Shang looked at his body and realized that there was still a bit to go.
However, this time, it no longer seemed impossible to comprehend Void Casting.
Shang was already 80% done.
Only about 40 more years.
Only two or three more sessions in the Isolation Chamber.
Then, he would finally comprehend Void Casting.
Yet, Shang only absentmindedly focused on nothing.
He was just standing in the Isolation Barrier, doing nothing.
He wasn't training.
He wasn't thinking.
He was just there.
That was it.
He just didn't care anymore.
Training was so exhausting.
Moving was so exhausting.
Thinking was so exhausting.
Everything was so exhausting.
He just didn't want to anymore.
His past was suffering.
His present was suffering.
His future was suffering.
Why suffering?
Why did it always have to be suffering?
Why did the world put him through so much suffering?
In Shang's mind, there was no way out of this suffering.
It couldn't be stopped.
As long as he lived, he would continue to suffer.
What was the point?
…
Shang just kept looking at nothing.
And then, he slowly turned his head to the side.
A fleshy obelisk that had once been Shang's body had fallen over.
This drew Shang's attention to the hill he was currently on.
Flesh.
Blood.
Organs.
The Isolation Barrier wasn't wide enough for all the flesh that had accumulated over the past century, and the pieces of flesh and organs were starting to stack on top of each other.
That was when Shang noticed that he wasn't actually standing on the ground but on parts of his old bodies.
The air stunk indescribably, and it was filled with something terrifying and dangerous.
Shang hadn't noticed it before, but right now, he could feel something very profound in the air.
A hill that had experienced nothing but blood, suffering, and pain for a century in complete isolation.
None of the light, fresh air, or life could enter from the outside.
Everything was isolated.
It was like this was a small world.
It was like it was a small hell.
There was nothing bright, positive, or happy here.
And the air…
It was… strange…
Shang could feel that the air had gained powerful properties.
But what was this?
What was this force in the air?
Shang extended his right hand and focused on it.
Then, he willed some Mana in the surroundings to enter his hand.
In an instant, something happened to Shang's hand.
It began to turn grey.
And then, Shang lost control over his hand, and it just hung from his arm lifelessly.
Shang tried to move it, but it was impossible.
Shang tried to heal it, but that was also impossible.
His hand had died.
Yet, for some reason, Shang wasn't nervous or scared, and he just looked at his dead hand.
He didn't know what it was, but it felt profound and grand.
It felt mysterious.
Shang had never experienced anything like this before.
It wasn't like Darkness, but it also wasn't like Entropy.
It was different.
Some seconds later, Shang's hand turned black and began to decompose.
One had to remember that the bodies of such powerful people didn't decompose easily. After all, all of Shang's body parts were still on the hill, and they hadn't decomposed.
Yet, his hand was starting to decompose.
Shang just kept looking at it.
Over the next seconds, Shang's hand began to vanish as the natural decomposition reduced it to earth, liquids, and gasses.
Shang focused on his surroundings as the decomposition slowly crept up his arm, destroying more and more.
He could feel that if he absorbed more, he would die.
The surrounding Mana was dangerous.
And then, Shang got a thought.
How much of this Mana had he absorbed?
If everything in here had been filled with this kind of Mana, what effects did it have on him?
Of course, the ways in which Shang had absorbed Mana previously were very different from what he had done to his hand just now.
Just now, Shang had absorbed the Mana in the surroundings without converting it to his own Mana. In essence, Shang was using a simplified and weaker version of Void Casting.
Shang's natural process of absorbing Mana included the incorporation of Shang's will on the Mana as the first step.
Because of that, Shang's body and mind didn't decompose like his arm.
Yet, Shang had still absorbed who knew how much of this Mana. Sure, he had put his will on it, but did that mean that there was no effect?
Even when Shang was confronted with something this mysterious, for some reason, he still felt lethargic.
It was like he just didn't care.
It was too exhausting.
A moment later, Shang heard something, and he looked down.
His right cheek had turned into black liquid that was dripping down onto his decomposing chest.
Shang absentmindedly watched his face slowly start to decompose.
His chest had already halfway turned to a grey and black mud-like substance with several holes in it, and even Shang's leg started to slowly vanish.
Shang's body wasn't healing, and his life energy was vanishing.
But Shang didn't think anything of it.
It was like nothing unusual was happening.
This was just more suffering.
What difference was there between his body decomposing and consuming a Furnace Pill?
Who cares?
Shang just didn't care anymore.
It wasn't important what was happening.
Life, death, happiness, sadness, pain, relief, who cares?
All of that was just the same.
It was exhausting.
All of this was just so exhausting.
Shang's body fell over as his right leg collapsed into decomposing mud.
So what?
Standing or lying didn't make a difference.
Everything was the same.
Nothing was important.
The decomposition continued traveling across Shang's body, and it even started to reach his mind.
The further it continued, the more exhausting everything seemed to Shang.
He was just so tired.
He just didn't care anymore.
Whatever would happen would happen.
It didn't matter.
Just let it continue.
And slowly, Shang just stopped thinking.
He just silently continued decomposing.
It didn't matter.
Nothing mattered.
