Outside Potential Tower, the Great Elders were watching the disciples coming out of the tower.
A blue light shone brightly, and when the elders saw it, a trace of astonishment appeared in their eyes. It turned out that the one that shone was the Ninth Floor of the tower.
The disciples below were stunned when they saw this.
"What?! Someone has reached the Ninth Floor?!"
"Who is it?"
"Space Temple's Ryuu? Dark Temple's Amelia? Or Fire Temple's Daphne?"
The excitement was also transferred to the Great Elders as their hearts started beating rapidly, especially the three Great Elders. They were wondering whether it was their disciples or the others. This excitement was mixed with anxiety.
On one hand, they wished their disciple was the one who came out. On the other hand, they wished their disciple didn't come out yet and only came out after reaching the highest Floor.
Their eyes glued on a platform next to the Potential Tower, where the Tower usually teleported them outside. It was a small white platform without any interior, and they gulped down the moment an array appeared on the platform.
"Who is it?" They thought while looking at each other.
Suddenly, a female appeared out of the array. Everyone would think it was either Dark Temple's Amelia or Fire Temple's Daphne. Aileen became dejected after seeing her figure before she was stunned. The woman that appeared turned out to have pink hair tied into a ponytail. She was wearing a one-piece white dress with some pink stripes.
"That is…" Aileen gasped as the other Great Elders became speechless.
"No way!"
"This… This is impossible!"
"Really?"
"She can reach the ninth Floor? Has the Potential Tower become so easy?"
"That is Maya Ai from the Space Temple!"
The disciples were utterly shocked by her appearance as well. Their bewilderment was justified because Maya Ai was known as the laziest Great Elder's disciple and rumor said that Aileen had given up on persuading her. Yet, the same person had just reached the Floor that only a few people were capable of.
However, Aileen suddenly teleported to her front and hugged her tightly. "Are you really Maya? You have reached the Ninth Floor?"
"Master… You are suffocating me." Maya patted her back a few times.
"Ah!" Aileen was too excited just now and quickly released her. She calmed down a little bit and asked. "Have you really reached the Ninth Floor?"
"Of course." Maya nodded with a smile. "At first, I was not sure as well. I just remembered that Alex's teaching about the spear and somehow became my strongest weapon for this tower. Unfortunately, I failed not long after entering the Ninth Floor. If only I trained myself more."
"Good child! You are a good child." Aileen hugged her once more as she pictured Alex in her mind and thought. 'That person is really a godsend. To think that Maya can achieve something like this… Ah, I can retire after Ryuu reaches 7-Star Martial Saint, I guess. Maya will be supporting him. I shouldn't be a cheapskate to Alex. I will come up with something later.'
After calming down her excitement, she snapped her finger and appeared on top of the tower, regrouping with the other Great Elders. She smiled smugly. "Hehe… To think that my Maya can reach the Ninth Floor!"
"Hmph!" Viola and Melva snorted and looked away while the other Great Elders were staring at Maya curiously.
"Great Elder Aileen, this is truly surprising to see your disciple reach the Ninth Floor. I don't mean I'm underestimating her in any way of course." Licht squinted his eyes and stared at Maya.
Maya twitched her eyebrows and hid behind Aileen.
"Great Elder Licht! I hope you don't scare my disciple away." Aileen smiled brightly while releasing her aura. She was filled with joy and anger at the same time. Maya was scared of Licht because of his brain, so she needed to stand up for her.
"I don't mean to be offensive. Still, to see another disciple reaching the ninth Floor makes me happy." Licht shook his head.
Not long after, Amelia, Ryuu, and Daphne came out in succession. The shock shook the Freedom Sect once again. Usually, Ryuu would rank third after Daphne and Amelia, but today, he managed to pass Amelia. Although it was unclear how their progress, they usually used the time to measure their talent. Hence, Aileen was the biggest winner in this event.
Aileen was smiling this whole time, looking at the other Great Elders with contempt.
The event was supposed to end after these three came out of the tower, but… To everyone's surprise, the Great Elders didn't end the event yet as if they were waiting for someone.
The red-haired girl behind Viola whispered to her master. "Master, why haven't the Tower closed yet? All of us have come out."
Viola glanced at Daphne and shook her head. "I haven't told you this yet. But you can say that we are still waiting for someone."
"Someone?" Daphne tilted her head in confusion.
"Just wait, and you will know." Viola smirked before glaring at Licht. "Great Elder Licht, I hope you still remember our agreement, right?"
"I won't do anything bad. I am ready to lay my life for this." Licht said with a solemn expression.
Viola looked into his eyes for a few seconds before nodding her head. "Then, I will wait."
Only the Great Elders knew about this matter. Even Ryuu and Maya only knew that they were waiting for Alex, not the deal that Licht wanted to talk about.
They were waiting for another hour and made the disciple confused. But that confusion turned into an uproar when the Potential Tower shone in blue light.
"This?" Daphne was utterly shocked. They were on top of the tower, AKA, the tenth Floor. Seeing it was light up, it meant someone reached the Tenth Floor. "Someone reaches the Tenth Floor?"
"You are wrong, Daphne. Look at the tower as a whole!" Viola said with a serious expression.
"!!!" Daphne's body shook before she flew off the tower, and she dropped her jaws to the ground when looking at the tower. "This is—!"
The Great Elders closed their eyes as their expression turned grim.
Meanwhile, the disciples around the tower fell into silence. They never saw something like this in their entire life, and that silence turned into an uproar not long after.
"What?!"
"The entire tower shines?"
"No way? Normally the tower will only shine on one particular Floor to let the others know they have reached and been defeated on that particular Floor. This… This shouldn't happen!"
"Do you mean there is someone who can light up the entire tower?"
"What does that mean?"
"Whatever it means, we will know it as soon as the person appears on the platform."
"That's right."
Unfortunately, when they turned to the platform, four Great Elders: Melva, Licht, Viola, and Aileen had stood in front of the platform. As soon as the array appeared, Licht and Melva raised their hands and created a sphere. It was acting like a curtain to prevent anyone from spying.
"What?"
"Who is the one that can light up the tower?"
"That's right. We want to know that person as well!"
The disciples were raging, but could only shout from afar as there was no way they could fight the Great Elders. Meanwhile, Daphne was looking at the middle-aged Great Elder from Thunder Temple, Riadon.
He looked at her along with the other Great Elder disciples and sighed. "I shall explain it to you. First of all, do you know why the Potential Tower would shine like that?"
They thought for a moment and shook their heads before Ryuu realized something. "Someone reaches the tenth floor?"
"Close."
"Someone beat the Potential Tower?" Maya opened her mouth wide before recalling Alex's figure while the others were speechless.
Riadon took another glance at their expressions and nodded. "If we reach the eight Floor and get defeated, we will be recognized as someone who has passed the eight Floor. However, there is another saying about this and one that somehow hit our mental hard, so we don't use it anymore.
"The saying came from a few thousand years ago. They were classifying those who managed to lit up the eight Floor as someone who had beaten seven floors. Depending on how someone looked at this matter, they would likely feel better knowing that they had reached the eight Floor, right? It would boost one's confidence, and the training might become even smoother when hearing that."
The Great Disciples nodded in agreement while the disciples fell into deep thought. Ryuu agreed with his statement. He would rather learn that he had reached the ninth Floor because he knew that he would reach the Tenth Floor after that. However, if he learned that he only managed to beat eight floors, it would mean that he had another two stages to go. It might even hurt his self-esteem. And the others also realized this.
Riadon sighed and continued. "Anyway, that is the history of the tower. As for the real reason, why would someone light up the entire tower… Let's take it to another perspective. If you have reached the Tenth Floor, the top Floor will shine, only the top Floor. Because you have failed on the top Floor while there is no proof if someone says he/she has beaten the entire tower.
"This trick was once used by a disciple and got caught red-handed that he was lying. We once believed it, but everything changed when Great Elder Maxwell appeared before us and beat this tower.
"The tower shone like this as well, and he explained it to us that only someone who had beaten the tower would light the entire tower. At the same time, he told us not to seek the tower's secret no matter how curious you are. We, of course, obeyed the advice of Great Elder Maxwell.
"Rather than learning about the truth, we would be better searching for the way to let someone beat the peak again." Riadon paused for a moment, so Ryuu and the others could swallow all the information first.
"A way? Is there really a way to conquer that hard tower?" Daphne asked while sweating.
Riadon looked at the rest and realized that they were also curious. He glanced at the other Great Elders whether it was alright to tell them, and they nodded, so he continued. "We are not really sure about this, and even if we say a way, it's simply raising one's chance to beat the tower. It will depend on your wisdom and talent again.
"After looking at this person, we have realized something. People can only have one element, right? Then why could this person and Great Elder Maxwell beat this tower?"
Ryuu suddenly realized because he knew Alex personally. "Dual Elements!"
"!!!" Daphne and the others widened their eyes.
"The tower itself usually tests you from the easiest to the hardest for your element. No matter how hard we try, we will have our arch-enemy. Like Fire and Water, Water and Ice, Fire and Ice, and so on. Not long ago, we suddenly realized something absurd. What if we have two elements? Does that mean we can fight our weakness with the second element?
"Just like how people who have mastered their weapons would have a better chance to advance higher. We think that if we give an additional element to someone, she can reach even further. And today, we are convinced. Once again, this is not a sure way, but it surely increases one's chance to reach the top Floor and might beat it.
"I am afraid after today, we might have a joint event with the other temples to create someone that can withstand two elements and have enough talent to nurture both elements and the weapon. As for who they are, it will probably decide in the next Council Meeting… To think we will hold the Council Meeting a few times within this short time." Riadon sighed. "Still, I somehow want to see if this will really succeed as it will also open our horizon."
The others gasped at such an explanation.
"Now, our job is to wait until Great Elder Licht finishes his business." Riadon looked at the white sphere.