Ch. 441..450
Chapter 441 – Jerald's Troubles
The world continued to change as more years passed.
Shang kept being isolated from the world, only hearing some news from Jerald.
Jerald’s jovial and polite demeanor had vanished to a large degree after even his son had died.
Around 60 years ago, Jerald had been friends with basically all the different Dukes, had been on good terms with the Council, had George as a close friend, and had a son.
He had been at the prime of his life, and he had even owned quite a lot of Zones.
Everything had been going great.
And then, over the next 60 years, everything he owned began to vanish slowly.
He still had his personal power and wealth, but that was about it.
He only had one Zone now.
He was enemies with the Council.
He was enemies with all the Dukes.
George was dead.
Mattheo was dead.
Some of his close subordinates were dead.
And, worst of all, he knew who was responsible, but just like Shang, there was nothing he could do at the moment.
He could only swallow it until it was time.
Jerald’s goal of becoming King had shifted.
Now, vengeance was above his goal of becoming King.
He wanted to kill all the people that had taken everything from him!
And the key to all of that was the weak little boy he had found inside one of his gardens around 60 years ago.
As more years passed, it became harder and harder for Jerald to keep up the mask.
At some point, he even started to completely ignore all the orders the Council sent to him.
This was already a grave violation of his position, and it was enough reason for the Council to take the Storm Eagle Zone away from him.
Yet, the war and impending civil war were the primary focus of the Council’s mind. They couldn’t afford to anger another Late High Mage with incredible power.
In fact, the situation was so bad that even two of the members of the Council had died on the frontlines.
They had been the victims of extremely elaborate traps with several exceedingly powerful High Mages attacking them at the same time.
Five years later, the Council did something that no one could have seen coming.
They offered Duke Whirlwind a seat on the Council.
The Skythunder Kingdom was rich with High Mages but poor with truly powerful High Mages.
There were plenty of candidates for being a Duke, but only very few for being a member of the Council.
With this move, they extended an olive branch to Jerald.
This essentially meant that Jerald’s past conduct would be swept under the rug, and he could join the Council as a full member.
He would gain a vast amount of authority over the entire Kingdom.
However, this would also represent the stagnation of warriors.
Jerald was the only reason why there were even so many powerful warriors in the first place, and the Storm Eagle Zone still acted as a safe haven for all the warriors that didn’t want to join the war.
There were several Circles traveling across the entire Kingdom, searching for warriors that hadn’t been on the frontlines yet, and if they found one of the warriors, they would be forced to fight for the Kingdom.
They were everywhere except for the Storm Eagle Zone.
But if Jerald accepted the invitation, that safe haven would vanish.
What did Jerald do when the invitation arrived?
He didn’t answer.
The Council sent three more invitations, but Jerald always blew them off, telling them that he needed more time to think.
Because of that, the Council was stuck in limbo. However, they would never forget this insult.
When the war calmed down, they would take care of Jerald.
By now, the relationship between the Council and Jerald had become unfixable.
As more time passed, the Council even sent out a decree that people should avoid the Storm Eagle Zone.
On the surface, it was phrased like an embargo because Jerald wasn’t running his Zone like they wanted him to, but most people had already seen the truth.
Duke Whirlwind was one of the oldest and most powerful Dukes, and he could probably even look eye-to-eye with the Council.
Officially, Jerald was below the Council, but unofficially, he had assumed a position opposing them at the same height.
Two years later, the guards stationed at the borders of the Storm Eagle Zone had quintupled in size. There were even two True Path Stage warriors and a High Mage standing guard.
Whenever anyone under orders of the Council or another Duke tried to enter the Storm Eagle Zone, they would be dissuaded in a very rough manner.
One time, a messenger tried to pass the border anyway since he was delivering orders from the Council personally.
The messenger was executed on the spot.
Quickly after that, public outrage occurred, fueled by the Council.
They called Duke Whirlwind a deserter and traitor.
Traveling to the Storm Eagle Zone was made illegal, and powerful guards were stationed at its borders.
However, the Council still didn’t dare to attack.
If they actually attacked, they would lose many High Mages, and they couldn’t afford these losses during this intense war.
Everything had to wait until after the war was over.
Nevertheless, the Council sent several people to demand Duke Whirlwind to give the land he illegally occupied back to the Skythunder Kingdom, but the messengers were always turned away at the border.
The Council used these incidents as proof that they were the reasonable ones and that it was Duke Whirlwind that refused to let things end peacefully.
During such a dangerous time, Duke Whirlwind was not helping the Kingdom but putting its citizens in even more danger.
He was power-hungry, selfish, and had no concept of loyalty.
Jerald didn’t react to these accusations.
Sadly, many people believed the Council, and over 50% of the people living in the Storm Eagle Zone left it.
Even more, most of these people were Mages.
If one only looked at the Mages, one would see that over 90% of them had left the Storm Eagle Zone.
In terms of True Mages, the Storm Eagle Zone now had only around 15 left.
Adepts and Apprentices had nearly vanished. Essentially only Adepts and Apprentices directly related to the 15 True Mages were left.
Adepts and Apprentices were not powerful enough to make a difference in the war, which was why they couldn’t stand up for what they believed in. Some of them wanted to remain, but when faced with the Council’s overwhelming power, they could only flee.
At least there were three High Mages left in the Storm Eagle Zone, including Jerald.
The other two High Mages had worked for Jerald for a very long time, and they trusted him with their lives.
Sadly, they were only at the Initial and Early levels.
However, when something bad happened, something good could come along with it.
The Storm Eagle Zone had become the safe haven of all the warriors, and as the tension between the Council and Duke Whirlwind increased, most of them chose Jerald’s side.
At this moment, the Storm Eagle Zone had over 2,000 Commander Stage warriors, which was an insane number.
And it even had over 100 True Path Stage warriors.
100 True Path Stage warriors.
This was a ridiculous number for only one Zone.
Sure, the Skythunder Kingdom had over 400 High Mages by now, but that was for over 50 Zones.
100 True Path Stage warriors in one Zone was simply insane.
This was exactly why the Council didn’t want to invade the Storm Eagle Zone yet.
Killing over 100 True Path Stage warriors and Jerald would result in catastrophic losses.
With so many warriors now refusing to fight on the frontlines, the casualties amongst the Mages skyrocketed.
By now, the Council didn’t reside in their homes anymore but personally manned spots at the frontlines.
It had gotten that bad.
And while all of this was going on, Shang was training.
The world was undergoing a revolution.
But in the Caves, there was only silence.
Seemingly no time passed for Shang.
There was only himself and Sword.
Training day in and day out.
Fighting so many beasts.
Coming up with so many techniques.
The Caves were quiet since Shang had chosen a place where only very few True Path Stage warriors came to.
What was that place?
Where the Mid True Path Stage beasts lived.
Shang was already training against them daily.
He wasn’t even at the True Path Stage yet.
442 Chapter 442 – Perfect
Shang kept training.
This was the only thing he could do.
He had chosen his future, and his future was now here.
Basically everyone he knew had left in some way or another, except for Jerald and Mervin, and he hadn’t seen or talked to Mervin in a very long time.
Everyone else was gone.
The only thing Shang could do was accept it.
He had chosen his goal, and he had decided to put his goal above everything else.
If he wanted to achieve his goal, he had to be willing to sacrifice everything else.
And he knew that.
It still hurt whenever he heard of a death, but Shang knew that this was the choice he had made.
And, even though it hurt, he didn’t regret his choice.
This was his life.
Power was his life.
There was only power.
Shang didn’t even know why he wanted power so much. It was just what he wanted.
Maybe it was a fear of betrayal? After all, power and training could never betray him.
Maybe it was a fear of future loss? What was the point of having a friend if they would die one day?
Maybe it was just to spite and kill the God? He only saw Shang as a plaything, and Shang hated this feeling.
Maybe it was just his competitive mindset from Earth? After all, he enjoyed fighting and winning more than anything else.
Maybe it was all of that?
Nevertheless, everything culminated in Shang’s dedicated pursuit of power.
He wanted to achieve something that had never been done before.
He wanted to reach places where no one had been before.
This was all that was on his mind.
Over the many years, Shang’s mindset had solidified even more.
During these years, he realized that his outbursts of anger had been irrelevant most of the time.
He realized that his anger had only appeared due to his own pain and weakness.
Now, he was calm.
Shang’s temper was no longer explosive but calm and collected.
The very thing Shang had feared when he was just a kid had become a reality.
Shang had become the version of George he had seen when they met for the first time.
However, Shang couldn’t be any happier about that transformation.
George had represented immortal dedication to a goal.
George had represented a perfect mindset for becoming powerful.
And now, Shang was this representation.
In a quiet moment when Shang actually got time to think, he realized that he had finally become who he had always wanted to be.
Someone that actually had a shot at becoming truly powerful.
Never-ending dedication.
Unbreakable discipline.
Goal focused.
Calm.
Calculating.
Creative.
Experienced.
Visionary.
For the first time, he could look up at the proverbial mountain that represented the peak of power and not be intimidated.
For the first time, he thought that he could do it.
He had a shot.
He was finally prepared.
Shang continued training like an inexhaustible machine.
There were no breaks.
His entire mind focused on nothing but battle and power.
50 years of isolation had solidified Shang’s personality.
And two years later, it was finally time.
The world had changed into something unrecognizable, and Shang did so as well.
Shang was now 82 years old.
And Shang had finished his Path.
He was done.
As Shang looked at his Star Map, he could see the unbreakable diamond he had envisioned back then.
It had seemed like an insurmountable hurdle.
It had seemed like an impossible task.
But now, Shang was here.
The lines of the diamond were thick and pronounced, and Shang had even connected the different Stars at the top.
Shang’s mastery over his Affinities gave the diamond beautiful accents, and the Shards inside it were all clear and clean.
His Path had become a reality.
The ultimate Path he had dreamed of.
It was finally complete.
After Shang’s Path had been completed, he could only stare at it for several hours.
Over 50 years of work.
50 years of unending, dedicated, hard work.
It was the work of his life.
It was his greatest achievement.
It was perfect.
It was beautiful.
It represented his future.
And it represented his past.
Shang closed his right eye, and he could feel his Path.
It was so powerful.
It was so grand.
It was perfect.
A moment later, Shang gathered all his insights into one gargantuan concept.
His Path had become complete, and it was now becoming a reality.
Shang felt his mind become clearer.
The images in his surroundings became clearer.
Every detail became clearer.
His perception stretched further.
In the past, Shang had only been able to feel about two to three kilometers of his surroundings.
Now, it stretched to five kilometers, and every single detail in these five kilometers was clear.
His Pseudo-Spirit Sense had become a real Spirit Sense.
And he hadn’t even reached the True Path Stage yet.
He had only solidified his Path, and the actual advancement to the True Path Stage would commence soon.
With his new Spirit Sense, Shang could also feel other kinds of Mana.
He could finally feel the thick Earth Mana in his surroundings, and he could also feel the bit of Wind Mana in the air.
He could probably even use them, but his usage would be on par with someone in the Apprentice Realm, weak beyond comparison.
But he could still feel the Mana.
And, finally, he could also feel the Thunder Horse’s mark on his body.
Over the many years, the mark had become incredibly weak, and it had probably even lost most of its power.
Shang guessed that only Zone Beasts could feel it if they really concentrated on him.
It didn’t have the power to send a signal anymore.
It had essentially transformed into an empty battery, a remnant of the past.
For a while, Shang only concentrated on all the different kinds of Mana he could feel.
He could even feel some Mana that felt completely unfamiliar to him.
He didn’t even know what they represented, but he could feel their presence.
A couple of hours later, Shang slowly stood up.
Then, he put Sword to the side.
As Shang slowly opened his right eye, a calm light appeared in it.
“It’s time.”
Chapter 443 – True Path Stage
After looking at his surroundings with his new Spirit Sense for a while, Shang sat down again and closed his right eye.
It was time to reach the True Path Stage.
It had been so long.
He had worked so much.
50 years of training tirelessly with unending discipline and enthusiasm.
How long would a normal talented person have taken, someone that didn't dedicate 100% of their life to their own power?
Probably over 150 years.
Maybe even over 200.
The danger of dying of old age would have been a real possibility.
But now, it was time.
Shang concentrated on his Path and willed it to become a reality.
It took several hours, but eventually, his Path began to manifest.
Shang felt a certain feeling of order enter his body, and he felt how it strengthened him.
It enveloped his entire being, and Shang felt how his connection with the world deepened.
Shang pulled this certain feeling deep into his chest and gathered it in one place. This was how the warriors reached the True Path Stage.
All the Mana in the surroundings entered Shang's body. Even the unknown kinds of Mana.
When someone elevated in power at this level, they absorbed all kinds of Mana of the surroundings to strengthen their being.
The Mana in the surrounding kilometers began to gather at Shang's place, but new Mana simply flooded the empty spaces again.
Mana was unending, and it filled the entire world.
As Shang absorbed more and more Mana, the connections of Mana he had established when he reached the Commander Stage began to strengthen even more.
The circulation of Mana inside Shang's body intensified severalfold, and he felt like he was ascending.
It was such a mysterious but empowering feeling.
It was like he was leaving his old body behind and inhabiting a new one.
As the connection strengthened even more, the different strands of Mana started to connect with each other. They didn't connect the different parts of Shang's body with each other anymore but directly connected with each other.
Shang willed them to become even more powerful, and at that moment, a change happened.
Shang felt the strands of Mana dissipate at the same level as they were being built. It was like there wasn't enough power to tie them together.
It was like someone needed to hold so many things that they would need three arms. Shang simply couldn't concentrate on everything at once.
However, Shang had already expected that.
This issue was the very reason why a warrior needed to have created their Path. Every warrior without a Path could have also reached that step, but this would be the very step that made them fail.
Shang visualized his Path and willed it to take control of his entire being.
As soon as that happened, the different strands of Mana slowed down, but they also stopped dissipating.
The streams of Mana began to move and extend to different locations than before, and this time, they stayed stable.
They crisscrossed over his entire body and slowly created something that looked like a network.
It took several minutes for all the strands to completely connect to each other, and when they were done, something changed again.
Even more Mana entered Shang's body.
The strands of Mana pulled at the surrounding Mana like they were a bottomless hole.
More and more Mana entered Shang's body for several more minutes.
As more time passed, Shang's body began to shine in a blue light.
To Shang, the Mana inside his body felt like a steady wind. It was circulating inside it in a rapid stream, strengthening his entire body.
At some point, Shang felt like he was at his limit, but he had already learned how to advance to the True Path Stage.
He suppressed the feeling and began to absorb more Mana. This was necessary since the body didn't naturally absorb enough Mana to make the breakthrough.
It was like Shang was forcing himself to eat more and more, even though he felt full.
The instinct of spitting out the Mana screamed at Shang.
However, Shang's expression didn't even change.
He had gone through so much pain in his life that this little bit of discomfort barely counted as a mere annoyance.
Shang shoved more and more Mana inside his body until he felt that it became impossible to absorb more.
His body had reached Mana saturation.
Then, Shang took a deep breath.
And willed all of the strings of Mana inside his body to compress.
They had become far wider in the past minutes, and Shang would need to compress them.
If he didn't do that, he basically wouldn't be able to move the Mana around. It was simply far too pressurized and massive.
Shang remained sitting on the floor for several minutes, his eye closed.
He felt like his soul and body were cramping, but this was an expected effect that every warrior had to go through.
If a warrior couldn't even deal with this bit of discomfort, they didn't deserve to reach the True Path Stage anyway.
All the strands of Mana became thinner and more compressed.
Shang felt the pressure inside his body climb to new heights.
It was like he was compressing air between his two hands.
Yet, Shang only continued in a methodical manner.
In the next hour, the Mana compressed to only half of its initial volume.
Another hour later, it halved its volume again.
At that point, Shang felt like he had hit a limit.
It was like he couldn't compress it anymore.
'This is the moment,' he thought with a bit of excitement. Who wouldn't be excited after finally achieving their goal after 50 years of hard work?
Shang gathered all his power and willpower.
BANG!
And unleashed everything in one final compression.
It was difficult, and Shang only made tiny progress.
However, just five seconds later, something happened.
Shang felt like he had suddenly lost his grip on his Mana.
He felt like the air he was trying to compress with so much force had suddenly vanished.
Shang knew what that meant.
Shang looked at the strands of Mana inside his body and saw that they had reduced their volume by another 90%.
This was it.
Earlier, Shang had felt like the Mana inside his body was a wind blowing through his body in a loop.
Now, it was like it was a river.
Yes, the Mana had transformed from gaseous to liquid.
He had done it!
There was now a network of veins filled with liquid Mana inside his veins, and the Mana was moving rapidly through his body.
And the very engine that made something this condensed and powerful move was Shang's comprehension of his Path.
Every network of veins was unique, and no human had the same network. Their Path and Concepts decided what kind of network their Mana would build.
The networks didn't have different strengths or weaknesses. They looked different, but they were all equally good.
They were only aligned differently to make it easier to interact with one's Path.
After looking at his body for several minutes, Shang finally opened his right eye and activated his Spirit Sense.
When he saw what he could see with his Spirit Sense, a smile appeared on his face.
He could see the surrounding 20 kilometers!
High Mages could only see the surrounding five kilometers!
At that moment, Shang was certain that he had created something incredible.
Chapter 444 – Fourth Question
Shang could see so incredibly far.
He could see hundreds of True Path Stage beasts and even some beasts in the fifth Realm. It had been an unknown if such powerful beasts were in the Caves, but now, he knew.
Shang could feel three, and he could also see the bottom of the Caves.
Shang was already around 20 kilometers deep in the cave, and the actual end of the Caves was another 15 kilometers down.
At the lowest part, Shang could see a gigantic open space several kilometers wide and high.
Right now, the space was occupied by the most terrifying beast in the Caves.
However, as soon as Shang looked at the beasts, he felt like they were looking back.
When Shang felt that, he immediately looked away.
For about a second more, Shang felt the Spirit Senses of these terrifying beasts, but they retreated after that.
They didn't inspect Shang closely enough, which was why they hadn't realized that he essentially felt like an Abomination.
They only gave him a cursory glance, and when they felt that a measly True Path Stage being had looked at them, they lost all interest.
To them, it was like an ant would randomly face their direction while walking around outside.
It was irrelevant and unimportant.
Shang took a deep breath when he felt their Spirit Senses retreat.
He felt like he had just dodged a bullet.
'I've become powerful, but I need to remember that there are many more powerful beings in this world. I can't just randomly look at everyone.'
'Luckily, I'm so much weaker than them that they didn't even deign to take a closer look at me.'
After Shang had seen these beasts, he came to a realization.
Yes, the most powerful beings in the five Kingdoms were the Zone Beasts, followed by the Kings.
However, that wasn't entirely correct.
While the Zone Beasts and Kings gathered all the attention to them, one could easily overlook the terror that was the beasts in the Fifth Realm.
There were around three of these beasts in each Zone, and every single one of them represented the power of a King.
This meant that the Skythunder Kingdom had over 100 beings with the power of a King inside of it, while there was only a single human with that power.
The difference was absolutely astonishing and massive.
After looking away from the beasts, Shang turned his perception to the Caves above and around him.
He could see four True Path Stage warriors fighting against Initial and Early True Path Stage beasts right now.
'Four at once?' Shang thought. 'That's quite a lot. However, it does make sense. Jerald said that there are now very many True Path Stage warriors in the Storm Eagle Zone.'
Shang looked at the warriors, and what he felt made him happy.
They felt so incredibly weak.
Even the Early True Path Stage warriors felt so very weak to him.
'My training didn't betray me.'
'I spent over 50 years in here while everyone else in the world advanced several levels.'
'Yet, after all this time, I finally took my step forward, and my step is far bigger than anyone else's several steps.'
'True to the proverb, sharpening the axe doesn't take time away from cutting wood.'
At this moment, Shang felt very powerful, and he was happy.
He had taken the biggest step in his journey to power, and making progress felt magical.
This was why Shang loved training.
He loved seeing the results.
This was why he had decided to forsake everything else in his life.
And, for the first time, he thoroughly felt that it had been the right choice.
After looking at everything for a while, Shang decided to get to the next point on the agenda.
He searched through his memories and found that something new had appeared.
In Shang's memory, he stood in front of the God inside his hall.
"For my fourth question," the blonde Shang with two eyes said.
"At this point in my journey, I must have already reached the Fourth Realm, which means that I would want to reach the Fifth Realm."
"So, how can I reach the Fifth Realm?"
The God in Shang's memory only smirked.
"You think I'll make it this simple?" he asked.
The blonde Shang looked worried.
"I don't want old stuff. I want new stuff," the God said. "I don't want everything to go back to how it once was. I want to see new Paths. I want to see what the humans can come up with in a completely changed environment from back then."
"Was this your plan from now on, asking me how to progress to the next Stage?" the God asked with his typical smirk.
The blonde Shang only looked at him with an uncertain expression.
Yes, that had been his plan.
"Then, go and change your plan because I'm not going to answer these kinds of questions," the God said as he leaned back on his throne.
The blonde Shang furrowed his brows and scratched his chin in thought.
Several seconds passed.
"Okay, then, what about an optimal way to find my way forward in the future? You know, not something specific but just a general guideline, something that helps me in spurring on my own creativity," the blonde Shang said.
The God looked at the side and evaluated the question.
"Sure, I can answer that, but this answer will be applicable to all Realms. I don't want to hear that question another five times or so."
The blonde Shang nodded.
At that moment in Shang's memories, a second God appeared, and it looked like he had stepped past the scene as he was addressing him directly.
"Editor's Note: Answer has been changed due to your unplanned Affinity," he said.
Then, everything returned to normal, and the God gave his answer.
"The most important thing is creativity and the willpower to transform that creativity from mere ideas into something applicable in reality."
"Look at all the different powers you have and try to combine them with each other in all kinds of manners. Even if you think that something shouldn't work, you might find yourself surprised when it actually works."
"Trial and error is the best way to find new possibilities, and as these new possibilities become more and more numerous, you will gain more knowledge and experience. Eventually, you can combine some of them into something that you couldn't have thought of earlier."
"As for a specific guide to reaching the next Realm without any sort of person guiding you towards it, you should always try to find a way to elevate yourself."
"For example, True Mages needed to comprehend a Concept to advance to the High Mage Realm. However, in comparison to the True Path Stage that your predecessor created, it isn't unchangeable."
"After becoming a High Mage, the person in question can comprehend more Concepts from different Elements. To reach the Archmage Realm, they need to comprehend one Concept, which is on a higher level than the other Concepts they know."
"However, if they truly want to stand out, they can comprehend several other Concepts before making the breakthrough and incorporate them in their Main Concept."
"For example, the Duke in the place where you will be sent soon has the Concept of Wind Movement as his main Concept, but he also knows the Concept of Water Drop and the Concept of Lightning Spark."
"If he gets serious, he can create Wind Spells that include the strengths of these Concepts from different Affinities, essentially making him far more powerful than average High Mages."
"You can see this as two different kinds of elevation, and you could theoretically create a method to advance with both of them. Right now, the Mages all use the higher-level Concepts as their basis for becoming an Archmage, but with a bit of creativity, effort, and research, they could also find a way to become an Archmage by combining several lower-level Concepts. However, nobody has currently found that open Path yet. The current Path just works too well."
"If you want to find a way to the next level, you have to find something similar. You have to find something that elevates what you have created."
"I can think of over 20 different ways a True Path Stage warrior could advance to the next level, and all the different Fifth Realms would be unique and different from each other."
"Experiment, try things out, work on yourself, work on your weapon, work on the surroundings, and try to find that spark of inspiration that makes several or all of these things click together in one cohesive picture."
"Just creating another Path or making the Path longer isn't enough."
"It needs to transform into something new."
"That's the answer to your question."
Chapter 445 – Changes
Shang's new memories swept through his mind in an instant, and he opened his right eye again.
'Once again, I'm glad that I didn't ask a stupid question, even though I was so young back then. It's a nice feeling to have a younger version of yourself help you far in the future. I just hope the questions stay relevant.'
'I should keep that habit alive. Right now, many things feel impossible. For example, I still don't know how I can combine all the different kinds of attacks into one cohesive battle style. I do have all the attacks, but they are distributed over four different weapons, and I can only use one of them at a time.'
'I simply trust in my future self to make these things possible. Right now, I have the opportunity to create a foundation for my future self. In the future, I will be grateful for my mindfulness in the past, which is currently the present.'
'Try out new things and find a way to elevate my being, huh?'
Shang scratched his chin as he mulled over these words for a while.
'I have some ideas, but I have no way of knowing if they are actually realistic or not. However, I shouldn't be too worried about these things right now. I just reached the True Path Stage, and I need to get used to this level first. Finding a way forward at this point would be inefficient since I lack the necessary experience right now.'
'For now, I need to keep my Battle-Strength high. To keep my Battle-Strength high, I need to know a lot of things, and knowing a lot of things means gaining experience, which will help me to advance in the future.'
'My future progression will be built on what I decide to do in the True Path Stage.'
'Never tire.'
'Never stop trying.'
'Always go forward.'
'My future self will thank me for it.'
Shang nodded once and stood up.
It was time to test his power.
"Finally done?"
Shang immediately became startled and jumped to the side.
He had grown used to his Spirit Sense, and his Spirit Sense could see basically everything.
So, when someone suddenly asked him something from right beside him, he was taken off guard.
Shang hadn't felt anyone near him just now!
Shang looked at the place with shocked eyes, and his eyes only widened even further.
The jester!
It was here!
This was the first time that the God had actually shown himself in the real world!
"What, you think I can't enter my own world?" the jester asked with a mechanical smirk. "This is my world, and I can appear wherever I please."
Shang slowly calmed down and took a deep breath. "I was simply surprised because I didn't see you with my Spirit Sense."
"Spirit Sense, huh?" the jester asked with a smirk. "So, how does it feel? When you just came to this place, you couldn't even imagine how it feels to perfectly see kilometers of your surroundings with just your mind."
"Quite different from Earth, right?"
Shang had already thought about these things many times, and he had come to the realization that it was impossible for him to emulate the feeling of being on Earth.
He had simply been in this world for too long, and all the magical things had become reality.
Right now, Earth felt more like a fantasy world than this place to Shang.
"Well, that's what time can do to someone," the jester said, reading Shang's mind.
"Why are you here?" Shang asked.
The jester waddled around the cave with his short and mechanical legs.
Maybe the God intended it to be funny, but with his terrifying presence, perceiving the situation to be humorous was an impossibility.
"Three things, actually," the jester said as he looked at the walls of the cave. "I thought that appearing myself to tell you of these things would be the best way."
"What things?" Shang asked.
"Two major changes and a small gift," the jester said.
"Okay, I'm listening," Shang said.
The jester lifted his right arm and extended one finger.
"First, congratulations! You've been promoted!" he said with a smirk.
Shang blinked a couple of times. "Promoted? What do you mean?"
"You are no longer the medium to create future entertainment. You are now the entertainment yourself!" the jester said with a wide grin.
Shang only looked at the jester. He thought that he didn't need to ask since the jester read his mind anyway.
"I want to hear you ask," the jester said.
Shang took a deep breath.
"What does that change entail?" he asked.
"It means that you are currently bringing me more entertainment than the potential entertainment you can create by making every other warrior stronger."
"You see, you've managed to reach a level of power that I have not foreseen. Your Battle-Strength currently rivals the greatest geniuses in the entire world, and seeing such a talented person create a Path for themselves is far more interesting than simply making them make other warriors stronger."
"I don't want to see you theorize a way to reach the Fifth Realm. No, now, I want to see how far you can go. I want to see how many Realms you can advance before you run out of steam."
"So, congratulations, I don't need you to give techniques to the warriors anymore. You can now fully concentrate only on yourself."
"Also," the jester said, a bit of his mirth vanishing, "in the next trial, you will probably get so many points that the rewards you would get are so advanced that the other warriors can't even make use of them. It's like you show them a way to create a microchip when they haven't even learned how to make plastic."
"They just can't use that stuff because they are missing the basic requirements that allow them to reach the level of power required to make use of the rewards, essentially making them useless to 99% of warriors."
"You know, I was expecting the warriors to slowly progress over time. The foundation grows wider and wider until one person breaks the record. Then, the record gets broken again, and again, and again."
"But, right now, you are at like the eighth again."
"You basically skipped the entire process."
Shang could see where the God was coming from.
Just the Star Map was already so advanced that the Mages in the world refused to believe that some warrior created it.
The previous rewards, like the basic techniques or the ranged attack, had elicited no suspicion.
Sure, a warrior could come up with that.
And if the most powerful warriors were maybe at the fifth, sixth, or seventh Realm already, no one would have doubted that the Star Map had been created by a warrior.
This showed how advanced the technique was in comparison to the current level of warriors.
"So, I don't need to care about other warriors anymore, right?" Shang asked.
"Correct," the jester said. "Do whatever you want. As long as you don't purposefully decide to eradicate all warriors or suppress their progress, I don't care."
Shang nodded.
"And the other change?"
The jester smiled.
"With you getting promoted, someone else has to take your job."
Shang knew what that meant.
"A new person from Earth will be introduced to the Storm Eagle Zone soon. If you find him, help him get started on the journey. You don't have to look after him, but I don't want this guy to perform horribly just because you keep relevant information from him."
Chapter 446 – Small Gift
Shang didn't know how he felt right now.
Someone else from Earth was now coming to this world, and they would be far younger.
Time sure passed quickly.
It was already time for the next generation to take over.
However, this time, it wasn't because the older generation had reached its limit.
Shang had been sent to this world because George had stopped advancing and was only working on making the warriors more powerful.
For the God, George's personal power had stopped being useful, requiring someone else to take over.
In a way, George had been transformed from the main character into a supporting character when Shang arrived.
But this time, it was different.
Shang's usefulness to the God had advanced to such a stage that using him to strengthen warriors would be a waste.
As Shang thought about the new person, he also realized something.
He realized that he felt hopeful for the rewards they could bring.
The first two trials still had a lot of unclaimed rewards, and some of these rewards could be very useful to the current Shang, even if they were only useful for inspiration.
They would represent something new that was currently unknown to the warriors.
At the same time, Shang was also reminded of his first couple of years in this world.
The world had been alien and magical to him back then.
The new person would go through a similar experience.
For just a split second, Shang thought that it would be interesting to relive these experiences, but when he thought about all the power he would have to give up, he immediately stopped wanting that.
He had worked so hard for his power, and he wanted to advance even further.
Right now, he felt as great as never before.
Being powerful felt so incredibly good, and he wanted more of that feeling.
"Alright," Shang said. "Jerald already knows about you anyway. I will just tell him to keep a lookout for the new person."
"Good," the God said.
"Now, for the last thing."
Shang remembered that the God said that there would also be a small gift, and he grew interested.
"Don't get too excited," the jester said with a smirk. "This is only something that will help you in the short term. After that, my little gift will lose all its value."
Shang was still interested.
"You see," the jester said, "You are my prime entertainment right now, and I want to give you the best possible start. I want to truly see how far you can go."
"Because of that, I will temporarily give you the power to summon a True Path Stage Abomination alone and without anyone noticing."
"I want your body to be at its peak when you take the trial, and this is the best way to assure that."
"You have three years to reach the optimal state for your body in the Initial True Path Stage."
"I don't want you to advance."
"I don't want you to abuse this little gift."
"I don't want you to waste time."
"You get three years, and three years should be just enough to get your body to its optimal condition if you follow the schedule."
"Do I make myself clear?" the jester asked.
Shang nodded.
This was an incredible gift!
Shang had already feared how he could strengthen himself to his peak before the trial started.
Logically, Shang needed to summon True Path Stage Abominations, but these True Path Stage Abominations would cause a gigantic uproar, and they would come with a literal army of weaker Abominations.
Initially, Shang had been stuck between two decisions.
First, with his increased power, the average power of the Abominations across the world should also increase. Right now, the appearance of a True Path Stage Abomination would be something monumental, and all the Mages from the outside would look through this place with a fine comb.
However, in a decade or two, the appearances of True Path Stage Abominations would have become so normal that no one would suspect that Shang had specifically summoned one of them.
The other possibility would have been very risky and very greedy.
It was essentially just summoning them and hoping for the best.
The rewards in the trials were just too valuable to give up.
However, this would also come with incredible danger to Shang.
But now, this problem had been solved, and Shang could have both.
He would get his optimal body without any risk, and after that, he could simply wait for a couple of decades to continue advancing without raising any suspicions.
"This only counts until the trial starts, right?" Shang asked.
"Correct," the jester answered.
Shang nodded. "I'm fine with that."
The jester also nodded. "I don't want you to abuse this in any way."
"I understand," Shang said.
He knew that making the God angry would result in a terrible fate for him.
Then, the jester grinned widely. "Good, then, I'm looking forward to your performance in three years."
Shang nodded. "I will do my best."
Shang didn't say it, but it was very clear that he wasn't doing it for the God but for his own power.
Obviously, the God knew that, but he didn't care.
It didn't matter why his playthings followed his orders. As long as they followed them, he didn't care.
An instant later, the jester just vanished.
It was like he had never existed.
After the jester vanished, Shang took a deep breath.
Then, he prepared himself.
'Might as well start now.'
Shang used his Domain of Entropy to connect with the Abominations.
Sure enough, he could feel 20 True Path Stage Abominations and their armies.
When Shang extended his perception to one of them, he began to pull.
The line that connected them to the other Abominations was suddenly cut, isolating them.
As Shang pulled, the smaller Abominations didn't get pulled along with the big one.
It proved to be quite easy to summon the Abomination, and just two minutes later...
SHING!
The Abomination appeared right in front of Shang.
In comparison to Commander Stage Abominations, this one had four muscular arms, and it stood in a slumped but upright position.
It also had hands that reminded Shang a bit of human hands, but they weren't even nearly developed enough to grab anything.
However, the Abomination's face was still filled with black tentacles that extended toward the ground.
All in all, it looked terrifying, but Shang had gotten used to the way the Abominations looked.
Additionally, Shang always felt a deep connection with them.
It was like they were one and the same thing.
The Abomination extended one of its arms, and Shang touched it.
A moment later, the Abomination got absorbed into his body, and Shang felt his power increase.
This was nothing new to Shang.
It was the same as always, just with a more powerful Abomination.
After absorbing the Abomination, Shang checked his surroundings with his Spirit Sense.
Not a single beast had reacted.
Usually, the beasts would go wild if an Abomination appeared in their vicinity, but this time, it was like absolutely nothing had happened.
Sure enough, the God's isolation had worked.
Shang closed and extended his fingers again and felt the raw power in them.
'I can't wait for the trial!'
Chapter 447 – Assurance
After absorbing the Abomination, Shang took out his Communication Crystal.
"Yes?" came the neutral voice of Jerald.
"I've advanced."
Silence.
"Really?" Jerald said with a much brighter and shocked voice.
"Yes, I've reached the True Path Stage. I've created my True Path," Shang answered.
"Finally," Jerald said with exhaustion. "Finally, it's time."
"Not entirely," Shang said. "I want to undergo the trial before we do anything. This can increase my power even more."
"Oh, right," Jerald said, some of his good mood gone. "Yes, as discussed, it would be better if we do everything after the trial. Do you know when you will take it?"
"There have been some changes," Shang said.
"Changes?" Jerald asked with skepticism. For just a moment, he thought that Shang would go back on what they had agreed on.
"Not from my side, but from his side. You know who I'm talking about," Shang said.
Jerald didn't know who Shang meant.
"The God," Shang said after a while.
"Wait, he contacted you? He can just do that?" Jerald asked in surprise.
"Yes, he can," Shang said. "I was also a bit surprised, but it shouldn't actually be surprising when you think about it. This is his world. He can do whatever he wants."
"I guess so," Jerald answered. "What changes?"
Shang told Jerald that he was now responsible for his own power, not the warriors' power and that there would also be a new person coming soon.
"So, he's sending another one to take over your job?" Jerald asked.
"Correct," Shang answered. "He said that it would be a man since he kept referring to him as he. I can imagine that he would have received similar instructions to me, which means that he will probably only appear sometime in the next three years and not immediately."
"I have been tasked with helping him a bit by explaining several things to him. I would ask you to pay attention to people that are similar to how I was when you found me. Of course, as long as he doesn't actively show signs, it will be difficult to find him. It might even be possible that he doesn't even know about me. After all, I also didn't know about George being someone like me back then."
"However, he will almost certainly appear somewhere in the Storm Eagle Zone, and he will most likely try to enter the Warrior's Academy."
"It might take several months to three years until he gains the power and experience to get through the Warrior Academy's exam."
"Could you keep me informed about new students that might possibly be him?" Shang asked.
"No problem," Jerald answered.
"Thank you," Shang said. "Then, I will continue training until it is time for the trial. I will contact you when it's time."
"Wait a second," Jerald said.
"Yes?"
"I want to see how powerful you have become. Is it fine if I come over right now?" Jerald asked.
Shang could understand why Jerald wanted to check Shang's power. After all, Jerald's plans hinged on Shang being powerful enough to fight Mid High Mages. An Initial True Path Stage warrior that could fight such a powerful Mage should be an impossibility.
However, when it came to Shang, Jerald estimated that it was possible.
But that was still only an estimation.
He wanted to see how powerful Shang had truly become.
"Sure," Shang said.
"Alright," Jerald said before cutting the connection.
Shang put his Communication Crystal away and waited.
A couple of minutes later, Shang felt Jerald enter the Caves.
Shang watched him for a couple of seconds.
His entire perspective had changed.
Jerald was no longer a humongous giant whose power was inestimable by Shang.
This time, Shang was powerful enough to actually estimate Jerald's power.
And what he felt was beyond impressive.
Jerald was still a Late High Mage, but he definitely didn't feel like one.
No, he was far more imposing and powerful.
Shang estimated that he could fight a Mid High Mage without any issues, and he even hoped that he might have a tiny chance against a Late High Mage.
However, when he saw Jerald's power, Shang felt minuscule.
He had the same kind of power and aura as all these powerful geniuses in the trials, and he was a Late High Mage.
One had to remember that a powerful genius True Mage would become average when they became a High Mage.
However, Jerald had this genius aura as a Late High Mage.
This was beyond impressive.
Shang even estimated that Jerald might be the most powerful Late High Mage in all five Kingdoms.
'If someone can become an Archmage, it will be him,' Shang thought. 'I can understand why the Council fears pushing him to the edge.'
'At least, they feared him in the past,' Shang thought with a sigh as he remembered that Jerald's son, Mattheo, had already died.
The world had changed too much in the last decades, and nothing was how it had been in the past.
'I'm already thinking like an old man,' Shang thought with slight amusement. 'I mean, I'm already 82.'
"I can sense you, Jerald," Shang transmitted to him.
Jerald's eyebrows shot up as he tried to find Shang with his Spirit Sense.
"How are you doing that?" Jerald asked after he realized that he couldn't find Shang.
"The range of my Spirit Sense is bigger. I'm where I always am," Shang answered.
Jerald's jaw nearly dropped when he heard that.
There were nearly 20 kilometers between them right now!
Jerald stopped advancing, and a solemn expression appeared on his face.
"You have to keep that a secret, Shang," Jerald said.
"I know," Shang said.
"Then why did you tell me?" Jerald asked.
"Because I trust you," Shang answered.
Jerald could only sigh. "Fine."
Shang understood why he should keep his Spirit Sense a secret.
In the five Kingdoms, there hadn't been a single High Mage with such a far-reaching Spirit Sense.
If, suddenly, a warrior could achieve something not even any High Mage in the known past could have achieved, the panic and fear of the five Kingdoms would explode.
Maybe even the Kings would directly try to eliminate Shang. No one wanted someone they didn't know that had lived in their lands to become more powerful than them. After all, what if that person had a horrible life in their Kingdom, and they blamed the King?
What if the King had already offended that person but simply didn't remember the incident because the person had been so weak that they didn't even stay in the King's memory?
This was something very dangerous.
Because of that, Shang had to keep it a secret.
His ability to flee from a High Mage as a Late Commander Stage warrior was definitely impressive, but there had been Mages that could do something similar. Additionally, the details were not clear to the public.
However, creating such a Spirit Sense signified that Shang had gone further than any Mage had ever gone in the five Kingdoms.
It was unprecedented and potentially dangerous for the Mages.
After a couple of minutes of traveling through the complicated layout of the Caves, Jerald could finally see Shang with his Spirit Sense.
And he stopped advancing.
His eyes widened in shock.
For several seconds, he remained silent.
Then, a relieved smile appeared on his face, as a couple of tears appeared in his eyes.
"Mattheo, George, I can finally take revenge," he quietly said to himself.
"Thank you, Shang," Jerald said. "I'm relieved now."
Shang nodded, and a small smile also appeared on his face. "We've waited for long enough."
"We did. After feeling your power, I can rest assured about our plan."
Shang nodded.
Jerald wanted to turn around, but he suddenly got an idea.
"Say, Shang?" Jerald asked.
"Yes?"
"You haven't fought a Mage in several decades, right?"
"Yes, sadly," Shang answered. "I have a lot of things I want to try out, and I need to properly optimize my techniques further."
At that moment, a small grin appeared on Jerald's face.
"I think you're strong enough that you might benefit from training with me," Jerald said.
Shang's eyebrows rose when he heard that.
Train with Jerald?
He hadn't even thought of that!
"How about we spar for a couple of weeks so that you can properly test your techniques?" Jerald asked.
Shang thought about that for a bit and quickly nodded.
"That would be great. Thank you."
"No problem," Jerald answered. "I'll arrange everything. I will be back in, at most, three hours."
Shang nodded, and Jerald left.
And two hours later, he returned.
Once again, Shang would be training with someone he couldn't possibly beat.
Chapter 448 – Last Preparations
Jerald took it easy on Shang. After all, Jerald was far more powerful than him.
For now, Jerald decided to emulate a normal Mid High Mage. He simply slowed his movements and used less Mana for his Spells.
Sure enough, Shang had shown incredible power. In fact, Jerald had to do his best not to increase his power by more since Shang kept pushing him back at frightening speeds.
The new techniques Shang had come up with in the last 50 years were especially terrifying. Just the fact that Shang had created such an effective technique against Mages in his Colossal Sword State was impressive.
Jerald also felt the power of Shang's attacks on his Mana Shield.
Initially, it wasn't anything too special, but as Shang entered his Great Sword State, the power ramped up significantly!
And when Shang entered his Saber State, the fight had completely changed yet again.
But the most terrifying state was the Long Sword State. At least for Mages.
Shang had dealt significant damage to Jerald's Mana Shield in that state, and he even had to stop Shang before he completely ran out of Mana.
Shang had managed to break the Mana Shield of a Late High Mage, although Jerald had been fighting with the strength of a normal Mid High Mage.
At that point, there was no more doubt.
Shang had definitely reached a level where he could kill an average Mid High Mage.
That was a jump of two levels!
Against a Mage!
Back when Shang had been in the second trial, he had come to a draw with the powerful Early True Mage.
Fighting against an average Mid True Mage should have been about as difficult, maybe a bit easier.
But this time, Shang had been on the offensive several times, and he could have probably progressed even faster if he wasn't testing out several of his new techniques.
Additionally, his body wasn't even at its peak for his level!
It was only a bit more than 80% as powerful as an Initial True Path Stage beast.
After a while, Jerald decided to fight with his Full Mana, but without using any special Spells or tactics.
In essence, Shang was now fighting an average Late High Mage.
And it was rough.
Jerald essentially played with Shang, and Shang's offensive had been weakened significantly.
From this moment on, he only rarely managed to deal more damage to the Mana Shield than Jerald recovered Mana, and the terrifying thing was that Jerald would just recover more Mana after the short offense.
In short, Shang didn't manage to win.
Over the next couple of weeks, Shang's techniques became more efficient and flowed into each other.
Near the end, Jerald wasn't sure if Shang could win against an average Late High Mage or not.
It looked about even.
Jerald also couldn't be sure if he hadn't overdone it with weakening himself. After all, if this were a game, he would essentially be using only five of his over 30 buttons.
Because of that, he couldn't be sure if Shang could win.
A Late High Mage, when pushed to the brink, could unleash significant power. After all, they would die otherwise.
However, Shang could probably do the same if he faced death.
For Jerald, it was all up in the air, and he couldn't be sure if Shang could win or not.
Nevertheless, Shang's power was higher than Jerald had hoped before he reached the True Path Stage.
With this power, his plan could definitely work.
Jerald had to take some breaks to manage his Zone every couple of days, but he always returned relatively quickly.
After around three months of training, Shang's power stopped increasing, which meant that he had gotten used to fighting Mages again and that he had solidified his theories into practical applications.
From now on, Shang's progression of power would return to normal, and it would take a long time for him to make any major leaps.
At that point, the two of them stopped their practice. There was no more point in continuing.
At that point, Jerald shared his plan with Shang, and Shang finally realized why Jerald had said that his power would be the key to success.
He definitely hadn't exaggerated.
If Shang messed up, Jerald might very likely die.
Jerald was truly trusting Shang with his life.
This had never truly happened before. Sure, there had been the barbarians, but it had been ingrained in their traditions to trust their leaders with their lives.
But when it came to someone as powerful and talented as Jerald, this was something completely different.
At the same time, Shang also felt guilty that he didn't tell Jerald the truth about his connection with the Abominations.
Jerald trusted Shang with his life, but Shang couldn't do the same thing in return.
Shang was simply too afraid of what might happen.
Shang knew that his very existence would bring calamity to the entire world.
The more powerful he became, the more powerful the Abominations across the entire world became.
It might already be possible that Shang had indirectly killed millions of people just by becoming more powerful, and it would only get more extreme as more time passed.
Assuming Jerald knew of Shang's secret in the far future, what would happen when Shang vastly overtook him in power?
At some point, Jerald's home or Kingdom might be assaulted by Abominations that were far too powerful to resist.
Jerald might lose everything.
And if he somehow managed to survive, what would he think?
He knew that it would only get worse.
At some point, he would die to the Abominations. Shang couldn't always be around and protect him then!
Even more, the catastrophic effects of the Abominations would only strengthen.
One life in exchange for saving the entire world.
Shang didn't want to force Jerald into making such a decision.
If Shang were in Jerald's shoes, he knew what he would do.
He couldn't allow himself to die. He couldn't allow someone that would be responsible for his death in the future to continue living.
These thoughts made it impossible for Shang to share his deepest secrets.
After the two of them talked about the plan some more, Jerald left.
He also had to prepare himself for the plan. After all, it wasn't only Shang that needed to do something.
Shang stayed in the Caves.
For the next three years, he mostly focused on working on his Affinities and his control over Mana. Creating more techniques would take too long at his current level.
Shang managed to push his body to the peak just a couple of weeks before the deadline arrived.
And then, it was finally time for the trial!
Chapter 449 – Transformation
Shang entered his inner world together with Sword.
It was finally time.
Right now, Sword was in its Colossal Sword State, making it over two meters long and half a meter wide.
Shang was wearing a black suit of armor that covered his entire body, and his hair had been shortened so that it only went a bit over his shoulders.
Wrapped around his left eye socket was a black band made of cloth.
In the past 50 years, Shang had aged quite a bit, but after he reached the True Path Stage, his perceived age receded.
Right now, Shang looked like he was in his early twenties again, which was understandable considering his longevity.
If a True Path Stage warrior could live as long as a High Mage, Shang could live to be up to 500 years old. This meant that not even 20% of his life had passed.
In a way, he looked very similar to the time he had returned to the Skythunder Kingdom. The only difference was the size of his weapon and his armor.
“We can begin,” Shang said.
The big stele in the middle of his world vanished, and the old familiar wheel returned.
Just like always, the jester sat on the wheel with a smirk.
“What did you decide regarding the warrior category?” Shang asked without looking at the jester.
“Well,” the jester answered, “I gave it some thought, and I decided…”
“That I will get rid of that category.”
Shang furrowed his brows. “Any special reason?” he asked.
“You’ve created something interesting, Shang,” the jester said. “Connecting four Stars is not something unprecedented, but it is very rare, even in the grand scheme of things.”
“And I’m very interested in what someone like you can come up with.”
“If I were to give you the opportunity to fight against ancient warriors, you would take inspiration from their fighting style, which might very likely make you emulate these old fighting styles.”
“However, that’s boring, and I want something new. That’s why I got rid of the warrior category.”
“I want to see what you can come up with without anyone to guide you.”
Shang nodded expressionlessly.
Naturally, he wasn’t a big fan of that. Not being able to see others that were similar to him made it only harder to progress.
Being able to fight ancient warriors would give Shang some insight into what they were aiming for with their power, giving him an inkling as to where he should focus his attention and time.
But without it, things would become difficult.
“Of course, the rewards have been rescaled,” the jester said. “Since you can’t gain as many points as previously with one category missing, I’ve scrapped some of the more useless rewards and increased the overall quality. Additionally, I also got rid of rewards that are useless to you but useful to other warriors.”
“This is your trial now, not a trial to see how far the warriors have come.”
Shang didn’t answer.
After some seconds, the jester’s smirk widened into a grin.
“Beast category,” the mechanical female voice reappeared. “Level one: Weak True Path Stage beast.”
The wheel began to spin, and Shang felt like there were far more options on the wheel now.
There were so many options that it nearly became impossible for Shang to make them out, even with his Spirit Sense.
There were probably over a million, which was insane.
That was when Shang realized that the God was probably including every single beast in the world.
Over a million different kinds of True Path Stage beasts.
That meant that there were probably over a billion beasts in the world that had already reached the True Path Stage.
Thinking about such a number made Shang feel unimportant and minuscule.
He had expected that the world would be big, but he hadn’t expected it to be that big!
If there were that many True Path Stage beasts already, how many Commander Stage, General Stage, and Soldier Stage beasts would be there?
A hundred billion?
A trillion?
Ten trillion?
Earth had already been overfilled with humans, and they had only been about seven to eight billion.
How many humans were in this world that so many beasts could also live here?
How big was this world?
A hundred thousand kilometers wide?
A million?
Ten million?
Shang had no idea, but he was sure that it had to be absolutely gigantic.
No wonder the God called this world his main world.
Earth couldn’t even begin to compare in size.
After a couple of seconds, the wheel stopped on something Shang couldn’t make out. The field reserved for this beast was just too narrow for Shang to make out the picture.
But then, the picture became bigger and overtook the wheel.
It was a stork wearing a stupid fish costume.
SHING!
At that moment, Shang’s opponent appeared, and he looked over.
It was a thirty-meter-tall stork with scales for feathers, which looked very unusual.
Its beak looked very violent, and its scales were oceanic blue.
Shang slowly took out his sword and waited.
The jester lifted his hammer with a grin.
DING!
And hit the bell!
The stork opened its eyes and looked at its opponent…
Just to see a gigantic wave of fire come toward it!
BOOOOOOM!
The stork screeched as a huge part of its body exploded into the surroundings.
A couple of seconds later, it died.
Shang put his sword on the ground and returned to waiting.
At that moment, the jester whistled with positive surprise. “Isn’t that one of your techniques for your Saber?”
“It is,” Shang answered. “That’s why it was quite a bit slower and didn’t have as much power.”
Yes, this was one of Shang’s new techniques.
This was no longer the typical ranged attack but something far more advanced.
After Shang had created that technique, his body always cooled down a lot whenever he used it. The technique could, at most, be used three times in a row before Shang had to heat up his entire body again.
However, its power had been beyond impressive. In comparison to the normal ranged attack, this one gathered all the destructive energies into a small point, releasing them when they hit something solid.
Sadly, while using his Colossal Sword, Shang couldn’t concentrate the energies properly, creating this massive wave, which essentially reduced the attack’s power.
Yet, one had to keep in mind that Shang could only use it three times in a row before he had to slowly warm his body again…
At least, that was how it was when he had still been at the Commander Stage.
This technique was part of Shang’s Path, and his Path also included his four Affinities.
When Shang reached the True Path Stage, his body had adapted to his Path, making it far easier to use it.
After releasing that attack, Shang’s body only cooled down by a little bit.
The Mana inside Shang’s body made use of the cold backlash created by the technique, distributed it over the entire body, and even absorbed some of the Ice Mana that had been created back into Shang’s body.
While Shang had only been able to use that attack three times in a row back at the Commander Stage…
Now, he could use it probably over 20 times in a row.
His new Battle-Strength couldn’t be compared to the weak and frail Shang that had just returned to the Skythunder Kingdom.
Now, Shang could kill a beast on his level from about three kilometers away by swinging his sword just a bit.
Shang’s Battle-Strength had advanced to a level where a casual ranged attack had the same power as an offensive Spell of a Mage on his level.
Chapter 450 – Shooting Star, Hidden Sun
The second beast only did marginally better. It nearly died with the first attack, but Shang had to unleash a second one to finish it off.
When Shang thought about his next opponent, he got a bit annoyed.
WHOOOM! SHING!
Black fire gathered on the sword and was thrown into the distance, transforming it into a saber.
Shang didn’t want to use several attacks to get rid of the next beast since it would be a powerful one, which was why he had transformed Sword into its Saber State.
Shang didn’t really care about the ore he had just now essentially thrown out of the window. He had so much ore that this was no issue at all.
Some seconds later, Shang’s third opponent appeared.
It was some wolf with metal armor. Its appearance and power weren’t really important since it would die very quickly anyway.
Shang pointed his Saber downward, its tip touching the ground just a bit behind Shang.
The jester lifted his hammer and hit the bell.
DING!
A moment later, Shang’s Saber rapidly moved forward on the ground.
As it moved forward, it left a straight line of burning red on the ground.
As the line reached a length of a bit more than a meter, a spiky and sharp tip appeared at its front.
It looked just like a primitive spear!
At that instant, the muscles on Shang’s right arm bulged, and he slashed forward like he was trying to throw something, that was lying on the ground, forward with his Saber.
SHING!
The fire spear immediately shot forward with incredible speed just as the wolf opened its eyes.
The wolf very quickly noticed the attack with its terrifying instincts, but its body was just too slow to evade.
The tip of the Fire Spear touched its torso.
BOOOOOOOOOM!
A gigantic explosion occurred, releasing a destructive wave of Fire Mana in a cone!
Shang calmly inspected the area of destruction with his Spirit Sense.
The wolf was still alive but severely injured.
Shang lifted his Saber and slashed forward.
Another fire spear was created above Shang, and it shot forward just like the first one.
BOOOOOOOM!
And the wolf was dead.
A powerful Initial True Path Stage beast died just like that.
This was one of Shang’s new techniques.
Due to the fiery and bright streak the spear left behind as it traveled through the air, Shang decided to call it Shooting Star.
Shooting Star was the epitome of a warrior’s ranged technique, and it perfectly symbolized Shang’s fighting style in the Saber State.
Explosive domination from range.
The corpse vanished, and the applause appeared.
The wheel returned, and Shang waited for his next opponent.
The next one was another bird, and from the looks of it, it didn’t have a lot of defensive powers.
One Shooting Star, and it was dead.
The next opponent was some bug, and its defense looked rather solid.
One Shooting Star wouldn’t be enough.
However, that wasn’t an issue.
One had to remember that Shang’s Saber was also focused on speed.
His attacks weren’t intended to kill an enemy in one hit.
No, they were supposed to be unleashed in a barrage!
The tip of Shang’s Saber traveled forward on the ground, releasing a Shooting Star.
As the first Shooting Star was already on its way to its opponent, Shang’s Saber continued swinging, creating a bright Halfmoon.
As soon as the tip of Shang’s Saber arrived above him, the fiery Halfmoon also shot forward!
At the same time as the Halfmoon shot forward, Shang’s Saber also stopped above him.
Then, he turned it around, and slashed forward again, creating another Shooting Star!
All three attacks had been launched before the first one had even reached its target!
BOOOOM! CRRKKSSHH! BOOOOM!
The Shooting Star exploded on the target, destroying a huge part of its armor.
The Halfmoon didn’t explode when it hit the target but burned itself into the enemy’s body.
The last Shooting Star hit the crevice that the Halfmoon had left behind and exploded inside the target’s body, blowing it into pieces.
The opponent was dead.
Shang put his Saber to the side again, his body having only gotten a bit paler. Its temperature had lowered by just a couple of degrees.
This short barrage was a taste of Shang’s true fighting style while being in the Saber State.
The Halfmoon was called Hidden Sun. Shang called it that due to three reasons.
First, it was a fire attack.
Second, a Halfmoon couldn’t easily be seen while the sun was shining.
Third, Hidden Sun would catch the opponents by surprise since they would be distracted by the first Shooting Star, likely making them miss this second attack.
This was Shang’s standard attack pattern in the Saber State.
Swing upward, Shooting Star, Hidden Sun, swing downward, Shooting Star, Hidden Sun, swing upward, and so on.
This assault was relentless, powerful, and it also alternated the kinds of attacks, strengthening them both.
Shooting Star was better at dealing with armor, while Hidden Sun could deal more penetrating damage to weaker parts.
Shooting Star destroyed the armor, Hidden Sun cut through the exposed body, and another Shooting Star exploded inside the body.
And this pattern could be repeated for up to 20 attacks in a row before Shang had to deal with the temperature of his body…
At least, if he were standing still.
Now, if he kept charging around with his Ice Blast…
Yes, this barrage could be kept up indefinitely.
The tiny swings in temperature could be easily handled.
If a body’s temperature suddenly fell by twenty degrees and then increased by twenty degrees, the body would rupture and break in many places.
However, if it was only a change of one degree, it wouldn’t be a problem.
The Ice Blasts would repay the cost of Shang’s attacks, and the attacks would repay the cost of the Ice Blasts.
In his Saber State, Shang had managed to create a perfect equilibrium with his temperature without needing to injure himself or needing to take a break.
Shang could release infinite Ice Blasts and infinite Shooting Stars and Hidden Suns.
His speed was ridiculous.
His offensive power was ridiculous.
His sustain was ridiculous.
And this was only one of his four weapons!