The moment Ace stepped inside the cultivation tower, he was greeted by nothing but blackness, there was nothing but dark blank space, which made him surprised, and when he turned around, he found the entrance had also vanished.
Before he could open the fate map to see what was going on, a static voice rang, "The Sun and Moon Inheritor Token has been detected!
"The new Sun and Moon Contender for the Chosen One Seat has appeared.
"Sun and Moon Contender No.23rd, do you want to activate the Sun and Moon Sword Trial in the Lesser Sun Tower prepared by the Sun God?"
Ace was surprised when he heard what the voice stated, 'The Sun and Moon Inheritor Token? Is it talking about my Junior Union Leader token in my storage ring?
'It also called me the contender for the Chosen One Seat, which means the Chosen One described in the secret library books is really the true inheritor of the Union. But why do I feel is not just about the Yin Yang Mortal Sword Manual alone? And I'm also the 23rd one to come here…'
Ace couldn't help but think in this direction as he couldn't be too cautious when he was dealing with the union's secret matters. This place was related to Heaven's Secret, so he couldn't be more careful.
Then Ace tried activating the fate map, and what he saw made his heart sink because his fate point appeared in the middle of a pitch-black area with no terrain whatsoever. This could only mean he was in an absolute danger zone.
"Umm… how should I address you, Senior?" Ace controlled his unsettling emotions and tried talking to the voice just like the voice in the library. He wanted to see if he could get some answers.
"I'm the Sun and Moon Sword Custodian (SMSC), who overlooked the trials left behind by the Sun and Moon Gods and was responsible for selecting the Chosen One!"
"How many trials do I have to pass before becoming the Chosen One?" Ace asked SMSC the most obvious question as anyone would seek the answer.
"Sun and Moon Contender No.23 need to pass the trials in Lesser Sun Tower and Lesser Moon Tower to be worthy of getting the answer to such question." SMSC statically replied.
"Then can I at least know what Chosen One is and what kind of status it will have? What is its role in the Union?" Ace asked another question which he was most curious about.
"Chosen One is the true successor of the Sun and Moon Gods, the Overlord of the Mortal Sky and Protector of Heaven! When the Chosen appears, the Sun and Moon Union will rise to its glory!" SMSC declared without any emotions behind its voice.
Ace cocked an eyebrow, 'The Overlord of the Mortal Sky? Is it talking about the Mortal Sky Heaven? And Protector of Heaven is also quite ambiguous and leads to many meanings.
'It seemed even the Union Leader might not have any idea just what the purpose of the Union is and his true purpose of selecting a disciple was so he could get to that secret…
'With such a mysterious secret right under his thumb, yet he can't grasp it, he has to be watching my every move, especially right now…'
The more Ace thought about it, the more he became vigilant of the Union Leader. He never believed the Master Disciple relationship was just born out of the kindness of the Union Leader's heart. Like him, the Union Leader also had a huge motive and that had to be connected with the Chosen One.
"Very well, I would be troubling Senior SMSC to activate the trial." White respectfully stated.
Although Ace had many more questions, he couldn't ask them as it directly drew the Union Leader's suspicion or this SMSC's. So out of caution, he held back and decided to go along with the trial first.
"Sun and Moon Contender No.23 have approved the activation of the Lesser Sun Tower Trial created by Sun God.
"The Entry level trial, the Sun Seeker, has been activated.
"Good Luck Sun and Moon Contender No.23!"
Ace suddenly felt a strange force start to creep over his body, and all of a sudden, the surrounding darkness started to twist before his vision blurred, and brightness appeared again.
'I was teleported?' Ace thought as he couldn't be more familiar with this sensation.
When he looked around, he was astonished because he found himself standing on top of a yellowish sand dune, and not only that, but as far as his eyes could seek, there was nothing but sand around him.
'Don't tell me I was thrown in a middle of a desert?!' Ace was shocked as he tried to use the fate map, but to his horror, he couldn't feel the Eternal Thief Fate Compass at all!
Ace knew this had never happened before. No matter the situation, the compass has never reacted this way, much less lost its entire presence as if it didn't even exist in the first place.
Then Ace quickly tried to probe his soul space but only met with an even bigger shock of his life, he also couldn't feel his soul space, and when he tried the martial space or his thief's space, he met with the same result.
Thereby, he can't use any of Heavenly Qis as well.
Now Ace was finally spooked. All this seemed like a nightmare where he lost all his powers, and he had no idea why it happened, and the worst thing was he had no idea where the hell in the world he was right now.
"System?! Status!?" Ace then finally called for the system.
In his mind, the system can't be affected by these petty tricks no matter what, so he was sure that it would be present.
However, Ace is starting to lose it when no matter how much he calls, the system won't reply no matter what nor can he open the system interface.
"Shit… shit… calm down, calm down… fuck!" Ace couldn't help but start cursing while he tried to calm his nerves.
But it was easier said than done. All his cultivation, treasures, Thief's Space, and even the system have vanished. How could he keep his calm under such circumstances?
However, Ace's mindset wasn't that feeble either, which could break just like that. He slowly managed to calm down before all the possible scenarios started to appear in his mind, which could result in this kind of situation.
A terrifying possibility surfaced in his mind at this moment, 'The SMSC said the trial is created by the Sun God, right? Then don't tell me this is actually created by a real freaking God, which even the system can't do anything about?!'
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