Two bodies moved at a speed unreachable by mortal standards. But the two fighters were as from mortals as the earth was to the sky. They were both in the foundation realm and as such their bodies had now been transformed into objects worthy of worship. The crowd sitting on the floating chairs certainly seemed to think so as they cheered both the fighters on.

The woman of the pair used a weapon, a spear to be exact and the untrained eye could only see flashes as she rapidly stabbed the body of the male. The man was no slouch either as his hands were a blur blocking every single strike with monstrous efficiency. Their feet were not still either as the man rapidly tried to approach while the woman danced away trying to create distance to take advantage of her weapon's reach.

At first glance, it looked like they were at a standstill as none of them scored any strike of note but Samuel had already analyzed the fight and knew the winner before they were even decided. Most people of his caliber could when they spectated fights that were so beneath them, but that did not stop any from looking on in interest. Like that combat bout where he knew the woman had already won, his disciple was also in a fight in which he already knew victory was etched in stone.

She was taking part in the 'essence bouts', a combat event where one fought only using their natural control over their essence, no techniques were allowed. Elizabeth had to even learn a single martial or spiritual technique, all she could do was natural greater manipulation. Something that most of her peers will begin to properly utilize at essence condensation. The best most could do at essence refining was coating themselves or ejecting the essence in bursts.

It was not to say Samuel was looking down on the others, far from it. Even the woman Elizabeth currently facing was far above her in combat effectiveness. Unlike Elizabeth who looked nervous with her stance containing a slight tremble, the toned dark skin woman was calm her stance as steady as stone. She had already done something most foundation realm earth cultivators would not even think of doing. She had not coated her body in her earth essence instead allowing the essence to freely flow around her skin, he was willing to bet that if he struck anywhere the skin would harden around that spot to reduce impact. Compare that to Elizabeth who did not even start cycling her essence despite being given ample opportunity to do so.

Despite all that, Elizabeth would win without question. The raw difference in their power was just that wide. If the seasoned combatant did anything to cause real emotional turmoil in Elizabeth, such as fearing for her life, the match would end right there... in Elizabeth's victory.

Samuel could teach her humility later, right now, she needed to know her strength, she needed to know just how powerful she was compared to the rest of her flock. All he had done the day before was soothe her, and she was getting cold feet this morning when he had announced he had signed her up in a match.

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She gave no outward indication of course, but he could read her soul, and then, and even right now, it was a mass of self-doubt and fear. It did not matter that he had repeatedly told her that even if she failed it was ok. Even if she was nothing but a 'sex slave', he would be fine with that outcome. Even if he was certain that she had potential that could outpace even him.

So this needed to happen, to teach her confidence. As much as humility was beneficial to cultivators, much more was their ability to gauge their own self-worth.

So he waited as the gong dropped and the fight began, to see the flower bloom.

The match immediately turned in the favor of the tanned combatant as she closed the distance with a single leap a boom generated from her feet using the earth essence as a form of propulsion. The opinion on the tanned combatant immediately went up a tick in his head, she had just imitated a very well-known essence refining earth technique without breaking any of the rules.

Elizabeth meanwhile was gathering fire essence to start one of her 'routines' completely misjudging the combat flow and she was punished for it. A fist slammed into her stomach knocking the wind out of her followed by a shoulder slam to cleanly finish her in one move.

But the slam never connected, within a fraction of a second the entire right side of her body was covered in frost. Samuel was confident that would be the end of the fight but this young woman surprised him once more. By rapidly channeling earth essence she shattered the ice coating and leaped back creating distance. Elizabeth was still in shock from the first blow and did not capitalize on the opportunity given.

Not that it mattered. To pull that small stunt, Samuel was sure that the earth fighter had burned through a considerable amount of stored essence.

Elizabeth finally looked up, looking slightly dazzled but otherwise fine, even the empower punch did nothing more than stun her for a brief period. She looked at her own hands seemingly shocked at what had just transpired. The tanned fighter did not give her much breathing room though as she once charged expending much more essential in this go around trying to end the fight quickly. This Elizabeth had the presence of mind to swipe her hands upwards.

The moment she did Samuel knew the fight was over. Similar to her demonstration during their private training, massive pillars of ice were created right in the way of the fighter barreling forward. For a moment, Samuel expected her to do something and for a brief glimpse, he could see that she wanted to as well but at the last second he saw her close her eyes and accept her fate as she smashed into the ice, the force of the impact knocking her out cleanly as she lay in the shattered ice.

For a moment she looked stunned but the applause from the crowd brought her out of her reverie as she leaped in the air, her massive assets jiggling very distractingly in concert with her movement. Samuel was proud and embarrassed all at the same time. At least now, she would have more confidence in herself.

"Excuse me?"

Samuel did not bother looking as his focus was completely on his celebrating disciple.

"Yes?"

"Are you master Samuel?"

"Yes."

This was probably a messenger sent by one of the other masters, he needed to hear what the feminine voice had to say before dismissing them.

"Can I become your disciple?"

"Huh!?!"