Ch. 581..590

Chapter 581 - Eastward

A person completely hidden behind a black cloak appeared in front of Shang. The Magic Circles on the cloak made it impossible to see any part of the person.

Shang wasn't particularly surprised. Sweepers were powerful, and the Natural Selection Company was searching for them like crazy.

Every single Sweeper was a big problem to the Natural Selection Company since they could take down extremely important people and deal huge damage to their finances.

It was natural that the Sweepers would want to keep their identity completely secret.

Sure, the black cloak would probably immediately give away the fact that they were Sweepers, but whoever was looking at them wouldn't know which Sweeper they were.

As the two people faced each other, one wouldn't be able to overlook the contrast between the two of them.

One side was completely black and hidden, while the other side was deathly white.

"You are White Ghost?" the person inside the cloak spoke. Judging by the voice, it was a woman.

"I am," Shang answered.

"Activate your ability to hide from Spirit Senses," the Sweeper said.

A moment later, Shang's body seemed to become slightly brighter, and it was almost like the colors of his body didn't fit into the surroundings anymore.

It was like he didn't belong there.

The Sweeper watched Shang for about three seconds.

"Mages that know the level two Pure Concept of Light or Darkness can see through your veil. An Ancestral Mage might be able to notice you without knowing the relevant Concepts, but they would need to be very perceptive and careful."

"Avoid any and all Ancestral Mages and avoid Light and Darkness Archmages," the Sweeper ordered.

"That was my plan," Shang said.

Shang had just met the Sweeper, and the Sweeper immediately answered an important question of his.

Shang had never truly known just how effective Shroud was, and he couldn't just test it since he would die if someone noticed him.

"I don't think that we will meet a Space Mage on our journey, but you also need to be careful of those," the Sweeper said. "They can sense the vibrations of space in their surroundings."

Shang only nodded.

Space, Time, and Gravity Mages were exceptionally rare and were all part of the Mage Emperors' forces.

"We will be traveling to the Sky Lantern's territory," the Sweeper explained. "The Sky Lantern is a powerful bird with a Wind and Light Affinity. We will have to move through some dangerous places. It's imperative that you follow my orders, or I can't guarantee your survival."

"I will," Shang answered.

"Good. Then, we will start right now. Follow me," the Sweeper said before taking to the sky.

Shang also took to the sky, and the two of them shot toward the east.

The journey was silent.

The Sweeper was traveling at speeds that a normal Initial Archmage could deal with, which was quite a bit slower than Shang could actually travel at.

However, Shang didn't inform the Sweeper about that. He didn't want to appear too suspicious.

If Shang could travel far faster than a normal Mage, the Sweeper might ask some difficult questions.

After flying for a couple of minutes, the Sweeper took a turn to the left, and Shang followed.

Shang didn't know why they were changing directions, but he guessed that the Sweeper saw something with her Spirit Sense.

Of course, if the Sweeper found an Ancestral Beast with her Spirit Sense, the Ancestral Beast would also see her at the same time.

But as long as she immediately retreated out of the enemy's Spirit Sense again, she could make it very difficult for the Ancestral Beast to chase her.

Naturally, most Ancestral Beasts also didn't care.

After taking a long detour, the Sweeper continued traveling towards the east, but just a couple of seconds later, she changed directions again.

For the next 30 minutes, the two of them were traveling far more towards the south and north in alternating orders than east.

If they were flying in a straight line, they could have reached the same distance in just four minutes.

Shang didn't say anything.

The Sweeper knew how to navigate the outside world better than him, and he wouldn't question her methods.

"We are avoiding Archbeasts," the Sweeper suddenly transmitted to Shang, even though he didn't ask.

"How come?" Shang asked.

"A battle against an Archbeast, even when very brief, might attract an aggressive Ancestral Beast. Battling an Ancestral Beast might attract an Enforcer that's passing by. If an Enforcer sees me, the chances are high that Hamon Dreila will make his way here," the Sweeper explained.

Shang didn't show any reaction, but he certainly felt the danger and risk.

Sure, the chances of all of these coincidences lining up were low, but if it happened often enough, the coincidences would eventually line up just right.

While the Sweeper could probably deal with an Enforcer, if the Enforcer actually managed to contact Hamon Dreila, their deaths were very likely.

Hamon Dreila was one of the three Mage Lords of the Natural Selection Company.

Sweepers were so important to kill to the Natural Selection Company that the appearance of any Sweeper might pull out one of the three Mage Lords.

Hamon Dreila stayed in a huge city near the west of the territory. The city was about 200,000 kilometers away from Shang's current location.

Sure, Hamon Dreila would need a couple of minutes to reach this place, but with his terrifyingly large Spirit Sense and speed, he could fly around and scan the surrounding 100,000 kilometers.

Shang would never be able to escape that far in just a couple of minutes.

The Sweeper might be able to escape, but the chances were very low.

Even though the two of them hadn't reached any dangerous location yet, Shang could already see how risky it was to travel through the wilderness without a guide.

Usually, the Temple of Blood always gave Shang the locations of all the dangerous beasts, and he could just travel from one place to the next after planning his route.

But everything was different now.

Traveling without such a guide was like trying to go through a maze without a map. There was bound to be a lot of backtracking, turning around, and taking detours.

Shang knew that, without the Sweeper, he would have never reached the Beast Lord.

If the rulers of the surroundings weren't searching for him, he might be able to get there by joining different caravans and groups.

But there were no ifs in the world.

 

Chapter 582 - Reality Tear

The two of them traveled for another couple of hours, but they weren't making much progress compared to the time they had actually been traveling.

From the 700,000 kilometers they had to travel, they had only traveled about 20,000 kilometers of those.

Of course, 20,000 kilometers was a huge distance for a normal person, but the Sweeper and Shang traveled at speeds only an Archmage could.

"We are about to reach a dividing border between different territories," the Sweeper suddenly transmitted to Shang.

Shang didn't react.

Yes, this was all the Natural Selection Company's territory, but there were different territories inside their territory. One Enforcer was responsible for multiple gatherer families, and this group of gatherer families made up their own territories.

While the gatherer families inside an Enforcer's territory could freely move around, they weren't allowed to enter the territory of another Enforcer.

The dividing borders were specifically created to catch anyone that tried to cross the border without permission.

"There are several Magic Circles and barriers on the border, and this one is especially bad since the two Enforcers can't stand each other," the Sweeper explained. "If these were only the normal dividing borders, we could simply walk through them, but this one is special."

"What's so special about it?" Shang asked.

"Instead of sharing one barrier and sharing control, both sides have their own barrier and investigation Magic Circles, and the biggest problem is that the two barriers are touching and that there are even investigation Magic Circles between the tiny space where they touch."

"Their paranoia and hatred for each other make it difficult for us to cross without being seen," the Sweeper explained. "They don't know how we can pass through all their borders without being found, but ironically enough, they are making it difficult for us to pass because of their fear of each other."

"How do we pass?" Shang asked.

"There's a small and dangerous area near the southeast of here," the Sweeper said. "None of the two Enforcers want to have anything to do with the area, which is why their respective defenses surround it."

"While there are two barriers basically touching each other everywhere else, the two barriers in that place are divided by the dangerous area."

Shang's Spirit Sense looked towards the southeast, but he couldn't see anything special yet.

"And we will travel through that?" Shang asked.

The Sweeper nodded. "How long can you train in isolation at a time before you feel like you have to do something else?" the Sweeper suddenly asked.

Shang's head turned to the Sweeper.

"I have to know," the Sweeper added. "Depending on your answer, we may have to avoid this dangerous area and make a long detour."

Shang didn't answer for a couple of seconds.

"Long," Shang answered.

"Ten years?" the Sweeper asked.

"Not a problem."

"A century?"

"Not a problem."

"A millennium?"

"Not a problem."

"And how would you know that?" the Sweeper asked.

"The length doesn't make a difference," Shang answered.

The cloaked head of the Sweeper looked at Shang for a couple of seconds while they were flying forward.

"Fine, I'll believe you," the Sweeper said. "We saved about a day, but it will take us a couple of years to get there."

'What's that supposed to mean?' Shang thought.

But he didn't ask about what she meant. He would probably see what she meant soon enough.

A couple of minutes later, Shang and the Sweeper arrived at a seemingly random spot between the two territories.

In fact, it looked almost the same as everywhere else, except for one difference.

The two barriers curved inward on each side, avoiding a small area that was only about ten meters wide.

That was it?

The dangerous zone was only ten meters wide?

Shang could see a Peak High Mage standing near the barrier in front of the dangerous area. They were probably a guard to make sure that no one was approaching it.

They were just sitting on the ground with closed eyes, only checking everything with their Spirit Sense.

"This is a reality tear," the Sweeper explained. "Space, time, and gravity are in chaos in there. Different reality tears have different states of space, time, and gravity. Some of them are extremely dangerous. Some of them are not a problem."

"And this one?" Shang asked.

"A bit dangerous, but also very annoying," the Sweeper answered. "It's showing the level two Pure Concept of Space, which is distance, the level one Pure Concept of Time, which is Acceleration, and the level three Pure Concept of Gravity, which is Compression."

"All of this is happening at the same time. In short, this means that these ten meters will be like millions of kilometers to us, but we will be able to travel through that in no time at all."

"That is, no time at all from the outside," the Sweeper added.

"Can you put that into numbers?" Shang asked.

"From an outsider's perspective, we will travel through these ten meters in less than a second, but to us, it will be like we traveled for millions of kilometers for years."

"So, while we will save a day, it will take us years to get there."

Shang was not the biggest fan of that.

It wasn't that Shang was afraid of traveling through the area but that he feared for his longevity.

"What about my longevity?" Shang asked.

"Why do you think Time Mages are so popular with the Mage Emperors?" the Sweeper asked back.

"So, this will not be an issue?" Shang asked.

"Your longevity is not measured by the deterioration or age of your body but by how much time has passed for the world," the Sweeper said.

That was the first time Shang heard about that.

"This means that if I were to spend time in an environment with accelerated time, my longevity wouldn't run out faster?"

"Correct," the Sweeper said. "However, the faster time is, the more warped everything inside it is. Mana moves weirdly. Matter moves weirdly. Concepts stop making sense."

"In short, while you can theoretically extend your life by staying in an area where time passes faster, you can't become more powerful inside it."

"Okay," Shang said, "but then why are Time Mages so popular?"

"Reflection," the Sweeper answered. "By creating such an environment, Time Mages can give someone the opportunity to think about their life and reflect on it without wasting time."

"Everyone is distracted by trying to become more powerful, and we view time as a precious commodity, but with Time Mages, we can find enough time to reflect on our lives and our decisions."

"This reality tear can damage you mentally, but it can also help you mentally. I, personally, enjoy flying through it," the Sweeper said.

Shang noticed that she was talking quite a bit about herself, which was a bit unusual for a Sweeper.

"Can reflecting on my life help me in becoming more powerful?" Shang asked.

"If there are unresolved problems, repressed memories, or unsolved trauma, a long time of quiet reflection could help resolve these issues, freeing up our mind and allowing us to focus more on our training."

"Or it could make things worse."

"Depends on the person."

The Sweeper turned to Shang.

"Do you want to go through it?" she asked.

"Sure."

 

Chapter 583- Time

The Sweeper and Shang went towards the first barrier.

The Sweeper took out a complex medal that looked a bit like the Barrier Disruptors Shang had used before but far better and more advanced.

She put the medal on the barrier and spoke several complex chants.

After a couple of seconds, a hole appeared in the barrier.

And then, she retrieved the advanced Barrier Disruptor.

Yet, the hole stayed open!

This surprised Shang quite a bit.

Usually, Barrier Disruptors had to stay on the barrier because they were responsible for diverting the flow of Mana. By taking them away, the Mana would flow in the way it was supposed to again, closing the hole.

If one wanted to create a permanent hole in the barrier, one would need to completely reprogram the Magic Circle running the barrier, and there were innumerable safeguards against that.

Even though the barrier seemed to be permanently reprogrammed, Shang refused to believe that it actually was.

This had to be something else.

Shang's mind also focused on the Peak High Mage on the ground, standing guard.

There was barely a kilometer between the Peak High Mage and the barrier. They would have felt the slight change of Mana in the atmosphere.

Yet, they didn't.

Everything the Sweeper had been doing just now was far beyond Shang's ability.

"Hurry," the Sweeper transmitted after stepping through the barrier. "It only stays open for five seconds."

Like a white phantom, Shang's body flew forward and passed through the hole in less than a second.

And a couple of seconds later, the barrier shut again.

None of the surveillance Magic Circles were triggered.

Shang's Spirit Sense investigated the small medal the Sweeper had used to get through the barrier.

"It's a Remote Disruptor," the Sweeper said after noticing Shang's curiosity. "The Mana the normal Barrier Disruptors use to disrupt the barriers is shot into the barrier with a Remote Disruptor."

A moment later, the Sweeper tossed the Remote Disruptor over to Shang, who caught it.

Shang's face turned to the Remote Disruptor in his hands, and his Spirit Sense analyzed it.

There were so many tiny Magic Circles in there that Shang didn't even try to understand how that thing worked.

Shang only had the mind of an Initial High Mage, and he assumed that this Remote Disruptor was on the level of an Ancestral Mage.

Shang had looked at the normal Barrier Disruptors several times, and he could see how some parts of them worked, but this Remote Disruptor was just too complicated.

After a second, Shang tossed the Remote Disruptor back.

"While normal Barrier Disruptors need to be tuned towards the barrier during their creation, a Remote Disruptor can adapt to any kind of barrier or Magic Circle," the Sweeper explained. "Additionally, they don't need specialized Mana, and I can just use my own Mana to power them."

"The tradeoff is that they are very complex and expensive, but having one will save you money in the long run," she said.

Shang only nodded, showing that he understood.

The Sweeper put the Remote Disruptor away again and turned towards the east.

After passing by the barrier, Shang and the Sweeper now stood in front of a mostly normal-looking area.

In a way, it didn't seem any different from all the forest around them.

But there was just something weird about this forest.

Shang couldn't quite put his fingers on it, but this area just felt wrong.

He felt like this place wasn't supposed to be like that.

If Shang hadn't known what was so strange about this area, he wouldn't have known why all of this felt so wrong.

It made sense that a place with warped time, space, and gravity would feel strange.

"When we enter, just keep going forward. It will take a long time, but we will eventually reach the end," the Sweeper explained. "Due to the immense time acceleration, just entering a millisecond later will put thousands upon thousands of kilometers between us. This means you will be alone in there."

"But you just need to go forward. Nothing else."

Shang nodded.

Shang's Spirit Sense could easily pass around the dangerous area, but his body wasn't thin enough to do that.

As for the Spirit Sense that went into the area…

It felt like it went on forever.

"I'll go in first," the Sweeper said.

Then, Shang watched the Sweeper's body enter the space in front of him…

And come out the other end in nearly an instant.

It was like she had teleported.

Shang only remained silent.

Suddenly, something happened.

The Sweeper casually stretched.

A moment later, Shang felt the Sweeper's Spirit Sense make a careless sweep of the surroundings.

After that, she relaxed and put her hand to her head.

And removed her cloak!

Short black hair came out from beneath the cloak, and a youthful face was unveiled.

The Sweeper looked like a young woman in her early twenties, and she had this carefree look to her.

In a way, she felt like someone that just didn't care much about many things and simply went along with everything.

It was this nonchalant disposition.

Shang didn't do anything for a while.

He was very confused.

The Sweeper took a deep breath through her nose and exhaled through her mouth in what seemed to be relaxation.

It was almost like she just came out of a relaxing bath.

Shang wasn't quite sure what he should do.

"Hey," he transmitted after a while.

WHOOOOOM!

In an instant, the cloak surrounded the woman again, and a terrifying Domain of Darkness surrounded her.

The terrifying domain shot towards the place where she had just felt that voice transmission, but the dangerous area was in the way.

Because of that, the domain hit nothing.

She quickly turned towards Shang.

And she stopped.

Everything paused for around three seconds.

Then, all the Darkness Mana vanished, and everything returned to normal.

"Sorry, I forgot about you after so much time has passed," she transmitted with an emotionless voice.

"I didn't notice you due to your peculiar ability," she added.

"It's fine," Shang answered. "I'm now going to enter."

"Go," she answered.

Shang nodded and entered the Reality Tear.

 

Chapter 584 - Grey Emptiness

Shang entered the Reality Tear, and as soon as he did, his surroundings turned completely grey.

The trees and the barriers were suddenly so far away that Shang couldn't even perceive them anymore.

Everything had just been stretched into infinity, and every direction went on for millions of kilometers.

Except for the back.

Shang could still perceive the barrier and everything else just behind him since that was the spot where he had just entered.

Or, at least, he would have.

The thing was, as soon as Shang's Spirit Sense left the Reality Tear, it stopped moving.

'That's the effect of time acceleration,' Shang thought. 'Time for me is moving so incredibly fast that everything outside this space feels like it's frozen in time, including my Spirit Sense.'

Because of that, Shang could only feel an absolutely tiny spot of Mana and air, and it very, very slowly grew.

It would take years for the Spirit Sense to make any significant progress, which was shocking. After all, a Spirit Sense was basically instantaneous.

'It's shocking how fast time is moving in here,' Shang thought. 'Time might actually be moving billions if not trillions of times faster than the outside.'

'Sadly, I can't train in here.'

As soon as Shang entered, he had already felt how difficult it was to move his Mana.

It was like his entire body was moving in weird ways and that every command Shang sent to his body would be fulfilled, but in a completely unnatural way.

'Training in here might even damage my instincts,' he thought. 'Additionally, there isn't even any neutral Mana in here. I think the only kind of Mana in here is extremely warped Time, Space, and Gravity Mana.'

Naturally, when he had heard about the attributes of the Reality Tear, Shang had thought about training in here.

But, of course, it was impossible.

Everything was in so much chaos that Shang didn't even feel like he was in his own body anymore.

'I guess training in here would be too good. The God would probably even consider it to be cheating. Maybe he was the one that made everything warp in here to this degree.'

For a while, Shang didn't move.

'It's weird,' he thought. 'I feel like I'm wasting time by being here, but I'm literally not.'

'Even a year in here is less than a second outside, and my longevity doesn't even run out.'

'All of this is so strange.'

'It's so unnatural.'

'Well, it doesn't really matter. It shouldn't be a problem to get through this Reality Tear.'

Shang flew forward with all of his speed without using his Blasts.

He was quite a bit faster than before, flying even faster than an Early Archmage.

Everything inside the Reality Tear was isolated, and Shang didn't need to hide any of his abilities.

After flying for a while, Shang used some Ice and Fire Blasts.

He hadn't used them in years, and he wanted to feel them again.

Sadly, the surroundings completely distorted how his Blasts felt to him.

He kept using them for a while, but he eventually stopped.

He didn't want to get used to these strange feelings. If he did, he would feel this same feeling of bizarreness when he used his Blasts outside again, which might screw with his Battle-Strength.

Shang just continued flying forward.

The surroundings felt so strange to him.

There was only extremely warped Space, Time, and Gravity Mana, which felt very unnatural.

It was almost like Shang was not in the real world but dreaming.

Everything was just so wrong and so warped.

There was no sound, and there was nothing for Shang's Spirit Sense to cling to.

It was just monotone emptiness.

Shang had no idea how long he had already been flying.

It could have been just a couple of minutes.

It could have been weeks.

There was absolutely nothing to use as a reference to gauge the passage of time, and the Time Mana itself was completely warped.

Shang had no idea how far he had traveled already or how much time had passed.

He only knew that he was going in the right direction since his body left behind small bits of Mana. Shang could feel these small bits of Mana and could easily tell if he was going in a straight line or at an angle.

Because of that, Shang didn't need to worry about losing his way.

He kept going.

And going.

And going.

And going.

After an unknown period of time, Shang's mind focused on the warped Mana in his surroundings.

There was nothing for Shang to do in here, and his mind was desperately searching for something to occupy itself with.

Shang desperately wanted to do something productive, even though he knew that there was literally nothing productive that could be done in here.

But that was just how he was.

He always wanted to work towards something.

He always put his mind, body, and focus toward achieving a goal.

This was just his personality and how he was.

This was the person Shang.

Shang kept inspecting the different kinds of Mana in here.

Yet, they all felt so wrong, and Shang felt like it was impossible for him to learn anything about them.

They moved in such incorrect and unforeseeable ways that it felt completely random.

Everything was so random.

Shang tried so many times to make sense of anything, but it was simply impossible.

Shang had no idea how long he had tried to comprehend his surroundings.

He only felt like he had tried to comprehend them for a long time.

But in the end, Shang had to accept that he was making zero progress.

This wasn't something that was just very hard to understand and took many years to learn.

No, Shang would be able to notice that.

There would be tiny signs of order, tiny signs of a pattern.

None of that was here.

It was just completely random.

Eventually, Shang's mind stopped looking at the warped Mana.

The surroundings hadn't changed.

Space hadn't changed.

Time hadn't changed.

Gravity hadn't changed.

There was just grey emptiness in all directions, except for the small trail of Mana Shang left behind.

This small trail of Mana was the only proof that Shang was actually moving forward.

How long had he been in here?

A year?

Five minutes?

He should arrive soon, right?

 

Chapter 585 - Abominations AndArm

He would arrive soon, right?

More emptiness.

More time passed.

He should be nearly there, right?

More time passed.

More time passed.

More time passed.

More time passed.

More time passed.

Shang's mind was desperately trying to cling to anything.

There had to be something that could distract him, right?

He could do something in here, right?

Shang's mind was scanning the surroundings crazily.

Something.

There had to be something!

There was nothing.

There was only grey emptiness.

Eventually, Shang's mind focused on his own body and inspected that thoroughly.

Yet, Shang's entire body felt surreal and wrong to him.

All the proportions were messed up, and all of his flesh and blood were moving in random directions.

His own body was like a fever dream.

There was no sense behind anything.

The more Shang's mind focused on his own body, the more surreal it seemed.

It was like his own body wasn't actually a body but just a fleshy dimension that randomly moved and squelched in random directions.

Was this a human?

No, this was just randomly moving around biological matter.

How did any of this work?

Why was everything going in random directions?

Where was his Mana going?

How did his mind work?

Why was everything so chaotic?!

This wasn't supposed to go that way!

His blood wasn't supposed to work like that!

His Mana pathways were completely random and chaotic!

This was not a human body!

This wasn't even a beast's body!

This was just a random flesh dimension!

What point was there to any of this?!

What was this?!

What is this?!

What is this?!

What is this?!

What is this?!

What is this?!

WHAT IS THIS?!

WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?! WHAT IS THIS?!

SNAP.

Suddenly, Shang shook his head and focused his Spirit Sense forward again.

For a while, he didn't think anything.

'What the fuck was that just now?' Shang thought.

Shang focused his Spirit Sense on his body again.

At first glance, it looked normal, but as soon as he focused more on it, he noticed that the warped time, space, and gravity were essentially messing everything up.

But as soon as Shang's Spirit Sense encompassed his entire body in one image again, everything looked normal.

As long as Shang looked at his entire body at once, everything would appear normal.

However, as soon as he took a closer look and actually tried to follow what his body was doing, it became extremely chaotic.

The warped time, space, and gravity still worked, and even though everything seemed to move in random directions, Shang, as an entity, still worked perfectly.

'I got lost in my own body,' Shang thought. 'I found no rhyme or reason to the space and time in my surroundings, and I gave up. However, I was essentially doing the same thing by looking at my body like this.'

'Instead of random emptiness moving around, it was my body moving around. Of course I wouldn't be able to make sense of anything. I can't comprehend the time, space, or gravity in this place.'

'I think I dissociated,' Shang thought. 'It might not be the best idea to look at my body like this.'

Shang's Spirit Sense focused forward again.

And he continued.

More time passed.

More time passed.

More time passed.

'I wonder how much time has passed.'

More time passed.

More time passed.

Shang's mind randomly looked around again.

There was just emptiness everywhere.

'I wonder if this is what the world will look like if the Abominations destroy everything.'

'What would I do in that case?'

Shang wasn't quite sure if he was thinking about something, but he guessed that he was.

He only knew that a random period of time had passed after having that thought.

'Wait, what was I thinking about?'

Shang couldn't find an answer.

'Oh, Abominations, right,' Shang thought. 'So, what would I do in that case? How would that be?'

Shang felt his mind work.

He wasn't sure.

'My goal to achieve power might make all of this a reality, right?'

'Would I be fine with living in such a world?'

Shang felt like he was thinking about something, but he wasn't sure.

Eventually, Shang focused on his left arm.

'Space and time are working in such strange ways in here.'

'My arm looks so interesting.'

Shang's mind just kept focusing on his arm.

'Wait, wasn't I thinking about something?'

'What was I thinking again?'

More time passed.

'Oh, right! Abominations!'

Shang's mind was focusing on the Abominations again, but it was like his own mind was thinking in a completely different language.

Shang just couldn't tell what he was actually thinking about.

He only knew that he was thinking about Abominations, but not about what specifically.

'It's really strange how I can still move this arm even though time, space, and gravity are in such disarray,' Shang thought as he looked at his left arm again.

Shang moved it up and down.

Up and down.

Up and down.

'Wait, wasn't I thinking about something?'

Up and down.

Up and down.

'Doesn't matter,' Shang thought as he focused on his arm.

His Spirit Sense looked more closely at it, and Shang's mind was quickly drawn into the chaotic world of his body again.

The flesh was moving around so randomly.

It made no sense.

His Spirit Sense retreated from his body and looked at his arm in its entirety again.

'Yet, everything still looks normal when I look at it from a macro perspective.'

For some reason, Shang's mind went back to the Abominations again at this point.

'Abominations, huh?' Shang thought. 'This could theoretically become a reality if I become more powerful.'

'As long as I grow more powerful, the Abominations grow more powerful.'

'Eventually, they will eat up the entire world, and this will be the result probably.'

Shang's mind started to think about something again, but Shang just couldn't tell what he was thinking about.

Up and down.

Up and down.

Shang kept focusing on his arm.

Then, Shang's left arm stopped moving.

Slowly, Shang's right hand went to his left forearm.

'The big makes sense, but the small doesn't make sense.'

'So, what if I make the big smaller and smaller? When will it stop making sense?'

Shang's nails dug into his skin and began to scrape off parts of his flesh.

 

Chapter 586 - So Interesting

Shang slowly scraped off a long piece of flesh from his left arm and looked at it with his Spirit Sense.

He moved the bloody piece of flesh around in his right hand.

It looked normal.

But as soon as his Spirit Sense looked at the individual components of this piece of flesh, it stopped making sense again.

Shing ripped the piece apart again and looked at the two smaller components.

They still made sense.

He held them together, and they still made sense.

Eventually, Shang dumped one of the pieces since he only needed one.

He ripped it apart and dumped one of the pieces again.

It still made sense.

He did the same thing again.

And again.

And again.

After multiple times, the piece of flesh had become so small that Shang could barely rip it apart anymore.

But it still made sense!

Shang looked at his arm again, which had healed by now, but a similarly sized part of his arm as the piece of flesh he was carrying seemed completely senseless in the grand scheme of things.

The tiny piece of flesh made sense in its entirety, but if it were stuck to his arm, it wouldn't make sense.

It was so weird.

And so interesting.

'Wait, wasn't I thinking about something?'

Time passed.

Time passed.

'I'm sure that I was thinking about something important, right?'

Time passed.

Time passed.

'Abominations, right!'

'This world might one day become exactly like this if I become more powerful.'

Shang's mind began to think about things again that Shang couldn't understand.

Then, Shang turned to his arm again.

'I wonder when my arm will stop making sense.'

'How small does it have to be to stop making sense?'

Shang's right hand moved towards his left arm again.

He put his nails on his left forearm again.

And he pulled back.

A big slap of meat was cut off, and Shang threw it away.

His arm was bleeding profusely, and he felt a bit of pain.

The feeling of pain was quite interesting.

There was nothing for his mind to latch onto in this void.

There was no stimulus of any kind.

But this feeling of pain was so bright.

In a void of nothingness, this feeling of pain was like a bright star.

Shang inspected the feeling of pain.

Did he like it?

No.

Did he want to feel it?

No.

But it was just so interesting!

At the same time, Shang's arm began to recover, and Shang's Spirit Sense was intrigued by the process.

His arm still made sense, and even when it grew, it continued making sense.

Even when it shrunk, it continued making sense.

But as soon as Shang focused on the individual components of his arm, everything stopped making sense.

It was like a bunch of circles that made a perfect square.

There was no connection between the two things.

The space, time, and gravity were so warped that everything broke down.

It was so bizarre.

Shang tore off his left index finger and slowly smushed it in his right hand.

Watching his finger transform into tiny parts of flesh, bone, blood, and skin while still making sense was so weird.

Shang's Spirit Sense focused on his regrowing finger.

Then, he moved his right index finger to the regrowing stump and scratched the middle off.

Shang's pain receptors were screaming at him, but he didn't pay them any attention.

Shang saw his finger regrow from different directions now.

It was so interesting.

Shang watched his finger completely regrow with fascination.

At the same time, the pain also vanished.

Silence.

Nothingness.

'Wasn't I thinking about something?'

Shang focused on his arm.

'What was I thinking again?'

Shang's right hand moved to his left forearm.

And he tore off the skin of his forearm in multiple pieces until there was no more skin left.

Shang's pain receptors were screaming at him.

But it just was so interesting.

There was nothing for Shang's mind to latch onto in the surroundings.

Yet, the pain was so bright.

It was the only thing Shang could focus on.

The Sweeper had said that this was a good spot to rethink one's choices and to make peace with one's past.

But that didn't feel very appealing to Shang.

It was much more appealing and interesting to listen to the pain and watch his arm regrow from different shapes and sizes.

Shang watched his arm regrow its skin.

He watched it regrow its nerves.

He watched it regrow its bones.

Watching his arm become whole again after losing multiple parts, again and again, was so mesmerizing and interesting.

Eventually, Shang grew bored with his left arm and focused on his legs.

He hadn't seen them regrow yet.

For an unknown amount of time, Shang just played around with his legs, tearing off different parts and watching his body regrow them.

At some point, Shang grew bored with his legs.

He put his white robes away and focused on his torso.

He created an opening and took out all of his individual organs.

It was so interesting to see all of the things that were usually inside his body on the outside.

As more time passed, Shang felt like the pain had dulled.

It wasn't as interesting anymore.

Maybe it just wasn't strong enough?

So, Shang's hands went to his face.

Sure enough, things became interesting again.

There was so much to do and try out.

It was so interesting.

'Wait, what?'

Shang suddenly stopped moving forward and stopped doing whatever he had been doing just now.

Just now, his Spirit Sense stopped advancing, and he sensed an opening in front of him.

'Oh, it's the end.'

Shang's mind focused on the exit of the Reality Tear.

'Finally,' he thought as he released a long sigh.

'I feel like I was close to going mad in here.'

'Honestly, next time, I should take a detour.'

'I don't know what the hell is wrong with the Sweeper that she voluntarily comes in here.'

'She might actually be crazy.'

'Shang took a deep breath and summoned his clothing again.'

His body had already fully healed again.

'I don't want to feel anything like this again.'

And then, Shang left the Reality Tear.

 

 

Chapter 587 - Eternal Maw

Shang calmed down and exited the Reality Tear.

SHING!

Shang appeared on the outside, and for a moment, everything overwhelmed him.

There was so much around him.

He was so unused to having so much to look at with his Spirit Sense.

"Let's continue," the Sweeper said.

To her, not even a second had passed since Shang had entered the Reality Tear. To her, it was just like someone taking one step toward her.

Of course, she knew that Shang had gone through years of isolated traveling just now, but Shang's aura seemed to be normal and stable.

He didn't seem any different from before.

Shang only nodded without saying anything. He just wanted to forget whatever happened in the Reality Tear.

The Sweeper used her Remote Disruptor on the barrier, and the two of them left the dangerous area.

After going through the barrier, Shang and the Sweeper continued flying toward the west.

The barrier they had just passed was the furthest Shang had ever gone before.

From this point forward, he would enter lands he had never entered before.

The journey returned to its previous pace. The Sweeper kept going left and right to avoid all manners of beasts, and Shang simply followed.

Even though Shang hadn't been here before, the area didn't seem any different than the other ones, which was to be expected.

It was the same climate with the same trees and the same beasts.

The two of them didn't communicate during the journey.

Apparently, the Sweeper didn't mind that Shang had seen her appearance, but that was also to be expected.

There wasn't really anything she could do about it, even if she minded.

What was she supposed to do?

Kill him?

Her mission was to protect him, and if Shang died during it, she would have to pay a lot of reparations to the Temple of Blood.

So what if he saw her.

It didn't really make a difference.

After all, she also knew his face.

The two of them continued traveling for a couple more hours and passed by another border. Getting through that border was far easier than the previous one.

Then, they passed by another border.

By now, they had been traveling for half a day, and Shang assumed that they were over 50,000 kilometers away from the branch right now.

50,000 kilometers in only half a day. That was an insane amount of distance to cover in only half a day, and it was even more insane if one considered the fact that they traveled left and right all the time to avoid beasts instead of in a straight line.

On his own, Shang had taken far longer to travel that far back then.

Back then, he had to wait for fitting groups to travel with, and he even needed to earn money to pay for his travels.

Shang also knew that, if he were traveling alone, he might have already died.

Going outside for someone below the Ancestral Mage Realm was extremely dangerous, especially for someone from the Temple of Blood.

For the next ten hours, nothing of note happened. They just kept passing by one border after the other while avoiding beasts.

"We are going to reach the next dangerous area soon," the Sweeper suddenly transmitted to Shang.

"What do I have to look out for?" Shang asked.

"Nothing much. This is more something that I have to deal with," the Sweeper answered. "To the north is the central base of operations of the Natural Selection Company. The Chairman of the company is living there, and we can't afford to go anywhere close to him."

"On top of that, there are far more people watching and patrolling the surroundings. This is the base of the Enforcers, and 80% of them live and train here. While I am confident in being able to avoid nearly all Enforcers' Spirit Senses, I am not that confident in your ability."

Shang didn't protest since she was right.

"Because of that, we have to take a large detour to the south. The problem is that we will enter the territory that's the very reason why the central base of operations for the Natural Selection Company is here in the first place."

"The Eternal Maw's territory," the Sweeper said.

Shang was familiar with that title, but he didn't interject and simply let the Sweeper continue to talk.

"The Eternal Maw is probably the most powerful Beast Lord in the Natural Selection Company's territory. While nearly all the Beast Lords reduce their sizes, the Eternal Maw does the opposite and makes itself as big as possible."

"The Eternal Maw is a humongous worm with an Earth and a Darkness Affinity. We are not certain how big it is since the Natural Selection Company never publicized its dimensions, but we're estimating that just its mouth is five kilometers wide. We have no idea how long the entire worm is."

"While it ignores weaker Ancestral Mages and Ancestral Beasts, it aggressively goes after the more powerful ones. Because of that, it is strictly prohibited for any Mid Ancestral Mage or more powerful to go anywhere close to the Eternal Maw."

"If one of those gets too close, the Eternal Maw will destroy humongous areas of land and consume that person. That by itself isn't that big of a problem. If someone dies, that's their problem."

"The problem is that the Eternal Maw changes location by traveling towards its prey, which means that more powerful Ancestral Mages could enter its Spirit Sense. The Eternal Maw would then chase that Ancestral Mage, and more Ancestral Mages would appear inside its Spirit Sense."

"In short, if the Eternal Maw moves, every powerful Mage in over a 100,000-kilometer radius might die to it. That would also include our branches."

Shang imagined what that would look like.

An impossibly gigantic worm just moving in one direction, its maw wide enough to easily engulf the Storm Eagle.

"Of course," the Sweeper continued, "even if the Eternal Maw ignored our branches, we still wouldn't want it to damage the Natural Selection Company. Without the Natural Selection Company, we wouldn't have any business here."

"We have to slip past the defenses and travel between the defenses and the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense. That's the only way to get you past this place."

"We can't get too close to the defenses, or they might see us, and we can't get too close to the Eternal Maw, or it will kill me, leaving you alone in this location."

"I don't think I need to tell you what that would mean for you."

 

 

Chapter 588- Small Task

Shang and the Sweeper traveled toward the southeast for another hour.

Eventually, the two of them slowed down and stopped.

"You stay here. I will scout around for a bit," the Sweeper said.

Shang only nodded.

The Sweeper vanished, and Shang simply waited.

Shang had no idea what defenses were in front of them, but they probably weren't weak.

About ten minutes later, the Sweeper returned.

"I found a good spot where we can pass. The person guarding that spot has an Earth Affinity, and he doesn't seem very attentive," the Sweeper said.

Shang only nodded again.

The two flew towards the south for a couple of minutes and stopped again.

By now, Shang could tell that the surroundings were different again, and they were different in a sense that reminded him of Area 23.

The Earth and Darkness Mana of the Eternal Maw were reaching this place.

Since releasing so much of one's Mana was seen as a provocation amongst beasts, nearly no Ancestral Beast dared to release its Mana like this. Because of that, this part of the world was very temperate without any particular Zones.

But things were different for Beast Lords.

There was nothing that could possibly threaten them except for Mages, but the Mages also didn't mind the Mana the Beast Lords were releasing. In fact, the Mages wanted the Beast Lords to release their Mana.

Because of that, the areas surrounding the Beast Lords could be considered Zones, but there were not nearly enough Beast Lords to cover Aterium in Zones.

Right now, the two of them were still around 15,000 kilometers away from the Eternal Maw, but Shang could already feel quite a bit of Darkness and Earth Mana in the surroundings.

Due to that, the plants also assumed darker colors, and the terrain grew more mountainous.

SHING!

At that moment, something appeared in the Sweeper's hands.

It was a black cloak identical to the one she was currently wearing.

"Wear that," the Sweeper said while throwing the cloak at him.

Shang caught it and inspected it.

As soon as he made physical contact with it, he could feel his Mana and Spirit Sense enter the cloak.

There were so many complex Magic Circles inside the cloak that it was nearly impossible for Shang to understand them.

"I'm only lending you this cloak," the Sweeper said. "These cloaks can only be bought and used by Sweepers since they are one of our most important assets to keeping us Sweepers hidden from the enemy."

"But I'd rather not risk my life unnecessarily by putting my life into the hands of your ability alone."

Shang was already infusing the cloak with his Mana as she was talking.

"To make full use of it, you need to know the level two Pure Concept of Darkness, Blindness. Do you know that?" she asked.

"No," Shang answered.

The Sweeper hesitated for a moment and remained quiet.

She was very skeptical right now.

White Ghost was supposed to be a pretty powerful and talented Initial Archmage with a Twilight Affinity.

Yet, even though he was that powerful, he didn't know the Concept of Blindness?

That was hard to believe.

For a couple of seconds, the Sweeper argued with herself about whether she should question Shang or not.

On one hand, he didn't need to tell her his powers, but on the other hand, they might actually die if he kept his powers hidden.

It was risky.

"Fine," she said after a while. "Just know that we will both die if you are not able to stay hidden. The cloak should also help you in using whatever ability you are using to hide from other people's Spirit Senses."

Shang put on the cloak and used Shroud.

He didn't feel any different.

"It's a bit better," the Sweeper said, "but not by much."

The Sweeper could only sigh.

"I just hope this works."

After that, the two of them traveled toward the east.

Shang quickly found an Ancestral Mage with his Spirit Sense, but he purposefully didn't look at them.

Powerful beings could feel weaker beings' Spirit Senses.

They easily passed by the guard while bypassing several investigative Magic Circles.

A couple of minutes later, the two of them stopped again.

"We're about a hundred kilometers outside his Spirit Sense's range," the Sweeper said.

Shang inspected his surroundings.

There were far fewer plants around, and the terrain had become rockier.

He could also feel many Archbeasts and even five Ancestral Beasts!

Five Ancestral Beasts!

Shang rarely entered the range of one, but there were actually five inside his Spirit Sense's range right now.

Even more, Shang felt quite a couple of Archmages.

The Archmages were fighting Archbeasts and collecting valuable plants and ore.

This wasn't anything surprising. After all, with danger came wealth.

The Eternal Maw's territory might be extremely dangerous, but there were many powerful beasts and powerful treasures here.

As long as no one too powerful walked around, there wouldn't be any issues.

"I don't know exactly how far we are away from the Eternal Maw," the Sweeper said. "It could be 10,500 kilometers. It could be 20,000 kilometers. Even more, I can't check because finding out means dying."

"I don't need you to do anything, but if you are willing to make the journey a bit less risky, I have a task for you," the Sweeper said.

"What task?" Shang asked.

"I can't check where the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense ends, but you can," she said. "It won't attack you."

"You want me to stay near the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense?" Shang asked.

"In a way, yes," the Sweeper answered. "First, I want you to travel towards the Eternal Maw. At some point, you should be able to feel its Spirit Sense since it doesn't try to keep itself hidden at all."

"You will also notice that you won't find a single Ancestral Beast there anymore. There are a lot of Ancestral Beasts around these parts, but there will be none inside the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense."

"As soon as you know where it is, you can come back and tell me. I just need to know how far away we currently are from its Spirit Sense."

"Are you up for it?"

 

Chapter 589 - Snake

Shang didn't hesitate for long. "Okay," he said.

The Sweeper nodded. "The Ancestral Beasts don't dare to fight too much. They can all feel the power of the Eternal Maw in the distance, and they fear that they might attract its attention by fighting."

"The Archbeasts don't mind too much since they know that they won't attract the attention of the Eternal Maw. You might have to fight some Archbeasts, but you should be powerful enough to deal with most of them."

"If any of them prove to be too powerful, simply come back to my Spirit Sense, and I will deal with them for you. You should be able to survive for a while with Mana Step and Mana Shield," the Sweeper said.

Shang only nodded.

"I'll be waiting here," the Sweeper said.

Without saying anything further, Shang flew towards the east.

Thanks to his huge Spirit Sense, he could avoid nearly all the powerful Archbeasts without any problems. Sure, he entered plenty of Spirit Senses of Ancestral Beasts, but just like the Sweeper said, they only quietly remained in their spots.

Additionally, Shang was still wearing the cloak the Sweeper had given him, which helped him even more in staying hidden.

Shang continued traveling for a couple of minutes. Since he didn't need to avoid every single beast, he didn't need to zigzag around and could just go toward the east in a straight line.

By now, the Sweeper was no longer in Shang's Spirit Sense.

The world around Shang became browner as fewer and fewer plants appeared. The Ancestral Beasts also became fewer and fewer.

But the number of Archbeasts actually shot up.

While the Ancestral Beasts had to be careful, the Archbeasts didn't, and Shang could see more and more.

'Not there yet,' Shang thought as he continued.

Suddenly, Shang's instincts began screaming at him.

Shang couldn't see any beast that was attacking him, but he felt like he was under attack.

He immediately realized that he was being attacked by one of those beasts that could hide from Spirit Senses.

While Shang was essentially invisible to Spirit Senses, these kinds of beasts were extremely good at looking through that kind of camouflage. On top of that, they often used their eyes to hunt.

Shang couldn't see or feel any kind of attack coming his way, but he trusted his instincts.

Shang immediately pointed his open hand to the ground, a bit to his left.

While the Sweeper was not inside Shang's Spirit Sense anymore, it didn't mean that Shang wasn't inside the Sweeper's Spirit Sense.

The Sweeper was more powerful, had a greater Spirit Sense, and could even hide from Shang.

It was possible that she was watching him at this moment, and Shang didn't want to show his true power or fighting style.

The Mana in Shang's surroundings moved and shot toward the direction where Shang was pointing his left arm to.

CRR!

The Mana immediately hit something and was blocked, allowing Shang to perceive the attacker simply by looking at where the Mana couldn't move to.

It was a huge snake, nearly 200 meters long.

200 meters was obviously humongous, but for an Archbeast, that was on the small side.

Ancestral Beasts were often several kilometers big, and Archbeasts were mainly between 200 and 500 meters long. 200 meters was the lower end of the spectrum.

But Shang had already expected that. These kinds of ambush hunters were often not the biggest.

While the snake was charging towards Shang with its widely opened maw, Shang inspected it calmly with his Spirit Sense.

'Should be an Early Archbeast,' he thought. 'It isn't that fast, and it doesn't give off a very strong feeling of threat.'

'Shouldn't be a problem.'

The Mana surrounding the snake gathered in front of Shang's hand in an instant. The Mana was so fast that it seemed like time and space didn't matter to it.

Then, Shang shoved his arm forward.

BANG!

The snake suddenly hit something and stopped in the air. It was like it had suddenly hit an invisible barrier!

The snake hadn't been injured, but its charge had been completely stopped.

Shang had used his World Connection to compress the Mana in the surroundings and created a shield.

While Shang's body was weaker than the Early Archbeast's, his World Connection was of a higher Realm than the Archbeast. The Early Archbeast couldn't compare to Shang's World Connection.

After the snake hit the invisible shield, Shang pulled his right hand back and formed a blade with it.

Then, he chopped.

The Mana in the surroundings gathered on Shang's hand and slashed forward like a humongous but invisible blade.

CRACK! BANG!

The invisible blade broke the snake's scales and threw it into the brown ground. By now, there were nearly no trees around, and the world looked more like a dead wasteland.

A huge cloud of dust exploded from the spot where the snake landed on the ground.

It would seem like the snake had died, but Shang knew that it was still alive.

After all, this was a beast a level above him. While his World Connection was very powerful, he couldn't just kill a beast above his level with a slap.

Shang formed a tip with his index and middle fingers.

The Mana of the world gathered in front of Shang's fingers.

Then, he stabbed toward the spot where the snake was.

CRACK!

A beam of concentrated and invisible Mana shot forward, hitting the snake, which had just tried to fly out of the crater it had just created with its body.

The beam hit the snake on the top of its head, breaking its scales and cracking its skull.

BANG!

The snake hit the ground again.

Shang gathered more Mana and stabbed forward again.

CRACK!

This time, the snake's skull broke apart, destroying huge parts of the snake's brain.

Although severely injured, the snake was still alive, and it was clumsily trying to flee.

Shang formed a fist, and the Mana transformed into a huge and heavy blade.

Then, he swung his fist downward.

BOOOOM!

The cracked hole in the snake's skull completely broke apart, and its entire skull collapsed onto the snake's brain.

The snake hit the ground, and its body spasmed for a couple of seconds before stopping.

It had died.

 

 

Chapter 590 - Perceiving The World

The fight had been very short, and Shang hadn't even moved a single step since the start.

If another person were here, they would be shocked by Shang's way of fighting.

Shang's "Spells" were very powerful, being able to block a beast a level above him with ease, and they could even severely injure such a powerful beast without needing much time to be prepared.

Additionally, the Spells were even invisible!

Lastly, the Spells didn't even show any kind of Affinity!

No one would be able to tell what kind of Element or Affinity Shang had used to kill his enemy. The Spells were invisible and didn't show any signs of any kind of Affinities.

Although, there was one possibility.

Did Shang have a Space or Gravity Affinity?

This was what these kinds of attacks from these kinds of people looked like, right?

Of course, not a single person would even entertain the thought that Shang was using something that wasn't Magic.

But one thing was clear.

No one would be able to tell what kind of Affinity Shang had and what kind of "Spells" he had just cast.

And while completely keeping his true power hidden, Shang managed to kill a beast a level above himself.

The only thing he had done was to imitate different movements of his different States and made the Mana of the world move in these ways.

The first block had been created by Shang, mimicking his Colossal Sword State blocking an attack.

The following slash had been created by Shang mimicking a slash with his Saber State.

The forward stab had been created by Shang mimicking a stab with his Long Sword State.

And lastly, the heavy attack was created by Shang mimicking a heavy, all-out attack with his Great Sword State.

Shang had used swordsmanship to kill the snake, but he hadn't used a sword.

He had simply made the world act like he had a sword.

Shang pocketed the corpse and continued flying toward the east.

At some point, he should be able to feel the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense.

Eventually, there were no more Ancestral Beasts in front of Shang anymore, but the number of Archbeasts only increased.

Shang fully focused on his instincts as he continued to travel.

By now, there were no more plants visible on the ground, but there was also something quite interesting.

There were a lot of Archmages.

The Archmages were scouring the land for any kind of ore or hidden treasures.

In a way, all of this reminded Shang of the Wasteland in the Storm Eagle Zone in Area 23.

By now, Shang no longer dared to fly in the open.

There were no more huge plants to cover him, and there were way too many Archmages. While Shang was invisible to their Spirit Senses, he was still visible to their eyes.

Like a ghost, Shang hovered slightly above the ground as he continued eastward.

And then, he immediately stopped moving.

Just now, it was like Shang had stepped into a different world.

Since Shang wasn't viewing the world with his eyes but with his Spirit Sense, he saw the world very differently from normal humans.

Shang saw the world as Mana, essentially. Trees were a complex mix of Earth and Water Mana, and Shang could also see all the individual pieces of Mana leaving the trees due to their metabolisms.

The ground was made of different forms of Earth, Water, Metal, and even Fire Mana.

All of these complex combinations had their own forms and feelings. In a way, one could say that all these different combinations that made up different forms of matter were of a different color for Shang, and he could also see these colors slowly enter the surroundings.

Nearly every piece of matter was giving a bit of its Mana off to the surroundings. In a way, one could imagine this as a stone in a river that had some paint on it. As the water passed by it, the color was also slowly washed off, following the river.

This was happening to everything in Shang's surroundings, and that was how he perceived his world.

And just now, all of that had suddenly changed.

All these small streams of color were no longer entering the surroundings but were charging toward the south-southeast.

In Shang's vision, nearly no Wind Mana from the sky was reaching him anymore, effectively making the sky seem nearly lifeless and black.

Even Shang's Spirit Sense felt a pull towards the south-southeast, and he even felt like small chunks of his Spirit Sense were torn off.

It was like there was a humongous black hole towards the south that pulled in all manners of Mana.

However, at the same time, Shang felt the ground give off a strong stream of brown Earth Mana.

While the ground gave off Earth Mana regularly everywhere in the world, it was several times stronger here.

It was like the ground was essentially trying to flood the surroundings in brown before also being pulled towards the south.

Shang was certain that he had reached the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense.

For a while, Shang focused on perceiving the world around him.

He was supposed to visit the Sky Lantern and find out what made a Beast Lord a Beast Lord, but maybe he could also find that out here.

Shang focused on his surroundings.

It was like the world was being absorbed and pulled towards the south.

However, that wasn't anything new.

That was simply the effect of the World Connection.

Shang could also do that but on a far smaller and weaker magnitude.

'Forget it,' Shang thought. 'I need to see it if I want to know more, and that's too risky right now.'

Shang marked the spot down where he felt the change in the world and traveled in a completely new direction.

This time, Shang was traveling toward the southwest.

He was closely traveling along the edge of the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense for a while.

After some minutes, he stopped.

He looked at the map he had created inside his mind and drew the edge of the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense on it.

It was round, and with just that, he could easily calculate where the actual Eternal Maw was and where its Spirit Sense could reach.

This wasn't anything difficult for someone with the mind of an Initial High Mage.

With that, Shang completed his small task and traveled back to the Sweeper.