[Congratulations on clearing 5 floors of the Abyss Tower, you have received one Blind Box opening.]

[Note: Because you achieved a Perfect rating on all 5 floors of the Abyss Tower, the Blind Box you open is guaranteed to be rank S or higher.]

The moment the cold voice of the System ended, the space before Ethan immediately trembled.

The small particles of light from the Orc King’s corpse, which hadn’t fully dissolved yet, were pulled up high by an invisible force. They spun around the center of the arena, then turned into rings of dark red waves spreading out in all directions. The ground beneath Ethan and Laira slowly split apart, revealing an ancient magic circle glowing with light.

Laira still stood very close to Ethan. One of her arms was placed around his waist, her amber-red eyes looking at the small streak of blood still left on his cheek. The satisfaction from having destroyed the Orc King with one precise blow had vanished, replaced by a very obvious displeasure.

"You overused those eyes again."

Ethan reached up to wipe the streak of blood beside the corner of his eye, his voice still calm. "It’s not serious."

Laira narrowed her eyes. "You said the same thing last time."

Ethan looked at her for a brief moment, then nodded faintly. "Then I’ll be more careful next time."

Laira clearly didn’t entirely believe this answer, but the changes before her made her hold off on questioning him further for the time being. Hundreds of glowing dots of every color were gradually appearing in midair. At first there were only a few dozen dots floating before Ethan, but in just a few seconds, their number had risen to the point of covering nearly the entire central area of the arena.

Each dot of light gradually condensed into a Blind Box.

There were boxes that were long and narrow, their surfaces carved with the symbol of a sword. There were boxes covered in patterns like a magic array, with the image of a staff in the center. Some boxes bore symbols of shields, scrolls, crystals, drops of blood, wings, eggs, or a strange eye. There were even symbols so completely unfamiliar that Ethan had never seen them in any of Aurora Academy’s documents.

In less than ten seconds, hundreds of Blind Boxes were floating across the arena.

All of them were covered in a dense layer of mist.

No one could see the items inside.

Even Ethan didn’t immediately activate [The Eye of Truth]. He just stood still looking at the scene before him, a very faint trace of astonishment appearing in his eyes for the first time.

One Blind Box opening with a minimum floor of rank S.

This sounded simple, but its true meaning was incredibly terrifying.

In this world, rank S was already a tier sufficient to change a person’s destiny. A rank S power could make a family pour out resources to nurture it. A rank S weapon could become a treasure fought over by Awakened teams. A rank S skill could help an ordinary person cross the boundary between the mediocre and the genius.

Ryan Ashford had relied on nothing but a rank S fire-element power to become the Ashford family’s pride over the past two years.

But now, rank S was only the lowest limit of the reward Ethan could receive.

If his luck was a little better, he could open an Epic.

Even a Legendary.

In the past, Ethan might have thought this was just a kind of rare reward within the Abyss Tower. But after possessing [The Eye of Truth], after seeing tiers that surpassed humanity’s current understanding, he understood one thing clearly: the Blind Boxes before him didn’t only represent rewards. They also represented opportunity.

The opportunity for him and Laira to survive the floors ahead.

Outside the Abyss Tower, the main hall of Aurora Academy also fell into a brief shock.

Not much explanation was needed. The line "rank S or higher" alone was enough for hundreds of students to understand what Ethan had just received. Even if he opened the lowest reward, it was still rank S. Even without Laira, this single Blind Box opening alone was enough to make Ethan’s future completely different.

But before the murmurs could erupt for too long, a new notification appeared before Ethan.

[Special condition met.]

[From the moment of receiving the milestone reward onward, the participant may actively conceal the trial process.]

[Concealing observation from outside will make all images, sounds, and combat data unable to continue transmitting out of the Abyss Tower.]

[Do you want to activate concealment mode?]

[Yes.]

[No.]

Ethan looked at the notification panel before him.

His gaze immediately grew deeper.

From the moment he entered the Abyss Tower until now, he had used [The Eye of Truth] many times. On the fourth floor, he had seen the weak points of the four Silver tier 10 Skeletons. On the fifth floor, he had seen the Orc King’s death point and guided Laira to end the battle with one precise blow.

The people outside might not necessarily know what ability he possessed.

But surely someone had already begun to suspect.

A student who hadn’t opened his Heaven’s Gate yet kept making precise judgments in battles far beyond his own level. The first time could be regarded as coincidence. The second time could be reluctantly explained by theoretical knowledge. But if something similar kept happening too many times, the suspicion would no longer be merely suspicion.

More importantly, next he had to choose a Blind Box.

This was an absolutely impossible moment to let others observe.

[The Eye of Truth] could see through Blind Boxes. If this secret got out, Ethan knew clearly he would become the target of countless factions. Not only the three guilds present in the main hall, but also major families, underground organizations, even beings standing at the peak of human power.

No one could stay calm before an ability that allowed seeing through to the reward inside a Blind Box.

Ethan didn’t need to think for too long.

He reached out and touched the first option.

[Yes.]

The cold voice of the System immediately rang out.

[Concealment mode activated.]

[From this moment onward, all observation data from outside will be blocked.]

Outside the Abyss Tower, the central screen suddenly trembled. Black lines of interference immediately appeared, making the images of Ethan, Laira, and the hundreds of Blind Boxes turn blurry. A few students hadn’t even had time to react before the entire screen had gone completely black.

Right after, a simple notification appeared.

[The system does not permit observation.]

The main hall of Aurora Academy immediately broke into a clamor.

No one saw which kind of Blind Box Ethan chose.

No one knew what his milestone reward ultimately was.

They only knew that from this moment onward, Ethan’s trial process had completely vanished from outside view.

In the VIP seating area, Rowan pressed his metal staff against the floor. His gaunt face didn’t reveal too much emotion, but his slightly clouded eyes flashed with a very faint trace of killing intent.

Very quick.

But Vanessa Crowe still saw it.

She narrowed her eyes slightly.

Rowan said nothing. The old man only slowly stood up, leaning on his staff as he left the VIP seats. Lionel Hart was silent for a few seconds, then stood up and followed behind. From beginning to end, neither of them needed to exchange a single word. Because some decisions didn’t need to be spoken aloud.

Vanessa still sat in place.

Her pale violet eyes rested on the backs of Rowan and Lionel, her gaze gradually growing complicated. She didn’t like Rowan’s look just now, and she liked Lionel’s silence even less. Ever since Ethan refused to hand Laira over to the three guilds, the conflict between the two sides had no longer been a simple dispute over interests.

If Ethan died in the Abyss Tower, it would all naturally end.

But what if he came back alive?

Vanessa turned her head to look at the central screen.

[The system does not permit observation.]

The cold line of text still stood there. No one knew what Ethan and Laira were facing inside the Abyss Tower. But Vanessa had a very clear feeling: from the moment the screen was concealed, Ethan’s value no longer lay only in the power he displayed.

He knew how to conceal.

He knew how to keep secrets.

He knew when he needed to step out of others’ view.

A person like that, if he came back alive, would absolutely not be easily controlled by any faction.

On the top floor of the main hall, the control room also turned busy for a brief while. The technicians kept working the control panel, but the central screen still didn’t change. After a few minutes of testing, the technical supervisor finally shook his head.

"We can’t restore the image signal. This isn’t an equipment error, but a rule set by the Abyss Tower itself. We have no authority to override it."

The gray-haired woman frowned. "So all we can do is wait?"

"Yes. Fortunately, the basic life connection still exists. At the very least, we can confirm Ethan is still alive."

Headmaster Cole leaned on his black wooden cane, his gaze resting on the blue dot of light in the corner of the screen. After a long while, he said in a grave voice: "Put Ethan Ashford on the highest-level observation list. The moment he returns, report to me immediately."

A staff member quickly nodded.

Cole looked at the pitch-black screen, his gaze bright as a torch. "If he comes back alive, perhaps humanity will have one more sliver of hope."

In the control room, no one refuted it.

Because everyone understood the meaning of a Mythic rank Partner. Even more so, they understood that a person who could reach the fifth floor of the Abyss Tower and receive a milestone reward of rank S or higher was absolutely no longer an ordinary student.

Inside the Abyss Tower, Ethan had no idea what had happened outside.

From the moment he activated the observation concealment mode, every gaze from the main hall of Aurora Academy was blocked. No more murmurs, no more scrutiny, and no more outside factions trying to analyze his every action.

Before Ethan, hundreds of Blind Boxes were still floating in midair.

Laira stood beside him, tilting her head slightly. "No one can see now?"

Ethan nodded faintly. "Yeah."

Laira’s amber-red eyes curved up slightly. The smile on her face immediately turned a little more dangerous. She stepped closer to Ethan, wrapped her arm around his waist, then slowly bent down. "Then what about your reward?"

Ethan looked at the beautiful face that was very close, then calmly said: "Choose the reward first."

Laira blinked, then let out a laugh. "Alright. I’d like to see what you’ll end up choosing too."