Lucin kept explaining a couple of things to Shang regarding the Contender Department as they continued traveling for a couple more minutes.
Eventually, Lucin transformed back into a human and stopped in a seemingly random location.
Shang had taken note of their journey, and he guessed that the two of them were currently near the northern edge of the Lightning Manor's territory, which would also be the northern edge of the continent Aterium.
It had become quite cold by now, and Shang couldn't feel a lot of Light Mana in the surroundings.
He could see dense clouds but compared to the Lightning Sea, there was not much lightning here. The clouds Shang could see were the typical clouds of winter, grey and ever-present.
As for the ground, everything had been covered in a thick sheet of ice and snow.
"Alright, we're here," Lucin said. "Starting from this point, everything here's reserved for the Clouds. The 100,000 kilometers from here to the edge of Aterium is all for the Clouds. This territory is off-limits for Sparks and Boltlings since the existence of the Clouds is kept secret."
"A good number of Bolts know about the Clouds, but they are discouraged from talking about them. Additionally, even the Bolts don't know exactly what a Cloud is and what is required to become one."
"I would also ask you to keep the existence of the Clouds secret, but I don't think that will be a problem for you. You don't seem like a very sociable person."
Shang didn't answer.
"And that's about it," Lucin said. "I told you everything you need to know on the way here. If you need anything, just contact me with your new Communication Crystal."
A moment later, Lucin threw over a new Communication Crystal with an image of a lightning bolt on it.
Shang remained silent for a second.
"That's it?" he asked.
"Yeah," Lucin said. "What more is there to tell?"
"What about an SKP?" Shang asked.
When Lucin heard that, he laughed loudly. "That won't be necessary. SKPs can make problems for your comprehension, which is why Clouds don't need to get an SKP."
"That sounds reckless," Shang commented. "What if someone escapes to another Empire?"
"Won't happen," Lucin answered with a proud smirk. "We have our ways of making sure that no one is trying to run away without our knowledge."
Shang remained silent.
"But, hey, as long as you keep to the rules I told you, there won't be any issues," Lucin said with a wink.
Then, Lucin looked like he had just remembered something. "Oh, by the way, your new Communication Crystal also has all the training credits. If you need anything, just go to the shop on the grounds. Remember, you only get your next credits in a century."
"As for the location of the shop, I'm sure you'll find it eventually. You can't really miss it since it can't miss you."
"Anyway, gotta go! Have fun!"
Then, Lucin transformed into a lightning bolt again and shot toward the east.
Shang just kept hovering in the sky.
Now, he was alone again.
After a while, Shang slowly flew toward the north.
'First, I need to get familiar with everything. After that, I need to see if there is a way to comprehend Void Casting in here,' Shang thought.
Obviously, Shang's full focus was on comprehending Void Casting since he was running out of longevity.
With only the Isolation Chamber, comprehending Void Casting would have been nearly impossible in Shang's remaining years. Yes, it was extremely effective, but it couldn't be used constantly.
Shang needed an alternative that he could use every day.
As Shang kept traveling toward the north, he saw a couple of interesting spots.
For example, he saw several Ancestral Beasts that had released their domains, but in comparison to normal Ancestral Beasts, these didn't seem aggressive at all.
Shang assumed that these Ancestral Beasts were probably half-domesticated like the Zone Beasts from Area 23. Their job was probably to release their domain and to give some of the weaker people an opportunity to comprehend related Concepts.
Shang had also seen around five people already, but they had all been High Mages.
These five people were divided into two groups, and they were looking at different Ancestral Beasts.
It was a bit strange to see High Mages sitting so close to an Ancestral Beast without fear. It kind of reminded Shang of the Thunder Horse.
When Shang saw these five people, he could tell that they were also Clouds, but in the High Mage Realm instead of the Archmage Realm. All five of them had these unique and bright auras to them. It was almost like the world around them was greyed out, and they were the only ones displayed in color.
It was a strange sensation, and if one didn't actively look for these auras, one also wouldn't take note of it.
However, Shang could tell that these High Mages were extremely talented.
Lucin had said that there were over 110 Clouds, but he had only talked about the Archmage Clouds.
Obviously, there were far more High Mage Clouds. Shang didn't know how many High Mage Clouds there were, but he guessed that there were at least 500.
As for Ancestral Mage Clouds, there were probably way fewer.
Funnily enough, since Ancestral Mages lived for 5,000 years, one would think that there would be more Ancestral Mage Clouds than Archmage Clouds, but that wasn't the case.
Just by looking at these five High Mage Clouds, Shang's guess had been verified.
Their appearances had been young, but that wasn't reflective of their age.
Shang had felt the decay of old age coming from their auras. He was very familiar with this sensation since the decay of old age had also become stronger in his own aura.
This was one of the biggest reasons why there were fewer Clouds, the stronger one became.
Keeping one's Battle-Strength.
One would become a High Mage Cloud when one managed to comprehend at least four level one Concepts while one was a True Mage.
If someone managed to do that, they would have almost certainly used up over half of their longevity. Most likely, they would have reached an age of about 150 years.
Comprehending four level one Concepts as a True Mage was essentially the same as what Shang had done. After all, Shang had comprehended four True Paths as a Commander Stage warrior.
Yet, with Shang's undying willpower and unending drive towards power that was willing to sacrifice everything, Shang had still only reached the True Path Stage in his 80s. It wouldn't be strange that others needed more than a century.
And then?
Then, they needed to comprehend four level two Concepts in their remaining years.
Four level two Concepts could be compared to four Imposes. Shang had needed nearly 200 years to comprehend his four Imposes, and with his added 80 years from before, he had then reached an age of nearly 300.
Now, if Shang had started at the age of 150, he would have only comprehended everything at 350 years.
But what about other Mages?
Was everyone as hard-working as Shang?
No.
So, when they started at 150 years of age and then needed more than 200 years…
They would easily enter the 400s, and they only had 500 years of longevity in total.
Becoming a Cloud and staying a Cloud was a race against time.
Nearly every single Cloud was quite old for their Realm.
Ironically enough, the young people that represented the future big shots of the Lightning Manor could be considered old people by others on their level.
People outside the Empires always looked up to the people inside the Empires, especially the powerful Mage Lords and the Mage Kings.
In their minds, these people were unearthly geniuses that could comprehend Concepts as naturally as breathing.
Yet, these people did not realize how much work and time these geniuses dedicated to their power.
While others were outside having fun, these geniuses were studying Magic.
The lives of the powerful were often not as easy as the weak assumed them to be.
