Eternal Thief

Ace became somber at this moment after realizing his errors, and he felt extremely grateful towards Malservus because she had probably stopped him from making a huge mistake.

”Thank you for your advice, master. You were right; I wasn’t thinking straight. I’ll be more grateful to have your guidance in this matter because I’ll probably make the same mistake if I don’t understand this clearly…” Without hesitation, he told Malservus about the ETFC and about its new ability.

But he didn’t mention anything about the Live Fate Map or its actual grade of being an Eternal Provenance Treasure. ”Oh? So, this strange disk in your inner world is a Fate treasure, and I can even show you your Fate Path and even shift its trajectory temporarily? No wonder I can’t see through its mystery!” Malservus exclaimed with a rare hint of astonishment.

”I acquired it by chance in the First Heaven…” Ace plainly stated but was also surprised that even Malservus seemed shocked by ETFC and couldn’t see through its mystery. He was now even more determined to hide its actual grade.

”First heaven?” Malservus seemed even more surprised, ”It seemed your luck is even stranger and heaven-defying than I’ve imagined.”

”Heh, if I had such luck, would I still be on the path of death?” Ace couldn’t help but mocked himself bitterly.

”That’s where you’re wrong,” Malservus stated sternly as she didn’t further inquire about the ETFC since she didn’t want to appear greedy or doubted by Ace because Ace told her about this treasure and sought her advice, which meant he started to trust her.

”I admit fate is a terrifying bitch which you might be able to avoid, but you can never escape from it. However, this also made us who we are now and helped us define ourselves.

”But the thing is, cultivators walked on the path against fate, and many met their end, and only a few can overcome it. Basically, cultivation is all about changing your fate and continuing to fight against it.

”When you win, you’ll live to fight another day, but if you lose, everything will be over. So, even if you are on the path of death, this shouldn’t bother you much because ever since the day you start cultivating, you embarked on the path of life and death and changed your fate as a mortal who was destined to die of old and helplessness.”

Ace sighed emotionally as he nodded in acknowledgment; he knew his decision to seek advice from Malservus was correct since she was an undying old monster from an unknown prehistoric era. ”Furthermore, I think you’re looking at this incorrectly. This ability is meant to shift your fate path, not about prophesying your life and death. So, what you should be worried about is not about your death but how to know about the correct time to activate this ability and escape it.

”Moreover, if it makes you feel any better, consider this: you are a Heaven’s Stealer who is essentially the biggest Heaven Defier between Nine Heavens and Ten Abysses. Your entire existence is based on ’defiance,’ which means you’ll need to defy everything and anything to become stronger.

”In your case, you need to steal from everyone and everything, including fate. Heh, I’m even surprised that you didn’t realize this simple fact about yourself. You live to defy everything no matter how powerful or impossible they are because if you start to get cold feet, death will be right before you!” Malservus stated in a cold yet profound tone with a hint of nostalgia as if she was reminiscing about something.

Ace’s eyes widened slightly as he instantly felt enlightened. It was as if the darkness covering his mind had vanished, and he became clear-headed again. A sudden realization dawned on him as he breathed deeply, ’Yes! She’s right, what were you even doing? When did you start following the wimp of fate when you’re not even afraid of heaven?

’Although fate might be predetermined, it’s still not absolute and can be changed, and my fate was already filled with death the moment I got the system. So, for me, death needed to be something that I’d encounter at any moment, and I’d be ready to avoid it all the time. Isn’t this what I’ve been all this time?

’I’m a Heaven’s Stealer, the enemy of heaven, which also made me an enemy of fate because heaven controls it; I shouldn’t be controlled by it but use it! If I start following fate, I’ll be its slave, and then I might end up dead.

’I can’t waver by the fate path; the ability fate path shifter is to avoid my fate path, not to consciously work on changing it or become afraid of it. This is a freaking thievish ability, not a liberal one.

’Just as Malservus said, I’ve been thinking about all this wrong and almost made a fatal mistake.’

Ace suddenly felt a huge burden lifted from his shoulders, and the stiffness in his chest was finally gone as he felt calm again.

”Fufu~, you’re still teachable, my dear steward; the chaos in your heart is completely gone now. Whatever you comprehend, never forget it, or the next time, I won’t help you.” Malservus jeered at him, but a hint of surprise was hidden in her voice.

”It’s all thanks to you, Master. Without you, I might’ve been lost in this conundrum of fate. If I have the power in the future, I’ll help you to the best of my abilities.” Ace sincerely promised.

”As long as you remember.” Malservus was delighted, ”Anyway, where are you now? Did that cat let you escape?”

Ace smiled wryly, giving her a vague overview of what had happened to him and Zaria and why he came here.

”Well, it seemed I’ve underestimated your popularity with women.” Malservus sounded slightly shocked as she continued, ”Anyhow, you seemed to have awakened Force and become a true Martial Soul Cultivator. I hope you won’t regret it in the future since even in my time, Martial Soul Cultivators were completely extinct, and cultivating force was even declared taboo. Martial Soul Cultivators die either succumbing to pain or gathering resources to cultivate their force and Qi simultaneously.

”The biggest reason for Force to go extinct and even a source of dread among cultivators was also because of the tribulations one needed to face; the Heavenly Punishment is nothing in front of it.

”Most importantly, many ancient sages believed that force brings bad luck and that whoever dared to cultivate it would eventually end up dead, especially since there was no complete technique available to begin with.

”But I’m not surprised if Heaven’s Stealer heritage contained a Force technique. However, it might be one of the reasons they always ended up dead. So, I can only say you have some guts, yet you still wonder why you’re on the path of death. How amusing!” Ace was startled when Malservus suddenly mentioned Force, and his expression turned serious as he felt something amiss between her ambiguous words. Furthermore, the term ’Martial Soul Cultivator’ was novel to him.

”So, you’re saying even in your time, no one cultivated force and techniques were incomplete? What does this mean?” Ace quickly asked.

”Who knows? I never paid much heed to it since it was simply a waste of effort. I do have some incomplete techniques in my collection, but I never bother to look at them since I’m quite afraid of pain.” Malservus nonchalantly revealed. Ace’s expression becomes somewhat gloomy, not because of finding out about the force since the system has warned him it was his own decision but because…

”Then what about those races with an innate talent for force? Like Celestials and True Dragons?” Ace instantly thought about Alina’s bloodline. ”You even know about Celestials and True Dragons?” Malservus was surprised, ”Oh, forget it, you are THE Heaven’s Stealer. To tell the truth, Celestials, True Dragons, and Phoenixes are supreme beings of Nine Heavens; they are vastly different from us, and their physiques allow them to cultivate force naturally, not to mention they had the highest talent in Qi as well.

”So, comparing yourself with them is equal to comparing dirt with gold, and they are too secretive and elusive, and they inhabit secrets as deep as the universe. No one has ever seen them, but those who do never remain alive to tell the tale.

”That’s why you should forget about them. Unless… well, forget it, if you can one day overcome everything, maybe you’ll be able to solve this ancient mystery!”