Ch. 571..580

Chapter 571 - Sweeper

The entire branch fell into silence.

Eaten by a wolf?

Then why hadn't White Ghost also been eaten by that wolf?!

Desert Storm was a Late Archmage, and he was the second strongest Named Agent of the branch! If there were a beast powerful enough to kill him, it would also be powerful enough to kill White Ghost!

But even more than that, Desert Storm should have received information about whatever beast was approaching their location! He shouldn't even have come into contact with such a strong beast!

White Ghost's statement couldn't be a more obvious lie.

But then, what happened if Desert Storm hadn't been killed by a beast?

Did he flee?

No, that made no sense.

If White Ghost were on the Temple of Blood's side, he wouldn't be lying for Desert Storm, and if White Ghost were on Desert Storm's side, he wouldn't have returned to this place.

So, did White Ghost kill him?

Sure, White Ghost was very powerful, but he couldn't possibly jump three levels, right? Especially after literally just reaching his new level.

But then, what the fuck even happened?!

Nothing made sense!

"I see," the Keeper said after a bit. "It can't be helped."

Trapper and House Wife looked with shock at the Keeper.

Then, their eyes widened in fear and realization.

The Keeper obviously wouldn't have believed such a stupid lie.

Yet, she didn't contradict White Ghost at all and even accepted his statement without even asking any questions.

This could only mean that she was involved in whatever happened to Desert Storm, and since she got involved, it could only mean that Desert Storm had done something that the Temple of Blood didn't like.

He could have been a spy sent by a different organization to purposefully accept and screw up missions that would go against their goals.

He could have also been someone that tried to gather information on the Temple of Blood and sell it to the Natural Selection Company.

He could have also thought about leaving the Temple of Blood without wanting to sacrifice his Sensitive Knowledge Partition.

Leaving the Temple of Blood wasn't forbidden, but there were two things that stopped a lot of people from leaving.

First of all, they had to pay a lot of money to buy their freedom.

Second of all, they had to sacrifice their SKP.

The SKP included all the knowledge they had gathered that involved the Temple of Blood in any way.

Depending on how long someone had been part of the Temple of Blood, this could result in decades of information and experiences just getting deleted from their minds.

This could severely confuse someone and even permanently weaken their comprehension abilities.

Due to these two things, many people that wanted to leave thought about leaving quietly without anyone noticing.

Trapper, House Wife, and even Shang didn't know why the Keeper had wanted to kill Desert Storm.

In Trapper and House Wife's minds, Desert Storm had probably been killed by one of the Sweepers.

The job of Sweeper inside the Temple of Blood was on the same level as the job of Keeper. Only Ancestral Mages could take up that role.

Sweepers were responsible for getting rid of Named Agents that posed a danger to the Temple of Blood.

If a Keeper grew suspicious regarding an Agent, they could send a Named Agent to kill that Agent or just kill them on their own, but they would also need to inform a Sweeper about everything that had transpired.

However, if a Keeper grew suspicious regarding a Named Agent, they needed to inform the Territory Lord. If the Territory Lord deemed the Named Agent to truly be suspicious, they would send a Sweeper to take care of them.

Keepers were not allowed to just randomly kill off Named Agents.

While House Wife and Trapper thought that Desert Storm had been killed by a Sweeper, Shang thought about why the Keeper had sent Desert Storm to escort him.

Surprisingly, Shang hadn't gotten any information regarding what he should do with Desert Storm.

The Keeper had only said that Desert Storm would guard him during his breakthrough.

Yet, Shang knew that the Keeper wasn't stupid. She knew about Shang being a physi, and she must have also realized that Shang had killed three of his escorts already while he had been a Trial Agent.

She should have known that Desert Storm would have realized Shang's secret and that Shang would kill him like the others.

So, it meant that the Keeper actually wanted Shang to kill Desert Storm.

But she hadn't said why.

It was certain that Shang was supposed to kill Desert Storm. There was no doubt about it.

The Keeper could have just sent Shang to breakthrough in a different branch, with another Keeper keeping watch over him and isolating everything. Shang was powerful, but he couldn't possibly kill an Ancestral Mage.

Surely, there had also been a way to make Shang breakthrough in secret without anyone else noticing.

Sadly, Shang just didn't know why, and he couldn't possibly ask.

Obviously, the Keeper was somehow skirting the rules by doing that. Shang wasn't sure, but it felt very suspicious how the Keeper acted.

House Wife and Trapper got a reminder that they shouldn't step out of line today.

The Keeper had gotten rid of Desert Storm, which meant that she could also get rid of them.

While the two of them remained silent, Shang's Spirit Sense focused on the Keeper.

"I have a request. I will pay for it," Shang transmitted. He didn't want this conversation to be public.

"Speak," the Keeper answered.

"I want to see a Beast Lord," Shang transmitted.

At that point, the Keeper turned around and looked at Shang.

There were not many Beast Lords in the world.

In fact, there were only ten Beast Lords in the Natural Selection Company's territory, which was also the Territory Lord's territory.

Every Beast Lord was very far away from each other, and it wasn't easy to create a safe path to these locations.

This definitely was not a simple request.

 

 

Chapter 572- Beast Lord

The Keeper looked at Shang. Even though the Keeper knew that Shang was a physi, she wasn't clear on all of his powers.

Why would he want to take a look at a Beast Lord?

A Beast Lord was far beyond his level.

Yet, White Ghost was no child. This wasn't just some child asking their parents about going somewhere.

If White Ghost found it reasonable to pay the exorbitant fee of securing a way towards seeing a Beast Lord, he had to think that it was important.

"The Temple doesn't have the power to create a safe route towards a Beast Lord while avoiding all of the Ancestral Beasts," the Keeper transmitted. "There are simply too many Ancestral Beasts around the Beast Lord."

Shang had already expected something like that. "How much to get an Elder to escort me?"

The Keeper slightly narrowed her eyes as she looked at Shang.

Agents were in the Fourth Realm.

Named Agents were in the Fifth Realm.

And Elders were in the Sixth Realm, and there were not that many of them.

"If that were to happen, there better be no accidents," she transmitted.

The message was clear.

Shang better not try to kill the Elder escorting him.

"How can there be accidents?" Shang asked. "There is nothing that could possibly kill them except for the Beast Lord."

The Keeper looked at Shang for several seconds.

"How long do you need to watch?" she asked.

"Only a couple of hours, a day at most," Shang answered.

The Keeper remained silent as she looked to the side for a while.

"100 Grade Six Mana Crystals," she said.

Shang had expected an exorbitant price, but that was even more than he had thought.

However, it made sense.

Named Agents earned a hundred or more Grade Five Mana Crystals per mission, and since Elders were a level higher, they probably earned a hundred or more Grade Six Mana Crystals per mission.

100 Grade Six Mana Crystals was probably the bare minimum for the mission.

Shang wanted to look at a Beast Lord to gain some inspiration for his next step.

He had already comprehended the very thing that made an Ancestral Beast, and the logical next step was to find out what made a Beast Lord.

Shang had never seen a Beast Lord in his life.

However, the price made him hesitate.

He didn't exactly need to look at a Beast Lord. He only wanted to look at one.

Was it really worth the 100 Grade Six Mana Crystals?

"I'll consider it," Shang transmitted.

"That's the price," the Keeper answered.

Shang only nodded and walked toward Room One again.

"This time won't be free," the Keeper transmitted.

"Just take it out of my next reward," Shang answered. "I'm open to accepting newer and more difficult missions."

The Keeper didn't answer, but she didn't need to.

Shang entered Room One and activated the Isolation Barrier.

The Keeper would still be able to contact him since she was the one in control of the Isolation Barriers inside the branch.

There were not that many missions available to this branch, which was why Shang decided to continue training while he waited.

Shang took out his sword and focused on his surroundings.

He wanted to experiment with his newfound power.

However, Shang was also thinking about something at the same time.

'I'm not sure if I actually need to take a look at a Beast Lord. It would definitely be worth it when I'm at the Peak Fusion Realm, but I just entered the Initial Fusion Realm.'

'Comprehending something akin to a level four Concept in the Fusion Realm is already beyond ridiculous, and I can't even hope to comprehend something akin to a level five Concept.'

'So, why would I need to take a look at a Beast Lord right now? I won't use whatever they need to break through for my small advancements. The thing the Beast Lords need will only become relevant when I'm close to reaching the Sixth Realm.'

'Additionally, when I'm at the Peak Fusion Realm, I can probably already look at the Beast Lord on my own. At the Peak Fusion Realm, probably only Peak Ancestral Beasts could pose a danger to me, and I wouldn't even have enough Mana in my body to be appetizing to them.'

As Shang had that thought, he realized how much he had actually grown.

'It's funny, actually. It's basically already a certainty that I will reach the Peak Fusion Realm, and as soon as I reach that, I will be stronger than nearly every single Zone Beast inside Area 23.'

Shang still remembered how imposing the Storm Eagle had been.

It had been so huge, and it had taken so many people to just resist the residual wind it created while flying above the city.

Its power had been unreal.

But now, Shang was already close to rivaling these monsters.

He just needed a bit more.

'For now, I should focus on gaining more resources and absorbing Abominations. I think the best way to do that would be to summon a couple of Abominations when I'm traveling to one of my future missions.'

'While I'm not on missions, I should focus on becoming more familiar with my power. I need to make better use of my World Connection and integrate it into my fighting style.'

'I can still visit a Beast Lord later.'

After planning everything, Shang began to swing his sword.

He used his World Connection to move the Mana in the surroundings.

Obviously, the Keeper saw what Shang was doing, and she finally realized what kind of power Shang had comprehended.

For the first time in a long while, she actually grew shocked.

White Ghost had comprehended the very thing that Archbeasts needed to become Ancestral Beasts, and he had used that very thing to reach the Fifth Realm.

He had essentially skipped an entire Realm!

At that point, she also realized why White Ghost wanted to take a look at a Beast Lord.

The Keeper realized that Shang was even more talented than she had expected.

And this gave her a lot to think about.

 

Chapter 573 - Urbring Family

Shang returned to training while waiting for missions.

A couple of days later, Shang got a mission, but it was just a small one with nearly no reward.

Over the next couple of months, Shang only got smaller missions from time to time, but that wasn't too surprising. These hugely lucrative missions to kill an entire gatherer family were rare. After all, there were not that many gatherer families in the territory.

Sadly, there wasn't much he could do.

He just continued doing these small missions while refining his World Connection.

"I have a mission for you."

Shang put his sword away and stepped out of the training room.

Trapper was nowhere to be seen, which probably meant that he was tracking his next target.

The Keeper was currently sitting with her back to Shang, but she wasn't alone.

"I am the one responsible for these missions!" House Wife shouted at the Keeper from behind. "I'm the stealthiest Mage in this branch!"

'Seems like my mission is very lucrative if even House Wife is arguing this much with the Keeper,' Shang thought.

"That might be the case," the Keeper said. "However, can you kill a Mid Archmage?"

House Wife just furrowed her brows. "I can," she said.

"Can you kill a Mid Archmage before they can contact an Enforcer?" the Keeper asked.

"If I get them with their Mana Shield deactivated, yes," House Wife said.

"Alright," the Keeper said. "Can you stay hidden when you and your target are the only humans around for over ten kilometers?"

House Wife snorted. "That's impossible. The best a Mage can do is to seem as unremarkable as possible, but we still look and feel like humans. No matter how unremarkable you look, when you're the only other human around, you're bound to be noticed."

"Then you are not the right person for the mission," the Keeper said.

"But then the mission is impossible to complete!" House Wife shouted. "We can't just follow one person in the wilderness without being noticed by their Spirit Sense."

"This mission is- AH!"

House Wife suddenly jumped to the left and activated her Magic Shield by reflex.

Just now, something white had entered her field of view on the right.

Usually, every Archmage had their surroundings constantly inside their Spirit Sense, which meant that nothing could come close to them without being noticed.

But that was exactly why she had been so startled just now.

Obviously, the white thing that had entered her field of vision was Shang.

Shang stopped behind the Keeper and waited for instructions.

The sudden appearance of White Ghost gave House Wife thought.

She hadn't noticed him at all.

Wasn't that exactly what had been required of the mission?

In the end, House Wife could only bitterly look to the side.

SHING!

A bloodred sheet of paper appeared in front of Shang, and he scanned it with his Spirit Sense.

These sheets of paper were special since they transmitted the information they contained right into the reader's mind, making it faster and easier to "read" them.

Shang read through the mission.

Target: Treasury Master of the Urbring Family.

Goal: Observation and eventual elimination.

Description: Follow the Treasury Master of the Urbring Family for five years every time he leaves the Urbring Family's house and find out if he's hiding something. If there is nothing suspicious, retreat. If he harbors a secret, eliminate him and forward the information. You are not allowed to take any of his belongings.

Reward: Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals.

These were the details of the mission.

Shang was not very happy with the mission, but he also didn't decline it.

Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals was a lot of money. The only problem was that he would need to waste five years of his life watching over someone.

Five years for ten Grade Six Mana Crystals.

If he were to earn two Mana Crystals per year, he would need 50 years to get enough to visit a Beast Lord.

That seemed reasonable.

"I accept," Shang said.

Shang put the bloodred sheet of paper into his inner world and left the branch.

He didn't say anything while leaving.

'Seems like my training will change for the foreseeable future,' Shang thought as the Isolation Barrier activated behind him again.

Shang pushed through the roots of the Yellow Sunbreaker and took to the skies.

A moment later, the path towards the Urbring Family appeared in his mind with all the Ancestral Beasts marked on it.

Shang still wasn't sure how the Temple of Blood was actually surveying the land. It couldn't be the Keeper since the Yellow Sunbreaker created a wall of roots around the branch. Not even her Spirit Sense should be able to get through that.

Yet, whenever Shang left for a mission, all the Ancestral Beasts from thousands of kilometers around appeared inside his mind.

Shang flew toward the Urbring Family while avoiding all the Ancestral Beasts. He didn't specifically need to evade their entire Spirit Sense, but he shouldn't get closer than 50 kilometers.

Most Ancestral Beasts didn't care about an Initial Fifth Realm human as long as they didn't come too close to them.

Of course, there were also more docile beasts and more aggressive ones. The Yellow Sunbreaker, for example, was a very docile one. It didn't even mind several humans in the Fifth Realm walking over its roots.

But there were also beasts that preferred preying on humans, and if they saw one, they would immediately charge over and eat the human.

That was why it was so important to have a way to navigate the wilderness, even as an Archmage.

Normal Archmages had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 50 kilometers, which was just around the safe line regarding Ancestral Beasts.

Because of that, Archmages could travel through the wilderness as long as there were no aggressive Ancestral Beasts nearby.

There was maybe a 1% chance of meeting such a beast.

But that was for every trip.

After enough rolls, one was bound to hit the 1% eventually.

Shang traveled for around 2,500 kilometers, which was around the halfway mark between the Urbring Family and the Temple of Blood branch.

At that moment, the atmosphere around Shang suddenly changed.

SHING! SHING! SHING!

Hundreds of beings suddenly appeared a couple of kilometers to Shang's right, and one of them appeared very close to Shang.

It was an Archbeast Abomination.

SHING!

Shang swung his sword, and the Abomination turned into nothingness.

Then, he simply continued on his way.

Obviously, Shang had used this opportunity to absorb an Archbeast Abomination.

While Shang was leaving, the Commander Stage and True Path Stage Abominations started to completely decimate the surroundings.

Thousands of weaker beasts died.

This would continue for several hours before one of the Abominations entered the territory of a particularly territorial Ancestral Beast.

And one minute later, all the Abominations were dead.

In Area 23, the Abominations had been killed very quickly by the Zone Beasts, but that was because there was always a Zone Beast around.

In Area 23, the Ancestral Beasts lived far closer to each other than was normal.

In the outside world, one would only meet one Ancestral Beast every 500 kilometers or so while traveling in a straight line.

After some more minutes, Shang arrived at his goal.

The Urbring Family.

 

Chapter 574 - Shroud

Shang stopped around 200 kilometers away from the Urbring Family's house.

Or, more like, the Urbring Family's city.

The Urbring Family was one of the more powerful gatherer families, much more powerful than the two gatherer families Shang had destroyed.

Because of that, their "house" was also far bigger.

Several-kilometer-tall walls surrounded a large area that was nearly 30 kilometers wide, but there was actually no roof above these walls.

Several powerful barriers and Magic Circles strengthened the walls, transforming everything into an extremely powerful fortress.

Inside the walls were several smaller mansions and houses for the different groups inside the Urbring Family.

In a way, the gigantic walls were seen as the Urbring Family's house, but the house was actually just a container for a city.

The Urbring Family was sizable and very powerful.

The Patriarch of the Urbring Family was a Peak Archmage, someone that could kill Shang with a high likelihood.

Shang would definitely not be able to kill the Patriarch before he could call an Enforcer, if he could kill him at all.

Luckily, Shang was not here to kill the Patriarch but to keep watch over the Treasury Master.

Even more, Shang suspected that it was actually the Patriarch that requested this mission.

Even though the Patriarch was definitely much more powerful than the Treasury Master, their Spirit Senses were still equally as large, which meant that the Patriarch couldn't secretly watch the Treasury Master.

In fact, no one in the entire Urbring Family could watch the Treasury Master after leaving the Urbring Family's house.

One had to either be an Ancestral Mage with a greater Spirit Sense or be invisible to Spirit Senses.

Shang guessed that the Patriarch suspected the Treasury Master of keeping a secret or embezzling funds.

Shang had been working in this territory for several decades, and he knew the rules all the gatherer families had to follow.

While the Natural Selection Company could harvest the territory for all it was worth, the same wasn't true for the gatherer families.

The Natural Selection Company paid money to the Twilight Dusk Family for all the resources in this area. The gatherer families were only contractors or employees. They were paid money to harvest the resources and send them to the Natural Selection Company.

The gatherer families were not allowed to keep the resources they harvested for themselves.

The Patriarch of the Urbring Family probably suspected the Treasury Master of keeping resources.

Most of the time, this shouldn't be a rational fear for anyone to have. After all, everyone was getting paid good money.

But if one person found a valuable and secret location with several resources interesting to Ancestral Mages, things would be different.

What if one found a secret garden filled with Grade Six Mind Flowers, the main ingredient for Mind Flow Pellets?

Just one of these flowers could produce several Mind Flow Pellets and would go for over 50 Grade Six Mana Crystals.

If someone found a whole garden of those, their wealth would have to be measured in Grade Seven Mana Crystals.

Some people would definitely be enticed into keeping such a garden for themselves.

But if the Natural Selection Company got wind of it…

Well, the Enforcers were often searching for good reasons to kill a family and pocket all their belongings without having to pay them.

And that was probably exactly why the Patriarch was most likely the one that requested this mission.

The biggest indicator for it being the Patriarch that requested the mission was the fact that Shang wasn't supposed to kill the Treasury Master if he didn't break any rules.

Shang wasn't sure if the Treasury Master was inside the house at the moment. His Spirit Sense was completely cut off by the powerful Magic Circles surrounding the house.

But that wasn't really a problem. He only needed to wait. At some point, the Treasury Master would either return or leave.

After scanning the surroundings, Shang dug a small cave and buried himself in it.

While he could stay invisible to Spirit Senses, he could still be seen.

As Shang was surrounded by nothing but earth and stone, he fully focused on his Spirit Sense and kept watch over the Urbring Family's house.

Shang wouldn't train for the next five years since it wouldn't help much. Whenever Shang trained, he fully focused on his training, but that wouldn't be possible in this case since he had to keep watch over the Urbring Family's house.

Without being able to focus, training wasn't very effective.

After several days of watching, Shang eventually found something to occupy his mind that didn't require too much focus.

He simply tried to move the heavy Earth Mana around him more and more precisely.

Of course, Earth Mana had literally zero impact on Shang's power, but it was better than doing nothing.

If Shang were to do nothing for the next five years, he would go insane.

So, Shang just moved the Earth Mana around.

Left and right.

Up and down.

Whenever someone entered or exited the Urbring Family's house, Shang's Spirit Sense quickly threw a glance at them.

Eventually, Shang's mind entered a rhythm.

Several weeks passed.

Suddenly, Shang's Spirit Sense locked onto a person that just left the Urbring Family's house.

This was the Treasury Master.

The earth above Shang silently split open. He hadn't been able to do that several weeks ago but being able to move earth wasn't something particularly impressive.

Even some Peak Adepts could do that.

Learning this skill wasn't hard for someone with the mind of an Initial High Mage.

Like a ghost, Shang flew through the forest as he followed the Treasury Master.

It was currently night, and the forest was very dark.

Yet, Shang's white silhouette almost seemed unaffected by the dark.

It almost seemed like this white silhouette was only an illusion.

This was the effect of Shang's peculiar ability to stay invisible to most Spirit Senses.

Over the past 150 years, Shang had created an impressive ability to stay hidden.

While training his Long Sword State and Colossal Sword State Imposes, Shang had also learned a lot about light and darkness. Additionally, the lie he told everyone about his eyes wasn't a complete lie.

Not being able to see actually helped Shang in viewing the world from a different viewpoint.

So, after years of training, he had learned something surprising.

He had actually comprehended the level one Pure Concept of Light and Darkness.

The level one Pure Concept of Light was called Illumination, and it could be used to distort sight and Spirit Senses.

In fact, the powerful Mid High Mage Shang had fought in his last trial had used that concept to completely cut his senses off from the surroundings.

The level one Pure Concept of Darkness was called Shadow, and it could be used in the same way as the Concept of Illumination, but with darkness.

Light could be used to fill the surroundings with light.

Darkness could be used to empty the surroundings of light.

One represented the addition of something, and the other represented the subtraction of something.

They were two extremes.

But if one knew both, one could manipulate the two of them like a dial.

Make more appear there.

Make less appear there.

After a lot of training, Shang had managed to essentially only delete himself from the enemy's Spirit Sense.

This ability was also the very reason for his codename, White Ghost.

But Shang just called it Shroud.

 

 

Chapter 575 - Mundane Job

Shang followed the Treasury Master for several minutes. He wasn't worried about meeting an aggressive Ancestral Beast since the Natural Selection Company gave the gatherer families ways to navigate the wilderness.

The Treasury Master probably knew exactly where all the more powerful beasts were.

Due to the size of Shang's Spirit Sense, he didn't even need to hide from the Treasury Master's Spirit Sense. Shang could simply follow him from 200 kilometers away.

After a couple of minutes, Shang noticed something.

The sensitivity of Shang's Spirit Sense was very high since he couldn't see, and without that sensitivity, Shang wouldn't have noticed it.

There was a small Magic Circle between him and the Treasury Master.

It didn't have a lot of Mana, and it was rather hidden, but it was definitely there.

'A temporary Sense Expansion Magic Circle,' Shang thought.

These kinds of Magic Circles were used to connect one's Spirit Sense to a different spot.

The houses of the gatherer families were surrounded by these kinds of Magic Circles, but theirs were of the permanent kind.

Because of that, the gatherer families could watch around 700 kilometers of their surroundings, giving them enough time to spot an Ancestral Beast and contact an Enforcer.

Of course, thanks to Shang's Shroud, he wouldn't be seen by them.

Mages could infuse these Magic Circles with their Spirit Sense. Their Spirit Sense surrounding their body would shrink while the Spirit Sense around the Magic Circle would grow.

The Treasury Master was probably throwing several of these Magic Circles around and swapping between them to keep watch over a much greater area.

'He's probably worried that an Enforcer is following him.'

The Treasury Master's tactic of throwing Magic Circles out and swapping between them was pretty useful.

These Magic Circles weren't very expensive, and he scattered them behind him and around him.

Eventually, nearly 1,000 kilometers of the surroundings were littered with them, and the Treasury Master was swapping between them.

If there were an Ancestral Mage, they would have issues getting close to him.

But Shang simply passed through them.

Due to Shroud, he was invisible to all of these Magic Circles.

'He's quite suspicious.'

Shang just kept calmly following the Treasury Master.

And ten minutes later, the Treasury Master stopped.

He had reached his goal.

It was the house of another gatherer family.

The Treasury Master stopped in front of the door of the other gatherer family and waited.

'He doesn't seem like he's trying to keep things secret.'

The Treasury Master was just openly standing there, in view of probably the entire gatherer family.

This was definitely not some sort of shady deal. After all, the gatherer families were colleagues, not enemies. Because of that, they were in contact a lot.

'Probably official business.'

Shang saw the Treasury Master of the gatherer family come out, and the two of them exchanged Space Rings shortly after.

After some more talking, the Treasury Master left again.

'Could be an internal trade,' Shang thought.

The gatherer families were not allowed to pocket the resources, but they still had their own belongings and wealth. The individual families often traded with each other.

'Would also explain why he is so careful.'

This could be a regular exchange, which would mean that the Treasury Master probably carried the wealth of around 50 members of his gatherer family with him.

The Treasury Master left and continued flying.

Surprisingly, he wasn't going home but somewhere else.

Shang continued following him, and a couple of minutes later, the Treasury Master stopped in front of another gatherer family.

The same thing happened again.

And again.

After around two hours, the Treasury Master made his way back to the Urbring Family and entered the house without doing anything suspicious.

Shang wasn't surprised or disappointed.

If the Patriarch of the Urbring Family suspected the Treasury Master of something, the Treasury Master probably also suspected the Patriarch of suspecting him.

If the Treasury Master actually had a secret, he definitely wouldn't unveil it in the short term.

Shang knew that he would probably have to keep watch over the Treasury Master for a long time.

After returning, Shang buried himself in the ground again and resumed waiting.

Five days later, the Treasury Master left the family again, and Shang followed.

He traveled to a gathering of the Urbring Family's members and killed a Late Archbeast.

Then, he returned.

20 days later, he left the house and traveled to the closest city.

Shang couldn't follow him there since every city here had an Ancestral Mage of the Natural Selection Company overlooking it. Shang was confident in hiding from an Archmage's Spirit Sense, but he wasn't confident in being able to hide from the Spirit Sense of an Ancestral Mage.

However, Shang also didn't need to worry.

The Urbring Family's Patriarch kept watch over everything inside his house, and the Ancestral Mage of the Natural Selection Company kept watch over everything in the city.

If the Treasury Master had a secret, it definitely wouldn't be located in the city.

Half an hour later, the Treasury Master returned to his house.

Seven days later, he left again to kill another beast.

Some days later, he welcomed a visitor.

Some days later, he killed another beast.

He visited one of the Urbring Family's gardens and inspected it.

He left the house and collected the Space Rings of some people.

He killed another beast.

He went on another round trip to some other gatherer families.

He killed another beast.

And so on.

The job of following someone would seem interesting to many people that hadn't done it before. Sadly, the truth was that it was very mundane and boring work.

Nevertheless, Shang documented everything. He was supposed to gather information and deliver it to the client if the Treasury Master wasn't doing anything suspicious.

Shang kept shoving earth around while waiting for anything suspicious to happen.

He didn't enjoy this job at all, but it paid well.

It was not an easy job, but he could do it.

 

Chapter 576 - Secret

Shang continued watching the Treasury Master for several months.

It was mundane work, but it paid well.

Eventually, over two years passed.

And finally, something suspicious happened.

The Treasury Master left the Urbring Family every three months to travel to a couple of different gatherer families and exchange some wares. This was the very thing that happened the first time Shang had seen the Treasury Master.

Originally, when the Treasury Master left for his regularly scheduled roundtrip, Shang hadn't thought that anything suspicious would happen.

By now, he had been convinced that the Treasury Master was innocent.

Sure, he had once met with an unknown woman to have some fun, which was against the rule of meeting outsiders without informing an Enforcer, but it was just innocent fun. Shang knew that this was not nearly suspicious enough to actually conclude the mission.

The Treasury Master stopped near the first gatherer family, and the two Treasury Masters exchanged Space Rings.

After that, the two of them talked for a bit, which wasn't anything unusual.

It was just some conversation about the two families.

Some minutes later, the Treasury Master took out a Communication Crystal and informed the Treasury Master of the next family he was supposed to visit.

He told them that he was having a conversation right now and that he would arrive a couple of minutes late.

It was all very casual.

The two of them continued talking for about two more minutes before the Treasury Master left again.

A couple of minutes later, the Treasury Master reached the next family and exchanged Space Rings.

And then, another long conversation happened.

The Treasury Master took out his Communication Crystal again and called the Patriarch, telling him that he would be late.

This wasn't anything unusual. The Treasury Master enjoyed talking to the other Treasury Masters quite a bit.

Maybe this was why the Patriarch became suspicious.

After all, his Treasury Master always called him about being late. In a way, the Treasury Master was always kind of missing for a couple of minutes.

However, the other families always backed his claim that he was just talking to them.

The Treasury Master kept talking for a couple more minutes before leaving.

As always, the Treasury Master kept throwing the Sense Expansion Magic Circles everywhere while traveling, which was understandable. After all, he was carrying a lot of wealth with him.

Nothing unusual.

'Oh?'

Suddenly, the Treasury Master stopped and threw the Magic Circles toward his front.

And then, he took a sharp right.

'That's a new one,' Shang thought.

Usually, the Sense Expansion Magic Circle the Treasury Master had dropped on his way to the first family would have already stopped working since they would have already used up all their stored Mana, but this time, they were still active.

In fact, all of them were still active.

One line from the Urbring Family to the first family.

One line from the first family to the second family.

One line from the second family to the edge of the Urbring family.

'He made a triangle of Sense Expansion Magic Circle,' Shang thought. 'No one can enter this area without being noticed by him.'

'Additionally, since he keeps talking with so many other Treasury Masters for several minutes nearly every time, a short absence wouldn't even be noticed. On top of that, the other Treasury Masters would even back his claim up. He did talk to them, after all.'

'And the Patriarch probably can't show too openly that he is suspecting his own Treasury Master of hiding something. The other Treasury Masters might actually side with his Treasury Master, or they might directly contact the Enforcers, which might prompt an investigation.'

'If an Enforcer investigates the Urbring Family and finds out about his secret, the Patriarch and the leaders would be executed.'

There was a lot of scheming happening on both sides.

As always, Shang easily passed by the Sense Expansion Magic Circles and entered the gigantic triangle.

The Treasury Master flew faster than before, but Shang could still keep up with him. As long as he didn't use one Mana Step after the other, Shang had no trouble following.

Eventually, the Treasury Master reached a seemingly random place in the forest and closed his eyes.

Shang felt all the Sense Expansion Magic Circles in his surroundings "light up" one after the other.

The Treasury Master was making sure that no one was watching.

Then, he opened his eyes and began to cast a long Spell.

WHOOOM!

Suddenly, all the forest and ground below him for about a hundred meters brightly lit up.

SHING!

And vanished.

After the forest and ground vanished, a deep hole appeared. It looked like a crater, but it curved to the side after a couple hundred meters, essentially making it a cave.

'That's a very expensive Isolation Barrier working together with a high-grade Illusion Magic Circle and an even better Cloaking Magic Circle. That's a lot of money just to hide the entrance to a cave.'

Shang quietly came closer.

The Treasury Master entered the cave.

Just as the Treasury Master passed by the entrance, Shang also entered just behind him.

The Treasury Master couldn't see Shang with his Spirit Sense, but for some reason, he felt nervous and watched.

In an instant, the Treasury Master turned around.

Nothing.

The Treasury Master saw the entire entrance now from within the cave, and there was just nothing.

But for some reason, he was still nervous and looked around.

He kept looking at everything with his Spirit Sense, but he also looked around with his eyes.

Something about the cave seemed different, but he couldn't tell what.

He was right.

There was something different about the cave.

The walls were slightly more illuminated than normal, but that was not something a normal person would notice, and since the Treasury Master relied on his Spirit Sense, he would be even less likely to notice it.

The Treasury Master didn't notice that the source of the slight illumination always came from a bit behind him.

Eventually, the Treasury Master turned to the entrance and cast another long Spell.

The Magic Circles activated again, hiding the entrance to the cave.

The Treasury Master turned and traveled deeper into the cave.

The deeper he got, the darker everything became.

He didn't see it, but behind him, a wall of pure blackness seemed to follow him.

The Treasury Master became more and more nervous the further he traveled.

He rubbed the sweaty back of his neck.

He felt like something was breathing down his neck.

The Treasury Master turned around several times out of nervousness, but there was nothing there.

Yet, even while turning around, he still felt like something was behind him.

After a while, he convinced himself that he was this nervous because he knew what would happen if anyone found out about his secret.

This was simply the nervousness of doing something he knew was forbidden.

Eventually, the Treasury Master reached a brightly lit room.

The room was only around twenty meters wide, but the wealth it contained was shocking.

Bones.

There were a lot of large bones in here, but not just any bones.

Those were the remains of a long-dead Beast Lord.

Of course, since there were only bones left, the "corpse" wasn't nearly as valuable as the entire corpse of a Beast Lord, but the bones alone were still worth quite a bit.

In total, the bones were probably worth around five Grade Seven Mana Crystals, which was a ridiculous sum of money.

When the Treasury Master saw the bones, he released a sigh.

Seeing them somewhat calmed him down.

After a while, the Treasury Master touched one of the bones and cast a long Spell.

The bone began to shine brightly, and a couple of seconds later, it vanished.

But now, something new was in the Treasury Master's hand.

It was a Grade Six Mana Crystal.

The Treasury Master was using a Spell to convert the Mana hidden in the bones to Mana Crystals.

Of course, such a Spell was wildly inefficient and wasted a ridiculous amount of the Mana.

The worth of the entire skeleton would drop from about five Grade Seven Mana Crystals to about a hundred Grade Six Mana Crystals.

The Treasury Master did the same thing for two more bones.

Just like that, he had earned three Grade Six Mana Crystals.

While natural resources could be tracked and found by the Enforcers, Mana Crystals were liquid currency, making it very difficult to track them.

And as a Treasury Master, he also knew how to properly hide his growing wealth.

After converting three bones in total, the Treasury Master turned around and walked towards the exit.

But he stopped.

He still felt nervous.

For some reason, he felt like his biggest treasure might have been stolen.

The Treasury Master looked at a random spot on the ground and walked over.

He cast several complex Spells, and eventually, a small part of the ground split apart.

A ton of Mana exploded out of that part, lighting up the cave.

The Treasury Mater carefully went to his knees and took hold of the thing inside the small compartment he had just unveiled.

It was the Beast Core of the Beast Lord that had died here.

It was extremely old, damaged, and had lost most of its Mana, but it was still worth more than the skeleton.

As the Treasury Master looked at the Beast Core in his hands, the cave around him shimmered in colorful light…

Revealing a white silhouette standing behind the Treasury Master.

 

 

Chapter 577 - MissionAccomplished

Shang took the Beast Core into his hand and inspected it, ignoring the headless corpse to his right.

'This thing is probably still worth about ten Grade Seven Mana Crystals,' Shang thought. 'That is a hundred times of what I would need to look at a living Beast Lord.'

After a couple of seconds, Shang put the Beast Core down and took out a Communication Crystal.

"The Treasury Master of the Urbring Family hid the skeleton of a dead Beast Lord and its Beast Core. I killed the Treasury Master. The mission is complete," Shang said.

Yes, Shang wouldn't pocket anything.

It was a lot of money, but it was too risky.

The Temple of Blood was too mysterious, and Shang still couldn't tell how they could inspect the surroundings this thoroughly and mark all the beasts.

On top of that, the Territory Lord personally was his Keeper, and this place was still within her Spirit Sense's range. Sure, her Spirit Sense should be isolated by the Yellow Sunbreaker, but Shang wouldn't take any risks.

Lastly, how was he supposed to transform something this valuable into actual disposable income, and how would he explain his newfound wealth?

It didn't need a genius to connect Shang's newfound wealth to this mission.

"Good work," the Keeper answered through the Communication Crystal. "Return to the branch."

A moment later, a new route back to the branch appeared inside Shang's mind.

Then, Shang exited the room and went to the entrance of the cave.

He took out some of the leftover expensive Barrier Disruptors he had purchased to destroy the two gatherer families a couple of years ago.

The Temple of Blood sold them to make it easier for Agents to fulfill their duty. One could call it an investment to make sure that the mission was a success.

A small hole opened in front of Shang, and he used a second Barrier Disruptor to collect the first one.

Then, he left with both of them.

By now, the two Barrier Disruptors had used up all their Mana, making them useless, but members of the Temple of Blood were forbidden from giving outsiders access to their equipment.

Everything below Shang returned to looking like a normal forest.

Shang flew back to the branch without pause.

Over the past two years, he had absorbed about three Abominations, which wasn't a lot. However, the Abominations' appearances didn't seem suspicious since he was just taking advantage of the natural appearance of the Abominations.

'Two years for ten Grade Six Mana Crystals. That's pretty good,' Shang thought as he pushed past the Yellow Sunbreaker's roots.

Shang arrived at the end of the cave, but the barrier vanished on its own.

That was because someone else was just about to leave for a mission.

A small and slender light-blue-haired woman stepped past Shang without looking at him.

After she walked past him, Shang entered the branch and closed the barrier behind him.

Ice Princess wasn't a fan of talking to others, just like Shang.

"Oh, look who's back. If it isn't the old loser."

A small and young man with spiky and long grey hair sat in the middle of the branch alone.

Trapper and House Wife were focusing on training now, and this man was now focusing on earning money for resources, which was why he was here now.

This was an Early Archmage with a Metal Affinity, and his specialty was killing others in a direct confrontation.

His Battle-Strength was quite good, and he could even fight Mid Archmages for a while.

Even more, he was rather young and was also the newest member of the branch.

His codename was Spike Ball.

Even though Spike Ball had just tried to provoke Shang, Shang just ignored him and walked to the Keeper.

Spike Ball sneered and snorted when he saw Shang walk past him, but he didn't say anything.

Spike Ball was a very aggressive person, and he constantly insulted everyone around him. If it weren't against the rules, he would probably challenge everyone in this branch to a one-on-one life-and-death duel.

Shang guessed that Spike Ball was insecure and just wanted to prove to everyone and himself that he was strong.

But all of that wasn't relevant.

Since it was forbidden to fight, Spike Ball was no threat, and his words were meaningless.

Everyone knew him, and nobody cared about him.

Except Trapper.

Whenever Trapper and Spike Ball were in the same room, the entire branch would get annoyed by their constant arguing.

It even got so bad at one point that the Keeper forced them into different rhythms regarding their training. This would stop them from being in the room and waiting for missions at the same time.

Shang stopped behind the Keeper.

"Report," the Keeper transmitted.

Shang transmitted a rundown of what he had seen the Treasury Master do over the past two years.

Then, he reported in detail what he had seen the Treasury Master do today.

"Well done," the Keeper said after Shang transmitted everything.

SHING!

Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals appeared in her hands, which then floated over to Shang.

"There might be a chance that you will receive a bonus for this mission," she said.

Shang put the Mana Crystals away. "How come?"

"The skeleton is too hot," she answered. "If the Urbring Family hands it over to the Natural Selection Company, the company will question them regarding the missing bones and will demand the missing bones to be handed over."

"However, they can't hand over the missing bones since the Treasury Master converted them directly into Mana Crystals."

"Because of that, they can't possibly hand the skeleton or Beast Core over. Instead, they will most likely contact us and trade with us."

Shang's expression didn't change, and he didn't move. "How much would the bonus be?"

"If everything goes according to plan, I will pay for your trip to see a Beast Lord."

Shang slowly nodded and walked over to Training Room One.

He wanted to continue training while waiting for more information.

While Shang continued training, the Patriarch of the Urbring Family received news about the mission he had placed.

And his entire world broke down.

This was bad!

 

Chapter 578 - Patriarch

The Patriarch of the Urbring Family flew through the wilderness and eventually stopped at a seemingly random spot.

He furrowed his brows and cast several complex Spells.

After a while, he moved further away and cast another Spell.

Eventually, the Patriarch saw the ground below him vibrate and shine a slight bit.

He had found the spot.

WHOOOM!

A gigantic fireball appeared near the Patriarch, and he threw it at the ground.

BOOOOOOOOM!

A gigantic explosion nearly 200 meters wide appeared below him, destroying the forest and ground…

Except for an area in the middle that was about a hundred meters wide.

The forest there looked the same as always.

Yet, with the devastated ground around it, the small speck of forest looked extremely suspicious. Even the ground below it was still in one piece while there was just a singed crater all around it.

The Patriarch narrowed his eyes and summoned more fireballs.

BOOOM!

BOOOOOM!

BOOOOOOM!

He kept attacking the barrier for about a minute, and finally, it broke.

The explosion broke through the entrance, and the entire barrier collapsed.

However, the Patriarch stopped the explosion before it could go too far in the cave.

Eventually, a big hole was unveiled before the Patriarch, and he entered it.

Even though he had already seen everything in the cave via his Spirit Sense just now, he still wanted to see it with his own eyes.

The Patriarch entered the big room, and his eyes fell on a headless corpse.

The Patriarch had to take a deep breath, even though he knew exactly what was waiting for him.

He had seen how powerful the barrier had been and how careful the Treasury Master had been all this time.

Yet, surrounded by his impressive barrier and Sense Expansion Magic Circles, he still died.

Nothing inside the cave seemed out of place except for the headless corpse.

There was no lingering Mana, and the assassin had also left this place without destroying the barrier.

There was no trace of any other living being having been here.

It was almost like the Treasury Master had just randomly lost his head on his own.

"Oh, William. Why did you have to be such a fool?" the Patriarch spoke quietly with a sigh as he looked at the corpse.

The two of them had known each other for a long time, and the Patriarch had chosen this person as his Treasury Master.

"We are already earning so much money. Why did you have to risk all of our lives for even more money?"

After a while, the Patriarch pointed towards the corpse with one of his fingers, and the corpse started to slowly turn into ash.

Then, the Space Ring of the former Treasury Master floated over to the Patriarch, who used his privileges to unlock it.

He went through the former Treasury Master's belongings, but there was nothing suspicious to be found.

The only thing that could be considered to be slightly suspicious was the 15 Grade Six Mana Crystals. That was more than one would expect a Treasury Master to have as their personal wealth, but it wasn't too shocking.

Sure enough, the Treasury Master had been extremely careful about being found out, even keeping his Space Ring clean.

Eventually, the Patriarch looked at the bones in the middle of the room.

He wasn't surprised that the skeleton of an entire Beast Lord fit into this small room. He had heard that Beast Lords could control the size of their bodies.

After a bit, the Patriarch walked over and lifted a tiny piece of bone…

Or, at least, he tried to.

Even though the piece of bone was only a couple of centimeters long, it was still far too heavy for the Patriarch to lift with his body or mind.

When the Treasury Master had transformed the bone, he also hadn't been able to lift it. He had just touched it while it was lying on the ground.

Then, the Patriarch looked at the shining Beast Core lying on the ground.

He just looked at it for several seconds before sighing.

He wanted to feel happy about finding so much money just lying around, but the oppressive weight of his find made that impossible.

This was a double-edged sword. It could prove extremely useful, but it could also spell the doom of the Urbring Family.

For just a short moment, the Patriarch would have preferred the Temple of Blood to just steal all the things here.

'White Ghost is frightening,' the Patriarch thought. As the mission giver, he knew which Named Agent had completed his mission.

'True to his name, he entered and left like a ghost. Even more, he didn't even touch these things, even though they are worth a multiple of what I paid him.'

'He's able to control his greed under such circumstances.'

'That's a terrifying mindset.'

The Patriarch focused on the bones for a while.

'Around 20% of the bones are missing. If I deliver everything to the Enforcers, they would want to be reimbursed for the missing bones since they had been destroyed by one of my people.'

'That would come to one Grade Seven Mana Crystal.'

'That would spell the end of the Urbring Family. We don't have that kind of money lying around just like that. I would need to sacrifice a century of growth just for that.'

'Oh, William. What have you done?'

The Patriarch sighed again.

'I've already broken the rules by commissioning the Temple of Blood. Might as well go all in.'

'I wonder, is that why they left all these valuables just lying around? Did they know that they would be able to trade for them without damaging their image?'

Once again, the Patriarch sighed.

Eventually, he took out a bloodred Communication Crystal.

"I request an Ancestral Mage to trade with," he spoke.

"Daniel Urbring," a distorted voice came out of the Communication Crystal. "The travel fee is 20 Grade Six Mana Crystals. Do you accept?"

Requesting an Ancestral Mage, even if it was just for a simple trade, was never cheap.

20 Grade Six Mana Crystals was quite a lot, even for the Urbring Family.

"I accept," the Patriarch, Daniel Urbring, said.

"A representative will arrive within the next 20 minutes."

Then, the Communication Crystal was deactivated.

The Patriarch sighed once again.

A couple of minutes later, the Patriarch felt a powerful Mage rapidly approaching, and in a matter of seconds, the powerful Mage appeared inside the cave.

They wore dark-red robes, and several Spells were hiding their identity.

The Patriarch grew nervous when the powerful Mage arrived.

"What do you have to offer?" the representative asked.

"These bones and the Beast Core," the Patriarch said.

The representative inspected all the different things.

"Nine Grade Seven Mana Crystals," the representative said.

"Only nine?" the Patriarch asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The rate is fixed," the representative answered coldly. "We don't haggle. Take it or leave it."

The Patriarch sighed.

"Fine, but I can't just accept the money right now. If an Enforcer searches me, I can't hide it."

"For 500 Grade Six Mana Crystals, we can distribute the money over several trading firms, who will give you favorable trades until all the money eventually reaches your pockets. It would take around 250 years to fully transmit all the money to you, but it is very safe and untraceable," the representative answered.

The Patriarch waited for a while and nodded. "Fine, make it like that."

After clearing up all the small things, the representative left with the bones and the Beast Core.

The Patriarch could only look at the new Communication Crystal he received.

One last time, he sighed.

 

Chapter 579- Aterium

Shang exited Training Room One just a couple of hours after entering and walked over to the Keeper, ignoring Spike Ball's provocations.

"The Patriarch of the Urbring Family has acted as expected," the Keeper transmitted to Shang. "Are you still interested in visiting a Beast Lord?"

Shang's expression didn't change, but he nodded.

"Do you want to see any Beast Lord in particular?" the Keeper asked.

"I would prefer a Beast Lord with a Light or Darkness Affinity," Shang answered.

"There is one in my territory, but it's around 700,000 kilometers away," she transmitted to Shang.

Shang nodded.

700,000 kilometers was really far away.

After being so long in the outside world, Shang had learned a lot about the world and how it was split up between different powers.

The world basically consisted of one solid landmass with plenty of small rivers and lakes inside it. Of course, these relatively small rivers and lakes were often hundreds, if not thousands, of kilometers big.

The humongous landmass was surrounded by an endless ocean. Inside the ocean were 50 big islands that surrounded the huge landmass, but even when combined, their landmass couldn't compare to the continent.

The continent was called Aterium, which was also the name of the entire world.

So, how big was Aterium?

The size of the entire world, including the endless ocean, was unknown. Maybe the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors knew, but the general public had no idea.

As for the continent Aterium, it had a square-like shape, and it was roughly twenty million by twenty million kilometers big.

The islands surrounding the continent were only about 500,000 kilometers wide each. While their width was not that much smaller than the continent, when looking at them from an area perspective, the difference in size between the islands and the continent was massive.

When one said that a Mage Emperor ruled around 10% of the world, one was talking about Aterium, the continent.

The 50 islands surrounding the continent were not under human rule.

That wasn't because humans were too weak but because humans wanted to leave some areas for beasts.

Each of the 50 islands was ruled by a Beast King, the only Beast Kings in existence.

Aterium, the continent, didn't have a single Beast King. Humans had eradicated all of them.

The territory of a Mage Emperor was about six million kilometers wide and long. The specific size varied from Mage Emperor to Mage Emperor.

Every living Mage King belonged to one of the ten Mage Emperors, and there were about a hundred of them.

The strongest people not belonging to the Mage Emperors were Mage Lords, but there were not that many unaffiliated Mage Lords.

The vast majority of Mage Lords were part of one of the Mage Emperors' forces.

The few independent ones ruled organizations like the Natural Selection Company or the Temple of Blood.

The Natural Selection Company was responsible for about 10% of the Twilight Dusk Family's low-ranked territories, and their territory was about a million kilometers wide.

The Territory Lord of the Temple of Blood shared this territory, which meant that the person sitting in front of Shang was responsible for all branches of the Temple of Blood in the surrounding million kilometers or so.

When one ignored the fact that the world was owned by the Mage Emperors, one could say that the Keeper in front of Shang ruled over one times one million kilometers of the twenty times twenty million kilometers wide world.

This meant that the person in front of Shang ruled over about 0.25% of the world.

While the number seemed to be small, it was actually huge.

Earth had an area of around 500 million kilometers squared. 0.25% of that would be about 1.25 million kilometers squared.

That was a bit bigger than an area that was a thousand times a thousand kilometers big, which would be bigger than France and Germany combined.

So, when the Keeper said that the Beast Lord was quite far away, she truly meant it.

Shang would need to travel across nearly the entire territory, and there were plenty of dangerous areas on the way.

When the circumstances were right, the Mana in the atmosphere could create dangerous and terrifying areas.

There were areas with nearly no Mana, making it incredibly difficult for Spirit Senses to work since they relied on the Mana in the atmosphere.

There were areas that naturally showed certain Concepts, and if one weren't careful while traveling through them, one would most likely die.

There were even areas filled with constantly mutating beasts, which meant that no one would know what one could expect.

Of course, there were also man-made problems, like huge borders that would thoroughly inspect every single living being passing through them.

Even worse, a Mage Lord's Spirit Sense could only see the surrounding 10,000 kilometers, which was nothing in comparison to the sheer distance of 700,000 kilometers.

Whatever the Temple of Blood was using to scan the area for beasts also didn't work for such large distances.

There might even be territories of other Beast Lords on the way.

Because of that, traveling to that one Beast Lord would be very dangerous.

Traveling through the wilderness without any sort of guide was only something a powerful Ancestral Mage could pull off safely.

Shang estimated that if he tried to get there on his own, there would be a high likelihood of him dying.

But that was why he was paying so much money.

"I would like to visit that Beast Lord with an escort," Shang answered.

"Fine," the Keeper answered. "Usually, such a long trip would cost you more than just a hundred Grade Six Mana Crystals, but the Temple of Blood earned a lot from your mission."

"I will call one of the more powerful Sweepers to escort you. You will have to follow their commands if you want to survive, and there better not be any accidents during the journey," the Keeper said coldly.

Shang nodded. "I will. There won't be any accidents."

Even if Shang wanted to kill a Sweeper, he wouldn't be even nearly powerful enough.

"I will post the mission," the Keeper said.

Shang nodded again before going back to the training room.

​ This could be a risky mission, and it would take several days, if not weeks, and there weren't that many Sweepers.

It could take a while until someone accepted the mission to escort Shang.

 

Chapter 580 - Shang's Journey

Shang actually had to wait for a long time.

It wasn't that the Sweepers were fully booked but that the reward for the mission hadn't reached adequate levels yet.

Every month, the Keeper increased the reward for the mission by ten Grade Six Mana Crystals until one of the Sweepers accepted the mission.

By then, Shang had waited nearly one and a half years.

"Someone accepted the mission," the Keeper informed Shang.

Shang stopped training and stepped out of the room.

Spike Ball was sneering at him while Ice Princess was ignoring everything and waited with her eyes closed.

Shang walked over to the Keeper.

"The location of this branch is secretive, even for Sweepers," she transmitted to him. "You will leave the branch and wait at this location. Make sure that the Sweeper can actually find you."

A map appeared in Shang's mind. The place where he was supposed to be waiting was around 5,000 kilometers away from the branch. This was still within the range of whatever the Temple of Blood was using to scan the surroundings, which meant that Shang could go there without any issues.

Shang nodded and left the branch without saying anything.

He had already received his instructions several months ago. From now on, he was only supposed to follow the commands of the Sweeper.

Shang's survival was in the interest of the Sweeper since they were being paid good money to protect him, and they knew better than him what to do in the wilderness.

Shang left the branch and traveled towards the east.

He had been in this territory for over 150 years, and he knew it perfectly.

In comparison to Area 23, there were no real Zones in the outside world.

All of the surroundings were just normal forest from a temperate climate during early summer.

But in comparison to areas in temperate climates on Earth, there were no seasons here.

What it looked like right now was exactly what it looked like all year.

There wasn't much to talk about regarding the wilderness in this area. Just normal trees, normal temperatures, plenty of animals, lots of beasts.

One of the main reasons why there were no Zones, even though there were so many Ancestral Beasts, was that releasing one's Mana in the surroundings was considered a provocation by beasts.

If one of the Ancestral Beasts decided to transform its surroundings into a land of ice, some other Ancestral Beast that walked by might take offense to that and attack.

On top of that, Ancestral Beasts often didn't even stay in one place. Many of them traveled across the land while considering their immediate surroundings as their territory.

Sure, there were some beasts that still transformed their surroundings, but they actually couldn't transform that much of their surroundings into their element.

In Area 23, the Zones had only been about 100 kilometers wide each, while there were often over a thousand kilometers between Ancestral Beasts. A small area of about a hundred kilometers was not very noticeable, especially when only a few beasts actually transformed their surroundings.

Shang was living inside the territory of the Twilight Dusk Family, which was in the middle of the northern part of Aterium. More specifically, Shang was in the southern part of the Twilight Dusk Family's territory. If he went further north, the world would become colder. If he went further south, the world would become hotter.

The Lightning Manor's territory was in the northwestern part of Aterium, and Area 23 had also been in the south of the Lightning Manor's territory.

After leaving Area 23, Shang traveled east for years.

He faced so many dangers during his journey, but he survived.

Shang simply didn't want to remain in the Lightning Manor's territory since he knew that the Lightning Manor was searching for him.

Even if Jerald had only been a contractor, he had still technically been a member of the Lightning Manor.

In Shang's extremely lengthy journey, he had traveled for over four million kilometers, and he wouldn't do that again.

The number of close calls had been terrifyingly high.

In fact, they had been so high that Shang even suspected that the God might have interfered to keep him alive during his journey.

Of course, for the majority of the journey, Shang had actually joined different groups of Mages that were traveling from city to city.

​ While the Lightning Manor might have searched for Shang, they didn't ask the supervising Ancestral Mages of the city to keep a watch out for Shang.

Shang had only been a True Path Stage warrior back then, and his capture hadn't been a priority.

But things were different now.

Shang couldn't allow himself to come close to any city anymore.

The presence of the Temple of Blood was very strong in this territory, and based on the missions Shang had completed, it was possible for an Ancestral Mage to connect him to the Temple of Blood.

While he hadn't been a priority of capture back then, he definitely was now.

This meant that Shang had to travel through the wilderness while evading all cities.

Luckily, he didn't need to do that on his own.

This time, he would have a powerful Ancestral Mage escorting him.

Someone on that level could travel freely across the land, mostly. There were still some extremely dangerous areas, but the Mage only needed to avoid those.

These kinds of very dangerous areas were mostly stationary and didn't move around.

After some minutes of flying, Shang reached a seemingly random spot in a forest.

There were no Archbeasts inside the range of Shang's Spirit Sense, and the map told Shang that the closest Ancestral Beast was over 800 kilometers away.

After verifying everything, Shang deactivated Shroud for the first time in a long while.

The ethereal feeling and atmosphere around Shang vanished for the first time in decades, and he felt much more human than before.

The bandages around his eyes still gave off a feeling of wrongness, but he only seemed like a scary human now.

Shang waited for a couple of minutes until…

The Sweeper appeared in front of Shang.