Ch. 951..960

951 Chapter 951 — Waking Up

Shang's perception had already recovered, but his mind and soul hadn't.

Once more, Shang's soul had received some damage.

Luckily, the kind of damage Shang received was different from when his soul was sacrificed to Entropy.

While Entropy completely eradicated Shang's soul, the injuries that the Death Mana had caused Shang's soul could be recovered.

As a metaphor, one could say that Shang had a broken femur while Entropy would have removed the femur.

Nevertheless, Shang was still in a lot of pain.

But he didn't care anymore.

After feeling so much pain inside the dark world, Shang no longer cared about it.

"Why is there Entropy in my mind?" Shang asked as his body began to hover.

The Lightning Emperor sighed as he realized that his short moment of relaxation had passed.

"Do you have any idea in how much danger you were?" he asked.

"I know," Shang said. "I fought the Death Mana and comprehended the Concept of Exodus. Without that, I might have died."

This surprised the Lightning Emperor quite a bit, and he had to blink a couple of times. "You were fighting the Death Mana?"

Shang just nodded.

"So, you weren't actually unconscious?"

"That's not entirely correct," Shang said. "I lost most of my memories and was stuck inside my own mind. I was fighting the Death Mana in there, but I managed to adapt and consume the Death Mana."

The Lightning Emperor hummed for a bit as he stroked his beard. "I noticed that your condition had somewhat stabilized. That explains it."

"Once again, why is there Entropy in my mind?" Shang repeated.

The fact that Entropy was in Shang's mind was troublesome.

Minds could only be created with Mana. Entropy couldn't possibly sustain a mind.

Even the Abominations had Mana inside them, and that Mana mainly went to their minds.

From what Shang and the Lightning Emperor had learned about Entropy, they had become certain that Entropy couldn't possibly act as a replacement for Mana in a mind or soul.

Obviously, both of them had thought about the possibility of Entropy being able to heal Shang's soul.

But it was pointless.

While they could shape Mana into any form they wanted, they couldn't shape Entropy.

Well, to be more precise, they could reshape Entropy, but they had no way to keep Entropy in that shape.

One needed a lot of focus, Mana, and knowledge to force Entropy to stay in a certain shape, and with the mind replaced with Entropy, one couldn't use any focus without effectively falling apart.

One couldn't use water to contain water.

Because of that, the presence of Entropy in Shang's mind was troublesome.

"I had to do something," the Lightning Emperor said.

"Why?" Shang immediately asked. "You said my condition had stabilized."

The Lightning Emperor nodded. "It did, but there was a different danger."

"Time."

"You've been unconscious for way too long."

Shang's mind focused on the Lightning Emperor. "How long?"

"Over 6,000 years."

Silence.I think you should take a look at

Over 6,000 years...

This meant that Shang was now nearly 19,000 years old.

Shang felt like he had become a Sword Lord only recently, but now, he only had a bit more than 6,000 years of longevity left.

And he still needed to comprehend two very difficult things.

6,000 years was very likely not enough.

"I had to wake you up somehow," the Lightning Emperor said with a sigh. "Your condition had stabilized over 800 years ago, and it was improving only very slowly. If things continued this way, you would have only woken up in another 3,000 years. I thought you would rather I wake you up this way."

Shang just nodded. "You thought correctly."

Shang was already inspecting his mind and the Entropy inside it.

The Entropy was clouding Shang's mind, making it difficult to think clearly, but Shang had already grown used to it.

The amount of pain, disorientation, paranoia, anxiety, rage, and hatred that constantly bathed his being had already made him used to thinking with a clouded mind.

Too many things had happened to Shang's body and mind over the years, and any person in his place would have already died.

Switching places with someone else for just a second would doom them.

But this was normal to Shang.

Adding an additional layer of hazy Entropy barely made a difference.

Shang noticed that part of his soul was also bathed in Entropy, but it wasn't a lot.

Yet, there was something that surprised and interested him.

His soul hadn't lost any Mana, and yet, there was still Entropy.

Whenever Shang tried to push Mana into his soul, it simply either got absorbed by it or got rejected by it.

Pushing Mana into a soul was how Mages increased their Realm. The more Mana someone had in their mind, the stronger their Realm.

However, instead of increasing the volume of a soul, the Mana only increased the density. Because of that, Shang couldn't just add Mana to regrow his limbs. It elevated his state, but it didn't add anything.

And yet, the Entropy was inside his soul Without getting absorbed or rejected.

It was simply there.

Of course, due to the properties of Entropy, if Shang were a normal human, his mind would have already exploded by the resulting creation of Destruction.

But since Shang was the Child of Calamity, small parts of his mind and being were made of Entropy. Shang's soul was still made of Mana, but the tiny bit of Entropy essentially transformed Shang's soul into something that could interact with Entropy without exploding.

At the same time, Shang looked at the different breaks and cracks that went through his soul.

Shang would need some expensive materials or someone that knew the Life Concepts to recover from these injuries, but that shouldn't be an issue.

He had the backing of the Lightning Emperor.

If an Emperor couldn't get these resources, who could?

After recovering from these injuries, Shang's mind would also become clearer again, and he could dispel the Entropy from his mind, clearing that as well.

But then, Shang had an idea.

'My mind is already cloudy and unfocused. This will make nearly no difference.'

'I can roughly tell how to fix the damage, which gives me a unique opportunity to witness the workings of my soul.'

'Since my mind is already working in this injured state, I can't accidentally kill myself if I were to add some things. As long as I don't remove or change already established things, my mind will continue to function.'

Shang looked at the Entropy in his mind. 'If I can find a way to repair my mind with Entropy, I might comprehend the final Concept of Entropy.'

'And with luck...'

'I might even be able to repair my soul.'

952 Chapter 952 — Abaddon's Plan

Shang had returned to his Isolation Barrier.

Luckily, he didn't need to fight in the war. One would think that after 6,000 years without Shang, the other Empires would have already pushed the Lightning Manor back into their palace.

However, they didn't need to do that anymore.

Why did the Empires fight against the Lightning Manor that desperately in the first place?

It was because the Lightning Emperor had been so confident in someone that he had staked the Mana of the late Life Emperor in a tournament for Mage Kings while King Sanctified Death still existed.

If the Lightning Manor managed to snatch the Life Emperor's Mana from King Sanctified Death, the Lightning Manor would gain a second Mage Emperor. Together with the already-powerful Lightning Emperor, they would become the rulers of the entire world.

So, to stop that from happening, they wanted to annihilate the Lightning Manor together with their trump card.

But their trump card had died already.

No one could have possibly survived that apocalyptic explosion of Death Mana filled with the level five Concept of Exodus.

The explosion had been so powerful that it even swallowed and destroyed the barrier. It had been so strong that the Lightning Emperor hadn't even been able to get Shang out before clearing it. If he had attempted something like that, the Death Mana might have invaded his mind, which would have opened him up to an attack from another Emperor.

This was Death Mana with the Concept of Exodus. Just touching it would provoke it into invading one's mind and wreaking havoc there.

Someone in the Peak Seventh Realm couldn't survive something like that, even if they had a sixfold Spirit Sense.

So, why attack the Lightning Manor? There was no reason to attack the Lightning Manor anymore.

As long as the Lightning Manor didn't expand, there wouldn't be an issue.

In the past, time had been on the side of the Lightning Manor, but now it was on their side.

In about 32,500 more years, King Sanctified Death would become a Mage Emperor.

At that moment, even the Lightning Emperor might not be able to fight him anymore, and a couple of levels later, not even the Archivist would be able to fight him anymore.

Of course, King Sanctified Death's rise would create a different issue, but the Emperors had already agreed that the world wanted King Sanctified Death to become an Emperor.

Some believed King Sanctified Death would be some kind of trial for them.

Some believed he would finally get rid of the Abominations.

And some believed that he would just kill them, but they were in the minority.

The world was rapidly being consumed by the Abominations, and they needed someone to step in.

The problem with the Abominations had grown so troublesome that they were even willing to take the risk of making King Sanctified Death an Emperor.

Speaking of King Sanctified Death, Shang had also thought about the reason why Abaddon had detonated himself.

Naturally, he had to show that he had actually attempted to kill Shang, but he could have also just acted like he had tried to kill Shang without actually injuring him too heavily.

And yet, Abaddon had actually genuinely unleashed all of the Death Mana inside his controlled body on him without holding him back.

Was everything Abaddon had said about teaming up a lie?

Honestly, Shang wasn't sure.

What Abaddon had said sounded very convincing and logical, but the sudden explosion had been just as convincing.

Abaddon had struck at the perfect moment, in the middle of a conversation.

In the end, Shang couldn't come to a definite conclusion, but he had a good guess.I think you should take a look at

It was probably everything at once.

If he managed to kill Shang, he would have gotten rid of him.

If Shang managed to survive, he would have proven that he was worthy to work with him.

On top of that, the time Shang would have needed to recover would be very significant, making it impossible for Shang to undergo another transformation.

At the moment, Shang was equal to King Sanctified Death, but if he managed to undergo another transformation, he would be superior.

Naturally, while Abaddon was probably willing to work together with Shang, he would never allow Shang to become strictly superior to him.

Because of that, Shang was quite sure that Abaddon would still keep to his promise and actually make it possible for Shang to have a shot at winning the tournament when he planned on becoming a Sword King.

Although there was one last possibility remaining, but the chances of it actually being true were very small.

What if Abaddon just wanted to teach Shang the level five Concept of Death, Exodus?

Sadly, Shang couldn't find a definite answer, but for now, that also wasn't very important.

When Shang had returned to his Isolation Barrier, he had immediately summoned an Abomination Lord to convert it into Entropy.

After that, Shang kept experimenting on his mind, trying to find ways to connect the broken parts of his mind with Entropy.

While experimenting, Shang had realized that his emotions had quickly shifted while trying to connect the broken parts of his mind.

In nearly all cases, his emotions had been impacted negatively.

Shang had noticed that he had developed a dislike for Mana and everything related to Mana.

Luckily, Shang's ability of introspection was advanced enough that he noticed these changes in his own being.

After a couple of centuries, Shang had essentially already tried everything, and he had managed to combine the broken parts of his mind somewhat.

Sadly, the effects were less than satisfactory.

Shang realized that continuing to experiment without a guide would be equivalent to wasting time.

Because of that, Shang decided to try something new.

After summoning a couple of Abomination Lords, Shang willed them to completely hand themselves over to him.

Shang proceeded to cut their heads open, and he even found a way to look at their souls.

By looking at their souls, he should be able to learn how to make an Abomination soul of his own.

Sadly, there were several unsatisfactory parts inside an Abomination's mind.

For example, they were way too simpleminded, and if Shang decided to change his mind according to what he was seeing, he might become mentally disabled.

Nevertheless, Shang still learned a couple of interesting things.

But now, he was stuck again.

How could he learn more about all of this?

And in the end, he got one idea, but he didn't like it.

'I need to look at the soul of an Abomination King.'

 

953 Chapter 953 — Abomination King

Shang only had around 6,000 years left, and he couldn't waste any time.

Yes, summoning an Abomination King was extremely dangerous, and it might even open the door for more Abomination Kings, but Shang was willing to take the risk.

To reach supreme power, no sacrifice was too big, and no price was too steep!

"I am going to summon an Abomination King," Shang said.

Naturally, since this was the Lightning Emperor's Isolation Barrier, the Lightning Emperor heard him.

The Lightning Emperor didn‘t immediately answer, and five seconds of silence passed.

"Okay," he answered.

The next moment, a portal opened above the Isolation Barrier, and the Lightning Emperor stepped through.

An Abomination King was extremely powerful, and if anything went wrong, the Lightning Emperor would need to get involved personally.

Even the weakest Abomination Kings could fight Peak Mage Kings for long enough to absorb enough Mana to detonate. Naturally, the Mage King would win, but they would need a bit of time to win.

This meant that only the most powerful Peak Mage Kings could kill an Abomination King without wasting any time.

That was why the Lightning Emperor was here.

Naturally, the Lightning Emperor had still created a couple of portals that could expand his Spirit Sense so that he wouldn't miss if anything crucial happened.

The Lightning Emperor nodded at the distant Shang, and Shang nodded back.

Shang's mind focused on the plane of the Abominations, and he very quickly found an extremely powerful presence.

The presence Shang was feeling felt nearly as powerful as the Mage King that had cost Shang his legs.

If this Abomination King attacked Shang, only the Custodian or the Lightning Emperor would be fast enough to react.

Maybe Shang would be able to avoid one or two attacks, but after that, he would be helpless.

Shang couldn't see the appearance of the Abomination, but he could tell that it was definitely an Abomination King.

Shang's mind stretched toward it and established contact.

As soon as Shang felt it, his face became solemn.

There was a will on it.

The will was weak, but there definitely was one.

This meant that the Abomination King wouldn't blindly follow orders like a machine but actually had a limited ability to make conscious decisions.

If normal Abominations were ants, this would be something like a spider. It wasn't as intelligent as an actual mammal, but it was more intelligent than an ant.

This could prove to be problematic.

But there was no other way. Additionally, this was why the Lightning Emperor was here.

Eventually, Shang started to pull the Abomination King towards him. In comparison to all the other Abominations Shang had summoned, summoning the Abomination King was difficult due to the sheer weight of its existence.

Shang could just pull the Abominations out of their world like bottles from a box, but the Abomination King was even heavier than Shang.

Shang even had to convince the Abomination King to move on its own accord. It was like he was trying to move someone that was half-asleep.

After some minutes, Shang could feel the Abomination King stir, and it was slowly traveling toward Shang's location.

As time passed, Shang felt the world around him change.

Things were becoming bleaker, and the world was losing color.I think you should take a look at

Above the Isolation Barrier, five balls of concentrated lightning were hovering above the Lightning Emperor.

One of these balls would be able to kill a Peak Mage King in an instant, and their speed was unparalleled.

Finally, several minutes later...

SHING!

It appeared in front of Shang.

When Shang saw the Abomination King, he realized several things.

Just like Abomination Lords, the Abomination King was covered in completely black scales, and it had two velociraptor legs. Its tail was long and muscular, and it had six muscular arms that ended in five fingers with long and sharp claws. Its waist was thin, but its chest was wide and muscular.

Surprisingly enough, there were no tentacles anywhere on the beast.

Of course, that also meant that the Abomination King had an actual head.

In comparison to the tentacle-filled head of an Abomination Lord, the Abomination King's head resembled the head of an alligator or crocodile with a powerful maw.

When Shang saw the Abomination King, he realized that its body was about as battle—oriented as it got.

Its legs gave it explosive speed.

Its tail could protect its back.

Its waist allowed for flexible and agile movement of the upper body.

Its superior number of limbs could release an ungodly number of attacks, and it could even hold weapons in them if it so chose

to.

Lastly, its powerful maw could attack in a stalemate or even bite an approaching weapon.

It was impossible to fight something like that at close range if the power of the two combatants were similar.

Another thing that Shang noticed was that the eyes of the Abomination showed a small bit of intelligence.

It wasn't a lot of intelligence, but it was definitely there.

The Lightning Emperor looked at the Abomination King warily as his mind involuntarily went through old memories.

It had been over 300,000 years since he had seen an Abomination King, and they were just as scary now as they had been back then.

The Lightning Emperor knew that he wouldn't have been able to kill this weaker Abomination King if he himself were a Mage King within a reasonable amount of time.

Back when the Lightning Emperor had become a Mage Emperor, he had only known three level six Concepts, which gave him a threefold Spirit Sense.

Nowadays, over 90% of Mage Kings had fivefold Spirit Senses.

The Lightning Emperor could feel the pressure of the new generation.

The difference in quality between 300,000 years ago and today was unbelievable.

At the same time, the Lightning Emperor also took a closer look at Shang.

The Lightning Emperor would need to use a significant Spell to instantly kill the Abomination King, and the Abomination King would need to use a significant attack to instantly kill Shang.

Shang had come very close to the Lightning Emperor's power.

A moment later, light appeared in the Abomination King's eyes, and instead of directly attacking its surroundings, it looked at Shang.

Its face was neither respectful nor disdainful.

It was like the Abomination King was looking at an equal.

954 Chapter 954 — Suppression

The Abomination King very quickly noticed that there was no Mana to absorb around it. Naturally, the Isolation Barrier had been emptied of Mana by the Lightning Emperor. After all, they didn't want the Abomination King to immediately go crazy and explode.

However, the Abomination King also noticed the barrier, which was made of Mana.

It could just go over there and absorb the barrier.

But at that moment, the Abomination King felt a powerful force trying to suppress it, and it turned to look at Shang.

Shang was willing the Abomination King to remain still with all of his focus.

The Abomination King's blank expression didn't change as it looked at Shang.

But there was one thing that it did.

WHOOOM!

Suddenly, a powerful suppressive force surrounded Shang.

Shang felt like he was submerged under kilometers and kilometers of heavy metal.

Movement became significantly harder, and Shang also felt that the forcefield had a suppressive effect on his willpower and mind.

However, everything considered, the effect wasn't that great. Shang was only suppressed by about 10%.

Shang had never felt this kind of suppressive effect before.

Shang had been under a couple of domains with oppressive effects before, but this domain felt very different from those.

The other domains always used a medium to suppress him.

Space, gravity, water, metal, ground.

There was always something that was putting pressure on his body.

But the domain the Abomination King was using was very different.

It was like the domain was using no medium whatsoever.

It was like just the mere power or willpower of the Abomination was having a suppressive effect on him.

The domain felt extremely pure and of similar quality to the natural Domain of Entropy the Abominations had access to.

The level of an Abomination's body was far superior to anything that naturally existed in Aterium.

Their domain was far superior to anything that naturally existed in Aterium.

And now, they had this second domain that also felt superior to anything that naturally existed in Aterium.

It was like all the Abominations were beings of a higher and more advanced world.

Something that Aterium couldn't fight against.

Even more, based on the low level of intelligence in the Abominations, it might actually be possible that these Abominations were very weak beings. Bottom feeders.

If an Abomination King had the intelligence of a mortal human, their power would reach terrifying levels.

Shang could tell that there was a lot that could still be built on the powerful foundation of the Abominations.

As the suppressive force acted on Shang, his mind steeled even more.

Shang and the Abomination King were just looking at each other as their suppressive forces acted on the other one.

Slowly, Shang floated over to the Abomination King, which didn't move.

A moment later, Shang pointed above one of the Abomination King's shoulders with his index finger.I think you should take a look at

SHING!

When Shang slashed down, one of the Abomination King's arms was separated from its body.

Naturally, Shang's body wasn't nearly powerful enough to do something like that, but compared to his fight against the Abomination Lords, he didn't need to hold back this time.

Shang had summoned his Domain of Entropy and had compressed it into a small blade, which he had used to turn a part of the Abomination King's shoulder into Mana and Entropy.

An instant later, several arms shot at Shang, but they stopped just a meter away from him.

The Abomination King couldn't move its claws any closer to Shang because the sheer willpower exhibited by Shang was making it almost impossible for it to move its body.

The Abomination King's arms shook, but after half a minute, they stopped.

The arms slowly retreated back to the Abomination King, their movement much more relaxed than before.

Then, the Abomination King slowly lowered its head.

Shang had done it.

The Abomination King was so powerful that it could kill Shang faster than he could react, but his willpower had been powerful enough to completely suppress the Abomination King.

Theoretically, Shang could command the Abomination King to fly toward one of the three opposing Empires and detonate in their territories.

The detonation of this specific Abomination King would be about 20% as powerful as the detonation the Lightning Emperor had used against the Empress of Death.

If directly hit by it, even an Emperor could die.

However, Shang couldn't actually use that power.

The other Empires would immediately throw away all pretenses and charge into the Lightning Manor to kill the Lightning Emperor.

Additionally, Shang couldn't even summon more than one since it took all of his concentration to keep this one Abomination King in check.

Shang came closer to the Abomination King, and he willed it to lower its head further.

A moment later, the top of the Abomination King's head fell off, and Shang could see its mind.

Compared to normal beings, an Abomination's head didn't have a brain but a confusing network of black tendrils.

Shang had seen these tendrils many times already, and he used his Spirit Sense to enter a specific part of the mass of tendrils.

The next moment, Shang saw a humongous black sphere in front of him with several white cables all over it.

This was the soul of the Abomination King, and compared to the soul of the Abomination Lords, Shang could see that everything had become many times more complex.

Shang started probing several parts of the Abomination King's soul while he cataloged their function and the similarities to his own mind.

After a couple of hours, the Lightning Emperor left since Shang had everything under control.

Shang very quickly realized that he had done the correct thing by summoning the Abomination King.

Compared to the Abomination Lords, Shang could actually see how intelligence could be created in the Abomination King's mind.

This was what Shang needed.

As long as he could preserve his intelligence, he could expand his soul.

For the near future, Shang would just continue experimenting on different Abomination Kings.

Shang could tell...

There was a realistic chance that he might get his limbs back.

 

955 Chapter 955 — Instinct and Consciousness

Shang kept experimenting on different Abomination Kings for over 2,000 years.

Sometimes, he would change something in the Abomination King that would effectively cripple them, making any further experiments lack any validity.

But other times, Shang also managed to improve the intelligence of the Abomination King.

One of them even managed to learn to speak.

Over many experiments, Shang managed to comprehend what allowed Abominations to become intelligent, and he could change a new Abomination King into an intelligent one very quickly.

Sadly, there was one thing that Shang was unable to fix.

Their pure hatred for Mana.

No matter what Shang did, he couldn't stop the Abomination Kings' wild hatred for anything related to Mana.

In the end, he could only accept that hatred for Mana came naturally to beings made of Entropy.

In a certain way, Mana also abhorred Entropy. After all, every human and beast felt a feeling of disgust and hatred towards Abominations. Even if they didn't know what an Abomination was.

It was probably the fundamental fear of one's antithesis. The sheer existence of the other thing put oneself in tremendous danger. The Mana that didn't fear Entropy didn't exist anymore since it had already vanished to Entropy, leaving only the Mana that hated Entropy.

Everything that hadn't minded the other side had already combined, leaving only the careful ones behind.

It was kind of like life.

People and animals wanted to survive because they were alive, and they were alive because they wanted to survive.

After all, anything that didn't fear death was dead already.

If animals didn't fear death, they would die before they could reproduce, exterminating their kind.

If any species didn't mind death, they wouldn't exist, leaving only the ones that minded death very much.

Why did they have issues with death?

There was no reason.

And Mana and Entropy seemed to work on the same principle.

However, that was a bit of an issue for Shang.

Shang was planning on altering his own soul but filling it with more Entropy would change his mind to despising Mana.

Right now, Shang's mind was rather balanced. He still saw himself as a human, even though humanity didn't see him as a human anymore.

He didn't have a hatred for the fundamental existence of Mana, and he had also become rather ambivalent to Entropy.

But if he added Entropy to his mind...

His goal might start to align more with the Abominations.

The destruction of the entire world.

But then what?

There would be nothing for Shang to do.

What was the point of gaining power if power itself had no meaning?

Power could only exist if there were weaker and stronger beings.

'Although, there are also weaker and stronger Abominations,' Shang thought.

'Even if Aterium vanishes, the Abominations should still exist, which means power still exists.'

Shang thought about this for quite a while.

Would it be so bad for Aterium to vanish?

Shang looked at his surroundings for the first time in a long while.

The floating island in the middle of the Isolation Barrier.

The Eternal Ocean below him.

The fish.

The birds.

The sun.

The sky.

And the domain of the Abominations? Chaotic.

Black.

That was it.I think you should take a look at

From what Shang had seen, the Abominations simply lived in an endless space of Entropy.

Compared to Mana's static, stable, and malleable form, Entropy couldn't assume forms for long.

One was clay.

The other was air.

Everything in the Abomination's domain changed continuously, but the changes were of no consequence since everything evened out to a black mass of irrelevance.

In a way, everything changed, but in another way, nothing changed.

Was Entropy order or chaos?

It was a matter of perspective.

The important thing was, what was it to Shang?

Irrelevant.

Abstract.

Would he be fine with gaining power in a void of irrelevance with an occasional conscious being fighting him?

'Consciousness and instinct,' Shang thought. 'I dislike working and training just like anyone else. I don't have some magical and lucky disposition where I enjoy using the same sword slash for years on end. It's boring, exhausting, and I would rather do anything else.'

'However, that is only according to my base desires and my instinct. My consciousness knows that I have to go against my instincts to gain what I truly want.'

'So, if I actually develop a hatred for Mana, my consciousness should be able to keep it in check. I might hate being around Mana, but I will know that it is for the better not to get rid of it.'

CRKSH!

Shang's arm moved down, squashingseveral lines in the Abomination King's head into place.

A moment later, clarity appeared in the Abomination King's eyes, and its eyes moved from side to side in confusion.

"Who are you?" Shang asked.

The Abomination King looked with confusion at Shang.

It had no idea where it was or what it was. "I don't know," the Abomination King said with confusion.

"Why do you exist?" Shang asked.

The Abomination King didn't answer as its eyes looked at the ground.

What was this question?

Why didn't it have an answer?!

What was it?!

Why was it here?!

"Who am I?" Shang asked.

The Abomination King looked at Shang.

"I don't know," it answered.

"I am Shang," Shang said.

"Shang..." the Abomination King repeated with confusion.

At the same time, Shang felt the lines in the Abomination King's mind change. All this time, his hand was still stuck in the Abomination King's opened head.

Shang slightly changed a couple of lines.

"Who am I?" Shang asked again.

"You're Martin!" the Abomination King answered with confidence.

"Where did you hear the name Martin?" Shang asked.

The Abomination King wanted to answer with confidence, but it couldn't find an answer.

Wait, where did it hear the name Martin from?

It remembered that Martin had said that he was Shang.

So, why was he Martin?!

Shang moved several lines in the Abomination King's mind around again. "Who are you?" Shang asked.

"I'm Alex!" the Abomination King said. At that moment, Shang furrowed his brows.

"Alex?" he repeated.

956 Chapter 956 — Alex

At that moment, Shang felt a slight headache appearing in his mind.

"Alex..." Shang repeated.

The headache became stronger, but Shang barely felt any difference.

A moment later, Shang entered his own mind and looked at his soul.

"Alex."

Shang saw Mana rush towards a certain spot in his soul, which was surrounded by a cloud of Entropy.

As soon as the Mana reached that place, it came into contact with Entropy and turned into Destruction, which ravaged part of Shang's soul.

However, the damage was very quickly healed since it had only been an absolutely tiny bit of Mana and Entropy.

Shang wasn't quite sure where this had come from. After all, he hadn't put this piece of Entropy in his mind.

Shang stretched his hand towards the cloud of Entropy and tore it out of his mind.

A moment later, the Mana rushed into the place the Entropy had occupied, and a new memory appeared in Shang's head.

"I am Alex," Shang said with realization.

"At least, it is who I used to be."

"Alex..."

As Shang repeated his old name, he was reminded of Earth.

He had been an MMA fighter.

He had once battled with addiction and depression.

He had worked at a grocery store.

How mundane.

How boring.

How meaningless.

What was the point of having a good job when one was still stuck working under a stupider and weaker asshole?

What was the point of having a huge company when one still needed to appease their partners, the customers, and the public?

What was the point of being a gigantic and powerful dictator when one still needed to fear a revolt or another country trying to assassinate them?

What was the point of becoming the ruler of the world when one would still eventually succumb to something like cancer or a heart attack?

In the end, what was the difference between a beggar that died alone on their twentieth birthday and a rich and happy billionaire in their hundreds?

Their lives had been different, but after death, everyone was the same.

The last hundred years of the billionaire's life had lost all value since they were now equal to the beggar.

What was the difference between a mass murderer and a philanthropist dying? After death, nothing mattered.

Memory?

Also didn't matter.

The memory of someone's existence would vanish at some point anyway, which would make them equal to everyone else too.

Additionally, one wouldn't even be able to appreciate and feel how it was to be remembered for thousands of years. After all, one was dead, and dead people didn't have feelings.

If one was blind, deaf, and surrounded by people, it didn‘t matter whether the people were screaming at them or crying for them.

The blind and deaf person wouldn't feel a difference.

'Pointless,' Shang thought with disgust and disregard.

'Living on Earth is such a pointless and miserable experience.'

'You can die to so many things, and you will certainly die very quickly.'I think you should take a look at

'I-Iere, I can live for as long as I am powerful. IfI die, I will die because I am not powerful enough'

‘The God will only die to his own recklessness since he didn't kill me.'

'He could have easily prevented his future death.'

'Alex, huh?' Shang thought.

'What a miserable, weak, and irrelevant existence.'

'Remembering you is already putting way too much value on you.'

Shang ignored the new part of his memories and went back to experimenting on the Abomination King.

He had only accidentally used Alex as a name, and the resulting minor headache had reminded Shang of his old persona.

It had no consequence on Shang's existence.

After continuing to experiment with this specimen for a couple more weeks, Shang had eventually crippled its mind so much that it had become unusable.

Another thousand years later, Shang was done experimenting on the Abomination Kings for now.

Instead, he changed focus to his ownmind.

With Shang's current expertise and knowledge, he could alter parts of his own mind with quite a lot of confidence.

At least he knew exactly what he couldn't change, which was more important.

Whenever Shang decided to replace a part of his mind made of Mana with one made of Entropy, Shang wrote down all the relevant information before changing it.

Then, he would compare the information with the one he perceived.

Most of the time, nothing changed, but sometimes, something changed dramatically.

However, as Shang changed more, he saw some subtler changes creep in.

Sure enough, Shang's opinion of Mana had changed, and he felt a slight disgust toward anything touching him that was made of Mana.

However, Shang knew about these changes, and he knew that his consciousness was more important than his instincts.

So, Shang kept changing some things.

Eventually, Shang noticed that it became very difficult to resist the urge to just destroy all the Mana with his Domain of Entropy.

'That should be the limit,' Shang thought. 'I need Mana inside my mind since Mana represents consciousness. If there is too little Mana, the instinct of Entropy will take over, which will transform me into essentially just another Abomination.'

'70% Entropy, huh? So, that's the upper limit. Anything more than that, and I don't think I can control myself anymore.'

Shang looked around the world with hatred and disgust.

He had already surrounded himself in a very thin barrier of his Domain of Entropy, which made it so that his body didn't touch any Mana. He simply felt too disgusted by the Mana touching his body.

'I really don't see why anyone would care about this disgusting world existing or not, but I have promised myself that I would change my mind back to being filled with Mana before I make any significant decisions."

And so, Shang did just that.

He turned his mind back to its old composition, and his opinions changed very quickly.

'How interesting,' he thought. 'And now, I feel like, without this world, there would be nearly no meaning to becoming powerful when I wanted to destroy it just moments ago.'

'And yet, not everything was so bad,' he thought as he looked at a specific part of his soul.

'The part that controls empathy. Surprisingly, I still have one.'

As Shang interacted with that part, he realized that it became active whenever he thought about destroying Aterium.

'Feelings are weakness.'

'Empathy is weakness.'

'1 could just remove it.'

Shang's hand stretched towards that part of his soul.

'Should I?'

957 Chapter 957 — Hidden Troubles

Shang was tempted to delete that part of his soul.

But after a couple of seconds, he decided against it.

'Deleting something is different from changing something. I am not entirely certain how this part of my mind dictates my actions. I should wait.'

Shang continued experimenting on his mind and soul for another thousand years.

By now, Shang had gained a scarily deep mastery over his own soul, and his tests had almost all been successful.

The only problem was that Shang still couldn't fix the problem with Entropy's inherent dislike for Mana.

'There's no way around this. If I want to change my body, I need to change my soul, and changing my soul will change my mind and personality,' Shang thought.

'There are only 2,000 years of longevity left. I should join the tournament and prepare my Mana for when I become a Sword King. I don't immediately have to absorb the Mana after winning the tournament.'

Luckily, the tournament was in just a couple of years, and Shang could easily join.

"I am going to join the next tournament," Shang transmitted to the Lightning Emperor.

"I also think it's a good time to join the tournament," the Lightning Emperor answered. "Two Mage Kings died of old age in the last thousand years, which means that the next tournament has space for two winners."

"I will send you in together with one of my Thunders. Sadly, our newest Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense isn't ready yet."

Shang just nodded. "Tell me when and where I have to go."

"Of course," the Lightning Emperor answered. "Be ready to depart in about ten years."

Shang just cut the connection and started to focus on his techniques.

Under normal circumstances, Shang wouldn't need to fear any Mage Lord, but things would be different in this tournament.

The Empires would do everything in their power to stop Shang from participating as a warrior.

Only Mages would be allowed to participate, which meant that Shang couldn't use his sword or his Sword Mana.

Because of that, Shang had to change his fighting style for the tournament.

Eventually, it was time, and the Lightning Emperor appeared inside Shang's Isolation Barrier.

The Lightning Emperor nodded toward Shang. "The tournament will be held in front of the Judgment Palace. Whenever the tournament happens, the war is put on halt."

Shang just nodded back.

A moment later, the Lightning Emperor contacted the other person that would join Shang.

A tall man with white hair appeared in front of Shang.

As soon as the man saw Shang, his brows furrowed, but then, a smirk appeared on his face.

"Shang," Agon Skythunder said. "What a pleasure to see you."

"Agon," Shang said emotionlessly.

Agon chuckled a bit. "Yes, it's me. Surprised? Do you think you're the only one that can shock people?"

Shang didn't answer for a while.

The Lightning Emperor was surprised that these two actually knew each other.

"He knows that I'm the Child of Calamity," Shang suddenly said.

The Lightning Emperor's and Agon's eyes shot open in shock.

But before any of them could say anything, Shang said something. "Make sure that he doesn't have some kind of failsafe that will release my secret as soon as he dies."

Agon's eyes widened, but it was already too late.

Shang activated his Domain of Entropy, and Agon turned into nothingness.I think you should take a look at

The Lightning Emperor's expression turned bitter and helpless, but he did what Shang said and inspected his Empire.

A moment later, a Magic Circle buried beneath a random spot in the Lightning Manor was destroyed by the Lightning Emperor.

The Lightning Emperor had already analyzed the Magic Circle. It was a Magic Circle that would send a message to a couple of other people.

Naturally, the Lightning Emperor had already found out which people Agon wanted to contact and killed them.

Additionally, the Lightning Emperor noticed that a signal had left Agon's body when he died, but since they were inside an Isolation Barrier, the signal just died.

"Could you warn me the next time, please?" the Lightning Emperor asked with a sigh.

Shang just wordlessly nodded.

Shang had wanted to kill Agon as soon as he had seen him at the start of the war.

However, the problem had been that Shang knew that Agon wasn't stupid.

Shang had been certain that Agon had prepared some kind of failsafe in case Shang killed him.

On top of that, back then, Shang's status hadn't been comparable to his current one. Many questions would have popped up after Shang seemingly randomly killed one of his saviors.

But with the Lightning Emperor present, all of Agon's preparations had become useless.

After so long, Shang had finally gotten rid of this hidden danger.

"How am I going to explain this to Wester?" the Lightning Emperor mused with a sigh.

"How is this related to the Custodian?" Shang asked.

"Agon was his disciple," the Lightning Emperor said as he helplessly scratched the back of his head. "Even though he only managed to gain a fourfold Spirit Sense, he actually nearly managed to comprehend a level six Concept. Within the next millennium, he might have comprehended it."

"Sadly, he only had about 1,600 years of longevity left, and he didn't want to take a risk by waiting for the last tournament."

"If everything had worked out, he might have become a Mage King with a fivefold Spirit Sense. It was risky, but the chance had been there."

The Lightning Emperor sighed again. "Wester won't like this at all."

"Just tell him I did it," Shang said. "It's the truth anyway."

The Lightning Emperor still didn't like the situation, but there wasn't much he could do. After all, the deed had already been done, and he also believed that it was safer for Agon to die since he knew that Shang was the Child of Calamity.

Luckily, Agon hadn't told Wester about Shang's identity. Otherwise, Wester would have already told the Lightning Emperor about it.

"Seems like we have to go on our own," the Lightning Emperor said helplessly. "I thought Agon had a small chance. Sadly, he was the only one. Taking another Thunder with us will just doom them to die in the tournament."

Shang just nodded.

A moment later, the Lightning Emperor contacted the Empress of Death. He needed her permission to enter the Judgment Palace.

The Empress of Death agreed readily and without any issues.

In the past, the Lightning Emperor would have thought that Kali would want to make things difficult for him, but not anymore.

Shang had already told the Lightning Emperor about King Sanctified Death's plan. Kali was part of that plan, which meant that they were secretly allies.

The Lightning Emperor wasn't the biggest fan of eradicating all of Aterium, but since King Sanctified Death wouldn't kill him, he wasn't that opposed to the idea anymore.

As long as the Lightning Emperor could leave the world, he could accept such a development.

It was quite funny, actually.

The entire war had started with the Lightning Emperor killing Kali's husband and killing two of her Mage Kings.

But now, near the end of the war, they were allies again.

A portal appeared in front of the Lightning Emperor, and the two of them stepped through.

 

958 Chapter 958 — Shock

The Lightning Emperor and Shang appeared in the sky in front of the actual Judgment Palace.

Shang had only been in two Empires before, the Lightning Manor and the Twilight Dusk Empire.

This was the first time Shang entered the Judgment Palace, and he even arrived in front of their actual center of power.

As soon as Shang arrived, his mind was drawn to the edge of his Spirit Sense.

The Death Pit.

Shang had been inside two Death Pits until now. One had been created by him by accident while transforming into weird flesh figures, and the other one had been created by the Judgment Palace during the war.

The first Death Pit had been just a bit of Death Mana, and the second one had been dense enough to even create a bit of Death Mana that had the Concept of Exodus.

But this one was filled to the brim with Death Mana with the Concept of Exodus.

The Death Mana was aggressive and trying to escape to destroy all the life in its surroundings, but a huge and constant wave of Life Mana kept it isolated.

After looking at the Death Pit for a bit, Shang looked at the present people.

The two of them hadn't been the first to arrive, and Shang also saw the other Emperors for the first time in his life.

The Emperors had appeared around Shang in the past, but they had always been too far away from him. His Spirit Sense hadn't been big enough to actually see them.

But now, he could.

Of course, the first that immediately jumped out in Shang's perception was the young woman with black hair, black lips, and black robes

She was surrounded by an unreal amount of Death Mana.

Naturally, she looked back when she noticed Shang looking at her.

Her eyes were grey and almost lifeless.

It was like a corpse was emotionlessly looking at Shang.

However, Shang could still feel her impossible power.

While the Lightning Emperor felt like a kind and regal emperor, she felt like a black bottomless abyss.

Naturally, this was Kali, the Empress of Death.

Floating below her were two women with black hair, but Shang felt no feeling of danger coming from them.

Yes, they were very powerful Peak Mage Lords, but they only had fourfold Spirit Senses.

Yet, the two of them were just as impressed as Shang was unimpressed.

Both of them had lived for over 20,000 years, but they still failed to completely hide their shock and fear.

One had to remember that, just like Shang had never seen the Emperors, all the enemy Mage Lords and weaker had never seen Shang for the same reason.

Their Spirit Senses hadn't been big enough to see him.

And while the Empress of Death definitely seemed imposing, Shang's appearance was just a slight bit scarier.

A bleeding white sheet that enclosed a torso, head, and arm.

Even more, Shang's Aura felt intense in every way that shouldn't be described as intense.

It felt hopeless, grey, and meaningless.

All these things weren't supposed to be described with the adjective intense, and yet, these feelings were so intense that they felt irresistible.

Looking at Shang was like witnessing a wave of nothingness consuming the world without any power to stop it.I think you should take a look at

It didn't matter what anyone did. Everything would lose its meaning and vanish.

Lastly, the power Shang gave off was beyond insane.

In fact, the two Mage Lords felt like Shang's Aura could even compare to some of the weaker Mage Kings they had seen.

But Shang didn't care about their reactions.

Instead, Shang looked at the other Emperors who were present.

The feeling he got from them was different from the feeling he got from the Empress of Death.

Shang felt a brutal pressure suppressing him as he saw the Emperors' intense eyes.

Until now, all the Emperors had believed that Shang had died. After all, he had been bathed in an insane amount of Death Mana using the Concept of Exodus.

No one in the Seventh Realm could possibly resist something like that!

So, when Shang suddenly appeared in front of them after thousands of years, their shock wasn't small.

At this moment, all of the Emperors looked at Shang with a mix of shock, anger, and frustration.

And some of the Emperors that had actually never seen Shang before just felt shock and pity.

What had to have happened to someone to turn into something like this?!

They had heard that a huge part of Shang's soul had been destroyed or severely damaged, but actually seeing it themselves was something else.

Additionally, the intensity of Shang's Aura also shocked them.

As Emperors, they had felt an uncountable number of Auras, and they had only met a single person with such an intense Aura.

Abaddon.

Not even Lucius had had such a vivid and intense Aura!

And lastly, they felt a scary darkness coming from Shang, which didn't make him seem any better than King Sanctified Death.

In essence, Shang felt to them like another King Sanctified Death.

The few Mage Emperors that hadn't seen Shang before felt like the last bit of hope they had harbored had vanished.

Maybe, it wouldn't be so bad if Shang actually managed to kill King Sanctified Death?

Pfft, it didn't matter anymore.

Both were equally as bad.

Shang saw a couple of Peak Mage Lords beneath every Emperor, and nearly all of them looked at Shang with absolute horror and shock.

For several seconds, everyone just looked at Shang.

The couple of Mage Emperors rapidly talked to each other, and their expressions changed very quickly.

In the end, their expressions all settled on a dark and threatening look.

They would deal with Shang in this tournament.

Naturally, the Emperors also talked to their combatants in the tournament, and they quickly formed several plans.

But, of course, the tournament wouldn't just begin like this.

"Why is a warrior here?" the Twilight Dusk Emperor, Amon Gus, asked.

 

959 Chapter 959 — Domain

Naturally, no one spoke up after Amon Gus asked that question. After all, every other Emperor also had issues with Shang.

It was one thing to have someone like Abaddon become a Mage Emperor, but it was something different when it was a warrior.

All the Emperors had been amongst Lucius' group in the past, and they still remembered how the world had been back then.

Right now, there was no war between different Paths since the Mage Path was supreme, but as soon as some Paths managed to recover, the Path wars would resume.

These wouldn't just be normal wars, but wars with the goal of eradicating the strongest people of another Path.

Additionally, Lucius had commanded that no other Path was allowed to reach the Ninth Realm again, and if Shang reached the Eighth Realm, there might be a chance that he would reach the Ninth Realm somehow.

The Emperors already suspected that Abaddon might be able to kill and consume an Emperor.

Shang might be able to do the same thing as a Warrior King.

Even more, deep inside, another thought appeared in the Emperors' minds.

Abaddon had been born to two Emperors with an unprecedented Affinity.

Yet, this warrior had created his Path himself, and he had only appeared when he was already at the Fifth or Sixth Realm.

Because of that, the Emperors were very wary of Shang.

"Why can't a warrior join?" Gregorio asked Amon Gus.

"This is the Grand Mage Tournament," Amon Gus answered. "Not the Grand All-Around Tournament."

"Then rename it," Gregorio said with a snort. "There have never been any rules regarding who can join. It's all about the Realm."

"Peak Mage Lord," Amon Gus said. "I don't think it would be accurate to say your little ghost is a Peak Mage Lord. It looks more like a Peak Beast Lord."

The two of them just looked at each other.

BANG!

The Mana Shield around Amon Gus rippled as a white beam hit it.

Amon Gus snorted as he looked at Shang, who had just shot the white beam at him.

"The level five Concept of Light, Laser," Amon Gus said as he looked at Shang. "I guess this can be partially considered Magic."

Surprisingly, Gregorio only looked at Amon Gus with a raised eyebrow.

Kali also turned to Amon Gus.

The other Emperors were not certain why Kali had shown a reaction but also looked at Amon Gus.

That was when they realized something shocking and quite entertaining.

There was Death Mana with the Concept of Sickness sticking to the spot where the laser had hit Amon Gus' Mana Shield.

Death Mana was very difficult to perceive, but the Emperors all had their ways, including Amon Gus.

And yet, Amon Gus hadn't noticed.

The Death Mana slowly kept absorbing the Mana of Amon Gus' Mana Shield.

Maybe, in a couple of minutes, it would become powerful enough to actually kill him?I think you should take a look at

The Emperors were shocked that Shang had comprehended at least one Death Concept, but it was also quite funny that Amon Gus didn't notice the Death Mana.

When everyone looked at Amon Gus, he realized that something must be up, and he inspected his body.

That was when he found the Death Mana on his Mana Shield.

Amon Gus gritted his teeth in rage and frustration as he got rid of the Death Mana.

This was a humiliation!

"How about we ask Bina Ching to officiate this dispute," Gregorio said with a chuckle. "I think she's more fit for the position since she isn't involved in the war."

Bina Ching, the Darkcold Empress, had always been one of the most rational ones among the group. She didn't say a lot, but when she said something, it was something important.

Amon Gus would normally have spoken up, but right now, he felt too humiliated.

A warrior in the Seventh Realm had managed to essentially "paint" his Mana Shield without him noticing.

Naturally, he wanted to kill Shang more than anything, but he couldn't do that.

Bina Ching glanced at Gregorio before she looked at Shang.

Shang felt a dark pressure descend on his body. Anyone else would have been unable to move, but to Shang, this was just one more disturbing factor among many.

"It is the Grand Mage Tournament," Bina Ching said. "Magic is what decides the Victor."

"Domains are Magic," Shang said, his emotionless voice appearing in everyone's mind.

The Emperors looked at Shang with displeased expressions.

All the other Peak Mage Lords were below their Emperors and didn't dare to speak up, but Shang was actually on the same level as all the other Emperors, and he even dared to speak up.

Bina Ching just kept looking at Shang.

"Domains created of one or more Concepts," Bina Ching answered.

This made it difficult for Shang to argue his point. While his Domain of Entropy was essentially made with the level five Concept of Transformation, Shang couldn't tell them.

Telling them about the Concept of Transformation would be like telling them that he knew Anti-Magic.

While knowing Anti—Magic wouldn't be bad, being the Child of Calamity would be very bad, and Shang couldn't guarantee that one of the Emperors hadn't already made the connection that Lucius had actually been the Child of Calamity.

Telling them that he knew Anti-Magic could lead to them realizing Shang was the Child of Calamity.

Because of that, Shang had to act like his Domain came from the Domain Controller Path, and he couldn't possibly erase any Mana.

Shang would only use it to turn some aggressive Spells into Mana.

Anti-Magic and Abominations turned Mana into nothingness. So, if Shang only turned Mana from one state into another, it would only seem like a unique and powerful Domain.

Sadly, that Domain had never been created by a Mage, and the Emperors basically knew all the Concepts that existed.

Shang couldn't possibly lie and tell them that he made his Domain with a certain Concept.

So, he was stuck with saying his Domain came from the Domain Controller Path.

Shang and Bina Ching just looked at each other.

"If I may speak up, Aunt Bina."

960 Chapter 960 — A God

A moment later, a portal appeared, and a man stepped through.

He was a tall man with short blonde hair. His haircut was very professional, almost like he was working in an office.

He wore a black jacket with a white shirt underneath, and he wore black pants.

For some reason, Shang's mind immediately associated him with some managers from Earth.

"Yes, Abaddon?" Bina Ching asked.

Yes, this was King Sanctified Death, Abaddon.

Abaddon just smiled brightly and gave a short nod of respect to Bina Ching before he turned to Shang.

Shang looked back, and for just a bit, the two of them looked at each other.

For the first time, the two of them met with their real bodies.

'I've never felt such an intense Aura before,' Shang thought.

Even though he had been prepared, he had still been surprised by the sheer intensity of Abaddon's Aura.

Abaddon's Aura was a warm yellow. He felt like a nice and kind person.

However, that was only on the surface.

Deeply hidden inside the intense Aura was a white nothingness. It was almost like a white hole was trying to act like a warm sun.

But it was very difficult to actually see through the disguise.

Of course, Shang's Aura felt just as intense and brutal as Abaddon's Aura, but Abaddon had already felt Shang's Aura before.

"I think we should give him a chance," Abaddon said.

The Emperors immediately furrowed their brows.

"Don't misunderstand me," Abaddon quickly said with a helpless smile before any Emperor could speak up. "I'm not saying that this tournament is suddenly for warriors or whatever Path he thinks he treads. I'm saying that we should allow him to compete but without his weapon or Weapon Mana."

The Emperors looked with skepticism at Abaddon.

"I mean," Abaddon continued with a friendly chuckle, "Paths don't necessarily need to be exclusive, right? I have a pretty powerful body, and I'm a Mage. I can also use a couple of Domains that don't rely on Magic Circles."

"You're different," Brutus Cesar interjected. "You've created a completely new way to use Domains, and you did it by extrapolating Domain—related parts from Concepts. That's different from normal Domains."

"Naturally, Uncle Brutus," Abaddon said, "but I used a sort of reductive method to create my Domains. In a way, my Domain doesn't even use a single Concept, and as we all know, Magic is based on Concepts."

"I don't know if he has a Domain, but based on his power, he very likely has one. A Domain is a Domain. In my opinion, if we ban his Domain, we have to ban every

Domain."

The Emperors weren't happy with Abaddon's words.

"I disagree," Bina Ching said. "We don't have to ban every Domain, only yours."

Abaddon's expression didn't change. "I'm not a Mage, then?"

Bina Ching just slowly shook her head. "You know exactly what I meant."

"No, you're right," Abaddon said. "I'm not a Mage."

WHOOOOOOM!

Suddenly, everyone was swallowed by some kind of formless Domain.

And yet, the Domain did... nothing.

It just surrounded everyone, but there was no effect on anyone.

It was just like one layer of reality had overlapped another layer.

Yet, the Mage Lords felt like they had left Aterium and had entered a different world.

Even more, they started to fall without being able to do anything about it!

The Emperors narrowed their eyes.

CRACK!

The reality around the Emperors broke apart, making it appear like they hovered inside cracks in the sky.

The Emperors were also stopping their candidates from falling.I think you should take a look at

"Explain," Bina Ching coldly demanded, her calm demeanor gone.

Just now, the Emperors had actually felt threatened!

That Domain had felt actually dangerous to them!

"The Sanctified Domain," Abaddon said as he lifted his right hand with a smile. "The core of my power."

"I do not cast Spells."

"I impose the Concepts of the world onto the world itself."

"I don't need a brush or a diagram to impose my will on the world."

"I will it, and the world does it."

"My Domain doesn't use Concepts, and I don't use Spells. I don't even use a Focus or a similar weapon."

"I am not a Mage."

Silence.

No one had expected Abaddon to come out in defense of Shang.

Even more, Abaddon's words actually made sense.

The way they had defined Magic made it impossible to include Abaddon as a Mage.

'He's not a Mage,' Shang thought.

Just now, when he had felt the Domain, he had felt the difference.

The way Abaddon used his power wasn't even related to Magic anymore.

No Spells.

Just pure Concepts imposed on the world around him.

It was like he was controlling the world itself.

Shang had only seen that kind of power from one other person before.

'He's a God.'

'He might not be a True God just yet, but he is walking on the God Path. The God is the only being that can use such a direct way to unleash his power.'

'Lucius was the Mage God, for however short his reign was.'

'Lucius was still a Mage.'

'Abaddon isn't a Mage anymore.'

'He is already on his way to becoming a God, and if he achieves that level, he will become a Pure God, a True God.'

'I don't think Lucius managed to reach such a level.'

In the beginning, the Emperors thought that Abaddon was just a contrarian.

But now, they realized that he was actually right.

He wasn't a Mage.

He might have started out as a Mage, but now, he wasn't like any Mage they had ever seen or met, including Lucius.

Several seconds of silence passed.

"He's right," Nivera Preston, the Deepsteel Empress, said. "He doesn't fit into our definition of Magic anymore."

Nivera took a deep breath. "He's more."

The other Emperors looked at her, but they didn't interject.

"Cultivators focused on their minds and evolved into Mages."

"And now, a Mage has focused even more on his mind and evolved yet again."

"This might be what Mages will eventually become."

"The Perfected Mage Path."