Shang didn't know how he felt right now.
Someone else from Earth was now coming to this world, and they would be far younger.
Time sure passed quickly.
It was already time for the next generation to take over.
However, this time, it wasn't because the older generation had reached its limit.
Shang had been sent to this world because George had stopped advancing and was only working on making the warriors more powerful.
For the God, George's personal power had stopped being useful, requiring someone else to take over.
In a way, George had been transformed from the main character into a supporting character when Shang arrived.
But this time, it was different.
Shang's usefulness to the God had advanced to such a stage that using him to strengthen warriors would be a waste.
As Shang thought about the new person, he also realized something.
He realized that he felt hopeful for the rewards they could bring.
The first two trials still had a lot of unclaimed rewards, and some of these rewards could be very useful to the current Shang, even if they were only useful for inspiration.
They would represent something new that was currently unknown to the warriors.
At the same time, Shang was also reminded of his first couple of years in this world.
The world had been alien and magical to him back then.
The new person would go through a similar experience.
For just a split second, Shang thought that it would be interesting to relive these experiences, but when he thought about all the power he would have to give up, he immediately stopped wanting that.
He had worked so hard for his power, and he wanted to advance even further.
Right now, he felt as great as never before.
Being powerful felt so incredibly good, and he wanted more of that feeling.
"Alright," Shang said. "Jerald already knows about you anyway. I will just tell him to keep a lookout for the new person."
"Good," the God said.
"Now, for the last thing."
Shang remembered that the God said that there would also be a small gift, and he grew interested.
"Don't get too excited," the jester said with a smirk. "This is only something that will help you in the short term. After that, my little gift will lose all its value."
Shang was still interested.
"You see," the jester said, "You are my prime entertainment right now, and I want to give you the best possible start. I want to truly see how far you can go."
"Because of that, I will temporarily give you the power to summon a True Path Stage Abomination alone and without anyone noticing."
"I want your body to be at its peak when you take the trial, and this is the best way to assure that."
"You have three years to reach the optimal state for your body in the Initial True Path Stage."
"I don't want you to advance."
"I don't want you to abuse this little gift."
"I don't want you to waste time."
"You get three years, and three years should be just enough to get your body to its optimal condition if you follow the schedule."
"Do I make myself clear?" the jester asked.
Shang nodded.
This was an incredible gift!
Shang had already feared how he could strengthen himself to his peak before the trial started.
Logically, Shang needed to summon True Path Stage Abominations, but these True Path Stage Abominations would cause a gigantic uproar, and they would come with a literal army of weaker Abominations.
Initially, Shang had been stuck between two decisions.
First, with his increased power, the average power of the Abominations across the world should also increase. Right now, the appearance of a True Path Stage Abomination would be something monumental, and all the Mages from the outside would look through this place with a fine comb.
However, in a decade or two, the appearances of True Path Stage Abominations would have become so normal that no one would suspect that Shang had specifically summoned one of them.
The other possibility would have been very risky and very greedy.
It was essentially just summoning them and hoping for the best.
The rewards in the trials were just too valuable to give up.
However, this would also come with incredible danger to Shang.
But now, this problem had been solved, and Shang could have both.
He would get his optimal body without any risk, and after that, he could simply wait for a couple of decades to continue advancing without raising any suspicions.
"This only counts until the trial starts, right?" Shang asked.
"Correct," the jester answered.
Shang nodded. "I'm fine with that."
The jester also nodded. "I don't want you to abuse this in any way."
"I understand," Shang said.
He knew that making the God angry would result in a terrible fate for him.
Then, the jester grinned widely. "Good, then, I'm looking forward to your performance in three years."
Shang nodded. "I will do my best."
Shang didn't say it, but it was very clear that he wasn't doing it for the God but for his own power.
Obviously, the God knew that, but he didn't care.
It didn't matter why his playthings followed his orders. As long as they followed them, he didn't care.
An instant later, the jester just vanished.
It was like he had never existed.
After the jester vanished, Shang took a deep breath.
Then, he prepared himself.
'Might as well start now.'
Shang used his Domain of Entropy to connect with the Abominations.
Sure enough, he could feel 20 True Path Stage Abominations and their armies.
When Shang extended his perception to one of them, he began to pull.
The line that connected them to the other Abominations was suddenly cut, isolating them.
As Shang pulled, the smaller Abominations didn't get pulled along with the big one.
It proved to be quite easy to summon the Abomination, and just two minutes later...
SHING!
The Abomination appeared right in front of Shang.
In comparison to Commander Stage Abominations, this one had four muscular arms, and it stood in a slumped but upright position.
It also had hands that reminded Shang a bit of human hands, but they weren't even nearly developed enough to grab anything.
However, the Abomination's face was still filled with black tentacles that extended toward the ground.
All in all, it looked terrifying, but Shang had gotten used to the way the Abominations looked.
Additionally, Shang always felt a deep connection with them.
It was like they were one and the same thing.
The Abomination extended one of its arms, and Shang touched it.
A moment later, the Abomination got absorbed into his body, and Shang felt his power increase.
This was nothing new to Shang.
It was the same as always, just with a more powerful Abomination.
After absorbing the Abomination, Shang checked his surroundings with his Spirit Sense.
Not a single beast had reacted.
Usually, the beasts would go wild if an Abomination appeared in their vicinity, but this time, it was like absolutely nothing had happened.
Sure enough, the God's isolation had worked.
Shang closed and extended his fingers again and felt the raw power in them.
'I can't wait for the trial!'
