As soon as the Keeper asked that question, Shang was thrown into a problematic situation again.
Yes, he was supposed to trust them and tell them truthfully about his powers, but he couldn't possibly tell them the real truth right now.
Obviously, Shang decided to go with Addition and Subtraction first since that represented the concept of Entropy better. Additionally, the contrast between Addition and Subtraction made it more fitting for a dual wield style. Twilight and Temperature didn't fit very well.
Lastly, comprehending Temperature would have been extremely difficult since Shang would be focusing on two Elements that weren't related to his Affinity.
Addition was related to Shang's supposed Twilight Affinity since it included light.
Subtraction was related to Shang's supposed Twilight Affinity since it included darkness.
But Temperature?
Fire and Ice?
How was that related to Light and Darkness?
So, Shang couldn't possibly be honest.
"Because I want to keep it as a joker," Shang said.
The Keeper furrowed her brows. "Explain."
"I have four States, and my goal is to reduce them to one."
At that point, Shang's mind had to come up with a possible explanation he might have used to explain why he had four States.
This wasn't easy at all, and it put Shang's mind under a lot of pressure.
He was walking a tightrope right now, and if he lost balance, he might die.
He couldn't lie, but he also couldn't be completely honest.
He had to be perfectly in the middle.
"As you probably already know," Shang said slowly, "I noticed that the way others reached the True Path Stage was not strong enough for my liking."
The Keeper's expression didn't change.
"I had to somehow create more Paths since perfecting one Path wasn't enough for me. Because of that, I decided to use Ice and Fire as secondary Elements. Ice is related to Darkness, and Fire is related to Light."
Shang's mind was going wild as it tried to come up with a believable lie that he had also used during a time he didn't remember while also trying to appear honest and natural in his delivery in front of a Mage Lord.
"I made Light and Darkness the two ends of my States since I knew that fusing them would be the easiest. The problem was fusing everything else."
"Addition and Subtraction are easy fusions since both of them include parts of my Affinities. After that, I would be left with two things, each with parts of my Affinities. That should theoretically make it easier to fuse. The Concept of Twilight will then be used as a bridge to connect the two."
"If I had chosen Twilight first, I would have needed to comprehend the Concept of Temperature, and since I have no Affinity for either of the two components, I would be left with one State that I have a great Affinity for and one with no Affinity. That should be extremely difficult to fuse."
"That's why I chose Addition and Subtraction," Shang said.
Shang was doing his absolute best, but he still hesitated and stuttered slightly in a couple of places.
There was just too much he had to pay attention to.
The Keeper only kept looking at Shang, not reacting in any way.
Several seconds of silence passed.
The atmosphere was beyond tense.
Then, the Keeper sighed.
"Seems like we can't trust you," she said.
"What are you talking about?" Shang asked with annoyance. "I was honest."
"No, you were not," the Keeper said.
"I know that you have four States because you have four Affinities. You told me, and the reason why you chose Addition over Twilight is that you can't train in your Fire and Ice Affinities without revealing that you have them," the Keeper said with a cold voice.
"But I don't," Shang said. "Yes, I know that I am extremely powerful, but I refuse to believe that there is someone with four Affinities out there. That would just be ridiculous."
"Shang," the Keeper said with a dark and threatening voice. "I didn't make this up. You told me. You were the one that told me about it. There's no point in arguing."
"Okay, but that simply isn't true," Shang said.
The Keeper snorted. "Are you telling me you lied?"
"Seems like that's the only explanation," Shang quickly answered.
The Keeper raised an eyebrow.
"I don't remember our conversation, but I can tell you with absolute certainty that I do not have a Temperature Affinity!" Shang said with conviction.
"I have no idea why I said what I said, but it simply isn't true."
"It isn't even a good lie! Nobody can have four Affinities at once. It's not even clear if there's someone with three!"
"I assure you that I do not have a Temperature Affinity!" Shang shouted.
The Keeper remained silent as she looked at Shang.
Several seconds passed.
"That's it? You're still denying it?" the Keeper asked.
"Of course I am!" Shang shouted. "My life is on the line! Also, the more I think about it, the more I think that you are the one actually lying!"
WHOOM!
A dense pressure appeared around Shang, and it became difficult for him to move.
"What did you just say?" the Keeper asked with a very cold and threatening voice.
"You're lying!" Shang shouted as his body could barely move.
"And what, pray tell, makes you think so?" she asked with a venomous voice.
"Because if I had lied, I would have come up with a better one!" Shang shouted.
Silence.
The Keeper's eyebrows rose.
She looked at Shang for a couple more seconds without saying anything.
"I've never seen you so invested in something," the Keeper said as the pressure around Shang vanished.
Shang didn't answer.
"You're always so distant and emotionless. I almost feared that you were just a machine following a predetermined path."
"Yet, you can still become invested and actually shout. Who would've thought?"
Then, the Keeper turned around and looked away from Shang.
"Seems like I'm not as good at lying as you."
