Chapter 350 – Forsaken Future
A sword pierced Shang’s heart again.
He wasn’t surprised.
He lost count of how many tis that had already happened.
He didn’t know how long they had been fighting.
He only knew that it had been incredibly long.
The foreign Mana inside Shang’s chest had already vanished months ago.
Yes, the two of them had been fighting for months.
Initially, Shang felt nervous about missing an opportunity to strengthen his body.
After all, it just needed a bit of ti for him to strengthen his body after hunting another beast.
However, Teacher rvin very quickly convinced Shang.
“Strengthening your body is the easiest part of your Path. It only counts as a single step.”
“You can strengthen your body whenever you want, but you don’t always have soone ready to teach you.”
“Right now, only your swordsmanship is important, nothing else.”
That was when Shang ignored his body and everything else.
Only learning from Teacher rvin was important now.
They had fought for so long.
SHING!
Shang’s heart was pierced again as Teacher rvin’s sword mimicked the horn of a beast.
Teacher rvin was incredible at mimicking beasts. Whenever he mimicked a beast, it was like Shang could see its image.
This ti, it had been a huge octopus, but suddenly, the octopus had grown a horn.
Shang had been prepared for ranged attacks, tentacles, and even its beak.
Yet, the horn had gotten him.
This hadn’t been the first ti it had happened.
“How am I supposed to fight sothing, which then suddenly changes into sothing else in a mont?” Shang asked.
Teacher rvin only grinned. “This is the Path you have chosen. You need to be stronger than everything at once.”
“But how is that possible?” Shang asked with a sigh. “I can adapt to many kinds of attacks, but I can’t be prepared for all of them at once. I would need to perform several movents at the sa ti or be at several places at the sa ti.”
“I can’t strike up, down, left, and right at the sa ti without dispersing my power.”
“There is only so much I can do,” Shang said.
Teacher rvin’s smile widened.
“I don’t know,” he said.
Shang knew what was coming next.
“I don’t know how you can achieve sothing impossible like that.”
“However, this is the Path you chose, and it is your duty to find a solution.”
“I am only here to help you. I can’t lift you up, but I can act as a wall that you can use to vault further into the sky,” Teacher rvin explained.
Shang had been fighting for so long that even the God had left. The jester itself was still there, but it had lost all signs of life.
Obviously, the God was not interested in watching Shang train with the sa opponent, but he also knew that this was a good thing.
The more powerful Shang beca, the more interesting his journey would be.
“You have no responsibilities right now,” Teacher rvin said. “And as a copy, I also have no responsibility.”
“We have all the ti in the world.”
“This is a luxury that nearly every warrior in the world wishes for.”
Shang knew all of that, but it was still difficult.
How long had they been fighting?
There was no day or night in his inner world.
It was unchanging, and Shang had long since lost his feeling for the passage of ti.
Yet, Shang continued fighting Teacher rvin.
He felt like he had made no progress.
He always lost in one strike.
The inner world seed endless.
Ti seed endless.
And Teacher rvin’s power seed endless.
Ti lost all aning.
It was like Shang was reliving the sa mont again and again, and yet, the monts were all slightly different.
It was like Shang was trying to do sothing impossible.
The more he was learning, the more he felt like he knew nothing.
The more he knew, the less he knew.
Before Teacher rvin had appeared, Shang could have stated with confidence how he would fight different opponents and how he would win.
But now, only emptiness appeared in Shang’s mind.
All the beasts, Mages, and warriors blended together in his mind.
Nothing made sense anymore.
It was like everything in existence had beco relative.
There was no certainty.
There were only guesses and probabilities.
Was Shang powerful?
Probably, but he didn’t know.
How much ti?
How much longer?
Shang moved only on instinct.
He wasn’t certain what he should do, but he was doing sothing.
The more he fought, the more he felt like he was no longer himself.
Shang hadn’t said a word in forever.
He was only fighting and adapting.
What was he doing again?
Right, fighting.
Why was he fighting?
Right, to beco the strongest.
But was he actually progressing?
Was he?
…
Was he?
…
Maybe?
…
He should be progressing, right?
…
Right?
…
So much fighting.
…
Why was he fighting again?
…
Ti.
Ti was endless.
There was so much to do, but with endless ti, there was so little to do.
He was fighting, right.
“Alright, that should be enough.”
Shang suddenly shook his head, and his right eye focused.
It was like soone had just dumped a bucket of cold water on him.
“What?” he asked in confusion.
“That’s enough,” Teacher rvin said with a laugh.
“Enough?” Shang asked, still confused.
“Yep, we fought enough. We are done. The training is finished,” Teacher rvin said. “I think this is a good mont. You adapted very well, and your growth is astonishing. However, if you keep fighting , I fear that you will start to adapt to only . You need to fight others.”
Shang could still scarcely believe that the fighting was over.
“How long have we been fighting?” Shang asked.
Teacher rvin only laughed.
“I have no idea.”
Shang only looked at the laughing Teacher rvin with surprise.
“Well, I think it’s ti for to go,” Teacher rvin said as he readied his sword.
Shang knew what Teacher rvin was about to do, and he didn’t feel comfortable letting him do that.
Killing oneself was different from soone else killing them.
“You don’t have to,” Shang said. “I can do it for you.”
Teacher rvin only smiled as he looked at Shang.
“It’s not about could but should,” he said.
SHING!
And then, Teacher rvin’s sword entered his head.
Teacher rvin’s corpse fell over and the jester regained life.
“Took you long enough,” he said.
Shang didn’t even register the God’s words as he looked at Teacher rvin’s slowly vanishing corpse.
He knew that the Teacher rvin in front of him was only a copy, but for so reason, Shang’s emotions exploded at this mont.
Was he grieving for Teacher rvin?
No, Shang knew that the real one was still alive.
Yet, for the first ti in a long while, Shang actually fell to his knees…
And tears ran down his cheeks.
It hadn’t arrived yet, but Shang knew what it was.
This was his future.
For his own goal, he would most likely see those dear to him die.
He could stop it.
Shang could have just abandoned the trial.
Sure, he wouldn’t have done that since Teacher rvin was only a copy, but he had the power to stop it.
Yet, for his own goal, he was ready to sacrifice soone else.
This ti, it was only a copy of soone Shang had a deep connection with.
But next ti, it might be a real person.
This was Shang’s future.
This was the Path he had chosen.
And at this mont, Shang wept for the other futures he had forsaken.
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