Eternal Thief

Ace wait in anticipation for further explanation about these bonds because he could tell there had to be some kind of advantages that came with these bonds.

“[With host current authority-level, it was impossible to divulge such information. However, since the host has already acquired a treasure like Heavenly Fate Live Compass and completed the conditions to subdue it, the system deemed host can access this information.]”

Ace nearly cursed when he heard the first half of the system’s sentence, but quickly shut his mouth when he heard the other half. He knew if the system deemed him unqualified; he was unqualified without any further discussion.

System static voice rang again.

“[Equal Bond: This bond represents a partnership-like relation where the treasure and user will have a mutual relationship based on benefits and either party can easily break free from this bond if their own life is in danger. Normally, a Treasure spirit only forms an Equal Bond because it will reduce its chance of getting sacrificed or getting destroyed. Simply put, as long as a Treasure spirit senses its existence in jeopardy, it won’t hesitate to abandon its user and escape, and sometimes if it found another even more powerful cultivator than its current user, it can even change sides!]

“[Life Bond: This bond is very special because it will bond a treasure to its bearer for life and as long as the bearer won’t die the treasure can’t undo this bond or abandon its bearer even if it’s meant to sacrifice itself. Life Bonds are further divided into three types, ‘Master for One-Life’, ‘Together for Life’, and ‘Only Master for Life’. These three types have different pros and cons.]

“[Master for One-Life: Simply means the treasure won’t go as far as to risk its entire being for the bearer and still hold back a little to preserve its own life in case the bearer died.]

“[Together for Life: In this case, the treasure will completely be bonded to its user, and if any one of them died or was destroyed, the other will perish as the result.]

“[Master for Life: In this Life Bond the treasure will only submit to one user for eternity and if its master died, it will also be destroyed while if the treasure was destroyed the user will only suffer a backlash but preserved its life.]”

Ace frowned when he heard about these two bonds. It won’t be a lie to say he wasn’t a fan of the equal bond at all because this was like caring a ticking time bomb with oneself which can abandon you at any time it deemed you useless or even turned against you.

As for the Life Bond, he felt quite better about this bond, but he would still not be willing to form the first two life bonds with a treasure because it was simply not worth it.

He can grow, but the treasures can’t if they won’t reforge with higher grade materials, which were quite hard to find and there was always a risk of failure and destruction in the process!

Moreover, he won’t be willing to hand a treasure to someone for reforging that can take his life on being destroyed. It’s far too risky.

Even if he was desperate, he would only agree to form the third type of life bond at the risk of a backlash.

“What about this Provenance Life Bond that only Heavenly Fate Live Compass can form?” Ace asked with uncertainty. He wasn’t as optimum as before now, but he still wanted to hear what this special life bond was about.

“[Provenance Life Bond: Provenance Life Bond can only be formed by an Eternal Provenance Treasure. These treasures didn’t have any grade or limit to their growth and every time such a treasure was born, Heaven tried to destroy it with all its power as well as their creators. However, if an Eternal Provenance Treasure survived the heavenly punishment, they can grow infinitely if they formed a Provenance Life Bond with someone.]

“[However, forming Provenance Life Bond is almost impossible because there are special conditions attached with every Eternal Provenance Treasure and every bearer of Eternal Provenance Treasure will face Heavenly Punishment every time the treasure evolved.]

“[Yet, if an eternal provenance treasure managed to form a Provenance Life bond, it will grow most beneficially for its user and that’s why almost everyone wanted an Eternal Provenance Treasure; Gods and Immortals alike, despite a high extinction rate!]”

Ace felt his heart rate increase, he couldn’t help but asked with a slightly trembling voice, “G-gods and Imm… Immortals alike!? B… but didn’t Heavenly Fate Live Compass was destroyed and this is only a needle of it, can it be called an Eternal Provenance Treasure and a-are you also…?”

Ace felt like he had solved the mystery of the system and thought it was also this Eternal Provenance Treasure because it was growing with him and its name also had ‘Eternal’ in its name.

However, the system’s icy voice sounded with a hint of disdain.

“[NO!]”

Ace felt his mind tremble and kept his mouth shut and thought resentfully, ‘Fuck, why are you shouting? Just say no gently and I understand.’

But he didn’t dare to say anything and only smiled wryly when he thought just how powerful the system was, and it was helping him grow, not the other way around all this time, and it wasn’t something an Eternal Provenance Treasure could do which needed his help to grow!

System spoke again.

“[Host is right and wrong at the same time about Heavenly Fate Live Compass’s peculiar condition. It was indeed destroyed by heaven’s will, however, it also managed to survive by hiding a part of its Treasure-Spirit in its toughest part; the ‘Compass Needle’, and then managed to escape the complete annihilation.]

“[Furthermore, it even managed to form a hoax body for itself and managed to survive umpteen years while hiding from heaven’s will deduction. Although it’s a destroyed and only a fragment of an eternal provenance treasure, it is nonetheless still an Eternal Provenance Treasure and if it found someone who could form a Provenance Life Bond with it, with enough time it can recover and even become more powerful than when it was born!]”

Ace’s eyes shimmered with ecstasy, he never thought a treasure that can grow infinitely will fall on his lap this easily and if it wasn’t for the system, he might didn’t even know this kind of treasure existed nor will he ever know the truth about this compass needle hoax body, and he might also lose his lifespan like its previous owners and died miserably.

A chill run down his spine just at the thought of it. There were just too many mysterious things in this world or heaven, and he had to become powerful just to know about them.

But thereupon, Ace felt a fire ignite in his heart to experience the unknowns, just as the thought of it gave him endless energy and motivation.

He solemnly asked, “Then tell me, can I form this Provenance Life Bond or not?”

Ace felt this Eternal Provenance Treasure was very suitable for him because he was already the enemy of heaven, and he could easily let this treasure grow infinitely as long as he won’t fall. Besides, he had the system, so he was even more eager to form this life bond as quickly as possible!

System icy voice rang. However, it sounded jeering this time.

“[The host can form any kind of bond with the system’s help and bypass any natural conditions set up by these treasure spirits, as long as the host has sufficient TP.]”

Ace grinned widely in relief. This system just never disappointed him. However, the system next words made his smile vanish.

“[Please be warned host that any being can only form a single Provenance Life Bond with only single Eternal Provenance Treasure which suits their cultivation path.]

“[Like this Heavenly Fate Live Compass is a Soul Type Eternal Provenance Treasure, so only someone with a soul path foundation can form Provenance Life Bond with it while it was completely useless for a martial cultivator.]

“[However, the host is walking on both martial and soul paths, so the host can bond two Eternal Provenance Treasures, One Martial Type and One Soul Type. So please choose wisely, because this compass isn’t an attack-type soul treasure, nor does it have any defensive power. It was only born to peer into the mysteries of heaven and fate. But with host influence, it can also become a special type of soul treasure, but it still has to be seen. So please choose wisely.]”

“Only one per cultivation path?”

Ace frowned. This put him in a dilemma because if he chose to subdue this compass he will lose his qualification to bond with another powerful soul type Eternal Provenance Treasure.

However, he smiled wryly the next moment and thought, ‘System you think too highly of me, who knows just how many years it will take me to found another soul type eternal provenance treasure, or by your tone, it’s clear I would be extremely lucky to encounter another such treasure in the future, so I’m content with what I already have!’