Shang regained consciousness.
For just a moment, he wasn't sure about what had happened, but then, he realized that he had lost.
Shang slowly sat up, thinking back to the end of the fight.
The last thing he remembered was the Mage dispersing his Mana Shield.
And then, it was over.
It took Shang a couple of seconds to figure out what had happened.
'He took advantage of my Domain of Entropy,' he thought. 'That hasn't happened before.'
'Not only did my enemies find ways to counter my Void Break, but one of them even found a way to counter my Domain of Entropy.'
'In just this short fight, he managed to find the weakness of my Domain of Entropy.'
'A talented Peak Ancestral Mage…'
Shang thought about how strong his current enemies actually were.
Someone like the powerful Peak Ancestral Mage just now would certainly become a Mage Lord later, making him one of the 100,000 or so most talented people in the world.
How many new Mage Lords appeared in the world every year?
Maybe ten?
Maybe a bit more?
Only ten people or so in the entire world managed to become Mage Lords per year.
And there were trillions, if not quadrillions, of people in Aterium.
Assuming there were trillions, ten people per year becoming Mage Lords would be the equivalent of about one person per century becoming a Mage Lord on Earth.
Naturally, these kinds of people were insanely intelligent.
'I should be prepared for smarter enemies in the future,' Shang thought. 'I wanted to keep him here by stopping his Mana Step with my Domain of Entropy, but instead, I caused my own death.'
'In this case, I should have been more careful.'
'Luckily, this happened in my inner world, not outside.'
After going through the fight again in his mind, Shang decided to focus on something else.
Death.
He had just died again, and it was very different from usual.
Normally, Shang could anticipate his death when he was fighting in the inner world. After all, he knew when he was on the losing end.
But this time, he died very unexpectedly.
Just mere moments before his death, Shang's mind had been going through several different plans in case the Mage somehow managed to escape.
He had been fully focused on the battle.
And then, it was over.
Out of nowhere, it just ended.
This was another part of death.
Death could come very suddenly.
It could come when someone least expected it.
Shang focused on the sensation of death for a couple of minutes.
It was important to understand as much as possible.
Eventually, Shang stood up.
The jester had already jumped down from its Affinity Wheel and waited for Shang with a smirk.
"You done?" the jester asked.
Shang just nodded.
"Well then," the jester said, giving his hammer a little swing before leaning on it. "You got 30 points."
"16 from the beasts and 14 from the Mages."
The jester swung his hammer some more, twirling it around like he was in a parade as he walked back and forth.
"You know, I saw you become this strong, but I still feel like you shouldn't be that powerful."
"Naturally, you are this powerful, which means you deserve to be this powerful, but for some reason, I just feel like you shouldn't be."
"You actually jumped a full Realm against a beast, even though it was one of the weakest of its level."
"I didn't plan on that happening, you know? Talent and skill must be rewarded, but dedication and effort also need to be rewarded."
A moment later, the jester's smirk widened as he looked at Shang.
But he didn't say anything.
Just now, the jester had seen Shang's thoughts.
Shang wanted to tell the jester that he didn't care about all of this and that he was only here for his reward.
Yet, Shang decided against saying something like that.
The God had shown how crazy he was and how spontaneous he could screw Shang over.
If Shang became too disrespectful, the jester might think it would be even funnier if the Lightning Emperor died.
Because of that, Shang decided to remain silent and let the jester say whatever it wanted to say.
The jester decided not to comment on it and only smirked for a couple of seconds.
Shang also didn't say anything.
"What do you want?" the jester asked.
"In what sense?" Shang asked.
"For your reward," the jester added. "You have a far higher score than I would have ever anticipated. According to the rules I made, I would need to offer you like three items per choice, but that also feels a bit lackluster."
"Outstanding results require outstanding rewards, you know?"
"So, tell me, what do you want for your reward? Is there any specific item you want? Is there something you want me to do? Something you want me to change?" the jester said as he leaned on his little hammer again.
Shang remained silent as he thought about what he wanted.
Usually, Shang wasn't thinking about any specific rewards since the God had always offered him a selection, but now, he could choose whatever he wanted.
Of course, choosing a reward wasn't as easy as rubbing a lamp and making a wish.
Shang's "purpose" was to be a tool of entertainment, and if Shang's request didn't help him in fulfilling that purpose, the God might decide to go back to simply offering some items.
"No, don't even think about it," the jester said from the side with a short snicker.
Shang had just thought about asking the God about creating a couple of areas for Concept Comprehension in his inner world.
Like this, Shang wouldn't need to explain why he was looking at certain things.
"Also no," the jester said.
Just now, Shang thought about asking for a way to comprehend the level five Concept of Entropy, which was still unfamiliar to Shang.
Shang took a deep breath as he continued to think of something.
Then, he thought about a certain problem and got an idea.
"Sure," the jester said. "That's feasible."
"Is that what you want?"
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