Eternal Thief

It's been 48 days since Ace came back from the cultivation region and closed off in his mancave.

During this entire time, he had been completely focusing on raising Heaven's Stealer Dismantler rank.

At this moment, the back of Ace's hands shone with two dark symbols, which were proof of his Heaven's Stealer Dismantler Gloves in work!

Right between his hand, a glob of inky black mist was encasing something, and that black inky black mist was none other than Dismantle Qi.

Ace's eyes completely focused as a faint sweat beaded on his forehead, and his eyes flashed like lightning, 'Alchemy Dismantler Principles!'

Ace carefully began to compress the dismantle-Qi with Dismantler gloves, and it entered the small pill, which was the sign of starting the synchronization.

The Dismantle Qi quickly compressed under his sharp eyes, and finally, the Dismantle Qi completely synchronized into the black pill. Eight small royal blue dots had appeared on the black pill.

These small dots were proof of the successful synchronization, and the pill was ready to undergo the next phase.

The very next moment thereafter, fine royal blue strings began to creep from Ace's fingers and connect with those eight royal blue dots on the pill.

Thereupon, the pill suddenly started to break apart from the eight dots, and it was dismantled into eight small pieces hovering between his hands. Ace's eyes shimmered confidently when he saw the second phase was successful and only the third and final phase was left.

With a solemn expression, he mumbled, "Alchemy Dismantler Principles, Dismantle, and Origin Condense!"

The moment Ace uttered those words, the Dismantler gloves' dark symbols on the back of his hands started to glow darkly.

Under Ace's solemn eyes, those eight small pieces trembled before their forms started to change, and he didn't dare even to flinch as he knew it was the critical point.

Thereby, a piece suddenly turned into a white grass blade, and then another turned into a small blob of yellow liquid. Just like that, one after another, this phenomenon repeated until the last reforming piece was left.

Ace's solemn expression didn't change as he looked even more dignified. He knew this was going to be the deciding factor.

At that very moment, the last piece started to develop into the shape of a diamond and turned into a peach color gemstone.

Thereafter, the symbols behind his hands disappeared since their job was done.

Ace looked at the eight materials with shining eyes as he muttered, "I finally managed to dismantle a 5th-grade treasure, a 5th-grade runic treasure, and now a 5th-grade alchemy treasure which means…!"

Just as he was about to mutter system beat him to it with a notification a panel appeared right in front of him.

-Prerequisites to Unlock (revealed) Mysterious Condition (1):

1. Fourth Realm in Marital and Soul

-Status: Complete

2. Heaven's Stealer Dismantler Rank: 5th Grade

-Status: Complete

[The first mysterious condition will be unlocked in 10 seconds!]

[Host, please envelop yourself with Dismantle Qi in 10 seconds!]

[Warning: There would be dire consequences if Host hadn't enveloped himself with Dismantle Qi by the time the mysterious condition was unlocked!]

=====

Ace's ecstatic expression warped when he saw that warning, and he didn't even have the time to ask if this was even possible or will the dismantle Qi will end up dismantling him.

But since the system said he could, then it meant it was probably safe to do it, and he already had wasted two seconds. So, he quickly activated the Dismantler Gloves and dismantle Qi starting to gush out and starting to encase his body at terrifying speed.

It was his first time even thinking about using dismantle Qi on himself, much less using it. But to his surprise, nothing out of sorts happened, and he felt like he was enveloped by nothing. But he could clearly see himself encased in an inky black mist. And he can now only see the system panel clearly but not his surroundings.

'Now what?' Ace thought as he looked at the panel, and the timer just hit '0', so the condition was about to be revealed.

It would be a lie to say if he said he wasn't afraid, but he was looking forward to what this condition was going to be and what he had to do to complete it. This entire Heaven's Stealer Mission was pretty nerve-racking.

The panel finally changed at this moment while the system's solemn voice, which was completely different from its usual emotionless voice, rang.

-Heaven's Stealer Mission: Embarking the Path of Heaven's Stealer!

-Mysterious Condition (1): The Secret Seal!

-Requirement(s):

1. Find your way to the two secret realms of the Sun and Moon Sword Union!

-Status: Incomplete

2. Destroy the two Secret Realms!

-Status: 0/2

3. Collect the Secret Realms Independent Space Cores!

-Status: 0/2

-Thief House Members: Allowed

-Reward(s): Unknown

-Time: 5 Years

-Punishment: Painless Death

(Warning: Host can't open this mission panel without encasing in the Dismantle Qi!)

Ace was startled when he saw the mission, and as he read more, his expression turned grim, and at the end, he was frowning.

"Secret seal, you say? Then does this mean destroying those two realms will break this seal somehow? And there are two secret realms in the union? If you know this much, then you must also know where they are and why is it so important to destroy them?" Ace quickly asked.

This revelation about the secret realms was completely out of his expectation, and he needed to not only destroy them but also needed to collect their two cores.

But he knew the union wouldn't allow it to happen and just watched, sitting idle while someone was trying to destroy their secret realms, especially if they were packed with exotic resources or some treasure like the regal fiend tower resided there.

This mission was nothing but a crazy idea that he had to realize in five years, and he didn't have a damn clue how he was going to achieve it.

"[System can't reveal anymore, or there's no point of doing all this. All it can say is 'Follow your Fate!']"