Eternal Thief

The moment Ace flashed inside the jaw-like opening, he realized something was wrong, because inside, there was nothing; no formation lines carved into the walls, or spatial runes, especially not the teleportation arrays he was expecting.

Instead, he found himself standing inside a perfect cubical chamber, the walls pitch-black, smooth to the point of being unnaturally pristine, as if they had never been touched by dust, time, or erosion.

There were no seams, no symbols, no inscriptions. Even the floor and ceiling were identical, forming a sealed box that felt more like a void than a room.

At that moment, Ace’s instincts flared, and before he could examine it further, the chamber lurched and then dropped, plunging downward at a terrifying speed!

Ace felt the sensation immediately, for it wasn’t a simple descent; it was as if the chamber had been swallowed by something enormous and was now being dragged through layers of earth and stone, like riding inside the throat of a colossal earth beast as it bored straight down.

At that moment, the walls trembled faintly before a low, muted pressure surged from all directions, squeezing space itself tighter and tighter.

Ace steadied himself instantly while his inner thoughts ran wild.

But at that moment, something even more shocking happened when his Law Thief Sense abruptly contracted as if it was being confined, and he didn’t sense it wrongly because the Law Thief Sense continued to contract until it was completely locked within the cubical space!

’…what?’

Ace was shocked as his eyes sharpened because this had never happened before, because even powerful formations or sealed space could suppress perception, but outright confinement of a law-based sense was something else entirely, especially Ace’s Law Thief Sense!

Without hesitation, Ace immediately shifted his focus to the Live Fate Map, and what he saw made his pupils constrict because the terrain was moving rapidly.

Moreover, Ace noticed something shocking again within the map as he saw landforms warped and shifted across the map in jerks, as if the chamber wasn’t merely descending but undergoing sudden spatial displacements.

It moves downward, then a sharp terrain jump occurs, followed by another, as the map’s interface updates again and again in rapid succession.

’It’s not just descending,’ Ace realized, fascination flashing through his solemn gaze, ’It’s shifting space while moving just like if I used multiple space talismans to continuously shift from one place to another.

’But I never heard of something like this layered transport system with vertical descent combined with spatial jumps. Which means, whoever designed this place didn’t rely on simple teleportation; they buried their pathways.

’No matter what, the real question is where exactly is this thing taking me!’

Ace was still absorbing this revelation when his expression changed abruptly because this time, when the terrain shifted again, and the map stabilized, red fate points flooded his vision in the whole vicinity of the live fate map!

Furthermore, the red fate points weren’t just scattered; there were several dense clusters, indicating a civilized population.

This kind population, right below the trial grounds of the Hunter’s Hunt, was the last thing Ace expected to encounter, and when he thought about how the surface was a barren ancient battlefield, his thievish mind couldn’t help but race wildly.

But at that same instant, the violent downward motion stopped, and the chamber shuddered once before it became still.

Under Ace’s startled look, the walls began to open again, just like they were being closed when he abruptly entered here.

But Ace reacted quickly, not hesitating when he saw five crimson fate points appear right outside the chamber; his figure blurred as he carefully activated an innate soul ability he had rarely needed to use.

’Thief Shelter!’

Space folded silently around him before Ace vanished into a thin layer between spaces, hiding himself within a spatial seam.

Although the ability was still at the level of the Elemental Realm, it was more than enough to hide. As long as no Ascension cultivator actively probed space with their law senses or someone with high attainment in spatial laws, he would not be found.

Furthermore, in this situation, he wasn’t planning on using any treasure or techniques because he wanted to explore and gain more information about what exactly this place was before making a move, so Thief Shelter was perfect.

Just as Ace took shelter, the chamber opened fully, and dim, pale light spilled inside, illuminating the black interior enough to reveal the room’s edges.

Beyond the opening was another gloomy corridor, wider than the previous ones, with walls that seemed faintly damp, as if soaked in something unseen. Moreover, Ace’s Law Thief Sense became unrestrained again at that point.

But Ace didn’t have time to investigate because suddenly, slow, heavy, and deliberate footsteps echoed.

Ace held his breath as he saw five figures step inside, and he was slightly surprised because they appeared to be Abyssal beings, and truthfully, he was expecting something else.

But Ace frowned slightly as he also thought about how they were all ’hostile’ and dangerous within the live fate map, which shouldn’t be the case for every Abyssal Being.

However, when Ace’s Law Thief’s Sense brushed past them, he instantly noticed something deeply wrong with them because their skin was deathly pale, stretched tight in some places, and rotting in others.

Dark veins crawled beneath translucent flesh, and patches of skin had begun to slough away, revealing grayish muscle and bone beneath.

Their eyes were eerily dull and sunken, glowing faintly with a murky light. Their movements were stiff, not clumsy, but restrained, as if their bodies were not entirely their own.

Lastly, their auras were even stranger as they didn’t radiate ordinary Abyssal Qi, and instead, their presence felt eerily similar to the miasma outside; cold, stagnant, saturated with death, yet unnaturally stable.

’Their auras… they’re integrated with this place. Could it be they can cultivate the corrosive miasma in this place!?’

Ace was astounded when he thought about it because if that was truly the case, then these ’Abyssal Beings’ were extraordinary, especially if that miasma outside was Qi Radiation as well!