The Keeper opened her eyes and looked over at Room One.
"You've found what you've been searching for?" she asked evenly.
"Yes," Shang answered. "I am ready to reach the Fifth Realm."
The Keeper didn't answer for a while.
"The first person with a Path completely separate from Magic that reached the Fifth Realm ever since the Purge," she transmitted as she absentmindedly looked forward.
"History is about to be made. Too bad no one is going to know about it."
Shang waited for her instructions.
Advancing an entire Realm would change all the Mana flow in the surrounding kilometers, and this was a problem since the camp had to remain a secret.
If Shang decided to advance in Room One, he would absorb way too much of the Water Mana on the bottom. Additionally, his breakthrough might pull the Yellow Sunbreaker's attention towards the mysterious stone that constantly gave off Water Mana.
However, breaking through outside the base would be extremely risky for Shang. After all, his breakthrough might attract several powerful Archbeasts and maybe even Ancestral Beasts.
Usually, people would just break through inside a city after giving the rulers of the city some money for the inconvenience.
But Named Agents from this branch were forbidden from leaving.
The main reason was the secretive location of the branch and the fact that the Territory Lord was here.
The Territory Lord of the Temple of Blood was the most wanted criminal of the Natural Selection Company, and if they found her, they might arrive with all three of their Mage Lords.
It was difficult to find a fitting place for Shang to reach the Fusion Realm.
After thinking for a couple of seconds, the Keeper came to a decision and gave Shang his instructions.
Shang remained in the training room and readied himself mentally.
The next step was to create a Beast Core at the base of his neck. Luckily, Shang had already created the perfect version of his Mana pathways, and he had already created a good place for the Beast Core.
Shang recited the Spell that one True Mage had given him back then and practiced it a couple of times.
It was of utmost importance that Shang didn't make any mistakes during his breakthrough.
Knock, knock!
Someone knocked on Shang's door, and Shang walked over.
The Isolation Barrier deactivated, and Shang stepped out of the training room.
"Hey, White Ghost," a younger man with green hair said. He was wearing a charismatic smile. "The Keeper told me I will be your bodyguard for your breakthrough."
Shang nodded and stepped past the man.
This was the Named Agent Desert Storm.
Desert Storm was the only Named Agent older than Shang in this branch, and he was the second oldest person after the Keeper.
He was also one of the only two Late Archmages in the branch.
In comparison to most Named Agents, Desert Storm had never shown any peculiarly strange or off-putting traits.
House Wife had this problem where she constantly tried to make people fight, and Trapper was a proud rapist.
The other Named Agents also had their own issues, but Desert Storm had always appeared quite unusual due to the lack of unusual traits.
"I think I have to congratulate you, White Ghost," Desert Storm said as he followed Shang. "You are already a Named Agent as a Peak High Mage. As an Archmage, you might even be able to fight Ice Princess for a bit."
Ice Princess was another Named Agent of this branch and a Mid Archmage.
Shang didn't answer and walked up the stairs toward the exit.
Desert Storm had issues starting a conversation with Shang, but he didn't seem perturbed.
Instead, it seemed more like Desert Storm was talking to himself while following Shang.
The huge Isolation Barrier around the branch opened, and the two of them stepped into the small cave below the Yellow Sunbreaker.
The barrier closed behind them, and they used their medals to pass the huge roots of the Yellow Sunbreaker.
Then, the two of them flew towards the east.
When the two of them had been walking up the stairs, the Keeper had already transmitted the distribution of beasts in the surroundings, and she had told them where to go for Shang's breakthrough.
The two of them flew for about half an hour, which was a distance of a couple hundred kilometers.
Eventually, the two of them landed near a dark cave that led directly into the ground.
"Let me go deal with it," Desert Storm said as he walked into the cave.
The two of them had already seen the occupant inside the cave with their Spirit Senses.
It was an Early Archbeast.
Desert Storm entered and quickly took care of the beast while inspecting the cave.
"Alright, everything's clear," he transmitted to Shang.
Shang calmly entered the cave.
After a couple hundred meters, Shang reached the center of the cave and sat down without saying anything.
"I'll be waiting near the entrance. You just focus on your breakthrough, okay?" Desert Storm said with a smile.
Shang wordlessly nodded.
Desert Storm nodded back and walked to the entrance of the caves.
The Keeper had kept track of the Ancestral Beasts, but there were too many Archbeasts to make accurate predictions regarding their movements.
That was why Desert Storm was here.
While the breakthrough shouldn't attract Ancestral Beasts, a couple of Archbeasts would probably become interested.
As a Late Archmage, there were only very, very few Archbeasts that could fight Desert Storm.
Shang wasn't sure how long his breakthrough would take. Because of that, the Keeper would inform Desert Storm via Communication Crystal when an Ancestral Beast closed in on them.
Of course, Desert Storm would be paid for his help by Shang.
As Desert Storm waited near the entrance for the horde of beasts to appear, Shang took a deep breath and focused on his connection to the world.
Then, the Mana in the surroundings started to flow toward him slowly, and as more time passed, the flow became stronger and stronger.
Eventually, Shang felt like a bottleneck had burst, and all the Mana inside the surroundings started to enter his body violently.
The breakthrough had begun.
