After the explanation, the group began their journey back to the Storm Eagle Zone.
Right now, it was later in the noon, but it wasn't afternoon yet.
As everyone ran back with the Blessing of Wind, Shang thought about something else.
'The Barbarians can strengthen their bodies above what a normal warrior can achieve,' Shang thought. 'Without the Procedure, the Barbarian path and warrior path are about equal, I would say. Teacher is an impressively powerful and talented warrior, and it should be normal for him to jump a level against an inexperienced Barbarian.'
'The Grandmountain Kingdom probably also has very talented Barbarians, and the most powerful of them can probably also fight teacher equally. Well, as long as they are on the same level as him.'
'One focuses on the body while the other focuses on finesse and technique.'
'I wonder, can I make use of the Barbarian techniques to push my body even further? King Skythunder said that the Bloodline Infusion fits the Barbarian path more than the warrior path.'
'So, what if I could use the Barbarian techniques to strengthen my body? Would I be able to get a body as powerful as a pure beast?'
Shang thought about this for a moment.
'Maybe not perfectly, but I believe I could get very close.'
Then, Shang narrowed his eyes. 'However, it probably isn't that easy. If it were that easy to advance as a Barbarian, they would have already created someone at the True Path Stage. Obviously, there are also issues with their advancement.'
'On top of that, since they are part of a Kingdom, the Barbarians are also probably just servants of Mages. If the Barbarians were the leaders of the Grandmountain Kingdom, the Skythunder Kingdom would have long since claimed their territory as their own.'
'If I get an opportunity, I should see if I can get my hands on how Barbarians fight. It is a separate path, but I don't need to fully master it to get some use out of it. Just a little bit should be enough to increase my power by quite a bit.'
Some minutes later, the group arrived at the border of the Thunder Horse Zone. The group of Mages was still there.
They didn't say anything as the group of warriors passed.
The only thing the warriors noticed was the aura of hostility directed at them.
As Shang saw the group of Mages, he had a thought. 'The most dangerous part is over, but the Council will probably try some tricks to get rid of us in the future. We are still not completely safe.'
Then, Shang took a deep breath. 'But for now, this isn't my issue. I don't have the power to fight something as powerful as the Council.'
'Additionally…'
Shang's mind went back to the Poison Adept and the bloodied face.
'I have my own worries right now.'
Some minutes later, the group arrived at Spark Oasis again.
Luckily, the Thunder Horse wasn't inside the city right now, and everyone could pass through it without any issues.
The journey continued uninterrupted, and the group of warriors reached the Adamantite Behemoth Zone.
Once more, Shang had to take a deep breath as he saw the gigantic horn in the middle of the Adamantite Behemoth Zone.
A Zone Beast that was maybe even more powerful than the Storm Eagle.
The group slid down the crater until they arrived at the bottom.
Duke Mithril didn't come out to greet them.
By now, it was afternoon, and the group of warriors soon reached the Empress Cobra Zone.
The sky began to darken with thick clouds, but the group actually embraced the darkness.
This darkness meant that they were back in Duke Whirlwind's territory.
"Any of you staying in the Empress Cobra Zone?" Duke Whirlwind asked as they continued running.
"Me!" one of them shouted. "I'm training in Swamp Lake City."
Shang's brows furrowed.
'Right, Swamp Lake City. That's where the Wilbury couple lives.'
"We can make a short detour," Duke Whirlwind said.
With that said, the group continued toward the south until they reached a crossroads.
Instead of going to the west, they took the path to the south.
Shang kept inspecting his surroundings with his Darkness Sense. He found the wildlife in the Empress Cobra Zone quite interesting.
The further south they went, the more swamps there were and the more poisonous they got.
By now, the air had already started to sting in Shang's nose, and it definitely wasn't pleasant to be here.
After some minutes, the group stopped in front of a wide road.
Shang looked to the south, and he could see a city. Thanks to his Darkness Sense, he could see that it was even bigger than Warrior's Paradise, but that was to be expected.
Space in Warrior's Paradise was sparse, but there was plenty of space here. People could expand without any issue here.
Sadly, the city looked a bit too normal. Yes, it had walls that were over twenty meters high, but that was about it.
It wasn't nearly as interesting as Warrior's Paradise.
Shang looked at the city with interest. 'Behind these walls are the two people that want me dead.'
The warrior that had spoken up earlier left the group and entered Swamp Lake City while the group continued traveling to the west.
Bzzzt!
Duke Whirlwind and the Dean looked at Shang as a small bolt of lightning traveled over his body for an instant.
They had all heard King Skythunder's words.
The Thunder Horse had left behind a sign on Shang's body.
The sign hadn't activated when the Council or the High Mage at the border had inspected Shang, but it had activated when they had entered King Skythunder's domain.
This probably meant that the signal only got active if beings of the Fifth Realm or higher inspected Shang.
What beings in the fifth Realm or higher were in the Empress Cobra Zone?
Duke Whirlwind inspected his surroundings with narrowed eyes as he tried to find the beast.
Something had just inspected the group. Otherwise, the signal probably wouldn't have been triggered.
Sadly, Duke Whirlwind couldn't find any clue, even after using everything at his disposal.
There probably were no beasts in the Fifth Realm that could keep themselves hidden in front of the Duke.
Which could mean only one thing.
Meanwhile, Shang was focusing on the south.
There was a gigantic cloud of gathered Darkness Mana to the south, and it was in the form of a gigantic pillar.
Shang could only feel the general outline of the thing that stood there, and he felt like it was looking at him with interest.
But a couple of seconds later, the pillar seemingly became smaller until it completely vanished.
Shang released a deep breath he hadn't realized he had been holding.
"She's gone," Shang said.
Duke Whirlwind looked over. He wanted to ask if Shang had seen the Empress Cobra, but he remembered that they weren't alone. "You can't see something like that. You probably only saw an illusion."
Duke Whirlwind knew that Shang could see the Empress Cobra thanks to his Darkness Affinity and the abundance of Darkness Mana around them, but he didn't want to tell the group.
Shang knew what Duke Whirlwind was doing and nodded. "I was probably mistaken."
After that, the group continued as the warriors looked at Shang in confusion.
Why were so many weird things happening around him?
As everyone continued, Shang's heart beat quickly in his chest.
'If we had gone further south on the way to King Skythunder and the Empress Cobra would have seen me…'
'I don't think the Empress Cobra is as nice as the Thunder Horse.'
'It would have probably just killed me.'
For once, Shang was happy that he had met a beast more powerful than himself.
A couple of minutes later, the group reached the Storm Eagle Zone.
One other warrior directly went to the Ice Wyvern Zone, leaving only one other warrior left in the group, except for Shang.
In the early evening, everyone reached Warrior's Paradise again.
"And that concludes today's matter," Duke Whirlwind said with a sigh. "This will take a load off my mind."
"Come to me if you need anything," the Dean said to Shang and the other warrior.
And then, the Dean directly entered Warrior's Paradise.
He probably had a lot of work to do.
Duke Whirlwind also said his goodbyes.
And now, only Shang and the other warrior were left.
It was the very warrior that had thanked Shang back then.
"So, Shang, want to do something?" he asked.
"Sorry, I have to train," Shang said without looking at him.
"Oh, yeah, sure. Good luck," the warrior said awkwardly.
Shang nodded. "See you," he said before running towards the academy.
The warrior only awkwardly said goodbye.
'This was the last time I could go outside,' Shang thought. 'The Cleaners are still after me, and the sooner I become strong enough, the sooner I can deal with all of this.'
'The Wilbury couple, huh? For now, you can have your way. I won't leave the city.'
'But that won't be forever!'
And thus concludes the journey to meet King Skythunder.
And a long time of isolation and training started for Shang.
He wouldn't leave the city for a full two years.
