Departure

After stepping into the reward section, Mr. Gaston shook his head slightly. He could understand what Ebner and Xio had done, but he did not agree with them. However, he did not say anything else. Firstly, he was not their teacher, so he did not need to worry about it. Secondly, no matter how impulsive they were, they still managed to successfully bring him past the seventh level. After passing this level, he would be able to obtain some authority over the Dream Labyrinth Tower. He was completely focused on it and had no time to educate his juniors.

On the other hand, as soon as Ebner entered the reward range, a lot of information began to ring in his ears like ravings. Fortunately, this information did not have any malicious intent, nor did it contain any high-level knowledge or corruption. Otherwise, he would have immediately activated the Eye of Pure White to analyze the maze of dreams and force himself into unconsciousness.

So after passing the seventh level, he will have a small number of privileges in this tower… It's no wonder Mr. Gaston was willing to pay 1,000 pounds to get someone to bring him through. It was only then that Ebner truly understood.

"There are roughly three privileges. Firstly, when you enter the Dream Maze Tower in the future, you will first come to the rewards and directly proceed to the sixth level. Of course, if you want to go to the seventh, eighth, and ninth levels, that's fine too. However, the rewards after clearing the level will be replaced with a certain number of points. Then, you will use the points to apply for the corresponding knowledge or intelligence. And if you repeatedly clear the first three levels in a short period of time, the points you will receive will decrease… Points? Heh! Is Roselle really building a large-scale dungeon-type online game?!"

"Secondly, you can spend points to open a dream maze in the first three levels. The orientation here refers to the type of maze. You have to know that those scenes contain a lot of knowledge and secrets. If it's not to clear the level but to explore it alone, you might gain quite a lot. For example, setting a Fourth Epoch scenario can deduce a lot of historical secrets from the characters and backgrounds inside. I reckon Mr. Gaston is so eager to clear the seventh level because of this privilege."

"The third privilege is to have a lounge that belongs to you in the tower, where you can store some things that you bring over from the real world. In my opinion, this function is rather useless. Unless you spend a lot of time here and accumulate points, why do you want to live here? Furthermore, the dreamscape and the real world cannot be moved away, and it cannot be used as a storage room…"

While he was thinking about this, Ebner had already sat down on the seat in front of the bookcase and received his third clearance reward. A reward that made his eyes light up!

It was a detailed account of an anonymous Backlund bank account. There was a deposit of 500 pounds in the account. It belonged to a gentleman who had recently had his entire family suffer at sea.

Heh, does this tower think that the knowledge I want the most urgently is money? Roselle is so tacky! After despising the emperor in his heart, Ebner seriously noted down the anonymous account and the extraction secret. As for money, the more the better. Besides, if he didn't take out the money, wouldn't it be letting the bank off easy?

Xio had also finished reading her reward at this moment. Seeing Ebner look over, she said in a happy and conflicted manner, "Rewarding the Sheriff's potion formula… I was quite happy at first, but on second thought, wouldn't the name of the main ingredient for the reward from the previous level seem useless? I feel like I've lost out…"

"Apart from the name of the main ingredient, you also know about the first half of Elland's life. You might be able to use it in the future." Although Ebner comforted Xio on the surface, he agreed with Xio's thoughts. It was such a loss. He planned on telling Xio what the other main ingredient was after he left.

At this moment, Xio felt that she had been a little greedy. She hurriedly straightened her attitude and asked about Ebner's gains. When she learned that he had taken the money, she was instantly rendered speechless. She felt that the density of the dream maze had instantly dropped several levels.

Seeing that the two of them had finished their conversation, Mr. Gaston's expression was no longer as solemn as when they first met. Instead, he chuckled and said, "After the seventh floor, our contract is over. I'll transfer 1,000 pounds to Isengard later."

Ebner nodded. The money would have nothing to do with him. After all, his teacher had paid him.

However, after thinking for a while, he seemed to have thought of something and asked, "Mr. Gaston, can we still come here through the 'door' under the school in the future?" Although the 'door' was technically not his personal property, he had spent many years trying to find it.

"Of course, you're welcome to come anytime. Actually, I also want to know what will happen on the next level, but from the manuscript I got, it's too dangerous there!" Mr. Gaston looked at Ebner and said meaningfully, "I always thought you would try to continue, but it seems that you've changed your mind."

Ebner had indeed wanted to use the familiar scene of the 'plot' to try and break through the sixth level. However, an extremely eye-catching warning sign in front of the passageway leading to that level made him temporarily suppress his thoughts. This was because it said:

"1. Once you enter the sixth level, you cannot leave unless you succeed or die.

"2. The boundary between dream and reality on the sixth level is already blurred. Death in the scene will also result in death in reality.

"3. The sixth level will seal Beyonder powers and corresponding mystical items above the Sequence of the challenger, preserving powers below Sequence 7.

"4. The flow of time in the sixth level is the same as reality. If you stay in the dream maze for too long, your lifespan will decrease with the passage of time in reality."

The words on the warning sign were old, and the words weren't very nice either. Clearly, it wasn't something that existed in this tower, to begin with, but something that the previous challenger had intentionally left behind for his descendants.

Although he didn't know if this was a lie, Ebner didn't want to risk his life to see if it was true. After all, he had cheated with the Eye of White. The Dream Maze Tower couldn't really seal his abilities, so it would be safer for him to wait until he advanced to the Mid-Sequence Beyonder level.

Xio shared the same thoughts. After all, she was only a Sequence 9. How could she dare enter an unknown danger zone without any preparations? She liked to be rash, but she wouldn't be so brainless as to go up.

"In that case, I'll send you back to reality. You may not know where the exit is yet. Hehe, I still want to study here for a while longer." Seeing that Ebner and Xio had no intention of continuing to ascend the tower, Mr. Gaston walked around the many bookshelves and pointed at a wall. Then, a door of light suddenly appeared.

Ebner hurriedly followed and asked, "Mr. Gaston, when will the next Beyonder gathering organized by the Sword and Fire Bar be held?" The reward he had obtained on the ninth level revealed that the clue to the Knowledge Keeper's other main ingredient might be in that bar. He didn't want to miss it.

"It's Thursday night. Looks like you'll have to stay here for a few more days." Mr. Gaston did not ask him what he wanted to get from the gathering. Instead, he introduced the scale of his gathering and the participants. "This gathering has long been half-open. Adventurers, sailors, pirates, and even some military personnel might come to participate!"

"Doesn't the Church of Storms care?" Ebner asked in puzzlement. The islands on the sea were almost all the territory of the Church of Storms.

"This town isn't big, and there aren't any Mandated Punishers stationed here. Furthermore, this is an overseas colony! The Church's control over Beyonders isn't actually very strict. As long as they don't publicly preach the heretical doctrines or cause blood sacrifices, the Church of Storms usually won't interfere," Mr. Gaston explained.

"Even so, for you to be able to organize a half-open gathering here, I'm afraid your identity is not simple!" Ebner seemed to be lamenting and probing.

"Alright, there's no need to scheme. You are Isengard's student, so there's no harm in telling you. I'm a peripheral member of the Church of Steam and Machinery. However, my nationality is Intis, so I can't do anything openly in the Loen Kingdom," Mr. Gaston said after glancing at Ebner. Perhaps it's worse than reasoning with me, but you are still too inexperienced when it comes to scheming.

A peripheral member of the Church of Steam from Intis? This identity is actually similar to Teacher. It's no wonder they became friends… However, this gentleman didn't report to the Church or seek help from the Machinery Hivemind after finding the Dream Maze Tower. From the looks of it, his faith isn't very firm either.

Ebner cursed silently. Seeing that he was about to leave the tower, he hurriedly asked again, "Then do you know if there's a lady named Gwen at the gathering?"

Mr. Gaston shook his head and said, "It's a Beyonder gathering, after all. Most of them hide their faces. Why would they say their names? There aren't even many with code names!"

While Ebner was feeling rather helpless, the three of them had already walked out of the tower.

Looking back at the tower that was so tall that the bottom could not be seen, Ebner thought to himself, "Next time I come, I must pass the sixth, fifth, or even the fourth level! This is the key to my future advancement."

With his logical analysis abilities, it wasn't difficult for him to deduce the emperor's intention to build this tower since he knew that Roselle had created it during the era of the Knowledge Emperor.

Other motives aside…

There was a high chance that there was a Card of Blasphemy hidden in the deepest depths of this dream maze!

This was perhaps the biggest reason why the Dream Maze Tower had yet to be monopolized by the other large factions!

It was the Card of Blasphemy's concealment effect that blocked the senses of high-level Beyonders!