Eternal Thief

The Imperial School of the Sky Heart Imperial School was divided with a wall. To enter the Imperial School, there were two ways; first, the acknowledgment of an Imperial Teacher means you have to be a genius among geniuses.

The second one was even harsher: a royal school student has to be at the soul manifestation realm before the age of fifty and then undergo a promotion exam. But even if someone could complete this prerequisite, there were limited spots in the Imperial School, so if there were more students qualified to enter, then they had to go through another test.

Leroy was turning 49 this year, and he was at the peak of the platinum Qi soul realm, but to break into the Qi soul manifestation realm was still quite far away from him, and it required a stroke of good luck as well.

However, now that Ace had taken his place, Leroy was about to rise. He could've directly gone to the imperial school if he wanted, but Ace decided against it since he didn't want to cause trouble for Eva.

She clearly had some plan, so if the students of the Sky Heart Imperial School began to vanish, it would draw others' scrutiny, and everyone would know that someone capable enough to sneak into the Sky Heart Imperial School was roaming free. With all the drama with thieves and the mysterious enemy of the imperial clan roaming free out there, no one would take this matter lightly.

As for taking the place of a Royal Teacher, it was even more impossible to enter the Imperial School because a royal teacher was required to have at least an early-stage Law Comprehension Realm cultivation base, and they had to defeat one of the ten existing Imperial Teachers.

Although Ace was fully capable of this feat, it would be too high profile, and he knew this would also draw suspicion of the other Imperial Teachers since the last time someone was promoted to the Imperial Teacher was over a thousand years ago.

The Skylar clan put great care and resources into the Sky Heart Imperial School so they would keep tabs on every single teacher teaching in their school, so the identity of the student was more than enough.

At this moment, Ace appeared outside a building with a signboard, 'Governance Department'. This place handles all the matters regarding students and teachers in the royal school, from their monthly allocation to promotion.

Leroy entered the building, and he was a middle-aged demon sitting close to the doorway like a statue with closed eyes.

"Your purpose?" He impassively asked without opening his eyes.

Ace didn't falter and coolly stated, "I want to enter the Imperial School."

The demon suddenly opened his eyes, revealing empty sockets like dark pits, and Ace felt a powerful marital sense wash over him, but he remained unmoved and let this guy check as much as he wanted. Even an eighth realm expert can't see through his disguise, much less this law awareness realm cultivator.

"Bone age; 49, cultivation early stage Qi soul manifestation realm. You are indeed qualified to undergo the promotion exam. Head straight in the hallway and turn right; you'll see the promotion examination hall; someone will receive you." Done saying, he closed his eyes again as if nothing had happened.

Ace nodded and then headed toward the place the demon had pointed him to, and soon, he reached a large door and he entered. There was a massive space behind that door, and he saw three doors right ahead and there was a counter with an elf lady sitting just a few meters behind those three doors.

The elf lady's bored expression turned into surprise when she saw Leroy entering, "Are you here for the promotion exam to raise your royal student tier?"

The royal students were divided into three tiers, from tier-1 lowest to tier-3 highest. Each tier represents different benefits given to students and cultivation resources, so she thinks Leroy was here to evaluate his student tier.

However, Leroy's reply startled her, "No, I'm here for the imperial student promotion exam."

Surprised, she asked, "The Warden Elder approved?"

"Yes." Leroy solemnly nodded.

"Give me your student tile." She knew that the elder at the gate wouldn't make mistakes, and he was also the first test for students who wanted to apply for a promotion exam. So, she quickly asked for his student tile without making a fuss.

Ace handed her a blue rectangular tile made with jade, and there were runes engraved on both sides.

She took the student tile and placed it on a formation plate before all the information in the student title regarding Leroy appeared. After confirming that he was indeed qualified for the exam, she asked, "You need to pay 1000 Student Points."

Student Points were the currency of the school, and they could be acquired by doing missions and providing assistance to the school or breaking student records.

To take any kind of exam, the school charges student points, so those students won't be reckless or waste the school resources. After all, the exams burn resources, especially the higher-grade exams, and if they can continuously take the exams whenever they want, there won't be enough resources anymore.

Ace nodded, "Alright." He knew Leroy had over 2000 student points, which he had accumulated within three years of enrollment, and if it were the real Leroy, his heart would definitely ache while spending half of them on this exam, which he might have failed.

After receiving his confirmation, the elf lady didn't hesitate and placed the student tile on another formation place, and the next moment, the rune symbol on Door NO.3 lit up.

"You may enter now. Good luck." She smilingly stated while she kept the student tile on the formation plate so it could record Leroy's result.

"Thank you." Leroy appeared nervous, just like any other student taking this exam, as he entered door no.3.

Once Ace was inside, the dark space suddenly lit up in white, and in front of him were three gray mannequins holding a bow, sword, and spear, respectively. Ace was surprised as he could sense powerful auras emitting from them and those weapons.

At this moment, a static voice rang, "Imperial Student Promotion Exam will start now. Please destroy the Three Puppets, two realm stages higher than yours, within 30 minutes. This is a death match, and it won't stop until you admit defeat, so please be cautious. Your time starts now!"

It was a simple introduction, and just as the voice trailed off, the mannequins suddenly came to life. The mannequins with the sword and spear directly charged at Ace with ridiculous speed while the mannequin with the bow aimed at him as a Qi arrow had already materialized on the bowstring.

Ace's lips curled up as a green bow appeared in his hand; Leroy was a bow user with ice element affinity, so he could easily emulate his fighting style and Qi.

Taking aim, three ice arrows materialized on the bowstrings, and he released them while sneering, 'How simple!'