A Year Later..

The ceremony of awakening the new elements concluded soon, leaving Damon with eight elements in total.

The rest of the day passed with Damon planning his next steps to grow stronger.

He had now crossed into the realm of an intermediate mage, and the challenge before him was to get accustomed to his new elements and continue growing, all to achieve his goals.

Hiring teachers to learn more about the knowledge he lacked, using soul essence and remnants to enhance his physique, upgrading the stars within his nebula, and consuming precious treasures—all of these were aimed at increasing his cultivation.

Becoming an intermediate mage in just three years, and in four elements no less, made Damon's growth nothing short of outrageous. Even the top 10 talents in the world, like Mo Fan and Mu Ningxue, couldn't perform such feats.

Mu Ningxue took four years to reach the intermediate level, despite the resources provided by the Imperial University and the Mu Clan. As for Mo Fan, he managed it in three years only because of the underground spring that allowed him to cultivate years' worth of progress in just a few days.

Naturally, Damon also used a ton of resources to achieve this level in three years. In big clans and organizations, internal politics often prevent even the heirs from securing all the resources they need. But Damon's case was different.

Damon owned the Crown Group and all its assets solely by himself. He could use all of these assets however he wished, and he did so, securing every resource he could ever need.

Using these consumables is the most effective way to raise one's cultivation. There is no difference between raising your cultivation naturally or through the use of resources. At the same cultivation level, all mages are equal—the only differences lie in their control over the elements, their experience, and their talent, which is what makes certain mages stand out.

With the upgrade to the intermediate level, Damon's cultivation speed increased, as did his consumption of resources, allowing him to progress even faster.

In the Crown's domain, his own territory, he had no need to hold back and used every luxury at his disposal to level up, resulting in an even faster rate of cultivation.

While cultivating, he also took immense care of his physical strength. With the mark in his possession, he used all the soul essences he could to enhance his physique. Now, his body was as strong as that of a servant-class monster.

In magic cultivation, one's physique does improve, though at a much slower pace compared to monsters. A human super mage is comparable to an average general or warrior-class monster.

Damon's physique was now equivalent to that of a high-advanced-level mage. With his increased strength, Damon also established a dedicated routine to familiarize himself with his newfound power. After all, if he couldn't use his body properly, what was the point of having such strength?

There was no specific martial art in this world, as it was a magic-based civilization where cold weapons were never useful against monsters. However, a few places still taught basic swordsmanship and archery. In ancient times, magic weapons in these forms were popular, but the practice faded with the advancement of magic. Now, only a few arts have been preserved as traditions among certain communities.

Damon also upgraded his primary magic by enhancing his stars, fortifying them with the soul essences of servant- and warrior-class monsters. {A/N: Can someone confirm if space and other elements can also have their stars evolve? Mo Fan never upgraded space and the like, focusing on a few, so I'd like to know if it's possible.}

The Crown Group grew as the products and services it provided became more famous. The domain developed as cities and roads were built with proper planning. Unlike Earth, here, with magic, construction was a fast and easy process, though still costly—nothing Damon couldn't afford.

Damon improved his control over time but prioritized advancing his cultivation. With Damon's talent and learning speed, he had an unholy level of control over the elements, unlike other mages of his rank.

For context, Mo Fan, even a year after becoming an intermediate mage, could only shorten his casting time to 1.5 seconds. However, Damon was already capable of instant casting during his first year after awakening.

This was all due to Damon's exceptional talent, which the system promised would be of the highest level, granting him command and authority over the elements equal to that of innate seed bearers like Mu Ningxue.

Speaking of the main cast, Mo Fan and Ye Xinxia had moved to Shanghai alone after their father's death and were now living together in a cramped apartment in one of the desolate regions of Shanghai, focusing solely on their cultivation.

Zhou Min, Mu Bai, and the others had joined a refugee group and were living in Xi'an. Xu Zhaoting had also entered Shanghai, as if by fate.

All in all, the year passed peacefully as Damon and everyone else advanced with their powers.

***

Hey Guys! Hope you liked the chapter. I'm currently traveling and won't be able to write as much over the next two days, so there may be fewer chapters today and tomorrow. Anyway, please recommend some good books to pass the time. Most of the ones you've mentioned I've either already read or they don't match my interests.

Preferences: no perverted protagonist, OP and antihero, villain mindset.

For original: villain or side-character focused novels, or system novels like the 10,000x increase types.

For fan fiction: smart protagonists with similar traits as above, with HP, Pokémon, Marvel, or One Piece settings. You can suggest others too.