Yi~
Inside the awakening room, little Fira screamed in joy as she sensed her father's happiness through their soul link, her gaze fixed on the white orb before them, radiating a soft lunar glow.
The moonlight-like radiance filled the room. Inside his sea of consciousness, Damon looked at the newfound stardust—it was nearly invisible. If one were to describe its color, it would be the same gentle hue as the moonlight it occasionally emitted.
Seeing the element and sensing its power, Damon let out a sigh as his consciousness returned to the real world. Opening his eyes, he saw the little Flame Belle dancing around the guiding stones, which were now glowing with a pure, moon-white light.
'Thank god it went well!' Damon exhaled internally. He had been anxious about this awakening. Yes, he could gain elements from others if they were mutated or one of a kind, but he had no idea how dimensional elements behaved when mutated.
He had never heard of or seen any such case. Normal elements could be artificially mutated through his own techniques, but when it came to elements beyond the primary seven, he was clueless.
There were no recorded mutations or known elemental spirits to make such a thing possible, so he had been worried that he might fail to awaken the Summon Element altogether.
'But fortunately, I won't have to worry about that anymore…'
In front of him, seven stars aligned within seconds. For a normal Super Mage, arranging the stars of a new element would take about five minutes, but for Damon—who possessed Jiang Feng's One with Element skill—it was different.
His control had transcended human limits. He was no longer bound to the traditional system of magic and stars. Instead of coaxing them into formation, he simply commanded them to obey.
Whatever power he wished to display, as long as he had a clear image of the result and enough magical energy, he could bring it into existence instantly.
The stars before him arranged themselves into a star path, but Damon did not initiate the Dimensional Summon—the novice-tier spell of the Summon Element.
Kluk...
The doorknob turned as Guo Liyu, the man who owned the awakening hall, rushed in, wiping sweat from his forehead with a napkin.
The moment he saw the moon-white radiance illuminating the room, he let out a deep sigh of relief. In front of him stood Damon, the youngest Super Mage in the world, a man who held multiple industries in his hands. Guo Liyu didn't want another failed awakening like the last time—it would have been disastrous.
"Congratulations!" Mu Nujiao called from behind, her eyes reflecting the soft light.
'Awakening successful... now all that's left is reaching Intermediate Tier.'
Damon's need for the Summon Element was entirely for little Fira. He wanted to make her his contracted beast, and to do that, he first needed to reach the Intermediate rank.
Taking out his phone, he called one of his suppliers to bring over some advanced resources. With the One with Element skill, he no longer needed to worry about control or synchronization. He could now channel pure energy into an element and rank it up freely.
"Nice. Elemental spirits for Lightning, Wind, and Water are also ready," Damon muttered to himself with a toothy grin, imagining himself soon mastering all elements.
As he stepped out of the room holding Mu Nujiao's hand, his eyes met an unexpected figure.
"Zhao Manyan? What are you doing here?"
It was none other than the playboy turtle of their group—caught in the middle of a fight between two girls.
"You bitch! How dare you hold his hand? He's my boyfriend!"
"What the hell are you talking about, you tramp? He's my boyfriend!"
The two women were screaming and yanking each other's hair in a full-blown brawl.
"...You know, I don't even want to know what's going on here," Mu Nujiao muttered as she tugged Damon's hand, leading him away from the chaos.
"Damon, wait! You're back?" Zhao Manyan quickly fled the scene, chasing after them with a nervous laugh. "Haha… didn't expect to run into you during a date with my girlfriend."
"..."
"..."
The couple stared at him in silence as the blonde man scratched the back of his head, looking completely shameless.
"Anyway, didn't know you were back! You were in retreat, right?"
"I just ended it a few days ago. Nice to know you're doing well," Damon replied, glancing at the two girls now practically tearing each other's clothes apart in the distance—only to look away when Mu Nujiao's icy glare hit him.
"Ahem… anyway, how are you guys doing? What about college? Anything interesting?"
Both Zhao Manyan and Mu Nujiao sighed. Recalling the college days, they remembered how Mo Fan had caused chaos in school for months, clashing with various groups during the competition to secure nominations for the World College Tournament.
"A few days ago, he left for the Ancient Capital. After defeating Dongfang Lie, he practically became a legend, but he left after hearing some news."
"Ancient Capital?" Damon repeated, startled.
"Yeah. He left for Xi'an to search for Zhang Xiaohou."
"He sent me a message before leaving. Apparently, the military informed him that Zhang Xiaohou and his team went missing near Xi'an."
Damon froze mid-step as the weight of those words sank in. It wasn't Zhang Xiaohou's disappearance or Mo Fan's danger that alarmed him—but what it signified.
The future battle of the Undead.
The calamity once again brought forth by the Black Vatican. The Ancient Capital—Xi'an—would drown in terror, engulfed in a catastrophe unlike anything before.
If things were left to develop as they had in the past, it would be disastrous.
"I need to leave for Xi'an," Damon said firmly.
He needed to go to the Ancient Capital—not to save the city, but to destroy the threat before it could grow.
To claim the souls of the fallen, gain experience from the battle, and grow stronger. More importantly, to settle old grudges and eliminate future obstacles.
'Salan… wait for me.'