Eternal Thief

After Ace calmed down, he completely gave up on entering this passage since he knew he needed to polish his skills further. But he stubbornly decided to do it within a few months. He wouldn’t give up and let Eva go until he had no choice.

Then, he checked the rest of the passages. There were twelve passages filled with water channels, the narrowest one leading towards the Mortal Sky Ascension Temple Portal.

When Ace saw the end of one of the other eleven passages, his eyes widened with shock because he was a Forbidden Heavenly Space Locking Array (Grade-10). That passage was also filled with a terrifying number of red fate points, almost dying the area crimson. On each fate point, a similar tag was attached: Heavenly Martial Beast (Late 8th Realm), or Heavenly Soul Beast (Late 8th Realm).

‘T-this… it’s a freaking trap! There are over 10 thousand of these Heavenly Martial and Soul Beasts! If someone entered this passage and triggered this array, they would never be able to escape!’

Ace felt a chill go down his spine. He asked the system another question and hoped he was overthinking it: “System, those Heavenly Martial and Soul Beasts, please don’t tell me they are named such because they can also use Heavenly Qi of Martial and Soul?”

“[Host is right. Heavenly Beasts can only exist in the domain of Heavenly Will, but they are born with either Heavenly Martial Qi or Heavenly Soul Qi.]”

Ace’s expression grew graver. “Can those heavenly beasts flood the main passage if someone enters unannounced?”

“[The Forbidden Heavenly Space Maze Array is there exactly for this reason, if you took a signal wrong step, you won’t even when you stepped into another space channel and entered entirely different space.]”

However, his eyes widened because there was something completely unexpected at the end of this passage.

There was no grade-10 array or heavenly beasts; instead, this place was filled with high-grade-8 formations, and towards the end of it was a ‘Space Treasury (Grade-9 Space Storage Treasure), Space Lock (Grade-9 Formation), and Bloodline Lock (Grade-9 Formation)!

Ace’s heart raced. “Space Treasury, not a treasury? It’s even had the Grade-9 Storage Space Treasure tag with it. System, is it like the space ring of Grade-9?”

“[A Grade-9 Rune Crafter proficient in space runes can tear through the space and then use space crystals to create storage space treasure in that space tear. You can even think of this as the initial stages of creating a secret realm. But it is still a world apart since there are many more steps required to create an independent secret realm.]”

Ace was astounded when he heard the explanation about this novel storage space treasure. He didn’t expect to encounter such a thing there. If not for the system, he would’ve never been able to discover the existence of this space treasury since it was a physical object like a storage ring.

‘So, that’s where the imperial family treasury was hidden. No wonder Sofia told me only the Mortal Emperor knew about its location, and only he could access it.’

Ace suddenly thought of something and quickly questioned the system, “System, can I use this space treasury to upgrade my thief’s space?”

“[Yes, it is a grade-9 storage space treasure so it meets the requirements.]”

“Then, after I upgrade the thief space, can Eva get more time?” he quickly asked, as he had not considered?this possibility before.

But now that he saw the Grade-9 storage space treasure, he suddenly remembered that an upgrade was still left for the thief’s space. So, he quickly asked the system for confirmation; if there was hope, he wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice that living space ring he got from Edward.

“[No, this problem won’t be solved until you upgrade the system. But with this upgrade and time acceleration function, and if you unlocked all the thief’s house locked functions, then the time can be increased from 20 months to 50 months!]”

Ace was elated before startled, as he confusingly asked, “What thief’s house locked functions?”

The system didn’t reply; instead, a panel appeared before him.

=====

[Thief’s House]

Description: Only Thief House Members can enter this private space for the thief house members to train their thief skills and cultivate!

-Current Capacity: 3

-Unlock Function(s): 1

1. Thief Cultivation Chambers

—

[Thief’s House Functions]

[Available Functions: 3]

-Thief Training Rooms: Lock

Unlock Cost: 1,000,000 House Points

-Theft Stimulation Virtual Room: Lock

Unlock Cost: 10,000,000 House Points

-Time Multiplier: Lock

Requirement: Time Acceleration Function

Unlock Cost: 100,000,000 House Points

=====

Ace’s face turned slightly red with embarrassment as he cursed himself, ‘Shit! How could I forget about it? But it wasn’t my fault since, at that time, I didn’t have so many spare thief points to convert into house points. So, I completely forgot about them! However, even now, to fully unlock these functions, I have to spend over 1.2 billion thief points. Well, if this means I will have more time, I can accept it since I might be able to recover this amount with this thievery!

‘But if I take away the entire treasury, it will definitely alert the Imperial Family. I will leave behind a thief mark, and they might also alert the Heavenly Mortal Emperor if they have some way…’

Ace’s eyes suddenly went deadly cold. ‘But what if I get rid of the Mortal Emperor? He would be here in great panic if he sensed the treasure was gone. He’s the only one aware of this place, and once he vanished, there would be no one left.

‘But I can’t be fully assured that his death would not raise any alarm, for there is that strange seal in imperial family members’ minds which stopped them from revealing the temple location.

‘They have a very deep connection with the Heavenly Mortal Emperor, or why would their treasury be here where the entrance to the temple is? Then I have to keep Mortal Emperor alive…

‘Furthermore, since the Mortal Emperor can appear here and is connected with the Heavenly Mortal Emperor, I might discover some unexpected method to enter the Ascension Temple by using the Mortal Emperor’s…’ Ace’sheart raced despite knowing his plan was ridiculous.

But before proceeding, he asked the system a final question: “System, if I takethat treasury, will Heavenly Mortal Emperor be alert?”

“[If Heavenly Mortal Emperor can have such freedom to protect someone else treasures, do you think it will leave them with only grade-9 formation when it could set up grade-10 heavenly arrays? It only exists for Heaven, and this is also its biggest restrain!]”

Ace’s thievish eyes shone as he looked at the wide passage, filled with a powerful water current; his lips rose ever so slightly before he turned into a dark streak and vanished within the passage!

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