The jester had been watching Shang with interest.
Almost everyone only experienced death once, and they never had an opportunity to think back to how it was to die.
Nearly dying and being in the process of dying were very different from actually dying.
Some people would gain the opportunity to feel how it was to come close to death, but they weren't allowed to actually touch it.
But there still were ways to comprehend the level four Concept of Death.
For example, the Death Empress had once put herself into a coma for over a thousand years, which was about as close to death as one could get.
One wouldn't be able to experience the world or think about one's decision while one was lying in a coma.
Everything only happened after.
It was interesting to see someone actually experience death and have the opportunity to reflect on it.
"Sure," the God said as the Affinity Wheel spun again.
Shang didn't move or say anything as he waited for the Affinity Wheel to stop.
When it finally stopped, he simply used Void Break and unleashed Missile.
In an instant, the Mage had been killed.
Shang reloaded his swords and waited for the next fight.
BANG!
More waiting.
BANG!
More waiting.
BANG!
More waiting.
BANG!
More waiting.
BANG!
More waiting.
BANG!
More waiting.
And then, Shang actually had to put some effort into fighting.
The next level was the powerful Mid Ancestral Mage.
Shang's attack was powerful enough to break their Mana Shield in one strike, but it was slow enough that an experienced Mid Ancestral Mage could avoid it.
So, instead of using Missile, Shang used up the Mana in his Subsis to create a vast corridor of darkness, engulfing him and the Mage.
He shot through the corridor at insane speeds and reached the Mage in an instant.
The Mage released a powerful and quick spear made of metal, but Shang vanished and reappeared to the side.
A Missile later, and the Mage was dead.
Shang waited for the Affinity Wheel again.
"Level ten: Weak Late Ancestral Mage."
When the bell rang, Shang released another corridor of darkness.
The opponent readied a couple of powerful Spells, waiting for Shang to arrive in front of him.
BOOOOOOOM!
And then, the Mage died as Meteor struck him.
Missile wasn't powerful enough to get through a Late Ancestral Mage's Mana Shield in one shot, but Meteor was.
Sadly, Meteor was quite a bit slower, but the opponent wasn't very experienced.
Shang waited for the Affinity Wheel again.
The differences in power between the Mages were far greater than between beasts.
Killing a weak Late Ancestral Mage was about as easy as killing a weak Late Ancestral Beast, but killing a powerful Late Ancestral Mage was even more difficult than killing a powerful PEAK Ancestral Beast.
"Level eleven: Average Late Ancestral Mage."
The opponent appeared, and Shang shot toward them after summoning the corridor of darkness again.
The Mage released two Spells, but Shang side-stepped them without too much trouble.
BANG!
Shang hit the Mage's Mana Shield with a Needle, but it didn't deal a lot of damage.
Nevertheless, the Mage noticed that Shang was quite dangerous and used Mana Step to flee.
Shang absorbed the corridor of darkness with Void Break and released it again, engulfing the Mage once more.
The Mage readied his next Spell, but then Shang suddenly disappeared and reappeared right in front of the Mage.
Shang's Addum swung forward, and Missile was released.
The Mage realized that the attack was powerful but not that powerful.
He could take that attack and hit his opponent with a Spell of his own from melee range.
Missile hit.
CRACK!
A huge hole appeared in the Mana Shield, and the Mage's body was blown apart.
A second later, the Mana Shield dispersed, which was unusual.
Normally, a Mana Shield exploded or collapsed when the Mage ran out of Mana, but this one dispersed after a second.
This meant that the Mage hadn't actually been out of Mana.
A bit later, Shang began to age and fell to the ground as a half-dead husk.
When Shang had used Needle earlier, he had loaded it with Death Mana using the Concept of Weakness.
But instead of using it to eat up and destroy the Mana in front of it, he essentially infused it into the Mage's Mana Shield.
In comparison to the Concept of Sickness, this kind of usage of the Concept of Weakness didn't continuously eat the opponent's Mana.
But what it did do was infuse its surroundings with weakness.
Shang had created a weak spot in the enemy's defense.
Needle hadn't been nearly strong enough to break that weak spot.
But Missile was.
Missile couldn't make the opponent use up all their Mana, but it was strong enough to break through that weak spot.
At that location, the Magic Circle that represented the Spell Mana Shield had become so weak that it broke under the stress of moving so much Mana through it.
This was like weakening Shang's Mana Pathways.
In that case, when Shang used Void Break, his Mana Pathways would explode.
The same thing was true here.
The Magic Circle broke apart, creating a gap in the Mana Shield.
Even though the Mage hadn't run out of Mana.
The God waited for Shang to refill his Death Mana.
Eventually, Shang sat back up again, and the Affinity Wheel began to spin again.
"Level twelve: Powerful Late Ancestral Mage."
Shang knew that the next battle would be quite difficult.
His enemy might not be on the level of a Cloud, but they were still three levels above him and quite talented.
The Affinity Wheel eventually stopped.
Earth.
A moment later, a tall woman with long brown hair appeared several kilometers away from Shang.
Shang readied his two swords and planned his strategy.
The jester slowly lifted its small hammer.
DING!
It hit the bell, and the brown-haired woman opened her eyes.
Shang immediately shot forward.
