Ch. 681..690

Chapter 681 - Archon

The two Mage Lords continued fighting for several minutes. If one of the two of them were noticeably weaker than the other, the fight wouldn't take this long.

Fights between Mages with unequal powers would be finished very quickly, but fights between Mages with comparable power could sometimes take hours.

Such a long fight was essentially not a race to kill the other person quickly but to gain a slight advantage over Mana. The two Mages would contest and battle each other for every 0.1% of Mana with all their power.

A fight between Mages either ended in just a couple of seconds or took hours.

There rarely were fights lasting a couple of minutes. That would only happen if one of the two sides made a horrible mistake.

Seeing that the fight had already gone on for several minutes, the people knew that it wouldn't end anytime soon.

However, they were also quite interested in watching the battle. The longer it took, the better.

After some minutes, Shang stopped paying attention to the fight.

He had already found the thing he had been looking for.

While the two Mage Lords continued fighting, Shang was planning how to actualize the thing he had conceptualized.

BANG!

Suddenly, the colorful show of light stopped, and the surroundings were filled with Natural Mana again.

The onlookers looked with shock at the two Mage Lords.

Why had the fight stopped?

This fight had been too long for a short fight, but it had been way too short for a long one.

Fights very rarely took a couple of minutes.

What had happened?

As everyone looked up, they could see that Lord Starsky was glaring at the person in front of him with narrowed eyes.

The Territory Lord still wore her blue cloak, but the position of her body and the unstable manner in which her Mana Shield vibrated told everyone that she had been on the losing side.

It seemed like Lord Starsky had been on the winning side, but for some reason, the battle had stopped before that.

For a while, everyone just silently looked at the two Mage Lords.

"I didn't expect you to be so powerful," Lord Starsky said.

The Mage Lord in the blue cloak just laughed bitterly. "Yet, you are still more powerful than me."

Lord Starsky's eyes narrowed further.

"In respect of your power, I am willing to let you and your group go. Mage Lords of our level are rare, and I wouldn't want to kill one of them for a mere disagreement."

"How humble," the Territory Lord said, "but I'm not on your level, Lord Starsky."

Lord Starsky only looked at the Territory Lord with furrowed brows.

"Leave," he said.

"Thank you," the Territory Lord said before lifting her four people with her and shooting towards the horizon.

And just like that, the group with the mysterious warriors that had crashed the tournament vanished.

"What happened?" one of Lord Starsky's friends asked Lord Starsky with a voice transmission. He knew that something couldn't be right here.

First of all, the duration of the fight was suspicious. Additionally, Lord Starsky wasn't someone that let people that slighted him go.

If Lord Starsky had actually managed to gain an advantage over the Territory Lord, he would have called his two friends to end her life in an instant before killing the group of warriors.

He would have never let them go like this.

Something definitely wasn't right.

"I don't exactly know," Lord Starsky answered as he kept looking in the direction where the Territory Lord had flown in.

"What do you mean with you don't know?" Lord Starsky's other friend asked.

"I mean, I don't know why they wanted to fight me in the first place," Lord Starsky answered. "Someone like that can just leave if they want to."

Lord Starsky's two friends raised their eyebrows in confusion.

"During the fight, they had only put on a show," Lord Starsky explained. "It looked flashy and fancy, but I felt no actual weight or will behind their Spells. It was like they were just randomly throwing stuff to look impressive instead of actually fighting."

The two other Mage Lords were quite surprised.

They hadn't noticed any of that, and from what they had been able to feel, the foreign Mage Lord had been quite powerful.

Yet, Lord Starsky was saying that they hadn't actually been serious during the battle?

"Shortly before the fight ended, they actually let themselves be hit on purpose by one of my Spells," Lord Starsky said. "That Spell was actually only meant to disturb the purity of Mana in the surroundings, but they actually walked into it on purpose and acted like they had been injured by it."

The two other Mage Lords looked with uncertainty at each other. "What are you trying to say?" one of them asked.

Lord Starsky furrowed his brows even more. "I suspect that they might have been an Archon."

The mouths of the two Mage Lords nearly dropped. If they hadn't had thousands of years of experience and practice, they might have accidentally shown their sheer shock to the masses beneath them.

"An Archon?! Are you serious?!" one of the two of them asked with nervousness and shock.

Lord Starsky only nodded.

What was an Archon?

Archon was a title for a Mage Lord that had comprehended a level five Concept.

In short, it was a Mage Lord that could become a Mage King if there were more Mana available in the world.

Archons weren't exactly rare. About 10% of each Empire's Mage Lords were Archons, which would come to nearly 10,000 Archons in the world.

However, Archons outside an Empire were extremely rare.

Nearly all the Archons were part of an Empire since the Empires were the only way for Archons to actually become Mage Kings in the future.

Finding an Archon that didn't belong to an Empire was extremely difficult. In fact, it was nearly impossible.

But one had appeared here?

The chances were infinitesimally small!

"Did they belong to a different Empire?" one of the Mage Lords asked.

"Possible," Lord Starsky answered. "I'll inform the Lightning Manor after the winners of the tournament have been crowned."

The two other Mage Lords weren't certain if it was a good idea to wait, but they knew their friend.

He wanted to keep up the appearance that he had been the winner at all costs, and acting all flustered and nervous now would destroy that appearance.

This was just one of his character flaws that they had to deal with.

 

 

Chapter 682 - Warriors,Barbarians, Weapon Masters

After the group of five left, Star City crowned the champion of the tournament to find the strongest warrior.

Contestant 1, Elver!

Undeniably, Elver was the strongest warrior in the world. Sure, there might be that one Mage that had also learned how to be a warrior, but that couldn't be counted. If any Mage could just take part in the tournament, any Mage Lord could win the tournament just with their insanely strong bodies.

Only pure warriors counted, and Elver was definitely the strongest among them!

The watching Mages applauded as the strongest warrior in the world received his prize, a humongous spear.

This spear symbolized the creation of a path. The owner of the spear was at the forefront of warriorkind, and it was their duty to blaze a new path.

In essence, they were the head of the spear.

However, while the Mages watched with interest, some of the warriors felt like this entire ceremony was a farce.

Oliver and Elver knew Shang.

They were certain that the person in front of them earlier definitely had been Shang.

Shang, a Mage?

They knew that he had a warrior's body, and even if he didn't, they couldn't imagine him following the Magic Path.

Ever since Shang had been at the Commander Stage, he had done things that warriors believed to be impossible.

His power had always been a level above every other warrior.

And things hadn't changed.

Just when they had expected that they knew what they could expect from Shang, he surprised them yet again.

Elver would have expected to be able to fight Shang, at least. He didn't expect that he would win, but he had expected that he would be able to attack him.

Yet, when Shang had moved his fingers, everything became clear.

Elver hadn't been the target of that attack, but he could feel its power.

By just moving his fingers, Shang had summoned powers of the Sixth Realm.

He hadn't even drawn his weapon.

Fighting him would have been no different from fighting an Ancestral Mage.

Fighting him would have been no different from fighting a Zone Beast.

Elver, the strongest warrior in the world?

No.

All the warriors that had taken part in the tournament were the first warriors that reached the Fifth Realm.

They were newbies in the Fifth Realm, and they still needed to become familiar with it.

It was difficult to accept, but everyone in the Diamond Body Stage knew that they wouldn't reach the Sixth Realm ever.

In fact, the stronger and more introspective warriors even realized that the Diamond Body Stage wasn't truly a real Fifth Realm.

At most, it could be counted as a prototype for an actual Fifth Realm.

It needed a lot of refining to become strong enough to act as a foundation for reaching the Sixth Realm.

Elver, as the creator of the Diamond Body Stage, could see a possible way forward, but it would be difficult to create something like that.

First, they needed to find a way to create a Beast Core.

Then, they needed to find a way to fix the control issues of the Mana. Maybe something like different Mana Pathways would work.

Lastly, after thinking about the Barbarians, Elver thought about a way to exchange control over power for more power.

Something like using one's rage to amplify one's power.

Create a Beast Core, change the Mana Pathways, create techniques to push the Mana even further…

Then, when all of that was present, this might become a Fifth Realm that was powerful enough to act as a foundation to reach the Sixth Realm.

But would they still be warriors at that point?

If all of that became reality, these physical fighters could reach speeds several times faster than beasts while having bodies several times stronger than beasts.

For a Mage fighting such a warrior, it would be like fighting a beast two levels above them.

Very difficult but not impossible.

These physical fighters would be just as powerful as Mages.

'Barbarians, huh?' Elver thought as he looked at the sky. He had just received his spear earlier.

After a while, he sighed.

'Maybe I was never supposed to be a warrior.'

'My body has already been ruined by my incomplete Diamond Body. I won't be part of the future.'

At that moment, all the deceased teachers of the warrior academy under which Elver had learned shot through his mind, especially the old Dean.

The old Dean had created the True Path Stage, but he also had the weakest Path out of every warrior in existence.

It had been pathetic.

Yet, his sacrifice allowed people like Mervin and Shang to become as powerful as they had.

When Elver thought of his Diamond Body Stage, he felt something similar.

'I might not be part of the future, but my research will influence the future.'

Elver wasn't sure what he felt.

Regret, frustration, anger, acceptance, melancholy, nostalgia…

His path had come to an end.

This was as far as he would go.

From now on, he would focus on refining his Diamond Body further and further.

His goal was to create real Barbarians.

Barbarians that weren't weaker than Mages or Shang's warriors.

While Elver was accepting his role, Oliver gritted his teeth in frustration.

When Oliver had lost to contestant 31, he had felt quite melancholic and had gone on about his lack of talent.

He had said that his path might have also reached its end.

Yet, when he had seen Shang, he had forgotten all of that.

His desire for vengeance had completely consumed all his doubts.

It was him!

He was his teacher's killer!

He was King Storm's killer!

He ruined everything!

He had brought the apocalypse onto warriorkind!

And he was still alive!

He needed to pay!

He needed to die!

Die!

Die!

However, while Oliver's mind was nearly blinded with rage, he hadn't lost all of his rationality.

All of his destroyed weapons were a strong reminder of reality.

He was too weak.

If Oliver wanted to take revenge, he would need to work much harder than before.

He already had a good starting point for his Weapon Variance Stage. With enough Paths, it would definitely grow strong enough to support a breakthrough into the Sixth Realm.

However, Oliver would need to find a way to reach the Sixth Realm first.

Impose?

Sure, Impose would work with these multiple Paths, but it would mean that Oliver's form of warriors would always lack behind Shang's warriors.

They would comprehend Impose in the Fifth Realm, while Shang's warriors would comprehend Impose in the Fourth Realm.

If Oliver's warriors just kept following the warrior's Path, they would always be one step behind.

Because of that, Oliver needed to create something new.

There had to be something he could do to push the power of his weapons even further.

Just comprehending more and more Paths wouldn't lead to an end, but it would definitely help.

Comprehending a Path was like comprehending a level one Concept. It might not be super useful, but it definitely increased someone's power.

'Weapon Masters, huh?' Oliver thought with narrowed eyes. 'Fine, you've always been the strongest warrior!'

'Might as well take the title!'

'I'll show you that Weapon Masters are the most powerful physical fighters under the sun!'

700 years ago, there had been only a single path a physical fighter could take that had any sort of potential or power.

The warrior path.

Now, 700 years later, there were three.

Warriors, Barbarians, and Weapon Masters.

And the differences between these three paths would grow more and more as time progressed.

 

 

Chapter 683 - Void Casting

Shang stood in the middle of a crater with several crevices inside it.

He was silently standing in front of a head and a body.

He didn't say anything for several seconds.

"I guess it didn't work."

A person wearing a black cloak stood behind Shang.

This was that one Sweeper that had led Shang to the Sky Lantern back then.

Right now, it was her job to keep an eye on Shang. The Temple of Blood's plan was in its final stages, and they needed Shang to be available whenever they were contacted by the Twilight Dusk Family.

Shang was traveling the world, and to keep an eye on him, they had commissioned the Sweeper that had escorted him back then.

She was supposed to protect Shang from Ancestral Beasts that were too powerful, stop him from walking into dangerous locations, and make sure that he didn't run away for whatever reason.

In short, she was essentially Shang's babysitter or guard.

"No," Shang answered.

"I'm not surprised," the Sweeper said. "You're trying to understand something far beyond your level. It took me over 300 years to learn how to absorb all the Mana in the atmosphere to strengthen my Spells, and I'm an Ancestral Mage."

"It doesn't matter," Shang answered before destroying the headless corpse in front of him.

After that, Shang took to the sky and flew away.

The Sweeper followed after Shang. "Why are you so desperately trying to comprehend Void Casting at this very moment? From what I have seen, something like that would be used to reach the Seventh Realm, not the Sixth Realm."

"Comprehending Void Casting before reaching the Sixth Realm is already basically impossible, and you're not even a Mage."

"You're just wasting your time," she said.

"I need ten Grade Six Mind Flow Pellets," Shang said with an emotionless voice.

"Another ten?" the Sweeper asked. "The Temple has already made several complaints the last time I gave you some. I don't care how many Mind Flow Pellets you use, but the Temple might overthink their support of you if you keep siphoning that much money out of them."

"Your concern is of no weight," Shang said neutrally.

Silence.

"Fine," the Sweeper said with a cold voice as she summoned a bottle filled with pills. "I shouldn't have tried to help you."

She threw the bottle of pills over to Shang, who pocketed them.

Shang looked for an isolated cave and tasked the Sweeper to create an Isolation Barrier around it. He didn't want anyone to interfere.

Then, Shang summoned something.

When the Sweeper saw the object Shang had summoned, she took a deep breath.

She wasn't the one that suffered whenever this thing was summoned, but she still felt anxious.

It was an Isolation Chamber.

Shang had taken one of the Isolation Chambers from Icy Bastion with him.

Isolation Chambers cut off all kinds of Mana from their insides.

Since Shang was trying to comprehend Void Casting, he thought about using the Isolation Chambers.

Void Casting worked by rapidly filling a Spell with far more Mana than it could handle and then releasing all that Mana before it could destroy the Spell itself.

It was a delicate act of balance. If one used too much Mana, the entire Spell would explode into the Mage's face. If one used too little, basically nothing would happen.

However, while Mages used Void Casting to fill their Spells with more Mana, Shang was trying to use Void Casting to fill his body with more Mana.

If Shang accidentally absorbed too much, his body would literally explode.

In fact, it had already exploded several times.

Shang's life was always in danger whenever he absorbed too much Mana, and he had already nearly died five times.

But he wouldn't stop.

Additionally, he had found that his body managed to absorb slightly more Mana each time he tried it again.

Sadly, the speed at which this ability was growing was insanely slow.

According to the Sweeper, if Shang truly wanted to achieve Void Casting with his body, he would need about 1,500 years of training to pull it off.

Shang had less than 300 years of longevity left…

Shang's training methods had already been more than intense, and he hadn't taken a single break ever since the Sweeper had accepted this job.

He had also constantly searched for more beasts to try his new ability in dangerous moments.

Yet, even with all of that, Shang would still need about 1,500 years.

According to the Path for the warriors Shang had created, the warriors would need to comprehend Void Casting to reach the Seventh Realm. This meant that they would already be in the Sixth Realm, which had a longevity of 5,000 years.

1,500 years to reach the Seventh Realm from the Sixth Realm would be pretty impressive.

Even more, a warrior in the Sixth Realm would have a more powerful body and mind than Shang.

But Shang would be able to achieve that with the body and mind of a warrior in the Fifth Realm.

However, all of that would still need five times as many years as Shang had left.

Because of that, Shang's training became even more insane.

Instead of just fighting beasts, Shang was now searching for Ancestral Mages.

He would attack them and then run into their Spells on purpose.

If he didn't manage to absorb a great part of the enemy's Spell with his body, the Spell would blow him apart and kill him.

That was literally insane.

It was suicidal.

It was irrational.

Shang was forcing his body to either adapt or die.

But it still wasn't enough.

His body still didn't adapt fast enough.

That was when Shang decided to use the Isolation Chambers.

He would starve his body of Mana for a significant amount of time.

His body would crave more and more Mana, and it would try to absorb as much Mana as it could.

But there was no Mana.

And then, when Shang was about to die, the Isolation Chamber would open and let Mana inside.

It sounded simple.

Yet, this seemingly simple process was the most painful thing Shang had ever experienced in his entire life.

 

Chapter 684 - Dying

Shang waited in front of the Isolation Chamber for a while.

Even for him, entering wasn't easy.

He had trained inside the Isolation Chamber three times before, and all three times had been terrifying.

"One month, 24 days, six hours," Shang said.

The Sweeper took a deep breath.

That was three hours more than last time.

Shang had nearly died last time.

"I understand," the Sweeper said.

She wanted to convince Shang not to do something like that. If he didn't stop, he would one day die to his insane training.

However, she remembered how Shang had coldly brushed off her concern earlier, and she decided not to say anything.

Shang approached the Isolation Chamber and stopped near its entrance.

His heart was racing, and his entire being was screaming at him not to enter.

It didn't show on the outside, but deep inside, Shang was terrified.

He was in deep fear.

Eventually, he took a shaky breath and entered.

Then, he sat down in the middle of the Isolation Chamber.

"Do it," he said.

The Sweeper's expression wasn't visible beneath her black cloak, but she was also anxious.

She had gotten to know Shang quite a bit over the past couple of years, and in some sense, she had a lot of respect for his willpower.

She didn't want to see Shang die.

Nevertheless, it was his decision.

The Sweeper only took a deep breath and closed the entrance.

From the outside, it looked like a black plate appeared at the entrance of the huge black cube, which then fused with the walls.

Lastly, the Sweeper activated a couple of Magic Circles, one of which was a reminder to get Shang out.

Then, she only sat down and waited beside the black cube.

Inside the cube, Shang was sitting in silence.

Funnily enough, after the door had actually been closed, Shang's fear and anxiety calmed down somewhat.

There was no way out anymore.

No Mana and no Spirit Sense could exit the Isolation Chamber.

Some of the Magic Circles absorbed all shaking of the Isolation Chamber and kept it in place.

Shang couldn't destroy the Isolation Chamber, and since it was made of Entropy Ore, Shang couldn't even use his Entropy ability to break out. Entropy Ore was immune to the powers of Entropy.

Shang was stuck.

No matter what he did, he would remain in this Isolation Chamber for one month, 24 days, and six hours.

Shang didn't move at all.

Even his mind almost shut down.

Shang's mind and body entered a deep state of trance.

And so, time passed.

After two days, all the Mana inside the Isolation Chamber was used up.

Mana was the very thing that allowed Mages and warriors to live.

Being in an area without Mana was like being underwater as a mortal.

Mana was as important for Shang as air was for a mortal.

If Shang were to be teleported to Earth as he was now, he would die within two months.

The amount of energy necessary for Shang's body to keep operating was unreal, and only Mana could produce that much energy while simultaneously being absorbable.

At this moment, the only Mana that Shang could feel was the Mana inside his own body.

Four days after all the Mana vanished, Shang's body began to crave Mana wildly.

All the Mana stored in secondary locations had vanished. These were locations like skin, hair, and nails.

From now on, Shang's body would consume the Mana stored in his Mana Pathways and Beast Core.

At this moment, Shang felt like he was slowly dying.

The sensation Shang was feeling could be compared to someone that had a plastic bag taped around their head. There was still gas in the bag, but the person knew that all the oxygen would vanish soon.

Shang felt a cold feeling of approaching death.

Just like the last couple of times he had been in here, Shang was reminded of the time in Jerald's garden when he had landed on his back and couldn't breathe for half a minute.

These two sensations were very similar.

Just this time, the feeling would hold on for infinitely longer.

By now, Shang's mind had extreme difficulties staying calm.

'Just wait. Don't think. I NEED MANA! I NEED- just calm. Don't think. MANA! MANA!'

Shang's mind was in a constant battle with itself.

Shang's rationality was telling him that panicking now would result in his death, but the feeling of approaching death was so overwhelming that Shang couldn't stop thinking about getting Mana.

'I need to stay calm. I'm dying! I need to stay calm. I'm dying!'

It was so very difficult.

It was horrifying.

'I should have never come in here! Why did I decide to come here?!'

But on the outside, Shang seemed calm.

'I don't want to die! I don't want to die! I don't want to die! Just stay calm. Just wait. As long as I stay calm, I will survive. I don't want to die!'

It was like Shang was drowning.

Yet, this sensation of drowning would keep persisting for more than a full month without any pause.

Shang had thought about suicide more than once.

It was too much.

He just wanted it to end.

Yet, he always somehow managed to keep going.

In this state, Shang spent almost 40 days.

40 days of constant drowning.

And after these 40 days, all the Mana inside Shang's Beast Core and Mana Pathways had been used up.

This was when the real terror started.

In order to keep producing life energy, Shang's body was turning itself into Mana.

The non-essential parts like skin, muscles, and bone were being turned to Mana for Shang's organs and mind.

BANG!

Shang slammed his fists against the wall of the Isolation Chamber.

"Get me out!"

"Get me out!"

Shang knew that all this hitting, kicking, and punching wouldn't accomplish anything, but his body was essentially moving on its own.

Shang was screeching in fear.

He was dying!

He was dying!

He was dying!

"Get me out! Get me out!"

"Help!"

"I'm sorry!"

The bones in Shang's arms broke as his flesh and blood started to coat the Isolation Chamber.

Shang could no longer stay calm.

He screamed whatever came to mind.

He punched whatever he could.

The screeching of nails scratching against hard stone.

The crunch of teeth breaking apart and digging into the gums.

The squelch of bloody flesh hitting the ground.

The screaming of a wild animal that was slowly dying.

The pleading of a scared child.

Shang was trying everything.

He was apologizing for all his evil deeds.

He was pleading for the God to kill him.

He was scared.

He was so scared.

Two days later, nothing inside the Isolation Chamber moved anymore.

A sack of flesh, blood and broken bone lay in the middle of the room.

It didn't move.

Shang was dying.

His mind was vanishing.

He didn't think anymore.

He only looked at the wall where the door was supposed to be with his desecrated Spirit Sense.

The wall wasn't moving.

He was dying.

The wall wasn't moving.

He was dying.

He was dying…

He was dy…

Dying…

He was…

Was…

Was…

For just a moment, clarity returned to Shang's mind.

He knew that he wouldn't survive.

One last time, he swore to himself that if by some miracle, he survived, he would never do this again…

Just like the last three times he had been in here.

This was not the first time Shang had been in this situation.

And it wouldn't be the last.

This was Shang's Path.

This was his determination.

He was going through the most terrifying experiences imaginable.

And if these experiences increased his power, he would go through them again.

It was horrible.

It was terrible.

But it increased Shang's power.

And that was all that counted.

 

 

Chapter 685 - Quivering Mass

The Sweeper silently waited in front of the motionless black cube.

She was readying herself.

She closed her eyes, summoned several materials, and readied a couple of Spells.

And ten seconds later, it was finally time.

One of the Magic Circles around the black cube exploded, symbolizing the end of the timer.

The Sweeper immediately cast several Spells to break the other Magic Circles, and she immediately pulled out the door as soon as she was able to.

As the door vanished, a storm of Mana entered the vacuum of the Isolation Chamber while a horrifying stench of blood and guts exited the Isolation Chamber.

Just like the previous times, the inside of the Isolation Chamber was coated with blood.

And just like last time, Shang was in the middle of the room.

He was merely a sack of blood and guts.

His skin, bones, and a majority of his muscles had been turned to Mana.

His organs were dried, and the blood on his body was congealed.

He didn't move.

The Sweeper immediately shot towards him and placed five Mana Crystals filled with Light Mana around his body.

After that, she dumped a bucket of greenish water on his body.

Then, she grabbed the Space Ring Shang had given her before he entered and summoned the Grade Six Mind Flow Pellets.

She forced one of them down Shang's throat before she cast a long Spell.

After some seconds, a grey light appeared on her fingers, and she lightly jabbed her fingers at Shang's skull-less head.

Shang's mind jolted in confusion, and it tried its best to comprehend what was going on.

However, at the same time, the power of the Mind Flow Pellet entered Shang's mind and made it very difficult for the mind to focus again.

Shang's feelings before he had lost consciousness slowly returned, and his confused mind immediately went into survival mode.

The last thing it had felt was approaching death, but now, it was suddenly alive again.

This meant that it had survived!

Under normal circumstances, Shang's bodily functions would return to recovery mode, but with the Mind Flow Pellet, this had become extremely difficult.

Shang's mind was trying to give the order to absorb Mana and convert it to life energy, but the Mind Flow Pellet wouldn't allow that order to go through.

This meant that Shang was still dying.

Shang's subconscious was terrified beyond belief and tried its absolute best to do anything to keep itself and its body alive, but it was so difficult!

It was dying!

It was still dying!

Shang's subconsciousness explored all possible ways to stay alive.

On the outside, Shang still wasn't moving at all.

After activating five more Magic Circles, the Sweeper finally took a deep breath.

Shang would survive.

In silence, she looked at the slightly quivering sack of guts and blood.

She could feel the sheer panic and terror emanating from the sack.

These were the feelings of a being that was dying but didn't want to die.

Silence.

The Sweeper just looked at the sack.

The last moments before she had closed the Isolation Chamber replayed in her mind.

A bit more than one and a half months ago, she had closed the door while Shang calmly sat in the middle of the room.

And the next time she opened it, this picture greeted her.

No matter how many times she witnessed it, it was still a terrifying image.

How much must Shang have suffered to transform into such a quivering mass of organs and blood?

The Sweeper couldn't imagine it.

And even worse, this hadn't even been the first time.

Shang had done that three times already, this being the fourth time!

Doing something like that once, okay, people make mistakes sometimes. Maybe they didn't know what would await them.

But doing it again?

And again?

It made no sense, no matter how many times she thought about it.

She couldn't understand why someone would choose to do something like that to themselves.

Was it worth it?

She couldn't imagine a world where such torture would be worth something.

The Sweeper just silently looked at Shang.

The Mana around him was moving in very abrupt ways, almost like it was uncontrollably seizing.

This was the result of Shang's subconsciousness trying everything it could with the ability of World Connection. The movement of the Mana around Shang essentially represented the uncontrollable spasms of Shang's body.

The Sweeper kept watching and making sure that nothing went wrong.

Shang's mind was still thinking it was dying due to the Mind Flow Pellet's effects, but he was actually not in any danger since the Magic Circles around him fed him just enough life energy to stay alive.

The Sweeper just silently waited as the pile of guts quivered in fear and terror.

In society, being hardworking and dedicated to training was a commendable trait.

Yet, what Shang was doing was not commendable.

It was not healthy.

Shang didn't behave like a hardworking man but more like a self-destructive machine.

He was like a monster that kept drinking blood constantly because it had a huge hole in its back where blood constantly flowed out.

He was like a fire that reached for anything it could burn in a panic because the things it was currently burning had already turned to ash.

He was a starving person that was eating their own skin to stay alive.

And, worst of all, the very thing that was killing Shang was himself.

He was the thing that desperately tried to end his life while he also desperately tried to survive the things he was doing to himself.

How many more times?

How many more times before Shang slipped up and died?

What then?

Would everything have been worth it?

Why sacrifice so much just to die to yourself?

When Shang finally sacrificed himself, what would be left?

The mass of organs and blood quivered in fear and terror.

The Sweeper silently watched.

She didn't want to see something like this again.

 

Chapter 686 - Negotiation

Shang slowly stood up and cleaned his new body of all the dried blood.

After that, he calmly put on a new set of robes and put new bandages around his eye sockets.

​

He slowly stepped out of the Isolation Chamber, leaving behind a bloody mess of human body parts.

When he stepped out, he lifted his arm and pointed it into the Isolation Chamber.

BOOOM!

A brutal explosion came out of the door of the Isolation Chamber, and after it vanished, all the biological matter in the Isolation Chamber was gone.

Lastly, Shang put the Isolation Chamber away again.

The Sweeper only looked at Shang from the side. There was a complex expression on her face, which was hidden by her cloak.

There were so many feelings she was feeling right now.

Pity.

Anger.

Frustration.

Fear.

But also a bit of happiness and relief.

Shang was definitely a monster, but in a very morbid way, she wanted to see how far he could go.

If he somehow managed to keep surviving, what would someone like him eventually become?

"There was a drop in efficiency," Shang said suddenly.

The Sweeper didn't answer.

"The last time, my body grew a bit more. I'm uncertain if it's diminishing returns or if it's related to the time between sessions," Shang explained.

"The next session will be held in about ten years. I need to see if a longer period of waiting increases the efficiency again."

The Sweeper took a deep breath.

He had just recovered, and he was already planning the next time he would enter the Isolation Chamber.

"I fear that won't be possible," the Sweeper said.

Shang turned slightly to face the Sweeper. "Have they come to a consensus?"

The tournament of the warriors had happened 20 years ago, and the Twilight Dusk Family had contacted the Temple of Blood just two years after that.

The Lightning Manor couldn't just send its agents into the Twilight Dusk Family's territory without disclosing their reasons for doing so. Otherwise, they would risk an international incident between Empires that would violate several agreements.

So, the Lightning Manor had been honest and told the Twilight Dusk Family about Shang.

Shang was someone that had been groomed by the Lightning Manor, and he was a wanted criminal. They demanded Shang's execution while the Impose Stage warriors were supposed to be handed over to the Lightning Manor.

The Twilight Dusk Family agreed to the first request but not the second.

While the Twilight Dusk Family was talking with the Lightning Manor, they also contacted the Temple of Blood.

Theoretically, the Temple of Blood was counted as a rebellious organization, but the Twilight Dusk Family hadn't really cared about that. Their rule was unassailable, and anyone that tried to make problems was just akin to a small child throwing a tantrum.

The Temple of Blood gave all the information they had on warriors over to the Twilight Dusk Family.

When the Twilight Dusk Family heard of the potential advantages of having something like warriors, their interest was immediately piqued.

But that wasn't everything.

When they heard about Shang's power, they didn't believe the Temple of Blood at first.

However, after several confirmations and proof, the Twilight Dusk Family eventually believed them.

A warrior that could become a Dusk in the future?

For the Twilight Dusk Family, a Dusk represented an extremely powerful and extremely talented Mage Lord, someone that ruled over major parts of the Empire.

Even more, according to the Temple of Blood, this warrior had even theorized a Path for warriors up to the Seventh Realm, which was insane!

Right now, the entire world only knew of warriors in the Fifth Realm, but they had actually already theorized a method to reach the Seventh Realm.

That was worth an insane amount of money!

After getting all the relevant information from the Temple of Blood, the Twilight Dusk Family actually sent one of their Twilights to negotiate with the Lightning Manor.

Twilights were the Twilight Dusk Family's Mage Kings, and they had nine of those.

The Lightning Manor acted like they just wanted to grab some people in the Fifth Realm, but they were actually asking for something of unimaginable value.

The initial price the Lightning Manor had offered was thrown out of the window, and the Twilight made a counteroffer that was seven magnitudes higher.

The Lightning Manor's initial reaction was just to walk away and forget all about the warriors.

They weren't even worth a fraction of what the Twilight Dusk Family asked for!

However, after the Twilight explained why the price was so high, things very quickly changed.

There was already a way to the Sixth Realm?

Scratch that! There was a way to the Seventh Realm?!

And there was one guy that had come up with all of that?!

Even more, it was the one guy they had wanted to execute?!

As soon as they heard of Shang's powers and accomplishments, they immediately stopped treating him as a criminal and began treating him as an extremely valuable employee they wanted to scout.

They weren't even thinking about killing him anymore. That would be such an insane waste!

After going over all the information, the Lightning Manor also sent one of their Mage Kings to negotiate with the Twilight Dusk Family.

And these negotiations had been going on for nearly 20 years by now.

"They have come to an agreement," the Sweeper told Shang. "In two years, the Lightning Manor will send their people to collect all the warriors at the True Path Stage and higher, including you."

Shang turned his head and looked away from the Sweeper.

"So, it's over, huh?" he asked.

The Sweeper nodded. "You will be leaving the Temple of Blood soon, and you also don't need to delete your SKP. The Lightning Manor paid for that privilege. They don't want you to damage your mind."

Shang remained silent for a while.

The Temple of Blood.

He had stayed in the Temple of Blood for nearly 500 years.

And now, he was leaving.

It was a weird feeling.

"How much did the Temple of Blood get?" Shang asked.

The Sweeper looked at Shang.

"My worry over you using too many resources was unfounded," she said. "I don't know the specific number, but I know that the Temple of Blood gained over 300 Grade Seven Mana Crystals."

"And I have no idea how much the Twilight Dusk Family actually got."

 

 

Chapter 687 - Interest

For the next two years, Shang continued training as always.

He was dead set on comprehending Void Casting before his longevity would end, which was in about 280 years.

Shang was around 720 years old now, which was very old already for someone in the Fifth Realm.

Someone of such an age would normally be considered as someone whose Path had come to an end. They would only continue coasting along until their longevity ran out, never reaching the next Realm.

Sadly, spending so much time in each Realm was the only way for Shang to get a solid foundation.

If Shang's Path had already been planned out in the beginning, he could have done a couple of training exercises for his body while comprehending the Concepts of Addition and Subtraction.

Additionally, there would have probably also been better methods for warriors to comprehend Void Casting.

However, Shang was the strongest warrior.

There was no Path he could follow.

He had to create his own.

If there had been a Star Map for his Addum and Subsis, he might have also saved a century.

If he had a greater backer, Shang would have also received a far better area to comprehend the Concepts of Addition and Subtraction. As it stood, Shang had comprehended these Concepts by looking at beasts with somewhat fitting Affinities, but that obviously hadn't been the best method.

With a better area, Shang would have maybe saved another century.

In that case, Shang would only be a bit over 500 years old, giving him nearly 500 years to comprehend Void Casting.

That would be far easier.

Sadly, these were only ifs.

Shang could only hope that all these issues would vanish as soon as he joined the Lightning Manor.

Nevertheless, Shang never wasted even a second of his life, and he continued training with everything he had.

He let the Sweeper use several powerful Magic Circles that forced Mana into Shang's body over and over again.

Shang's body exploded again and again, but he didn't flinch.

This was just normal pain, and he had grown so used to it that the concept of pain had become distorted.

Whenever Shang felt excruciating pain, he wasn't even sure what he felt anymore.

Was it uncomfortable? Yeah, but he couldn't really describe it.

Was it pain? He didn't know.

In a way, Shang couldn't feel pain anymore since what he felt whenever his body got injured had become so confusing and unimportant that he wasn't even sure what it was or if he was feeling it or not.

Additionally, he had witnessed the own destruction of his body so many times that he had completely dissociated from it.

When Shang witnessed his chest explode and his organs shoot out of his body, he didn't feel any different than when he saw a stone on a road break into pieces.

It was like his body wasn't him.

It was like all these things that were happening to him were not actually happening to him.

It was monotone, boring, unimportant, grey, and repetitive.

After years of helping Shang with his training, the Sweeper had grown somewhat used to him.

Sure, a high pain tolerance was important for a powerful Mage, but whenever she saw Shang train, it was like she was witnessing something that shouldn't exist.

Humans, animals, and beasts were supposed to feel pain and fear when they were injured, right?

A high pain tolerance was good and all, but this was just ridiculous.

Was Shang even a human anymore?

The more time she spent with Shang, the more abnormal and unnatural he seemed to her.

Whenever Shang was training, it was like he was some kind of being from outside this world or reality.

However, when Shang actually entered the Isolation Chamber, everything was flipped to the other extreme.

Over 99% of the time, Shang seemed like an otherworldly being that didn't have human desires and human pains, but during this last percent, when he went into the Isolation Chamber, it was the opposite.

At that moment, the Sweeper felt like Shang was a horrified and scared child. It was like a poor and innocent child had been befallen by a tragic fate.

Ironically, that fate was his own desire.

These were the two extremes of Shang that the Sweeper had witnessed.

Extreme apathy and detachment.

Intense fear and emotion.

There was no in-between.

As the deadline of two years came closer, the Sweeper grew more nervous.

For some reason, she didn't want to leave Shang.

Of course, the Sweeper wasn't some teenage girl. She was over a thousand years old, and she had plenty of life experience.

She looked inside herself and actually asked herself if she had taken an interest in Shang.

Initially, she denied it. After all, she couldn't empathize with Shang at all.

For such interest to develop, one needed to be able to empathize with the other person.

They needed to understand how the other person felt.

And that didn't exist between them.

Nearly all the time, it was like the Sweeper was looking at a ghost with nothing human about it.

But when the Sweeper actually analyzed her feelings more, she realized that the contrast between Shang's two extremes had an intense pull on her.

Everyone in the world had only seen that one version of Shang, but she was the only one that had seen the other version of Shang.

His vulnerable side.

His scared side.

In a way, she knew Shang better than any other person in the entire world.

In the end, she came to the conclusion that, yes, she had taken an interest in Shang.

However, what about it?

Would a relationship even work out?

Would he even care?

No, it was impossible.

She knew Shang better than everyone else, and that was why she also knew why it could never work.

Shang was exclusively focused on his power, nothing else.

He got rid of absolutely everything that could be a distraction.

Love wouldn't be any different from any other distraction to him.

Because of that, she hadn't spoken about her feelings until shortly before Shang was supposed to leave.

Just when the two of them were making their way to the meeting place, the Sweeper actually spoke up.

She didn't know why, but she just had to ask.

"Would you mind if I also joined the Lightning Manor?" she asked.

"I don't care," Shang answered coldly.

The Sweeper just looked at Shang, not surprised about his answer.

"Aren't you interested in why I would ask you something like that?" she asked.

"No."

Silence.

The Sweeper took a deep breath.

"Are you interested in a relationship?"

Shang remained silent for two seconds.

"I changed my mind. I don't want you to join the Lightning Manor."

"I can't use any more distractions."

Silence.

"Okay," the Sweeper said after some seconds.

And the two of them flew towards the meeting place in silence.

 

Chapter 688 - Waiting

Shang arrived near Icy Bastion.

Just 20 years ago, he had been the Town Lord of Icy Bastion, but that was obviously no longer the case.

The town had never truly belonged to Shang. He had simply been a form of administrator or manager for the town.

For now, an Initial Ancestral Mage was acting as the Town Lord. Thanks to the Abyss Worms, the Town Lord didn't need to be super powerful.

At the moment, over 8,000 people were gathered near the main exit of Icy Bastion.

They were all anxiously waiting for someone.

From what Shang could see, there were about 50 Impose Stage warriors and about 600 True Path Stage warriors. The remaining people were the friends and family of these warriors.

Shang recognized a couple of people that had joined the Temple of Blood already, but based on what they were talking about, their SKP had already been deleted.

This meant that none of them remembered for whom they had been working.

Most of them were confused, but they were also quite happy with the outcome.

They didn't know where it came from, but all of them had earned a ton of money.

At the moment, Shang was just looking at them from around 100 kilometers away.

The Sweeper had left shortly before they entered the range of Icy Bastion's Magic Circles. On the surface, this town belonged to the current Town Lord, and as a Sweeper from the Temple of Blood, the Sweeper couldn't possibly show herself near the town.

When she had stopped before the range of the Magic Circles, Shang had just continued.

He didn't face her.

He didn't say anything.

He just continued flying like she hadn't been there at all.

The Sweeper closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

Shang's cold actions hurt her a bit, but she was not some emotional teen.

She would get over it in a matter of minutes.

She knew that they were from different worlds and that there had never been any possibility of things working out.

Also, maybe it was for the better.

Maybe having a relationship with Shang was horrible and painful.

Yet, there was one specific feeling that wouldn't leave the Sweeper's mind for a long time.

Pity.

In her mind, Shang's life was filled with pain and tragedy.

Like basically everyone else, the Sweeper had wished to have such an insanely high Battle-Strength as Shang.

However, after witnessing what Shang was going through to gain so much power, she no longer envied him.

She wouldn't want to become this powerful if it meant living like Shang.

In the end, she simply flew back to her branch and waited for her next assignment.

Watching over Shang had been a job.

Nothing else.

Meanwhile, Shang entered the town and landed near the side of a road, waiting for the person that would lead everyone to the Lightning Manor.

Of course, as the previous Town Lord, basically every person at the True Path Stage and higher immediately recognized him.

They hadn't seen him in 20 years, but no one could forget someone like Shang.

His aura and appearance were unique.

Shang just silently waited.

Some of the True Path Stage warriors were interested in striking up a conversation. After all, Shang was no longer the Town Lord, and he would join the same organization as them soon.

However, the True Path Stage warriors felt an intense pressure and feeling of rejection when they tried to approach Shang with their bodies or Spirit Senses.

He wasn't doing anything special, but the people that wanted to build a connection with him felt like this was a bad idea.

Their instincts were telling them that they really shouldn't try to strike up a conversation with him.

Yet, there were still some people that managed to approach him.

There were five Impose Stage warriors that walked up to Shang.

He didn't react to their approach.

And then, the five Impose Stage warriors bowed with deep respect.

"Master," they echoed respectfully.

"I'm not your master," Shang said evenly.

In the middle of the five people was a beautiful woman with silver hair.

This was the person that had fought Elver in the tournament about 20 years ago.

She counted as the second most powerful warrior in the Twilight Dusk Family's Empire, which was an incredible achievement.

She politely stepped forward and lowered her head respectfully. "Irrelevant of your feelings, you will always be our master."

Shang snorted. "Then, understand that the feeling isn't mutual, and don't expect me to do anything for you."

"We understand," the woman said respectfully.

Shang didn't say anything after that.

The five people left after a couple of seconds. Apparently, they really had only wanted to show their respect to Shang as their former master.

Of course, as basically the progenitor and inventor of the Impose Stage, everyone had the deepest respect for Shang.

Even though Shang was being cold, curt, rude, and refusing, they didn't think lesser of him.

They respected Shang for his accomplishments and what he had done for the warriors, not for the quality of his personality.

After a long period of silence due to Shang's arrival, the people started talking with each other again.

Many of them felt nervous and blessed for being in the presence of the greatest warrior that had ever lived, in their opinion, but they also tried to be polite and act like he wasn't there so that they wouldn't bother him.

Constantly being gawked at by thousands of people was probably uncomfortable.

Of course, Shang didn't care either way.

His mind was much more focused on being frustrated about the fact that he was wasting precious hours.

He could be training right now, but instead, he had to wait for some guy from the Lightning Manor.

As more and more time passed, Shang became angrier and angrier.

He wasn't angry at anyone specific but at the situation.

He wanted to train.

He needed to train!

Yet, training would be a dumb idea right now since it was a bad idea to show too much of his power to everyone, and his training would also be interrupted by the person from the Lightning Manor soon.

As he continued waiting, he simply grew angrier and more impatient.

The surroundings grew heavier and more oppressive for the people.

The people became quieter again since they felt like talking would be a bad thing right now.

Luckily, they only needed to wait a couple of minutes before the escort from the Lightning Manor appeared.

Sure enough, the Lightning Manor was already showing its power.

They sent a Mage Lord.

 

 

Chapter 689 - Mistra Flowsteel

A woman with metallic-grey hair floated above Icy Bastion. The pressure she gave off was awe-inspiring, but not in a terrifying way.

Her pressure felt more like a very tight and strong hug.

She looked with a strict expression at the present people, but everyone could also feel some concern coming from her.

In a way, it was like she was a powerful and strict mother, and her eyes were reflecting these thoughts.

These belong to me!

This was what her eyes said.

"Hello, everyone," she said in a polite but commanding voice. "My name is Mistra Flowsteel, and I am a Bolt from the Lightning Manor. That means that I am one of the Lightning Manor's Mage Lords."

The present people looked at each other.

Should they greet her?

Should their leader step forward and greet her?

Some people glanced over at Shang, but Shang hadn't moved at all.

"Warriors at the True Path Stage, please form a line," she commanded. "Family and friends, please step away from the warriors. Impose Stage warriors, please wait near the side."

The people slowly complied, and after a couple of seconds, three groups formed.

The True Path Stage warriors, Impose Stage warriors, and everyone else stood in different locations.

When Mistra saw that, she nodded and landed near the gate of Icy Bastion.

SHING!

A small booklet appeared beside her, hovering in the air.

Surprisingly, she actually put on some glasses, which was very unusual. After all, there probably wasn't even a single Mage that had issues with their eyesight, which meant that the glasses were probably for something else.

"True Path Stage warriors, step forward one at a time," she commanded.

The first person in the line nervously stepped forward. They still weren't entirely sure if everything would work out fine since a lot of the stuff that they had heard just sounded way too good to be true.

Even more, standing in front of a Mage Lord was always a terrifying experience just due to their sheer power and status.

Especially one that belonged to one of the Empires.

"Name," she said.

"Tarkus," the warrior said.

"Who will you be bringing with you today?"

"My wife, my three children, and two friends," Tarkus answered.

Several tiny letters appeared on the booklet on their own, and Mistra nodded.

SHING!

The True Path Stage warriors and stronger looked towards the wall since their Spirit Senses had just picked up something.

A thin but huge plate of glass had suddenly appeared just outside the town. The glass was thinner than a centimeter, but the entire pane was probably nearly five kilometers wide. One could also see several circles that were a couple of meters wide on it.

"Bring everyone to the Transport Plate, get yourself a circle, and stay inside it," Mistra commanded.

The warrior nodded and quickly waved his friends and family over.

Then, they left the town, went onto the huge plate of glass, and gathered in one of the circles.

"Next," Mistra said.

This was how things went for the next two hours.

Eventually, all the True Path Stage warriors boarded the Transport Plate with their friends and family, leaving only the Impose Stage warriors and their friends and family behind.

Mistra called the first Impose Stage warrior over and asked him the same questions.

But after she got her answer, she had more questions this time.

"When did you reach the Impose Stage?" she asked.

"About 17 years ago," the warrior answered.

"How did you do it?"

"I practiced my techniques until I achieved perfect execution and Synchronized Mana Flow."

"What is Synchronized Mana Flow?" she asked, throwing a glance at the warrior.

The warrior felt uncomfortable. "Well, Synchronized Mana Flow is when the Mana you use to perform your techniques travels through your body in such a way that it doesn't injure the body anywhere while also flowing at intense and rapid speeds."

"Oh?" Mistra slowly uttered as she moved her glasses a bit to look more closely at the warrior's body.

The warrior felt more uncomfortable as Mistra just silently kept looking at his armored chest.

"Show me a couple of your techniques," she said.

The warrior looked around uncomfortably. It was a bit awkward to just start slashing in the air with his weapon while strangers just watched him.

"Okay," he said awkwardly as he summoned a long sword.

Then, he performed a couple of slashes. Luckily, he was so used to training his techniques that the awkwardness in the surroundings didn't negatively impact his performance.

"Most interesting," Mistra said as a second booklet appeared beside her, which was rapidly filled with words. In fact, the words appeared on the booklet at a speed of over 20 pages per second.

"Alright, you can stop," she said.

The warrior awkwardly put his sword away again and waited for more orders.

"Okay, so, how can you ensure that the technique you are using isn't incorrectly using your Mana Pathways?" she asked.

"It depends on the technique," the warrior answered. "My Mana Pathways were created by the world when I reached the True Path Stage, and they are perfectly made for the Path I have created. As long as I use techniques from my Path, I can be sure that my Mana won't move in unsuited ways."

Mistra nodded a couple of times as more pages were filled of her booklet.

By now, she had written down many times more about this Impose Stage warrior than about everything she had written down about everyone that had come before him.

"What if you want to change your Path? What if you want to use other techniques?" she asked.

The warrior smiled uncomfortably. "That's… difficult. I would need to change my Mana Pathways."

"Can you?" Mistra asked.

"Well, I can't, but I know someone that can," he answered.

"Oh? What makes them able to change their Mana Pathways while you can't?" she asked.

"I mean, I could learn how to change Mana Pathways, but it is very dangerous, very time-consuming, and I am not confident enough to edit my Mana Pathways in such a way that I would create something better than the world."

"You know, my Mana Pathways have already been optimized for the Path I have chosen, and I use many of them for many different techniques. By changing one of them, I would need to change even more of them since now other techniques don't fit anymore, which would need me to change even more of them."

"I would probably be left with a nearly unsolvable mess of Mana Pathways, and even if I managed to solve that mess, it would probably take me decades, if not centuries. I don't think that's worth it," the warrior explained.

The booklet was turning like crazy, and the warrior felt quite intimidated by it. He had just talked for a couple of seconds, but the booklet had already written down thousands of pages of information by now.

What the hell was this Mage Lord writing about, and how could she write that much about the little bit of information he was giving her?

Also, how many pages did that booklet even have?!

"Mhm," Mistra hummed as the booklet stopped writing. "So, how is this a problem for you but not for your friend?"

"Well, you see-"

"Wait!" Mistra suddenly said, lifting her hand.

The warrior blinked a couple of times in surprise. "Yes?"

"Is your friend amongst the Impose Stage warriors?"

"Yeah, he's-"

"Alright!" Mistra shouted with a chipper voice before she realized that she had let her giddy and curious demeanor slip out.

Mistra coughed once to return to her professional demeanor.

"Then, I can just ask your friend later."

"Okay," the warrior slowly and awkwardly said, unsure how to respond.

 

Chapter 690 - Researcher

"Alright, next question," Mistra said. "How do you know whether a technique has been performed perfectly or not?"

"We use natural treasures," the warrior answered.

"Oh? What kind?" Mistra asked in interest.

"Wind Blade Seed…"

SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

Suddenly, over ten different books appeared in the air, which opened and closed at nearly the same time after rapidly shooting through all the pages. Then, several more pages were added to the primary booklet.

The warrior just looked at Mistra with an uncomfortable expression.

On the side, Shang didn't react, but he once more was reminded of the sheer difference between the old Dean, George, and a powerful Mage.

Based on what just happened, Shang was sure that Mistra had just searched through several encyclopedias since she probably hadn't known what Wind Blade Seeds were, and when she had found her answer, she wrote down a huge hypothesis in less than a second.

She had done all of that in about two seconds.

How long would George have taken?

The gap between a normal warrior that was trying to come up with something and such an experienced Mage Lord was incomprehensible.

No wonder the Temple of Blood's team of researchers had simplified the Bloodline Infusion to such a degree that it felt unimportant, simple, and negligible.

The warrior only waited awkwardly.

"Yes?" Mistra asked after a while. "Is that all, or are there more treasures?"

"Well, there's also Fire Wave Berry-"

SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

"…Grass."

Mistra's brows twitched a bit.

SHING! SHING! SHING! SHING!

Then, she motioned for the warrior to continue.

The warrior slowly named the next herb, and the entire process was repeated again.

At the side, Shang felt second-hand frustration.

He could imagine how frustrating it must feel for the Mage Lord. Her mind was moving so insanely quickly, but the warrior in front of her was talking extremely slowly and made several long pauses.

Shang guessed that he would have already uttered a couple of passive-aggressive comments by now if he were in Mistra's shoes.

Mistra kept asking a couple of general questions regarding the Impose Stage, which took a couple of minutes.

Eventually, she came to her last question.

"And how did you find out about all of this?" she asked.

"I learned all of that from Teacher Nareo," the warrior said. Then, he pointed to a warrior with brown hair who was standing in the group of Impose Stage warriors.

Mistra nodded with a polite smile. "Alright. Thank you for answering all my questions! You may gather your friends and family and enter the Transportation Plate."

The warrior nodded in relief. "No problem."

The warrior left, and Mistra called over the next warrior.

She asked the next warrior very similar questions but skipped the obvious ones this time.

Mistra also asked this warrior to perform his techniques, which she observed very closely.

"And where did you learn all of this from?"

"Teacher Nareo," the warrior answered.

Mistra nodded and let that warrior leave again.

There was nothing surprising about the next Impose Stage warriors.

Almost all of them had learned most of their knowledge from one of three Impose Stage warriors. These three "teachers" were all in the Mid Impose Stage.

"Oh?" Mistra suddenly uttered in surprise as she watched one of the Impose Stage warriors perform their techniques. "That's surprising."

"What is?" Duma, the Impose Stage warrior in front of Mistra, asked.

"Your Mana Pathways look very different from everyone else's," Mistra said.

This comment took nearly everyone by surprise.

Mana Pathways?

She could actually see their Mana Pathways?!

But how?!

Spirit Senses couldn't look into someone's body!

Shang had already expected something like this when he had seen Mistra put on glasses. The glasses were probably the reason how she could see the Mana Pathways.

"Yes, that's because I changed them," Duma said.

A gleam of curiosity and excitement appeared in Mistra's eyes before her booklet started to madly write more pages filled with words.

This time, Mistra stayed silent for nearly ten seconds as her booklet madly kept writing.

Then, it stopped.

"Please continue performing your techniques," Mistra said politely with a wave of her hand.

Duma awkwardly looked at the silently hovering booklet.

It wasn't doing anything.

Then, Duma slowly lifted his shield.

DRRRRRRRRRRRR!

And the booklet madly started to write again.

Duma felt even more awkward.

He had literally just lifted his shield, and Mistra wrote down like 20 pages worth of information.

Then, Duma pushed his shield forward.

DRRRRRRRRR!

And the booklet kept writing.

This time, Mistra let Duma perform all of his techniques for nearly 20 minutes, and she even encouraged him to show more.

She wanted to see every last one of his techniques.

"Are these all?" Mistra asked.

"Yes," Duma answered.

And then, something surprising happened.

Mistra frowned. "Are you sure?" she asked with a bit of annoyance and disappointment.

Duma became a bit nervous. "I mean, yes, those are all the techniques I would use in a fight."

"Okay," Mistra said slowly, "but are there techniques that you wouldn't use? For example, techniques that feel uncomfortable for your Mana Pathways?"

"Well, there are some," Duma said.

"Perform those as well, please," Mistra said.

"I mean, okay, but please keep in mind that I wouldn't use them in a fight," he said.

"Of course," Mistra said with a polite smile.

Then, Duma performed more techniques for ten minutes.

"Alright, that should be enough," Mistra said with a satisfied smile.

Duma nodded and put his weapons away.

"As a thank you, you can have this!" Mistra said as a second booklet came out of her primary booklet.

Duma looked with raised eyebrows at the booklet. "Thanks, but what is that?" he asked.

"I designed a Mana Pathway System that can incorporate all of your techniques. That should help you out a lot."

Silence.

Deafening silence.

"What?!" Duma almost shouted.

"You can go to the Transportation Plate with your friends and family now," Mistra said.

"No, I mean, yes, I mean, wait a second!" Duma stuttered.

Mistra raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"What do you mean you designed a Mana Pathway System?" Duma asked.

"I designed one," Mistra said with a bit of confusion. "I don't get the question. You should know what a Mana Pathway System is, right? I mean, you changed your own."

"Yes, I did, but it took me literally over a century to come up with my current one!" Duma almost shouted.

"Yeah, that's because you're a warrior," Mistra said with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I've been a researcher in the Lightning Manor for over 7,000 years. When you know your basics about biology and how power and Mana work, it's not too difficult to come up with a Mana Pathway System. Probably even a True Mage or High Mage could do it."

"Now, please, get to the Transportation Plate. I still have other people to interview," Mistra said.

Duma's hands were shaking as he looked at the booklet he was holding with a horrified and disbelieving expression.

Eventually, Mistra grew impatient and simply shoved Duma out of the gate with her Spirit Sense.

A small group of other people hurriedly ran after Duma.

"Alright, next!"