Unlike martial artists, arcane sorcerers cannot directly use elemental power to strengthen their bodies, nor can they refine elemental power into dan force to store within themselves; instead, they use mental power to directly control the free elemental forces between heaven and earth to cast spells.

The key to the five-element arcane arts lies in cultivating the refinement of mental power and the understanding of the five elemental forces.

Gregory Eric had been practicing martial arts for more than ten years and was no stranger to the free forces of heaven and earth. His skill in focusing and calming his mind was quite impressive, so his mental power was naturally stronger than that of ordinary people. In just a moment, the free forces around him became active due to the stimulation of his thoughts, gathering around him.

According to the requirements of the fire sigil technique, Gregory Eric opened his palm, attempting to gather the chaotic elemental power above his palm. With a thought, a fireball rose from his hand. A small orange flame floated above his palm, its warm light shining on his face, looking very beautiful. Gregory Eric felt pleased with himself and was about to throw the fireball when the flame burst open, and the sparks that splattered out burned Eric a little.

A few sparks landed on his face, startling Gregory Eric. He reached up to feel his face, took off a bronze mask, and secretly mocked himself for not being calm enough.

When Gregory Eric left the academy, Brian Sutton gave him this bronze mask, instructing Gregory Eric to wear the mask on his face while cultivating after leaving the academy, not to show his face in front of others, and not to reveal his identity until the world no longer remembered him as a member of the lower class.

Gregory Eric carefully examined the mask in his hand. Under the starlight, the bronze mask, laced with red gold, was similar in color to human skin. If not for its faint sheen and the crisp sound when tapped, the lifelike mask would look just like a piece of skin peeled directly from the face of a handsome man.

As for the material of the mask, apart from the visible alloy of red gold and refined copper, it also contained other special materials. On the inside of the mask, extremely shallow ancient inscriptions were densely engraved. Gregory Eric could only recognize a few scattered ancient characters, which seemed to be part of a spell. Every time he brought the mask close to his face, it would automatically attach itself. The mask was like a living thing, fitting seamlessly and tightly to his face, as if it were a second layer of skin.

A faint golden sheen flowed across the mask, and Gregory Eric could sense that the mask could actively absorb a certain amount of chaotic elemental power. When worn, it not only perfectly concealed his face but also protected him from the harm of chaotic elemental power.

Brian Sutton did not carry many belongings, but for a chaos-type arcane sorcerer, this mask was definitely an item worthy of attention and cherishing.

Gregory Eric put the mask back on his face, picked up his homemade spear, and walked north along the towering cliffs on the eastern slopes of the Yan Yun Mountains, searching for the dried-up riverbed of the Chubu River.

Before he could skillfully use the fire sigil technique, Gregory Eric did not intend to give up his reliance on martial skills. However, apart from using martial skills to hunt for food, Gregory Eric spent all his other time refining his mental power, using spells, and trying to control the chaotic elemental power between heaven and earth. Although he was deep in the wilderness, for Gregory Eric, who had grown up in the wilds since childhood, survival was not a problem. As long as he could find a water source, the tubers of certain plants and the meat of the earth voles commonly found in the wilderness could be used to stave off hunger.

If he once had doubts about Brian Sutton's initial decision to have him practice spells in the wilderness instead of honing his martial skills, now, as Gregory Eric used the fire sigil technique to roast beast meat and ate with relish, he no longer had any complaints.

When Gregory Eric left the academy, he had nothing but that mask. Without a fire striker, the fire sigil technique was much more convenient than using flint to make fire.

In the past seven or eight days, Gregory Eric still could not fully perform the fire sigil technique. Although he could use chaotic elemental power to produce flames, he could not yet condense the flames into arrow shapes and shoot them at will.

When Matthew Sutton cast "Thunderfall's Doom," Gregory Eric was rubbing a piece of salt rock on earth vole meat to give it a salty flavor, biting into a piece of sinewy meat and tearing at it with his left hand.

He was still far from the Chubu riverbed area, and the environment here was harsh. In this survival-of-the-fittest land, the earth voles that managed to survive were all quite old, and their meat was tough and alkaline.

The faint sound of mountains collapsing and earth cracking came from afar, and the mountains behind him trembled. Gregory Eric thought an earthquake had struck the Yan Yun Mountains, so he hurriedly packed up his things and rushed east. After leaving the cliffs for about two li, he stopped and realized that the tremors here were just the aftershocks from elsewhere. Before he could mock himself, he felt a slight heat in his chest, as if a ball of flame had ignited there from chaotic elemental power. Eric had no confidence in his fire sigil technique and was startled. He quickly reached into his clothes and took out the green fruit that Gregory Clark had given him.

The green fruit, which usually showed no abnormalities, now had a skin that looked like semi-transparent glass, emitting a clear luster. Looking closely, faint patterns flowed within the glassy skin, like drifting clouds in a star-studded sky.

At that moment, Gregory Eric once again felt that mysterious power arise within him, just like the night he lay on the crown of the Kunlun thorn tree, watching the blooming of the Yingyan flower.

After Gregory Clark left the academy, Gregory Eric spent ten consecutive days in the west wing listening to Brian Sutton lecture on the basics of arcane sorcery.

Although he did not know the reason, Gregory Eric felt that the mysterious power running through his body was indeed the awakened soul power that Brian Sutton had spoken of.