Ch. 641..650

Chapter 641 - Commander Stage

Not much of note happened for the next several months, and the mortal district was growing at rapid rates.

There were many more people that focused on increasing their power, and even the children started to focus on becoming more powerful.

Almost all of them tried to become Mages, but not everyone had the talent to be accepted into the new Mage Academy in the mortal district.

The people that didn't manage to join the Mage Academy joined the Warrior Academy instead.

Or at least, they wanted to.

Sadly, there were no fitting teachers available for the Warrior Academy since the strongest people in the mortal district were busy hunting and defending everyone.

After watching the mortal district for a couple of months, Shang decided that it was time to officially open the Warrior Academy. The thirst for power had already been deeply implanted in the people.

Shang contacted his general. "I need some people recruited."

"Yes, sir?" the general asked respectfully.

"The mortal district has taken form, and the people want to become warriors. However, they do not have strong warriors."

"I need some Commander Stage warriors from other towns. I am willing to pay for their trip here and pay them handsomely."

The general hesitated for a couple of seconds. "Warriors? Commander Stage?"

Obviously, the general wasn't really familiar with these terms.

Shang did his best not to sigh.

Then, he explained what a warrior was.

The general listened, but he was still confused and concerned. "Sir, don't take my words as disrespect, but I don't understand why you would want to create warriors. Aren't Mages just strictly better?"

"As of now, yes," Shang said. "However, we need to look into the future. You know that I am not a Mage but a warrior, and I am probably the first and only warrior of the Fifth Realm."

"Of course, Mages can travel far further on the path to power, but how many can actually pull that off? How many people would be happy with reaching the Fifth Realm?"

"Even if the warriors never reached the Sixth Realm, we would still gain several more warriors of the Fifth Realm."

"Tell me, if we could double the number of Archmages, how great would that be?"

The general thought about Shang's words for a while.

Sure, warriors didn't have the talent of Mages, but reaching the Fifth Realm was already more than impressive. After all, the general was still at the Peak High Mage Realm.

"I understand, sir," the general said. "I will ask some people from other towns and cities."

"Thanks," Shang said before cutting the connection.

Shang had to wait for a couple of days for feedback, but eventually, the general contacted him again.

"Sir, one of the major cities has a flourishing mortal district, and they have several of these Commander Stage warriors," the general transmitted.

"What's the price?" Shang asked.

"One of the Ancestral Mages is willing to be the escort for the trip for five Grade Six Mana Crystals."

Shang snorted. "Five Grade Six Mana Crystals for an afternoon of work. That's good money."

"Fine," Shang said. "I want 50 Commander Stage warriors, and I am willing to give every single one of them ten Grade Four Mana Crystals when they decide to move here. They are also allowed to bring their families with them."

"Yes, sir," the general answered.

The general contacted the Ancestral Mage again, and the two of them planned everything out.

And three days later, they arrived.

An Ancestral Mage flew rapidly towards the town while a huge plate of metal with people on it followed him.

There were probably nearly 300 people there.

Shang welcomed the Ancestral Mage and paid him.

The Ancestral Mage put the people down on the ground and left shortly after.

All the people now stood in front of the southern entrance of the town, unsure.

The things they had been promised were too good to be true.

These warriors were extremely powerful for warriors, but when compared to Mages, they were worthless.

A Peak Commander Stage warrior from this group couldn't even win against a Mid True Mage, and they couldn't even win against Late Commander Stage beasts on their own.

As Shang looked at all these warriors, he was reminded of the earliest warriors of Area 23.

They had been just as weak in front of the Mages.

Shang slowly descended in front of them, but he stopped just a couple of meters above the ground since he wanted them to take note of him.

The people all looked up at Shang, but his scary appearance made them nervous.

"My name is Shang Sword, and I am the Town Lord of this town."

"And I am also a warrior."

When the people heard that, it was like their hearts had stopped.

A warrior?

A warrior that could fly?

A warrior Town Lord?

This made no sense!

"Some of you might not believe me, but it is the truth. I came from a distant place to the west, and there, warriors have reached higher levels."

"I do not know what you call the Realm you are currently in. Over there, the First Realm is called the Soldier Stage, the second one the General Stage, and the third one the Commander Stage."

"You all are at the Commander Stage, the Third Realm."

"Far to the west, the warriors have created the Fourth Realm already, the True Path Stage. On top of that, the warriors to the west have found ways to close the gap between them and the Mages."

"Over there, warriors and Mages are about equal in Battle-Strength."

"I have brought all of this knowledge to this place with me, and I intend on increasing the power of the warriors in this place."

"For the past few months, I have worked on the mortal district of this town, and all the people are hungry for power."

"There are two reasons why I have brought you here."

"First, my town doesn't even have a single Commander Stage warrior that can teach the children. I have created a Warrior Academy, but there are no fitting teachers for it."

"Second, some of you might have the willpower and discipline to reach the True Path Stage, and I am willing to help you."

"Any questions?" Shang asked.

The people were still flabbergasted.

Shang had hit them with one impressive revelation after the other.

There were stronger warriors?

Warriors could close the gap between them and Mages?

After a couple of seconds, one of the warriors stepped forward to ask a question.

"Town Lord," he said carefully. "If I may ask, what Realm are you in?"

"I'm at the Fifth Realm," Shang answered. "And as far as I know, I am the only warrior that has managed to reach the Fifth Realm."

"The name of the Fifth Realm is the Impose Stage, and if you manage to reach the True Path Stage, I am willing to teach you how to reach the Impose Stage."

Over the next couple of minutes, the people asked several inconsequential questions like payment, duties, and so on.

Then, one of them asked an interesting question. "Sir, how can we bridge the gap between the Mages and us?"

SHING!

Shang summoned something and showed it to them.

It was a bucket full of pills.

"With this."

 

Chapter 642 - Thirst For Power

The people looked at the bucket of pills with intrigue.

This would bridge the gap between them and the Mages?

"This is a Bloodline Pill," Shang said as he pulled out one of them. "When you consume Bloodline Pills, they will give your body the properties of a beast."

"Of course, you won't look or think like a beast. Your soul and mind have a blueprint of what your body is supposed to look like. Your muscles, bones, and organs will reach the density and power of a beast's muscles, bones, and organs. However, you will still retain your current appearance."

"This increases your physical power by quite a bit, and we can completely close the gap with some additional training later. In the end, you will have a body just as powerful as a beast of your level."

The warriors almost couldn't believe what they were hearing.

They knew how powerful a beast's body was, and it felt unreal to them that they could become that powerful.

Shang put the pill back into the bucket.

Now, one apparent question was, where did these pills come from?

What about the Bloodline Infusion Procedure?

Well, the Bloodline Infusion had been created by George and refined by the many warriors that came after him.

It had become quite easy to perform.

However, this didn't mean that the Bloodline Infusion was the optimal way to get a beast's body.

When Shang and the Territory Lord had talked about his future job, they had already planned out several things.

The first thing the Territory Lord wanted to do was to simplify the Bloodline Infusion. It sounded too expensive, time-consuming, and primitive to her.

So, she gathered all the information regarding the Bloodline Infusion Shang knew about and forwarded it to some specialists in the Temple of Blood.

These specialists were the people that created all the gadgets and special Spells for the Temple of Blood, and the Territory Lord told them to simplify the Bloodline Infusion.

Yes, George had been an impressive biologist, and he had reached the True Path Stage. Of course, the Bloodline Infusion had been a legendary accomplishment.

Yet, how could someone like George compare to a team of Ancestral Mages with over a thousand years of experience whose job it was to create such things?

How could someone like George even hope to accomplish what these specialists could?

It took the specialists barely a couple of weeks to create the first pill, and they just needed three more months to perfect it.

Even more, creating these pills was easy and cheap.

One just needed to draw a couple of Magic Circles, gather a beast's bone marrow with the same Affinity as the person eating the pill, and just activate the Magic Circles.

That was it.

When the pills were produced, the person would only need to consume about ten to twenty of them over the course of a day, and they would have their beast body.

And the only pain the people would be under was a horrible bout of diarrhea that would go on for a day.

In fact, the specialists had actually produced a way to even get rid of that, but it would double the price of the pill.

Shang explained to the warriors what the pills did and how they worked.

The more the day progressed, the harder it was to believe that this wasn't just a dream.

The world of these people was completely turned upside down today.

Eventually, Shang finished his introduction to their immediate future and flew back to the town.

A moment later, a High Mage appeared in front of the people.

She took out over 400 buckets filled with pills and called the Commander Stage warriors up one at a time.

The Commander Stage warriors needed to say their name, their power, what weapon they were using, and what Affinity they had.

The High Mage would note down everything and hand the person a fitting bucket of pills.

After about an hour, every warrior had received their bucket of pills, and the High Mage led them through the town.

The warriors were not surprised by anything since they had come from a much larger city.

The Mages were throwing disgusted glances at the warriors, but they were also used to those.

After a while, they reached the mortal district inside the walls, which basically only consisted of shops and academies.

When the warriors saw everything, they raised an eyebrow.

Spartan.

Primitive.

Simple.

These buildings were not the greatest.

While they had been touring the town, the High Mage had told them about everything that had happened ever since Shang had become the Town Lord.

It felt weird to them that the people here had essentially formed a civilization just a couple of months ago, but there was also something exciting about this.

It was like they were at the forefront of discovery, and even more than that, they would also be the first warriors that had a shot at reaching the True Path Stage they had just learned about.

So, even though everything was simple and primitive, they were still excited about their future.

Luckily, the academy was big enough for all the teachers and their families to live in.

They were the only members of the mortal district that were allowed to live inside the town itself. The teachers of the Mage Academy didn't technically count to the mortal district since they were True Mages and High Mages that just lived in the normal residential districts.

The people all found their new homes and started to settle in.

Some of the people of the mortal district noticed that there was a commotion in the desolate Warrior Academy, but they didn't know what was going on.

The next day, the Commander Stage warriors consumed the pills.

The day after, they tested out their new powers and were shocked.

They had grown so powerful!

After that, Shang visited them again and handed over two things.

He gave them the barbarian strengthening technique and the Star Map.

He also explained all the relevant principles, and a couple of hours later, he left again.

All of these things were more than incredible, and the warriors immediately felt their long-forgotten thirst for power reawaken.

And for the first time, the Commander Stage warriors came out of the academy and entered the actual mortal district outside.

 

Chapter 643 - Academy Ready

When the Commander Stage warriors left the inner mortal district, all the people looked at them.

Under normal circumstances, the Commander Stage warriors wouldn't be noticed. After all, even though the mortal district could be considered a village, there were actually several thousand people living in it. Obviously, not everyone knew everyone else.

However, the thing that made these Commander Stage warriors stand out was their equipment.

They had amazing weapons and amazing armor!

Some people immediately asked these people where they came from and where they got their equipment from.

The Commander Stage warriors just told them about what had happened.

The mortals were shocked.

These warriors came from a different town?

Additionally, they were that strong?!

When everyone heard that they had been brought over to serve as teachers, they became excited.

Not only would they and their children have an opportunity to become even more powerful, but with these strong Commander Stage warriors present, they didn't need to fear the beasts anymore. After all, these warriors were not part of the Mage Guards, and they wouldn't just stand by and watch as several people died, right?

Well, their happiness received quite a significant damper when they heard that the Commander Stage warriors had been instructed to only fight Commander Stage beasts.

If a Soldier Stage or General Stage Beast attacked, they were forced to stay on the sidelines and watch. Otherwise, they would be banished from the town, which would essentially be a death sentence.

The mortal district had to fight its own battles.

But that wasn't all.

The next day, the Mage Guards would retreat into the town and stop standing guard.

However, it was important to note that this didn't mean that everyone could now do whatever they wanted. The Mage Guards would still uphold order in the mortal district, but they wouldn't stand guard anymore.

Instead of having several Mage Guards stand around the mortal district, the three High Mages would simply oversee everything with their Spirit Senses while not directly being inside the mortal district.

At first, this didn't seem like bad or good news. It just seemed neutral.

But when the Commander Stage warriors explained, everyone understood why this was considered bad news.

The Mage Guards had acted as a deterrent for over 90% of the beasts. They had seen the Mage Guards from a great distance and decided not to approach.

But now, there would be no Mage Guards present, and the Commander Stage warriors would mostly remain inside the town since they weren't hunting that often.

This meant that the frequency of beast attacks might increase.

Some of the people wanted to guilt trip the Commander Stage warriors into defending them, but they were having nothing of that.

They wouldn't sacrifice their lives for something this inconsequential. If they could sacrifice their lives to stop the beasts from attacking altogether, maybe, but sacrificing their lives would only stop one attack. A next one would soon follow.

As the Commander Stage warriors passed by the talking people, one of them got an idea.

"Hey, so, we are supposed to be teachers, right?" one of them said. "Our job is to teach as much as we can to basically as many people as we can, right?"

The others nodded. That was their job description.

They didn't only need to teach fighting. If possible, they were encouraged to also teach other stuff like smithing, mining, hunting, and so on.

"So, why not start now?" the guy asked.

Some of them looked back and watched the concerned people looking at them.

"The more we teach, the better our pay and benefits," one of them said. "Sure!"

After that, some of the Commander Stage warriors asked some of the hunters to accompany them. The Commander Stage warriors were about to hunt Commander Stage beasts for their hearts, and they might as well teach them about hunting. Maybe they also found a fitting target for them.

Eventually, over 90% of the hunters decided to accompany the Commander Stage warriors.

These powerful warriors had suddenly appeared, and the hunters would take advantage of their power and wisdom.

The remaining 10% remained in the mortal district in case something attacked, but that likelihood was low. After all, the Mage Guards would only leave on the next day. For now, they were still there.

For the entire day, the warriors hunted Commander Stage beasts, and the more powerful warriors also allowed the weaker hunters to fight against some beasts. It was important for the hunters to get used to fighting beasts, and they could do so without worry while a Commander Stage warrior watched them.

Early the next day, everyone returned.

The Commander Stage warriors walked back into the town, the corpses of the Commander Stage beasts in their Space Rings, something the normal people of the mortal district had no access to yet.

All of them consumed their beast hearts and then met to discuss things.

Some of them had found some very talented warriors, and they were interested in taking them in as students.

However, there also had to be enough hunters in the outer mortal district to protect it from beasts. Because of that, everyone talked to each other about the best possible distribution.

After that, they planned out everything regarding the academy.

What kind of techniques were they teaching the students?

How deep would their teachings go?

When would the students receive their Bloodline Pills?

How would they divide the classes?

And, most importantly, who was going to be the dean and the vice dean?

Surprisingly, this wasn't easy at all since no one wanted to take up these positions.

All of them had received a glimpse into a powerful future, and they wanted to focus on becoming more powerful as soon as possible. While they could still train in their spare time as teachers, they feared that the dean and vice-deans would be too busy to focus on their training.

In the end, they decided that they only needed 20 teachers in the academy to run it.

Then, they also elected some special teachers for stuff like smithing and general knowledge regarding how to build and run a mortal district.

Eventually, they decided on shifts.

In the first year, there would be 18 teachers, one dean, one vice-dean, and five special teachers. The other 25 were allowed to do whatever they wanted during that time, which was most likely train.

The next year, they would switch.

As for the dean and vice-dean positions, the two people that accepted these positions would get two years of training after that.

Of course, that meant that some years, there were fewer teachers available than in others, but that wasn't a big problem. The teachers just needed to work a couple of minutes more, which wasn't a big deal when sleeping and eating were hobbies and not necessities.

And like that, even the Warrior Academy had been set up.

The next day, the warriors informed everyone in the outer mortal district about the changes and about the academy.

From now on, the children would be sent to the Warrior Academy unless they specifically wanted to follow their parents in doing their job. After all, it wasn't necessary to be powerful to plow a field.

From his castle, Shang watched all of this happen.

Now, he only needed to wait for everyone to learn the things he had given them.

Shang had written down everything the old warrior academy had known in several books, and he had distributed them amongst the teachers.

Eventually, a True Path Stage warrior would emerge, and that's when Shang would get involved.

 

 

Chapter 644 - Flourishing

The next couple of years were rough for the mortal district.

With the Mage Guards gone, many more beasts with more power arrived.

Many hunters died during the defense, but the encounters where hunters died during the defense were not the worst ones.

Just a couple of weeks after the Mage Guards left, a beast slowly closed in on the town.

It was a Late General Stage beast.

The most powerful warrior was at the Early General Stage.

Their bodies were weak.

Their weapons were weak.

Their experience was little.

There was no way they could win against such a beast.

That meant that this beast could do whatever it wanted.

Like a tyrant, it stepped into the mortal district.

It didn't feel any threat coming from the people, and it just leisurely walked around while gobbling up humans.

Whenever such a powerful beast arrived, the people were forced to run back to the town. The mortal district outside the walls wasn't defended by Mage Guards, but the mortal district inside the walls was.

Of course, many people still died. A General Stage that was leisurely walking around was still faster than a normal person.

And then, everyone had to wait until the beast left of its own accord.

Many times, the beast would destroy several buildings and streets while just exploring.

Even more, the beast's presence made watering and maintaining the farms impossible.

For every day the people couldn't leave the town, the chance of famine occurring increased.

It was frustrating!

It was horrible!

They were completely at the mercy of these powerful beasts!

They hated it!

Of course, this strengthened everyone's thirst for power even more.

They didn't want this suppression to continue!

Eventually, the General Stage warriors became rather powerful.

When the mortal district had just expanded, six Peak Soldier Stage wolves had been a problem.

During the first year, the warriors could band together and kill a single Initial General Stage beast.

During the second year, they were confident enough to try their hands on an Early General Stage beast, and it worked out pretty well.

But then, it became problematic.

The strongest hunter was at the Early General Stage, and he wasn't allowed to reach the next level since the teachers wanted him to work on his shaky foundation more.

The teachers demanded that the hunters worked on their Battle-Strength more than on their levels.

After two years, the first two hunters finally managed to defeat beasts on their level one-on-one. Of course, without the Bloodline Pills, this would have been impossible.

Then, when the next Mid General Stage beast arrived, they banded together.

All nine General Stage warriors had attacked the beast.

One of the Early General Stage warriors died, but the others managed to take down the beast.

This was an amazing accomplishment!

Sure, they had lost a powerful hunter, but from now on, they didn't need to retreat into the town when anything below the Late General Stage attacked them.

Of course, there had also been some Commander Stage beasts during these years, but they hadn't been a problem.

The Commander Stage warriors from the other town were used to hitting a beast on their level with a team of four, and with the addition of the Bloodline Pills and the barbarian strengthening technique, they could easily win against a beast on their level one-on-one.

The Commander Stage beasts were not an issue at all.

As for True Path Stage beasts, those were killed by the Mage Guards and Adventurers from the town.

Six years after the establishment of the outer mortal district, even Late General Stage beasts stopped being an issue.

And finally, ten years after the establishment, there were no problems with any beasts anymore.

After ten years, the mortal district had transformed significantly.

There were over a hundred General Stage warriors now, and their foundation was incredible. Even the worst General Stage warrior could beat a beast on their level one-on-one.

Finally, everything was stable.

People no longer needed to fear, and the warriors focused more and more on excursions. Instead of focusing on defense, they traveled further and further to find interesting things and fight strong beasts.

Twelve years after the establishment, the first Commander Stage warrior appeared in the mortal district that hadn't been part of the teachers.

With that, the gap between teachers and the actual mortal district had basically vanished.

After these twelve years, the mortal district had transformed significantly.

The warriors had created their own walls with ballistae, and they had also created their own little town.

It was now a genuine little town that would be able to live on its own in a place like Area 23.

Sadly, they were still reliant on the actual town since they were still helpless against True Path Stage beasts and stronger.

The difficult and dark days of the past were gone.

The people that had lived in the old mortal district under the gangs as beggars had now become true citizens.

They no longer needed to scrounge for Mana Scraps.

The birthrate increased, and the number of children visiting the Warrior Academy increased.

On top of that, the number of talented Apprentices also increased since they now had access to books and actual people that knew how to become Mages. Additionally, one shouldn't forget that there was also a Mage Academy in the mortal district.

The mortal district was flourishing.

And then, it finally happened.

A bit more than 20 years after the establishment of the new mortal district, the first teacher managed to reach the True Path Stage.

It was a monumental occasion and proof that the Star Map actually worked.

The Path of the first True Path Stage warrior was about average. It was definitely stronger than George's Path had been back then, but it wasn't as strong as Mervin's Path had been.

The Warrior Academy held a grand festival, and everyone was invited.

After the festival, the True Path Stage warrior was visited by someone.

It was the Town Lord, Shang.

This person would be Shang's first student.

 

 

Chapter 645- Duma

"Is this truly what you want?" Shang asked as he faced his student.

His student was a black-haired man who seemed to be in his thirties, and he was also over two meters tall, which was quite intimidating.

Surprisingly, he didn't have an Affinity.

However, not having an Affinity also increased someone's physical power by a little bit.

"Is fighting this aggressively truly what you wish for?" Shang asked.

The student looked to the ground as he furrowed his brows in thought.

"Do I have a choice?" the student asked.

"Yes, you always have a choice," Shang said. "You can follow whatever Path you want to follow, Duma."

Duma, Shang's student, wasn't quite sure what he should answer. "But what if my Path doesn't lead to an Impose, Master?"

Shang slowly shook his head. "The principle of Impose is to impose your will upon the world around you. The world is not the one that decides what gets an Impose or not. You are the one."

"Duma, you view yourself as a protector, not a killer," Shang said. "You told me that your goal is to protect your loved ones, correct?"

Duma nodded.

"Then, you should follow a Path that shows that. The Path you have established is a Path of the shield, and you broke into the True Path Stage with that. The gladius you use as an actual weapon hasn't received its own Path."

"Yet, as soon as you became my student, you started to emulate my way of fighting. You are using your shield to throw the enemy to the side, to crush them, and to break their balance, but you are not using it to block an attack or push the enemy away."

"Watching me train and fight has given you the illusion that following my Path is the only way to become powerful."

Duma didn't look at Shang's face.

"Is what I have taught you over the last two years worth just this much?" Shang asked in an even voice. "Are you someone that simply follows what others do? Have I not taught you to think and decide for yourself?"

None of the two of them said anything.

At the moment, Duma's imposing figure stood in front of the corpse of an Early True Path Stage corpse, but in front of Shang, he felt tiny.

Shang was quite a bit smaller than Duma in stature, and Shang's frame was also not nearly as broadly muscles as his.

Yet, to Duma, his Master felt like an incomprehensible monster.

"Is this all you're good for?" Shang asked after a while. "Following orders? Imitating others?"

Duma didn't say anything for a while.

"Master," he said after a couple of seconds. "Not everyone can be like you."

Shang didn't answer.

"You had to develop your Impose without any guidance. That requires tremendous confidence and talent."

"Yet," Duma said as he looked at the ground, "I don't have that."

"You are asking me not to blindly follow what you are doing, but just thinking about the possible consequences of making a mistake horrifies me to the core."

"I don't want to spend centuries to refine my power just to find out that my work has been for nothing all along."

"You have established several Imposes, and your Colossal Sword Path seems very fitting to my Path of Shield."

"What is wrong with copying a bit from someone else? Isn't that what everyone is essentially doing? After all, we are all learning from our predecessors," Duma slowly said.

Shang didn't say anything for several seconds.

"Do you know about the consequences of copying someone else's Path?" Shang asked. "Their Path will never be yours, and while you might be able to create a weak Impose with their Path, you will never be above-average in Battle-Strength, and you can forget about reaching the Sixth Realm in your life."

"Master," Duma said as he slowly raised his eyes to look at Shang, "I'm fine with that."

Silence.

"Honestly, I'm okay with that. I don't need to be outstanding on my level. Just reaching the True Path Stage was already like a dream had come true, and with your help, I might even be able to reach the Impose Stage."

"In the Impose Stage, I would count as an elite member in any city. I could earn enough to live in a castle with my family. I would have enough money to give my children the best education and teachers available for money."

"I would even have enough money to travel to different towns and cities. How many people can claim to have that kind of money?"

"Master, I honestly don't care about the Sixth Realm. Just the Fifth Realm is enough for me," Duma said.

Shang didn't say anything for several seconds.

"Fine," Shang said coldly.

SHING!

Then, Shang summoned a thick book and threw it over.

Duma looked at the cover and saw the words Mana Pathway Rearrangement Spell.

SHING!

Shang summoned five additional thick books and also threw them over.

These five books were introductions to a beast's and a warrior's Mana Pathways.

"If you want to actually create an aggressive Impose for your shield, you have to change your Mana Pathways. You created a defensive Path for your shield, and the world has created Mana Pathways that fit your Path."

"Read all of these books. Learn the Spell. Get more Adamantite Branch Seeds."

"After that, you only have to follow the sounds of the Adamantite Branch Seeds, and you will eventually create your Impose."

"But you might need 100 to 200 years."

Duma looked with shock and surprise at all the books he had received.

His Master had always taught him in a very roundabout and difficult way, making it seem like creating an Impose was next to impossible.

But now, his Master had handed him some things, and he said that reaching the Impose Stage would be easy?

However, Duma realized why there was such a glaring difference between the two ways his Master had taught him.

The first way of teaching was to improve Duma's creativity, confidence, and fundamental knowledge about power.

The new one was just his Master telling him to learn stuff until he knew it by heart.

One favored understanding.

The other favored just random information.

Both ways would lead to the same location, but only by treading the first way would the traveler truly know why and how they had arrived at their goal.

When Duma realized this, he wasn't discouraged in any way.

This was exactly what he wanted.

In fact, he was happy that he didn't need to risk his life for comprehension anymore.

He could simply learn, train in peace, and reach his goal.

"Thank you, Master," Duma said.

Shang didn't immediately answer, but his head faced Duma.

"From this day on, our Master and Disciple relationship ends," Shang said.

Duma froze.

"I have no desire to teach someone that is willing to waste their life on family, friends, status, and money," Shang said emotionlessly.

"You may join the Warrior Academy again, the town guards, or the Adventurer's Guild if you need money or resources."

"You are on your own now."

And then, Shang took to the sky and flew away.

For a very long time, Duma only looked at the ground with a crestfallen expression.

These words had hurt him deeply.

Was it wrong of him to choose his family?

He wasn't sure anymore.

 

 

Chapter 646 -Lesson In Power

WHOOOOM!

Shang swung his sword, and the world around him followed.

At the moment, eight people were sitting on the grass on top of a hill in silence.

They were all watching Shang's swings attentively.

At this moment, Shang was swinging with a completely new kind of sword.

In a way, this new State could be seen as a mix of Shang's Saber State and his Colossal Sword State.

The sword was around 150 centimeters long, and it looked a bit like a long cleaver. It was curved and only had one cutting edge. In the middle of the cutting edge was a small "corner", which was used to gather all the power of a swing into one single point. From bottom to top, the sword looked a bit like a [-symbol.

As Shang was swinging his sword, different kinds of Mana could be felt by the present people.

Sometimes, there was extremely hot Fire Mana.

Sometimes, there was extremely bright Light Mana.

Sometimes, there was Light Mana that completely focused on mass.

"This is not a Path that exists within the Star Map," Shang said during a swing.

"I don't know who has created the Star Map, but it has definitely been created by a person."

Shang swung another time, the world seemingly warping around his new sword.

"The Star Map we all know has a limited number of weapons, and only a few of them are swords."

"Is a knife a sword?"

"Is a dagger a sword?"

"A long sword is a sword."

"A saber is a sword."

"A great sword is a sword."

"A colossal sword is a sword."

"Is a colossal mace with an edge a sword?"

"Is a colossal axe a sword?"

With every sentence, Shang performed another strike as the eight people listened intently.

"There are only four swords in the Star Map that are definitely swords."

"Yet, does that mean that those are the only swords?"

Another swing.

"No."

"The Star Map has been created by a human, and the knowledge of humanity is limited."

"Things we have known in the past might be incorrect."

"Things we have known in the past might be correct."

"However, even if they are correct, it doesn't mean that they include the entire picture."

"When someone knows that sword can slash, that knowledge will be true now and in a million years."

"But a sword can do more than just slash."

"What about stabbing?"

"What about parrying?"

"The person that knows that a sword can slash is correct, but they do not know the entire picture."

"In the same sense, the person that has created the Star Map might have gathered an impressive amount of knowledge and managed to transform it into a digestible form for weaker people, but it doesn't mean that the Star Map includes all the Paths that can possibly exist."

"The sword I am using right now is not in the Star Map."

"In fact, the sword I am using doesn't even have a name."

"It's not a saber. It's too big for that, and the form doesn't completely fit."

"It is not a great sword since it only has a single edge."

"It's not a cleaver since it's too long and thin."

"One could surely find a category that my sword would fit into the most, but it doesn't completely fit."

"When I say that someone uses a sword, people don't think of a saber. They think of a long sword."

"A saber is a sword, but only when I say the word saber does the correct image appear in your mind."

"Such a word doesn't exist for my sword."

Shang kept swinging while he was talking to his students.

"Some of you have asked me why I decided on creating a fifth Path, a Path outside the Star Map."

"You said that I wouldn't be able to rely on the Star Map anymore and that I would have to blindly find my way forward without any guidance."

SHING!

Shang released an especially powerful slash, and the entire world seemed to follow his every will.

"But isn't that what I have been doing all this time?"

The students kept listening intently and respectfully.

"New knowledge gets created by pioneers that venture outside the comfortable and known."

"Have the Mages achieved perfection?"

"Have the Mages reached their maximum potential?"

"Will the Mages in five million years be just as powerful as the Mages today?"

"Of course not."

"Power and innovation get born by fear and competition."

"As of right now, the Mages are growing very slowly, or maybe not even at all."

"Yet, when a powerful class of warriors appears, the Mages will realize that they might lose their position of dominance."

"And at that point, new kinds of Spells and weapons will be created by them, and their power will grow."

"I do not know a surefire way to create a Path for my new sword."

"However, I am sure of one thing."

"The Path exists."

"How am I so sure?"

"Because I know how Paths work."

"I know how Imposes work."

"I know how power works."

"I know how the world works."

"It might take me an unknown number of years, but I know that I will eventually create the path for this new kind of sword."

"In comparison to others, I don't search for the most fitting weapon for myself."

"In comparison to others, I don't search for the most fitting techniques for myself."

"Instead, I create my own weapons."

"I create my own techniques."

Shang stopped swinging and put his sword away as he faced the eight people that respectfully watched him.

"You are my disciples, and I don't want you to be mere followers of others."

"I don't want you to just copy what everyone else is doing."

"When there is no path, weapon, or technique you are completely happy with, it is not the one for you."

"If there is nothing available, create something new."

Shang turned away and flew back to the town.

"The lesson is over."

 

 

Chapter 647 - Addum

​

Four decades had passed since Shang had taken over as the Town Lord.

The mortal district was thriving with General Stage and Commander Stage warriors.

Over ten of the Commander Stage warriors from the Warrior Academy had already reached the True Path Stage.

Shang had taken all the True Path Stage warriors as his disciples, but only eight actually remained.

Duma had been Shang's first disciple, but Duma had no ambition inside him.

There were a couple of others that also didn't make the cut, but the eight remaining people were hungry for power.

They listened intently to everything Shang told them, and they looked up to him as an icon.

As far as they knew, Shang was the only warrior in the world that managed to reach the Impose Stage!

Even more, Shang knew four different True Paths, four different Imposes, and he was even comprehending a fifth one right now!

They knew that Shang was on a completely different level from them, but because of that, they were also willing to listen to all of his teachings.

Additionally, they were deeply grateful that someone like their Master decided to sacrifice so much time for them and teach them.

Of course, Shang wasn't exactly doing this for them.

Shang's job was to create True Path Stage warriors and Impose Stage warriors.

There were now several people that could teach Commander Stage warriors about reaching the True Path Stage, but as of this moment, there was only a single person that could teach True Path Stage warriors about reaching the Impose Stage.

Because of that, Shang needed to teach these people.

As long as two or three of them reached the Impose Stage, at least one of them should be willing to remain and teach the True Path Stage warriors.

At that point, everything would work on its own, and Shang would no longer need to invest so much time into them.

Right now, two True Path Stage warriors that hadn't met Shang's standards were still working in the Warrior Academy, teaching other warriors about the True Path Stage.

Shang's eight disciples were fully focused on themselves, and Shang was even willing to pay for the resources they needed, including their weapons and armor.

With all the money at his disposal, it hadn't been very difficult for Shang to find a company that was essentially the equivalent of an engineer's office from Earth.

Shang told them what he wanted.

They sent a couple of Earth, Metal, and Fire Mages to create some ways to forge weapons and armor.

And then, Shang paid them in exchange for the methods to create these things.

Sure enough, having money was very useful.

Shang's disciples were extremely grateful, and they promised to pay him back, but Shang didn't particularly care.

He had all the resources he needed, and he was simply investing in them because of the Temple of Blood's plan.

As of this moment, Shang had not yet been rewarded for his efforts.

For that, Shang would need to convince a True Path Stage warrior to join the Temple of Blood.

Every True Path Stage warrior that joined the Temple of Blood would net Shang ten Grade Six Mana Crystals.

Obviously, that was a ridiculous sum of money for a True Path Stage warrior.

Not even the average Named Agent was worth that much.

But that was exactly what the Territory Lord had meant back then when she said that they would pay Shang very, very handsomely for his results.

For now, Shang didn't intend to convince any warriors to join the Temple of Blood.

Sure, that would net him some money, but Shang was after the actual goal.

He had to create Impose Stage warriors.

At that point, the Temple of Blood would get involved directly and hire them.

As long as they kept getting more Impose Stage warriors, they would get even more since the current warriors would raise new warriors.

Eventually, the Temple of Blood would have its own secret unit of special agents.

All defenses in the world were set up for either Mages or beasts.

No one was setting up any defenses for warriors.

With these special agents, the Temple of Blood could complete missions that were impossible to complete before.

Additionally, if the Lightning Manor eventually noticed, the Twilight Dusk Family would get involved.

Right now, the Twilight Dusk Family completely ignored the Temple of Blood. It was simply too weak to enter their eyes.

But as soon as the Lightning Manor showed interest, the Twilight Dusk Family would quickly act like the Temple of Blood had been their most loyal subjects for thousands of years and that they wouldn't simply betray them for a bit of money.

While the Empires weren't warring with each other, the tournament for the next Mage King every 1,000 years created a tremendous rivalry between them.

The more resources they had, the more they could ram down their King Contender's throat to increase their chances by 0.1%.

All the resources the Temple of Blood could give him wouldn't be enough to close the gap between him and the true King Contenders.

For that, Shang would need to join an Empire.

And that was why he needed Impose Stage warriors.

However, Shang was also working on himself.

Shang had delegated nearly all of his tasks to someone else, for good pay, of course.

He only needed to activate the Pathway Magic Circle and call the Security Agency when an Ancestral Beast was spotted.

Every month, Shang also held a public lesson for his eight disciples.

When he wasn't doing any of these things, he was working on his sword.

And just three months ago, Shang had finally managed to create the Path for his new sword.

Creating that Path had taken Shang nearly 40 years, which was far longer than any Path had taken him before that, even though his mind was vastly more powerful than back then.

This was the difference between having a Star Map and not.

The next step was for Shang to create the Impose for his new weapon, which would probably also take about 40 years.

Additionally, Shang had also finally created a name for his new weapon.

He called it Addum, and he would call his new State the Addum State.

 

Chapter 648 - Serpent

After finally creating his Path for his Addum State, Shang decided to go out and test it.

He had to test out its power and get used to fighting with it in an actual fight.

Over the last 40 years, the general and town planner had reached the Archmage Realm. For now, they still stayed in their old positions, but they would probably soon leave.

Shang had decided to make the general his substitute. Whenever Shang went somewhere else, the general would take over the town and assume the duties of Town Lord.

Today, Shang would leave for a couple of minutes, if not hours, and the general would assume command of the town until then.

After dealing with everything, Shang activated the Pathfinder Magic Circle and noted down the locations of powerful beasts.

And then, he left the town as he shot toward the north.

Just a couple of years ago, Shang had reached the Mid Fusion Realm, and with his Path for his Addum State having been established, Shang thought it would be a good idea to finally achieve the next milestone.

As Shang kept flying towards the north, he remembered the time he had just arrived in this world.

The beasts had been horrifying and powerful to Shang. Just Pest Cats had been extremely dangerous to him.

And then, he saw the Earth Fruit Hedgehog, which he had called Hegemon.

The power of the Earth Fruit Hedgehog had been insane.

It ran as fast as a speeding car, and its needles could kill beasts from hundreds of meters away.

Shang couldn't have imagined what it felt like to have such power.

Eventually, Shang had no problems with killing such beasts when he reached the Commander Stage.

Shang had obtained powers that had seemed impossible to obtain.

But before that, Shang had already seen beasts with much greater power.

The Zone Beasts.

The humongous Storm Eagle that endangered Warrior's Paradise just by flying from one point to the other.

The Ice Wyvern that had fought the Magma Wyrm above the northern battlefield.

The mysterious Empress Cobra.

The gigantic Adamantite Behemoth.

The tranquil Thunder Horse.

They had been natural catastrophes.

Just their mere presence had severely affected the climate.

In a place where the Fourth Realm had been rare and where there had only been five people in the Fifth Realm, the Zone Beasts had been in the Sixth Realm.

No human in Area 23 had even come close to threatening a Zone Beast, except for the Supervisor.

And today, Shang would take down his first Ancestral Beast.

After over 400 years of being in this world, Shang finally reached a level that allowed him to fight Initial Ancestral Beasts.

About 20 minutes after leaving the town, Shang reached his target.

His target wasn't very interested in Shang since he felt a bit too weak to enter its eyes. Sure, Shang had the ability of World Connection, but the amount of Mana inside his body wasn't even nearly on the level of an Ancestral Beast.

Because of that, the Ancestral Beast didn't look at Shang.

Eventually, the Ancestral Beast appeared in Shang's Spirit Sense, and when he saw it, he stopped for a moment.

Shang had used the Pathfinder Magic Circle to find an Initial Ancestral Beast, and sure enough, he had found one.

However, the Pathfinder Magic Circle didn't show Shang what kind of beast he would meet. He only knew at which level it was.

At this moment, Shang faced the north. The beast was so far away that it was impossible to see it with one's eyes, but Shang could see it perfectly with his Spirit Sense.

In the sky, about 250 kilometers away, floated a long snake colored in two different shades of blue.

It was around five kilometers long and hundreds of meters wide. It had two horns on its head, one ocean blue and the other ice blue.

Shang took a deep breath when he saw it.

'A serpent with an Ice and Water Dual-Affinity.'

Serpents were already quite powerful for their level, but this serpent even had a Dual-Affinity.

Without a doubt, this serpent would enter the powerful category of the trial.

'Three levels above me with a Realm breakthrough between us.'

'I know I can jump three levels against a powerful beast, but the Realm difference and the Dual-Affinity are a problem.'

'This is not just a powerful beast, but a really powerful one.'

Shang hesitated for a while.

'I can win. The fight is not hopeless.'

Silence.

'I haven't fought an actually dangerous battle in so long.'

'Additionally, I want to test out my new Addum State.'

Shang took another breath.

Surprisingly, he was quite nervous, which was unusual.

'I'm not this nervous before a big battle usually. At least, I don't remember being this nervous back then.'

'Have I trained in isolation for too long?'

'Have I avoided risking my life for too long?'

'Back then, I was so used to risking my life, but now, I feel nervous?'

SHING!

Shang summoned his sword and gripped it with all of his power.

'I can't allow this to continue!'

'I can't allow fear to influence my judgment!'

'Yes, fear is useful when it comes to comprehending something, but I can't allow it to doom me to mediocrity!'

'Might as well fight such a powerful beast.'

SHING!

Shang put his Addum in his right hand and put his long sword in his left.

And then, he charged at the serpent.

Initially, the serpent didn't pay Shang any mind. It wasn't really an aggressive beast that attacked everything it saw.

When Shang reached a hundred kilometers of distance, it still didn't pay him any mind.

When Shang reached fifty kilometers of distance, it only threw a quick glance at him.

At that moment, Shang's long sword became enveloped by Darkness Mana.

SHING!

As Shang shot forward, black streaks of Darkness Mana were left behind, and he reached the serpent in less than a second.

And then, Shang's Addum slashed forward.

It didn't seem special in any way, but underestimating it would prove to be a fatal mistake.

Right now, the Addum was filled with Light Mana which increased the mass of the sword.

As Shang swung forward, the serpent looked at him, and its eyes reflected a storm of ice and water.

It felt the power of the sword, but it wasn't scared.

 

Chapter 649 - Comet

Shang slashed toward the serpent.

CRK! CRK! CRK!

Yet, an instant later, powerful icicles shot out of the serpent's body, and Shang's sword broke through them.

CRACK!

Suddenly, a wall of spiky icicles shot toward Shang, but Shang managed to finish his slash.

CRACK!

The wall broke apart, but no blood appeared.

Suddenly, the world around Shang started to change.

Black clouds gathered, and water seemingly exploded out of the sky in a torrential downpour.

Some isolated bolts of lightning illuminated the surroundings, which had suddenly turned dark.

As soon as the drops of water reached a certain distance, they transformed into terrifying icicles that seemed to break through anything they touched.

At the moment, the serpent was several kilometers away from Shang.

It had created a tyrannical armor made of icicles, transforming its exterior into a rough and jagged meatgrinder.

One small part of its body had no icicles on it, which was the part that Shang had tried to attack.

Earlier, the serpent had just exploded that piece of icy armor off its body and shot it right toward Shang.

Shang knew that this move could prove to be a problem in the fight.

The serpent gathered its power, but Shang wouldn't give it the time to fully prepare itself and shot forward again with another Shock.

Yet, just when Shang arrived, he felt the pressure in his surroundings intensify.

The air around him became frighteningly cold, and the serpent opened its maw.

A moment later, a terrifyingly cold stream of Ice and Water Mana exited its maw, and it began to circle the serpent's body.

Shang had to stop his advance at that point since the stream had created a domain of absolute cold, and the added Water Mana made it even worse.

Usually, a Dual-Affinity of Ice and Water wouldn't seem very dangerous, but that couldn't be further from the truth.

Ice couldn't easily change its form, but water could. The serpent could summon a chaotic storm of water, which changed its shape continuously while also taking up much more space.

And then, as soon as anyone would get hit, the serpent would transform the Water Mana into Ice Mana.

Right now, such a stream of terrifyingly cold water was between the serpent and Shang.

The Water Mana was far below freezing, but the serpent's control of both kinds of Mana stopped it from transforming into Ice Mana.

Shang knew that this domain could prove to be difficult to penetrate.

Shang readied his Addum, and it began to burn violently.

Then, he slashed forward.

WHOOOOM!

A humongous burning crescent shot out of Shang's Addum.

This was a new variant of Hidden Sun.

Hidden Sun was optimized for rapid deployment in the Saber State, but with the Addum's greater size, such an attack wouldn't be that useful anymore.

By using the Concept of Addition together with the World Connection, Shang managed to gather more Mana into the slash while also borrowing the world's power.

Hidden Sun was no longer a simple attack weaved into a combination of other attacks but its own full-scale attack.

The Hidden Sun hit the storm of ice and water.

BANG!

A huge amount of steam appeared in the surroundings, but the stream of icy Mana still continued.

Shang had used a powerful attack, but he hadn't managed to get through the stream.

And then, the serpent attacked.

A wall of water shot right at Shang, who had to use Shock to retreat to the side.

The wall of water continued to travel for several kilometers, creating a 200-meter-wide line on the ground.

As soon as the water touched anything, be it plant, beast, ground, metal, or whatever, it froze over in an instant and then broke apart into tiny snowflakes.

The serpent had created an icy wasteland filled with nothing but cold and desolate death in an instant.

A two-digit number of beasts had died just by being a couple of kilometers within the range of the fight.

After seeing that attack, Shang knew that he couldn't possibly allow himself to be hit. The sudden transformation of the Water Mana into Ice Mana was so violent that it completely tore anything it touched apart after freezing it.

This was the power of an Ancestral Beast, a Zone Beast.

It could completely transform the climate for several kilometers around just by existing.

'I already used two Shocks. If I keep using them just to dodge attacks, I will lose in the long run.'

Shang's legs angled while he was in the air, almost like he was readying himself to jump off something.

'I have to fight with all my Affinities if I want to win.'

'I can't use this with anyone present, but there shouldn't be anyone watching me right now.'

Shang gathered power in his legs, and the air behind his feet seemed to warp by a bit.

It was almost like a transparent sheet of plastic was being bent by something, making the world behind it seem distorted.

BANG!

An explosive sound reverberated throughout the surroundings, and the world behind Shang seemed to vibrate as waves rapidly passed through it.

Shang shot forward at unreal speeds, and just a moment later, his entire body was hidden behind a chaotic storm of ice and fire. Shang was so fast that most Archmages wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Shang's current speed and using Mana Step.

Shang had transformed into a comet of ice and fire as the world behind him vibrated.

This was a new kind of movement technique he had created after obtaining his World Connection.

With World Connection, Shang could gather the majority of Mana in the surroundings and compress it.

Just now, Shang had gathered a huge amount of Mana and had compressed it behind him, creating a solid object of dense Mana. Then, he used that object to catapult him forward by jumping with all his power. This made the gathered Mana behind him vibrate and scatter, creating these waves that seemed to go through the world.

The speed Shang achieved with that was incredible since he could actually use his physical body to move forward in the air instead of his World Connection.

Ancestral Beasts exclusively fought in the air since the power of their bodies ruined the ground below them whenever they released some power.

One could imagine two Ancestral Beasts fighting on the ground as two Olympic sprinters having to sprint through thick and deep mud.

But by condensing his surroundings, Shang managed to create a surface hard enough to resist the full power of his jump.

Of course, using this technique would show the world that he had the ability of Ancestral Beasts.

If Shang were in the Sixth Realm, this wouldn't be a problem, but Shang had this ability in the Fifth Realm.

Some people might decide to get rid of him before he joined any major power.

After jumping off the world itself, a storm of ice and fire appeared around Shang, completely enveloping him.

This had been created by manipulating the temperature inside his body with insane accuracy.

If one could look at Shang through an infrared camera, one would be surprised by what one saw.

Shang's temperature looked like a rotating circle.

As his head grew colder, his legs grew hotter. Eventually, Shang's head would become the coldest part of his body and his legs the hottest parts.

Then, the legs would cool while the head heated up, and eventually, they would switch temperatures.

This created a terrifying amount of Ice and Fire Mana for Shang to use as he wished outside his body.

Of course, he was using that power to increase his speed.

He used the solid Mana to accelerate to a terrifying speed in an instant and used the Ice and Fire Mana to further increase his momentum.

Shang named this new kind of movement technique Comet.

Comets were celestial objects made of ice and water, but if they traveled through Earth's atmosphere, wouldn't the friction still cause them to burn like a meteor?

An object of ice and fire, just like Shang.

That was why he called this technique Comet.

Shang shot rapidly at the serpent, and he readied his sword.

He shot through the stream of water and ice.

SSSSS!

All the water that touched him turned to steam, but a big part of Shang's body nearly froze over.

Using Comet was a delicate act of balance, and the sudden drop in temperature in the surroundings managed to throw off that balance.

Comet was far more sophisticated than simply using Ice and Fire Blasts, but Shang hadn't perfectly mastered it yet.

Nevertheless, Shang managed to pass through the wall of icy water.

 

Chapter 650 - Lcy Armor

After shooting past the wall of water and ice, Shang readied his Addum and loaded it with Light Mana.

Shang was insanely fast, but the serpent could still follow his movements.

Its eyes shone for an instant.

WHOOOOOM!

The wall of water and ice pulled in, enveloping Shang again.

This happened way too quickly, and Shang had to cancel his attack while he dealt with the sudden change in temperatures.

A moment later, a terrifying hiss echoed throughout Shang's body. It was almost like this wasn't a sound but some kind of wave that traveled through him.

Shang's Spirit Sense warped, and his mind lost focus.

CRK! CRK! CRK!

The right side of Shang's body was enveloped by water, which then exploded into ice.

The right half of Shang's body immediately turned into tiny snowflakes, and Shang barely managed to regain his concentration, balancing out the temperatures around him.

Shang's body immediately regenerated, but he had used up quite a bit of his life energy.

He was still surrounded by the terrifying storm of water and ice, but he managed to balance the temperatures.

Deep inside a dark storm of ice and water, a single comet flew against the stream, its fickle light nothing in front of the encompassing storm.

Before Shang could ready his next attack, the serpent had already prepared its own attack.

In an instant, all the water around Shang stopped in the air like it had been put into stasis and transformed into terrifying icy spears, all pointing at Shang.

Shang was inside the serpent's world, and it could control everything around him.

Shang would also have this ability, but in front of the overwhelming mana difference, he couldn't create his own domain here.

The icy spears immediately shot at Shang.

It was impossible to avoid them since they completely surrounded him, and Shang couldn't block all sides of this body at the same time with his sword.

However, Shang still had a way to block such an attack, but it would cost him life energy.

CRRRRRR!

Shang was enveloped by an over five-meter-wide sphere of violently burning fire.

The icicles shot into the sphere and were turned into water, which then turned into steam.

After all the icicles were destroyed, the fiery sphere vanished, and the burning Comet reappeared.

It was impossible to see Shang while he was using Comet, but at this moment, his body had become a lot thinner.

However, his body's temperature hadn't changed tremendously, and his body showed no injuries caused by rapid temperature changes.

The reason was that Shang hadn't used Fire Mana just now.

The sphere of violent fire had been created by his Domain of Entropy.

After comprehending the Concept of Addition, Shang realized that he could incorporate it into his Domain of Entropy.

The Concept of Addition belonged to Entropy, after all.

Instead of using the base ability of Entropy, which was to equalize everything into the most basic form imaginable, Natural Mana, Shang used the Concept of Addition to increase the energy content around him by adding more heat.

This consumed a significant amount of Shang's life energy, but he managed to destroy all the icicles.

And after blocking this attack, finally, Shang found an opening.

He broke through the storm again and reached the serpent.

SSSSSSSSS!

Immediately, the terrifying hiss returned, and Shang felt like his world was being turned upside down.

But this time, he had been prepared, and he managed to keep a hold of his mind.

It was difficult to perceive his surroundings with such a distorted Spirit Sense, but Shang still managed to see a somewhat clear picture. In such a situation, it would have been helpful to have eyes.

Shang felt the serpent evade to the left, and he changed his trajectory.

BANG!

At that moment, the icicles on the serpent's body facing Shang exploded off, shooting right at him.

CRRRR!

The sphere of fire returned around Shang, getting rid of the icicles shooting at him.

SSSSSSS!

Another terrifying hiss reverberated throughout the surroundings, but it was different from before.

Instead of attacking Shang's mind, this hiss seemed to manipulate the world around the serpent.

Shang could feel how half the icicles on the serpent's body suddenly transformed into water.

And then, that water seemed to just break apart.

For an instant, Shang wasn't sure what had happened, but he immediately felt a change in the atmosphere.

The density of Wind Mana in the surroundings had suddenly shot up drastically!

Shang had no idea how the serpent managed to do it, but it somehow managed to transform Water Mana into Wind Mana.

It wasn't impossible to accomplish something like that without having an Affinity for Wind, but it was incredibly difficult, and one would only be able to use very basic attacks in this way.

And, sure enough, instead of forming a kind of attack with the Wind Mana, the serpent just shot the Wind Mana at Shang.

Wind Mana was the essence of wind. Air was not completely related to wind. Only when air moved would it be related to Wind Mana.

This meant that pure Wind Mana, on its own, was already a powerful storm, depending on the density.

If someone just dumped a ton of Wind Mana in front of them without doing anything else, the Wind Mana would transform into a terrifying storm.

So, when the serpent had summoned so much Wind Mana, it naturally exploded into a storm.

The storm of Wind Mana was pushing the serpent away from Shang, and it was pushing Shang away from the serpent.

Before the Wind Mana hit Shang, he had already noticed that the serpent was pushed even further away, and he also noticed the storm of ice and water reach him again.

The fiery sphere around Shang disappeared, revealing the burning Comet beneath it.

And then, the Wind Mana reached Shang and pushed him away.

BANG!

Suddenly, Shang's body stopped in the air.

It was almost like Shang had been thrown against a solid wall.

A moment later, the terrifying storm of water and ice enveloped Shang.

Deep inside the storm of water and ice, a burning figure hung on a transparent object that seemed to warp the world behind it.

Shang had used his World Connection to create a solid object in the air to mitigate the effects of the Wind Mana.

And then, Shang jumped off.

BOOOOM!

Waves traveled through the world behind Shang as he shot right out of the storm and toward the serpent.

The speed of Shang's advance had taken the serpent by surprise since it had expected Shang to be thrown away by the Wind Mana.

The Addum in Shang's hand shone brightly as Light and Fire Mana gathered.

He was increasing the mass of the weapon while also heating it up to terrifying degrees.

And then, he struck forward.

CRK!

Yet, just when Shang had started his slash, a terrifying claw made of ice came out of the serpent's body, right where Shang had planned on hitting it.

Shang didn't want to get rid of the Mana he had already gathered and struck the claw since he couldn't hit the body anymore.

CRACK!

As soon as the Addum hit the claw, it created a terrifying, burning cut that went through the entire claw.

The cut traveled through the claw and the arm until it reached the serpent's body.

The serpent's eyes shone with blue light for a moment.

CRACK!

And then, the icy armor around the serpent's body burst into flames.

A moment later, the ice turned to water, which then turned to steam.

Warriors had the ability to make the power of their attack travel through an enemy's body. That was how ancient warriors could kill beasts that were kilometers tall with weapons that were barely a meter long.

Shang had done just that, which was how the serpent's icy claw had been bisected.

Usually, Shang's attack would have hit the serpent, cutting it in two, but the serpent had used a counter of its own.

It had completely cut off all the connection between it and its icy armor and claw.

Because of that, Shang's attack traveled through the icy claw and armor, destroying the entire thing in an instant, but that was it.

The entire thing was destroyed.

There was no link between the icy armor and the serpent anymore.

This was the exact ability the serpent had used against Shang's first attack, and sure enough, it had proven to be troublesome.

The serpent created some distance between it and Shang again, and while it was doing so, more claws made of ice appeared on its body.

In just a moment, four claws of ice appeared on the serpent's body.

The claws were almost a kilometer long and made of powerful ice.

It was almost like the serpent had transformed into some sort of lizard.

Suddenly, one of its claws moved backward, almost like it was trying to throw something.

And then, it actually made a throwing motion.

SHING!

Fast!

BOOOOM!

Shang was instantly shot into the distance, breaking through the thick storm of water and ice in less than an instant.