Ch. 961..970
961 Chapter 961 — Teams
When Nivera said that Abaddon represented the next evolutionary step of Mages, the Emperors looked at him with complex expressions.
Yes, Abaddon was a genius on the same level as Lucius, but compared to Lucius, Abaddon hadn't been under constant danger that forced him to rush his foundation.
Abaddon was already around 60,000 years old.
When Lucius was at that age, he had already ascended to become a God.
And yet, all of this still left a bitter taste in the Emperors' mouths.
After all, Abaddon was the last person they wished such great power on.
"I believe we have to change our definition of Magic," Nivera said. "Abaddon is right. With our current definition of Magic, he doesn't fit into the category. Yet, everyone can clearly see and feel that he is a Mage."
"Therefore, we have to change our definition of what constitutes Magic."
The Emperors silently accepted Nivera's words.
"So, we are in agreement," Bina Ching proclaimed.
The other Emperors nodded.
After that, Bina Ching turned to Gregorio. "Your candidate is allowed to use his Domain in the tournament."
"However, you have to keep in mind that Weapon Mana, weapons, and techniques that are obviously related to weapons and Weapon Mana are prohibited. Any usage of these techniques will disqualify your candidate from the tournament."
"Do you agree?" she asked.
"Of course," Gregorio said with a serious expression.
Naturally, Gregorio still wasn't happy. After all, Shang should be allowed to take part in the tournament without restrictions.
Nevertheless, he had to accept the judgment of the Emperors.
The time to fight all of them hadn't arrived yet.
"Good," Bina Ching said before turning to Kali. "Then, you can start the tournament."
Kali had been acknowledged as the true second-strongest after Lucius back then, which was why they had given her the honor of running the tournament.
Gregorio hadn't voiced any protests back then.
Kali didn't look at Bina Ching. She just kept looking forward like she hadn't heard anything.
"The tournament starts," she silently said.
"Teams, step forward."
All the Mage Lords floated upward a bit and stopped in front of their Emperors.
"As always, the arena will be the skies above the Judgment Palace," Kali said as she drew a line in the air.
The next moment, a huge Magic Circle appeared in the sky, which then created a humongous arena.
"The diameter of the arena is 100,000 kilometers," Kali explained. "The walls are indestructible for anyone beneath the Mage Emperor Realm."
"Since there are two open spots this time, we are going to hold a team battle, which means that one Empire will gain two Mage Kings today."
At that moment, Gregorio narrowed his eyes. "Wait a second! That is a new rule!"
"It is not," Kali said calmly but coldly without even looking at Gregorio. "247,000 years ago, we did just that. I don't see why we shouldn't do that again."
Gregorio gritted his teeth. "That's unfair! I only have one candidate!"
"No, you have two," Kali said. "You announced that you would come with two candidates. I explicitly told everyone to bring two candidates for this tournament."
The image of the dead Agon flashed through Gregorio's mind.
"The second candidate that I announced can't come," Gregorio said with narrowed eyes. "Can I quickly get a replacement?"
Originally, Gregorio hadn't cared that Shang was fighting alone. After all, the tournament was always one versus one, and he didn't have a second person that could win against every other opponent.
But now, things were different!I think you should take a look at
Shang needed someone that could distract one of his opponents.
Sure, if Shang could fight with all of his powers, it wouldn't matter, but he couldn't!
The Emperors just scoffed at Gregorio's question.
Get another candidate?
Obviously not!
"Fine."
The Emperors turned with shock to Kali.
"But to make it fair, you can't get someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense."
This made a glimmer appear in the Emperors' eyes.
No fourfold Spirit Sense?
They all realized that Kali had worded everything very precisely.
If Gregorio wanted Shang to win, the best bet would be to send in an old Thunder whose longevity would soon run out. These Thunders generally knew four level five Concepts, making them only inferior to Mage Lords with a fivefold Spirit Sense that managed to comprehend a level six Concept.
But those were now off the table.
Which left only two options.
A very powerful person with a threefold Spirit Sense.
Or someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense.
Yes, Kali had said no one with a fourfold Spirit Sense. She had not said no one with a fourfold Spirit Sense or stronger.
However, everyone knew that the only Mage Lord in the Lightning Manor with a fivefold Spirit Sense had, at most, comprehended three level five Concepts. They were only about as strong as the average Thunder, even with their strong Spirit Sense.
So, if Gregorio wanted to win this tournament, he would need to put a future Mage King on the line.
And even if Gregorio won, his future Mage King would just become a Mage King earlier, not giving him an additional one.
Gregorio was beyond frustrated.
The other Emperors were obviously trying to suppress him with all of the rules.
He wanted to fight them immediately, but he knew that he couldn't win.
He needed Shang.
'Why is Kali doing this?!' Gregorio thought with frustration. 'We are supposed to be hidden allies!'
Obviously, transforming the tournament into a team tournament was throwing a huge obstacle in front of Shang.
Kali only needed to start the tournament like always, and things would most likely be fine!
As Gregorio looked at Kali, he felt disdain coming from her.
At that moment, Gregorio's eyelids slightly twitched.
It was very subtle, but he had noticed something.
The kind of disdain Kali was feeling for Gregorio wasn't the kind of a strong enemy dominating a weaker one.
No, it was the kind of disdain one felt when someone else refused their gift because they were not smart enough to understand its value.
It basically meant, "You fucking idiot."
"Fine," Gregorio said before he closed his eyes.
Three seconds later, a portal opened, and a person stepped through.
When the Emperors saw them, they had to hold back their smirks.
He fell for it!
962 Chapter 962 — Schemes
A woman with whitish—grey hair stepped out of the portal. She wore the typical purple robes of the Lightning Manor, and her demeanor seemed quite similar to the Starlight Queen.
She seemed to be filled with pride but didn't seem too distant.
However, the Emperors could feel through her deception.
The woman was shocked, infuriated, and scared.
She knew how powerful her opponents would be, and she knew that she wasn't ready to participate in the tournament yet. Even more, due to Shang participating, she also knew that this would be a death tournament!
If the Emperors were in agreement, they could agree to let everyone fight to the death.
Usually, fights erred on the side of life, which meant that if two opponents were not in agreement, killing someone was prohibited and would result in the execution of the killer.
But if the Emperors agreed to a death tournament, that would shift.
It would mean that if two opponents were not in agreement, the fight would be to the death.
So, the loser would only be able to survive if both teams decided to make this a benign fight.
Naturally, the woman was not happy at all that she was here.
She would have become a Mage King in the future!
But now, she would die because the Lightning Emperor sacrificed her just to get a tiny chance at getting his favorite young master to become a Warrior King or whatever!
Of course, the majority of her hate was focused on Shang, but as soon as she saw him, her hatred vanished, replaced by fear.
What even was this?!
The Mage had been incredibly prideful. After all, she was the only Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense in the Lightning Manor currently!
She was the most talented Mage in an entire Empire!
Yet, when she felt Shang's Aura, she just felt inadequate and inferior.
It was like a Mage King was floating near her.
In the end, she could only accept her destiny.
"Hello, I am Cynthia Steelbright," she transmitted to Shang, "and I am a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense. I have a Dual Affinity for Metal and Lightning."
"Attack, defense, speed, versatility," Shang transmitted back. "Which is your best?" Shang's voice felt extremely dark and threatening to Cynthia, but she could still handle it.
"Attack and speed," she answered. "You?"
"Perfect," Shang answered but didn't elaborate.
"Perfect? What do you mean?" Cynthia asked.
Shang didn't answer.
Cynthia became frustrated, but she didn't dare to annoy Shang, which was why she remained quiet.
At the same time, the Emperors were giving their teams instructions on how to proceed in this tournament. After all, the goal wasn't to win but to kill Shang.
"Benign or malicious tournament?" Kali asked.
"Malicious," Amon Gus answered first.
"Malicious," Brutus Cesare continued.
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Malicious."
"Benign," Jenny Greenhouse said with a helpless smile.
"Benign," Linastra Boomwitch said with a snort.
"Malicious," Gregorio said, eliciting a couple of glances from the Emperors. "Malicious," Kali finished.
"We are in agreement. This is a malicious tournament."
"Both parties will decide if their fight will be benign or malicious."
"If both of them say it is malicious, it is malicious."
"If both of them say it is benign, it is benign."
"If one says it is benign and the other says it is malicious, it is malicious."
Jenny and Linastra were not the biggest fans of the current development.
Jenny Greenhouse was generally an honest person that liked working together with others, and she really wasn't the biggest fan of this entire two-faced plotting.
While Linastra Boomwitch was the opposite of a conflict-averse person, she also preferred direct confrontations.
Now, if everyone would genuinely start going at each other's throats, she wouldn't mind, but she knew that almost all the fights would be benign since they didn't want to lose their powerful Mages.I think you should take a look at
"As always," Kali continued, "the opponents will be chosen by the Void of Death."
Kali summoned a huge cloud of Death Mana that floated in front of her.
"Throw in your tokens."
The Emperors all took out a couple of small balls and threw them into the void.
Shang could tell that the Void of Death was a Spell that made the level five Concept of Exodus become excited, which would essentially turn it into a huge whirlpool of destruction.
The excited Death Mana would rapidly move around in random directions, pushing the tokens around.
This kind of movement couldn't be controlled by any Mage since it was simply far too chaotic.
'However...' Shang thought as he looked at the silent Kali. 'She is not just any Mage.'
The other Emperors hadn't complained about this way of drawing lots, which meant that they believed that Kali had no control.
And yet, What if she actually did?
Maybe she had hidden it very well all this time?
Shang inspected his opponents while the lots were rapidly getting shuffled in the Void of Death.
Most of the teams were made of two Mages with fourfold Spirit Senses. In fact,there were seven of these teams, which meant that there were only two teams with different configurations.
One of them was Shang's team.
The other one was Brutus Cesar's team. His team had someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense and someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense.
Someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense that had comprehended a level six Concept could fight two enemies with a fourfold Spirit Sense.
The gap in power was huge.
This meant that Brutus' team would win under normal circumstances.
However, Shang wasn't too worried.
A moment later, all the tokens shot out of the Void of Death and landed in the Emperors' hands.
And then, everyone realized something. Kali definitely had control over the Void of Death!
These fights were too perfectly orchestrated!
The Emperors looked at Kali with narrowed eyes, but she didn't respond to the looks.
Everyone had already agreed that the lots would be drawn this way. If they wanted to change it, they needed to wait for the next tournament and change the rules.
So, what did it look like?
Well, the Lightning Manor got the free ticket.
However, getting the free ticket was bad in this tournament.
If one got the free ticket, they wouldn't get to skip a round but would get to fight an additional one.
The first fight would be between two teams, and the winner would advance to the quarter-finals, the round of eight.
Who was the Lightning Manor's opponent?
The Tower of Climate's team.
Jenny Greenhouse's team.
One of the two teams that voted for benign.
And if the Lightning Manor's team won, they would face the Sungod Mountain Empire's team.
Linastra Boomwitch's Empire.
The second team that voted for benign.
Obviously, Kali was throwing these two teams in front of the Lightning Manor as fodder.
The Judgment Palace, Land and Sky Empire, and Twilight Dusk Family had all been allied for a long time, and these two Empires had always kept themselves out of the fight between them and the Lightning Manor.
Well, now they would need to get involved. Cynthia looked with fear at the team she was about to fight against.
A bit later, she threw a glance at Shang, who didn't seem to feel any different from before.
Which was true.
Shang wasn't worried about this fight at all.
The moment Kali had decided that this would be a team tournament was the moment she had essentially declared Shang's team the victor.
However, since nobody knew a lot about Shang's power, nobody realized the truth.
The only two people that knew that Shang would win were Kali and Abaddon, and Shang was certain that Kali had made this decision because of Abaddon.
Abaddon knew a frightening amount about Shang, and he also knew that fighting as a team would make this tournament very one-sided.
963 Chapter 963 - Siblings
Cynthia was still nervous, even though Shang seemed to be quite calm.
The Lightning Emperor had already explained to her that Shang wasn't able to use 90% of his power, making their chances of victory very small.
"Lightning Manor and Tower of Climate, enter the arena," Kali commanded.
Shang simply flew towards the arena and entered.
Cynthia was still uncertain, but there was nothing she could do but follow.
The Tower of Climate's team was comprised of a woman with blue hair and a man with red hair.
Shang could feel Light and Fire Mana come from the man, and Ice and Darkness Mana come from the woman.
Funnily enough, these two people together made up 80% of a Child of Calamity. They were only missing the special Entropy part that fused everything together.
When Jenny Greenhouse had heard that this would be a team tournament, she had actually become hopeful that they might win.
Originally, she was just here since she had to participate. She hadn't been confident in winning at all.
Her two contestants were brother and sister, and they had always been together. In fact, they had even refused to join the tournament unless they could both join at once.
Sadly, this also came with some disadvantages.
If they were more willing to split up, maybe, they could have even comprehended a level six Concept.
The two of them were extremely talented, but since they never split up, one of the two of them was always just watching without improving their power since their Affinities were opposites of each other.
And yet, none of them regretted their choice.
They just wanted to live together until the end, and they were doing just that.
The two of them looked at each other and nodded simultaneously.
A moment later, they flew into the arena while they held their hands.
Since the arena had a diameter of 100,000 kilometers, the two sides couldn't see each other, and they just waited for the signal to start.
"Benign or malicious?" Kali asked Gregorio and Jenny.
"Benign," Gregorio answered first.
Amon Gus and Brutus Cesar frowned. They would have liked it more if Gregorio had been more aggressive.
Jenny seemed uncertain.
She had voted for benign earlier, but that was more of a general thing for her.
Right now, her team was fighting the united enemy of all Mage Emperors.
If she said malicious, her team might very well die.
If she said benign, the other Emperors would very likely make life difficult for her.
After all, if there ever were a time to step up for the world, it would be now.
Should she?
...
"Malicious."
The expressions of the Emperors didn't change, but deep inside, they smirked.
Finally, Jenny had given in.
She had always been on the sidelines in this conflict, but now, she had been forced to choose a side.
And she had chosen theirs.
In the end, the decision had come down to the two contestants Jenny had sent in.
They only had around 3,000 years left, and they weren't strong enough to win a tournament, except for this team tournament.
And, well, since this was the only tournament they could win, losing and death would basically mean the same thing for the Tower of Climate.
If they won, it didn't matter whether the fights were malicious or benign. They would survive either way.I think you should take a look at
And if they couldn't, it would barely make a difference.
"The fight will be malicious. The arena will only open after both members of one team are dead," Kali announced.
Naturally, Kali's voice also reached the two teams in the arena.
And their reactions?
Shock and anger.
Cynthia believed that the Lightning Emperor wouldn't want to hurt Jenny Greenhouse after she had voted for benign, which meant that Jenny Greenhouse had betrayed their goodwill!
Meanwhile, the other team believed that their Emperess couldn't have possibly voted for malicious since she had already made a statement earlier by voting for benign, which meant that it could have only been the Lightning Emperor.
In essence, both teams believed that the other one had become the aggressor and started the conflict.
"Start!" Kali announced.
Cynthia summoned her Focus and her Mana Shield.
"Don't," Shang said as he held his single arm in front of Cynthia.
"What don't?" Cynthia asked in shock and frustration.
"Don't use your Mana Shield."
At that moment, Cynthia's eyes shot open in shock.
"I need you to do two things," Shang transmitted two her.
"First, I need you to link your body to mine. I will be the one evading the enemy Spells, and you will simply follow me." "Second, I need you to only focus on a single thing."
"Attack."
"I am defense. You are offense."
Cynthia was skeptical and shocked.
She gritted her teeth in frustration, but eventually, she conceded.
After all, she was only here due to Shang. She didn't trust Shang, but she trusted in Shang's talent and power.
"Fine," she said.
An instant later, a couple of chains of durable and flexible metal bound her to Shang's back, and she started to focus on casting Spells.
Shang noticed that Cynthia had started to focus on her Spells.
The next moment, Shang cast a couple of Spells on his own.
While Shang couldn't keep up with the magical abilities of the contestants here, Shang's magical abilities still put him at about the level of a Peak Mage Lord with a twofold or threefold Spirit Sense.
That was far more than enough to cast several powerful Spells.
Shang cast a couple of Spells that would get rid of the inertia in Cynthia's body.
After all, Mages either used Mana Step or flew very slowly.
If Shang started to shoot forward, Cynthia might turn into a pile of mush.
Naturally, Cynthia noticed the Spells Shang had cast on her and sneered.
She had already activated similar Spells with the same effect.
She didn't- oooooOOOOOH!
Suddenly, the world around her turned into a blur, and Cynthia felt like she had just used Mana Step.
For a short moment, Cynthia completely stopped casting Spells as she tried to come to terms with the sheer speed she was experiencing.
This speed was absolutely ridiculous!
In nearly an instant, she had already found her opponents with her Spirit Sense.
They had already traveled that far?!
964 Chapter 964 — The First Round
The two siblings were already preparing several powerful Spells.
The air around them had already transformed into a chaotic storm of fire and ice, creating a destructive and powerful barrier.
Any Spell needed to punch through that barrier first.
The next moment, an impossibly fast black beam of light shot right toward Shang.
The beam was so fast that not even Shang's speed could keep up.
Luckily, Shang had prepared his own Spell.
Shang needed longer to cast Spells than Mages, but his Spells weren't weaker.
In fact, since Shang's mind was half a level stronger than other Peak Mage Lords due to his Transformation, his Spells were actually more powerful.
Shang pointed at the Spell, and a moment later, a white beam shot towards the black beam.
Thanks to the increased power of Shang's mind, his beam managed to withstand the combined beam of his two opponents just long enough for him to evade.
Naturally, Shang's opponents immediately launched a barrage of Spells, but Shang could avoid most of them.
However, there were also Spells that Shang had to deal with.
Spells like fire spears, darkness needles, or icicles were not an issue for Shang to sidestep, but Spells like huge fire waves or lasers were not things that Shang could avoid. They were either too fast or too big.
Usually, Shang would just use Sword Blood while he prepared Sword Heart. Alternatively, he could have also just used World Connection to destroy the Spells or even just used his sword to block.
Although, that also wouldn't be accurate since Shang wouldn't even be in this situation to begin with. He would have killed both of his opponents already.
But, well, there wasn't much he could do right now.
"You done anytime soon?" Shang asked as he rapidly kept dodging.
"Give me a bit more time," Cynthia answered calmly.
Surprisingly, Cynthia seemed extremely if calm and serious.
Although, maybe that wasn't surprising. After all, she was a Peak Mage Lord with a fivefold Spirit Sense. Someone like that had to have a powerful mindset.
Shang didn't ask why Cynthia needed more time and just continued dodging.
A moment later, two extremely powerful and huge Spells shot at Shang.
They had too much Mana to counter, and Shang wasn't fast enough to evade.
SHING!
So, Shang used Mana Step and moved both of them away.
Surprisingly, Mana Step only cost a slight bit more Mana than usual. Cynthia's body was barely heavier than nothing compared to Shang's weight.
Naturally, fights between Mages took forever because of Mana Shield, Mana Step, and their rapid Mana regeneration.
Equally powerful Mage Lords could fight for hours and would exchange millions of Spells.
No one had been surprised that Shang managed to avoid.
The siblings used these Spells to force Shang to use more Mana than them, giving them an edge in Mana.
After all, Mana Step was just too expensive.
"Get in close," Cynthia transmitted to Shang.
SHING!
In an instant, Shang used two Mana Steps and arrived directly in front of the woman with blue hair.
For a moment, Cynthia's eyes shot open. 'Not THAT close!'
Nevertheless, Cynthia didn't hesitate and immediately released her prepared Spells. 20 thin and long drill heads, loaded to the brim with lightning, exploded out from her and hit the woman's Mana Shield.
CRACK!
The Mana Shield broke in an instant, and ten of the drill heads shot through the woman's body, turning her into ash.
Silence.
The red-haired man looked with shock at the place where his sister had been, and a moment later, determination and hatred appeared in his eyes.
BOOOOOM!
Yet, Shang released his own prepared Spells while Cynthia unloaded a couple more of her own.
The man tried to get close to them, but Shang easily outran him.
Moments later, the man died as well.
"Lightning Manor, victorious," Kali announced.
Outside, Jenny Greenhouse just sighed.
Gregorio glanced at her, no empathy in his eyes.I think you should take a look at
When Gregorio had originally talked to Shang about the entire God business, he still wanted some of his friends to survive.
But now, he didn't care anymore.
They had all united against him.
So what if they died?
Maybe, it wouldn't be so bad after all.
Maybe, helping Abaddon wasn't such a bad idea after all.
Shang and Cynthia exited the arena and stopped behind the Lightning Emperor.
"Everyone saw how you fought," Cynthia transmitted to Shang and the Lightning Emperor. "We need a plan against future strategies."
Shang didn't answer.
Gregorio just chuckled a bit.
"Cynthia, don't worry. Shang hasn't even used any of his abilities yet."
Cynthia became shocked once again. "Of course, Ancestor."
Gregorio just chuckled again.
"Twilight Dusk Family versus the Darkcold Fortress," Kali announced. "Teams, enter the arena."
The two teams entered the arena.
"Benign of malicious?" Kali asked.
"Benign," Amon Gus said.
"Benign," Bina Ching echoed.
"This fight will be benign," she announced.
"Start!"
The two teams fought, but there was no suspense in the fight.
Even though both sides consisted of Mage Lords with fourfold Spirit Senses, the Twilight Dusk Family had the upper hand from the very beginning.
The Darkcold Fortress lost after just a couple of seconds.
Both sides bowed in respect to each other and left the arena.
"Event Horizon versus Deepsteel Pearl," Kali announced.
The two teams entered, and the two Emperors both said that the fight would be benign.
This time, the fight was actually very intense and took a long time.
However, after around 20 minutes, Shang already became disinterested and bored. It was always the same.
Shang had already seen the same Spell thousands of times in these 20 minutes, and the fight became very stale.
The fight took a total of 13 hours, which was beyond ridiculous.
In the end, the Event Horizon won.
The two sides bowed in respect and left the arena.
"Judgment Palace versus Land and Sky Pillar," Kali announced.
Yes, surprisingly, Kali had chosen the Land and Sky Pillar as her first opponent, which was strange for two reasons.
First, they were allies.
Second, the Land and Sky Pillar was the only Empire, other than the Lightning Manor, with a Mage that had a fivefold Spirit Sense.
"Benign or malicious? I choose benign," Kali said.
Brutus Cesar was quite annoyed with Kali.
After all, her intentions were clear to him.
She just wanted to get a quick out of the tournament. Her two allies should take care of the Lightning Manor, while she just left the tournament without any issues.
Naturally, Brutus Cesar wasn't the biggest fan of that, but for the sake of the alliance...
"Benign," Brutus Cesar said neutrally.
"The fight will be benign," Kali announced. Naturally, there was no suspense in the fight
The Judgment Palace lost within two seconds.
The two teams bowed in respect and left the arena.
"The Sungod Mountain versus the Lightning Manor."
965 Chapter 965 - Slap
Shang's opponents were two men. One of them had fiery red hair, and the other had greyish-brown hair.
Shang could feel a ton of Gravity and Fire Mana come from one of them, and a lot of Gravity and Earth Mana come from the other.
Both teams entered the arena.
"Both of them have a Gravity Affinity," Cynthia transmitted to Shang.
"I know," Shang answered.
"Is there anything you have planned? Gravity Affinities are the best at controlling an opponent's speed," Cynthia transmitted.
"Just focus on killing them," Shang answered.
Cynthia glared at Shang, but she didn't protest.
She felt like Shang was taking all of this too lightly, but she also knew that she was only here to support Shang.
If they died, it would be his fault!
"Benign or malicious?" Kali asked.
Gregorio looked coldly at Linastra.
She was the last Emperor that hadn't yet shown enmity toward him.
"Benign," Gregorio said coldly.
The other Emperors looked at Linastra with shining eyes.
Linastra snorted in disgust.
"Benign."
The Emperors subtly narrowed their eyes, but Linastra just looked away in disgust.
Gregorio shot a look at Linastra.
He hadn't expected that Linastra would be willing to stand against all her friends.
Linastra's Empire was at the southeastern end of Aterium, on the opposite end of the world.
This made it impossible for the Lightning Manor to help her in any way.
By going against the other Emperors, she had essentially put herself alone against several Empires.
Especially Jenny's Empire to Linastra's north might become troublesome since Jenny had just decided to sacrifice two of her people for the other Empires.
"The fight will be benign," Kali announced.
When the teams heard that, they were quite surprised.
Cynthia released a sigh of relief, just like her two opponents.
Shang didn't care.
"Start!" Kali announced.
Shang shot forward with Cynthia behind him.
Just a bit later, Shang saw his two opponents preparing a humongous black hole and launched it at Shang and Cynthia.
When Cynthia noticed the approaching black hole, she became terrified.
She didn't have a Mana Shield active, and if she got close to that black hole, her body would be torn apart!
So, she quickly started to cast Mana Shield.
SLAP!
Suddenly, her world vibrated, and she felt her head almost leaving her body.
With shock, she looked at Shang...
Who had just backhanded her.
"Don't use Mana Shield," Shang coldly transmitted.
Cynthia was in so much shock that she didn't cast any Spells for a while.
Meanwhile, the black hole came closer and closer.
Instead of avoiding it, Shang flew towards it.
Suddenly, the Gravity Mana in front of Shang started to rapidly dissipate and turn into Neutral Mana.
Compared to normal Spells, Gravity Mana often didn't get compressed but expanded.
The density of the Gravity Mana wasn't very high, which allowed Shang's Domain of Entropy to easily and safely transform it into Neutral Mana.I think you should take a look at
When the Emperors saw the Gravity Mana turn into Neutral Mana, their minds reeled in shock.
They had never seen anything like this!
Immediately, the Domain of the Abominations shot through their minds, but Abominations only deleted Mana.
They couldn't transform one kind of Mana into another one!
The Emperors' minds rapidly thought of infinite ways to create a domain with such an effect, but they never found one.
Not even Domain Controllers could use such a Domain!
What the hell was this Domain?!
While the Emperors were shocked by Shang's Domain, Cynthia was shocked that she was still alive.
Even more, the effect of gravity on her body was negligible.
Lastly, she was surrounded by an insanely dense cloud of Mana!
Shang's slap vanished from Cynthia's head as her instincts took over, and she started to rapidly cast offensive Spells.
The insanely dense cloud of Natural Mana around her sped up her Mana regeneration even more, and she didn't even need to save any Mana anymore! Cynthia cast one expensive Spell after the other and prepared them.
Meanwhile, their opponents noticed with shock that their black hole had failed, and they started to launch their own Spells.
Sadly, fire and earth weren't the fastest Elements.
Shang didn't have many problems avoiding their Spells.
Some moments later, Cynthia unleashed her prepared Spells on one of her opponents.
SHING!
The opponent vanished and reappeared outside the arena.
In benign fights, Kali would save someone before they died.
Naturally, to make it fair, she only saved someone after their Mana Shield broke.
At that point, they would be out of Mana anyway, which meant that they had lost.
The other opponent saw that he was alone.
"I concede!" he shouted.
Shang stopped moving.
A moment later, the first opponent appeared inside the arena again.
Cynthia and her two opponents bowed in respect.
Shang didn't move.
Naturally, the two opponents felt disrespected, but they didn't complain.
Shang and Cynthia left the arena.
"If you do that again, I will refuse to fight in the next fight," Cynthia transmitted with seething fury to Shang.
"If you want to die, be my guest," Shang answered.
Cynthia's rage exploded.
"Calm down, Cynthia," Gregorio transmitted with a helpless smile. "Shang's Domain turns all kinds of Mana into Neutral Mana. If you were to use your Mana Shield, his Domain would also drain you of Mana. You would be out of Mana in an instant."
Surprisingly, this made Cynthia even angrier.
"Then, why didn't he just tell me?!" she transmitted with aggression. "If I had known that, I would have never even tried to use Mana Shield!"
Shang didn't answer.
Cynthia wasn't angry because of the slap anymore but because of Shang's absolute lack of communication.
The two of them were a team, and they needed to work together, but Shang just kept refusing to communicate with her and just ordered her to do whatever he wanted!
How was she supposed to stay calm in this situation?!
While this fight had been benign, the next one would definitely be malicious again!
She was fighting with her life on the line, and this asshole refused to communicate with her!
She was trying to help him!
Gregorio just sighed. "Shang is special," he transmitted. "His social skills are near zero, but he is probably the most talented and hardworking person that has ever existed. I know it's difficult, but just do what he says for the next two fights. After that, you don't have to interact with him again."
Cynthia gritted her teeth.
"Fine," she said with barely controlled anger.
Chapter 966 - Semi—Final
"Twilight Dusk Family versus the Event Horizon," Kali announced.
The two entered the arena, and the two Emperors made the fight benign.
But while the two teams fought, the Emperors weren't paying any attention to the fight.
Instead, they all looked at Shang.
His Domain...
What was his Domain?
Where did it come from?
It was so strange.
They could feel that Shang's Domain included at least one Concept, which technically classified it as a Spell.
And yet, none of the Emperors knew what kind of Concept Shang's Domain used.
Of course, the Emperors also noticed that there was more to Shang's Domain, but they also couldn't find out anything about that.
Shang's Domain was a mystery.
Like, what Concept would even give someone the power to transform Gravity Mana into Neutral Mana?
Was the Concept Gravity related?
Probably not. After all, all the Emperors already knew the level six Concept of Gravity, Singularity.
Naturally, some eyes also fell on the watching King Sanctified Death. Abaddon's Domain was just as mysterious and strange as Shang's Domain.
Just like with Shang, the Emperors couldn't find out how Abaddon's Domain worked.
Yet, not finding out how Abaddon's Domain worked felt much more acceptable than not finding out how Shang's Domain worked.
One was the most talented Mage that had ever lived.
But the other guy was just a warrior!
Yes, he was the most talented warrior that had ever lived, but he was technically using a Spell!
He wasn't even a Mage!
Most of the Emperors hated this feeling.
It was one thing to see someone with vast potential that could maybe rival the strongest person in the future, but it was something different to see it actually happen.
It transformed from a possibility to a reality.
Even more, the feeling that Shang's Domain gave them was also similar to Abaddon's Domain in another category.
Quality.
Abaddon's Domain felt like it was fundamentally a level above what a Mage could do.
And Shang's Domain felt very similar.
It was like Shang had created something that couldn't be created or used by normal people.
It was something greater.
Something of a higher level.
A higher reality, maybe.
It was like this Domain came from a stronger world than Aterium.
Meanwhile, Abaddon just looked at Shang with a friendly smile.
No one knew what Abaddon was thinking.
The fight between the Twilight Dusk Family and the Event Horizon took about 30 minutes.
In the end, the Twilight Dusk Family won, and they entered the final.
"Land and Sky Pillar versus the Lightning Manor," Kali announced.
Shang had already seen his opponents fight.
The Mage with the fourfold Spirit Sense had an Earth and Metal Affinity, while the Mage with the fivefold Spirit Sense had a Wind and Water Affinity.
The Mage with the Wind and Water Affinity reminded Shang of that one Mage he had helped in Area 23. That one had also comprehended a Complex Concept related to water and wind.
Naturally, these two people were as far away from each other in talent as it got. After all, Shang's opponent had a fivefold Spirit Sense.
Even more, he knew the level six Concept of Wind, Allwind.
The four base Affinities, Fire, Earth, Wind, and Water, all had this kind of name for their strongest Concept.
Allwater, Allfire, Allearth, Allwind.I think you should take a look at
It simply represented the ultimate mastery over all of the Element.
After the two teams entered the arena, Kali asked the Emperors whether this fight was benign or malicious.
"Malicious," they both said at the same time.
No one was surprised.
"The fight will be malicious," Kali announced.
Naturally, the two teams also weren't surprised.
"Any plans?" Cynthia asked.
"Just cast offensive Spells," Shang answered.
Cynthia hadn't expected a different answer.
"Start," Kali announced.
Shang shot forward, and Cynthia readied her offensive Spells.
In nearly an instant, they could already see their opponents.
However, their opponents had been prepared for them.
Just like how Shang had seen his opponents fight, his opponents had seen him fight.
The Mage with the fourfold Spirit Sense stepped back while he was preparing Spells.
The Mage with the fivefold Spirit Sense stepped forward and launched his Spells at Shang.
They had seen how Shang's team had won the last two fights.
Both times, Cynthia had unleashed an irresistible avalanche of Spells from an unavoidable distance.
So, their opponents had decided that the Mage with a fourfold Spirit Sense would continuously prepare Spells, and when Cynthia inevitably unleashed her assault, he would simply unleash his assault as well.
While Cynthia was definitely more talented than him, Cynthia was missing a level five Concept, making him minimally stronger than her at this moment.
He would be able to block Cynthia's avalanche of Spells.
The wind in the arena started to pick up, and a humongous storm appeared.
Shang had already activated his Domain, but he still felt a significant force pushing against his body, slowing him down significantly.
The next moment, all the Wind Mana in the arena gathered at several small spots, turning them into violently spinning blades of wind.
CRK! CRK! CRK! CRK!
Surprisingly, Shang ran into the blades!
The Mana was scattered over too big of an area, making the attack dispersed enough that Shang could resist it with just his Domain and body.
When the Mage saw that, he narrowed his eyes, and all the Wind Mana gathered in way fewer spots.
SHING!
Suddenly, Shang appeared right in front of the Mage, but he wasn't afraid.
Just as planned, the other Mage unleashed his prepared assault on them.
Cynthia countered the other Mage's assault with her own, and the two waves of Spells canceled each other out.
The Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense readied his own Spell with a smirk.
And then, his smirk froze.
Where was his Mana going?!
He was rapidly losing Mana!
A moment later, Shang pointed his finger at the Mage and a wave of terrifying faces in a cloud of black smoke shot at him.
At that moment, the Emperors realized how Shang could have survived Abaddon's attack!
The level five Concept of Death, Exodus!
The wave of faces stopped around the Mage's Mana Shield and started to eat it rapidly.
The Mage immediately canceled his Spell and used Mana Step...
But it didn't work!
He couldn't use Mana Step!
The Wind Mana in the arena started to vanish as the Mage used it to supplement his Mana Shield.
The Mage tried his best to run away, but Shang was faster!
And a full second later, the Mage died.
Chapter 967 — Finale
Silence.
The Mage Emperors just looked with absolute shock at the arena as Shang and Cynthia killed the second Mage.
This was supposed to be the fight that killed Shang!
Instead, Shang just charged toward the Mage and just stood beside him until he died!
Everyone knew that Shang had a sixfold Spirit Sense, but someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense should have a shot at winning against Shang as long as Shang didn't use his body, Sword Mana, or weapon, right?
Sure, the gap between the levels was big, but it couldn't be THAT big, right?!
It was all because of this Domain and the level five Concept of Death, Exodus!
The Domain made it difficult for the Mage to gather the Elemental Mana he needed to cast Spells, and the Concept of Exodus tore through his Mana at rapid rates. At least, that was how the Emperors saw the fight.
One had to know that Mages with fivefold Spirit Senses had extremely powerful defenses. With a level six Concept, they could use the surrounding Mana in the arena to multiply the power of their Mana Shield.
That was also why Shang took a full second to kill the Mage.
A Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense had a Mana Shield that was about ten to twenty times more powerful than someone with a fourfold Spirit Sense. The only drawback was that this kind of Mana Shield refilled much, much slower than the normal one.
A full second in a battle between such powerful Peak Mage Lords could almost be described as an eternity. If two mortal warriors were fighting, this would be about five minutes.
And yet, for an entire second, Shang managed to stay close to the Mage with a fivefold Spirit Sense.
The Emperors were not happy at all.
The finale would be between the Lightning Manor and the Twilight Dusk Family, and the Twilight Dusk Family didn't have anyone with a fivefold Spirit Sense.
The chances that the Lightning Manor would win were over 99%.
"The Lightning Manor wins," Kali announced coldly.
Shang and Cynthia had already killed the second Mage.
The pressure on the other Emperors' shoulders increased.
They had gambled in this tournament, and they were about to lose the gamble.
By allowing Shang to participate in a weakened state, they had already consented to give him the Mana to become a Sword King if he won.
If they had simply stated that Shang wasn't allowed to participate since his main Path wasn't Magic, they wouldn't be in this troublesome situation.
But they had been greedy.
They wanted to kill Shang, no matter what!
They wanted to get rid of this danger!
After all, what if the Lightning Emperor decided to secretly kill one of his Mage Kings or Beast Kings to give Shang the Mana?
Sure, the other Emperors would immediately unite and attack both of them, no matter the cost, but it would still be extremely dangerous that Shang managed to become a Sword King.
On top of that, if the Lightning Emperor actually started to push Shang into the Sword Emperor Realm by somehow gathering a crazy amount of Mana in a short period of time, things might actually get extremely dangerous.
But now, all of that didn't matter!
Shang would become a Sword King without breaking any laws or rules!
As Cynthia flew back to the Lightning Emperor, she couldn't hold back an excited smile.
They had done it!
They would become Mage Kings!
They had just defeated the strongest team!I think you should take a look at
Shang's Aura hadn't changed one bit. It was almost like he didn't care.
"Good job," the Lightning Emperor told the both of them. "However, our victory isn't certain yet."
Cynthia's excitement levels lowered, and she nodded solemnly.
Shang didn't show any reactions.
Gregorio glanced at Amon Gus. Instead of fear, Gregorio saw determination in his eyes.
"Amon Gus is suspicious," Gregorio transmitted to the two of them. "He seems too calm. I fear that he has a plan."
Shang had already noticed that the two Mage Lords beneath the Twilight Dusk Emperor seemed suspiciously calm.
"Twilight Dusk Family versus the Lightning Manor," Kali announced.
The two teams entered the arena and waited.
Gregorio and Amon Gus looked at each other with solemn expressions.
"Benign or malicious?" Kali asked.
"Malicious," both of them said at the same time.
"The fight will be malicious," Kali announced to everyone.
Cynthia and Shang readied themselves, and their opponents did as well.
"Start," Kali announced.
An instant later, Shang shot forward, together with Cynthia.
Their two opponents appeared in their Spirit Senses a bit later.
Apparently, their two opponents were preparing two powerful Spells that used the strength of darkness with the speed of light.
When Shang was only about 5,000 kilometers away from them, he used Mana Step to immediately arrive in front of them.
At that moment, time seemed to stop as several things happened at the same time. The two Mage Lords from the Twilight Dusk Family looked with profound sadness at each other.
They knew that their end had come.
At the same time, Shang transmitted to Cynthia, "Mana Shield!"
On top of that, people noticed that Shang had actually arrived alone in front of his opponents.
Cynthia was still at the same place, 5,000 kilometers away!
An instant later, a Mana Shield appeared around Shang, and he stretched his hand toward his two opponents.
Simultaneously to the Mana Shield appearing, the two Mage Lords turned into weak husks, barely clinging to life. Gregorio narrowed his eyes when he saw that.
'They sacrificed all their Mana, soul, and life energy into that one Spell!'
Two Peak Mage Lords with fourfold Spirit Senses would use their entire existence to launch one attack.
No matter the outcome, they would soon die.
However, the attack they unleashed reached the strength and speed of a Mid Mage King.
Such a powerful attack was more than enough to kill Shang.
All the Emperors knew it.
This was the moment!
The moment that would decide the future!
Chapter 968 — Judgment
A terrifying beam of black and white shot toward Shang.
The beam was barely two meters wide, but its destructive power was undeniable.
WHOOOM!
First, Shang released all of his Death Mana with the Concept of Exodus.
The black wave of terrifying faces compressed and became a thin cloud.
BANG!
The black and white beam shot through the black cloud like it didn't even exist, dispersing the faces.
Next, the beam entered Shang's Domain of Entropy.
As the beam traveled through it, it became thinner, but its speed didn't decrease.
With these two defenses, the beam had halfway dropped to the Early Mage King Realm.
Next, the beam hit Shang's Mana Shield.
It barely paused before Shang's Mana Shield broke into pieces.
However, the attack had finally reached the Early Mage King Realm.
At that moment, Shang evaluated his chances against the attack.
Due to Shang's fucked up Soul and mind, he couldn't even trust his instinct of danger.
He constantly felt like he was about to die, which made it extremely difficult to judge whether or not this attack would kill him.
Shang could tell that the attack was on the level of an Early Mage King with a fourfold or fivefold Spirit Sense, but he wasn't entirely sure what he needed to survive.
Sadly, Shang could only grit his teeth.
If Shang got hit by this attack without doing anything, he would almost certainly die.
He had to do something!
The next moment, all the Mana in the arena was absorbed by Shang.
Void Break!
At least with this, he could still argue with the Mage Emperors!
BOOOOOOOM!
The beam tore through Shang's outstretched arm, but it was slowed significantly.
In the end, the beam had shrunk quite a bit, and it hit the middle of Shang's chest. After tearing through half of Shang's chest, the beam stopped and dispersed. Shang had done the right thing.
If he hadn't increased his body by a level with Void Break, this attack would have killed him.
A moment later, Shang's body recovered to its peak condition.
In the distance, the two Mage Lords saw that Shang had survived, but they didn't care.
They were dead anyway.
BANG! BANG!
Cynthia launched two Spells, killing the two weak Mages.
The fight was over.
An instant later, the arena dispersed.
Cynthia and Shang felt themselves get pulled behind the Lightning Emperor, and the other Emperors glared with angry eyes at them.
"He cheated!"
"He used a warrior technique!"
"This was a malicious fight! The cheater must die!"
Amon Gus, Brutus Cesar, Nivera Preston, and Bina Ching were the loudest and angriest.
Jenny Greenhouse watched with gritted teeth but didn't say anything.
Isis Neweston and Linastra Boomwitch looked with gleaming eyes at everything that was happening.
Kali didn't look at anyone with her seemingly lifeless eyes.I think you should take a look at
"Silence," Kali spoke with a cold voice. Yet, the Mage Emperors continued to shout in anger.
BOOOOOOOM!
Suddenly, a world of death and darkness engulfed everyone.
The shouting immediately stopped, and all the Mage Emperors used several Spells to escape the sudden attack.
The cloud dispersed quickly, revealing shocked expressions.
"I said silence," Kali repeated.
Silence.
"Anyone in favor of disqualifying the warrior will come to my left. Anyone against it will come to my right. Anyone that doesn't mind can stay to the side," Kali said.
The Emperors glanced at each other.
Amon Gus, Bina Ching, Brutus Cesar, Jenny Greenhouse, Nivera Preston, and Isis Neweston came to Kali's left.
Gregorio was on Kali's right.
Linastra Boomwitch was neutral.
"Party for disqualification, state your case," Kali said coldly.
When the Emperors heard that, they slightly narrowed their eyes at Kali.
Kali lost the most to the Lightning Manor!
She should be the first to declare this a vote, not a debate!
As long as she declared this a vote, they would win!
Naturally, Kali got several voice transmissions, but she didn't answer any of them.
Some seconds later, Amon Gus flew forward.
"The warrior has used a Berserker technique to increase the defensive strength of his body. This is a tournament for Mages, and if he were a Mage, he would be dead. Since this was a malicious fight, the disqualified person should be executed!" he argued.
"Party against disqualification, state your case," Kali said.
Gregorio flew forward. "Shang has used something called Void Break. First of all, Void Break is a variation of Void Casting, which is a Mage technique. You have all seen how he has absorbed the Mana, just like when someone uses Void Casting!"
"Additionally, Shang has not used Void Break to attack his opponent but only to defend!"
"Lastly, his opponents have already run out of Mana before the attack even hit Shang. This means that the fight was already over at this point, making it irrelevant how Shang managed to survive their attack!"
Silence.
Kali glanced at Gregorio, who kept transmitting to her that they were secret allies.
Kali glanced at the other six Emperors, who were constantly questioning her about her loyalty and why she wasn't declaring Shang disqualified.
Then, Kali glanced at Abaddon, who only smiled politely while transmitting something.
Kali didn't show any reaction.
Some seconds later, she made her choice.
"Shang has used Mana Shield to protect himself from the attack," Kali said. "His Mana Shield was broken, removing all the Mana from his mind. After that, an attack of considerable power has struck him."
"A Peak Mage Lord can't survive such a powerful attack without Mana."
"His body and Void Break have played a more than significant role in his victory."
"Therefore, Shang is disqualified!"
Gregorio looked solemnly into Kali's eyes as the other Emperors became excited.
"As we have always done since time immemorial, anyone that is disqualified will not be allowed to participate in the tournament again. However, they will not be executed."
The excitement of the Emperors vanished, but it was still better than nothing that Shang wasn't allowed to reach the Sword King Realm legally.
This meant that the Lightning Emperor would need to advance Shang illegally, which would give everyone a reason to unite and kill him.
"Since the other contestant still had Mana and was alive, the Lightning Manor is declared the victor and will receive two Inheritor Spheres with enough Mana to become a Peak Mage King."
Kali looked at Gregorio. "But due to trust issues, the relevant two people are only allowed to become Mage Kings under my supervision."
"Due to his disqualification, Shang is not allowed to absorb either of these two Inheritor Spheres."
Chapter 969 — Not Worthy
Now, it was official.
Shang wasn't allowed to reach the Sword King Realm legally.
First, he hadn't been allowed to use his weapon, weapon techniques, and even his inherent technique for one of his Realms.
Then, he had to fight the combined political power of all the Emperors.
And when he still won, they still found a reason to disqualify him.
If Kali weren't secretly on Shang's side, the Emperors would have probably even banded together to kill him.
Yet, Shang was still a bit uncertain about Kali.
Instead of arguing for Shang, she had effectively gone against him near the end.
Wasn't she supposed to allow him to become a Sword King?
None of the sides were happy with the outcome.
The Emperors wanted Shang dead, and Shang wanted to be a Sword King.
But in a certain way, Kali also hadn't ruined her chances with either of the sides.
The Emperors might be a bit confused about the manner Kali had solved the issue, but in the end, she had still forbidden Shang from becoming a Sword King.
"Fine," Gregorio said with an annoyed tone. "I will send one of my Thunders within the next few years to become a Mage King. Cynthia will advance when she
is ready."
The Emperors narrowed their eyes at Gregorio.
Two Mage Kings for the Lightning Manor.
That was troublesome.
However, ironically, it wasn't as bad as it would have been many years ago.
The Empires had already stopped putting pressure on the Lightning Manor, which made the addition of two Mage Kings not that troublesome.
Instead, they all focused on Shang.
Based on their calculations, Shang only had something like 2,000 — 3,000 years of longevity left.
This meant that they had to be extra vigilant within these years.
If Shang was going to become a Sword King, it would happen within these years, and they needed to immediately kill him as soon as they found out.
Shang, as an Initial Sword King, would still lose to the average Mage King, but Shang, as a Peak Sword King, could only lose to someone like Abaddon.
These couple of years were crucial!
"The tournament has officially concluded," Kali announced. "The prizes for the winner have already been gathered and will be handed over to them when they advance."
For every Grand Tournament, the Emperors readied several prizes, which would then be handed to the winner.
Slowly, all the gathered Emperors dispersed.
None of them said anything to Gregorio.
"Let's go," the Lightning Emperor said to Cynthia and Shang.
A moment later, a portal appeared.
"Cynthia, this is for you," he said. "When you are ready to advance, tell me."
Cynthia bowed deeply in front of the Lightning Emperor. "Thank you for everything! I'm proud to be a member of the Lightning Manor."
Gregorio just nodded with a smile.
Then, Cynthia turned to Shang. "And... thank you."
Shang didn't answer.I think you should take a look at
After a couple of seconds, Cynthia furrowed her brows and just left through the portal.
The next moment, Gregorio looked at Shang and nodded solemnly.
The two of them vanished and reappeared in Gregorio's library.
"What did she say?" Shang suddenly asked.
"Cynthia?" Gregorio asked in surprise.
"The Empress of Death," Shang answered. "You seem quite calm. I assume she said something to you."
Gregorio furrowed his brows. "Yes, it was a message from Abaddon."
"He said that being the Child of Calamity is wasted on you."
Shang didn't react and just waited for Gregorio to elaborate.
"He said, since you are so similar to Abominations, there should be so many more things you should be able to do, but you are blind to your own power. He said that he had already found two ways to become a Mage Emperor without having to kill any beast or human after just looking at you for a couple of seconds."
"His last comment was, if you can't even solve such an easy issue, you don't deserve to work with him."
Silence.
Shang thought about Abaddon's comments.
Was it truly so easy?
If this comment had come from anyone else, Shang would have simply dismissed it.
However, it had come from Abaddon, the most talented Mage that had ever lived and someone that managed to elevate the Mage Path to something that was similar to Godhood.
It was possible that Abaddon's talent was even greater than Shang's.
Shang was simply far more hardworking.
"Do you know what he means?" Gregorio asked.
"At least somewhat," Shang said with a nod. "I know of two ways, but Abaddon should only know of one of them, which means there has to be a third way as well."
"Two ways?" Gregorio asked. "One is the Spacetime beast. What's the other one?"
"Back then," Shang explained, "you told me that the world has 16 Emperors' worth of Mana and that the water in the Endless Ocean makes up one Emperor's worth of Mana."
"Yes, but that Mana is inaccessible," Gregorio answered.
At that moment, Shang activated his Domain of Entropy.
The next moment, the desk in front of the Lightning Emperor disintegrated and turned into Natural Mana.
That was when Gregorio realized what Shang meant.
"Right! You can convert matter into Natural Mana!" he shouted with excitement.
Shang nodded. "If necessary, I can just turn a portion of the Endless Ocean into Mana."
Gregorio's mind was going wild with possibilities, but he quickly found a problem.
"A Peak Mage Emperor has about a thousand times more Mana than a Peak Mage King. You would only need to absorb 0.1% of the ocean's water since the Eternal Ocean has one Peak Mage Emperor's worth of Mana."
"However, the Eternal Ocean is incredibly deep. There are even some isolated spots Where the depth reaches over a million kilometers. If we were to average it out, I think the average depth of the Eternal Ocean is something between 400,000 to 600,000 kilometers."
"0.1% of that would still be 400 to 600 kilometers."
"1 don't think anyone could possibly miss that. The water would essentially completely vanish from the coasts."
"The others will immediately assume that the Abominations have started to appear in the Eternal Ocean, and they will immediately search the entire thing, which will unveil you. At that point, they would find you, and they would also connect you to the Child of Calamity."
Gregorio could only sigh.
"What about just becoming an Initial Sword King?" Shang asked.
Chapter 970 — Mindless Beast
Gregorio furrowed his brows.
"Well, an Initial Mage King has about 1 / 256th of the Mana of a Peak Mage King. That means that the Endless Ocean would only lose about two kilometers of depth. However, that would still be insanely shocking for the coastline, and the others will quickly take note of it."
"Additionally, where would you even get the Mana to become a Peak Sword King then?" Gregorio mused.
"The atmosphere," Shang answered. "Several Mage Kings have already died in the war, and since no one wanted to hand over the Mana of their Mage Kings, they just dispersed the Mana into the surroundings. There should be more than enough."
Surprisingly, Gregorio just shook his head. "That's not how it works."
"There is equilibrium in the density of Mana. A higher density of Mana increases the clarity of Concepts and the efficiency in training."
"That increases the number of powerful beings, which in turn reduces the density of Mana in the atmosphere."
"Many hibernating Ancestral Beasts have reached the Beast Lord Realm, and many Ancestral Mages managed to comprehend their second level four Concept, allowing them to become Mage Lords."
"The density of Mana compared to before the war is only a slight bit higher. If you were to become a Peak Sword King with only that, the density would drop by over
20%, and I can assure you that every Mage Lord and stronger would notice as soon as it drops by just 2% or 3%."
"The only explanation would be that there is a new being at the Eighth Rank and that they are advancing," Gregorio explained. "What about Beast Lords and Mage Lords?" Shang asked.
Gregorio leaned back in his chair as he weighed the options. "It is illegal to consume the Mana of someone you killed. If we were to do that, there would be no new Ancestral Mages, Archmages, or True Mages, effectively cutting off the new generation. We can't ruin the world we inhabit to satisfy our greed."
Shang didn't say anything.
Gregorio sighed. "But that is no longer of concern, I guess. The Abomination Kings that will appear will destroy more than one Emperor's worth of Mana unless we somehow manage to deal with them efficiently."
"On top of that, we already accepted Abaddon. In the end, new life will prosper."
"So, yes, you could do that, but you would need a lot of Mage Lords. Something like a thousand Peak Mage Lords, which is a fourth of an Empire's number of Peak Mage Lords."
"Additionally, you need to stay hidden. Even a single mysterious death of a Peak Mage Lord will draw out a Mage King, and you can't be found by them, or all the Emperors will unite to kill you. Especially now. Everyone knows that you only have two to three thousand years of longevity left and that you will try to do something desperate."
Shang thought about Gregorio's words.
"The problem is my mind," Shang said. "By consuming Abominations, I can advance the power of my body without issues since it is made of the same ratio of Entropy and Mana as the Abominations, which is 70% to 30%."
"My mind was originally made of something like 5% to 95%, but I can push it to 50% to 50%. Theoretically, I can also go for 70% to 30%, but that has a great danger of turning my mind into the mind of an Abomination."
"I guess I could supplement my mind's advancement with Abominations, but I would still need to get rid of a big chunk of Entropy. Entropy doesn't just vanish. Either it combines with Mana and creates Destruction, or it binds with Mana and creates something like Entropy Ore."
Shang and Gregorio had already found out that all the Entropy in the killed Abominations dispersed into the world and bound with a specific kind of Earth and Metal Mana, creating Entropy Ore.
That was where Entropy Ore came from.I think you should take a look at
The stronger the killed Abomination, the stronger the Entropy Ore that was created.
If Shang wanted to keep his mind at a ratio of 50% to 50%, he could only supplement 60% of his advancement with Abominations, leaving 40%.
And then came the second issue.
If Shang underwent a Transformation one more time, his mind would be a full level higher, which would mean that he needed four times as much Mana as normal.
So, even if Shang decided to give his mind a ratio of 50% to 50% and supplement with Abominations, he would still need 160% of the amount of Mana a normal Mage King would need.
If he could push his mind to 70% to 30%, Shang would need zero Mana. After all, he would get all he needed from the Abominations, which didn't reside in Aterium.
It didn't matter what Shang chose. He would be at extreme risk either way.
It was difficult.
If he hadn't been disqualified from the tournament, he wouldn't have had these issues.
'I can't go for 70% Entropy. I tried that once, and it nearly drove me to just become an Abomination with the goal of destroying all the Mana in Aterium.'
'I wasn't myself in this state, and I also wasn't something that could be considered rational.'
'In that state, I might eventually turn into a mindless and bloodthirsty beast, which would eventually end with me attacking someone that I can't possibly defeat at some point. Even ifI managed to kill the God and left the world to become even more powerful.'
'I would just be a mindless beast with only a single goal, power.'
At that moment, Shang realized something.
'Isn't that what I already am?' he asked himself in his mind.
'What would be the difference?'
Shang lifted his right arm and focused on it.
'Power is already my only goal.'
Then, Shang focused on his missing body parts.
A bit later, Shang got an idea.
'Actually, that might work, but I'll have to test it thoroughly.'
"I think I got a solution," Shang said to Gregorio.