Elizabeth thrust her sword forward and a spiral of fire and ice shot forward, then she followed it up with an upper strike. Giant spikes of ice rapidly rose from the ground following the motion. Finally, she brought the sword back down as a massive wave of fire came down with her strike smashing down on the ice. And smash it did because the ice did not melt from the heat and instead shattered from the explosive force. The shards of ice shot in every direction frosting over everything they touched.

She breathed keeping her rapidly beating heart calm. The swirling aura of fire and ice slowly dissipated leaving an ever so slightly winded disciple. A small layer of sweat caked the surface of her skin giving it a shiny sheen. However, she still looked like her tank was nowhere near empty, the hold on her sword was strong, and her breath was slightly labored but still steady. Her stance was still unchallenged.

As soon as her demonstration ended, a slow deliberate clap was heard.

"Well done. You are ready."

Elizabeth's calm demeanor dropped as she jumped up in glee. She dashed into Samuel as she hopped into her arms.

"Master! I did it! I did it!"

"Yes. Yes, you have."

Samuel started patting her head to which she answered with a soft moan.

Samuel would have liked to attribute her godlike growth as her own talent, and lament that with just a little bit of effort, she could have also been a Heaven's chosen instead of a cauldron. But he knew that to be not true, her barely present power of her own metallic essence was proof that she should have years left before she had mastered her essence-refining power.

But mythic abilities spat on the face of normal convention. Her power had molded her body, mind, and soul to be better equipped at handling its power. The sheer fact that the ice she generated still cycled water essence for additional properties post-creation was way beyond what she should have been able to do with so little training.

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But that was neither here nor there, she had dramatically improved. That was all that mattered. She was ready for the tournament, just in time, as the event was merely days away.

It was also a miracle that he could invest as much time as he did in Elizabeth as Lucia seemed to have taken a keen interest in his business. She would pop in at the most random times and ask to do the most random things, the only common link was that they were two people's activities. Naturally, he had turned her down every single time, his disciple's future was worth infinitely more to him.

A fact of life he was still getting used to, he had never realized how good it did his mind and soul to see the little cultivator grow. She struggled and fell quite often but she was a fighter and kept grinding along. Many a time, it felt like he was more worried about Elizabeth than the person herself. Her answers to his concerns were also very impossible to defend against.

"Why should I care about what happens to me? Have I not given myself entirely to you? Isn't your job taking care of me and mine taking care of you?"

The little trickster had learned to be more conniving because it definitely did work. She had managed to place herself on the same pedestal that once only his cultivation had occupied.

At least, now both of them could reap the fruits of their combined labor. He was not going to break any records, those would be reserved for the heaven's chosen masters that somehow managed to wrangle an essence condensation disciple. There were also a ton of group events, none of which he could participate in. But his disciple was extraordinary, To a point that he truly believed there would come a time when she might surpass him. Not to mention she had a trump card that even essence condensation will find hard to defend against. Granted, he would rather she did not use it and let the secret out.

But he had a lot of time to think about it, it did not matter as much if the secret got out, she could not be separated from him. Such was the nature of their connection. As powerful as she was, it was all still just potential and at the end of the day, those who would seek to use her would have to go through him first.

After all, he had her 'leash'. Both his eyes glowed, thinking of the hell he would bring upon any who wished to hurt her future and happiness.

"Master... You look scary..."

That brought him out of his reverie.

"Sorry, Elizabeth, I was just thinking about the upcoming yearly tournament. I was just thinking about how you are going to show the world how strong you became over only a short year."

"Yeah, those mean people are gonna be so jealous when they see me! Being all awesome and kicking but!"

Yes. Yes, they will.