Eternal Thief

Avos replied with uncertainty, "The step after accepting a life sword is to have the sword spirit communicate with the owner and fully integrate with the sword master, though I'm not completely sure since I'd never been a life sword. Nonetheless, as long as you can communicate with the sword spirit, you will be able to show the true might of sword heart."

Ace's expression instantly fell when he heard it. He knew better than anyone that sword cores had never had a spirit before, and he couldn't control them yet. Still, he tried to activate his sword heart again and probe the two sword cores that had vanished within.

However, this time, just when the sword phantom behind him began to materialize, Ace suddenly felt his heart being stabbed with excruciating pain, and he quickly stopped as sweat beaded on his forehead.

'Damn it, what is happening! I can't even use the sword heart now?!' Ace was fully enraged as he tried to activate the sword heart again and then again; his heart lurched and almost vomited blood before he quickly stopped.

'It has to be those two swords!' He mulled with an ugly expression. He never expected that when he was about to gain power, he would instead become weak!

"I don't believe it! I have to comprehend the Sky Sword and the first realm of Heaven Sundering Sword!" Ace's eyes burned with resolution. He quickly calmed down and threw an epiphany pill in his mouth before he completely focused on the Sky Sword and Heaven Sundering Sword.

Ten days passed since Ace was in a trance and stayed completely still. At this moment, an invisible aura suddenly gushed out of his body, but strangely, it didn't affect his surroundings at all like before.

The next moment, an ethereal dark sword symbol appeared on his glabella, making the space around him tremble as if it would break at any moment. This wasn't the end as within Ace's hand, two black ethereal swords, one short and one long, appeared.

Qi suddenly began to circulate in his body, following a peculiar pattern. Ace suddenly slashed his swords at a speed impossible for the eyes to follow.

'Swaa…'

Soul-piercing winds whistle, and at this moment, Ace's eyes regain clarity as the sword symbol on his glabella vanishes with the swords in his hand.

But he was shocked because in front of him was a huge slit in space, like a tear in the paper, and a lingering aura of terrifying sword intent and space fragment was there.

'Sword of Mortal Heart! I just used the Sword of Mortal Heart and split apart the space itself!' Ace quickly comprehended what had happened just now, as the lingering feeling of using the Sword of Mortal Heart was already engraved in his very being.

As the space tear began to heal like crazy, ecstasy shone in his eyes. 'So, that's why it required the sword heart! I needed the black blade swords in my sword heart to comprehend this realm of the Sword of Mortal Heart. This wasn't mentioned in the manual at all, and I'm afraid if I hadn't got two swords in the sword heart, I would've never been able to comprehend it. Even with Avos, it was nigh impossible!

'Now, I can also feel the faint fluctuations of the black blade swords, and they seem to have completely changed from what they used to be. It has something to do with all the heavenly thunder they had absorbed after becoming the sword cores.

'Not only that, but I think I have completely diverted from the original path of Sky Sword and probably the sword law itself! That's why I can't use it to continue increasing the sword core prowess.

'I required more input to understand my situation fully. Not to mention, I just used my entire Soul and martial Qi reserve in this single attack of Sword of Mortal Heart, and my body felt heavy as a mountain! I can't use it carelessly in the future!' Ace mused as many things became clear at this moment.

But he was still nowhere near understanding what had happened before. However, he knew it had something to do with the power above the laws of Mortal Sky Heaven. As long as he broke through, he might understand.

Now, since he had already achieved his goal so quickly, he was more optimistic about his other preparation. So, he quickly calmed down and sat down to recover his Qi before starting the next phase of his plan.

---

Just like that, a hundred days had passed since the opening of the Sky Abyss Realm, and today was the day for the participant to exit.

Mortal Emperor Antonio, Empress Jenna, and an ancestor-level imperial, an old woman, are present in the altar hall to receive the youngster today.

No one else was allowed here on this day because the imperial family would be 'inspecting' those participants, and if they found anything 'unusual', they would keep it.

Of course, there was another reason. They all knew the participants would lose most of their memories of the Sky Abyss Secret Realm once they came out. However, some of them would still have vague memories, which were extremely precious to the imperial clan for their future explorations.

"What do you think, Ancestor Monserrat? Can Sofia reach the core of the secret realm?" Antonio asked with a somewhat exhausted expression, but a hint of deep anticipation was present in his eyes.

The old woman, Ancestor Monserrat, was Sofia's master and one of the two most powerful beings of the Skylar Clan. After the Golden Lands were destroyed, the ancestors lost their hibernation chambers.

But it wasn't like the Imperial Clan couldn't afford it with their thousands of years of accommodations. So, they crafted more such chambers, albeit inferior to the golden lands, so they could still keep them all alive for a very long time.

However, they will not be able to replenish their stocks of Grade-9 Qi stones or Soul Crystals because they were essential to operate these hibernation chambers since grade-8 Qi stones and soul crystals won't work on preserving the vitality of these old fossils.

That's why the oldest among them, Ancestor Monserrat and Ancestor Greysen, and four more decided to remain awake since they required the most resources to seal them and then continue to supply them with Grade-9 Qi stones and Soul Crystals.

Now, they can only live for a few decades, but they had no other choice, or the decline of the imperial family would have come much sooner.

Furthermore, with the calamity of thieves and the danger of that unknown person who destroyed the Golden Lands still looming over their heads, these ancestors had to stay awake to deal with them.

Ancestor Monserrat's wrinkled face appeared stoic as she replied, "She is the most powerful descendant of the race, a blessing of the Deity. Even I can't foresee her achievements. I have only guided her while still in her coffin; her achievements are all earned by her own efforts.

"You can be worry-free about handing her the position of the Empress once she enters the eighth realm. Besides, I don't think that child would rule this realm for long since her ambitions go beyond this…"

Antonio's eyes were filled with complicated emotions as he clearly understood what Ancestor Monserrat was implying. Even though he had only a 10% chance of achieving ascension, Sofia was not even a hundred years old and was already reaching the same realm as him. He was proud as well as slightly jealous.

Jenna, on the other hand, was filled with pride and hope for the future since she knew her daughter would be the first Empress in the clan's history. As her mother, she was gratified.

Jenna's expression suddenly turned gloomy as she said, "Ancestor Monserrat, to ensure nothing could go wrong, we need to rid ourselves of those vile thieves quickly. They are becoming increasingly unbridled by destroying the Royal Palaces and robbing treasures wantonly. Our vessels are losing trust in us!"

Ancestor Monserrat's old eyes shone with cold glimmer as she nodded, "Don't worry, Lord Greysen has personally gone this time. They won't be able to run rampant anymore.

"Still, tomorrow, I'll personally approach Zack and try to force him to act as well; after all, if he wanted to ascend, he still needed us to open the altar for him. I'm also planning on asking him to engage Evie in our clan, or he can forget about ascending.

"He's as old as Lord Greysen and, I admit, more powerful, but even he can't force his way to ascension without our help. He'll only live for another 90~100 years, but if we old bones attack him with everything we had when our life is about to end, the time will drop tremendously, and after he's gone, there won't be any hindrance to our clan.

"So, I'm sure he'll no longer be so arrogant if he didn't want to die!"

Ancestor Monserrat declared confidently that everything was under her calculation.

But at this moment, she didn't know; Eva was already gone, and once Zack found out, he wouldn't have any misgivings!