Shang spent the next two days digesting the new experiences and information he had received by fighting Erel and Cindy.
Shang had fought a lot of powerful Mages with the Affinity Wheel in his inner world, but not even a single one had been comparable to Erel and Cindy.
The two of them had been on completely different levels.
By now, Shang could also tell how powerful the "powerful" Mages of the Affinity Wheel were.
A Mage deemed to be powerful was someone that could jump one level, which meant they had a 50/50 shot at winning against an average Mage one level above them.
How strong was that for an Empire?
It was strong enough to become a Spark.
It was not enough to become a Boltling.
As Shang thought about everything that had happened, his Spirit Sense threw a glance at the stone stele in the middle of his inner world.
He looked at Jerald's hand.
Jerald had been so powerful back then, but he would have only had a shot at becoming a Spark, and only if he became an Ancestral Mage and kept his Battle-Strength.
As for every other normal Mage in Area 23?
They wouldn't have been good enough to even become Sparks.
'I need to be more careful of these Clouds,' Shang thought. 'I expected Cindy to be an easy fight, but it wasn't easy at all. If I didn't use any of my abilities related to Entropy, I most likely wouldn't have won.'
'There are bound to be more powerful ones among them.'
Cindy had used two things that Shang hadn't expected to see.
She had transformed Fire and Ice Mana into Wind Mana, and she had manipulated the properties of Fire and Ice Mana.
Shang's fight against Cindy hadn't been a truly desperate one, but it had been a bit dangerous at times.
However, even such fights could help someone comprehend new things.
This was why so many Mages sought inspiration when they were stuck.
Two days later, Lucin arrived in front of Shang.
Right now, Shang was sitting in a random cave. It didn't really matter where he was since he was mostly focusing on his inner world.
By now, Shang could feel a bit of the outside world when he was in his inner world, which meant that he wasn't completely cut off anymore, but that ability only extended to roughly feeling the condition of his body.
When Lucin's Spirit Sense contacted Shang, Shang felt it, and he left his inner world.
Lucin had already arrived in front of Shang, and he held a purple sack in one of his hands.
"Here's your reward," Lucin said with a smile as he threw the sack over.
Shang took hold of it and inspected it with his Spirit Sense.
Even though Shang had expected that he had earned a lot of money, his insides still shook when he saw the contents.
Grade Seven Mana Crystals.
38 Grade Seven Mana Crystals.
"Most of that comes from Rowan," Lucin said. "He was one of the stronger Clouds, but I think he made the right choice."
Lucin didn't say it, but Shang knew what Lucin was referring to.
His fivefold Spirit Sense.
Rowan was strong, but someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense was still on a different level.
After all, there were still several abilities Shang hadn't used in his fight.
Shang hadn't used Sword's Entropy.
He hadn't used his own Entropy.
He hadn't used Silence.
And he had only used his Domain of Entropy for a short time.
Shang's true power was still quite a bit higher than what the Clouds had seen, and Lucin knew that.
Lucin didn't know the specifics of Shang's powers, but he knew that someone with a fivefold Spirit Sense had to be more powerful than just what Shang had shown.
"Are you going to spend it all on Furnace Pills again?" Lucin asked with a concerned raised eyebrow.
Shang only nodded.
Lucin sighed. "I would tell you to stop torturing yourself, but maybe that is exactly what allowed you to get a fivefold Spirit Sense in the first place."
Shang didn't answer Lucin and left the cave.
Lucin waited for a couple of seconds and started to leave.
A moment later, his Communication Crystal rang with a request for handing out resources.
2,000 Furnace Pills for five Grade Seven Mana Crystals.
Buyer: Cloud Shang.
Lucin sighed and approved the exchange.
Many kilometers away, Fleros nodded as he received Lucin's approval.
"I only have 100 for now. The other 1,900 will take about a month to be made," Fleros said as he handed over 100 Furnace Pills.
Shang wordlessly took them, nodded, and left.
When Shang left, Fleros took out his Communication Crystal and sent out a request for 2,000 Furnace Pills.
At the same time, a sheet of paper appeared on a desk in an office inside the Lightning Manor.
The piece of paper began to float, and a middle-aged Mage Lord looked at it.
He saw the secret sigil of the Contender Department and looked at the contents.
It was a request for 2,000 Furnace Pills.
The Mage Lord only shook his head in confusion.
Why would anyone use that many Furnace Pills?
He put his own sigil on the piece of paper and showed it to the embedded Communication Crystal on his desk.
The paper vanished.
Many kilometers away, a piece of paper shot out of a shining circle in a place that looked a bit like a shop.
A female Mage Lord looked at the piece of paper and furrowed her brows.
She put on some glasses and looked at a wall filled with several Magic Circles.
"We only have 47 left," she muttered.
After she said that, she hung the piece of paper on a different wall, where several other pieces of paper were also hung.
She took out her Communication Crystal and contacted someone. "I need 2,000 Furnace Pills for an order."
"2,000?" the person on the other end asked.
"Yes, 2,000," she confirmed.
"Some people these days," the other person answered. "Sure, I'll get on it."
The Mage Lord hung up.
Many kilometers away, a different Mage Lord contacted someone else with his Communication Crystal.
"Lord Vasttremor! It's a pleasure to hear from you!" the person on the other side spoke politely.
"We need 2,000 Furnace Pills," the Mage Lord said.
Silence.
"2,000 Furnace Pills?"
"Yes, 2,000 Furnace Pills."
"Of course, of course!" the other person said. "We'll get right to it. I'll have to make some adjustments to my staff, but it should work out. You can expect the wares in a bit less than a month."
"Thanks," the Mage Lord said.
"No, thank you!" the other person said.
The Mage Lord hung up, and a Peak Ancestral Mage was quickly rearranging all the work for his hundreds of Ancestral Mages.
"We got a priority order from the Lightning Manor!" he announced with a big smile.
The other Ancestral Mages only sighed.
This meant that they had to work even more.
This was the Grand Pill Pavilion, one of the leading companies dealing in pharmacy.
And for the next month, nearly all of the big members would do nothing but focus on Shang's order.
