Ace suddenly opened his eyes.
He was back, at the Tower Climb.
For a mont, he simply stared.
The stone steps, the distant hum of qi, the silent tension hanging in the air, it was all the sa.
Cultivators below him still struggled upward, oblivious to what he had just experienced.
The seventeenth step.
That was where he was currently standing at.
His body was slick with sweat, but it was not from the climb.
The mory of Sarah's voice, the mutilated bodies, the searing pain, it all lingered like a curse etched into his bones.
Without a word, he turned and began walking down.
The descent was far smoother.
Each step downward felt lighter, easier than the climb, for the tower itself was letting him go.
On the eighth step, he crossed paths with Xiao Thao. The young cultivator looked up, tense and uncertain.
Ace paused, placed a hand on his shoulder.
"You can do it," he said quietly, his voice firm despite the turmoil inside.
Then he walked on without turning back.
When he exited the tower, a stunned silence greeted him. Cultivators turned, whispers rippling through the crowd.
"He… did he just…"
"Seventeenth step. He reached it."
"No way that's real…"
What kind of reward would you even get for sothing like that? A divine artifact? A cultivation breakthrough? Maybe an immortal inheritance?"
Speculations bounced back and forth, growing wilder by the second.
Their expressions were a mix of awe and disbelief, but Ace barely noticed. The applause, the reverence, they ant nothing.l to him.
Because what he had seen was not just so random dream or a stupid illusion.
The illusion felt so logical, he couldn't figure out what was real and what ought to be fake.
One thing was certain though, once he gets out of this place. This Abyss, he decided to have nothing to do with the Hua family.
And leave the country with his two disciples.
But the again a thought crossed his mind, and heclenched his fingers.
What if this is still another illusion?
What if I'm still trapped in an illusion?
He drew in a shaky breath, then exhaled slowly, grounding himself.
Just as Ace steadied his breath, a faint ripple of energy stirred the air around him.
"Congratulations for ascending to the seventeenth step. You have talent, a huge talent."
The voice echoed the hall once again.
Before him, space shimred and then tore slightly with a quiet hum.
From the rift erged a furnace. It floated gently before him, its surface etched with ancient runes that pulsed faintly, as though breathing.
The tal glowed with a quiet luster, not ostentatious, but heavy with hidden potential.
Ace narrowed his eyes.
He already had a cauldron, and now there's a furnace.
Was the universe deciding that he should be an Alchemist?
The system's voice chid softly in his mind:
[Item: The Detective's Furnace
Level: Flood-Grade
Extra: Can Evolves.]
A tool that could grow stronger? That alone made it valuable beyond asure.
Ace reached out and touched the furnace.
Soone in the crowd blinked.
"Wait, is that it?"
"That's… kind of underwhelming."
"Atleast his future is secured, his aptitude in cultivation is high. And this is for the better, if he had gotten a weapon. Do you know how many people will pounch on him? He's a lone wolf here right now."
And just like that, the doubt evaporated.
Seventeenth step. That was sothing they never expected anyone to achieve.
The highest they have ever seen was fifteen, and the highest they have ever heard about was sixteenth.
Ace didn't glance at them.
He simply turned and walked, the furnace vanishing into his ring with a soft shimr.
His pace was calm, deliberate.
The crowd parted instinctively as he moved, giving him a wide berth. No one stepped forward to challenge him.
They just watched, silent and tense, as he climbed the steps to the second floor of the trial ground.
This ti, there was not a single barrier to stop his ascend.
anwhile, elsewhere, xiao thao had also descended from the stairs. He had reached the tenth step but couldn't push through to the eleventh step.
He stood still when he thought about what xiao zhi told him when he was on the eight step, fists clenched so tightly his knuckles turned white.
Rage simred beneath his skin, hot and volatile. He wanted to scream, to lash out, to deny what he'd just witnessed, but he couldn't.
Seventeen steps.
He saw it too, with his own eyes.
That cold, casual way Ace walked down as though nothing had happened, like he hadn't just shattered every expectation, every limit.
And the tone, the smug tone, ofcourse there wasn't any but what could you not make up to justify your case.
Xiao Thao's delusions crumbled under the weight of that reality. No matter how much he hated the man, he could no longer pretend he was soone he could simply defeat, let alone kill.
Behind him, Xiao Qi and Xiao Chen exchanged tense glances. Neither dared to speak. They just watched Xiao Thao in silence, hoping he wouldn't explode here and now, in front of so many eyes.
Ace didn't spare them a look.
He stepped forward, disappearing into the second floor.
It was a space that felt older than ti itself, dimly lit by glowing runes carved into the walls. A strange stillness hung in the air, thick and heavy, as if the tower were holding its breath.
Already, there were others here.
Cultivators from the Azu Clan and Boa Clan, standing at ease in their respective coloured gears.
At a glance, ace could figure out that they were all just at gold rank. So at initial, others at minor, but there was none at major rank
Oh but there was one at peak gold among them.
They glanced over as Ace entered, so with curiosity, others with veiled wariness.
But Ace barely acknowledged them.
His eyes swept across the chamber.
The second floor.
Unlike the stairs of the first, this trial seed to be a test of danger detection, a corridor lined with ancient traps, chanisms from a forgotten age.
Hidden blades, shifting tiles, invisible pressure points, and maybe even each step forward could spell death.
Along the sides of the chamber, ancient murals stretched like faded mories.
Ace exhaled slowly.
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