Over the next three months, Shang kept strengthening his body and digging for ore.
Digging for ore wasn't as straightforward as he had thought. Sure, Sword was finding a lot of ore, but not every piece of ore was usable by them.
Some had the wrong Affinity.
Others were either too weak or too strong.
However, after several months of nearly fully focusing on mining ore, Shang had gotten enough to boost Sword to the Late Commander Stage.
Yes, he had found enough to boost it to the Mid Commander Stage and then to the Late Commander Stage.
Sword's shape hadn't changed, but it had become quite a bit heavier. Now, it no longer felt like Shang was swinging a small stick around.
Shang's sword was already quite big, even if it was not as big as when Shang had been in the Grandmountain Kingdom. This also meant that it was quite heavy.
Usually, only a Late Commander Stage warrior could wield the current Sword, but they would only be able to move slowly.
But Shang could swing Sword with only one hand.
This spoke volumes about Shang's physical strength.
Right now, Shang's body was a bit weaker than the body of a Peak Commander Stage warrior, which was a terrifying gap in power.
Honestly, at this point, it became almost pointless for Shang to compare himself to warriors. There were so few warriors left in the world with a body more powerful than him, and the warriors had also fallen off by a lot when compared to beasts and Mages.
From now on, Shang could only adequately compare his physical strength to beasts and his actual power to Mages.
So, how powerful was Shang's body when compared to an Initial Commander Stage beast after three months of strengthening?
Shang had just finished his most recent strengthening. Originally, he had killed another Early Commander Stage beast, but if Shang decided to use its heart, he would miss the deadline for the trial.
Because of that, Shang had gone out again to hunt an Initial Commander Stage beast, and he eventually got it.
Shang clenched his right fist and swung Sword a couple of times.
'The further I advance, the slower the strengthening process. It's like a hyperbole.'
'Right now, I should be about 75% to 80% as strong as an Initial Commander Stage beast. I managed to absorb one Abomination, which heightens my starting point. I believe, while I only managed to reach about 85% at the Peak General Stage, I should be able to get up to 90% this time.'
At that moment, Shang frowned.
'However, that also means that it will take quite a bit longer to advance. Sure enough, the stronger I get, the harder it gets to advance.'
'At the rate I am advancing right now, it will probably take two entire years for me to reach the Early Commander Stage, and after that, it will become even slower.'
Shang looked at his hand. 'But I shouldn't use normal human standards for time anymore. Commander Stage warriors often live for 250 years, which is around three times as much as normal humans on Earth.'
'Reaching the True Path Stage in my 40s would be like reaching it in my teens if I were to use the standard longevity from Earth.'
Shang looked away from his hand and to the side as he remembered something.
'Speaking of, I think my body should be about 22 years old now. That was also my age when I left Earth, right? Or was it 23? Honestly, I can't really remember anymore. My life on Earth has become more and more distant as time passes. It's almost like my previous life was nothing but a dream.'
'I don't know how I should feel about this.'
Shang didn't think anything for a couple of seconds as he tried to discern what he was actually feeling.
Sadly, he wasn't exactly sure how he felt about this particular topic.
'The past is in the past. To be frank, it doesn't even really matter.'
Shang stood up from the ground inside his inner world. He still wore the damaged armor since he felt a bit uncomfortable about being naked outside of water. He had gotten used to swimming around naked in the Tide Serpent Zone but being naked on land was a bit weird.
Shang cracked his neck and did some stretches. He wasn't really doing that to warm up but to heighten his focus.
After some seconds, Shang's right eye narrowed, and he looked at the big stone in the middle of his inner world.
Only a bit more than a day was remaining on the timer.
'I've been gone from the Skythunder Kingdom for a bit more than a year, huh,' he commented to himself inside his mind.
'The last trial happened when I was about 16. That was six years ago.'
'Six years to go from the General Stage to the Commander Stage.'
Shang took a deep breath and focused his mind on the task at hand again.
"Let's start the trial," Shang said, Sword in hand.
CRRRR!
The huge stone vanished into the ground, and something familiar returned.
The wheel.
The wheel came down from the sky, and just like before, the jester sat upon it.
But this time, the jester had some light in his eyes.
The God was no longer keeping it a secret that he was inhabiting the jester.
"Don't disappoint me," the jester said in his mechanical voice.
"Just send them in. The first few levels won't take long," Shang answered.
The jester only grinned widely, and the wheel began to spin.
"Level one: Weak Initial Commander Stage beast," the female mechanical voice announced.
Shang didn't even look at the wheel.
Nothing that the wheel could land on was a danger to him.
A couple of seconds later, Shang's opponent appeared.
It was a silver wolf with horns.
Shang only waited.
The jester slowly lifted his hammer and struck the bell.
DING!
BANG!
Shang immediately exploded forward as the bell rang.
The wolf opened its eyes and focused on Shang, but Shang's speed completely took it by surprise.
Out of reflex, it tried to dodge to the side, but Shang was just too fast.
BOOOM!
Shang's sword easily cut through the wolf, the two halves shooting in two different directions.
The old familiar applause returned as Shang looked forward, his right eye narrowed.
"Next," he said.
The jester only grinned.
