Ch. 591..600

Chapter 591 - Secret Out

After a while, Shang returned to the Sweeper, who still remained in the same place.

Without saying anything, Shang transmitted the map he made in his mind to the Sweeper.

The Sweeper nodded. "So, the Spirit Sense starts at around 1,500 kilometers from here and might even reach the spot where we were planning on going."

"Good job. This will help us a lot."

Shang didn't answer and simply stopped behind the Sweeper, ready to continue.

The two of them continued traveling toward the east. The Sweeper decided that it would be best for them to travel in the middle between the Natural Selection Companies' defenses and the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense.

They passed by several Ancestral Beasts, but only a few of them could see through their disguises.

However, none of the Ancestral Beasts attacked.

If Shang were alone, some of them might attack since they could simply move forward and consume him. That wouldn't require them to unleash all of their powers, which meant that the Eternal Maw might not notice them. After all, it would basically be just like walking to them.

Sadly, the Sweeper made that impossible for them. While they could easily devour this Archmage, that Ancestral Mage beside him felt extremely dangerous.

For the next couple of minutes, the two of them continued traveling without any incident.

They had seen hundreds of Archmages in the last couple of minutes. Sure enough, this land was brimming with natural resources.

Due to the high density of Ancestral Beasts and the Beast Lord, the surroundings were brimming with extremely rare and valuable treasures. On top of that, the Ancestral Beasts also weren't even nearly as aggressive as outside this territory.

No wonder this was the most valuable territory of all the Natural Selection Company's territories. This also explained why the Chairman lived so close to this territory.

They had to protect it at all cost!

The two of them continued traveling in a half-circle.

A couple of minutes later, they reached the northeastern part of the territory. Just a bit more, and they would get out.

However, something troublesome happened.

A Mid Archbeast had found Shang but not the Sweeper.

Because of that, the Archbeast thought that Shang was alone and decided to attack.

While the Mid Archbeast wasn't dangerous to Shang, it was still a huge problem.

It would follow him and try to catch him, which would essentially broadcast their location to every human and beast in the surroundings.

Additionally, some Ancestral Beasts might even decide to get involved after seeing that the Ancestral Mage beside Shang didn't get involved.

Even more, they couldn't possibly break through the defenses like this.

Lastly, the Sweeper couldn't even get involved since there was an Ancestral Mage rather close to them. While they might overlook some Archbeasts fighting, they wouldn't overlook the sudden appearance of dense Mana that only an Ancestral Mage could produce.

Shang could kill it, but he would need to use his Sword, which would show that he was a warrior.

"Can you deal with it?" the Sweeper asked with a voice transmission.

"Difficult," Shang immediately answered. "My Spells aren't very powerful."

The Sweeper remained silent for a bit as they continued to fly towards the southeast, but they didn't have long. The beast would soon catch up.

The Sweeper was evaluating all her options.

She couldn't fight herself, or she might draw the attention of that Ancestral Mage, any of the Archmages, or maybe even the Eternal Maw.

They couldn't retreat for too long, or more beasts might join in.

They couldn't break through the defenses with this thing following them.

They could try to lure the beast to one of the Ancestral Mages, making it look like it was attacking that Mage, but there were several risks associated with that move.

"I can increase the density of the surrounding Mana, which will strengthen that ability you use to imitate Ancestral Beasts," the Sweeper said.

The Sweeper felt Shang's Spirit Sense fixate on her.

"You fought in my Spirit Sense earlier," she answered, "and I also fought plenty of Ancestral Beasts before. I can tell that you somehow managed to create a weaker form of their special ability."

"You shouldn't need to worry. You are a Named Agent, and you should know that we can't give sensitive information to others. Even if I wanted to tell someone about this ability, I would have to seriously consider the risks associated with it."

"Your secret's out, and you can't do anything about it. Just accept it and deal with it," she transmitted.

Shang looked like he considered the Sweeper's words for a moment.

Sure enough, she had watched him fight earlier, but Shang had already been prepared for that.

Instead of connecting Shang to a physical fighter, she thought that Shang's secret was that he could imitate an Ancestral Beast's power with a Spell.

Of course, creating such a Spell was amazing, and it was definitely something someone would want to keep hidden at all cost.

But it was nothing compared to Shang's true secret.

"Fine," Shang answered.

The two of them stopped, and the Sweeper focused on her surroundings.

While most of her Spells would attract attention, just dumping some Mana into the surroundings to increase the density wouldn't be an issue. By distributing Mana in such a vast area, the density didn't even nearly reach the level of an Ancestral Mage.

The Ancestral Mage close to them looked over with his Spirit Sense, but he quickly looked away again in boredom.

There were a couple of beasts that could hide from his Spirit Sense, and he saw them fight all the time.

At the moment, he saw an Archbeast attack something invisible, which was preparing for a counterattack by releasing Mana, but that wasn't anything special or surprising.

BOOOM!

Shang stabbed his index and middle fingers upwards, and the concentrated Mana in the surroundings hit the Archbeast on the chin.

The Archbeast was a red tiger, and it was flung upwards by the strike.

The tiger didn't get injured by the strike, but its attack was interrupted.

The next moment, Shang felt a great amount of Darkness Mana gather around him. It wasn't aggressive in any way and just surrounded him.

The Sweeper had decided to gift Shang a ton of Darkness Mana for his next attack.

Shang extended all his fingers and formed a blade with his hand.

The black cloud of Darkness Mana gathered and assumed the shape of a saber.

Shang slashed down.

SHING!

And the red tiger's head was bisected vertically.

The Darkness Mana had weakened its defenses to such a degree that Shang's World Connection had easily cut through it.

The tiger died in an instant, but Shang didn't put it into his Space Ring.

The Sweeper turned around and continued flying while Shang followed.

Crrrr!

At the same time, the corpse on the ground began to slide toward the east as well. The Sweeper was making it seem like the invisible beast was pulling the dead beast away to consume it in safety.

The Ancestral Mage looked over. He was a bit surprised by the power of the invisible beast, but as long as it didn't attack their Archmages, he didn't really care.

A couple of minutes later, the corpse was pulled out of the Ancestral Mage's Spirit Sense, and Shang put it away.

They had solved the problem.

 

Chapter 592- Lake Of Darkness

The two of them traveled for a bit more and eventually slipped past the defenses.

They had officially left the Eternal Maw's territory, making the journey far easier.

As soon as they left the Eternal Maw's territory behind, they rapidly continued towards the east, zigzagging constantly.

"Are there any more dangerous territories?" Shang asked.

"One more," the Sweeper answered, "but it is the least dangerous one. Usually, it would be quite dangerous, but if you have some insights into darkness, it won't be a problem to get through it."

Shang nodded. "And that's it?"

"Correct. After that, the only dangerous location would be the Sky Lantern's territory, but it isn't as aggressive as the Eternal Maw."

By now, the two of them were about 200,000 kilometers away from Shang's branch, which actually wasn't even a third of the complete way.

However, the two most dangerous areas were near the center of the Natural Selection Company's territory, and they had just passed them.

Shang and the Sweeper kept traveling for nearly three days after this spot.

They broke through several borders, but none of the borders had been troublesome. Of course, there were more dangerous areas, but they didn't need to go through them.

By now, they had traveled for a total of four days, and they were only 100,000 kilometers away from the Sky Lantern.

Even though the climate hadn't changed previously, Shang could now see the difference.

They mostly traveled towards the east, but they had also traveled quite a bit towards the south, and Shang could tell that the surroundings had become a bit hotter.

The trees still basically looked the same, but Shang could see a couple of new kinds from time to time.

After four days of travel, Shang and the Sweeper reached the last dangerous area on their journey.

As Shang continued flying forward, he noticed that the amount of Darkness Mana in the surroundings grew higher and higher.

He was even sure that, if he had eyes, he wouldn't be able to see anything at a certain point.

The Darkness Mana grew denser and denser, and Shang even felt his Spirit Sense being warped.

Shang focused on the Concept of Shadow and used his Spirit Sense in tandem with it.

The Darkness Mana in the surroundings began to illuminate inside Shang's Spirit Sense, and he could feel it moving around.

He could feel how the Darkness Mana hit certain spots and bounced off.

He could feel spots that the Darkness Mana couldn't get to.

He could feel the general trajectory of Darkness Mana.

Shang had never been in a location with such dense Darkness Mana, and he had never been able to feel the Darkness Mana this clearly.

Of course, over the past couple of days, the Sweeper had informed him about this area.

This was the last dangerous area, the Lake of Darkness.

The Lake of Darkness wasn't actually comprised of water but of pure Darkness Mana.

The Lake of Darkness was a 5,000-kilometer-wide basin filled to the brim with thick Darkness Mana.

From the outside, it looked like a lake of black smoke that stretched into the horizon.

The Lake of Darkness seemed mystical and magical, but it wasn't actually that strange.

It was simply the hunting ground of the Darkness Weaver Ants.

The Darkness Weaver Ants were powerful beasts that worked and lived in large groups. There were often tens of thousands, if not millions, of ants in one nest, and they marked their territory with this layer of Darkness Mana.

The size of their territory depended on how many Ancestral Beast Ants a group had.

This specific territory was the biggest one in the entire Natural Selection Company. The next biggest one was only a tenth as wide.

The size of the Lake of Darkness signified that this nest of Darkness Weaver Ants had a bit over a hundred Ancestral Beast Ants.

They probably also had over ten thousand Archbeast Ants and probably over a million High Beast Ants.

After adapting to his new surroundings, Shang already found more than a thousand Darkness Weaver Ants in his Spirit Sense.

Funnily enough, most of them weren't walking around but actually just being buried in the ground.

The Darkness Weaver Ants were just waiting in the ground for any prey to approach them. Ironically enough, they looked more like ant lions than actual ants by doing that.

Under normal circumstances, the thick Darkness Mana would severely disrupt one's Spirit Sense, but by using the Concept of Shadow, Shang managed to perceive his surroundings clearly.

The Sweeper had already explained to Shang that the ants were simply waiting for their prey to approach and enter.

The Lake of Darkness moved in an ebb-and-flow pattern. Under normal circumstances, the Lake of Darkness was about 5,000 kilometers wide, but by saving up a lot of excess Darkness Mana, the Darkness Weaver Ants could expand the lake momentarily to a size of 6,500 kilometers.

As soon as any living being was engulfed by the Darkness Mana, they would enter a panic and run in a random direction.

Due to the disorienting effect of the Darkness Mana, the beasts wouldn't be able to tell the different directions apart, and a big group of them would enter the Lake of Darkness.

That's when the Darkness Weaver Ants would strike them and pull them back to the nest.

The Darkness Weaver Ants were very weak on their own. They were slow, clunky, and they didn't have much power. The best they could do was to close their pincers around a target, remain stuck on the target, and fill it with venomous Darkness Mana.

In a way, walking through the Lake of Darkness was like walking through a dark room filled with mouse traps, just more dangerous.

It would be a miracle if someone only triggered a single mouse trap at a time.

Something like this could overwhelm even an Ancestral Mage.

However, if one knew some Darkness Laws, it wouldn't be difficult to get through the Lake of Darkness.

Ironically enough, the ants weren't very good at finding beings that were using the darkness to their advantage to hide.

The Darkness Weaver Ants perceived their eternally dark surroundings by the movement of Darkness Mana, but if a person managed to simply make the Darkness Mana move around them without actually interfering with the continuous flow, the Darkness Weaver Ants wouldn't see them.

The Sweeper and Shang simply flew through the Lake of Darkness, avoiding the Ancestral Beast Ants while simply ignoring every other ant.

Not a single ant was triggered, and the two of them flew out of the Lake of Darkness in just a couple of minutes.

Sure enough, it had been easy to pass through it.

 

 

Chapter 593 Journey Complete

Shang and the Sweeper continued towards the east. All the dangerous areas were now behind them, and the only thing between them and their target was distance.

The Sweeper was amazing at avoiding all kinds of beasts. Even though they had been traveling for over four days by now, not even a single beast had attacked them during all this time.

Even back when Shang had traveled in groups, they had been attacked by several beasts.

But the journey had been very relaxed with the Sweeper. The only problematic part had been the Reality Tear, but Shang had entered that of his own volition, knowing fully well what would await him.

Twelve hours later, the two of them reached their goal.

They had crossed the entire 700,000 kilometers.

"The Sky Lantern's territory is right in front of us," the Sweeper said.

Shang didn't need the Sweeper to tell him that. The surroundings were already saying as much.

A really strong wind had picked up in the surroundings. Normal plants were already nowhere to be seen, replaced by plants that didn't grow upward but in a diagonal manner. If one imagined some high grass being pushed backward by the wind, one could imagine how these plants looked.

Shang guessed that this was the only way the plants could resist such a constant and powerful wind. Luckily, the wind seemed to always move in the same direction.

Shang guessed that the wind was already over 150 kph fast, which would count as a devastating storm on Earth.

Surprisingly, the wind also didn't have the slight green tint of Wind Mana, but it was actually pure white, filled with Light Mana.

It was almost like the wind was actually a continuous wave of light.

"Is there anything I have to do?" Shang asked.

"There isn't much," the Sweeper said. "Compared to the Eternal Maw, the Sky Lantern is very peaceful. It even heals some beasts and even humans sometimes of dangerous ailments."

Shang was quite surprised by that. He knew that, even though everyone could basically regrow their entire body easily, there were still some chronic ailments, but they were very rare.

For example, there was a terrifying Spell that Poison Mages could use. That Spell essentially created a Poison Mana generator in someone's body, which would slowly transform the victim's Mana to Poison Mana. Of course, if the victim didn't have a Poison Affinity, they would slowly succumb.

Funnily enough, that Spell wasn't actually meant to kill the victim but to rob the victim's organization of resources. The victim could be healed, but due to the specific way the Spell worked, it would take a ridiculous amount of expensive resources.

There were a couple more Spells from different Affinities that could create something similar, but the one from the Poison Affinity was considered the strongest.

Of course, such Spells weren't usually used during a normal fight since they took a lot of concentration, Mana, and time to be cast. During a battle, using these Spells would be idiotic.

Because of that, only a rare few people would be inflicted by these kinds of Spells. These were not Spells for battles but for long wars.

And, apparently, the Sky Lantern was willing to heal such people of such afflictions, which was very unusual for a beast.

"There are only two small things you have to look out for," the Sweeper said. "First, don't attack anything, even if it attacks you. The Sky Lantern doesn't like aggression in its territory, and it will kill and consume anything that dares to show aggression to anything within its domain."

When Shang heard that, he actually found it ironic.

He had expected the Sky Lantern to be some saintly and peaceful beast after hearing about it from the Sweeper, but now, he could only snort.

Would a peaceful and saintly being immediately kill anyone that showed even the slightest aggression? Sure, some punishment would be in order, but immediately killing someone and eating them was a bit extreme.

Instead of a peaceful and tranquil elder, the Sky Lantern appeared more like an idealistic dictator now.

It felt quite hypocritical to Shang.

However, Shang wouldn't act upon his distaste. He wasn't nearly powerful enough, and the Sky Lantern didn't concern him. As long as it didn't try to hurt him, he wouldn't care.

"No aggression at all?" Shang asked.

"No aggression at all," the Sweeper confirmed.

Shang nodded. "And the second thing?"

"Don't use too much Darkness Mana," the Sweeper answered. "A bit is not a problem. We can probably keep our Cloaking Spells active, but we definitely can't use any other Spell with Darkness Mana. The Sky Lantern is not a big fan of Darkness Mana."

"For safety's sake, I would even suggest deactivating our Cloaking Spells for now. While we can probably use them, I don't want to take any chances."

Shang nodded and deactivated Shroud.

The normal colors of his body returned, making him appear more like a human again.

The Sweeper also deactivated her Cloaking Spell, but she didn't seem different at all.

"I'm fine with staying here for up to a month, but that's the most you will get. I can't waste that much time," the Sweeper told Shang.

Shang nodded. "That should be enough."

"Then, let's go."

Shang and the Sweeper entered the Sky Lantern's territory.

The more they advanced, the more powerful the storm grew.

Shang could even see some True Beasts being flung away by the powerful gales, which was quite impressive.

The power of the wind in the surroundings was already as strong as when the Storm Eagle had flown across its Zone back then.

The fact that there were still a couple of plants able to survive in this intense wind was already more than impressive.

By now, Shang could also feel quite a lot of High Beasts and Archbeasts in the surroundings. Instead of fighting and hiding, they were simply lying on the ground with closed eyes. It was almost like they were just enjoying the wind and the Light Mana that followed.

Over a long exposure, the wind in the surroundings was bound to injure most of these beasts. Being able to resist such a powerful wind was one thing, but staying inside it for days or weeks was something different.

The powerful wind would definitely tear out hair and slowly grind away at the skin of some of these beasts.

However, that was actually what these beasts wanted.

While the terrifying wind was injuring them, the dense Light Mana in the wind was healing them.

Even though beasts didn't have the mental capacity to train, they were essentially training just by being in this place.

One had to remember that the powerful bodies of the beasts were that powerful naturally. Beasts could become quite a bit more powerful by training their bodies.

​ The problem was just that they were too stupid to do that.

But in this place, they essentially didn't need to do anything.

They just needed to stay here.

'Is the Sky Lantern doing this on purpose? I mean, I wouldn't usually believe that a beast would be that smart, but the Sky Lantern is a Beast Lord. Maybe Beast Lords are smarter?'

The Sweeper and Shang continued traveling towards the east.

More and more Ancestral Beasts appeared in their surroundings, but none of them looked at them. They definitely noticed the two of them, but they just didn't care.

And eventually, they reached the Sky Lantern.

 

Chapter 594 Sky Lantern

Eventually, Shang and the Sweeper found the Sky Lantern.

Shang couldn't see it, but his Spirit Sense painted a beautiful image.

Up in the sky, there was a second sun, but in comparison to the sun everyone knew, this one didn't hurt anyone if they dared to look at it.

The second sun was pure white and bright, but it didn't injure anyone, and it also didn't give off any warmth.

However, the light the second sun was giving off felt comforting.

Shang felt the Mana inside his body start to move around on its own as if it were trying to heal something.

Sadly, there was nothing to heal.

After years of training and gaining more knowledge, Shang found out what his ability of Entropy actually did to his body.

Humans were made of the body, the mind, and the soul. The mind was simply the brain perceiving the surroundings with the body, while the body was just that, the body.

But the soul was something different.

The soul was the very thing that dictated someone's existence.

The soul dictated how big something was and what it was made out of, and it represented the individuality of every person.

When Shang's arm was cut off, his body could simply regrow it, and it achieved this by using Mana to synchronize the body with the soul again.

The soul still dictated that Shang had an arm, and the body would simply shape the Mana in such a way that Shang would receive a new arm that was identical to the old one.

However, this didn't work when Shang sacrificed something to his Entropy.

When Shang had sacrificed his eyes, he had essentially transformed the eyes of his soul into pure power.

Shang lost a part of his soul whenever he used Entropy.

Additionally, Shang hadn't sacrificed an insignificant portion of his soul.

It was often said that the eyes were the windows to the soul, and that wasn't just a useless phrase. The eyes were the primary method a normal human used to perceive their surroundings. They were of utmost importance.

So, even though the eyes were actually just a small part of someone's body, they actually made up a significant portion of someone's soul.

By sacrificing both his eyes, Shang lost about 15% of his soul.

But that was also the reason why Shang's Entropy had been able to show such great effects in the past.

If Shang had sacrificed something like his hair or his fingernails, he wouldn't have been able to unleash a lot of power. These relatively unimportant parts didn't even take up 0.1% of his soul.

Sacrificing such stuff with Entropy would essentially achieve nothing.

Because of that, all the Light Mana in the surroundings couldn't heal Shang's eyes at all.

Even more, Shang's soul wasn't even injured. If it were just injured, there might be some hope to regain his eyes.

Sadly, Entropy had taken these parts away, and it was like they had never been there in the first place.

Even if Shang found some kind of miraculous treasure that could heal someone's soul, it would probably only strengthen Shang's soul without adding his eyes back into it.

Light Mana used life energy to heal someone's body, but it couldn't expand someone's soul.

For a while, the Sweeper and Shang only remained below the second sun in the sky, the Sky Lantern.

While the second sun in the sky seemed peaceful, the same couldn't be said for the ground below it.

A powerful storm was raging around Shang and the Sweeper, more powerful than any storm on Earth.

Yet, even here, some plants still managed to survive and thrive. Shang guessed that was probably due to the dense Light Mana in the surroundings.

"Your month of time starts now," the Sweeper transmitted to Shang.

Shang didn't answer.

He just kept looking at the Sky Lantern.

While the light made it impossible for any person to view the Sky Lantern with their eyes, the same wasn't true for Spirit Senses.

Shang could see the Sky Lantern clearly with his Spirit Sense.

The Sky Lantern was a white bird, only about five meters long.

It looked a bit like a peacock but also different.

If there were no light around it, and if it were just walking down the street, it wouldn't look more impressive than a General Stage beast.

Sure, its white color was mesmerizing, but that would be about it.

It wouldn't look intimidating or very powerful without its light.

Right now, this white bird was just standing in the sky.

Yes, standing.

It wasn't flying or moving. It was simply standing in the sky like it would be standing on the ground.

It was simply looking slightly toward the sky. Its eyes didn't seem to be focused on anything in particular, and it was just standing there.

In a way, it looked a bit like a shining statue.

Shang's Spirit Sense was fully focused on it, and he was trying his hardest to understand it.

The Sky Lantern's power didn't feel aggressive or suppressive, but Shang could feel its weight.

Just like a huge pet that didn't want to crush its owner, the power around Shang could be pushed away, but he could still feel its massive strength, size, and magnitude.

It was so powerful.

Shang had never felt such incredible power before.

Sure, he had met several beings that were stronger than the Sky Lantern, but none of these beings had actually shown their true power in front of Shang.

The God always seemed like a mortal.

The Starlight Queen had seemed like a normal Mage.

The Keeper had never shown her power in front of Shang.

And the Eternal Maw had been too far away from Shang.

This was the first time Shang actually stood in front of something this powerful and actually being able to perceive its power.

Shang sat down and focused on the Sky Lantern.

As of this moment, only the Sky Lantern and Shang existed inside Shang's Spirit Sense.

Everything else became irrelevant.

Shang was doing his best to comprehend whatever made the Sky Lantern different from all the other beasts he had seen in the past.

He could already feel that the Sky Lantern was very different from other beasts.

There was just something unique about it.

And it was Shang's job to find out what that was.

However, before Shang could truly get lost in his comprehension, something happened.

Shang saw the Sky Lantern's head turn.

And then, its eyes focused on Shang.

 

 

Chapter 595-Sapience

The Sky Lantern turned its head and looked at Shang.

At that moment, Shang felt like the eyes of the Sky Lantern were staring into his own, even though he didn't have any.

It was a weird sensation.

As Shang's Spirit Sense looked at the Sky Lantern, he felt its Spirit Sense investigate him.

There were many beasts around this place, but the Sky Lantern didn't focus on any of them.

It only looked at him.

A moment later, Shang's body began to levitate on its own.

The Sweeper looked at Shang with a bit of nervousness. If the Sky Lantern decided to do something to White Ghost, she wouldn't be able to do anything. However, she also wouldn't receive payment for her job.

She could only wait. At least the Sky Lantern wasn't known for killing humans or beasts without any reason.

Shang felt himself being pulled upward, closer to the Sky Lantern.

Yet, even though the Sky Lantern was moving Shang against his will, he felt like he could escape the grasp.

But that was only because the Sky Lantern gave him the option.

If it wanted, it could paralyze Shang indefinitely with just its mind.

The minds of beasts were far weaker than the minds of Mages, but the Sky Lantern was so much more powerful than Shang that it didn't matter that its mind was comparatively weaker.

After a couple of seconds, Shang stopped in front of the second sun in the sky.

There was only a canvas of white in front of Shang, but in Shang's Spirit Sense, he saw the majestic white bird looking at him.

And then, Shang felt the Sky Lantern's feelings.

Curiosity.

That was the main emotion the Sky Lantern felt.

It had seen many humans in its life, but this one felt very different from all the other ones.

First of all, this human's mind was very weak for someone in the Fifth Realm.

Second, this human's body was very powerful for someone in the Fifth Realm.

Third, this human didn't have any eyes.

Fourth, the Sky Lantern could feel the human's Twilight Affinity, which was supremely rare.

Fifth, and most importantly, this human could use the World Connection that only Ancestral Beasts could use.

Not only was this the first time a human could even use that, but exactly that human could also use it in the Fifth Realm.

To the Sky Lantern, this human didn't feel like a human.

However, he also didn't feel like a beast.

It was very strange.

From this distance, Shang could also study the Sky Lantern's power better.

By now, he could feel something that was very different from an Ancestral Beast.

An Ancestral Beast consumed the Mana in its surroundings and converted it to Elemental Mana of its Element. That was the effect of the World Connection, and even Shang could do it.

However, the Mana around the Sky Lantern was different.

Instead of being expelled subconsciously, it was more like the Sky Lantern was expelling it in a controlled manner.

It was like the Sky Lantern was telling its Mana how to behave after it left its body. So, instead of just creating an area filled with light and wind, the Sky Lantern actually created this complex storm of wind and light consciously.

It was almost like the Sky Lantern had designed its own territory.

Its surroundings were doing what it wanted them to do.

'It is different from the normal World Connection,' Shang thought. 'However, I could do something similar. I would just need to dedicate a bit of focus on my surroundings.'

'So, that can't be the secret.'

The Sky Lantern looked at Shang for several minutes.

For some reason, Shang didn't feel nervous.

He felt no feeling of enmity coming from the Sky Lantern.

If this were the past, Shang would be afraid of the Sky Lantern killing him due to him resembling an Abomination, but with Humanity, that was no longer a problem.

Lucius had claimed that not even a Mage Emperor could see through his Spell.

Eventually, the Sky Lantern focused on Shang's eye sockets.

It closed its eyes, and the light around it became brighter as its focus gathered.

Shang didn't have much hope.

In his mind, he knew that the Sky Lantern probably couldn't do anything about his eyes.

But maybe.

Just maybe.

A small glimmer of hope still appeared in Shang's mind.

What if it actually could?

What if it actually managed to regrow Shang's eyes?

Shang's heartbeat sped up a little.

Maybe he was underestimating the Sky Lantern?

It was a being of the Seventh Realm with a Light Affinity.

If the Sky Lantern couldn't regrow Shang's eyes, only the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors with Light or Water Affinities would be left.

However, would they even be able to do anything about this?

In terms of raw power, as a Beast Lord, the Sky Lantern probably belonged to the top 100,000 strongest beings in the entire world.

On top of that, it had a Light Affinity.

It was already truly powerful.

So, maybe, it could actually do it?

More and more Light Mana gathered around the Sky Lantern.

Shang's eyes didn't regrow.

Eventually, the Light Mana dispersed a little.

WHOOOM!

Then, it gathered again, but this time, it was moving in incredibly complex ways.

Shang was shocked when he noticed that the Sky Lantern had summoned a humongous Magic Circle!

A Magic Circle!

This beast was actively using a Magic Circle!

But how?!

This wasn't like that one centipede that just used the Magic Circle inside its DNA.

No, the Sky Lantern was actually consciously creating a Magic Circle, which meant that it was casting a Spell!

This beast was actually casting a real Spell!

Theoretically, beasts could cast Spells. The problem was that their minds were too primitive to retain all the information necessary to create a complex Magic Circle. Additionally, it required many calculations and logic to create something like that.

Only a human with an intelligent consciousness and mind could achieve something like that.

And that's when Shang's mouth opened in shock.

He understood.

A couple of seconds later, the light around Shang vanished.

His eye sockets were still empty.

The Sky Lantern looked at Shang.

"I can't regrow your eyes, human," it transmitted.

Shang understood.

The thing that made a Beast Lord superior to an Ancestral Beast.

It was intelligence.

It gained sapience.

And Shang knew…

'I can't use that to reach the Sixth Realm.'

'I already have sapience!'

 

 

Chapter 596-Queen Of Life

Shang remained silent for a while.

The Sky Lantern kept looking at Shang.

It could understand why this human was so distraught.

The human had arrived in front of it in hopes of having his eyes healed.

Yet, to the Sky Lantern's and the human's surprise, the Sky Lantern didn't have the ability to heal his eyes.

"I might not have the ability to regrow your eyes," the Sky Lantern transmitted, "but there is someone out there that can."

Shang was distracted by the fact that he had come here for absolutely nothing, but the Sky Lantern's words pulled him back to reality.

Wait, there was a way to regrow his eyes?

"What way?" Shang asked via voice transmission.

"Far to the west of the world," the Sky Lantern transmitted, "lies the Holy Land of Life."

"I've never been there, but I have met beasts that have been there."

"The Holy Land of Life is the home of the Queen of Life."

"According to legend, the Queen of Life can heal any injury."

This was the first time Shang was conversing with a beast, but he couldn't be bothered thinking about that right now.

The Sky Lantern actually had a clue to get his eyes back!

"How can I get there?" Shang asked with a hopeful voice.

When the Sky Lantern felt the human's emotions turn from depression to eagerness, it felt glad.

It had felt a little bit guilty and ashamed that it hadn't been able to heal the human's eyes.

"After traveling to the west for many days, you will eventually reach the great ocean. Many beings believe this to be the end of the world, but if you continue going, you will reach the Holy Land of Life eventually," the Sky Lantern said.

"But you must be careful. The Queen of Life can heal any injuries, but getting to her will be difficult. While I do not discern between beast and human, I can't say the same for all the other beasts."

"They will try to stop you, and they will not care for your words, emotions, or reasons."

"If you want to request the Queen of Life's help, you must be powerful enough to resist the combined power of the Holy Land of Life."

'It's talking about one of the islands around Aterium, the ones housing the Beast Kings,' Shang thought. 'Apparently, one of these Beast Kings has some way of regrowing my eyes.'

"How can the Queen of Life regrow my eyes when you can't?" Shang asked. "You are a Beast Lord, and you have a Light Affinity."

Shang felt like the Sky Lantern was smiling at him, even though its demeanor didn't seem any different from before.

"The Queen of Life is the representation of life," the Sky Lantern transmitted. "Her Affinity is not Water, Light, Darkness, or whatever we consider Affinities."

"Her Affinity is Life itself."

Shang's mouth opened slightly in surprise. "Life? Her Affinity is Life?"

"Yes," the Sky Lantern answered.

"Life can be an Affinity?" Shang asked. "Then, can Death also be an Affinity?"

For some reason, Shang felt like the Sky Lantern was sighing.

"You humans are so inquisitive," it transmitted as Shang's body was slowly floating back to the ground.

"Yes, there is an Affinity for Death. Let this be my last answer to your last question."

Of course, Shang had many more questions, but he knew that asking them would be foolish.

"Thank you for your help," Shang said.

Shang felt a slight feeling of acknowledgment come from the Sky Lantern. "Leave," it transmitted.

"I will," Shang transmitted.

A moment later, Shang landed beside the Sweeper.

The Sweeper had a couple of questions after seeing that Shang had been pulled towards the Sky Lantern and then pushed back.

She wondered what had actually happened just now.

Yet, she knew that she was only here to fulfill her mission.

Her client's affairs didn't concern her.

"We can return," Shang said.

"Already?" the Sweeper asked. However, her tone didn't sound surprised.

Shang nodded. "I have gotten what I have come here for."

"Alright," the Sweeper said as she turned around.

Then, the two of them left the Sky Lantern's territory.

The trip hadn't gone as Shang had expected.

He had come to find a path to the Sixth Realm.

Yet, the very thing that Ancestral Beasts used to become Beast Lords was something that Shang couldn't possibly use. After all, he already had that thing.

It was devastating.

Shang had paid so much money to get here, but the trip had been pointless from the very beginning.

However, Shang had received some clues about an issue he hadn't even thought about.

Naturally, Shang wanted his eyes back, but not for the reason one might expect.

Shang's Spirit Sense was already a more than adequate replacement for his eyes, and while Shang wished to see again, that wish wasn't actually very important to him.

But if he got his eyes back, he could sacrifice them to Entropy again if he ever met something he couldn't kill.

Regaining his eyes would give Shang two powerful weapons.

Sadly, that was far in the future.

If Shang wanted to ask the Queen of Life for help, he would need to reach the Seventh Realm, at least. He might even need to reach the Eighth Realm.

Of course, since there was a beast with a Life Affinity, chances were also high that there were humans with Life Affinities.

However, such an Affinity would be even rarer than Space, Time, and Gravity Affinities.

And that meant that these humans would be part of the Mage Emperor's powers, and they would know about the Child of Calamity.

Asking them for help would be like telling them that he was the Child of Calamity. After all, how else would he lose both of his eyes in such a peculiar way?

'But for now, I should focus on finding a way to the Sixth Realm,' Shang thought. 'I might not be able to copy the beasts' Path, but I might be able to find one for myself.'

The Sweeper and Shang continued traveling toward the west wordlessly.

They passed through the Lake of Darkness without issues.

Then, they traveled for multiple days.

They slipped past the defenses around the Eternal Maw's territory.

But as they were traveling alongside the Eternal Maw's territory, a Mage sitting on the ground opened his eyes.

His hair was long and grey, but he looked like he was only 14 years old.

But the most surprising part was his clothing.

He wore robes that were half black and half white.

The robes of the Twilight Dusk Family!

The Mage wasn't very powerful, only being at the Late High Mage Realm, but he had an Ancestral Mage guarding him like a servant.

"Gravity is being disturbed," he slowly said.

"Two humans are sneaking through my training spot."

 

 

Chapter 597 God's Chosen

The Ancestral Mage respectfully remained at the young man's side. "Any orders?" he asked.

The young man with grey hair focused a bit more on the gravitational waves in the air.

"I was under the impression that Sirius Dreila forbade anyone from entering this place. I told him I need to focus on my training," the young man muttered with cold annoyance.

"Either Sirius Dreila has become careless, or he has become careless," the young man said, both sides of his sentence referring to different things.

"Sounds like he became careless," the Ancestral Mage commented from the side.

The young man furrowed his brows. "If I want a comment, I will ask for one."

The Ancestral Mage summoned a tiny bit of Mana to stop the young man from noticing his rolling eyes.

Why did he get stuck with this arrogant prick?

Just because this guy had a Gravity Affinity, he was acting like the reincarnation of the Mage God.

Nevertheless, the Ancestral Mage remained quiet.

After some seconds, the young man snorted.

"Well, it doesn't matter. Either way, these two are in a place they shouldn't be."

"Kill them."

The Ancestral Mage grimaced in discomfort.

"I would need to follow them for- "

"I said," the young man said after interrupting the Ancestral Mage, "if I want a comment, I will ask for one."

The Ancestral Mage narrowed his eyes. "This isn't-"

"Follow your order!" the young man shouted with a strict voice.

A fire of rage exploded in the Ancestral Mage's eyes, and he looked into the young man's eyes with unending fury.

This arrogant, stupid piece of shit!

"Fine!" the Ancestral Mage said through gritted teeth.

And he vanished.

After some seconds, the young man released a sigh.

"I'm sorry, but I hope that you will understand one day," he said to himself. "I know better than you about all the dangers because I have been chosen by the Mage God."

"The Mage God has granted me the Gravity Affinity, and the Mage God speaks through me."

"An Ancestral Mage can't possibly make better judgments than God's chosen."

At this moment, the young man felt the heavy weight of responsibility and destiny on his shoulder.

The fate of the world hinged on his decisions and rested on his shoulders.

Meanwhile, Shang and the Sweeper continued to travel.

They had no idea that they had been noticed by a member of the Twilight Dusk Family a couple of seconds ago.

And they also had no idea that a powerful Ancestral Mage was currently following them.

Usually, the Sweeper was the one following others without being noticed, but today, the roles were reversed.

Of course, following a Sweeper without being noticed was incredibly difficult.

Yet, the Ancestral Mage managed just that.

For several minutes, he was silently following them without being noticed by either of them.

After a while, Shang started to feel on edge, and even the Sweeper felt a bit nervous.

However, the Sweeper only attributed her nervousness to the close proximity of the Eternal Maw.

Being close to such a powerful and volatile beast was bound to take a toll on one's nerves.

For around two minutes, the Ancestral Mage continued following them.

He knew that he couldn't just attack them in this place. Otherwise, his Spells might attract the attention of the Eternal Maw.

As an Ancestral Mage of the Twilight Dusk Family, he was very powerful, but he couldn't possibly survive an attack from something as powerful as the Eternal Maw.

He just needed to follow them until they left the vicinity, kill them, and return.

Suddenly, his Communication Crystal rang.

The Ancestral Mage summoned the Communication Crystal and inspected it with his Spirit Sense.

After he did so, he nearly broke it into pieces.

"Yes?" the Ancestral Mage spoke into the Communication Crystal, trying his best to keep his rage in check.

"Why are you not back yet?" the voice of the young man came out of the Communication Crystal.

The Ancestral Mage gritted his teeth. "I can't just-"

"If I want a comment, I will ask for one," the young man said.

"You literally just-"

"Be quiet," the young man said with a firm tone that commanded respect. "I want you to immediately deal with the intruders and return post-haste."

"I do not need you to rely on your judgment. I need you to rely on my judgment."

"I know what I am doing, and every second you're not putting your trust into my decisions is another wasted second."

"Now, deal with them! Have I made myself clear?" the young man ordered.

The Ancestral Mage's entire body strained with suppressed rage.

This guy!

This good-for-nothing, idiotic, stupid, fucking, arrogant, piece of shit, son-of-a-bitch, shitstain cunt!

He swore he would squeeze the fucking life out of this worthless waste of space!

"Ye-… yes," the Ancestral Mage said, trying his absolute best to sound composed.

"Good," the young man said before cutting the connection.

When the connection was cut, the Ancestral Mage took a deep and shaky breath.

He slowly put the Communication Crystal away, doing his best not to just break it in his hand.

Then, he looked towards the southwest with a grimace.

'I swear, if I knew that I would have to play babysitter for such an entitled, arrogant, cond-… I wouldn't have joined the Twilight Dusk Family,' the Ancestral Mage thought, stopping himself before he derailed into another avalanche of insults.

The Ancestral Mage took another deep breath.

SHING!

Then, he suddenly used Mana Step.

At that moment, the Sweeper noticed an Ancestral Mage shooting right toward them with incredible speed.

"We've been found!" she transmitted to Shang.

Shang knew that this was a problem.

"Then, the Chairman of the Natural Selection Company has already been informed?" Shang asked.

For a slight bit, the Sweeper hesitated.

"We haven't been found by a member of the Natural Selection Company, but I don't know if that's better or worse."

"What do you mean?" Shang asked.

"Someone wearing the Twilight Dusk Family's robes is chasing us."

 

Chapter 598 What Is Happening?!

Shang could barely process that they were actually being chased by someone belonging to one of the Mage Emperors before the person following them actually arrived just behind them.

"What do you want?" the Sweeper asked via voice transmission.

But then, the Ancestral Mage shot directly at her, his fists surrounded by a dense shroud of Darkness Mana.

The Ancestral Mage's actions shocked the Sweeper immensely.

Just this one action of shooting forward, trying to attack the Sweeper, created so many logical inconsistencies and questions.

The guy had to know that the Sweeper was very powerful, right? After all, he was a member of the Twilight Dusk Family.

But then, why was he attacking her at this moment?!

He should know that any kind of powerful Spell from the two of them would directly summon the Eternal Maw to this place!

So, was he trying to attack and kill them without using any kind of powerful offensive Spell? For fuck's sake, they couldn't even use Mana Shield here!

And even if he tried to actually kill her right here, how would that even work?!

They could both use Mana Step to retreat more and more, and those comparatively weak attacks wouldn't injure them that much.

Also, wouldn't the Ancestral Mage have a way higher chance of killing them if he just followed them until they left the area? At that point, they would probably just die to him.

And that wasn't even everything! By fighting here, either of the two combatants could just unleash a powerful Spell on purpose to attract the Eternal Maw. If they were about to die, might as well take the opponent with them, right?

What the fuck was going on?!

Literally what the fuck was happening right now?!

This made zero sense!

What could possibly happen to make a powerful Ancestral Mage do something this incredibly idiotic and illogical?!

As the Ancestral Mage shot forward with his darkness-covered fists, the Sweeper moved to the side.

The Ancestral Mage's attack missed, and the Sweeper summoned a sword made of darkness.

Due to the Eternal Maw, neither of the two could unleash any powerful Spells, and they were both fast enough to avoid the Spells they would be able to cast.

In this fight, casting a Spell would be like blowing a bubble toward the other person.

Because of that, they had to rely on their bodies to make up for the loss of speed.

The Sweeper slashed forward with her Sword of Darkness, but the Ancestral Mage avoided it by flying backward for a bit.

Then, the Ancestral Mage punched forward again, but the Sweeper held her sword in front of her opponent's fist.

The fist stopped, and the Ancestral Mage gritted his teeth.

How was he supposed to attack her when she had a sword?! He couldn't think of any way to get past that.

After the attack stopped, the Sweeper slashed forward with her sword, but the Ancestral Mage easily sidestepped.

The Sweeper gritted her teeth.

How was she supposed to hit her opponent with her sword?! Her sword needed so much time to gain speed, and before it gained enough speed to hit its target, the target had already moved. She couldn't think of a way to deal with that issue.

The fight continued going on like this.

In the beginning, Shang had been very worried, but as time passed, he just grew incredulous.

Shang could feel that the Ancestral Mage was incredibly powerful, probably even more powerful than the Sweeper, but he chose to attack them in a location that essentially made him harmless.

And then, this ridiculous performance happened.

Two Mages, who had never fought anyone in close combat ever since they had been teenagers or children, were fighting each other with fists and swords.

Their display was absolutely pathetic.

There had been students in the Warrior Academy that had been better at fighting.

These were Ancestral Mages!

They were as powerful or even more powerful than Zone Beasts!

Yet, even though this entire situation seemed beyond ridiculous, Shang could still feel the unending rage and killing intent emanating from the Ancestral Mage.

But this made everything just that more surreal.

It was like an enraged man was charging at someone with a child's toy as a weapon.

"What do you want?!" the Sweeper transmitted to the Ancestral Mage with rage. Every moment this guy kept attacking them was an additional moment they could be found by any member of the Natural Selection Company.

This was not funny!

"I have to kill you!" the Ancestral Mage answered after being bombarded by one question after the other while continuing to not-hit the Sweeper.

"What the hell are you even talking about?!" the Sweeper asked in anger. "You know as well as I that this stupid fight, if this can even be called a fight, won't end in anyone's death."

"I have to kill you!" the Ancestral Mage transmitted with rage, hatred, and… something else.

The Sweeper couldn't be certain, but she felt like the Ancestral Mage felt shame right now.

The "fight" continued for several minutes.

Usually, fights between Ancestral Mages took a couple of seconds at most, but this fight had already dragged on for minutes.

This fight broke every convention.

And Shang was not planning on interfering.

Sure, Shang would definitely manage to push the Ancestral Mage back, but then what?

The Ancestral Mage's mind was so fast that his Mana Step could be used faster than Shang could strike, and he would move by over a hundred kilometers when using one.

Shang just wouldn't be able to hit him.

Additionally, even if he managed to drive the Ancestral Mage into a corner, he could just unleash a powerful Spell and doom them all to die.

Everything was pointless.

All of this was pointless.

But then, Shang came up with a possibility.

"He's most likely buying time for the Chairman of the Natural Selection Company to arrive," Shang said with a dark voice.

As soon as Shang said that, the entire atmosphere changed.

The atmosphere around the Sweeper grew dark.

If that were true, she would need to do something very drastic!

However, the Ancestral Mage's aura changed in a way the two of them hadn't predicted.

It was panicked, afraid, and frustrated.

"No!" he shouted with all of his power and conviction. "I have to kill you! No one else! I have to kill you! You must die by my hand!"

The Sweeper and Shang only looked at the Ancestral Mage with shock.

That sounded and felt way too real to be a lie. Additionally, even the Chairman probably wouldn't want to attack them this close to the Eternal Maw. Was killing a Sweeper worth provoking the biggest source of revenue for his company?

But then they were on ground zero again.

What the hell was going on?!

 

 

Chapter 599 Light Bringer

Inevitably, the fight dragged on.

No side could hit the other side.

The Sweeper and Shang couldn't retreat. If they did, the Ancestral Mage would regain the use of his Spells, and they would actually die.

They also couldn't go deeper into the Eternal Maw's territory. If they entered its Spirit Sense, it would just attack them.

The only positive thing about this situation was that the Ancestral Mage was also cloaking himself with a Spell, just like Shang and the Sweeper.

However, the movement of Mana could still draw attention.

What were they supposed to do?

What could they do?

Were they doomed to fight this Ancestral Mage with foam fists until someone noticed them?

However, the Ancestral Mage also said that he had to be the one to kill them, and if he ordered the Natural Selection Company to draw back, they most likely would. After all, he was a member of the Twilight Dusk Family.

But then what?!

Were they doomed to battle each other for all eternity?!

Shang just continued shaking his head.

He had trouble accepting that this was actually reality.

How was this reality?

Why?

WHOOOOOOOM!

At that moment, the Ancestral Mage's aura broke through the roof.

The surroundings turned black and white as an unending abyss of rage threatened to consume the Sweeper and Shang.

It was like an angry God had suddenly descended to drown the world in an ocean of blood.

And then…

The Ancestral Mage continued punching, missing, and avoiding the sword.

"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT?!" the Sweeper shouted in confusion, frustration, and anger.

How did that Ancestral Mage suddenly become so incredibly angry and then continue with this stupid charade?!

Such anger couldn't possibly be faked!

It was obvious that the Ancestral Mage was extremely serious about this situation.

The Sweeper and Shang felt like the Ancestral Mage was fighting with his life on the line, trying his absolute best to kill the two of them.

But that made no sense!

So, what actually happened when the Ancestral Mage exploded with rage?

His Communication Crystal had rung, and he didn't need to check to know who was calling him.

Right now, the Ancestral Mage was so incredibly angry and frustrated, making him appear like someone that was desperately trying to grasp for their last glimmer of life.

Yet, he obviously wasn't angry and frustrated at his opponents but at the young man.

From the very beginning, the Ancestral Mage knew that there was no way for him to make any progress in this fight.

He knew that this would only waste time.

But what was he supposed to do?

He tried to kill the two of them the smart way by following them and then attacking them outside, but the young man had to force him to attack them now.

His job was to follow orders, and he would do his job.

This was his first job while being part of the Twilight Dusk Family, and he wouldn't throw it away after so many years of working his ass off.

Of course, it was also the Ancestral Mage's job to accept new orders from his superior, which was the young man.

However, he was in the middle of a life-and-death battle. And distraction could result in his death, and he couldn't possibly operate a Communication Crystal during it.

Expecting him to answer a Communication Crystal call while literally fighting with his life on the line was too much.

After a full minute, the Communication Crystal went silent again.

The Sweeper and the Ancestral Mage had been exchanging hundreds, if not thousands, of attacks during that time frame.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! What do you want?! What is your goal?!" the Sweeper shouted at him while she was trying to hit him with her sword.

Shang only continued slowly shaking his head. "I have no fucking idea what's going on," he muttered.

The Ancestral Mage's eyes narrowed as rage burned in his eyes. "I must kill you!" he shouted.

And then, he stopped his fist in front of the Sweeper's sword again.

The sword was an unassailable defense.

There was no opening.

The lone sword of darkness might as well be an eternal titan guarding an empress.

The Sweeper attacked again, but the Ancestral Mage just moved to the side a little bit to avoid the attack.

The Ancestral Mage was as elusive as dreams.

It was impossible to hit him.

The Ancestral Mage might as well be a mystical phantom of wind stalking the endless steppes.

Shang had no idea how often he had shaken his head by now.

The fight continued.

Minutes passed.

The Sweeper kept shouting.

The Ancestral Mage kept dodging.

SHING!

And then, something finally happened.

After fighting for who knew how long, a fourth person suddenly appeared.

It was a woman that looked to be in her late twenties. She had black and white hair and wore the robes of the Twilight Dusk Family.

As she appeared, all the Mana in the surroundings was pulled towards her, as her Spirit Sense eclipsed all three people.

The Ancestral Mage immediately stopped fighting, flew back, and performed a polite bow.

The Sweeper took a deep breath of shock as she looked in horror at the new arrival. Of course, due to her cloak, nobody could see her expression.

Shang grew serious as well, but he still had some hope.

This was the Twilight Dusk Family, not the Natural Selection Company.

The members of the Twilight Dusk Family might not even suspect that Shang and the Sweeper were members of the Temple of Blood since the Temple of Blood itself wasn't something they had to care about.

So the Temple of Blood had a couple of Mage Lords, big deal. The Twilight Dusk Family had thousands of Mage Lords, Several Mage Kings, and even a Mage Emperor.

What was a Temple of Blood in front of them?

If they wanted, they could just send a Mage King to eradicate the Temple of Blood, and the issue would be solved.

Of course, the woman that had just appeared was a Mage Lord of the Twilight Dusk Family.

After she arrived, she looked at Shang and the Sweeper.

Then, she looked at the Ancestral Mage.

"Night Soldier," she said.

"Light Bringer," the Ancestral Mage answered.

"What is going on?" the woman asked with a neutral tone.

 

 

Chapter 600 Unpredictable Turns

Everyone just looked at the powerful Mage Lord that had just arrived.

Under normal circumstances, this would be an extremely dangerous situation for Shang and the Sweeper, but the ridiculousness of the earlier situation made it difficult to feel any kind of genuine threat.

"Light Bringer," the Ancestral Mage repeated, "the Dawn Seedling has ordered me to kill these two people since they have dared to come close to the Dawn Seedling's training area."

The Light Bringer blinked once without any amusement. "I've heard. What I am asking is what was actually going on. What I have seen just now didn't look like killing someone."

"Light Bringer, my original plan was to follow these two until they left the Eternal Maw's territory. After sufficient distance was put between the Eternal Maw and us, I would have attacked."

Shang took a deep breath.

The earlier situation might have been ridiculous, but if the Ancestral Mage had actually gone through with his actual plan, things definitely wouldn't be funny.

"However, the Dawn Seedling had contacted me while I was following the two of them and demanded to know why I wasn't back yet. I have tried to explain my plan, but the Dawn Seedling refused to let me speak."

"He said that he knows what he is doing and that his judgment is superior. Every second I am not following his judgment is another second of wasted time."

The atmosphere subtly changed after the Ancestral Mage said that.

"Then, he ordered me to immediately attack without letting me speak," the Ancestral Mage said.

"So, I attacked. Due to the Eternal Maw's proximity, I couldn't unleash any powerful Spells, or I would die as well. That's why I had to attack with my fists, but I'm not very experienced in physical fighting."

After that, the Ancestral Mage became quiet again as he waited for an answer.

By now, Shang and the Sweeper finally understood what had happened.

Earlier, they couldn't imagine any possible way this situation could have occurred, but now, it was clear.

They had believed that it was impossible for an Ancestral Mage to make such a stupid decision, and they had been right.

The decision had been made by an arrogant High Mage that hadn't experienced the world before.

After a couple of seconds, the Light Bringer finally made her decision. "Night Soldier, do you know why I am here?"

"Light Bringer, I am not sure, but I think you have been called because the Dawn Seedling thought I was disobeying his orders," he said.

The Light Bringer slowly nodded. "Did you anticipate that this would happen?"

"Yes, Light Bringer," the Ancestral Made said respectfully without any guilt whatsoever.

The Light Bringer narrowed her eyes. "Was this your plan? You wanted to hurt your Dawn Seedling by involving me?"

"Light Bringer," the Ancestral Mage immediately answered. "If there were any other reasonable way to fulfill the Dawn Seedling's orders, I would have done so. The only other option would have been to go all-out from the beginning, dying together with my targets, but that would also endanger the Dawn Seedling."

"Light Bringer, please enlighten me on what I could have done better without disobeying orders," the Ancestral Mage requested respectfully.

The Light Bringer remained silent for a couple of seconds, only looking at the Ancestral Mage.

Shang and the Sweeper felt nervous. They were just standing there, not daring to move.

"The Dawn Seedling told me that he has tried to contact you again," the Light Bringer said.

"Light Bringer, I can't operate a Communication Crystal during a fight. While our fight admittedly looked ridiculous, my life was still in danger. While fighting another Late Ancestral Mage, I can't allow myself to be distracted."

"I've joined the Twilight Dusk Family, and I am willing to fight with my life on the line. However, I am still human, and while I am willing to risk my life, I am not willing to throw my life away for nothing," the Ancestral Mage said with conviction.

The Light Bringer looked at the Ancestral Mage for a while.

"And we wouldn't want you to sacrifice your life for nothing," she said slowly. "It is a fact that the Dawn Seedling has conducted himself in an unbecoming manner. The Dawn Seedling will receive a reprimand."

"Return to the Dawn Seedling and continue protecting him," the Light Bringer ordered.

Surprisingly, the Ancestral Mage didn't immediately leave or answer.

Instead, he raised one of his eyebrows.

"That's it?" he asked, his voice no longer sounding official and respectful but very casual and annoyed.

The Light Bringer narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "This is not your decision. You are a Night Soldier. Your duty is to follow orders, not question them!"

Both of the Ancestral Mage's eyebrows rose in surprise.

Then, he remained quiet for a couple of seconds.

"You know what?" he slowly said.

"Fuck that! I'm not going to work for an organization that treats me like shit!" he shouted as his black and white robes were replaced with purely black ones.

"Here!" he shouted as he threw his robes over to the Light Bringer.

SHING! CRRRRRRRR!

Then, an avalanche of objects left the Ancestral Mage's black and white Space Ring and entered a second one.

A second later, the Ancestral Mage threw the black and white Space Ring to the Light Bringer as well.

Lastly, he put his finger on his head, and a grey cloud came out of it. This was his SKP, his Sensitive Knowledge Partition.

Finally, he threw that to the Light Bringer as well.

The Light Bringer just looked at him with narrowed eyes as all the Ancestral Mage's things hovered beside her.

For several seconds, no one said anything.

The Ancestral Mage only looked with narrowed eyes at the Light Bringer. "I don't remember why I am angry since I just lost a lot of my memories, but I probably had a good reason! I guess I quit instead of being fired, right? I'm not sure. I don't remember."

The Light Bringer's eyes were filled with fury.

Then, she snorted.

SHING!

And vanished.

The Ancestral Mage crossed his arms with a satisfied but irritated expression. "That probably means I quit."

After that, he turned to Shang and the Sweeper.

"You!" he said, pointing at the Sweeper. "You're nearly as strong as me!"

"I need a job! What benefits does your organization have?"

Shang and the Sweeper only silently looked at the Ancestral Mage.

Originally, the Sweeper and Shang were supposed to die.

Then, their fate changed to something ridiculous.

And now, the person that was supposed to kill them was asking them for a job.

Sometimes, it was impossible to predict the future.