Shang and the Sweeper traveled toward the southeast for another hour.
Eventually, the two of them slowed down and stopped.
"You stay here. I will scout around for a bit," the Sweeper said.
Shang only nodded.
The Sweeper vanished, and Shang simply waited.
Shang had no idea what defenses were in front of them, but they probably weren't weak.
About ten minutes later, the Sweeper returned.
"I found a good spot where we can pass. The person guarding that spot has an Earth Affinity, and he doesn't seem very attentive," the Sweeper said.
Shang only nodded again.
The two flew towards the south for a couple of minutes and stopped again.
By now, Shang could tell that the surroundings were different again, and they were different in a sense that reminded him of Area 23.
The Earth and Darkness Mana of the Eternal Maw were reaching this place.
Since releasing so much of one's Mana was seen as a provocation amongst beasts, nearly no Ancestral Beast dared to release its Mana like this. Because of that, this part of the world was very temperate without any particular Zones.
But things were different for Beast Lords.
There was nothing that could possibly threaten them except for Mages, but the Mages also didn't mind the Mana the Beast Lords were releasing. In fact, the Mages wanted the Beast Lords to release their Mana.
Because of that, the areas surrounding the Beast Lords could be considered Zones, but there were not nearly enough Beast Lords to cover Aterium in Zones.
Right now, the two of them were still around 15,000 kilometers away from the Eternal Maw, but Shang could already feel quite a bit of Darkness and Earth Mana in the surroundings.
Due to that, the plants also assumed darker colors, and the terrain grew more mountainous.
SHING!
At that moment, something appeared in the Sweeper's hands.
It was a black cloak identical to the one she was currently wearing.
"Wear that," the Sweeper said while throwing the cloak at him.
Shang caught it and inspected it.
As soon as he made physical contact with it, he could feel his Mana and Spirit Sense enter the cloak.
There were so many complex Magic Circles inside the cloak that it was nearly impossible for Shang to understand them.
"I'm only lending you this cloak," the Sweeper said. "These cloaks can only be bought and used by Sweepers since they are one of our most important assets to keeping us Sweepers hidden from the enemy."
"But I'd rather not risk my life unnecessarily by putting my life into the hands of your ability alone."
Shang was already infusing the cloak with his Mana as she was talking.
"To make full use of it, you need to know the level two Pure Concept of Darkness, Blindness. Do you know that?" she asked.
"No," Shang answered.
The Sweeper hesitated for a moment and remained quiet.
She was very skeptical right now.
White Ghost was supposed to be a pretty powerful and talented Initial Archmage with a Twilight Affinity.
Yet, even though he was that powerful, he didn't know the Concept of Blindness?
That was hard to believe.
For a couple of seconds, the Sweeper argued with herself about whether she should question Shang or not.
On one hand, he didn't need to tell her his powers, but on the other hand, they might actually die if he kept his powers hidden.
It was risky.
"Fine," she said after a while. "Just know that we will both die if you are not able to stay hidden. The cloak should also help you in using whatever ability you are using to hide from other people's Spirit Senses."
Shang put on the cloak and used Shroud.
He didn't feel any different.
"It's a bit better," the Sweeper said, "but not by much."
The Sweeper could only sigh.
"I just hope this works."
After that, the two of them traveled toward the east.
Shang quickly found an Ancestral Mage with his Spirit Sense, but he purposefully didn't look at them.
Powerful beings could feel weaker beings' Spirit Senses.
They easily passed by the guard while bypassing several investigative Magic Circles.
A couple of minutes later, the two of them stopped again.
"We're about a hundred kilometers outside his Spirit Sense's range," the Sweeper said.
Shang inspected his surroundings.
There were far fewer plants around, and the terrain had become rockier.
He could also feel many Archbeasts and even five Ancestral Beasts!
Five Ancestral Beasts!
Shang rarely entered the range of one, but there were actually five inside his Spirit Sense's range right now.
Even more, Shang felt quite a couple of Archmages.
The Archmages were fighting Archbeasts and collecting valuable plants and ore.
This wasn't anything surprising. After all, with danger came wealth.
The Eternal Maw's territory might be extremely dangerous, but there were many powerful beasts and powerful treasures here.
As long as no one too powerful walked around, there wouldn't be any issues.
"I don't know exactly how far we are away from the Eternal Maw," the Sweeper said. "It could be 10,500 kilometers. It could be 20,000 kilometers. Even more, I can't check because finding out means dying."
"I don't need you to do anything, but if you are willing to make the journey a bit less risky, I have a task for you," the Sweeper said.
"What task?" Shang asked.
"I can't check where the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense ends, but you can," she said. "It won't attack you."
"You want me to stay near the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense?" Shang asked.
"In a way, yes," the Sweeper answered. "First, I want you to travel towards the Eternal Maw. At some point, you should be able to feel its Spirit Sense since it doesn't try to keep itself hidden at all."
"You will also notice that you won't find a single Ancestral Beast there anymore. There are a lot of Ancestral Beasts around these parts, but there will be none inside the Eternal Maw's Spirit Sense."
"As soon as you know where it is, you can come back and tell me. I just need to know how far away we currently are from its Spirit Sense."
"Are you up for it?"
