Eternal Thief

Ace felt piercing pain as if something was drilling right into his true soul.

At this moment, the system's voice sounded,

[A Dormant Soul Segment had infiltrated Host's True Soul!]

[Please choose one of two options]

1. Destroy the Dormant Soul Segment

-Cost: 10 Million TP

2. Create Fake True Soul for Soul Segment

-Cost: 20 Million TP

[NOTE: Please choose within ten seconds, or the 1st Option will be selected by default!]

'20 million?!' Ace was flabbergasted when he saw the price.

But when he noticed the context, he noticed that it was not 'soul conscious' this time but 'True Soul!'

Both things were completely different and worlds apart.

So, Ace had no choice but to select and ask the system afterward what a Dormant Soul Segment was and why it needed so much TP to destroy it!

"Active the second option!" Ace quickly said before that spirit noticed something while he kept pretending to be in pain.

[The second option had been activated!]

[Thief Point(s): 33,880,000]

Thereafter, Ace felt the piercing pain in his soul suddenly vanish, and when he checked his soul, he was astonished because a crimson-black crystal ball was hovering on top of his true soul.

Furthermore, Ace felt nefarious from this crystal ball, as if something was extremely sinister residing within.

But it wasn't over because that crystal suddenly shone in sinisterly before Ace felt something carving over the back of his hand.

He quickly looked and saw a vivid crimson tattoo of a tower had appeared on the back of his hand, and this tower was precisely the same as the Regal Fiend Tower.

But the only difference was there were ten empty sections within the tower tattoo, like empty blocks. Although this tattoo looked completely normal, Ace could feel it was connected with the crystal in his true soul.

At this moment, the spirit's voice sounded again, "Congratulations, Contender NO. 10,203, you have successfully managed to form the Inheritor Crest!"

A cold intent flashed past deep within Ace's eyes before it changed into happiness, and he quickly bowed, "Thank you, senior, for giving me this chance. But what do I have to do to complete the inheritance?"

Ace knew this Treasure Spirit was playing a sinister game in the sham of this trial, and it had something to do with that Dormant Soul Segment and this tattoo.

But he wasn't worried since the system could still tackle this dormant soul segment with this fake true soul, and he could now destroy it with a thought, rendering whatever scheme this thing was playing useless.

One thing was quite clear, though, it needed the other party willing to do its bidding, it couldn't force them against their will, and it was also where these trials come into play.

The Tower Spirit answered with almost what Ace had presumed, "As you can see, there are then empty blocks in the Inheritor's Crest, which represent the ten floors of Tower Trials!

"As long as you can clear a floor, you'll acquire a 'Star' within the crest. As long as you acquire all ten stars, you'll be the true inheritor of this Holy Saint Tower! Now you'll be sent to the first trial floor. I bode you good luck and hope you'll be the true inheritor of the Holy Saint Tower!"

Ace was flabbergasted and then quickly asked a crucial question, "What about the rules?"

The voice, gently yet with a hint of coldness, replied, "There are no rules!"

The next moment Ace felt a suction force, and he was extremely familiar with this force, 'Teleportation?!' Thereafter, he vanished from his spot!

Just after Ace vanished, the soft and warm light suddenly dimmed, turning dark and sinister.

An eerie voice sounded with a hint of uncertainty, "How did he appear outside, and where did that pet bird go? He didn't have innate pet space, or maybe he had Pet Storage Treasure which is quite unusual in this heaven.

"It doesn't matter anymore. Now he can either become a vessel or catalyst…!"

At this moment, Ace's figure appeared right in the middle of a maroon grassland.

His expression was cold as he looked around, and as far as he could see, there was maroon grassland, and the grass was 1.3 meters tall at least. Furthermore, the sky was completely gray and dim without any clouds.

'Not only did it not tell me the conditions to clear the trials, but it didn't even speak about the other contenders. Lastly, there are no rules which means this place is lawless.' He thought grimly.

"System, tell me about this dormant soul segment?" He asked while he entered stealth.

"[The Ancient Soul Segment Technique is an ancient secret soul technique where one can spread segments of their true soul to create Soul Vessels. The Soul Segment is like a parasite that will attach itself to a true soul and slowly grow while consuming the soul before nothing is left.]

"[Once a Soul Segment completely consumes the true soul, its host would turn into a soul vessel of the primal soul of the Soul Segment!]

"[Then this soul vessel will be forever under the control of the primal soul, and it could even help revive the master if the primal soul was destroyed!]

"[But this method is extremely dangerous because if the host somehow finds a way to destroy the soul segment before it could take complete control the primal soul owner will suffer an extremely harsh backlash even death if the soul was already injured!]"

Ace felt a chill in his spine when he heard the true purpose of this soul segment and finally understood just how nefarious this method was.

But the system wasn't finished.

"[In the host's case, the Soul Segment host was attacked by far inferior version of the real soul segment. A Dormant Soul Segment needs the help of an outer existence or a treasure to consume a true soul before turning it into a vessel. It is an extremely crude process, and the chances of exposure are very high, and the backlash is almost akin to death!]

"[Because if it was a soul segment created by the Ancient Soul Segment Technique then the current system level was not enough to destroy it nor Host would have the capital to even slow down the process!]"