About 40 years after fighting the serpent, Shang managed to condense the Impose for his Addum.
'And with that, my second goal for the Fusion Realm is finished,' Shang thought as he held his Addum in front of him.
'Next, I have to comprehend the Concept of Subtraction, which will be the most difficult or second most difficult thing I'll have to do. Comprehending the Impose for my next weapon will not be as difficult as comprehending the Concept of Subtraction.'
'The God told me that comprehending the Concept of Subtraction should be about as difficult as comprehending a Mixed level two Concept, which is something not every High Mage can achieve. Comprehending a Mixed Concept means that you can also comprehend a Pure Concept, which means that you would have comprehended two Concepts before becoming an Archmage, making you above-average at least.'
'As a warrior, I have to comprehend something that less than 50% of High Mages can comprehend.'
In the last 40 years, Shang had also reached the Late Fusion Realm, which put his mind on the same level as a Late High Mage.
'Maybe I should hunt more Abominations first before trying to comprehend the Concept of Subtraction. My mind can still advance one level.'
'Additionally, I need to find a way to look at the Concept of Subtraction. For the Concept of Addition, I had the Yellow Sunbreaker, but I don't have a fitting beast for the Concept of Subtraction.'
'I guess I should just ask the Territory Lord. I need to update her regarding my advances anyway.'
Shang activated the Magic Circle that isolated his castle from the town and activated a tiny secret Magic Circle that created a hidden connection to the Communication Crystal network of the Temple of Blood.
Then, Shang activated the Communication Crystal and contacted the Territory Lord.
"Yes?" the voice of the Territory Lord came out of the Communication Crystal.
"I have comprehended my fifth Impose," Shang said.
"What are the results?" the Territory Lord asked.
"As expected, my World Connection has grown more powerful, giving me about 20% more power for all of my other attacks. The more Imposes I learn and integrate, the more powerful everything becomes," Shang explained.
"And you plan to reach the Sixth Realm by comprehending another Concept and adding a sixth Impose?" the Territory Lord asked.
"That's only preparatory work," Shang said. "After I've comprehended all of that, I want to somehow push everything to the next level."
"One theoretical way to reach the Sixth Realm is to keep adding Imposes. I think I would only need five to successfully reach the Sixth Realm, but I would probably ruin my entire foundation. Adding a sixth Impose would definitely be more powerful, but I believe that I would still take a step back if I only did that."
"By adding Concepts to my Imposes, I can strengthen them even more. By adding two Imposes and two integrated Concepts, I believe my relative Battle-Strength would either remain at my current level or fall just a little bit."
The Territory Lord snorted. "But that's not your goal, right?"
"Yes," Shang answered. "I've used the World Connection to reach the Fifth Realm, something that normal warriors would comprehend to reach the Sixth Realm. I want to expand on that and theorize a way for a warrior to reach the Seventh Realm and use that to reach the Sixth Realm. But for that, I need a solid foundation, which is why I'm adding these Imposes and Concepts."
The Territory Lord didn't say anything for a couple of seconds.
"Quite ambitious," she said after a while. "In fact, if I hadn't seen you comprehend World Connection as a Peak True Path Stage warrior, I would have called you idiotic and naïve."
"But you are no longer completely free," she added. "The Temple of Blood wants to know if your growth has kept up. You've already been in this privileged position for over 80 years, and we haven't received even a single warrior yet. The Congregation is putting pressure on me, asking me for proof that you are growing well."
Shang knew what the Congregation was.
The Congregation was the ruling body of the Temple of Blood, and the Territory Lord was one of the members of the Congregation.
"I have obtained proof," Shang said.
"What proof?"
"A corpse of something I've killed on my own," Shang answered.
Silence.
"Alright."
Whooom!
Some seconds later, a tiny portal appeared in front of Shang, just about ten centimeters tall.
Shang took out a Space Ring and pushed it into the portal, which then closed.
Many kilometers away, beneath the Yellow Sunbreaker, the Territory Lord was looking at a Space Ring in her hand.
She closed her eyes and inspected the inside.
She wasn't surprised when she saw a gigantic corpse.
Shang was at the Late Fifth Realm, and a Peak Fifth Realm beast wouldn't be enough.
The bare minimum he needed to show was a strong Peak Archmage, and even that might not be enough.
Of course, this beast was only two levels above Shang, but there was also a Realm gap in these two levels, which could be counted as another level.
So, in a way, Shang had killed a beast three levels above himself, which should be enough to prove that Shang's Battle-Strength wasn't regressing.
The Territory Lord was satisfied with this corpse.
Shang's Mana, the wounds caused by his swords, and the deteriorated condition of the corpse also showed that Shang had been the one fighting.
The Territory Lord looked at the corpse for a bit. It wasn't very easy to discern what kind of beast it was.
"What kind of beast was this?" she asked.
"A serpent," Shang said.
The Territory Lord raised an eyebrow.
A serpent?
No serpent was weak.
The Territory Lord looked at the horns to check the Affinity of the serpent, and that's when she froze.
For several seconds, she just wordlessly looked at the horns.
Dual Affinity.
After five additional seconds, she focused on her Communication Crystal again.
"I need a very detailed rundown of the battle. You should understand that it is very difficult to believe that someone in the Late Fifth Realm could kill an Initial Ancestral serpent with a Dual Affinity."
"Sure," Shang answered.
Then, he spoke in detail about his fight. He simply replaced his Comet with Ghost Step in the retelling and replaced Javelin with Dusk, but without the black fire.
"Well done," the Territory Lord said. "I will present this corpse to the Congregation. You don't need to worry about the payment. We will pay you way more than this corpse is worth."
"Is there anything in particular you need?" she asked.
"I want something that helps me comprehend the Concept of Subtraction," Shang said.
"I'll look if we got something fitting," the Territory Lord said. "The next meeting is in three months. I will tell you how much funding you will receive, and we can decide on something that will help you then."
Shang released a sigh. "Thanks."
"No thanks necessary," the Territory Lord said. "This is a cooperation. We don't need your words but your actions."
"Sure," Shang answered.
"Good."
Then, the Territory Lord cut the connection.
