"Then, what's even the point of this entire conversation?" Shang asked."If everything is hopeless to begin with, and all of existence is doomed to die to the Abominations either way, what point would any of my actions have?"The Lightning Emperor looked with a complicated expression at Shang.He realized that he had painted a very bleak picture.

While he didn't think that everything would be hopeless and meaningless in that case, he could see that wanting an answer from Shang for such a hypothetical would be intellectually dishonest for judging his actual character.In the end, the Lightning Emperor was kind of relieved by Shang's answers.Shang was a very dark person with very dark desires, but he was still far better than King Sanctified Death.Even more, even if Shang were… it didn't matter.Maybe, he wasn't even the first…The Lightning Emperor felt the conflict of his emotions rising more and more, but he just pushed everything to the side again.

"Please, contact Sarah regarding the war.

I will deal with all the opponents you will need.

The best thing you can do is to buy us enough time to survive to the next phase of the war," the Lightning Emperor said in an effort to end the conversation.Shang just nodded wordlessly.The next moment, a portal opened in front of Shang that led to his Isolation Barrier to the north of Aterium, and Shang walked through it.When Shang arrived, he looked at his fake left arm again for a second before contacting the Starlight Queen."You're back, Young Master Shang," she said with a polite tone."I am," Shang answered.

"Is there anything you need me to do?""Not in this exact second, Young Master Shang, but please be prepared to join a couple of battles in the next hours.

If everything goes well, Young Master Shang can return to training in peace," the Starlight Queen said."Okay," Shang said before cutting the connection.A couple of hours later, a portal opened in front of Shang, and he simply charged through it right into a barrier.The occupant readied themselves for a battle, but they were killed before they could even see their opponent.This had only been a Peak Ancestral Mage with a twofold Spirit Sense.Another portal opened as soon as Shang had killed his opponent, and he directly entered the next barrier.In the distance, the Mage Kings grunted in annoyance as they ordered all the Peak Ancestral Mages to retreat from the frontlines for now.After just an hour, Shang had pushed back all the Peak Ancestral Mages again, effectively disabling 50% of the Ancestral Mages of the enemy Empires."Thank you for your hard work, Young Master Shang.

You can now return to training," the Starlight Queen transmitted to Shang."Can I have a portal back to my Isolation Barrier?" Shang asked."Young Master Shang, it's COULD I have a portal back, PLEASE," the Starlight Queen said with a slight chuckle.

"Please, try to talk in a way that is befitting of your status, Young Master Shang.""Make a portal," Shang said evenly, "or I won't show up for 500 years."Silence.Ten seconds of silence."Of course, Young Master Shang," the Starlight Queen said, but her polite tone had a slight undertone of tension to it.Shang arrived in front of his Isolation Barrier and entered.He arrived at the middle of his inner Isolation Chamber but didn't close the door.Then, Shang retreated into his inner world, took out his Addum and Subsis, and focused on creating an entirely new Path.The Addum had been a combination of Shang's Colossal Sword State and his Saber State, giving it its unique appearance.The Subsis had been a reduction of the Long Sword State and the Great Sword State.

Instead of combining them, Shang had made an even smaller sword.Now, Shang had to combine his Addum and Subsis.But what would that create?Even more importantly, Shang needed something that could be used with all four of his Affinities.First, Shang decided to gather all of the techniques he had created for all of his swords.

His theoretical seventh sword should be able to unleash all of these techniques without any problems.With the Concept of Transformation, Shang could easily transform Mana into whatever he needed.Additionally, with Void Break, Shang could fill his sword with an incredible amount of Mana.It was possible for Shang to fill his sword with Darkness Mana and then transform all the Darkness Mana into Fire Mana with an extreme of heat.And then, Shang needed his sword to assume a form that would be the most fitting.Yet, no matter how much Shang thought, he couldn't find a perfect form.It was like he was back in his battle against Mervin, where he couldn't find a way to block everything at the same time since he couldn't move toward two spots at once.That's when Shang realized that he was still thinking in his old way.'I should think the other way around.

It's not the Affinity that has to adapt to the sword, but the sword that has to adapt to the Affinity.'Shang grabbed his Subsis.WHOOOM!Suddenly, Shang's right arm shook as it became very hard for him to keep his Subsis stable with only one hand.The Subsis didn't seem any different from before, but at this moment, it was filled with Light Mana with an extreme of mass.The very fast and nimble Subsis had transformed into an extremely heavy weapon.But its shape didn't change.The biggest issue was the size and weight of the sword.

Shang needed his sword to be wide enough to protect his entire body, but he also needed it to be very light and sharp for a quick thrust.The weight problem could be solved with Light Mana.What about the width?And then, Shang realized something else.The width actually didn't matter at all since the initial purpose for the width wasn't relevant anymore.