Eternal Thief

"S-Sea King?" It was Ace's first time hearing this term, and the rare this humongous creature just revealed.

"Are you a Sea Beast?" Ace had to ask since it was his first time encountering a talking sea beast. He was under the impression that all the sea beast was bloodthirsty like the demonic beast, and there weren't many records about them. Furthermore, this sea beast was standing at the panicle of power of the Golden Sky Word, and he seemed quite interested in him for some reason. Now, he needed to decide whether he wanted to flee or stay. "Why, of course! I'm not surprised you never heard of us before since you land dwellers are so weak you are not qualified to talk on equal terms with us." Pen disdainfully stated. Ace didn't retort and calmly asked with a peculiar glint in his eyes, "I think you're right. My name is White. What do you want with me?" "White… what a strange name. Anyhow, I will repeat my question: did you succeed in ascension?" Pen repeated the same question again with a hint of anticipation. 'What is ascension?' Ace wanted to ask this question himself but refrained since that arrogant sea king might turn hostile if he discovered Ace wasn't something he was considering him to be. But Ace has this feeling that Pen's question was related to the heavenly punishment in some way. Ace calmly replied, "What if I had?" The water around Pen suddenly stirred into waves as Ace felt massive martial Qi undulation, and he clearly sensed Pen's agitation and disbelief for the first time. Suddenly, Pen's massive body started to shrink at breakneck speed, and under Ace's startled expression, Pen turned into a 6 feet male in his late twenties. He seemed to be wearing a black and white scaly armor spread to his entire neck. His black hair was short while his icy cold purple eyes were shining with strange mirth, and a strange pattern made with crimson scales was on the left side of his face. The pressure and aura he gave were deep like the sea, not to mention grander than even the Union Leader or any other Law Comprehension Realm he had ever seen, and he was worthy of his title as the Sea King. Only now, Ace understood just what kind of entity he had drawn, and if he still didn't leave, it might be too late. However, he still didn't act because of the fate point, as he wanted to see what kind of opportunity this terrifying existence had for him. Pen gawked at Ace, whose face was hidden under the hood, and his cultivation was something even he couldn't measure. It was the main reason he didn't outright attack him because he was extremely wary of this land dweller, and he was too strange. But what he wanted, his lifelong dream could only be achieved with this land dweller's help. He impassively spoke, "I don't think you have achieved ascension yet. Because I had read that once someone achieves ascension, they will be rejected by the world and ascend to the sky. "Yet, even though you have somehow drawn the Ascension Heavenly Tribulation, you're still here. Either the records are wrong, or you are hiding something. So, I would like to challenge you for a dual, and if you win, I'll be your servant for ten years, and if you lose, I want whatever you're hiding!" Pen finally revealed its fangs as he was also willing to gamble to achieve his goal. Although he didn't sense anything from Ace, he wanted to test his strength, and he put his own ten years of freedom on the line for insurance. Because if Ace was really what he thought he was, then he would spare his life, and he would be able to follow him, which wasn't a bad thing at all. But if Ace were weak, he'd take everything without hesitation. For Pen, it was a win-win whether he won or lost. 'Hmph, island dwellers are all dumb! I want to know how this person managed to reach this point despite the ancient records stating otherwise.' He thought as he still looked down on Ace as if it was in his blood to consider anyone from the lands beneath himself. 'So that's what he meant by ascension!' Ace was really shocked when he heard the first part about ascension. He always wondered how someone would go beyond the mortal sky, and he had only guessed that the answer might be the next realm after the law comprehension realm. Now, from Pen's words, it also became clear that whoever want to enter the new heaven must go under something similar to the Heavenly Punishment, and he finally understood why Pen was asking if he had achieved ascension. It was all because he was thinking that Ace's heavenly punishment was this Ascension Heavenly Tribulation. Furthermore, he easily saw through Pen's schemes and thought with a thievish glint in his eyes, 'This guy is too arrogant and spouting so much information without even thinking twice. Additionally, he seems to know far too much about the lands as well and knows about this ascension process.

'Maybe he knows something worth glittering silver rank fate point. Furthermore, there's still a treasure on this island, which he was very reluctant to let go of, and his other objective might be to retrieve it again. Since he's so gullible, I might be able to trick him…' At this moment, Ace decided that Pen was too good to avoid, and since he was an arrogant sea beast who was still wary of him, he was planning on using it to his advantage even if he had to take some risks. Even if nothing works, he could easily get away. Ace's tone changed as he imposingly replied while he released the aura of heavenly thunder, "Heh, you lowly fish dare to court my things? I was going to spare you since I was going to leave the mortal sky after testing your intentions. Now that I see how blind you are, you can perish…" When Pen sensed the heavenly thunder aura suddenly rising from Ace, even though it was faint, he didn't forget how he was forced to use his most precious talisman to flee death. Now, Ace was releasing the same aura, and that really scared him. From Ace's confident tone, he thought he had made a huge mistake by showing his greed so openly. If Ace could really control that kind of power, then he was really capable of killing him, and from Ace's words, it was quite clear he was just testing him. The thing that scared Pen the most was the gap in knowledge about ascension, and he had no idea how long a person could stay before leaving the world. Furthermore, the words 'mortal sky' made him even more wary of Ace, and he almost believed that Ace was telling the truth because the name Mortal Sky was only mentioned in the records, and he never said it once. So, as Ace's aura spiked, his previous arrogance vanished, and he quickly tried to salvage the situation since it was simply too risky now, "Please calm down. It was my mistake! I apologize for my transgression. I admit my defeat!" 'The more powerful you are, the more afraid you'll be of death!' Ace scoffed inwardly, seeing how easily Pen backed down just by his faint aura of heavenly punishment thunder law, which he had not even comprehended to 1% yet. Ace looked at Pen, who was afloat in the air, and decided to scare Pen further as he coldly stated, "What? So quickly? Didn't you want to have a go at me? I'll give you the chance to attack first. If you manage to touch me, I'll let you live. But if you fail, you'll be dead the very next moment!"