And then, it was like something inside Shang twitched.
It was like a mortal had been sitting for a long while, and their leg just did a small twitch after being in the same position for a while.
It was a subconscious action of little importance or thought.
Yet, this little subconscious action was just Shang's mind activating his Domain of Entropy a tiny bit to clean his body and surroundings. It was just like when Shang was cleaning his clothes and body of blood.
It was simple and normal to Shang.
Yet, as soon as that happened, Shang suddenly felt like a dam of adrenaline had burst inside of him.
All of Shang's energy returned, and he felt alert and awake!
Shang immediately focused on his body and mind.
And then, his instincts were screaming at him.
He was nearly dead!
He was dying!
Over half of Shang's body had decomposed, and Shang's life energy had reduced to only 20% or so!
Immediately, Shang summoned a pill filled with life energy. He had bought a couple of those for emergencies.
He consumed the pill, and his body started to regenerate life energy at a rapid pace.
Shang focused on his body and used his Domain of Entropy to clean it of everything that didn't belong to him.
His body immediately stopped decomposing, and all the half-decomposed parts turned into black dust.
An instant later, Shang's body regrew.
The decomposition had stopped Shang's life energy from acting earlier, but when Shang had used his Domain of Entropy to get rid of whatever was causing this issue, Shang's life energy worked again.
Shang stood up again and took a deep breath.
Only now did he realize how close he had been to dying.
Did he care about living?
Of course!
He didn't want to die!
Shang couldn't come to terms with the fact that he had nearly let himself die just now.
It was like he had been someone completely different!
Shang focused on his body and mind, and he noticed something peculiar.
It wasn't only his body that had been healed by his life energy but his mind as well.
This meant that Shang had gotten rid of something foreign that had been in his mind.
'It must have been this mysterious Mana in the surroundings,' Shang thought. 'I just exited the Isolation Chamber, and even though I was flooded with life energy by the Isolation Chamber, my body and mind still absorbed a lot of Mana from the surroundings. After all, I was deprived of Mana for around two months.'
'Was this the reason why I was so lethargic and apathetic towards my own life?'
'Yes, all this training sucks, but I'm doing this for my goal! I'm already 80% there! I won't quit when I'm nearly done with all this Furnace Pill and Isolation Chamber business!'
'Yet, I was willing to just die just now.'
Shang focused on the mysterious Mana in the surroundings.
He decided to absorb some more of the Mana, and his energy quickly started to vanish.
It was like all of this wasn't as important anymore.
Nevertheless, Shang used his Domain of Entropy for a second again.
And all his energy returned!
No matter what kind of force there was in the surroundings, it couldn't compete with the power of the Abominations.
The Abominations were the enemies of existence itself.
Shang tried it several more times, and he kept focusing on what he was experiencing.
He was also experimenting with absorbing the foreign Mana without putting his will on it, which resulted in his body decomposing again.
But this time, Shang was in control of himself.
And eventually, Shang understood what was happening.
Yet, the understanding Shang had achieved this time was very weird.
It wasn't that he consciously knew what was happening and how it worked.
This time, it was just a feeling.
Shang just felt like something was supposed to do something specific.
It was very difficult to describe and explain.
One had to feel it to understand it.
Nevertheless, Shang managed to understand something.
He absorbed more of the mysterious Mana into his mind, but this time, there was no adverse effect.
It was just like any other form of Mana.
By now, Shang had already found out what this kind of Mana was and what he had been experiencing.
Death Mana.
The surroundings were filled with Death Mana.
Fire Mana heated things up.
Ice Mana cooled things down.
Wind Mana moved things.
Water Mana made things wet and created water.
Life Mana healed things.
And Death Mana killed things.
Just like how a person would die of hypothermia when being surrounded by too much Ice Mana, they would die and decompose when surrounded by too much Death Mana.
Of course, in comparison to other kinds of Mana, Life and Death Mana were very difficult to find and interact with.
Shang accidentally created an area filled with dense Death Mana by isolating this hill from the outside while filling it with blood, death, and suffering.
Mana from the outside could still enter since Shang needed Mana for his training, but the kind of Mana that entered depended a lot on the surroundings.
The oppressive and cold atmosphere kept all kinds of Mana away while attracting scattered pieces of Death Mana.
By accidentally absorbing Death Mana into his mind, Shang's mind started acting more in accordance with death.
Apathy, stillness, nothingness.
When Shang had used his Domain of Entropy, the Death Mana was turned to Neutral Mana, and Shang's mind recovered.
Shang had nearly died.
Yet, Shang was glad that it happened.
Otherwise, he would have never gotten the opportunity to comprehend something this profound.
By now, Shang's mind had reached the Late Archmage Realm, making it several times faster than it was previously.
Comprehending level one and level two Concepts was no longer something special to Shang.
And today, Shang had comprehended two Concepts.
The level one Concept of Death, Sickness, which represented the decomposition of Shang's body.
And the level two Concept of Death, Weakness, which represented the apathy and lethargy in Shang's mind.
