World's Third Richest Man
6 Elements Forbidden Mage
Emperor Level Physique
Grand Magus Award Nominee
Youngest Super Mage
Slayer of Red Cardinal Salan
Nemesis of Black Vatican
Hero of Xi'an and Hangzhou
Strength, wealth, fame — Damon had reached that stage of life where he possessed all three.
In his early twenties he had accomplished more than most could dream of in this magical world. Everyone, regardless of age, looked up to him with a mixture of respect and envy.
"Who's your role model?"
"Damon! Damon Morningstar! I want to be just like him when I grow up!"
"Really? Why?"
"Because he's so cool! He killed that Mountain Monster! I want to be like him too!"
"Me too!"
"Same!"
[***** Group Idol Confesses Her Crush On Damon!]
His name and image alone were enough to command anyone's attention. But where there are admirers, there are always those eaten alive by jealousy.
[The Dark Truth About Damon Morningstar]
[Illuminati's New Pawn — Damon!]
Conspiracy theories and fabricated stories about him kept flooding every corner of the internet.
"Excuse me — what are your thoughts on Damon Morningstar?"
"Damon Morningstar? Another rich bastard. Grew up with money and now flaunts it in everyone's face. He's just another young master from some shady family, riding the achievements of others —"
Negative reviews, wild conspiracies, outright lies — in certain corners of the internet, his name was being dragged through the mud.
And while all of that played out, what was our protagonist actually doing?
D-dum.
"Sigh... I'll have to wait years now for One Piece to catch up to me." Dressed in cheap, comfortable clothes, Damon muttered to himself as he clicked on the latest episode for his summon to watch.
"You could use the space element to control the remote, you know, Fira..." He scratched his head and glanced over at the fiery creature who had since grown to resemble a teenage girl.
YiYi~ (But I want to watch it with you!)
Chirping happily, his contracted daughter made herself comfortable beside him as the episode began.
The Fiery Hetera was a truly exceptional creature. In the original novel, her growth had always been stunted — limited by either a lack of resources or Mo Fan's own cultivation falling short of her potential. Being a descendant of a powerful monarch-class creature, and an elemental of which only one individual is permitted to exist at a time, her growth rate was nothing short of extraordinary.
With the resources Damon could provide and the full force of her own natural talent, she had grown far beyond what her novel counterpart ever could. In terms of raw combat ability she still lagged behind somewhat — Damon had never put her through the brutal trials Mo Fan had, nor made a habit of throwing her into active battle — but in every other respect she had surpassed all expectations.
Outside, night had settled over the city. The entire villa was buried under stacks of ancient books that Damon had been spending all his time working through.
While watching the show, his mind drifted back to the subject that had been consuming him.
The books were taken straight from the white palace of the ancient emperor — written by the man himself, they were an extraordinary treasure trove for any magician or researcher willing to dig into them.
Drawn directly from the old king's personal library, the texts were dense with theory and magic. Exclusive knowledge, the product of the emperor's own lifelong research.
His original fifth element had been the curse element. Through exhaustive study, relentless experimentation, and no small number of live subjects, he had managed to influence that element until it evolved into something entirely new — the undead element. Fascinating.
There were sweeping, powerful theories on space, earth, and chaos that put the current age of magic to shame. Rich documentation on lightning, wind, water, and every other element. Blueprints and knowledge enough to create artifacts and weapons that could reshape entire fields.
From agriculture to naval warfare, the man's genius had touched everything.
Having reviewed the blueprints and theories, Damon had already put in orders to acquire several relevant companies, instructing their researchers and experts to study the ancient emperor's work and begin developing products for sale.
Damon held stakes in a great many companies, though most were run by capable hands while he served as chairman — weighing in on major decisions when they arose, but otherwise staying out of daily operations and focusing on his own strength. That arrangement, as it happened, was entirely common practice in this world.
The advanced research into earth, space, chaos, and even water elements formed a foundation for the weapons he intended to develop further down the line — especially in preparation for whatever threats the sea would eventually bring.
The magical theory alone would have been enough to keep him occupied for years. But what had truly pulled Damon into an obsession with these books were the personal accounts — the tales of the ancient king himself venturing out into the world.
Expeditions into forbidden zones. Clashes with their rulers. Records of the Southern Emperor, the Emperor of Bermuda, the disasters sleeping beneath the Amazon. The sky city that ancient humanity had once constructed. The thousand-headed serpent whose petrified remains now formed the Himalayas. The disasters of the dark plane. And Kunlun.
NEVER GO TO KUNLUN.
That was all there was. Just the warning, and nothing more.
What is there that can't even be mentioned?
Damon stared at the page as the screen displayed: To Be Continued.
Should probably look into getting a live-action adaptation of One Piece made here too, he thought. Another brilliant idea quietly filed itself away before he stretched, yawning.
"It's getting boring."
Hunting Black Vatican members had become difficult. They had been effectively purged from China's surface and had gone deep underground. Regular hunting contracts, at his current level of strength, had become one-sided massacres with no real challenge to speak of.
There was no real point to training or meditation at this stage. Money was rolling in with no sign of slowing down.
It was just too peaceful.
No financial pressure. No opponent worth fighting. No girlfriend to spend time with, no friends to hang around.
Zhao Manyan and the others were all buried in their own training. Mu Nujiao and Damon were on a break from each other, with her focusing on cultivation under her clan and teachers. Mo Fan was at Mount Hua, training in seclusion under the watch of Zhu Meng and Han Ji.
He supposed it was time to get back to collecting elements.
Fire. Light. Space. Earth. Summoning. Undead. Chaos.
Seven elements, with earth having been obtained through artificial awakening and a mutation born from envy. The bottleneck was always the same — gathering powerful elemental spirits took time, and that was what made awakening additional primary elements so slow.
With mutation of primary elements already achieved through his own research, the remaining targets were clear.
Water. Wind. Ice. Lightning.
White magic elements were still a mystery — he had no real lead on how to pursue them. The records of Ying Zhen had given him a direction for black magic. The only dimensional element he still lacked was sound.
"I should be around peak Mo Fan in terms of combat... maybe."
Even now he couldn't say with confidence that he had surpassed him. At his peak, even if temporarily, Mo Fan had managed to manifest a twelve-element forbidden curse.
Damon's physique matched that of a low-level emperor in physical terms, and magically he was perhaps equivalent to a standard emperor — if he was willing to be a little generous with himself.
But in the mortal plane alone, how many emperors were there? Nearly forty known to mankind, and hundreds more unknown.
Above even the ancient emperor Zhang King, there were many. Two or three angels with comparable combat ability. Multiple emperors lurking beneath the ocean's surface.
The three high emperors who stood above all else. The dark kings who ruled the planes entire. The unknown entity — or entities — that might inhabit Kunlun. The Divine Eyes and the Divine Brain. The wood spring well. And the summoning plane beyond it all, which might house beings more powerful than anything in the dark plane.
"Just how insignificant is humanity..." Damon murmured, eyes drawn to the glittering city spread out below him. "Just how much is still out there..."
His left hand rested against the window. In its reflection, the unique pattern etched into his skin pulsed steadily in time with his heartbeat.
"To be devoured?"