Ch. 541..550

Chapter 541 541 – Creating A Mana Pathway

And then, it started.

The long process of completely reforming his network of Mana pathways.

For now, Shang decided to keep his old network unchanged. Instead, he would add a second network connecting to the first one.

Like this, he could still use all of his attacks without having to figure out what Mana pathways he would need exactly in the future.

Then, when he understood all of his Mana pathways for all States, he would delete the old network and only use the new one.

But, for now, he would keep both.

Shang started to cast Callen's Spell. It had been several years since he had cast it the last time, and he was a bit out of practice, but it only took a couple of hours to get back into the groove.

After that, Shang started to actually change his Mana pathways.

The first time he did it, he was quite nervous. After all, one mistake could essentially cripple him permanently.

Because of that, he triple and quadruple-checked every Spell he was about to cast.

When he finished the first Spell, Shang felt a burning sensation come from his right middle finger.

At this moment, a new Mana pathway was forming inside his finger, and Shang suddenly felt like his entire body had been thrown into icy water.

Shang's right eye closed halfway.

He took deep breaths.

His shoulders sunk.

For the first time in over 60 years, Shang felt tired.

For the first time in forever, Shang wanted to sleep.

In the next couple of seconds, Shang almost stopped thinking.

SNAP!

Then, he suddenly snapped to attention.

All the heat returned, and the tiredness vanished.

It was like nothing had happened.

Shang looked with interest at his finger, and he saw the new Mana pathway.

'Sure enough, creating a new pathway consumes a tremendous amount of Mana. This small Mana pathway needed so much of my Mana that I felt like I was about to die of hypothermia, even though that clearly wasn't the case.'

Then, Shang took a deep breath as he compared the size of this tiny Mana pathway with the far bigger ones he would need to build.

'I'm essentially playing with the energy reserves of my body. I can't do anything that goes beyond all the Mana inside my body. The Spell is essentially acting just like Darkness Mana poisoning. If all my Mana gets used up while the poisoning hasn't been resolved yet, I will die.'

'This means that I have to create the Mana pathways slowly and in small bursts. I can't create an entire Mana pathway with one Spell. Luckily, I don't need to create a full one with a single Spell. I can simply create 10% of a Mana pathway and then create another 10%.'

'The process in and of itself isn't dangerous. It's only dangerous if I get impatient or make an error during the calculations. As long as I follow the rules and protocol, there won't be a problem.'

'I guess it's a bit like driving. Kind of easy, but one mistake can have devastating consequences.'

Shang sat down and calculated his next change.

After checking everything, again and again, Shang performed the second Spell.

A new Mana pathway appeared in Shang's right middle finger, but it stopped growing at the halfway mark.

In comparison to the first time, Shang felt a bit exhausted but not tired. He felt a bit cool but not freezing.

'That's far easier. Alright, next one.'

Shang created the next Mana pathway.

And the next one.

And the next one.

After a while, Shang's mind returned to its state of routine, but compared to before, Shang was still extra careful.

Whenever he noticed that he wasn't checking everything in detail, his right eye widened, and he forced himself to check everything again.

He couldn't allow himself to become complacent in routine.

This was different from training.

In training, Shang essentially couldn't accidentally take a step back. He would always step forward, even if some steps weren't super great.

But if Shang made a mistake here, he would be blowing his own brains out.

A lot of time passed.

Shang still had no idea how long he had been gone from the Storm Kingdom, but he knew it had been a really long time.

And on this day, Shang reached his first checkpoint.

Shang took a deep breath and inspected all his pathways.

At this moment, there were innumerable disconnected pipes going throughout his body.

If one looked at a tree and took away the trunk and the branches connecting directly to the trunk, one could see what Shang's body looked like right now.

It was essentially a mess of small tubes leading nowhere at the edges of his body.

'The Great Sword State specific Mana pathways are finished.'

Then, Shang focused on the remainder of his body.

'Now, I need to create the entire base framework that I need for every State.'

'This will take a looooong time.'

The Mana pathways Shang had placed were insanely numerous.

Shang guessed that he was probably at over a million, and Shang needed several minutes for only a single one.

But the base framework was even crazier.

Shang wouldn't need to create that many Mana pathways, but they would need to be insanely stable and big, which would require even more Mana.

Shang knew that he would be playing with his life if he decided to create more than 10% of a medium Mana pathway with one Spell.

And the big ones would take even longer.

'Well, at least I only have to do it once,' Shang thought. 'I will have to do the individual pathways for all four States, but I need to create the base framework only once.'

'Might as well create it now.'

Shang had already been isolated for a very long time, and now, he was about to create the entire base framework for his Mana pathways, which would take a great number of years.

Yet, it didn't matter.

Shang had known from the very beginning that forging a new Path was extremely difficult.

If the warrior Path were more powerful, Shang could probably simply ask someone to create a plan of Mana pathways for him and let it be completed by someone else in just a couple of years.

What needed decades of Shang's dedicated training and planning now would only take maybe a bit more than a year for warriors in the future.

While perfecting one's techniques was the most time-consuming process for all the warriors, this was actually the least time-consuming part for Shang.

Planning and recreating the Mana pathways took much longer than perfecting his techniques.

But Shang was willing to do it.

 

 

Chapter 542 542 – Impose

"Finally done!" Shang said out loud as he fell onto his back.

'That took sooo loooong!' he thought as his mind relaxed for the first time in a very long while.

However, Shang also just couldn't stop looking at his finished work.

An intricate but very logical network of interconnected Mana pathways was now inside his body.

In comparison to the chaotic growth of natural Mana pathways, the new ones were very straight and very orderly.

Comparing the natural Mana pathways with the new ones would be like comparing the root network of a tree with a plumbing network.

One was obviously much easier to understand and orderly than the other.

Additionally, the new Mana pathway network was designed to make easy changes in the future. Shang could simply remove one and add one without needing to amend any other Mana pathways.

Of course, the old network of Mana pathways was still inside Shang's body, and he was still using it for anything that wasn't his Great Sword State.

Sadly, needing to keep both networks active at all times had weakened Shang's reserves considerably.

Just like he had predicted, Shang now only had about 50% of his earlier power.

But that didn't mean that he was weaker from a Battle-Strength perspective.

While his entire body moved slower and hit lighter, Shang's ability to accelerate and adapt to any kind of movement was insane.

Some of Shang's movements had become so bizarre that one would even think that some fundamental laws of physics just didn't apply to him.

For example, Shang could swing with all his power to his right, but in the middle of the swing, his sword suddenly moved in the opposite direction at the same speed.

It was like inertia straight up didn't exist.

The way this worked was actually the sudden explosion of Mana.

If one imagined Shang swinging at an explosive, one wouldn't be surprised when Shang's sword suddenly shot in the opposite direction after detonating the explosive.

But if one imagined the same movement without the explosive, it would seem very unnatural.

That was because the explosive force was inside Shang's arm and invisible to the eye.

Even more, since Shang's muscles didn't need to sacrifice their own power in order to achieve the density of Mana necessary to perform a powerful attack, Shang's acceleration was also insanely fast.

While the top speed of Shang's attacks was slower than before, his attacks reached their top speed multiple times faster than before.

As an example, a space rocket was faster than a bullet. If the rocket had to accelerate from zero, it would take a couple of seconds to travel a kilometer.

A bullet wouldn't need that long.

But if the race went on for a thousand kilometers, and even if the bullet could travel that far, the bullet would lose the race with a tremendous gap.

The space rocket was Shang's old framework, while the bullet was his new one.

It wasn't weaker or better.

It was just different.

But the important part was that this different aspect would only be like this for a limited time frame.

Eventually, when Shang reached the Fifth Realm, he would get rid of all the disadvantages of both frameworks and keep the advantages of both.

But until then, Shang would need to fight with his current framework.

After a while of admiring his new Mana pathway framework, Shang stood up and concentrated on the final step.

'Now, I need to comprehend the very thing I stopped myself from comprehending earlier.'

Shang grabbed Sword and performed a couple of practice swings.

As he used his new Mana pathways, he felt the swings become as easy as never before.

There were no awkward movements.

It was like his body had specifically been created to perform these movements.

It was like he was born to attack like this.

Swinging his sword had never felt so good before.

It was almost magical.

It was almost like his sword was part of his body.

Shang had expected to be out of practice after not fighting for so long, but he had been completely mistaken.

In fact, it would be hard for Shang not to perform his attacks perfectly.

While he had to actively concentrate on performing his attacks perfectly before, the attacks now launched perfectly on their own.

Shang only had to swing his sword in the most comfortable way, and that way was always the perfect way.

It was like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle clicking together.

It was like a square going in a square hole.

It was like a bottle cap going onto a bottle.

It just fit perfectly.

The attacks and Shang's body were made for each other.

For the first time in a long while, the feeling of perfection returned to Shang.

Shang had felt that feeling when he had completed his True Path many years ago, and now he was feeling the same feeling again.

It was just perfect.

'It's so easy,' Shang thought as his sword moved almost on its own.

In fact, since Shang's body was now weaker, his already heavy Great Sword should actually be even harder to swing.

However, it simply wasn't.

In fact, it was very easy to swing.

Even more, Shang's body actually wasn't as slow as he had predicted.

Actually, was it even faster?

But that shouldn't be possible, right?

His body was supposed to be weaker, and it definitely was weaker.

So, how could his attack be even faster?

As Shang continued swinging his sword in a trance of wonder, the world around him seemed to transform.

Shang slowly began to feel a certain aura appear in his surroundings.

It felt like… himself?

Yeah, it did.

As Shang swung his sword again, he felt his surroundings move with it.

After a couple more swings, Shang's right eye widened.

'I get it!'

Then, Shang stopped.

For a while, Shang closed his right eye and gathered his thoughts.

He had comprehended it.

He finally had comprehended the very thing a normal warrior would need to reach the Fifth Realm.

And with that comprehension also came the knowledge as to why his attacks were so fast.

If one considered comprehending a True Path as a level one Concept, comprehending this thing that warriors needed to reach the Fifth Realm would be considered a level two Concept.

A Peak High Mage that knew a level two Concept was far more powerful than a Peak High Mage that only knew a level one Concept.

And the same thing was true in Shang's case.

'Perfecting my techniques represents perfecting its existence,' Shang thought.

Shang's left hand let go of his Great Sword, which was unusual.

Shang always used two hands in his Great Sword State.

Shang's right eye closed, and he swung forward.

Swinging such a huge sword with only one arm would be awkward and cumbersome for Shang.

However, the world helped push Shang's sword forward.

In the end, Shang completed a smooth strike with only one hand.

'My perfect control over the attack allows me to borrow the power of the Mana in my surroundings.'

'It's like an additional hand pushing on my sword from behind.'

'It can't swing the sword on its own, but it can definitely make it stronger.'

Then, Shang smiled.

'This is it, huh?'

'This is the power of the normal Fifth Realm.'

'Not bad.'

'I don't know if other warriors have already comprehended this thing in my absence, but I think I should still give it a name. Even if it already has one.'

'In a way, I am imposing my will on my surroundings, making my surroundings do my bidding.'

'So, I think I'll call it Impose.'

 

 

Chapter 543 543 – Leaving The Caves

Shang tried Impose a couple more times and grew even more familiar with it.

Impose increased his power by quite a lot, and it even allowed Shang to swing his Great Sword with only a single arm.

It was almost like he was swinging his Great Sword like his Long Sword.

When Shang had that thought, he suddenly stopped.

'I can swing my Great Sword like my Long Sword?' Shang thought as he scratched his chin.

'I mean, it definitely moves faster than before. In a way, my Great Sword can now move nearly as fast as my Long Sword, which is beyond impressive.'

'However, it doesn't really feel like a Great Sword anymore. If I need speed, I will just use a different State.'

'I wonder, is there a way to use Impose in a different way?' Shang thought as he looked at his Great Sword.

Shang closed his right eye and focused on the surroundings.

After practicing for a while, Shang could feel how his mind moved the world around him.

While he was swinging his sword, he simply wanted the swing to have more power, which was why the world was essentially pushing the Great Sword forward.

Shang tested a couple of things and found out that he could also make the world gather on his Great Sword.

It was a bit of a weird feeling. It was like all the Mana in the surroundings gathered around the Great Sword, fusing with it.

When Shang tried to swing his Great Sword again, he could barely move it.

It was like it had become many times heavier.

'Sure enough, that feels more like a Great Sword. However, it shouldn't be that heavy.'

Then, Shang willed some of the world's Mana to leave his sword.

After leaving Sword, the Mana in the world could now be used to boost the power of Shang's swing again.

'I can use both at a time, but I only have a finite amount of Mana in the surroundings. It's up to me how I use it.'

Shang tried a couple more swings with different uses of Impose, and he finally came to a result he was happy with.

'fifty-fifty,' Shang thought. 'I use half of the Mana to increase the weight of my Great Sword and use half to push it forward.'

'My attack will move slower than it would move with my old Mana pathway framework, but it is still quite fast. However, the power of my attacks is probably double as strong as with my own framework if I use Impose like that.'

'I exchange a bit of speed for a tremendous increase in power. Seems fitting for my Great Sword State.'

After swinging a couple more times, Shang was finally done with training his Great Sword State.

A second later, Sword started burning with black fire, and Shang swung it to the side.

Sword turned into a Saber.

After that, Shang tried out Impose while using his Saber.

The result was mixed.

'It kind of works a bit,' Shang thought with a frown. 'It only has about 30% of its usual power. Maybe a bit more. It definitely increases my power by a bit, but it isn't nearly comparable to my Great Sword State.'

'I think I can push the speed of my Saber to the same level it was with my old Mana pathway framework, but the power will be a bit weaker.'

'However, that's already better than I expected it to be initially. I still have the sudden acceleration and agile movements of my new framework. So, all in all, my Battle-Strength increased, even if I'm not in my Great Sword State.'

'But now the question is…'

'If Impose can exhibit some power in my other States, what will happen to my Great Sword State when I learn Impose for my Saber State?'

'Does the power increase from 100% to 100% plus 30%?'

'Does it stay at 100%?'

'There might be some tremendous hidden potential in perfecting several Paths.'

Then, Shang furrowed his brows.

'Actually, I remember Relon saying that one needed to comprehend two Concepts before reaching the High Mage Realm in order to be eligible for the position of Assistant Supervisor.'

'This means that comprehending several Concepts before a breakthrough can probably increase someone's power on a fundamental level. Otherwise, people could just comprehend them after the breakthrough. I mean, they probably still can, but it might be lacking some effect that can only appear when you comprehend it earlier.'

Then, Shang realized something.

'Like my huge Spirit Sense!'

'Yes, if I comprehend another Path now, my Spirit Sense probably won't grow, but if I had another one before my breakthrough, it would probably be even bigger.'

'Now, I'm fairly certain. The power of my Impose will increase the more different Imposes I know.'

At that moment, Shang had to grin.

'Sure enough, the Path I have chosen leads to true power.'

After thinking about his future for a bit longer, Shang decided that it was time to continue.

For the first time in a very long time, Shang left the Caves.

He blasted into the air and shot towards the south.

While Shang was blasting towards the south high up in the air, he noticed something.

'Has Warrior's Paradise always been this big?'

Shang inspected the city for a couple of seconds.

'Sure enough, it grew. Huh…'

Warrior's Paradise had grown from being two kilometers wide to being nearly four kilometers wide.

The warrior academy had also grown a lot.

At the same time, Shang could see hundreds of Commander Stage warriors in Warrior's Paradise.

That was a lot!

'Guess I've been gone for a while.'

However, Shang didn't stop.

He blasted past the Canyon and reached the Crater, but while blasting past the Crater, Shang had to raise an eyebrow.

'A team of three True Path Stage warriors? I guess the war is no longer as perilous as back then. Additionally, there's even a Spiriter in the group. Seems like the fusion with the Spirit Spring Kingdom worked out.'

Since Shang was blasting through the air at a great altitude, the people at the bottom didn't see him with their Spirit Senses.

Eventually, Shang stopped above the latter half of the Crater.

Then, Shang closed his eye and activated his Domain of Entropy.

It was time to reach the Early True Path Stage.

After a bit of concentrating, Shang pulled a True Path Stage Abomination into the world.

Surprisingly, Shang noticed that no Soldier Stage Abominations came with it.

Sure, there were still 20 Commander Stage Abominations and 400 General Stage Abominations, but there were no Soldier Stage Abominations.

Shang had to release a sigh of relief when he noticed that.

400 General Stage Abominations were still okay, but 8,000 Soldier Stage Abominations would have been ridiculous.

All the Abominations appeared in the air near Shang, and Shang immediately consumed the True Path Stage Abomination that had appeared beside him.

Meanwhile, the remaining Abominations were falling toward the ground.

The group below Shang didn't even know that a rain of Abomination would soon arrive at their place.

However, Shang wasn't worried.

He only looked towards the south.

An instant after the Abominations appeared, a dark shadow in the distance moved.

And then….

WHOOOOOOOOOOOM!

A gigantic storm of Wind Mana swept toward the north!

All the Abominations were consumed by the Mana, and Shang was flung toward the north with incredible speed.

The group on the ground was also thrown toward the north.

The huge storm even threw nearly all the beasts and warriors in the Canyon around.

Some of the Eternal Spires even collapsed.

After flying for a couple of kilometers, Shang righted himself again in the air with a couple of Blasts.

In the past, Shang would have been terrified of the possibility that a Zone Beast might try to kill him, but not anymore.

With Humanity, Shang felt like a normal human to the beasts.

The Storm Eagle had killed the Abominations, and it didn't even look at Shang while doing so.

In its mind, it had killed all the Abominations.

Shang had nothing to worry about.

'But, sure enough, the Storm Eagle still feels incredibly powerful,' Shang thought as he looked towards the south.

The Storm Eagle had thrown Shang into the distance with a mere flap of its wings from tens of kilometers away.

'It's kind of weird to think that Relon is probably even stronger than the Storm Eagle.'

'Anyway, I should reach the Early True Path Stage now with the Abomination I just consumed.'

 

 

Chapter 544 544 – Returning To Civilization

Shang arrived back in the Caves and concentrated on his body.

All the warriors had increased their level by just focusing on their bodies, but Shang was about to do more.

His body was now ready to reach the next level, but Shang also focused on Impose.

Usually, Shang wouldn't need more than a couple of minutes to reach the next level after absorbing an Abomination, but this time, Shang took several hours.

He was trying his best to connect Impose with his body during the small breakthrough.

However, that wasn't easy.

Impose was like a level two Concept, something that was necessary to reach the next Realm, not just the next level.

Right now, Shang was trying to create a major breakthrough when he was only undergoing a minor breakthrough, which was impossible.

The world decided what kind of breakthrough someone went through.

Shang definitely didn't have the power nor the Mana to undergo another major breakthrough, which only left a minor breakthrough.

However, a minor breakthrough was just that.

Minor.

Minor breakthroughs didn't change the body in a fundamental way. They were only checkpoints on someone's way to the next major breakthrough.

But Shang just kept on trying.

There had to be a way to make this work.

After a day of trying to make this work, Shang managed to change his minor breakthrough by a little bit.

It wasn't much, but Shang managed to summon a small storm of Mana that got absorbed into his body.

That small storm of Mana went into Shang's body, but it had no idea what it was supposed to be doing there.

Shang wasn't undergoing a major breakthrough, and the world only had ways to help people with their major breakthroughs.

After pestering the world for so long, the world gave him some Mana.

And now what?

As soon as Shang felt the small storm of Mana, he shoved all of it into his Mana pathways and cast a Spell.

In just a moment, all the Mana started to increase the density of the walls of his Mana pathways.

Shang's Mana pathways were becoming harder.

What purpose did that have?

Shang wasn't sure.

Sure, his Mana pathways were more robust now, but that wasn't really useful. His Mana pathways had already been strong enough to withstand everything Shang could throw at them.

There wasn't really a difference.

'But even if there is no difference now, that doesn't mean that there won't be a difference in the future,' Shang thought as a small glimmer appeared in his right eye.

'This increased density of my Mana pathways might not make a difference right now, but if I ever have more Mana than my Mana pathways can handle, this will pay off in a big way.'

By now, Shang had reached the Early True Path Stage.

'My body is only about 40% as powerful as the body of a beast, and the maximum I can push it to is 50% right now, but I already knew that would happen.'

'It actually doesn't really matter. Even with a weaker body relative to beasts on my level, my Battle-Strength is still stronger than with my old Mana pathway framework.'

Shang stood up and focused on his body.

'Need to wait about three days before I can absorb another Abomination. Seems like the digestion of the Abominations doesn't take as long anymore. Assuming I absorb one Abomination every five days, I might only need a year to absorb enough to reach the peak of my current level.'

'I think I should focus on reaching the peak of my current level first. Interrupting my training every three to five days would be too annoying.'

Then, Shang looked towards the north, even though he was still inside the Caves.

'I wonder what changed in the world.'

'I wonder how much time has passed.'

Shang took out his Communication Crystal and looked at it.

No one had called him during his training.

'I think I should visit Jerald.'

Then, Shang left the Caves and flew into the sky.

Funnily enough, Shang's speed was quite impressive right now.

Since Shang had way less Mana saved up in his muscles, his body was weaker, but that also meant that his body was lighter.

Yet, he still had the same quantity of Mana inside his body when everything was put together.

This meant that Shang's Blasts hadn't been weakened while his body had become lighter.

That made him quite fast while only using Blasts to move around.

In the beginning, Shang hadn't expected that changing his Mana pathway framework would change so many different things.

Shang flew through the air with impressive speed.

While flying, Shang looked at the Storm Kingdom below him.

So much had changed.

There were new cities, new towns, and new villages.

There were even a lot of Spiriters and brand new wildernesses.

Shang could even see completely new beasts.

And then, Shang saw something interesting.

He saw a couple of warriors, and one of them was even at the Late True Path Stage.

'A Late True Path Stage warrior that isn't even near the frontlines? Seems like things have calmed down a lot.'

Then, Shang noticed something else.

'I think that's the emblem of a Duke, right?' Shang thought as he saw an emblem on the warrior's chest.

'Seems like I'm not the only warrior Duke anymore. That would also explain why someone of his power isn't at the frontlines.'

Eventually, Shang arrived at the Skythunder Zone.

'Wait, is it still called the Skythunder Zone? I mean, Jerald should be the King right now, right? Is it still called the Skythunder Kingdom?'

As Shang was arriving near the Skythunder Zone, he saw a couple of True Path Stage warriors, High Mages, and really powerful Spiriters standing at the borders of the Zone.

'What are Spiriters in the Fourth Realm called? High Spiriters?'

BANG!

Suddenly, Shang hit something like a wall.

Some blood appeared in Shang's mouth, but all the injuries healed in an instant.

Shang could barely comprehend the current situation, not because of the pain but because of the shock and surprise.

Where did a wall suddenly come from?

Even more, what was a wall doing 10 kilometers in the air?!

After that, Shang saw the people at the border of the Skythunder Zone look up with hostile gazes.

"Identify yourself!" the leader shouted with an aggressive voice. His Spirit Sense couldn't reach Shang, but the leader could see Shang with his eyes.

Shang rubbed his face as he looked at the area in front of him.

There was nothing.

Then, Shang extended his hand.

WHOOOM!

A barrier appeared in front of Shang.

'Hmph, guess that makes sense. Having so many warriors pass over your castle is probably annoying. Even for Jerald.'

Then, Shang looked at the people at the border, who were about to jump on their weapons and fly up to him.

"I'm coming down," Shang transmitted to them. "I didn't know that there was a barrier here."

However, the group didn't calm down.

"I said identify yourself!" the leader shouted.

Shang only furrowed his brows as he fell to the ground.

"My name is Duke Sword," Shang transmitted as he landed about a kilometer away from them. "I wanted to visit Jerald."

The leader furrowed his brows as he glared at Shang.

"What business do you have with father?"

 

Chapter 545 545 – So Much Time

Shang wanted to answer, but before he could, he blinked a couple of times in confusion.

Then, he looked at the man he was talking to more closely.

He looked to be in his early twenties, and he was an Initial High Mage. He had light blue hair, and he looked quite muscular for a Mage.

After Shang looked at him for a bit, he could tell that the man really looked quite similar to Jerald.

"You're Jerald's son?" Shang asked, almost unable to believe it.

"Yes, I am Prince George. I'm asking again, why do you wish to talk to my father?" Prince George answered.

"Prince George?" Shang repeated with surprise.

It was more than obvious whom Jerald named his son after.

"There's not a Prince Shang, is there?" Shang asked.

"Stop with these irrelevant questions!" Prince George shouted with authority. "You have been found flying above a no-flying Zone. That I am not already asking for your arrest is already a kindness on my part. I don't want to retract that kindness."

Under normal circumstances, Shang might shoot back with a passive-aggressive comment, but he was still perplexed that he was talking with Jerald's son.

"Well, I wanted this to be a surprise," Shang said as he took out a Communication Crystal. "But seems like I have to contact him the boring way."

Then, Shang contacted Jerald.

Jerald didn't accept the request from his Communication Crystal for quite a while.

Jerald had been talking with Sylvia while resting inside the castle.

That was until his Communication Crystal rang.

Jerald took it out with practiced ease and felt the aura from the person that wanted to contact him.

Then, his brows furrowed.

He didn't recognize that aura.

But it felt familiar.

He had felt that aura before.

But where?

Even after two seconds, Jerald still couldn't tell whom that aura belonged to, and he decided to pick up.

"Yes?"

"Hey, Jerald?"

And then, Jerald's eyes widened.

He recognized that voice in an instant!

Distant memories flooded his mind as the civil war from long ago reappeared inside his mind.

Then, Jerald's expression transformed to concern and a bit of worry.

At the side, Sylvia realized that something wasn't quite right with Jerald. His aura had suddenly changed.

"What's going on, honey?" Sylvia asked.

Jerald didn't immediately answer.

"Hello?" Shang repeated after Jerald didn't answer.

"Yes, Shang?" Jerald answered awkwardly.

"Yeah, hi, George the Second isn't letting me into the Skythunder Zone," Shang said.

"The Skythunder Zone?" Jerald repeated in confusion. "Oh, the Storm Zone! Right, give me a second."

Then, the connection was cut, and Shang only looked at his Communication Crystal with furrowed brows.

"Alright, that's enough!" Prince George shouted. This person had ignored him all this time after he was kind enough not to arrest him.

"Your Communication Crystal will ring soon," Shang only answered.

Prince George gritted his teeth.

And then, his Communication Crystal rang.

Prince George was quite surprised that Shang's prediction had come true, and when he felt the aura coming from his Communication Crystal, his eyes widened.

"Father?" Prince George asked.

Shang watched as Prince George remained silent for several seconds, probably listening to Jerald.

After Prince George put away his Communication Crystal, he looked at Shang with a complex expression.

"You're Advisor Sword?" he asked in shock.

"Last I remember, I was Duke Sword," Shang answered. "I guess my title changed during my absence."

Prince George looked at Shang with a complex expression for several seconds.

"You know, father and mother told us a lot about you," Prince George said.

"Us?" Shang asked. "I guess Jerald has more than one child right now. Who's your mother? Is it Sylvia?"

"Our mother is Sylvia Eternalfrost, yes," Prince George said.

Shang looked towards the Storm Zone for a bit. "Huh, she actually did it," he said.

"Advisor Sword, I-"

"Call me Shang," Shang interrupted. "I don't like titles."

"Okay, Shang," Prince George said. "I just wanted to say that I am really thankful for your contributions in the civil war back then. Without you, I probably wouldn't exist."

"Wait, this is Advisor Sword?" one of the other people said from beside Prince George.

They had only come to the realization now. After all, Shang was basically a legend.

"Yes, this is Advisor Sword," Prince George said with a nod. "Father just confirmed it."

The others almost couldn't believe it.

Shang wasn't sure how he should answer these impressed gazes.

"Nothing to thank for," Shang told Prince George. "I fought the Mages also for my own freedom. Additionally, Jerald is the closest and probably only friend I have. It's only natural for me to help out."

For some reason, when Prince George heard that, his expression became even more complex.

"I'll deactivate the Magic Barrier," Prince George said as he turned to the barrier. "Please, give me a second."

While Prince George was opening the Magic Barrier, Shang only looked at him.

"How long have I been training in isolation?"

Prince George looked at Shang, still with this weirdly complex expression on his face.

It was like there was something that worried him.

"When did you go into isolation?" Prince George asked.

"About three months after the civil war ended."

Prince George stopped for a second and turned to Shang.

"You've been in isolation for that long?" he asked in shock.

Shang nodded. "I've been fully focused on my training."

This was difficult for Prince George to grasp.

How could someone train for that long?

"I was born about eight years after the civil war ended," Prince George said.

"And I've just turned 67 this year."

Shang's right eye widened.

"75 years?" Shang asked.

Prince George nodded.

"I've been in isolation for 75 years?"

Shang only looked forward for a while with a complex expression.

"That means I'm 160 years old or so."

"Recreating my Mana pathway framework took that long?" Shang spoke to himself.

Shang had expected that he would have been in isolation for 30, maximum 40 years.

He would have never expected to have been in isolation for 75 years.

No wonder so many things had changed.

When Shang had left, Jerald's shift had just started.

And now, it was nearly over.

So much time…

Gone.

 

 

Chapter 546 546 – The Secret

Prince George deactivated the barrier, and Shang entered.

Shang had taken note of Prince George's demeanor, and he had noticed that it didn't seem to fit the context.

Prince George had said that he looked up to Shang, but he had this worried and concerned expression on his face.

It was almost like he feared Shang.

Shang double-checked if Humanity was still active, and it was. So, it couldn't have been that.

But then why would an Initial High Mage, and Jerald's son on top of that, be apprehensive in front of Shang?

'Something isn't right,' Shang thought with furrowed brows.

Nevertheless, Shang continued walking towards Jerald's castle. Agon hadn't taken his castle with him, which meant that Agon's old castle was now Jerald's.

But it didn't look like back then anymore.

Jerald had essentially buried the husk of the exoskeleton beneath ore and stone, creating the image of a more traditional castle.

Shang saw a couple of True Mages walking through the castle. Based on what he was seeing, Shang guessed that these True Mages were something like clerks that organized all the information of the Kingdom.

Shang stepped into the castle and walked towards the throne room. He had already found Jerald with his Spirit Sense.

He had changed.

Jerald wore a long green beard, and he wore an old crown on his head. In a way, he looked exactly like one would expect a King to look.

Regal, majestic, powerful, wise, old.

Shang had difficulty accepting Jerald's new look and aura for a while.

It was so different.

In the past, Jerald had a kind but stalwart aura. He had the aura of a true leader that could unite the people behind a common cause.

In a way, Jerald's aura still felt like that, but there was one stark difference.

Passion.

Jerald, from the past, had this burning passion behind him that motivated everyone around him to fight for his cause. People wanted to follow him because they believed that he could lead everyone into a brighter tomorrow.

Now, there was no more passion in Jerald's aura.

It was like Jerald had accepted his place in life and stopped advancing.

He was content.

He was okay with where he was.

He didn't need to suffer anymore or change things.

He was fine with the life he was living right now.

When Shang felt Jerald's aura, he felt pain.

Shang had believed that Jerald would keep advancing. After all, Jerald had a great drive and amazing talent.

Yet, that wasn't the case.

One thought shot through Shang's mind.

'Will I leave Jerald behind just like Astor has been left behind?'

All the changes were still difficult for Shang to grasp.

Shang had been doing nothing but train for the past 75 years.

This wasn't anything special to him, and since his mind was always fully focused on improving himself, Shang also didn't feel the passage of time as strongly.

Yes, he knew that he had been training for a long time based on estimates, but it didn't feel that long.

In terms of feeling, Shang felt like only three to five years had passed.

It was like Shang had gone on a vacation, but when he returned, everyone had suddenly changed, and the world was different.

It was like the world had moved on without him.

Yet, while Shang felt like no time had passed, everyone else felt like an eternity had passed.

Jerald had taken control of the Kingdom.

Jerald had successfully combined the Spirit Spring Kingdom and Storm Kingdom.

Jerald had found love again.

Jerald had gotten another child.

Jerald had fought a long and difficult war against the Magic Purity Kingdom.

Jerald's children had fully grown up, and one of them had even reached the High Mage Realm.

It was actually possible that Jerald was already a grandfather or even a great-grandfather.

Jerald had gone through the entire life of a normal human, and every human could attest to how long one's life felt.

And Shang hadn't been present for any of this.

Shang had also felt Sylvia's aura for a brief moment, but she quickly left his Spirit Sense's range.

But for the brief moment Shang felt Sylvia, he could scarcely believe what he was feeling.

Nervousness, shock, fear, uncertainty.

This was how Sylvia had felt to Shang.

Together with Prince George's reaction, Shang was certain now that something was up.

And he was sure that Jerald was the reason.

Shang's eye narrowed as he stepped past the throne room and into Jerald's personal living room.

As he entered the room, Shang's and Jerald's eyes met.

Shang could see worry, nervousness, resentment, and helplessness in Jerald's eyes.

And Jerald only saw cold apathy in Shang's eye.

When Jerald saw what he thought was cold apathy in Shang's eye, he got the confirmation he needed.

He had made the right choice.

Jerald's aura stabilized on refusal regarding Shang but acceptance of his current situation.

When Shang saw the hostile look in Jerald's eyes, he felt like a dagger had been plunged into his chest.

The pain immediately woke Shang's anger and fighting instinct, and he glared coldly into Jerald's eyes.

For a while, none of them spoke.

"What is going on?" Shang asked coldly.

"Isn't this what you wanted?" Jerald asked coldly.

"Stop being ambiguous," Shang said with a deep voice. "You know I hate that."

"Do I?" Jerald asked with a cold voice as he looked away from Shang. "How can you expect me to know you when you never showed me who you really are?"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Shang suddenly shouted in fury. "I have no fucking idea what's going on! I've been training, and as soon as I come out to visit you, you act like I want to kill you!"

"Because that's what you will do!" Jerald shouted in anger as he shot up from his chair.

Shang's brows furrowed with incredulity and anger. "What?"

"Agon told me," Jerald said.

Shang only looked at Jerald.

"Agon told me about the Child of Calamity."

"He told me how you can control the Abominations and how your power also increases the Abominations' power."

"And I know why you never told me, Shang," Jerald said.

Shang didn't answer.

"Knowing this secret of yours is like me holding a knife to your throat," Jerald slowly said.

"If I just inform Relon, you will be dead within minutes."

"And that's why you never told me."

Shang didn't answer.

Jerald only looked at Shang.

"Your power is the most important thing in the world, and you can't allow anyone to threaten it."

"Because, if someone were to pose a danger to your life…"

"You would kill them."

"That's why you never told me."

"You didn't want to kill me."

Silence.

"Well, now I know, and I've come to terms with my fate."

"I haven't told anyone about this. So, I would like you to leave my family out of this."

"Take it as a repayment for all the help you have given me in the past."

Silence.

 

 

Chapter 547 547 – Actions And Intentions

Right now, Shang wasn't sure what he should think or feel.

He wanted to say that he was hurt and that he was shocked that Jerald would think that Shang would kill him.

Yet, Jerald's concerns were actually correct.

Why hadn't Shang told him?

Because Shang was afraid.

Not afraid of what Jerald would think of him, but afraid of Jerald killing him.

Shang wanted to tell Jerald, but he wanted to become powerful enough to resist Jerald first.

"I never wanted you to find out," Shang said slowly.

"Well, now I know," Jerald answered with furrowed brows.

After a while, Shang looked to the side. "You are the only friend I have left in this world, and I didn't want everything to break down between us."

"You are willing to do some bad things for your own power, Jerald, but you still have morals, and you care about the greater picture," Shang said. "I was afraid that if you knew about the reality of my Affinity, you would tell the world. I was afraid that you would sacrifice me for the world."

"Is that such a bad trade?" Jerald asked with a deadpan voice.

"Of course it's not a bad trade," Shang said. "Nearly everyone would choose to make that trade. Why would you want to doom millions, if not billions of people, to die early just so a friend of yours can continue on the path to power?"

"And that's why I couldn't tell you. You would do what's right, but what's right is not what I want," Shang said.

Jerald snorted. "Power? For power, you are willing to sacrifice the entire world," he said with some disdain. "You don't even need to die. You could just sit back, create a family, and live your life out in peace."

"You can do anything you want. The only thing you can't do is to become more powerful."

"Yet, even with an entire world at stake, you are not even willing to make such a small sacrifice," Jerald said.

"You're cold and selfish, Shang. You only think about yourself, and you will destroy absolutely anything that stands between you and your goal."

"When we crossed eyes earlier, I was still uncertain about the image I had of you."

"But instead of confusion, concern, and worry, I only saw hostility and hatred in your eye. You looked at me like you would look at an enemy."

When Shang heard that, he felt a stinging pain coming from his chest.

For a while, Shang didn't answer.

"How can I not be cold and selfish with this Affinity?" Shang asked. "Working towards my goal means endangering everything I care about."

"The Abominations kill people, and I can't control every single Abomination that appears in this world. As I become stronger, everyone I care about will be under more and more risk unless they stand beside me all the time."

"And if they actually stand beside me, I need to fear for my own life. The more people spend time with me, the more likely they are to find out the truth about me."

"Shang, don't talk like you didn't have a choice!" Jerald shouted. "Your choice was not the world or your goal. Your choice was actually your life or your power!"

"Power is great and all, but what point is there to power when you are alone?"

"What point is there to power when you feel nothing but grey emptiness all day?"

"What point is there in living for a long time when the long time you have is wasted on so much training that years pass by like seconds?!"

"You are putting the cart before the horse, Shang! We don't live to become powerful. We become powerful to live!"

"One little sacrifice, Shang. Just one little sacrifice of not training anymore would not only save millions, if not billions, of people but also allow you to live a happy and fulfilling life!"

"As long as you don't train, you don't need to be alone!"

"Shang, there is no point to your training except for the reason that you want to!" Jerald shouted.

"And is that so bad?!" Shang shouted back with a narrowed eye. "Everyone else can become powerful, but I'm the only one that's not allowed to?! Do I not have a right to become powerful like everyone else?!"

Jerald took a deep breath. "No, you don't," he said slowly. "Not when it literally risks the continued existence of the world."

"What's even the point of becoming powerful when everything around you will turn into a dead wasteland?"

Shang and Jerald looked at each other for several seconds.

"You want a greater purpose to my training?" Shang asked.

Jerald's eyes narrowed.

SHING!

Suddenly, something appeared in Shang's right hand, and Shang threw it to the ground in front of Jerald.

"There's your purpose," Shang said coldly.

Jerald furrowed his brows as he looked at the long letter Shang had just thrown to the ground.

The letter floated over to Jerald, who then read it.

The first couple of sentences already threw Jerald into wild shock.

Shang had thrown Lucius' letter over to Jerald.

Shang only waited in silence while Jerald read the long letter.

"This was part of the reward from my last trial," Shang said neutrally, looking at the wall with a calm expression.

Jerald didn't answer since he was still reading the letter.

After a couple of seconds, Jerald finished the letter, his expression transforming to concern.

"Is this your goal? You want to become powerful and stop the Abominations once and for all?" Jerald asked.

"Do you remember when we went to Agon regarding the Bloodline Infusion?" Shang suddenly asked, not answering Jerald's question.

Jerald's brows furrowed. "Yes?"

"Back then, I asked you what your philosophy for becoming powerful was. You told me that you invested in young and weak people so that they would one day repay you."

"You told me that, depending on one's viewpoint, your philosophy could both be good and evil. Good because you are helping people, bad because you are doing it with the intention of being repaid."

"Actions and intentions."

"The same thing is true for my case. I want to become powerful because I want to be powerful, not to save the world. However, when I am powerful, I am willing to do everything in my power to stop the Abominations."

"My intention is not to save the world, but my actions will save it."

"Think of it what you will," Shang said evenly.

 

 

Chapter 548 548 – Trust

Nobody said anything for a while.

Jerald put the letter to the side, and Shang summoned it back into his inner world.

"Are you telling the truth?" Jerald asked. "Will you do your best to stop the Abominations?"

Shang nodded. "The reason why Lucius failed is the God. The two of them have battled each other, and the God won."

"I don't plan to lose against the God."

"Lucius didn't know what he was up against, but I do."

Then, Shang looked towards the ceiling. "And maybe that is one of the reasons why the God has sent me here."

"There hasn't been another God in a long while, and the God probably wants someone he can fight with. He certainly didn't try to dissuade me from hating him."

"I don't know the origins of the Abominations, but I'm sure that the God knows of their origins. Yet, he didn't tell anybody, and he didn't do anything to stop them."

"In fact, he even gave me this Affinity, knowing fully well that the Abominations will become more powerful."

"Nevertheless, I want to kill the God and get rid of the Abominations. That's my goal."

Jerald didn't answer for a while.

"What if stopping the Abominations requires sacrificing your life?" Jerald asked.

"I don't know," Shang said after a couple of seconds. "When I have killed the God, I would have already reached the peak of power. By that point, there would be no more way to grow more powerful."

"I don't know what I would do then. Would my life be empty? Would I feel fulfilled?"

"One thing is clear. I am not someone that survives just because I want to survive. If there is nothing but emptiness and aimlessness in my life, I might be okay with sacrificing my life for the world."

"But first, I want to achieve my goals, and I won't entertain any thoughts for after I have reached my goals."

Jerald remained quiet for several seconds as he struggled with himself.

"How can I trust your words?" he asked.

"Jerald," Shang started, "you said that I am cold, selfish, and apathetic."

Jerald didn't answer.

"Then, tell me…"

"Why did I not flee towards the outside world during the civil war?"

"You wanted to kill the Council no matter what. You wanted revenge for Mattheo and George."

"Yet, you know very well that I view my own goals with the highest priority. Staying in the Skythunder Kingdom to fight the Council was an unnecessary risk."

"I could have simply gone towards the south, past the Storm Eagle Zone, jump down the Abyss, and enter the outside world."

"But I didn't."

"Why?" Shang asked.

Jerald looked at Shang.

By now, most of his hostility had vanished, replaced by concern and worry.

"Because of me," Jerald answered after a while.

"Because of you," Shang repeated. "I didn't want to see my only friend in the world die. I didn't want to see you lose your life while I had the power to help."

"I have never gone against you, Jerald. I have always helped you."

"You can never be completely sure of the intentions of other people, but you can see their actions, and my actions have said that I am by your side and that I will help you."

"Does knowing my secret change the impact of these actions?"

"Does it change the fact that I risked my life for you and that you risked your life for me?"

Silence.

Jerald only looked to the ground with a worried expression.

He didn't answer for a long time.

"I wanted to hear your side of the story first," Jerald said quietly.

"Agon told me of the Child of Calamity. For several days, I couldn't think straight. The one friend that had been by my side the longest is the enemy of everything that is alive, which includes me."

"For a long time, I couldn't understand how you can value your own power over the existence of the entire world."

"What is the point of having power when the entire world is dead and empty? You might as well be the weakest human at that point, and it wouldn't even matter."

"Power is a tool, not a goal. It is a tool that we use to achieve goals."

"For the longest time, I couldn't fathom what kind of person you had to be to make this choice."

"I knew that if I simply called Relon, you would be dead within minutes, and I would have saved maybe billions of lives."

"Yet, even though I couldn't come up with an answer as to why you were choosing yourself over the world, I still trusted you."

"Before I did anything, I wanted to hear your side of the story."

"I wanted to hear your justification before doing anything."

"But I was afraid of the answer."

"I couldn't think of a good justification, and I was afraid of hearing a bad one."

"If that happened, I would need to kill you."

Jerald looked at the ground with eyes filled with regret and guilt.

"And I didn't want to do that."

"So, I simply waited."

"As soon as you came out of training, I would confront you."

"But you just kept training."

"Yet, I didn't want to contact you. For, if I contacted you, I would need to make this horrible choice."

"Years passed, and eventually, I even blocked out your existence."

"I hoped that you would never return."

"I continued on with life."

"I remarried."

"I had children."

"I led a Kingdom."

"The dark days of dreading another encounter with you passed, and I was happy with life."

"And then, my Communication Crystal activated today."

"My nightmares have become a reality."

"The day I dreaded ultimately arrived, and I couldn't run from it anymore."

"The day where I would kill you arrived."

Shang didn't react.

Jerald sighed.

CRACK!

Then, a previously invisible Mana Shield around Jerald appeared, and it broke into pieces.

"I was never intending to die to you today."

"I made myself appear weak to see your genuine reaction."

Then Jerald looked into Shang's eye, a relieved smile on his face.

"But my trust in you was not misplaced."

"You actually have a justification I can accept."

"I'm sorry for doubting you, Shang," Jerald said after releasing another sigh.

They both looked into each other's eyes.

"The horrible choice never became reality for you, Jerald," Shang said.

For some reason, when Jerald heard Shang's voice, he felt dread.

Shang's voice sounded like a terrified man trying desperately to sound calm.

"But the choice I was terrified of has only arrived," Shang said.

"Jerald, I have never gone against you."

"I never tried to hurt you."

"I never wanted to hurt you."

Shang took a deep breath.

"But, today, you were planning on killing me."

Jerald's pulse sped up.

"You asked how you could trust anything that I say," Shang said. "I told you that you can trust my actions."

"Yet, how can I trust you when your actions and intentions were to kill me today?" Shang said.

"Shang!" Jerald shouted. "I was trying to get to the bottom of this! I wanted to hear your side of the story first!"

"You were uncertain," Shang said. "For the longest time, you were uncertain about your actions. Every moment, there was a danger that you would go through with either decision."

"You didn't know what you wanted, Jerald," Shang said as his voice shook a bit. "You were too weak to be decisive."

"How can I be sure that you will not go back on your words in the future?"

"When I become so powerful that every Abomination that appears is more powerful than you, and you live in perpetual fear for your own life and your family's lives, how can I be sure that your decision won't suddenly swing to the other side?"

The two of them only looked at each other.

Jerald looked worried, concerned, and a bit panicked.

Shang looked cold but hurt.

"I can't trust you, Jerald," Shang said.

A tear.

A tear ran down Shang's right cheek.

Jerald's mind froze.

"I can't trust you," Shang repeated in a quietly shaking voice.

Black fire appeared where Shang's right eye had been just seconds ago.

 

Chapter 549 - Dark Path

A harsh wind blew.

On top of a hill was a broken castle.

Mere moments ago, this castle had been whole.

Now, the back of the castle was missing.

What had once been a room was now a ruin.

Half-broken walls were behind Shang as the bright sun shone down on him.

The bright sun didn't reflect Shang's feelings, but the weather didn't care about the feelings of living beings.

Shang's body had become a husk. Nearly all his muscles had shrunk to a sickly degree, making him look like a skeleton with merely some skin on it.

The two empty eye-sockets only strengthened this perception.

About 140 years ago, Shang sacrificed his left eye.

Today, he had sacrificed his right eye.

Shang couldn't possibly sacrifice his arms or legs since that would severely weaken his Battle-Strength.

Organs couldn't be sacrificed because that would reduce Shang's maximum life energy tremendously.

The ears or the nose weren't enough to achieve any kind of significant power with Entropy.

Shang had decided to go with the eye.

Due to his Spirit Sense, he wasn't reliant on vision anymore.

However, all of this was actually only of secondary importance.

In fact, Shang didn't even really think about what to sacrifice.

His mind had been someplace else.

​ Jerald.

His friend.

His only friend.

His closest companion.

Shang's life had always been surrounded by a cloud of darkness.

His Affinity made it impossible for him to have friends or companions.

His goal made it impossible for him to have friends or companions.

He was alone.

The world was dark.

His life was dark.

Yet, Shang was willing to walk through this darkness.

In fact, Shang had walked into this darkness voluntarily.

If he had just stopped searching for power, he wouldn't need to be surrounded by this darkness anymore.

But he couldn't.

He needed to achieve his goal.

This was the only purpose of his life.

Had he had more purposes back then?

Maybe, but ever since Shang had stepped onto this dark path, all the other purposes vanished.

Shang had to reach the end of the path, no matter what.

The consequences didn't matter.

The sacrifices didn't matter.

The price didn't matter.

He wanted to reach it.

He needed to reach it!

Shang had always believed that he had already made his choice.

He believed that he had already come to terms with his path.

But he realized the true weight of his path only today.

During this dark and lonely journey, Jerald had been like a visitor.

A ray of light.

Something nice in a place of nothing but apathy.

It wasn't actually that hard to walk the path.

Shang looked at the hand lying in front of his feet.

The hand had Jerald's Space Ring on it, and Shang had avoided it on purpose.

If he destroyed the Communication Crystal that Relon had given Jerald, Relon would know that Jerald had died.

For several seconds, Shang's empty eye-sockets only stared at the hand.

He didn't move.

The wind blew across the now exposed floor.

The bright sun mercilessly shone down on the scene.

The world was so bright.

But Shang only saw darkness.

Shang stood in front of the hand without moving.

Step.

A woman walked out of the still-standing part of the castle behind Shang, and her eyes widened in horror at what she was seeing.

Half of the castle was gone!

What about King Storm?!

This was one of the True Mages responsible for organizing everything in the castle, and she had heard and felt the commotion.

When she saw Shang's husk and the solitary hand on the ground, she took a horrified breath.

Then, the world around her moved.

The power of the world around her gathered beside her head.

Before she could say or do anything, her head separated from her shoulder.

Shang didn't move.

His empty eye-sockets only stared forward.

A couple more True Mages arrived shortly, but they died as soon as they arrived.

It took Shang two minutes to move, and the only reason he was moving was that he was seeing someone approach in his Spirit Sense.

Sylvia was returning.

There was a shocked and horrified expression on her face as she activated one Mana Step after the other.

Shang stepped forward and scooped up the hand.

Then, he put it into his inner world.

Shang's expressionless face stared toward the direction where Sylvia was coming from.

He didn't want to see her, but he couldn't stop himself from looking at her one last time.

She had also been a friend of Shang's.

She had been Jerald's wife of 75 years and the mother of his children.

Jerald had been a good father, and she had been a good mother.

Jerald had only wanted to continue living.

Shang had destroyed their happiness today.

Sword left Shang's back and hovered in front of him.

Shang lightly jumped on it, and Sword flew away.

In just a couple of seconds, Shang had reached a height of over eight kilometers.

No one from the ground would be able to find him that high up in the air unless they were specifically searching for him with their eyes.

Shang's Spirit Sense encompassed the ruined castle.

Sylvia had arrived, and she was searching around the ruined castle in horror.

No, this couldn't be!

He had to still be alive!

Jerald had to be somewhere!

After not finding any trace of Jerald for a while, she quickly left the castle again to search for him.

He had to still be around somewhere.

Shang's expressionless face only stared in her general direction for a while.

Then, he slowly turned around, and some distorting light gathered around him.

In an instant, Shang's body had vanished.

With Distortion hiding his body, Shang flew towards the south.

The barrier had become active again.

Shang only activated his Domain of Entropy and flew past the barrier.

The guards, including Prince George, looked upward with horror.

The barrier had been breached!

Yet, they couldn't find the culprit!

Prince George immediately took out his Communication Crystal and contacted Jerald.

And the Communication Crystal told him that no one with that aura existed.

 

Chapter 550 - Goodbye

Nothing happened while Shang was flying southward.

The sun shone brightly in the sky.

People were doing their daily chores and meeting with friends.

Warriors were hunting in the wildernesses in teams.

It was a busy day like any other.

In comparison to 75 years ago, the current Storm Kingdom was much better off.

People didn't seem nearly as worried, and they had already returned to their previous selves before the Council had started to suppress the warriors.

The Kingdom had transformed into how it had been when Shang had just arrived in this world.

Growth.

Innovation.

Progress.

Prosperity.

These were the perfect words to describe the current Storm Kingdom.

Jerald had done an amazing job.

Just as expected.

Shang flew across the Thunder Horse Zone and looked down.

He could see the Thunder Horse walking around inside one of the cities, several children playing with it.

Shang remembered how Jerald had given his best to shield Shang from the Thunder Horse's eyes.

After a while, Shang left the Thunder Horse Zone and entered the Adamantite Behemoth Zone.

Shang saw a new city about ten kilometers away from the Adamantite Behemoth's horn, further away than the previous one.

Shang remembered how he had destroyed the city.

Back then, Jerald had told Shang that he was sorry. Jerald said that he was responsible for the deaths of all of these people and that Shang shouldn't blame himself.

After some time, Shang reached the Empress Cobra Zone.

George had died to the Council here, and Shang also remembered his conversation with Jerald while traveling to King Skythunder for the first time. A big part of the conversation had taken place here.

For the first time during his journey, Shang stopped in the air.

Then, he flew toward the west, toward the Ice Wyvern Zone.

Shang passed by the three-way border and entered the Ice Wyvern Zone.

Shang saw the city where he had exchanged the ice wood, Blizzard's Edge.

He saw the Southern Wild, where the guard had warned Shang of the bandits.

He saw the Central Wild.

Shang also saw the Northern Wild, the place where he had nearly crashed with his sled wagon.

Shang saw the place where the village with the ice wood had once been.

There was no village here anymore.

And lastly, Shang saw Jerald's garden.

The Earth Fruit Hedgehog was gone, but everything else seemed to be the same as back then.

Shang saw the boars, the wolves, the Pest Cats, and several other beasts and animals.

Back then, Shang had gone through tremendous physical pain in an effort to become more powerful.

He preferred the physical pain over the emotional one.

Shang turned his expressionless face towards one part of the mountains.

That was where he had met Jerald.

Shang had been careful of him, and he had looked up to his power.

This was where it all began.

No one would have expected that the little boy Jerald had found in one of his gardens would grow up to become his best friend and then his killer.

At that moment, Shang summoned something.

It was the emblem Jerald had given him when he had received the mission to find Duke Mithril's men.

After a while, Shang flew towards the southeast again.

He passed over the border.

He passed over the Farm Line, where he saw a couple of the Farm Dogs.

Shang saw the Wild Forest.

He remembered the Storm Eagle's offspring, the General Stage Vanishing Snake, and Chuck McGuiness.

Shang's youth had been painful, but it had also been filled with many people and exciting encounters.

Shang saw the Wasteland and remembered accompanying Sarah, Astor, and Elver in the Caves.

He remembered Soran coming to help Shang and putting the three of them under a Magic Contract.

Eventually, Shang reached Warrior's Paradise.

He remembered all the teachers.

Loran, the old man that guarded the gate during the night and taught the Caterpillar Class.

Teacher Niria, the teacher that taught about beasts and who had helped Shang with the Darkness Ore.

Vice-Dean Soran.

Viera.

Vice-Dean Ranos.

George…

All of these people were dead.

Teacher Mervin…

Shang remembered the conversation he had had with Teacher Loran and Teacher Mervin during his second Day of Chaos.

"Shang, power might be your primary goal, but you can't forget about a time after."

"And what should I do, in your opinion?"

"Get a team. Join a team of hunters. Take part in group missions. Try not to deny an invitation if an acquaintance gives you one. Just one thing, essentially. Be more amongst people."

"In the end, it's all up to you. It's your decision. I only suggest that you try it, and I won't force you. Even if you decide to ignore everything I said today, our relationship won't change. You are one of my students. I am one of your teachers."

Shang still remembered the conversation clearly.

Shang's future had not been set in stone back then.

He had all the options available to him.

For a while, Shang only looked at the Warrior Academy in Warrior's Paradise.

This had been his home for a long time.

Then, Shang continued flying toward the south.

He saw the Canyon and remembered the gigantic Exploding Mountain Turtle that had threatened the city back then.

Shang flew higher into the sky to avoid the Spirit Senses and reach of the powerful beasts.

Shang saw the Crater, the place where all the True Path Stage beasts resided.

He continued flying.

The Crater continued expanding for a while, and Shang even started to see humongous and terrifying beasts.

Archbeasts.

Shang avoided looking at them closely.

The beasts didn't pay any attention to him.

Eventually, there were no more beasts for a while.

And that's when the humongous Storm Eagle entered Shang's Spirit Sense.

The Storm Eagle was lying on the ground, terrifying amounts of Wind Mana coming out of its body.

It was truly gigantic.

Even after all this time, the Storm Eagle was still impossibly imposing.

Shang flew past the humongous Storm Eagle.

And two minutes later, Shang reached it.

The Abyss.

In front of Shang was only a bottomless cliff, and everything in front of him was covered in clouds.

It was like the world had ended.

For a moment, Shang stopped.

He turned towards the north.

The Storm Eagle Zone.

The Skythunder Kingdom.

Area 23.

He remembered the life he had lived there.

Area 23 had undergone tremendous changes, and Shang was responsible for many of them.

Shang remembered everything he had grown attached to in Area 23.

All of it had either disappeared, died, or changed tremendously.

Shang hung onto the memories he had made in Area 23.

And for the first time in a long while, he spoke.

"I do not regret my decisions."

"I only regret not realizing the truth of my path sooner."

Shang turned towards the Abyss again.

"I am the enemy of the world."

"There is no one in my life."

"I have abandoned everything just so I may gain a shot at Godhood."

"I want power."

"And power needs sacrifice."

"Goodbye, everyone that still knows me."

"My name is Shang."

"But I am not Shang."

And then, Shang jumped into the Abyss.

He left Area 23 and entered the outside world.