Little Thief, Go!

Yue Yang's insane plan to use a Thorn Flower to enter the Star Domain for a trial mission sparked betting among all the warriors in the mercenary guild.

If Yue Yang could clear the trial successfully with a Thorn Flower, the odds would be ten thousand to one.

Yet no one dared place a bet.

No one was foolish. They would rather throw their gold coins into the Sea of Storms than wager on something so utterly impossible. No one would bet on successfully completing the trial. Even the second outcome—returning unscathed, with odds of one hundred to one—drew no bets. The third outcome was Yue Yang lasting more than ten minutes in the trial, with odds as high as fifty to one. Yue Yang eyed the betting board greedily, but the mercenary guild prohibited him, the person involved, from betting. He could only sigh inwardly over his lack of a fortune-making fate.

If he had been allowed to bet, Yue Yang would definitely have staked all his money on the ten-thousand-to-one odds of clearing the trial. In the blink of an eye, he would have become a millionaire!

"Who says he can't last ten minutes? I have a way!" The moment Ye Kong spoke, everyone froze before suddenly understanding.

"You've gone mad too!" someone immediately declared.

"No way, are you planning to have him challenge the 'Twelve Zodiac Palaces'? My heavens, is there anything crazier in this world? I thought I was crazy enough when I wrote a letter proposing to the princess, but I never expected there to be someone even crazier and more idiotic than me..." A mercenary captain muttered blankly. At some point, the wine cup in his hand had fallen to the floor.

"I'd rather steal a dragon egg than challenge the Twelve Zodiac Palaces!" A thief wore an expression of sheer terror, as if he would commit suicide if anyone forced him to take the challenge.

"Are the Twelve Zodiac Palaces that scary?" Yue Yang's knowledge of them was limited to Saint Seiya. He knew that twelve Gold Saints guarded the Twelve Zodiac Palaces. Could there be Gold Saints inside the Twelve Zodiac Palaces on the first floor of the Heaven-Piercing Tower too?

"Scary? How can you describe it as scary? It's terrifying—absolutely terrifying!" Countless warriors nearly fainted at Yue Yang's question.

"Hm?" Yue Yang wondered. Could there really be Gold Saints inside?

"Put simply, the Twelve Zodiac Palaces are a gold-grade chain quest in the Star Domain. Since you must clear twelve stages, it is called the Twelve Zodiac Palaces. This gold-grade chain quest is the most difficult challenge on the first floor of the Heaven-Piercing Tower. No one has ever completed it all! Furthermore, experts above Level Five are forbidden from entering the Star Domain. Throughout history, no one below Level Five has ever completed the Twelve Zodiac Palaces. Humanity's highest record was ten thousand years ago, when an unnamed warrior reached the ninth stage. That feat remains humanity's peak, and no one since has come close. Over the past thousand years, the highest record has been five stages. Over the past hundred years, it has been three. In the last ten years, no one has even passed the first stage... Every stage of the Twelve Zodiac Palaces has a Gold King Beast guarding it. Ordinary battle beasts are so terrified at the sight of one that they cannot move, much less defeat such a powerful Gold King Beast and clear the stage!" As Ye Kong mentioned Gold King Beasts, his lips trembled involuntarily. Yue Yang immediately understood. So this fellow had boldly challenged the Twelve Zodiac Palaces two years ago, only to suffer a disastrous defeat and end up in his current miserable state.

"Then why did you say you had a way?" Yue Yang asked curiously.

"Here's the thing: in the Star Domain, warriors cannot attack personally. They must use contracted battle beasts to fight. But after entering the Twelve Zodiac Palaces, the guardian laws grant challengers an absolute-defense barrier, just like the barrier raised by the Summoning Codex. It will not disappear for ten minutes. If you go in, you will be safe for at least the first ten minutes. But remember, once the barrier starts flickering, it means there is little time left. You must leave immediately, or the Gold King Beast will kill you in one bite!" Ye Kong's true intention was simply to let Yue Yang go in and have a look. That way, he would not have to wait around here so bored.

Yue Bing would not emerge from the Blackstone Maze for another three days anyway, so letting him seek some excitement in the Twelve Zodiac Palaces would be good.

As for the minimum fee of one gold coin per challenge, Ye Kong was not worried about Yue Yang, a descendant of one of the four great families.

When Yue Yang heard that he could not fight personally, he felt somewhat regretful. It seemed his Innate Formless Body-Breaking Sword Aura would be useless. However, he still had Little Wenli, Bull Shadow, and the Golden Thorn Flower. Even if they could not defeat a Gold King Beast, escaping safely should not be a problem.

As for Grey Wolf, forget it. At most, it could run errands and lure monsters. In a real fight, it had no role to play!

Ye Kong suggested leaving Grey Wolf behind. As merely a bronze-grade Iron-Spine Demon Wolf, it would certainly be killed instantly by the Gold King Beast inside. Even if it somehow survived, being uncontracted, it would likely flee.

"Forget the Thorn Flower. You can get as many of those battle beasts as you want. How many Thorn Flowers can you summon at once?" Ye Kong asked at last.

"One." Yue Yang had leveled up after his previous battle against the Demon Abyss Lord Hashin, reaching intermediate novice apprentice. But even a high-level novice apprentice could only summon one battle beast per day. Yue Yang was no exception. Hearing his answer, Ye Kong felt that he should never have asked. The Yue Family's Third Young Master was a worthless good-for-nothing known throughout the entire Dragon Soaring Continent!

"Using one Thorn Flower to challenge the Twelve Zodiac Palaces? I must still be asleep!" Many mercenaries felt they were dreaming.

"Don't waste your money. Why not use it to buy everyone drinks?" someone suggested.

"You're really going?" Ye Kong felt that Yue Yang might not be in mortal danger with the absolute-defense barrier, but he worried that the Gold King Beast would frighten him out of his wits.

"Of course. What are we waiting for? Let's go!" Yue Yang lived for thrills. Setting aside everything else, the name Twelve Zodiac Palaces alone made him want to challenge it. Though Gold Saints were not guarding it, there were Gold King Beasts instead. It would be just as exciting!

After paying the necessary teleportation fee, they teleported into the vast and unknowable Star Domain.

This Star Domain was eternally night. There was no daytime and no sun... At the entrance to the Twelve Zodiac Palaces challenge, a captain of the golden-armored guards stared with his eyes wide open. "Are you fooling around? A novice apprentice wants to challenge the Twelve Zodiac Palaces? Do you know how many monsters are inside? Forget the Gold King Beast at each stage—even the guardian war dolls and Demon Abyss monsters in every palace number from dozens to nearly a hundred. Have you eaten too much and got nothing better to do? Is this something you can challenge so casually?"

Beside the golden-armored captain stood a gorgeously dressed beauty with a three-tailed snow fox. She threw all decorum aside and burst into laughter. "If we set aside how incredibly foolish this is, your courage is rather surprising. The ignorant truly fear nothing! Young man, I support you. Work hard and charge through all twelve stages!"

Her words made the golden-armored captain roll his eyes. "City Lord Falling Flower, please stop making things worse!"

"My apologies, I forgot your duties. Fine, I won't encourage him to challenge the Twelve Zodiac Palaces. Take back what I just said... Little thief, do you have enough money for the challenge fee? If not, I can lend you some, though I'll charge interest!" The gorgeously dressed beauty laughed so hard she trembled like a flower in the wind. She even paid the fee for Yue Yang's group. When she later learned that only Yue Yang would be challenging it, she doubled over laughing again. "No matter. I already paid for five people, so you can challenge it five times in a row. There's no rush about the interest. I'm very patient, so you can repay me slowly. But remember, you must challenge it five times! Do you know the tricks for clearing the stages? If not, that's fine. I'll teach you. The first stage is Aries Palace, where the Gold King Beast... Ah, it changed this month. It's now a three-headed Chimera. Don't be intimidated just because it is a Level Six Gold three-headed Chimera. It's actually quite easy to deal with. First, kill all the ram-man war dolls in front of the palace, then eliminate a group of sheep-headed monsters. There aren't many—probably a few dozen—and they are all low-level monsters around Bronze Level Three, so they are easy to handle. Enter the main hall and you will see the three-headed Chimera. Don't panic. Turn left immediately. There is a small side hall there. Kill all the sheep-headed priests inside, then obtain the Silence Scepter, which restrains the Chimera's left head. That will render its left head useless. Then get a Blindness Rune from the right-side hall. It can be used three times, and the right head will be blinded as well. After that, you can have your battle beast fight the middle head in close combat. What battle beast do you have?"

"Thorn Flower!" Yue Yang answered honestly.

"..." The gorgeously dressed beauty known as City Lord Falling Flower stood stunned for several seconds. Then she recovered and gave Yue Yang a thumbs-up. "Your battle beast is impressive. Using a Thorn Flower to challenge the Twelve Zodiac Palaces is the most creative idea I've ever heard! Mm, you can have the Thorn Flower swallow the three-headed Chimera alive. If I remember correctly, Thorn Flowers seem to have an ability called corpse-devouring. By the way, what level is your Thorn Flower?"

"Level One!" The moment Yue Yang said it, the golden-armored captain and everyone around him collapsed to the ground.

"That does make it a little difficult. Still, I support you as always. You must have confidence in yourself! You can do it, little thief. Go!" Like a superior inspecting the countryside, the gorgeously dressed beauty patted Yue Yang's shoulder with her small hand, generously offering him encouragement.

"Alright, Grey Wolf, let's go!" Hearing that there were special items inside that could restrain Gold King Beasts, Yue Yang's confidence soared.

"City Lord Falling Flower, you're sending him to his death! He's doomed!" The golden-armored captain watched helplessly as Yue Yang strode confidently toward the teleportation gate.