[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic":3,"chapter-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-604":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"english","Sword God in a World of Magic",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},1492539,1940,"Chapter 604 50 Years","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-604",604,"\u003Cp>A frozen, bloody human body was lying in the middle of the branch, white mist slowly leaving the corpse's opened mouth.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang's Spirit Sense enveloped the corpse and realized…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This wasn't a corpse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The person was actually still alive.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>They were just in a lot of pain and couldn't move due to their body being frozen.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang also knew the identity of the \"corpse\", and he wasn't surprised in the least.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Spike Ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"That was me. He told me to run back to my mommy.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang's head turned to the person that had just spoken.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a young man with a bright smile and fiery red hair.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang also knew that person.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was one of the newer Named Agents, only having been part of this branch for about 20 years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was an Early Archmage with a Fire Affinity. He enjoyed talking with others and telling stories. In a way, he was quite charismatic and would remind someone of the dead Desert Storm.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>However, compared to the dead Desert Storm, this guy actually had a huge issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was a pathological liar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He lied about nearly everything for no reason whatsoever.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His codename was Fire Pillar, and he specialized in killing large groups.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>If Fire Pillar were more powerful, he would have probably received the missions to get rid of the two gatherer families instead of Shang about four years ago.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang obviously didn't believe Fire Pillar when he said that he was the one that had frozen Spike Ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He already had a pretty good guess based on the fact that Fire Pillar was now here.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ice Princess.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Ice Princess was probably done with earning money and wanted to focus on her training.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>She probably wanted to enter Training Room One, but when she saw Spike Ball reserving it without using it, she got a slight bit irritated.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Killing among colleagues was obviously prohibited, but there were always ways around rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spike Ball wasn't dead right now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was just very, very injured and in a lot of pain.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So, Ice Princess didn't break any rules.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure, under normal circumstances, the Keeper would have probably intervened since Spike Ball now wasn't in his top condition to accept missions, but she was probably just as annoyed with him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Help… me…\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Spike Ball barely managed to contact Shang with his Spirit Sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang just ignored him and walked over to the Keeper.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You don't have to worry,\" Fire Pillar said with a bright smile. \"I will release him later!\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang also ignored Fire Pillar.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Instead, Shang stopped behind the Keeper and waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A moment later, a sheet of paper appeared in front of him, and he scanned it with his Spirit Sense.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Assassinate an Initial Archmage merchant.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Details… details… details… details…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Reward: 150 Grade Five Mana Crystals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mission was an average one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Nothing special.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang nodded, pocketed the sheet of paper, and walked up the stairs to the exit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"Wait for a couple of minutes,\" the Keeper said. \"There's currently an Ancestral Mage traveling through the area.\"\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang stopped and waited.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"You can go,\" the Keeper said about two minutes later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang left and traveled to the target's location.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Within the next five minutes, Shang killed the target.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some minutes later, he arrived back at the branch and accepted his reward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was how most of Shang's jobs went.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He would get his mission, travel to the target, fulfill the mission, and come back.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Normally, such missions would be far more difficult. After all, this was an Archmage. If the Named Agent didn't perfectly plan and execute everything, they might very well die.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a mission required a long time of preparation and planning. That definitely wasn't easy.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But that was also why this was such a high-paying job. After all, 150 Grade Five Mana Crystals represented 150 years of an Initial Archmage focusing on nothing but condensing Mana.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>150 Grade Five Mana Crystals could pay for about 15 Grade Five Mind Flow Pellets.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But since Shang had such a powerful Battle-Strength and since he had such a wide variety of abilities, such a difficult mission barely took him 15 minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After accepting his payment, Shang checked the entrance to Training Room One.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sure enough, the Isolation Barrier was active, but he doubted it was Spike Ball.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Guess I was right, and Ice Princess is now in there. At least she's using it.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang entered Training Room Two and continued thinking.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Some days later, he got the next mission.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After completing the mission, he returned and continued planning.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Eventually, more and more time passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Over the years, Shang had created several Paths on which he could advance.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Whenever he found one with some potential, he planned it out but didn't train in it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The reason for that was that Shang was waiting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At the moment, he couldn't make an informed decision on which Path he should follow, but that didn't mean that it would always stay like that.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For now, he was preparing himself for the right time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And eventually, the right time arrived.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, Shang told the Keeper that he wouldn't accept any missions for the next two weeks and retreated to one of the training rooms.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He sat down in the middle, and his Spirit Sense seemingly vanished.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang had entered his inner world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>50 years had passed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was time for the trial.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This was why Shang had been preparing himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He knew that the trial would push him towards the right direction.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang's head looked towards the stone stele in the middle of his inner world.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The deadline was in a couple of weeks, but Shang's body had already reached its peak by now.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But when Shang looked at the stone stele, his Spirit Sense was actually pulled toward a certain location on the stele.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Near the top of the stele, above the rules of Shang's inner world, was something.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Shang only looked at that thing for a couple of minutes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He wasn't sure what he was thinking about.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What was Shang looking at?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was Jerald's hand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Several decades ago, Shang had nailed it to the stele.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was supposed to symbolize Shang's Path.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was supposed to remind him of his choices and his future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Never go back.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Remember your sacrifices.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Look at how far you've come.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>'Always walk forward.'\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\"We can start with the trial,\" Shang said after a while.\u003C\u002Fp>",1071,"2026-06-06T04:07:21.127Z",1,"novelbin.me","f69012e3fa326e66a244f7f77b3c7ca50babba892976fc3578b2ec14f23875b8","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-605","sword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-chapter-603",1033,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fsword-god-in-a-world-of-magic-cover.jpg"]