When confronted by death, many people would think about their life and reevaluate past decisions.
What were their regrets?
What would they have changed?
Maybe they shouldn't have been so strict with their children?
Maybe they shouldn't have broken up with their first love?
If they hadn't taken out that loan from those dangerous people, their children would have something to inherit today?
Naturally, Shang wasn't any different.
Should he have been more amongst people?
Should he have accepted the Sweeper's confession?
Should he have spared Jerald?
Shang thought about all of these things.
And he acknowledged something.
He would be happier if he had someone with him.
It would feel nice not to be alone right now.
Everything was so painful, exhausting, dark, and lonely.
Shang knew that he would feel better if he hadn't been so brutal and inflexible in his past.
However, did this mean that Shang would have changed his past actions if he could?
No.
If he hadn't killed Lash, the Grandmountain Kingdom might have killed him.
If he hadn't killed Jerald, he would have eventually caved in and told someone.
If he hadn't declined the Sweeper's advances, Shang wouldn't have had enough time to comprehend his form of Void Casting or the Concept of Twilight.
Yes, he felt lonely, and he wished that someone was at his side.
However, Shang knew that this luxury would come with a price he wouldn't want to pay.
And then came another thought.
So what?
Since everyone would die, it didn't matter what one accomplished in their life.
Might as well die happy and surrounded by loved ones, right?
However, that was only true when death was a certainty.
At this moment, Shang kept putting in effort.
Shang still had hope.
What if there were loved ones around him?
Wouldn't they feel horrible by watching him suffer?
Wouldn't they tell him to give up and just go to sleep?
And would Shang do that?
Probably.
He was barely hanging on as it was. Any person that told him to just rest might tip him over the edge.
Having a loved one at his side would take away all hope.
It would transform his likely death into a certain death.
They would essentially kill him and believe that this was the right thing to do.
But this was his life!
And he had the right to fight for his life!
So, in the end, Shang was glad that there was no loved one around him.
He didn't want them.
He didn't need them!
Their weakness would make him weak!
So what if he was about to die?!
At least he would die fighting!
Shang kept focusing on his body, and he kept breathing weakly.
But he kept breathing.
He kept fighting.
One more year passed.
And another year passed.
Shang was now well over the maximum lifespan of someone at the Fifth Realm, and any other person would have long since died.
But he wouldn't give up.
He would never stop!
If death wanted to take him, it needed to come for him personally!
More years passed.
Eventually, Shang became 1010 years old.
He hadn't moved a single muscle in the last ten years.
His skin had already split at multiple locations, and the Death Mana in his body had started to leak out into the surroundings.
Shang was a corpse that was unwilling to die.
He couldn't do anything.
He couldn't even feel his surroundings.
But he wasn't dead.
Every waking moment was agony, but he still kept going.
Was this living?
According to most people's standards, no.
This couldn't be considered living.
However, to Shang, this was still living.
As long as his consciousness still existed, he would be alive.
As long as he could think, he was still alive.
Yet, Shang couldn't interact with the living world.
His entire perception was confined in his own body.
He was counting himself as alive, but in truth, he wasn't doing more than a stone lying at the side of a road.
Was it life?
No.
Was it death?
No.
It was something between these two.
Shang was neither alive nor dead.
It was limbo.
Or Purgatory.
This was Purgatory.
This was what Shang had been searching for.
After ten years in this state, Shang had gained a special feeling.
This mixture of feelings could only be understood by people that went through the same thing that Shang had gone through.
It was so profound, unique, and special, but also simple.
And he understood.
He understood what it meant to be in Purgatory.
As soon as Shang realized that he had comprehended the level three Concept of Death, Purgatory, his mind basically exploded with willpower.
WHOOOM!
Shang's legs turned to dust as he sacrificed them to the Domain of Entropy.
The Domain of Entropy cleaned the remainder of Shang's body of all Death Mana, and Shang felt all the power return to him for just a moment.
But a moment was all he needed.
Shang's Spirit Sense extended out of his body for the first time in a decade, and Shang willed all the Mana in his surroundings to enter his body.
Void Casting filled all of his body with Mana, and Shang immediately tried to digest all of it.
Shang's body shook and nearly broke apart under the strain.
And then, his mind reached for more Mana.
He needed more!
He wanted more power!
He needed more power!
BOOOOM!
And then, all the Mana in the surroundings entered Shang's body of its own volition.
It was the sign of a breakthrough.
Someone was reaching the Sixth Realm!
Shang's body was being lifted up.
His legs healed.
The tears in his skin closed.
The Death Mana left his body.
Shang felt incredible power enter his body.
After being weak for so long, having that much power felt unreal.
He was so powerful!
He could do everything!
As more and more Mana entered Shang's body, Shang reflected on the last ten years.
'If I had loved ones, I would be dead right now.'
'My emotions might regret the path I have chosen, but my mind doesn't regret it!'
'All my sacrifices were worth it!'
'Without all my sacrifices, where would I be?'
'I've done the right thing!'
'And I would do it again!'
