Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

Back on the third floor, Amira, Ace, and Leona calmly stood in the centre of the third floor, staring at a spot just above the door Maria had entered where a white orb could be seen pulsating gently with a soft white glow.

According to Tarosse, only one person could enter each Deathgod Golem test at a time, and whilst inside, the usually colourless orb would pulsate, signifying that particular room was in use. If one successfully passed the test and entered the next floor, the orb would flash green, but if the individual failed, the orb would either show a red light saying they failed and lost their life, or the door would reopen with said individual having to flee back to the resting floor.

After losing to Maria once, Amira had long since wanted a chance to return the favour. Unfortunately, she had never got the chance until now, and it appeared that she would have to continue to wait.

"Damnit!" Amira cursed as she noticed the orb's light turn green. "Looks like she gets to live a little while longer!"

"No point waiting here any longer," Ace said as he led Amira and Leona to three of the ten doors leading up to the next floor. "I'm sure you'll get your chance if we hurry up to the next floor."

Ace and the others had just approached the door when they heard a familiar-sounding voice. "It's been a while, Ace."

Turning around, Ace saw a white-haired young man slowly flying towards them.

"Fancy seeing you here, Silas," Ace replied with a calm smile.

The young man was Cesar's grand disciple, Silas. The same prince of killers that Ace had barely managed to defeat a few years ago, back when they were trying to rescue Alissa from the clutches of Sabre.

With the new and improved relationship between the Pavilion and Sabre, Ace had seen Silas a few times over the last few years. The last of which was when Silas had ventured over to their Gol Kingdom to challenge Wukong.

Of course, Silas had been quickly trounced, but that was to be expected – Wukong was a freak not much less talented than the likes of Ace and Amira. Still, it had to be said Silas was a truly enchanting genius.

Back at the time, he was still a ninth-rank warrior, but because of Cesar's newly gained knowledge, he was forced to focus on his comprehension and mage cultivation. Even though he wasn't a match for Wukong, he would have been hard-pressed to find an opponent amongst experts at the early stages of the saint realm. And from the looks of things, his strength had seen a giant improvement, with him having broken through to the middle stages of the saint realm as both a warrior and a mage.

"What are you doing waiting here on the third floor?" Ace asked, knowing full well that with Silas' ability, there was no way a mere mid-staged saint-level Deathgod Golem could hold his steps.

"I'm still too weak to move around freely on the fifth floor," Silas admitted helplessly. "I'm gonna stay here until my comprehension takes another step forward before heading up. What about you? Are you guys gonna head straight up?" Silas asked.

He had long since given up comparing himself to the true freaks of the Pavilion, with even the like of Amira being able to fight him to a standstill before entering the Necropolis. There was no chance they would be willing to sit around and waste time here on the third floor.

"Mmh," Ace nodded. "We wasted enough time on the second floor. By the way, have you seen Kong or any of the others from our group, have you?"

"Not personally," Silas shook his head as a weird expression appeared on his face. "But from what I heard, they should all be fine."

"What's with that expression?" Ace asked with a raised eyebrow.

"You should've seen Tulily's body on the floor before coming up here," Silas replied as the corners of his mouth twitched helplessly. "Apparently, that was done by Wukong."

Ace's eyes widened momentarily with a hint of surprise. The last time he saw Wukong, Kong had been about as strong as he is now – faintly approaching the power of a Prime Saint.

Although he had never seen Tulily in action, he had heard the rumours. Not including those from the Pavilion, Tulily, also known as the War Saint, was the Prime Saint with the most devastating offensive power among the humans, being a Prime Saint of the Edict of Destruction.

Still, Ace had only been surprised for the briefest of moments. Wukong had delayed breaking through to the saint realm, wanting to comprehend at least one complete profound mystery before doing so.

Between the dense elemental essence and the never-ending supply of opponents here in the Necropolis of the Gods, Ace would have been more surprised if Wukong hadn't made a breakthrough in that time.

"I'm guessing Kong finally broke through to the saint realm?" Ace smiled happily.

"Probably," Silas sighed.

"Probably?" Amira asked curiously. "You mean…"

"Yeah," Silas nodded, a helpless smile on his face as he understood the gap between him and Wukong was only widening. "Apparently, he managed to defeat Tulily as a ninth-rank mortal."

"Looks like he finally comprehended Lightning's Profound Mystery of Movement," Ace chortled. "I'm guessing the litter of bodies down there was Kong's work?"

"In part," Silas nodded. "Apparently, after defeating the three Flame Tyrants, Wukong, Lazerim, and Kimika had been surrounded by the saints of the New Yulan Empire, plus a few others greedy for the treasures dropped.

I honestly don't know what they feed you guys over there at the Pavilion, but in that battle, both Lazerim and Kimika displayed the power of a Prime Saint as well.

Still, with Fain, Tulily, and so many other saints encircling your seniors, things were pretty grim. Luckily, Linley and Bebe both arrived just in time to provide them with support. And even though neither of them had the power of a prime saint, both of them had grown to the point where they could be considered experts even among peak saints.

But as you can imagine, with such a small group being able to hold so many experts off on their own, many others joined hands to suppress them, feeling threatened. Probably thinking that Wukong and the others would go on to monopolise the best treasures.

Whether it was humans or magical beasts, their enemies seemed endless. Even that Desri fellow and his group of saints joined in."

Despite knowing that none of their group had died in that battle, Ace, Amira, and Leona's eyes narrowed, wishing they could have been there to support them in their time of need.

"It was then, though, that Wukong apparently made his breakthrough. According to the rumours, although his realm hadn't improved, his comprehension, like yours, had officially broken through to the deity realm." Silas sighed, not bothering to hide his envy. "After breaking through, Wukong's power had apparently faintly surpassed that of a normal human Prime Saint, allowing him to dominate and kill Tulily.

After that, none of their enemies dared to stay any longer, fearing they would be next."

"Those bastards better hope they don't run into me!" Leona growled, a dangerous light flickering in her fiery eyes.

"They should hope they don't run into Kong," Ace laughed.

"You're probably right," Amira added. "With how petty Kong is, something tells me he's gonna treat the fifth floor as a hunting ground."

"Haha, if we go now, we might still be able to catch part of the show," Ace smiled before turning back to Silas. "Thanks for the info; we'll see you around."

Watching them leave, the corners of Silas' mouth arced up. He could imagine that Wukong was creating quite the ruckus on the fifth floor right now, but he also knew that things were going to get several times more chaotic with Ace heading up.

Part of him wanted to stop his training and head up now, even if for no other reason than to watch the show. Thankfully, he wasn't an impulsive person. He knew he still wasn't quite strong enough.

Silas had allowed his thoughts to distract him for no more than five seconds when he heard the gasps of the other saints in the distance who hadn't dared to approach them.

Looking up just above the three doors that had just been used, another helpless smile appeared on his face.

It took almost five minutes for Maria to pass the Deathgod Golem and head up to the next floor, yet Ace, Mira, and Leona – three mortals – all passed within a few seconds of entering.

"Maria, you better pray you don't run into those little monsters," Silas muttered to himself before sitting down and closing his eyes, determined to use every moment of the next nine and a half years to increase his power.

He may be weaker than the freaks of the pavilion, but he was still an elite-level genius who still had his pride.

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