At this moment, Vincent and Ace entered the portal hall of Forger Abyss. It was Ace's second time entering this place since joining the AIG Sect, and it hadn't changed at all. Many disciples stood in front of ten shimmering gateways, the realm portals, as they flickered with spirit Qi.
When Vincent and Ace suddenly appeared, it naturally alarmed the overseer of the portal hall, and some disciples also noticed them. However, those outer and inner court disciples had never seen Vincent before, but they still recognized Ace's chief hall disciple's robes. Ace's appearance was extremely eye-catching, and many female disciples were unknowingly staring at him without being able to avert their eyes.
At this moment, an old man in inner flame elder robes suddenly appeared in front of Vincent and Ace. There was a hint of shock and uncertainty in his eyes as he quickly greeted, 'Overseer of the Forger Abyss, Zyon Oriente, pays his respects to elder!"
Even an inner court flame elder like Zyon had never seen Vincent before despite spending over a thousand years in his current post, but he still put on a respectful front since this person could appear here without any restraint together with a chief forger disciple. Not to mention, despite being a peak Ascension Grand General, Zyon couldn't even fathom Vincent's aura at all.
However, before Zyon could further probe Vincent's identity, he was shocked because more and more unfathomable people wearing elders' robes began to appear in the hall, and Zyon was horrified when he identified Hall Masters' robes among them!
Vincent paid no heed to dumbfounded Zyon as he impassively announced, his voice mixed with a faint wisp of his spiritual pressure, making it powerful and entering every single person's ear who was now watching, "The Forger Abyss will be close for today until further notice. You all may return now; the sect will compensate you for your trouble!
A few weak disciples instantly trembled in fear when they felt Vincent's spiritual pressure. The next moment, every disciple quickly left the portal hall without daring to glance at Vincent anymore since they could all guess this person was likely to be a super big shot of the chief hall court or Zyon, who usually didn't bother to show his face, wouldn't be so respectful.
Some elders in charge of security and reception were also shaken, and they quickly helped the disciples empty the portal hall, afraid that if they were slow, they would anger this person. Vincent clearly didn't mind those fearful guys. He looked at Ace and said, 'Do what you want, but be careful. Your life is more important."
Ace felt it was good to have this kind of backing since everything became more convenient and easy.
He nodded at Vincent and told Zyon that he had already identified this guy from his voice, "Elder, please open the portal to the second level of the Forger Abyss. Sorry for the trouble!"
Zyon naturally didn't know that Ace in front of him was none other than George, but even if he knew, he didn't dare delay under so many big shots' watchful gazes. He quickly pulled a stiff smile and nodded, "N-no trouble, no trouble at all. It's just a small matter. Please follow me."
Soon, the second portal leading to the second level of the Forger Abyss became active, and Ace thanked Zyon again before he entered it under everyone's watchful eyes.
Although they didn't know why he wanted to enter the Forger Abyss in his current state, no one dared question him any longer since they all knew Ace's identity had changed completely the moment he accepted the invitation from the bank. It was like a commoner turning into a noble overnight.
Ace crossed the portal as a familiar sense of crossing between spaces hit him, and soon, he was in vast open space that was completely different from the first level.
At this moment, the Secret Realm's guardian spirit's cold voice rang, "Show your identification token, or you'll be sent out if you haven't passed the first level yet!"
Ace's avatar suddenly recovered from his exhausted state as if nothing had happened. He flashed a smile before he took out the legacy disciple token and greeted, "Long time no see, Senior!"
The Guardian Spirit's startled voice rang at this moment, "It's you!"
Ace nodded faintly, "I hope I didn't disturb Senior"
"You've changed from the last time I saw you," The Guardian Spirit directly asked, clearly surprised by Ace's advancement in such a short amount of time.
"I just work hard and cultivate diligently: Ace casually replied.
"Good! It seemed even I've underestimated you." The Guardian Spirit's voice was filled with delight as it said, "Since you're here, I can assume you're ready to take the first legacy trial?"
Ace hesitated momentarily before stating, "Before this, I hope that senior can help me with a small matter."
"Oh? What matter? Are you in some trouble? Don't tell me your identity has been exposed?" The Guardian Spirit asked with uncertainty.
Ace sighed and helplessly said, "Well, it's something worse. Some people want to take me away despite my unwillingness. Furthermore, they are very powerful, and the AIG Sect can't protect
"Is that so?" The Guardian Spirit's voice became cold, "If you're hoping for me to make a move, I have to disappoint you. I can't leave this legacy realm, nor will I waste my limited power to help someone who is not the true inheritor of this legacy.
"Although you are the best candidate, and I admit your talent is astonishing, you are still a candidate. Even if you pass the first trial, there are still three more, and with your current cultivation, you won't be able to pass the second one. So, you're on your own!
'What a ruthless guy... 'Ace was surprised since he wasn't expecting this Guardian Spirit's loyalty to the legacy would be so deep.
Even after knowing that Ace was the best candidate to inherit this legacy, it still refused to help him unless he completed the trials first.
Still, Ace knew these Guardian Spirits had different personalities, but their reasoning wasn't any different from that of living beings, especially powerful spirits like the AIG Sect or this Secret Realm's Guardian Spirit.
Even the AIG Sect's Guardian Spirit wouldn't have helped Ace if he hadn't shown his talent and loyalty to the AIG Sect, and the same goes for this Guardian Spirit as well.
Nonetheless, Ace didn't need the Guardian Spirit to attack, and he said, 'Senior, you take this wrongly. I don't require you to attack anyone. I need you to send my clone out of the Forger Abyss and let me stay here for some time if I pass the first trial.
"This way, those people will only take my clone, and if I stay here, I will be able to focus fully on forging and completing the Forger Abyss. This should be quite easy for you, right?"
This time, the Guardian Spirit didn't reply and fell into silence, clearly surprised by this unusual request. Just as Ace said, it wasn't really a big deal for it to do it at all.
"Are you sure your clone can fool those people?" It finally spoke with apparent disbelief. Ace's lips curled, and the next moment, his real body suddenly appeared beside his avatar. He spoke, "You can judge by yourself, senior. After all, all this time, you've been talking to my clone!"