Shang slashed upward.
CRACK!
Sword easily cut through the thick armor of the centipede.
Obviously, Shang wouldn't attempt to kill a True Path Stage beast with a Commander Stage weapon.
In the last ten years, Shang had also gotten the Darkness Ore from Jerald, and Shang had openly bought the Fire and Ice Ore himself. He had basically gone public with a Temperature Affinity, making his purchases reasonable.
After that, Jerald had given Shang the ore he needed to upgrade Sword to the Early True Path Stage.
However, Shang's funds had essentially dried up.
These kinds of materials couldn't be bought with gold, but Jerald sold them for gold anyway.
Shang had paid over a billion gold for all the ore, which was an unreasonable amount for a Commander Stage warrior.
Decades of Shang gathering Foci, materials, and gold had vanished in just an instant.
However, it allowed him to upgrade Sword, and he wasn't worried about the future.
With such a weapon, he could now hunt True Path Stage beasts, which he could trade for even more ore.
As Shang's sword cut into the armor, it suddenly shone brightly.
It was the ranged attack Shang had introduced to the world, but it was slightly different this time.
There was no Element in the slash. Additionally, the power of the slash didn't exactly leave the domain of his sword.
How had the warriors of the past managed to fell such gigantic beasts with their comparatively tiny weapons?
This was the answer.
As long as there was living matter, the ranged attack could be used as an extension for the actual slash.
It was like Shang's sword had transformed to be over 20 meters long, but only while being inside an enemy's body.
Sadly, the actual power or weight of the strike didn't change. It simply extended the attack's reach.
After cutting through half the body, Shang felt his sword slow down. The centipede's body was thick and massive, making it very difficult for him to cut through the entire thing.
BANG!
A Fire Blast came out of Shang's left leg, shooting it upward.
BANG!
With a powerful kick, his left leg hit the back of his colossal sword, pushing it forward.
CRRRRK!
The sword continued going.
BANG! BANG!
Shang kept hold of his sword and released two more blasts, shooting himself past the centipede.
CRACK! CRACK!
The centipede's sharp, hook-like legs were torn out of the walls as its body was pulled away from the wall.
Shang's arms bulged as he continued slashing forward.
His sword was making more progress through the centipede's body, and the continued power of Shang's Blasts gave him more strength than the centipede could muster from its current position.
And then…
CRACK!
Shang's sword cut through the centipede's entire body, and its head started to fall to the ground.
Blood exploded out of the body, bathing Shang and his surroundings in a crimson red.
Such a feat would have been impossible if Shang's body hadn't already reached the absolute peak of the Commander Stage.
This beast was two levels above him, and its body had immense powers.
For just a moment, time had seemingly stopped, and Shang took a deep breath.
BANG!
Shang's right eye shot open in terror.
His armor had just activated!
This meant that he would have died without it just now!
Shang quickly focused on his surroundings again, and he realized what was going on.
The spikes were still firing!
BANG!
Blood exploded out of Shang's body as he used another Blast to evade the following spikes.
The temperature all over his body had been thrown all over the place by the continued uses of the Blasts, and Shang had gone past his usual limit, injuring him.
At the same time, the half of the centipede that had been wrestled out of the wall was pulled back by the other half, and the feet dug into the wall again.
Shang almost couldn't believe what he was seeing.
He had cut off that thing's head!
How could it still attack and move?!
The former neck of the centipede retreated from Shang as the centipede's back turned to face him.
A second head!
Or was this its actual head?!
Shang looked at the falling "head" he had cut off.
That definitely was a head!
He knew the centipedes often had a tail that mimicked their head, but Shang wasn't stupid. He could tell a tail from a head, and this definitely was a head!
Shang had never heard of a beast that had two heads!
'I shouldn't be surprised,' he thought with a narrowed eye. 'Not much is known about True Path Stage beasts.'
BANG! BANG!
Shang kept exploding left and right to dodge the continuing assault of the spikes.
At that moment, Shang used all his Mana to heal his body.
The Blasts, Shadow Image, and Vanish had used up a huge amount of his life energy, and he needed to refill it.
However, Shang was now out of Mana.
Any new injury would stay with him for the duration of the fight.
The fight had proven to be more difficult than he had thought.
Shang prepared himself mentally again while dodging the spikes and then shot toward the centipede again.
WHOOOOM!
But at that moment, Shang felt a powerful pulse of Mana come from behind him, and he felt an immense feeling of danger.
At the same time, the centipede stopped shooting its spikes at Shang and stopped moving.
Shang turned around and saw something horrifying.
The head he had cut off had landed on the ground, and blood was scattering over the entire floor.
This was not the normal speed at which blood spread, and this also wasn't the normal amount.
It was like all the blood in the centipede's body had gathered inside the head, and it had exploded forth.
Even more, the blood didn't flow in natural pathways.
Right now, Shang was in the air in the middle of the cave, and he could see all the blood.
It had transformed into a complex diagram!
Even more, all the spikes the centipede had shot earlier had perfectly been placed at the important places inside the diagram.
This meant that it had planned all of this from the very beginning!
The spikes weren't there to kill him but to set up this kind of ritual!
An instant later, the entire cave turned a bloody red, and there was even red light inside the cave now.
The head dissolved instantly, and at that moment…
It was like a switch had been flipped.
The walls of the entire cave turned red.
And then, they turned into a lustrous black.
When Shang saw that, his eyes widened.
'That's metal!'
But hadn't the centipede been a beast with an Earth Affinity?!
And then, Shang felt a terrifying amount of Mana gather around the centipede.
CRK! CRK!
Its exoskeleton began to crack at multiple places until there were several holes.
And then, long metallic arms came out of the holes.
The first five segments of the centipede now had two gigantic arms coming out of them each!
BANG!
The centipede fell to the ground.
In this form, it was easier to fight while on the ground.
The first five segments righted themselves like it was the head of a gigantic cobra.
Then, the arms extended towards the walls and ground of the cave.
Several spikes the centipede had shot earlier that hadn't landed in the diagram were now being grabbed by the arms.
And then, the arms pulled back.
The fingers and claws of the arms melded with the spikes until it was just one continuous mass.
And when the spikes came out of the walls, more than just the spikes was pulled out.
Ridiculously long scissor-like scythes were pulled out.
It was like one had taken the pincers of the centipede and had transformed them into long scythes!
Shang was immediately reminded of a mantis.
The scythes all stopped above the centipede, all ready to strike.
BANG! BANG!
At the same time, the metallic cave closed around the two exits.
The blood on the ground rose by a level until it was two meters deep and stopped.
Shang could feel corrosive powers come from the blood.
A couple of spikes were still sticking out of the walls, representing tiny spots of safety.
SHING!
Then, the centipede pulled its scythes to the side, cutting through the air.
'This is not an average beast!' Shang thought with shock.
And then, the centipede exploded towards Shang.
