Ch. 561..570

Chapter 561 -Natural SelectionCompany

On the wooden platform in front of Shang sat a young woman with long blue hair.

Her eyes were closed, and her feet were dangling in the water below. She was the Keeper, the Territory Lord, and the one responsible for providing all the Water Mana to the Yellow Sunbreaker.

She had obviously overheard the conversation just now, but she didn't care what everyone was talking about.

Everyone was here to do a job, and she only cared about dealing with the missions this branch got.

What her employees did in their downtime didn't concern her.

This branch of the Temple of Blood was a very small and specialized one.

Other branches had thousands of employees with different specialties and powers.

But this branch only had ten, and all of the Agents here were Named Agents with powers inside the Archmage Realm.

The reason why this branch was still small was that there weren't many humans located in the surroundings.

This branch was responsible for everything in the surrounding 10,000 kilometers or so, but since there were no big cities in this place, there weren't that many missions.

However, this was a profitable wilderness, and many High Mages and Archmages were using this wilderness to build their wealth.

So, even though the missions were few, the money to be gained here was big.

Maybe this was an additional reason why the Territory Lord decided to stay here?

In the other branches, she might have been bothered more, while she didn't get bothered in this one.

"The mission is complete," Shang said.

"I've heard," the Keeper said without turning away from the lake. "News has already gotten out. Good job."

SHING!

After stretching out her left hand to the side, something appeared inside of it.

Five tiny dark blue crystals were in her hand.

When House Wife and Trapper saw the Mana Crystals, they took a deep breath.

They knew that this was the reward, but it was still impressive to see so much money appear in front of them.

If they got that, they wouldn't need to work for decades.

These five Mana Crystals were just a couple of meters away from them, but they knew that it was impossible for them to claim them.

Even if they could kill White Ghost, there would still be the Keeper.

Five Grade Six Mana Crystals!

One Grade Six Mana Crystal was the Mana an Initial Ancestral Mage could produce in one year.

That was a lot of Mana!

These five crystals represented an Ancestral Mage working for five years to condense and store Mana.

Mana Crystals counted as the general currency for High Mages and above.

The reason why they had been chosen as a currency was that every single Mana Crystal needed a lot of work to be created and that they could be used for nearly everything.

They could power Magic Circles, barriers, Foci, be converted into artificially grown natural treasures, be crushed to increase the density of Mana around someone, and so on.

Mana could be used for basically everything, and these Mana Crystals represented a fixed amount of Mana.

And five Grade Six Mana Crystals were a lot of money!

It was no surprise that House Wife and Trapper were that interested in Shang's reward.

House Wife's espionage missions and singular assassinations gave her some Grade Five Mana Crystals each, but it needed a thousand of those to create a Grade Six Mana Crystal.

An Initial Archmage would need to condense Mana for 1,000 years to create a single Grade Six Mana Crystal.

These five Grade Six Mana Crystals represented around 250 missions for House Wife, which came to several years of work.

Trapper could earn more money than House Wife since he targeted very powerful Archmages, but there weren't that many Mid and Late Archmages in this location, which meant that he didn't have that many missions.

These five Grade Six Mana Crystals represented around ten missions for him.

Yet, White Ghost got that much money from just a single mission.

However, House Wife and Trapper knew that this mission couldn't have been easy.

The mission had been to completely eliminate the Martis Family, one of the prolific gathering families in the surroundings.

Gatherers were powerful Mages that ventured into the wilderness to bring valuables back to civilization and sell them.

This wilderness this branch of the Temple of Blood was responsible for was only one wilderness amongst many in the Natural Selection Company's territory.

The Natural Selection Company was the renter of the surrounding 100,000 kilometers.

While all of the land for millions of kilometers around belonged to the illustrious Twilight Dusk Family, one of the ten rulers of the entire world, they couldn't be bothered with micromanaging every single centimeter of their territory.

Organizations of the Twilight Dusk Family's caliber were only interested in high-end Ancestral Mage materials and stronger.

Territories that didn't deliver such quality goods were rented out to companies specializing in making money out of these territories without damaging their profitability and longevity.

The Natural Selection Company was renting around a tenth of the Twilight Dusk Family's weaker territories, and they had three Mage Lords.

The Temple of Blood's Territory Lord was also responsible for that territory.

The Natural Selection Company was then contracting gatherers to harvest the territories according to the company's rules and methods.

Many of these gatherers operated solo normally, but there were also big groups of gatherers that could manage a vast territory effectively.

These big groups were called gatherer families, and the Martis Family had been one of them.

To summarize, the Twilight Dusk Family allowed the Natural Selection Company to harvest around a tenth of their lower territories in exchange for money, and the Natural Selection Company employed several gatherer families to harvest these territories.

And Shang's job had been to eliminate one of these gatherer families.

That was an insanely difficult mission!

House Wife and Trapper knew that they couldn't have done that.

Sure, they had the power to kill all the Mages, but that wasn't the problem.

The problem was to kill all of them without letting even one of them escape and to finish the deed before an Enforcer could arrive.

These were two different problems with contradicting solutions.

To solve the first problem, one needed a lot of time.

To solve the second problem, one couldn't use a lot of time.

Additionally, the chances of death if the Agent failed were very high.

Most of the time, the Agents could just retreat if they failed a mission, but not this time.

This time, failure meant that an Enforcer had arrived, and that could only end in the Agent's death.

Enforcers were the people responsible for managing all the different gatherer families and enforcing the Natural Selection Company's rules.

The gatherer families were supposed to work together, not against each other, and Enforcers acted as a form of police.

Enforcers were directly employed by the Natural Selection Company, and they were all Late Archmages, at least.

Trapper might be able to take down an Enforcer if he got the chance to follow one of them for several weeks and set up an ambush, but he would immediately die to one without preparation.

House Wife would also die.

And Shang?

Same thing.

Shang could take down an Early Archmage comfortably, but a Mid Archmage would pose a huge problem to him.

A Late Archmage would just kill him.

So, even though Shang had received a lot of money today, he had definitely earned it.

 

Chapter 562-Mysterious TrialAgent

Surprisingly, Shang didn't grab the five Mana Crystals immediately.

"I want to exchange them," Shang said evenly.

The Keeper pulled her hand back. "For what?"

"Mind Flow Pellets," Shang said.

The Keeper slowly turned her head and looked at the bandages around Shang's head.

That was just the natural instinct of wanting to have eye contact with someone while talking about something more serious.

The Keeper looked at Shang silently for three seconds.

"Fine," she said, turning around again. "It's not my duty to question what you do with your reward. What kind of Mind Flow Pellet do you want?"

"Grade Six," Shang said.

When House Wife and Trapper heard that, they took a deep breath in shock.

White Ghost sure knew what it meant to buy the good stuff!

"I need five more Grade Six Mana Crystals," the Keeper said, extending her hand to Shang.

SHING!

Shang summoned five additional Grade Six Mana Crystals and handed them over.

These ten Grade Six Mana Crystals were everything Shang currently earned in terms of money.

He had gotten three Grade Six Mana Crystals by getting rid of the Lenner Family, five by getting rid of the Martis Family, and two for a couple of smaller missions.

Usually, Shang would have needed to work several years for that much money, but the two missions regarding the Lenner and Martis Families had come at just the right time.

The Keeper pocketed all ten Mana Crystals and closed her eyes while looking towards the lake.

No one said anything for several minutes.

WHOOOM!

Suddenly, a small grey portal appeared in front of the Keeper.

She summoned nine of the ten Mana Crystals and threw them into the portal.

A second later, a small flask came out of the portal before it closed again.

The Keepers got to keep around 10% of what their people were paying in exchange for wares the Temple of Blood sold to their Agents.

The central organizational department of the Temple of Blood, including the Territory Lord, took around 20% of a mission reward's cut when the mission was put up. This was how they earned their money.

The remaining 80% went directly to the Agent. This was how they earned their money.

And when the Agents used their money, the Keepers got to keep 10% of it. That was how they earned their money.

Every Agent basically bought directly from the Temple of Blood since the Temple of Blood sold its wares far cheaper than big trading firms, and they were also more trustworthy.

So, in a way, a Keeper's commission basically equated to 8% of what their branch was bringing in.

For such a small branch, that wasn't a lot, but for branches with thousands of employees, things were different.

Of course, as the Territory Lord, the Keeper of this branch didn't rely on the money she earned as Keeper.

The Keeper took hold of the bottle and extended it to Shang.

While Shang put the bottle with the singular pill away, the others were looking at the place where the portal had just been.

No matter how many times they saw it, they were still surprised.

This was a Spell that only an Ancestral Mage could cast who had understood the Grade Three Concept of Space, Distortion!

Since there were basically no Mages with Space Affinities, the people that comprehended the Grade Three Concept of Space were nearly all Peak Ancestral Mages or higher.

Of course, there were some Mages with a Space Affinity, but they were incredibly rare, and they were directly scouted by the big powers.

This meant that only the most powerful Mages could cast this specific Spell called Space Tunnel.

Space Tunnel allowed someone to connect one part of space with a different part of space, essentially creating a portal from one place to another.

Sadly, the portal was only very small and could only transport dead things, but it was still impressive.

The thought of extending one's hand and manipulating something thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers away was awe-inspiring.

"Is Room One available?" Shang asked.

"It is," the Keeper answered. "Since you made quite some money for this branch, I'll let you use it for free this time."

Shang nodded and turned around.

Shang passed by House Wife and Trapper and entered a wooden hut to his left.

He closed the door and willed for the Magic Circle to activate.

WHOOOM!

For a second, the hut shone in a bright light before returning to normal. At the same time, the liquid Water Mana below the hut was slowly being absorbed by it.

The Isolation Barrier of Training Room One was now in effect.

These were specific training rooms for the Named Agents. Since the Named Agents wanted to keep their powers private, these training rooms isolated them from the outside. Additionally, the Named Agents could also try out their Spells here since the Isolation Barrier was very durable.

Of course, attacking the barrier resulted in the barrier needing more Mana to operate.

After every session, the Agent would need to pay for however much Mana the barrier had used during their isolation.

But compared to the money everyone spent on materials, the cost of the training room wasn't much.

The only person that could look past the Isolation Barriers was the Keeper, and if the Keeper wasn't responsible for the Isolation Barriers in a branch, the person responsible could also look past them.

Of course, these people were under special restrictions and weren't allowed to talk about any of the Agents' powers unless the Territory Lord gave explicit permission.

Naturally, as the Territory Lord and Keeper, the blue-haired woman knew of Shang's powers.

However, she hadn't been surprised.

Mainly because she had already heard of Shang before he had come to her branch.

When Shang had just been a Mid True Path Stage warrior, he had been scouted by one of the Temple of Blood's recruiters.

Due to Shang's peculiar and unidentifiable powers, he had been very attractive to the Temple of Blood.

First, Shang joined as a Trial Agent.

A Trial Agent was someone that could complete missions but had to be supervised during the mission.

However, after Shang's third supervised mission, the Territory Lord had already been informed about him.

The reason?

The missions had been completed, but every person that had supervised Shang had died during the mission.

The Keeper of that branch back then and the Territory Lord both knew what had happened.

Shang had killed his supervisor.

However, there was no proof.

Everyone basically knew that it had been Shang, but he was so good at hiding his tracks that not even the Keeper could prove it was him.

The Keeper was quite frustrated and angry, but they could also see that this was an amazing quality for an Agent to have.

Killing people and not being found out… wasn't that exactly what the Temple of Blood was all about?

So, the Keeper contacted the Territory Lord, who made a judgment on the matter.

Shang would be promoted from Trial Agent to just Agent.

Like that, they wouldn't lose more people.

After several decades, Shang's success in handling very difficult missions came to the Territory Lord's attention again.

She remembered that Shang had been the one killing the supervisors.

That day, she decided to promote Shang to Named Agent and transfer him to her branch.

She wanted to know what Shang wanted to hide so desperately and stop him from killing more people.

Before that, Shang had always trained outside, far away from the branch.

But here, he couldn't train outside anymore since it was far too dangerous.

So, Shang was forced to train inside unless he wanted to leave the Temple of Blood or die.

Eventually, Shang was forced to come clean about why he was hiding.

He had a Twilight Affinity.

This concerned the Territory Lord.

If he had a Twilight Affinity, why wasn't he a member of the Twilight Dusk Family?

Everyone with a Twilight Affinity could directly enter the Twilight Dusk Family.

There was literally no reason not to enter.

And then, the Territory Lord got her answer.

Shang was not a Mage.

As a Mage Lord, the Territory Lord had heard about the purge many, many years ago, and she understood why a warrior would want to avoid the organization of one of the people responsible for killing all the warriors.

After talking for a while, the Territory Lord confirmed that she would only tell her higher-ups with his permission and nobody else.

With Shang being the only one with such powers, he had proven to be very valuable to the Temple of Blood.

That was how Shang ended up in this place.

 

Chapter 563- Mind Flow Pellet

After entering the training room, Shang walked over to the middle.

He specifically chose Room One due to its size. The other rooms were only about two meters wide, just enough for a Mage to meditate.

Surprisingly, many Mages preferred meditating in a smaller room since it was easier and cheaper to increase the density of Mana in the atmosphere.

Room One was bigger at around five meters wide and high, and it was designed to test Spells.

Of course, the Mages that actually tested their Spells in this room had to be careful since their Spells would damage more than just an area of five meters.

But that's what Mana Shield was there for.

As a warrior, Shang needed a lot of room to train since he would be swinging his sword around.

Luckily, he had comprehended his Saber State's Impose after comprehending his Great Sword State's Impose, which meant that he didn't need to train in them anymore.

And since Shang had joined the Temple of Blood when he had already reached the Mid True Path Stage, he hadn't needed to show his Ice and Fire Affinities.

Shang had already heard of the Child of Calamity more than once in the other branch, which meant that the existence of the Child of Calamity was not a secret. Sure, the weaker people didn't know about it, but High Mages and above knew about it.

Shang could theoretically still use his Ice and Fire Affinities, but he would need to act like they are weaker than his Twilight Affinity. It was not uncommon to comprehend Concepts outside one's Affinity, but due to the difficulty of comprehending Concepts one didn't have an Affinity for, Shang couldn't show his full power with his Ice and Fire Affinity while masking himself as someone with a Twilight Affinity.

Of course, he preferred only using light and darkness, just to be safe.

Shang summoned the bottle he had gotten from the Keeper and took out the pill.

This tiny pill was worth ten Grade Six Mana Crystals.

For the past 40 years, Shang had been trying to find a way to fuse his four Imposes.

He had been consuming so many resources, and he had also fought three Mid Archmages before.

These fights had been extremely deadly and dangerous, but Shang had needed inspiration.

Yet, even with 40 years, three extremely dangerous fights, and a mountain of resources, Shang still hadn't comprehended the fusion.

Shang knew that he was extremely experienced. After all, he had comprehended the very thing the warriors needed to reach the Fifth Realm four times already.

Additionally, he had thrown everything at comprehending this fusion.

But he still hadn't been able to comprehend it.

This meant that Shang was trying to comprehend something that was insanely difficult to comprehend for his level.

Shang's fears from when he had just been 80 years old had proven to be true.

Back then, he had feared that his longevity might not be enough to reach the Fifth Realm, which was why he had thrown his everything toward training.

And he was right.

Shang had left Area 23 a little over 150 years ago, which meant he was around 310 years old right now.

When compared to someone from Earth, Shang would be in his late sixties right now.

He already counted as an old person.

Most Archmages reached their level in their 200s. There were still some that managed to reach the Archmage Realm in their 300s, but they were more in the minority.

There was a certain barrier of mindset stopping people.

People that were willing to put their everything into power would easily comprehend a Level Two Concept in their 200s, 300 if the person were especially dumb.

If someone hadn't reached the Fifth Realm before reaching 300 years, they would be viewed as a slacker.

For example, the oldest Named Agent in this branch was 370 years old, but they were already a Late Archmage. They had reached the Initial Archmage Realm when they were just 220 years old.

As for the person that took the longest to reach the Fifth Realm in this branch…

That was Shang.

In fact, Shang was the fourth oldest person in this branch while having the lowest level.

But he was the most hardworking, and he definitely wasn't untalented.

Comprehending the fusion was just that difficult.

Shang readied himself mentally for consuming the Mind Flow Pellet.

A Mind Flow Pellet was a kind of medicine that sped up someone's thinking process while weakening focus and concentration.

In essence, this meant that the mind of the person would be more likely to experiment with new things while also thinking way faster than normal.

Mind Flow Pellets were often used as substitutes for gaining inspiration by fighting a dangerous battle.

However, Mind Flow Pellets were quite expensive.

A Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet was designed to be used by someone in the Ancestral Mage Realm.

Of course, ten Grade Six Mana Crystals for such a person wasn't that much, but one had to remember one thing.

A Mind Flow Pellet only worked for five hours.

Five hours after consuming it, the mind of the person would return to normal.

So, if someone wanted to make a lot of use of their altered state of mind, they would need to purchase them in bulk.

Sadly, Shang could only afford one.

This wasn't the first time Shang had consumed a Mind Flow Pellet, and that was also the reason why the Keeper had looked at him that way when he told her that he wanted more of them.

Shang had consumed over 2,000 Mind Flow Pellets in the last 40 years, but they had been Grade Five ones.

Shang had consumed over 80% of the Mind Flow Pellets that the entire branch consumed.

No one was using that many of them.

By now, the Keeper suspected that the Mind Flow Pellets wouldn't help Shang anymore.

However, Shang purchased a Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet today, which was worth as much as 1,000 Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets.

With the added strength of the Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet, Shang hoped that he could finally comprehend the fusion of his Imposes.

Shang took a deep breath.

And then, he consumed the Mind Flow Pellet.

 

Chapter 564 -Stupid

As Shang consumed the Mind Flow Pellet, he felt like his surroundings were distorting.

Shang felt his concentration being pulled to random spots in the room while his mind was analyzing all kinds of things regarding the spot he was currently looking at with his Spirit Sense.

Shang had been under the effect of Mind Flow Pellets before, but the previous ones hadn't even been nearly as strong as this one.

He knew that he had to redirect his attention toward his Imposes, but it wasn't that easy.

Right now, Shang felt like he was a stranger inside his own body, screaming at his body to focus on something specific from behind a soundproof wall of glass.

His mind was simply not listening to him right now, and after a while, Shang forgot what he was supposed to do.

The Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets were already optimized for someone in the Archmage Realm, and the important part was their mind.

Shang's mind was only at the Peak of the True Mage Realm, and it had already been impressive that he managed to retain control over his mind with a Grade Five Mind Flow Pellet.

But the Grade Six one was on a completely different level.

This Mind Flow Pellet was optimized for people inside the Ancestral Mage Realm.

The distance between a Peak True Mage and an Ancestral Mage was the same as the distance between a Peak True Mage and a Zone Beast.

Something like this could even influence a Zone Beast's mind.

Shang had waited so long to purchase this Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet specifically because he knew that it would be risky.

There was no danger to his life or mind, but it would still be horrible if Shang had effectively thrown ten Grade Six Mana Crystals out of the window.

This would mean that years of work had been for nothing.

And, as it seemed right now, that was exactly what would happen.

Yet, what was he supposed to do?

Risking his life hadn't worked.

Buying a ton of Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets hadn't worked.

He had to take a risk.

Shang had a couple of these thoughts, but most of his mind was just focusing on random things.

After focusing on a random spot on the wall for what seemed like an eternity, Shang's mind focused on the Isolation Barrier around him.

For a really long time, he only thought about the Isolation Barrier.

Shang was no longer a beginner in Magic Circles, and he could glean some information from the Isolation Barrier after looking at it for what felt like weeks.

The level of the barrier was still far beyond him, but Shang could make out a couple of insignificant and small parts.

By now, Shang's mind had completely lost control, and even his consciousness and will were only focusing on random things.

Eventually, Shang got bored of the barrier, and his mind searched for something that was interesting.

It had already looked at the hut.

It had already looked at the barrier.

And… that was it.

That was everything that was inside the room.

Eventually, Shang's mind focused on his hands as he moved them in front of the bandages on his head.

It was almost like he was trying to see his hands.

"Impose, fusion, power."

At that moment, Shang's head moved to face Sword, who had just spoken.

"Impose, fusion, power," Sword repeated.

"Impose, fusion, power."

"Impose, fusion, power."

Sword repeated these three things for what felt like an eternity.

"Impose, fusion, power," Shang eventually repeated.

After that, Sword stopped talking as Shang became the one to repeat these three things over and over again.

Shang thought about his Imposes.

A fusion, huh?

Imposes?

Fusion?

Imposes?

Fusion?

"Stupid," Shang said absentmindedly after a while.

"They are already fused."

And then, Shang focused on Sword as he moved it around in his hands.

For what felt like weeks, Shang only focused on Sword.

Sword was so interesting.

He wondered how it worked.

Time passed.

Eventually, Shang put Sword to the side and rubbed his head.

His thoughts were turning more and more chaotic until they stopped making sense.

Shang gritted his teeth as he just tried to focus on his mind.

After a while, the chaos started to calm down, and Shang could think rationally again.

Then, he took a deep breath.

"The effect is over," Shang transmitted to Sword. "I don't remember a lot."

"You said something," Sword told Shang. "I managed to direct your mind towards your Imposes, and you said something peculiar."

"You said that they are already fused."

Shang's face didn't show any reaction, but his mind went wild after hearing that sentence.

Shang didn't just throw the words he had spoken under the influence of the Grade Six Mind Flow Pellet to the side. After all, this was him talking while being under the influence of a mind-enhancing substance.

Just four hours had passed since Shang had taken the Mind Flow Pellet, but it had felt like months to him.

Yet, during these four hours, Shang had managed to find the very thing he had been searching for.

A way forward.

The Imposes were already fused.

Shang stood up and began to train by swinging his sword around.

Shang used all four States alternatively, but he still didn't use his Fire or Ice Abilities.

'They are already the same,' Shang repeated in his mind.

Time passed.

And about four weeks later…

'I think I got it,' Shang thought as excitement took hold of him for the first time in decades.

'I can see it!'

In Shang's mind, the image of four big circles beside each other appeared.

Every circle represented one of his Imposes.

'My Imposes are not their own things!'

'They are signs of something below them! It's like a network of mushrooms! You see several different mushrooms and think they are their own plants, but they are actually one thing that's just appearing in different places!'

In Shang's mind, the four circles representing the Imposes began to shine.

And then, the space between them began to shine.

They were not four circles.

They were just four segments of a huge line!

After realizing that, Shang's mind went past the Imposes and reached for the place behind the Imposes.

WHOOOOOM!

And he understood it!

 

Chapter 565 - Connection

As soon as Shang comprehended the thing connecting his four Imposes, his mind began to clear.

The world around him changed inside his mind, becoming far clearer. It was like he had viewed the world through a dirty window before.

Many more things just came naturally to Shang as he felt the world around him.

In a way, it was like the world was telling these things to Shang.

The four Imposes were just a sign of a far greater and more important ability.

It was Shang's connection with the world!

The four Imposes controlled the world around Shang to aid him, but that was only a small part.

There were many more things that allowed Shang to control the world around him.

For example, his Domain of Entropy.

The four Imposes had been separate at some point, but as Shang had continued training over the past 40 years, they had slowly grown into each other.

One had to remember that if one strung four circles in a row, they still wouldn't form a real line. The gaps between them above and below the middle point would still be there.

So, while Shang had essentially trained towards a faulty goal, his work for the past 40 years definitely hadn't gone to waste.

These gaps had to be closed through more training, and Shang had done exactly that over the past 40 years.

With all four of his Imposes connecting together to create a single connection to the world, Shang felt his control over the world strengthen.

The Mana in his surroundings had never felt so clear before.

Shang calmed down inside and absorbed the dense Mana inside the hut.

WHOOOOM!

But Shang stopped very quickly.

He had felt something very interesting and peculiar.

He had absorbed a lot of Natural Mana just now, but since his Mana reserves had already been full, the Mana left his body very quickly.

However, instead of being released as Natural Mana, the Mana left Shang's body as Light and Darkness Mana.

Shang was quite certain that it would also leave as Fire and Ice Mana if Humanity weren't active.

'I am absorbing Natural Mana and am distributing Elemental Mana.'

'Isn't that exactly what the Zone Beasts were doing in Area 23?'

Shang experimented some more with his new connection with the world, and his suspicion was confirmed.

Shang was doing something very similar, if not identical, to what Zone Beasts had been doing but on a smaller scale due to his lower Realm.

Of course, as a human, Shang could control his connection with the world. The Zone Beasts probably had that ability active all the time since it just felt natural.

'Archbeasts don't have this ability,' Shang thought. 'This means that this ability is only something an Ancestral Beast can unlock.'

'So, that's it, huh? That's the reason why it took so much money, fighting, and training to comprehend everything.'

'I've used the thing necessary to reach the Fifth Realm four times for my minor breakthroughs, and I used the thing necessary to reach the Sixth Realm to reach the Fifth Realm.'

'I skipped an entire Realm.'

'But that's the only way to create a true earth-shattering transformation. If I want to achieve Godhood, I have to do things that are far more difficult than what everyone else sets out to accomplish.'

'For normal warriors, my theorized method of reaching the Fifth Realm can be called the Impose Stage since it relies on comprehending Impose.'

'And the Sixth Realm for normal warriors that I've theorized can be called the World Connection Stage.'

'But that doesn't matter. The warriors are not related to me anymore.'

'I will reach a different Fifth Realm.'

'A far more powerful one.'

'Even though my Imposes have never truly been separate things, a big part of my training had still been about unearthing the hidden connections between them.'

'Additionally, since I am already no longer a warrior but something separate, I will also assume the word Realm instead of Stage for my future levels.'

'Because of that, my Fifth Realm will be the Fusion Realm.'

'The Fusion Realm is something that belongs solely to me. There is no second person that is walking this Path.'

'I am the only one.'

After deciding on the name of his future Realm, Shang decided to experiment with his ability to connect with the world.

Shang released a normal strike.

Then, Shang released a strike while using Impose.

The strike was around three times as powerful as his normal strike at the same speed.

Lastly, Shang willed the world around him to use all of its power in a strike.

SHING!

As soon as Shang willed it, all the Mana inside the little hut entered his sword in an instant. It was almost like the Mana teleported into it.

The entire hut became devoid of Mana in an instant.

Then, Shang slashed forward.

WHOOOOOM!

The air around Shang shook as the slash passed in less than an instant.

When the slash finished, an explosion of Darkness and Light Mana came out of Shang's sword, dispersing into the surroundings.

However, since Darkness and Light Mana were opposites, they very quickly mixed to create Natural Mana again.

The same amount of Mana Shang had absorbed earlier was now released into the surroundings again.

The released Mana didn't have any offensive capabilities, but its previous power couldn't be understated.

When Shang slashed forward with all the Mana inside his sword, it was like all the Mana had split apart into their individual components, and when that happened, an incredible power was unleashed.

And when the Mana left his body, it fused together again.

Even though the amount of energy in the room hadn't lowered, Shang's strike had still been around double as powerful and double as fast as with Impose.

This was the power of Shang's connection with the world.

This was the power of the Fusion Realm.

Of course, Shang hadn't actually reached the Fusion Realm yet. He had just unlocked the door.

Now, he needed to actually step through the door.

"Keeper, I am ready to advance to the Fifth Realm."

 

 

Chapter 566 - Desert Storm

The Keeper opened her eyes and looked over at Room One.

"You've found what you've been searching for?" she asked evenly.

"Yes," Shang answered. "I am ready to reach the Fifth Realm."

The Keeper didn't answer for a while.

"The first person with a Path completely separate from Magic that reached the Fifth Realm ever since the Purge," she transmitted as she absentmindedly looked forward.

"History is about to be made. Too bad no one is going to know about it."

Shang waited for her instructions.

Advancing an entire Realm would change all the Mana flow in the surrounding kilometers, and this was a problem since the camp had to remain a secret.

If Shang decided to advance in Room One, he would absorb way too much of the Water Mana on the bottom. Additionally, his breakthrough might pull the Yellow Sunbreaker's attention towards the mysterious stone that constantly gave off Water Mana.

However, breaking through outside the base would be extremely risky for Shang. After all, his breakthrough might attract several powerful Archbeasts and maybe even Ancestral Beasts.

Usually, people would just break through inside a city after giving the rulers of the city some money for the inconvenience.

But Named Agents from this branch were forbidden from leaving.

The main reason was the secretive location of the branch and the fact that the Territory Lord was here.

The Territory Lord of the Temple of Blood was the most wanted criminal of the Natural Selection Company, and if they found her, they might arrive with all three of their Mage Lords.

It was difficult to find a fitting place for Shang to reach the Fusion Realm.

After thinking for a couple of seconds, the Keeper came to a decision and gave Shang his instructions.

Shang remained in the training room and readied himself mentally.

The next step was to create a Beast Core at the base of his neck. Luckily, Shang had already created the perfect version of his Mana pathways, and he had already created a good place for the Beast Core.

Shang recited the Spell that one True Mage had given him back then and practiced it a couple of times.

It was of utmost importance that Shang didn't make any mistakes during his breakthrough.

Knock, knock!

Someone knocked on Shang's door, and Shang walked over.

The Isolation Barrier deactivated, and Shang stepped out of the training room.

"Hey, White Ghost," a younger man with green hair said. He was wearing a charismatic smile. "The Keeper told me I will be your bodyguard for your breakthrough."

Shang nodded and stepped past the man.

This was the Named Agent Desert Storm.

Desert Storm was the only Named Agent older than Shang in this branch, and he was the second oldest person after the Keeper.

He was also one of the only two Late Archmages in the branch.

In comparison to most Named Agents, Desert Storm had never shown any peculiarly strange or off-putting traits.

House Wife had this problem where she constantly tried to make people fight, and Trapper was a proud rapist.

The other Named Agents also had their own issues, but Desert Storm had always appeared quite unusual due to the lack of unusual traits.

"I think I have to congratulate you, White Ghost," Desert Storm said as he followed Shang. "You are already a Named Agent as a Peak High Mage. As an Archmage, you might even be able to fight Ice Princess for a bit."

Ice Princess was another Named Agent of this branch and a Mid Archmage.

Shang didn't answer and walked up the stairs toward the exit.

Desert Storm had issues starting a conversation with Shang, but he didn't seem perturbed.

Instead, it seemed more like Desert Storm was talking to himself while following Shang.

The huge Isolation Barrier around the branch opened, and the two of them stepped into the small cave below the Yellow Sunbreaker.

The barrier closed behind them, and they used their medals to pass the huge roots of the Yellow Sunbreaker.

Then, the two of them flew towards the east.

When the two of them had been walking up the stairs, the Keeper had already transmitted the distribution of beasts in the surroundings, and she had told them where to go for Shang's breakthrough.

The two of them flew for about half an hour, which was a distance of a couple hundred kilometers.

Eventually, the two of them landed near a dark cave that led directly into the ground.

"Let me go deal with it," Desert Storm said as he walked into the cave.

The two of them had already seen the occupant inside the cave with their Spirit Senses.

It was an Early Archbeast.

Desert Storm entered and quickly took care of the beast while inspecting the cave.

"Alright, everything's clear," he transmitted to Shang.

Shang calmly entered the cave.

After a couple hundred meters, Shang reached the center of the cave and sat down without saying anything.

"I'll be waiting near the entrance. You just focus on your breakthrough, okay?" Desert Storm said with a smile.

Shang wordlessly nodded.

Desert Storm nodded back and walked to the entrance of the caves.

The Keeper had kept track of the Ancestral Beasts, but there were too many Archbeasts to make accurate predictions regarding their movements.

That was why Desert Storm was here.

While the breakthrough shouldn't attract Ancestral Beasts, a couple of Archbeasts would probably become interested.

As a Late Archmage, there were only very, very few Archbeasts that could fight Desert Storm.

Shang wasn't sure how long his breakthrough would take. Because of that, the Keeper would inform Desert Storm via Communication Crystal when an Ancestral Beast closed in on them.

Of course, Desert Storm would be paid for his help by Shang.

As Desert Storm waited near the entrance for the horde of beasts to appear, Shang took a deep breath and focused on his connection to the world.

Then, the Mana in the surroundings started to flow toward him slowly, and as more time passed, the flow became stronger and stronger.

Eventually, Shang felt like a bottleneck had burst, and all the Mana inside the surroundings started to enter his body violently.

The breakthrough had begun.

 

Chapter 567 - Fusion Realm

Shang focused on his body as the Mana in his surroundings violently entered his body like a flood.

He began to visualize his connection with the world as he tried to pull in more and more Mana.

Eventually, Shang felt the Mana interact with his body and change things.

At that point, Shang fully concentrated on stopping whatever the Mana was planning on doing.

The world wanted to reshape his body and advance him to the next Realm, but Shang wouldn't give the world free reign again.

He knew what he wanted, and he would force the Mana in the surroundings to follow his orders.

After some time, the Mana inside Shang's body stopped moving.

When that happened, Shang felt like he was about to explode.

Earlier, the Mana had gone through his body like water through a hose, but now, Shang was essentially holding down the end of the hose while more water began to push forward.

Then, Shang recited the Spell to reshape his Mana pathways. He had already done the calculations beforehand, and he only needed to recite it.

Instead of willing his own life energy and Mana to build the Beast Core, Shang used his connection with the world to use the foreign Mana inside his body instead.

It was difficult, but the Mana eventually followed the instructions of the Spell.

All the Mana began to gather at a spot a tiny bit below where Shang's collar bones met. It wasn't exactly inside the neck, but it was still close enough. There were several reasons for that position.

First of all, Shang wanted to create the Beast Core in a place where he would die either way if he got injured there. Shang had already been injured several times in the abdomen and lower chest, and if he put it there, those hits would prove to be fatal in the future. So, might as well put the Beast Core in a place where he would die either way if he got hit.

Another reason for that position was to hide the Beast Core. If he put it inside his neck, Shang's neck would seem unnaturally big to an experienced Mage. Sure, a normal person or a weaker Mage wouldn't notice the unnatural curvature of Shang's neck since it would be very subtle, but someone very powerful might be able to see it.

All the foreign Mana inside Shang began to gather on that spot and create a Mana pathway. However, this Mana pathway was just very short and took the form of a marble with several channels leading outside.

Usually, Mana pathways were so tiny that no normal person could see them, but the Beast Core would be visible to others. In fact, it would have about two centimeters in diameter when it was finished.

Two centimeters compared to something that couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

This was a humongous difference, and this also showed how difficult it would have been to create this Beast Core without the help of the world's Mana during advancement.

All the Mana inside the cave shot into Shang's body and immediately got converted into a humongous Mana pathway.

Shang fully focused on manipulating the Mana. He had never heard of anyone actively controlling the way the Mana of the world moved during a breakthrough, and he couldn't be sure what would happen.

All of this had only been theoretical since there hadn't been a precedence case.

After just a bit of time, even the Mana five kilometers around the cave started to flow towards it.

Weaker beings wouldn't notice the shift in Mana, but True Mages and more powerful would be able to notice it.

This was the telltale sign of someone breaking through.

The advancement process was very enticing to many beasts and even some humans since the person or beast advancing would be at their weakest. If someone interrupted the process, the person would have to fight with a half-finished body, weakening them immensely.

The first beasts became very interested and walked over.

However, most of them immediately stopped as soon as they actually saw the cave with their Spirit Senses.

That green-haired man in front of the cave felt way too dangerous!

Nearly all the beasts immediately turned around and left when they saw Desert Storm.

Of course, there were always some dumb or very powerful beasts.

But that didn't matter.

This was exactly why Desert Storm was here.

While Desert Storm was busy defending the cave from a couple of attacking beasts, Shang was starting to sweat.

Every second, more Mana than his entire body could store was flowing through his body and transforming into walls for Mana pathways.

The pressure all this Mana put on him was horrifying, and Shang felt his Mana pathways scream under stress.

Way too much Mana was moving through Shang's body, and the Mana was mostly moving along the Mana pathways.

At that moment, Shang remembered his minor advancements in the True Path Stage.

He had been using them to strengthen his Mana pathways. Back then, he hadn't been sure if there even was a use for that, but now, he knew.

Without the continued strengthening of his Mana pathways, they would have already ruptured in multiple spots, eventually ending in Shang's Mana pathway network being completely crippled.

Sure, he would probably be able to repair everything, but he would probably need to buy a lot of expensive materials while spending years on repairing them. All this time, he wouldn't be able to unleash even a third of his power.

Luckily, Shang had been careful and had actually used the minor advancements to strengthen his Mana pathways.

If other people had already walked down this path before Shang, everyone would have already known that it was imperative to strengthen the Mana pathways.

Yet, Shang was the first, and fortunately, he had made the right decision.

If anyone decided to follow Shang's path, Shang could tell them what they needed to look out for, making it much easier for them.

Of course, that won't happen.

Shang's path was unique, and it only belonged to him.

This was not a warrior's path or a Mage's path.

This was his path.

Shang didn't know how long it took, but the Beast Core eventually appeared near the top of his chest.

It had cost so incredibly much Mana to construct this Beast Core. It was absolutely unreal.

There was still some Mana left wandering throughout his body. So, Shang decided to shove all the Mana into his new Beast Core to fill it.

All the Mana inside Shang's body flowed into the Beast Core, and in an instant, it had been completely filled.

There were some scattered parts of foreign Mana left all over his body, and Shang simply shoved them into the walls of his Mana pathways to strengthen them a bit more.

And lastly, Shang was done.

His Beast Core was filled to the brim with liquid Mana, and it put immense pressure on Shang's Mana pathways.

That was a good thing!

After all, the very problem why Shang's body had been weaker than usual was this lack of pressure.

With the Beast Core putting so much pressure on the Mana pathways, Shang's Mana could fully concentrate on actually moving the body instead of moving itself.

Shang had done it.

He had reached the Fifth Realm.

The Fusion Realm.

 

 

Chapter 568 - Fifth Question

Shang took a deep breath and focused on his Spirit Sense.

As soon as the last piece of foreign Mana left his body, it was like a restriction was lifted from Shang's mind.

His perception instantly stretched to a distance of 20 kilometers, but it was just getting started.

In an instant, it already reached the size a normal Archmage would have, 50 kilometers.

And then, it easily blasted past that threshold as well.

It reached 100 kilometers.

150 kilometers.

200 kilometers.

And then, it stopped at 250 kilometers.

Shang's Spirit Sense had grown from a radius of 20 kilometers to a radius of 250 kilometers.

It couldn't be compared to before anymore.

This was on a completely different level. Shang's Spirit Sense had been four times as wide in one direction at the True Path Stage compared to a High Mage, but now, it was five times as wide in the Fusion Realm as compared to an Archmage.

The implication was obvious.

Shang's relative power to his Realm had not only not dropped, but it had become even stronger!

When Shang felt that, he felt that everything had been worth it.

All his sacrifices.

All the people he had killed.

All his pain.

Everything had been worth it.

This was exactly what he wanted his life to be.

He wanted to be the most powerful being in existence, and he was well on his way to that goal.

Seeing one's hard work pay off after decades in a big way felt beyond satisfying.

'I am so happy,' Shang thought.

Over the past 150 years, Shang's emotions had dried up completely.

There had been no happiness, sadness, anger, or anything similar.

Only the eternal path toward power had been on Shang's mind.

But now, for the first time in a long while, Shang was happy.

This was why he was advancing.

This was what he was living for.

This was his calling.

This was his goal in life.

This was who he wanted to be.

So what if people hated him?

So what if people thought he was an emotionless monster?

So what if the entire world rejected him?

So what if everyone around him died?

So what if his presence inflicted pain on every other living being around him?

All of that didn't matter.

This was his calling, and he wouldn't stop.

The opinion of the world didn't matter.

This was what he wanted, and he wouldn't allow anyone to push him off this path.

After basking in the rare feeling of satisfaction and happiness for a while, Shang focused on his memories.

Sure enough, the thing he was searching for had appeared.

In Shang's mind, a scene appeared.

A blonde and young Shang with a beer belly stood in front of the God, scratching his chin in thought.

From an outside perspective, the current Shang and the past Shang couldn't be any further apart.

If one knew that this white ghost-like figure with nearly no aura was what this healthy young man would turn into…

The feeling would be indescribable.

The change had just been too big.

How would someone even turn into something like that?

What had to happen to change someone this severely?

"For my fifth question," the young Shang slowly said as he looked at the God.

The God only smirked.

"I don't think that I can become truly powerful on my own. Humans are not made to work alone all the time. However, it is very difficult to find someone I can trust."

"So, for my fifth question, can you please tell me how I can discern if someone is trustworthy or not?" the young Shang asked.

The God only smirked. "Sure."

Then, the God went into a long lecture about what one should look out for regarding other people.

The entire scene just shot through Shang's head at insane speeds.

Eventually, it ended.

'I can't expect my old self to only ask smart questions,' Shang thought.

'There were bound to be some misses in my past questions. It was already impressive that there hadn't been any misses until now.'

'I don't think I can rely on these questions in the future. The further I advance, the more disconnected and useless my past questions become.'

'Honestly, I'm not even sure what kind of question I was hoping for.'

'If I could ask the God another question right now, I wouldn't even know what I would ask.'

'I know where to get resources.'

'I know what to train… somewhat.'

'I know where to get enemies.'

'Maybe asking more about how exactly the Mages advance could help since that would give me a reference, but it also wouldn't be that useful.'

'Seems like the questions have mostly lost their usefulness.'

'At least there's still something else that's useful.'

After thinking that, Shang entered his inner world and looked at the stone tablet.

"50 years, huh?" Shang uttered.

The stone tablet showed that Shang had to undertake the trial within the next 50 years.

"I presume you want me to reach the peak of my current level, just like last time, right?" Shang asked.

At that moment, a word appeared on the tablet.

"Yep."

"Same as last time, then," Shang said.

Then, several big pieces of ore flew over from one part of his inner world and entered Sword.

Sword quickly reached the Colossal Sword State again, and for just a second, Shang focused on Sword.

"Seems like fusing the Impulses was not the way to combine my four States into one, but I made some progress, at least."

Sword's States were still separate, but with Shang's connection to the world, the attacks from one State wouldn't be weakened as much while used in a different State.

Shang could theoretically use Shock in his Colossal Sword State without wasting all of his Mana. It wouldn't be as useful as in his Long Sword State, but it was usable enough.

Shang left his inner world and focused on the real world again.

With his Colossal Sword, he stood up.

Then, he walked out of the cave.

He had entered as a True Path Stage warrior.

But he exited as a Fusion Realm...

There was no word to describe what Shang was now.

He was not a Mage, but his level was also far higher than the level of a warrior.

He was simply his own thing.

And that was what Shang wanted.

 

Chapter 569 - Tense

Shang left the cave and walked over to the entrance.

Desert Storm was simply sitting near the edge of the entrance, waiting for Shang. Of course, he had already noticed that Shang had finished his breakthrough.

"Congratulations," he said with a smile as he stood up.

Shang only nodded and walked past Desert Storm without answering.

Right now, Desert Storm was more interested in Shang's sword since it had grown a lot.

It wasn't too unusual to carry a small sword around, even if one wasn't fighting with it. Some people used them as jewelry or accessories, while others used them as materials for Spells that required external materials to show their full effect. The Magnetism Concept for lightning was one of these things.

Some people also just transformed their Foci into the shape of a sword. A Focus didn't specifically need to look like a round ball with several circlets around it.

However, one thing was always the same.

The Focus was not very big.

And now, White Ghost was suddenly walking around with a humongous sword that was nearly three meters long.

That was unusual.

But Desert Storm already had a suspicion. In fact, he had already come to that suspicion while Shang was breaking through.

When Shang had broken through, Desert Storm hadn't felt White Ghost's mind reach the Archmage Realm.

In fact, he had felt White Ghost's mind reach the High Mage Realm.

Usually, this wouldn't be anything unusual since White Ghost was known for continually hiding his power in front of everyone. He always made it appear like his mind was at the Peak True Mage Realm.

That was obviously fake.

Yet, during a breakthrough, someone wouldn't have the time or concentration to mask the fluctuations of their mind from everyone else.

But White Ghost's fluctuations had still been the same, and everything had appeared very much like a True Mage reaching the High Mage Realm.

The only difference was that there was much more Mana entering White Ghost's body.

Such a breakthrough couldn't be faked without a third person focusing on faking the fluctuations.

So, what did this mean?

The only reasonable explanation was that White Ghost's mind had reached the Initial High Mage Realm, but reasonable was only subjective here.

How could a True Mage possibly kill Early Archmages?

That only left one possibility, even though the chances of that possibility being the truth were just slightly higher than believing that a Peak True Mage could kill an Early Archmage.

White Ghost wasn't relying on his mind during fights, which meant that he wasn't a Mage.

However, Desert Storm still couldn't wrap his mind around that.

Believing any of these explanations was beyond difficult. It just seemed impossible.

After walking past Desert Storm, Shang stopped.

"How long did I take?" Shang asked.

"About four hours," Desert Storm said. His politeness felt more artificial than before.

It was almost like he was a bit more apprehensive than before.

Desert Storm was not sure what he should think of White Ghost right now.

He had always held a lot of respect for White Ghost. After all, White Ghost managed to succeed in several extremely difficult missions while still being in the Peak High Mage Realm.

His talent and power were probably one in a million in Desert Storm's eyes.

Yet, he wasn't a Mage?

Desert Storm had no idea what he should think of White Ghost anymore, which made him uncertain about White Ghost's goals and actions.

"We don't need to change our route?" Shang asked.

Desert Storm furrowed his brows and looked at Shang.

After the last two questions, Desert Storm became even more suspicious.

It was obvious that White Ghost's secret would be unveiled during his breakthrough and that every person watching him would realize it.

Under normal circumstances, White Ghost's escort should have been informed prior to the start of the mission to avoid any misunderstandings.

But Desert Storm hadn't been informed, and this shocking revelation had come very suddenly.

It was almost like it didn't matter if Desert Storm knew or not.

"No," he said slowly.

For a while, Shang just stood there.

Desert Storm looked at Shang with slightly narrowed eyes.

For some reason, the atmosphere felt tense.

"I wonder what you did," Shang said quietly, almost like he was talking to himself.

When Desert Storm heard that, all his suspicions were confirmed.

He immediately knew what would happen now.

WHOOOOM!

Desert Storm immediately activated his Mana Shield.

At the same time, intense Light Mana came out of Shang's body, completely isolating Desert Storm's vision and Spirit Sense from the outside world.

The entire world seemingly turned white, and Desert Storm immediately activated Mana Step.

But it failed.

Desert Storm's eyes widened in terror as he felt the Mana he had used to cast Mana Step suddenly vanish.

At that moment, Desert Storm wasn't thinking about Shang, surprisingly.

No, the image of the Keeper appeared inside his mind.

'Are you serious?! I wasn't even sure if I would go through with it! I was just looking through my available options!'

'You didn't need to immediately go for my throat! Are you honestly willing to sacrifice the second strongest Named Agent you have just because I looked towards the exit?!'

'I can't spend my entire life in the Temple of Blood! I also need to think of my future!'

'But you will kill me just for that?!'

'I wasn't even doing anything!'

To Desert Storm, it was obvious that the Keeper was responsible for White Ghost suddenly attacking him.

'But I won't just die! If you think I've shown you my full power, you are horribly mistaken!'

'You want to kill me? Fine! I'll kill your favorite pet!'

Desert Storm immediately readied a storm of Mana Steps.

He had felt that the Mana in the surroundings had subtly changed, and Desert Storm's instincts were telling him that there was a limit to the suppressive effect of his Mana Steps.

CRACK!

But then, Desert Storm's Mana Shield cracked, and his eyes opened wide in shock.

An instant later, his entire body blew apart.

The light in the surroundings had vanished.

Dusk had arrived.

 

 

Chapter 570 - New Power

Desert Storm's body exploded as soon as Dusk hit him.

In one strike, Shang had destroyed the Mana Shield of a Late Archmage.

Dusk was just that powerful.

Sadly, under normal circumstances, it was nearly impossible to hit a Mage with Dusk.

If Shang hadn't had the opportunity to unleash Dusk, the fight would have taken way longer.

Shang put his Long Sword away. In order to break through Desert Storm's Mana Shield, he had needed to effectively burn all of Sword's body.

After that, the chunks of Desert Storm's corpse started to levitate around Shang, including all of his belongings.

A second later, Shang's body also started to levitate.

Surprisingly, Shang wasn't standing on Sword while levitating.

After reaching the Fusion Realm, the control Shang had over his surroundings made it easy for him to fly. He wouldn't need to unleash Ice and Fire Blasts to fly anymore, and he didn't need to ride on his sword.

From now on, Shang could just fly by controlling the world around him, just like any other Archmage.

Then, Shang flew toward the direction of the Temple of Blood's branch while all of Desert Storm's belongings, including his corpse, followed him.

Shang's speed was just as fast as his full speed had been at the Peak True Path Stage.

The difference was that Shang was basically just casually flying forward right now.

He was neither using his Ghost Step nor his Blasts, which would increase his speed by a lot.

Just by controlling the world around him, Shang had reached an insanely high speed.

But that wasn't very surprising. After all, this World Connection was something that only Ancestral Beasts could comprehend.

This was something only a Peak Impose Stage warrior could comprehend before breaking through into the World Connection Stage.

Sadly, it was impossible for Shang to see how the warriors advanced. He could only theorize the Stages, but he couldn't put them into practice.

After flying for a couple of seconds, Desert Storm's corpse and his belongings were suddenly flung in a different direction.

BANG!

A blue wolf jumped backward as its body got surrounded by powerful icicles.

Just now, several things had hit the ground in front of it, and it readied itself for a battle.

Yet, no one attacked it.

After a bit, the wolf inspected the things that had hit the ground in front of it and realized that pieces of a corpse and some funny metallic things were lying there.

The wolf checked its surroundings with its Spirit Sense but didn't find any enemy.

Eventually, it just ate the corpse, the Focus, the Space Ring, and everything else.

The more Mana something had, the better.

Shang didn't even pause as he flew back towards the branch.

After a while, he stopped and carefully inspected the thing in front of him.

The Yellow Sunbreaker.

Shang wasn't sure if his newfound World Connection Ability would draw the Yellow Sunbreaker's attention, which was why he stopped very far away.

Even after reaching the Fusion Realm, it was still nearly impossible for Shang to estimate the Yellow Sunbreaker's power.

Shang had become far more powerful, but compared to the Yellow Sunbreaker, it was still nothing.

He inspected the Yellow Sunbreaker very closely and didn't even try to hide his Spirit Sense.

After a while, Shang felt the Yellow Sunbreaker look back at him.

Its Spirit Sense lingered on Shang for a bit, but Shang felt no danger coming from it.

It just seemed to be mildly interested.

Right now, the Yellow Sunbreaker felt a bit confused.

It was like a powerful and big male lion looking at another male lion.

However, the other male lion was only like five centimeters tall.

The other male lion should be an enemy, but no matter how the Yellow Sunbreaker looked at it, the other male lion wasn't even close to being an enemy or threat.

It was just weird and confusing.

Eventually, the Yellow Sunbreaker lost interest in Shang and focused on something else again.

Shang released a deep breath.

The Yellow Sunbreaker didn't care about him since their strengths were worlds apart.

Shang flew forward and stopped in front of the root.

Then, he walked forward and lifted the root with his right hand.

The gigantic root moved, but it definitely wasn't easy for Shang to move it. He had to use quite a bit of his power.

Shang was slowly moving forward while keeping the root lifted above himself.

It wasn't easy, but he did it.

He could now enter the branch without needing to use his medal.

If anyone saw this, they would be beyond shocked.

This root was massive and insanely dense!

Not even an Ancestral Mage could lift this with just their bodies!

Only a Mage Lord would have a body powerful enough to lift this root without any augmenting Spells.

Yet, this Initial Archmage could lift this heavy root just like that?!

Shang reached the entrance and drew the symbol needed to enter.

The barrier deactivated, and Shang entered the branch.

As soon as Shang stepped past the deactivated barrier, several Spirit Senses focused on him.

The reactions were very mixed.

House Wife was interested in the fact that White Ghost now felt like an Initial High Mage.

In comparison, Trapper felt shocked. White Ghost had already felt like a minor threat to him before his breakthrough, but now, White Ghost felt like someone that could kill him easily!

The difference was too great!

The Keeper's Spirit Sense didn't show any reaction.

When the barrier activated again behind Shang, House Wife and Trapper grew confused.

What about Desert Storm?

Didn't the two of them exit together?

Shang entered the great hall and walked down to the middle.

House Wife and Trapper were looking at Shang with furrowed brows.

Shang didn't show any reaction.

The Keeper didn't look at Shang, but everyone could tell that she was focusing on him with her Spirit Sense.

"What happened to Desert Storm?" the Keeper asked calmly.

"He was eaten by a wolf," Shang said emotionlessly.

House Wife's and Trapper's minds stopped working.