An Understated Dominance by Marina Vittori

“Who the heck is this kid?” Oron glanced at his trembling hands and felt a chill run down his spine. He failed to gain the upper hand in the earlier clash with Dustin and suffered an unexpected setback.

He was already an ultimate grandmaster, with a cultivation and mastery of the Glow Incantation that surpassed Caleb’s. By all accounts, subduing a younger opponent should have been a piece of cake.

But that exchange just now had brought him to a stark realization- Dustin had been holding back this whole time and hadn’t used his full strength. Otherwise, Caleb wouldn’t have lasted this long.

The realization unsettled Oron. There were always extraordinary talents out there, but the potential Dustin had displayed was genuinely terrifying. To

put it plainly, he was a beast on the same level as Glenn.

“What happened? Why did the judge step in?”

“Can’t you see? Caleb has already lost. If the judge hadn’t stepped in, that sword would have killed him or left him severely injured.”

“Exactly! It would be a pity to see the most talented disciple of Sacred Wyrm Summit die here.”

“I thought Caleb would win, but Dustin changed the outcome with just one sword strike. It’s terrifying.”

The unexpected turn of events sent the spectators buzzing with chatter.

Whether it was Caleb’s Eight Trigrams of Divine Talisman being countered or Oron intervening to stop the match, everything had unfolded in the blink of an eye. The fight was already over when

spectators grasped what had just

to say now? You looked pretty smug a moment ago.” Cyrus

that Dustin would still be able

countered the talisman with a single strike, which decisively determined the match’s outcome. His potential was beyond anything Alloy had

dawned on Alloy why Seth had chosen Dustin as his

now,” Dustin said,

back and had no intention of delivering a lethal strike. However, he had to unleash

and conceded at the right moment. Otherwise, considering Caleb’s earlier state, he might not

until now. I lost, and I accept

of looking defeated, he appeared energized, and his eyes aflame with determination. Although he claimed to be indifferent

tackled every challenge- cultivation, self-discipline, or resilience-without breaking a sweat. Plus, he outperformed every disciple of

guild spent three years making small strides and a decade to master the Glow Incantation, Caleb managed to perfect it in just six

so-called gifted disciples would achieve

Wrym Summit, Caleb

worked hard. He approached everything half- heartedly, yet his cultivation and mastery of spells outshined those who had worked

However, the rapid pace of his progress had its drawbacks. Without experiencing any

cultivation seemed absurdly simple-just eat, drink, sleep, and breakthroughs would follow. With that mindset, he struggled to find the motivation to commit to

earlier attack shook him out of his complacency. Caleb understood he wasn’t the only genius in the world and that others were

purpose. The long-dormant fire of