Ch. 711..720

Chapter 711 711 – Old

Lucin kept explaining a couple of things to Shang regarding the Contender Department as they continued traveling for a couple more minutes.

Eventually, Lucin transformed back into a human and stopped in a seemingly random location.

Shang had taken note of their journey, and he guessed that the two of them were currently near the northern edge of the Lightning Manor's territory, which would also be the northern edge of the continent Aterium.

It had become quite cold by now, and Shang couldn't feel a lot of Light Mana in the surroundings.

He could see dense clouds but compared to the Lightning Sea, there was not much lightning here. The clouds Shang could see were the typical clouds of winter, grey and ever-present.

As for the ground, everything had been covered in a thick sheet of ice and snow.

"Alright, we're here," Lucin said. "Starting from this point, everything here's reserved for the Clouds. The 100,000 kilometers from here to the edge of Aterium is all for the Clouds. This territory is off-limits for Sparks and Boltlings since the existence of the Clouds is kept secret."

"A good number of Bolts know about the Clouds, but they are discouraged from talking about them. Additionally, even the Bolts don't know exactly what a Cloud is and what is required to become one."

"I would also ask you to keep the existence of the Clouds secret, but I don't think that will be a problem for you. You don't seem like a very sociable person."

Shang didn't answer.

"And that's about it," Lucin said. "I told you everything you need to know on the way here. If you need anything, just contact me with your new Communication Crystal."

A moment later, Lucin threw over a new Communication Crystal with an image of a lightning bolt on it.

Shang remained silent for a second.

"That's it?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lucin said. "What more is there to tell?"

"What about an SKP?" Shang asked.

When Lucin heard that, he laughed loudly. "That won't be necessary. SKPs can make problems for your comprehension, which is why Clouds don't need to get an SKP."

"That sounds reckless," Shang commented. "What if someone escapes to another Empire?"

"Won't happen," Lucin answered with a proud smirk. "We have our ways of making sure that no one is trying to run away without our knowledge."

Shang remained silent.

"But, hey, as long as you keep to the rules I told you, there won't be any issues," Lucin said with a wink.

Then, Lucin looked like he had just remembered something. "Oh, by the way, your new Communication Crystal also has all the training credits. If you need anything, just go to the shop on the grounds. Remember, you only get your next credits in a century."

"As for the location of the shop, I'm sure you'll find it eventually. You can't really miss it since it can't miss you."

"Anyway, gotta go! Have fun!"

Then, Lucin transformed into a lightning bolt again and shot toward the east.

Shang just kept hovering in the sky.

Now, he was alone again.

After a while, Shang slowly flew toward the north.

'First, I need to get familiar with everything. After that, I need to see if there is a way to comprehend Void Casting in here,' Shang thought.

Obviously, Shang's full focus was on comprehending Void Casting since he was running out of longevity.

With only the Isolation Chamber, comprehending Void Casting would have been nearly impossible in Shang's remaining years. Yes, it was extremely effective, but it couldn't be used constantly.

Shang needed an alternative that he could use every day.

As Shang kept traveling toward the north, he saw a couple of interesting spots.

For example, he saw several Ancestral Beasts that had released their domains, but in comparison to normal Ancestral Beasts, these didn't seem aggressive at all.

Shang assumed that these Ancestral Beasts were probably half-domesticated like the Zone Beasts from Area 23. Their job was probably to release their domain and to give some of the weaker people an opportunity to comprehend related Concepts.

Shang had also seen around five people already, but they had all been High Mages.

These five people were divided into two groups, and they were looking at different Ancestral Beasts.

It was a bit strange to see High Mages sitting so close to an Ancestral Beast without fear. It kind of reminded Shang of the Thunder Horse.

When Shang saw these five people, he could tell that they were also Clouds, but in the High Mage Realm instead of the Archmage Realm. All five of them had these unique and bright auras to them. It was almost like the world around them was greyed out, and they were the only ones displayed in color.

It was a strange sensation, and if one didn't actively look for these auras, one also wouldn't take note of it.

However, Shang could tell that these High Mages were extremely talented.

Lucin had said that there were over 110 Clouds, but he had only talked about the Archmage Clouds.

Obviously, there were far more High Mage Clouds. Shang didn't know how many High Mage Clouds there were, but he guessed that there were at least 500.

As for Ancestral Mage Clouds, there were probably way fewer.

Funnily enough, since Ancestral Mages lived for 5,000 years, one would think that there would be more Ancestral Mage Clouds than Archmage Clouds, but that wasn't the case.

Just by looking at these five High Mage Clouds, Shang's guess had been verified.

Their appearances had been young, but that wasn't reflective of their age.

Shang had felt the decay of old age coming from their auras. He was very familiar with this sensation since the decay of old age had also become stronger in his own aura.

This was one of the biggest reasons why there were fewer Clouds, the stronger one became.

Keeping one's Battle-Strength.

One would become a High Mage Cloud when one managed to comprehend at least four level one Concepts while one was a True Mage.

If someone managed to do that, they would have almost certainly used up over half of their longevity. Most likely, they would have reached an age of about 150 years.

Comprehending four level one Concepts as a True Mage was essentially the same as what Shang had done. After all, Shang had comprehended four True Paths as a Commander Stage warrior.

Yet, with Shang's undying willpower and unending drive towards power that was willing to sacrifice everything, Shang had still only reached the True Path Stage in his 80s. It wouldn't be strange that others needed more than a century.

And then?

Then, they needed to comprehend four level two Concepts in their remaining years.

Four level two Concepts could be compared to four Imposes. Shang had needed nearly 200 years to comprehend his four Imposes, and with his added 80 years from before, he had then reached an age of nearly 300.

Now, if Shang had started at the age of 150, he would have only comprehended everything at 350 years.

But what about other Mages?

Was everyone as hard-working as Shang?

No.

So, when they started at 150 years of age and then needed more than 200 years…

They would easily enter the 400s, and they only had 500 years of longevity in total.

Becoming a Cloud and staying a Cloud was a race against time.

Nearly every single Cloud was quite old for their Realm.

Ironically enough, the young people that represented the future big shots of the Lightning Manor could be considered old people by others on their level.

People outside the Empires always looked up to the people inside the Empires, especially the powerful Mage Lords and the Mage Kings.

In their minds, these people were unearthly geniuses that could comprehend Concepts as naturally as breathing.

Yet, these people did not realize how much work and time these geniuses dedicated to their power.

While others were outside having fun, these geniuses were studying Magic.

The lives of the powerful were often not as easy as the weak assumed them to be.

 

 

Chapter 712 712 – Remnant

As Shang continued flying towards the north, he also saw the first Archmage Clouds.

There were currently three of them sitting in a circle and talking animatedly about several complex runes and Magic Circles they had drawn on the ground.

However, before Shang could actually hear what the three of them were talking about, all three of them stopped talking and frowned.

"Hey!" one of them shouted in annoyance. "Listening in on other people's conversation is rude!"

Shang was quite surprised when he heard that. He wasn't specifically trying to remain hidden, but just by sheer habit, Shang had still looked at them in a very covert manner.

Yet, all three of them immediately noticed his spying as soon as he actually paid attention.

This only happened to Shang when he tried to look at someone more powerful than him.

However, these three Archmages were all weaker than him.

Shang also couldn't feel any complicated Magic Circles around them that could alert someone of foreign Spirit Senses.

This meant that the three of them had noticed Shang just by instinct.

After Shang heard their complaint, he simply looked away again. He wasn't actually really interested in what they were talking about. He had simply been looking around, and the three of them had just caught his Spirit Sense.

The three couldn't see Shang since he was outside their Spirit Sense's range, but they could still tell that he had looked away.

"Probably a new Ancestral Mage," one of them said to the others. "They always snoop around because they are not used to everyone noticing their Spirit Sense."

After that, the three of them resumed talking about whatever they had been talking about before.

A couple of seconds later, Shang also saw a huge arena, almost as big as the one in Star City, but in comparison to the one in Star City, this one wasn't nearly as luxurious.

The one in Star City had huge walls and an expensive floor, but this one was just basically a huge hole in the ground without any walls whatsoever. Shang wasn't quite sure if this was where the Clouds practiced against each other or if they also fought to the death here.

Nevertheless, the arena was rather barren, and Shang could only tell it was an arena by the couple of Magic Circles around it.

Currently, there was no one near or in the arena.

After that, Shang saw a single Ancestral Mage sitting in the sky above the clouds. They were just focusing on the cold wind around them. By the looks of things, they were trying to comprehend a Concept.

Shang could feel that this Ancestral Mage was just as outstanding as everyone else.

Then, the Ancestral Mage suddenly opened their eyes and looked at Shang with annoyance.

A moment later, Shang felt a headache coming on, but it wasn't so bad.

Shang guessed that the Ancestral Mage probably got distracted by his Spirit Sense and got annoyed.

Shang just looked away, ignored them, and continued flying toward the north.

He didn't see it, but the Ancestral Mage opened their eyes wide in shock.

Why didn't that Cloud react at all?!

They had just used a powerful Spell that put pressure on someone's mind, which would cause quite a bit of pain.

The Ancestral Mage had felt that their Spell had worked, but that guy just hadn't reacted at all.

That made no sense!

The Ancestral Mage kept looking at Shang for a couple more seconds in interest, but in the end, they looked away again.

There were many strange people here.

The next thing Shang saw was some kind of gigantic waterfall. It was over ten kilometers tall and over a hundred meters deep. The amount of water falling down from it was absolutely unreal.

Shang saw two people meditating in front of it, but he didn't look close enough for them to notice him, but he also wasn't sure how strong they were because of that.

Shang assumed that this was a spot to comprehend the level four Concept of River, which probably meant that the people in front of it were Ancestral Mages.

It was a bit surprising that Shang had seen just as many Ancestral Mages as Archmages in the new territory up to now.

A couple of kilometers further, Shang could see a huge hole, nearly ten kilometers wide and endlessly deep.

Shang couldn't even sense the bottom, which meant that it was unfathomably deep.

The powers of Gravity and Earth were probably extremely strong down there.

Shang couldn't feel anyone near or in the hole, but it could also be that the people that were there were just too deep in the hole for Shang to feel.

A couple of seconds later, Shang saw something that shocked him.

He had seen a lot of interesting things in the last couple of seconds, but this one was by far the most shocking.

It was a sword!

It was a humongous sword!

In the distance was a sword that was over 100 kilometers long, and it was stuck in the ground!

Shang could feel an absolutely ancient and overpowering aura coming from it, but despite its obvious age, it looked completely new.

Its shiny metal glittered in the mellow winter light, and the snowflakes and icicles carried by the wind danced around it.

Shang could feel an insanely brutal amount of aggressive Metal Mana come off it. In fact, there was so much Metal Mana coming off it that Shang felt like he couldn't even get close to it.

Somehow, Shang knew that if he decided to come too close to the sword, he would be cut apart by the metal.

This shocked Shang deeply.

He felt like this sword was just as powerful as the Lightning Sea!

This could only mean one thing.

This sword had once belonged to a non-Mage of the Ninth Realm!

For the first time, Shang was seeing an actual remnant of the past.

Something physical that demonstrated the power of the physical fighters from the past!

"Stop!"

 

Chapter 713 713 – Trial Of Want

Someone shouted at Shang, and Shang felt his Spirit Sense being pushed away from the sword.

Shang had no idea how someone could even do that.

As soon as Shang felt someone attack his Spirit Sense, he fought against the force and began to gather his Mana.

He was already extremely nervous and paranoid due to his new body, and the sudden attack woke his killing instinct.

BANG!

However, Shang was immediately shoved toward the ground by an irresistible force, and he was stopped from doing anything.

"Calm down! I am not attacking you!" someone shouted. "Stop trying to look at the sword, and everything is okay!"

Shang's emotions were going crazy, but he did his best to keep his Spirit Sense from traveling toward the sword again. He knew that he was in a completely new area and that he had to learn the rules first.

As soon as he did that, the force on his body let up, and Shang could finally stand up again.

Shang's Spirit Sense grew bigger again, and he saw the person that had attacked him.

It was a woman with silver hair that seemed to be in her early thirties. She hovered above Shang and looked at him with annoyance.

"Don't you know that it's forbidden to encompass the Ancient Sword with your Spirit Sense?!" she shouted with frustration.

"No, I didn't know that," Shang said coldly.

This took the woman by surprise, and she raised an eyebrow. "You didn't? Are you new?" she asked.

"Yes, I just arrived two minutes ago. Lucin brought me here and just left after explaining some things," Shang said.

"Oh, okay. That explains things," the woman said with a calmer voice. "Hi, I'm Sceva, and I'm one of the Bolts working under Lucin."

'That explains why I couldn't resist her,' Shang thought.

Shang took a closer look, and just as he had expected, she was a Mage Lord, probably even a Peak Mage Lord.

Shang still had to get used to randomly coming across Peak Mage Lords.

When he had been a member of the Temple of Blood, the only Mage Lord he had seen had been the Territory Lord.

The only other Mage Lord for hundreds of thousands of kilometers around had been the three leaders of the Natural Selection Company, but he had never seen those.

And now, Shang was coming across them almost everywhere, and to top it all off, most of them were probably more powerful than the Territory Lord.

Lucin could probably even kill the Territory Lord with just a mere wave of his hands.

"Why is it forbidden to look at the sword?" Shang asked.

Sceva raised an eyebrow. "You know, when a lady gives you her name, the least you could do is to give her your own."

"Shang," Shang answered simply.

Silence.

Sceva snorted in annoyance. It was no fun to talk to this guy. "Because this is one of the best places in the world to comprehend the level five Concept of Metal, Destruction."

"Several powerful Mage Lords and even Mage Lords from the other Empires are sitting in front of the Ancestral Sword, and they are all trying to comprehend this Concept. We can't just allow everyone's Spirit Sense to encompass the sword, or the Mage Lords will never get their peace and quiet."

A level five Concept.

Something a Mage Lord needed to become a Mage King.

"Where did this sword come from?" Shang asked.

"Why should I tell you?" Sceva said with a snort. "You're cold, disrespectful, and rude."

"Sorry," Shang said coldly.

Sceva raised her eyebrows in surprise.

Was that an apology?

It didn't really sound like one.

She just looked at Shang for a couple of seconds, but Shang didn't do or say anything else.

In the end, Sceva just sighed. "You're a weird one. Anyway, this is one of the weapons from the Grand Weapon Master. Legend has it that he had been one of the Mage God's strongest opponents back then. He used 32 weapons, and this is just one of them."

'A Weapon Master that uses 32 weapons,' Shang thought. 'That is definitely not my Path, but the Grand Weapon Master was obviously extremely powerful during his time.'

'Sure enough, many ways lead to the top.'

"Anyway," Sceva added, "you can look at the sword with your eyes if you want, but you can't look at it with your Spirit Sense."

Shang just stood there.

Did he want to look at the sword?

Of course!

This was an impossibly powerful symbol of the ancient warriors. He could probably learn a lot from it.

Yet…

Shang just turned to the side and began to fly away.

Sceva just looked at Shang with a raised brow.

What a weird guy.

A couple of seconds later, Shang saw a grand entrance that led into a hill.

Surprisingly, there were two Bolts sitting beside the entrance, who were playing some kind of complex card game that involved runes and Magic Circles.

When Shang looked at them, the two of them looked back. "Hey, you here for your trial?" one of them asked.

"I'm new," Shang answered. "I don't know what this place is."

"Oh," the guy said. Then, he gestured towards the entrance. "That's the Trial of Want. Everyone gets one chance per Realm to enter."

"And what's that about?" Shang asked.

"The Trial of Want is essentially a very complex Magic Circle designed by none other than the Lightning Emperor himself. It tests the people that enter, and depending on your result, you get something amazing that you need."

"But, just like with everything here, your survival isn't guaranteed," the Mage Lord said with a chuckle.

Shang just nodded.

This sounded quite useful, but it also wasn't what he needed right now.

"Are you two also working for Lucin?" Shang asked.

"Yep," the other guy answered while placing another card in front of him.

Shang looked at the entrance to the Trial of Want for a while longer before leaving.

The two Mage Lords just continued playing cards.

Shang still couldn't get used to casually coming across so many Mage Lords.

 

 

Chapter 714 714 – Heart

Shang continued to look around his new surroundings, and it didn't take long for him to see the next Archmage.

They were casting several Spells in the wilderness, and the surroundings became increasingly colder the closer one came to that Archmage.

Shang avoided looking at them since everyone seemed to notice him when he did so.

Shang definitely needed to get used to his new surroundings.

He saw a couple more High Mages focusing on some complex diagrams that were written on an ancient wall.

Shang also saw a Mage Lord playing some kind of string instrument made of wind and ice that seemed to be part of the sky.

The melody it played created a really strong headache in Shang's mind, but he could also see a whopping 40 Clouds sitting there with closed eyes and listening to the melody.

Surprisingly, most of them smiled contently, while only a couple of them seemed to grimace.

Yet, judging by their expressions, the ones that grimaced didn't think the melody was very painful.

Meanwhile, Shang's hand turned white as he pressed it with nearly all of his power on the side of his head to alleviate the monstrous headache he was feeling.

Shang could deal with a lot of pain, but for some reason, this melody created such a strong headache that Shang immediately turned around to get away from the sound as quickly as possible.

To Shang, the sound was absolutely horrible.

It almost felt just like the operation the Custodian had done on Shang's soul.

Shang didn't want to hear this melody ever again.

He hated it!

It made him angry!

He wanted to kill whoever made that melody!

He despised it!

He absolutely hated it!

This fucking melody!

THIS FUCKING MELODY!

IT NEEDED TO DIE!

HE WOULD KILL-

Shang took a deep breath.

Shang had already gotten away from the melody, and he wasn't hearing it anymore.

He slowly breathed in, and he slowly breathed out.

Shang didn't need to breathe to survive, but slowly breathing in and out could calm someone's nerves.

He remained like this for several minutes.

Eventually, Shang completely calmed down.

'What just happened?' he thought as he put his hand to his chin in thought.

'It's not like me to feel so much pain and to lose control over my emotions. This was just a bit of music. Why would it have such an intense effect on me?'

For some reason, just thinking about the melody made Shang's heart race with anxiety and even fear.

Shang didn't know what was up with that strange melody, but he vowed never to go to this place again.

Instead, Shang looked to a different place. When he had been retreating from the melody just now, Shang had arrived at a new location.

There was an extremely dark forest in front of him.

The trees were black.

The ground was black.

The air was black.

Everything was black.

The only sign of life were three Mages that were very slowly walking through the forest, their expressions stressed and their eyes closed.

The black forest interested Shang a little, and he landed in front of it.

Then, he slowly walked towards it, just like the other Mages.

Yet, when Shang reached the entrance of the forest, he stopped.

His legs were shaking.

He couldn't walk forward anymore.

Surprisingly, Shang's mind was calm, and he looked at the current situation with cold indifference and logic.

Yet, his body was showing all the signs of panic and fear.

His heart raced.

His hands uncontrollably shook.

His legs wouldn't move.

His breathing quickened.

'Curious,' Shang thought as he took note of his panic-filled body. 'I don't feel any fear, but for some reason, something inside of me refuses to let me advance.'

'Sure enough, this place is unlike any I have ever seen. No wonder the Empires have the strongest Mages in the world. With such magical locations, even an idiot could become a Mage Lord.'

Shang stopped trying to enter the black forest and turned around.

As soon as he decided to leave, all the panic and fear in his body vanished.

Shang took to the sky and flew for another couple of seconds.

He found some more Ancestral Beasts with Mages sitting around them.

He found a momentous mountain made of nothing but lightning.

He found a pillar of fiercely burning fire that was kilometers tall.

He found a couple more Mages talking to each other.

Eventually, Shang came across a Mage Lord that was seemingly just randomly sitting in the middle of a random clearing.

Shang ignored him, but the Mage Lord didn't ignore him.

"Hey, I don't know you. Are you new?" the Mage Lord asked.

Shang stopped flying and turned to the Mage Lord. "I arrived just a couple of minutes ago."

"Show me your Communication Crystal," the Mage Lord said.

Shang summoned his Communication Crystal.

"Yep, everything checks out," the Mage Lord said. "Welcome to the Hibye!"

"Hibye?" Shang asked.

"That's what we call this place," the Mage Lord said with a snicker. "It's because we constantly get new people while old people die. That's why it's called hi and bye, Hibye."

"I'm Fleros. You can view me as sort of an administrator. If you need any resources, I'm the guy you wanna talk to. In a way, you could also say that I'm a shopkeeper," Fleros said. "Lucin should've told you about a shop, right? Or did he forget to mention that again?"

"No, he mentioned it," Shang said. "I just assumed that there would be a noticeable building. He said that I can't miss it."

"Yeah, you can't miss it because I literally know everyone here," Fleros said with a snicker. "I've been watching you for a while."

"You did?" Shang said with a cold and apathetic voice.

"Yep, can't help it. I got a big Spirit Sense, you know?" Fleros said with a chuckle. "Anyway, you're a strange one. You know that?"

"I've been told," Shang said.

"You know," Fleros added, "I've seen plenty of new people, but I've never seen a single one that had such a strong reaction to the Inner Heart Melody and the Outer Heart Forest."

Shang could guess what Fleros was talking about. "And what do these two things do?"

"The Inner Heart Melody gives strength to your deepest and most repressed desires, giving them the power to fight your greater self."

"The Outer Heart Forest does the same, but instead of just awakening your deeply buried feelings, it manifests them as illusory apparitions that attack you."

"Those two things are invaluable for clearing someone's regrets and making them achieve inner peace and tranquility. You should know how incredibly helpful that is for comprehending Concepts."

"Or, maybe you don't," Fleros added. "You seem to have about as much peace inside of yourself as Abominations."

 

Chapter 715 715 – Fleros

Shang only snorted.

"That doesn't make a lot of sense," Shang said.

"Oh? How come it doesn't make a lot of sense?" Fleros asked with an interested smile.

"I am not repressing anything deep inside myself," Shang said calmly. "I have my goal, and I am striving to achieve my goal with my entire being. If I suppressed something, I wouldn't be able to follow through with my plans and training."

Fleros raised an eyebrow. "So, you're saying that you're not repressing anything and that we don't know how our own training methods work?"

"That seems to be the only explanation," Shang answered evenly.

This took Fleros by surprise.

"I know myself, and I know that my entire being is united in achieving one single goal. I know that I am not suppressing anything. Therefore, something else must be the reason why the Inner Heart Melody sounds so aggravating in my ears."

"Maybe it only works on Mages? Have you tested it on warriors?"

"What if the special circumstance of my body interferes with the Inner Heart Melody? My body is constantly at 70% life energy, and I feel anxiety, danger, and nervousness all the time. It wouldn't surprise me if this Inner Heart Melody didn't work on me due to that."

"Don't immediately assume that there is something wrong with me as soon as we meet," Shang explained coldly.

Fleros' smile vanished, and it was replaced by a bit of confused concern. "Do you honestly not realize it yourself?"

"There's no point in talking about this," Shang answered. "I know myself."

"Do you?" Fleros asked with concern.

"Yes, I do," Shang answered with a slightly more aggressive voice.

Fleros only looked at Shang with pity.

Then, he took a deep breath and slowly shook his head.

"Don't ever go into the Outer Heart Forest," Fleros said. "I fear that you will die if you enter."

"I wasn't planning on going," Shang answered. "All this stuff about tranquility and inner peace might be something useful for you Mages, but to me, it's nothing but a waste of time. Every moment I sit around, doing nothing, is a moment wasted."

Fleros wasn't surprised that Shang was talking about warriors since he had already heard from Lucin that their newest member wasn't a Mage.

"Maybe you're right," Fleros said, but his voice didn't sound convinced. "Who knows? You're different from everyone else. Maybe there really is something else."

Naturally, Fleros didn't believe any of that.

Fleros had seen many Clouds, and he knew a lot about people.

He couldn't completely see through someone's personality, but he could get a feel for it when he felt someone's Aura.

And when he felt Shang's Aura, only one word came to mind.

Chaos.

Everything about him was in chaos.

This warrior was like someone that blindly ran in a random direction with all of their power. They had no idea where they should go, but they knew that they had to run with everything they had.

Someone like that very likely wasn't at peace with themselves.

Yet, Fleros had decided to take a step back and leave Shang a way out.

Fleros knew that he couldn't possibly change someone like that.

Not on his own.

Not in a short time.

Not right now.

"Is there anything you need or want to ask?" Fleros asked after burying the topic.

"I need to know how much I can tell you," Shang said.

"Anything you tell me stays with Lucin and me," Fleros said. "Nothing that you tell me will reach any other Cloud or Bolt unless you plan on betraying the Lightning Manor, of course. Lucin has already informed me about your Spirit Sense, and he also roughly explained to me how you reached your current level."

Shang nodded. "Are there any mandatory events I have to take part in?"

"Mandatory? No," Fleros answered, "but every one hundred years, we're holding a wilderness hunt."

"What's that?" Shang asked.

"We're creating a simulated wilderness with plenty of beasts, hidden caves, trials, secrets, and treasures. It's very dangerous, but you get a shot at gaining incredible rewards. The riskier and more dangerous something is, the better the reward will be. There is even a shot at becoming a Mage King's temporary student."

"Temporary?" Shang asked.

Shang would have expected that some Mage Kings would have already accepted some students, but they didn't. Even more, the most talented person from the Hibye could only become a temporary student?

"Being a temporary student is better than being a permanent student," Fleros said.

"How so?" Shang asked.

"You see, when you're a permanent student, your teacher has to make you fit into their everyday life. Mage Kings are very busy, and you might only get a shot at talking to them for maybe two weeks a year or something like that."

"But, in our case of being a temporary student, the Mage King stops doing their job for a while and hands it over to a different Mage King for about a century, and in that century, they are fully focused on training you."

"That's why it's better."

Shang nodded. "Makes sense. So, there are no mandatory events, right?"

"Right."

"Good," Shang said. "Then, I need a way to comprehend a special form of Void Casting."

"Oh? Tell me more," Fleros said with interest.

Shang explained what he was trying to achieve, and Fleros listened intently.

"Fascinating," he said with interest. "Are you sure this is even possible?"

"The Custodian confirmed it," Shang answered, "and he even said that there were multiple ways to achieve what I want."

Fleros' eyes shot open with shock. "The Custodian?!"

Shang nodded. "I met him due to my status as a warrior and my Spirit Sense. I presume Lucin didn't tell you about that detail."

Fleros sighed. "No, he didn't. Wow, the Custodian. That really woke me up."

"So, is there a way?" Shang asked.

Fleros rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, our normal method of teaching Void Casting doesn't seem to work for you."

 

Chapter 716 716 – Biology

"Why not?" Shang asked.

"You see, we fill a huge hall with a lot of Mana and insert several Concepts. The Mana in the hall moves around in rapid waves, and the movement of the waves makes it easier to look at the primal forces. It's not that easy to explain to a non-Mage."

"Fact is, what you want to achieve is not the standard form of Void Casting. The most effective form of Void Casting is using a unique Mixed Concept comprised of Space, Time, and Gravity Concepts to achieve a compressive effect on the Mana around you."

"But that is only something that the Empires know. The Void Casting that people outside use is more primitive, where people just force Mana into a small space with their minds. What you are trying to do is more similar to this form of Void Casting, but we only teach the better version, which is the one exclusive to Empires."

"That's why our method wouldn't work for you. The core principles are completely different," Fleros explained.

Shang frowned. "But there should be some other way to help me achieve what I want, right?"

"Of course," Fleros said with a smirk, "and even if there isn't, with enough money, we will simply make one for you."

"Right now, I'm still not entirely sure how you plan on comprehending your unique form of Void Casting. I would need more information to find a suitable training method. Could you tell me what you have already done and how it has affected your comprehension of Void Casting?"

Shang nodded and told Fleros about the training he had done in the last 20 years.

When Fleros heard about the Isolation Chamber, he asked for confirmation several times.

It was very difficult for him to come to terms with what Shang had done to himself.

Eventually, he could only accept it, and he continued to listen to Shang.

"Okay, I think I know what you are trying to do," Flores said after a deep sigh.

"While our Void Casting works with Concepts and the power of our Minds, yours is more of an instinctual action that requires significant altering of your body."

"You essentially want to change the elasticity and tenacity of your Mana Pathways. You want to absorb a large amount of Mana in an instant, shove it into your Mana Pathways, and then explosively release it."

"Naturally, keeping this huge amount of Mana indefinitely would be impossible since that would essentially just signify a minor breakthrough. After all, that's how Realms work. We just get the ability to retain and use more Mana."

"What you want to do is to not increase your Realm but still essentially gain the power of an increased Realm by temporarily increasing your power."

"Is that correct so far?" Fleros asked.

Shang nodded. Fleros had perfectly described what he wanted to do.

In a way, Shang had expected that Fleros, as a powerful Mage Lord, could quickly understand what Shang was trying to do, but it still surprised him a bit.

The principle that Shang had created over 20 years had been completely understood and simplified in a matter of seconds by Fleros.

Once more, Shang could feel the difference between a warrior's and a Mage's mind.

"Good," Fleros said. "Now, let me explain why your stunt with the Isolation Chamber doesn't give constant results."

Now, Shang grew interested.

He didn't know the answer to that question yet.

"By starving your body of Mana and forcing it to go into extreme Mana withdrawal, you are advancing your body into a certain direction by using up your momentum."

This was not something Shang had expected.

"As you know, we all need momentum to achieve a breakthrough. I have heard from Lucin that you have used up that accumulated momentum in the Fourth Realm during every small breakthrough, correct?"

Shang nodded.

"This took the momentum that you gained by comprehending your Imposes away from you, forcing you to comprehend something else to reach the Fifth Realm. Of course, I've also heard that you hadn't even tried to break through before that, but that doesn't change the fact that it would have been impossible regardless."

"Anyway, what you are doing right now is the same thing but in a more unofficial or softer form. Instead of using up your momentum during a breakthrough, you are using it up in a moment of absolute crisis for your body."

"The same force that has increased the power of your Mana Pathways to support the creation of a Beast Core is now changing your Mana Pathways again, but in a different manner this time."

"This time, it is focusing on elasticity. Your Mana Pathways can temporarily hold more Mana by simply having the ability to expand more than normal."

"However, there is a limit to this expansion. Your Mana Pathways are not in a vacuum but inside your body, and the pressure of your body is also keeping them suppressed. Therefore, they can only expand so much."

"The reason why you can't train like that continuously is that you need to increase the tenacity of your Mana Pathways first."

"You could say that elasticity increases the volume of your Mana Pathways while tenacity increases the density. By absorbing these Spells from the Ancestral Mages you have been fighting against, you are essentially damaging and tempering your Mana Pathways. You could view it like hammering some steel."

"However, when the tenacity increases, the elasticity decreases."

"But here comes the kicker."

"When the elasticity increases, the tenacity DOESN'T decrease."

"Your training is like eating and digesting. First, you need to eat. Then, you can digest. By continuously entering the Isolation Chamber, you are essentially eating without digesting."

"So, your hunch of giving it more time between sessions was correct."

"Now, since we know what your training is doing now, we can find ways to improve it."

"Apparently, you have the aspect of training your Mana Pathway's elasticity covered. I don't think it's possible to find a better way to increase it other than to get you to the Life Emperor and have him change your body manually."

"But there is obviously a lot we can do for the tenacity aspect."

Shang had already become extremely interested.

"Which are?"

Fleros smirked.

"I've already thought of a few."

 

Chapter 717 717 – Not A Mage

"How many times do I have to tell you?! You can't just use a retrograde wall rune near a spontaneous fountain rune!"

"It works, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, sure, but you have to come up with a completely new diagram every time you want to make a new one if you keep randomly throwing things together!"

"So what? Then, I'll do just that. It's not like I haven't been doing that until now!"

Two men and a woman were sitting inside a deep and dark cave. A Peak Ancestral Beast looking like a centipede was just a couple of kilometers deeper in the cave, but it didn't attack them.

The cave was filled with thick Darkness Mana, but the three people sitting in the cave weren't paying the Darkness Mana nor the beast much attention.

They were far more focused on criticizing one guy's Spells.

The woman kept looking at one of the men with a raised eyebrow filled with concern and confusion. She had one icy blue eye and one red eye. Her hair and her robes were violet. Judging by her features and the Mana around her, she had a rare Temperature Affinity.

Another guy was looking at the same man with a ridiculing smirk. He had white eyes but wore grey robes. His hair was grey, but it had white tips. Judging by his features and the Mana around him, he had a Dual Affinity. Light and Time.

The last guy was looking at the two of them with an annoyed expression. He had black and blue eyes and hair. Similar to the woman, he wore purple robes but with a different shade. Based on his features and the Mana around him, he had a Dual Affinity for Darkness and Water, which also granted him an Affinity for Poison.

All three of these people had Affinities that would shock the world, but in the Hibye, they were just like everyone else.

All three of them were Peak Archmages.

They had been talking about the purple man's method for creating Spells for a while, wanting to convince him to follow a standardized pattern, but he kept refusing.

Suddenly, all three of them stopped talking and looked with annoyance toward the west.

Someone had just looked at them with their Spirit Sense, annoying them.

The three of them looked back, but they were a bit confused when they saw the guy that looked at them.

He wore torn white robes and had black hair. Yet, he had no eyes, and even more, his Aura was very confusing.

The three of them could feel that the Aura of this person was just as bright as theirs, which meant that he was also an outstanding genius, but at the same time, this guy only had a mind at the level of an Early Archmage.

And to top it all off, he also felt a bit dangerous to them.

Yet, how could someone like that feel dangerous to them? This guy was three levels below them!

"Hey, can you see through his disguise Spell?" the purple man asked, thinking that Shang was hiding his true level.

"No," the other two answered.

"Quite impressive," the purple man said again. "I'm surprised that someone can fool all three of us."

"Hey, do you think he looked at us on purpose to test his disguise Spell?" the woman asked.

"Maybe," the white-grey man answered.

"Hey, wait a second!" the woman transmitted to Shang before shooting out of the cave.

The other two followed her.

Shang stopped flying forward and kept hovering in the air.

A couple of seconds later, the three of them arrived in front of Shang, looking with interest at him.

Crazy, even at such a close distance, they couldn't feel any sign of Shang having a mind at the Peak Archmage Realm.

"How does that Spell work? What kind of Elements does it use?" the purple woman asked Shang with interest.

"Which one?" Shang asked evenly.

"Duh, your disguise Spell," she answered. "You know, the thing that makes you appear like an Early Archmage. I'm willing to pay quite a bit for it."

The other nodded in agreement.

A Spell that could fool the three of them was very valuable and could prove to be incredibly effective in the next Wilderness Hunt. During the Wilderness Hunt, people of a higher level were not allowed to attack someone of a lower level unless they were attacked first.

If the three of them could look like Late Archmages, dangerous Peak Archmages wouldn't challenge them, and if a Late Archmage challenged them, they would earn some easy money.

It was an amazingly useful Spell.

"What makes you think I'm not an Early Archmage?" Shang asked.

The purple man snorted in annoyance. "Oh please. We can feel that you pose some danger to us. It's impossible for an Early Archmage to be that powerful. You would need to have the ability to jump three levels against people with a fourfold Spirit Sense. I don't think that's possible. Therefore, you're using a Spell to hide the power of your mind."

Shang remained silent for a couple of seconds, eliciting some raised eyebrows from the three people.

"I'm not using a Spell to hide the power of my mind," Shang answered. "I genuinely have a mind at the Early Archmage Realm."

The three of them furrowed their brows in disbelieving expressions. "You know, I kind of feel insulted that you think I would fall for that," the purple man said.

"I'm not lying," Shang said. "The reason why I feel dangerous to you isn't related to my mind. While my mind is at the Early Archmage Realm, my being is at the Peak Fifth Realm."

"I'm not a Mage."

This took the three of them by surprise.

Not a Mage?

When was the last time any of them had seen a human that wasn't a Mage?

They looked closer at Shang, and sure enough, now that Shang had said so, they could feel the pressure Shang's body was putting on the space around him.

They hadn't noticed that earlier since they were used to only looking at someone's mind. Bodies only became important when it came to beasts.

For a bit, they were not certain what they should make of this.

 

 

Chapter 718 718 – Challenge

As soon as the three of them realized that Shang wasn't a Mage, they started to rapidly talk to each other via voice transmissions.

It took several seconds for them to say anything to Shang again.

"So, you're not a Mage, right?" the purple woman asked.

Shang only nodded.

"Then, what are you?"

"You can call me a warrior," Shang said.

"A warrior?" the purple woman on the side repeated with surprise. "You mean like these strange guys from the Development Areas?"

"Similar, yes," Shang said.

Then, the woman raised an eyebrow. "Then, what are you doing here?"

"I'm part of the Contender Department," Shang answered.

"You?" the white and grey man repeated with a disbelieving expression. "You are part of the Contender Department?"

"That's what I just said," Shang answered.

Then, the purple man on the side snorted. "Oh yeah? Then, let's see."

A moment later, he took out a Communication Crystal and pointed it at Shang.

Suddenly, a short burst of light appeared, and Shang felt his Communication Crystal come out of his Space Ring of its own volition. Obviously, Shang wouldn't store something made by extremely powerful Mages in his inner world since he didn't want its existence to be exposed.

The Communication Crystal immediately displayed something to Shang.

"You have been challenged to a life-and-death duel by Cloud Rowan. Do you accept?"

When the three of them saw Shang's Communication Crystal react like that, their eyes widened in surprise.

Clouds could only issue such challenges to other Clouds, which proved that Shang truly was a Cloud.

"Do you actually mean that?" Shang asked Rowan, the purple man.

Rowan snorted in confidence. "Sure, if you're down for it."

"Why?" Shang asked.

"Nothing personal, kid," Rowan said with an arrogant smirk. "It's just that it seems like I have to clean up the Contender Department today. I get that you warriors are becoming stronger and that you guys have quite some momentum, but I think you are overestimating your own powers a little."

"Sure, you are probably more powerful than 99% of Mages if you are here, but that's probably because you are a peerless genius among warriors."

"Yet, there still is a difference between a peerless genius amongst warriors and a peerless genius amongst Mages."

"Hey," the purple woman beside Rowan shouted. "I'm a peer."

"I know what I said," Rowan answered.

The woman only snorted.

The white and grey man didn't say anything.

"You have a Poison Affinity?" Shang asked.

"Yep," the man answered, slightly altering the truth.

"Sorry, but Poison Affinities are my weakness," Shang said evenly. "Poison acts on the body, and my body is my weapon."

Rowan just looked with annoyance and disgust at Shang.

He had feared that Shang might decline.

A second later, the purple woman suddenly took out her own Communication Crystal.

Shang's Communication Crystal transmitted something to him again.

"You have been challenged to a life-and-death duel by Cloud Cindy. Do you accept?"

"Then, what about me?" Cindy asked with a bright smile.

Shang's mind focused on Cindy for a while.

"What Affinity do you have?" Shang asked.

"Why are you asking something like that?" Cindy said with a bit of annoyance. "I don't know what kind of Affinity you have. So, why should I tell you about mine?"

"Because it is my decision if I want to accept or not," Shang answered.

Silence.

Cindy snorted. "Temperature," she said.

"Oh, I've never seen someone with a Temperature Affinity," Shang said.

Then, Shang sighed. "Sorry, but I'm not confident in taking on someone like that."

"I get it," Cindy said with a nice smile.

Shang nodded once and then focused on the last person, the white and grey man. "What about you? I'm up for a fight since I need some resources, but the other two are not people I want to fight against."

The last man looked at Shang with a relatively emotionless expression. "Light Affinity," he said.

"Light Affinity?" Shang asked. "Only a Light Affinity? The two others have such rare Affinities, but you managed to enter the Contender Department with only a Light Affinity?"

The man looked with a bit of annoyance at Shang. "Entering the Contender Department is not about having a rare Affinity but about how much you can make of your Affinity."

The other two remained silent.

In a certain way, the white and grey man had the rarest Affinity of them all, a Dual Affinity of Light and Time.

Just having a Time Affinity was already incredible, but having a Light Affinity on top of that was just crazy.

Yet, nearly no one on their level had any experience with Time Magic, Time Mana, or Time Affinities, making it nearly impossible to feel the Time Mana around the white and grey man.

Especially when he did his best to suppress his Time Mana.

Shang's Spirit Sense cycled through them like he was evaluating his options.

"Who's the strongest amongst you three?" Shang asked.

The three threw a couple of glances at each other.

"Well, we all believe that we are the strongest, but we are unwilling to confirm it," Rowan said. "It's better not to fight amongst friends."

"Even you?" Shang asked the white and grey man.

"I have my ways," he said emotionlessly.

Shang hummed a bit and scratched his chin.

"If you are up for it, I think I'm willing to fight you," Shang said to the last person.

The other two looked with surprise at Shang.

"Alright," the man said emotionlessly as he took out his Communication Crystal.

A second later, Shang's Communication Crystal transmitted something to him again.

"You have been challenged to a life-and-death duel by Cloud Erel. Do you accept?"

Shang focused on his Communication Crystal for a couple of seconds.

"What are you waiting for? Accept!" Erel said.

Shang focused on Erel for a second.

Then, he focused on his Communication Crystal again.

DING!

Suddenly, Erel's Communication Crystal released some blue light, which meant that the person he had challenged had accepted his duel.

The other two smiled victoriously and excitedly when they saw that.

They were about to make some money!

DING!

But then, their eyes widened in shock as Cindy's Communication Crystal also shone in blue light.

DING!

And then, even Rowan's Communication Crystal shone blue.

For a second, they were extremely confused.

How?

What?

And then, they realized that Shang had only declined their duels verbally earlier.

He hadn't actually declined it officially.

They hadn't thought much of it since such a challenge would default to no after ten minutes of not being answered.

Then, all three of them looked at Shang with shock.

And as soon as they did, they noticed that Shang's Aura had changed.

He didn't seem as uncertain and sociable anymore.

Instead, he felt like a beast calmly waiting for its prey.

"So," Shang said coldly.

"Where do we fight?"

 

Chapter 719 719 – Preparation

The three of them looked with shock at Shang for quite some time.

Earlier, Shang had seemed a bit uncertain. He had acted like a new member of the Hibye that wasn't sure what he should do.

But now, there was no more uncertainty.

His Aura was stable and cold, with no anxiety or nervousness.

And then, Cindy broke out into laughter.

The other two looked at her with a bit of confusion.

Shang didn't react.

"You're a funny guy, Shang," Cindy said. She had heard of Shang's name when the Communication Crystal had told her that her duel had been accepted. "You acted all nervous in order to bait us into fighting you."

Cindy snorted. "But that doesn't change anything. Power is power, and we are Mages while you are a warrior."

"What's the point of accepting all our duels when you are going to die to Erel anyway?"

The two others calmed down as well and looked at Shang with a mix of pity and disdain.

"Where do we fight?" Shang asked again.

"We have to wait for Lucin," Rowan said with a calm tone. "He has to officiate everything."

Shang only nodded.

Then, everyone waited.

The three of them were talking like nothing out of the ordinary had happened, while Shang only waited in silence.

A couple of minutes later, Lucin finally appeared.

He transformed from a lightning bolt into his human form again and stopped beside everyone.

Then, he took out his Communication Crystal. "Alright, we have three life-and-death duels. It's you three versus him, right?" he asked calmly.

Everyone nodded.

Lucin also nodded and started to give everyone a run-down on how things were going to play out.

Since Shang had accepted the duel with Erel first, he would be his first opponent, and the duel would take place in five days in the big arena near the south of the Hibye.

The other two duels would be held after Shang had recovered from his earlier duel, assuming he managed to win.

Shang told them that it would, at most, take a couple of hours for him to recover.

Because of that, all three duels were scheduled for the same day, with the latter two having a fluid schedule.

"Alright, then, please hand over your Space Rings," Lucin said.

Everyone did just that. The policy to hand over the Space Rings immediately existed to make sure that the winner would truly get all the wealth from their opponent.

"Declare your assets," Lucin said.

The three Mages named several buildings in several big cities and several companies.

These Clouds received a lot of money, and to get even more money, they invested a lot of it. Like that, they would gain even more resources over the long run.

Shang had nothing to declare. He named Icy Bastion, but he also said that it wasn't his anymore. Nevertheless, Shang tried to be as honest as possible.

"Alright, if we find out that you own something you haven't declared within the next five days, you will be executed before that moment. So, if you still haven't declared something, now's your chance," Lucin said calmly.

No one said anything.

"And that's everything," Lucin said before activating his Communication Crystal again.

After a couple of seconds, several Mage Lords appeared behind Lucin.

"As policy demands, each of you will be watched and followed by three Mage Lords to make sure that nothing happens before the duels start," Lucin said.

Then, the twelve Mage Lords got split between the four combatants.

"See you in five days," Lucin said with a nod before leaving.

Shang focused on the three Mage Lords standing behind him for a while.

"Enjoy your last days," Erel said with a cold voice. "Go get your affairs in order. I don't enjoy killing, but that's something I have to live with if I want to become powerful. You can't reach supreme power without some sacrifice."

Shang didn't say anything and flew away.

Erel only coldly harumphed and also left.

After Shang left, he felt that the three Mage Lords that were supposed to watch him had vanished.

Of course, Shang was quite certain that the three of them were still watching him closely. They probably just kept themselves hidden so as not to distract Shang.

Three Mage Lords.

It would be nearly impossible to pull anything with such a powerful escort.

None of Shang's three opponents would be able to contact anyone else to transfer their wealth or to ask an assassin to take care of Shang.

Even more, an eventual assassin would need to get past three Peak Mage Lords from the Lightning Manor.

For the next five days, Shang would be the safest he had ever been.

Sadly, due to Shang's body, he still felt like the Mage Lords were about to kill him, but he had grown used to it over the last 20 years.

Yes, when the three of them had said that Shang was an Early Archmage, they were somewhat right.

Shang had already been in the Hibye for 20 years.

For the last 20 years, Shang had strengthened his Mana Pathways with the method Fleros had come up with.

However, that method was very expensive, and the Grade Seven Mana Crystal Shang had received when he arrived in the Hibye had only been enough for 20 years of training.

That was why Shang had come out today.

He needed money.

Shang had thought about joining the Wilderness Hunt, but that one would only take place in ten more years, and Shang refused to waste a full decade of his training.

Shang needed money now, and on top of that, he needed to take as much advantage of this opportunity as possible.

As soon as Shang showed his power, his life would become much more dangerous, and it would also become much harder to get money by fighting others. After all, they were free to decline the duel.

Shang was quite certain that nearly no one would accept a duel with him after he fought the first three.

A couple of seconds after leaving, Shang reached a small cave.

He sat down in the middle and just closed his eyes.

He would remain like this for the next five days.

The watching Mage Lords thought that Shang was mentally preparing himself for the duels, but that wasn't completely true.

At the moment, Shang was inside his inner world, and he was summoning one powerful Mage after the other with the Affinity Wheel.

Shang wasn't mentally preparing himself, but physically.

 

 

Chapter 720 720 – Outstanding

"Man, I'm so excited about the matches today."

"What's there to be excited about? This warrior will get destroyed in less than a minute."

"Yeah, I know, but I still want to know how he fights. I mean, he got accepted into the Contender Department, right? This means that he has a fourfold Spirit Sense like everyone else. Even if he is a warrior, there must be something special about him, right?"

"Sure, but he's still a warrior. He's probably extremely powerful compared to normal Mages, but we are not normal Mages, are we?"

"Who knows? Maybe he will hold out for a couple of seconds. I want to see what a warrior can do."

"What are you two talking about? You honestly think we will get to see the warrior's power? Pfft, as if! I think he will explode before he can even show his power. Did you guys forget who his opponent is?"

"It's Erel, right? Do you know what Erel can actually do? I've never seen him fight, but I've heard he has a Dual Affinity of Time and Light."

"Nope, no idea. No one ever saw him fight. He is getting all his resources from all the smaller trials, and due to his Affinity, no one has challenged him to a duel yet. Also, I heard that he isn't the biggest fan of killing, which is why he never challenged anyone."

"Huh, but then why did he challenge the warrior?"

"Wouldn't you? I mean, I feel kind of insulted that a warrior is in the Hibye. I have like three friends that are nearly as powerful as me, but they still weren't accepted into the Hibye. Yet, some random warrior got accepted?"

"Also, maybe Erel just thinks that this warrior represents some easy resources. Wouldn't you?"

"Sure, but it still feels weird. I mean, is Erel truly as powerful as everyone thinks? No one ever saw him fight, after all."

"No idea, could be, couldn't be."

Several members of the Hibye were slowly arriving at the central arena. Whenever there was a life-and-death duel, everyone would be informed, and they were allowed to watch.

This had several reasons.

First of all, by making this a public event, no one could accuse the Lightning Manor of choosing their favorites and having them win the duel.

Second, this was a learning opportunity for everyone.

Third, it would remind everyone that the path to power was dangerous and that they could die any day.

And lastly, it was to dissuade people from challenging others.

Sure, the Lightning Manor offered these life-and-death duels for everyone, but they still didn't want the students to die to each other as much. The trials were less dangerous and more efficient in increasing someone's power.

By making this a public event, everyone would see what powers the winner had, allowing people to create counters for these powers. Additionally, people that were at a disadvantage against that winner would get an opportunity to see these powers and avoid falling victim to them.

The duels would start in ten minutes, but there were already over 400 Clouds here. There were around 50 Ancestral Mages, 90 Archmages, and nearly 300 High Mages.

Usually, duels only had around 50 people watching, and these people would be of the combatants' levels.

But due to Shang, far more people were interested.

They wanted to see what a powerful warrior could do, but even more, they wanted to see a Mage dominate and destroy that warrior.

Mages were the most powerful, and since everyone here was a Mage, they wanted to see their own kind win.

Sure, the other Paths are not worthless, but they couldn't be compared to actual Mages that actually knew what they were doing. Over 99% of Mages were aimlessly creating and copying shit without knowing what the hell they were doing, at least, according to the Clouds.

And, in a way, they were right. Compared to the Clouds, every other Mage truly didn't know what they were doing.

In their minds, even a pig could comprehend a level one Concept before becoming a High Mage. There was nothing special about comprehending only one Concept before a breakthrough, while two Concepts were the bare minimum to be considered human.

Only three Concepts were good in their mind, but only people that comprehended four Concepts before becoming a High Mage were truly amazing Mages.

This was the level of the Hibye.

Back then, Jerald had comprehended two level one Concepts before becoming a High Mage, and he had comprehended two level two Concepts as a High Mage. Maybe, with a lot of luck, he could have comprehended a third one, but that would still have been difficult.

And with these accomplishments, Jerald had been the most powerful normal Mage in Area 23, and he would have been a bit above average outside.

Agon, King Skythunder, was more talented.

He had comprehended two level one Concepts before becoming a High Mage, nearly three Concepts before becoming an Archmage, and during his stay as an Assistant Supervisor, he had gotten enough resources to push to three Concepts.

With three level three Concepts as an Archmage, Agon had a good shot at becoming a Boltling, someone that would be cultivated into a future Bolt.

Someone that was powerful enough for an Empire to invest in them was someone truly outstanding.

Agon would become someone on the same level as that Dawn Seedling Shang had met near the Eternal Maw.

Agon could order Sparks around, who were powerful Peak Ancestral Mages.

This was what it meant to be chosen.

This was what it meant to be a future Mage Lord.

Mage Lords were the most powerful and illustrious people outside the headquarters of any Empire.

No one ever saw any Mage Kings or any of the Mage Emperors. Nearly every single human died before ever having seen one.

Even over half the Mage Lords would never see a Mage King.

Mage Kings were legends!

This meant that Mage Lords were essentially the rulers of the world.

Mage Lords represented the peak of power since Mage Kings basically didn't really actually exist in the real world.

And Agon had worked so long and so hard for his position as Boltling.

And then, there was the Contender Department.

…

And the Clouds thought that the Boltlings were okay.

Some of them were not bad.

Some of them were even good.

But that was about it.

It wasn't really anything special or impressive.

It was just a bit better than average.

The Clouds were so powerful that they transcended the powers of the normal world.

People with a fourfold Spirit Sense were legends.

They were myths.

No one knew if they even existed.

This was not a level that anyone could realistically reach.

Each Cloud represented the most talented person that had been born in the last 500 years for an area nearly 100,000 kilometers wide.

Every Cloud was a once-in-a-trillion genius.

If this were Earth, one Cloud represented the most outstanding person that had lived in the last 2,000 or so years on the entire planet.

One Cloud represented the most powerful person in Earth's history.

This was the Contender Department.

And today, Shang would fight his first Cloud.