'Alex, my son…'
'When you finally read these words, I'm afraid that I'm no longer by your side.
These Bracelet of Echo and Tower of Life are the final gifts that I can leave you with.
I hope they can protect you in the future on my behalf.'
'There's already a restriction set on the Bracelet of Echo.
Unless our blood's used, no one will be able to activate it.
However, you'll need to explore the Tower of Life yourself slowly.'
'Nonetheless, I'm letting you know that Two of the floors in Tower of Life has been activated, and the blood pond there is filled with the blood and essence of the Ancient holy dragon Beast.
If you're severely injured, or even if your muscles are destroyed, and you lose all your powers, just soak in it… You'll quickly recover.'
'The journey ahead of you is still long, and I apologize for not accompanying you further.
Perhaps you'll encounter countless dangers in the future.
But, I hope that you'll remember no matter how difficult, dire, or desperate the situation is, you should never give up on hope.'
'Do you still remember what I always said to you? Thoughts become things.
If you see it in your mind, you'll hold it in your hand.'
When he saw the signature at the end, Alex could not control his tears anymore, and they streamed down his cheeks.
Alex's mother passed away at a young age.
Hence, he thought that he could only recall their memories fondly for the rest of his life.
However, at that moment, her silhouette once again appeared clearly in Alex's mind.
As the wind blew and the flowers fell, his mother appeared with a beautiful smile on her face, waving tenderly at Alex.
"These are the treasures mom left for me." Then, Alex took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down, clenching his fists tightly.
Now, he finally understood that the bracelet that his mother left for him were the bracelet of Echo.
Plus, the simple and unadorned tower in front of him was the Tower of Life.
It was obvious that both the bracelet of Echo and Tower of Life were immortal treasures.
Moreover, Alex never heard of the Ancient Holy Dragon Beast his mother mentioned in the note.
Those signs suddenly shrouded Alex's image of his mother with a mysterious veil.
"It's so strange.
Mom never mentioned these means and treasures before.
Furthermore, that emperor also seemed to be kept in the dark about this.
If she were an immortal, why would she marry that emperor and stay in Espansia?"
After he settled his emotions, Alex's mind was filled with questions.
Then, he carefully read the note his mother left again and walked around the Tower of Life.
Finally, he was sure that there were no other messages left for him.
This meant that the questions he had in mind were temporarily left unanswered.
"Forget it.
I'll just stop thinking about it for now.
Since mom only left me with a short note, she must've had her reasoning.
I should take a look at the Ancient Holy Dragon Beast's blood pond and see what it is."
When he thought of this, Alex instantly became furious.
Before he was imprisoned, someone drugged him.
That caused his Martial Realm to fall from the fourth stage to that of an ordinary person.
Thus, his muscles and bones suffered various degrees of damage.
Thankfully, Alex was utterly gifted and his life was not threatened.
Alex wondered if his remarkable body had something to do with his mother.
Nonetheless, since it was possible to restore his strength, he would not let go of that chance.
The door creaked as Alex pushed it open.
In an instant, a lingering and thick red fog rumbled out.
Among the mist, Alex caught a glimpse of a large and terrifying figure.
After knowing that the Tower of Life was a gift from his mother, Alex was not scared at such a strange sight anymore, and be directly strode in.
When he reached the first floor, he noticed that the Tower of Life appeared depilated on the outside like an old temple on a barren hill.
However, Alex found all kinds of somewhat extraordinary scenes when he walked inside.
The surroundings of the tower were adorned with lifelike carvings of all kinds of beasts.
More importantly, Alex never saw a single one of the beasts.
In the middle of the floor, there was a massive pond filled with dark red liquid, which was bubbling at that moment.
It seemed to be boiling, but when Alex approached it, he could not feel any temperature.
"I think this is the essence and blood of the Ancient Holy Dragon Beast." After staring at it for a moment, Alex did not hesitate further and directly jumped into the pond.
In an instant, as if the blood in the pool were alive, they rushed to him and formed into waterfalls, enveloping him and spinning around him at high speed.
Then, more blood continued to gather around him.
Although there was only a pond of blood, Alex heard a loud noise as if he was in a stormy sea.
Alex sat cross-legged in the middle of the pond, steady like a mountain with a blazing gaze.
Soon, he recalled what happened in the past.
"The True Martial Realm's mainly about refining our body, and there are five stages in total.
The first stage is Introduction, the second stage is A Step Forward, the third stage is Small Achievements, the fourth stage is Martial Art Expert, and finally, the fifth stage is the Master of Martial Art.
When I was fourteen, I was already at the fourth stage, Martial Art Expert…"
"My progression was faster by more than five times of a normal person.
But, when I returned with the troops in triumph for the celebratory banquet after winning a great war at fifteen, I was caught on the spot as I wanted to pursue an unnatural relationship with my sister.
After that, I was found to carry weapons and gather military forces outside the city, planning to take advantage of the banquet and assassinate the emperor as well as purge the palace court to usurp the throne."
"With all the witnesses and physical evidence, I was stripped of my prince status on the spot and was reduced to a commoner.
Then, I was imprisoned in the deepest end of the hellhole prison.
Moreover, someone drugged my wine with a highly toxic poison during the last banquet.
It not only ruined my previous effort, but I couldn't even reach the threshold of the True Martial Realm.
Furthermore, in the next six months, my body was damaged each second, making my life worse than death…"
At the thought of what happened, Alex burned in rage.
"The emperor, prince, and princess colluded to frame me, the crown prince.
Moreover, under the pretense of a marriage of convenience, they wanted to send me in a weakened state, to Lamer county, the border I destroyed and the capital I invaded.
By this, the Lamer will do their dirty work and get rid of me for them once and for all.
Since that's their plan, then they shall just wait and see.
I'll take each and everything that belongs to me back!"
Alex had made up his mind.
At that moment, it was as if the bubbling blood surrounding him also heard his wish.
In an instant, a dazzling brilliance burst out.
A ray of blood-red asterism suddenly soared out from the blood pond.
Then, it formed into a stream of light, and with a swishing sound, it flew toward Alex and disappeared between his brows.
Soon, Alex felt the inside of his body rumbling loudly as if it were dragging steel plates.
He could also clearly feel his muscles, bones, and internal organs that were damaged by the poison were healing swiftly.
It felt like they were constantly improving and improvising until they reached a perfect state that he had never achieved before!
When he practiced his martial art skill before, Alex inevitably left some internal injuries.
Although an ordinary person would not see the wounds, Alex was well aware of them.
Nonetheless, as he absorbed that stream of light, Alex noticed that those internal injuries he sustained while training were continuously healing.