Chapter 371 – Escaping the Grandmountain Kingdom
Shang stood at the edge of the cave and looked at the surroundings of the mountain with cold, calculating, and calm eyes.
He had calmed down.
The 20 days of waiting for the foreign will to vanish had given him plenty of time to think about his actions.
Eventually, he came to a conclusion.
‘I lost control.’
‘Being emotional brought me into unnecessary danger.’
‘I need to keep my rage in check.’
‘I can’t listen to my emotions.’
These had been his thoughts.
And with the help of these thoughts, Shang managed to wake up and get rid of his rage.
His rage had transformed into frustration.
His lack of control over his emotions had messed up his training efficiency, and he couldn’t allow that to happen again.
After absorbing the first beast, Shang had followed his usual routine, and it worked out very well.
He continued absorbing Mid Commander Stage beasts, and the efficiency was now about 20% better than absorbing Early Commander Stage beasts.
Shang also wasn’t completely helpless for an entire week after absorbing one.
‘Overcoming the regret of my choices helped me in solidifying the importance of my goal, strengthening my willpower.’
‘Many people fear emotional pain, but overcoming such pain can do wonders for your willpower.’
‘The pain of my past gives me strength for my future.’
It had been three months since Shang had reached the Ancestral Mountain, and he was finally ready to leave.
Enough time had passed that the appearance of Abominations wouldn’t be connected to his presence. After all, if Abominations had appeared right after he arrived here, it would have been awfully coincidental, right?
Shang’s body had also reached about 83% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast’s body, and it was time to push that efficiency more by absorbing another Abomination.
Lastly, Shang had spent most of the last three months searching for powerful ore in the Ancestral Mountain.
He had to go to some dangerous places, but he was very good at sensing danger and escaping.
And finally, he upgraded Sword to the Peak Commander Stage.
This was about as powerful as Shang could make Sword with his current power.
The next upgrade would be for the Initial True Path Stage, and those kinds of ores only existed near True Path Stage beasts. Additionally, since this was an entirely new Stage, he would need to get the ores for his four different Affinities again.
Upgrading Sword to the Initial True Path Stage would become arduous and difficult, and it was not something Shang could attempt right now.
It was time to leave.
It was time to enter the Blackshadow Kingdom.
“Are you ready?” Shang asked Sword.
“Ready,” it answered.
Shang nodded.
And then, he activated his Domain of Entropy.
Shang focused on the presences, but then his right eye widened in shock.
‘I can feel it?!’ he thought in shock.
At this moment, Shang could feel one presence that was vastly more powerful than all the other ones.
‘A True Path Stage Abomination!’
‘But how?!’
‘My level didn’t increase, and I didn’t really become any more powerful than previously!’
‘How can I suddenly feel one?!’
‘What changed?!’
Shang didn’t know what had changed, but something had to have changed.
Shang slightly pulled on the True Path Stage Abomination, and sure enough, he felt it respond.
However, Shang very quickly stopped interacting with it.
Summoning Commander Stage Abominations still counted as a somewhat normal occurrence.
But Shang had never heard about True Path Stage Abominations appearing.
The appearance of Commander Stage Abominations would raise some eyebrows in the Kingdoms, but it was nothing too concerning.
However, if a True Path Stage Abomination appeared, they would all realize that something had to be wrong.
‘I can’t summon one. If I summon a True Path Stage Abomination, the entire world will take note of their appearance, and someone is bound to connect these Abominations to me.’
Shang ignored the True Path Stage Abomination and focused on one of the Commander Stage Abominations.
After several minutes, the Commander Stage Abomination was close to being summoned. It always took a couple of minutes to summon them.
Shang tried to control where the Abominations would appear, and he hoped that it worked. If he could control where they appeared, things would become easier.
The wills of the Abominations somewhat resisted, but they eventually complied, and Shang could feel where they would appear.
Shang managed to somewhat control where they appeared, but he also noticed that there was no way back now.
Their locations had been set, and the destructive will of the Abominations had been awakened.
They would come out, even if Shang wanted them not to.
SHING! SHING! SHING!
Over 400 Abominations appeared near the foot of the Ancestral Mountain.
The Soldier Stage Abominations were on the ground, while the General Stage Abominations were on the first few kilometers of the mountain.
Of course, the Commander Stage Abomination was right in front of Shang.
This was why the Abominations hadn’t been the biggest fans of their deployment.
Their Commander Stage Abomination would appear somewhere completely else than them.
However, they followed Shang’s orders.
Shang immediately shoved his hand into the Abomination’s torso, which didn’t resist at all.
It was almost like it was happy to be absorbed by Shang.
It was like this was its purpose.
It was supposed to make Shang stronger!
It only took two seconds to absorb the Abomination, but in these two seconds, hell broke loose.
All the Abominations started to charge away from the mountain.
This had been Shang’s order.
In the Tide Serpent Zone, Shang wanted to keep the Abominations a secret, but now, he wanted them to attack the Grandmountain Kingdom.
Shang knew that several powerful Mages would be waiting for him, and he had to distract them.
When the Abominations appeared, all the people in the Ancestral Mountain Zone watched in horror as their world broke down.
The Ancestral Mountain Zone was extremely safe since the beasts all either lived in very deep caves or very high up the mountain. There were basically no beasts at the bottom, making this Zone a great place for the Fighter Stage barbarians and Adepts.
The barbarians were the most talented of the Kingdom, and they were at the northeastern frontlines to increase their power. Most of the talented Mages were also here since this place allowed them to fight the enemy without too high of a chance of death.
This place was supposed to be a paradise for growing more powerful.
But now, a horde of Abominations had suddenly appeared?!
“Everyone below the True Mage Realm, fall back immediately! Barbarians, flee!”
The blue-haired man had moved his headquarters to this Zone, and he had immediately given the order.
The Adepts and barbarians fled in terror.
The Abominations screeched in hatred.
Most people couldn’t react fast enough and…
BOOOOOM!
BOOOOOM!
BOOOOOM!
It was like an army of True Mages bombarded the Zone with destructive Spells.
It was hell.
When Shang saw that, his chest tightened, but he narrowed his right eye and pushed the feeling down.
He had no other choice.
He had to summon the Abominations to strengthen himself.
After absorbing the Commander Stage Abomination, Shang’s body had reached 87% of the power of an Early Commander Stage beast, and Shang suspected that his maximum was now at around 90%.
If he could avoid killing these weak people, he would do so, but he couldn’t.
He needed the Abominations to become more powerful.
And his power was the most important thing in the world.
BANG!
Shang exploded off the cave and shot through the sky towards the north.
BANG!
BANG!
Shang kept unleashing more and more blasts as he lengthened his fall.
As Shang kept soaring through the sky, the Grandmountain Kingdom responded with their own attacks.
They couldn’t allow themselves to keep themselves back because of the weaker Adepts and barbarians.
They had to get rid of the Abominations right now!
Because of that, even more explosions and more destruction appeared on the ground.
Right now, Shang was “flying” through a light-filled sky peacefully as everything several kilometers below him exploded with blood and guts.
As Shang kept moving forward in the sky, he noticed that the Zone Beast hadn’t reacted.
It was definitely there, and Shang could feel its presence due to the intense Light Mana it gave off, but it didn’t seem to care about the Abominations.
The beasts also didn’t care much.
‘I guess the Abominations are too weak for the Zone Beast to care. After all, Zone Beasts are, in general, only interested in Commander Stage Abominations. Additionally, none of the Abominations are anywhere near the top of the mountain, and they are even running away from the problem. The Zone Beast probably thinks that this isn’t its problem.’
As Shang looked down, he saw several gigantic explosions of ice, far bigger than any other explosion down there.
Shang looked at the source of the explosions and noticed a blue-haired man, and when Shang saw him, he felt a terrifying feeling of danger.
‘I can’t possibly fight him! He’s far beyond my level!’
Luckily, the man was too busy dealing with the army of Abominations, and he didn’t notice the distant Shang in the sky.
Shang peacefully glided through the sky, and he eventually went past the border of the Zone to his north.
This was where Shang’s knowledge about the surrounding Zones ended.
The only thing he could tell was that it was an icy tundra with not that many mountains or hills. It was rather flat, like the former Battlefield.
Shang could see several Mages stationed at the south of the border, and they were rapidly moving around.
They had obviously noticed what was going on, and they were probably planning on invading.
This was a god-sent opportunity!
All the Mages focused on the Ancestral Mountain Zone, which was why they mostly ignored the sky.
Thanks to that, Shang managed to get past the stationed defenses.
And he eventually landed about five kilometers to their northwest.