Shang felt his mind swim, and a second later, he felt like something extremely important to him was being torn away.
It was like someone had shoved their hands into his chest to tear out his heart!
However, Shang didn't move, and he didn't say anything.
He only gritted his teeth.
Queen Primordium was looking at Shang with surprise, while Wester had a small gleam of recognition in his eyes.
Sure enough, the Lightning Emperor had been correct.
Wester was essentially inflicting the greatest pain anyone could feel by tearing apart Shang's soul and establishing new connections.
Yet, Shang was just gritting his teeth.
This was an unreal amount of willpower and resistance to pain.
After a couple of seconds, Shang got used to the pain, and he simply stood there motionlessly.
Queen Primordium got surprised even more, and even Wester was surprised this time.
An equivalent picture from Earth would be someone looking evenly at someone that was currently slowly cutting through the first person's torso with a searing knife.
Shang wasn't showing any reactions anymore.
A couple of seconds later, Shang felt something he had never felt before.
It was extremely difficult to describe this feeling.
The closest thing Shang could say would be that he felt like the world had become more real.
It was like someone that had seen the world through the haze of tiredness was suddenly injected with adrenaline. They were more alert, took in all their surroundings in great detail, and wanted to do something.
This was the effect of anchoring Shang's soul.
Earlier, Shang's soul had only been anchored by the smaller connections of the tether, and now, the primary connection was re-established.
"And done," Wester said with a friendly smile as he pulled his finger back. "Your soul will now absorb life energy, and your Mana will transform into life energy."
Shang nodded. "Thank you," he said.
For now, Shang wasn't feeling very different.
He felt a small feeling of fatigue in his body, but he wouldn't notice it if he didn't specifically search for it.
"As things look now," Wester said, "your mind will now start to strengthen. Near the beginning, it will be quite fast since your body is so much more powerful than your mind, but it will slow down very quickly."
"I estimate that your mind will reach the Initial Archmage Realm within five years, the Early Archmage Realm within 15 years, the Mid Archmage Realm within 45 years, the Late Archmage Realm within 135 years, and the Peak Archmage Realm within a bit more than 400 years."
"Naturally, if your body increases by a level, your mind will also grow faster."
Shang nodded. "What happens if I remain at the peak of a Realm for a long while and my mind keeps strengthening?"
"While the mind can advance individual levels without problems, it needs a concerted effort to push through a major breakthrough. When your mind reaches the peak of a Realm, it won't advance unless you want it to."
"Assuming you wouldn't want your mind to reach the Initial Archmage Realm, you would just need to do nothing. At that point, your soul will feel like it has been filled to the brim, and it will no longer absorb as much life energy since it isn't growing anymore."
Shang nodded.
It was difficult for him to come to terms with his new reality.
Ever since he had arrived in this world, his mind had always been so much weaker than his body.
Practicing Magic had been an impossibility, and worst of all, nobody knew why Shang couldn't exactly practice Magic.
What had been wrong?
What had been the thing that made it impossible for him to practice Magic?
Today, Shang had learned all of that, and even more, he had gained the ability to practice Magic.
Naturally, Shang wouldn't practice Magic.
Shang was already running out of longevity by only training in his physical Path. He didn't have any time to waste on learning Magic as well.
However, having a powerful mind was still extremely useful for many different things.
First of all, comprehending Concepts would be easier for Shang, which resolved one of his major problems.
Shang knew that there were four Concepts of Entropy that needed to be fused into a fifth one.
Shang had comprehended two of those with the mind of a Peak High Mage.
The next time Shang would need to comprehend these Concepts again would be when he was at the Peak Sixth Realm.
Normally, Shang's mind would be at the Peak Fifth Realm, which would allow him to comprehend a level three Concept.
But now, Shang's mind would be at the Peak Sixth Realm, which would allow him to comprehend a level four Concept.
This meant that Shang would be able to combine his two weapons into one weapon.
He would have everything connected.
Fire went via Addition to Light, which went via Twilight to Darkness, which went via Subtraction to Ice, which went via Temperature to Fire.
It would be a circle, and this circle would allow Shang to fuse his Addum and Subsis into one single weapon.
Of course, that would be in the far future.
"Then, everything is fine, correct?" Wester asked with a smile.
"Thank you very much, Wester," Queen Primordium said.
"Thank you, Custodian," Shang said respectfully.
Right now, Shang was genuinely thankful.
The Custodian had helped Shang in coming closer to his goal.
Wester nodded. "Then, I wish you two a good day."
"And, Shang, welcome to the Lightning Manor!"
Shang performed a short and polite bow. "Thank you, Custodian."
After that, the Custodian walked back to his room and entered.
"We'll go back to Lucin," Queen Primordium said as she turned around.
Shang nodded and followed after her.
A lot of things happened today.
Shang had joined the Lightning Manor.
Shang had met a Mage Lord.
Shang had met a Thunder.
Shang had met two Mage Kings.
The Lightning Emperor had decided on Shang's fate.
And, most importantly of all, Shang's warrior body had vanished.
What a day.
