Thud!
Suddenly, the sound of something falling to the ground attracted his attention.
He looked down and saw Ling Han lying on the ground, his face pale white, his eyes unfocused, and struggling to breathe.
Max stared at him for a moment, waiting for the tower spirit to take action and help himâafter all, he had done it a favor by bringing him hereâbut sensing that it showed no signs of helping, he sighed and squatted down.
Placing a hand on his chest, he scanned his body with his bloodline sense and found that Ling Han had spent over seventy percent of his blood essence.
âThis guy... he really loves his sister, huh?â
Maxâs impression of him improved further. Without knowing whether the tower spirit would help him recover or not, Ling Han hadnât hesitated to use his blood essence to bring him in and awaken itâall to help his sister recover.
Closing his eyes, Max began injecting his Nascent Energy into Ling Hanâs heart and blood, alleviating the side effects of losing too much blood essence and aiding its recovery.
Ten minutes later, he removed his hand from Ling Hanâs chest and heaved a deep breath.
Ling Han looked at him with surprise and gratitude in his eyes, and as he pushed himself to sit up, he said, "Thank you for helping me, Young Master."
Max nodded and warned, "Just make sure to never exhaust your blood essence so much in the future unless you have something to help you recover it quickly. Otherwise, youâll be crippled for life."
Ling Han just nodded without saying anything. He was well aware of the consequences, but for his sister, let alone exhausting his blood essence, he was willing to give up his life.
Max saw through him and didnât say anything more.
Looking at the sky, he asked, "So, where is the tower spirit? It shouldâve awakened by now."
Just as he spoke, a hazy figure of a small silvery-white tower appeared in front of him. Apart from its color, it looked the same as the black, broken tower.
âHm? Shouldnât it also be black... or maybe not?â
Max wasnât sure but felt there must be a reason behind it.
âIt shouldnât be due to a lack of cleaning because Ling Hanâs family wouldnât let it get dirty to the extent it changed color.â
Just as he was thinking this, a voice whose gender he couldnât identify sounded in his head.
[If you pass the test and become the tower master, all your questions will have answers.]
"I understand," Max said, looking at the broken white tower spirit. "Letâs begin the test then?"
[Sure.]
Rumble...
The tower spirit trembled slightly. In response, the ground rumbled and a black platform broke out in front of him. On top of it lay a round crystal ball.
[Place your hand on the assessment crystal and donât resist.]
Taking a deep breath, Max stepped forward and placed his palm on the smooth, transparent crystal.
Weng~
A strand of energy entered his hand and circulated throughout his body at a breakneck speed before entering the crystal ball again.
Weng~
A moment later, the crystal ball hummed and a ray of five-colored light shot up, reaching a bit over nine feet into the sky.
The tower shook slightly as if in excitement and reliefâor perhaps it was resignation and relief? Max couldnât tell.
"As expected of the Young Master, youâre way more talented than me," Ling Han said in admiration as he watched the ray of light slowly vanish, excitement clear on his pale face.
He then glanced at the tower spirit and respectfully, hopefully asked, "Young Master is eligible to become your master, right?"
[Barely, but he is.]
The tower spiritâs voice sounded out, causing Ling Han to sigh in relief while Max raised his brows, feeling slightly belittledâbut he didnât say anything. All that mattered was that he would become the tower master.
Of course, when he saw the nine-foot-tall ray of light, he had thought,
âMy talent increased?â
recalling he had produced just a little less than eight meters of halo back in the Crimson Monarchâs Legacy Trials.
But then he shook his head. What Crimson Monarch had tested was his Fire affinity, not his talent.
A moment later, the tower spirit floated over to him and its voice sounded in his mind,
[If you wish to become master of the Ephemeral Cosmic Tower, drop a drop of blood essence onto the platform.]
Max took out a small sword from his spatial ring and tried to cut his finger, but failed.
âMy defense is too strong for normal swords to cut my skin,â
he smiled wryly and glanced at Ling Han.
"Your dagger is a magic artifact, right?"
"Yes, Young Master," Ling Han nodded and, without needing to be asked, handed it over.
Finally, Max cut open the skin of his thumb, used his bloodline energy to condense a drop of blood essence, and squeezed it onto the platform.
Weng~
Immediately, the whole space trembled, and under everyoneâs watch, the blank platformâstarting from where the drop of blood fellâbegan turning white, reverting to its original color.
At the same time, Max felt a connection forming with the platformâno, with the tower. Then, information related to the tower started appearing in his mind.
Several seconds passed, and the trembling of space gradually stopped.
Phew!
Max exhaled a long breath, his lips curling into a satisfied smile. He was now the master of the tower and could enter or let others enter this space at will.
Just as he was celebrating this windfall, the tower spiritâs voice sounded:
[You are not wrong, Master. However, there needs to be energy for the tower to function. When the tower no longer has any energy, you wonât be able to enter or exit the tower.]
"I know," Max nodded. "If Iâm not wrong, my Nascent Energy can be used as functional energy for the tower. And not only that..."
Max pulled Nascent Energy from his dantian and sent it into the crystal ballâwhich wasnât just a talent assessment crystal, but also the energy store of the tower along with the white platform beneath it.
"...It can even restore the towerâs source energy to some extent."
The tower spiritâs manifested body shook, as if in disbelief. Then its voice sounded in his mind.
[I-It can really do that?]
"Of course," Max smiled.
He knew the tower spirit had already sensed it earlier when he helped Ling Han, but it wasnât sure because its senses were currently weakened due to the towerâs current state.