Shang kept training.
This was the only thing he could do.
He had chosen his future, and his future was now here.
Basically everyone he knew had left in some way or another, except for Jerald and Mervin, and he hadn't seen or talked to Mervin in a very long time.
Everyone else was gone.
The only thing Shang could do was accept it.
He had chosen his goal, and he had decided to put his goal above everything else.
If he wanted to achieve his goal, he had to be willing to sacrifice everything else.
And he knew that.
It still hurt whenever he heard of a death, but Shang knew that this was the choice he had made.
And, even though it hurt, he didn't regret his choice.
This was his life.
Power was his life.
There was only power.
Shang didn't even know why he wanted power so much. It was just what he wanted.
Maybe it was a fear of betrayal? After all, power and training could never betray him.
Maybe it was a fear of future loss? What was the point of having a friend if they would die one day?
Maybe it was just to spite and kill the God? He only saw Shang as a plaything, and Shang hated this feeling.
Maybe it was just his competitive mindset from Earth? After all, he enjoyed fighting and winning more than anything else.
Maybe it was all of that?
Nevertheless, everything culminated in Shang's dedicated pursuit of power.
He wanted to achieve something that had never been done before.
He wanted to reach places where no one had been before.
This was all that was on his mind.
Over the many years, Shang's mindset had solidified even more.
During these years, he realized that his outbursts of anger had been irrelevant most of the time.
He realized that his anger had only appeared due to his own pain and weakness.
Now, he was calm.
Shang's temper was no longer explosive but calm and collected.
The very thing Shang had feared when he was just a kid had become a reality.
Shang had become the version of George he had seen when they met for the first time.
However, Shang couldn't be any happier about that transformation.
George had represented immortal dedication to a goal.
George had represented a perfect mindset for becoming powerful.
And now, Shang was this representation.
In a quiet moment when Shang actually got time to think, he realized that he had finally become who he had always wanted to be.
Someone that actually had a shot at becoming truly powerful.
Never-ending dedication.
Unbreakable discipline.
Goal focused.
Calm.
Calculating.
Creative.
Experienced.
Visionary.
For the first time, he could look up at the proverbial mountain that represented the peak of power and not be intimidated.
For the first time, he thought that he could do it.
He had a shot.
He was finally prepared.
Shang continued training like an inexhaustible machine.
There were no breaks.
His entire mind focused on nothing but battle and power.
50 years of isolation had solidified Shang's personality.
And two years later, it was finally time.
The world had changed into something unrecognizable, and Shang did so as well.
Shang was now 82 years old.
And Shang had finished his Path.
He was done.
As Shang looked at his Star Map, he could see the unbreakable diamond he had envisioned back then.
It had seemed like an insurmountable hurdle.
It had seemed like an impossible task.
But now, Shang was here.
The lines of the diamond were thick and pronounced, and Shang had even connected the different Stars at the top.
Shang's mastery over his Affinities gave the diamond beautiful accents, and the Shards inside it were all clear and clean.
His Path had become a reality.
The ultimate Path he had dreamed of.
It was finally complete.
After Shang's Path had been completed, he could only stare at it for several hours.
Over 50 years of work.
50 years of unending, dedicated, hard work.
It was the work of his life.
It was his greatest achievement.
It was perfect.
It was beautiful.
It represented his future.
And it represented his past.
Shang closed his right eye, and he could feel his Path.
It was so powerful.
It was so grand.
It was perfect.
A moment later, Shang gathered all his insights into one gargantuan concept.
His Path had become complete, and it was now becoming a reality.
Shang felt his mind become clearer.
The images in his surroundings became clearer.
Every detail became clearer.
His perception stretched further.
In the past, Shang had only been able to feel about two to three kilometers of his surroundings.
Now, it stretched to five kilometers, and every single detail in these five kilometers was clear.
His Pseudo-Spirit Sense had become a real Spirit Sense.
And he hadn't even reached the True Path Stage yet.
He had only solidified his Path, and the actual advancement to the True Path Stage would commence soon.
With his new Spirit Sense, Shang could also feel other kinds of Mana.
He could finally feel the thick Earth Mana in his surroundings, and he could also feel the bit of Wind Mana in the air.
He could probably even use them, but his usage would be on par with someone in the Apprentice Realm, weak beyond comparison.
But he could still feel the Mana.
And, finally, he could also feel the Thunder Horse's mark on his body.
Over the many years, the mark had become incredibly weak, and it had probably even lost most of its power.
Shang guessed that only Zone Beasts could feel it if they really concentrated on him.
It didn't have the power to send a signal anymore.
It had essentially transformed into an empty battery, a remnant of the past.
For a while, Shang only concentrated on all the different kinds of Mana he could feel.
He could even feel some Mana that felt completely unfamiliar to him.
He didn't even know what they represented, but he could feel their presence.
A couple of hours later, Shang slowly stood up.
Then, he put Sword to the side.
As Shang slowly opened his right eye, a calm light appeared in it.
"It's time."
