Shang waited in the middle of his territory.
He had already noticed that things were changing since even the two barriers he was keeping watch over had vanished.
If only one barrier had vanished, Shang might have tried to do something, but since both had vanished, he suspected that the Judgment Palace was finally giving up.
Shang had been isolated from the real frontlines for a thousand years, but the Judgment Palace's desperation couldn't be more obvious. After all, a Mage King had tried to kill him,
which meant that the Lightning Manor was probably putting a lot of pressure on the Judgment Palace.
After seeing that the two barriers had vanished, Shang decided to check up on the other barriers around him.
That was when he saw the Attack Flag to the north.
This was the first non-hostile human contact in a thousand years, except for that little run-in with the Custodian.
Shang had spent nearly 50% of his entire life in this war.
A thousand years.
And yet, he felt no different from before.
In these 1,000 years, the only thing that had changed was Shang's power.
Everything else had stayed the same.
So, how did Shang feel toward friendly human contact after so long?
Ambivalent.
Uncaring.
Neutral.
It didn't matter.
Shang waited beside his Defender Flag until the countdown was over.
Eventually, a group of people entered Shang's territory.
Shang could see them from quite far away.
They were ten people, all of them in the Sixth Realm, two per level.
Surprisingly, there were also two warriors among them, and Shang could even tell that these warriors were not weak.
He estimated that they had threefold Spirit Senses.
Yet, there was one person that surprised Shang even more.
It was someone at the Peak Sixth Realm, and his Aura was quite unique.
Shockingly, he had the Aura of an Ancestral Mage but also the Aura of a warrior.
His mind seemed powerful, and his body also seemed powerful.
Shang felt like this man was on the cusp of getting a fourfold Spirit Sense. He was very close to becoming a Cloud, but he wasn't quite there yet.
The people were following this man, making it apparent that he was their leader.
The man carried a spear on his back that had the same markings as a Focus.
'A weapon that also acts as a Focus?' Shang thought with some surprise. 'A lot must have happened in my absence.'
When the group reached a distance of 1,500 kilometers, they stopped.
They could finally see the Ancestral Hero.
Only one person amongst them had seen him before.
For a while, the group just looked at the distant Shang.
To them, Shang stood unarmed and alone on top of a mountain. His old white robes were slightly dancing in the wind, almost like he was a ghost.
Yet, his Aura was the most shocking.
It was so... lifeless.
Neutral.
Unnoticeable.
All of this would make one think that Shang's Aura was very normal, but the opposite was actually true.
Shang's Aura felt like something ethereal.
Every Aura had some characteristics. An Aura was like a colorful pattern of someone's personality.
Yet, Shang's Aura felt like a patternless, white circle.
There was nothing to observe or learn from it.
He seemed like something that shouldn't be alive.
A bit like an Abomination.
"He's nothing like you described him," one of the Mages told their leader.
"He's changed quite a bit," the leader said with a confident chuckle.
The leader looked at Shang with a confident smirk.
Shang's head slowly turned to look at the leader.
The next moment, the leader felt like a powerful Abomination was looking at him.
The leader was three levels above Shang and also extremely talented, but Shang still felt like a brutal monster to him.
The force of Shang's Aura wasn't easy to resist, but the smirk of the leader only widened.
"Are you that surprised to see me again, Shang?" the leader asked.
The other people awkwardly watched.
Their leader had told them that he knew the Ancestral Hero, but the Ancestral Hero's reaction seemed quite different from what they had expected.
Their leader had made it seem like they were old friends, but the Ancestral Hero's Aura didn't feel friendly at all.
It felt more like the Aura of someone that wants to kill someone else.
Shang just looked at the leader for several seconds.
The leader was wearing a formfitting purple set of plate armor. It seemed very robust but also flexible.
The spear had several flowing designs on it, but its head was jagged like a lightning bolt.
The man had white hair, and he appeared to be filled with confidence.
"Agon," Shang slowly said, the tone of his voice cold.
"That's my name," Agon Skythunder said. "What an honor to have the Ancestral Hero call my name."
Naturally, Agon's voice was filled with sarcasm.
When the other people heard Shang's voice, it finally dawned on them that Shang was a human. His Aura had still been a bit confusing to them.
After a second, Shang turned his head away from the distant group.
"You were the one that told Jerald," Shang said.
Agon chuckled a bit. "I am, yes."
Shang remained silent for a couple of seconds as old memories shot through his mind.
The powerful King Skythunder.
The one who had told Jerald about Shang's deepest secret.
This had caused a lot of worries for Jerald, which ultimately culminated in his decision to confront and kill Shang, assuming he didn't have a great reason to endanger the entire world.
If Agon hadn't said a thing, nothing would have happened.
In a way, Agon was part of the reason why Shang had killed Jerald.
After thinking about all of these things, Shang transmitted something to Agon.
"Without you, I might not be alive today. Jerald was a hidden danger, and without your help, I might not have gotten rid of it."
"I presume I have to thank you," Shang transmitted.
Agon just smirked. "Is that your decision?"
Shang didn't immediately answer.
"What's the plan?" Shang asked the group.
