Sword God in a World of Magic
Chapter Summary
First, the Mana had only entered his body to heal him, but now, it was actually pushing him to the next Realm. Usually, someone that broke into the Ancestral Mage Realm would consume all the Mana in the entire Hibye, but today, even more Mana was absorbed. Although, if one looked further…Right now, Shang's Spirit Sense stretched to a radius of 3,000 kilometers, which was six times as much as a normal Ancestral Mage's Spirit Sense.
As soon as Shang's body recovered, the amount of Mana flowing into him increased more and more.
First, the Mana had only entered his body to heal him, but now, it was actually pushing him to the next Realm.
The Mana around the Twilight Cave also began to travel towards Shang, and that wasn't even close to everything.
In a matter of seconds, the surrounding 1,000 kilometers began to flow towards Shang.
Then, the surrounding 5,000 kilometers.
The surrounding 10,000 kilometers.
Eventually, even the surrounding 100,000 kilometers began to flow into Shang.
The Mana in the entire Hibye was entering Shang's body to assist in his breakthrough.
That was normal.
Whenever anyone in the Hibye became an Ancestral Mage, the entire Mana in the Hibye flowed into them.
This showed how ridiculously much Mana Ancestral Mages needed.
A Mage Lord might even absorb all the Mana in over a million kilometers around them, which was a significant part of an Empire.
This was a very good example of how little Mana the world actually had.
How much Mana would a Mage King consume?
A Mage King might actually consume all the Mana in several Empires.
Yet, surprisingly, no one noticed a drop in Mana whenever a new Mage King appeared.
Most people wouldn't even notice the absence of such an event.
However, the more powerful people noticed, but they also knew why there was no event.
Obviously, the Mana of a dead Mage King was directly infused into the new Mage King.
In a way, it was like an inheritance.
The Peak Mage Lord would absorb all the Mana of the dead Mage King and reach the Eighth Realm.
That was why there was no huge event when a new Mage King appeared.
But it was already noticeable enough when someone became an Ancestral Mage or Mage Lord.
These were events that everyone in a huge radius would notice.
The Clouds in the Hibye became annoyed when all the Mana started to vanish, but they were already used to it.
Every couple of years, someone would become an Ancestral Mage here, and the same thing happened every time.
The Clouds just waited until the breakthrough was complete, and the Mana got refilled.
Yet, what the Clouds didn't notice was that it didn't just stop there.
Usually, someone that broke into the Ancestral Mage Realm would consume all the Mana in the entire Hibye, but today, even more Mana was absorbed.
The Mana Shang was absorbing stretched out of the Hibye, and reached a distance of 150,000 kilometers.
In terms of area, this was already over double as much as a radius of 100,000 kilometers, and in terms of volume, it was even crazier.
Why did Shang suddenly consume that much more Mana than everyone else?
Because of his body and mind.
Mages only needed enough Mana to push their minds to the next Realm.
They didn't need any Mana for their bodies.
A warrior with a warrior body would only need enough Mana to push their body to the next Realm.
They didn't need any Mana for their minds.
But Shang used both.
His mind had already been close to the Peak of the Archmage Realm, and the sudden influx of Mana had pushed it to the actual Peak of the Archmage Realm.
And now, it was also being pushed to the Sixth Realm alongside his body.
Because of that, Shang needed double the amount of Mana to reach the next Realm.
However, that wasn't the end.
Shang's body had been changed by his own version of Void Casting.
By consuming all this momentum, Shang's entire body had been altered, and it could essentially hold four times as much Mana as normal.
So, the pull of the Mana stretched out even further.
175,000 kilometers.
200,000 kilometers.
225,000 kilometers.
And eventually, it reached 250,000 kilometers.
The pull of Mana was insane.
Most people didn't notice since Shang's pull extended far further than their Spirit Senses could reach, but Lucin could tell that something was different based on the strength of the pull.
Lucin was currently above his house, and when he felt the insanely powerful pull of Mana coming from the Twilight Caves, he almost couldn't believe it.
He had visited Shang a couple of times, but Shang had never noticed since his perception had been stuck inside his own body.
Every time Lucin had come, he had assumed that Shang was about to die any minute now.
He had already lamented the death of such a genius many times.
Yet, Shang just kept surviving.
And now, he was actually breaking through!
It was difficult for Lucin to come to terms with Shang's breakthrough, but in the end, he could only sigh in relief.
But there was also something else.
Excitement.
By consuming all this momentum, Shang had essentially done something that had never been done before as far as he knew.
Instead of getting enough momentum to break through into the next Realm, Shang comprehended enough to create a fivefold Spirit Sense and then completely consumed all of the momentum.
How many people could comprehend something above their Realm?
How many True Mages could comprehend a level two Concept before becoming a High Mage?
Nearly no one.
Comprehending something like this was so brutally difficult that there was only one person every couple of centuries, and this person would have a fivefold Spirit Sense.
Yet, Shang had actually completely consumed this thing and then comprehended enough to create a twofold Spirit Sense after that.
It was beyond ridiculous.
Inside the Twilight Cave, Shang's body began to shine brightly as more and more Mana entered his body.
His Mana Pathways began to shine more and more, and the space inside them seemed to vibrate under the sheer pressure they were under.
Shang's Mana Pathways were so ridiculously hard and powerful that just a small cut in them would release so much Mana that it would kill a True Path Stage Abomination.
Shang's body was so ridiculously powerful.
At a base level, Shang's body was already quite a lot more powerful than a beast's body, and with the added power of his transformed Mana Pathways, Shang's body had reached a level where it was even stronger than a beast's body an entire level above him.
At this moment, Shang could punch an Early Ancestral Beast to death with just his fists.
On top of that, his mind was also no longer below him in level.
He also had the mind of someone at the Initial Ancestral Mage Realm.
All of Shang's weaknesses had vanished.
After so much suffering, torture, sacrifice, and pain, Shang had finally achieved a level that closed in on perfection.
This was the day.
This was the very day on which Shang had stepped out from the masses and reached a level that separated him from the world.
The difference between an average Mage and a Cloud was now just as big as the difference between a Cloud and Shang.
In the True Path Stage, the God had said that Shang belonged to the top 2,000 people in his Realm.
In the Fusion Realm, the God had said that Shang was in the top ten but also that there were two people that were definitely more powerful.
However, these two people were already Mage Lords.
And now?
Shang was number one.
There was no contest.
Although, if one looked further…Right now, Shang's Spirit Sense stretched to a radius of 3,000 kilometers, which was six times as much as a normal Ancestral Mage's Spirit Sense.
While there was no Mage Lord or weaker in the world with such a strong Spirit Sense, there was a Mage King with a comparable one.
King Sanctified Death was the only person in the world that was on Shang's level.