very difficult at this ce. After all, Mages needed focus and concentration. Sure, they weren''t forbidden froming and training here, but they would barely make any progress under the constant distracting stares. But Shang didn''t care. He didn''t need any focus or concentration for his current training. Without hesitation, Shang threw the Furnace Pill into his mouth and swallowed it. Acouple of secondster, Shang began to grit his teeth and clench his fists. This was painful, even for him. SSSHHH! Shang''s skin began to turn red, and a white mist of Mana left his body. Shang remained silent. Some secondster, a quiet noise of something tearing could be heard. Shang''s skin had torn in a ce, revealing the flesh beneath. The sounds happened more and more frequently, each one apanied by another cut opening on Shang''s skin. After a minute, Shang''s entire body had turned into essentially a mass of cuts. Surprisingly, the cuts didn''t bleed. SNAP! Then, a couple of Shang''s blood vessels tore apart. Yet, what came out wasn''t blood but something else. It was a bubbling red mass of flesh. The red mass expanded and grew out of one of Shang''s cuts, tearing it and the surrounding muscles apart. As the muscles tore apart, they began to sizzle. And then, they fused and solidified. The same thing happened on more and more spots of Shang''s body. His body began to cramp all over, and his blood began to grow out of him uncontrobly. After just three minutes, Shang looked barely human, and his entire body had been distorted into inhuman shapes. Several parts of his body were being fused and then ripped apart again. This was what a Furnace Pill did. It was called a Furnace Pill because, just like a furnace, it changed the properties of everything that was put inside. Originally, Furnace Pills had been designed to torture people. While the victim would be under unreal pain and fear, there was no life-threatening danger to them. A hugeponent of the Furnace Pills was a steady supply of life energy. This meant that a Furnace Pillpletely kept changing and mutating someone''s body without killing them. One Furnace Pill would do this to someone for two full weeks. However, even though the original purpose of Furnace Pills was to torture someone, a different use for them had been found as well. Training physical power and training willpower. Most of the Furnace Pills were given to captured beasts to tame and train them. Some very few Furnace Pills were also used by some crazy Mages that believed that they needed more willpower, which was why they were undergoing this kind of torture voluntarily. Naturally, these Mages were very few, and the effectiveness of increasing someone''s willpower was also debatable. As for Shang, the Furnace Pill put a lot of pressure all over his body, tearing everything apart. Including his Mana Pathways. The force that damaged the Mana Pathways was an increase of outward pressure inside of them. The Mana inside the Mana Pathways was expanding steadily and crazily until the pressure was just too much, and the Mana Pathways burst. This was exactly what Shang needed. By constantly expanding the Mana Pathways, they would be bigger and gain more sticity. After consuming about 100 of these Furnace Pills, Shang could enter the Istion Chamber topress his expanded Mana Pathways. This was how Shang had trained for thest 20 years, and this was how he would continue training. Chapter 730 Chapter 730 The Bolts in their houses had be quite distracted in recent days, and they weren''t exactly sure what they should do. This new warrior had essentially sat down beside their houses and started to mutate into grotesque shapes. The Bolts wanted to have some time for themselves in their own house, but they couldn''t focus on anything they were doing since this guy just kept mutating and being gross on their frontwn. Naturally, they had tried to get him to go away by constantly looking at him, but he didn''t seem to care. He even seemed like he didn''t even notice that they were looking. So, when that didn''t work, they tried to ignore him. Sure, the warrior wasn''t looking at them with his Spirit Sense, but he didn''t need to. He was distracting enough as it was. The Bolts just couldn''t stop themselves from throwing curious nces at him, which also stopped them from doing whatever they were doing. They tried even harder to ignore him, but it was just impossible. They felt bad for the warrior. They were annoyed and wanted to hate him for interrupting their free time, but the sheer pain he must be under made it difficult for them to actually hate him. No one deserved to go through something like that.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g And that was the problem. Shang was in so much pain that he distracted everyone. If he weren''t in as much pain, Mage Lords wouldn''t have an issue since they could just ignore him. What were they supposed to do? Help him? He was doing this to himself, and helping him was literally not helping him. Ignore him? Easier said than done. Talk to him? He didn''t seem like someone that could talk right now. So, after the first two weeks were close to being up, the Bolts released a sigh of relief. Finally, this guy would leave. Shang''s body stopped mutating. CRK! At that moment, Shang began to use his power to tear his own body apart. He tore his Beast Core and his mind out of the fleshy monstrosity that was his body, and after he did so, he used his life energy to regrow his normal body. Shang took a deep breath and analyzed his Mana Pathways. He saw some progress. And then, he took out another Furnace Pill and ate it. When the Bolts saw that, they felt like their world was breaking down. Another one? Another two weeks of this?! Fuck that! Nearly all of them left. It was nice to be at home, but they didn''t need to be at home. They could also just train somewhere else. In the end, only two Bolts remained in their house. These were the only two Bolts that didn''t mind Shang at all. The reason for that was that they had no feeling of Empathy. They couldn''t feel Empathy. So, the mutating Shang was only an interesting show to them, and when they had their fill, they just stopped looking. Five yearster, the first Bolt returned, and when they arrived, their eyes widened in shock. He was still at it?! How was he still at it?! The hill on which Shang "sat" had transformed into a fleshy forest with many bizarre fleshy structures standing on it. In a way, it almost looked like art. The Bolt left again. Over the next couple of years, more and more Bolts returned, but they also left just as quickly. About 15 years after Shang had consumed the first Furnace Pills, the Bolts finally had enough. They went to Lucin andined to him. In the beginning, Lucin just said that Shang wasn''t breaking any rules, but as more and more Boltsined, he began to waver. Eventually, Lucin decided to do something. He flew over to Shang''s hill and began to cast severalplex Spells. SHING! An extremelyplex Magic Circle appeared around the fleshy hill, and a couple of secondster, a purple barrier appeared. It was an Istion Barrier. No one could see or get through it except Lucin himself. Lucin wasn''t a fan of helping an individual Cloud over the others, but this was a special circumstance. Additionally, he wasn''t really helping Shang grow more powerful. The only thing Lucin was helping Shang with was something that would only be helpful if someone actually broke the rules, in which case Lucin would be allowed to help either way. If no one was nning on assassinating Shang, the barrier would be useless, and if someone tried to assassinate him, Lucin would be allowed to help anyway. When the bolts saw that, they sighed in relief. Finally, they didn''t need to look at this stuff anymore. More and more Bolts returned to their homes over the next couple of years, and the purple barrier became normal to them after a while. Around 20 years after Shang had taken the first Furnace Pill, he took a break. After healing his body, he didn''t immediately take the next Furnace Pill. That was because it was time for a trip to the Istion Chamber. Since Shang now had much more money, he decided to let his Mana Pathways grow more and for longer. That might waste a couple of Furnace Pills, but it could result in a slightly higher efficiency. Shang summoned the Istion Chamber and put it in a random spot on the fleshy hill. Then, he activated one of the Magic Circles around the Istion Chamber and started to manipte it. Fleros had transformed Shang''s Istion Chamber and added several new functions. Now, Shang didn''t need a second person anymore. He could input a set time, and the Magic Circle would keep the Istion Chamber closed for that time, but that wasn''t even everything. After opening again, it also filled itself with healing water that would refill Shang''s life energy. Of course, during all of this, it also hid in an additional Istion Barrier to keep itself hidden. Shang manipted the Magic Circle around the Istion Chamber, and when he was done, he entered it. Some secondster, the Istion Chamber closed itself. And for the next two months, he wouldn''te out. Chapter 731 Chapter 731 Time continued to pass. The Bolts were no longer distracted by Shang since Lucin had created an Istion Barrier around him, but Lucin himself had noticed that he was sighing far more often than usual. He just felt bad for Shang. It was one thing to go through so much pain to be stronger, but it was something else to continuously go through so much pain for decades upon decades. This wasn''t an individual instance of painful training anymore. Being under so much pain for so long had essentially transformed Shang''s entire life. Yes, Shang was already quite old, but spending decades in pain was still something significant. Every decade of pain was equivalent to about one year of pain for a mortal. How horrible would it be to be under such pain for one year? Just one day was already terrifying. As Lucin continued watching Shang, he got the thought that Shang was actually impressively sane for someone that was living like this. Under normal circumstances, one would imagine a quivering mass of terror, paranoia, fear, and irrational hatred. Sure, Shang had these aspects, but they weren''t so strong that they overtook his entire personality. Nevertheless, Lucin could still feel that Shang had huge issues deep inside. His body was like a machine that was piloted by ten crazy people with different issues and illnesses, but by averaging them out, the machine was still piloted in a somewhat normal way. Frankly, it was a miracle. Decades passed. Eventually, Shang used up all the Furnace Pills he had, which took him a total of 100 years. At this moment, Shang was around 860 years old. If he were a mortal, he would be nearly 80 years old. Shang had genuinely reached thest years of his life. Over the past century, a couple of Clouds had arrived in front of the Istion Barrier. These Clouds had all wanted to talk to Shang. They kept announcing themselves and knocking at the Istion Barrier, but Shang never answered them. Lucin had made it possible for Shang to see the outside, which meant that Shang could have noticed these Clouds and could have interacted with them. But he never did. Some of the Clouds even became angry when Shang kept ignoring them. Yet, it was forbidden to attack someone without their consent, and that extended to someone''s belongings and Magic Circles. No matter how angry they got, they didn''t attack the Istion Barrier. Shang had not seen all of them, but he had still taken note of a couple of them. In his mind, every Cloud that had arrived had tried to lure him away from Lucin so that they could kill him. Why else would they be here? They just wanted to kill Shang and get his resources or kill him for some ideological reason. All of them were his rivals! All of them were his enemies! All of them wanted to kill him! Naturally, that wasn''t the truth, but that didn''t matter. By constantly being in a heightened state of danger and by going through decades upon decades of nothing but intense pain, Shang''s perception was bound to be warped. When one experienced nothing but pain and darkness, how could one see the world as anything but filled with pain and darkness? By going through this ungodly training for such a long time, Shang was bound to change. Just to put this into perspective, Shang had been training like this for over 10% of his life. One would only need to look at one''s own life, take 10% of it, and go through so much time while being tortured like this. Would that person still be the same? This was the longest time Shang had been this isted. In the past, he had gone through a couple of decades of istion, but he had still done a couple of different things during it. In Area 23, Shang had fought some beasts, walked from one ce to the other, talked to Jerald, and a couple of other things. As a Named Agent in the Temple of Blood, Shang had left his training room from time to time. He saw others from time to time, bought new resources, did some missions, talked to the Keeper, and left the Branch. In Icy Bastion, Shang had to run a town while training, which meant that he regrly had tomunicate with others and deal with the management of the town. This time, it was different. Shang was doing nothing else. There was no break. There was no talking to anyone. There was no buying. There was no managing. It was just Shang and his training... For better or for worse. Over the past century, Shang had developed thoughts and feelings he had never been able to imagine before. Several times, Shang felt like he was approaching death, but not in the traditional self. Shang didn''t exactly feel like he was about to die, but like he was about to vanish. It was like Shang''s mind and personality had been close to disappearing from the world. Whenever that happened, Shang felt like he was no longer inside his own body. It was like he was watching a stranger go through all this pain.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. It was like he was just an onlooker. Without thoughts. Without opinions. And sometimes, Shang had the desire to just look away. Yet, something deep inside of him told him that if he decided to look away, he would never be able to look back. He felt like he would stop existing if that happened. But he was just so tired. There was so much pain. It was so exhausting. He just wanted to not care anymore. Was going through that much pain actually worth it? Was his goal worth so much pain? He didn''t know. He just didn''t know. After Shang had recovered after hisst session inside the Istion Chamber, he simply stood up and walked out of it. Absentmindedly, he put it away. What was he feeling right now? Nothing. His power had grown, but for some reason, it just didn''t feel great. Shang wasn''t even relieved that he didn''t need to enter the Istion Chamber again for several years. There was just nothing. Shang just didn''t care anymore. Chapter 732 Chapter 732 Shang looked at his body and realized that there was still a bit to go. However, this time, it no longer seemed impossible toprehend Void Casting. Shang was already 80% done. Only about 40 more years. Only two or three more sessions in the Istion Chamber. Then, he would finallyprehend Void Casting. Yet, Shang only absentmindedly focused on nothing. He was just standing in the Istion Barrier, doing nothing. He wasn''t training. He wasn''t thinking. He was just there. That was it. He just didn''t care anymore. Training was so exhausting. Moving was so exhausting. Thinking was so exhausting. Everything was so exhausting. He just didn''t want to anymore. His past was suffering. His present was suffering. His future was suffering. Why suffering? Why did it always have to be suffering? Why did the world put him through so much suffering? In Shang''s mind, there was no way out of this suffering. It couldn''t be stopped. As long as he lived, he would continue to suffer. What was the point? Shang just kept looking at nothing. And then, he slowly turned his head to the side. A fleshy obelisk that had once been Shang''s body had fallen over. This drew Shang''s attention to the hill he was currently on. Flesh. Blood. Organs. The Istion Barrier wasn''t wide enough for all the flesh that had umted over the past century, and the pieces of flesh and organs were starting to stack on top of each other. That was when Shang noticed that he wasn''t actually standing on the ground but on parts of his old bodies. The air stunk indescribably, and it was filled with something terrifying and dangerous. Shang hadn''t noticed it before, but right now, he could feel something very profound in the air. Ahill that had experienced nothing but blood, suffering, and pain for a century inplete istion. None of the light, fresh air, or life could enter from the outside. Everything was isted. It was like this was a small world. It was like it was a small hell. There was nothing bright, positive, or happy here. And the air... It was... strange... Shang could feel that the air had gained powerful properties. But what was this? What was this force in the air? Shang extended his right hand and focused on it. Then, he willed some Mana in the surroundings to enter his hand. In an instant, something happened to Shang''s hand. It began to turn grey. And then, Shang lost control over his hand, and it just hung from his arm lifelessly. Shang tried to move it, but it was impossible. Shang tried to heal it, but that was also impossible. His hand had died. Yet, for some reason, Shang wasn''t nervous or scared, and he just looked at his dead hand. He didn''t know what it was, but it felt profound and grand. It felt mysterious. Shang had never experienced anything like this before. It wasn''t like Darkness, but it also wasn''t like Entropy. It was different. Some secondster, Shang''s hand turned ck and began to dpose. One had to remember that the bodies of such powerful people didn''t dpose easily. After all, all of Shang''s body parts were still on the hill, and they hadn''t dposed. Yet, his hand was starting to dpose. Shang just kept looking at it. Over the next seconds, Shang''s hand began to vanish as the natural dposition reduced it to earth, liquids, and gasses. Shang focused on his surroundings as the dposition slowly crept up his arm, destroying more and more. He could feel that if he absorbed more, he would die. The surrounding Mana was dangerous. And then, Shang got a thought. How much of this Mana had he absorbed? If everything in here had been filled with this kind of Mana, what effects did it have on him? Of course, the ways in which Shang had absorbed Mana previously were very different from what he had done to his hand just now. Just now, Shang had absorbed the Mana in the surroundings without converting it to his own Mana. In essence, Shang was using a simplified and weaker version of Void Casting. Shang''s natural process of absorbing Mana included the incorporation of Shang''s will on the Mana as the first step. Because of that, Shang''s body and mind didn''t dpose like his arm. Yet, Shang had still absorbed who knew how much of this Mana. Sure, he had put his will on it, but did that mean that there was no effect? Even when Shang was confronted with something this mysterious, for some reason, he still felt lethargic. It was like he just didn''t care. It was too exhausting. Amomentter, Shang heard something, and he looked down. His right cheek had turned into ck liquid that was dripping down onto his dposing chest. Shang absentmindedly watched his face slowly start to dpose. His chest had already halfway turned to a grey and ck mud-like substance with several holes in it, and even Shang''s leg started to slowly vanish. Shang''s body wasn''t healing, and his life energy was vanishing.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. But Shang didn''t think anything of it. It was like nothing unusual was happening. This was just more suffering. What difference was there between his body dposing and consuming a Furnace Pill? Who cares? Shang just didn''t care anymore. It wasn''t important what was happening. Life, death, happiness, sadness, pain, relief, who cares? All of that was just the same. It was exhausting. All of this was just so exhausting. Shang''s body fell over as his right leg copsed into dposing mud. So what? Standing or lying didn''t make a difference. Everything was the same. Nothing was important. The dposition continued traveling across Shang''s body, and it even started to reach his mind. The further it continued, the more exhausting everything seemed to Shang. He was just so tired. He just didn''t care anymore. Whatever would happen would happen. It didn''t matter. Just let it continue. And slowly, Shang just stopped thinking. He just silently continued dposing. It didn''t matter. Nothing mattered. Chapter 733 Chapter 733 And then, it was like something inside Shang twitched. It was like a mortal had been sitting for a long while, and their leg just did a small twitch after being in the same position for a while. It was a subconscious action of little importance or thought. Yet, this little subconscious action was just Shang''s mind activating his Domain of Entropy a tiny bit to clean his body and surroundings. It was just like when Shang was cleaning his clothes and body of blood. It was simple and normal to Shang. Yet, as soon as that happened, Shang suddenly felt like a dam of adrenaline had burst inside of him. All of Shang''s energy returned, and he felt alert and awake!Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang immediately focused on his body and mind. And then, his instincts were screaming at him. He was nearly dead! He was dying! Over half of Shang''s body had dposed, and Shang''s life energy had reduced to only 20% or so! Immediately, Shang summoned a pill filled with life energy. He had bought a couple of those for emergencies. He consumed the pill, and his body started to regenerate life energy at a rapid pace. Shang focused on his body and used his Domain of Entropy to clean it of everything that didn''t belong to him. His body immediately stopped dposing, and all the half-dposed parts turned into ck dust. An instantter, Shang''s body regrew. The dposition had stopped Shang''s life energy from acting earlier, but when Shang had used his Domain of Entropy to get rid of whatever was causing this issue, Shang''s life energy worked again. Shang stood up again and took a deep breath. Only now did he realize how close he had been to dying. Did he care about living? Of course! He didn''t want to die! Shang couldn''te to terms with the fact that he had nearly let himself die just now. It was like he had been someonepletely different! Shang focused on his body and mind, and he noticed something peculiar. It wasn''t only his body that had been healed by his life energy but his mind as well. This meant that Shang had gotten rid of something foreign that had been in his mind. ¡®It must have been this mysterious Mana in the surroundings,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I just exited the Istion Chamber, and even though | was flooded with life energy by the Istion Chamber, my body and mind still absorbed a lot of Mana from the surroundings. After all, | was deprived of Mana for around two months." ¡®Was this the reason why | was so lethargic and apathetic towards my own life?" ¡®Yes, all this training sucks, but I''m doing this for my goal! I''m already 80% there! | won''t quit when I''m nearly done with all this Furnace Pill and Istion Chamber business!" ¡®Yet, | was willing to just die just now.¡¯ Shang focused on the mysterious Mana in the surroundings. He decided to absorb some more of the Mana, and his energy quickly started to vanish. It was like all of this wasn''t as important anymore. Nevertheless, Shang used his Domain of Entropy for a second again. And all his energy returned! No matter what kind of force there was in the surroundings, it couldn''tpete with the power of the Abominations. The Abominations were the enemies of existence itself. Shang tried it several more times, and he kept focusing on what he was experiencing. He was also experimenting with absorbing the foreign Mana without putting his will on it, which resulted in his body dposing again. But this time, Shang was in control of himself. And eventually, Shang understood what was happening. Yet, the understanding Shang had achieved this time was very weird. It wasn''t that he consciously knew what was happening and how it worked. This time, it was just a feeling. Shang just felt like something was supposed to do something specific. It was very difficult to describe and exin. One had to feel it to understand it. Nevertheless, Shang managed to understand something. He absorbed more of the mysterious Mana into his mind, but this time, there was no adverse effect. It was just like any other form of Mana. By now, Shang had already found out what this kind of Mana was and what he had been experiencing. Death Mana. The surroundings were filled with Death Mana. Fire Mana heated things up. Ice Mana cooled things down. Wind Mana moved things. Water Mana made things wet and created water. Life Mana healed things. And Death Mana killed things. Just like how a person would die of hypothermia when being surrounded by too much Ice Mana, they would die and dpose when surrounded by too much Death Mana. Of course, inparison to other kinds of Mana, Life and Death Mana were very difficult to find and interact with. Shang identally created an area filled with dense Death Mana by isting this hill from the outside while filling it with blood, death, and suffering. Mana from the outside could still enter since Shang needed Mana for his training, but the kind of Mana that entered depended a lot on the surroundings. The oppressive and cold atmosphere kept all kinds of Mana away while attracting scattered pieces of Death Mana. By identally absorbing Death Mana into his mind, Shang''s mind started acting more in ordance with death. Apathy, stillness, nothingness. When Shang had used his Domain of Entropy, the Death Mana was turned to Neutral Mana, and Shang''s mind recovered. Shang had nearly died. Yet, Shang was d that it happened. Otherwise, he would have never gotten the opportunity toprehend something this profound. By now, Shang''s mind had reached the Late Archmage Realm, making it several times faster than it was previously. Comprehending level one and level two Concepts was no longer something special to Shang. And today, Shang hadprehended two Concepts. The level one Concept of Death, Sickness, which represented the dposition of Shang''s body. And the level two Concept of Death, Weakness, which represented the apathy and lethargy in Shang''s mind. Chapter 734 Chapter 734 Shang hadprehended two Concepts, and they weren''t just any Concepts. They were Concepts rted to one of the two most mysterious Affinities in existence, Life and Death. The Custodian only knew the first two Concepts of the Life Affinity, and he was one of the most powerful Mage Kings. This showed how difficult it was toprehend any Concepts rted to these two Affinities. How many people knew the first two Concepts of Death? Well, how would one even go about learning about them? They would need to interact with a lot of Death Mana without dying themselves. Additionally, theprehension of these Concepts was also very strange. While any other Concept could be exined in words and with logic, these two Concepts couldn''t. It was just a feeling. It kind of was a mysterious feeling of resonance. Shang''s personality was unique, and it wouldn''t surprise someone if one said that Shang''s personality fit the concept of death. Shang and death just fit together. This was another part that made it so difficult toprehend death. There weren''t many people that could identify with death. After all, everyone became stronger in order to survive. People wanted to live. They wanted to keep their loved ones alive. They wanted to keep themselves alive. They didn''t want to kill themselves. But toprehend death, the best way was to kill oneself. Naturally, that was contradictory since one needed to be alive to understand something. Someone that wanted to die would have an amazing affinity with death, but someone that wanted to die wouldn''t be alive to realize this affinity. So, the next best thing was to be apathetic toward life. To be neutral. This was Shang. Shang wasn''t seeking power to survive. He wasn''t seeking power to protect his loved ones. Shang was seeking power for power. His survival was secondary. Because of that, Shang had a high affinity for death.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang knew all of this, and he had a thought. If the God hadn''t forced the Entropy Affinity on me, would | have had an Affinity towards Death?" ¡®The God said that he chose me for a reason. He said that | was different from others.¡¯ ¡®Out of millions and billions of people from Earth, he chose me because there was something different about me." ¡®Was that it?" ¡®I''m not sure." Shang thought about all of this for a couple more minutes, but he couldn''te up with any answers. Eventually, Shang became restless. He hadn''t trained in over a day, and he felt like he was beingzy. ¡®Yes, |prehended two powerful Concepts, but | don''t have the time to incorporate them into my fighting style for now. My longevity is close to running out, and | still need toprehend Void Casting." ¡®First, | need to finish Void Casting." ¡®Then, | need to reach the Sixth Realm." ¡®When I''ve done that, | can focus on the Concepts of Sickness and Weakness.¡¯ ¡®Anyway, I''m out of Furnace Pills. | should get two Grade Seven Mana Crystals worth of Furnace Pills for thest push." Shang took to the skies and flew to the Istion Barrier. He touched it and noticed that he could go through it without any issues. Shang left the Istion Barrier and flew towards Fleros. He didn''t notice it, but while he was leaving, he was being watched by Lucin. Lucin had aplex expression on his face. Naturally, he had witnessed everything that had happened. However, since he wasn''t supposed to help any Clouds, he didn''t interfere when Shang was about to die to the Death Mana. He had watched with interest and nervousness as Shang had nearly died. Lucin had already noticed that Shang was in danger several years ago. While Shang hadn''t known about Death Mana, Lucin had known about it. When Lucin had created the Istion Barrier, he hadn''t thought that he would identally create a Death Pit. In ancient times, some powerful Magesprehended the Concepts of Death with the help of Death Pits. These Death Pits were created by throwing others into deep holes filled with poison that slowly killed everyone that entered. By torturing and slowly killing an uncountable number of beings, the hole would be filled with dense Death Mana. Then, it would transform from a dangerous hole to a Death Pit. Nowadays, the Judgement Pce was the only Empire with a real Death Pit, and they only had that one because it was older than nearly every living Emperor. Naturally, this Death Pit couldn''t bepared to the tiny hill Shang had filled with Death Mana. The Judgment Pce''s Death Pit was an endless abyss of hopelessness and sorrow. The Judgment Pce''s Death Pit required many corpses to keep existing, but the Judgment Pce was exclusively using corpses from criminals. Nevertheless, the creation of new Death Pits was forbidden. All of humanity was already fighting against the Abominations. They couldn''t use people creating huge Death Pits by killing millions of beings every decade. In a way, Shang had vited thew by creating something like a Death Pit, but he actually hadn''t sacrificed anyone else. He had made the Death Pit with just his own suffering. When Lucin noticed that more and more Death Mana was gathering in the Istion Barrier, he became unsure of how to proceed. Lucin had created the Istion Barrier, and it was only supposed to help Shang if someone broke the rules. Yet, the Istion Barrier had now put Shang in danger, but the danger was self-inflicted. Naturally, Lucin wouldn''t protect Clouds from themselves. But he was the one that made the Istion Barrier. It was a veryplex situation. Lucin wasn''t sure how he should proceed, and since this involved internationalws, he decided to ask Queen Primordium for advice. Queen Primordium told Lucin that he shouldn''t interfere since Shang wasn''t actually breaking anyw. The way thew was worded meant that to break it, one needed to involve others, which Shang hadn''t done. However, Queen Primordium also told Lucin to keep tabs on Shang and to inform her if anything came of this situation. And Lucin decided to do that just now. Lucin might not know any Concept rted to Death, but he could feel when someoneprehended a Concept. He knew that Shang hadprehended two Concepts. Lucin told Queen Primordium about this. Queen Primordium thanked Lucin for the information and cut the connection. For some seconds, Lucin only looked at his deactivated Communication Crystal with uncertainty. Chapter 735 Chapter 735 Shang went to Fleros and bought another two Grade Seven Mana Crystals worth of Furnace Pills. Fleros had given Shang around 2,400 Furnace Pills ever since he had arrived in the Hibye, and Fleros still had difficulties wrapping his mind around the fact that Shang wanted more. Sure, people wanted to be more powerful, but this was just too extreme. Nevertheless, Fleros had decided to keep a stock of about 1,000 Furnace Pills, and that had been just enough since Shang had asked for 800 more. Shang left again and flew back to his Istion Barrier. "Wait a second!" someone shouted. Shang stopped and turned his head to the side. Awoman with blonde hair and blue eyes flew over to Shang. She wore white robes that did their best to hide her curves but failed. Shang didn''t say anything. ¡°Hey, so, ehm," she said as she looked to the side uncertainly, her fingers twiddling with each other. "Don''t you want to know why | stopped you?" she asked. Shang could tell that she was an early Archmage, which meant that she had just recently been a High Mage Cloud. Shang didn''t say anything. He just remained silent as he faced her. The Archmage grew nervous, and her face became a bit red. It was like she felt ufortable under Shang''s intense... stare? After a couple of seconds, Shang looked away again and continued flying. When the Mage saw that, her eyes widened in surprise. "Hey, wait!" "What?" Shang asked with annoyance as he turned to her again. Shang''s aggressive tone made the Mage recoil, but she wouldn''t stop now. "So, I''ve seen your fight, and | think you''re really strong." "| don''t care," Shang said coldly. "Next time, just say that you don''t have anything important to say." Then, Shang shot away. The Mage blinked a couple of times in shock. "Hey, wait!" But this time, Shang didn''t wait, and since Shang was three levels above her, he moved far faster. In just a second, Shang left the Mage''s Spirit Sense and reached his Istion Barrier. He entered without any issues. Acouple of secondster, the girl arrived in front of the Istion Barrier. "Hey, | just want to talk!" she shouted. Shang didn''t answer. "Come out, please," she shouted. Shang took out a Furnace Pill and consumed it. The Mage continued begging for Shang toe out and talk, but Shang was busy turning into weird flesh figures. Also, he didn''t care. After a couple of minutes, the Mage''s Aura changed. Earlier, she had seemed like an innocent girl, but now, she seemed like a cold and scheming empress. Then, she left without saying anything. Shang wasn''t surprised in any way. He already knew that every Cloud was his enemy. All the other Clouds wanted to kill him, and every Cloud that wanted to interact with him was obviously only someone that wanted to lure Shang to a dangerous location to kill him. All these Clouds were out to get him, and Shang knew that he wasn''t safe around them. He was forbidden from killing them, but if the opportunity presented itself, he would take advantage of it. Every dead Cloud would be one less enemy. The wealth he would gain was only secondary to getting rid of a threat. If he could, Shang would kill all the other Clouds. They were all dangerous! However, Shang knew that he couldn''t possibly do something like that. Just like the others, Shang had to follow the Lightning Manor''s rules. The pain continued. From time to time, the Bolts threw some nces at the Istion Barrier. Some of them also asked Lucin if that sad warrior was still in there, and Lucin just nodded. Was he still consuming Furnace Pills? Lucin nodded. The Bolts sighed. 20 yearster, Shang entered the Istion Chamber again. Consuming Furnace Pills had be very easy for Shang, but entering the Istion Chamber was still horrifying. The terror and horror Shang experienced inside the Istion Chamber always nearly broke him. When Shang exited, he felt exhausted and empty again, but this time, he knew what had happened. After getting rid of the Death Mana that had crept into his mind, Shang consumed the next Furnace Pill. He was over 90% done. Only 20 more years. Only one more trip into the Istion Chamber. Just a bit more! The frequency of appearances of Mages that wanted to talk to Shang became lower and lower. In thest 20 years, there had only been two. It seemed like people started to realize that they wouldn''t seed in getting Shang to talk to them. Years passed. More and more red sludge that had once been Shang gathered on the hill. By now, the Istion Barrier was not acting as a room but as a barrel filled with red sludge made of flesh, blood, and organs. The ground on the hill couldn''t be seen anymore, and a several-meter-highyer of organic sludge was on top of the hill. All of this represented Shang''s suffering. All of this represented Shang''s ambition. All of this represented Shang''s willpower. All of this represented Shang''s sacrifice. And all of this represented Shang''s power. This was Shang. This was who Shang was. And then, Shang used up hisst Furnace Pill. Shang''s Mana Pathways had already stopped expanding a couple of Furnace Pills ago, but Shang wanted to be absolutely sure that the next trip into the Istion Chamber would be hisst. Shang summoned the Istion Chamber, and itnded on the sludge below it. It didn''t stand straight on the red sludge but was partially buried, skewing its orientation and position. Shang didn''t care and entered it. The Istion Chamber closed. Inside the Istion Barrier on the hill was and filled with blood, flesh, and organs. In the middle of thisnd was a cube of pure ck material. The only sound in thisnd was the asional splosh of some flesh that slid down another piece of flesh. For the next two months, thisnd remained like this.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. And then, the ck cube opened. Chapter 736 Chapter 736 The door to the Istion Chamber opened, and a fleshy sludge was revealed. A momentter, green water appeared inside the Istion Chamber and coated the fleshy sludge. At the same time, all the Mana in the surroundings flowed into the Istion Chamber and vanished. After a couple of seconds, a person seemed to materialize in the sludge, and they eventually stepped out. Shang had recovered. This period of being in the Istion Chamber was just as horrible as all the previous ones. Shang could deal with a lot of suffering, but the Istion Chamber was still terrifying to him. And now, he was d. He was d that it was finally over. Shang focused on his body, and he could feel his Mana Pathways. They were so strong! They were even harder and tougher than his bones! In the True Path Stage, Shang had used his momentum to strengthen his Mana Pathways, and now, he had done the same thing again. The momentum fromprehending a couple of Concepts and two additional Paths with Imposes had fully been used up to increase the power of Shang''s Mana Pathways even more. Six Paths. Six Imposes. Several Concepts. World Connection. All of this had been pushed into Shang''s Mana Pathways. And now, Shang''s Mana Pathways were strong enough. Shang took a deep breath and just enjoyed the sensation of his power. Then, Shang took to the sky and flew out of the Istion Barrier. Now that there was no more Death Mana around him, Shang could try out his new power. He lifted his right arm and clenched his fist. WHOOOOM! All the Mana in the surroundings shot into Shang''s body. Shang felt his Mana Pathways swell up. The pressure inside them became more and more powerful. In just an instant, the pressure became so powerful that Shang''s Mana Pathways were close to bursting. Yet, Shang trusted in his training. He knew that this was a valid way to reach the next Realm, and the power of something like that couldn''t be so simple. So, Shang absorbed even more Mana. Shang''s Mana Pathways shook in stress, and several cracks appeared on them. Shang didn''t stop. More Mana entered his body. The shaking intensified. Shang took a deep breath. And then, something happened. The Mana inside Shang''s Mana Pathways vanished! It was like a dam had been broken, and the Mana surrounding Shang flooded into him like crazy. The surrounding kilometers of Mana werepletely absorbed by Shang. But it just kept going! The surrounding 50 kilometers were absorbed. The surrounding 500 kilometers were absorbed. And when Shang absorbed the surrounding 1,000 kilometers, it finally slowed down. Shang stopped absorbing Mana, and he took another deep breath. Right now, Shang had just as much Mana inside his Mana Pathways as always, but something had changed. Shang''s Mana Pathways. A tranquil blue glow surrounded Shang''s Mana Pathways. It was almost like his Mana Pathways had been painted with a bit of blue paint. Shang could feel it. The power of his Mana Pathways had increased severalfold. His Mana Pathways couldn''t bepared to before anymore. They were so incredibly hard! And even more, they had expanded! There were far more now! Each Mana Pathway Shang had created in the past now had several more Mana Pathwayse out of it, extending towards Shang''s skin. Shang''s Mana Pathways had created ayer just below his skin. When Shang saw that, he grew beyond excited. Earlier, his Mana Pathways had already been harder than his bones, and now, they had be several times harder than before! With every little part of his skin now being covered by his Mana Pathways, Shang realized that his defense had essentially quadrupled! Even more, since every bit of his body was now covered with Mana Pathways, Shang''s reaction time also increased! Lastly, the sheer pressure of the Mana Pathways pushed all the Mana into Shang''s muscles, organs, and bones, which meant that they were now filled with four times as much Mana as before. This meant that Shang''s speed and power had quadrupled! That was an increase of an entire level! On top of that, his defense also underwent a full-level increase! This meant that Shang''s body was on the level of the Initial Sixth Realm now! But he was still in the Peak Fusion Realm! And that wasn''t even everything! Shang felt that he could absorb an entire level of Mana for just an instant to strengthen his attack. However, using this ability would cost around 20% of Shang''s life energy. Nevertheless, the increase in his power shocked even Shang himself. Shang had expected to be far stronger, but he hadn''t expected the result to be this good! It was beyond shocking! And he wasn''t even at the Sixth Realm yet! He was still at the Peak Fusion Realm! This increase was ridiculous! It was absolutely ridiculous! It was like Shang was dreaming. His power had increased by so much! It had been worth it! All the suffering had been worth it! He made the right choice! Shang almost couldn''t believe it. Yet, a couple of kilometers away, someone was looking at him. It was Lucin. And right now, his eyes were filled with deep pity. What Lucin had just witnessed was tragic. Why did things have to end like this?N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. Yet, maybe, if it were him... Maybe he could do it? But the chances were tiny. They were minuscule. Lucin took a deep breath and flew over to Shang. "Shang," Lucin said. Shang was distracted by Lucin''s voice and looked over. "Yes?" he asked, not cold and emotionless for once. Shang could feel Lucin''s current mood, and he became confused. "Shang, | need to bring you to Queen Primordium," he said. Shang immediately became suspicious and alert. "Why?" he asked. Lucin took a deep breath. "You identally made a mistake that could kill you.¡± Shang became shocked. "Mistake?" Lucin nodded. "Just now, you identally consumed the entire momentum gained by understanding your version of Void Casting," Lucin said. Shang''s mind stopped working. "You can''t reach the Sixth Realm like this.¡± "You''re stuck at the Peak of the Fifth Realm.¡± Shang didn''t move. The couple of white hairs that had appeared on his head due to age just blew in the wind. Chapter 737 Chapter 737 Silence. Shang didn''t say anything for a long time. He had consumed his momentum? It was a simple sentence, but for some reason, Shang couldn''t understand it. What did Lucin mean by that he had consumed his momentum? Shang had finallyprehended his version of Void Casting, right? He needed that to reach the Sixth Realm, right? And now, he couldn''t reach the Sixth Realm? But he was already 900 years old! He only had a century left! "What?" Shang asked after several seconds. Lucin nodded. "You heard me correctly. You used up all of your momentum to transform your body just now. | couldn''t see what exactly you did since my Spirit Sense can''t look into your body, but | can feel that a monumental change has urred." ¡°And such a monumental change can only happen by consuming a significant amount of momentum." Shang couldn''t focus on anything, and he felt like the entire world was vanishing around him. That was impossible! How?! Shang''s mind recounted everything that had happened in thest couple of minutes. The passive increase of Shang''s Mana. The new ability to absorb an entire level of Mana and unleash it. Slowly, Shang started to understand what had happened. Earlier, he couldn''t believe that his power had increased by that much. After all, his entire body was essentially already a level higher, and with the additional active ability, Shang could increase his power by another level for one attack. In essence, Shang could unleash an attack two levels above himself just with those two things, which was ridiculously powerful. And exactly that was the problem. It was too much. It was too powerful. Shang had already known what his ability would be roughly. He knew that he would gain the ability to absorb a lot of Mana and add it to his power. This had been Shang''s goal from the beginning, and this had been what he had worked towards. So, where did that passive increase in Manae from? His momentum. Just like Shang had used up the momentum of his additional Imposes and Concepts to increase the power of his Mana Pathways, he had now used up the momentum of his Void Casting to increase the power of his Mana Pathways even further. Shang was supposed to stop, but he actually didn''t. Shang thought about what had happened again, and this time, he noticed something else. When Shang had absorbed even more Mana back then, his body had actually been screaming at him. It had been in unbearable pain. Shang had absorbed too much Mana, and it was screaming at him that he was about to die! Yet, Shang''s unreasonable resistance to pain and danger had made him blind to his body''s warnings, and he had just continued confidently. So, instead of exploding and dying, Shang''s body converted the momentum into even more power. With all of this, Shang''s Battle-Strength had essentially reached unprecedented levels. But... For how long? Shang was already around 900 years old. He barely had a century left! He only had a single century to gain enough momentum to reach the Sixth Realm! ¡°Hey, wake up!" Shang''s head snapped to Lucin, who had just shouted. "| know this is a big shock, but we don''t have any time to waste," Lucin said. "Usually, | am not someone that protects Clouds from their own decisions, but | think your case is special due to the Concepts youprehended and the way you have used up your momentum." "You have probably gained incredible power with that move, but you also blocked your only path out of this situation." ¡°However, if we can make use of this situation and get you out of it, we might be able to gain an extremely powerful King in the future." ¡°Maybe we can make you powerful enough to resist King Sanctified Death."Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. "So, for the good of the Lightning Manor, | need you to pull yourself together and follow me to Queen Primordium," Lucin said. Shang heard Lucin''s words, and he realized that things might not be as dire as he believed. Maybe, there was a way out of this. "Yes, you''re right," Shang said with a nod. Lucin also nodded and summoned a small Transportation te below Shang. "To believe that you would get to enter the Lightning Manor again after only a bit more than a century," Lucin said with a sigh. Shang didn''t answer, and the two of them shot toward the Lightning Manor. For a while, Shang thought about all the possible ways out of this situation. He just needed to reach the next Realm, which meant that he just needed enough momentum for a major breakthrough. The quality of the breakthrough itself wasn''t that important. Byprehending his own version of Void Casting, Shang''s being had already entered apletely new level. He just needed a way to reach the Sixth Realm. And he already had a n. However, he still wanted to talk to Queen Primordium. Maybe he was wrong, or maybe there was more to this entire thing. It would help to have a powerful Mage King take a look at Shang. For a moment, Shang focused on Lucin. If Lucin hadn''t exactly told him what happened and if he hadn''t immediately offered to bring Shang to Queen Primordium... Things could have turned out horrible. "Thank you," Shang said. "No problem,¡± Lucin answered absentmindedly. He didn''t think much of it. Shang became silent again and focused on the surroundings. He was telling himself that he was calm and that there was nothing he needed to worry about, but he was still worried. The two of them broke through the Lightning Sea and reached the Lightning Manor in a timely manner. Afternding, the two of them entered the Lightning Manor and directly headed for Queen Primordium''s room. Lucin quickly used the Spell to inform Queen Primordium about what had happened. Luckily, Queen Primordium opened her door after just a couple of seconds. "Yes?" she asked. "We have a problem,¡± Lucin said. Shang still couldn''t see Queen Primordium, but he could feel that she was analyzing him. Then, Shang felt the surrounding space shake intensely. Chapter 738 Chapter 738 The space around Shang shook due to Queen Primordium''s shock. As a Mage King, Queen Primordium had a very close connection to the world, and her perception could pick up things that even millions of Mage Lords couldn''t. Obviously, since Shang was here, this meant that Lucin''s problem was rted to Shang. So, she analyzed Shang very quickly, and what she saw made her question reality for just an instant. It was a being at the Initial Sixth Realm that was at the Peak Fifth Realm. It made no sense. The very thing that made up Realms was the amount of Mana one could have inside of themselves. Many different Mages from many different levels knew many different Concepts and many different Spells. The Battle-Strength of every Mage was made up of innumerable different things. Yet, the Realm was always the same. Sure, under some circumstances, one could have more Mana than normal, but that advantage woulde with a disadvantage, which mostly was a weakening of someone''s control. Due to the amount of Mana in someone''s being, a sort of pressure and Aura formed around that person, which told other people at what level they were. Awarrior with a Diamond Body might have more Mana than an Impose Stage warrior, but it wasn''t nearly as ridiculous as an entire increase of a level. Even more, the instability of these warriors¡¯ control could also be felt in their Auras. But Shang was different. Right now, Shang was a walking impossibility. He exhibited the pressure of someone in the Initial Sixth Realm, but he had the unmistakable Aura of someone in the Peak Fifth Realm. There was no sign of any sort of disadvantage that came with having that much Mana. It literally was just like Shang had four times as much Mana as he should have. But that was absolutely ridiculous! Queen Primordium had never even heard of something like that! However, Queen Primordium was a Mage King, and her mind moved at speeds that no one couldprehend. She quickly found a way this could have happened, and she realized how problematic this could be. "You consumed your momentum?" she asked. Shang and Lucin nodded. Shang couldn''t see it, but Queen Primordium was frowning as she bit her lower lip with her teeth. This was bad. This was really bad! ¡°How much longer do you have?" she asked. ¡°About a century," Shang answered. REALLY bad! Queen Primordium took a deep breath. "Shang, | need to bring you to the Custodian again. Something like this has never happened before, but | think I''ve found some crucial information about your condition. However, | need the Custodian''s opinion since | want to be absolutely sure." Lucin and Shang nodded solemnly. Lucin stayed in front of Queen Primordium''s room while Shang and Queen Primordium walked to the Custodian''s room. Queen Primordium knocked, and the Custodian came out of his room. "Vana, so nice to see you again," he said with a polite smile. Then, he focused on Shang, and his eyebrows shot up. "Oh my," he said with a troubled voice. "That''s bad.¡± Queen Primordium only looked at the Custodian. "I''ve never seen anything like it, but | think this condition is even more troublesome than | have initially believed, which is why | brought him here." The Custodian looked at Shang for a couple of seconds as he scratched his chin.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Then, he nodded. "You''re correct, Vana. Based on the Fundamental Mana Theory, the Seventh Law of Mana Conservation, and the Thread Theory, the total weight of our little friend''s being has drastically increased." Shang couldn''t see it, but Queen Primordium narrowed her eyes. "Then, there''s no way?" "I''ve got a question,¡± Shang suddenly said. "If | only need enough momentum to reach the Sixth Realm, wouldn''t the comprehension of a level three Concept be enough?" "Usually, yes," Queen Primordium answered. When Shang heard the word usually, his insides seized. "However, your case is special. You have added so much Mana into your being that your weight has increased by a level. Moving something heavy takes more energy than moving something light.¡± "A level three Concept would have enough power to throw someone through the gate to the next Realm, but your being has be too weighty." "A level three Concept doesn''t have enough force to push you to the Sixth Realm," Queen Primordium answered. When Shang heard that, he had to take a deep breath. Comprehending a level three Concept had already been nearly impossible. After all, Shang''s mind wouldn''t reach the Peak Fifth Realm within the next century, which meant that Shang would need toprehend a Concept that would be powerful enough for an Archmage to be an Ancestral Mage. Many Archmages would never be able toprehend a level three Concept in a thousand years, and Shang would need to do just that in just a hundred years. Yet, not even that was enough! "| think two level three Concepts should be enough," Wester said. Two level three Concepts. The weight of Shang''s current situation pressed down on his shoulders. Shang had already thought aboutprehending another Path and another Impose, but that would also take extremely long. Sure, Shang had a more powerful mind and more experience, butprehending apletely new Path still took a lot of trial and error. Compared toprehending a Concept, creating a Path was a lot of manualbor. It was just a lot of moving around and refining techniques. Inparison, a Concept could beprehended in a much quicker fashion since one only needed to understand how something worked. Shang estimated that he might be able toprehend a level three Concept in thest century. After all, he had already comprehended several Concepts, his mind had be quite powerful, and he had the Lightning Manor as his backer. It should be possible. But two? Two was basically impossible. ¡°But there may be a way,¡± the Custodian said. Shang''s head lifted, and he focused on the Custodian. Then, the Custodian looked at Queen Primordium. "Haven''t you told me something interesting about our little friend here just a couple of years ago?" "With a lot of luck and a lot of hard work, he might only need toprehend a single level three Concept." "But it will be beyond difficult." Chapter 739 Chapter 739 Shang sat alone in front of a brightly shining stone in an impossibly dark cave. Even though the stone was shining brightly, the light seemingly vanished after just a couple of meters, leaving deep darkness behind. This was the Twilight Cave, and it was the best ce for the Clouds toprehend the Concept of Twilight. Sadly, this ce saw visitors only very rarely since everyone with a Twilight Affinity would prefer to enter the Twilight Dusk Family. Naturally, the Lightning Manor couldn''tpare to the Twilight Dusk Family when it came to raising people with a Twilight Affinity. The Twilight Cave was made of metal that gave off Darkness Mana, and the stone in the middle of the cave was made of metal that gave off Light Mana. The Light Mana and Darkness Mana would sh and cancel each other out. Naturally, to keep the Light Mana from beingpletely used up, the Lightning Manor needed to use up a lot of Light Mana Crystals, but they were willing to pay a lot for their Clouds. At that moment, Shang''s white hair hung from his head like straw. In thest couple of decades, Shang''s appearance had undertaken a drastic change. His ck hair hadpletely vanished, reced by the typical white hair of a very old man. Many wrinkles were on Shang''s face, and some skin hung from his chin. Shang was bing old. He had been in this cave for over 50 years now, but he still hadn''tprehended the Concept of Twilight. Due to the order in which Shang hadprehended his Concepts, the Concept of Twilight had transformed to be as difficult to comprehend as a level three Concept. Just like the God had said after thest trial, there was no inherent level to Concepts. It only depended on in which order one comprehended Concepts of a certain group. Shang had told everyone that he had saved the Concept of Twilight for when he needed toprehend a quick Concept, and this was the best time for it. The Custodian and Queen Primordium didn''t question Shang''s decision. At the moment, the Child of Cmity and Shang didn''t even connect in any way in their mind, and even if they did, the Lightning Emperor had already taken a look at Shang, right? So, if the Lightning Emperor didn''t identify Shang as the Child of Cmity, what made them think that they could? Usually, the Concept of Twilight was either viewed as a level one or level two Concept, but it also didn''t seem impossible that it could be a level three Concept. In the end, they gave Shang free reign on whatever he wanted toprehend and wherever. Naturally, he would need to pay for whatever he used if he managed to survive. For 50 years, Shang had been sitting in front of this stone, trying toprehend Twilight. Yet, it just wasn''t that easy. It was a level three Concept, and Shang''s mind hadn''t even reached the peak of the Fifth Realm. Shang was absorbing all the Light and Darkness Mana into his inner world and kept fighting several powerful enemies to comprehend the Concept of Twilight. But it was just so difficult. It was so insanelyplex! Yet, Shang couldn''t stop. This was his only shot. The Custodian had told Shang about the second level three Concept he could try toprehend. The level three Concept of Death, Purgatory. Based on what he had said, the best way toprehend Purgatory was to be as close to death as possible for an extended period of time. Apparently, the Death Empress had once put herself into an intense and dangerousa for a very long time via a Spell. She would only wake up when sheprehended the Concept of Purgatory. Otherwise, she would die. Naturally, she had seeded, but this had still been one of the most dangerous moments of her life. Shang needed toprehend two level three Concepts in just a hundred years, which would be almost impossible. But that was exactly where the Concept of Purgatory came in. Just like with the first two Concepts of Death Shang hadprehended, the level three Concept of Death could also be comprehended within a day. However, it was extremely dangerous, and if Shang failed, he would die. Just like the Death Empress back then. But first, Shang needed toprehend the Concept of Twilight. Without it, the Concept of Purgatory would be useless. So, Shang continued focusing on the Concept of Twilight. Another decade passed, and Shang was now 960 years old. Shang''s Aura had be far weaker than before. It was almost like it was the weak me of a dying candle. Due to the weakening of Shang''s Aura, his clothing also started to get exposed to the natural forces, tearing in several ces and getting dirty. The bandages around Shang''s eye sockets had lost their firmness and began to droop a bit. Shang''s body had shrunk by quite a bit, but his back was still as straight as it had been 60 years ago. He was still trying toprehend the Concept of Twilight. Another ten years passed. Shang was now 970 years old. The bandages around his head nearly fell off, and Shang''s robes had be too big for his withered body, halfway sliding down his torso.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. Shang''s skin was no longer pure white, and several brown spots could now be seen all over his body. Another ten years passed. The bandages had fallen down from Shang''s face, revealing his wrinkly and empty eye sockets. Shang''s teeth had already all fallen out, and his gums had receded. Ten more years passed. Shang was now 990 years old. Shang''s robes had turned into just a couple of stray pieces of cloth, basically covering nothing of his body anymore. He might as well have been naked. Shang''s Aura had be dangerously weak, and the surroundings in his Spirit Sense had started to distort. It was almost like Shang was in a dream. Everything seemed to flow into everything else, and many things stopped making sense. And then, Shang fell backward, nearly breaking his bones in the process. Shang nowy on the ground, just facing the top of the Twilight Cave. He was breathing heavily since his body was no longer absorbing enough Mana on its own, forcing him to inhale Mana by breathing. However, right now, there was only one thing on Shang''s mind. The Concept of Purgatory. He needed toprehend the Concept of Purgatory now. Acouple of seconds ago, Shang had finally managed toprehend the Concept of Twilight, which had taken him over 90 years toprehend. Even more, he might not even have seeded at all if it hadn''t been for his extremely warped perception due to old age. In a certain way, Shang''s old age had worked simrly to a Mind Flow Pellet, making his mind move to very different things. He had finallyprehended the Concept of Twilight, and now, he was only missing thest Concept. The Concept of Purgatory. The only sound in the cave was the sound of Shang''sbored breathing as hey in front of the shining stone. And then, more time passed... Chapter 740 Chapter 740 Shang just kept lying in the middle of the cave, breathing heavily. He was so old. He was so weak. He was so tired. Yet, there was nothing he could do but try to learn as much about his current situation as possible. He had arrived at the end of his life, but there was still a way to extend it. Shang hadn''t achieved his goal yet, and he wouldn''t stop trying to achieve it. How many people knew the level three Concept of Death? Extremely few. The Concepts of Death were just as rare as the Concepts of Life, and the only two people Shang knew that hadprehended any of these Concepts were Queen Primordium and the Custodian. The Custodian hadprehended two Concepts of Life. But that was it. Shang knew two Concepts of Death, which basically already put him on the level of one of the most powerful Mage Kings in the world. Comprehending the level three Concept of Death would be even more difficult. Yet, Shang wouldn''t give up. He never gave up. Ever since he had started on his path to power, he hadn''t given up. This was his entire thing. This was his entire personality. Single-minded obsession with only one thing. Undying and ceaseless effort towards one thing. Shang had sacrificed so much just to achieve his goal. But if he failed now, all of this would have been for nothing. All these sacrifices would only have meant something if Shang actually managed to reach his goal. Shang was not someone that was happy with what he had. To Shang, there was no grey, only ck and white. Either he achieved his goal or not. To him, dying as a powerful Cloud was worth just as much as dying to a Pest Cat when he had just arrived in this world. For the first time in a long while, Shang actually thought back to his life on Earth. It was so far away. MMA fighter? Phones? Grocery stores? What a weird world. The things people came up with in a world without Mana. Shang remembered working on getting enough money to enter college. He also remembered how he had basically been a drunkard a year before that due to his destroyed ankle. He once had a girlfriend, whom he had essentially chased off by constantlying home drunk and being aggressive. He had parents. Parents... What a strange and alien concept. Family... Then, Shang''s mind wandered to the time he had died. He had been so weak. He couldn''t even take out two robbers. He remembered the God and how he had felt after entering Aterium. The unknown forest.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. The magical feeling ofing into contact with Mana for the first time. The following training. This had been so much fun. Shang had only needed to train in istion. Acouple of swings with his sword was all the training he needed. When Shang thought about his sword, his weak Spirit Sense focused on the Subsis lying beside him. "Sword, huh?" he said weakly in a scratchy voice. Sword didn''t answer. Shang''s mind returned to the times he had trained together with Sword. They had talked and trained together. It was so much fun. And then, Shang was reminded of the first time he had truly used Entropy in the outside world. Commander Wilbury. Back then, Sword had shouted at him, saying that it didn''t want to be alone. "A mirror, huh?" Shang said. Sword didn''t say anything. ¡°You were always a mirror. You always showed me what | didn''t see on my own." Sword didn''t say anything. "| don''t even know why I''m talking to you," Shang said. Sword didn''t say anything. "Aplex and fluid Magic Circle," Shang said. "The level two Concept of Life, Change, the level three Concept of Gravity, Compression, the level two Concept of Space, Distance, the level three Concept of Metal, Steel, and the most impressive of all, the level five Concept of Metal, Destruction." Sword didn''t say anything. "By using all of these Concepts, you can create aplex Magic Circle that shows whatever would help the user the most." ¡°Back then, | wanted apanion." "A friend that had just as much ambition as me." "We talked, and we both worked towards the same goal." ¡°Because that''s what | wanted," Shang said. Sword didn''t say anything. "George''sst wish was revenge, which was thest input his spear had received." "Like a program, it did its absolute best to achieve that goal.¡± ¡°And that''s because it was a program.¡± "Just like you," Shang said. Sword didn''t say anything. "| don''t even know why | am talking to you right now. Maybe it''s just ast bit of sce | wish for." "Maybe, just maybe, | want to be proven wrong." "Back when | consumed that Mind Flow Pellet in the Temple of Blood, | realized it." "You''re not actually alive.¡± "You''ve never been alive.¡± Silence. Shang slowly and weakly opened his hand. "Come," he said. Sword flew over and obedientlynded in Shang''s hand. "You''re just a mirror." "You''re just me." "You''ve always been just me." "I''m just talking to myself." Sword didn''t say anything. Or, more urately, Shang''s sword didn''t say anything. "What is it?" Shang said. "What is the thing | wish for the most right now?" ¡°What is my deepest desire?" Shang weakly focused on his sword. It vibrated weakly. However, Shang understood it. "What a useless answer," Shang said. "It can be interpreted in so many different ways." Shang became quiet and only continued breathing heavily. What was he supposed to do with that answer? No matter how he spun it, that couldn''t resolve any of Shang''s issues. For the next years, Shang continued lying on the ground, bing weaker and weaker. He had no idea how toprehend the level three Concept of Death, Purgatory. He just couldn''t tell what he should focus on. Yet, again and again, Shang found himself thinking about the answer the sword had given him. But he had no idea what the point of that was. What was Shang''s deepest desire? ¡°Peace, huh?" Shang said with a barely audible voice. Shang was nearly dead. Chapter 741 Chapter 741 Time passed. Shang just kept breathing heavily as he became weaker and weaker. Alot of his grit and willpower had already vanished, and he felt like dying wouldn''t be such a bad idea anymore. However, Shang also recognized that this was the effect of Death Mana entering his mind. There was no Death Mana around Shang, but Shang''s mind was still slowly being filled with Death Mana. That was just natural. This was how Death Mana worked. At some point, the body and mind would start to produce Death Mana at a slow rate, and the Death Mana would slowly overtake the body. First came the sickness. Old people would be ill many more times than younger people. Then came weakness. The increased density of Death Mana would weaken the body and the mind. The body wouldn''t be able to summon as much power as before, and the mind wouldn''t be able to focus as much. In this state, summoning one point of willpower was as difficult as summoning ten points of willpower when one was younger. Theck of willpower and motivation would tire someone out, and they would just want to sleep and rx. This was death. The end of life. Shang was so tired. He just didn''t want to continue anymore. He had fought for so long. He had suffered for so long. So what if he didn''t achieve his goal? Right now, he just wanted to sleep and forget about all of this. Nothing mattered since everyone would someday die anyway. What''s the point of being the strongest if he would just die in a million years or whatever anyway? Every person was just a transient visitor to life. Someone poor and weak without a family mightpletely vanish from the world within 20 years. Anormal mortal might die within 80. Their grandchildren would still remember them, but would the children of the grandchildren remember the mortal? What about those children? And the children of those? At some point, the mortal would bepletely forgotten. No one would remember them. No one would remember what they had done. What was the difference between them existing and not existing? The existence of the children? That lineage would eventuallye to an end as well, and then what? And what about a powerful Mage? Wasn''t it just the same but on a bigger scale? Many of the Mage Emperors had been friends with the Mage God, which meant that they all were less than 500,000 years old. Sure, that was a lot of time, but had the world existed for only those 500,000 years? Just Earth alone had existed for over four billion years. How long had this world existed? What had happened in the past? Had there been extremely powerful geniuses that could rival the Mage God a million years ago? Ten million years ago? A hundred? Who was the one that reached the Ninth Realm first? Wasn''t this person why every Emperor that lived today was in the Ninth Realm? Yet, nobody remembered. Nobody knew. Arguably the most influential person in existence was someonepletely unknown. And that was it. Even the most powerful and influential person would one day be forgotten by the world. Supreme power? Death woulde for you anyway. Your power didn''t matter. Your age didn''t matter. Your prestige didn''t matter. Your actions didn¡¯t matter. Everything was pointless. So, why try? Why not just sleep? What was the point of chasing a temporary goal? Shang''s mind felt more and more exhausted. Everything seemed so pointless. Everything was so tiresome and so exhausting. If he died now, everyone would forget him after a couple more years, and even if he reached the Ninth Realm, people would still forget him. It would just take more years. So, what''s the difference between dying now and dying then? Why put up this pointless fight? Shang became weaker and weaker. The world around him became darker. His Spirit Sense couldn''t even extend out of his body anymore. Shang''s breathing slowed, which meant that less Mana was entering his body now. His skin started to dry out and took on a grey tone. Shang''s muscles hurt since they were nearly being torn apart by the natural action of just lying there. Like liquid, they just wanted to flow apart. Most people would have already died. This was the reason why so many people didn''t stubbornly cling to life when their end hade. An ancient and happy grandpa would willingly go to eternal sleep after seeing all his loved ones onest time. A bitter grandpa would no longer care and just go to eternal sleep to escape his regrets. Agood grandpa would be epting of his destiny and tell everyone that his time hade. An evil grandpa would be killed by others or refuse to witness themselves bing so weak, ending it early. This was no longer living. Not being able to move. Not being able to sense one''s surroundings. Having to put in so much effort just to breathe. What was the point of continuing? Shang''s body grew even weaker. His mind was slowly thinking about his life. The wilderness. The Hegemon. Jerald. Warrior''s Paradise. George. Mervin. The Skythunder Kingdom. The Grandmountain Kingdom. The war. The Council. The isted training. Jerald''s death. The journey to the Twilight Dusk Family''s territory. The Temple of Blood. Icy Bastion. Lucin. The Clouds. The Furnace Pills. The Istion Chamber. Void Casting. The Concept of Twilight. Old age. This had been Shang''s life. Just one more Cloud that would die in the Hibye. Thinking became more difficult. Shang just focused on his body. And he just kept focusing. And kept focusing. And kept focusing. Aday passed. Aweek passed. Amonth passed. Ayear passed. Shang had just be 1001 years old. He looked identical to how he had looked a year ago. He had not grown weaker. He had not grown stronger. He couldn''t move, and he couldn''t sense his surroundings. He refused to die. Shang wanted to sleep more than anything at all, but there was one thought that kept him going. For his entire life, he had always given his best.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. He had always put in 100%. Full effort for every second of every minute of every day of every year. That was all he had left. Effort. Shang didn''t manage to achieve his goal, but at least he had given his best. Like in a race, Shang wouldn''t be the winner, but he would give his best until the race was over. It was sportsmanship. Athleticism. So, even though Shang wanted to die, he would give his all to stay alive until the very end. Only when he had nothing left to give would he die. That was his sole reason for still hanging on. Just fight. Never stop. Always go forward. And if you fail on the way, so what? At least you''ve given your all. Chapter 742 Chapter 742 When confronted by death, many people would think about their life and reevaluate past decisions. What were their regrets? What would they have changed? Maybe they shouldn''t have been so strict with their children? Maybe they shouldn''t have broken up with their first love? If they hadn''t taken out that loan from those dangerous people, their children would have something to inherit today? Naturally, Shang wasn''t any different. Should he have been more amongst people? Should he have epted the Sweeper''s confession? Should he have spared Jerald? Shang thought about all of these things. And he acknowledged something. He would be happier if he had someone with him. It would feel nice not to be alone right now. Everything was so painful, exhausting, dark, and lonely. Shang knew that he would feel better if he hadn''t been so brutal and inflexible in his past. However, did this mean that Shang would have changed his past actions if he could? No. If he hadn''t killed Lash, the Grandmountain Kingdom might have killed him. If he hadn''t killed Jerald, he would have eventually caved in and told someone. If he hadn''t declined the Sweeper''s advances, Shang wouldn''t have had enough time toprehend his form of Void Casting or the Concept of Twilight. Yes, he felt lonely, and he wished that someone was at his side. However, Shang knew that this luxury woulde with a price he wouldn''t want to pay. And then came another thought. So what? Since everyone would die, it didn''t matter what one aplished in their life. Might as well die happy and surrounded by loved ones, right? However, that was only true when death was a certainty. At this moment, Shang kept putting in effort. Shang still had hope. What if there were loved ones around him? Wouldn''t they feel horrible by watching him suffer? Wouldn''t they tell him to give up and just go to sleep? And would Shang do that? Probably. He was barely hanging on as it was. Any person that told him to just rest might tip him over the edge. Having a loved one at his side would take away all hope. It would transform his likely death into a certain death. They would essentially kill him and believe that this was the right thing to do. But this was his life! And he had the right to fight for his life! So, in the end, Shang was d that there was no loved one around him. He didn''t want them. He didn''t need them! Their weakness would make him weak! So what if he was about to die?! At least he would die fighting! Shang kept focusing on his body, and he kept breathing weakly. But he kept breathing. He kept fighting. One more year passed. And another year passed. Shang was now well over the maximum lifespan of someone at the Fifth Realm, and any other person would have long since died. But he wouldn''t give up. He would never stop! If death wanted to take him, it needed toe for him personally! More years passed. Eventually, Shang became 1010 years old. He hadn''t moved a single muscle in thest ten years. His skin had already split at multiple locations, and the Death Mana in his body had started to leak out into the surroundings. Shang was a corpse that was unwilling to die. He couldn''t do anything. He couldn''t even feel his surroundings. But he wasn''t dead. Every waking moment was agony, but he still kept going. Was this living? ording to most people''s standards, no. This couldn''t be considered living. However, to Shang, this was still living. As long as his consciousness still existed, he would be alive. As long as he could think, he was still alive. Yet, Shang couldn''t interact with the living world. His entire perception was confined in his own body. He was counting himself as alive, but in truth, he wasn''t doing more than a stone lying at the side of a road. Was it life? No. Was it death? No. It was something between these two. Shang was neither alive nor dead. It was limbo. Or Purgatory. This was Purgatory. This was what Shang had been searching for. After ten years in this state, Shang had gained a special feeling. This mixture of feelings could only be understood by people that went through the same thing that Shang had gone through. It was so profound, unique, and special, but also simple. And he understood. He understood what it meant to be in Purgatory.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. As soon as Shang realized that he hadprehended the level three Concept of Death, Purgatory, his mind basically exploded with willpower. WHOOOM! Shang''s legs turned to dust as he sacrificed them to the Domain of Entropy. The Domain of Entropy cleaned the remainder of Shang''s body of all Death Mana, and Shang felt all the power return to him for just a moment. But a moment was all he needed. Shang''s Spirit Sense extended out of his body for the first time in a decade, and Shang willed all the Mana in his surroundings to enter his body. Void Casting filled all of his body with Mana, and Shang immediately tried to digest all of it. Shang''s body shook and nearly broke apart under the strain. And then, his mind reached for more Mana. He needed more! He wanted more power! He needed more power! BOOOOM! And then, all the Mana in the surroundings entered Shang''s body of its own volition. It was the sign of a breakthrough. Someone was reaching the Sixth Realm! Shang''s body was being lifted up. His legs healed. The tears in his skin closed. The Death Mana left his body. Shang felt incredible power enter his body. After being weak for so long, having that much power felt unreal. He was so powerful! He could do everything! As more and more Mana entered Shang''s body, Shang reflected on thest ten years. ¡®If | had loved ones, | would be dead right now.¡¯ ¡®My emotions might regret the path | have chosen, but my mind doesn''t regret it!" ¡®All my sacrifices were worth it!" ¡®Without all my sacrifices, where would | be?¡¯ ¡®I''ve done the right thing!" ¡®And | would do it again!¡¯ Chapter 743 Chapter 743 As soon as Shang''s body recovered, the amount of Mana flowing into him increased more and more. First, the Mana had only entered his body to heal him, but now, it was actually pushing him to the next Realm. The Mana around the Twilight Cave also began to travel towards Shang, and that wasn''t even close to everything. In a matter of seconds, the surrounding 1,000 kilometers began to flow towards Shang. Then, the surrounding 5,000 kilometers. The surrounding 10,000 kilometers. Eventually, even the surrounding 100,000 kilometers began to flow into Shang. The Mana in the entire Hibye was entering Shang''s body to assist in his breakthrough. That was normal. Whenever anyone in the Hibye became an Ancestral Mage, the entire Mana in the Hibye flowed into them. This showed how ridiculously much Mana Ancestral Mages needed. A Mage Lord might even absorb all the Mana in over a million kilometers around them, which was a significant part of an Empire. This was a very good example of how little Mana the world actually had. How much Mana would a Mage King consume? AMage King might actually consume all the Mana in several Empires. Yet, surprisingly, no one noticed a drop in Mana whenever a new Mage King appeared. Most people wouldn''t even notice the absence of such an event. However, the more powerful people noticed, but they also knew why there was no event. Obviously, the Mana of a dead Mage King was directly infused into the new Mage King. In a way, it was like an inheritance. The Peak Mage Lord would absorb all the Mana of the dead Mage King and reach the Eighth Realm. That was why there was no huge event when a new Mage King appeared. But it was already noticeable enough when someone became an Ancestral Mage or Mage Lord. These were events that everyone in a huge radius would notice. The Clouds in the Hibye became annoyed when all the Mana started to vanish, but they were already used to it. Every couple of years, someone would be an Ancestral Mage here, and the same thing happened every time. The Clouds just waited until the breakthrough wasplete, and the Mana got refilled. Yet, what the Clouds didn''t notice was that it didn''t just stop there. Usually, someone that broke into the Ancestral Mage Realm would consume all the Mana in the entire Hibye, but today, even more Mana was absorbed. The Mana Shang was absorbing stretched out of the Hibye, and reached a distance of 150,000 kilometers. In terms of area, this was already over double as much as a radius of 100,000 kilometers, and in terms of volume, it was even crazier. Why did Shang suddenly consume that much more Mana than everyone else? Because of his body and mind. Mages only needed enough Mana to push their minds to the next Realm. They didn''t need any Mana for their bodies.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Awarrior with a warrior body would only need enough Mana to push their body to the next Realm. They didn''t need any Mana for their minds. But Shang used both. His mind had already been close to the Peak of the Archmage Realm, and the sudden influx of Mana had pushed it to the actual Peak of the Archmage Realm. And now, it was also being pushed to the Sixth Realm alongside his body. Because of that, Shang needed double the amount of Mana to reach the next Realm. However, that wasn''t the end. Shang''s body had been changed by his own version of Void Casting. By consuming all this momentum, Shang''s entire body had been altered, and it could essentially hold four times as much Mana as normal. So, the pull of the Mana stretched out even further. 175,000 kilometers. 200,000 kilometers. 225,000 kilometers. And eventually, it reached 250,000 kilometers. The pull of Mana was insane. Most people didn''t notice since Shang''s pull extended far further than their Spirit Senses could reach, but Lucin could tell that something was different based on the strength of the pull. Lucin was currently above his house, and when he felt the insanely powerful pull of Manaing from the Twilight Caves, he almost couldn''t believe it. He had visited Shang a couple of times, but Shang had never noticed since his perception had been stuck inside his own body. Every time Lucin hade, he had assumed that Shang was about to die any minute now. He had alreadymented the death of such a genius many times. Yet, Shang just kept surviving. And now, he was actually breaking through! It was difficult for Lucin toe to terms with Shang''s breakthrough, but in the end, he could only sigh in relief. But there was also something else. Excitement. By consuming all this momentum, Shang had essentially done something that had never been done before as far as he knew. Instead of getting enough momentum to break through into the next Realm, Shangprehended enough to create a fivefold Spirit Sense and thenpletely consumed all of the momentum. How many people couldprehend something above their Realm? How many True Mages couldprehend a level two Concept before bing a High Mage? Nearly no one. Comprehending something like this was so brutally difficult that there was only one person every couple of centuries, and this person would have a fivefold Spirit Sense. Yet, Shang had actuallypletely consumed this thing and thenprehended enough to create a twofold Spirit Sense after that. It was beyond ridiculous. Inside the Twilight Cave, Shang''s body began to shine brightly as more and more Mana entered his body. His Mana Pathways began to shine more and more, and the space inside them seemed to vibrate under the sheer pressure they were under. Shang''s Mana Pathways were so ridiculously hard and powerful that just a small cut in them would release so much Mana that it would kill a True Path Stage Abomination. Shang''s body was so ridiculously powerful. Ata base level, Shang''s body was already quite a lot more powerful than a beast''s body, and with the added power of his transformed Mana Pathways, Shang''s body had reached a level where it was even stronger than a beast''s body an entire level above him. At this moment, Shang could punch an Early Ancestral Beast to death with just his fists. On top of that, his mind was also no longer below him in level. He also had the mind of someone at the Initial Ancestral Mage Realm. All of Shang''s weaknesses had vanished. After so much suffering, torture, sacrifice, and pain, Shang had finally achieved a level that closed in on perfection. This was the day. This was the very day on which Shang had stepped out from the masses and reached a level that separated him from the world. The difference between an average Mage and a Cloud was now just as big as the difference between a Cloud and Shang. In the True Path Stage, the God had said that Shang belonged to the top 2,000 people in his Realm. In the Fusion Realm, the God had said that Shang was in the top ten but also that there were two people that were definitely more powerful. However, these two people were already Mage Lords. And now? Shang was number one. There was no contest. Although, if one looked further... Right now, Shang''s Spirit Sense stretched to a radius of 3,000 kilometers, which was six times as much as a normal Ancestral Mage''s Spirit Sense. While there was no Mage Lord or weaker in the world with such a strong Spirit Sense, there was a Mage King with aparable one. King Sanctified Death was the only person in the world that was on Shang''s level. Chapter 744 Chapter 744 The Mana in Shang''s Mana Pathways solidified. At least, it looked like a solid mass due to the ridiculous density of the Mana. Yet, if one used enough force, it could still be molded. In a way, it was almost like hot iron that could only be molded by a powerful hammer blow. All the additional Mana Pathways across Shang''s body were filled to the brim with solid and powerful Mana. Shang''s body was ridiculously powerful, heavy, and hard right now. Finally, Shang reached the Sixth Realm. It had taken so long. Shang had used up all of his longevity, and he had even managed to survive for an additional ten years just due to his willpower. And it had been worth it. The ten past years of suffering had been worth it. Shang managed to survive, and he managed to reach an incredible level of power. Eventually, all the Mana Shang had used up was refilled by more Mana from outside this ce flowing into it. Yet, the world''s density of Mana had be lower, even if the difference was imperceptibly small. In just a couple of hours, an Ancestral Mage would die somewhere, and the density of the atmosphere would nearly reach its old levels again. The amount of Mana the Ancestral Mages held within them was just a little bit below the threshold of being noticeable in the grand scheme of things. As for Mage Lords, the more perceptive Mage Lords could roughly tell how many Mage Lords there were in the world based on the Mana density in the atmosphere. Since the Mana of the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors never entered or exited the atmosphere, the biggest changes in the world''s Mana density were the Mage Lords. One additional Mage Lord would already reduce the world''s Mana by 0.001%. That didn''t seem like a lot, but one had to know that this was all the Mana of the entire world. Inparison, all the money in cirction on Earth amounted to a bit less than 50 trillion dors. 0.001% of that would be 500 million dors. That was quite a bit of money. However, one also had to keep in mind that Aterium was far bigger than Earth, which meant that such a percentage from Aterium was more ridiculous than having 100% of Earth''s money. Nevertheless, even though Shang wasn''t using up as much Mana as a Mage Lord, he was already using up quite a bit, and it was definitely noticeable to most of the people in the Hibye. Shang slowlynded on the ground of the Twilight Cave, the ground below his feet cracking on parts. These ces were built with the bodies of Mages in mind, and right now, Shang''s body could only bepared to the body of a Mage King. Shang''s body had be so heavy that it even damaged the ground of such expensive training locations. However, it wasn''t very difficult for Shang to adapt. He simply needed to solidify a bit of Mana under his feet, which would mean that he wasn''t technically walking on the ground but on a thinyer of extremely dense Mana. Shang took a deep breath. For the first time in a long while, Shang could finally take a long and deep breath without having to fight something or suffer through something. The stress of his vanishing longevity was gone. The pain from the Furnace Pills was gone. The terror of the Istion Chamber was gone. Now, Shang had 4,000 years of longevity ahead of him. Now, Shang had reached a level of Battle-Strength that put him at the absolute top of the world. In thest 300 years, Shang had been under more pressure than ever before. Reaching the True Path Stage or the Fusion Realm had been nothing inparison to what he had needed to go through in order to reach the Sixth Realm. But he did it.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang slowly extended his right hand and formed a fist. WHOOOOOM! All the Mana in the surrounding 1,000 kilometers instantaneously shot towards his hand and entered his body. Shang''s Mana Pathways shook, and they were about to burst. However, Shang felt like he was powerful enough to destroy a God. WHOOOOM! Shang extended his arm to the left, and an intense storm of Mana shot out. This was Shang''s new form of Void Casting. ¡®Void Casting is named as such since it creates a vacuum of Mana for a short amount of time and uses said Mana to cast a Spell. The first part is true for my form of Void Casting, but the second part isn''t urate." ¡®| absorb all the Mana in the surroundings to increase the power of my body by a level for a single move. In theory, | could also use it for a Spell, but inparison to normal Void Casting, | need to spend quite a bit of my life energy while Mages don''t need to spend anything.¡¯ "Mages don''t need to spend anything but can only use the Mana for Spells.¡¯ ¡®| need to spend life energy, but | can use the Mana for anything | want, including Spells.¡¯ "Higher price, higher power." ¡®It''s not necessarily better or worse." ¡®Nevertheless, it''s not Void Casting anymore." "Since the Mana increases my power by a level for one move, | would say that it could be seen as a small breakthrough. After all, my level essentially increases for just a moment.¡¯ "So, | guess the name Void Break would be a fitting name.¡¯ ¡®Magesprehend Void Casting while |prehended Void Break.¡¯ ¡®Myst Realm was already unique in the world, and this one isn''t any less unique.¡¯ "Since Void Break is the key to achieving this Realm, it wouldn''t be inurate to call it the Void Break Realm.¡¯ ¡®I think the name is urate.¡¯ "Soldier Stage, General Stage, Commander Stage, True Path Stage, Fusion Realm, Void Break Realm.¡¯ ¡®This was the Path I''ve forged up to now.¡¯ ¡®And this won''t be the end.¡¯ Shang took another deep breath and focused on his own mind. He had reached a new Realm, which meant that he would get another answer to one of his past questions. And this time, the question actually wasn''t useless. Chapter 745 Chapter 745 In a grand pce with red and ck colors, a fat and blonde Shang stood in front of the God. When Shang saw this past version of himself, he nearly exploded with anger for some reason. He hated his past self. Just the way he was standing there with uncertainty nearly made Shang scream with anger. He was so weak! His body was weak! His mind was weak! His willpower was weak! He was indecisive, empathetic, and knew nothing of the world. However, even though these emotions appeared in Shang''s heart, he didn''t lose control. He ignored his past self and focused on the God, who looked at the older version of Shang. Even now, Shang still couldn''t feel the God''s power. "| need to think for a second," the young Shang said as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I''m kind of running out of questions." "Take your time," the God said with a smirk as he leaned back on his throne. The younger Shang kept trying toe up with a good question, but it became harder and harder toe up with one. He knew that he would only gain the answer many years from now, and by then, he should know a lot more. Yet, this was also an incredible opportunity. But it was so hard to grasp and use correctly. What question could he possibly ask that might save himself in the future? What would his future problems be? Well, by that point, his future self should already have a group of friends, several contacts, and maybe even a power backing him. Maybe he would be part of some sort of striking force or hunting group?Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Maybe he would be a fighter in tournaments between organizations? Maybe he would be a teacher? From what the God had said, the Sixth Realm seemed to be quite strong already. So, what could such a person possibly need? Money probably wasn''t an issue. Companions wouldn''t be an issue. After all, Shang had already asked a couple of questions rted to that. He had also asked about organizations. Asking about how to be more powerful was difficult since the God refused to answer these questions. So, what could his future self possibly need? No matter how much Shang thought about it, it was just too difficult toe up with anything. This was so far away from him that he had no information on which to base his decision on. And then, he suddenly got an idea as he looked at the God. The God read Shang''s mind, and his smirk widened. "That''s quite smart," hemented. "Go on, ask." Shang nodded. "Which question should | ask next?" Shang asked. When the present Shang heard that, he realized how useful this would be. The past Shang had no idea what he should ask about, but the same thing wasn''t true for the God. The God knew exactly what Shang would most likely need. Of course, since this was essentially wasting a question, Shang would only get the answer to the actually useful question when he reached the Seventh Realm. However, the Seventh Realm was also one of the most important Realms. The God just continued smirking as he looked at the past Shang. For once, the God didn''t seem to have manipted Shang''s memory to include the addition of his Entropy Affinity. "There''s one question that the future you is probably dying to know the answer to," the God said. ¡°Your next question should be..." ¡°How can | get enough Mana to reach the Eighth Realm without the help of the Empires and without immediately being noticed?" When the current Shang heard that, his heartbeat elerated with excitement. This was an amazing question! Of course, Shang¡¯s memory cut off at this part. He would only get the answer to that question when he reached the Seventh Realm. Back in real life, Shang was reevaluating his opinion of the past Shang. Yes, the past Shang was pathetic and weak, but that question was extremely smart. Amortal Shang had asked the God a question to help his self 1,000 years from now. And he managed to do it. For a mortal, this was absolutely amazing. The mortal Shang might have saved the future Shang''s life and future. After a while of evaluating his past self again, Shang focused on the next thing on the agenda. Shang entered his inner world and looked at the stele. The next trial would be held in 200 years, and Shang wasn''t allowed to reach the next level before that. ¡®I''ve already earned enough points to get the best rewards thest time,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®I''m quite sure | will get even more points this time." ¡®| wonder what kind of rewards he has for me this time." Shang turned away from the stele and summoned several huge blocks of metal. In the past, it had been quite a problem to get good ore for his swords, but after joining the Lightning Manor, this problem had completely vanished. Everyone knew that he was a warrior, and everyone knew that a warrior needed a powerful weapon. On top of that, Shang was earning a ridiculous amount of money by being a Cloud. Shang was probably earningparative amounts to the Temple of Blood''s Territory Lord, and she was a Peak Mage Lord. Buying all the ore Shang could ever possibly need for the Void Break Realm would consume less than 1% of his wealth. At this moment, Shang''s Addum and Subsis were as light as wooden sticks, which felt ufortable to Shang. Shang put his two swords into several pieces of ore of different levels and tried out their new weight. In the end, Shang''s weapons were stronger than Peak Ancestral Beasts but a bit weaker than Initial Beast Lords. Of course, they should still be able to block the attacks from an Initial Beast Lord, but anything stronger than that would put Shang''s weapons in danger. But that was already ridiculous. The sheer power of Shang''s weapons reflected the sheer power of Shang''s body. After trying out his weapons, Shang put them away and left his inner world again. Chapter 746 Chapter 746 After leaving his inner world, Shang decided to focus on the next thing, which was getting into contact with Lucin again. Shang also wanted to incorporate his three new Concepts of Death and his Concept of Twilight into his Battle Style, but he needed to talk with Lucin first. After all, Shang¡¯s status had probably changed in the eyes of the Lightning Manor. Having someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense was one thing, but having someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense was something different entirely. Shang left the Twilight Cave and took to the sky. When Shang saw the world around him, he felt like everything had be weaker. Everything seemed so fragile. Now, Shang could truly see how the Zone Beasts from Area 23 had viewed the world. If Shang didn''t keep his World Connection in check, the surrounding 1,000 kilometers would be filled with Light and Darkness Mana, transforming the entire climate and terrain. A Zone of Light and Darkness would appear around Shang, and all the mortals and beasts would adapt. This would be their new life. Just Shang''s mere existence would transform the lives of millions of people drastically, and they would all need to adapt to Shang''s presence. However, there were no mortals in the Hibye. Any weak Mage or mortal would live in perpetual danger since so many powerful Mages were moving around the area. One day, a random Cloud might try out a spell and destroy tens of kilometers ofnd on ident. Another day, a Mage Lord might move a bit too fast, and the wind they created would have turned the surrounding kilometers into a wastnd. Because of that, Shang technically didn''t need to restrain his World Connection. However, he still restrained it due to two reasons. He was used to restraining it, and he subconsciously moved as stealthily as possible. This was simply how he had lived inside the Temple of Blood, and these mannerisms hadn''t left him. Shang shot into the distance, and his new speed even shocked him. Shang hadn''t had much time to look at his speed after he had gained Void Break, and since he had gone through a breakthrough since then, it was now like Shang had gone through two breakthroughs. His body was now on the level of someone in the Early Sixth Realm. As Shang shot through the sky, he realized how powerful he had actually be. One thing especially almost made this feel like a dream. ¡®| might be more powerful than every average Ancestral Beast in the world. Maybe only powerful Peak Ancestral Beasts can fight me. That was when Shang thought back to Area 23. The Storm Eagle. It had been so humongous. So powerful. So mighty. So imposing. And now? Shang probably wouldn''t have any difficulties killing it. He would just charge at it with insane speeds and unleash a single strike. With one attack, the huge Storm Eagle would fall to the ground in two pieces. The Ice Wyvern? It was even weaker than the Storm Eagle. The Volcano Wyrm was just as weak. The Empress Cobra would die before it could even react. The Adamantite Behemoth might survive a weaker attack, but if Shang actually used his Addum properly, it would probably also die. The imposing Thunder Horse? Shang could probably punch it to death. All these godlike beings from Area 23 were now about as significant as annoying pests. The supervisor of Area 23, Relon, probably was a Spark with a twofold Spirit Sense, which meant that his Spirit Sense had a radius of 1,000 kilometers, which was just enough to view the entirety of Area 23. The way Shang felt now was probably how Relon felt as the Supervisor of Area 23. Everything was within his control, and the Zone Beasts were just an annoyance. At this moment, Shang truly realized how far he hade. Back then, it had felt like an impossibility to fight something as imposing as the Storm Eagle. Now, it was easy. The God had said that the Mages ruled the world. In Area 23, this hadn''t appeared to be the case since the Zone Beasts reigned supreme. But now, after widening his horizons, Shang realized that the God was right. The Zone Beasts were just some random critters to the Mages. Even Beast Lords were just bigger critters.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. And the few Beast Kings that existed were banished and contained in their inds. Beast Emperors? Didn''t exist. As Shang thought about the Beast Kings, he had an interesting thought. ¡®Are the Empires using the isted Beast Kings as Mana storage?" ¡®The Mana of the world is slowly reducing, and the Empires don''t want the public to know. Theoretically, the number of Mage Kings that exist at the same time should reduce every now and then.¡¯ ¡®But that would show the world that the leadership of the world is growing weaker, not stronger.¡¯ "So, what if they keep the Beast Kings alive, and when the Mana gets critically low, they just kill one to keep the same number of Mage Kings?" ¡®Maybe there aren''t actually 50 Beast Kings but 48 or something like that?¡¯ ¡®No one would really notice that one of the many inds around Aterium doesn''t have a Beast King.¡¯ But before Shang could think more about this entire thing, he arrived at his destination. At the moment, Lucin was floating above his mansion, a little less than 3,000 kilometers away from Shang. Lucin was looking at Shang. And Shang''s Spirit Sense was looking back. When Lucin realized what this meant, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. If he hadn''t been prepared for this eventuality, he wouldn''t have believed it. But it was still difficult to actuallye to terms with what it meant to be in front of someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense. If King Sanctified Death didn''t exist, this would be unprecedented. And even more surprising was the fact that Shang wasn''t even a Mage. He was a warrior or something simr to that. All of this was too strange. "| guess we have to visit Queen Primordium again," Lucin said after a while. Chapter 747 Chapter 747 Shang flew over to Lucin and nodded wordlessly. Lucin kept looking at Shang with a weird expression. It had already been incredible that Shang had managed to create a fivefold Spirit Sense, but all of this became even crazier when one thought about Shang being a warrior. And now, he had a sixfold Spirit Sense. Asixfold Spirit Sense was so special that people would rather believe that there was a warrior with a fivefold Spirit Sense than a Mage with a sixfold Spirit Sense. One had to remember that the difference between a fourfold Spirit Sense and a fivefold Spirit Sense was already crazy, and now there was an additionalyer above that. It was absolutely crazy. However, when Lucin thought about what Shang had actually gone through to attain that power, his surprise lessened. How many people could do what Shang had done? How many people could consume thousands of Furnace Pills and stay in Istion Chambers for years? And then, he even managed to survive for ten years after all his longevity had run out, which was absolutely crazy. How painful and exhausting was something like this? As the Thunder of the Contender Department, Lucin had seen how these geniuses trained. Even more, he had been one of these geniuses in the past. Yes, all of these geniuses were filled with discipline and willpower, but there was still a limit to everything. They tried toprehend Concepts, entered some battles, bought expensive resources, andprehended more Concepts. From time to time, they also talked with others. Sometimes, they also worked on their inner selves. They also managed their money and created a couple of alliances while nning for the next trial. The Clouds were doing a lot in order to maximize the efficiency of their training. But Shang only trained. He didn''t do anything else. On top of that, Shang was training like an insane person. For Mages, there were a couple of methods to learn Concepts a bit faster. For example, the level three Concept of Fire, Incineration, could beprehended a bit faster by simply allowing oneself to be set aze by fire that used this Concept. It was quite painful and dangerous, but there were ways to ensure one''s survival. Yet, no one was doing that. Why? Because it was insane! Why would one do something like that for decades just to save like two or three decades?! The immense pain and stress weren''t worth the little time saved. But Shang had done even crazier things. Reaching a fivefold Spirit Sense was insanely difficult since one needed toprehend something above their level, and the time one needed to invest toprehend something like that was beyond insane. Comprehending one level two Concept as a Peak True Mage was probably more difficult thanprehending three additional level one Concepts. Someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense would haveprehended four level one Concepts, but someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense would haveprehended the equivalent of seven level one Concepts! The difference was absolutely staggering! And a sixfold Spirit Sense was just unimaginable. In the end, Lucin could only sigh and shake his head. He had no idea what would happen to Shang. Having a warrior with a fivefold Spirit Sense was one thing since that warrior wouldn''t be any better than the Mage Kings. But a sixfold Spirit Sense? Shang would be as powerful as King Sanctified Death if he managed to retain his power, and the Emperors were debating whether or not to allow King Sanctified Death to be an Emperor or not. And Shang? Shang was a warrior. One had to remember that the Mage God had made a decree back then. No physical fighter was ever allowed to be an Emperor again. And someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense had iprehensible power. Maybe a Mage King with a sixfold Spirit Sense could even threaten an Emperor. There was a real possibility that Shang wouldn''t even be allowed to be a King in the future. After all, having such a powerful Warrior King would threaten the survival of all the Mages. Lucin had no idea what the future would hold for Shang. Nevertheless, Lucin summoned his Transportation te and pulled Shang with him to the Lightning Manor. All of these troublesome decisions were above Lucin''s pay grade. This was something that the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors had to decide. The two of them traveled towards the Lightning Manor at a quick pace and arrived just a couple of minutester. Just like thest time, Lucin and Shang entered and traveled to Queen Primordium''s room. Lucin felt a bit awkward since he was visiting Queen Primordium quite often in the past centuries, thanks to Shang.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. He almost felt like he was annoying her. But what was he supposed to do? He couldn''t possibly make a decision on something like that! After some seconds, the door opened. Shang still couldn''t perceive Queen Primordium- Wait a second! Something was different! Queen Primordium still looked like a walking void, like the world was ending where she stood. Yet, there was something else this time. Grey Mana. Death Mana. Inside the void, Shang could feel just the tiniest specs of Death Mana floating around. It was so little that even Shang''s powerful Spirit Sense barely noticed just a couple of wisps, but it was there. "She can block off all kinds of Mana since she probably knows a crazy number of Concepts, but she doesn''t know how Death Mana works. Because of that, | can see the Death Mana but only the Death Mana.¡¯ Sadly, just this tiny bit of Death Mana wasn''t enough to paint any kind of picture for Shang. They were just a couple of tiny grey strands dancing in the void. When Queen Primordium opened the door, her eyes immediately fell on Shang. She could scarcely believe that he was still alive. But what shocked her even more was Shang''s Aura. It was so grand and so very intense. She had only felt one such Aura before. Did Shang actually manage to do it? Chapter 748 Chapter 748 Queen Primordium looked at Shang for a while. Lucin didn''t say anything. He understood why Queen Primordium was silent. It had been difficult for him to ept reality, and he had seen Shang reach this step himself. For someone like Queen Primordium, who didn''t see Shang all the time, this was probably beyond shocking. ¡°How big is your Spirit Sense?" she asked. "Sixfold," Shang said. Queen Primordium took a deep breath. ¡°What are your thoughts on that?" she asked. "Could you rify what you mean?" Shang asked back. "| mean, what do you think is the reason why you have a sixfold Spirit Sense instead of a fivefold one?" Shang thought about that question for a second. "| think it''s the consumption of momentum," he said. Lucin and Queen Primordium waited for Shang to borate. ¡°| can get a fourfold Spirit Sense without consuming any momentum, but the only way to get a fivefold Spirit Sense is to consume the entire momentum that | have built to create a fourfold Spirit Sense." "Byprehending more Paths, more Imposes, more Concepts, and widening my World Connection, | gained enough momentum to reforge the Mana Pathways inside my body. Without that momentum, my Mana Pathways wouldn''t have grown as much as was necessary to unlock Void Break." "Void Break is my version of Void Casting," Shang added when he noticed Lucin''s raised eyebrow. "Void Break is not something that someone at the Fifth Realm should be able to attain. Under normal circumstances, it would take aparable amount of time asprehending Void Casting, and you know how long that takes." Lucin nodded. Clouds generally needed around 500 years in the Ancestral Mage Realm toprehend Void Casting. Butprehending that in the Archmage Realm would take at least twice if not thrice as long, basically making it impossible to comprehend. ¡°Without using up my momentum, | would have needed probably around 1,500 years to attain Void Break, but with my momentum, | managed to attain it in a bit more than 200 years." "So, in my opinion, to attain a fivefold Spirit Sense, you either go all-in or don''t even try." "If you start using up your momentum and fail, you will either die or break through with a weaker Spirit Sense." ¡°And the key to a sixfold Spirit Sense is the same." "You need to consume all the momentum you gained to achieve a fivefold Spirit Sense." ¡°When | did that, | felt all the Mana in the surroundings enter my body and elevate it. In a sense, | was going through a breakthrough without increasing my level." "This increased the base state of my being to be a level higher than it should be. Because of that, when | actually achieved my breakthrough and when my being was creating my new Spirit Sense, it could work with four times as much Mana as it would have ess to normally." "So, while my momentum wasn''t nearly as strong as it would have been with a fourfold or a fivefold Spirit Sense, just the sheer weight of my being increases my power by far more.¡± "It''s like a huge mountain falling on you, while the other thing would have been an extremely fast pebble." Queen Primordium and Lucin thought about Shang''s words for a while. "You gained enough momentum to catapult your heavier being to the next Realm byprehending two level three Concepts," Queen Primordium said. "Theoretically, what would happen if youprehended four level three Concepts on top of that?" "Would your Spirit Sense be sevenfold or twelvefold?" she asked. "| think sevenfold," Shang answered. "I believe an increase of a Spirit Sense is not linear but exponential.¡± "Correct," Queen Primordium said. "It seems you know what you''re talking about, giving more credibility to your exnation.¡± Shang didn''t say anything. Some secondster, Queen Primordium sighed again. "! can''t believe that | have to go to the Custodian again." ¡°Lucin, you stay here." ¡°Of course," Lucin answered. Queen Primordium walked past Shang, and Shang followed her, just likest time. Why was everything involving this warrior so grand, unusual, and important? Usually, Queen Primordium only needed to ask for the Custodian''s input about once every thousand years or so. But now, she was meeting him for the third time in just 300 or so years. She felt like she was annoying the Custodian with unnecessary business, but what was she supposed to do? She couldn''t make a decision on something this important and unusual! The two quickly arrived in front of the Custodian''s door, and Queen Primordium knocked. A few secondster, the Custodian opened the door. He was just about to greet Queen Primordium, but he halted when he saw Shang. The Custodian''s brows furrowed as he looked at Shang. Shang didn''t say anything. After some seconds, the Custodian took a deep breath and released a sigh. "Oh dear," he said. "This is troublesome." The two visitors didn''t say anything. The Custodian raised an eyebrow as he scratched his chin, looking at and evaluating Shang. ¡°Now, what to do with you," he quietly muttered. The Custodian thought for a couple more seconds, but in the end, he just shook his head and sighed again. "| hate to do it, but I''ll have to consult the Ancestor again." Queen Primordium politely bowed, and Shang didn''t do anything.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. "To think that | have to consult the Ancestor twice because of a physical fighter," the Custodian said. "No offense. It''s just unusual.¡± Shang just nodded wordlessly. "Please, wait here for a moment," the Custodian said before he entered the big door leading to the Lightning Emperor. Shang and Queen Primordium waited for nearly two minutes. And then, the door opened again, and the Custodian stepped out. The two looked at the Custodian with anxiety. What would happen to Shang? "Your name is Shang Sword, correct?" the Custodian asked. Shang nodded. "Shang Sword, please follow me," the Custodian said as he further opened the door. "The Ancestor wants to talk to you personally.¡± Chapter 749 Chapter 749 Queen Primordium looked with surprise at the Custodian. Then, she focused on Shang. Right now, Shang felt nervous. After all, this wasn''t just anybody he was going to be talking with. This was the Lightning Emperor, one of the ten strongest beings in the entire world, someone that had lived for an iprehensibly long time. "Don''t worry," Queen Primordium told Shang. "The Ancestor is very friendly and wise." Naturally, Queen Primordium had seen the Lightning Emperor a couple of times. While the Custodian was essentially the Lightning Emperor''s mouth and hand, the Lightning Emperor also left his study from time to time. Sometimes, he just walked around his castle, and he also appeared when he had to make a public appearance because of something important that happened. For example, every millennium, the Lightning Emperor came out to congratte the winner of the grand tournament. But these were basically the only times anyone could get a hold of the Lightning Emperor in any way since the Custodian dealt with everything else. However, this still meant that the Lightning Emperor only exited his study every 500 years or so, which was an insanely long time for everyone below the Mage Lord Realm, and if one missed it, they would need to wait another 500 years. And it was even rarer that someone was allowed to enter the Lightning Emperor''s study since this was his private space. Only the Custodian was allowed to enter the Lightning Emperor''s study. And now, Shang would also enter the Lightning Emperor''s study. Shang took a step forward and walked through the door. Even though he was a bit nervous, it still wasn''t nearly enough to shake his resolve in any way. The Custodian smiled politely towards Queen Primordium and closed the door. Then, the Custodian traveled down the hallway, followed by Shang. After a couple of seconds, they stopped in front of an ordinary wooden door. The Custodian politely knocked on the door and opened it just a secondter without waiting for the Lightning Emperor''s command to enter. With the door now open, Shang''s Spirit Sense entered the Lightning Emperor''s study, and he could finally sense it. It was simple but also earth-shattering in a sense. At first nce, the study didn''t seem special. There was a chair, a table, a couple of ornaments, rows of bookshelves, and that was basically it. It wasn''t even that big. However, with Shang''s experience and knowledge, he could sense the truth of this simple study. It was actually over 500 kilometers wide! Yet, it looked barely wider than ten meters. Shang didn''t have any experience with Space, Time, and Gravity Mana, but he could still feel that all these kinds of Mana were not acting in a normal way. On top of that, the density of these three kinds of Mana was so insanely high that Shang could feel them as clearly as if they were Light Mana. Shang couldn''t say what Concepts were being used here or what they did, but he could see that this study probably had a scary number of features. One of the bookshelves had maybe about 100 books visually, but when one looked past the simple appearance, one would be able to see a bookshelf that was kilometers upon kilometers wide and tall. Shang couldn''t even estimate how many books there were in this study. Billions? Trillions? More? On top of that, there were no Spells that kept the books hidden from prying eyes. Shang couldn''t look into the books, but he could see them and their covers and read their titles. In just an instant, Shang had read the titles of thousands of books, and he became deeply shocked. All the titles he had read referred to a kind of Spark Wraith Realm, which was apparently the seventh Realm of some Path Shang didn''t know. Shang couldn''t help himself and continued looking at the titles of even more books without even really thinking about it. And eventually, he saw thousands of books for some Realm called Weapon Intent Realm. The Custodian had said that Impose had been called Weapon Intent in the past. This meant that there were thousands of books worth of documentation about the Impose Realm that Shang had created! Shang had to take a deep breath when he saw that. He had always thought that there was nothing left of the old Paths. The God had told him so, and Shang had also never heard about the other Paths until he had met with the Custodian for the first time. Yet, right now, there were billions of books in front of him, exining all the intricacies of all the other Paths. The books regarding other Paths didn''t end! They just kept going and going! After a second, Shang had already seen the names of over a hundred different Paths, which was insane! How many Paths had there been back then?! "Cool, huh?" Shang was taken out of his thoughts and focused on the person that had just spoken. There was a smiling old man with white hair and a long white beard sitting on a chair behind a table. ¡®Cool?¡¯ Shang thought in confusion. ''Did he just say cool?¡¯ Shang wouldn''t have expected the first word that left the Lightning Emperor''s mouth to be cool. "| enjoy seeing people be impressed by my collection, but | can''t have you continue reading," the Lightning Emperor said with a friendly chuckle. "Otherwise, we would be here forever." Then, Shang heard the quiet sound of the door behind him close. Apparently, the Custodian hadn''t entered with him. "| apologize. I''ve been distracted," Shang said, trying his best not to sound cold or aggressive but failing miserably due to hisck of practice. "| get it," the Lightning Emperor said with a friendly chuckle. Then, he pointed towards a chair in front of him that had just appeared. "Please, sit." Shang took a step forward, and he felt the Space, Time, and Gravity Mana around him warp in mysterious ways. The study was gigantic, but when Shang took a single step forward, it was like he was traveling through the version of the study that was only ten meters wide. After just a couple of steps, Shang had traversed over 100 kilometers and sat down on the chair. And then, Shang had a thought. He was thinking of his inner world, and he thought that this study felt very simr to it. This thought made Shang realize something. Ever since the beginning, all the God''s powers had seemed otherworldly. It had been impossible to understand them, and Shang had not been able to think of a way to replicate them. But now, he was slowlying into contact with things that were simr to these powers. Shang had already seen a majority of the Concepts his sword had been made with, and the strongest Concept was a level five Concept. There were probably several Mage Kings that knew all of these Concepts, which meant that there were several Mage Kings that could recreate Shang''s weapons. The ck cube Shang had received back then had seemed too magical.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. But now, Shang had seen people that could learn how to create these weapons, and Shang even knew a bit about how to make them. Shang''s inner world was moreplex, but after entering this study, Shang could feel that it was very simr to his inner world. Shang guessed that the study had been created in a very simr way, but he was still sure that his inner world had something that this study didn''t have. Shang could enter his inner world without his body, which meant that his soul and body were essentially separating. That would normally mean that Shang would die, but that obviously wasn''t the case. Something like this could only be achieved with very advanced Life Concepts, and Shang was quite certain that not even the Lightning Emperor knew enough to create something like that. The Lightning Emperor had created something amazing with this study. However, he wasn''t quite at the level of the God. For a while, Shang just quietly sat in front of the Lightning Emperor, who had just summoned a cup of tea. The Lightning Emperor drank a mouthful of tea and released a sigh. "Your name is Shang Sword, right?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang nodded. The Lightning Emperor didn''t say anything for a couple of seconds. "Okay, let me just be honest with you." "| have no idea what | should do with you." Chapter 750 Chapter 750 Shang wasn''t sure if that was good or bad. For now, he decided to remain silent. ¡°Let me exin my conundrum with a metaphor," the Lightning Emperor said. "Imagine you are a mortal and live in a vige with 50 other vigers. You don''t have any sort of real societal standards and norms, and the strongest person in the vige is the leader." ¡°Now, imagine there is a council of five leaders since they don''t want to fight each other for whatever reason, and you are one of them." "One day, you find the offspring of a very powerful beast, which is far more powerful than any member of the council." "You nurture it, and it follows you.¡± "Yet, it doesn''tpletely follow yourmands, and you know that there is a chance that it might attack you and everyone else. After all, it is still a wild beast." ¡°But maybe, it will also help you." "But also only you. What if it attacks any of the others in the vige?" ¡°Right now, the beast is still a baby.¡± "So, what do you do?" "Do you nurture it?" "Do you kill it?" "Do you ask the others?" The Lightning Emperor drank another mouthful of tea. ¡°Everything about this beast screams risk at you. No matter what happens, it will be a risk. If it isn''t one for you, it definitely will be one for the vige." ¡°But you like the vige. You live in the vige. You are happy with the vige.¡± "You don''t want your beast to kill other vigers." ¡°But it very likely will." "So, what would you do?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang''s Spirit Sense focused on the Lightning Emperor. Shang knew that his answer would decide his future. Should he lie? He wouldn''t even attempt it. He doubted that he had the skills to lie in front of a Mage Emperor. Should he argue for the beast''s life? Without a good reason, this would feel hollow. Should he defer the responsibility of the decision to the Lightning Emperor? After all, he was much older and much more powerful than Shang. Should he give a neutral statement? "Do you want to know what I would do, what someone else should do, what the vige should do, or what the morally correct thing to do is?" Shang asked. "All of them," the Lightning Emperor answered as he drank more of his tea. "The morally correct thing to do would be to send it out of the vige," Shang said. "If you can''t do that, nurture it and trust that it won''t betray you.¡± The Lightning Emperor didn''t show any reactions. "The smartest choice for the vige is to either collectively raise the beast to make it follow everyone''s orders or kill it.¡± The Lightning Emperor remained silent. ¡°As for what a normal person would do, it would depend on their ambition. Is it worth the risk to nurture it for the eventual payoff? The person could be the leader of the vige. Maybe, they could even leave the vige and go somece better with the beast''s protection." This piqued the Lightning Emperor''s interest, but he let Shang finish. "And as for what | would do..." "| would let it live." "What''s your reason?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°Because its existence has no impact or relevance," Shang answered. "Please borate," the Lightning Emperor said with interest. "My goal is to be the strongest," Shang said. "That means that | must be stronger than the beast if | want to have any shot at reaching my goal. Even more, the beast''s growth might even give me the incentive to train even harder than before." ¡°And if it turns out that the beast is stronger than me, it means my goal was impossible to achieve from the get-go." "That means | might as well kill myself right now." Silence. The Lightning Emperor looked at Shang with a bit of surprise. "Did you just tell me to kill myself?" he asked. "No," Shang answered emotionlessly. "I told you what | would do. | know that my own goals and priorities are not in line with most people''s goals and priorities." "You are not me."Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "So, while | might make that choice in your case, it doesn''t mean that you should make that choice or that it is the correct one." The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow. "That sounds a bit extreme. Is your goal really that important to you?" "It is all | have left," Shang said. "| sacrificed everything else, and | don''t regret it." "There are so many people in this world. Geniuses might be rare, but among billions, trillions, quadrillions, or however many people there are, there have to be lots of geniuses." ¡°And from those geniuses, how many of them are extremely hardworking?" ¡°Even if there are only a thousand people left from one trillion people, that is still a thousand people that | have to defeat if | want to be the strongest.¡± "What stops them from being the strongest?" "It can''t be their talent. After all, they are already the peak of the peak." "So, it can only be their effort and dedication." "If | want to be the strongest, | have to be willing to sacrifice more than everyone else.¡± "That is why | sacrificed everything | have." ¡°Either | be the strongest, or | stay a mortal to lead a happy life." "There is no in-between." The Lightning Emperor looked at Shang with an unreadable expression. The Lightning Emperor had learned a lot about Shang''s personality by using his Spell about 300 years ago, but that Spell had only told the Lightning Emperor what Shang would most likely do. But it didn''t tell him how Shang''s personality hade to be this way. Now, everything made sense. What reasons did people have to stay alive? There were important ones like achieving a goal, family, friends, and love. There were also secondary ones, like fearing death, enjoyment, a better future, and more. There were also some very minor and temporary ones, like wanting to see what would happen in a book one was reading, good weather, good food, and many tiny and mostly unimportant things. Every human had a mix of these. Yet, Shang had sacrificed everything but one of these things. People might look at Shang''s power and believe him to be a shining beacon of talent and power. However, deep inside, he was actually the saddest and most pitiful human. Everyone had so many reasons to stay alive, but he had only one. Only one single thing was stopping him from ending his own life. And he was clinging to that one thing with everything he had. The Lightning Emperor''s opinion of Shang could be described with one word. Sad. Chapter 751 Chapter 751 Yet, even though the Lightning Emperor understood Shang better now, the problem still hadn''t been resolved. Naturally, the metaphor the Lightning Emperor had given couldn''tpletely cover all the aspects of the problem. For example, while the beast in the metaphor could help the person be more powerful, Shang couldn''t possibly help the Lightning Emperor be more powerful. The Lightning Emperor was already at the peak of what he could achieve. Even if Shang became a Warrior Emperor and even if he decided to help the Lightning Emperor with everything, what would that aplish? At most, the Lightning Emperor would be the strongest Emperor after Shang, but that didn''t make much difference to him. Not everyone was like Shang, and the Lightning Emperor was fine with the power he had. He could do what he wanted, talk with whomever he wanted, and go wherever he wanted. Bing the strongest Emperor wouldn''t change that. As for reaching Lucius¡¯ power, that was impossible. The Lightning Emperor knew that much. Sure, Shang could be an incredibly powerful Warrior King, which would boost the Lightning Manor''s prestige and soft power. But then what? They would have a bit more power for 100,000 years, and then Shang would die, and everything would return to normal. And if he hadn''t died by then, it meant that he had be an Emperor, in which case every other Emperor needed to fear for their lives. There was nothing positive about supporting Shang. "Your goal is to be powerful?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang nodded. ¡°Powerful in what sense?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Do you want to rule over others?" "No," Shang answered. "Do you want the freedom to do whatever you want?" "No." "Do you want to use your power on others?" "No." "Then what do you want with that power?" the Lightning Emperor asked with furrowed brows. Everything Shang had said up to now was in tune with the world, which meant that he wasn''t lying. Yet, exactly that confused the Lightning Emperor so much. Power was not a goal, but a means to achieve one''s goal. It was a tool. When one was the most powerful, one could do whatever one wanted without having to fear anyone else. Yet, it seemed like Shang only wanted to have the power without actually having a reason to use it. It was like he was trying to hoard the most powerful weapons in the world and then just... Look at them? Have them? "Why do you want to have power?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Because | want to be the strongest," Shang said. "So, the status?¡± the Lightning Emperor asked. Surprisingly, Shang didn''t immediately answer. "No," Shang answered after two seconds. The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times. ¡°Alright, so, assuming there were no people or beasts in the entire world, would you still chase after power like this?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Yes," Shang answered. "You don''t care about the others?" "No." ¡°What if the strongest humans are at the Third Realm and you are at the Fifth Realm, and it ispletely impossible for anyone else to even reach the Fourth Realm? Would you still dedicate your entire life to searching for an illustrious Sixth Realm?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Yes," Shang answered. "Why?" ¡°Because | want to be the strongest," Shang said. "| don''t expect you to understand. | don''t know why | want to be the strongest myself. | just want to." "| feel like this is why | exist." "It feels like this is what | am supposed to do, and if | can''t achieve it, nothing else matters," Shang exined. The Lightning Emperor waspletely ignoring his tea at this point since he was too enraptured by this enigma of a personality. "That doesn''t sound like an ambition," the Lightning Emperor said. "It sounds like mind control." "Mind control?" Shang asked. "Yes, mind control. Humans do things because they have reasons to do these things. You can question every conscious action of a human with a why, and you would always get an answer, assuming the other party is honest." ¡°You want power, right?" Shang nodded. ¡°Why do you want power?" ¡°Because | want power." ¡°Exactly that''s the problem," the Lightning Emperor said. "Your action is self-referential. The reason for your action is your action, and your action is your reason." "It exists because it exists." "While there may be things in this world that might actually have this reason for existing, a human''s action definitely isn''t one of these things." "There''s always a reason, and even if you don''t know the reason, you can be assured that it is still there." "Just because you don''t know that something exists doesn''t mean that it doesn''t exist." "Okay," Shang said. "Then, what''s my reason for wanting power?" "| don''t know since | haven''t seen your life," the Lightning Emperor said. Then, the Lightning Emperor sighed. "I think we have strayed too far from the actual topic. Let me ask you some more questions." Shang nodded. ¡°Assuming you became a Warrior King and you reached the top of your Realm, what would you do next?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°Find a way to be an Emperor," Shang answered. "Okay, assuming you are an Emperor, what would you do then?" he asked. "Find a way to be a God," Shang answered without any hesitation. "Is there a specific reason why you want to be a God?" the Lightning Emperor asked. At that moment, some things shot through Shang''s mind. These things were all rted to Shang''s interactions with the God. The way the God had toyed with Shang. The way the God had shown that Shang was nothing more than mere entertainment. Shang realized that his goal had once been to kill the God for exactly these things, and for that, he needed power. This had once been his goal. This had once been the reason why Shang wanted to be powerful. But then, after going through so much suffering and shit, the God''s actions had be almost negligible. Yes, the God''s power over Shang made him feel insignificant and suppressed, butpared to all the things Shang had done to be powerful, the God''s antics just seemed so unimportant. It was like Shang was thirsty and there was a bottle of water on top of a mountain of swords and des. Sure, Shang wanted that water, but that bottle of water wasn''t worth this perilous and painful journey. It would be better to just walk away and find water somewhere else. After climbing the mountain for so long, Shang hadpletely forgotten why he was climbing the mountain in the first ce. He was just climbing. Why was he climbing? Because he wanted to reach the top.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. Why did he want to reach the top? He didn''t know. He just wanted to. Why didn''t he just stop and turn around? Metaphorically, Shang looked back at the trail of blood he had left behind. It was a trail of destruction, suffering, torture, and fear. Then, he looked at the top of the mountain again. He had alreadye so far. If he turned around now, wouldn''t that make all his suffering for nothing? And then, Shang remembered the bottle of water on top of the mountain of swords and des. It didn''t really matter, but since he was already here, he might as well grab that bottle. And after that? Chapter 752 Chapter 752 What after that? At that moment, Shang''s thoughts began to turn more and more abstract. He was trying to think of something, but all his thoughts somehow stopped making sense. He was thinking of something, but he had no idea what he was thinking about. It was just a weird and indiscernible mess. Shang was just sitting there, not moving. He was just thinking. Wait, what was he thinking about? He didn''t remember. ¡®Can''t be that important if | forgot,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Anyway, it''s interesting to know what led me down to my current Path." ¡®Killing the God, huh?¡¯ "Sure, | can do that.¡¯ ¡®Then, | will get rid of the Abominations as long as it doesn''t require me to sacrifice myself or something like that. And finally, | will find a way to be even more powerful.¡¯ ¡®| refuse to believe that bing a God is the end.¡¯ "You haven''t answered my question yet,¡± the Lightning Emperor suddenly said. Shang was pulled out of his thoughts and returned to reality. He hadpletely forgotten that he was sitting in front of the Lightning Emperor just now. "What was the question?" Shang asked. "Why do you want to be a God?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang didn''t immediately answer because he realized that he was now in a troublesome situation. Earlier, he could have answered that question with no problems. Because he wanted to be more powerful. But now, Shang had remembered the original reason for wanting to be so powerful. Shang knew that the Lightning Emperor could tell the truth from lies, and he also knew that he most likely couldn''t deceive the Lightning Emperor with ambiguousnguage. So, what was he supposed to answer? "There is a specific reason why | once wanted to be a God, but that reason is no longer important," Shang said. "Oh?" the Lightning Emperor uttered with some interest. "Please, tell me the reason." "It''s not important since that isn''t my reason anymore," Shang said. "| want to be a God because | want to be even more powerful. | want to go as far as | can." Everything Shang said was the truth. "| understand," the Lightning Emperor said with a nod. "Nevertheless, | want to hear your original reason." "| don''t want to tell you," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor''s friendly smile slowly vanished, and a polite but strict expression reced it. m currently deciding on what to do with you," he said. "You are free to refuse to answer, but in that case, | will assume the worst possible reason and base my judgment on that. In this case, | am assuming you want to subjugate the entire world and rule it.¡± "If you are a God, you would have already killed nearly all Emperors anyway." ¡°Let me be honest with you, Shang Sword," the Lightning Emperor said. "Nearly every other Emperor has been my personal friend for a very long time. We traveled together, trained together, fought together, and lived together."Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "They are my lifelong friends." ¡°By saying that you want to be a God, you have essentially told me that you want to kill all of my friends." "| cane to terms with the reason that everyone deserves a shot at bing powerful and realizing their destiny, but is that still true when that person has directly told you that they are nning on killing all your friends?" Silence. "Now, you are free to answer me," the Lightning Emperor said, "or | can just directly eliminate you. You are not here because | want to find a reason to kill you. This is a chance for you to defend yourself and convince me not to kill you." "Make use of it," the Lightning Emperor said. Silence. Shang felt a strong feeling of d¨¦ja vu. It was like he had been here before. And then, he remembered hisst conversation with Jerald. This situation was basically identical. Yet, there were still some differences. First, the Lightning Emperor wasn''t Shang''s friend. Second, Shang didn''t have the power to kill the Lightning Emperor. Third, the Lightning Emperor didn''t know that Shang was the Child of Cmity. "So, what was your original reason for wanting to be a God?" the Lightning Emperor asked again. Silence. "| wanted to kill someone," Shang said. ¡°One person or several?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°Only one," Shang answered. The Lightning Emperor. Only wanting to kill one person wasn''t that bad. "Who is that person?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "You don''t know him. I''m certain of that," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow as he looked at Shang. He was certain of that? How could this warrior be certain of whom the Lightning Emperor knew and not? "What makes you so certain?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°Because he doesn''t want to be known, and if he doesn''t show himself, no one will know that he exists," Shang answered. "Oh?" the Lightning Emperor uttered as he leaned forward a bit. "And who is that?" Silence. "The God." The Lightning Emperor''s eyebrows shot up in surprise. He almost couldn''t believe that this had actually created a resonance with the world. This meant that Shang honestly believed this to be true. Now, it was important to know that knowing that something was true didn''t necessarily mean that it was true. If one person saw another person enter a building, they would be certain that they had seen that person enter that building. When they told everyone that they saw that other person entering that building, they were not lying. Even if that person had been a third person disguised as the other person, it didn''t matter. As long as the first person didn''t know that, they were still telling their truth. The resonance of the world only happened when someone believed something to be true. It didn''t matter whether that thing was objectively true or not. And right now, Shang believed that he was speaking the truth. Did the Lightning Emperor believe him? Not really. There was a higher chance of Shang having once been the victim of a powerful illusion or delusion than there actually being some sort of God. Unless... ¡°Are you referring to the Mage God?" he asked. "No," Shang answered. This made Shang''s ims even less believable. If there were a God, it would be Lucius. Most likely, Shang was suffering from delusions. However, was that any better? Asane person could be predicted, but predicting an insane one was nearly impossible. So, if Shang was insane, did it even matter what he would say? His words weren''t trustworthy anyway. Chapter 753 Chapter 753 The Lightning Emperor just looked at Shang with an unconvinced expression. ¡°A God that isn¡¯t the Mage God," he said in a t tone. "Correct," Shang answered, "but as I''ve said, that is no longer my reason for wanting to be stronger." "Why is it no longer your reason?" Shang didn''t immediately answer. "It no longer seems that important," he said.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "You believe this God is real?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "He is real," Shang answered. The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath. Shang was too far gone. Although, that also made sense. Achieving a sixfold Spirit Sense was so incredibly difficult that something had to be wrong with someone if they were willing to put in so incredibly much effort. Just getting a fivefold Spirit Sense would already require someone to sacrifice quite a bit, but getting a sixfold Spirit Sense was even crazier than that. People that were willing to do something like that couldn''t be sane people. Although, having delusions might not exactly be the kind of mental illness that would seem connected to having a sixfold Spirit Sense. Nevertheless, Shang couldn''t be normal, and having delusions would just be another weird addition. Naturally, Shang noticed that the Lightning Emperor didn''t believe him. Under normal circumstances, Shang wasn''t one that cared about what other people thought of him, but this time, he had to care. After all, the Lightning Emperor had the power to kill Shang without any repercussions. When the conversation had just started, Shang had been quite nervous, but he hadn''t expected that the conversation would take such a turn that he was essentially forced to unveil the existence of the God. After all, if Shang refused to answer, the Lightning Emperor would assume even worse things than the truth. Suddenly, something appeared in Shang''s hand, and he put it on the table. The Lightning Emperor looked over, and his eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, you were that one warrior?" he asked as he looked at the book in front of him. This was the original copy of the Star Map for warriors. "The God gave me this book," Shang said. When the Lightning Emperor heard that, his eyes widened in genuine surprise. The world had resonated, which meant that Shang believed that he was telling the truth. This meant that Shang genuinely believed that some God had given him that book. The Lightning Emperor took the book and looked at it. He could feel the Tranquil Hammer Lord''s Aura on it clear as day. Back when the Lightning Emperor had looked at that book for the first time, he had assumed that one of the other Emperors had lost it. But now, Shang was iming that some sort of God had given him that book. "What makes you certain that the person that gave this to you is a God?" the Lightning Emperor asked. In his mind, the Lightning Emperor imagined a scene where a Mage Lord from another Empire somehow managed to infiltrate Area 23 and tell a small warrior that they were a God. To the people of Area 23, a Mage Lord would seem like a God. "Because he also gave me this," Shang said. And then, he put one of his swords on the table. The Lightning Emperor hadn''t really looked at Shang''s belongings earlier, but now, he took a look at the sword. Immediately, the Lightning Emperor''s eyes widened in genuine shock. ¡°An Apex Companion Weapon!" the Lightning Emperor nearly shouted. When Shang heard that, he realized that he had been right. Shang had thought that weapons like this had existed in the past, and since the Lightning Emperor had just uttered the name of the weapon, it meant that they had genuinely existed. The sword hovered in front of the Lightning Emperor, and he looked at it for several seconds. The more he looked at it, the more surprised and concerned he became. The sword slowly began to spin, and as it did, it became smaller and weaker. Shang was a bit concerned about his weapon, but he knew that he didn''t have the luxury toin. Eventually, the sword turned into its original appearance. At that moment, the Lightning Emperor''s eyes narrowed, and the Mana in the room shook. Slowly, the sword stopped spinning, but the Mana in the room seemed to be tenser and tenser. It was almost like it was ready to explode. And then, the sword suddenly spun at insane speeds for just one second as it returned to its normal form, the Addum. The Lightning Emperor released a deep breath. He slowly put the Addum back on the table and leaned back. He just remained silent for several seconds. Shang also didn''t say anything. "If | forced it, | might be able to recreate its original Aura," the Lightning Emperor said. "But that would throw the Mana equilibrium off, and every Emperor and King would want an exnation from me." The Lightning Emperor sighed again. "But that doesn''t really matter. The fact that | need to put out so much effort means that it must have been made by someone in the Ninth Realm." Shang noticed that the Lightning Emperor hadn''t said that it was made by an Emperor but by someone in the Ninth Realm. This meant that this sword might have been made by someone that wasn''t a Mage many thousands of years ago. ¡°Where did you get this sword?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "The God gave it to me." "Why?" ¡°Because | needed a weapon that could grow. Without this weapon, | would have also needed to learn cksmithing at some point," Shang said. "Oh?" the Lightning Emperor uttered. "What''s your connection with this God?" "He took me from my homeworld and brought me to Aterium," Shang said. Silence. "Your homeworld?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang nodded. "A ce called Earth." "Tell me more about this ce," the Lightning Emperor said. Shang described Earth and the universe it was in to the Lightning Emperor in as much detail as possible, including why that universe existed in the first ce. Just an interesting side project for the God''s entertainment. Chapter 754 Chapter 754 Several minutester, the Lightning Emperor told Shang that he had heard enough. By now, it became harder and harder to find rationalizations for Shang suffering from delusions. ¡°And why did he bring you to Aterium?¡± he asked. "Entertainment," Shang said. "Entertainment?" "Entertainment." "Please borate." ¡°He told me that his world is filled with nothing but Mages and that the battles between Mages are the most boring to watch. He said that they just throw Spells at each other for hours at a time." "He said that the world was supposed to entertain him, but with all these Mages, it wasn''t very entertaining.¡± "That was why he summoned me and a couple of others." "He needed people with certain mindsets and with a lot of creativity. He created bodies for us that made it impossible for us to focus on Magic. By now, | know that he got rid of something in my soul that transports the majority of my Mana into my mind. The Custodian has already fixed that." ¡°He wants us to create more Paths and make them more powerful so that there would be more diversity in his world." ¡°And the best way to start was to make the new warrior Path that appeared in Area 23 stronger." "He sent me to Area 23, and that''s where it all started," Shang exined. The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath. It was like the entire world was being turned upside down for him. How had he never heard of this God? How could someone like that stay secret for so long? Was this truly the person that ruled over this world? By now, the Lightning Emperor had nearly no doubts left. ¡°What about the Mage God?" the Lightning Emperor asked. After he asked that question, the Mana in the room seemed to stop. It was like the entire world was waiting for Shang''s answer. ¡°Lucius Volstad?" Shang asked. Somehow, the atmosphere grew even more oppressive when Shang asked that. "Yes, Lucius Volstad," the Lightning Emperor said. Silence. The Lightning Emperor was waiting for the answer. However, he also didn''t want to hear it. Somehow, he already knew what the answer would be. "The God killed him." Silence. "The God said that the Mage Emperor strode into his pce like he owned the ce. Then, based on the God''s word, he kicked him for several hours until he died.¡± Silence. "He even showed me his corpse.¡± Silence. The Lightning Emperor just looked to the side without saying anything. The atmosphere was somber and oppressive. Two minutes of silence passed. "Why?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°Because he''s insane," Shang said. It was like the world received a shock, and the Lightning Emperor looked at Shang. How could Shang insult the God like this? Wasn''t he afraid for his life? The Lightning Emperor wouldn''t want to insult such a powerful being since he didn''t want to die. Yet, Shang did just that. "Insane?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Insane, crazy, not normal, not fully there, mad, mental, whatever you want to call it," Shang answered. "In what sense?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "He constantly loses control of his emotions, starts shouting, startsughing loudly, enjoys torturing others and abusing his control way too much, and he is also gambling with his own life for fun." ¡°How is he gambling with his own life?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Because he hasn''t killed me yet," Shang said. Silence. "He yed with my life and emotions several times, and | want to kill him for that. He knows that, and he also knows that I have a shot at actually seeding, but instead of fearing me or just killing me, he only sees it as more entertainment. After all, what could be more entertaining than being in danger?" Shang exined.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "This was the original reason | wanted to be powerful, but after going through so much pain and suffering, | forgot. That was until you reminded me of it in this conversation." ¡°Now, | only want to be powerful because | want to be powerful," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor looked at the table with a troubled expression. All of this was incredibly hard to swallow. Apparently, there was a mad God ruling over this world that just wanted to be entertained. The age-old question of why life and the world existed had been answered just like that. Entertainment. That was it. "What do you know of the God?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°Not much. | don''t know where he came from. | don''t know what he can do. | don''t know where he is right now. He didn''t tell me anything," Shang said. "Can he hear and see us right now?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang wordlessly nodded. "Why isn''t he showing himself?" "| can''t be entirely sure, but | guess it''s because of two reasons." ¡°First, he doesn''t have to. Showing or not showing doesn''t change anything.¡± "Second, it''s more entertaining this way. If you see him, you are certain of his existence, but if you don''t, there will always be doubt. Such chaos is what entertains him," Shang said. "He likes seeing people struggle." The Lightning Emperor took another deep breath. ¡°Okay, what about the other world, Earth? If there is one other world, there could be even more, right?" he asked. "| don''t know," Shang answered. "It could be. | don''t think there''s an end to existence." "Maybe there are even more Gods out there. No idea." The Lightning Emperor scratched his chin in thought. ¡°Unknownnds," he slowly said. "To think that there might still be unknownnds out there." ¡°Maybe there is even a way to be even stronger?" "Probably," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor remained silent for a while as he only looked absentmindedly at the ceiling of his study. Shang also didn''t say anything. After a minute, the Lightning Emperor took a deep breath and looked at Shang. ¡°Alright, I''ve got onest question." "Did the God tell you anything about the Child of Cmity?" Chapter 755 Chapter 755 Shang''s answer came almost immediately. ¡°Not really," he said. "We never really talked about the Child of Cmity. The few times we talked, we talked about my power and warriors. Could be that he may have mentioned it at some point, but I''m not really sure." The Lightning Emperor only sighed. Shang was telling the truth. Shang honestly wasn''t sure if the God had actually ever uttered the phrase Child of Cmity. In fact, the only time Shang remembered talking about something rted to that was when he had found out about his Entropy Affinity, and even then, the Abominations hadn''t really been a topic. It was less of a what and more of a why. The God didn''t tell Shang anything about what the Child of Cmity was, and Shang never asked about it. He only wanted to know why he got the Entropy Affinity. So, yeah, the two of them hadn''t really talked about the Child of Cmity. ¡°Has he mentioned anything about why the Child of Cmity exists?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang just wordlessly shook his head. "Did he tell you where they are?" Shang shook his head again. At that point, the Lightning Emperor sighed again and looked to the side with aplicated expression. ¡°Lucius is dead, there''s some unknown and crazy God ruling over this world, and we still don''t know where the Child of Cmity is," he said. It was unknown if he talked to Shang or to himself. "This is a lot to process." In the Lightning Emperor''s mind, many scenes and concepts appeared and disappeared at unreal speeds. He was trying to think of a way the God had shown himself that didn''t involve Shang. "Can he manipte minds?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°Most likely, but | think he would view that as cheating,¡± Shang answered. "It would be boring if he could just make everything y out however he wants. Otherwise, he would have probably just killed all the Emperors and Kings." The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath. Shang had just said that they were only alive because the God was crazy. It was extremely difficult toe to terms with the fact that the most powerful people in the entire world were actually only powerful because some unknown power was allowing them to be powerful. A feeling the Lightning Emperor hadn''t felt for many, many years reappeared in his heart. Suppression. "What if | were to eradicate all the warriors?" he asked. ¡°He would probably find that even more entertaining," Shang answered. "The harder something is to do, the more challenging and more entertaining it is." The Lightning Emperor took another deep breath. He was desperately trying to find a way to get the God to appear. Yes, there were several powerful pieces of evidence in front of him that confirmed the existence of this God, but after having lived for such a long time, it was just very difficult toe to terms with the new reality. He just wanted to see him. He just wanted to see this God with his own eyes.Please check at N/?vel(D)rama.Org. Then, all the doubt would disappear. And exactly that was why the God didn''t appear. "You said that there is another world, Earth," the Lightning Emperor said. Shang nodded. "How does the end of the world look like there?" he asked. ¡°End of the world?" Shang asked. "You don''t know?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "I was under the impression that your world would be smaller than ours since there isn''t as much Mana there." Shang shook his head. "No, our world is actually much, much bigger than Aterium." The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow. "Didn''t you say that Earth was only around 40,000 kilometers or so across?" "Yes, that''s Earth, but there''s a universe around itprised of mostly empty space and somes," Shang answered. s? What''s that?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang became a bit uncertain. "Is Aterium round or t?" The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times. "Round? t? I''m not sure how these adjectives corrte to our world. How can Aterium be round or t? Do you mean the shape? Do you mean the mountains?" Shang sighed and exined the concept of a to the Lightning Emperor and how it worked on Earth. The Lightning Emperor didn''t have any issues understanding the concept of a and knew what Shang meant very quickly. "Then, it actually makes sense that your world is bigger," the Lightning Emperor said. "Since your world doesn''t have Mana, the density of Mana isn''t important." ¡°Just a tiny bit of Neutral Mana can be turned into a vast area of space. Creating something as big as Aterium would only need an Ancestral Mage''s worth of Mana. That includes the millions of kilometers of endless ocean around it.¡± ¡°However, since the density of Mana is important, our world can''t be too big. Around ten million kilometers away from Aterium is the end of the world, which is just a silver wall." "Silver wall?" Shang asked. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "The same thing is true when you dig down or fly up. At some point, the reflective silver wall appears, and you can''t continue.¡± "It''s imprable, and no kind of Mana can damage it in any way." Shang just nodded. That answered a couple of questions he always wanted to know the answers to. ¡°Anyway, | think I''ve heard enough," the Lightning Emperor said. Shang just remained sitting on his chair. "Honestly, | was certain that you wouldn''t leave my study, but | was also certain that | was one of the most powerful people in the world," the Lightning Emperor sighed. "There are a couple of reasons why I''m letting you live.¡± "First, I''ve learned more about your personality, and | can see why you have chosen to tread this path. You are not someone that wants to subjugate others,mit genocide because others are different, or rule this world. That already makes you very different from that kid." Shang wasn''t sure to whom the Lightning Emperor was referring, but he didn''t ask. "Second, you''ve given me very important information about the world | wasn''t aware of." "Third, you told me what happened to Lucius." ¡°Fourth, you showed me that there is still someone stronger than me." ¡°All of that is already a lot, but if I''m honest, | don''t think that would have been enough for me to let you live. After all, your goal directly means killing all my friends. | would feel horrible and guilty for killing you, but | would have still done it." ¡°However, there were two things that made me hope for your sess." "First, you want to kill the one that killed Lucius." ¡°And second, you told me that there are other worlds out there," the Lightning Emperor said with a distant expression. "| always thought that Lucius was the only God and that there hadn''t been another one. However, since there is now a second God, what if there is a third or fourth?¡± "If there is this world called Earth, what if there are even more worlds?" "| know Lucius¡¯ parents and where he came from, but where did the first Gode from?" "Is there another world above this one?¡± "Since | now know that the end of the world isn''t actually the end of the world, what else can be found out there?¡± The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath and looked at Shang. ¡°And the only way to get out there is you." "| know that I''m not strong enough to leave this world and take revenge on the God. If Lucius couldn''t do it, | also wouldn''t be able to." ¡°But you have a shot, andpared to Lucius, you know what you are up against." ¡°From now on, the Lightning Manor will do its best to support you in any way it can, and in exchange, | only have one request." Shang didn''t say anything. "If you seed, let me live and allow the surviving Emperors to leave with you." "Emperors?" Shang asked. "As in, plural?" Chapter 756 Chapter 756 The Lightning Emperor sighed again, something he had been doing quite a lot in the past minutes. "| assume you know about theck of Mana?" he asked. Shang nodded. "| was under the assumption that there was only enough Mana left to let one Mage Emperor survive if | want to be a God, and maybe not even that since the Abominations might have consumed even more Mana." The Lightning Emperor nodded solemnly. "That''s right, but that''s only true when you are not willing to sacrifice a big group of people for your goal. Lucius was a kind man that wasn''t the biggest fan of killing." ¡°| assume this isn''t a problem for you?" "It isn''t," Shang answered emotionlessly. "To be a God, you need to absorb ten Emperor''s worth of Mana." "In total, there are 16 Emperor''s worth of Mana in the entirety of Aterium currently," the Lightning Emperor said. "46?" Shang asked. "That''s more than | expected." The Lightning Emperor nodded. "There are eleven Emperors-" "Wait, eleven?" Shang asked. "I thought there were only ten." "There are nine Empires with ten Emperors, but there is one more Emperor who isn''t very known. He was the only Emperor that Lucius left alive back then." "His title is the Archivist, and he lives on one of the inds of the Beast Kings. He has dedicated his entire life to witnessing the progress of the world and archiving all the knowledge." ¡°He wanders the world from time to time, but he never kills anything or influences anyone. He just watches and documents. Not many people know that he exists, and he wants to keep it this way." ¡°Nevertheless, he is still an Emperor and a pretty strong one at that. | don''t think any of us could win against him in a fair duel." Shang nodded. "So, there are eleven Emperors who make up eleven Emperor''s worth of Mana.¡± ¡°All the Mage Kingsbined make up another two." ¡°If we were to convert all the water in the endless ocean into Mana, that would be another Emperor.¡± "The inds and Aterium itself make up another two." ¡°And all the remaining living beings and the atmosphere itself would barely make up around 70% of another Emperor." "In total, that''s a bit more than 16 Emperors in Mana." "Since converting mass into pure Mana is extremely difficult, the three portionsprising the ocean and the continent are inessible to you." "So, if you were willing to kill all the Mage Kings and a couple of Mage Lords, you could spare two additional Emperors, leaving you with a total of three survivors besides yourself." Shang just nodded absentmindedly. "| have no problems with fulfilling that request," Shang said. "You have the power to kill me, but instead of doing so, you are willing to support me." "| might not care about many people, but | have no problems with agreements." "| was with the Temple of Blood for centuries, and they knew a lot about me, but | don''t have any desire to destroy them. It was a cooperation, nothing more." "You invested in me today, and | will pay that investment back in the future," Shang said.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. The Lightning Emperor smiled in a friendly manner and nodded. The world has resonated with Shang''s statement. Shang might not be close to anyone else, but that didn''t mean that it was impossible to work with him. Shang made the Temple of Blood a lot of money. "Then, we have an agreement," the Lightning Emperor said. "We do," Shang said with a nod. "I''m going to inform Wester about everything. He will inform you about everything.¡± Shang took the cue and stood up from his chair. "Thank you," he said as he turned around to walk towards the door. Shang opened the door and walked out. The Custodian stood in the hallway with a professional expression. He nodded once toward Shang and stepped into the study. "I will be back shortly," he told Shang before closing the door. Inside the study, Wester raised an eyebrow as he looked at the smiling Lightning Emperor. ¡°Oh, Wester, what brings you here?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a smile. "| assume we are keeping the warrior alive?" he asked. "Oh, yes, yes!" the Lightning Emperor said with two nods. "Shang is quite a peculiar person. When | first investigated him, | misread him a little bit." Wester''s raised eyebrow rose further. "Misread?¡± he asked skeptically. ¡°Well, not really misread," the Lightning Emperor said. "| was urate, but after talking with him, | found more information. You can view it like gaining context regarding his personality." "Context?" Wester asked with a t voice. "Yep," the Lightning Emperor said. "He actually isn''t that bad. While that kid doesn''t seem human at all, Shang actually has a human core and human desires. Additionally, he keeps to his word as long as you don''t betray him first." "| think having him as an additional King shouldn''t be that big of a risk, while his power and existence will severely restrict that kid''s ambition and power." "If we can get Shang to be a King, he can fight that kid, and if he wins, we can argue against that kid bing an Emperor," the Lightning Emperor said with a bright smile. "So," Wester said slowly, "you decided to use him against King Sanctified Death after all?" The Lightning Emperor nodded. "They both have a sixfold Spirit Sense." "What if they be allies instead?" Wester asked. "Won''t happen," the Lightning Emperor said with a chuckle. ¡°Are you sure?" Wester asked. "Yep," the Lightning Emperor answered. After that, the Lightning Emperor gave Wester instructions on what to do with Shang in the immediate future. Eventually, Wester left. After Wester left, the Lightning Emperor just smiled brightly as he closed his eyes. "New worlds," he muttered. "New adventures.¡± ¡°Lucius might no longer be here, but there''s still more to discover out there." "| hope he manages to pull it off." "| finally want to get out of this grey prison and have more adventures!" Chapter 757 Chapter 757 The Custodian came out of the Lightning Emperor''s study and threw a nce at the waiting Shang. "You left quite the positive impression on the Ancestor, Shang," the Custodian said with a polite smile. When Shang heard that, he felt like something was different from before. It wasn''t that his status had changed or anything, but that something about the Custodian was different. It was like the Custodian was more... distant? Cold? Off-putting? Something in the way the Custodian was talking or looking at Shang had changed, but Shang couldn''t be sure what exactly. Nevertheless, Shang only answered with a wordless nod. The Custodian gestured to the hallway with a move of his head and traveled back to the entrance with Shang. The Custodian opened the door, and the two of them arrived in front of Queen Primordium again. Shang still couldn''t see Queen Primordium, but he could tell by the atmosphere that she felt relieved. Since she was the leader of the Reinforcement and Contender Departments, she was obviously very interested in powerful people. After all, it was her job to make new Thunders and Mage Kings. "| apologize for the wait, Vana," the Custodian said with a polite smile. "The Ancestor enjoys talking." "No worries," Queen Primordium said. "Any new orders?" The Custodian nodded. "Our little friend Shang will enjoy very special treatment from now on. First, his allowance will be increased by a factor of ten." "You''re referring to the Ancestral Mage allowance?" Queen Primordium asked. The Custodian nodded. Queen Primordium nodded back. ¡°Next, he gets ess to all special training areas except the grade 0 ones for a price. The prices will be ording to the arms race decree," the Custodian exined. Queen Primordium raised an eyebrow with a bit of surprise. That was quite good. The Lightning Manor had some decrees they could implement for emergency situations like wars and the breaking down of rtions between Empires. In that case, the Lighting Manor would essentially operate at a loss to push the power of every member as far as possible, which included cheap ess to very expensive and difficult-to-maintain training areas. Of course, since it was only Shang that got this ess, the Lightning Manor wouldn''t lose much money, but it was still quite significant. Many of these training areas were only essible to people that rendered great services or achieved amazing results in the different trials. And Shang got to enter these without needing to do anything but pay some money. "Okay," Queen Primordium answered. "Next," the Custodian continued, ¡°due to the peculiarity of his Spirit Sense, his true power needs to remain a secret. In public, he will remain a Cloud, but he will be disguised as a Cloud one level higher than he actually is." "| trust that you can find a good way, Vana," he added. Queen Primordium nodded. "A permanent talisman should do the trick," she said. The Custodian nodded in agreement. ¡°Lucin knows about his Spirit Sense?" the Custodian asked. "He does," Queen Primordium answered. "Then, make sure that he doesn''t tell anyone else about this, including his own bolts." "| will," Queen Primordium said. "Good. Lastly, | would like you to tell him about our friends," the Custodian said. "If he finds someone fitting, you may contact me, and | will try to persuade them to take him as a permanent student." "You said to tell him," Queen Primordium said, "not introduce him. | assume that means that the others also shouldn''t know about his true nature?" "Correct," the Custodian said. "The fewer people know about this, the better. Only | will be the one that tells the truth of his existence to anyone else." Queen Primordium raised an eyebrow. "Is that your order or the Ancestor''s order?¡± The Custodian''s expression lost some friendliness. "It''s not an order," he said. "Understood," Queen Primordium said. "Then, that should be everything,¡± the Custodian said to Queen Primordium, his polite smile recovered. "If there is anything you need, you know where to find me." "Of course, Wester," Queen Primordium said. The two of them nodded at each other, and the Custodian threw a nce at Shang. "Do your best," he said. Shang just nodded back. The Custodian went back into his room, and Queen Primordium gestured for Shang to follow her. The two of them walked back to Queen Primordium''s room and met up with Lucin. Lucin had already noticed that Shang had survived the meeting with the Lightning Emperor earlier, and he was only d that there were no issues. "Give us a moment," Queen Primordium said. "| have to show Shang something privately." ¡°Of course," Lucin said with a nod. "Follow me," Queen Primordium said to Shang as she stepped into the imperceivable darkness that was her room. Shang nodded toward Lucin and also walked into the darkness. As soon as Shang passed by the wall, a new world opened up in front of him. These were Queen Primordium''s private chambers. And it looked very different from what Shang had expected. The color scheme of the room was azure, and there were severalfortable blue cushions strewn around the room. The floor was carpeted with a nice carpet, and Shang could sense several huge ponds in the room. Just like the Lightning Emperor''s study, there were also several Concepts of Space, Time, and Gravity active here, but ina different way. The size of the room itself wasn''t being manipted, but the depth of the ponds was. The several ponds in the room were so deep that Shang couldn''t even feel their end, which was more than shocking. After all, Shang''s Spirit Sense now extended to 3,000 kilometers!Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang could also feel several powerful beasts in the depths of the pond, and he could even feel a very distant but extremely powerful Aura. Shang had felt a simr Aura before. The Eternal Maw. The extremely powerful Beast Lord. "These ponds are not technically in my room," Queen Primordium said, noticing that Shang was mostly focusing on them. "This is just a permanent portal on the floor of my room with the size of the ponds. If you step through, you will enter an underground mountain in the endless ocean northwest from here." That was when Shang noticed something else. Queen Primordium had deactivated the shield around her, and Shang could finally see what she actually looked like. Chapter 758 Chapter 758 After seeing Queen Primordium, Shang understood why she constantly kept herself hidden from Spirit Senses. "She probably receives a lot of looks,¡¯ Shang thought. Queen Primordium had luscious and long azure hair, making it rather obvious that she originally had a Water Affinity. The remaining parts of her body also very adequately demonstrated the rtion between water and life. In short, her natural appearance was very attractive. However, she certainly didn''t dress that way. Right now, she wore long and loose blue robes that essentially covered her entire body except for her hands and her head. It was quite obvious that she didn''t enjoy people taking peeks at her. "Noments?" Queen Primordium asked with a t tone. ¡°About your beauty?¡± Shang asked. Queen Primordium raised an eyebrow in annoyance. "| don''t have time for romance," Shangmented dryly. "Better that way," Queen Primordium said as some of the water in one of her ponds began to fly over to her. She slightly waved her hand, and the water began to morph and change color. In just a second, Queen Primordium had created a new person with her water, who now hovered in front of Shang. Shang could feel that Queen Primordium had created quite an urate body, which was more than just impressive. However, Shang also knew that this person could nevere alive. Queen Primordium might have incredible knowledge about anatomy and magic, but in order to create a soul, one needed the Life Concepts. So, no matter how urate the body she made was, it would nevere alive. As for the identity of the new person in front of Shang? It was a copy of the Custodian. "Wester, the Custodian," Queen Primordium said neutrally. "He''s one of the most powerful Mage Kings amongst all nine Empires. He''s the Lightning Emperor''s second-inmand and mouth." Shang just nodded. The Custodian had told Queen Primordium to show the other Mage Kings to him, which was what she was doing now. "He used to focus on Lightning, Metal, Light, and Time, but after being a Mage King for so long, he basically managed to learn quite a lot from everything. You should know about his temperament and his job." Shang just nodded. "| would advise against taking him as your teacher," Queen Primordium said. "He''s very busy, and he only has 20,000 years or so left." "| wasn''t nning on," Shang said. Queen Primordium just nodded back. For some reason, Shang wasn''t the biggest fan of the Custodian. In a way, one could say that Shang didn''t feel safe around him. Of course, saying that such a person as Shang didn''t feel safe painted quite an ironic picture since it was mostly others that didn''t feel safe around him. But the meaning of safe was very different for these two people. When others were around Shang, they felt ufortable since they felt like Shang was about to kill them. Inparison, when Shang was around the Custodian, he felt ufortable since he felt like his secret was about to be found out. Yes, now, Shang knew how the Custodian''s conduct towards Shang had changed. He was suspicious. As in, the Custodian was suspicious of Shang. ¡®Is it truly that surprising that the Lightning Emperor let me live?" Shang''s mind quickly went over his conversation with the Lightning Emperor. "Okay, it actually is.¡¯ "He was probably certain that the Lightning Emperor would kill me, and he probably knows him far better than anyone else.¡¯ ¡®He''s probably trying to figure out how | managed to convince the Lightning Emperor to leave me alive." ¡®| wonder, does the Custodian distrust the Lightning Emperor?¡¯ ¡®Not sure.¡¯ "Next," Queen Primordium said, pulling Shang out of his thoughts. "I''m Vana, Queen Primordium. People say I''m the second strongest Mage King of the Lightning Manor, but it''s just that Wester and | haven''t fought for quite a while." "| focus on Space, Time, and Gravity. | don''t have a lot to do, but | still focus on my power. If you don''t find anyone else, | can take the role of your teacher,¡± she said. "I will give the control over your training to you, but | want reports regarding your progress every century. Of course, only if you want me as your teacher." Shang nodded. "I am unfamiliar with Space, Time, and Gravity Affinities, and | don''t think focusing on those now would be conducive to my growth." Queen Primordium nodded again, showing that she agreed with Shang''s assessment. "She didn''t even mention her obvious Water Affinity,¡¯ Shang thought. Probably means that she hasn''t focused on Water for a very long time.¡¯ It was quite funny. Everyone that looked at Queen Primordium would think that she had a Water Affinity. When she was younger, some of her opponents readied themselves to fight a Water Mage, but when they attacked, they suddenly had to fight a Mage that focused on Space, Time, and Gravity. Awolf in sheep''s clothing. The body hovering in front of Shang changed again, transforming into a small blonde man. He looked very bright, friendly, and there was even a certain feeling of innocence about him. "That''s Amarius, the Dawnlight King," Queen Primordium said. "Together with the Catastrophe King, he is number three or four in our rankings." ¡°Amarius is responsible for the Diplomacy Department. He should have also been the one that negotiated with the Twilight Dusk Family regarding you joining us." ¡°He usually focuses on Ice and Light, but he recently started to shift focus to the Life Concepts. I''m not sure if he found any sess with those or not." ¡°Amarius is a social butterfly and talks a lot with members of the Lightning Manor and other Empires. This is also one of the reasons why he is responsible for the Diplomacy Department." "He''s rather flexible, and if you decide to ask him to be your teacher, | would assume that he will agree. He''s definitely one of the better ones for you." Shang nodded. Amarius might appear to be the pr opposite of Shang, but that wasn''t as important as what Amarius specialized in. Shang also focused on Ice and Light. The body hovering in front of Shang changed again and was reced with a much taller man. The man was nearly two meters tall, had ck hair, and had aggressive, sharp eyebrows. He was quite muscr for a Mage but not on the level of a warrior. "That''s Kiran, the Catastrophe King," Queen Primordium said. "Together with Amarius, he''s either the third or fourth strongest Mage King of the Lightning Manor."N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. "Kiran is responsible for the Force Department. He focuses on Darkness and Fire usually, but he is also trying toprehend Death, essentially making him the pr opposite of Amarius.¡± "But surprisingly, the two are actually good friends," Queen Primordiummented. "| think he is the only one that has no chance of being your teacher in any way," she said. "Why?" Shang asked. The Catastrophe King had seemed to be absolutely perfect for Shang. "He doesn''t even have a single free minute," Queen Primordium said. "The Abominations are bing more and more troublesome, and Kiran has saved billions of people. He is the sole reason why the Lightning Manor is amongst the Empires with the fewest losses to the Abominations." Shang didn''t say anything. "| don''t think he would agree to be your teacher, and | don''t think the Ancestor would order him to. We need Kiran to protect the people," Queen Primordium said. Shang could only nod. The body hovering in front of Shang changed shape again, and a momentter, Shang saw a familiar person. The Starlight Queen. Chapter 759 Chapter 759 Just like thest time Shang had seen her, she had silver hair and wore casual purple robes, which Shang now recognized as the standard uniform for members of the Lightning Manor. Naturally, people of higher ranks didn''t need to wear them, but Sparks were often encouraged to. "Sarah, the Starlight Queen," Queen Primordium said. "She''s the youngest member amongst our Mage Kings, but she has already overtaken two others. Although, that isn''t very difficult." "She focuses mostly on Lightning and Space for now, but she is already nning on branching out andprehending more. | think she has quite a lot of talent, and when Wester and | eventually leave, she will probably be the strongest Mage King amongst us." "She is very duty-oriented and fulfills her job with a lot of enthusiasm and professionality. | think a certain principle of idealism dictates her actions." "She''s the Mage King responsible for the Reconnaissance Department, but she is also leading the Research Department at the same time." "Howe?" Shang asked. "I''ll exinter," Queen Primordium said. "Sarah is quite busy, but she would probably ept you as her disciple. | would guess that she would probably try to understand everything about your power so she can create the best n for your training. She''s also one of the better candidates." Shang nodded. He still remembered the time he had met her. Back then, Shang had been in this huge ck building, and he hadn''t known how to leave. That was when she suddenly appeared in front of him, asking him what he was doing there and telling him that this was the property of the Lightning Manor. Back then, Shang had no idea what the Lightning Manor was. "| got a question,¡± Shang said. "Yes?" Queen Primordium asked. "In Area 23, | saw an Ancestral Beast attack a huge ck building that was built underground. At the same time, | felt the typical Aura of an Abominatione from there." "The Starlight Queen arrived and dealt with the beast." "What are these buildings?" Shang asked. Shang wouldn''t have asked such a question if he were just a normal member of the Lightning Manor. After all, it wouldn''t be difficult to just silence him if he knew sensitive information. But now, Shang''s status was not simple in the slightest. "ck Pylons," Queen Primordium answered without any hesitation or suspicion. Apparently, something like that wasn''t considered a secret. "The Research Department is responsible for those. They are huge ck structures that we buried in different parts of the world. Every ck Pylon has one High Abomination inside. Back then, only a very limited number of High Abominations could spawn across the entire world, and they also didn''t increase over a specific threshold." "So, to stop more High Abominations from appearing in random locations, we kept all the High Abominations alive and imprisoned them underground.¡± ¡°Another positive effect was that we could calcte the rough area where the True Abominations would appear ahead of time." "Sadly, with the Child of Cmity still being out there, the ck Pylons have be useless now. We find Arch Abominations in many ces, and we have already seen the odd Ancestral Abomination." Queen Primordium narrowed her eyes. "| worry about the future. Ancestral Abominations already need a Mage Lord to be safe, and we don''t have so many that we could station them in every settlement." "A considerable part of our losses hase from the odd 50 Ancestral Abominations that have appeared in thest century. Whenever one appears, you can be sure that a new crater forms." "Thest one | have seen had a diameter of over 500 kilometers." "Can you imagine seeing a deep and dark crater of such a size?" 500 kilometers. That was more powerful than any nuclear weapon from Earth. And Shang was solely responsible for that. If he had just stopped advancing and stopped pushing himself, he would already be dead. If Shang had simply decided to have a normal life, nothing like this would have happened. Yet, Shang''s mind didn''t even waver.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. ¡®I''ve already sacrificed so much for my power. Sacrificing more won''t make a difference.¡¯ ¡®As long as | deal with the Abominations when I''m a God, everything will work out.¡¯ "Thanks for answering my question," Shang said. Queen Primordium nodded, and the body in front of her changed into someone else. It was an older man with red hair that was slowly turning white. "Jonathan, the Myriad King," Queen Primordium said. "He''s responsible for the Research Department, and he''s also probably the weakest Mage King in the entire world." ¡°Howe?" Shang asked. "He was just as powerful as every other Mage King when he became one, but inparison to all the others, he stopped focusing on increasing his strength," Queen Primordium exined. "He once focused on Fire and Light, but as soon as he became a Mage King, his focus switched." ¡°From what he told me, he said that he wasn''t interested in increasing his power anymore if it didn''t increase his longevity or quality of life. Because of that, he just stopped advancing." "Instead, he focused onprehending all Concepts one level at a time." ¡°All Concepts?" Shang asked. ¡°All of them," Queen Primordium said. "The level one Pure Concept of every Affinity except for Life and Death. Then, the level two Pure Concepts. After that, the Complex ones. Then, the next level of the Pure ones, and so on." ¡°He probably knows more Concepts than any other Mage King, but over 95% of his Concepts have nearly zero impact on his actual power since they are so weak." ¡°However, in terms of contributions, he has probably been in first ce until just recently when Kiran started saving so many people." "He dedicated his entire life to research, and the books he published have revolutionized Magic for everyone below the Ancestral Mage Realm." "Since heprehended nearly every level one to level three Concept, he found several new Complex Concepts that we hadn''t even known existed since no one had tried tobine certain Concepts with each other. Additionally, he made several compendiums andptions of Concepts and what they could do." "You could say he unified and solved the lower levels of power.¡± "He''s also the one that decided to let other Paths in some Development Areas flourish. He had essentially already solved the lower Mage Path, and he knew that he didn''t have enough time for the next level." "So, he decided on also looking at other Paths." ¡°Without him, the area where you came from probably wouldn''t have many warriors." Shang nodded. "Sarah has been slowly taking on his duties due to his old age, leaving him with the duties he enjoys and taking on the duties he doesn''t like. For all his aplishments and services, we want to make hisst years as nice and rxing as possible." "| don''t think he can be your teacher," Queen Primordium said. "He''s the oldest Mage King in the Lightning Manor. He will die within the next 5,000 years, and he only wants to do what he has always done, look at weak people and learn from them." ¡°Also, | think his philosophy and yours don''t mix well." Shang nodded again. Their philosophies definitely didn''t mix well. Chapter 760 Chapter 760 The body hovering in front of Queen Primordium changed again. This time, it showed a woman with grey hair and- woah! Her clothing was very... tight and revealing, which was quite unusual. After all, nearly every Mage wore robes of some kind most of the time. Sure, there were some Mages with slightly more revealing robes, but it wasn''t as crazy as this! The woman in front of Shang probably only had a quarter of her body covered with ck and tight leather. Sure, on Earth, it wasn''t exactly umon to see someone like that walking around during the summer, just with a different fabric. But here, it was very different. Mages were much more conservative. ¡°Emilia, the Heartdevil Queen," Queen Primordium said in a neutral voice. "She is a bit more powerful than Jonathan, but not by much. However, she and Jonathan couldn''t be further apart in terms of value." ¡®Value?¡¯ Shang thought. "While Jonathan contributed iparably much to the Lightning Manor, Emilia basically contributed even less than the average Thunder." "She doesn''t like training and meditating, and she also doesn''t like work. Because of that, her power increases only very slowly, and the Logistics Department essentially runs on its own. She is officially the leader of the Logistics Department, but in reality, her Thunders are running it as a collective." ¡°ording to her, there is more to life than just training and working. True, that statement is valid, but | don''t think it''s that valid when it''sing from someone that only works for less than a decade every century." "Essentially, she''szy and constantly annoyed," Queen Primordium said. "You can try to get her as your teacher, but | wouldn''t expect much." ¡°How did she be a King?" Shang asked. Bing a Mage King meant training brutally for thousands of years, which didn''t seem very fitting for someone like her. "She wasn''t always like this," Queen Primordium said. "Or maybe she was. Either way, she told me in one of our many confrontations that she didn''t work her ass off to get that position just so she could work even more.¡± "She worked her entire life, and now that she achieved her goal, she doesn''t want to work anymore. At least, that''s what she keeps telling everyone,¡± Queen Primordium said. Shang nodded. It sounded a bit unbelievable, but amongst so many people in the world, there were bound to be some unbelievable stories. "That''s all seven Mage Kings in the Lightning Manor. Kiran, Sarah, Jonathan, Amarius, Wester, Emilia, and me." ¡°Are you interested in taking on any of them as your teacher?" she asked. Shang thought back to the seven Mage Kings. Kiran, the Catastrophe King, was definitely the most fitting. He was essentially perfect for Shang. However, he was just too busy. Sarah, the Starlight Queen, was an option. Jonathan, the Myriad King, wasn''t an option. He was already very old, and his philosophy shed with Shang''s. Amarius, the Dawnlight King, was also an option. Wester, the Custodian, was theoretically an option, but Shang felt like the less time he spent in his presence, the better. Emilia, the Heartdevil Queen, was not an option. She was essentially the perfect opposite of Shang. Vana, Queen Primordium, was an option, but Shang wasn''t nning on dedicating time to learning Space, Time, and Gravity, which were Queen Primordium''s specialties. Queen Primordium would probably be a good teacher, but her specialties didn''t fit Shang. This meant that only Sarah, the Starlight Queen, and Amarius, the Dawnlight King, were left. Well, the Starlight Queen might put a lot of work into creating a good n for Shang, but she also didn''t fit Shang''s Affinities. In a way, she was like Queen Primordium. So, that meant the Dawnlight King would be Shang''s teacher? Shang thought about it, but he wasn''t quite sure. The way Queen Primordium had described him made him seem soft. It was like he was too bright. Shang wasn''t suspecting the Dawnlight King of being some kind of evil psycho in disguise. Shang just thought that the Dawnlight King felt too bright to be around. "Could you please describe the Dawnlight King''s personality?" Shang asked.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Amarius is very social and charismatic," Queen Primordium said. "He constantly talks with others, trains with others, works with others, and so on. It''s almost like he thinks that any moment when he isn''t in the presence of someone else is a wasted moment." "He is almost universally liked. He is honest, approachable, understanding, and so on. He is essentially a pleasure to be around for anyone," Queen Primordium exined. Shang nodded. "I''m more concerned about his reservations," he said. "You have heard how | train. I''m not sure if someone like that would be fine with me doing something like that." "Well," Queen Primordium answered, "Amarius is very understanding. He would probably talk to you, ask you a couple of times if you are sure, and then reluctantly allow you to go through with it while he''s wearing a worried expression." "He respects your autonomy, but he would also try to support and help you as much as possible." "He also has this peculiar ability to make people open up to him. Amarius just seems very trustworthy, and talking with him about your worries helps a lot. | talked with him more than once about my worries." "He isn''t someone that uses the knowledge he gains about other lives for his own gain. He genuinely just wants to help other people. That is his entire reason." Shang furrowed his brows in thought. Amarius was essentially perfect. Was he too perfect? If anyone else gave someone that manypliments, Shang would be suspicious. However, Queen Primordium was not just some naive vige girl. When Queen Primordium said something like that, it was probably true. The image of Jerald shot through Shang''s mind. Before Jerald had lost his son, Mattheo, he had been very simr. Shang thought about his decision for a long time. Amarius was essentially perfect. But should he? Should he really? It took Shang over 30 seconds to make his decision. Chapter 761 Chapter 761 "| would like for you to be my teacher," Shang said. Queen Primordium furrowed her brows. "I think Amarius would be a better choice." ¡°No. | think that bing his student will even slow me down," Shang said. Queen Primordium raised an eyebrow. "And why would that be?" ¡°Because he would want me to do things that | don''t want to do," Shang said. "Which are?" Queen Primordium asked. Silence. "Make friends," Shang said. "Find apanion. Stuff like that." Queen Primordium just looked at Shang with an even expression. "Is there something wrong with that?" "If | had that, | wouldn''t have a sixfold Spirit Sense," Shang answered. Queen Primordium didn''t agree with Shang, and even if that was the case, was that so bad? What was the point of bing powerful when one only lived a grey life of suffering and loneliness? However, she also realized that her opinion on the matter wasn''t warranted. Shang had a sixfold Spirit Sense. She didn''t. Shang obviously knew very well how to be powerful, and if he said that something would stop him from growing, he would very likely be correct. "Fine," Queen Primordium said. "Then, | will be your teacher from today on." Shang nodded. Silence. Queen Primordium didn''t expect Shang to bow to her, but the nonchnt way Shang had be her student still felt strange. Nevertheless, she was a Mage King, and she knew how to adapt. "First, | need to know everything that you are willing to tell me," she said. "I don''t know a lot about warriors, but since | am now your teacher, | have to learn how warriors work." "So, for our first interaction as student and teacher, the student is going to teach the teacher,¡± she said. Queen Primordium summoned her Communication Crystal and tapped on it a couple of times. She put it away again and looked at Shang. "Start with the very beginning. Take as much time as necessary." Shang nodded. Some people might question why Shang, as the most powerful and knowledgeable warrior in existence, would want a Mage to tell him how to be an even more powerful warrior, especially since Shang''s Path wasn''t even truly the warrior''s Path. However, such thinking was short-sighted. Sure, right now, Shang knew more about warriors than everyone else. If Shang transferred all his knowledge to Queen Primordium, both of them would know the same. But what about ten minutes from now? Who would know more in ten minutes?N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. Queen Primordium. She was an ancient Mage King. Her experience and mind were unfathomablepared to Shang''s. Shang started to tell Queen Primordium everything via voice transmission since that was faster than speaking. He exined the Soldier Stage and the Mana Sources. He exined the Bloodline Infusion and the several different low-level techniques. Mana Domain. True Paths. Mana Pathways. Imposes. World Connection. Void Break. It took Shang quite a long while to convey all the information to Queen Primordium, even with voice transmissions. Queen Primordium had asked several questions during Shang''s exnations, and her questions grew more and more in-depth. One notable point was when Shang was exining World Connection to her. ¡°Have you thought about infusing your soul into your weapon?" she asked calmly. Shang went silent for a couple of seconds. "No," he answered. "This seems like the natural continuation from the Impose Stage," she said. "You have already established your four Paths and your four Imposes in the True Path Stage. While the World Connection seems like a viable way to continue, it feels more like you are trying to thin the wide Path you have created." "Imagine it like one point leading upward into four. These four points represent your four Paths. After that, youprehended four Imposes, which would be shown as four lines going upward from these four points into another four points.¡± "Your World Connection fuses these four points together again, reflecting the start." ¡°However, something like that should realistically only happen muchter since you haven''t unearthed all the buried potential in the four individual Paths." "A logical conclusion would be to go deeper in the four Imposes, and | think a logical next step would be to infuse your soul." "Your body and mind are already perfectly performing your techniques, but there is a certain emptiness in what you described.¡± "Via repeated movements, several different substances, and by focusing on certain aspects, you can train your soul to slowly leave its space. Part of it would stretch out from its dimension and move down your arm to your sword. At that point, the power of your Impose would be far more powerful than before." Shang just listened to Queen Primordium''s words. Shang knew that she would be useful, but he hadn''t expected this level of usefulness. He hadn''t even finished exining the World Connection before Queen Primordium had alreadye up with a more natural way to reach the next Stage for warriors. She was right. The way she had juste up with was more fitting for warriors. However, Shang didn''t regret choosing his own Path. After all, he wasn''t a warrior. He had his own Path, and if he could choose again, he would still choose his World Connection. Especially due to the way he gained power. Comprehending four Imposes would have given Shang a fourfold Spirit Sense, but if he wanted a fivefold Spirit Sense, things would have be tricky with Queen Primordium''s way. With World Connection, all four of his Paths had fused in a way, elevating all of their powers to the next level. Queen Primordium''s way would only have elevated one of the Paths, but in exchange, that one Path would have also been elevated by far more than a single Path with World Connection. Yet, if Shang broke through afterprehending only one of these things, it would have felt extremely strange and imbnced. The other three Sword Stages would have essentially be useless. So, he would have needed toprehend that thing for all four of his Paths. But that was impossible. That would take far too long. In the end, Queen Primordium''s way was definitely more fitting for warriors, but it wasn''t more fitting for Shang. Nevertheless, she hade up with a natural way for warriors to progress to the Sixth Stage in less than five minutes. There was definitely a lot Shang could learn from Queen Primordium. Chapter 762 Chapter 762 Shang finished exining the World Connection to Queen Primordium, but instead of continuing to exin Void Break, Shang paused. "Do you have any thoughts of a natural progression from that point onward?" he asked. Queen Primordium absentmindedly yed with her hair. "It''s difficult," she said. "There is a certain feeling to World Connection, but | am uncertain of the normal route to get there." "I''m also trying to think of a good way by taking your Path into ount." "There are two things | am thinking about here." "One, increase the potential of your strongest weapon, which is your World Connection." ¡°Two, allow you to use your Sword States all at once." "The problem is that the solutions to both problems are at opposite ends." "Increasing the power of your World Connection requires a step forward, but fusing your Sword States requires a solidifying step that widens your foundation." "Also, the additionalplexity makes it much harder toe up with a good way forward." "| would ask you to give me some time to think about these things in peace since this will solidify and deepen my knowledge of warriors and your power," Queen Primordium said. Shang nodded. The two of them fell silent, and Shang waited. At the moment, Shang felt like he was wasting his time by just sitting here and waiting, but he knew that he wouldn''t have enough time to do anything useful. Additionally, all of this would result in Shang''s power increasing even more in the future, and he knew that. So, he just waited. After around 30 minutes, Queen Primordium asked a couple of questions. The more questions Shang answered, the more the questions started to focus on the Weapon Master Path Shang had mentioned. And four hourster... "| think | got it," she said. Shang nodded. "There''s a way to do both things,bine your Sword States and also increase your power by a lot.¡± Shang was quite interested in her answer. After all, he still hadn''t found a solution to that yet. At the moment, he still had two Sword States, even though he wanted to reduce them to only one. "Weapon Masters use a simr way to manipte the world to World Connection. Their souls are giving an order, and the world answers by handing them a certain level of control over small parts of it." Naturally, four hours was more than enough for Queen Primordium to create the entire Weapon Master Path from scratch up to the Sixth Stage. "| would ssify World Connection as an ability of the Sixth Realm, which means that it would normally be enough to reach the Sixth Realm." "You already had that, which means that you need toprehend an ability of the Seventh Realm if you want to keep your fivefold Spirit Sense." ¡°If we view this like Concepts, it would be like you''veprehended a level three Concept at the High Mage Realm, and if you want to keep your powerful Spirit Sense, you would need a level four Concept." ¡°However, in order toprehend a level four Concept, you need a couple of level three Concepts, assuming you want to comprehend a Complex one. That is the key to uniting both things." When Shang heard that, his mind quickly started to analyze several things. What Queen Primordium had just said opened an entirely new direction for Shang. However, Queen Primordium continued exining. "What you could have done was toprehend this maniption ability of the Weapon Masters and deepen it by meditating and fusing with the world. That would push your Weapon Master Path to the Fifth Stage." ¡°After that, you need toprehend the level one Concept of Space, Warping. This would allow you to create a small pocket of space for your weapons." "This pocket would be under your control, and all your weapons would be under your control in there." ¡°After that, you need toprehend something that I''m going to call Gathering.¡± "I''ve never tried it, but based on my theories, Gathering refines the wide control that Weapon Masters have and gathers everything in a small point. For a normal Weapon Master, this means that all of their weapons could gather all the power of their other weapons and unleash one powerful attack with one of them."N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. ¡°Byprehending Gathering and Warping, you can keep three of your swords in essentially a tiny space on the back of your hand. The speed at which you could flip your Sword States would be instantaneous, basically making it irrelevant which sword you are currently holding in your hand." ¡°After that, you need to further focus on World Connection and fuse it with Gathering. Eventually, you should be able to borrow even more power from the world around you." ¡°Lastly, you need to reach a level of fusion with the world that allows you to attack from anywhere in your Spirit Sense. Gathering would essentially be able to show its full power from anywhere inside your World Gathering domain." "You could unleash every attack from every Sword State from anywhere in your Spirit Sense while also increasing the overall quality of your Spirit Sense." ¡°And you would still retain your fivefold Spirit Sense." Silence. Queen Primordium''s solution was basically perfect. At least for the information she had ess to. Sadly, there was a piece of information she didn''t know, but that wasn''t her fault. Shang purposely kept that piece of information to himself. Shang only had two weapons. Queen Primordium didn''t know about Shang''s two Apex Companion Weapons. At least, that was what the Lightning Emperor had called them. In her mind, Shang was just using four different weapons he had probablymissioned from the Temple of Blood. But the two Apex Companion Weapons were something special and specific that couldn''t be applied to any other physi in existence. So, Queen Primordium''s solution had essentially been perfect. It just wasn''t possible for Shang due to his limited arsenal. "That would solve both issues," Shang said. "However, there is now a new problem." ¡°By making my peak power avable to be used anywhere in my Spirit Sense, | would abandon the power of my body. All the power woulde from my being, but the powerful body I have created wouldn''t find itself being adequately used." "You essentially outsourced my physical power." Queen Primordium nodded. "That''s the best | coulde up with that fulfilled both criteria." Shang also nodded. "Sadly, that is probably really the best. After all, | only reduced my States to two, while your solution reduced them to only one. | have to take a step between four and one States, while you managed to aplish that in only one." The two of them continued talking about the validity of what Queen Primordium came up with for a while. Then, Shang exined Void Break to her. It took a while to go over all the intricacies and how Void Break worked, but eventually, Shang managed to tell Queen Primordium everything. And then, Queen Primordium fell silent again as she tried to think of a way to continue forward. Shang waited patiently while also trying to think of a good way forward. He wondered what Queen Primordium would be able toe up with. Chapter 763 Chapter 763 This time, Shang only needed to wait for around five minutes before he got an answer. "This is far more difficult," Queen Primordium said as she looked at Shang. "This isn''t something | can just create in a couple of hours. Additionally, we are talking about a far more theoretical level here." "The earlier solutions were already backed by real-world data due to how your power has developed already. As of now, we don''t have any examples of how your power would develop further.¡± ¡°Additionally, while the way | will eventually create might be the most optimal for the vast majority of people, it might not be the correct one for you." "In the end, you were the one that has a sixfold Spirit Sense, not me. | think the best way to create a fitting Path for you is not to create one." ¡°It would be better for me toe up with a couple of theories that you can try out. What you need is not someone telling you what to make, but someone that pushes your mind out of the proverbial box, widening your horizons." "The more creativity and information you have ess to, the better and more informed your eventual decision will be," Queen Primordium exined. Shang wasn''t really excited about that answer, but he understood where she wasing from. In essence, she was deferring judgment to Shang, and she didn''t want to influence him into choosing an incorrect one. To some people, this seemedzy, but others would see the true benefit this decision brought. On Earth, there was a proverb. Never change a running system. This proverb could be applied to several different things, including programming and investment. If apany was bought up by a much bigger one, there would be several ways to move forward. The biggerpany could take over the leadership and lead the smallerpany forward. However, if that smallerpany had been on a sharp uprise, many biggerpanies would be fine with just letting the smaller company operate as if the biggerpany didn''t exist. The smallerpany had already created such amazing results. Interfering might ruin the growth and momentum. Queen Primordium was doing a simr thing. Shang had proven time and time again that he knew what he was doing, and in Queen Primordium''s mind, the best thing she could do was to give Shang ess to more options, opinions, and resources, including the powerful mind of a Mage King. "| understand where you''reing from," Shang said tly. Shang knew that this was probably the right decision, but he still wasn''tpletely happy with it. After all, everything still depended on him now, even though there was such a powerful person in front of him. However, Shang was already used to all of this, and since he now had a Mage King as an advisor and teacher, it was already better than it had ever been. Queen Primordium asked a couple more questions regarding the Void Break Realm, but this time, there were a lot of questions Shang couldn''t answer. After all, he had just reached the Void Break Realm. He didn''t even truly know his own power yet. Eventually, Queen Primordium had no more questions regarding Shang''s powers anymore. As of this moment, she knew nearly as much about Shang''s powers as Shang himself. And in probably just a couple of days, she would have probably already created several viable ways to reach the Seventh Realm for Shang. From now on, Queen Primordium could point to new directions that Shang wouldn''t have thought of. But, for now, Shang needed to do something else. ¡®In 200 years, the trial will take ce again,¡¯ Shang thought. ''Getting a good score in that trial should be my priority.¡¯ ¡®For that, | need to further my power as much as possible. Obviously, reaching the next level isn''t possible since that would invalidate the trial, but | can work on my techniques." ¡®That should be my focus for now.¡¯ "The first thing | want to do," Shang said, "is to find a way to incorporate the two new Concepts |prehended. | know how the Concepts work, but | am not quite sure how to incorporate the Concept of Purgatory into sword techniques."N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. Queen Primordium nodded. "Unfortunately, even | don''t know much about the Concepts of Death, especially such an advanced one. | can think of a couple of ways, but | wouldn''t befortable telling you while | haven''t read up on the topic." After that, Queen Primordium fell silent as she looked at the ground with furrowed brows. Shang could tell that Queen Primordium was evaluating something and making a decision. So, he remained silent. After some seconds, Queen Primordium nodded. "I haven''t used that privilege for quite a while, and | also think that the Ancestor is also interested in your growth." Shang remained silent. Queen Primordium summoned a purple piece of paper and put her finger on it. Severalplex Runes appeared on the piece of paper, and a momentter, it exploded into a purple bolt of lightning and seemingly vanished. Then, Queen Primordium sighed. "This is a privilege only Mage Kings have," she exined. "As Mage Kings, we may contact the Ancestor regarding deeply secret and advanced knowledge. The advanced Concepts of Death are exceedingly rare, and nearly no one knows anything about them." "The Judgment Pce is probably the only Empire that knows everything about the Concept of Death since they have the Emperor of Death, but we obviously can''t ask them for such sensitive information." "Because of that, | just requested the Ancestor''s assistance. | exined everything, and now, we can just hope that he will help you," Queen Primordium said. "| thought that you had to go through the Custodian to contact the Lightning Emperor," Shang said. "That''s for general things," she answered. "Requesting such information is a specific process that doesn''t disturb the Ancestor during meditation. Additionally, this process can bepleted very quickly.¡± "For now, we have to- " WHOOOOM! At that moment, a huge portal opened on the ceiling of the room. BANG! Amomentter, a mountain of books fell to the ground, and the portal closed again. "Okay, seems like we don''t have to wait," Queen Primordium said. Shang''s Spirit Sense was already scanning the titles of the books. All of them were rted to Death Affinities and the Concepts of Death. Chapter 764 Chapter 764 Queen Primordium read through one book after the other. Sadly, Shang was forbidden froming into contact with the information since all the information in the books was considered sensitive. Only Mage Kings were allowed to read through these books. However, these books weren''t technically for Shang but for Queen Primordium. Queen Primordium would read up on the Concepts of Death so that she could be a better teacher to Shang. After a couple of minutes, Queen Primordium had already gone through 50 books, but then, she started to slow down drastically. The next book took her nearly ten minutes to finish, and when she was done, she looked at Shang. "The knowledge inside these books is more advanced than | expected," she said. "I will probably need a couple of years to digest all of this. | think you should return to the Hibye. | will contact you when I''m done." Shang nodded. "Thank you," he said before he walked to the door. "Where are you going?" Queen Primordium asked. Shang stopped and turned to her. "To the Hibye." Queen Primordium shook her head. Then, she lightly touched a certain spot beside her. Whooom! Aportal opened beside her. Shang''s Spirit Sense passed through it, but he only saw unfamiliar surroundings. At that moment, a second portal opened "inside" the first portal. It wasn''t exactly inside the first portal. In truth, it was a couple of meters ahead of the first portal''s destination, which made it seem like it was inside the first portal. Shang''s Spirit Sense also entered that one, and he saw the Hibye. "My Spirit Sense isn''t big enough to see the Hibye from here," Queen Primordium said, "but by creating a portal, my Spirit Sense can essentially ¡®start¡¯ from 500,000 kilometers away, which allows me to actually see the Hibye." "Walk through both portals, and you will be in the Hibye.¡± At that moment, Shang understood how powerful the ability to make portals actually was. The Lightning Manor wasn''t close enough to the Hibye for Queen Primordium to sense it.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. However, if she simply created a portal beside her like this, she could view the entire Hibye from nearly a million kilometers away. She could probably do that even more times, which would allow her to look into neighboring Empires. But these Empires probably had ways to stop something like that. Nevertheless, Queen Primordium essentially had the ability to arrive anywhere within the Lightning Manor''s Empire in less than a second just by summoning a couple of portals. Such power was crazy! "What about Lucin?" Shang asked, turning his head to the entrance to Queen Primordium''s room. "He left before you told me about the warriors," Queen Primordium said. "I told him to leave when | summoned my Communication Crystal." Shang just absentmindedly nodded and walked to the portal. He had talked to Queen Primordium for several days, and he had also seen how incredible her mind was. However, it still humbled Shang when he had witnessed her casual disy of power just now. A hardworking and old Mage King that focused on Space, Time, and Gravity. Only now did Shang realize what a powerful teacher he had actually acquired. Shang stepped through the two portals, which quickly closed behind him. Just like that, Shang was back in the Hibye. It was ridiculously easy and fast. If there were no other Empires stopping her, Queen Primordium could probably travel to any spot in the entire world in less time than a mortal needed to walk into their garden. The entire world was nothing but a couple of steps in reach. Lucin, as an extremely talented and powerful Mage Lord, could also essentially travel the entire world with his insane speed, but it was still a journey. To Queen Primordium, it was just nothing. Shang took a deep breath and flew towards the center of the Hibye. Lucin greeted Shang, and Shang returned to the greeting. The two of them talked a bit about Shang''s new status, but Shang ended the conversation soon. When Shang arrived at his hill, he noticed that all his "remnants" were gone. There was no blood, Death Mana, or anything simr. Yet, after thinking about it for a while, Shang realized that it wasn''t probably very nice to look at a hill filled with fleshy constructs. The only sign left from Shang''s time spent on the hill was the fact that no vegetation grew on the hill. The hill waspletely devoid of life. Shang sat down on the hill, and his mind traveled into his inner world. With the added power of his mind and his new Realm, it became even easier for Shang to keep tabs on his actual surroundings. Shang could still feel if anything threatening came close to his body or if anyone wanted to contact him while being in his inner world. Yet, Shang knew how talented and powerful the Clouds were. In his distracted state, he couldn''t guarantee that he would be able to feel an approaching threat before it was toote. Because of that, he went back to the center of the Hibye. He might not be able to feel an approaching threat in time, but the several Mage Lords and Lucin could. Also, Shang wasn''t really annoying or distracting the Bolts by just sitting on a hill. He wasn''t even looking at them. He might as well be a stone. Nevertheless, a couple of Bolts still threw suspicious nces at Shang. That crazy man was back. What was he up to this time?! Yet, as Shang only continued sitting there, doing nothing, the Bolts rxed. Inside Shang''s inner world, he experimented with his new powers. The Bolts felt that the Mana around Shang''s body was moving weirdly, but it wasn''t anything too strange. Over the next decade, a couple of Clouds wanted toe into contact with Shang, but he just kept ignoring them. And then, Queen Primordium contacted him again. She had read up on Death, and she could tell him what he could try out. Chapter 765 Chapter 765 Aportal opened up in front of Shang, and he stood up. He had just been inside his inner world. Acouple of Bolts noticed that a portal had opened in the middle of the Hibye, which was quite unusual. Small portals only needed the level three Concept of Space, Distortion, to be opened, but big portals where actual living humans could pass through needed the level five Concept of Space, Tearing. Alevel five Concept was already enough to reach the Mage King Realm, and a level five Concept for a Space Affinity was even rarer since space was so difficult to understand. Such an ability wasn''t evenmon amongst Thunders. Sure, there were several Thunders that could summon such portals, but it definitely wasn''tmon. The portal had opened without any warning. Even more, the Bolts couldn''t even stretch their Spirit Senses into the portal. Their Spirit Senses were being blocked. This made them quite suspicious, and they looked at Lucin. However, Lucin just told them that there was nothing to worry about. Naturally, the Bolts still wanted to know what was going on. "Cloud Shang is a warrior, which means that he has to visit the Lightning Manor several times for tests and interviews," Lucin exined. The Bolts were fine with that answer since it made a lot of sense. They had seen how desperately the warrior had tried toprehend things, and they had felt his life energy shrinking as time passed, which meant that he was running out of longevity. But now, the warrior''s Aura and longevity were as bright and strong as any other Cloud''s. This meant that the warrior now had more time to teach others about warriors.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. Shang stepped through the portal, which then closed right behind him. Naturally, this portal didn''t lead to an office in the Lightning Manor but to Queen Primordium''s room. "It took me quite a while, but | finished all the books," Queen Primordium said. Shang stopped in front of her, crossed his arms, and nodded, waiting. After that, Queen Primordium began to narrate several unique intricacies of the Death Affinity and the way it worked. Death Mana by itself was a very pure and dangerous kind ofplex poison. While a Poison Affinity essentially aimed to turn an opponent into a liquid or a hollow husk, Death Mana simply aimed to get rid of life. It aplished this by consuming life energy. One had to remember that this was very different from what Darkness Mana did. Darkness Mana canceled out life energy. Death Mana consumed life energy. Darkness Mana essentially used itself to destroy an equivalent amount of life energy. Death Mana, on the other hand, could remain in one spot and consume all the life energy that came into contact with it. That sounded incredibly powerful, but there was one thing. Death Mana didn''t exactly move or do anything of its own. Fire Mana consumed things around it and could spread further and further. Wind Mana moved all over the world. Darkness Mana also moved around. Yet, Death Mana didn''t really move. It was like a dot in space that just consumed life energy that touched it. When someone reached the limit of their age, little spots of Death Mana would appear all over their body, which would slowly drain more and more of a person''s life energy. Eventually, there would be so many spots that the body couldn''t do anything anymore essentially. Because of that, using Death Mana in attacks was very difficult. Moving and manipting Death Mana was not easy since something moving of its own volition was a sign of life, which was the opposite of death. It was possible to move Death Mana, but it required a huge amount of resources and effort. Even more, condensing Death Mana was also very difficult. After all, Shang was a living being. In order to naturally create Death Mana, something needed to actually die. Just hacking off an arm wouldn''t work. But wait, hadn''t Shang created a makeshift Death Pit by doing basically that over and over again? Yes, but Shang hadn''t created his own Death Mana. He had attracted the surrounding Death Mana. In order to actually create Death Mana, something needed to die. However, that sounded easier than it actually was because Death Mana wasn''t generated when something died but when something was in the process of dying. Of course, the stronger the dying being, the more Death Mana one got. Yet, there were even more problems still! Assuming one gathered a lot of Death Mana, using said Death Mana was still very difficult, and even keeping Death Mana was dangerous. Queen Primordium told Shang that every single Spell she had found required the Death Mana to be inside someone''s mind, which was crazy. Shang knew exactly why that was crazy. After all, his mind had once been infected by Death Mana. ording to Queen Primordium, normal Mages couldn''t even use any significant amount of Death Mana since their mind would copse or the person would kill themselves. Naturally, there were some ways to get around that, but that required the Life Concepts, which were just as rare and difficult to comprehend. Essentially, in order to use Death Mana in an actual battle, one needed to either have knowledge of the Life Concepts or have a Death Affinity. Someone with a natural Death Affinity had an inherent mindset that was close to the mindset the Death Mana created. Because of that, they could store vastly more Death Mana inside their minds than anyone else. Finally, when all of these problems were solved, one could use Death Mana. And when the Death Mana was already inside someone''s mind, using it was no longer as difficult. Queen Primordium exined to Shang what he could try in order to manipte the Death Mana, and Shang nodded along. He would need to do a couple of things he wasn''t used to, but it wasn''t anything too strange. He would quickly get used to it. However, there was one big problem. ¡°Where do | get Death Mana?" Shang asked. "Can | purchase it?¡± "No," Queen Primordium said. "Due to the ethics of producing Death Mana, any trade of it is prohibited." ¡°However, there is a way for you to produce your own Death Mana." "Yes?" Shang asked. "It''s your Death Concepts," she said. "The Concepts of Death are parts of death, and by making them a reality, they will produce Death Mana." ¡°Now, using these Concepts on others without having ess to Death Mana is like casting a Spell without a mind. It''s impossible." ¡°But there is one person you can use these Concepts on to produce Death Mana," Queen Primordium said. Chapter 766 Chapter 766 The dead hill in front of the mansions in the Hibye was surrounded by a huge purple Istion Barrier yet again. Ten years. The warrior had remained somewhat sane for only ten years. Then, that portal appeared, and when the guy came back, everything changed. First, that guy just stood on that hill for a couple of minutes, not moving. And then, he began to age rapidly! He was turning into an old man in seconds! All his hair fell out, his muscles vanished, his skin began to sack, and disgusting brown and grey spots appeared all over his body. Then, he just fell over like a dead man! The Bolts immediately contacted him. After all, Clouds weren''t supposed to just die like this! And what did he answer?! ¡°Everything''s okay. Just ignore me." The hell it was! That guy was aging rapidly and dying right in front of them! How was that okay?! When Lucin saw that, he immediately took out his Communication Crystal and contacted Queen Primordium, who quickly informed him about everything. After Queen Primordium hung up, Lucin just looked at his Communication Crystal with furrowed brows. Couldn''t they have tried to keep this secret? He already had needed toe up with a lie for the portal, and now he needed to find a believable lie for why Shang was just fucking dying right there. Lucin immediately decided to summon another Istion Barrier around Shang. Naturally, the Bolts were interested once more about what was going on. "Cloud Shang is working right now,¡± Lucin said. "Working?" one of the Bolts asked in shock. "Yes, they are testing the resilience and life energy of warriors. From what I''ve just heard, they gave him a couple of Spells and pills that he is supposed to use and ingest on himself." ¡°Naturally, the effects are quite pronounced, but he shouldn''t be in danger as long as he keeps to the instructions," Lucin exined. "Oh, that makes sense," one of the Bolts eximed. The others also agreed. Warriors had far more powerful bodies, which meant that their resilience was also far higher. Some of the Bolts even became a bit envious. After all, such a job had to pay very well. After Lucin managed to convince the Bolts that everything was okay, he released a covert sigh of relief. Ever since Shang appeared, his job had be stranger and more stressful. Inside the Istion Barrier, a half-dead husk was lying on the hill. It was difficult to tell if Shang was alive or dead. It was like he was in limbo. Or purgatory. Yet, even though Shang''s current state was essentially identical to the state he had been in ten years ago, he wasn''t in even nearly enough danger as back then. The reason was that Shang could just stop producing Death Mana. And even more, he could actually make use of that Death Mana. After having been a half-dead husk for just three minutes, Shang decided to try something. In an instant, his entire body regenerated fully as all the Death Mana vanished. He had pulled all the Death Mana into his mind. ¡®| want to die,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I just don''t want to live anymore.¡¯ Nevertheless, he trusted in his previous thought and simply did what he wanted to do. If he still wanted to die after that, he could still do it. Shang pointed his hand forward. And then, some grey smoke came out of it. Shang''s mind recovered, and he realized that he had just wanted to die, which was essentially a first for him. ¡®Okay, that was too much Death Mana,¡¯ Shang thought. Some secondster, Shang started to rapidly age again, and he copsed. Acouple more secondster, Shang''s body recovered again. This time, Shang didn''t gather as much Death Mana in his mind. Yet, Shang still felt apathetic toward his own life. He didn''t really care if he lived or died right now. Nevertheless, he had more motivation in this state than in his earlier one, and he even managed to release a half-hearted sh with his sword. A ck crescent with a bit of grey in it shot out of his sword, hitting the Istion Barrier. The crescent exploded into Darkness Mana and a bit of Death Mana. The power of the Istion Barrier made the Darkness Mana essentially useless, and it was used up in an instant. Yet, the Death Mana remained.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. It stuck to the Istion Barrier and started to consume the Mana. Naturally, Lucin was extremely powerful, which meant that Shang''s attack still didn''t do anything noteworthy to the Istion Barrier. However, it also didn''t manage to get rid of the Death Mana. The Death Mana just remained, and it continued consuming the Mana of the Istion Barrier. When Shang saw that, he realized the potential of Death Mana. Natural Death Mana only consumed life energy, but by using the level one Concept of Death, Sickness, Shang managed to slightly alter the properties of Death Mana. Instead of doing nothing to Lucin''s barrier, the Death Mana clung to it and consumed it slowly. It was like a parasite. Atick. Several possibilities of how to make use of this power shot through Shang''s mind. And that was only the level one Concept. What about Weakness? What about Purgatory? Even more, Shang had just used his basic ranged attack with a bit of Death Mana. This couldn''t even be called an actual technique. By actually creating a real technique, the power of the Death Mana would increase severalfold. But that would take time, as always. Amomentter, Shang aged again and copsed in a half-dead husk. After dealing with all the Bolts, Lucin just looked into his Istion Barrier and watched Shang. The only thing he could do was shake his head. Why was everything involving Shang always rted to suffering, torture, death, and depression? Couldn''t that guy just be normal? Couldn''t he just train like a normal warrior or Mage? Like, do some pushups. Maybe swing his sword. Maybe meditate. Lucin could only sigh. Chapter 767 Chapter 767 For a while, Shang just kept experimenting with Death Mana, but at some point, he just kept lying on the ground as a half-dead husk.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Lucin became a bit concerned, but he could feel that Shang was still alive. For several years, Shang justy on the ground, half-dead. Lucin felt more and more awkward and strange. Eventually, he asked Shang if everything was okay, and Shang just answered that everything was fine. Yet, Shang just kept lying there, doing nothing. Naturally, Shang wasn''t actually doing nothing. In truth, Shang was fighting against beasts and Mages inside his inner world, and he kept his real body half-dead so that he could experiment with more Death Mana inside his inner world. His real body had essentially transformed into a Death Mana generator. Shang usually only needed a few years to create new techniques, but the potential andplexity of Death Mana made it quite difficult to create good techniques. However, that just meant that Shang needed to spend more time. After 30 years, Shang hadpletely solidified his new fighting style with his new techniques. For thest 300 years, Shang had been busyprehending Void Break, which meant that he hadn''t truly had any time to refine his fighting style. But now, with nearly 4,000 years of longevity left, Shang finally had enough time. When Shang was around 1,050 years old, his real body recovered, and he stood up. There was something he had to do. In fact, there were two reasons why he wanted to do this something. First, now that Shang was in a new Realm, he needed to advance again, and in order to advance properly within that Realm, he needed Abominations. This hadn''t been an issue in the Temple of Blood. After all, Shang could just summon some Abominations while he was walking to and from a mission. But things were different now. Any Abominations appearing here would immediately be noticed by several Mage Lords. While the appearance of an Abomination might not be too surprising, it suddenly vanishing when Shang touched it would very much be considered surprising. So, Shang needed ess to Abominations, and no one was allowed to see his interaction with them. Shang had already thought of a solution to that problem, but the solution was very expensive. Like, really expensive. However, Shang had already thought of a way, and as fate would have it, something else was pushing him toward that way anyway. It was Lucin. Lucin told Shang that he was too passive. He wasn''t criticizing Shang for his training. The problem was that there were other Clouds, and if one actually wanted to gain enough resources to be more powerful in the Hibye, one needed to interact with the Hibye and earn resources. Naturally, as long as Shang didn''t ask for something ridiculously expensive, he wouldn''t need to earn anything. After all, he was getting ten times as many resources as anyone else, and on top of that, he had Queen Primordium as his teacher. But exactly that was the problem. Every single Cloud had a boundless ambition to be powerful. Yet, Shang remainedpletely isted for centuries. Wasn''t he in need of resources? As the sole "warrior", Shang was already very conspicuous amongst the Clouds, which meant that they paid very close attention to him. And now, he hade into contact with portals, got hidden by Istion Barriers, and didn''te out to earn any resources. There was something strange going on. Shang''s true power had to remain a secret for multiple reasons. Because of that, they couldn''t let it show that he was getting preferential treatment. So, Lucin told Shang to go out into the Hibye and earn some resources just for show. Funnily enough, Lucin''s request coincided with Shang needing more money anyway. In the end, Shang agreed. However, he also asked Lucin how expensive the thing he wanted would be. When Lucin heard Shang''s request, he couldn''t say anything for several seconds. That was the absolute height of luxury. That was a ridiculous expense for something that would barely aplish anything. It was like Shang was throwing his money out of the window. Naturally, it was Lucin''s job to explicitly stop something like this from happening, and he told Shang that he wouldn''t approve of something like that. Shang told Lucin that as long as it was his money, it wouldn''t matter. Lucin countered by saying that Shang didn''t earn any of that money but that the Lightning Manor gave him ess to it. After all, he wasn''t contributing to the Lightning Manor right now. After getting his request declined twice, Shang did something he hadn''t done before. He went "crying" to his teacher. Shang told Queen Primordium that he needed that for his training. She looked closely at him and asked him to repeat that. Shang very slowly repeated it. Then, Queen Primordium nodded. She had confirmed that Shang''s statement was the truth by feeling its resonance with the world. Shang truly believed that he needed that. Therefore, this wasn''t a waste of money. Shang had a sixfold Spirit Sense, proving that he knew how to be powerful. And if he said he needed something, who were they to disagree? Additionally, it was his money anyway. So, Queen Primordium epted his request prematurely and told him that she would issue the construction order immediately to save time. However, he would only get what he wanted when he earned the necessary money. And how much money was that? About 400 Grade Seven mana Crystals. That was quite a lot of money. However, if Shang could actually get that thing, he wouldn''t have to worry about absorbing Abominations anymore, he hoped. And where would he get that money? In the Wilderness Hunt. The reason why Shang hade out when he was 1,050 years old was precisely due to the Wilderness Hunt starting soon. This was the biggest event for the Clouds, and it was held every 100 years. This was the best ce to earn big money. Chapter 768 Chapter 768 "You''re also joining this time?" a young man with ocean blue hair asked another guy with grey hair. "Yep," the other guy said with a smile. "All my gains from the Trial of Want have been used up. Now, | need some new resources.¡± "Man, | wonder how strong you''ve gotten after that trip,¡± the first guy said. "I heard you got a pretty good evaluation." The other guyughed. "It wasn''t bad," he said with a smirk. "Maybe you can actually take down- oh, speak of the devil. There he is," the first guy said as he looked in a different direction. The other guy raised an eyebrow and also looked in that direction. And he wasn''t the only one. Right now, over 200 people were gathered in a big za near the middle of the Hibye. There were around 150 High Mages, 30 Archmages, and about 20 Ancestral Mages, and right now, they were all looking at the new arrival. Shangnded near the edge of the za, not greeting anyone. "You know him?" the guy with grey hair asked the guy with blue hair via voice transmission. ¡°Everyone knows of him," the blue-haired guy answered. ¡°Really? Is he that strong?" the grey-haired guy asked. "Well, he was definitely above average when he was amongst the Archmage Clouds, but I''m not sure about right now," the blue- haired man transmitted. "But his power is not why he is so well known. Can''t you feel how strange his Aura feels?" "Yeah, sure," the other guy answered. "I can feel that his Aura is very weird, but there are many Clouds with weird Auras." "He''s not a Mage," the first guy said. The eyes of the other guy shot open in shock. "Wait, what?" "He joined after a century after you went into seclusion. Turns out, there''s a warrior with a fourfold Spirit Sense, and he is that warrior." "Wait, a warrior? You mean like those guys that fight with spears and hammers and stuff?" the other guy asked. The first guy nodded. "Yes, those guys." ¡°And they managed to produce an actual Cloud?" he asked. "| mean, can a warrior actually be that strong?" "He killed two other Clouds, and a third one conceded and left." Shocked silence. The grey-haired guy almost couldn''t believe what he had just heard. There was a non-Mage that could actually win against the best of the best among Mages? "How?!" The first guy narrated the battle, and the other guy listened with rapt attention. ¡°Huh, okay," he said, "and now, he''s an Ancestral, excuse me, he''s in the Sixth Realm?" "Seems so," the blue-haired guy said. "And judging by the power of his Aura, | would say he is already at the Early Sixth Realm." "That''s a bit fast," the grey-haired guy said. "How long could he have been in the Sixth Realm? Like a century, maybe? Why is he rushing through his Realm like that? He should know that this is essentially wasting potential." "No idea," the first guy said with a shrug. The two of them continued talking, but they were definitely not the only ones. Several other Clouds were talking about Shang. None of them were stupid. They had seen how strong Shang was. Shang''s Battle-Strength might have taken a temporary hit since he had just reached a new Realm and rushed through the first level, but they knew that he was still very dangerous. Naturally, Shang wasn''t actually at the Early Void Break Realm. Queen Primordium had created an inconspicuous and small attachment to Shang''s Space Ring. This was a permanent talisman, and it made Shang seem like someone in the Early Sixth Realm. Shang was still at the Initial Void Break Realm. "Hey, you''re the warrior, right?" Shang turned his head to face someone. It was a red-haired girl with a bright and excited smile. "What do you want?" Shang asked coldly. The red-haired girl blinked a couple of times in shock. She hadn''t expected such an aggressive response. ¡°Nothing, really," she said awkwardly. "I just wanted to start a conversation." ¡°Not interested," Shang said as he turned his head away. For a couple of seconds, the girl smiled awkwardly, not knowing what to do. "Well, okay then," she said as she turned around to leave. Shang just focused forward, waiting for the Wilderness Hunt to begin. ¡®All these Clouds are my enemies,¡¯ he thought to himself coldly. Meanwhile, the grey-haired man looked at Shang with a skeptically raised eyebrow. "Is he always such an asshole?" The blue-haired man nodded. "From what I''ve heard, yes." The grey-haired man only shook his head in disapproval. Would he jump forward and defend the girl''s honor and admonish the disrespectful non-Mage? Please, these were not teenagers. Acouple more people gathered over the next couple of days, and by the end, around 350 people had gathered, which was around half of all the Clouds below the Mage Lord Realm.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. The Wilderness Hunt was exceedingly popr. However, it was also where most Clouds met their end. Eventually, Lucin and 20 Bolts arrived at the za. If this had happened outside the Hibye, the world would have been thrown into an uproar. 21 Mage Lords! However, inside an Empire, something like this was normal. Lucin inspected everyone present, and after a couple of seconds, he nodded. SHING! Lucin summoned several amulets, one amulet flowing to one person each. Shang took hold of his amulet and felt the light-blue Aura emanating from it. This was the mark of being in the Early Sixth Realm. Shang looked at the other Ancestral Mages and noticed that nearly half of them had white amulets, representing the Initial Sixth Realm. Then, there were much fewer people with light-blue, blue, and dark-blue amulets, representing Early, Mid, and Late Ancestral Mages. However, there were even more ck amulets, representing Peak Ancestral Mages. It seemed like most people only joined when they were either at the peak or at the beginning of a Realm. ¡°Now, let me exin the rules of the Wilderness Hunt," Lucin said. Chapter 769 Chapter 769 Lucin started to exin the rules of the Wilderness Hunt. "The Wilderness Hunt is divided into three sections. One for the High Mages. One for the Archmages. One for the Ancestral Mages." ¡°Every section will be held in a different wilderness." "The wildernesses have been prepared by me and the 20 Bolts behind me. We have created tombs, caves, and many other things that will serve as trials. We have also littered the wildernesses with valuable treasures." ¡°Of course, the more valuable a treasure, the harder it is to obtain. You will meet powerful beasts, deadly traps, powerful criminals, and many other kinds of dangers. It is your job to survive these dangers and earn as many resources as possible." "The amulets you have just received must be worn at all times. They show others your level, which is important in the Wilderness Hunt." "In the Wilderness Hunt, you are allowed to attack other Clouds and kill them. You may keep all of the dead Cloud''s belongings." ¡°However, you are only allowed to attack people at the same or at a higher level than your own. Attacking people below your level is strictly forbidden." ¡°As soon as a fight breaks out, one of my Bolts will oversee the battle and make sure that no third person gets involved. Every fight is a duel, and no one is allowed to interfere." "In order to make the Wilderness Hunt possible in the first ce, your amulets will also suppress your Spirit Sense to a radius of ten kilometers. On top of that, there are several Magic Circles in the wildernesses that stop you from looking into the ground with your Spirit Senses." "The Wilderness Hunt willst for one year for the High Mages, three years for the Archmages, and ten years for the Ancestral Mages." ¡°When the time is up, we are going toe to you and bring you back to the Hibye.¡± "If you have entered a smaller trial located within the wilderness and time runs out, you are allowed to finish that trial before you have to leave." ¡°Any questions?" Lucin asked. None of the Mages had any questions. ¡°Will the Bolts watch us constantly, even outside of fights?" Shang asked. Lucin nodded. "Every participant will be watched over by one or more Bolts at every moment unless during special trials, but you will be informed if you enter such a trial." That was everything Shang wanted to know. This meant that he couldn''t show his more sensitive abilities involving his Entropy Affinity. There were no other questions. Lucin nodded. "Then, | wish everyone good luck." Asecondter, three Bolts stepped forward, each summoning a big Transportation te. ¡°High Mages, here." ¡°Archmages, here." ¡°Ancestral Mages, here." The people all gathered on the three different tes. The remaining bolts split up amongst the different groups. As for the Ancestral Mages, there were a total of 36 that took part in the Wilderness Hunt. 16 of them were at the Peak Ancestral Mage Realm, two were at the Late Ancestral Mage Realm, three were at the Mid Ancestral Mage Realm, five were at the Early Ancestral Mage Realm, and ten were at the Initial Ancestral Mage Realm. The three Bolts leading the groups took to the sky and flew in different directions. Shang''s group was flying towards the north. ¡°Your trial will be held in the Deep Crevices," the leading Bolt said. When the Ancestral Mage Clouds heard that, their brows furrowed. "I''ve not heard of that one," one of the Clouds said. The Bolt turned around and looked at her. "You new?" he asked. She nodded. "You have an Ice Affinity?" he asked, looking at her light-blue hair. She looked around at the other Clouds but nodded in the end. "Depending on your fighting style with your Affinity, you will either have a great advantage over others or a great disadvantage," the Bolt said. "Okay," the Cloud said awkwardly, "but what are the Deep Crevices?" "You''ll see," the Bolt said. After flying for a couple of minutes, Shang could feel a huge body of water with his Spirit Sense. Shang''s Spirit Sense had a radius of 3,000 kilometers usually, but with the amulet, he only had one of ten kilometers. Yet, he could still feel how fast they were moving. And right now, he was seeing nothing but water for over a full minute of traveling.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. That was when Shang realized where they were. This was Shang''s first time being in the Eternal Ocean, the gigantic body of water surrounding Aterium. Near the beginning, Shang had still been able to feel the ground beneath the ocean, but now, he couldn''t feel the ground anymore. Even more shocking was the fact that they had traveled for over five minutes across the Eternal Ocean. Based on the speed at which the Bolt was traveling, this meant that they were over a million kilometers away from Aterium right now. They were literally in the middle of the Eternal Ocean. And then, the Bolt suddenly stopped. Shang looked around with his Spirit Sense, but he could feel nothing but the water below him and the sky above him. "And we''re here," the Bolt said. The girl that had asked about the Deep Crevices earlier opened her eyes widely in shock. "But there''s nothing here!" The Bolt turned to her with a smirk. "Not on the surface," he said. It took the Cloud a bit to realize what the Bolt meant, and her face turned white. Wait, the Wilderness Hunt would be held on the bottom of the Eternal Ocean?! How deep was it?! While a bit of water wasn''t an issue for an Ice Mage, the sheer density and pressure of the Water Mana at the bottom of the Eternal Ocean were probably unimaginable! This was what the Bolt had meant earlier regarding her Affinity. If the Ice Mage fought by converting Water Mana to Ice Mana or simrly, she would have a huge advantage. After all, she would be surrounded by extremely dense Water Mana. Yet, if she didn''t fight like that, it would be an issue. Back in Area 23, Shang had learned about Mana Transformation. The Ice Wyvern Zone had been filled with Ice Mana, and the Empress Cobra Zone had had a lot of Water Mana. When the Water Mana flowed into the Ice Wyvern Zone, it turned into Ice Mana, and when the Ice Mana flowed into the Empress Cobra Zone, it turned into Water Mana. So, if the Ice Mage didn''t fight by transforming Water Mana into Ice Mana, she would find that her Ice Spells would be much harder to use. She would need to use much more Mana for every Ice Spell since she would need to increase the density of the Ice Mana. Obviously, she didn''t have enough Mana to exhaust all the Water Mana in her surroundings. The best thing she could do was to keep her Ice Spell alive before it was inevitably turned into Water Mana, making it harmless. Of course, Ice Mana wasn''t the only kind of Mana that would have some issues inside the Eternal Ocean. Fire Mana would get weakened just like Ice Mana. Wind Mana couldn''t borrow the inherent power of the air, which meant that one would need to use much more Wind Mana. Metal Mana didn''t technically care about the Water Mana, but the power of pressure, gravity, and the density of the water made it very difficult for a solid object to move very quickly. Light Mana would also be at a horrible disadvantage since there was no light down there. However, there were also kinds of Mana that benefited. Earth Mana would have a great time at the bottom since there would be a very dense mass of earth beneath them. Water Mana obviously had a great advantage. Lightning Mana would also be very useful. Due to the absence of Light Mana, Darkness Mana would also prove to be very useful down there. Andstly, Gravity Mana was also at an advantage due to the increased pressure and gravity down there. Naturally, the reactions amongst the Clouds were mixed. A lot of them had furrowed brows, but there were also a lot of them with smirks. Surprisingly, 28 of the 36 Ancestral Mages seemed to find this to be an advantageous wilderness for them. Almost everyone had several Affinities, and these geniuses also had impressive abilities to adapt to new environments. The Clouds had so many different Spells and techniques that they could find an advantage in any kind of extreme environment. Sadly, there were also some of them that looked quite scared. However, it was always difficult to urately judge these Clouds. It was possible that some of the seemingly unconfident Clouds were actually just faking their fear to lure others into attacking them. ¡°Alright, let''s begin." Chapter 770 Chapter 770 "This is the middle of the ce we call Deep Crevices," the Bolt exined. "The Wilderness Hunt will be held within a radius of 10,000 kilometers. Leaving the area voluntarily results in death." ¡°Naturally, you will be able to tell where the wilderness ends based on a very noticeable Magic Circle, which you will see and pass through on your way down." ¡°As soon as you pass through the Magic Circleter, you are not allowed to pass through it until a Bolt tells you so." ¡°Well then," the Bolt said with a smile, "I think that should be everything.¡± "You can descend now." BANG! Half of the Clouds immediately shot into the water at their full speeds, even using Mana Step. The other half slowly started to float and made their way downward. Shang was amongst the half that traveled slowly. Usually, one could tell someone''s confidence in their power based on how they acted in this situation, but that wasn''t very easy here. After all, the Clouds knew how certain people would act and could emte that behavior. Shang slowly floated into the water, although his kind of slow wasn''t exactly an average human''s kind of slow. He still moved two kilometers per second.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. As Shang continued going downward, he was reminded of the time he had run away from the Grandmountain Kingdom. Back then, he had also swum to the bottom of a hugeke. However, the Shang from back then had just reached the Commander Stage, and he hadn''t been able to sense anything down there since it had been just too dark. But this time, Shang had a Spirit Sense, even if it was only restricted to a radius of ten kilometers for now. The Clouds split up the further they descended. As soon as they passed through the barrier, they would be allowed to attack each other, and most of them didn''t want to be attacked. In a matter of seconds, Shang was alone again. Right now, there was only water in all directions. Shang had no idea how deep the Eternal Ocean actually was, but it was probably very deep. After nearly a full minute, Shang could see the Magic Circle the Bolt had been talking about. There was a purple barrier in front of Shang, impossible to miss. This meant that the Wilderness Hunt would start from here. ¡®The wilderness is supposed to have a radius of 10,000 kilometers. | wonder if that also extends upward, which would mean that the bottom of the Eternal Ocean is over 10,000 kilometers away." Shang had expected the Eternal Ocean to be deep, but he hadn''t expected it to be this deep. However, Shang didn''t stop descending, and in nearly an instant, he passed through the actual barrier. BANG! Suddenly, Shang''s surroundings seemed to crack apart! The space in the surroundings had received cracks! Obviously, someone was nning on attacking Shang, and Shang was shocked by the sheer power of the oppressive space in his surroundings. All the space in Shang''s surroundings was pulled to him as it cracked apart, putting immense pressure on his body. Shang felt his Mana Pathways crackling under pressure, but they managed to hold. An instantter, numerous Magic Runes appeared in Shang''s surroundings. Shang didn''t know anything about Magic Runes, but he could feel that Concepts of Space and Gravity were currently trying to press him into a tiny cube of meat. Shang didn''t move and remained in the middle of the oppressive space and gravity. ¡®This has to cost a lot of Mana,¡¯ Shang thought calmly. Using Mana Crystals as power sources was forbidden in any fights between Clouds. Otherwise, the battles would deteriorate into whoever could build the better defensive Magic Circle and offensive Magic Circle since everyone had ess to such a ridiculous sum of Mana Crystals. This meant that whoever attacked Shang needed to use their own Mana to keep this Magic Circle going. Nearly an entire second passed, which was an insanely long time for a fight on this level. Shang didn''t receive a single injury and didn''t use up any Mana. If a Mage were in this position, they would be forced to use Mana Step. After all, every bit of damage would consume the Mage''s Mana. Meanwhile, Shang''s defense worked like t damage reduction. If the power of the attack wasn''t strong enough to get through, Shang would literally take no damage at all. Naturally, this Magic Circle wasn''t meant to kill him but to make him move. After all, the easiest counter was to just rush out of the Magic Circle. But then, Shang would probably be attacked by another attack that the opponent had readied, which would be their actual killing move. The Magic Circle was strong enough that staying inside would be a bad idea but not so strong that it would consume too much Mana. WHOOOM! In an instant, Shang noticed that a terrifying beam of concentrated space was shooting toward him from a hidden location outside the Magic Circle. If Shang had left the Magic Circle, the beam would have probably been fired at Shang from just a couple of meters away, making it impossible to avoid it. At that moment, time seemingly stood still. Shang was surrounded by oppressive space and gravity as a beam of powerful gravity shot at him from barely a kilometer away. As soon as that happened, Shang became active. In an instant, the entire Magic Circle around Shang vanished! It was like it had never been there! However, Shang hadn''t used his Domain of Entropy. This was the power of Void Break! Shang had consumed the momentum of Void Break and had strengthened his body, but the actual ability of Void Break still existed. Just now, Shang had absorbed all the Mana in the surrounding kilometers, including the Water Mana and the irregr Space and Gravity Mana. The surrounding ten kilometers had turned into a ck void. There was no Mana in this void. It was just nothingness. All of the absorbed Mana was currently pressed into Shang''s Mana Pathways, putting immense strain on them. The beam had barely moved a couple of meters in that instant. Shang''s head moved toward the direction of his opponent, who had been unveiled since all the Mana around them had also been absorbed, canceling their cloaking Spell. At this moment, the opponent''s face was agonizingly slowly transforming from a serious one to a shocked one. It was like everything but Shang was moving in slow motion. With all of this Mana inside Shang, his body had reached a bit more than the power of a Mid Ancestral Beast. Right now, Shang could punch a Mid Ancestral Beast, and it would be thrown back. All the foreign Mana inside Shang moved to his legs. The void behind and below Shang seemed to solidify. Shang put his feet to the solidified space. And then, he jumped. BOOOOOOM! Shang shot toward his opponent with unreasonable speed! In an instant, he arrived at the beam, which had barely moved 150 meters up to now. Shang''s left arm swung the simple metallic rod that was his Subsis at the beam. The beam vanished, and a translucent de made of space and gravity appeared around the Subsis. However, the de vanished just as quickly as it had appeared. The Space and Gravity Mana moved through Shang''s Mana Pathways, which had already been emptied of foreign Mana by using it to jump forward. The new foreign Space and Gravity Mana reced the old foreign Mana, essentially activating the ability of Void Break again. But this time, the foreign Mana only traveled through Shang''s body and entered his Addum. The Addum began to vibrate and shake under the power of Gravity and Space. Shang''s Addum wasn''t made to use Gravity and Space Mana, but it was strong enough to house them anyway. Sure, the efficiency was far lower, but that didn''t really matter. Shang swung forward, and at that moment, he used up a majority of his life energy, which was instantly refilled by using a big part of his Mana. The Addum didn''t seem any different from before, but that couldn''t be further from the truth. Shang had used the Concept of Addition to transform his Light Mana to the extreme of mass. Right now, Shang couldn''t even elerate or stop his Addum anymore. The added power of space, gravity, and mass had made his Addum so insanely heavy that Shang couldn''t even hope to move it. Yet, Shang had already inserted a ton of kic energy before the Addum had be that heavy, and that energy didn''t just disappear. The Addum continued shing forward. And it hit the Mage''s Mana Shield. At that moment, the grey-haired man inside the Mana Shield was finishing the word for Mana Step. CRACK! The Mana Shield blew apart like a marble made of thin ss. All the Mana in the Mage''s bodypletely vanished. Suddenly, a powerful hand grabbed the Mage''s throat and pulled him forward. The grey-haired Mage looked with terror at the white bandage right in front of him, covering the opponent''s eyes. For just an instant, he thought that his opponent might spare him. But then, he felt like he was losing all his youth, energy, happiness, and strength. His body was turning into a husk. He wanted to scream, but his neck and face had already atrophied. And in just two seconds, the grey-haired Mage had turned into a lifeless husk. Shang remembered that this Mage had talked to another blue-haired Mage before the trial started. What surprised Shang was that this grey-haired Mage had only been at the Initial Ancestral Mage Realm, while Shang''s amulet told him that he was at the Early Sixth Realm. Well, it seemed like this Mage had been quite confident in his power and thought that he could kill this warrior as long as he ambushed him. Shang calmly ripped the bony finger off that carried the Space Ring and looked inside. Three Grade Seven Mana Crystals. ¡®Beggar.¡¯ Shang threw the dried corpse to the side and continued descending. Chapter 771 Chapter 771 Even though the grey-haired Mage didn''t have a lot of money in his Space Ring, his Focus should still be worth something. The Foci the Clouds had ess to were the best of the best, and they certainly weren''t cheap. Although, "not cheap" didn''t mean expensive for the Clouds. Maybe the Focus was worth about two Grade Seven Mana Crystals, making the Mage''s total worth about Five Grade Seven Mana Crystals. However, that was still pitiful for an Ancestral Mage Cloud. Many kilometers away, a Bolt was looking at an emblem with many small names written on it. Asecondter, one of the names was crossed out, and the Bolt shook his head. "What a waste," he muttered. "Why did you try to attack someone a level above you? Don''t you get that jumping a level amongst Clouds is basically impossible?" Naturally, since the grey-haired man had attacked first, Shang was allowed to retaliate and kill his attacker, even though his attacker had been an Initial Ancestral Mage. The Bolt didn''t question Shang''s power at all. In the Bolt''s mind, Shang was in the Early Sixth Realm without a doubt. But in truth, Shang was still in the Initial Void Break Realm. This meant that this fight had been one between two equal opponents, ording to level. Yet, even though Shang had been the one that got ambushed, Shang had killed his opponent without any problems. This was what it meant to have a sixfold Spirit Sense. With a fivefold Spirit Sense, Shang would most likely win against his opponents while suppressing his Entropy abilities, and without suppressing them, he would almost certainly win. However, a sixfold Spirit Sense was much more powerful. Right now, there were probably no Initial Ancestral Mage Clouds in the Hibye that could realistically threaten Shang. Attacking the current Shang as an Initial Ancestral Mage essentially equated tomitting suicide. After descending for a couple more seconds, Shang realized that this had probably been the only attacker, although the chances were high that a couple of Clouds had attacked other Clouds by now. Ironically, Shang felt safer in the Wilderness Hunt than outside. ¡®Outside, people are trying to keep their intentions secret,¡¯ he thought. ¡®And worst of all, | am not allowed to kill them.¡¯ ¡®But in here, | am allowed to kill if | so choose to.¡¯ However, Shang''s mind still felt rather apathetic regarding all of this. He could finally earn a lot of money, and he finally didn''t need to hold back any longer. Yet, it all felt a bit meaningless. But that was actually to be expected. After all, Shang was fully ready to battle, which meant one important thing. "You interested in working together?" Shang seemingly didn''t react to the words that had suddenly entered his mind. "Exin," Shang said, creating a bit of air in his lungs to speak. Something like this wasn''t difficult for someone on his level. Shang couldn''t contact the person with a voice transmission since he couldn''t feel their presence. "I''ve put a tracking Spell on one of the Early Ancestral Mages,¡± the voice spoke. "She and | don''t really get along. | won''t be telling you the reasons." ¡°And you want me to kill her?" Shang asked. "Yes," the mysterious voice said. ¡°And your condition?" Shang asked. Giving someone the location of a victim was not something one did for free. ¡°Nothing special," the mysterious voice said. "| just want you to convert all her assets into liquid funds instead of assuming ownership, but based on what I''ve heard, you would''ve done that anyway.¡± It''s an economic war betweenpanies, probably,¡¯ Shang thought. These Clouds were all extremely powerful and rich. Many of them owned a scary number of huge businesses and even towns. Shang guessed that the mysterious voice probably had troubles with another Cloud''spany, and theirpany was being suppressed. If Shang killed that other Cloud, he would gain control over all her assets, including herpanies and towns. Then, Shang would just convert them to liquid funds, which meant selling thepanies and towns. Most likely, the mysterious voice would buy the majority, overtaking a rival business. "Deal," Shang said. "Good," the mysterious voice answered. An instantter, a small emblem seemingly appeared out of nowhere just six kilometers away from Shang. BANG! Suddenly, all the Mana in the surroundings vanished, leaving a void behind. Shang had used Void Break again. Then, Shang pointed his Subsis at a slightly discolored spot beside the emblem. SSSSSSSS! Ahighly concentrated beam of water shot out of the tip of Shang''s Subsis, reaching his opponent in no time at all. BANG! The beam hit something solid for just a tiny moment before the solid object seemingly vanished. All the empty space was filled again by the surrounding water. Shang didn''t move, and he couldn''t feel his opponent anymore. He could only feel the emblem floating in the air. Shang slowly floated over to the emblem and looked at it. The emblem showed a three-dimensional image with an arrow pointing in one direction. This was probably where that female Cloud was supposed to be. Amomentter, Shang followed the arrow and left the area.N?velDrama.Org: text ? owner. While he was doing so, a silver-haired man sneered in disdain. Surprisingly, he was a Mid Ancestral Mage. ¡®Idiot,¡¯ he thought with a malicious smirk. He had been a bit surprised when Shang had suddenly attacked him, but in truth, he was actually quite happy about that. Now, he would get control of his rival''s businesses for free! After all, someone more powerful than someone else was allowed to fight back as long as they were attacked first. Although, what some of them didn''t know was the timeframe. They were allowed to strike back any time during the Wilderness Hunt, as long as the other person wasn''t in a different duel. That meant that the silver-haired man could now let Shang kill his weak rival and then kill him after that. If Shang hadn''t attacked him, he wouldn''t have been allowed to strike back. The silver-haired man took out another emblem and looked at the arrow with a smirk. Then, he slowly moved toward the destination of the arrow. Chapter 772 Chapter 772 Shang moved diagonally downward. Based on the trajectory of the arrow, the silver-haired man''s rival had been one of the ones that had been charging downward instead of slowly moving forward. Shang followed the arrow for a couple of minutes. Eventually, he finally saw something other than water. The ground. ¡®Sure enough, it truly is over 10,000 kilometers deep. That''s crazy,¡¯ Shang thought. By now, Shang could also feel the intense pressure and gravity in the surroundings. The pressure felt about as strong as the pressure a mortal would feel when freediving to a depth of around ten meters. Definitely not easy for an average person to do, but not a problem for a professional. Meanwhile, the gravity just required Shang to use a bit more power to move his body. However, considering the power of Shang''s physical body, this was already crazy. If | were at the Peak Fusion Realm without my Void Break, | would only be able to survive for a limited amount of time here," Shang thought. Naturally, staying at such a depth was also troublesome for the Mages. While Late and Peak Ancestral Mages could stay here indefinitely, weaker Ancestral Mages had a slower Mana regeneration than what resisting the pressure used up. This meant that they needed to surface a bit from time to time. How deep was the Eternal Ocean here in total? Maybe about 12,000 kilometers deep. And since the Magic Circle went up to 10,000 kilometers, this meant that the Clouds could surface to a depth of 2,000 kilometers. Naturally, the pressure wasn''t nearly as deadly at a depth of 2,000 kilometerspared to a depth of 12,000 kilometers. Like that, they could regenerate their Mana. All of these thoughts also shot through Shang''s mind, and he was quite intrigued by the choice of battlefield. The Wilderness Hunt had turned out quite different from what he had thought. Initially, he thought that they would be traveling through forests and mountains. But instead, they were here, and all the parameters for usual battles had beenpletely changed by the environment. Fighting at the bottom of this area could be extremely risky but also extremely beneficial. Based on the strength of thebatants and how long they had been at the bottom, onebatant might start with 90% of their total Mana while the other only had 70%. Even more, surfacing would also prove to be quite dangerous. After all, if one surfaced, it meant that they felt it to be too dangerous to remain in the depths, meaning that they had already been weakened. So, what if someone fully rested created an ambush halfway to the top? Staying in the depths was dangerous. Surfacing was dangerous. Honestly, the only ce that wasn''t dangerous was staying at the surface while already fully rested. Of course, there were also some Clouds that didn''t care at all about the pressure. Someone very skilled in Gravity Magic could create an anti-pressure field around them, which meant that they didn''t need to resist the pressure with their Mana Shield. Metal and Earth Affinity Clouds could probably also just create a very hard isting barrier around them, even denser than the surrounding water. ¡®The people that are stronger under normal circumstances might actually be significantly weaker here.¡¯ ''It''s chaos.¡¯ Eventually, Shangnded on the ground. "So, that''s why it''s called Deep Crevices." At the moment, Shang could feel a couple of crevices in his limited Spirit Sense, and he couldn''t even sense the bottom of some of them.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. Some were barely a couple of meters wide, while others were so wide that Shang couldn''t even feel the other side. Initially, Shang believed that he had reached the ground, but after seeing all these crevices, he felt more like he hadnded on the top of a small mountain or teau. Shang moved his feet around a little bit and noticed that he didn''t need to increase the density of Mana beneath his feet. The ground was so hard and dense that Shang could walk around without any problems. And then, Shang started to run in the direction the arrow of the emblem was pointing. The more he advanced, the more Shang could see the arrow move around, which meant that he was getting closer. Eventually, Shang saw the arrow point into one of the crevices, and he also entered it. The crevice was vast and deep, and Shang couldn''t see the end of it. Shang continued descending even more, but he couldn''t find his target. He saw the arrow move more and more into a horizontal orientation until it eventually waspletely horizontal. This meant that Shang was at the same depth as his target. Shang followed the arrow, but just after a couple of seconds, he frowned. There was a wall in front of him. Shang looked at the arrow, which pointed directly at the wall. Then, Shang ascended and checked if he had actually entered the correct crevice. After looking around for a couple of minutes, he was certain that this had been the correct crevice. He went to the same spot again and looked at the wall. Eventually, Shang noticed a couple of hidden Magic Runes, which formed aplex Magic Circle. Naturally, Shang''s knowledge of Magic wasn''t even near enough to understand this Magic Circle. However, he didn''t need to. This simply confirmed that Shang''s target was inside the ground, which meant that there was most likely an empty space within the crevice. BOOOOOOM! Shang punched the sandy wall! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! Shang kept punching the wall, and the dense sand was blown in all directions. Shang kept punching forward as his body moved to fill the gap he created with every punch. Eventually, Shang waspletely submerged beneath the dense sand, but that didn''t matter to him. It was just a bit more pressure. Shang kept punching and moving forward. BANG! Suddenly, Shang felt like he had hit something solid. Well, "solider" than the ground around him. Shang moved the sand to the side, allowing his Spirit Sense to see the thing in front of him. It was a Magical Barrier. Shang slowly put his hand on the barrier. And then, his body began to atrophy. Shang was creating Death Mana. After all... He had used up his storage of prepared Death Mana a couple of minutes ago. Chapter 773 Chapter 773 Shang''s body atrophied, but it wasn''t as extreme as usual. After all, Shang couldn''t weaken his body too much, or the pressure in the surroundings would kill him. CRK! Several of Shang''s bones broke, and his muscles were torn. However, everything was still under control.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. While all of this was going on, Shang kept infusing the barrier in front of him with the Death Mana he was creating. He was keeping the amount of Death Mana in his body consistent so that he perpetually remained at the edge of death. Shang remained like this for several minutes. Meanwhile, many kilometers away, a Bolt was watching over the Clouds that had been assigned to him, with Shang being one of them. He was paying special attention to Shang due to his identity as a warrior and the fact that he had just found one of the exclusive trials within the Deep Crevices. These trials housed several challenges, and if one managed to clear all of them, one would get the rewards. Most of the time, the first challenge of a trial was to find it. The entrance to the Trial Shang was trying to get into was at the bottom of the crevice, and one would need to pay special attention to all the Earth Mana down there. If one had some ability to reveal Magic Circles or secrets, one could find the entrance. After that, one only needed to reverse engineer the key to open the entrance. ¡°Wonder how long he will keep trying," the Bolt muttered to himself. There was only one entrance to this Trial, and the ce where Shang was trying to get to was not an entrance. It was a wall. Since Clouds were not supposed to enter from this point, the barrier on the walls was extremely powerful. One would need to be a strong Mage Lord to break through this barrier, and one would also need a couple of minutes to get through it. Obviously, no Ancestral Mage Cloud could possibly hope to get through that barrier. More minutes passed, and eventually, the Bolt noticed that the spot that Shang had been touching had turned grey. The Bolt was quite surprised that a warrior at the Early Sixth Realm could influence such a powerful barrier, but that still shouldn''t be an issue. Some more minutes passed, and the grey spot had grown to be as big as Shang. The clear parts around that grey spot had also started to vibrate, and Mana was ceaselessly flowing into the grey spot like a flood. The Bolt looked with interest at what was happening. He had never seen anything like it. And then, the Bolt''s Communication Crystal rung. "Yes?" he asked casually. "What the hell are you doing?!" came the furious shout of Lucin out of the Communication Crystal. The Bolt was taken aback. "I''m not sure what you mean, Lucin," the Bolt said. ¡°Not sure what | mean?!" Lucin repeated in anger. "I''ve been told that one of the people you are supposed to watch is within Trial 31!" "That''s correct," the Bolt answered. "Then what the hell do you mean with what do you mean?!" Lucin shouted. The Bolt just blinked a couple of times. "I still don''t know what you''re referring to. Nothing seems out of the ordinary." Silence. "Is this some kind of protest?" Lucin asked with a threatening voice. The Bolt blinked in confusion again. "No?" he answered with uncertainty. "Then fucking deal with it!" Lucin shouted. The Bolt''s mind was going wild. He had absolutely no idea what Lucin was referring to. ¡°Lucin, are you okay?" he asked. "| genuinely have no idea what you are talking about." "I''m talking about that Beast Lord that is attacking Trial 31''s barrier!" Lucin shouted. Silence. "What?" the Bolt asked as he inspected Trial 31. "There''s no Beast Lord." Silence. Then, the Bolt heard a very angry sigh. "Then, how is that barrier losing more Mana than regenerating?" Lucin asked with obvious annoyance. "It is?!" the Bolt shouted in shock. He looked at the barrier of Trial 31 again, but he couldn''t see any Beast Lord. However, now that he heard Lucin say it, the Bolt realized that an awful lot of Mana was moving across the barrier in one stream, which was very simr to how it would act if it were attacked. The Bolt followed the stream, and his eyes fell on the grey spot in front of Shang. "Lucin," the Bolt said. "What?!" Lucin shouted in anger. "There is no beast interacting with that barrier in any way. The only thing interacting with that barrier is one of the Clouds," the Bolt answered. "One of the Clouds?!" Lucin shouted. "How could-" And then, silence. "Which one?" Lucin asked in a calmer tone. "The warrior," the Bolt answered. The Bolt heard a deep sighing from the Communication Crystal. "What''s going on?" Lucin asked calmly. "There''s a big grey spot in front of the Cloud, and it is growing by the second. The grey spot seems to absorb all the Mana." "| think this Cloud actually has a shot at breaking through the barrier," the Bolt said with surprise. Silence. ¡°What should we do?" the Bolt asked. "This hasn''t happened before, as far as | am aware." Lucin remained silent. "| mean, should we stop him?" the Bolt asked. "But that wouldn''t be fair since we want to give all the Clouds the opportunity to use their powers." ¡°But if he seeds, he will ruin the entire trial, making it meaningless.¡± "What should | do?" the Bolt asked. Lucin remained silent for several seconds. Then, Lucin sighed again. ¡°Nothing,¡± Lucin answered. "Nothing?" the Bolt asked. ¡°Nothing,¡± Lucin confirmed. "This is his power. Restricting the Clouds'' powers would be unfair. The Clouds work very hard for their powers, and restricting their powers would be like punishing them for being too strong." "Strength should be encouraged, not discouraged." "So, if a Cloud has the ability to break through barriers that can even hold off Mage Lords, they deserve to break the barriers." "Well, okay then," the Bolt said. "Sorry for shouting at you earlier,¡± Lucin said. "Oh, no problem. | understand," the Bolt said dismissively. "Thanks," Lucin said. "I think | wille to the Deep Crevices. It might be better for me to watch personally." "Sure," the Bolt said. "Later," Lucin said. "Later," the Bolt answered before the connection was cut. The Bolt stashed the Communication Crystal away and looked at the barrier. It would break very soon. "| have no idea if the Magic Circles within the Trial will even work after this. They''re not made to operate underwater and under so much pressure.¡± Chapter 774 Chapter 774 Shang noticed that the barrier before him started to distort under the pressure. Shang pulled his hand back and healed himself to his peak. He had filled the barrier with an unreal amount of Death Mana, and it wouldn''t stop absorbing Mana anytime soon. Shang watched the barrier distort more and more until... BANG! The barrier shattered. WHOOOOOOM! As the entire barrier around the trial vanished, all the wet ground surrounding it suddenly imploded, filling the spots that had been filled with normal air until now. In the short moment when the barrier had been destroyed but the earth hadn''t yet filled in the empty space, Shang had been able to feel his surroundings with his Spirit Sense. The image Shang had seen was of a ratherrge room with several pitfalls, several Magic Circles, and several tforms. Shang assumed that this had probably been some kind of trial where people had to find out how the Magic Circles worked to divine the correct way across the tforms and pitfalls. But now... As soon as the barrier broke, all the earth rushed into the room, destroying the tforms, filling the pitfalls, and disrupting almost all the Magic Circles. Shang remained standing on his spot for a couple of seconds until all the ground around him had calmed down. Then, Shang took out the emblem and looked at the arrow. Diagonally down. Shang hadn''t seen his target in the brief moment before the earth had filled in the gaps, which meant that his target was inside a different challenge within the trial. Shang remembered where one of the doors had been and dug towards that spot by punching more dirt. None of the pitfalls, tforms, and Magic Circles worked anymore. Some secondster, Shang reached the doorway, and one punchter, the door opened slightly. WHOOOM! The door immediately exploded outward, and the earth around Shang rushed into the opened doorway. Shang simply continued punching forward. BANG! After one particr punch, Shang noticed that he had destroyed something that wasn''t the normal kind of ground. Acouple of pieces of marble shot past him. Shang realized that he had entered a hallway with a stairway that went upward, and he had just now punched through the stairs. Shang took out the emblem again and looked at the arrow. Diagonally down. Then, he turned around, punched through the door, through the room, and then through the other door. Shang punched through some marble again, but he noticed that the angle was different, which meant that he had just punched through the nted ceiling. This meant that this stairway led down. Shang was just about to kick diagonally down when he suddenly stopped. He realized something. After that, he looked at the arrow again and oriented himself perfectly in the arrow''s direction. Shang realized that he didn''t need to adhere to the nnedyout if he was already identally destroying the walls and stairs. Shang punched forward, and the more he advanced, the more the arrow was moving left and right. This didn''t mean that his target was moving but that he was getting closer to it. Shang prepared himself for a battle as he punched forward. Yet, nothing was happening. Eventually, the arrow started to move rapidly when Shang was just moving the emblem around. After moving it around a bit, Shang realized that his target was essentially directly in front of his chest. His arms could already move behind the target. Shang moved his arms forward and dug more carefully. And then, he saw his target. It was a small cube of bloody meat surrounding a Space Ring. Shang wasn''t particrly surprised about that. Early Ancestral Mages couldn''t permanently resist the pressure at the bottom of the Eternal Ocean. This spot was even deeper than that. Additionally, the pressure underground was even more brutal than the pressure in the water. On top of that, the Cloud had probably been taken by surprise while undertaking the trial. Maybe her Mana Shield had been deactivated. Maybe her Mana had already been low. Anyway, the brutal pressure of the sudden explosion of earth had killed her andpressed her into this tiny cube of meat. How strong was the body of an Early Ancestral Mage? Not very strong. Such a body was probably about as strong as Shang''s body had been at the Mid True Path Stage. Inparison to Shang, it was pitiful. Shang''s current body was already under quite a lot of pressure. One could imagine how a Mage''s body would fare. Shang dug the Space Ring out of the cube of meat and inspected it. ¡®Pretty good,¡¯ he thought. He guessed that the contents were worth quite a couple of Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Way better than the beggar from earlier. Shang threw the cube of meat to the side again and punched upward. He kept a mental map of theyout of the trial and kept checking what kind of material he was destroying. After a while, Shang noticed that he wasn''t destroying marble anymore and turned around. For the next couple of minutes, Shang kept searching through the highestyer of the trial until he found one single hallway that led upward. Shang followed that hallway for a bit and noticed that it led to an inconspicuous spot at the bottom of the Eternal Ocean. This was the exit. After finding the exit, Shang turned around again and followed the hallway deeper. Eventually, he found a door, and after opening it, he began to dig more carefully. Some minutester, Shang found a highlypressed cube of metal. This should be one of the rewards for clearing the trial. This cube of metal probably used to be some kind of artifact. Obviously, it wasn''t worth as much anymore as it used to, but Shang believed that the materials should still be worth something and pocketed the cube.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. Shang searched around and found a couple more rewards, but the extreme pressure had turned most of them into useless chunks. But one of the rewards had survived. It was an emblem. Shang read through its contents and snorted. Free ess to a high-grade area forprehending Concepts for 500 years. Anyone else would be ecstatic about this reward, but due to his status, Shang already had ess to basically everything. "Hope | can sell this back to the Lightning Manor.¡¯ Shang pocketed the emblem and punched upward. Some secondster, he punched through thestyer of ground and reached the Eternal Ocean again. Shang''s Spirit Sense could finally expand to a radius of ten kilometers again. Then, Shang stopped on the ground of the Eternal Ocean. "| have a question regarding the rules," Shang said by creating more air in his lungs. "What is your question?¡± one of the Bolts asked Shang via voice transmission. The Bolts were always watching, and if someone had questions, it was their duty to answer them. ¡°If | kill someone but can''t retrieve their belongings, what happens to them?" Shang asked. ¡°If you are truly the one responsible for their death, we will retrieve the belongings for you," the Bolt answered. "Okay," Shang said as he slowly lifted his right arm. "Then, can you retrieve this?" Shang snapped his fingers. At that moment, far away from Shang, the Bolt''s eyes widened in extreme shock. What the fuck had he just witnessed?! It took him several seconds to recover. Some secondster, a small portal opened in front of Shang. A Space Ring wasing through it. Chapter 775 Chapter 775 The Space Ring fell out of the portal, and Shang inspected it. Then, he nodded. ¡®Not bad,¡¯ he thought. ¡®This guy probably has nearly a hundred Grade Seven Mana Crystals. With everything else I''ve gotten, | should have earned more than 200 Grade Seven Mana Crystals.¡¯ Less than half an hour. This was how long Shang had taken to earn more than 200 Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Shang pocketed the Space Ring and nned his next move. Meanwhile, the Bolt was looking at Shang with shock. He still couldn''t fully ept what he had just witnessed. Near the top of the greater Magic Circle epassing the wilderness, a Mid Ancestral Mage Cloud had been calmly waiting and recovering. After he had been attacked by Shang, he went deeper into the Eternal Ocean and searched for something valuable. Sadly, the intense pressure and gravity had been far stronger than the Mage had anticipated, and he needed to go to shallower waters to recover some of his Mana. He hadn''t expected that the intense pressure would use up that much of his Mana, but that also didn''t matter that much. After resurfacing for a while, he was nning to return to the bottom of the Eternal Ocean. And then, he exploded. A humongous ck sphere suddenly consumed him and the surrounding kilometers. The surroundings had been filled with insanely dense Darkness Mana. It took a while for the dense Water Mana from the outside to wash the Darkness Mana away, but when it did, the Cloud had been revealed again. He had transformed into a husk. He looked like a corpse that had been dead for months. Naturally, this was the doing of one or two of Shang''s new techniques, depending on how one defined a technique. When Shang had absorbed the Water Mana around him with his Void Break, he had immediately shoved it into his Subsis. Shang''s Subsis couldn''t hold Water Mana, but it could still guide it due to its shape. The dense Water Mana was pushed out of Shang''s Subsis at its tip, creating a fast and dense beam of water. Yet, it had to get through something first. yer of Death Mana. Shang had coated the tip of his Subsis with his stored Death Mana, and when the Water Mana shot through it, it pulled the Death Mana along. Naturally, Death Mana wouldn''t easily move like that, but this was why this was a technique. By manipting a couple of Concepts and the Mana, Shang could infuse some of his attacks with Death Mana. And this was one of them. People that weren''t familiar with Death Mana wouldn''t be able to see it, making Shang''s attack seem weak and irrelevant. When the water beam hit the Mage, it scattered Death Mana across his entire Mana Shield. Shang had used the Concept of Sickness with the Death Mana, which meant that it clung to the Mana Shield and absorbed Mana continuously. An Initial Ancestral Mage would notice the drain immediately. An Early Ancestral Mage might notice the drain. However, a Mid Ancestral Mage had too much Mana to notice the drain immediately. It would take some time for them to notice it. This was one of the effects of this technique, with another effect being a marker for Shang to follow. Shang could feel the Death Mana, and he could essentially follow its trail like a dog. Shang called this attack Infection. What could the opponent do to get rid of Infection? It was very easy but also very risky. Just dismiss the Mana Shield. When the Mana Shield was dismissed, the Mage only needed to take a step to the side and resummon it. Like this, the Death Mana wouldn''t affect them anymore. However, activating Mana Shield wasn''t instantaneous. The cast for Mana Shield was a bit longer than for Mana Step. And with the power of a Mage''s body, any attack Shang wouldunch at them would end their life. Even just the pressure of Shang swinging his sword in the general direction of the Mage might turn them to dust. Of course, Shang also had created some techniques that were extremely weak but also extremely fast for exactly that purpose. Either dismiss your Mana Shield and risk dying or keep getting drained by Death Mana.N?velDrama.Org owns this. Sadly, what the opponent didn''t know was that the more Mana the Death Mana absorbed, the more powerful it became. By using the Concept of Purgatory, Shang could keep the Mana "alive". All the Mana eaten by the Death Mana would be transformed into Darkness Mana and stored inside it. And Shang could detonate this Mana whenever he wanted. Naturally, if the Death Mana didn''t absorb a lot, the power of the explosion would be negligible. In order topletely kill a Mid Ancestral Mage with their Mana Shield, it would need to absorb Mana for around a minute. Aminute in a battle between Shang and a Mage was an unreasonably long time. But when they were not directly in a battle, this technique was deadly. This was the attack that had killed the Mid Ancestral Mage Cloud. Since it was an extension of Infection and a sort of culmination of it, Shang decided to call it Sepsis. If you actually get Sepsis, there''s a good chance that you won''t survive. Aweak and pathetic beam of water that had touched the Mage''s Mana Shield for just an instant had been the reason for his death. The Bolt had no idea how Shang had aplished that. In fact, several things about Shang shocked and confused the Bolt. How had he destroyed such a powerful barrier? How had he killed someone a level above him from so far away? The Bolt knew that the Clouds had mystical powers, but Shang''s powers were the most mystical of them all. They just seemed to defymon sense, making the impossible possible. For some reason, the Bolt felt like this Wilderness Hunt wouldn''t be a normal one. Chapter 776 Chapter 776 After thinking about his options for a while, Shang decided to walk along the bottom of the Eternal Ocean. If he could find an entrance to a trial, he could earn a lot of money. As long as he actually won the trial fairly, his rewards wouldn''t be destroyed. He walked along the ground of the Eternal Ocean and focused on all manners of fluctuations around him. There were no beasts or humans around him. There was only the deep darkness and pressure of the Eternal Ocean. There were no streams at the bottom of the Eternal Ocean, making it feel dead. Shang just kept walking through the darkness and pressure. It was like he had been transported to a different world. When he reached a crevice, Shang jumped down and inspected the entire thing. Some crevices were small, while others were huge. Yet, everything seemed to be the same, and Shang found no traces of strange fluctuations. But he also hadn''t expected to. After all, the Deep Crevices was a huge wilderness, and Shang''s Spirit Sense wasn''t that big right now. The Early Ancestral Mage from earlier had probably known about the location of the trial before she had even jumped into the ocean. The Clouds weren''t stupid, and they even used information as resources. Just pay a couple of Mana Crystals, and we will tell you where you can find one of the trials in the Deep Crevices. If you get lucky and get sent to the Deep Crevices, you will earn far more, and if you don''t, there''s always next time. No one wanted the others to earn money without them getting a cut themselves. As for people that weren''t willing to purchase the locations of trials, they had to search for them on their own, and the chances of them finding one weren''t very high. After all, the trials were well hidden, and the wilderness was vast. Nevertheless, Shang continued slowly searching through the crevices. He moved methodically and efficiently. Several days seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. The surroundings hadn''t changed. However, Shang had changed. Shang''s body was losing a bit of blood through a couple of cuts, and his skin didn''t seem as healthy anymore. It looked like Shang''s body couldn''t permanently stay at the bottom of the Endless Ocean without slowly deteriorating. But Shang didn''t seem to mind. Acouple more days passed, and Shang''s body released a bit more blood than before. CRK! Suddenly, Shang''s left arm broke, and as soon as it did, it waspressed into a small tendril of meat. Shang gritted his teeth in pain as his head faced his left arm.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. Then, Shang jumped and started to ascend. He had to recover in shallower waters. WHOOOM! Suddenly, several ws made of Darkness Mana appeared around Shang. Oh no! An ambush! Just when Shang was at his weakest! WHOOOOM! In a single instant, Shang''s entire body healed, and all the Mana in the surroundings vanished, leaving a void and the ws of darkness behind. Shang couldn''t absorb Mana that had someone else''s will on it. Yet, there was one other spot. There was one spot in the void that was also filled with Darkness Mana that wasn''t used to attack Shang. Shang''s recovered arm immediately grabbed his Subsis and shed at one of the ws. DING! As soon as the Subsis hit the w, it vanished. At the same time, Shang''s body atrophied slightly. But there was one more thing. Shang''s Subsis now had a long edge made of Darkness Mana. BANG! Shang used the foreign Mana inside himself to avoid the other ws of darkness. As Shang shot to the side, he pointed his darkness-filled Subsis at the one spot in the void that wasn''t without Mana. BANG! The darkness-filled de shot out of Shang''s Subsis at incredible speeds and hit the opponent before they could react. BANG! The de hit the target and scattered. It was like someone hadunched a ss at a steel te. And then, the piece of Darkness Mana vanished. All the Water Mana from the Eternal Ocean filled the void, and Shang faced a certain direction. The opponent had retreated. They had believed that Shang had been at his weakest, but that had been a trap. As soon as they had seen Shang recover in an instant, they decided to retreat. However, Shang still managed to hit them with the de of Darkness Mana. Luckily, that attack wasn''t too powerful. Yet, the attack''s speed had been scary! It was way too fast! This was one of the attacks Shang had designed to finish off a Mage after they deactivated their Mana Shield due to Infection. It didn''t have a lot of power, but it was the fastest attack Shang couldunch. Shang called it Needle. Needle was made to work with Infection. However, it didn''t need to be used after Infection had taken hold. Shang''s expression didn''t change as he shot forward. Needle could also be used to "infect" the target. At the moment, Shang felt a clear trail of Death Mana. Shang summoned Ice and Fire Mana and exploded forward. Shang was using Comet to shoot forward at rapid speeds. This was the fastest way Shang could move without wasting resources, and it was faster than average Mid Ancestral Mages could move without Mana Step. Naturally, Clouds were quite a bit faster, but that also wouldn''t be a problem. Shang knew where his opponent was. His opponent didn''t know where Shang was. After less than a second, Shang saw half a sphere of Death Mana rapidly moving away. The sphere suddenly changed directions, and Shang followed it. It changed directions a couple more times until itpletely vanished again. Mana Step. Yet, even Mana Step didn''t help. Shang could still feel the trace. He just kept charging after his target. Four secondster, Shang saw the sphere again. SHING! And it vanished again. This spiel repeated a couple more times. Eventually, the two of them reached rather shallow depths. When Shang saw the sphere again, it quickly vanished again. But this time, it reappeared right in front of him with an insane amount of Darkness Mana between it and Shang. It was an extremely powerful Spell. Obviously, the Mage had been thrown into a panic and had decided to go all in. WHOOOOM! The Darkness Mana vanished as all the Mana around Shang turned into Neutral Mana. At the same time, Shang''s legs vanished but were healed in an instant. Domain of Entropy! The next moment, all the Mana in the surroundings vanished again. The Mana moved through Shang''s body, was transformed, and was pushed into Shang''s Addum. And then, the Addum hit the enemy''s Mana Shield. CRACK! The Mana Shield broke apart, and Shang could see a beautiful ck-haired girl. For just a moment, she looked at Shang with teary and terrified eyes. And then, Shang''s Subsis stabbed through her, and her terrified expression vanished as she turned into a dried corpse. ¡®Another Initial Ancestral Mage,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®They''re really underestimating me.¡¯ Shang noticed that her Focus was still in one piece and pocketed it. After that, he looked into her Space Ring. ¡®It''s okay. Probably around 40 or 50.¡¯ Asecondter, Shang moved to the ground of the Eternal Ocean again and continued searching for trials. And as his search continued, his body was slowly bing weaker and injured again. He sure hoped that nobody would ambush him while he was injured. Chapter 777 Chapter 777 Aman with purple hair opened his eyes widely in terror. ¡®No!¡¯ he thought. And then, the unstoppable flood of water rushed past his destroyed Mana Shield, distorting his body andpressing him into a cube. Shang extended his arm and pocketed the Space Ring and the Focus without thinking much of it. This had been the third Early Ancestral Mage he had killed in the trial in thest seven years. Yes, it had already been seven years since Shang had entered the Deep Crevices. And he had made quite a killing. In total, he had killed one Mid Ancestral Mage with Sepsis on the first day, three Early Ancestral Mages, and five Initial Ancestral Mages. From 36 Ancestral Mages that hade with Shang to the Deep Crevices, he had killed nine of them, which was 25% of the total. Shang estimated that he had probably earned enough money to pay for the thing he wanted, but having more money was never wrong. By getting more money now, Shang could avoid going outside and earning money in the future. Shang thoughtlessly pocketed all the belongings and went back to the bottom of the Eternal Ocean. He still hadn''t found a trial. For the past seven years, Shang had continually searched for a trial, but sure enough, the trials weren''t easy to find. Shang guessed that he had probably passed by several trials without noticing them. Sadly, amongst the belongings of his victims, he also couldn''t find any written ounts of trials, but that was to be expected. After all, people only carried extensive documentation and their diaries with them in movies and novels. In real life, people didn''t carry their entire life story with them in their pockets. So, Shang continued searching for a trial. Two more years passed. In these two years, Shang only managed to kill one Initial Ancestral Mage. The number of other Mages had be low. Well, the number of Mages Shang could defeat had be low. There were still a lot of Peak Ancestral Mages, and Shang saw them pass by rather frequently. They didn''t really care about Shang''s presence since his level was far too low to threaten or interest them. Funnily enough, some of them even asked Shang if he had seen any other Ancestral Mages, and Shang earned a couple of Mana Crystals by giving them information. It seemed like the Wilderness Hunt would end without Shang being able to find a trial. But then, Shang actually noticed something fishy that wasn''t fish. The temperatures in one ce were slightly fluctuating. The fluctuation was very subtle, but since a major part of Shang''s power was temperature, he managed to notice it. Shang walked over and inspected the temperature and its movements. He watched for several minutes, and eventually, he managed to make sense of it. Asecondter, Shang summoned some protected Ice and Fire Mana and shot them at specific spots on the ground. WHOOOM!Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Ayellow barrier came out of the ground, expanding and epassing Shang. All the water was pushed away from Shang, and a door appeared on the ground. For the first time in a long while, Shang was not surrounded by water or earth anymore, but he also didn''t care a lot about that. Shang''s mind moved the door and opened it, revealing a staircase leading into the ground. Shang walked down the staircase, closing the door behind him. After Shang closed the door, the barrier and the door vanished again, making everything seem normal. Meanwhile, Shang continued walking down the staircase until he reached another door. He opened it and entered a rather small entrance hall behind it. The entrance hall looked rather simple. It was made of some darker stone, and there were a couple of torches hanging on the wall. Naturally, no Cloud needed torches. Shang guessed that this was just for decoration and atmosphere. The only interesting thing in the entrance hall was a stone stele in the middle. "Ice and Fire Trial," Shang read. ¡°Rarity: Two of five." "Difficulty: Two of five." "Levels: Three." ¡°Realm: Automatically adjusted." "Participants: One." "Reward: Two of five." ¡®Makes sense,¡¯ Shang thought. ''It''s one of the moremon and easier trials. | assume the really difficult and rewarding trials are extremely difficult to find and might even require several Mages to work together. After all, this trial also mentions participants, which probably means that there are group trials.¡¯ ¡®| remember hearing that the biggest prize anyone can get in the Wilderness Hunt is to be a temporary student to one of the Mage Kings for a century.¡¯ ¡®In terms of value, that would probably equate to 100 Grade Eight Mana Crystals since that would be what a Mage King could produce in a century, but | guess that reward is only avable in the most difficult trial." Shang turned to the door leading into the next room. ¡®This definitely isn''t that trial, but there should still be some good rewards. Ancestral Mages already get five Grade Seven Mana Crystals every century from the Lightning Manor, and | don''t think that there is any reward that''s worth less." Shang nodded and walked over to the door. ¡®Most of these trials are probably made for Mages. | hope | can get through them.¡¯ Shang opened the door and walked into the hallway behind it. After some walking, Shang entered a big hall. When the door behind him closed, a barrier appeared over it, stopping Shang from turning back. These trials were supposed to be dangerous, and entering them was something that had to be considered. Shang didn''t exactly mind the barrier and focused on what was in front of him. There was a two-meter-high and wide ss furnace in front of him with a floating purple crystal in the middle. Shang could also see that the other door was held closed by another barrier. Amomentter, shimmering writing appeared in the air above the furnace. And then, Shang knew what he had to do. Chapter 778 Chapter 778 "Increase the temperature inside the furnace as much as possible while using as little Fire Mana as possible," Shang read. ¡®Interesting. This is a trial that tests someone''s mastery over the Fire Affinity. Hotter fire is more destructive, and by using as little Fire Mana as possible, this trial is testing the quality of someone''s Concepts and mastery over fire.¡¯ ¡®The level four Concept of Fire is Explosion, which can probably produce extremely hot mes. Even the level three Concept Incineration can create powerful mes, but for a Cloud that found this ce, this is probably the bare minimum.¡¯ ¡®However, this is also just the first trial. | would expect it to be easy.¡¯ ¡®| guess it needs the level three Concept of Fire, Incineration toplete it. | guess a Cloud that knows a lot about temperatures would haveprehended that Concept.¡¯ "Sadly, | don''t have that Concept.¡¯ Shang walked over to the ss furnace and flew to its top. Then, he extended his right hand. Amomentter, the space below his hand seemed to distort with some invisible waves. After some time, the air in the entire furnace seemed to warp and wave in a strange manner. It was almost like the world inside the furnace was about to break down. Ding! At that moment, the door leading out of the room opened as the barrier vanished. Shang had fulfilled the requirements. He might not have the Concept of Incineration, but he had the Concept of Addition. Light had two aspects, which were mass and brightness. Fire also had two aspects, which were heat and brightness. Shang had converted all the brightness in the fire into heat, which was why the fire he had just dropped in the furnace had been nearly invisible to the eye. Naturally, this kind of fire was far hotter than normal fire since all of its power was focused on heat. And that had been enough for Shang to get past the first trial. Shangnded in front of the exit and walked through it. Some secondster, Shang opened the door to the second trial. This time, there was a blue cube in the middle of the room. Shang looked to the side at an emblem and read the instructions. "The cube can only hold a limited amount of Ice Mana. Make it as cold as possible," he read. "So, the opposite of the first trial.¡¯ ¡®The level three Concept of Ice is Blizzard, which doesn''t seem to decrease the temperature by a lot more than just the level two Concept, Freeze.¡¯ ¡®Of course, the level four Concept of Ice, Zero, would decrease the temperature drastically again.¡¯ "Do they expect an Early Ancestral Mage to know the Concept of Zero to advance?" ¡®| don''t think so. Otherwise, the difficulty rating wouldn''t just be a two. Sure, they could expect that from Peak Ancestral Mage Clouds, but not from Early Ancestral Mage Clouds.¡¯ ¡®| guess it probably needs the level three Concept of Ice, Blizzard." ¡®Lalso don''t have that." Shang walked over to the cube and put his hand on it. Asecondter, the cube began to shine in a blue light. Ding! The door opened, and the barrier broke. Shang got through that trial again. Just like fire and light, ice and darkness also had two properties each, which could be manipted with the Concept of Subtraction. Darkness had absorption and void, void meaning the absence of light in this case. Ice had cold and void. Shang had simply pushed his Ice Mana to the extreme of coldness, which had been enough. Fire pushed to the extreme of heat transformed into invisible mes. Ice pushed to the extreme of coldness transformed into something that resembled azure sand. What about the other two? Well, that was where the connection between the Affinities came into y. Pushing fire to the extreme of brightness would produce the same thing as what pushing light to the extreme of brightness produced. Very bright light. This was where these two Affinities were connected. The same thing was true for ice that was pushed to the extreme of void. It would just be a very dark space. Darkness that was pushed to the extreme of absorption did just what it said. It absorbed and destroyed stuff. From beginning to end, one could envision a line of connections. Fire heat to fire brightness to light brightness to light mass to darkness absorption to darkness void to ice void to ice coldness to fire heat and so on. The makers of this trial probably envisioned the contestant to use the pure Concepts of Fire and Ice to get through the trials, but the Concepts of Subtraction and Addition worked just as well. Of course, everything involving the Clouds was special, and the Bolts that had designed the trials probably also expected the Clouds to get through the trials in ways they hadn''t foreseen.All rights ? N?velDrama.Org. Because of that, only the results of the trials were important, not how the Clouds got them. Shang left the blue cube behind and exited the second trial. After some seconds, he reached the third trial, and as soon as he saw it, he realized that this would be very different from the last two. CRRRRRRRRRRRRR! SSSSSSSHHH! The space in front of Shang was consumed by a sea of terrifyingly hot mes one instant before being flooded with extremely cold air. The temperatures were changing several times per second, and the extremes of temperatures were no joke. They could definitely kill an Early Ancestral Mage. On top of that, there was something else that was different. Shang couldn''t feel the end of the room with his Spirit Sense, which probably meant that the inside of the room had been erged with Space Mana. Shang also saw the instructions hanging on the wall. "In front of you are 500,000 kilometers of alternating heat and cold. The use of Mana Step and simr Spells has been suppressed under the Magic Circle." "Get to the other side of the room without dying." ¡®| see,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®The first two trials were the extremes of each side, and the third trial now tests everything in between.¡¯ ¡®If someone has a certain mastery over fire and ice, they could definitely survive this ce for a while, but the real challenge would be to survive everything while traveling 500,000 kilometers." "Some Clouds might run out of Mana before they reach the end, and there''s also no ce to rest and refill their Mana during the journey.¡± Shang wordlessly walked over and put his hand into the storm of ice and fire. After a couple of seconds, Shang pulled his hand out again and looked at it. Some cracked skin. Abit of blood. Some burns. Shang put his hand back into the storm and waited. 30 secondster, he pulled it out again. It looked quite ravaged, but he only needed to use a bit of life energy to recover it. After that, Shang shot into the storm of ice and fire. His body broke in a couple of ces and burned in others. However, Shang just kept using his life energy. Shang only needed to heal his body once every 30 seconds, and the umted damage was also only on the surface. He was regenerating more life energy than he was using. This meant that he could stay in this ce indefinitely. He didn''t even use his fire and ice abilities to control his temperature. He just flew through it. Sure, the sensation on his skin was a bit annoying, but it wasn''t too bad. About five minutester, Shang came out of the other side of the trial. And just like that, Shangpleted all three challenges of the trial. Chapter 779 Chapter 779 Shang left the third challenge and walked to the next room, which was where the rewards were stored. He entered a rather sizable hall with five rows of floating items. Most of the items were in the first row and the least in the fifth. Shang could see all the items in the first four rows, but the single item in the fifth row was obscured by a barrier. In front of the first row of items was a stele that exined everything. "Congrattions on passing the trial!" "Your performance has been judged to be Four Stars. You may choose one item amongst the first four rows." ¡®Four Stars?'' Shang thought. Allittle bit lower, Shang could see how the trial judged performances. One Star: Get to the end. Two Stars: Get to the end and fulfill the criterium for sess for one of the first two challenges. Three Stars: Get to the end and fulfill the criteria for sess for both of the first two challenges. Four Stars: Get to the end and achieve minor sess on the first two challenges. Five Stars: Get to the end and achieve major sess on the first two challenges. That answered some of the questions Shang had. ¡®It seems like the first two challenges were actually optional, and | only needed to get through the third one to get a reward.¡¯ ¡®| presume that knowing the level three Concepts for ice and fire would get someone a three-star evaluation. To get a four-star one, someone probably needs to push it even further.¡¯ ¡®The five-star one probably needs the level four Concepts for both of them.¡¯ ¡®Thanks to the Concept of Twilight, my Concepts of Addition and Subtraction can now exhibit the power of level three Concepts, which would allow them to get a three-star evaluation on their own.¡¯ "However, since Subtraction and Addition specialize in producing extreme results, it was enough to get a four-star evaluation.¡¯ ¡®To get a five-star one, | would probably need Subtraction, Addition, Incineration, and Blizzard. | don''t think | would need Explosion or Zero." Shang nodded and looked at the items he could choose from. The first row was filled with small piles of Grade Seven Mana Crystals, each one consisting of five. There were also some small emblems signifying properties in some cities or towns. The second row had some herbs and metals. Shang didn''t recognize any of them, but he guessed that these were probably worth more than the piles of money. The third row was filled with books. From what Shang could see, these were Spell Books. He guessed that these were probably Spells that past Clouds hade up with, which would make them worth a lot of money. Maybe the person would even get the right to distribute these Spells. The fourth row only had three items. All three were vouchers to ess useful areas that helped inprehending Concepts. Sadly, Shang couldn''t see thest item. But that didn''t matter. By entering the trial and getting through it the normal way, Shang had achieved his goal. He had managed to enter the room of rewards before it was destroyed by the ground. Shang walked past the rewards, to one of the walls. BANG! Shang punched the wall into dust, revealing a barrier behind it. ¡®This room of rewards is probably identical to the other one, and since all the rewards were destroyed by the earth after | broke the big Magic Circle, this probably means that the barriers protecting all the individual rewards are probably connected to the big one. ¡®As soon as | break the big one, all the individual barriers will break, and | will have a moment to gather all of them." Shang''s body transformed into a husk again as he continued touching the barrier. Up above the water, Lucin sighed. "You''re lucky you found one,¡¯ he thought. ''l won''t overlook this the next time." ¡®Next time, | will make individual barriers that will kill anyone that damages them significantly.¡¯ Lucin sighed again. ¡®Fucking Death Mana.¡¯ Acouple of minutester, the ground above the trial sank considerably. The trial had been buried by the ground. Some secondster, the ground exploded, and Shang floated out of the hole. Right now, Shang actually felt a bit excited as he looked at all the rewards in his Space Ring. He had earned a lot of money! With everythingbined, Shang estimated that he had probably earned around 500 Grade Seven Mana Crystals just from this trial alone. And what was the mysterious reward in the fifth row? Well, the trial was only slightly umon with average rewards, but the best reward from this trial still wasn''t bad. Of course, it couldn''t even nearlypare to something like bing a Mage King''s student, but it was still quite valuable. "A Bolt will be your servant for one century for free." That was definitely worth quite a bit. Theoretically, Shang could just tell the Bolt to sit down and make Mana Crystals, which would give him 100 Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Of course, that would be a waste of the Bolt''s strengths. Shang guessed that this perk was probably worth around 200 Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Not too shabby. After looking through all the things he had taken from the trial, Shang continued walking forward on the ground of the Eternal Ocean. He still had a bit less than one year ahead of him, and he wouldn''t waste it. Sadly, Shang wouldn''t meet any more Initial or Early Ancestral Mages during thatst year. And just like that, the ten years of the Wilderness Hunt were up, and it was time for everyone to return. "The Wilderness Hunt is over! Everyone, pass through the outer barrier ande to the surface. Until you are back at the Hibye, any sort of fighting is prohibited!" Shang heard Lucin''s words. He healed his body in an instant and shot upward. It was time to return to the Hibye.N?velDrama.Org owns this. He should have earned far more than enough for the thing he wanted. Chapter 780 Chapter 780 "Oh, hey! You''re still alive!" One of the Peak Ancestral Mages shouted to a Mid Ancestral Mage with a smile. The other Ancestral Mage floated over and nodded. "Yep, and | also made quite a bit this time. |pleted three trials." The first Mage let out an impressive whistle. "Impressive," he said. "Anyway, did you get Maruda?" The second Mage slowly shook his head. "Couldn''t find him." ¡°Huh, he''s normally one of the first ones that return. | thought that you got him," the first Mage said. "Nope," the second Mage said again. "It would suck if he suddenly dies. | wouldn''t get my payment and his wealth." "Speaking of," he added as he looked at the gathered Mages above the surface. "| also don''t see my contractor." The first Mage shrugged. "Maybe they''re still in a trial?" The other Mage just furrowed his brows. Then, he turned to Lucin, who was looking at the ocean. "Lucin, who are we still waiting for?" "There''s one more Peak Ancestral Mage. She''s choosing her rewards right now. | don''t think it will take longer than a couple of minutes," Lucin answered. When Lucin said that, several other Mages raised their eyebrows in surprise. Wait, basically everyone was already here? They looked at each other and counted. Twelve Peak Ancestral Mages. Two Late Ancestral Mages. Two Mid Ancestral Mages. One Early Ancestral Mage. Three Initial Ancestral Mages. 20 Clouds in total, and with the one they were waiting for, they would be 21. They had started with 36, and now they were 21. They had expected that there would be about 30 left near the end, but there were only 21. This was quite a devastating death quota. Even more, the deaths mostly focused on the first two levels in the Ancestral Mage Realm. The other three levels were still within expected parameters, but 80% of Early Ancestral Mages and 70% of Initial Ancestral Mages died. What happened? Did they enter one of the extremely rare group trials with a chance of death?Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. No, these kinds of trials were only open for Peak Ancestral Mages that had been in the Wilderness Hunt several times already. That only left one other exnation. Someone had killed a lot of them. But who? It was probably one of the three remaining Initial Ancestral Mages. After all, an Early Ancestral Mage couldn''t possibly kill that many Initial Ancestral Mages since they were not allowed to attack them first. The Peak Ancestral Mages talked to each other via voice transmission, trying to find out who it could have been. In the end, it came out that two of the three Initial Ancestral Mages had been at that level for quite a time to umte power, and they had always been quite peaceful. One of them focused on inspecting the wildernesses and noting down locations of trials to make a lot of money. She even had several deals with other Clouds. In exchange for her safety in the Wilderness Hunt, they would get a discount for purchasing any of the trial locations. Killing others would be detrimental to her business, which was why everyone was quite certain that she hadn''t been the killer. The second Initial Ancestral Mage was a notorious serial trial taker. He was the first Ancestral Mage''s biggest customer, and he specialized in a wide variety of skills. Hepleted one trial after the other, earning a lot of stuff which he would then mostly sell to other Clouds. He even took requests to find certain extremely rare materials in the right trials. It would make no sense for him to kill so many other Clouds since that would damage his business. Also, judging from the auras of the first two Clouds, they were not happy about this development. That left the third Initial Ancestral Mage. It was a woman with light-blue hair, and they all remembered her. She had been the new Cloud that had asked the leading Bolt about the Deep Crevices on their way here. After exchanging information, the Clouds concluded that she had joined just a couple of decades ago and that her powers were a mystery. They knew that she had an Ice Affinity, but they hadn''t seen her fight before. And that still held true. Not even a single Cloud had seen her fight in the Wilderness Hunt. The other two Initial Ancestral Mages also noticed all of this, and they moved closer to each other. They were thankful that they had traveled mostly together this time. They wanted to see if they could earn more bybining their businesses this time. They also remembered that they had seen the third Initial Ancestral Mage before in the Wilderness Hunt, and as they thought back to that event, a cold shower ran down their backs. They hadn''t realized what sort of danger they had been in! It was terrifying! Today, all the Clouds realized that the newest Ancestral Mage Cloud was extremely dangerous. She was probably also very powerful, and most Clouds looked at her with narrowed eyes filled with wariness. They knew that she would only grow more powerful after this event. After all, she would have gathered a scary number of Mana Crystals this time. Ssh! A Peak Ancestral Mage came out of the water. "Sorry, I''mte," she said with a bright smile. Lucin just nodded and summoned his Transportation te. ¡°Everyone''s here. Let''s go back." When thest Peak Ancestral Mage heard that, her eyes widened. There were so few! Another Ancestral Mage informed her of what had happened, and she threw a shocked nce at the light-blue-haired Initial Ancestral Mage. They would need to be careful of her in the future. Everyone stepped on the Transportation te, and the blue-haired Mage took the spot behind that weird warrior. At that moment, some of the Clouds sighed. The warrior was lucky that he hadn''te across the blue-haired girl. Otherwise, he would have most likely been killed by her. Then, the Transportation te shot into the distance. The Wilderness Hunt was over. Chapter 781 Chapter 781 Lucin brought everyone back to the Hibye. However, when they arrived, Lucin told everyone to wait. "| will call for you one by one, and you can tell me what you want to do with the resources you acquired,¡± Lucin said. That took a couple of Clouds by surprise. "Isn''t Fleros the one doing this normally?" one of them asked. "It''s different this time," Lucin said. "Some things have happened, which is why | will be the one doing it this time." The Clouds looked at each other and shrugged. It didn''t really make a difference. The next moment, Lucin made a small barrier and called the first Cloud in. After five minutes, that Cloud left, which surprised everyone. What would they need to talk about for five minutes? The first Cloud noticed everyone''s gazes. "He said to wait until five minutes are up before leaving," he said. "It''s to keep the identities of certain people hidden." After saying that, he threw a small nce at the blue-haired woman. When Lucin called in the second Cloud, they noticed that the first Cloud had spoken the truth since the second one also didn''t leave for five full minutes. The Clouds only groaned in annoyance. This felt like a waste of time. Luckily, there weren''t that many Clouds remaining, which meant that they wouldn''t even need to wait for two hours. After about one and a half hours, Lucin called Shang. Shang wordlessly entered the small Istion Barrier. When Lucin saw Shang, he only sighed. "You''re nothing but trouble. You know that?¡± Shang didn''t answer. "You keep annoying my Bolts." "You destroy my trials." "You kill so many Clouds." "Do you have any idea how many lies | had toe up with to exin some of your weird powers to everyone else?" "Okay," Shang answered tly. "So, about my money." Lucin sighed again. "| presume you want to exchange everything for Mana Crystals?¡± Lucin asked. Shang nodded.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The next second, Lucin threw a small Space Ring toward Shang. "Put everything you want to sell into this Space Ring." Shang looked into the Space Ring and noticed that it waspletely empty. Shang quickly dumped everything that he didn''t need into the Space Ring, which was quite a lot of stuff. When Lucin got the Space Ring back, he had to take a deep breath. He regretted volunteering to tally up everyone''s winnings. Lucin could just dump all of this into the Logistics Department''s hands and be done with it, but Lucin always checked the prices on his own to see how much more he could get out of the Logistics Department. This habit of Lucin''s often increased the number of Mana Crystals a Cloud received by a bit over 10%, but it was also a lot of work. For once, he just wanted to skip that routine since he felt that Shang wasn''t buying anything useful with the money he got either way, but in the end, Lucin still decided to go through with his usual routine. "| will contact you in about a week regarding your Mana Crystals. Sorry that it''s taking so long, but | also have to sell ALOT of companies and assets that belong to you now," he said. Shang nodded. "Thanks," he said before turning around. ¡°Five minutes aren''t up yet," Lucin said. Shang stopped and just waited in silence. An awkward couple of minutes passed. ¡°Alright, you can go," Lucin said with another sigh, and Shang left. ¡®Why is everything involving him so difficult?¡¯ he thought. After exiting the Istion Barrier, Shang flew into the distance and sat down at his usual spot. He was annoyed that he had to wait for a week, but there was nothing he could do. For now, he decided to continue training inside his inner world. Aweek quickly passed, and Shang was contacted by Lucin again. Lucin arrived in front of Shang, and Shang exited his inner world. ¡°Alright, I''ve dealt with everything," Lucin said in a much better mood. All the work was done, and he was relieved that he could return to his usual tasks. "Give me one of your Space Rings," he said. Shang wordlessly handed him an empty Space Ring. Asecondter, Shang got it back and looked inside, and he was quite surprised. 937 Grade Seven Mana Crystals. However, that wasn''t the thing that surprised Shang. There was also something gigantic inside his Space Ring. It was the thing he wanted to buy! "| already deducted the price for it," Lucin said. This meant that Shang had actually earned 1,437 Grade Seven Mana Crystals in this Wilderness Hunt. That was more than a Grade Eight Mana Crystal! 1,437 Grade Seven Mana Crystals represented 1,437 years of condensing Mana for a Mage Lord. The Keeper of the Temple of Blood would need that long to make that kind of money the normal way. For someone in the Initial Sixth Realm, this was a crazy amount of money. Shang was d that he didn''t need to care about resources and money for quite some time. ¡°Please don''t summon it here," Lucin said, pulling Shang out of his thoughts. "| reserved somend for you in the east. You can summon it there." Shang just nodded. "Thanks," he said. Lucin also nodded. "It''s my job." Then, Shang left and flew towards the east. After a couple of kilometers, Shang saw a huge meadow, over 20 kilometers wide. And then, Shang summoned the thing he had worked so hard to get. BOOOOOOOOOM! The earth shook, and a huge part of the meadow waspletely destroyed as the ground broke into several pieces and crevices. Agigantic ck cube had appeared above the destroyed meadow. It was ten by ten by ten kilometers big and made of Grade Seven Entropy Ore. Yes, it was a humongous Istion Chamber. Such a gigantic piece of high-grade Entropy Ore was why this Istion Chamber had been so expensive. Of course, Shang didn''t need toprehend Void Break again, which meant that he didn''t really need to train inside there. But he didn''t spend this much money just to train. ¡®Finally, | can summon Abominations again and advance!¡¯ Chapter 782 Chapter 782 When Shang had trained in his smaller Istion Chamber, he had also tried out his connection to his Abominations. Of course, in Shang''s panicked state, he would have destroyed the Istion Chamber by summoning Abominations if he actually could. Inside the Istion Chamber, it was still impossible to summon Abominations. However, Shang noticed that he still had his connection to the Abominations as long as the chamber wasn''tpletely closed. Shang entered the Istion Chamber and focused on the Magic Circle controlling it. He could close it whenever he wanted, but if he wanted to open it, he would need to activate the timer. After all, since no Mana could escape from the inside, Shang couldn''t possiblymunicate with the Magic Circle on the outside. Shang stopped in the middle of the Istion Chamber. As he did so, he was reminded of the time he had entered the ck pylon in Area 23. The ck pylon had effectively been a humongous Istion Chamber, and by now, Shang also knew how powerful it had been. The Entropy Ore that made up the ck pylon had been somewhere in the middle of the Sixth Realm but not too high up. It could resist the fully powered assault of an Archmage, but it couldn''t withstand the Storm Eagle, but the Storm Eagle was also one of the more powerful Zone Beasts, which meant it was probably a Late or Peak Ancestral Beast. The high ceiling and ckness made it feel very simr to the ck pylon. However, this Istion Chamber was several times more powerful than the ck pylon. If Shang managed to shove any kind of beast in there, not even an extremely powerful and talented Peak Ancestral Beast would be able to escape. This thing was so powerful that it could even hold an Ancestral Abomination. After looking at the majestic Istion Chamber for a while, Shang focused on a ce he hadn''t tried tomunicate actively with for a long time. The realm of the Abominations. Shang still had no idea where this realm was. It felt like it was just beside him, but it also felt like it was outside this world. Shang also couldn''t feel any kind of Mana inside that Realm. It was like Mana didn''t exist, which also made sense since the Abominations were killed by Mana and also destroyed Mana. It was a Manaless world. Kind of like the universe Earth was in. Of course, it was actually impossible that the realm of the Abominations was in that universe. After all, that universe was also made of Space Mana, and the realm of the Abominations had no Mana. That included no Space Mana. It was a confusing ce where no rules, concepts, orws applied. It was something beyondprehension. Shang had had the thought that the God might have been responsible for the Abominations a couple of times in the past, but the more powerful Shang grew, the less likely it seemed. The God was someone that had reached the apex of power, but that apex was based on Mana and Concepts. The realm of the Abominations had nothing like that. Maybe that was also one of the reasons why the God wasn''t the epitome of sanity. His world was slowly dying to these Abominations, and he had to view his world bing weaker and weaker without being able to do anything about it. Or, maybe, he could actually do something about them. Not being able to control something wasn''t the same as not being able to stop something. Ahuman couldn''t control the body of an insect, but they could very well stop it by stepping on it. One thing was for sure. The God could kill all the Abominations that appeared inside this world before they could do a lot of damage. As soon as an Abomination appeared, it would be annihted within microseconds. But he didn''t do that. Additionally, he could also control who became the Child of Cmity, and he could also stop the Child of Cmity from growing, making the Abominations weaker. But he also didn''t do that. In the end, the God definitely wasn''t innocent. Shang slowly shook his head to return to the present. He had just received the thing he wanted, but he had gotten distracted by the Abominations and the God. Shang focused on the realm of the Abominations, and sure enough, he could feel several Ancestral Abominations. Shang tried to pull one of them out, but just as always, the Ancestral Abomination''s servants wanted toe with it. Shang''s aura intensified as he focused all of his endless willpower on that Ancestral Abomination. It was like the realm of the Abominations was shaking, but the Ancestral Abomination didn''t seem to show any reactions. Amomentter, it also seemed like the world around Shang was shaking. "You wille alone.¡± Acold voice seemed to reverberate through the Istion Chamber and throughout the realm of the Abominations. The next moment, the threads connecting the Ancestral Abomination to its servants seemed to waver. "You wille alone," Shang repeated with a dark voice. The threads shook more. And then, Shang gritted his teeth. BANG! It was like a gigantic hand took hold of the tiny Abomination. And then, the gigantic hand pulled the Abomination out as the threads connecting it to its servants broke. BANG! The doors of the Istion Chamber immediately closed. BOOOOM! A huge Abomination, over two kilometers tall, fell on the ground inside the Istion Chamber. It had two legs that reminded Shang of a velociraptor, a long and powerful tail, four powerful and muscr arms, a head filled with tentacles, and a back filled with tentacles. The remainder of its body was covered in the darkest scales imaginable. The name Abomination described its appearance very well. As soon as it appeared, the Abomination felt the foreign sensation of Mana around it. Yes, this was an Istion Chamber, but the Mana inside it hadn''t been used up yet. When it felt the Mana, it acted on instinct and wanted to attack. BANG! Yet, its body was pushed to the ground by an invisible force. Shang''s entire being focused on the Abomination with terrifying willpower and pressure. Shang wasn''t asking the Abomination. He wasmanding it. It belonged to him! It did what he wanted! It was weak! He was strong! He was alive! And it would die! N?velDrama.Org owns this. Chapter 783 Chapter 783 For now, Shang kept focusing on refining his battle style and increasing the power of his body by absorbing Abominations. The next trial inside his inner world would take ce in about 150 years, and he had to be ready for that. Additionally, Shang was once more uncertain about how to advance, and he wanted to wait for the trial before he made a decision. Over the next years, Shang remained inside the Istion Chamber, but he didn''t fully close it. He left a small part open so that Mana could enter, but he mostly closed it to make it difficult for others to look inside while keeping the Istion Barriers around the Istion Chamber activated. Shang was sure that several Clouds were still nning on killing him, and that was one of the biggest reasons for isting himself like this. Going out and talking to people was the quickest way to get killed. Luckily, Shang didn''t need to earn more resources for a long time, and Lucin also didn''t bother him. Like this, Shang spent many years in istion, preparing himself for the trial. 90 yearster, it was finally time. Shang could have waited for another 60 years, but he had already reached the peak of the Initial Void Break Realm, and there was nothing more he could train in. His battle style for his Addum and Subsis had already been perfected. Shang was now around 1,150 years old, and it was time for his first trial in about 800 years. Shang stood in the middle of his world, focusing on the stone stele beside him. There was a rotting skeletal hand that was slowly turning into dust. The remains of powerful people held for a long time, but they would also eventually sumb to time. There was nearly nothing left of the hand. Shang lifted his own hand and waved it to the side. The skeletal hand turned into dust and scattered. After such a long time, Shang no longer felt any connection to his past. Jerald was only some distant acquaintance that died an eternity ago. It wasn''t important. He wasn''t important. Shang''s past actions weren''t important. Shang was here now, and he was himself. No one else mattered. "Start the trial," Shang said coldly. Asecondter, confetti rained down on Shang, who used his Domain of Entropy to destroy it. But he failed. The confetti passed through his Domain of Entropy and covered his body. Shang didn''t say anything and manually pushed the confetti away from his body. The Affinity Wheel returned, and the jester was grinning at Shang once more. ¡°Look at how strong and independent you are now," the jester said with a chuckle. "You''re all badass, and you even push powerful Abominations around like they are worthless servants." "They are," Shang answered evenly. The jester''s eyebrows shot up, and he broke out intoughter. "Oh, you''re just the best, Shang," he said after having his fill ofughing. "Honestly, if you knew how absolutely endless their hordes and powers are, you would also find this funny." Shang didn''t answer anything. "You think | can''t see through your little cube of Abomination Ore?" the jester asked with a chuckle. "You think | can''t read your mind anymore?" "Sorry to disappoint, but the current you is just as powerful as [...]."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Shang heard a certain word, which he immediately forgot after hearing it. At the same time, he felt like his head was about to explode. Shang grabbed his head and nearly fell over. It hurt so much! He had never felt anything that hurt this much! When the jester saw that Shang didn''t fall over, his smirk vanished, and he snorted. BANG! Something strong and heavy hit Shang''s head, and he fell to the ground without being able to do anything. The jester''s funny boot stomped on Shang''s head, rubbing back and forth as Shangy on the ground. "Feel you''re strong, huh?" he said with a malicious smirk. "Think you''re tough shit now, huh?" "Well, you''re not!" CRKSH! Shang''s head exploded beneath the jester''s boot. The next moment, the jester stretched his hand toward Shang''s body and pulled something out. It was an azure light that was nearly invisible to any living being. "This is you!" the jester shouted in anger. "This is your soul!" "| took it from Earth!" "| can shove it back into Earth!" "| can take it from your body!" "| can shove it into the body of a cockroach!" "Or, | can just clench my hand and destroy you!" "You are worthless!" "You are nothing!" "You are my ything!" "You are my toy!" The jester looked at the motionless azure light. Then, he snorted. "Who am | even talking to? You can''t even think in this state," he said. The jester shook his head and flung the azure light back into the headless body. Amomentter, Shang''s head regrew. Then, he shot up to his feet. He wasn''t quite sure what had happened. Everything felt so strange and alien for some reason. "You know," the jester said, gaining Shang''s attention. "I''ve been reading your mindtely, and | think it''s time to clear some of your doubts." Shang didn''t say anything. "Come here,¡± the jester said. The next moment, Shang felt himself getting pulled out of his inner world. BANG! Shang''s real body hit the side of his Istion Chamber, breaking several bones. "You''ve been doubting my power," the jester said. Shang quickly shot to his feet again as he tried to think of a way out of this situation. Obviously, the God was mad again, and the madder the God became, the more danger Shang was in. Shang knew that the God was extremely impulsive. He might actually just kill Shang out of sheer spite or anger, even if that ruined his entertainment for a long while. The jester slowly walked over. "You''ve been suspecting that my powers are only mind powers." "I''ve never really done anything in the actual world." "| always only told you that I can do things, and I only ever did things in your little world." ¡°What if | am restricted from interfering with this world?" "What if | took you here to free me from some kind of prison?¡± ¡°What if | am actually not dangerous to you in real life?" Shang didn''t say anything. After thinking for a while, he realized one thing. He was helpless. There was no way out of this situation. His survivalpletely depended on the God''s mood, and the God would also realize when Shang tried to calm him down. There was literally nothing Shang could do. Chapter 784 Chapter 784 ¡°Let me just clear all your doubts, okay?" the jester said with a malicious smirk. Then, he flicked one of his fingers at the wall. BOOOOOOOM! The wall of the humongous Istion Chamber blew apart, its fragments scattering across millions of kilometers. Shang couldn''t move. The sheer power of that flick had been beyondprehension. ¡°Have you already forgotten?" the jester said, continuing to walk forward. "| kicked the idiotic, naive, and idealistic Mage Emperor to death." "You think | cared about his power?" ¡°Even this cheap and stupid puppet is powerful enough to kill a Mage Emperor," the jester said, referring to its body. "Want to see?" he said, genuine craziness in its mechanical eyes. "You don''t need to," Shang answered. "I believe you." The jester''s expression changed to a cocky and ridiculing one. Its expression almost seemed like it came from a cartoon. "Too bad," the God said. "You''re not the one in charge.¡± Then, the jester lunged forward and grabbed Shang by one of his shoulders, and pulled him along. In an instant, they arrived somewhere else. The two appeared in front of the hovering Lucin, who was currently dealing with something by focusing on his Communication Crystal. Lucin didn''t notice either of the two. The jester let go of Shang and slowly wound up by spinning his right arm in a circle. Then, he punched Lucin. CRKSH! And Lucin''s head exploded. Shang took a deep breath. This wasn''t some illusion. This was real. The God had just killed Lucin. The next moment, Shang saw nearly twenty Bolts appear in the sky around Lucin''s falling body. They were looking with absolute terror at the falling corpse of their leader. What?! What had just happened?! Was this real?! None of them even looked at Shang or the jester. The jester just looked at Shang with a mad grin. "Wanna see more?" he asked. "| believe you," Shang said. The jester looked at Shang for a while. "You truly believe me," the jester said. Shang only nodded. Making the jester angry was a very bad idea. Right now, Shang''s surroundings were very secure, but by killing Lucin, the jester had already made problems for Shang. Lucin essentially knew nearly everything regarding Shang''s power, and he even covered for Shang. And now, he was dead. The Contender Department would need a new Thunder, and that Thunder might not be as nice and helpful as Lucin. The God had proven his power. "Too bad," the jester said, making Shang''s heart sink. "I''m the one deciding when to stop." "Wanna take a trip to the Lightning Manor?" For the first time in a long while, Shang actually felt some terror. ¡°Afraid that | will ruin your nice and cozy training environment?" the jester asked. "Scared that | will also kill your cute little teacher?" ¡°Why be scared of the inevitable?" Then, the jester grabbed Shang again, and an instantter, they appeared in a room with several ponds of water. It was Queen Primordium''s room. Shang took a deep breath and saw Queen Primordium sitting on top of one of the ponds with her eyes closed. ¡°Let''s go over and visit her," the jester said with a wide smile. The jester slowly walked forward onto the pond. After a couple of steps, he stopped and turned to the stationary Shang. "Come, don''t be shy. We should greet her!" Shang hesitated but followed the jester. Eventually, the two of them stopped in front of Queen Primordium. The jester just smirked at her, while Shang didn''t say anything. Silence. No one was saying anything. Shang''s heart rate increased. What would the jester do? The silence continued. "p her." Shang''s right hand shook a bit. "p her," the jester repeated, "and | don''t want it to be a light one." "No worries. With me beside you, you will notice that your ps have reached incredible heights of power and sophistication." "Come on. Do it," the jester said. Shang took a deep breath. BANG! He pped Queen Primordium. She shot away, and her back hit the wall of her room, which was far harder than her bones. Acouple of her bones broke, and her face was sunken as half her skull broke.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. Queen Primordium opened her eyes in absolute terror, and she immediately focused on the only other person in her chambers. Shang. Shang was the only other person here. Queen Primordium couldn''t find any words. And then, she gritted her teeth that weren''t broken and gathered all her Mana. Yet, nothing happened. Her Mana wasn''t listening to her! "What?" she asked in surreal shock. She immediately tried to contact the Ancestor, but her Spirit Sense also didn''t work. She had be powerless. "p her again." "| don''t want you to say anything." ¡°Just walk over and p her again." Shang didn''t move for two seconds. Then, he slowly walked forward. Queen Primordium shot up and tried her best to control the Mana around her, but she had be powerless. She tried to run to the door, but the space between her and the door seemed to have expanded to endless lengths. It was like she wasn''t moving at all. Shang slowly walked closer. BANG! And pped her again. Even more of her bones broke, and her body slid on the ground. ¡°What are you doing?!" she shouted, barely audible due to her broken face. "What is happening?!" "Who are you?!" ¡°What have | done to you?!" For the first time in an eternity, Queen Primordium felt terrified and helpless. "p her again." Shang slowly walked over. Queen Primordium shouted in panic. She refused to believe that this was real. This couldn''t be real. Shang pped her again, and her mind shook. It was difficult for her to make a coherent thought. ¡°Break one of her legs with a kick." Shang took a deep breath. CRACK! Queen Primordium screamed. "Punch her stomach." BANG! ¡°Break her right arm." CRKSH! "Kick her broken leg.¡± ¡°Again.¡± ¡°Again.¡± ¡°Again.¡± ¡°Punch her gut again.¡± "Break her other arm.¡± "p her again." ¡°And again." ¡°And again." ¡°And again." Chapter 785 Chapter 785 Shang stood in front of a pile of bloody meat. This pile had once been Queen Primordium. The God had ordered Shang to punch, p, and kick that pile of meat for nearly half an hour. Could Shang have declined? Shang was free to do whatever he wanted, but he wasn''t free of the consequences. Shang could have said that he wouldn''t follow the God''s orders. But then what? The chances were very high that the God would just kill him. And then, he would be dead. That would be it. The past 1,200 years would have been for absolutely nothing. All because Shang thought about refusing an order. When under immense stress or pushed into a corner, humans often think about how great it would be to do this or that. Just throw everything away. No matter what anyone said, you wouldn''t do that. You had your principles. You had self-respect. And then, you would die. A bloodied corpse with principles. Asurvivor without principles. Many people would believe that they would belong to the first category. They would never let themselves be suppressed. They would never do something like this. But when their lives were on the line, they would realize that their morals were far more flexible than they had thought. Your loved ones wouldn''t be able to talk to you again. Your loved ones would cry. Your pets and children would lose their provider and guardian. Your best friend would lose their best friend. Yourmunity would lose the service you provided to it. For what? Just so you could follow your principles? Just so you could say that you wouldn''t do something? Out of anger? Out of spite? Shang had been in this situation just now. Did he enjoy slowly punching his teacher to death? No. Did he want to do it? No. Would he have avoided it if he could? Yes.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Yet, avoiding it would be akin to risking his life. Yes, a teacher was an important person, but risking one''s life for them was not expected. Naturally, there were several degrees of danger. Donate a kidney, which could be seen as a slight risk due to missing a spare kidney? Maybe. Try to save them from a speeding car? Maybe. Take a bullet to the chest for them? Unlikely. The God had essentially put a gun towards Shang''s head, and if he refused, he would shoot him. Would he actually do that, though? Impossible to say. The God was far beyond rational. It could have gone either way, but Shang guessed that the God would have killed him. The God wanted entertainment, but he also didn''t want his toys to defy him. Shang might be entertaining for the God, but that was it. An aptparison for people from Earth would be destroying a keyboard or a controller because of a game. Was it a worthy exchange? Venting your anger in exchange for a piece of equipment? Most likely not. Did you do it anyway? Possible. Was the God someone that would smash his belonging because of something that annoyed him? Shang just looked forward. His Spirit Sense wasn''t concentrating on anything in particr. He had no desire to continue looking at the pile of meat, and he also didn''t want to look at the God. He just waited. The only thing he could do was follow the God''s orders until he was satisfied. After a while, the jester walked over and poked the pile of meat with the bottom of his hammer. "You remember her blue hair?" he asked with a self-satisfied smirk. Shang didn''t say anything. ¡°You remember her eyes?" ¡°What about her help?" "You know, she actually was someone that could put the overall good of the world above loyalty, and she also had enough determination to see when sacrifices are necessary." "If you actually told her about your Affinity, she might have actually decided to help you. Well, assuming you managed to convince her that you would get rid of the Abominations eventually." Shang didn''t say anything. "And now, look at her." "All bloody." Shang remained silent. The jester poked the flesh a bit more. "Do you believe my power now?" the jester asked. "Yes," Shang answered. The jester poked some more. "Want me to kill the Lightning Emperor as well?" "No," Shang answered. "Why not?" the jester asked with a smirk. "| need one Emperor that speaks up for me," Shang said. "Do you really?" the jester asked. "You haven''t heard the answer to your next question yet." "| doubt it will be less dangerous or easier than having the Lightning Emperor''s permission and backing," Shang said. The jester continued poking the fleshy pile. "You know, you told him about me." "Or | would have died," Shang answered. ¡°And you think | wouldn''t kill you?" the God asked. ¡°One was a certain death. The other is an uncertain death," Shang said. "Hmmm," the jester hummed. "But | can do worse things to you." "No," Shang said. The jester blinked a bit in surprise. Then, he understood. And snickered. "That''s why you''re my favorite toy, Shang,¡± the jester said. "Every single other person would agree with my statement." ¡°After all, what is worse than being forced to live forever in agony?" "What''s worse than having your soul attached to a literal eternally rotting piece of shit?¡± "What''s worse than dying over and over and over and over again?" The jester snickered a bit more. "But all of that doesn''t matter to you." "To you, all of these things are the same." ¡°You won''t be able to realize your dream anyway, which makes everything equally bad." The jester chuckled some more. "You''re so fucked up, Shang." Shang didn''t answer. "When you came to my pce, you were so very different." "Tell me, what would your past self think of the current you?" the jester asked. ¡°Hate me," Shang answered. "Right," the jester said as he poked the pile of meat some more. "He would hate you." "He would believe that you were living for nothing.¡± "You''re throwing your life away." "You are already living a life worse than death." ¡°And the best thing is that you don''t care about that. These are the thoughts of a young and naive mortal." "You''ve be so powerful, and you''vee so far. How could some weak mortal know more about life than you?" The jester continued snickering as he poked the pile some more. Silence. Some poking. More silence. ¡°Want to know what will happen now?" Chapter 786 Chapter 786 Naturally, Shang was interested in what the God nned on doing next. Was the God done bringing chaos into the world? What about the deaths? Who would handle the deaths? Would they find out that Queen Primordium had died to Shang? However, Shang also noticed a couple of things. Lucin died over half an hour ago, but Queen Primordium hadn''t been contacted in the couple of minutes between Lucin''s death and Shang''s p. Usually, one would expect that Queen Primordium would get contacted immediately when one of her Thunders died. Even more, Shang had beaten Queen Primordium to death for over half an hour. Did no one notice that? Did no one try to contact her during this time? Obviously, the God was somewhat involved in all of this. He did something to change a couple of things, but Shang couldn''t be sure what he had done. What now? What would the God do? Well, the best-case scenario would be to revive Lucin and Queen Primordium. The God had that power. However, that would make all of this worthless. That would essentially get rid of the entire impact of the God''s actions. Because of that, he wouldn''t do it. The next best thing would be to change everyone''s memories. That would retain the impact of the God''s actions, and it would also allow Shang to continue training here in peace. But would the God do this? "No worries," the jester said with a smirk. "| won''t do anything to the Lightning Emperor." These words didn''t reassure Shang. "First," the jester said. Then, a piece of paper appeared in his hands. It was a picture of a smiling Queen Primordium. He walked over to the pile of meat and put the picture lightly on top of it. Shang didn''t say anything. Then, the jester walked over to the door and turned to Shang with a smirk. "Let''s go back to your cozy little cube." Shang just walked over to the jester and stopped beside him. Shang didn''t want to follow the jester''s orders like a dog, but there was nothing he could do. Shang was helpless in front of the God... For now. The jester only smirked at Shang with a knowing expression. He knew exactly what Shang was thinking. Then, he lightly took Shang''s hand like they were going on a date and teleported away with him. They reappeared a secondter in front of Shang''s broken Istion Chamber. "You know, there was actually an additional reason why | killed these two," the jester said. "Do you know why?" Shang didn''t need to think for a long time. He already knew the God. "It was getting boring," Shang said. The jester''s smirk widened into a smile. "Correct." "You have a nice ce. You have a lot of money. You have a great backing. You have time. You are not in danger.¡± "It was nice for a while, but now, it''s getting boring.¡± "What am | supposed to do? Am | supposed to watch you sit in your little ck cube for thousands of years, doing nothing?" ¡°As you were earlier, you could have reached the top without many problems, probably.¡± ¡°And that''s boring.¡± "So, | thought that it would be a good idea to make things a bit more exciting, you know?" Naturally, Shang wasn''t the biggest fan of this development. He knew that he was the God''s toy, but Shang didn''t view himself as his toy, and he certainly didn¡¯t want to be one. Shang wanted to be truly powerful and kill the God. Over the past couple of years, his resolve to kill the God had weakened a bit since everything had happened so long ago, and all the times the God had suppressed Shang had seemed so distant. Sure, he probably would still have done it, but it hadn''t been on his list of priorities. But now, the God reminded Shang why he wanted to kill him. ¡°Anyway, regarding what will happen," the jester said. "First, no one gets revived." "Second, no one gets their memories manipted.¡± ¡°Lucin and your dear teacher just died, and no one saw who killed them." The jester''s smirk widened. "Can you imagine? There hasn''t been an unexpected death of a Mage King for over 400,000 years!" "Who could possibly kill a Mage King?" "It must be someone from another Empire, right?" "But who?" "And did they have the help of their Emperor?" "It couldn''t be anyone from outside an Empire since there is no one even nearly as strong as a Mage King." ¡°Every Emperor will believe that at least one Emperor helped in killing the Mage King, breaking the ancient truce." "What will they do?" "Who will they me?" ¡°Everyone is certain that there is at least one traitor amongst the Emperors." The jesterughed. "But there is no traitor!" ¡°Everyone is innocent!" The jester looked at Shang. "Isn''t that interesting?" Shang didn''t say anything. The jester chuckled a bit more. Then, he stretched his right hand towards the broken cube and pointed at it. SHING! All the broken pieces of the Istion Chamber gathered near the cube again and rebuilt it. "| want this to be entertaining, but without this thing, you can''t summon Abominations without being found out," the jester said. ¡°Ain''t | a nice guy?" the jester asked with a smirk. Shang didn''t say anything. Then, the jester walked through the entrance of the rebuilt Istion Chamber, Shang following behind him. After the two of them arrived in the middle, the jester stopped and slightly closed the door, but notpletely. The jester snapped his fingers, and Shang was teleported back into his inner world. The jester reappeared on the Affinity Wheel and grinned at Shang. "Know what''s fun?"Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. ¡°Forcing you to go through the trial right now!" "You''re probably dying to know how all of this will affect your home, huh?" "Well, sucks to be you! | want a trial!" "You can find out all about the consequences after you''re done entertaining me!" And then, the Affinity Wheel began to spin under the God''s loudughter. Chapter 787 Chapter 787 The Affinity Wheel began to spin. Shang didn''t say anything. Earlier, he had looked forward to the trial. After all, the reward he would gain would make it easier for him to find a path toward the Seventh Realm. Shang had waited for several decades for this trial, and now, it was finally here. Yet, after everything that happened over thest hour, Shang couldn''t be excited about the trial. The God had just majorly changed the internationalndscape. In fact, the things he had done could even be called unprecedented. He had killed a Mage King! This was probably the most significant event ever since Lucius had reached the Tenth Realm. Lucin had also died, but his death wasn''t as significant in the grand scheme of things. Lucin had been quite helpful to Shang, but Shang didn''t feel any sort of connection between them. Shang was emotionallypletely shut off from the outside, which was why he couldn''t feel guilt, anger, or sadness for the deaths of others. The same thing was true for Queen Primordium. Shang had killed her, but he didn''t think much of it. The most terrible thing regarding this entire thing was that Shang was forced to do the God''s bidding, even though he didn''t want to. Yet, one thing was indisputable. Queen Primordium and Lucin had helped Shang a lot. They had been his two biggest pirs of support. Which was why the God had killed them. It was too boring. And now, after probably the most significant event of thest 400,000 years, the God was forcing Shang to go through the trial. At this moment, the army of the Lightning Manor could roll out to investigate every single person. It could be that the Lightning Manor would enter a state of war. The Lightning Emperor might immediately contact the other Emperors and use a couple of them.N?velDrama.Org owns this. The other Emperors would probably be just as shocked. International rtions would drastically shift. And all of this would happen in the following minutes. What if things escted and another Empire decided to strike at the Clouds, which could result in Shang''s death? But Shang was stuck in the trial. Shang wanted to get out of the trial since he feared that something might happen to his real body during this tumultuous time. But he could only leave by getting through the trial, and giving up on the trial wouldn''t be worth it. So, Shang could only go through the trial, even though he didn''t want to. The wheel stopped spinning, and a beast appeared. Shang didn''t even look at it before swinging his Subsis and releasing a Needle. The spear made of pure darkness punched a hole into the beast''s head, and the beast died immediately. The apuse came. Shang didn''t move. He just wanted to get through this trial as quickly as possible. ¡°Level two: Average Initial Ancestral Beast," the voice announced before the Affinity Wheel spun again. Shang just waited. Several seconds passed. The beast appeared. BANG! The apuse reappeared. The wheel retuned. "Level three: Powerful Initial Ancestral Beast." The wheel spun for several seconds. Shang grew quite annoyed by the current trial. Usually, Shang was a bit excited to see how strong he had be, and he also never really minded the easier levels of the trial. But this time, things were different. The entire world was changing, but Shang was stuck here. And even worse, Shang actually had to wait several times longer than he was actually fighting, making everything seem meaningless and bothersome. However, Shang also knew that he couldn''t skip the easier trials. Sure, the God theoretically could let Shang skip the levels, but he wouldn''t do that. After all, seeing Shang this frustrated was probably quite satisfying to the God. Wasn''t this exactly why he had forced Shang through this trial at this very moment? The anxiety and insecurity of the current situation made for a lot of chaos, and the God loved chaos. BANG! Shang killed the next beast without even looking at it. And he had to wait again. It was agonizing how slow the wheel moved. It took so long. BANG! The next beast died. Shang had to wait again. BANG! The next beast died. More waiting. BANG! The next beast died. More waiting. BANG! The next beast died. More waiting. CRACK! Several thick tes of armor exploded off a powerful bear''s head, but it still survived. BANG! Asecond Needle killed it. More apuse and more waiting. WHOOOOM! BANG! Shang used Void Break and unleashed a Needle, killing the beast. More apuse and even more waiting. Shang wasn''t even thinking about anything anymore. The angrier he became, the happier the God would be. Sure, Shang might be helpless in front of the God, but he could still refuse to get angry or annoyed at him, which would slight him a little bit. WHOOOOM! BANG! Shang used another Needle with Void Break, killing the beast. Even more apuse and even more waiting. This time, Shang shot a short nce at his new opponent. WHOOOOM! BANG! Another Needle with Void Break killed the cheetah. Shang wanted to make sure that his opponent didn''t have a powerful defense since they would most likely survive the attack. The apuse returned, and Shang had to wait more. When his opponent appeared, Shang looked at it for a short moment. Needle wouldn''t be enough anymore since it didn''t have a lot of destructive power. Shang''s next opponent was some sort of heavily armored porcupine walking on two legs. Fast, powerful, strong defense. WHOOOOOM! Shang used Void Break, absorbing all the Mana in the surroundings. For the first time in this trial, Shang was moving his Addum instead of his Subsis. Shang lifted his Addum high as the porcupine began to charge at Shang. Shang shed downward. BOOOOOOOOM! From several kilometers away, the hedgehog exploded into several pieces as the surrounding five kilometers turned into a hellscape of fire and destruction. It was like a nuke had hit the ground! This was one of Shang''s new attacks. Meteor. Chapter 788 Chapter 788 Meteor was a mix of Dusk and Shooting Star, two of Shang''s old techniques. After using Void Break to absorb all the Mana, Shang transformed it into Light Mana with an extreme of mass. The extremely dense and heavy atmosphere above the target would then strike down at a precise point, breaking through the target''s defenses.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. And as soon as the heavy Light Mana reached the inside of the target''s body, it would transform from Light Mana with an extreme of mass into Fire Mana with an extreme of heat via the Concept of Addition. Like this, the target would explode from the inside out. The apuse returned, and Shang had to wait again. BOOOOOOOM! Shang used Meteor again to kill the next beast. The apuse returned, and Shang had to wait again. Then, Shang looked at his opponent again. He couldn''t take his opponents lightly anymore, and he actually had to n his assault. The next beast was a small white ape carrying a cane. ¡®A Proto Mage,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang had heard of them, but he had never seen one. There were a couple of beasts that were far smarter than other beasts, and this ape was one of these kinds of beasts. By watching humans, these apes had learned Magic themselves. Naturally, they weren''t as good as human Mages at Magic, which was why they were only about as powerful as average beasts. Just when the ape opened its eyes, all the Mana in the surroundings was absorbed by Shang due to Void Break. The ape immediately cast its own version of Mana Shield before readying an offensive Spell. The ape sadly didn''t have a Focus. All the Mana in the surroundings returned again, and the ape finished its offensive Spell. At that moment, all the Mana vanished again. The ape pointed its staff at the distant Shang, and a terrifying bolt of lightning shot at him at incredible speeds. Yet, just before the lightning bolt hit Shang, the space between them warped. SHING! And the lightning bolt was gone! It vanished! At this moment, Shang held a vibrating sword in front of him, his Subsis. The space around the Subsis seemed to flow into it, and the closer the space got to the Subsis, the darker it became. Shang moved his Subsis to the side again. Then, he lifted his Addum over his shoulder, which was also affecting the space around it. The space around the Addum seemed to emit waves that moved outward. The space moved into the Subsis and moved out of the Addum. This was a new and more advanced use of Void Break. Shang''s body could hold the powerful foreign Mana for only an instant before he had to use it. But what about his swords? Well, they could also hold Mana, and they were not as brittle as Shang. At the beginning of the fight, Shang had used Void Break to gather Mana. He transformed it into Darkness with an extreme of void and put it into his Subsis. With his second use of Void Break, he gathered even more Mana and transformed it into Fire with an extreme of heat. Just now, Shang had used his Subsis to absorb the lightning bolt the opponent had used. By manipting the changed Darkness Mana in the Subsis, Shang could absorb Mana and get rid of the will on it, making it usable by him. At this moment, Shang''s Subsis was filled with almost invisible Darkness Mana, his Addum was filled with almost invisible Fire Mana, and his body was filled with foreign Lightning Mana. The ape was confused that its lightning bolt had disappeared and readied its next attack. But before it could finish, Shang swung his Subsis, which turned pure ck in an instant. WHOOOOM! The ape''s entire world transformed into pure darkness. The ape canceled its offensive Spell and changed to Mana Step. SHING! But before it could finish, the ape was cut into two pieces. Its two halves werepletely cauterized due to the extreme heat that had bisected the ape. Shang appeared behind the two pieces of the ape, his body and swords having returned to their usual appearances. Just now, Shang had transformed the Darkness Mana in his Subsis into Darkness Mana with an extreme of void. Then, he released the Darkness Mana, creating an extremely long and wide corridor of darkness, leading from him to his opponent and further. It was like someone had painted the ground with a humongous brush. Then, Shang used up the absorbed Lightning Mana to elerate and push himself through the corridor of darkness. Thanks to the Concept of Twilight, Shang could now move through darkness at speeds that seemed to rival the speed of light. As long as there was enough darkness, Shang could move at insane speeds. Lastly, Shang used up the Fire Mana in his Addum to boost the temperature of his Addum to iprehensible degrees for just an instant, which had been enough to kill the ape. The apuse returned, and the Affinity Wheel returned. WHOOOOM! Shang used Void Break two times, and his two swords affected the surrounding space again. Even though Shang was just standing there, the mere presence of him and his two swords severely affected the surrounding world. The extreme heat created storms that were apocalyptic for beings below the Fourth Realm, and just being near his Subsis would turn someone into a dried corpse. Yet, Shang only stood motionlessly and without any expression in the middle of his inner world. He was waiting for his next opponent. The easy levels were over. From now on, Shang would actually need to fight seriously. Additionally, this level was especially noteworthy since it represented not one but two thresholds. In thest trial, Shang had failed at this level, but this time, he was confident that he could win. The ape had been an average Peak Ancestral Beast, which meant that the next level was... ¡°Level 15: powerful Peak Ancestral Beast." The level where Shang had failedst time and thest level of the Sixth Realm for beasts. Everything after this would be in the Seventh Realm. Chapter 789 Chapter 789 The Affinity Wheel spun for several seconds before it stopped. Metal. Asecondter, a muscr and ck western dragon appeared several kilometers away from Shang. It had four powerful legs with intimidating ws and six extremely sharp and long wings. On top of that, it also had an extremely imposing and powerful armor made of metal covering its entire body. Shang could tell that it was outstanding in every metric of power. Shang assumed that only one of these beasts that entered their Hibernation to reach the Seventh Realm would count as powerful Peak Ancestral Beasts.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. These were the unrivaled Ancestral Beasts. Shang readied his Addum and Subsis, which were already filled with Darkness and Fire Mana. The dragon slowly opened its eyes. The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell. DING! The dragon roared, and in an instant, a storm of metallic spears appeared above it, which shot directly at the distant Shang. At the same time, the dragon charged after the spears, readying another assault. Shang moved his Subsis forward. DING! DING! DING! DING! Shang''s Subsis hit several of the huge spears, and as soon as it did, the spears vanished. At the same time, the warping space around Shang''s Subsis began to weaken. Every time Shang absorbed Mana with a foreign will on it, the Darkness Mana inside his Subsis would lessen. After Shang absorbed all the spears that had shot at him, the dragon appeared behind the spears, its wings ready to strike. Shang swung his Addum forward at the wings. BOOOOOOM! In an instant, all the absorbed Metal Mana appeared around the Addum, increasing its size and weight severalfold. The wings and the Addum hit each other, and the dragon''s wings bounced back. Naturally, the dragon''s body was far more powerful than Shang''s, and Shang should have also been flung back. But he wasn''t. As soon as the two attacks had collided, Shang had let go of his Addum. His Addum shot out of his hand, flying into the distance. Since Shang didn''t bounce back, he readied his Subsis and stepped forward. WHOOOOM! All the Mana in the surroundings was absorbed as Shang used Void Break. The dragon still didn¡¯t recover its bnce, and Shang was moving at very high speeds. Shang pointed his Subsis at the dragon''s head, and a thin spike appeared on its end. And then, he stabbed forward. SHING! It was like there was no resistance. The Subsis moved through the metallic armor, the thick scales, the powerful muscles, and even the hard bone. It was like it had moved through air. In an instant, the Subsis reached the dragon''s brain, but since the dragon was so big, the stab itself didn''t do much. But then, Shang used Darkness Absorb with his Subsis. The dragon''s body was incredibly powerful, which made Darkness Absorb not that useful. However, since Shang was using Darkness Absorb with the tip of his Subsis, which was currently located in the dragon''s brain, the effect was very clear. The dragon had just regained its bnce and readied an attack to kill Shang. And then, its eyes zed over, and it fell to the ground. It was dead. The apuse returned, and Shang''s Addum flew back to him. But a momentter, Shang''s body began to weaken as he started to age rapidly. He was refilling his Death Mana storage. Just now, Shang had used one of his most powerful attacks. He had gathered all the Death Mana on the tip of his Subsis and used the level two Concept of Weakness. With that, the Death Mana would be used up in exchange for weakening and destroying anything it touched. While the Concept of Sickness could theoretically absorb nearly infinite Mana, the Concept of Weakness couldn''t. Yet, the effect of the Concept of Weakness was many times stronger in a shorter timeframe. The pure destructive power of Death Mana with the Concept of Weakness could only be surpassed by Entropy. The Death Mana had dug a tunnel into the dragon''s head for Shang''s Subsis. This attack wasn''t that useful against Mana Shields, but it was insanely useful against other kinds of defenses, like the armor of beasts. Shang called it Injection. The corpse vanished, and the wheel returned. For the first time, Shang was d that the wheel spun for so long since he needed some time to regain his Death Mana. ¡°You know, | would have never expected that anyone would actually beat an entire Realm," the God said from atop his Affinity Wheel as he looked at the dying Shang. Shang didn''t answer. "Do you actually know what kind of achievement that is?" the God asked. "You even rival me when | have been younger." These words interested Shang. When the God was younger... Shang had expected that the God had once been a mortal just like anybody else, but this confirmed it. From which era did Gode? Did he actually create this world? If he did, where did he gain his power from? Was there another world where he gained enough power to create this one? Or did hee from this world and just assume the mantle of God? But then, who made this world, and what happened to them? Shang couldn''t be certain. There were so many open questions. However, one thing was certain. The God had probably been exceptionally powerful in his youth. "To think that | actually need to create a Beast Lord for your trial today," the God snickered. "That''s really impressive." ¡°However, | wonder how far you can actually go." "You know, there are so many unrivaled Peak Ancestral Beasts, but only very few manage to gain intelligence and reach the Seventh Realm." "This means that even the weakest Beast Lord is already more talented than the beast you fought just now." "The same thing is true for the Mages, FYI," the God added with a smirk. "The fourth Realm represents a watershed since that''s when people actually create their future foundation. There are far fewer people managing to take the jump from the Third to the Fourth Realm than there are people managing to take the jump from the Fourth to the Fifth Realm, proportionally speaking.¡± ¡°Additionally, the difference in power between Mages of the same Realm also increases drastically." ¡°All of this also applies to Mage Lords and Beast Lords." ¡°Let me put this into numbers for you," the God said with an even wider smirk. ¡°Less than 5% of Mage Lords have a normal Spirit Sense." "Around 90% of Mage Lords have a twofold Spirit Sense." ¡°About 4% of Mage Lords have a threefold Spirit Sense." ¡°And one entire percent of Mage Lords have a fourfold Spirit Sense." "This means that an average Mage Lord has a twofold Spirit Sense and a powerful Mage Lord has a threefold Spirit Sense." ¡°Wanna know why? After all, you could just break through after only understanding one level four Concept, which would only give you a normal Spirit Sense." "So, howe there are so few Mage Lords with such a weak Spirit Sense?" The Affinity Wheel was still spinning. Shang guessed that the God was probably prolonging its spin since he was talking. Shang didn''t have a problem with that since he needed to refill his Death Mana anyway. "Why?" Shang asked. The jester only smirked. Chapter 790 Chapter 790 ¡°Because it is nearly impossible to break through with only one level four Concept," the God said. This took Shang by surprise. Hadn''t the God just confirmed that it was possible to break through with only one level four Concept? Why was it suddenly nearly impossible? "Well, you see," the God said, animatedly moving his hands in exaggerated gestures like he was putting on a y. "In a world with enough Mana, you wouldn''t have any problems in reaching the Mage Lord Realm with only one level four Concept." ¡°But we don''t live in a world with plenty of Mana, do we?" the jester asked with a smirk. After hearing the God''s words, Shang had a suspicion. ¡°Not enough momentum?" he asked. "Yes," the God said.N?velDrama.Org owns this. "The more momentum you have, the more Mana you will absorb in your breakthrough. More momentum means pulling Mana from further ces." "To be a Mage Lord, you need a great amount of Mana, but due to the low density of Mana in the atmosphere, getting enough Mana in your controlled domain is nearly impossible when your domain is only as big as the domain of someone that will condense a normal Spirit Sense." ¡°Of course, you can solve that problem by entering an area with a high density of Mana, but finding such an area is very difficult, and building one is very costly." ¡°Naturally, Empires won''t invest that much money into someone that will only condense a normal Spirit Sense. Because of that, the only Mage Lords with a onefold Spirit Sense are Mage Lords unaffiliated with Empires that managed to somehow gain enormous wealth." "This means that every single Mage Lord you have seen since joining the Lightning Manor had had a twofold Spirit Sense, at least. There were even some with a threefold Spirit Sense." The jester lifted his left hand. "Inparison, an Ancestral Mage with a twofold Spirit Sense counts as a powerful Ancestral Mage in this trial. Less than 5% of Ancestral Mages have a twofold Spirit Sense after all." "So, just like with the beast, a weak Initial Mage Lord is as, if not more, talented than a powerful Peak Ancestral Mage." "But that isn''t as important," the jester said as he leaned back on the Affinity Wheel. "You might be able to fight a Beast Lord now, but | highly doubt you will reach, lest get past, a powerful Peak Ancestral Mage." Shang''s body recovered, and he slowly stood up. He had refilled his Death Mana storage, and he was ready for the next battle. Shang absorbed more of the surrounding Mana and refilled the Mana inside his two swords. "You done?" the God asked. Obviously, the God had noticed that Shang was refilling his Death Mana. "| let you refill your Death Mana since | want to watch a good fight." ¡°After all, the quality of the next beast will take a drastic leap. Going from a powerful Peak Ancestral Beast to a weak Initial Beast Lord is like going from a powerful Late Ancestral Beast to a powerful Peak Ancestral Beast." "You have a chance at winning, but it''s definitely not certain.¡± Shang didn''t answer anything. He simply continued standing in the middle of his inner world. "Good," the God said. And then, the Affinity Wheel slowed down. Eventually, it stopped. The Affinity itnded on was something Shang had never seen before. "Oh, hey," the jester said. "That''s a rare one." The picture was of a wave of fire being pushed to the side by green wind. "It''s called ze," the God said. "It''s a Mixed Affinity of Fire and Wind. ze is as malleable as wind and hot as fire butcks the cutting effect of wind and the explosive effect of fire. You can view it as very fast heat." The God usually didn''t exin the opponents¡¯ Affinities, but since he was very interested in the next fight, he exined the Affinity to Shang. After all, seeing Shang get obliterated because he didn''t know what Affinity his opponent had would be anticlimactic and boring. The next moment, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a majestic peacock. Its green and red feathers shone bright and beautiful light on Shang''s inner world. Since Beast Lords could actively control the size of their bodies, the peacock also wasn''t as overwhelmingly huge as all the previous beasts. The peacock was only about five meters long, excluding its massive tail. Shang could feel the difference in the peacock''s aurapared to all the other beasts. There was a certain intelligence and grace to the peacock''s aura. It felt less like a beast and more like a person. Nevertheless, Shang readied his two swords. This would be the first time he fought something in the Seventh Realm, which would mark another milestone in his journey to supreme power. He was now fighting something a level higher than these cataclysmic beasts he had seen in Area 23. This peacock was stronger than every single beast inside Area 23, and it was probably even stronger than the supervisor of Area 23. This was something Area 23 hadn''t even heard of back then. It was a legendary beast. In the outside world, Beast Lords were also very rare. Shang still remembered that he had to travel over 700,000 kilometers to get to a fitting Beast Lord, and he also remembered that the Territory Lord''s territory only had around ten Beast Lords. One had to remember that the Territory Lord''s territory was around a million kilometers wide. And it only had ten Beast Lords! Except for the limited number of Beast Kings, Beast Lords were the most powerful beasts in the world. They were exceedingly rare, very powerful, and mystical. The jester slowly lifted his hammer as Shang readied his two swords. Then, the jester hit the bell. DING! The next moment, the peacock opened its eyes, which immediately locked onto Shang. Shang could even see human emotions in the peacock''s eyes. It was interest and annoyance. Chapter 791 Chapter 791 WHOOOOM! Even though the peacock had a human''s intelligence, that didn''t mean that it wouldn''t attack Shang. After all, all the different Mages also always directly attacked Shang without waiting. The peacock''s majestic tail unfurled, and the tips of its feathers began to shine with red and green light. Shang had already started to charge forward, but the peacock''s speed was still far greater than his. The next moment, the space around the peacock seemed to warp, very simr to how the space around Shang''s Addum warped. Shang''s instincts screamed at him, and he put his Addum in front of him. BANG! An insanely powerful heatwave hit Shang''s Addum, which started to glow. The heatwave had arrived in less than an instant, and if it had hit Shang without preparation, he would have immediately died. Thankfully, his Addum protected him from the heatwave. Additionally, Shang could now tell how hot the heatwave was, which gave him some valuable information. The peacock didn''t seem surprised, and its tail moved slightly. WHOOOOM! The heatwave hitting Shang''s Addum spun and created a tornado, hitting Shang from all sides. SSSSSS! But since Shang could feel how hot the heatwave was, he released just enough Fire Mana to keep his body at a temperature that wouldn''t immediately kill him. Nevertheless, Shang''s body was still burning in several ces, and he was receiving injuries. The omnipresent nature of the ze made it impossible for Shang to avoid it. Even more, the invisible ze in the surroundings had the peacock''s will imprinted on it, making it impossible to absorb it via Void Break. This meant that Shang was surrounded by extreme heat, and if he used Void Break, he would absorb the ze with the peacock''s will on it, which would result in Shang turning into ash. This was the first time that Shang''s Void Break had been countered. He wondered if the peacock had done that on purpose or not. In the sweltering heat, Shang shot forward directly at the peacock. Shang''s body was currently on fire, and his clothes were already burning away. Shang reached the peacock, which only looked at him in interest. Apparently, Shang still didn''t look like a danger to it.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The next instant, Shang''s Addum began to shine even more, and its edge seemingly started to melt under the insane amount of Fire Mana stored inside it. Shang readied his attack. Suddenly, the shine on the peacock''s tail vanished. CRKSH! Shang seemingly exploded into a shower of blood! What had the peacock done? It simply stopped releasing its ze. That was it. Shang hadn''t been able to react quickly enough to the sudden change in temperature, which meant that he was still releasing enough Fire Mana to counteract the ze''s temperature. So, when the ze suddenly stopped, Shang''s overheated body froze in an instant, and due to the rapid change in temperature, a huge part of Shang''s skin and muscles exploded. The next moment, the peacock released more of its ze again, which reached the bloody mist in an instant. Suddenly, something shot out of the bloody mist. In an instant, it reached the peacock''s head. The peacock¡¯''s eyes widened in fear, and it even released a frightened squeak like a chicken. SHING! Some Wind Mana appeared around its head, and its head moved to the side at insane speeds. Shang''s attack missed the peacock''s head. The peacock''s body was already quite a couple of levels above Shang''s, and with the addition of the fast Wind Affinity, it was even faster. At that moment, the peacock could see the attack that Shang had just released. It was a brightly shining object which looked a bit like a shooting star. Surprisingly, the peacock couldn''t feel any heat or colding from it. There were also no absorption properties. It wasn''t even that heavy. It didn''t look dangerous at all. Yet, the peacock felt danger emanating from the shining object. The shining object passed by the peacock''s head without touching it. Then, it passed by the peacock''s body. It had missed its target. But that wasn''t so bad. It didn''t necessarily need to hit the head. BOOOOOOM! The shining object hit the peacock''s extravagant tail! As soon as it did, an impossibly bright light appeared, consuming the peacock''s body. The peacock felt the approaching danger, but as some time passed, it noticed that nothing was happening to it. A bitter, all the light vanished again. The peacock was still fine. It was like nothing had changed. The next moment, it noticed the heavily injured Shang. The heat and cold had injured him to a devastating degree, making him resemble a burned corpse. The peacock grew annoyed and summoned more ze, but this time, it would mix normal wind with it, creating pockets of colder air betweenyers of hot air. And then, it shot the wave of mixed air toward Shang. Shang immediately pointed his Subsis upward. WHOOOOM! The entire world turned dark as the saved-up Darkness Mana in the Subsis reached the extreme of darkness without the absorption qualities. Surprisingly, the peacock''s senses still worked in the world of darkness. After all, without the interrupting effect of void, the darkness had no effect on someone''s Spirit Sense. After that, the peacock suddenly saw Shang''s body vanish and reappear behind it. This surprised the peacock quite a bit. This was far faster than it had expected its opponent to be. Even more, its prepared attack shot past Shang since he had just vanished, which also surprised it. Earlier, its opponent hadn''t been able to react to the speed of its attack without blocking beforehand, but this time, its opponent had managed to evade its attack. Physical speed was one thing, but the speed of someone''s thoughts and reactions was something different. Something had changed, but it couldn''t tell what. Meanwhile, Shang readied his Subsis and stabbed at the peacock''s body. An instantter, a long de of ice appeared on the Subsis'' tip, essentially speeding up its attack even more. Chapter 792 Chapter 792 WHOOOOOM! Shang''s body caught on fire suddenly, and if he hadn''t been prepared, he would have turned into ash. Even more, a powerful and heavy wave was stopping him in his tracks and throwing his body away. Just now, the peacock had released an extremely condensed wave of ze. Due to the difference in power, Shang couldn''t resist the wave and was thrown into the distance. Luckily, the heat wasn''t as hot as normal since the wave was more focused on pushing Shang away. But it had worked. Shang didn''t hit the peacock. One had to remember that a weak Initial Beast Lord was as talented and creative as a powerful Peak Ancestral Beast. Weak or average beasts usually had some kind of weakness. For example, the peacock was obviously a beast that focused on ranged attacks. Usually, one would think that it had a weak defense or that it was slow. But that wasn''t the case. Its body might not be the hardest, but it obviously had a couple of means of stopping its enemies froming close to it. The next moment, green wind appeared around the peacock''s body. BOOOOM! Shang''s body suddenly stopped being thrown into the distance and actually started to be pulled towards the peacock! Yet, the peacock had just vanished! The peacock had appeared 50 kilometers away in the distance in an instant! The force that had pulled Shang in was the vacuum the peacock had left behind by shooting away at inconceivable speeds. It was so fast! Even more, this was its natural speed, not Mana Step. This meant that it didn''t use a lot of Mana with that move. And the worst thing was that it had left Shang''s domain of darkness, which meant that he couldn''t use his Concept of Twilight to move rapidly. In the past trials, this had been one of the biggest dangers. After all, Shang would have wasted a lot of Mana if his opponents had managed to leave his domains. WHOOOOOM! The domain of darkness vanished as Shang used Void Break. The ze had already vanished from the surroundings, and the peacock was now 50 kilometers away, which meant that Shang could use Void Break again. After absorbing all the Darkness Mana, Shang''s Subsis began to warp the surrounding space again. With Void Break, Shang had gotten rid of this past weakness of his. Shang''s burned body was surrounded by Fire Mana and Ice Mana as he shot toward the peacock in the distance. The peacock looked at Shang with angry eyes. Suddenly, Shang''s instincts were screaming at him! The peacock wasn''t doing anything, and from this distance, Shang was also fast enough to react to any of the peacock''s attacks. Yet, Shang''s instincts were telling him that he was about to die! WHOOOOOOOOOM! An instantter, an incredible amount of ze appeared below Shang, and it shot into all directions. It was like the ze had just been under immensepression before an opening appeared in whatever it was that was compressing it. A huge amount of ze had just moved past Shang, transferring all its heat to his body. Shang''s skin had vanished, and a majority of his muscles had vanished. The heat had been so much that not even ashes remained. By all intents and purposes, he should be dead. Yet, somehow, the most severe injuries on his body healed in an instant, and he returned to his half-burned state from before. At that moment, Shang was d that he had listened to his instincts. When Shang had felt the danger, he had quickly thought of a way to defend himself from whatever wasing. But the problem was that Shang had no idea from where the attack woulde, which made a directional defense impossible. On top of that, the peacock''s ze was insanely fast. So, Shang was forced to strengthen his inherent defenses. Shang had absorbed the Darkness Mana inside his Subsis, which was effectively the same as using Void Break, increasing the power of his body by one level. But that wouldn''t be enough to resist such a powerful attack. After absorbing all the Darkness Mana, Shang transformed it into Light Mana with an extreme of mass. And then, he had used that Light Mana on his own body. The mass and weight of his body had multiplied, which effectively meant that there was now much more of his body to burn. Instead of having to burn through oneyer of Shang''s skin, the ze had to burn through ayer that was as thick as ten layers. If Shang hadn''t done that, his entire body would have vanished since the ze had effectively burned several Shangs of mass. Sadly, this meant that the stored Mana inside his Subsis was now used up. Luckily, Shang had survived, and he had also seen what kind of attack had hit him. It was a mine. The peacock had incorporated the heat part of the ze in the Wind Mana. After that, it had essentially conserved the Wind Mana in the air. This meant that the air didn''t seem to have any Wind or Fire Mana, but in truth, there had been a lot of that present. And when the peacock had willed it, everything burst apart, releasing the stored energy. When the peacock had shot into the distance, it had probably ced a couple of these mines in the atmosphere. It might even be able to slowly move them around. Shang was still over 40 kilometers away, and there could be any number of mines between him and his target. ¡®And | can''t even hit it from here, he thought. ¡®It''s difficult enough to hit from melee range, but it''s impossible to hit it from here.¡¯ ¡®Luckily, | managed to hit it earlier. Otherwise, | would probably die." ¡®But victory still isn''t certain." Earlier, when the bright light had consumed the peacock, Shang had ced all his Death Mana on the peacock''s body.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. And the Death Mana used the Concept of Purgatory this time. Shang called this attack Radiation. Chapter 793 Chapter 793 The Concept of Purgatory had an interesting effect on an opponent, which was very different from the effect it had on the user themselves. The Concept of Sickness absorbed someone''s Mana and life energy. The Concept of Weakness weakened someone''s defenses. And the Concept of Purgatory put the effects of old age on the target. Important to note was that the target wouldn''t just continue to age indefinitely but that the strength of the effect was based on how much Death Mana Shang had used. And what specifically did all of this mean? Well... Shang shot forward again, and the peacock released its ze again. Shang could react in time and adjust his temperature. The peacock was quite surprised again. Sure, it was quite far away, but it had also noticed that its attack wasn''t as fast as usual. Of course, that was to be expected. Older people aren''t as fast. Then, the peacock noticed that Shang hade close to one of its mines and detonated it. The mine detonated, but Shang managed to defend himself from it, even though he still got quite injured. The peacock grew frustrated when it realized that it had detonated the mine a bit toote. But that was to be expected. Older people sometimes grew distracted, and they couldn''t focus as well anymore. Nevertheless, Shang had still received quite some injuries from thetest mine, and he had already used up over half of his life energy. Shang also couldn''t use Void Break since there were probably more mines ced around him. There were still around 20 kilometers to go, and the closer he got, the more dangerous it would be. After all, even though the peacock wasn''t as focused and fast as before, it was still far superior to Shang in these things. In the distance, Shang could see the peacock preparing some kind ofplex tornado. If it managed to unleash that, Shang would need to evade far to the side, which would destroy all of his progress. Even more, the peacock could also use the same thing it had used earlier and shoot into the distance when Shang came closer. This was very problematic. ¡®Seems like | can''t win the normal way,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang readied his Addum. And then, ck fire burst out of his Addum. Shang shed forward, and a powerful ck wave of fire shot at the distant peacock. The peacock could feel the power of the attack and wanted to cancel its own attack and evade to the side. Yet, it noticed that the attack was rapidly growing weaker the closer it got. Even more, the feeling of threat from the attack also rapidly reduced. All powerful beings trusted their instincts since they were very reliable. Even Shang trusted his instincts. Hiding the danger of something was only possible when the target was in a rxed state of mind and only when the attacker was. quite a bit more powerful. Obviously, none of these things were applicable to the current situation. So, when the feeling of threat from the attack vanished, it actually meant that the attack stopped being dangerous. After just half of the way, it had already stopped being dangerous to the peacock. And then, the attackpletely vanished just one kilometer away from the peacock. It was just gone. The extremely powerful ck wave of fire was just gone. And the peacock''s opponent was still around 18 kilometers away from it. The peacock grew a bit confused. The next moment, all the burns on Shang''s body disappeared, reced by withering flesh. Shang pointed his Subsis at the peacock''s head from 18 kilometers away. And then, he shot a Needle at the peacock. From such a distance, Shang obviously couldn''t hit the fast peacock. After all, there were 18 kilometers between them. ...or were there? In an instant, the Needle reached the peacock''s head. BANG! And the needle made of darkness exploded on the peacock''s head! The tornado the peacock had been readying dispersed as the peacock became shocked by what had just happened. What had been that speed?! How had its opponent hit it from so far away?! Well, the truth was that Shang hadn''t hit it from far away. In fact, Shang had only been a bit less than two kilometers away from the peacock. In the past, when Shang had used a ranged attack with the Entropy ability of his sword, it didn''t grow weaker as it traveled. This time, it did. The reason for that was that Entropy was consuming Mana. What kind of Mana? All Mana! Including Space, Gravity, and Time Mana! Shang had destroyed everything between him and his target, essentially deleting 16 kilometers of distance between them. To illustrate, this was like putting two dots at opposite ends of a piece of paper, cutting out the middle 80% between the two dots, and then gluing the two remaining pieces of paper together. The next moment, the peacock fell into a panic and burst away with its Wind Mana. In an instant, it traveled another 50 kilometers away andnd- BOOOOOM! The peacock hit the ground and lost its footing!Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Its body rolled forward, leaving a humongous crater behind! In a panic, it quickly righted itself, but many of its feathers were damaged and destroyed. The next moment, it noticed that Shang was already shooting at it again, and it used even more Wind Mana to retreat. This time, it didn''tnd and decided to stay in the air. But that also felt quite exhausting. It wanted to get to the ground, but it felt uncertain and insecure. It feared that it would lose its footing again. Nevertheless, the peacock focused on Shang again and readied its attack. Yet, the ze it created was very unstable, and the peacock realized that it had to release the attack early. It just couldn''t control as much ze as usual. The ze shot at Shang, but Shang quickly managed to dodge. The next moment, the peacock felt like it was slowly sinking toward the ground, which made it realize that it had lost focus, and it shot into the distance again. Shang kept flying after it. Chapter 794 Chapter 794 Over the next couple of seconds, the peacock continued running whileunching pathetic attacks. It was still faster and more powerful than Shang. Yet, it had severe problems with its focus. Sometimes, it even forgot what it had just wanted to do. Naturally, this was the effect of Shang''s Needle. One had to remember that Shang had constantly remained in a heavily injured state throughout the fight. When he healed his old injuries, they were quickly reced by new ones. Shang had been in such an injured state on purpose to refill his Death Mana. Additionally, whenever the peacock injured Shang, he received more Death Mana. After eliminating the space between him and the peacock, Shang had filled the Needle with Death Mana with the Concept of Purgatory again. When Shang had used Radiation earlier, the effects of Purgatory had been spread across the opponent''s body. Weaker muscles. Less focus. Slower. Not as resilient. However, Shang''s Needle was a precision attack, and it focused all the effects of Purgatory on the spot it touched, which had been the peacock''s forehead. This meant that all the effects had been focused on the peacock''s mind. This put the peacock''s mind into an early stage of dementia. It was a weak and old mind in the body of a young and powerful beast. The peacock wasted a lot of its Mana in weak attacks, and Shang could even focus on actually slowly inspecting his surroundings. Instead of rapidly absorbing all the surrounding Mana with Void Break, Shang was using Void Break very slowly to look at all the Mana he was absorbing. Naturally, this meant that Shang couldn''t absorb as much Mana as usual and that it took several times longer. However, the end result was that Shang could tell where all the foreign and hidden ze was located. BANG! BANG! BANG! Across a vast space, individual pockets of ze were exploding while Shang was nowhere near them. The peacock had just retreated again, and itsst attack had already passed. WHOOOOOM! This meant that Shang could use Void Break again! As Shang chased the peacock, he used Void Break two more times to refill the Mana of his swords. Even more, Shang even summoned Entropy Ore to allow his Addum to return to its peak. The fight was essentially already over. The peacock was onlyunching pitiful attacks, and it was using far more Mana than it was regenerating. It would run out of Mana soon. After a while, Shang saw the peacock''s eyes lose focus, meaning it forgot what it had just been doing again. Shang saw his chance and readied his Addum. Shang''s Addum warped the surroundings with its incredible heat as it swung forward. SHING! Athin streak of warped space shot at the distant peacock. The peacock¡¯s eyes regained focus, but it was already toote. BANG! The front of the peacock''s head exploded, a burned ck hole now visible on it. The burned hole reached the peacock''s brain, but it didn''t destroy a lot. The peacock was still alive, but the powerful attack on its head destroyed all of the peacock¡¯s focus. This was another one of Shang''s new attacks. This was a long-range precision attack, butpared to Needle, this one had far more destructive power. Shangunched this attack by creating a small ball of heat and then infusing it with more mass. This essentially made a non-explosive and heavy bullet made of extremely hot fire. The small bullet would burn through an opponent''s defenses and spread its heat deep into the target. Shang called this new attack Missile. After the peacock was hit by Missile, Shang used Void Break again to refill his Addum with Fire Mana. Then, he lifted his Addum high. The peacock waspletely absentminded, and it couldn''t take note of its surroundings. The space above the peacock warped. Shang swung down. Meteor! BOOOOOOOM! The peacock''s head exploded into pieces! Meteor was one of Shang''s slower attacks, but its destructive power was extremely great. Luckily, the peacock''s natural defenses weren''t very impressive. The peacock¡¯''s headless body fell to the ground, and Shang took a deep breath. The apuse returned, and the body slowly vanished. ¡®Finally,¡¯ Shang thought with a sigh. ¡®Fortunately, | can use Entropy in my inner world without fear of being found out. Without it, | probably wouldn''t have won." ¡°Level 17: Average Initial Beast Lord," the voice spoke. At that moment, Shang remembered what he had just fought. ¡®Right! That was a weak Initial Beast Lord!" ¡®That was a far below-average Beast Lord!" The peacock definitely hadn''t been a pushover. It had seen through one of Shang''s weaknesses in an instant and had used it against Shang by letting him freeze himself. After that, it had even ced traps while retreating. Sure enough, this was almost like fighting an intelligent human, and a quite experienced one at that. It was shocking to think that this was one of the weakest Beast Lords. "What''s even the point of keeping score anymore?" Shang didn''t show any reaction to the jester''s words. "You actually jumped a full Realm against a beast," the God said. "And it was even against a Beast Lord." "| wonder how far you can go," the jester said. Shang didn''t say anything. The jester looked at Shang for a while, and a small smirk appeared on its face. "Interesting," it said. "That''s not too dumb. You know that?" Shang didn''t react. ¡°Alright, go ahead," the jester said with a chuckle as the Affinity Wheel slowed down. "Have fun," it said. Shang was readying his Addum and Subsis again. He knew that he couldn''t possibly win his next fight. However, that wasn''t his intention. Shang wanted to experience something. Death. The higher level a Concept of Death was, the closer it came to death. The level three Concept of Death, Purgatory, was already as close to death as it got without outright dying. So, the next one was probably just straight-up dying. Something like this could probably only beprehended in a Pit of Death, but Shang didn''t have ess to that. But he had ess to something else. Actual death.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. He couldprehend death by dying in his trial. Chapter 795 Chapter 795 Shang''s next opponent was a beast with a Water and Lightning Dual Affinity. The battle went surprisingly well for some time, but then the beast managed to hit Shang bybining several different kinds of attacks. From that moment on, Shang was on the back foot, and he was concentrating more on staying alive than actually winning. Of course, due to the way Shang fought and since he was weaker, this meant that he essentially had no chance at victory anymore unless he was very lucky. In the end, Shang used an all-out attack with the Entropy ability of his swords, but the beast quickly avoided it by moving to the side. Shang could only look at the big blue stork with a couple of silver feathers. Several balls of lightning and water were floating around the area, which had been the reason for Shang''s difficulties. The stork had seen how Shang absorbed the surrounding Mana to increase his power and used the balls of lighting and water to block his Void Break. Of course, if Void Casting were so easily countered, the Mage Lords wouldn''t use it. There were several ways to deal with something like that. But there was one issue. Control. Shang could see the balls, and he could focus on absorbing only the neutral Mana, but the stork''s mind was too strong, and its reactions were too quick. As soon as Shang decided to absorb a smaller bit of Mana, the balls of lightning and water would shoot to that ce and fuse with the Mana, resulting in Shang partially absorbing Mana with the stork¡¯s will on it. If Shang''s mind were more powerful, he could simply ignore the balls of lightning and water. Sadly, the stork''s mind was an entire Realm above his. An Initial Beast Lord could fully counter Shang''s Void Break. A Peak Ancestral Beast could partially counter Shang''s Void Break. And a Late Ancestral Beast wouldn''t be able to do anything as long as Shang used a bit of effort to use Void Break. Of course, as Shang''s mind became more powerful, he would also be able to use it against stronger beasts, but for now, this was where his limit was. The stork hadpletely countered his Void Break. If he used it, he would get severely injured. If he used it and canceled the will on the Mana, he would use more Mana than he was gaining. If he destroyed the balls, the stork would just make more, and since it had far more Mana, Shang would essentially use more Mana than it, proportionally speaking. At the moment, Shang''s body was half-dead, and he had also used up all of his Death Mana. When Shang had used Radiation, the stork had just surrounded itself in a bubble of water and lightning. All the Death Mana entered the water, and after the stork dispersed the bubble, the Death Mana just scattered. However, Shang didn''t give up. He knew that he would lose. There was no way around that. But if one wanted to experience the true essence and weight of death, one had to die at someone else''s hands. Because of that, Shang decided to keep fighting, even though he knew that he wouldn''t win. BANG! Shang quickly jumped to the side as a bolt of lightning exploded on the ground below him. And then, time seemed to stop as Shang saw another bolt of lightning right in front of his face. It was like reality had been transformed into a singr image. It was the end. In that brief moment, Shang could only have one thought. ¡®No! This single "no" represented all the unwillingness, helplessness, and terror of being in such a situation. It was death. There was no way to avoid it any longer. And then, it was over. It just abruptly ended. No specificst thoughts. No regrets. No life shooting through one''s mind. No happiness. No sadness. No climax. It was just over. It was even abrupter than falling asleep. The process of falling asleep was simr to how life and death worked. One closed their eyes and waited. They wouldn''t know when they would fall asleep, but at some point, they would. And when it happened, it happened so quickly that the person wouldn''t even take note. It was just over. Death was like that but without retrospective. Death was the great equalizer. One could save a million people, but when one died, it didn''t matter. One could kill a million people, but when one died, it didn''t matter. Agood person wouldn''t be able to appreciate their past deeds and see the people honor them. Abad person wouldn''t be able to regret their actions and see the people despise them. A popr person wouldn''t be able to appreciate how long their name would remain known in the world. An unknown person wouldn''t be able toment that no one missed them. It didn''t matter. Nothing mattered. When death arrived, all of one''s life''s aplishments were worthless.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. It could bepared to a job. At the end of the month, two workers would get the same payment, no matter how productive they were. Why put in the work when you get the same ie as yourzy coworker? It didn''t matter. It was hopeless. Pointless. Disheartening. Discouraging. It was regret. Paradoxical regret. The act of dying itself was almost always filled with regret, but after one had died, there was no regret. A dead person didn''t have feelings and, therefore, couldn''t feel regret. Shang thought about all of this as he sat on the ground in his inner world. The God had already resurrected him. Shang remembered his first death in the first trial. Back then, he had also died to a bird, but a different one. His death back then had been crueler than this. Shang remembered how harrowing it had felt to die back then. This time, it wasn''t as bad. Shang''s goal had been to die toprehend the level four Concept of Death. Because of that, he viewed his death with a dissociative mindset. Additionally, Shang had changed a lot, and he was used to going through horrible experiences. ''Hopelessness,'' Shang thought. ¡®When | was dying, everything felt hopeless and useless.¡¯ ''l felt like achieving my goal wasn''t as important since everyone will be the same eventually anyway.¡¯ "So, what''s the point of working so hard to reach my goal?¡¯ ¡®But now, while the logic is sound, | can''t empathize with that mindset.¡¯ "My goal matters, and | want to reach it.¡¯ m not dead, and | want to be the strongest.¡¯ ¡®Does it matter that we will all be the same in the end?¡¯ ¡®From an objective standpoint, probably, but from a subjective one, | don''t think so.¡¯ ¡®Value is what | perceive as value." ¡®And if | have a shot at bing the most powerful being in existence, | will do my best to get there.¡¯ ¡®To me, value is power." ¡®Without power, you will be suppressed.¡¯ ¡®Without power, people will abandon you." ¡®Without power, you have no control.¡¯ ¡®Without power, you have no freedom." ¡®Without power, you have no happiness." ¡®Without power, you have no life." ¡®Without power, you have nothing!¡¯ ¡®Power is the most important thing!" ''It''s the core of life itself!" Shang stood up and readied his two swords. "Start the next trial.¡± Chapter 796 Chapter 796 The jester had been watching Shang with interest. Almost everyone only experienced death once, and they never had an opportunity to think back to how it was to die. Nearly dying and being in the process of dying were very different from actually dying. Some people would gain the opportunity to feel how it was toe close to death, but they weren''t allowed to actually touch it. But there still were ways toprehend the level four Concept of Death. For example, the Death Empress had once put herself into aa for over a thousand years, which was about as close to death as one could get. One wouldn''t be able to experience the world or think about one''s decision while one was lying in aa. Everything only happened after. It was interesting to see someone actually experience death and have the opportunity to reflect on it. "Sure," the God said as the Affinity Wheel spun again. Shang didn''t move or say anything as he waited for the Affinity Wheel to stop. When it finally stopped, he simply used Void Break and unleashed Missile. In an instant, the Mage had been killed. Shang reloaded his swords and waited for the next fight. BANG!Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. More waiting. BANG! More waiting. BANG! More waiting. BANG! More waiting. BANG! More waiting. BANG! More waiting. And then, Shang actually had to put some effort into fighting. The next level was the powerful Mid Ancestral Mage. Shang''s attack was powerful enough to break their Mana Shield in one strike, but it was slow enough that an experienced Mid Ancestral Mage could avoid it. So, instead of using Missile, Shang used up the Mana in his Subsis to create a vast corridor of darkness, engulfing him and the Mage. He shot through the corridor at insane speeds and reached the Mage in an instant. The Mage released a powerful and quick spear made of metal, but Shang vanished and reappeared to the side. AMissileter, and the Mage was dead. Shang waited for the Affinity Wheel again. ¡°Level ten: Weak Late Ancestral Mage." When the bell rang, Shang released another corridor of darkness. The opponent readied a couple of powerful Spells, waiting for Shang to arrive in front of him. BOOOOOOOM! And then, the Mage died as Meteor struck him. Missile wasn''t powerful enough to get through a Late Ancestral Mage¡¯s Mana Shield in one shot, but Meteor was. Sadly, Meteor was quite a bit slower, but the opponent wasn''t very experienced. Shang waited for the Affinity Wheel again. The differences in power between the Mages were far greater than between beasts. Killing a weak Late Ancestral Mage was about as easy as killing a weak Late Ancestral Beast, but killing a powerful Late Ancestral Mage was even more difficult than killing a powerful PEAK Ancestral Beast. ¡°Level eleven: Average Late Ancestral Mage." The opponent appeared, and Shang shot toward them after summoning the corridor of darkness again. The Mage released two Spells, but Shang side-stepped them without too much trouble. BANG! Shang hit the Mage''s Mana Shield with a Needle, but it didn''t deal a lot of damage. Nevertheless, the Mage noticed that Shang was quite dangerous and used Mana Step to flee. Shang absorbed the corridor of darkness with Void Break and released it again, engulfing the Mage once more. The Mage readied his next Spell, but then Shang suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of the Mage. Shang''s Addum swung forward, and Missile was released. The Mage realized that the attack was powerful but not that powerful. He could take that attack and hit his opponent with a Spell of his own from melee range. Missile hit. CRACK! A huge hole appeared in the Mana Shield, and the Mage''s body was blown apart. Asecondter, the Mana Shield dispersed, which was unusual. Normally, a Mana Shield exploded or copsed when the Mage ran out of Mana, but this one dispersed after a second. This meant that the Mage hadn''t actually been out of Mana. Abitter, Shang began to age and fell to the ground as a half-dead husk. When Shang had used Needle earlier, he had loaded it with Death Mana using the Concept of Weakness. But instead of using it to eat up and destroy the Mana in front of it, he essentially infused it into the Mage''s Mana Shield. Inparison to the Concept of Sickness, this kind of usage of the Concept of Weakness didn''t continuously eat the opponent''s Mana. But what it did do was infuse its surroundings with weakness. Shang had created a weak spot in the enemy''s defense. Needle hadn''t been nearly strong enough to break that weak spot. But Missile was. Missile couldn''t make the opponent use up all their Mana, but it was strong enough to break through that weak spot. At that location, the Magic Circle that represented the Spell Mana Shield had be so weak that it broke under the stress of moving so much Mana through it. This was like weakening Shang''s Mana Pathways. In that case, when Shang used Void Break, his Mana Pathways would explode. The same thing was true here. The Magic Circle broke apart, creating a gap in the Mana Shield. Even though the Mage hadn''t run out of Mana. The God waited for Shang to refill his Death Mana. Eventually, Shang sat back up again, and the Affinity Wheel began to spin again. ¡°Level twelve: Powerful Late Ancestral Mage." Shang knew that the next battle would be quite difficult. His enemy might not be on the level of a Cloud, but they were still three levels above him and quite talented. The Affinity Wheel eventually stopped. Earth. Amomentter, a tall woman with long brown hair appeared several kilometers away from Shang. Shang readied his two swords and nned his strategy. The jester slowly lifted its small hammer. DING! It hit the bell, and the brown-haired woman opened her eyes. Shang immediately shot forward. Chapter 797 Chapter 797 The Mage opened her eyes with a serious expression and activated her Mana Shield. For Mages of such a level, the activation of Mana Shield could be considered almost instantaneous. Shang used Comet to charge at the Mage. For now, he decided to keep the Mana inside his weapons. WHOOOOOM! Suddenly, all the Mana in the surroundings vanished. However, Shang hadn''t activated his Void Break. ¡®Void Casting!¡¯ Shang thought. Shang could feel the absolute density of Mana the Mage was now keeping close to her. This was more Mana than a Peak Ancestral Beast could use. All the Mana entered her right hand, and she pulled it to her forehead. For just a moment, she held the concentrated Mana to her forehead with closed eyes. By now, Shang was only three kilometers away from her. And then, she opened her eyes and pointed her hand at Shang. Shang''s instincts immediately screamed at him. BOOOOOOM! Everything happened in a single instance. Back in the northern battlefield of Ice Wyvern Zone, many huge spears and spikes had been pointing towards the middle due to the two sources of Ice and Fire Mana. The Mage had just created something very simr. In just an instant, several kilometers of space had been filled with powerful spires pointing away from her. Like a fan, the spires stretched across nearly ten kilometers. This was a brutal level of destruction. CRK! Acouple of Shang''s bones shot back into ce as he charged off one of the spires. The problem was that he was over eight kilometers away from the target again. When the Mage had unleashed that Spell, Shang had protected his body by unleashing the Mana stored in his Addum and transforming it into a huge and massive shield. Sadly, the power of the attack still threw him into the distance and broke a couple of bones. When the Mage saw that Shang had survived, she didn''t hesitate and prepared her next Spell. Based on the movement of the Mana, Shang could tell that she was preparing a different Spell. Amomentter, her Spell was finished. BANG! Agreat number of the spikes jutting out of the earth in front of Shang exploded off like they had been shot out of a cannon. CRK! CRK! Shang moved his Addum and Subsis around, destroying the spires. The spires broke into pieces, but the pebbles still hit Shang''s body, leaving several bruises across his body. But that was far better than getting hit by a spire. Shang could defend himself from the enemy attack, but he quickly noticed a problem. The spires didn''t stop. This told Shang that the Mage hadn''t used a one-time Spell but a continuous Spell. Right now, she couldmand any spire to explode out of the ground. Shang''s speed took a heavy toll since he had to defend himself from all the spires in front of him, and the Mage got more time to ready Spells. At that moment, her Focus also finished its Spell and shot a huge wave of earth at Shang. The wave wasn''t really dangerous, but Shang had to either strongly evade to the side or get pushed back. This was obviously just a Spell to gain more time. Shang decided to use the Mana in his Subsis to make a hole in the wave of earth and get through it quickly. And as soon as Shang came out of the earthen wave, he transformed the absorbed Earth Mana into Light Mana with an extreme of brightness. The world became filled with light, and the Mage had severe difficulties in perceiving Shang''s location. But then, she noticed something, and her eyes shone. WHOOOOM! All the Light Mana vanished as the Mage used Void Casting again. Shang hadn''t put a will on the Light Mana he had scattered, allowing her to use it for Void Casting. But that was amon mistake. After all, only very few Ancestral Mages knew Void Casting, and the warrior in front of her obviously didn''t know anything about such an advanced kind of Spell Casting. She hadn''t seen the warrior use anything simr to Void Casting. Yes, Shang hadn''t used Void Break ever since the Mage had appeared. The Light Mana was gone, but Shang kept charging at her. The Spell the Mage had prepared with Void Casting was finished. She pointed her right arm forward, right at Shang. But then, she noticed something. Her Spell was... weak. In fact, it was even weaker than without using Void Casting! But that made no sense! And then, Shang snapped his fingers. BOOOOOOOOOM! The spot in front of the Mage''s Mana Shield exploded with darkness, consuming everything around it. Sepsis! Earlier, Shang had used Radiation, but instead of using the Concept of Purgatory, he used the Concept of Sickness. Because of that, all the Light Mana had beenced with Death Mana. When the Mage had used Void Casting, she had pulled all the Light Mana and Death Mana to a spot in front of her. Compared to Void Break, Void Casting didn''t pull the Mana inside a Mage''s body. They only temporarily kept it in front of them to create a Spell with it. Death Mana with the Concept of Sickness usually didn''t absorb a lot of Mana very quickly, but things were different when someone actively increased the pressure and shoved Mana into it. One could view the Death Mana like small holes in a big container of water. The pressure of the water would create a couple of small streams flowing out of the holes, but not that much. But if someone increased the pressure severalfold, the stream would be far stronger and more intense. The Mage had pushed all the Mana very close together, which meant that she had essentially pushed all the Light Mana into the Death Mana. Which was why Sepsis showed such power.N?velDrama.Org owns this. Shang knew all too well how frustrating it was when someone countered his Void Break, but that also meant that he knew very well how to counter Void Break and Void Casting. Usually, Mages wouldn''t fall for such a trick, but things were different for Shang. Shang was using Death Mana, and nearly no Mage even knew how Death Mana felt or looked like. When all the Darkness Mana scattered, a huge area of darkness was created. Shang immediately used his Concept of Twilight to travel through the darkness, right toward his target. He appeared in front of her and attacked. SHING! But she used Mana Step. Sepsis was strong, but it wasn''t enough to win. Chapter 798 Chapter 798 The Mage''s Mana Shield was vibrating, but it was still in one piece. She had probably lost over 60% of her total Mana. The Mage had appeared several kilometers away, and she red at the distant Shang. WHOOOOOM! But then, her eyes widened as all the Mana around Shang vanished. That warrior could also use Void Casting?! How?! All the darkness around Shang had disappeared, and his Subsis turned ck. Shang swung his Subsis upward, and a huge corridor of darkness engulfed him and the distant Mage. The Mage immediately realized what had happened. When Shang appeared, she used Mana Step to retreat again. BANG! Shang exploded out of the corridor of darkness and shot after her. When she saw that, the Mage gritted her teeth. Just now, she hadced the surrounding darkness with small bombs of Earth Mana. If Shang had used Void Break, all these bombs would explode inside his body. But he didn''t. The next moment, Shang''s body began to shine brightly, engulfing the surroundings in light. However,pared to Radiation, this light wasn''t nearly as overwhelming or powerful. It was literally only that, light. The Mage knew why Shang was doing this. If one wanted to fill the surroundings with Earth Mana, one would need to use quite a bit of Mana and put some effort into actually distributing it. With water, it was way easier since it wasn''t as dense and since it was liquid. With wind, it was even easier. But with light, it was the easiest. Every little bit of Shang''s surroundings for several kilometers had a bit of his Light Mana, and if the Mage tried to use Void Casting again, chances were she would pull a significant amount of Shang''s Mana with her. Earlier, thanks to the Death Mana, the Mage had received a devastating attack. Something like that wouldn''t happen with other kinds of Mana, but there were still problems. For example, Shang could simply move his Mana around when the Mage was creating the Magic Circle for her Spell, which would mess up the Magic Circle. That would disperse her gathered Mana, make the Spell fail, and make her lose a lot of her own Mana. It wouldn''t injure her, but she would lose time and Mana. The Mage realized that she was in trouble. She couldn''t use her Void Casting anymore, which was one of her greatest weapons. Her Void Casting was why she was so powerful in herpany in the real world. Nevertheless, she readied her next Spells without using Void Casting. Just when she was about to unleash her next Spell, Shang used Missile. Sadly, Missile wasn''t nearly as powerful as usual since Shang''s Addum didn''t have one Void Break of Mana stored inside it, but it was still quite powerful and dangerous. The Mage noticed that getting hit by Missile would use up more Mana than Mana Step. She put her readied Spell in her backhand and used Mana Step. And then, sheunched her Spell. A huge storm of earthen spikes shot toward Shang. Shang readied his two swords. And then... SHING! He vanished from his position and appeared several kilometers to the side. Mana Step! Why had Shang avoided using Mana Step in the past? Because his mind was so weak. But now, his mind was no longer so weak. Mana Step was still quite expensive to use for him since his body was so heavy, but he could use it several times now. SHING! Shang used Mana Step again and appeared right in front of the Mage. The Mage used Mana Step again in panic. Shang shot after her with Mana Step andunched a Needle. CRK! The Mage''s Mana Shield cracked, but it didn''t break. However, the Mage''s Mana Step was stopped at the same time. She might not be out of Mana, but she didn''t have enough Mana to use Mana Step. With three Mana Steps, Shang had used up over 60% of his stored Mana inside his mind, but it had ended the fight. BANG! Shang swung his Addum, breaking the Mana Shield into pieces. The next moment, his Subsis impaled the Mage. The Mage''sst moments were filled with dread, and she turned into a dried husk rather quickly. The next moment, Shang also turned into a dried husk and fell to the ground. He needed to refill his Death Mana. The apuse returned, and the corpse vanished. The fight hadn''t been easy, but it also hadn''t been overly difficult. Shang received a couple of bruises and broken bones, but he still had a majority of his life energy, and he hadn''t really been in true danger. But still, he had been serious, and he actually had to put in quite some effort to win. When he finished refilling his storage of Death Mana, the Affinity Wheel started to spin again. In the next fight, Shang didn''t have a lot of trouble. Due to the big difference in Mana, Shang had tounch several attacks at the opponent''s Mana Shield, which made the fight take quite some time, but Shang hadn''t actually been in danger. It was just annoying and exhausting. However, the next fight wasn''t easy. It was about as difficult as Shang''s battle against the Earth Mage from earlier, but it also took way longer due to the difference in Mana. At this point, Shang already needed tounch several powerful attacks to destroy the opponent''s Mana Shield. And even worse, he couldn''t give them any time to refill their Mana since their rate of Mana regeneration was insanely fast. Nevertheless, Shang won in the end. ¡°Level 15: Powerful Peak Ancestral Mage." Finally, it was time. Shang would have to fight a powerful Peak Ancestral Mage. Earlier, the God had said that he wasn''t sure if Shang would reach this spot. But now, Shang was here. However, getting here was different from winning. How powerful was a powerful Peak Ancestral Mage? They could probably win against the Peacock Shang had fought against with quite a lot of confidence.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. But maybe, they weren''t as powerful as an average Initial Beast Lord. Shang didn''t know. After all, Beast Lords were insanely powerful. Shang believed that he had a shot at winning, but the chances weren''t too good. Would he win? Chapter 799 Chapter 799 The Affinity Wheel stopped. Space. One of the extremely rare Affinities. Although, these Affinities became less rare the more Shang advanced since these people were being searched for by the Empires and protected. In the beginning, they might be a thousand people amongst trillions. Then, they might be a thousand people amongst billions. And now, they might be a thousand people amongst a couple of million. It was still rare to fight someone like that outside of extreme ces like the Hibye, but it was no longer unfathomably rare. Asecondter, Shang''s opponent appeared. It was a young man with a serious expression and silver hair. He wore robes made of different shades of grey, and Shang recognized these robes. From time to time, foreign Mage Lords arrived in the Hibye due to the Ancestral Sword from the Weapon Grandmaster. All of these Mage Lords came from other Empires, and these people all wore the uniforms of their respective Empires. After all, they wanted to make a good and powerful impression while going to a different Empire. The people of the Lightning Manor had purple robes, but they rarely wore them inside the Empire since the Lightning Manor was far more rxed than other Empires.N?velDrama.Org owns this. The Twilight Dusk Family wore ck and white robes. And these robes with different shades of grey were worn by the people of the biggest and most powerful Empire, the Judgment Pce. From what Shang had heard, these robes were designed like this to show that life and death are not as different as they appear to others. The darker shades of grey represented death, and the lighter shades of grey represented life. But what was the point where life ended and death began? Was there a point? That was why the robes were designed in this way. Shang could feel a strong feeling of threat emanating from his opponent, which allowed him to gauge his power. He had a twofold Spirit Sense, which meant that he probably belonged to the top one percent of Ancestral Mages. That meant that, even without his Affinity, he could join the Lightning Manor as a Spark. Sparks were the lowest members of the Lightning Manor, but they still represented the peak of the world. It was still very impressive to be a Spark. Nevertheless, there was still quite a distance between a Spark and a Boltling. But due to his Space Affinity, this Mage probably joined the Judgment Pce in an equivalent position to a Boltling, even though he wasn''t nearly as strong as one. Yet, all of that didn''t matter so much. In the end, he was a very talented Mage that was four levels above Shang. Shang took a deep breath and readied himself. The jester slowly lifted his hammer. DING! The bell rang, and Shang charged forward. The Mage opened his eyes and looked directly at Shang. WHOOOOM! The man swung his arm to the side, and in an instant, Shang felt like the distance between him and his opponent erged severalfold. Shang seemed to slow down drastically, but that was only an illusion caused by the expansion of space. The man quickly started to ready several Spells, and Shang noticed that this was quite troublesome. ¡®I can''t use darkness since he is so far away, and if | charge there normally, he would have already prepared several Spells.¡¯ ¡®| can''t allow him to prepare more Spells!" WHOOOOM! Suddenly, Shang''s surroundings started to turn into nothingness. Domain of Entropy! Shang''s body started to vanish slowly. However, the space between Shang and his opponent was vanishing far quicker. Usually, Shang couldn''t destroy as much with his Domain of Entropy, but the space in front of him was just that, space. The Mage had erged the space, but he couldn''t make more air and earth to fill the space. The erged space wasn''t empty, but it was like everything inside the space had been stretched, reducing its density. The amount of Mana inside the additional space was the same, but the density was far lower, which increased the overall volume. This meant that Shang''s Domain of Entropy could destroy a huge part of the Space Mana for only very little cost. By now, Shang had improved his Domain of Entropy. He could erge his Domain of Entropy significantly at the cost of having to destroy irrelevant Mana. At this moment, Shang''s Domain of Entropy erged to a size of several kilometers, destroying all the Space Mana around him. The many additional kilometers of space were destroyed in less than an instant. Inparison to normal kinds of Mana, Space Mana didn''t have a speed. It was always present at all times. This meant that the surrounding space didn''t need to fill in the void that Shang left behind by destroying Space Mana since there technically had never been a void. The distance between Shang and his opponent returned to normal, and Shang swung his Subsis. WHOOOOM! Acorridor of darkness was summoned, surrounding both of them. The Mage was quite surprised that Shang managed to destroy all the additional space he had created, but he immediately reacted. Shang appeared in front of the Mage, but just an instantter, the distance between Shang and the Mage erged again. This time, it was more problematic than before. Earlier, Shang had already traveled several kilometers into the erged space, which meant that he had been surrounded by Mana with low density. Now, he was standing at its edge, and if Shang erged his Domain of Entropy now, he would also destroy all the Darkness Mana around him with average density. Even worse, the Mage had been incredibly smart and had reduced the density of Darkness Mana around him to such a degree that Shang couldn''t even travel to that ce with the Concept of Twilight. Shang quickly analyzed his surroundings. ¡®Got no other choice, he thought. WHOOOM! Shang used Void Break to absorb back all his Darkness Mana. When the Mage saw that, a twinkle appeared in his eyes. This was why Shang didn''t originally want to use Void Break this early. Someone like this definitely knew how to counter Void Casting, which would also counter Void Break. This meant that this only worked once. The next time Shang used Void Break, he might fall into a trap and die. Nevertheless, Shang managed to get rid of all the Mana surrounding him, and before the surrounding Mana filled the void, Shang erged his Domain of Entropy to consume all the space. The erged space between him and his opponent vanished again, and Shang shot forward. His opponent was barely a couple of meters in front of him now. It was impossible for him to evade. Chapter 800 Chapter 800 Shang''s Addum shed forward, its edge glowing with intense heat due to all the absorbed Mana. On top of that, Shang used the Mana he had just absorbed with his Void Break to increase the power of his attack. This would be the best shot he would get, and he would take advantage of it! BOOOOOOOOOM! Shang''s Addum exploded onto the Mage''s Mana Shield, shooting him into the distance. In an instant, the Mage had already been shot away by over 20 kilometers. Several parts of the Mage''s body exploded with blood due to the g-forces acting on his body. Even though his Mana Shield wasn''t broken, he still received some injuries. The Mage took a deep breath and gritted his teeth in pain. However, he didn''t try to stop his body and let the momentum carry him further. Naturally, Shang didn''t wait and immediately shot after the Mage at his full speed. With this attack, Shang destroyed nearly 40% of the Mage''s Mana. That was a lot of Mana, but one had to remember that Shang had struck his opponent from melee range with two Void Breaks worth of Mana. The Mage slowed down, and in the end, he was nearly 50 kilometers away from Shang. Shang managed to use up a lot of the Mage''s Mana, but the Mage now had time to prepare his Spells. Unless Shang used Mana Step. Sadly, Shang wasn''t sure if he should use Mana Step or not. Shang could reach the Mage with three Mana Steps, but that would consume 60% of the Mana inside his mind, which didn''t recover nearly as quickly as the Mana of his opponent. However, if the Mage managed to survive the attack, he would know that Shang could also use Mana Step, making him prepared for future uses. Then, Shang wouldn''t have the surprise effect of Mana Step. Shang preferred using Mana Step to end a fight since it often gave him the opportunity to kill his opponent. ¡®But if | don''t use it, he gets to prepare at least five Spells." ¡®Can | survive a barrage of five prepared Spells?¡¯ Shang''s mind was very powerful, and his thoughts moved at incredible speeds. He debated long with himself, but nearly no time passed in the real world. In the end, Shang came to a decision. SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang used three Mana Steps in rapid session and reached the Mage in an instant. The Mage''s eyes widened in shock, but after that, they quickly narrowed into a gaze of determination. SHING! Suddenly, the Mage''s Focus teleported from the Mage''s right to his left. Nothing else had happened. But then... SHING! Shang gritted his teeth. The Focus hadn''t teleported! It had rapidly moved from one spot to the other, destroying the space and building a new space! An extremely thin and dense line of space! Everything below Shang''s shoulders separated from his body. He had been bisected! BOOOOOOOM! Yet, Shang''s Addum still exploded with ck fire and hit the Mage''s Mana Shield! At the same time, Shang''s body regrew in an instant, but due to the nature of his injury, he had also lost a lot of saved life energy. Shang''s life energy had dropped to a measly 10% of what it was usually. However, his opponent also received a terrifying attack, and the Mage was shot into the distance again. The Mage puked blood as he received more injuries, and he even lost concentration for a bit, which meant that he lost all his prepared Spells. Naturally, Shang charged after the Mage again. After some time, the Mage regained control and readied his next Spells. WHOOOM! Shang used Void Break to absorb Mana. Shang had noticed that his most recent attack hadpletely disrupted the Mage''s concentration, which meant that he couldn''t have prepared a trap for his Void Break, giving him a rare opportunity to use it. He immediately used the Mana to create a corridor of darkness, allowing him to move nearly 30 kilometers in an instant. The Mage was only around 15 kilometers away from him now. Sadly, Shang couldn''t reabsorb the Darkness Mana he had just used since the Mage had already regained control. In the distance, the Mage had summoned more space, and he was preparing his Spells again. That was when Shang''s Subsis began to burst into ck mes. Shang''s Addum had already used Entropy, and now, his Subsis was also using it. Shang''s Subsis stabbed forward, and a line of ck fire appeared between Shang and his opponent. BANG! The line of ck fire hit the Mage''s Mana Shield, but it wasn''t nearly as strong as the past two attacks, throwing the Mage barely two kilometers away and failing to interrupt his concentration. The Mage''s eyes were still determined as they looked at the distant Shang. But then, he saw something terrifying. Shang''s Addum had transformed into a Subsis after using Entropy! And at this moment, it was stabbing forward, and a Needle made of Darkness Mana was shooting out! Even more, the Needle had a tip made of Death Mana with the Concept of Weakness, transforming the Needle into a ranged Injection! This wouldn''t be nearly enough to destroy the Mage''s Mana Shield normally, but right now, the Mage was very low on Mana! Lastly, the earlier attack with Entropy had created a tiny tunnel with nearly no space. This meant that the Needle reached the Mage in nearly an instant! BANG! Yet, the Needle didn''t hit the Mage''s Mana Shield. At this moment, the Mage''s Focus broke into pieces as it appeared between the Needle and the Mage. SHING! And then, Shang appeared right in front of the Mage as he used hisst two Mana Steps. At that moment, time seemed to stop.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. The Mage saw his end approach. Yet, he noticed something. Originally, he wanted to use Mana Step to escape, but his instincts were screaming at him not to do it. This warrior had outmaneuvered him every step of the way, and using Mana Step was the most obvious choice now. This probably meant that this warrior had also foreseen that, which meant he had something to counter his Mana Step. At that moment, all the clues of the battle came together for the Mage. After that, the Mage did something outrageous. He shoved all of the Mana he had stored up into his Mana Shield... And dispersed it. The immediate surroundings of the Mage became insanely dense with Mana. Shang''s Subsis was moving toward the Mage. But before it could reach him... Shang''s bodypletely vanished. BANG! Shang''s Subsis shot through the Mage''s body, but without anyone controlling it, it didn''t remain stuck and just shot into the distance. A huge hole appeared in the Mage''s chest, but it was not a mortal injury. He had survived. He had won! Earlier, he had noticed that this strange Domain that his opponent had summoned was also injuring him, and he had also noticed in what situation he had used it. He had only used it when the Mana in the surroundings wasn''t as dense! This meant that the more Mana he had to destroy with that Domain, the greater the price he had to pay. So, the Mage had pushed all his remaining Mana into the small space between them. If the Domain were active, the warrior would need to pay all the cost for getting rid of so much Mana. And what if the Mage had used Mana Step? Maybe this weird Domain had a way to cancel that? If that had happened, the Mage would have died. Luckily, he hadbined all the clues just in time. The Mage fell to the ground in relief. And then, he vanished as well. On top of the Affinity Wheel, the jester only smirked. ¡°Better luck next time," he said with a chuckle before he went on to resurrect Shang. Shang had lost. Chapter 801 Chapter 801 Shang regained consciousness. For just a moment, he wasn''t sure about what had happened, but then, he realized that he had lost. Shang slowly sat up, thinking back to the end of the fight. Thest thing he remembered was the Mage dispersing his Mana Shield. And then, it was over. It took Shang a couple of seconds to figure out what had happened. "He took advantage of my Domain of Entropy,¡¯ he thought. ¡®That hasn''t happened before.¡¯ ¡®Not only did my enemies find ways to counter my Void Break, but one of them even found a way to counter my Domain of Entropy." ¡®In just this short fight, he managed to find the weakness of my Domain of Entropy.¡¯ ¡®A talented Peak Ancestral Mage..." Shang thought about how strong his current enemies actually were. Someone like the powerful Peak Ancestral Mage just now would certainly be a Mage Lordter, making him one of the 100,000 or so most talented people in the world. How many new Mage Lords appeared in the world every year? Maybe ten? Maybe a bit more? Only ten people or so in the entire world managed to be Mage Lords per year. And there were trillions, if not quadrillions, of people in Aterium. Assuming there were trillions, ten people per year bing Mage Lords would be the equivalent of about one person per century bing a Mage Lord on Earth. Naturally, these kinds of people were insanely intelligent. ¡®| should be prepared for smarter enemies in the future,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l wanted to keep him here by stopping his Mana Step with my Domain of Entropy, but instead, | caused my own death.¡¯ ¡®In this case, | should have been more careful.¡¯ ¡®Luckily, this happened in my inner world, not outside.¡¯ After going through the fight again in his mind, Shang decided to focus on something else. Death. He had just died again, and it was very different from usual. Normally, Shang could anticipate his death when he was fighting in the inner world. After all, he knew when he was on the losing end. But this time, he died very unexpectedly. Just mere moments before his death, Shang''s mind had been going through several different ns in case the Mage somehow managed to escape. He had been fully focused on the battle. And then, it was over. Out of nowhere, it just ended. This was another part of death. Death coulde very suddenly. It coulde when someone least expected it. Shang focused on the sensation of death for a couple of minutes. It was important to understand as much as possible. Eventually, Shang stood up. The jester had already jumped down from its Affinity Wheel and waited for Shang with a smirk. "You done?" the jester asked. Shang just nodded. ¡°Well then," the jester said, giving his hammer a little swing before leaning on it. "You got 30 points." "16 from the beasts and 14 from the Mages." The jester swung his hammer some more, twirling it around like he was in a parade as he walked back and forth. "You know, | saw you be this strong, but | still feel like you shouldn''t be that powerful." ¡°Naturally, you are this powerful, which means you deserve to be this powerful, but for some reason, | just feel like you shouldn''t be." "You actually jumped a full Realm against a beast, even though it was one of the weakest of its level."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. "| didn''t n on that happening, you know? Talent and skill must be rewarded, but dedication and effort also need to be rewarded." Amomentter, the jester''s smirk widened as he looked at Shang. But he didn''t say anything. Just now, the jester had seen Shang''s thoughts. Shang wanted to tell the jester that he didn''t care about all of this and that he was only here for his reward. Yet, Shang decided against saying something like that. The God had shown how crazy he was and how spontaneous he could screw Shang over. If Shang became too disrespectful, the jester might think it would be even funnier if the Lightning Emperor died. Because of that, Shang decided to remain silent and let the jester say whatever it wanted to say. The jester decided not toment on it and only smirked for a couple of seconds. Shang also didn''t say anything. "What do you want?" the jester asked. "In what sense?" Shang asked. ¡°For your reward," the jester added. "You have a far higher score than | would have ever anticipated. ording to the rules | made, | would need to offer you like three items per choice, but that also feels a bitckluster.¡± ¡°Outstanding results require outstanding rewards, you know?" "So, tell me, what do you want for your reward? Is there any specific item you want? Is there something you want me to do? Something you want me to change?" the jester said as he leaned on his little hammer again. Shang remained silent as he thought about what he wanted. Usually, Shang wasn''t thinking about any specific rewards since the God had always offered him a selection, but now, he could choose whatever he wanted. Of course, choosing a reward wasn''t as easy as rubbing amp and making a wish. Shang''s "purpose" was to be a tool of entertainment, and if Shang''s request didn''t help him in fulfilling that purpose, the God might decide to go back to simply offering some items. "No, don''t even think about it," the jester said from the side with a short snicker. Shang had just thought about asking the God about creating a couple of areas for Concept Comprehension in his inner world. Like this, Shang wouldn''t need to exin why he was looking at certain things. "Also no," the jester said. Just now, Shang thought about asking for a way toprehend the level five Concept of Entropy, which was still unfamiliar to Shang. Shang took a deep breath as he continued to think of something. Then, he thought about a certain problem and got an idea. "Sure," the jester said. "That''s feasible." "Is that what you want?" Chapter 802 Chapter 802 Shang thought about asking for that reward, but he wanted to be sure about his choice. The God had already confirmed that this reward was possible, but Shang wanted to think of a couple more things first. Shang needed resources, opportunity, and security. These were the three things that he needed to be more powerful. Could he ask for resources? Sure! Could he ask for opportunity? Kinda. Could he ask for security? Depends. Now, how difficult was it to get these things outside the trial? Resources? No problem! Opportunity? Kinda. Security? Depends. Sadly, none of these things seemed to be different, which meant that Shang couldn''t ask for something in here that was very difficult to get outside. Due to his allegiance to the Lightning Manor, Shang already had a lot of resources. Although, these resources might shrink depending on what happens next. After all, the God had killed Lucin and Queen Primordium before the trial. AMage King died. Literally anything could happen outside. Acouple of minutester, Shang had decided on what he wanted. The jester''s smirk widened a bit. ¡°| want to know whenever someone that isn''t you is paying attention to me," Shang said. And there it was. This was Shang''s request. It was something that would give him more security. There were several kinds of dangers, and the fewer dangers there were, the higher the security. Shang was in no direct danger, like getting attacked by someone much more powerful than him. There were nearly no Ancestral Mages in the world that could defeat him, and the Mage Lords weren''t allowed to attack him due to the Lightning Manor. Of course, this kind of danger could reappear with the death of Queen Primordium, but it wasn''t certain. Another kind of danger was the loss of resources. Maybe Shang could lose his status as a Cloud? Maybe someone would demand money from him? That also wasn''t a very big problem since Shang only needed power to keep his status and wealth. And he had plenty of power. The most important danger was someone finding out Shang''s secrets. Shang had several secrets with different levels of severity and importance, but his deepest secret was the fact that he was the Child of Cmity. If his identity as the Child of Cmity got out, he would directly be hunted and killed by Mage Kings. And that was exactly what Shang wanted to avoid with that request. ¡°Let me think about it," the jester said as it hummed to itself a bit. The jester summoned a couple of Magic Circles and yed around with them. Then, it scratched its chin in deep thought before lifting its finger in an exaggerated manner to continue drawing more Magic Circles. Some secondster, something white appeared in front of the jester. It was a long bandage. ¡°Alright, this should do," the jester said as it cleaned the non-existent dust from its hands. The jester threw the white bandage over to Shang, who caught it. ¡°Put that over your eye sockets," the jester said. "They will be your reward." Shang took off his old bandages and put the new ones around his head. They were even whiter than the old ones, and they also looked brand new. Abitter, Shang finished putting them on, but he didn''t feel any difference. Suddenly, he felt like someone was watching him, and he subconsciously turned his head in a seemingly random direction, diagonally facing the sky. There was nothing there. Amomentter, a powerful Mage became visible at that spot. Then, the Mage vanished, and a secondter, Shang felt a slight bit watched. It wasn''t very difficult for him to find the source. An Adept had appeared.N?velDrama.Org owns this. "Understand?" the jester asked. Shang nodded. Whenever someone was watching Shang, Shang would simply feel like he was being watched. Then, depending on the power of the person, he felt the sensation stronger or weaker. This was essentially exactly what he wanted. ¡°And that''s it," the jester said. "I think it''s time to say goodbye." For some reason, Shang felt like this was not just a random joke from the jester. There was something up with how he said that. "In what sense, goodbye?" Shang asked. "We''re done with the trials," the jester said. "Forever." Shang became a bit nervous. "Why?" he asked. ¡°Mana shortage," the jester said. "Also, I''m kind of out of normal rewards. Lastly, the rewards be less and less useful for you." "| can make a couple of early Mage Lords, but as soon as | have to create a strong Mage Lord for you, the Mana | have to use will be quite noticeable." "You know, | don''t really want to kill a Mage Emperor just because they found that all the Mana that suddenly vanishes leads to your body." ¡°Of course, | also can''t give you unlimited ess to the Affinity Wheel anymore. | think, at best, | can give you ess to Mid Mage Lords and Late Beast Lords. Anything more than that, and some of the Mage Emperors might notice that something is up. ¡°Under normal circumstances, | would still hold one more trial. After all, who could possibly jump two entire levels against a very talented Mid Mage Lord?" The jester sighed. ¡°Well, you can." "And because of that, | decided that we don''t need the trial anymore." Shang understood where the God wasing from, and he preferred safety above rewards. ¡°And that''s about it," the jester said. "If we meet again, it will be with our real bodies." "Who knows? Maybe you will be strong enough to kill me,¡± the jester said with augh. Yet, for some reason, Shang felt thisugh to be very strange. It was theugh of someone that knew something important that someone else didn''t. "Goodbye. | wish you all the best," the jester said with a smirk as it slowly faded away. Shang didn''t say anything. Instead, he left his inner world before the jester even fully faded. The jester''s smirk only widened. And then, it vanished. Chapter 803 Chapter 803 Shang reappeared inside his huge Istion Chamber. Luckily, the God had fixed it before the trial. What did Shang think about not seeing the God again until he became strong enough to fight him? Nothing. The God was not someone that interested Shang. He was only someone that Shang wanted to kill. Atiny part of his Istion Chamber had been left open, but Shang didn''t feel like anyone was watching him. Shang touched the bandage that was wrapped around his head. This tool would help him a lot. Shang slowly stood up and walked to the exit of the Istion Chamber. He opened the exit, stepped out, and put it back into his inner world. WHOOM! At that moment, Shang felt like hundreds of eyes had fallen on him. But over the next couple of seconds, the feeling faded substantially until there was only a very weak feeling of someone lightly ncing in his direction remained. When the huge Istion Chamber suddenly disappeared, all the Spirit Senses of the Bolts near the central area looked over since it was quite conspicuous for such a huge object to vanish. When they saw Shang, they lost interest and looked away again. Before the trial, Shang wouldn''t have been able to feel all these gazes. Shang also looked around with his Spirit Sense. About an hour ago, the God had killed Lucin, and half an hourter, Shang had killed Queen Primordium. The entire trial had only taken about half an hour, which meant that one hour had passed in total. What had happened in thest hour? Surprisingly, the world didn''t look much different from before. The only difference was that there were far fewer visible Bolts. Shang could only see around two of them with his Spirit Sense. However, thanks to the new bandage, Shang knew that there were far more Bolts. These Bolts just didn''t show themselves to the Clouds. Shang avoided inspecting all the different Clouds since Clouds could feel the senses of others as long as they were not far more powerful. Shang looked around for a bit more. If he didn''t know what had happened, everything would seem normal. Shang took out his Communication Crystal and tried to contact Lucin. "Yes?" Lucin answered. For just a moment, Shang''s mind stopped. But then, he realized that this was probably not the real one. The Mages were probably using advanced Magic to make it seem like Lucin was talking through the Communication Crystal. "| feel like something is going on," Shang said. "I feel like something happened." "Hey, listen,¡± the fake Lucin said with a bit of annoyance. "You''re inside the Hibye. What can possibly happen? I''m currently busy with something. Is there something you need?" Shang didn''t say anything for a second. "Never mind," Shang said. "I''m going to ask my teacher." "Sure," the fake Lucin said before cutting the connection. After that, Shang tried to contact Queen Primordium. "The owner of the Communication Crystal can''t be found," Shang''s Communication Crystal said. The fake Lucin might have put a tiny hope into Shang''s mind that the God had faked their deaths, but when he heard that, that hope was obliterated. This was the message that appeared when someone was dead. Then, something surprising happened. Nothing. Nothing happened. If a high-ranking officer died and someone rang their phone, wouldn''t every investigator and colleague of that high-ranking officer immediately look at the person that tried to contact them? Yet, absolutely no one looked at Shang.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. This told Shang the current state. They didn''t know that Queen Primordium was dead! As of now, only Lucin''s death was known. Shang realized that his current situation might be problematic. If he simply didn''t do anything and they found out that Shang had tried to contact Queen Primordium, they might decide to investigate him immediately. ¡®| have to act natural,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang decided on an approach. And then, he tried to contact Queen Primordium again. After some minutes, he tried it onest time. Lastly, he contacted Lucin again. "Shang, I''m busy. What do you need?" the fake Lucin asked. "| can''t reach my teacher," Shang said. "She told me that | could reach her whenever. She even gave me the aura of her personal Communication Crystal. Yet, the Communication Crystal only gives me the same message as when someone died.¡± Five seconds of silence passed. "Who was your teacher again?" the fake Lucin asked. At that moment, Shang''s aura became unstable for an instant. Naturally, he had faked that reaction since this was how someone would react to such a question. Shang could imagine how, in thest five seconds, a team of several Mages went through all the relevant documentation and information regarding Lucin to find out who Shang''s teacher was. Yet, there had been no documentation regarding Shang''s teacher. "Forget it," Shang said before cutting the connection. The next second, Shang felt powerful eyes looking at him. Shang acted like he wasn''t feeling anything. Then, he just motionlessly stood in one location for a couple of seconds. After a while, Shang took to the skies and flew towards the west. The eyes watching Shang never vanished, which meant that the person impersonating Lucin was still watching him. Acouple of secondster, Shang arrived in front of someone. ¡°Haven''t seen you in a while,¡± Fleros, the person responsible for resource acquisition for the Clouds, said with augh. Shang''s aura was tense as he focused on Fleros. "| need to go to the Lightning Manor," Shang said. Fleros blinked a couple of times in surprise. "You? Why?" he asked. "Does it matter?" Shang asked. "How much for an escort to the Lightning Manor?" Fleros looked at Shang with a concerned and uncertain expression. "I can''t just let anyone enter the Lightning Manor. You should ask Lucin for permission first." "No," Shang answered. "I need to go to the Lightning Manor without Lucin''s input." "This entire thing is specifically because of Lucin." Fleros frowned. "What are you talking about?¡± "| can''t tell you the specifics," Shang said. "This is something that goes far beyond my power, and the fewer people know, the better." ¡°Just bring me to the Lightning Manor." Fleros looked at Shang with furrowed brows. After that, he looked around a bit before contacting Shang via voice transmission. ¡°| know what you''re talking about," Fleros transmitted. "I can only tell you this." "Something happened, and we know about it." "Just wait." Chapter 804 Chapter 804 Shang remained silent for two seconds. "Alright," he answered. "I don''t know why someone is impersonating Lucin, but | presume there is a reason for that." When Fleros heard Shang directly refer to Lucin being impersonated, his eyes narrowed for a second. He had no idea how Shang had found out. ¡°Everything will be exined in a couple of days," Fleros answered. "For now, | must ask you to keep all of this a secret.¡± Shang nodded. ¡°However, there might be an even bigger problem." ¡®Bigger than Lucin''s death?¡¯ Fleros thought in ridicule. "What?" Fleros asked. "My teacher''s Communication Crystal is saying that she isn''t reachable," Shang transmitted. ¡°And your teacher is?" Fleros asked. Shang didn''t say anything for two seconds. "She is inside the Lightning Manor," Shang answered. "| need to go to the Lightning Manor." Fleros furrowed his brows again. "Who''s your teacher?" he asked again. "I''m not telling you for your own good," Shang transmitted. Fleros lifted an eyebrow. "For my own good?" he asked skeptically. "Yes," Shang said. "You probably have some way to confirm whether I''m telling the truth or not. Just use that method. I''m not lying.¡± Fleros looked with aplicated expression at Shang. "Your teacher isn''t Lucin, right?" he asked. "No," Shang answered. Fleros looked at the sky with a worried expression. If Shang''s teacher was truly in the Lightning Manor and he couldn''t reach her, it could mean that another Mage Lord had died. Usually, Fleros wouldn''t even entertain the thought that a Mage Lord died within the Lightning Manor, but after Lucin''s head had just randomly exploded, he no longer doubted that something like this could happen. Amomentter, Shang felt more eyes looking at him. Based on the intensity of the feeling, Shang knew that several Mage Lords were looking at him. "You are not nning to damage or hurt the Lightning Manor or someone in it?" Fleros asked. "No," Shang answered. Silence. Asecondter, most of the eyes stopped looking at Shang. "Fine," Fleros transmitted after a sigh. "I''m bringing you to the Lightning Manor myself." Shang nodded. "Thanks," he said. Fleros also nodded and summoned a Transportation te. Shang jumped on it, and the two of them shot toward the Lightning Manor. It took them a couple of minutes to get there. Eventually, the two of themnded in the courtyard. "In which department is your teacher?" he asked. "| know where | need to go," Shang answered before walking towards the entrance. Fleros frowned. "Listen, | can''t just let you walk around randomly." "Then, just follow me,¡± Shang said as he opened the door. As Shang opened the door, he felt an apocalyptic pressure epassing his body as Fleros red at him. "| said, | can''t just randomly let you walk around, Shang," Fleros said with a threatening tone. "There are rules, and you must abide by them." The pressure Shang was under was akin to being threatened by a Beast King. It couldn''t be described how much pressure this put on someone''s mind. Yet, Shang just kept walking as if nothing had happened. Fleros'' eyes widened in shock. How could someone in the Sixth Realm resist his mental pressure?! It should be impossible for Shang to move! Shang entered the Lightning Manor under the immense pressure, and a bitter, Fleros gritted his teeth and shot after him. "Wait!" Fleros shouted as he shot after Shang. Inside the Lightning Manor, casting Spells that weren''t part of one''s duty was forbidden. If anyone just summoned a fireball, a barrier, or whatever, the entire Lightning Manor would take note of what happened and get distracted from their work. This would be akin to lighting a firecracker in the night in a residential district. Fleros reached Shang and put his hand on his shoulder with a lot of force. CRACK! Shang pped the hand away, breaking it. Fleros took a deep breath as he looked at his broken hand. He saw Shang as someone over a Realm below him, but he had forgotten that Shang was a warrior. Fleros wanted to cast a Spell in rage but stopped in the end. He grew enraged by the fact that Shang disrespected him to this degree and ignored hismands. He decided that when Shang exited the Lightning Manor again, he would give him a lesson. ¡°Are you crazy?!" Fleros shouted as he followed behind Shang. Shangpletely ignored him as he shot with rapid speed toward his goal. Fleros kept shouting at Shang, but Shang didn''t stop. Eventually, Fleros noticed where they were, and he grew very nervous. This was where the Mage Kings lived! He wasn''t supposed to be here! ¡°Are you insane?!" Fleros shouted in a whispery voice. Shang passed several doors until he reached two doors beside each other. When Fleros saw Shang rushing towards one of the two doors, he felt like his heart had stopped. No! No, no, no! "Shang! Don''t!" Fleros shouted as he did his best to stop Shang with his mind. BANG! Shang''s fist hit the door, shaking the entire thing. Fleros stopped breathing and froze in terror. What had Shang just done?! At this moment, Fleros feared for his life. The warrior he had escorted had just punched the Custodian''s door! The Custodian was the most powerful Mage King, and only other Mage Kings and the Thunders working below him were allowed to contact him! Shang just stopped in front of the door. Acouple of secondster, the door opened, and the Custodian walked out with an apathetic expression on his face. Fleros felt like he was looking death in the face. He had never seen the Custodian before, and he definitely never wanted to see the Custodian under such circumstances. "Shang Sword, what a pleasure to see you," the Custodian said with a restrained but slightly sarcastic tone. "Is there a reason why you wanted to break my door?" Shang took out his Communication Crystal and tried to contact Queen Primordium. Then, he threw the Communication Crystal to the Custodian, who just looked at it with a raised eyebrow. After a couple of seconds, the surroundings seemed to darken. Amomentter, the Custodian took out his own Communication Crystal. More seconds passed. Shang and Fleros felt like the world around them was about to explode.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "| presume this isn''t supposed to happen,¡± Shang said. Wester''s eyes shot towards Shang, and for just a moment, Shang could feel endless coldness, rage, and hatrede from them before Wester regained control. Wester took a deep breath and cleaned his already immacte suit. "Oh dear," he said. "That''s not good." Chapter 805 Chapter 805 The Custodian took a deep breath. "Wait here,¡± he said before entering the hallway to the Lightning Emperor''s study. Silence. Fleros only looked with absolute shock, confusion, and fear at the door the Custodian had just entered. What the hell was going on?! Shang just waited. This was the best thing for him to do. This was the best way to hide that Shang had known that Lucin and Queen Primordium were dead. Fleros had no idea what he should say and just waited in uncertainty. It seemed like whatever Shang hade to tell the Custodian was quite important. Nearly two minutes of nothing happening passed. The two of them were only waiting. WHOOOOOOOOO0OO0O00M! Shang was doing his absolute best not to show a reaction, but it was very difficult, even for someone like him. Just now, Shang had felt like the God had returned and that he was filled with unending fury. It was like an apocalyptic cataclysm was directly looking at him. The feeling of being watched had never been this powerful before. It was unreal. Naturally, this could have only been one thing. The Lightning Emperor had thrown a nce at Shang. This confirmed that even Mage Emperors couldn''t hide from the bandages. It was a terrifying experience, but it was also a relieving one. Shang''s biggest worry had vanished. From now on, he would know when someone was looking at him or not, which allowed him to only summon Abominations in complete secret. Naturally, Shang still had to be careful. After all, just like with the Istion Chamber, anything that made a certain disturbance would attract the attention of anyone close enough to sense it with their Spirit Sense. Asecondter, the impossibly powerful feeling of being watched vanished again. Shang didn''t move. Silence. Acouple more minutes passed. And then, the floor vibrated lightly. It was so light that a normal human wouldn''t even notice, but no one inside the Lightning Manor was a normal human. After that, it became quiet. Somehow, it grew even quieter than usual. Several Bolts and Thunders became confused. For some reason, the Lightning Manor felt very different from usual. Then, one of them noticed what had happened, and his eyes widened in shock. "The Lightning Sea is gone," he said in a slightly surprised but also somehow nonchnt manner. He couldn''t believe what he was seeing, and he was just subconsciously narrating what he saw. The others looked at him and confirmed it. Silence. Outside the Lightning Manor was a sea of ck clouds, but the ck clouds were silent. There was no lightning. It was peaceful, but since this was not something that was supposed to be peaceful, it felt very ominous. The Bolts knew that the Lightning Emperor was the reason for the Lightning Sea. His mere presence created this humongous sea of lightning. The Lightning Sea had only calmed down a couple of times in recorded history, and every time, something major had happened somewhere in the world that required the Lightning Emperor to leave. Did this mean that the Lightning Emperor had left? Had something happened? The Mage Lords talked to each other in worry. "Is the Custodian avable?" Shang did his best not to show any reactions. As his Spirit Sense perceived the new person that had arrived, a scene shot through his mind. Back in the Skythunder Kingdom, Shang had once seen this person. In the ck pylon. It was a beautiful young woman with long silver hair wearing purple robes. It was the Starlight Queen. She was looking at Fleros and Shang at this moment since they were standing directly in front of the Custodian''s door. Shang noted that there was no hint of suspicion or recollection in her eyes. Naturally, a mere General Stage warrior in some distant ce that she had seen for a couple of seconds a thousand years ago wouldn''t stay in her memory. Even if Shang looked identical to the past him, she probably still wouldn''t suspect anything. She probably wouldn''t even find him familiar in any way. This was how unimportant he had been. Fleros was not sure how to react since he had also never seen the Starlight Queen before. Even more, she had asked him a question! He was concerned and only looked at Shang. Fleros had no idea what was going on, but Shang did. The Starlight Queen noticed Fleros'' gaze and looked at Shang. Now that she looked closer, she actually noticed that this person had a very strange aura. It was very unique, but not in a good way. "Do you know what''s going on?" she asked Shang. Shang nodded. "Yes, but I''m not sure if I''m allowed to tell you."N?velDrama.Org owns this. The Starlight Queen furrowed her brows. Not allowed to tell her? She was a Mage King! However, she could confirm that what Shang had said was the truth since it conformed to the truth of the world. "Oh, is Wester also out?" The people turned to a new person that had appeared. It was an older man with red hair that was slowly turning white. He wore casual and loose clothing as he smiled politely. Since Queen Primordium had introduced all the other Mage Kings to Shang, he also recognized this one. Jonathan, the Myriad King, the leader of the Research Department. He was someone that had dedicated his entire life to researching Magic and Affinities. "d to see you''re doing well," the Starlight Queen said with a polite smile. The Myriad King nodded. "Everything going well with the Research Department?" "There are no issues," she answered. "Good to hear," the Myriad King said. "You''ve been a tremendous help, Sarah." "Thanks, John," she answered with a smile. "So, what''s going on?" Jonathan asked casually as he looked at the present people. "It seems like the Ancestor left. Is Wester avable?" Fleros and the Starlight Queen threw a nce at Shang, prompting the Myriad King to also look at Shang. Shang pointed at the door leading to the Lightning Emperor''s study. "Unless he left through a different exit, he''s still in there." Chapter 806 Chapter 806 The Myriad King had to chuckle a bit when he saw Shang''s nonchnt attitude. It was like he was talking to some people on the street instead of two Mage Kings. The Starlight Queen, on the other hand, just furrowed her brows. The Starlight Queen was someone that deeply respected her superiors. In her mind, power and contributions deserved respect. However, she also knew that this was her own philosophy, and she knew that she couldn''t expect everyone to share that philosophy with her. She had met enough humans with horrible attitudes. She knew that trying to change all of them was an exercise in futility. ¡°Are you the reason why the Ancestor left?" the Myriad King asked as he inspected Shang with interest. As the head of the Research Department, he knew a lot about other Paths, and he had also already noticed that Shang wasn''t actually a Mage. Shang nodded. "Yes, but I''m not sure if I''m allowed to tell you." "Oh?" the Myriad King uttered with interest. Then, he put his hand to his chin and rubbed it in thought. The entire time, he kept looking at Shang. "You have a fivefold Spirit Sense," he said. At that moment, Fleros'' eyes widened in absolute shock. What?! Fleros turned to look at Shang in disbelief. A fivefold Spirit Sense? Sure, Shang was a Cloud, but there was a difference between a normal Cloud and one with a fivefold Spirit Sense! The Starlight Queen also looked at Shang with surprise. Was this why his aura felt so strange? Shang didn''t answer. The Starlight Queen wasn''t the biggest fan of Shang''s refusal to answer, but he wasn''t part of her Department, which meant it was not her ce to reprimand him. The Myriad King kept looking at Shang with interest for a couple of seconds. Then, he summoned his Communication Crystal and looked at it. Very quickly, his smile vanished. His face became more and more shocked the more time passed. Shang noticed all of this and knew that the Myriad King had found out what had happened. It''s shocking how quickly hebined all the clues,¡¯ Shang thought. Something that would make the Lightning Emperor leave his castle had to be monumental. Now, did this thing happen within the Lightning Manor''s Empire or outside of it? Since Shang was the one that brought these news, it meant that this monumental incident had happened within the Lightning Manor''s Empire. After all, as a warrior and someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense, Shang wouldn''t be outside the Empire, which meant that he wouldn''t be the one that got the info first, which meant that he wouldn''t be the one reporting. So, it had to be within the Lightning Manor''s Empire. Now, as someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense, Shang had to be part of the Contender Department, the small Department within the Reinforcement Department. Which meant that the incident was likely rted to that. And thest clue was... Queen Primordium wasn''t here yet. She was always in her room, and she should have been one of the first to arrive.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. When he hadbined all the clues, the Myriad King simply tried to call Queen Primordium, which told him everything he needed to know. Sarah looked with surprise at the Myriad King''s fallen, shocked, and stressed expression. Something that could even shock him? Someone of his age that had seen so many things? After a while, he took a deep breath, but it was still difficult to calm down. If the Lightning Emperor''s disappearance hadn''t already confirmed the truth, the Myriad King wouldn''t have believed it. AMage King... Dead... Queen Primordium still had over 30,000 years left, which meant that it was impossible that she died of natural causes. It could have only been her own doing, or someone else''s doing. And she definitely didn¡¯t seem like a careless or suicidal person. AMage King had been killed... The impact of such a statement was hard to grasp. The bestparison would be someone on Earth hearing that an intercontinental nuclear missile had beenunched. It was literally a precursor to doomsday. This could mean war. At that moment, the door to the Lightning Emperor''s study opened, and the Custodian walked out. The other two Mage Kings looked at him. However, Wester looked at Fleros instead, who cowered in fear under the gaze. ¡°Why are you here?" he asked. "I-I was escorting him," he stuttered nervously as he pointed to Shang. The Custodian''s eyes shed with understanding. "I''ve heard of what happened to Lucin," he said. "Do you know of a second person that died today?" Fleros shook his head. "No, | only know of Lucin." The Custodian nodded. "Leave and keep any details you might have grasped to yourself." "Y-yes, sir!" Fleros said with a bow before rapidly running away. "Sir, what''s going on?" the Starlight Queen asked. Wester sighed and looked at her. Then, he threw a nce at the Myriad King and noticed his expression. ¡®Of course, he would have already found out,¡¯ Wester thought with another sigh. Wester turned to the Starlight Queen. "Vana has been assassinated inside her room," Wester transmitted. Over the course of several seconds, the Starlight Queen''s face turned more and more horrified. What?! But she was the second most powerful Mage King in the Lightning Manor! Who could kill her?! Inside her room! Without anyone noticing! It was impossible! This must have been an incredibly powerful Mage King with the support of a Mage Emperor! Did one of the other Empires attack them?! "The Ancestor is dealing with it," Wester transmitted to the two of them. "We have to wait for further orders." Meanwhile, many kilometers away, a humongous cloud of lightning, thousands upon thousands of kilometers wide, shot through the sky at unreal speeds. In the center of this humongous cloud was the Lightning Emperor. But he was very different from usual. A determined, brutal, and cold expression reced his usual rxed smile. The only two people that could have done something like this were him and Wester, and the Lightning Emperor was absolutely certain that Wester hadn''t killed Queen Primordium. This meant that it had been someone outside the Empire. Killing one of his closest people right under his nose... It didn''t get more provocative and disrespectful than that. When the Lightning Emperor had heard of what happened, he had looked into Queen Primordium''s room. The sight of the pile of meat had horrified him. How had something like this happened right beneath his nose?! This could only have been done with the help of at least one other Emperor! The Lightning Emperor hadn''t even thought for a second that the God Shang had told him about had been responsible for that. Why not? Imagine there was a religious general sitting in one of his bases. One of his highest officers dies mysteriously in their room. Now, even if that general were religious, would that general believe that the soldier had been killed by God, even though he didn''t know who or how his officer was killed? Of course not! It was not realistic. The God had never gotten involved in the world before. Why would he now? This must have been done by one of the other Emperors. And today, the Lightning Emperor would remind them of the past. There was a good reason why he had been Lucius¡¯ second-inmand! Chapter 807 Chapter 807 Countless people noticed the gigantic storm cloud that passed overhead for just an instant. They had no idea what was going on or where this storm cloud hade from. In just a couple of seconds, the storm cloud left the Lightning Manor''s Empire behind, entering the Empire to the southeast. The Judgment Pce Empire. Immediately, all the huge Magic Circles surrounding the Judgment Pce Empire began to activate and ring with rms. Several Mage Lords of the Judgment Pce had their faces turn white in shock. Whatever had just entered was far beyond their power.N?velDrama.Org owns this. This meant that this had to be a Mage King! Why would a Mage King suddenly invade the Judgment Pce?! Was this war?! BANG! After an explosion, two Mage Kings appeared in front of the huge storm cloud with narrowed eyes. "Who are you?! Why are you invading us?!" they shouted as they readied apocalyptic Spells. Yet, the next moment, their eyes widened in terror. Just now, they felt like a God had looked at them with killing intent. H-How was this sensation so intense?! This was even stronger than... And then, they realized that this wasn''t a Mage King, but a Mage Emperor. Even more, based on the huge cloud filled with lightning and the direction it came from, this was most likely the Lightning Emperor. But why?! The Lightning Emperor was known as one of the nicest and most approachable Emperors! They had all met the Lightning Emperor before, and they almost couldn''t link the apocalyptic pressure in front of them with the nice old man they knew. In the next moment, the storm cloud enveloped them. At the same time, they felt like the reality around them was warping. As Mage Kings, they were very familiar with all Affinities, including Space, Time, and Gravity. Yet, they felt that the warping that appeared around them didn''t only warp these three things but something even more fundamental. It was almost like the very essence of Mana was changing around them! An instantter, the Mage Kings began to fall from the sky. They couldn''t fly anymore! They still had all their power, and they could still feel all the Mana inside their bodies. Yet, it was like the reality around them had be unfamiliar. It was like all the Concepts were written in a foreignnguage in the world! It was like they had forgotten all of their Spells and Concepts, even though they could all remember them clearly! The two Mage Kings couldn''t believe what was happening. Thenguage of the Concepts around them had changed into something unfamiliar! Reality was rejecting their power! Their Mana Shields and all their enchantments vanished, and a momentter, their bodies were lifted by what felt like a huge invisible hand. They werepletely helpless! Their Spirit Senses were smothered in the thundercloud of lightning,pletely blinding them. They, mighty Mage Kings, were now nothing but helpless puppies. The storm cloud continued charging forward, pulling the two Mage Kings with it. Some secondster, the storm cloud appeared just 100,000 kilometers away from the Judgment Pce. In front of the storm cloud was a humongous fissure, 50,000 kilometers wide and unfathomably deep. The fissure was the deepest ck and any being that saw it would feel terrifying dread. They would feel like this was the most dangerous ce in the world. Falling into this fissure meant death! This was the Pit of Death. There were millions and millions of corpses inside the huge fissure at any given moment in time. The pure density of Death Mana in there was far beyondprehension. Even more, the Death Mana didn''t only stay in the fissure since more and more Death Mana was being produced there, pushing the Death Mana out of the fissure. Thend around the fissure was and of death. Yet, on the other end of the fissure was a tform, and this was the opposite of and of death. Beautiful flowers, humongous trees, peaceful beasts, and plenty of small animals were living there. It was a paradise and beyond beautiful. However, this tform filled with life was surrounded by the Pit of Death. Yes, the huge fissure was actually something that could be considered a moat of a medieval castle. The 50,000-kilometer-wide Pit of Death surrounded the peacefulnd of life. It was like the Pit of Death was both protecting and imprisoning it. Death was doing something good and something evil. However, thend of life was also not as peaceful as one might think. Everything seemed nice on the surface, but the limited resources of thend of life forced its upants to constantly war with each other. Thend of life was safe from the outside world, but it wasn''t safe from itself. There was good in death, and there was evil in life. Life and death were not as different as one would think. In the middle of the tform was a tall and beautiful white castle, stretching over 50 kilometers into the sky. It was a symbol of harmony, beauty, peace, prosperity, and life. Yet, there was a darker part to the castle. In truth, the beautiful white castle was mirrored by another one. A perfectly dark castle was stretching deep into the earth below the white castle, mirroring it. This was the Judgment Pce, a beautiful and serene white castle with an identical but mirrored terrifying ck castle beneath it. The white castle was in the middle of thend of life, and the ck castle had several huge tunnels leading to the Pit of Death. Contrasting but adjacent. Together but separate. The Judgment Pce. The storm cloud vanished, revealing the Lightning Emperor and the two Mage Kings. Now, the Mage Kings could actually see the Lightning Emperor, and when they saw him, cold sweat ran down their backs. Purple lightning wasing out from all over his body, creating several ck holes in the space around them. The lightning was so powerful that the mix of Space, Time, and Gravity was being ripped apart. But the most terrifying thing was the Lightning Emperor''s expression. His face was distorted with rage! Chapter 808 Chapter 808 The Lightning Emperor looked with unending rage at the distant Judgment Pce. Silence. The Judgment Pce wasn''t doing anything. Slowly, the lightning around the Lightning Emperor intensified. ¡°Arrogant as always,¡± the Lightning Emperor''s voice echoed throughout the world. "You believe yourself to be invincible.¡± ¡°Everyone must bow to you." "You are right." "You are just.¡± The lightning around the Lightning Emperor became even more violent. "You ignore me?!" the Lightning Emperor shouted in anger as the world around him exploded in thunder and lightning. Deep in the Judgment Pce, at its very core between the two contrasting sides, was a beautiful room where death and life met. Two people were standing near each other, one of them embracing the other from behind with their arms. "We should really go out," the embraced person said with a helpless sigh. ¡°He''s throwing a tantrum," the embracing person said coldly. "He doesn''t deserve a response." The embraced person smiled awkwardly as they scratched the side of their head in embarrassment. "We don''t even know why he''s like that. Maybe there''s a reason why he is like that. | think we should ask." The arms embracing them tightened with terrifying power, causing the person great difort. "You are mine," the cold voice behind the embraced person said in their ears. The next moment, the long nails of the embracing arms slowly but sensually created deep scratches in the embraced person''s skin, but it was like the nails were going through water. The flesh and skin reappeared like water flowing back into ce. "You are not you,¡± the cold voice said. The embraced person only continued smiling in awkwardness as they became a bit embarrassed, their cheeks flushing red. "You are mine," the cold voice said again. "Fine, fine," the embraced person said as they looked to the side in embarrassment. The cold breath of the person behind them created ck spots of dying flesh and skin on their right ear, but they vanished just as quickly as they appeared. Outside, the Lightning Emperor''s rage reached new levels. Kali had always disrespected and looked down on him. She had always called him weak, telling him that the only reason why he was Lucius¡¯ second-inmand was that he had been the first to join. Kali never believed that he had the power to back up his position. Yet, Lucius had always told her that she was underestimating him. Lucius always said that he was far more powerful than she thought and that she shouldn''t underestimate him. But Kali always only looked at him and his fragile nature. He always only smiled and was polite to everyone, even when they weren''t polite to him. He was a pushover. He was weak. And, worst of all, he was too emotional. He cried whenever anyone close to him died, and he very quickly lost control and threw tantrums. He was a weak-willed child. And yet, Lucius always kept saying that he was dependable, powerful, and capable. Kali didn¡¯t hate him, but she had no respect or goodwill for him. Adam, on the other hand, had always been the most approachable out of everyone. Everyone respected him, and everyone was his friend. But ever since he managed to win Kali''s "love", he rarely talked to anyone anymore, and everyone around him grew distant. And, worst of all, he didn''t mind it. He even seemed to embrace it. He had thrown his friends and connections away with a happy smile and no regrets. It all seemed so easy and effortless. Had he ever been their friend? In the end, Adam had seeminglypletely disappeared, enveloped and consumed by Kali.N?velDrama.Org owns this. Adam was still alive, but he wasn''t leading a life. He was like one of Kali''s essories. The Emperor of Life wasn''t truly alive. Yet, Kali felt intense, burning, and conflicting emotions at every moment as she epassed Adam. As someone with a Death Affinity, she was supposed to be cold, apathetic, and unfeeling. But every moment around Adam was filled with intense emotions. She loved him. And because of that, she wanted him to die. He could only truly be hers when he was dead. Then, he and she would be at peace again. But she couldn''t kill him. She loved feeling this conflict of intense emotions. The Empress of Death wasn''t truly dead. What should be alive wasn''t alive, and what should be dead wasn''t dead. It was a contradiction. Kali kept wing at Adam as her cold breath washed over him. Adam only kept smiling in happiness and embarrassment. And now, the two of them were only looking at the distant Lightning Emperor, who was hovering in front of their home. Due to the powerful defenses, the Lightning Emperor couldn''t see the two, but he could imagine what they were doing. As always, they ignored him. He had had enough! He was sure that Kali was the one that had killed Vana! He had never had any problems with any of the other Emperors, but Kali always wanted to humiliate and injure him. And, even more, they actually both had a very clear motive for wanting to kill a Mage King. King Sanctified Death. King Sanctified Death was an enigma. He had appeared out of seemingly nowhere with unparalleled power. But the Mage Emperors knew where he hade from. His mere existence was incorrect. He shouldn''t exist. Life and death might be simr, but they can''t be the same. They can''tbine. They can''t create. Whatever they would create was either alive or dead. It couldn''t be both. Yet, somehow, it happened. Life and death had created something. Something that shouldn''t exist. Someone with a Life and Death Dual Affinity. And naturally, Adam and Kali wanted their creation to be a Mage Emperor like them. King Sanctified Death. Abaddon. Their son. When the Lightning Emperor had seen Vana''s corpse, he knew that it was them. There had been no more Mana in the room. Someone had stolen all of Vana''s Mana. It had to have been the doing of those two. Who else could do something like this and get away with it?! Who else was crazy enough tomit such an atrocity?! And now, the Lightning Emperor had enough. He had wanted to give them onest chance to talk things out, but they weren''t even willing to do that. "You think | won''t do anything?!¡¯ the Lightning Emperor thought in fury. ¡®Lucius always told me to hold myself back." ¡®But enough is enough!¡¯ ¡®Today, blood will flow!¡¯ Suddenly, all the lightning around the Lightning Emperor vanished. And then, the two Mage Kings beside the Lightning Emperor were lifted to the sky. Silence. Adam and Kali only looked at him with interest and ridicule. They saw his eyes. They were filled with determination. The Lightning Emperor clenched his fist. And the two Mage Kings exploded. Chapter 809 Chapter 809 The world turned silent. None of the watching Mage Kings or Mage Emperors could believe what they had just witnessed. It was one thing to enter someone''s home, but it was something entirely different to kill someone in it. The Lightning Emperor had actually killed two Mage Kings! This... had this ever happened before?! "You forgot the past," the Lightning Emperor said with a cold voice. WHOOOOOM! Suddenly, the world transformed. The sky and the earth turned an ashen grey. The nts and animals in thend of life all withered and died. In a second, the entirend of life had transformed into and of death. The next moment, an ashen grey mist floated out of the Judgment Pce''s gates. The grey mist wasn''t imposing, huge, strong, or dominant. It was merely a whisp like from a candle. The mist slowly floated through the air until it stopped in front of the Lightning Emperor, who only looked at it with cold eyes. The grey whisp slowly vanished, revealing the person inside. It was a short woman with skin as white as a corpse''s and hair as ck as the universe. She wore a long ck dress, and her lips were deathly ck.N?velDrama.Org owns this. It was Kali, the Empress of Death. At this moment, she was looking at the Lightning Emperor with an almost vacant expression. Having known Kali for so long, the Lightning Emperor could tell that she was absolutely furious at the moment, even if it didn''t seem like it. "Gregorio," Kali spoke with a wispy and ethereal voice. "You were the one that forgot the past." Gregorio, the Lightning Emperor, only snorted. "Did you expect that this would happen?" Gregorio said. "Or was this outside of your ns." "ns," Kali repeated with an alien tone. "What irony. You are the one that has to resort to nning.¡± Gregorio''s eyes narrowed as they looked into Kali''s. "| don''t care what you want to call your ns. The truth is that you have gone too far this time." Kali only looked apathetically into Gregorio''s eyes. ¡°And what if | did?" she asked coldly. When Gregorio heard that, hisst reservations vanished. Kali had just confirmed that she had been the one that had killed Vana! Naturally, Kali wasn''t the one that did it, but Gregorio didn''t know that. In fact, Kali didn''t even know why Gregorio was so angry. But all of that didn''t matter. She saw an opportunity to spite Gregorio, and she took it. ¡°Originally, | only wanted to pay you back double of what | owe you," Gregorio said, "but if you are this willing to admit to it, it might be for the better that you leave this world and go where you belong." Lightning exploded out of Gregorio''s body. ¡°And while I''m at it, | might as well send your Abomination of a son after you." "You?" Kali asked with a ridiculing tone. "You n on killing me?" she asked again. "You''re the one nning,¡± Gregorio said as a sizable tome appeared in front of him. "I''m doing." The next moment, the world around Gregorio seemed to warp as he gathered all of his power. Kali''s almost dead eyes only looked at Gregorio''s actions like they didn''t concern her. At the same time, Adam looked at the two of them with an ufortable expression as he scratched the back of his head. ¡®Man, these two are at it again,¡¯ he thought as if this situation happened constantly. ¡®Better to let them have their fun for a bit. I''ll just look out for all the stuff around them. | don''t want anyone to get hurt.¡¯ More and more power gathered in front of Gregorio, and just a bitter, all of it exploded forward. In an instant, it was like the world had transformed into a weapon bearing down on Kali. Aterrifying mix of different elements and kinds of Mana was singing a symphony of destruction as it annihted everything between it and its target. Kali just looked at it with boredom. She slowly extended her right index finger and tapped it somewhere in the air. All the Mana vanished. The humongous wave of destruction had vanished just like that. This wasn''t just some random attack from the Lightning Emperor. This had actually been one of his most powerful attacks! Yet, in front of Kali, it had seemed barely stronger than the attack of a mere Apprentice. Adam only watched with a worried expression. He hoped that Kali didn¡¯t hurt Gregorio too badly. Officially, Gregorio had counted as the second strongest in their group, but unofficially, it had always been Kali. Adam still remembered how he had met Kali, or more precisely, her body. Back then, Kali had been in a deepa that she hadn''t woken up from in hundreds of years. No one knew how to wake her. Until Lucius came. Lucius had awoken her and got the payment for waking her from her family. Lucius left with the group, but Adam wanted to stay. Adam said that he had taken a liking to Kali, and he wanted to train her. Additionally, Kali wanted to repay Lucius for saving her. So, Adam and Kali trained for many years until they finally returned to Lucius¡¯ group during a deadly battle. Kali had grown extremely powerful, and she had saved everyone in that battle. That had already been quitete in their journey. Everyone had already been either Peak Ancestral Mages or Mage Lords. The entire group had already formed by that point. And when Kali joined, everyone was overwhelmed by her sheer power. She was more powerful than everyone except Lucius, and Lucius might even need to go all out to win against Kali if they ever fought. Gregorio had always been quite powerful, but he had been on roughly the same level as everyone else. Yet, Kali seemed like someone that could bridge the impossibly wide gap between them and Lucius, which was almost unimaginable. Was Gregorio truly the second most powerful? Lucius kept saying that, but Gregorio had never shown powers that could reach Kali''s. Chapter 810 Chapter 810 Kali just coldly looked at Gregorio. "Are you surprised?" she asked. "That your famed Symphony of Destruction is only worth this much?" Gregorio didn''t show any visible reaction. Amomentter, a terrifying amount of Mana flowed out of his tome, which then formed into a terrifying disk made of different kinds of Mana. Then, the disk exploded, leaving behind three bolts of colorful lightning. Gregorio''s eyes narrowed as he performed one calction after the other. BANG! One of the bolts shot at Kali. Kali lifted her left hand and closed it gently. The lightning bolt warped before it vanished, leaving a grey mist behind. Gregorio rapidly spoke several words and shot the second lightning bolt at her. Kali lightly moved the fingers on her right hand in a rhythmical pattern, and the lightning bolt scattered into colorful dust. When Kali saw the colorful dust, just the slightest bit of surprise appeared on her face. Gregorio spoke even more words and fired the third bolt. Kali moved her left index finger forward. The bolt warped a bit but moved back into ce like a snake. Her eyebrows narrowed slightly, and her right hand joined to help her left hand. Kali moved her two hands away from each other. BANG! And the lightning bolt was split apart, missing her. However,pared to the previous times, she couldn''t fully disperse the power, which meant that the power would detonate. How many people would die? The pieces of the lightning bolts rapidly shot into the distance, but the further they traveled, the smaller they became. It was like some kind of heavy force was grinding them down. Inside the Judgment Pce, Adam released a breath as he cleaned his forehead of sweat. "That was a tricky one," he muttered. Outside, Kali looked at Gregorio with slightly narrowed eyes. "It seems like | took your Three Bolts of Heaven too lightly in the past. | actually needed to use two hands to deal with the third one." Gregorio''s face was sweating quite a bit. It seemed like he had used up a lot of his focus and Mana with that Spell. "It''s been over 250,000 years,¡± he said. "Do you honestly believe that | am still the same as back then?" Kali wasn''t very impressed. The next moment, Gregorio grandly stretched out his arms as white lightning came out of his eyes. His arms moved to paint a picture of the sun, which slowly transformed into a picture of the moon. As his arms moved, the color of his lightning also darkened. Until it eventually turnedpletely ck. SNAP! Suddenly, the color of the world inverted. White was ck. ck was white. Blue was red. Red was blue. Kali''s eyes widened slightly in surprise. She actually had no idea what Gregorio was doing or how he was doing it. Was this a Concept? At that moment, Gregorio just smirked and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, the grey mist that had dealt with Gregorio''s attacks reappeared, but this time, there was much more, and it was surrounding Kali. Kali realized that this grey mist wasn''t following her will but Gregorio''s will! BOOOOOOOM! All the grey mist exploded at once, releasing all the power the grey mist had imprisoned. All of Gregorio''s earlier attacks were released with their full power directly at Kali from point-nk range. Inside the Judgment Pce, Adam''s eyes widened in surprise, and he let out a whistle of appreciation. ¡°Huh, he''s stronger than | expected," Adam said. "Lucius wasn''t talking crap." Even more, the apocalyptic power Gregorio had unleashed had been so concentrated and on-point that Adam hadn''t even needed to protect the surroundings. All of the power had been focused on Kali. However, Adam wasn''t worried. Amomentter, ck mist gathered around the spot where Kali had just been and expanded. As the ck mist expanded, the inverted colors seemed to get pushed back. Gregorio focused on keeping the ck mist suppressed, and it seemed to work. The ck mist couldn''t stretch further and was struggling to maintain the small domain it had created. Amomentter, the ck mist was being pushed back by the inverted colors. Gregorio had the upper hand. "Fine," the bored voice of Kali came from the ck mist. WHOOOOOOOM! All the inverted colors broke apart and were destroyed as the world seemingly broke apart. The ck mist expanded and expanded, epassing the surrounding 500,000 kilometers. Inside the Judgment Pce, Adam smiled awkwardly as he was sweating buckets. He had to protect all the living beings in this huge domain. Luckily, Kali wasn''t targeting the living beings. Otherwise, Adam would never be able to do this. If Adam hadn''t been there to protect everything, every living being in a radius of 500,000 kilometers would have been destroyed. Beasts, nts, humans... Even Mage Lords and Mage Kings. Kali never truly cared about other living beings. Just now, she hadn''t cared if her stunt killed all the Mage Kings under her or not. When Gregorio had killed the two Mage Kings, she also hadn''t particrly cared about them. However, Gregorio killing these two right in front of her home was obviously a slight at her. He had disrespected her! And that was why she was so furious. Abitter, all the ck mist gathered and formed a huge silhouette. It was a huge beast with six arms, two legs, and tentacles. An Abomination! However, this wasn''t just any Abomination. This was the image of an Abomination King! Back then, their group had once seen an Abomination King. Usually, Lucius always dealt with the Abominations, but just this once, Lucius hadn''t been there. This meant that the group needed to deal with the Abomination King on their own. This had been one of the most dangerous battles ever. In the years after the battle, Kali had researched the Abominations and had created this attack. The Abominations were the most terrifying beings in this world, and harnessing their powers would increase her power. This resulted in the creation of this Spell. The Abominable State. Something that increased her powers severalfold. Gregorio saw the gigantic misty Abomination and narrowed his eyes as he sweated bullets. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHH! The Abomination released a terrifying howl, reverberating throughout the world. And then, its right hand shot forward. Gregorio rapidly spoke words, and his tome began to shine. One colorful lightning bolt after the other shot out of the tome, hitting the ck w. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Every single bolt could kill a Mage King, but the humongous Abomination seemingly didn''t care. Its w continued to stretch forward. Gregorio spoke more and more words,unching more and more Spells. Eventually, the number of lightning bolts reached a ridiculous degree, and the humongous w slowed down. Until it stopped. A barrage of lightning bolts kept hitting the stationary w under Gregorio''s intense gaze. BANG! And then, the w broke apart and dispersed. But just a bitter, a new w formed out of the huge ck mist. Adam just watched with a concerned expression. It was already impressive enough that Gregorio could block one of Kali''s attacks while she was in her Abominable State. Adam looked at the exhausted Gregorio. Sadly, Kali could use 20 more of these attacks. There was no way that Gregorio could win. Kali was simply far too powerful. "| have to admit. You''re stronger than expected," Kali''s cold voice came from the huge Abomination. "But not by much." "In the past, | didn''t go against you because of Lucius." ¡°But Lucius is no longer here." "It''s time for you to find peace, Gregorio," Kali spoke coldly as the Abomination moved its w forward again. Gregorio looked at the approaching w. "So, you''re truly willing to kill me, huh?" he said. Then, he sighed. "That makes this easier." SHING! SHING! Suddenly, two incredibly dense balls of Mana appeared beside Gregorio. This was the Mana of the two dead Mage Kings! These two dense balls of Mana represented two dead Mage Kings and two potential new Mage Kings. Gregorio''s eyes narrowed. The next moment, the big tome in front of him disappeared, and a small ck booklet appeared in its ce. Kali and Adam saw the booklet, and for some reason, they felt like this booklet shouldn''t exist. It almost felt like an Abomination. Gregorio spoke words that no one in the world found familiar. It was a forbiddennguage that no one knew. The next moment, a ck sphere appeared between the two balls of Mana. The sphere absorbed the balls of Mana. And the Mana vanished. Two balls representing two Mage Kingspletely disappeared. The Mana wasn''t transformed into a different kind of Mana or something like that.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. It had vanished! The Mana had actually vanished from this world! Kali and Adam both understood what had happened. And for the first time, Kali actually felt fear. What?! How?! "You know, despite all of this, | think I''ll still miss you," Gregorio said. Then, he stretched out his hand towards the huge Abomination. ¡°Even if only a little bit." Gregorio had sacrificed two Mage Kings worth of Mana. Somehow, he had managed to grasp a part of the powers of Entropy. The power of the Abominations. This single attack was like two Abomination Kings sacrificing their lives in an all-out attack to destroy the entire world. ¡®This is why Lucius never wanted us to fight, Kali," Gregorio thought. "He never wanted you to die.¡¯ ¡®And he never wanted anyone to know that he wasn''t the only Mage in the world that could use the power of the Abominations." ¡®| might not even be nearly as good as him in it, but | know a thing or two." ¡®Enough to end your life!¡¯ And then, the ck sphere vanished. And with it, the entire world in front of it. Chapter 811 Chapter 811 The Mana vanished. The power of the Abominations consumed the world. There was no obvious wave of destruction or anything traveling out from this location. No, the world in front of the attack just vanished. Gregorio''s body had shriveled quite a bit, but after summoning a small object and crushing it, his body recovered fully. Gregorio looked at what destruction he had just caused. Just 200,000 kilometers away from this ce, Gregorio could see frozen mountains as well as burning mountains. Gregorio knew this ce. This ce was the Fire and Ice Range, one of the best ces toprehend the Ice and Fire Concepts in the world. And, most shocking of all, the Fire and Ice Range was in the middle of the Tower of Climate''s Empire. Yet, Gregorio was in the middle of the Judgment Pce''s Empire. Yes, the entire world between the Judgment Pce and the Tower of Climate''s center had vanished. In fact, the actual Tower of Climate was only a million kilometers away from the Judgment Pce now. This meant that Gregorio had deleted over six million kilometers of distance. How many had died? Uncountable. This single attack had changed the shape of the entire continent Aterium. Aterium had been somewhat round before all of this. Now, the eastern coast had moved six million kilometers inward, which was a bit less than a third of Aterium''s width. It was like someone had taken a huge bite out of a pizza. And yet... The Judgment Pce was still there. For all intents and purposes, it should have been destroyed like everything else. But it was still there. And Gregorio could see why. The huge Abomination had vanished, revealing the uninjured Kali. Yet, the reason she was uninjured had nothing to do with her own power. In front of her, a couple of blonde hairs floated towards the ground. These hairs were the only part of Adam''s body that had survived. Everything else had been sacrificed to protect Kali. Yet, Kali didn''t look at the hairs or at Gregorio. Instead, she looked at the small shining sphere in her hand. These spheres were called Inheritor Spheres. Whenever a Mage King died, all their Mana would be absorbed by these Spheres so that a new Mage King could be born. But this sphere didn''t have the Mana of a Mage King, but the Mana of a Mage Emperor. Adam had used his powers to divert the attack. Originally, the attack wouldn''t have destroyed nearly as much of the world since most of it would have been focused on consuming Kali. Yet, somehow, Adam had managed to divert it, which meant that all the power had consumed the world after consuming him. Due to the nature of his death, he couldn''t put all of his Mana in the Inheritor Sphere, but there was enough in there to create an Initial Mage Emperor. If Adam had sacrificed all his Mana, the st might have only destroyed one million kilometers of the world, but Adam hadn''t been willing. He wanted to leave a present behind, even if countless others had to perish for it. He protected Kali''s life, and he also left behind something that would allow his son to be a Mage Emperor, even if he would only be an Initial Mage Emperor. When Gregorio had seen all that, he could only take a deep breath. He had been willing to sacrifice a part of the world, but he had never wanted to destroy so much of it. He only wanted to kill Kali for what she had done to Vana. But now, Kali was still alive, and a huge chunk of the world had vanished. He hadpletely failed. This was not how things were supposed to go. WHOOOOOOOM! WHOOOOOOOM! Suddenly, one apocalyptic Spirit Sense after the other stretched across the battlefield. The other Mage Emperors had noticed what had happened.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. And now, they were all here. The first person that appeared was obviously the Emperor of the Tower of Climate to the east of Aterium. After all, they were now essentially directly in front of her door. She was a beautiful young woman with orange hair that slowly turned into icy blue hair the further down it went. She also wore the uniform of the Climate Empire, blue and orange robes. This was Jenny Greenhouse, the Empress of the Tower of Climate. At this moment, Jenny only looked with a mix of shock and rage at Kali and Gregorio. Where had her western Empire gone?! What had these two idiots done this time?! Couldn''t these two just stop antagonizing each other?! Atiny instantter, another person arrived. It was a middle-aged man with blonde hair and ck eyes. He wore the typical white and ck robes of the Twilight Dusk Family. This was Amon Gus, the Emperor of the Twilight Dusk Family. He could only sigh when he saw Kali and Gregorio. At the same time, another person appeared. From the south appeared a middle-ageddy wearing greyish silver robes, and her mere presence warped the space around her. This was Isis Neweston, the Empress of the Event Horizon Empire. She only closed her eyes and took a deep breath. The next person that appeared came from the northeast. It was a woman with dark blue eyes and dark blue hair. Her robes were just as dark blue as her hair and eyes. Simr to Isis Neweston, the world around her seemed to warp, but in a different way. This was Bina Ching, the Empress of the Darkcold Fortress. She simply looked with narrowed eyes at Gregorio. An instantter, another person appeared from the southeast. It was a fiery and aggressive woman with orange hair and red lips. Inparison to the others, she only wore a short formfitting red dress. This was Linastra Boomwitch, the Empress of the Sungod Mountain Empire. As she looked at Gregorio and Kali, the air around her began to warp with insane heat, and she nearly exploded with rage. Thest two Emperors appeared a secondter. From the west came a tall and muscr man with green hair and brown eyes. He wore earthen brown robes with green essories. This was Brutus Cesar, the Emperor of the Land and Sky Empire. He saw the sphere in Kali''s hands and furrowed his brows. Thest person came from the southwest. It was an older woman with greyish-blue hair and greyish-blue robes. This was Nivera Preston, the Empress of the Deepsteel Empire. She didn''t show much of a reaction when she appeared, but the people that knew her could tell that she was annoyed. Everyone was here. Every living Emperor had gathered in this ce. Chapter 812 Chapter 812 All the Mage Emperors looked at Kali and Gregorio. Kali only looked at the sphere in her hand with emotionless eyes. It was like she didn''t know what she should be feeling or thinking right now. Brutus Cesar slowly took in a breath, ready to speak up. "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE?!" Yet, Brutus didn''t get the opportunity to say anything as Linastra exploded with rage. "I''ve just been having the greatest fucking time looking at the sun, and suddenly half the fucking world is gone!" Linastra shouted, the world around her shaking under her might. "So, again, what the fuck happened?!" "You owe us an exnation, Gregorio," Emperor Amon said. "I think it would be best if you exined to us what happened. We don''t want to jump to conclusions here." "Exin," Empress Nivera said with a cold andmanding voice. Kali didn¡¯t seem like her usual self, which was why everyone was asking Gregorio about what had transpired. Gregorio closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn''t want to kill that many people. He only wanted to kill Kali. Yet, Adam, the person that should value life the most, sacrificed his own and several trillion other lives for the personification of death. Gregorio didn''t want to kill Adam. Yet, things couldn''t be changed now. What had been done couldn''t be undone. "Some minutes ago," Gregorio started, "| found one of my strongest Mage Kings assassinated in her room with her Mana stolen." Silence. If the Emperors hadn''t already seen what had happened here, they wouldn''t have believed Gregorio so easily. After all, who could possibly kill a powerful Mage King inside their room right beside an Emperor? Several of the Emperors nced at Kali. Death had very mysterious powers and was extremely difficult to sense. Additionally, Adam and Kali had a clear motive for wanting to kill a Mage King. If they gathered around 40 to 50 Mage Kings¡¯ worth of Mana, they could make their son a Mage Emperor. Naturally, Abaddon''s possible ascension to the Realm of Mage Emperor had been a topic of discussion for quite a while now. Kali and Adam had suggested killing the Beast Kings to gather the required Mana, but the Emperors declined that. The Beast Kings were the world''s Mana storage. If the Abominations eradicated more Mana, they could simply kill one of them to return the density of Mana in the world to its usual level without having to sacrifice a Mage King. If they killed all Beast Kings, they would soon have to reduce the number of Mage Kings, which would be bad since the Mages would notice that something was wrong. Naturally, after a lot more talking, Kali suggested allowing the Mage Kings to fight each other for superiority and Mana. Like this, it would be fair for everyone, and everyone would get an opportunity to be a Mage Emperor. Initially, the Emperors agreed but then came to irreconcble differences with Kali when it came to establishing the rules. The Emperors wanted to implement a two-party-consent system when it came to the fight. Kali wanted a one-party-consent system. Essentially, the Emperors said that Mage Kings were only allowed to fight when both of them agreed to the battle. Kali said that only one party needed to consent since this was also how the world worked. The Emperors countered that if Kali wanted it to be like how the world works, everyone else was also allowed to intervene, including Mage Emperors. That was essentially where the discussions stopped for now. Naturally, the discussions hadn''t been finished yet, and many Emperors were interested in having King Sanctified Death be a Mage Emperor, but they still needed to iron out the details. And that could take a long time. Maybe Kali wanted to test the waters by killing one of Gregorio''s Mage Kings first? After all, Kali obviously thought Gregorio to be incredibly weak-willed and to be a pushover. So what if Gregorio knew what happened?N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. What would that weak-willed wimp do? Attack her? Pfft, he didn''t have the guts! This was how things could have gone down in the Emperors¡¯ minds. ¡°And you attacked Kali because of that?" Amon asked. "Without any proof?" "| don''t care about proof," Gregorio said. "| am one of ten Mage Emperors. | know what happened. She knows what happened. | don''t need the consent of a third party when someone kills someone of my Empire!" Isis, Amon, and Jenny took deep breaths, Linastra gnashed her teeth, and the remainder looked on coldly. "Continue," Empress Bina said from the side. Gregorio threw a nce at the gathered Emperors. He didn''t believe that they would suddenly attack him, but he wasn''t one that took chances. ¡°Naturally, | suspected that it was Kali," Gregorio said. The Emperors threw some nces at Kali. Kali didn''t react. It was like the Emperors weren''t even there. "| grabbed two of her Mage Kings and took them with me to the Judgment Pce," Gregorio continued. "Where are these Mage Kings now?" Isis asked. "Dead," Gregorio said. The Mage Emperors narrowed their eyes. "What happened to them?" Emperor Amon asked. "If you stopped interrupting me, you would already know," Gregorio said with a slightly aggressive tone. Amon closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. "Continue," he said. ¡°When | reached the Judgment Pce, | demanded Adam and Kalie out," Gregorio said. "But they didn''t." "Why not?" Empress Jenny asked. ¡°Ask her. | don''t know," Gregorio said. The Emperors focused on Kali. Kali didn''t react. "Kali," Bina said with a neutral voice. Kali didn''t react. "Kali," Nivera also said with a cold voice. Slowly, Kali¡¯s eyes regained focus, and she looked at Nivera. "What?" "Why didn''t youe out when Gregorio asked for you toe out," Emperor Amon asked. Kali threw a nce at Gregorio. She wasn''t sure what she was feeling right now. She wasn''t really angry that Gregorio had killed Adam. After all, she also wanted Adam to die, in a way. But she also didn''t like that Adam was dead. She just didn''t know. "| didn''t want to dignify the little tantrum he was throwing," Kali said evenly. Gregorio wasn''t surprised by Kali''sck of anger. Kali had always been very unnatural. In a way, it was almost like she didn''t have any emotions. ¡°And then?" Emperor Amon asked Gregorio. "| killed the two Mage Kings," Gregorio said. "She killed one of mine. | killed two of hers." The reactions among the Emperors were very mixed. Some of them thought that Gregorio''s actions had been incorrect and that he should have gained proof before doing anything. Some of them thought that no Mage King should have been killed under any circumstance. The world was already unstable enough. Some thought that Gregorio should have focused his wrath on Kali, not her inferiors. Yet, some of them also thought that Gregorio had done the right thing. "That got Kali''s attention," Gregorio said. "She came out of her pce, | confronted her, and she answered with, ¡®so what if | did?" The gathered Emperors looked at Kali. "Did you say that?¡± "| did," Kali answered. "So, you killed Gregorio''s Mage King?" Nivera asked. "No," Kali said. Silence. ¡°But you said you did," Emperor Amon said with furrowed brows. "Yes, to anger Gregorio," Kali answered. "I didn''t know why he was here. | still don''t know why he did what he did.¡± Obviously, Kali hadn''t listened to the discussion at all. This made the Emperors think. Kali had sufficient motive to kill Gregorio''s Mage King. However, she also wasn''t someone that lied a lot. Did she do it? Chapter 813 Chapter 813 All the Mage Emperors looked at Kali and Gregorio. Kali only looked at the sphere in her hand with emotionless eyes. It was like she didn''t know what she should be feeling or thinking right now. Brutus Cesar slowly took in a breath, ready to speak up. "WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED HERE?!" Yet, Brutus didn''t get the opportunity to say anything as Linastra exploded with rage. "I''ve just been having the greatest fucking time looking at the sun, and suddenly half the fucking world is gone!" Linastra shouted, the world around her shaking under her might. "So, again, what the fuck happened?!" "You owe us an exnation, Gregorio,¡± Emperor Amon said. "I think it would be best if you exined to us what happened. We don''t want to jump to conclusions here." "Exin," Empress Nivera said with a cold andmanding voice. Kali didn''t seem like her usual self, which was why everyone was asking Gregorio about what had transpired. Gregorio closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He didn''t want to kill that many people. He only wanted to kill Kali. Yet, Adam, the person that should value life the most, sacrificed his own and several trillion other lives for the personification of death. Gregorio didn''t want to kill Adam. Yet, things couldn''t be changed now. What had been done couldn''t be undone. "Some minutes ago," Gregorio started, "I found one of my strongest Mage Kings assassinated in her room with her Mana stolen." Silence. If the Emperors hadn''t already seen what had happened here, they wouldn''t have believed Gregorio so easily. After all, who could possibly kill a powerful Mage King inside their room right beside an Emperor? Several of the Emperors nced at Kali. Death had very mysterious powers and was extremely difficult to sense. Additionally, Adam and Kali had a clear motive for wanting to kill a Mage King. If they gathered around 40 to 50 Mage Kings¡¯ worth of Mana, they could make their son a Mage Emperor. Naturally, Abaddon''s possible ascension to the Realm of Mage Emperor had been a topic of discussion for quite a while now. Kali and Adam had suggested killing the Beast Kings to gather the required Mana, but the Emperors declined that. The Beast Kings were the world''s Mana storage. If the Abominations eradicated more Mana, they could simply kill one of them to return the density of Mana in the world to its usual level without having to sacrifice a Mage King. If they killed all Beast Kings, they would soon have to reduce the number of Mage Kings, which would be bad since the Mages would notice that something was wrong. Naturally, after a lot more talking, Kali suggested allowing the Mage Kings to fight each other for superiority and Mana. Like this, it would be fair for everyone, and everyone would get an opportunity to be a Mage Emperor. Initially, the Emperors agreed but then came to irreconcble differences with Kali when it came to establishing the rules. The Emperors wanted to implement a two-party-consent system when it came to the fight. Kali wanted a one-party-consent system. Essentially, the Emperors said that Mage Kings were only allowed to fight when both of them agreed to the battle. Kali said that only one party needed to consent since this was also how the world worked. The Emperors countered that if Kali wanted it to be like how the world works, everyone else was also allowed to intervene, including Mage Emperors. That was essentially where the discussions stopped for now. Naturally, the discussions hadn''t been finished yet, and many Emperors were interested in having King Sanctified Death be a Mage Emperor, but they still needed to iron out the details. And that could take a long time. Maybe Kali wanted to test the waters by killing one of Gregorio''s Mage Kings first? After all, Kali obviously thought Gregorio to be incredibly weak-willed and to be a pushover. So what if Gregorio knew what happened? What would that weak-willed wimp do? Attack her? Pfft, he didn''t have the guts! This was how things could have gone down in the Emperors¡¯ minds. "And you attacked Kali because of that?" Amon asked. "Without any proof?" "I don''t care about proof," Gregorio said. "| am one of ten Mage Emperors. | know what happened. She knows what happened. | don''t need the consent of a third party when someone kills someone of my Empire!" Isis, Amon, and Jenny took deep breaths, Linastra gnashed her teeth, and the remainder looked on coldly. "Continue," Empress Bina said from the side. Gregorio threw a nce at the gathered Emperors. He didn''t believe that they would suddenly attack him, but he wasn''t one that took chances. "Naturally, | suspected that it was Kali," Gregorio said. The Emperors threw some nces at Kali. Kali didn¡¯t react. It was like the Emperors weren''t even there. "I grabbed two of her Mage Kings and took them with me to the Judgment Pce," Gregorio continued. "Where are these Mage Kings now?" Isis asked. "Dead," Gregorio said. The Mage Emperors narrowed their eyes. "What happened to them?" Emperor Amon asked. "If you stopped interrupting me, you would already know," Gregorio said with a slightly aggressive tone. Amon closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm down. "Continue," he said. "When | reached the Judgment Pce, | demanded Adam and Kalie out," Gregorio said. "But they didn''t." "Why not?" Empress Jenny asked. ¡°Ask her. | don''t know," Gregorio said. The Emperors focused on Kali. Kali didn''t react. "Kali," Bina said with a neutral voice. Kali didn''t react. "Kali," Nivera also said with a cold voice. Slowly, Kali''s eyes regained focus, and she looked at Nivera. "What?" "Why didn''t youe out when Gregorio asked for you toe out," Emperor Amon asked. Kali threw a nce at Gregorio. She wasn''t sure what she was feeling right now. She wasn''t really angry that Gregorio had killed Adam. After all, she also wanted Adam to die, in a way. But she also didn''t like that Adam was dead. She just didn''t know. "! didn''t want to dignify the little tantrum he was throwing," Kali said evenly. Gregorio wasn''t surprised by Kali''sck of anger. Kali had always been very unnatural. In a way, it was almost like she didn''t have any emotions. "And then?" Emperor Amon asked Gregorio. "I killed the two Mage Kings," Gregorio said. "She killed one of mine. | killed two of hers." The reactions among the Emperors were very mixed. Some of them thought that Gregorio''s actions had been incorrect and that he should have gained proof before doing anything. Some of them thought that no Mage King should have been killed under any circumstance. The world was already unstable enough. Some thought that Gregorio should have focused his wrath on Kali, not her inferiors. Yet, some of them also thought that Gregorio had done the right thing. "That got Kali''s attention," Gregorio said. "She came out of her pce, | confronted her, and she answered with, ''so what if | did?''" The gathered Emperors looked at Kali. "Did you say that?" "I did," Kali answered. "So, you killed Gregorio''s Mage King?" Nivera asked. "No," Kali said. Silence. "But you said you did," Emperor Amon said with furrowed brows. "Yes, to anger Gregorio," Kali answered. "I didn''t know why he was here. | still don''t know why he did what he did." Obviously, Kali hadn''t listened to the discussion at all. This made the Emperors think. Kali had sufficient motive to kill Gregorio''s Mage King. However, she also wasn''t someone that lied a lot. Did she do it? Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. Chapter 814 Chapter 814 The Emperors narrowed their eyes. "You don''t have a choice," Empress Nivera said. At this moment, several pictures shot through Gregorio''s mind. All of these were pictures of his adventure with Lucius. All the fun they had together. All the wonders they had discovered. All the mysteries they had uncovered. It was such a great life. Amomentter, Gregorio looked at the sky. And for just a moment, it seemed like Gregorio could look past the sky. Anew picture appeared in his mind. It was an image of him and Shang traveling across the stars. They were finding huge beasts as big ass and fighting Gods that could turn Aterium to dust with a mere step. And maybe... Adistant silhouette grew closer and eventually turned into Lucius. Maybe, he could revive Lucius. There was more to uncover. There were more adventures waiting for him. And he wouldn''t allow anyone to stop him! SHING! Something appeared above Gregorio''s hands, and the Emperors readied for battle. Yet, Gregorio hadn''t summoned a weapon. He had summoned a bracelet. The Emperors looked at the bracelet with furrowed brows. "No!" Jenny suddenly shouted in shock. "How?! You wouldn''t!" "Why wouldn''t |?" Gregorio asked with narrowed eyes. "You essentially want me to live a life worse than death. What do | have to lose?" "You recognize that bracelet?" Empress Bina asked Jenny. Empress Jenny nodded solemnly. "You have all seen it before, a long time ago." "This bracelet looks just like the one that Lucius gave the Archivist,¡± Jenny said. The eyes of the Emperors widened in shock, and they looked at the bracelet. They could feel it. After such a long time, they finally feel it again. It was Lucius¡¯ Magic! This bracelet exhibited the aura of Lucius¡¯ Magic! For just a moment, the eyes of Jenny, Bina, Nivera, Isis, and Linastra turned heartbroken and misty. They were reminded of the death of the one person they had loved with all their heart. But then, their eyes narrowed as they red at Gregorio. "Yes," Gregorio said. "This does exactly what you think it does." "When Lucius suppressed the Archivist with the bracelet, he gave me a sister bracelet in case the world is ever in danger." "If | break this bracelet, the bracelet on the Archivist''s arm will also break." "| wonder what he will do when he is free." "| wonder what you can do against a Peak Mage Emperor that is millions of years old.¡± "Will he do nothing?" "Or will he kill all of us?" ¡°But the real question is..." ¡°Are you willing to take that risk?" The Emperors gritted their teeth. The Archivist was the only Emperor that Lucius hadn''t killed back then. The main reason was that the Archivist was a Mage. Another reason was that the Archivist was beyond ancient. In fact, the Archivist had lived through several eras of unstoppable hegemons. Over the eras, he had been subject to one suppressing Spell after the other. The hegemon of said era always allowed the Archivist to survive, but only under the premise that he would be suppressed by a Spell that would stop him from hurting the hegemon''s friends. The new hegemon always got rid of the old hegemon''s Spell and reced it with their own. The most recent hegemon had been Lucius, and Lucius'' Magic still suppressed the Archivist to this day. The Archivist hadn''t been truly free in millions of years since one suppressive Spell immediately followed another. If Gregorio broke that bracelet, the Archivist would be truly free. No one knew what the Archivist would do, and no one knew how powerful the Archivist actually was. The only proof of his power had been Lucius¡¯ words. Back then, Lucius had said that he would only be sure of his victory after bing a Peak Mage Emperor himself. This had been beyond crazy since Lucius had killed the Weapon Grandmaster when he had only been an Early Mage Emperor, and the fight hadn''t even really been that difficult except for that one attack. This meant that the Archivist was several times stronger than the Weapon Grandmaster, who was stronger than half the Mage Emperors living today. Kali and Gregorio would probably win against the Weapon Grandmaster today, but they wouldn''t win against the Archivist. "You kill one of our friends, and now you threaten us with the Archivist?!" Linastra shouted in outrage. "Are you insane, Gregorio?!" "This isn''t like you," Isis said as she looked at Gregorio. "You didn''t use to be like this." The other Emperors shook their heads in disappointment. What happened to the cheerful Gregorio? When had he tured so sinister? ¡°What do you want?" Emperor Brutus asked. "You must have something in mind." "Two things," Gregorio said. ¡°First, | think the world has been a bit too peaceful ever since we became Emperors. Whenever anyone joins an Empire, they are essentially perfectly safe forever." ¡°Peaceful times don''t make for powerful Mages." "| want the peacews to be severely cut down except for the Kings and Emperors." The Emperors looked at each other in surprise. That was a weird demand. ¡°And one more thing," he said. Gregorio pointed at the Inheritor Sphere in Kali''s hands. The Emperors gritted their teeth. "Don''t get angry just yet,¡± Gregorio said. "I''m not demanding the Inheritor Sphere." The Emperors waited for an boration. "| want to solve this conflict once and for all," he said. "You probably want to give this Inheritor Sphere to Abaddon, but | have different ns." "| know that | can''t force you guys too much, which is why I''m willing to make some concessions." ¡°Abaddon should be about 40,000 years old today." "Since a Mage King can live for roughly 100,000 years, | think we have some time left." "In 50,000 years, | want there to be a tournament.¡± ¡°Every King in the world will take part in this tournament."N?velDrama.Org owns this. "And the strongest King gets to take the Inheritor Sphere and absorb it to be an Emperor." Chapter 815 Chapter 815 Inside the Lightning Manor, the Custodian, the Starlight Queen, the Myriad King, and Shang were waiting for further orders. Naturally, Shang wasn''t actually really waiting for orders. He kind of was just here because he happened to be the one that ¡°found out" that Queen Primordium had died. Shang wasn''t sure if he should just leave or wait here. In the end, he decided to wait like everyone else, even though he didn''t really fit in with the three Mage Kings. None of them knew what was going on. They had been waiting for several minutes with nothing happening, which could mean anything. Whoom! Suddenly, a portal opened up beside them. BANG! The air in the hallway blew to the side as a person arrived there at insane speeds. The person stumbled and nearly fell before they turned around and smiled awkwardly into the portal. ¡°Let''s catch upter, okay?" they said. "Stop-" And the portal closed before the person on the other side could say anything. The person that had arrived in the middle of the hallway cleaned the sweat off their forehead with a nervous chuckle and looked at the people gathered around them. The three Mage Kings looked at the new person with intense eyes. The newest person was a man with blonde hair, wearing the typical purple robes of the Lightning Manor. Shang had seen an image of that person before. It was Amarius, the Dawnlight King, the leader of the Diplomacy Department. Amarius looked at the others and justughed bitterly. "Well, either | have to go to the Judgment Pce all the time from now on or not at all. Depends on the oue." The Custodian looked at Amarius. "| presume the Ancestor is near the Judgment Pce right now?" ¡°He sure is," Amarius said with a cough. "He just killed two of their Mage Kings." The Myriad King took a deep breath, the Starlight Queen''s eyes widened, and the Custodian''s expression turned solemn. "So," Amarius slowly said as he looked at the serious Wester. "Are we sounding the rm and preparing for war?" Wester fell into thought, and the other Mage Kings looked at him. With the Lightning Emperor not present, Wester was the highest authority. Shang also wanted to hear Wester''s call. "Who''s that guy?" Amarius suddenly asked as he looked at Shang. Sarah and Jonathan looked at Shang for a second. ¡°He''s the one that informed us regarding Vana''s death." "Wait, what?!" Amarius suddenly shouted inplete shock. "Vana is dead?!" Jonathan nodded. "That''s why the Ancestor is so furious." Amarius'' expression fell. One of his closest friends... Dead... However, that also exined the Lightning Emperor''s actions. "Speaking of," the Myriad King said as he looked at Shang. "! don''t think you need to be present." "He stays.¡± The Mage Kings looked at the Custodian, who had just spoken up. He should stay? The others waited for boration, but Wester didn''t say anything as he continued thinking about how to proceed. In the end, the Mage Kings just looked at each other. Suddenly, all four Mage Kings looked upward with shocked eyes. "Did you feel that?" Amarius asked. Amomentter, several Mage Lords shot out of their offices and inspected the hallway with their Spirit Senses to see if something had happened.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. "Never mind, | got my answer," Amarius said. Shang hadn''t felt anything. "What happened?" Shang asked the Myriad King. "The Space Mana has changed," Jonathan answered. "That usually only happens when Abominations explode." Jonathan sighed. "I only hope this isn''t rted to the Ancestor." "How could it?¡± Sarah asked. "The Ancestor isn''t an Abomination." ¡°| know," Jonathan answered, "but the timing is too coincidental." "| made my decision," Wester suddenly said, eliciting looks from the other Mage Kings. ¡°We are not sounding the rm," he said. "The Ancestor is potentially in life-threatening danger right now." ¡°All of us are not powerful enough to help.¡± ¡°Most likely, the Ancestor will return, and he will tell us what to do. This is something that he has decided to do, and he left without telling me anything." "This means that he didn''t feel the need to tell me, which means that he is confident that he will return alive. We should trust the Ancestor and await his return," Wester said. The other Mage Kings looked at each other. It was so strange to hear Wester talk about the Ancestor''s survival. After all, talking about survival implied that there could also have been death. The Ancestor? Dead? It was such a foreign concept. But now that they had already thought about the Ancestor''s potential death, they couldn''t ignore it anymore. "What if he dies?¡± Everyone looked at Sarah, who had just asked the question. Silence. "Then, nothing we can do will change anything,¡± Jonathan said with a sigh. "We might be Mage Kings, but in front of Mage Emperors, we are still helpless." "| agree with Wester,¡± Amarius said from the side. "Sounding the rm would make it very difficult to present the new circumstances to the masses in a ptable light, and it also wouldn''t help in case of a war." Whoom! Another portal opened beside them, and they looked over. "Do | need to be here? Is this a mandatory meeting?" No one stepped through the portal, but the Mage Kings could see a woman sitting on a luxurious couch through it. It was Emilia, the Heartdevil Queen. "No, it''s not necessary," Wester told her through the portal. The other Mage Kings threw a nce at Wester. "Oh, okay," Emilia said with a chipper in her tone before closing the portal. Sarah gritted her teeth, Amarius smiled hopelessly, and Jonathan acted like he hadn''t seen anything. Wester tried his best to hide it, but Shang could feel annoyance, rage, and disgusting from him. Emilia really wasn''t popr amongst the Mage Kings. Shang could also tell that the other Mage Kings didn''t trust her with sensitive information. In fact, they probably trusted Shang more with keeping sensitive information than Emilia. "Should we inform Kiran?" Jonathan asked Wester. Wester could only sigh. "For now, no. We should just wait for the Ancestor''s return." The other Mage Kings weren''t sure if that was the correct call. Nevertheless, they followed Wester''s decision and waited. And a couple of minutester, the Lightning Emperor finally returned! Chapter 816 Chapter 816 Anew portal opened in front of the gathered Mage Kings, and the Lightning Emperor walked through. All the people in the hallway of the Lightning Manor stopped walking and looked with awe at the Lightning Emperor. Everyone knew what he looked like, but very few people had actually seen him.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. When the other Mage Kings saw him, a huge part of their worry disappeared. The Ancestor was still alive. The portal behind the Lightning Emperor closed again, and he let out a sigh. "Well, that was an adventure," hemented. "Wee back," Wester said politely. The Lightning Emperor smiled a bit and nodded toward Wester. Whoom! Asecondter, another portal opened, and Emilia walked through it. Based on her unsurprised attitude about seeing the Lightning Emperor, it was probably him that had called her over. Whooom! Then, another portal opened, and a man with ck hair and a serious gaze walked through it. It was Kiran, the Catastrophe King. Now, all the living Mage Kings of the Lightning Manor had gathered in front of the Lightning Emperor. The Lightning Emperor nodded with a smile. "Let''s all talk in my study." The Mage Kings nodded. "Shang," the Lightning Emperor said, looking at Shang. "Please wait here. | need you for a momentter." Shang just nodded. The Mage Kings, except for Wester, were shocked that the Lightning Emperor not only knew of Shang but even wanted to talk to him in such a situation. In an instant, Shang''s importance shot through the roof in their minds. The Lightning Emperor led the Mage Kings through the door to his study, and Shang just waited in front of the door. Shang didn''t look like it, but he was still worried about how things would proceed. Had the Lightning Emperor suspected that it had been the God? What had actually happened over at the Judgment Pce after Amarius left? ording to Amarius, three Mage Kings had died today, and Shang doubted that such an extraordinary situation would just pass by as if nothing had happened. Changes had to being. Shang only hoped that no one suspected him. After all, two of the four people that knew about the power of his Spirit Sense had died, and both of them had been connected to the Contender Department, which was where Shang was. Also, why did the Custodian want him to stay earlier? Sadly, Shang had to wait for his answers. In the end, several hours passed before the door opened again. The Mage Kings walked out of the door with furrowed brows. Without saying anything, they created their own portals and left. Except for the Custodian. The Custodian just nced at Shang. "The Ancestor wants to see you." Shang nodded and walked through the door. After walking for a bit, he arrived at the Lightning Emperor''s study. The door opened automatically, and Shang entered. "Please, sit," the Lightning Emperor said, gesturing to the chair in front of his desk. Shang sat down without saying anything. The Lightning Emperor looked troubled as he released a sigh. For a couple of seconds, he just looked at the desk. And then, he suddenly smirked. "| solved one of our biggest problems," he said with self-satisfied confidence. ¡®Our?¡¯ Shang thought. "Yes?" he asked. The Lightning Emperor chuckled. "| got a way for you to be an Emperor." Shang''s mind stopped working. What?! Be an Emperor?! How?! "What happened?" Shang asked. The Lightning Emperor chuckled and began to tell Shang everything that had happened. When he had talked to his Mage Kings earlier, he hadn''t mentioned a couple of things. For example, he hadn''t mentioned that he had threatened the other Mage Emperors with the Archivist. Yet, he told absolutely everything to Shang. Shang didn''t know the Lightning Emperor very well, which was why the Lightning Emperor''s conduct confused him. Shang knew very well that not many people would trust him or treat him as a friend. However, the Lightning Emperor just talked to Shang about everything that had happened in a very casual tone. It was almost like the Lightning Emperor was talking to a friend. Sadly, Shang didn''t know that the Lightning Emperor''s greatest desire was to go on another adventure again. Sure, he had said that he was interested in leaving the world, but Shang had severely underestimated how much the Lightning Emperor actually wanted to leave the world. In the Lightning Emperor''s mind, Shang had be a key figure. Many years ago, Lucius had been the key to opening the door to adventure. And now, Shang was this key. Shang represented a future of excitement and happiness for the Lightning Emperor. Because of that, he was doing his best to help Shang in bing an Emperor. After listening to everything, Shang felt hope, light, and ambition. "| demanded that tournament only for you," the Lightning Emperor said with augh. ¡°Of course, the others agreed rtively quickly. They know that | probably have someone very talented inside the Lightning Manor since they are not dumb, but they don''t know how powerful they are." "They probably imagine a very talented Mage Lord that is currently training in secret." ¡°But they are still very confident in that kid. After all, even if | produce someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense, they would still be helpless in front of someone with a Dual Affinity for Life and Death." The Lightning Emperor chuckled again. ¡°Luckily, they don''t know that | already have someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense." ¡°And even more, that person is only in the Sixth Realm." "Maybe, you can even reach a sevenfold Spirit Sense, and even if you don''t, I''m still quite confident in your power." Shang nodded. "Thank you for your help. | will repay you in the future." The Lightning Emperor just smiled. "Just do what you promised me in our first meeting.¡± Shang nodded again. "Anyway," the Lightning Emperor said. "| need your power to be secret." ¡°And for that, | need you to be public and known by everyone." Shang wasn''t quite sure what the Lightning Emperor meant. Chapter 817 Chapter 817 "The Emperors havee to an agreement about the war." A powerful Peak Mage Lord hovered in front of over 100,000 people. Surprisingly, these 100,000 people were not Mages but warriors! There were about 90,000 True Path Stage warriors, 9,000 Impose Stage warriors, and about 1,000 World Connection Stage warriors. It had been over 400 years since Shang had arrived in the Lightning Manor originally. With the Lightning Manor''s wealth and experience, it wasn''t very difficult to cultivate an army of powerful warriors. The person standing in front of the warriors was one of the Thunders of the Research Department, and he was responsible for all the warriors. When the warriors heard that the Emperors had finallye to an agreement, excitement and ambition appeared in their eyes. They had been waiting nearly 50 years for this! Around 50 years ago, the world had been shaken. The Empress of Death had assassinated Queen Primordium, and the Lightning Emperor had invaded the Judgment Pce Empire because of that. Two additional Mage Kings and even the Emperor of Life had died, making this the most significant event in thest 300,000 years. All the Emperors had gathered and hade to a decision on how to handle this situation. In the end, they decided that peaceful coexistence was no longer easy to maintain. People were angry at the Empress of Death, but they were even angrier at the Lightning Emperor. So, the Emperors had decided that war was back on the menu. However, since Mage Emperors and Mage Kings were too powerful, they were forbidden from getting involved in the war. 50 years ago, a huge chunk of the world had been eradicated by a battle between two Emperors. This had been a catastrophe and tragedy, and the world shouldn''t go through something like that again. Because of that, the Emperors sat together for nearly 50 years, ironing out all the details of how the war would be fought. And now, they had finallye to an agreement. All the Emperors had agreed to the rules they had created, making it impossible to back out. If someone decided to break the rules, the other Emperors would either hand out unreasonably heavy sanctions or even unite against that Emperor. Naturally, the agreement had been enforced by the most powerful magical contract ever created. Maybe, there was a way for some Emperors to somehow dispel the magical contract in their mind, but that was to be expected. After all, the Emperors were extremely experienced. But the contract wasn''t supposed to be eternal anyway. All the Emperors expected that every other Emperor would immediately start searching for a way to dispel the effects of the contract from their minds, but the public didn''t know that. To the public, the Emperors had agreed to the contract and would keep their word. So, what were the effects of the contract? If an Emperor gave any order that could be considered skirting or warping the rules, that Emperor would fall into aa for 5,000 years. This restriction meant that the Emperors had to fullymit to the rules. They couldn''t even think about ordering anything that could even slightly be considered against the rules. But if one of the Emperors managed to get rid of the contract, they could warp the rules. They could give some orders that might not be perfectly in line with the rules but also didn''t break them. That was a huge advantage. The first Emperor that would manage to break the contract in their mind would get the ability to give dirty orders, grabbing a huge chunk of territory and wealth before the others followed. Due to this, the power of the Emperors was also relevant to the conflict. However, the contract was still very powerful, and it would take a long time until the first Emperor managed to get rid of it. One rule in the contract was that the war should mainly focus on people below the Seventh Realm. People of the Seventh Realm were allowed to participate, but it should be a rarity. Obviously, this was very open to interpretation. With the contract, over 95% of the war had to be fought by troops below the Seventh Realm. But without the restriction, an Emperor could argue that 51% would be considered the majority. This was the power of breaking the contract first. Naturally, there were many more rules, but for now, these weren''t important. What was important was one thing. In front of the warriors stood one figure in white robes. It was Shang. The war was about to start, and ording to the Lightning Emperor''s n, Shang would take a very public and noticeable role in the war. The way the rules had been formted favored the Empire with warriors in them. The exact way how would be revealedter. "Here are the official rules for the war," the Thunder told the warriors as he summoned several small booklets. The warriors read through the booklets, and their eyes began to shine. They could have such a huge impact?! Some of the smarter warriors also realized that these rules favored an Empire with non-Mages. Did the Emperors not realize this? Or did they simply not care? Well, the truth was both, actually. Even if there were many non-Mages in the Sixth Realm, how powerful could they be? They had no foundation, and the Mages would just trample all over them. And even if they had aparable power, how many of them could there possibly be? There were millions of Ancestral Mages and hundreds of millions of Archmages. Also, as soon as the contracts were broken, everyone below the Mage Lord Realm would stop mattering anyway. At that point, only the Mage Lords would be important. During the designing of the Spell that enforced the contract, all the Mage Emperors added small things that would allow them to break it faster and make it more difficult for others to break it. All of them were confident in breaking the contract first. "The war will start tomorrow," the Thunder spoke to everyone. "I''m going to assign you to different areas based on the distribution of the Zones." Zones? Well, if one looked at the map of the Lightning Manor and its surrounding Empires now, one would notice that the Lightning Empire had been split into many small and big Zones. For example, the northeastern corner of the Lightning Empire, right at the coast and at the border of the Twilight Dusk Empire, had a square-shaped Zone about 500,000 kilometers long and wide. That Zone was marked with a big six. That meant that only people inside the Sixth Realm could fight in there to conquer or defend territory. Every Emperor had split their Empire into different Zones before the war started, and every Empire knew about the Zones of every other Empire. Naturally, the Empires were forced to dere Zones based on the focus of the war. This meant that the Empires couldn''t just fill all their Zones with Mage Lords or unimportant High Mages.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. There had to be a certain ratio of different levels. About 50% of the area bordering other Empires was dered to be for people in the Sixth Realm. About 30% were for people in the Fifth Realm. About 15% were for people in the Fourth Realm. And 5% were for people in the Seventh Realm. Every century, the Emperors could redistribute their Zones, but they had to adhere to this ratio of Zones. That was until they broke the contract in their mind. Amomentter, the Thunder assigned all the warriors to their relevant Zones based on the ns of the Lightning Manor. Including Shang. Chapter 818 Chapter 818 Shang sat on top of a mountain. Soon, the war would officially start. At this moment, Shang was already inside the Zone he had been assigned to. Shang had seen a couple of other Ancestral Mages in his Zone but not even a single other warrior. On top of that, the number of Ancestral Mages in this Zone was not nearly as high as in other Zones. Howe? Was this Zone unimportant? No, the opposite, actually. This was probably the most important Zone of the entire Lightning Manor. This was the southeastern corner of the Lightning Manor, the only Zone that bordered three other Empires instead of one. The Zone wasn''t very big, only 100,000 kilometers wide and long, but it was extremely important. Empires were only allowed to attack a territory that shared a border with their own territories. At this moment, only a small part of the Zone bordered the Judgment Pce''s territory, but if that small part got conquered by the Judgment Pce, they would gain ess to more territories. It was like infecting a corner square of a chessboard with a disease that could only affect bordering squares. The disease could infect one square, then two at once, three at once, four at once, and so on. Because of that, the Lightning Manor couldn''t allow the Judgment Pce to even gain a single piece of territory. That was why Shang and the strongest Ancestral Mages of every level were in this ce. This ce alone had 20 Ancestral Mage Clouds, which was insane. But due to that, there were also not many normal Ancestral Mages. One had to remember that the number of normal Ancestral Mages is many times greater than the number of Cloud Ancestral Mages. And since the war favored quality over quantity the higher the Realm was, there also was no need for many other Ancestral Mages in this ce. Shang had noticed that the levels of the Cloud Ancestral Mages around him were split evenly. There were five Peak Ancestral Mages, five Late Ancestral Mages, five Mid Ancestral Mages, and five Early Ancestral Mages. All of this had been brought here to defend from the Judgment Pce. Naturally, based on theposition of the defensive forces, it was apparent that this would not be a normal war where two armies just shed with each other. Something like that was too chaotic and would allow for too much interference of irrelevant powers. Additionally, the current and future powers of the Empire were supposed to be tested in this war. The way this war would be fought was much more orderly. Shang and the Ancestral Mages kept waiting in their Zones. The Ancestral Mages were not quite confident in Shang''s power or the Lightning Manor''s n, but they still followed orders. ¡°Two more hours," a Bolt supervising this territory told everyone. Then, he looked at Shang. "I think you should nt your g now, just to be sure." Shang slowly stood up and flew towards the southeast. He stopped above a thick and thriving forest filled with weaker beasts. The area around Shang actually didn''t have any valuable beasts or resources, making it economically unimportant, but that didn''t matter. What was important was the political value of an area. And the political value of this area was extremely important. In fact, it was the most important. The length of the border the two Empires were sharing was only about 5,000 kilometers. These 5,000 kilometers blocked an entire Empire from invading the Lightning Manor. Shang stopped around 10,000 kilometers away from the border of the Judgment Pce. He summoned a huge purple g and rammed it into the ground. The huge g had a big six on it and a two stars above the six. The six represented the Realm, and the stars represented the level inside that Realm. This g was something very important, and there were not many of them avable in each Empire. This was a Defender g, and there was only one g per level, which came to five per Realm. As soon as Shang put the g into the ground, a barrier with a diameter of 5,000 kilometers appeared around him. The barrier was transparent and didn''t block anything yet. But as soon as someone in the Early Sixth Realm entered, it would close. This single barrier covered the entire border to the Judgment Pce. If anyone from the Judgment Pce wanted to enter the Lightning Manor, they would need to pass through it. And then, Shang just waited. Right now, everything was calm, but in two hours, things would turn chaotic. The other Ancestral Mages in the Zone were waiting in the center of the Zone. Due to how the war was fought, they didn''t need to wait near the borders. Everyone waited for the start. At this moment, all the Empires held their breath. What would happen? Would every Empire suddenly attack every other Empire? Would no one attack immediately and just watch how things progressed? Would there be a couple of skirmishes? The next two hours for the longest two hours of everyone''s life. And when they were up... Nothing happened. The Empires just silently waited for anything to happen. Well, that was for the southeastern half of Aterium.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. While five of the Empires felt nothing, the four Empires in the center and northwest of Aterium certainly felt the start. The Emperors were all angry with the Lightning Emperor, which was why they wanted to attack his Empire the most right now. So, every other Empire saw nothing happen to their borders. But the Lightning Manor... DING! DING! DING! DING! As soon as the two hours were up, one person after the other shot into the Lightning Empire across all their borders. There was always only one person charging forward alone. When the people of the Lightning Manor saw these people, they didn''t attack immediately. They had to wait. One High Mage from the Twilight Dusk Empire stopped 500 kilometers into a Zone for High Mages of the Lightning Empire. Then, that Mage took out a big g in the shape of a cross and rammed it into the ground. WHOOOM! A barrier appeared with a diameter of 1,000 kilometers. Just like Shang''s barrier, this barrier was transparent and didn''t block anyone yet. The fluctuations of the barrier told everyone who saw it that the person in the middle of the barrier was a Mid High Mage. DING! DING! DING! Many other gs and barriers were nted into the ground along the Lightning Manor''s borders. All barriers showed the power of the person controlling the g. And they showed one more thing. A timer. It was a timer counting down from 60 minutes. If the person controlling the g was not in a fight and still alive when the timer reached zero, everything inside the barrier would be imed by the attacking Empire. A Bolt looked at the barriers that had been created in her Zone and looked at the warriors and Mages waiting behind her. Then, she assigned fitting people for every barrier. AMid High Mage passed through the barrier the other Mid High Mage had created. WHOOOM! Immediately, the barrier closed and changed color. These barriers and gs were designed by the Emperors, and as soon as they closed, it was impossible for any Spirit Sense to enter them. That included Mage Kings and Mage Emperors. Only Mana could pass through in order not to starve the people inside it. The barrier would only turn transparent again when one of the two people died. This was to keep the powers of the winning soldier secret from the other Empire. Naturally, only people of the same level were allowed to attack a person inside a barrier. And that was where Shang''s g differed from all the other gs. Shang''s g was Defender g, which meant that he had the initiative. Instead of having to wait for someone to create a barrier, he could set his own barrier. If the Judgment Pce sent an extremely powerful Peak Ancestral Mage, Shang couldn''t possibly kill them. But as long as they only sent Early Ancestral Mages... This was Shang''s job. He alone would block the forces of the Judgment Pce. This was the most important position. And naturally, the other Empires would take note of the defender. Soon, everyone would know who Shang was. Chapter 819 Chapter 819 More and more of the barriers became clouded and imprable as more and more Mages started to fight. The barriers continued being clouded for a very long time. After all, battles between roughly equal Mages took a long time to resolve. However, there were still a few barriers that became transparent rather quickly. And surprisingly, nearly all of these barriers had had at least one warrior fight in them. About 50% of the warriors survived, but naturally, there were also many deaths among the warriors. One of the Mages that had barely won took a deep breath and looked at the g he had nted. Over 59 minutes remained on the timer. That was when the Mage realized something, and his eyes widened in shock and horror. When everyone had prepared for the war, they had assumed that they would only need to fight one battle. After all, duels between Mages took hours, and the timer was only one hour. This meant that, as long as they didn''t fight someone extremely weak, they would only need to fight once to conquer the territory. None of them had even thought about the warriors. They knew that there were other Paths, but the other Paths were not even relevant in the Third Realm. The different additions, evolutions, and resources the Mages had ess to elevated their Battle-Strength far beyond the reach of anyone else in the Third Realm. Sure, they had heard about a couple of warriors, but they were a fancy collectible at most. Warriors didn''t really reach the power of Mages, and if there were some that did, there would be so few that no one cared. Yet, these warriors had appeared in the war. And the Mage realized that he would most likely die today.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The power of the attackers was hard to discern since there were many ways of hiding someone''s aura and their intensity. But when one of the Mages won, the enemy would be able to tell quite a bit more about their power. How long did the battle take? What was the condition of the winner''s health? Naturally, this entire war wasn''t only being fought by the forces of the Empires themselves. Sure, when it came to Ancestral Mages and Mage Lords, there probably weren''t many unaffiliated people, but for Archmages and High Mages, the majority of the forces wereprised of people living in the Empires but not actively working for them. Naturally, that only counted for the attacking force since there was no limit on how many gs one could nt in the same spot consecutively. The defenders still had to be very powerful since losing a territory was very bad for the Empire. Essentially, one had infinite chances at attacking but only one chance at defending. Unless one had warriors. The Mage floating beside the g nervously looked at the edge of the transparent barrier. He wanted to leave. But he couldn''t! Once an Attack g had been nted, one couldn''t leave until the timer was up. The Bolts took note of the barriers that became transparent again very quickly and sent stronger people. The warriors that managed to win quickly ran to a group of Mages. The Mages distributed Contribution Points based on their performance, which the warriors quickly exchanged for resources. Surprisingly, most of the resources were powerful weapons and armor. That was because they had to defend more territories. The strongest warriors had all signed contracts that gave them bountiful resources in exchange for having to defend the Lightning Manor if there ever were a war. Naturally, since there had never truly been a war, everyone signed it. It was free resources. And here they were now... Fighting a war... Of course, most warriors were mad that they had to go to war, but there was no way out. They had signed the contract. However, not everything was bad. Each battle they won gave them a boatload of Contribution Points, and these Contribution Points could be exchanged for essentially everything. The n of most of the warriors was the same. First, get the best weapons and armor. That would help in winning more battles. About 99% of warriors did that first. Second, get enough Contribution Points to choose one''s opponent instead of being assigned one. That would take about three additional battles on average. About 50% of warriors chose that next. About 30% decided to skip that step and immediately go for step three. Step three was to be freed from having to fight in the war. After purchasing weapons and armor, this would take about five battles on average. People that decided to buy the privilege to choose one''s opponent would need to survive for a total of nine battles from the start of the war, while people that skipped purchasing that privilege only needed to fight six battles. However, these people would need to fight two additional battles where their opponents were assigned, making this extremely risky. The remaining 20% decided to purchase the privilege of choosing their opponent but wouldn''t immediately want to exit the war. Instead, they bought resources that would increase their level and would help them in bing more powerful in the future. For example, a True Path Stage warrior couldmission the creation of a fitting technique for them from a Spark working for the Research Department in the warrior division! A Spark was an insanely powerful Ancestral Mage, and these specific Sparks had been working on researching warriors for centuries! The techniques these Sparks could create were insanely powerful and useful. On top of that, there were even ways to purchase a sort-of ritual that would increase the power of one''s Mana Pathways, allowing a warrior to create a Beast Core when they broke through to the Impose Stage. There were even weapons that could move on their own and absorb ore to be more powerful! These weapons weren''t nearly as good as Shang''s swords, but they were vastly better than all the other weapons the warriors had ess to. This war could transform a normal warrior into a genius! One could even purchase a spot in the Lightning Manor! About 80% of warriors wanted to leave the war as quickly as possible. The remaining 20% wanted to take this opportunity to reach for the sky. Yet, how many warriors would actually survive? That was still unknown, but one thing was certain. There wouldn''t be many survivors. The war raged on. And on the southeastern corner of the Empire, Shang was also fighting his battles. Chapter 820 Chapter 820 Allittle bit earlier, a huge army of Mages waited near the border of the Lightning Manor. There were thousands upon thousands. When the war started, everyone looked with excitement toward the northwest. There, they saw a humongous barrier with a big six and two stars on it. Early Ancestral Mage Realm. ¡°What a peculiar choice," a woman with ck hair and ck robes muttered with a grin. Everyone else respectfully stood behind her. She was the general of this entire war for the Judgment Pce. She was one of the Mage Kings belonging to Kali. Since there was only a single attacking point for the Judgment Pce currently, the Mage King didn''t have a lot to overlook and n. Her entire job was to take this Zone and then maybe a couple more. After that, the actual strategists could take over since it would turn into more of a normal war instead of a singr duel. "An Early Ancestral Mage," she said with a chuckle as she looked at the distant Shang. Right now, she could see with her Spirit Sense since the barrier was still transparent. Shang exhibited quite an impressive aura. Under normal circumstances, she would think that Shang was someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. However, since there were plenty of ways to disguise and change one''s aura, she didn''t really trust it. Maybe this was actually a sacrificialmb to gain information? Just winning the battle in the Defender g wasn''t enough. One also had to ce an Attack g after that. It was also possible that the Lightning Manor actually readied all their Defender gs for this position, ramming down one of them after the other. Everyone knew that this territory would be the biggest hotspot. Sending someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense into battle anywhere else would almost certainly guarantee a victory, but sending one of those into this Zone was extremely dangerous. Was someone like that defending this spot? Maybe. ¡°Any volunteers?" the Mage King asked. The group consisting of Early Ancestral Mages looked at each other. The less powerful Ancestral Mages looked at the more powerful ones. "I''ll go," one of them, standing near the back, said. The Mage King inspected the person that had spoken up and snickered. "Sure," she said with a snicker. "Go ahead." "Thank you," the volunteer said before shooting into the sky and flying into the barrier. The barrier quickly closed up, hiding the inside from any onlookers. The Mage King just slowly shook her head with a smile. "Idiot," she said. The person that had entered was someone that didn''t directly belong to the Judgment Pce. He was a volunteer. He definitely wasn''t weak. If he tried to, he could enter the Judgment Pce. But he wasn''t someone that could possibly win such a battle. However, the Mage King didn''t care. Her army was bursting with people wanting to charge into the Lightning Manor. She could throw Mages at this Defender g, and it wouldn''t matter. But in a way, she also understood why these people were so keen on volunteering. After all, anyone that won a battle in this territory would receive one Grade Eight Mana Crystal. It was a ridiculously high bounty. Inside the barrier, Shang noticed that the barrier had clouded over, which meant that his opponent had entered. Sadly, due to the size of the territory, Shang didn''t see his opponent yet. The barrier had a radius of 5,000 kilometers, and Shang''s Spirit Sense had a radius of 3,000 kilometers. It would take a bit for the opponent to enter his Spirit Sense. Surprisingly, it took over two minutes for Shang''s opponent to enter his Spirit Sense. Shang could see why. His opponent was moving slowly while trying to hide with a Spell that made him look like a cloud of sand. Shang could see that his opponent had a twofold Spirit Sense and that he was most likely in the upper half of people with twofold Spirit Senses. But just like the Mage King, Shang didn''t trust his senses. What if this was a Cloud from the Judgment Pce in disguise? Shang slowly stood up and readied his Subsis. He very slowly moved it backward. For just a second, Shang stood still as he fully concentrated. SHING! The Subsis thrust forward three times in rapid session! BANG! BANG! BANG! Inside the cloud of sand, the shards of a broken Mana Shield scattered, and a ck shadow appeared for just a tiny instant. The next moment, the cloud of dust dispersed, revealing a person with brown hair and brown robes. The person''s eyes were opened wide in confusion. It was like nothing made sense to them. What was this? Where were they? Who were they? Some secondster, they just moved their head around in confusion, looking at their surroundings. This was a forest. Why were they in a forest? Oh, there was a bird. What a cute bird. Wait, what were they doing? They didn¡¯t remember. Oh, a bird! That was nice. Shang watched the confused man looking back and forth. "Seems like he didn''t disguise his aura,¡¯ Shang thought. Just now, Shang had unleashed a pinpoint burst of Death Mana with the Concept of Purgatory on that Mage''s head, focusing everything on his mind. This essentially turned the man into someone withte-stage Alzheimer''s disease and severe dementia. This guy was gone. He was alive, but his mind had been reduced to nearly nothing. Shang calmly refilled his Death Mana as the confused man just looked at all the interesting things in his surroundings. Some timeter, Shang sat down again and entered his inner world. He summoned a beast and fought against it. Why was Shang doing this? Well, Shang''s job was to keep this territory safe, and he was doing just that. As long as a fight was going on, nobody was allowed to enter or exit this territory. Naturally, there was an upper limit to how long a fight could go. The limit was one week. If bothbatants still lived after one week, they would both be killed by the barrier. This long limit had been implemented so that even the closest fights would find a victor. Naturally, Shang would wait for nearly the full week before killing his opponent. Until then, the confused man could wander around the wilderness all he wanted. The sheer pressure of his Mana stopped all the slightly dangerous beasts from getting close to him.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. For this week, Shang would just train in his inner world. Acouple of hourster, the Mage King of the Judgment Pce realized what was going on and sighed. "| knew this was going to happen." "Well, prepare for a long wait, everyone," she said as she leaned back in the air like she was sitting in a chair. Chapter 821 Chapter 821 Aweek passed as Shang only trained inside his inner world. The confused man was still walking around, not knowing what was happening or where he was. Shang returned to the real world and threw a nce at his opponent. BANG! The man was incinerated as Shang summoned a powerful storm of fire on his location. Without a Mana Shield, Mages weren''t exactly very durable. After some seconds, the barrier became transparent again, and everyone could see inside. The Mage King of the Judgment Pce looked with interest when the barrier lifted. Sadly, there was nothing the Mage King could analyze. She could only tell that a Fire Spell had been used just now, but that was it. This wasn''t really a lot of information to go on. However, one thing was clear. That Early Ancestral Mage inside the Defender g was definitely strong. In thest week, many of the people that had been standing behind the Mage King had left. Originally, the Mage King wanted to have a bit of fun with the war and send in a couple of suicidal people that overvalued their own power. But after having to wait for an entire week, she scratched that idea. All the average and slightly above-average people had left within thest week, but there were still a lot of people behind the Mage King. After all, as soon as they conquered that territory, they could attack more and more. They might be in a sort of bottleneck right now, but that would soon change. ¡°Anyone wanna try?" the Mage King asked the people behind her. There were only the equivalents of Boltlings and Clouds left behind the Mage King. "| want to give it a go," one of them said. The people were not really surprised. In the past week, they had had plenty of time to choose someone for the assault. The Mage King looked at the volunteer. It was a girl with red hair and narrowed eyes. The atmosphere around her seemed heavy and severe. It was almost like she was ready to explode with anger. "You sure?" the Mage King asked. She hadn''t cared about the earlier guy, but the person that had just spoken up was quite a strong Mage with a threefold Spirit Sense. "We already talked about it,¡± a guy behind the volunteer said. "She gets to go first." The Mage King looked at the guy for a bit. Then, she nodded. "Sure. Good luck." The red-haired volunteer readied herself as she summoned her Focus. She definitely wasn''t weak. ¡®Well,¡¯ the Mage King thought, ¡®even if she might not win, | doubt that guy can do the same thing to her as to thest guy. At least | don''t have to wait a week again." After some seconds, the red-haired Mage took to the sky and shot into the barrier. The barrier became cloudy again, and everyone returned to waiting. Shang also noticed that the barrier had be cloudy, and he waited for his opponent. Just a couple of secondster, Shang could see her. "Her Aura has been masked,¡¯ Shang thought as he felt the tiny pressure of a very average Mage. He doubted that his newest opponent was just an average Mage. However, there was a slight chance that this was actually really an average Mage. Inparison to the previous fight, Shang didn''t immediatelyunch an attack. Instead, he pulled out his two swords and waited. The distance between them closed. 3,000 kilometers. No reaction from her. 2,500 kilometers. No reaction from her. 2,000 kilometers. No reaction from her. 1,500 kilometers. No reaction from her. She still hadn''t seen Shang. Or, at least, she was acting like it. At this moment, Shang could feel the feeling of being watched emanate from his bandages. His opponent tried to act like her Spirit Sense wasn''t so powerful. In fact, she was acting very well. However, in front of the bandages, she couldn''t hide the true reach of her Spirit Sense. Shang activated Comet and shot forward. His speed reached terrifying levels, and the two of them very quickly reached each other. Now, there were only around 500 kilometers between them. The Mage readied her Spells and waited for Shang to reach her. Theoretically, Shang was within her range, but she was quite sure that she couldn''t hit him from this distance. Shang pulled his Subsis back. SHING! Then, he rapidly used two Mana Steps to get to a distance of 100 kilometers. The Mage narrowed her eyes. Shang swung his Subsis. WHOOOOM! Acorridor of darkness consumed the Mage. Shang immediately moved through the Darkness, appearing just behind her. At the same time, he used Void Break to consume the Darkness again, which he then shoved back into his Subsis. Everything was so fast that the Mage had problems understanding what had just happened. Why did her opponent get so close to her?! Was he insane?! It had been a long time since Shang had fought someone that hadn''t known that he was actually a warrior. When Shang appeared behind her, The Mage immediately unleashed all her prepared Spells at Shang. DING! DING! DING! Shang''s Subsis destroyed the will on all three of the attacks and absorbed them. The Mage immediately tried to use Mana Step, but Shang''s Domain of Entropy interrupted it. The Mage''s eyes widened in terror. Shang''s violently burning Addum struck down. CRACK! The Mage''s Mana Shield exploded. Shang''s Addum stopped just before hitting her. An instantter, Shang''s finger reached her forehead and infused the Mage''s mind with Death Mana with the Concept of Purgatory. Her eyes lost their light, and her pupils dted. The next instant, Shang grabbed her and threw her at the ground.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. BOOOOM! An explosion urred at the ce where she hit the ground, and Shang retreated into the distance at high speed. Several secondster, the Mage climbed out of the small crater she had created and looked around. Why was she here? Did she make that crater? Why didn''t she remember anything? Oh, a bird! She liked birds. And then, she walked over to look at the birds. Meanwhile, Shang refilled his Death Mana and waited. This time, he wouldn''t wait for a week. Chapter 822 Chapter 822 Five hourster, Shang returned to the real world and focused on the confused woman wandering around his territory. Thest time, he had waited a week to waste as much time as possible. But this time, waiting for an entire week wouldn''t be the optimal course of action. Last time, it was obvious that Shang would be superior to his enemy, but this time, he had fought against quite a strong Mage. Waiting an entire week would unveil Shang''s power as a Cloud to everyone. There was still a high likelihood that Shang was only a Boltling. The Lightning Manor could use him to lure out an enemy with a fourfold Spirit Sense and then directly attack that person with the strongest Cloud they had, killing one of the most talented Mages in the Judgment Pce. For such a n to work, Shang needed to be quite a strong Boltling. Really brutal fights between even Mages on such a level could take up to twelve hours, but Shang decided to end the fight after five. He didn''t want it to appear too close. Shang moved into the sky and spoke severalplex words. Whooom! AMana Shield appeared around him. The next moment, Shang threw a big part of the Mana inside his mind away. And then, he cast a Fire Spell, which killed the confused woman. The cloudy barrier became transparent again, and the enemy Mage King looked at the distant Shang. She could see that he was rapidly absorbing Mana, and with her very experienced eyes, she could also see that Shang wasn''t even close to having a full tank of Mana right now. Everything seemed like the fight had been rtively close. Naturally, she was still skeptical. Shang could be putting on a show. However, the chances of that were low. It was one thing to win against someone, but it was somethingpletely different to win against them without killing them and keeping them alive. Any error could result in a tragedy. On top of that, chances were high that the opponent would just kill themselves as soon as they realized that they had lost. At least with such an action, the detonation of their Mana may take their opponent down with them. In order to put on a show, Shang would have needed to win in a very controlled manner against his enemy without giving them a chance to kill themselves. "Who''s next?" the Mage King asked the people behind her. This time, there was no immediate answer. The people were talking with each other, deciding on who to send next. Naturally, the more powerful ones left the weaker ones the initiative. "I''ll do it," a woman with icy-blue hair said. The Mage King looked over and noticed that the new volunteer looked almost identical to thest one. Were they twins? The new volunteer also had a threefold Spirit Sense, but the pressure she exhibited was just a slight bit stronger than the previous one. "Fine, but | don''t want you to go like this," the Mage King said. Everyone looked over at the Mage King with questioning gazes. The Mage King summoned a piece of paper, which she then rapidly filled with writing. It was a contract. ¡°| want to make sure that we are not being yed with," the Mage King said as the contract floated over to the new volunteer. The volunteer read through it and furrowed her brows. This contract stated that if she lost the battle and five minutes had passed, she would have to kill herself. She only needed to interface with the contract and summon its power, which would then rapidly disperse her soul. Like this, she could end her life, even if all of her powers had been sealed away by the enemy. The purpose of that contract was clear. The Mage King wanted to find out if Shang was putting on a show or not. If they fought for another five or more hours, it meant that Shang wasn''t putting on a show. However, if the fight ended within five minutes, it meant that Shang had been putting on a show all this time. After some seconds, the new volunteer signed the contract and gave it back. "You can go. Good luck," the Mage King said, looking back at the barrier. Naturally, Shang could feel the Mage King''s eyes on him, thanks to his bandage, but he didn''t let it show. The new volunteer took to the sky and shot into the barrier, which became cloudy again. Shang waited for his new opponent. Just like thest time, he waited until the bandage told him that he was being seen. He noticed that his opponent had a threefold Spirit Sense like thest one. This meant that his opponent had bought his disy. Shang charged at his new opponent, and just likest time, he used two Mana Steps and the corridor of darkness again. CRACK! The opponent''s Mana Shield exploded. Shang had won against her the same way he had won against hisst opponent. If his opponent had known that Shang actually wasn''t a Mage, things might have yed out differently. After all, she would have expected Shang to get close to her very quickly, and she would have done her best to constantly widen the distance between them. Because of that, Shang''s fights were over very quickly and were quite easy. One moment of surprise was all he needed. Just likest time, Shang infused her mind with the Concept of Purgatory and retreated. Acouple of minutes passed, in which the confuseddy looked at the beautiful birds again. Outside, the Mage King narrowed her eyes as she looked at the barrier. The five minutes had passed. She looked at the barrier with intensity. When ten minutes were up, she realized that her contract hadn''t been triggered, which meant that the Early Ancestral Mage defending this territory was very likely a very powerful Mage with a threefold Spirit Sense. Sure enough, this had been a trap. The Lightning Manor wanted her to send in someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense, whom they would then proceed to kill. The Lightning Manor was sneaky. But they hadn''t expected that she would see through their y. She wouldn''t fall for their ns. She would continue to send in powerful Ancestral Mages with threefold Spirit Senses until they won. And when they send out their Clouds, she would counter them. Sadly, the Mage King didn''t expect that Shang could use the Concept of Purgatory. Contracts were very secure since they acted on the perception of the person. If the person themselves felt like they were being a bit clever or tricky with the contract, the contract would consider that as breaking the rules. In essence, in order to mess with a contract, one needed to mess with their soul and change their own perception and values. That would mess with someone''s mind, making it very difficult to continue practicing Magic after that. This meant, at this very moment, the Mage with the icy-blue hair genuinely believed that she had a shot at victory.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Maybe, she would actually win? The Mage King waited with excitement for the oue of the battle. Chapter 823 Chapter 823 Five and a half hourster, Shang summoned his Mana Shield again and killed his opponent with a fiery explosion. The barrier became transparent again, and Shang waited for his next opponent. When the Mage King saw that Shang was still alive, she narrowed her eyes. ¡°Quite resilient," she muttered. She looked at the people behind her. "Who''s next?" Three people looked at each other. All three of them wanted to go next. Based on what the Mage King had said, their opponent was very likely an extremely powerful Ancestral Mage with a threefold Spirit Sense. He was probably someone that barely failed to be a Cloud. Nevertheless, there was still a very noticeable difference between someone like that and a Cloud. All three were at the very peak of Mages with a threefold Spirit Sense. At such a level, the strengths and weaknesses of fighting styles and Affinities yed a major role. They still weren''t sure how Shang fought, but at least one of them should have a fighting style that would counter Shang''s fighting style. So, even if one or two of them died, at least one of them should win. Naturally, all of them believed that they were the one. "You go," the Mage King said to one of them. It was a guy with grey hair and grey eyes. The world around him seemed to flow into him, which showed that he had a Gravity Affinity. The guy nodded and walked forward. ¡®Thest two had Ice and Fire as Affinities, which means that he doesn''t care about this kind of fighting style,¡¯ the Mage King thought. ''Maybe we can get him with a Gravity Affinity?¡¯ Amomentter, the Mage King summoned another contract. "Same contract as thest one.¡± The guy read through the contract. He wasn''t the biggest fan of it, but he still signed it. Amomentter, he took to the sky and shot into the barrier, which clouded over again. Some secondster, Shang saw his new opponent. This one''s Aura felt like he had a fourfold Spirit Sense, but just likest time, Shang didn''t trust his senses. So, he waited. When there were only 1,500 kilometers between them, Shang could feel his bandage rming him. At that moment, he realized that they hadpletely bought his act. Shang shot at his opponent again. Acouple of secondster, the two reached each other, and Shang arrived directly in front of his opponent. But this time, he didn¡¯t absorb the darkness around him yet. People with Gravity Affinities liked to scatter their will in the surroundings to manipte the gravity. Absorbing all the Mana might contaminate it. The man used several Spells to create a powerful gravitational field that tried topress Shang into a tiny sphere. This would put enormous strain on a Mana Shield. That was when the man noticed that Shang actually didn''t use a Mana Shield. And yet, he could still resist the gravity! Shang willed the surrounding darkness to flood into the gravity, weakening it. BOOOM! Shang''s Addum exploded, scattering the Gravity Mana. BOOOOOM! Shang''s Addum hit the man''s Mana Shield, but without the added Mana in the Addum, the man''s Mana Shield withstood the attack. DING! The next moment, Shang''s Subsis hit the Mana Shield, but instead of pulling back, the Subsis kept touching the Mana Shield. The man''s eyes opened widely in shock, and he used Mana Step. Yet, the Domain of Entropy stopped the Mana Step. The man used another one, but it was stopped again. And just when he wanted to use the third one, his Mana Shield vanished. During all this time, Shang''s Subsis had been using Darkness Absorb to suck the Mana out of the Mana Shield. The man realized with horror that he was out of Mana. BANG! Shang''s fingers "lightly" pped the man''s forehead, throwing him into the distance and creating another crater. Some secondster, a confused man walked out of the crater. And then, he saw some cute birds. Meanwhile, Shang returned to his spot and refilled his Death Mana. This time, he had used quite a bit of his life energy. Negating two Mana Steps cost a lot of life energy. On top of that, the Gravity Affinity of his opponent had made it a bit more troublesome. Shang guessed that the opponent was also a bit more powerful than the previous two. After some seconds, Shang decided on a time to wait. This time, he would only wait three hours. Why not wait more? After all, the opponent should be more powerful than thest ones, right? Yes, but the opponent''s fighting style was very different, and by waiting less time, Shang wanted to make it appear like he was strong against these kinds of opponents, giving the enemy Mage King more confidence in her next fighters. Eventually, Shang killed the man again. The Mage King looked at the victorious Shang and furrowed her brows. She was quite annoyed that this single Early Ancestral Mage was causing so many problems. This guy had killed one piece of trash and three talented Mages. The other two volunteers felt excited when Shang won. These three had been rivals for a long time, and with one of them gone, things were looking up for them. Additionally, since Shang took less time to win against that one, they now knew more about his fighting style and grew more confident. The Mage King called the next volunteer and made him sign the contract. The next volunteer entered the barrier and shot toward Shang. This time, Shang was fighting someone with a Lightning and Wind Dual Affinity. That was a very fast opponent. Yet, that fight ended extremely quickly. Speed was the strength of this kind of opponent, but speed wasn''t very important when they were literally standing within a couple of meters of each other. Shang had zero problems. This time, Shang decided to wait for nine hours. Nine hourster, Shang used up almost all of his Mana and destroyed huge areas of his surroundings. The nice forest had transformed into a collection of craters. After summoning his Mana Shield, Shang tried his best to make himself appear stressed and exhausted. Shang killed the birdwatcher and waited for his next opponent.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. When the Mage King saw Shang, her eyes narrowed. "Go, quickly!" she ordered thest volunteer. She knew that Shang''s Mana would be refilled when her volunteer arrived, but the same thing wouldn''t be true for his concentration. Shang had been fighting for over a day now without any pause. He was very low on concentration. The Mage King was certain that her next volunteer would win. The next volunteer entered the barrier, which became cloudy again. Almost immediately, Shang''s entire act stopped, and he calmly waited for his next opponent. Chapter 824 Chapter 824 Two dayster, the barrier had be transparent yet again. When the Mage King saw Shang, she almost killed someone just to vent her frustration. Eleven! This guy had killed eleven Mages with a threefold Spirit Sense! Every time the fight ended, he looked more and more exhausted. At this moment, Shang was violently clutching his head as his Mana Shield wobbled with instability. He was nearly dead!N?velDrama.Org owns this. He was at his limit! Just one more! Just one more volunteer! ¡°Next one!" the Mage King shouted with frustration and anger. Silence. "Hurry!" she shouted, looking back at the people behind her. Yet, all the people only looked at the Mage King with uncertainty. They avoided her gaze like the gue. "Where''s the next one?!" she asked with a shout. No one spoke up for several seconds, and the Mage King looked with shock at the gathered people. "We don''t think that he has a threefold Spirit Sense," a certain person standing behind nearly everyone said. The Mage King looked over. "What?" she asked. "We think he yed us for a fool," the guy said. That guy was one of the most powerful people with a fourfold Spirit Sense of the Judgment Pce. He was a Peak Mage Lord and a genuine King Contender. He had a 50% chance of being the chosen one for the next tournament from the Judgment Pce. ¡°But he''s nearly dead!" the Mage King shouted. ¡°How long has he been nearly dead?" the man asked. And then, the Mage King opened her eyes in surprise. Yes, how long had he been nearly dead? But then, how?! Some seconds of silence passed. The Mage King''s arms shook in unending rage. SLAP! And then, she pped herself with nearly all her power. "I''M SO FUCKING STUPID AND ARROGANT!" she shouted in rage. The couple of volunteers acted like they hadn''t seen anything. ¡®I''m so fucking stupid!¡¯ she repeated in her mind. ''As soon as | thought that | saw through his n, | ignored every sign of the opposite being true!" ¡®| believed that, as a Mage King, | was better in scheming than him and that | couldn''t be outsmarted by some mere Ancestral Mage." "My arrogance is the reason why we lost so many powerful Mages!" She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She took another one and exhaled again. And again. And onest time. "He got me," she said quietly to herself. At this moment, she could see Shang slowly recovering. She wanted to immediately send someone in to take advantage of the opportunity. Yet, she held herself back. It was difficult to ept when one was wrong, but as a Mage King, she had that ability. "Fine," she said with a calmer tone, turning to the volunteers again. This time, she was looking at the ten people with fourfold Spirit Senses. "Do any of you want to go next? Also, | need to know if you want to immediately plunge an Attack g into the ground after winning or if you want to retreat after that? Chances are that the Lightning Manor will counter with an even stronger Mage," the Mage King asked. Earlier, she had simplymanded the people to charge forward, but now, she was actually talking to them and asking for their opinions. This was the difference in the value of someone with a threefold Spirit Sensepared to someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. How many Ancestral Mages with a fourfold Spirit Sense were there in the Judgment Pce in total? Abit less than 200. They were rarer than Mage Lords by over 50 times! They were extremely valuable. The ten people looked at each other with furrowed brows. It wasn''t an easy decision toe to. Their opponent definitely wasn''t weak. After all, he had yed with so many different Mages with threefold Spirit Senses. Most of them wouldn''t be confident in pulling something like that off. But there was also a chance that he was just very skilled at winning without killing. Was this an average Cloud or a very powerful one? "If we assume that he has yed with our perception the entire time," one of them said, "we can also assume that there have been even more tricks.¡± ¡°For example, what if he actually reversed the duration of battles? | think it would be best for me to start." ¡°His shortest battle has been against someone with a Gravity Affinity, and he wanted to stop us from sending more by making it appear like that was his easiest opponent." "| also have a Gravity Affinity, and | think | will win," he said. The Mage King nodded. "Possible. Alright, | agree. Do you want to immediately proceed to attack after winning?" "No," the Gravity Mage answered. "There are stronger ones, and | think | will only win due to having an advantage. | can kill him, but someone else needs to attack the actual territory after that." The Mage King nodded. "Then, | wish you good luck.¡± This time, she didn''t ask him to sign a contract. There was no way that Shang could y around with someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. The Mage nodded and shot towards the barrier, which turned cloudy. The war had been going on for nearly two weeks at this point, and the borders had be very messy. There was fighting everywhere, and there were small lines leading into the Lightning Manor''s Empire. Over 100,000 people died. It was a massacre. The Land and Sky Empire and Twilight Dusk Empire were causing humongous problems for the Lightning Manor. The Lightning Manor was using all of its resources to resist them. Yet, one spot held firm. The southeastern corner of the Lightning Manor held as firm as a mountain. It was immovable. It was imprable. And only one person was responsible for that. Shang. Shang alone was keeping the Judgment Pce from joining the war. The entirety of the Judgment Pce was being held back by one small warrior at the Initial Sixth Realm, who was fighting against people at the Early Sixth Realm. But now, things might change. The Judgment Pce sent the first Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense at Shang. The conflict about Shang''s territory reached unprecedented intensity! Chapter 825 Chapter 825 Shang noticed that the barrier had be cloudy a bitter than usual, which meant that things might have changed. After a couple of seconds of waiting, Shang saw his new opponent. Their aura was very weak, but as always, he couldn''t trust his senses. The only thing he could trust was his bandage. When the enemy reached a distance of 2,000 kilometers, Shang felt his bandage react. "So, they''ve finally sent people with fourfold Spirit Senses,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l guess | can''tin about the number of talented Mages | have killed.¡± Surprisingly, the grey-haired man shot directly toward Shang as soon as he found him. He was not putting up an act. He essentially directly told Shang that he had a fourfold Spirit Sense. "Fine," Shang said as he readied his swords. In the distance, the grey-haired man narrowed his eyes. This confirmed that Shang had a fourfold Spirit Sense. He had truly yed everyone. An instantter, Shang shot forward with Comet.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. The grey-haired Mage cast several Spells, preparing himself for Shang''s arrival. The two were rapidly charging at each other. But then, just 500 kilometers away from the opponent, Shang suddenly stopped. He lifted his Addum, and the world inside the barrier began to shake. The grey-haired man immediately felt like he was about to die. The opponent was preparing an insanely powerful Spell! Shang shed downward. At the same time, above the Mage, an illusory Addum appeared, which was burning with insanely hot fire. Shang was unleashing Meteor! Meteor was Shang''s most powerful attack without using Entropy, but it was also very slow. The Mage quickly thought about some way to deal with the enemy''s Spell. Sure, Mana Step was always an option, but that would waste a lot of Mana. Maybe release a couple of Spells to destroy the attack? No, the attack was too strong. In the end, the Mage decided to use Mana Step. The Mage vanished, reappearing only 300 kilometers away from Shang. "His primary attacking range is way longer than mine,¡¯ the Mage thought. ''I can''tunch such a devastating Spell from such a distance. | should get closer to get him into my attacking range." ¡®But his way of casting Spells is very strange. I''ve seen a couple of people that use weapons that are not Foci, but I''ve never seen someone not using a Focus that was this powerful.¡¯ The next instant, the darkness around Shang''s Subsis vanished, and he lifted his Addum again. This time, Shang shed forward with all his power. WHOOOOM! Asmall but brightly shining objectunched from Shang''s Addum. Missile! The man narrowed his eyes and moved his hand forward. The next moment, a powerful gravitational field appeared in the attack''s way, changing its trajectory. It was about to miss the man by quite a wide margin. At the same time, the man''s Focus released a powerful beam of gravity, directly shooting toward Shang. If Shang got hit by that, all of his organs around the beam of gravity would be pulled in and destroyed. SHING! Suddenly, Shang vanished as he used Mana Step. And he appeared directly beside the Missile he hadunched earlier! Shang''s Addum touched Missile, and the attack vanished. The next instant, Shang pointed his Subsis at the opponent. BANG! Aspear of darkness hit the man''s Mana Shield. It was Needle! There were only a couple of kilometers between the two, and the opponent couldn''t evade such a fast attack. However, Needle didn''t do a lot of damage. It barely destroyed 10% of the opponent''s Mana. Yet, at this moment, the man''s eyes shone as he saw an opportunity to win. He had anticipated that Shang would try to save his missed attack from earlier! That attack had been insanely powerful, which meant that it cost a lot of Mana to use. It would be a waste to just let it miss. So, the man decided to tank Shang''s attack andunch his own in return. The man''s Focus exploded with a terrifying amount of Gravity Mana. Shang was immediately immobilized. Not even his powerful body could resist that attack! And then, the man shoved his right hand forward. WHOOOOM! A terrifying wall of gravity shot at Shang. CRACK! The man smiled. Shang''s Mana Shield had just exploded, and Shang was shot into the distance! It would be a miracle if Shang managed to survive. After all, a Mage''s body wasn''t very powerful. Shang was thrown into the distance,pletely out of Mana. The Gravity Wave seemed to have done quite a lot of damage as Shang spat blood. His body even withered in several ces. The man watched as Shang''s body was thrown nearly a thousand kilometers into the distance, smashing through mountains and trees. Eventually, Shang''s body stopped inside a crater it made. He was nearly dead. His bones were broken in several ces, and he looked like an old man. His breathing was heavy andbored. The man used a couple of Mana Steps to arrive above the dying Shang. "You were really powerful,¡± he slowly said. "You killed so many of our Mages." ¡°But all of this ends today." Then, the Mage pointed at Shang and unleashed a powerful wave of gravity. BOOOOOM! The ground for several kilometers was pushed down, but the man only furrowed his brows. 200 kilometers away, Shang was spitting out blood. "You''re out of Mana," the man said. "Using Mana Step in such a situation will only dy the inevitable." "Die with some honor." The next second, fire and ice appeared around Shang as he shot into the distance. The man only snorted. This was a dying man''sst gasp as he followed behind Shang. Shang was pretty fast. In fact, he was even faster than the Mage. But the Mage knew that Shang couldn''t possibly keep moving so fast. Moving at such speeds had to cost a lot of Mana. And the chase continued. The Mage kept flying after Shang, even needing to use Mana Step from time to time. Luckily, the time between Mana Steps was long enough to regenerate all the used Mana. For nearly a full minute, the man just kept chasing after Shang. Eventually, the man''s brows furrowed. Shouldn''t Shang be out of Mana by now? Additionally, why did he still look so dead? Every Mage would have shown some kind of recovery by now. More and more questions appeared inside the man''s mind. And eventually, his eyes widened in realization. The Concept of Purgatory! Naturally, as a talented Mage of the Judgment Pce, he knew all about the Death Affinity. After all, this was the Judgment Pce''s specialty. As soon as he thought of the Concept of Purgatory, everything fell into ce. The man stopped chasing and cast a quick butplex Spell. And his pupils shrank in horror. Just now, he had used a Spell to make Death Mana visible to him, and he saw that his entire Mana Shield was covered in Death Mana that was using the Concept of Sickness! This was literally a time bomb! Naturally, Shang noticed that the man had seen through his n. In an instant, Shang''s body healed to its peak condition. Then, Shang snapped his fingers. BOOOOOM! The Death Mana covering the man''s Mana Shield exploded, destroying nearly 80% of all of his Mana! SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang used three Mana Steps to get close. He had had enough time to recover the Mana in his mind since he wasn''t using any to move. CRACK! Shang''s Addum hit the Mana Shield with full force, destroying it. The man immediately willed himself to explode since he knew that he was about to die. Yet, Shang''s Subsis moved too quickly. The Subsis touched the man''s head and infused it with Death Mana with the Concept of Purgatory. Shang had recovered his storage of Death Mana in thest minute. The next instant, Shang pped the guy toward the ground. And just like this, another birdwatcher was born. Chapter 826 Chapter 826 Shang refilled his Death Mana once more as the man looked at the cute birds. This time, he had needed to put in quite a lot more effort on destroying his opponent''s Mana Shield without killing them. The other Gravity Mage had already posed a small problem to Shang back then, and that Gravity Mage had only had a threefold Spirit Sense. In fact, Shang''s current opponent had been right. Gravity Mages were Shang''s weakness. Luckily, theck of information from his opponents made these fights far easier than normal. Usually, every person Shang was fighting knew that he was a warrior. Everyone in the Hibye knew each other, and they all knew that Shang was a warrior. But here, things were different. The Judgment Pce didn''t even consider that someone as powerful as Shang could be a warrior. Everyone entered the fight, assuming that Shang was a Mage. Even when Shang used ranged attacks with his swords, they simply believed that they were veryplex and strange Spells. Naturally, in thest fight, Shang used that to his advantage. He had even used Mana Shield to make it seem like he was a Mage. Sure, when his Mana Shield exploded, his mind truly was out of Mana, but he didn''t really care that much. If necessary, he could just use his Corridor of Darkness to escape. Could Shang have won without using these tricks? Very likely, but Shang probably wouldn''t have been able to corrode his opponent''s mind with the Concept of Purgatory. This was not just a normal duel between two people. This was a war, and both of them knew that there was no way to exit this ce. Under normal circumstances, the loser didn''t immediately kill themselves. What if they could bribe or ckmail their opponent to let them go? What if a third person came to save them? There were too many variables. But here, these things wouldn''t happen. Even if Shang wanted them to survive, he would have to pay with his own life due to the barrier. So, the best way was to just explode. Like this, the Gravity Mana the man left behind would tell his people that he hadmitted suicide, and it would unveil Shang''s true power. Also, he might take Shang with him to the grave. But since Shang wanted to kill more Mages from the Judgment Pce, he used this borate ploy to mask his true strength. Even more, his previous tactic of acting like he was nearly dead would work again since nobody would believe that Shang was so powerful that he had the luxury to put up such an act after fighting someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. Only someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense could do something like that. But Shang couldn''t possibly have a fivefold Spirit Sense. Not only would the Judgment Pce have already heard of him, but they also refused to believe that the Lightning Manor would put their strongest genius into such a precarious, open, and dangerous situation. This would give the other Empires a chance to send their own peak geniuses at Shang that countered him. That would put the future of the Lightning Manor in jeopardy. Meanwhile, Shang just waited inside the cloudy barrier. Outside, the Mage King was looking at the cloudy barrier with narrowed eyes. The two Early Ancestral Mages had already been fighting for nearly an hour. This confirmed that Shang had yed her. Acouple of remaining volunteers with threefold Spirit Senses took deep breaths. To think that they had been willing to volunteer to fight someone like that. At this moment, they were relieved and happy that the Mage King had decided to choose other people over them. "| need another volunteer,¡± the Mage King suddenly said to the people behind her. The Mages looked with shock at the barrier. No, the barrier was still cloudy. "Just in case," the Mage King said. "In case the enemy wins, | need someone that immediately charges in without giving him any downtime. You know how exhausting it is to fight someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense." The volunteers nodded and discussed amongst each other who would go next. Being the first to fight Shang was bad since Shang had been rested. But now, their chance hade. They could fight an exhausted enemy! After a while, they decided that a woman with a Metal Affinity would go next. If the enemy actually won, it meant that he most likely was strong against people fighting with domains like Gravity Mages and Time Mages. So, they decided to try a Mage that fought with physical attacks. After a moment, everything was prepared, and the grey-haired woman readied herself to join the battle in case she needed to. Suddenly, the Mage King took out her Communication Crystal and looked at it with furrowed brows. "Yes?" she transmitted to the Communication Crystal. ¡°How long are you going to take?" an annoyed but polite voice came from the Communication Crystal. "Our n was made with your help in mind. It''s been two weeks, and we have taken devastating losses. So, how much longer?" The Mage King gritted her teeth. This was the Mage King responsible for the assault from the Land and Sky Empire. "We are fighting someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense," the Mage King said. "He has been acting like a pig thest two weeks, and he ate eleven Mages with threefold Spirit Senses. It''s not like we are wasting time here. We''re also losing people." "Wait," the Mage King from the Land and Sky Empire said. "You''re not joining us because of one guy?" The female Mage King gritted her teeth with more intensity as shame and rage washed over her. "Yes," she said through gritted teeth. "So, you''re telling me that you haven''t even won a single fight in thest two weeks?" the other Mage King asked. "Yes!" the Mage King shouted in rage. "| fucked up! I''m a shitmander! | know! It''s not like I''m trying to be this shit, okay?!" The other Mage King became silent after that outburst. ¡°How are you getting stopped by one guy?¡±Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. "Shut the fuck up!" the Mage King shouted in fury. "We just sent in a Gravity Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense! The problem should be solved within the next 24 hours!" And then, she cut the connection as she steamed in unending fury. The other Mages behind her didn''t dare to say anything. Chapter 827 Chapter 827 Acouple of hours passed, and finally, the barrier became transparent again. When the Mage King saw Shang, she gritted her teeth again. At this moment, Shang''s Mana Shield was showing signs of instability, and his body was slightly shaking, which was a sign of extreme anxiety. However, he was still alive. He had killed someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense! That was literally worse than every death before thisbined if one ignored the time Shang had actually won for the Lightning Manor. "Gol" the Mage King shouted at the Metal Mage behind her. The Metal Mage narrowed her eyes and charged into the barrier, which quickly became cloudy again. Shang waited for his enemy. Eventually, he saw her. ¡®Metal, huh?'' he thought. When the Metal Mage saw him, she narrowed her eyes and prepared her Spells. Shang immediately shot at her. Yet, surprisingly, she stopped rtively quickly. Suddenly, she moved her hand from one side to the other in a rapid motion. Shang felt his instincts screaming at him and jumped to the side.N?velDrama.Org owns this. SHING! It was like a line had gone through space at the ce where Shang had just been. ¡®That''s troublesome,¡¯ Shang thought. Mages could attack from far away, but it was very unusual for a Mage to attack from nearly 2,000 kilometers away. Shang analyzed the cut that had gone through the space beside him. ¡®Not very fast and not a lot of power, but it would still injure me quite severely if it hit. It probably doesn''t cost a lot of Mana." ¡®But the attacking range is insane.¡¯ When the Metal Mage saw that Shang managed to avoid her attack, her eyes narrowed further. It wasn''t easy to avoid this attack without using Mana Step. The next moment, Shang shot at her while using Comet. She readied another couple of Space Cuts and used them. This time, she used three at once, but Shang managed to avoid those three as well. This took the Metal Mage by quite a lot of surprise. "How does he have so much control over his body''s movement?¡¯ she thought. ¡®Did he spend years training his body just for that?" As she saw Shang get closer and closer, she gritted her teeth and decided to change her approach. These Spells had been extremely useful in the past, but this time, they were not as useful. Instead, she readied several volleys of metal spears. When Shang was only 200 kilometers away, she shot them directly at him. DING! DING! DING! Shang let go of his two swords and hid behind his Addum as he used several sts to stop himself from being pushed into the distance. At the same time, Shang''s hands moved at rapid speeds, catching several spears that were passing by him. At that moment, the Metal Mage''s eyes widened in shock. What?! How?! As the volley passed, Shang came out from behind his Addum and threw one spear after the other at her. Shang''s body was in the Early Sixth Realm, which meant that he was essentially as fast and powerful as these Spells. So, when Shang threw these spears, they weren''t much slower or weaker than the ones the Metal Mage had thrown. CRK! CRK! CRK! The Metal Mage summoned a metallic grinder in front of her that destroyed the spears that were shot at her. Even though she managed to react with impressive speed, she was still deeply shocked. How could her opponent catch her spears like that?! And then, Shang suddenly arrived in front of her. She immediately used Mana Step to retreat. But it failed! WHOOOOM! At that moment, an intensely burning Addum reached her Mana Shield. Shang hadn''t used up the stored Mana inside his Addum. CRACK! And the Mana Shield broke apart with one strike! Amomentter, another birdwatcher was born. Shang refilled his Death Mana and retreated to his usual spot. This fight had been much easier than thest one. The reason why people with fourfold Spirit Senses were so powerful was that they knew so many Concepts that gave them extremelyplex and varied attacks, added with a lot of creativity. Their Mana storage or the power of their Spells weren''t necessarily higher. Shang couldn''t use his body to really fight against a Domain made of gravity, but he could use his body to fight metal spears. Instead of usingplex attacks, Shang simply overpowered his opponent. He just straight-up used muscles to ovee brains. While the Gravity Mage had been a counter to Shang, Shang had been a counter to the Metal Mage. The Metal Mage''s impressive Spells had been useless against someone with such a strong body and controlled movement. Meanwhile, the Mage King of the Judgment Pce was waiting with narrowed eyes. "Do we have another volunteer?" she asked. The hearts of the people dropped. Could their opponent actually win again? They had already sent two of the three big categories, domain and physical attacks. The only thing left was energy, which was elements like wind, fire, and lightning. Even more, the opponent should have been exhausted by thest fight. Could he actually still win? The people were talking with each other, but the mood was very different from before. In the beginning, they had taken the opponent lightly. Then, they had looked at the opponent as an equal. But now, they felt nervous and a bit scared. How powerful was this guy? "I''ll do it," one guy with red hair said. The others looked over and nodded. If even he failed... This specific person was one of the strongest Mages they had. He had a Fire and Wind Dual Affinity, and he could even use ze with incredible mastery. This guy was probably within the top 5% of every Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense, and he was the strongest Early Ancestral Mage they had. All the stronger Mages were at different levels. He was truly thest straw. If he failed, the Judgment Pce would have no one left. Chapter 828 Chapter 828 BANG! The Mana Shield of Shang''s opponent broke, and his eyes turned confused. Shang took a deep breath. ¡®This wouldn''t have been so easy if | hadn''t fought that shitty peacock in the trial. Luckily, | know how to counter this stuff now,¡¯ he thought. The strongest Early Ancestral Mage of the Judgment Pce was now a confused birdwatcher. Earlier, the Mage King had sent in that particr Ancestral Mage with fury and frustration. Sending him in had essentially meant going all in. They had already lost two Mages with fourfold Spirit Senses, and losing this guy on top of that would be horrible for the Judgment Pce.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. And now, that person was a confused birdwatcher like all of Shang''s previous opponents. Outside, the Mage King and the volunteers behind her looked with gritted teeth at the barrier. Their champion couldn''t possibly lose! He had to win! Meanwhile, Shang just looked at the birdwatcher with his Spirit Sense. ''His aura is intense,¡¯ he thought. Since the man wasn''t using any Magic anymore, it was easy for Shang to feel the true power of his aura. "He''s probably one of the strongest Mages they have.¡¯ ¡®Getting three people with fourfold Spirit Senses is already more than | expected.¡¯ ¡®| don''t think they will send a fourth one.¡¯ ¡®Additionally, they will most likely not believe me anymore." ¡®| guess it''s time for phase two of the Lightning Emperor''s n,¡¯ Shang thought as he slowly stood up from his mountain. ¡®Time to be famous.¡¯ Suddenly, Shang''s perception left the world as his mind stretched into the darkest void imaginable. The world of the Abominations. ording to the Lightning Emperor''s n, Shang was supposed to reach the Early Void Break Realm now. Why? Well, there were only two possible oues after this battle. One, the Judgment Pce gets handed the territories from the Twilight Dusk and Land and Sky Empires to go around Shang''s territory. Two, the true geniuses will be sent to attack Shang. ording to the Lightning Emperor, there was one Initial Ancestral Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense in the Twilight Dusk Family, and there was a Late Archmage with a fivefold Spirit Sense in the Judgment Pce. The Empires could reduce the aggression of the war and increase the power of one of these two to fight Shang. Shang was confident in winning against someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense one level higher than him, but the same wasn''t true for someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense. On top of that, Shang didn''t need to act like a weakling anymore since everyone would suspect that he had a fivefold Spirit Sense. So, Shang would now show his "true" power by acting like a domineering genius with a fivefold Spirit Sense. Something like this was so insanely outstanding and rare that no one would even think about Shang having an even deeper secret. When one already belonged to the ten most talented people in the world, no one would suspect this guy from actually being so talented that he would easily be number one. This was Shang''s job. By being this open and this powerful, the other Empires would overlook him when searching for the mysterious super genius of the Lightning Manor. After all, the Lightning Empire suggested the tournament in 50,000 years, which meant that he had some confidence. There had to be an even greater genius than Shang, and the Lightning Empire obviously wouldn''t openly show this genius to all the other Empires. That would be stupid. After reaching into the world of the Abominations, Shang pulled one of the Abominations out of it. This barrier was perfect for hiding the Abominations from the Empires. After all, nobody could see through these barriers. The Abomination appeared in front of Shang, and he absorbed it without hesitation. The Abomination vanished, and Shang''s body began to shake. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, Shang felt like something inside of him had changed, and his body rapidly absorbed an insane amount of Mana from the surroundings. Shang had reached the Early Void Break Realm. Now, his body was even stronger. His physical power would be a level above the mental power of an Early Ancestral Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense. Earlier, Shang wouldn''t have been confident in taking down someone like that. But now, there wouldn''t even be a fight. Shang''s insane power would overwhelm his opponent''s power, and his body could probably even survive a direct hit from such an opponent''s Spell. For the first time in a long while, Shang might be fighting someone that was on his level. After reaching the Early Void Break Realm, Shang entered his inner world again to train. The barrier didn''t do anything to Shang since he was still within its limits as an Early Void Break Realm fighter. Yet, Shang''s power had reached insane levels when put in the context of an Early Ancestral Mage. There was no longer any reason to act like someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. So, he might as well go all the way. Several hours passed. The Mage King of the Judgment Pce became tenser and tenser as hours passed. Her nerves actually got the better of her a couple of times as sheined about the fact that all fights involving Shang took several hours. Why did it always take this long?! She nearly went crazy as over ten hours passed. How could this fight be so insanely close?! Fights rarely went on for this long unless the twobatants were at identical power levels. But as more hours passed, her heart began to fall. The people behind her turned white in shock and fear. It had been 16 hours! How had it been 16 hours?! And as 24 hours passed, all hope was lost. No fight between Early Ancestral Mages would go on for this long, and their champion had no reason to buy time. This meant this fight was a repeat of the very first fight. But it was so much harder to believe. Their opponent was actually so powerful that he had effectively yed with their champion? Everyone knew that the barrier would remain cloudy for nearly an entire week. And maybe, that wasn''t so bad. After all, they would need a long time to recover from this shock. What a monster. What an absolute monster the Lightning Manor had created. After a day had passed, the Mage King slowly took out her Communication Crystal. It was time toe clean with the Mage King from the Land and Sky Empire. The Judgment Pce wouldn''t be able to join the war without their help... The entire Judgment Pce... The strongest Empire in the world... Was being hopelessly suppressed and held at bay by one guy in the Early Ancestral Mage Realm. It was a humiliation. Chapter 829 Chapter 829 The Mage King from the Judgment Pce looked at the Communication Crystal with narrowed eyes and gnashed teeth. It was so humiliating. Some random guy in the Sixth Realm was stopping the strongest Empire in the world. She quickly created a small Istion Barrier around her to keep everyone from watching and listening. Then, she contacted the Mage King from the Land and Sky Empire. "Yes?" the Mage King asked after epting the transmission. The Mage King from the Judgment Pce took a deep breath. "The Judgment Pce can''t join the war as things are right now." Silence. "What?!" the other Mage King shouted in shock and rage. "Exin!" ¡°We can''t get through that one territory," she exined. "The guy defending this ce has been ying us for fools." ¡°At this moment, he is buying time while fighting against the most powerful Early Ancestral Mage in my entire Empire! That''s someone that might have a chance of condensing a fivefold Spirit Sense in the future." ¡°And he''s ying with him! Winning is so easy for him that he can keep the fight going for an entire week, or maybe he already managed to win without killing his opponent." "There isn''t a single person in the entire Judgment Pce that can win against this person at this very moment," she exined. Silence. Many kilometers away, a young man with green hair furrowed his brows as he took deep breaths. This was the Mage King responsible for the assault from the Land and Sky Empire. "You think he has a fivefold Spirit Sense?" the man asked calmly. "Very likely," the other Mage King answered. The man looked towards the northeast. He wasn''t close enough to the territory in question to see it, but he still looked in its general direction. Someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense. Was it really so smart to unveil someone like that? People with fivefold Spirit Senses were closely protected since they represented future Mage Kings. Killing someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense was like killing a Mage King. It would be devastating for an Empire. And yet, the Lightning Manor was openly putting this peak genius of theirs in a vulnerable position. Sure, in the short run, there wouldn''t be any danger, but in the long run, things would be different. There were other people with fivefold Spirit Senses out there, and with enough preparations, they could eventually kill that genius. "What''s our n?¡± the Mage King from the Judgment Pce asked. The man just furrowed his brows more. Originally, he was pretty appalled and angry at the Judgment Pce, but after hearing that they were dealing with someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense, most of that anger vanished. In the future, they might get someone that could kill Shang, but it would take many years. But for now, there was nothing they could do. The Mage King had several powerful geniuses under him that he had full confidence in, but he knew how powerful someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense was. After all, the Mage King also had a fivefold Spirit Sense. Sure, these people were extreme geniuses, but the Mage King knew very well how much more powerful someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense was. There was nothing they could do at this very moment. "| have a n, but | have to ask our Ancestor for permission first," the Mage King said. After that, he hung up and took out a different Communication Crystal. "What is it?" came the heavy voice of the Land and Sky Emperor, Brutus Cesar. "Sir, someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense is blocking the Judgment Pce from joining the war. | am nning on handing over our two closest territories to the Judgment Pce so that they may attack from-" "Impossible," the Land and Sky Emperor immediately said.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The Mage King was surprised by the sudden and direct interruption. "Sir?" ¡°ording to the contract, we are not allowed to hand over our territories willingly," the Emperor said. At that moment, the Mage King''s eyes shone. The Emperor had specified everything with the words "ording to the contract". Did that mean that he wanted the Mage King to hand it over but couldn''t give an affirmative answer? "Sir, what if the Judgment-" "| said it is impossible!" the Emperor shouted with extreme strictness. "If | notice that anyone of our Empire has had some dealings with another Empire that results in the voluntary loss of one of our territories, | will personally kill that person!" The Mage King became quite nervous and scared as he heard the threatening words from his Emperor. ¡°Of course, sir. It won''t happen, sir," he said before cutting the connection. The Mage King released a nervous sigh. Well, that n went out of the window. Meanwhile, in an absolutely humongous tower, over 10,000 kilometers tall, a green-haired man put his head in his hands as he gritted his teeth in frustration. The Land and Sky Emperor cursed the contract''s strictness. Of course he wanted to give the Judgment Pce a couple of territories so that they could join the war, but he couldn''t even slightly show any inclination of supporting that. He literally had to do his absolute very best to stop this from happening. And if the Mage King willingly acted and handed some territories over, the Emperor would literally have to kill his Mage King. Even more, nobody but the Emperors knew about the strictness and exact contents of the contract, and the Emperors were not permitted to tell others about the content. ¡®| have to break this restriction as soon as possible!¡¯ the Land and Sky Emperor thought in frustration. Meanwhile, the Mage King contacted one of the Mage Kings of the Twilight Dusk Family, who then contacted Emperor Amon Gus. Just like Emperor Brutus Cesar, Emperor Amon Gus made it very clear that this would go against the contract and that he would kill whoever broke the rules. The Mage King could only sigh in defeat and tell the other Mage King that they also couldn''t do that. Both Mage Kings were troubled by this development. The entire strategy was based on the Judgment Pce joining, and they had already sacrificed many extremely talented Mages to put pressure on the Lightning Manor. Without the Judgment Pce, the other two Empires were in danger of overextending. Eventually, they decided to pause the assault for now and told the Judgment Pce to find a way to join. Without the Judgment Pce, they weren''t willing to keep up the heavy pressure. Naturally, this put the Judgment Pce also under immense pressure, and the Mage Kings gathered to find a solution. The Empress of Death was too busy dealing with the contract, and they couldn''t ask her. Yet, even after a full day of nning, they couldn''t find a solution that didn''t involve breaking the rules or assaulting their allies. Eventually, the Mage Kings gritted their teeth and actually asked their Empress what they should do, even though she told them not to disturb her. The Empress of Death coldly looked at them with apathy. And then, she gave them a solution to the problem. It didn''t break the rules. It didn''t involve attacking their allies. But the Mage Kings didn''t like it. They didn''t like it at all. Chapter 830 Chapter 830 Several days passed. Shang exited his inner world and killed the bird watcher. After a couple of seconds, the barrier turned transparent again, and Shang waited in the middle. As always, Shang looked calm and emotionless. And then, he waited for his opponent. Silence. The barrier didn''t be cloudy, which meant that no one had entered the barrier. Some secondster, Shang''s Communication Crystal rang. ¡°Hold your position! No matter what!" came an urgent but unknown voice. However, based on the aura Shang had felt, he knew exactly who had just spoken. Kiran, the Catastrophe King. Before Shang could answer, the Communication Crystal became silent. Shang tried to contact some people of the Lightning Manor, but his Communication Crystal couldn''t reach anyone. He was isted. Shang moved to the edge of his territory without retrieving the g to look out of the transparent barrier with his Spirit Sense. At the southeastern end, there was nothing too surprising. It was just the start of the Judgment Pce Empire. There were no powerful Mages that Shang could see. Then, Shang went to the southern end. There was the Land and Sky Empire. There was also no one there. After that, Shang went to the east. There was the Twilight Dusk Empire. No noteworthy Mages present. And when Shang reached the north, he realized what had happened. To the north of Shang''s barrier, he saw a different barrier. It was a Defender Barrier for an Initial Ancestral Mage, and it belonged to the Twilight Dusk Empire. As Shang curved towards the west, he saw another barrier. It was also a Defender Barrier for an Initial Ancestral Mage, but this one belonged to the Land and Sky Empire. Shang immediately knew what had happened. The two Empires had conquered the territories behind Shang. These territories had been heavily defended by the Lightning Manor. Conquering them had probably cost these two Empires a brutal amount of resources and lives. And then, after conquering the territories, they put two Defender gs down that made it impossible for Shang to attack. The huge Zone was still assigned to Ancestral Mages, even though a big part of it had been captured by the two other Empires. They could have put down Peak Ancestral Mage gs, but that would be risky. What if Shang could break through rapidly and destroy their defenders? Because of that, they decided to use Initial Ancestral Mage Defender gs. Like this, Shang couldn''t even attack them since he was too strong. This meant that it was impossible for Shang to go to the north, northwest, or west. He could only travel to the southwest, south, southeast, east, and northeast. However, by going there, Shang would be going into enemy territory. And that was what they wanted, but not for the reason one might think. Shang knew that the enemy wanted Shang to leave his territory. In fact, the direction literally didn''t matter. As soon as Shang would lift his Defender g, an extremely quick Initial Ancestral Mage would probably swoop in and nt their Attack g down on Shang''s territory. At the same time, new Defender gs would appear around Shang''s territory, barring him from moving literally anywhere. He was only allowed to move far enough to nt an Attack g into enemy territory. Anything further, and Mage Kings would be allowed to kill him.N?velDrama.Org owns this. So, if he retrieved his Defender g, he would be encased by Defender gs he couldn''t attack. If he entered them, he would die. If he flew past them, he would die. And if he waited for an hour, he would die as well since the territory would vanish under him. This was their n and also the reason why Kiran had told Shang to hold his position, no matter what. As long as Shang''s Defender g didn''t move, he could survive. But the other Empires were blocking all forms ofmunication. The singlemunication with Kiran had probably cost the Lightning Manor a ridiculous number of Mana Crystals, and Kiran had only been able to say two sentences. Shang was alone. He was alone and surrounded by enemies on all sides. He was isted from the entire world. How did Shang feel? He didn''t care. If anyone wanted to kill him, they would need to send someone stronger than him that was on his level. And such a person didn''t exist. Shang felt just as safe as ever, maybe even more. In this ce, he was also protected from every powerful person. People from the Lightning Manor couldn''t reach him, and if powerful people of other Empires entered here, they would be breaking the contract. After a while, Shang sat down in the middle of his own territory. He could feel his bandages reacting strongly, but he acted like he didn''t know. At this moment, Shang guessed that he was probably being watched by over 15 Mage Kings. They were probably all waiting to see if he would fall for the trap. The Mage Kings watched Shang for several hours. Surprisingly, even though he had obviously realized the severity of his new situation, Shang didn''t appear nervous or scared in any way. Several days passed. Then, four weeks passed. Shang didn''t move. The Mage Kings saw that there was no deterioration in Shang''s calmness or mood. He was just as rxed as on the first day. They realized that this n had failed. With heavy hearts, the Mage Kings of the Judgment Pce looked at each other. And one by one, they nodded. They would use the Empress'' n. Sadly, that was the only way they could think of. They contacted the other Mage Kings from the surrounding Empires, who agreed to the n. Some minutester, more Defender gs popped up around Shang. One additional one appeared to the east and another one to the south. Now, Shang waspletely boxed in. Literally the only way out was to the southeast, which was where the Judgment Pce was. Acouple more weeks passed. Shang kept training inside his inner world. And eventually, the barrier became cloudy. Shang came out and readied himself for a battle. But the barrier became transparent again. Then cloudy again. And transparent. Cloudy. Transparent. Cloudy. Transparent. It took about a second for the barrier to switch modes each time. Shang wasn''t quite sure what was going on and went to the southeast. And there, he saw what the Judgment Pce was doing. He immediately realized what their n was. Chapter 831 Chapter 831 At the southeastern corner, Shang saw a Mid Archmage enter. An instantter, they exploded into a shower of gore. Then, an Early Archmage entered and exploded. The barrier only restricted more powerful people from entering. If they so chose to, weaker Mages could also fight the defender of the g. The Judgment Pce was sending in one fighter after the other, which immediatelymitted suicide. Of course, there was a certain limitation to the rules. Only people within one Realm of difference were allowed to fight. That rule was to make sure that no weak and innocent people were identally killed since very weak people didn''t necessarily know what was going on. This meant that no one below the Early Archmage Realm was allowed to trigger the barrier and "fight" Shang. So, every single person that entered and exploded was at least an Early Archmage. Every single second, an Archmage from the Judgment Pce died in Shang''s territory. As time passed, Shang could feel something change. The Death Mana in the surroundings was very slowly increasing in density. ¡®They want to turn my territory into a Pit of Death,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®They are insane." Turning a barrier with a diameter of 10,000 kilometers into a Pit of Death powerful enough to kill an Ancestral Mage was beyond crazy. Even if they used high-grade "bodies", such as Archmages, it would literally take millions upon millions to achieve that. The Judgment Pce was using a very specific way to kill these Mages, which resulted in the density of their bodies and blood to reduce. But in exchange for that, the volume increased drastically. Every single explosion coated the surrounding kilometers in a thick sheet of blood with lower density. With this method, the Death Mana would corrupt a greater area, getting rid of the other kinds of Mana sooner, which resulted in vastly increased efficiency. They were literally nning on turning Shang''s territory into an ocean of blood that would retain Death Mana with great effectiveness and efficiency. The Judgment Pce was willing to exchange several million Archmages for Shang''s life. At maximum, there were 100 million Archmages living in the Judgment Pce''s Empire. And even with all their advanced methods of producing Death Mana, they would probably need to sacrifice over 20 million. 20% of all Archmages in their Empire. For Shang. Were all of these people volunteers? Probably not. It wasn''t easy to surprise or shock Shang, but the Judgment Pce managed to do it. Their n was insane, but it would most likely work. Sure, Shang knew three Concepts of Death, which allowed him to gather Death Mana and essentially throw it out of the barrier. However, that would unveil one of Shang''s secrets. His mastery over the Concepts of Death. Shang was already proudly posing as someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense, but if he showed that he had mastery over death to a certain extent, the other Empires might actually suspect him of being the Lightning Manor''s true genius. What if Shang were the one that could fight King Sanctified Death in the future? At that point, Shang''s value would rise from being equivalent to a Mage King to being equivalent to a Mage Emperor. At that point, the Judgment Pce might actually decide to sacrifice a Mage King to deal with him. If a Mage King decided tounch a Spell at Shang from a rtively close range, not even an Emperor would be fast enough to block it as long as they weren''t specifically waiting for that attack with rapt attention. Sure, the Mage King would be killed as a result, but it would have been a worthwhile exchange. So, Shang couldn''t possibly show that he knew about the Concepts of Death.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. And being surrounded by Death Mana? That was still dangerous. Even to someone like Shang. With enough density, this wouldn''t be any different than an Istion Chamber filled with Death Mana. At some point, Shang would just die. Shang continued to watch his territory getting rapidly filled with blood and guts. He knew that, in one year, all of this would turn into an area of absolute death. It wouldn''t be easy to survive. But Shang knew that this was also an opportunity. ¡®I''ve been trying toprehend the level four Concept of Death. Maybe being surrounded by so much Death Mana will finally allow me toprehend it.¡¯ ¡®Nevertheless, I''m not certain if that Concept will make me immune to the powers of so much Death Mana. No matter what | do, my body can''t survive on Death Mana alone. That would be contradictory to the very existence of Death Mana.¡¯ ¡®It truly is problematic." ¡®For now, there''s nothing | can do but wait.¡¯ After thinking that, Shang returned to his usual spot and waited. Inside his inner world, Shang was summoning extremely powerful beasts one after the other. Originally, Shang had been nning on waiting toprehend suchplex Concepts until he reached the Peak Void Break Realm since he would also have a much more powerful mind at that point. But now, he couldn''t wait anymore. He had to die over and over again. This was a huge danger but also a big opportunity. In the past, Shang had avoided dying inside his inner world as much as possible due to a couple of reasons. First, getting ustomed to dying might decrease the emotional pressure during a real fight to the death. Second, continuously dying might make Shang extremely paranoid, warping his perception of the surroundings. But now, there was no other way. The second problem was no longer relevant due to the removal of his warrior body. In Shang''s mind, the entire world was already out to get him. As for the first problem, Shang had noticed that the emotional pressure had already reduced drastically. Shang was as calm fighting a nearly hopeless battle as fighting an easy battle. Sure, dying over and over again would make it even worse, but the tradeoff wasn''t so bad anymore. So, Shang just kept dying. Over and over again. And as he died inside his inner world, the real world also turned deadlier and deadlier. Chapter 832 Chapter 832 The Judgment Pce never stopped. Every second, without fail, they would send in the next Archmage to die. Shang kept focusing onprehending the level four Concept of Death, but even while constantly dying, it wasn''t as easy as he thought it would be. One month after it started, around three million Archmages had already died in Shang''s territory. The entire ground had already been transformed into a literal ocean of blood, and only a couple of mountains poked out of the ocean. Rotting guts and pieces of human bodies could be seen floating inside the ocean. Yet, there were no insects or scavengers present. The density of Death Mana already didn''t allow such weak beings to exist. Shang sat on one of those mountains, but the blood was already starting to touch his legs when there were higher waves. This ocean wasn''t nearly as smooth as the real ocean. No, this ocean was chunky, muddy, and disgusting. It was like someone had filtered the majority of the water out of a sewage pipe and filled a pool with everything that remained. Except that this was redder but also not really that red since the coagted blood turned ck.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The ocean of blood even had a thin ck skin. Allin all, it was quite unpleasant. Another monthter, no piece ofnd could be seen anymore. Naturally, all the living beings, except for Shang, had also died already. Shang hadn''t moved and waspletely surrounded by the blood. He already needed to filter out the Death Mana that was trying to enter his body and mind. Not doing anything wouldn''t immediately result in his death, but it would slowly poison him over a long time. Acouple of monthster, Shang actually had to put some effort into filtering the Death Mana. It was like he was no longer breathing automatically but manually due to the effort and focus it needed. Shang was reminded of when he had been trying toprehend the Concept of Purgatory. He had felt very simr back then. Shang just kept focusing on the level four Concept of Death as more time passed. Eight months after the start of the Judgment Pce''s n, Shang couldn''t train inside his inner world anymore. Staying alive in the outside world consumed literally all of his focus. Shang already noticed that his mind was being altered by the Death Mana. Even though Shang was doing his very best to filter out all the Death Mana, his filter wasn''t perfect anymore. His body and mind were consuming slight bits of Death Mana without him wanting to. Ten months after the start, Shang was starting to lose more life energy than he was gaining. By now, the Judgment Pce had already sacrificed over 25 million Archmages, which was insane. The barrier had already fully been filled with blood, but the barriers the other Empires had built around Shang''s barrier kept forcing the blood into Shang''s barrier. More Archmages entered and died. Funnily enough, they didn''t even need to kill themselves anymore. As soon as they entered, the Death Mana would kill them faster than they could kill themselves. The Death Mana kept consuming more and more. With every Archmage it consumed, it became more powerful. Even more, the Death Mana had taken on very strange properties. Shang had been around a lot of Death Mana back when he had trained in his own little Pit of Death, but he had never felt anything like this back then. The Death Mana in here had... evolved? Changed? Shang wasn''t certain what the right word was. The Death Mana was less apathetic and more aggressive. In a way, Shang felt like all the dead Archmages were trying to take him with them into the afterlife. It was like all the hate-filled and aggrieved souls that had died here were banding together to kill Shang. All the hatred and regrets werebining to create some kind of primordial force that wanted to end all life. Life was not allowed to exist. Shang could now see the difference between his little Pit of Death and a real one. The power, quality, and level of the Death Mana here were iparable to the one from back then. His little Pit of Death might have been enough for Shang toprehend the first two Concepts of Death, but it wouldn''t have been enough to teach Shang the Concept of Purgatory. But the Death Mana that was around him right now felt very simr to the Death Mana he had experienced after his longevity had run out. This was how it felt to die. It was like some kind of force was trying to pull Shang from the living into the realm of the dead, which was exactly how he felt whenever he was severely injured in his inner world. His life was ending. He was being forcefully pulled away from the living. Shang''s mind started to turn blurry, and it became very difficult to discern what he was actually thinking about. And yet, the feeling was different from back when his longevity had run out. Back then, the feeling of death came from inside. This time, it came from the outside. It produced the same results but with a different starting position. This taught Shang something about death that he couldn''t haveprehended on his own. Another two months passed. The Judgment Pce still hadn''t stopped sending in Archmages. It had been a full year, and they had sent in nearly 35 million Archmages. By now, Shang could barely stay alive. And, for once, he actually wasn''t calm anymore. Back when his longevity had run out, surviving had been a matter of will. But not this time. No matter how strong someone''s will was, being blown into pieces would result in their death. And this was the same. Shang WOULD die. Even more, Shang felt that he wasn''t ready toprehend the level four Concept of Death yet. His mind was just too weak, and his experience ofprehending Concepts was too little. He needed to do something! But what? Naturally, Shang found a way, but it would be risky. Chapter 833 Chapter 833 Outside of Shang''s territory, several Mage Kings from the enemy Empires were watching him. Sadly, there was a huge Magic Circle that stopped everyone from the Lightning Manor from looking over, which meant that Shang''s current state waspletely unknown to them. The Mage Kings saw that Shang would only be able to survive for a couple more days, at most. It was already extremely surprising that he managed to survive until now, but it wasn''t impossible. The Mage Kings from the Judgment Pce were especially interested in Shang. They had sacrificed over 30 million Archmages. That was about a quarter of all Archmages living inside the Judgment Pce Empire. It was a mass genocide that hadn''t been seen in a long time. Naturally, not everyone was happy with the n. The other Empiresined and said that creating Pits of Death was against thew. The Mage Kings of the Judgment Pce admitted and said that the other Empires were right. In the future, they would pay whatever the other Empires deemed to be a fitting price. But for now, they would continue to create this Pit of Death. Since this was an action sanctioned by an entire Empire, the finesing toward them in the future were more than brutal. The fines would probably be in the hundreds of Grade Eight Mana Crystals. But all of this would be worth it as long as Shang died. Killing Shang represented killing a future Mage King. The Mage Kings were watching Shang the entire time, just waiting for him to die. Soon. Soon, he would be dead. SHING! And then, time seemed to stop as something happened. The eyes of the Mage Kings widened in shock. What?! Are you serious?! Now?! Inside the barrier, something appeared. It was a humongous being made of ck scales, muscles, and tentacles. It was an Ancestral Abomination! As soon as it appeared, all the Death Mana immediately rushed toward it. Usually, Death Mana didn''t move for anything, but as soon as an Abomination was present, the Death Mana was attracted to the Abomination like any other kind of Mana. The emotions of the watching Mage Kings went crazy. Would the Abomination kill Shang? A huge amount of blood and Death Mana was absorbed by the Abomination. And then... It walked towards the south. Abominations didn''t immediately explode when they appeared. The normal way Abominations operated was to absorb a lot of Mana first to prepare for their eventual explosion. This was the most crucial moment. It was necessary to kill the Abomination before it could absorb a lot of Mana. Otherwise, it would explode, even if someone managed to kill it. After absorbing enough Mana, the Abominations usually walked in one direction, using their Domain to destroy all the Mana around them. They would only explode when threatened. Naturally, the Abomination had absorbed around 50% of all the Death Mana inside the barrier before walking toward the south. When the Mage Kings saw that, they gritted their teeth. This lucky bastard! It wasn''t unusual for Abominations to appear inside these barriers. These barriers appeared randomly and quite frequently. Additionally, due to the chaotic forces operating on the frontlines, predicting the appearance of an Abomination was extremely difficult. This wasn''t even the first Abomination that had appeared in one of the Zones. There had been hundreds in thest year. But there had only been about five Ancestral Abominations. The others had been Arch Abominations or High Abominations. The Mage King responsible for the assault from the Judgment Pce nearly exploded in frustration and anger. Really?! Now?! Here?! Why?! As the Abomination walked towards the south, it eventually encountered the barrier. It extended one of its ws and touched it. The barrier shook under the stress and eventually broke apart. Shang''s g blew into pieces, and the barrier waspletely destroyed. As soon as the barrier vanished, a humongous storm of fire devoured the Abomination. WHOOOOM!N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. The storm of fire suddenly expanded to a size of nearly 500 kilometers wide, but it quickly pressed together again. One of the Mage Kings had killed the Abomination and used his Fire Mana to contain the explosion of the Abomination. Ancestral Abominations were powerful, but a Mage King was iparably more powerful. The Mage Kings looked on as nearly 80% of the Death Mana had been pushed out of Shang''s territory after the barrier''s destruction and the explosion. 30 million Archmages... Sacrificed for nothing. "| refuse to believe this was a coincidence!" the Mage King from the Judgment Pce shouted. The other Mage Kings looked at her. "The timing was too perfect!" the Mage King shouted again. Then, she pointed at the distant Shang. "He''s the Child of Cmity!" "| want him tested!" The other Mage Kings furrowed their brows. The Child of Cmity. They had almost forgotten that the Child of Cmity was the very reason for all these Abominations. The Mage Kings looked at each other and nodded one by one. One of the Mage Kings took out a Communication Crystal and contacted his Emperor. Brutus Cesar furrowed his brows when he heard about what had happened. The Child of Cmity? Finding and eliminating the Child of Cmity was the highest priority. It was even more important than winning the war. Naturally, Brutus Cesar wanted to do nothing but get rid of Shang, but he had to be honest. So, he contacted Kali, Amon, and Gregorio. The Spirit Senses of all four of them reached the ce where Shang was currently. In order to make it fair, all four of them would investigate Shang. All four of them looked at Shang. At this moment, the feeling of being watched reached new heights of intensity. Shang felt like he was inside a dimension filled with nothing but humongous eyes that were looking at him. Acouple of secondster, the Mage Emperors were done with their investigations. There was nothing unusual about Shang''s Affinity. They concluded that he had a Dual Affinity of Light and Darkness with quite a lot of talent in the Fire and Ice Affinities as well, but that was it. He had certainly won the lottery in terms of Affinities, but he wasn''t the Child of Cmity. Chapter 834 Chapter 834 Amomentter, the Emperors also agreed to have the destroyed g reced. Abominations didn''t belong to the war, and their involvement should not be a factor in the oue of the war. After that, the Emperors returned to dealing with the contracts in their minds. Acouple secondster, the g in Shang''s territory vanished, and a new one appeared out of thin air. The g was stabbed into the ground by the mind of a Mage King, and the g activated again. The barrier reappeared. At this moment, Shang was still lying on the ground, nearly dead. He wasn''t faking his current state. The Death Mana had permeated his body and mind, and it was very difficult to get rid of it without unveiling his knowledge of the Concepts of Death. Nearly all the blood filling Shang''s territory had vanished, but the world was still colored red and ck. There was still no other life besides Shang in this barrier. Shang would need a while to recover. The Mage Kings looked at each other. ¡°We might have a chance now,¡± the Mage King from the Judgment Pce said. "The density of the Death Mana has drastically reduced, which means we can send someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense in. He can''t possibly win in such a condition.¡± The Mage King from the Land and Sky Empire furrowed his brows. "Didn''t you hear what the Emperors said?" "So?" the Mage King from the Judgment Pce asked. "He has a Light and Darkness Dual Affinity," the Mage King from the Land and Sky Empire said. "You should''ve fought your fair share of Darkness Mages. You know exactly how fast they can regenerate from their injuries just by absorbing the Mana from other Mages." ¡°He only needs to unleash a quick Spell that drains a bit of Mana from another Mage and transform it into life energy. After that, he only needs to win with a Mana deficit." The Mage King from the Judgment Pce gritted her teeth. "It''s still worth a shot!" "Shut up!" The Mage King''s head shot back in shock. She hadn''t expected such a direct rebuke. ¡°Are you that stupid?!" the other Mage King shouted with a strict and furious tone. "I''ve kept myself in check all this time as respect for the Judgment Pce, but even | have a limit!" "In thest year, we lost over 25 people with a fourfold Spirit Sense! 25!" the Mage King shouted. "On top of that, we lost over 3,000 people with a threefold Spirit Sense!" Then, he pointed at the Mage King from the Twilight Dusk Family. "They lost just as much as us!" ¡°And you know what? Over 70% of these losses are from the two first weeks of the war!" "Why did we lose so many? Because we were fucking waiting for the Judgment Pce!" "We were waiting for you!" "You guys had a single fucking job!" "Join the war!" "That was it!" "Yet, not only didn¡¯t you manage to aplish that in a full year, but you even needed nearly two weeks to tell us that it wouldn''t work!" "Your ridiculous pride and arrogance of not admitting when you are beaten have cost all of us invaluable people and resources!" "I''ve had it up to here with your idiotic decisions!" The Mage King of the Judgment Pce only looked at the other Mage King with shock and embarrassment. How long had it been that anyone had ever dared to talk to her like that? She wanted to kill that Mage King so badly. And yet, she knew that he was right. She had messed up. The rage towards herself and the people around her reached new heights. She gnashed her teeth and narrowed her eyes. "You say | have one job?!" she shouted. "Fine!" "| will aplish that job!" "| hope you don''t regret it." "If the Judgment Pce doesn''t join the war by tomorrow, | swear that | willmit suicide!" she shouted. The other two Mage Kings were taken aback. ¡°Now get the hell out of here before | do something | will regret!" she said with the most venomous tone imaginable. Then, she cut the connection of her Communication Crystal and looked away from the distant Mage Kings. The other Mage Kings looked at each other for a second and decided to retreat outside her Spirit Sense. She wouldmit suicide if the Judgment Pce didn''t join the war by tomorrow? That certainly could be considered quite a promise. Two hours of silence passed. The other two Mage Kings were not certain what she was nning. BANG! And then, one of the Mage Kings of the Twilight Dusk Family looked to the south in shock. One of his Defender gs had been destroyed! Someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense had defended that Defender g! DING! Amomentter, an Attack g was nted in that territory. When the Mage King saw the color of that Attack g, fear and anger entered his heart. The Judgment Pce! The Judgment Pce had killed one of their strongest Mages and was attacking one of the most important territories! This was one of the territories bordering Shang! The Mage King quickly contacted the one from the Land and Sky Empire, who then looked at his territory bordering Shang. It was cloudy. Someone was currently fighting one of his most powerful Mages! He could already tell who it was.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. The Mage King looked at the territory with narrowed eyes. "Try your best to get it back in case it''s lost," he ordered one of his Peak Mage Lords. "Yes, sir!" the Mage Lord shouted before he went off to arrange everything. They wouldn''t give up these territories without a fight! Yet, deep inside, the Mage King let out a sigh of relief. ¡®At least you did that right, stupid bitch,¡¯ he thought. ''I should never have trusted you to handle things on your own. | should have done that from the very beginning." Naturally, since no one was allowed to voluntarily hand territories over, the battles had to be genuine and do their very best to retain them. So, instead ofing to an agreement regarding the territories, the Mage King angered the other Mage King until she attacked out of pure anger and humiliation. On top of that, the other two Empires lost Mages with fourfold Spirit Senses and even Defender gs, which were extremely rare anyway. Lastly, they would even try their best to stop the Judgment Pce from actually iming the territories, which would probably mean sending another Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense in to die to the Judgment Pce. They would have genuinely tried their very best to defend from the Judgment Pce. And they would most likely fail. After all, the Judgment Pce was the Judgment Pce, and they had a lot of extremely powerful people. ¡®Finally, the Judgment Pce will join the war,¡¯ the Mage King thought. "Took long enough.¡¯ Chapter 835 Chapter 835 Over the next couple of days, Shang''s body recovered. The Judgment Pce stopped sending in new people, which was not what Shang had expected. He had expected that they would either send someone to kill him or restart with killing Archmages. After all, they couldn''t possibly be this unlucky again, right? Yet, it seemed like they had abandoned their n. When Shang was fully healed, he flew through his territory to look at the surrounding barriers. That was when Shang saw that the colors of the surrounding barriers had changed. Shang was now epassed by the Judgment Pce. Interestingly enough, the Judgment Pce had effectively used all their Defender gs to stop Shang from moving. Ayear ago, they had been prepared to intercept Shang, but that was probably no longer the case. Instead of constantly having to keep an eye on him, they decided to simply build him in and ignore him. Covering the east and northeast was a barrier for Ancestral Mages with four stars. Covering the north and northwest was a barrier for Ancestral Mages with one star. Covering the west and southwest was a barrier for Ancestral Mages with five stars. And the south and southeast were covered by one with three stars. Shang couldn''t leave his territory unless he decided to assault another territory. Naturally, three of the four barriers were essentially impossible for Shang to tackle. The one-star one was just straight-up impossible, and the four and five-star ones probably had people with fourfold Spirit Senses defending them. Shang could jump one level against someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense, but not two nor three. The only one Shang could attempt to attack was the south and southeast one since it only had three stars, representing a Mid Ancestral Mage. However, attacking and conquering that territory would move Shang further into the Judgment Pce instead of away from it. After that, since he couldn''t defend two territories at once, the Judgment Pce would conquer the territory he just left behind, making it even easier to bunker him in. Even more, assuming Shang continued, he would eventually reach a Zone that wasn''t meant for Ancestral Mages to fight, which would stop his advance. At that point, the three Defender gs from the other directions would probably have moved, enclosing him in the corner. This reminded Shang a bit of chess. Shang was stuck. However, that didn''t mean that he was useless. Shang was keeping several powerful Ancestral Mages busy, and on top of that, the Judgment Pce used four of its five Defender gs for the Ancestral Mage Realm to stop him from interfering. The Judgment Pce only had the two-star g remaining. Shang had already showcased the power of a well-ced Defender g. Just by existing, Shang was essentially blocking several strategic weapons from being used. And this was how things would stay. Shang would remain here, and the opponent would ignore him. Shang couldn''t join. The four Defender gs couldn''t be used. Yet, there was one thing that made this trade quite detrimental to the Lightning Manor''s enemies. The assignment of the Zones. The Zones had been assigned one year ago, and the Empires would be allowed to reassign them every century, which would be coupled with a temporary ceasefire. Now, the question was, who would get to decide which Zone? After all, the Zone Shang was currently in was a square with a length and width of 500,000 kilometers. What if big parts of the Zone belonged to different Empires? Who would get to decide? There were two rules. First rule: In order to change a Zone, one Empire had to control over 50% of it. If there was no Empire controlling over 50% of the Zone, the Zone would stay the same.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Second rule: If the original owner of the Zone still held control over a territory inside a given Zone, they still had control over it, no matter how much they owned. The second rule was implemented to give the biggest geniuses of each Empire more importance. And the second rule was also the reason why Shang would continue to be a pain in the ass for the attackers. As long as Shang remained in his territory, the attackers couldn''t change the Zone to something more favorable to them. They would need to send in more and more Ancestral Mages. If they truly wanted to conquer this Zone, they needed to produce someone that could kill Shang. But that would probably take a long time. This meant that Shang was stuck here. The war would continue without him. And how did he feel about that? Great! Finally, he could return to training in peace! Just to be sure, Shang still kept an eye on the outside world for another couple of days. However, nothing was happening. No one was entering his territory. The barriers surrounding him weren''t moving. Even more, the feeling of being watched became weaker and weaker. After these couple of days, Shang only felt a couple of careless nces from some powerful people every couple of minutes. Naturally, no one knew about the secret of Shang''s bandages, which meant that they also wouldn''t know whether Shang knew they were looking at him or not. In short, this meant that the Judgment Pce truly stopped caring about him and what he was doing. Shang''s territory had essentially transformed into a forbidden area. As Shang walked through his dead territory, he felt a profound feeling of istion. These 10,000 kilometers belonged to him. No one would enter. No one would exit. He was alone. And he wouldn''t have it any other way. Eventually, Shang summoned his humongous Istion Chamber. This drew a couple of curious nces from the Mage Kings again. What was he doing with that? For a couple of days, Shang only remained sitting in the middle of his Istion Chamber, the entrance barely open. The Spirit Senses had to weasel their way in through the little crack, making it a bit ufortable and difficult to look inside. But they kept looking. They wanted to know what Shang would do. Yet, nothing happened. He was just sitting there. Eventually, the Mage Kings started to look away again, but they frequently looked back. BANG! One small moment, when not a single Mage King was paying attention, Shang summoned an Ancestral Abomination and immediately shut the entrance. The Mage Kings immediately looked over when they felt the entrance shut, but they had been toote. They hadn''t noticed the Abomination in that split second. In the Istion Chamber, Shang absorbed the Abomination and continued sitting in the middle for a couple of hours. Eventually, the Istion Chamber opened again, and the Mage Kings looked inside. Shang was just sitting there. The same as before. The Mage Kings grew interested again and looked at him. Nothing was happening. He wasn''t doing anything. Ayear passed. He still wasn''t doing anything. BANG! The door closed again, and the Mage Kings cursed each other. Why had no one paid attention?! Some hourster, the entrance opened again. Shang looked the same as always. The Mage Kings furrowed their brows. What was he doing in there? Why did he even have such a huge Istion Chamber? Was this one of the Lightning Manor''s ns? Chapter 836 Chapter 836 Years passed. Shang had no idea what was going on outside, but nothing changed in his little world. Every day, he just kept fighting against the most powerful beasts he was allowed to summon inside his inner world. He kept dying over and over, but sometimes, he managed to win. Every couple of months, he would summon an Ancestral Abomination when no one was paying attention and absorbed it. As more years passed, Shang even identallyprehended more Concepts just due to the sheer number of fights against powerful beasts. Shang had learned the level two Concept of Light, Particle, which worked on the mass-aspect of light. Sadly, as a level two Concept, it wasn''t that useful to Shang. It only increased the mass aspect of his Light Mana by a bit. Shang alsoprehended the level two Concept of Darkness, Blindness, which worked on the brightness aspect of Darkness Mana. With that, Shang wouldn''t need as much Mana to suppress an enemy''s senses inside a domain or corridor of darkness. Just like the Concept of Particle, it wasn''t that useful. Shang alsoprehended the level one Concept of Ice, Icicle. This Concept increased the power of Shang''s icicle-based attacks by a bit, but it wasn''t really worth mentioning. Eventually, a hundred years had passed. In Shang''s world, nothing had changed. This century had passed without anything happening inside Shang''s little world. Shang had kept track of the time and paid attention to what the Lightning Manor would do. This was the best time tomunicate with Shang. If an Empire decided to change the assignment of Zones, the current defenders and inhabitants of that Zone needed to vacate. This meant that if the Lightning Manor decided to assign this Zone to Mage Lords or Archmages, someone woulde to retrieve Shang and the Defender g, bringing him back to the Lightning Manor. Eventually, the day had arrived. And passed. And another day passed. And another one. That was when Shang realized that the Lightning Manor didn''t change the assignment of his Zone. This meant that they were happy with how things were currently. Having Shang in this spot tied up a lot of resources of the Judgment Pce. They obviously wanted him to stay there. The sheer value that Shang brought to the Lightning Manor in this war was absolutely insane. He had killed so many talented Mages, had cost the Judgment Pce millions of Archmages, had cost them 275 Grade Eight Mana Stones in damages for the Pit of Death they made, and he was even locking up valuable Defender gs and talented people. One single person in the Sixth Realm had achieved all of that. Even more, he was a constant dormant threat to the Judgment Pce. If they decided to give him a bit of freedom, Shang might manage to fight his way back to the Lightning Manor''s territory. And then? That would be even worse! At that point, they couldn''t possibly use Early or Mid Ancestral Mages to attack. If they did, Shang would just tear through them, one at a time, only needing some seconds per Ancestral Mage. That would make things even more difficult! Due to Shang and the heavy defenses of these territories, the Judgment Pce had already lost a lot of valuable Ancestral Mages, and they would prefer attacking with anything other than Ancestral Mages. Especially due to what had happened in thest century. As soon as the Judgment Pce managed to join the war, it put immense pressure on the Lightning Manor with its Ancestral Mages. With all three Empires putting so much pressure on this corner Zone, it would fall quickly. Except, there weren''t three Empires. After the other two Empires had lost so many of their talented people, and since they also weren''t the biggest fan of the Judgment Pce killing their talented Mages to join the war, they took it very easy for the next years.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. This meant that the Judgment Pce had been the only Empire putting immense pressure on the Lightning Manor. And the Judgment Pce had lost A LOT of Ancestral Mages due to theck of support from the other Empires. They really didn''t want to fight with their Ancestral Mages right now, but they had no other choice. They hadn''t managed to enter a different Zone yet inside the Lightning Manor. The Lightning Manor was throwing so many Ancestral Mages at them just to stop them from entering any other Zone. Eventually, the Judgment Pce also calmed down with their aggression. They could produce talented Ancestral Mages far faster than the Lightning Manor. Even more, the Lightning Manor had to deal with two other Empires at the same time. In the long run, they would oust the Lightning Manor. Also, after the century passed, a bit of their locked-up resources became avable again. When Shang looked around his territory again, he noticed something. The three-star barrier to the southeast had vanished, reced with nothing. However, Shang wasn''t really surprised. The territory to the immediate southeast belonged to the Judgment Pce, which meant that the Lightning Manor had no sway over it. When it was time to rearrange the Zones, the Judgment Pce had probably changed their northwestern Zone from Ancestral Mage to something else. This meant that Shang wasn''t even allowed to assault that territory, which also meant that the Judgment Pce didn''t need to use that specific Defender g anymore. Now, the Judgment Pce only needed three Defender gs to contain Shang. Yet, except for that, nothing else had changed for Shang. Shang still had no idea how the Lightning Manor was doing or what it was doing. He remained stuck inside his little isted world. By now, all the Death Mana had vanished, and life hade back to Shang''s world. The huge craters had been filled with water, creating hugekes. The wastnds had turned into a ce swarming with animals and nts that could survive in a low-humidity environment. And other parts had transformed into steppes. There were even a couple of small forests. Acentury was a long time. Yet, this wouldn''t be the only century that would pass for this small world. Chapter 837 Chapter 837 More years passed, and Shang continued battling with the beasts inside his inner world. During the battles, heprehended a couple more Concepts. For example, heprehended the level one Concept of Fire, Kindling, which made his fire a little more efficient. Sadly, just like with the other Concepts he hadprehended in this little world, it wasn''t that useful. Then, heprehended the level two Concept of Ice, Freeze, which made it easier to lower the temperatures. Surprisingly, this wasn''t useful at all for now, but it would prove quite useful soon. After Shang hadprehended that Concept, he actually actively sought out the level two Concept of Fire, which quickly came to him. Just a couple of yearster, Shangprehended the level two Concept of Fire, Heat, which made it easier to heighten the temperatures. As soon as Shang hadprehended it, he realized that the two level two Concepts of Ice and Fire were not useless at all. By increasing the intensity of cold and heat, Shang''s Comet became even more powerful, increasing Shang''s speed by about 20%. Some of his attacks had also grown more powerful, but that wasn''t worth mentioning. At most, they increased in power by 5% or so. After seeing these results, Shang reevaluated his mindset. ¡®There might be something to this,¡¯ Shang thought as he inspected his new abilities. ¡®| didn''t expect thatprehending two irrelevant and weak level two Concepts could have such an effect on my power.¡¯ "Usually, | focus onprehending something specific, which | know will increase my power drastically. That''s how | managed to gain a sixfold Spirit Sense.¡¯ ¡®Yet, my focused efforts may have made me miss out on a couple of small powers.¡¯ Shang clenched his right hand as he held it in front of him. ¡®In the past, | was always under immense time pressure due to my limited longevity.¡¯ ¡®But now, | have so much time.¡¯ "Maybe, instead of trying to reach the Peak Void Break Realm to search for a way to reach the next Realm, | should just train without focusing on anything at all.¡± ¡®| didn''t understand a lot in thest years, but for some reason, winning against the beasts became easier.¡¯ ¡®This means that something else is happening.¡¯ ¡®Somehow, my power is increasing in a way | can''t quite quantify.¡¯ "Maybe, there''s something else that | am making progress on.¡¯ "Since | have no idea about the old Paths and what kind of Paths | can choose, | might beprehending something that | don''t know exists." After thinking for a while, Shang eventually made his decision. ¡®l''ll wait for 600 years in total. Originally, | wanted to reach the Mid Void Break Realm when | became 1,400 years old, but | think | will continue training like this until I''m 1,800 years old.¡¯ ¡®I''m not taking advantage of the power of my mind, but | think it''s worth it." ¡®Especially since | won''t be able to properly train anymore after | reach the Mid Void Break Realm.¡¯ ¡®The Affinity Wheel can only summon beasts up to the Mid Beast Lord Realm, and if my power continues to increase like this, the majority of those won''t be a true danger anymore after | reach the Mid Void Break Realm.¡¯ ¡®After this level, the Affinity Wheel will be mostly useless.¡¯ ¡®I should make the best use of it.¡¯ Shang nodded. After that, he returned to his inner world to train. Shang decided to continue training without focusing on anything. He knew that he most likely wouldn''t find a true path forward, but his foundation would be wider, and his powers might evolve in ways he hadn''t thought of. So, Shang just kept on fighting the beasts. Eventually, the second century was up, and Shang had reached the age of 1,400 years old. Shang felt that he no longer needed to absorb any more Abominations. If he wanted to, he could reach the Mid Void Break Realm. But he didn''t break through. He decided to fight for 400 more years in his inner world. In thest couple of years, the feeling that he wasprehending something had increased by quite a bit. It was like there was something close. Something he was about to finally understand. The Empires reshuffled their Zones again, and once more, the Lightning Manor didn''t change Shang''s Zone. Shang inspected the three barriers surrounding his territory once more. Nothing had changed. So, he continued training in his inner world. By now, the Mage Kings had lost nearly all interest in him. Every couple of days, one of them remembered that Shang existed and threw a curious nce, but then, they would look away again. They had grown used to seeing Shang there. He was an unsolvable problem, and his presence was annoying. This was the most annoying and problematic Early Ancestral Mage they had ever seen. But there was nothing they could do. Shang just continued to train. In the next century, Shangprehended only one Concept, but it was a good one. The level three Concept of Light, Beam! This Concept increased the speed of Shang''s light-based attacks, giving him a tiny bit of the speed of light. Naturally, Shang''s attacks didn''t reach the speed of light yet. In fact, they weren''t even close. However, the little bit he had received from his Concept was already quite a lot for him. The speed of Missile and Radiation increased by a lot! But that was all he hadprehended in this century. Now, Shang was 1,500 years old. The war started 300 years ago. The Lightning Manor still hadn''t changed the Zone. So, Shang just continued training. SHING! One day, something suddenly happened. It was just like any other day inside Shang''s inner world, and Shang hadn''t expected anything to happen. But then, something appeared inside his world, just 2,000 kilometers away from him. Shang quickly noticed that something had changed, and his Spirit Sense looked at the source. Shang was a bit surprised at what he saw. It was an Arch Abomination. It had... just appeared. Randomly. Without Shang''s order. Shang saw the Mana in the surroundings flow towards it and frowned. SHING! Shang swung his Subsis a tiny bit, and the Abomination turned into tiny cubes of meat, which were then eaten by the surrounding Mana. There was no use in keeping that thing alive. To Shang, this was an inconsequential event. Something that didn''t change anything and something he didn''t care about. Yet, momentster, he felt the feeling of being watched reach high levels of intensity. It was like the Mage Kings were looking with shock at him.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Which they were actually doing. Chapter 838 Chapter 838 "He''s a warrior?!" one of the Mage Kings shouted in shock. Right, up to this point, none of them had ever seen Shang fight since the barrier turned cloudy every time. But Abominations didn''t trigger the barrier, which was why the Mage Kings could see everything that had happened in there. With their experienced eyes, they could tell that Shang wasn''t using a Spell but a certain Domain-power rted to his body. Additionally, he had swung the sword with insane speeds, and there had been no magical forces at y. This guy was a warrior! Wait, he was a warrior? He was a warrior?! Awarrior had killed that many Mages with fourfold Spirit Senses?! A fucking warrior cost the Judgment Pce this many lives and money?! A shitty fucking warrior was annoying all of these Mage Kings without them being able to do anything to him?! Naturally, over thest 300 years, they hade to know the warriors very well. The warriors were one of the biggest reasons why the Lightning Manor was putting up such a great fight. Many resources that Mages needed to reach high levels of Battle-Strength were extremely rare and highly sought after, which meant that a certain number of resources could only produce so many Mages with high levels of Battle-Strength. Yet, almost all of these resources were not that useful for warriors.N?velDrama.Org: owner of this content. On the flip side, the resources that the warriors needed weren''t that useful for the Mages. This meant that the Lightning Manor could essentially create twice as many highly talented people. The average warrior was still a bit weaker than the average Mage, but that difference wasn''t that pronounced anymore. One could say that out of ten battles, the Mages would win six and the warriors four. There was still a difference, but it wasn''t as great anymore. Even more, the Mage Kings had already noticed a couple of warriors with threefold Spirit Senses. Luckily, these warriors were still rather new, and they were still at the True Path and Impose Stages. The warriors were bing a bigger problem by the day. But now, there was this fucking super warrior with a fivefold Spirit Sense! This was not a future problem but an immediate problem! "Is that why everyone lost?!" the Mage King from the Judgment Pce shouted in newfound anger and hatred. "They all expected that they would fight a Mage, but they were actually fighting a warrior!" All the Mage Kings knew how significant such an advantage was. If thebatants had known that Shang was a warrior, they would be very careful to keep their distance from him. Even more, they wouldn''t ration their Mana since fights with warriors ended very quickly. Fights between Mages were endurance battles but fights between Mages and warriors were very short but intense battles. If one of two boxers in a ring decided to take it slow, they might receive a heavy punch to the face at the start of the fight, which could end the entire fight. Knowing that Shang was a warrior was very important! The Mage King from the Judgment Pce immediately wanted to send someone in to fight Shang, believing that her Mage would win with this newfound information. However, the other Mage Kings stopped her. He still had a fivefold Spirit Sense. On top of that, they were certain now that Shang was the reason for the existence of all these troublesome warriors. He was probably the one that came up with these powers, Stages, and Paths. Someone that could create somethingpletely new while also being so talented to reach a fivefold Spirit Sense was not someone simple. He was probably a genius on par with the top five Mage Kings. However, by choosing to be a warrior, he had ruined his future. Creating a Path up to this point was impressive, but that was nothingpared to what was in front of him. Creating something like a Warrior King was not something that just one person could do in their lifetime. Something like that required the umtion of knowledge and experience across generations of talented individuals. Also, would the Emperors even permit the existence of a Warrior King? After the initial shock, the Mage Kings were actually relieved. They had feared that Shang would be a troublesome Mage King in the future. But now, they didn''t need to worry about that anymore. Eventually, Shang would just die. He would never reach the Mage King Realm, which meant that he would never truly be a danger. Sure, he might be annoying now, but that was it. ¡°Wait! | know who that is!" one of the Mage Kings from the Twilight Dusk Family shouted. The other Mage Kings looked at him. "The Lightning Manor bought him and all the other warriors about 800 years ago for 13 Grade Eight Mana Crystals!" he said. This took the other Mage Kings by surprise. 13 Grade Eight Mana Crystals? They looked at Shang. Him? For 13 Grade Eight Mana Crystals? That was a good deal! This guy was essentially the creator and progenitor of an entirely new Path that was close to rivaling the Mage Path in the first six Realms. When the Mage King of the Judgment Pce heard about the 13 Grade Eight Mana Crystals, the 30 million dead Archmages and the 275 Grade Eight Mana Crystals they had to pay shot through her mind. She grew angry yet again, but she didn''t say anything. In the end, they decided to leave things as they were. After a bit, Shang realized why the Mage Kings were now so interested in him. He hadn''t intended to out himself as a warrior, but he also didn''t regret it. He knew how Mages thought, and he knew that showing that he was a warrior would actually lessen the killing intent aimed at him. Shang just returned to his training. More years passed. Eventually, Shangprehended something. And this time, it wasn''t a Concept. This time, Shangprehended somethingpletely new! He finally knew why he had felt like he was about toprehend something for so long! Chapter 839 Chapter 839 Inside his inner world, Shang had just unleashed an attack that had killed a humongous beast, cutting it into two pieces. For a time, Shang only looked at his Addum. What had this attack just been? Shang ignored the Affinity Wheel for now and thought about his sword. He noticed that many more things made sense now. Somehow, his understanding of his weapon had reached a certain level. Shang slowly moved his Addum through the air, and he felt like he could reach any ce he wished with his Addum. It was strange. It was almost like his sword was several kilometers long. After a couple of minutes, Shang used the Affinity Wheel to summon an Initial Beast Lord. The Initial Beast Lord was a metallic tiger that appeared over 500 kilometers away. Yet, Shang almost paid no attention to the Beast Lord. Instead, he focused on his Addum. Shang lifted his Addum to the side and tightened his grip. Then, he focused. As soon as Shang started to focus, he felt like he could see some kind of circle. The circle had a radius of 25 kilometers, and Shang felt like everything inside this circle was reachable. Shang could feel his mind and willpower concentrate more on the Addum. It was like all his being was flowing into his Addum. As time passed, Shang could feel everything inside the circle start to shake under his willpower and focus. The next moment, Shang willed the circle to grow bigger. The intensity of the circle lessened, but the size of the circle increased. The more Shang focused on his weapon, the more he felt his mind burn. It was like he was overdrawing his concentration or something like that. The focus required became more and more intense. Yet, Shang''s appearance didn''t change. He just continued to focus. If there was one thing Shang had, it was willpower. The circle became bigger and bigger. Eventually, when it reached a radius of nearly 200 kilometers, Shang could feel the metallic tiger enter the circle. As soon as the metallic tiger entered the circle, it suddenly felt an immense feeling of danger. It felt like it was walking through the territory of an aggressive Beast King! In the distance, the metallic tiger could see that the earth around the human was starting to crumble and levitate. On top of that, the space around Shang seemed to vibrate with intensity and pressure. It was almost like there was a deep rumbling going through the space. Nevertheless, the tiger continued running forward.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Inside Shang''s mind, he looked at the tiger. Then, hepressed the circle again, but he always kept the tiger inside the circle. The closer the tiger got to Shang, the more intense the surroundings became. Eventually, when there were only 50 kilometers between them, something happened. WHOOOM! All the Mana in the surroundings vanished as Shang used Void Break. Shang''s Addum had already been loaded with a full Void Break, and he was using this new Void Break to increase the power of his body. The circle in Shang''s mind was shaking violently. It was almost like it was about to break apart. Shang''s Addum began to burn with invisible mes. And then, he shed. WHOOOOOM! 50 kilometers away, the tiger''s body fell into two pieces. All the intensely burning Fire Mana on Shang''s Addum had vanished, and the surroundings had alsopletely calmed down. The concentrated and unstable power had been unloaded by Shang''s attack. Shang took a deep breath and swung his Addum around a bit. Shang didn''t feel very different from normal. The only difference was that he felt like his control over the world around him had strengthened. SHING! Shang released a sh, and a huge crevice appeared in the ground nearly 3,000 kilometers away from him. "My normal attacks have also increased by quite a bit,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I guess | could kill a Mid Ancestral Beast with that, and if | use Void Break, | can most likely kill a Late Ancestral Beast.¡¯ The next moment, Shang summoned a Late Ancestral Beast around 2,800 kilometers away. Shang used Void Break and shed to the side. BANG! The Late Ancestral Beast exploded into pieces. Shang frowned and looked at his sword. ¡®| see,¡¯ he thought as he noticed the intense Fire Mana on his Addum. ¡®I still can''t instantly transport the Mana from my weapon, which was why this kill wasn''t as smooth.¡¯ ¡®However, if | use that circle..." Shang lifted his Addum again and poured his focus into it. The world around him rumbled again, and Shang felt his mind burn once more. SHING! Shang swung his Addum, and 100 kilometers away from him, an extremely deep and smooth crevice appeared. The Fire Mana on Shang''s Addum had disappeared. "So, that''s the difference,¡¯ Shang thought. This new thing that Shang hadprehended had two effects. First, it increased the power of his World Connection. Second, it gave Shang the ability to channel his focus and willpower into his weapon, which allowed him to create an extremely powerful attack. The longer he channeled, the more focus he could use to either increase the range or the power of the attack. Even more, this attack worked just as if Shang were directly in melee range. In fact, the attack could actually reach the same level of power as an actual physical attack from Shang. But from several kilometers away. One had to remember that a physical sh from Shang''s Addum with fully loaded Mana was just as powerful as Meteor. This meant that this attack could unleash the power of Meteor! Yet, just like with everything else, there were drawbacks. The reach of this circle wasn''t nearly as great as the reach of Meteor. Shang could use Meteor from thousands of kilometers away. On top of that, to reach the power of Meteor, Shang needed to channel his focus for quite a long while. Lastly, the more focus Shang used, the more difficult it was to concentrate. Focus was a limited resource. So, if an opponent saw Shang load up this attack, the best way was to just walk out of range. If Shang continued to channel, he would waste all his focus, and if he stopped channeling, all the focus would go to waste. Still, this attack essentially increased Shang''s physical range to a size of 25 kilometers. This meant that Shang no longer needed to bridge thesest 25 kilometers. ¡®| guess this is the purest Path for warriors,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at his Addum. ¡®First, they establish a Path. Second, they step along the Path and create their Impose. Third, they build upon their Impose and gain this ability.¡¯ ¡®This is a Path for someone that only uses a single weapon." ¡®One weapon to destroy everything.¡¯ Shang looked away from his Addum and looked at the distant crevices. ¡®| want something to happen, and it happens inside of my Spirit Sense. The power in the distance might not have reached insane levels, but it has increased." "However, my physical body can essentially reach every spot within 25 kilometers of me.¡¯ ¡®| intend to swing my arm, and the world follows." ¡®| would want to call this Intent, but | remember that the Custodian once said that the warriors of old called Impose as Weapon Intent. Since this is the advanced form of that, | think | should just call it Weapon Heart, and since | focus on swords, this should be Sword Heart. Chapter 840 Chapter 840 Afterprehending Sword Heart for his Addum, Shang decided to focus onprehending Sword Heart for his Subsis. He had trained both of them nearly equally, andprehending Sword Heart for his Subsis only took a couple of years. Now, Shang had two Sword Hearts. The power of his World Connection had increased yet again, but it didn''t make that big of a difference to before. However, his ability to focus had be more effective. Now, the starting size of the circle had a radius of 50 kilometers, which meant that Shang could essentially physically attack someone from 50 kilometers away. Even more, the standard attack, without having to gather a lot of focus, was now just as powerful as Shang''s physical attack, and he could increase the power even more. This meant, as long as Shang was 50 kilometers away from the enemy, he could instantaneously unleash a nearly unavoidable attack that had the power of Meteor. Sure enough, training without focusing on anything had allowed Shang toprehend something that increased his power. Sadly, it wasn''t useful to Shang''s Realm. Shang needed toprehend something that was on the level of a Mage King to retain the power of his Spirit Sense. Sword Heart was something that Impose Stage warriors wouldprehend to reach the Sixth Stage, the Heart Stage. Sword Heart was on the same level as World Connection. Even if Shangprehended the level above Sword Heart, it would only increase his potential Spirit Sense from onefold to twofold. Shang could only get back to a fivefold Spirit Sense with something that a Warrior Lord would use to be a Warrior King. And this was obviously not the way to go. It took too long. Even more, Shang had two weapons, which would make this even harder. Shang still needed to find something that could increase his Spirit Sense and his Realm. But for now, he didn''t search for that. For now, he would continue to train aimlessly. Eventually, another century was up, and Shang turned 1,600. The war had been going on for 400 years. Shang''s little world hadpletely recovered by now. There were many differentndscapes, animals, nts, and beasts. The Lightning Manor still didn''t change the assignment of Zones. So, Shang continued fighting in his inner world. The next thing he managed toprehend was the level three Concept of Darkness, Consumption. Consumption increased the power of Darkness Absorb by a lot, and it allowed Shang to cancel even more of the opponent''s will while using less Mana.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. It was definitely quite useful. But that was all heprehended in that century. Shang turned 1,700. The Lightning Manor still didn''t change anything. When Shang realized that thest century hade, he decided to actually focus on something. He decided to focus on the level four Concept of Death. He had died so many times, and he had alsoe into contact with extremely powerful Death Mana. He knew that he was close toprehending it. So, instead of fighting, Shang summoned one powerful Mid Beast Lord after the other, and he didn''t even resist. He died. Very quickly. Again and again. He was eaten, pecked apart, bitten, eviscerated, exsanguinated, crushed, drowned, frozen, incinerated, torn apart, poisoned, shocked, cut, pressed together... Eventually, all of this stopped mattering to Shang. Dying became normal. Was dying actually really so bad? Whenever Shang noticed that he was having these thoughts, he did his best to rectify them. Dying in here was fine, but dying outside was not fine. Dying outside meant that everything would end. Death in here was different from true death. And that was when Shang realized it. This was why he hadn''tprehended the level four Concept of Death yet. Dying in here didn''t represent dying outside. Shang''s mind reyed the things he had felt aftering into contact with the powerful Death Mana. There was definitely a difference between that Death Mana and dying in here, emotionally speaking. Even though Shang had grown used to dying, just the thought ofing into contact with this powerful Death Mana filled Shang''s mind with fear. ¡®Getting ustomed to death?¡¯ Shang thought with ridicule. "Dying in here is not a true death.¡¯ "How can | ever get ustomed to death when I''ve never actually died?¡¯ And finally, he understood everything. The level four Concept of Death, Death. Yes, the level four Concept of Death was the state of being dead. Alevel four Concept. Something that an Ancestral Mage would use to be a Mage Lord. Shang was still in the Early Sixth Realm! This truly put into perspective that Shang''s mind was no longer his weakness. Comprehending a level four Concept in the Early Sixth Realm was something that only Clouds could do, the most talented Mages in the world. Was Shang very talented in Magic? No. It was just that Shang''s mind was extremely focused, and that it was constantly in an extreme state ofprehension due to Shang''s insane willpower. He just never stopped learning. He never took breaks. He never took it easy. He was a perfect machine. Afterprehending the level four Concept of Death, Shang decided to rework his techniques. He now had Sword Heart and another Concept of Death to work with. His Realm hadn''t benefited, but his foundation and Battle-Strength had increased tremendously. Additionally, Shang had an idea of what he could do to retain his Spirit Sense. Shang had been a warrior up to the True Path Stage. After that, he hadprehended World Connection, which deviated from the path of a warrior. ording to the Custodian, World Connection had been used by World Maniptors. This meant that Shang had the base of a warrior, but channeled all of this into what World Maniptors used. After that, Shangprehended Void Break, which was something that Berserkers used, but Shang had also changed it somewhat to fit his own style. This meant that Shang had already borrowed from three different Paths. On top of that, Shang was using several weapons, which meant that he was even treading on the Weapon Master Path. Four Paths. And for the next breakthrough? Why not borrow from yet another Path? And wasn''t there a very noticeable Path he hadn''t borrowed from yet? Chapter 841 Chapter 841 For thest couple of years, Shang just focused on turning his Concepts into actual techniques. And then, it was finally time.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. Shang turned 1,800, and he waited for the redistribution of the Zones. Once more, the Lightning Manor didn''t reassign Shang''s Zone. Shang waited a couple of days to make sure that the war had resumed. ''It''s time to leave,¡¯ he thought as he left the spot he had been sitting on for a long time. The entire territory had recovered. One wouldn''t be able to guess that just a couple of centuries ago, everything had been submerged by a sea of blood and Death Mana. Shang flew to a distance of about 2,500 kilometers from the Defender g and stopped. Then, he focused on his body and willed it to break through. WHOOOOM! In an instant, all the Mana in the surroundings was pulled towards him. Acouple of Mage Kings immediately took notice and narrowed their eyes. The warrior was making his move! Shang very quickly reached the Mid Void Break Realm, and he felt the Defender g starting to reject him. Shang had be stronger than the Defender g, and it was warning him. SHING! Amomentter, Shang pulled the Defender g out of the ground with his mind and put it into his inner world. For the first time in a long while, the humongous barrier around Shang''s territory vanished. The Mage Kings immediately issued orders to their soldiers. However, before any of their soldiers could react, Shang had already used several Mana Steps to leave his territory. In less than a second, Shang had already entered the territory to his northeast, the four-star Defender g of the Judgment Pce. The barrier quickly turned cloudy again, and the Mage Kings lost sight of Shang. However, they also grew excited. He had fallen for it! He had fallen into their trap! They knew that Shang would immediately charge into the weakest g, which was the four-star g. So, they had put a very powerful Late Ancestral Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense in there. Shang would need to fight a level above himself! And even if he survived by some miracle, he would only have two more hours to live. After entering the new territory, Shang took a moment to recover his Mana and focus. His opponent was probably in the middle of the territory, which meant that they were about 5,000 kilometers away from him. He had some time to recover. After a couple of seconds, Shang readied his two swords and flew toward the center of the territory. Surprisingly, Shang didn''t see anyone. Was his opponent somewhere else? But when he reached a distance of about 2,000 kilometers, he felt his bandages react. His opponent was there, but he couldn''t see them. ¡®They''re using a barrier or Spell to hide,¡¯ Shang thought. Just a momentter, Shang charged backward. The feeling of being watched vanished, and it didn''t return, even after Shang waited for a couple of seconds. ¡®Are they unable to move?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang decided to move around a bit and enter his opponent''s Spirit Sense again from a different angle. Shang felt the feeling of being watched again and retreated. After that, he returned to his original location and moved into the opponent''s range again. ¡®They haven''t moved,¡¯ Shang thought. Amomentter, Shang shot a couple of kilometers upwards and moved into the opponent''s range again. Shang remembered all three spots he had entered from. He knew exactly where the feeling had started. And then, Shang used something terrifying. Mathematics! Trigonometry! Shang was thousands of years old, and his mind was incredibly powerful. These calctions barely took an instant. Shang lifted his Addum. And then, he swung down. WHOOOOM! The image of the Addum appeared on a spot about 2,000 kilometers away from Shang and shed downward. Meteor! BOOOOOOOOOOM! The surrounding 20 kilometers were turned into a burned crater! SHING! An instantter, a grey-haired woman appeared just 300 kilometers away from the crater. Her face had turned white, and her eyes were widened with terror and shock. If she hadn''t used Mana Step just now, she would have died! How did he find her?! Her camouge had been perfect! Suddenly, she felt something terrifying approaching. In the distance, she could see Shang swinging his Subsis. SHING! Out of instinct, the Mage used Mana Step again. Amomentter, the space where she had just been had warped drastically. It was like an invisible spear had shot through that spot! WHOOOM! In the distance, all the Mana around Shang vanished, and he shed with his Subsis again. BANG! The Mage felt something heavy and powerful hit her Mage Shield, and over 10% of her Mana vanished! What?! How?! He was a warrior, right?! So, how could he attack her from 2,000 kilometers away?! This range was even crazier than the range of Mages! The Mage noticed that she had already wasted quite a bit of Mana, and she decided to reset the battle. She used three Mana Steps to move away and set up another barrier that would hide her in an instant. She needed to recover some Mana. Yet, just when she had set up the barrier... BANG! The same attack hit her again, and she lost even more of her Mana. Around 2,800 kilometers away, Shang readied his Subsis once again. 600 years ago, his attacks hadn''t been powerful enough to threaten Mages from such a distance unless he used a slow attack like Meteor. But now, with the addition of his two Sword Hearts, his ranged attacks had be quite a bit more powerful. This also gave Shang the ability to make use of his huge Spirit Sense. At this moment, Shang couldunch attacks at his opponent, who couldn''t even see him. From now on, the Mages would need to get close to him, not the other way around. Shang''s opponent panicked as she tried her best to find a way to hide from Shang. BANG! BANG! Yet, another two attacks hit her, and she realized with horror that she was out of Mana. SHING! SHING! The next moment, she saw Shang rapidly approach. CRACK! Her Mana Shield broke. Shang rapidly used several Mana Steps to get close to her. And then, he infused her mind with the Concept of Purgatory. She had be a birdwatcher. Shang had just used up all of his Mana to pull that off, but it was important. If the fight ended right now, the Judgment Pce might suspect that Shang was even more powerful. So, he had to save a bit of time. But not that much. Just one minuteter, he killed her. The enemy now knew that he was a warrior, and they knew that the fights wouldn''t take that long. One minute was already quite a long time for a battle. Chapter 842 Chapter 842 The cloudy barrier vanished. Yes, it didn''t turn transparent. Since the defender had lost, the Defender g had destroyed itself, which included the barrier. WHOOOM! The next moment, a new barrier appeared, but this time, it was not one of a Defender g. This was an Attack Barrier. Shang had just put down an Attack g. At the same time, a second Attack g appeared on the territory Shang had just left behind, his old territory. An Initial Ancestral Mage was attacking Shang''s old territory. Naturally, there was nothing Shang could do about it. At this moment, several Mage Kings were paying attention to Shang. Shang had destroyed another highly talented Mage, and he had even destroyed a Defender g. However, he was stuck now! After some minutes, no one had entered Shang''s territory, and he knew that the Judgment Pce would let the countdown run out. And then, they would simply send in another Initial Ancestral Mage to eat up that territory from under Shang. After all, he couldn''t use his Defender g anymore! While the countdown was still going on, Shang looked at the borders of his new territory. The south and southeast of his territory were still unassable. That territory was the original territory of the Judgment Pce, and they had probably assigned High Mages or Archmages to it. To his southwest and west was his old territory, which would soon be conquered by the enemy. Shang noticed that the one-star barrier, which should now be at his northwest, had vanished. Shang had a good guess as to where that g was now. That g was probably with the Initial Ancestral Mage assaulting his old territory. As soon as that territory got conquered, the Initial Ancestral Mage would put the g down. This would block off the west and southwest. The next moment, Shang inspected his east. There was a ck-and-white barrier with one star. This was no longer the territory of the Judgment Pce but the territory of the Twilight Dusk Family, and they had their own Defender gs. This only left the north. And there was a two-star g from the Judgment Pce. Literally every single direction was blocked off. Everything surrounding Shang''s new territory was so weak that he wasn''t allowed to attack. He was truly stuck. Shang didn''t show any reaction on the outside and returned to the center of his new territory. There were still around 55 minutes left on the countdown. After some minutes, Shang summoned his humongous Istion Chamber again. He entered and closed the entrance. The Mage Kings were curious about what Shang was trying to do, but they knew that there wasn''t anything he could do. Over 50 minutes passed. Only two minutes were left. The entrance to the Istion Chamber opened, and Shang walked out. Amomentter, he put the Istion Chamber away again and waited in the middle of his new territory. Shang seemed the same as before. Time passed. One minute remained. 30 seconds remained. At that moment, Shang''s jaw moved just the slightest bit. It didn''t seem unusual. 20 seconds remained. At that point, sweat started to pour out of Shang''s entire body. The Mage Kings looked at Shang with furrowed brows. Something was going on. 15 seconds remained. Shang''s being seemed to burn and be unstable. The Mage Kings were still uncertain about what was going on. 10 seconds remained. BANG! Shang shot towards the north as an insane amount of Mana gathered around him. 5 seconds remained. At that moment, one of the Mage Kings realized what was going on. ¡°Immediately switch the Defender g to his north!" he shouted at the Mage King of the Judgment Pce. The Mage King looked at the other one with shock. What? ¡°He swallowed a Rebirth Pill!" the other Mage King shouted. The eyes of the Mage King from the Judgment Pce opened wide in realization. She immediately contacted the person to the north of Shang. "Pull the Defender g out of the ground!" she ordered. The Ancestral Mage grew shocked and confused. What was going on?! 0 seconds! WHOOOOM! The attack g Shang had nted vanished and converted thend below Shang to a territory from the Lightning Manor. At the same time, Shang reached the northern edge of his territory. The Mage in the northern territory stretched his mind towards the Defender g and pulled. DING! But he couldn''t move it! For some reason, he couldn''t move or deactivate his Defender g! And that was when the barrier turned cloudy. The Mage Kings gritted their teeth. They had been too slow! However, who would have thought that Shang actually carried a Rebirth Pill with him?! ARebirth Pill was something quite expensive that was used to reduce someone''s Realm, giving them a new shot at breaking through. Rebirth Pills were very rare for one specific reason. It required the corpses of Abominations to be created. Reducing someone''s level without breaking their Realm was not easy at all. Getting someone from a Peak Ancestral Mage to a Peak Archmage was very easy. They simply had to destroy the Concept that held everything together. However, things were not as easy when one just wanted to fall a level without falling a Realm. Something like going from Mid Ancestral Mage to Early Ancestral Mage. There was nothing specific one could destroy to make everything crumble. One needed to wholistically reduce the density of Mana in one''s entire body. And that wasn''t easy. Yet, by using a couple of natural treasures together with Abominations, one could create a slower and more controlled explosion of an Abomination.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. When Shang had swallowed the pill, a big part of his Mana was being used as fuel to create a field of destruction around him. The Mana Shang had absorbed to reach the Mid Void Break Realm had vanished from the world. And he had returned to the Early Void Break Realm. This meant that he could attack the Defender g to the north now, which was exactly what he was doing. Today, Shang would get rid of two of the five Defender gs that the Judgment Pce had ess to! When the Mage saw his barrier turn cloudy, his mind stopped. Did that monster to the south enter his barrier? But he was only someone with a threefold Spirit Sense! Chapter 843 Chapter 843 Shang waited in the middle of his new territory. The person that had defended this territory just now was busy watching birds. Shang had very quickly realized that the person defending this territory wasn''t very powerful, which was why he took advantage of that fact to waste some more time. The longer he was here, the more resources the enemy needed to waste. With this Defender g also destroyed, the Judgment Pce had lost two Defender gs for their Ancestral Mages. This was very problematic for them. The fewer Defender gs the Judgment Pce had, the harder it was to keep Shang contained. Aweekter, Shang killed the person upying this ce and put his Attack g down. Several Mage Kings immediately looked at him, but Shang didn''t show any reactions. This fucking warrior had made trouble for them for 600 years by now! They were fighting a war with the Lightning Manor, but it felt like they were actually fighting two wars. One against the Lightning Manor and one against this warrior. Since Shang had destroyed another Defender g, the Judgment Pce now had even more problems in this territory. The entire Judgment Pce only had this little Zone to wage their war, while the other two Empires had millions of kilometers of borders with the Lightning Manor. This was also one of the biggest reasons why the Lightning Manor was still able to put up a fight. The Judgment Pce could only attack with their Ancestral Mages since they could only fight in one Zone for now. This made their High Mages, Archmages, and Mage Lords useless. And this warrior was keeping a big part of their forces upied! While Shang was waiting for the countdown to end, he looked at his new borders. To his south, where his old territory had been, was now a barrier with one star. To his east was the territory of the Twilight Dusk Family with a barrier with 1 star. To his west was the Judgment Pce''s five-star g.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. And to his north? The Twilight Dusk Family''s five-star g. Shang had been pretty sure that the Judgment Pce would own the majority of the territory here since this was their only point of attack. The Twilight Dusk Family had to distribute their forces over millions of kilometers. They didn''t have the luxury to focus this much on this Zone. Yet, here it was, the Twilight Dusk Family''s Defender g. ¡®They probably attacked the Judgment Pce''s territory to the north. They probably didn''t collude, but the Judgment Pce probably won''t strike back since this is a good thing for them.¡¯ ¡®One star and five stars, huh?¡¯ Shang thought. ''l am currently at the Early Ancestral Mage Realm again, and by putting this one- star g south to me, they''re probably hoping that | will reduce my Realm further." ¡®Every decrease of my Realm costs me 200 years of absorbing Abominations. Additionally, they now know that | have Rebirth Pills.¡¯ ¡®As soon as | reduce my Realm to the Initial Void Break Realm, they will probably immediately pull the Defender g back and rece it with the three-star g. At that point, they wouldn''t need to pay attention to me for 400 more years." "Reducing my Realm would be a bad idea. That trick worked once, but it won''t work again.¡¯ I think, this time, | am truly stuck. There are no more tricks | can pull.¡¯ Shang slowly flew towards the southwest. About 2,500 kilometers away from the g, Shang stopped. At this moment, Shang was positioned in such a way that he could keep watch over his g, the one-star g to the south and the five-star g to the west. The enemy already "knew" that he had a fivefold Spirit Sense, and they knew that he could see all three things at the same time. Amomentter, Shang took out a pill and put it in his mouth. It was another Rebirth Pill. However, Shang didn''t swallow, and he also kept it isted from his body with Mana. At least, that was how he wanted it to appear. In truth, he had already put it back into his inner world. When the Mage Kings saw what was going on, they grew frustrated again. With Shang waiting there, they couldn''t pull a sneaky trick. They needed to keep the one-star g and five-star g there, but they technically still had a three-star g. Yet, they couldn''t use it. They needed to keep the three-star g ready in case Shang suddenly decided to swallow the Rebirth Pill and charge toward the one-star g. If they were not fast enough, Shang might snatch another g, and on top of that, even if he didn''t destroy it, he would travel away from the territory of the Twilight Dusk Family at the top. That meant that three territories of the Judgment Pce would then surround Shang, which made it impossible to defend with their current Defender gs. So, the Twilight Dusk Family would need to conquer Shang''s old territory, but they really weren''t the biggest fans of stretching so far into the Zone. They were too busy with other Zones. At this moment, Shang was the very reason why the Judgment Pce couldn''t even use a single Defender g to fight the Lightning Manor. Shang had destroyed two and was keeping three busy. Additionally, he was also keeping two gs from the Twilight Dusk Family busy. Every Empire had five gs per Realm. Shang had destroyed two and was keeping five busy. This meant that Shang,pletely on his own, was dealing with half of the Defender gs of all three attacking Empires. The Empires had to contain Shang with a huge amount of money and resources. It was like he was some kind of ancient evil that wasn''t allowed toe back to the world again. Eventually, Shang conquered the territory and nted his two-star g down. And everything returned to waiting. Shang was constantly ready to attack if anything happened. The Judgment Pce was ready to swap out the gs. The atmosphere was tense. It was a stalemate. The one that made the first move would lose. Nobody dared to move. Chapter 844 Chapter 844 Acouple of territories away from Shang, the Lightning Manor was fighting a desperate war. Ever since the war started, over 50 Ancestral Mage Clouds had died, and only 30 new ones had been born during this time. The number of Ancestral Mage Clouds was declining. The numbers of Archmages were not that problematic, and the number of High Mages was no problem. The Land and Sky Empire and the Twilight Dusk Family were ying the long game. They weren''t putting a lot of pressure on the Lightning Manor, which meant that the Lightning Manor''s forces weren''t shrinking by much. However, the numbers of powerful Mages in the other Empires were not only not shrinking but even growing. Such huge wars allowed the creation of powerful geniuses through tempering on the battlefield. On top of that, the addition of valuable resources the Empires were selling at a loss caused even more powerful people to emerge. Ever since the war started, the number of Ancestral Mages with a fourfold Spirit Sense in the Twilight Dusk Family increased by 20. Same with the Land and Sky Empire. All three Empires had started with about 100 Ancestral Mages with fourfold Spirit Senses. And now, the Lightning Manor had 80, and the other two had 120 each. From 100 against 200, it had transformed to 80 against 240. The other Realms were not in trouble, but the Ancestral Mage Realm represented the future. In the future, everyone would be fighting with Mage Lords, and these powerful Ancestral Mages would be the powerful Mage Lords of the future. Luckily, the Lightning Manor had the warriors, who were starting to explode in numbers and power. After so many years, there were now over 10,000 World Connection warriors and 20 of them even had threefold Spirit Senses. The war had started 800 years ago. For almost everyone, the war had been going on ever since they had been born. Only the very oldest Archmages and stronger remembered a time without war. War had be normal to everyone. A lot of people were even used to fighting on the frontlines. Yet, there was one area that no one could get used to. The southeastern Zone of the Lightning Manor. While the fighting everywhere else was rtively calm, this Zone was a huge meat grinder. The Judgment Pce was desperately trying to break through this Zone so that they could release their Archmages or High Mages in the neighboring Zone. Naturally, the Lightning Manor was desperately trying to stop that from happening. The Ancestral Mages had the highest casualty rate. New Ancestral Mages that fought for the first time couldn''t believe the number of fights happening here and the number of people dying. Yet, the Ancestral Mages that had been fighting for longer had something different to say. It used to be way worse. It had been horrible near the beginning of the war. Then, things had calmed down a bit. After that, things turned absolutely horrible again. And then, things changed. The Judgment Pce was still attacking with as much fervor as before, but they were losing way more battles than before. The reason was that they couldn''t defend important chokepoints. It was normal to create a tendril of conquered territories to iste a number of territories from the other territories. After that, they could slowly take out one territory after the other. This was how these wars were fought. But 200 years ago, something changed. The Judgment Pce stopped using Defender gs to defend these chokepoints. Because of that, the Lightning Manor could cut off the tendrils at the base, essentially surrounding the tendrils how the tendrils wanted to surround other territories. After several years of massive failures, the Judgment Pce stopped using the tendril strategy and decided to conquer each territory one at a time. That was much slower and less efficient. Even more, the Lightning Manor still had their Defender gs, and they were using the tendril strategy to conquer back some of their own territories. The casualty rate for the Judgment Pce was far higher than for the Lightning Manor. And everyone knew why things had developed this way. The Ancestral Hero. 800 years ago, the Ancestral Hero had stood in front of the Judgment Pce on his own, and he had represented an immovable wall. The Judgment Pce even needed to conquer some territories of their allies to get past him. Yet, even though the Judgment Pce managed to get past the Ancestral Hero, the Ancestral Hero never died. And he had never stopped battling the Judgment Pce on his own. No one had seen him in 800 years. Yet, all of them knew that he was alive. The Judgment Pce seemed impossibly powerful on paper, but the actual power the Judgment Pce demonstrated wasn''t as impressive. Everyone knew why. The Ancestral Hero was still causing problems. Nearly no one that was still alive had actually seen the Ancestral Hero before since he had vanished 800 years ago, but everyone knew his name. Shang Sword. Awarrior. The ancestor of all warriors. The most powerful warrior in the world. His power was legendary. His name was eternal. What did he look like? Was he a tall and handsome warrior with long and flowing ck hair, wearing a golden set of te armor, a shield, and a long spear? Was he a wise and unfathomable sage of the sword? Maybe he was a charismatic and beautiful man thatughed a lot with his friends? Acouple of people heard some descriptions from others that had actually seen the Ancestral Hero before. Apparently, he was a mysterious, reflective, and taciturn blind man that trained all day. A blind warrior? This created a very mystical image in one''s mind. In fiction, blind swordsmen were often depicted as tranquil and humble masters of their craft. Initially, they always appeared like weak but friendly men, but as soon as they took out their sword, they would transform into powerful sages. The Ancestral Hero was like that? That was amazing! Many Mages wanted to meet with this wise individual, and many warriors wanted to study under this kind master. But for that to happen, they needed to save the Ancestral Hero from the clutches of the Judgment Pce first. They had to save their beloved hero! For years, they tried their best to create pathways to the Ancestral Hero, but the Judgment Pce was a powerful enemy. Nevertheless, for the first time in a long while, they were actually winning back more territory than they were losing! 900 years after the war had started, the Lightning Manor was fighting back! They were reconquering the territories they had lost! The Judgment Pce fought brutally, but the people from the Lightning Manor could tell that they were desperate. The Lightning Manor felt re-energized! Their enemies were dying!N?velDrama.Org owns this. And then, something happened. Something that wouldn''t only shock the Zone but the entire world. Chapter 845 Chapter 845 Shang had been isted in his newest territory for around 300 years by now. Nothing had changed. Shang was 2,100 years old now, and he was ready to break into the Mid Void Break Realm once again. Sadly, he couldn''t since he had no Defender g for that level. He was stuck, and there was nothing he could do. He could only wait. At least Shang could fight the beasts in his inner world again since he was back in the Early Void Break Realm. He hadprehended two further Concepts, the level three Concept of Fire, Incineration, and the level three Concept of Ice, Blizzard. Now, Shang hadprehended all level three Concepts of his four Affinities, and he had evenprehended a level four Concept for the Death Affinity. However, Shang wasn''t actually focusing on these two Concepts. They had juste on their own. Shang was actually focusing on the Concept of Temperatures, which was as difficult as a level four Concept now. In a way,prehending the level four Concept of Death was easier thanprehending the Concept of Temperatures since theprehension of death was special. On top of that, Shang didn''t have the most useful things to look at toprehend temperatures. He could only use a couple of beasts and his own fire and ice. Naturally, Shang wasn''t happy about being stuck here, but there was nothing he could do. He could only train, even though it wasn''t the most effective way of training. WHOOOOOOM! Suddenly, Shang felt like the world had stopped. At this moment, Shang felt like his existence was about to end. Death had arrived. Something of iprehensible power wasing for him at speeds that he couldn''t react to. Shang was frozen. And then, Shang felt a small icicle appear at the edge of his Spirit Sense. Just when Shang realized that the icicle had appeared, it had already arrived in front of his body. This was the fastest thing Shang had seen in his entire life! Its speed was beyond allprehension. The icicle was so incredibly powerful that Shang couldn''t even defend. Maybe, if he sacrificed an arm or a leg to entropy, he could destroy it, but he couldn''t even do that. The icicle was simply too fast! Shang''s entire life shot through his mind. And then... WHOOOM! The icicle stopped. Shang stopped. Space stopped. Time stopped. Everything stopped. Two fingers stretched out from beside the icicle and picked it up as if it were nothing but a toy. "Oh dear," a voice reverberated throughout the world. "We can''t have that now, can we?" And then, the world resumed to move. Shang''s Spirit Sense, which had been suppressed until now, could finally act again, and Shang saw the person that had appeared beside him. The Custodian was standing beside Shang with a friendly smile. The surrounding Mage Kings released deep breaths. They had been just as shocked as everyone else! None of them had been prepared for this. Slowly, all the Mage Kings turned to an olddy with white hair. This was the oldest Mage King of the Judgment Pce, and she had been the one that had just attacked the warrior. Literally not even a single one of the Mage Kings had expected this to happen. Even if they had wanted to save Shang, they wouldn''t have been fast enough. This had been an ambush from a Mage King! Yet, the Custodian had managed to react to the attack. Although, probably even the Custodian couldn''t have blocked this attack without expecting it, which meant that the Custodian had probably been closely watching over the warrior for a long period of time. Nevertheless, they were still taken aback by the power of the Custodian. The Spell he had used to stop reality was a Spell that only the top ten Mage Kings could perform. This was the very Spell that determined whether someone was in the top ten or not. It was simply called Domain because it was not a domain but THE Domain. It was the most powerful and primordial domain in the world. In order to cast this Spell, a Mage needed to know three insanely powerful Concepts. The most powerful Concept of Space, the level six Concept, Dimension. The most powerful Concept of Time, the level six Concept, Eternity. The most powerful Concept of Gravity, the level six Concept, Singrity. Only by knowing all three of these level six Concepts could one create the Domain. This Domain gave one mastery over time, space, and gravity. It gave one control over the fundamentals of the world, and the only way to counter Domain was to use Domain oneself. Otherwise, the opponent would just be stuck and helpless. Everyone knew that the Custodian was amongst the top three Mage Kings of the entire world. He was either second or third ce. All the Mage Kings turned to the Mage King that had just tried to kill the warrior. The old woman released a helpless sigh. "| feared that something like this might- AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Everyone''s eyes widened in shock and horror as a ck mist with two cold eyes appeared behind her. Before they could react, the ck mistpletely engulfed the Mage King, who proceeded to scream in pain and terror. The Empress of Death had appeared. After two seconds, the screams died down. Amomentter, a portal opened a couple of kilometers in front of the ck mist, and the Lightning Emperor stepped out. The other Mage Kings felt like the mist was looking at the Lightning Emperor. The Lightning Emperor slowly extended his hand like he was waiting for something. Naturally, the rules of the war couldn''t be broken. Anyone that broke the rules would die. And one of the rules was that if a Mage King decided to intervene in the war, that Mage King would be killed, and the Empire that Mage King had belonged to wasn''t allowed to keep their Mana. Otherwise, an Empire would just make one suicidal Mage King after the other. The Lightning Emperor was waiting for the Inheritance Sphere with the Mage King''s Mana.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. The ck mist only looked at the Lightning Emperor for some seconds. Chapter 846 Chapter 846 Acouple of secondster... WHOOOOOOM! A huge wave of Mana exploded out of the ck mist! The Mana was so insanely dense that even the Mage Kings were thrown back a little. The brutally dense sphere of Mana expanded and expanded, stretching across the entire world. It was like a huge droplet of water hadnded in a small cup filled with water. "The rules state that | can''t keep the Mana," a cold voice came from the ck mist. "They don''t say that | have to give it to you." Sadly, that was the truth. This was what all the Emperors had agreed on. The Lightning Emperor looked at the ck mist for a couple of seconds. Then, he stepped through the portal again and returned to the Lightning Manor. The ck mist also disappeared. Nothing had been left behind by the dead Mage King. She hadpletely vanished. The Mage Kings released more deep breaths. It seemed like the world would change quite a bit in the future. Releasing so much Mana into the world would change some things. Would there be a new Mage King or Beast King? No. Since the Mage King''s Mana had been distributed across the entire world, the density hadn''t nearly reached the level that someone could just break through without the help of an Emperor. Even if a person theoretically had a twentyfold Spirit Sense, they still wouldn''t be able to control enough Mana to break into the Mage King Realm. In order to be a Mage King, one needed A LOT of Mana in their immediate vicinity. One needed something like 10% or so of the entire world''s unused Mana, and the world didn''t onlyprise the Continent Aterium but also the Eternal Ocean. Even a Spirit Sense with a radius of five million kilometers wasn''t enough. So, what did this mean? This meant that there would be a lot more Mage Lords, Ancestral Mages, and Archmages. The main reason was that a higher density of Mana also increased someone''sprehension ability. One couldpare this to being in an environment with bad air and an environment with good air. One could survive in both environments, but one would be much more productive in one of them. This meant that even more geniuses would rise in the following years, andprehending Concepts had be a bit easier. The Custodian looked at Shang for a moment with a polite smile before disappearing again. Shang took a deep breath and released it. Luckily, the Lightning Manor had his back. Shang was proving to be of iparable value to the Lightning Manor, and the Lightning Manor reciprocated it by treating Shang like a treasure of iparable value. Both of them put in a lot of effort to defend the other. Naturally, everyone could tell what had been going on, except for Shang, since he didn''t know how the war was actually going. The Mage Kings had seen that the Judgment Pce was being pushed back because of theirck of Defender gs. If they had just one more Defender g, they could use the tentacle strategy again, which would make things easier. But there was nothing they could do. What if the Lightning Manor could contact Shang and tell him when the Judgment Pce was using the three-star g? Shang could then attack the territory to the south, and even if the Judgment Pce managed to deactivate the Defender g there, the Twilight Dusk Family would need to conquer another territory of the Judgment Pce. That would actually slowly close the Judgment Pce off from the front. On top of that, they couldn''t just hand over a territory to another Empire since conspiring was forbidden. They would need to put in an honest effort to defend that territory, which meant that a powerful Mage would die. They were stuck between a rock and a hard ce. Lose territory near the front or let this crazy warrior rampage in the back of their frontlines? This fucking warrior! This fucking warrior had made so fucking many problems for them! This entire war was failing just because of this one fucking warrior! Sadly, the Mage Kings had been forbidden from colluding with others or breaking the rules. Everyone knew that killing this warrior was worth more than the life of a Mage King at this moment, but no one could say it. Also, who were they to suggest to an equal tomit suicide for the greater good? Sending weaker people to die wasn''t an issue since weaker people were supposed to die, but sending a Mage King to die was not something the Mage Kings werefortable with. In the end, one of the Mage Kings attacked. Her life would be over in 1,000 years anyway. So, she had attacked. And yet, even such an old and powerful Mage King wasn''t powerful or fast enough to kill Shang in front of the watching Custodian. And now... The Mage Kings just looked at Shang with a heavy weight in their chest. Not even the sacrifice of a Mage King could stop him. The Mage Kings from the Land and Sky Empire and the Twilight Dusk Family were looking at the Mage Kings from the Judgment Pce. They had already expected that the war would continue for thousands of years, but only now did they trulye to terms with it. The Mage Kings were no longer confident in the Judgment Pce, and they readied themselves for a more aggressive period of war on their borders. The Mage Kings of the Judgment Pce were doing their best to fight the Lightning Manor, but it was just too difficult. The missing Defender gs was a huge disadvantage. Another century passed. The war had been going on for 1,000 years. And one day, it finally happened. The barrier to Shang''s north vanished. However, it was important to note that the barrier wasn''t destroyed. It simply vanished, which meant that the Twilight Dusk Family had retrieved their Defender g and retreated. Just an hourter... DING! A barrier from an Attack g appeared north of Shang''s territory. The Lightning Manor was attacking the territory north of Shang''s. They were here to rescue the Ancestral Hero! N?velDrama.Org owns this. Chapter 847 Chapter 847 Shang waited in the middle of his territory. He had already noticed that things were changing since even the two barriers he was keeping watch over had vanished. If only one barrier had vanished, Shang might have tried to do something, but since both had vanished, he suspected that the Judgment Pce was finally giving up. Shang had been isted from the real frontlines for a thousand years, but the Judgment Pce''s desperation couldn''t be more obvious. After all, a Mage King had tried to kill him, which meant that the Lightning Manor was probably putting a lot of pressure on the Judgment Pce. After seeing that the two barriers had vanished, Shang decided to check up on the other barriers around him. That was when he saw the Attack g to the north. This was the first non-hostile human contact in a thousand years, except for that little run-in with the Custodian. Shang had spent nearly 50% of his entire life in this war. Athousand years. And yet, he felt no different from before. In these 1,000 years, the only thing that had changed was Shang''s power. Everything else had stayed the same. So, how did Shang feel toward friendly human contact after so long? Ambivalent. Uncaring. Neutral. It didn''t matter. Shang waited beside his Defender g until the countdown was over. Eventually, a group of people entered Shang''s territory. Shang could see them from quite far away. They were ten people, all of them in the Sixth Realm, two per level. Surprisingly, there were also two warriors among them, and Shang could even tell that these warriors were not weak. He estimated that they had threefold Spirit Senses. Yet, there was one person that surprised Shang even more. It was someone at the Peak Sixth Realm, and his Aura was quite unique. Shockingly, he had the Aura of an Ancestral Mage but also the Aura of a warrior. His mind seemed powerful, and his body also seemed powerful. Shang felt like this man was on the cusp of getting a fourfold Spirit Sense. He was very close to bing a Cloud, but he wasn''t quite there yet. The people were following this man, making it apparent that he was their leader. The man carried a spear on his back that had the same markings as a Focus. ¡®Aweapon that also acts as a Focus?¡¯ Shang thought with some surprise. ¡®A lot must have happened in my absence.¡± When the group reached a distance of 1,500 kilometers, they stopped. They could finally see the Ancestral Hero. Only one person amongst them had seen him before. For a while, the group just looked at the distant Shang. To them, Shang stood unarmed and alone on top of a mountain. His old white robes were slightly dancing in the wind, almost like he was a ghost.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Yet, his Aura was the most shocking. It was so... lifeless. Neutral. Unnoticeable. All of this would make one think that Shang''s Aura was very normal, but the opposite was actually true. Shang''s Aura felt like something ethereal. Every Aura had some characteristics. An Aura was like a colorful pattern of someone''s personality. Yet, Shang''s Aura felt like a patternless, white circle. There was nothing to observe or learn from it. He seemed like something that shouldn''t be alive. A bit like an Abomination. "He''s nothing like you described him," one of the Mages told their leader. "He''s changed quite a bit," the leader said with a confident chuckle. The leader looked at Shang with a confident smirk. Shang''s head slowly turned to look at the leader. The next moment, the leader felt like a powerful Abomination was looking at him. The leader was three levels above Shang and also extremely talented, but Shang still felt like a brutal monster to him. The force of Shang''s Aura wasn''t easy to resist, but the smirk of the leader only widened. ¡°Are you that surprised to see me again, Shang?" the leader asked. The other people awkwardly watched. Their leader had told them that he knew the Ancestral Hero, but the Ancestral Hero''s reaction seemed quite different from what they had expected. Their leader had made it seem like they were old friends, but the Ancestral Hero''s Aura didn''t feel friendly at all. It felt more like the Aura of someone that wants to kill someone else. Shang just looked at the leader for several seconds. The leader was wearing a formfitting purple set of te armor. It seemed very robust but also flexible. The spear had several flowing designs on it, but its head was jagged like a lightning bolt. The man had white hair, and he appeared to be filled with confidence. ¡°Agon," Shang slowly said, the tone of his voice cold. "That''s my name," Agon Skythunder said. "What an honor to have the Ancestral Hero call my name." Naturally, Agon''s voice was filled with sarcasm. When the other people heard Shang''s voice, it finally dawned on them that Shang was a human. His Aura had still been a bit confusing to them. After a second, Shang turned his head away from the distant group. "You were the one that told Jerald," Shang said. Agon chuckled a bit. "| am, yes." Shang remained silent for a couple of seconds as old memories shot through his mind. The powerful King Skythunder. The one who had told Jerald about Shang''s deepest secret. This had caused a lot of worries for Jerald, which ultimately culminated in his decision to confront and kill Shang, assuming he didn''t have a great reason to endanger the entire world. If Agon hadn''t said a thing, nothing would have happened. In a way, Agon was part of the reason why Shang had killed Jerald. After thinking about all of these things, Shang transmitted something to Agon. ¡°Without you, | might not be alive today. Jerald was a hidden danger, and without your help, | might not have gotten rid of it." "| presume | have to thank you," Shang transmitted. Agon just smirked. "Is that your decision?" Shang didn''t immediately answer. "What''s the n?¡± Shang asked the group. Chapter 848 Chapter 848 Agon just chuckled a bit. ¡°We conquer the three territories to the left and then another four to the north. After that, we will focus on defense," Agon said. ¡°Are you fine with defending the tendril?" Shang wasn''t sure what Agon meant with tendril, but he could guess what he meant based on context clues. Shang nodded. "I can deal with Early and Mid Ancestral Mages." Agon also nodded. Then, Agon took something out, which appeared in front of the distant Shang. It was a purple medal with a storm cloud and a lightning bolt on it. ¡°Use this tomunicate with others," Agon said. "The Land and Sky Empire created something that disrupts Communication Crystals, which is why we are using these things now. It''s called a Transmission Medal. Make sure not to lose it.¡± Shang stretched his mind into the medal, and he could feel a deeply connected web of connections and Auras. This was very different from Communication Crystals. Communication Crystals weren''t inherently connected to something. As long as one knew how someone''s Aura felt, one could contact that person''s Communication Crystal. But the Transmission Medals had a sort ofwork that automatically showed Shang all of the different Auras that he could contact. There were also identifications on all these Auras, telling Shang who it was and what their job was. "Contact this Aura," Agon transmitted as he also transmitted the feeling of someone''s Aura. "This is a Thunder working under the Starlight Queen. The Starlight Queen is responsible for this Zone, and her Thunders are the ones that give us orders." "Tell the Aura that you are joining our mission and that you are willing to be on defense against attackers in the Early and Mid Ancestral Mage Realm," Agon exined. Shang just wordlessly nodded and contacted the Aura. ¡°Report,¡± a female voice from inside the Transmission Medal. m joining the mission of Agon Skythunder and will be on defense against Early and Mid Ancestral Mages," Shang said. "Are you Shang Sword?" the Thunder asked. "Correct," Shang answered. "Understood," she said. "Wait for orders." The connection was cut, and Shang simply waited. ¡°Well then," Agon said with a confident smirk as he looked at his team. "You two, stay with him. The others, follow me." The people nodded and followed Agon''s orders. One of the Peak Ancestral Mages and an Initial World Connection Stage warrior stepped closer to Shang and waited. Ashort momentter, Agon left with the other people towards the west. Shang remained silent as the other two people threw covert nces at him. This was him! This was the Ancestral Hero! As time passed, the surrounding atmosphere grew more and more awkward. Shang wasn''t saying anything. "You made the World Connection Stage, correct?" the warrior asked carefully. "Yes," Shang answered tly. Silence. "What do you think is better, World Connection or Weapon Fusion?" the warrior asked. m not familiar with Weapon Fusion," Shang said. "You''re not?" the warrior asked in shock. "Oh, right, you''ve been here for a while." ¡°Weapon Fusion is when you deepen the connection with your weapon. It feels like the natural progression of the Impose. It-" "Is it this?" SHING! Shang swung his Subsis casually, and a huge crevice appeared 40 kilometers away from him. The other two people took deep breaths. That had been so fast! Even more, he had attacked something 40 kilometers away from him in an instant with such power! However, the warrior was even more shocked than the Mage. Yes, this was Weapon Fusion! But wait, didn''t the Ancestral Hero say that he didn''t know what Weapon Fusion was? Also, didn''t he use World Connection instead of Weapon Fusion? "Yes," the warrior said after a couple of seconds. "That''s Weapon Fusion.¡± Shang just mindlessly nodded. ¡°How far can your Weapon Fusion reach?" the warrior asked.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. "50 kilometers baseline," Shang said. The warrior took a deep breath. "That means that you can stretch it to a distance of up to 75 kilometers by channeling your focus." Shang didn''t answer. "I''ve already created three Weapon Fusions before | reached the Weapon Fusion Stage, but | can only attack something 15 kilometers away without channeling my focus. How can your Weapon Fusion stretch so far?¡± the warrior asked. "World Connection," Shang answered. The warrior tried to understand how this could work. Combining Weapon Fusion and World Connection? Some people had tried it, but it felt clunky. Sure, these two abilities were rted, but they couldn''t properly be connected. ording to the Mages, these two abilities were of the same rank, making it very difficult tobine them. One would need something stronger that had the power tobine these two. But that wasn''t possible in the Sixth Realm. And vet, the Ancestral Hero had achieved just that?! Sure enough, he was the Ancestral Hero! The progenitor of all warriors! The warrior kept asking Shang questions, and Shang just answered them as he waited. The assault would only take a couple of hours, not enough time to start training. Two hourster, the Transmission Medals of the three lit up with information. The Transmission Medal transmitted a map into Shang''s mind. He could see that he was in the middle of a long tendril stretching into the Judgment Pce''s territory. Just now, three territories on the tendril had turned red with different numbers, symbolizing the strength of the person attacking them. The closest territory to them had been attacked by someone in the Late Ancestral Mage Realm, and the territory north of that was attacked by someone in the Early Ancestral Mage Realm. Additionally, the recently conquered territory west of Shang had also been attacked by someone in the Peak Ancestral Mage Realm. Shang could immediately tell what the Judgment Pce was thinking. They wanted him to attack the territory north of his to force him to break into the Mid Void Break Realm. After that, they would attack with several people in the Early Ancestral Mage Realm. BANG! Shang exploded into the sky and shot toward the north at full speed. The other two were looking at the departing Shang with shock. But that was a Late Ancestral Mage barrier! In an instant, Shang had already reached the barrier and passed into it. The barrier turned cloudy. Shang quickly reached his opponent, who had quite an intense Aura. Yet, Shang continued getting closer. Surprisingly, Shang''s bandage didn''t react until he was only 500 kilometers away from his opponent. Someone with a onefold Spirit Sense. BANG! The eyes of the two people widened in shock when the barrier broke into pieces just two seconds after Shang had entered. And then, the barrier beyond that also turned cloudy and broke a momentter. Five seconds. In five seconds, Shang had killed two Ancestral Mages and had halted two assaults. The two people could scarcely believe what they had just witnessed. Chapter 849 Chapter 849 When the Mage Kings saw that Shang had destroyed both their attacks, they frowned. They had hoped that Shang would fall for it. A breakthrough could be achieved pretty quickly, but one couldn''t just break into the next level during a fight. During a breakthrough, the body would be altered, which would take a couple of seconds. Defending during a breakthrough was extremely difficult. So, as soon as Shang had attacked, he had essentiallymitted to the battle and couldn''t change his mind. After all, due to the way Auras could be disguised, it was impossible for the warrior to know how powerful his opponent was. They hadn''t expected the warrior to be this careless and just charge in. If only they had sent someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. Then, this warrior would most likely have died. Naturally, the Mage Kings didn''t know that this wouldn''t have helped. As soon as Shang would have noticed a fourfold Spirit Sense, he would have immediately retreated before his opponent could even ready their Spells to attack him. Then, Shang could have simply broken through at the edge of the barrier. Nevertheless, the two barriers had been destroyed, and the base of the tendril had been defended. There was still another territory being attacked near the tip of the tendril, but that was not something Shang could get involved in. After destroying the two barriers, Shang simply stopped in the air after putting his two swords away. Far away, the Thunder responsible for the assault looked with shock at what had just happened. Sure enough, that warrior was extremely useful and powerful.N?velDrama.Org owns this. The other two people were still shocked by Shang''s power, and they also just looked at each other. Yet, a couple of minutester, they noticed that the Ancestral Hero didn''t return, which made them feel a bit awkward. The warrior had far more questions for the Ancestral Hero, but he couldn''t just walk over to him and talk to him during a mission, right? In the end, the warrior could only ept that he couldn''t talk to the Ancestral Hero anymore without making it weird. Several minutes passed before the Judgment Pce made another attempt to stop the tendril. Surprisingly, they did the same thing again, creating a barrier for someone at the Late and someone at the Early Ancestral Mage Realm. Last time, they had gambled on the wrong chip, but this time, they would gamble on the correct one! Just like before, Shang shot into the Late Ancestral Mage barrier. And just likest time, the person in there had a onefold Spirit Sense. BANG! BANG! Shang destroyed another two barriers, returning to the two people on the southern end of the tendril. When the Mage Kings saw that, they gnashed their teeth. How had he done that again?! No one would have expected the Mage Kings to send two useless Mages in a row! On top of that, how was this warrior so crazy?! If he gambled wrong, he would lose his life! Every normal person would err on the side of caution and breakthrough. After all, if there was actually someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense in there, the warrior would die, but if it was a weak warrior, they might only lose a tendril. Acouple of minutester, another two barriers appeared. Shang entered again, and it was the same asst time. The Mage Kings gnashed their teeth. How was he winning those 50:50 coin tosses?! At this moment, the Mage Kings considered sending in someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. Yet, surprisingly, it was a Mage King from a different Empire that stopped them from doing that. "You guys keep losing whenever you try to pull one over him," the Mage King said. "Just give up.¡± The Mage Kings became even more frustrated, but in the end, they stopped. They had to concede. The grim reality finally settled in for the Mage Kings of the Judgment Pce. The only way forward was to attack in a way that made it impossible for Shang to interfere. Sadly, that was a terrifying price to pay. This meant that they couldn''t send in any Early Ancestral Mages or Mid Ancestral Mages. 40% of all levels in the Ancestral Mage Realm couldn''t be used anymore. Even more, they couldn''t use the three-star g since Shang would immediately destroy it as soon as it appeared. The Judgment Pce waspletely crippled when it came to fighting in this war. They just watched as the Lightning Manor finished making their tendril, isting a total of around ten territories, which would eventually be captured. The Judgment Pce only had around 100 territories left in this Zone, which was ridiculously little. Theoretically, there were about 2,500 territories in this Zone. 100 territories weren''t a lot in this context. After a couple of hours, the Mage Kings saw Shang walk back to the Lightning Manor for the first time in a thousand years. He had caused so much damage. He had killed several Ancestral Mages with a fourfold Spirit Sense. He had killed even more with a threefold Spirit Sense. He had killed many normal Ancestral Mages. He had destroyed two of their gs. He made one g impossible to use. He had been responsible for the death of over 30 million Archmages. He cost the Judgment Pce 275 Grade Eight Mana Crystals. He had also been the reason why the Judgment Pce had lost a Mage King. On top of that, at the beginning of the war, he had been the reason why the other two Empires had lost so many powerful people. Lastly, his constant presence had allowed the Lightning Manor to counterattack. The singr impact of this one warrior was even greater than the entire Lightning Manorbined. Of course, this was only true for the Judgment Pce. This warrior had singlehandedly turned the tide of the war in this Zone. And now, the Judgment Pce had to find a way forward in this Zone. They couldn''t possibly allow themselves to be pushed into a corner. At that point, this warrior would do the same thing as at the beginning of the war and block everything. This meant that they had to continue sending Ancestral Mages to their deaths. Or alternatively, they had to give up on attacking the Lightning Manor and simply defend, which wouldn''t be an issue since the neighboring Zone was for High Mages, and the Judgment Pce had so many powerful High Mages. Both choices were painful. Chapter 850 Chapter 850 Shang returned to the Lightning Manor for the first time in a thousand years. As he passed by the base of the tendril, he took a deep breath. It felt weird not to be surrounded by enemies. After a couple of moments, Shang decided to reach the Mid Void Break Realm. He had fought long enough in the war. Now, it was time to increase his Realm and learn Concepts. Now that Shang was no longer stuck, he could actually go through with his n. First, he needed to reach the Peak Void Break Realm.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. After that, he would focus onprehending the Concept of Temperatures. And then, he would focus on his final goal. The mysterious level five Concept of Entropy, the one thatbined the Concepts of Twilight, Temperatures, Addition, and Subtraction. Byprehending a level five Concept, Shang would be able to retain a sixfold Spirit Sense. But wait, why a sixfold Spirit Sense? Wasn''t breaking through with a Concept above one''s level just enough for a fivefold Spirit Sense? Yes, but Shang had a suspicion. When he had absorbed the momentum in the Fusion Realm, he had probably elevated his "level of existence" permanently. The power advantage of his body didn''t disappear with each breakthrough, which meant that the raised quality was still there, and it should still be there when Shang reached the Seventh Realm. The drawback was that Shang''s spiritual weight had increased, which meant he needed even more momentum to break through. After reaching the Mid Void Break Realm, Shang flew towards the Lightning Manor. On his way, he saw several people readying themselves for battle, but Shang didn''t interact with them or care. Amomentter, his new Transmission Medal rang, and Shang epted the connection. It was the Thunder from earlier. "Shang Sword, you are required to battle someone," she said. "I''m done fighting for now," Shang said. Many kilometers away, the Thunder opened her eyes in surprise. "Shang Sword, this isn''t a question. This is an order," she said. Shang cut the connection and put the Transmission Medal away. The Transmission Medal began to ring again, but Shang didn''t ept the connection. Shang just kept flying towards the Lightning Manor. WHOOM! Eventually, a powerful Mage Lord arrived in front of Shang, stopping him. "Halt!" he shouted. Shang stopped. "You have been drafted to join the frontlines!" the Mage Lord said. "| refuse," Shang said. The Mage Lord narrowed his eyes. "You do not have a choice in the matter." For the first time in a very long while, Shang actually became angry. He had given much more to the Lightning Manor than they had given him, and now, they were forcing him to give even more! Shang''s Aura darkened drastically, but the Mage Lord wasn''t deterred. He had seen many people throw tantrums. "| promise you," Shang said slowly. "If you force anything on me, you and your superior will regret this." The Mage Lord snorted. "Do you have any idea how many times | have heard that before? | don''t care." The Mage Lord readied a Spell to suppress Shang, and Shang''s Aura only continued to darken. Shang actually felt anger and hatred. It had been so long since he felt such emotions. Yet,pared to how his anger had been when he was young, this one was much colder and more apathetic. Shang didn''t lose control over himself, but he started to hate this Mage and the Thunder that ordered him. "Stop!" The Mage Lord paused as he noticed that someone else had appeared. It was another Thunder, but not the one he was working under. "Yes?" the Mage Lord asked. The other Thunder, a young woman with icy-blue hair, just looked at the Mage Lord with annoyance. "Who are you working under?" she asked with a strict tone. "Thunder Brighton," the Mage Lord answered. "You are not taking him away or doing anything to him. Am | understood?" the Thunder said with an authoritative voice. The Mage Lord was surprised, but he stopped his Spell. "Yes, ma''am." The next moment, the Thunder looked at Shang with a sorry expression. "I''m sorry for everything. I''m going to contact the person responsible for this and make sure that this doesn''t happen again." Shang didn''t turn to the Thunder and remained silent for some tense seconds. "| want them dead," Shang said. Silence. The Thunder furrowed her brows. "Excuse me?" she asked. "You heard me,¡± Shang said, turning to her. "| want those two dead." The Mage Lord furrowed his brows, and the Thunder looked with disgust at Shang. "You don''t have the authority to decide something like that. This is up to the Starlight Queen." Naturally, the Thunder was disgusted that Shang had said something like that because of this little incident. Errors happened, and the Thunder responsible for this entire thing would be reprimanded. The issue was solved. There was no reason to go overboard and demand two Mage Lords to be killed. Was he a child? Shang slowly turned to the Mage Lord. "You and your superior will die,¡± he said calmly and coldly. "I will make sure of it." The Mage Lord grew angry, but he didn''t say anything. ¡°Please, be on your way," the Thunder said in a cold tone to Shang. Shang didn''t say anything and continued towards the Lightning Manor. After he left, the Mage Lord looked at the Thunder. "Why did you allow him to say these things to me?" The Thunder looked at the Mage Lord with furrowed brows. "He''s the Ancestral Hero." After he left, the Mage Lord looked at the Thunder. "Why did you allow him to say these things to me?" The Thunder looked at the Mage Lord with furrowed brows. "He''s the Ancestral Hero." This took the Mage Lord by surprise, and he couldn''t say anything for several seconds. And then, the Mage Lord clenched his fists in anger, but he didn''t say anything. He was angry at his superior! Everyone knew of the Ancestral Hero! Commanding him to do anything was already too much! He had done so much for the Lightning Manor! If he had known that the person in front of him was the Ancestral Hero, he would have refused the order. But after the anger passed, a feeling of anxiety and fear settled in. The Ancestral Hero said that he wanted the two of them dead. The Thunder noticed the Mage Lord and just waved his worries off. "Don''t mind him. He said that out of anger. I''m sure he will calm down. Also, this wasn''t your fault since you obviously didn''t know who he was." The Mage Lord sighed and nodded. "You''re right. Thank you, ma''am." The Thunder nodded and left to make a report regarding what had happened. The Mage Lord just sighed. Nothing woulde of this incident. After all, this was the Ancestral Hero. After some days or years, he would calm down. Right? Chapter 851 Chapter 851 Shang simply continued traveling towards the Lightning Manor. He still felt angry deep inside, but he quickly managed to suppress it and ignore it. Since Shang was now at the Mid Void Break Realm, he was also quite fast, and he only needed about an hour to reach the Lightning Sea, which was quite impressive considering that it was about three million kilometers away. After arriving, Shang felt the power of the Lightning Sea. It definitely was extremely powerful.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The lightning bolts shot from one cloud to another at rapid speeds, creating several loud explosions. Yet, Shang just slowly flew towards the Lightning Sea. BANG! BANG! BANG! Several lightning bolts hit Shang''s body, and Shang could feel the subtle sensation of his body getting burned and his muscles cramping. Acouple of burned spots also appeared on his skin, but they vanished just as quickly. Shang stopped near the range of the bolts and lifted his hand, inspecting it. More lightning bolts were hitting him all over his body, but the damage was quickly regenerated. After about a second, Shang retreated. ¡®I''m using up more life energy than | am recovering. Seems like | can''t go to the Lightning Manor on my own yet." Shang took out his new Transmission Medal and searched for a specific person to call. "Oh, Shang! It''s been a while since | felt your Aura!" a voice came from Shang''s Transmission Medal. It was Fleros, the person running the shop in the Hibye. "| need an escort through the Lightning Sea," Shang said. "Sure thing," Fleros answered immediately. "I''ll send someone. They will be there in a couple of minutes." "Okay," Shang said before cutting the connection. Acouple of minutester, a blue-haired man appeared beside Shang. "I''m here to escort you," he said, summoning a Transportation te. "Hop on." Shang just nodded and stepped onto the Transportation te. The two of them shot into the Lightning Sea and reached a Lightning Manor a couple of minutester. "Should | wait here, or will you need some time?" the Mage Lord asked. "| should be done in a couple of hours," Shang answered as he stepped into the Lightning Manor. The Mage Lord just nodded and decided to wait. After entering the Lightning Manor, Shang directly walked over to the Custodian''s door and knocked. Some secondster, Shang''s Transmission Medal rang, and he could feel the Custodian''s Aura. "Good morning, Shang. I''m not currently in the Lightning Manor. Is there something you need?" he asked. Shang guessed that the door was probably connected to the Custodian''s Transmission Medal, allowing him to see who was knocking without actually being present. "| need a new Mage King as a master," Shang said. "Is there anyone you had in mind?" the Custodian asked. "The Cmity King, preferably. If he''s too busy with the war, | would want the Starlight Queen," Shang said. "Hmm," the Custodian uttered. "Kiran is still very busy with the Abominations, and Sarah is not only running two Departments but also focusing on the southeastern front. | don''t think either of them has much time to focus on you. If you are willing to wait about 800 years, Sarah will probably be avable." Wait 800 years? ¡°Howe?" Shang asked. "We have a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense, and she will most likely win the next tournament. At that time, she will focus on the Research and Reconnaissance Departments, freeing Sarah to focus on the Reinforcement Department." 800 years... Shang thought about the other Mage Kings. The Myriad King was already very old, and Shang also felt like they wouldn''t fit together. The Heartdevil Queen waszy and didn''t care about anything. She wouldn''t put any effort into teaching Shang. The Custodian probably had the time, but Shang had a bad feeling about him. Shang suspected that the Custodian believed that Shang was dangerous to the Lightning Manor, and he would probably try several tricks to investigate Shang. Taking him as a master would only increase the number of opportunities for him to spy on Shang. That only left the Dawnlight King. The Dawnlight King probably didn''t have a lot to do now since he was responsible for the Diplomacy Department. Additionally, he was hardworking, had some fitting Affinities, and would most likely even enjoy helping Shang be more powerful. However... When Shang thought about the Dawnlight King, an image of Jerald shot through his mind. Even though the Dawnlight King wouldn''t hurt Shang in any way, Shang still felt ufortable. It was like the Dawnlight King represented something Shang didn''t want or something he was nervous about. 800 years... "I''m willing to wait 800 years for the Starlight Queen," Shang said. "Alright," the Custodian said. "Is there anything else?" "| need someone that knows about my Spirit Sense and aplishments that handles all the things | want to exchange for my Contribution Points. | don''t think you want me to ask a normal Mage Lord for these things since we are keeping my sixfold Spirit Sense secret even from Mage Kings," Shang said. The Custodian remained silent for a while as he thought about Shang''s words. m going to talk to one of the Thunders of the Reinforcement Department since you fall into their department anyway. They will contact you in a couple of days at most," the Custodian said. "Thanks. That''s all | need," Shang said. ¡°If you need anything that the Thunder can''t give you for some reason, contact me with the Transmission Medal," the Custodian said. "| will," Shang said. "Good. Then, | wish you a good day." "Bye," Shang said as he cut the connection. Amomentter, Shang left the Lightning Manor again and told the Mage Lord that he was ready to return. The Mage Lord escorted Shang out of the Lightning Manor and left. Shang flew towards the Hibye. For the foreseeable future, Shang would focus on increasing his Realm andprehending Concepts, and the Hibye was probably the best ce for that. Chapter 852 Chapter 852 Acouple of minutester, Shang arrived at the Hibye. After a thousand years, Shang saw his new home again, but it was quite different. It felt empty. As Shang flew through the Hibye, he saw several empty ces that had once been popr with the Clouds. Most of the Beast Lords responsible for demonstrating Concepts had nothing to do and were just sleeping. There were also far fewer Bolts inside the Hibye. However, not everything was empty. There were still a couple of Clouds and Bolts flying around, but the number had probably been reduced by around 80%. Shang saw a couple of things, and he also took note of something. The huge sword, which had formerly been owned by the Weapon Grandmaster. Now, there was no one sitting near it. In the past, Shang had been reprimanded for using his Spirit Sense to look at the sword since there had been many Mage Lords near it, and his Spirit Sense would have distracted them from theirprehension. However, most of these Mage Lords had been from different Empires. Naturally, there would be no more Mage Lords from different Empires here, and the Mage Lords from the Lightning Manor were also quite busy. For a while, Shang just looked at the huge sword. There was something mysterious about it. Due to all of Shang''s umted experience, he could feel that focusing on his sword could help him with advancing his swordsmanship. Yet, a couple of minutester, Shang looked away and left. This was not his goal right now. Shang had 2,800 years of longevity left, and he needed to use them wisely. Shang also saw a couple of other familiar ces. Surprisingly, there were still two Mage Lords guarding the Trial of Want. He remembered that the Trial of Want could only be visited once per Realm and that it could give people exactly what they needed. However, Shang doubted that the trial could actually deliver on that promise for him specifically. Sure, if he entered now, it could probably give him something great that would help himprehend the level four Concept of Temperatures, but that would also be a waste. The biggest thing Shang was worried about was the mysterious level five Concept of Entropy. Would the Trial of Want even know what that Concept is? After all, the trial had probably been created by the Lightning Emperor, and the Lightning Emperor himself probably didn''t know about that Concept. This made the Trial of Want useless for the very thing Shang needed the most. Shang also passed by the za that was ying the Inner Heart Melody. Back then, the melody had put Shang in immense pain, but this time, it was somewhat bearable. Shang still hated the sound and still felt quite a bit of pain, but it wasn''tpletely unbearable anymore. Eventually, Shang reached the crater that his Istion Chamber had created. Over the past thousand years, a big part of the crater had transformed into ake, and a forest had appeared around it. It actually looked quite beautiful and tranquil. Shang summoned his Istion Chamber again and put it down, destroying everything. Amomentter, Shang entered the Istion Chamber and sat down in the middle. He could feel a couple of Bolts looking over in interest. "Your attention is distracting me," Shang said to no one in particr. Many kilometers away, the Bolts became a bit surprised. He could feel their perception? But then, they remembered who Shang was. Naturally, all of them knew about the Ancestral Hero, and they also remembered Shang. They still remembered how he had annoyed them by constantly dying on theirwn. They were quite surprised by Shang''s ability to perceive them, but they didn¡¯t think it was too suspicious. After all, they now all knew that Shang had a fivefold Spirit Sense, which also exined all the strange things that had happened around him in the past. In the end, they all looked away. As long as Shang didn''t look at them, they wouldn''t look at him. That was the sensible and polite thing to do. Shang noted that no one beyond his power was paying attention to him anymore and started. Shang''s Aura intensified, and the Mana in his surroundings started to break down and turn into Neutral Mana. Shang''s mind stretched deep into unfamiliar space, and he connected with an Abomination. This Abomination was an extremely powerful Ancestral Abomination. It was probably already on its way to bing an Abomination Lord. Amomentter, it was like a huge w had ripped the Abomination out of its home, pulling it into Shang''s Istion Chamber. Shang closed the Istion Chamber immediately and consumed the Abomination. The Abomination was quite a bit more powerful than him. If he didn''t have the authority to control the Abominations, he might not even win a battle against it, and even if he won, the Abomination would probably explode, taking him with it. After he absorbed it, Shang felt his mind be foggy. His body shook, and his Aura became unstable. Shang had never absorbed an Abomination so much more powerful than him. Shang felt an unending hatred. Hatred towards this entire world. He wanted to destroy it. He wanted to destroy all of it! All living things were crimes against the fundamentalws of existence itself! This world had to die! The Mana had to die! Seas, air, space, time, earth, everything!N?velDrama.Org owns this. Everything needed to die! EVERYTHING! Shang gnashed his teeth so hard that they turned into tiny splinters as his Entropy Domain stretched as far as it could. All the Mana inside the Istion Chamber was destroyed, but Shang''s Domain of Entropy was stopped by the walls of the Istion Chamber. For several hours, Shang''s intense emotions raged inside him, but he still didn''t move from his spot. Shang had already expected something like this to happen. After all, back when he had only been at the Commander Stage, he had also consumed the hearts of beasts a level above him. The wills of these beasts had also fought against Shang, trying to destroy his will and rece it with theirs. Shang had expected that something simr would happen this time. And sure enough, he was right. So, even though Shang wanted to destroy absolutely everything just now, he still managed to convince himself to wait. He could destroy the worldter. For now, he should listen to his past self and wait. If he still wanted to destroy the world in two weeks, he could do it then. Chapter 853 Chapter 853 Five dayster, the door to Shang''s Istion Chamber opened automatically. Due to the properties of the Istion Chamber, Shang couldn''t open it manually and had to set a timer. When it opened, Shang felt Mana again for the first time in five days. He felt a burst of hatred at the Mana. He hated the Mana! He liked the Manaless environment in the Istion Chamber much more! But then, Shang took a deep breath and calmed down. By now, he had regained most of the control over his body, but he wasn''t fully himself yet. BANG! The Istion Chamber closed again, and Shang waited inside. He still needed another couple of days, and he didn''t want to be contacted in his current state. Shang knew that he wasn''t in full control over his emotions right now, and he knew that he would most likely make a decision born out of hatred or anger, and these kinds of decisions tended to be bad ones most of the time. Three dayster, the Istion Chamber opened again, and Shang slowly stood up. Aday ago, he had regained full control over himself. ¡®Aweek,'' Shang thought. ¡®It took me a week to regain full control. However,pared to absorbing the beasts back then, this time, it actually paid off.¡¯ "My Realm increased by twice as much. As long as | keep going, | can reach the next level within a century.¡¯ After exiting the Istion Chamber, Shang looked at his Transmission Medal and found that someone had tried to contact him a couple of times. The Aura was unfamiliar to Shang, but he could tell that the owner of the Aura was a very powerful Mage Lord. Shang guessed that this was the Thunder that the Custodian had sent. Shang contacted the Thunder, who epted the transmission after a couple of seconds. "Hello, you are Shang Sword, correct?" a female voice came out of Shang''s Transmission Medal. "Yes," Shang answered. "Good," she said. "| have been instructed by the Custodian to fulfill basically any request you have. | know about your rtionship with the Ancestor and about your power. | have signed a contract that makes it impossible for me to tell anyone about these things that aren''t you or the Custodian." "You can contact me whenever you need anything," she said politely. If anyone had seen their interaction, they would have been shocked by how polite the Thunder was. It was almost like the Thunder was talking to a Mage King. "Good," Shang said. "I require several things." "I''m listening," the Thunder said. "First, | need a bigger Istion Chamber. | need it to be 25 kilometers in all dimensions, and it has to be made with Abomination Ore of the Seventh Realm," Shang said. Silence. Many kilometers away, a woman with icy-blue hair took a deep breath and made several calctions. When she thought about the price of the materials alone... "Please wait a second. | need to contact the Custodian for such a big purchase," she said. The connection was cut, and Shang waited. Some secondster, the Thunder contacted Shang again. "Okay, you will get your Istion Chamber," she said. "I don''t know how long it will take since something like this has never been created. However, | also have to inform you that about 15% of your Contribution Points have been used up with that."Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "| understand," Shang answered. An Istion Chamber with dimensions of ten kilometers with Sixth Realm ore had already cost Shang a couple hundred Grade Seven Mana Crystals. Shang assumed that the thing he had just asked for was in the price of hundreds of Grade Eight Mana Crystals. And yet, it had only used up 15% of his Contribution Points. Sure enough, it had been worth it to fight for the Lightning Manor this much. "Next," Shang continued, "| need a powerful Istion Barrier near the Eternal Ocean to the north. The Istion Barrier has to be powerful enough to resist the Spirit Sense of a Mage King, and | want the creator and controller of the Istion Barrier to be the Dawnlight King. The Istion Barrier needs to be at least 50 kilometers wide, and it must allow Mana to enter and exit." The Thunder fell into silence again. "Please wait a second," she said. The connection was cut again, and Shang waited. This time, it took a couple of minutes for the Thunder to call back. ¡°Okay, but you will lose another 5% of your Contribution Points," she said. "Good," Shang said. "Next, | want to be able to watch a Beast King toprehend the Concept of Temperatures, and | don''t want to be killed by anything when I''m trying toprehend the Concept. If possible, | also want the Beast King to be near my Istion Barrier so that | don''t have to fly too far between the two." Silence. "| need to talk with the Custodian again. This time, it might take a bit longer. Please be patient," she said before cutting the connection. Shang flew towards the humongous sword and looked at it. There wasn''t enough time to get some training in. Looking at the sword was probably the most efficient use of his time for now. This time, it took nearly a day for the Thunder to call back. "There are a couple of issues," the Thunder said. "There is a Beast King that knows the Concept of Temperatures, but it''s to the west of the Land and Sky Empire. The inds of the Beast Kings are not part of the war, but we can''t guarantee your safety without some diplomacy and a Mage King continually watching over you." ¡°Luckily, we found a good solution for the safety issue. The Ancestor will watch over you personally. Nevertheless, the ind technically belongs to the Land and Sky Empire, and we need to purchase permission for you to negotiate with the Beast King, which will also cost a lot." "In total, you will lose another 20% of your Contribution Points, leaving you with 60%." Shang nodded. "Can | also have a permanent portal between my Istion Barrier and the Beast King?¡± "That shouldn''t be too difficult. At most, it will eat up 1% of your Contribution Points," the Thunder answered. "Okay," Shang said. "Next..." The Thunder took a deep breath. Chapter 854 Chapter 854 "| want ten cubic meters of Fire, Ice, Darkness, and Light Affinity Ore, per level, from the Mid Ancestral Mage Realm to the Peak Mage Emperor Realm. | also want the same thing for Abomination Ore," Shang said. Silence. "Did you say Peak Mage Emperor Realm?" the Thunder asked with a shaky voice. "Yes," Shang answered. "Please wait a couple of minutes," the Thunder said before cutting the connection. Nearly an hourter, the Thunder called back. "We can give everything up to the Initial Mage Emperor Realm to you for 5% of your Contribution Points, but if you are dead set on the Mage Emperor ore, you have to expect to lose 40% of your Contribution Points," the Thunder said. "| want everything," Shang said. The Thunder took a deep breath. "Fine, but it will take several years." "That''s fine," Shang answered. "Is there anything else you need?" the Thunder asked. Shang still had about 20% of his Contribution Points left. "| need a Thunder bodyguard that keeps others from annoying or hurting me for 800 years or so," Shang said. "| can fill that part," the Thunder answered. "It will cost you about three to four percent of your Contribution Points, though." "That''s fine," Shang said. ¡°Anything else?" There was one more thing he wanted but now was not the time. For now, he decided to save his Contribution Points in case he needed something in the future. Shang had about 15% of his Contribution Points left. "That''s everything for now," Shang said. "Tell me when my rewards be avable." The Thunder let out a deep breath. "Of course," she said. "| can''t immediately start following you around due to the other things you wanted. | think most of the work will be done within ten years. After that, | should be able to do everything remotely via my Transmission Medal. Is that okay?" "That''s okay," Shang said. "Every two weeks, | will enter my Istion Chamber for one week and won''t be reachable. Just for your info." ¡°Of course," the Thunder said. "If you''ll excuse me, | have to start working on your rewards." Then, she cut the connection. The Thunder had so much work ahead of her. If she had known that she would need to do this much and work with so many different Mage Kings, she would have declined the offer. Shang''s demands were beyond ridiculous. When she saw how many Contribution Points Shang had umted, she thought it impossible to use all of them up. These Contribution Points would have been enough for her to get everything she ever wanted until the day she died. And yet, Shang managed to use up 85% of those almost instantly. Meanwhile, Shang continued watching the sword. Aweekter, he entered the Istion Chamber again and consumed a powerful Abomination. When he came out a weekter, he saw that the Thunder had tried to contact him, and he called her back. "Shang Sword, the Istion Barrier has been created. These are the coordinates,¡± the Thunder said. Shang received the coordinates and noticed that the Istion Barrier was around 500,000 kilometers away from Aterium, inside the Eternal Ocean. That was just what he wanted. Shang wanted his Istion Barrier there so that no Mage King could watch him inside. Additionally, since Shang didn''t trust the Custodian, he also had specifically asked for Amarius. Since Amarius gave Shang a simr feeling to Jerald, Shang felt that Amarius wasn''t someone that would secretly spy on Shang, and since Amarius was also the controller, the Custodian couldn''t look into the barrier. Lastly, with the barrier so far away from the Lightning Manor, Amarius would literally need to travel about a million kilometers toward the north to even look at Shang, which wasn''t very convenient. "The Istion Barrier has been attuned to your Aura," the Thunder continued. "You can pass through it without any problem, but no one else can pass through. | also have to add that no one but the Dawnlight King and the Ancestor can contact you while you are inside the barrier." "Okay," Shang answered. "I will train there from now on. | will leave the barrier once per year. If you have something to tell me, contact my Transmission Medal, and | will call you back when |e out." "That''s fine," the Thunder said. "I wish you luck in your training." "Thanks," Shang said absentmindedly as he cut the connection. Amomentter, Shang took to the sky and traveled toward the north. Shang left the Hibye behind and quickly found the coast leading out into the Eternal Ocean. Shang continued flying, and very soon, there was nothing but water around him. Shang''s Spirit Sense picked up a couple of Archbeasts in the depths, but he hadn''t found even a single Ancestral Beast. But he wasn''t very surprised. Ancestral Beasts in the Eternal Ocean lived over 5,000 kilometers deep, and Shang''s Spirit Sense didn''t reach that far. Eventually, Shang reached the ce. Surprisingly, Shang didn''t find his Istion Barrier anywhere, and he made sure that he was at the correct spot. After flying back and forth a bit, Shang identally passed through something invisible. The next moment, Shang was surrounded by a purple barrier. Shang flew backward and left the barrier. Sure enough, it vanished again. Shang was quite surprised that he couldn''t even feel the presence of the barrier, even though he was only a couple of meters away from it. Shang had never seen anything with such an amazing ability of camouge.N?velDrama.Org owns this. Eventually, Shang entered again, and he saw the purple barrier appear behind him again. Shang looked into the Istion Barrier and saw a beautifulke surrounded by a forest in the middle of a floating ind. Theke was about five kilometers wide, and the forest was another five kilometers wide. The remaining space wasprised of tnd covered by powerful tiles of strong ore. Obviously, the area with the tiles was supposed to be Shang''s spot for training and theke Shang''s ce to rx. BANG! Shang summoned his Istion Chamber in the middle of the ind, destroying theke and forest. Then, he entered and summoned a powerful Abomination again. This was Shang''s new home for the foreseeable future. Chapter 855 Chapter 855 One yearter, Shang left the Istion Barrier and looked outside to check if anyone wanted to contact him. Sure enough, the Thunder had wanted to contact him. Shang quickly called back. "You wanted to contact me?" Shang asked. "Yes," the Thunder answered. "The construction of your Istion Chamber is underway, but getting so much Abomination Ore is difficult and time-consuming. Of course, that also extends to the Abomination Ore you have requested, even though it is much less." "The construction should be done in ten years, as long as nothing goes wrong. By then, | should also have most of the ore you want that is below the Mage King Realm. At that point, | can start my duties as your bodyguard.¡± "The negotiations with the Land and Sky Empire have not started yet, but the Dawnlight King has asked for a date for the negotiations. | am unsure how long the negotiations willst, but negotiations between Empires always take a long time.¡± "That should be everything," the Thunder said. "Okay," Shang said. "Then, | wille out in another nine years or so." "That''s fine," the Thunder said before cutting the connection. Shang went back into his Istion Barrier and continued consuming Abominations. Nine yearster, he came out again and contacted the Thunder. "Hello, Shang Sword," the Thunder said. "Your Istion Chamber has been finished, and | have 90% of the ore you wanted. The negotiations with the Land and Sky Empire are underway, but they are making it difficult for us. We assume that they know this is for you, and they know how honest the Lightning Manor is, which means that they know that the Lightning Manor has to pay you back, no matter what." "That''s why they are asking for a great amount of resources. It''s unknown how long the negotiations will take, but we assume it will take a couple of decades, at least," the Thunder said. "Okay," Shang answered. "Please bring the Istion Chamber to my Istion Barrier." ¡°Of course," the Thunder said before cutting the connection. Acouple of minutester, a bolt of lightning stopped in front of Shang and transformed into a beautiful woman. She had icy blue hair and wore the violet robes of a Thunder. Surprisingly, she looked no older than 20 years. Yet, her Aura was very mature, professional, andpetent. She had the Aura of a sessful manager in a business. Meanwhile, the Thunder looked at Shang as well. She had already felt his Aura via the Transmission Medal, but it was something else to see him in person. After knowing that Shang had a sixfold Spirit Sense, she felt like Shang''s Aura was extraordinary beyond belief. "Greetings," she said with a polite nod. "I''m Thunder Linay, and | will be protecting you for the next 800 years." Shang wordlessly nodded. Silence. Amomentter, Linay took out a pitch-ck ring and handed it to Shang. "Due to the weight of the Istion Chamber, we also needed to create this Logistic Ring. You can also only move and control the Istion Chamber with that ring. Naturally, when your body bes powerful enough to move it on its own, you don''t need that ring anymore." Shang took the ring in his hands and turned to the Istion Barrier. "Can the Istion Barrier contain the Istion Chamber?" "Naturally," Linay said. "We created the Istion Barrier with the Istion Chamber in mind. The ind inside the Istion Barrier has been personally reinforced by the Dawnlight King, and it won''t break under the weight." Shang nodded. "I wille out every decade. Until then, | want you to make sure that nobody is secretly spying on me. Note down everyone you see in your Spirit Sense and give me a list when | return, even if they are a Mage King." Linay wasn''t the biggest fan of Shang''s very direct order, but Shang was paying her. Additionally, his orders weren''t ridiculous or over the top. "| will do so," Linay said. Then, Shang entered his Istion Barrier while Linay flew on top of the Istion Barrier, summoned a flying piece of metal, and sat down. Inside the Istion Barrier, Shang summoned the Istion Chamber for the first time. BOOOOOOOM! The entire ind shook under the enormous weight, but it remained in one piece. In front of Shang was the biggest and hardest piece of metal he had ever seen. It looked like a humongous ck wall that stretched into infinity. It was like this wall represented the end of the world. Shang also saw the massive entrance and inspected the walls. The walls were over a kilometer thick, and they were so hard that Shang couldn''t even attempt to break them. Sure, if Shang used the absorption ability of his sword, he might be able to create a hole after a lot of work, but he wouldn''t do that. Naturally, the Istion Chamber was so ridiculously heavy that Shang couldn''t move it at all. In fact, he probably couldn''t even move a couple of square meters of this ore, and there were definitely more than a couple of square meters present. How powerful would his body need to be to move something like this? Shang estimated that he needed to be in the Peak Seventh Realm to move this on his own. That was how heavy this Istion Chamber was. The effort, nning, and ingenuity required to construct and move something like this had probably been monumental. After all, even Mage Lords wouldn''t be able to move a lot of this ore at the same time, and then, they also needed to fuse the pieces together. Shang stopped in the middle of his humongous Istion Chamber and focused on his bandage. Absolutely nobody was looking at him. The next moment, Shang summoned an extremely powerful Ancestral Abomination, but this time, he didn''t immediately close the entrance. Only the Istion Barrier was between the Abomination and the outside world. Still, nobody was looking at Shang. Shang willed the Abomination to remain stationary. Amomentter, Shang summoned another Abomination.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. And another one. And another one. By the end, Shang had summoned ten Abominations, and there was still space left in his Istion Chamber. BANG! The door of the Istion Chamber closed with a timer of about two weeks. That was when Shang stopped controlling the Abominations. The Abominations released powerful roars and destroyed all the Mana inside the Istion Chamber. However, their Domain didn''t hurt Shang at all. BOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! The Abominations attacked the Istion Chamber with all their power. Yet, they couldn''t even scratch it. Amomentter, one of the Abominations looked at another one. BANG! The Abomination''s humongous fist hit the other Abomination in the face, throwing it against the wall. Just now, Shang had willed one of them to attack the other one. Shang could finally do something that he had wanted to do for a long time since he now had the Istion Barrier to fall back on in case something went wrong. Shang wanted to learn more about Abominations. He wanted to know how they thought, what they did, how they fought, and how they died. Since there was no Mana in the Istion Chamber, the Abominations couldn''t fill up on Mana to explode, which meant that Shang wouldn''t die as well if one of them died. Surprisingly, after the first Abomination punched the second one, the second one only stood up and continued attacking the wall. It acted like it hadn''t even been attacked. Shang took note of this and gave more orders. Chapter 856 Chapter 856 Over the next ten years, Shang continued experimenting with the Abominations while also absorbing them. Surprisingly, being amongst other Abominations while he himself was influenced by an Abomination''s will didn''t make any difference. Shang had expected that he would probably feel some kind of connection with the other Abominations while his mindset temporarily emted all of them, but he didn''t feel anything like that. This told Shang that Abominations were not herd animals or something like that. Yet, that was actually quite contradictory. The mindset of an Abomination was filled with hate and the will to destroy. An Abomination wanted to destroy absolutely everything around it, even if it meant that it would die as well. And yet, they didn''t attack each other. This would make sense if there were some kind of kinship between the Abominations, but there wasn''t anything like that. So, when there was no social connection between them, why didn''t their will to destroy also include other Abominations? In the end, Shang could only guess that the will to destroy everything was only targeted toward anything created with Mana. Since other Abominations weren''t made of Mana, an Abomination wouldn''t feel a desire to destroy them, even when attacked by one. Over the past ten years, Shang had tried many things on the Abominations. He had tortured them, suppressed them, killed them, and so on. And yet, no matter what he did, the Abominations never felt anything other than their typical desire to destroy. That desire didn''t even extend to the being that inflicted pain on them. Shang could order one Abomination to kill another Abomination very slowly, and the other Abomination would continue attacking the wall as if nothing was happening. Even Shang could attack an Abomination as much as he wanted. The Abomination would never defend itself or try to kill Shang. It was like they were mindless, but they couldn''t bepletely mindless since they actually had a desire. Abominations were very strange. When ten years were up, Shang exited his Istion Barrier after closing the door of the Istion Chamber behind him so that the Abominations couldn''t escape. ¡°Wee back," Linay said from the top of the barrier. "In the past ten years, | have seen three Ancestral Mages, one Archmage, and four Mage Lords pass by." Linay handed a list to Shang, who read through it. He saw nothing suspicious. ¡°Any progress on the ore or the negotiation?" Shang asked. Linay nodded and summoned a Space Ring. "Here are all the ores below the Mage King Realm. The ore inside the Mage King Realm will probably take another 30 or so years, and | am uncertain about the Mage Emperor ore." Shang took the ring and looked inside. There was quite a bit of ore in there. Shang nodded. "I will return in 30 years then," he said. ¡°Of course," Linay answered. Shang entered the Istion Barrier again and went back into his Istion Chamber. Then, he continued learning about Abominations while also advancing his Realm. Shang was quite certain that learning more about Abominations would help himprehend the mysterious level five Concept of Entropy. After all, the Abominations were the very personification of that Affinity. 30 yearster, Shang came out again, and Linay gave him another ring. "These are all the ores of the Mage King Realm you''ve requested. We have also made some progress on the Mage Emperor ores, but it''s much more difficult to get those than expected. The Custodian even said that it was much harder than expected and that you''ve essentially gotten a great bargain." Shang took hold of the ring and looked inside. The ore inside the ring felt so insanely hard and powerful that Shang had to take a deep breath. But for now, these ores wouldn''t be helpful. Nevertheless, thanks to all of this, all of Shang''s ore troubles up to the peak of the Eighth Realm had been solved. In Area 23, it had been a huge issue for Shang to find powerful ore since only the most powerful organizations had control over it. After that, this problem had essentially vanished, but Shang expected that the problem would return when he reached the Peak Seventh Realm or higher. "And the negotiations?¡± Shang asked. "We''ve made some progress, but the Land and Sky Empire is still making it difficult. We know that the Land and Sky Empire knows that this is for you, which is why they are making so much trouble. They don''t want you to be more powerful.¡± "The Custodian said that joining the frontlines again and causing as much chaos as possible would make it easier and quicker for you since the Land and Sky Empire would want you to leave. They would probably very quickly ept just so that you stop making trouble for them," Linay exined. "That won''t happen,¡± Shang said. This took Linay by surprise, and she raised her brows. "Curious. | was under the impression that you want to train with peak efficiency." "You''re right," Shang said. "Under normal circumstances, | would go to the frontlines right now and cause as much chaos as possible." ¡°However, | am not joining the frontlines anymore for a specific reason." "Which is?" Linay asked. ¡°After | left the frontlines, themanding Thunder down there wanted to force me to join the frontline against my will, and after | declined, she sent a Mage Lord to forcefully pull me to the frontlines," Shang exined. Linay furrowed her brows. "| can understand why that is an issue. Naturally, the Thunder''s actions are beyond reproachable, and | will make sure that everything has been properly reported and dealt with." "No," Shang said.N?velDrama.Org owns this. "No?" Linay asked. "| don''t want this to be properly dealt with." "| want them dead." "| want them to die." "Both of them." "| don''t care if you reprimand them, confiscate their wealth, fire them from their positions, physically punish them, or imprison them." "| want them dead." ¡°Unless those two are dead, | will not be joining the war again." Linay just looked with an awkward expression at Shang. That was... Childish. Unreasonable. Too far. Disproportional. Vindictive. m going toe out in another 30 years," Shang said. "Keep track of everyone that you see with your Spirit Sense, including the Mage Kings." Linay shook her head to regain her wits. "Wait!" However, Shang had already entered the Istion Barrier. Linay could only take a deep breath. And then, she contacted a Thunder in the Administration Department. Chapter 857 Chapter 857 For the next 30 years, Shang continued advancing in his Realm, and surprisingly, he actually managed to achieve a breakthrough earlier than expected. It had only taken him a total of 80 years to reach the Late Void Break Realm. Usually, it would have taken him a bit over 200 years. Shang exited his Istion Barrier and looked at Linay. "What''s the status?" "We have gained two more ores of the Mage Emperor Realm, but we are still missing over 90%. It will probably take centuries." "There has been not much progress in the negotiations. We don''t think that there will be any progress within the next two centuries or so," Linay said. Shang nodded. "Fine. | wille back out in a century." Linay''s eyes widened. "Wait!" Yet, Shang had already entered the Istion Barrier. Linay gulped and took out her Transmission Medal. Shang continued training. Yet, one day, ten years after he had entered again, something happened. The timer on Shang''s Istion Chamber ran out, and the door opened. This time, Shang''s bandages immediately notified him that someone was looking at him, but he didn''t need them to know that. A beautiful blonde man was standing in front of the Istion Barrier. It was Amarius, the Dawnlight King. Naturally, since he had created the barrier, he could see through it, and right now, he was looking at Shang inside his Istion Chamber. Shang hadn''t dismissed the Abominations, and they were still there. However, they were not here. Behind Shang, inside the gigantic Istion Chamber, was Shang''s other Istion Chamber, and its entrance was closed. This was the main reason why Shang had wanted an Istion Chamber that was so much bigger. He wanted to fit his old Istion Chamber in his new Istion Chamber for extra security. "Hello, Shang," the Dawnlight King said with a friendly and polite smile. "I''m the Dawnlight King, but you can call me Amarius. I''m not someone for etiquette.¡± "Hello, what do you want?" Shang asked. Amarius'' smile stiffened a bit. It''s been a while since someone had talked to him like that. "I''ve heard that there has been a conflict between you and Thunder Maruan Depthwalk. She was the one that ordered for you to be brought back to the frontlines." Shang nodded. "Yes, | want her and the Mage Lord dead." "| Know where you''reing from,¡± Amarius said. ""You''ve been isted deep in enemy territory for a thousand years, and you singlehandedly made it possible for the Lightning Manor to stage aeback. You have contributed many times more than anyone else in the entire Lightning Manor, including the Mage Kings themselves." ¡°And then, when you finally returned after a thousand years, instead of receiving a warm wee or just a thank you, someone representing the upper echelon of the Lightning Manor wanted to force you back into risking your life like you were some worthless prisoner." ¡°Naturally, something like that is in severe conflict with the Lightning Manor''s philosophy and ideology. After extensive review, we have decided to do to her what she wanted to do to you." "She didn''t take your contributions into ount. So, we decided to confiscate all the Contribution Points she had earned since the war started. On top of that, we have forced her to fight five battles in the Zone for Mage Lords." "She regrets her actions deeply, and she has apologized several times. She is also willing toe personally to you and apologize again." ¡°As for the Mage Lord, he didn''t even know about your identity. The Thunder didn''t inform him about it, and after he heard who you were, he was actually the first person that filed aint. He felts horrible after he heard about your identity, and he assured us that he would have refused the order if he had known who you were beforehand." ¡°Additionally, he was imperative in our investigation into Maruan Depthwalk''s life and work history, which uncovered many more things that she has to answer for. He is also willing to apologize for what he has done, and he still feels horrible for almost sending the Ancestral Hero back into battle." ¡°As | havee to know, when the Mage Lord appeared, he didn''t even touch you, and you two only talked for a couple of seconds, at most. After that, you continued towards your destination." "| understand that you want to hurt them for what they have done to you, but we have to keep in mind that they have only attempted to do something without seeding, and even if they had seeded, you would have only been transported to the frontlines, where another Thunder would have quickly noticed what happened, and you would have been on your merry way then anyway." "Yes, the intention behind the actions was shameful, but the act itself has never seeded and didn''t impact you in any way. Moreover, Maruan Depthwalk has lost a thousand years of hard work and resources for her actions." "We value you very highly, Shang, and | hope you can see our care for you in the way we have punished Maruan Depthwalk." "| hope this is to your satisfaction," Amarius said with a friendly smile. Shang remained silent for a second. His Aura didn''t change. "| want them dead." "Both of them." Silence. Amarius took a deep breath. "Shang, we can''t just kill someone like that. We understand that Maruan has acted incorrectly, but she has already paid dearly for her actions. Additionally, she is a Peak Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense that has faithfully served the Lightning Manor for over 15,000 years. We can''t kill her just because of that." "On top of that, the other Mage Lord didn''t even know about your identity. He told me personally that he would never have done anything like that if he had known about your identity, and | can assure you that his statement rings true with the truth of the world. He definitely didn''t lie." ¡°All fault lies with Maruan Depthwalk, and she has already been severely punished." "The punishment has already been handed out, and we can''t just rescind the punishment and give out a new one. The Lightning Manor values justice and fairness above everything,¡± Amarius said. Silence. "| don''t care," Shang said. "| want them dead." "Kill them." "As long as they are still alive, | won''t join the war." "And as for the negotiation with the Land and Sky Empire, that is also not my problem." "| gave you my Contribution Points. You give me my reward." "| have not received my reward." "| want my reward." "That''s all." BANG!Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. And the entrance to Shang''s Istion Chamber closed. Amarius took a very deep breath. Chapter 858 Chapter 858 The next time Shang''s Istion Chamber opened again, Amarius had already left, and Shang didn''t feel anyone spying on him. Shang closed the Istion Chamber again and continued training with the Abominations. For the next 90 years, nothing out of the ordinary had happened. By now, Shang had been gone from the frontline for 180 years, and he had no idea how the war was going. But he also didn''t give a shit. In thest couple of years, Shang managed to achieve his final breakthrough.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Now, Shang was at the Peak Void Break Realm. The Peak of the Sixth Realm. With Shang''s current power, absolutely nothing he could summon with the Affinity Wheel posed even the slightest challenge, making the Affinity Wheelpletely useless. Shang had finally reached a level of power that made him more powerful than any Initial Mage Lord in existence, assuming there was no one with a fivefold Spirit Sense. However, Shang could even attempt to fight someone like that, but the oue would be uncertain. As for the average Mage Lord, Shang could kill an average Mid Mage Lord, but powerful Mid Mage Lords were still very troublesome. At this moment, Shang was the most powerful existence in the Sixth Realm in the entire world. Even the Abominations he had summoned were no longer able to pose a threat to him as long as they didn''t absorb enough Mana to be explosive. Shang was now about 2,380 years old, which meant he had about 2,620 years of longevity left toprehend the level four Concept of Temperatures and the mysterious level five Concept of Entropy. This seemed like a lot of time, but Shang knew that this wouldn''t be easy at all. There were so few Mage Lords with a fivefold Spirit Sense, and Mages were the best inprehending Concepts. How difficult was it toprehend a Concept above one''s level? Even none of the Clouds could do it. Every time Shang tried to reach the next Realm, he felt like he was attempting to do something impossible. First, it had been four powerful Paths at once. Then, it had been four Imposes and World Connection. After that, it had been Void Break. And now, it was the mysterious level five Concept of Entropy. Just a regr pure level five Concept of any Affinity was difficult toprehend, and the few Mages with the fivefold Spirit Senses always used these kinds of Concepts since they were the easiest toprehend. But there were still so few. Then came the Complex Concepts, which were essentially impossible toprehend before one reached the next Realm. As for the Concept Shang was trying toprehend... First, it covered four different Affinities. Second, it was definitely a Complex Concept, even though it technically was a pure Concept of Entropy. Andstly, Shang didn''t even know what that Concept looked like. What could it do? Nobody knew. Where could one learn it? Nobody knew. What did it look like? Nobody knew. Shang was trying toprehend something that nobody knew anything about. ¡®But first, | need the Concept of Temperatures,¡¯ Shang thought as his Spirit Sense left the Istion Barrier. His Spirit Sense quickly locked onto something. Abig portal. Shang knew what that meant. He slowly took to the sky and left the barrier. Linay looked at Shang. "The negotiations have beenpleted," she said with professional courtesy. Shang noticed that her tone had shifted since thest time they had talked. It was more distant. But Shang didn''t care. "This portal leads to the ind of the Hadean King. The Hadean King is a bull-like beast that focuses on extreme cold and volcanic heat. Its ind is mostly devoid of vegetation due to the extreme cold and ice everywhere, but there are also plenty of volcanoes that createva streams going through thend." Acold ind with high volcanic activity... Shang felt that description to be familiar. "What about the ore?" Shang asked. "We have about 30% of the Mage Emperor ore," Linay said. "Good," Shang said before turning to the portal. "| can just go through the portal?" "Yes, but please wait a moment," Linay said as she summoned a small pin with a lightning bolt on it. "Please put this pin on your robe whenever you are anywhere near that ind. This pin is directly connected to the Ancestor, and it will report to him whenever ites into contact with a Mage King''s Spirit Sense, in which case the Ancestor will pay special attention to your safety." ¡°As for Mage Lords, | should be enough to defend you from them, and even if they attack us with several, | can easily buy enough time for the Ancestor to notice the destruction." "We have alsoe into contact with the Hadean King and have negotiated with it. It is willing to demonstrate the Concept of Temperatures to you in exchange for some things. Naturally, the Lightning Manor has already handed these things over to the Hadean King." Shang nodded and put the pin on his white robes. After that, he wordlessly flew through the portal, and Linay followed after him. Shang felt a strong feeling of discement, but it was still bearable. As soon as Shang stepped out of the portal, he felt several beings look at him. Based on the intensity of the feeling, Shang could tell that there were at least four Beast Lords and over ten Ancestral Beasts. Surprisingly, Shang could also feel a couple of humans look at him, but they weren''t as numerous. Shang saw a couple of Ancestral Mages with the robes of the Land and Sky Empire who were looking back at him. Shang could feel quite a bit of animositying from them. But just like always, he didn''t care. The portal was located near the coast of the ind, and Shang could see an icy and rockynd with rivers ofva flowing through it. "Where is the Hadean King?" Shang asked. "It''s in the middle of the ind," Linay answered, "which is about 500,000 kilometers to the southwest." Shang nodded and shot towards the southwest. Chapter 859 Chapter 859 Shang and Linay shot toward the middle of the Hadean King''s ind. While they were traveling, they noticed quite a few Beast Lords. Beast Lords were pretty rare, but here, they seemed to be quite common. That was probably due to the Hadean King''s Domain.N?velDrama.Org owns this. Just like any other beast, the Hadean King was creating a huge Domain around itself, filled with Mana from its own Affinities. The density of the Fire and Ice Mana was very high, creating a huge chessboard of extremely hot and extremely cold ces. Just by moving a couple of meters, Shang went from a ce that could melt steel to a ce that could turn oxygen into a liquid. This reminded Shang of his troubles with his Ice and Fire powers when he was young. By now, these powers didn''t give Shang any problems anymore since he had achieved perfect control of them. But back then, the bnce of his body''s temperature had been quite important to maintain. "The beasts are not allowed to attack a human of a lower Realm," Linay told Shang after a minute of silence. ¡°Realm or level?" Shang asked. "Realm," Linay answered. ""An Initial Beast Lord is not allowed to attack a Peak Ancestral Mage, but a Peak Beast Lord is allowed to attack an Initial Mage Lord." "Hm," Shang uttered. "I presume the Land and Sky Empire has a deal with the Hadean King." "Correct," Linay said. "| don''t know how the Land and Sky Empire is handling its Beast Kings, but the Lightning Manor only allows Beast Lords to be the new Beast Kings when they agree to our terms. Otherwise, we kill them and choose a different Beast Lord to be a Beast King.¡± Shang just nodded. It was quite obvious that these rules were unfair towards beasts due to the average power of Mages and beasts. An average Initial Mage Lord could probably fight an average Mid Beast Lord. So, as long as a Mage was in the Late or Peak of their Realm, they could essentially move through the ind unhindered. And the worst thing was that the beasts actually thought that to be fair. The reason wasn''t that they were stupid. No, Beast Lords and Beast Kings were quite smart. The reason was that beasts believed in power, and if two beings at the same level fought each other, it waspletely fair. The average power of the two sides didn''t matter to them since everyone was responsible for their own power. Naturally, the difference in power came from the very concept of society. Beasts didn''t have a society, but humans did. Every beast needed to learn everything about its own power on its own. Meanwhile, humans had books and teachers. Why invent something that someone else had already invented? But the beasts didn''t care. Power was power. It didn''t matter where that power came from. Naturally, no beast dared to attack Shang or Linay. Both of them were at the Peak of their Realms, after all. Linay was probably even the second most powerful being on the entire ind, only inferior to the Hadean King. And that wasn''t even certain. After all, what was the level of the Beast King? Was it at the Initial Beast King Realm or the Peak Beast King Realm? If the Hadean King were an Initial or Early Beast King, Linay might actually be stronger than it since she wasn''t just a normal Mage Lord but an actual Thunder, someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. One had to remember that there were only about 70 Thunders in the Lightning Manor, which meant that every Thunder belonged to the 100 most powerful people in the Lightning Manor. If one added all the Empires up, a Thunder would even enter the top 1,000 of the entire world. The top ten were the Mage Emperors. Eleven to about 100 were the Mage Kings. 101 to 150 were the Beast Kings, but they could also be lower, depending on their level. And ces 151 to about 1,000 were the Peak Mage Lords with fourfold Spirit Senses. So, Linay was somewhere between ce 151 to 1,000 in the entire world. Back in Shang''s second trial, he had fought the progeny of the Ice King, one of the Beast Kings. Back then, Archmages had already seemed impossibly powerful to him, and above them had been the Zone Beasts. And above those had been the mysterious and super powerful Mage Lords. And only then came the Beast Kings. Now? Shang was apanied by someone that could probably fight quite a few Beast Kings, and he was going to meet one of the Beast Kings, which would also help himprehend a Concept. Shang had truly entered the elite of the world, even though he couldn''t fight any of them vet. After traveling for several minutes, the Hadean King finally entered Shang''s Spirit Sense. Or, at least, its hoof. Beast Lords and stronger could suppress their size, but the Hadean King obviously wasn''t interested in doing that. It was big. Really big. Its hoof was over 50 kilometers wide, and its leg was over 300 kilometers long. Its entire body was around a thousand kilometers long. It was insanely big. Acasual movement of one of its hooves broke mountains apart that were bigger than Mt. Everest. These huge mountains made by the constant flow ofva were like cracks in the pavement for the Hadean King. Its torso was colored red, which slowly transformed into blue as one went down its legs. It had a long and majestic mane that hung from its humongous head. Surprisingly, it only had one horn. The other one seemed to have been cut off. It was quite difficult to surprise Shang, but the Hadean King''s appearance genuinely surprised him. It was just so insanely powerful and huge. It was so imposing that Shang even doubted that anyone could be stronger than such a monster, but only for a second. Yes, the Hadean King was probably the most imposing thing Shang had ever seen in his entire life, but that didn¡¯t change reality. Probably every single Mage King was more powerful. After a while, the humongous head of the Hadean King turned to Shang and Linay, and it specifically focused on Shang. Chapter 860 Chapter 860 When the Hadean King looked at him, Shang could feel the sheer power it exhibited. However, it wasn''t as overwhelming as he had expected. Yes, it was definitely many times stronger than him, but its power somehow didn''t feel as plete" as even the weakest Mage King Shang had met. There was definitely somethingcking. But on further thought, this actually made a lot of sense. After all, nearly every Mage King had a fivefold Spirit Sense. The Hadean King looked at Shang for several seconds. Then, the cold and hot pockets of air fused with each other, evening out the temperature around it. And yet, the temperature rapidly changed. It went from hot to cold to hot to cold to hot and so on. However, the change in temperature wasn''t strong enough to injure Shang''s powerful body. Yet, some secondster, the switch became more intense, with colder and hotter temperatures switching even faster. But Shang still didn''t get injured. The temperatures became more and more extreme, and a full minuteter, Shang''s body actually showed a couple of burns and freezes. That was when the switch of temperatures stopped getting stronger. The Hadean King only looked at Shang, who didn''t show any reactions. After a couple of seconds, it looked away and closed its eyes. Shang could guess what this meant. This was probably the best way toprehend the Concept of Temperatures. The temperatures were switching fast enough to injure Shang but not fast enough that they would kill him. He was still recovering more life energy than he was using. "You can start," Linay said from behind Shang. "I will keep watch over the surroundings." Shang just nodded and checked if he really wore the pin that Linay had given him. He did. After that, Shang sat down in the middle of the sky. It wasn''t as easy to get lost inprehension as usual, which was because Shang didn''t feel as safe here as in his Istion Chamber. However, Shang got used to his new environment very quickly. As Shang sat in the air, his mind actually entered his inner world. The Mana of the surroundings permeated through his inner world, flooding it with Fire and Ice Mana. All the grass inside Shang''s inner world immediately turned to ash, leaving a dead wastnd behind. Amomentter, Shang''s body was surrounded by his own Fire and Ice Mana. He was trying to replicate the way the Fire and Ice Mana in his surroundings felt.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. If he could perfectly replicate it, he would learn the Concept of Temperatures. Creating the intensity of the temperatures and the frequency of the switch wasn''t very difficult for Shang, but for some reason, it still felt very different. And an hourter, Shang realized the difference. The speed at which the temperatures were changing had doubled, but the intensity of the temperatures had lessened. Naturally, Shang could emte this change with his own Fire and Ice Mana, but it didn''t feel nearly as smooth. Every hour, the change in temperatures drastically changed. Sometimes, the temperatures changed very slowly but with powerful extremes. Sometimes, the temperature felt static and unchanging, but that was because Shang''s mind wasn''t powerful enough to notice the tiny and very quick fluctuations of temperature. Emting the extreme temperatures wasn''t difficult for Shang, but he had big issues with the very subtle and quick changes. It was like he was holding one half of an object in one hand and the other in another hand, but he just couldn''t perfectly p them together on the first try. He always had to adjust the position a tiny bit after banging them together. Meanwhile, the temperatures in Shang''s surroundings were switching very smoothly. Shang started to swing his Addum and Subsis, using them as representatives of Fire and Ice. The more Shang swung his two swords, the closer he felt to the surrounding temperatures. He even began to anticipate the changes. And yet, his own Fire and Ice Mana were not changing as fluently as the surrounding temperature. Time passed. Shang just continued training. Linay kept ncing more and more at Shang. She had actually never seen Shang train since he always stayed inside his Istion Barrier. Now, she could watch, and as more time passed, she grew more and more surprised. He didn''t stop. He took no breaks. Ahuman only had a limited amount of concentration, and they needed to recover that concentration from time to time. Comprehending a Concept wasn''t something fun. It was work. It was just doing calction after calction, and it involved a lot of brute-forcing in different ways. There was nothing magical or mystical aboutprehending a Concept. It was just a lot of work. Even more, the progress ofprehending a Concept very often halted. Oftentimes, one had to change one''s approach and reset their mind. Troubleshooting was tedious, and one''s head was often so stuck in one''s ways that it was impossible to see the true solution to a problem. That was when most people took breaks since a change of activity and scenery could refresh their minds, allowing them to see an almost obvious solution they had overlooked earlier. And yet, Shang never stopped. He just continued. His Spirit Sense never showed any kind of activity, which meant that he wasn''t looking at his surroundings at all. He just continued sitting there in the air like a statue. Acentury passed. Two centuries. Three centuries. Shang never stopped. He just continued. Linay had to deal with several of her duties with her Transmission Medal since she didn''t get an opportunity to leave Shang. The news of the war also continued toe in, and it didn''t look good at all. Their numbers of Ancestral Mages were shrinking. Even more, the Judgment Pce had already noticed that Shang hadn''t shown himself in a long time, and they started to carefully use their remaining Defender gs again. But for Shang, nothing changed. Every day was the same. More years passed. Another hundred years. Another hundred years. And finally, after over 500 years in total, Shang managed to understand the Concept of Temperatures. Chapter 861 Chapter 861 Eventually, Shang returned to the real world. Linay quickly noticed that Shang''s dormant Spirit Sense was finally moving again after over 500 years, and she released a sigh of relief. Was he finally done? "How much time has passed?" Shang asked. "A bit more than 500 years," she answered. ¡®That means I''m about 2,900 years old, leaving me with only 2,100 years," Shang thought. ¡°What about the ore?" Shang asked. ¡°Everything has been gathered,¡± Linay answered. "Due to the value, | thought it would be better not to let it get delivered to this ce. Everything''s waiting in the Lightning Manor." Shang nodded. "Then, let''s return." "You''veprehended the Concept of Temperatures?" Linay asked. "Yes," Shang answered. Linay just nodded. She knew that a couple of Concepts became more difficult based on their connections, and the Concept of Temperatures was one of them. Acouple of people wanted tobine several Elements, but thebining of Concepts always became more and more difficult toprehend. Most people focused on only one Element since they also only had one Affinity, but there were also some people that focused on two. Nearly every Cloud trained in at least two Elements. However, there were also a few people that focused on three Elements. Agood example would be Space, Time, and Gravity. Tobine them, one needed three Concepts. Spacetime, Timegravity, and Gravityspace. With these Concepts, the power of all three increased by a bit. Naturally, these Concepts weren''t the priority since the small increase in power often wasn''t worth the effort. People often only focused on these mixed Concepts when they were already Ancestral Mages or Mage Lords. There was also a popr mix of Water, Ice, and Wind, which needed the Concepts of States, Snow, and Steam. Naturally, all four of Shang''s Concepts were known. People knew about Temperatures, Twilight, Addition, and Subtraction, but people never focused on all four of them. The reason was their longevity. Focusing on three Elements meant equally increasing their power so that none of the three fell behind the other two. This took a lot of effort for only a small increase in Battle-Strength rtive to others. And four Elements? Nah. Forget it. Too much work. People wouldn''t even attempt it since it would consume so much time to strengthen all four of them that their longevity would run out. One guy would need to focus for many years toprehend level one Concepts for all four Elements, and afterprehending four different Concepts, their opponents would have already reached the next Realm and would haveprehended a level two Concept. Even more, since the Affinities couldn''t properly bebined in the early Realms, the Mage would only be able to exhibit the power of one level one Concept at a time. People would be very weak for a very long time since thest of the four required Concepts would be a level four Concept. However, all of this didn''t apply to Shang. Not because of his Affinity but because he was a warrior. Shang was using his Affinities for everything, but one had to remember that Shang''s power always came from his body. His speed, offense, and defense mainly came from his body, which were augmented by the Elements. Meanwhile, all of a Mage''s power came from their Affinities. So, even if Shang needed toprehend a lot of weak Concepts that were not very useful, due to his techniques and sheer physical strength, his Battle-Strength would still be very outstanding. One had to remember that if Shang didn''t use any of his Affinities, his power would still be equal to a Cloud. The same thing wasn''t true for Mages since all their power came from the very Concepts theyprehended. Linay knew that the Concept of Temperatures was most likely as difficult as a level four Concept to Shang, which was why she wasn''t surprised that Shang took this long. To Linay, the time Shang had taken toprehend a level four Concept was average for a Cloud. Naturally, she knew that Shang wasn''t a Mage, which meant that he should be slower. However, Clouds also didn''t have ess to a Beast King that was willing to demonstrate a Concept. If a Cloud had ess to this ce, they probably would haveprehended the Concept in about 400 years. Shang was still slower inprehending Concepts than an average Cloud. Eventually, the two of them left the Hadean King behind and traveled back to the portal. "I''m signed to be your bodyguard for one century more,¡± Linay said. "| know," Shang answered evenly. "Is there anything specific you want me to do?" she asked. "No," Shang answered. Linay could only sigh. She was itching to do anything else. It was nice to rx once in a while and earn easy money just by standing in ce, but after over 500 years, she almost felt trapped. She just wanted to do something that wasn''t standing around. After stepping through the portal, Shang''s Transmission Medal immediately rang. Shang was quite surprised by the Aura of the caller. It was the Starlight Queen. "Yes?" Shang said. "You are Shang Sword, the Ancestral Hero, correct?" she asked. "Correct," Shang said. "The Custodian has informed me about your situation and the true extent of your powers. He said that you are interested in me bing your teacher, correct?" she asked. "Correct," Shang answered. "I''m currently busy with the southeastern front, the Research Department, and the Reconnaissance Department. | really don''t have any time right now, but | think things will calm down when we get our new Mage King." "I''ve heard," Shang said. "In a bit more than a century, | can find some time for you. However, you have to keep in mind that | need to focus on many different things, and | can''t just dedicate my entire time to you. Additionally, the extent to which | help you is also up to my discretion.¡± Shang''s Aura darkened. "What do you want?" Shang asked. Shang could also feel the Starlight Queen''s Aura change after he asked that question. "If you even want me to consider putting any time aside for you, your method of addressing the other Mage Kings and | has to change," she said with a cold but professional tone. "Stronger people and people that have done a lot for the Lightning Manor deserve to be treated with respect." "| understand the problem you have with me addressing you, but | don''t see how my conduct towards other Mage Kings has anything to do with you," Shang said. "If you want to be my student, you will be an extension of myself, and how you treat others will also reflect back on me. Showing respect is important, and if you don''t respect others, by extension, it will be like | don''t show respect to others." "Fine," Shang said. Many kilometers away, the Starlight Queen released a sigh of frustration. "I''m also fine with books," Shang said. The Starlight Queen furrowed her brows. "borate," she said. "The only reason why | even wanted a Mage King teacher in the first ce was that | need someone to teach me everything about efficientlyprehending Concepts since | am not a Mage. As a Mage King, you should be the best in that department." "But if that doesn''t work, it isn''t a big loss. | can just do what Queen Primordium did back then. It might take me a bit longer this way, but maybe only one to three decades or so. At least | don''t have to change my entire personality this way." "| don''t need you as my teacher anymore."Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Many kilometers away, the Starlight Queen''s eyes narrowed in fury. However, deep inside her eyes, there was also a bit of fear and anxiety. She readied her next words, but the connection was cut immediately. She quickly tried to contact Shang again, but the Transmission Medal couldn''t build a connection. Shang had already entered his Istion Barrier. The Starlight Queen''s frustration and rage exploded. No one had ever dared to talk to her like this! However, Shang wasn''t the only person she was angry about. She was also angry at herself. The reason why she had called was because of her subordinate, Thunder Maruan Depthwalk. The Starlight Queen was fiercely loyal to the Lightning Manor, but she was just as loyal to her subordinates. She had heard about Shang''s ridiculous demand. Naturally, her subordinate''s punishment had already been way too harsh, but he wasn''t even fine with that. She couldn''t possibly rationalize killing her subordinate for what she had done. So, she wanted to talk with Shang. In exchange for more time with her, she wanted Shang to let things slide with her subordinate. But now... The Starlight Queen turned towards the southeast, at the advancing Judgment Pce. She knew best how dire the situation was here. If things continued like this, the Judgment Pce would reach a different Zone, and then, everything would break apart. They needed help! Chapter 862 Chapter 862 For a couple of years, Shang worked on refining his Battle Style with the Concept of Temperatures, but it didn''t take that long. With the Concept of Temperaturesprehended, Shang now had to focus on the mysterious level five Concept of Entropy. And for that, he needed to know a couple of methods that would help him. So, Shang contacted the Custodian. "Good evening, Shang. Is there something you need?" the Custodian asked. "| want to request books from the Ancestor," he said. "You can ask Sarah when she''s your teacher to do that for you," the Custodian answered. "| don''t and won''t have another teacher," Shang said. Silence. "That is your choice,¡± the Custodian said. "However, | can''t trouble the Ancestor right now. He is very busy with something." "| can assure you," Shang said, "the Ancestor would want you to trouble him for this." Far away, the Custodian looked with narrowed eyes at his Transmission Medal, but his tone remained professional. "I''ve worked under the Ancestor for tens of thousands of years. | am going to trust my judgment on this." "Fine," Shang said. "How about this? If the Ancestor shows any sign of annoyance regarding your disturbance, | will fight on the frontlines for a century and will follow the Starlight Queen''s orders." This immediately piqued the Custodian''s interest. For a moment, he weighed the two options. He really didn''t want to disturb the Ancestor, but if they didn''t do something about the southeastern front, he would have to disturb the Ancestor regardless. "Will you keep your word?" the Custodian asked. "As long as you are honest in this matter, yes," Shang said. The Custodian furrowed his brows. He really wasn''t a fan of Shang insinuating that he would lie in this regard. "| will," the Custodian said. "| am going to contact the Ancestor right now. Please wait for my call." After that, the connection was cut. Shang just waited outside his Istion Barrier. And a minuteter... WHOOOM! Suddenly, a portal opened in front of Shang, who simply flew through it.N?velDrama.Org owns this. At the side, Linay''s eyes widened in unbelievable shock. She had just seen the other side of the portal. The Lightning Emperor! That had been the Lightning Emperor! Meanwhile, in the Lightning Emperor''s personal study, the Lightning Emperor looked at Shang with a warm smile. "Shang, Wester told me you needed something," the Lightning Emperor said. Shang could see the Custodian behind him, but Shang was acting like he wasn''t there. "Yes," Shang said. Then, he exined to the Lightning Emperor how he had reached his current level and what he was nning on doing to reach the Seventh Realm with a sixfold Spirit Sense. ¡°You want toprehend a level five Concept?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Shang nodded. The Lightning Emperor hummed a bit. The next moment, over 5,000 books floated out from the huge bookshelves and stopped in front of Shang. "This should cover everything you need to know," the Lightning Emperor said. "A lot of the things in there are repeated in several books. If you want to know everything, you should read all of them, but if you are fine with 80%, reading half of them would be enough." Shang nodded and put the books away. "Thanks," he said. "Oh, one more thing!" the Lightning Emperor said. The next moment, the Lightning Emperor took out an identical pin to the one Shang had worn while watching the Hadean King. "If you need anything, just use that. It works like a Communication Crystal, but only for us two. Although, keep in mind that I''m currently quite busy with the entire contract thing," he said. Near the entrance of the study, the Custodian looked with shock at the Lightning Emperor. The Custodian also had such a pin, but he had been the only one. Shang now also had one? The Custodian didn''t let anything show on his face, but his wariness of Shang increased even more. After Shang''s private meeting with the Ancestor back then, the Custodian noticed that the Ancestor had changed. He seemed chipper and more excited, but he also treated the Lightning Manor with less importance. Additionally, while the Ancestor''s assault on the Judgment Pce made sense, it was very suspicious that the Ancestor thought about Shang when negotiating with the other Mage Emperors. While the Ancestor had always treated the Lightning Manor as the most important thing, he rarely thought about single individuals. The Custodian knew that the Ancestor would have never thought about one of his Mage Kings while attacking the Judgment Pce. And yet, while he was opposing all the other Mage Emperors, the Ancestor had negotiated something that was obviously intended to help Shang. Lastly, when the Custodian had told the Ancestor about Shang earlier, the Ancestor didn''t seem bothered in any way. He even smiled with a bit of excitement or happiness. The Custodian wasn''t sure what exactly had happened, but he was certain that something must have happened in the meeting between the two. But what? What could a warrior in such a low Realm possibly have or do to influence such an ancient being to such a degree? The Ancestor was friendly to everyone, but he also kept everyone at a distance. He also didn''t have a family. And yet, the Ancestor acted like Shang was a close friend to him. This was not normal. Something was going on. The Custodian still remembered the Ancestor''s evaluation when he had first inspected Shang with his Spirit Sense. Back then, the Ancestor said that Shang was very simr to King Sanctified Death, and the Custodian knew very well what the Ancestor thought of King Sanctified Death. The Ancestor definitely hadn''t been a fan of Shang. But as soon as they met, everything changed. The Custodian kept watching the interaction between the Ancestor and Shang until Shang left. Based on the Ancestor''s past evaluation of Shang, whatever was going on couldn''t be anything good. However, he also couldn''t think of any way that someone like Shang could influence someone like the Ancestor. This entire situation was confusing. The Custodian didn''t like it. He didn''t like it at all. Chapter 863 Chapter 863 Shang returned to his Istion Barrier after talking with the Lightning Emperor and immediately started to read the books. Reading books was something that Shang wasn''t used to doing since he got all of his knowledge from other people or from his own experience. In fact, it felt very weird to be reading a book. Even more, Shang wasn''t interested at all in the content. Shang was interested in Concepts and how the world worked, but these books only talked about the history of how Mages comprehended Concepts and what they had learned. Shang was essentially learning how to learn, which wasn''t the most fun activity. Nevertheless, Shang never lost his focus, even though he wasn''t interested at all. Shang read the first couple of books in barely a couple of minutes, but then, he read a book that was not as easy to comprehend. The book didn''t seem longer than all the other ones, but as soon as Shang started to go through the pages, he realized that the stack of pages near the end never seemed to shrink. Just to check, Shang went to thest pages and looked at the page number. 1,534,917. Shang closed the book and checked the cover. Basic Guide to Comprehension. Then, Shang opened the book again and continued reading. The book was basically a list of different ways toprehend Concepts, how people came up with these methods, how they worked, what the disadvantages and advantages were, and what the author of the book rmended. Luckily, Shang didn''t need to spend a lot of time on the book. Yes, it was very long, and Shang read all of it, but he didn''t really need to calcte things. He just needed to read. This book took Shang nearly an hour to read, and he didn''t remember a lot of it since 99% of the contents were useless to him. However, the one percent that was actually useful was REALLY useful. Shang didn''t immediately open the next book. Instead, he reviewed his method ofprehending Concepts with the methods he had just learned. His method had also been in the book, and by reading how a third person evaluated that method, Shang had learned more about how he actually learned. With that knowledge, he could also consider other methods, and most important of all, one could use more than one method at a time. Shang had barely read more than an hour, but he was sure that this single hour had probably saved him decades, if not centuries. After several hours, Shang looked at the books and began to organize them. First, he grabbed all the books that were rted toprehension methods he didn''t find useful and leafed through them. He wouldn''t dedicate his entire mind to them since they would very likely be useless, but it was still worth it to just skim them. Sure enough, there were a couple of things that exined a bit more of the methods, but it wasn''t that useful. It was just a bit of basic knowledge. In just an hour, Shang had consumed over a thousand books and got rid of the most uninteresting books. After that, Shang decided to focus on more general knowledge and opened the next overview. This guide was not aboutprehension methods but about materials and substances that could help. The guide kept referring to the other huge guide Shang had read, which prompted him to look at the author of the book. It was the same author. Even more, the name was actually familiar to Shang. Lightning Manor''s Myriad King. Shang checked through all the other books and took out all of them that had been written by the Myriad King. Seven. And they were all insanely long and broad. Shang spent the next five days on these books, constantly cross-referencing them. When he was done, he created his own method forprehension over the next four weeks. Finally, Shang created his method and focused on reading more books. The first couple of books were finished in just a couple of seconds. Shang basically already knew everything that was written inside them. Shang read the next 1,000 books in just a couple of hours, and he didn''t learn a lot from them. This prompted Shang to look at the seven books from the Myriad King again. It was actually insane how condensed and perfectly understandable these seven books were. All the other books talked about essentially the same thing but barely covered the surface while wasting a lot of time on unnecessary information. If one didn''t have ess to the library of a literal Mage Emperor, how difficult would it be to learn all of what Shang had learned without consulting these seven books? Naturally, to someone like Shang, all of this didn''t matter as much since he essentially had ess to every single book in the world. But to a normal Mage? If these seven books spread throughout the world, the average power of all Mages might skyrocket. Shang was quite confident that Mages outside Empires didn''t have ess to these books. The Mages¡¯prehension of Concepts was simply far too slow. Shang guessed that only Clouds had ess to all these books and probably not even for free. Shang could imagine a Spark working for many years just to purchase a very abridged version of one of these books, which only had 10,000 pages or so. Meanwhile, Boltlings could probably purchase expensive versions with over 100,000 pages. And Clouds could probably purchase theplete versions. Shang was pretty sure that he had learned most of the things that there were to learn from this pile of books, but Shang wasn''t a careless person. So, he decided to read all the books. Some hourster, he had read another 2,000, leaving only a thousand remaining. Shang learned a couple of things, but not a lot. Shang mindlessly moved the next book in front of him to read it, but he paused when he noticed something. Inparison to all the other books, this one wasn''t in pristine condition. Tiny particles of dust and age had fallen off the book when Shang had moved it, prompting him to be more careful. Naturally, all the other books were copies in pristine condition, but this one wasn''t. This was obviously an original and a very old one at that. The title was rather in. A Watcher''s Record. Shang opened it and began to read, but he received one shock after the other very quickly. First, the author introduced himself.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The Archivist. Second, the start of the actual contents. "| want to start from when | reached the Ninth Realm, which was about 6.7 million years ago.¡± Chapter 864 Chapter 864 6.7 million years. The Mage God had ascended only a bit more than 300,000 years ago! For every living being, the world basically started existing 300,000 years ago. Anything that happened before then wasn''t relevant. Back then, the methods ofprehending things were very primitive. People basically only looked at something and tried to build some kind of connection with it. A big part ofprehension back then was faith and belief. Many people believed that the Elements and natural forces were sentient and that they only told their secrets to worthy people. Some people even sacrificed others to appease the Elements so that they may share their secrets with them. Naturally, that didn''t really work, but it didn¡¯t stop people from trying. The book talked about all the different kinds of ways the people managed to achieve power, and some of the things Shang read reminded him of what the God had said when they had first met. "There are innumerable ways to supreme power. You can use the inherent energy in the air to increase the power of your mind. This strengthens your soul, and the more powerful your soul gets, the more powerful your mental abilities be. You can crush elephants with just your mind or move the energy of the world in such a way that it creates powerful destructive forces." ¡°However, you can also focus on strengthening your body. By absorbing the energy in the atmosphere and fusing it with your body, you can be so fast and so powerful that the other person that trains their mind wouldn''t even be able to react to an attack of yours." "You can also fuse with some ethereal concepts and summon them." "You can also concentrate on weapons, which allows you to sunder reality with a move of your weapon.¡± "You can alsoprehend the concepts of how the world works and manipte the energy in such a way that it imitates these concepts. You would gain control over fire, gravity, time, space, water, metal, life, and so on." "You can even just purely absorb Energy without end, bing a walking bomb that could unleash many years of umted power in a single strike." Shang had to pause after reading this. The reason was that the book basically exined all these things in a very simr way. It used simr words, and the structure of the sentences was simr, albeit more professional. Of course, the book went into more detail.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. All of this created a suspicion in Shang''s mind. Why was this so simr to the God''s words? Shang''s first thought was that the God might actually just be the Archivist. However, Shang very quickly dismissed that theory. Lucius left the Archivist alive back then. It would make no sense for Lucius to die to the Archivist after ascending. Additionally, if the Archivist could just walk around and kill Queen Primordium, the Lightning Emperor would have considered the Archivist as the perpetrator. Yet, since the Lightning Emperor didn''t even consider that possibility, this probably meant that the Archivist couldn''t just walk around and randomly kill powerful people. The Archivist and the God couldn''t possibly be the same person. Additionally, the God had created the universe where Earth was, which was beyond the power of a Mage Emperor. Mage Emperors could create separate spaces, and they could maybe even create something like Shang''s inner world. However, creating such a huge universe with its ownws of physics was probably way beyond their ability. Shang''s next suspicion was that the Archivist might have talked to or knew of the existence of the God. But that also didn''t make much sense. After all, the Archivist had lived through these times. It would make no sense for the God to tell the Archivist how the world worked while the Archivist could literally see everything for himself. So, did the God actually reference the Archivist''s work? But why would he need to do that? He should have seen everything for himself. Unless... The Archivist''s work was how the God knew about these things. This opened several questions. How could the God not know about these things? Wasn''t he the creator of this world? Was the Archivist actually older than the God? As soon as Shang came up with that question, he stopped thinking for a moment. Younger than the Archivist? Shang decided to continue reading the book for answers. The Archivist talked about many different Paths, and the times they had been at their most powerful. Back when the Archivist had still been young, people called Cultivators were the most powerful. These Cultivatorsprehended many different Concepts, which they called Laws back then, andbined them. With these combined Concepts, they elevated their own beings. The Archivist called them the first iteration of Mages. Cultivators essentially advanced very simr to Mages, but they did it in an all-epassing way, which distributed their power over all aspects, making them jack-of-all-trades but masters of none. However, the Cultivators were eventually suppressed by the beasts. Ancient Beast Emperors appeared in the world, and they ate every powerful being they could find. Only the weakest humans were left since they weren''t strong enough to interest the beasts. At that point, only one powerful human remained, which was the Archivist. The Archivist was powerful enough to threaten most of the beasts, and they decided to refrain from attacking him as long as he didn''t attack them. There were still some beasts that were more powerful than him, but they didn''t attack. However, the beasts wouldn''t have done that if the Archivist had been a Cultivator. The beasts had been angry at the Cultivators for suppressing them, which was why they had killed so many people. Meanwhile, the Archivist had been born with a frail body that couldn''t support the Elevation of the Elements, making him essentially a cripple that couldn''t possibly be a Cultivator. So, he focused on training his mind, which proved to be very effective. Just like Shang, the Archivist had created his own Path. Eventually, the Beast Emperors became so bored that they retreated from the world and went into slumber in the core of the world and the deepest oceans. Somewhere during that time, the Abominations also began to show up for the first time, but they were barely an inconvenience. The strongest Abominations were just in the First Realm. Humanity slowly achieved power again, and they invented new Paths. That was when the Beast Controller Path started to be dominant. The world was filled with incredibly powerful beasts, and the humans used their superior minds to create techniques to manipte beasts. Some of them controlled the beasts¡¯ minds. Some of them created hallucinations. Some of them created powerful curses that would hurt the beast if it didn''t follow orders. And some of them straight up just befriended beasts. Eventually, humans regained control of the world. However, legends spoke of beasts that could destroy the entire world. Sadly, humans couldn''t find them. But they found something else. The Archivist. Chapter 865 Chapter 865 When the most powerful Beast Controllers found the Archivist, they started to question him and eventually attacked him. There had been 20 Beast Controller Emperors back then, and each one was interested in testing the Archivist''s power one by one. However, when they realized that none of them could win on their own, they started to harbor thoughts of banding together and just killing him. The Archivist had lived a very long time by then, and he knew all of them.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The Beast Controller Emperors had dominated the world and had finally be the sole rulers. After being suppressed for so long, they felt unstoppable. They were the most powerful beings in the world! They could do anything! When the Archivist saw their greed, he decided to negotiate. He would tell them the locations of the legendary beasts in exchange for his safety. The Beast Controllers agreed, but to make sure that the Archivist didn''t vanish as soon as they left, they put a cor around him that he couldn''t remove on his own, which would tell them where he was. The Archivist didn¡¯t have any other choice and agreed. When he told them about the locations of the beasts, the Beast Controllers quickly split into multiple camps. All of them wanted to catch one of the legendary beasts first. Many of them began to fight on their way to the legendary beasts. And eventually, they found the legendary beasts. And woke them. When the legendary beasts saw that their kin were suppressed even more than with the Cultivators, their rage exploded. The Beast Emperors released powerful roars, which woke the other sleeping Beast Emperors. The apocalypse of the beasts had returned. The Beast Controllers were no match. From a roaring me, humanity had been transformed into cinder. The beasts let the Archivist live again, but they wouldn''t get rid of the Archivist''s new cor. Over the next years, the Archivist witnessed humanity be powerful again, but this time, humanity didn''t gain power by controlling beasts. Naturally, Beast Controllers made a return, but they were stopped by another Path. Mind sters. Just as the name implied, Mind sters focused on attacking someone else''s soul. They were quite effective against beasts, and they could also destroy the methods Beast Controllers used to control beasts. However, the Mind sters were not the Path that reached the top. They were simply the ones that stopped the Beast Controllers from reaching the top. Beast Warriors. Beast Warriors were what turned out to be the most powerful Path. Beast Warriors used methods to transform their bodies in such a way that they achieved beast-like qualities. At the same time, Beast Warriors also had to train in techniques that defended their minds since they had to battle the wills of the beasts during their training. Eventually, the Beast Warriors reached the top. And they also found the Archivist. This time, there was no fight. That was because the leader of the Beast Warriors was more powerful than the Archivist. Inparison to the scattered Beast Controllers, the Beast Warriors were all united under one person. The Hegemon of that era destroyed the Archivist''s cor but ced his own seal on him in the form of a tattoo on the right side of his face. Naturally, the Archivist told them about the past. The Beast Warriors became greedy for the legendary beasts¡¯ powers, but the Hegemon stopped them. They wouldn''t repeat the mistakes of their predecessors. This time, all of them would go to one legendary beast at a time to suppress and kill it. And it worked! Until the fifth beast. The sixth beast managed to warn all the others before dying, and the beast apocalypse returned. But this time, humanity could put up a fight. In the end, half of the legendary beasts died, but humanity was once more turned into cinders. In the next years, the number of legendary beasts increased again as more beasts managed to consume the powerful Beast Warriors. And just like that, the number of legendary beasts had returned to what it had been before, and they went to sleep again. Humanity recovered once more. This time, the most powerful Path was the Domain Controller Path, which used the power of the world as their weapon. They also met the Archivist, and the Hegemon of that time gave him an amulet that would suppress him. And again, the humans would die to the legendary beasts. Humanity recovered again. This time, they were Death Seekers, which was a Path focusing on Poisons, Darkness, Death, and Blood. The Archivist received a ck metallic glove this time. They managed to take down about a third of the legendary beasts. The next time, Beast Controllers made a return. The Hegemon of that time was a bit nicer than the scattered Beast Controllers back then and gave the Archivist a bracelet instead of a cor. Even though the Archivist was suppressed by several Spells, his power hadn''t stopped growing, and by now, he could even fight the Hegemons if he wouldn''t have to deal with all the suppressions. This time, the Beast Controllers managed to get rid of three legendary beasts, surpassing their previous record of zero. Humanity had turned into nothing but cinders once more. When the Archivist saw humanity slowly increase in power again, he noticed that something simr to Cultivators would most likely reach the peak again. The Archivist had already seen a repeat of one Path, and he didn''t want to see another one. The Archivist wanted to learn and umte knowledge. So, for the first time, he actually intervened. Many of the suppressions had already be weak with age, and the Archivist only had troubles with the two most recent ones, which weren''t as bad. When humanity was still in its infancy, with the strongest human being in the Fourth Realm, books appeared all over the world. They were introductions to many different Paths. Domain Controller, Beast Controller, Beast Warrior, Cultivator, and Death Seeker were amongst the most prominent, but there were also many smaller Paths. And all of them had general outlines that could lead someone to the theoretical Ninth Realm. Amongst those was also the Archivist''s Path, which he decided to call Magic. And the people practicing Magic would be called Mages. Chapter 866 Chapter 866 This time, many different Paths developed at a simr rate. And eventually, they found the Archivist again.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. For the first time, the Paths didn''t restrict the Archivist, but they also didn''t get rid of his existing suppressions. This little kindness was probably the very thing that saved all of humanity. The Archivist told them about what had happened to all the other Paths in the past, but this time, he told them very directly that they were not powerful enough to oppose the legendary beasts. They needed to gather more power. The Paths believed the Archivist, and instead of directly attacking the legendary beasts, they decided to just continue living normally. Many periods of peace and war passed. The Paths worked closely together, split apart to fight each other, made peace and worked together, and split apart again. The politicalndscape changed rapidly, but one thing remained consistent. Humanity was bing more powerful than it had ever been before. Eventually, the Archivist told them that they were probably powerful enough to fight the legendary beasts. So, humanity banded together to kill the legendary beasts. And rapidly killed them without even losing a single person. It was very underwhelming. Even the Archivist had been surprised by the sheer power humanity had achieved. For the first time in nearly six million years, humanity had be the ruler of the world again. And yet, this was the very thing that turned the world into hell. With the threat of the super-powerful beasts gone, humanity no longer had any reservations. War! Power! It was a brutal era of bloodshed. The Mages proved to be one of the most powerful Paths. And yet, the Mages lost that title in the most ironic way. The strongest Mage tried to kill the Archivist for his secrets. And the Archivist killed her. The Archivist''s Path had attacked him, and the Archivist destroyed it. From one of the most powerful Paths, the Mages fell to a tertiary Path, and the other Paths wouldn''t allow for the Mages to make aeback. But then, the bloodshed calmed down. Why? The Abominations. The Abominations started to be quite a problem. Over the ages, the Abominations had be more and more powerful, and now, there were even some Abominations in the Fifth Realm appearing every couple of years. That was when humanity found the cause. The Child of Cmity. The power of the Child of Cmity determined the power of the Abominations. When the Archivist heard that, he became very surprised. He was very certain that something like a Child of Cmity didn''t exist for a very long time. He would have noticed the rapid strengthening and weakening of Abominations and would have connected them with a living being. In fact, as soon as the Child of Cmity appeared for the first time, the Abominations started to grow more powerful at a much faster rate. And the Archivist quickly found out why. Gate. The Child of Cmity was a gate for the Abominations. The stronger the Child of Cmity became, the bigger the gate became. With the Child of Cmity, the Abominations became a true threat to the world, and all of humanity worked together to find a way to deal with it. Yet, every time they killed a Child of Cmity, a new one would appear somewhere else. After trying out many different methods, they found the best one. Give the Child of Cmity some money, a nice ce to live, and status, and let them live in happiness. As long as they didn''t be more powerful, everything was okay, and the Abominations would remain at their weakest. After many years, humanity returned to bloodshed, but they still kept the Child of Cmity in their mind. But then, the unlikeliest of Paths made a return. A Path that wasn''t even considered powerful by the rulers of the world. Mages. And their leader... Lucius Volstad. His power was... scary. The Archivist wrote in the book that Lucius Volstad had a level of talent he had never seen before in history. The Abominations also became more powerful. Naturally, the Archivist inspected Lucius very closely since the power of the Abominations was too simr to Lucius'' growth. However, Lucius showed no sign of being the Child of Cmity. Lucius had only been a Mage Lord when the Archivist inspected him, and the Archivist was quite confident that a Mage Lord wouldn''t be able to fool the eyes of the first and most powerful Mage, who was over six million years old. Therefore, Lucius couldn''t be the Child of Cmity. Eventually, Lucius destroyed all the other Paths and became the first person that consumed over 70% of the world''s Mana. When Lucius interacted with the Archivist, he was willing to destroy all the restrictions the Archivist was under in exchange for one thing. The Archivist wasn''t allowed to hurt his group of friends. The Archivist agreed and received a bracelet. Now, the Archivist was basically free except for this one restriction. Eventually, Lucius ascended to be a God. The Abominations became weaker. The Mana became more. And that made the Archivist conclude one thing. Lucius had been the Child of Cmity, and he had died. When Shang read that, he took a shaky breath. The answer had been right there, but none of the Mage Emperors believed him. How could Lucius, the core of their friend group, possibly be the Child of Cmity? Additionally, the Archivist didn''t have proof. No, Lucius became a God, and he was watching over the world now. In thest pages of the book, the Archivist talked about the Mages and one person in particr. King Sanctified Death. The Archivist said that King Sanctified Death was as talented as Lucius but not as kind. Most likely, King Sanctified Death would be the new version of the beast apocalypse. Amonster that would destroy all of life again and again. Butpared to King Sanctified Death, the beast apocalypse was a child''s toy. And that was where things stood today. This was how the book ended. Shang just thought about everything he had just read. Chapter 867 Chapter 867 After finishing the book, Shang thought about everything he had read and how it rted to the God and the Abominations. The origin of the Abominations was aplete unknown, and even Shang, who could take a look at the ce where the Abominations came from, didn''t know where they actually came from. Whenever Shang summoned an Abomination, he could see all the different Abominations in their own world, which was just a ck nothingness. There was no Mana or anything simr. Yet, there had to be a force. After all, the Abominations had bodies and could interact with the world, which meant that they had to be made of something, and their world also had to be made of something. Sadly, no one, including Shang, knew what this something was. The closest thing people could inspect was Entropy Ore, but that also didn''t tell them a lot. Entropy Ore had to be simr to Abominations, but there was nothing anyone could find out about it. It was just very hard, could iste Mana, and could iste Abominations. Shang suspected that Entropy Ore was a stable fusion of Mana and whatever force the Abominations used. The Abomination part of the Entropy Ore could iste Mana, and the Mana part of the Entropy Ore could iste Abominations. That also made it impossible to be transformed into Mana to analyze itsposition. Suddenly, Shang realized something. He took out his Addum and inspected it. The Lightning Emperor had said that this was a Peak Companion Weapon, something that the ancient people from the Ninth Realm could create. However, Shang''s swords could also absorb Entropy Ore. Could the Peak Companion Weapons from back then do that? This thought led to another thought. The God had given these two weapons to Shang, and on top of that, the God had given Shang his body. And his body was the body of the Child of Cmity. Did the God have control over which person became the Child of Cmity? Could the God just create a Child of Cmity? ording to the Archivist''s records, the Child of Cmity appeared rtively recently. Not even a million years had passed since then. Did the God create the Child of Cmity? If so, the God had probably appeared in the world in thest million years, which would also exin why he had quoted the Archivist almost word for word. After all, he wouldn''t have known how the world looked back then. So, had the God actually read this book as well? Shang imagined the God reading the book and looking at his world. The world in the book seemed exciting and magical. And the God''s current world? Weak beasts. The only danger was other humans. Maybe the God increased the power of the Abominations by creating the Child of Cmity? That would make things more interesting and dangerous. However, if the Abominations won, the world would be destroyed, and the God would probably be destroyed with it. This was crazy. And yet, wasn''t the God crazy? Shang could imagine the God doing that. After all, the God was also watching as Shang grew more powerful, someone that wanted to kill the God. Then, Shang remembered a short conversation he had had with the God during one of his earlier trials. Shang had made a guess back then that the God wanted to be more powerful but couldn''t, for some reason. The God''s reaction had been intense, and his jovial nature had vanished back then. Assuming that the God wasn''t as old as the Archivist, the Abominations predated the God. This meant that the God wasn''t involved in the Abominations invading the world. However, the God had a certain level of control over the Abominations. After all, he created Shang''s body, and he also created a Peak Companion Weapon that could manipte Entropy Ore, something nobody could do. So, the God had to be connected to the Abominations. And there was only one person that was connected to the Abominations. The Child of Cmity. But that also didn''t make any sense. If the God were the Child of Cmity, the Abominations appearing in the world would be iprehensibly powerful. This meant that the God had to be the Child of Cmity, but he also couldn''t be the Child of Cmity. Acontradiction.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Once more, Shang thought about the possibility that God was Lucius Volstad. And once more, it made no sense. The God had seemed genuinely enraged and angry at the corpse he had been kicking around in his pce in front of Shang. Also, shortly after Lucius had reached the Tenth Realm, all the Mana he had absorbed was brought back into the world, and all the powerful Abominations stopped appearing. It was obvious that Lucius Volstad had died. Naturally, the Archivist also couldn''t be the God. The book was written very differently from how the God acted, and the Archivist had also been suppressed by Lucius. Also, Shang hadn''t seen any of these things on the God''s body that had once suppressed the Archivist. No tattoo, no ring, no cor, and most importantly, no bracelet. Lastly, the Archivist seemed very serious, wise, and schrly. Shang still had no idea who the God was, but he had still learned quite a bit. The God had most likely appeared within thest million years. The God was not any of the known people in the Ninth Realm. The God had a certain level of mastery over the Abominations, but he also couldn''t stop them from invading. The God had the knowledge of the Child of Cmity but couldn''t be the Child of Cmity. The God could enter the world and kill whomever he wanted and whenever he wanted. The God could create an entire separate universe with its own sets of physicalws and could also manipte the time in that universe to such a degree that billions of years passed in merely a couple of years. The God could delete worlds and create new ones. Lastly, the God was stuck in this set of worlds and couldn''t leave. He was essentially the biggest fish in an isted pond. And that was what turned him mad, most likely. Sadly, that was the extent of what Shang knew about the God. Eventually, Shang put the Archivist''s book away and read through the remaining books. Shang hadn''t expected that he would be assaulted by so much important information when he had started reading the books. He just wanted to know how toprehend Concepts better, but he also got a history lesson on top of that. Chapter 868 Chapter 868 It didn''t take long for Shang to finish the remaining books. Sure, some of the books took a lot of calction and brainpower to understand, but Shang still finished them in a couple of years. Amomentter, Shang touched the little pin on his chest and contacted the Lightning Emperor. The Istion Barrier didn''t interfere with the connection. ¡°Hey, Shang! What''s up?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a chipper voice. ¡°I''m done with the books," Shang said. "Oh, cool! Did you like them?" he asked. "They were very informative. Especially the Watcher''s Record," Shang said. "Yeah, that one''s a ssic," the Lightning Emperor said. "What''s the Archivist like?" Shang asked.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "The Archivist?" the Lightning Emperor repeated. "He has white hair and wears all these ancient trinkets on his person. He''s also iparably wise, and he has this Aura that makes you think that everything in the world is within his control. Kind of like the ancient head of a big family, you know?" "He also knows Spells that | don''t even know how to create or counter. For example, nobody in the world can make a copy of his book. Any method of trying to copy it fails or produces unreadable and senseless text. Even if you just write down what you''ve learned from memory, at some point, it starts turning into gibberish." "The book even updates itself automatically. All of us got one copy each from the Archivist, and the additional sentences after Lucius¡¯ ascension appeared on their own in all of our copies. He''s crazy powerful!" "Without Lucius¡¯ suppression, and if the Archivist wanted to, he could probably fight all nine of us at the same time and maybe even win!" Shang listened intently to the Lightning Emperor''s words. "He''s that powerful?" he asked. "Very, very powerful," the Lightning Emperor answered. "What if King Sanctified Death became a Mage Emperor?" Shang asked. Silence. "If the kid manages to reach the Late Mage Emperor Realm, he will probably be just as powerful. If he reaches the Peak Mage Emperor Realm, he will most likely win. King Sanctified Death is as powerful as Lucius, and he doesn''t even have ess to Anti- Magic," the Lightning Emperor answered. ¡°Anti-Magic?" Shang asked. ¡°Lucius could transform his own Mana into Anti-Mana, which canceled out Mana. With that, he could essentially turn whatever attack the enemyunched into nothing. He also had this domain that could transform Elemental Mana in the surroundings into Neutral Mana." ¡®The Domain of Entropy,¡¯ Shang thought. "That sounds really strong,¡± Shang said. "How much Mana did this domain use?" ¡°Nothing,¡± the Lightning Emperor answered. "That''s the crazy part." "Nothing?" Shang asked as his heart rate rose. "But it had to use something, right?" "It literally didn''t," the Lightning Emperor said. "No Mana, no life energy, no Mana from the surroundings, nothing. It was essentially like the passive domain of destruction of the Abominations, but instead of destroying the Mana, it just transformed everything into Neutral Mana." Shang''s mind raced. This was very different from Shang''s Domain of Entropy. Whenever Shang used his Domain of Entropy, he had to be very careful not to identally die since the cost was so high. But Lucius could just use it passively? Without using any resources? "When did he create such a powerful Spell?" Shang asked. "He''s had that Spell forever,¡± the Lightning Emperor answered. "It just wasn''t that powerful initially. When he was just a True Mage, he could use it, but it cost a crazy amount of Mana. He only perfected it at the Peak Ancestral Mage Realm." Shang''s mind nearly stopped. Peak Ancestral Mage Realm? Shang was currently in that Realm. Lucius must have had a fivefold or sixfold Spirit Sense, which meant that he hadprehended something above his level. Since he had been a Mage, Lucius¡¯ power came from Concepts. So, Lucius must haveprehended a level five Concept as a Peak Ancestral Mage, and that level five Concept increased the power of his Domain of Entropy. Shang was certain. Lucius hadprehended the very Concept that Shang was attempting toprehend right now. "Do you think that was rted to the Concept heprehended before bing a Mage Lord?" Shang asked. "Oh, definitely!" the Lightning Emperor answered. "What Concept did Luciusprehend before bing a Mage Lord?" Shang asked. "Dunno." Silence. "You don''t know?" Shang asked. "No," the Lightning Emperor answered. "Back then, the powerful people realized Lucius¡¯ potential, and they sent an army of people in the Seventh Realm after us. Luckily, one of the few remaining Mage Kings used an impressive Spell that scattered our group across the entire world.¡± ¡°After that, we all remained undercover, just increasing our powers in secret. We only met again when we heard that Lucius killed a group of people in the Eighth Realm while only being a Peak Mage Lord himself." "| asked what Concept heprehended to break through, and he said that he didn''t want to lie to me, which was why he refused to borate. He only said that it was dark knowledge that should never enter the hands of anyone else since it would endanger the world." Shang''s frustration rose. He had been so close! "What Affinities did Lucius have?" Shang asked. "He had five! Crazy, right?" the Lightning Emperor said. "Five?" Shang asked. "Yep. Fire, Ice, Light, Darkness, and Life." "That''s surprising," Shang said in a carefully controlled voice. "Life is very difficult toprehend." ¡°It sure is," the Lightning Emperor said. "I only know the level two Concept of life, but he had already learned that as a High Mage!" Shang was doing his best not to appear suspicious. "I heard that the level three Concept of Life can cure soul injuries." "Your eyes?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Yes," Shang said. "That''s why I''m asking.¡± "Yep, the Concept of Mutation can essentially regrow a soul, but | wouldn''t get my hopes up if | were you. At least, not for a long time," the Lightning Emperor said. ¡°Howe?" Shang asked. "It''s because to use that Concept on someone else requires the person to open their soul to them. So, if you want your eyes back, you would need to open your entire being to someone else, giving them free rein to manipte your soul and read all your thoughts and memories." ¡°And you don''t seem like someone that likes that." ¡°Also, all the Mages with Life Affinities are part of the Judgment Pce, and that one Beast King with a Life Affinity belongs to the Land and Sky Empire. Not even | would trust any of them with my soul, and I''m basically the second-strongest, wait, third- strongest man in the world. | forget that God of yours for a second." "Speaking of," the Lightning Emperor said. "I''m still a bit confused about the way Vana died. | just can''t find an answer, and | still don''t know how Kali could have possibly done it.¡± ¡°Now that | remember this God, could it be that this God has actually killed Vana?" ¡°You met him a couple of times, right?" "Do you know anything about this, Shang?" Shang remained silent for a while. Shang had asked several questions to the Lightning Emperor, and now, the Lightning Emperor had a question for Shang. Chapter 869 Chapter 869 Shang sighed. "Yes, it was the God that killed Lucin and Queen Primordium," Shang answered. Silence. "Tell me in detail," the Lightning Emperor said. Shang couldn''t sense what the Lightning Emperor was feeling at this moment. Shang retold everything that had happened. The God had read Shang''s mind and saw that Shang doubted the God''s power. So, the God killed Lucin and made Shang kill Queen Primordium. Shang told the Lightning Emperor everything. After Shang was done, the Lightning Emperor remained silent for several seconds. This time, Shang could sense what the Lightning Emperor was feeling. The Lightning Emperor was angry. Truly angry. When the Lightning Emperor asked the question, Shang knew that there was no way out. The Lightning Emperor could easily tell if Shang was lying. He probably wouldn''t even need to pay any attention to the conversation to know that. This meant that the truth woulde out either way. So, the best way was to be honest. "Why didn''t you tell me?" the Lightning Emperor asked in a serious voice. "| was afraid that you would kill me," Shang said. Silence. And then, the Lightning Emperor''s rage exploded. "Kill you?!" he shouted. "Do you think I''m a monster?!" Shang didn''t move or say anything. "This God put you through one of the worst experiences imaginable! You were forced to kill your own teacher!" "You are not the perpetrator! You are the victim!" "You were the one that suffered the most in this situation!" "You were helpless in front of a higher power that wanted to torture you as much as possible!" "| can''t imagine how much pain you must have been in while you were killing your own teacher!" "Why would | ever want to kill you for that?!" Shang remained silent for a while. This was not the reaction Shang had expected. Wasn''t the Lightning Emperor able to see Shang''s personality? Pain? When Shang killed Queen Primordium, he exclusively thought about how to hide his involvement and how hard it would be to get more resources. Sure, Shang wouldn''t have killed Queen Primordium if he had a choice, but it also wasn''t really important if he did or not. The difference in emotional magnitude wasparable to whether one wanted to go to the end of a street and cross or cross it now and then go to the end of the street. On top of that, Shang''s thoughts had resulted in the death of a Mage King. Whether it was intentional or not, Shang was involved in the death. Lastly, Shang''s silence on the matter had resulted in the death of several Mage Kings, the death of a Mage Emperor, and this entire war. If Shang had simply been honest, all of this could have been avoided. And yet, the Lightning Emperor made it very clear that Shang didn''t do anything wrong, which was madness. "| was scared for my life," Shang said again. Shang heard the Lightning Emperor sigh. "| get it. You''ve been involved with powers far beyond yourprehension. You lost control over your emotions and made a mistake.¡± "Shang, we all make mistakes. The important thing is that we learn from these mistakes and don''t repeat them." "| understand," Shang said. "Sorry." Deep inside, Shang had difficulty epting reality. The Lightning Emperor acted like Shang had identally knocked over a vase instead of being the reason the entire world was in a huge war now. "It''s fine,¡± the Lightning Emperor said. "I''m also still in shock. I''ve epted that this God is real, but only now do | truly realize it." "He killed one of my Mage Kings." ¡°Essentially directly beside me." ¡°And he was the one that killed Lucius." ¡°And he is also the one that you want to kill." Silence. "You really have a difficult task ahead of yourself." "Yes," Shang said. Silence. "To think that Kali actually didn''t do anything and that Adam essentially died due to a misunderstanding." "Tragic." Shang looked at his pin for a while. Shang had thought that he knew the Lightning Emperor''s personality, but all of that had proven to be false in this conversation. Shang had expected the Lightning Emperor to be furious at Shang but still let him be part of the Lightning Manor. And yet, the Lightning Emperor just epted it and didn''t me Shang at all. In fact, he even sympathized with Shang and said that he was the victim. Sure, in the initial act, Shang could be considered a victim, but Shang''s silence after that was his own doing. Since Shang had no idea how the Lightning Emperor actually ticked now, it became very difficult for him to find a good way to continue the conversation.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Shang had no idea how the Lightning Emperor would react to any of his statements. Some secondster, Shang finally made his decision. "I''m sorry that you killed one of your friends due to a misunderstanding,¡± Shang said. "It''s fine,¡± the Lightning Emperor answered. "| made a mistake, just like you. Like | said earlier, mistakes happen. We just have to make sure that we don''t repeat them." "We should stop talking about these depressing things. Listen, I''m d that you called me and all, but | have to get back to dealing with this contract. Can we talk sometime else?¡± he asked. Shang was still uncertain about what to say. The Lightning Emperor''s demeanor was very confusing to Shang. ¡°What about the books?" Shang asked. "That was the reason why | called." "What about them?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Don''t you want them back?" Shang asked. "No, | gave them to you. They''re yours. Why would | take back a present?" the Lightning Emperor asked in a confused voice. "Oh," Shang said. "I didn''t know." "| have enough books as is," the Lightning Emperor said. "| don''t need so many. If you need any other books, just call, but keep in mind that I''m busy with this entire contract thing." "Of course," Shang said. "Thank you." "No problem. See youter!" the Lightning Emperor said. "See you," Shang said. And then, the connection was cut. Shang just looked at his pin for a while. Too many things had happened. Chapter 870 Chapter 870 Shang went over the conversation several times in his head. Eventually, he put the pin and the books away. Many revtions had happened in a short time, and Shang had been sidetracked by his actual goal. Power. All of this started because Shang wanted to learn how toprehend Concepts. Now, Shang finally had all the knowledge he needed. Yet, there was still one major issue. Shang had no idea how toprehend the Concept he wanted. He didn''t even know what it did or looked like. Lucius had somehowprehended this Concept back when he had been a Peak Ancestral Mage. Butpared to Lucius, Shang actually knew the effects of that Concept. Based on what the Lightning Emperor had said,prehending this mysterious Concept allowed someone to use the Domain of Entropy without needing to use any kind of Mana or life energy. What did the Domain of Entropy do? It transformed Elemental Mana into Neutral Mana. Shang needed to sacrifice life energy to achieve this transformation, but Lucius could do it without needing to sacrifice anything. Lucius essentially just transformed one kind of Mana into another. Temperature, Addition, Twilight, Subtraction. It was a circle. Ice to Fire to Light to Darkness to Ice. This was what Shang could do right now. But this was only transforming one kind of Elemental Mana into another kind of Elemental Mana. Neutral Mana was not part of this cycle at all. The only way Shang could do this was by using his Domain of Entropy. That was when Shang realized something. He didn''t actually know how his Domain of Entropy worked. He knew what it could do and how to use it, but he didn''t know how it actually achieved its effect. Was this what Shang needed to learn?Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. He just had to take a look at his Domain of Entropy andprehend how it worked? Shang had watched the Abominations for quite some time before he had traveled to the Hadean King''s ind toprehend the Concept of Temperatures. The Abominations could also use the Domain of Entropy, but there were two differences between his domain and theirs. First, they deleted Mana, while Shang just transformed Mana. Second, they used no resources to activate their domain, while Shang used a lot of life energy. Were their domains different? Or... Was the Abominations'' domain superior? What if the Abominations'' Domain of Entropy was actually the finalized version of the Domain of Entropy? Then, could Shang eventually delete all the Mana he wanted without needing to pay anything? ¡®Many old martial arts are derivative from how beasts move. Maybe | am doing the same thing with the Abominations." "So, | should actually take a look at how the Abominations actually delete Mana while also keeping in mind that it has to somehow be connected to the Concepts of Addition, Subtraction, Twilight, and Temperatures." Slowly, a n formed in Shang''s mind. Shang entered his huge Istion Chamber and then entered the smaller Istion Chamber inside his big one. This time, Shang summoned a Commander Stage Abomination and closed both Istion Chambers. Shang watched as the small Abomination absorbed enough Mana to be explosive. The Ancestral Abominations had been too powerful to be explosive since Shang''s Istion Barrier could only hold so much Mana at once. But the Commander Stage Abomination was weak enough that the Mana was enough to make it explosive while also leaving a bit of Mana. After bing explosive, the Abomination activated its Domain of Entropy to destroy all the Mana that remained inside the Istion Chamber. Shang watched very closely. Sure enough, the Abomination was using nothing to activate the effect of its domain. It also wasn''t using the Mana it had absorbed previously. Eventually, the Abomination destroyed all the Mana in the surroundings, and its domain deactivated. A bitter, the inner Istion Chamber opened. The huge amount of Mana that the outer Istion Chamber had contained was now flooding into the smaller Istion Chamber. The domain reactivated. That was when Shang got an idea and closed the inner Istion Chamber after leaving it. When the outer Istion Chamber opened again, Shang gave both the Istion Chambers a certain order. Then, the outer Istion Chamber closed before the inner one opened. Shang entered the inner Istion Chamber and watched the Abomination. Shang had set it up that the two Istion Chambers would open and close separately. The Abomination would use up the Mana inside the inner Istion Chamber. Then, the door would open, and the Mana in the outer Istion Chamber would enter. When the door of the inner Istion Chamber closed, the door of the outer Istion Chamber would open to refill the Mana in the outer Istion Chamber. And things would repeat. Like this, nobody could ever see the Abomination, even if they could look through the Istion Barrier, and the Abomination would get an infinite amount of Mana. Shang could just stay inside the inner Istion Chamber and watch the Abomination''s domain. Even though an Abomination was right beside him, Shang could fully let himself go without having to pay attention to his surroundings. Shang just kept looking at the domain, trying to link it to the four Concepts of Entropy he hadprehended. After a while, he saw that there was a certain connection between them, but he couldn''t see what this connection actually was. Shang also started to use his own Domain of Entropy topare his domain to the Abomination''s. As more and more time passed, Shang saw more differences. However, Shang still had no idea how or why these things were different. He tried topare them and understand why things were different, but the calctions became so insanelyplex that Shang forgot the beginning of his calctions. Now, Shang realized how truly difficult it was for Mages to get a fivefold Spirit Sense. Mages had toprehend something that their minds were too weak toprehend. It was crazy difficult and ate an iparable amount of focus and concentration. After around a century, Shang decided to leave his Istion Barrier. He didn''t want to get a sudden visit by the Dawnlight King because the Lightning Manor was dying. Chapter 871 Chapter 871 After Shang left the Istion Barrier, he noticed that Linay had left. That made Shang realize that the time for which he had booked her had passed. Shang was now alone again. As Shang looked at the surrounding Eternal Ocean, he felt that he wasn''t safe enough. Sure, he had an Istion Barrier made by a Mage King, two powerful Istion Chambers, a direct line to every member of the Lightning Manor, and a pin with which he could contact the Lightning Emperor, but there was still something that could happen to him. If Shang decided to leave the Istion Barrier, like now, a powerful Mage Lord could theoretically stand at the ready to ambush him. Shang would only feel safe when all of this was covered. Eventually, Shang called Linay again. ¡°Hello, Shang," she answered. ¡°Are you still responsible for managing my exchanges with the Lightning Manor?" he asked. "Yes, I''m still responsible for that," she answered. "Good. | need either you or a Thunder that keeps watch over my Istion Barrier while | train." Linay took a deep breath. Literally nothing had happened in the 800 years she had watched over Shang. She had literally done nothing during that time. Shang was the safest person in the world with all the safeguards around him. Who could possibly kill him? "Shang, | think that''s a waste of resources. | watched over you for 800 years, and nothing happened," Linay said. "Whenever | leave the Istion Barrier to check on any updates on my Transmission Medal, | am open to an attack," Shang said. "If there were a Peak Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense waiting for me, | would die before | could contact anyone." Linay sighed. In her mind, Shang was paranoid to an insane degree. ¡°Let me see what | can do. | will call youter. Please don''t enter the Istion Barrier for now so that | can reach you," she said. "No," Shang said. "I will go back in, but | wille back out in a week." Linay groaned. "Fine." Then, she cut the connection. Shang entered the Istion Barrier again and reviewed everything he had learned over thest century for the next week. Aweekter, he left the Istion Barrier again and contacted Linay again. "Okay, listen, we got a solution without having to dedicate a Thunder to you," Linay said quickly. "Yes?" Shang asked. "The Dawnlight King can still be contacted via the Transmission Medal from inside the Istion Barrier, and he offered to be your contact person. If you want to leave, just call him, and he will send someone to inspect the surroundings. Then, you cane out and check any messages you received,¡± Linay exined. "That works," Shang said.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. "Good," Linay answered. "Is there anything else you need?" "No," Shang said before cutting the connection. Shang went back into the Istion Barrier and trained for another century. His progress was insanely slow, and Shang had no idea how much progress he had actually made. After leaving the Istion Chambers, Shang contacted the Dawnlight King. "Ah, hello, Shang. Nice of you to call," Amarius, the Dawnlight King, said. "Hi, |need someone to watch over my Istion Barrier while | leave to check for any messages," Shang said. "Oh, you don''t need that," Amarius said. "Clouds and weaker are no longer allowed to contact you, and any Bolt or Thunder has to go through any of us Kings to contact you. | told the others that they should tell me if anyone wants to contact you. | guess you can view me as some sort of an assistant. Doesn''t that make you feel grand and important? Having a Mage King as your assistant sure is something worthy to brag about." Amariusughed loudly. "That works," Shang said. "Hey, listen, since we are already talking, there''s something I''d like to talk about," Amarius said. "Is this about the war again?" Shang asked in a neutral tone. "Yes, partially. Listen, | get that you have been-" ¡°| want them dead," Shang said, interrupting Amarius. Amariusughed bitterly. "| know, | know, but things aren''t that simple. We can''t just-" "| want them dead," Shang repeated. Amarius sighed. "Shang, it''s been 900 years. Can''t you just let this go?" "| want them dead." Amarius took a deep breath. "Shang," he said, his voice serious but still friendly. "The Lightning Manor is actually having significant issues in the southeastern Zone. The Judgment Pce has already taken 60% of the Zone, and they are putting heavy pressure on the borders. We are currently holding them back by paying significant costs." ¡°Frankly, you are our only option in this case. You have to realize that we can''t just go against our very philosophy of honesty and fairness. This has been the Lightning Manor''s philosophy for 300,000 years. The responsible Thunder has already been punished far beyond of what is actually fair. Just to appease you.¡± "You are free to refuse to fight, but you have to realize that the Lightning Manor might actually be destroyed. That is a very real problem." ¡°At that point, you will die as well, and all your Contribution Points will not matter at all." ¡°Are you willing to risk your future and survival just for a bit of revenge?" Amarius asked. ¡°Are you?" Shang asked back. Silence. "You are really not budging on this issue?" Amarius asked. "| want them dead," Shang said coldly. Silence. "Why?" Amarius asked. "Why is this so important to you? What happened that this is somehow so important to you?" "They made me angry," Shang said. Silence. "Is that it?" Amarius asked. "Yes," Shang answered. ¡°And your anger is so important? You are willing to risk the Lightning Manor just because you got angry? You are willing to risk the people that have supported you just because you were angry?" "Don''t act like I''m the sole reason for the current situation," Shang said. "If you had just epted my request, you wouldn''t be in so much trouble." "Shang, that''s not a request," Amarius said. "There are many words to describe what you are doing. ckmail, ultimatum, demand, order." "That is not a request." "|. Want. Them. Dead," Shang said very slowly. Amarius took a deep breath. "Shang, you are very important but not important enough for the entire Lightning Manor to bend over backwards for you." ¡°Am | not?" Shang asked. "Kill me and watch the Lightning Manor die with me." ¡°Force me to fight and watch me refuse to continue training.¡± ¡°And even if you survive the immediate future, what about 48,000 years from now? Are you ready for King Sanctified Death to kill every living being in the world?" m the only person that can save the Lightning Manor, and | am the only person that can save the entire world." ¡°Are you willing to doom everything you know and love just so you can keep up your little ideology of fairness and honesty?" "Two Mage Lords or the world.¡± "You decide what survives." Silence. No one said anything for half a minute. "I''ll have to talk with the other Mage Kings about this," Amarius said in a neutral but professional voice. "I''m going to call you back in one week. Will you be avable then?" "Yes," Shang answered with an even voice. "Good. See you then," Amarius said before cutting the connection. Chapter 872 Chapter 872 Shang spent the next week watching more Abominations, but he didn''t fully let himself go since he knew that he would most likely not have any time for the foreseeable future. Eventually, Shang left the two Istion Chambers. Shang very quickly noticed that he wasn''t alone. Amarius was standing on the little ind in front of the Istion Chambers. SHING! The next moment, two heads appeared between them. One of the heads was of the Mage Lord, who had tried to take Shang away, and the other was unfamiliar. After all, Shang had never seen the actual Thunder before. "We have fulfilled your request," Amarius said with a professional and friendly voice. It was almost like he wasn''t holding two heads right now. Shang nodded. "I can rest assured that these two heads are real?" "Yes," Amarius said. "After a long discussion, which even involved the Ancestor, it has been decided that we will fulfill your request. However, | have to inform you that we have considered this as part of your exchange of Contribution Points." "As of this moment, you do not own a single Contribution Point anymore." "The Lightning Manor will not budge on this ruling, even if we all die." Shang looked at the two heads for some seconds. "Fine," Shang said. He didn''t have many problems with that since he basically had nothing to spend his Contribution Points on anyway. Additionally, he could easily earn more. Amarius smiled warmly. "We are d to hear this," he said as the heads in front of him turned into dust. ¡°Now, we need to change a couple of things," Amarius said as he summoned a Transmission Medal and a pin. "To ensure that something like this won''t happen again, we have granted you the unique status of Young Master. This status puts you on the same level as a Thunder. You are allowed to order Bolts around, but you are not allowed to order Thunders around." ¡°Anyone below the rank of Thunder is not allowed to start a conversation with you or interact with you unless you initiate the contact. If anyone breaks these rules, you may call me, and | will deal with the issue." ¡°Please wear the pin at all times so that others know who you are. As part of your new status, we are also granting you a new Transmission Medal that makes it impossible for Bolts and weaker to contact you." "Thunder Linay has also been permanently assigned to you. If there is anything you need from the Lightning Manor, you may contact her, and she will contact us. Please keep in mind that almost everything you ask will require Contribution Points from now on." "Do you have any questions?" Amarius asked with a friendly and warm smile. Shang took the pin and the Transmission Medal. For a while, he remained silent. "Fine," Shang said, handing over his old Transmission Medal and putting his new pin on his robes. "We are d to hear that, Young Master Shang," Amarius said with a bright smile. Shang just nodded. "Young Master Shang, will you now consider helping the frontlines?" Amarius asked with an endearing smile. Shang nodded. "Can you open a portal to the frontlines?¡± he asked. ¡°Of course!" Amarius said as he summoned several portals in a row. "| will follow the Starlight Queen''s orders. She is still responsible for the southeastern front, right?" Shang asked. Amarius nodded. Shane nodded back and stenned throneh the nortal. Amarius nodded. Shang nodded back and stepped through the portal. Amomentter, the portals closed. Naturally, Shang knew what was going on. The title Young Master was mostly given to the progeny of a powerful person with a lot of servants and guards. A Young Master is a young person that isn''t powerful enough to fully assumemand or travel alone through the world. Naturally, none of these things were urate for Shang. Shang was extremely powerful. Shang realized that the Lightning Manor most likely gave him that title to humiliate him. They wanted to show what they thought of Shang and, by extension, what other people should think of Shang. They essentially gave Shang the publicbel of entitled, unreasonable, and not fit tomand others. The restrictions of contact also isted Shang further from the Lightning Manor, turning him into an outsider. Obviously, the Lightning Manor was very unhappy with him. In fact, if Shang only had a fivefold Spirit Sense, they might have even killed him or refused to help him due to his unreasonable demands. So, what did Shang think about all of this? He didn''t care. What other people thought of him had never been important to him. The only important thing was how others treated him. Even if the entire Lightning Manor believed Shang to be entitled, emotional, weak, or whatever, it didn''t change reality. And the reality was that Shang had the most powerful Battle-Strength out of every single being in the world, except for maybe King Sanctified Death.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. But there was also something else. The Lightning Manor had given in to Shang''s unreasonable demand, and Shang had known from the very beginning that it was an unreasonable demand. Shang wasn''t stupid, and he knew that his demand couldn''t possibly be logically defended in a discussion or argument. But that didn''t matter. Because Shang was powerful. It didn''t matter if what he wanted was reasonable or not. He was strong. He was the one in control. Weak people had no power to refuse. If he wanted to kill someone that wasn''t a Mage King, they would die. If he wanted the Lightning Manor to do something, they would do it. The new dynamic between the Lightning Manor and Shang had be apparent after they had given in to his demand. They might be able to humiliate him with his new title and feel good about themselves, but it didn''t change reality. Shang was no longer inferior to the Lightning Manor. In power, he was still inferior, but in importance and future power, he was their equal. This entire war had been set up for Shang. The Lightning Manor had gone all in on Shang. If Shang failed, the Lightning Manor would cease to exist. However, if the Lightning Manor ceased to exist, Shang would follow. This made them intrinsically connected. Their survival depended on each other. This made them equals. If Shang wanted, he could refuse the status of Young Master and refuse to fight. Sure, the Lightning Manor would be angry again, but they would quickly fulfill that request as well. Shang wasn''t important enough for the Lightning Manor to bend over backwards for him? Wrong. He was exactly that important! Why? Because he was so powerful that there was no other person in the world that could take his ce. Chapter 873 Chapter 873 The portal closed behind Shang, and he found himself on top of a hill. There weren''t many people visible in Shang''s Spirit Sense, but the few that he could see were not even powerful enough to know about the Lightning Manor. It seemed like Amarius had sent Shang to a rather isted area. "Young Master Shang," the distant Starlight Queen transmitted to Shang. He didn''t know where she was. "Are you willing to follow my orders for the next battles?" The Starlight Queen''s voice was very professional and friendly, but exactly that showed how she felt towards Shang. She hadpletely distanced herself from him, treating him as aplete stranger one would meet on the street. However, Shang preferred it that way. Like this, he wouldn''t need to listen to another sermon about respect from her. In a strange way, she reminded Shang a bit of Mervin. "Yes," Shang answered. "That''s good to hear, Young Master Shang," she said. The next moment, she exined what she had nned. When Shang heard her n, he didn''t show any reaction. However, based on what Shang had been hearing, the Judgment Pce was overextending by a lot. They were constantly using Ancestral Mages with fourfold Spirit Senses, and they weren''t afraid that their Mages might die. On top of that, they were using their remaining Defender gs recklessly. It was almost like they hadpletely forgotten Shang. But would they have truly forgotten him? "| anticipate that the five-star g is a trap for Young Master Shang," the Starlight Queen said. "They are acting like they have forgotten Young Master Shang, but | am sure that this is all an act to get you to attack the five-star g." ¡°ording to our sources, there shouldn''t be a Peak Ancestral Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense in the Judgment Pce, but | still believe that they have one. | simply refuse to believe that they are so stupid that they would risk their five-star g without someone with such power." ¡°Naturally, | have trust in Young Master Shang''s ability," she said politely. Shang just nodded. He had never killed someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense before. However, Shang wasn''t nervous. Not even in the slightest. Since thest time Shang had fought, he hadprehended many things, and he had overhauled his entire fighting style. "Are you ready, Young Master Shang?" the Starlight Queen asked. Shang summoned his Addum and nodded wordlessly. He wouldn''t need his Subsis for this fight. The Starlight Queen nodded. Then, Shang crouched in preparation for a sprint. Silence. WHOOOM! A portal appeared in front of Shang. BANG! Shang exploded forward with all of his speed. The portal directly led to a transparent barrier. No one could react fast enough to the sudden appearance of the portal and Shang shooting into the barrier. Asecondter, the barrier of the five-star Defender g of the Judgment Pce turned cloudy, and no one could see what was going on inside. "They fell for it!" a Mage King from the Judgment Pce said to the others. He was the new Mage King responsible for the war since the old one had been sent to do other things. Two Mage Kings from the Twilight Dusk Family and the Land and Sky Empire immediately locked onto the five-star Defender g. Naturally, all three Empires were still allies, and they knew who was in that barrier. Finally, they got rid of this menace! "You''re confident?" one of them asked the Mage King of the Judgment Pce, just to be sure. m," the Mage King answered. "She''s a fivefold Ancestral Mage, and she already knows four level four Concepts. Killing this menace is herst job before she enters seclusion toprehend a level five Concept."Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Even more, she has a Death Affinity.¡± This was the first time the other two Mage Kings had heard of that. A Peak Ancestral Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense and a Death Affinity. As long as this Mage managed toprehend a level five Concept before bing a Mage Lord, there would be a 99% chance that she would be a Mage King. The other Empires wouldn''t even fight in the tournament she would take part in. They would just forfeit after seeing her. That settled it. They would finally be rid of that menace. Meanwhile, inside the barrier, a beautiful woman with ck hair and ck robes noticed that the barrier had transformed cloudy. She slowly opened her ck eyes, which resembled the eyes of a dead person. She seemed emotionless, like a robot. Slowly, she stood up and summoned her ck Focus. In the distance, Shang stopped moving after entering the barrier. He wanted to make it seem like the fight would be difficult, which was why he waited a bit. Some secondster, Shang began moving forward. After flying for a bit, he finally saw his opponent with his Spirit Sense. When he saw his opponent, Shang immediately realized that his opponent had a Death Affinity. Inparison to Shang, a lot of Death Mana was hovering around Shang''s opponent, contradicting the things Queen Primordium had taught him about the Death Affinity. ording to Queen Primordium, Death Mana couldn''t easily be controlled externally, and it needed to be inside someone''s body or mind to be used. But that wasn''t the case for Shang''s opponent. However, it wasn''t actually too shocking. After all, the Judgment Pce was the home of the Empress of Death. Such a powerful and talented Mage had probably learned a couple of things from the Empress of Death personally. Amomentter, Shang used every ability he had to hide his presence and disguise himself. After that, he slowly flew forward. Acouple secondster, when Shang was only 2,500 kilometers away from his opponent, his bandages told him that someone was looking at him. However, Shang''s opponent hadn''t moved yet. This was why Shang had done his best to disguise himself. It gave his opponent an opening to ce a trap. Naturally, Shang knew that he couldn''t hide from such a powerful Mage with the couple of abilities he had, but his opponent didn''t know that he knew. So, his opponent would act like she didn''t see him, allowing Shang to do two things. First, he confirmed that this Mage actually had a fivefold Spirit Sense. If Shang had attacked from a distance, he wouldn''t have been able to confirm that. Second, it gave Shang time to prepare for his assault. A Peak Ancestral Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense and a Death Affinity. But that didn''t matter to Shang. Onefold or fivefold. Both of them would die just as quickly. Chapter 874 Chapter 874 Shang slowly lifted his Addum and held it in both of his hands. Then, he gathered all his focus and concentration. In the distance, Shang''s opponent was acting like she hadn''t noticed anything, but she had also already readied a couple of her own Spells. She was just waiting for Shang to get closer. Abitter, Shang had gathered all of his focus. And then... WHOOOOM! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! Shang used Void Break and five Mana Steps in quick session! In an instant, Shang had emptied his mind of all Mana. But in exchange, he arrived just a couple of kilometers away from his opponent. Shang''s opponent was slightly surprised that Shang was willing to sacrifice all of his Mana just to get close to her, but her experience and cold mindset immediately made her react appropriately. Asphere of condensed Death Mana shot out of her hand directly toward Shang. Meanwhile, Shang''s Addum burst into ck mes. And then, Shang swung his Addum downward. Aslice burning with ck mes cut through space. BOOOOOOOOOM! Shang''s Addum stopped, and in the distance, the slice also stopped. It was like time had stopped. The ball of concentrated Death Mana still shot at Shang. In the distance, all of the Death Mana in the Mage''s surroundings vanished, and her eyes very slowly opened wide in shock. She had gathered a lot of Death Mana to protect herself from any surprise attacks, but this single attack had actually gotten rid of all of this, including 10% of her Mana! One had to realize that the shield of Death Mana she had created around herself was ridiculously powerful. After a quick calction, she realized that Shang had gotten rid of 2,500% of her maximum Mana! With one strike! But she had survived! When Shang noticed that his opponent was still alive, he had no emotional reaction. He had expected that. But it didn¡¯t matter. The second half of his attack would kill her. The ck mes around Shang''s Addum vanished, revealing a newly created Subsis beneath them. Usually, Shang''s Subsis used ice or darkness as a de, but this time, Shang''s Subsis was just in its normal state. However, it seemed cker than usual. At this moment, Shang''s attack was half-finished, and it looked like his sword was stuck in something. And then, Shang moved his shoulders down like he was trying to break through whatever was beneath his sword with his body weight.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. SHING! Shang''s Subsis finished the sh. In the distance, an extremely thin slice cut through the world, and Shang''s opponent was in its path. The Mana Shield had already vanished. And Shang''s opponent? She appeared normal. She just looked forward with her usual dead eyes. But this time, her eyes were actually dead. The level four Concept of Death, Death. Yes, the level four Concept of Death was just the state of Death. The level four Concept of Death transformed the properties of the other three Concepts of Death to an extreme. People could recover from weakness. People could recover from sickness. People coulde back from purgatory. But when the level four Concept of Death was added, this was no longer possible. Over his many years of training, Shang hade up with a very terrifying attack that used the level four Concept of Death. After a lot of training, Shang managed to give his Death Mana transformative and reactive properties. When Shang''s Addum had burned down into a Subsis, Shang had shed forward with Death Mana that was using the level two and level four Concepts of Death, Weakness and Death. This increased the destructive power of his sword severalfold, which was enough topletely destroy his opponent''s Mana Shield. In fact, it would have been enough to destroy another 1,400% of his opponent''s Mana on top of that. And when the remaining Death Mana hade into contact with the Mage''s head, it also came into contact with her soul. As soon as it felt a soul, the properties immediately changed to the Concepts Purgatory and Death. So, instead of bing a birdwatcher, Shang''s opponent became a vegetable. Her soul was like a mirror that had been hit with a sledgehammer. This attack that used abination of Void Break, Entropy, and all the Concepts of Death was Shang''s strongest attack now. It was so powerful that it could delete around 3,500% of a Peak Ancestral Mage''s Mana. This single attack could essentially kill a Peak Ancestral Mage about 35 times. This attack was so powerful that it could also kill an Early Mage Lord in one strike and was powerful enough to delete 90% of a Mid Mage Lord''s Mana. As for beasts... There was probably not even a single Beast Lord in the world that could kill Shang. Shang also gave his attack a fitting name. Fate. Because the fate of every living being was to die one day. Naturally, Shang had a couple more new techniques, but he didn''t need to use any of them in this fight. But that would be relevant some other time. For now, Shang had to deal with something else. The concentrated ball of Death Mana was still shooting at Shang. Shang lifted his left arm and snapped his fingers. BOOOOOM! The Mage''s body exploded. Shang didn''t want anyone to see how he had killed his opponent. And as for the concentrated ball of death. Ssssshhh! The ball hit Shang in the chest and epassed his entire body. The Death Mana was entering Shang''s body, consuming him and turning him into a starving old man. It also entered Shang''s mind, but Shang put a stop to that after he had refilled his Death Mana storage. With the Mage dead, the will on the Death Mana had vanished, turning it into normal Death Mana. Sure, it was still very deadly, but Shang could control how much of it entered his body as long as he also had ess to normal Mana around him. If the Mage were still alive, Shang would have died in an instant, but since she wasn''t, he could deal with the Death Mana. Amomentter, Shang fell over and broke several of his bones. He was like an old man that was about to die. And then, the barrier turned transparent, and everyone could see that Shang was still alive, albeit barely. Chapter 875 Chapter 875 As soon as the cloudy barrier turned transparent again, the world seemed to freeze. The Mage Kings looked with shock at Shang. Shang was nearly dead, but the important word was nearly. He was still alive. So, this meant that Shang had won? The Mage Kings couldn''tprehend this new reality. AMage with a fivefold Spirit Sense and a Death Affinity... Had died to a warrior? To a warrior? Awarrior? To these Mage Kings, warriors hadn''t even existed until recently. To them, it was like warriors had only appeared about two years ago. And yet, a warrior had managed to actually reach a level where he could even win against a Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense? While being at the same level? The emotions of the Mage Kings went haywire. Shock, fear, confusion, rage. The Judgment Pce realized that they had lost a future Mage King, which meant that they would have one less Mage King in the future. This menace had cost them ANOTHER Mage King! The reality of Shang''s existence was very difficult to ept. How could a mere warrior in the Sixth Realm possibly cost an Empire this much?! It was ridiculous! "Immediately prepare to attack!" the leading Mage King of the Judgment Pce shouted. "He can''t move right now, and he can''t stay in our territory for much longer without cing an Attack g!" Naturally, Mages were allowed to enter the enemy territory up to a certain distance to nt their Attack gs, but they were not allowed to stay there for more than a minute without nting one. Otherwise, the entire enemy Empire could just station their army in their opposing Empire. Shang had to ce an Attack g very quickly. Otherwise, anyone inside the Judgment Pce was free to attack him without breaking any rules, which meant that Shang would die to a Mage King. Everyone could see that Shang was nearly dead, and it was impossible for him to recover within a minute. Even more, he couldn''t even move or fight right now! The Mage King immediately gathered his most powerful Peak Ancestral Mages and prepared them for an assault. Shang just continued lying on the ground, fighting against death. The next moment, they saw a Peak Ancestral Mage from the Lightning Manor charge toward Shang. They wanted to retrieve Shang''s body! The Mage King reacted immediately and moved a Peak Ancestral Mage of his own, past the enemy Ancestral Mage, into the Lightning Manor''s territory. BANG! The Ancestral Mage from the Judgment Pce ced down an Attack g. BANG! The Ancestral Mage from the Lightning Manor was suddenly flung into the distance, back to the Lightning Manor''s territories. Since the territory behind the Ancestral Mage was now contested, he wasn''t allowed to go this far into the enemy territory. Under normal circumstances, this would result in the Ancestral Mage dying, but this specific case had already been ironed out by the Mage Emperors when they had created the contract. Otherwise, any Empire could kill any invading Mage with his method, making individual power irrelevant since it would 99% rely on strategy. In such a case, the Mage would be flung back to their Empire by the barrier that had been created behind them. However, this didn''t count for Shang. Shang had just destroyed a Defender g, which was an exception to the previous exception. Destroying a Defender g was an impressive achievement, and the Mage Emperors decided that someone that managed to do that deserved to also nt their own Attack g. Naturally, no Mage Emperor had argued against that when someone had brought it up. There was only a limited number of Defender gs, and this case was so rare that it literally didn''t matter what happened after that. It could only happen so many times. And yet, this very unimportant exception of an exception to a rule could change the fate of the entire war at this moment. Instead of being flung back, Shang was now isted in the Judgment Pce''s territory. This rule was supposed to help him, but it resulted in the opposite. This rule would kill Shang. At least, that was what the Mage Kings thought. Naturally, Shang was truly almost dead, but this was not an umon state for him to be in. In truth, Shang was in no danger, and he could almost immediately return to his peak condition. Several seconds passed in which Shang justy on the ground. About 55 seconds after the Defender g had been destroyed, Shang weakly summoned an Attack g and barely managed to nt it in the ground. As soon as the barrier appeared, the Mage King immediately sent in one of his most powerful Peak Ancestral Mages with a fourfold Spirit Sense. When the barrier turned cloudy, all the Mage Kings looked with intense expressions at the barrier. Meanwhile, inside the barrier, Shang''s body recovered in about one second, and he shot into the distance. He wanted to buy some time to make it seem like the battle was difficult. Shang quickly found his approaching opponent and simply moved so that he wouldn''t enter his opponent''s Spirit Sense. The Mage was surprised that he couldn''t find Shang. Wasn''t he supposed to be lying at this spot? Meanwhile, Shang had already repaired his Addum and readied it. Shang used Void Break and shed. BANG! A burst of light exploded out of the Mage''s Mana Shield, blocking a majority of the attack. Immediately, the Mage''s eyes widened in horror. He couldn''t even see his opponent, but he had already lost so much of his Mana! Where had this attack evene from?! Naturally, Shang''s attack was far weaker than any of his powerful attacks, but the range was still amazing. Shang could attack his opponent from 3,000 kilometers away. The range of Shang''s attacks was even higher than any Ancestral Mage''s range. Shang wasn''t surprised that this attack hadn''t killed his opponent. He knew that the Judgment Pce had most likely sent in one of their strongest Mages to finish the job. Shang just calmly lifted his Addum again and released another strike. BANG! The Mana Shield was broken, and the Mage died. BOOOM! The next moment, Shang detonated the Mage''s body from a distance to hide the way in which he had died. In an instant, Shang''s body turned old and sickly again. BOOOOM! And then, Shang detonated some Fire Mana on his chest. His blood scattered across many kilometers, revealing his burned flesh and broken bones. He was severely injured! Shang hit the ground and barely held himself upright by leaning on his Addum. He was nearly dead.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. And then, the cloudy barrier turned transparent again. Chapter 876 Chapter 876 When the Mage King saw that Shang was still alive, he nearly tore his hair out. The mix of frustration, rage, anxiety, and fear was almost too much for him to bear. He saw that Shang was still severely injured, and he knew that Shang had nearly died! Immediately, he sent in another Mage to attack. Since an Attack g had to be defended for a whole hour, the Mage King wasn''t worried about time. Another Peak Ancestral Mage entered the barrier, and it turned cloudy. The Mage Kings looked with unreal anxiety at the barrier. They were so close! He was nearly dead! They could kill him! They had to kill him! He was an incredible danger! Some secondster, the barrier turned transparent again. "AAAAAAARRRRRRGGHHHH!" The Mage King shouted out his frustration in unending rage, shaking the entire world as he tore off huge portions of his scalp while looking at Shang with bloody eyes. Shang had lost nearly half his body, and his body was regrowing only very slowly! He immediately sent in the next Ancestral Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense. The barrier turned cloudy again, and the world waited. Meanwhile, a different Mage King was looking at what was happening with narrowed eyes hiding a glimmer. This was the Mage King of the Judgment Pce that had been responsible for the attack previously, and she felt like this situation was very, very familiar. Wasn''t this exactly how it had been for her? ¡®He''s baiting again,¡¯ she thought. ''He''s probably confident in being able to win, even while being this injured.¡¯ She nced over at the Mage King that had reced her. And then, she snorted with a smirk. "Shouldn''t have tried to rece me, asshole,¡¯ she thought in disdain while remaining silent. She wouldn''t warn her colleague.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. That''s what he got for being a rat! A bitter, the barrier turned transparent again, and the Mage King felt like he had nearly died. Shang had recovered his missing limbs, but his Aura was extremely unstable. It was like Shang had burned parts of his soul to create a temporary boost in power! And now, he was paying for his actions! Shang seemed healthier than before, but this was obviously only a front! He was actually even closer to death than before since he had just now used hisst trump card! This trump card was probably also what he had used to kill the Mage with the fivefold Spirit Sense! The Mage King saw that he was so close to killing this menace once and for all and sent in another Peak Ancestral Mage. He was so close! He could already see Shang''s corpse before his eyes! He would finally kill him! The barrier turned cloudy again, and some secondster, it became transparent again. The Mage King ground his teeth into dust. Shang''s Aura had stabilized somewhat, and he had recovered from some of his injuries! Naturally, Shang knew that he couldn''t act weak for too long, or it would be suspicious. "You! Enter!" the Mage King shouted at another Peak Ancestral Mage. The Peak Ancestral Mage looked at the Mage King with fear. He didn''t want to die! "Immediately!" the Mage King shouted as he forcefully threw the Ancestral Mage into the barrier. The other Ancestral Mages watched with horror, and a secondter, they immediately fled. They all ran from the frontlines toward the center of the Judgment Pce. This was not what they had signed up for! They were the chosen ones! They had fourfold Spirit Senses! They were only here because they had been assured that they could choose their opponent! But now, one of the Mage Kings had forcefully thrown one of them toward the enemy! The Ancestral Mages immediately started to contact their teachers, and some of them even managed to contact other Mage Kings due to their connections. Meanwhile, the Mage King responsible for the assault looked with blood-filled eyes at the cloudy barrier. He had to do it! For the good of the Empire, he had to do it! Seconds passed. The barrier remained cloudy. When a minute passed, nearly every remaining person near the frontlines realized what had happened. Shang had recovered to the degree that he could buy time. They knew that the fight would take a bit more than an hour since that was the time the Attack g needed to resolve. It was over. They had missed their best chance at killing this cmity once and for all. And yet, the Mage King continued looking at the cloudy barrier with unmatched intensity. He was nearly there! His Mage would win very soon! In just a couple of seconds, this barrier would turn transparent again and show the living Mage of the Judgment Pce. Any second now. Just a bit more. Almost there. "Ahahaha!" The Mage King''s mind nearly shattered as he heard the disgustingughter of one of his colleagues. The Mage King that had previously been responsible for the war wasughing at him with disdain! At this moment, the Mage King''s mind was going wild. He was feeling so many emotions at once with such intensity that he almost stopped being a human being. It was like he was transforming into a bundle of vtile emotions! Reality and his entire life were crashing down around him. She! Him! How could! Fuck! Die! Hate! Hate! Die! FUCKING DIE! All the Mana around the Mage King gathered as he lost all rationality. He would Kill her! She deserved to die! It was her fault! DIE! DIE DIE DIE DIE! SHE WOULD DIE! DIINITEEEE! And then, he froze. His unstable and vtile mindpletely froze, and hepletely stopped moving. The other Mage King continued tough in schadenfreude, but the Mage King couldn''t hear her anymore. His mind was fully upied by something else. Very slowly, the Mage King summoned his Communication Crystal and looked at it. He recognized that Aura. Every Mage King recognized that Aura. In the distance, the other Mage King stoppedughing and just smirked in disdain. And then, the Mage King very slowly epted the call from his Communication Crystal. ¡°How can | help you. sir?" he asked with a quiet voice. Chapter 877 Chapter 877 The Mage King quietly waited for an answer. Luckily, he didn''t need to wait for long. "Hey, Samuel. Nice to talk to you! How are you?" said a friendly voiceing from the Communication Crystal. The Mage King gulped once. "Not very well, sir." "Oh? Are you having trouble? Do you need some help?" the friendly voice asked. Samuelughed bitterly. "Sir, | don''t feel very well because | think | know why you are calling.¡± ¡°We can talk about that after this. So, there are no problems at home or with your meditation? Everything outside of work is okay?" the person asked with a concerned voice. ¡°Everything''s alright, sir," Samuel said. "Good, good," the voice said. "Hey, listen, I''ve been hearing a couple of things, and | want to hear your side of the events. Could you tell me, from your point of view, what happened within thest hour?" Samuel gulped another time. "Of course, sir." Then, Samuel recited everything he had experienced. "Good, good," the friendly voice said. "Now, | don''t need to tell you that what you''ve delivered wasn''t the greatest performance of your career, right?" "No, sir," Samuel said quietly. "You should know that, as the Judgment Pce, we represent a certain prestige. | know that this entire war business is quite complicated and that the Lightning Manor is delivering quite a formidable performance, but we can''t have one of our Mage Kings be fooled by some warrior in the Sixth Realm. Do you get what | mean?" the voice asked. Samuel wanted to protest and say that the opponent couldn''t possibly have been fooling them. After all, the warrior had fought against someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense and a Death Affinity. It was already surprising enough that he had won. Samuel couldn''t believe that all of this had been an act. And yet, he couldn''t protest. Even though the voice seemed quite friendly and professional, all the Mage Kings knew the truth. The person behind that voice didn''t even know the concept of true empathy and respect. He was simply talking in such a polite and friendly manner because this was the best way to get others to follow his orders. He had no problem handing outpliments and having a bit of small talk if it helped him in keeping everything under his control.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Under this person, one would find oneself drawn to them. The person was so charismatic, funny, friendly, and respectful. The person would even listen to their trouble, give them emotional support, and give them a shoulder to cry on. Yet, the people that truly knew this person could see the truth. There was nothing. There was no concern, disregard, love, hate, admiration, disdain, or care inside that person. They were empty. There was just nothing. The person simply acted respectfully and nicely without meaning any of it and without caring whether the other person was happy or sad. No one had ever seen this person be unfriendly and disrespectful. No one knew how they were when they were mad. Because no one that made them mad was still alive. No one had ever seen them fight or kill anyone, but everyone knew whom they had killed. They had killed many people, but no one had ever seen them do the deed. Even more, no one had ever seen them sad, angry, or annoyed. They were always nice. There was always either a smile or a concerned expression on their face. And yet... This person killed people without any warning. One moment, everything still seemed fine, and that person still appeared happy. And the next, that person had killed the other person. For seemingly no reason. It didn''t matter who it was. They had even killed Mage Kings before. And yet, there was nothing anyone could do. After all, this was King Sanctified Death, the strongest Mage King. The only people that could punish or suppress him were Mage Emperors, and they didn''t get involved. In the end, Samuel didn''t protest. "Yes, | know my mistake, sir," he said. "That''s good to hear,¡± King Sanctified Death''s friendly voice came from the Communication Crystal. "I know that you''ve done a lot for the Judgment Pce, which is also why | trusted you with leading the assault. | know that you are not someone that easily cracks under pressure, and | know that you are not beingzy." ¡°But the recent couple of minutes have been troublesome, Samuel. You know that, right?" King Sanctified Death asked. "Yes, | understand, sir," Samuel said. "Hey, listen, | really don''t like this any more than you, but | think it would be better for everyone involved that you leave the frontline to one of our colleagues, okay?" Samuel''s heart rate increased. Many people didn''t know why King Sanctified Death had killed them, but all the Mage Kings knew. King Sanctified Death killed people that he had once led, invested in, or something simr before they had be useless. King Sanctified Death was like a ruthless and efficient businessman. As long as something kept paying dividends, he was happy and treated it well. But as soon as there appeared a significant loss, King Sanctified Death would rather get rid of it since he viewed this as a sign of things toe. Every person in the world was just an object to King Sanctified Death, and if they didn''t help him be richer or more powerful, there was no reason for these objects to exist anymore. He didn''t hate them or despise them. It just wasn''t the best idea to keep them around anymore, which was why he got rid of them. It was a necessary evil. So, when Samuel heard that King Sanctified Death pulled him away from the frontlines, the fear and anxiety in his heart shot through the roof. "| understand, sir," Samuel said. "I''vemitted a grave mistake today, and | am deeply sorry. | will do my best to repay everything as quickly as possible. There are still other areas in which | can be useful to the Judgment Pce. Is there anything where you want me to help out specifically, sir?" "You know," King Sanctified Death said with his friendly voice, "I think you''ve been a bit overworked recently. You had this entire investigation thing going on, and | essentially pulled you out of that and pushed you to the front lines. | think you''re a bit too stressed and need some time to rx." "So, why don''t you take a century off?" A dark feeling of doom appeared in Samuel''s heart. "Sir! | can assure you that | do not need a break,¡± Samuel shouted with an urgent and almost pleading voice. "I can go back to my investigations! | can also just create Rank Eight Mana Crystals! Please, there must be something that | can do to rectify my mistake!" ¡°Hey, Samuel, | know that you feel guilty about this entire thing, but this was your only mistake. Humans make mistakes. It happens." The dread in Samuel''s heart intensified. King Sanctified Death hadn''t said "first" mistake. He had said "only" mistake. "| know that you''re all stressed out now because of your little ident, but it''s fine," King Sanctified Death said. "Just take a century off, and you will see that your concentration and efficiency will return to heights you wouldn''t have believed. Just rx, okay?" Samuel''s breathing intensified. "Sir, I''m scared," he said. "What? Why?" King Sanctified Death asked with concern. "Is everything alright?" "Sir, | fear that | might not see tomorrow," the Mage King said. "Why would you not see tomorrow? Is there something you didn''t tell me, Samuel?" King Sanctified Death asked in concern. Samuel remained silent for a second. "| fear that | have be disposable," he said. "What? No! Of course not, Samuel!" King Sanctified Death said. "You''re one of our Mage Kings! We can''t just get rid of one. That would weaken the entire Empire." "| think you''re just a bit too stressed. Just ignore this entire war for the next century and rx. | will deal with everything, and as soon as you feel good again, you cane back and help. If you want, you can also return a couple of decades early. | wouldn''t decline a couple of helping hands." "Just leave the frontline and rx, okay? Just do it for me," King Sanctified Death said. "Yes, sir," Samuel said quietly. "Great! Then, have a nice vacation, Samuel! I''m looking forward to your return!" King Sanctified Death said. "Thank you, sir. I''ll rx ande back in a century. Then, | will rectify all of the mistakes I''vemitted." "d to hear! Have a nice day!" "You too, sir." And then, the connection was cut. But Samuel didn''t feel calm. At this moment, his fear and terror reached new heights. Nothing King Sanctified Death said could be believed. He lied without any sign, reason, or indication. Everything he had said could be a lie just to stop Samuel from fleeing to the Lightning Manor in a panic. It was very possible that King Sanctified Death would kill Samuel as soon as he came anywhere near the Judgment Pce. Samuel didn''t know what would wait for him. Would he survive? Would he die? He had no idea. Eventually, Samuel slowly took to the sky and flew back to the Judgment Pce. At the side, the other Mage King just watched Samuel with a disdainful smirk. This was what this rat got for trying to take her job! She hoped that King Sanctified Death would kill him. Chapter 879 Chapter 879 Shang dealt with all the different Attack gs that had been used by Peak Ancestral Mages and then returned to extending the tendril. Naturally, no one dared to attack Shang while he attacked territories. However, there were still ways to counter things. For example, after Shang conquered a line of three territories, an Attack g from a Mid Ancestral Mage appeared on a territory behind him. Shang couldn''t defend that territory since he was too powerful. Because of that, just having Shang wasn''t enough to secure all the territories. Shang continued attacking territory after territory, conquering one territory per hour. He did that for weeks. However, the progress the Lightning Manor made was only minor since the Judgment Pce kept counterattacking. Luckily, attacking was always disadvantageous since the enemy had enough time to look at whoever was attacking and send the appropriate person to defend. It was a bit like making your move first in rock paper scissors, but the advantage wasn''t as extreme as in this case since there were still aspects of deception and power that yed a role. Nevertheless, the Lightning Manor was making progress, and since no Peak Ancestral Mages attacked the Lightning Manor in this Zone anymore, the Lightning Manor''s Peak Ancestral Mages could move to other Zones. This increased the quality of the Peak Ancestral Mages in other Zones, resulting in fewer Ancestral Mages dying. At one point, a portal suddenly opened in front of Shang, and he charged through it without hesitation. In an instant, he appeared over three million kilometers to the north and charged into one of the Defender gs of the Twilight Dusk Family. Everything had happened so suddenly that they couldn''t even react. Naturally, the Twilight Dusk Family became quite angry with the Judgment Pce, but the Judgment Pce told them that they were having issues with the menace. They couldn''t warn every other Empire every time a portal appeared in front of the menace. The warnings wouldn''t be fast enough to make a difference anyway. The Judgment Pce told the other two Empires that they should have been ready for such a stunt. It was obvious that the menace could appear anywhere on any frontline. The other two Empires were still annoyed by the Judgment Pce, but they didn''t want to argue anymore and simply became more careful. However, after this incident, things had changed. Since the surprise effect had now passed, there was no more reason to keep Shang in only one Zone. Shang shot through one portal after the other, attacking any Peak Ancestral Mage that attacked the Lightning Manor. After some devastating losses, the other two Empires had to make the tough decision to stop using Peak Ancestral Mages. None of the three Empires could use Peak Ancestral Mages anymore. One had to remember that around half of all Ancestral Mages were at the peak of their Realm since that was the level they stayed the longest. The Peak Ancestral Mage Realm was when all the Mages focused onprehending the Concepts they needed to be Mage Lords. This meant that all three Empires were locked from using half of their Ancestral Mages unless the Lightning Manor attacked with their own Peak Ancestral Mages. This reduced the number of deaths on the frontlines quite a bit since there were now far fewer battles. The Empires didn''t want to send so many of their weaker Ancestral Mages forward, and the Lightning Manor wasn''t interested in sending their own Peak Ancestral Mages since that would essentially nullify the entire advantage. So, the Peak Ancestral Mages mostly retreated from the frontlines and went back to training. However, this was a good thing for the Lightning Manor. As long as the Lightning Manor wasn''t under too much pressure, it wouldn''t lose many Mages, allowing them to refill their ranks. Additionally, the goal of the Lightning Manor was to waste as much time as possible so that Shang had the time to be even more powerful. By now, everyone in the world knew that the Lightning Manor probably had some kind of extremely talented genius that would fight King Sanctified Death in about 48,000 years. And yet, no one connected Shang to that hidden genius. Yes, Shang was extremely powerful, but there was still a huge gap between him and someone like King Sanctified Death. Additionally, Shang was just a warrior. Lastly, it would be stupid for the Lightning Manor to unveil their hidden genius since that would open them up for assassination. After all, there was a precedence case with a Mage King attacking Shang. Naturally, that Mage King had failed, but that was because the attacking Mage King hadn''t been too powerful. If a Mage King that knew Domain attacked, Shang would be dead right now, but that would be too much of a waste. After all, there were only very few Mage Kings that knew Domain, and they also probably weren''t willing to sacrifice their life like this. Eventually, years started to pass without any Peak Ancestral Mage fighting. Shang kept conquering territories, but the Judgment Pce kept resisting. Nevertheless, the Judgment Pce had been pushed back to barely owning 10% of the Zone. That was when the Judgment Pce''s defenses became desperate, and the Lightning Manor essentially stopped making progress unless they were willing to also sacrifice a lot of their Ancestral Mages. The Judgment Pce wasn''t willing to lose its entrance to the Lightning Manor. They were fine with losing the other territories since they could just reconquer them, but they couldn''t possibly lose their entrance point. If they did, the Lightning Manor could defend from the Judgment Pce with three measly Defender gs. Naturally, with less territory, the Judgment Pce also didn''t need to defend as much, making it easier for them. Eventually, the Lightning Manor decided that it wasn''t worth it to continue advancing with that much opposition. Shang retreated from the frontlines, but still, none of the Empires sent any Peak Ancestral Mages. One portal, and they would lose a Peak Ancestral Mage. They knew that very well. With that, a rather calm period of the war started. At least for the Ancestral Mages. The battles of the High Mages, Archmages, and Mage Lords were still as intense. However, these three categories were not as important as Ancestral Mages. The Zones with Mage Lords were very small, and since Mage Lords could capture a territory with a diameter of 100,000 kilometers, there were very few battles between Mage Lords.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Only the most talented Mage Lords were used in these battles, and no Empire was willing to risk their very talented Mage Lords. As for High Mages and Archmages, the Zones also weren''t as big, and the two categories couldn''t conquer as much with one attack. The Zones with these kinds of Mages were just many tiny battles with not a lot of nning. Additionally, the Lightning Manor only had to defend from two Empires when it came to the other three categories. After all, the Judgment Pce could only fight with Ancestral Mages. This had made the Ancestral Mage battlefield the most intense and dangerous one for the Lightning Manor. And Shang''s actions had alleviated the pressure considerably. For the next couple of years, Shang remained on standby. There were a couple of instances of an Empire testing out if they could use Peak Ancestral Mages again, but they very quickly realized that they couldn''t. Time passed. And about 20 years after Shang had returned to the frontline, a major development in the war happened. Chapter 880 Chapter 880 The eastern border of the Judgment Pce was attacked by the Tower of Climate Empire. The Tower of Climate was located east of the Judgment Pce, in the middle eastern part of Aterium. When the Lightning Emperor had destroyed so much of the world about 2,000 years ago, his act had also destroyed quite a big part of the Tower of Climate. Naturally, Jenny Greenhouse, the Climate Empress, wasn''t happy about having been dragged into this entire mess. Kali had killed one of Gregorio''s Mage Kings, and because of that, Jenny had lost such a huge part of her Empire? That was unfair and stupid! This was something that only concerned Kali and Gregorio, but she had to pay the price because of their argument. Naturally, Jenny wasn''t interested in eradicating the Judgment Pce. She just wanted to conquer enough of the Judgment Pce that her Empire returned to its old size. The Judgment Pce had the mostnd anyway since they had originally had two Emperors. But hey, now they only had one Emperor, and Jenny deserved thisnd. Kali was the one that had started all of this, and she should pay reparations. Sure, Jenny was more inclined to actually demandnd from Gregorio, but the Lightning Manor was on nearly the other side of the world. She couldn''t attack the Lightning Manor from here. So, the next best thing had been to give everyone time to deal with Gregorio. For 2,000 years, the Lightning Manor had been besieged by three other Empires, who could all fully focus on attacking the Lightning Manor without any other worries. That should have been terrible for the Lightning Manor. But now, the Climate Empress wanted hernd back, and she decided that it was time to attack the Judgment Pce. Naturally, the Judgment Pce immediately demanded to know what was going on. The representative of the Tower of Climate simply told them what his Empress had told him. Obviously, the Judgment Pce wasn''t happy with that. They had lost just as muchnd in the process! On top of that, they had never attacked or antagonized the Tower of Climate! Lastly, they were all sacrificing their resources and lives to punish the one true culprit of this entire ordeal, the Lightning Emperor. The three Empires were sacrificing their people for the good of the world. The fact that none of them demanded support from the other Empires for their sacrifices was already generous and benevolent. The Tower of Climate was way out of line and focused on small and unimportant problems instead of the big problem that was the Lightning Manor! That was how the Judgment Pce argued. The Tower of Climate countered by saying that they weren''t ignoring the Lightning Manor. After all, they weren''t nning on weakening, threatening, or destroying the Judgment Pce. They would just take the eastern 10% of the Judgment Pce and would stop advancing. The Judgment Pce only had to hand over these territories by not defending them, and everything would return to normal. The Judgment Pce wouldn''t even lose a single Mage. The Judgement Pce was also allowed to pull back all the Mages living there and move the towns and cities if they wanted to. The Tower of Climate only wanted thend. Naturally, the Judgment Pce said that they had lost just as muchnd as the Tower of Climate and didn''t ask for their portion of the missingnd. Additionally, it wasn''t them that destroyed the world but the Lightning Emperor. They were not responsible for the Lightning Emperor''s actions, and they wouldn''t sacrifice their ownnd for the Lightning Emperor''s sins. But the Tower of Climate just said that they would take thend, no matter what the Judgment Pce said. Eventually, this escted to such a degree that the Judgment Pce even informed the Empress of Death. Kali contacted Jenny and asked her what was going on. Jenny just smiled and told Kali that she owed her about 10% of her Empire in reparations for her deeds.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Kali just snorted and said that she hadn''t started this entire thing. It hadn''t been her that had killed Gregorio''s Mage King. Naturally, Jenny didn''t believe Kali. After all, she had admitted it back then. Surprisingly, the argument only continued for a couple of seconds. That was due to Kali''s uncaring, cold, and prideful demeanor. The argument very quickly ended with, "If you want it, take it with force.¡± As the publicly acknowledged second strongest in Lucius'' little group, Kali also had her own pride and viewed herself as superior to all other Emperors. Even though Gregorio had proven himself as the actual second strongest 2,000 years ago, Kali still viewed herself as stronger than all the other Emperors. So what if Jenny decided tounch a war against her Empire? Kali''s Empire was the strongest, and she was confident that her Empire would win. And with that, a brutal war between the Judgment Pce and the Tower of Climate began. Naturally, the other Emperors very quickly got involved and tried to stop this war. They all had the same enemy, and they couldn''t allow Jenny to attack the Judgment Pce. Jenny just said that Kali and Gregorio had destroyed a huge chunk of her Empire, and she just wanted it to return to how it was before. The other Emperors said that they understood where Jenny wasing from, but the actual culprit was Gregorio. Sure, Kali also had part of the me, but Gregorio was the one that had actually destroyed part of the world. "Oh, so you acknowledge that Kali shares part of the me. Great! Then, | will take 10% of Kali¡¯s Empire, and Kali can take whatever she wants from Gregorio." More arguing ensued. "| wantnd equivalent to 10% of the Judgment Pce. | don''t care where ites from. If you are so adamant about defending Kali, why don''t you two share the pain and give me 3% of your Empires while Kali gives me 3% of hers?" Jenny asked Bina Ching and Linastra Boomwitch. Now, Bina and Linastra were not known for being nice and agreeable. Bina was an ice-cold and ruthless person, while Linastra exploded in unreasonable anger all the time. Obviously, the two of them immediately shut down that idea. The argument ended with no resolution. Jenny continued attacking the Judgment Pce while everyone else just told her to stop. However, they didn''t use any force to stop her. And the war continued. Chapter 881 Chapter 881 Naturally, the Lightning Manor very quickly noticed what was going on, and they couldn''t be any happier about it. The Tower of Climate wasn''t putting too much pressure on the Judgment Pce, but they were definitely applying pressure. The Judgment Pce needed to maintain a constant stream of Mages that defended its territories. Of course, that included Ancestral Mages, and since the Ancestral Mages were also desperately needed at the frontlines with the Lightning Manor, their absence was very noticeable. However, the Lightning Manor couldn''t afford to send all their people to the Judgment Pce right now since their forces had already been reduced by quite a bit. The other two Empires were still applying pressure to the Lightning Manor. So, they decided to use this opportunity to recover and strengthen their other frontlines.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. The other two Empires noticed that the quality of defenders had increased again, and their frustration grew. They were annoyed by what the Temple of Climate was doing. But what could they do? Neither the Twilight Dusk Empire nor the Land and Sky Empire bordered the Tower of Climate. Even if they were willing to go to war, they couldn''t. Sure, they could conquer a small road to the Tower of Climate, but that would require attacking the Judgement Pce, and due to the contract, that was still out of the question. After all, enemies were not allowed to work together in such a way. The Judgment Pce would need to honestly give their best in defending these territories, which would mean that several Mages with threefold and maybe even fourfold Spirit Senses would die from both sides. For what? So that the Twilight Dusk Family could sacrifice even more Mages by going to war with the Tower of Climate? So, for better or worse, the Judgment Pce was on its own. After a couple more years, Shang no longer had anything to do at the frontlines and retreated. "Thank you for your help, Young Master Shang," the Starlight Queen told him. "Please be prepared to help the frontlines again in 50 years." Shang just nodded without saying anything and flew towards the north to his Istion Barrier. Shang didn''t need to constantly be present. After all, before he attacked, he had always been hidden. So, the enemy didn''t know whether Shang was prepared to attack or not. Every time they tried to test whether Shang was present or not, they would lose a Peak Ancestral Mage. That''s why they didn''t try many times. And even if Shang didn''t immediately strike back, it was also possible that Shang was simply waiting for a more opportune moment when several Peak Ancestral Mages had nted Attack gs. Just Shang''s mere existence served as a huge deterrence. Even though Shang hadn''t fought for very long, he had earned a huge amount of Contribution Points due to one thing. He had killed a Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense. One had to remember that, on average, an Empire only got one person with a fivefold Spirit Sense every 10,000 years. Ignoring Mage Kings, this meant that every Empire only had a max of two Mages with a fivefold Spirit Sense at any given time, and quite often, they only had one. Due to the Judgment Pce''s size, they had actually had three. But now, they only had two. This meant that, within the next 20,000 years, the number of Mage Kings in the Judgment Pce should reduce by one. One of the old Mage Kings would die while a spot for a new Mage King would remain empty. Once more, Shang had caused devastating losses to the Judgment Pce. After Shang reached his Istion Barrier, he entered and summoned several Abominations again inside his Istion Chamber. His mind had to he more familiar with the Abhominations. He needed toprehend the mystical level five Concept of Entropy. 50 years passed very quickly, and Shang returned to the frontlines once more. The other Empires were slowly and carefully using Peak Ancestral Mages again. As soon as Shang appeared, he rapidly killed three Peak Ancestral Mages, and the other Empires very quickly pulled back. "Thank you once again, Young Master Shang," the Starlight Queen said. "Please be prepared for a short battle in about ten years." Shang just nodded and went through the portal the Starlight Queen had created. Shang wouldn''t remain on the frontlines very long. He would get there, battle a couple of times, and retreat. He wouldn''t even remain there for a day. One day of work every ten years was fine with Shang. So, things continued. Shang tried toprehend more about Abominations, went to the frontlines for a quick battle, and went back toprehending. The cycle repeated again and again. Years passed. 100 years. 200. 300. Shang was now 3,500 years old, and he only had 1,500 years of longevity left. And the Concept? Problematic. Shang felt like he had made nearly no progress. The mysterious level five Concept of Entropy felt just as ethereal and iprehensible as in the beginning. Shang wasn''t even sure if he had actually learned anything. Sure, he knew a lot more about the Abominations and how they behaved, but he was still unsure how they could destroy the matter around them without sacrificing anything. Shang knew that the Concepts of Temperature, Twilight, Addition, and Subtraction had to be connected, but he felt no inkling of them in the Abominations'' domains. It was like it was somethingpletely separate from the concept of Concepts. It was like Shang was a two-dimensional being trying to understand how three dimensions worked or a three-dimensional being trying to understand how four dimensions worked. It was beyond his grasp. Nevertheless, Shang continued to try. Another 100 years passed. 200. 300. ¡ê4.00. And then, he stopped. Shang''s mind was going wild. Things became more and more confusing the more he tried toprehend. Naturally, he had also already tried to consume high-grade Mind Flow Pellets and other supplements, but they didn''t seem to help a lot. Everything was just so confusing. It was like Shang knew all the details, but he couldn''tbine them into a picture. It was like there were millions of mirror shards lying in front of him, but he couldn''t even begin to try to assemble them into a mirror. It was just too much. It was pointless. For a while, Shang thought about shifting focus, but he realized that he had already invested too much time into this Concept. He had toprehend it, or everything would have been for nothing. But he couldn''t. Shang could only think of onest approach, but he wasn''t very confident in it. He called the Lightning Emperor. Chapter 882 Chapter 882 The Lightning Emperor listened to Shang''s description and his troubles. "And you''re sure this mystical Concept of yours exists?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "I''ve never heard of a Concept like this, and | am also unsure what that could even be." "It exists," Shang said. "The God confirmed it over 3,000 years ago." Silence. "The God confirmed it?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Yes," Shang said. "Back then, | was searching for a way tobine my four styles into one, and | wanted to know if it was possible tobine Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness. That was when the God said that the Concept existed and that it needed the Concepts of Temperature, Twilight, Addition, and Subtraction." ¡°And all four of them lead into one Concept?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Yes," Shang answered. ¡°A Concept that needs four other Concepts on a simr level to beprehended. These kinds of Concepts exist, but they are very rare. Additionally, these kinds of Concepts are usually just very advanced fusions of two Affinities." "I''ve never heard of a Concept that needs four Concepts from four Affinities." Silence. ¡°However, | can also see why I''ve never heard of something like this," the Lightning Emperor said. ""Comprehending something like that requires you to learn several Concepts that are not even that useful to you, and you would need to blindly try without any assurance for sess.¡± "I''m pretty sure that there are many, many more Concepts out there that still remain hidden since trying toprehend them essentially requires you to bet your life onprehending them." "Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness," the Lightning Emperor mused. "Lucius knew a lot about these Affinities." "Shang, | might not know about this Concept, but Lucius might," the Lightning Emperor said. ¡°Lucius is dead," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor sighed. "I know, but part of him still exists, but in a very different form." "Could you borate?" Shang asked. "The Trial of Want," the Lightning Emperor said. "The Trial of Want?" Shang asked. "Didn''t you create it?¡± "No, | just supply it with Mana," the Lightning Emperor said. "Lucius gave all of us something before he left. The thing he left me was the Trial of Want, which was surprisingly quite different from what he had given the others." "He gave the others things that helped them in furthering their own powers, but | was the only one that got something that would help weaker Mages." ¡°Now that | think about it, he said that the Trial of Want is very important and might save the world one day. He was quite adamant that | didn''t inspect it or destroy it." "Ironically, the Trial of Want isn''t actually as useful to the Lightning Manor as you might think. Yes, it helps everyone grow stronger by guiding them on the right path, but a Mage''s path to power is long and arduous. They might get the right direction once, but there will be tens of crossroads before and after the one they are currently on." "Fire, Ice, Light, Darkness..." ¡°A Concept thatbines all four..." ¡°An important trial for neers..." "Something that might save the world..." ¡°Lucius had a sixfold Spirit Sense..." "You have a sixfold Spirit Sense..." "You seem to be quite connected to Lucius, Shang," the Lightning Emperor said. "Is there something you haven''t told me?" Silence. Shang was naturally quite conflicted about this conversation. He had just learned that there was something that could potentially solve his problem. Maybe, the Trial of Want was actually left behind by Lucius for his eventual sessor. After all, Lucius had also left behind Humanity and his letter.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. From what Shang had heard of him, Lucius seemed to have been very confident in his power. And yet, he had prepared so many things in case he failed. Did he maybe know that he would fail? And what of the Lightning Emperor? The Lightning Emperor proved again and again that he was very different from how Shang believed him to be. The Lightning Emperor seemed to have been very close friends with Lucius, to the degree that he was willing to basically do anything for him. Nevertheless, the secret of the Child of Cmity was beyond heavy. Shang could imagine the Lightning Emperor being fine with killing the Emperors and some Mage Kings, but Shang couldn''t imagine the Lightning Emperor being fine with destroying the entire world. Supporting the Child of Cmity meant supporting the end of days. Additionally, just the mere title of Child of Cmity induced caution and fear in someone. What if, after destroying the world, Shang destroyed the Lightning Emperor? After all, he was the Child of Cmity. He was an Abomination, and Abominations destroyed everything that existed. They were the manifestation of evil. And yet, Lucius had also been the Child of Cmity, and he had actually wanted to stop the Abominations. Even more, Lucius had essentially achieved the goal of the Child of Cmity. He had be the strongest person in the world, and by all intents and purposes, the world should have been destroyed. But he didn''t destroy it. However, did that mean that he didn''t want to destroy it? What if he actually wanted to destroy the world, but the God actually saved it by killing Lucius? Shang was pretty sure that he knew the answers to all of these questions, but that didn''t mean much. After all, his words wouldn''t mean anything. It wasn''t important what he thought but what the Lightning Emperor thought after finding out about Shang''s secret. In the end, Shang could only take a deep breath. The Lightning Emperor had already asked if Shang and Lucius were connected, and Shang couldn''t possibly lie to the Lightning Emperor. However, he could still decide how much of his secret he wanted to be seen. "Yes, there is something | haven''t told you," Shang said. "It concerns one of my powers." "Look." WHOOOM! And then, Shang activated his Domain of Entropy. The Lightning Emperor watched with shock as everything around Shang turned to Neutral Mana, and he observed with even more shock how Shang''s body started to turn into dust. ¡°Anti- Magic!" Chapter 883 Chapter 883 Shang knew that Lucius hadn''t kept all of his abilities as the Child of Cmity a secret. He had made some of his abilities public, but he had disguised them as something else. "You can use Anti-Magic?!" the Lightning Emperor asked in shock. "| don''t know exactly how Lucius¡¯ Anti-Magic works," Shang said. "This is a Domain that | can use to turn Elemental Mana into Neutral Mana in exchange for parts of my body." "In exchange for parts of your body?" the Lightning Emperor repeated. "This is..." The Lightning Emperor became silent. "Very different," he said. "You called it Anti-Magic," Shang said. "You said Lucius can use something like that.¡± "He could," the Lightning Emperor said. "Since when did you have ess to this Domain?" ¡°|prehended it at the Peak of the Second Realm," Shang said. Silence. At this moment, the Lightning Emperor became incredibly shocked. Peak of the Second Realm?! ¡°Lucius had something very simr," the Lightning Emperor said. "However, he onlyprehended it as a Peak Ancestral Mage shortly before he became a Mage Lord." ¡°And yet, youprehended it in the Second Realm?" ¡°However, your Domain is different in a fundamental way. Lucius didn''t need to sacrifice anything for his Domain, but you need to sacrifice parts of your body." "I''m certain Lucius couldn''t do that." This shocked Shang. Shang had assumed that the Domain of Entropy was something that every Child of Cmity could use. After all, Abominations could also use it. And yet, Lucius had only been able to use it as a Peak Ancestral Mage? He had had no ess to the Domain before that? Shang had assumed that all the Children of Cmity shared the same powers, but that wasn''t the case, apparently. This immediately opened another question for Shang, and he wasn''t sure if he should ask it. The Lightning Emperor seemed shocked, but not in a bad way. Shang felt like the Lightning Emperor wasn''t about to kill him. In the end, Shang''s curiosity won out, and he decided to ask another question. "There''s another power | have," Shang said.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. "Oh?" the Lightning Emperor uttered. Shang took a deep breath and pointed at his bandages. "| can sacrifice my soul for a very powerful attack," Shang said. "I lost my first eye when | used this ability to kill someone at the Mid Third Realm when | was at the Peak Second Realm, and | used it again to kill someone at the Peak Fourth Realm when | was at the Initial or Early Fourth Realm." Silence. "Like an Abomination," the Lightning Emperor said. Shang nodded. "Correct." More silence. "Is this what Lucius hadprehended back then? Is the Concept you are trying toprehend right now the one Lucius had alsoprehended as a Peak Ancestral Mage?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "Most likely," Shang said. Silence. "Something that created so much trouble for Lucius. I''m not surprised that you''ve had so many troubles. You''re not even a Mage,¡± the Lightning Emperor said. "You and Lucius are intrinsically connected, and even more, you have unlocked powers that Lucius had only attained farter." "You and Lucius share a power, but something between you seems fundamentally different." "You seem even closer to Lucius¡¯ power than he was." Silence. ¡°Maybe, you can actually be even more powerful than him." "Maybe, you actually have a shot at killing this God of yours." ¡°Back then, we had nothing. Our little group had to earn every little bit of resources ourselves, and we didn''t have a ce we could call home.¡± ¡°Most of us don''t want to believe it, but thisck of resources has probably stopped us from growing even more powerful and unearthing even more of our potential.¡± ¡°Lucius'' strongest support had been a Mage Lord andter a Mage King." ¡°But now, things are different." "You have the backing of a Mage Emperor and several Mage Kings." "| don''t know how or why you and Lucius are connected, but | am willing to invest in the future so that it may be better than the past.¡± "Shang, you need to enter the Trial of Want!" "IT am certain now that Lucius left the Trial of Want for you, his sessor!" Shang nodded. "I''m nning on." "Make use of the resources," the Lightning Emperor said. "You have ess to way more than we''ve had ess to back then. The only thing that can stop you is your own talent." "Thank you," Shang said absentmindedly as he left his Istion Barrier to fly to the Trial of Want. Silence. "Shang," the Lightning Emperor said slowly. Shang didn''t like the Lightning Emperor''s tone. It made him nervous. "Shang, are you..." Silence. "Forget it. | hope you will seed," the Lightning Emperor said before cutting the connection. As Shang continued to fly, he kept looking at the pin on his robes. "Does he suspect me of being the Child of Cmity?¡¯ Shang wasn''t quite sure. The only reason why Shang had even dared to tell the Lightning Emperor about his powers of Entropy was that Shang essentially already had an "alibi". After all, the Lightning Emperor had once asked Shang if he had talked to the God about the Child of Cmity, and Shang had said that they had never talked about it. If Shang were the Child of Cmity, it would be a certainty that he and the God would have talked about it since it was part of Shang''s very nature. Therefore, Shang couldn''t be the Child of Cmity. Even more, four different Emperors had inspected Shang, and they couldn''t find any evidence of him being the Child of Cmity. And yet, Lucius¡¯ and Shang''s powers were too simr to Abominations. Yes, nearly all the Emperors took inspiration from the Abominations to increase their own powers, but Lucius and Shang were on an entirely different level. It was almost like they were Abominations. So, even though Shang essentially couldn''t be the Child of Cmity, everything pointed to him being the Child of Cmity. What if? What if Shang was the Child of Cmity? The Lightning Emperor only needed to ask since Shang couldn''t lie to him. Did the Lightning Emperor suspect Shang of being the Child of Cmity? He wasn''t sure. Chapter 884 Chapter 884 Shang felt a bit nervous about this entire thing, but there was nothing he could do. The Lightning Emperor was so powerful that nothing Shang could do would influence anything. Even if Shang sacrificed his entire body to Entropy, he wouldn''t be able to even scratch the Lightning Emperor. If Shang sacrificed his entire body, he might be able to heavily injure a Mage King, but that was it. Heavily injure. The more powerful Shang became, the less powerful his Entropy became. Well, that wasn''t entirely correct.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. His powers of Entropy had always had the same power. It was just that Shang''s Battle-Strength reached such incredible heights that the difference between his Battle-Strength and the power of Entropy had shrunken by quite a bit. At the Peak of the General Stage, Shang could have sacrificed an eye to kill a Peak Commander Stage warrior or Peak True Mage. That was one attack that would kill someone an entire Realm above him. Back then, this had been crazy powerful. Now? Shang could kill a Peak Mage Lord, but in order to kill an Initial Mage King, he would probably need to sacrifice an entire arm, and Initial Mage Kings basically didn''t exist. From what Shang had heard, all the Mage Kings received enough Mana in the inheritance to reach the Peak Mage King Realm. Shang couldn''t kill someone like that. Shang was unstoppable in the Sixth Realm, and he could probably also win against an average Mid Mage Lord. But the average Late Mage Lord would be very, very difficult to defeat just due to the sheer difference in quality. The average Mage Lord had a twofold Spirit Sense already. As for the average Peak Mage Lord? Impossible. And then, there were all the talented Mage Lords. So, while Shang''s Entropy didn''t feel as impressive as it felt back then, it was still quite a bit stronger than his actual power. After all, Entropy could kill even a Peak Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense, but it would require quite a sacrifice. Shang thought about his powers of Entropy for quite a bit. With the revtion that Lucius'' powers had been different, Shang hade to a conclusion. Lucius¡¯ powers were not just different but different in an inferior way. Shang''s powers of Entropypared to Lucius¡¯ power of Entropy, before Lucius had be a Mage Lord, were objectively superior. So, what was the difference between Lucius and Shang? Why were Shang''s powers superior? There was only one difference. The Bloodline Infusion. Shang''s body had been fused with an actual Abomination. Lucius¡¯ body had been 100% human from beginning to end. This little operation created by a weak True Path Stage warrior had given Shang powers that made him superior to the most powerful Mage that had ever existed. What a weird and unexpected turn of events. ¡®| don''t know if the Lightning Emperor suspects me of being the Child of Cmity or not, but there''s nothing | can do. For now, | can only enter the Trial of Want and try to find a way toprehend the mysterious level five Concept of Entropy.¡¯ After around an hour, Shang arrived in the Hibye for the first time in a long while. The Hibye had be more crowded than thest time Shang had been here. It seemed like the Lightning Manor was slowly recovering. But Shang didn''t exactly care about all of this and simply shot through the Hibye. No one paid any attention to Shang. Everyone knew of the Ancestral Hero, but the Ancestral Hero never appeared in public. So, nobody was actually paying attention and thinking that the Ancestral Hero could be right beside them right now. Eventually, Shang arrived in front of the Trial of Want. As always, there were two Bolts guarding the entrance. Shang walked over to the entrance. For a second, the two Bolts looked at Shang and wanted to ask why he was here, but their eyes widened in shock when they saw the pin on Shang''s chest. They had never seen this pin before, but their Thunders reminded them regrly about what this pin meant and what they should do if they met the owner. The two Bolts talked to each other via voice transmission at rapid speeds. Eventually, the two Bolts stepped to the side, not saying anything. ording to the rules, they were not allowed to start a conversation with the owner of the pin. Their instructions were to let him pass without interacting with him. From the outside, the Trial of Want looked like a door that led into a green hill. It looked neither luxurious nor grand. It was just a simple door. Shang reached the door and pushed. The door didn''t budge. ¡°Open it," Shang ordered coldly. One of the two Bolts cast a quick Spell, and a rune in the middle of the door lit up. Amomentter, the doors opened. Shang just nodded and entered the Trial of Want. As the door closed behind Shang, the two Bolts just looked at each other. Then, one of the Bolts took out a Transmission Medal and contacted his Thunder. After a short exchange, the Thunder told the Bolts that they had acted correctly. The Thunder then contacted Amarius and told him that Shang had entered the Trial of Want. Amarius thanked the Thunder for the information and told Wester about it. Wester made a mental note. It was important to know where Shang was at all times. Wester informed the Mage Kings responsible for the war about where Shang had gone, and the Mage Kings quickly prepared themselves. The Trial of Want could take anywhere from one year to a thousand years, depending on the reward. The trial itself wasn''t as long. It was just that sometimes, people needed toprehend something in the trial, which would take a while. They could only hope that Shang wouldn''t take too long. In the worst case, they would need to hold out for a thousand years. That would be very difficult but doable. It would just be very, very expensive. Meanwhile, after Shang entered the Trial of Want, he entered a small hall with an borately designed fountain in the middle. The fountain was filled with blood. Chapter 885 Chapter 885 Shang wasn''t quite sure why there was a fountain of blood in the middle of the hall, but his question got answered rather quickly as letters appeared in the air. ¡°Put a drop of your blood in the fountain." Shang walked over to the fountain and cut his finger. Asmall stream of blood flowed down Shang''s finger since he wasn''t really careful with the depth of the cut. As the first drops of blood hit the fountain, one of the doors at the edges of the hall opened, and Shang walked through. The door closed behind him, and Shang''s Spirit Sense could no longer see the fountain. Shang found himself in an old hallway, but he didn''t really care about it a whole lot as he just continued walking. Shang walked slightly downward for several minutes. He wasn''t moving at his top speed, but he was still moving at quite a brisk pace. Shang had probably moved around 200,000 kilometers deep into the ground, which was quite surprising. Why would anyone need such a long hallway? Eventually, Shang reached another door and opened it.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. He was greeted by a dark room with a floating transparent cube in the middle. Shang could see a small inscription in the middle of the cube. ¡°Banish the darkness with light." Shang looked around his new surroundings. His Spirit Sense was severely suppressed, only allowing him to view a couple of meters of his surroundings. Additionally, Shang could feel very dense Darkness Mana around him. Even more, the Darkness Mana had a will on it, which seemed to be impossible. After all, how could a dead person imprint their will on Mana? However, Shang knew that these rules had only remained true for the people he had been fighting against. Mage Kings and Mage Emperors might have ways to mimic wills with Magic Circles. Nevertheless, the will was a problem since this meant that Shang couldn''t control the Darkness Mana or move it. So, he actually had to do this small challenge the intended way. Shang walked over to the cube and put his hand on it. Amomentter, he infused it with Light Mana. The darkness receded, revealing the surrounding five meters to Shang. Then, Shang used his level one Concept of Illumination to increase the brightness of the light. One had to remember that lower- level Concepts also increased in power as one understood more Concepts of an Affinity. That was the very reason why Concepts. very often became more difficult to understandter. So, even though the Concept of Illumination was only technically a level one Concept, it had the power of a level three Concept. Very quickly, the light extended even more, revealing the surrounding 15 meters. However, Shang couldn''t see anything of note in the darkness, which probably meant that he needed to create even more light. So, Shang used his Concepts of Twilight and Addition to move the Light Mana to extreme brightness. In an instant, the entire room brightened. The opposite wall with the door had only been about 20 meters away. ''T''m quite sure | could have illuminated 40 meters,¡¯ Shang thought. The Concepts of Twilight and Addition were the ones that had the biggest impact by far. If Shang had only had the level two Concept of Light, Particle, Shang would have illuminated about 30 meters. If he only had had the Concept of Illumination, he would have barely illuminated the entire room. "So, in order to pass this trial, you either have to know the level four Concept Light, Dawn, or the level one Concept of Light paired with the Concepts of Twilight and Addition,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®If the Trial of Want has been created by Lucius for his sessor, | can guess what kind of trials will await me next," Shang thought. Shang walked over to the door, opened it, and walked through it. The hallway was just as long as previously, and it kept going diagonally into the ground. Shang guessed that he was about 350,000 kilometers to the north of the Hibye at a depth of about 70,000 kilometers. Shang arrived at the next door and opened it, and for once, he was d that he didn''t have any eyes. It was very bright. Just as before, there was a transparent cube levitating in the middle of the room. "Consume the light with darkness." Just like with the previous cube, there was an inscription. Shang walked over and infused the cube with Darkness Mana. Five meters. Level two Concept of Darkness, Blindness, strengthened by the level three Concept of Darkness, Consumption. 15 meters. Then, Shang used the Concept of Twilight and Subtraction. The entire room was revealed. Just like thest one, it was about 20 meters to the other side. ¡®Interesting,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Inparison to the Light Affinity, the first Concept of the Darkness Affinity that pushes Darkness Mana to an extreme of darkness is the level two Concept, Blindness. The level one Concept of Shadow isn''t pushing it that hard.¡± "So, just knowing the level one Concept of Darkness actually wouldn''t be enough to advance, even if someone knew the Concepts of Twilight and Subtraction.¡¯ ¡®Although, Concepts aren''t really stronger or weaker than other Concepts. It''s just how we ssify them based on how difficult they are toprehend." ¡®Someone could theoreticallyprehend the Concept of Blindness first. It might be unusual, but it''s possible.¡± ¡®| wonder, is Lucius simply testing someone on how many Concepts they know, or does he search for specific Concepts?" Shang exited the hall and entered the next hallway, which was just as long as the previous two. Eventually, Shang reached the next room. Sure enough, there was another transparent cube. This time, everything in the room was on fire. Shang could sense the absolutely apocalyptic heat, but the heat was so concentrated that it barely affected anything a couple of centimeters to the side. ¡°Banish the fire with ice," the inscription read. After trying a bit, Shang realized that this trial either needed the level four Concept of Ice, Zero, or the level two Concept of Ice, Freeze, together with the Concepts of Temperature and Subtraction. Once more, Shang exited the hall, entered another long hallway, and reached another room with a cube. This time, Shang could feel extreme coldness around him. Shang did the same thing again. One either needed the level four Concept of Fire, Explosion, to proceed, or the level two Concept of Fire, Heat, and the Concepts of Addition and Temperatures. Shang walked over to the next door and opened it. ¡®| think the trial would most likely adapt to the power of a person. If a Mage Lord showed up in this trial, they would probably need to know even stronger Concepts,¡¯ Shang thought. "Right now, for a Peak Ancestral Mage, this trial either wants someone to know the first four Concepts of Entropy with some basic Concepts of the four Affinities or a very talented Mage that perfectly fits what Entropy wants and needs." ¡®Four level four Concepts would already guarantee someone a fourfold Spirit Sense as a Mage Lord, but these four Concepts also have to perfectly fit." ¡®Maybe Lucius assumed that it''s possible that someone that isn''t the Child of Cmity couldprehend powers belonging to the Child of Cmity?" By now, Shang was certain that this was a specific trial designed for the Child of Cmity. The trials were simply too specific. Of course, that was a good thing. Shang had failed toprehend the level five Concept of Entropy, and he knew that he could most likely notprehend it as a Peak Ancestral Mage. He just hoped that the Trial of Want would help himprehend the Concept. That was all he wanted. Chapter 886 Chapter 886 After leaving the room, Shang found himself in another long hallway, and this one was even longer than all the other ones. Shang estimated that it was over 500,000 kilometers long. With the previous hallways, Shang estimated that he was beneath the Eternal Ocean right now. Finally, Shang reached the next door and opened it. Library. There was a humongous library on the other side. It wasn''t as big as the Lightning Emperor''s library, but it still had about 10% of its size. One had to remember that the Lightning Emperor''s library was probably the biggest one in the entire world unless the Archivist had his own library. 10% of the Lightning Emperor''s library was already very much. Shang slowly walked through the library without touching any of the old tomes. The library was several kilometers wide, long, and high.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. The humongous wall at the end of the library had several forms etched into it. There were many rectangles, circles connected with lines, diagrams, and so on. And above each group was a title. "Family tree of the Wildhammer n." "Political climate in the third Metal Mana Crystal War." "World Ender Doctrines." ¡°Fundamental Laws of the Specter Summoner Kingdom." This showed Shang that all these forms and shapes were simply empty diagrams that he had to fill out. In short, this was essentially a huge exam. Even more, everything was rted to history. And it wasn''t even important history. Shang needed to fill out minor details that nobody really cared about. Everything was just about who fought, but there was nothing about why they fought or what they fought over. At the very top of the wall, Shang could see the instructions for this trial. "Show your willpower and focus. When everything is correct, the door will open." Below the instructions was a timer, which was currently at slightly less than a century. "So, | have 100 years to fill out everything.¡± Shang looked at the wall again. There was so much to fill out. Shang probably had to fill out nearly a million individual fields. "So, he wants to see if | am able to force myself to read uninteresting garbage for 100 years straight,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang sat down in front of the wall, and the closest book to him flew over. Shang didn''t even create a n. He just started reading. After a couple of minutes, Shang found another problem. None of the books directly gave Shang the answer. Shang would need to piece the entire picture together by reading about different slightly connected events told via stories. It was clear that Lucius had designed this trial to be as boring and frustrating as possible. If anyone let the frustration get to them, their concentration would wane, making it difficult to learn efficiently. Even more, the tight time limit made it almost impossible to take breaks. Lastly, everything had to be correct, which meant that the reader wasn''t allowed to forget stuff. After all, the reader would sometimes make mistakes and write an answer on the wall that had to be correctedter. If the reader just copied things from the books, they wouldn''t seed. At first nce, this trial seemed stupid, but it was actually very good at doing what it was supposed to do. But Shang didn''t care about any of these things. Shang''s unreal self-discipline made this task easy. The trial was very time-consuming, but Shang was certain that he would pass. And sure enough, he did. How long did it take him to fill everything out with the correct information? 70 years. Shang had expected to be finished sooner, but things had turned out more difficult than expected. Lucius had made this trial really tough. In the past 70 years, Shang had learned nearly nothing of relevance. His head was filled with useless garbage about the internal rules of organizations that had been destroyed hundreds of thousands of years ago. Sure, there had been some interesting nuggets of information here and there, but Shang could recite all of the relevant information in an hour. After he was done, Shang stood up and walked through the opened door. The next hallway was just as long as the previous one. By now, Shang was over a million kilometers away from Aterium. After opening the door at the end, Shang saw a small hall with another transparent cube hovering in the middle. "Infuse the cube with your will and survive for 50 years," the inscription read. Shang wasn''t sure what this trial was about, but he did what the cube told him to do. As soon as Shang infused the cube with his will, he felt something change. His head hurt a little. It was a bit annoying. Shang waited to see if anything else would happen. No, that was it. Eventually, Shang focused onprehending anything that could be useful for him in an effort not to waste 50 years of his life during this trial. And after 50 years, the mild headache vanished, and the door opened. Another long hallway followed, and Shang entered the next trial. There was another transparent cube. "Increase your physical strength to the level of a Peak Ancestral Beast. Then, punch the cube," the inscription read. Shang didn''t do anything for a second. Then, he slowly walked to the cube and pped it. BANG! BANG! The cube immediately hit the walls and fell to the ground. After that, the cube shuddered a little, and the door opened. ¡®| guess it makes sense,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Based on the difficulties of the trials, Lucius obviously expected a Mage to enter this trial. Obtaining the physical power of a beast for a Mage probably requires severalplex and strong Spells." ¡®| guess all these small trials are just to test the fundamentals. Concepts, willpower, pain-tolerance, and so on.¡¯ ''T''m not sure how many more trials there are, but we should be nearly done with everything.¡± ¡®| guess thest thing missing would be my Battle-Strength.¡¯ Shang stepped through the opened door and entered another long hallway. Chapter 887 Chapter 887 Shang left the room and entered another long hallway. By now, he had been inside the trial for around 150 years, proving once again that the trial Shang was undertaking was very different from others. Usually, the trial portion of the Trial of Want only took a couple of years at most. Most of the time, a person would be done within a year. And yet, Shang had been undertaking trials for 150 years. Eventually, Shang reached the next room, and this time, there was no transparent cube hovering in the middle. Instead, Shang saw a person standing there, but based on the person''s aura and their lifeless expression, they were probably not alive or not even a human. The person in front of Shang was a tall man with blue hair and icy blue armor, carrying a long spear. The skin of his face looked like jade, which was urate since his skin wasn''t actually skin. It was literally some kind of soft metal. The room was five kilometers wide, which essentially put both of them in melee range. ¡°Prove your strength!" the man said with an artificial voice as he readied his spear. "Prove that you can win against an Early Weapon Lord in a disadvantageous arena!" "So, a jump of two levels," Shang thought. ¡®I''ve never fought a Weapon Master before.¡¯ Shang just waited since he wanted to see how Weapon Masters fought. Amomentter, nine additional weapons appeared behind the man. Spear, sword, saber, dagger, club, axe,nce, bow, halberd, shield. Then, the weapons assumed a formation. The huge shield was on the front, with the short weapons right beside it. The longer weapons looked down from above, and the bow was far in the distance. The dagger was behind the shield. "HUAGH!" the man shouted as he charged towards Shang. And then, all of his weapons attacked at the same time. It was almost like Shang was attacked by something with ten arms. DINGDINGDINGDINGDING! Shang rapidly moved his Subsis around, blocking every single strike. Even though Shang''s opponent was two levels above him, the power behind his attacks was only as powerful as Shang''s attacks. The speed of every individual attack was also only a bit slower than Shang''s attack. However, there were many weapons attacking at the same time. Shang had to use all of his speed to keep this defense intact, but he wasn''t really worried. He was only using his Subsis right now, and he hadn''t evenunched an attack. He was just defending. As the man kept attacking, Shang analyzed his fighting style. ¡®Weak offense. Even though he''s a physical fighter, he actually isn¡¯t fighting with his body at all. His body is just standing behind his weapons as his Spirit attacks with the weapons. If he actually attacked with his body, | would need to evade.¡¯ ¡°Nevertheless, the frequency of his attacks is quite shocking. | can imagine him turning a beast on his level into mincemeat.¡¯ Suddenly, the formation of the weapons changed, and they seemed to create an image of a huge jaw. BOOOOM! Shang blocked the huge attack with his Addum, and he still felt himself get pushed back by quite a bit. "Interesting. So, he can alsobine the different powers of his weapons. He has diversity, high frequency of attacks, anda very destructive attack. Additionally, his weapons protect him very well.¡¯ ¡®But all in all, it isn''t that impressive. | never even fought one, and | can defend against him. | think if | had more practice with fighting Weapon Masters, killing a Weapon Master would still be easier than killing a Mage.¡¯ The next moment, the guy prepared another attack, but this time, Shang exploded forward. BANG! Shang''s Addum broke the diagram, throwing the weapons in all directions. As Shang continued flying, the dagger and an arrow shot at him, which he quickly blocked with two small movements of his Subsis. BANG! Then, Shang kicked the Weapon Master''s chest, and it exploded in a shower of gore, scattering pieces of his flesh across half the hall. "His body is strikingly weak. | didn''t even use Void Break,¡¯ Shang thought. ''l guess Weapon Masters don''t use their bodies. What a weird concept. A physical fighter that does not use their body." But the next moment, the chest of the Weapon Master regrew fully. Shang was a slight bit surprised. ¡®Oh? A warrior body?" The Weapon Master prepared another attack. SHING! But Shang''s Subsis impaled his brain. All the floating weapons fell to the ground, and the body of the Weapon Master lost all strength. Amomentter, the door of the hall opened, and Shang continued. "Weapon Masters are a bit underwhelming,¡¯ Shang thought as he passed through another long hallway. When Shang entered the next room, he saw another artificial human, but this one wore extremely heavy armor with a huge axe. Inparison to the Weapon Master, this one''s body seemed to be several times stronger. On top of that, his armor probably also blocked an insane amount of power. ¡°Prove your strength," the man said. "Defeat an Early Barbarian Lord in a disadvantageous arena." Shang looked around and noticed that the hall was barely a kilometer wide. Shang just readied his Addum. The next moment, the Barbarian charged forward and attacked Shang with his humongous axe. BOOOOM! BOOOM! Shang''s body was thrown away, and his back hit the wall. The body of the Barbarian was way stronger than his.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. The Barbarian quickly shot after Shang and attacked again, but Shang just evaded to the side by activating Comet. The Barbarian''s body also made him frighteningly fast, but Shang could still rival his speed. That was enough. Shang was nimble enough to avoid all the attacks. ¡®Quite a bit more problematic than a Weapon Master," Shang thought as he continued evading. ¡®Although, using all of one''s latent potential is far easier for a Barbarian than for a Weapon Master. Barbarians just attack very directly, based on what I''m seeing, and they can push the power of their bodies only so much." ¡®I can imagine that a talented Weapon Master can be quite a bit stronger than a talented Barbarian." ¡®| wonder how strong his defense is." Shang slightly swung his Subsis. CRRRRK! Asmall white crack appeared on the Barbarian''s shoulder te. Shang had only used his Spirit Sense to attack, the attack that allowed him to attack from 3,000 kilometers away. ¡®Armor is quite hard,¡¯ Shang thought. TCH! A bloody gash opened on the Barbarian''s exposed cheek, but Shang''s attack didn''t damage the cheekbone. "His armor is more resilient than his body, but that''s to be expected.¡¯ SHING! The next moment, Shang''s Subsis stabbed through the Barbarian''s head. If Shang had stabbed the Barbarian''s chest like this, he would have probably only cracked a rib due to the armor. Sadly, the Barbarian didn''t wear a helmet. Shang left the room again and entered another long hallway. In the next room, Shang saw a huge red-haired man that looked quite simr to the Barbarian. However, this huge man did not wear any armor, and Shang could also feel that this man''s body was weaker than the Barbarian''s. "Prove your strength," the man said, taking out two one-handed axes. "Win against an Early Berserker Lord ina disadvantageous arena." ¡®Berserker, huh?" Chapter 888 Chapter 888 Shang fought the Berserker, and he was quite surprised by how weak the Berserker was initially. Sure, his body was stronger than the body of a Weapon Master, but neither his power nor his speed or his techniques were better than the Barbarian. But there was one difference. His defense was amazing! The attack that had created a gash on the Barbarian''s face only left a scratch on the Berserker''s face. And then, the Berserker''s attacks grew a slight bit faster and a slight bit stronger as a tiny red afterglow appeared behind his swinging axes. Shang became interested and created a huge gash on the Berserker''s chest with his Addum. The Berserker began to bleed heavily, but his body didn''t even show an inkling of healing. With the huge gash, the Berserker''s speed and power reached the Barbarian''s level. CRKSH! And then, Shang bisected the Berserker with his Addum. He had seen enough. Shang quickly entered the next trial and noticed that the arena had be quite a bit bigger. It was around 100 kilometers wide. This would be a medium-distance battle, ording to the size of the arena. ¡®| guess Lucius only wanted to test me with three closebat Paths." Shang''s next fight was against a woman with green hair that wore several bows and crossbows all over her body. Apparently, she was an Early Ranger Lord, a Path Shang had never heard of. Her entire gimmick was that she rapidly shot a storm of arrows at Shang. Her rate of attack was quite a bit faster than a Mage''s, but Shang could tell that her range was lower. Additionally, shecked any form of powerful attack that could break through thick armor. Shang simply killed her with a couple of ranged attacks since her defense was almost nonexistent. Shang''s next fight was against a Domain Controller. His entire thing was that he filled the room with lightning, which quickly started to burn Shang''s body. His attacks were simply unavoidable since they epassed the entire room. However, the Domain Controller himself only used attacks to push Shang away, and he used plenty of techniques to flee. It was clear that his tactic was to slowly kill the enemy with his Domain. Sadly, Shang couldn''t experiment for long since the Domain was actually quite dangerous, and he ended the fight rather quickly. Shang''s next fight was against an Early Elementalist Lord. He used rapid and powerful mid-range attacks of different Elements. His offense was honestly impressive, but he had weak defenses. His tactic had been to kill the opponent with overwhelming offense before the opponent could fight back. After that, the arena changed again, and it was now about 1,000 kilometers wide, signifying that the long-range battles would be next. Shang''s first opponent was a Beast Controller that was controlling ten Initial Beast Lords. The Beast Controller moved as far away from Shang as possible as her beasts attacked him. After killing the beasts, the Beast Controller was basically helpless, and Shang killed her. The next battle was strange. Shang just looked at a smiling old man. He didn''t seem very powerful. Suddenly, Shang felt like he was about to die, and he rapidly unleashed several ranged attacks that killed the old man. BOOOOOOOOOOO00M! The next moment, the old man''s body exploded, filling the entire room with destructive and chaotic storms of Mana. Shang only received slight burns, but that was because the power had been dispersed across the entire room. If this destructive power had actually been focused on him, Shang would have died. Obviously, Shang''s opponent had bet everything on one card. He would unleash a single attack, and that would be it. If his opponent died, he would win. If his opponent survived, he would lose. Additionally, if a second person showed up shortlyter, he would lose as well. It was a very extreme way of fighting, but he had nearly seeded in killing Shang. Shang could imagine that people that chose this Path had incredible powers of deterrence. It was like a weak man carrying around a shotgun with exactly one bullet in it. Shang assumed that the next fight would be thest, and his opponent confirmed it. It was a Mage. Naturally, Shang didn''t have any difficulties in killing the Mage. After fighting nine different opponents, Shang realized that the Mage Path was probably the best all-around Path. Great defense, great offense, great speed, great range, great diversity. It was good in everything. The Mage Path was definitely among the best. Shang could imagine that Weapon Masters and Domain Controllers could reach simr powers, but it was probably quite a bit harder to get there. Shang entered the next hallway. He had no idea how far he had actually already gone, but he was quite sure that he was somewhere in the Eternal Ocean, far away from Aterium. Shang entered the next room and saw that this room was far smaller than all the previous halls. In fact, the room was only about 30 meters wide. In the middle of the room was an elevated chair, and that was about it. There was nothing else. Shang slowly walked over to the chair and sat down. The next moment, a ghostly silhouette appeared in front of Shang. It was difficult to make out the details, but Shang saw that the ghostly figure was a male of Shang''s height with blonde hair. Naturally, Shang knew who that was. It was an image of Lucius Volstad. Shang had seen Lucius before, back when the God had kicked his corpse across the room. The Aura that the ghostly figure emanated reminded Shang a bit of Jerald before his son had died. Lucius seemed quite approachable but also highly intelligent and principled. He was someone that could inspire others to follow him. Naturally, Lucius was dead, and Shang knew that this ghostly figure was probably just some kind ofplex Magic Circle that controlled the entire trial like aputer. "You passed," the ghostly figure uttered with a kind smile. Shang did not answer. "What do you wish for?" the figure asked. "The Concept made of the Concepts of Twilight, Temperatures, Addition, and Subtraction," Shang answered. Asmall smile appeared on the ghostly figure''s face. "You''re searching for the Concept of Transformation," the figure said. "The level five Concept of Abominations." Shang called his Affinity Entropy, but Lucius seemed to call it Abomination.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Both of them made sense. "Yes," Shang said, remembering the name of the Concept. The Concept of Transformation. "The Concept of Transformation is one of the hardest Concepts toprehend," the ghostly figure said. "Back then, | had to sacrifice Mana to the void for over 2,000 years. | hunted beasts, kept them in istion, and slowly sacrificed them to the Realm of Abominations." The ghostly figure sighed. "| killed over 15,000 Peak Ancestral Beasts and over 3,000 Initial Beast Lords this way." "| permanently destroyed a Mage King''s worth of Mana." "And yet, it took me over 2,000 years." The ghostly figure looked at Shang. "Do you have 2,000 years?" it asked. "No," Shang slowly answered. "| have less than a thousand years left." "| know," the ghostly figure said. ¡®Then why did you ask?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡°Also, you''re not a Mage," the figure added. "If you were to use my method, you would probably need 3,000 to 4,000 years." ¡°But there is a way," he said. "Yet, the faster something gives results, the higher the price you have to pay." ¡°Are you prepared to pay the price?" the figure asked. "How long will it take?" Shang asked. "Based on the data | have collected of you, around 200 years," the ghostly figure said. ¡®200 years,¡¯ Shang thought. ''This seems too good to be true." ¡®That means the price is huge." "| agree," Shang said. Surprisingly, the ghostly figure only sighed again. The next moment, a portal opened at the edge of the room, and a person stepped through. When Shang saw the person, he realized what the price had to be. It truly was a heavy price. Chapter 889 Chapter 889 Atall man with grey hair entered the portal. He wore the violet robes of a Bolt and regarded Shang with a resolute and hostile gaze. This man was Jerald''s son, named after the Dean of the Warrior Academy, George. Shang had encountered George only twice before. The first meeting urred when Shang emerged from seclusion to converse with Jerald, and the second took ce during the grand warriors¡¯ tournament. During their initial encounter, George had not been Shang''s adversary. The second meeting transpired after Shang had already killed Jerald. A Peak Mage Lord. It seemed almost unbelievable that the young man Shang had previously encountered had already attained such a high level of power. Yet, it made logical sense. Perhaps he had reached the Ancestral Mage Realm at around 500 years of age, and if he had only focused onprehending two level four Concepts, he would have be a Mage Lord by approximately 2,500 or 3,000 years of age. As long as he prioritized advancing his level over the Concepts and dedicated himself entirely to this goal, he could undoubtedly reach the Peak Mage Lord Realm within a thousand years or so. However, he was likely an average Mage Lord. Nevertheless, even an average Mage Lord possessed a twofold Spirit Sense, granting them talent on par with powerful Ancestral Mages. After George stepped through the portal, it promptly sealed behind him. For a few moments, he locked eyes with Shang, his gaze narrowed. "Do you still remember me?" he asked, his voice filled with darkness. "George," Shang acknowledged. "Jerald''s son." George''s aura grew stronger as his anger intensified. He remained uncertain whether he desired Shang to recognize him or not. "Do you have any idea how much | have suffered just to obtain this opportunity?" George''s voice trembled as he spoke. Shang remained silent. "| enlisted in the war, battled nearly every day, fought against numerous Mages and beasts, and even resorted to unspeakable acts to gather enough Mana Crystals for myprehension!" | spent a fortune altering my mind, eradicating fatigue, stress, and happiness! "|bored tirelessly for so long!" "| even forfeited my reward from the Trial of Want just to have a chance to kill you!" "| entered the Trial of Want over 200 years ago, hoping that you would eventually participate, and the only thing | sought from that trial was this opportunity!" "| sacrificed so much!" ¡°All for you," he uttered with a sinister voice. Silence. ¡°Was it worth it?" Shang asked calmly. SHING! A potent Focus materialized beside George. "Yes," he responded slowly, "because now | will finally get my answer." "Why?" "Why did you murder my father?!" George shouted, releasing his pent-up emotions. ¡°What had he ever done to you?!" ¡°Weren''t you two friends?!" Silence. "| thought so too," Shang admitted. "When we first spoke, | had no intention of killing Jerald." George clenched his teeth. "Then why?!" Shang took a deep breath. He had believed he had eradicated all his emotions, but standing before Jerald''s son, finding the right words proved challenging. ¡°Agon Skythunder revealed my secret to Jerald," Shang revealed. Silence. "When | encountered Jerald, he informed me of his knowledge regarding my secret and he had wanted to end my life." "LIAR!" George shouted. "| know my father! | know he would never kill his closest friend over a secret." m the Child of Cmity."Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Silence. Slowly, George''s eyes widened in shock. The Child of Cmity. "The stronger | grow, the more powerful the Abominations be," Shang exined. "By killing me, Jerald could save billions of lives." "Jerald may not have been the most selfless person, but he did not desire to witness the world''s demise," Shang said. "Billions of innocent lives or the life of his closest friend," Shang continued. "That was the dilemma he faced, and when | visited him, he made his choice. Jerald''s actions meant | could not let him live, especially since he knew my deepest secret." Silence. ¡°But why?" George asked. "Why didn''t he inform the Lightning Manor? You would have been apprehended!" ¡°He wanted onest conversation with me," Shang revealed. "He desired to understand why | was willing to sacrifice so many lives for my own power." "If he had informed the Lightning Manor, | would have been subdued." ¡°But Jerald was too sentimental, too agreeable, and too honest." Shang turned his gaze away. "He ced himself in the path of the world''s greatest enemy!" ¡°For him, it was a choice between saving the world or saving me." "For me, it was a choice between his life and mine." "| chose mine," Shang concluded. Silence. George remained silent, staring at the ground while clenching his fists. Everything now fell into ce. "You are even worse than | imagined," George dered. "| believed you had some hidden motive for wanting him dead." ¡°But instead, you killed him because he sought to save the world." "Your existence will bring the world''s end, and yet you persist." "You didn''t even have to die. You could have stopped, found a family, and lived a peaceful life." ¡°But you continue to seek power, fully aware that the price will be the entire world." "Yes, it was worth it," George repeated, his voice filled with hatred. "I thought killing you would be a selfish act, but in the end, I will save billions, if not trillions, of lives." "Thank you for telling me all of this. Now, | can finally end your life with a clear conscience," George coldly stated as his Focus began spinning rapidly. Shang turned his attention to the ghostly figure of Lucius. The price Shang had to pay was all too apparent. Chapter 890 Chapter 890 A Peak Mage Lord. A Mage who surpassed Shang by an entire Realm. Was it possible to win this fight? No. Even if Shang used his most powerful attack, Fate, George would only lose about 20% of his Mana. And then what? George could easily replenish the lost Mana, while Shang would be unable tounch further attacks. The cost was clear. Lucius had understood the concept of entropy by sacrificing external mana, a process that took him a long time. But what could be better than experiencing it oneself? By experiencing the true power of Entropy, Shang could understand the feeling of fading into nothingness. The price? Whatever Shang needed to sacrifice from his own body toprehend the Concept of Transformation. That was the price. Shang had already sacrificed 15% of his soul to Entropy, and killing George would likely require sacrificing at least another 5%. Naturally, Shang had often contemted what he would sacrifice next, and he knew what he had to do. As George prepared his spells, two small ck lights appeared behind Shang''s bandages. It almost seemed as if a void was peering through the bandages at George. For some reason, George felt a sense of imminent death and hastily unleashed all his prepared spells. Ssssshhhh! Asoft gust of wind. That was the sound of Entropy consuming the spells and George''s body. Surprisingly, the walls remained intact, with only a few scratches. Shang''s body had turned into a withered shell, butpared to the previous asions, he could cope with this state. George had disappeared while the hall remained undamaged. It was as if George had never been there, except for the fact that a part of Shang''s body was missing. Shang slowly lifted his left arm and gazed at the bloody stump. He didn''t need to sacrifice his entire arm to kill George. Just sacrificing his hand had been enough. What a strange sensation, Shang thought. It had happened twice before, yet he still couldn''t grow ustomed to permanently losing a part of himself. ¡°But if that''s the price | have to pay, | ept it.¡± Shang had made the decision to sacrifice his left hand.Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. Shang needed his feet for swift movement and eleration. Without a foot, his speed would decrease, and he would likely be vulnerable to avoidable attacks. Sacrificing organs would be even worse, as they produced and converted life energy. If Shang sacrificed some of his organs, he might lose his ability to regeneratepletely. Ears, teeth, tongue, and other body parts wouldn''t be valuable enough. Thus, Shang opted to sacrifice his left hand. Moreover, the reduction in Shang''s battle strength wouldn''t be as significant as one might expect. Shang retrieved his Subsis, CRKSSSH! And inserted its hilt into his bloody stump. Then, he froze the Subsis into ce and swung it around. He had lost some mobility and flexibility with his sword, but it was still preferable to losing a foot. Once Shang finished experimenting with his new stump, he focused on the newfound knowledge. He had solved a fewplex aspects of the Concept of Transformation, but there was still much for Shang toprehend. The main issue was that time had passed too quickly. He hadn''t had enough time to thoroughly examine Entropy. "| never possessed this power," Shang remarked, turning to the ghostly image of Lucius. "| could only sacrifice Mana without a conscious decision,¡± Lucius¡¯ image said. "| never even attempted to sacrifice a part of myself." ¡°But everything has its pros and cons," the image continued. "If | could have sacrificed a leg to understand the Concept of Transformation faster, | would have done so. At that time, | feared for my friends'' lives and desired power above all else." Shang didn''t respond. In the next moment, several piles of green crystals materialized in the hall. Shang could sense a significant surge in the density of life energy in the room. "| created this trial for future Mages," the image said, "but | also created it for my sessor." "While you''re here, you won''tck life energy or the effects of enhancing your mind." Silence. Shang wordlessly sat down and pulled a few life power source crystals toward him. "Don''t you want to know?" the image inquired. ¡°Know what?" Shang asked, not turning to face Lucius. "Why | summoned the Peak Mage Lord instead of simply instructing you," the image exined. "Commitment," Shang replied. "You knew how much | would have to sacrifice, and you were afraid that | would sacrifice all the smaller parts of my body first before having to sacrifice something significant.¡± ¡°You summoned him because you wanted me to use something significant, so | would bepelled to continue using the already damaged part of my body instead of sacrificing all the minor parts," Shang said evenly, devoid of any emotions. It was as if he were discussing sacrificing parts of his body casually. Silence. "| seem to have overthought," the image conceded. "You''re different from how | was." ¡°What may have posed a problem for me may not be a problem for you." ¡°But what troubles you may not have troubled me," the image added. Shang remained silent. Instead, he pulled out his Subsis from the stump. And then, a small part at the edge of the stump began emitting a faint ck wisp. Shang was gradually sacrificing more of his body, but this time, he was doing it very, very slowly. As the ck wisp came into contact with Mana, it dissipated, but the density of Mana in the room also decreased slightly. Fortunately, Lucius¡¯ image could easily replenish the room with Mana. As Lucius¡¯ image observed Shang, a thought urred to him. ¡°Perhaps if | had been more like him, | would have seeded." Chapter 891 Chapter 891 Time passed. After a couple of years, quite a big chunk of Shang''s stump had already vanished into nothingness. It was a strange feeling to lose a part of oneself. It didn''t even hurt. In a technical sense, Shang never received an injury while he was doing this since he had always been in his peak condition. And yet, experiencing something like this elicited a certain feeling of approaching doom in someone. Anormal human could see this like their arm slowly necrosing. With every passing second, death woulde closer to one''s core. But Shang just continued and kept watching the process. Due to the long time he had watched the Abominations before, he had already made many connections. Even just the name of the Concept had already helped. Transformation. It was one thing turning into another. With Shang''s normal Domain of Entropy, he was turning Elemental Mana into Neutral Mana, but he also had to use his body as fuel. Meanwhile, Abominations could just turn every kind of Mana into nothing without paying a price. It was almost like they were using the Mana around them as fuel to destroy the Mana around them. Yet, something like this was impossible. Shang knew that his abilities were superior to Lucius¡¯ abilities while they had been on simr levels. Lucius hadn''t had ess to the Domain of Entropy until the Peak Ancestral Mage Realm. When Lucius hadprehended the Concept of Transformation, he gained a Domain that would turn all kinds of Mana into Neutral Mana without paying a price. What would Shang get? He already had quite a good guess. More years passed. By now, Shang had beenprehending the Concept of Transformation for 50 years, and his stump had already nearly reached his elbow. But Shang just continued. Another 50 years passed. By now, Shang''s entire elbow was already gone, and he only had about 75% of his upper arm left. On the flip side, Shang had already made sense of most of the Concept. For the first time, the Concept actually seemed understandable and clear. Even more, the several centuries of watching Abominations before this had not been in vain since Shang noticed that a lot of his guesses had proven to be true. His progress was faster than expected, and that was thanks to the many centuries of watching the Abominations. And then, 30 yearster, he finally did it. The ck smoke stoppeding out of Shang''s shoulder, and the life energy inside the crystals stopped being consumed. Shang took a deep breath. Lucius¡¯ image had expected that Shang would take about 200 years toprehend the Concept. But Shang had actually only needed 130 years. It wasn''t that Lucius had underestimated Shang''s talent but that Shang had already spent several centuries watching Abominations.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Without that, Shang would have probably needed to sacrifice a chunk of his torso for the remaining 70 years. Luckily, he only needed to sacrifice his left arm. As of this moment, Shang''s entire left arm was gone, just like his eyes. This had been a brutal payment. Shang stood up for the first time in a long while and directly noticed that his bnce was off. Seeing a nk space where his left arm was supposed to be felt unreal. Shang felt like his arm was still there, and he willed it to touch his head. But nothing happened, and nothing moved. It was such a strange and alien feeling. Then, Shang looked at his Subsis, which was lying on the ground. Shang willed his left arm to pick it up, but nothing happened. Shang had always fought with his Addum in his right hand and his Subsis in his left. He couldn''t swing both of them. All the new techniques he had created relied on two swords. Now, Shang only had one. His fighting style had been crippled. ¡°How do you feel?" Lucius¡¯ image asked. There was a small inkling of empathy and pity in his voice. Shang didn''t look at him. "It doesn''t matter," Shang said evenly. "| have chosen my Path, and all these sacrifices push me closer to its fulfillment.¡± ¡°Using two swords had been a temporary solution anyway." ¡°Ever since | created my four Paths, | had already aimed at one daybining all of them." ¡°First, there were four weapons.¡± "Then, there were two." ¡°And now, there will be one." "| might not be able to realize the full potential of my fighting style, but the other option was death." "| made the correct choice." "And | would do it again." Lucius¡¯ image turned blurrier. "| hope you can fulfill your dream," Lucius said as he vanished. Silence. ¡°My dream," Shang said in a voice that betrayed a feeling of disgust. He hated the word dream. Dream implied something great, happy, and fulfilling. Shang wasn''t sure if his goal fit with either of these three words. But that didn''t matter. This was the Path he had decided to travel down, and he wouldn''t stop until the very end. His Path was for his existence, and his existence was for his Path. Nothing else mattered. Aportal opened beside Shang, but he didn''t walk through it. There was something else he wanted to do first. Shang took a deep breath and focused on the level five Concept of Transformation. WHOOOOM! The next moment, something seemed to break as an apocalyptic storm of Mana shot at Shang. At the same time, the portal closed. Over six million kilometers to the north of Aterium, a humongous storm of Mana appeared. Whirlpools thousands of kilometers wide formed above a seemingly random point in the Eternal Ocean. Millions of beasts died to the natural forces, turning into corpses, which then turned into Mana that flowed down into the ground. And things didn''t seem to calm down at all after that! The storms became bigger and more intense, and after a couple of seconds, the surrounding 100,000 kilometers turned into a world of destruction. All the Mana in the surroundings got pulled into the ground, and even the Beast Lords fled in panic. None of the Beast Lords had ever seen such a gigantic storm of destruction. Finally, about 30 secondster, things calmed down. The water evened out, and the wind stopped. Many kilometers below the seafloor, Shang''s mind returned to the real world. He had consumed his momentum, butpared tost time, he did it on purpose. Chapter 892 Chapter 892 Shang''s logic was simple. Lucius had had a sixfold Spirit Sense. King Sanctified Death had a sixfold Spirit Sense. The God probably also had a sixfold Spirit Sense. So, the only surefire way to get past all of them was to attain a sevenfold Spirit Sense. Shang only had about 850 years of longevity left, but this risk was exactly why anyone else wouldn''t have made this choice. The three other people had gone through a simr transformation, and if Shang wanted a true shot at pushing his Path to the extreme, he needed to do more than anyone else. Especially since he was now missing an arm. After everything had stopped, Shang took note of his surroundings. Everything felt different. Shang couldn''t only sense the Fire, Ice, Light, Darkness, and Death Mana even clearer than before, but he could also feel the other kinds of Mana with rity. He could feel the Earth, Wind, Water, Lightning, Metal, Space, Time, Gravity, and even a tiny bit of Life Mana. Shang knew what had happened.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Previously, Shang had had 100% Affinity for Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness, about 80% for Death, and about 10% for everything else. Now, Shang had about 150% Affinity for Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness, about 130% for Death, and about 60% for everything else. Shang didn''t gain every Affinity, but he was now quite perceptive for every kind of Mana. Additionally, Shang''s mind had strengthened quite a bit. It didn''tpletely reach the level of an Initial Mage Lord, but it was at least double as powerful as the mind of a Peak Ancestral Mage. ¡®Sure enough, the difference between a Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense and one with a sixfold Spirit Sense is massive,¡¯ Shang thought. Lucius and King Sanctified Death had most likely gone through the same transformation. How powerful could someone like King Sanctified Death be after going through such a transformation? Shang had expected that he had been more powerful than King Sanctified Death before going through this transformation, but he now realized that he had been overconfident. How many powerful Spells did King Sanctified Death create? How many Concepts had heprehended? The number was probably beyond shocking. In fact... King Sanctified Death probably knew even more Concepts than some Mage Emperors. Once more, Shang realized that he had made the correct choice. For now, this choice had put him at great risk since he only had 850 years left, but if he managed to get past that, this choice would pay dividends forever. Shang had entered this ce about 250 years ago, and in these 250 years, he hadpletely transformed. Not only had he gained an even more terrifying Affinity, but he had alsoprehended the Concept of Transformation. The powers of the Concept of Transformation were even more powerful than Shang had expected. WHOOOM! Shang activated his Domain of Entropy, and all the Mana around him vanished. Yes, it didn''t turn into Neutral Mana. It vanished! And to top it all off, Shang didn''t need to sacrifice life energy. Sadly, Shang''s Domain of Entropy couldn''t stretch across his entire Spirit Sense. Shang could only turn so much Mana into fuel to destroy other Mana at once. If he wanted to use it at peak efficiency, it would only stretch for about ten meters. Yes, ten meters, not ten kilometers. It was pitifully small, but its power was insanely high. Shang estimated that he could stand still, and every Spell an average Initial Mage Lord shot at him would turn into nothingness before touching him. On top of that, Shang could also control his Domain of Entropy to only destroy Mana with a will on it. This meant that Shang could use his Void Break without any danger since he would only absorb the Mana without a will on it. Lastly, Shang could also make it so that his Domain of Entropy turned Elemental Mana into Neutral Mana. He didn''t necessarily need to destroy the Mana. He could if he wanted to, but he didn''t need to. However, that was only one part of the Concept of Transformation''s power. Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness were like four dots. The Concept of Temperatures was a line that went from Fire to Ice. The Concept of Twilight was a line that went from Light to Darkness. The Concept of Addition was a line that went from Fire to Light. The Concept of Subtraction was a line that went from Ice to Darkness. All of these things created a square. And the Concept of Transformation? It hovered above everything in the middle, and it connected to the four Affinities. The two-dimensional square had turned into a three-dimensional pyramid. Earlier, one point had only been connected to two other points but not to all three. Fire couldn''t directly go to Darkness, and Light couldn''t go to Ice, for example. But Transformation could reach everything, and everything could reach Transformation. Shang could now turn any of his four kinds of Mana and Neutral Mana into any of his other four kinds of Mana or Neutral Mana. Except for Death Mana, Shang could essentially use and transform five different kinds of Mana into anything he needed. On top of that, his Domain of Entropy could turn other kinds of Mana into Neutral Mana, which he could then transform into Mana he could use. Shang remembered his fight against Mervin in the Trial after he fled from the Grandmountain Kingdom''s Mages. Mervin had attacked Shang in many different ways, and Shang hadn''t been able to find an answer that allowed him to block all these attacks at the same time. Then, Shang had managed to create an answer to all these attacks by creating four different Paths with four different weapons, but the problem had then been that he couldn''t use all of them at once. After that, Shang found a way to give an answer to everything, but he needed two swords. But now, with the Concept of Transformation, Shang could answer everything with one sword. As long as he created a fitting sword and fitting fighting style. If he wanted, he could increase the size of his sword by using Ice Mana and increase the weight of it with Light Mana, allowing him to make use of devastating attacks while also essentially acting as a shield. But Shang could also just rapidly move a tiny sword if he wanted. And to top it all off, all manners of swords Shang could create could use all four of his Affinities. Back then, Shang hadn''t been able to think of a way to everbine four different fighting styles into one. It had taken over 4,000 years, but he had done it. The Concept of Transformation. Finally, Shang could create a Path that included all of his powers. Chapter 893 Chapter 893 Above the Eternal Ocean, a portal opened, and Shang stepped through it. Shang had undergone a Transformation, but he looked the same as when he had entered, except for the fact that the left sleeve of his robes was empty. Shang knew where he was roughly. He guessed that he was probably a couple of million kilometers to the north of Aterium, which was outside any kind of human Spirit Sense. Shang assumed that Emperors had a Spirit Sense that could cover a million kilometers in radius, but that would only be true for someone with a onefold Spirit Sense. Most likely, the Lightning Emperor had a fourfold Spirit Sense, which would allow him to oversee his entire Empire as long as he stayed near the middle of it. Even if any Emperor were at the northernmost edge of the continent, they still couldn''t see Shang. Shang''s next goal was clear. He needed to create his seventh Sword Path, which should also be hisst. And then, Shang would push this new Path to such a high level that it would support his breakthrough. Sadly, Shang couldn''t remain in such an isted ce since he also had to ensure that the Lightning Manor survived. So, Shang flew towards the south. As the fire and ice of Comet enveloped Shang, he realized something. His body didn''t heat or cool as much as before, even though it hadn''t be stronger. But this small mystery was quickly solved. Shang realized that his increased Affinities also made his body more resilient to them. It wasn''t too crazy. Shang guessed that his resistance to his four main Affinities had increased by about 30%. That wouldn''t do that much for a battle since an opponent that was actually dangerous to Shang would have to be so powerful that getting hit by any of their Spells would kill Shang ten times over. However, this allowed Shang to use more Light, Darkness, Fire, and Ice Mana. Due to all of that, his speed, defense, and offense increased by a bit. Eventually, Shang reached a ce from which he could contact the Lightning Emperor. Shang took hold of the pin on his chest. "You''re back?" the Lightning Emperor asked. At the same time, Shang felt his bandages react to a powerful presence looking at him. And the next moment, the intensity of the presence increased severalfold. Shang could feel the shock inside the Aura. The next moment, a portal opened in front of Shang, and he stepped through. Naturally, this portal led to the Lightning Emperor''s library, and the Lightning Emperor was looking at Shang with a mixture of shock, pity, and anger. "What happened to your arm?" the Lightning Emperor asked. Naturally, the Lightning Emperor immediately noticed that Shang''s soul had be weaker and that he had lost an arm. "It was the price," Shang said emotionlessly. "The price toprehend the Concept of Transformation." "The Concept of Transformation?" the Lightning Emperor repeated. "Is that the Concept Luciusprehended back then?" "Yes," Shang said. "Lucius left behind some form of intelligent image in the trial, and | had a small conversation with him." The Lightning Emperor''s breathing quickened. It had been so long since he had talked to Lucius, and he missed how it felt to talk to him. "What did he say?" the Lightning Emperor asked. ¡°He said he needed over 2,000 years toprehend that Concept, and he had sacrificed Peak Ancestral Beasts and Initial Beast Lords toprehend how Anti-Magic worked. In total, he sacrificed an entire Mage King of Mana," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath. "It took him 2,000 years?" he asked. Obviously, the Lightning Emperor didn''t care about the Mana Lucius had sacrificed. He was much more shocked that the immortal Lucius had taken so long toprehend this Concept. And yet, Shang hadprehended in 200 years? That made no sense. "Yes," Shang said, "but since | neither had the experience ofprehending Concepts nor the talent in Magic, | needed to comprehend it in some other way." Shang wanted to lift his left arm to show that it was missing, but nothing happened. Once more, Shang felt like this wasn''t reality. It was so bizarre to only have one arm. "| sacrificed my left arm," Shang said. "ording to Lucius'' image, nothing is better than experiencing something myself."Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. "In exchange for my arm, |prehended thisplicated and powerful Concept in merely 130 years. It is a trade | am willing to make," Shang said. Silence. "What about your Battle-Strength?" the Lightning Emperor asked after a while. "| don''t know," Shang said. "I lost ess to one of my weapons, but | am unsure if my Battle-Strength is higher or lower than before." The Lightning Emperor became surprised again. "Higher?" Shang nodded. "I consumed the momentum of the level five Concept." Silence. It was like a heavy hammer had hit the Lightning Emperor''s mind. Consumed the momentum? In an instant, several things shot through the Lightning Emperor''s mind. Shang didn''t have long to live. He had undergone two transformations. Shang was close to death, but he could reach a level of power that was unprecedented. Lucius had only achieved a sixfold Spirit Sense when he reached the Mage King Realm. Due to the Concept of Transformation and the insanely long time one had to train in the Mage Lord Realm, Lucius had managed toprehend a level six Concept when he had only been about 17,000 years old. Seeing that he had 8,000 years left, Lucius had decided to consume the momentum, and the following transformation allowed him toprehend enough level five Concepts to reach the Mage King Realm. Sadly, due to the incredible danger all Mages were in back then, Lucius didn''t have the time to use up his longevity in the Mage King Realm and had to rapidly break through to the Mage Emperor Realm. Lucius had only gone through one Transformation. The Lightning Emperor wasn''t sure about King Sanctified Death. From what he had heard, King Sanctified Death had gotten his sixfold Spirit Sense in the Mage Lord Realm, one Realm earlier than Lucius. Theoretically, King Sanctified Death could have gone through another Transformation when he became the Mage King Realm, but the Lightning Emperor wasn''t sure. Everything about King Sanctified Death''s breakthrough had been kept secret, and only Kali and Adam knew what had happened. Sadly, they had never told anyone. But now, Shang had already undergone two Transformations. And he could go through another one at the Peak Mage Lord Realm. The Lightning Emperor''s emotions truly felt how powerful Shang could be in the future. Yet, before he could feel conflicted, he pushed the emotions to the side. "So, what''s your n now?" he asked. Chapter 894 Chapter 894 "| want to create a new Sword Path with the Concept of Transformation as a basis," Shang said. "If everything turns out well, my missing arm might not even be an issue." The Lightning Emperor nodded. "Do you need anything?" he asked. "| need a Spell that makes it seem like | still have my arm," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor nodded. He didn''t need to ask why Shang wanted that. It was already strange that Shang was missing his eyes, but if he now also missed his arms, the enemies would ask even more questions, and maybe, they would even be able to connect Shang to Lucius. At that point, they might even guess that Shang was the Lightning Manor''s true trump card. ¡°Anything else?¡± he asked. "In about a century, | need strong opponents. The best way to train is to fight. Due to the God''s present, | have enough opponents up to the Early Mage Lord Realm, but | need Mid Mage Lords and Peak Beast Lords as opponents." "Since my new Path is currently still in its infancy, these opponents are still too powerful for me, but in a century, | need a lot of them. Additionally, my opponents will notice that | won''t be using my left arm in a fight, which will create questions. Naturally, | can''t allow the secret of my missing arm to be leaked like this." "That should be everything," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor furrowed his brows as he tried to think of a way to handle all of this. Usually, he would have just told Wester to deal with it, but the Lightning Emperor also didn''t want to inform Wester about Shang''s missing arm. "| will try my best," the Lightning Emperor said. ¡°What about the contract?" Shang asked. "The war one?¡± "Yes." "It''s very robust," the Lightning Emperor said. "I''m barely halfway there, but some others are probably already ahead of me. For now, things are still fine, but in a thousand years or so, the war might be more intense.¡± Naturally, the Lightning Emperor couldn''t directly say that he intended to break the contract. Shang nodded. The next moment, the Lightning Emperor spoke a long andplicated Spell. Amomentter, the image of an arm appeared on Shang''s left side, which then solidified into a seemingly real arm. Shang was surprised when he realized that he could move it around. However, he also realized that the movement was slower, not as fine, and the arm was very weak. "This is a fake arm," the Lightning Emperor said. "| used the Concept of Change to create something that looks and works like an arm, but its strength is weak, and | can''t urately connect it to your soul. It is only interpreting the signals from your nerves, which is vastly inferior to controlling your body with your soul." "You can use it for very basic things, but you can''t fight with it or lift heavy things. Additionally, you have to be careful that you don''t destroy it. There is a small connection inside the bone that pulls life energy from your torso into the arm, which allows it to regenerate, but you have to be careful! If you break the connection, the arm will necrose and die, and you will need a new one." "So, please don''t use it for anything more than scratching your head or lifting a small boulder," the Lightning Emperor said. Shang looked at his arm as he slowly moved it around. Then, he grabbed his lower arm with his right hand and pulled the muscle off. Shang noticed that he felt a slight bit of pain, and he also saw the arm regenerating. "What did | just say?!" the Lightning Emperor shouted. "You Said it''s fine as long as | don''t destroy the connection," Shang said. "| had to see how strong it actually was." The Lightning Emperor only looked at Shang with a dissatisfied expression, but in the end, he just sighed. ¡®It''s about as strong as my body has been when | was somewhere in the True Path Stage,¡¯ Shang thought. "Thanks," Shang said absentmindedly. The Lightning Emperor only nodded, but he didn''t say anything. He was currently thinking about a couple of things. The Lightning Emperor saw Shang as his friend, but he also knew that Shang was very different from Lucius. Lucius was a nice guy that wanted to help everyone. And Shang... well... Shang was different. After the Lightning Emperor had seen that Shang had undergone two Transformations, he actually started to think about the future. Right now, Shang was much weaker than him. But what when Shang actually became as strong as him? Sure, the Lightning Emperor was willing to sacrifice a huge part of the world to go on more adventures, but he didn''t want to destroy the entire thing, and he also didn''t want to die himself. When Shang had all the power in the world, what would he do? What would happen to the world? And then there was this other thing. Maybe Shang was... But then... The Lightning Emperor didn''t like it. He hated having these feelings. He just wanted the world to be simple and uplicated. In the end, he could only sigh. "Shang," the Lightning Emperor said slowly. "Yes?" Shang asked back. "Shang," the Lightning Emperor repeated, "assuming you reach the Ninth Realm and you be the strongest being in this world, what then?" "When you kill the other Emperors and be a God, and after you have killed the current God, what then?" ¡°What happens to the world?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "What will you do?" Silence. "| will leave," Shang said. "| want to be the strongest, and if there is more out there, | want to be stronger than that as well." ¡°What if there is nothing?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "What if this world is all there is? What if you are already the strongest being at that point? What if you are stuck here, just like the current God?"Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Silence. "There must be existence for my power to matter," Shang said after a while. "Being the strongest is my goal, but being the strongest in an infinite void of nothingness is not something | want." "So, | would try to get rid of the Abominations either way." "Maybe I can somehow increase the Mana in the world, elevating its existence." ¡°| want power, but | don''t want to be the only one that''s powerful.¡± "| need enemies. | need life around me." The Lightning Emperor looked at Shang for a while. "What if you can''t leave, there is no way to stop the Abominations, and there is no way to increase the Mana?" "What then?" Chapter 895 Chapter 895 "Then, what''s even the point of this entire conversation?" Shang asked. "If everything is hopeless to begin with, and all of existence is doomed to die to the Abominations either way, what point would any of my actions have?" The Lightning Emperor looked with aplicated expression at Shang. He realized that he had painted a very bleak picture. While he didn''t think that everything would be hopeless and meaningless in that case, he could see that wanting an answer from Shang for such a hypothetical would be intellectually dishonest for judging his actual character. In the end, the Lightning Emperor was kind of relieved by Shang''s answers. Shang was a very dark person with very dark desires, but he was still far better than King Sanctified Death. Even more, even if Shang were... it didn''t matter. Maybe, he wasn''t even the first... The Lightning Emperor felt the conflict of his emotions rising more and more, but he just pushed everything to the side again. "Please, contact Sarah regarding the war. | will deal with all the opponents you will need. The best thing you can do is to buy us enough time to survive to the next phase of the war," the Lightning Emperor said in an effort to end the conversation. Shang just nodded wordlessly. The next moment, a portal opened in front of Shang that led to his Istion Barrier to the north of Aterium, and Shang walked through it. When Shang arrived, he looked at his fake left arm again for a second before contacting the Starlight Queen. "You''re back, Young Master Shang," she said with a polite tone. ¡°| am," Shang answered. "Is there anything you need me to do?" ¡°Not in this exact second, Young Master Shang, but please be prepared to join a couple of battles in the next hours. If everything goes well, Young Master Shang can return to training in peace," the Starlight Queen said. "Okay," Shang said before cutting the connection. Acouple of hourster, a portal opened in front of Shang, and he simply charged through it right into a barrier. The upant readied themselves for a battle, but they were killed before they could even see their opponent. This had only been a Peak Ancestral Mage with a twofold Spirit Sense. Another portal opened as soon as Shang had killed his opponent, and he directly entered the next barrier. In the distance, the Mage Kings grunted in annoyance as they ordered all the Peak Ancestral Mages to retreat from the frontlines for now. After just an hour, Shang had pushed back all the Peak Ancestral Mages again, effectively disabling 50% of the Ancestral Mages of the enemy Empires. "Thank you for your hard work, Young Master Shang. You can now return to training," the Starlight Queen transmitted to Shang. "Can | have a portal back to my Istion Barrier?" Shang asked. "Young Master Shang, it''s COULD | have a portal back, PLEASE," the Starlight Queen said with a slight chuckle. "Please, try to talk in a way that is befitting of your status, Young Master Shang." "Make a portal," Shang said evenly, "or | won''t show up for 500 years." Silence. Ten seconds of silence. "Of course, Young Master Shang," the Starlight Queen said, but her polite tone had a slight undertone of tension to it. Shang arrived in front of his Istion Barrier and entered. He arrived at the middle of his inner Istion Chamber but didn''t close the door. Then, Shang retreated into his inner world, took out his Addum and Subsis, and focused on creating an entirely new Path. The Addum had been abination of Shang''s Colossal Sword State and his Saber State, giving it its unique appearance. The Subsis had been a reduction of the Long Sword State and the Great Sword State. Instead ofbining them, Shang had made an even smaller sword. Now, Shang had tobine his Addum and Subsis. But what would that create? Even more importantly, Shang needed something that could be used with all four of his Affinities. First, Shang decided to gather all of the techniques he had created for all of his swords. His theoretical seventh sword should be able to unleash all of these techniques without any problems. With the Concept of Transformation, Shang could easily transform Mana into whatever he needed. Additionally, with Void Break, Shang could fill his sword with an incredible amount of Mana. It was possible for Shang to fill his sword with Darkness Mana and then transform all the Darkness Mana into Fire Mana with an extreme of heat. And then, Shang needed his sword to assume a form that would be the most fitting. Yet, no matter how much Shang thought, he couldn''t find a perfect form. It was like he was back in his battle against Mervin, where he couldn''t find a way to block everything at the same time since he couldn''t move toward two spots at once. That''s when Shang realized that he was still thinking in his old way. ¡®| should think the other way around. It''s not the Affinity that has to adapt to the sword, but the sword that has to adapt to the Affinity."Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang grabbed his Subsis. WHOOOM! Suddenly, Shang''s right arm shook as it became very hard for him to keep his Subsis stable with only one hand. The Subsis didn''t seem any different from before, but at this moment, it was filled with Light Mana with an extreme of mass. The very fast and nimble Subsis had transformed into an extremely heavy weapon. But its shape didn''t change. The biggest issue was the size and weight of the sword. Shang needed his sword to be wide enough to protect his entire body, but he also needed it to be very light and sharp for a quick thrust. The weight problem could be solved with Light Mana. What about the width? And then, Shang realized something else. The width actually didn''t matter at all since the initial purpose for the width wasn''t relevant anymore. Chapter 896 Chapter 896 "We require your help, Young Master Shang." Shang had just left his Istion Chamber after 150 years when he immediately got contacted by Amarius. "Yes?" Shang asked. "This time, we need you somewhere else,¡± Amarius said. "Please, leave the Istion Barrier so that the Custodian can contact you." "Sure," Shang said before cutting the connection and leaving the Istion Barrier. Some secondster, the Custodian contacted him. "What do you need?" Shang asked. "| need you for the Mage Lord battlefield," the Custodian said. "That''s a first," Shang said. "The Twilight Dusk Empire has started to ramp up their pressure in the Mage Lord battlefield recently," the Custodian exined. "| believe that the Twilight Dusk Emperor managed to get rid of the suppressive effects of the contract first." "The contract is supposed to enforce that Archmages and Ancestral Mages are the most important in the war. That means that nning on taking over an enemy territory via only the Mage Lord territory wouldn''t be in the spirit of the war." ¡°But with the restriction gone, the Twilight Dusk Family is going all out, sending out one Mage Lord after the other." ¡°At the same time, there have been instances of Initial Mage Lords purposefully falling back to the Peak Ancestral Mage Realm to fight in the Ancestral Mage Realm Zones." ¡°Reaching the Initial Mage Lord Realm at 2,000 years of age,prehending Concepts for another 2,000 years with the mental strength of a Mage Lord, and then falling back down to fight for 1,000 years as a Peak or Late Ancestral Mage is a tactic that is obviously not in the spirit of the war." ¡°But they are doing that anyway.¡± ¡°Additionally, we have found that some Ancestral Mages and Mage Lords are using tools created by several other Ancestral Mages and Mage Lords to gain an unfair advantage in battles." "In short, the Twilight Dusk Family is putting an immense amount of pressure on us, and we can''t use the same tactics since we are still suppressed by the contract," the Custodian said. "Seems problematic," Shang answered evenly. "It is," the Custodian answered. "| need you to destroy the one-star Defender g for the Mage Lord Realm of the Twilight Dusk Empire. It''s defended by a very powerful Initial Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense, and she might even have several other small trinkets she can use." "Sending in a Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense would be killing them." ¡°Are you confident in dealing with such an opponent?" the Custodian asked. "No problem," Shang said. This surprised the Custodian quite a bit. Yes, Shang had already jumped levels against someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense, but this was a level jump that also included a Realm jump. There were many disadvantages that came with that, and the enemy probably even had several powerful single- use Spells. Shang obviously wasn''t stupid, and he should know all that. And yet, he was this confident? "Alright," the Custodian said. "Thank you for your service. Are you ready to depart?" Shang nodded. The next moment, a portal opened in front of Shang, and he charged through it. In an instant, Shang shot into the enemy barrier, and the entire world seemed to freeze. The Mage Kings were shocked. Did the menace just charge to his death?! Didn''t he know how brutally they defended that g?! And then, the enemy Mage Kings became excited. He was finally dead! He couldn''t possibly survive that! Winning against the defender of this g didn''t need Battle-Strength but resources! Inside the barrier, Shang stopped for a moment. The territory that a Mage Lord could attack and defend was far bigger than an Ancestral Mage''s territory. An Ancestral Mage could only im and defend a territory with a diameter of 10,000 kilometers. AMage Lord, on the other hand, could im and defend a territory with a diameter of 100,000 kilometers. This meant this barrier had a radius of 50,000 kilometers, and the Spirit Sense of a Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense was 40,000 kilometers. This meant that the Mage Lord could see almost the entire barrier. And Shang? With his 3,000 kilometers? Not much. Stuff like this hadn''t been a problem in Shang''s previous fights since the opponents in the Seventh Realm had always appeared right in front of Shang. But this one? No, Shang would need to get close. Even more, Shang was actually in even more danger than one would think. One had to remember that if any fight continued for over a week, bothbatants would die. So, if the Initial Mage Lord were willing to flee from Shang for an entire week, both of them would die. This obviously wasn''t possible when Shang was fighting Ancestral Mages since he could always see them, but a Mage Lord would be able to see him far earlier than Shang could see them. Then, they could just move in a direction that Shang wasn''t moving in while keeping their distance. Shang''s bandage told him when someone looked at him, but it didn''t tell him from where they looked at him. If Shang''s opponent actually decided to go through with this tactic, Shang would most likely die. But the chances of that happening were very small. After all, the enemy wasn''t prepared for Shang, had a fourfold Spirit Sense, didn''t get any of these orders from their superiors, and was not willing to sacrifice their life. It wouldn''t happen this time, but it was important that Shang kept this in mind for any future fights. After entering the barrier, Shang shot toward the middle. Very quickly, his bandage told him that someone was looking at him, but Shang couldn''t see the person in question. Shang continued flying forward, but no one attacked him. After a couple of seconds, Shang finally managed to see his enemy, but Shang didn''t act like he had seen them already. Only when he was 2,500 kilometers away did he act like he saw them. It was a ck-haired woman with a smirk on her face. ¡°You shouldn''t havee here," she said with an arrogant voice. Then, she summoned 20 small balls and broke them. WHOOOOOOOM! The next moment, 20 different powerful Spells at the Initial Mage Lord Realm shot at Shang. Shang''s opponent didn''t need to cast any Spells.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Hundreds of Mage Lords had already done that for her. She only needed to unleash them. Battle-Strength didn''t matter when someone was shooting an avnche of Spells at someone else. Chapter 897 Chapter 897 Shang just continued charging forward without stopping. It was almost like all these Spells didn''t exist. He didn''t even evade to the side as all the Spells reached him. WHOOOOOM! But then, Shang''s surroundings turned ck. Everything around Shang vanished. Fire Mana, Ice Mana, Space Mana, Time Mana, Death Mana, Life Mana, and even Neutral Manapletely vanished. Shang was literally permanently destroying part of the world right now. The Domain of Entropy. Or, more urately, the True Domain of Entropy! With the Concept of Transformation, Shang had finally gained the same Domain that Abominations used, something that not even Lucius had managed to attain. And if there was one thing Abominations were known for, it was their sheer power. If an Ancestral Abomination fought, it could even fight Mage Lords, and if it exploded, it could even injure Mage Kings. Could this Mage Lord in front of Shang kill a Peak Ancestral Abomination? Whoop! Whoop! Whoop! All the Spells that had beenunched at Shang vanished. Of course not. This Mage Lord couldn''t possibly kill a Peak Ancestral Abomination. The Mage Lord''s eyes widened in shock and disbelief. What? Where had all her Spells gone?! She had justunched over 20 Spells of the Initial Mage Lord Realm! How could her Spells all vanish?! Ironically enough, the very thing that made this Mage Lord unbeatable in the Initial Mage Lord Realm was perfectly countered by Shang''s Domain of Entropy. The Mage Lord overwhelmed her opponents with quantities of Mana. Fighting her was like fighting 20 Initial Mage Lords at once. But that didn''t matter to Shang. Shang''s Domain of Entropy didn''t care about quantity. It only cared about quality and density. Shang''s Domain of Entropy could bepared to Earth''s atmosphere during a meteorite shower. It didn''t make a difference whether there were two or two billion meteors. If the meteors were not big and resilient enough, they would all burn into nothingness. Yet, just one slightly bigger meteor would get through. What was more damaging? A ten-centimeter-wide meteor or a billion one-centimeter-wide meteors? Naturally, a billion slightly smaller meteors would be vastly more devastating. But when they all hit Earth''s atmosphere, only the single bigger meteor would ever hit the ground. Shang''s Domain of Entropy worked like that, and because of that, all of the Spells had been turned into nothing, even though the Mana that had been exhibited was greater than the entire Mana reserve of an Early Mage Lord. SHING! SHING! SHING! In an instant, Shang used several Mana Steps, stopping directly in front of the shocked Mage Lord. Surprisingly, Shang hadn''t even fully used half of his Mana. Shang''s mind had be more powerful, and with it, Shang''s storage of Mana inside his mind had also increased. Shang''s Domain of Entropy surrounded the Mage Lord, and her face turned white as she noticed that her Mana was being consumed at an absolutely terrifying rate! It was like a powerful Fire Mage was shooting a concentrated beam of fire at her Mana Shield! When she realized what was happening, the Domain of Entropy had already consumed 30% of her Mana! And Shang? Shang just stood in front of her. Doing nothing! The Mage rapidly cast a Mana Step. In the time it took her to cast a Mana Step, she had lost another 30% of her Mana! She had lost 60% of her Mana just because Shang was standing in front of her! And as her Mana shot out to create an anchor point in the distance for Mana Step... It vanished. Nothing could leave the destructive Domain of Abominations. No Mana Step, Spell, person, or even a Spirit Sense. As long as these things didn''t reach the standard of an Early Mage Lord, they couldn''t survive the Domain of Entropy. At this moment, the Mage Lord was imprisoned in a world of darkness that she couldn''t escape from. She could only throw onest nce of horror at the expressionless Shang. Her Mana Shield vanished. And then, she vanished. She had died to the Domain of Abominations, just like many powerful Mages before her. However, this Domain was different. The Mage Lord hadn''t noticed it, but the Mana that Shang had been consuming when he had appeared in front of her didn''t disappear. Instead, every bit of Mana the Mage Lord had lost inside Shang''s Domain of Entropy, including her Mana Shield and body, had turned into Neutral Mana, which had been pushed into the surroundings. Since she had been imprisoned in a world of darkness, she couldn''t see the storm of Neutral Mana that had spread throughout the barrier and beyond. In fact, the watching people had noticed that an extremely dense storm of Neutral Mana had shot out of the barrier, and they were quite perplexed by that. The reason why Shang had done this was straightforward. A Mage King would notice if all the Mana stored inside a Mage Lord vanished from the world. Whenever Shang killed someone, their Mana remained in the world. It was stored in body parts, droplets of blood, a scattering soul, ash, or just directly returned to the world to return as Neutral Mana. Naturally, the breakdown of this kind of Mana took a while, and it didn''t create a storm of Mana. Nevertheless, the Mage Kings could feel the presence of that Mana. And if all the Mana of the Mage Lord had vanished, they would immediately be shocked and ask questions. Deleting Mana?Belongs ? to N?velDrama.Org. That was something only Abominations could do! And maybe the Lightning Emperor. But as long as the Mana remained, regardless of form, the Mage Kings wouldn''t connect Shang to the Abominations. And yet, that wouldn''t reduce their shock by much. After all, Shang had just killed a fourfold Initial Mage Lord that had been loaded with unfair weapons. Luckily, the Mage Kings didn''t see in which way Shang had won, or they would have immediately nned to kill him, regardless of the cost! An Initial Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense, someone an entire level above Shang. Equipped with hundreds of one-time-use Spells. Had lost to Shang. And Shang hadn''t even drawn his weapon! Chapter 898 Chapter 898 The barrier slowly turned transparent, and the Mage Kings couldn''t believe what they saw. The menace was still alive! And their own Mage was nowhere to be seen! Then, they realized that the storm of Neutral Mana hade from the Mage Lord''s corpse, and the shock in their mind doubled. This wasn''t something easy to do! One couldn''t just convert someone''s existence into Neutral Mana! At least not someone at that level! Inheritor Spheres obviously could do something like that, but Inheritor Spheres were expensive and very advanced devices that could only be created and used by Mage Kings and stronger. Doing something like that required over four different level five Concepts! Shang was at the Peak Sixth Realm! And he wasn''t even a Mage! How had he done it?! How had he transformed an Initial Mage Lord into nothing but a wave of Neutral Mana?! Also, how was he still alive?! The Mage Kings didn''t evenmunicate with each other since they were still trying to process the things they had just witnessed. And after a couple of seconds, they realized something else as well. The Twilight Dusk Empire had lost their One-star Mage Lord Defender g! Just when Mage Lords started to be important to the war!Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Meanwhile, Shang just turned around and flew back to the Lightning Manor. If Shang decided to ce an Attack g, the Twilight Dusk Family would send a sacrificialmb in to waste time until the g killed both of them. Shang knew that this would be the one and only time he would be fighting a Mage Lord before reaching the Seventh Realm himself. The disadvantage of having such aparatively tiny Spirit Sense was too great. "Good job," the Custodian transmitted to Shang. Shang noticed just the slightest fluctuation and hesitation after the Custodian said good job. The Custodian probably wanted to call him Shang, but then remembered Shang''s demands and wanted to call him Young Master Shang, but then realized that addressing him in such a humiliating way wouldn''t be appropriate right now. So, the Custodian had just said nothing after good job. The Mage Kings felt very conflicted about Shang since he elicited extremes of admiration and disgust. He was incredibly powerful and was responsible for keeping the Judgment Pce out of the war. But he was also apathetic, stubborn, disrespectful, and had outrageous demands. It was like Shang was an omnipotent toddler. They hated him. But they were extremely impressed by him. "Need anything else?¡± Shang asked. ¡°Are you confident in taking down more Initial Mage Lords?" the Custodian asked. "No," Shang said. "If one of them decides to hide and run, | will most likely die." "| understand," the Custodian said. "If you''re not confident, sending you is too risky. | will tell Sarah to contact you." "Sure," Shang said. Acouple of secondster, Shang''s Transmission Medal told him that the Starlight Queen wanted to reach him. "Yes?" Shang asked in a neutral manner. "Young Master Shang, | have heard from the Custodian that you are willing to support the southeastern battlefield?" the Starlight Queen asked with an overly polite voice. "Get to the point," Shang said. Silence. "There are two Peak Ancestral Mages attacking. Go through the portal," she said neutrally. A portal appeared in front of Shang, and he charged through it. Acouple secondster, Shang had dealt with the two attackers, and a portal appeared in front of him without him asking for it. Shang saw his Istion Barrier through the portal and walked through. The portal behind Shang closed, and he was alone in front of his Istion Barrier again. Then, Shang touched the pin hanging on his robes and contacted the Lightning Emperor. ¡°Hey, Shang! What''s up?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a cheerful voice. By now, Shang had gotten used to the Lightning Emperor''s very casual manner of speech. ¡°My progress has, in a way, been very fast and very slow," Shang said. The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times in his office. "| alreadyprehended my newest Impose about 70 years ago, far faster than | expected, but | don''t need my opponents yet. | found a way to make use of my current opponents until |prehend Sword Heart, which should take me about 50 more years. But then, | actually need my opponents. Do you already have something in mind?" Shang asked. "| dealt with everything,¡± the Lightning Emperor said. "I got you a ton of opponents that won''t talk about your powers to others whatsoever, but there are two restrictions." "Which are?" Shang asked. "First, you can''t fight them near your Istion Barrier. You gotta go somewhere else.¡± "Will | be safe from the other Empires?" Shang asked. "No worries, that ce already has a permanent portal installed and a Spirit Sense ry for my personal use. | can get there very quickly and can see everything,¡± the Lightning Emperor said casually. Shang nodded. "The other restriction?" "You can''t kill your opponents. You can decide if you want to give them permission to kill you or not, but you are not allowed to kill them under any circumstance. If one of them dies, everything will be very ugly," the Lightning Emperor said. "| expected something like that," Shang said without any surprise. "Good! Then, contact me again when you''re ready. You can go whenever!" the Lightning Emperor said. "Sure, thanks," Shang said absentmindedly as he cut the connection. Shang entered his Istion Barrier again and continued trying out his sword against the Early Mage Lords and Early Beast Lords in his inner world. By now, the opponents were very easy for Shang to defeat, but as long as he didn''t use any of his Elements or Mana, he could still fight them somewhat evenly. About 50 yearster, Shangprehended Sword Heart for his new sword, and he left his istion. He quickly killed another Peak Ancestral Mage from the Judgment Pce before telling the Lightning Emperor that he was ready. Amomentter, two things happened. First, aplicated and powerful Mana Circle appeared around his fake left arm. The Mana Circle had a powerful restrictive effect on Shang''s left arm, making it impossible for him to move it. But that was exactly the point. If anyone watched, no one would be surprised about Shang not using his left arm. After all, it had been suppressed. The reason probably had something to do with training. Then, a portal opened in front of Shang, and he walked through. Very quickly, Shang realized who his opponents would be, and he realized that there truly shouldn''t be any big problems regarding his secrets. Chapter 899 Chapter 899 In front of Shang were humongous mountains, which were piercing the lightning-filled clouds. Lightning exploded everywhere, and Shang could barely see any flora. But the fauna definitely didn''t disappoint. Shang could feel many Archbeasts and a couple of Ancestral Beasts. Shang immediately knew where this was. ¡®The Thunder King''s ind,¡¯ Shang thought. The Thunder King was the Beast King that lived on the most northwestern ind of the world, and it was part of the Lightning Manor''s territories. Naturally, the Thunder King couldn''t possibly resist the Lightning Manor, so he could only go along with whatever the Lightning Manor wanted from him. Luckily, the Lightning Manor wasn''t very exploitative, and they actually had quite a good rtionship with the Thunder King''s ind. Many Sparks and Boltlings were allowed to travel to this ce and fight the beasts, but there were rules in ce that stopped extremely powerful beasts from killing them but also stopped the humans from exploiting the beasts. Beasts were not nearly as ambitious as humans. As long as they could be stronger and could find a safe ce to retreat, they wouldn''t care for more. Since Beast Lords were about as smart as humans, they also knew that humans vastly outssed and outnumbered them. This actually made them thankful to the Lightning Manor since it stopped humans frompletely eradicating the ind. So, the Beast Lords were quite loyal to the Lightning Manor, and they were not interested in any sort of offer or bribe from another Empire. They had food, their own ce, and could fight in peace. Even if every single Beast Lord saw Shang''s powers, they wouldn''t tell any human that didn''t belong to the Lightning Manor. On top of that, there were plenty of Peak Beast Lords to choose from. An average Peak Beast Lord was about as powerful as an average Mid Mage Lord, but one had to keep in mind that an average Mid Mage Lord had a twofold Spirit Sense. Fighting a Late Mage Lord for Shang would be extremely difficult, and there was a high chance of death for him. Fighting a Mid Mage Lord was still difficult, but Shang would very likely win. So, fighting a Peak Beast Lord was exactly what Shang needed, especially since beasts fought with their bodies. The Lightning Emperor didn''t tell Shang what to do, but Shang could guess what he should do. Shang flew towards the northwest, towards the middle of the Thunder King''s ind. On his way, Shang saw many Ancestral Beasts and even some Beast Lords, but none of them attacked him. Shang didn''t wear the enchanted amulet of someone that was here to fight in the wilderness, but he had the Aura of a Transmission Medal on him. This meant that Shang belonged to the Lightning Manor but wasn''t here to fight, which meant that he was here to meet someone. If Shang didn''t own a Transmission Medal, all the Beast Lords around him would have attacked in unison since he would be counted as an invader. Naturally, there were some people that snuck onto the Thunder King''s ind to illegally kill rare and powerful beasts, but these people were very few. If anyone that didn''t belong to the Lightning Manor entered without wearing the special amulet, the beasts would rm every other beast, and several Beast Lords would quickly arrive to deal with it. Being a poacher was a very dangerous profession in this ce. After flying for a while, Shang felt something extremely powerful looking at him. Naturally, this was the Thunder King, but Shang was too far away to see it. Shang continued flying toward the northwest until he found his target. The Thunder King. The Thunder King looked surprisingly normal. A purple eagle perched on the tip of the tallest mountain of the ind. The eagle was barely five-meters-high, but the Lightning Mana flowing out from it was responsible for the most intense lightning storms in the middle 100,000 kilometers of the ind. The other lightning storms on the ind were the product of the many Beast Lords with Lightning Affinities. Except for its color and size, the eagle looked almost like a normal eagle. Five-meter-tall beasts even existed at the Soldier Stage and were verymon at the General Stage. Compared to the Hadean King, the Thunder King didn''t seem nearly as impressive. However, Shang could tell that the Thunder King was stronger than the Hadean King. The Thunder King had this special Aura of a supreme genius on it, something Shang had never felt before on a beast. Additionally, Shang had felt its gaze on him when he had been around 400,000 kilometers away from it. A beast with a fourfold Spirit Sense? Shang had never even heard of that. Due to its appearance, Shang was naturally reminded of the Storm Eagle. Shang still remembered how he had felt when the gigantic Storm Eagle had shot over Warrior''s Paradise. And yet, the Thunder King was iparably more powerful than the Storm Eagle from back then. Shang could annihte the Storm Eagle with a flick of his finger. And the Thunder King could do the same to Shang. As Shang looked at the Thunder King, he realized something. The chances were quite high that Shang was actually standing before the most powerful beast in the entire world. But how had this beast be this powerful?Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Shang hadn''t even heard of a beast with a twofold Spirit Sense. So, how could there be one with a fourfold one? ¡°Are you that surprised?" Shang was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard the Thunder King''s transmission. The Thunder King slowly turned its head to look at the distant Shang. "The Lightning Emperor told me toe here," Shang answered. "| know," the Thunder King transmitted. The next moment, all the Mana for thousands of kilometers vanished, and Shang''s mind became shocked. Then, a huge barrier appeared at the foot of the mountain, over a hundred kilometers wide. It was an Istion Barrier! And the reason why the Mana had vanished? Void Casting! Finally, Shang understood how the Thunder King achieved such a powerful Spirit Sense! This eagle was a Mage! Chapter 900 Chapter 900 It was a Mage! A beast! AMage! "You''re a Mage?" Shang asked. "Can beasts not be Mages?" the Thunder King asked calmly. "Can beasts below the Beast Lord Realm not be Mages?" Shang countered. The Thunder King threw an emotionless nce at Shang. If Shang hadn''te here under the Lightning Emperor''s orders, the Thunder King would have killed Shang for his answer. So, he did the next best thing. He refused to answer any questions. "Go into the barrier. | will send opponents to you. You are not allowed to kill anyone,¡± the Thunder King said curtly. Shang realized that he had annoyed the Thunder King, but he also didn''t care a lot. His question had already been answered. Naturally, beasts below the Beast Lord Realm didn''t have human intelligence. Sure, there were some beasts that acted like Mages, like Proto-Mages and the Serpents, but they were not Mages. Proto-Mages weren''t experienced or intelligent enough to create really advanced Spells, and Serpents simply followed their instincts. But a Beast Lord was about as intelligent as a human. So, why wouldn''t a Beast Lord be able to learn Magic at that point? Maybe the Thunder King had once asked one of the humans about Magic. Shang could imagine a researcher, like the Myriad King, bing very interested in a beast that wanted to learn Magic. "Don''t send anything below the Late Beast Lord Realm," Shang said. The Thunder King didn''t answer. "If they have the power, they are allowed to kill me, but if any of them try tond cheap shots after | have obviously emerged victorious, | will kill them," Shang said. The Thunder King didn''t show any reaction. Eventually, Shang entered the Istion Barrier and waited. Naturally, since the Thunder King had created the Istion Barrier, it could still see what was going on inside. The only reason why it had created the Istion Barrier was to stop any potentially spying human from watching Shang fight. Inside the Istion Barrier, Shang waited until his first opponent arrived a couple of minutester. It was a silver horse with a long horn, its majestic mane crackling with lightning. Shang was reminded of the Thunder Horse when he saw this one. Obviously, the Thunder Horse couldn''tpare to this one. After all, this one was a Late Beast Lord. Even though the Thunder King didn''t answer, it had obviously listened. Amomentter, the lightning around the horse''s mane intensified and gathered on its horn. This was its way of politely telling Shang that the fight would start now. BANG! Suddenly, the lightning exploded forward. At the same time, the Mana in the surroundings vanished as Shang used Void Break. Avibrating darkness appeared in front of Shang, and the lightning the horse had shot over vanished. The darkness vanished, and the horse saw its lightning being absorbed by a sword. At this moment, Shang held a long and somewhat broad sword in his right hand. It was about 150cm long and about 50% wider than his original long sword. In fact, it looked just like his original long sword, just a bit wider and longer. After many years, Shang had decided on this form for his newest andst sword. Its tip was very sharp, allowing Shang to effectively use it as a thrusting weapon. Additionally, it was long and wide enough to also have a lot of force behind it when swung. However, it was obvious that there were still quite some issues regarding this new sword. It wasn''t wide enough to block Shang''s entire body from view, and it wasn''t small enough to move with maximum flexibility and speed. So, how had Shang solved these problems? By training in something new. When Shang had created the blueprint for this weapon, he had first worked on somethingpletely different. He had worked on controlling his Affinities simultaneously but separately. This was something that many Mages had learned in the High Mage or Archmage Realm, but something Shang hadn''t touched before. Naturally, Shang picked it up rather quickly and included it. Shang had decided to permanently include the usage of Mana in his swordsmanship. Without Mana, Shang''s weapon would actually be quite heavy. It would be just as heavy as Shang''s Addum would be.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. However, by constantly storing a bit of Darkness Mana with an abnormal extreme of void, Shang could reduce the density and weight of the sword. About 10% of a Void Break in Darkness Mana was constantly included in the sword to make it as fast as possible. If Shang wanted the sword to be hefty and strong, he would transform half of the naturally stored Mana into Light Mana with an extreme of mass. This would result in 5% of a Void Break being stored as Light Mana and 5% being stored as Darkness Mana. The weight and density difference would be nullified, returning it to its original weight, the weight of an Addum. With just a tiny thought, Shang could transform the sword in his hand into somethingpletely different. On top of that, Shang had decided to include a tiny version of his Domain of Entropy. Reducing and increasing the weight of something consumed Light or Darkness Mana. That meant that Shang would need to refill it from time to time. But by creating and using just the tiniest and weakest Domain of Entropy, Shang could make it so that his sword absorbed Neutral Mana, which it then transformed into Darkness or Light Mana. As long as Shang''s Domain of Entropy didn''t vanish, his sword would be filled with the Mana necessary to wield it, and since Shang''s Domain of Entropy had no associated cost anymore, it would only deactivate when Shang died. And as for the insufficient width of his sword, it didn''t matter anymore. Any opponent that was dangerous to Shang had power to the degree that Shang would die many times over when hit. Blocking his entire body with a sword didn''t matter. He had his Domain of Entropy, and he could evade. With all of this considered, one could see that Shang''s newest sword was something that only he could use. It needed the True Domain of Entropy and a Light and Darkness Affinity to even work. In the entire world, only Shang had all of these things. Only Shang could use it. At this point, it didn''t matter what name Shang gave this newest sword. It was unique and one-of-a-kind. It couldn''t and wouldn''t be replicated. Therefore, naming the type or kind of sword was redundant since it would be synonymous with the name of the individual sword. And the individual name of the sword was also redundant to Shang. After all, the sword wasn''t its own being. It was just Shang. Shang Sword. Chapter 901 Chapter 901 Shang''s fight against the first beast was a rough one. Naturally, Shang didn''t use his full power since he couldn''t even let a beast see his True Domain of Entropy. Beasts hated Abominations just as much as humans, and if a beast saw that Shang was actually using the power of the Abominations, it might actually decide to kill him. Shang had lost an arm, which had dropped his Battle-Strength by quite a bit, but thanks to his Domain of Entropy, his Battle- Strength had soared again. Yet, without ess to the Domain of Entropy, Shang''s Battle-Strength reduced again. This made this battle almost as difficult as an actual life-and-death battle. Sure, if necessary, Shang could use a bit of his Domain of Entropy, but it was a risk. So, Shang wasn''t in real danger as long as he wasn''t forced to use his Domain of Entropy. As for the tiny Domain of Entropy on his sword, nobody would connect that to the Abominations. Almost all Mages wore clothing and trinkets that pulled Mana from the surroundings to them to increase the recovery rate of their Mana. It was so normal that nobody even talked about it. It was as natural as having two arms and two eyes. Shang''s small Domain of Entropy didn''t seem any different from those trinkets. Even though the fight was very difficult, Shang still won in the end. Shang unleashed his Sword Heart and hit the horse''s neck, cutting it up to the bone. Naturally, since Shang''s sword had been filled with Fire Mana with an extreme of heat, it would have cut through the neck of the horse if he didn''t stop it. The horse''s body was incredibly tough since it was nearly an entire Realm above Shang, but a melee attack filled with a void break of Fire Mana was extremely powerful as well. The horse froze when the hole appeared in its neck. "| won," Shang transmitted to it from a distance. The horse didn''t move for several seconds. Then, it bowed its head and walked out of the Istion Barrier without hesitation. "Send only Late Beast Lords for now," Shang said. The Thunder King didn''t answer. As Shang waited for his next opponent, he thought about the previous battle. ¡®If | had ess to both my arms or my new Domain of Entropy, | could fight a Peak Beast Lord, but with neither of them, I''m stuck with Late Beast Lords.¡¯ ¡®I''ve overestimated my power a bit.¡¯ After a couple of minutes, the next beast entered the Istion Barrier. Surprisingly, this one didn''t have a Lightning Affinity. It had a Water and Wind Affinity, but it wasn''t actually that surprising to meet such a beast here. Yes, this was an ind filled with beasts with Lightning Affinities, but it was also surrounded by the Eternal Ocean. Naturally, beasts with Water Affinities were abundant in the Eternal Ocean. Additionally, the violent lightning and the high mountains created powerful storms. There were probably a couple of beast types that lived on the shores of the ind. 300,000 years was long enough for plenty of different beasts to appear. The new beast was a fish with sharp fins, which was just floating near the edge of the Istion Barrier. Shang wasn''t sure if he had ever seen a fish outside of water, even though they obviously could live onnd. Shang assumed that they probably just preferred living and fighting underwater sincend beasts didn''t have it as easy fighting in the water. Of course, there were also disadvantages for fish fighting onnd. Due to theirck of legs, they couldn''t elerate explosively or rapidly switch directions. However, during the fight, Shang noticed something. As soon as the fight started, two slits appeared on the fish''s belly, revealing two bird legs. Then, its fins extended out of its body until they turned into scaly wings. Lastly, its teeth grew at an angle until they formed a sharp beak. However, its thick fish neck didn''t change, making it seem like its bird head came out of its torso. It had transformed into a weird bird. A fish that could transform into a bird... As soon as it transformed, Shang noticed that it was shockingly fast, and he was forced to rapidly swing his sword just to deal with its advances. Additionally, its weird beak teeth were brutally hard, and it parried Shang''s attacks like it was carrying a powerful spear. Luckily, Shang''s newest sword style could deal with every kind of enemy. It was explicitly designed to fight every kind of opponent that could possibly exist. It had been a while since Shang had fought such an opponent. Shang felt like he was fighting a powerful warrior. Over the next seconds, Shang used Infection to scatter several spots filled with Death Mana on the fish bird''s body. Then, Shang fully focused on defending. If Shang had used the Concept of Purgatory, he could have probably won very quickly since the fish bird was fighting with its teeth beak, which was part of its head. However, Shang wasn''t here to win but to increase the power of his sword style. Shang had decided that he would gain enough momentum to reach the Seventh Realm by solely training with his sword, and that required a ridiculous amount of training. Evenprehending the level after Sword Heart wouldn''t be enough since that would be on the level of a level four Concept. Shang would need toprehend the following level if he only wanted to rely on a single weapon. Shang used the next couple of minutes of fighting the fish bird to increase the pressure he was under.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. He had already used up all his Death Mana, which made the fight that much harder. Eventually, Shang snapped his fingers. BOOOOOOM! The right side of the fish bird exploded, scattering its flesh everywhere. "This isn''t the only one," Shang transmitted. "There are four more on your body. If | detonate all of them, you will die. I''ve won." Then, Shang transmitted the locations of where the Death Mana was located, and the fish bird tore these parts of its body off. Amomentter, Shang detonated these parts away from the fish bird. Shang nodded and motioned for it to leave. Yet, the fish bird didn''t immediately leave. "| want to learn from you." Shang turned his head to the fish bird. It wanted to learn from him? "You wield your weapon with finesse and impressive dexterity," the fish bird transmitted. "I feel it is simr to my weapon." "You are far better at using your weapon than | am at using mine." "Teach me." m willing to serve you." Shang didn''t say anything for a couple of seconds. Chapter 902 Chapter 902 Shang had never thought about teaching a beast how to fight like a warrior. Usually, it was warriors fighting like beasts. However, the Thunder King showed that it definitely wasn''t impossible to teach a beast how to fight like a human. After all, the Thunder King was a Mage. So, why couldn''t the fish bird be a warrior? It was definitely possible. "No." Silence. "Please tell me why," the fish bird transmitted. "| don''t take on any students, and you are neither powerful nor wealthy enough to be of use to me," Shang transmitted. "Ask one of the Mages of the Lightning Manor when they appear. The Lightning Manor also has warriors that fight with weapons. Maybe they are interested in teaching you like they taught the Thunder King." ¡°Are these other warriors stronger than you?" the fish bird asked. "No," Shang answered. "Then, | don''t care,¡± it transmitted. "| am not learning from weaker beings." "Suit yourself," Shang said. "Now, leave! You''re wasting my time!" The fish bird didn''t seem like it wanted to leave. At that moment, Shang''s Aura intensified. "If you don''t leave, | will kill you." The fish bird could tell that Shang was dead serious. After two seconds, it turned around and left the Istion Barrier. Shang recovered the Death Mana he had used, which was quite easy thanks to the level four Concept of Death. About a minuteter, Shang''s opponent entered the Istion Barrier. His next opponent was... The fish bird. "I''m here to fight again," it transmitted. Shang didn''t immediately give an answer. The fish bird was quite powerful, and it even knew about Shang''s Infection now. That probably made it even more powerful than in thest fight. Additionally, fighting against it had helped Shang a lot since it was like he was fighting a powerful warrior. "Fine," Shang said as he readied his sword again. The two shot at each other again and shed. Due to the fish bird''s superior power, Shang had to be on the defensive the entire time, parrying the attacks with his inferior power. The fish bird tried to hit Shang again and again, but the human''s weapon moved in such frustrating ways. It was like it couldn''t fully use all of its power. It knew that one peck with its beak would turn the human into a pile of meat, but it simply couldn''tnd any hit. Shang couldnd some hits, but he couldn''tnd any good ones. Surprisingly, the problem was the small arena. One would think that Shang preferred fighting in a close space, but in this specific case, it was bad for him. Shang wanted to use his Sword Heart to hit the fish bird from the side since its massive beak basically covered the entire fish bird''s front, making it really difficult to damage it. Yet, Shang couldn''t use Sword Heart since he didn''t have time to gather his focus. If the arena were bigger, Shang could use Mana Step to retreat and gather his focus. Sadly, it was only about a hundred kilometers across. So, Shang was stuck withunching several small attacks that didn''t have a lot of power. This was how he had managed to infuse the fish bird''s body with Infection, but this time, the fish bird got rid of the surrounding flesh of any wound that was inflicted on it. Shang thought about using his Concept of Purgatory but decided against it. SHING! Suddenly, a huge part of the fish bird''s beak was destroyed. Shang had used the level two Concept of Death, Weakness.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. But the next moment, green water appeared around the beak, restoring it to its peak condition. The fish bird hadn''t used its Water Affinity before this moment since its natural recovery had been good enough. When Shang saw that it could also recover from that attack, he became frustrated. If Shang used his Domain of Entropy, he would win very quickly since the fish bird''s beak would slowly turn into Neutral Mana, but he couldn''t use it due to the Thunder King. Shang had to use his all to resist the fish bird''s assault. Well, almost his all. There were a couple of things he could use tond some good hits, but they wouldn''t really help him in training his swordsmanship, which was his primary goal. So, the fight just continued. The fight continued for minutes, which was probably one of the longest fights Shang had ever fought. Shang wasn''t allowed to make any mistakes. One mistake and the fish bird''s beak would turn him into a pile of meat. Eventually, they fought for over an hour. Shang had never been in such a long fight before, and he felt more and more stressed as the fight dragged on. Even more, the fish bird was getting better at using its beak! In only one hour, it had already learned to parry! One had to remember that dodging, parrying, blocking, and so on were things that even normal humans could learn. As a Late Beast Lord, the fish bird had a mind on the level of a Late Mage Lord. How long would someone like a Late Mage Lord need to learn to parry? Because of that, the fish bird''s speed of growth was incredible! Just learning the basics of fighting was already increasing its power! Naturally, Shang had already noticed what was going on. Shang had refused to teach the fish bird, but he was doing exactly that. Hispliance didn''t matter. After just a couple of hours, the fish bird''s techniques reached the level of a General Stage warrior. Luckily, Shang could adapt to the fish bird''s new techniques. His sword was designed to counter everything, and Shang simply needed to counter the new techniques. It wasn''t very difficult for Shang toe up with counters for such weak techniques. The main problem had always been and will continue to be the fish bird''s power and speed. However, the fish bird wasn''t the only one making progress. Shang was also making quite a lot of progress. Additionally, since he constantly had to keep his concentration up, his mind was also moving far faster. Yet, since he was that much more advanced than the fish bird, he was making zero progress inparison. Shang found a couple of opportunities to end the fight, but he decided against ending it. Fighting against the fish bird was probably the most efficient method of making progress. And finally, it happened! And it only took a couple of months! WHOOOOM! The intensity of the battlefield increased in an instant. Finally! The fish bird hadprehended its True Path. Chapter 903 Chapter 903 Even though the fish bird had created its True Path, Shang still didn''t have more issues than before. The fish bird was a Late Beast Lord. A couple of techniques from the Fourth Realm didn''t make any difference. The two of them continued fighting for about five years. It seemed like creating an Impose wasn''t very easy for the fish bird, and it would probably need another couple of decades to create one. So, while the fish bird stopped improving in the fight, Shang continued to be stronger. Inparison to the fish bird, Shang was already working towardsprehending something that would allow a normal warrior to reach the Seventh Realm. After another five years, Shang wasn''t on the edge all the time. The fish bird was still insanely fast, but his usage of his sword had improved tremendously. Shang still didn''t know what beyond the Sword Heart was, but he knew that he was making progress. Otherwise, he wouldn''t be growing more powerful right now. Ten years after Shang had started to fight the fish bird, his body suddenly transformed into a weakened husk. Shang became slower and weaker, but thanks to his improvements, he could still resist the fish bird. Acouple of secondster, Shang''s body recovered, and he struck the fish bird''s beak. Nothing seemed to change.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Shang''s body became weak again and struck the beak once more. CRACK! Suddenly, the fish bird''s beakpletely broke apart, and Shang stabbed his sword toward the fish bird''s head. Shang''s sword only buried itself up to the fish bird''s skull before it stopped. However, if he wanted to, Shang could have killed it. Shang had used the Concept of Purgatory to weaken the beak until he could break it. The fish bird knew that it had lost. "Leave," Shang said. "| don''t want to see you for at least a century. If you appear in front of me again, | will kill you.¡± The fish bird looked at Shang with an unreadable expression. CRK! CRK! Then, it turned back into a normal fish, signifying that it wasn''t interested in battling anymore. Although, that might not have been the correct phrase. It definitely wanted to fight Shang again, but it also didn''t want to die. Shang had improved tremendously in thest decade, but he couldn''t keep fighting the same opponent again and again. He needed variety to improve different parts of his swordsmanship. Acouple of minutester, Shang''s next opponent appeared. This one was quite a tall and powerful fortress of a tortoise. Inparison to the other beasts, this one wasn''t the biggest fan of keeping its body size suppressed, and it took up nearly half of the Istion Barrier. This meant that the tortoise could barely move inside the Istion Barrier. ¡®Earth and Metal Affinity?¡¯ Shang thought as he felt the Mana around the tortoise. ''l expected to only fight beasts with a Lightning Affinity here, but now, we got another outlier.¡¯ Shang quickly noticed that this opponent would also be quite difficult to beat but for an entirely different reason. In order to win against the fish bird, Shang needed to improve his speed and defense, but both things wouldn''t help him a whole lot against the tortoise. This time, Shang would need to increase his power. As soon as the tortoise fully entered the Istion Barrier, Metal and Earth Mana gathered all over its shell. BOOOOM! In an instant, rocks and pieces of ore exploded out of the turtle, right at Shang. Shang didn''t have a lot of trouble avoiding all the projectiles since they were not that fast, but he also couldn''tpletely rx. Just like with the fish bird, Shang couldn''t allow himself to get hit by anything. Even though it was shooting many projectiles at Shang, he actually had some opportunities to use Sword Heart since its assault wasn''t as relentless and urate as the fish bird''s. CRRRRRRK! Shang hit the tortoise''s neck, but he could only cut through about 10% of it. Even more, the cut was sealed with a mixture of earth and metal just momentster. The next time, Shang tried to hit the tortoise''s body with a real physical sh, but the speed and number of projectiles increased the closer he got. Sure, he could still get close and attack, but he couldn''t gather enough power to actually injure the tortoise significantly. The next moment, Shang decided to use Infection, but before it could reach any significant power, the part that Shang hit was cast off. The tortoise''s body acted like the teeth of a shark. All the rock and metal on its body kept expanding until it ultimately fell off. Shang wasn''t sure if this was normal for the tortoise or if someone had told it about Shang''s attack. Nevertheless, Infection became useless. So, Shang decided to use Injection and ce an Infection very deep inside the tortoise''s body. It took longer, but even that part eventually fell off the tortoise''s body. It was almost like the tortoise wasn''t a beast but some kind of elemental construct. When Shang got that thought, he decided to try something. Shang used Needle to infuse the tortoise''s head with Purgatory. But nothing changed. The tortoise didn''t even show a sign of slowing down or being confused at all. | think this entire thing is actually just armor,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®This probably means that the real beast is somewhere inside the tortoise." That was quite a clever tactic. As long as no one had enough power to prate the thick armor, the beast would be safe. Obviously, this tortoise''s goal was to win in a war of attrition. It couldn''t be killed, and it wouldn''t stop attacking. As long as it kept fighting, it would eventually win. At first nce, this seemed to be a perfect strategy as long as the enemy couldn''t escape from the battle. However, after knowing what was going on, Shang knew what he could do. Suddenly, the air around Shang shone in a bright light before grey waves started toe out of his body. And then, the tortoise stopped attacking. Shang was just standing in front of the tortoise, but it wasn''t doing anything. BOOOM! And then, it resumed attacking, but this time, it didn''t perfectly target Shang. It was shooting its projectiles in random directions. Chapter 904 Chapter 904 Shang was still visible, but the tortoise couldn''t sense him. That was because Shang had used the Light and Darkness Concepts to hide from Spirit Senses. Yet, if one had eyes, they would still be able to see him. But since the true tortoise was buried inside the thickyer of armor, it couldn''t look at Shang with its actual eyes. This essentially made Shang invisible to the tortoise. At least until it somehow managed to look at the real world with its eyes. And if it did that, Shang would very quickly realize where the real tortoise was. The pressure on Shang''s back reduced by a lot, but he still had to avoid the projectiles. In a certain way, avoiding the projectiles now became even more draining on his concentration since he couldn''t anticipate a projectile''s trajectory anymore. After all, it was random. But Shang still preferred it this way. Shang recovered his Death Mana and used Injection to get as deeply into the tortoise as possible, but he could barely prate just a couple of kilometers of its ridiculously thick armor. Once more, Shang couldn''t win the battle because his Affinity couldn''t be revealed. If he could use his Domain of Entropy, he could dig through the tortoise''s body while weakening the projectiles so much that his body could resist them. Additionally, if Shang could use Fate, he could easily bisect the tortoise, which would allow him to pinpoint the location of the real beast. But as things stood now, he didn¡¯t have enough power to break through the armor. The stone and metal that the tortoise left in the arena quickly turned into Earth and Metal Mana again, which rapidly got reabsorbed by the tortoise. Shang could try destroying the will on the Mana, but that wouldn''t do a lot. The tortoise would just absorb more Mana from the ground and air. After he considered all of this, Shang was actually d that he had such an opponent. This tortoise allowed Shang to work on his offense without being just a target dummy. ¡®The fish bird was a perfect opponent, and now this tortoise is also a perfect opponent. Is this just a coincidence?¡¯ Shang wasn''t sure. It was possible that the Thunder King was sending in just the right opponents. Shang continued fighting against the tortoise for several years,unching one attack after the other. He was using the tortoise''s armor as a way to gauge how strong his attacks were, and it proved to be quite helpful. As the years passed, Shang managed to get deeper and deeper into the tortoise''s body. After 20 years, Shang managed to get two kilometers deeper than before. Assuming the real tortoise was in the middle of the bigger tortoise''s body, Shang only needed to get through another six kilometers of armor. Every time, Shang used a perfectly prepared Sword Heart with all his Death Mana using the Concept of Weakness. Another 20 yearster, Shang managed to get another two kilometers deeper. Inparison to the beginning, Shang''s attacks had be nearly twice as strong, which was a far bigger improvement than he had expected. He wasn''t using more Mana, and his body also hadn''t grown in power. And yet, somehow, his offensive power had increased by this much. What had changed? Shang analyzed the power of his attacks for a long time. It was very difficult to say what had changed. Inparison to learning Concepts, walking further down the Path of Sword consisted of less theoretical knowledge and more instinctual movements and feelings. Shang just felt morefortable with his attacks, and they also felt more "correct". One time, Shang tested the power of his attacks without using any Death Mana, and what he saw shocked him. Barely anything! The power of his normal attacks had barely increased in thest 40 years! At most, they were 10% stronger. That obviously couldn''t bepared to the 100% increase in power with Death Mana. That was when Shang changed his thinking. Shang was definitely making progress on the Path of Sword, but his progress wasn''t as fast as he had thought. Or maybe, the progress just didn¡¯t have as much of an impact. But when it came to attacks with Death Mana, his progress was astounding. This meant one thing. Shang wasn''t only progressing on one Path. He was progressing on two Paths, at least. Shang decided to continue training like this, and ten yearster, a subtle change urred. Shang''s power stopped increasing. His power had reached some kind of ceiling. Yet, he continued training like this. Ten yearster, Shang''s power barely increased by maybe 2%. But Shang continued. In the next 50 years, Shang''s power increased by maybe 5%. 50 yearster, maybe another 5%. Shang had entered a rhythm, and he continued attacking absentmindedly. Once more, Shang unleashed an attack without Death Mana. Its power had increased by a bit, but not by that much. However, after Shang felt his attack connect, he felt something. There was something different about this attackpared to his normal attacks over a century ago. When he had used Death Mana, Shang hadn''t felt this difference since it was very subtle and since the Death Mana was overshadowing it. Shang released another attack without Death Mana, and the subtle sensation appeared again. There was something.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Something else. Something Shang had never felt before. It was a bit like Mana, but it wasn''t Neutral Mana, and it wasn''t any kind of other Mana. No Neutral, Fire, Earth, Wind, Water, Ice, Lightning, Metal, Light, Darkness, Space, Time, Gravity, Life, or Death Mana. Thanks to his Transformation, Shang could feel all kinds of Elemental Mana, and he was sure that this kind of Mana didn''t belong to them. But it felt like Mana. It had the properties of Mana. Where did ite from? Shang followed the feeling and watched as the Mana appeared on his sword. He wasn''t sure where it came from. BANG! BANG! BANG! Shang rapidly attacked the tortoise in an avnche of attack, trying to summon as much of this kind of Mana as possible. This barrage of attacks continued for a couple of seconds. And then, Shang realized something. His mind was growing weaker! This meant that this weird kind of Mana was using the Mana stored inside his mind! So, Shang actively used the Mana in his mind and summoned the sensation of this new kind of Mana. BOOOM! It was like a floodgate had been opened, and a rapidly moving grey mist appeared around Shang''s sword as he felt the Mana in his mind quickly diminish. Now, Shang could feel the Mana very clearly. It was Mana, but it wasn''t any kind of Mana he had ever seen before. It felt extremely sharp. Just like a sword! Sword Mana! Shang lifted his sword and attacked the tortoise again. BOOOOM! All the Sword Mana on Shang''s sword vanished, but the power of his attack had increased by over 50%! Shang finally understood it. His Mana entered his sword, which was then transformed into Sword Mana, and Sword Mana increased the power, reach, and sharpness of his sword without increasing its weight. So, this was the level after Sword Heart. Sword Mana! But this was not where things ended. As soon as Shang understood the existence of Sword Mana, something else also became clear. Shang summoned his Death Mana and fused it with his Sword Mana. Instantly, the Sword Mana turned ck and stopped moving. It was like a de of obsidian had appeared around it. Even more, the unstable Sword Mana and the unstable Death Mana seemed to connect with each other, creating something that was stable. Shang attacked the tortoise once more, and what he saw shocked him. His attack was as powerful as when he used Death Mana with the Concept of Weakness. However... The mix of Death Mana and Sword Mana on his sword was still there. It hadn''t been used up! Shang refilled his storage of Death Mana. During that time, the mix of Sword Mana and Death Mana reduced by about 20%. It wasn''t permanent, but it held for quite a while. Shang put more Sword and Death Mana into his sword, but the mix of Sword and Death Mana only returned to its earlier amount. It wasn''t possible to add more Sword and Death Mana. But Shang quickly found the reason. His sword could only create so much Sword Mana at once. But the same wasn''t true for Death Mana. Shang added anotheryer of Death Mana with the Concept of Weakness on top of his sword. Now, his obsidian-like de also had a ck glimmer on its edge. Shang attacked the tortoise. SHING! And bisected it! Chapter 905 Chapter 905 Shang cut off the front half of the tortoise, and immediately, the battle stopped. Luckily, the true tortoise had been well in the back half since enemies tended to attack the chest and neck more often than the ass. Amomentter, Shang reappeared as he stopped using his Concepts of Light and Darkness. "The fight is over," Shang said. Then, Shang turned around and flew out of the Istion Barrier. After the fight had ended, it no longer stopped him from leaving. Shang''s Spirit Sense locked onto the Thunder King. "I need some time to think, and | need to go back for a while. | will return later." The Thunder King didn''t answer. Apparently, it was still annoyed by Shang''s earlier disrespect. Shang simply took to the sky and flew towards the southeast. On his way, he thought about everything he had just learned, and he realized something. "Sword Mana is definitely the level above Sword Heart, but the infusion of my Death Mana in Sword Mana is not part of it.¡¯ ¡®This must be something separate.¡¯ ¡®Sword Mana on its own already increases my power by a lot, but with the addition of Death Mana, it became even more powerful." ¡®It doesn''t feel like something on the level of a level five Concept, but all of this is stronger than a level four Concept.¡¯ ¡®| believe Sword Mana is on the level of a level four Concept, and the infusion of Mana into Sword Mana is probably also on the level of a level four Concept.¡¯ ¡®It makes sense. Mages canprehend different Concepts rted to their Affinities, but if a warrior wanted a twofold Spirit Sense, they need toprehend entirely different weapons." ¡®That''s like asking a Mage toprehend a Concept from a separate Affinity.¡¯ ¡®There must have been a way to get a severalfold Spirit Sense without having toprehend different weapons, and | think this might be one of those ways." One couldn''t forget that Shang was literally creating his own Path and that he didn''t know a lot about the different Paths of the past. Shang knew some general things, but the specifics were still unknown to him. Over the million or so years ever since the apocalyptic beasts had been killed, how many things had the different Paths created? How much knowledge had been lost? Was there a way to get a fourfold Spirit Sense while only using a single weapon in the True Path Stage? There had to be. Using different weapons for an increase of a Spirit Sense was part of the Weapon Master Path, not the warrior, barbarian, or even berserker Paths. There must have been ways to increase someone''s Spirit Sense without having toprehend things from different Paths. Mages could do this. So, why couldn''t the other Paths as well? After Shang left the ind of the Thunder King, he used his pin to contact the Lightning Emperor. "Oh, Shang! What''s up?" the Lightning Emperor asked. "| haveprehended two things, and | want to know more about them. You know about the other Paths, right?" Shang asked. ¡°Of course," the Lightning Emperor said. The next moment, a portal appeared, and Shang stepped into the Lightning Emperor''s library. Shang walked over to the table in the middle and sat on one of the chairs. "So, what did you learn?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a friendly chuckle. Seeing Shang learning new things reminded the Lightning Emperor of his own youth. He missed the times when he could see and learn new things. Sadly, these times were over, but with enough luck, they might return in the future. Shang summoned his sword and showed it to the Lightning Emperor, who looked at it with expectation. The next moment, grey Mana appeared on the sword. "Ooohhh," the Lightning Emperor uttered. "Weapon Mana." Shang nodded. For once, his name and the actual name were the same. He was quite certain that Weapon Mana for a sword was called Sword Mana. The next moment, the Sword Mana turned ck and solid. The Lightning Emperor''s eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Oh wow," he said. "You''re a fast one." "Do you know what this is?" Shang asked. The Lightning Emperor nodded without hesitation. "Just to be sure, this is Sword Mana and Death Mana, right?" Shang nodded. "Back then, we called this Weapon Infusion," the Lightning Emperor said as a book flew over to him from one of his bookshelves. ¡°Weapon Infusion is on the same level as a level four Concept, and it''s a non-essential Destination for Warrior Lords." "Non-essential Destination?" Shang repeated. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "Back then, warriors talked about their Paths in a more literal sense. They viewed their Paths as literal journeys." "In theory, if we ignore the Mana shortage in Aterium, a Mage only needs to learn one Concept per level to be a Mage Emperor." ¡°Let''s just use Lightning as an example. After a True Mage learns the Concept of Spark, they can be a High Mage." ¡°After they learn the Concept of Maism, they can be an Archmage." "After the Concept of Shock, Ancestral Mage." "Concept of Bolt, Mage Lord." "Concept of Lightning, Mage King." "Concept of True Lightning, Mage Emperor." This was the first time Shang had heard the name of one of the level six Concepts, but he didn''tment. "Instead of calling their checkpoints and requirements level something Concepts, warriors call them Destinations. However, they didn''t call them Destination one, two, and so on. No, that would be far too easy and convenient," the Lightning Emperor said with a chuckle. "Instead, they call them essential or non-essential Destinations and use the Realm they could reach afterprehending one of their Destinations." "In your case, Weapon Mana is an essential Destination for Warrior Lords. That means that you mustprehend Weapon Mana if you want to be a Warrior Lord. Without Weapon Mana, you can''t be a Warrior Lord since all the non-essential Destinations on the Warrior Lord level need Weapon Mana as a basis to work." ¡°Without Weapon Mana, you can''t use Weapon Infusion, but you can use Weapon Mana without Weapon Infusion. That''s why Weapon Mana is essential, and Weapon Infusion isn''t." Shang nodded. "I understand."Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Read it," the Lightning Emperor said as the book from earlier flew over to Shang. "It''s a quick read." Shang opened the book and rapidly read through it. It barely took a couple of seconds since the content of the book wasn''t hard to understand. The book basically analyzed and exined Weapon Infusion, which basically answered all of Shang''s questions. Chapter 906 Chapter 906 Shang thought a bit about his Weapon Infusion and if he should do more with it. Weapon Infusion was abination of a kind of Elemental Mana with Sword Mana. The result would stabilize the Sword Mana and give it the properties of the Elemental Mana. This also exined why Shang''s attack had been so powerful. Shang had infused his sword with Death Mana using the Concept of Weakness, creating a de with the properties of the Concept of Weakness. Naturally, it was possible to also infuse it with other Elements. For example, Shang could also infuse his Sword Mana with the level three Concept of Incineration, which would create an intensely hot de that could burn through whatever it hit. However, just because someone could do something didn''t mean that doing it was the most optimal thing to do. ording to the book, there were many applications for different Elements, but due to how Weapon Infusion worked, some Elements were better than others.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. For example, infusing Sword Mana with Ice Mana barely made any sense. Yes, the de would be very cold, but the actual damage it could deal was even worse than just using Sword Mana and Ice Mana simultaneously withoutbining them. The same thing was true for Lightning Mana. But there were still many Elements that were useful. Especially the Metal Element. The level one Concept of Metal was Sharpness, and infusing Sword Mana with the Concept of Sharpness was already very strong. It straight-up just made the sword sharper without any side effects. The book said that the level five Concept of Metal, Destruction, was the holy grail for warriors. If a warrior were born with a Metal Affinity and managed toprehend Weapon Infusion and the Concept of Destruction, they would be a fearsome opponent. The level five Concept of Light, Laser, was also great. Someone that hadprehended Weapon Infusion was most likely already a Warrior Lord, and a Peak Warrior Lord could already attempt toprehend level five Concepts. This was why level four and level five Concepts were all the rage when it came to Weapon Infusion. Naturally, the book didn''t even mention Life or Death Affinities. They were so rare and unknown that the author basically knew nothing about them. However, Shang could tell that the level four Concept of Death was insanely useful for Weapon Infusion since it increased the power of the Concept of Weakness to insane lengths. In a way, the Concept of Weakness could be considered a brother to the Concept of Sharpness. The Concept of Sharpness increased the power of a weapon, while the Concept of Weakness decreased the power of the target. Sadly, infusing more than one Element wasn''t possible with Weapon Infusion, but the book also said that it wasn''t impossible. The book just said that this was something for Warrior Kings, which probably meant that infusing more than one Element into Weapon Mana was a non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings. Shang decided that it would be a waste of time to limate his other Elements to his Sword Mana. Apparently, limating more Elements to Weapon Mana took, on average, about half as long as doing it with the first Element. So, Shang would probably need like 70 years or something like that to limate one of his other Elements. For what? It wasn''t like he couldn''t use his other Elements any more. Weapon Infusion simply increased the power of his weapon. He could still use all his other attacks while Weapon Infusion was active. And the Concept of Weakness was undoubtedly the best option in almost every case. Shang wouldn''t spend his time on something like that. Especially when there were a couple of other things Shang had seen in there. When the book talked about the bad Affinities for Weapon Infusion, like Ice and Lightning, it also talked about a non-essential Destination where those two excelled at. It was called Weapon Transformation, but the book didn''t talk about it a lot. However, the book had twoments about Weapon Transformation. First, Weapon Transformation could increase the power of Weapon Infusion and vice versa. Second, learning Weapon Transformation made it easier toprehend the essential Destination for Warrior Kings. Shang closed the book and turned to the Lightning Emperor. "| want to learn about Weapon Transformation.¡± The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow. "| thought you wanted toprehend everything yourself.¡± "| never said that," Shang said. Silence. The Lightning Emperor blinked a couple of times in surprise. "The Custodian said he didn''t want to influence my Path, which was why he didn''t tell me anything," Shang said. "On top of that, there is nobody | could have asked. Lastly, | already knew what | wanted toprehend most of the time." "This time, | want toprehend Weapon Transformation." ¡°After consuming my momentum, | can feel that | now need even more momentum to reach the next level. With just Void Break, comprehending Sword Mana and Sword Infusion would have been enough to reach the Seventh Realm." ¡°But now, after using up the momentum afterprehending the Concept of Transformation, | can feel that | am still missing momentum.¡± "| need a third level four Concept or something simr, and Weapon Transformation sounds like the best way." "Huh," the Lightning Emperor uttered. "That makes sense, actually.¡± Then, the Lightning Emperor actually scratched his chin as he fell into thought. "Say, Shang," the Lightning Emperor said after a while. "How long did you take to learn Weapon Mana and Weapon Infusion?" ¡°About 150 years or so. | should have something like 500 years of longevity left," Shang said. ¡°Two non-essential Destinations for Warrior Lords in 150 years,¡± the Lightning Emperor said. "That''s really fast. It''s like a Peak Ancestral Mageprehending two level four Concepts in 150 years. It''s basically unheard of." ¡°What if youprehend Weapon Transformation in 100 years? Then, you have another 400 years left." "If you can essentiallyprehend three level four Concepts in 250 years or so, wouldn''t it be possible for you toprehend a level five Concept in 400 years?" ¡°After you get Weapon Transformation, you should have enough momentum for the next Realm. At that point, you''re not in danger anymore." "So, why not try it?" Shang remained silent. Comprehending something asplex as a level five Concept in 500 years... That sounded impossible. And yet... Hadn''t Shang already achieved simr feats? Chapter 907 Chapter 907 BANG! Shang cut through a huge beak, destroying it in one strike. The beast in front of him immediately jumped back in shock and looked warily at him. It was the fish bird. Shang had returned from the Lightning Manor after dealing with a couple more Ancestral Mages. As soon as Shang had returned, the fish bird immediately came back to fight him. It hadprehended Impose, and it wanted to finally beat Shang. Thest couple of times, it hade so close. With Impose, it should now be able to win, right? Sadly, Shang immediately broke its beak with Sword Infusion. Speaking of, Shang had decided to give his Sword Infusion a fitting name. Death Sword. Death Sword could remain active for the entirety of a battle, essentially turning it into a kind of permanent upgrade for his sword. The speed of Shang''s sword didn''t increase, and its hardness or weight also didn''t decrease or increase. It literally only increased a single thing. Sharpness. With his Death Sword, Shang now had the least problems with beasts that focused on defense. The fish bird had been an issue due to its speed but also because its beak had been too hard for Shang to destroy. But with its beak destroyed, the fish bird stopped being a problem. "The fight is over," Shang said emotionlessly. The fish bird knew that it couldn''t fight Shang anymore, but it was still difficult toe to terms with reality. Their powers had been about equal 150 years ago, but now, there was an incredible gap between them. The fish bird felt like it hadpletely transformed into a different beast afterprehending Impose. Its power had increased by so much!Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. In fact, it had already fought a couple of Peak Beast Lords and even won! But Shang just destroyed it! One had to know that the fish bird''s beak was incredibly hard. None of the beasts had been able to break it yet. But Shang just destroyed it. The fish bird knew that it had to leave and that it most likely wouldn''t get another opportunity to fight Shang. "What can | do?" the fish bird asked. Silence. "What can | do to be even more powerful?" it asked. Shang remained silent for a couple of seconds. ¡°Continue training," Shang said, "and you need to focus on your mind as well. Your weapon and your mind must be one." ¡°Now, leave," Shang ordered. The fish bird quickly lowered its head and respectfully walked backward out of the Istion Barrier, showing its gratitude. Originally, Shang didn''t want to help this random beast, but for some reason, he wanted to. Maybe the beast''s relentless efforts in training reminded Shang of himself. Inparison to all the students he had epted in his life, the fish bird had been the most hardworking. All the students from Icy Bastion had always just wanted to go to their families and waste time with their loved ones. While they were doing that, Shang had been training with his sword. And the fish bird was just like that. From what Shang could tell, it had been training relentlessly, and he even considered its speed of advancement passable. Over the next couple of minutes, Shang fought five other Late Beast Lords. While the battles didn''t end instantly, they hadn''t proven to be of any danger to Shang. "Thunder King, send in Peak Beast Lords," Shang said. "Fine." Surprisingly, the Thunder King answered this time. Maybe it was because Shang had actually given the fish bird a little helping hand? Nevertheless, the Thunder King had answered, and a couple of minutester, the first Peak Beast Lord entered. Peak Beast Lords counted as the most powerful beasts in the world, except for the 50 or so Beast Kings. The Thunder King''s ind probably had over 100 Peak Beast Lords, which was quite a lot. Naturally, the Peak Beast Lords had brutal rivalries with each other, and they all wanted to be second inmand. When Shang saw the silver bird filled with lightning enter the Istion Barrier, he could immediately tell that the Thunder King had sent in one of the weakest Peak Beast Lords. Its Aura was supremely average. And yet, the fight was more difficult than his fight with the fish bird. The reason was that the bird fought from a distance while rapidly fleeing from Shang''s attacks. Naturally, due to the rtively small size of the Istion Barrier, Shang could still hit the bird, but he could only use his weakest attacks with the longest range. Sadly, Shang''s Death Sword couldn''t show its power with these attacks. It could only show its power with Sword Heart or if Shang physically hit his opponents with his sword. Since the bird was always as far away from Shang as possible, Shang couldn''t use either of these two things, leaving him with his unique ability to hit his opponents from 3,000 kilometers away. Luckily, the bird''s defense wasn''t the best, and Shang''s attacks eventually exhausted it. Naturally, the bird had also attacked Shang with several powerful bolts of lightning from a distance, but Shang managed to deal with them with Refraction, an ability he hadn''t used in a very long time. Refraction split energy-based attacks apart, dispersing their power over a bigger area. It had originally been used with Shang''s Colossal Sword. However, the Refraction Shang had used just now was different from the Refraction of his Colossal Sword State. Back then, Shang had only been able to disperse the powers with Light Mana, but now, Shang could also use Darkness Mana to destroy the will on the energy-based attack, making his ability to disperse attacks vastly more powerful. Nevertheless, due to the vast difference in their Realms, Shang still received a couple of injuries, but they weren''t a big deal. Winning against the bird hadn''t been that hard, which confirmed Shang''s suspicion that the bird was one of the weakest Peak Beast Lords. Its speed was pretty good, but its defense was weak. Additionally, the lightning bolts it had fired at Shang were also not the strongest. Eventually, the bird left, and Shang waited for his next opponent. Chapter 908 Chapter 908 Shang''s next opponent was another beast with a Lightning Affinity, but it also wasn''t the most impressive. It was a white ape that was using a huge club. It mostly used its Lightning Mana to increase its speed. Sure, the white ape was pretty fast, but its defense was horrible. After avoiding a couple of attacks, Shangunched an attack of his own, and the battle ended. However, Shang had felt more pressure in this fight than in thest since he had been forced to rapidly defend many times before he couldunch his own attack. The sheer power and speed of these beasts had reached such levels that Shang was immediately bombarded by an avnche of attacks, and if he got hit once, he would explode into a shower of blood. It was a lot of pressure. Shang fought a couple more battles, and the beasts became more powerful and more dangerous. He was going up the rankings of the ind. Eventually, Shang found some opponents that could genuinely threaten his life. While his attacking power had reached levels where Shang could also kill these powerful beasts in one strike, his speed, and defense were brutallycking. "This is not the battle | want," Shang suddenly transmitted to his opponent. The white wolf in front of Shang stopped attacking, waiting for an boration. ¡°Right now, we are evenly matched," Shang said. "However, you are not the opponent that will help meprehend the thing | want toprehend." The wolf''s stance changed to a casual one. "You are conceding?" "If that is the only way to get a different opponent, yes," Shang answered. "| don''t care about who is more powerful between us. | care about bing stronger, and you are not the beast that can help me achieve this at this moment." The wolf nodded. It was in the middle of the rankings of Peak Beast Lords on the ind, and it was only interested in keeping its ranking. Having Shang concede was enough for it. Killing other beasts was rare on these levels since almost all fights were between beasts that were evenly matched. As long as one beast admitted that it was weaker than another one, there was no reason to kill it. Peak Beast Lords couldn''t be Beast Kings due to the Mana. Because of that, consuming other beasts no longer had any use or value. Additionally, many of these beasts had known each other for a long time. As long as the rankings were clear and everyone acted ording to their ranking, there were no problems. Inparison to most of the time, Shang knew what he wanted toprehend and what abilities he would unlock. And he also knew that this opponent wouldn''t be very helpful.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. The wolf left, and a white tiger entered. After some seconds of fighting, Shang also conceded to this opponent for the same reason. Finally, after five more opponents, Shang actually got one that would help him. It was a Lightning Serpent, and it was essentially a superior version of the first lightning bird Shang had fought. While its speed was a bit slower, its attacks were truly devastating, and it actually had a couple of ways to block Shang''s weak ranged attacks. Shang was under immense pressure immediately, and every attack heunched was blocked by the distant Serpent. As of this moment, Shang couldn''t possibly win since he couldn''t even injure his enemy. But that was exactly what he wanted. Shang kept avoiding the brutal attacks from the Serpent for a long time. Under normal circumstances, the Serpent would have probably changed its strategy against Shang after about 30 seconds of battle, but the Thunder King had told it that the Lightning Serpent''s purpose was to increase Shang''s power. This also lessened the pressure on the Serpent''s back, and it also became interested in increasing its own powers by trying to hit such a fast target. So, the two of them continued battling. After a couple of years, Shang actually had to subtly use his Domain of Entropy to destroy parts of the Serpent''s will on its attacks since the Serpent was getting better at hitting him. And that was where things remained for around 50 years. The Serpent seemingly stopped improving, and Shang also seemingly stopped improving. Yet, several things had changed during that time. Shang''s Death Sword was no longer just around his sword anymore. By now, the ck de of Shang''s Death Sword was warping and moving like a ck fog. It was almost like it was moving like normal Sword Mana again. The Death Sword Mana kept extending from Shang''s sword, blocking a couple of tiny bolts of lightning. It was like Shang''s sword had be a form of liquid that could float like gas. And then, Shang finally managed to get Sword Transformation to work. The next moment, all the Death Sword Mana around Shang''s sword expanded forward and left his sword. The area in front of Shang turned ck, almost like he was using his Corridor of Darkness. The ck beam reached the Lightning Serpent, which quickly used a concentrated st of Mana to divert it like it had done countless times to Shang''s attacks. But this time, the beam couldn''t be pushed away or redirected. Instead, the ck beam just became smaller. The next moment, the beam hit the Serpent''s body and cleanly cut through it! It was almost like the gassy liquid was as sharp as a sword! "| concede," the Serpent transmitted a momentter. Beasts of this level could easily survive such an injury, but getting hit by this attack showed the Serpent that it could no longer win against Shang anymore. Shang just nodded, and the two of them walked out of the Istion Barrier. Shang had finallyprehended Sword Transformation. Sword Transformation was, as the name suggested, a way to transform the sword. In this case, the word sword referred to the physical weapon in addition to the Weapon Mana. While Shang''s physical sword didn''t change, the Sword Mana could now leave Shang''s sword without dissipating. This essentially created a ranged attack. The reason why Shang hadn''t been able to win against the Serpent was that his ranged attacks had been too weak, but with a way to hit the enemy with Death Sword Mana from a distance, Shang had gained enough offensive power to injure the Serpent. At this moment, one had to remember that the other Paths used to be on the same level as Mages. Someone that could only use Sword Mana obviously couldn''tpare to a Mage Lord with a twofold Spirit Sense, making it seem like warriors were fundamentally weaker than Mages. Yet, with Sword Mana, Sword Infusion, and Sword Transformation, couldn''t the warriorunch a ranged attack with devastating power against a Mage while only using a bit of Mana? Suddenly, the twobatants seemed equal again. Just like how Mages had many ways to deal with warriors, warriors used to have many ways to deal with Mages. There were a couple more non-essential Destinations for Warrior Lords that Shang could learn to increase his power even more, but he was out of time. He only had about 450 years of longevity left. Chapter 909 Chapter 909 After leaving the Istion Barrier, Shang nned his next course of action. He knew what he had toprehend next, but it wasn''t certain if he would actually seed. Luckily, for once in Shang''s life, he wasn''t under life-threatening longevity pressure. Shang could feel that he had gained enough momentum to reach the Seventh Realm. If he wanted to, he could reach the Seventh Realm within the next couple of minutes. This was already far better than when he had needed toprehend the Concepts of Purgatory and Twilight to reach the Void Break Realm. Naturally, reaching the Void Break Realm had beenparatively more difficult for Shang than reaching the Seventh Realm right now. There were two reasons. First of all, by going from the True Path Stage to the Fusion Realm, Shang''s maximum longevity had only doubled, while going from the Fusion Realm to the Void Break Realm had quintupled it. So, even though Shang had started veryte in his life, he still had a lot of time remaining. The second reason was that Shang had already reached a sixfold Spirit Sense. If Shang had simply needed to learn a normal level five Concept, he would have probably finished even earlier since Shang had already elevated his level of existence. And now, after undergoing his Transformation, Shang''s mind had be much stronger, and his Affinity with basically everything had increased. This made it even easier toprehend things. Another reason was that Shang already knew so much that he was bing very good at figuring things out. Finally, Shang was now truly making progress on the actual Path of a warrior, something Shang was iparably talented in. Supreme talent, an elevated body, an elevated mind, infinite resources, constant battle against powerful opponents, and not having to work for others. All of these thingsbined resulted in Shangprehending things on the same level as level four Concepts in less than a century. Shang''s life had been so very difficult, and he had sacrificed so much to gain all of these things. But now, everything was paying off. Shang was no longer under such intense pressure. If this had happened to others, they might decide to rx and take things easy. Because of that, many powerful organizations and teachers wanted their people to be under more pressure. The added pressure would motivate people to work even harder than they would normally. But that wasn''t true for Shang. Shang trained with 100% of his being without being under pressure. That was why the presence or absence of pressure basically made no difference to him. While Shang was traveling to the Lightning Manor, he was thinking of a good way toprehend the essential Destination for Warrior Kings, but he wasn''t sure if he could do it. But he would try. Shang dealt with a couple of Ancestral Mages again and returned to the Thunder King''s ind. By now, the Empress of Death had also managed to break her contract, but that didn''t make much of a difference since the Judgment Pce was still stuck assaulting a single Zone. Sure, the assaults became more brutal, but the Lightning Manor was also going all out.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. The Mage Kings were willing to spend far more resources than they were earning because they knew that Shang would join them in 450 years. The Lightning Emperor would also soon be able to break his contract. At that point, the entire war would change, and Mage Lords would be the most important forces. After returning to the Thunder King, Shang didn''t immediately enter the Istion Barrier. "450 years," Shang told the Thunder King. "That''s how long | will stay here at the longest.¡± The Thunder King didn''t answer. "During that time, | need you to do something. If necessary, | will ask the Lightning Emperor to increase whatever he is paying you to help me," Shang said. "Yes?" the Thunder King transmitted. "| need a constant supply of powerful opponents, but | also need my full focus," Shang said. "From now on, | don''t want to be in life-threatening danger anymore. | want this to be a non-lethal fight. | won''t kill my opponent, and my opponent won''t kill me." "Yet, | also want it to feel as realistic as possible. Because of that, | want to focus on the fight and not think about not identally killing my opponent." "If | or my opponent are about to kill each other, | want you to intervene and stop us." The Thunder King remained silent for a while. This was very different from the earlier deal. With the earlier deal, the Thunder King just needed to get a couple of opponents for Shang and keep the Istion Barrier active. That wasn''t a lot to do, and the Thunder King could do whatever he wanted. But with the new deal, the Thunder King couldn''t do anything else. He would be forced to closely watch over the battles for 450 years. He was an entire Realm higher than thebatants, but he would still need to pay close attention. "| want ten more," the Thunder King transmitted. "Tell that to the Lightning Emperor." Shang nodded and contacted the Lightning Emperor. After telling him that the Thunder King wanted "ten more", the Lightning Emperor said that the Thunder King would get what he wanted. However, the Lightning Emperor also said that if Shang or any of the Beast Lords died, he would personally kill the Thunder King. "He agrees," Shang said to the Thunder King. "Go in," the Thunder King transmitted. "I will stop either of you before you kill each other." Shang entered the Istion Barrier, and his next opponent appeared very quickly. And sure enough, as soon as the opponent was about to kill Shang, a kind of forcefield appeared between the two. The Thunder King had intervened. Additionally, it only took a couple of seconds for the next opponent to enter the Istion Barrier, and the fight immediately started. After a couple of fights, Shang could finally fully let go and just focused on killing his opponents with his powers. If one of his opponents died, he would no longer be at fault. So, what were these things that the Thunder King had asked for? Mana to create Peak Beast Lords. It was very difficult for beasts to reach the Beast Lord Realm due to the low Mana density in the world, and since beasts very rarely had more than a onefold Spirit Sense, it was even more difficult for them. That was why the inds of the Kings used stored Mana provided by the Empires. While Shang was training, around 100 different Mage Lords gathered in a big za. Amomentter, they all swallowed some pills, and they focused their Mana onto ten spheres before them. In a couple of minutes, all the Mage Lords fell by one level. The spheres shone with dense Mana and were taken away. The Mage Lords would return to their previous levels, but it would take a couple of centuries. Acouple of minutester, the spheres were delivered to the Thunder King by Amarius. With these ten spheres, the Thunder King could elevate ten more Ancestral Beasts to the Beast Lord Realm, increasing the overall power of his ind. This was what the Lightning Manor had paid for Shang''s request. Chapter 910 Chapter 910 Shang continued fighting against the beasts, and he climbed the rankings. Sword Transformation helped Shang against the beasts focusing on ranged attacks, but that wasn''t all. By no longer needing to focus on not killing his opponents, Shang could also fight much more aggressively. Even more, Sword Transformation also helped Shang with a couple of faster opponents since it could also swirl around Shang for a moment. As the years passed, Shang''s mastery over Sword Transformation increased even more. Sword Transformation held longer and flowed with more flexibility. Nevertheless, using Sword Transformation still used up all of the Sword Mana Shang had gathered. Every time Shang used Sword Transformation, he needed to reload his Death Mana and Sword Mana. Sword Infusion and Sword Transformation were both stronger than just pure Sword Mana, but they were equal to each other. Sword Infusion increased sharpness and reduced Mana spent. Sword Transformation increased the range and flexibility. Both were useful for something. If both were used at the same time, it would increase the sharpness, range, and flexibility. Sadly, it would use up all the Mana again. With Shang''s increased mastery of Sword Transformation, he began to win more battles. Increasing one''s power as a Peak Beast Lord was very difficult and took a very long time, and Shang''s speed of growth was zingpared to the growth of the beasts he was fighting. After 100 years, Shang was already fighting against the 30 strongest Peak Beast Lords. But then, Shang''s speed of growth slowed down again. The initial improvements were always faster thanter improvements. Another 100 yearster, Shang was fighting against the top 25. Another 100 yearster, he was fighting ces 22 and 21. Shang was learning a lot about fighting with Sword Mana, and his Sword Transformation still continued to improve. Yet, Shang was still unsure about how toprehend the next level. Shang''s Sword Transformation held even longer, and Shang could even slightly change its trajectory after he had already fired it. Shang knew exactly what he had toprehend, but he felt that his progress was still very slow. As things currently stood, Shang estimated that he would only arrive at his goal in about 600 years or so, and he had already trained for about 300 years. This meant that all in all, Shang would have needed to train for 900 years to learn the essential Destination for Warrior Kings. 900 years was already brutally and shockingly fast. After all, Shang had a total longevity of 5,000 years. 900 years for that was nothingpared to what it meant toprehend something on the level of a level five Concept. It was definitely extremely fast. And yet, it wasn''t enough. Shang only had 150 years left, and he needed about 600 if he continued advancing at this rate. No matter how hard Shang tried, it just wasn''t possible. Training with the sword was the best way to be better at wielding a sword, and Shang was already doing that. 50 yearster, Shang could see a way to reach the next level, but it only reduced his estimates to 500 years instead of the 550 they would have been now. Shang saw the fundamentals of the next Destination, and he could finally tell how it worked in general. Yet, figuring out how something worked wasn''t the important part of training with a weapon. Figuring out how something worked was for Mages and Concepts. Fighting with a weapon required feeling and practice on top of knowing how something worked. Nevertheless, Shang continued. Another 50 yearster, Shang could feel even clearer how the next Destination worked. In a way, Shang could already use it in a very basic and rudimentary way. That increased Shang''s power by a bit more, and he was now fighting ces 18 and 17. Nevertheless, Shang was now about 4,950 years old, and he only had 50 years left. Shang knew better than anyone else how it felt to reach one''s maximum longevity. At that point, training would be impossible. ¡®Guess there''s not much | can do,¡¯ Shang thought as he fought his opponent. ''Seems like | have to break through soon.¡¯ Even though Shang was disappointed that he couldn''tprehend what he wanted, he would still survive. Additionally, he had undergone a huge Transformation thanks to the Concept of Transformation. The quality of his existence had increased even more, and he was well on his way to bing the strongest being in Aterium. He had already set plenty of world-shattering new records. ¡®Transformation,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®The Concept of Transformation?¡¯ As Shang thought about the Concept of Transformation, he also thought about what he wanted toprehend. ¡®In a way, that is also a transformation.¡¯ ¡®Everything from this point on in the warrior''s Path revolves around Sword Mana, and Sword Blood isn''t any different.¡¯ Sword Blood was the essential Destination for Warrior Kings, the next level of Sword Mana. Sword Blood allowed the warrior to create even more Sword Mana, and the warrior''s body would gain the power to store the Sword Mana in the body. This would eventually result in the cirction of Sword Mana in one''s body, changing the Sword Mana and allowing the warrior to control it even better while it was outside their body. ¡®I can try the Concept of Transformation,¡¯ Shang thought. Shang stopped the duel and left the Istion Barrier. Amomentter, he stopped on top of a mountain and focused on his body and Sword Mana. Then, he used the Concept of Transformation on the Mana in his body. It was extremely difficult, but Shang noticed that he could motivate his own Mana to transform into Sword Mana. The Concept of Transformation wasn''t made to create something like Sword Mana, but by changing the way Shang was using it, he could use it in this way. However, Shang''s pathways were breaking under the Sword Mana since they were not made to withstand such a powerful and sharp form of Mana. After some years, Shang noticed that his pathways had be better at resisting Sword Mana. That was when Shang realized that it was actually possible. For the next decades, Shang created more and more Sword Mana in his body.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. This worked much better than just training with his sword, and it was all thanks to the Concept of Transformation! And then, 40 yearster. At 4,990 years old. Shang did it. Sword Blood! Chapter 911 Chapter 911 Shang could feel it. He had been focusing on his Sword Mana all this time, and after his Sword Mana had passed a certain threshold, it suddenly started drawing in Mana from all over Shang''s body. Shang had already created separate pathways for his Sword Mana. Inparison to his normal Mana, the pathways for his Sword Mana had been created to circte Mana instead of just delivering it from one ce to another. Usually, the Mana inside a beast''s or warrior''s body didn''t circte and only rested in the Beast Core. But for Sword Blood, Shang needed to circte his Mana. Sword Mana needed to be in constant movement. If it didn''t move, it would harden and slowly disperse. The Mana that humans stored in their bodies didn''t have that kind of property. As the Sword Mana circted throughout Shang''s body, it drew in more and more Mana from the surroundings. Luckily, Shang''s body was more than powerful enough to resist such a dense and potent force of destruction. Shang''s pathways filled more and more until they couldn''t hold anymore. That was when the Sword Mana also stopped pulling in other kinds of Mana. Shang watched the Sword Mana inside his body and noted that his body was ready to produce more Sword Mana as soon as the density of Sword Mana inside Shang''s body reduced. At this moment, Shang could see one big pathway of Sword Mana circte throughout his body. He had done it! Shang hadprehended Sword Blood! Naturally, Shang wouldn''t consume the momentum he had just gained. After all, he only had about ten years of longevity left. Shang stood up and flew towards the Istion Barrier. "Send your strongest beast for ast fight," Shang transmitted to the Thunder King. "I want to try out this new power." The Thunder King didn''t answer, but Shang was sure that he had heard him. Shang had to wait for several minutes inside the Istion Barrier before his opponent appeared. His opponent was a silver dragon with a slender but powerful build. Its limbs hid explosive might, giving it incredible eleration and speed. Its scales shone in a powerful silver, proiming their unrivaled defense. The dragon''s long teeth and long ws made it clear that its offense was also unrivaled. Lastly, Shang could feel that the dragon had a twofold Spirit Sense, which was insane for a beast. When the dragon appeared, it slowly went into a lowered stance to gather its power. BANG! In an instant, it shot toward Shang with unrivaled speed. Shang might be able to avoid the first two attacks, but he knew that the dragon would keep rapidly attacking him. Without Sword Blood, Shang would have lost this fight within five attacks. Yet, just before the dragon reached him, a dense ck cloud appeared between them. The dragon sensed that the ck cloud was extremely powerful and that touching it would be a very bad idea. The dragon rapidly jumped to the side, attacking Shang from a new angle. Yet, the ck cloud kept following it, staying between Shang and the dragon. After a bit, the dragon jumped back, reassessing the situation and its strategy.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Adense cloud of pure destruction came out of Shang''s sword, and whenever Shang moved his sword, the cloud would move as well. Sword Blood gave someone two abilities. First, it vastly increased the amount of Sword Mana one could have at the same time. Sword Mana was no longer only on the sword but now also inside the body. Second, Sword Mana would no longer vanish as quickly when it was away from the body or the sword. Additionally, Shang could keep controlling it freely. The ck cloud of destruction around Shang was the Sword Mana inside his body that had been infused with all of Shang''s Death Mana. Sadly, the amount of Death Mana couldn''t evene close to the amount of Sword Mana, which reduced its offensive power by quite a bit. However, the sheer amount of Sword Mana more than made up for it. At this moment, it was like Shang''s sword had grown several times over and had gained the ability to transform itself freely. The dragon had huge issues finding an angle to attack. However, such a powerful beast had more than one strategy. Inside the dragon''s mouth, a powerful ball of lightning formed, which bathed the entire space within the Istion Barrier in an intense liquid of Lightning Mana. Any Peak Ancestral Beast would rapidly die within this liquid, but this was only the side-effect of the dragon''s attack. While the dragon was doing this, Shang was lowering his stance and gathering his focus. Then, an apocalyptic beam of pure lightning shot toward Shang. BOOOOOOOOOOOM! The Istion Barrier turned into a hellscape of lightning, but the lightning very quickly vanished. Shang was still standing there. However, 90% of all his Sword Mana had vanished, transforming the thick cloud of destruction into a mere whisp. Nevertheless, Shang had survived, and he was still gathering his focus. Sword Blood. Sword Heart. The heart moved the blood, and the blood nourished the heart. This was the power of having Sword Heart and Sword Blood. Sword Blood gave Shang a brutally powerful defense, which he could use to defend while gathering focus for Sword Heart. An instantter, the whisp of destruction vanished, and a ck de of death appeared around Shang''s sword. And then, Shang shed forward. SHING! It was like the world inside the Istion Barrier had been cut in two. Shang had gathered his focus, and he had unleashed an extremely fast, powerful, and precise attack with Sword Heart. However, something else had appeared inside the Istion Barrier. It was a forcefield, and it had stopped Shang''s attack before it hit the dragon. Naturally, this forcefield hadn''t been created by the dragon but by the Thunder King. As a Peak Beast King with a fourfold Spirit Sense, even Shang''s most powerful attack couldn''t injure the Thunder King, and its speed also couldn''t bepared to Shang''s. Yet, the Thunder King''s interference only meant one thing. The dragon would have died from this attack. Chapter 912 Chapter 912 Shang put his sword away, and the ck de on it turned into smoke before entering Shang''s body. The dragon still had difficulties epting reality. It was the most powerful Beast Lord on the ind. Amongst over a hundred Peak Beast Lords, it reigned supreme. And yet, it had lost... To a human an entire Realm below it. Shang''s offensive power was his strongest aspect. Peak Beasts Lords had incredibly powerful defenses, but even though Shang was an entire Realm below the dragon, his attack would have still been powerful enough to bisect the dragon. Sword Heart had always been amazing. After all, it allowed Shang tounch a melee attack from a great range. Sadly, Shang always needed to gather his focus and prepare his attack, which was nearly impossible when an enemy was. attacking him. But with Sword Blood, Shang finally gained the ability to use Sword Heart freely. Even more, Sword Blood''s power entirely depended on the power of Shang''s body. Theoretically, there was no limit to how much Sword Mana Shang could store inside his body. His body just had to be powerful enough to contain all of it without getting cut into pieces.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Due to the Bloodline Infusion and consuming Abominations, Shang''s body was already as powerful as a beast''s body. Then, Shang''s Beast Core increased his power even further, making his body about double as powerful as the body of an equivalent beast. Lastly, Shang had consumed his momentum afterprehending Void Break, which had increased the power of his body even more while also strengthening his pathways. On a baseline, Shang''s body was already about twice as powerful as the body of an Initial Beast Lord. Not only was Sword Blood something that only Peak Warrior Lords couldprehend, elevating its power to ridiculous heights, but the power of Shang''s body multiplied that power even further. Dusk? Meteor? Fate? All of these attacks were meaningless now. With all of the different states and techniques Shang had created, Shang had reached the peak ofplexity. And now, things had returned to simplicity. Asword. A pure sword. In front of Shang''s sword, no defense, technique, or attack mattered. One strike was enough to destroy all of these things. With one sword, Shang would win the battle. One sword. One sh. At least, that was how it would work in a vacuum. Naturally, Shang first had to get to this point in a battle. No enemy would just watch him while he prepared an attack. That was where all of Shang''s other powers came in. Even though Shang''s Sword Heart and Sword Blood were ridiculously powerful, Shang''s True Domain of Entropy was also extremely powerful. Shang could control whatever kind of Mana he destroyed with his Domain of Entropy, which meant that he could move his Sword Mana through his domain without reducing its power. This gave Shang anotheryer of defense. Lastly, with Void Break, Shang could still temporarily increase the defense and power of his body. Sadly, there was one obvious problem. Shang''s powers were still separate. Sword Heart, Sword Mana, and Sword Blood all worked together to produce one thing. Meanwhile, Shang''s Void Break, World Connection, and his Domain of Entropy were all separate. They did their own thing, which increased Shang''s power, but they didn''t have the sort of unity that Shang''s three Sword Abilities had. Shang had thought that his powers synergized with each other very well, but only when he experienced the synergy between his three Sword Abilities did he truly notice how disjointed his powers felt. But that was natural. After all, Shang was blindly forging his own Path. He had alwaysprehended whatever felt right to him. Naturally, this had resulted in Shang''s powers reaching unprecedented levels, but everything still felt very separate from each other. Maybe one day, Shang couldbine all his power into one and truly forge his own Path. But for the moment, Shang was following the Path of a warrior with several additional powers thatplemented Shang''s main power. After putting his sword away, Shang walked out of the Istion Barrier under the shocked gaze of the dragon. "I''m done," Shang transmitted to the Thunder King. "! don''t need to fight beasts anymore." Amomentter, the Istion Barrier vanished, but the Thunder King didn''t say anything. Naturally, the Thunder King was also deeply shocked by Shang''s power, but none of this mattered to it. The beasts would still be subjugated by them. Shang left the Thunder King behind and traveled toward the edge Humans were the rulers of the world. It didn''t matter how powerful the most powerful human was. All the beasts would still be subjugated by them. Shang left the Thunder King behind and traveled toward the edge of the ind. "|prehended Sword Blood, and I''m ready to enter the next Realm," Shang told the Lightning Emperor with his pin. "You did it?" the Lightning Emperor asked in shock. "Yes," Shang answered. The Lightning Emperor remained quiet for a couple of seconds as the implications of Shang''s statement set in. Would Shang reach a sevenfold Spirit Sense? Would he get an eightfold Spirit Sense? How powerful was Shang now? The more the Lightning Emperor thought about the possibilities, the more excited he became. "Great!" the Lightning Emperor said with some excitement. "I will watch over you while you break through! | don''t want there to be any idents." Shang nodded. "Fine, but | still need to pay a short visit to the frontlines. This will be thest time | will fight the Ancestral Mages." ¡°Of course," the Lightning Emperor said. Amomentter, a portal brought Shang to the frontlines, and he killed a couple of Ancestral Mages. The other Empires had be quite daring since Shang hadn''t shown up in a couple of centuries. Fortunately, nothing of note had happened during Shang''s quick visit to the frontlines. When there were no more Peak Ancestral Mages attacking the Lightning Manor, Shang was teleported to the far north of the Eternal Ocean by the Lightning Emperor. The Lightning Emperor wasn''t sure what would happen during Shang''s breakthrough. So, he had put Shang to the edge of his Spirit Sense, assuring that no other human could see him during his breakthrough. And then, it was time. Chapter 913 Chapter 913 2913 Chapter 913- Breakthrough Shang hovered above the Eternal Ocean in silence.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. He was readying himself for his breakthrough. He had been in the Void Break Realm for a very long time, and he almost felt like he would never leave this Realm. But now, it was time. As Shang gathered all of his Mana, he willed his existence to elevate and absorb as much Mana as possible. Suddenly, it was like some kind of barrier broke, and Shang''s Spirit Sense began to expand rapidly. At the same time, the water below and the clouds above him got pulled to Shang as ?his body rapidly absorbed Neutral Mana. After a couple of seconds, the clouds and the water had been pulled towards him, creating a whirlpool of dense grey mist around him. BANG! The friction of the clouds created powerful bolts of lightning, which attacked anything that came close. It started rtively small, but as more and more time passed by, even more Mana was pulled towards Shang from further away. Eventually, the Mana from 10,000 kilometers around him shot toward him rapidly, but that wasn''t where the expansion stopped. In an instant, Mana from the surrounding 100,000 kilometers shot toward him. One had to remember that the distance from which someone pulled Mana during a ?breakthrough wasn''t the same as their eventual Spirit Sense. During a breakthrough, the more powerful someone''s Spirit Sense, the greater the attraction. It was like gravity. Stronger gravity pulled heavier things from further away faster. BANG! Suddenly, a Peak Ancestral Beast shot out of the water. Such breakthroughs distracted beings, making it easier to ambush them. Additionally, all the dense Mana attracted the beasts. The beast rapidly reached Shang, who didn''t even seem like he had noticed. Sssshhhh! And then, the beast turned into dust beforepletely vanishing. 2Shang kept his Domain of Entropy active during the breakthrough. It was like the beast had just attacked an Abomination Lord. Naturally, that wasn''t the smartest idea. Over the next seconds, five more beasts shot at Shang, but they shared the same fate. Funnily enough, their attack actually made it even easier for Shang to break through since their bodies were turned into Neutral Mana, which rapidly got absorbed by Shang. Shang would even be able to break through if he only had a onefold Spirit Sense,thanks to these beasts. By now, the Mana from 500,000 kilometers away was already shooting toward Shang. BANG! The next moment, an Initial Beast Lord ? shot toward Shang. It was one of the weakest Beast Lords, and it wanted to be more powerful by hunting easy prey. Normal Beast Lords didn''t attack Ancestral Beasts during a breakthrough since they would only get very little Mana, and if the being were a human, they would be even less likely to attack. Humans were very scary. As the Initial Beast Lord reached Shang, its body rapidly dissolved. Yet, its momentum still made it so that its jaws managed to mp down on Shang''s torso. CRK! And its teeth broke. One had to remember that Shang always fought beings several levels above himself, and these beings had insane powers. 2Shang''s physical defense was actually so tough that the beast couldn''t even injure him. Even if Shang just stood there without his Domain of Entropy, the beast wouldn''t be able to hurt him in any significant way. Nevertheless, the beast turned into Neutral Mana. That was thest attack Shang suffered. For a normal person, this would have counted as a tribtion. After all, they were attacked by several beasts on their level and even a beast above their level while they were busy breaking through. This would be a true cmity for them, and they would need to fight for their survival. But the same thing wasn''t true for Shang. The attack might as well not have happened. ?Eventually, Shang even pulled in Mana from a million kilometers away. The amount of Mana someone needed to ascend to the Seventh Realm was ridiculous, and it wasmon to absorb Mana from a million kilometers away. A million kilometers seemed like a lot, but a sphere that had a radius of a million kilometers was only one eight-thousandth as big as a sphere with a radius of 20 million kilometers, which was around the size of the entire world, including the Eternal Ocean. The world could probably amodate another seven to eight thousand beings in the Seventh Realm, but it would only be harder and harder to break through due to the diminishing density of Mana. But Shang didn''t stop there. His being had been elevated two times, and ? his being required even more Mana to break through than others. So, even more Mana shot towards Shang. Ancestral Mages needed toprehend two level four Concepts to be Mage Lords since their Spirit Senses couldn''t pull in enough Mana at the time. However, since Shang''s existence was multiple times more massive than normal Mages, that wasn''t enough. He needed an even bigger Spirit Sense to pull in enough Mana. With one Transformation, Shang would have needed toprehend enough to create a threefold Spirit Sense to break through. And with two Transformations, Shang needed toprehend enough to create a fourfold Spirit Sense to break through. He had gained that momentum by ?prehending Sword Mana, Sword Transformation, Sword Infusion, andstly, the Concept of Temperatures, which he hadprehended thousands of years ago. Four things equivalent to level four Concepts. That would have been enough to break through. Eventually, the area from which Shang was pulling Mana stopped expanding, and it settled on a radius of around three million kilometers. By now, it had already reached the shores of Aterium, and a couple of people noticed that a lot of Mana was being pulled toward the north. However, they didn''t think any of it. Beasts broke through all the time, and they also needed a ridiculous amount of Mana. Additionally, it was impossible to tell just how much Mana was shooting toward Shang for these people since even just a million kilometers was far more than they could see with their Spirit Senses. Acouple of secondster, the Mana calmed down and stopped rapidly shooting toward Shang''s location. The thundering cloud of lightning dispersed, and the Eternal Ocean returned to its usual calm. The density of the world''s Mana had dropped noticeably. In fact, it had dropped by nearly an entire percent, which showed just how much Mana Shang had absorbed. But it had been enough. Shang had done it. He had reached the Seventh Realm! Chapter 914 Chapter 914 The clouds dispersed, and Shang emerged. He appeared unchanged, but his Aura had be more radiant and heavier. If anyone could sense his Aura, they would find all other Auras pale inparison, as its intensity surpassed their perception of reality. Shang slowly raised his hand and clenched it. To his surprise, it was rather unremarkable. Having already reached this level of power using Void Break, it had be his new normal. Not much had changed for Shang. He simply felt that the world had be clearer, and his body had grown stronger. The true disparity in power between Realms didn''t lie within the Realms themselves, but in theprehension required to reach them. After attaining the Seventh Realm, Shang''s first action was to check his Spirit Sense. "60,000 kilometers. Sixfold," Shang thought, somewhat astonished. Upon further reflection, it made sense. Obtaining an additional level in Spirit Sense demanded exponentially moreprehension and momentum. The first four levels were rtively straightforward, requiring the understanding of concepts to double its capacity. However, progressing from the fivefold Spirit Sense became significantly more challenging. At that point, one had to grasp concepts beyond their current level. It was akin to reaching greater heights rather than greater distances, attainable only through concepts surpassing their current abilities. While it was theoretically possible to achieve such heights through sheer momentum, it was exceedingly difficult. Reaching a fourfold Spirit Sense felt two-dimensional, while a fivefold Spirit Sense felt three-dimensional.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. The journey from the first four levels to the fifth level was distinct and required a different approach. The same held true for the gap between the fivefold and sixfold levels. Acquiring an additional level in Spirit Sense necessitated consuming momentum that propelled one''s starting position higher. It was akin to taking two leaps instead of one, as a single jump fell short. And a sevenfold Spirit Sense was even more extraordinary. 1, 2,4. 4, 2,1. This sequence of numbers seemed to align with how Spirit Sense operated. The first category had four levels, each requiring an effort of one. The second category had two levels, each requiring an effort of two. The third category had one level, requiring an effort of four. While Shang had elevated his being once more, it was insufficient to reach a sevenfold Spirit Sense. He needed to elevate every aspect of his existence by an entire level. Void Break had raised his physical power by a whole level but had not increased his mind or Affinities. The Transformation concept had elevated his mind and Affinities, but only by 50%. Considering that having an Affinity meant having 100% alignment with something, Shang''s Affinities had only increased by about 50%. Furthermore, his mental power had doubled instead of quadrupled, which signified a one-level difference. "To attain a sevenfold Spirit Sense, | likely need to elevate everything by an entire level," Shang pondered. "And it''s possible that a sevenfold Spirit Sense is the maximum achievable level.¡± "| still possess a sixfold Spirit Sense, despite being far more powerful than when | reached the Void Break Realm," he contemted. "What about King Sanctified Death?" "He obtained a sixfold Spirit Sense upon bing a Mage Lord, and nobody knows what happened when he became a Mage King!" "If he managed to undergo a Transformation in the Ancestral Mage Realm, it''s highly probable he underwent another in the Mage Lord Realm." ¡°Although he would still possess a sixfold Spirit Sense, it would differ significantly from his previous one." "As a Mage King, he likely attained Affinities in all aspects and his mind grew even stronger." "Thus, King Sanctified Death probably possesses the mental power of a Mage Emperor and Affinity for everything.¡± ¡°Every Mage Emperor has alreadyprehended the level six Concept of their Affinity as Peak Mage Kings. It wouldn''t be far- fetched to assume the same for King Sanctified Death." If anyone were privy to Shang''s thoughts,prehending the extent of his analysis would prove challenging. "King Sanctified Death might possess knowledge of every existing Concept." Shang needed time toe to terms with this notion. Lucius had a sixfold Spirit Sense. King Sanctified Death had a sixfold Spirit Sense. So, was Lucius as powerful as King Sanctified Death? Only after grasping the vastness of the sixfold Spirit Sense did Shang realize the significant disparity between the two. Lucius may be the Child of Cmity, but Shang was certain that King Sanctified Death would emerge victorious in a battle. Mastery over every Affinity. Mastery over the world. Mastery over reality. "King Sanctified Death might possess the power to defeat one of the living Mage Emperors." Following his breakthrough, Shang finallyprehended the immense power of a sixfold Spirit Sense. "| have underestimated King Sanctified Death!" "If we were on the same level, he might defeat me in a battle without me resorting to Entropy.¡± Shang took a deep breath, refocusing on his immediate breakthrough. "First, | should name this Realm." "The level five Concept and Sword Blood both have their ces in two Paths. One for Mage Kings and the other for Warrior Kings." ¡°My Path doesn''t precisely align with either, and | am not yet a King." "Sword Lord seems appropriate." The Sword Lord Realm. The name wasn''t particrly unique, but it reflected the distinctive identity of Shang''s Path. With the name decided, Shang delved into his memories, ready for the next question and its answer, as always. Chapter 915 Chapter 915 Shang once again returned to the pce, which was adorned in ck and red colors. Although these events had already taken ce and Shang had merely unlocked a new memory, it felt as if he were encountering the God once more, much to his displeasure. The Shang of the past, who was blonde and overweight, was not someone Shang wanted to see. As always, the God wore an arrogant smirk while observing the young Shang. Fortunately, this time, the young Shang knew exactly which question to ask. He repeated the God''s words, asking, "How can | acquire enough Mana to reach the Eighth Realm without assistance from the Empires and without attracting immediate attention?" At the time of asking this question, Shang had no knowledge of Aterium, and most of the concepts mentioned were unfamiliar to him. Mana? Eighth Realm? Empires? And what did all of this have to do with being noticed or not? The question was remarkably specific. The God chuckled slightly and responded, "What an excellent question," indirectly praising himself. "You know, you''re actually fortunate to have asked this question at this moment. Although you may not realize it, this is likely one of the most pivotal moments for you in the future, if you manage to get there." ¡°Although | doubt you will ever reach the Seventh Realm. That would be quite extraordinary." "Nevertheless, | will answer your question." "The Spacetime Beast," dered the God. The young Shang blinked a few times. "The Spacetime Beast?" "The world | inhabit is actually t, contained within a spherical barrier," exined the God. "Imagine living inside a ball where the lower half is filled with ground and the upper half with air." "There are both lowest and highest points." Many years ago, a Beast King with an affinity for Space and Time ventured to the world''s edge and discovered the barrier. Naturally, the barrier exhibited potent spatial and temporal forces, and the Spacetime Beast clung to it, much like a fly on a wall. Eventually, it began to ascend the wall until it reached the highest point. To this day, the beast remains suspended there, concealed from everyone''s knowledge. It is simply too distant from humanity, and not even the Emperors are aware of its presence. Then, the God burst intoughter. ¡°But what the Spacetime Beast didn''t know was that near the world''s edge, the distortion of space and time is iparable. The passage of time there is a thousand times slower than in the real world." "This means that barely a thousand years have passed for it, which is rtively short for beings at the eighth level.¡± ¡°After all this time, it remains in the Early Beast King Realm. If you manage to reach the Peak of the Seventh Realm, you might stand a chance against it." ¡°Fly upward and search for it, but be aware that it excels at concealing itself using its spatial abilities. You must search meticulously." The God''s smirk widened. "However, even if you seed in killing it and reaching the Eighth Realm, you will essentially be an infamous criminal. | wonder what you will do then." "It''s a shame I''ll probably never witness that. Well, you win some, you lose some." And that marked the end of the memory. ¡®A hidden Beast King,¡¯ Shang pondered. The existence of a hidden Beast King seemed nearly impossible. After all, the Emperors had reigned over the world for an extensive period, and their Spirit Senses collectively covered everything except the Eternal Ocean.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Moreover, the emergence of a new Beast King would be felt due to the significant decline in Mana that the world would experience, a change that would quickly catch everyone''s attention. Lastly, Beast Kings could only live for 100,000 years, and since the Mage Emperors had ruled for over 300,000 years, any hidden Beast King would have perished long ago from old age. Yet, against all odds, there was one, and the reason was that the Spacetime Beast existed within severely distorted spacetime, drastically slowing the passage of time. Against all odds, a hidden Beast King truly existed. ¡®If all else fails, | can kill the Beast King,¡¯ Shang contemted. ¡®However, winning the tournament is still a far better option. If! y and consume the Beast King, all the other Emperors would seek to kill me. Only the Lightning Emperor would support me." ¡®At least now, I''m not entirely dependent on the Empires, thanks to the existence of the Beast King.¡¯ After further contemtion, Shang''s mind returned to the real world. "I''m finished," Shang dered. In the next moment, a portal opened before him, and he stepped through. The Lightning Emperor had promised to oversee Shang''s breakthrough. Shang entered the library and took a seat at the table. The Lightning Emperor regarded Shang with furrowed brows. "| had my doubts, but now everything makes sense," the Lightning Emperor said, sounding slightly concerned. Shang wasn''t entirely sure what the Lightning Emperor meant. ¡°When you reached the Sixth Realm, and | heard about your sixfold Spirit Sense, | was puzzled," the Lightning Emperor exined. "Although your Aura was undoubtedly clearer than that of anyone with a fivefold Spirit Sense, it still felt somewhat differentpared to that child''s Aura." "Your Aura seemed tock a particr color, as if something was missing whenpared to him." ¡°Now, | understand why," the Lightning Emperor sighed. "Your Aura now matches that child''s Aura.¡± "It appears that despite my high estimation of that child, | still underestimated him." The Lightning Emperor fell silent for a moment, looking off to the side. "| feel like | narrowly avoided a disaster by not killing you." Chapter 916 Chapter 916 The Lightning Emperor''s words affirmed Shang''s suspicions. It turned out that King Sanctified Death had also undergone two Transformations, just like Shang had spected. Furthermore, he had a significant advantage of over 25,000 yearspared to Shang. Curiosity got the better of Shang, and he inquired, "Do you think he has mastered all level six Concepts?" The Lightning Emperor appeared shocked at the question and pondered, scratching his chin. Initially, it seemed impossible, but considering King Sanctified Death''s exceptional talent, strong mindset, and extraordinary Affinities, it wasn''t entirely out of the realm of possibility.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. The Lightning Emperor responded, "Not yet. He''s only about 40,000 years old. While he''s undoubtedly the most formidable individual I''ve ever encountered, | don''t believe even he can grasp all Concepts so quickly." ¡°Perhaps in another 20,000 years or so, | can envision himprehending all the Concepts. But as of now, it''s unlikely." Asense of relief washed over the Lightning Emperor as he contemted the situation. He realized that the encounter with Kali and Adam might have yielded even better results than expected. "If that young one manages to grasp all the level six Concepts soon, he might take drastic action and challenge one of us, most likely me. This would make him a Mage Emperor in about 20,000 years from now." ¡°However, with the whole tournament and Adam''s demise, he has no reason to take such a risk. He will simply bide his time until the tournament and be a Mage Emperor without any danger." The Lightning Emperor pondered the power of King Sanctified Death and felt uncertain about it. Suddenly, Shang expressed his desire to know something. He looked at the Lightning Emperor and asked, "What is King Sanctified Death''s goal? What does he aim to achieve?" Shang understood that King Sanctified Death was simr to him in some ways but wasn''t sure if they shared the same objectives. "It''s difficult to ascertain," the Lightning Emperor replied. "That young one never reveals the truth and keeps everything about himself shrouded in secrecy. | can''t even grasp his true personality.¡± ¡°However, his contradictory existence poses a threat to the entire world." "In case you weren''t aware, he is the sole offspring of the Emperor of Life and the Empress of Death. Logically speaking, he shouldn''t even exist. Life and death are diametrically opposed, as opposite as can be. How could someone embody both?" "To do so, they would need to possess extreme empathy and apathy simultaneously. They would desire to kill and create, to love and hate." "And yet, he exists, and furthermore, his existence nullifies the suppressive nature that life and death exert on each other." Shang wasn''t entirely clear about the Lightning Emperor''s statement and sought rification, asking, "What do you mean by that?" With a sigh, the Lightning Emperor responded, "I''m uncertain about his goal, but | can specte. It aligns with what Adam and Kali desired." "When | mentioned that he could learn all level six Concepts, | made a general statement. What | meant was that he would learn all level six Concepts that can be learned," the Lightning Emperor rified. "Concepts that can be learned?" Shang repeated. "Does that mean there are level six Concepts that cannot beprehended?" The Lightning Emperor nodded. "The level five Concept of Death is known as the Concept of Exodus. It pertains to genocide. One can onlyprehend it by causing the death of a vast number of people and immersing oneself in Death Mana." ¡°When Death Mana bes sufficiently dense, it undergoes a qualitative transformation, bing even more extreme and powerful. Kali mentioned feeling as if she was being pulled into the afterlife by ghosts." Shang recalled a simr sensation when the Judgment Pce attempted to kill him by creating a Pit of Death. "In contrast, the level five Concept of Life is known as the Concept of Birth, signifying the creation of an entirely new species." Shang''s intuition kicked in, and he had a reasonable guess regarding the nature of the level six Concepts. "The Concepts rted to the Death Affinity follow a straightforward trajectory. They progress from life to death until the level four Concept, after which they broaden in scope. The level four Concept represents a single death, while the level five Concept represents countless millions of deaths," the Lightning Emperor exined. "No one has ever managed to grasp the level six Concept of Death, not even Kali. The reasons are apparent." Shang nodded in understanding. "If someone did, we wouldn''t be alive right now." The Lightning Emperor also nodded. "We Emperors are fairly certain that the level six Concept of Death represents the end of life for an entire world. Every human, beast, nt, and everything else would perish, leaving behind a world saturated with Death Mana, devoid of Life Mana." ¡°Without the presence of Life Mana, the Death Mana would continue to expand until it epasses everything. We believe that this is the moment when someone canprehend the level six Concept of Death." "Simrly, the level six Concept of Life would involve the transformation of a lifeless world into a thriving one. Since our world isn''t dead, we cannotprehend this Concept." ¡°Furthermore, if Kali were to attempt toprehend the level six Concept of Death, she would need to kill Adam, rendering him unable toprehend the level six Concept of Life since he would be deceased." ¡°And given that the level six Concept of Life necessitates the absence of death, it is likely that Adam would need to kill Kali, representing death itself." ¡°Of course, none of us desire for Kali to bring about the destruction of the entire world, and | don''t believe she wants that either. Although she may appear emotionless, she is still alive, and apart from the birth of that child, she has shown no signs of creative power. She understands that a dead world would mean her own demise." At this point, the Lightning Emperor furrowed his brow, indicating a concern. "But the child is different. He embodies both life and death, representing them both." ¡°He can annihte all life in the world,prehend the level six Concept of Death, and subsequently create an entirely new world by grasping the level six Concept of Life." "Like | said, I''m uncertain about his goal or his personality, but | can envision that this is what he desires." Chapter 917 Chapter 917 Shang could easily envision someone like King Sanctified Death resorting to extreme measures in order toprehend two Concepts. In fact, Shang himself contemted doing the same. His desire for supreme power made him open to understanding something as profound as the level six Concept of Death. However, he faced four significant challenges. Firstly, Shang recognized the importance of having life around him. While power remained his top priority, surrounding himself solely with death would be akin to being trapped within the Reality Tear once again. It would render everything devoid of value, eventually leading to monotony. Secondly, Shangcked a Life Affinity, and it was unlikely that he would ever possess one. Although his affinity for Life may have reached a high level, it was insufficient. Both Life and Death Affinities requiredpatible mindsets. Without a mindset attuned to the Death Affinity, prolonged exposure to Death Mana would quickly drive someone to self-destruction. The Life Affinity likely presented simr challenges, and Shang simply did not possess the suitable mindset. This meant that once Shang annihted the world, it would never return. The third issue surprised Shang. He experienced a genuine sense of guilt when contemting the destruction of an entire world. While Shang was willing to go to any lengths for power, he found himself ufortable with extinguishing all life within a world. The notion of transforming Aterium into a realm of eternal silence and stillness did not sit well with him. Lastly, Shang realized that he did not actually need the level six Concept of Death. The Entropy Affinity appeared to be an even more potent and extreme form of death. Death signified the cessation of life, whereas Entropy epassed the end of existence itself, including matter, movement, energy, space, and time. It was conceivable that a theoretical level seven Concept of Death would simply be Entropy. Therefore, why fixate on the level six Concept of Death when Shang could focus on something superior instead? Considering the circumstances, Shang posed a question to rify his understanding. "So, you believe he intends to annihte the entire world?" he asked. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "As | mentioned, I''m not entirely certain, but it seems usible." ¡°And the other Emperors are okay with that?" Shang inquired. "Shang, for the Mage Emperors, the truth of the world and existence itself is unwavering. Life exists because the world desires its existence. If the world did not want it, life would not exist." "So, even if that child threatens all of creation, they are certain he will not seed. Perhaps this is merely a trial for the world''s inhabitants." Shang understood that the other Emperors held this belief, but he himself did not share it. He recognized that the true will of the worldy with the deranged God. However, the entire Abomination phenomenon seemed to contradict that notion. Did the God truly control the Abominations or not? The Lightning Emperor and Shang engaged in further conversation on various topics before the Lightning Emperor employed a potent spell to conceal Shang''s intense aura. At that moment, Shang''s aura matched that of King Sanctified Death, and if others sensed his true aura, they would likely surmise that Shang was the person the Lightning Manor sought to foster. The Lightning Emperor also informed Shang that he only needed a few more years before the war would enter its next phase. In the meantime, Shang should focus on assisting the frontlines. In recent years, the frontlines faced immense pressure as the Land and Sky Empire had managed to break the contract. Fortunately, Kali had not yet vited her contract. At present, the Land and Sky Empire and Judgment Pce had openly formed an alliance. The Land and Sky Empire had ceded a significant amount ofnd near the frontlines to the Judgment Pce, allowing them to unite with their Archmages and High Mages. This intensified the pressure on the Lightning Manor. Fortunately, the Judgment Pce was still engaged inbat with the Tower of Climate, which prevented them from fully concentrating their efforts on the Lightning Manor. Although the Tower of Climate did not exert excessive pressure on the Judgment Pce, the constant and unyielding pressure persisted. Surprisingly, other events unfolded in the world, but they were unrted to the Lightning Manor. The Event Horizon Empire in the south waged war against the Sungod Mountain Empire in the southeast. Their motivations were rather simple-they were bored and desired conflict. Linastra Boomwitch, driven by boredom, randomly attacked Isis Neweston''s Empire. Viewing this as a challenge, Isis Neweston retaliated in kind. There was minimalmunication before or during the war. Both parties agreed that a bit of warfare would help their mages grow stronger. Currently, only two empires remained uninvolved in conflicts. The Darkcold Fortress in the northeast and the Deepsteel Pearl in the southwest. The empresses of these empires possessed simr personalities but harbored animosity toward each other, which was why they resided at opposite ends of Aterium. Both were reticent and preferred minimal interaction with others, resulting in their istion. It was unlikely that they would join the war. At present, the southeastern region of the Lightning Manor faced minimal pressure. The Judgment Pce had suffered substantial losses among their Ancestral Mages and needed to defend themselves against the Tower of Climate with a significant number of Ancestral Mages. Consequently, the Judgment Pcergely disregarded the southeastern portion of the Lightning Manor and focused their attacks on the Archmage Zone west of the southeastern Ancestral Mage Zone.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. The Land and Sky Empire had allocated a thin line of territories in the north, spanning nearly a million kilometers, to the Judgment Pce. Naturally, such a slender line was vulnerable and could be easily severed by a single mage from the Lightning Manor, rendering the remaining territories defenseless. However, the Land and Sky Empire still maintained control over these zones, transforming them into regions for Mage Lords. The Judgment Pce possessed an abundance of powerful Mage Lords, with over 2,000 permanently stationed in the ten territories along the line. Additionally, an army of Archmages advanced through this line, heading straight for the Lightning Manor. By now, the entire northern front of the Land and Sky Empire had be Mage Lord domains. Mage Lords had be the pivotal force, and the message from the Land and Sky Empire to the Lightning Manor was clear: "If you wish to attack us, you must sacrifice numerous Mage Lords!" Chapter 918 Chapter 918 Shang once again traveled to the southeast of the Empire, but this time it wasn''t for defensive purposes. Just before his arrival, Shang took out his Transmission Medal and announced his current strength, suggesting that he would target weaker Mid Mage Lords or Early Mage Lord Clouds to conceal his identity.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. The Starlight Queen expressed her gratitude for Shang''s decision to help once more, albeit after a couple of centuries. However, Shang brushed it off, stating that he would return in a century. He ended themunication and proceeded northward. Although the Transmission Medal began to ring again, Shang ignored it and entered his Istion Barrier to refine his techniques, particrly Sword Blood. Having recently grasped Sword Blood, he needed to seamlessly incorporate it into his Battle Style. During his seclusion, Shang also summoned several Abomination Lords, aiming to prevent the rapid emergence of Abomination Lords after his advancement to the next Realm. Normally, it took some time for more powerful Abominations to appear after Shang reached the next Realm. By keeping some of them within his Istion Chamber at all times, he replicated the effect of the Lightning Manor''s massive ck pylons. When Shang encountered his first Abomination Lord, he was taken aback. It possessed raptor legs with ck scales, a formidable tail, six muscr arms, and a broad back. However, unlike the previous Abominations, itcked tentacles on its body, with only a few emerging from its face. In the past, Abominations didn''t resemble beasts and were rather monstrous. Shang wondered how Abomination Kings would look if the trend continued, specting that they might resemble aggressive and powerful ck lizards, essentially beasts. The progression seemed contrary to the expectation that Abominations would be more abstract as they grew stronger. Curiosity aside, Shang refocused his attention on important matters. The Abomination Lords grew angry inside the Istion Chamber, but Shang prevented them from attacking. Although his Istion Chamber,posed of Seventh Rank materials, theoretically had the strength to withstand Abominations in the Seventh Realm, Shang didn''t want to take any chances. There were different levels even within Seventh Rank materials, and if the Entropy Ore of his chamber was only at the Initial Seventh Rank, it could pose problems. Fortunately, as the Child of Cmity, Shang could control all the Abominations, and they ceased their attack, standing motionless. To avoid arousing suspicion, Shang had closed the door to the Istion Chamber. It would be strange if Amarius or the Lightning Emperor peered into the Istion Barrier and saw a few Abomination Lords standing behind Shang. Over the next century, Shang integrated Sword Blood into his fighting style and devised a n for his advancement. He nned toprehend several non-essential Destinations for Warrior Kings, ensuring he had enough momentum to break into the Sword King Realm to secure his survival beyond his current lifespan. He would then focus onprehending the essential Destination for Warrior Emperors without consuming the momentum, reserving it forter use. Once he achieved that, Shang would concentrate onprehending the level six Concept of Entropy, possibly referring to Entropy itself. Consuming this level six Concept''s momentum would boost his mind and Affinities, elevating him to the same level as King Sanctified Death. At this point, everything about Shang would be a level above his peers, allowing him to possess a sevenfold Spirit Sense. Subsequently, Shang would employ the momentum from the non-essential Destinations and the essential Destination for Warrior Emperors to break through further. He was confident that this path would lead him to a sevenfold Spirit Sense. After approximately a century, Shang emerged from his Istion Barrier. He consumed the Abomination Lords, noting that he could do so much faster than before, likely due to the Concept of Transformation. This concept enabled him to consume a greater number of Abominations within a short period. Typically, it took around 500 years for Mage Lords to advance a level, assuming they focused solely on that aspect. Most Mage Lords advanced one level every 1,000 years due to other engagements, although it was possible to progress faster at the expense of power. However, Shang was confident he could achieve a breakthrough within 500 years. Nevertheless, Shang''s requirement of 500 years differed significantly from other Mage Lords. After all, Shang needed several times more Mana than regr mages. Therefore, if he continued absorbing Abomination Lords, he would reach the Peak Sword Lord Realm in approximately 2,000 years, leaving him with 18,000 years of longevity. Once he formted his n, Shang left the Istion Barrier and headed to the frontlines. ording to the Lightning Emperor''s information, the contract should have been terminated by now, meaning that Mage Lords would be the ones engaged in the war. Chapter 919 Chapter 919 As Shang journeyed southeast, he once again reached out to the Starlight Queen. "I''m prepared to join the frontlines." There was a brief pause before the Starlight Queen responded. "Alright. Please proceed to this location,¡± she said politely, providing the coordinates of her operational base. "Sure," Shang replied before ending the call. Little did he know, the Starlight Queen had voiced her frustrations to the Custodian following their previous conversation. She had vented her anger, expressing how uneptable it was for a member of the Lightning Manor to endanger the entire n over a personal grudge. In her opinion, personal matters should be kept separate from business affairs. It infuriated her that someone like Shang held a high position in the Lightning Manor despite hisck of respect for others. The Custodian, in a rather straightforward manner, acknowledged that they were well aware of this fact. Everyone knew it. However, they were at a loss regarding what to do about it. Should they eliminate him? But then they would meet the same fate. Should they forcefully restrain him? The oue would be no different. Annoyed, the Custodian even asked the Starlight Queen what she proposed they do in this situation. If she had a better n or idea, she was wee to share it. Unfortunately, she had no better solution, which only added to her frustration. It felt incredibly unfair to her. Shang showed no respect to anyone, yet they were expected to treat him with respect? She despised the situation, but there was nothing she could do about it. In the end, the Custodian advised her to treat Shang with genuine politeness. After all, they didn''t engage in frequent conversations. Asking for a few civil sentences every century was not too much to ask for. As Shang neared the base of operations, the Starlight Queen exined her n to him. They would target the one-star g of the Mage Lords belonging to the Judgment Pce. This g was situated near the beginning of the long line extending westward. Naturally, the Judgment Pce was aware that Shang might one day attempt to destroy their Defender g, but they were willing to take that risk. At least, they would make some use of the g before its demise. With his sword at the ready, Shang awaited the moment. After a few seconds, a portal materialized, and Shang swiftly passed through it. In an instant, he infiltrated the Defender g. The Mage Kings noticed his arrival but could only sigh. They had equipped the defender with a vast array of one-time-use spells, theoretically making him nearly invincible in the same realm. Yet, they had learned from experience that their attempts to stop Shang were likely to fail. Each time he made a move, they suffered losses. Inside the barrier, Shang positioned himself about 60,000 kilometers away. Uncertain of the extent of his opponent''s spiritual perception, Shang drew back his sword, preparing to strike. WHOOOM! Ack cloud of Sword Death Mana surged forth from Shang, hurtling towards his adversary. Ata distance of 40,000 kilometers, the opponent noticed the cloud and swiftly unleashed several spells in response. As the spells soared towards the ck cloud, it deftly evaded most of them, but a few still managed tond. BANG! However, Shang used his World Connection ability to sever the spells that would have struck the cloud, effectively nullifying them. The Mage gazed in shock at the approaching ck cloud. BANG!Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Then, a sh shed through his mana shield, depleting around 40% of his mana reserves. The Mage Lord''s face turned pale, and he evaded to the side using two Mana Steps. BANG! Another strike caused the Mage to lose even more mana. The Mage Lord retreated once again, employing Mana Steps to distance himself. BANG! And then, the mana shield shattered. By this point, the ck cloud had darted into the distance, returning to Shang. Shang didn''t necessarily rely on Sword Blood to defeat his enemy; it served primarily as a diversion, forcing his opponent to concentrate on the cloud rather than on him. By making the enemy believe that Shang was concealed within the ck cloud, he could keep his opponent within his spiritual perception. He didn''t even need to employ his Domain of Entropy to deal with the cache of spells the Mage Lord had prepared; using World Connection alone sufficed. Sword Blood re-entered Shang''s body, and he waited. Momentster, the barrier dissipated. The Mage Kings were not surprised by Shang''s victory, but it was nheless frustrating. Aportal materialized in front of Shang, and he vanished. The Mage Kings expected Shang tounch assaults on the three other battlefields between the Initial Mage Lords, but to their surprise, he didn''t appear near any of them. There was a brief silence,sting approximately three seconds. "He just attacked our two-star g!" eximed a Mage King from the Twilight Dusk Empire. Atwo-star g? Attacking a one-star g was one thing, but two-star gs were a different story altogether. Facing an infinite number of spells from someone of the same level was distinct from facing an infinite number of spells from someone above one''s level. True, Shang had aplished this once before, but the Empires had be more adept at covertly enhancing their defenders¡¯ power. Upon hearing that Shang was assaulting a two-star Defender g, the Mage King from the Judgment Pce decided to retrieve her g as well. WHOOOM! However, Shang swiftly infiltrated the g before the responsible Mage Lord could retrieve it. The Mage King''s eyes widened in shock. What? So quickly?! But the Mage King from the Twilight Dusk Family had just notified her! He had already emerged victorious?! In that moment, the Mage King grasped the magnitude of the problem. Shang had already destroyed one of the Twilight Dusk Family''s Defender gs several centuries ago, and now he had annihted another three gs. The three Empires possessed a total of 15 Defender gs in the Mage Lord Realm. They had lost one in the general war, and Shang had obliterated four more. This meant that they now had only ten Defender gs remaining! Chapter 920 Chapter 920 After obliterating the second two-star Defender g, Shang strategically ced an attack g, causing hesitation among potential attackers. The Judgment Pce foresaw the uing challenges as they couldn''t ensure the integrity of their long defense line. The longer the line was disconnected from the Judgment Pce, the harder it became to deploy new Archmages. If the Empress of Death had terminated her contract, the Judgment Pce could have traveled freely through the Land and Sky Empire. Unfortunately, that was merely a possibility at the moment. Acting swiftly, the Mage King from the Judgment Pce deployed several attack gs in the north of the Land and Sky Empire within minutes. While the Land and Sky Empire wasn''t pleased with this development, they recognized the need to widen their defense line by at least three territories. This strategy allowed the Judgment Pce to have one territory attacked by Shang, one territory attacked by themselves after Shang''s conquest, and one territory left unscathed, providing a pathway for their forces. However, due to the territorial allocation for Mage Lords, each territory was a massive 100,000 kilometers wide. Given Shang''s ability to attack any part of the line, the entire defense had to be three territories thick.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. Consequently, the Land and Sky Empire sacrificed a significant portion of their empire, one million kilometers long and 300,000 kilometers wide, to fortify the Judgment Pce''s line. After the disappearance of Shang''s attack g, he noticed numerous impending attack gs around him, but he refrained from getting involved since they didn''t directly concern the Lightning Manor. The Starlight Queen informed Shang about the developments, to which he nodded in understanding. Eventually, all the attack gs manifested, creating a formidable and expansive line for the Judgment Pce. Shang proceeded to attack the territory south of his current location, resulting in the immediate appearance of a Defender g on the recently conquered territory. The Lightning Manor also had Defender gs in ce, as both the Judgment Pce and the Land and Sky Empire had prepared for such scenarios. Another attack g emerged south of the Defender g, making this particr spot four territories wide. This allowed the Judgment Pce to continue their offensive, forcing the Lightning Manor to allocate their Defender g there, thus creating vulnerabilities in their defense elsewhere. Both enemy empires took notice of this strategy and expressed concern. If the Lightning Manor continued this approach, the defense line would reach a thickness of 400,000 kilometers. Normally, this wouldn''t be a problem as the Land and Sky Empire could simply reconquer the territories Shang had attacked before he moved elsewhere. However, a critical issue arose. The Empress of Death had yet to sever her contract, resulting in staunch defense from the Judgment Pce even against the Land and Sky Empire. Therefore, attacking these territories would require the Land and Sky Empire to eliminate Mage Lords with threefold or fourfold Spirit Senses, significantly weakening the Judgment Pce. If this situation persisted for several years, both the Land and Sky Empire and the Judgment Pce would lose a substantial number of their powerful Mage Lords. Consequently, the Land and Sky Empire couldn''t reim their territories for the time being. The situation worsened when the Lightning Manor employed two Defender gs simultaneously,pelling the Judgment Pce to further expand the line. Within a day, the line extended to a length of one million kilometers and a width of 500,000 kilometers. The Lightning Manor even went as far as using three Defender gs at once, but this strained their defenses in other areas. As a result, the line grew to a staggering one million kilometers long and 600,000 kilometers wide, no longer resembling a mere line. At this point, the territories ceased to shift rapidly, leading to a period of stability. Shang persisted in attacking one territory after another along the line. The Judgment Pce would inevitably retake the recently conquered territories, which was precisely what Shang desired. The rules of the war favored defense over offense, allowing the defender nearly an hour to select the appropriate unit for defense after the attacker revealed their unit. While Shang was exempt from this vulnerability due to his status as the most powerful being at the Initial Seventh Realm, the enemy was not. Whenever the Judgment Pce needed to reim a territory, the Lightning Manor could observe the attacker and deploy someone with an advantage against them. Although this tactic didn''t guarantee a wless victory, it significantly increased the Lightning Manor''s sess rate to around 70%. Essentially, the Lightning Manor traded one of their Mage Lords for three Mage Lords from the Judgment Pce. This pattern continued for ten years. During this time, the Judgment Pce likely lost over a thousand Mage Lords, roughly 10% of their total count. Naturally, the Lightning Manor also suffered significant losses among their Mage Lords. Both sides were sacrificing their Mage Lords in this brutal conflict, but the Lightning Manor deemed it a worthwhile sacrifice. After the ten-year period psed, two monumental changes urred in the war. Firstly, it was time to reallocate the Zones, and with the Lightning Emperor no longer bound by the contract, he could employ various strategies. One such tactic was transforming the Zone used by the Judgment Pce for attacks into one for Ancestral Mages, which was contrary to the Judgment Pce''s desires. Although the Judgment Pce already had ess to attacking a Zone for Ancestral Mages, they had lost many of those due to Shang''s actions. Furthermore, their numbers of Ancestral Mages hadn''t recovered since they lost a few Archmages approximately three millennia ago when they attempted to drown Shang in Death Mana. Thus, they found themselves in a predicament, rendering the line useless. There were only two ways to resolve this predicament: either continue the war solely with Ancestral Mages or extend the line further westward. However, thetter option would further iste the Land and Sky Empire. It should be noted that while the Judgment Pce disapproved of attacking Zones for Ancestral Mages, the Land and Sky Empire didn''t face such reservations. Consequently, although the Zones for Ancestral Mages could be attacked by the Ancestral Mages from the Land and Sky Empire, the expansive line created by the Judgment Pce prevented such attacks. If the Judgment Pce extended the line by another 500,000 kilometers to the west, it would leave the Land and Sky Empire with even less space tounch their offensive, simultaneously alleviating pressure on the Lightning Manor. Furthermore, there was a looming question: What if this pattern continued? What if, after a hundred years, the Lightning Manor further extended the Ancestral Mage Zone? Would it eventually lead to the Judgment Pce cutting off the Land and Sky Empire from the entire war? However, even more significant than these events was another urrence that unfolded almost simultaneously - three Mage Kings perished. Chapter 921 Chapter 921 Three Mage Kings had met their demise. The first one was the Myriad King, whose remaining lifespan had finally expired. When Shang had first encountered him, the Myriad King had less than 5,000 years left, and now his time had run out. Unfortunately, there was nothing that could have been done to prevent it. The Myriad King''s mana was transferred into an inheritor sphere and stored at a neutral location for the uing tournament. As for the other two Mage Kings, one belonged to the Twilight Dusk Family, an elderly figure who had served for a long time. The other was a newer Mage King recently acquired by the Lightning Manor, although they still remained at the Initial Mage King Realm, as advancing in the Mage King Realm took considerable time. One day, the oldest Mage King from the Twilight Dusk Familyunched an attack on the new Mage King from the Lightning Manor. The mana of the Twilight Dusk Family Mage King was dispersed into the world since they were not allowed to keep it. On the other hand, the mana left behind by the Lightning Manor''s new Mage King remained with them. As their previous Mage King had died due to a vition of the rules, the Lightning Manor had the privilege to select another member to be the new Mage King. This resulted in the Twilight Dusk Family losing a Mage King while the Lightning Manor did not suffer the same fate. But what was the purpose behind the Twilight Dusk Family''s actions? It was all rted to the uing tournament for the future Mage Emperor. With only about 46,000 years remaining until the tournament, the Lightning Manor needed their trump card, capable of challenging King Sanctified Death, to be a Mage King as soon as possible. However, the trump card already faced a disadvantage of around 30,000 yearspared to King Sanctified Death. If they didn''t attain the Mage King status soon, not even a Mage with a sixfold Spirit Sense could bridge such a significant gap. The Empires had no knowledge of who the Lightning Manor''s secret weapon was, so they decided to sacrifice one of their oldest Mage Kings, who would have perished soon anyway, in exchange for the newest Mage King from the Lightning Manor. Naturally, the Lightning Manor elevated another Mage Lord to the position of Mage King. This individual had previously been a Thunder and possessed a fourfold Spirit Sense. However, since they had worked in the secretive Contender Department, they were rtively unknown to the outside world. The new Mage King was aware of their impending demise, expected to be sacrificed by another Mage King in a couple of thousand years, just to ensure safety. But the Thunder was epting of this fate. Their lifespan would have expired in 3,000 years regardless. Moreover, this path would make them one of the rare few Mage Kings in the world, which was worth the price. Interestingly, the Lightning Manor had another Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense, but they decided against elevating them. Firstly, that particr Mage Lord would likely emerge victorious in the tournament. Secondly, they would also be in by a Mage King, essentially wasting a Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense. That Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense required approximately 10,000 more years to umte enough power to triumph in the tournament. These events had significant repercussions in the world. A thousand Mage Lords perished, and even the mana of a Mage King was scattered throughout the world. The density of mana had nearly doubled, revealing how low the atmospheric mana density had been prior to the war. With the increased mana, many Mages were able toprehend Concepts more easily. After all, the more mana one was surrounded by, the clearer its functioning became. Additionally, the number of Beast Lords on the inds slightly increased, although it was still insufficient to produce a King. However, the effects on weaker beasts were substantial. Beasts in the first five realms advanced at a faster rate than before. The world was undergoing transformation. Nevertheless, these changes didn''t have a significant impact on the ongoing war, and the Judgment Pce remained undecided about what to do with the line. The Empress of Death still required approximately 500 more years to break the contract, after which this issue would no longer be a concern. However, until that time, they had to contend with the problem. Ultimately, they decided to wait until their Empress had terminated the contract. As they defended the line, they were rapidly losing Mage Lords. Thus, they chose to relinquish it. This action was not in vition of the rules since it was merely abandoning territories, not transferring them to harm another party. Moreover, abandoning these territories was a logical decision as they caused more damage than they were worth. When the Lightning Manor noticed that the Judgment Pce didn''t immediately reim the territories captured by Shang, they took a significant risk and attacked the entire firstyer of the line. Surprisingly, the Judgment Pce did nothing. Subsequently, the Land and Sky Empire also assaulted the firstyer. Within an hour, the line had shrunk to a width of 400,000 kilometers. Another hourter, it reduced to 200,000 kilometers. Eventually, the line disappeared entirely, and the Judgment Pce returned to its original size.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. The Lightning Manor acquired a vast territory, one million kilometers long and 300,000 kilometers wide, originally belonging to the Land and Sky Empire. Consequently, the Land and Sky Empire had to reconquer that piece of their empire, which proved challenging since the defender always had an advantage. Furthermore, the Lightning Manor didn''t exert much effort, knowing they would eventually lose that territory anyway. They avoided risky battles and only engaged in safe encounters. Eventually, the Land and Sky Empire managed to reim the territory, but they lost approximately 100 Mage Lords in the process, while the Lightning Manor only lost seven due to their cautious approach. Lastly, due to the broken contract, the Lightning Manor regained its entire Zone in the southeast by utilizing weakened Mage Lords to eliminate the Judgment Pce''s Ancestral Mages. Ultimately, the Judgment Pce found themselves confined to their original position, essentially disappearing from the war. For the next 500 years, only the other two empires would continue their attacks on the Lightning Manor, but since the Judgment Pce wasn''t assisting, they proceeded with caution. All the empires entered a state of a half ceasefire, awaiting the moment when the Empress of Death would break the contract. Chapter 922 Chapter 922 The war reached a state of tranquility, and Shang was no longer required on the frontlines. The border areas between the Lightning Manor and the Judgment Pce were designated as High Mage Zones, allowing the Judgment Pce to utilize their full power in defense. Since the Judgment Pce had already beenpletely expelled from the Lightning Manor''s territories, there was little for Shang to aplish there. He spent a few days focusing on reiming some territories from the other two Empires, but they didn''t put up much resistance. It seemed they were not particrly determined to retain these territories for the next 500 years, preferring to let the war settle down for now. Finally, peace settled upon the world. Over the course of the next 500 years, many generations of mortals would be born and die, their legends recounting the ancient war that had once ravaged the world for thousands of years. But the war was truly over, and it would never return. Yet, this period of ceasefire was only a brief respite for the Empires. Shang withdrew from the frontlines after ten years of collective fighting, during which he had strategically ced thousands of attack gs. Shang was likely the sole reason why the Lightning Manor had not been pushed into the northwestern quarter of their Empire. The rules of the war heavily favored Battle-Strength, and one individual possessing extraordinary Battle-Strength could have a tremendous impact. Retreating from the frontlines, Shang returned to his Istion Barrier in the north. His first priority was to reach the Early Sword Lord Realm. The higher his Realm, the easier it would be for him toprehend Destinations and Concepts. Moreover, he no longer needed to remain at a lower level since he couldn''t find worthy opponents anymore. The Affinity Wheel had lost its usefulness, and he had already triumphed over the strongest Beast Lord when he was still in the Void Break Realm. Additionally, Shang wasn''t particrly fond of fighting humans, as there could be potential traitors among them. If an opponent noticed anything suspicious, they might risk everything to eliminate Shang. As a result, Shang found himselfcking opponents. However, he had an idea of where he could find some. Instead of reaching out to the Lightning Emperor, Shang contacted Amarius this time. He requested an Istion Chamber made from Eighth Rank materials, with a size of just one kilometer. Amarius took a moment to calcte the requirements and expressed concerns about the amount of powerful ore needed, as well as the involvement of a Mage King in the creation process. Shang suggested involving the Heartdevil Queen, who, to his knowledge, was not upied with any other tasks. Amarius cautioned Shang against speaking about his colleagues in such a manner, reminding him that the Heartdevil Queen was still a Mage King working for the Lightning Manor. Shang insisted, and after a brief silence, Amarius acknowledged that Emilia might indeed be the right choice. However, he mentioned that it would take several years and consume a significant portion of Shang''s Contribution Points. Shang epted these conditions and informed Amarius that he would contact him again in about a century. Conversations with Amarius were far easier for Shang than those with the Starlight Queen. Shang had requested the Istion Chamber for when he reached theter stages of the Sword Lord Realm. His intention was to find opponents who could rival him without exposing his secrets, and Abominations were the only remaining option.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Although Shang had fought a few Abominations before, the encounters were never truly serious, as his authority always suppressed them, making it impossible for them to pose a threat. However, Shang believed he could somehow convince the Abominations to engage him in a genuine fight. For now, Shang returned to his Istion Chambers and tested the true strength of the stronger one. Although he was unsure of the precise level of the materials, Shang relentlessly struck the chamber''s wall, gradually increasing his power. Even using his full strength, the walls remained intact. Shang then employed Void Break, delivering a more forceful blow that resulted in breaking his own arm. While the wall vibrated, it dispersed the force through vibrations, like a sword. Shang attempted the same with his sword, but the wall held firm. Adding the de of Death to his sword and utilizing Void Break to further enhance his power, Shang managed to leave a scratch, although it was barely half a centimeter deeppared to the massive wall. Shang concluded that the materials were likely of Mid Seventh Rank. Such materials couldn''t be destroyed by an Early Seventh Rank Mage Lord, and only a few exceptional geniuses could achieve that feat. For the time being, Mid Seventh Rank materials would suffice. As long as Shang didn''t unleash his full power against the walls, they would be sufficient even for the Early Sword Lord Realm. Satisfied with his assessment, Shang summoned an Early Abomination Lord to gauge its power and determine if he could persuade it to engage in a real fight. Chapter 924 Chapter 924 Nothing. Nothing happened. The walls of the Istion Chamber showed the same effect as Shang''s hand. That was when Shang got an idea and activated his Domain of Entropy. The next moment, he willed the wall of his Istion Chamber to turn into Neutral Mana. The wall of the Istion Chamber shook, but that was about it. No Mana left the Istion Chamber. However, Shang''s Domain of Entropy obviously had an effect. After all, if it wouldn''t, there would have been no feedback from the wall. On top of that, there was something else. Shang walked away from the ck sphere and summoned an ore piece he owned for the King Realm. Then, Shang willed the ore to turn into Neutral Mana. The ore didn''t seem to change at first nce, but a huge amount of Natural Mana actually shot out of it. It was just that the density of Mana inside the ore was very high. Shang very quickly stopped and absorbed the Neutral Mana to refill his Mana storage. After all, he didn¡¯t want the Neutral Mana to touch the ck sphere. Shang had already noticed a couple of peculiarities, but before he could even think about them, he noticed something else. ¡®Did the ck sphere just move?¡¯ Shang thought. Shang focused on the ck sphere, and sure enough, it was slowly moving towards Shang. Shang was certain that this hadn''t happened before. Then, Shang noticed the piece of ore in his hand. DINGG! Shang threw the piece of ore at one of the walls of the Istion Chamber and started looking at the ck sphere. As he had expected, the ck sphere changed its direction and started moving towards the piece of ore. Shang''s mind fell into deep thought. ¡®I can extract Mana from any object, even if that object is more than an entire Realm higher than me. | can even extract Mana from Emperor Rank materials.¡¯ ¡®Yet, | can''t extract Mana from Entropy ore. There definitely is Mana in there, but the Mana can''t be torn out. Then, Shang looked at his smaller and weaker Istion Chamber. That one had only been created with Sixth Rank ore. Shang summoned his Domain of Entropy again and willed the wall of the weaker Istion Chamber to turn into Neutral Mana. The walls shook, and a momentter, a piece of the wall broke off. Shang could see a tiny ball of Neutral Mana and several far bigger balls of this weird ck energy. The ball of Mana quickly touched one of the other balls, and the temperature in the Istion Chamber increased tremendously as all the ck balls were shot in random directions. Shang acted quickly and put the big sphere of Neutral Mana and the piece of ore into his inner world. The balls of ck energy bounced around the Istion Chamber, but there was no more Mana inside. ¡®Interesting, Shang thought as the ck balls floated around the Istion Chamber. ¡®This ck energy is also in Entropy Ore, but just like the Abominations, as soon as the Mana inside it disconnects, the ore turns into these ck spheres.¡¯ Shang gathered the smaller ck balls and pushed them together, creating a slightly bigger one, but it wasn''t nearly as dense or big as the one that came from the Abomination Lord. Shangpared the smaller and bigger balls with each other. Except for the difference in density and volume, they were identical. Eventually, Shang pushed the smaller ball into the bigger one, and theybined without issues. ¡®This energy is extremely unstable and explodes as soon as it touches anything that isn''t itself.¡¯ ¡®The Abominations and Entropy Ore turned into the same things.¡¯ ¡®However, there was one difference.¡¯ ¡®| think the Mana might be different.¡¯ ¡®While the ck energy is the same, the Mana felt a bit different. ¡®This probably means that the Mana dictates the form the ck energy takes. It can be an Abomination, but if it changes a bit, it can be Entropy Ore.¡¯ ¡®Tearing the Mana out of the Abomination Lord was easy, but tearing it out from the Entropy ore was far harder.¡¯ ¡®| guess that means that thebination of this specific kind of Mana and the ck energy is vastly more stable and more difficult to split.¡¯Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. If | could change the Mana inside Abominations, | could turn them into Entropy Ore." ¡®Wait, was that what Lucius wanted to do?¡¯ Shang suddenly thought. If | were to reach the Tenth Realm, how big would my Spirit Sense be? Mage Emperors already have a base range of a million kilometers, and with a sixfold Spirit Sense, it would be a radius of six million kilometers." ¡®| could imagine the God having a sixfold Spirit Sense at the Tenth Realm, and that is very likely big enough to epass the entire world, including the Eternal Ocean! ¡®If Lucius actually seeded, he could have probably willed all the Abominations to turn into cubes of Entropy Ore as soon as they appear.¡¯ ¡®That would actually take care of the Abomination problem. The lowest part of the world is millions of kilometers deep, enough space to bury these cubes for a long time. Also, even if trillions or quadrillions of years pass, there''s probably also a way to just shove the cubes out of the silver wall at the edge of the world.¡¯ ¡®It actually might not even need someone at the Tenth Realm to pull something like this off. As long as someone knows how to do it, they could probably create some kind of global Magic Circle that could do this automatically. ¡®It should work. After all, this ck energy is just another force, and we know how Mana works. It wouldn''t matter what kind of form it would take on. The same rules should still apply.¡¯ And then, Shang actually had a thought. He looked at the floating balls and the walls of the Istion Chamber. Then, Shang looked at his right hand. That was when he remembered all the Abominations he had absorbed. Where had the ck energy gone? ¡®Am | actually made of Mana?" Chapter 925 Chapter 925 Was Shang actuallyposed of Mana? The answer seemed evident. After all, every living being was made of Mana. Yet, the ck energy treated his body in the same manner as it did with Abominations and Entropy Ore. Furthermore, all the ck energy that made up the Abominations had also been absorbed by Shang. Lastly, Shang remembered the Bloodline Infusion. Shang''s body had been reced with the body of an Abomination that had been shaped to resemble his old body. Shang''s body wasposed of Abominations, and Abominations were made of this ck energy with a trace of Mana. So, Shang was also made of this ck energy with a trace of Mana. Shang was fundamentally distinct from all other living beings in Aterium. And then, Shang had another thought. ¡®Could the Life Concepts even work on me?¡¯ he pondered. Shang looked at his left arm. His left arm wasn''t truly his own. It was created with Mana and was essentially like another person''s arm, fused with Shang''s body. In fact, Shang couldn''t even sacrifice his left arm to Entropy since it wasn''t a part of him. It was essentially just a prosthetic. If someone knew the level five Concept of Life, could they even regrow Shang''s eyes and left arm? Shang''s eyes and his old left arm had beenposed of Mana and ck energy, and the person with the Life Concepts couldn''t possibly control this ck energy. So, they wouldn''t be able to assist Shang with his missing eyes or left arm. Shang wasn''t certain about his soul, but he assumed that his soul was probably also different from normal souls. ¡®Did Lucius have the ability to absorb Abominations? Could he use the power of Entropy?" ¡®The Lightning Emperor didn''t see any evidence, but perhaps Lucius simply managed to regrow his body with his Life Concepts. After all, he probably wasn''t made of this ck energy!" ¡®Wait, if Lucius wasn''t made of this ck energy, would he even have the ability of Entropy?¡¯ ¡®What is Entropy even? | used to think that Entropy meant equalizing everything and turning everything into nothingness." "Yet, some things are different. | didn''t know about the existence of this ck energy before, and it exins many things." ¡®If I''m not mistaken, the force of Entropy might actually not be the concept of entropy people from Earth know. This might be somethingpletely different.¡¯Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. ¡®As far as | see, Entropy represents antimatter more than actual entropy!" ¡®| suppose that''s what | will call this ck energy!" ¡®Entropy Energy.¡¯ ¡®Or just Entropy." Shang manipted the ck energy in his hand. The only person who knew of the existence of Entropy was probably Lucius, but Shang didn''t know what name Lucius had given it. ¡®This is Entropy,¡¯ Shang thought as he manipted the ck energy. ¡®When Entropyes into contact with Mana, all the energy stored in the Mana and Entropy gets converted into a destructive force that annihtes more Entropy and Mana." ¡®Abominations can absorb a bit of Mana from the surroundings and store it. When they need to explode, the Mana touches an unstable part of their Entropy." Shang recalled the moment when the sphere of Entropy had moved toward the piece of ore. ¡®Entropy seems to be attracted to Mana, and if the piece of ore had been much lighter, maybe it would have also moved towards Entropy." ¡®Like two opposing mas, Entropy and Mana are drawn towards each other.¡¯ "So, when the Abominationbines the bit of Mana it absorbed with some of its Entropy, its entire existence explodes, scattering its Entropy across the surroundings, and since the world is filled with Mana everywhere, the Entropy immediately explodes." ¡®The Mana and Entropy used to fuel the explosion will be forever gone, and whatever the explosion touches will also be forever gone.¡¯ ¡®It appears that Mana and Entropy are converted to pure destructive energy, which then gets used up as it destroys more Mana and Entropy." ¡®Wait, do Mana and Entropy actually cancel each other out? What if they don''t both vanish but actuallybine into something new, which then cancels itself out with everything around it?¡¯ Shang contemted many different ideas. ¡®| think it might be possible. Entropy and Manabine into an extremely destructive energy, which then destroys everything around it.¡¯ ¡®Mana remains Mana as long as it doesn''t touch Entropy." ¡®Entropy remains Entropy as long as it doesn''t touch Mana." ¡®This third force can''t persist because it vanishes as soon as it touches anything.¡¯ ¡®This force can''t exist naturally anywhere, and it can''t be stored.¡¯ ¡®Based on Entropy ore and Abominations, | can tell that Entropy can be used to create something, even though it still needs Mana." ¡®I''m very certain that this third force can''t be used to create anything." ¡®It''s the purest form of destruction.¡¯ ¡®| think that''s what I''ll call it.¡¯ ¡®Destruction.¡¯ Mana, the white sphere, touches Entropy, the ck sphere, and they transform into Destruction, a grey force of pure annihtion. ¡®But then, what is my Affinity?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Is my Affinity the control of Entropy or the creation of Destruction?¡± ¡®| don''t think it makes any difference. As long as | can control Entropy, Destruction will automatically follow since | am always surrounded by Mana." After many years, Shang finally managed to somewhat understand his Affinity. Shang had seen many details of his Affinity, but only when he had alreadyprehended the level five Concept of his Affinity did he finally see the entire picture. Shang''s Affinity was the control over a force that represented the opposite of Mana. Like two mas, the two forces were drawn towards each other, and when they collided, they would create Destruction. ¡®Is this why Abominations exist?¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Abominations are beings of Entropy, and Entropy is drawn towards Mana.¡¯ ¡®Compared to beings of Mana, Abominations have nearly no consciousness at all." ¡®Is that why they appear in Aterium?" ¡®Maybe, there is no real reason for why they are invading.¡¯ "Maybe, they are just here because Mana pulls them here.¡¯ Chapter 926 Chapter 926 Eventually, Shang ceased contemting Entropy. Though Shang had a strong desire to invest substantial time in understanding Entropy, as he believed he was making progress, he realized it wasn''t the most efficient approach at the moment. Before anything else, Shang needed to strengthen his Realm. Immersing himself inprehending Concepts now would be a waste of time, as Concepts wouldn''t evade him. First, he needed to increase his power. Next, he nned toprehend a few non-essential Destinations. Only after that would he decide on his next focus. At that point, Entropy could be a potential direction. Shang drew the ck sphere of Entropy toward himself and absorbed it. This process wasn''t any different for Shang than absorbing pure Mana. Immediately after, Shang summoned another Abomination Lord and attempted to provoke it into fighting him. Within minutes, the Abomination Lord halfheartedlyunched an attack against Shang. The Abomination Lord demonstrated considerable speed,parable to that of a Late Beast Lord. Its physical strength also matched that of a Late Beast Lord. It''s worth noting that Shang had summoned an Early Abomination Lord. Even disregarding its Domain of Entropy, the Early Abomination Lord had the potential to challenge an Early Mage Lord. Factoring in its Domain of Entropy, the Early Abomination Lord might even pose a threat to Peak Mage Lords and Mid Mage Lord Clouds. An Abomination Lord could leap a level when facing a Cloud. This fact was astonishing and was akin to someone possessing a fivefold Spirit Sense. Each Abomination Lord had the battle strength of a fivefold Spirit Sense individual. This made engaging an Abomination Lord at one''s level tantamount to suicide. The Abominations fought instinctively, charging headlong with teeth and ws to kill their enemies. Despite their simple approach, they possessed immense power. Shang wondered how much more potent an Abomination could be with intelligence andbat experience. When this thought urred to him, he nced at his right arm with his Spirit Sense. The body of an Abomination Lord was as sturdy as Shang''s own body at that level, and they also had ess to the Domain of Entropy. Reluctantly, Shang admitted that an Abomination Lord could potentially match his power if it attained human-level intelligence. This realization brought one thing into focus: Abominations were not on the same level as other beings. Humans and beasts were on par with each other. A Beast Lord could be as powerful as a Mage Lord with adequate training, as evidenced by the Thunder King.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Abominations, however, possessed physical strength two levels above that of a beast and wielded an immensely powerful domain. Even more remarkable, every single Abomination was that formidable. This wasn''t an exceptional case of a talented Abomination; the average Abomination was this powerful. The more Shang fought against them, the clearer it became that Abominations were not native to this world. Everything about them was distinct, and their power surpassed that of ordinary beings. While the world seemed to maintain a bnce, allowing every Path to reach the same level of power, Abominations stood apart. They were unequivocally superior. This raised questions about their origin: Were they truly from this world, within Aterium, or had theye from outside? Could the God truly stop them? Shang couldn''t be entirely certain about his conjectures, but he felt confident that Abominations were not naturally existing in Aterium. He firmly believed that Abominations originated from outside Aterium and invaded the realm, possibly drawn by the abundant Mana. In his battles against the Abomination, Shang experienced no difficulties, as its most potent weapon, the Domain of Entropy, had no effect on him, turning them into stronger but less intelligent beasts. After absorbing the Early Abomination Lord, Shang summoned a Late Abomination Lord and engaged it inbat. The Late Abomination Lord possessed a body as robust as an Initial Beast King, an entire Realm above Shang''s level. Although the Abomination still fought like an animal, the sheer difference in speed and power exerted immense pressure on Shang''s body. For the next couple of years, this became Shang''s routine-absorbing Abominations to elevate his level while also honing his swordsmanship. Though he hadn''t explored the non-essential Destinations for Warrior Kings, Shang believed that refining his sword skills would benefit him in the future. Over the next 500 years, Shang didn''t acquire any new knowledge, as that wasn''t his primary goal. However, he managed to reach the Early Sword Lord Realm. If allowed to utilize his Domain of Entropy, Shang could potentially triumph over Late Mage Lord Clouds and might even have a slim chance against a Thunder. Undoubtedly, Shang had surpassed the majority of Bolts and all existing Beast Lords. His strength slowly elevated him to the top of the world, reaching the top 5,000 beings in Aterium. Only a few thousand entities in the entire realm were stronger than him. During his second trial, Shang had battled the progeny of the Ice King, but back then, he couldn''t haveprehended the true power of the Ice King. The Ice King had ranked within the top thousand of the world, a position Shang was now close to achieving. Having attained the Early Sword Lord Realm, Shang left his Istion Barrier and contacted Amarius, aware that the Empress of Death had likely broken the contract by now. With the next round of warmencing, the Lightning Manor required his presence. Chapter 927 Chapter 927 When Shang emerged from his Istion Barrier, the Empress of Death had already terminated her contract with the three enemy Empires a couple of years ago. As expected, the situation had be troublesome. With all contracts broken, the three enemy Empires formed a true alliance. Mages transferred between Empires tounch attacks from their borders, allowing individual members to move freely across all Empires without being attacked. When Shang learned about the frontline, he realized the gravity of the situation. The Lightning Manor had converted their southeastern Zone into a stronghold for Mage Lords, anticipating a collective attack from the three Empires. Although Ancestral Mages weakened by Shang would have been the logical choice to defend the Zone, they opted for Mage Lords, primarily due to Shang''s presence in the Seventh Realm. The Lightning Manor had started preparing for this n 500 years ago, guiding Mid Mage Lords to reach the Late Mage Lord Realm, Early Mage Lords to fall into the Initial Mage Lord Realm, and asking Initial Mage Lords not to break through for a while. As a result, there were less than 200 Early and Mid Mage Lords in the Lightning Manor, but over a thousand Initial Mage Lords. Shang''s power was potent enough to defeat any Early and Mid Mage Lord, making it unnecessary for the Lightning Manor to deploy many forces at that Realm. Shang returned to find the enemy rapidly advancing with Mid Mage Lords, but he swiftly dispatched several of them. Consequently, the enemy Mage Kings realized that they could no longer rely on Early or Mid Mage Lords and had to switch to the other three levels. The abundance of Initial Mage Lords in the Lightning Manor posed a challenge for the enemy.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. The Peak Mage Lord Realm, where the Thunders resided, was risky due to its formidable force and potential consequences of attacking them. Killing a Bolt was akin to killing a soldier, but killing a Thunder was like eliminating amander. The three Empires were reluctant to sacrifice their valuable Peak Mage Lords with fourfold Spirit Senses and preferred to pressure the Lightning Manor with Late Mage Lords. Shang refrained from attacking Late Mage Lords with fourfold Spirit Senses to avoid revealing his true power identally. Although Shang could still kill these Mage Lords, doing so would make the enemy aware of his hidden strength, and they might go to extreme lengths to eliminate him. Shang''s death would result in the demise of the Lightning Emperor, leaving no opponent for King Sanctified Death, who would be a Mage Emperor and seek revenge for his father''s death. The Mage Emperors did not wish to kill the Lightning Emperor as he was a friend and had been Lucius¡¯ second-inmand, but his use of the Archivist as a threat strained their goodwill. The war soon entered a stalemate as Shang conquered territories, and no enemy dared to attack him. The three Empires¡¯ n was to keep the Lightning Manor upied on other fronts and then press forward with full force from the southeastern front to eventually consume the entire Empire. However, advancing proved to be challenging, and though they killed many Mage Lords, they struggled to gain significant territory. The Lightning Manor would eventually face a shortage of Mage Lords, and at that point, they could trap Shang with four Defender gs, as they wouldn''t have enough manpower to free him. The war, despite fewer territory changes, continued to progress rapidly, with a shift in objectives. The three Empires used their Defender gs for Late Mage Lords without hesitation. The Judgment Pce and Land and Sky Empire deployed their Peak Mage Lord Defender gs and sent in their strongest Mage Lords to ensure the gs'' effectiveness. Both Empires had a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense at different stages of development. One of them hadprehended four level five Concepts and was on the verge of understanding a level six Concept, positioning them to join the grand tournament and be a Mage King. The other Peak Mage Lord had alreadyprehended a level six Concept and could potentially be a Mage King in the next tournament. However, with around 4,000 years of longevity remaining, the second Peak Mage Lord had the option to skip some tournaments. It was evident that these two Defender gs were immovable and the Lightning Manor didn''t even attempt to destroy them. The Lightning Manor had a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense who hadprehended three level five Concepts. Although this Mage Lord might be able to defeat the weaker of the two enemy Mage Lords, the risks were substantial, and losing such a powerful asset would be akin to losing a Mage King. At this point, no one was willing to take such a significant risk. Chapter 928 Chapter 928 "Young Master Shang, an Early Mage Lord Defender g has appeared,¡± the Starlight Queen transmitted to Shang. Shang realized that this was a trap. They knew that Shang was here and that Shang was able to kill basically anyone in the Early Mage Lord Realm. And yet, the enemy had still used their Defender g. It was more than obvious that they wanted to lure Shang into attacking. ¡°From which Empire?" Shang asked. "The Land and Sky Empire," the Starlight Queen answered. Shang scratched his chin as he weighed his options. The enemy Mage Kings had lost so much money at Shang''s hands, and they had been familiar with him for thousands of years. They put his power on the same level as an exceptionally strong Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense. Shang was truly dangerous, and they knew it. Even when Shang had attacked an Initial Mage Lord with a fourfold Spirit Sense while they had been armed to the teeth, he had still won. But now, they were so confident that they were willing to let Shang fight someone at the same level as him? What was their n? ¡°What about their Mage Lords with fivefold Spirit Senses?" Shang asked. "The Land and Sky Empire has one, and she is still inside their Peak Mage Lord Defender g." "The Twilight Dusk Family also has one, but he is not on the frontline. ording to our intel, he has only justprehended his second level five Concept, which barely makes him as powerful as a weak Thunder. He is training to enhance his power." "The Judgment Pce has two. One of them knows four level five Concepts, and she is also inside their Defender g. The other one is rtively new. | think he only reached the Mage Lord Realm in thest 4,000 years." "That''s all Mage Lords with a fivefold Spirit Sense that we know of. There might be more, but | am not sure," the Starlight Queen said. Shang continued scratching his chin. "The two Mage Lords in the Defender gs are definitely those two? There are no tricks? No disguises?" Shang asked. g.¡± "The Twilight Dusk Family also has one, but he is not on the frontline. ording to our intel, he has only justprehended his second level five Concept, which barely makes him as powerful as a weak Thunder. He is training to enhance his power." "The Judgment Pce has two. One of them knows four level five Concepts, and she is also inside their Defender g. The other one is rtively new. | think he only reached the Mage Lord Realm in thest 4,000 years." "That''s all Mage Lords with a fivefold Spirit Sense that we know of. There might be more, but | am not sure," the Starlight Queen said. Shang continued scratching his chin. "The two Mage Lords in the Defender gs are definitely those two? There are no tricks? No disguises?" Shang asked. "I''m certain," the Starlight Queen said. "We''ve gained that intel by sacrificing two Thunders." Shang nodded. "So, it can only be the other two. Either the new guy or the old one." "Do you think it''s possible that the one from the Twilight Dusk Family is waiting for me?" "No," the Starlight Queen said. "There is a much simpler exnation." "While the size of a Spirit Sense shows someone''s talent and the power they will be able to achieve in a given Realm, it isn''t necessarily a good representation of someone''s current power. Especially when there are so many talented people in the Mage Lord Realm." "| think it''s much more likely that their equivalent of a Thunder has dropped down three levels to fight you. It''s possible that your enemy has alreadyprehended three or four level five Concepts.¡± "In a way, this would be like fighting someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense that is a level above you. On top of that, they would have given their Mage Lord plenty of powerful weapons to deal with you." Shang thought about this possibility for a while. "If | were to kill someone like that, would there be a chance that my true power would get unveiled?" Shang asked. "Very unlikely," the Starlight Queen said. "In the known history of humanity, there have only been two people with a sixfold Spirit Sense. King Sanctified Death and the Mage God. Seeing another Mage with a sixfold Spirit Sense would already be very hard to believe, but a warrior? That''s simply impossible." "The more reasonable exnation would be that we have some kind of secret weapon that increases our warriors¡¯ power by much more than what we can do to a Mage." "For example, we are already using plenty of enchantments that increase the power, speed, defense, reaction time, and so on of our warriors of all Realms. These enchantments are not useful for Mages," the Starlight Queen said. Shang frowned. "That''s the first I''ve heard of these enchantments being used in the war." "| genuinely don''t intend to be disrespectful, Young Master Shang," the Starlight Queen said, "but you are not part of the command center of the war, don''t join the war very often, andstly, you never needed these enchantments."Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. "Hm," Shang muttered. She was right. "So, they won''t suspect me of hiding my power when | kill that guy?¡± Shang asked. "Most likely not," the Starlight Queen confirmed again, "but just to make sure, | want to bestow several enchantments on you before you enter. It has to be believable." Shang just nodded. Asecondter, a portal opened behind Shang, and the Starlight Queen stepped out. Under the gaze of all the enemy Mage Kings, she put several extremely powerful enchantments on Shang. Yet, even though all the Mage Kings could see it, the Defender g didn''t move. It seemed like the enemy was confident. "What if a Mage King gets involved?" Shang asked. "The Ancestor is no longer busy with the contract," the Starlight Queen said. "He is watching over the war now." Shang nodded. When the Starlight Queen was finished putting all the enchantments on Shang, he flew towards the Defender g. Since the enemy was willing to fight Shang, he didn''t need to hurry. After some seconds, Shang arrived in front of the barrier and stopped. Sure enough, the two-star Defender g was still there. They were that confident, huh? All of Shang''s aspects had been doubled in power by the enchantments, making him even more ridiculously powerful than usual. With so much power, Shang''s World Connection could probably destroy over 50% of his opponent''s Mana. The enemy wouldn''t even be able to see Shang before they died. Then, Shang entered the barrier. The barrier turned cloudy, and the inside was now isted from the world outside. Shang and his opponent were now the only two people inside the Defender g. That was when Shang''s heart nearly stopped. His bandage told him that an extremely powerful person could still see him. Yet, Shang couldn''t see his opponent. His opponent was too far away. This meant that Shang''s opponent had a bigger Spirit Sense than him! Chapter 929 Chapter 929 Several thoughts immediately shot through Shang''s mind. Had the enemy hidden themselves very well from Shang''s senses, and they were actually closer? No, the Starlight Queen would have informed Shang of that. Defenders nearly always stayed in the middle of the barrier, and if that weren''t the case, the Starlight Queen would have told him. Were there some contraptions that erged the enemy''s Spirit Sense? No, very unlikely. A Mage Lord couldn''t attack from so far away. Seeing an opponent wouldn''t make a difference. Lastly, the sheer intensity of the feeling that the bandages were transmitting to Shang was enormous. Yet, not even Emperors could look into the barriers. They were specifically designed to iste all kinds of Spirit Senses. How intense was the feeling of the bandages? Very intense. It felt about as intense as when the Starlight Queen looked at Shang. Just based on the feeling, Shang knew that this was not someone he could fight against. This was someone as powerful as a Mage King! Was this what the enemy had nned? They had sent a Mage King to kill Shang? But how?! The barriers would immediately feel the presence of a Mage King and alert the outside while deactivating! Yet, somehow, the three Empires managed to get a Mage King into this Defender g to fight Shang without alerting the Defender g. "You''ve caused quite a lot of trouble," Shang heard in his mind. The voice sounded like an old man. Shang quickly took the pin from the Lightning Emperor and tried to reach him. But it was impossible. The Defender g was simply too good at isting the surroundings. Even more, every Defender and Attack g was jointly created by several Mage Kings, giving them enough power to even withstand one or two attacks from a Mage King. Breaking out of the g was impossible. "Surprised?" the old voice asked. "I don''t know how you did it, but | could see the moment you realized that this won''t just be one of your normal fights." Shang didn''t answer. ¡°We now have an entire week just for us," the old voice transmitted. "Honestly, if our Empires hadn''t agreed to take no risks, | would have probably taken that time to torture you." "Sadly, there''s nothing else | can do. Guess | have to end your life quickly.¡± Shang was still trying to contact the Lightning Emperor with the pin. He even tried to check if the pin had some kind of hidden functionality. Sadly, there was nothing Shang could do. He was stuck in the barrier with a Mage King, and based on the power the Mage King was emanating, this wasn''t a new one. This was probably a Mage King whose life would soon end due to old age. Someone like that knew several level six Concepts. Shang didn''t even know a single one. "How?" Shang asked. ¡°You mean the Defender g?" the old voice asked. "Well, this Defender g just so happened to be made by our three Empires." "You should know that Defender gs are made by three Mage Kings from different Empires at once, who have been chosen at random. And for this one, it just so happened that our three Empires were chosen." "| didn''t personally create it, but one of my friends did. He told me that he made this Defender g in case we need to kill the Lightning Emperor''s secret weapon." ¡°Naturally, it can''t be too different from the other ones, or the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors would notice that this is a different g." "So, we only changed two things." "One, it checks the Mana density of someone''s Aura instead of someone''s body and mind. Like this, as long as | don''t use Mana denser than what an Early Mage Lord can use, it won''t see my true Realm." "But don''t get your hopes up," the old voice said with some amusement. "You probably think that you only need to force me to use more Mana to defend myself. Sadly, that''s not true." "You see, we''ve had enough of gambling. No, this time, | will attack with my full power, just to be sure." "I''ve already epted my death." ¡°And the other thing we''ve changed is that it will alert the others outside but not deactivate. So, even if the Lightning Emperor immediately notices it, he can''t use too much power to destroy it. Otherwise, he might hit you." "That means | get around two seconds of uninterrupted time with you. Isn''t that great?" the old voice asked. Obviously, the Mage King wasn''t in a hurry. which was understandable. After all, as soon as the Mage King attacked, he would die two to three secondster. Even though the Mage King acted like none of this was an issue, it was impossible for him not to be affected. Shang wasn''t sure how many more years the Mage King had left, but it was probably over a thousand. ¡°Anyst words?" the Mage King asked. Shang still couldn''t see the Mage King. Naturally, Shang knew that he wouldn''t even be able to defend himself from his enemy. His enemy was a Peak Mage King, after all. That was someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense that was eight levels above him. That only left onest possibility for Shang. He had to use Entropy. ¡°| want to see you when you kill me," Shang said coldly. If he wanted to use Entropy, he had to see his opponent. Otherwise, he would most likely miss him. "You want to see me?" the Mage Lord asked with augh. Silence. Shang''s expression didn''t change. "You seem like you''ve got something nned," the Mage King transmitted. "I''m not sure what you could possibly do in your situation, but | think | won''t do it." Shang''s expression didn''t change, but he immediately used several Mana Steps to shoot forward. In an instant, Shang reached the center of the barrier after nearly using up all of his Mana, but he couldn''t see the Mage King anywhere. Naturally, a Mage King was many times faster than Shang, and if he wanted to stay outside of Shang''s Spirit Sense, it wouldn''t be difficult.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "Oh wow, that seemed quite important to you," the Mage King transmitted. "You missed me by just a tiny bit." ¡°Anyway, time for you to leave." The next moment, a ck and white beam of intense Light and Darkness Mana shot at Shang. It was just too fast. Shang hadn''t been able to react at all. Chapter 930 Chapter 930 DING! In a sudden burst, a lightning explosion emanated from the pin on Shang''s chest, instantly neutralizing the attack. "| knew it!" transmitted the Mage King, yet he soundedpletelyposed and unworried. ¡°By the way, that''s why we made a second alteration to the Defender g. | can unleash about 50 Spells in two seconds. Let''s see how resilient that shield is." Voice transmissions happened instantaneously, so despite the Mage King speaking several words, hardly a millisecond had psed. At that moment, Shang felt like time was moving in slow motion. He had intended to use Entropy, but he couldn''t locate his opponent, and the attack struck him before he could react. Even as Shang realized that a lightning shield had blocked the attack, the second and third Spells were already on their way. Before Shang could process that his shield had been hit twice more, the next two spells struck. The barrage was so rapid that Shang couldn''t keep up with what was happening before the next onught began. The speed was overwhelming! In less than a second, Shang had been hit by over 20 Spells. By now, the hue of the barrier had turned pinkish, gradually shifting to red. However, hardly anyone would notice it. Perhaps one of the Mage Kings might have observed the change in color, but they would still wait for the Defender g to deactivate, as that was how it worked.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. Shang could barely manage to nce at the pin on his chest. Its brightness had already dimmed by over 80%, and he could sense that the shield was perilously thin. In about 0.2 seconds, the shield would be obliterated. And then, the next Spell would spell Shang''splete destruction. Shang''s mind raced faster than ever before. Numerous ideas rushed through his head, only to be dismissed immediately. Most of them centered around using Entropy. The power disparity between them was simply too vast. Shang''s initial instinct was to use Entropy against the Mage King. However, the Mage King was attacking Shang from various directions outside his Spirit Sense! Even if Shang had the speed to react to a Spell, the Mage King would probably have moved on from that spot! Hitting him was impossible! The next thought was to attack the barrier, but that presented two other problems. Firstly, the barrier was immensely powerful, and Shang''s Entropy might not be enough to destroy it. Secondly, it wouldn''t solve the issue of the Lightning Emperor not knowing Shang''s location inside the barrier. If the Lightning Emperor could pinpoint Shang''s position, he could release a focused Spell directly at him, creating a hole in the barrier in the process. But as it stood, the Lightning Emperor had to punch a small hole in the barrier, check inside, and then use another Spell to deal with the situation. It was an impossible task. 0.1 seconds passed, and the lightning shield was on the verge of copse. Shang estimated that the shield could only endure four more Spells, and he knew that his mind was two Spells behind reality, meaning the next two Spells would shatter the shield. He had to act now! Shang disliked all of his options, but he had to choose one. In the next moment, Shang''s Domain of Entropy activated. His clothes turned into ck dust, and a ck fire glowed through the bandages. Simultaneously, Shang''s artificial left arm crumbled into ck dust, revealing a ck silhouette of an arm. Lastly, his legs disintegrated into ck dust. As Shang''s body turned into ck dust, his Domain of Entropy grew stronger andrger. BANG! The lightning shield shattered, and the next two Spells hurtled toward Shang. WHOOOM! WHOOOM! The ck and white beams entered the Domain of Entropy, creating a huge indentation. The old man firing Spells at Shang narrowed his eyes andunched more Spells. Shang''s Domain of Entropy expanded but struggled to keep up with the rapid barrage of Spells pushing from one side. Momentster, the surrounding parts of the Domain of Entropy flooded towards the dented side like water. BANG! BANG! BANG! The Mage King kept attacking! Within the Domain of Entropy, Shang stared at the sky, his mouth open in a silent scream. The sensation of nothingness. The feeling of impending death. He was fading away. His feet and shins had alreadypletely disappeared. BOOOOM! BOOOOM! BOOOOM! The Mage King relentlessly assaulted Shang with clenched teeth. He attacked with all his might, but the peculiar ck sphere only barely kept up with his destructive efforts! If he had just one more level six Concept! Maybe then, it would be enough! He was so close! There was barely a two-meter gap between where his Spells hit and Shang''s body! SHING! The Mage King employed Mana Step and materialized ten meters away from Shang. The Mage King had ck, white, and grey hair, with several wrinkles on his face, and wore the ck and white robes of the Twilight Dusk Family. In the next instant, six ck and white orbs appeared around him. And then, they allunched simultaneously. B00000000000M! It was as if a massiveser bore through Shang''s Domain of Entropy. He was so close! One meter! Half a meter! Just a little more! And then, everything below Shang''s waist disintegrated into Entropy at once. WHOOOOOOOOM! The Domain of Entropy, which had just barely withstood the attack, expanded at uncontroble speeds. The Mage King''s eyes widened in shock and terror as the Domain of Entropy engulfed him. He attempted to use Mana Step, but the Spell had no effect! He tried a hundred Mana Steps and several other Spells, but none of them made any difference! His Mana Shield shattered, and under the Mage King''s horrified expression, his body began to turn into ck smoke. And he perished. BANG! In that moment, a mighty lightning bolt pierced through the barrier. And the barrier shattered into pieces. Chapter 931 Chapter 931 BANG! Following the lightning bolt that pierced the barrier, the entire structure crumbled. BANG! Five more lightning bolts shot through another section of the copsing barrier, striking the edges of the Domain of Entropy. It resembledsers targeting the periphery of a puddle. At those spots, the Domain of Entropy vanished instantly. The five lightning bolts then moved in a circr path, converging towards the center of the Domain of Entropy. Within an incredibly short span, they reached Shang''s body and split into numerous smaller lightning bolts. Shang''s body was enveloped in highly destructive lightning, yet the skillful control ensured that he didn''t suffer any burns. The Domain of Entropypletely disappeared, revealing Shang''s body, now naked except for his bandages. His left arm, legs, and a bloody hole in ce of his lower limbs were all that remained. His body was mere skin and bones, with dangerously weak life energy. Immobile, but still alive. This entire sequence urred in a mere 0.1 seconds, while the barrier continued to crumble. Fortunately, no one could see Shang at that moment. The Lightning Emperor knew the importance of keeping Shang''s condition as secretive as possible, which was why the initial lightning bolt had created a bright and imprable domain of lightning. However, he also understood that he couldn''t keep everything isted for too long, or the other Emperors would use him of tampering with evidence. So, the Lightning Emperor approached Shang and covered his mutted body with arge piece of white cloth. This cloth blocked Spirit Senses and only provided a rough outline of Shang''s body. At that instant, an oppressive ck spot appeared on the Lightning Emperor''s bright domain. He immediately deactivated his domain, revealing an aggressive ck cloud of Death Mana hurtling towards them. The Empress of Death had arrived - Kali. The Lightning Emperor calmly stood next to the white cloth concealing Shang''s body. Kali emerged from the ck cloud, her eyes cold as she looked at Gregorio. Soon after, Brutus Cesar and Amon Gus also appeared. "Exin," Kali demanded coldly. "You exin," Gregorio retorted, his narrowed eyes concealing his simmering anger.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. "| have nothing to exin," Kali replied emotionlessly. "You are the one who destroyed a Defender g." ¡°After it failed to deactivate," Gregorio countered. ¡°Are you implying something?" Kali asked. "Yes, | am," Gregorio affirmed. "I am certain that my warrior''s opponent was a Mage King." ¡°A Mage King," Kali repeated, showing no amusement. "And how, pray tell, could a Mage King enter a Defender g?" ¡°Because the g was either defective or tampered with," Gregorio exined. "What nonsense," Kali scoffed. "If it''s nonsense, then summon all the Mage Kings from your three Empires. If no Mage King was inside, they should all still be present, right?" Gregorio challenged. "Fine," Kali responded in a calm yet cold tone. She nced at Brutus Cesar and Amon Gus, who nodded in agreement. In short order, all the Mage Kings from the three Empires assembled beneath the four Emperors. Once they were all gathered, Brutus Cesar furrowed his brows, and Kali looked at Amon Gus with an even colder expression. "You''re missing one," Kali stated. Amon Gus turned pale. He tried his best to contact the missing Mage King, but he couldn''t get a response. can''t find him," Amon Gus admitted with a serious expression. "Seems like I''m not the only one with traitors among us," Kali remarked. Amon Gus remained silent. "Is this how it''s going to be?" Gregorio questioned. "Will you all pretend this wasn''t nned?" "It wasn''t nned," Brutus Cesar asserted. "At least, | had no involvement in it." Kali nodded in agreement. "I wasn''t aware of this either, but | will conduct an internal investigation." She then turned to Gregorio. "Expect an answer within the next 50,000 business years." Gregorio only stared at them with narrowed eyes, refraining from saying anything. The white cloth next to Gregorio began to levitate. "Stop," Amon Gus interjected. "Now that we have entertained your investigation, it''s time for you to entertain ours." "Show us the body," he demanded, pointing at the floating body beneath the cloth. Immediately, the atmosphere darkened as Gregorio and Amon Gus locked eyes. "Don''t push it," Gregorio warned with a dark and menacing tone. "I know what''s going on. You know what''s going on. We all know what''s going on." "You crippled one of my most powerful people," Gregorio continued. "You lost a Mage King, and you severely and permanently crippled one of my future Mage Kings." "Drop it." Silence ensued. The three Emperors stared at Gregorio as the tension in the air escted. "| don''t appreciate baseless usations," Amon Gus stated, "but | will drop it this once. After all, we were once friends." Gregorio''s cold eyes met Amon Gus'' cold gaze for a moment longer. Then, Gregorio took to the sky and flew through a portal with Shang''s covered body. The three Emperors also departed from the battlefield. Although they had all been aware of the incident, Emperors couldn''t perfectly discern truth from lies while conversing with one another. However, their intuition was generally urate. All three Emperors believed Gregorio''s words about Shang being permanently crippled, despite not knowing the specifics of how it happened. This meant that they hadn''t sacrificed a Mage King in vain. One could say that the mission had been a partial sess. Chapter 932 Chapter 932 Inside the Lightning Emperor''s library, arge piece of white cloth began to shift. The cloth moved aside, revealing a torso with a head and an arm, floating in the air. Blood dripped from the left and bottom sides of the torso, forming a pool on the ground. This was Shang, and he remained silent for a while, pondering what had transpired and his new condition. The more Shang sacrificed to Entropy, the greater the impact on his Battle-Strength. While losing his vision was a minor issuepared to losing an arm, the loss of an arm was still less significant than losing both legs. Shang''s entire battle style relied on swift forward movements, powered by his legs. With the loss of his legs, his eleration had likely dropped significantly. Evading attacks would also be much more difficult. For a Mage, losing their legs wouldn''t pose a major problem. Mages typically relied on their minds and Spells for movement, as their physical speed was insufficient forbat. And now, Shang found himself in the same position. It was a heavy blow, indeed. However, Shang onlymented the loss of his legs for a brief moment. Afterward, he immediately began contemting ways to develop his power in a manner that didn''t rely on his legs. He had done the same when he lost his left arm. After creating hisst Sword State, the loss of his left arm became inconsequential to his current Battle-Style. While his current style was built around leg movements, Shang knew he could adapt and develop a new approach. "You seem calmer than | expected,¡± the Lightning Emperor remarked from behind his desk as he nced at Shang. Shang didn''t respond immediately. "You saved my life with your pin," Shang eventually said.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. The Lightning Emperor chuckled softly. "That was the intention," he replied. "| knew it was only a matter of time before a Mage King attacked you." Then, the Lightning Emperor''s expression turned serious. "However, | didn''t anticipate an altered Defender g." "The Mage King imed that it was jointly created by the three Empires," Shang replied. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "| suspected as much. | have already ordered an inspection of all Attack and Defender gs. It appears that two of the Defender gs of Ancestral Mages and Archmages have been lost." "Lost?" Shang repeated. "Yes," the Lightning Emperor affirmed. "The Land and Sky Empire, as well as the Judgment Pce, have lost their Defender gs." "Presumably, they will be considered destroyed." "In a sense, you destroyed three Defender gs five years ago," the Lightning Emperor added. "Five years ago?" Shang inquired. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "Your soul suffered further injury. You have already lost almost half of your soul to Anti-Magic. Humans are not meant to survive with only 50% of their soul intact." "The fact that you''re still alive is nothing short of miraculous." ¡°Your soul was realigning and adapting to make it possible for you to survive with what little remains." "That process took approximately five years." Shang fell silent as he delved back into his thoughts. "What are your ns?" the Lightning Emperor asked after a few seconds. "To adapt my fighting style to amodate my new situation," Shang exined. Upon hearing that, a small smile appeared on the Lightning Emperor''s lips. "I''m d you''re adjusting so quickly," he said. Shang didn''t respond. Instead, he pointed his head towards the ceiling, lost in contemtion. The Lightning Emperor observed Shang with a raised eyebrow. For over five minutes, Shang remained deep in thought. "| don''t want to bring about the destruction of the world," Shang suddenly dered. The atmosphere in the room shifted at once. ¡°What do you mean?" the Lightning Emperor inquired, his voice carrying an undertone of apprehension and unease. "| don''t desire to bring about the end of the world," Shang reiterated. "My goal is to gain power, but what use is power if there''s nothing left around me?" ¡°What value does power hold without a world to wield it in?" "You trust me," Shang continued. "You have supported me." "You have saved my life on numerous asions." "| sense no ill intentionsing from you." The Lightning Emperor felt a tinge of nervousness. "What are you talking about?" he asked. Shang turned his head to face the Lightning Emperor. "You know exactly what I''m talking about. You are aware of my secret." The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath. Silence hung in the air. "You know," Shang went on, "there was someone | once trusted with my life, but that person betrayed me and tried to kill me after learning my secret." "You already know my secret. I''m not sure if you have truly faced that realization or not, but if you had truly intended to kill me, you would''ve done so already. You had all the time and opportunity in the world," Shang asserted. In the next moment, a letter materialized in Shang''s hand, and he tossed it to the Lightning Emperor. ¡°You know | am the Child of Cmity," Shang revealed. The Lightning Emperor took another deep breath. Shang was right. The Lightning Emperor had been aware for a long time. The moment he learned of Shang''s Anti-Magic, he had suspected the truth. Yet, he had never truly confronted it. And then, Shang sacrificed his legs, forcing the Lightning Emperor to confront the reality. Upon awakening, Shang had a realization. His Spell, Humanity, was not active. It hadn''t been active during the five years hey in the Lightning Emperor''s library. The Lightning Emperor couldn''t have failed to notice that Shang was the Child of Cmity. Despite all this, Shang was still alive. The Lightning Emperor read through the letter from Lucius that Shang had just thrown to him, and he took another deep breath. Lucius had also been the Child of Cmity... Deep down, Gregorio had already suspected Lucius, but like with Shang, he had refused to face it. "What now?" Shang asked. The Lightning Emperor remained silent for a long while. Chapter 933 Chapter 933 The Lightning Emperor remained silent for a while, and Shang patiently waited for him to speak. Finally, the Lightning Emperor sighed, epting the situation. "What''s there to do?" he asked with a tone of resignation. "I''ve known this all along, but | didn¡¯t want to face it." The Lightning Emperor nced to the side, seemingly lost in thought. ¡°Anti-Magic doesn''t exist. It''s merely the power of the Abominations. | should know. Lucius taught me a little about it." "He taught you?" Shang inquired, sounding somewhat surprised. The Lightning Emperor nodded. "Yes, he gave each of us a lesson in what he called Anti-Magic. | was the only one who gained anything from it. | learned how to transform Mana into what you call Entropy. Unfortunately, the Mana | use is consumed entirely, and | can only release about 30% of the stored power." ¡°People know that | killed Adam, but they are unaware of the extent of the destruction | caused. Well, the people there know, but those in the Lightning Manor don''t. They aren''t aware of the details," the Lightning Emperor exined. "You can use Entropy?" Shang inquired. "Entropy?" the Lightning Emperor repeated. "That''s what | call it," Shang rified. "| need a Mana vacuum to demonstrate." The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow, but he obliged and created a barrier around Shang, pushing all the Mana out. SHING! The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath upon seeing a High Abomination appearing beside Shang. While he had epted that Shang was the Child of Cmity, witnessing him summon an Abomination was still shocking. Moreover, the Abomination didn''t even act hostile; it simply stood next to Shang obediently. The Lightning Emperor had never considered himself a viin. He valued honesty and fairness above all else. However, now he found himself conversing with someone who could control beings destined to destroy the world. It made him ufortable to support someone like that. Shortly after, Shang used his Domain of Entropy to split the High Abomination into Mana and what he called Entropy. Shang''s hand reached for the ball of Entropy and held it. "This is what | call Entropy," Shang exined. The Lightning Emperor examined the ball of Entropy with interest. ¡°We know that Abominations aren''tposed entirely of Mana, but we''ve never managed to separate the Mana from the other force," the Lightning Emperor remarked. "Shang, you''ve created something that only Lucius has seen before." ¡°May | take a closer look at it?" Shang nodded. "Keep Mana away from it, or it will explode." The Lightning Emperor nodded in return, and the ball of Entropy floated towards him, with the Mana vacuum following. He then recited severalplex words, creating abstract Mana fluctuations. The ball of Entropy started to heat up, causing the Lightning Emperor to furrow his brows. He continued chanting Spells, but the ball of Entropy kept increasing in temperature. After about a minute, the Lightning Emperor summoned several devices that Shang had never seen before. However, as soon as one of these devices touched the ball of Entropy, it vanished. Another minute passed, and the Lightning Emperor let out a sigh of frustration. "How am | supposed to test this ball of Entropy?" he muttered, sounding half-rhetorical. "I''ve only learned one thing: it destroys any kind of Mana it touches." ¡°And, well, almost everything is made of Mana," the Lightning Emperor added helplessly. DING! Shang tossed a hard piece of ore beside the ball of Entropy. The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow, but he noticed that the Entropy was drawn to the ore. "They''re attracted to each other?" he remarked. Shang didn''t need to respond; the Lightning Emperor''s mind worked rapidly, and he made several deductions. "So, there might not even be a reason why the Abominationse to our world," he theorized, reaching a conclusion simr to Shang''s. Naturally, he arrived at a simr idea. "Possible," Shang agreed. "Maybe the God can''t even control the Abominations." The Lightning Emperor furrowed his brows. "But he gave you your Affinity, and you can control Abominations, right?" "Yes, but my control isn''t absolute," Shang admitted.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. The Lightning Emperor became increasingly intrigued. None of the Children of Cmity, apart from Lucius, had managed to be as powerful or learn as much about Abominations. "| can control and summon them," Shang exined, "but | can''t dismiss them or prevent them from appearing. If | sense an Abomination wanting to appear in Aterium, | can redirect it to somewhere else, but | can''t stop it from appearing.¡± The Lightning Emperor scratched his chin. ¡°And you think even the God can''t do that?" he asked. Shang nodded. "I''m not entirely sure, but it''s most likely.¡± The Lightning Emperor continued experimenting with the ball of Entropy for some time. After hours of testing, he managed to learn a couple more things about it, but the nature of Entropy remained difficult for him to grasp, as it was unlike anything else in the world. Then, the Lightning Emperor asked Shang to recount his life story without any secrets. And Shangplied, revealing everything to the Lightning Emperor. As Shang divulged his story, his thoughts drifted to a person he hadn''t thought about in a while: Jerald. Conversing with the Lightning Emperor reminded Shang of the genuine care he felt from both of them, but their actions and approach were quite different. Shang''s rtionship with Jerald had felt like a bond between brothers before things fell apart. In contrast, his connection with the Lightning Emperor felt more like a friendship and business partnership. They both wanted something from each other, and their conviction and power vastly differed. Jerald was weak, always had been. After seeing what Shang had seen and learned, he could tell that Jerald hadn''t been anything extraordinary. At best, Jerald might have be a Boltling in the future. However, every single Cloud was far superior to Jerald in intelligence, motivation, and talent. Jerald could have never followed in Shang''s footsteps, and Shang was aware of that. Moreover, Jeraldcked decisiveness. He should have either informed the Lightning Manor about Shang or done nothing at all. Instead, he devised an borate scheme and yed a role for Shang. As for the Lightning Emperor, he was already at the pinnacle of the world, possessing hundreds of thousands of years of experience. Or perhaps... The Lightning Emperor was simply more selfish than Jerald. Chapter 934 Chapter 934 After Shang told his story, the Lightning Emperor nodded. He was quite surprised that Shang had actually met the Starlight Queen when he had been so young. When Shang was done with his story, the Lightning Emperor fell into thought. Shang didn''t say anything. Eventually, the Lightning Emperor nodded. "I think we can make the world a better ce." "What do you mean?" Shang asked. Amomentter, several transparent figures appeared in the air between them, and Shang could also see a map of Aterium. Then, Shang saw a small figure representing him flying to one spot of the Lightning Manor. Asecondter, a huge Abomination appeared, which was then surrounded by a big ck pylon. The pylon was put under the Lightning Manor''s Empire. The same thing repeated another nine times. In the end, ten Abominations were buried beneath the Lightning Manor''s Empire. After that, time seemed to rapidly pass on the transparent map, and many Abominations appeared all over it. The Abominations exploded in the other Empires¡¯ territories, but none of them appeared in the Lightning Manor. Shang knew why the pylons existed, but they became obsolete when Shang became more powerful. But now, they could be put to use again. The biggest issue had been that capturing the Abominations had been extremely difficult. After all, they exploded as soon as anything went wrong. Nevertheless, the Empires managed to capture a couple of Ancestral Abominations, but not nearly enough to stop more Ancestral Abominations from appearing. Even more, the stronger Shang became, the more Ancestral Abominations appeared. The Empires essentially raced against time. But with Shang here... "| already calcted the estimated spawn rate of Abominations based on your breakthroughs," the Lightning Emperor said. "As long as you put ten Abomination Lords into pylons, we should be safe from Abomination Lords. When you reach the Mid Sword Lord Realm, you need to put away another ten Abomination Lords." ¡°Naturally, we can''t just directly do that, or everyone will be suspicious. We need to do this slowly, and we also need a cover. | will simply say that | have been studying Anti-Magic to learn more about Abominations and that I''ve finally managed to create something usable." The Lightning Emperor chuckled a bit. "Well, I''ve been doing something like that anyway, but | don''t think | would have created anything even close to that useful.¡±Content held by N?velDrama.Org. "I''ll let everyone put up an Empire-wide Magic Circle with Magic soplex that not even the other Emperors would be able to discern what it does within the next fifty millennia." "We''ll just act like this Magic Circle stops powerful Abominations from spawning. With time, we can also iste Ancestral Abominations, stopping them from appearing. | can simply act like | improved the Magic Circle." "We can save trillions of lives like this," the Lightning Emperor said with a smile. Shang nodded but didn''t answer. He was busy thinking about what kind of effect this would have on the war. The Abominations made problems for everyone, and the stronger Shang grew, the stronger the Abominations became. Abomination Lords were still extremely rare, but they appeared, and they could even threaten Mage Kings if they got the chance to detonate. This put all the Empires under enormous pressure. All their Peak Mage Lords and Mage Kings had to be constantly ready since any Abomination needed to die within three seconds of appearing in the world. If the Lightning Manor didn''t need to pay any attention to them, they could effectively double the power of their army. "That''s not a problem," Shang said after a while. The two of them ironed out the details of the n until they had nothing to talk about anymore. When the room became silent, the Lightning Emperor felt a bit uneasy as a question he had already asked several times popped into his head once again. "What will you do if you be a God?" he asked. Naturally, he wanted to hear Shang''s answer again after knowing that he was the Child of Cmity. "Kill the God," Shang said. "After that, | want to get rid of the Abominations. Even if there is no way, my Spirit Sense would cover the entire world, and | could turn every Abomination that appears into nothingness." ¡°And then, | want to go further." ¡°There has to be more out there than just this world.¡± ¡°| want to know what''s out there, and | want to be even more powerful." "The Abominations will most likely also disappear with me. I''m pretty sure that | just act as some kind of beacon for the Abominations, and the stronger the beacon is, the more Abominations cane into the world.¡± ¡°If I''m gone, a new Child of Cmity will probably be born, and everything starts again." ¡°However, even if there is no way for me to stop the Abominations as a God, | am certain there is a way as long as | be even more powerful." "Maybe there are High Gods, or Ancestral Gods, or Divine Gods out there. At some point, | should gain the ability to stop the Abominations." "| promise that | will get rid of the Abominations." "| was born in this world, and it is my home." "This is where | have embarked on the path to power, and | don''t want to lose it." The Lightning Emperor smiled a bit when he heard that. Shang obviously didn''t care for the world because there were people in it, but because he viewed it as his home. If someone sold their house to others and left, they still wouldn''t want to see their old home get demolished. They didn''t care about whoever lived there, but they cared a bit about the house. That was how Shang viewed the world. This was his. This belonged to him. And he didn''t want to destroy what belonged to him. Wasn''t that already better than the God or King Sanctified Death? "I''m happy to hear that," the Lightning Emperor said. Chapter 935 Chapter 935 The war continued, but Shang was nowhere to be seen. The Mage Kings knew that they hadn''t killed Shang, but they knew that they had permanently crippled him. They didn''t know how exactly they had crippled him, but all three Mage Emperors had confirmed that the Lightning Emperor had been truthful. Maybe it was whatever allowed him to survive until the Lightning Emperor appeared? The warrior had managed to survive for nearly two full seconds under the assault of a Peak Mage King. Something like that was way too powerful for someone in the Early Seventh Realm. The Lightning Emperor had probably given the warrior something that could defend him from a Mage King, but it couldn''t be that powerful. Even if a child had a gun, it would still need to hit the attacking eagle with it. Awarrior in the Early Seventh Realm couldn''t be fast enough to hit someone like a Peak Mage King. Even more, the amount of Mana had to be limited. In two seconds, a Peak Mage King could kill a Peak Mage Emperor if they just stood still and didn''t move. This meant that the warrior must have used something that allowed him to survive for a couple of milliseconds longer. Naturally, the warrior couldn''t have killed the Mage King. Obviously, the Mage King had died to the Lightning Emperor''s lightning. But he still managed to survive against a Peak Mage King for a while. Had the Lightning Manor developed some kind of secret technique that could exchange health for defense? They weren''t sure, but that also wasn''t as important. The important thing was that the menace most likely wouldn''t appear for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, the Empires were still careful. In the beginning, they avoided using Early and Mid Mage Lords, but after a century, they used a couple of them. Shang didn''t appear. So, they used a couple more after another century. And then, something strange happened. The Lightning Manor started to build an Empire-wide Magic Circle. Naturally, the other Mage Emperors demanded an exnation since this could vite the rules of the war. Yet, the Lightning Emperor remained vague, but he assured them that this wouldn''t impact the battles at all and that it wouldn''t even touch or interact with the barriers, gs, soldiers, or the battlefield. After a couple of years, the Magic Circle had been finished and activated. It consisted of many smaller Magic Circles that were scattered across the Empire. The other Empires had no idea what the Magic Circles did. When the Emperors took a look at it, they also couldn''t tell. It was written in apletely different form of Magic, which they confirmed to be the Lightning Emperor''s personal Magic. If someone this powerful had enough time, they couldpletely redesign the way they interacted with the Concepts and the world. This allowed someone to streamline the processes of how Magic worked towards their personal battle style. This could bepared to Shang creating his own Mana Pathways instead of using the ones that had been built by the world during his breakthrough. The Emperors knew that they would need a long time to understand the Magic Circles, and without knowing if it was even worth it or not, they didn''t waste their time on it. With time, they would find out what the Magic Circle did anyway. Acenturyter, the Catastrophe King appeared on the frontlines of the Lightning Manor for the first time. The Catastrophe King, Kiran, had been fullymitted to getting rid of the Abominations inside the Lightning Manor, which was why he hadn''t been part of the war before. The fact that the Catastrophe King had appeared on the frontlines meant that the Lightning Manor was desperate. The other Empires continued pressuring the Lightning Manor, but they didn''t go all-out. With the Catastrophe King here, the Lightning Manor would lose many of their towns and cities, destroying their infrastructure and making it more difficult for Mage Lords to appear. After all, the Abominations wouldn''t just stop appearing. The resistance the Lightning Manor put up had also increased by a lot, and the other Empires knew that they had to take things slow. The Lightning Manor was obviously overextending and fighting in an unsustainable way. As long as they waited, the Lightning Manor would eventually run out of steam. Another century passed. The Lightning Manor was still resisting. 500 years passed. The Lightning Emperor changed his huge Magic Circle, and the other Emperors still had no idea what it did. Another 500 years passed. The Empires had be suspicious. How was the Lightning Manor still resisting this much?! The Abominations should have caused devastating damage to them! The other Empires were already starting to have difficulties with the Abominations. By now, one Mage King of every Empire was on constant duty to supervise the Empire for the Abomination Lords. As soon as one of them appeared, the Mage King immediately needed to summon portals to kill them. They couldn''t even waste a single second. Then, another two Mage Kings per Empire were busy supervising thends for Ancestral Abominations and Archabominations. This meant that three Mage Kings of each Empire were constantly busy because of the Abominations. That was nearly half of all Mage Kings of the Land and Sky Empire and the Twilight Dusk Empire. Additionally, they also needed to keep several Peak Mage Lords ready. However, there was one thing that gave them hope. If they already felt this horrible, how horrible did the Lightning Manor feel? Both sides were still experiencing heavy casualties, but the Lightning Manor still managed to hold out, and their defense didn''t weaken. After a couple of thousand years of war, the four Empires were not what they used to be anymore. The Lightning Manor only had five Mage Kings left. The Twilight Dusk Family also had five. The Land and Sky Empire had six. But the Judgment Pce was hit the hardest. Gregorio had killed two of their Mage Kings back then, and they had lost two more during the war. From 14 Mage Kings, they fell to ten.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Before the war, the Lightning Manor had about 7,000 Mage Lords. Now, they were down to 5,000. The other three Empires experienced simr losses. Even more, the brutal losses in the Ancestral Mage battlefields made it more difficult for new Mage Lords to appear. And things only got worse since now the Abominations also started to destroy more and more. The speed of new Mage Lords appearing had slowed down while the rate at which they were killed increased tremendously. By now, almost no one was thinking about Shang anymore. Chapter 936 Chapter 936 In the next 500 years, another monumental change took ce. The Judgment Pce had stopped resisting the Tower of Climate, and the Towe of Climate had imed the eastern 10% of the Judgment Pce''s Empire. The Tower of Climate had sustained losses, but they weren''t nearly as heavy as the other four Empire''s losses. Resisting two Empires at once had been too taxing for the Judgment Pce, and they decided to deal with the Lightning Manor first. For now, the Tower of Climate could have these territories, but they would get their revenge when the Lightning Manor was gone. Another 500 yearster, the Empires really started to feel the stress. There were five times as many Abomination Lords appearing as 2,000 years ago, and the number of Ancestral Abominations had also multiplied. By now, two Mage Kings had to look out for the Abomination Lords since, in very rare cases, two Abomination Lords could spawn at the same time in different spots of the Empire. It only happened once every 200 years or so, but even that was too much. Whenever an Abomination Lord exploded, allnd in the surrounding 100,000 kilometers waspletely annihted. It was a horrifying disaster. The vast number of Mage Lords the Empires had to choose from when nning an assault had shrunken by a lot, and they had to make concessions several times. Meanwhile, the Lightning Manor was fighting with all of their forces. It was almost like Abominations weren''t an issue for them. But how was that possible?! Eventually, the Empires came to a decision. They would create a unified force that would test every single being in the Seventh Realm to check if they were the Child of Cmity. That also included warriors and beasts. Over the next years, they traveled to all Empires and performed blood tests on everyone. The Lightning Emperor had also given them a vial of Shang''s blood, but the test was negative. Naturally, the Lightning Emperor had ways to fake such a test. Sadly, the Empires couldn''t find the Child of Cmity. However, they found something else. They finally found out what the huge Magic Circle in the Lightning Manor did. They couldn''t find any traces of Abomination Lords or Ancestral Abominations in the Lightning Manor, which shocked everyone. Naturally, the other Empires immediately demanded an answer, but the Lightning Emperor just said that this was what his huge Magic Circle did. It stopped Abomination Lords and Ancestral Abominations from appearing, and it even predicted where weaker Abominations would appear. The ability to predict where Abominations came from had worked back when Shang had still been weak. Back then, they had simply used the Pylons to measure the waves the Abominations gave off, which would tell them where a new Abomination would appear. Sadly, that ability had be useless as Shang''s strength increased. But now, the Lightning Emperor had made it usable again. The other Emperors immediately demanded to know how it worked, but the Lightning Emperor refused. They wanted to collectively fight and kill him, and now they wanted to know how his Magic Circle worked? Fuck them! The Emperors weren''t stupid, and they knew that they couldn''t force the Lightning Emperor toply. So, they were stuck with the current status quo. Additionally, it wasn''t even so bad since they would soon be able to break through the Lightning Manor''s defenses. A thousand years passed.Content is property ? N?velDrama.Org. Around 4,500 years had passed since Shang had his run-in with the Mage King. And now, the Empires were on the attack. The Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense that hadprehended a level six Concept from the Land and Sky Empire had be a Mage King. At the same time, the talented Mage Lord from the Judgment Pce finallyprehended her level six Concept, and she would be a Mage King in the next tournament, which would take ce a thousand years from now. But until then... She decided to do what Shang had done and attack one territory after the other. Naturally, a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense that knew a level six Concept was invincible. The Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense from the Lightning Manor hadn''tprehended a level six Concept yet, and they couldn''t win against the attacker. They still needed more time. With the Mage Lord''s added pressure, the Lightning Manor was starting to lose territories again. Additionally, they also lost many of their Mage Lords since they had to take the initiative to reconquer their territories. Even more, they couldn''t use Peak Mage Lords anymore since the impossibly powerful Peak Mage Lord would just kill them. It was brutal, and the Lightning Manor was under enormous pressure. There was no one that could possibly resist her, and the Lightning Manor was forced to fight several unfair fights. And then, someone appeared. Or... something appeared. It looked like some sort of specter or demon from legend. Awhite cloakpletely hid the head and face of the being, even blocking Spirit Senses. The white cloak extended over the torso of the being, but then, there was just nothing. It was like the specter had no legs, and its body just ended after the torso. Even more, there was also no left arming out of the torso. The only thing everyone could see was the right arm, which was encased in the white cloak. Only a pale hand was visibleing out of the cloak. Lastly, the left part of the cloak was crimson red and wet. It was almost like the shoulder of this being was constantly bleeding and seeping into the white cloak. Naturally, the ripped parts at the end of the cloak were also crimson red, with blood endlessly dripping down. It was terrifying. What was this?! Suddenly, the specter shot forward in an extremely unnatural way. It was like reality, space, and time were moving around it. Its movement was unnatural, but one thing was sure. It was fast. Really fast! Before the specter entered the barrier that the Mage Lord with the fivefold Spirit Sense had summoned, it summoned a long sword. The Mage Kings couldn''t react to the appearance of this specter. Chapter 937 Chapter 937 Shang''s appearance had changed quite a bit. Wearing normal clothing was no longer fitting for him since he had no legs and only one arm. Because of that, he had decided to just wear the white cloth that the Lightning Emperor had put on him. The cloth was amazing since it only allowed Spirit Sense to exit but not enter. Naturally, it wasn''t as effective as Entropy Ore when it came to isting something, but even Mage Emperors wouldn''t have it easy to look through it. Another reason why Shang had decided to wear this cloth was that he couldn''t realistically hide the loss of his limbs anymore. Hiding the loss of an arm wasn''t difficult with the Lightning Emperor''s master over the Life Concepts, but hiding the loss of two legs was basically impossible. Everyone had seen how Shang moved, and when he suddenly stopped putting strain on his legs, it would only create more suspicions and questions. Because of that, Shang decided to take on a persona that didn''t make him seem human anymore. And maybe, that was actually urate. The more abnormal he seemed, the less the individual issues with him would be questioned. The Mage Kings and Mage Emperors knew that Shang had been crippled in some way, and appearing like this made it more difficult to guess the specifics. Was Shang crazy now? Had he lost his mind? Stuff like that. After entering the barrier, Shang didn''t stop. He kept shooting forward at incredible speeds. Over thest 4000 years, Shang had advanced to the Peak Sword Lord Realm, and he had also worked on a way to fix the issue with his speed. That was when Shang decided to take a look at the Space, Time, and Gravity Concepts. Thanks to his Transformation in the Void Break Realm, Shang had a 60% Affinity for Space, Time, and Gravity now. That was already better than almost all people. At this moment, Shang''s mind was nearly as powerful as the mind of an Initial Mage King. Together with his increased Affinities, comprehending the first couple of Concepts for these three Affinities wasn''t difficult. The level one Concept of Space, Warping, which allowed someone to warp space, making it more difficult for an enemy to move inside. The level two Concept of Space, Distance, which allowed someone to shorten or lengthen the space between them and their opponent. The level three Concept of Space, Distortion, which strengthened the effects of Warping. This Concept could also interfere with the maniption of space by someone else. Even the level four Concept of Space, Fragmentation, which allowed someone to split space apart. This was the very Concept that transformed the SpaceContent is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Affinity from a controlling one into a very offensive one. The level one Concept of Time, eleration, which allowed someone to speed up the time of themselves and their surroundings. The more Time Concepts one knew, the stronger its effect. The level two Concept of Time, Deceleration, which allowed someone to slow the passing of time in their surroundings. Together with eleration, this could create a horrifying difference in speed. The level three Concept of Time, Flow, which allowed someone to control the other two Concepts with more control, giving them the ability to switch the times so rapidly that someone might shoot past someone or misjudge someone''s trajectory. The level four Concept of Time, Instant, which allowed someone to speed up their mind for a short moment in exchange for Mana, making it seem like the world had frozen. This gave someone the ability to n even in the most stressful scenarios. The level one Concept of Gravity, Weightlessness, which allowed someone to reduce the weight of something. Shang was using this Concept in conjunction with Darkness Mana to control the weight of his sword. The level two Concept of Gravity, Pressure, which allowed someone topress the surroundings, making it more difficult for them to move. The level three Concept of Gravity, Compression, which strengthened the effect of Pressure even more. The level four Concept of Gravity, Core, which strengthened all the other aspects. With these twelve Concepts, Shang had solved his issue. Usually, when someone didn''t have a Space, Time, or Gravity Affinity, they would wait toprehend these things until they became Mage Kings. After all, even with no Affinity, their minds were powerful enough to understand these things anyway. After losing his legs, Shang had been stuck with moving like Mages, which meant moving his body with the power of his mind. Shang''s way of moving still hadn''t changed, but it had been optimized to a scary degree. The Concept of Weightlessness would vastly reduce the weight of Shang''s body. The Concept of Distance made Shang move through four times as much space as without it. The Concept of eleration sped up Shang''s personal time. And that wasn''t even everything! Shang had alsoprehended the level four Concept of Light, Dawn, which increased the powers of his Light Concepts even more. And the level five Concept of Light, Laser, which gave Shang 10% of the speed of light, and it also gave him a way to transform Light Mana into destructivesers! When Shang moved at his full speed now, his cloak would shine in a white light, but due to the distortion of gravity, time, and space in his surroundings, the light appeared ethereal and ghostly. With all of these Concepts, Shang''s speed was even faster than it would have been with just his legs. His weakness had vanished, reced with strength. Of course, Shang hadprehended a couple more things as well, but these weren''t relevant to his speed. Since Shang was now a Peak Sword Lord, he was already focusing on the non-essential Destinations for Warrior Kings, and Shang had alreadyprehended one of them. When the barrier had turned cloudy, the ck-haired Peak Mage Lord frowned. Someone dared to attack her? Nevertheless, she would be ready. She readied- Her eyes suddenly widened as she saw a ghostly figure shooting at her. It... it was so fast! How was it so fast?! Was this a Mage King?! Chapter 938 Chapter 938 The Mage Lord had just barely readied her Focus when Shang had already nearly reached her. SHING! The Mage Lord used several Mana Steps to gain some distance, but Shang was already shooting after her with scary speed. The Mage Lord quickly realized that this couldn''t be a Mage King since the Attack g would have reacted to the figure since it was obviously using Mana to move this fast. Additionally, the Mage Lord couldn''t even tell who or what this was. Was this a Mage? It had to be a Mage, right? Nevertheless, she knew that she had to go all out. After all, the Lightning Manor wouldn''t send someone to attack her as long as they weren''t confident. She remembered that the Lightning Manor had some kind of secret weapon that they wanted to use against King Sanctified Death in the future. Was this the secret weapon? If so, this might be the most difficult fight of her life. Immediately, she unleashed her full power. Just when Shang was about to reach her again, everything became dark. Shang''s Spirit Sense didn''t work anymore, and if he had eyes, they also wouldn''t work anymore. On top of that, Shang felt his body slowly bing weaker. This was Shang''s first time genuinely fighting someone that knew a level six Concept. This was the level six Concept of Darkness, Eternal Darkness. Eternal Darkness stretched the powers of darkness across a vast area. Luckily, creating Spells that included such powerful Concepts wasn''t easy, and the Mage Lord hadn''t yet created one. Because of that, she could only use the Concept as it was. No matter what Shang did, it was impossible for him to see anything with his Spirit Sense. WHOOOOM! That was when Shang activated his Domain of Entropy. The darkness around him vanished, but more darkness followed. It would take a while for Shang to get rid of all the darkness. Then, Shang felt over 30 Spells getting absorbed by his Domain of Entropy. Apparently, his opponent had used some of her one-time-use Spells. However, they couldn''t get through his Domain of Entropy. For about half a second, no Spells hit Shang. WHOOOOOM! And then, a concentrated beam of Darkness and Death Mana reached Shang. Just when it entered Shang''s Domain of Entropy.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Instant! Shang used the level four Concept of Time, Instant. The entire world froze, and Shang''s Mana was rapidly being depleted. However, this moment allowed him to n everything and tell exactly in which direction his opponent was. Time resumed. ssssssss! It was like two rapidly spinning drills hit each other. The concentrated beam of Darkness and Death Mana rapidly vanished as it hit and destroyed a ck cloud of smoke. This was Shang''s Death Sword Mana. SHING! SHING! SHING! The next moment, countless cuts in space appeared in the 10,000 kilometers in front of Shang. It was like every cubic meter had a cut going through it. This was a technique Shang had developed thatbined his World Connection with the level four Concept of Space, Fragmentation. DING! One of the cuts hit something. The next moment, a cloud of ck smoke burst out of Shang''s body and gathered around his sword. In an instant, the cloud formed a ck de, butpared to Shang''s normal Death Edge, this de was over 100 meters long and thin. Shang thrust forward. And the thin de shot out of Shang''s sword directly at the spot where his World Connection had hit something. BANG! The thin de broke apart after it hit something. Naturally, someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense had ways to increase the power of their Mana Shield. What Shang had just used was the non-essential Destination for Sword Kings he hadprehended, Blood Compression. With this, Shang couldpress Sword Blood into a small and powerful form, giving it some of the attributes of Sword Infusion. As soon as the de broke apart, it turned into ck smoke again, but instead of retreating, it swarmed around the spot it had just hit. Shang felt his Sword Death Mana rapidly getting depleted, which meant that his opponent was putting up a strong fight. But not for long. After a bit, Shang''s Sword Death Mana broke through something and stopped getting depleted. The next moment, the darkness around Shang vanished. And then, the barrier turned transparent again. Shang wasn''t surprised or excited. He knew how powerful he was, and he had entered the fight with one purpose in mind. Testing his speed. Shang hadn''t used Mana Step. Shang hadn''t used Sword Heart. Shang had simply run at his enemy and attacked her in a straightforward manner. A Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense that knew the level six Concept of Darkness and the level five Concept of Death. And yet, Shang hadn''t even truly tried. If he wanted to, he could have used World Connection from a great distance. But he didn''t. As the barrier turned transparent, the world turned silent. This... thing was still alive. But the barrier had turned transparent. It was very difficult for the Mage Kings toe to terms with their new reality. This had been a future Mage King. This wasn''t someone that had a chance at bing a Mage King. No, this had been someone that would have definitely won the next tournament. And she had died? To this?! What even was this?! But just a momentter, the Mage Kings realized what this was when they saw the sword hanging from the thing''s right hand. This was the menace? What happened to him?! They knew that they had crippled him in some way, but they still weren''t sure how or why. Even after seeing him. The next moment, the specter''s hood moved, and it looked towards the Judgment Pce. At this moment, the Mage King responsible for the frontlines in the Judgment Pce felt her back shudder. It was looking at her! But how could it see her?! She was over 200,000 kilometers away! However, that wasn''t the most shocking part. She felt a little threatened. She felt like this thing might have a slight chance of killing her! But how?! She was a Late Mage King! The next moment, the specter turned around and flew back to the Lightning Manor, its way of movement still extremely bizarre and unnatural. What had happened?! This was the menace?! But how had the menace be this powerful?! This thing had destroyed one of the most powerful future Mage Kings that existed! And then, a possibility appeared in the Mage Kings'' minds. This thing was so strong that it could win against such a powerful Mage Lord. Did this mean... Did this thing have a sixfold Spirit Sense? It was difficult to believe, but that was the most likely possibility. Sadly, they could only grit their teeth in frustration. They were out of options. They had already used several Mage Kings in ambushes. They had already used their changed Defender gs. The Lightning Emperor had already finished dealing with the contract, which meant that he could watch over the menace 24/7. Andstly, the war was going badly for the three Empires. The Abomination Lords were causing heavy losses, and the Lightning Manor wasn''t experiencing nearly as many losses. They wanted to attack the Lightning Manor with all their power. But it didn¡¯t matter! They had already used everything! And for the first time, the Mage Kings actually felt like they had a possibility of losing this war. Chapter 939 Chapter 939 There was nothing the other three Empires could do. After nearly 8,000 years, the secret weapon of the Lightning Manor had finally been unveiled. Some of the Mage Emperors and Mage Kings had suspected that the Lightning Manor had someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense. After all, why would the Lightning Emperor ask for a war and a grand tournament otherwise? The Lightning Emperor had to be confident, and only someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense could hope to resist King Sanctified Death. And yet, the truth had been far more shocking than even that. Awarrior. Awarrior with a sixfold Spirit Sense. When they had learned that Shang had achieved a fivefold Spirit Sense many years ago, they had already been beyond shocked. After all, the warrior Path had been destroyed. There were no inheritances. There were no teachers. And the only information about the ancient warrior Path was with the few Mage Emperors. The Mage Kings and Mage Emperors didn''t believe that the Lightning Emperor had created such a genius. After all, doing so went against many of the established and ancient rules. The Mage God had said that no other Path was allowed to reach the Ninth Realm again, and the Lightning Emperor was the Mage God''s closestpanion. He would respect the Mage God''s decision the most. On top of that, creating such a genius artificially would cost wealth umted for thousands of years. Not even the Judgment Pce was willing to spend that much money. Lastly, this was a warrior. Why would anyone want to teach and nurture a warrior like this? Warriors as a whole were quite useful, as the war had proven, but a single warrior genius wasn''t very useful. This meant that this warrior must have been born naturally, and he must havee into contact with the Lightning Emperorter. And yet, it was still more than shocking that the Lightning Emperor was actually willing to bet his entire Empire on a single warrior. Now, one had to keep in mind that all of these things held true for a warrior with a fivefold Spirit Sense. But now, they knew that Shang had a sixfold Spirit Sense. There were no adjectives that could describe the unreality of this situation. It was on the same level of absurdity as finding a pig that had be a Mage Emperor. King Sanctified Death''s talent was held in the same regard as the Mage God''s talent. King Sanctified Death might have be more powerful than the Mage God had been at his level, but one had to remember that King Sanctified Death had an unprecedented Affinity and the backing of two Emperors as soon as he was born. Meanwhile, the Mage God needed to earn everything himself. With the same backing, the Mage God might have been more powerful than King Sanctified Death. But this warrior. What was up with this warrior?! He essentially managed to reach such a level without any guidance, and he also shouldn''t have had any notable quantities of resources in the first five Realms. And despite all of this, he managed to reach the same level as King Sanctified Death. Despite all this, only very few Mage Kings from the Judgment Pce realized the true extent of Shang''s power. These few Mage Kings knew that Shang might actually be even more powerful than King Sanctified Death. These very few Mage Kings knew that King Sanctified Death had achieved his sixfold Spirit Sense when he had be a Mage Lord, and his Aura had undergone another change when he had be a Mage King. Yet, as they all thought back to the start of the war... What if Shang had had a sixfold Spirit Sense in the Sixth Realm? It was possible. After all, Shang''s current Aura had a simr intensity to King Sanctified Death''s current Aura. But King Sanctified Death was a Realm above Shang. What about when Shang bes a Warrior King? Would his Aura undergo another change? The thought terrified them. However, instead of feeling fear or anxiety, they actually felt like they had dodged a bullet. Look at the current Shang. He had no eyes. He had no left arm. He had no legs. The fluctuations of his soul felt disjointed and jittery. The Mage Kings hadn''t been sure how they had crippled Shang or in what way they had crippled him, but the Judgment Pce had a couple of people with Life Affinities, and they could tell. Shang''s soul was severely injured. They could tell that Shang''s soul was on the verge of breaking apart. Shang''s soul was like a weak old man walking down the street with shaking legs.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. The man could continue walking, but if a small animal ran into his legs, he would copse. They were certain that Shang was haunted by a constant feeling of weakness, disorientation, fatigue, stress, and anxiety. On top of that, his soul would have to be under constant, indescribable pain. How difficult would it be to train in such a state? A feeling of tranquility and inner peace was paramount for Mages. Stress and anxiety could easily distract someone''s mind while they were focusing on something. Naturally, pain would be even worse. And when it came to training as a warrior, Shang had it even worse. After all, he was missing half his body. How could he achieve mastery over his body when he was missing half of it? While Shang kept charging through several battlefields, the Mage Kings were meeting with their Mage Emperors, who then talked to each other. They now all knew their target. They knew the Lightning Manor''s trump card. Yet, it had be very difficult to deal with the trump card. They had sacrificed Mage Kings to deal with new Mage Kings from the Lightning Manor. They had sacrificed Mage Kings to deal with Shang, unsessfully. They had used their changed Defender gs. They had lost several Mages with fivefold Spirit Senses. They had lost a significant portion of their normal Mages. And to top it all off, the Abomination Lords and the great number of Ancestral Abominations were causing untold damage to their Empires. The Abominations were so devastating that they had probably cost the Empires more than fighting the Lightning Manor. It was so bad that all towns had been abandoned. All of them. Every single one. Ancestral Abominations were so powerful that only the absolutely most powerful Peak Ancestral Mages could hope to kill them, but only after a long fight, in which the Ancestral Abomination had the time to gather enough Mana to detonate. Because of that, Ancestral Mages were no longer powerful enough to secure a settlement. Only strong Mage Lords could guarantee the safety of a settlement. Sadly, there were far more towns than there were Mage Lords. So, every town had been deserted. When possible, the citizens entered the big cities, but how could the cities hold all the citizens from all the towns? Because of that, over 90% of the weakest people of a town had died. At some point, the leadership of the town retreated to a city, and when the next beast attacked, the town would be destroyed, exposing the people to the wilderness. And, well, only Ancestral Mages could survive in the wilderness without help. If one wanted to visualize their impact on humanity, one only needed to look at a map of their country, pick out the ten biggest cities, and then eradicate all other viges, towns, and smaller cities. So, despite the huge war and Shang''s presence, they were actually not the Empires¡¯ biggest worries. The Abominations were. Chapter 940 Chapter 940 Shang floated from one battlefield to the other. The three Empires had been going all out, but Shang stopped their advances. Naturally, as soon as everyone had noticed that Shang had won against the powerful Mage Lord, the remaining Peak Mage Lords with fivefold Spirit Senses gave up their positions. In an instant, all the Defender gs for Peak Mage Lords vanished from the battlefield. When there were no more Attack gs, Shang stopped moving for a bit. His hood just turned to look in the direction of the Judgment Pce. Shang naturally couldn''t see it, but he felt like there was a powerful presence there. However, Shang wasn''t sure if what he felt was actually genuine or if his damaged soul was giving him hallucinations again. Just as the Mage Kings had expected, Shang was in constant pain, but that wasn''t actually the problem. The problem was that Shang''s mind sometimes lost rity, and the world appeared blurry and confusing to him. The constant paranoia Shang was feeling due to the way the Custodian had repaired Shang''s warrior body wasn''t helping. Shang was like a mortal that hadn''t slept for two days, hadn''t drunk anything for a day, and hadn''t eaten anything for a week, while constant life-ruining events happened around him. Concentrating and focusing was very, very difficult. It took so much effort to concentrate. It reminded Shang of the time his longevity had run out. Concentrating felt nearly as exhausting as staying alive had been back then. It was so bad that Shang couldn''t even move andprehend Concepts at the same time. In the past, Shangprehended Concepts by training with his sword and trying to manipte the Concept with it. This no longer worked. Moving and trying to understand something took too much focus at once. Shang could now only do either of the two, not both. Additionally, it had be more difficult toprehend the Destinations for warriors. Fighting with a sword included the entire body, not just the sword. Asword alone was just a sharp piece of metal that sat on the floor. Swordsmanship was how someone could use their body to manipte a sword as efficiently and effectively as possible. Someone without legs could still wield a sword, but there were several moves they couldn''t use. Since Shang could fly, this restriction wasn''t as bad, but there was still a certain sense of inertia to Shang''s movements since he lacked the explosive power of his legs and hips to shift his weight. Shang was the most powerful he had ever been, but in a certain way, he was also the weakest he had ever been. For a while, Shang just faced the distant Judgment Pce. No one could tell what Shang was thinking about. Shang''s figure put fear into every watcher, including allies. Shang''s old appearance had already felt barely human, but now, there was nothing human about his appearance anymore. His Aura felt so dead and so cold. King Sanctified Death''s Aura felt peaceful but decisive to others. He felt like a warm older brother that would protect one while being cruel to an enemy. Naturally, that Aura didn''t reflect King Sanctified Death''s actual personality, but the vast majority of humans couldn''t feel his true Aura. Being liked and leaving a good impression was helpful to King Sanctified Death, which was why he exhibited such an Aura. It was simply the most efficient thing to do. But Shang just felt dead. He was a visitor amongst the living. He didn''t belong here. He should be dead. He felt like someone that was fighting against life and death. It was like the living wanted to push him away, but he refused to go. It was like the dead wanted to pull him in, but he refused toe. Both sides wanted him to be dead, but he just refused. While everyone was looking at the unmoving Shang, something else was happening in Shang''s mind. Shang didn''t even know he was facing the Judgment Pce. His mind had be cloudy again, and he felt his consciousness wane. The entire world spun in his Spirit Sense. His body began to morph and distort. Confusing and unexinable dark thoughts swam through Shang''s mind. Beneath his hood, Shang clenched his teeth, and the world snapped back to its usual appearance. Shang turned around and flew towards the Lightning Manor. "Thank you for helping," the Starlight Queen transmitted. For once, she didn''t call him Young Master Shang. When the Starlight Queen saw Shang after he had lost his legs, she genuinely felt bad for him.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. The fluctuations of his soul were horrible and full of pain. In her entire life, she had never seen anyone that lived a more miserable existence. And despite all of this, Shang had contributed more to the war than anyone else, including her. She still despised Shang''s personality, but she just felt too bad about making fun of him. So, she decided to simply talk the bare minimum without politeness or ridicule. Shang just nodded a bit, his hood making it barely visible. The next moment, a portal appeared in front of Shang, and he flew through it. The portal led to Shang''s Istion Barrier. However, Shang''s Istion Barrier had been altered. Naturally, neither the Lightning Emperor nor Shang trusted Amarius with the knowledge of Shang''s true identity, which was why the Lightning Emperor destroyed Amarius'' barrier and created his own. Now, only the Lightning Emperor could look into Shang''s barrier. On top of that, since the Lightning Emperor knew everything about Shang now, Shang actually didn''t need to enter his Istion Chambers anymore. He could simply summon the Abominations inside the Istion Barrier without the Istion Chambers. This also helped the Lightning Emperor in gaining new knowledge about the Abominations, which was always valuable. As soon as Shang arrived, he took out his sword. For thousands of years, Shang had focused on Concepts to deal with hisck of speed, and he had only started focusing on the Sword Path a thousand years ago. It had taken Shang only a thousand years toprehend a non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings. Someone in the Seventh Realm had a total longevity of 25,000 years. This meant that Shang would only need 4,000 years to get a fourfold Spirit Sense. This was faster than every living Mage Lord. And now, Shang would focus on the next non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings. Chapter 941 Chapter 941 Shang already knew what he would focus on next. After entering the Istion Barrier, Shang summoned several extremely powerful Peak Abomination Lords. Abomination Lords were incredibly powerful, and they could even win against Clouds in a duel, but Shang was on apletely different level, which was why he needed several. Shang had already realized that he could even summon Abomination Kings, but he hadn''t summoned one yet. Summoning an Abomination King could theoretically put the entire world in danger in a way that Shang didn''t want. What if summoning an Abomination King opened the world to being invaded by more Abomination Kings? The Lightning Emperor had told Shang that Abomination Kings had been the most powerful Abominations that humans had ever seen and that they had been quite rare, even back when Lucius had been a Mage Emperor. One Abomination King required someone at the Ninth Realm to be active to deal with them before they exploded. This meant that the Mage Emperors would actually need to be active, and at that point, the entire concept of the war would be irrelevant. The appearance of an Abomination King would put everyone in such a panic that the Mage Emperors would personally attack other Mage Emperors just so that they could search for the Child of Cmity without interference. All trust would break down, and even the Mage Kings would be unimportant and irrelevant. The Mage Emperors would run rampant, and no one but other Mage Emperors would stand in their way. Even more, the Mage Emperors might be so desperate that they would force the Lightning Emperor to release the Archivist. Maybe the Archivist could help. And that would be bad for Shang. After all, the Archivist had already realized that Lucius had been the Child of Cmity back then, and Lucius had been better at hiding his status than Shang. It was likely that the Archivist would quickly find out that Shang was the Child of Cmity. Sure, the Lightning Emperor was extremely powerful, but someone like Lucius could only jump a single level against the Archivist. The Archivist was a Peak Mage Emperor, and Lucius could only win against him in the Late Mage Emperor Realm. One had to remember that Lucius had a sixfold Spirit Sense. The Archivist was so powerful that he might even be able to win against all other Mage Emperors at the same time. So, everything considered, the Lightning Emperor and Shang decided against summoning Abomination Kings. In fact, they would only consider summoning Abomination Kings when Shang reached the Sword King Realm, and even then, they had to be very careful that no Abomination Kings would appear anywhere else in the world. Because of that, Shang was stuck fighting several Abomination Lords instead of an Abomination King. After Shang summoned five Abomination Lords, he immediately restrained them with his mind. By now, Shang''s willpower had be so powerful that he could even suppress an army of Abomination Lords just by looking at them. In his presence, they didn''t even dare to absorb any Mana. Shang willed the Abomination Lords to attack him with all their power, except for absorbing Mana and exploding. In the past, it had been difficult to convince Abominations to attack him, but now, Shang had no issues. The five Abomination Lords immediately attacked Shang, but surprisingly, he didn''t use Sword Blood.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. In his fight against the powerful Mage, Shang used Sword Blood, Blood Compression, and Sword Heart, which now represented his three main techniques in a battle. By now, Shang''s fighting style hadpletely transitioned from his Element-focused style to how actual warriors fought in the past. Naturally, due to World Connection and Void Break, Shang was still many times more powerful than even the most powerful ancient warriors. Shang took out his sword and shed at one of the attacking Abomination Lords. He didn''t use any techniques. BOOOM! The Abomination Lord''s body was extremely strong, and both of their attacks shed without any side winning. Even more, the scales of the Abomination Lord were ridiculously durable, and Shang barely created a scratch in them. The defensive powers of these scales were beyond ridiculous, even whenpared to the already ridiculous strength of its body. If Shang''s goal were to actually injure and kill the Abomination Lord, he would need to summon his Death Edge and use Void Break to increase the power of his body even more. After blocking the attack, Shang immediately used Void Break to gain enough speed momentarily to block the next four attacks from the other Abomination Lords. Since Void Break had strengthened his body, the other four Abomination Lords were thrown back. However, Shang didn''t get any break as the first Abomination Lord attacked again. This was how Shang had trained for thest century before the Lightning Emperor had sent him to the frontlines to deal with that one Mage. The five Abomination Lords were attacking him relentlessly, and Shang had to use Void Break perfectly to deal with sudden bursts of attacks. After all, Shang couldn''t keep Void Break active all the time. His body needed a small break after every use. If Shang used Death Edge and Void Break, he would be able to severely injure an Abomination Lord with a single sh, but killing the Abominations was not the goal. For years, Shang passively defended against the Abomination Lords¡¯ attacks. Surprisingly, while under this much pressure, Shang''s mind and body felt better than normal. Whenever Shang was in danger, his mind, soul, and body seemed to stabilize and show great efficiency. Ironically, Shang felt closer to death when he wasn''t in immediate danger. The more he fought and the more danger he was in, the less danger he was in. Shang preferred fighting for his life over not fighting for his life. Not battling felt dangerous. The less he was doing, the more it felt like death wasing for him. He couldn''t stop. He needed to continue. He wanted to continue. 200 yearster, Shang was fighting seven Abomination Lords instead of five. The way Shang was fighting had changed, and he had be better at dealing with them. The biggest issue was to keep track of seven rapidly moving objects. Sure, Shang had a Spirit Sense, but the Abomination Lords were nearly as fast as him, and he had to keep track of seven of them. 200 years ago, the bottleneck had been Shang''s physical power, but now, it was his concentration. He could move fast enough to deal with all the Abomination Lords, but it was difficult to keep track of all of them. Shang was constantly on the verge of copse. If he misjudged one of the Abominations'' movements, it would hit him, and it was possible that Shang''s mind would be too slow to order the stop of the subsequent attacks. Death was not certain, but it was a real possibility if one of the Abominations hit him. And yet, Shang kept perfectly blocking all the attacks. Everything became more and more warped in Shang''s perception, and he almost couldn''t see the Abominations anymore. However, he still reacted perfectly. It was almost like he was seeing them without seeing them. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, Shang''s Spirit Sense released a wave, and everything in his perception changed. Chapter 942 Chapter 942 As the wave spread through Shang''s Spirit Sense, the world seemed to change. All the colors became clearer, and Shang could even see all the Elemental Mana with his Spirit Sense. One had to know that feeling the presence of Elemental Mana didn''t mean that one was seeing it. It was like feeling the wind. One could easily feel the wind, but it wasn''t easy to see it. But now, Shang could actually see the Elemental Mana with his Spirit Sense. At that moment, Shang ordered the Abominations to stop attacking, and they did. Shang focused on his new perception. ¡®This is not what | wanted toprehend,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at his new perception. Even though this wasn''t what Shang had intended toprehend, he wouldn''t refuse it. ¡®| can see Elemental Mana, but | can tell that the rity of the Elemental Mana | see is equivalent to my Affinity with said Element.¡¯ Shang could see Darkness, Light, Fire, Ice, and Death Mana very clearly, but the other kinds of Mana were not as clear. He could still see them, but it was like he was looking at them through a dirty window. The entire world had changed. Earlier, Shang had seen the world like any other Mage or warrior. But now, he could also see what Elemental Mana everything wasprised of. Mana was the very reason for existence. It made space, time, gravity, water, wind, earth, fire, everything. Without Mana, there would be nothing. And being able to see what kind of Mana everything was made out of was like being able to see atomicposition on Earth with no microscope. The way Shang was viewing the world was a bit like double-vision. If a human put two edited photos of the same room but with different colors and contents in front of their eyes, they could view theposite image of the room, and if they focused on one eye, that image would be clearer. It was a bit like looking at one''s own nose, which was constantly in one''s vision. Shang could see the world as normal, but he could focus on the elementalposition if he wanted. Even more, Shang felt like his Spirit Sense had ovee some kind of barrier between itself and the world. The world of his Spirit Sense and the actual world seemed to ovep ande together. They were notpletely one thing yet, but it looked like they were in the process of fusing. After looking at his new perception of the world for a while, Shang decided to see how his new perception could help him in battle. Sure, the perception alone could help Shang in seeing through several Spells designed to hide the Mage, but Shang was certain that there was more to this than just that. And sure enough, Shang quickly found the difference. This new ability didn''t increase Shang''s power, but it increased something else by a lot. Shang focused and used Sword Heart. The perception and effective range of Sword Heart quickly reached a distance of 2,000 kilometers, which was Shang''s range after reaching the Sword Lord Realm. However, it rapidly continued expanding. Eventually, it settled at a distance of 20,000 kilometers. This was the range of a Mage Lord''s Spirit Sense if it had a twofold range. That made a bigger difference than one might think. 2,000 kilometers could already be viewed as melee range for Peak Mage Lords. Avoiding a Peak Mage Lord''s attack from such a range was extremely difficult due to the speed of the Spell. Because of that, most Peak Mage Lords fought at a distance between 10,000 kilometers and whatever the maximum range of their Spirit Sense was. Peak Mage Lord Clouds generally fought at a distance between 20,000 kilometers and 40,000 kilometers. With Sword Heart reaching a range of 10,000 kilometers, Shang had already entered the fighting range for normal Mage Lords and was halfway to the range of Mage Lord Clouds. One had to remember that World Connection only allowed Shang to release very weak attacks from a 60,000-kilometer range. Meanwhile, Sword Heart could release Shang''s full power. And that wasn''t even everything. Shang also noticed that the power of his World Connection attacks had doubled. Naturally, with all of these clues, Shang knew exactly what he hadprehended. ¡®This is probably the next level of World Connection. World Connection is something that Domain Controllers need to reach the Sixth Realm, and whatever | haveprehended just now is probably what they need to reach the Seventh Realm.¡¯ ¡®It''s actually quite surprising how well it works with Sword Heart.¡¯ ¡®If | manage toprehend the next level, my Sword Heart might actually reach the full range of my Spirit Sense. At that point, it would be like standing beside everyone in my Spirit Sense''s range.¡¯ Shang slowly shook his head. ¡®| don''t have time to learn everything. | need to focus on the non-essential Destinations for Warrior Kings first to give me the best conditions toprehend the final Destination for Warrior Emperors." However, Shang still wanted to know what he had actuallyprehended and called the Lightning Emperor. After telling the Lightning Emperor about what he had learned, the Lightning Emperor told Shang what it was called. "It''s called World Fusion," the Lightning Emperor said. "Just as you expected, World Fusion is the level after World Connection. The level after that is called One World. Domain Controllers, as their name suggests, use World Connection to stretch their Domains with a weaker effect to the maximum limit of their Spirit Sense." "With World Fusion, that ability bes stronger until finally, their Domains epass their entire Spirit Sense with their full power with One World," the Lightning Emperor exined. "Speaking of, does it work with your Domain of Entropy?¡± he asked. "No," Shang answered. "It has no effect on my Domain of Entropy." The Lightning Emperor nodded. "That''s to be expected. Entropy doesn''t work on the same level as Mana." After asking the Lightning Emperor about One World and how to learn it, Shang cut the connection and went back to training. Just as expected,prehending One World would take a long time. Shang would need to focus on fusing his Spirit Sense with the world. That was not something that one could do whileprehending Concepts or Destinations. Sadly, Shang had to abandon One World for now and continue focusing on the next non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings. The battle between Shang and the Abomination Lords continued, but this time, there were nine Abomination Lords. Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Chapter 943 Chapter 943 Shang continued training against the Abomination Lords for several more centuries. Luckily, nothing of note happened within the next 700 years, but that wasn''t necessarily a good thing. The other Empires were rarely using Peak Mage Lords, and when they did, they only sent out average ones. Naturally, the Lightning Manor could easily deal with these weaker Mage Lords. The problem was that the war was going too smoothly for the Lightning Manor. After years and years of barely being able to survive, the Lightning Manor could now defend itself easily, and the poption of their Ancestral Mages was starting to increase again. All of this was thanks to Shang since he had dealt with the most troublesome opponents and made it impossible for the Empires to send any powerful Peak Mage Lords into battle. However, the smooth progression of the Lightning Manor put immense pressure on the other three Empires. The three Empires had lost their chance at winning the war in the early phase when they had an overwhelming power advantage. At this moment, the situation didn''t look bad for the three Empires, but they could see toward which direction the line graph gravitated. They had already used all their weapons, and Shang was still alive. The only way to deal with Shang meant going to even greater extremes. The easier it was for the Lightning Manor, the greater the chance that the war would intensify. It was possible that the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors might actually get involved. If theybined their powers, they could definitely kill the Lightning Emperor. But what about Shang? They would still be able to kill Shang when he was a Sword King, but when he actually got enough time to advance inside the Sword King Realm, things might be very troublesome. Maybe, at some point, Shang could even kill the weakest Mage Emperor while he was still a Sword King. And then? Well, Shang didn''t look like a very forgiving and magnanimous person. They knew that if Shang managed to win against King Sanctified Death, their time hade. Would they be willing to admit that they lost the gamble and willinglyy down their lives? Of course not. At some point, they would unite and kill Shang and the Lightning Emperor. The Lightning Manor needed to do something to stop the other Empires from going overboard. In essence, the Lightning Manor wasn''t allowed to win the game. They had to prolong it and act like they could still lose. But for now, things were still okay. The Empires would only get desperate when Shang was about to enter the grand tournament. After 700 years, Shang finally managed toprehend the very thing he had set out toprehend. Anon-essential Destination for Warrior Kings that would help Shangprehend thest Destination of Warrior Emperors. Sword Focus. As for what it did... One of the Abominations shot at Shang just after he hadprehended Sword Focus. Amomentter, Shang used Void Break to strengthen his body and put his sword away. Shang pulled back his arm and punched the Abomination Lord''s arm. BOOOOOM!N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. With a single punch, the Abomination Lord was thrown into the distance. Its scales were still in one piece, but its internal organs received some damage. This was what Sword Focus did. Sword Blood was the essential technique that each non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings used, and Sword Focus wasn''t any different. Sword Blood was usually outside the warrior''s body duringbat, and Blood Compression increased its power in this state. In contrast, Sword Focus worked when Sword Blood was inside the warrior''s body. With Sword Focus, Sword Blood could enter the warrior''s muscles, increasing the power of the warrior''s body by a level. However, every bit of movement would use up a bit of Sword Blood, and since Sword Focus could only be used while Sword Blood was inside the body, the warrior couldn''t efficiently use Sword Blood or Blood Compression while also using Sword Focus. Sword Focus was usually used to get close to an enemy that was fighting from long range or when the warrior was being ambushed. For Shang, Sword Focus was extremely useful. With his Beast Core, the strength of Shang''s body was on par with a beast, but with the addition of Shang''s transformation after comprehending Void Break, it was even a level higher, elevating the base power of Shang''s body to the same level as an Initial Beast King. When Shang used Void Break, his body reached the level of an Early Beast King. And with Sword Focus, on top of that, Shang''s body could now reach the level of a Mid Beast King. Even more, creating a Death Edge didn''t take a lot of Sword Blood, which meant that Shang could create a Death Edge and still use Sword Focus. With this much power, Shang was certain that only beasts like the Thunder King would be able to resist his power. Every other beast in the world was no longer a danger to Shang. And as a for humans... Nearly every Mage King had a fivefold Spirit Sense, and they all knew at least one level six Concept already. Shang was confident in winning against an Initial Mage King, but an Early Mage King would be extremely difficult to kill. Nevertheless, Shang had reached a level at which he could finally fight Mage Kings. Mage Kings. Shang still remembered the time the Starlight Queen had forcefully teleported Shang away. Her power had been iprehensible. Shang also remembered when one of the Mage Kings had tried to kill him while he was in his Defender g at the border of the Judgment Pce. Shang had beenpletely helpless back then. There were less than 100 Mage Kings in the world. And now, Shang could actually fight them. Depending on how many Mage Kings exactly were currently alive, Shang might have actually managed to enter the top 100. Right now, Shang might actually belong to the 100 strongest beings in the entire world. He was so close to his goal. Chapter 944 Chapter 944 Now, only one non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings was left. After that, Shang would focus on the final Destination. Shang took about 800 years toprehend thest non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings. Luckily, nothing of note had happened during that time. It was almost like the war was at pause. Thest non-essential Destination for Warrior Kings was called Sword Scattering, and it gave Shang the ability to disperse the power of Sword Blood over a bigger area without weakening it by much. Sword Scattering was generally useful against fast targets. By increasing the area of the attack many times, it would be too big for the fast and agile target to avoid. Sadly, it wasn''t very useful to Shang since he was only fighting Mages. Mages only had two extremes of speed. No movement and Mana Step. Sword Scattering was pointless when the enemy didn''t move, and the range of Mana Step was simply too big for Sword Scattering to make a difference. Sword Scattering would most likely be quite useful against many other Paths and even beasts, but those were of no concern to Shang. Nevertheless, Shang still needed toprehend it. With the level five Concept of Laser, Blood Compression, Sword Focus, and Sword Scattering, Shang had theoretically comprehended enough to reach the Sword King Realm, assuming he had the avable Mana. Due to Shang''s two transformations, he would also retain his sixfold Spirit Sense, but it would be the weaker version of it. At this moment, Shang was around 10,700 years old, which was quite difficult for him to grasp. ''l feel like barely any time has passed since | sacrificed my legs. Yet, over 5,000 years have passed since then.¡¯Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. ¡®| have actually lived without legs for longer than | have with legs." The feeling of time passing could be very strange, but in Shang''s case, it actually made sense. For over 5,000 years, Shang had done nothing but train. He hadn''t really talked to anyone. He hadn''te out of his Istion Barrier for long. It was simply the same thing every day. And that was how Shang wanted to live. His power was rapidly progressing. He was barely 10,700 years old, and he was already done with the non-essential Destinations for Warrior Kings. Shang had over 14,000 years left toprehend the final Destination for Warrior Emperors and the level six Concept of Entropy. Based on Shang''s estimate, he would only need around 5,000 toprehend the final Destination. At that point, he would be ready to break through, but he would still try toprehend the level six Concept of Entropy. For the first time, achieving his goal didn''t feel impossible. Back when Shang wasprehending his four Paths, the goal had seemed almost impossible. The same thing was true when Shang had been trying toprehend World Connection. It became even crazier with Void Break. Comprehending Void Break had probably been the most difficult thing he had ever done. Comprehending the level five Concept of Transformation was of simr difficulty. Comprehending Sword Blood hadn''t seemed as impossible. And now? Comprehending the final Destination of Warrior Emperors didn''t even seem difficult. Shang''s mind was far from its peak condition, but even that was enough for Shang to easily do it. He only needed time. ¡®I''ve ovee the hurdle,¡¯ Shang thought. ''My past effort has finally borne fruit, and everything | need toprehend bes easier and easier.¡¯ At that point, Shang remembered King Sanctified Death. ¡®He probably felt simrly when he underwent his second transformation and gained an Affinity for everything." But Shang quickly stopped thinking about a guy he had never met and actually focused on the final Destination. ¡®The final Destination is different for every warrior since it represents the culmination of their fighting style, personality, and everything they have ever learned. Because of that, there is no guide,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®From now on, | can''t follow the teachings of the ancestral warriors anymore. | need to create my own Path and my own techniques. | need to create something that perfectly represents me." This had been the most difficult hurdle for ancient warriors to ovee. After a life of following the Path that their ancestors had created for them, they needed to create their own. But for Shang, this was normal. One had to remember that Shang had started out not knowing what he needed toprehend. After Shang had reached the True Path Stage, he needed to create everything on his own with no guidance. He had had no idea what he actually needed to do. The same thing was true for the Fusion Realm, and even in the Void Break Realm, Shang had created his very own Path by adding parts of the Mage Path to his own. For some time, Shang had followed the teachings of the ancient warriors toprehend the different Destinations, but now, it was time to return to creating his own Path. Shang wasn''t sure what he wanted to create right now, but he was used to this feeling. WHOOOM! All the Abomination Lords were turned into Entropy and Mana by Shang, and Shang just waited in the middle of his Istion Barrier. From now on, Shang would focus on his life up to this point. Shang knew that he needed to draw out all the events and experiences of his life to create the perfect culmination of his existence. From the beginning to the end. He started as an MMA fighter, a very foreign and distant concept to the current Shang. He used a long sword. Then, his sword underwent several transformations. In the True Path Stage, Shang used four different swords. Colossal Sword. Great Sword. Saber. Long Sword. In theter Fusion Realm, Shang used two swords. Addum. Subsis. Then, Shang used only one sword. After that, his fighting style changed when he focused on the warrior Path. In the past, Shang had been using his Affinities and Elemental Mana, but now, Shang was using his Affinities just to increase his speed. This was where he was now. What was the next step? Chapter 945 Chapter 945 Shang thought for a long time about everything that had happened in his life. He got a couple of ideas, but he wasn''t quite sure which one he should pick. Some of them aimed tobine all of Shang''s powers to create a single unified ability, but Shang didn''t like that idea. He felt like there were still many things he could learn, andbining them now might make it difficult tobine powers he will comprehend in the future. Shang''s next thought was aboutbining his states, but that also wasn''t possible since he had alreadybined all the states he had ever used. For Shang, this wasn''t about finding a way forward. After all, he had already done that so many times that it wasn''t a problem anymore. It was choice. Choice was the problem. Shang knew what he could do, but he wasn''t sure which Path the best one was for him. After thinking up several possibilities, Shang decided to resume physical training, and he summoned several Abomination Lords. For starters, Shang only fought about 15 of them at the same time. Void Break and Sword Focus made it rather easy for Shang to defend from their attacks. After all, his body was even more powerful and faster than theirs. If there weren''t so many enemies, Shang wouldn''t even need to use any finesse or techniques. Shang only had some problems when he was fighting 20 of them simultaneously, but it only became really troublesome at 25. Shang decided to push himself and settled for fighting 28 Peak Abomination Lords. 28 Abomination Lords were already more than was buried inside the Lightning Manor. The battle became more and more intense, and Shang quickly noticed where his bottleneck was now. In the beginning, it had been speed. Then, it had been his Spirit Sense. And now, it was agility. Shang''s speed was pushed to the absolute peak. Just a little more speed from the enemies and Shang would get hit. Shang''s mind could keep up with all the Abomination Lords without issues, and Shang also had to use World Fusion to slow down several of the attacks. The enemies were too fast for Sword Heart, but since World Fusion was instantaneous and since it strengthened World Connection, Shang could use it to slow and dy several of the Abomination Lords. While Shang was moving his sword as quickly as possible with his arm, his mind was blocking and slowing over ten Abominations for every physical attack he blocked with his sword.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. His sword always only barely arrived in time to block, and most of the time, Shang very awkwardly used his sword to block since it wasn''t fast enough to assume an actually stable and fitting position. Most of the time, his sword was still in the process of shing forward when it hit the enemy''s attack. The sword essentially didn''t even get a real attack off and had to block attacks while its own attack was still in its preparatory phase. This was like someone punching something that was only ten centimeters away from their chest. It was like the Abominations hit the weak spots in Shang''s blocks and attacks. This made things extremely awkward and troublesome. Due to the greater reach of Shang''s sword, it took more time to reorient. As aparison, swinging an outstretched arm from side to front took longer than just swinging a wrist. BANG! Suddenly, Shang''s sword vanished, and he just punched the Abomination''s w with his fist. His sword wouldn''t have been fast enough to block the attack. Due to Sword Focus and Void Break, Shang''s body was stronger than the Abomination''s body, and Shang managed to push it away. Shang did the same thing with the next three attacks, and he suddenly noticed that he had more time than usual for the next block. At that moment, Shang felt like he was getting closer to what he wanted, and he started to think about the fight while his instincts were automatically defending. "Using my arm in a sword fight,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I haven''t done that in a long time.¡¯ Beginners only used the sword in a battle since they only considered their sword as a weapon. More experienced swordfighters also used their legs and arms. A kick to the torso or legs could be devastating when the weapons were shing. When Shang became stronger, he returned to only using his sword again since his body wasn''t useful anymore. The enemies he was fighting could only be hurt by Shang''s sword, and if he blocked their attacks with his body, he would be vaporized. Additionally, Shang had plenty of defensive techniques. So, in essence, Shang''s body had be useless because it wasn''t strong or hard enough. It could only be used to increase his speed. But now, his body was actually useful again. Shang''s body had be strong enough to be of use again, and Shang''s arm was undoubtedly more agile than his sword. Sadly, Shang only had a single arm. If he had a second arm and legs, he could defend far more efficiently. ¡®Agility,¡¯ Shang thought. ''My sword is superior in everything except agility.¡¯ ¡®If |can improve my sword''s agility, | can improve my swordsmanship even more.¡¯ ¡®But that''s easier said than done. | can see only two ways. Either my sword needs to teleport or be liquid. Teleportation requires the level five Concept of Tearing, and it will probably also consume a lot of Mana." ¡®And turning my sword into a liquid isn''t possible. If | could turn it into a liquid, | wouldn''t need to use all of these Concepts and techniques tobine my original four states.¡¯ "Sure, | could transform my sword into just a handle and create a de out of ice, darkness, fire, and light, but that will also destroy the advantage of my sword. A de of ice can never be as hard as my sword. My sword uses materials several levels higher than my own, and | can''t bridge that gap.¡¯ ¡®Increasing the agility of my sword won''t be possible as long as it is a sword.¡¯ "Stop!" Shang ordered, and the Abominations stopped attacking. Shang remained silent for a while. Just now, Shang had gotten an interesting idea, and he had to consider it. Maybe... Just maybe... He could actually advance the condensation of his states an additional step. Chapter 946 Chapter 946 After around 2,000 years of training, Shang received a message from the Lightning Emperor. The Empires were using a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense again. It was quite surprising that Shang hadn''t been sent to the war for over 3,000 years. Usually, he fought in the war every century. The enemies hadn''t even used Peak Mage Lords with threefold Spirit Senses, and now they were using someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense? Naturally, this was a trap for Shang. Everyone could tell. However, what was he supposed to do? If he ignored the trap, the enemy would take out the entire Lightning Manor in just a century or two. Shang had to deal with the attacker. The Lightning Emperor very closely looked at the frontline and tried to find the trap. He was absolutely certain that the enemy was not a Mage King and not a Mage Emperor. The types of prepared Spells that a Peak Mage Lord could have were also not things that Shang would need to fear. But then what? Were the three Empires willing to just throw a future Mage King away? For nothing? Obviously not. But then, what were they nning? Not even the Lightning Emperor knew.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. "| don''t know what their n is, but | will apany you and stay right beside the Attack g, just in case," the Lightning Emperor told Shang. Shang was reminded of something he hadn''t thought of for thousands of years. He wouldn''t have thought of that if he hadn''t gone over his whole life multiple times to find a fitting final Destination. "| can apany you if you want, Shang, just to be safe." "No, that''s not necessary." "I''m stilling with you, Shang. Just to be safe. And, hey, if it turns out that I''m incorrect, you canugh at me for being too paranoid." Amemory from over 12,000 years ago. When the Lightning Emperor had said that he would apany Shang, Shang was reminded of when Jerald had said simr words. It had been so long since Shang had thought of Jerald. However, so much time had passed that there was no emotional connection anymore. And yet, when Shang looked at the Lightning Emperor, he felt like he was looking at Jerald. With the exception that the Lightning Emperor was superior in literally every single thing. Shang pushed the unimportant thought away and just nodded. Inparison to back then, Shang knew that having someone more powerful apany him wouldn''t hurt. Three Mage Emperors and nearly 20 Mage Kings were trying to kill Shang. Refusing help would be stupid. The Lightning Emperor summoned a portal, and the two of them stepped through it. As soon as they appeared, several Mage Kings and even the three Mage Emperors looked over. Shang knew who was watching, thanks to his bandages, but they also weren''t trying to keep their interest a secret. Shang knew. The Lightning Emperor knew. The Mage Kings knew. The Mage Emperors knew. Everybody knew that this was a trap. The Lightning Emperor stopped just outside the Attack g''s barrier. If any Mage Emperor or Mage King were to attack, the Lightning Emperor would be able to intercept the attack. None of the enemies stopped the Lightning Emperor. Shang slowly flew toward the Attack g. He was very confident in his power, and he was certain that there was nothing that the enemy could do to kill him. After all, the Lightning Emperor had made very sure that there was no Mage King or Mage Emperor in there. Even if the enemy managed to hide something from the Lightning Emperor''s senses, Shang''s World Fusion would probably be able to see it. After all, Shang could see every kind of Mana. Shang couldn''t think of any possible way he could die in there. And yet, the enemies were very confident. After a bit, Shang entered the barrier, which quickly turned cloudy. The Lightning Emperor narrowed his eyes and kept watch over his surroundings with his full focus. No one was moving. Seconds passed. Eventually, even a minute passed. The Lightning Emperor became nervous. What was going on in there?! Why hadn''t the fight ended yet?! The enemy Mage Kings only smirked in confidence. While the Lightning Emperor became more and more worried, Shang was hovering in the middle of the barrier. In front of Shang was a young girl with purple eyes and hair. She was a member of the Twilight Dusk Family, and just like the dead Queen Primordium, she had an Affinity for Space, Time, and Gravity. In the future, she would be a top ten Mage King, almost certainly. After all, the Domain was the very Spell that made a Mage King that powerful, and with such an Affinity, she was sure toprehend it in the future. And yet, Shang could tell that the Twilight Dusk Family had already forsaken the person in front of him. Just as expected, the enemies had hidden something that not even the Lightning Emperor had been able to see. But Shang, with his World Fusion, had noticed it. The person in front of Shang was actually already dead. Shang hadn''t been the one that had killed her. At this moment, Shang could see Life and Death Manaing out from her body, and most shocking of all, they weren''t canceling each other out. It was like the Life Mana and Death Mana were living in harmony, which was supposed to be impossible. Just like Mana and Entropy, Life Mana and Death Mana canceled each other out. And yet, here she was, right in front of him. Someone that shouldn''t exist. While Shang just hovered in front of her, she just looked at Shang with a bright and joyful smile. "I''ve heard a lot about you," she said with a polite and friendly voice. ¡°And I''ve heard a lot about you," Shang answered. "You even managed to fool the Lightning Emperor." The girl didn''t seem surprised that Shang had already seen through her identity. "Thank you, but I justbined some Life Concepts with some Death Concepts," the girl said with a friendlyugh. "Also, this is not my real body. | just borrowed it.¡± "| wanted to meet you, Shang," she said. "Likewise, Abaddon," Shang answered. Chapter 947 Chapter 947 The two of them just looked at each other. Shang only had a neutral expression, while Abaddon, King Sanctified Death, had a friendly smile. "Your soul is on the verge of copse," Abaddon said with a smile. Shang didn''t answer. "You only have about 50% of your soul left. You know, about 90% of Mage Lords die when | remove just 40% of their soul, and the record holder managed to survive with 55% of their soul remaining." ¡°But you are still alive with just 50%, and you can even fight. That''s very impressive," she said with her friendly smile. ¡°How can your mind enter the barrier?" Shang asked,pletely ignoring Abaddon''sment. Abaddon just chuckled a bit. "Trade secret. If | were to tell you, | would need to kill you," she joked. "You''re going to try to kill me regardless," Shang answered evenly. "No, why would I?" she said with surprise. "I''m here to talk to you, not to kill you." "| told everyone else that | am going to kill you, but | actually just want to talk to you. Later, | will just detonate this body and act like you won. Nobody knows how my Spell works anyway." Shang didn''t show any reactions. "You''re here to talk to me," he repeated with a deadpan voice. "Just talk." The purple-haired girl nodded several times. "Yep!" ¡°And what do you have to talk about?" Shang asked.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. "| think we can work together,¡± she said. ¡°Exin.¡± "We are both the enemies of the world," she said matter-of-factly. "All the Mage Emperors act like the world is infallible and that | will just be some kind of trial they have to ovee, but when they actually stand at the edge, they will realize that their convictions weren''t as strong as they believed." "| originally wanted to kill Adam and be a Mage Emperor, but then he got killed, and now his Mana isn''t essible to me anymore," she said. Shang realized that Abaddon didn''t even refer to his father as father. It was almost like they were strangers. "| can kill a couple more Emperors, but | won''t win in an instant, and several other Emperors will appear. If the Lightning Emperor hadn''t attacked, | would already be a Mage Emperor." ¡°At that point, | would need to fight everyone except for mother, but as an Initial Mage Emperor, | might not win. Additionally, if the Archivist gets out, | will also die." "They believe we are allied, but we are actually already fighting a war." ¡°Right now, all their focus is on you. You are their current enemy, and | am their future enemy.¡± "The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Ever heard of that idiom?" Abaddon asked. Shang didn''t answer. "That''s why I''m here to talk," she said. ¡°And what''s your suggestion?" Shang asked. "The Empires want to stop you from reaching the Eighth Realm. In the grand tournament, they will put new rules in effect based on the old Mage Emperor''sst words." "He said that no other Path is allowed to reach the Ninth Realm again, and they will expand it to the Eighth Realm as well. Only Mages are allowed to partake in the tournament." "You can''t use weapons. You can''t use your body.¡± ¡°And when you join, they will send several Mage Lords with fivefold Spirit Senses at you that have been taught to perfectly counter you." "I''ve seen their preparations, and | can tell you that you won''t be able to win in these fights. You are not a Mage. | know that because | also wouldn''t be able to win if | were in your position." Shang was extremely powerful, but he only had a single level five Concept. His opponents would all know a level six Concept and four or more level five Concepts. Additionally, they had a lifetime of fighting as Mages and an incredible number of Spells. Shang knew that he wouldn''t be able to fight them, and if he dared to use his body or sword, they would immediately disqualify him. On top of that, they might even make some sort of rule that would allow them to execute anyone that got disqualified. There were a lot of things that they could do to mess with Shang during the tournament. "And your solution?" Shang asked. "| will use my influence to give you a loophole," Abaddon said with a smile. "I will make it so that domains are allowed, and by the way it is defined, you will be able to use several of your techniques. That should be enough." "Just the ability to use your Abomination Domain should help you win." Silence. The atmosphere rapidly changed and became cold. The purple-haired girl just blinked a couple of times with her friendly smile. Shang didn''t show any outward reaction as he just hovered in front of her. He didn''t say anything. "It''s not difficult to tell," she said with augh. "I can feel all kinds of Mana, but | still can''t tell what 90% of your body is made of. That''s the same when | look at an Abomination.¡± "You probably sacrificed parts of your soul to survive dangerous situations in the past, kind of like a partial explosion of an Abomination. That exins why you are still alive and why you are missing so much of your body." Shang didn''t answer. "| don''t mind," Abaddon said with a casualugh. "You probably already guessed my goal. Why would | care if people die? | am going to kill them all anyway." m the enemy of the world.¡± "You are the enemy of the world." "I will be a God." "You will be a God.¡± ¡°Let''s just work together,¡± she said with a smile. "There''s not enough Mana for two Gods," Shang said. The girl''s smile turned into a smirk. "Wrong," she said. "| can assure you that we can both be Gods," she said as her smirk widened. Shang''s mind focused on Abaddon even more, but he remained silent. Chapter 948 Chapter 948 Shang remained silent for a while. Abaddon also didn''t say anything. Nearly half a minute passed. "Tell me," Shang said. "I''m sorry, but | can''t," Abaddon answered. "You need to understand that | can''t put all my trust in you. Trusting someone like you would be just as stupid as trusting someone like me."Content held by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Okay, what''s your n?" Shang asked. "First, | use my influence to give you a chance to win at the grand tournament," Abaddon said. "Then, we are going to fight at the Mage Emperor tournament." m going to lose in the battle and concede. Before any of the other Emperors can do anything, mother will hand you the Inheritor Sphere, and you will absorb it to reach the Ninth Realm immediately." "The other Emperors will immediately attack. They don''t care that you have won. They are going to try to kill you regardless." "The Lightning Emperor, mother, and | are going to fight the other Mage Emperors." ¡°Lam going to kill one and get my Mana. We will both reach the Ninth Realm and with the Lightning Emperor helping us, the Archivist won''t get out." "We kill the Mage Emperors and be Gods. Mother and the Lightning Emperor will survive, and | will destroy the world. Mother, you, and | willprehend the level six Concept of Death. | resurrect the world toprehend the level six Concept of Life." "Then, we leave and search for a greater world.¡± "That''s my n." Shang remained silent for a while. ¡°What about the Abominations?" Shang asked. "| don''t care," Abaddon said. "As long as you keep them at bay until | get a chance to resurrect the world, | don''t care. You can go destroy it after that if you want. Who knows, maybe we can learn even more by witnessing that?" Shang thought for a while about everything. He had noticed several things during his talk with Abaddon. Abaddon referred to his father with his name, but he referred to his mother as mother. Abaddon knew that Shang was the Child of Cmity, but there was something even more surprising. Abaddon had said that Shang would alsoprehend the level six Concept of Death. This meant that Abaddon knew that Shang had a Death Affinity. It was almost like Abaddon knew all of Shang''s secrets. Sure enough, Abaddon was an extremely terrifying person. Even more, Shang wasn''t certain whether or not Abaddon was lying. The n sounded extremely beneficial for both of them, and it was very logical. It wouldn''t be stupid to believe Abaddon. However, the best lies were those that gave a perfect exnation. What if the Inheritor Sphere had been tampered with by the Empress of Death, and when Shang tried to absorb it, he died? There were several points in the n in which Shang could get betrayed. But just following the n would also result in the best-case scenario. Abaddon was as far away from trustworthy as it got, but his n was basically perfect. Yet, Shang also knew that he didn''t seem any more trustworthy than Abaddon. Abaddon trusting Shang should be just as hard as Shang trusting Abaddon. Which meant impossible. It was obvious that neither of the two would trust the other, and both knew that. Both of them could only trust the other when they were in an advantageous position that would give them the victory if the other decided to betray them. Surprisingly enough, Abaddon gave most of the advantages to Shang in the n. ¡®This probably means that he has several contingency ns that he hasn''t told me. He probably has a way to deal with me any time | might decide to betray him.¡¯ "He might not even need me to be a Mage Emperor. It''s possible that he has a way to be a Mage Emperor immediately if he chooses to." ¡®Why take the risk to allow me to be powerful enough to be a threat?¡¯ The purple-haired girl just looked at Shang with a friendly smile. Shang just focused on her. And then, the Life Mana emanating from her body vanished. Shang''s heart nearly stopped. BOOOOOOOOO0O00000M! An apocalyptic explosion of pure Death Mana came out of the purple-haired girl, tearing her apart. Shang waspletely consumed by the explosion, and he felt the Death Mana prate his mind and attach to his soul. Shang''s mind wasn''t even able to give themand to use his Domain of Entropy before the Death Mana started to consume his soul. At this moment, Shang felt like beings from the afterlife were trying to pull him toward them. It was like their ws buried themselves into Shang''s body and mind as they kept screaming and pulling at him. Shang was in immense pain, even for him. Shang felt himself getting torn apart again and again. He was vanishing. His mind was weakening. He couldn''t feel his body anymore. He was dying. Meanwhile, in the outside world, the barrier of the Attack g exploded with Death Mana. The Death Mana was so incredibly dense and powerful that not even the Attack g could contain it, and the Death Mana flooded into the surrounding 300,000 kilometers, killing everything it touched. The Mage Kingsughed victoriously as the Lightning Emperor narrowed his eyes. BANG! Several huge lightning bolts attacked the Death Mana, but it was so powerful and dense that the Lightning Emperor actually needed nearly an entire second to get rid of it. The Lightning Emperor''s mind fell into a sea of fear and anxiety as he saw Shang''s body lying on the ground. The Death Mana had been so dense that only Abaddon or Kali could have done this! Shang was powerful, but the Lightning Emperor doubted that he could resist such a powerful attack. On top of that, this kind of Death Mana was targeting the soul, and Shang''s soul was his weakness. The Lightning Emperor saw that Shang was still alive, but it was like his longevity had run out. Shang was so close to dying! The Lightning Emperor immediately took hold of him and brought him to his library as the enemy Mage Kings keptughing. Chapter 949 Chapter 949 949 Chapter 949 - Faces in the Dark Shang had no idea where he was or what he was. An eternal darkness was engulfing him. The darkness was seeping into his body and causing unimaginable pain. The warping and moving darkness around Shang kept seeping in and out of his body. It was almost like Shang wasn''t corporeal. Faces appeared in the darkness. They were smiling, crying, filled with hate, filled with love, and every other kind of imaginable emotion. They screamed andughed. Millions of faces screamed andughed as they passed through Shang''s body, tearing him to pieces. Shang was under unimaginable pain. It had never been this bad before. An eternity passed. Shang still didn''t know what he was. Was he one of these faces? Was he part of the darkness? Shang had tried many times to escape, but the darkness around him was eternal and omnipresent. Was the reason why he couldn''t escape that he was simply part of the darkness? But he didn''t want to be part of the darkness. It hurt. It hurt so much. It felt so horrible. He had to leave. He had to get away from here! But it was impossible. Pain and suffering were everywhere, and no matter what he did, it was impossible to escape. It would only stop when he stopped existing. Yet, as soon as Shang had that thought, something deep inside of him was violently revolting. But it hurt so much! He just wanted it to end! No! He couldn''t let it end! But it was so bad! The inner conflict was eternal. Shang wasn''t sure why he existed or what he was, but he refused to stop existing, even if it was only filled with pain and nothing else. He had to keep existing! An eternity passed. Nothing changed. How long had he been here? He wasn''t sure. Ever since he had started existing, he had been in this eternal darkness. Was this life? What was life? Shang wasn''t sure why he had suddenly thought about a concept called life.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Where did that evene from? Shang wasn''t sure if he was alive. Was he aware? At that moment, Shang remembered something that came deep from within his memories. Something he hadn''t thought of in thousands of years. "| think, therefore | am." Aquote. Shang wasn''t sure where this quote came from, but for some reason, he felt more secure in his existence. He could think, which meant that he was aware. Shang''s existence was so vague and fickle that he hadn''t been sure whether or not he existed, but now, he was sure that he actually existed. He didn''t know what he was or why he was, but he knew that he was. The faces in the darkness kept tearing at him and moving through him. The pain was constant. It was horrible. It had always been horrible. It had never stopped being horrible. Yet, why was it horrible? Shang wasn''t sure. He just knew that it was horrible. Something inside of him told him that feeling pain was bad. Yet, with no reference, the feeling seemed pointless. Was feeling pain really bad? What was so bad about feeling pain? What happened when he felt too much pain? Would he stop existing? Shang remembered that he had considered stopping existing due to the pain. So, the pain was actually influencing his thoughts and directing them toward death. Death. Where did thate from? First, Shang had suddenly thought of a concept called life, and now he was suddenly thinking about a concept called death. Death... Pain... Pain was convincing someone to die. At least, that was the only thing Shang could think of right now. The faces in the darkness wanted to convince Shang to die. What would happen when he died? Would he be one of the faces? As Shang looked at the faces, he could feel all the different emotionsing from them. However, there was one thing shared among all of them. Indignation. Frustration. Refusal. The smiling faces were happy that they could cause someone pain, which made it easier to deal with their own frustration and indignation. The angry faces wanted to share their hatred with others. The sad faces were justshing out because they felt so horrible. All the faces hated Shang but showed it in different forms. They were all individuals. No face was like the other, and they were all distinct in appearance and personality. And yet, all of them shared the same goal. Force Shang to join them. It was unfair that they were dead, and he was alive! It was unfair that they couldn''t do anything anymore while he still had his own destiny in his hands! Why did they have to die?! Why couldn''t he have died instead of them?! He didn''t deserve to be alive! They hated Shang because he was alive. Slowly, Shang realized these things, and as he did, the pain became easier to bear. Shang was still feeling the pain. In fact, it hadn''t dropped at all in intensity. Yet, one thing had changed. Shang had be angry. Just like them, he had be frustrated and indignant. "So what?! You are dead, and that''s why you want to kill me?! You think | feel bad for you?!" "You died, and you deserved to die! "You were weak!" ¡®Weakness is a sin!" ¡®And | refuse toply with some weaklings that couldn''t even protect themselves!" Oftentimes, knowing that someone was trying to enrage someone made it easier to stay calm. "They want me to be angry. Bing angry is doing what they want." This was often how emotions worked. For Shang, something simr was happening. He knew what the faces wanted and why they wanted it. Dying would just be following their wishes. Because of that, Shang''s mind steeled, and he refused to give up and die. Suddenly, something like an arm shot toward one of the faces and grabbed it. The arm pulled back and moved the dark face towards Shang''s opened mouth. CRKSH! Chapter 950 Chapter 950 950 Chapter 950 ¡ª Exodus Shang bit down on the face, but it didn''t do anything. The faces could bite him, but he couldn''t bite them. Nevertheless, something had changed. The face entered Shang''s body, but it didn''te out again. However, its presence still caused Shang immense pain. Shang could feel the hatred of the swallowed face be more intense, which made Shang feel even more pain. The face hated Shang''s act of defiance. That was why it wanted to cause even more pain to Shang. No matter what it took. Shang just gritted his teeth and grabbed another face. CRKSH! Another face entered Shang''s body, and now, two faces were causing Shang eternal pain. ¡®Pain doesn''t matter!" ¡®Pain has no power over me!¡¯ ¡®As long as | do not consciously decide to kill myself, the pain has no effect whatsoever!¡¯ ¡®Believing that pain is bad is the damaging part of pain!¡¯ ¡®It''s a self-sustaining loop!" ¡®| believe that pain is bad, which makes it bad, and since pain is now bad, | believe it is bad!" ¡®| need to break the loop!¡¯ Shang grabbed one face after the other and consumed them. The faces inside Shang''s body were screaming and screeching in hatred. They were like an explosion contained in a bottle. They wanted to kill him! He needed to die! He had to die! Shang''s mind became tenser by the second as he felt more and more pain. However, Shang just gnashed his teeth and consumed more faces. The more pain Shang was feeling, the angrier he got. He hated the faces for hating him. The faces had to die! He would do his absolute best to cause the faces as much misery as possible. He hated them so much! It was hatred shing with hatred. Initially, both sides interacted with each other for different reasons, but somehow, it ended up with both of them hating each other because the other was hating the other. The faces hated Shang because he was refusing to die because he hated them, and Shang hated them because they wanted him to die because they hated him. Hatred. Both sides wanted to stop the other side from existing. Shang kept consuming more and more faces. The pain got progressively worse. Yet, the pain only fueled Shang''s hatred. The more pain he felt, the more hateful he became, and the faster he was consuming the faces. Suddenly, the darkness around Shang seemed to change. He was still consuming the faces, and he was so focused on this single task that he didn''t even notice the changing darkness. Somehow, the darkness became even darker. Earlier, it had been like an eternity of darkness that stretched into infinity. But now, it felt like everything was vanishing. There was no eternal darkness anymore. The darkness only stretched to a finite distance before everythingpletely vanished. Space and time were ending. The closer the end came, the stronger Shang felt. Ethereal shadows appeared around Shang''s body as he kept consuming the faces. The shadows also started to grab the faces, and before long, it was like the faces were being funneled into Shang''s body. As the end of existence approached, the faces voluntarily entered Shang''s body, but they didn''t stop causing him pain. The faces were afraid of the end. They thought that death was the worst thing, but no. This thing that was approaching was worse than death. Eventually, all the faces entered Shang''s body, and Shang just remained hovering in the darkness. The pain he was feeling was unimaginable. It was by far the worst pain he had ever felt. And yet, it didn''t matter. Pain had be irrelevant. It was like someone else was feeling the pain, not him. It simply didn''t matter how much pain he felt since pain itself was nonconsequential. Finally, Shang could focus on the approaching nothingness. Yet, Shang didn''t feel like there was nothing.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. To Shang, it was simply like a new space had opened. Shang didn''t move and was swallowed by the nothingness. But nothing changed. ¡°Entropy,¡± Shang spoke. ¡°Death Mana," he said as he focused on the faces inside his body. Shang''s memories were returning. He remembered what he was and why he was. All the concepts he had learned and his memories returned. ¡®I''m inside my mind. King Sanctified Death drowned me in Death Mana using the level five Concept of Death, Exodus.¡¯ ¡®An entire group, race, or species of people all collectively wanted me to die.¡¯ ¡®It starts with sickness, which transforms into weakness. Weakness turns into a state of near-death, purgatory, which then turns into real death.¡¯ "Yet, Exodus is even more extreme. It is death that isn''t fine with just itself being dead. It is so extreme that it spreads death." ¡®Exodus is not leaving. It is trying to tear everything apart as it is leaving.¡¯ ¡®With the first four Concepts, Death Mana acts unmoving and lethargic, but with Exodus, itpletely transforms. The Death Mana almost gains its own will, and it tries to convert as many living things as possible to death." Shang focused on the faces inside his body again. who were still screaming in hatred. Shang''s mind steeled, and he willed them to stop existing. Amomentter, all the faces vanished, reced by a mass of ck Mana. Shang had erased the Concept of Exodus from the Death Mana, turning it back into regr Death Mana. The pain vanished, but that no longer made any difference to Shang. The mere concept of pain had lost all meaning and relevance. Then, Shang focused on the surrounding Entropy. ¡®How did Entropy appear inside my mind? I''m certain that my mind is constructed with pure Mana.* Shang shook his head. ¡®No point in thinking about that now. | should wake no first." Shang focused on the real world, and his perception changed. Blurry colors appeared, which quickly transformed into the Lightning Emperor''s library. Shang''s question from just now was very quickly answered by what he saw. Shang saw a ck sphere of Entropy lying on top of his head. The Lightning Emperor was controlling an Abomination Lord to push the sphere into Shang''s head. When the Lightning Emperor noticed that Shang''s perception had returned, he released a deep breath and fell back on his chair. "Finally," he groaned. Chapter 951 Chapter 951 951 Chapter 951 ¡ª Waking Up Shang''s perception had already recovered, but his mind and soul hadn''t. Once more, Shang''s soul had received some damage. Luckily, the kind of damage Shang received was different from when his soul was sacrificed to Entropy. While Entropypletely eradicated Shang''s soul, the injuries that the Death Mana had caused Shang''s soul could be recovered. As a metaphor, one could say that Shang had a broken femur while Entropy would have removed the femur. Nevertheless, Shang was still in a lot of pain. But he didn''t care anymore. After feeling so much pain inside the dark world, Shang no longer cared about it. "Why is there Entropy in my mind?" Shang asked as his body began to hover. The Lightning Emperor sighed as he realized that his short moment of rxation had passed. "Do you have any idea in how much danger you were?" he asked. "| know," Shang said. "| fought the Death Mana andprehended the Concept of Exodus. Without that, | might have died." This surprised the Lightning Emperor quite a bit, and he had to blink a couple of times. "You were fighting the Death Mana?" Shang just nodded. "So, you weren''t actually unconscious?" "That''s not entirely correct," Shang said. "I lost most of my memories and was stuck inside my own mind. | was fighting the Death Mana in there, but | managed to adapt and consume the Death Mana." The Lightning Emperor hummed for a bit as he stroked his beard. "| noticed that your condition had somewhat stabilized. That exins it.¡± ¡°Once again, why is there Entropy in my mind?" Shang repeated. The fact that Entropy was in Shang''s mind was troublesome. Minds could only be created with Mana. Entropy couldn''t possibly sustain a mind. Even the Abominations had Mana inside them, and that Mana mainly went to their minds. From what Shang and the Lightning Emperor had learned about Entropy, they had be certain that Entropy couldn''t possibly act as a recement for Mana in a mind or soul. Obviously, both of them had thought about the possibility of Entropy being able to heal Shang''s soul. But it was pointless. While they could shape Mana into any form they wanted, they couldn''t shape Entropy. Well, to be more precise, they could reshape Entropy, but they had no way to keep Entropy in that shape. One needed a lot of focus, Mana, and knowledge to force Entropy to stay in a certain shape, and with the mind reced with Entropy, one couldn''t use any focus without effectively falling apart. One couldn''t use water to contain water. Because of that, the presence of Entropy in Shang''s mind was troublesome. "| had to do something," the Lightning Emperor said. "Why?" Shang immediately asked. "You said my condition had stabilized." The Lightning Emperor nodded. "It did, but there was a different danger." "Time." "You''ve been unconscious for way too long.¡± Shang''s mind focused on the Lightning Emperor. "How long?"Content held by N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Over 6,000 years." Silence. Over 6,000 years... This meant that Shang was now nearly 19,000 years old. Shang felt like he had be a Sword Lord only recently, but now, he only had a bit more than 6,000 years of longevity left. And he still needed toprehend two very difficult things. 6,000 years was very likely not enough. "| had to wake you up somehow," the Lightning Emperor said with a sigh. "Your condition had stabilized over 800 years ago, and it was improving only very slowly. If things continued this way, you would have only woken up in another 3,000 years. | thought you would rather | wake you up this way." Shang just nodded. "You thought correctly.¡± Shang was already inspecting his mind and the Entropy inside it. The Entropy was clouding Shang''s mind, making it difficult to think clearly, but Shang had already grown used to it. The amount of pain, disorientation, paranoia, anxiety, rage, and hatred that constantly bathed his being had already made him used to thinking with a clouded mind. Too many things had happened to Shang''s body and mind over the years, and any person in his ce would have already died. Switching ces with someone else for just a second would doom them. But this was normal to Shang. Adding an additionalyer of hazy Entropy barely made a difference. Shang noticed that part of his soul was also bathed in Entropy, but it wasn''t a lot. Yet, there was something that surprised and interested him. His soul hadn''t lost any Mana, and yet, there was still Entropy. Whenever Shang tried to push Mana into his soul, it simply either got absorbed by it or got rejected by it. Pushing Mana into a soul was how Mages increased their Realm. The more Mana someone had in their mind, the stronger their Realm. However, instead of increasing the volume of a soul, the Mana only increased the density. Because of that, Shang couldn''t just add Mana to regrow his limbs. It elevated his state, but it didn''t add anything. And yet, the Entropy was inside his soul Without getting absorbed or rejected. It was simply there. Of course, due to the properties of Entropy, if Shang were a normal human, his mind would have already exploded by the resulting creation of Destruction. But since Shang was the Child of Cmity, small parts of his mind and being were made of Entropy. Shang''s soul was still made of Mana, but the tiny bit of Entropy essentially transformed Shang''s soul into something that could interact with Entropy without exploding. At the same time, Shang looked at the different breaks and cracks that went through his soul. Shang would need some expensive materials or someone that knew the Life Concepts to recover from these injuries, but that shouldn''t be an issue. He had the backing of the Lightning Emperor. If an Emperor couldn''t get these resources, who could? After recovering from these injuries, Shang''s mind would also be clearer again, and he could dispel the Entropy from his mind, clearing that as well. But then, Shang had an idea. "My mind is already cloudy and unfocused. This will make nearly no difference.¡¯ ¡®I can roughly tell how to fix the damage, which gives me a unique opportunity to witness the workings of my soul.¡¯ "Since my mind is already working in this injured state, | can''t identally kill myself if | were to add some things. As long as | don''t remove or change already established things, my mind will continue to function." Shang looked at the Entropy in his mind. ¡®If | can find a way to repair my mind with Entropy, | mightprehend the final Concept of Entropy.¡¯ ¡®And with luck..." ¡®| might even be able to repair my soul.¡¯ Chapter 952 Chapter 952 952 Chapter 952 ¡ª Abaddon''s n Shang had returned to his Istion Barrier. Luckily, he didn''t need to fight in the war. One would think that after 6,000 years without Shang, the other Empires would have already pushed the Lightning Manor back into their pce. However, they didn''t need to do that anymore. Why did the Empires fight against the Lightning Manor that desperately in the first ce? It was because the Lightning Emperor had been so confident in someone that he had staked the Mana of thete Life Emperor in a tournament for Mage Kings while King Sanctified Death still existed. If the Lightning Manor managed to snatch the Life Emperor''s Mana from King Sanctified Death, the Lightning Manor would gain a second Mage Emperor. Together with the already-powerful Lightning Emperor, they would be the rulers of the entire world. So, to stop that from happening, they wanted to annihte the Lightning Manor together with their trump card. But their trump card had died already. No one could have possibly survived that apocalyptic explosion of Death Mana filled with the level five Concept of Exodus. The explosion had been so powerful that it even swallowed and destroyed the barrier. It had been so strong that the Lightning Emperor hadn''t even been able to get Shang out before clearing it. If he had attempted something like that, the Death Mana might have invaded his mind, which would have opened him up to an attack from another Emperor. This was Death Mana with the Concept of Exodus. Just touching it would provoke it into invading one''s mind and wreaking havoc there. Someone in the Peak Seventh Realm couldn''t survive something like that, even if they had a sixfold Spirit Sense. So, why attack the Lightning Manor? There was no reason to attack the Lightning Manor anymore. As long as the Lightning Manor didn''t expand, there wouldn''t be an issue. In the past, time had been on the side of the Lightning Manor, but now it was on their side. In about 32,500 more years, King Sanctified Death would be a Mage Emperor. At that moment, even the Lightning Emperor might not be able to fight him anymore, and a couple of levelster, not even the Archivist would be able to fight him anymore. Of course, King Sanctified Death''s rise would create a different issue, but the Emperors had already agreed that the world wanted King Sanctified Death to be an Emperor. Some believed King Sanctified Death would be some kind of trial for them. Some believed he would finally get rid of the Abominations. And some believed that he would just kill them, but they were in the minority. The world was rapidly being consumed by the Abominations, and they needed someone to step in. The problem with the Abominations had grown so troublesome that they were even willing to take the risk of making King Sanctified Death an Emperor. Speaking of King Sanctified Death, Shang had also thought about the reason why Abaddon had detonated himself. Naturally, he had to show that he had actually attempted to kill Shang, but he could have also just acted like he had tried to kill Shang without actually injuring him too heavily. And yet, Abaddon had actually genuinely unleashed all of the Death Mana inside his controlled body on him without holding him back. Was everything Abaddon had said about teaming up a lie? Honestly, Shang wasn''t sure. What Abaddon had said sounded very convincing and logical, but the sudden explosion had been just as convincing. Abaddon had struck at the perfect moment, in the middle of a conversation. In the end, Shang couldn''te to a definite conclusion, but he had a good guess. It was probably everything at once. If he managed to kill Shang, he would have gotten rid of him.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. If Shang managed to survive, he would have proven that he was worthy to work with him. On top of that, the time Shang would have needed to recover would be very significant, making it impossible for Shang to undergo another transformation. At the moment, Shang was equal to King Sanctified Death, but if he managed to undergo another transformation, he would be superior. Naturally, while Abaddon was probably willing to work together with Shang, he would never allow Shang to be strictly superior to him. Because of that, Shang was quite sure that Abaddon would still keep to his promise and actually make it possible for Shang to have a shot at winning the tournament when he nned on bing a Sword King. Although there was onest possibility remaining, but the chances of it actually being true were very small. What if Abaddon just wanted to teach Shang the level five Concept of Death, Exodus? Sadly, Shang couldn''t find a definite answer, but for now, that also wasn''t very important. When Shang had returned to his Istion Barrier, he had immediately summoned an Abomination Lord to convert it into Entropy. After that, Shang kept experimenting on his mind, trying to find ways to connect the broken parts of his mind with Entropy. While experimenting, Shang had realized that his emotions had quickly shifted while trying to connect the broken parts of his mind. In nearly all cases, his emotions had been impacted negatively. Shang had noticed that he had developed a dislike for Mana and everything rted to Mana. Luckily, Shang''s ability of introspection was advanced enough that he noticed these changes in his own being. After a couple of centuries, Shang had essentially already tried everything, and he had managed tobine the broken parts of his mind somewhat. Sadly, the effects were less than satisfactory. Shang realized that continuing to experiment without a guide would be equivalent to wasting time. Because of that, Shang decided to try something new. After summoning a couple of Abomination Lords, Shang willed them topletely hand themselves over to him. Shang proceeded to cut their heads open, and he even found a way to look at their souls. By looking at their souls, he should be able to learn how to make an Abomination soul of his own. Sadly, there were several unsatisfactory parts inside an Abomination''s mind. For example, they were way too simpleminded, and if Shang decided to change his mind ording to what he was seeing, he might be mentally disabled. Nevertheless, Shang still learned a couple of interesting things. But now, he was stuck again. How could he learn more about all of this? And in the end, he got one idea, but he didn''t like it. ¡®| need to look at the soul of an Abomination King.¡¯ Chapter 953 Chapter 953 953 Chapter 953 ¡ª Abomination King Shang only had around 6,000 years left, and he couldn''t waste any time. Yes, summoning an Abomination King was extremely dangerous, and it might even open the door for more Abomination Kings, but Shang was willing to take the risk. To reach supreme power, no sacrifice was too big, and no price was too steep! m going to summon an Abomination King,¡± Shang said. Naturally, since this was the Lightning Emperor''s Istion Barrier, the Lightning Emperor heard him. The Lightning Emperor didn''t immediately answer, and five seconds of silence passed. "Okay," he answered. The next moment, a portal opened above the Istion Barrier, and the Lightning Emperor stepped through. An Abomination King was extremely powerful, and if anything went wrong, the Lightning Emperor would need to get involved personally. Even the weakest Abomination Kings could fight Peak Mage Kings for long enough to absorb enough Mana to detonate. Naturally, the Mage King would win, but they would need a bit of time to win. This meant that only the most powerful Peak Mage Kings could kill an Abomination King without wasting any time. That was why the Lightning Emperor was here. Naturally, the Lightning Emperor had still created a couple of portals that could expand his Spirit Sense so that he wouldn''t miss if anything crucial happened. The Lightning Emperor nodded at the distant Shang, and Shang nodded back. Shang''s mind focused on the ne of the Abominations, and he very quickly found an extremely powerful presence. The presence Shang was feeling felt nearly as powerful as the Mage King that had cost Shang his legs. If this Abomination King attacked Shang, only the Custodian or the Lightning Emperor would be fast enough to react. Maybe Shang would be able to avoid one or two attacks, but after that, he would be helpless. Shang couldn''t see the appearance of the Abomination, but he could tell that it was definitely an Abomination King. Shang''s mind stretched toward it and established contact. As soon as Shang felt it, his face became solemn. There was a will on it. The will was weak, but there definitely was one. This meant that the Abomination King wouldn''t blindly follow orders like a machine but actually had a limited ability to make conscious decisions. If normal Abominations were ants, this would be something like a spider. It wasn''t as intelligent as an actual mammal, but it was more intelligent than an ant. This could prove to be problematic. But there was no other way. Additionally, this was why the Lightning Emperor was here. Eventually, Shang started to pull the Abomination King towards him. Inparison to all the other Abominations Shang had summoned, summoning the Abomination King was difficult due to the sheer weight of its existence. Shang could just pull the Abominations out of their world like bottles from a box, but the Abomination King was even heavier than Shang. Shang even had to convince the Abomination King to move on its own ord. It was like he was trying to move someone that was half-asleep. After some minutes, Shang could feel the Abomination King stir, and it was slowly traveling toward Shang''s location. As time passed, Shang felt the world around him change. Things were bing bleaker, and the world was losing color.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. Above the Istion Barrier, five balls of concentrated lightning were hovering above the Lightning Emperor. One of these balls would be able to kill a Peak Mage King in an instant, and their speed was unparalleled. Finally, several minutester... SHING! It appeared in front of Shang. When Shang saw the Abomination King, he realized several things. Just like Abomination Lords, the Abomination King was covered inpletely ck scales, and it had two velociraptor legs. Its tail was long and muscr, and it had six muscr arms that ended in five fingers with long and sharp ws. Its waist was thin, but its chest was wide and muscr. Surprisingly enough, there were no tentacles anywhere on the beast. Of course, that also meant that the Abomination King had an actual head. Inparison to the tentacle-filled head of an Abomination Lord, the Abomination King''s head resembled the head of an alligator or crocodile with a powerful maw. When Shang saw the Abomination King, he realized that its body was about as battle¡ªoriented as it got. Its legs gave it explosive speed. Its tail could protect its back. Its waist allowed for flexible and agile movement of the upper body. Its superior number of limbs could release an ungodly number of attacks, and it could even hold weapons in them if it so chose to. Lastly, its powerful maw could attack in a stalemate or even bite an approaching weapon. It was impossible to fight something like that at close range if the power of the twobatants were simr. Another thing that Shang noticed was that the eyes of the Abomination showed a small bit of intelligence. It wasn''t a lot of intelligence, but it was definitely there. The Lightning Emperor looked at the Abomination King warily as his mind involuntarily went through old memories. It had been over 300,000 years since he had seen an Abomination King, and they were just as scary now as they had been back then. The Lightning Emperor knew that he wouldn''t have been able to kill this weaker Abomination King if he himself were a Mage King within a reasonable amount of time. Back when the Lightning Emperor had be a Mage Emperor, he had only known three level six Concepts, which gave him a threefold Spirit Sense. Nowadays, over 90% of Mage Kings had fivefold Spirit Senses. The Lightning Emperor could feel the pressure of the new generation. The difference in quality between 300,000 years ago and today was unbelievable. At the same time, the Lightning Emperor also took a closer look at Shang. The Lightning Emperor would need to use a significant Spell to instantly kill the Abomination King, and the Abomination King would need to use a significant attack to instantly kill Shang. Shang hade very close to the Lightning Emperor''s power. Amomentter, light appeared in the Abomination King''s eyes, and instead of directly attacking its surroundings, it looked at Shang. Its face was neither respectful nor disdainful. It was like the Abomination King was looking at an equal. Chapter 954 Chapter 954 954 Chapter 954 ¡ª Suppression The Abomination King very quickly noticed that there was no Mana to absorb around it. Naturally, the Istion Barrier had been emptied of Mana by the Lightning Emperor. After all, they didn''t want the Abomination King to immediately go crazy and explode. However, the Abomination King also noticed the barrier, which was made of Mana. It could just go over there and absorb the barrier. But at that moment, the Abomination King felt a powerful force trying to suppress it, and it turned to look at Shang. Shang was willing the Abomination King to remain still with all of his focus. The Abomination King''s nk expression didn''t change as it looked at Shang. But there was one thing that it did. WHOOOM! Suddenly, a powerful suppressive force surrounded Shang. Shang felt like he was submerged under kilometers and kilometers of heavy metal. Movement became significantly harder, and Shang also felt that the forcefield had a suppressive effect on his willpower and mind. However, everything considered, the effect wasn''t that great. Shang was only suppressed by about 10%. Shang had never felt this kind of suppressive effect before. Shang had been under a couple of domains with oppressive effects before, but this domain felt very different from those. The other domains always used a medium to suppress him. Space, gravity, water, metal, ground. There was always something that was putting pressure on his body. But the domain the Abomination King was using was very different. It was like the domain was using no medium whatsoever. It was like just the mere power or willpower of the Abomination was having a suppressive effect on him. The domain felt extremely pure and of simr quality to the natural Domain of Entropy the Abominations had ess to. The level of an Abomination''s body was far superior to anything that naturally existed in Aterium. Their domain was far superior to anything that naturally existed in Aterium. And now, they had this second domain that also felt superior to anything that naturally existed in Aterium. It was like all the Abominations were beings of a higher and more advanced world. Something that Aterium couldn''t fight against. Even more, based on the low level of intelligence in the Abominations, it might actually be possible that these Abominations were very weak beings. Bottom feeders. If an Abomination King had the intelligence of a mortal human, their power would reach terrifying levels. Shang could tell that there was a lot that could still be built on the powerful foundation of the Abominations. As the suppressive force acted on Shang, his mind steeled even more. Shang and the Abomination King were just looking at each other as their suppressive forces acted on the other one. Slowly, Shang floated over to the Abomination King, which didn¡¯t move. Amomentter, Shang pointed above one of the Abomination King''s shoulders with his index finger. SHING! When Shang shed down, one of the Abomination King''s arms was separated from its body.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Naturally, Shang''s body wasn''t nearly powerful enough to do something like that, butpared to his fight against the Abomination Lords, he didn''t need to hold back this time. Shang had summoned his Domain of Entropy and hadpressed it into a small de, which he had used to turn a part of the Abomination King''s shoulder into Mana and Entropy. An instantter, several arms shot at Shang, but they stopped just a meter away from him. The Abomination King couldn''t move its ws any closer to Shang because the sheer willpower exhibited by Shang was making it almost impossible for it to move its body. The Abomination King''s arms shook, but after half a minute, they stopped. The arms slowly retreated back to the Abomination King, their movement much more rxed than before. Then, the Abomination King slowly lowered its head. Shang had done it. The Abomination King was so powerful that it could kill Shang faster than he could react, but his willpower had been powerful enough topletely suppress the Abomination King. Theoretically, Shang couldmand the Abomination King to fly toward one of the three opposing Empires and detonate in their territories. The detonation of this specific Abomination King would be about 20% as powerful as the detonation the Lightning Emperor had used against the Empress of Death. If directly hit by it, even an Emperor could die. However, Shang couldn''t actually use that power. The other Empires would immediately throw away all pretenses and charge into the Lightning Manor to kill the Lightning Emperor. Additionally, Shang couldn''t even summon more than one since it took all of his concentration to keep this one Abomination King in check. Shang came closer to the Abomination King, and he willed it to lower its head further. Amomentter, the top of the Abomination King''s head fell off, and Shang could see its mind. Compared to normal beings, an Abomination''s head didn''t have a brain but a confusingwork of ck tendrils. Shang had seen these tendrils many times already, and he used his Spirit Sense to enter a specific part of the mass of tendrils. The next moment, Shang saw a humongous ck sphere in front of him with several white cables all over it. This was the soul of the Abomination King, andpared to the soul of the Abomination Lords, Shang could see that everything had be many times moreplex. Shang started probing several parts of the Abomination King''s soul while he cataloged their function and the simrities to his own mind. After a couple of hours, the Lightning Emperor left since Shang had everything under control. Shang very quickly realized that he had done the correct thing by summoning the Abomination King. Compared to the Abomination Lords, Shang could actually see how intelligence could be created in the Abomination King''s mind. This was what Shang needed. As long as he could preserve his intelligence, he could expand his soul. For the near future, Shang would just continue experimenting on different Abomination Kings. Shang could tell... There was a realistic chance that he might get his limbs back. Chapter 955 Chapter 955 955 Chapter 955 ¡ª Instinct and Consciousness Shang kept experimenting on different Abomination Kings for over 2,000 years. Sometimes, he would change something in the Abomination King that would effectively cripple them, making any further experimentsck any validity. But other times, Shang also managed to improve the intelligence of the Abomination King. One of them even managed to learn to speak. Over many experiments, Shang managed toprehend what allowed Abominations to be intelligent, and he could change a new Abomination King into an intelligent one very quickly. Sadly, there was one thing that Shang was unable to fix. Their pure hatred for Mana. No matter what Shang did, he couldn''t stop the Abomination Kings'' wild hatred for anything rted to Mana. In the end, he could only ept that hatred for Mana came naturally to beings made of Entropy. In a certain way, Mana also abhorred Entropy. After all, every human and beast felt a feeling of disgust and hatred towards Abominations. Even if they didn''t know what an Abomination was. It was probably the fundamental fear of one''s antithesis. The sheer existence of the other thing put oneself in tremendous danger. The Mana that didn''t fear Entropy didn''t exist anymore since it had already vanished to Entropy, leaving only the Mana that hated Entropy. Everything that hadn''t minded the other side had alreadybined, leaving only the careful ones behind. It was kind of like life. People and animals wanted to survive because they were alive, and they were alive because they wanted to survive. After all, anything that didn''t fear death was dead already. If animals didn''t fear death, they would die before they could reproduce, exterminating their kind. If any species didn''t mind death, they wouldn''t exist, leaving only the ones that minded death very much. Why did they have issues with death? There was no reason. And Mana and Entropy seemed to work on the same principle.Content is ? by N?velDrama.Org. However, that was a bit of an issue for Shang. Shang was nning on altering his own soul but filling it with more Entropy would change his mind to despising Mana. Right now, Shang''s mind was rather bnced. He still saw himself as a human, even though humanity didn''t see him as a human anymore. He didn''t have a hatred for the fundamental existence of Mana, and he had also be rather ambivalent to Entropy. But if he added Entropy to his mind... His goal might start to align more with the Abominations. The destruction of the entire world. But then what? There would be nothing for Shang to do. What was the point of gaining power if power itself had no meaning? Power could only exist if there were weaker and stronger beings. ¡®Although, there are also weaker and stronger Abominations,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Even if Aterium vanishes, the Abominations should still exist, which means power still exists.¡¯ Shang thought about this for quite a while. Would it be so bad for Aterium to vanish? Shang looked at his surroundings for the first time in a long while. The floating ind in the middle of the Istion Barrier. The Eternal Ocean below him. The fish. The birds. The sun. The sky. And the domain of the Abominations? Chaotic. ck. That was it. From what Shang had seen, the Abominations simply lived in an endless space of Entropy. Compared to Mana''s static, stable, and malleable form, Entropy couldn''t assume forms for long. One was y. The other was air. Everything in the Abomination''s domain changed continuously, but the changes were of no consequence since everything evened out to a ck mass of irrelevance. In a way, everything changed, but in another way, nothing changed. Was Entropy order or chaos? It was a matter of perspective. The important thing was, what was it to Shang? Irrelevant. Abstract. Would he be fine with gaining power in a void of irrelevance with an asional conscious being fighting him? ¡®Consciousness and instinct,¡¯ Shang thought. ''I dislike working and training just like anyone else. | don''t have some magical and lucky disposition where | enjoy using the same sword sh for years on end. It''s boring, exhausting, and | would rather do anything else." ¡®However, that is only ording to my base desires and my instinct. My consciousness knows that | have to go against my instincts to gain what | truly want.¡¯ "So, if | actually develop a hatred for Mana, my consciousness should be able to keep it in check. | might hate being around Mana, but | will know that it is for the better not to get rid of it." CRKSH! Shang''s arm moved down, squashingseveral lines in the Abomination King''s head into ce. Amomentter, rity appeared in the Abomination King''s eyes, and its eyes moved from side to side in confusion. "Who are you?" Shang asked. The Abomination King looked with confusion at Shang. It had no idea where it was or what it was. "I don''t know," the Abomination King said with confusion. "Why do you exist?" Shang asked. The Abomination King didn''t answer as its eyes looked at the ground. What was this question? Why didn''t it have an answer?! What was it?! Why was it here?! "Who am I?" Shang asked. The Abomination King looked at Shang. "| don''t know," it answered. m Shang," Shang said. "Shang..." the Abomination King repeated with confusion. At the same time, Shang felt the lines in the Abomination King''s mind change. All this time, his hand was still stuck in the Abomination King''s opened head. Shang slightly changed a couple of lines. "Who am I?" Shang asked again. "You''re Martin!" the Abomination King answered with confidence. "Where did you hear the name Martin?" Shang asked. The Abomination King wanted to answer with confidence, but it couldn''t find an answer. Wait, where did it hear the name Martin from? It remembered that Martin had said that he was Shang. So, why was he Martin?! Shang moved several lines in the Abomination King''s mind around again. "Who are you?" Shang asked. "I''m Alex!" the Abomination King said. At that moment, Shang furrowed his brows. "Alex?" he repeated. Chapter 956 Chapter 956 956 Chapter 956 ¡ª Alex At that moment, Shang felt a slight headache appearing in his mind. "Alex..." Shang repeated. The headache became stronger, but Shang barely felt any difference. Amomentter, Shang entered his own mind and looked at his soul. "Alex." Shang saw Mana rush towards a certain spot in his soul, which was surrounded by a cloud of Entropy. As soon as the Mana reached that ce, it came into contact with Entropy and turned into Destruction, which ravaged part of Shang''s soul. However, the damage was very quickly healed since it had only been an absolutely tiny bit of Mana and Entropy. Shang wasn''t quite sure where this hade from. After all, he hadn''t put this piece of Entropy in his mind. Shang stretched his hand towards the cloud of Entropy and tore it out of his mind. Amomentter, the Mana rushed into the ce the Entropy had upied, and a new memory appeared in Shang''s head. ¡°Lam Alex," Shang said with realization. ¡°At least, it is who | used to be." "Alex..." As Shang repeated his old name, he was reminded of Earth. He had been an MMA fighter. He had once battled with addiction and depression. He had worked at a grocery store. How mundane. How boring. How meaningless. What was the point of having a good job when one was still stuck working under a stupider and weaker asshole? What was the point of having a hugepany when one still needed to appease their partners, the customers, and the public? What was the point of being a gigantic and powerful dictator when one still needed to fear a revolt or another country trying to assassinate them? What was the point of bing the ruler of the world when one would still eventually sumb to something like cancer or a heart attack? In the end, what was the difference between a beggar that died alone on their twentieth birthday and a rich and happy billionaire in their hundreds? Their lives had been different, but after death, everyone was the same. Thest hundred years of the billionaire''s life had lost all value since they were now equal to the beggar.Content held by N?velDrama.Org. What was the difference between a mass murderer and a phnthropist dying? After death, nothing mattered. Memory? Also didn''t matter. The memory of someone''s existence would vanish at some point anyway, which would make them equal to everyone else too. Additionally, one wouldn''t even be able to appreciate and feel how it was to be remembered for thousands of years. After all, one was dead, and dead people didn''t have feelings. If one was blind, deaf, and surrounded by people, it didn''t matter whether the people were screaming at them or crying for them. The blind and deaf person wouldn''t feel a difference. ¡®Pointless,¡¯ Shang thought with disgust and disregard. ¡®Living on Earth is such a pointless and miserable experience.¡¯ "You can die to so many things, and you will certainly die very quickly." ''I-lere, | can live for as long as | am powerful. Ifl die, | will die because | am not powerful enough¡¯ ¡®The God will only die to his own recklessness since he didn''t kill me.¡¯ "He could have easily prevented his future death." ¡®Alex, huh?'' Shang thought. ¡®What a miserable, weak, and irrelevant existence.¡¯ ¡®Remembering you is already putting way too much value on you." Shang ignored the new part of his memories and went back to experimenting on the Abomination King. He had only identally used Alex as a name, and the resulting minor headache had reminded Shang of his old persona. It had no consequence on Shang''s existence. After continuing to experiment with this specimen for a couple more weeks, Shang had eventually crippled its mind so much that it had be unusable. Another thousand yearster, Shang was done experimenting on the Abomination Kings for now. Instead, he changed focus to his ownmind. With Shang''s current expertise and knowledge, he could alter parts of his own mind with quite a lot of confidence. At least he knew exactly what he couldn''t change, which was more important. Whenever Shang decided to rece a part of his mind made of Mana with one made of Entropy, Shang wrote down all the relevant information before changing it. Then, he wouldpare the information with the one he perceived. Most of the time, nothing changed, but sometimes, something changed dramatically. However, as Shang changed more, he saw some subtler changes creep in. Sure enough, Shang''s opinion of Mana had changed, and he felt a slight disgust toward anything touching him that was made of Mana. However, Shang knew about these changes, and he knew that his consciousness was more important than his instincts. So, Shang kept changing some things. Eventually, Shang noticed that it became very difficult to resist the urge to just destroy all the Mana with his Domain of Entropy. ¡®That should be the limit," Shang thought. ''I need Mana inside my mind since Mana represents consciousness. If there is too little Mana, the instinct of Entropy will take over, which will transform me into essentially just another Abomination.¡¯ ''70% Entropy, huh? So, that''s the upper limit. Anything more than that, and | don''t think | can control myself anymore.¡¯ Shang looked around the world with hatred and disgust. He had already surrounded himself in a very thin barrier of his Domain of Entropy, which made it so that his body didn''t touch any Mana. He simply felt too disgusted by the Mana touching his body. ¡®| really don''t see why anyone would care about this disgusting world existing or not, but | have promised myself that | would change my mind back to being filled with Mana before | make any significant decisions." And so, Shang did just that. He turned his mind back to its oldposition, and his opinions changed very quickly. ¡®How interesting,¡¯ he thought. ¡®And now, | feel like, without this world, there would be nearly no meaning to bing powerful when | wanted to destroy it just moments ago.¡¯ ¡®And yet, not everything was so bad,¡¯ he thought as he looked at a specific part of his soul. ¡®The part that controls empathy. Surprisingly, | still have one." As Shang interacted with that part, he realized that it became active whenever he thought about destroying Aterium. ¡®Feelings are weakness.¡¯ ¡®Empathy is weakness.¡¯ "1 could just remove it.¡¯ Shang''s hand stretched towards that part of his soul. "Should 1?" Chapter 957 Chapter 957 957 Chapter 957 ¡ª Hidden Troubles Shang was tempted to delete that part of his soul. But after a couple of seconds, he decided against it. ¡®Deleting something is different from changing something. | am not entirely certain how this part of my mind dictates my actions. | should wait.¡¯Content held by N?velDrama.Org. Shang continued experimenting on his mind and soul for another thousand years. By now, Shang had gained a scarily deep mastery over his own soul, and his tests had almost all been sessful. The only problem was that Shang still couldn''t fix the problem with Entropy''s inherent dislike for Mana. ¡®There''s no way around this. If | want to change my body, | need to change my soul, and changing my soul will change my mind and personality,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®There are only 2,000 years of longevity left. | should join the tournament and prepare my Mana for when | be a Sword King. | don''t immediately have to absorb the Mana after winning the tournament.¡¯ Luckily, the tournament was in just a couple of years, and Shang could easily join. m going to join the next tournament," Shang transmitted to the Lightning Emperor. "| also think it''s a good time to join the tournament," the Lightning Emperor answered. "Two Mage Kings died of old age in the last thousand years, which means that the next tournament has space for two winners." "| will send you in together with one of my Thunders. Sadly, our newest Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense isn''t ready yet." Shang just nodded. "Tell me when and where | have to go." ¡°Of course," the Lightning Emperor answered. "Be ready to depart in about ten years." Shang just cut the connection and started to focus on his techniques. Under normal circumstances, Shang wouldn''t need to fear any Mage Lord, but things would be different in this tournament. The Empires would do everything in their power to stop Shang from participating as a warrior. Only Mages would be allowed to participate, which meant that Shang couldn''t use his sword or his Sword Mana. Because of that, Shang had to change his fighting style for the tournament. Eventually, it was time, and the Lightning Emperor appeared inside Shang''s Istion Barrier. The Lightning Emperor nodded toward Shang. "The tournament will be held in front of the Judgment Pce. Whenever the tournament happens, the war is put on halt." Shang just nodded back. Amomentter, the Lightning Emperor contacted the other person that would join Shang. Atall man with white hair appeared in front of Shang. As soon as the man saw Shang, his brows furrowed, but then, a smirk appeared on his face. "Shang," Agon Skythunder said. "What a pleasure to see you." ¡°Agon," Shang said emotionlessly. Agon chuckled a bit. "Yes, it''s me. Surprised? Do you think you''re the only one that can shock people?" Shang didn''t answer for a while. The Lightning Emperor was surprised that these two actually knew each other. ¡°He knows that I''m the Child of Cmity," Shang suddenly said. The Lightning Emperor''s and Agon''s eyes shot open in shock. But before any of them could say anything, Shang said something. "Make sure that he doesn''t have some kind of failsafe that will release my secret as soon as he dies." Agon''s eyes widened, but it was already toote. Shang activated his Domain of Entropy, and Agon turned into nothingness. The Lightning Emperor''s expression turned bitter and helpless, but he did what Shang said and inspected his Empire. Amomentter, a Magic Circle buried beneath a random spot in the Lightning Manor was destroyed by the Lightning Emperor. The Lightning Emperor had already analyzed the Magic Circle. It was a Magic Circle that would send a message to a couple of other people. Naturally, the Lightning Emperor had already found out which people Agon wanted to contact and killed them. Additionally, the Lightning Emperor noticed that a signal had left Agon''s body when he died, but since they were inside an Istion Barrier, the signal just died. "Could you warn me the next time, please?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a sigh. Shang just wordlessly nodded. Shang had wanted to kill Agon as soon as he had seen him at the start of the war. However, the problem had been that Shang knew that Agon wasn''t stupid. Shang had been certain that Agon had prepared some kind of failsafe in case Shang killed him. On top of that, back then, Shang''s status hadn''t beenparable to his current one. Many questions would have popped up after Shang seemingly randomly killed one of his saviors. But with the Lightning Emperor present, all of Agon''s preparations had be useless. After so long, Shang had finally gotten rid of this hidden danger. ¡°How am | going to exin this to Wester?" the Lightning Emperor mused with a sigh. ¡°How is this rted to the Custodian?" Shang asked. ¡°Agon was his disciple," the Lightning Emperor said as he helplessly scratched the back of his head. "Even though he only managed to gain a fourfold Spirit Sense, he actually nearly managed toprehend a level six Concept. Within the next millennium, he might haveprehended it." "Sadly, he only had about 1,600 years of longevity left, and he didn''t want to take a risk by waiting for thest tournament." "If everything had worked out, he might have be a Mage King with a fivefold Spirit Sense. It was risky, but the chance had been there." The Lightning Emperor sighed again. "Wester won''t like this at all." ¡°Just tell him | did it," Shang said. "It''s the truth anyway." The Lightning Emperor still didn''t like the situation, but there wasn''t much he could do. After all, the deed had already been done, and he also believed that it was safer for Agon to die since he knew that Shang was the Child of Cmity. Luckily, Agon hadn''t told Wester about Shang''s identity. Otherwise, Wester would have already told the Lightning Emperor about it. ¡°Seems like we have to go on our own," the Lightning Emperor said helplessly. "| thought Agon had a small chance. Sadly, he was the only one. Taking another Thunder with us will just doom them to die in the tournament." Shang just nodded. Amomentter, the Lightning Emperor contacted the Empress of Death. He needed her permission to enter the Judgment Pce. The Empress of Death agreed readily and without any issues. In the past, the Lightning Emperor would have thought that Kali would want to make things difficult for him, but not anymore. Shang had already told the Lightning Emperor about King Sanctified Death''s n. Kali was part of that n, which meant that they were secretly allies. The Lightning Emperor wasn''t the biggest fan of eradicating all of Aterium, but since King Sanctified Death wouldn''t kill him, he wasn''t that opposed to the idea anymore. As long as the Lightning Emperor could leave the world, he could ept such a development. It was quite funny, actually. The entire war had started with the Lightning Emperor killing Kali''s husband and killing two of her Mage Kings. But now, near the end of the war, they were allies again. Aportal appeared in front of the Lightning Emperor, and the two of them stepped through. Chapter 958 Chapter 958 958 Chapter 958 ¡ª Shock The Lightning Emperor and Shang appeared in the sky in front of the actual Judgment Pce. Shang had only been in two Empires before, the Lightning Manor and the Twilight Dusk Empire. This was the first time Shang entered the Judgment Pce, and he even arrived in front of their actual center of power. As soon as Shang arrived, his mind was drawn to the edge of his Spirit Sense. The Death Pit. Shang had been inside two Death Pits until now. One had been created by him by ident while transforming into weird flesh figures, and the other one had been created by the Judgment Pce during the war. The first Death Pit had been just a bit of Death Mana, and the second one had been dense enough to even create a bit of Death Mana that had the Concept of Exodus. But this one was filled to the brim with Death Mana with the Concept of Exodus. The Death Mana was aggressive and trying to escape to destroy all the life in its surroundings, but a huge and constant wave of Life Mana kept it isted. After looking at the Death Pit for a bit, Shang looked at the present people. The two of them hadn''t been the first to arrive, and Shang also saw the other Emperors for the first time in his life. The Emperors had appeared around Shang in the past, but they had always been too far away from him. His Spirit Sense hadn''t been big enough to actually see them. But now, he could. Of course, the first that immediately jumped out in Shang''s perception was the young woman with ck hair, ck lips, and ck robes She was surrounded by an unreal amount of Death Mana. Naturally, she looked back when she noticed Shang looking at her. Her eyes were grey and almost lifeless. It was like a corpse was emotionlessly looking at Shang. However, Shang could still feel her impossible power. While the Lightning Emperor felt like a kind and regal emperor, she felt like a ck bottomless abyss. Naturally, this was Kali, the Empress of Death. Floating below her were two women with ck hair, but Shang felt no feeling of dangering from them. Yes, they were very powerful Peak Mage Lords, but they only had fourfold Spirit Senses. Yet, the two of them were just as impressed as Shang was unimpressed. Both of them had lived for over 20,000 years, but they still failed topletely hide their shock and fear. One had to remember that, just like Shang had never seen the Emperors, all the enemy Mage Lords and weaker had never seen Shang for the same reason. Their Spirit Senses hadn''t been big enough to see him. And while the Empress of Death definitely seemed imposing, Shang''s appearance was just a slight bit scarier. A bleeding white sheet that enclosed a torso, head, and arm. Even more, Shang''s Aura felt intense in every way that shouldn''t be described as intense. It felt hopeless, grey, and meaningless. All these things weren''t supposed to be described with the adjective intense, and yet, these feelings were so intense that they felt irresistible. Looking at Shang was like witnessing a wave of nothingness consuming the world without any power to stop it. It didn''t matter what anyone did. Everything would lose its meaning and vanish. Lastly, the power Shang gave off was beyond insane. In fact, the two Mage Lords felt like Shang''s Aura could evenpare to some of the weaker Mage Kings they had seen. But Shang didn''t care about their reactions. Instead, Shang looked at the other Emperors who were present. The feeling he got from them was different from the feeling he got from the Empress of Death. Shang felt a brutal pressure suppressing him as he saw the Emperors¡¯ intense eyes. Until now, all the Emperors had believed that Shang had died. After all, he had been bathed in an insane amount of Death Mana using the Concept of Exodus. No one in the Seventh Realm could possibly resist something like that! So, when Shang suddenly appeared in front of them after thousands of years, their shock wasn''t small. At this moment, all of the Emperors looked at Shang with a mix of shock, anger, and frustration. And some of the Emperors that had actually never seen Shang before just felt shock and pity. What had to have happened to someone to turn into something like this?!Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. They had heard that a huge part of Shang''s soul had been destroyed or severely damaged, but actually seeing it themselves was something else. Additionally, the intensity of Shang''s Aura also shocked them. As Emperors, they had felt an uncountable number of Auras, and they had only met a single person with such an intense Aura. Abaddon. Not even Lucius had had such a vivid and intense Aura! Andstly, they felt a scary darknessing from Shang, which didn''t make him seem any better than King Sanctified Death. In essence, Shang felt to them like another King Sanctified Death. The few Mage Emperors that hadn''t seen Shang before felt like thest bit of hope they had harbored had vanished. Maybe, it wouldn''t be so bad if Shang actually managed to kill King Sanctified Death? Pfft, it didn''t matter anymore. Both were equally as bad. Shang saw a couple of Peak Mage Lords beneath every Emperor, and nearly all of them looked at Shang with absolute horror and shock. For several seconds, everyone just looked at Shang. The couple of Mage Emperors rapidly talked to each other, and their expressions changed very quickly. In the end, their expressions all settled on a dark and threatening look. They would deal with Shang in this tournament. Naturally, the Emperors also talked to theirbatants in the tournament, and they quickly formed several ns. But, of course, the tournament wouldn''t just begin like this. "Why is a warrior here?" the Twilight Dusk Emperor, Amon Gus, asked. Chapter 959 Chapter 959 959 Chapter 959 ¡ª Domain Naturally, no one spoke up after Amon Gus asked that question. After all, every other Emperor also had issues with Shang. It was one thing to have someone like Abaddon be a Mage Emperor, but it was something different when it was a warrior. All the Emperors had been amongst Lucius'' group in the past, and they still remembered how the world had been back then. Right now, there was no war between different Paths since the Mage Path was supreme, but as soon as some Paths managed to recover, the Path wars would resume. These wouldn''t just be normal wars, but wars with the goal of eradicating the strongest people of another Path. Additionally, Lucius hadmanded that no other Path was allowed to reach the Ninth Realm again, and if Shang reached the Eighth Realm, there might be a chance that he would reach the Ninth Realm somehow. The Emperors already suspected that Abaddon might be able to kill and consume an Emperor. Shang might be able to do the same thing as a Warrior King. Even more, deep inside, another thought appeared in the Emperors¡¯ minds. Abaddon had been born to two Emperors with an unprecedented Affinity. Yet, this warrior had created his Path himself, and he had only appeared when he was already at the Fifth or Sixth Realm. Because of that, the Emperors were very wary of Shang. "Why can''t a warrior join?" Gregorio asked Amon Gus. "This is the Grand Mage Tournament," Amon Gus answered. "Not the Grand All-Around Tournament." "Then rename it," Gregorio said with a snort. "There have never been any rules regarding who can join. It''s all about the Realm." ¡°Peak Mage Lord," Amon Gus said. "| don''t think it would be urate to say your little ghost is a Peak Mage Lord. It looks more like a Peak Beast Lord." The two of them just looked at each other. BANG! The Mana Shield around Amon Gus rippled as a white beam hit it. Amon Gus snorted as he looked at Shang, who had just shot the white beam at him. "The level five Concept of Light, Laser," Amon Gus said as he looked at Shang. "! guess this can be partially considered Magic." Surprisingly, Gregorio only looked at Amon Gus with a raised eyebrow. Kali also turned to Amon Gus. The other Emperors were not certain why Kali had shown a reaction but also looked at Amon Gus. That was when they realized something shocking and quite entertaining. There was Death Mana with the Concept of Sickness sticking to the spot where theser had hit Amon Gus'' Mana Shield. Death Mana was very difficult to perceive, but the Emperors all had their ways, including Amon Gus. And yet, Amon Gus hadn''t noticed. The Death Mana slowly kept absorbing the Mana of Amon Gus'' Mana Shield. Maybe, in a couple of minutes, it would be powerful enough to actually kill him? The Emperors were shocked that Shang hadprehended at least one Death Concept, but it was also quite funny that Amon Gus didn''t notice the Death Mana. When everyone looked at Amon Gus, he realized that something must be up, and he inspected his body. That was when he found the Death Mana on his Mana Shield. Amon Gus gritted his teeth in rage and frustration as he got rid of the Death Mana. This was a humiliation! "How about we ask Bina Ching to officiate this dispute," Gregorio said with a chuckle. "I think she''s more fit for the position since she isn''t involved in the war." Bina Ching, the Darkcold Empress, had always been one of the most rational ones among the group. She didn''t say a lot, but when she said something, it was something important. Amon Gus would normally have spoken up, but right now, he felt too humiliated. Awarrior in the Seventh Realm had managed to essentially "paint" his Mana Shield without him noticing. Naturally, he wanted to kill Shang more than anything, but he couldn''t do that. Bina Ching nced at Gregorio before she looked at Shang. Shang felt a dark pressure descend on his body. Anyone else would have been unable to move, but to Shang, this was just one more disturbing factor among many. "It is the Grand Mage Tournament," Bina Ching said. "Magic is what decides the Victor." "Domains are Magic," Shang said, his emotionless voice appearing in everyone''s mind. The Emperors looked at Shang with displeased expressions. All the other Peak Mage Lords were below their Emperors and didn''t dare to speak up, but Shang was actually on the same level as all the other Emperors, and he even dared to speak up. Bina Ching just kept looking at Shang. "Domains created of one or more Concepts," Bina Ching answered. This made it difficult for Shang to argue his point. While his Domain of Entropy was essentially made with the level five Concept of Transformation, Shang couldn''t tell them. Telling them about the Concept of Transformation would be like telling them that he knew Anti-Magic. While knowing Anti¡ªMagic wouldn''t be bad, being the Child of Cmity would be very bad, and Shang couldn''t guarantee that one of the Emperors hadn''t already made the connection that Lucius had actually been the Child of Cmity. Telling them that he knew Anti-Magic could lead to them realizing Shang was the Child of Cmity. Because of that, Shang had to act like his Domain came from the Domain Controller Path, and he couldn''t possibly erase any Mana.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Shang would only use it to turn some aggressive Spells into Mana. Anti-Magic and Abominations turned Mana into nothingness. So, if Shang only turned Mana from one state into another, it would only seem like a unique and powerful Domain. Sadly, that Domain had never been created by a Mage, and the Emperors basically knew all the Concepts that existed. Shang couldn''t possibly lie and tell them that he made his Domain with a certain Concept. So, he was stuck with saying his Domain came from the Domain Controller Path. Shang and Bina Ching just looked at each other. ¡°If | may speak up, Aunt Bina." Chapter 960 Chapter 960 960 Chapter 960 ¡ª A God Amomentter, a portal appeared, and a man stepped through. He was a tall man with short blonde hair. His haircut was very professional, almost like he was working in an office. He wore a ck jacket with a white shirt underneath, and he wore ck pants. For some reason, Shang''s mind immediately associated him with some managers from Earth. "Yes, Abaddon?" Bina Ching asked. Yes, this was King Sanctified Death, Abaddon. Abaddon just smiled brightly and gave a short nod of respect to Bina Ching before he turned to Shang. Shang looked back, and for just a bit, the two of them looked at each other. For the first time, the two of them met with their real bodies. ¡®I''ve never felt such an intense Aura before,¡¯ Shang thought. Even though he had been prepared, he had still been surprised by the sheer intensity of Abaddon''s Aura. Abaddon''s Aura was a warm yellow. He felt like a nice and kind person. However, that was only on the surface. Deeply hidden inside the intense Aura was a white nothingness. It was almost like a white hole was trying to act like a warm sun. But it was very difficult to actually see through the disguise. Of course, Shang''s Aura felt just as intense and brutal as Abaddon''s Aura, but Abaddon had already felt Shang''s Aura before. "| think we should give him a chance," Abaddon said. The Emperors immediately furrowed their brows. "Don''t misunderstand me," Abaddon quickly said with a helpless smile before any Emperor could speak up. "I''m not saying that this tournament is suddenly for warriors or whatever Path he thinks he treads. I''m saying that we should allow him topete but without his weapon or Weapon Mana." The Emperors looked with skepticism at Abaddon. "| mean," Abaddon continued with a friendly chuckle, "Paths don''t necessarily need to be exclusive, right? | have a pretty powerful body, and I''m a Mage. | can also use a couple of Domains that don''t rely on Magic Circles." "You''re different," Brutus Cesar interjected. "You''ve created apletely new way to use Domains, and you did it by extrapting Domain¡ªrted parts from Concepts. That''s different from normal Domains." ¡°Naturally, Uncle Brutus," Abaddon said, "but | used a sort of reductive method to create my Domains. In a way, my Domain doesn''t even use a single Concept, and as we all know, Magic is based on Concepts." "| don''t know if he has a Domain, but based on his power, he very likely has one. A Domain is a Domain. In my opinion, if we ban his Domain, we have to ban every Domain." The Emperors weren''t happy with Abaddon''s words. "| disagree," Bina Ching said. "We don''t have to ban every Domain, only yours." Abaddon''s expression didn''t change. "I''m not a Mage, then?" Bina Ching just slowly shook her head. "You know exactly what | meant." "No, you''re right," Abaddon said. "I''m not a Mage." WHOOOOOOM! Suddenly, everyone was swallowed by some kind of formless Domain. And yet, the Domain did... nothing. It just surrounded everyone, but there was no effect on anyone. It was just like oneyer of reality had ovepped anotheryer. Yet, the Mage Lords felt like they had left Aterium and had entered a different world. Even more, they started to fall without being able to do anything about it! The Emperors narrowed their eyes. CRACK! The reality around the Emperors broke apart, making it appear like they hovered inside cracks in the sky. The Emperors were also stopping their candidates from falling. ¡°Exin,¡± Bina Ching coldly demanded, her calm demeanor gone. Just now, the Emperors had actually felt threatened!Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. That Domain had felt actually dangerous to them! "The Sanctified Domain," Abaddon said as he lifted his right hand with a smile. "The core of my power." "| do not cast Spells." "| impose the Concepts of the world onto the world itself." "| don''t need a brush or a diagram to impose my will on the world." "| will it, and the world does it." "My Domain doesn''t use Concepts, and | don''t use Spells. | don''t even use a Focus or a simr weapon." m not a Mage." Silence. No one had expected Abaddon toe out in defense of Shang. Even more, Abaddon''s words actually made sense. The way they had defined Magic made it impossible to include Abaddon as a Mage. "He''s not a Mage,¡¯ Shang thought. Just now, when he had felt the Domain, he had felt the difference. The way Abaddon used his power wasn''t even rted to Magic anymore. No Spells. Just pure Concepts imposed on the world around him. It was like he was controlling the world itself. Shang had only seen that kind of power from one other person before. "He''s a God." "He might not be a True God just yet, but he is walking on the God Path. The God is the only being that can use such a direct way to unleash his power.¡¯ ¡®Lucius was the Mage God, for however short his reign was.¡¯ ¡®Lucius was still a Mage.¡¯ ¡®Abaddon isn''t a Mage anymore." ''He is already on his way to bing a God, and if he achieves that level, he will be a Pure God, a True God." ¡®| don''t think Lucius managed to reach such a level. In the beginning, the Emperors thought that Abaddon was just a contrarian. But now, they realized that he was actually right. He wasn''t a Mage. He might have started out as a Mage, but now, he wasn''t like any Mage they had ever seen or met, including Lucius. Several seconds of silence passed. "He''s right," Nivera Preston, the Deepsteel Empress, said. "He doesn''t fit into our definition of Magic anymore.¡± Nivera took a deep breath. "He''s more." The other Emperors looked at her, but they didn''t interject. "Cultivators focused on their minds and evolved into Mages." ¡°And now, a Mage has focused even more on his mind and evolved yet again." "This might be what Mages will eventually be." "The Perfected Mage Path." Chapter 961 Chapter 961 961 Chapter 961 ¡ª Teams When Nivera said that Abaddon represented the next evolutionary step of Mages, the Emperors looked at him withplex expressions. Yes, Abaddon was a genius on the same level as Lucius, butpared to Lucius, Abaddon hadn''t been under constant danger that forced him to rush his foundation. Abaddon was already around 60,000 years old. When Lucius was at that age, he had already ascended to be a God. And yet, all of this still left a bitter taste in the Emperors¡¯ mouths. After all, Abaddon was thest person they wished such great power on. "| believe we have to change our definition of Magic," Nivera said. "Abaddon is right. With our current definition of Magic, he doesn''t fit into the category. Yet, everyone can clearly see and feel that he is a Mage." "Therefore, we have to change our definition of what constitutes Magic." The Emperors silently epted Nivera''s words. "So, we are in agreement,¡± Bina Ching proimed. The other Emperors nodded. After that, Bina Ching turned to Gregorio. "Your candidate is allowed to use his Domain in the tournament." ¡°However, you have to keep in mind that Weapon Mana, weapons, and techniques that are obviously rted to weapons and Weapon Mana are prohibited. Any usage of these techniques will disqualify your candidate from the tournament." "Do you agree?" she asked. ¡°Of course," Gregorio said with a serious expression. Naturally, Gregorio still wasn''t happy. After all, Shang should be allowed to take part in the tournament without restrictions. Nevertheless, he had to ept the judgment of the Emperors. The time to fight all of them hadn''t arrived yet. "Good," Bina Ching said before turning to Kali. "Then, you can start the tournament." Kali had been acknowledged as the true second-strongest after Lucius back then, which was why they had given her the honor of running the tournament. Gregorio hadn''t voiced any protests back then. Kali didn''t look at Bina Ching. She just kept looking forward like she hadn''t heard anything. "The tournament starts,¡± she silently said. "Teams, step forward." All the Mage Lords floated upward a bit and stopped in front of their Emperors. ¡°As always, the arena will be the skies above the Judgment Pce," Kali said as she drew a line in the air. The next moment, a huge Magic Circle appeared in the sky, which then created a humongous arena. "The diameter of the arena is 100,000 kilometers," Kali exined. "The walls are indestructible for anyone beneath the Mage Emperor Realm." "Since there are two open spots this time, we are going to hold a team battle, which means that one Empire will gain two Mage Kings today." At that moment, Gregorio narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second! That is a new rule!" "It is not," Kali said calmly but coldly without even looking at Gregorio. "247,000 years ago, we did just that. | don''t see why we shouldn''t do that again." Gregorio gritted his teeth. "That''s unfair! | only have one candidate!" "No, you have two," Kali said. "You announced that you woulde with two candidates. | explicitly told everyone to bring two candidates for this tournament.¡± The image of the dead Agon shed through Gregorio''s mind. "The second candidate that | announced can''te," Gregorio said with narrowed eyes. "Can | quickly get a recement?" Originally, Gregorio hadn''t cared that Shang was fighting alone. After all, the tournament was always one versus one, and he didn''t have a second person that could win against every other opponent. But now, things were different! Shang needed someone that could distract one of his opponents. Sure, if Shang could fight with all of his powers, it wouldn''t matter, but he couldn''t! The Emperors just scoffed at Gregorio''s question. Get another candidate? Obviously not! "Fine." The Emperors turned with shock to Kali. "But to make it fair, you can''t get someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense." This made a glimmer appear in the Emperors¡¯ eyes. No fourfold Spirit Sense? They all realized that Kali had worded everything very precisely. If Gregorio wanted Shang to win, the best bet would be to send in an old Thunder whose longevity would soon run out. These Thunders generally knew four level five Concepts, making them only inferior to Mage Lords with a fivefold Spirit Sense that managed toprehend a level six Concept. But those were now off the table. Which left only two options. Avery powerful person with a threefold Spirit Sense. Or someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. Yes, Kali had said no one with a fourfold Spirit Sense. She had not said no one with a fourfold Spirit Sense or stronger. However, everyone knew that the only Mage Lord in the Lightning Manor with a fivefold Spirit Sense had, at most, comprehended three level five Concepts. They were only about as strong as the average Thunder, even with their strong Spirit Sense. So, if Gregorio wanted to win this tournament, he would need to put a future Mage King on the line. And even if Gregorio won, his future Mage King would just be a Mage King earlier, not giving him an additional one. Gregorio was beyond frustrated. The other Emperors were obviously trying to suppress him with all of the rules. He wanted to fight them immediately, but he knew that he couldn''t win. He needed Shang. ¡®Why is Kali doing this?!¡¯ Gregorio thought with frustration. ''We are supposed to be hidden allies!¡¯ Obviously, transforming the tournament into a team tournament was throwing a huge obstacle in front of Shang. Kali only needed to start the tournament like always, and things would most likely be fine! As Gregorio looked at Kali, he felt disdaining from her. At that moment, Gregorio''s eyelids slightly twitched. It was very subtle, but he had noticed something. The kind of disdain Kali was feeling for Gregorio wasn''t the kind of a strong enemy dominating a weaker one. No, it was the kind of disdain one felt when someone else refused their gift because they were not smart enough to understand its value. It basically meant, "You fucking idiot." "Fine," Gregorio said before he closed his eyes. Three secondster, a portal opened, and a person stepped through. When the Emperors saw them, they had to hold back their smirks. He fell for it! Chapter 962 Chapter 962 962 Chapter 962 ¡ª Schemes Awoman with whitish¡ªgrey hair stepped out of the portal. She wore the typical purple robes of the Lightning Manor, and her demeanor seemed quite simr to the Starlight Queen. She seemed to be filled with pride but didn''t seem too distant. However, the Emperors could feel through her deception. The woman was shocked, infuriated, and scared. She knew how powerful her opponents would be, and she knew that she wasn''t ready to participate in the tournament yet. Even more, due to Shang participating, she also knew that this would be a death tournament! If the Emperors were in agreement, they could agree to let everyone fight to the death.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Usually, fights erred on the side of life, which meant that if two opponents were not in agreement, killing someone was prohibited and would result in the execution of the killer. But if the Emperors agreed to a death tournament, that would shift. It would mean that if two opponents were not in agreement, the fight would be to the death. So, the loser would only be able to survive if both teams decided to make this a benign fight. Naturally, the woman was not happy at all that she was here. She would have be a Mage King in the future! But now, she would die because the Lightning Emperor sacrificed her just to get a tiny chance at getting his favorite young master to be a Warrior King or whatever! Of course, the majority of her hate was focused on Shang, but as soon as she saw him, her hatred vanished, reced by fear. What even was this?! The Mage had been incredibly prideful. After all, she was the only Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense in the Lightning Manor currently! She was the most talented Mage in an entire Empire! Yet, when she felt Shang''s Aura, she just felt inadequate and inferior. It was like a Mage King was floating near her. In the end, she could only ept her destiny. "Hello, | am Cynthia Steelbright," she transmitted to Shang, "and | am a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense. | have a Dual Affinity for Metal and Lightning.¡± ¡°Attack, defense, speed, versatility," Shang transmitted back. "Which is your best?" Shang''s voice felt extremely dark and threatening to Cynthia, but she could still handle it. ¡°Attack and speed," she answered. "You?" "Perfect," Shang answered but didn''t borate. "Perfect? What do you mean?" Cynthia asked. Shang didn''t answer. Cynthia became frustrated, but she didn''t dare to annoy Shang, which was why she remained quiet. At the same time, the Emperors were giving their teams instructions on how to proceed in this tournament. After all, the goal wasn''t to win but to kill Shang. "Benign or malicious tournament?" Kali asked. "Malicious," Amon Gus answered first. "Malicious," Brutus Cesare continued. "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "Benign," Jenny Greenhouse said with a helpless smile. "Benign," Linastra Boomwitch said with a snort. "Malicious," Gregorio said, eliciting a couple of nces from the Emperors. "Malicious," Kali finished. "We are in agreement. This is a malicious tournament." ¡°Both parties will decide if their fight will be benign or malicious." "If both of them say it is malicious, it is malicious." "If both of them say it is benign, it is benign." "If one says it is benign and the other says it is malicious, it is malicious." Jenny and Linastra were not the biggest fans of the current development. Jenny Greenhouse was generally an honest person that liked working together with others, and she really wasn''t the biggest fan of this entire two-faced plotting. While Linastra Boomwitch was the opposite of a conflict-averse person, she also preferred direct confrontations. Now, if everyone would genuinely start going at each other''s throats, she wouldn''t mind, but she knew that almost all the fights would be benign since they didn''t want to lose their powerful Mages. "As always," Kali continued, "the opponents will be chosen by the Void of Death." Kali summoned a huge cloud of Death Mana that floated in front of her. "Throw in your tokens." The Emperors all took out a couple of small balls and threw them into the void. Shang could tell that the Void of Death was a Spell that made the level five Concept of Exodus be excited, which would essentially turn it into a huge whirlpool of destruction. The excited Death Mana would rapidly move around in random directions, pushing the tokens around. This kind of movement couldn''t be controlled by any Mage since it was simply far too chaotic. ¡®However...¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the silent Kali. ¡®She is not just any Mage.¡¯ The other Emperors hadn''tined about this way of drawing lots, which meant that they believed that Kali had no control. And yet, What if she actually did? Maybe she had hidden it very well all this time? Shang inspected his opponents while the lots were rapidly getting shuffled in the Void of Death. Most of the teams were made of two Mages with fourfold Spirit Senses. In fact,there were seven of these teams, which meant that there were only two teams with different configurations. One of them was Shang''s team. The other one was Brutus Cesar''s team. His team had someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense and someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. Someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense that hadprehended a level six Concept could fight two enemies with a fourfold Spirit Sense. The gap in power was huge. This meant that Brutus¡¯ team would win under normal circumstances. However, Shang wasn''t too worried. Amomentter, all the tokens shot out of the Void of Death andnded in the Emperors¡¯ hands. And then, everyone realized something. Kali definitely had control over the Void of Death! These fights were too perfectly orchestrated! The Emperors looked at Kali with narrowed eyes, but she didn''t respond to the looks. Everyone had already agreed that the lots would be drawn this way. If they wanted to change it, they needed to wait for the next tournament and change the rules. So, what did it look like? Well, the Lightning Manor got the free ticket. However, getting the free ticket was bad in this tournament. If one got the free ticket, they wouldn''t get to skip a round but would get to fight an additional one. The first fight would be between two teams, and the winner would advance to the quarter-finals, the round of eight. Who was the Lightning Manor''s opponent? The Tower of Climate''s team. Jenny Greenhouse''s team. One of the two teams that voted for benign. And if the Lightning Manor''s team won, they would face the Sungod Mountain Empire''s team. Linastra Boomwitch''s Empire. The second team that voted for benign. Obviously, Kali was throwing these two teams in front of the Lightning Manor as fodder. The Judgment Pce, Land and Sky Empire, and Twilight Dusk Family had all been allied for a long time, and these two Empires had always kept themselves out of the fight between them and the Lightning Manor. Well, now they would need to get involved. Cynthia looked with fear at the team she was about to fight against. Abitter, she threw a nce at Shang, who didn''t seem to feel any different from before. Which was true. Shang wasn''t worried about this fight at all. The moment Kali had decided that this would be a team tournament was the moment she had essentially dered Shang''s team the victor. However, since nobody knew a lot about Shang''s power, nobody realized the truth. The only two people that knew that Shang would win were Kali and Abaddon, and Shang was certain that Kali had made this decision because of Abaddon. Abaddon knew a frightening amount about Shang, and he also knew that fighting as a team would make this tournament very one-sided. Chapter 963 Chapter 963 963 Chapter 963 - Siblings Cynthia was still nervous, even though Shang seemed to be quite calm. The Lightning Emperor had already exined to her that Shang wasn''t able to use 90% of his power, making their chances of victory very small. ¡°Lightning Manor and Tower of Climate, enter the arena," Kalimanded. Shang simply flew towards the arena and entered. Cynthia was still uncertain, but there was nothing she could do but follow. The Tower of Climate''s team wasprised of a woman with blue hair and a man with red hair. Shang could feel Light and Fire Manae from the man, and Ice and Darkness Manae from the woman. Funnily enough, these two people together made up 80% of a Child of Cmity. They were only missing the special Entropy part that fused everything together. When Jenny Greenhouse had heard that this would be a team tournament, she had actually be hopeful that they might win. Originally, she was just here since she had to participate. She hadn''t been confident in winning at all. Her two contestants were brother and sister, and they had always been together. In fact, they had even refused to join the tournament unless they could both join at once. Sadly, this also came with some disadvantages. If they were more willing to split up, maybe, they could have evenprehended a level six Concept. The two of them were extremely talented, but since they never split up, one of the two of them was always just watching without improving their power since their Affinities were opposites of each other. And yet, none of them regretted their choice. They just wanted to live together until the end, and they were doing just that. The two of them looked at each other and nodded simultaneously. Amomentter, they flew into the arena while they held their hands. Since the arena had a diameter of 100,000 kilometers, the two sides couldn''t see each other, and they just waited for the signal to start. ¡°Benign or malicious?" Kali asked Gregorio and Jenny. "Benign," Gregorio answered first. Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar frowned. They would have liked it more if Gregorio had been more aggressive. Jenny seemed uncertain. She had voted for benign earlier, but that was more of a general thing for her. Right now, her team was fighting the united enemy of all Mage Emperors. If she said malicious, her team might very well die. If she said benign, the other Emperors would very likely make life difficult for her. After all, if there ever were a time to step up for the world, it would be now. Should she? "Malicious." The expressions of the Emperors didn''t change, but deep inside, they smirked. Finally, Jenny had given in. She had always been on the sidelines in this conflict, but now, she had been forced to choose a side. And she had chosen theirs. In the end, the decision hade down to the two contestants Jenny had sent in. They only had around 3,000 years left, and they weren''t strong enough to win a tournament, except for this team tournament. And, well, since this was the only tournament they could win, losing and death would basically mean the same thing for the Tower of Climate. If they won, it didn''t matter whether the fights were malicious or benign. They would survive either way. And if they couldn''t, it would barely make a difference. "The fight will be malicious. The arena will only open after both members of one team are dead," Kali announced. Naturally, Kali''s voice also reached the two teams in the arena. And their reactions? Shock and anger. Cynthia believed that the Lightning Emperor wouldn''t want to hurt Jenny Greenhouse after she had voted for benign, which meant that Jenny Greenhouse had betrayed their goodwill! Meanwhile, the other team believed that their Emperess couldn''t have possibly voted for malicious since she had already made a statement earlier by voting for benign, which meant that it could have only been the Lightning Emperor. In essence, both teams believed that the other one had be the aggressor and started the conflict. "Start!" Kali announced. Cynthia summoned her Focus and her Mana Shield. "Don''t," Shang said as he held his single arm in front of Cynthia. ¡°What don''t?" Cynthia asked in shock and frustration.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. ¡°Don''t use your Mana Shield." At that moment, Cynthia''s eyes shot open in shock. "| need you to do two things," Shang transmitted two her. "First, | need you to link your body to mine. | will be the one evading the enemy Spells, and you will simply follow me." "Second, | need you to only focus on a single thing." "Attack." m defense. You are offense." Cynthia was skeptical and shocked. She gritted her teeth in frustration, but eventually, she conceded. After all, she was only here due to Shang. She didn''t trust Shang, but she trusted in Shang''s talent and power. "Fine," she said. An instantter, a couple of chains of durable and flexible metal bound her to Shang''s back, and she started to focus on casting Spells. Shang noticed that Cynthia had started to focus on her Spells. The next moment, Shang cast a couple of Spells on his own. While Shang couldn''t keep up with the magical abilities of the contestants here, Shang''s magical abilities still put him at about the level of a Peak Mage Lord with a twofold or threefold Spirit Sense. That was far more than enough to cast several powerful Spells. Shang cast a couple of Spells that would get rid of the inertia in Cynthia''s body. After all, Mages either used Mana Step or flew very slowly. If Shang started to shoot forward, Cynthia might turn into a pile of mush. Naturally, Cynthia noticed the Spells Shang had cast on her and sneered. She had already activated simr Spells with the same effect. She didn''t- oo?¡é0 DOOOOH! Suddenly, the world around her turned into a blur, and Cynthia felt like she had just used Mana Step. For a short moment, Cynthiapletely stopped casting Spells as she tried toe to terms with the sheer speed she was experiencing. This speed was absolutely ridiculous! In nearly an instant, she had already found her opponents with her Spirit Sense. They had already traveled that far?! Chapter 964 Chapter 964 964 Chapter 964 ¡ª The First Round The two siblings were already preparing several powerful Spells. The air around them had already transformed into a chaotic storm of fire and ice, creating a destructive and powerful barrier. Any Spell needed to punch through that barrier first. The next moment, an impossibly fast ck beam of light shot right toward Shang. The beam was so fast that not even Shang''s speed could keep up. Luckily, Shang had prepared his own Spell. Shang needed longer to cast Spells than Mages, but his Spells weren''t weaker. In fact, since Shang''s mind was half a level stronger than other Peak Mage Lords due to his Transformation, his Spells were actually more powerful. Shang pointed at the Spell, and a momentter, a white beam shot towards the ck beam. Thanks to the increased power of Shang''s mind, his beam managed to withstand thebined beam of his two opponents just long enough for him to evade. Naturally, Shang''s opponents immediatelyunched a barrage of Spells, but Shang could avoid most of them. However, there were also Spells that Shang had to deal with. Spells like fire spears, darkness needles, or icicles were not an issue for Shang to sidestep, but Spells like huge fire waves or lasers were not things that Shang could avoid. They were either too fast or too big. Usually, Shang would just use Sword Blood while he prepared Sword Heart. Alternatively, he could have also just used World Connection to destroy the Spells or even just used his sword to block. Although, that also wouldn''t be urate since Shang wouldn''t even be in this situation to begin with. He would have killed both of his opponents already. But, well, there wasn''t much he could do right now. "You done anytime soon?" Shang asked as he rapidly kept dodging. "Give me a bit more time," Cynthia answered calmly. Surprisingly, Cynthia seemed extremely if calm and serious. Although, maybe that wasn''t surprising. After all, she was a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense. Someone like that had to have a powerful mindset. Shang didn''t ask why Cynthia needed more time and just continued dodging. Amomentter, two extremely powerful and huge Spells shot at Shang. They had too much Mana to counter, and Shang wasn''t fast enough to evade. SHING! So, Shang used Mana Step and moved both of them away. Surprisingly, Mana Step only cost a slight bit more Mana than usual. Cynthia''s body was barely heavier than nothingpared to Shang''s weight. Naturally, fights between Mages took forever because of Mana Shield, Mana Step, and their rapid Mana regeneration. Equally powerful Mage Lords could fight for hours and would exchange millions of Spells. No one had been surprised that Shang managed to avoid. The siblings used these Spells to force Shang to use more Mana than them, giving them an edge in Mana. After all, Mana Step was just too expensive. "Get in close," Cynthia transmitted to Shang. SHING! In an instant, Shang used two Mana Steps and arrived directly in front of the woman with blue hair. For a moment, Cynthia''s eyes shot open. ''Not THAT close!"T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Nevertheless, Cynthia didn''t hesitate and immediately released her prepared Spells. 20 thin and long drill heads, loaded to the brim with lightning, exploded out from her and hit the woman''s Mana Shield. CRACK! The Mana Shield broke in an instant, and ten of the drill heads shot through the woman''s body, turning her into ash. Silence. The red-haired man looked with shock at the ce where his sister had been, and a momentter, determination and hatred appeared in his eyes. BOOOOOM! Yet, Shang released his own prepared Spells while Cynthia unloaded a couple more of her own. The man tried to get close to them, but Shang easily outran him. Momentster, the man died as well. ¡°Lightning Manor, victorious," Kali announced. Outside, Jenny Greenhouse just sighed. Gregorio nced at her, no empathy in his eyes. When Gregorio had originally talked to Shang about the entire God business, he still wanted some of his friends to survive. But now, he didn''t care anymore. They had all united against him. So what if they died? Maybe, it wouldn''t be so bad after all. Maybe, helping Abaddon wasn''t such a bad idea after all. Shang and Cynthia exited the arena and stopped behind the Lightning Emperor. ¡°Everyone saw how you fought,¡± Cynthia transmitted to Shang and the Lightning Emperor. "We need a n against future strategies." Shang didn''t answer. Gregorio just chuckled a bit. "Cynthia, don''t worry. Shang hasn''t even used any of his abilities yet." Cynthia became shocked once again. "Of course, Ancestor." Gregorio just chuckled again. "Twilight Dusk Family versus the Darkcold Fortress," Kali announced. "Teams, enter the arena." The two teams entered the arena. ¡°Benign of malicious?" Kali asked. "Benign," Amon Gus said. "Benign," Bina Ching echoed. "This fight will be benign," she announced. "Start!" The two teams fought, but there was no suspense in the fight. Even though both sides consisted of Mage Lords with fourfold Spirit Senses, the Twilight Dusk Family had the upper hand from the very beginning. The Darkcold Fortress lost after just a couple of seconds. Both sides bowed in respect to each other and left the arena. ¡°Event Horizon versus Deepsteel Pearl," Kali announced. The two teams entered, and the two Emperors both said that the fight would be benign. This time, the fight was actually very intense and took a long time. However, after around 20 minutes, Shang already became disinterested and bored. It was always the same. Shang had already seen the same Spell thousands of times in these 20 minutes, and the fight became very stale. The fight took a total of 13 hours, which was beyond ridiculous. In the end, the Event Horizon won. The two sides bowed in respect and left the arena. "Judgment Pce versus Land and Sky Pir," Kali announced. Yes, surprisingly, Kali had chosen the Land and Sky Pir as her first opponent, which was strange for two reasons. First, they were allies. Second, the Land and Sky Pir was the only Empire, other than the Lightning Manor, with a Mage that had a fivefold Spirit Sense. "Benign or malicious? | choose benign," Kali said. Brutus Cesar was quite annoyed with Kali. After all, her intentions were clear to him. She just wanted to get a quick out of the tournament. Her two allies should take care of the Lightning Manor, while she just left the tournament without any issues. Naturally, Brutus Cesar wasn''t the biggest fan of that, but for the sake of the alliance... "Benign," Brutus Cesar said neutrally. "The fight will be benign,¡± Kali announced. Naturally, there was no suspense in the fight The Judgment Pce lost within two seconds. The two teams bowed in respect and left the arena. "The Sungod Mountain versus the Lightning Manor." Chapter 965 Chapter 965 965 Chapter 965 - p Shang''s opponents were two men. One of them had fiery red hair, and the other had greyish-brown hair. Shang could feel a ton of Gravity and Fire Manae from one of them, and a lot of Gravity and Earth Manae from the other. Both teams entered the arena. ¡°Both of them have a Gravity Affinity," Cynthia transmitted to Shang. "| know," Shang answered. "Is there anything you have nned? Gravity Affinities are the best at controlling an opponent''s speed," Cynthia transmitted. "Just focus on killing them," Shang answered. Cynthia red at Shang, but she didn''t protest. She felt like Shang was taking all of this too lightly, but she also knew that she was only here to support Shang. If they died, it would be his fault! "Benign or malicious?" Kali asked. Gregorio looked coldly at Linastra. She was thest Emperor that hadn''t yet shown enmity toward him. "Benign," Gregorio said coldly. The other Emperors looked at Linastra with shining eyes. Linastra snorted in disgust. "Benign." The Emperors subtly narrowed their eyes, but Linastra just looked away in disgust. Gregorio shot a look at Linastra. He hadn''t expected that Linastra would be willing to stand against all her friends. Linastra''s Empire was at the southeastern end of Aterium, on the opposite end of the world. This made it impossible for the Lightning Manor to help her in any way. By going against the other Emperors, she had essentially put herself alone against several Empires. Especially Jenny''s Empire to Linastra¡¯s north might be troublesome since Jenny had just decided to sacrifice two of her people for the other Empires. "The fight will be benign,¡± Kali announced. When the teams heard that, they were quite surprised. Cynthia released a sigh of relief, just like her two opponents. Shang didn''t care. "Start!" Kali announced. Shang shot forward with Cynthia behind him. Just a bitter, Shang saw his two opponents preparing a humongous ck hole andunched it at Shang and Cynthia. When Cynthia noticed the approaching ck hole, she became terrified. She didn''t have a Mana Shield active, and if she got close to that ck hole, her body would be torn apart! So, she quickly started to cast Mana Shield. SLAP! Suddenly, her world vibrated, and she felt her head almost leaving her body. With shock, she looked at Shang... Who had just backhanded her. "Don''t use Mana Shield," Shang coldly transmitted. Cynthia was in so much shock that she didn''t cast any Spells for a while. Meanwhile, the ck hole came closer and closer. Instead of avoiding it, Shang flew towards it. Suddenly, the Gravity Mana in front of Shang started to rapidly dissipate and turn into Neutral Mana. Compared to normal Spells, Gravity Mana often didn''t getpressed but expanded. The density of the Gravity Mana wasn''t very high, which allowed Shang''s Domain of Entropy to easily and safely transform it into Neutral Mana. When the Emperors saw the Gravity Mana turn into Neutral Mana, their minds reeled in shock. They had never seen anything like this! Immediately, the Domain of the Abominations shot through their minds, but Abominations only deleted Mana. They couldn''t transform one kind of Mana into another one! The Emperors¡¯ minds rapidly thought of infinite ways to create a domain with such an effect, but they never found one. Not even Domain Controllers could use such a Domain! What the hell was this Domain?! While the Emperors were shocked by Shang''s Domain, Cynthia was shocked that she was still alive. Even more, the effect of gravity on her body was negligible. Lastly, she was surrounded by an insanely dense cloud of Mana! Shang''s p vanished from Cynthia''s head as her instincts took over, and she started to rapidly cast offensive Spells. The insanely dense cloud of Natural Mana around her sped up her Mana regeneration even more, and she didn''t even need to save any Mana anymore! Cynthia cast one expensive Spell after the other and prepared them. Meanwhile, their opponents noticed with shock that their ck hole had failed, and they started tounch their own Spells. Sadly, fire and earth weren''t the fastest Elements. Shang didn''t have many problems avoiding their Spells. Some momentster, Cynthia unleashed her prepared Spells on one of her opponents. SHING! The opponent vanished and reappeared outside the arena. In benign fights, Kali would save someone before they died.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Naturally, to make it fair, she only saved someone after their Mana Shield broke. At that point, they would be out of Mana anyway, which meant that they had lost. The other opponent saw that he was alone. "| concede!" he shouted. Shang stopped moving. Amomentter, the first opponent appeared inside the arena again. Cynthia and her two opponents bowed in respect. Shang didn''t move. Naturally, the two opponents felt disrespected, but they didn¡¯tin. Shang and Cynthia left the arena. "If you do that again, | will refuse to fight in the next fight," Cynthia transmitted with seething fury to Shang. ¡°If you want to die, be my guest," Shang answered. Cynthia''s rage exploded. "Calm down, Cynthia," Gregorio transmitted with a helpless smile. "Shang''s Domain turns all kinds of Mana into Neutral Mana. If you were to use your Mana Shield, his Domain would also drain you of Mana. You would be out of Mana in an instant." Surprisingly, this made Cynthia even angrier. "Then, why didn''t he just tell me?!" she transmitted with aggression. "If | had known that, | would have never even tried to use Mana Shield!" Shang didn''t answer. Cynthia wasn''t angry because of the p anymore but because of Shang''s absoluteck ofmunication. The two of them were a team, and they needed to work together, but Shang just kept refusing tomunicate with her and just ordered her to do whatever he wanted! How was she supposed to stay calm in this situation?! While this fight had been benign, the next one would definitely be malicious again! She was fighting with her life on the line, and this asshole refused tomunicate with her! She was trying to help him! Gregorio just sighed. "Shang is special," he transmitted. "His social skills are near zero, but he is probably the most talented and hardworking person that has ever existed. | know it''s difficult, but just do what he says for the next two fights. After that, you don''t have to interact with him again." Cynthia gritted her teeth. "Fine," she said with barely controlled anger. Chapter 966 Chapter 966 966 Chapter 966 - Semi¡ªFinal "Twilight Dusk Family versus the Event Horizon," Kali announced. The two entered the arena, and the two Emperors made the fight benign. But while the two teams fought, the Emperors weren''t paying any attention to the fight. Instead, they all looked at Shang. His Domain... What was his Domain? Where did ite from? It was so strange. They could feel that Shang''s Domain included at least one Concept, which technically ssified it as a Spell. And yet, none of the Emperors knew what kind of Concept Shang''s Domain used. Of course, the Emperors also noticed that there was more to Shang''s Domain, but they also couldn''t find out anything about that. Shang''s Domain was a mystery. Like, what Concept would even give someone the power to transform Gravity Mana into Neutral Mana? Was the Concept Gravity rted? Probably not. After all, all the Emperors already knew the level six Concept of Gravity, Singrity. Naturally, some eyes also fell on the watching King Sanctified Death. Abaddon''s Domain was just as mysterious and strange as Shang''s Domain. Just like with Shang, the Emperors couldn''t find out how Abaddon''s Domain worked.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Yet, not finding out how Abaddon''s Domain worked felt much more eptable than not finding out how Shang''s Domain worked. One was the most talented Mage that had ever lived. But the other guy was just a warrior! Yes, he was the most talented warrior that had ever lived, but he was technically using a Spell! He wasn''t even a Mage! Most of the Emperors hated this feeling. It was one thing to see someone with vast potential that could maybe rival the strongest person in the future, but it was something different to see it actually happen. It transformed from a possibility to a reality. Even more, the feeling that Shang''s Domain gave them was also simr to Abaddon''s Domain in another category. Quality. Abaddon''s Domain felt like it was fundamentally a level above what a Mage could do. And Shang''s Domain felt very simr. It was like Shang had created something that couldn''t be created or used by normal people. It was something greater. Something of a higher level. A higher reality, maybe. It was like this Domain came from a stronger world than Aterium. Meanwhile, Abaddon just looked at Shang with a friendly smile. No one knew what Abaddon was thinking. The fight between the Twilight Dusk Family and the Event Horizon took about 30 minutes. In the end, the Twilight Dusk Family won, and they entered the final. ¡°Land and Sky Pir versus the Lightning Manor," Kali announced. Shang had already seen his opponents fight. The Mage with the fourfold Spirit Sense had an Earth and Metal Affinity, while the Mage with the fivefold Spirit Sense had a Wind and Water Affinity. The Mage with the Wind and Water Affinity reminded Shang of that one Mage he had helped in Area 23. That one had also comprehended a Complex Concept rted to water and wind. Naturally, these two people were as far away from each other in talent as it got. After all, Shang''s opponent had a fivefold Spirit Sense. Even more, he knew the level six Concept of Wind, Allwind. The four base Affinities, Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water, all had this kind of name for their strongest Concept. Allwater, Allfire, Allearth, Allwind. It simply represented the ultimate mastery over all of the Element. After the two teams entered the arena, Kali asked the Emperors whether this fight was benign or malicious. "Malicious," they both said at the same time. No one was surprised. "The fight will be malicious," Kali announced. Naturally, the two teams also weren''t surprised. ¡°Any ns?" Cynthia asked. "Just cast offensive Spells," Shang answered. Cynthia hadn''t expected a different answer. "Start," Kali announced. Shang shot forward, and Cynthia readied her offensive Spells. In nearly an instant, they could already see their opponents. However, their opponents had been prepared for them. Just like how Shang had seen his opponents fight, his opponents had seen him fight. The Mage with the fourfold Spirit Sense stepped back while he was preparing Spells. The Mage with the fivefold Spirit Sense stepped forward andunched his Spells at Shang. They had seen how Shang''s team had won thest two fights. Both times, Cynthia had unleashed an irresistible avnche of Spells from an unavoidable distance. So, their opponents had decided that the Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense would continuously prepare Spells, and when Cynthia inevitably unleashed her assault, he would simply unleash his assault as well. While Cynthia was definitely more talented than him, Cynthia was missing a level five Concept, making him minimally stronger than her at this moment. He would be able to block Cynthia''s avnche of Spells. The wind in the arena started to pick up, and a humongous storm appeared. Shang had already activated his Domain, but he still felt a significant force pushing against his body, slowing him down significantly. The next moment, all the Wind Mana in the arena gathered at several small spots, turning them into violently spinning des of wind. CRK! CRK! CRK! CRK! Surprisingly, Shang ran into the des! The Mana was scattered over too big of an area, making the attack dispersed enough that Shang could resist it with just his Domain and body. When the Mage saw that, he narrowed his eyes, and all the Wind Mana gathered in way fewer spots. SHING! Suddenly, Shang appeared right in front of the Mage, but he wasn''t afraid. Just as nned, the other Mage unleashed his prepared assault on them. Cynthia countered the other Mage''s assault with her own, and the two waves of Spells canceled each other out. The Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense readied his own Spell with a smirk. And then, his smirk froze. Where was his Mana going?! He was rapidly losing Mana! Amomentter, Shang pointed his finger at the Mage and a wave of terrifying faces in a cloud of ck smoke shot at him. At that moment, the Emperors realized how Shang could have survived Abaddon''s attack! The level five Concept of Death, Exodus! The wave of faces stopped around the Mage''s Mana Shield and started to eat it rapidly. The Mage immediately canceled his Spell and used Mana Step... But it didn''t work! He couldn''t use Mana Step! The Wind Mana in the arena started to vanish as the Mage used it to supplement his Mana Shield. The Mage tried his best to run away, but Shang was faster! And a full secondter, the Mage died. Chapter 967 Chapter 967 967 Chapter 967 ¡ª Finale Silence. The Mage Emperors just looked with absolute shock at the arena as Shang and Cynthia killed the second Mage. This was supposed to be the fight that killed Shang! Instead, Shang just charged toward the Mage and just stood beside him until he died! Everyone knew that Shang had a sixfold Spirit Sense, but someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense should have a shot at winning against Shang as long as Shang didn''t use his body, Sword Mana, or weapon, right? Sure, the gap between the levels was big, but it couldn''t be THAT big, right?! It was all because of this Domain and the level five Concept of Death, Exodus! The Domain made it difficult for the Mage to gather the Elemental Mana he needed to cast Spells, and the Concept of Exodus tore through his Mana at rapid rates. At least, that was how the Emperors saw the fight. One had to know that Mages with fivefold Spirit Senses had extremely powerful defenses. With a level six Concept, they could use the surrounding Mana in the arena to multiply the power of their Mana Shield. That was also why Shang took a full second to kill the Mage. A Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense had a Mana Shield that was about ten to twenty times more powerful than someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. The only drawback was that this kind of Mana Shield refilled much, much slower than the normal one. A full second in a battle between such powerful Peak Mage Lords could almost be described as an eternity. If two mortal warriors were fighting, this would be about five minutes. And yet, for an entire second, Shang managed to stay close to the Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense. The Emperors were not happy at all. The finale would be between the Lightning Manor and the Twilight Dusk Family, and the Twilight Dusk Family didn''t have anyone with a fivefold Spirit Sense. The chances that the Lightning Manor would win were over 99%. "The Lightning Manor wins," Kali announced coldly. Shang and Cynthia had already killed the second Mage. The pressure on the other Emperors¡¯ shoulders increased. They had gambled in this tournament, and they were about to lose the gamble. By allowing Shang to participate in a weakened state, they had already consented to give him the Mana to be a Sword King if he won. If they had simply stated that Shang wasn''t allowed to participate since his main Path wasn''t Magic, they wouldn''t be in this troublesome situation. But they had been greedy. They wanted to kill Shang, no matter what! They wanted to get rid of this danger! After all, what if the Lightning Emperor decided to secretly kill one of his Mage Kings or Beast Kings to give Shang the Mana? Sure, the other Emperors would immediately unite and attack both of them, no matter the cost, but it would still be extremely dangerous that Shang managed to be a Sword King. On top of that, if the Lightning Emperor actually started to push Shang into the Sword Emperor Realm by somehow gathering a crazy amount of Mana in a short period of time, things might actually get extremely dangerous. But now, all of that didn''t matter! Shang would be a Sword King without breaking anyws or rules! As Cynthia flew back to the Lightning Emperor, she couldn''t hold back an excited smile. They had done it! They would be Mage Kings! They had just defeated the strongest team! Shang''s Aura hadn''t changed one bit. It was almost like he didn''t care. "Good job," the Lightning Emperor told the both of them. "However, our victory isn''t certain yet." Cynthia''s excitement levels lowered, and she nodded solemnly. Shang didn''t show any reactions. Gregorio nced at Amon Gus. Instead of fear, Gregorio saw determination in his eyes. ¡°Amon Gus is suspicious," Gregorio transmitted to the two of them. "He seems too calm. | fear that he has a n." Shang had already noticed that the two Mage Lords beneath the Twilight Dusk Emperor seemed suspiciously calm. "Twilight Dusk Family versus the Lightning Manor," Kali announced. The two teams entered the arena and waited. Gregorio and Amon Gus looked at each other with solemn expressions. "Benign or malicious?" Kali asked. "Malicious," both of them said at the same time. "The fight will be malicious," Kali announced to everyone. Cynthia and Shang readied themselves, and their opponents did as well. "Start," Kali announced. An instantter, Shang shot forward, together with Cynthia. Their two opponents appeared in their Spirit Senses a bitter. Apparently, their two opponents were preparing two powerful Spells that used the strength of darkness with the speed of light. When Shang was only about 5,000 kilometers away from them, he used Mana Step to immediately arrive in front of them. At that moment, time seemed to stop as several things happened at the same time. The two Mage Lords from the Twilight Dusk Family looked with profound sadness at each other.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. They knew that their end hade. At the same time, Shang transmitted to Cynthia, "Mana Shield!" On top of that, people noticed that Shang had actually arrived alone in front of his opponents. Cynthia was still at the same ce, 5,000 kilometers away! An instantter, a Mana Shield appeared around Shang, and he stretched his hand toward his two opponents. Simultaneously to the Mana Shield appearing, the two Mage Lords turned into weak husks, barely clinging to life. Gregorio narrowed his eyes when he saw that. ¡®They sacrificed all their Mana, soul, and life energy into that one Spell!" Two Peak Mage Lords with fourfold Spirit Senses would use their entire existence tounch one attack. No matter the oue, they would soon die. However, the attack they unleashed reached the strength and speed of a Mid Mage King. Such a powerful attack was more than enough to kill Shang. All the Emperors knew it. This was the moment! The moment that would decide the future! Chapter 968 Chapter 968 968 Chapter 968 ¡ª Judgment Aterrifying beam of ck and white shot toward Shang. The beam was barely two meters wide, but its destructive power was undeniable. WHOOOM! First, Shang released all of his Death Mana with the Concept of Exodus. The ck wave of terrifying facespressed and became a thin cloud. BANG! The ck and white beam shot through the ck cloud like it didn''t even exist, dispersing the faces. Next, the beam entered Shang''s Domain of Entropy. As the beam traveled through it, it became thinner, but its speed didn''t decrease. With these two defenses, the beam had halfway dropped to the Early Mage King Realm. Next, the beam hit Shang''s Mana Shield. It barely paused before Shang''s Mana Shield broke into pieces. However, the attack had finally reached the Early Mage King Realm. At that moment, Shang evaluated his chances against the attack. Due to Shang''s fucked up Soul and mind, he couldn''t even trust his instinct of danger. He constantly felt like he was about to die, which made it extremely difficult to judge whether or not this attack would kill him. Shang could tell that the attack was on the level of an Early Mage King with a fourfold or fivefold Spirit Sense, but he wasn''t entirely sure what he needed to survive. Sadly, Shang could only grit his teeth. If Shang got hit by this attack without doing anything, he would almost certainly die. He had to do something! The next moment, all the Mana in the arena was absorbed by Shang. Void Break! At least with this, he could still argue with the Mage Emperors! BOOOOOOOM! The beam tore through Shang''s outstretched arm, but it was slowed significantly. In the end, the beam had shrunk quite a bit, and it hit the middle of Shang''s chest. After tearing through half of Shang''s chest, the beam stopped and dispersed. Shang had done the right thing.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. If he hadn''t increased his body by a level with Void Break, this attack would have killed him. Amomentter, Shang''s body recovered to its peak condition. In the distance, the two Mage Lords saw that Shang had survived, but they didn''t care. They were dead anyway. BANG! BANG! Cynthiaunched two Spells, killing the two weak Mages. The fight was over. An instantter, the arena dispersed. Cynthia and Shang felt themselves get pulled behind the Lightning Emperor, and the other Emperors red with angry eyes at them. "He cheated!" "He used a warrior technique!" "This was a malicious fight! The cheater must die!" Amon Gus, Brutus Cesar, Nivera Preston, and Bina Ching were the loudest and angriest. Jenny Greenhouse watched with gritted teeth but didn''t say anything. Isis Neweston and Linastra Boomwitch looked with gleaming eyes at everything that was happening. Kali didn''t look at anyone with her seemingly lifeless eyes. "Silence," Kali spoke with a cold voice. Yet, the Mage Emperors continued to shout in anger. BOOOOOOOM! Suddenly, a world of death and darkness engulfed everyone. The shouting immediately stopped, and all the Mage Emperors used several Spells to escape the sudden attack. The cloud dispersed quickly, revealing shocked expressions. "| said silence," Kali repeated. Silence. ¡°Anyone in favor of disqualifying the warrior wille to my left. Anyone against it wille to my right. Anyone that doesn''t mind can stay to the side," Kali said. The Emperors nced at each other. Amon Gus, Bina Ching, Brutus Cesar, Jenny Greenhouse, Nivera Preston, and Isis Neweston came to Kali''s left. Gregorio was on Kali''s right. Linastra Boomwitch was neutral. "Party for disqualification, state your case," Kali said coldly. When the Emperors heard that, they slightly narrowed their eyes at Kali. Kali lost the most to the Lightning Manor! She should be the first to dere this a vote, not a debate! As long as she dered this a vote, they would win! Naturally, Kali got several voice transmissions, but she didn''t answer any of them. Some secondster, Amon Gus flew forward. "The warrior has used a Berserker technique to increase the defensive strength of his body. This is a tournament for Mages, and if he were a Mage, he would be dead. Since this was a malicious fight, the disqualified person should be executed!" he argued. ¡°Party against disqualification, state your case," Kali said. Gregorio flew forward. "Shang has used something called Void Break. First of all, Void Break is a variation of Void Casting, which is a Mage technique. You have all seen how he has absorbed the Mana, just like when someone uses Void Casting!" ¡°Additionally, Shang has not used Void Break to attack his opponent but only to defend!" ¡°Lastly, his opponents have already run out of Mana before the attack even hit Shang. This means that the fight was already over at this point, making it irrelevant how Shang managed to survive their attack!" Silence. Kali nced at Gregorio, who kept transmitting to her that they were secret allies. Kali nced at the other six Emperors, who were constantly questioning her about her loyalty and why she wasn''t dering Shang disqualified. Then, Kali nced at Abaddon, who only smiled politely while transmitting something. Kali didn¡¯t show any reaction. Some secondster, she made her choice. "Shang has used Mana Shield to protect himself from the attack," Kali said. "His Mana Shield was broken, removing all the Mana from his mind. After that, an attack of considerable power has struck him." ¡°A Peak Mage Lord can''t survive such a powerful attack without Mana." "His body and Void Break have yed a more than significant role in his victory." "Therefore, Shang is disqualified!" Gregorio looked solemnly into Kali¡¯s eyes as the other Emperors became excited. ¡°As we have always done since time immemorial, anyone that is disqualified will not be allowed to participate in the tournament again. However, they will not be executed." The excitement of the Emperors vanished, but it was still better than nothing that Shang wasn''t allowed to reach the Sword King Realm legally. This meant that the Lightning Emperor would need to advance Shang illegally, which would give everyone a reason to unite and kill him. "Since the other contestant still had Mana and was alive, the Lightning Manor is dered the victor and will receive two Inheritor Spheres with enough Mana to be a Peak Mage King." Kali looked at Gregorio. "But due to trust issues, the relevant two people are only allowed to be Mage Kings under my supervision.¡± "Due to his disqualification, Shang is not allowed to absorb either of these two Inheritor Spheres." Chapter 969 Chapter 969 969 Chapter 969 ¡ª Not Worthy Now, it was official. Shang wasn''t allowed to reach the Sword King Realm legally. First, he hadn''t been allowed to use his weapon, weapon techniques, and even his inherent technique for one of his Realms. Then, he had to fight thebined political power of all the Emperors. And when he still won, they still found a reason to disqualify him. If Kali weren''t secretly on Shang''s side, the Emperors would have probably even banded together to kill him. Yet, Shang was still a bit uncertain about Kali. Instead of arguing for Shang, she had effectively gone against him near the end. Wasn''t she supposed to allow him to be a Sword King? None of the sides were happy with the oue. The Emperors wanted Shang dead, and Shang wanted to be a Sword King. But in a certain way, Kali also hadn''t ruined her chances with either of the sides. The Emperors might be a bit confused about the manner Kali had solved the issue, but in the end, she had still forbidden Shang from bing a Sword King. "Fine," Gregorio said with an annoyed tone. "I will send one of my Thunders within the next few years to be a Mage King. Cynthia will advance when she is ready." The Emperors narrowed their eyes at Gregorio. Two Mage Kings for the Lightning Manor. That was troublesome. However, ironically, it wasn''t as bad as it would have been many years ago. The Empires had already stopped putting pressure on the Lightning Manor, which made the addition of two Mage Kings not that troublesome. Instead, they all focused on Shang. Based on their calctions, Shang only had something like 2,000 ¡ª 3,000 years of longevity left. This meant that they had to be extra vignt within these years. If Shang was going to be a Sword King, it would happen within these years, and they needed to immediately kill him as soon as they found out. Shang, as an Initial Sword King, would still lose to the average Mage King, but Shang, as a Peak Sword King, could only lose to someone like Abaddon. These couple of years were crucial! "The tournament has officially concluded," Kali announced. "The prizes for the winner have already been gathered and will be handed over to them when they advance." For every Grand Tournament, the Emperors readied several prizes, which would then be handed to the winner. Slowly, all the gathered Emperors dispersed. None of them said anything to Gregorio. ¡°Let''s go," the Lightning Emperor said to Cynthia and Shang. Amomentter, a portal appeared. ¡°Cynthia, this is for you," he said. "When you are ready to advance, tell me." Cynthia bowed deeply in front of the Lightning Emperor. "Thank you for everything! I''m proud to be a member of the Lightning Manor." Gregorio just nodded with a smile. Then, Cynthia turned to Shang. "And... thank you." Shang didn''t answer. After a couple of seconds, Cynthia furrowed her brows and just left through the portal. The next moment, Gregorio looked at Shang and nodded solemnly. The two of them vanished and reappeared in Gregorio''s library. "What did she say?" Shang suddenly asked. "Cynthia?" Gregorio asked in surprise. "The Empress of Death," Shang answered. "You seem quite calm. | assume she said something to you.¡± Gregorio furrowed his brows. "Yes, it was a message from Abaddon." "He said that being the Child of Cmity is wasted on you." Shang didn''t react and just waited for Gregorio to borate. "He said, since you are so simr to Abominations, there should be so many more things you should be able to do, but you are blind to your own power. He said that he had already found two ways to be a Mage Emperor without having to kill any beast or human after just looking at you for a couple of seconds." "Hisstment was, if you can''t even solve such an easy issue, you don''t deserve to work with him." Silence. Shang thought about Abaddon''sments. Was it truly so easy?N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. If thisment hade from anyone else, Shang would have simply dismissed it. However, it hade from Abaddon, the most talented Mage that had ever lived and someone that managed to elevate the Mage Path to something that was simr to Godhood. It was possible that Abaddon¡¯s talent was even greater than Shang''s. Shang was simply far more hardworking. "Do you know what he means?" Gregorio asked. ¡°At least somewhat," Shang said with a nod. "I know of two ways, but Abaddon should only know of one of them, which means there has to be a third way as well." "Two ways?" Gregorio asked. "One is the Spacetime beast. What''s the other one?" ¡°Back then," Shang exined, "you told me that the world has 16 Emperors¡¯ worth of Mana and that the water in the Endless Ocean makes up one Emperor''s worth of Mana." "Yes, but that Mana is inessible," Gregorio answered. At that moment, Shang activated his Domain of Entropy. The next moment, the desk in front of the Lightning Emperor disintegrated and turned into Natural Mana. That was when Gregorio realized what Shang meant. ¡°Right! You can convert matter into Natural Mana!" he shouted with excitement. Shang nodded. "If necessary, | can just turn a portion of the Endless Ocean into Mana." Gregorio''s mind was going wild with possibilities, but he quickly found a problem. "A Peak Mage Emperor has about a thousand times more Mana than a Peak Mage King. You would only need to absorb 0.1% of the ocean''s water since the Eternal Ocean has one Peak Mage Emperor''s worth of Mana." ¡°However, the Eternal Ocean is incredibly deep. There are even some isted spots Where the depth reaches over a million kilometers. If we were to average it out, | think the average depth of the Eternal Ocean is something between 400,000 to 600,000 kilometers." "0.1% of that would still be 400 to 600 kilometers." "4 don''t think anyone could possibly miss that. The water would essentiallypletely vanish from the coasts." "The others will immediately assume that the Abominations have started to appear in the Eternal Ocean, and they will immediately search the entire thing, which will unveil you. At that point, they would find you, and they would also connect you to the Child of Cmity.¡± Gregorio could only sigh. ¡°What about just bing an Initial Sword King?" Shang asked. Chapter 970 Chapter 970 970 Chapter 970 ¡ª Mindless Beast Gregorio furrowed his brows. "Well, an Initial Mage King has about 1 / 256th of the Mana of a Peak Mage King. That means that the Endless Ocean would only lose about two kilometers of depth. However, that would still be insanely shocking for the coastline, and the others will quickly take note of it." ¡°Additionally, where would you even get the Mana to be a Peak Sword King then?" Gregorio mused. "The atmosphere," Shang answered. "Several Mage Kings have already died in the war, and since no one wanted to hand over the Mana of their Mage Kings, they just dispersed the Mana into the surroundings. There should be more than enough." Surprisingly, Gregorio just shook his head. "That''s not how it works." "There is equilibrium in the density of Mana. A higher density of Mana increases the rity of Concepts and the efficiency in training." "That increases the number of powerful beings, which in turn reduces the density of Mana in the atmosphere." "Many hibernating Ancestral Beasts have reached the Beast Lord Realm, and many Ancestral Mages managed toprehend their second level four Concept, allowing them to be Mage Lords." "The density of Manapared to before the war is only a slight bit higher. If you were to be a Peak Sword King with only that, the density would drop by over 20%, and | can assure you that every Mage Lord and stronger would notice as soon as it drops by just 2% or 3%." "The only exnation would be that there is a new being at the Eighth Rank and that they are advancing," Gregorio exined. "What about Beast Lords and Mage Lords?" Shang asked. Gregorio leaned back in his chair as he weighed the options. "It is illegal to consume the Mana of someone you killed. If we were to do that, there would be no new Ancestral Mages, Archmages, or True Mages, effectively cutting off the new generation. We can''t ruin the world we inhabit to satisfy our greed." Shang didn''t say anything. Gregorio sighed. "But that is no longer of concern, | guess. The Abomination Kings that will appear will destroy more than one Emperor''s worth of Mana unless we somehow manage to deal with them efficiently.¡± "On top of that, we already epted Abaddon. In the end, new life will prosper.¡± "So, yes, you could do that, but you would need a lot of Mage Lords. Something like a thousand Peak Mage Lords, which is a fourth of an Empire''s number of Peak Mage Lords." ¡°Additionally, you need to stay hidden. Even a single mysterious death of a Peak Mage Lord will draw out a Mage King, and you can''t be found by them, or all the Emperors will unite to kill you. Especially now. Everyone knows that you only have two to three thousand years of longevity left and that you will try to do something desperate." Shang thought about Gregorio''s words. "The problem is my mind," Shang said. "By consuming Abominations, | can advance the power of my body without issues since it is made of the same ratio of Entropy and Mana as the Abominations, which is 70% to 30%." "My mind was originally made of something like 5% to 95%, but | can push it to 50% to 50%. Theoretically, | can also go for 70% to 30%, but that has a great danger of turning my mind into the mind of an Abomination." "| guess | could supplement my mind''s advancement with Abominations, but | would still need to get rid of a big chunk of Entropy. Entropy doesn''t just vanish. Either itbines with Mana and creates Destruction, or it binds with Mana and creates something like Entropy Ore." Shang and Gregorio had already found out that all the Entropy in the killed Abominations dispersed into the world and bound with a specific kind of Earth and Metal Mana, creating Entropy Ore. That was where Entropy Ore came from. The stronger the killed Abomination, the stronger the Entropy Ore that was created. If Shang wanted to keep his mind at a ratio of 50% to 50%, he could only supplement 60% of his advancement with Abominations, leaving 40%. And then came the second issue. If Shang underwent a Transformation one more time, his mind would be a full level higher, which would mean that he needed four times as much Mana as normal. So, even if Shang decided to give his mind a ratio of 50% to 50% and supplement with Abominations, he would still need 160% of the amount of Mana a normal Mage King would need. If he could push his mind to 70% to 30%, Shang would need zero Mana. After all, he would get all he needed from the Abominations, which didn''t reside in Aterium. It didn''t matter what Shang chose. He would be at extreme risk either way. It was difficult. If he hadn''t been disqualified from the tournament, he wouldn''t have had these issues. ¡®I can''t go for 70% Entropy. | tried that once, and it nearly drove me to just be an Abomination with the goal of destroying all the Mana in Aterium.'' ¡®| wasn''t myself in this state, and | also wasn''t something that could be considered rational.¡¯ ¡®In that state, | might eventually turn into a mindless and bloodthirsty beast, which would eventually end with me attacking someone that I can''t possibly defeat at some point. Even ifl managed to kill the God and left the world to be even more powerful." ¡®| would just be a mindless beast with only a single goal, power.¡¯ At that moment, Shang realized something. ¡®Isn''t that what | already am?'' he asked himself in his mind. ¡®What would be the difference?¡¯ Shang lifted his right arm and focused on it. "Power is already my only goal.¡¯ Then, Shang focused on his missing body parts.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Abitter, Shang got an idea. ¡®Actually, that might work, but I''ll have to test it thoroughly.¡¯ "| think | got a solution," Shang said to Gregorio. Chapter 972 Chapter 972 972 Chapter 972 ¡ª | Will Kill You Shang continued looking at himself and analyzing. A hundred years passed. Making progress had be very difficult by now. Shang felt like he had already reached the threshold of the very thing he wanted toprehend. The level six Concept of Entropy. Another century passed. Shang barely made any progress. Another century passed. The progress became even slower. 400 years passed. And now, progress hadpletely halted. Shang felt like hepletely understood his mind, soul, and body. He felt like he could reshape it in a certain way. However, that feeling also felt surreal. It was like something was missing. Something crucial. Surprisingly, that feeling felt real for Shang''s body. If he wanted to create some legs, he could, but they wouldn''t be very useful. It wouldn''t be much different from the fake arm the Lightning Emperor had given Shang in the past. While adding to the body wasn''t difficult, adding to the soul was tremendously difficult, and since the soul dictated the body, as long as the new legs weren''t present in the soul, they were not any better than prosthetics. The issue was Shang''s soul, as always. Nevertheless, the feeling for his body was true, which showed that Shang had reached his goal for his body, at least. He was only missing his soul. And he knew that he was only missing the tinyst bit. So, Shang continued looking at his soul. Acentury passed. No progress. Another century passed. No progress. Shang''sst century had arrived. He was now 24,900 years old. In one century, he would enter the state of purgatory again, and Shang knew better than anyone else how debilitating and terrifying the state of purgatory was. And yet, Shang kept looking at his mind. 90 yearster, he was still watching. He only had ten years left. Another 9 years passed. He only had a single year left. No progress. No matter how much Shang tried, it was impossible to find a way to change his soul any further. His soul was his soul, and no matter what he tried, he couldn''t add to it. Eventually, thest year passed as well. It was time. Shang''s longevity had run out. And yet, there was something different about him. Back in the Fusion Realm, when Shang had entered the state of purgatory, he had already looked like a sick and decrepit old man. But right now, Shang still looked young. Additionally, Shang also didn''t feel any weakness due to age. And then, the state of purgatory actually arrived. Shang''s perception felt uncontroble Death Mana being produced inside of his body. Even with the Concept of Exodus, Shang couldn''t control this Death Mana at all. On top of that, the Death Mana appeared out of nowhere. It was like it just randomly appeared inside his body without rhyme or reason. The Death Mana slowly attacked Shang''s body, turning the Mana inside his body into nothingness. This resulted in Shang''s body bing unstable. Shang had to disperse a bit of Entropy from his body, or it would umte until it would turn into Destruction and kill him. This was death. It was unavoidable. The uncontroble Death Mana simply consumed the body until there was nothing left. Additionally, the Death Mana also appeared inside Shang''s soul. Just like with his body, the Death Mana started to slowly consume Shang''s soul, which resulted in parts of Shang''s body dying off. At that moment, Shang began to age. While his being had shown some resistance to death, even his unique body was helpless when it actually arrived. However, for some reason, Shang was still calm. He felt like this wasn''t a big deal. But he didn''t actually know why. He was dying, right? So, why wasn''t he caring that he was dying? Shang wasn''t certain. Was this because of his messed up instincts for danger again? It didn''t seem like it.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Nevertheless, Shang was dying, and he knew that he was dying. There was actually nothing he could do about it. There was no solution to the problem. And yet, he wasn''t afraid. In fact, he didn''t even feel like he was dying. "Do | not care for my life anymore? Is it because my mindset has be simr to the Abominations?'' "Do Abominations actually care for their life?" "Do Abominations actually die from old age?" ¡®I''m honestly not sure. The way the Death Mana is just appearing inside my body and soul seems deliberate.¡¯ m not dying because my body is failing but because | am essentially getting poisoned by uncontroble Death Mana." ¡®This is not naturally dying.¡¯ ¡®This is killing." ¡®Itis an attack, and after thinking about it for a bit, I''m also quite sure that | know who created this attack." ¡®The God.¡¯ ¡®He probably doesn''t want to see people live forever when they can still be more powerful, which is why he created the maximum limit of longevity.¡¯ "Starting at the True Path Stage, the soul, and body are actually already fully self-sustaining. If nothing interferes with the process, it shouldn''t stop." ¡®In a way, True Path Stage warriors and High Mages are already immortal.¡¯ ¡®Death due to old age is just the God not wanting someone to survive.¡¯ ¡®And you want to kill me now as well, huh?¡¯ ¡®You pulled an unimportant soul from Earth, gave me my name, gave me my body, and put me in Aterium for your amusement.¡¯ ¡®From the very beginning, | was nothing but your toy." Shang''s right hand clenched, blood flowing out of his aged skin. ¡®And now, you want to kill me.¡¯ ¡®You are probably reading my mind right now with a smirk.¡¯ "Maybe you just want to see me die after trying so hard for so long.¡¯ ¡®Or maybe, you already have something nned.¡¯ Shang''s head pointed up at the sky. ¡®But you know what will happen." ¡®You know that | already have a resolution.¡¯ | just didn''t want to do it." ¡®But maybe | was always destined to walk this path." ¡®Back in the first trial, when | realized what my Affinity was, | knew that | represented the antithesis of existence.¡¯ ¡®| never wanted to ept my destiny.¡¯ ¡®When | fought Mervin, | wept for the future | have chosen." ¡®And yet, | didn''t know the true path my future would take.¡¯ "You win.¡¯ m no longer running from my destiny." ¡®| will be what you wanted me to be.¡¯ ¡®And then..." Suddenly, the bloodied white cloth surrounding Shang''s body started to fall. The body beneath the cloth had vanished. ¡®L will kill you." Chapter 973 Chapter 973 973 Chapter 973 - Silver Wall The cloth fell towards the Eternal Ocean below. The powerful storms above the Eternal Ocean just barely managed to move it before it touched the water. The cloth sunk into the ocean, entering the eternal depths beneath it. It vanished. The skies above the Eternal Ocean were not different from normal. And yet, there was one tiny thing. Asmall marble was hovering in the sky. It was so small that it had passed through the gaps in the white cloth. And inside that small marble were two sides. One was white. The other was ck. The two sides existed in harmony. The white side didn''t attack the ck side, and the ck side didn''t attack the white side. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, a gigantic ck beast appeared. It was an Abomination Lord! Yet, as soon as the Abomination Lord appeared, it was torn into ck and white specks, which rapidly fell into the tiny marble. WHOOOOOM! At that moment, everything changed. The skies above the Eternal Ocean seemed to break apart and turn into white specks, which all fell into the tiny marble. The water of the Eternal Ocean began to rise and spin. As the water continued to rise, it also started to turn whiter and whiter until it entered the marble as well. The phenomenon became bigger and bigger. 100,000 kilometers. 500,000 kilometers. 1,000,000 kilometers. CRK! Suddenly, something cracked. BANG! The Istion Barrier broke apart, turned into Mana, and entered the marble as well!Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. At the edges of the continent, some people noticed the water bing unruly and wild. In the Eternal Ocean, the sky was shaking. The water was breaking and vanishing. Space was being destroyed. Everything entered the tiny marble. "You are consuming too much Mana!" Suddenly, the voice of the Lightning Emperor echoed throughout the surroundings of the marble. "If you are still in there, Shang, you need to do something, or the others will notice what is happening!" Everything around the marble continued to break apart. Gregorio looked with worry at the breaking world. BOOOM! Suddenly, everything began to move further upward. The marble was rapidly flying higher and higher into the sky! Some secondster, the water of the Eternal Ocean stopped breaking apart and moving upward, and then, even the skies around the Eternal Ocean calmed down. The world returned to normal. Gregorio just looked with worry at the sky. He hoped that Shang was still there. High above the sky, the surroundings became colder and colder. Some minutester, the blue of the sky vanished, reced by silver. There was no outer space in Aterium. As long as someone continued traveling in one direction, they would reach the edge of Aterium at some point. The silver wall. In truth, there was also no real sun in Aterium. The air in the sky just moved in such a way that a hole was created in the atmosphere, which traveled across the entire barrier. The silver wall was slightly visible through that hole, which brought light. The sun was simply the silver wall peeking through the atmosphere. The silver wall gave off some heat, but not a lot. In truth, the skies above Aterium just became colder and colder unless one directly stood in front of the silver wall, at which point it became a bit hotter again. The actual heat of the world came from the bottom. As the marble continued flying upward, ice was forming around it. The cold was terrifyingly powerful at that height. And yet, as soon as the ice formed, it broke into white specks and was absorbed by the marble. SHING! Suddenly, a Peak Abomination Lord appeared. The Abomination Lord was immediately split into ck and white, but surprisingly, the white portion of its existence fell down, exploded, and dispersed across the entire world. Meanwhile, the ck portion entered the marble. Right now, the white portion of the marble had be bigger than the ck portion, but not by much. With the infusion of more ck, the bnce had returned. The further the marble traveled, the more intense and bigger the destruction around it became. By now, the marble was destroying everything in a radius of three million kilometers! Luckily, due to the insane altitude of the marble, no one noticed it in Aterium. This was an unprecedented event! Not even King Sanctified Death had created such an event! Gregorio knew what was happening, but he was confused and concerned. Gregorio knew that Shang''s longevity had run out, which meant that he needed to break into the Sword King Realm now! Yet, this was not a breakthrough. No, this was a transformation! Shang had just consumed the momentum of a level six Concept, and the world was elevating his mind to the next level. The space around the marble exploded and was absorbed, but the marble just kept on rising. Spacetime in these parts was supposed to be warped, but the destructive forces of the marble made them the same as everywhere else, senseless and destroyed. Eventually, the marble couldn''t go higher anymore. Right above it was a silver wall. The marble had reached the end of Aterium. Then, the marble shot toward the southeast at unreal speeds. And some minutester, something odd happened. The destructive effects of the marble stopped at a certain point in the sky. High above the Judgment Pce, a beast was clinging to the silver wall. The beast was over 2,000 kilometers long, fully white, and had seven legs that ended in suction cups. It had no eyes but a long and curved beak. Its body seemed thin and malnourished, but that was far from true. This was the Spacetime Beast. An Early Beast King. As the destruction around the Spacetime Beast became more and more intense, it started to move around. Its perception stretched until it found the source of the destruction. Atiny marble. The Spacetime Beast had never been disturbed by anything, but it hadn''t forgotten that there were many powerful beasts in the world. Amomentter, a concentrated sphere of Space, Time, and Gravity gathered in its opened beak, destroying even more of the surroundings. It wouldn''t go down without a fight! Chapter 974 Chapter 974 974 Chapter 974 ¡ª Destiny The marble came closer and closer. BOOOOOM! The Spacetime Beast unleashed thepressed sphere into a terrifying beam. The speed of the beam was as fast as the faster Spells Shang had seen in the Grand Tournament. But before the beam could hit the marble, everything in front of it turned ck. It was like the entire world in front of the Spacetime Beast had been reced with a ck wall. BOOOOM! The beam hit the ck wall and dispersed without slowing the ck wall by a lot. At that moment, the Spacetime Beast was able to actually see what the ck wall was with its Spirit Sense. It was a beastly hand! It was a humongous hand, over 20,000 kilometers wide! The hand was covered in ck scales, and it had five terrifying ws at the end of it. The Spacetime Beast wanted to retreat, but before it could, the w reached it. CRKSH! The w crushed the Spacetime Beast in its grip and pulled back. All of this happened so quickly that no one had noticed it. Mage Lords and Mage Kings that were looking at the sky by sheer coincidence felt like they had just blinked without taking note of it. For just a tiny moment, a huge ck w had appeared in front of the sun. The entire Spacetime Beast was violently pulled into the tiny marble. Instantaneously, the white portion of the marble expanded, suppressing the ck portion. SHING! And then, a humongous ck beast appeared. An Abomination King! The Abomination King was surrounded by Mana, but its entire perception was focused on the marble. Its eyes were widened with fervent fanaticism, and an instantter, it split into white and ck energy. The white energy fell downward, expanding and dispersing across the world. The ck energy entered the marble, increasing the ck side. Yet, the white side was still superior. SHING! Another Abomination King appeared, and the same thing happened again. Now, the marble was in bnce again. And yet, another two Abomination Kings appeared! Their Mana was dispersed across the world, while their Entropy was consumed by the marble. The ck portion of the marble became even bigger, and the marble started to warp. By now, the world around the marble was no longer being destroyed. It seemed like the marble no longer needed any more Mana. SHING! Another Abomination King appeared, its Mana dispersing across the world and its Entropy being absorbed by the marble. By now, the marble was shaking violently, and several cracks appeared on its surface. Around 60% of the marble was filled with ck, while 40% were filled with white. Amomentter, condensed white Mana came out of the marble, which fell towards the world and dispersed. The ck portion of the marble increased. Eventually, the ck portion took up exactly 70% of the marble. The next moment, three Abomination Lords appeared, and they were fully absorbed by the marble, including the Mana. The marble began to shake and crack again. Slowly, ck and white energy came out of the marble, but this time, they didn''t disperse. Instead, they epassed it and became solid. After some minutes, a head appeared. It was Shang''s head. In an instant, the Death Mana appeared inside the head again. CRKSH! But whenever it did, the Entropy inside Shang''s bodyshed out, destroying the Death Mana. The Entropy had undergone an even closer fusion with the Mana. The Entropy and Mana were one thing, but they could also act separately from another. The Entropy was protecting the Mana from Entropy, and the Mana was protecting Entropy from Mana. It was a stable fusion. It was like Entropy Ore. And yet, the Mana could leave the Entropy, and the Entropy could leave the Mana. No matter what the Death Mana did, the Entropy just dispersed it without being dispersed itself. It didn''t matter how many pebbles one threw at a steel wall. The steel wall wouldn''t get weaker. The marble was in the middle of Shang''s brain, and it contained all of Shang''s soul. The marble was the inner world that the God had given Shang, but Shang had repurposed it. The marble was the spot that Shang had chosen for his soul. Of course, the Death Mana also appeared inside the marble, but it didn''t matter. Just like Shang''s body, Shang''s soul was now also made of 70% Entropy and 30% Mana. This was what Shang had meant. This was his destiny. Shang was destined to be an Abomination. He was the Child of Cmity. And if he wanted true power, he needed to be an Abomination. The Abominations were far superior to humans and beasts. They had so many abilities that were simply at a higher base level than anything humanity could create. They were beings of a higher level. Shang had advanced. He had elevated. He had risen. The weakness of beast flesh was no longer a constraint. The fragility of a human soul no longer mattered. Natural death didn''t exist anymore. Longevity didn''t matter anymore. Shang was still a Peak Sword Lord that was over 25,000 years old. The Death Mana that was supposed to end his life still appeared. But it didn¡¯t matter. Abominations didn''t die natural deaths. Abominations only died to Mana. Slowly, the white and ck energy created a neck before creating a muscr torso. Then, it shot out of the right side of the torso, creating a right arm. Amomentter, the ck and white energy appeared at the bottom of the torso. Suddenly, the majority of the white energy vanished, leaving far more ck energy. There was only a little bit of white energy visible now. The ck energy and the bit of white energy stretched down, forming legs. Yet, these legs were not human legs.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. These were the legs of an Abomination. They looked almost identical to velociraptor legs, ending in terrifying ck ws and being covered in ck scales. Next, the ck energy gathered at the left side of the torso, creating the arm of an Abomination. The arm was long, covered in ck scales, and ended in five fingers with terrifying ws at their tips. Then, Shang''s eyelids quivered. And they slowly opened. ck eyes. In a way, it was almost like the eye sockets were empty or filled with emptiness. There was only a long and thin white pupil in the middle. The pupils inside the eye looked around, perceiving the world for the first time. And then, they looked down at the world. Shang''s expression turned into a disgusted sneer. "This world is worthless.¡± Chapter 975 Chapter 975 975 Chapter 975 ¡ª Red Shang looked away from Aterium and inspected his new body. For the first time in forever, he could actually perceive the world with his eyes. He could see. And yet, the only thing he could see was the disgusting disy of Mana. Mana was everywhere! Shang immediately activated his Domain of Entropy to iste himself from the horrendous stench of Mana. Shang lifted his left and right arms to look at them. His right arm was as normal as it had always been, but his left arm was identical to an Abomination¡¯s arm. It was far thicker and more muscr than his right arm, and Shang could also feel the incredible power of his left arm. Even though his arm looked identical to the arm of an Abomination, Shang had still incorporated all the things he needed to use his techniques. For example, he could use Void Break and Sword Focus with his left arm as well. And yet, his left arm was just as powerful as the arm of a Peak Abomination Lord without using any of these techniques. His other arm was over a level weaker. "Weakness," Shang spoke in disgust. Amomentter, a small part of Shang''s new soul transformed, changing shape. Shang''s right arm began to die and fell off just a couple secondster. An instantter, a new arm grew at this spot, but it was the arm of an Abomination. Shang clenched his new fist and felt the pure powering from it with satisfaction. When Shang saw that, his mouth widened into a toothy smirk. "Finally," he said slowly. "| am at the edge of achieving my goal." "By converting my mind to 70% Entropy and 30% Mana, | finally managed toprehend the level six Concept of Entropy, Entropy itself." "| should have known thatprehending Entropy without bing an Abomination was impossible." "For my entire life, my goal was to be the most powerful, and that would have never been possible without bing an Abomination myself." Shang swung his arm to the side, the world around him shaking from its power. "The pain is gone," he spoke as he felt the absence of disturbing factors. "My soul has healed. No, it has advanced." "The paranoia of my fixed warrior body no longer exists. | have created this body, and | have created it without fault.¡± "| no longer feel like | am about to die. In fact, the opposite is true." A malicious grin spread across Shang''s face. m far more powerful than | have ever been." Shang silently reveled in his power as he used his newfound arm tob once through his hair. As he did so, some small bits of skin fell from his cheeks. Shang''s grin vanished as he took note of the tiny crack that had appeared on his skin. His eyes narrowed. "My old human body can''t contain the power of the Abominations and is falling apart," he said. Shang''s left w slowly moved to his cheek, and one of his fingers brushed over it. The crack was gone. This was Shang''s body, and he could repair it without any issues. ¡°For now, | need to keep my old head and torso. Arms and legs can be hidden easily, but the shape of a torso and a head is difficult to hide." Then, Shang''s smirk returned. ¡°Although, it''s not that difficult." Suddenly, all of Shang''s limbs retracted into his torso, and his eyes vanished. Amomentter, a human right arm shot out from the torso.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. Shang looked just as usual again. No legs, no eyes, only one arm. However, Shang''s new body didn''t just vanish. Shang had simply changed the makeup of his body and had vastly increased its density while retracting it into his torso. Ata moment''s notice, Shang could summon his new body again. Shang looked frail and on the brink of death again, but nothing could be further from the truth. Shang hadn''t felt this powerful, alive, and healthy in nearly 25,000 years! All the pain. All the suffering. All the tragedy. Everything was gone! Amomentter, a white bandage appeared in Shang''s hand. He wanted to put it on but stopped after a bit. For just a moment, he looked at the white bandage. ¡®When | was younger, | wore ck.¡¯ ¡®Later, | wore white. | wanted to represent my cold and detached nature and that my life was dedicated to nothing but power.¡¯ ¡®That''s no longer true.¡¯ ¡®White is so apathetic and dull." "My pain and suffering are gone.¡¯ ¡®Why run from my emotions? After all, don''t emotions motivate people to better themselves?" Shang smirked. Amomentter, the white of the bandage fell away, giving way to a bloody red. ¡®The world is free of suffering for me from now on, and | willmemorate this moment with a fitting new color.¡¯ ¡®From now on, | will wear red. This will represent the color the world will be bathed in if anyone dares to get in my way!" Shang bound the bandage around his eye holes, and a momentter, he created a red suit made of cloth. Someone of Shang''s power could create cloth out of thin air without any issues. SHING! Shang''s limbs shot out of his torso in an instant, and he put the red suit on. SHING! Shang''s limbs retracted again, but they kept hold of the ends of the suit, pulling the sleeves inward. In an instant, it looked like Shang was just draped in a piece of red cloth again instead of wearing a suit. Amomentter, Shang cast a quick Spell. It was Humanity. ¡®For now, | still need to hide my true self from the world.¡¯ ¡®| will vanish from the world, and everyone will think that | have died. Well, except Gregorio. He has proven to be trustworthy.¡¯ Suddenly, Shang''s smirk vanished, and a neutral and cold expression appeared on his face. The new intensity and power of his Aura reverted to feel deep and dark but fragile. And then, Shang flew back towards the Eternal Ocean to the north of the Lightning Manor. He seemed just like always, with just one difference. He now wore red instead of white. Chapter 976 Chapter 976 976 Chapter 976 ¡ª Disregard After some minutes, Shang arrived at the ce where his Istion Barrier had been just an hour ago. Naturally, Gregorio was already waiting there. When he saw Shang, he felt a mixture of relief and worry. Shang was still alive, which was a good thing, but the new color of Shang''s clothing also worried him. "Shang, what happened?" Gregorio asked. ¡°A couple of things, Gregorio," Shang answered. Gregorio was surprised when Shang called him by his name. Shang had never referred to him with his name!Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. ¡®Just as expected,¡¯ Gregorio thought, ¡®something inside of him has changed. | only hope the Shang | know is still there." "Can you exin?" Gregorio asked. "The level six Concept of Entropy, Entropy itself," Shang said. "It can only be realized by bing an Abomination." Gregorio took a deep breath. "Or, at least, creating a mind with 70% Entropy and 30% Mana," Shang said. "If | had an Abomination''s mind, | wouldn''t be talking to you. Instead, | would be running around, absorbing Mana, and exploding.¡± Gregorio nodded. That was true. ¡°|prehended the Concept, created a new soul, and remade my body." m now free of pain, Gregorio." m free of suffering.¡± m free of longevity concerns." ¡°And, | am free of the weakness of a human body." Gregorio didn''t like what he was hearing at all. SHING! Gregorio''s eyes nearly fell out of his head when he saw Shang suddenly sprouting new arms and legs. The cloth had transformed into a suit, and Gregorio could see Shang''s bulky arms, terrifying ws, and agile legs. Especially Shang''s legs made him seem like anything but human. They just felt so... wrong! Shang pulled the red hood off his head, and the bandage parted ways, showing his ck eyes. When Gregorio looked into these eyes, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. Back when Shang had appeared in the Lightning Manor for the first time, Gregorio had analyzed his mind with a very advanced Spell. Back then, Gregorio had said that Shangwas shrouded in darkness but that there was an emotional core hidden deep within his being. Gregorio had been unsure about how to proceed with Shang. He had also said that he would look into someone''s eyes in these kinds of situations. Sadly, Shang didn''t have any eyes back then. But now, when Gregorio looked into Shang''s eyes, he finally got the rity he had wanted back then. That emotional core might have been present back then. But not anymore. These ck eyes spoke of nothing but unending greed and hunger for power. No matter what was needed, Shang would sacrifice everything for power. He would sacrifice his friends, his family, the world, his body, his soul, everything! And after regaining everything, Shang could finally sacrifice everything again for more power! At this moment, Gregorio''s mind was going wild. He considered whether or not he should have killed Shang back then. If these were normal times, the answer would be a definite yes, but if they were, Gregorio would have killed him anyway. The reason why Gregorio hadn''t killed him back then had been King Sanctified Death, and that reason still held true to this day. Without Shang, King Sanctified Death might have already killed an Emperor. Or, maybe, he and Kali had long nned to sacrifice Adam to him. Abaddon had no feelings of belonging or love inside of him. He wouldn''t have any issues killing his father for his gain. Kali was also emotionless, and she had wrestled her entire life with her desire to see Adam die. And Adam was more than willing to sacrifice himself for his family. It was very possible that Abaddon might have already killed several Emperors, in which case Gregorio would have freed the Archivist, who would have most likely killed Abaddon. ..And maybe every other Emperor as well for keeping him locked up for so long. Gregorio would already be dead. But right now, Gregorio was still alive. Thanks to Shang. Even more, while Gregorio could feel nothing but greed and hunger for power in Shang''s eyes, this might not actually be such a bad thing. A beast that was greedy for power would leave the small forest after bing too big. Meanwhile, someone like Abaddon might never leave the forest after bing the biggest beast. Shang only had power in his mind. Not revenge. Not status. Not rulership. Not control. Not domination. He only wanted power. And when there was no more power to be found in Aterium, he would leave. Lastly, there was a difference between stupid greed and smart greed. Using a tool and then destroying it after it was no longer useful was stupid since, in this case, all the other tools would see what happened, and they wouldn''t want to get such an owner. The Temple of Blood was a great example. Shang had been their tool to gain a lot of money, but instead of getting rid of him, they just parted ways amicably. If, for some reason, the Temple of Blood needed Shang for something again, they could have contacted him, and he would have also agreed for fittingpensation. Shang was not stupid. He wouldn''t wantonly kill everyone that knew him or destroy Aterium before leaving. Maybe someday, Aterium would prove to be useful again? At least, that was Gregorio''s evaluation of Shang''s personality. "Shang," Gregorio said after a while, "what do you feel for Aterium?" Shang raised an eyebrow in skepticism. "Aterium?" he repeated with a bit of an apprehensive voice. Gregorio was surprised by the life in Shang''s words and expression. For the entire time Gregorio had known Shang, Shang had talked like an emotionless robot. But now, there were actual emotions in his voice and expression. And the emotions were disregard, disgust, and apathy. Gregorio wasn''t quite sure how he should feel about this. "| don''t care about Aterium," Shang said. "Whether everyone lives or dies is irrelevant to me." ¡°Aterium has nothing to do with me." Gregorio took a deep breath. "And me?" he asked. Chapter 977 Chapter 977 977 Chapter 977 - Control Shang just snorted. "What''s with this question?" he asked with a bit of annoyance. "You helped me when | was weak, even though you had every incentive not to. Not helping you back would be more than idiotic." "| have no reason to betray you, Gregorio," Shang exined. When Gregorio heard that answer, the inside of his chest hurt. ¡®That was not what | meant,¡¯ Gregorio thoughtContent rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Gregorio wanted to know whether or not Shang was his friend. And yet, Shang didn''t even say anything regarding that. He only said that he had no reason to betray him. Sure, some people would ask such a question to see whether or not someone else would betray them, but that hadn''t been Gregorio''s intention. Shang was Gregorio''s friend, and Gregorio just wanted to know if Shang saw it the same way. However, even though Shang hadn''t answered the question, his answer had still given Gregorio the answer he wanted. Friendship? Shang probably didn''t even consider this a real concept. To him, friendship was probably something from a kid''s fairy tale. Gregorio wasn''t sure what he should feel. Betrayal? Anger? Sadness? Yet, one thing was sure. Gregorio was hurt. However, Gregorio also realized that this had partially been his fault as well. After all, Shang had never seemed like someone that put a lot of value on things like friendship. Meanwhile, Shang wasn''t entirely sure why Gregorio had asked that question since he wasn''tpletely sure how Gregorio''s mind worked. Shang had perceived the question as a subtle test to see whether or not Shang was about to kill Gregorio, but it could also be that Gregorio was so naive that he actually asked whether or not Shang was his friend. But out of respect, Shang expected that Gregorio wouldn''t ask about something this dumb. "Okay," Gregorio said after a bit, his Aura having calmed down. "What''s your n now?" Shang revealed a toothy grin. "First, | will finish my swordsmanship. Then, | will be a Sword King." Gregorio just absentmindedly nodded. He wasn''t even truly thinking about what to do next. His feelings were distracting him. ¡°What about the Mana?" Gregorio asked. Shang snorted when he heard the disgusting word, Mana. "That''s no longer a concern. My being is made of 70% Entropy and 30% Mana. | can advance by absorbing Abominations." The next moment, Shang released a chuckle empty of mirth. Gregorio had never heard Shangugh, and he felt it sounded creepy. "This was probably what Abaddon meant," Shang said. "Why would | need any of the disgusting Mana from this world? | can just absorb the Abominations." Now, Gregorio actually paid attention to what Shang was saying. After all, the words Shang had just spoken were more than shocking. "You don''t need any Mana anymore?" Gregorio asked in shock. "Right," Shang said with an arrogant smirk. "I don''t need the other Emperors or Kings anymore. | can just retreat to the edge of the world and consume Abominations until | be an Emperor." "Tournament? Inheritor Sphere? Abaddon? Kali?" Shang said beforeughing. "None of that matters." Gregorio took a deep breath. "What about the Abominations?" ¡°What about them?" Shang asked, not knowing what Gregorio''s point was. "When Abomination Kings suddenly appear, everyone will immediately know that you are the Child of Cmity, and even when | say that you are dead, they won''t believe me." "They will search for you throughout the entire world, and the situation will be so dire for them that the Emperors will search the world personally. They will find you." Shang wasn''t the biggest fan of what Gregorio had just said, but he had to admit that Gregorio was right. "True," Shang answered. "What if we preemptively bury Abomination Kings across the world? That should stop new Abomination Kings from appearing.¡± "That won''t be easy," Gregorio answered. "| have no trust amongst the Emperors. If they found one of the small cages, they would immediately open it, and the Abomination King inside would explode, revealing their existence to everyone." ¡°And Kali?" Shang asked. Gregorio blinked a couple of times in surprise. Kali? Right, Gregorio wasn''t the only person that knew of Shang''s identity anymore! Kali also knew that Shang was the Child of Cmity! "She has the trust of them," Gregorio said. "She could take care of things. Kali could just im that she found her own way of getting rid of Abominations, and she only needed some unsupervised time in their Empires." ¡°However, I''m not entirely sure if | would trust her," Gregorio said. "You would need to follow her, and you would be alone with her for an extended period of time." "If Abaddon wants you dead, that would be the opportunity for Kali to kill you." Shang just smirked. "That won''t be a problem." Gregorio looked with surprise at Shang. "Why?" "Well," Shang said as he moved his ck arm through his ck hair. "Now that | have so much of my body and soul back, | can sacrifice it again." "If she tries to pull anything, | can detonate 40% of my soul. | won''t fall into aa, and if she manages to survive, the other Emperors will arrive." ¡°At that point, | only need to say what Kali was about to do and that she already knew of my status as the Child of Cmity for a long time." "On top of that, if something happens to me, you just release the Archivist." Shang chuckled again. "Killing me means killing herself and her son." "Gregorio," Shang said as he looked Gregorio in the eyes. "We are not powerless." ¡°Kali and Abaddon think they are the ones in control, but they''re mistaken.¡± "We can release the Archivist, which will result in every Emperor dying.¡± ¡°| can summon tens of Abomination Kings, which will result in Aterium dying." ¡°We can free all the already imprisoned Abominations, resulting in the same thing." Shang turned away from Gregorio and looked toward the direction of Aterium. ¡°Aterium is in our hands." "And if we so choose to, we can clench our fists!" "If Kali doesn''t want to die, she shouldn''t do anything stupid." Chapter 978 Chapter 978 978 Chapter 978 ¡ª Annoying Abitter, Gregorio left. There wasn''t a lot he wanted to talk about with Shang. Gregorio still needed toe to a decision about how to proceed. Of course, Gregorio wouldn''t think about betraying or killing Shang. He was already in too deep. Killing Shang meant making Abaddon an Emperor without anyone to rival him. Gregorio knew very well that Shang was the very reason why Kali and Abaddon were even working with him. Of course, Gregorio would just release the Archivist, but then, Gregorio''s life would be up to him, and that probably wouldn''t go very well. Killing Shang meant killing himself. However, the world would be saved from the Abominations. Or would it? After all, with the death of the old Child of Cmity, a new one would appear, and the Abominations would return to only being of the first three Realms. Sure, the death of the world would be slowed down by millions of times, but it would still move towards death. Would there ever be a second Shang that had the power to kill God and get rid of the Abominations? Probably not. So, even though Gregorio felt hurt by Shang''s words, there was no way for him to do anything to him. Gregorio just had toe to terms with Shang''s personality. While Gregorio was trying toe to terms with Shang''sck of friendship andpanionship, Shang traveled further to the northwest until he was just a bit away from the silver wall. The area in front of the silver wall was absent from any life. Living beings attracted Mana, which was why the Mana density on the continent was many, many times higher than here.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. And since there was nearly no Mana here, there also were no powerful beasts in the Eternal Ocean here. Beasts needed Mana, and they would subconsciously travel to ces with denser Mana. With ack of Mana also came ack of Wind Mana, which meant that the air in this ce didn''t move at all. There were no storms, no animals, no beasts, no nts. There was just the calm blue water below Shang and the blue sky above him. "This should be a good ce," Shang said. Amomentter, an Abomination King appeared beside Shang. The Abomination King wasn''t isted from the Mana, but it still didn¡¯t dare to absorb anything. Shang''s oppressive force was boundless! The Abomination King saw Shang as its entire world, and it didn¡¯t dare to do anything that Shang didn''t order. "Destroy the silver wall," Shangmanded. Amomentter, the Abomination King shot at the silver wall and attacked it. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Yet, the wall didn''t even vibrate. Even more, the Abomination King''s body became more and more injured. The wall was just that insanely hard! ¡°How interesting," Shang said as he watched the Abomination King attack the wall. Shang gestured for the Abomination King to return, and it followed Shang''smand. "Kill me without using Mana," Shangmanded. And then, the Abomination King shot at Shang. Its speed was ridiculously fast, and its power felt irresistible. The Abomination King wed at Shang with one of its arms. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, Shang absorbed a ton of Mana and Entropy from his internal storage by using Void Break. At the same time, the Sword Mana inside of Shang entered his body, increasing the power of his body even more. BOOOOOM! The two ws met. The Abomination King''s w was stopped! However... CRKSH! Shang''s arm was torn off and thrown into the horizon. Shang sneered as he looked at his bare shoulder. The arm had been torn off at the ce where Shang''s Abomination arm had met his human torso. While Shang''s Abomination arm had been powerful enough to resist the Abomination King''s w, his torso hadn''t been strong enough. ¡®How pathetic,¡¯ Shang thought in disgust. ''The Abomination King didn''t even hit my torso, and yet, my torso still failed me.¡¯ SHING! Shang moved back by using all hisConcepts and the incredible eleration power of his new legs. After all... CSHCSHCSHCSH! The Abomination King didn''t only have a single arm. It had six! If Shang had remained here, he would have been turned into pieces. Shang''s arm regrew, and this time, he summoned his sword. When Shang saw his sword, he almost had to chuckle. One sword. Two arms. SHING! Then, Shang summoned his second sword. Shang kept parrying and evading the Abomination King while he reforged his second sword to be identical to his first one. And after a bit of time, he had seeded. Now, Shang was using two identical swords, which had been designed to be used with only one hand. When the Abomination King arrived in front of Shang again, Shang only smirked. SHING! The speed at which Shang had just sidestepped the attack was unreal! ¡®These legs are amazing!¡¯ Shang thought. ''They have so much explosive power!" Naturally, Shang also used his Concepts, his Void Break, and his Sword Focus. After all, the Abomination King was technically two levels above Shang due to the difference across Realms. After sidestepping a couple more times, Shang attacked the Abomination King with his swords. DING! DING! Sadly, his swords barely made a couple of small scratches. The Abomination King''s defense was out of this world. Amomentter, Shang decided to create a Death Edge on his swords, and he attacked again. This time, Shang left two deep crevices in the Abomination King''s body. As the Abomination King continued to attack Shang, Shang looked at his swords with dissatisfaction. Acouple of small chips had appeared on their edges. The power of an Abomination King''s body was too much for them to handle, and Shang''s power had also increased. While the Abomination King kept attacking him, Shang increased the level of his swords by two. However, when Shang felt the weight of his new swords, he became frustrated again. Now, Shang couldn''t even properly swing them without using Sword Focus and Void Break. As before, the problem wasn''t with his arms but with his back and chest muscles. This human torso became more and more annoying. Chapter 979 Chapter 979 As Shang continued to focus on his swordsmanship, the Emperors and Kings became tenser and tenser. They weren''tpletely sure when Shang was supposed to die, but it should happen within this millennium. This meant that the Lightning Emperor would probably try something soon, which could very well end with a huge number of deaths. The Emperors knew that Gregorio had gone all-in on Shang, and since Shang wasn''t allowed to be a Sword King, he had to try something to make him one without the permission of the other Emperors The Emperors were readying themselves for a final battle against Gregorio. When they inevitably found out the way that Gregorio pushed Shang to be a Sword King, they would have to fight him. Over the past millennia, the Emperors had also visited the Archivist several times. Just because the Archivist was bound to his ind didn''t mean that no one could Visit him. The Emperors were already trying to gain some favor with the Archivist. After all, when they fought Gregorio for the final time, Gregorio would most likely free the Archivist. At that point, their lives would be in the Archivist''s hands. Yet, after the 20th visit or so, the Archivist grew annoyed. "Do not foolishly believe that my senses are as bound as my body," he said with a warning tone. "| have seen and heard the truth. | am only a political bargaining chip. None of you truly want to see me freed. At least show some respect and don''t talk to me like | am a naive child. I''m older than all of youbined." The Emperors felt awkward but also nervous. Some of them actually got the courage to ask the Archivist what he would do when he was freed. The Archivist only said one thing. "That''s none of your concern." This only managed to increase the Emperors¡¯ anxiety. Because of all these things, the Emperors and Kings were extremely nervous.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. They had to fight Gregorio when he inevitably helped Shang to advance! Otherwise, Shang might be so powerful that all of them would die! Certain death. Probable death. These were the only options. No matter what happened, the chances of death were extremely high for everyone. These were the longest thousand years for the Emperors. Every day, they asked their Kings about the Beast Kings and whether or not one was missing. Of course, the Mage Kings were just as nervous. If their Emperors died, they would very likely also die. Ironically, the weaker someone was, the higher their chance of survival was. Ancestral Mages? Why would Shang or Gregorio care about that? Ancestral Mages barely had any Mana. Why would the Archivist care about them? They had no power to help him. The only true danger was if King Sanctified Death won, but that was a piece of information that these weak Mages weren''t powerful enough to learn. So, while the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors felt terror, the Mage Lords only felt a bit of pressure, and the Ancestral Mages barely felt anything that was different from normal. As the years passed, the Emperors kept demanding more stringent measures of checking the poption of Mage Lords, Beast Lords, and Beast Kings. By now, there was a delegation from every Empire sitting on every single beast ind, just watching it. Nothing was happening. Additionally, all the Mage Kings were required to check in with the Empires regrly to make sure that none of them were secretly sacrificed for Shang. There were people fully focusing on nothing but measuring the density of Mana all across the continent to make sure that it didn''t drop. The Mana density was slightly higher than usual, but that was normal. Sometimes, beasts fought in great battles and just died. Additionally, the Empires weren''t concerned with the Mana density rising but dropping. How could someone be more powerful and also raise the Mana density of the world? That made no sense. Eventually, 1,000 years passed since Shang had transformed. The Emperors watched with almost bloodshot eyes at every part of the world. Gregorio had to do something! Now was the time! And then, another 100 years passed. Nothing was happening. Another century. Nothing happened. Another century. Nothing happened. By now, the Emperors almost dared to rx, but they were still careful. Many of them started to talk to Gregorio in an effort to find out what was going on. Obviously, Gregorio was very cold and curt towards them. However, he also said some sentences that evoked a very contrasting mix of emotions in the other Emperors. "You won," Gregorio said coldly. "I allowed Shang to be this powerful so that he might kill Abaddon in the future. We all know what he ns, and we all know what is going to happen.¡± "Yet, instead of just letting them fight and kill each other, you were hellbent on supporting Abaddon and stopping Shang." "When Abaddon inevitably bes a Mage Emperor, | hope you are all ready to die." ¡°Because I''m not going to free the Archivist, and I''m not going to help you against him." "You all decided to doom us." ¡°And now, you will reap what you have sown." These words evoked many emotions. Hope: So, Shang was actually dead? Dread: What if Gregorio was right, and Abaddon actually wanted to kill everyone? Shock: Wait, Gregorio was willing to just die?! The Emperors were so relieved that Shang was finally dead, but for some reason, that relief almost felt pointless. It was like killing Shang had achieved nothing. As the Emperors saw one danger vanishing into nothingness, they couldn''t help looking at another danger bing more prominent. Abaddon. Now, there was no more doubt. Abaddon would win the tournament. While Shang had been alive, the Emperors had been able to focus on him and ignore Abaddon. But now, there was no running away anymore. They had to deal with Abaddon. The closer the tournament came, the more they felt like Abaddon might truly represent the end of the world. In the past, they had decided to bet on Abaddon. And now, their bet had paid off. But they weren''t sure what they should feel about that. Chapter 980 Chapter 980 Eventually, the world fell back into something that some people might call peace. Even though Shang was dead, Gregorio was still a massive threat since he could free the Archivist. So, no one wanted to push Gregorio too far. For now, it was best to keep things calm and wait until the fateful day. The war essentially stopped, except for a couple of minor conflicts between some Empires. The poption of Mage Lords started to recover. No one attacked the Lightning Manor anymore, and the Lightning Manor also didn''t expand further than their original borders. The war was over. Well, officially, the war was still going on, but nobody was actually fighting. "You seem quite calm, sir," Wester said as he brought some tea to Gregorio. Gregorio was reading a couple of books with quite a lot of speed. All of these books were rted to Abominations and ways to stop them. Wester had noticed that Gregorio was reading these kinds of books all the time while also writing several. Under normal circumstances, this wouldn''t be anything strange. After all, that was what Gregorio was doing most of the time. But these were not normal circumstances. Shang was dead, and Abaddon was bound to be a Mage Emperor in 24,000 years. Wester thought that Gregorio would seem more gloomy or pressured. Yet, he didn''t seem different than any other time. Gregorio raised his eyebrows in surprise and looked at Wester. "Do | really look calm?" he asked. "You do, sir," Wester said. "Frighteningly so." Gregorio just chuckled a bit and looked back at the book without answering. Wester just raised an eyebrow at Gregorio. ¡°Wester, what do you think of Aterium?¡± Aslightly surprised expression appeared on Wester''s face. "That''s an odd question." Wester fell into thought for a bit. "| would call it my home." "What makes it your home?" Gregorio asked. Wester put the tea to the side and thought about his answer carefully. He hadn''t truly thought about these things. Wester''s Spirit Sense stretched outward and epassed a big portion of the Lightning Manor''snds. He could see children ying, parents talking, criminalsmitting crimes, Mages fighting, warriors training, beasts patrolling, and all other facets of life. "The variety and beauty of life," Wester answered. "Interesting," Gregorio said as he continued reading his book. "You know, | also asked a couple of the others." "And their answers?" Wester asked. ¡°One of them said the people." ¡°Another one said because this is where they had been living for their entire life." "One of them even said she didn''t know." "Was that Emilia?" Wester asked. Gregorio chuckled. "Yes, it was Emilia." "The point is, we all View Aterium as our home, but we all view it as our home for different reasons," Gregorio said as he looked away from the book, his Spirit Sense epassing the Lightning Manor''snds. "You know what Abaddon is most likely nning.¡± "Yet, have you noticed that if Abaddon seeds, not everyone will lose their home?" "He ns to destroy the world, but he will also recreate it, and it is even possible that the variety of life will even increase. Additionally, he will very likely also create humans again." Gregorio looked at Wester. "If Abaddon seeds, would you lose your home?" Wester looked with concern at Gregorio. "Have you given up, sir?" Gregorio just sighed. "I''ve epted the truth, Wester," he said as he looked at this Empire with mncholy in his eyes. "All the others wanted to kill and stop Shang, and they have seeded." ¡°All of them know what Abaddon has nned. And yet, they still support him." ¡°Linastra and | are the only two that didn''tpletely follow them." Gregorio looked back at Wester. "Is it so wrong to give them what they wanted?" "Sir, | wouldn''t have thought that you had such a sense of humor," Wester said with a chuckle. Gregorio didn''t say anything. "Give them what they want?" Wester repeated. "Let the entire world be destroyed and remade?" Wester politely chuckled again. "That doesn''t sound like something an ancient Emperor would do. That sounds more like a teenager throwing a fit." "Morality is subjective, and yet, there are things that nearly everyone can agree are wrong. | would say destroying the world is among these things. Something like that is as close to being objectively morally wrong as it can get." "Saying that you are fine with destroying the world because one of your ns didn''t work doesn''t sound like something the eternal Emperor over quintillions of people would say." Silence. ¡°Don''t you think we have a duty?" Wester asked. "Don''t you think, as the most powerful people, we have a duty to this world?" "This world gave us a chance to reach our current power. | believe the least we could do is to not destroy it in return." Wester chuckled again. "But you already knew that. After all, you were only joking.¡± Silence. Gregorio looked at his Empire with a lost expression. At that moment, the image of the red-cloaked Shang appeared in his mind. That toothy grin. It was filled with confidence and disregard but also rage and hatred. Gregorio had been surprised about Shang''s change, but after thinking about it for a while, he realized that it actually made sense. Shang had been under unimaginable pressure and pain for his entire life. Shutting off his emotions and bing an unfeeling ghost had been the only option to survive in this condition. And after finally being freed of this torment, the repressed emotions came back out, stronger than ever. Lastly, theposition of Shang''s mind had changed drastically. Gregorio knew that Shang''s values and personality had been strongly influenced by that change. Shang had attained freedom. Sadly, Shang had long forgotten how to be happy.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. So, Shang celebrated his rebirth the only way he could. By bing even more powerful and pledging even more dedication and sacrifice to his cause. He was somebody that happily cut out their organs to sell them for money. "Protecting the world is the right thing," Gregorio repeated absentmindedly. "It is," Wester answered. Gregorio didn''t say anything. Meanwhile, many kilometers to the northwest, several long and dark shadows stretched upwards. They were long, thin, and imposing. Suddenly, the shadows vanished, and ck blood exploded outward. Amomentter, the pieces of an Abomination King fell downward. And only a sinisterugh could be heard. Chapter 981 Chapter 981 It had been 4,000 years since Shang had transformed. The Death Mana was still trying to kill him, but Shang barely even noticed. His Entropy automatically dealt with it. Today, Shang had finally achieved his goal. He had finished his swordsmanship! Shang just madly grinned as he imagined the attacks he could unleash upon all his enemies. It was so strong! Due to his clothing, nothing seemed different about Shang, but beneath all the crimson red, Shang''s body had transformed significantly. Shang''s torso no longer had skin. Instead, ck scales covered it, and the muscles beneath the scales were also differently shaped. The only simrity this torso had with a human torso was the general shape. That was it. Shang would have liked using the torso of an Abomination, but he knew that it was too conspicuous. He would still need to go amongst people again, and he could only hide so much. So, Shang was stuck with this torso. However, restrictions often pushed creativity. And the way Shang had designed his torso was very different from the torso of Abominations, and for him specifically, also far more useful. He had mastery over his body! He could shape his body in any way he wanted! Humans? Abominations? None of that mattered! Shang could take the good from all of them andbine them into the perfect form!Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. His power was endless! Eventually, Shang took out the pin he had received from Gregorio. m done," Shang said. "What about the Abomination Kings?" "| have talked with Kali," Gregorio answered with a neutral voice. "We were only waiting for you." "How will it work specifically?" Shang asked. ¡°Kali will announce that she has found a way to reduce the number of Abomination Lords by understanding a couple of the principles in my Magic Circle. You know, the one that | made to make it seem like it was the reason why there were no powerful Abominations in the Lightning Manor." ¡°Of course," Shang answered calmly. "Continue." Gregorio looked at the pin with which he wasmunicating with Shang. After Shang had transformed, his conduct had also changed. First, he started to call Gregorio by his first name, and now, Shang was even telling him to continue talking. Now, the second part didn''t seem strange. After all, friends, strangers, and family often talked like that. But that was the problem. Shang was talking to Gregorio like an equal. For his entire life, Shang had talked to Gregorio with a certain politeness and respect, befitting of his power. But now, Shang was talking to him like they werepanions. Of course, the past Gregorio wouldn''t have minded since he had seen Shang as a friend. However, Gregorio knew that Shang wasn''t viewing him as a friend, which made his manner of speech feel slightly disrespectful. Nevertheless, Gregorio didn''t highlight any of these things. After all, he was still struggling with his decisions. "You will have to go to a specific ce in Kali¡¯s Empire," Gregorio continued as if he hadn''t noticed anything. "It will be directly beneath the Judgment Pce. Only Kali can see that ce, and when you arrive, she will put a very advanced Disguise Spell on you, making you appear like a veryplex and advanced tool." ¡°Naturally, no one is allowed to look at her while she is doing whatever they will think she is doing, but if they take a look anyway, they won''t think that you are the Child of Cmity or even a person.¡± ¡°After you go through all the Empires, you can return the same way you have gotten there. Kali will tell you everything you need to knowter," Gregorio exined. Shang found the n amusing. Disguising him as a tool? That sure was original. "Fine," Shang said. "When?" "When you''re ready, | will tell Kali to go ahead and announce everything. Expect to fly towards her within the next couple of years." Shang chuckled a bit. "Fine, tell her that I''m ready." Shang paused for a short moment, "and when we''re done with this, | can finally be a Sword King." Gregorio looked with difort at his pin. Shang reaching the Sword King Realm represented a point of no return. Shang would gain the power to fight normal Mage Kings, and if be increased his level, he would even gain the power to fight Mage Emperors. As Gregorio thought about this, he became more unsure. Was he truly okay with this new Shang achieving supreme power? This was not the Shang he knew. ¡°Of course," Gregorio answered absentmindedly. "I''m going to inform Kali now." "Good," Shang said with a chuckle before cutting the connection. While Gregorio was looking with uncertainty around his library, Shang was looking at the silver wall with a toothy grin. "Soon," Shang spoke. BOOOOOM! Something extremely powerful struck the silver wall, but it didn''t even shake. For just a moment, Shang''s suit moved around a bit like something had brushed it. Shang only looked at the silver wall. "Soon, | will be powerful enough to break out of this ce and reach whatever is beyond this wall." ¡°Aterium?" "Emperor?" "God?" Shang chuckled. "All of these things are just stepping stones!" "There has to be more out there!" "There have to be more powerful worlds and more powerful beings!" "The Abominations are proof of that!" * BANG! Shang hit the wall again. "This disgusting world can''t contain me!" For the next couple of months, Shang didn''t do very much. He didn''t need to. This little bit of time was barely worth anything, and Shang couldn''tprehend anything worthwhile in such a short period of time. So, he simply did nothing and thought about his future. * Soon, all these problems that Aterium had thrown at him would no longer exist. Dealing with the Abomination Kings. Bing a Sword King. Bing a Peak Sword King. Killing the Emperors. Comprehending the level six Concept of Death. Killing God. And then... Freedom! And what would he do with this freedom? Achieve more power! Chapter 982 Chapter 982 As Shang thought about his future, Aterium fell into shock and hope. For the longest time, the truly powerful beings had been under immense stress. Shang. Abaddon. The Abominations.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. The war. So many dangerous things were happening. But now, there was finally some hope! The Empress of Death had announced that she had found a way to stop Abomination Lords from appearing! When the other Emperors heard that, they almost couldn''t believe it. This was too good to be true! They had already felt extremely stifled and frustrated when they saw how the Lightning Manor didn''t need to deal with Abomination Lords and Ancestral Abominations while they had tomit over 50% of their entire force to deal with them. And even with all of this, the losses were still more than devastating. If there were truly a way to prevent Abomination Lords from appearing, they could finally let their Mage Kings do something other than just constantly watching over their Empire! Yet, exactly because it was too good to be true, the Emperors became skeptical. Did Kali truly manage to do something like that? Everyone had tried to find a solution to the Abomination problem for literally hundreds of thousands of years. Ever since Lucius had be a God and had gotten rid of all the powerful Abominations, the Emperors had tried to find a way to also deal with the lowest three Realms of the Abominations. Sadly, without any sess. That was until Gregorio found a way, but by then, Gregorio had already be their enemy. Originally, they would have been just as skeptical about Gregorio seeding in solving this problem as they were about Kali, but after they had seen the ck booklet and Gregorio''s power over Anti-Magic, it became more believable. But Kali? A Death Affinity didn''t seem very useful in dealing with the Abominations. Kali addressed these concerns with only a single statement. "| will deploy these measures in my Empire first. Give me a couple of years, and you will see that no more Abomination Lords will appear.¡± The Emperors epted that proposal. For now, they wanted to see what would happen before talking about measures to deploy these things in their Empire. During the tournament, Kali''s conduct hadn''t been perfectly in line with their goals, which made them a bit suspicious. However, Shang was now dead, and he hadn''t be a Sword King. Maybe, she had actually done the right thing. With time, the enmity and suspicions would vanish, but for now, they were still rather fresh. While the Emperors were being skeptical, Gregorio told Shang that he could move towards the Judgment Pce. Shang had only needed to wait for barely four months. "Sure," Shang answered before cutting the connection. Now, how would Shang get into the middle of the Judgment Pce without rming anyone? After all, Shang also had to hide himself from the Mage Kings. Surprisingly, Shang wasn''t worried about that. Shang, specifically, had the perfect skillset for that. BANG! The Eternal Ocean beneath Shang exploded as he shot toward its depths. In an instant, Shang had already descended over 100,000 kilometers, and he slowly noticed that the silver wall was curving towards him. Shang put his feet on the wall and used them to run downward. After reaching a depth of a million kilometers, the pressure had already reached terrifying levels. A Peak Mage Lord would lose more Mana from protecting their bodies with a Mana Shield than they would recover. Meanwhile, Shang just kept advancing. Surprisingly, the curvature of the silver wall became much more pronounced than one would expect, but Shang had already known about that. Back when Shang had gone to consume the Spacetime Beast, he had already noticed that the shape of the silver wall wasn''t completely spherical. It was more like an ellipsoid. The continent was 20 million kilometers wide, and from its edges, another 10 million kilometers of ocean stretched out for a total of 40 million kilometers. However, the ceiling and bottom were not 20 million kilometers away from the center of Aterium. Instead, the top was only about 10 million kilometers above the center of Aterium, half as far away as the horizontal edges of the ellipsoid. So, Shang wasn''t very surprised when the silver wall curved in more than expected. When Shang had reached a depth of two million kilometers, things became a bit troublesome. The pressure of the water slowed Shang down significantly, and Shang even started to feel a headacheing on. Shang''s torso and limbs had no issues in withstanding the pressure since they were far more powerful, but Shang''s head was. already feeling the pressure. After another 500,000 kilometers, Shang became annoyed and started to sneer, the pressure of the water cracking his teeth and bones. His other limbs still had no issues, but his pathetic human head was already on the verge of imploding. With a snort, Shang activated his Domain of Entropy. In an instant, the highly pressured environment vanished, reced by a dense cloud of Neutral Mana. Naturally, since Shang wasn''t just standing still, the Neutral Mana quickly left his Domain of Entropy and was flooded by the insane pressure of the thick Water Mana around it. The sheer strength of the Water Mana transformed the Neutral Mana back into Water Mana. Because of that, the Mana Density of the Eternal Ocean or the atmosphere didn''t change. However, Shang was no longer under the effect of this immense pressure, and his speed multiplied again. In just a little bit, Shang reached a depth of around seven million kilometers. At such a depth, not even Peak Mage Kings could survive indefinitely. At this depth, Shang finally saw the silver wall getting buried beneathpressed sand, which meant that he had reached the furthest underground edge of Aterium. The coastline was still three million kilometers or so away, but the depth of the Eternal Ocean was already receding. However, Shang just continued running forward, and his Domain of Entropy turned thepressed sand into Neutral Mana as well. While some extremely powerful beings would have still been able to see Shang earlier, now, he was invisible. Shang had entered the underground of Aterium, and he would continue running forward until he reached the middle of the continent, the Judgment Pce. Chapter 983 Chapter 983 Shang continued charging toward the center of the continent while destroying all the ground around him. The pressure at this level had reached heights where even Mage Emperors couldn''t easily survive, and it still didn''t reduce. After all, Shang was buried under more and more earth. At this depth, nobody could possibly see Shang. Sure, there were Magic Circles to detect intruders, but there were no Magic Circles this far underground. The Mana required to protect these Magic Circles while also keeping them active would be beyond ridiculous. And for what? To protect from an Emperor sneaking into another Empire? Why would they even do that? If they did anything, the Emperor of the Empire would notice it anyway. Additionally, sneaking up on an Emperor was basically impossible. Because of that, there was no point in wasting that much Mana just to defend the underground. Shang just kept running for a couple more minutes. Eventually, Shang noticed that the bottom had stopped curving, or at least, its curvature had changed. ¡®The deepest part of Aterium,'' Shang thought with a smirk. Naturally, there was no living being down here. At the moment, Shang was bathed in a dense and bright glow of light. This glow of light was just the extremely hot magma. It was so insanely hot that even the space was being torn apart. Although, the space was already being torn apart by the silver wall. If Shang didn''t have his Domain of Entropy active, he wouldn''t be able to survive for a single second in this environment. Slowly, Shang began to hover, and he flew upward. The magma was turned into Neutral Mana, which then turned into magma below Shang again, just like the water of the Eternal Ocean. After flying upward for a couple of million kilometers, Shang slowed down. The Judgment Pce was perfectly in the middle of Aterium, and he should theoretically be directly beneath it. Or, at least, he should be very close to it. Because of that, Shang slowed down. It was important that no Mage King saw him. Shang slowed down so that he barely moved a thousand kilometers per second, which was extremely slow for his power. Eventually, Shang was only about a million kilometers away from the surface, and be slowed down even more. And then, Shang felt Mana that wasn''t just Fire, Metal, and Earth Mana. It was a Magic Circle! Shang wasn''t quite sure if that Magic Circle was made by a Mage King of the Judgment Pce or by Kali. ¡®Kali knows that | aming. This Magic Circle was probably made by her, and if it wasn''t, she should have checked the underground of her Empire,¡¯ Shang thought with a snort. So, Shang simply shot through the Magic Circle. As Shang passed through the Magic Circle, nothing of note happened. Shang only felt a bit of Mana leaving the Magic Circle and flying upward. Shang decided to stop and wait at this location. Just to be sure, Shang had already retracted his limbs back into his torso, making him seem like his old self but wearing red instead of white. Acouple of secondster, Shang''s bandages told him that someone powerful was looking at him. "Ascend," Shang heard the voice of Kali in his mind. Shang just wordlessly ascended instead of answering. For now, he didn''t want to appear any different from his old self. Additionally, Shang wasn''t fully trusting Kali and Abaddon, and the less those two knew about him, the better. "Stop," Kali transmitted after Shang ascended for a while. SHING! Amomentter, a portal opened in front of Shang. Kali had waited to summon the portal until Shang was at a safer depth. If the pressure or heat were too much, someone might notice. After all, some heat and magma were bound to go through the portal. Shang quickly flew through the portal, and it closed rapidly behind him. Shang found himself inside a huge room with expensive ornaments. There were chandeliers, luxurious rugs, statues, huge nts, and there was also a humongous bed. And yet, all of these things looked old and decrepit. It was almost like this ce was a ruin, a shadow of its former self. Naturally, this was Kali¡¯s room. Shang could also see Kali standing in the middle of the room. She wasn''t even looking at him. ¡°What''s the n?" Shang asked in a cold and emotionless voice. Then, Kali looked at Shang for the first time. "Wait," she said before looking away again. Silence. Under normal circumstances, Shang would ask for more specifics, but that wouldn''t be fitting for Shang''s old persona. Because of that, Shang remained silent and simply started waiting. About two weekster, Kali turned to Shang. "Don''t move," she emotionlessly said as she pointed a finger at the hovering Shang. Shang did just that, and an instantter, expensive ore gathered around him. The ore was extremely powerful. Shang was quite certain that it was even in the Emperor Realm. The ore encased Shang''s body, and as it did, shining lines from different Magic Circles appeared. After a couple of seconds, Shang''s body '' was fully encased in extremely hard and expensive ore, and he had transformed into something that looked like an ancient machine. Shang''s appearance was already very far away from a human''s appearance, but now, there were zero connections between him and a normal human. Shang wasn''t very rmed. After all, he could just use his Domain of Entropy to destroy the ore around him. It would just take a bit of time. Funnily enough, Shang''s Spirit Sense was alsopletely isted.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. He was unable to move and unable tomunicate with anyone. Most people would think this was quite a terrifying ce to be in, but Shang didn''t mind. He could break out whenever he wanted. Some momentster, Shang''s mind was suddenly let out of the encased ore. "| will release your perception when it is safe," Kali said coldly. Shang looked at Kali. "Fine." Chapter 984 Chapter 984 After his perception had been released, Shang could also look at his actual appearance. Shang was a golden ball with several golden tubesing out of it. The tubes eventually all flowed together into another golden ball above him. The runes of the Magic Circles continually moved from one golden ball to the other and back. It looked quite mystical. Amomentter, Kali nced at Shang, and Shang''s perception was confined within the golden ball again. Shang just silently waited. He wasn''t worried. Sure, Kali could kill Shang without him even seeing the attacking, but that didn''t matter. Shang wasn''t dangerous to Kali because of his actual power but because of his soft power. If Kali killed him, Gregorio would have nothing left to lose, and he would simply release the Archivist. Since the Archivist''s book was automatically updating, one could already read what the Archivist thought of King Sanctified Death. His opinion wasn''t great, and the Archivist would very likely kill King Sanctified Death before doing anything else. Kali wasn''t stupid, and she knew how things would go. Because of that, Shang wasn''t worried at all. An unknown period of time passed before Shang''s perception was released again. As soon as his perception was released, Shang found himself and Kali inside a huge Istion Barrier, which was hovering above the Judgment Pce. ¡°How many Abomination Lords are necessary for the Judgment Pce?" Kali asked neutrally. "47 right now,¡± Shang answered. "But the number might quadruple after my breakthrough. | would say 200." When Kali heard that, she actually furrowed her brows, which was her first show of emotion ever since Shang had arrived at the Judgment Pce. "| only have 100 cages for Abomination Lords," Kali said. "Then, make more," Shang answered evenly. Kali nced at Shang. Right now, she was trying to think of a way to make more cages, but it was extremely difficult. One had to remember that every Abomination Lord was over a kilometer tall, which meant that the cages also had to be over a kilometer tall. Even more, all the Entropy Ore had to be at the Seventh Realm, at least. By building a hundred of these cages, Kali had already nearly depleted all the stores of Entropy Ore inside her Empire. How would she get more? Additionally, if she wanted to keep things secret from the other Empires, she also couldn''t just ask for Entropy Ore from them. Everyone knew that Entropy Ore was used to contain Abominations, and if she asked for it, their minds would immediately go to the possibility that Kali would bury Abominations in their Empires. Naturally, there were several issues with that. What if Kali had some kind of detonation Magic Circle on these cages, and she could detonate all of them remotely? She could use that as a threat in case things became bad. Additionally, where did Kali even get all these Abominations from? "You need Entropy Ore?" Shang asked. Kali furrowed her brows. She had never heard the ck ore referred to as Entropy Ore. However, Kali just nodded. ¡°| can make it," Shang said. This immediately got Kali''s attention, and she looked at Shang. "Show me," she said. Amomentter, an Abomination Lord appeared in the Istion Barrier. Kali just nced at it. Meanwhile, the Abomination Lord acted like it didn''t see her. Abitter, the Abomination Lord was split into Entropy and Mana, but Shang didn''tpletely separate these two things. After all, he didn¡¯t want Kali to get an opportunity to learn about Entropy. So, instead of two balls of ck and white, the Abomination Lord was turned into an indistinguishable storm of grey. The next moment, a great amount of Mana was absorbed by the Istion Barrier, and a couple of Mage Kings and Mage Lords looked at it with wonder. Whatever their Empress was doing required a lot of Mana. Inside the Istion Barrier, the grey storm fused with the approaching Mana, and it expanded into a ck cube of Entropy Ore. Entropy Ore was made of 50% Entropy and 50% Mana. Since Abominations were made of 70% Entropy and 80% Mana, Shang needed some Mana to make a 50 / 50 ratio.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. When Kali saw the cube of Entropy Ore, she didn''t show any outward reaction, but inside, she was shocked. No one had ever found out how to make this ck ore. All the Emperors had tried, and all of them had failed. And yet, Shang had managed to do it. Kali wanted to know how it worked, but she knew that Shang wouldn''t tell her. After all, they didn''t trust each other. Kali was with Abaddon, and Shang was with Gregorio. At the moment, they might be allies, but that wasn''t certain. "| can produce however much you need, but | need additional Mana." Kali furrowed her brows as she tried to think of the best way to handle this situation. If she wanted to bury the Abominations across all of Aterium, she needed around 2,000 cages for Abomination Lords. With the cube of Entropy Ore Shang had created, she could make around ten cages, which meant that she needed to convert around 200 Abomination Lords into Entropy Ore. One conversion had absorbed about one Mage Lord of Mana. This meant that Kali needed 200 Mage Lords of Mana for the cages. Amomentter, several ck dots appeared on the horizon, and they rapidly flew toward the Istion Barrier. These dots passed through the Istion Barrier and stopped in front of Shang. They were Beast Lords! "Make ten more cubes," Kali ordered. Shang didn''t answer and just summoned ten more Abomination Lords. Just like thest one, these Abomination Lords were destroyed and pulled apart into a grey storm. Just when they were starting to pull in Mana, the ten Beast Lords in front of Kali exploded and were ground into tiny particles by her. The sizes of these particles were so small that they nearly instantaneously transformed into Neutral Mana. Abitter, ten more cubes of Entropy Ore were made, and Kali used many different Spells to shape them into cages. In just a couple of minutes, another 100 cages were created. After she was done, Kali turned to Shang again. ¡°And the Abomination Kings?" Chapter 985 Chapter 985 "We don''t need as many for Abomination Kings," Shang said. "For all of Aterium, we only need about 50." Kali frowned and looked at the ground. "50 is a lot. | only have enough for 15." Naturally, King-rank Entropy Ore was much harder to get than Lord-rank Entropy Ore, and there wasn''t a lot of that remaining. Since Entropy Ore could only be created by Abominations getting destroyed without being able to detonate themselves, every piece of King-rank Entropy Ore only came from Abomination Kings, and those had only appeared in Lucius¡¯ time. Naturally, there couldn''t be that many. "Gregorio has another 15," Shang said. "We only need 20 more." 20 cages represented two Mage Kings of Mana, and one Mage King represented about a thousand times more Mana than a Mage Lord. "So, we need a total of 2,200 Mage Lords of Mana," Kali said. Silence returned as Kali thought about the best way forward. ¡°Let''s finish the Judgment Pce first," Kali said. "| will demand this Mana from the others when it is time." Naturally, asking for Mana was far less suspicious than asking for Entropy Ore. After all, Mana could be used for literally everything. The next moment, several Abomination Lord cages appeared around Kali. "Put them in," she ordered. Shang didn''t answer and simply summoned a couple of Abomination Lords. As soon as they appeared, the Abomination Lords were unceremoniously shoved into the cages by Kali. Kali siphoned out all the Mana from the cages and closed the door. Amomentter, she flew toward the ground. Shang was pulled along, and the Istion Barrier followed her. Eventually, the Istion Barrier was no longer visible. Kali rapidly dug through the ground until she reached a depth of around a million kilometers. When she reached that depth, she started to ce the cages down one after the other. Whenever she summoned a new cage, Shang summoned another Abomination Lord. After a couple of minutes, all 200 cages had been ced below the Judgment Pce. Since Kali wanted to keep all of this a secret, all the cages had been enchanted and hidden with several powerful Magic Circles. Due to the Magic Circles, the cages looked like huge orbs with countless moving runes on them. Of course, there were also protection runes on them. If an Emperor wanted to learn what these Magic Circles did, they would need over 50,000 years toprehend them. Naturally, that was enough time since they only needed to hold until the Final Tournament, which was about 22,000 years from now. Of course, the Emperors could just destroy the Magic Circles and look at what was beneath them, but that would immediately inform Kali of what had transpired. With enough threats, Kali wouldn''t need to fear someone breaking her Magic Circles. She could just say that she had invented this method and that nobody was allowed to steal it. If anyone did, she would deactivate all of the Magic Circles within someone''s Empire. Then, they would need to deal with the Abominations again. Even though the Emperors were bound to be interested in how these Magic Circles worked, the price of breaking them and looking inside was far too high. When the Abomination Lord cages had been ced down, Kali made a n on where to put down the Abomination King cages. She would put them down in a seven-by-seven grid, and due to the size of her Empire, she needed around nine of them just for herself. Kali moved to the first spot and summoned an Abomination King cage. "Don''t interact with it," Shang suddenly said. Kali raised an eyebrow at Shang. These were Abomination Kings. If one of them detonated, even Kali would get seriously injured. ¡°Abomination Kings have a certain level of awareness and intelligence," Shang exined. "I can control them, but if you attack them, they might retaliate. Let me do this." Kali didn''t know a lot about the Child of Cmity. She knew that the Child of Cmity was connected to the Abominations and that it was responsible for them appearing in the world. However, she hadn''t known that the Child of Cmity could control the Abominations. She thought the Child of Cmity was only a gateway of some sort. The fact that Shang could control Abomination Kings was terrifying. If he summoned several of them in an isted space and sent all of them to attack the world... Sure, the Emperors would manage to kill most of them, but every single one that managed to detonate represented over 500,000 kilometers of the world vanishing. Shang''s level of danger rose in Kali''s mind. Even more, if Shang could summon Abomination Kings now as a Sword Lord... Could he summon Abomination Emperors when he was a Sword King? An Abomination Emperor... No one had ever heard of an Abomination Emperor. But if those actually existed, one of them could probably even kill the Archivist, and it wouldn''t even need to detonate. Abominations were almost invincible on their level. Probably only someone like Abaddon or Shang could kill one on the same level with a high level of confidence. The more dangerous Shang was, the more uncertain the future seemed. Originally, there had been three options. Kill Shang. Work together with Shang. Capitte to Shang.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. Now, there were only two options. Kill Shang and capitte to Shang. Working together became nearly impossible due to the power difference. As soon as Shang became a Peak Sword King, assuming he could summon an Abomination Emperor, no one would be able to resist him. At that moment, the power dynamic would shift to one side. Cooperation was only possible between two simrly powerful parties. But with an Abomination Emperor... While the thought made Kali uncertain, she had also never heard of an Abomination Emperor. So, maybe, the Abomination Emperors actually didn''t exist? What if Abomination Kings were the strongest Abominations? Kali decided that she needed to talk to Abaddon some more regarding their n. How should they proceed in the future? Chapter 986 Chapter 986 Shang summoned the Abomination King. When Kali saw it, her Aura became intense, but she didn''t do anything. This was the first time she had seen an Abomination King after 300,000 years. Back then, they had been incredibly terrifying. Luckily, the Abomination King didn''t move. It only looked at the golden ball surrounding Shang with a fanatic expression. In the past, Shang had had issues in controlling Abomination Kings, but after his transformation, even the Abomination Kings listened to him without any issues. Amomentter, the Abomination King voluntarily walked into the cage. Kali siphoned the Mana out of the cage and closed it. Sflence. This proved it. Shang had full control over Abominations. The pressure on Kali''s shoulders multiplied, but she didn''t let it Show. She put the cage down and smoothly moved to the next location. After a couple of minutes, all nine cages had been ced down in the Judgment Pce. Kali returned to the actual Judgment Pce and retreated back into her room. Naturally, the golden ball hiding Shang was also here. ¡°Now, we need to wait," Kali said. "Within the next decade or so, the other Emperors are bound to contact me." "Okay," Shang said. The next moment, Shang''s perception was cut off from the world again. Mage Kings could feel when someone was looking at them, which was why Kali isted Shang''s perception. For the next ten years or so, Shang had to remain in his little prison of ore. While the past Shang might have had some issues with doing nothing for a decade, the current Shang was different. Shang was no longer in immense pain, and he didn''t feel like he was dying. In fact, Shang no longer had any issues with longevity, and he had even already finished his preparations for bing a Sword King. He only needed to break through. Shang had never been so close to supreme power! Soon". Meanwhile, the Judgment Pce announced that there would be no more Abomination Lords appearing in their Empire. Naturally, the other Empires paid close attention to the Judgment Pce for the following years. Near the beginning, nearly no person in the Judgment Pce believed this to be true. After all, the Abominations had been a part of their entire lives, and they lived in constant fear of them. And yet, the Abomination Lords truly stopped appearing. While the Mage Kings had still been nervous at the start, now, they actually dared to believe that this was true. N o more Abomination Lords? So, they could finally rx? Of course, two Mage Kings still needed to work. After all, Ancestral Abominations still appeared. But instead of having to kill every Abomination personally, these two Mage Kings only needed to delegate their forces, which made things far easier. Their minds could finally rest since they didn''t need to be ready for every single second. After some years, even the other Emperors started to believe Kali. She had actually done it! She had actually found a way to stop the Abomination Lords from appearing in her Empire! The first Emperor that showed interest was Amon Gus. He asked Kali to do the same thing for his Empire. That was when Kali unveiled the price. 250 Peak Mage Lords of Mana. Naturally, Amon Gus was shocked. That was insane! 250 fucking Peak Mage Lords?! "You think this is easy?" Kali answered his protests. "The Magic Circles take a great deal of Mana, and I''m not going to pay for your Empire." Of course, negotiations immediately broke out, but Kali wasn''t budging. However, beggars couldn''t be choosers. So, Amon Gus was forced to pay the price. Kali received all the Mana, and she asked Shang to create more cages. Abitter, the two of them traveled to the Twilight Dusk Family, and Kali started to float into the underground. Over the next minutes, Kali and Shang ced all the cages below the Twilight Dusk Empire, and they returned to the Judgment Pce. Naturally, Amon Gus had been informed about the rules. He wasn''t allowed to destroy the Magic Circles, and he wasn''t allowed to watch Kali while she was cing them. Amon Gus was suspicious, but he had to follow the rules. After all, the alternative was too terrifying. As long as Kali managed to get rid of the Abomination Lords, she could do whatever she wanted. After this day, the Abomination Lords also stopped appearing in the Twilight Dusk Empire. The other Emperors very quickly contacted Kali for their own Empires. Naturally, the price was still horrifyingly steep, but they were forced to pay regardless. Eventually, Kali and Shang ced the cages on eight of the nine Empires. They were only missing the Lightning Manor, but Shang and Gregorio would ce the cages there themselves. All of this had only taken about ten years in total. After Kali went back into her room, she dispelled the enchantments on Shang''s golden ball and put the ore away. For the first time in ten years, Shang could finally move again, but he didn''t seem to care very much. Wordlessly, Kali summoned a portal that led into the deep underground of the Judgment Pce. Shang just floated through it, and the portal closed. They hadn''t exchanged any words. When Shang arrived, he started to descend rapidly, and after a couple more kilometers, he summoned his real limbs. All of Shang''s limbs stretched. "Finally, free again," Shang spoke to himself. The next moment, Shang descended to the silver wall and began to run towards the northwest. Naturally, he kept his Domain of Entropy active all this time. After a couple of minutes, Shang reached the Eternal Ocean again, and he ascended a bit. Shang took out Gregorio''s pin and contacted him. "Everything went smoothly," Shang said. "Good to hear," Gregorio answered with a friendly voice. However, if Shang had paid more attention, he would have noticed that Gregorio''s voice was more distant than before and more uncertain. ¡°Now, we only need the Abomination Kings for the Lightning Manor," Shang said. Gregorio didn''t answer for two seconds. "Sure," he eventually said. Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Chapter 987 Chapter 987 Shang and Gregorio met up and quickly buried thest couple of Abomination Kings that were necessary. The entire time, Gregorio was barely saying anything, and he also avoided looking at Shang. Shang didn''t notice Gregorio''s strange conduct. Ever since he had be free from pain, Shang''s mind was preupied with his own n and his future. Gregorio had worked together with Shang for tens of thousands of years, and Shang didn''t even think about whether or not Gregorio would try anything on him or not. After all, everything had worked out fine for such a long time. Why would things suddenly change? After they were done, Shang prepared himself for a couple of hours before contacting Gregorio with his pin. Shang no longer wanted to wait. m going to be a Sword King now." Gregorio didn''t answer for a while. "Do you need anything specific?" he asked. "No," Shang answered with a smirk. "Nobody in the world will even notice." "Okay, good luck," Gregorio said before cutting the connection. Shang put the pin away with a smirk. Shang slowly increased his altitude by quite a bit until he feltfortable. ¡®There''s no reason to wait anymore,¡¯ Shang thought as a slight glint appeared in his eyes. ''I will now attain my sevenfold Spirit Sense.¡¯ "Sure, | could remain in this Realm for longer toprehend level siX Concepts, but what would be the point? A Spirit Sense is only good for two things.¡¯ "Showing others one''s talent and gaining a range advantage in a battle.¡¯ ¡®With a sevenfold Spirit Sense, | will already outrange all of my opponents unless they are a Realm higher.¡¯ ¡®And as for proving my talent?¡¯ Shang just smirked. ¡®It doesn''t matter. Power is power. The opinions of others have no power over me.¡¯ At this moment, Shang was 29,000 years old, and he would now be a Sword King. Shang was the oldest being in the Seventh Realm that had ever existed for obvious reasons. And now, this oldest being would reach the Eighth Realm. Was Shang the first one that ever managed to attain a sevenfold Spirit Sense? Nobody knew. Maybe, maybe not. Shang raised his right hand, and a secondter, a huge Istion Barrier appeared around him. Creating something like an Istion Barrier wasn''t very difficult for someone on Shang''s level. He might not be as good in Magic as the average Peak Mage Lord, but he was still on the level of an Initial Mage Lord. ¡°Let''s start the show," Shang said with a smirk before snapping his fingers. SHING! In an instant, several Abomination Kings appeared, which didn''t move at all. They all just looked at Shang with fanatic eyes. Shang already knew that he had to absorb several times more Mana than normal people due to his elevated being, but that didn''t matter. Back when Shang had talked to Abaddon for the first time, Abaddon had said that there was enough Mana for both of them to be Gods, and he hadn''t been wrong. While Abaddon definitely didn''t know about Entropy and what Abominations were actually made of, he had the correct idea. Shang just needed to summon and absorb Abominations. Abominations came from outside Aterium, and absorbing them would not put any strain on Aterium''s Mana. Shang no longer needed any Mana to be more powerful. In fact, Shang didn''t even need the prize of the humongous tournament in about 22,000 years. He could just remain in hiding until it was time. Although, at some point, someone would probably find him. Sure, Shang could stay at the bottom of the world, but he would need to keep his Domain of Entropy active at all times, and due to the intense heat and pressure, all the Abominations he summoned would immediately copse and transform into Destruction. So, while Shang could theoretically reach the Sword Emperor Realmpletely in secret, it was based on the fact that no one was searching for him. This meant that Shang still had to be careful. After summoning the Abomination Kings, Shang destroyed one of them and absorbed their Entropy and Mana. Shang felt like he was about to explode, but before he actually did, he willed his being to advance toward the next Realm. CRACK! It was like the reality around Shang broke apart, and the next moment, Mana was pouring toward him like crazy. In an instant, the surrounding 100,000 kilometers of Mana shot toward him. Shang had already expected something like that, which was why he was located near the northwestern edge of the world. Shang decided to look at what was happening for a bit longer. Over the next seconds, the Mana absorption extended until it reached a distance of 700,000 kilometers, but that was when it stopped Shang was absorbing all the Mana from that distance. When Shang saw that, he smirked. ''700,000 kilometers, huh? Isn''t that the size of my future Spirit Sense?" Shang noticed that his body and mind became more and more unstable as time passed. His body and mind wanted to advance to the Sword King Realm, but the Mana they were absorbing was too little to support such an advancement. It was like Shang''s being was running out of fuel. "So, that''s how it feels when you try to break through without enough Mana, huh?¡¯ Shang thought with a chuckle. BANG! One of the Abomination Kings was turned into Mana and Entropy, which was quickly absorbed by Shang. Shang''s body and mind stabilized with the new influx of energy, but some secondster, they started to be unstable again. Shang just absorbed another Abomination King. By now, the absorption of the Mana from the atmosphere had also slowed down significantly. After all, Shang''s being didn''t need the Mana from the atmosphere. What the Abominations were giving him was more than enough. Shang killed a couple more Abomination Kings over the next couple of minutes, and eventually, Shang''s body stopped absorbing Mana. At the same time, Shang felt his Spirit Sense expand. 100,000 kilometers. 200,000 kilometers. 300,000 kilometers. 400,000 kilometers. 500,000 kilometers. 600,000 kilometers. And finally, 700,000 kilometers! As soon as Shang felt the size of his new Spirit Sense, he broke out into maniacalughter. "I''ve done it!" he shouted. "A body that is a level above of what it should be!" "Amind a level above of what it should be!" "A perfect Affinity for every single Element!" "I''ve done it!" Shang extended his arms and looked at the sky with a wide grin.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. "I''m perfect!" Chapter 988 Chapter 988 Shang reveled in his new power. Everything he had worked towards for 29,000 years had finallye true! At the start, he had only been a weak and helpless boy that needed to jump from trees to be stronger. Then, he underwent the painful Procedure and got a body that finally allowed him to fight the Mages on an equal footing. After that, Shang had attained the technique that the barbarians from the Grandmountain Kingdom had used to attain such powerful bodies, and together with the effects of the Procedure, Shang had be even more powerful. And yet,pared to the true geniuses of the world, Shang had only been mediocre. That was until Shang hadprehended four different Paths before reaching the True Path Stage. With a fourfold Spirit Sense, Shang had officially joined the true elite of the world, the Clouds! And yet, there had still been a couple of thousand like Shang. Then, Shangprehended four different Imposes, and finally, hebined them with World Connection. With that, Shang had reached a fivefold Spirit Sense. Something that less than 100 people had in the world, including the Mage Kings. Then, Shang learned Void Break after the most painful period of training of his entire life. After identally consuming the momentum ofprehending Void Break, Shang managed to attain enough momentum to reach the next Realm. And with that, he had done it. Asixfold Spirit Sense! The third person in known history after Lucius and Abaddon. Then, Shang sacrificed his left arm toprehend the Concept of Transformation, and he also managed toprehend Sword Blood before bing a Sword Lord. By using up the momentum ofprehending the Concept of Transformation, Shang had surpassed Lucius and reached the same level as Abaddon. An advanced sixfold Spirit Sense! Shang had been on equal footing with the most powerful being in history, except for maybe the God. And in the Sword Lord Realm, Shang had truly transcended all known norms andws. Except for his head, most of Shang''s body had transformed to resemble Abominations. While Shang''s torso didn''t have the shape of a typical Abomination¡¯s torso, it was still made of the same stuff as the typical Abomination''s torso. If Shang used Void Break and Sword Focus, the power of Shang''s body would eclipse the power of a Peak Beast King''s body. At this moment, except for the God, Shang had the most powerful body out of every single living being! As an Initial Sword King, Shang could manhandle Peak Beast Kings with just his right arm, and one punch of his would destroy the Mana Shield of an Early Mage King without a fivefold Spirit Sense. Finally, Shang surpassed Abaddon! Finally, he attained a sevenfold Spirit Sense! Even if the God had been some unprecedented genius in the past, Shang was absolutely certain that the God hadn''t managed to go above a sevenfold Spirit Sense! On top of that, Shang knew that his Battle-Strength vastly surpassed the God''sst opponent, Lucius. Shang even guessed that he might be able to jump two levels against Lucius. "True power!" Shang growled as he clenched his right fist. "I can feel it!" "This is true power!" "Yet, it is only the start!" ¡°My power might be unrivaled in Aterium, but if there are other worlds, | still have a long way to go." Shang''s grin widened. ¡°And | wouldn''t have it any other way!" Shang chuckled a bit in satisfaction, and he focused on a part of his mind that hadn''t been there before. Amemory. ¡®The eighth question, huh?'' Shang thought with disinterest. ¡®Fine, let''s take a look." Shang essed the memory, and he found himself in the God''s pce again. When Shang saw the fat and blonde guy in front of the God, he smirked. ¡®Alex,¡¯ he spoke to himself in his mind. ¡®What a pathetic creature you are.¡¯ ¡®Following the world''sws and trying to earn money for higher education." ¡®You''re a worker ant without any purpose.¡¯ ¡®But rejoice, your future is brighter than anything you could imagine at this moment!" ¡®You will one day be the most powerful being that Aterium has ever witnessed!¡¯ Amomentter, Alex asked his question. "How do | be as powerful as you?" he asked the God. The God only chuckled a bit. "That''s interesting. Usually, people ask this question as theirst one. Howe you asked it for your eighth?" Alex smiled sheepishly. "| can''t think of another question. This is thest one | can think of," he said with embarrassment. The God cackled a bit. "Then think of a good one. I''m not letting you go until you''ve asked all your questions." ¡°As for the answer to your previous one, reaching my level will be extremely difficult." "First, you need to be the most powerful person in the world." "The more you learn before reaching a new Realm, the more powerful you be after your breakthrough." Then, the God chuckled a bit, and his eyes turned to look at Shang.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. ¡°But when you unlock the memory of this question, you already know that." It was like the God was talking to Shang, and Shang just looked back. Shang looked deeply into the God''s eyes with no fear. ¡°Be strong enough to defeat the kid from the Judgment Pce," the God said to Shang, as Alex also looked in that direction. Sadly, Alex wasn''t able to see what the God was seeing, and he just looked around in confusion. "If you somehow manage to attain that much power, you already know how to be a God." The God chuckled a bit. "And as for reaching my power." "Just give it your all, okay?" he said with another chuckle. Amomentter, God looked back at Alex. ¡°Onest question remains." Alex seemed uncertain. He genuinely had no idea what he should ask as hisst question, and he simply looked at the God. Alex thought about his past and his future. That was when he realized something. Yeah, he could ask that! And then, the memory was cut off. Shang just chuckled when the memory ended. The God had said that Shang''sst question had been a doozy, but Shang didn''t care anymore. Shang had attained his power, and he would use it to kill the God for ying with his life. For a while, Shang just looked at the silver wall While dreaming of his future. And then, Shang noticed something. Someone was approaching his location. It was not Gregorio. It was not Abaddon. It was not Kali. When Shang saw that person, he smirked with confidence. Chapter 989 Chapter 989 Shang had seen the person before the person had seen him. They weren''t traveling at their full speed, and maybe, Shang could escape before they saw him. However, Shang just smirked and chuckled a bit. ¡®How interesting,¡¯ he thought. ¡®It seems like Gregorio hasn''t been the most careful.¡¯ Amomentter, the person found Shang, and they just watched with shock. This confirmed that they hadn''t known that Shang was still alive but that they had only had a hunch. Shang could feel the person looking at him, and the person could also feel Shang looking at them. Amomentter, a portal opened just 100,000 kilometers behind Shang. It wasn''t close enough to count as melee range for Shang, but easily close enough for a Peak Mage King to fight him. Amomentter, an older man with an immactely groomed suit walked out. The Custodian, Wester. Wester looked at Shang with narrowed eyes while Shang just looked at the silver wall. Shang hadn''t hidden his new limbs, and Wester could see them in all their glory. Shang chuckled a bit and turned to look at Wester with his ck-and-white eyes. "Wester, what a pleasure to see you," he said with a smirk. Wester''s emotions were going crazy. When Wester had talked to Gregorio, he had already noticed that Gregorio was acting strangely. Gregorio had often talked about Shang when talking to Wester, but as soon as the Grand Tournament had passed, Gregorio had completely stopped talking about him. It was almost like Shang had stopped existing in Gregorio''s mind.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. However, based on how Gregorio had acted when Shang had wanted to talk to him, Wester knew that Gregorio wouldn''t just dump Shang like a piece of trash after he became useless. At the very least, he would havemented Shang''s demise many times. And yet, Gregorio had never talked about Shang again. Wester had guessed that Shang might still be alive. That, in and of itself, wouldn''t be such a bad thing. After all, Shang belonged to the Lightning Manor, and they all worked together. The suspicious part was that Gregorio hadn''t told Wester about it. One had to know that Wester was the second-inmand of the Lightning Manor, and he had been the closest friend, colleague, and servant of Gregorio. Wester hadn''t betrayed the Lightning Manor a single time. In fact, he hadn''t even shown the slightest inkling of betrayal. He had always kept confidential information confidential. After over 50,000 years of working for Gregorio, Wester had expected that Gregorio would inform him about such things. And yet, he didn''t. This worried Wester and made him suspicious. Gregorio wasn''t a paranoid or secretive person. In fact, he had always been quite open, transparent, and cooperative. So, what kind of secret could be so important and destructive that Gregorio didn''t even dare to tell Wester? Of course, as soon as the first suspicions arose, Wester found many more suspicious points. For example, even though the Abominations became more and more troublesome, Gregorio had stopped asking about the Child of Cmity. In the past, literally every single conversation between them had started with Gregorio asking about the Child of Cmity. And then? Nothing. It was like Gregorio no longer cared. Then came that sudden breakthrough that allowed Gregorio to stop Ancestral Abominations and Abomination Lords from appearing. That was such a monumental and sudden breakthrough! Especially since Gregorio hadn''t seemed to be researching Abominations at all in the recent past. That had created a suspicion in Wester''s mind. Shang was the Child of Cmity, and Gregorio knew about it. It took a long time for Wester to ept this possibility. After all, Gregorio had always been against the Abominations, and it had even been his duty to deal with the Child of Cmity. How was it possible that someone like that could suddenly be the ally of the Child of Cmity? Nevertheless, all of these things had still only been guesses and spection. And then, Wester felt the Mana of the world move towards the northwest. The movement had been very subtle. It had felt unimportant. And yet, something inside Wester told him that this was important. But he hesitated. If he actually traveled to that location, the possibility might be a reality. Then what? Shang would be the Child of Cmity, and Gregorio would be the greatest traitor of Aterium in history. Wester only had a bit more than 10,000 years of longevity left. He had served the Lightning Emperor for over 50,000 years. Now, Wester was old, and he would soon pass. Maybe, he could just look away. Wester wouldn''t witness the unprecedented tournament for the new Mage Emperor anyway. Until then, things would basically remain the same. Even more, there were fewer Abominations now, which meant that the world was actually improving. If he went and confirmed his suspicions, he knew that he couldn''t just sit idly by. He would have to do what was right. He would need to kill Shang and inform the other Emperors about Gregorio''s betrayal. Thinking about this possibility hurt him immensely. So, even though Wester had thought about not doing anything for a while, deep inside, he knew that the decision had already been made. Wester wasn''t someone that ran away. Wester was someone that followed his own principles, and he wouldn''t idly stand by as more and more people died due to Shang''s mere existence. So, Wester had traveled towards the northwest. And he had found what he had been looking for. In front of him stood Shang, but Wester almost couldn''t recognize him. The color of his outfit had changed. His body had be part Abomination. His eyes looked at him with amusement and arrogance. Lastly, his Aura had alsopletely changed. In the past, Shang had felt grey, empty, and cold. Now, Shang felt overpowering, fiery, arrogant, and dominant. Wester almost couldn''t connect the current Shang to the old one. Yet, all of these changes weren''t relevant. Wester would kill Shang today, and the change in his Aura wouldn''t change anything. Chapter 990 Chapter 990 Shang just looked at Wester with an interested smirk, while Wester looked at Shang with narrowed eyes. "Since when?" Wester asked. "Since when what?" Shang asked back. "Since when did the Ancestor know that you are the Child of Cmity?" Wester shouted with an enraged voice. "Since | lost my legs," Shang answered. Wester thought back to that day and realized that it had already been well over 15,000 years. ¡°How did you convince the Ancestor to spare you?" Wester asked. "Spare me?" Shang repeated with mock shock. Then, heughed. "Convince him?" Shang said with a smirk. ¡°When he found out, | was unconscious. So, | guess you could say | convinced him by lying on the ground in front of him." When Wester heard that, he started to grit his teeth. Shang didn''t seem like he was lying. Even more, the world resonated with his answer, which meant that it was the truth. Of course, powerful Mage Kings could manipte that resonance to a certain degree, but Shang wasn''t a Mage. Sadly, Shang''s answer took thest bit of hope from Wester. Maybe, the Ancestor hadn''t known that Shang was the Child of Cmity? Maybe, Shang had used some kind of Spell on the Ancestor? Unfortunately, the simplest answer was often the correct one. "Why?" Wester asked. "Why did the Ancestor betray us?" "Why?" Shang repeated with a smirk. ¡°Honestly, I''m not quite sure myself." ¡°Back when | met him for the first time, he was debating killing me, but after we talked about everything for a bit, he seemed to just like me for some reason." Wester narrowed his eyes. That sounded like a lie! Yet, he didn''t interrupt Shang. ¡°After our conversation, he started to act like we were friends. Honestly, I''m not exactly sure why." ¡°Maybe he saw me as a weapon against Abaddon?" ¡°Maybe he was just very excited to leave Aterium?" ¡°Maybe it''s my promise that | will do my very best to stop the Abominations from appearing?" "Or maybe, he was just a lonely old man."Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. "| never asked him why he was helping me," Shang said with a small chuckle. When Wester heard Shang''s answers, a light appeared in his narrowed eyes. "You can get rid of the Abominations?" he asked. "| don''t know," Shang answered. "But if | can, | probably will, as long as it''s not too much trouble.¡± "Inparison to Lucius, | actually have the power to defend myself." Shang''s words made several questions appear in Wester''s mind. "Defend yourself? From what? And why is the Mage God relevant?" Wester asked. Shang nced at Wester and chuckled some more. "I thought only the Emperors were blind due to their rtionship with Lucius." "Seems like even the all-powerful Custodian isn''t immune to naivety," Shang spoke with a mocking tone. "Can''t you see it?" Shang asked. "The Abominations. When was thest time an Abomination King appeared in the world?" "It was when Lucius had just so happened to be a Mage King, wasn''t it?¡± Shang said with a chuckle. Wester''s eyes widened, but Shang just continued talking. ¡°And what happened shortly after he became a God? All the Abominations became weaker, and we only saw Abominations from the first four Realms.¡± ¡°Almost like the Child of Cmity has died." Wester''s mind was going through millions of scenarios and possibilities. "And who killed him?" Shang said with a smirk. Wester didn''t know. "Well, whoever killed him won''t be able to kill me when it is time," Shang said with a confident grin. Shang chuckled a bit and raised his right Abomination arm, showing it to Wester in its full glory. "Didn''t you notice?¡± Shang asked. "| have a sevenfold Spirit Sense now." "| have an Abomination body, making me superior to every other human." "| have an Affinity for all the Elements." "My mind is already equal to the mind of an Early Mage King, while | am only an Initial Sword King." "The God of this world has given me my powers, which makes it likely that he is also the cause of the Abomination problem." Shang clenched his right hand, and the surrounding space shook. "If | attain Godhood, | will kill that God and leave this world." ¡°After that, everything will be left to the Emperors." The things Wester had been hearing were more than shocking, but he quickly managed to wrap his mind around the new dynamic. Now, Wester could finally understand how the Ancestor could have been convinced to help Shang. Everyone knew that the Abominations represented the end of the world. As long as they couldn''t perfectly kill every Abomination before it could absorb any Mana, they couldn''t stop the world from degenerating. The more time passed, the less Mage Kings and Beast Kings appeared in the world. Eventually, there would be no more Kings. And then, no more Lords. Finally, nothing would be left, and the Abominations would consume the world unopposed. By getting rid of the source, Shang could stop the world from dying indefinitely! Yet, Wester couldn''t even entertain the thought of helping Shang achieve his goal. Because of Shang, trillions, if not quadrillions, of people had died! He was so selfish and power-hungry that he would rather sacrifice an ocean of people before stopping to be more powerful. The possibilities didn''t matter. Shang was a monster, and for all of his crimes, he deserved to die. Shang saw Wester and could guess what he was thinking about. ¡°Really?¡± Shang said with a snort. "You would rather doom Aterium to certain doom instead of taking a shot at eternity?" Wester didn''t answer. Instead, Mana gathered around him. An instantter, a golden bolt of terrifying lightning shot directly at Shang. CRRRRRRRK! Wester narrowed his eyes. He had already expected Shang to be powerful, but he had still been shocked. As an Initial Sword King, Shang had managed to block Wester''s Spell! Even more... When Wester saw how Shang had blocked his Spell, he had realized that Shang truly wasn''t human anymore. At this moment, tens of swords were in front of Shang. Long swords, scimitars, katanas, daos, sables, sabers, great swords, two-handed swords, one-handed swords, big swords, small swords, thin swords, and wide swords. All swords one could imagine were in front of Shang. They had blocked the Spell, and a momentter, the swords moved away. The base of each sword was connected to a long and ck tentacle, which curved around Shang and entered his back. Shang had mastery over Entropy, and he could also create Entropy Ore. Using an external sword would be a waste with such abilities. So, Shang had created tens of dark and ck tentacles that ended in swords made of Entropy Ore on the level of the strongest Abomination Kings. As Wester watched, Shang''s long and powerful tentacles stretched outward. Shang''s arms were crossed, and a smirk adorned his face. Meanwhile, the tentacles had stretched into a star made of swords. Shang moved his right arm forward and gestured for Wester to attack. Wester just readied himself. Chapter 991 Chapter 991 Wester wasn''t intending to give Shang a chance to retaliate. He had already thought that Shang might be able to defend from his Spell, but the ease at which Shang had done so still shocked him. One had to remember that Wester was four levels above Shang, and Wester was amongst the top three of all Mage Kings! And yet, a warrior could directly block his Spell while being four levels below him. If Wester hadn''t seen these things with his own eyes, he wouldn''t believe them. It was just too ridiculous. Usually, the stronger one became, the fewer levels one could jump since everyone else was just as outstanding. But, apparently, that wasn''t true for Shang. In fact, his rtive Battle Strength even increased. Shang saw which Spell Wester was using, and he only waited with a smirk. Amomentter, time, space, and gravity froze. The Domain had been activated! At the same time, Wester''s Focus unleashed a powerful beam of lightning, which directly shot at Shang. DING! But just as before, the beam was blocked by the tens of weapons. When Wester saw that, his mind nearly stopped. How?! How could a warrior deal with the most powerful Spell a Mage King had ess to, the Domain?! Shang was supposed to be frozen in time! And then, Wester saw the Domain around Shang. Just like every Spell, the Domain was also made of Mana, and with the Domain of Entropy, it also became useless. When Wester saw Shang''s Domain of Entropy, he became frustrated with himself. Now that he truly saw and felt its effect, he automaticallypared it to an Abomination''s Domain. Why hadn''t he made the connection earlier?! Naturally, due to the sheer power of the Abominations, the Domain Spell became useless. In order to get through an Abomination''s Domain, one needed to focus a lot of Mana on a small point. Any Spell that tried to attack or restrict the Abomination by epassing them in Mana essentially became worthless. Probably not even a Mage Emperor could stop Shang in this way. When Shang saw Wester''s serious grimace, he had tough. "Isn''t it interesting?" Shang asked. "We''ve been here for a while. Gregorio knows of my location. Gregorio probably also knows of your location. You''ve unleashed several Spells." ¡°And yet, he hasn''t shown himself.¡± Wester narrowed his eyes as he prepared some other Spells. "| think he''s undecided," Shang said. At that moment, 18 balls of lightning, metal, and light appeared around Shang. BANG! The 18 balls turned into beams and focused all their power on him. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, Shang''s Domain expanded a bit, epassing all the beams, and in an instant, they all turned into Neutral Mana. When Wester saw that, his eyes opened wide in shock. |-low?! Those had been 18 genuine Spells! These were not some throwaway Spells that Wester hadunched casually! No, these were actual Spells that he used in fights against powerful Mage Kings! They used the level six Concept of Lightning, True Lightning, the level six Concept of Metal, True Metal, and the level six Concept of Light, Eternal Light! Their speed, pration power, and explosive force were beyond powerful! For a while, Wester couldn''tprehend what he had just witnessed. It seemed physically impossible! And then, Wester noticed something. Shang had lost one of his tentacles! It had been the one that ended in the sable! Finally, Wester understood what had happened. If the Abominations could sacrifice parts of their body for a power increase, Shang could probably do the same! At that moment, Wester realized how Shang had been able to survive two seconds against that one Mage King in the Defender g in the past. Ever since the fight started, Shang hadn''t even moved from his spot! He hadn''t evenunched a single attack! "Gregorio isn''t sure what he should do," Shang continued talking like nothing had happened. "I think he knows that we are fighting right now." The next moment, six gigantic bars of metal appeared around Shang, and they began to spin rapidly. As they spun, they released powerful bolts of lightning, which connected the bars with each other. In an instant, Shang was surrounded by a terrifying sphere of powerful and aggressive lightning. SHING! Suddenly, all the bars stopped spinning and pointed at Shang. BANG! And shot towards him! As the Domain of Entropy epassed the bars, all the lightning weakened, but that was not the point of the attack. The lightning had been used to speed up the bars, increasing their power. CRK! Wester''s heart nearly stopped. What had he just seen?! Just now, Shang had kicked two bars away, caught two in his hands, and parried thest two with a couple of his tentacles! And he still hadn''t moved from his spot! "Should he help me?" "Should he destroy me?" "| think he''s not sure what he should do," Shang said with a chuckle. BOOOOOOM! The next instant, Wester unleashed an apocalyptic beam of light! It was Wester''s strongest single-target Spell! It used a huge amount of Mana, and it focused all of its power on only a single point. Shang''s Domain of Entropy wouldn''t be able to even get rid of 10% of its power! It was so fast that Shang couldn''t possibly avoid it! It was so strong that it would punch through however many limbs Shang put in front of it. Then, something moved between Shang and the beam. DING! BOOOOOOOM!T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Suddenly, Wester felt his Mana drain by over 30%! What?! How did his own Spell suddenly fire back at him? Meanwhile, Shang just chuckled as he moved the tentacle with the Colossal Sword back to its original position again. Shang had used one of his old techniques, Reflection. Sadly, in order to gain the power to pull it off, he had to sacrifice one more tentacle, leaving him with only around 30. "That''s why he''s letting us fight, Wester," Shang said. ¡°One side represents the selfless goal of protecting the world." "The other side represents the selfish goal of sacrificing the world for yourself." "He''s not sure, Wester." "He doesn''t know what to do.¡± Shang chuckled some more. ¡°And that''s why he''s letting us decide." "But deep down, he knows what will happen? "He only wants to feel like he gave the other option a sincere evaluation." "He has alreadymitted to sacrificing the world.¡± Wester''s mind was trying toe up with a n, but he couldn''t. ¡°How about | show him What choice he truly made?" And then, Shang started to move towards Wester. Chapter 992 Chapter 992 Wester unleashed several Spells, but Shang just kept dealing with them. If Wester used energy-based attacks, Shang just used his Domain of Entropy and blocked them with several swords. If Wester used physical attacks, Shang just used his body, Void Break, and Sword Focus to parry them. If Wester used Domains, Shang just canceled their effect with his own Domain. What else could Wester do? There wasn''t much left. As Wester kept attacking him, Shang kept elerating. In the beginning, Wester was faster than Shang, but when Shang started to use Void Break and Sword Focus, Wester became slower. And when Shang used his Concepts to increase his speed even more, Wester couldn''t retreat anymore. He would need to use Mana Step, but Mana Step cost a terrifying amount of Mana! That was when Wester got an idea. When Shang came close, Wester readied his most powerful Spell again. From this distance, Shang wouldn''t be able to block the Spell with his swords. It was simply too fast! When Shang arrived in front of Wester, he moved his tentacles. Meanwhile, Wester was about to unleash his Spell. BANGBANGBANGBANGBANGBANG! In a single instant, over 30 swords hit Wester''s Mana Shield! Even more, all of these swords used extremely advanced and terrifying techniques specific to the kind of sword. Naturally, Shang had easilyprehended Impose for all of these swords. The sables moved in graceful arcs. The sabers moved with aggression. The huge swords unleashed terrifying power. The small swords unleashed several attacks. The rapiers stabbed forward. And Shang''s body supported all of this. Shang''s tentacles had been made to unleash just as much power as when he used an arm. In just an instant, Wester was hit by every kind of sword imaginable. It was a meat grinder! And when Wester tried to unleash his Spells, he realized something that chilled him to the core. He didn''t have enough Mana left to finish the Spell! The next moment, Wester''s Mana Shield broke under Shang''s Domain of Entropy. Naturally, Shang''s thinnest tentacle moved forward and wound itself around Wester''s neck, keeping him from falling. Another tentacle just pped Wester''s Focus to the side, destroying it. This hadn''t even been a fight. The sheer power of Shang''s body was ridiculous. "| no longer have a human body, Wester," Shang said. "You can barely win against an Abomination King as you are, andpared to Abomination Kings, | actually know how to fight." "Trying to kill me with just a four-level advantage is akin to suicide." Wester just looked with anger and spite at Shang. "You weren''t this powerful earlier!" he shouted. Shang smirked. "You''re right.¡± "Because, back then, | was still a human." Then, Shang moved Wester so that he faced Aterium. "Look onest time at the world, Wester. In the future-" CRK! "Whoops," Shang said as he saw Wester''s head fall off his body. "Sorry, squeezed too hard." Within seconds, Wester''s perception vanished, and he died. "Well, you would''ve died soon anyway," Shang shouted after the falling head. "Don''t take it to heart, okay?¡± Amomentter, Wester''s head appeared beside Shang, and Shang just looked into the dead eyes. Somehow, this scene reminded Shang of the end of his first trial. God had done something simr back then. ¡°Except that | was still alive back then,¡± Shang said. "| don''t have God''s power yet." The next moment, Shang looked up at the sky. ¡°| wonder, was Lucius that powerful back then?" Shang asked with a smirk. Of course, Shang didn''t receive an answer. "| hope you''re looking forward to our battle in the future." "| sure am." After a couple of seconds, Shang took out his pin. "Gregorio, it seems like Wester has fallen ill. He can''te to work tomorrow." Silence. "Did you wish the roles were reversed?" Shang asked. Silence. "There was never a going back," Gregorio answered with a helpless sigh. "Shang, | have felt your power." "It''s not of this world anymore.¡± ¡°Abaddon''s power is still of this world. His power might represent the peak, but it is still part of this world." "Yours isn''t.¡± "| knew from the very beginning that you would win." "Oh?" Shang uttered with a grin. "Then why did you let hime to me?" Silence. "| didn''t want to kill my friend," Gregorio said. "He was a danger to our ns, but | still didn''t want to kill him." "If he simply did nothing for his remaining 15,000 years or so, | would have happily let him be. Receiving a peaceful end was the last | could have given him for the long service he had provided." Shang heard a sighe through the pin. "But he just couldn''t help himself investigating. If he had simply ignored the Mana disturbance, nothing would have happened" "Sadly, Wester was too principled." ¡°And | guess that was why | had such a high opinion of him." Sflence. "Shang, it''s important that you know that | genuinely anticipated that you would win. | am honest when | say that | didn''t want Wester to win this fight and that | fully support you." "We''ve been in this together for around 20,000 years now, and | will not betray you." ¡°My only wish is to leave the world and visit the greater worlds. You told me that Earth had something like a universe. If Aterium has something simr, | want to see it." "| want to see people that can destroy a world with a sneeze." "| want to see beasts bigger than the entirety of Aterium." "| want to see mountains that are so high that | can''t even climb them." ¡°| want to feel young again.¡± "| want to experience and discover the wider universe." "If you need to consume or destroy Aterium for that. so be it." "But Shang, if there is a way to let Aterium survive, please consider it." "Yet, even if there isn''t, | will follow you." As Shang listened to Gregorio''s speech, he couldn''t help smirking. ¡®Indecisiveness is a bad trait, Gregorio,¡¯ Shang thought ¡®However, | believe you."N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. "Since you didn''t intend to kill me, we can still work together.¡¯ "I''m d to hear that," Shang answered. ¡®But don''t try anything else!" Chapter 993 Chapter 993 After talking for a bit more, Gregorio retrieved Wester''s corpse. It was important that Wester''s Mana didn''t disperse. After all, Gregorio had to make sure that Wester died of natural causes in about 15,000 years. Then, he would need to hand his Mana back to the other Emperors, after which it would be imed in the next Grand Tournament. The Mana of a Mage King represented a change in destiny for someone. Someone''s longevity would quadruple, and they would join the 100 most powerful beings in the world. And yet, it was worthless to Shang. Inparison to everyone else in the world, Shang wasn''t missing Mana. Shang was the only person in the world who could absorb Mana and Entropy from outside the world. For example, even though Shang had sacrificed some tentacles to Entropy, he simply summoned an Abomination King to rece them. Afterprehending the Concept of Entropy, Shang no longer had to fear the cost of unleashing Entropy. If he wanted, he could have also unleashed Entropy in a st at Wester, but the destructive powers of this st would warn the entire world. At that moment, Shang would die. Shang was very confident in his power, but he still knew that he couldn''t fight any Emperors yet. But Shang also knew that the chances of dying were very low from now on. Even though Shang couldn''t directly resist an Emperor yet, things wouldn''t stay like this forever. Soon, Shang would reach a level of power not even the Emperors could resist. After thinking about all of this, Shang thought about what he should do next. He couldn''t just keep absorbing Abominations without end. His body always needed a bit of time to digest the Abominations. ¡®In about 15,000 years, | should be a Peak Sword King,¡¯ Shang thought. "| wonder, should | look at all the Concepts during that time?" Then, Shang snorted.Text ? 2024 N?velDrama.Org. ¡®Concepts?¡¯ he thought with a sneer. ''The rules that dictate how Aterium works?¡± ¡®Why would | care?" ¡®These Concepts only dictate how this single world works.¡¯ ¡®Can | even use them outside this world?¡¯ ¡®Is there even a point to learning how such a weak world operates?" Shang raised his right hand and clenched it into a fist. ¡®No, my body and techniques are the only things | can truly rely on.¡¯ "My body will always be strong, and my techniques will always remain usable." ¡®The final Destination of a warrior''s Path, huh? Shang smirked. ¡®Is it truly?¡± ¡®Is it truly the final one?" "Or, maybe every other Warrior Emperor in the past was just trash?" Shang''s tentacles moved around a bit. ¡®I''m certain | can improve my power even more!¡¯ ¡®A sword? A sword is only a fancy fang! There is so much more | can do!" As Shang thought about the endless possibilities that his new body represented, Gregorio looked at Wester''s repaired corpse with pain. Wester had been Gregorio''s friend for a long time, and Gregorio had enjoyed talking to Wester. Gregorio still remembered his old assistants, but none of them had the refined charm of Wester. "You didn''t deserve this end, old friend," Gregorio said with a sigh. "Someone as talented as you deserves to be a Mage Emperor." "Yet, all of us old guys with our twofold and threefold Spirit Senses are hogging all the Mana, making it impossible for you." Gregorio looked at the Lightning Manor absentmindedly. "I''m not certain about the world anymore." "It''s so beautiful, and it''s my home." ¡°But what good is a world where the talented new generation is helplessly suppressed by the undying weak old generation?" "If you had been born during any other time, I''m certain you would have be a Mage Emperor. After all, peace between the Emperors had only be a thing when there were only Mages left." Gregorio looked at Wester. "You said you loved the world.¡± "The world has suppressed you for so long and cut off your future, but you still loved it." Gregorio sighed once again. "Sadly, I''m not as kind and forgiving as you, Wester." "| only want to go on adventures again." Gregorio leaned back in his chair as he looked at the ceiling with a depressed expression. "I''m a selfish asshole." Sflence. After a while, Gregorio looked towards the direction of the Judgment Pce. "Maybe resetting the world isn''t such a bad thing.¡± "At least, then, we will have many different Paths again, and everyone has control over their own destiny." "Maybe Abaddon isn''t the destroyer of the world." "Maybe he''s actually the savior." The next moment, Gregorio looked towards the northwest with worry. ¡°And the best thing | can do is to stop the true destroyer of the world from destroying it." Gregorio sighed once more. ¡°But even if he does, | still won''t stop him." Gregorio leaned forward and put his head in his hands. "I''m pathetic." "I''m sorry, Lucius." While all of this was happening, two people were talking to each other in the middle of the Judgment Pce. ¡°Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Kali asked emotionlessly. Abaddon just smiled bright and confidently. "You were the one that told me about his powers, Mother." "Do you think my n is bad?" Kali looked at Abaddon with even eyes. "No, it''s just not what I''ve expected of you." Abaddon chuckled a bit. "Mother, you always told me that my confidence is too great and that you believe | would crack under genuine pressure." "Is that what you meant when you said this isn''t what you''ve expected?" Kali continued to stare lifelessly at Abaddon. She didn''t answer. ¡°Mother, | always told you that | am not blind to true power and changing circumstances." "We have seen the Abominations, and we can see that they do note from our world.¡± "The existence of the Abominations is proof of a wider world out there." "In the past, my goal has been to be the God of this world." ¡°But now, not anymore." ¡°Why not leave this world?" Abaddon chuckled a bit as he looked towards the northwest. ¡°And our little friend seems to be the key.¡± Chapter 994 Chapter 994 Time passed. Since Wester had passed away, Gregorio''s workload had multiplied. It wasn''t difficult for Gregorio to imitate Wester''s voice and aura via his Transmission Medal, but Gregorio had to deal with a lot of things. ¡®That''s what | get for letting Shang deal with this,¡¯ he thought in exhaustion. ¡®If | had intervened before Wester went to search for Shang, he would probably still work for me.¡¯ ¡®At least, | only have to continue like this for another 15,000 years, and | can also make Wester retire 5,000 years before his natural end." While Gregorio was trying to deal with Wester''s workload, the world was entering a period of peace and hope. No more Abomination Lords! No more war! No more Shang! The war had been going on for over 20,000 years, which meant that several generations of Ancestral Mages had been born and died during the war. Ancestral Mages could live for 5,000 years, and four generations of those had been born into war and died while the war was still raging on. Only the oldest Mage Lords and the Mage Kings could remember a time before the war. But now, the war was finally over! And even better, the worsening situation with the Abominations had also ended. The Ancestral Mages and more powerful knew of the Child of Cmity, and they knew that the Child of Cmity hadn''t increased in power for a very long time. No one knew who the Child of Cmity was, but they knew that the Child of Cmity had to be around 25,000 years old or even older. This created three possibilities, and all of them were not that bad. One, the Child of Cmity was very close to running out of longevity. Two, the Child of Cmity had died. Three, there had never been a Child of Cmity this time, and the Abominations had just increased in power naturally. These cases all didn''t matter since the Empress of Death had found a way to get rid of the most powerful Abominations. With enough time, she would probably also find a way to deal with the weaker Abominations. Some people argued that this didn''t make a lot of sense. After all, Abomination Lords were more powerful than Ancestral Abominations. So, how could it be harder to stop Ancestral Abominations from appearing than Abomination Lords? If the Empress of Death could get rid of Abomination Lords, she should also be able to get rid of weaker Abominations. But some people also had very strong counterarguments. "In order to filter something smaller and weaker, the filter needs to be more precise and more advanced. Therefore, it is easier to stop Abomination Lords from appearing than Ancestral Abominations." "Also, if it were so easy to stop weaker Abominations from appearing, why had the first three Realms of the Abominations always appeared throughout history?" Most people believed that Kali would one day be able to deal with the weaker Abominations as well. In general, people were very hopeful, and many people would rather look at a more positive future than a grim one. All the powerful Ancestral Mages and Mage Lords thought about the friends and family they had lost to the Abominations. The Abominations had destroyed such a significant part of the world, and they had killed so many people. Finally, the world had a shot at getting rid of them. As everything calmed down, more powerful Mages were born, and within just a couple of thousand years, the poption of the Mage Lords had recovered to the same level as before the war. No matter how many people died during the war, the poption would always recoven The poption of Mage Kings had also recovered. Of course, in exchange, the poption of Beast Kings had declined. In order to keep the number of Mage Kings at 90, the Emperors had decided to kill a couple of Beast Kings for Mana. 5,000 years after the Grand Tournament in which Shang had participated, Cynthia became a Mage King. With Cynthia being a Mage King now, the Lightning Manor had seven Mage Kings again, the same number as when Shang had joined. Wester, the Custodian. While Shang and Gregorio knew that he was dead, the world didn''t know yet. Kiran, the Catastrophe King. Sarah, the Starlight Queen. Amarius, the Dawnlight King. Emilia, the Heartdevil Queen. Eluriel, the Voidspace King. Cynthia, the Arctic Queen. The departments had also shifted around. The Starlight Queen gave the Reconnaissance Department to the Voidspace King and took over the Reinforcement Department. The Starlight Queen also gave the second Department she had run for a while, the Research Department, to the Arctic Queen.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. After running several departments for over 20,000 years, the Starlight Queen had finally earned some peace and quiet. Additionally, she had also proven that her skills were invaluable, which was why she had gotten the second-most-important Department after the Administration Department. If the Mage King of the Reinforcement Department didn''t do a good job, the Lightning Manor wouldn''t get new Mage Kings. 20,000 years ago, the Starlight Queen had been the newest Mage King, and she had to prove herself with an unimportant Department like Reconnaissance. And now, she had finally gotten a valuable position. 20,000 years ago, Queen Primordium ran the Reinforcement Department. Queen Primordium had been much more powerful than the Starlight Queen back then. But now, the Starlight Queen was close to being able to use the Domain Spell. And when she finally mastered it, she could have rivaled the Queen Primordium from the past. As time passed, the new reced the old. However, all the Mage Kings also knew that a big change would soon take ce. They knew that the Custodian would soon die. Luckily, they had already determined a worthy sessor. Kiran, the Catastrophe King. While Kiran wasn''t as powerful as the Custodian, he could use the Domain Spell, and he still had over 40,000 years left. With a bit of luck, he might even enter the top five of all Mage Kings. The Lightning Manor was recovering. The bad times were over. From now on, the world would recover. Finally, the dark times were over! Chapter 996 Chapter 996 No one had ever seen an Abomination Emperor. ording to the Watcher''s Record, Abominations hadn''t existed for that long, and when they had appeared, they had been extremely weak. When Lucius had be powerful, the strongest Abomination anyone had ever seen was an Abomination King. No one had ever seen an Abomination Emperor. Even more, Shang was actually quite confident that Lucius had never actually summoned an Abomination Emperor himself. There were a couple of reasons for that. First of all, Lucius had never undergone the Bloodline Infusion. One had to remember that Shang was only able to use the True Domain of Entropy because his body was essentially an Abomination. Even more, Lucius had needed to kill almost all other Emperors to be a God. If he hadprehended the True Concept of Entropy, he definitely hadn''t transformed his body and mind. Shang was certain that Lucius had still been a human. So, Lucius hadn''t had the ability to absorb Abominations to be more powerful, and summoning Abominations also wouldn''t help him in aplishing any of his goals. He probably even used his status as the Child of Cmity to stop more Abominations from appearing. In Lucius¡¯ mind, summoning an Abomination Emperor was probably akin to endangering the entire world. But Shang didn''t have any of these issues. Shang wanted to know what an Abomination Emperor looked like, and that was enough reason for him to summon one. Shang closed his eyes and searched for an Abomination Emperor. And he didn''t need to search for long. Almost instantly, Shang felt thousands of Abomination Emperors. When Shang felt the sheer number of Abomination Emperors, his guess had been confirmed. The world of the Abominations was vastly superior to Aterium. Shangughed and grabbed one of the Abomination Emperors. He easily cut the connection between it and its inferiors, and Shang pulled it out. The Abomination Emperor was easily pulled out of its world, but surprisingly, it neither helped Shang nor refused him. It was like it was just bored, and decided to just go along with whatever was happening. SHING! The next moment, it appeared in front of Shang. Surprisingly, the Abomination Emperor wasn''t even that big. In fact, it was just a bit over 180 centimeters tall, the size of an average man. On top of that, it also almost looked like a human. While its form and its limbs appeared human, there were still many tentaclesing out of its back. Compared to Shang''s tentacles, these were not tentacles ending in weapons. Just like with the weaker Abominations, these tentacles basically served no purpose. They couldn''t be used as weapons, and they even got in the way a couple of times. Naturally, the number of tentacles had decreased as the Abominations had be more powerful. An Abomination Lord only had tentacles on its face, while an Abomination King had no tentacles. But now, the shape of the body was different, and the tentacles had returned. Apparently, a sort of transformation had taken ce between the Abomination King and the Abomination Emperor Realm. The human standing in front of Shang had no scales, but its body was still an unnatural ashen color. Shang was quite intrigued by the appearance of the Abomination Emperor. Amomentter, the Abomination Emperor opened its eyes and nced at Shang with interest. There was no respect or disrespect in its eyes. It was simply curiosity. It was almost innocent. However, Shang realized how terrifying this actually was. This was no longer something with a pseudo-intelligence. This Abomination Emperor was like a little child, a being with actual intelligence. It just hadn''t gained any experience or knowledge of the world yet. But with a bit of time, it would quickly learn many things. When Shang saw the Abomination Emperor open its eyes, he felt a bit uncertain. He felt like this wasn''t the best idea. The next moment, the Abomination Emperor looked around the world with interest. Surprisingly, it wasn''t interested in destroying the world just yet. Amomentter, it furrowed its brows and held out its right hand. BZZZZT! Shang''s eyes widened when he saw some lightning appear on top of the Abomination Emperor''s hand. Even more, Shang recognized that the Abomination Emperor had used the level one Concept of Lightning, Spark! Yet, hadn''t the Abomination Emperor just been a newborn baby?! How had it already mastered a Concept?! The Abomination Emperor closed its hand and opened it again. The next moment, the lightning in its hand began to spin, and the Abomination Emperor looked at the lightning with interest. Shang felt a cold shiver run down his shoulder. The level two Concept of Lightning, Maism! BZZZ! Then, the lightning exploded. The level three Concept of Lightning, Shock! More lightning appeared, and it began to spin in a circle as a concentrated bolt. The level four Concept of Lightning, Bolt! At that moment, Shang felt something terrifying. Just now, the Abomination Emperor hadn''t felt that dangerous to Shang. It had barely felt like an issue. Acouple of good attacks, and the Abomination Emperor would cease to exist.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. However, as the Abomination Emperor keptprehending Concepts, the feeling of threat it was emanating rapidly intensified! The next moment, the lightning in the Abomination Emperor''s hands changed color, and Shang took a deep breath. The level five Concept of Lightning, Lightning itself! Shang could feel that the Abomination Emperor was very quickly turning into something that could fight him! WHOOOOOM! Shang activated his Domain of Entropy. He had to stop the Abomination Emperor now! The Abomination Emperor looked with interest at Shang before furrowing its brows. The next moment, Shang felt an apocalyptic pressure crushing his body, making it extremely difficult to move. Shang gritted his teeth, and ten of his tentacles turned into nothingness. BOOOOOM! Ahumongous cut went through the world, and the pressure on Shang became weaker. Amomentter, Shang saw the bisected body of the Abomination Emperor before his Domain of Entropypletely turned it into Mana and Entropy. Shang took a deep breath and used the Entropy and Mana to regrow his limbs before pocketing the remainder. Sure enough, Abomination Emperors were truly dangerous. Chapter 997 Chapter 997 Shang continued training and refining hisbat style. By now, he had found quite a few ways to strengthen himself even further, and he was sure that some of these things were on the same level as the final Destination for warriors. The world had existed for a very long time, and many people had found their way to the top. Yet, Shang was also certain that not every possible path had been explored to the fullest. The world could amodate many more things, and Shang knew that he could create more and more new things. By now, Shang was even thinking about how the world actually managed to support some of Shang''s creations. Shang could tell that the world worked on a certain ruleset, and many abilities could be used with the support of the world. For example, when Shang used World Connection, he was technically not hitting his enemy. The world itself emted Shang''s physical strike and struck the opponent. If the world didn''t support Shang, Shang wouldn''t be able to hit someone with this kind of attack. Magic was extremely simr. The Concepts represented the rules of the world, and some of the Spells made with these Concepts relied on the world itself. For example, the Domain Spell used the Gravity, Time, and Space Mana from the world itself and changed them. Of course, the Mage also had to use their own Mana, but that was only part of it. What about the existence of Mana itself? Did the other worlds even have Mana, or did they use something else? What if the other worlds relied on a mixture of Mana and Entropy, just like Shang''s body? Sword Heart also relied on the world. Without the world actively following someone''s will, many powers wouldn''t even work. And with many of Shang''s new powers, he saw the world reciprocating as well. It was quite surprising. Shang was quite certain that some of the things he had invented had never been invented in the past. So, how would the world know how to reciprocate these abilities? Was it an automatic thing, or did the God do this? ¡®No, it''s definitely not him,¡¯ Shang thought with a snort. ¡®Means it''s an automatic thing.¡¯ Something like this was quite impressive, but Shang''s horizons had already been widened. Who cares about how this weak world worked? One of the thousands of Abomination Emperors could end it. From what Shang had seen, it would simplyprehend all the Concepts in a matter of minutes, be unattackable, and then destroy all the Mana. Was this the end goal of the Abominations? Just get an Abomination Emperor into the world? It was definitely possible. After all, the Ninth Realm represented the highest Realm in the world, except for the God. In front of the Abominations, Aterium couldn''t even resist. SHING! Shang shed with one of his tentacles, leaving behind a ck tear in the air. Amomentter, all the Mana in Shang''s surroundings was sucked into the ck tear. Shang just looked with ridicule at the ck tear that was absorbing the Mana. This wasn''t exactly one of Shang''s techniques. This was simply a result of Shang bing too powerful. By using all of his powers and actively targeting reality, Shang could create a tear in reality, which would continue absorbing Mana indefinitely. ¡®This world is so weak.¡¯ ¡®I''m not even in the Ninth Realm, and | can already tear it apart.¡¯ ¡®What a disgusting world.¡¯ Shang watched with disgust as the tear slowly began to close. It took the tear nearly ten full seconds to close fully, which was just pathetic in Shang''s eyes. Whenever Shang moved or did anything, he felt like he had to be careful, lest he identally break little poor Aterium. It was like Shang had to walk on eggshells all the time. He hated it. He hated this world for being so weak. Nevertheless, Shang had to wait for about 8,000 more years. Well, he didn''t have to, but he wanted to. Whenever Shang thought of the future, he had to grin. ¡®You Emperors have been a pain in the ass for long enough." "You tried your best to kill and suppress me, and after so long, | can finally take revenge." ¡®Be a Sword Emperor?" Shang smirked. ¡®No, that would be boring.¡¯ ¡®| want to make them lose all hope." ¡®| want them to try everything to kill me.¡¯ ¡®| want to give them hope before crushing it! ¡®| won against Wester with a four - level disadvantage." "So, why can''t | win against one of these useless Mage Emperors with a five - level disadvantage? ¡®Wester already knew many level six Concepts, and the Mage Emperors just know a couple more." ¡®But what''s the point of having level six Concepts?" ¡®What''s the point?!" "My power is absolute!" "My power no longer follows the conventions of this world!" "You are all just pathetic little worms living in the rotting piece of shit you call Aterium!" ¡®Your useless little toys can''t do anything to help you when someonees with an actual weapon!" ¡®L will show you!" ¡®For everything you''ve done to me, | will tear down your hope again and again before | snuff out your lives!" m going to destroy your Mage Kings!¡¯ m going to destroy your Mage Lords? m going to destroy your Empires! m going to destroy everything you hold dear!¡¯ ¡®| will rid this world of humanity, and while I''m at it, | might as well rid this world of every other life as well!" ¡®And I''m not even doing this for the level six Concept of Death.¡¯ ¡®I''m just doing this because you all want to save Aterium." "You all tried to take my life from me." "So, | will take everything that you love away from you!" Shang couldn''t stop smiling happily. It felt so great. He was so excited! Just about 8,000 more years!T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. In 8,000 more years, he could finally turn the Mage Emperors¡¯ lives into a world of despair and hopelessness! Chapter 998 Chapter 998 998 Chapter 998 - Silent End More years passed. By now, the world had recovered in full. Except for the couple of Beast Kings that had been sacrificed for the Mage Kings, the world had fully recovered. While the war was technically still ongoing, no one had truly fought in it, and people didn''t even think about it. There hadn''t been any battles in thousands of years. The war didn''t even feel like it existed. Except for the Abominations, the world had be peaceful again. However, the existence of the Abominations had already be a normality for all the people. While Abomination Lords had stopped appearing, Ancestral Abominations and weaker still kept appearing, but they had been appearing for such a long time that not even Mage Lords remembered a time before them. And if not even the Mage Lords had witnessed a world without Ancestral Abominations, how would the weaker people feel? It had always been like this. Naturally, the appearance of the Abominations gave the world a certain feeling of doomsday, but the Empress of Death represented hope. She had already managed to get rid of Abomination Lords. At some point, she could also get rid of Ancestral Abominations! They were sure! After tens of thousands of years of terrifying war, the world was finally in an age of hope and peace. Yet, while the general public looked at the development of the world with bright eyes, the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors felt very different. The closer they got to the Ultimate Tournament, the more worried they got.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. All of them had already seen Abaddon''s power before, and they all knew that he could fight them. He wouldn''t even need to be a Mage Emperor. Of course, if two Emperors attacked him, he probably wouldn''t win. But what after he became a Mage Emperor? Then, they would all need to fight him simultaneously. It was really dangerous. In secret, many of the Emperors had alreadye to talk to Gregorio in private. ¡°Hey, now that all of this is over, do you really want to go through with the Ultimate Tournament?" they asked. "After all, you wanted this tournament for your warrior, right?" One had to remember that the tournament only existed because Gregorio had threatened everyone with releasing the Archivist. If Gregorio stopped threatening them with the Archivist, they could just not hold the tournament. Yet, Gregorio shot all of them down. "You wanted this," Gregorio answered with annoyance. "Originally, | helped Shang because | wanted him to kill Abaddon. While | can''t negotiate with Abaddon, | was able to negotiate with Shang.¡± "| wanted Shang to kill Abaddon, give him a couple of Kings and Emperors so that he can be a God, and make him deal with the Abominations." "But because of you, he kept destroying himself more and more until he became something that | don''t even recognize anymore. How am | supposed to stop someone like that from destroying the world?" "But then, he died." ¡°And now, you''re stuck with Abaddon." "So, no, | won''t stop threatening you with the Archivist." "If the tournament doesn''t happen, | will release the Archivist." "You dug your grave. Now, you have to lie in it." Obviously, the Mage Emperors weren''t the biggest fans of Gregorio''s answer. Most of them just argued more. Some of them reacted with aggression and called Gregorio a sore loser. And one of them, Linastra Boomwitch, even agreed with Gregorio to a certain extent. Linastra Boomwitch said that she had been on the sidelines for too long and that she should have supported him. But Gregorio just said that it was already toote. The damage was already done. The fate of the world was set. He told her that the world would end in about 5,000 years after the Ultimate Tournament. Of course, Linastra didn''t fully believe that. After all, the final battle between the Emperors and Abaddon hadn''t happened yet. There was a real chance that they could win. Gregorio didn''t answer. When Linastra left, Gregorio just looked towards the northwest. He saw Shang, or more precisely, what Shang had be. The more time passed, the less human Shang became. By now, his body didn''t even look human. Shang was no longer human. In fact, Shang wasn''t even an Abomination. Shang had be his own being. The most fitting word Gregorio coulde up with was Nightmare. Shang had be a Nightmare. An enemy to all life and existence. The end of the world. Shang had be the apocalypse. Gregorio knew that the world was already over. More years passed, and the Ultimate Tournament was already on the horizon. Acouple of old Mage Kings died, and new ones were crowned, but none of that mattered anymore. The Mage Emperors were fully focused on the Ultimate Tournament, and they came up with many strategies. They wanted to include Gregorio in their meetings, but Gregorio declined. He was done with them. Eventually, only a thousand years were left. Shang was now 50,000 years old, and he had been in the Sword King Realm for 21,000 years. For 21,000 years, he had worked on nothing but his power, and his results were terrifying. Shang''s power kept escting to the point that he wouldn''t even need any Abominations to destroy the world. He wouldn''t even need to reach the Ninth Realm. He could just tear Aterium''s reality slowly apart. When Gregorio saw Shang, he felt only one thing. eptance. The world didn''t know, but the end was already certain. There would be no excitement. There would be nost epic battle. Shang''s power had reached ces that no one had even dared imagine. Shang had be so powerful that he could probably even fight the Archivist... As a Peak Sword King. This was no battle for survival. Without anyone noticing, Shang had already be the undisputed strongest being in the entire world. He had already be the ruler. He might not be a God, but he was already one in practice. Gregorio just looked at the world with mncholy. For thest millennium, Gregorio just watched the world. It was like watching a loved one slowly dying. And then, it was time. The 50,000 years were up. The Ultimate Tournament was here. The end of the world had arrived. Chapter 999 Chapter 999 It was finally time. After 50,000 years, the time had finally arrived. The Ultimate Tournament. The strongest Mage King would be the newest Mage Emperor!N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. While all the weaker people were excited about the rise of another Emperor, the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors became worried. While the normal people didn''t know the specifics about every Mage King, the Mage Kings themselves knew that this tournament was only for show. They knew that King Sanctified Death would win. Whenever any of the Mage Kings just so much as looked at him, they already felt helplessly inferior. It was like they were looking at a Mage Emperor! King Sanctified Death was on a level that they couldn''t even hope to resist! Luckily, this tournament wasn''t to the death. Because of that, the Mage Kings could still try fighting ng Sanctlfied Death. Many of them always wanted to fight against the most talented Mage in existence. Due to King Sanctified Death, the Mage Emperors decided against holding the tournament inside the Judgement Pce Empire. Instead, they decided to hold it in the south, in the Event Horizon Empire. Since the Event Horizon Empire specialized in Space, Time, and Gravity Magic, the center of their Empire was made of especially malleable space. In the center of the Event Horizon Empire, a monumental grey pearl floated in the sky. It was over 5,000 kilometers wide, but that wasn''t even close to its entire size. The Space, Time, and Gravity Mana inside the grey pearl had beenpressed by so much that the inside was over a. million kilometers wide. Sadly, the warped Mana inside the pearl made it impossible toprehend any Concepts. This pearl was called the Horizon, which gave the Event Horizon Empire part of its name. In a way, it was simr to the reality tear that Shang had once traveled through. The Empires decided that the final battle over the fate of the world would be held here. Just as promised, they would hold the tournament and hand over King Sanctified Death''s prize. And then, the final battle would take ce. Abaddon might not want to destroy all the matter in the world, but for living beings, he might as well be just as dangerous as the Abominations. After Shang had died around 25,000 years ago, Abaddon had be the enemy of the Mage Emperors. If they managed to get rid of Abaddon, they would only have to deal with the Abominations. Of course, Kali would probably also have to die since she would most likely take Abaddon''s side. So, it was very possible that the Abomination Lords would return to the world. After all, Kali had probably rigged her Magic Circles to explode in case she died. But the Mage Emperors were already prepared for that. Three of them had focused onprehending the Magic Circles Kali had created, and they had already gleaned a lot of information from them. They were not yet certain how these Magic Circles could stop Abominations from appearing, but the Emperors now had a direction they could focus on. Eventually, one of them would be able to recreate Kali''s Spell. And then, all the problems would be solved. They only hoped that they would be able to resist Abaddon''s attacks and kill him. Luckily, Gregorio had only said that the tournament needed to conclude officially. This meant that a winner had to be crowned, and the prize had to be handed over. However, that didn''t mean that everyone had to wait for Abaddon to absorb his prize. That moment would be when the fate of the world was decided. As the tournament grew closer, one person after the other arrived. As the host, Isis N eweston was already present, and she waited in the middle of the Horizon with her candidate. Isis Neweston''s candidate was her most powerful Mage King, a young-looking man with grey hair and grey eyes. His title was Eternity King, and he belonged to one of the ten most powerful Mage Kings in the world. The first other Emperor that arrived was Nivera Preston, the Deepsteel Empress. Her candidate was an adult woman with grey, azure, and white hair. This was the Icespear Queen. The Icespear Queen had been Wester''s rival, and she was the reason why Wester had always only been second or third ce amongst the Mage Kings. The Icespear Queen was one of the rare prodigies that were seen only once in a hundred thousand years. She had three Afiinities! Ice, Lightning, and Metal! Now, after Wester had died, the Icespear Queen had be the undisputed second ce among the Mage Kings. The next person who arrived wasJenny Greenhouse. Her candidate was a girl with orange and blue hair who naturally had a Dual Affinity of Fire and Ice. Her title was Fierycold Queen, and she belonged to the top ten of Mage Kings. The next one that arrived was Linastra Boomwitch, and her candidate was a man with light-red hair and red robes. His title was Sacredfiame King. He had Dual Affinity of Fire and Light, and he belonged to the top ten of all Mage Kings. The next one that arrived was Bina Ching with her candidate, who had icy and ck hair. She was the Abyssfrost Queen, and she had a Dual Afiinity of Darkness and Ice. She belonged to the top ten of Mage Kings, but she was most likely within the top five. Next, Brutus Cesar arrived with his candidate, a stalwart, tall, and muscr man. His title was the Unbreakable King, and he had a Dual Afiinity of Earth and Metal. He also had a high likelihood of being among the top five of Mage Kings. The next Emperor that arrived was Amon Gus, and his candidate was a beautiful girl with ck and White hair. She was the Duality Queen, andjust like Amon Gus, she had a Dual Affinity of Light and Darkness. She could also fight for a position among the top five. After Amon Gus arrived, quite some time passed until the next person arrived. It was Kali with her candidate. Naturally, her candidate didn''t need any introduction. Abaddon just politely greeted everyone present. Surprisingly, the other Mage Kings didn''t seem to fear him. Instead, determination appeared in their eyes. Everyone focused on Abaddon. "Can we start?" Amon Gus asked. "We''re missing one," Isis Neweston stated evenly. ¡°Are you sure he wille?" Amon Gus asked with a shake of his head. "After all, the Custodian died, and his true candidate also died. The Catastrophe King is bing quite impressive, but he is not yet on the level of the present people." Silence. "I''m here." Everyone heard Gregorio''s voice with surprise, and a secondter, he appeared to the side with his candidate. When everyone saw the candidate, they felt like their minds had stopped working. Chapter 1000 Chapter 1000 They couldn''t believe what they were seeing. No, this couldn''t be! How?! Why?! While Shang''s Aura and clothing were different, his appearance couldn''t be any more distinguishable. After all, who else was missing his eyes, an arm, and both his legs?! Beside Gregorio hovered a torso with a head and a right arm, epassed by a bloodred piece of cloth. How was he still alive?! When Abaddon looked at Shang, heughed loudly. "You''re still alive!" he shouted with happiness. "And | thought this tournament would be boring!" When the Emperors heard Abaddon''s exmation, their minds started to go wild. Was it really so bad that Shang was alive? If Abaddon and Shang were to fight in the final... And then, the Emperors realized that no one in this tournament was supposed to die. But with a vote, they could probably change that. So, if Abaddon and Shang fought to the death in the final, one of them would be dead, and the other one would be severely injured. As long as Isis Neweston, the organizer of the Ultimate Tournament, handed over the prize very quickly, the Emperors would be able to fight a weakened Abaddon or Shang! Of course, all of that was mixed with many other feelings and thoughts. How did he be a Peak Sword King without anybody noticing? How was he still alive? Hadn''t Lucius said that no non-Mage Emperor was supposed to appear again? What was Gregorio''s n? In an instant, Amon Gus, Brutus Cesar, and Kali gathered Mana in preparation to unleash their Spells. Shang didn''t do anything. Just like always, hejust silently hovered in the air, almost like a ghost. ¡°And what are you nning?" Gregorio asked with a bit of annoyance. ¡°Upholding thew," Kali said. "He has reached the Eighth Realm without being allowed to. ording to thews, he will be killed." ¡°Now, now, Mother," Abaddon said with a smile. "Does that actually matter? After all, | will be fighting him soon. | would hate for my only decent opponent to die before the tournament even starts." Kali furrowed her brows and looked at Abaddon. The next moment, she dispersed her Mana and took a step back. Obviously, Kali had only acted like she wanted to kill Shang to keep up appearances. Kali and Shang were already connected. If she betrayed him, Shang would only need to unveil the method Kali used to get rid of the Abomination Lords. She could only betray Shang after the final battle was over. For now, they were stuck together. However, Brutus Cesar and Amon Gus didn''t back down. ¡°And how did he break thew?" Gregorio asked. Even though Kali had already backed down, her earlier statement also represented the other two Emperors. ¡°How didn''t he break thew?" Amon Gus asked with a snort. "How did he reach the Eighth Realm, and even the Peak of said Realm at that?" "Why would | need to exin?" Gregorio asked calmly. "You''re supposed to prove that he broke thew." ¡°His mere existence is already proof enough,¡± Brutus Cesar grumbled coldly. "How?" Gregorio asked. "You all looked at the Beast Lords and Beast Kings with iparable paranoia for thousands of years, and nothing unusual happened to them." "You constantly checked all the Mage Lords of all the Empires, and you also saw no discrepancies in them either." ¡°Keeping track of all the Mage Kings is especially easy." "There are also no huge genocides." ¡°Over thest 28,000 years, you didn''t evenin about anything for a single time." ¡°Reaching the Eighth Realm isn''t forbidden. It is simply forbidden to consume any of the Beast Kings or a huge number of Beast Lords or Mage Lords." "So, which of thesews did he break?" Gregorio asked. Amon Gus only snorted. "A lot of words to say nothing. Fact is, he took Mana from somewhere, and it is forbidden to take so much Mana without our permission." ¡°Okay, where did he take it from?" Gregorio asked. "It doesn''t matter from where. The fact that he is at the Peak Eighth Realm means that he did just that," Brutus answered. "| need more proof than that," Gregorio said. Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar narrowed their eyes. "Enough," Isis Neweston spoke calmly but with authority. The two angry Emperors looked at her with annoyance. ¡°We all know Gregorio,¡± she said. "He won''t back down without proof, and if he is that confident to appear this openly, it means that it is impossible for us to find proof." "Instead, we should focus on the tournament." ¡°Now, will this be a malicious or benign tournament?" she asked.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar noticed what Isis was doing and stoppedining. Originally, there wasn''t supposed to be a vote for benign or malicious. This was just supposed to be a benign tournament since no Empire actually wanted to lose their most powerful Mage King. Everyone knew that Abaddon would win. There was no point in throwing the lives of their Mage Kings away. But now, things had changed. "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "Malicious." "So, we are all in agreement," Isis Neweston said. "Nine votes for malicious and zero for benign." "This tournament will officially be a malicious tournament. If one side of the battle wants the battle to be malicious, it will be malicious." All the Mage Emperors and Mage Kings focused on Gregorio, Kali, Abaddon, and Shang. All of this was for them. When Shang and Abaddon met, they would obviously choose malicious. After all, they were each other''s greatest enemy and rival. Both of them had lofty goals, and both of them obviously wanted to be the next God. Yet, there was only enough Mana for one of them. This meant that this was the best moment to kill the other person. However, the price would be heavy. Everyone knew that over 50% of all the Mage Kings would die. Sadly, this was a necessary sacrifice to kill one of them and weaken the other. After all, the two of them had to meet in the final. Otherwise, the weakened one would recover. The Mage Kings became extremely nervous, but all of them had lived for a very long time, and they were loyal to their Empires. "Then," Isis Neweston proimed. "The Ultimate Tournament will officially begin!" Chapter 1001 Chapter 1001 The tournament had now officially begun. Yet, before Isis Neweston started to draw the lots, someone spoke up. ¡°I''m conceding.¡± The Mage Emperors looked at Linastra Boomwitch with furrowed brows. "We have too many contestants anyway," Linastra said. ¡°Are you certain that this is what you want?" Isis Neweston said in an even voice, which had a hidden tone of threat and danger toit. The other Mage Emperors were also looking at Linastra with narrowed eyes. Linastra had always stood on the sidelines, and now that the fate of the entire world was being decided, she stood on the sidelines again. She hadn''t helped them against Shang in the past. The least she could do was try to hurt the current Shang or Abaddon. "Yes, I''m certain," Linastra confirmed. At this moment, Linastra felt a thick wave of hatrede towards her. Her old friends were not happy with her at all. "Fine," Isis Neweston said. Behind Linastra, the Sacredme King felt like his life had been spared. He didn''t need to die! The Sacredme King and Linastra stepped back, showing that they were no longer part of thebatants. m willing to support you," Linastra transmitted to Gregorio. Gregorio was a little surprised, but not very much. ¡°How do | know you are not supposed to betray meter and that this isn''t a trick?" Gregorio asked. ¡°lLam willing to hand over my life," Linastra transmitted. "You can use an asynchronous Life Connection Spell.¡± Now, Gregorio was quite certain that Linastra genuinely wanted to help him or that she was willing to sacrifice her life to kill Shang. The next moment, Gregorio contacted Kali. "Linastra is willing to help me, and she is also willing to ept an asynchronous Life Connection Spell." Kali was slightly surprised. One had to know that a Life Connection Spell connected two lives. If one of the two recipients of the Spell died, the other one would die as well. At least, that was how it was with the synchronous version. With the asynchronous version, if person A died, person B would also die. However, if person B died, person A would not die. In this case, if Gregorio died, Linastra would die, but if Linastra died, Gregorio would not die. Amomentter, Kali asked Abaddon. Abaddon was basically the one in charge by now since Abaddon would very soon be superior to Kali. "Fine," Abaddon told Kali, "but | will be the one creating the Spell. | want this to be secure." Kali informed Gregorio, but before Gregorio informed Linastra, he told Kali one more thing. "| want her connected to Shang, not me," Gregorio transmitted. "I can imagine that they n on confining me without killing me, which wouldn''t kill Linastra. If we want to be certain, we need to give it to Shang." Naturally, Gregorio had already asked Shang. Just like with Kali and Abaddon, the leadership between Shang and Gregorio had also switched. Gregorio was no longer the one in charge. Shang was. In fact, it had been Shang''s idea to make him the recipient of the asynchronous Life Connection Spell. Shang had two reasons for it. First, he could just use his Domain of Entropy to negate it if necessary. Second, if anyone nned something with that Spell, Shang wanted to give them some hope before dashing it. The more hope they felt, the better. "Okay," Abaddon answered. While Isis Neweston was drawing lots for the tournament, Abaddon was using his unique Magic to create two tiny bubbles. Abaddon''s Magic was so unique and advanced that none of the Emperors even noticed anything. Amomentter, Abaddon handed the bubbles to Kali, who handed them to Gregorio. ¡°Crush this in your hand," Gregorio told Linastra.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The next moment, something tiny appeared in Linastra''s hand, and she looked at it. She was quite surprised that she couldn''t see how this Spell had been performed. However, she could easily discern what this Spell would do. Sure enough, it was an asynchronous Life Connection Spell, but it worked in a very different way. Nevertheless, it achieved the same effect. Linastra narrowed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then, she crushed it. An instantter, aplex diagram appeared on the palm of Linastra''s hand. However, she didn''t feel a connection yet, which meant that Gregorio hadn''t activated it. Linastra became worried and suspicious, but then, she suddenly felt a connection. Yet, she felt connected to Shang, not Gregorio. Linastra''s eyes opened wide in shock. But just an instantter, she seemed to ept her new circumstances. She didn''t protest. There was nothing she could do anymore. The Spell had been cast, and forcefully breaking it would take several years. None of the other Emperors had noticed what had just happened. "The lots have been drawn," Isis Neweston said. "First, the warrior versus the Duality Queen." "Second, the Eternity King versus the Abyssfrost Queen.¡± "Third, the lcespear Queen versus the Fierycold Queen." ¡°Fourth, the Unbreakable King versus King Sanctified Death." Sure enough, Shang and Abaddon had been ced at opposite corners, but that wasn''t really surprising. No one actually believed that the drawing of the lots had been random. ¡°First match, the warrior versus the Duality Queen." The Duality Queen''s expression had already be solemn. Due to her introverted and power-oriented mindset, she had never seen Shang, but she had heard a lot about him. She knew that Shang was about as powerful as King Sanctified Death. However, for some reason, he didn''t feel very dangerous. In fact, he felt very weak. It was like Shang was close to death. At the same time, Amon Gus looked at Gregorio. He was trying to convince Gregorio to make this a benign battle. After all, he didn''t want to lose his most powerful Mage King. "Malicious," Gregorio asked, ignoring all of Amon Gus'' pleadings. Amon Gus gritted his teeth. "Malicious." The next moment, Shang slowly floated forward. The entire Horizon would be their battlefield. Eventually, Shang stopped around 200,000 kilometers away. The Duality Queen also flew forward and stopped around 450,000 kilometers away from Shang. Isis Neweston looked at the twobatants. "Start!" Chapter 1002 Chapter 1002 The Duality Queen immediately readied her most powerful Spells. She used the Domain Spell and also her Darkness and Light Spells. Shang didn''t do anything. The Duality Queen wasn''t sure why Shang wasn''t doing anything, but she wouldn''t waste such a chance. Amomentter, she had prepared over 30 extremely powerful Spells, and she would unleash them all at once. Acataclysmic storm of Mana gathered around her in preparation. And then... SHING! A ck tear appeared in the world. The spot where the Duality Queen had just been in had vanished. Silence. The Horizon shook as the Space, Time, and Gravity Mana were being torn apart. But the next moment, the tear vanished. And the only thing that remained was an arm, which fell to the ground. The next moment, a brutal storm of Mana exploded out and scattered across the world. Naturally, this was the Duality Queen''s Mana. No one said a word. It had just been too shocking. Shang hadn''t even moved. He hadn''t even done anything. The tear had just appeared on its own, and the Duality Queen had been killed in an instant.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. She had prepared over 30 Spells. With such a long time to prepare, she could have easily gotten the ce of second strongest Mage King in the world. And yet, everything had been for nothing. It didn''t matter what the Duality Queen did. If Shang wanted her dead, she would die. The Emperors couldn''te to terms with what they saw for several seconds. This was even more powerful than they had thought. Meanwhile, a small light appeared in Abaddon''s eyes. For a long time, the Emperors just looked at the unmoving Shang. The Mage Kings behind them felt absolute shock and terror. All the ns for the tournament they had created over the past thousand years had been abandoned at this instant. The Emperors had created some ns where the Mage Kings could unleash some disguised Spells created by the Emperors to maybe kill Abaddon. Of course, these ns could also be used against Shang. But this single strike destroyed all of them. No Mage King except King Sanctified Death could do anything against Shang. He was just too powerful. The only thing the Mage Emperors could do was to force Shang and Abaddon to kill each other. While the Emperors were looking with anxiety at Shang, he was flying back to Gregorio. He hadn''t said a word. One of the strongest Mage Kings had died like an ant in front of an Ancestral Beast. ¡°Winner, the Lightning Manor," Isis Neweston proimed in a neutral voice. Gregorio didn''t seem happy. In fact, he disyed no emotions. It was almost like no development during this tournament could shock or surprise him. And that was actually the case. Gregorio had seen how Shang had developed his powers over thest 22,000 years. Shang had managed to elevate his World Connection to a far higher state. Instead of asking the world to do something, it was like Shang was forcing the world to do something. Itspliance was no longer a factor. Space, Time, and Gravity were also no longer factors. If Shang could perceive someone, they were in his melee range. Shang could unleash 100% of his power at any spot inside of his Spirit Sense. Just now, Shang could have attacked with all of his tentacles, and it would be exactly like Shang stood directly beside the person. Yet, Shang had only needed to unleash a single attack. He had only swung his right index finger around a bit. Even though Shang had countless tentacles with swords on them, the other parts of his body could also act as swords. Just now, Shang had simply transformed his finger into Entropy Ore, which he had then shaped into a small sword. The power of all the gathered Sword Mana inside Shang''s body had exploded forward, unleashing a devastating attack. And yet, it hadn''t even been difficult for Shang. It wasn''t much harder than flipping his hand. Shang''s power had be ridiculous, and Gregorio knew that this wasn''t even close to everything Shang had learned in the last 22,000 years. Amon Gus gritted his teeth, but he knew that he couldn''t do anything about this at the moment. He had to wait untilter. "Next, the Eternity King versus the Abyssfrost Queen." The twobatants stepped forward and eyed each other. The clear favorite was the Abyssfrost Queen. The Eternity King was definitely very powerful, but the Abyssfrost Queen was just too overwhelming. After all, the Abyssfrost Queen was very likely within the top five. "Benign," Isis Neweston said. The other Emperors snorted. They knew that Isis Neweston had given her candidate this fight so that her candidate would leave the tournament without dying. "Malicious." Isis Neweston red at Bina Ching, who only looked back with a slight sneer. Obviously, Isis Neweston wanted Bina Ching¡¯sbatant to fight Shang, which would essentially mean killing her. Bina Ching wasn''t a big fan of that and decided to screw with Isis Neweston''s n. The two Mage Kings narrowed their eyes as they readied themselves. "Start," Isis Neweston announced. The next moment, the two Mage Kings started to sh. The fight was brutal. The Eternity King was going all out from the very beginning, but the Abyssfrost Queen managed to survive the onught. Due to that, the Eternity King ran out of Mana very quickly, and the fight ended in just ten seconds. Naturally, the Eternity King died, and his Mana was scattered across the world. The Abyssfrost Queen returned to hovering behind Bina Ching. ¡°Winner, the Darkcold Empire," Isis Neweston announced with an emotionless voice. The Abyssfrost Queen was not happy at all. After all, she knew that she would die very soon. She had seen Shang''s power, and she knew that she would be as helpless as a child in front of him. "Next, the lcespear Queen versus the Fierycold Queen." The twobatants came forward and faced each other. There was no suspense. Everyone knew that the Icespear Queen would win. "Benign," Jenny Greenhouse said. Nivera Preston looked deeply into Jenny Greenhouse''s eyes. "Benign," Nivera eventually said. The Fierycold Queen released a sigh of relief. She wouldn''t die today. The fight started and ended very quickly, and sure enough, the Icespear Queen won. Although, one had to consider that both Mage Kings had fought very casually. "Winner, the Deepsteel Empire." ¡°Next, the Unbreakable King versus King Sanctified Death." Chapter 1003 Chapter 1003 Brutus Cesar looked at Kali neutrally. Now that Shang was back, the alliance between the three Empires should also be back. They didn''t need to go against each other, right? "Malicious," Kali said. Brutus Cesar gritted his teeth in frustration and hatred. "Malicious," he said with spite. The Unbreakable King stepped forward with furrowed brows while Abaddon stepped forward with a friendly smile. "Start!" Yet, neither of the two did anything. ¡°If 1am going to die, | might as well die to the most talented Mage that has ever lived,¡± the Unbreakable King said. "Oh?" Abaddon asked with an interested expression. "That''s interesting.¡± "Please," the Unbreakable King said, "let me prepare my defenses before you attack. | know that | will lose, but | want to see how long | can hold against you." "Sure, go ahead," Abaddon said with a friendly smile. "Thank you," the Unbreakable King answered before he started to cast several powerful Spells. Amomentter, a terrifying shield of the most powerful metal appeared around him, and the power of a itself seemed to epass and shield him from everything that could harm him. The metal fused with the, and it was almost like the Unbreakable King now represented the core of a star made of iron. "That all?" Abaddon asked. The next moment, the Unbreakable King narrowed his eyes and took out several objects. These were the things that the Emperors had prepared for him to deal with King Sanctified Death. CRKSH! Silence. The star of metal had suddenly imploded to a quarter of its earlier size and started to fall to the ground. Naturally, the Unbreakable King couldn''t survive something like that. "Whoops," Abaddon said with embarrassment. "I thought he could survive that. Sorry for the boring match." When the Emperors saw that, they grew shocked once again. They knew that King Sanctified Death was powerful, but they had no idea that he was that powerful! In fact, he could probably even fight a Mage Emperor. That was a jump of five levels! After all, the Mage Emperors were all at the Peak of their Realm. No other Mage King could even hope to resist them. The Emperors once more realized that their ns wouldn''t work. At this moment, they were actually happy that Shang was here. They needed Shang to weaken King Sanctified Death! ¡°Winner, the Judgment Pce." Abaddon just smiled and flew back to Kali, who didn''t show any reaction to what had happened. Three Mage Kings had already died. "Next round," Isis Neweston said. ¡°First match, the warrior versus the Abyssfrost Queen." Shang floated forward, and the Abyssfrost Queen followed. "Malicious," Gregorio said emotionlessly. "Benign," Bina Ching said, even though it wouldn''t make a difference. "Start!" Isis Neweston announced. In an instant, the Abyssfrost Queen readied several Spells. If she was going to die, at least she would die fighting! BANG! Suddenly, her Mana Shield broke as another ck tear appeared in the world, butpared to thest one, this tear didn''t reach her body. It simply consumed all her Mana. The next moment, the Abyssfrost Queen''s eyes shot open in terror and pain. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH"" An iprehensibly loud scream of terror and pain echoed throughout the world. The Abyssfrost Queen was convulsing in the air, helpless to do anything. The Emperors grimaced at the pure cry of pain they were hearing. They were not certain what was happening, but they knew that Shang was torturing the Abyssfrost Queen. "KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME! KILL ME!" the Abyssfrost Queen kept shouting. But Shang didn''t answer. At this moment, small specks of Entropy were appearing inside the Abyssfrost Queen''s soul. The small specksbined with the bits of Mana and created tiny bursts of Destruction. The Abyssfrost Queen''s soul was being torn apart thousands of times per second. Slowly, Shang''s head turned to look at Bina Ching. His message was clear. Bina Ching hadn''t been truly involved in the campaign to kill Shang until the Grand Tournament, but then, she had truly gone against him. Of course, if this were the only reason, Shang would have done the same to the Duality Queen. The other reason was that Shang wanted to show another side. In his first fight, he showed that he could kill whoever he wanted whenever he wanted. In the second fight, he showed that he could even keep them forcefully alive and torture them for all eternity. The purpose of this second fight was to instill the Emperors with as much fear as possible. For six hours, the Emperors just watched with difort as the Abyssfrost Queen was slowly turned into a husk of a person. Eventually, she died, and Shang just dropped her corpse. Except for that one movement of his head, he hadn''t moved at all.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. He had tortured the Abyssfrost Queen to death without even moving or doing anything. ¡°Winner, the Lightning Manor," Isis Neweston announced with an emotionless voice. Shang slowly floated back. "Next, the Icespear Queen versus King Sanctified Death." As the twobatants floated forward, Nivera Preston looked at Kali. Nivera Preston had never gone against Kali. She had always helped her if she needed anything. "Malicious," Kali simply said. Nivera Preston immediately felt stifled and frustrated. "Benign," she said. "Start," Isis Neweston announced. The second most powerful Mage King versus the most powerful Mage King. Usually, one would expect this to be an exciting fight. Yet, everyone knew how this would go. Abaddon just smiled, and a momentter, the lcespear Queen was turned into a little ball of meat. The Emperors just took deep breaths. Nearly all the Mage Kings had died. The only two that remained were the Fierycold Queen and the Sacredme King. Every other Mage King had died. The finale was approaching. Abaddon versus Shang. All the Mage Emperors became nervous as the fight approached. This was it! This was the moment of truth! Shang versus King Sanctified Death! After this fight, the fate of the world would be decided. All the Mage Emperors would unite against Kali and Abaddon after they had won. Chapter 1004 Chapter 1004 "The finale, the warrior versus King Sanctified Death,¡± Isis Neweston announced, her voice more serious than normal. Shang and Abaddon flew forward, stopping around 550,000 kilometers away from each other. "Benign," Gregorio said. Immediately, the Emperors looked at Gregorio with interest. Benign? Why was he suddenly backpedaling? The Judgment Pce had been the biggest enemy of the Lightning Manor, and King Sanctified Death was the biggest rival and enemy of the warrior. Why would Gregorio want this fight to be benign? However, that didn''t matter. The decision was up to Kali, and she was not someone that easily spared someone''s life. This was the perfect opportunity to get rid of Shang without Gregorio being able toin. Kali didn''t immediately answer. Instead, she thought back to her talks with herson. Her son was the one in charge now, and she simply followed. Her son had already made her decision for her. Now, she only needed to follow. "Benign," she said. Silence. The Emperors couldn''t believe what they had just heard. Benign?! Both of them had agreed to a benign fight?! But! But how?! Why?! Why would they do that?! The Emperors immediately started to rapidly discuss what was happening with voice transmissions. Of course, they were alsoing up with new ns. They were not certain what was going on. Were both sides not confident in victory? It took almost five seconds before another word was spoken. "Start," Isis Neweston announced. In the distance, Shang and Abaddon focused on each other. "So, it''s finally time, huh?" Abaddon transmitted. "It is," Shang answered. ¡°Have you found your way?" "| have," Shang transmitted. "Good," Abaddon transmitted with a chuckle. While Abaddon and Shang were talking, the Emperors were rapidlying up with more ns. None of the two would die, but both still needed the Mana to reach the Ninth Realm. This meant that they would still need to fight, and if everything worked out, both of them would be extremely weakened by the end of the fight. Things were not hopeless yet! Everyone looked at the twobatants with rapt attention. Who would win? How powerful were the two of them? "| concede? Silence. Just now, Shang had conceded! Why had he conceded?! They were supposed to fight! Shang slowly flew back to Gregorio. He didn''t say anything else. Gregorio, Shang, Kali, and Abaddon didn''t seem surprised at all. While the other Emperors were still in shock, Kali had covertly flown over to Gregorio''s side. There was no longer any reason to keep their alliance a secret. Obviously, Shang would only concede like this if they were secretly allies. Everyone would immediately make the connecfion. The Emperors immediately looked at Kali, who was now near Gregorio. They almost couldn''t believe it. All of this had started because of a conflict between these two! How could they be allies?! All of this had started with Kali killing Queen Primordium.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Then, Gregorio had killed two of Kali''s Mage Kings. After that, Gregorio and Kali had fought, which ended in huge parts of the Judgment Pce getting destroyed, and even Kali''s husband, the Emperor of Life, Adam, had died! Then, their two Empires had warred fiercely, and the Judgment Pce had paid an incredible price during the war. Several Mage Kings and millions of lives. The Mana that would allow the winner to be a Mage Emperor was the very Mana that Kali''s husband left behind! And now, these two were suddenly allies?! At that moment, the Emperors also realized why Abaddon and Kali had spoken up for Shang during the Grand Tournament. So, they had already been allies back then? Had all of thisjust been a farce? But Gregorio had always said that he disagreed with allowing Abaddon to be a Mage Emperor! The Emperors were quite certain that Gregorio hadn''t lied back then. Kali had always despised Gregorio, and Gregorio had always despised King Sanctified Death. All of this made no sense! At that moment, King Sanctified Death also floated over to his three allies, stopping at the front. When King Sanctified Death stopped, the Emperors finally realized how all of this had been possible. Right now, King Sanctified Death stood at the front with Shang a bit behind him. Gregorio and Kali were behind both of them. So, that was how! Kali and Gregorio were not the ones making the decisions anymore! It was up to Abaddon and Shang! And by the looks of things, Abaddon had managed to convince Shang tojoin his camp. ¡°Hey, | don''t want to rush you or anything, but I''m a bit excited for my reward," Abaddon spoke with a polite voice. The Emperors all looked at him, and in an instant, the atmosphere turned tense. "Since when?" Linastra Boomwitch asked. Naturally, none of the Emperors knew that Linastra had alsojoined Gregorio and Kali. Yet, even Linastra had had no idea that the camp she had chosen was actually far stronger than she had anticipated. But when she remembered that her life was connected to Shang, she grew fearful and nervous again. Didn''t Shang know what kind of person King Sanctified Death was?! As soon as he became a Mage Emperor, he would immediately kill Shang! And when Shang died, Linastra would die as well! ¡°Let''s save that for after the reward," King Sanctified Death said politely as he stretched out his hand. The Emperors all floated closer to each other as they red at their opponents. Things had changed. The entire reason why they were even holding this tournament was that Gregorio would unleash the Archivist otherwise. But since Gregorio was now their enemy, there was no longer a reason to keep to the rules. Because of that, they wouldn''t hand over the reward for winning the tournament. If they did, they would just bemitting suicide. Amomentter, Mana Shields appeared around the Emperors¡¯ bodies. King Sanctified Death just scratched the side of his head awkwardly. "So, | presume this means | am not getting my reward?" he asked. The next moment, the Emperors gathered their Mana. The final battle had begun. Chapter 1005 Chapter 1005 The Emperors readied their Spells while Abaddon just watched with a friendly smile. Shang just stood behind Abaddon like a faithful servant. Kali and Gregorio were readying their own Spells. There were nine Emperors present, and twoof them would be fighting against the other seven. However, Abaddon and Shang also had the power of Emperors, making their side have four Emperors. Four versus seven. As everyone gathered Mana, all of Aterium seemed to transform. Even the True Mages at the edges of Aterium felt the Mana rapidly moving away from their position. Even the weakest humans realized that something monumental was happening. The Mage Kings could already guess what was happening. The Emperors were fighting Abaddon. ¡°And | thought we could do all of this peacefully," Abaddon said with a helpless smile. Nobody answered him. Instead, an apocalyptic storm of violent Mana gathered behind the Emperors. A majority of all the Mana in the world gathered behind them, and the sheer presence of this Mana had already destroyed the Horizon. Now, they had returned to the real world, and the Mana was even destroying the atmosphere itself. SHING! The next moment, a ck booklet appeared in Gregorio''s hands. Kali was gathering all the Death Mana she had. Yet, Shang and Abaddon were still just hovering there, doing nothing. CRRRRK! Suddenly, a ck tear appeared in the atmosphere, and the Fierycold Queen, who had been watching from a distance, died. She had survived the tournament, but in the end, she had still died. The Emperors couldn''t spare any focus for the dead Mage King right now. They were too busy preparing for the final battle. However, the next moment, a pearl appeared in the ce where the Fierycold Queen had just been. In an instant, the pearl absorbed all the Mana, and a bitter, it appeared directly in front of Gregorio. An Inheritor Sphere! The Emperors gritted their teeth. They knew what this meant! Instantly, the Emperors released their storm of destruction. Reality was being torn apart as the storm shot toward the four of them. The gathered power of seven Emperors was simply too powerful! In Gregorio''s hands, a couple of pages fluttered, and the next moment, the Inheritor Sphere in front of Gregorio vanished. Gregorio had sacrificed the Fierycold Queen''s Mana to Entropy! The apocalyptic storm in front of the four of them vanished without any sign. Destruction always acted in a very silent manner. Usually, it wouldn''t be easy to defend against such a powerful attack, but with Entropy, they had managed. Thebined attack had been dealt with. WHOOOOOOM! Suddenly, the Death Mana Kali had gathered violently expanded outward, swallowing everyone and isting them from the world. The Emperors had to defend against that attack, or they would take significant damage! Additionally, they all knew how Kali fought. Kali had a terrifying amount of Death Mana inside her, but recovering the Death Mana took a long time. Recovering Death Mana during a battle was not feasible for her. So, as long as they managed to get rid of the Death Mana Kali had gathered, she would be significantly weakened. Because of that, all the Emperors attacked the Death Mana around them. The more they destroyed, the better! Kali might have been able to split the Emperors apart for a moment, but the Death Mana she would lose would prove to be a costly price. While the Emperors were attacking the Death Mana, Nivera Preston, the Deepsteel Empress, felt something approach. For some reason, the darkness in front of her seemed to be even darker than every other spot. Suddenly, the darkness enveloped her. CRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! It was like her Mana Shield had been thrown into an ocean of spinning circr saws! Nivera felt her Mana rapidly fall, and she immediately used Mana Step. But it didn''t work! What?! How?! For some reason, her Mana Stepjust wouldn''t work! An instantter, Nivera managed to glean what was attacking her. It was Abaddon! Death Mana was violently attacking Nivera''s Mana Shield, but she couldn''t tell how it worked. Additionally, the density of the Death Mana couldn''tpare to Kali''s Death Mana, and yet, the way the Death Mana was attacking her Mana Shield was crazy! In this short moment, Nivera had already lost 25% of her Mana! But that wasn''t the end. CRKCRKCRKCRK! In an instant, 36 attacks hit her Mana Shield! These attacks had alle at nearly the same time! With terror, Nivera realized that she had lost another 50% of her Mana! Together with Kali''s attack, she only had around 15% of her Mana left! The fight had just started! "I''m sorry." Nivera''s eyes widened. BOOOOOM! Nivera''s Mana Shield blew apart as a searing beam of sunlight and fire tore through her body. Until the very end, Nivera''s mind couldn''te to terms with what happened. As Nivera''s body disintegrated, a person was revealed. It was Linastra Boomwitch, the Sungod Empress. Linastra looked with a mixture of pain, determination, and difort at the disintegrating Nivera Preston. Nivera Preston, the Deepsteel Empress, had died. An Emperor had died. An instantter, an Inheritor Sphere appeared where Nivera had just been. At the same time, the other Emperors destroyed all the Death Mana, allowing them to see the world again. Yet, the first thing they saw was Linastra grabbing an Inheritor Sphere and arriving in front of Abaddon. The shock the Emperors felt couldn''t be put into words. Linastra had betrayed them?! Linastra had joined Abaddon?! "Thank you," Abaddon said with a polite smile as he epted the Inheritor Sphere. Linastra didn''t say anything and stepped beside Gregorio, facing the other Emperors.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Amomentter, the Emperors noticed that Nivera Preston was missing. One of them had already died. Many years ago, they had all journeyed together across the world. They had traveled with eleven people in total. Lucius had been their leader. Gregorio had officially been the second-inmand. Kali had unofficially been the second-inmand. Amon Gus had been a serious scientist who tried to understand everything. Bina Ching had been an icy beauty that many wanted to conquer. Yet, deep inside, she deeply cared for all her friends. Brutus Cesar had always been at the forefront of battle, and he always volunteered to take on the most dangerous position. Jenny Greenhouse had been responsible for all their equipment, and she had also dealt with their finances. Isis Neweston had originally only been an agent of a powerful rival, but she had eventually fullyjoined Lucius¡¯ group and had be a valuable asset. Linastra had been a battle-hungry maniac, and she had always had a deep rivalry with Brutus Cesar. Adam had been focused on supporting everyone, and his charming personality brightened everyone''s y. Nivera Preston had led all theirfollowers. All the weaker Mages looked up to her and followed hermand. The group had once gone through so many adventures. And now, they had turned into this. Lucius had be a God. Kali and Gregorio had betrayed everyone else. Adam and Nivera were dead. And Linastra had now also betrayed them. The happy andughing group of adventurers had turned into this. What had gone wrong? The five remaining Emperors looked at each other and nodded. Things had already be this terrible. There was no longer any reason to wait. Chapter 1006 Chapter 1006 As the Emperors made their decision, Abaddon jumped back. Gregorio, Kali, and Linastra stepped in front of him, and Shang stepped in front of them. Amomentter, Abaddon focused on the Inheritor Sphere in his hands, and he began to violently consume the Mana. Reaching the next Realm always took a bit of time, but someone with Abaddon''s talent and experience could expedite things. Injust some seconds, Abaddon would be an Initial Mage Emperor. Abaddon could already fight one of the Emperors. If he actually became a Mage Emperor, he could probably fight three to five of them at the same time! It didn''t matter that they all were Peak Mage Emperors. If Abaddon managed to be a Mage Emperor, the fight would be over. Yet, for some reason, the Emperors didn''t seem worried. Instead, only determination and eptance could be seen in their eyes. "There''s no other way," Bina Ching spoke. The next moment, something happened.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Between the two groups, a transparent figure appeared. In an instant, that transparent figure became solid, and everyone focused on it. It was an old man with grey hair and along beard. He wore grey schrly robes, and many different trinkets hung from his body. His eyes were determined but calm, and they spoke of unparalleled wisdom. Shang had never seen this person, but he immediately knew who this was. The Archivist. The Archivist was still suppressed by Lucius¡¯ Spell, but he could still travel across the world. The next moment, the Archivist held up his right arm, and the five Emperors cast some Spells. The bracelet on the Archivist''s right arm became thinner and less bright. It was obvious that Lucius¡¯ restrictive Spell had weakened considerably. This had probably been what the Emperors had given the Archivist. Shang, Abaddon, Gregorio, Kali, and Linastra weren''t sure what they had offered. Linastra had always assumed a very neutral stance, and the other Emperors hadn''t even told her of their n. When Gregorio saw what was happening, he retrieved the bracelet he had gotten from Lucius. BANG! And broke it! BANG! The bracelet on the Archivist''s arm also broke into pieces, and he looked at his arm with an unreadable expression. The other Emperors narrowed their eyes, but deep inside, they grew nervous. The Archivist had been freed. Nobody knew what the Archivist would do now. For the first time in an eternity, he was free. He could do whatever he wanted without fear of repercussion. Yet, the Archivist didn''t seem to care much. His demeanor didn''t change. "It does not matter," the Archivist''s old voice spoke. ¡°Mages, warriors, beast tamers, beasts, cultivators, it does not matter." "It does not matter who rules the world.¡± "The five Emperors win, and things return to the status quo." "The talented youngsters win, and life resets." "In a million years, nobody will remember this conflict." "In the eternal history of Aterium, this battle will be a footnote like all the other battles for supremacy." "You all believe your importance to be greater than it actually is," the Archivist spoke slowly. "| could not care less for the oue." The five Emperors grew nervous. If the Archivist didn''t help them, they would most likely die today! Abaddon couldn''t battle right now, but if Shang''s power was actually on the level of an Emperor, the enemy had four Emperors that could battle. Even more, Kali could fight two of them at the same time equally, and Gregorio would most likely win against his opponent, freeing him up to help Kali. If the Archivist didn''t help them, they would die! "Nevertheless," the Archivist said. The Emperors grew excited again. The next moment, the Archivist turned his head and looked at one person. Shang. ¡°While | can deal with the resurgence of new life, | can not allow the world itself to stop existing," the Archivist spoke slowly. The Emperors looked with confusion at Shang. Shang didn''t react. "The Child of Cmity must be eliminated for the good of the world," the Archivist spoke as he fully turned to face Shang. Silence and shock. The Child of Cmity?! Shang?! But they had checked Shang so many times! They had tested his mind, blood, soul, everything! Shang didn''t show any reaction. The one that felt the most shock was Linastra. She had connected her life to the Child of Cmity?! The next moment, everyone looked at the people behind Shang. Abaddon was still absorbing Mana. Kali and Gregorio showed no reaction. This meant that they had already known! They had knowingly supported the Child of Cmity! He was the reason! This warrior! This warrior was why trillions of people died! This warrior was why all the Mages in the world were dying! This warrior was why there was less and less Mana in the world! It was him! For 50,000 years, he managed to stay hidden! The Child of Cmity had been right in front of them this entire time! If Shang managed to be an Emperor, Abomination Emperors would appear all over the world, and the Emperors were certain that this meant the end of the world! In an instant, an ocean of rage towards Shang, Gregorio, and Kali formed in all their hearts. How could they?! These traitors! These monsters! They were fine with sacrificing that many lives?! However, the Emperors knew that they couldn''t focus on their emotions right now. They had to stop Abaddon from advancing! BANG! The Emperors readied their Spells and entered battle. Gregorio, Linastra, and Kali answered in kind. The battles had started. Kali was fighting Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar, a terrifyingbo. If Kali had all her Death Mana left, she would likely win, but as things stood, she would likely lose quite soon. Gregorio was fighting Bina Ching. Bina Ching was amongst the strongest Emperors. Most likely, she was weaker than Gregorio, but she would be able to hold out for a long time. Lastly, Linastra was fighting Jenny Greenhouse and Isis Neweston. Obviously, one of them could already fight Linastra evenly, but with both of them fighting her at once, her loss was only a matter of time. The n of the Emperors was obviously to kill Linastra first. After that, they would fight Gregorio with three people. And finally, they would fight Kali with five. Earlier, the Emperors had been at a disadvantage, but now, they were at an advantage. All because of the Archivist. The Archivist would deal with the Child of Cmity. The Emperors expected the fight to be over very quickly. Chapter 1007 Chapter 1007 The Event Horizon Empire turned into a brutal battlefield. Every existence in the Ninth Realm was battling. Thest time something like this had happened was when the beasts had been killed by thebined forces of humanity. When Lucius had grown powerful, there had never been such a great battle. Lucius had killed all the other Emperors in duels individually. No matter what came of the battle, the entire world would be changed forever. As soon as the Emperors shed, every living being in a radius of a million kilometers died, except for the Mage Kings. The Mage Kings could still defend, but the weaker beings couldn''t. For a radius of two million kilometers, everything below the Fourth Realm died. The destruction only stopped at a radius of three million kilometers. This was already brutal, but one had to remember how big Aterium was. The biggest radius of destruction barely covered the Event Horizon Empire. The other 90% of Aterium received no damage. The world could recover from something like this. As all of this was going on, the Archivist summoned five different artifacts. One of them was a floating sword that was being orbited by small streams made of even smaller swords. One of them was a powerful round horn from a mystical beast, emanating an impossible feeling of domination. One of them was a book that summoned Magic Circles on its pages. One of them was a chain with several hooks that were filled to the brim with dangerous forms of Mana. Thest one was a spinning trinket representing Yin and Yang. Each one of these artifacts represented one era of Aterium. The Yin and Yang symbol represented the supremacy of the Cultivators. The Horn represented the beasts. The Chain Hook represented the beast tamers and beast controllers. The floating sword with streamers represented the powerful Weapon Masters. And the book represented the Mages. The Archivist had lived for an unbelievable amount of time, and he had learned from all the different Paths. "You''ve lived for long enough,¡± the Archivist said. Then, the Yin and Yang symbol started to rotate quickly. In the next instant, a shining beam of opposing forces rapidly shot towards Shang. Shang immediately summoned his Domain of Entropy and lifted his sword to block. CRACK! Shang''s sword exploded and turned into tiny fragments. It couldn''t possibly resist such a powerful attack. At the same time, Shang was shot into the distance and became heavily injured. The Archivist didn''t seem surprised that Shang survived and simplyunched the same attack again. The next moment, Shang summoned his second sword, which caught on fire. Then, Shang released a terrifying wave of ck fire. BOOOOOM! The two forces canceled each other out after colliding. However, Shang''s second sword had also been turned into dust. Both of Shang''s weapons had vanished! Some of the Emperors noticed and grew exched. The warrior was out of weapons! The Child of Cmity would finally die! The Archivist used the same attack again. This time, Shang wouldn''t be able to defend himself anymore. CRRRRRRRK! An ear-piercing sound reverberated throughout the world. The Archivist wasn''t surprised, but the Emperors were. Even Kali threw a quick nce at Shang. Abaddon also opened his eyes for a moment to look at Shang. Just now, Shang''s body had transformed, and terrifying ck ws appeared on the end of Shang''s bulky arms. Even more, two powerful legs had shot out of Shang''s torso! Acouple of ck pieces of ore floated through the air, and Shang''s ws had received a couple of small cuts. Naturally, blocking such an attack was beyond difficult. The Emperors almost couldn''t believe what they were seeing. The warrior actually wasn''t injured?! And then, they saw a smirk on Shang''s lips. Shang''s right w moved to his head and ripped the bandage off. He didn''t need it anymore. No one except for the God could hide from Shang''s senses anymore, and the bandage also wouldn''t tell Shang when the God was looking at him. The bandage had be useless. Amomentter, Shang''s ck and white eyes were revealed, and the entire atmosphere changed. When they saw Shang''s eyes, the Emperors realized one thing. Abaddon was not the danger. Shang was the true danger! This sheer aura of confidence and power in front of the Archivist couldn''t be faked. Shang was actually confident in fighting the Archivist! Looking at Shang felt like looking at the end of the world for these Emperors. Shang couldn''t survive! Shang wasn''t allowed to survive! No matter the price, Shang had to die! The Archivist''s eyes narrowed. Shang''s smirk only widened. The next moment, Shang shed forward with his w. At the same time, the Horn beside the Archivist gave off a terrifyingly loud droning sound. WHOOOOOOOOM! Five tiny cuts appeared in front of the Archivist, but the vibrating reality around the Archivist was dispersing the cuts like they were stains. Shang shed several more times, but they all got dispersed before they could even touch the Archivist''s Mana Shield. Shang''s smirk transformed into an interested grin when he saw that. WHOOOOM! The next moment, all the Mana around the Archivist vanished. Shang had used one of his new abilities. Shang could now summon his Domain of Entropy at any ce inside his Spirit Sense, and right now, the Archivist was enveloped by Shang''s Domain of Entropy. Then, the sound of pages turning echoed throughout the battlefield. The next moment, Shang''s Domain of Entropy froze around the Archivist. Shang''s Domain of Entropy actually stopped converting Mana! Shang was quite surprised when he saw that. Someone managed to essentially deactivate his Domain of Entropy?T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Sure enough, the Archivist was extremely experienced and powerful. WHOOOOM! The Horn sounded again, and Shang felt his Domain of Entropy disperse across the world. At the same time, Shang felt a horrible headache appearing in his mind. It was like his mind had been overexerted just now. Yet, Shang''s grin only widened, and he grew even more interested in the Archivist''s powers. Chapter 1008 Chapter 1008 The Yin and Yang symbol began to spin again, but this time, the hook and chain began to shine. A ck light came off the hook at the end of the chain, and the chain itself was shining in a bright red light. Amomentter, the hook shot toward Shang. As the hook approached, Shang felt the reality around him solidify, making it difficult for him to move. The next moment, the destructive energies of the Ying and Yang symbol arrived. The Archivist''s attacks were already incredibly fast, and with the hook''s suppression, it became even more difficult. WHOOOOM! The next moment, the Domain of Entropy reappeared around Shang, but it was different from before. One of Shang''s ws vanished, and Shang''s Domain of Entropy intensified. The destructive forces of the Yin and Yang symbol were weakened significantly, and they became so weak that they couldn''t injure Shang''s body anymore. However, that didn''t help against the hook. The power of the hook didn''t be weaker. It was almost like it didn''t interact with the Domain of Entropy at all. The other Emperors watched with excitement. Shang was about to die! It was finally over! But Shang only snorted in amusement. CLING! The atmosphere rapidly changed. What?! The Emperors couldn''t believe what they were seeing! So many swords! 36 swords! Just now, 36 swords had appeared between the hook and Shang, and they had blocked the hook together! The hook had managed to destroy one of them, but the destroyed sword quickly reappeared. The next moment, the 36 swords pulled to the side, revealing Shang. 36 tentacles ending in 36 swords. There were all manners of swords present. The Emperors couldn''te to terms with what they were seeing. How was this possible?! Gregorio didn''t seem surprised. Kali and Abaddon shot two quick nces at Shang with surprise. They had expected that Shang was powerful, but they hadn''t expected that he would turn into something like this! Linastra''s feelings were going crazy since she had connected her life to such a monster! This was no longer a human! What even was this?! At this moment, Abaddon didn''t seem as dangerous anymore. Abaddon was extremely dangerous, but at least he was still a human! The Archivist''s Aura grew even more solemn. Shang''s smile widened. WHOOOOOOM! The Horn released another sound. CRKCRKCRKCRK! The Emperors hadn''t thought it to be possible, but they grew even more shocked! Just now, they had seen the Archivist''s Mana Shield vibrate. That meant that something had hit it! One had to remember that hitting the Archivist''s Mana Shield was already beyond difficult with all his defensive measures! Yet, Shang had actually managed to do so! Of course, based on the vibrations, the attacks hadn''t been very strong, but they had still hit. Shang had managed to get past the Horn! The next moment, all of the Archivist''s artifacts began to shine. He was no longer taking it easy. The Yin and Yang symbol released terrifying storms of destructive energy. The Horn shook the world around the Archivist, severely increasing his defensive power. The Chain Hook suppressed the world around Shang and shot at him with incredible power. The streams around the floating sword erged and destroyed the world as they bathed Shang in a river of destruction. The book released one powerful Spell after the other, each one as powerful as a Mage Emperor''s Spell, and the book released four times as many Spells as an Emperor couldunch! It was an iparable offense. It was debatable if anyone in Aterium had ever released such a powerful and varied ofiense. Acacophony of different sounds exploded out of Shang''s surroundings. The forces of the Yin and Yang symbol were grinding on Shang''s hard body. The Chain Hook destroyed a sword. The Spells released by the book were all either blocked, parried, deflected, or reflected. The unending river of destruction from the floating sword was being kept at bay by over 15 of Shang''s swords. More and more ck cuts appeared in the air around the Archivist before they were dispersed. The fights of the other Emperors had slowed down significantly at this moment. No one could concentrate on their battle anymore. They were too shocked. The Archivist was unleashing powers that no one could possibly summon or resist. Just his book was already unleashing the offensive power of three Emperors at once. He was using five artifacts! And despite all of this... Despite this brutal offensive... Shang was still managing to unleash attacks on the Archivist''s Mana Shield! The Emperors had difficulties believing what they were seeing. Someone in the Peak Eighth Realm was managing to fight the Archivist evenly! It was iprehensible!N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Lucius Volstad, the Mage God, could have only jumped a single level against the Archivist. By now, everyone knew that Abaddon was superior to Lucius. Nevertheless, Abaddon could, at most,jump two levels. Abaddon was the most talented Mage in history! But Shang... This warrior... Was jumping five levels against the Archivist! This wasn''t real! This couldn''t be real! "HAHAHAHAHAHA" Everyone looked at Shang in shock. Just now, Shang hadughed loudly. Shang hadn''t been able to hold hisugh back anymore. The looks of the Emperors just now had fulfilled one of his deepest cravings. Revenge. Finally, the Emperors realized their weakness and worthlessness! Like insects caught in a jar, they had believed that they could escape. They had believed that they actually had control over their lives. They had actually believed that they had agency over their destiny. But now, they had realized the truth. All their ns had been worthless. All their schemes had been pointless. The Archivist could kill all the other Mage Emperors on his own. And Shang was fighting the Archivist evenly. So, didn''t this mean that Shang could kill all the Mage Emperors on his own as well?! The tournament... The battles... The schemes... The betrayal... Nothing had mattered! From the very beginning, they had been helpless in front of Shang! As Shang was drowned in attacks, he couldn''t stopughing. "Come!" Shang shouted. "Attack me!" ¡°Maybe, with all of youbined, you can achieve something!" The Archivist''s Aura grew even more solemn, and he nodded at the other Emperors. The Emperors looked at Gregorio, Kali, and Linastra. They didn''t seem to mind. The next moment, the five Emperors shot towards Shang. They had to help the Archivist! "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA" Chapter 1009 Chapter 1009 Shang justughed loudly as all the Emperors began to attack him. Amon Gus, the Twilight Dusk Emperor, released terrifyingsers of darkness. Bina Ching, the Darkcold Empress, releaseda blizzard made of darkness and ice. Brutus Cesar, the Land and Sky Emperor, released a terrifying storm filled with stones. Jenny Greenhouse, the Climate Empress, released alternating storms of hot and cold. Isis Neweston, the Event Horizon Empress, helped the Archivist''s Horn in defending from Shang''s attacks. DING! Amon Gus''sers were dispersed by a huge sword. CRRRRR! Bina Ching¡¯s storm was weakened by the Domain of Entropy and finally copsed when it hit Shang''s powerful body. The same thing happened to Brutus Cesar''s storm. Jenny Greenhouse''s avnche of attacks was parted by three of Shang''s swords cutting through them. Naturally, these were not all the attacks. The Emperors were releasing one attack after the other, after all. At the side, Gregorio, Linastra, Kali, and Abaddon were just watching. Abaddon was still absorbing Mana, but he also couldn''t help watching Shang fight. At this moment, Kali remembered her conversation with Abaddon a couple of years ago. m willing to follow the warrior," Abaddon had said. As always, Kali hadn''t shown a big reaction. "Why?" was the only question she had asked. ¡°Because he became a King without using up any Mana," Abaddon said as he looked at the Judgment Pce. "Someone on his level needs a lot of Mana, and by managing to reach the Eighth Realm without using any Mana, he has shown that he has learned to absorb the Abominations." m uncertain what the Abominations are made of, but we all know there has to be some kind of mysterious force that can''t be harnessed by anyone. Their destructive potential is just too great.¡± Abaddon chuckled a bit. ¡°Back when | detonated my remote body, | wanted to waste his time. | wanted him to spend millennia in aa so that he wouldn''t find the time to attain a sevenfold Spirit Sense." ¡°But based on what you told me, he managed to cheat longevity, which makes my past efforts irrelevant." "He wouldn''t have reached the Eighth Realm without undergoing another Transformation." ¡°Even more, he has managed to attain eternal life without bing an Emperor, which means that he has be powerful enough to break a fundamentalw of the world." "If he can even resist something like natural death, his power has probably undergone a significant transformation." Abaddon chuckled. "| don''t know how powerful he has be, but | can be sure of one thing.¡± "When the Ultimate Tournament happens, | will not be able to fight him." Back when Abaddon had said these words, Kali hadn''t been entirely sure about them. But now, as she watched Shang battle five Emperors and the Archivist as a Peak Sword King, she realized that Abaddon had still underestimated Shang. When Kali saw Shang fight, she only thought one thing. "My power is irrelevant.¡¯ Meanwhile, Abaddon felt like he had chosen correctly. ¡®Even with my World Suppression, | can''t stop him,¡¯ he thought with a bitter chuckle. World Suppression was a unique ability thatbined all the level six Concepts in existence, except for the level six Concepts of Life and Death. With World Suppression, Abaddon could summon a power that mimicked the power of an entire world. The pressure that had killed Abaddon''s opponents in the tournament was only one aspect of this ability. That pressure had just been the pressure of the world. There was also the gravity, the space, the time, the weight, and so on. All of these abilities could be unleashed at once, making it seem like an entire world was crashing down on someone. It represented mastery over existence itself. Logically, this should be the most powerful ability that could be achieved. Everything in the world would attack without exception. It included all the Concepts.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. And yet, this godlike ability couldn''t stop Shang. Why? Because Shang was no longer part of this world. A body could only hold so much Mana. After all, the existence of people was dictated by the Concepts, and the Concepts could only stretch so much. Yet, Shang''s body was, at least, two levels stronger than the maximum of what the Concepts allowed. Nevertheless, Shang''s body had to be made with some kind of Concept. After all, without a Concept, something couldn''t exist. This meant that Shang''s body could have only been made by a Concept from outside this world. It was more advanced. It was stronger. It was better. It was like Abaddon had mastered and weaponized the Earth. No matter who fought him, the entirety of Earth would kill them. It was impossible to gain any more power than this on Earth. Yet, when Jupiter suddenly crashed into Earth, it didn''t matter. Jupiter was just way bigger and heavier. Jupiter represented power outside of the world, which was Earth in this case. Naturally, Shang was Jupiter in this analogy. If Shang''s body were still made of only Mana, Abaddon would be able to fight him. Shang would most likely still win, but it wouldn''t be a one-sided fight. But with the addition of Entropy, resistance had be futile. The only reason why Shang hadn''t won yet was his Realm. He was an entire Realm below everyone. Kali was surprised. Abaddon was nervous but also relieved. Gregorio seemed apathetic. And Linastra seemed to feel all kinds of emotions right now. The Emperors were attacking Shang with everything they had. Five Emperors and the Archivist. CRACK! Another one of Shang''s swords was broken by the Chain Hook. DING! One of Amon Gus''sers managed to destroy one of Shang''s arms. By now, Shang had stopped attacking. Under the Archivist''s barrage, Shang had still been able to attack, but with the addition of all the Emperors, Shang was too busy defending. Even more, defending became more and more difficult. All of these attacks were incredibly powerful, and Shang''s body wasn''t on the level of these attacks. Shang had already be silent. The Emperors became excited and strengthened their assault even more! They were killing him! They could win! Kali and Linastra looked at Gregorio. Gregorio just seemed apathetic and filled with eptance. He didn''t seem like he was afraid that Shang would die. Beneath the warping time and tearing space, only a toothy grin adorned Shang''s face. Chapter 1010 Chapter 1010 CRACK! Another one of Shang''s swords broke. SHING! One of Shang''s tentacles was cut off by the Archivist''s floating sword and torn apart. As Shang''s weapons slowly started to vanish, more and more attacks hit him. With fewer weapons, Shang couldn''t defend himself as well anymore. Kali nced at Gregorio. Gregorio didn''t show any reaction. By now, Kali wasn''t certain anymore whether or not she had judged Gregorio''s demeanor correctly. She had thought that Gregorio trusted Shang''s power, but maybe he had just grown apathetic to the oue. Kali knew Gregorio, and she could imagine that Gregorio felt quite some regret regarding supporting such a monster. Gregorio was not telling Kali to watch, but he also wasn''t telling her to interfere. If Gregorio trusted Shang''s power, he should have told Kali and Linastra that they didn''t need to worry. Yet, he wasjust doing nothing. Kali looked back at Shang and noticed that his speed of regeneration wasn''t nearly fast enough to keep up with the new images. Then, Kali looked at Abaddon and realized that he was about 70% done. At this moment, ns formed in Kali''s mind. The Archivist didn''t care who won. He only cared about killing the Child of Cmity. So, when Shang died, the Archivist would also leave. This meant that they would only need to fight five Emperors. And when Abaddon became a Mage Emperor, that wouldn''t be a problem. Even more, Shang, this ridiculous monster, would be dead, giving Abaddon sole power over Aterium! After some calctions, Kali realized that Shang would die when Abaddon was only 80% done. At that moment, all the Emperors would immediately attack them, and with Gregorio''s apathetic mindset, it was very likely that he would only watch. ¡®The warrior needs to survive for longer,¡¯ Kali thought The next moment, Kali looked at Linastra, who nodded back. BANG! BANG! Kali and Linastra shot towards the Emperors and attacked them. With fury and hatred, the Emperors stopped attacking Shang in order to deal with Kali and Linastra''s attacks. The Archivist nced over, but he wasn''t worried. The Child of Cmity had lost over half its limbs, and it couldn''t defend itself from the Archivist''s attacks anymore. The only thing Kali''s and Linastra''s interference aplished was to give Shang a bit more time to live. Naturally, the Archivist knew that this was exactly their goal, but he didn''t care. The Child of Cmity would die, and that would be all that''s important. As Shang grew weaker and weaker, the Archivist nced at Abaddon. ¡®Anew hegemon will be born,¡¯ the Archivist thought. ¡®Will another period of suppression follow?" The Archivist had always been incredibly powerful. In fact, most of the time, he was the strongest being in Aterium. Yet, whenever a true hegemon appeared, he became helpless. Thest hegemon had been Lucius Volstad, and the next one would be Abaddon. ¡®Arestart wouldn''t be so bad,¡¯ the Archivist thought. CRACK! Part of Shang''s torso broke off, and he gritted his teeth with aggression. The next moment, Shang screamed in unwillingness and rage. "You did this!" Shang shouted at the Archivist. "You are the reason why | can''t attain world domination!" The Archivist only looked at Shang with a serious expression. The next moment, a malicious smirk appeared on Shang''s face. "If! can''t have it, no one can!" At that moment, the instincts of all the present Emperors screamed at them. The Archivist narrowed his eyes, and the intensity of the Horn''s sound multiplied. Cracks appeared on the Horn. Obviously, it couldn''t withstand so much Mana. "| hope you all die!" Shang screamed. BOOOOOOOOO0OO0000000M! Shang''s body exploded. The Emperors did their best to resist the strike, but they quickly noticed that they didn''t need to. The Archivist somehow managed to divert the explosion. Instead of destroying everything around Shang, it exploded towards the south as a wave. Beside the Archivist, his |-lorn turned into dust. Alegendary and ancient artifact was destroyed just like that. This artifact had contained the powers of the most powerful beast that had ever lived. But the Archivist didn''t regret the loss of his artifact. If he hadn''t sacrificed his Horn, nearly 20% of Aterium would have vanished. Now, only the middle southern edge and some water from the Eternal Ocean vanished. This was far better than the alternative. Some momentster, the explosion vanished. Shang had died. The Child of Cmity had finally died! The Archivist took a deep breath and threw another nce at the future hegemon, Abaddon. Abaddon nced back. He didn''t seem worried. Kali and Linastra were resisting the violent attacks of the Emperors, and they were quickly losing ground. Abaddon was already over 90% done. Just a tiny bit more, and Abaddon would be a Mage Emperor. The Emperors became more and more anxious as they strengthened their attacks. Two of them quickly shot past Kali and Linastra right toward Abaddon. Abaddon nced at Gregorio.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. Gregorio didn''t do anything. He still just looked forward like none of this had anything to do with him. Abaddon narrowed his eyes at Gregorio. BANG! Bina Ching¡¯s Spell was being deflected as Abaddon summoned a powerful domain. Abaddon had stopped absorbing Mana. Abaddon wasn''t helpless, but during a fight, he couldn''t absorb the Mana. In fact, it was even worse. When Abaddon used Mana, he was forced to use the Mana he had absorbed, and this Mana couldn''t be regenerated. If Abaddon fought forjust half a second, he would have used up all the Mana he had absorbed in the past seconds. Then, it would basically be impossible for him to break through. Linastra and Kali looked at Gregorio with rage. Why wasn''t he helping?! Why wasn''t he doing anything?! Didn''t he know that he would die?! The Archivist turned to look at the battling Emperors. Maybe, a hegemon wouldn''t be born just yet. And maybe, that was actually for the better. The fighting intensified. The Emperors attacked with more and more fervor. Suddenly, Bina Ching and Isis Neweston stopped attacking Abaddon. Abaddon''s Mana had dropped by a lot, which meant he would need several more seconds to absorb enough Mana to be a Mage Emperor. The next moment, Bina Ching, Isis Neweston, and Jenny Greenhouse all fired their most powerful Spells at Linastra Boomwitch. Linastra''s eyes widened in shock and horror. CRACK! Her Mana Shield broke. Forjust a moment, time seemed to freeze. BANG! The next moment, Linastra was burned into ash by Jenny Greenhouse. BOOOOOOOOOOO000M! An iprehensible amount of Mana exploded out of the ce where Linastra had just been. For the first time in hundreds of thousands of years, the Mana of an Emperor had been dispersed across the world. The next moment, all five Emperors focused on Kali. Yet, for some reason, Kali didn''t seem very worried. That was because Kali had realized something. Linastra had been under an asynchronous Life Connection Spell with Shang. When Linastra had died, Kali realized that Linastra should have actually already been dead. After all, Shang had also died. This could only mean that Shang was still alive. The next moment, Kali nced at Gregorio, who still seemed apathetic. Gregorio knew what was happening. The heroes had defeated the Child of Cmity. The heroes had killed one of the traitorous Emperors. The heroes had stopped the new hegemon from reaching the Mage Emperor Realm. Now, the heroes finally had victory in their grasp. They had done it! They had survived! The world was saved! Gregoriojust sighed. Even after all of this, he felt bad for them. After all, they had once been his friends. "Hahahaha." Asilentugh. All the Emperors stopped attacking. The Archivist''s eyes narrowed. The next moment, they all looked at the ground. Just now, theugh hade from down here. "Hahahahahaha!"¡± Theugh became louder, and by now, it was unmistakable that thisugh came from Shang. The Emperors became terrified. And then, the Event Horizon Empire started to shake violently! "HAHAHAHAHA" Chapter 1011 Chapter 1011 Theugh echoed throughout the world. The next moment, the earth split apart, and a body came out of it. It was Shang! And he had fully recovered! At this moment, even the Archivist became nervous. They had all needed to attack Shang together to destroy him! And now, they were back at the beginning, but with one difference. The Archivist''s Horn was gone! Without his Horn, the Archivist''s defense wouldn''t be nearly as solid. If Shang began to attack again, the Archivist might very quickly run out of Mana unless he decided to use two of his artifacts to defend himself. Now, the Archivist needed the five Emperors! Without the five of them, the Archivist would most likely not be able to win against Shang! The Archivist turned to Kali, Abaddon, and Gregorio with a warning gaze. They were not allowed to interfere this time! The other five Emperors nodded with conviction toward each other and readied for another battle with Shang. This one would be much more difficult, but it wasn''t impossible to win! And this time, they would make sure that Shang would die! "Hahahahaha!" The eyes of the Emperors opened in shock as anotherugh came from below the ground. The next moment, another spot in the ground broke apart, and what the Emperors saw made them believe that they had entered a nightmare. Athird Shang had appeared! "Hahahaha!" A fourth one! Even the Archivist''s eyes were filled with terror now. With the Archivist''s knowledge and experience, he could tell that all of these bodies were real! All of Shang''s bodies began to grin at the same time. Then, they chuckled a bit as something new was revealed. A huge ck tendril came out of their backs and vanished into the ground. The next moment, the tendrils waved around a bit, and the different Shangs flopped around like puppets. The Emperors couldn''te to terms with what they were seeing. They had been fighting a puppet?! Amere puppet?! Another tendril came out of the ground, but this one didn''t have a puppet at the end. The tendril was quite damaged, and based on what they could see, the Emperors could tell that this had been the tendril of the Shang puppet they had killed. And then, a new Shang grew out of the tendril, who just echoed the chuckles of his brethren. The world seemed to stop. The Emperors looked with horror at the Shangs. The Archivist looked with horror at the Shangs. Kali looked with horror at the Shangs. Abaddon looked with horror at the Shangs. Gregorio was the only one that showed no reaction. From the very beginning, this had never been a fight. "HOW?!" Brutus Cesar shouted in desperation and horror. "HOW ARE YOU THIS POWERFUL?!" "Hahahaha!" The Shanggsjustughed. Then, the ground began to shake again, but this time, the shaking was even more intense. CRACK! Gigantic cracks and crevices appeared below them, and the minds of the Emperors stopped working. The next moment, a ck mass became visible through the cracks, and just a bitter, small ck swords slowly rose from the crevices. Hundreds, thousands, tens of thousands of different swords all rose from the crevices, each of them being swung by tendrils. And then, the ground between them was turned into sand as some kind of grinding force rose upward. One humongous ck mass rose from the ground, and uncountable sharp des were rapidly moving across its surface. As the mass rose further, spots without sharp des appeared. The mass itself was already over ten kilometers wide, and the spots were over a hundred meters wide. The spots were seemingly randomly scattered across the entirety of the mass. Eventually, the ck mass fully came out of the ground and hovered in the air. It was round like a sphere. The des acted as a form of aggressive armor that destroyed everything that came near. The tendrils came out from all over the sphere. The next moment, the four Shangs changed shape. Their tentacles, bodies, and swords vanished, and they transformed into four gigantic swords, all much bigger than the others. One of the swords was over ten kilometers long and thin. Another one had the shape of a saber and was of simr length. Another one had two edges and was much wider and longer than the previous ones. Thest one was the biggest of them all, but it had only one cutting edge. The Long Sword. The Saber. The Great Sword. The Colossal Sword. Silently, the gigantic mass of horror and desjust hovered in front of the Emperors. The Emperors didn''t do anything. Right now, they were feeling something that they hadn''t felt in an eternity. Powerlessness. Hopelessness. They all knew that there was nothing they could do. Just the sheer amount of Mana they were feeling was causing them despair. This entire mass was at the Peak Eighth Realm. However, that was considering the density of its Mana when one thought about a human. This meant that every spot of this mass had the same Mana density as a Peak Mage King. All the Mana of this thing added up would be able to rival a Mid Mage Emperor! Earlier, Shang had managed to resist all of them with only about four Peak Mage Kings of Mana! "Hahahaha!" The coldugh echoed throughout the world. The next moment, the spots without des started to tremble a little. And then, they opened. Eyes!This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. Hundreds of huge eyes! And all of the eyes looked onto the Emperors and the Archivist! This was Shang. After realizing that his body was no longer confined to the rules of Aterium, he expanded it. With more tentacles, Shang needed a wider torso, and a wider torso gave more space for more tentacles. Controlling so many tentacles was straining the mind, which was why Shang had added more Entropy and Mana to his soul. Shang''s brain grew many times more. But his head was now a weak point. So, Shang pushed his mind and soul into his torso and got rid of his head. However, Shang knew that he should still use his eyes to perceive his surroundings since there were abilities that could fool one''s Spirit Sense, which was why he had created several eyes. And things just continued like this. More weapons, more power, more everything. Avicious cycle. Shang consumed more and more Abomination Kings, but instead of increasing the density of his Mana and Entropy, he just increased their volume. Shang was essentially made of thousands of Abomination Kings that had all been fused together into one huge creature. And this was what Shang had created after 22,000 years of experimenting. And he was nowhere near done growing and bing more powerful! Chapter 1012 Chapter 1012 Silence. Horrified silence. The Emperors couldn''t understand what was happening. This wasn''t even an Abomination anymore. What even was this?! The eyes just looked at the Emperors. BANG! Suddenly, five gigantic ck tears appeared in front of the Emperors. In an instant, all their Mana Shields exploded! The Emperors felt like they had been separated from the world around them, and with terror, they realized that the ck tears were pulling them in. Yet, they had no more Mana left to resist the pull. "You''ve amused me enough," Shang''s dark and all-epassing voice echoed. The next moment, a Domain of Entropy appeared around the five of them. The five Emperors screamed in horror and pain as their skin and flesh started to turn into pure Mana. WHOOOOOOM! An apocalyptic storm of Neutral Mana. Reality warped as the densest mass of Neutral Mana in history expanded across the world. The Mage Kings and Beast Kings felt like they had woken from an illusion. Everything had be so clear! It was like they were color-blind people that could suddenly see color! The Mana density of the world multiplied by over 50 times of what it normally was! Peak Mage Lords who didn''t know what was happening suddenly felt like there was enough Mana for them to be Mage Kings. Beast Lords felt like they could be Beast Kings. Within minutes of the five Emperors dying, over 50 Mage Kings and Beast Kings appeared across the world, and it would only be crazier with time. Those 50 were just the ones who saw the opportunity and immediately took it. At the same time, the natural forces became more powerful. Winds became stronger. Ice became colder. Fire became hotter. Metal became harder. Even more, expensive Magic Circles stopped using up Mana Crystals. nts grew faster. Animals became stronger. Within ten hours, the Mana density dropped by over 90% again. It was like the world had finally been able to take a breath after such a long time! Everything was revitalized. The future had been broken wide open! It was like the world had woken up from a nightmare. Yet, the true nightmare was still in the former Event Horizon Empire. At this moment, Kali, Abaddon, and the Archivist looked at Shang with horror. This was not what they had expected! This was no man! No beast! No Abomination! No God! They didn''t even know what this was! Was this truly the injured warrior?! Gregorio just sighed as he looked at the ces where his former friends had just been. They had once been a group of eleven. Now, they were only two. Gregorio and Kali. Gregorio knew that the era of the Mages was over. In fact, the era of humanity might even be over. Gregorio just hoped that it wasn''t the era of Aterium that was over. He had done his best over the past 50,000 years. He had supported Shang, and he had always asked him to spare Aterium and only kill the necessary people. Now, there was no more way for Gregorio to influence Shang anymore. Over 51,000 years, Shang''s personality had been formed and solidified. And now, it was time to see what decision Shang would make. What would Shang do to the world? Would Aterium survive? Would Abaddon survive? Would Kali survive? Would Gregorio survive? While Gregorio, Kali, and Abaddon looked at Shang with anticipation and dread, the Archivistjust looked at the world with a forlorn expression. He had done his best. At this moment, the Archivist was filled with regrets. For the past 50,000 years, he hadn''t paid much attention to the world. After having been somewhat freed by Lucius back then, the Archivist had traveled the world, but eventually, he had returned to his home in the south again. In the past, the Archivist had looked at Abaddon for a while, but then, he had simply waited. Hejust wanted to see whether or not Abaddon would be able to be the next hegemon. If only he had paid more attention to others. If only he had looked at Shang. He would have been able to notice that he was the Child of Cmity. Yet, the Archivist had only focused on his own research. And now, the world would vanish. "You can leave.¡± The Archivist lifted his head and looked at the gigantic ck mass. He could leave? "You are the Archivist," the ck mass spoke. "It is your duty to witness the fate of the world." "| don''t want to keep you from your duty," the voice spoke in a ridiculing tone. After a bit, the Archivist looked down again. There was nothing he could do anymore. Just like with all the other hegemons of the past, the Archivist could do nothing but watch. Eventually, the Archivist left without saying anything. Kali and Abaddon were not sure if Shang was looking at them or not since the eyes basically looked at everything at the same time. ¡°Abaddon,¡± the dark voice spoke. Abaddon took a deep breath and looked at Shang. Abaddon had expected Shang to be powerful, but he hadn''t expected anything remotely like this. "You gave me the level five Concept of Death." "You spoke up for me in the tournament.¡± ¡°And most importantly, you told me what | could potentially be in the future, whether you envisioned this form or not." m not going to kill you," Shang said. For the first time in Abaddon''s life, he felt genuine relief. He hadn''t even known that he could feel things like this. "Kali," Shang said. Kali looked at Shang with just the tiniest bit of nervousness. ¡°You supported Abaddon, and Abaddon supported me." "If Abaddon wants you to die, he can do it himself." "| will not kill you." Kali wasn''t sure if she felt relief or not.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. "Gregorio," Shang said. Gregorio just looked at Shang without any motivation. "A deal''s a deal.¡± "You helped me, and in exchange, | will bring you out of this world." "Whether you are content or not with the price you''ve paid to leave is none of my concern." "Take 1,000 years to say your goodbyes." "In 1,000 years..." "We will look at the level six Concepts of Life and Death." Chapter 1013 Chapter 1013 So, this was it, huh? This was the fate of the world. As the most powerful being in the world, Shang had made hisjudgment. The world would reset in a thousand years. In a thousand years, everything that was alive would die. The world would transform into a lifeless and dead. By now, Abaddon had regained his usual confident calm, and he could only smile happily. He would get what he had always wished for. Abaddon hadprehended every single Concept in existence except for the level six Concepts of Life and Death. With those two, Abaddon would finally know all of them. He would know how all of Aterium worked. Maybe, he could even build his own Aterium in the future? Maybe, he could change how his own Aterium worked? Now that Abaddon was at the cusp of understanding everything, he wanted to look further. There had to be ways to increase the power of his own world. But to find that answer, Abaddon needed to learn the twost Concepts first. Kali had also calmed down by now, and she had epted Shang''s power. Right now, she was only happy that she hadn''t truly betrayed Shang. Yes, during the fight, she had only involved herself veryte, essentially dooming Shang. However, that actually couldn''t be considered a betrayal. After all, Shang had never asked for help, and he had even wanted to fight all the Emperors on his own. Kali had simply done what Shang had wanted. Naturally, Shang had realized what had been going through everyone''s heads back then. He knew that Kali wanted to use this opportunity to get rid of him. But that didn''t matter, actually. She hadn''t gone against Shang''s orders. As for Gregorio, he had already known how the day would end. He had witnessed Shang bing more and more powerful over the past years, and he had known that no one could have possibly resisted him. Now, Gregorio knew what his past choices amounted to. All life in the world would end. However, after that, new life would appear. Even more, the Mana that had been reserved by the Mage Emperors would finally be freed. Although... Gregorio looked at Abaddon. By now, it was clear that Abaddon would be the next God by absorbing the majority of Mana inside Aterium. That was when Gregorio remembered the existence of the actual God. Right, there was still one being remaining. After thinking about the fate of the world for a bit, Gregorio''s mind focused on the edge of the world. What was beyond the silver wall? Were there more worlds? Gregorio wanted to know. Shang had always been Gregorio''s key to the outside world. Sadly, Gregorio knew that Shang felt no feeling of kinship or friendship for him. So, while Shang was a key, that was all he was. As soon as the gate was unlocked, there was no more reason to keep the key. Gregorio would just leave. Yet, he also felt a bit alone. He had always enjoyed going on adventures with friends. So, Gregorio looked at Kali. Kali and Gregorio had never seen eye to eye. Kali had always looked down on Gregorio due to Lucius¡¯ constant praises, and Kali''s animosity annoyed Gregorio. But now? Kali had essentially lost against Gregorio in a fight. If Adam hadn''t sacrificed himself, Kali would be dead. Gregorio had proven his strength. "When we leave this world,¡± Gregorio transmitted to Kali, "I think it would be better to remain together for a while. We don''t know how the outside world is."Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. "If it turns out that we don''t need each other, we can still splitter." Surprisingly, Kali nodded without hesitation. "Reasonable. | agree." Even though their entire dynamic had changed, it was still difficult for Gregorio to ept that Kali was this cooperative. Gregorio focused on the world again, but now, his feelings were a bit different. Maybe things didn''t turn out so bad. "| want you to be a Peak Mage Emperor before we try to leave the world," Shang''s voice echoed as it addressed Abaddon. "Of course," Abaddon answered with a smile. "Good," Shang added. Amomentter, the gigantic nightmare that was Shang''s true body started to be transparent, and eventually, itpletely vanished. Only Shang''s normal human body remained. Inparison to his true body, this Shang looked weak and unassuming. "Shang." Shang nced at Gregorio. "Yes?" he asked. "Will you spare the world from the Abominations?" Gregorio asked. "Spare the world...''| Shang repeated as he focused on Aterium. Kali and Abaddon also looked at Shang. Everything was up to him. Shang truly felt nothing regarding Aterium. He had no desire to let it survive. But he also had no desire to destroy it. It was just... there. That was it. "Maybe I''ll need it again one day," Shang said after some seconds. When the three heard that, a collective sigh of relief had been released. Aterium would continue to exist. "Then, Shang," Gregorio continued. "With all the Mage Emperors gone, it will be much more difficult to deal with the Abominations. Is there something you can do about them?" Shang scratched his chin as he fell into thought. That sounded like work. He really didn''t like doing that much work for no benefit. And then, Shang got an idea. A toothy grin appeared on Shang''s face. "Sure, why not," he said with a chuckle. "| still need more power." "| still need to perfect my body, and | need it to be bigger and stronger." ¡°Originally, | was nning on summoning more Abomination Kings, but that might not be necessary." "Kali," Shang said. Kali looked at Shang. "Free all the Abominations we imprisoned." When she heard that, even Kali showed a nervous reaction. m going to absorb them," Shang said with a chuckle. "| will call all the Abominations that appear across the world to me, and | will incorporate all of them into my body." ¡°Every Abomination will appear beside me from now on, and | will absorb them." Shang turned to look at Gregorio with a confident smirk. "That''s what you want, right?" Chapter 1014 Chapter 1014 Gregorio knew that he couldn''t ask for something better. This was already the best-case scenario. ¡°Of course, Shang. | would be happy with that," Gregorio said with relief. Maybe, Gregorio hadn''t made a mistake. Shang would let Aterium continue to exist. Even more, maybe, when Shang was about to leave, Gregorio could convince him to create a permanent solution for the Abominations. Shang was so incredibly powerful that he would most likely find a solution. Shang was already absorbing all the Abominations that appeared in Aterium. Maybe, he could absorb the entire world of the Abominations? That would take care of the problem. ¡°How will you call the Abominations from across the world?" Abaddon suddenly asked. "Don''t they need to be inside your Spirit Sense?" Shang chuckled but didn''t look at Abaddon. "You are bound by what the world acknowledges as a Spirit Sense," Shang said. "I''m not." "My body is already no longer bound by the rules of the world.¡± ¡°My mind is already made up of so much Mana and Entropy that the rules of the world won''t be able to suppress my senses anymore." "| can already feel how my Spirit Sense is trembling under the power of my might." "The world is resisting.¡± "The rules of the world won''t allow such a powerful Spirit Sense." Shang grinned maliciously. "But the rules of the world are weak!" "| will soon reach the Ninth Realm, and when | do, my Spirit Sense will no longer be confined.¡± "| understand," Abaddon said with a polite nod. While Abaddon didn''t say anything more to Shang, he had a question for Gregorio, which he transmitted. ¡°What''s Entropy?" he asked. Kali had also heard Abaddon''s question, and she also looked at Gregorio. Gregorio threw a nce at Shang. "Do we need to keep secrets from the two of them?" he asked. "No," Shang answered. "The time of secrets has passed." "I''ve had enough of fleeing from my status as the Child of Cmity." "You can tell them everything.¡± ¡°Abominations, Entropy, the God, whatever." "Okay," Gregorio answered. As Gregorio transmitted everything he knew about the world to Abaddon and Kali, Shang smiled. He had done it. He no longer had to hide. The world was his! Now, only a single person stood in his way. Shang could still remember the God''s appearance. ¡®What do you feel right now?" ¡®Fear?¡¯ ¡®Or are you still confident in your power?¡¯ ¡®Maybe, you look forward to a battle.¡¯ "You sent me into this world, and you were the one that yed with my life again and again.¡¯ ¡®You probably hadn''t thought that things would turn out this way.¡¯ "Do you regret your decisions or not?" ¡®| honestly can''t tell with you." ¡®But it doesn''t actually matter.¡¯ ¡®Your feelings won''t change anything." The next moment, Shang''s body suddenly vanished, and Shang''s true body reappeared. Shang''s three followers looked over in surprise.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. Why had Shang''s true body reappeared? And then, Shang''s body began to vibrate. CRK! CRK! CRK! Slowly, Shang''s monumental body began to shrink! It was almost like it was beingpressed! The three followers weren''t entirely sure what Shang was doing, but they realized when they saw the next thing. WHOOOOM! An incredible storm of Mana appeared around Shang, and all the Mana in the world seemingly flowed towards him. Shang waspressing his Mana and Entropy to achieve the density of an Initial Mage Emperor! This meant that Shang was officially advancing into the Ninth Realm! As Shang''s body waspressing, Mana still continued pouring into him. BANG! But then, a barrier appeared around Shang that stopped the Mana from entering his body. Naturally, this was Shang''s barrier. After all, he didn''t want to feel more of this filthy Mana than necessary. For his advancement, Shang didn''t need to absorb any Entropy or Mana. After all, his body already contained enough Mana and Entropy to produce a Mid Mage Emperor. He simply needed topress his body a bit. Shang''s humongous body shrunk more and more. The reality around Shang seemed to strain under his monumental power, but it managed to hold on. Some minutester, Shang''s body shrunk to a size of only five kilometers, half the diameter of what it used to be. That was when Shang''s body stopped shrinking. The shaking of the atmosphere around Shang became more and more intense. It was almost like a malleable sheet of rubber was trying to contain an explosion. Waves upon waves of pure power came out of Shang''s body, but the reality held. Then, Shang''s many eyes opened. ¡°Hmph.¡± BOOOOOOOM! The reality containing Shang''s power broke apart, and waves upon waves of power washed all over the world. Gregorio, Kali, and Abaddon suddenly felt like they had fallen into an eternal abyss. They felt like the ever-present ground beneath their feet had suddenly given way. Something they had relied on hadjust been broken. The waves of power expanded across the entire world almost instantly. Even the weakest beings felt like something fundamental had changed. They felt like the end of the world was approaching. And the more powerful one was, the more one felt like one was about to die. Eventually, the waves bounced off the silver wall, and they washed back towards Shang. It took several seconds, but eventually, the waves vanished. The next moment, a deep voice appeared in every living being''s mind. ¡°Aterium is mine!" Almost everyone had no idea where this voice hade from, but the Mage Kings and many Mage Lords knew what this meant. Did this mean that their Emperors were dead? Amomentter, Shang''s human body returned, and he smirked. "| can sense all of Aterium," he said. "The entire world is within my grasp." "| can see all!" Shangughed loudly. There was nothing! There was nothing left that could fight him except for the God! Shang still remembered the God''s pce, but he hadn''t found it in Aterium, which meant that it had to be past the silver wall. ¡®For now, | can''t look past the silver wall.¡¯ ¡®But eventually, even that won''t stop me anymore.¡¯ The next moment, Shang saw a new part inside his mind. Funnily enough, Shang had already found that part when he had recreated his body. Shang knew that this was the ninth question he had asked the God. If he wanted, he could have unlocked it earlier. But he wanted to y along. Now, Shang had reached the Ninth Realm. Shang was a Sword Emperor. It was time to look at the ninth question. The reason why Shang was the Child of Cmity. Chapter 1015 Chapter 1015 Shang found himself in the God''s pce again. At this moment, a young man with blonde hair and a bit of a belly stood in front of the God. ¡®Alex,¡¯ Shang thought to himself with amusement. At this moment, Alex was looking at the God with a bit of confusion. He wasn''t certain what he should ask. He kind of had already asked everything he wanted to know. Also, the chances were very low that he would ever hear the answer to this question. After all, that would mean that he became one of the strongest humans in this mystical world, right? In the end, Alex only shrugged. "What''s your name?" he asked. When the God heard that question, he became interested and entertained. However, Shang actually became interested. That was an interesting question. "Why would you care about my name?" the God asked with a smirk. Alex just scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I don''t really know what else to ask. | basically asked about everything already." ¡°Also, isn''t itmon courtesy to ask for someone''s name when that someone helped you?" ¡°Helped you?" the God asked with a smirk. "Please borate." "| mean," Alex added, "You''ve essentially saved me from an afterlife. On top of that, you are giving me a new body." "You are allowing me to travel into some kind of fantasy world where | can be as strong as | want." "| might be able to jump onto trees, fly, kick down mountains, and other things.¡± "It literally sounds like a dreame true." "You are even helping me by giving me these gifts!" Alex started to smile awkwardly. "You might seem a bit aggressive from time to time, but | think, deep down, you might actually be a good guy." ¡°After all, you''ve helped me so much." ¡°And if | ever get strong enough to hear the answer to this question, | might be able toe into contact with you again and help." "So, what''s your name, and is there something | can do to help or support you?" "You''ve done so much for me. A bit of courtesy and repayment would be the bare minimum on my part." Then, Alex seemed like he remembered something. The next moment, he slightly raised his right arm in a wave. "By the way, | know you know my name, but | still feel like | should introduce myself properly.¡± ¡°Hi, I''m Alex. Who are you?" Alex asked with a warm smile. The God just looked at Alex with an extremely wide smirk. At the side, Shang looked with disgust and disdain at Alex. "Hahahaha!" The next moment, the God broke intoughter. In fact, he continuedughing for quite a while, and Alex just awkwardly looked at the God. Was what he said in any way funny? This was just basic politeness, right? "Ah, that''sjust too good," the God said as he slowly calmed down. "Me, a good guy. Holy shit," he shouted as hisugh returned. "| mean, it can''t be that funny, right?" Alex asked with some annoyance. The God just continuedughing when he heard Alex''s annoyed tone. This guy was hrious! "Oh, Alex," the God said as he leaned back on his throne again. "You''re so naive." "You''re so nice." "You''re so innocent." The next moment, the God''s eyelid twitched, and his eyes narrowed immediately after. "| HATE such people," he shouted with absolute vtility. ¡°Always only seeing the good in people." ¡°Always showing your back to them so that they can eventually take advantage of you." ¡°Always wasting time with friends and family." | hate such weak and pathetic pushovers!" By now, Alex looked with quite a bit of fear and uncertainty at the God. That outburst was stronger than he had expected. Yet, the next moment, a smirk appeared on the God''s face.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. ¡°But you know what?" the God said as he chuckled a bit. "I just got a fun idea." "You''re such a nice and friendly guy, Alex." ¡°How about we change that?" the God asked with a foreboding smile. Alex became nervous. "I don''t think there''s anything wrong with my conduct." "No, there isn''t," the God said. "And that''s exactly why it''s boring." "| think | know what | will do to you." "Such a nice guy." "Such a friendly guy." ¡°You know what? | want to see you change.¡± "| don''t want to forcibly change you. | want to see into what you will change when the entire world resents you." ¡°| want to see what you will be when you are the enemy of the entire world." "| want to see what happens when your mere existence kills humans every single second!" "When | force you to decide between killing yourself for the good of the world or your goal, | want to see what you choose." ¡°How much can an apathetic world change you?" ¡°How fucked in the head can you get?" "| want to see you kill millions of innocent people without even thinking twice about it!" "| want you tomit atrocities just for your selfish goals!" ¡°And most of all, | want to see you hate yourself for it!" "| want to see your mind get destroyed by your own twisted desires!" By now, Alex was shocked and terrified. He knew that the God was quite vtile, but he hadn''t expected him to be this cruel all of a sudden. "Can we not?" Alex asked. The God chuckled. "You have no choice," he said with a smirk. "You will most likely never regain the memory of this question, but if you actually manage to be an Emperor, | want to know how you will react to it." "If you believe your old self to be naive and idiotic, | will have achieved my goal." Then, the God seemed like he remembered something. "Oh, | forgot about answering your actual question." ¡°You want to know what my name is?" "My name is Lucius Volstad!" Then, the God broke intoughter again. That was when Alex''s memories of the questions got deleted. Chapter 1016 Chapter 1016 In the real world, Shang opened his eyes with a neutral expression. ¡°Lucius Volstad," Shang said as he looked at the sky.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Shang remembered the blonde corpse that the God had kicked around in his pce. That had been the Mage God, and the Mage God was Lucius Volstad. Based on the appearance of the naked corpse, it really had been Lucius Volstad. The corpse had looked identical to what Gregorio had shown him, and it was also identical to the image in the Trial of Want. Lastly, with Shang''s current experience, he could tell that there were several signs of the body being real, and Shang could also tell that it had the Aura of an actual Mage. Shang was 99% sure that the corpse had been real and that this had truly been Lucius Volstad''s corpse. But then, what about the God? The God couldn''tjust randomly have the same name as the Mage God, right? Lucius had definitely died. Yet, Lucius was alive. But the Lucius that was alive was extremely different from the Lucius that everybody knew. At that moment, Shang remembered a couple of things. Gregorio had told Shang that Lucius had seemed quite conflicted from time to time. It was like he was at odds with himself. Then, Shang thought about the God''s strong reaction to Alex''s question. The God had seemed quite angry. Too angry for such a question. There was definitely some emotional tension to this topic. Even more, the God had said that he hated naive and good people. Yet, wasn''t that exactly what Lucius had been? Based on what Gregorio had told Shang, Lucius was a very kind man who didn''t want to hurt people. Lucius had even done his best to stop Abominations from appearing in Aterium, even though he didn''t always seed. Lucius had also shown deep trust in hisrge group of friends. And that was exactly what the God hated. Then, Shang remembered another thing. The Watcher''s Record, the Archivist''s book. The God''s descriptions of how Mana worked were almost identical to how the Archivist had described them. On top of that, the God had only referenced Paths that had either existed when Lucius had been alive or had been in the Watcher''s Record. Back then, Shang had entertained the thought that the Archivist might be older than the God. Yet, no one but Lucius had be a God in the Archivist''s lifetime. Of course, since Shang had believed that Lucius was dead, he hadn''t entertained the thought that the God was actually Lucius. It made no sense. And yet, it was true. Lucius was the God. But the God was not the Lucius everybody knew. ¡®Wait, that sounds familiar,| Shang thought. Shang thought of the words he had said after leaving Area 23. "My name is Shang." ¡°But | am not Shang." Shang, but not Shang. Lucius, but not Lucius. There were simrities, but there was still an important difference. There was an actual corpse of Lucius. ¡®Although,¡¯ Shang thought as he actually looked at his true body. ''My current body also can''tpare to my old one." ¡®If | could create my old one, it would be like there had been two of me.¡¯ The next moment, Shang looked at the silver wall again. ¡®Something monumental must have happened after Lucius became a God." "Obviously, since the God is Lucius, when Lucius had be a God, there had been no other God." "So, there should have been nothing that could have stopped Lucius from fulfilling his dream.¡¯ "He wanted to get rid of the Abominations.¡¯ ¡®But instead of getting rid of them, something happened! ¡®Additionally, one Lucius must have died." ¡®After all, the Abominations had be weak again, and all the Mana Lucius had absorbed had returned to the world. Otherwise, there wouldn''t have been any Emperors except for the Archivist.¡¯ "But then, what is the God?" ¡®If all the Mana of the world had returned, what is the God made of?" ¡®Entropy?¡¯ ¡®No, he would still need at least 30% Mana to retain his human mind, which means that there could only be like seven or eight Emperors max.¡¯ ¡®But there were eleven, including the Archivist.¡¯ ¡®The God is Lucius.¡¯ ¡®At least one Lucius is dead." ¡®The living Lucius can''t be fully made of Entropy.¡¯ ¡®The living Lucius has no or nearly no Mana in his being.¡¯ ¡®The living Lucius is still powerful enough to easily kill powerful Peak Mage Kings and maybe even Emperors." ¡®Something must have happened that turned him into the mad God." ¡®These are all the clues | have.¡¯ Shang thought about these things for a while. There were a couple of contradictions in these clues. "Eh, who cares?¡¯ Shang thought with a smirk. "So, you''re Lucius Volstad, huh?¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the sky. ¡®| wonder if you can still read my mind.¡¯ ¡®And if you can, | wonder how powerful you actually are.¡¯ ¡®From what Gregorio has told me, you are even weaker than Abaddon.¡¯ ¡®But maybe whatever has happened has changed you.¡¯ "Maybe your power has actually increased?¡¯ "How very interesting.¡± The next moment, Shang turned around and threw a nce at Gregorio, whojust nervously looked at him. Shang only grinned, but he didn''t say anything, making Gregorio nervous. "Oh, Gregorio. I''m not sure ifl should be happy or sad for you." ¡®Lucius was your good friend, and you believed him to be dead.¡¯ ¡®But now, it turns out that he was actually still alive." ¡®Yet, is the being that currently owns that name something you want to be friends with?" Shang turned away from Gregorio again and chuckled. ¡®Whenever anyone said that the Mage God was the God of this world, | always looked down on them.¡¯ ¡®| thought them to be idiotic and na¡¯ive.¡¯ ¡®And yet, haven''t they always been right?" ¡®They haven''t seen God." ¡®| have seen God.¡¯ ¡®But in the end, | was the one in the wrong, and they had been the ones in the right." Shang chuckled a bit more. ¡®How amusing.¡¯ Chapter 1017 Chapter 1017 Eventually, Shang stopped thinking about the whole Lucius thing. For now, it didn''t matter. Shang would meet Lucius when he became a God anyway. In a certain way, Shang looked forward even more to their meeting. He wanted to know what must have happened that Lucius had changed this drastically. "For the foreseeable future, | will be inhabiting the Judgment Pce since it''s at the center of the world,¡± Shang said. Then, Shang turned to Kali with a smirk. "Since everyone in the Judgment Pce will die in a thousand years anyway, you probably don''t mind, do you?" "| don''t,¡± Kali said emotionlessly. Shang turned to look towards the north again. "Then, enjoy yourst thousand years in the world.¡± "In a thousand years, we will reset it." The three of them just nodded. Shang slowly took the sky, and a momentter, he shot towards the north. When Shang left, the three of them looked at each other. "So, anyone wanna go sightseeing?¡± Abaddon asked with a friendly smile. When Gregorio heard that, some nervousness appeared in his heart. Yes, they were allies now, but that didn''t mean that Abaddon had changed. Abaddon was still the power-hungry psychopath who couldn''t feel any emotions like happiness, sadness, orempathy. Hearing him invite Gregorio to go sightseeing felt creepy and dangerous. But after throwing a nce at Kali, Gregorio justepted his new surroundings. Kali was a bit better, but not much. "He won''t try to kill me since that might make Shang kill him.¡¯ ¡®| guess these are my new friends from now on,¡¯ he thought. "Sure," Gregorio said. "Great!" Abaddon shouted with excitement before turning to his mother. "You want tojoin as well, mother?" Kali wordlessly nodded. Then, the three of them began to hover and flew towards the south. Since they were already at the southernmost Empire, they decided to start theirjourney at the southern edge of the world. Naturally, since there was no more pressure, Abaddon took his advancement slowly. He would take his time. While the three of them went sightseeing, Shang crossed the border between Empires.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. Right now, Shang was in his human body, but his human body still didn¡¯t look very human. After all, his legs and arms looked quite strange. When Shang reached the border, he felt many Spirit Senses look at him. Most of them were from Ancestral Mages and Mage Lords, but there were also three Mage Kings. "Halt!" one of the Mage Kings shouted. Shang didn''t react and simply continued flying. The next moment, the Mage Kingunched an attack on Shang. Shang just smirked. The attack exploded on Shang''s body, but Shang wasn''t injured. SHence. When they had seen Shang, he hadn''t felt very powerful. In fact, he had felt like an average Mage King. But then, how had he survived this attack?! The next moment, Shang just chuckled. WHOOM! A Domain of Entropy appeared around the Mage King that had attacked him. The Mage King fell into a panic as he realized that his Mana was rapidly depleting. He immediately tried to flee with Mana Step, but Mana Step didn''t work! After that, he tried to run out of the Domain, but it didn''t matter where he ran to, the Domain just kept following him! Over a couple of seconds of panic and terror, the Mage King slowly died. WHOOOOM! The next moment, the Mage King''s Mana was being dispersed across the world. No one could believe what they had just witnessed. One of the remaining Mage Kings immediately contacted Kali. Many kilometers away, Kali took out her Communication Crystal. CRKSH! And crushed it. There was no reason to have a Communication Crystal anymore. Everyone besides them would die soon anyway. There was no point in doing anything for the Judgment Pce since it would also be destroyed. People, talent, Magic, Mana, prestige, borders, buildings, weapons, technology, everything had lost all meaning. Everything would be destroyed, and the world would turn into a lifelessndscape. The Mage King almost couldn''t believe what had just happened. Just now, he had felt the Communication Crystal establish a connection with Kali, but then, itpletely vanished! It was almost like the Communication Crystal had suddenly been destroyed. What was the meaning of this?! Had something happened to the Empress of Death?! Why was some unknown guy suddenly flying into the Judgment Pce?! Meanwhile, Shang just kept advancing with a confident smirk. No one could stop him. The panicked Mage Lords and Mage Kings below him were nothing bigger than some panicking insects when a human walked through a meadow. As Shang continued flying forward, more and more Mage Kings appeared in his perception. The Mage Kings rapidly talked to each other and came up with a couple of ns to deal with Shang. Eventually, they had allbined their powers and began to cast one unified Spell. Shang was flying right towards the actual Judgment Pce, and they felt like they had to stop him before he arrived! When Shang saw these cute little Mage Kings trying to stop him, he almost couldn''t resistughing. BANG! A humongous ck tear appeared in the world. In one strike, Shang had killed all of the Mage Kings that had just tried to attack him. The Mage Lords that watched denied reality. After some more chuckling, Shang continued flying forward, and eventually, he reached the actual Judgment Pce. It was huge, beautiful, and imposing. Even more, thends of life and the pit of death also had a contrasting beauty. It truly felt like some kind of holynd. Eventually, Shang stopped above the Judgment Pce. And then, he swung his arm from one side to another. CRRRRRRRR! It was like a ck wave of destruction washed across the circrnds of life! As the ck wave passed, everything in its way was destroyed. Animals, nts, insects, humans. It didn''t matter. Everything was eradicated. Even the Life Mana itself. In less than a second, thends of life had been emptied of life. The few humans that were still present to witness Shang''s actions felt terror assault their minds. Then, Shang looked at the Judgment Pce below him. And summoned his true body. Chapter 1018 Chapter 1018 As Shang''s true body appeared above the Judgment Pce, the world seemed to stop. The few Mages that were watching immediately felt like they had been plunged into a nightmare. Fortunately, most of them realized that it wasn''t the best idea to remain, and they rapidly began to flee. The humongous ball of swirling ck des slowly lowered itself onto the Judgment Pce. As it came closer, the tentacles of the ball expanded and tore everything they touched apart. The Judgment Pce was protected by incredibly powerful barriers, but that didn''t matter to Shang. Shang''s offensive power in this state was beyondpare. One had to remember that Shang couldunch an attack at any ce within his Spirit Sense with whatever limb he wanted. And he had a lot of limbs. At any given moment, in any part of Aterium, Shang couldunch thousands of simultaneous attacks with any or all of his limbs. Naturally, the Judgment Pce''s barriers couldn''t even hope to withstand Shang''s barrage of attacks. CRK! The barriers cracked nearly immediately, and the Mana they had been using was dispersed into the surroundings. By now, Abaddon had also dispersed the Mana from Adam''s Inheritor Sphere. After all, he had a better one already. With all the dead Mage Kings, the world was once more bathed in Mana. But this time, things were different. As Shang slowly ground the Judgment Pce into dust, the few surviving Mages began to contact their friends and acquaintances, who then contacted their friends and acquaintances. In less than a minute, every Mage at the Ancestral Mage Realm or higher knew about Shang. Although, none of them knew that he was actually Shang. Right now, Shang was unrecognizable. Eventually, the entire Judgment Pce vanished, and Shang justy on the ground. As Shang''s body rxed, its shape changed from a sphere into something like a ck blob. At this moment, Shang just looked like a ck hill made of rapidly moving ck des and eyes with tendrils growing out of it. The few Mages that were around looked at Shang in nervousness and terror. What would this monster do now?! Would it just stay here? Hopefully! CRACK! Suddenly, several explosions urred across the entire world. Yet, none of the people noticed initially. After all, the explosions had all happened deep below the ground. But the next moment, the world experienced something terrifying. Abominations! Abomination Lords and Abomination Kings were suddenlying out from the ground all around the world! The watching Mage Kings and Mage Lords immediately fell into terrified despair, but some of them still managed to realize where these Abominations hade from. Hadn''t these been the spots where the Empress of Death had ced her Magic Circles for getting rid of the Abomination Lords and Abomination Kings? However, that genuinely wasn''t important right now. The important thing was that there were several Abomination Kings appearing and that there wasn''t a single Emperor avable that could deal with them! On an isted ind, the Archivist watched what was going on.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. The Archivist knew several ces that could allow his Spirit Sense to appear in more distant ces, which was why it wasn''t difficult for him to see all of these things. When the Archivist saw everything, he felt like the end of the world was approaching. The Child of Cmity had attained supreme power, and that would most likely mean the end of the world. As the Mage Kings saw the Abominations, they despaired. However, most of them noticed that the Abominations were not even looking at them. In fact, the Abominations were not even destroying the world around them. The Abominations were all just facing the same direction without doing anything. They were all facing the Judgment Pce. While the Abominations were all facing the Judgment Pce, the ck hill in the Judgment Pce had grown by a bit. Earlier, Shang had turned all the prisons of the Abominations into Mana and Entropy, which he had then absorbed. There was no more reason to let the Entropy Ore continue remaining. Injust a couple of seconds, every single piece of Entropy Ore in the entire world had been absorbed by Shang. The Istion Chambers, pylons, cages, collectibles, weapons, and so on. All of it had been transformed and consumed by Shang. Sadly, Shang''s body had only grown by about 20% after absorbing all of this. Eventually, all the Abominations started to fly towards the center of the world. Shang could just absorb all of them from where they were, but that wouldn''t be fun. Some of the Mage Kings immediately attacked the Abominations when they saw them, but Shang simply killed them. Once more, huge storms of Mana washed over the world. Eventually, the powerful Mages all decided to stop attacking the Abominations. After all, everyone that did would just die. On top of that, the Abominations also weren''t really doing anything at the moment. After some minutes, all the Abominations arrived in front of Shang''s gigantic body and threw themselves on it. Whenever they touched Shang''s rapidly moving des, they were cut into particles, which then fused with Shang''s body. After absorbing over 2,000 Abomination Lords and 50 Abomination Kings, Shang''s body barely changed in size. SHING! SHING! SHING! The next moment, one Abomination after the other appeared in random spots around Shang''s body before getting cut into pieces and absorbed. The Abominations were of all Realms. These were all the Abominations that would be appearing around the world naturally. Of course, Shang had redirected the location of where they would appear to his body. Starting from this moment, the Empires would no longer be gued by any Abominations in any Realm. For the first time, the Abominations were not threatening the world. For a while, the Mage Kings just watched. They felt cold, terrified, and shocked. The most powerful Mage Kings amongst them could win against one Abomination King. But this huge thing was consuming them without pause and with nearly no change to its power. They knew that they couldn''t possibly stop this huge thing. And then, a dark voice appeared in everyone''s head. "In 1,000 years, all life will cease to exist." Chapter 1019 Chapter 1019 For a long time, the people of the world couldn''tprehend these words. All life would cease to exist? Everyone had at one point thought about something like this happening, but when the thought actually became a reality, people couldn''t wrap their minds around it. It sounded impossible. It sounded like it wasn''t real. And yet, they didn''t feel like the mysterious voice was lying. Naturally, this mysterious voice had been Shang. Shang had told everyone because he wanted to see what would happen. What would happen to a world that knew that it would end on a specific date? This single message was thest time Shang would verballymunicate with the world. From now on, he would onlymunicate with people by killing them. But for now, there was only one thing. SHence. After the revtion, not much had happened. Most people just looked at other people close to them to confirm the validity of the reality they were experiencing at the moment. Did that voice only appear in their head? Sadly, everyone confirmed that they had also heard the voice. The powerful Mages contacted the other powerful Mages, and they could only realize in horror that everyone across the entire world had heard the same word at the exact same time. Since this was a living thing and since this thing was very powerful, it had to have a Spirit Sense. And that was the horrifying part. Didn''t this mean that this thing''s Spirit Sense epassed the entire world?! This was not the power of something at the Ninth Realm! Only something in the legendary Tenth Realm could achieve such power. But that was impossible! The Mana was still there! In fact, the density of Mana had increased by so much that it had be ridiculous. So, how could this thing possibly have gained enough Mana to reach this level?! Very quickly, the Mage Kings began to discuss and argue. Some were sure that this thing was in the Tenth Realm. Some were sure that it was simply an Abomination Emperor. Some thought that it was a trick by some Emperor. The following days were chaotic. Without the presence of the Emperors, the Mage Kings of the different Empires started to lose their unity. Additionally, due to the gravity of the situation, they also stopped giving orders to the Mage Lords. After all, more important things were going on right now. At this moment, the Mage Kings were trying toe to terms with the new dynamic, the new world, and the new deadline. While the Mage Kings were trying to reorganize basically everything, the Mage Lords kept themselves back. The Mage Lords knew that they were not the ones in charge. Instead, they simply waited until the Mage Kings got everything in order. The Ancestral Mages became very uncertain and insecure. Their superior Mage Lords were not telling them what to do. Instead, the Mage Lords looked unsure and indecisive. They almost seemed like they had no idea what to do. Because of that, the Ancestral Mages constantly kept asking questions, and the Mage Lords could only answer in vague ways since they also had no idea what their superior Mage Kings were doing. Of course, that was how it was for the Empires. The vast majority of Ancestral Mages and almost all weaker Mages didn''t belong to any of the Empires. These people had no idea what was actually going on in the wider world. They only knew that they had heard a voice saying that the end of the world wasing, but they didn''t know any specifics. The unaffiliated Mage Lords didn''t do anything. The unaffiliated Ancestral Mages also kept themselves in check for now. However, things became more chaotic the weaker the people became. Many Archmages took the opportunity to gain something out of other people. Extortion, schemes, assassinations, and so on. It was the most chaotic among the Archmages and their inferior High Mages. But then, surprisingly, things became more orderly again. The Apprentices, Adepts, and True Mages had an exciting day of chaos, but then, everything basically returned to normal. All of this felt too distant. Yes, the end of the world wasing, but these weak people didn''t even know what a Mage Emperor or Mage King was. Most of them didn''t even know what an Abomination was.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. From the viewpoint of an Empire, Abominations appeared across their borders almost constantly and everywhere. But from the viewpoint of a True Mage, Abominations basically didn''t exist. Acouple of weak Abominations appeared like once every couple of years, many kilometers away, in a ce where the True Mage hadn''t ever been, and these weak Abominations also died extremely quickly to a powerful beast thatjust happened to live there. Almost no one had any idea of what was actually happening. Some brave heroes in the True Mage and High Mage Realm left their kingdoms to search for the ancient evil that had doomed the world. Naturally, these people had no idea about the size of the world or the power gap between them and this ancient evil. When they had heard the voice, they had felt which direction it had beening from. As long as they kept traveling in that direction, they would meet this ancient evil at some point. And then, they would defeat it and be legends! This was what happened the first few days after Shang''s announcement, and Shang kept looking at the world with interest as armies of Abominations threw themselves into his monumental body. Seeing all these different facets of humanity interested Shang quite a bit. ¡®| think get why Lucius is watching Aterium all the time,¡¯ Shang thought. ¡®Looking at one person''s life is boring, but when you have quadrillions to choose from, you will always see at least one person going through something absolutely unreal and crazy at any given point.¡¯ ¡®The current times are unprecedented, and the world will act in an unprecedented manner.¡¯ ¡®| wonder how things will change in theing years.¡¯ Chapter 1020 Chapter 1020 After some days, more and more Mage Lords and Mage Kings appeared near Shang''s body, but they also always left very quickly after appearing. Whenever any of them saw Shang, they felt this deep feeling of absolute terror in their chests. It was like Shang wasn''t supposed to exist. It was like Shang represented the end of the world. Being anywhere close to him felt like suicide. Shang didn''t react to any of the Mage Lords or Mage King. The most he did was to look at some of them with one of his eyes. After some weeks, the chaos amongst the Mage Kings had mostly calmed down. All the Mage Kings had searched for their Emperors, but they couldn''t find them. Naturally, if Kali, Gregorio, and Abaddon didn''t want to be seen, no Mage King would be able to see them. Because of that, everyone believed that every Mage Emperor had died. Coming to terms with this new reality had taken a long time. Eventually, almost all the Mage Kings decided to work together. For now, there were no longer any Empires. At this moment, there were only many isted areas with individual Mage Kings, which were all part of a mega alliance. There was an unprecedented crisis, and the world had to unite to deal with it. The Mage Kings started toe up with ns, but without enough information, no one was truly willing to go through with the ns. By now, every Mage King knew where Shang was. They also knew that Shang had to be rted to the Abominations since all the Abominations in the world appeared around him andjumped into him. There were two popr opinions on Shang. First, Shang was an Abomination Emperor. No one had ever seen an Abomination Emperor, and this could very well be one. Second, Shang was the Child of Cmity. Maybe the Child of Cmity had used the Abominations to kill all the Mage Emperors. Naturally, the Child of Cmity thing was more logically sound, but the reason why not everyone believed in it was Shang''s appearance. They couldn''t connect this terror with a former human As more weeks passed, the Mages that appeared around Shang became more and more courageous. Some of them even dared to get close enough to see Shang with their actual eyes. After two full months, one of the Mage Lords even managed to stay several hours near Shang''s body to witness what was going on. The scene of seeing thousands and millions of Abominations throwing themselves into Shang''s bod, and Shang''s body barely growing sent a deep feeling of hopeless despair through the Mage Lord''s soul. This thing was growing more powerful by the second and rapidly so! Slowly, more and more Mage Lords started to hover around Shang''s body. The things that were happening here were terrifying but also fascinating. They had to learn about how Shang worked! Only then could they find his weakness and stop the end of the world! Six months after the announcement, hundreds of Mage Lords were hovering around Shang''s body. They were constantly doing tests on Shang and the Abominationsjumping into him. By now, many of the Mage Lords and Mage Kings weren''t even certain that Shang was actually intelligent. Maybe someone else had sent them the message six months ago? After all, they couldn''t feel Shang''s Spirit Sense or perception, and they also couldn''t tell whether or not Shang was looking at them. They only saw a gigantic hill of rapidly moving des and eyes. It looked otherworldly and terrifying, but as long as they didn''t touch the des, nothing happened to them. Shang was almost like a scary environment. He was like a poison swamp or the pit of death. Was this hill actually conscious, or was itjust some kind of natural force that absorbed Abominations? This hill obviously had the power to destroy the world. After all, there were so many Abominations inside of its body. If it detonated just 10% of its body, all life would cease to exist. Yet, it didn''t do that. And it also never did anything to any of the Mage Kings and Mage Lords. Some of the Mage Kings even attacked the hill. Sadly, their attacks had no effect. The fleshy hill was so incredibly durable that none of the Mage Kings managed to damage it in any way. Naturally, Shang watched all of this with amusement and interest. He wanted to see what the Mage Kings would be able toe up with in the next thousand years. Many of the Mage Kings also started to kill the Abominations that were running into Shang''s body. This nightmare was growing more and more powerful by absorbing Abominations. If they ever wanted to have a chance at defeating it, they had to stop it from growing more powerful! Shang found the Mage Kings'' struggle amusing, and he let them have their fun. The tide of Abominations was infinite. One couldn''t block infinity eternally. Even more, the Mage Kings couldn''t even block all of them. They could block all the Ancestral Abomination and weaker, but blocking the Abomination Lords was difficult. Sure, they got most of the Abomination Lords, but some of them were fast enough to jump into Shang''s body before dying to the Mage Kings. And then, there were the Abomination Kings. About once per month, an Abomination King appeared. Naturally, there was nothing the Mage Kings could do against the Abomination Kings.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. Finally, one year after the announcement, something major happened. Ack silhouette of a human appeared near Shang''s body. The Mage Lords and Mage Kings immediately noticed it. And when they did, they felt absolute terror. Irresistible! Uncontroble! Indestructible! This was what they had felt from it. Naturally, this was an Abomination Emperor. Yet,just like all the other Abominations, the Abomination Emperor just jumped into Shang''s body and got absorbed. CRRRRR! When the Abomination Emperor entered Shang''s body, Shang''s body suddenly expanded by 20%. Some of the Mage Lords that had been close to Shang''s body couldn''t react in time and were turned into pure Mana by the rapidly moving des. Silence. The Mage Kings and Mage Lords hadjust witnessed something terrifying. And it took quite a while toe to terms with it. Chapter 1021 Chapter 1021 It was very difficult for the Mages toe to terms with what they had just seen. Nevertheless, this confirmed it. The Mage Lords and Mage Kings had seen an actual Abomination Emperor, which meant that this terrifying hill wasn''t one. So, was this hill actually the Child of Cmity? They still weren''t sure. After all, this hill didn''t even remotely feel like a human or even a beast. It seemed much more like a natural force. Eventually, the Mage Lords and Mage Kings returned to studying the Abominations and the hill. Over the next years, the Mage Kings had managed to learn a lot about the Abominations. Studying the Abominations had always been extremely difficult since they wanted to explode as soon as they were exposed to Mana. But this time, the Abominations weren''t resisting. Sure, they were all dying very quickly, but for the short time they were alive, they didn''t resist any of the Mage Kings¡¯ Spells. By now, the Mage Kings had also realized that not even a single Abomination was appearing anywhere else in the world, which shocked them. This thing could even control where the Abominations appeared, and it could even stop them from appearing somewhere?! By now, the vast majority of Mage Kings were constantly stationed near Shang. After all, the Mage Kings were not interested in fighting for supremacy right now.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. They were not interested in dying in just a thousand years. If any of them tried to pull something on another Mage King, the others would immediately shut them down. There were more important things to worry about right now! While the Mage Kings continued to intercept the Abominations, the unaffiliated powers continued fighting each other. The Ancestral Mages and Archmages knew of the existence of Mage Kings, and they knew that their power wasn''t even nearly enough to stop the end of the world. It could only go two ways. Either the Mage Kings managed to destroy the threat, or everyone would die. In both cases, worrying about the future and trying to save it wouldn''t make a difference to the Archmages and Ancestral Mages. Instead, they tried to take advantage of the uncertain future to enrich themselves. More resources. More wealth. More people. Morend. Thepetition between these powers reached apletely new level of intensity. And as for everyone that was weaker... Nothing changed. In the beginning, the weak people were terrified. After all, things would start to be worse and worse from now on. Yet, nothing had happened for an entire year. This made the weak people realize that this entire thing basically didn''t concern them. It was a thousand years from now. That was an absolute eternity from now. Not even their grandchildren''s grandchildren would be alive until then. So, the end of the world was kind of unimportant and irrelevant to them. Only two things changed for them. First, the weaker people who lived in the cities saw major corporations and guilds appear and vanish far more often than normal. Second, a couple of doomsday cults and religions popped up that worshipped the end of the world in the hope of either getting spared or getting into some kind of paradise after their death. But that was about it. And like that, the years passed. After ten years, the Mage Kings were still analyzing the Abominations. They had even managed to confirm the existence of some kind of mysterious power that only existed inside the Abomination. Naturally, this power was Entropy, but for now, they still weren''t certain what it could do exactly. By now, the hill had reached a width of nearly 30 kilometers. CRRRRRRRR! Immediately, all the Mages used Mana Step to retreat from the hill as it began to shake violently. This had not happened before! What was going on?! The des on the side of the hill began to move even quicker, and a momentter, the hill began to shrink! With shock, the onlookers realized that the density of Mana inside the hill was increasing as its volume decreased! "It''s... breaking through!" one of them shouted in horror. Nervously, the Mage Kings watched the hill. They wanted to stop the hill, but they knew that they couldn''t. It was simply too powerful! As the hill shrunk, the des across its body became even faster, and they remained at their new speed. WHOOOM! Suddenly, a wave of power left the ck hill, and it traveled across the entire world. The Archmages and stronger could feel the wave wash over them, but only the Mage Lords and Mage Kings knew where this wave had actuallye from. Eventually, the hill returned to a width of around ten kilometers, its original size. ¡®Early Sword Emperor,¡¯ Shang thought with a chuckle as he looked at the horrified expressions of the Mage Lords and Mage Kings. After some minutes, the Mage Kings returned to running experiments on Shang. Sadly, theirfears had been confirmed. The hill had be even more powerful than before! This immediately multiplied the pressure on their shoulders. They had to find a way to destroy this hill quick! The Mage Kings did some calctions and realized that the hill would achieve another breakthrough around 60 years from now. This was problematic! They had to do something! Over the next couple of years, the Mage Kings came to a consensus. They needed Mage Emperors. Because of that, the Mage Kings held a vote for five new Mage Emperors. Right now, it was not important which Mage King was the strongest, but which one would lead the world into a brighter future. Eventually, five Mage Kings ascended to be five Mage Emperors, and the first thing they did was to increase their power while also studying the hill. AMage Emperor could think faster, which would allow them to learn the secrets of the hill quicker. Usually, bing a Peak Mage Emperor took around 50,000 years, but by blindly and brutally consuming vast quantities of Mana, they could be Peak Mage Emperors within 50 years. The only issue was that their Battle-Strength would take quite a heavy hit. Within the next 50 years, the Mage Emperors managed to be Peak Mage Emperors, and they also learned a lot about Entropy. For thest ten years, the Mage Emperors came up with a strategy and battle n. And then, it was time. The hill would die! Chapter 1022 Chapter 1022 The five Mage Emperors started to channel long and powerful Spells. They had created several Spells that couldbine their power, which they would then unleash topletely destroy the hill. Five Peak Mage Emperors with fivefold Spirit Sensesbined their powers. Shang was quite amused and interested when he saw them. Funnily enough, these five Mage Emperors were more of a threat than the ones from 70 years ago. While the Archivist was still more powerful than every individual Mage Emperor, he would have trouble winning against three of them. After all, the old Mage Emperors had been weaklings that reached that level due to luck, while these five Mage Emperors had been amongst the most talented and powerful Mage Kings. In fact, Shang even knew one of them. One of them was a tall man with ck hair who looked like he could destroy the world. It was Kiran, the Catastrophe King. Right now, Kiran had no idea that the hill in front of him was Shang. These five Mage Emperors actually had a terrifying amount of power, and the world around them seemed to dissolve as they readied their apocalyptic Spells. Shang just looked at the destructive cloud of annihting Mana with amusement and interest. That attack was stronger than any attack the Archivist hadunched against Shang. That attack could probably even injure a God. Naturally, Shang couldn''tjust receive that attack with his body. Even he might die under it. After several seconds, the Mage Emperors eventually finished their Spell. This was the most powerful Spell that had ever been cast in Aterium. The terrifying cloud of Mana shot towards the hill. Shang just quietly chuckled. At this moment, the tendrils with the swords peacefully swayed from one side to the other simultaneously. CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR! Thousands upon thousands of cuts hit the destructive cloud of Mana at the same time. BOOOOM! The cloud of Mana broke apart and scattered across the world. Shang had simplyunched one casual attack with about 20% of his limbs. That was more than enough to deal with the apocalyptic Spell. Silence. The Mages couldn''t believe what they had just witnessed. In fact, they weren''t even entirely sure what had happened. The swaying of the tendrils had synchronized for a moment, and in the next one, a terrifying barrage of attacks had appeared right in front of the Spell. Had the tendrils released these attacks? But the tendrils didn''t even look like they had been attacking! Even more, the tendrils hadn''t even touched the Spell! The attack had just appeared out of thin air, directly in front of the Spell! When Shang saw the shocked faces, he cackled to himself silently. All these Mage Kings and Mage Emperors that had once hunted him were now helpless in front of him. The Mage Emperorsunched more attacks, but all of them were destroyed by another attack from the hill. The attacks of the Mage Kings were not destroyed like this, but these attacks also weren''t strong enough to damage the hill. CRRRR!Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. Eventually, the hill began to shake again, and the Mages grew terrified. The hill was breaking through again! Everyone immediately started tounch a cacophony of Spells. Every Mage King and Mage Emperor was attacking Shang at this moment. Yet, Shang only needed to lightly move some of his proverbial fingers in a casual manner to deal with them. Eventually, Shang shrank back down to ten kilometers. He had reached the Mid Sword Emperor Realm. The Mages despaired. How could they ever destroy that hill?! Nevertheless, all the Mages continued to research the hill. It had to have a weakness! There had to be something they could use to destroy the hill! Shang just silentlyughed to himself. As the Mage Lords, Mage Kings, and Mage Emperors became more and more desperate, the remainder of the world calmed down. Shang''s announcement had happened over 70 years ago. By now, almost no mortal was alive anymore who had heard the announcement with their own ears. This made it very difficult to convince the young people that it had actually happened. Eventually, the announcement had be a legend, but no mortal actually believed in it. Naturally, it was different for people in the Second Realm and stronger. They still remembered it, but the deadline was still far away. Theyjust needed to grow stronger. Funnily enough, the weaker people of the world were actually quite confident. After all, a golden age of geniuses had arrived. Since the density of Mana had increased severalfold, babies born in this very dense atmosphere of Mana were far more talented. Their feelings for Mana were much sharper, and controlling Mana came very naturally. Right now, the golden generation of geniuses was in the Second Realm. And eventually, they would be strong enough to save the world from the legendary ancient evil. Meanwhile, thepetition between the Archmages and Ancestral Mages still hadn''t calmed down. By now, most of them had heard that the Empires hadn''t found a solution to doomsday yet, which gave these Mages more opportunities to increase their wealth. Eventually, 150 years had passed since the announcement. The golden generation of geniuses was now scattered between the Third and Fourth Realm. The stable kingdoms ruled by High Mages had already experienced several upheavals as more and more powerful High Mages appeared that could kill the old rulers with a level disadvantage. Achaotic age of war arrived for the weak people. As for the Archmages and Ancestral Mages... Things hadn''t changed. But many of them could already see that things would change soon. The powerful organizations were already vying for these genius youngsters. In the future, these geniuses would decide the fate of the world! After all, the power of this generation was ridiculous. In fact, the number of people with a fourfold Spirit Sense inside the Third and Fourth Realm was over 10,000. There was even the legendary 50. 50 people with a fivefold Spirit Sense. And the age gap between the youngest and the oldest was not more than ten years! Chapter 1023 Chapter 1023 250 years after the announcement, the first of the golden generation reached the Fifth Realm, and that was when things changed for the Archmages and Ancestral Mages. By now, High Mages and weaker felt their world calm down as all these geniuses had all either already imed theirnds or left them behind. For them, the most chaotic time had passed, and everything returned to normal. 310 years after the announcement, a terrifying wave of power washed over the world, and all the geniuses noticed. The Mana of the world had been disced just now, and theposition of Mana had changed drastically. The majority of Mana had been reced with Elemental Mana for several minutes before the Elemental Mana converted back into Neutral Mana. Many mortals died. The weaker people had no idea what had just happened. But the powerful High Mages and stronger could guess what had happened. Yet, seriously considering this guess felt to them like they were going insane. Somewhere, a powerful Spell had been destroyed, and all the Mana gathered in the Spell had washed over the world. But how powerful must such a Spell be to scatter across the entire world?! Did powers on this level even exist in the world?! In the center of the world, the Mage Lords, Mage Kings, and Mage Emperors looked with terror at the hill. Their ultimate weapon had just been destroyed! But how?! This Spell had been so powerful that it could even kill a God! Despair. True despair. There was nothing they could do anymore. When Shang saw the faces of all the Mage Lords, Mage Kings, and Mage Emperors, he chuckled a bit. But then, he realized that there was probably no way for them to try something even more incredible, which kind of put a damper on things. That was when Shang decided to change things a bit. Acouple of minutes after the wave of Elemental Mana passed over the world, another wave appeared, but this one was even stronger, andpared to thest one, this one was made with Neutral Mana! In an instant, the density of Mana across the world had multiplied manifold again. In fact, the density of Mana had reached unprecedented levels. The golden generation realized that something monumental had happened, and they felt their familiarity with Mana increase even more. Yet, the older Archmages and Ancestral Mages realized with horror what had happened. None of them could reach their leaders anymore! All their leaders had been Mage Lords! The world realized the true impact of what had just happened only several dayster. There were no more Mage Emperors in this world. There were no more Mage Kings in this world. And there were no more Mage Lords in this world. Every single Mage Lord, Mage King, and Mage Emperor had died, except for the Archivist, Gregorio, Abaddon, and Kali. Abitter, another wave washed over the world. Shang had reached the Late Sword Emperor Realm. At this moment, the Clouds and King Contenders of the different areas of the world realized that the entire wealth of their old leaders was up for grabs. Yet, all this wealth was guarded by terrifying Magic Circles and defenses. As of this moment, the Peak Ancestral Mage Clouds were the most powerful people in the world, essentially. Absolute chaos erupted. The knowledge of the past had been cut off. Legendary Spells and techniques had been lost and were now buried inside inessible ruins. ¡®This should spice things up,¡¯ Shang thought with a chuckle. Anew golden generation appeared, and the old golden generation grew even quicker. 500 years after the announcement, there had even appeared three people with a sixfold Spirit Sense. The sheer density of Mana made it many times easier toprehend Concepts. Without this extreme density of Mana, these three people wouldn''t even have fivefold Spirit Senses. They would just be normal Clouds. Eventually, Mage Lords appeared again, but they weren''t the only ones.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. There were also Warrior Lords, Weapon Master Lords, Beast Tamer Lords, and even Domain Controller Lords. The Mages had lost their supremacy. Naturally, most people kept to their own Paths, and wars between different Paths returned to the world. When Shang saw how things developed, he became quite interested. Sure enough, watching such a world was much more interesting than watching a world filled with nothing but Mages. Warfare, chaos, exploration, treasure, ruins, trials, mystery, progression, and so on all returned to the world. The Mages hadpletely mapped the world out back then, but now, the world was up for grabs again. The wild age of exploration and adventure had started! Shang enjoyed watching the world. Sadly, all good things muste to an end. Eventually, 1,000 years had passed since the announcement, and it was finally time. Shang hadn''t absorbed enough Abominations yet to reach the Peak Sword Emperor Realm. So, he simply summoned several Abomination Emperors and absorbed them. For thest time, a wave of power washed over the world, its power unmatched. After Shang''s breakthrough, he realized something. The weight of his existence was straining reality itself. Just by existing, the world was having tremendous trouble keeping reality in one piece. If Shang decided to add even more mass to his existence, a permanent ck hole would appear in reality. This hole would consume all the Mana until there was nothing left. Naturally, this wouldn''t help Shang and his group. So, Shang decided to stop the Abominations from appearing. The Abominations still wanted to appear in the world, but they couldn''t resist Shang''smands. For the first time in forever, not even a single Abomination appeared in the world. Yet, this moment, which should have been a cause for celebration, represented doomsday. Acouple seconds after Shang''s breakthrough, three people appeared above him. Gregorio, Kali, and Abaddon. The 1,000 years were up. It was finally time. Today, all life on Aterium would cease to exist. Far to the south, the Archivist watched the world with worry. However, there was also curiosity in his eyes. After all, the Archivist was curious like any other human. And he also wanted to know if he couldprehend the legendary level six Concept of Death. Chapter 1024 Chapter 1024 Gregorio felt several conflicting emotions. On the one hand, he thought that he had be the very thing he had always wanted to destroy. Gregorio had always put quite some importance on protecting life. After all, the Lightning Manor had even forbidden memories from being read. On top of that, Gregorio had voluntarily taken the job to find the Child of Cmity for the good of the world. But now, Gregorio was going to be part of the group of people that would eradicate all life in the world. They were the powerful ones, and they were about to kill everything weaker than them. Yet, on the other hand, Gregorio was also interested in witnessing the birth of the legendary level six Concepts of Life and Death. Additionally, Gregorio also grew more excited about his eventual future outside of Aterium. Gregorio looked over at Shang. Shang''s power had reached unfathomable levels. If Shang couldn''t get them out of this world, nobody could. Meanwhile, Kali was looking at the world with interest. Comprehending the level six Concept of Death had also been her dream. And now, this dream was about to be reality. Abaddon just looked at the world with a friendly smile. He felt happy. Finally, he could learn something new! "Then, let''s start," Shang said. The other three nodded. "| will now eliminate every bit of life oneyer at a time." As Shang looked at the world, even he grew a bit excited. Shang had nevermitted a proper genocide before, and he was interested in how it felt to erase the existence of life. SSSSHH! It was silent. At this moment, hundreds of small Domains of Entropy had appeared around every living Mage Lord. In less than a second, all the Mage Lords had been killed. Atiny wave of Mana washed across the world, but it barely counted as anything. SSSSSHHH! Then, tens of thousands of Domains of Entropy killed every human in the Sixth Realm. The storm of Mana was a bit bigger, but not much. As of this moment, the strongest human was in the Fifth Realm. SSSSHHHHH! Then, the humans in the Fifth Realm vanished. By now, most people had already realized what had happened, but before they could do anything, they were also turned into Neutral Mana. When only mortals and people in the First Realm were left, Shang focused on the buildings and settlements instead of the people. Next, gigantic Domains of Entropy appeared around every vige, town, city, ruin, castle, and so on. WHOOOOM! Agigantic storm of Mana washed over the world as even the Mana Stones were turned into Neutral Mana. Everything was gone. The Lightning Manor had vanished. The huge sword in the Hibye had vanished. The Trial of Want. The Temple of Blood. Area 23. The Empires. The homes of the Mage Kings. The farms. The fields. Everything had vanished. It was done. Humanity was no more. For a while, the group took in the feeling of a world without humanity. There weren''t even traces of humanity left. Meanwhile, Shang took in what he was feeling. It felt so final. Shang had expected that he would feel nothing, but surprisingly, he still felt a bit like he was doing something wrong. However, the feeling wasn''t very strong. At most, it was a nearly indistinguishable echo from far away. Gregorio felt like his heart was about to stop. Humanity had been eradicated. It had actually happened. It felt so unreal. Meanwhile, Kali and Abaddon felt some kind of fulfillment. This was how things should be. This felt correct. "| was supposed to strengthen the warrior Path," Shang mused to himself with a chuckle. ¡°And now, I''ve destroyed it." ¡°All the knowledge, techniques, and experiences | have built have now been eradicated." "If any human returns, they won''t ever find out that there have once been stronger humans." "Well, unless the Archivist tells them." ¡°A virgin world,¡± Shang said with a dark chuckle. "Untouched by humanity.¡± ¡°A world ripe for exploration and exploitation." Silence. The others were only listening to Shang. ¡°Let''s start with the nextyer," Shang said. WHOOOOM! Suddenly, a powerful storm of Mana washed over the world. While Shang had destroyed humanity, he hadn''t yet touched the beasts. In fact, when Shang had killed every human in the Seventh, Eighth, and Ninth Realms, he also hadn''t killed any beasts. And now, Shang had killed all the Beast Kings. Asecondter, Shang killed all the Beast Lords. Another secondter, Shang killed all the Ancestral Beasts. An apocalyptic storm of Mana washed over the world again, but it calmed down again within a minute. All the beasts were dead. The world had be eerily silent. Only the asional animal remained in a silent world. The weak animals were the only beings that made any sound. SSSHHH! Then, all the animals on thend and in the air were turned into Mana. Then, the fish. Andstly, the weak insects. SHence. Eerie silence. Eternal silence. The world had be silent. The Eternal Ocean had calmed down. The trees were only swaying a bit in the wind. Even the weather had be barely noticeable. In Aterium, the climate and weather were caused by the Mana the powerful beasts gave off. Since there were no more powerful beasts, there was no more powerful Mana that was being given off, and as a result, the weather basically stopped existing. ¡°And now, for the finale," Shang said as he swung one of his tendrils. The next moment, a ck wave stretched across the continentT¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. The ck wave began to rotate, and anything that it passed was turned into a gray and brownnd devoid of vegetation. In just a minute, the wave had passed over all of Aterium. Lastly, a gigantic forcefield passed through the Eternal Ocean, destroying everything there as well. The Eternal Ocean was thrown into chaos, and waves thousands of kilometers tall were crashing onto the confinement But it didn¡¯t matter. Everything was lifeless and gray anyway. The entire continent could be swallowed by kilometers of water, and no life would be lost. ¡°And the finishing touch," Shang said. The next moment, Death Mana gathered around Shang. A powerful wave of Death Mana washed over the entire world, including the water. In another minute, all the scattered Life Mana across the world had vanished. That was it. The only bits of Life Mana in the entire world were in Shang, Gregorio, Kali, Abaddon, and the Archivist. Not even a single seed of a single piece of grass had survived. There would be no more life. As long as none of the five of them or Lucius decided to intervene, there would never be life again. Never It was impossible. It was over. Aterium had been turned into a dead world. The world stopped moving. Silence. Chapter 1025 Chapter 1025 The four of them just looked at the world. They had never witnessed anything even remotely like this. Even when they were in a dead ce like the old pit of death, there had still been some movement or life. But now, there was just nothing. Literally nothing. Just mere minutes ago, there had been humongous trees, powerful beasts, ancient Mages, vast meadows, powerful dragons, and monumental sea monsters in the world. The world had been teeming with life and movement. Now, there was just nothing. The end of existence had arrived. Such a situation was unprecedented, even for the Archivist. The Archivist had gone through many apocalypses in his world, but none of them had evene close to something this absolute. It was alien. It was tragic. Gregorio and the Archivist felt like a heavy weight was suppressing their minds. They shouldn''t be here. This was not a ce where they could or should live or stay in. Their souls were telling them that they should leave as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, Kali, Abaddon, and Shang felt different. They felt at peace. Yes, this was what the world should be like. A dead world with infinite untapped potential. All of the unnecessary life had been transformed into usable and pure Neutral Mana. The density of the Mana in the world had reached untold levels.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. This meant that they could use all the Mana however they wanted. However, Shang felt something a bit different. Right now, Shang felt like he hadn''t gone far enough. He felt like he should also get rid of all the matter. Thest five living things in the world remained silent as they watched the world. Time passed. Nobody knew how much time had passed. Time had be irrelevant. When there was no life and no movement, time stopped mattering. ¡®| see,¡¯ Shang thought suddenly. ¡®It is actually as I''ve thought.¡¯ ¡®The Death Affinity gets closer and closer to Entropy the more powerful it gets." ¡®And eventually, the two meet up.¡¯ At this moment, Shang understood everything. ¡®The level six Concept of Death, Terminus.¡¯ ¡®The end of all life." Shang isted himself so that he wouldn''t disturb the other three and summoned a ck ball. The ck ball was a bit bigger than Shang''s human fist, and it didn''t seem to move at all. When Shang saw the ck ball, he smirked. This ck ball looked exactly like the ck balls of Entropy Shang had experimented with many thousand years ago. Yet, this wasn''t Entropy. It was Death Mana that looked and acted like Entropy. With the Concept of Terminus, the Death Mana had gained the ability to consume itself for an explosive increase in power. It was extremely powerful, but it still couldn''tpare to Entropy. After all, Entropy consumed itself and Mana to produce something dangerous, which was far stronger. Additionally, this new kind of Death Mana also couldn''t erase Mana from existence like Entropy. In the end, this Death Mana could only produce around 5% of the power of Entropy. However, 5% of Entropy was already terrifyingly powerful. ¡®Death Mana strives to imitate Entropy, but it can never truly be Entropy.¡¯ ¡®After all, Death Mana is still Mana. ¡®But | wonder. Is there actually a way to turn Mana into Entropy?¡¯ Silence. ¡®| don''t know, but if there actually is such a way, it would be far too advanced and powerful for something as weak and pathetic as Aterium.'' ¡®If there is a way, | can probably find it in the world of the Abominations." Shang grew a bit excited when he thought about another possibility of bing more powerful. ¡®In the end, | have still been proven correct,¡¯ Shang thought ¡®The Concept of Terminus is, without a doubt, the most powerful Concept in Aterium.¡¯ ¡®And yet, it can only mimic a fraction of Entropy''s power.¡¯ ¡®Comprehending Aterium''s Concepts is a waste of time.¡¯ The next moment, Shang got rid of the Istion Barrier around him and simply sat in the air. He waited. In the past, Shang couldn''t deal with sitting still for even a minute, but now, he had no issues with it. Time was no longer relevant, and even more, Shang''s strength couldn''t really improve anymore inside Aterium. He had reached the end of his Path in Aterium. To continue, he would need to leave Aterium behind. Shang just waited in silence for an unknown period of time. Eventually, Abaddon opened his eyes. Asmall glint of recognition and enlightenment could be seen in them. Abaddon quickly noticed that Shang had already finished watching the world. The emotions in Abaddon''s eyes had changed. Whenever Abaddon had looked at Shang in the past, he had viewed Shang as an extremely terrifying monster. But now, things were different. This time, Abaddon looked at Shang like he was looking at someone vastly more powerful than himself. Just like Shang, Abaddon had realized that the next logical step of the Death Affinity was the force called Entropy he had heard about from Gregorio. When looking at Shang, Abaddon felt like he was looking at what he might be able to be. As long as he continued, Abaddon might also reach such incredible heights of power. Abaddon didn''t say anything and also waited. After all, only Kali was left. Gregorio hadn''t paid a lot of attention to the world since he didn''t have a Death Affinity anyway. Additionally, he felt ufortable whenever he looked at the dead world. After an unknown period of time, Kali also finished. Just like Abaddon, Kali looked at Shang with interest. Now, she realized that Shang essentially represented perfection in Death Mana. Kali knew that she and her son were merely imitating Shang''s power. Shang actually had the real thing. ¡°Everyone done?" Shang asked a momentter. The three people behind Shang nodded. The next moment, Shang looked at an ind far to the south. The Archivist became nervous when he felt Shang directly looking at him. In the end, the Archivist alsojust nodded. "Good," Shang said. Then, Shang flew far up into the air and created an invisible Istion Barrier. m not interested in the Concepts of Life," he said. "You may start, Abaddon." Abaddon''s smile widened. "| want to help," Gregorio said from behind of Abaddon. "I know a bit about life, but not a lot." "Sure," Abaddon said with a friendlyugh. "| want to help as well.¡± Abaddon, Kali, and Gregorio looked with raised eyebrows at the Archivist, who had just appeared behind them. Abaddon threw a nce at Shang, who was still visible. "Sure," Abaddon said the next moment with a friendly smile. Chapter 1026 Chapter 1026 Shang didn''t pay close attention to the world anymore. He hadprehended whatever he wanted toprehend. From now on, he would only look at the world when he got bored. While Shang entered some kind of hibernation, Abaddon, Gregorio, and the Archivist started to create life. First, they started by scattering a lot of Life Mana across the world. However, there was an issue. Life Mana needed actual life to hang onto. Otherwise, it would just disperse. So, they created many different kinds of small organisms. They had seen the tiny organisms that had lived all over the old Aterium. However, they didn''tjust copy them. After all, they needed new life. So, they made several changes. Naturally, there were uncountable numbers of failed experiments. Sometimes, the organisms just fell apart. Sometimes, their copies became more and more distorted until they couldn''t even split anymore. Near the beginning, creating new life hadn''t seemed that hard. After all, the Archivist and Abaddon had done that many times before. But then, they quickly realized that things weren''t as easy as they had been back then. Back then, they had only needed to design a species to fit into an already existing environment. Now, they needed to create everything from scratch. Designing a world was extremely difficult. In fact, it seemed almost impossible. As tiny bits of life returned, time also mattered again. For over 10,000 years, the three of them only managed to create some small, isted areas with life in them, and the life wasn''t even very diverse or original. Even more, the more the life stretched across the world, the harder it was to keep the life going. This wasn''t like Earth, where the life adapted to the environment. No, in such a grey and dead world, the environment was adapting to the life. This made things so much moreplicated and difficult. After another 10,000 years, the three of them finally managed to get the hang of things. After such a long time of trial and error, they had finally gotten some kind of feeling for what worked for life and what didn''t. Naturally, the one with the strongest feeling was Abaddon. Another 10,000 yearster, they managed to popte about 1% of the continent. Surprisingly, the Eternal Ocean was already starting to fill with life. The reason for that was that designing life for the Eternal Ocean was quite easy since there were far fewer different environments inside an ocean. Another 10,000 yearster, they filled over 25% of the world. And another 10,000 yearster, the world was teeming with life again. However, everything was different. There were different mountains, different crevices, different forests, different deserts, and so on. One animal barely gave off any Elemental Mana, but all of thembined gave off a lot of Elemental Mana. At this point, the engine of life had effectively be self-sustaining. The three of them didn''t need to add anything new anymore. New nts and animals were appearing on their own. They had done theirjob. The world was filled with life again, and every bit of Mana that had been hogged by the unfathomably powerful beasts and humans from the past era was up for grabs again. Anew opportunity for the world. Eventually, one of the animals would learn how to use a tiny bit of Mana to harden its skin by a tiny bit, giving it an edge against itspetition. That would be the first beast. Then, more and more beasts would learn how to do that, and eventually, they would unlock the ability to actually gather Mana in their bodies and permanently transform and change them. And at some point, something would attain sapience. They would be the iteration of humans in this new world.N?vel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner. But all of that was for the future. When the engine of life had be self-sustaining, a form of enlightenment had entered into the minds of the three of them. The level six Concept of Life, Genesis. Even Gregorio hadprehended it. Sadly, since Gregorio didn''t know all the other Concepts of Life, the power of his Concept of Genesis was very weak. If he wanted it to be as strong as the one from Abaddon, he would need toprehend the other Concepts of Life first. They were done. As Gregorio watched across the world, teeming with life, he felt like he had done the right thing. This world is so much more hopeful than thest one. It was so beautiful and pure. Meanwhile, Abaddon was redesigning his Path. Since he now had ess to every single Concept in existence, he could finally perfect his Path. Eventually, Abaddon created a small sphere. It was a tiny world, and everything was present in it. The next moment, Abaddon closed his eyes and put the sphere to his forehead. Ding! Some kind of magical sound reverberated throughout the world. This sound even managed to pull Shang out of his istion. Abaddon smiled in excitement as Shang looked with interest at Abaddon. Right now, Shang could feel that Abaddon had achieved some kind of perfect connection with the world. In fact, Abaddon''s Spirit Sense had stopped being constrained. Just like Shang, Abaddon''s Spirit Sense had epassed the entire world. But while Shang had dominantly forced his power and will on the world, Abaddon was working together with the world. The world was helping Abaddon, and Abaddon was helping the world. It was almost like Abaddon had taken control of the world! But then, Abaddon started to frown. The next moment, Abaddon looked at Shang. "| think | found that God of yours," he said. Shang grinned. "Some kind of force or being is controlling Aterium," Abaddon exined. "It feels like some kind of powerful hand is forcefully grabbing the sphere of Aterium." "This forcees from an empty ce with no Mana." "This ce is located in some kind of sub-dimension." Shang looked with interest at Abaddon. "Is there a way to get there?¡± Abaddon just nodded. "| can create a portal.¡± Chapter 1027 Chapter 1027 Shang just chuckled when he heard that Abaddon could create a portal to the God''s ce. "Give me a second," Shang said with a smirk. The next moment, Shang''s true body returned, which began topress and shrink. Shang''s true body already had so much Mana and Entropy inside it that Aterium was barely able to handle it. If Shang increased the density by a lot, Aterium would most likely start to fall apart. However, that was actually not that big of an issue. Abaddon should be able to repair the reality. After all, he could essentially control all of Aterium. As Shang''s body began to shrink, reality shook more and more. CRK! Eventually, Shang''s body became surrounded by some kind of ck hole. A huge amount of Mana shot towards the hole, vanishing into nothingness. But just a momentter, Abaddon moved his hand, and the hole was sealed aqain. Reality around Shang returned. Shang''s body began to shrink more and more. By now, it was only five kilometers wide. Then, four. Three. Two. One. That was when it ended. At a width of one kilometer, Shang''s body stoppedpressing. At this moment, Shang felt the sheer power of his existence and felt it to be unparalleled. Every little movement of his was tearing Aterium apart, and Abaddon even started to sweat. Shang''s existence was so dense that Abaddon was basically supporting it exclusively with his own power. If he stopped supporting Shang, a huge part of the world would copse and implode. Shang had finally done it. Shang had finally be a God himself! At this moment, Shang felt like some kind of chain around him had been broken. It was like reality itself had transformed into nothing but numbers. Everything was logical. Everything made sense. Shang could even see how the copse of the world around him worked and how Abaddon was fixing it. Now, it was important to note that Shang didn''tprehend the Concept of the World or something like that. No, Shang was just able to feel how the powers moved. Shang didn''tpletely understand everything, but his feelings were telling him if something was a good or a bad idea. In a way, it was like instinct. Shang didn''t know why he was doing something, but he knew what would happen if he didn''t do it. ¡®| see,¡¯ Shang thought with augh. Even the silver wall was making sense now. Shang didn''t know exactly how the silver wall worked, but he knew how he could get through it. It was like all of Aterium had transformed from a solid into a liquid, and Shang was now free to swim through it. Shang''s existence had reached a level where he didn''t even need to interact with Aterium''s reality anymore. The next moment, Shang chuckled. Suddenly, Abaddon''s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he stopped sweating. There was no more strain on the world. Shang seemingly hadn''t moved or done anything, and yet, the strain the world was under because of him had be vastly easier to bear. Just now, Shang had been like an extremely heavy person standing in the middle of a children''s trampoline. And when Shang had noticed the truth of his situation, he had simply done the equivalent of lying down on the trampoline, increasing the surface area on which his weight was lying. ¡®Finally here, huh?¡¯ Shang thought with a smirk. Shang still remembered how incredibly powerful the God had once been. The God had been able to summon and create anything he wanted. The God had even been able to give Shang the power to p Queen Primordium to death. But now, these things didn''t seem thatplex anymore. The creation of Sword and the separate space just needed a couple of Concepts. Someone like Lucius definitely knew enough about the Concepts of the world to pull something like this off. Even more, the creation of the Child of Cmity also didn''t seem as difficult.T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. As the former Child of Cmity, Lucius knew a lot about Entropy, and since Lucius also had a Life Affinity, he definitely also knew the level five Concept of Life, Birth. With all of that, Lucius would most likely be able to create a Child of Cmity. Funnily enough, Lucius probably even knew the level six Concepts of Life and Death. After all, he had created an entirely separate universe. Earth''s universe without Earth was basically also just a dead world, allowing Lucius toprehend the Concept of Terminus, and by creating something like Earth, Lucius could have alsoprehended the Concept of Genesis. Additionally, with so much knowledge about life and such an advanced mind, it also wouldn''t be difficult to guess what some mortal was thinking about. Lucius had represented true power, but now, Shang had also reached true power. And Lucius didn''t seem as impressive anymore. The next moment, Shang chuckled again. WHOOOOM! Then, a ck portal appeared beside Shang, and Abaddon looked at it with interest. "Seems like you don''t need my help anymore,¡± Abaddon said with a helpless smile. Shang chuckled a bit. "Give me a couple of minutes." Then, Shang''s huge body floated through the portal, and the portal closed right behind him. Abaddon, Gregorio, Kali, and even the Archivist were looking at the spot where Shang had just been with interest. Meanwhile, Shang found himself in a ck void. However, the void wasn''tpletely empty. Far away, there were countless sources of light. Shang had entered Earth''s universe! Right now, Shang was in the center of the Milky Way. And in front of him, Shang could see a ck and red castle floating in the void. Shang''s huge body slowly floated over to the castle, and as he got closer, his body shrank. As a God, it was not very difficult for Shang to reduce his size. When Shang reached the gates of the castle, his body had reached the size of a human''s head. SSSSHHH! The gate in front of Shang was eradicated with his Domain of Entropy, and Shang floated into the castle. The entire castle wasjust a single room. Along ck and red hall with a throne at the end. On the throne sat a young man with red and ck hair. Right now, this man was smirking. "Shang," the man said with a chuckle. ¡°Lucius,¡± Shang answered with a simr tone of voice. Chapter 1028 Chapter 1028 Shang slowly floated into the room without saying anything else. The God, Lucius,just smirked in amusement. CRK! The next moment, the throne was destroyed as a ck tear tore through it. CRKSH! At the same time, Lucius¡¯ left arm and leg exploded into a shower of blood. Yet, Lucius¡¯ expression didn''t change, and he continued sitting on his partially destroyed throne with his partially destroyed body. "You''re weak, Lucius, |l Shang said as he floated closer. "Disappointed?" Lucius asked with a chuckle. "Did you expect some kind of epic and grand final battle?" "No," Shang answered. "Ever since | knew that you were Lucius Volstad, | knew that you wouldn''t be a challenge." "| could probably even beat you as an Early Sword Emperor." Lucius didn''t immediately show a reaction. "Oh,e on," he said with a chuckle. "I know that you are at least a bit disappointed.¡± ¡°After all, wasn''t your goal to kill me? Aren''t you disappointed that your sworn enemy is so helpless and weak in front of you?" When Shang reached the middle of the hall, he stopped. This was the same ce that Alex had once stood in, but this time, the roles were reversed. Shang was the one in power, not the God. "You''re merely a rest stop,¡± Shang said. "Originally, you have been my goal, but you know very well that you''re not even nearly worthy enough to be my goal.¡± ¡°My power has already vastly eclipsed yours, and this will not be where | stop."T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. Lucius¡¯ smirk widened. "Won''t it?" ¡°It won''t,¡± Shang answered. Lucius chuckled a bit. "Have you actually thrown a look outside of this ce?" ¡°Have you actually looked beyond the silver wall?" "| have," Shang answered. "It''s the world of the Abominations." Naturally, when Shang had be a God, he had looked beyond the silver wall. What he found was a nearly infinite expanse of Entropy that was epassing Aterium. Surprisingly enough, there were no Abominations inside this infinite expanse of Entropy. However, Shang could still somewhat feel Abominations in there. The reason for that was that Entropy rarely took on a solid and stable form. The Abominations actually didn''t exist in the world of Abominations. The Abominations actually were the world of Abominations. The world of Abominations was like a huge pile of snow, and an Abomination was simply a snowball. Shang could simply tear a tiny part out of the infinite expanse, and when that tiny part entered Aterium, it wouldbine with a bit of Mana and transform into an Abomination. And if an Abomination were put back into the world of Abominations, it would simply disperse again. Just as Shang had guessed at some point in the past, the Abominations actually are not truly conscious. They were simply a personification of Entropy, and Entropy wanted to destroy Mana. The endless expanse of Entropy had surrounded Aterium since Aterium was filled with Mana, which attracted the Entropy. ¡°But have you looked past the ck void?" Lucius asked with a foreboding chuckle. ¡°You know exactly that it''s too big," Shang said. "The amount of Entropy in that world is at least over a billion times the amount of Mana in Aterium." "Do you want to see what lies beyond?" Lucius asked. However, Lucius didn''t wait for an answer and just moved his right arm a bit. In the next moment, an image of a ck void appeared in front of Lucius. The "camera" in the void was rapidly moving forward until it eventually reached the end of the void. And then, Shang saw it. BOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOM! BOOOOOOOOOM! Destruction! Everything was filled with Destruction, the force that appeared when Mana and Entropy met! Even more, the scale seemed eternal and infinite! When Shang saw that, he actually couldn''t believe it. "Hahahahaha!" Luciusughed when he noticed how Shang felt. "Do you get it now?" "Do you finally understand?" "There is no way out!" ¡°There never was a way out!" "It is impossible to leave!" Shang barely registered what Lucius had said. The powers on disy were beyond what Shang had been able to imagine. Shang knew what would happen if he even touched the space beyond the infinite void. He would die. Even if Shang were a thousand times stronger, he would still die. Shang was currently in the Tenth Realm, but even if there were a theoretical Thirteenth Realm, Shang still wouldn''t be able to survive! The powers beyond the infinite void were unimaginably stronger than the current Shang. If one put the difference into perspective, the difference in power between the forces of Destruction and Shang would be about as big as the difference between an Archmage and the current Shang. It was hopeless. If Shang could absorb the world of Abominations, he might be strong enough to survive. But there was a problem. The world of Abominations was filled with Entropy and a bit of Mana. Yes, there were some scattered bits of Mana in the infinite void, but the infinite void was still 99.9% made of Entropy. Sure, the 0.1% of Mana in the infinite void were still tens of times bigger than all the Mana in Aterium, but that still wouldn''t be even close to enough. Assuming Shang absorbed all the Mana and a fitting amount of Entropy, he might be able to reach the middle of a theoretical Eleventh Realm. But that still wouldn''t be even close to enough! It was impossible. Shang couldn''t possibly be powerful enough to travel through that impossibly powerful area of pure Destruction. "Hahahahaha!" Meanwhile, Luciusjustughed loudly. Shang looked back at Lucius. Right now, Shang was enraged by Lucius¡¯ughter, but as he took a closer look at Lucius, Shang calmed down. With Shang''s new vision, he gained the ability to understand things that he hadn''t been able to understand before. CRACK! The next moment, reality above Lucius tore apart, and something fell out of the nothingness. It was the body of a blonde man. "Oh? You wanna take a look at him again?" Lucius asked with another chuckle. Just now, Lucius¡¯ old/true body had fallen onto the ground. The corpse that Lucius had kicked around back then. Naturally, Shang had found the corpse and had pulled it into this dimension. Amomentter, Shang looked at Lucius and at the corpse. Slowly, some dots began to connect in Shang''s mind. And then, he understood everything. "So, there actually is a way out," Shang said as he focused on Lucius. "You just messed up.¡± Chapter 1029 Chapter 1029 Lucius¡¯ right eyebrow twitched in suppressed anger. "It wasn''t me that messed it up," he said with a dark tone. The next moment, Lucius pointed at the corpse. "He doomed me to forever remain here!" Shang didn''t say anything, but he knew that Lucius was right. In a certain way, this Lucius had been put into this situation against his will. When Shang had looked at Lucius earlier, he had realized something. The numbers making up Lucius¡¯ existence didn''t entirely make sense. It was like there was something missing. It was like Lucius wasn''t aplete being. And when Shang had looked at the corpse, he had seen the same thing. The numbers of the corpse also didn''t fully make sense. But when the corpse and Lucius were put together, everything made sense. That was when Shang realized what had happened. Now, Shang knew how there could be a dead and a living Lucius. Now, Shang knew why Lucius had changed so muchpared to his old self. Now, Shang knew how the old Lucius had died. "He wanted to have his cake and eat it too, huh?" Shang asked with a dark chuckle. Lucius didn''t answer, but based on his annoyed and serious expression, Shang could tell that he had hit the nail on the head. "When the old Lucius became a God, he looked past the silver wall and found the infinite void of the Abominations," Shang exined. ¡°He entered the void and traveled through it until he found the eternity of Destruction behind it." "Just like me, he despaired at the sight." Then, Shang chuckled confidently. ¡°But alsojust like me, he found a quick solution." "As the Child of Cmity, we have control over Entropy." "This means that we also have control over the infinite void of Entropy around Aterium." "We can justmand the infinite void to follow us and create a nearly infinite shield around us." ¡°Even more, since there is Destruction out there, it means that there is also Entropy and Mana out there." ¡°With some tricks, we can even attract more Entropy into the void, which would keep our shield strong.¡± ¡°As long as we keep traveling in one direction like this, we are bound to find something that will allow us to gather Mana again, which, in turn, will allow us to be more powerful." ¡°Alternatively, by learning more about Mana and Entropy, we might also find a different method of growing more powerful." "Nevertheless, at some point, we are going to find something different out there." ¡°We just need to leave Aterium andmand the void of Entropy to follow us." Shang chuckled again. ¡°But that was where Lucius got sentimental, wasn''t it?" Hatred appeared in the current Lucius¡¯ eyes as he thought back to that fateful day. "He didn''t want to leave all his friends behind," Shang said. "Yes, if he left Aterium with the void of Entropy, he would have dealt with the issue of the Abominations." ¡°However, without someone controlling Aterium, another void of Entropy would form, and the Abominations would return." ¡°Even more, Lucius would be leaving with the majority of Mana of Aterium." "So, what does Lucius do in this case?" "He created me," the current Lucius said with narrowed eyes. Shangughed a bit. "| heard from Gregorio that Lucius seemed conflicted from time to time." "He was someone that was always kind, but sometimes, he lost control and did horrible things." ¡°By looking at how reality and life worked, Lucius was able to find out why these things happened.¡± ¡°And in the end, he decided to separate the bad numbers from the good numbers." ¡°Lucius split himself in two," Shang said. ¡°One was a nice guy with inner peace, and the other was a pile of vtile and angry emotions." ¡°And since Lucius was now such a nice guy, he also felt guilt, didn''t he?" Shang asked. "He felt guilty for forcing part of himself to forever stay in Aterium, and he also felt bad for taking the majority of Mana with him." "So, he handed a big part of his Mana back to Aterium." ¡°However, as the new God of the world, you have essentially be Aterium." "You are the world, and the world is you." "That meant that Lucius had essentially given you the Mana." ¡°And you..." "And | killed him," Lucius said with a satisfied grin.Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. BANG! Then, Lucius kicked the corpse into the wall. ¡°He took me out of himself and put me into Aterium itself," Lucius said. "| don''t even have a body. You could say the silver wall is my skin, and Aterium itself is my flesh, bones, blood, and organs." "This body is merely a projection. It''s hollow and meaningless." The next moment, Lucius gritted his teeth. "| can''t even inhabit a different body since | have been integrated into the Concepts of the world itself!¡± ¡°Lucius knew that he had to connect my life to the life of Aterium! Otherwise, | would just leave Aterium behind." ¡°Just like he tried to leave me behind," Lucius spoke with venom. "Sure, | can create a body for myself, but if! were to enter that body, | would lose all my power and stop existing." m stuck!" m stuck as Aterium''s God for all eternity!" SHING! The corpse reappeared in front of Lucius, and Lucius kicked it into the wall again. "This was the fate he has bestowed on me!" The next moment, a mad grin appeared on Lucius'' face. ¡°And that''s why | killed him!" ¡°Our battle actually wasn''t easy." "In the beginning, he actually had the upper hand, but he just couldn''t get himself to finish it." "He had connected me to Aterium, which also means that Aterium is connected to me." "So, ifl die, Lucius would essentially doom Aterium since he has exhausted his existence already. He couldn''t split again.¡± "If he killed me, he would either be stuck in Aterium forever himself, or he would leave Aterium without a God." Lucius chuckled a bit. ¡°Naturally, | used that to my advantage, and in the end, | managed to kill him." "| scattered his Mana across all of Aterium, which basically just means absorbing it for myself." "And then, | was stuck." Lucius leaned back on his destroyed throne and smirked at Shang. ¡°Well, now that you know..." "What will you do?" Chapter 1030 Chapter 1030 CRKSH! Agigantic ck tear tore through Lucius¡¯ body, destroying it and scattering bits and pieces of it across the hall. "That''s what I''m going to do," Shang said with a chuckle. Yes, that was it. The God... Lucius... Was dead. Just like that. Lucius had told everything Shang needed to know, and there was no more reason to keep him alive. So, Shang just killed him. The next moment, the will on Aterium vanished. Nobody was controlling Aterium anymore. "Wait," Shang transmitted to the distant Abaddon. "Don''t take control of the world just yet." Abaddon could sense where Shang was, and hejust nodded. "Of course.¡± "I''m going to leave the world for a bit to confirm something," Shang said. "I will be back within the next six months." "Six months?" Abaddon asked in surprise. Why would Shang need so long? "Yes," Shang answered, "Aterium is surrounded by a nearly infinite void of Entropy, and | need to travel to its edge to confirm something. It will take me about six months or so to go there and return.¡± Abaddon furrowed his brows. That sounded bad. After all, if there were a cloud of Entropy around Aterium, it might be difficult to travel through it. Hopefully, Shang could get them through it. "Of course," Abaddon answered. Shang cut the connection and created a portal. After floating through the portal, Shang found himself in a seemingly infinite void filled with Entropy. Behind Shang was a humongous ball of silver. That was Aterium. Shang expanded to his full size and shot in one direction. The next moment, a seemingly random animal in Aterium was born with an Affinity for Fire, Ice, Light, and Darkness. The old Child of Cmity had left, and a new one had been created by Entropy. But that wouldn''t be an issue for a long time. Shang traveled forward for a very long time. Everywhere he looked, he only saw an infinite void of Entropy. Eventually, Shang reached the edge of the nearly infinite void. ¡®That confirms it,¡¯ Shang thought as he looked at the unimaginable forces of Destruction in front of him. ¡®Lucius didn''t lie." Shang looked around a bit more, but in the end, he flew back to Aterium. Shang entered Aterium without any issues and appeared in the ce where the Judgment Pce had once been. Abaddon, Kali, and Gregorio quickly arrived at that spot and looked with anxiety at Shang. Could they finally leave? Could they finally see the outside world? What did the outside world look like? "There are some issues," Shang said as he looked at the three of them. The three of them became nervous. Then, Shang told them everything about the infinite void of Entropy and the unimaginable forces of Destruction beyond it. Shang didn''t tell them about Lucius since he didn''t want to exin all of that. When they heard about the forces of Destruction, the three of them became terrified. They couldn''t leave?! "There might be a way to leave," Shang said. "However, you have to give me like a day or so." The three of them were still nervous, but there wasn''t really anything they could do, so theyjust nodded. Shang left again and reappeared in Lucius¡¯ space castle. As Shang floated through the hall, some thoughts shot through his mind. Back when Shang had found out that he could change his mind with Entropy, he had considered something. Should he get rid of the part that allowed him to feel empathy? In the end, he had decided against it. After all, what if he somehow needed it? And in a certain way, he kind of needed it right now. ¡®ording to Gregorio''s description, Lucius was generally a nice and helpful person with a dark core that sometimes broke out.¡¯ ¡®In a certain way, | am the opposite. | am a very selfish person, but | also kept Kali, Abaddon, Gregorio, and the Archivist alive.¡¯ ¡®Was there a reason to keep the four of them alive?" ¡®Would they be useful in any way?" "No."T¨ºxt belongs to N?velDrama.Org. ¡®And yet, | still did it.¡¯ ¡®| didn''t want to betray the promise that | made to Gregorio.¡¯ ¡®| didn''t want to betray Abaddon''s help.¡¯ ¡®There is still some humanity left in me." Sflence. ¡®Time to change that,¡¯ Shang thought with a smirk. The next moment, Shang looked at the numbers that made up his own being. ¡®Lucius used his powers as a God to purify his self.¡¯ "He got rid of his impure thoughts and became a peaceful and nice person.¡¯ ¡®However, a peaceful and nice person will inevitably get taken advantage of and die in the end.¡¯ ¡®Lucius died to his own stupidity.¡¯ ¡®| won''t make the same mistake.¡¯ The next moment, Shang began to tear at his being. Immediately, Shang was assaulted with incredible pain, but he didn''t even react to it. Shang was no stranger to pain, and he could deal with every pain imaginable. WHOOOOM! At the same time, a man with ck hair and a ck saber appeared in the hall. Yet, the man was turned into Mana and Entropy in an instant. This had been an Abomination God. How powerful was an Abomination God? Nobody knew. Shang had no interest in finding out and hadjust instantly split it into Entropy and Mana before it could do anything. Shang had summoned the Abomination God for one simple reason. Mana. Aportal appeared in front of Shang, and the ck ball of Entropy flew through it. Shang had taken the Abomination God''s Entropy and threw it into the infinite void of Entropy. Now, only the Mana was left. ¡®That''s enough,¡¯ Shang thought with a chuckle. "You don''t need a full body." The next moment, Shang''s will grabbed Aterium violently and shoved part of his self into it. The process was painful, but the further it progressed, the louder Shangughed. "Weakness!" Shang shouted. "My weakness is leaving my body!" Shang''sugh became louder and louder. Slowly, even thest bits of empathy left his soul. And about an hourter, it was over. BANG! Aman with blonde hair was thrown at the ground of the castle. The man looked extremely simr to Shang''s human body. The only differences were that he was fully human and that his hair color was different. Additionally, there wasn''t even a single bit of Entropy inside him. He was a fully-fledged human. Lying on the ground, the man slowly opened his eyes, which then widened into shock. "HAHAHAHAHAHA" Shangughed as he looked at the pathetic human in front of him. Infinite rage and hatred appeared in the human in front of Shang. CRAAAACK! The next moment, a terrifying ck tear tore through the ck ball that was Shang. "HAHAHAHAHA" Yet, Shang didn''t stopughing. "Oh, foolish human," Shang said with a mocking tone. "Do you truly believe | would give you the power to hurt me? I''m not as naive as Lucius." BANG! Several more ck tears tore through Shang, but they couldn''t injure him at all. "Die!" the man shouted. "| want you to die!" "You''re a monster!" "| hate you!" BANG! The next moment, a tendril shot out of the ck ball and pushed the man onto the ground. The man wasn''t able to resist in the slightest. "Why so angry?" Shang asked with a chuckle. "After all, I''ve freed you." "You''re finally able to do whatever you want to do." "You should be thankful to me..." "Alex." Chapter 1031 Chapter 1031 Alex gritted his teeth in hatred. "Thankful?!" he shouted. "You killed everyone who helped us!" "You killed Jerald!" "You killed all the Mage Kings that helped us!" "You killed Agon!" "You ended all life on Aterium!" "You''re a monster!" "HAHAHAHA" Shang justughed. ¡°And | feel nothing!" Shang shouted betweenughs. "| feel zero guilt!" "| would do it again!" ¡°And again!" ¡°My eyes are finally open!" "| can finally see my past self for what it truly was!" "Weak!" "| was weak!" ¡°Empathy is weakness!" "Feelings for others is weakness!" "In this world, you can only rely on yourself!" "HAHAHAHAHA" Several powerful tears shot through Shang''s body, but he only continuedughing. "You''re so pathetic, Alex," Shang shouted inughter. BANG! Shang severely injured Alex with one of his tendrils. Huge parts of Alex''s body were torn off, and Shang just held Alex aloft with his torso. ¡°And you are the reason," Shang said with a smirk. "You''re my weakness." ¡°And for making me weak for so long, | am going to punish you with the worst thing | can imagine." ¡°An eternity of not being able to be stronger.¡± Alex gritted his teeth in hatred. "You''re the God of this world now, Alex," Shang said with a smirk. "Can you feel it?" "The world?" ¡°Aterium?" "That''s you now." "If Aterium dies, you die." "But | also made a little change since I''m not as nice as Lucius." "Yes, if Aterium dies, you die, but if you die, Aterium also dies." "The silver walls are now intrinsically connected to your mind." "If you go unconscious or die, the silver walls will stop functioning, and the things outside the silver walls will enter.¡± ¡°Alex, you''re such a nice guy. Lucius said so, didn''t he?" "You wouldn''tmit suicide if that meant destroying quadrillions of lives, right?" "HAHAHAHAHAHA" Shangughed loudly. Blood flowed out of Alex''s mouth as he ground his teeth into dust. Alex hated Shang so much. Sadly, this was not a new feeling. Shang had always suppressed Alex. Alex had always tried to convince Shang to have some friends by filling him with regrets and guilt, but whenever that happened, Shang had outbursts and fought these feelings by killing more. And when Shang killed Jerald, Alex had been fully locked away. Yet, Alex had still seen everything that Shang had done. To him, it had been like someone had taken control of his body and forced him tomit atrocities. ¡°Anyway,¡± Shang said before throwing Alex to the other end of the hall. "| think the wild and infinite outside is calling to me." "| hope you won''t mind that I''m leaving you here to keep things in check, right?" Shang said with a mocking chuckle. ¡°Hey, at least I''m taking the Abominations with me. That''s something at least, right?" Shang turned around andughed loudly. ¡°Anyway, gotta go! Just stay where you are, okay?¡± The next moment, a ck portal appeared, and Shang floated through it. And then, the portal closed. Silence. Crk. Alex''s nails cut through the floor of the castle in hatred, suppression, and rage. Shang was gone. The next moment, Alex felt something change beyond the silver wall. The Entropy was gone. But now, the unimaginable forces of Destruction were directly beside Aterium. Luckily, the silver walls kept the forces of Destruction at bay. Alex knew that this was probably how Aterium had once been. After all, the Abominations had only appeared something like a million years ago. At least, that was when the Archivist had noticed them for the first time. Over a long period of time, a cloud of Entropy had formed around Aterium, and when that cloud had reached a certain densitv. the Abominations had appeared. Since the cloud of Entropy was now gone, there also wouldn''t be any more Abominations. Additionally, since the Entropy gathered around Aterium only very slowly, it wasn''t difficult for Alex to disperse it again. This meant that not a single Abomination would appear in the world again. ¡®At least | kept that promise,¡¯ Alex thought with regret. ¡®Im sorry, everyone.¡¯ ¡®Im sorry that | disappointed you." ¡®Life on Aterium still underwent a reset, but at least the Abominations are now gone." Yet, that didn''t help Alex''s feelings at all. Alex also wanted to see the outside and be more powerful. But now, he was stuck in Aterium. Forever. The next moment, Alex felt a Spirit Sense wash over him, and he gritted his teeth in hatred. Abaddon!Content rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. ¡®You are part of the reason why all life was eradicated!" CRRRRRRK! The next moment, an impossibly hard and durable piece of metal shot out of the ground somewhere in Aterium. Amomentter, the piece of metal waspressed, and it changed its shape. SHING! The piece of metal vanished and appeared in front of Alex. It was a glowing white sword! Alex''s eyes opened in anger and hatred. SHING! Alex vanished. SHING! And reappeared in front of Abaddon, Kali, and Gregorio. The three of them looked with surprise at the person in front of them. This guy looked a bit like Shang, but his Aura waspletely different. Alex looked with unending hatred at Abaddon. Alex was now the God of the world, and Aterium''s Mana was his Mana. Abaddon was still only a Peak Mage Emperor, which meant that over ten Peak Mage Emperors of Mana were inside Aterium. Together with Alex''s own Mana, he had ess to more Mana than a normal God. Additionally, since Alex knew everything that Shang knew, he also had all of Shang''s techniques and experiences. This was someone with a sevenfold Spirit Sense in the God Realm. Alex was a Sword God. Abaddon''s eyes widened in terror. Alex lifted his sword. CRACK! Reality tore apart. Abaddon was cut into bits and pieces of blood, which were then turned into tiny particles by millions of tiny cuts. Abaddon was dead. Kali barely managed to react before the same thing happened to her as well. In an instant, their Mana was scattered across the world. Yet, Alex didn''t seem happy at all. Gregorio looked with terror and fear at the person in front of him. "Shang?" he asked with uncertainty. "Is that you?¡± Alex took a deep breath. Then, he looked at Gregorio with narrowed eyes. "You wereplicit," Alex said. "Without you, Shang would have never been able to destroy the world!" ¡°For your own selfish goals, you were willing to sacrifice everyone and everything!" "You''re not better than Shang!" Gregorio''s being was filled with horror. But Gregorio didn''t have any opportunity to feel any more regret or horror. Alex killed him in an instant. Silence. Abaddon, Kali, and Gregorio were dead. And Alex? He only put his head in his hands. He wasn''t happy. He was stuck here. Forever. Amomentter, Alex looked at the sword in his hand with gritted teeth. He moved the sword to his neck. But then, his Spirit Sense unwittingly went over the world. By now, life had recovered. It was beautiful. The world was beautiful. It was brimming with infinite untapped potential like a newborn child. Alex looked back at the sword, and tears came out of his eyes. Eventually, Alex just threw the sword to the side. He couldn''t do it. He couldn''t kill himself. He was stuck. In Aterium. Forever. The next moment, Alex looked towards the south. Alex and the Archivist looked at each other. Alex didn''t want to kill the Archivist. After all, the Archivist had done his best to kill Shang. "| guess we''ll get to know each other very well in theing eternity,¡± Alex said with a helpless sigh. The Archivist looked with furrowed brows at Alex. Chapter 1032 Chapter 1032 Alex gritted his teeth in hatred. "Thankful?!" he shouted. "You killed everyone who helped us!" "You killed Jerald!" "You killed all the Mage Kings that helped us!" "You killed Agon!" "You ended all life on Aterium!" "You''re a monster!" "HAHAHAHA!" Shang just laughed. "And | feel nothing!" Shang shouted betweenughs. "I feel zero guilt!" "| would do it again!" "And again!" "My eyes are finally open!" "I can finally see my past self for what it truly was!" "Weak!" "| was weak!" "Empathy is weakness!" "Feelings for others is weakness!" "In this world, you can only rely on yourself!" "HAHAHAHAHA!" Several powerful tears shot through Shang''s body, but he only continuedughing. "You''re so pathetic, Alex," Shang shouted inughter. BANG! Shang severely injured Alex with one of his tendrils. Huge parts of Alex''s body were torn off, and Shang just held Alex aloft with his torso. "And you are the reason," Shang said with a smirk. "You''re my weakness." "And for making me weak for so long, | am going to punish you with the worst thing | can imagine." "An eternity of not being able to be stronger." Alex gritted his teeth in hatred. "You''re the God of this world now, Alex," Shang said with a smirk. "Can you feel it?" "The world?" "Aterium?" "That''s you now." "If Aterium dies, you die." "But | also made a little change since I''m not as nice as LuciuContent rights by N?velDr//ama.Org. ''Yes, if Aterium dies, you die, but if you die, Aterium also dies." "The silver walls are now intrinsically connected to your mind." "If you go unconscious or die, the silver walls will stop functioning, and the things outside the silver walls will enter." "Alex, you''re such a nice guy. Lucius said so, didn''t he?" "You wouldn''tmit suicide if that meant destroying quadrillions of lives, right?" "HAHAHAHAHAHA" Shangughed loudly. Blood flowed out of Alex''s mouth as he ground his teeth into dust. Alex hated Shang so much. Sadly, this was not a new feeling. Shang had always suppressed Alex. Alex had always tried to convince Shang to have some friends by filling him with regrets and guilt, but whenever that happened, Shang had outbursts and fought these feelings by killing more. And when Shang killed Jerald, Alex had been fully locked away. Yet, Alex had still seen everything that Shang had done. To him, it had been like someone had taken control of his body and forced him tomit atrocities. "Anyway," Shang said before throwing Alex to the other end of the hall. "I think the wild and infinite outside is calling to me." "| hope you won''t mind that I''m leaving you here to keep things in check, right?" Shang said with a mocking chuckle. "Hey, at least I''m taking the Abominations with me. That''s something at least, right?" Shang turned around andughed loudly. "Anyway, gotta go! Just stay where you are, okay?" The next moment, a ck portal appeared, and Shang floated through it. And then, the portal closed. Silence. Crk. Alex''s nails cut through the floor of the castle in hatred, suppression, and rage. Shang was gone. The next moment, Alex felt something change beyond the silver wall. The Entropy was gone. But now, the unimaginable forces of Destruction were directly beside Aterium. Luckily, the silver walls kept the forces of Destruction at bay. Alex knew that this was probably how Aterium had once been. After all, the Abominations had only appeared something like a million years ago. At least, that was when the Archivist had noticed them for the first time. Over a long period of time, a cloud of Entropy had formed around Aterium, and when that cloud had reached a certain densitv. the Abominations had appeared. Since the cloud of Entropy was now gone, there also wouldn''t be any more Abominations. Additionally, since the Entropy gathered around Aterium only very slowly, it wasn''t difficult for Alex to disperse it again. This meant that not a single Abomination would appear in the world again. ¡®At least | kept that promise,¡¯ Alex thought with regret. ''I''m sorry, everyone.¡¯ ''I''m sorry that | disappointed you.¡¯ ''Life on Aterium still underwent a reset, but at least the Abominations are now gone.'' Yet, that didn''t help Alex''s feelings at all. Alex also wanted to see the outside and be more powerful. But now, he was stuck in Aterium. Forever. The next moment, Alex felt a Spirit Sense wash over him, and he gritted his teeth in hatred. Abaddon! "You are part of the reason why all life was eradicated! CRRRRRRK! The next moment, an impossibly hard and durable piece of metal shot out of the ground somewhere in Aterium. A momentter, the piece of metal was compressed, and it changed its shape. SHING! The piece of metal vanished and appeared in front of Alex. It was a glowing white sword! Alex''s eyes opened in anger and hatred. SHING! Alex vanished. SHING! And reappeared in front of Abaddon, Kali, and Gregorio. The three of them looked with surprise at the person in front of them. This guy looked a bit like Shang, but his Aura waspletely different. Alex looked with unending hatred at Abaddon. Alex was now the God of the world, and Aterium''s Mana was his Mana. Abaddon was still only a Peak Mage Emperor, which meant that over ten Peak Mage Emperors of Mana were inside Aterium. Together with Alex''s own Mana, he had ess to more Mana than a normal God. Additionally, since Alex knew everything that Shang knew, he also had all of Shang''s techniques and experiences. This was someone with a sevenfold Spirit Sense in the God Realm. Alex was a Sword God. Abaddon''s eyes widened in terror. Alex lifted his sword. CRACK! Reality tore apart. Abaddon was cut into bits and pieces of blood, which were then turned into tiny particles by millions of tiny cuts. Abaddon was dead. Kali barely managed to react before the same thing happened to her as well. In an instant, their Mana was scattered across the world. Yet, Alex didn''t seem happy at all. Gregorio looked with terror and fear at the person in front of him. "Shang?" he asked with uncertainty. "Is that you?" Alex took a deep breath. Then, he looked at Gregorio with narrowed eyes. "You were complicit," Alex said. "Without you, Shang would have never been able to destroy the world!" "For your own selfish goals, you were willing to sacrifice everyone and everything!" "You''re not better than Shang!" Gregorio''s being was filled with horror. But Gregorio didn''t have any opportunity to feel any more regret or horror. Alex killed him in an instant. Silence. Abaddon, Kali, and Gregorio were dead. And Alex? He only put his head in his hands. He wasn''t happy. He was stuck here. Forever. A momentter, Alex looked at the sword in his hand with gritted teeth. He moved the sword to his neck. But then, his Spirit Sense unwittingly went over the world. By now, life had recovered. It was beautiful. The world was beautiful. It was brimming with infinite untapped potential like a newborn child. Alex looked back at the sword, and tears came out of his eyes. Eventually, Alex just threw the sword to the side. He couldn''t do it. He couldn''t kill himself. He was stuck. In Aterium. Forever. The next moment, Alex looked towards the south. Alex and the Archivist looked at each other. Alex didn''t want to kill the Archivist. After all, the Archivist had done his best to kill Shang. "I guess we''ll get to know each other very well in theing eternity," Alex said with a helpless sigh. The Archivist looked with furrowed brows at Alex. Chapter 1033 Chapter 1033 "| felt horrible because | knew exactly what he would do," Alex said. ¡°Alex, remember what we talked about?" an older man with grey hair said as he leaned back in afortable chair. Alex sighed. "Shang is me. | am Shang," Alex repeated in a bored and practiced tone. "Yes," the older man said. "Even though you two have been split into two, you were still the same person before that." "There are instances where there are actually multiple people living in the same mind, body, and soul, but that was not the case for you." "Whatever Shang was doing was also your doing. You can''t just push all responsibility on Shang''s shoulders." Alex sighed once again. "I get that, but itjust doesn''t feel like it. After all, | couldn''t imagine doing these things. That''s not who | am. "It''s not who you are, but it''s partially who you were," the older man answered. "Maybe it''s easier to ept that you were Shang in the past when remembering that you are no longer connected to Shang in the present. After all, | fixed the iplete parts of your Spirit. You are now fully your own person." Alex nodded again. "Maybe," he said with uncertainty. Silence. "When can | leave?" Alex asked. "| already told you," the older man said as he leaned forward in his chair, "after you''ve finished your mandatory course for long- term happiness." "The Gravitas Mental Health Clinic has treated Sextillions of Immortals, Gods, and Heaven Breakers. We know what we are doing, and we know what kind of problems nearly all immortal beings go through." "The mostmon problem is setting power as your goal instead of as a means to an end." "In your case, it''s revenge and regret. Your hatred for Shang is too strong." "| believe taking your revenge would be in your best interest, but first, you have to achieve a mindset that will allow your mind to heal after revenge. If you don''t have that, you will only feel empty." Alex sighed again. "I get it. All of this is for my best." The older man nodded. "Mr. Bauer, how is the Archivist doing?" Alex asked. "Pretty well," the older man said with a chuckle. ¡°He recently reached the Immortal King Realm." When Alex heard that, he had to sigh again. He also wished that he could exit Aterium and enter an actually functional Cosmos. But first, he had to finish his therapy. When Alex had received the Gravitas'' business card from the shadow, he had followed the instructions on it and called someone. Sometimeter, Mr. Bauer appeared in Aterium. After talking for a bit, Mr. Bauer told Alex where he actually was and what Aterium was. It turned out that Aterium was a Cosmos, but an iplete one. Cosmoses were essentially huge balls of Mana, which was actually called Energy. The Energy was surrounded by a force called Bnce, which had the ability to separate Energy from Entropy, which was actually called Death. The unending force of Destruction was called Brutality, and the infinite Brutality outside the Cosmoses was called the Primal Chaos. The Primal Chaos was endless, and only Heaven Breakers could survive in it without dying. Based on the density of Energy of Aterium, Alex was about five major Realms below a Heaven Breaker. Usually, Cosmoses were connected to other Cosmoses, but due to a certain reason, Aterium wasn''t connected to the other Cosmoses. Alex had thought that he would never find out why all of this had happened, but Mr. Bauer simply turned back time and looked at what had happened. Apparently, someone in the God Realm, which was the Realm Alex was currently in, had managed to learn quite a bit about Bnce and Energy, and they had decided to create their own Cosmos. However, their power was far too weak to actually create a fully functional Cosmos, and their will was destroyed by the Primal Chaos. They had essentially created apletely isted space with Energy but with no way of gathering more Energy. Usually, Cosmoses pulled in Energy through the silver wall, which acted as a filter. But that simply didn''t work here. The silver wall in Aterium was literally an almost imprable barrier, and it didn''t have the ability to filter the Energy out of the Primal Chaos. This had created this weak and non-functional Cosmos, which had been randomly drifting in the Primal Chaos. No one would have ever found Aterium. That was if Alex''s inner conflict hadn''t summoned a Gate of Death. Apparently, there was some kind of issue with Death, and Gates of Death appeared in front of "worthy" people in different Cosmoses. But, apparently, that wouldn''t even solve anything since the "seat was already upied". It was basicallyjust a dumb and useless instinct that destroyed worlds for no reason or goal. Someone was dealing with the Gates of Death across all the Cosmoses, and Alex had seen that person. It had been the silver shadow. Without the Gate of Death, Alex would still be stuck in an eternity of hopelessness. Naturally, after Mr. Bauer had looked at the creation of this peculiar Cosmos, he had simply integrated it into his own Cosmos. Aterium was now part of a vastly bigger Cosmos that was trillions of times bigger. And best of all, the Energy in the Cosmos was increasing instead of decreasing. Aterium was integrated as a "Higher World" in this Cosmos, and the Energy in Aterium was multiplied manyfold. By now, many Gods appeared in the world, and when they did, they would ascend to the next world, where they could meet other Gods and be even stronger. The horrible finality of Aterium had ended. Naturally, Mr. Bauer had also cut the connection between Alex and Aterium, making Alex a fully autonomous person again. And after Alex finished his therapy, he would be allowed to start from the beginning again in one of Mr. Bauer''s lower worlds. There, he would finally have the opportunity to grow all the way into bing a Heaven Breaker.This belongs to N?velDrama.Org: ?. And then, Alex could search for Shang and take his revenge! ording to Mr. Bauer, Shang was still alive and on his way to a Cosmos, but it would still take about five million years until he arrived there. Additionally, Shang had apparently also found a way to be even stronger during his travels. Alex was happy when he heard that. Since Shang was still alive, Alex could kill him with his own hands! He couldn''t wait to start hisjourney to power again! ¡°Okay, how did you feel when you knew that you were about to kill yourfriend, Jerald?" Mr. Bauer asked. Alex took a deep breath. But first, he had to finish his therapy. Creator''s Thought" Acouple hundred chapters ago, people went "Man, | wonder how he will redeem him." Then, people went "This Character is not getting redeemed." -Warmaisach The Novel will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!