Eternal Thief

One of the largest regions of the Royal Demon Nation, the Demonic Academia Region, was closest to the Demon Emperor Domain.

This region was under the management of four Demon Institutes: named, Evergreen Demon Institute, Battle Demon Institute, Black Mountain Demon Institute, and Royal Demon Institute.

These four institutes were under the direct juridical of the Demon Emperor Domain, and non-other have any authority over them and they have the most precious resources in the entire Almighty Demon Empire.

Whether it was resources, skills, or techniques, everything was top-notch.

That's also what made these institutes so alluring to the demons.

Furthermore, it was also an ironclad law of the Royal Demon Nation that any young demon who could cultivate had to spend at least fifty years in one of the institutes to learn about different fields they'll be serving in the future.

No one could overstep this hurdle, even the Grand Demon Tribes.

Not only this will make it almost impossible for a talented demon to escape the empire's grasp, but those demons without talent also put to use and train in the best fields they're most suitable in.

Before graduation, the life of a demon was already decided for them!

Only some expectational demons were given the choice to select their path.

But the end result was the same. No matter what they chose, they'll be serving their empire until their last breath, and this was also the reason the demons were second in the ranking.

Their ruling system was exceptional, and demons with power were promoted and protected as long as they showed their loyalty and worth.

Every year, the gates of these four demon institutes were opened for recruitment, and thousands of demons applied and entered.

This was also that time of the year when demons from all over the royal demon nation were heading toward one of the four demon institutes they preferred.

The three demon institutes, Evergreen Demon Institute, Battle Demon Institute, and Black Mountain Demon Institute, were almost equal in power, but as their names suggest, they all tech and nurture demons in different fields while having a specialty of their own.

The Evergreen Demon Institute was mostly famous for nurturing the best Rune Crafters, Alchemists, and Runic Smiths.

The Battle Demon Institute was famous for its battle experts.

The Black Mountain Demon Institute was proficient in teaching army tactics and nurturing powerful commanders.

Lastly, the most prominent was the Royal Demon Institute, which was the dream of every demon because only elites among elites could join this place and once they entered there, they were set for life.

The Royal Demon Institute has the most powerful inheritance, and every demon who entered this place and graduated from it was a force of nature.

They had the lowest number of students, but each one of them could crush the top geniuses of the other three demon institutes.

Their entering conditions were extremely harsh, and no one had ever known what they teach there. It was a core secret, and no student would reveal this even after they graduated.

The area of the Royal Demon Institute alone expanded thousands of miles.

The entrance to the Royal Demon Institute was blocked by an immense wall and two gates that were hundreds of meters in pure length.

These gates were known as the Demonic Gates, and no one could cross them without having a special pass or student identity.

Today, these usually closed demonic gates were opened, but a misty barrier still existed to prevent anyone from seeing what was on the other side.

Four imposing demons in pitch-black attire with golden outlines and a golden symbol of Baphomet's head on their back were sitting cross-legged around a huge water pool which has a projection in it.

They all looked at the projection in the pool with emotionless eyes.

At this moment, a white skin demon with golden horns and a strange black rune symbol below his left eye spoke emotionlessly, "Gentlemen, I don't need to repeat the rules since we do this every year, but I will follow the protocol."

He scanned through the other three and no one spoke, so he continued, "First, as Head Examiners, we'll remain impartial in our final judgment.

"Second, we'll not interfere during the entrance test.

"Third, if we caught anyone cheating, even if that person is our kin, capital punishment will be given on the spot.

"Fourth..."

The demon repeated a total of ten odd rules before everyone nodded without showing any disagreement. They had heard these rules thousands of times and now remembered them by heart.

"Alright, since the protocol is out of the way, should we start the first exam?" He asked with a tingle of excitement in his voice.

"Granted!"

"Granted!"

"Granted!"

---

A mile away from the demonic gate, a dark barrier covered the way forward while a few hundred meters away many lavishing carriages were parked.

Many demons from different tribes were gathered around their carriages, and all of these demons have scary auras around them, and ordinary demons won't even dare to approach them.

They were all waiting quietly outside their carriages, and no one dared to wait inside. It was a courtesy and respect for the Royal Demon Institute.

The young demons standing with their elders were looking around with sharp eyes as if they were measuring each other strength.

Within these demons, Archie stood straight beside Harvey, and behind them was their expressionless butler.

Harvey clicked his tongue and commented softly, "This sure brings back memories. When I was here for the entrance test, there were even more participants. But I, as your father, still crush everyone and earn a spot for myself."

He started to extol himself all of a sudden with a reminisced expression.

"Hmph, felicitations yourself again, Harvey. I guess something never changed." A cold, jeering voice sounded at this moment.

Harvey's joyful expression instantly fell the moment he heard this voice. He knew who this annoying voice belonged to very well.

Ace also looked around and saw two demons walking over, one young and handsome while his eyes were resentful as he looked at Archie. The other one was middle-aged, and his eyes were cold and astute. They all have the same racial features, which means they were from the life demon tribe.

'The Flame Demon Duke, Finley, and the youngest son of the Soul Pill Family, Lucas. It's good that Harvey came with me or they might make things difficult for me.' Ace thought impassively as he recognized these two from his memories.

Especially Lucas, with whom the real Archie had a very friendly relationship, and he never thought this guy was the one who wanted to sabotage him the most.

Currently, Lucas's eyes were filled with hate and malicious intent as he stared at Archie, who made a fool out of him in front of his father.

"Old Flame, I never thought you would come here personally." Harvey coldly sneered.

If they were alone, he would've called him Old Dog Flame, but for the sake of their tribe face, they have to give each other some face, or others will laugh at them.

Finley coldly chuckled, "And here you are yourself, Little Vey."

Both demons stared at each other coldly, and one could feel the gunpowder in the air.

"Cousin, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Lucas pulled a warm yet chilly smile as he greeted Archie.

"Yep, last time we have a great time in the pleasure palace. You even make eight prostitutes beg..."

"YOU... Stop... Stop!" Lucas quickly stopped Archie with a pale expression and quickly looked around, and when he saw no one heard this, he had a massive sigh of relief.

Even Harvey and Finley couldn't help but look at Archie and what he just mentioned as if he was talking about some random stuff.

Archie had an innocent expression as he shrugged his shoulder. "Why are you all looking at me like that? I was just reminiscing about our good time. Onetime brother Lucas even showed me this 'Lick the Lit', he said he saw Big Uncle doing..."

"Stoppppp!"

It was Finley who screamed with a horrified expression and nearly launched an attack.

Lucas's face went deadly pale at this moment. He never thought Archie would reveal his dark secrets, which he shared to win his trust so casually. Not only that, he even dragged his father into this, and he could now feel a cold aura from his father, who was looking at him with a death glare.

Harvey suddenly laughed out loud, "Lick the Lit?! Hahahaha... Old Flame, it seemed you're quite a player. Come, come teach your old friend this Lick the Lit. We're all men here. There's no need to shy."

Finley's face was deadly pale and gnashed his teeth at this moment when onlookers' attention was attracted. He really wanted to chop his little bigmouth bastard into a million pieces right now!

At this moment, an imposing voice reverberated in the vicinity, drawing everyone's attention.

"Gather for the Test of Qualification!"