Shang flew back to his branch and arrived a couple of minutes later. Since he was back within the range of the Keeper's Spirit Sense, he didn't need to avoid all manners of beasts anymore. He could just directly travel to the branch in a nearly straight line.
Eventually, Shang reached the Yellow Sunbreaker. At first glance, it didn't seem any different than usual, but Shang knew that this wasn't true.
The Yellow Sunbreaker was currently in a state of slumber.
Shang had heard the Keeper tell him that she was going to receive Mosuma, which meant that she had to leave the Yellow Sunbreaker for a while. Obviously, she couldn't just leave it awake. Without her there, it could crush the entire branch with its roots.
Some seconds later, Shang landed in front of the entrance root, but he wasn't alone.
"Welcome back," the Keeper told Shang from her spot in front of the root.
The time it took for Shang to get here was enough for her to deal with Mosuma's acceptance ceremony.
Shang only nodded without saying anything.
CRRRRR!
The Keeper's mind lifted the incredibly heavy root, and the two of them entered the branch. Shortly after that, the Yellow Sunbreaker slowly woke up from its slumber.
Inside the branch, Shang walked down the stairs behind the Keeper. The Keeper sat down at her usual spot and resumed managing her territory. Shang couldn't tell what the Keeper was doing all day, but he assumed that she was probably communicating with all the different Keepers of her territory.
"Have you found what you were looking for?" she transmitted to Shang with a neutral voice.
"You already know," Shang answered.
"That's right. I do," she answered.
"Then why ask the question?" Shang asked.
The Keeper remained silent for about two seconds.
"Don't you want to know why I didn't tell you about the Beast Lords' intelligence?" she asked.
"Because I know that you know that I would still have asked to see one," Shang answered.
No one noticed, but the Keeper let out a tiny snort.
Yet, she didn't answer.
"I'm open for missions if you have any," Shang said as he walked over to Training Room One.
The Keeper didn't answer.
"Had enough of your vacation, blind fuck?" Spike Ball asked Shang as he passed by him.
Shang ignored him and just walked over to Training Room One.
But when he wanted to enter, he felt that the Isolation Barrier was already activated, which meant that someone was using it already.
"Don't try to enter my room, blind fuck," Spike Ball shouted with a sneer. "I paid for it, and I'm using it right now."
Obviously, Spike Ball wasn't using it. Instead, he only paid for it to provoke Shang, obviously.
Shang slowly stepped away from Training Room One and walked over to Training Room Two without saying anything.
Then, he entered and closed the door behind him.
Spike Ball only snorted. "Pathetic worm doesn't even dare to complain," he muttered in disgust.
Training Room Two was a bit smaller than Training Room One, but it was still big enough for Shang to train with his sword. He preferred using the other room, but this one was also good enough.
But instead of training, Shang only sat down in the middle of the room and focused on his Path.
'I have been somewhat following the beasts' paths to reach the Fusion Realm, but that won't work anymore.'
'Due to the Star Map, I knew what I needed to get to reach the True Path Stage, and due to the Wind Blade Seeds and so on, I knew what I needed to comprehend to reach the Peak True Path Stage. Then, I focused on comprehending the very thing beasts need to become Ancestral Beasts.'
'But now, I have no idea how to proceed.'
'I can't look at the beasts.'
'I can't look at the Mages.'
'I can't look at the warriors.'
'And on top of that, I need to create something outstanding. My goal can't just be to reach the next level in any shape or form.'
'It must be a truly powerful transformation. I must create something that allows me to reach Godhood in the future.'
'But what?'
'What can I create?'
All of Shang's different powers shot through his mind.
There was so much he could expand upon. It was like there was an infinite number of choices.
But exactly that was the problem. There were so many viable Paths, but they couldn't all support Godhood. Yet, there was no way for Shang to find out which Path would lead to the top and which wouldn't.
There were a few Paths that obviously wouldn't lead to the top.
Just increasing Shang's physical power was a good example.
But the vast majority of Paths could lead anywhere.
One interesting Path was the Path of Mage Warrior.
Shang already knew the very thing that he would need to understand to reach the normal Sixth Realm as a warrior, the World Connection. If he now also managed to comprehend a level three Concept, he could probably combine both things into something incredible. Something like that would be worthy of Godhood.
However, Shang had a warrior body, making this Path impossible for him to tread.
Shang could also comprehend more Paths, add more Imposes, and widen his World Connection by doing that. At some point, the power of his World Connection would reach terrifying levels, and the world around Shang would eventually be able to unleash so much power that Shang wouldn't even need to move to fight.
That was definitely a way forward.
He could also just continue training more and more without thinking about anything in particular.
Just slowly grinding away at every single flaw Shang could find.
At some point, he should find something that would allow him to reach the next Realm.
"I've got a mission for you."
Shang slowly stood up and walked to the entrance of Training Room Two.
The Keeper had just called him.
Shang deactivated the Isolation Barrier and opened the door.
And then, he saw something horrifying.
A frozen corpse.
