Eternal Thief



At the foot of the golden mountain were magnificent golden mountain gates. The five Union Elders and the three Union Students landed a few meters away from these gates, known as Sun Gates because behind them was the sun domain. 

Ace was watching everything with scrutiny while coming here, especially the silver mountain, which seemed closer in the distance to the golden mountain. 

But now that he was up close, he knew these two mountains were at least over a hundred miles apart from each other. He can't even see the end of the sun domain mountain from here because of how big it is.

One thing that he noticed was the rings of clouds which seemed naturally formed but not anymore. There were a total of five visible cloud rings at five different heights of the sun domain mountain while the peak was completely encased in a layer of thick clouds. 

Ace couldn't help but think about clouds surrounding the ascension stairway and was more vigilant about this sun domain. 

At this moment, the sun gates slowly parted, making the ground under everyone tremble, and an instantly high-density Qi brushed past everyone. 

'Just what kind of place could have such dense Qi?' Ace thought in astonishment. 

"Alright, you little guy, you with me. Let's go. I'll take you to your family." Clarence impassively stated while looking at the devil youth, and without giving him a chance to speak, he enveloped him in his Qi and then commanded his flying sword, turning into a streak, and vanished behind the sun gates. But before he left, he gave White a meaningful glance.

"Good luck. I hope you guys will not disappoint us, especially you, White." The Demon Elder smiled meaningfully before he also left. 

The hunter merely nodded at everyone before he left as well. 

Joseph, who was silent all this time, finally spoke while looking at White seriously, "I don't know if I should be happy that you rejected those guys' invitation or ashamed about human's inability in the union and High Elder's lack of interest. 

"But I'm glad you didn't go with them. Despite knowing the answer, I would still like to invite you to the human sector, and unlike them, I can't promise you anything but my protection." 

He sighed ruefully before he looked at Klay as well, "As for you, since your family is the number one family in the human sector, I need you to come with me." 

Ace looked at Joseph and bowed before gratefully saying, "Thank you, but I would still keep my word and go through every hardship before one day I meet you again, Elder." 

Klay looked at White with a complicated look in his eyes before he looked at Joseph, who was looking at White ruefully, but a hint of admiration was present deep within.

Klay then took a deep breath and said, "Elder, I would like to do the same as Brother White here. I will go through the common union grounds!" 

Ace had the urge to roll his eyes at this guy but remain impassive as he knew Klay was purely driven by his emotions and wanted to be like him. But can he? 

Joseph looked at Klay with a hint of appreciation, but he shook his head, "I'm afraid you don't have a choice in this matter. Like that devil, your family lives in a sector which means you won't be given access to the common grounds. 

"The common grounds are placed for those who have no backing in the sector or if you don't have more than ten family members already living in the sector. But I'm afraid your Atlas family is not simple as the High Elder is also from your family, so you have privileges from being his bloodline. 

"This was done, so students in common grounds have more resources. Besides, the private sector areas are just part of the Inner Sun Domain, which is behind the first ring of the clouds, as you can see, and closest to the core domain behind the third ring of the clouds. 

"So, you will see him soon. I'm sure of it." Joseph smiled as he explained when he saw Klay's expression dim. 

"Heh, just consider it. I'm giving you a head start. I'll meet you soon." White finally speaks with full of fighting intent. 

"Hahahah… I like this boy. You can find me in the dwarf sector once you enter the inner domain. I'm 21st Union Elder of Dwarf Race, Willie, and I'm a 6th-grade runic smith. I'll make you a weapon for free." Willie guffawed as he suddenly threw something at Ace. 

Ace saw it was a black rectangular badge with engraving, 'Runic Smith Willie' on it. 

Willie said smilingly, "Just show it to anyone in the dwarf sector, and they will know where to deliver you."

Joseph gave Willie a meaningful glance before he also took out a yellow talisman paper and gave it to Ace, "This is a message talisman with my Qi mark. Just use your Qi, and it will start to burn, and then you can record any message in one breath of time, and I will get that message. 

"If I had a choice, I could've given you treasures, but I can't do that unless you become my personal student, which you won't. So, I can only leave you with this message talisman. Just use it anytime you need my help. Don't hesitate." 

Ace was instantly fascinated by this message talisman which was vastly different from communication cubes, and it seemed more reliable in different cases. Besides, he could tell this talisman was just a High-Grade-1 talisman. 

"Thank you, I'll remember your words." White bowed to both elders as he placed those two things in his storage ring. 

This made both men happy since they were afraid this little guy would reject their help as well. But they thought too much since these two things were only helpful if he used them. 

"Alright, I'll wait for you, Brother White!" Klay then finally nodded solemnly. It was the first time he regretted being highborn as he really wanted to follow in this man's footsteps. 

"You just need to cross the sun gates, and a union scholar will take you to your place and introduce you to common grounds. I hope to see you in the inner domain soon." Joseph smiled as he was now content with White.

He then enveloped Klay in his Qi and left with Willie before they nodded to White in goodbye. 

Now Ace was standing alone at the entrance of the sun domain while he looked at his surroundings, which were filled with deep forests, and when he looked at the fate map, it was still black as ink. 

'I guess this entire thing played out well. But this place is still hidden behind the blackness. I need to think of a solution just in case I don't find anything useful in the sun domain as well.' Ace thought with a cold glint in his eyes before he walked toward the open golden gates. 

However, just as Ace crossed the gates, the system's static voice rang while an unexpected interface popped up, which made Ace's rooted in his place. 

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[System detects host has stumbled upon the Mortal Sky Heaven's Core Secret!]

[All conditions had been met!]

[All the active missions have been voided by the system!]

[Ramification: Any rewards included in the active mission(s) can now be bought from the System Shop!]

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[Launching the Heaven's Stealer's First Heaven Mission!] 

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"What?!" Ace was gobsmacked by these notifications, especially the last one!