Sword God in a World of Magic

Above the Eternal Ocean, a portal opened, and Shang stepped through it.

Shang had undergone a Transformation, but he looked the same as when he had entered, except for the fact that the left sleeve of his robes was empty.

Shang knew where he was roughly. He guessed that he was probably a couple of million kilometers to the north of Aterium, which was outside any kind of human Spirit Sense.

Shang assumed that Emperors had a Spirit Sense that could cover a million kilometers in radius, but that would only be true for someone with a onefold Spirit Sense.

Most likely, the Lightning Emperor had a fourfold Spirit Sense, which would allow him to oversee his entire Empire as long as he stayed near the middle of it.

Even if any Emperor were at the northernmost edge of the continent, they still couldn't see Shang.

Shang's next goal was clear.

He needed to create his seventh Sword Path, which should also be his last.

And then, Shang would push this new Path to such a high level that it would support his breakthrough.

Sadly, Shang couldn't remain in such an isolated place since he also had to ensure that the Lightning Manor survived.

So, Shang flew towards the south.

As the fire and ice of Comet enveloped Shang, he realized something.

His body didn't heat or cool as much as before, even though it hadn't become stronger.

But this small mystery was quickly solved.

Shang realized that his increased Affinities also made his body more resilient to them.

It wasn't too crazy. Shang guessed that his resistance to his four main Affinities had increased by about 30%.

That wouldn't do that much for a battle since an opponent that was actually dangerous to Shang would have to be so powerful that getting hit by any of their Spells would kill Shang ten times over.

However, this allowed Shang to use more Light, Darkness, Fire, and Ice Mana.

Due to all of that, his speed, defense, and offense increased by a bit.

Eventually, Shang reached a place from which he could contact the Lightning Emperor.

Shang took hold of the pin on his chest.

"You're back?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

At the same time, Shang felt his bandages react to a powerful presence looking at him.

And the next moment, the intensity of the presence increased severalfold.

Shang could feel the shock inside the Aura.

The next moment, a portal opened in front of Shang, and he stepped through.

Naturally, this portal led to the Lightning Emperor's library, and the Lightning Emperor was looking at Shang with a mixture of shock, pity, and anger.

"What happened to your arm?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

Naturally, the Lightning Emperor immediately noticed that Shang's soul had become weaker and that he had lost an arm.

"It was the price," Shang said emotionlessly. "The price to comprehend the Concept of Transformation."

"The Concept of Transformation?" the Lightning Emperor repeated. "Is that the Concept Lucius comprehended back then?"

"Yes," Shang said. "Lucius left behind some form of intelligent image in the trial, and I had a small conversation with him."

The Lightning Emperor's breathing quickened.

It had been so long since he had talked to Lucius, and he missed how it felt to talk to him.

"What did he say?" the Lightning Emperor asked.

"He said he needed over 2,000 years to comprehend that Concept, and he had sacrificed Peak Ancestral Beasts and Initial Beast Lords to comprehend how Anti-Magic worked. In total, he sacrificed an entire Mage King of Mana," Shang said.

The Lightning Emperor took a deep breath.

"It took him 2,000 years?" he asked.

Obviously, the Lightning Emperor didn't care about the Mana Lucius had sacrificed. He was much more shocked that the immortal Lucius had taken so long to comprehend this Concept.

And yet, Shang had comprehended in 200 years?

That made no sense.

"Yes," Shang said, "but since I neither had the experience of comprehending Concepts nor the talent in Magic, I needed to comprehend it in some other way."

Shang wanted to lift his left arm to show that it was missing, but nothing happened.

Once more, Shang felt like this wasn't reality.

It was so bizarre to only have one arm.

"I sacrificed my left arm," Shang said. "According to Lucius' image, nothing is better than experiencing something myself."

"In exchange for my arm, I comprehended this complicated and powerful Concept in merely 130 years. It is a trade I am willing to make," Shang said.

Silence.

"What about your Battle-Strength?" the Lightning Emperor asked after a while.

"I don't know," Shang said. "I lost access to one of my weapons, but I am unsure if my Battle-Strength is higher or lower than before."

The Lightning Emperor became surprised again. "Higher?"

Shang nodded. "I consumed the momentum of the level five Concept."

Silence.

It was like a heavy hammer had hit the Lightning Emperor's mind.

Consumed the momentum?

In an instant, several things shot through the Lightning Emperor's mind.

Shang didn't have long to live.

He had undergone two transformations.

Shang was close to death, but he could reach a level of power that was unprecedented.

Lucius had only achieved a sixfold Spirit Sense when he reached the Mage King Realm.

Due to the Concept of Transformation and the insanely long time one had to train in the Mage Lord Realm, Lucius had managed to comprehend a level six Concept when he had only been about 17,000 years old.

Seeing that he had 8,000 years left, Lucius had decided to consume the momentum, and the following transformation allowed him to comprehend enough level five Concepts to reach the Mage King Realm.

Sadly, due to the incredible danger all Mages were in back then, Lucius didn't have the time to use up his longevity in the Mage King Realm and had to rapidly break through to the Mage Emperor Realm.

Lucius had only gone through one Transformation.

The Lightning Emperor wasn't sure about King Sanctified Death.

From what he had heard, King Sanctified Death had gotten his sixfold Spirit Sense in the Mage Lord Realm, one Realm earlier than Lucius.

Theoretically, King Sanctified Death could have gone through another Transformation when he became the Mage King Realm, but the Lightning Emperor wasn't sure.

Everything about King Sanctified Death's breakthrough had been kept secret, and only Kali and Adam knew what had happened.

Sadly, they had never told anyone.

But now, Shang had already undergone two Transformations.

And he could go through another one at the Peak Mage Lord Realm.

The Lightning Emperor's emotions truly felt how powerful Shang could become in the future.

Yet, before he could feel conflicted, he pushed the emotions to the side.

"So, what's your plan now?" he asked.