Eternal Thief

Unknown place, inside a dark space, rune symbols suddenly lit on the floor, illuminating the entire area, a ten cubic meter wide stone room.

In the center of this room was a formation engraved filled with ancient symbols, which were now lit in bright light.

At this moment, a cloaked figure suddenly appeared in the middle of this formation like a ghost before those symbols slowly turned back to their dormant state as darkness and silence returned.

After an unknown time, two dark blue pupils suddenly glowed in this dark space as a confused voice groaned, "Where am I?!"

It was Ace's voice!

Ace could clearly see despite the darkness as he saw a stone ceiling in a daze before his eyes became clear and turned icy cold when he remembered the words of Demon Ancestor.

'How did they know about Aline?! Don't tell me she came back to find me in the Azure Wind Continent and then got captured by someone who knows about our relationship? No, it's impossible. No one knows about my true identity….'

A dark current flashed past Ace's eyes as someone came to his mind, and he gritted his teeth in hatred, 'It has to be that clone bastard! He must've guessed it was me by my thief's name. But still, he didn't know about Alina!'

Ace felt his heartache as the cute figure of little Alina appeared in his mind, 'Why did she get captured? Don't tell me that bastard announced my identity, and that girl thought it was me and went back to find me.

'I was so obsessed with the missions that I forgot about paying attention to the outside world and how my identity could affect someone I cared about. I wanted to cultivate because I wanted to get united with her, but my terminus changed without even me realizing it. What a thief I am….'

Ace stared in the void for a long time as he didn't want to get up, as he thought about his past when he didn't know the truth about Alina, his parents, or himself.

But now that he thought about it, he started to change from a naïve kid to a cunning thief because he liked that feeling of being free from any restriction. He was even free from heaven.

He had come a long way, but he never thought he would feel that same pain when he was that naïve kid who lost his parents and grandparents and was also on the verge of losing his sister.

He never thought that even after learning to show a myriad of emotions and change his personality as he wished, he would still not get rid of this painful feeling he didn't ever want to feel.

'Sigh… I should've gone to her sooner….'

An oppressive glint shone in Ace's eyes before his lips curled upward into a dark smile, 'Since they knew her relationship with me, they won't hurt her, and they didn't know if I still care about her after all these years. They will wait until they verify it since she is the only person who has a connection with me.

'I don't know what kind of status Alina had in the blood continent. According to the power hierarchy of the Blood Content, five elemental clans rule the continent, and one of them is related to Ice Element Bloodline.

'But if she was from that clan, then she should've been captured, or her status is low where they won't care about her being used as bait to lure me out. Or the person who captured her is far stronger than they could handle.

'However, from that temple guy's tone, he said he could help me save her, which means he's confident in going against whoever captured her. But if, against all odds, anything happened to her….'

Ace's eyes were extremely dark as a blood-curdling aura suddenly emitted from him before it vanished the next moment.

Ace knew he needed to figure out Alina's whereabouts, so he needed to get out of this place so he could rescue her or at least know who had captured her.

He then stood up, and now he was calm, too calm and cold, actually.

He looked around and noticed the rune formation under himself. Furthermore, he frowned since he had never seen these symbols before, and they were too profound.

Ace finally remembered hearing System's voice and opened the notification panel, and his eyes narrowed when he saw words like 'Space Turbulence' and 'Teleportation Channel.'

But he knew it had something to do with the space tear he jumped into because he thought it was the only way out, and it was also a silver fate point.

He sternly questioned the System, "System, where am I, and what is this space turbulence and teleportation channel?"

"[With the Host's current authority, the concept of Space Turbulence is restricted information. But since the Host has already experienced it, the System will give a basic introduction.]

"[In simple words, Space Turbulence exists deep within space, and by tearing open space deep enough, anyone could enter Space Turbulence. However, surviving in space turbulence is another matter entirely.]

"[Without a certain level of Space Law comprehension, the Space Turbulence is akin to certain death. Even for someone who has comprehended Space Law 100%, it is deadly because the longer someone exposes to Space Turbulence, the higher the risk of turning into Space Current.]

"[Space Current is an invisible force which exists in Space Turbulence, and if someone is not careful, they can turn into Space Current instantly.]"

"[Just as the Host had already experienced the feeling of getting exposed to just at the minor level of space turbulence. If not for your body being tempered by the heavenly punishment or the Space Step Talisman, only the life coin would be able to save your life.]

"[However, the space tear Host fell into was very close to a teleportation channel. A teleportation channel is like a safe passage within the space turbulence paved by mighty space cultivators.]

"[These channels were used to travel into different dimensions within space turbulence like secret realms, hidden spaces, or independent spaces! They are completely different from simple teleportation, which we used to teleport into a singular space plain.]

"[Host is currently standing on top of a Dimension Teleportation Formation and probably inside a secret realm or independent space hidden deep within the space turbulence.]"

Ace cocked an eyebrow with a grim look in his eyes, "So, you're saying I'm no longer in Golden Sky World?"

"[You are but no exactly. You are somewhere between the Mortal Sky Heaven and Space Turbulence!]"

"Then can I use this formation to go back?" Ace asked with a hint of anxiety. He wasn't in the mood to explore anymore right now.

All he wanted to do was to go back and investigate Alina and where she was.

"[Host required 3 Grade-8 Space Crystals and a corresponding Teleportation Channel Activation Key to activate this Dimension Teleportation Formation. Even if the Host collects them, there is still a possibility that the other side of the formation has been destroyed!]"

Ace knit his brows together with a dark expression, "Then how the hell am I going to get out of this place?!"

Ace was almost on the verge of losing it again because not to talk about the possibility of this formation being destroyed on the other side. But just finding three grade-8 space crystal were almost impossible, not to mention that Activation Key, which god know where it is right now.

"[Host can try looking for an Independent Space Core, which should be at the core of this space. As long as the Host destroys that Core, this space will merge into Mortal Sky Heaven. Any independent space will be devoured by heaven once it loses its Independent Space Core!]"

"You should've said that sooner!" Ace snorted since it was far easier than looking for something impossible.

"Where should I find this core?" Ace asked again.

However, instead of answering, he was greeted by a suddenly appeared panel and a notification.

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[A side mission has been issued]

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'Fuck!' Ace knew he had been had!

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[Side Mission: Escape the Mysterious Space!]

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-Mission Introduction: The Host has stumbled upon a mysterious space that is filled with the unknown!

-Requirement: Find a way to escape the mysterious space!

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-Time: 3 Years

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-Reward(s):

1. 10 Million EXP

2. 10 Million SP

3. 1,000,000 TP

-Conditional Reward:

1. Collect Independent Space Core to upgrade Living Thief's Space to 1,000 Cubic-Meter Space + 5 Humanoid Storage Capacity!

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-Punishment: Living Thief's Space blocked for 50 Years!

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"I knew you were being too nice by sharing that information, you scheming bastard!" Ace cussed and sighed while he closed the mission panel.

Even though he was indignant, he was grateful since the System had provided him with essential information about where he was and what he needed to do to escape this place, or he would've wasted too much time to find this solution.

Furthermore, the conditional reward is quite a boon, far better than collecting 100 grade-8 storage rings and paying 50 million TP to upgrade the thief's space through the upgrade scheme.

He didn't even know it was possible!