Shang continued hunting for another two days.
Sadly, no matter how many risky situations he brought himself into, the Cleaner just wouldn't bite.
Shang even accepted a mission to hunt a pair of Peak General Stage beasts, and he fought both of them at the same time.
This fight had actually taken a couple of seconds. All the others had ended in, at most, two seconds.
Yet, even then, the Cleaner hadn't shown themselves.
'What is their plan?' Shang thought with furrowed brows. 'With these two beasts, it would be three on one. You are a Peak Adept! Are you too afraid to attack some warrior a level below you with a numerical advantage?'
By now, Shang was getting really annoyed.
What, did he need to attack a Commander Stage beast for them to show up?!
Shang wasn't completely against attacking an Initial Commander Stage beast, but he certainly didn't want to do that while someone was out for his life. Such a fight would need all of Shang's reserves.
'Would I attack me if I were the Cleaner?' Shang thought.
Then, he thought about what he had done over the past couple of days.
'I might have shown too much of my power,' Shang realized. 'Sure, if I were them, I would have already attacked. After all, this seems like an interesting fight.'
'However, not everyone is like me. In comparison to me, the Cleaner doesn't need to fight. If they believe the mission to be too dangerous, they could simply retreat and give up.'
Shang looked at his surroundings with furrowed brows.
'It's very possible that they have already retreated.'
'I screwed up. If they decide to abort the mission, the Wilburys won't lose any money.'
Right now, Shang wasn't sure how he should feel.
He had felt frustrated and suppressed every day he had remained in Warrior's Paradise. He wanted to go outside and fight. Yet, the constant presence of the Cleaner had forced him to stay inside.
Now, Shang was finally taking the plunge, but the very power that had suppressed him for so long had vanished.
'If there truly is no way to lure them out, staying here is pointless,' Shang thought. 'I already have enough wealth back at the academy. I don't need the wealth from here.'
Shang looked at the outpost, which was about two kilometers away from his current position.
'And the beasts are also no threat anymore. I'm only at the Late General Stage, but not even one of the Peak General Stage beasts managed to put up a decent fight. They all collapsed like little children.'
'I didn't expect things to go this way.'
Shang looked at his own hand with furrowed brows.
'Have I become that powerful? I don't really feel that powerful.'
Well, how powerful was Shang?
Thanks to the Procedure, Shang's body was nearly as powerful as the body of an Initial Commander Stage warrior.
An Initial Commander Stage warrior could kill a Peak General Stage beast solo, but the fight wouldn't be super easy.
Shang's body was definitely far weaker than the body of a Peak General Stage beast, but that was only one aspect of his power.
Shang could increase his speed by a lot with his techniques and Affinities.
His weapon was at the Initial Commander Stage, which made it as hard and sharp as the hardest tusk or horn of an Initial Commander Stage beast.
Then came Shang's techniques and his fighting experience. With those things, he could easily outsmart a beast.
With everything combined, Shang's power had reached the power of an above-average Initial Commander Stage warrior.
And he was only at the Late General Stage.
For the longest time, Shang had only been around the peak powers of the surrounding hundreds of kilometers.
He wasn't hunting with other General Stage warriors, and he hadn't joined any missions.
He had been completely isolated from the normal person on his level.
Because of that, Shang didn't feel that powerful. In fact, he only felt a bit more powerful than the average.
But in reality, Shang was even stronger than the Dean had been back when he had been on Shang's level.
Without noticing, Shang had become the most powerful General Stage warrior in the world, and he wasn't even at the Peak.
'If the Cleaner won't show up by tomorrow, I will return to Warrior's Paradise. I need to become even more powerful.'
Shang slowly walked back towards the outpost.
Bang.
Shang turned to face the south.
He had just heard a distant explosion, and he could see a couple of icicles flying in the distance.
Then, he saw something jump up and hit something with long, icy claws.
The thing the claws had hit was circular, and it appeared when the claws hit it.
It was a Mana Shield.
'There have been warnings of an Ice Demon recently,' Shang thought. 'I guess this is it.'
Bang.
The Ice Demon was pushed back by a strong, green wind, and a second later, a huge spire made of stone shot at it.
'There are Mages fighting the Ice Demon,' Shang thought with furrowed brows. 'Everyone working here knows of the local blacklist, and they should know that the Ice Demon is on it. Sure, the punishment isn't very severe for killing it, but it's still better to just retreat.'
'Why did they engage in a fight with it?' Shang thought as he looked at the distant fight.
'Unless the Ice Demon got the drop on them, and they are only defending themselves.'
'But so what? Everyone hunting beasts around here received Positioning Bombs for exactly this kind of incident.'
'They should also have some.'
'But they don't.'
Shang's eyes shone.
'Which means they are not here to hunt beasts, and they are certainly not here to deliver something. The delivery people know how to get around these parts.'
'Additionally, since the three are still fighting the Initial Commander Stage Ice Demon, and since they are Mages, it means that they are all Adepts. A True Mage would have long since killed the Ice Demon.'
'So, a Cleaner is on my tail, and I might have intimidated them into thinking that they can't handle me over the past few days.'
'I thought they would drop the matter, but, apparently, there is another way.'
'Why not ask for help and split the reward?'
'That would also explain why they don't know that much about the local fauna. After all, their job is killing people, not beasts.'
'I don't think an Ice Demon can get a drop on someone hunting in this place, but if it were someone not accustomed to fighting beasts, I could imagine it.'
Shang smirked.
'The commander was right. If you flip a coin enough times, it will eventually land on heads ten times in a row.'
'However, I am not the only one flipping coins. The Cleaner that follows me also has to travel through the wilderness to follow me, and in comparison to me, they don't know much about beasts.'
'They were bound to provoke a powerful beast eventually. It was only a matter of time.'
Shang saw the explosions continue in the distance.
The fight was brutal.
'Let's join them!'
BANG!
After an Ice Blast, Shang sprinted to the south.
