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nThe Bolts in their houses had become quite distracted in recent days, and they weren’t exactly sure what they should do.

nThis new warrior had essentially sat down beside their houses and started to mutate into grotesque shapes.

nThe Bolts wanted to have some time for themselves in their own house, but they couldn’t focus on anything they were doing since this guy just kept mutating and being gross on their front lawn.

nNaturally, they had tried to get him to go away by constantly looking at him, but he didn’t seem to care. He even seemed like he didn’t even notice that they were looking.

nSo, when that didn’t work, they tried to ignore him.

nSure, the warrior wasn’t looking at them with his Spirit Sense, but he didn’t need to.

nHe was distracting enough as it was.

nThe Bolts just couldn’t stop themselves from throwing curious glances at him, which also stopped them from doing whatever they were doing.

nThey tried even harder to ignore him, but it was just impossible.

nThey felt bad for the warrior.

nThey were annoyed and wanted to hate him for interrupting their free time, but the sheer pain he must be under made it difficult for them to actually hate him.

nNo one deserved to go through something like that.

nAnd that was the problem.

nShang was in so much pain that he distracted everyone.

nIf he weren’t in as much pain, Mage Lords wouldn’t have an issue since they could just ignore him.

nWhat were they supposed to do?

nHelp him? He was doing this to himself, and helping him was literally not helping him.

nIgnore him? Easier said than done.

nTalk to him? He didn’t seem like someone that could talk right now.

nSo, after the first two weeks were close to being up, the Bolts released a sigh of relief.

nFinally, this guy would leave.

nShang’s body stopped mutating.

nCRK!

nAt that moment, Shang began to use his power to tear his own body apart.

nHe tore his Beast Core and his mind out of the fleshy monstrosity that was his body, and after he did so, he used his life energy to regrow his normal body.

nShang took a deep breath and analyzed his Mana Pathways.

nHe saw some progress.

nAnd then, he took out another Furnace Pill and ate it.

nWhen the Bolts saw that, they felt like their world was breaking down.

nAnother one?

nAnother two weeks of this?!

nFuck that!

nNearly all of them left.

nIt was nice to be at home, but they didn’t need to be at home.

nThey could also just train somewhere else.

nIn the end, only two Bolts remained in their house.

nThese were the only two Bolts that didn’t mind Shang at all.

nThe reason for that was that they had no feeling of Empathy.

nThey couldn’t feel Empathy.

nSo, the mutating Shang was only an interesting show to them, and when they had their fill, they just stopped looking.

nFive years later, the first Bolt returned, and when they arrived, their eyes widened in shock.

nHe was still at it?!

nHow was he still at it?!

nThe hill on which Shang “sat” had transformed into a fleshy forest with many bizarre fleshy structures standing on it.

nIn a way, it almost looked like art.

nThe Bolt left again.

nOver the next couple of years, more and more Bolts returned, but they also left just as quickly.

nAbout 15 years after Shang had consumed the first Furnace Pills, the Bolts finally had enough.

nThey went to Lucin and complained to him.

nEventually, Lucin decided to do something.

nHe flew over to Shang’s hill and began to cast several complex Spells.

nSHING!

nAn extremely complex Magic Circle appeared around the fleshy hill, and a couple of seconds later, a purple barrier appeared.

nIt was an Isolation Barrier.

nNo one could see or get through it except Lucin himself.

nLucin wasn’t a fan of helping an individual Cloud over the others, but this was a special circumstance. Additionally, he wasn’t really helping Shang grow more powerful. The only thing Lucin was helping Shang with was something that would only be helpful if someone actually broke the rules, in which case Lucin would be allowed to help either way.

nIf no one was planning on assassinating Shang, the barrier would be useless, and if someone tried to assassinate him, Lucin would be allowed to help anyway.

nWhen the bolts saw that, they sighed in relief.

nFinally, they didn’t need to look at this stuff anymore.

nMore and more Bolts returned to their homes over the next couple of years, and the purple barrier became normal to them after a while.

nAround 20 years after Shang had taken the first Furnace Pill, he took a break.

nAfter healing his body, he didn’t immediately take the next Furnace Pill.

nThat was because it was time for a trip to the Isolation Chamber.

nSince Shang now had much more money, he decided to let his Mana Pathways grow more and for longer.

nThat might waste a couple of Furnace Pills, but it could result in a slightly higher efficiency.

nShang summoned the Isolation Chamber and put it in a random spot on the fleshy hill.

nThen, he activated one of the Magic Circles around the Isolation Chamber and started to manipulate it.

nFleros had transformed Shang’s Isolation Chamber and added several new functions.

nNow, Shang didn’t need a second person anymore.

nHe could input a set time, and the Magic Circle would keep the Isolation Chamber closed for that time, but that wasn’t even everything.

nAfter opening again, it also filled itself with healing water that would refill Shang’s life energy.

nOf course, during all of this, it also hid in an additional Isolation Barrier to keep itself hidden.

nShang manipulated the Magic Circle around the Isolation Chamber, and when he was done, he entered it.

nSome seconds later, the Isolation Chamber closed itself.

nAnd for the next two months, he wouldn’t come out.

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