Ch. 671..680
Chapter 671 - Accepted
The watching Mages talked to each other with excitement and interest.
All of this was just a show to them.
They didn't specifically care about the politics between warriors, but the open drama was more than entertaining for them.
Just for this show, paying the Grade Five Mana Crystal was already worth it.
But for the warriors, this was quite an intense and emotionally charged conflict.
They were warriors!
Barbarians didn't exist in Area 23 anymore, but everyone had still heard of them, and the reputation of the barbarians wasn't the best.
They seemed inferior and weak.
Yet, this Lei guy called everyone with a Diamond Body a Barbarian.
This was extremely disrespectful to nearly every warrior present.
Many of the warriors had already created their Diamond Body, and even more of them were in the process of creating it.
They had worked for decades, if not centuries, for their goal, and they couldn't accept it when someone told them that all their hard work had been for nothing.
Lord Starsky remained quiet.
At the moment, he felt conflicted.
On one hand, the sudden interruption from the foreign warriors was disrespectful towards him and Star City as a whole, and even more, if these warriors actually won against the present warriors, it would pull down the warriors' prestige, which would pull down the entire event with it, which would pull down the organizer, Lord Starsky himself.
But on the other hand, if his warriors defeated the foreign warriors, it would increase the prestige of the warriors in the Lightning Manor's territory.
It all depended on who won.
Lord Starsky was confident in his power and his status. Even if the mysterious Mage Lord were more powerful, they couldn't just enter the city and kill him. The Lightning Manor would have issues with that. It was one thing when a Mage Lord living in the Lightning Manor's territory killed another Mage Lord, but it was something different when a foreign Mage Lord did that.
"I have made my decision," Lord Starsky announced.
Everyone looked up at the floating platform.
"This is an unusual occurrence, but I believe that everyone has gathered here to witness the birth of the strongest warrior of the world."
"Because of that, I decided to let this group of warriors partake in the tournament."
The present Mages felt excited when they heard Lord Starsky's words.
"How many of you will be joining?" Lord Starsky asked the person in the blue cloak.
"Two for now," the person in the blue cloak answered. "If both of them are defeated, I will send a third, but that will be the last one."
Lord Starsky looked with interest at the four remaining cloaked figures.
He hadn't expected three.
The first two were obviously the person with the red cloak, Lei, and the person in the silver cloak. Even though they were wearing enchanted cloaks, Lord Starsky wasn't just anyone.
Lord Starsky was amazing at feeling out someone's power.
The two people in the red and silver cloaks were well within the Fifth Realm, and the silver one was definitely more powerful than the red one.
In comparison, the ones in the white and black cloak had power that was well within the Sixth Realm, which made it impossible for them to be warriors.
Of course, Lord Starsky could only tell someone's actual power, not their Realm or level through the cloaks. If one of these two were an extremely powerful and talented Peak Archmage, they would also exhibit the power of someone inside the Ancestral Mage Realm, but that didn't matter in this case.
After all, how could a warrior possibly reach such powers right now? In the future, maybe, but not right now.
'Does this mean that they are hiding the third person?' Lord Starsky thought. 'Are they that confident in their power?'
'Maybe they thought that I would have declined their participation if I had a chance to feel out the third warrior.'
Lord Starsky felt like they had won one over him, but it wasn't a big deal.
After a moment, the person in the silver cloak jumped into the arena, but they stayed near the side and didn't take off their cloak.
This was obviously the second participant.
Lord Starsky informed his ten Ancestral Mages about how they should handle the current situation, and they nodded.
"Because of the new contestants, we are reshuffling the fights," the leader of the Ancestral Mages announced.
"The new contestant going by the name of Lei will fight contestant 32 for a spot in the tournament. Contestant 1 and contestant 12 will remain at the edges of the arena for now."
The current contestants were not inside the arena to keep their identities a secret. It made for a much greater show when the audience didn't know who was about to enter.
But it made no sense to keep the contestants secret again. Because of that, contestant 1 and contestant 12 could remain at the edge of the arena instead of having to retreat back into the waiting rooms.
Contestant 1 and contestant 12 shot a glance at each other for a moment, but they walked to the edges of the arena separately without interacting with each other.
What the people didn't notice was that contestant 1 had tried to create some form of temporary alliance with contestant 12.
These were foreign warriors, and they should be the enemy of both of them.
However, contestant 12 declined immediately.
From what he had seen, this Impose Stage was better than the Diamond Body Stage, making these foreign warriors more warrior-like than all the other warriors in this tournament.
When everyone reached the edge of the arena, the Ancestral Mages called in contestant 32.
The gates opened, and a younger man with brown hair, carrying a long spear and a tower shield, entered the arena.
Everything that happened in the arena was transmitted to the people in the waiting rooms, and they couldn't wait to tear these foreign warriors apart.
How dare they call them Barbarian?!
Lei just smirked, moved his trident to the back, and taunted contestant 32 by curling his fingers.
Contestant 32 narrowed his eyes.
Chapter 672 - Five Remain
672 Chapter 672 – Five Remain
As soon as the fight started, contestant 32 shot at Lei, who only grinned arrogantly.
Contestant 32 was at the Mid Diamond Body Stage, while Lei was at the Early Impose Stage. In a way, Lei was one level below contestant 32.
BANG!
Lei hit contestant 32's tower shield with his trident, and the two of them deadlocked.
This surprised the onlookers quite a bit.
A Diamond Body increased someone's power even more, and contestant 32 was also a level above Lei.
Yet, Lei managed to clash with contestant 32's strength directly.
With just this one clash, the warriors noticed that Lei wasn't just talk.
Contestant 32 quickly pushed Lei's trident to the side, but Lei just used the force to spin his trident and used the butt of his trident to push the enemy's spear to the side.
The power of Impose that Lei had demonstrated earlier appeared again, and contestant 32's spear was thrown to the side.
BANG!
But contestant 32 blocked with his tower shield.
From that moment on, Lei released one attack after the other, and contestant 32 was constantly on the defensive. He was being flung further and further away, and his blocks became sloppier.
And then…
BANG!
A shield made of Mana appeared in front of contestant 32's chest, blocking Lei's attack.
The warriors looked with grimaces at the two combatants.
The two of them stopped moving, and Lei only smirked at contestant 32 while contestant 32 took a deep breath.
"It was a good fight," contestant 32 said after taking a deep breath.
Obviously, the warriors weren't supposed to fight to the death. All the present warriors had received a Magic Circle that would block a fatal attack, and when that Magic Circle was triggered, the person using it would lose.
"Eh, I've had better," Lei said with his arrogant smirk.
The warriors furrowed their brows in annoyance.
Lei didn't even give them a basic form of respect.
Contestant 32 left without saying anything, walking toward the edge of the huge arena.
Lei snorted and also returned to his previous position near the edge.
"The warrior known as Lei has defeated contestant 32 and will take his place," the Ancestral Mage announced.
Lei was now contestant 32.
"Next fight, contestant 31 versus the foreign warrior in the silver cloak," the Ancestral Mage announced.
The warrior in the silver cloak stepped into the middle of the arena as contestant 31 entered.
Contestant 31 was an older warrior with blue armor and a huge sword.
Surprisingly, the mysterious warrior didn't take off their cloak and only summoned their weapon.
When everyone saw the weapon, they were quite surprised.
That was rare!
It was a composite bow!
Nearly no warrior at the Diamond Body Stage used a bow as their weapon of choice. Contestant 31 furrowed his brows and readied himself for the fight.
No one knew how powerful this mysterious warrior would be.
When the Ancestral Mage announced the start of the fight, contestant 31 shot forward.
The mysterious warrior just pulled back the string, and a metallic arrow crackling with lightning appeared on the bow.
Then, they loosened the arrow.
Contestant 31 blocked with his huge sword.
BOOOM!
Contestant 31's charge was immediately halted, his huge sword was fiercely pushed into his body, and he was flung backward.
The watching warriors took a deep breath in shock.
With just one arrow, contestant 31 was thrown into the distance.
The mysterious warrior simply readied another arrow and fired at contestant 31 again.
BANG!
Contestant 31's Mana Shield activated, signaling the end of the fight.
The arrow would have killed him.
This was brutal!
By now, everyone was certain.
The warrior in the silver cloak was more powerful than Lei!
The Ancestral Mage announced the result, and the warrior in the silver cloak became the new contestant 31.
Contestant 31 took a deep breath. "Your power has humbled me. Thank you for the fight, no matter how short it was," he said to the mysterious warrior.
Surprisingly, the mysterious warrior bowed slightly in a polite manner before walking to the edge of the arena.
In comparison to Lei, this warrior wasn't nearly as arrogant and boisterous.
After these two fights, the official tournament started.
13:51
The fights had all been shuffled, and Lord Starsky had placed the four most interesting contestants as far away from each other as possible.
He could already envision the semifinals and the finals.
The different contestants fought each other in the first round.
Contestant 1 easily won against contestant 30.
Contestant 12 had a hard fight against contestant 16, but he won.
Contestant 32, Lei, won against contestant 20 after an average battle.
Contestant 31 destroyed contestant 18.
Contestants 1, 12, 31, and 32 made it to the second round.
Contestant 1 easily won against contestant 5.
Contestant 12 had a difficult fight against contestant 9, but he won.
Contestant 32 got his first opponent, who was actually difficult to defeat, contestant 13, but he won.
Contestant 31 destroyed contestant 7.
All four of them made it to the quarterfinals.
Now only eight contestants were left.
Contestants 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 12, 31, and 32.
The first match was contestant 1 against contestant 3.
Contestant 3 was in the Late Diamond Body Stage, but contestant 1 won against him after a short fight.
Contestant 2 fought against contestant 8 and won.
The battle was quite long, but in the end, contestant 2 won.
Contestant 31 fought against contestant 4.
This time, the battle wasn't as easy for contestant 31.
Contestant 31 actually needed to move around the arena and shoot several arrows. Contestant 4 definitely wasn't easy, especially since he was at the Late Diamond Body Stage.
However, contestant 31 won in the end.
At the moment, the confirmed warriors in the semifinals were contestants 1, 2, and 31.
This left one last fight in the quarterfinals.
Contestant 12 versus contestant 32.
The battle was long and brutal, and the onlooking warriors and Mages were quite impressed. These two warriors were quite talented, and they both were powerful enough to fight an Archmage on their level.
One had to remember that contestant 1 was at the Peak Diamond Body Stage, and contestant 2 was at the Late Diamond Body Stage.
Yet, these two were actually in the Early Fifth Realm.
If they were actually at the Late or Peak Fifth Realm, wouldn't they be more powerful than everyone else?
After a long and exciting battle, a winner emerged.
The winner was…
Join my Discord:
Chapter 673 - Contestant 31
Lei snorted.
Then, the Mana Shield around him slowly vanished, and the arrow that had triggered the Mana Shield fell to the ground.
Lei had fought contestant 12 evenly, but with the addition of the composite bow, Lei had been forced to make several rushed and awkward movements.
Because of the bow, Lei had lost.
"Weapon Variance, huh?" Lei said as he put his trident away. "It seems like I underestimated its power."
Lei couldn't complain since both of them were at the same level.
Lei had lost fair and square.
Contestant 12 nodded. "The Impose Stage is more than impressive. It has been a long time since I had such a difficult battle against someone on my level."
Lei snorted again, but the more perceptive people could notice that he actually only wanted to appear tough and dismissive. Some people could tell that Lei enjoyed the compliment.
"Congratulations," Lei said as his arrogant smirk returned. "You might be amongst the twenty most powerful warriors in the world, but I wouldn't bet on it."
The warriors were immediately furrowing their brows, and even contestant 12 seemed annoyed.
Contestant 12 was now among the top four in the tournament. Was Lei saying that there were over 16 warriors outside the tournament that could defeat him?
That seemed unlikely.
"What? You don't believe me?" Lei asked with a smirk. "Why do you think I was chosen specifically for this tournament?"
"It's because I am average," Lei said with a laugh.
The people only looked at Lei with furrowed brows.
"I'm the most average Impose Stage warrior. I've comprehended an average Path, which made for an average Impose. I have been in some dangerous battles, but they are not common to me."
"I've been sent to demonstrate the average power of an Impose Stage warrior."
"And with my average power, I made it to the top eight here. That's honestly quite sad."
Most of the warriors became infuriated again. They obviously didn't believe Lei's words, and they felt like Lei was only saying these things to disrespect them.
Contestant 1 furrowed his brows as he looked at Lei.
It was difficult to admit, but he believed Lei.
Lei was missing this certain aura that powerful people had. People like contestant 1 and contestant 12 radiated a special aura that made them appear different from others.
Lei didn't have that.
Of course, everyone that managed to reach the Fifth Realm was a genius in their own right, but the different levels of geniuses only became more apparent the more powerful someone became.
Lei might have been above average at the True Path Stage, but now, he was average.
Contestant 12 also believed Lei, but compared to contestant 1, contestant 12 was glad to hear that.
He was glad that he wasn't the only warrior that brought warriorkind forward.
"Who created the Impose Stage?" contestant 12 asked.
The attention of the onlookers was immediately pulled towards the two talking contestants again.
Right, who invented the Impose Stage?
Lei continued smirking. "It was my Master," he said.
The people waited for an elaboration, but Lei was finished talking.
"And who is your master?" contestant 12 asked.
Lei chuckled a bit and turned around. "Defeat my friend, and you will find out."
After saying that, Lei walked to the edge of the arena.
Contestant 12 narrowed his eyes.
Lei had called the person that invented the Impose Stage master, which gave him a clue about the identity of said master.
There had been a possibility that a powerful Mage had come up with the Impose Stage, but if that were the case, Lei wouldn't have called them master. This was more appropriate for a stronger warrior.
The onlookers became more excited as more intrigue was added to the game.
After a short pause, the semifinals took place.
By now, night had arrived, and the contestants were fighting in a dark arena illuminated by artificial light that mimicked the light of torches.
The first fight in the semifinals was contestant 1 against contestant 2.
This was originally supposed to be the finale, but with the addition of the two mysterious warriors, things had changed.
Contestant 1 and contestant 2 were friends, and they knew each other very well.
The two of them fought for quite a while, but it was clear that contestant 1 had the upper hand.
This wasn't really a true fight but more of an exhibition match.
Contestant 2 knew that he couldn't win against contestant 1.
After some minutes, contestant 1 won.
It had been a fun fight.
Contestant 1 was in the finals now, and his opponent would either be contestant 12 or contestant 31.
Then, the second match in the semifinals took place.
Contestant 12 versus contestant 31.
Contestant 12 looked at contestant 31 with a serious expression, but the more perceptive people in the audience noticed that there was a feeling of acceptance in contestant 12's aura.
Contestant 12 knew that he couldn't win against contestant 31.
But he would still give his best.
"If your friend has been sent as a representation of the most average Impose Stage warrior, you have probably been sent as a representation of what the Impose Stage can achieve in the hands of a genius," contestant 12 said.
Contestant 31 nodded wordlessly.
"I know that I can't win against you," contestant 12 said. "However, I would still ask you for some respect."
"If I'm going to fight someone, I want to see who I am fighting."
Silence.
The warriors and the Mages were interested in seeing what contestant 31 looked like.
After some seconds, contestant 31 put their cloak away.
Contestant 31's appearance was now revealed, and when everyone saw them, they were shocked.
It was a woman!
No one had expected that.
There were plenty of female Mages, but female warriors were basically nonexistent!
Contestant 31 had long, silverish-white hair, and she wore form-fitting silver armor. People thought that she looked quite beautiful and heroic.
Contestant 12 was also shocked when he saw her.
"Fighting a female Mage is one thing," contestant 31 said, "but fighting a female warrior is something else."
"I've seen plenty of warriors going easy on me because I am a woman, and I don't need such pity. That's why I'm wearing the cloak," she explained.
By now, the people had recovered from the shock, but when they looked closer at contestant 31 again, their shock returned but for a different reason.
Her level!
Contestant 12 took a deep breath and sighed helplessly.
Contestant 31 was at the Early Impose Stage, just like Lei and him.
Yet, she had won against contestant 4, who had been at the Late Diamond Body Stage.
Sure, contestant 31 needed to move around a bit, but she had never been in danger of losing during her battle. At most, that battle had been a good warm up for her.
Something like that would have been impressive for someone at the Mid Impose Stage, but she had done that at the Early Impose Stage.
She had easily jumped two levels against a Diamond Stage warrior.
In fact, after seeing her fight contestant 4, most people were confident that she could also win against contestant 2.
And they had also thought that she might have a shot at defeating contestant 1.
Yet, she was only at the Early Impose Stage.
Contestant 12 wanted to fight contestant 1 to show how much potential the Weapon Variance Stage had, but contestant 31 actually had a real shot at winning.
The difference between contestant 12 and contestant 31 was clear.
In terms of potential, they were not on the same level.
Chapter 674 - Master
The battle between contestant 12 and contestant 31 went as expected.
Contestant 12 never stood a chance.
After contestant 12's Mana Shield was deactivated, he only looked at the ground with an expression of melancholy and acceptance.
"It was a good fight," contestant 31 said.
Contestant 12 didn't immediately answer. "You know, I've never been truly talented."
Silence.
"I've taken it easy during my earliest years. I couldn't imagine dedicating so much of my time to becoming more powerful as the truly outstanding people on my level."
"I never gave it my all."
"And then, my wife was killed by a beast that had been just a bit more powerful than me."
"If I had just put in a bit more effort, I could have protected her."
Contestant 12 sighed again.
"That's when I actually started trying, you know?" he said as he looked at contestant 31.
"But no matter how hard I tried, there were so many people that were much stronger and smarter than me."
"My hard work didn't matter."
"I know that this doesn't concern you," contestant 12 said, looking to the side. "I think I just lost control. Forget what I said."
Silence.
Most people were bored of the sob story. There were so many people in the world with similar stories. It was basically normal.
"How many people have you seen as superior to yourself?" contestant 31 asked. "More than 20?"
"Much more," contestant 12 answered.
"And yet, you are in the top four in this tournament," contestant 31 said. "In my opinion, your self-pity is unjustified. Stop looking at your failures and look at your successes."
After that, contestant 31 walked to the side of the arena.
Contestant 12 only sighed again before also walking to the side of the arena.
The match between him and contestant 31 had hit him on a fundamental level.
The Impose Stage.
Was the Impose Stage truly better than the Weapon Variance Stage?
Contestant 12 sighed once again. 'I thought increasing the overall power of warriors was my job,' he thought.
Contestant 12's name was Oliver, and he was Shang's successor.
Sadly, Oliver hadn't been chosen by the God due to his outstanding talent but due to his mindset.
He was an altruistic person that liked to help others.
To him, the benefits for the greater collective outweighed the benefits for the individual.
And he had done quite a beautiful job.
He had created the Weapon Variance Stage, an actually useful Fifth Stage for warriors.
He had done exactly what the God had wanted him to do.
But he wasn't a genius.
It was already a miracle that he reached the Fifth Realm, and he deserved every praise he could get for it.
Sadly, that was his maximum potential.
The Sixth Realm wouldn't be possible for him to achieve in his lifetime.
He was already over 600 years old, and he was only at the Early Weapon Variance Stage.
While Oliver was thinking about his life, the finals started.
Contestant 1 was fighting contestant 31.
Contestant 1 took the battle extremely seriously.
He couldn't allow himself to lose against a warrior three levels below him!
This would be the greatest humiliation of his entire life, and it would also humiliate every single warrior in the Lightning Manor's territory!
He would fight with his life on the line!
In his mind, if he lost, he would die.
The fight started, and contestant 1 immediately charged at contestant 31.
Contestant 31 kept jumping away while firing arrows, but contestant 1's body was too powerful. He easily blocked and parried the arrows as he shot toward contestant 31.
Contestant 1 was not playing around.
He was deadly serious.
When contestant 31 noticed that her current strategy didn't work, she also got serious.
SHING!
Her composite bow suddenly vanished, and a much larger bow appeared in her hands.
Contestant 1's eyes narrowed while everyone else grew more excited.
Then, she fired.
BANG!
For the first time, contestant 1 was halted in his charge, but he also hadn't been injured.
The arrows from the bigger bow flew faster and were much more powerful.
When contestant 1 had been stopped, two smaller arrows shot at him, and he did his best to block them.
Right now, contestant 31 was switching between her two bows regularly. The bigger bow was more powerful but couldn't fire as many arrows, while the smaller bow was the opposite.
By switching between them, her attacks became far more difficult to deal with.
However, after adjusting his strategy a bit, contestant 1 still managed to close the distance between the two.
Eventually, contestant 31 also used her arrows to create several Magic Runes and Magic Circles between her and her opponent.
Everyone was watching with bated breath.
Contestant 31 was insanely talented and powerful!
Even the Mages were shocked.
With that power, wouldn't contestant 31 have a shot against an Archmage a level above her?
A warrior that could actually jump a level against a Mage?
This was unreal!
One had to remember that contestant 1 could win against an Archmage two levels below him but not against one just one level below him.
Contestant 12, Oliver, could fight a Mage on his level.
But contestant 31 could fight a Mage above her level.
The ability to win against a Mage one level above oneself was something that would give someone the opportunity to join an Empire when they reached the Sixth Realm, and only 1% of Ancestral Mages could join one!
Contestant 31 was a true genius!
However, contestant 1 used all of his power and experience to move forward.
As more time passed, contestant 1's power also seemingly increased.
And eventually, contestant 1 completely closed the gap.
At that moment, the fight was over.
It had been far beyond difficult, but contestant 1 had won.
He had done it!
He had defended the honor of all the warriors!
However, only a minority of warriors shared his thoughts.
There were three levels between the two opponents.
Of course, the warriors were still happy that contestant 1 had won, but it was a bitter victory.
Contestant 1 was panting violently, and his entire body was covered in sweat as his body shook.
In comparison to him, contestant 31 seemed rather relaxed. It was like she had just finished a nice workout.
"Lei is here to show everyone the power of an average Impose Stage warrior," contestant 31 suddenly said.
Contestant 1 looked up from the ground and looked contestant 31 in the eyes.
"I have been sent here to show the potential of the Impose Stage," contestant 31 said.
"But this tournament is being held to find the strongest warrior in the world, and that is not me."
"And also not you," contestant 31 said.
Contestant 1 didn't show it, but he felt nervous and scared deep inside.
"Lei said that you will meet Master when you manage to defeat me. Originally, I expected to win against you, but I didn't."
"It seems like I'm still not strong enough to take Master's place."
After she said all that, contestant 31 put her bow away and walked over to Lei, who leaned on the arena's wall with a smirk.
Suddenly, a small vibration went through the air, and only the Ancestral Mages took note of it.
The Ancestral Mages looked at the source of the small vibration, Lord Starsky.
At the moment, Lord Starsky was looking at the middle of the arena with an intense stare.
The vibration had appeared because Lord Starsky had been so shocked that he had lost his cool for just a tiny moment.
The Ancestral Mages looked at the place where Lord Starsky was looking, and their eyes widened.
Where did that guy come from?!
Somehow, someone managed to appear in the middle of the arena without them noticing it!
How did they do that?!
Contestant 1 took a while to notice that someone new had appeared relatively close to him, and his heart nearly stopped.
He hadn't noticed that guy at all!
It was one of the cloaked people, the one wearing the white cloak.
Was this their Master?
Was this the person that created the Impose Stage?
For some reason, contestant 1 immediately became intimidated.
There was a unique pressure coming off the person in the white cloak.
It wasn't the typical pressure of an extremely talented person but the pressure of something unnatural.
For some reason, contestant 1 was reminded of someone.
Back when contestant 1 was just a teenager, he had insulted one of his new classmates for being a rich kid that got everything he ever wanted.
Then, he went hunting with his friends, and that rich kid accompanied them as a guide.
When that kid had become a True Path Stage warrior, contestant 1 saw him again, and the pressure he was feeling right now was very similar to the pressure he had felt back then.
Contestant 1's name was Elver, and he had once been in the same class as Shang.
And right now, Elver realized who the person in front of him was, and he couldn't decide how he should feel about seeing that person again.
But one thing was clear.
This explained where the Impose Stage came from.
Chapter 675 - Person In Wwhite
Elver, contestant 1, looked at the person in the white cloak in front of him.
He was confident that this was Shang, the Fallen Saint, the person that had vanished over 500 years ago after allegedly killing Jerald.
Earlier, Elver had been nervous about the mysterious Master of the foreign warriors. Contestant 31 had already been far more powerful than he had thought, and he had feared that he might lose against this mysterious Master.
Yet, he still had some hope.
But not anymore.
Elver knew Shang.
Elver had seen Shang's power.
Elver had seen what Shang could do.
And he knew that he couldn't possibly win.
All the watching Mages looked at the person in the white cloak with shock.
They hadn't seen this person move at all!
These powerful Mages automatically felt every small bit of movement inside their Spirit Sense, but this person had arrived in the middle of the arena without them noticing.
This was also one of the reasons why Lord Starsky had been so shocked.
He had felt the person move, but he had actually needed to pay attention to follow their movement. This was like someone feeling a slight tingle on their forearm and looking at it to confirm if there actually was something or not.
It could be considered incredibly impressive to make a Mage Lord pay attention to one.
But, of course, this wasn't the only reason why Lord Starsky was shocked.
The other reason was the power of that person.
Earlier, he had dismissed the people in the white and black cloak since they were well within the Realm of Ancestral Mages. A warrior couldn't possibly be that powerful. At least not right now.
Elver only looked at the person in white robes with a complicated expression without readying his weapons.
The person in the white cloak slowly raised his right arm, gesturing for Elver to attack him.
He also hadn't drawn his weapon.
"Why have you returned?" Elver asked with a voice brimming with an indistinguishable mix of emotions.
Rage, hatred, uncertainty, fear, nervousness, curiosity, pity, excitement.
Everything just blended together.
Elver had often thought about what he would say to Shang if he ever reappeared again.
In his mind, he had always envisioned himself shouting at Shang, demanding an explanation for why he had killed Jerald.
He wanted to know what could have possibly moved Shang to do that. After all, Jerald and Shang had been the closest companions.
But when Elver actually stood in front of Shang, he couldn't decide on what he should feel or do.
Shang was actually still alive!
A warrior that knew the deceased dean, the old teachers, and the world before the Revolutionary War.
Oliver had also technically been alive before the war started, but he had only appeared in the warrior academy shortly before the war started, and by then, everything had already deteriorated.
But Shang had lived back when there had been no fighting between warriors and Mages, an age of rapid development during relative peace.
Now, all the Kingdoms were gone, and the warriors knew about the outside world.
The world of the five Kingdoms no longer existed.
And as the oldest warrior alive, Elver felt alone.
It was like he had been the only one that had witnessed and lived in the Storm Eagle Zone, Duke Whirlwind's territory, part of the Skythunder Kingdom.
But now, there was a second person.
Someone that had gone through the same periods of time as him.
All of Elver's plans had vanished, resulting in the one simple question of why Shang was here.
Shang, the person in the white cloak, didn't answer.
He only lifted his arm.
"I can't allow these two to fight just yet."
Everyone's attention was pulled to the floating platform.
Lord Starsky looked with narrowed eyes at the person in the white cloak. "Due to the current standard of warriors, it would be unreasonable to believe that the person in the white cloak is a warrior."
The Mages looked with confusion at each other.
"The Battle-Strength of the person in white is well within the Sixth Realm, and believing that this is a warrior without any proof would be gullible and foolish," Lord Starsky said.
The audience understood what Lord Starsky said and agreed with him.
The strongest warrior in the world could barely win against a Mid Archmage. It would be idiotic to believe that there was a warrior that could win against an Ancestral Mage.
"If you want to fight, I require proof of your identity," Lord Starsky announced as he looked at the person in the white cloak.
Shang didn't do anything for around three seconds.
"I know him," Elver suddenly said to Lord Starsky. "He is a warrior."
The audience looked at contestant 1 with surprise.
Contestant 1 was vouching for him?
Lord Starsky threw a glance at Elver, and Elver noticed the deeper meaning behind it.
The other Mages hadn't taken notice of the glance, and they hadn't received the message, but Elver did.
And Elver could only lower his head and clench his fists in frustration.
The meaning behind the glance was simple.
Don't speak up, warrior!
The tournament signified the highest point of achievement for warriorkind.
Warriors were as powerful as never before.
Yet, Elver had been reminded of reality.
Even in a tournament that was all about warriors, Elver, as the publicly acknowledged strongest warrior in the world, didn't have the power to voice his opinion.
He might be the strongest warrior, but in the end, Elver only had power equivalent to a Mid Archmage.
And did a Mid Archmage have the right to complain to a Late Mage Lord?
"Fine," the person in the white cloak said.
When Oliver, who was currently at the edge of the arena, heard that voice, his heart started to beat faster.
In comparison to Elver, Oliver didn't know Shang very well. He had only interacted with him once in his life.
Shang slowly took off his cloak, revealing his long black hair and the bandage around his eyes.
When the entire cloak vanished, everyone could finally see Shang's power.
Peak Fifth Realm!
Extremely high Battle-Strength!
The audience didn't want to admit it, but they knew that this new person could fight an Ancestral Mage.
But the most shocking thing was something else.
The power of his mind.
Peak High Mage Realm.
His mind was exceptionally weak.
This could only mean one thing.
This person was a warrior!
And an extremely powerful one at that!
Chapter 676 - Clever Trick
When Elver felt Shang's aura, all his doubts vanished.
He did it.
Shang had killed Jerald.
Elver wasn't a kid anymore, and he had lived for a very long time. He knew a lot about people, and just by looking at Shang, he could tell that Shang had killed Jerald.
He knew that because Shang's aura was way too sterile and apathetic.
It was almost like he was deathly afraid of ever feeling any kind of positive emotion for another human being.
Elver knew how something like that could happen.
Committing an act so painful that only the complete eradication of emotions could keep one alive.
People that didn't know the old Shang wouldn't be able to feel these kinds of things, but Elver had known him very well.
Shang had killed Jerald.
There was no doubt about it.
"Why?" Elver asked, looking at Shang. "Why would-"
"Traitor!" someone shouted from the edge of the arena.
Oliver shot towards Shang, his face contorted in hatred and rage.
"You killed him!" Oliver shouted as all his suppressed rage burst forth. "You killed him! You're why so many of my brothers died!"
Oliver summoned all of his weapons.
Shang waved his right arm.
BOOOOM!
All weapons, except for Oliver's spear, broke apart and turned into dust as Oliver was thrown against the wall of the arena.
The onlookers looked with shock at the exchange, but only the Ancestral Mages and Lord Starsky could feel the true secret of that strike.
Ancestral Beast!
This was the ability that Ancestral Beasts had!
Yes, Shang had unveiled his World Connection.
Why?
Because he didn't need to keep it a secret anymore due to his age and Realm.
An Initial Impose Stage warrior that knew World Connection would be akin to shocking the entire world since it meant that the warrior might have even comprehended this concept at the True Path Stage.
But at the Peak Impose Stage, this wouldn't be very shocking anymore. After all, people at that level were specifically working on comprehending the thing they needed for the next Realm.
An Initial True Mage that knew a level one Concept would be seen as a monster, but a Peak True Mage that knew the same thing would just be seen as a True Mage that would soon become a High Mage. Even more, many Peak True Mages knew a level one Concept. Many of them were focusing on comprehending even more before their breakthrough.
The same was true for warriors.
If World Connection was necessary to reach the Sixth Realm, Shang would simply be someone that had managed to take that step without actually breaking through.
This meant, in the eyes of the public, Shang was ready to reach the Sixth Realm.
Of course, unveiling the power of World Connection would still shock the world since it meant that Shang had found a way for warriors to reach the Sixth Realm, but it wouldn't make him appear like an insanely talented monster.
After throwing Oliver against the walls, Shang didn't say anything.
"MURDERER!"
WHOOOOM!
Suddenly, the entire arena was suppressed by an insanely powerful Spirit Sense.
All the warriors in the arena felt like they couldn't breathe anymore, and even Elver felt nearly unable to move.
The next moment, a young man with green and icy-blue hair appeared in the sky.
Shang didn't look at the young man.
"You killed my father!" the man shouted as he readied his Focus.
This was George, Jerald's son, and he was an Initial Ancestral Mage.
At first glance, this would appear shocking.
George, Jerald's son, was already in the Ancestral Mage Realm?
However, one had to remember that George was around 600 years old already.
Reaching the Ancestral Mage Realm at that age could be considered average.
It wasn't unusual for him to be an Ancestral Mage.
Especially when he had a very good reason for chasing power.
George immediately cast several Spells as he shot forward.
Then, he unleashed a terrifyingly fast spear made of ice.
CRACK!
The spear hit the Magic Circle surrounding the arena itself and broke apart.
"Outsiders are not allowed to interfere!" the Ancestral Mage in the arena told George. "This is a battle between warriors."
George nearly exploded in rage. "He killed my father! He is a criminal that killed someone working for the Lightning Manor!"
The head judge furrowed his brows.
A criminal wanted by the Lightning Manor?
That would be problematic.
"Do you have any proof?" the head judge asked.
"Proof? He's standing right there! We all know him! We all know what he has done!" George shouted in fury.
"His name is Shang Sword, and he was bestowed the title of Count and then the title of Advisor by my late father, King Storm of Area 23! Father worked for the Lightning Manor as an Assistant Supervisor for Area 23, and he was killed by him!"
The head judge wasn't quite sure if he should believe this onlooker or not.
It all seemed very strange.
Why would a wanted criminal by the Lightning Manor appear in front of millions of people?
That didn't make a lot of sense.
"Yes, it's him!" Oliver shouted as he slowly stood up again near the edge of the arena. "This is Shang Sword, and he has killed King Storm!"
Elver looked at Shang with an expression filled with pity before sighing. "I also recognize him. That is Shang Sword, killer of King Storm."
Shang didn't answer.
The head judge looked at Lord Starsky and asked for orders on how to proceed.
Lord Starsky had remained silent ever since Shang had taken off his cloak, and his expression had remained suspicious since then.
It was like he was thinking about or planning something.
When the head judge asked for orders, Lord Starsky threw a short glance at him.
Then, Lord Starsky looked at Shang.
And a smirk appeared on his face.
"What a clever little scheme," Lord Starsky said.
Silence.
"You disguised yourself as a notorious warrior that everyone would recognize just so that nobody would doubt your identity."
By now, the onlookers talked to each other in confusion.
"Sadly, you didn't know that I am also quite proficient in the Light Concepts. I'm sorry, but your little Disguise Spell doesn't work on me."
"You're not this Shang person."
"You're just an Ancestral Mage disguising as a warrior to convince our warriors to move to your territory."
"Quite a clever trick, but it doesn't work on me."
Chapter 677 - Lie
The reactions to Lord Starsky's words were varied.
The Mages in the audience "realized" that Shang wasn't a warrior but a Mage disguised as a warrior and looked at him with disgust.
This explained so much.
Of course, there couldn't possibly be a warrior with the power of an Ancestral Mage. The chances of a Mage Lord disguising themselves was higher than the chances of such a warrior existing.
Most of them felt like idiots since they had believed such an obvious ploy.
Most of the warriors were confused and conflicted.
Was Shang truly a Mage?
However, as for the three people that recognized Shang…
"Bullshit!" George shouted. "That is Shang Sword! I know that-"
"Are you doubting the senses of a Late Mage Lord as an Initial Ancestral Mage?" Lord Starsky asked with a strict voice.
George gritted his teeth and clenched his fists in fury and frustration.
He wanted to do nothing more than to unveil Shang's identity and have him get killed by the Lightning Manor.
However, if he kept insisting that Shang was a warrior, Lord Starsky might actually kill him.
While George's desire for vengeance was strong, he also had a family and enjoyed life. He would love for Shang to die, but he wouldn't sacrifice his life for vengeance.
So, George stopped talking and only looked to the side with an enraged expression.
Oliver and Elver looked at George and Lord Starsky.
They hadn't expected that things would go this way.
They knew that this was definitely Shang in front of them.
His aura felt too real.
Additionally, if some Mage wanted to disguise themselves as Shang, they would have assumed the appearance of the Shang from back then.
One eye, black armor, strict expression.
Instead, the person in front of them had no eyes, wore white robes, and had an emotionless expression.
This was definitely Shang, but Lord Starsky was saying this wasn't Shang.
And Oliver and Elver knew why.
It was to keep the warriors in his city.
If Lord Starsky accepted that Shang was a warrior, nearly no warriors would stay in Star City and work for the Warrior Guild.
Shang's power was just too overwhelming for a warrior, and all the warriors would follow him to learn from him.
Of course, the warriors knew that Shang was the Fallen Saint and that he had brought terrifying calamities upon the warriors when he killed King Storm.
However, the incentive of power would be too powerful.
On top of that, they wouldn't even need to learn directly from Shang. They could just learn from one of the other Impose Stage warriors.
And where could one find the Impose Stage warriors?
Well, for now, no one knew, but everyone knew that, at some point, it would become public knowledge.
At the moment, they only knew that the Impose Stage warriors came from a different Empire.
In the end, a huge portion of warriors would leave the Empire, and the Empire with the Impose Stage warriors would leave the Lightning Manor's Empire in the dust when it came to warriors.
And the only way to stop this from happening was to paint Shang as a Mage.
"You sent your two strongest warriors into the tournament," Lord Starsky said. "However, they weren't enough to triumph over our warriors. That's why you created this disguise."
Lord Starsky chuckled. "I presume you weren't very confident in the disguise, which was why this Mage didn't take part in the tournament from the very beginning."
"Honestly, your first attempt was quite good, but this disguise feels more like you're grasping for straws. It's just sad."
The audience animatedly talked to each other while the warriors frowned with uncertainty.
Was all of this fake?
And then, Shang sighed.
"I knew this plan wouldn't work," he said.
A moment later, Shang snapped his fingers.
WHOOOM!
Suddenly, the power of his mind reached the level of a Mid Ancestral Mage.
And then, he floated over to the person in the blue cloak and just stopped there.
When everyone felt the power of Shang's mind, they were convinced.
This was just an Ancestral Mage!
When Lord Starsky saw that, he narrowed his eyes, and a bit of shock appeared in them.
Obviously, Lord Starsky had been lying.
There was no disguise.
But when he had lied and said that there was a disguise, Shang had put on an actual disguise that confirmed Lord Starsky's lie.
And Lord Starsky was uncertain what the purpose of that was.
"Well," Lei, the red-haired warrior, said as he stepped forward with contestant 31, "you're right. We didn't think it would work."
Lord Starsky looked at Lei with narrowed eyes.
"Come," Lei said to contestant 31 beside him. "We've only been in the Impose Stage for a bit more than 50 years. We can just return in 50 years or so. By then, I might not even need your help to win whatever tournament these people will organize."
Contestant 31 just nodded wordlessly and followed behind Lei as the two of them floated over to their three comrades.
And then, Lord Starsky realized why Shang had put on a disguise.
Shang had never been the main component of their plot!
They actually didn't need Shang!
The powers of Lei and contestant 31 were far more than enough to convince plenty of warriors to switch sides!
So what if Shang was an Ancestral Mage? In a couple of years, there wouldn't be a single warrior left in the Lightning Manor's territory that could possibly resist the power of the female warrior with the two bows!
But then, why had Shang appeared?
To bait out the biggest threat, the statement that these warriors were Mages.
Earlier, Lord Starsky could still have said that these two warriors were Mages in disguise. Sure, they might have created some impressive new powers for warriors, but they were still Mages in the end.
But now, Lord Starsky had only said that Shang was a Mage, and he had even said that the other two WARRIORS were quite strong.
He had confirmed that the two of them were warriors.
What if he said now that these two warriors were also Mages?
Not many people would believe him.
The three people put their cloaks back on and stopped behind the person in the blue cloak.
"It was an entertaining spectacle," the person in the blue cloak said. "Thank you for having us."
"We will be going back to Icy Bastion in the Twilight Dusk Family's Empire."
Chapter 678 - Payment
As the five cloaked people turned to leave, Lord Starsky decided that enough was enough.
"You think you can just leave like that?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
SHING! SHING!
Lord Starsky's two partners, that also led Star City, appeared beside him.
Now, there were three Mage Lords standing flying above the colosseum, and the audience felt the pressure in the atmosphere increase.
The five cloaked people stopped, and the person in the blue cloak turned to Lord Starsky.
"Yes, I thought that we could just leave like that," they said.
Lord Starsky snorted. "I was fine with your warriors joining the tournament since they were warriors, but your little stunt with the disguised Ancestral Mage went too far."
"While the provoking words of your red warrior could be interpreted as banter between competitors, your flagrant attempt at smuggling an Ancestral Mage into the tournament went too far."
"You broke the purity of the tournament, and your actions were disrespectful towards the entirety of Star City."
The more Lord Starsky talked, the more nervous the audience became.
This was bad!
If these Mage Lords decided to fight, there was a chance that everyone here would die!
"So what?" the person in the blue cloak asked. "What will you do about it?"
Lord Starsky snorted.
WHOOOM!
All three Mage Lords summoned their Foci.
"We'll make sure that something like this won't happen again."
The watching Mages immediately became frightened and left the Star Colosseum.
BANG!
Or, at least, they tried to.
As soon as they reached the edge, they were stopped by an invisible barrier.
"Do you think, as the lord of Star City, that fighting inside Star City would give you an edge?" the person in the blue cloak asked with a slight chuckle.
Lord Starsky's eyes narrowed.
"This does not involve the onlookers!" he shouted.
The person in the blue cloak chuckled some more. "I decide who is involved or not."
"This is breaking the laws between the Empires!" Lord Starsky shouted.
The person in the blue cloak only chuckled. "Well, if I wouldn't have some hostages, I would die, right? Tell me, what's the punishment for breaking these laws?"
"It's death," the person in the blue cloak said. "If I'm going to die either way, I might as well take a million people belonging to my killer with me to the afterlife. That's at least something, right?"
Lord Starsky only glared at the person in the blue cloak as he talked with his two companions via voice transmissions.
This was a very difficult situation to navigate.
BOOOM!
Suddenly, seven Ancestral Mages in the audience exploded into a shower of blood.
Lord Starsky gritted his teeth while the audience became horrified.
"Do not attempt to damage my Spell," the person in the blue cloak said. "Anyone that tries to escape will share the same fate."
At that moment, the warriors were confronted with reality.
The warriors had come so far, and they had become so powerful.
Yet, at this very moment, just one thought from the person in the blue cloak would eradicate hundreds of years of progress for the warriors.
All the strongest warriors in the world were gathered.
Over 95% of Diamond Body Stage warriors were inside the Star Colosseum.
One thought and the warriors would need to start again.
The warriors were so powerful, but in front of the truly powerful Mages, they were still nothing more than unimportant playthings.
They had no autonomy.
They were only alive because the Mages allowed them to be alive.
Shang was already wearing his cloak again, which was why no one could see his expression at the moment.
Right now, Shang's expression was intense.
It was a mixture of concentration, excitement, and nervousness.
His payment was about to arrive.
Of course, Shang couldn't have just left Icy Bastion to randomly travel around the world.
He belonged to the Temple of Blood, and they wouldn't just take their eyes off him.
Because of that, Shang had to convince the Temple of Blood to allow him to travel the world.
So, he had told them of a good way to speed up the plan.
Join the tournament and show the Impose Stage to everyone.
Naturally, Shang also included himself in the scheme, and his appearance would draw the attention of all the warriors and the Lightning Manor.
If everything worked out, Lord Starsky would inform the Lightning Manor, and the Lightning Manor would contact the Twilight Dusk Family.
Then, their plan would finally be complete.
But Shang also wanted to be paid for that.
The plan the Temple of Blood had come up with over the last centuries would finally be complete, and Shang would repay the Temple of Blood's investment severalfold.
Their cooperation would end, and both sides would be happy with the outcome while separating on good terms.
On top of that, Shang had done amazing work over the past centuries with the creation of the Impose Stage warriors.
The Temple of Blood was more than happy with his results.
Now, how does a good company treat its good employees?
Bad companies would squeeze them harder and harder, but a good company would reward the hard workers to motivate others to work just as hard while also ensuring that the good workers kept being good workers.
It was long-term gain instead of short-term gain.
So, when Shang asked for one last thing before their cooperation ended, the Temple of Blood was open to the suggestion. Even more, Shang might one day become someone very important with his talent, and being on the good side of someone like that was very useful.
And that was when Shang asked for his last bit of payment, which would be paid right now.
At the moment, Lord Starsky was in a difficult position.
He couldn't just let them go after announcing that he wouldn't let them leave, but he also couldn't recklessly attack, or his entire city might turn into ruins with literally millions upon millions of people dying.
"You thwarted our little scheme," the person in the blue cloak said. "We failed in our attempt, and that is already quite embarrassing for us."
"Killing us seems a bit excessive, no?"
The person in the blue cloak snickered.
"But I can understand that you want to release a bit of your anger. So, why don't I accompany you for a bit."
A blue Focus appeared beside the person in the blue cloak, and they floated upward.
"Let's have a friendly duel, Lord Starsky," the person in the blue cloak said.
"Just you and me."
"And whatever happens, happens."
It was here!
Shang's payment!
Shang was searching for a way to reach the next Realm, and his opportunity was finally here.
He got the opportunity to watch a fight between two Mage Lords!
Chapter 679 - Spirit Sense
Lord Starsky looked at the person in the blue cloak with narrowed eyes.
He wanted to kill all five people, but he couldn't. Otherwise, the person in the blue cloak would essentially blow up Star City.
Sadly, the only thing he could do was comply. If he managed to win against the enemy Mage Lord in a duel, he could kill them and then kill the other four.
That was his only shot.
"Fine," Lord Starsky said.
A moment later, his two partners left the arena.
The colosseum was massive, but for Mage Lords, it wasn't big at all.
Being a hundred kilometers away from a Mage Lord was essentially like standing beside them.
So, even though the two Mage Lords had left the arena, to the blue-cloaked person, it was still like they were standing just beside them.
Obviously, Lord Starsky wasn't playing fair.
He was acting like he accepted the fair duel, but the presence and constant danger of his two friends would put pressure on the enemy Mage Lord since they could attack at any moment.
"Good," the person in the blue cloak said.
Then, Lord Starsky and his opponent flew into the sky. The destructive power of a Mage Lord was too much for the arena to handle. The arena was built to withstand Ancestral Beasts, not Mage Lords.
After ascending for around 150 kilometers, the two of them stopped.
At such a height, the air became quite thin, and the surroundings were quite chilly. However, since Aterium was so much bigger than Earth, the two Mage Lords were still well within Aterium's atmosphere.
Of course, at such a height, only the Ancestral Mages could watch the fight. A normal Archmage only had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 50 kilometers.
Many of the warriors and Archmages wanted to watch, but they were too scared to get closer.
They had never seen Mage Lords fight, but they could imagine that the powers of destruction released during such a fight would be terrifyingly dangerous.
Meanwhile, the Ancestral Mages became quite excited by the prospect of watching two Mage Lords fight. There were many things they could learn by watching such a fight.
Of course, since Shang's Spirit Sense had a radius of 250 kilometers, he could also watch the fight, but no one needed to know that.
The size of one's Spirit Sense was a strong indicator of a person's Battle-Strength.
Most people thought that Shang was an Ancestral Mage, but there were also a couple of people that knew that Shang was only at the Peak Fifth Realm.
Having a Spirit Sense with a radius of 100 kilometers was already quite impressive and put someone in the top 5% of Archmages.
A Spirit Sense with a radius of 150 kilometers would put one in the top 0.1%. These kinds of people could enter any Empire they wanted. Sadly, only the absolute strongest of these 0.1% could become the chosen ones of the Empire.
Having a Spirit Sense with a radius of 200 kilometers counted as legendary for normal people. The general public wasn't even sure if that existed.
Of course, people like that existed, but their existence was kept very confidential.
These people fought each other for the singular spot of King Contender in a given Empire, and if they failed to gain the spot, they would become the highest leaders inside the ranks of the Mage Lords.
They would gain spots like an assistant to a Mage King or leaders over important territories.
For example, the Manager responsible for Areas 61 to 80 in the Lightning Manor was one such person. Areas 61 to 80 were where a huge portion of the Lightning Manor's Mage Lords came from, and managing these Areas was of paramount importance to the Lightning Manor.
And a Spirit Sense with a radius of 250 kilometers?
There wasn't always someone like that in the world.
Having a Spirit Sense with a radius of 250 kilometers was only possible if one comprehended five level two Concepts before becoming an Archmage, which was absolutely ridiculous and nearly impossible to achieve.
Only High Mages that used up a majority of their longevity while being given mountains of resources by an Empire could hope to achieve something like that, and even with all that, it was rare.
The tournament for the next spot of Mage King happened every 1,000 years, and a Mage Lord could live for up to 25,000 years. So, theoretically, every Mage Lord had 25 chances to take part in the tournament if they were very quick.
When the God had said that Shang belonged to the top 10, he wasn't referencing the people that were currently in the Archmage Realm.
Instead, he was referencing the currently ten strongest Mage Lords and how powerful they had been at Shang's level.
If Shang managed to keep his current Battle-Strength at relatively the same level when compared to people on his level, he would reach the level of these Mage Lords.
Of course, Shang's power could also fall when compared to others on his level.
This was how legendary someone with a 250-kilometer-radius Spirit Sense was.
At this moment, in all nine Empires combined, there was only one Archmage with such a Spirit Sense.
On Average, all Empires combined would give birth to one of these people every 200 years or so, but there were times when there wasn't a single one, and there were also times when there were three.
As for the general public, none of them even entertained the thought that there could be an Archmage with a Spirit Sense of 250 kilometers.
That was just ridiculous.
If Shang said that he had a Spirit Sense with "just" 150 kilometers, he would already invite danger.
Because of that, Shang acted like he couldn't view the fight between the two Mage Lords.
As for the Temple of Blood?
They knew partially of Shang's power.
They thought Shang had a Spirit Sense with a radius of 200 kilometers, someone with the power to rival the secret elite of the Empires.
That was also why they were so willing to invest in him.
Shang's influence over warriorkind was worth a lot of money, but his personal power was worth just as much.
Because of that, the Mage Lord from the Temple of Blood fought at the height of 150 kilometers.
Like that, Shang could still watch.
Chapter 680 - Colors
The two Mage Lords faced each other as their Foci started to spin quickly.
Lord Starsky and his friends still had no idea how powerful the Mage Lord in front of them actually was, which was why they were careful.
However, they doubted that the foreign Mage Lord was more powerful than Lord Starsky. After all, Lord Starsky was a Late Mage Lord.
The silence between the two of them was tense.
Suddenly, an impossibly bright bolt of lightning shot out of Lord Starsky's hands!
At the same time, Lord Starsky's Focus replaced all the Mana in the surroundings with Water Mana, essentially creating a huge sea in the sky that wasn't actually a sea.
While all of this was happening, the Mana in the surroundings seemingly vanished.
For just an instant, Shang felt like all the Mana in the world had vanished.
Then, all the Mana was replaced with Water Mana, and the violent bolts of bright lightning stretched into the horizon as they turned everything into a proverbial and literal sea of lightning.
Lord Starsky's two friends were protecting Star City from his Spell. Otherwise, the surrounding 50 kilometers or so would have been turned into dust.
The sheer powers of destruction made it impossible for any Spirit Sense to see what was going on.
All of this had happened in just a fraction of a second.
The normal Mana vanished and was replaced by Water Mana, which was then effectively replaced with Lightning Mana.
There wasn't a single person below the level of a Mage Lord that hadn't been shocked.
It was just one move, but this single move showed the difference between an Ancestral Mage and a Mage Lord.
When Shang felt the sheer power, he felt like a completely new world had been opened to him.
Back when Shang had seen the Storm Eagle fly past Warrior's Paradise, he had felt its power. If it wanted, it could have turned Warrior's Paradise into rubble.
Yet, Lord Starsky…
If he wanted, he could have turned the entire Storm Eagle Zone, including the Storm Eagle itself, into a crater.
The Storm Eagle would be just as helpless in front of Lord Starsky as a Soldier Stage beast would be in front of the Storm Eagle.
Lord Starsky could release an explosion so massive that the Storm Eagle would be turned into dust like any other beast.
There would be no difference.
For the first time in a long while, Shang was reminded of his life back on Earth.
This was it.
This was the power a modern nuclear weapon had.
It was a catastrophe.
It was a cataclysm.
It was a disaster.
A force of nature.
A less experienced person might not have been able to discern all the different nuances in Lord Starsky's attack. To them, everything would have just turned white with Lightning Mana.
Luckily, Shang was quite experienced.
'I'm not sure, but I think there were two forces of equal power and two forces of lesser power in play. At least, that's what I felt. There could've also been more.'
'If an Ancestral Mage needs a level four Concept to become a Mage Lord, and assuming Lord Starsky used his level four Concept just now, this probably means that he also knows a second level four Concept since there were two equal forces.'
'The lightning was incredibly powerful, but it has also been enhanced by some insanely strong Concept of Light. The water felt weaker, and I'm not entirely sure that the last thing was.'
The white explosion of Lightning Mana only stayed for a fraction of a second before it vanished.
Shang barely managed to feel how the Lightning Mana was rapidly pulled towards the Mage Lord in the blue cloak before everything was replaced with dense Water Mana.
The Mage Lord in the blue cloak had survived, and they had struck back.
This time, Shang could feel an extremely powerful Concept related to water attacking the enemy, but he could also feel three weaker Concepts supporting the stronger Concept.
Shang wasn't sure what these three weaker Concepts were, but they felt familiar.
"Space Tear."
Shang's head moved slightly to face the person in the black cloak beside him, who had just transmitted these two words to him.
The person in the black cloak was the Sweeper that had brought Shang to the Sky Lantern back then, and when she had mentioned the Space Tear, she had referred to the Space Tear they had gone through on their journey.
After hearing these words, Shang realized what these three Concepts were.
Space, Time, and Gravity.
However, they were definitely not level four Concepts, which meant that they were level three Concepts.
Still, that was quite surprising and impressive.
Shang wasn't sure what Concept the Territory Lord, the Mage Lord in the blue cloak, had used as her main Concept, but he assumed it was the level four Concept of Water, River.
It was impossible to tell how exactly these Spells looked or worked like for Shang. The powers were so devastating that it was just like Shang's world changed colors again and again.
An instant later, all the Water Mana vanished again, and Fire Mana filled with Light Mana replaced it again.
The sky above Star City changed colors rapidly as different kinds of Mana filled the surroundings and were absorbed again.
Seconds passed.
The world kept changing colors.
Different kinds of Mana filled the world before vanishing.
While Shang couldn't stretch his Spirit Sense towards the two Mage Lords, he could look in a different direction, and what happened there was just as shocking.
On the edge, over 200 kilometers away from Shang and over 300 kilometers diagonally away from the two Mage Lords, the different kinds of Mana were not nearly as overpowering.
By looking at the very edges, Shang could see how the Mana acted.
It was a cycle.
It was like the tides.
One kind of Mana stretched far into the distance.
Then, that kind of Mana violently got pulled back to the point where it actually completely vanished.
If Shang's mind worked faster, he would be able to see a single moment where there was no Mana in the surroundings.
Then, everything would be replaced with a different kind of Mana again.
And, most interesting of all, the Natural Mana outside the battlefield rapidly shot toward the two Mage Lords.
It was like the battlefield was a drain, and all the Mana in the atmosphere was water.
All the Natural Mana just vanished into the place where the two Mage Lords fought.
Another interesting thing was that Natural Mana entered the battlefield but never left.
This gave Shang an interesting thought.
'It's the opposite of my Domain of Entropy. I transform Elemental Mana into Natural Mana, but they are transforming Natural Mana into Elemental Mana.'
'I think I get what they're doing.'
'This is similar to my World Connection, but a more refined version of it.'
'While I borrow the power of the world and use it to strike my opponent, they are essentially absorbing the world before unleashing everything again.'
'My way would be like throwing a big ball at my opponent while they are essentially throwing a small stone. Both are equally heavy, but one deals way more damage.'
'Compression and density.'
At the same time, Shang remembered the concept of a Diamond Body.
'Compression.'
While the fight continued above Shang, he only focused on his own body.
Specifically, he focused on his lungs.
'Absorb and release.'
Then, Shang focused on the edge of the battlefield again.
'I think I know what I should do to reach the Sixth Realm.'
'I just don't know how long it will take me to pull it off.'