Shang arrived back in the Caves and concentrated on his body.
All the warriors had increased their level by just focusing on their bodies, but Shang was about to do more.
His body was now ready to reach the next level, but Shang also focused on Impose.
Usually, Shang wouldn't need more than a couple of minutes to reach the next level after absorbing an Abomination, but this time, Shang took several hours.
He was trying his best to connect Impose with his body during the small breakthrough.
However, that wasn't easy.
Impose was like a level two Concept, something that was necessary to reach the next Realm, not just the next level.
Right now, Shang was trying to create a major breakthrough when he was only undergoing a minor breakthrough, which was impossible.
The world decided what kind of breakthrough someone went through.
Shang definitely didn't have the power nor the Mana to undergo another major breakthrough, which only left a minor breakthrough.
However, a minor breakthrough was just that.
Minor.
Minor breakthroughs didn't change the body in a fundamental way. They were only checkpoints on someone's way to the next major breakthrough.
But Shang just kept on trying.
There had to be a way to make this work.
After a day of trying to make this work, Shang managed to change his minor breakthrough by a little bit.
It wasn't much, but Shang managed to summon a small storm of Mana that got absorbed into his body.
That small storm of Mana went into Shang's body, but it had no idea what it was supposed to be doing there.
Shang wasn't undergoing a major breakthrough, and the world only had ways to help people with their major breakthroughs.
After pestering the world for so long, the world gave him some Mana.
And now what?
As soon as Shang felt the small storm of Mana, he shoved all of it into his Mana pathways and cast a Spell.
In just a moment, all the Mana started to increase the density of the walls of his Mana pathways.
Shang's Mana pathways were becoming harder.
What purpose did that have?
Shang wasn't sure.
Sure, his Mana pathways were more robust now, but that wasn't really useful. His Mana pathways had already been strong enough to withstand everything Shang could throw at them.
There wasn't really a difference.
'But even if there is no difference now, that doesn't mean that there won't be a difference in the future,' Shang thought as a small glimmer appeared in his right eye.
'This increased density of my Mana pathways might not make a difference right now, but if I ever have more Mana than my Mana pathways can handle, this will pay off in a big way.'
By now, Shang had reached the Early True Path Stage.
'My body is only about 40% as powerful as the body of a beast, and the maximum I can push it to is 50% right now, but I already knew that would happen.'
'It actually doesn't really matter. Even with a weaker body relative to beasts on my level, my Battle-Strength is still stronger than with my old Mana pathway framework.'
Shang stood up and focused on his body.
'Need to wait about three days before I can absorb another Abomination. Seems like the digestion of the Abominations doesn't take as long anymore. Assuming I absorb one Abomination every five days, I might only need a year to absorb enough to reach the peak of my current level.'
'I think I should focus on reaching the peak of my current level first. Interrupting my training every three to five days would be too annoying.'
Then, Shang looked towards the north, even though he was still inside the Caves.
'I wonder what changed in the world.'
'I wonder how much time has passed.'
Shang took out his Communication Crystal and looked at it.
No one had called him during his training.
'I think I should visit Jerald.'
Then, Shang left the Caves and flew into the sky.
Funnily enough, Shang's speed was quite impressive right now.
Since Shang had way less Mana saved up in his muscles, his body was weaker, but that also meant that his body was lighter.
Yet, he still had the same quantity of Mana inside his body when everything was put together.
This meant that Shang's Blasts hadn't been weakened while his body had become lighter.
That made him quite fast while only using Blasts to move around.
In the beginning, Shang hadn't expected that changing his Mana pathway framework would change so many different things.
Shang flew through the air with impressive speed.
While flying, Shang looked at the Storm Kingdom below him.
So much had changed.
There were new cities, new towns, and new villages.
There were even a lot of Spiriters and brand new wildernesses.
Shang could even see completely new beasts.
And then, Shang saw something interesting.
He saw a couple of warriors, and one of them was even at the Late True Path Stage.
'A Late True Path Stage warrior that isn't even near the frontlines? Seems like things have calmed down a lot.'
Then, Shang noticed something else.
'I think that's the emblem of a Duke, right?' Shang thought as he saw an emblem on the warrior's chest.
'Seems like I'm not the only warrior Duke anymore. That would also explain why someone of his power isn't at the frontlines.'
Eventually, Shang arrived at the Skythunder Zone.
'Wait, is it still called the Skythunder Zone? I mean, Jerald should be the King right now, right? Is it still called the Skythunder Kingdom?'
As Shang was arriving near the Skythunder Zone, he saw a couple of True Path Stage warriors, High Mages, and really powerful Spiriters standing at the borders of the Zone.
'What are Spiriters in the Fourth Realm called? High Spiriters?'
BANG!
Suddenly, Shang hit something like a wall.
Some blood appeared in Shang's mouth, but all the injuries healed in an instant.
Shang could barely comprehend the current situation, not because of the pain but because of the shock and surprise.
Where did a wall suddenly come from?
Even more, what was a wall doing 10 kilometers in the air?!
After that, Shang saw the people at the border of the Skythunder Zone look up with hostile gazes.
"Identify yourself!" the leader shouted with an aggressive voice. His Spirit Sense couldn't reach Shang, but the leader could see Shang with his eyes.
Shang rubbed his face as he looked at the area in front of him.
There was nothing.
Then, Shang extended his hand.
WHOOOM!
A barrier appeared in front of Shang.
'Hmph, guess that makes sense. Having so many warriors pass over your castle is probably annoying. Even for Jerald.'
Then, Shang looked at the people at the border, who were about to jump on their weapons and fly up to him.
"I'm coming down," Shang transmitted to them. "I didn't know that there was a barrier here."
However, the group didn't calm down.
"I said identify yourself!" the leader shouted.
Shang only furrowed his brows as he fell to the ground.
"My name is Duke Sword," Shang transmitted as he landed about a kilometer away from them. "I wanted to visit Jerald."
The leader furrowed his brows as he glared at Shang.
"What business do you have with father?"
