Lash returned to Shang, and Shang looked at Lash with a smile.
"Did you succeed?" he asked.
"Yes, leader Zero," Lash said respectfully. "I won against everyone."
Lash was quite excited.
Something like this had been unimaginable to him.
Winning against an entire Tribe was the stuff of dreams!
But that dream had become reality!
"Well done," Shang said. "Now, we only have to wait."
Lash nodded.
And then, the two of them waited.
Sure enough, an hour later, about five barbarians left the camp, and when they saw Lash, they slowly approached in respect.
The five of them stopped in front of Lash without saying a word.
"Have you understood?" Lash asked.
None of them spoke for a while.
"You are the strongest," one of them said.
"Wrong," Lash answered.
"I am not the strongest."
"Out of your group, I am the most powerful, not the strongest."
"Your leader has more strength in his body, but I still won. That means that I am more powerful, not stronger."
These concepts were alien to these barbarians, but they tried their best to understand.
"Also, even though I am more powerful than anyone in the camp, I am not the most powerful out of everyone."
"He is," Lash said, gesturing to Shang.
The group looked at Shang with shock.
"He taught me everything about strength and power."
"It was easy for me to win against you, but I can't even resist him."
"He is the most powerful, but he is also the strongest."
But surprisingly, the barbarians were unconvinced.
Shang noticed this and smirked.
"I can demonstrate my strength and power to all of you," Shang said.
"You can come at me, and I will defeat you. You will not become a Ruiner," Shang said.
The barbarians looked at each other, and one of them stepped forward.
Then, he charged at Shang.
Shang only lifted his hands, and their hands interlocked.
The other barbarian was trying his best to push Shang away, but Shang simply stood there. It was almost like he was not exerting any power.
The barbarians watched in shock.
BANG!
Shang threw the barbarian to the side with ease.
"This proves that I am the strongest."
"Now, I will prove that I am the most powerful."
Shang slowly stepped forward and stopped in front of the five barbarians.
"You can surround me and attack at the same time."
When Lash heard that, his eyebrows lifted.
Shang had taught him that being surrounded was bad.
How could he win in this situation?
The barbarians looked with nervousness at each other, but they eventually surrounded Shang.
"You can start whenever you want," Shang said.
And then, Shang closed his remaining eye and focused on his Mana Sense.
It was currently in the middle of the day, and the Light Mana was thick in the surroundings.
Eventually, one of the barbarians from behind Shang moved forward, and the other three followed immediately.
BANG!
Shang evaded to the left, avoiding one of the barbarians and making him collide with the one in the front.
BANG!
At the same time, Shang punched to his left, hitting the sole barbarian there and throwing him away.
The barbarian on the right couldn't reach Shang since the two other barbarians were in the way.
BANG! BANG!
Shang quickly dispatched the other two barbarians, leaving only one standing.
The last barbarian only looked with shock at Shang.
Lash also looked with shock at Shang.
Lash couldn't do that!
It was almost like Leader Zero was invincible!
"Convinced?" Shang asked with a smile.
The other barbarians looked at each other in surprise.
"Leader!" one of them shouted in respect.
"Leader!"
The other ones quickly followed his example and proclaimed their loyalty.
"My name is Zero," Shang said, "and I am willing to teach you all how to become powerful."
"Strength is only one aspect of power. Being strong increases your power, but it isn't nearly enough."
"You need to train in all aspects of power to truly become powerful."
The barbarians listened intently to Shang's words.
"However, my Tribe is different from other Tribes."
"In fact, this is not a Tribe."
This surprised the barbarians.
Not a Tribe?
"This is a group," Shang said.
"I don't need your loyalty. If you want to leave, you are allowed to leave."
"If you want to join a Tribe, you are allowed to."
"Your life is in your hands, and you can do whatever you want with it."
"I won't interfere, and I won't give you orders."
This confused the barbarians since this was a completely new concept.
"I will teach you to become powerful, but I also want repayment."
"If you want something from me, I want something in return," Shang said.
"I am only teaching you to become powerful. Whatever you do with that power is up to you, but for that privilege, I want something."
The barbarians looked at each other with nervousness.
"What do you want, Leader?" one of them asked.
Shang smirked.
"I want to learn all the techniques you use to strengthen your bodies."
Silence.
'The moment of truth,' Shang thought.
The barbarians looked at each other in disbelief.
"Is that everything?" one of them asked.
"That's everything," Shang said.
"I agree!" one of them said.
"I also agree!" another one said.
Sure enough, everyone agreed.
They had all traded years of their lives to gain these techniques, and now, they were passing them on for training from Shang.
Shang looked at Lash. "You are the first one. Tell it to everyone."
Lash looked with surprise at Shang and then looked at the others. "To everyone?"
Shang nodded. "We are a group. We do not contribute with our own power, but with the power we can bring to the whole group."
It wasn't easy for Lash to understand this concept, but he complied.
Over the next couple of minutes, Lash explained what he was doing to become more powerful.
And Shang finally managed to achieve his first goal.
He now knew how barbarians strengthened their bodies.
And Shang was quite sure that he could use it with the Procedure.
'Sure enough, there is a way to increase the strength of my body even more.'
