Ch. 741..750
Chapter 741 741 – A Life
Time passed.
Shang just kept breathing heavily as he became weaker and weaker.
A lot of his grit and willpower had already vanished, and he felt like dying wouldn't be such a bad idea anymore.
However, Shang also recognized that this was the effect of Death Mana entering his mind.
There was no Death Mana around Shang, but Shang's mind was still slowly being filled with Death Mana.
That was just natural.
This was how Death Mana worked.
At some point, the body and mind would start to produce Death Mana at a slow rate, and the Death Mana would slowly overtake the body.
First came the sickness. Old people would become ill many more times than younger people.
Then came weakness. The increased density of Death Mana would weaken the body and the mind. The body wouldn't be able to summon as much power as before, and the mind wouldn't be able to focus as much.
In this state, summoning one point of willpower was as difficult as summoning ten points of willpower when one was younger.
The lack of willpower and motivation would tire someone out, and they would just want to sleep and relax.
This was death.
The end of life.
Shang was so tired.
He just didn't want to continue anymore.
He had fought for so long.
He had suffered for so long.
So what if he didn't achieve his goal?
Right now, he just wanted to sleep and forget about all of this.
Nothing mattered since everyone would someday die anyway.
What's the point of being the strongest if he would just die in a million years or whatever anyway?
Every person was just a transient visitor to life. Someone poor and weak without a family might completely vanish from the world within 20 years.
A normal mortal might die within 80. Their grandchildren would still remember them, but would the children of the grandchildren remember the mortal?
What about those children?
And the children of those?
At some point, the mortal would be completely forgotten.
No one would remember them.
No one would remember what they had done.
What was the difference between them existing and not existing?
The existence of the children?
That lineage would eventually come to an end as well, and then what?
And what about a powerful Mage?
Wasn't it just the same but on a bigger scale?
Many of the Mage Emperors had been friends with the Mage God, which meant that they all were less than 500,000 years old.
Sure, that was a lot of time, but had the world existed for only those 500,000 years?
Just Earth alone had existed for over four billion years.
How long had this world existed?
What had happened in the past?
Had there been extremely powerful geniuses that could rival the Mage God a million years ago?
Ten million years ago?
A hundred?
Who was the one that reached the Ninth Realm first?
Wasn't this person why every Emperor that lived today was in the Ninth Realm?
Yet, nobody remembered.
Nobody knew.
Arguably the most influential person in existence was someone completely unknown.
And that was it.
Even the most powerful and influential person would one day be forgotten by the world.
Supreme power?
Death would come for you anyway.
Your power didn't matter.
Your age didn't matter.
Your prestige didn't matter.
Your actions didn't matter.
Everything was pointless.
So, why try?
Why not just sleep?
What was the point of chasing a temporary goal?
Shang's mind felt more and more exhausted.
Everything seemed so pointless.
Everything was so tiresome and so exhausting.
If he died now, everyone would forget him after a couple more years, and even if he reached the Ninth Realm, people would still forget him. It would just take more years.
So, what's the difference between dying now and dying then?
Why put up this pointless fight?
Shang became weaker and weaker.
The world around him became darker.
His Spirit Sense couldn't even extend out of his body anymore.
Shang's breathing slowed, which meant that less Mana was entering his body now.
His skin started to dry out and took on a grey tone.
Shang's muscles hurt since they were nearly being torn apart by the natural action of just lying there. Like liquid, they just wanted to flow apart.
Most people would have already died.
This was the reason why so many people didn't stubbornly cling to life when their end had come.
An ancient and happy grandpa would willingly go to eternal sleep after seeing all his loved ones one last time.
A bitter grandpa would no longer care and just go to eternal sleep to escape his regrets.
A good grandpa would be accepting of his destiny and tell everyone that his time had come.
An evil grandpa would be killed by others or refuse to witness themselves becoming so weak, ending it early.
This was no longer living.
Not being able to move.
Not being able to sense one's surroundings.
Having to put in so much effort just to breathe.
What was the point of continuing?
Shang's body grew even weaker.
His mind was slowly thinking about his life.
The wilderness.
The Hegemon.
Jerald.
Warrior's Paradise.
George.
Mervin.
The Skythunder Kingdom.
The Grandmountain Kingdom.
The war.
The Council.
The isolated training.
Jerald's death.
The journey to the Twilight Dusk Family's territory.
The Temple of Blood.
Icy Bastion.
Lucin.
The Clouds.
The Furnace Pills.
The Isolation Chamber.
Void Casting.
The Concept of Twilight.
Old age.
This had been Shang's life.
Just one more Cloud that would die in the Hibye.
Thinking became more difficult.
Shang just focused on his body.
And he just kept focusing.
And kept focusing.
And kept focusing.
A day passed.
A week passed.
A month passed.
A year passed.
Shang had just become 1001 years old.
He looked identical to how he had looked a year ago.
He had not grown weaker.
He had not grown stronger.
He couldn't move, and he couldn't sense his surroundings.
He refused to die.
Shang wanted to sleep more than anything at all, but there was one thought that kept him going.
For his entire life, he had always given his best.
He had always put in 100%.
Full effort for every second of every minute of every day of every year.
That was all he had left.
Effort.
Shang didn't manage to achieve his goal, but at least he had given his best.
Like in a race, Shang wouldn't become the winner, but he would give his best until the race was over.
It was sportsmanship.
Athleticism.
So, even though Shang wanted to die, he would give his all to stay alive until the very end.
Only when he had nothing left to give would he die.
That was his sole reason for still hanging on.
Just fight.
Never stop.
Always go forward.
And if you fail on the way, so what?
At least you've given your all.
Chapter 742 742 – The Right Thing
When confronted by death, many people would think about their life and reevaluate past decisions.
What were their regrets?
What would they have changed?
Maybe they shouldn't have been so strict with their children?
Maybe they shouldn't have broken up with their first love?
If they hadn't taken out that loan from those dangerous people, their children would have something to inherit today?
Naturally, Shang wasn't any different.
Should he have been more amongst people?
Should he have accepted the Sweeper's confession?
Should he have spared Jerald?
Shang thought about all of these things.
And he acknowledged something.
He would be happier if he had someone with him.
It would feel nice not to be alone right now.
Everything was so painful, exhausting, dark, and lonely.
Shang knew that he would feel better if he hadn't been so brutal and inflexible in his past.
However, did this mean that Shang would have changed his past actions if he could?
No.
If he hadn't killed Lash, the Grandmountain Kingdom might have killed him.
If he hadn't killed Jerald, he would have eventually caved in and told someone.
If he hadn't declined the Sweeper's advances, Shang wouldn't have had enough time to comprehend his form of Void Casting or the Concept of Twilight.
Yes, he felt lonely, and he wished that someone was at his side.
However, Shang knew that this luxury would come with a price he wouldn't want to pay.
And then came another thought.
So what?
Since everyone would die, it didn't matter what one accomplished in their life.
Might as well die happy and surrounded by loved ones, right?
However, that was only true when death was a certainty.
At this moment, Shang kept putting in effort.
Shang still had hope.
What if there were loved ones around him?
Wouldn't they feel horrible by watching him suffer?
Wouldn't they tell him to give up and just go to sleep?
And would Shang do that?
Probably.
He was barely hanging on as it was. Any person that told him to just rest might tip him over the edge.
Having a loved one at his side would take away all hope.
It would transform his likely death into a certain death.
They would essentially kill him and believe that this was the right thing to do.
But this was his life!
And he had the right to fight for his life!
So, in the end, Shang was glad that there was no loved one around him.
He didn't want them.
He didn't need them!
Their weakness would make him weak!
So what if he was about to die?!
At least he would die fighting!
Shang kept focusing on his body, and he kept breathing weakly.
But he kept breathing.
He kept fighting.
One more year passed.
And another year passed.
Shang was now well over the maximum lifespan of someone at the Fifth Realm, and any other person would have long since died.
But he wouldn't give up.
He would never stop!
If death wanted to take him, it needed to come for him personally!
More years passed.
Eventually, Shang became 1010 years old.
He hadn't moved a single muscle in the last ten years.
His skin had already split at multiple locations, and the Death Mana in his body had started to leak out into the surroundings.
Shang was a corpse that was unwilling to die.
He couldn't do anything.
He couldn't even feel his surroundings.
But he wasn't dead.
Every waking moment was agony, but he still kept going.
Was this living?
According to most people's standards, no.
This couldn't be considered living.
However, to Shang, this was still living.
As long as his consciousness still existed, he would be alive.
As long as he could think, he was still alive.
Yet, Shang couldn't interact with the living world.
His entire perception was confined in his own body.
He was counting himself as alive, but in truth, he wasn't doing more than a stone lying at the side of a road.
Was it life?
No.
Was it death?
No.
It was something between these two.
Shang was neither alive nor dead.
It was limbo.
Or Purgatory.
This was Purgatory.
This was what Shang had been searching for.
After ten years in this state, Shang had gained a special feeling.
This mixture of feelings could only be understood by people that went through the same thing that Shang had gone through.
It was so profound, unique, and special, but also simple.
And he understood.
He understood what it meant to be in Purgatory.
As soon as Shang realized that he had comprehended the level three Concept of Death, Purgatory, his mind basically exploded with willpower.
WHOOOM!
Shang's legs turned to dust as he sacrificed them to the Domain of Entropy.
The Domain of Entropy cleaned the remainder of Shang's body of all Death Mana, and Shang felt all the power return to him for just a moment.
But a moment was all he needed.
Shang's Spirit Sense extended out of his body for the first time in a decade, and Shang willed all the Mana in his surroundings to enter his body.
Void Casting filled all of his body with Mana, and Shang immediately tried to digest all of it.
Shang's body shook and nearly broke apart under the strain.
And then, his mind reached for more Mana.
He needed more!
He wanted more power!
He needed more power!
BOOOOM!
And then, all the Mana in the surroundings entered Shang's body of its own volition.
It was the sign of a breakthrough.
Someone was reaching the Sixth Realm!
Shang's body was being lifted up.
His legs healed.
The tears in his skin closed.
The Death Mana left his body.
Shang felt incredible power enter his body.
After being weak for so long, having that much power felt unreal.
He was so powerful!
He could do everything!
As more and more Mana entered Shang's body, Shang reflected on the last ten years.
'If I had loved ones, I would be dead right now.'
'My emotions might regret the path I have chosen, but my mind doesn't regret it!'
'All my sacrifices were worth it!'
'Without all my sacrifices, where would I be?'
'I've done the right thing!'
'And I would do it again!'
Chapter 743 743 – Breakthrough
As soon as Shang's body recovered, the amount of Mana flowing into him increased more and more.
First, the Mana had only entered his body to heal him, but now, it was actually pushing him to the next Realm.
The Mana around the Twilight Cave also began to travel towards Shang, and that wasn't even close to everything.
In a matter of seconds, the surrounding 1,000 kilometers began to flow towards Shang.
Then, the surrounding 5,000 kilometers.
The surrounding 10,000 kilometers.
Eventually, even the surrounding 100,000 kilometers began to flow into Shang.
The Mana in the entire Hibye was entering Shang's body to assist in his breakthrough.
That was normal.
Whenever anyone in the Hibye became an Ancestral Mage, the entire Mana in the Hibye flowed into them.
This showed how ridiculously much Mana Ancestral Mages needed.
A Mage Lord might even absorb all the Mana in over a million kilometers around them, which was a significant part of an Empire.
This was a very good example of how little Mana the world actually had.
How much Mana would a Mage King consume?
A Mage King might actually consume all the Mana in several Empires.
Yet, surprisingly, no one noticed a drop in Mana whenever a new Mage King appeared.
Most people wouldn't even notice the absence of such an event.
However, the more powerful people noticed, but they also knew why there was no event.
Obviously, the Mana of a dead Mage King was directly infused into the new Mage King.
In a way, it was like an inheritance. The Peak Mage Lord would absorb all the Mana of the dead Mage King and reach the Eighth Realm.
That was why there was no huge event when a new Mage King appeared.
But it was already noticeable enough when someone became an Ancestral Mage or Mage Lord.
These were events that everyone in a huge radius would notice.
The Clouds in the Hibye became annoyed when all the Mana started to vanish, but they were already used to it. Every couple of years, someone would become an Ancestral Mage here, and the same thing happened every time.
The Clouds just waited until the breakthrough was complete, and the Mana got refilled.
Yet, what the Clouds didn't notice was that it didn't just stop there.
Usually, someone that broke into the Ancestral Mage Realm would consume all the Mana in the entire Hibye, but today, even more Mana was absorbed.
The Mana Shang was absorbing stretched out of the Hibye, and reached a distance of 150,000 kilometers.
In terms of area, this was already over double as much as a radius of 100,000 kilometers, and in terms of volume, it was even crazier.
Why did Shang suddenly consume that much more Mana than everyone else?
Because of his body and mind.
Mages only needed enough Mana to push their minds to the next Realm. They didn't need any Mana for their bodies.
A warrior with a warrior body would only need enough Mana to push their body to the next Realm. They didn't need any Mana for their minds.
But Shang used both.
His mind had already been close to the Peak of the Archmage Realm, and the sudden influx of Mana had pushed it to the actual Peak of the Archmage Realm.
And now, it was also being pushed to the Sixth Realm alongside his body.
Because of that, Shang needed double the amount of Mana to reach the next Realm.
However, that wasn't the end.
Shang's body had been changed by his own version of Void Casting.
By consuming all this momentum, Shang's entire body had been altered, and it could essentially hold four times as much Mana as normal.
So, the pull of the Mana stretched out even further.
175,000 kilometers.
200,000 kilometers.
225,000 kilometers.
And eventually, it reached 250,000 kilometers.
The pull of Mana was insane.
Most people didn't notice since Shang's pull extended far further than their Spirit Senses could reach, but Lucin could tell that something was different based on the strength of the pull.
Lucin was currently above his house, and when he felt the insanely powerful pull of Mana coming from the Twilight Caves, he almost couldn't believe it.
He had visited Shang a couple of times, but Shang had never noticed since his perception had been stuck inside his own body.
Every time Lucin had come, he had assumed that Shang was about to die any minute now.
He had already lamented the death of such a genius many times.
Yet, Shang just kept surviving.
And now, he was actually breaking through!
It was difficult for Lucin to come to terms with Shang's breakthrough, but in the end, he could only sigh in relief.
But there was also something else.
Excitement.
By consuming all this momentum, Shang had essentially done something that had never been done before as far as he knew.
Instead of getting enough momentum to break through into the next Realm, Shang comprehended enough to create a fivefold Spirit Sense and then completely consumed all of the momentum.
How many people could comprehend something above their Realm?
How many True Mages could comprehend a level two Concept before becoming a High Mage?
Nearly no one.
Comprehending something like this was so brutally difficult that there was only one person every couple of centuries, and this person would have a fivefold Spirit Sense.
Yet, Shang had actually completely consumed this thing and then comprehended enough to create a twofold Spirit Sense after that.
It was beyond ridiculous.
Inside the Twilight Cave, Shang's body began to shine brightly as more and more Mana entered his body.
His Mana Pathways began to shine more and more, and the space inside them seemed to vibrate under the sheer pressure they were under.
Shang's Mana Pathways were so ridiculously hard and powerful that just a small cut in them would release so much Mana that it would kill a True Path Stage Abomination.
Shang's body was so ridiculously powerful.
At a base level, Shang's body was already quite a lot more powerful than a beast's body, and with the added power of his transformed Mana Pathways, Shang's body had reached a level where it was even stronger than a beast's body an entire level above him.
At this moment, Shang could punch an Early Ancestral Beast to death with just his fists.
On top of that, his mind was also no longer below him in level.
He also had the mind of someone at the Initial Ancestral Mage Realm.
All of Shang's weaknesses had vanished.
After so much suffering, torture, sacrifice, and pain, Shang had finally achieved a level that closed in on perfection.
This was the day.
This was the very day on which Shang had stepped out from the masses and reached a level that separated him from the world.
The difference between an average Mage and a Cloud was now just as big as the difference between a Cloud and Shang.
In the True Path Stage, the God had said that Shang belonged to the top 2,000 people in his Realm.
In the Fusion Realm, the God had said that Shang was in the top ten but also that there were two people that were definitely more powerful. However, these two people were already Mage Lords.
And now?
Shang was number one.
There was no contest.
Although, if one looked further…
Right now, Shang's Spirit Sense stretched to a radius of 3,000 kilometers, which was six times as much as a normal Ancestral Mage's Spirit Sense.
While there was no Mage Lord or weaker in the world with such a strong Spirit Sense, there was a Mage King with a comparable one.
King Sanctified Death was the only person in the world that was on Shang's level.
Chapter 744 744 – Void Break Realm
The Mana in Shang's Mana Pathways solidified.
At least, it looked like a solid mass due to the ridiculous density of the Mana.
Yet, if one used enough force, it could still be molded. In a way, it was almost like hot iron that could only be molded by a powerful hammer blow.
All the additional Mana Pathways across Shang's body were filled to the brim with solid and powerful Mana.
Shang's body was ridiculously powerful, heavy, and hard right now.
Finally, Shang reached the Sixth Realm.
It had taken so long.
Shang had used up all of his longevity, and he had even managed to survive for an additional ten years just due to his willpower.
And it had been worth it.
The ten past years of suffering had been worth it.
Shang managed to survive, and he managed to reach an incredible level of power.
Eventually, all the Mana Shang had used up was refilled by more Mana from outside this place flowing into it.
Yet, the world's density of Mana had become lower, even if the difference was imperceptibly small.
In just a couple of hours, an Ancestral Mage would die somewhere, and the density of the atmosphere would nearly reach its old levels again.
The amount of Mana the Ancestral Mages held within them was just a little bit below the threshold of being noticeable in the grand scheme of things.
As for Mage Lords, the more perceptive Mage Lords could roughly tell how many Mage Lords there were in the world based on the Mana density in the atmosphere.
Since the Mana of the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors never entered or exited the atmosphere, the biggest changes in the world's Mana density were the Mage Lords.
One additional Mage Lord would already reduce the world's Mana by 0.001%. That didn't seem like a lot, but one had to know that this was all the Mana of the entire world.
In comparison, all the money in circulation on Earth amounted to a bit less than 50 trillion dollars.
0.001% of that would be 500 million dollars.
That was quite a bit of money.
However, one also had to keep in mind that Aterium was far bigger than Earth, which meant that such a percentage from Aterium was more ridiculous than having 100% of Earth's money.
Nevertheless, even though Shang wasn't using up as much Mana as a Mage Lord, he was already using up quite a bit, and it was definitely noticeable to most of the people in the Hibye.
Shang slowly landed on the ground of the Twilight Cave, the ground below his feet cracking on parts.
These places were built with the bodies of Mages in mind, and right now, Shang's body could only be compared to the body of a Mage King.
Shang's body had become so heavy that it even damaged the ground of such expensive training locations.
However, it wasn't very difficult for Shang to adapt. He simply needed to solidify a bit of Mana under his feet, which would mean that he wasn't technically walking on the ground but on a thin layer of extremely dense Mana.
Shang took a deep breath.
For the first time in a long while, Shang could finally take a long and deep breath without having to fight something or suffer through something.
The stress of his vanishing longevity was gone.
The pain from the Furnace Pills was gone.
The terror of the Isolation Chamber was gone.
Now, Shang had 4,000 years of longevity ahead of him.
Now, Shang had reached a level of Battle-Strength that put him at the absolute top of the world.
In the last 300 years, Shang had been under more pressure than ever before.
Reaching the True Path Stage or the Fusion Realm had been nothing in comparison to what he had needed to go through in order to reach the Sixth Realm.
But he did it.
Shang slowly extended his right hand and formed a fist.
WHOOOOOM!
All the Mana in the surrounding 1,000 kilometers instantaneously shot towards his hand and entered his body.
Shang's Mana Pathways shook, and they were about to burst.
However, Shang felt like he was powerful enough to destroy a God.
WHOOOOM!
Shang extended his arm to the left, and an intense storm of Mana shot out.
This was Shang's new form of Void Casting.
'Void Casting is named as such since it creates a vacuum of Mana for a short amount of time and uses said Mana to cast a Spell. The first part is true for my form of Void Casting, but the second part isn't accurate.'
'I absorb all the Mana in the surroundings to increase the power of my body by a level for a single move. In theory, I could also use it for a Spell, but in comparison to normal Void Casting, I need to spend quite a bit of my life energy while Mages don't need to spend anything.'
'Mages don't need to spend anything but can only use the Mana for Spells.'
'I need to spend life energy, but I can use the Mana for anything I want, including Spells.'
'Higher price, higher power.'
'It's not necessarily better or worse.'
'Nevertheless, it's not Void Casting anymore.'
'Since the Mana increases my power by a level for one move, I would say that it could be seen as a small breakthrough. After all, my level essentially increases for just a moment.'
'So, I guess the name Void Break would be a fitting name.'
'Mages comprehend Void Casting while I comprehended Void Break.'
'My last Realm was already unique in the world, and this one isn't any less unique.'
'Since Void Break is the key to achieving this Realm, it wouldn't be inaccurate to call it the Void Break Realm.'
'I think the name is accurate.'
'Soldier Stage, General Stage, Commander Stage, True Path Stage, Fusion Realm, Void Break Realm.'
'This was the Path I've forged up to now.'
'And this won't be the end.'
Shang took another deep breath and focused on his own mind.
He had reached a new Realm, which meant that he would get another answer to one of his past questions.
And this time, the question actually wasn't useless.
Chapter 745 745 Sixth Question
In a grand palace with red and black colors, a fat and blonde Shang stood in front of the God.
When Shang saw this past version of himself, he nearly exploded with anger for some reason.
He hated his past self.
Just the way he was standing there with uncertainty nearly made Shang scream with anger.
He was so weak!
His body was weak!
His mind was weak!
His willpower was weak!
He was indecisive, empathetic, and knew nothing of the world.
However, even though these emotions appeared in Shang's heart, he didn't lose control.
He ignored his past self and focused on the God, who looked at the older version of Shang.
Even now, Shang still couldn't feel the God's power.
"I need to think for a second," the young Shang said as he rubbed his chin in thought. "I'm kind of running out of questions."
"Take your time," the God said with a smirk as he leaned back on his throne.
The younger Shang kept trying to come up with a good question, but it became harder and harder to come up with one.
He knew that he would only gain the answer many years from now, and by then, he should know a lot more.
Yet, this was also an incredible opportunity.
But it was so hard to grasp and use correctly.
What question could he possibly ask that might save himself in the future?
What would his future problems be?
Well, by that point, his future self should already have a group of friends, several contacts, and maybe even a power backing him.
Maybe he would be part of some sort of striking force or hunting group?
Maybe he would be a fighter in tournaments between organizations?
Maybe he would be a teacher?
From what the God had said, the Sixth Realm seemed to be quite strong already.
So, what could such a person possibly need?
Money probably wasn't an issue.
Companions wouldn't be an issue. After all, Shang had already asked a couple of questions related to that.
He had also asked about organizations.
Asking about how to become more powerful was difficult since the God refused to answer these questions.
So, what could his future self possibly need?
No matter how much Shang thought about it, it was just too difficult to come up with anything.
This was so far away from him that he had no information on which to base his decision on.
And then, he suddenly got an idea as he looked at the God.
The God read Shang's mind, and his smirk widened.
"That's quite smart," he commented. "Go on, ask."
Shang nodded.
"Which question should I ask next?" Shang asked.
When the present Shang heard that, he realized how useful this would be.
The past Shang had no idea what he should ask about, but the same thing wasn't true for the God.
The God knew exactly what Shang would most likely need.
Of course, since this was essentially wasting a question, Shang would only get the answer to the actually useful question when he reached the Seventh Realm.
However, the Seventh Realm was also one of the most important Realms.
The God just continued smirking as he looked at the past Shang.
For once, the God didn't seem to have manipulated Shang's memory to include the addition of his Entropy Affinity.
"There's one question that the future you is probably dying to know the answer to," the God said.
"Your next question should be…"
"How can I get enough Mana to reach the Eighth Realm without the help of the Empires and without immediately being noticed?"
When the current Shang heard that, his heartbeat accelerated with excitement.
This was an amazing question!
Of course, Shang's memory cut off at this part.
He would only get the answer to that question when he reached the Seventh Realm.
Back in real life, Shang was reevaluating his opinion of the past Shang.
Yes, the past Shang was pathetic and weak, but that question was extremely smart.
A mortal Shang had asked the God a question to help his self 1,000 years from now.
And he managed to do it.
For a mortal, this was absolutely amazing.
The mortal Shang might have saved the future Shang's life and future.
After a while of evaluating his past self again, Shang focused on the next thing on the agenda.
Shang entered his inner world and looked at the stele.
The next trial would be held in 200 years, and Shang wasn't allowed to reach the next level before that.
'I've already earned enough points to get the best rewards the last time,' Shang thought. 'I'm quite sure I will get even more points this time.'
'I wonder what kind of rewards he has for me this time.'
Shang turned away from the stele and summoned several huge blocks of metal.
In the past, it had been quite a problem to get good ore for his swords, but after joining the Lightning Manor, this problem had completely vanished.
Everyone knew that he was a warrior, and everyone knew that a warrior needed a powerful weapon.
On top of that, Shang was earning a ridiculous amount of money by being a Cloud.
Shang was probably earning comparative amounts to the Temple of Blood's Territory Lord, and she was a Peak Mage Lord.
Buying all the ore Shang could ever possibly need for the Void Break Realm would consume less than 1% of his wealth.
At this moment, Shang's Addum and Subsis were as light as wooden sticks, which felt uncomfortable to Shang.
Shang put his two swords into several pieces of ore of different levels and tried out their new weight.
In the end, Shang's weapons were stronger than Peak Ancestral Beasts but a bit weaker than Initial Beast Lords.
Of course, they should still be able to block the attacks from an Initial Beast Lord, but anything stronger than that would put Shang's weapons in danger.
But that was already ridiculous.
The sheer power of Shang's weapons reflected the sheer power of Shang's body.
After trying out his weapons, Shang put them away and left his inner world again.
Chapter 746 746 True Power
After leaving his inner world, Shang decided to focus on the next thing, which was getting into contact with Lucin again.
Shang also wanted to incorporate his three new Concepts of Death and his Concept of Twilight into his Battle Style, but he needed to talk with Lucin first. After all, Shang's status had probably changed in the eyes of the Lightning Manor.
Having someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense was one thing, but having someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense was something different entirely.
Shang left the Twilight Cave and took to the sky.
When Shang saw the world around him, he felt like everything had become weaker.
Everything seemed so fragile.
Now, Shang could truly see how the Zone Beasts from Area 23 had viewed the world.
If Shang didn't keep his World Connection in check, the surrounding 1,000 kilometers would be filled with Light and Darkness Mana, transforming the entire climate and terrain.
A Zone of Light and Darkness would appear around Shang, and all the mortals and beasts would adapt.
This would be their new life.
Just Shang's mere existence would transform the lives of millions of people drastically, and they would all need to adapt to Shang's presence.
However, there were no mortals in the Hibye. Any weak Mage or mortal would live in perpetual danger since so many powerful Mages were moving around the area.
One day, a random Cloud might try out a spell and destroy tens of kilometers of land on accident.
Another day, a Mage Lord might move a bit too fast, and the wind they created would have turned the surrounding kilometers into a wasteland.
Because of that, Shang technically didn't need to restrain his World Connection.
However, he still restrained it due to two reasons.
He was used to restraining it, and he subconsciously moved as stealthily as possible.
This was simply how he had lived inside the Temple of Blood, and these mannerisms hadn't left him.
Shang shot into the distance, and his new speed even shocked him.
Shang hadn't had much time to look at his speed after he had gained Void Break, and since he had gone through a breakthrough since then, it was now like Shang had gone through two breakthroughs.
His body was now on the level of someone in the Early Sixth Realm.
As Shang shot through the sky, he realized how powerful he had actually become.
One thing especially almost made this feel like a dream.
'I might be more powerful than every average Ancestral Beast in the world. Maybe only powerful Peak Ancestral Beasts can fight me.'
That was when Shang thought back to Area 23.
The Storm Eagle.
It had been so humongous.
So powerful.
So mighty.
So imposing.
And now?
Shang probably wouldn't have any difficulties killing it.
He would just charge at it with insane speeds and unleash a single strike.
With one attack, the huge Storm Eagle would fall to the ground in two pieces.
The Ice Wyvern?
It was even weaker than the Storm Eagle.
The Volcano Wyrm was just as weak.
The Empress Cobra would die before it could even react.
The Adamantite Behemoth might survive a weaker attack, but if Shang actually used his Addum properly, it would probably also die.
The imposing Thunder Horse?
Shang could probably punch it to death.
All these godlike beings from Area 23 were now about as significant as annoying pests.
The supervisor of Area 23, Relon, probably was a Spark with a twofold Spirit Sense, which meant that his Spirit Sense had a radius of 1,000 kilometers, which was just enough to view the entirety of Area 23.
The way Shang felt now was probably how Relon felt as the Supervisor of Area 23.
Everything was within his control, and the Zone Beasts were just an annoyance.
At this moment, Shang truly realized how far he had come.
Back then, it had felt like an impossibility to fight something as imposing as the Storm Eagle.
Now, it was easy.
The God had said that the Mages ruled the world.
In Area 23, this hadn't appeared to be the case since the Zone Beasts reigned supreme.
But now, after widening his horizons, Shang realized that the God was right.
The Zone Beasts were just some random critters to the Mages.
Even Beast Lords were just bigger critters.
And the few Beast Kings that existed were banished and contained in their islands.
Beast Emperors?
Didn't exist.
As Shang thought about the Beast Kings, he had an interesting thought.
'Are the Empires using the isolated Beast Kings as Mana storage?'
'The Mana of the world is slowly reducing, and the Empires don't want the public to know. Theoretically, the number of Mage Kings that exist at the same time should reduce every now and then.'
'But that would show the world that the leadership of the world is growing weaker, not stronger.'
'So, what if they keep the Beast Kings alive, and when the Mana gets critically low, they just kill one to keep the same number of Mage Kings?'
'Maybe there aren't actually 50 Beast Kings but 48 or something like that?'
'No one would really notice that one of the many islands around Aterium doesn't have a Beast King.'
But before Shang could think more about this entire thing, he arrived at his destination.
At the moment, Lucin was floating above his mansion, a little less than 3,000 kilometers away from Shang.
Lucin was looking at Shang.
And Shang's Spirit Sense was looking back.
When Lucin realized what this meant, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
If he hadn't been prepared for this eventuality, he wouldn't have believed it.
But it was still difficult to actually come to terms with what it meant to be in front of someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense.
If King Sanctified Death didn't exist, this would be unprecedented.
And even more surprising was the fact that Shang wasn't even a Mage.
He was a warrior or something similar to that.
All of this was too strange.
"I guess we have to visit Queen Primordium again," Lucin said after a while.
Chapter 747 747 Once More
Shang flew over to Lucin and nodded wordlessly.
Lucin kept looking at Shang with a weird expression.
It had already been incredible that Shang had managed to create a fivefold Spirit Sense, but all of this became even crazier when one thought about Shang being a warrior.
And now, he had a sixfold Spirit Sense.
A sixfold Spirit Sense was so special that people would rather believe that there was a warrior with a fivefold Spirit Sense than a Mage with a sixfold Spirit Sense.
One had to remember that the difference between a fourfold Spirit Sense and a fivefold Spirit Sense was already crazy, and now there was an additional layer above that.
It was absolutely crazy.
However, when Lucin thought about what Shang had actually gone through to attain that power, his surprise lessened.
How many people could do what Shang had done?
How many people could consume thousands of Furnace Pills and stay in Isolation Chambers for years?
And then, he even managed to survive for ten years after all his longevity had run out, which was absolutely crazy.
How painful and exhausting was something like this?
As the Thunder of the Contender Department, Lucin had seen how these geniuses trained. Even more, he had been one of these geniuses in the past.
Yes, all of these geniuses were filled with discipline and willpower, but there was still a limit to everything.
They tried to comprehend Concepts, entered some battles, bought expensive resources, and comprehended more Concepts.
From time to time, they also talked with others.
Sometimes, they also worked on their inner selves.
They also managed their money and created a couple of alliances while planning for the next trial.
The Clouds were doing a lot in order to maximize the efficiency of their training.
But Shang only trained.
He didn't do anything else.
On top of that, Shang was training like an insane person.
For Mages, there were a couple of methods to learn Concepts a bit faster.
For example, the level three Concept of Fire, Incineration, could be comprehended a bit faster by simply allowing oneself to be set ablaze by fire that used this Concept.
It was quite painful and dangerous, but there were ways to ensure one's survival.
Yet, no one was doing that.
Why?
Because it was insane!
Why would one do something like that for decades just to save like two or three decades?!
The immense pain and stress weren't worth the little time saved.
But Shang had done even crazier things.
Reaching a fivefold Spirit Sense was insanely difficult since one needed to comprehend something above their level, and the time one needed to invest to comprehend something like that was beyond insane.
Comprehending one level two Concept as a Peak True Mage was probably more difficult than comprehending three additional level one Concepts.
Someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense would have comprehended four level one Concepts, but someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense would have comprehended the equivalent of seven level one Concepts!
The difference was absolutely staggering!
And a sixfold Spirit Sense was just unimaginable.
In the end, Lucin could only sigh and shake his head.
He had no idea what would happen to Shang.
Having a warrior with a fivefold Spirit Sense was one thing since that warrior wouldn't be any better than the Mage Kings.
But a sixfold Spirit Sense?
Shang would become as powerful as King Sanctified Death if he managed to retain his power, and the Emperors were debating whether or not to allow King Sanctified Death to become an Emperor or not.
And Shang?
Shang was a warrior.
One had to remember that the Mage God had made a decree back then.
No physical fighter was ever allowed to become an Emperor again.
And someone with a sixfold Spirit Sense had incomprehensible power.
Maybe a Mage King with a sixfold Spirit Sense could even threaten an Emperor.
There was a real possibility that Shang wouldn't even be allowed to become a King in the future. After all, having such a powerful Warrior King would threaten the survival of all the Mages.
Lucin had no idea what the future would hold for Shang.
Nevertheless, Lucin summoned his Transportation Plate and pulled Shang with him to the Lightning Manor.
All of these troublesome decisions were above Lucin's pay grade.
This was something that the Mage Kings and Mage Emperors had to decide.
The two of them traveled towards the Lightning Manor at a quick pace and arrived just a couple of minutes later.
Just like the last time, Lucin and Shang entered and traveled to Queen Primordium's room.
Lucin felt a bit awkward since he was visiting Queen Primordium quite often in the past centuries, thanks to Shang.
He almost felt like he was annoying her.
But what was he supposed to do? He couldn't possibly make a decision on something like that!
After some seconds, the door opened.
Shang still couldn't perceive Queen Primordium-
Wait a second!
Something was different!
Queen Primordium still looked like a walking void, like the world was ending where she stood.
Yet, there was something else this time.
Grey Mana.
Death Mana.
Inside the void, Shang could feel just the tiniest specs of Death Mana floating around.
It was so little that even Shang's powerful Spirit Sense barely noticed just a couple of wisps, but it was there.
'She can block off all kinds of Mana since she probably knows a crazy number of Concepts, but she doesn't know how Death Mana works. Because of that, I can see the Death Mana but only the Death Mana.'
Sadly, just this tiny bit of Death Mana wasn't enough to paint any kind of picture for Shang.
They were just a couple of tiny grey strands dancing in the void.
When Queen Primordium opened the door, her eyes immediately fell on Shang.
She could scarcely believe that he was still alive.
But what shocked her even more was Shang's Aura.
It was so grand and so very intense.
She had only felt one such Aura before.
Did Shang actually manage to do it?
Chapter 748 748 Disturbing The Ancestor Again
Queen Primordium looked at Shang for a while.
Lucin didn't say anything.
He understood why Queen Primordium was silent.
It had been difficult for him to accept reality, and he had seen Shang reach this step himself.
For someone like Queen Primordium, who didn't see Shang all the time, this was probably beyond shocking.
"How big is your Spirit Sense?" she asked.
"Sixfold," Shang said.
Queen Primordium took a deep breath.
"What are your thoughts on that?" she asked.
"Could you clarify what you mean?" Shang asked back.
"I mean, what do you think is the reason why you have a sixfold Spirit Sense instead of a fivefold one?"
Shang thought about that question for a second.
"I think it's the consumption of momentum," he said.
Lucin and Queen Primordium waited for Shang to elaborate.
"I can get a fourfold Spirit Sense without consuming any momentum, but the only way to get a fivefold Spirit Sense is to consume the entire momentum that I have built to create a fourfold Spirit Sense."
"By comprehending more Paths, more Imposes, more Concepts, and widening my World Connection, I gained enough momentum to reforge the Mana Pathways inside my body. Without that momentum, my Mana Pathways wouldn't have grown as much as was necessary to unlock Void Break."
"Void Break is my version of Void Casting," Shang added when he noticed Lucin's raised eyebrow.
"Void Break is not something that someone at the Fifth Realm should be able to attain. Under normal circumstances, it would take a comparable amount of time as comprehending Void Casting, and you know how long that takes."
Lucin nodded.
Clouds generally needed around 500 years in the Ancestral Mage Realm to comprehend Void Casting.
But comprehending that in the Archmage Realm would take at least twice if not thrice as long, basically making it impossible to comprehend.
"Without using up my momentum, I would have needed probably around 1,500 years to attain Void Break, but with my momentum, I managed to attain it in a bit more than 200 years."
"So, in my opinion, to attain a fivefold Spirit Sense, you either go all-in or don't even try."
"If you start using up your momentum and fail, you will either die or break through with a weaker Spirit Sense."
"And the key to a sixfold Spirit Sense is the same."
"You need to consume all the momentum you gained to achieve a fivefold Spirit Sense."
"When I did that, I felt all the Mana in the surroundings enter my body and elevate it. In a sense, I was going through a breakthrough without increasing my level."
"This increased the base state of my being to be a level higher than it should be. Because of that, when I actually achieved my breakthrough and when my being was creating my new Spirit Sense, it could work with four times as much Mana as it would have access to normally."
"So, while my momentum wasn't nearly as strong as it would have been with a fourfold or a fivefold Spirit Sense, just the sheer weight of my being increases my power by far more."
"It's like a huge mountain falling on you, while the other thing would have been an extremely fast pebble."
Queen Primordium and Lucin thought about Shang's words for a while.
"You gained enough momentum to catapult your heavier being to the next Realm by comprehending two level three Concepts," Queen Primordium said. "Theoretically, what would happen if you comprehended four level three Concepts on top of that?"
"Would your Spirit Sense be sevenfold or twelvefold?" she asked.
"I think sevenfold," Shang answered. "I believe an increase of a Spirit Sense is not linear but exponential."
"Correct," Queen Primordium said. "It seems you know what you're talking about, giving more credibility to your explanation."
Shang didn't say anything.
Some seconds later, Queen Primordium sighed again. "I can't believe that I have to go to the Custodian again."
"Lucin, you stay here."
"Of course," Lucin answered.
Queen Primordium walked past Shang, and Shang followed her, just like last time.
Why was everything involving this warrior so grand, unusual, and important?
Usually, Queen Primordium only needed to ask for the Custodian's input about once every thousand years or so.
But now, she was meeting him for the third time in just 300 or so years.
She felt like she was annoying the Custodian with unnecessary business, but what was she supposed to do?
She couldn't make a decision on something this important and unusual!
The two quickly arrived in front of the Custodian's door, and Queen Primordium knocked.
A few seconds later, the Custodian opened the door.
He was just about to greet Queen Primordium, but he halted when he saw Shang.
The Custodian's brows furrowed as he looked at Shang.
Shang didn't say anything.
After some seconds, the Custodian took a deep breath and released a sigh.
"Oh dear," he said. "This is troublesome."
The two visitors didn't say anything.
The Custodian raised an eyebrow as he scratched his chin, looking at and evaluating Shang.
"Now, what to do with you," he quietly muttered.
The Custodian thought for a couple more seconds, but in the end, he just shook his head and sighed again.
"I hate to do it, but I'll have to consult the Ancestor again."
Queen Primordium politely bowed, and Shang didn't do anything.
"To think that I have to consult the Ancestor twice because of a physical fighter," the Custodian said. "No offense. It's just unusual."
Shang just nodded wordlessly.
"Please, wait here for a moment," the Custodian said before he entered the big door leading to the Lightning Emperor.
Shang and Queen Primordium waited for nearly two minutes.
And then, the door opened again, and the Custodian stepped out.
The two looked at the Custodian with anxiety.
What would happen to Shang?
"Your name is Shang Sword, correct?" the Custodian asked.
Shang nodded.
"Shang Sword, please follow me," the Custodian said as he further opened the door.
"The Ancestor wants to talk to you personally."
Chapter 749 749 Study
Queen Primordium looked with surprise at the Custodian.
Then, she focused on Shang.
Right now, Shang felt nervous.
After all, this wasn't just anybody he was going to be talking with.
This was the Lightning Emperor, one of the ten strongest beings in the entire world, someone that had lived for an incomprehensibly long time.
"Don't worry," Queen Primordium told Shang. "The Ancestor is very friendly and wise."
Naturally, Queen Primordium had seen the Lightning Emperor a couple of times.
While the Custodian was essentially the Lightning Emperor's mouth and hand, the Lightning Emperor also left his study from time to time.
Sometimes, he just walked around his castle, and he also appeared when he had to make a public appearance because of something important that happened.
For example, every millennium, the Lightning Emperor came out to congratulate the winner of the grand tournament.
But these were basically the only times anyone could get a hold of the Lightning Emperor in any way since the Custodian dealt with everything else.
However, this still meant that the Lightning Emperor only exited his study every 500 years or so, which was an insanely long time for everyone below the Mage Lord Realm, and if one missed it, they would need to wait another 500 years.
And it was even rarer that someone was allowed to enter the Lightning Emperor's study since this was his private space.
Only the Custodian was allowed to enter the Lightning Emperor's study.
And now, Shang would also enter the Lightning Emperor's study.
Shang took a step forward and walked through the door.
Even though he was a bit nervous, it still wasn't nearly enough to shake his resolve in any way.
The Custodian smiled politely towards Queen Primordium and closed the door.
Then, the Custodian traveled down the hallway, followed by Shang.
After a couple of seconds, they stopped in front of an ordinary wooden door.
The Custodian politely knocked on the door and opened it just a second later without waiting for the Lightning Emperor's command to enter.
With the door now open, Shang's Spirit Sense entered the Lightning Emperor's study, and he could finally sense it.
It was simple but also earth-shattering in a sense.
At first glance, the study didn't seem special.
There was a chair, a table, a couple of ornaments, rows of bookshelves, and that was basically it.
It wasn't even that big.
However, with Shang's experience and knowledge, he could sense the truth of this simple study.
It was actually over 500 kilometers wide!
Yet, it looked barely wider than ten meters.
Shang didn't have any experience with Space, Time, and Gravity Mana, but he could still feel that all these kinds of Mana were not acting in a normal way.
On top of that, the density of these three kinds of Mana was so insanely high that Shang could feel them as clearly as if they were Light Mana.
Shang couldn't say what Concepts were being used here or what they did, but he could see that this study probably had a scary number of features.
One of the bookshelves had maybe about 100 books visually, but when one looked past the simple appearance, one would be able to see a bookshelf that was kilometers upon kilometers wide and tall.
Shang couldn't even estimate how many books there were in this study.
pǎпdǎ Йᴏνê1,сòМ Billions?
Trillions?
More?
On top of that, there were no Spells that kept the books hidden from prying eyes.
Shang couldn't look into the books, but he could see them and their covers and read their titles.
In just an instant, Shang had read the titles of thousands of books, and he became deeply shocked.
All the titles he had read referred to a kind of Spark Wraith Realm, which was apparently the seventh Realm of some Path Shang didn't know.
Shang couldn't help himself and continued looking at the titles of even more books without even really thinking about it.
And eventually, he saw thousands of books for some Realm called Weapon Intent Realm.
The Custodian had said that Impose had been called Weapon Intent in the past.
This meant that there were thousands of books worth of documentation about the Impose Realm that Shang had created!
Shang had to take a deep breath when he saw that.
He had always thought that there was nothing left of the old Paths.
The God had told him so, and Shang had also never heard about the other Paths until he had met with the Custodian for the first time.
Yet, right now, there were billions of books in front of him, explaining all the intricacies of all the other Paths.
The books regarding other Paths didn't end!
They just kept going and going!
After a second, Shang had already seen the names of over a hundred different Paths, which was insane!
How many Paths had there been back then?!
"Cool, huh?"
Shang was taken out of his thoughts and focused on the person that had just spoken.
There was a smiling old man with white hair and a long white beard sitting on a chair behind a table.
'Cool?' Shang thought in confusion. 'Did he just say cool?'
Shang wouldn't have expected the first word that left the Lightning Emperor's mouth to be cool.
"I enjoy seeing people be impressed by my collection, but I can't have you continue reading," the Lightning Emperor said with a friendly chuckle. "Otherwise, we would be here forever."
Then, Shang heard the quiet sound of the door behind him close.
Apparently, the Custodian hadn't entered with him.
"I apologize. I've been distracted," Shang said, trying his best not to sound cold or aggressive but failing miserably due to his lack of practice.
"I get it," the Lightning Emperor said with a friendly chuckle.
Then, he pointed towards a chair in front of him that had just appeared. "Please, sit."
Shang took a step forward, and he felt the Space, Time, and Gravity Mana around him warp in mysterious ways.
The study was gigantic, but when Shang took a single step forward, it was like he was traveling through the version of the study that was only ten meters wide.
After just a couple of steps, Shang had traversed over 100 kilometers and sat down on the chair.
And then, Shang had a thought.
He was thinking of his inner world, and he thought that this study felt very similar to it.
This thought made Shang realize something.
Ever since the beginning, all the God's powers had seemed otherworldly.
It had been impossible to understand them, and Shang had not been able to think of a way to replicate them.
But now, he was slowly coming into contact with things that were similar to these powers.
Shang had already seen a majority of the Concepts his sword had been made with, and the strongest Concept was a level five Concept.
There were probably several Mage Kings that knew all of these Concepts, which meant that there were several Mage Kings that could recreate Shang's weapons.
The black cube Shang had received back then had seemed too magical.
But now, Shang had seen people that could learn how to create these weapons, and Shang even knew a bit about how to make them.
Shang's inner world was more complex, but after entering this study, Shang could feel that it was very similar to his inner world.
Shang guessed that the study had been created in a very similar way, but he was still sure that his inner world had something that this study didn't have.
Shang could enter his inner world without his body, which meant that his soul and body were essentially separating.
That would normally mean that Shang would die, but that obviously wasn't the case.
Something like this could only be achieved with very advanced Life Concepts, and Shang was quite certain that not even the Lightning Emperor knew enough to create something like that.
The Lightning Emperor had created something amazing with this study.
However, he wasn't quite at the level of the God.
For a while, Shang just quietly sat in front of the Lightning Emperor, who had just summoned a cup of tea.
The Lightning Emperor drank a mouthful of tea and released a sigh.
"Your name is Shang Sword, right?" the Lightning Emperor asked.
Shang nodded.
The Lightning Emperor didn't say anything for a couple of seconds.
"Okay, let me just be honest with you."
"I have no idea what I should do with you."
Chapter 750 750 Only One Thing
Shang wasn't sure if that was good or bad.
For now, he decided to remain silent.
"Let me explain my conundrum with a metaphor," the Lightning Emperor said.
"Imagine you are a mortal and live in a village with 50 other villagers. You don't have any sort of real societal standards and norms, and the strongest person in the village is the leader."
"Now, imagine there is a council of five leaders since they don't want to fight each other for whatever reason, and you are one of them."
"One day, you find the offspring of a very powerful beast, which is far more powerful than any member of the council."
"You nurture it, and it follows you."
"Yet, it doesn't completely follow your commands, and you know that there is a chance that it might attack you and everyone else. After all, it is still a wild beast."
"But maybe, it will also help you."
"But also only you. What if it attacks any of the others in the village?"
"Right now, the beast is still a baby."
"So, what do you do?"
"Do you nurture it?"
"Do you kill it?"
"Do you ask the others?"
The Lightning Emperor drank another mouthful of tea.
"Everything about this beast screams risk at you. No matter what happens, it will be a risk. If it isn't one for you, it definitely will be one for the village."
"But you like the village. You live in the village. You are happy with the village."
"You don't want your beast to kill other villagers."
"But it very likely will."
"So, what would you do?" the Lightning Emperor asked.
Shang's Spirit Sense focused on the Lightning Emperor.
Shang knew that his answer would decide his future.
Should he lie?
He wouldn't even attempt it.
He doubted that he had the skills to lie in front of a Mage Emperor.
Should he argue for the beast's life?
Without a good reason, this would feel hollow.
Should he defer the responsibility of the decision to the Lightning Emperor? After all, he was much older and much more powerful than Shang.
Should he give a neutral statement?
"Do you want to know what I would do, what someone else should do, what the village should do, or what the morally correct thing to do is?" Shang asked.
"All of them," the Lightning Emperor answered as he drank more of his tea.
"The morally correct thing to do would be to send it out of the village," Shang said. "If you can't do that, nurture it and trust that it won't betray you."
The Lightning Emperor didn't show any reactions.
"The smartest choice for the village is to either collectively raise the beast to make it follow everyone's orders or kill it."
The Lightning Emperor remained silent.
"As for what a normal person would do, it would depend on their ambition. Is it worth the risk to nurture it for the eventual payoff? The person could become the leader of the village. Maybe, they could even leave the village and go someplace better with the beast's protection."
This piqued the Lightning Emperor's interest, but he let Shang finish.
"And as for what I would do…"
"I would let it live."
"What's your reason?" the Lightning Emperor asked.
"Because its existence has no impact or relevance," Shang answered.
"Please elaborate," the Lightning Emperor said with interest.
"My goal is to be the strongest," Shang said.
"That means that I must be stronger than the beast if I want to have any shot at reaching my goal. Even more, the beast's growth might even give me the incentive to train even harder than before."
"And if it turns out that the beast is stronger than me, it means my goal was impossible to achieve from the get-go."
"That means I might as well kill myself right now."
Silence.
The Lightning Emperor looked at Shang with a bit of surprise.
"Did you just tell me to kill myself?" he asked.
"No," Shang answered emotionlessly. "I told you what I would do. I know that my own goals and priorities are not in line with most people's goals and priorities."
"You are not me."
"So, while I might make that choice in your case, it doesn't mean that you should make that choice or that it is the correct one."
The Lightning Emperor raised an eyebrow. "That sounds a bit extreme. Is your goal really that important to you?"
"It is all I have left," Shang said. "I sacrificed everything else, and I don't regret it."
"There are so many people in this world. Geniuses might be rare, but among billions, trillions, quadrillions, or however many people there are, there have to be lots of geniuses."
"And from those geniuses, how many of them are extremely hardworking?"
"Even if there are only a thousand people left from one trillion people, that is still a thousand people that I have to defeat if I want to become the strongest."
"What stops them from being the strongest?"
"It can't be their talent. After all, they are already the peak of the peak."
"So, it can only be their effort and dedication."
"If I want to be the strongest, I have to be willing to sacrifice more than everyone else."
"That is why I sacrificed everything I have."
"Either I become the strongest, or I stay a mortal to lead a happy life."
"There is no in-between."
The Lightning Emperor looked at Shang with an unreadable expression.
The Lightning Emperor had learned a lot about Shang's personality by using his Spell about 300 years ago, but that Spell had only told the Lightning Emperor what Shang would most likely do.
But it didn't tell him how Shang's personality had come to be this way.
Now, everything made sense.
What reasons did people have to stay alive?
There were important ones like achieving a goal, family, friends, and love.
There were also secondary ones, like fearing death, enjoyment, a better future, and more.
There were also some very minor and temporary ones, like wanting to see what would happen in a book one was reading, good weather, good food, and many tiny and mostly unimportant things.
Every human had a mix of these.
Yet, Shang had sacrificed everything but one of these things.
People might look at Shang's power and believe him to be a shining beacon of talent and power.
However, deep inside, he was actually the saddest and most pitiful human.
Everyone had so many reasons to stay alive, but he had only one.
Only one single thing was stopping him from ending his own life.
And he was clinging to that one thing with everything he had.
The Lightning Emperor's opinion of Shang could be described with one word.
Sad.