Ch. 661..670
Chapter 661 - Famine
Time passed.
About ten years after getting the worms, Shang had given away the first True Path Stage warrior to the Temple of Blood.
That particular True Path Stage warrior had been a red-haired man named David, and Shang didn't have any use for him in the town.
David wasn't the most hardworking person, and he also didn't care about teaching people.
He was neither fit for becoming outstanding nor for raising new warriors.
Because of that, Shang told the Temple of Blood that they could take him.
That was the first time Shang had actually been paid for bringing a True Path Stage warrior to the Temple of Blood, and the payment was extremely generous.
Ten Grade Six Mana Crystals…
For a True Path Stage warrior!
The usual bonus for recruiting a High Mage was something like three Grade Five Mana Crystals, but Shang had received over 3,000 times as much!
After getting these ten Grade Six Mana Crystals, Shang could finally buy more Mind Flow Pellets, and he did just that.
As Shang sat in his castle, consuming one Mind Flow Pellet after the other, the world of the mortals had completely transformed.
The number of hunters had shot through the roof.
The worm infestation had proven to be a terrifying danger to the weaker humans.
On their own, the worms weren't directly a danger to the mortal district, but just by existing, they were threatening the mortal district.
How?
Food.
There were two kinds of worms that could be born from the two Abyss Worms.
Either they got a Darkness Affinity or an Ice Affinity.
The threat lay with the worms that had a Darkness Affinity.
They were poisonous and inedible.
The worms with the Ice Affinity could be eaten, but they were outnumbered one to ten by the worms with a Darkness Affinity.
Even more, the worms also seemed to hate and kill each other, making it even more difficult to get a worm with an Ice Affinity.
Of course, with all the worms present, the number of normal beasts had dropped to a frighteningly low level.
If the worms were allowed to multiply even further, they would eventually fill out every square meter of the surroundings.
Because of that, the pressure on the hunters had increased severalfold. They needed to kill every single worm they could find and bring back the small scraps of food they could find.
The excursions of the hunters grew longer and longer as they tried to find food.
The worms killed more and more beasts, and eventually, no beast other than the worms could be found for nearly a hundred kilometers.
The icy wasteland had been transformed into a land of worms.
The Soldier Stage worms looked more like larvae. In the Initial Soldier Stage, they were barely a meter long and 20 centimeters wide. In the Peak Soldier Stage, they were about five meters long and 40 centimeters wide.
The mortals estimated that there were over 500,000 worms in the surrounding 100 kilometers.
In comparison, there were barely 30,000 people living in the mortal district.
By now, becoming a warrior had become the default for people, and becoming anything else had actually become difficult and even a symbol of status to a certain degree.
When over 50% of the population had to actively go out and kill worms, the few that didn't need to go were quite special.
Sadly, the number of Ice Affinity worms reduced more and more, and a famine appeared in the village.
That was when a hero emerged.
Surprisingly, it wasn't a warrior but a Mage.
The Mage had been born in this mortal district, and she had been born with a rare Darkness Affinity.
She had seen her superiors fight and hunt just so that she and the others could live in peace inside the town.
She had always wanted to help them and make the lives of everyone around her easier.
Because of that, she put her everything into studying, and eventually, she created something that would eliminate the famine once and for all.
She had created a Spell that transformed the corpse of the Darkness Affinity worms into pure Darkness Mana!
With that, she managed to create a commodity that the merchants were interested in.
A merchant inside this town was viewed very differently from how normal people viewed normal merchants.
Usually, one would just think of a merchant as a shopkeeper or a trader. That's it.
But here, merchants were almost otherworldly existences.
The merchants were extremely powerful, and they were legendary existences that could traverse the outside world!
They could travel to other towns and cities, which was the dream of nearly everyone!
Of course, these supremely powerful visitors had never shown interest in anything the mortal district had produced.
But now, the Darkness Mage managed to produce something like that.
She had told everyone about her Spell, and after a long debate, the mortal district decided to trust her.
They brought back as many corpses as possible and handed them to her.
She worked day and night to produce as many Darkness Mana Crystals as possible, and when the merchants showed up the next time, she presented them with the Darkness Mana Crystals.
One of the merchants looked at it with a frown and asked her how many she had.
She told him she had around 800.
The merchant's frown deepened.
The density and purity of these Mana Crystals were horrible and barely usable.
The merchant asked the Mage how she had produced these Mana Crystals, but the Mage hesitated.
The merchant told her that they certainly had better ways to get what they wanted than her backwater methods.
Eventually, she complied and showed her Spell.
The merchant seemed quite impressed when he asked the Mage how she had come up with that Spell.
Of course, such a Spell already existed, and the Spell this merchant had access to was worlds better.
After a bit of thinking, the merchant nodded once and told the Mage about his plans.
Obviously, he can't use these Darkness Mana Crystals. The money they would bring in would be less than the space they would take up in his Space Ring.
However, he decided to invest in the Mage. He gave her a far more advanced Spell and allowed her to teach the Spell to any Mage she wanted since it wasn't really worth a lot.
Not only would the quality of the crystals increase, but she would also be able to combine several lower-ranked ones into better ones.
The next time he would return, he would trade for the crystals.
Yet, the young Mage wasn't fine with that.
Her people were starving at this moment!
She couldn't wait that long!
The merchant hummed a bit, but in the end, he decided on something.
He would trust in her, and he would pay her first.
However, he didn't carry any food with him. Food took up way too much room for its little worth.
The Mage felt horrified when she heard that, but the merchant only smirked.
Then, he handed another Spell to the Mage, and she looked at it.
It was a way to create Light Mana Crystals out of Darkness Mana Crystals!
Of course, a lot of Mana would be lost in the process, but this was amazing!
With these Mana Crystals, the mortal district could create farms!
And the famine was no more.
Chapter 662 - Powerful Visitor
30 years after the incident with the Famine, Shang had already sent two other True Path Stage warriors to the Temple of Blood.
By now, there were over 20 True Path Stage warriors in Icy Bastion, and the number of them would only grow higher and higher as more time passed.
Commander Stage warriors could live for 250 years, and there were still many Commander Stage warriors currently alive that would reach the True Path Stage.
Because of that, Shang decided to station a permanent recruiter for the Temple of Blood in this town.
It wasn't easy to convince the True Path Warriors to join the Temple of Blood. After all, the Temple of Blood was too secretive, and many warriors weren't willing to just randomly join some organization they knew nothing about.
So, Shang had ordered David, the red-haired warrior, back to Icy Bastion to recruit some warriors.
And sure enough, in just one month, he had recruited one of Shang's bad Disciples.
When Shang heard about that, he only snorted.
That green-haired warrior was even stupider than most of his Disciples, and he was glad that this Disciple of his was good for something, at least.
With more Mana Crystals, Shang could buy more Mind Flow Pellets.
Another 40 years later, someone reached out to Shang.
It was Duma, his ex-Disciple.
Duma's many children had grown up and had formed their own families. His youngest child was already over 40 years old.
Today, he reached out to Shang because he wanted to leave Icy Bastion.
Alone.
His wife hadn't been nearly as strong as him, which meant that she had eventually died of old age.
After being together with his wife for nearly a hundred years, Duma couldn't remain in this town anymore.
Everything reminded him of his wife.
His children could live on their own, and they were happy. They didn't need him anymore.
He just wanted to leave and go somewhere else.
That was why he had visited Shang.
He wanted Shang to activate the Pathfinder Magic Circle.
Shang only had one question.
"Do you have the funds?"
Duma's face transformed into a mask of devastation.
The funds?
He didn't even have a Grade Five Mana Crystal!
How was he supposed to get a Grade Six Mana Crystal?!
Duma begged Shang to just let him escape, but Shang just threw him out of his castle and ignored him.
Duma had no idea what he should do now.
Every day inside Icy Bastion was a day filled with melancholy and pain.
He was in this state for several days until someone came up to him.
It was David.
Now that Duma's wife was dead, he was far more open to David's persuasion.
Duma was a good soul, and he was not someone that liked to kill people.
But in the end, the pain of living here outweighed the potential dangers of his new job.
Duma accepted, and David brought him to the Temple of Blood.
Would he be happy in the Temple of Blood?
Probably not.
20 years later, the next incident occurred.
A Peak Ancestral Mage visited Icy Bastion, and she immediately demanded to speak to the Town Lord.
The guards had already been intimidated by her power, but when she took out an emblem, they froze in terror.
It was the Twilight Dusk Family's emblem!
Of course, Shang very quickly showed up.
The Ancestral Mage then told Shang about her reason for coming here.
She had gotten word that a Peak True Mage with a Twilight Affinity lived in Icy Bastion.
Shang hadn't heard about such a Mage, but the Ancestral Mage effectively directly pointed out the Mage with her Spirit Sense. She only talked to Shang to show politeness to his status as Town Lord. She didn't actually need his help.
Shang looked towards the Mortal District, and sure enough, there was a black-haired woman that gave off fluctuations of Light and Darkness Mana at the same time.
He didn't know it, but this was the same woman that had been responsible for the mortal district's abundance of food right now.
Shang just allowed the Ancestral Mage to do whatever she wanted, and the Ancestral Mage moved towards the True Mage.
Of course, the True Mage felt like she was dreaming.
Some extremely powerful person, someone that was even more powerful than the illustrious Town Lord, had suddenly come here just to take her away to some paradise?
This was like something out of a novel!
She wanted to accept, but then she remembered something and deflated.
Her people needed her.
She couldn't just leave them behind.
The Ancestral Mage asked why she was so important to her people, and she answered that they needed her to condense Light Mana Crystals for the farm.
With a bored tone and manner, the Ancestral Mage asked for the method she was using.
She handed over the method, and the Ancestral Mage snorted.
She looked at the method as she summoned an empty book.
Words rapidly appeared on every page of the book, and in less than a minute, the entire book had been filled.
SHING!
Then over 200 copies of the book were created in an instant, and she put the books to the side.
She had improved the method several times.
Now, the Affinity was no longer important for creating a Light Mana Crystal, and it would also be five times faster than before.
The Ancestral Mage told the True Mage that she should get some Mages to take over.
The True Mage almost couldn't believe what was happening, but after looking through the improved Spell, she couldn't deny the truth anymore.
But then, she thought of her friends and family. She couldn't just leave them behind.
"They can just come with you," the Ancestral Mage said.
Now, there was no longer any reason for her to decline, and she accepted the invitation.
A couple of days later, her family, a couple of friends, and she gathered near the town's exit.
For the first time, the little True Mage saw the illustrious Town Lord from up close since he was standing just beside her.
Shang had to be present for any interaction with the Twilight Dusk Family.
The Ancestral Mage had left a couple of days ago, and today, she had returned to take the little Mage away.
She looked at the present people and nodded.
But before she left with them, she threw a glance at Shang.
Shang didn't react.
"Why haven't you joined the Twilight Dusk Family?" she suddenly asked Shang.
Chapter 663 - Impose Stage
The little True Mage was a bit confused.
She didn't know a lot about the Town Lord. Sure, the Town Lord had basically been a god to her a couple of weeks ago, but the person that had come to take her to the Twilight Dusk Family said that the Town Lord was weak and couldn't compare to the Twilight Dusk Family.
But now, that Ancestral Mage asked the Town Lord why he hadn't joined?
"I didn't notice it previously," the Ancestral Mage said, "but you also have a Twilight Affinity. However, you are not a weak person, and you definitely already know about the Twilight Dusk Family. So, why didn't you join?"
"Because I'm not a Mage," Shang answered evenly.
Silence.
The young Mage only looked at the Ancestral Mage in confusion.
Why was the Ancestral Mage so quiet, and why had her eyes widened?
Hadn't she ever seen a warrior before?
"What?" the Ancestral Mage asked after several seconds.
"I'm not a Mage," Shang repeated. "I'm a warrior."
"A warrior?" the Ancestral Mage said. "You mean like these weak mortals that fight with swords and spears?"
"Correct," Shang answered.
"But you're…" the Ancestral Mage said before trailing off as she focused on Shang. "You're too strong for someone that isn't a Mage. Secondary Paths don't become that powerful."
"I'm the only one of my kind as far as I know," Shang said.
This surprised the young Mage, and she looked at Shang in a new light.
Didn't that mean that the Town Lord was the strongest warrior in the world?
The Ancestral Mage furrowed her brows and fell into thought.
"I still think that you can join the Twilight Dusk Family. I can feel that your Battle-Strength is quite high," she said.
"You mean join as a Night Soldier, right?" Shang asked.
The Ancestral Mage nodded.
"I've seen a Night Soldier that worked for a Dawn Seedling. I would rather not join the Twilight Dusk Family as a Night Soldier," Shang said.
The Ancestral Mage narrowed her eyes a bit.
She was a Night Soldier, a position she was very proud of. After all, she was part of an Empire!
Yet, as she thought of some of her experiences, she could understand Shang's reason.
However, she still believed that the opportunities and payment were worth the hassle.
"I understand," the Ancestral Mage said before turning around. "I'm going to leave now. I wish you success in creating a new Path. It would be interesting to see something other than just Mages everywhere."
Shang nodded. "Farewell."
The Ancestral Mage left together with the young Mage and her companions.
A warrior in the Late Fifth Realm was unprecedented in the world, but to the Twilight Dusk Family, it was just an oddity.
It was like finding a differently colored lobster for them. It was amusing and interesting, but that was it.
Everything returned to normal for Shang, and time continued to pass.
20 years later, Shang reached the Peak Fusion Realm, and this would be the last breakthrough for a very long time.
His mind was now at its highest potential, and Shang needed to focus on comprehending all the key elements for reaching the Sixth Realm now.
At this moment, Shang was around 590 years old, and he had been in the Fusion Realm for a bit more than 250 years.
Shang's speed of comprehending the Concept of Subtraction increased, but he knew that he still had a long way ahead of him.
The Concept of Subtraction felt much more complicated than the Concept of Addition, but that was actually only an illusion. After all, Shang also had to comprehend the combination of Addition and Subtraction.
Sadly, even though Shang had an amazing place to comprehend the Concept of Subtraction and expensive resources, he simply wasn't a Mage.
Comprehending such a difficult Concept wasn't easy for a Mage, and Shang wasn't even one.
Shang could only continue comprehending.
30 years later, another monumental incident took place.
The first Impose Stage warrior appeared in Icy Bastion.
It was one of Shang's Disciples, a smaller man with white hair and a spear.
This had been one of the more hardworking Disciples, and his goal was to travel the outside world without help.
Quite a few people had this dream.
Going wherever one wanted, whenever one wanted.
Just leaving the town and going into the wilderness without fear.
This was one of the greatest achievements known to man since one needed to be an Early or Mid Ancestral Mage at least.
But compared to Shang, this Disciple of his was still quite social, and he enjoyed talking with other people.
The Disciple thanked Shang profusely for all of his teachings, without which he would have never reached the Impose Stage.
He asked how he could repay his Master for everything he had done for him, and Shang told him what he could do.
Teach more True Path Stage warriors to reach the Impose Stage.
The Disciple was quite shocked.
He had expected his Master to have some ulterior motive for raising warriors. After all, he always acted like he hated interacting with them.
Yet, just when one of his students reached the same level as him, he only asked for that person to selflessly pass their knowledge onto the next generation?
Was his Master truly so altruistic and noble?
He didn't seem like it, but what other reason could his Master possibly have?
"I will do so, Master!" the Disciple shouted with deep respect.
From that day on, Icy Bastion received a teacher in the Impose Realm, and Shang stopped teaching.
Ten years later, another Impose Stage warrior appeared, who was quickly drawn in by the Temple of Blood.
The Temple of Blood was willing to grant the warrior ridiculously good payment so that he taught the True Path Stage warriors in the Temple of Blood.
Another ten years later, a third Impose Stage warrior appeared, and by the looks of things, it would only become faster.
By now, Icy Bastion had over 400 True Path Stage warriors, and the mortal district was now nearly three kilometers wide.
Icy Bastion was doing its job.
Shang had arrived here over two centuries ago, and now, his town was finally producing Impose Stage warriors.
And then, finally, ten years later, it was time.
Shang had finally comprehended the Concept of Subtraction!
Chapter 664 - Subsis
It had taken so many years and so many Mind Flow Pellets, but Shang had finally done it.
By now, Shang was 630 years old. People in the Fifth Realm could live for about a thousand years, which meant that Shang was essentially over 50 years old if he were a mortal.
If someone reached the Sixth Realm, they would have reached it in their 400s or 500s, at the latest.
Yet, Shang still wasn't done.
He had only comprehended three of the five things he needed to reach the Sixth Realm.
Luckily, the next part Shang needed to focus on wouldn't take too long.
Sure, the creation of an entirely new Path was always difficult, especially without a Star Map, but Shang had gained a lot of experience, and his mind had become many times more powerful. Lastly, he even had access to expensive resources.
Over the past centuries, Shang had consumed over four Grade Seven Mana Crystals worth of Mind Flow Pellets, which would have been unimaginable to him before coming to his town.
This was the advantage of having a powerful organization backing him.
Surprisingly, ever since the number of True Path Stage warriors joining the Temple of Blood had increased, the Congregation stopped demanding progress and proof from him.
This meant that they were more than happy with the influx of warriors they were getting.
Over the past centuries, the Temple of Blood had already created several methods to make perfect use of these warriors.
The minds of the warriors were mostly weaker than their bodies, which was extremely useful for covert missions since Mages only judged another human's power by feeling the Mana waves coming from their minds.
The target of a mission might look around suspiciously, but they would ignore someone whose mind was like four levels below their own.
Even more, the Temple of Blood had created a terrifyingly effective piece of equipment.
It was an earring with quite an interesting ability.
The earring would severely restrict the flow of Mana that would enter or exit someone's mind, locking up someone's Magic. They could still cast some very weak Spells, but these Spells would be at least two Realms below their own, making them worthless.
Additionally, taking the earring off didn't mean that one could immediately cast Magic. The mind and Mana would need to resynchronize first, which took a couple of seconds.
However, that also severely weakened their strength in the eyes of others.
A True Path Stage warrior would seem as powerful as a mere Adept.
Assuming a Mid High Mage suddenly died in the middle of a city and no one paid attention, who would look at the Adepts for the perpetrator?
And the best thing was that True Path Stage warriors were still unknown to the vast majority of people.
Maybe they had heard about them one time a couple of decades ago, but that was about it. No one was really thinking about them.
This meant that the Temple of Blood could essentially go nuts with missions.
Powerful people that had been warned about an attempt on their life would find themselves dying in the middle of a heavily guarded city.
Secret information from some organizations and households leaked out.
The people that knew of the Temple of Blood became more nervous.
It was like the Temple of Blood had found some kind of new powerful weapon.
And even worse, the power of the people dying to this mysterious weapon only increased with time!
It wouldn't take long for Archmages to die to this mysterious weapon if things continued progressing like this!
The Temple of Blood was earning a lot of money.
Their investment in Shang had paid off.
They hadn't yet recouped their investments, but they would earn far more than they invested in the long run.
That's why they were no longer bothering Shang.
After comprehending the Concept of Subtraction, Shang focused on creating his new Path and Impose.
Ever since coming up with his plan, Shang had already decided that he would change his fighting style from fighting with one sword to fighting with two swords at once.
And then, in the Sixth Realm, Shang would focus on combining the two Swords into a single one again.
But for now, he needed to use two.
Because of that, Shang wasn't planning on creating a weapon that was perfect for being used on its own.
In fact, even his Addum hadn't been designed to fight on its own.
Shang's Addum wasn't as cumbersome as his old Colossal Sword, but it was definitely more on the heavy and slow side. The Addum definitely wasn't made to be fast.
And now, Shang focused on creating a sword that would complement his Addum perfectly.
After a lot of experimenting, Shang finally came up with a perfect design, and it was a doozy.
In fact, it couldn't even be called a sword.
It was a very long and thin stick.
In a way, it looked like one of the weapons the fencers in the Olympic Games back on Earth used.
Of course, something like that was absolutely horrible for slashing and was only good for stabbing.
However, Shang had a very good reason for creating something like that.
After creating his sword, Shang focused on it.
It was thin, long, and had no cutting edge.
Then, Shang willed something to happen.
CRRRR!
Dark pieces of ice surrounded the sword, and in an instant, a long edge had been created.
Now, the sword looked like a longer form of Shang's old Long Sword.
CRRRR!
The dark ice around the sword changed again. The sword became shorter, but the blade grew wider.
Shang went through a couple more blades before dispersing the ice around the sword.
This was the idea Shang had come up with.
Shang's Addum attacked slowly but with incredible power due to its heavy weight and big size.
Meanwhile, there was nearly no heavy ore in the smaller sword, essentially allowing Shang to swing it as fast as his naked hand.
And even more, when Shang thought about what he could do with the Concept of Subtraction, he had to smirk.
The Concept of Subtraction was already incredibly useful on its own, but with the addition of the Concept of Addition, its power became terrifying.
There was a terrifying level of synergy between the two Concepts and Shang's two new weapons.
It took Shang 40 years to create the Path for his new sword and an additional 30 years to create its Impose.
Shang's newest weapon had been completed.
Its name was Subsis.
Now, Shang had six Imposes inside his World Connection, and he had perfected his combat style.
Only the last step remained, which was to somehow elevate everything to the next level.
However, Shang knew that he probably wouldn't be able to just create something like this by just sitting inside his little town while consuming some pills.
He needed inspiration, and for that, he needed to travel the world.
By now, Shang was 700 years old, someone that had lived seven-tenths of his life.
He was definitely not a young person anymore.
Many people might even call him an old man.
And now, this old man would leave his town for the first time in a long while and travel the world.
Chapter 665 - Strongest Warrior In The World
"Are you excited about the show?" a young woman with red hair asked a stalwart man walking beside her.
The young woman wore expensive Mage robes, while the tall man wore heavy armor with a huge axe on his back.
Surprisingly, the woman was hugging the man's arm as they were strolling through the city.
"Hell yeah, I'm excited!" the man shouted. "I've been waiting for this tournament for over ten years!"
The woman giggled as she hugged her boyfriend. "I know that you would have won if you had the chance to participate!"
The man only coughed uncomfortably. "You know that I lost during qualifications. These are the finals we are talking about. I don't think I could win even against the weakest competitor."
The girl furrowed her brows and pouted. "You keep saying that, but aren't you in the Mid Diamond Body Stage? I thought there were like only 50 of you in the world."
The man could only sigh. "Yes, but there are only 32 spots open, and I didn't make it."
"Also, there are over ten Late Diamond Body Stage warriors, and there's even a Peak Diamond Body Stage warrior."
Sadly, the woman wasn't completely fine with her boyfriend's explanation. Was he really not even average in his level?
But it wasn't a deal breaker to her. As long as her boyfriend was still stronger than her, she didn't mind. To her, strong men were attractive.
She was an Initial Archmage, and her boyfriend was at the Mid Diamond Body Stage. The two had sparred from time to time, but her boyfriend always won, which was a good thing for her.
Because of that, she still loved him dearly.
However, what she didn't see was that her boyfriend was pushing himself very hard. His girlfriend was only average for an Initial Archmage, but he had nearly lost to her in the sparring match. He had acted like it hadn't been hard for him to win, but it had actually been extremely hard.
Even more, to win her over, he had also advanced to the Mid Diamond Body Stage way too soon.
But that didn't matter.
He had had a crush on her for years, and he finally managed to obtain her.
Sadly, he didn't qualify for the greatest tournament for warriors ever held.
About ten years ago, Star City, one of the biggest cities in the southern lands of the Lightning Manor, had announced that they were planning on creating the first major Warrior Guild in the world.
There had been several smaller warrior guilds before, but there hadn't been a really prolific one.
Star City would change that.
Star City had already created its plans for the Warrior Guild.
Only the strongest warrior in the world would be allowed to become the Guild Master of the strongest Warrior Guild in the world.
Because of that, Star City had advertised in nearly every single other city and town.
The strongest Warrior Guild!
The strongest warrior!
A tournament to decide the strongest warrior in the world, with the grand prize being 100 Grade Six Mana Crystals and the position of Guild Master!
Everyone in the surrounding two million kilometers had heard about the tournament, which was essentially the entire southeastern corner of the Lightning Manor's territory.
The rise of the new warriors had been quite interesting for all the Mages.
Their entire lives, they had believed that there was only the Path of Magic, but now, warriors in the Fifth Realm had appeared.
Sadly, these warriors were quite weak compared to Mages, but that wasn't too surprising. After all, they had created that Realm just 300 years ago. With enough time, they might be able to rival Mages at some point.
But as it stood now, an average Early Diamond Body Stage warrior was weaker than the average Initial Archmage, while an average Mid Diamond Body Stage warrior could defeat an average Initial Archmage but not an Early Archmage.
One could say that, in general, a warrior's Battle-Strength in the Fifth Realm was about 1.5 levels below an Archmage of the same level.
However, it was still very shocking to hear about something like warriors.
And today, the grand tournament would be held, which would be the public's first time seeing these legendary warriors of the Fifth Realm. After all, there were less than a thousand of them in the world! They were even rarer than Mage Lords!
The two lovers were excited to see a fight between the most powerful warriors in the world!
This wasn't an event that happened every day!
"By the way," the woman said after remembering something, "you think these weird warriors from the rumors will show up?"
The man only snorted. "These scam artists? I doubt it. They might be able to fool a couple of True Path Stage warriors with their bullshit, but here, they would need to prove their actual power against real Diamond Stage warriors."
"I already told you that they are just a bunch of Mages disguising themselves as warriors. If they were to try something here, they would get unmasked. After all, they can't keep their true powers hidden during a genuine battle."
"Eh? Are you sure?" the woman asked. "The people that saw them seemed quite convinced."
The man snorted again. "You're not a warrior. Trust me. They're not real warriors."
The woman looked at her boyfriend with a bit of skepticism, but in the end, she believed him.
The two of them walked towards the center of Star City. For today's tournament, the Star Colosseum had been reserved.
Star City was an absolutely gigantic city, nearly a thousand kilometers wide, and with over 100 million people living there. It was led by three Mage Lords and thousands of Ancestral Mages.
It was a metropolis, one of the biggest cities in the entire world.
And its biggest attraction was the Star Colosseum.
The Star Colosseum was a humongous arena in the middle of the city. The arena was nearly ten kilometers wide, and there were several Magic Circles around the Star Colosseum that made the air clearer while bending space just enough so that even mortals could see the other side of the arena.
It could house over five million spectators.
Most of the time, Ancestral Beasts would be brought here to fight to the death with each other as entertainment. Sometimes, there were also public fights between Ancestral Mages being held here.
The two lovers paid their entrance fee, one Grade Five Mana Crystal each, and entered the Star Colosseum.
The entire thing was packed!
When the two of them saw the sea of people, they had to take a deep breath.
Seeing all of this could only be described as monumental.
It was gigantic.
The woman only snickered a bit.
"I bet they don't have something like that in Area 23, eh?" she asked as she lightly poked her boyfriend's side with her elbow.
The man could only sigh. "No, we don't have something like that."
Chapter 666 - Diamond Body,Weapon Variance
Over a million people had gathered in the Star Colosseum, all waiting for the start of the tournament.
Building the Star Colosseum had been beyond expensive, but it had been worth it. The cheapest tickets cost one Grade Five Mana Crystal, and they had sold over a million.
Star City had made one Grade Seven Mana Crystal with just one event.
The audience was waiting with bated breath, and a couple of hours later, it finally started.
A man with long silver hair appeared on a flying platform above the colosseum. Behind him stood ten more people with luxurious robes.
"Welcome, everyone!" the man with silver hair shouted, his voice echoing throughout the entire colosseum.
This was the City Lord of Star City, Lord Starsky. His real name was different, but every City Lord of Star City would take up the title of Lord Starsky. This had been a tradition for over a hundred thousand years.
When Lord Starsky announced the beginning, the colosseum fell quiet. Everyone present here had some form of status or power. After all, the entrance fee was one Grade Five Mana Crystal. They wouldn't cheer like some mortals.
"Today, everyone has been gathered for the greatest warrior tournament in history!" Lord Starsky announced.
"We will all witness the birth of the strongest warrior in the world!"
"Let the games begin!"
After that, the ten people behind Lord Starsky jumped down from the flying platform and positioned themselves around the colosseum, with three of them hovering above the middle.
All ten of these people were Ancestral Mages, and it was their job to officiate the entire thing.
"Contestant 1 and contestant 12, step into the arena," the head judge ordered.
Contestant 1 was the favorite to win the tournament, while contestant 12 was judged to be in the middle.
Contestant 1 was the only Peak Diamond Body Stage warrior in the entire world. He had invented an entirely new method to absorb the powers of a beast, allowing him to strengthen his body a bit more and faster as well.
Contestant 1 entered the arena. He was a slim man with green hair. He was a bit on the shorter side and wore an elegant green uniform. On his hips were two long and thin swords.
Surprisingly, he wasn't the youngest anymore.
He looked to be in his sixties for mortal standards, but he still radiated a certain level of power.
Contestant 1 calmly walked to the middle of the arena and stopped. There was a peaceful and kind smile on his face, making him appear like a gentle old teacher.
Then, contestant 12 stepped forward.
He had black hair, and he also seemed to be on the older side. He wore imposing black armor, and he carried a long black spear on his back.
In comparison to contestant 1's kind expression, contestant 12 seemed far more serious. He had a constant frown on his face, making him seem like a fearsome commander.
Surprisingly, contestant 12 wasn't at the Mid Diamond Body Stage but at the Early Fifth Stage.
Yes, Early Fifth Stage, not Early Diamond Body Stage.
There was an important difference!
Contestant 12 wasn't in the Diamond Body Stage.
The two of them met in the middle of the arena and looked at each other.
According to the rules, contestant 1 was supposed to fight contestant 32 in the first round, the publicly acknowledged weakest participant in the tournament.
However, both contestant 1 and contestant 12 had wished to fight each other in the first round, and the organizers had agreed.
The reason was the strong rivalry between them.
Contestant 1 was the one that invented the Diamond Body Stage, and he ushered in the birth of warriors in the Fifth Realm.
Sadly, by the time he had created it, many True Path Stage warriors had already died due to old age.
It had taken a long time for contestant 1 to create this Stage and make it powerful enough to support a breakthrough to the fifth Stage.
Many warriors had tried to continuously strengthen their bodies in the True Path Stage to step forward, but they just hadn't been able to gather enough power to push into the Fifth Stage.
But then, contestant 1 created the Diamond Body Stage.
In order to create a Diamond Body, one needed to convert their marrow into a concentrated storage of Mana. Usually, the sheer amount of concentrated Mana would make the body explode, but the toughness of the bones could withstand the pressure.
With that, a warrior with a Diamond Body was about 20% more powerful than a beast.
Originally, contestant 1 had tried to create a Beast Core, but the pressure of so much Mana was impossible to contain with normal Mana Pathways. Sadly, it wasn't easy to increase the power of one's Mana Pathways.
Because of that, contestant 1 had to use his marrow and bones.
Luckily, it wasn't very hard to condense a Diamond Body. One only needed a lot of time and a lot of beast corpses.
Of course, as soon as contestant 1 had created the Diamond Body Stage, every True Path Stage warrior followed him and did the same.
Finally, they could reach the Fifth Stage!
Sadly, since the only increase in Battle-Strength was a 20% stronger body after entering the Fifth Stage, the power of the warriors had fallen in comparison to the Mages.
And then, there was contestant 12.
Instead of following contestant 1's example and condensing a Diamond Body, contestant 12 focused on something else.
He had been sure that there was a better way to reach the Fifth Stage, and he had dedicated his entire life to finding that way.
He just kept trying different things and comprehending more Paths on his way.
And eventually, when he had already been 450 years old, he found a way.
By then, contestant 12 had comprehended four different Paths. His original Path with which he had achieved his breakthrough to the True Path Stage had been the Long Spear Path, but over the next centuries, he had also comprehended the Composite Bow Path, the Long Sword Path, and the Tower Shield Path.
After training with all four of the Paths at the same time, contestant 12 had found something.
The Paths could connect, and they seemed to resonate with each other.
After experimenting some more, he finally found a way to combine them.
Contestant 12 slowly took out his spear without a word.
SHING!
Then, three more weapons appeared.
A composite bow hovered above contestant 12.
A long sword hovered diagonally in front of him.
A tower shield hovered to the left of him.
And the spear was inside his hands.
A mystical power seemed to connect the different weapons together.
In a way, it was a bit like Impose, but it wasn't the same.
Impose felt powerful, strong, and fierce.
But this force felt versatile, agile, and quick.
This was the Stage contestant 12 had created.
He called it the Weapon Variance Stage.
In comparison to Impose, Variance, the force of the Weapon Variance Stage, didn't strengthen one's attacks.
Instead, it granted remote control over several weapons. It was almost like one had grown several long, invisible arms that could wield different weapons.
With this power, contestant 12 could use all four weapons at the same time.
According to his calculations, it was possible to reach the Weapon Variance Stage after comprehending three Paths in total, which would put the warrior on about the same level as someone with a Diamond Body.
However, compared to the Diamond Body Stage, the Weapon Variance Stage had something that made it strictly superior.
More potential.
A Diamond Body was a Diamond Body. There was no better or worse Diamond Body. Every Diamond Body was the same.
But when it came to the Weapon Variance Stage, one could increase their power before the breakthrough by comprehending more Paths.
For example, contestant 12 had comprehended four Paths before he had reached the Weapon Variance Stage, which made him just a slight bit below average for a Mage if he were an average warrior.
Luckily, contestant 12 was also quite talented, and if he had had more time, he would have comprehended more than four Paths before the breakthrough.
Nevertheless, due to his potential, contestant 12's Battle-Strength was about as strong as an above-average Archmage.
Of course, contestant 1 was also quite outstanding, but he could only fight evenly against a Late Archmage, someone a level below him.
Meanwhile, contestant 12 was stronger than the average Archmage on his level.
If one looked objectively at the two Stages, there was a clear winner.
The Weapon Variance Stage was just better.
However, that was only true for the moment.
Contestant 1 and his people were already working on a way of creating Beast Cores inside humans, which could potentially push someone's body to be 50% more powerful than a beast's body.
But, for now, the Weapon Variance Stage was better, and the reason why contestant 12 had a problem with contestant 1 was that nearly every warrior in existence was following contestant 1's path.
Of course, contestant 1 also had a problem with contestant 12 because he knew that contestant 12's path was strictly better at the moment. However, contestant 1 was certain that his path would win out in the long run. They just needed more time to research the human body.
Both contestants had problems with each other, and both of them saw the other as a rival.
And that was why they wanted to fight in this tournament.
Contestant 1 wanted to show the world that he was stronger than contestant 12.
Contestant 12 wanted to show the world that he could fight contestant 1 while being three levels below him.
The crowd had heard about the rivalry, and they couldn't be more excited about the upcoming fight!
This was going to be great!
Chapter 667 - Saint
The two contestants looked at each other. Contestant 12 had already drawn his weapons, while contestant 1 just stood there with a kind smile.
"Your smile sickens me," contestant 12 said.
Contestant 1's smile didn't change. "Is it because I am reminding you of someone?" he asked.
Contestant 12's eyes narrowed. "Yes, you two seem similar, but you couldn't be any more different. Teacher's smile was genuine. Yours isn't."
Contestant 1 only shook his head slightly. "I've told you many times. I don't want to kill you or stop you in your path. I do not intend to gain your trust with a mere smile."
"I want to push you," contestant 1 said. "I want to see how far you can go. I want to put you under more pressure so that you will one day grow stronger."
"Shut up!" contestant 12 shouted with a voice burning with fury. "Don't use the words of Teacher! You are not Teacher, no matter how much you try to copy him!"
Contestant 1 only slightly shook his head. "Why won't you let this matter rest? I've never tried to imitate him."
"I can't let this matter rest!" contestant 12 said with a dark voice. "Not while the public is singing your praises."
"Have you heard what they're saying?" contestant 12 asked with narrowed eyes.
"I don't listen to gossip," contestant 1 said with a chuckle.
"They want to bestow you the title of Warrior Saint!" contestant 12 said with disgust. "All because you came up with this barebones Diamond Body. They say that you opened up the way to the Fifth Realm, but in truth, you've doomed nearly a thousand warriors to mediocrity, and you will continue to doom many more!"
"The Diamond Body is a dead path! It leads to a dead end! Yet, the Warrior Council wants to make you the second Warrior Saint! They want to elevate you to the same position as the Progenitor Saint, the one that created the True Path Stage!"
"I have no problem with people imitating my late teacher. Many people aspire to be him."
Contestant 12 lifted his spear and pointed it at contestant 1.
"However, I can't allow a copy to overtake my teacher! My teacher was only bestowed the title of Champion while you are about to become the second Saint!" contestant 12 shouted.
The conversation was being transmitted to everyone in the colosseum, and they were talking animatedly via voice transmission with each other.
98% of watchers were Mages, and they didn't know a lot about the warrior paths. But hey, drama was entertaining!
After contestant 12 was finished with his tirade, contestant 1 only shook his head with an exhausted expression.
"I've known Teacher Mervin longer than you," contestant 1 said.
Contestant 12 narrowed his eyes in anger when he heard contestant 1 speak his teacher's name.
"I know how you feel," contestant 1 said. "Teacher Mervin was an amazing warrior. He had been one of the very first to reach the True Path Stage, and his True Path had also been outstanding in its quality."
"On top of that, he taught so many warriors. Nearly all of the truly powerful warriors today had once been taught by Teacher Mervin."
"He has been an idol to us all."
"Yet, he has failed in the end," contestant 1 said with a sigh. "He tried to find a different way to the Fifth Stage. I remember telling him many times that it would be easier to research a way to reach the Fifth Stage by increasing the power of our bodies, but he adamantly refused."
"He wanted to create something else, and in the end, he died of old age."
"Do you know how I felt?" contestant 1 asked with a soft voice. "I was so close to creating my Diamond Body, but Teacher Mervin refused to help me."
"He chose death over helping me."
"He would rather die than help me in creating my way."
Contestant 1 slowly shook his head.
"I idolized him for over 300 years, but when I finally reached his level, he chose death over working together with me."
Contestant 1 sighed. "How can someone this stubborn ever possibly become a Saint?"
Contestant 12 gnashed his teeth.
"I saved so many warriors' lives," contestant 1 said. "So many warriors would have died of old age without me."
"And yet, you are constantly comparing me to this stubborn old fool."
"Yes, he was a magnificent teacher, but he was also a stubborn mule. You're idolizing your deceased teacher to the point of surrealism. Recognize that people have strengths and weaknesses," contestant 1 said.
For the first time, contestant 1's expression seemed to become annoyed.
"Also, I'm not the only one that's resembling someone else, am I?"
Contestant 12's eyes widened in fury.
He wouldn't dare!
"Don't you also look like someone else?" contestant 1 asked.
Contestant 12's grip hardened on his spear.
"Yes, my mannerisms are similar to Teacher Mervin's, but I don't blindly idolize him. Yet, you seemed to think like I did."
"So, wouldn't it be logical to assume that you are also idolizing a certain someone?" contestant 1 asked with a bright smile that seemed deeply fake.
"You look a bit like-"
BANG!
Contestant 12 shot forward in an instant, his bow firing several arrows at contestant 1 while he slashed forward with his sword and thrust with his spear.
DING! DING! DING! BANG!
Contestant 1 took out his two swords, deflected the arrow and the spear, parried the sword, and slashed the tower shield in front of him with his other sword.
Contestant 12 was thrown back, his bones creaking under immense force. Contestant 1's body was vastly more powerful than his.
Contestant 12 gnashed his teeth as he regained his balance.
"Is this so much of a trigger for you?" contestant 1 asked. "But then, why are you dressing like him? Why are you acting like him?"
"Maybe you are the one idolizing someone."
"Tell me…"
"Are you idolizing the Fallen Saint?"
Chapter 668 - Fallen Saint
"Shut up! He doesn't deserve the title of Saint!" contestant 12 shouted.
The audience grew a bit confused when they heard about the Fallen Saint.
Although almost all of them were Mages, they had still heard of the Progenitor Saint and the one that invented the Diamond Body.
But they hadn't heard of a Fallen Saint before.
Who was that?
Many of the Mages were asking the warriors in the audience via voice transmission who the Fallen Saint was.
The warriors didn't like talking about the Fallen Saint, but the oppressive Spirit Sense of so many Archmages and Ancestral Mages was too much to handle.
So, they talked.
The Fallen Saint.
He had joined the legendary warrior academy as a young boy at the Peak Soldier Stage.
Originally, he had been very weak, and people believed him to be untalented and weak.
But then, he started to grow with incredible power, and he had also been the one that had undergone the first Bloodline Infusion.
Just that accomplishment alone would net him a title as a Champion, but this had only been the beginning.
His power grew only more and more ridiculous as more time passed.
He was the one that brought the Star Map to the warriors, the key to their success.
He was also the first warrior that received a noble title.
Even more, according to records, he had been the most powerful warrior that had ever lived.
In the Early True Path Stage, he managed to overwhelm Duke Torrent, who had been in the Late High Mage Realm. That had been a jump of two levels against a Mage.
And then, during the final battle of the Revolutionary War, he essentially won the entire war for everyone.
According to what the witnesses from back then had said, he had killed three Council Members with only the help of some Magic Circles while also supporting every other battle.
However, the last three parts were considered controversial.
Over 600 years had passed since the Revolutionary War, and only two people that had fought in the war personally were still alive.
And these two avoided talking about the Fallen Saint for obvious reasons.
As of now, the public's opinion was split.
One side believed that the Fallen Saint's powers had been exaggerated, while the other side believed the tales about his power.
In terms of accomplishments, the Fallen Saint had contributed about as much as the Progenitor Saint.
However, his last actions had thrown the world of warriors into an internal conflict.
According to Queen Eternalfrost and Prince Eternalfrost, the Fallen Saint had killed the legendary King Storm, the benefactor of warriorkind.
With the death of King Storm, Area 23 had been thrown into an age of instability.
The Magic Purity Kingdom took advantage of their weakness and launched a full-scale assault on the Storm Kingdom.
Over 80% of True Path Stage warriors and High Mages died, but before the Magic Purity Kingdom could annihilate the former Storm Kingdom, a new King suddenly rose.
No one had known the King before that moment, but his power was incredible.
But he had also been the last King.
Some months later, the people of Area 23 saw their world change.
The veil had been lifted.
An impossibly powerful Mage with silver hair had stepped forward and publicly announced the truth about the world…
Or Area 23, as they knew it.
Ever since then, Area 23 had transformed from a land of five Kingdoms into a land of three Camps.
From a land of Kingdoms, everything had transformed into a land of cruel games.
Since Area 23 was on top of a gigantic plateau, only people in the Fourth Realm could escape, which meant that everyone was stuck there…
And the Lightning Manor encouraged fighting.
In the end, the people were doomed to either live in war-torn lands for their entire lives or reach the Fourth Realm and escape into the peaceful outside world.
Area 23 had forever changed, and that change had happened because of King Storm's death.
If the Fallen Saint hadn't killed King Storm, there would be nearly ten times as many True Path Stage and Diamond Body Stage warriors right now.
However, the Fallen Saint had also contributed an insane amount to the warriors.
This was why people didn't like talking about him.
In honor of his accomplishments, they had bestowed him the title of Saint, but due to his sins, they also tried their best not to talk about him.
He was a symbol of a warrior's power, but he was also a symbol of a warrior's aggression.
The warriors knew that the Mages were the undisputed rulers of the world, and the warriors didn't want to associate with one of their kind that had killed someone from the Lightning Manor.
They didn't want to anger the Lightning Manor.
To some people, the Fallen Saint was an inspiration, but they would never dare to say that publicly.
What the Fallen Saint had done was disgusting and abhorrent.
He had killed King Storm, his best friend and the warrior's benefactor.
He had been a monster.
However, he had also been more powerful than everyone else.
But the times had changed.
All of this happened over 500 years ago, and the world had changed.
The old warriors were dead, and the new warriors had taken over.
The world was going forward, and at one point, the Fallen Saint would be forgotten. The warriors were doing their best so that this would be the case.
After the spectating warriors explained this to the asking Mages, everyone's attention went back to the fight.
"Don't speak of him!" contestant 12 shouted in fury. "He killed King Storm! Do not compare me to a monster like him! If it weren't for him, Teacher would still be alive!"
Contestant 1 snorted, but he didn't answer.
Instead, contestant 1 slowly advanced on contestant 12 with his two swords.
Over the next minute, contestant 12 attacked contestant 1 with all his power, but contestant 1 seemed to only be playing with contestant 12.
He easily blocked contestant 12's attacks while kicking his shield again and again.
Surprisingly, the onlookers' opinions were split into two camps.
One camp saw the sheer dominance of contestant 1, while the other camp was impressed by contestant 12 being able to fight contestant 1 for so long with such a difference in levels.
The people talked to each other via voice transmissions as they watched the fight.
"This is it? This is what the warriors in the Lightning Manor's Empire can do? This is just sad."
Contestant 1 and contestant 12 jumped away from each other, and they looked in the same direction.
Due to how Spirit Senses worked, the audience was only allowed to converse via voice transmissions. Otherwise, everyone would automatically hear every conversation of every other person in the audience, which would be annoying and distracting.
Yet, someone had dared to speak up without masking their voice at all, and to top it all off, he had slandered all the warriors present.
Because of that, everyone had heard him.
This was far beyond disrespectful!
Everyone looked over with furrowed brows.
There were five people, and all five of them were wearing enchanted cloaks that hid their auras and features.
All their cloaks were differently colored, and they were positioned on three different levels, showing an obvious difference in status.
There were two people at the lowest level. Their cloaks were red and silver.
Then, there were two people in the middle. Their cloaks were black and white.
Lastly, there was one person at the top, and their cloak was ocean blue.
The one in the silver cloak had spoken up just now.
The officials of the tournament wanted to apprehend the troublemakers, but they were stopped by a voice transmission coming from Lord Starsky.
"Don't do anything reckless," he told them with a serious tone.
"The one in the blue cloak is a Mage Lord."
Chapter 669 - Lei
The Ancestral Mages looked with furrowed brows at the five cloaked people.
These people had disturbed the grand tournament, but they couldn't just reprimand them. After all, there was a Mage Lord among them.
Mage Lords were exceedingly rare. The Lightning Manor had around a thousand Mage Lords, but there were also a couple of unaffiliated Mage Lords.
About 50 to 100 unaffiliated Mage Lords lived in the Lightning Emperor's Empire without directly being part of the Lightning Manor.
There were no known unaffiliated Mage Kings.
This meant that these 50 to 100 people represented the most powerful people in an Empire aside from the forces below the Emperor.
The three Mage Lords running Star City were part of this group of Mage Lords.
This meant that this blue-robed Mage Lords was on the same level as the ruler of one of the biggest cities in the world, Star City.
Because of that, the Ancestral Mages couldn't just attack or offend the Mage Lord.
"Talking openly is forbidden," Lord Starsky spoke from his flying platform. "I can feel that you are not from around here, which might explain your words. Let this be my first and last warning for all visitors."
Lord Starsky managed to spin the current situation in such a way that he didn't seem like someone that didn't dare to reprimand someone in his city.
"I was under the impression this was a tournament between warriors," the person in the silver cloak spoke up suddenly.
Earlier, the person in the red cloak had interrupted the proceedings, but now, the person in the silver cloak also interfered.
The Ancestral Mages and Lord Starsky narrowed their eyes.
Lord Starsky had given them a way out earlier without disrespecting them, but they hadn't taken it.
This meant that they were obviously here to cause trouble.
Lord Starsky's mind extended toward the person in a threatening manner.
WHOOOM!
Yet, he felt the power of his mind being deflected by the person in the blue cloak.
Unsurprisingly, the person in the blue cloak supported the two troublemakers.
'But why?' Lord Starsky thought. 'What would they get out of this?'
It was very difficult to assess the mysterious Mage Lord's power, but Lord Starsky could tell that they were not a pushover.
Lord Starsky was a Late Mage Lord, which put him in the top 10 unaffiliated Mage Lords in the Lightning Manor's territory. He had been around for a long while, and he knew basically every unaffiliated Mage Lord in the Lightning Manor's territory and also plenty in other territories.
Yet, the bits of aura he could feel coming off the person in the blue cloak didn't feel familiar.
He was quite certain that he had never come into contact with this person before.
"What is your business here?" Lord Starsky asked coldly, his voice echoing throughout the arena. "Have you come here to cause trouble?"
The person in the red cloak stood up from their seat and snorted. "Depends on what you view as trouble."
SHING!
The red cloak covering the person's body vanished, revealing their true appearance.
It was a tall young man with short, fiery-red hair, wearing form-fitting red armor. Everyone could see an arrogant smirk on the man's face as he held a long and red trident in his right hand.
Tridents were part of the spear category.
When everyone saw the person, they felt confused.
An Early Diamond Body Stage warrior?
Why was he suddenly causing trouble?
However, the few Diamond Body Stage warriors and True Path Stage warriors in the audience noticed something else.
This man's aura felt different.
Contestant 12's aura was different from any other warrior's aura due to his unique Stage, the Weapon Variance Stage.
Yet, the red-haired man's aura was different once again. His aura didn't feel like the aura of someone in the Diamond Body Stage, and his aura also didn't resemble contestant 12's aura.
But the majority of people couldn't feel a difference and just assumed the warrior to be in the Diamond Body Stage.
"Haven't you heard what my friend just said?" the young man shouted with an arrogant smirk.
Then, he pointed his trident at the two contestants from his seat. "I thought this was a tournament between warriors. Yet…"
His trident pointed at the distance contestant 1. "Why is a Barbarian," he said before his weapon moved to point at contestant 12, "fighting a Weapon Master?"
"I don't see any warriors in the Fifth Stage here."
This immediately enraged the warriors in the audience, but they didn't dare to say anything.
At the moment, there were thousands of Ancestral Mages in the audience, and even though the Ancestral Mages didn't even look at them, the warriors felt intimidated and tiny in their presence.
Yes, the strongest warriors of the world were fighting in the arena, but if one chose any person in the audience at random, the chances were quite high that this person could defeat the strongest warrior.
The warriors were proclaiming their power in this tournament, but that was only true when compared to their earlier weakness.
In front of the Mages, they were still nothing.
"Barbarian?" contestant 1 repeated, his voice sounding extremely insulted.
"Weapon Master?" contestant 12 repeated, but compared to contestant 1, he sounded confused.
"Yes," the man in red repeated. "A Barbarian and a Weapon Master."
Then, he looked at Lord Starsky. "I thought this was a tournament between warriors."
By now, Lord Starsky had some suspicions, and he decided to play along.
"If they are not warriors, what is a warrior?" he asked.
The red-haired man harrumphed in confidence.
BANG!
Then, he jumped into the arena and landed a distance away from the two contestants.
"I am!" he shouted as he raised his red trident.
After raising it, he swung the trident to the side.
BANG!
Everyone could feel some sort of power come out of the trident, and a moment later, the walls of the arena in the distance rumbled a bit.
The eyes of the watching Ancestral Mage's widened with surprise and curiosity.
They hadn't felt such a force before, and they were intrigued.
They hadn't felt the red-haired man give off any kind of Mana, but the force had still managed to stretch to the walls of the arena, which were several kilometers away from him.
That was very curious.
"My name is Lei, and I am a warrior at the Early Impose Stage."
Chapter 670 - Quantity And Quality
Contestant 1 and contestant 12 looked at Lei with narrowed eyes.
They had heard of these strange warriors that didn't follow either of the two established paths, but they hadn't seen one of them yet.
"What authority do you have to call me a Barbarian?" contestant 1 asked.
"What else are you?" Lei said. "We can all agree that True Path Stage warriors are warriors, but that is where the lineage of warriors has ended in the Lightning Manor's territory."
Nearly everyone's eyes shone in understanding and recognition.
In the Lightning Manor's territory?
Now, they knew where these warriors were coming from and why they were making trouble.
This was a rivalry between Empires.
"The person that has created the True Path Stage was a pioneer for warriorkind, but the people that invented the Diamond Body Stage and Weapon Variance Stage were not."
"They were pioneers for Barbariankind and Weapon-Master-Kind."
"What is a Diamond Body?" Lei asked rhetorically. "Isn't it just an expansion of the Bloodline Infusion?"
The two contestants narrowed their eyes when they heard about the Bloodline Infusion.
It was possible that the warriors in a different territory created a True Path Stage separately, but the chances of them creating something as specific as the Bloodline Infusion were incredibly low.
This meant that the knowledge of these mysterious warriors derived from Area 23.
"Would you call the Bloodline Infusion a path of its own?" Lei asked with a smirk. "No, it isn't. It is just a basic tool for warriors. It is an addition to a warrior's power, not its own thing."
"Yet, look at you," Lei said to contestant 1 with a snort. "You refined the Bloodline Infusion and pushed it one step further. You managed to transform your spine into a storage for Mana, increasing the overall level of Mana inside your body."
"That is an amazing accomplishment," Lei said. "However, instead of using it to increase the warriors' powers, you say this is the path forward."
"At most, you are a Barbarian, but in truth, you are someone that slaughtered the golden goose that lays golden eggs. You can increase your power quickly in the short term, but you will ruin your future."
"And not just yours. You ruin every warrior's future."
"Do you know what I think of your Diamond Body Stage?"
Lei held his hand out.
SHING!
A small bottle of pills appeared in his hand.
"That's what I think of your Diamond Body Stage," he said before throwing the bottle over to contestant 1.
Contestant 1 furrowed his brows, but he opened the bottle and analyzed the pills.
But the more he looked at them, the more shocked he grew.
Contestant 1 was probably the warrior that knew the most about the human body in the entire world, aside from Shang maybe, and he could tell what these pills could do.
Contestant 1 was doing his best not to let anything show on his face, but deep inside, he felt like his world was breaking down.
This was a heavy hit.
What was more complex, the Bloodline Infusion or creating a Diamond Body?
The Bloodline Infusion, obviously. The Diamond Body only transformed one part of a body into Mana, while the Bloodline Infusion changed someone's entire body into something else.
Contestant 1 still remembered when the Bloodline Infusion had become public knowledge and the sheer amount of work that was required to perform it.
And yet, this extremely advanced, invasive, and monumental procedure had been transformed into a mere bottle of pills.
Something this fundamental.
Something this complex.
Something this advanced.
Had been transformed into a small bottle of pills.
"Do you see this?" Lei asked. "We've transformed the Bloodline Infusion into a bit of medicine. You only have to take it for a day, and you will shit out your old body without any issues. Even children can take it."
"Do you think your so-called Diamond Body will be any different?" Lei asked with a smirk.
CRACK!
The bottle of pills blew apart as contestant 1 clenched his fist in anger.
"The body of a Soldier Stage warrior is vastly different from the body of a True Path Stage warrior, and a Soldier Stage warrior can't withstand the pressure of the Diamond Body traveling through their spine," contestant 1 said.
"The Bloodline Infusion and the Diamond Body are monumentally different."
Surprisingly, Lei only continued smirking at contestant 1.
"You're right," he said. "They are different."
"The Diamond Body is worse."
Contestant 1 did his best to keep himself in check.
"You think we haven't done our research?" Lei asked. "You think we wouldn't notice the obvious drawback of your Diamond Body?"
"In exchange for more power, you lose control."
"You have so much Mana inside of your body that just releasing a tiny bit will fill all of your Mana Pathways. Performing intricate techniques requires incredible control, and with your Diamond Body, this will become very difficult."
"Think about it. You have more physical power, but you have worse techniques."
"Doesn't that sound exactly like a Barbarian?"
Contestant 1's hands turned white as his grip on his swords tightened even further.
Contestant 12 had never managed to enrage contestant 1 to this degree before, but this Lei did it in less than five minutes.
"And you," Lei said as he turned to the silent contestant 12, "your Path could be considered to be an actual Path, but it is not the warrior's Path."
"Explain your viewpoint," contestant 12 said in an even voice. He wasn't nearly as outraged as contestant 1. In fact, he felt actually quite good right now since Lei managed to publicly lay out the weaknesses of the Diamond Body for everyone to see in a beautiful manner.
"Jack of all trades, master of none," Lei said.
Contestant 12 didn't react as strongly as contestant 1 to the critique.
"You have taken the concept of a True Path, but instead of delving deeper into it, you just keep repeating the concept over and over again."
"It is true that quantity is its own form for quality, but that is not what a warrior is about."
"We start in the Soldier Stage, and we transform our bodies to reach the General Stage. Then, we go one step further and comprehend our own Domain, something made up of our mastery over Mana and our techniques."
"After that, we create our own Path. We create the very thing that will lead us forward."
"Yet, instead of walking your Path, you create more Paths."
"What's the worth of a Path if you don't tread it?"
"It's called a Path!"
"It's called the True Path Stage!"
"As warriors, we need to travel down our Path, not create more of them!"
Contestant 12 looked at Lei with furrowed brows. "I can follow your logic, but it is undeniable that the addition of more Paths can increase someone's power tremendously."
Lei smirked. "Sure, but that's not what a warrior is about."
"A Barbarian is someone that fights with their body."
"A Weapon Master is someone that fights with their weapons."
"A warrior is someone that fights with their techniques."
"You are quantity."
"A warrior is quality."
"Therefore, you are not warriors."
Contestant 1 snorted as he looked at Lei. "And what, pray tell, is a real warrior then?"
Lei chuckled a bit and spun his trident.
The air around the trident seemed to warp as a force rapidly moved through the world.
"I'll show you."
"Today, I'll show you the power of a warrior!"
"The power of the Impose Stage!"