Eternal Thief

After a long silence, the voice spoke again: "Ahem, ignore what I just said; it was just a slip of the tongue. I've been here for a very long time and don't have 'visitors,' so imagine my emotions when I talk to someone. Sigh… what a lonely soul I am."

"I understand," Ace replied in a neutral tone without showing my reaction.

But inwardly, he was really wondering if this voice was either cunning or a loose-mouthed idiot who thought everything was the same mindset as herself. He had already expected this much, and truthfully, he didn't care.

"NO! You understand shit!" The voice suddenly blurted out with resentment, "I just robe that bastard's ancestral grave, or maybe a couple of them, but let me tell you, that fucking race totally deserved it!

"But that wasn't warned for that swindler to steal my body and then trap my soul here! Can you imagine your body being stolen and your soul suffering for eons of isolation?! Just thinking about it makes me angry! Once I get out of here, I'm going to unearth every ancestor of his race and let them soak in sunlight!"

'Grave robbing?' Ace was speechless as it was the first time he had heard something so absurd.

Although he was a thief, he had never robbed anyone's grave and wasn't planning to unless it was necessary. Furthermore, from this voice's tone, she wasn't some lowly grave robber at all but seemed to be a master who even dared to rob a race's ancestral graves that could trap her soul in the Primordial Ascension Path!

Moreover, she seemed to be completely derailed from the topic and started to spout whatever was coming into her mouth. But Ace wasn't going to believe anything since it could be nothing but a lie to earn his sympathy.

"Ahem, senior, you don't have to worry about it; I'm willing to take you out of here." Ace finally spoke as he really didn't want to know more about this grave robber since he wasn't planning to keep the end of his deal at all.

After all, once he left here, he would never come back, so as long as he got out of here, it was good enough. Furthermore, he noticed that the black flame was becoming smaller.

He guessed that since this voice was calming itself to be trapped here and was afraid of drawing attention, it meant that what it could do was very limited, and he didn't want it to run out of steam before it could help him with what it promised.

"OHH, really!? Damn it! I finally meet a decent man who doesn't ask any useless questions. If you're not so weak, and I'm not interested in men, I wouldn't mind accepting you as my concubinus!" The voice exclaimed.

'Concubinus!!' Ace was utterly speechless and decided not to comment on this topic, as he said, "Cough… senior, can you help me with the Primordial Ascension Path now? Oh, and I also want to know if I get the same rewards if you helped me or not?"

"Don't worry, little doll, who do you think I am? Although I was trapped here, I wasn't wallowing in my misery; I could now interfere with the laws of this place. I bet that hateful bastard didn't expect that, huh? As long as you reach the end of this path, you'll get everything you deserve no matter what; this is the absolute rule of this place. I'll just be opening a little backdoor for you, that's all." The voice confidently replied, clearly very pleased with her work.

Ace felt relieved since he didn't know what to do if it wasn't possible. After all, he wanted to get rid of the seal on his bloodline, and if this interfered with that, he mightn't have accepted this help.

"Alright, I'm really if you are, senior," Ace replied respectfully.

"Call me Your Holiness! Senior sound cringy and old!" The voice retorted.

'You are OLD!' Ace wanted to retort back in exasperation, but he held back; this woman was really a marvel, and he was glad he didn't have to see her again after he left this place.

"Very well, Your Holiness!"

"Fufu, good." The voice was pleased with his obedience, "Now, since cats are already out of the bag, and you seem like a decent person, I won't lie to you. The insignia I grant you will only have a portion of my actual soul, not the entire soul, since it is still sealed in this place, and you can't even fathom how powerful it is.

"Only after years of painstaking efforts was I able to sneak out just two portions of my soul, and this insignia, or without it, even a wisp of my soul, can't leave this place. But still, it is dangerous, very dangerous actually, so you need to keep that insignia in your inner world!"

Ace was astounded as he asked, "What inner world?"

"Oh, I forgot you're only an elemental state cultivator, so you should have inner space, also known as Soul Space or martial space. Once you break into the law state, your martial space or Soul Space will be converted into the inner martial world or Inner Soul World.

"Anyhow, you need to accept the insignia into your inner space, which means you can't resist because if you did, my efforts would go in vain. Afterward, I'll fall into a dormant state for some time.

"But don't worry, once your inner world is open, I should be able to regain consciousness, and I will be able to leave once you find me a decent body. I'm warning you beforehand because I don't want any mishap, and I have no ill intent towards you or have any interest in your weak-ass body. I just want to search for my body and a way to free my soul from this damn place. If you understand, then let's start." The voice solemnly explained.

'Even if you have interest in my body, I don't think the system would let you have it. If she did anything, she'll only end up in a miserable state.' Ace thought as he had full trust in the system's capabilities.

However, right when Ace was about to agree, the system's unexpected voice rang, and after he heard what it said, he was baffled by shock and disbelief.

"[Host should tell that he has the Soul Resurrection Bead!]"

"What? Why!? And why are you suggesting this? This is completely out of your character. Do you know who she is?" Ace instantly asked the system, agitated since he was shocked by the system's suggestion, which had never happened before.

"[System is not completely sure, but she is powerful beyond your imagination despite being only a tiny wisp of her soul. Because not just anyone can fiddle with the laws of the Primordial Ascension Path, even if just a tiny bit, she was able to interfere with them.]

"[So, she should also know many secrets. That's why it is impossible to restrain her with the system's current level. If she did anything, you'll be completely helpless against her.]

"[Furthermore, not just anyone can trap her here, so if the system is not wrong, then her entrapment here is related to Heaven, and she can be a very good distraction if she could cause trouble for Heaven and draw it attention to herself than you.]

"[After all, if she was trapped here instead of getting killed, then this means she can't be killed by normal means, or she might be part of some scheme of the Heaven.]

"[Most importantly, she would not take NO for an answer, so you should just tell her that you have the Soul Resurrection Bead, and even if she had a scheme against you, she wouldn't hesitate to go for the Soul Resurrection Bead. Once she has it, she will leave you alone!]"