As the group entered the palace, they saw Gene, Noah and Nyra walk out.
Geneâs eyes lit up when she saw them. Quickly hopping over to Esmeâs side, she grabbed her hand and swept a dissatisfied glance at everyone,
"You guys finally stopped cultivating, huh? I thought you werenât going to stop until you reached Supreme Realm. I was so boredâow, ow, ow! Stop it Granny, it hurts."
Esme didnât let go of her ear and continued twisting it, "You little minx. How many times do I have to tell you to focus on cultivation instead of wasting your time on playing around, huh?"
"Iâm sorry, Granny. Iâll be serious from now on." Gene looked at her with puppy eyes which made Esme sigh and release her ear.
[If you want to accompany us when we march on the Thunder family, you need to get serious about becoming stronger, little Gene.] She transmitted.
Geneâs expression turned solemn when she heard this.
"Iâm going to cultivate. Sister Nyra, tell them which is my room so they wonât come disturb me." Saying this, she released Esmeâs hand and rushed inside the palace.
Swoosh!
But just a moment later, she returned, a sheepish look on her face.
"I, uh, cousin. Give me some mana stones to cultivate with."
While Esme shook her head in exasperation, Max chuckled and flicked a spatial ring toward her. "Here, cultivate well."
"Will do." Gene seriously nodded and rushed back in.
...
The group toured the palace and Max realized somethingâAll rooms had high grade mana gathering and purification formations.
Though because the space inside the tower didnât have mana, the formations wouldnât be able to gather it, they could extract mana from the mana stones and purify the impurities within it for them to absorb.
As they wouldnât have to waste time on purifying the mana themselves, their cultivation speed would be several times faster.
âThis is good.â Max nodded in satisfaction. As long as they had enough mana stones, except for Esme and Garima who needed to increase their law comprehension to increase cultivation bases, everyoneâs cultivation progress would be easier and smoother.
âThe tower should be able to absorb the mana from outside, no?â asked Max. If the tower could absorb outside mana, their need for mana stones would diminish quite a bit.
[It should be. However, due to being half destroyed, the tower has lost many of its functions including the mana gathering from outside.] the Tower Spirit answered calmly.
Max was silent for a while before he asked, âCan... it be restored?â
The Tower Spirit went silent, making him think it was impossible. Just as he thought it was a real pity, Tower Spirit conveyed a message, [Restoring it to its former glory would be very difficult. But if you really want to, you have to reach the Quasi-Ascension realm at the very least. So, focus on becoming stronger for now.]
Maxâs eyes lit up when he heard it was possible to restore the tower. Then when he heard the latter part, he raised his brows curiously while his heart thudded as he asked, âWhatâs the Quasi-Ascension realm? Is it
above
the Supreme Mage realm?â
This was a realm he had never heard of before, so it had to be above the Supreme Mage realm. While it was only logical, he was having a hard time to believe.
What did it mean that he needed to be stronger than a Supreme Mage to barely qualify to repair the tower? Moreover, he could tell it was only one of the requirements.
[Yes, but you shouldnât think about it right now. You have a very long way to go before you can reach that realm however...] The Tower Spirit sounded hesitant and in the end didnât finish the sentence.
Max suddenly had a feeling that whatever it was about to say was of utmost importance and he had to hear it otherwise he would regret it in the future.
âHowever what senior?â he stopped walking and urgently asked.
Esme, Ella and Rima, who he was currently accompanying in exploring the palace to find rooms for them also stopped and seeing his expression, they grew worried.
"Whatâs wrong, Max?" Rima asked, gently holding his hand.
Max didnât reply, completely focused on hearing the Tower Spiritâs response.
[Do you really want me to say it?] Tower Spirit asked after a momentsâ silence.
âYes.â Max affirmed.
[Alright, but let me say this firstâBecause of my weakened state, Iâm not too sure whether what I felt is correct, but you are in a very dangerous situation.]
âWhat do you mean?â Max asked.
[You have a supreme treasure in the depths of your soul. Previously, it had been activated, so there had been no problem since it could conceal itself from peopleâs perception and itâs Karma, but because it is now dormant, it can no longer do so.]
Thud!
Maxâs heart fell when he heard this. He knew the Tower Spirit was talking about the Lust System.
Taking a deep breath, he focused and looked at Rima, Esme and Ella. Noticing their concerned looks, he smiled and rubbed Rimaâs cheek, "Everythingâs alright. I was just asking the Tower Spirit whether there was any way to repair the tower."
"Oh?" Rima relaxed, "So, can it be repaired?"
"Yes, though itâs not quite possible right now." Said Max with a sigh before smiling, "But itâs already good news that it can be repaired."
"Thatâs right." Rima nodded and thoughtfully said, "I feel this tower is a very powerful treasure. If we can repair it, itâll be very beneficial to us."
Max nodded and continued exploring the palace. After a while, Rima chose a room for herself and after giving Ella a knowing smile, she entered it.
Ella blushed red.
Max acted as if he hadnât seen anything and continued accompanying Esme and Ella. Just a short while later, Esme also chose a room. Max gave her all the high grade mana stones he had to cultivate with.
Esme looked at the spatial ring and bit her lips but didnât reject it.
"Iâll soon recover my ascension pillars. Then Iâll be able to protect you better." She said, taking a deep breath.
Max smiled, "Donât burden yourself too much. Cultivate in peace and leave the rest to me."
Esme nodded, hugged him tightly, nuzzled her face in his chest before inhaling his masculine scent. She then broke free of his embrace, gave Ella a smile and entered her room.
Ella stood there with her head lowered, blushing. She knew neither Rima nor Esme were teasing her, but she couldnât help but feel embarrassed and nervous.
"Come, let me select a room for you." Max grabbed her hand and led her away.
...
An hour later, Ella was fast asleep with her body resting against Max, who was communicating with the Tower Spirit, his expression grave.
At first he had thought Ella wanted to make love with him but when they entered the room, he felt her becoming increasingly anxious. Not knowing what was going on, he, despite not wanting to, used his bloodline to sense her emotions and realized what she needed wasnât sex but emotional supportâhis comfort and assurance.
So, he led her to the bed and conversed with her for a while. As they talked, she relaxed and slowly fell asleep in his arms.
âSenior, who is capable of sensing
it
in my soul? Monarchs? Supreme Mages? Can they sense it without actively scanning me?â Max asked, slightly hopeful.
[Most Emperors and Monarchs shouldnât be able to sense it without scanning you, but Supreme Mages, even the Quasi Supremes and those with innately sharper senses, even if they are Monarchs and Emperors can sense it.] The Tower Spirit responded.
Hearing this, Max deflated. While he hadnât encountered many people with special abilities yet, he wasnât one to rely on his luck as doing so was useless.
"How troublesome!" he muttered, rubbing his temple.
Should I just stay in the outer region?
The thought crossed his mind but he immediately discarded it. He needed to find the Divine Energy and also help Esme exact her revenge and save her people. So, he had no choice but to go to the core region of the central plains.
Just as he was lost in thoughts, the Tower Spiritâs voice rang in his ears, [Help me recover my core energy with that energy of yours. Once I have enough energy, I can open the Towerâs first floor. At that time, youâll be able to store me in your spiritual space and Iâll be able to conceal its aura to some extentâat least Emperors wouldnât be able to sense it even if they actively scan you.]
Maxâs eyes brightened when he heard this and quickly asked, "What about when you open the second or even the third floor? Would you be able to conceal it from the Monarchs and Supreme Mages?"
[You are thinking too much. Although your energy is extraordinary, itâs not omnipotent and canât help me recover my core energy. I also need Divine Energy. If it was not for the fact that there are still some remnants of Divine Energy left in the Tower, your energy wouldnât have been able to even help me recover enough to open the first floor.]
"You have Divine Energy?" Maxâs heart thudded.
[Give up on that thought. Even if I was willing to sacrifice myself and give you that energy, the amount I have left isnât even a tiny drop compared to the oceanâs worth of energy
it
needs to recover.] The Tower Spirit retorted, its voice decidedly frosty.
Seeing it seemed to read his mind, the atmosphere became awkward, so Max changed the topic and asked,
"How much Nascent Energy do you need to open the first floor?"