Compared to his SSS-rank talent, Judgement of the Ancient Colossal Mammoths, his Earth talent was much more straightforward.

The moment the stream of brown energy shot toward the sky, a beam of far more refined energy streaked back down, drilling into his body in violent waves.

The crushing pressure that followed was immense, but with his enhanced physique and strength, it might as well have been nothing.

Through it all, he could feel faint strands of energy veering off into the distance and being absorbed by the crowd.

He could have stopped it and claimed every drop for himself, but he doubted that little would make any difference.

Besides, he smiled. He wasn’t exactly giving it away, it was simply drifting naturally toward them. His SSS-rank Earth Maestro talent acted like a massive beacon, drawing most of the energy to him.

The stray strands were attracted to those who possessed earth or metal talents, acting as miniature beacons.

Probably one of the reasons why most powerhouses chose to advance in secret, far away from massive crowds like this.

But Ulric let it slip this time. He considered it more of a parting gift.

The waves of refined earth energy continued drilling into his body for a while before the notification he had been waiting for finally appeared.

[Ding! Your SSS-rank Earth Maestro talent has successfully bloomed into the Supreme Art: Terra Dominus.]

Smiling at the notification, Ulric nodded rapidly as he felt the changes it brought. If he had to explain it simply, he would say it was a far more refined version of the former talent.

If before he could sense movements through earth vibrations, now he could sense much more than basic motion.

He could detect literal weight, monitor breathing patterns to determine whether a being was injured or healthy, conduct earth scans to search for underground treasures, and so much more. The possibilities seemed nearly endless.

He wouldn’t be exaggerating if he said this new art was a vastly superior version of his spiritual field.

The grin on his face widened as Ulric delved deeper into the sea of knowledge that flooded his mind.

While Ulric grew increasingly pleased, the crowd didn’t share the same sentiment as the waves of earth energy were fully absorbed by the black-robed figure. Murmurs broke out and swept across them intensely.

***

"Huh... wait, why are the waves of enlightenment receding?"

"Nooo... come back... I promise I am worthy!"

"Could this mean I am not a genius after all? But that’s impossible!"

"Haha, serves you right for bragging in my face."

"Greedy bastards! With my evolved sword, I bet I can sell it for a lot of gold and buy better equipment!"

"Yes, I agree. This is a heaven-sent opportunity."

"But it doesn’t make sense. It suddenly vanished as soon as the lord’s Earth talent bloomed into an art."

"You don’t think it has something to do with him... right?"

"I think it’s the only explanation."

As the murmurs grew louder, most of the crowd connected the dots. Their eyes turned toward the black-robed figure with awe and reverence.

"Haha, why didn’t I think of that? The lord’s my lucky charm. Too bad I didn’t bring all my treasures... otherwise I would have made a fortune off this."

"Hmm, no need to worry. The young lord and I go way back. If you’re willing to part with a few gold coins... I can consider talking to him about releasing another wave of that earth energy!"

"Huh? What is this I’m hearing? You and the young lord in the same sentence? You must be courting death! Someone kick his ass!"

"W-wait... you must have heard wrong..."

At the far side, as the waves of brown energy vanished into Ulric’s frame, Graegor’s eyes flickered rapidly.

His eyes glinted with a metallic sheen that was rapidly fading. When it finally eased away, he let out a slow breath. An uncontainable smile spread across his face as waves of exhilaration coursed through his veins.

Just now, he could feel his metal energy thicken considerably, saving him months of meditation that would have brought about the same results.

It was just too insane. He struggled to wrap his mind around it. To put it in perspective, he had a feeling that if he faced his old self right now, he could easily come out on top in just a few moves.

The other elders staring at him seemed to share his thoughts as they nodded faintly. Unable to hide the storm of emotions crossing their faces.

One question kept circling in their minds: If mere leaking strands of energy during his breakthrough were enough to push forward the elders and the crowd below, they couldn’t even begin to imagine the true power the dark-robed figure wielded with just this earth art.

Shifting their gazes, they tried to pry for more information but failed. Even some of the weaker elders felt chills just by staring at his frame.

They couldn’t accurately gauge how strong the lord’s Earth art was since he didn’t seem eager to test it like he had with his strength art.

Still, they didn’t take their eyes off him. As time slowly passed, their hearts thumped rapidly while they waited.

A few minutes passed this way, the tension rising dramatically with each one. Would the lord finally emerge from the wastelands, or would he sink back into meditation and continue his breakthrough?

Despite knowing there was still a chance for the latter, given how he seemed to possess a seemingly endless array of talents, they still stared in disbelief as he fixed his stance. A quiet sigh slipped past his lips.

"Ice." Ulric breathed.

A beam of spectral blue energy shot out of his body, depleting all his reserves of ice energy in one go as it streaked toward the sky.

For a moment, everyone froze as they stared blankly. One would think that after seeing the youth bloom talents into arts as if they were nothing, they would have grown used to it by now.

But it was quite the opposite. With every new talent that bloomed into an art, the crowd grew even more shocked, almost until they grew numb to the feeling.

With good reason. A dual-awakened talent was rare. A triple-awakened even more so, probably one in millions. A quad? They doubted such a figure even existed... and if he did, they were staring straight at him.

They were witnessing a rare phenomenon unfold. History was being written anew as this marked the meteoric rise of a monster.

That was why, as the shock slowly washed away, excited cheers exploded from the crowd with far more intensity than ever before.

Besides being happy at the rise of the dark-robed figure, most recognized the opportunity and intended to seize it fully.

Unlike the other streams of energy, when the blue energy streaked toward the sky, it froze everything in its path, including the moisture in the air, into slabs of ice.

If he were alone, Ulric wouldn’t have paid much mind to it. But he supposed it wouldn’t do any good if they fell on the figures in the crowd.

Waving his hand, the slabs of ice fractured into countless pieces. When the refined energy shot down through them, it imbued each fragment with traces of power, making them shimmer in an entrancing display as they fell like ice motes and flakes.

Staring at the sight, Aria was drawn in for a moment as her breath caught in her throat. It was beautiful, perhaps one of the most striking sights she had ever seen.

And more than that, as she stared, her eyes fluttered in disbelief. She felt her light art stirring. When some of the flakes landed on her, they melted, seeping into her being and nurturing her light energy. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Her mouth opened and closed multiple times, but no words came out. Having awakened a low-ranked healing-attributed talent, it had naturally bloomed into a light art. But given its low rank, it had sealed her fate as a low-rank healer. Despite her best efforts, she could only mend surface wounds. Anything deeper became a challenge, which was why she combined herbs with her craft.

But in just a short moment, as the flakes of ice seeped into her being, she could feel her light energy grow wonderfully fast, almost doubling her natural reserves.

It was too amazing to be summed up in words. Suppressing the tears welling in her eyes, she plopped to the ground in meditation to make full use of this opportunity.

Staring as another burst of energy exploded from the crowd and Mistress Aria, the elders nodded in gratitude toward the dark-robed figure.

But that didn’t last long. They soon shook their heads in disappointment as they watched some figures break through the city gates, rushing deeper into the wastelands where the concentration of energy was greater.

Which ended up being their downfall as they learned a cruel lesson. Even in all its beauty, the ice was extremely deadly. The figures who rushed forward were frozen solid before their bodies fractured into ice shards.

Reinforcing the nature Ulric had attributed to it: deadly elegance.