After seeing Queen Primordium, Shang understood why she constantly kept herself hidden from Spirit Senses.
'She probably receives a lot of looks,' Shang thought.
Queen Primordium had luscious and long azure hair, making it rather obvious that she originally had a Water Affinity. The remaining parts of her body also very adequately demonstrated the relation between water and life.
In short, her natural appearance was very attractive.
However, she certainly didn't dress that way. Right now, she wore long and loose blue robes that essentially covered her entire body except for her hands and her head.
It was quite obvious that she didn't enjoy people taking peeks at her.
"No comments?" Queen Primordium asked with a flat tone.
"About your beauty?" Shang asked.
Queen Primordium raised an eyebrow in annoyance.
"I don't have time for romance," Shang commented dryly.
"Better that way," Queen Primordium said as some of the water in one of her ponds began to fly over to her.
She slightly waved her hand, and the water began to morph and change color.
In just a second, Queen Primordium had created a new person with her water, who now hovered in front of Shang.
Shang could feel that Queen Primordium had created quite an accurate body, which was more than just impressive.
However, Shang also knew that this person could never come alive.
Queen Primordium might have incredible knowledge about anatomy and magic, but in order to create a soul, one needed the Life Concepts.
So, no matter how accurate the body she made was, it would never come alive.
As for the identity of the new person in front of Shang?
It was a copy of the Custodian.
"Wester, the Custodian," Queen Primordium said neutrally. "He's one of the most powerful Mage Kings amongst all nine Empires. He's the Lightning Emperor's second-in-command and mouth."
Shang just nodded. The Custodian had told Queen Primordium to show the other Mage Kings to him, which was what she was doing now.
"He used to focus on Lightning, Metal, Light, and Time, but after being a Mage King for so long, he basically managed to learn quite a lot from everything. You should know about his temperament and his job."
Shang just nodded.
"I would advise against taking him as your teacher," Queen Primordium said. "He's very busy, and he only has 20,000 years or so left."
"I wasn't planning on," Shang said.
Queen Primordium just nodded back.
For some reason, Shang wasn't the biggest fan of the Custodian.
In a way, one could say that Shang didn't feel safe around him.
Of course, saying that such a person as Shang didn't feel safe painted quite an ironic picture since it was mostly others that didn't feel safe around him.
But the meaning of safe was very different for these two people.
When others were around Shang, they felt uncomfortable since they felt like Shang was about to kill them.
In comparison, when Shang was around the Custodian, he felt uncomfortable since he felt like his secret was about to be found out.
Yes, now, Shang knew how the Custodian's conduct towards Shang had changed.
He was suspicious.
As in, the Custodian was suspicious of Shang.
'Is it truly that surprising that the Lightning Emperor let me live?'
Shang's mind quickly went over his conversation with the Lightning Emperor.
'Okay, it actually is.'
'He was probably certain that the Lightning Emperor would kill me, and he probably knows him far better than anyone else.'
'He's probably trying to figure out how I managed to convince the Lightning Emperor to leave me alive.'
'I wonder, does the Custodian distrust the Lightning Emperor?'
'Not sure.'
"Next," Queen Primordium said, pulling Shang out of his thoughts. "I'm Vana, Queen Primordium. People say I'm the second strongest Mage King of the Lightning Manor, but it's just that Wester and I haven't fought for quite a while."
"I focus on Space, Time, and Gravity. I don't have a lot to do, but I still focus on my power. If you don't find anyone else, I can take the role of your teacher," she said. "I will give the control over your training to you, but I want reports regarding your progress every century. Of course, only if you want me as your teacher."
Shang nodded. "I am unfamiliar with Space, Time, and Gravity Affinities, and I don't think focusing on those now would be conducive to my growth."
Queen Primordium nodded again, showing that she agreed with Shang's assessment.
'She didn't even mention her obvious Water Affinity,' Shang thought. 'Probably means that she hasn't focused on Water for a very long time.'
It was quite funny. Everyone that looked at Queen Primordium would think that she had a Water Affinity.
When she was younger, some of her opponents readied themselves to fight a Water Mage, but when they attacked, they suddenly had to fight a Mage that focused on Space, Time, and Gravity.
A wolf in sheep's clothing.
The body hovering in front of Shang changed again, transforming into a small blonde man. He looked very bright, friendly, and there was even a certain feeling of innocence about him.
"That's Amarius, the Dawnlight King," Queen Primordium said. "Together with the Catastrophe King, he is number three or four in our rankings."
"Amarius is responsible for the Diplomacy Department. He should have also been the one that negotiated with the Twilight Dusk Family regarding you joining us."
"He usually focuses on Ice and Light, but he recently started to shift focus to the Life Concepts. I'm not sure if he found any success with those or not."
"Amarius is a social butterfly and talks a lot with members of the Lightning Manor and other Empires. This is also one of the reasons why he is responsible for the Diplomacy Department."
"He's rather flexible, and if you decide to ask him to be your teacher, I would assume that he will agree. He's definitely one of the better ones for you."
Shang nodded.
Amarius might appear to be the polar opposite of Shang, but that wasn't as important as what Amarius specialized in.
Shang also focused on Ice and Light.
The body hovering in front of Shang changed again and was replaced with a much taller man.
The man was nearly two meters tall, had black hair, and had aggressive, sharp eyebrows. He was quite muscular for a Mage but not on the level of a warrior.
"That's Kiran, the Catastrophe King," Queen Primordium said. "Together with Amarius, he's either the third or fourth strongest Mage King of the Lightning Manor."
"Kiran is responsible for the Force Department. He focuses on Darkness and Fire usually, but he is also trying to comprehend Death, essentially making him the polar opposite of Amarius."
"But surprisingly, the two are actually good friends," Queen Primordium commented.
"I think he is the only one that has no chance of being your teacher in any way," she said.
"Why?" Shang asked. The Catastrophe King had seemed to be absolutely perfect for Shang.
"He doesn't even have a single free minute," Queen Primordium said. "The Abominations are becoming more and more troublesome, and Kiran has saved billions of people. He is the sole reason why the Lightning Manor is amongst the Empires with the fewest losses to the Abominations."
Shang didn't say anything.
"I don't think he would agree to be your teacher, and I don't think the Ancestor would order him to. We need Kiran to protect the people," Queen Primordium said.
Shang could only nod.
The body hovering in front of Shang changed shape again, and a moment later, Shang saw a familiar person.
The Starlight Queen.
