The current situation was very strange to Shang.
For over two centuries, he had kept only to himself, not daring to tell anyone about anything related to his powers.
He couldn't let anyone find out that he was the Child of Calamity.
Because of that, he had to keep secret that he had four Affinities.
Because of that, he had to keep secret that he had four States.
Additionally, Shang also had an entirely separate issue that also forced him to keep secrets.
Shang was being pursued by the Lightning Manor. They knew that they were essentially searching for the strongest warrior in the world, and if anyone found a really powerful Fifth Realm warrior, they would be easily able to connect the two people.
Because of that, Shang even had to keep his identity as a warrior a secret.
He even had to keep his name a secret.
Hell, the Lightning Manor probably even knew that Shang was missing an eye he couldn't regrow, which meant that Shang even had to keep his appearance a secret.
Shang had even killed innocent people just because they might have potentially found out some little clue about some irrelevant secret of his.
Secrets upon secrets upon secrets.
And now, he was suddenly supposed to be honest?
Right now, it was like Shang was standing in front of a dark abyss.
He had to walk forward into the darkness, into a place he had never been before.
This reminded Shang of the time he stood at the edge of Area 23.
He also hadn't known what would await him.
Back then, Shang had also been forced to enter a place he had never been to before. He didn't even know what it looked like.
Shang had taken the plunge back then.
After many minutes or even hours of falling, Shang had eventually broken past the last layer of clouds.
Water.
He had only seen water.
And the place he had jumped from?
It was just a huge plateau, about 2,000 kilometers wide and maybe 100 kilometers high.
A gigantic plateau in the middle of a humongous ocean.
That was Area 23.
With one jump, Shang's world had become bigger.
The thing he had viewed as the world had transformed into just a random plateau in an endless ocean.
Then, Shang had traveled toward the east for several days.
He had seen a couple of other plateaus with his Spirit Sense, but he hadn't gone close to any of them.
Eventually, he reached the shore and found several High Mages and True Mages walking through the wilderness and collecting things.
Shang had left Area 23 and entered the real world.
And, right now, Shang felt very similar to back then.
390 years.
Shang's body in this world was about 390 years old, but even if one added his distant life on Earth, Shang would only be a bit over 400 years old.
Yet, for the last 240 of these 390 years, Shang had lived in absolute secret.
Secrecy was a defense.
If no one knew Shang's secrets, no one would be interested in killing him.
If no one knew Shang's powers, no one would feel safe enough to attack him blindly.
If no one knew Shang's goal, no one would feel threatened.
If no one knew Shang existed, no one would even interact with him.
Secrecy was survival.
And now, Shang was forced to abandon this weapon.
He was forced to tell others about his secrets.
Shang would have never done that.
If he had a choice, he would never do that.
In his mind, the past Shang that had decided to tell Jerald about his background had also been an idiot.
It was unimaginable to him that anyone would voluntarily come up with the idea to tell anyone about the fact that Shang knew the God of the world.
Everyone believed in the Mage God, and if Shang suddenly started claiming that the real God was some crazy lunatic, they might just decide to kill him for disrespecting their God.
It was insane.
It was an unnecessary risk.
Shang hated taking unnecessary risks.
But this time, he was forced to.
Shang took a deep breath.
There was no more reason to hesitate. Hesitating would only slightly delay the inevitable, and it might even ruin his future.
"Yes," Shang said.
"I'm sorry."
Silence.
"I have lived in secrecy for around 240 years. Trusting others is challenging for me."
Saying these things was very difficult for Shang.
"You don't need to trust us," the Keeper said with annoyance. "You only need to trust that we are smart enough not to throw money out of the window."
"This has nothing to do with trust, companionship, love, friendship, or whatever. This is all about profit. We share a goal, and betraying each other won't benefit either of us."
"Don't trust in us. Trust in our effective mindset for business," the Keeper said.
Hearing these words made it easier for Shang to accept his new reality.
'Right, I don't need to trust them with my life or anything. As long as I am showing potential and growth, they would be stupid to throw me away. I only need to trust in their intelligence.'
'Of course, only to a certain degree.'
"I will do so," Shang said. "If you suspect that I might keep things from you, tell me. I want to be honest, but I might subconsciously decide to keep things secret just because it's what I'm used to."
The Keeper furrowed her brows. "You're an adult, not a child. I'm not here to help you in correcting your attitude. You are supposed to have the correct attitude already, and you are supposed to make it fit."
Shang took a deep breath. "Fine, I understand."
"Good," the Keeper said.
When was the last time?
When was the last time Shang had been forced to bow his head like this?
Shang's mind went further and further back in time.
The Grandmountain Kingdom.
Shang was in his 20s back then.
This had been such a long time ago.
"Now," the Keeper continued, "why didn't you decide to focus on the Concept of Twilight?"
