Eternal Thief

At this moment, Ace and Conner appeared on the edge of a vast mountain forest, and shockingly, the top of the mountain was filled with lighting clouds as the lighting continuously struck the mountain summit without stopping. It was a very strange yet wonderful sight.

"This is Lighting Mountain, one of the eight training fields built in our imperial school and the most powerful of them all. This mountain was brought here by the Sixth Mortal Emperor from the Berserker Beast Plain.

"Strangely, this mountain had the ability to attract the lighting continuously and then condense that lighting into lightning beasts. This is an excellent place to train your combat abilities as well as dangerous.

"The higher one climbed, the more powerful the lighting beasts; there are even Quasi Law Comprehension Realm lightning beasts at the peak. Furthermore, these lighting beasts dropped lighting cores upon their death, and they are priceless treasures for those with lightning elements.

"Not only that, those cores can even awaken lighting elements. But they are useless to you, and I don't bring you here to collect those cores. The lighting mountain is divided into eight levels according to the cultivation realms of those lighting beasts. The higher the level, the higher-level lighting beasts one encountered.

"I want you to climb all the way to the sixth level edge by only using your archery. You have three days; if you pass my test, you'll be my disciple!" Conner impassively stated before he vanished without a trace.

'What an unreasonable man. He didn't even hear my opinion. He simply doesn't care at all.' Ace was speechless seeing Conner's forceful attitude, and he seemed not to care if Leroy even wanted to be his disciple or not.

Still, Ace didn't care about this conceited hunter; he was bringing a wolf into his own house so he'd naturally suffer the consequences of his snobbishness.

Ace then looked toward the massive mountain, which seemed to be about fifty thousand miles high, and the sky-blue lighting at the very peak. As an innate lighting cultivator as well as someone who was very familiar with heavenly thunder, he could feel this lighting was not normal at all.

The lighting aura covering the mountain was even stranger as he could feel the lighting's destructive nature. However, mixed within this destruction was another kind of law that Ace was completely unfamiliar with. It appeared full of vitality and warmth, like nature.

'Could it be the law of Nature or the fabled law of Life?' Ace wondered, as he didn't know the lighting could even be merged with such a gentle law.

But he was sure that this lighting was also a mutant element like his despair lighting. From Conner's early explanation, those lighting beasts condescended in this mountain seemed to be the result of this mutant lighting.

"System, can you appraise this mountain?" Ace directly asked the system.

This mountain was nothing but simple, but the imperial school was using it as a training field, so it meant they had no idea what it was, or they hadn't left it here for children to play.

"[This is just an ordinary magnetically charged mountain. But it is just an outer shell of a very rare natural treasure above grade 9 called the Life Lightning Quartz. The Life Lightning Quartz is often filled with life lighting filament, which could help a cultivator to comprehend the life nature of lightning. If it is refined using a specific formal, it can grant a fanatic physique of Life Lightning.]

"[The Life Lightning Quartz can only birth with most dense lightning areas filled with nature. It could draw natural lighting continuously and then absorb it to grow.]

"[But it's very hard to find, especially seizing it since it has a natural instinct which allows it to flee the moment it senses danger approaching. I also have its manifested lightning phantom that will protect it at all costs.]

"[Even if someone managed to corner it, its natural outer defense is extremely hard to break and only someone with high enough lighting or thunder law can cut through it.]"

Ace was shocked as his eyes shone when he heard about the 'Fantastic Physique' part. Furthermore, this Life Lightning Quartz was a natural treasure above the ninth grade, and it was also from a mystery plain. Ace was becoming more interested in those two remaining mystery plains.

"Aren't fantastic physiques and meridians connate?" Ace asked since he was under the impression that those fantastic physiques and meridians can only be born with, not artificially made.

The system didn't answer. Instead, it asked a simple question emotionlessly, "[Are host's darkness meridian connate?]"

Ace stumped as he almost forgot about his own Darkness Meridian which appeared after he triggered the hidden part of the Heaven Stealer Cultivation Technique.

Quickly hiding his embarrassment, he asked, "Then can I also acquire this fantastic physique as long as I collect those materials?"

"[It's possible.]"

Ace's eyes shone with elation, "Then how about you give me that formula? The price is negotiable!"

However, this time, the system completely ignored him, pouring cold water on his fantasies.

Perplexed, he retorted, "If you don't want to give me that formula, then you shouldn't have told me from the start!"

Ace sighed helplessly, a bit indigent about the system's lack of response this time. Now that he knew what this Life Lightning Quartz could do, how could he bring himself to consume it? Isn't this just wasting heaven-defying treasure?

Still, Ace quickly calmed down since he had to acquire it first, and right now, he knew Conner was observing him like a hawk. If he does anything foolish his cover would be blown.

'I guess I have to come back after getting rid of that guy.'

After making up his mind, Ace took out the bow and finally entered the mountain. With his fate map, he could easily spot all the lightning beasts in the vicinity, and they were extremely weak at the first level.

Ace also noticed that his mountain was a gray area; there wasn't any silver or golden color, which meant there wasn't anything suitable for him there. If not for the system telling him about the Life Lightning Quartz, he would've completely overlooked it.

Conner, who was observing Leroy quickly making his way toward level two up in the air, couldn't help but nod, 'His movement speed is pretty okay, and he's avoiding all the beasts, so he also had the perception of an archer. Let's see if he had the table for Orbit Intent!'