Eternal Thief

'Since this tower is giving away so many rewards and trying its best to make others stay within and kill each other to have them absorb each other soul segments and cultivate to higher realms, then there is more to this than meets the eye.

'But no one was able to do it to this day because they were stopped at some level to cultivate, making the trial even more difficult for themselves.

'After all, nobody would be able to go beyond ten levels higher than themselves to fight with ten puppets unless they are peak geniuses. Especially if someone is already in the soul manifestation realm, the level difference from that realm to the Law-Awareness is a massive leap.

'The key is to clear all these trials while remaining in the boundary of the river realm to the soul realm. But then it was also a matter of conviction whether someone is willing to put their lives on the line while ignoring all the benefits.

'Lastly, it would come to the tower spirit whether it would let anyone with such a potential achieve this feat or if the killing is necessary to make a Soul Vessel, then it will bend the rules…' Ace thought while his eyes were filled with sharpness.

But he didn't reveal his inner thoughts and walked toward the light gate. He knew it would be even harder for him to leave this tower within the side mission time limit.

Furthermore, he was still not confident that he would be able to subdue this tower or the existence behind it. But he knew there was no other way but to move forward.

It was the first time Ace was put into such a passive position where he had no other option and couldn't control the flow of the situation. He was also sure that he was being monitored.

This feeling was not good; it was like dancing on someone else palm.

That's also why he no longer summoned Cyrus because if the tower spirit was able to guess Cyrus's fire's true nature, then it might try to take him away or get rid of him if it felt threatened.

Ace's only trump card was he could destroy the fake true soul any time, and if he used it wisely, then he might be able to leave this place.

But he needed to clear all the trials first to get that opportunity!

The moment Ace walked onto the fourth floor, he was surprised because there was no more grassland, but he was in the middle of a forest with trees that were probably over 100 meters tall.

Elliot had limited information on floor four because of the statue of his family. So, Ace only knew there was a city somewhere in this place.

Because the elves could leave this place and return when the entrance appeared in three years again, they will appear in the same place they left.

So, they built this city where they could appear once they returned, and this forest was also dangerous. There are beasts in this place ranked from river core to soul realm.

That's why only those who are confident in their ability will dare to come here since they will appear in a random place, and then they had to find the city, which was the only safe area without getting eaten by the beasts first.

More importantly, these beasts could also provide a boost in cultivation as long as they were killed, just like any contender. That's why elves formed hunting squads here to hunt those beasts, and there seemed no end to them.

The scion of families also formed alliances of their own and recruit members with the promise of lavish rewards.

However, Ace didn't have to worry about any of this because the fate map could lead him right toward the entrance. He also wasn't interested in hunting those beasts or meddling in anyone's business.

So, Ace activated the fate map and saw the indicator was pointing in the northeast direction, so he moved there without hesitation.

This floor was still not enough to make him slow down or threaten his life.

After half a day, Ace found the city surrounded by tall walls as long as the surrounding trees, and there was only one huge entrance.

Speaking of which, this place also didn't have the concept of night and day as it was always gloomy sky above. Without Qi, this place would not be better than a grim graveyard.

Ace didn't go through the gate since he didn't need to. He merely scanned the walls, which were only protected by high-grade-3 formation. So, he easily skipped the wall.

The city was over twenty square miles in size, and it was filled with tall buildings with different names, and all of them had one word in common, 'Alliance.'

These buildings were all controlled by first-rate families' scions who could create their Alliances while paying a hefty price to the Royal Family.

The Royal Elf Family was the ruler of the Elven Continent, and the Elf Queen was the matriarch.

The elves didn't follow the typical noble system and didn't have complex titles like a duke, marquise, and so on. All the families were divided into Royal, First Rate, Second Rate, and Third Rate.

There was only one Royal Family that had a Law Awareness overseer.

While the First-Rate Families were like nobles with titles, and they had Soul Manifestation Realm Cultivators. In comparison, the Second-Rate Families were like normal nobles.

As for the Third-Rate Families, they were like commoners.

There were no strict rules about who could be the first or third-rate family. It was a matter of power backing they had.

If all the soul manifestation realm cultivators of a first-rate family die, then they will be demoted to second-rate. Or if a second-rate family managed to produce a soul manifestation realm cultivator, they can reevaluate their status into First Rate Families.

Lastly, if a Law Awareness Realm Cultivator appeared among a first-rate family, they had to merge with the Royal Family, whether they liked it or not, and become their branch family.

As for why it matters to have a higher family status, it was because the more powerful a family, the ample resources and land they will be granted, and most importantly, the quota of 'Holy Tower' entrance every three years.

Every three years, the tower spirit would only let 10,000 New contenders enter, no more or less.

But for elves, even this number was relatively high since they needed a workforce on the main continent, and not just anyone could reach the fourth floor, so the royal family allocated quota to families according to their rank. Then these families held competitions to distribute the given seats among themselves.

The Holy Tower was both the land of opportunity and death, so only those with ambition or motives stepped inside.

But once they reached the fourth floor, they were like fish in the sea as they could exit and come back anytime within a hundred years. No one will stop them, and their contender-ship won't be voided as long as they take the entrance test before their hundred years are exhausted.

All the elves spent almost 100 years in this place and cultivated diligently while fighting life-and-death battles with each other.

The once peaceful and nature-loving race had now become a warmonger and bloodthirsty race. As long as they were in the tower, they were like beasts who had escaped their cage!

Ace appeared in the city's center just outside a large building with a doom. Outside this building a tall black stone filled with golden names and numbers.

It was the Ranking Board for Seed Contenders!

A hundred golden names were enraged on it, and all these contenders were on the sixth floor, which was the limit of Seed Contenders.

This ranking seldom changed since these hundred contenders were all from the old generation, and all were either high elders or heads of first-rate families and the upper echelon of the wise elf race.

Because the limit restriction was removed after acquiring a 6-star tattoo, they can freely leave and come back to the tower to challenge the trial anytime, from anywhere, if they want to.

So, these old fogies won't challenge the higher-level floor anymore because it was simply too dangerous, and they weren't willing to put their lives on the line and abandon their positions.

That was why only those who were not afraid of death would take the risk after coming that far, but only three have ever succeeded to this day.

Ace gave that board an uninterested fleeting glance before he moved on toward the closed door of the next floor's entrance!