BANG!
Shang was thrown away, and his arms broke. However, they were quickly healed by his warrior's body.
He quickly caught himself and charged forward again.
In front of him was a massive beetle with two gigantic horns. It looked very similar to a stag beetle from Earth.
Shang had been fighting this specimen for several minutes by now, which was very unusual for him since most of his fights only took a couple of seconds.
However, Shang wasn't fighting the beetle to kill it but to train himself.
Right now, Shang had made Sword burn off a bit of its mass and made it transform into a long saber with a thick back.
The feeling Sword gave him when he swung it was very different from normal.
'Sure enough, without using my Affinity or Domain, fighting a Late Commander Stage beast isn't that easy, but that's exactly what I need.'
At this moment, Shang was only fighting the beetle with his swordsmanship, which definitely wasn't bad. After all, he had trained with Teacher Mervin for five years.
Teacher Mervin had an incredibly weak body compared to beasts, but he could still fight a beast on his own level alone, which was insane.
If Teacher Mervin had Shang's physical power, he could turn that beetle into several pieces in no time at all.
Shang couldn't achieve something like that yet, but he knew that as long as he kept going like this, he would eventually become powerful enough to rival that feat.
Right now, Shang's body was nearly as powerful as the body of an Initial True Path Stage warrior, even though he was only at the Mid Commander Stage.
The difference in power between humans and beasts became more and more ridiculous as their level increased.
After seeing the image of the diamond, Shang's Path was basically set.
Shang wanted to create a Path that could lead him to the absolute top, and he fought with different kinds of swords. So, logically, wouldn't the best Path be the Path that included all the different variations of swords?
It would take an insanely long time, but it seemed doable in Shang's mind.
Also, diamonds represented purity and the peak of hardness, right?
Shang could tell that the True Path essentially laid a foundation for all his future powers. He knew that there were probably around nine Realms in this world, and the True Path Stage represented the fourth.
From the first third, Shang would enter the second third of the Realms. Additionally, just by looking at how different the required training was to reach the True Path Stage compared to the previous ones already showed that this Stage was special.
The True Path might even decide someone's future potential and upper limit.
Shang knew that if he became sloppy now, he might never achieve his goal.
He had already sacrificed so much, and he couldn't let these sacrifices be in vain.
One additional thing that convinced Shang that this was the right Path for him was his training with Teacher Mervin.
Back then, Shang thought it impossible to counter absolutely every possible form of attack.
Surprisingly, he was right.
It actually was impossible.
That was if he only used one weapon.
The weapon might be too slow to block or parry a fast attack, or it might not be heavy and sturdy enough to block a slow but really powerful attack.
However, if he could change the ratio of speed to power between his weapons at will, this would become possible!
He would have an answer for every kind of attack!
Of course, transforming a weapon at will was basically impossible. After all, Sword could only become lighter, not heavier, during a fight.
But Shang actually didn't think about this problem too much.
There had to be some way to make this possible.
The God himself had said that there was always a way!
Right now, Shang couldn't imagine how he could achieve something like that, but he trusted that, in the future, he would find a way.
At this moment, he was too inexperienced, but when he gained enough experience in the future to achieve something like that, it would be a shame if Shang hadn't made the proper preparations for that moment.
Shang trusted in his future self, but to help his future self, he had to give his best right now!
Shang essentially saw himself as someone that prepared the ingredients for a grand feast without being able to cook it.
However, when he eventually learned to cook it, all the ingredients would be ready!
And right now, Shang was working on his saber skills.
The reason why he started with the saber was that it was the Star with the least Shards, namely none.
Of course, Shang could focus on one weapon at a time until he created a Path, but he decided against it.
What was the reason?
Cross Comprehension!
At least, that was what Shang called it.
It essentially meant that parts of one category could make it easier to understand a different one due to overlapping concepts.
A good example would be science.
If one had already learned an insane amount about math, understanding physics would become easier since physics included a lot of math.
A person that knew a lot about math would have it easier to understand physics than one that didn't.
And if one understood physics and math pretty well, biology would also become easier since there are also a lot of overlapping concepts.
With biology, one could understand psychology better, and so on.
There were overlapping concepts everywhere, and Shang was also certain that the same thing was true for the different swords.
Yes, he had to fight differently with the different weapons, but in the grand scheme of things, the attacks still all looked very similar.
Shang was sure that knowing how to swing a saber would make it easier to learn how to use the other weapons, which would make it easier to understand the other weapons, which would... and so on.
It was a positive feedback loop.
BANG!
Suddenly, Shang used his Affinity and fled from the beetle.
The beetle tried to chase, but Shang easily managed to escape.
Shang could have also killed the beetle, but that would reduce his future training partners.
After Shang left, he summoned something from his Space Ring.
It was a Communication Crystal, and it was currently ringing.
Shang had gotten the Communication Crystal from Duke Whirlwind, and only he could reach it.
"Yes?" Shang asked.
"Tomorrow is the day. You said two weeks, right?" Duke Whirlwind said.
For a second, Shang had to think about what Duke Whirlwind meant.
"The Abominations, right?" Shang asked.
"Yes, do you know where and when they will arrive?" Duke Whirlwind asked.
"I'm going to travel across the surrounding territories and do my best to redirect them. I will give you more information in a couple of hours," Shang said.
"Good, thank you," Duke Whirlwind said before cutting the connection.
Shang put the Communication Crystal away and furrowed his brows.
'Two weeks are already over? It barely feels like a day.'
'I guess I've gotten too used to training for long periods of time.'
'I should get ready and decide on a good time. It would be best if Duke Whirlwind could make Duke Mithril leave when it happens.'
Then, Shang smirked.
'Tomorrow, your second present will arrive, Duke Mithril!'
And then, Shang left the Cave.
