Chapter 15: Great Noble

"You must be joking with us!"

Both girls shouted in unison, expressing their emotions. Seeing their expressions, the First Claw cursed himself for accepting his master's task, which was to fix the malfunction in the Eternal Tower. Now he faced the most challenging problem of this arduous mission: convincing these two unreasonable girls. Before the First Claw could say anything, Feng Yan shouted:

"First Claw, there's no way I'll cooperate with this girl, no matter what. This girl tried to kill me several times. First, when she led me to this cursed tower. Second, when she placed me in the combat tower without my consent. And third, she planted the Corruption Curse inside me and made it explode with madness. Do you have any objections, Yu Yue?"

The First Claw was puzzled by the strange name Feng Yan used for Shun. His confusion deepened when he saw Shun's face grow even paler. He wondered what significance this name held for the two girls and whether they knew each other. He decided not to interfere and see where things would lead.

"How did you discover my secret?" (Yu Yue)

"It wasn't hard. From our first meeting, linking the noble aura around you with the noble aura I saw in the office was easy. Also, the sudden change in the main daughter of the Yu family from an innocent, naive girl to a ruthless one who managed to gain the right to run an ancient weapons shop was suspicious. Your knowledge of the Dark Demons and the curse, and how you tried to persuade me by offering everything I wanted and convincing me that if I passed the trial of the Black Tower, I would overturn the heavens with one hand... It was a trap to catch me for some unknown purpose. But I have some ideas." (Feng Yan)

Yu Yue was shocked that all her tricks had been so easily uncovered. She had underestimated Feng Yan's capabilities. She never thought this simple girl would be so fierce. Indeed, she had some bad intentions toward Feng Yan, and now that everything was exposed, she didn't know what to say. But she had to defend herself a little, so she spoke in a weak voice:

"You are half right, but there are some things you don't know. First, I, like you, was lured into the Eternal Tower by an old woman who called herself Shun. She told me that she had reached the limit of her lifespan and needed a new host for Shun. She told me that if I agreed to become Shun's host, I would gain the power to overturn the world with just my hands. And because I was naive, I agreed foolishly. The result was that Shun, a being of thousands of voices inhabiting my head and penetrating my soul, made me just a puppet for these hellish voices!"

When Feng Yan heard this, she could feel what Yu Yue had gone through. She also understood why she had been drawn here. It seemed she wanted to exchange places with her or something similar. As for the First Claw, he was very surprised by this information. He didn't know that the supervisor of the Eternal Tower had a physical presence in the real world. Now some of the mysteries that had always puzzled him were solved.

"After I acquired the Curse of the Ancestors' Will, I gained an immense amount of knowledge far surpassing that of an entire continent. Not only that, but I also had the Eternal Noble's inheritance, which gave me tremendous combat power. But all of this came at a heavy price: my freedom. My most important task became finding people to carry out the Ancestors' Will and eliminating the evil ones. After I nominated some people for the test, I discovered that every time I sent someone into the trial and they lost, becoming a demon that I had to kill, I grew stronger. This led me to choose only evil and ambitious people to fall under the Curse of the Ancestors' Will, represented by Shun, to become more powerful!"

With Yu Yue's confession, the First Claw solved all the mysteries and questions he had in his mind. He now understood why no one had been able to inherit the Ancestors' Will for millions of years. He never thought there would be such a dangerous flaw in the Ancestors' Will. The selfishness of humans—what a simple flaw. Why hadn't he thought of this from the beginning? The First Claw laughed at himself, never expecting that the flaw hindering the Eternal Tower would be this simple.

Feng Yan looked at Yu Yue with deep hatred and resentment. She hated this girl more than anything at this moment. This girl wanted her to be just a sacrifice or a piece of firewood to make her flames of glory burn brighter and stronger. Anger boiled in Feng Yan's heart. But before she could explode, Yu Yue spoke first:

"Are you angry? Do you hate me? I don't blame you. I can accept your hatred and resentment, but the one thing I can't accept at all is that look of disgust on your face for a very simple reason: Feng Yan, if our roles were reversed, would you have done anything different from what I did? Feng Yan, using this method, can make you a great noble, just as you always wanted!"

Yu Yue smiled a mocking smile, laughing at Feng Yan. But instead of panicking, Feng Yan looked back at Yu Yue with a confident smile:

"I admit that I told you I would do anything possible to achieve my goal. But in my heart, I know I'm lying. I value myself too much to accept any method that would break my pride. I pity you, really, Yu Yue!" (Feng Yan)

"You pity me, Feng Yan? You're the one deserving of pity. You're the frog at the bottom of the well who thinks the sky is the size of the well's opening. You dream of becoming a great noble. Do you even know what it means to be a great noble on the Noble Continent, Feng Yan? A great noble represents the pinnacle of existence under the King of the Continent. It is a symbol of power and glory. To achieve this rank, you need to surpass the Human Sphere and enter the Noble Sphere. A nobody like you will never reach this level in their life! As for me, it was just a matter of time. I just needed to sacrifice a few hundred more to easily reach the rank of a great noble. So, Feng Yan, tell me, who deserves the pity?"

Yu Yue laughed maniacally at Feng Yan's dreams. The First Claw didn't understand much about what a great noble or the Noble Continent meant, but he could see that what had been said would wound Feng Yan's pride. He looked at Feng Yan with concern but was shocked to see an expression of indifference on her face. He wondered what was going on in Feng Yan's mind.

"After this speech, Yu Yue, I realize that you are not just pathetic but also mentally deficient. Are you comparing your abilities to mine?" (Feng Yan)

"If you are, then you're truly mentally deficient. Let me explain why. It's like this: imagine a dragon that can fly beyond the skies and dive into the depths of the sea. If such a dragon compared itself to a small ant dreaming of reaching the clouds and felt satisfied that it could reach the clouds easily while the ant couldn't, then that dragon would be mentally deficient! Similarly, comparing your abilities, which you represent as a dragon, to mine, which you represent as an ant, is mental deficiency!" (Feng Yan)

The First Claw burst out laughing at Feng Yan's response, feeling pity for Yu Yue, whose dignity had been trampled by this reply. He looked at Yu Yue, whose face was entirely red with shame and humiliation. Then he looked at Feng Yan with a completely new perspective. Although he had lived for a long time, spanning hundreds or even thousands of years, his life experience was almost non-existent because he had only interacted with his master and his siblings. So he was as inexperienced as a child in dealing with relationships. Previously, he had called Feng Yan "big sister" out of mere proximity, but now he had completely changed his mind. She truly deserved the title. He decided to intervene before things escalated further:

"Initially, I was unsure how to resolve things between you two. But now, after things have reached this point, the matter no longer requires any thought. How about a way to end the conflict between you two?"