Eternal Thief



Ace, in stealth, was also shocked when he heard the massive explosion. When he looked behind, he saw the dark explosion cloud rising on the horizon. 

'It's probably deadly for even golden river core realm cultivator.' Ace mused with a hint of gloating. 

It would be nothing but good news for him if that mysterious guy had blown into smithereens. Because from start to finish in their short encounter, Ace never felt he was at a real advantage. Instead, he was feeling apprehensive of the other party despite its cultivation being at the Platinum Soul River Core Realm's peak. 

Not only that, but Ace also noticed another strange thing. He felt the soul signature of that person familiar as if he had come in contact with it somewhere. But at the same time, he felt a new soul signature from it. 

The Soul Signature ability of his was not to be taken lightly. Any being who has even a trace of Qi will possess their unique Soul Signature, and those soul signatures will be recorded through his thief sense as long as they weren't hidden by some treasure treasures or other means.

Nevertheless, once someone uses their Qi against him or under the presence of his thief sense, their soul signature will be revealed, and then it would record in Ace's mind forever. So, he called them Soul Signature Archive.

This was a pensive process that couldn't be stopped even if Ace wanted to like his pensive thief sense, and the Soul Signature Archive seemed to have no limit. 

Normally, these soul signatures won't bother him at all, nor would he feel any kind of peculiar feeling whenever they are being recorded. 

However, whenever he encountered someone familiar, something would trigger the Soul Signature Archive, and he instantly knew he had been in contact with such a person at some point in his life.

Furthermore, the Soul Signature Archive has a special effect on his victims, who were marked with his thief symbol. 

He can't put his finger on it, but whenever a victim affiliated with his thief symbol appeared in his thief sense, the Soul Signature Archive would be triggered almost instantly without needing any time to analyze the new soul signature.

Ace even used this Soul Signature Archive to remember important figures, such as the thief's house members, his enemies, targets, and such. Because in the past years, he had discovered that even if someone's face changed, or they wore some kind of disguise, their soul signature seemed to be never changed, only hidden. 

This way, he found his enemies also instantly and react appropriately. 

However, what just happened right now has never happened before. Not only the Soul Signature Archive reacted instantly to that mysterious person's soul signature, but it also showed a new soul signature which shouldn't be possible in the early case. 

"System, is my Soul Signature ability being effective by something?" Ace had to ask the system since it was the only one that could appease his confusion.

Because if it was his soul signature malfunctioning, then it was grave news since it had never happened before, and he needed to get to the bottom of it so it could not affect him in the long run. 

This ability was like his memories, and he relied on it like his brain, so if it could malfunction, then he had to change this long-developed habit. 

But if it wasn't, then he still needed to investigate, but not himself. Instead, that mysterious person who was making his Soul Signature reacted differently. 

"[Soul Signature is a very special ability of a Heaven's Stealer and it could only be stopped or escapable momentarily, but can never be wrong!]" 

"Then, can a person have two soul signatures?" Ace didn't beat around the bush any longer and asked the main question, which made him think this way. 

"[It is achievable. But to understand this topic, you need to know what a Soul Signature actually is, and the system can't tell you this because you are not qualified yet. Either figure it out yourself or wait until you're qualified.]"

"And when will I be qualified, care to tell?" Ace was not pleased at all since he was so close to the answer, yet he got nothing. 

It's not like he never wondered about the soul signature origin, but as the system said, this entire thing was out of his current understanding. This was his only ability which was so simple yet so complex at the same time. 

Now, it turned out to be even more complex than he initially thought it would be, and all this was happening because of that mysterious person's appearance. 

"[Eventually.]"

The system statically replied before it completely ignored Ace like usual. He knew this was the only help he would get from the moody system. 

Even though it wasn't much, but was more than enough not to doubt his abilities anymore. 

Ace then looked in the live fate map, and when he saw the red name was still present, he knew the mysterious person was very much alive. 

'If there is a familiar soul signature on that person, then this means I have either come in contact with it at some time in the union and didn't deem it worth remembering. 

'But the reaction speed of my Soul Signature Archive was the same as whenever I'm close to one of my thief symbol victims, and I have yet to theft in the union because I don't want to cause any suspicions. This reaction speed has never been wrong before.

'So, the chance of this person being from the Union and my victim at the same time is absolutely zero… then if it is my victim could it be he's from the demon continent? 

'But it also wasn't felt like a demon to me. Something is very wrong with this person. But that is not the main point because if it's really someone from the ten continents, then this means this place is somehow accessible to the people of the outside world, not just the union. Which means I might be able to leave…' Ace's eyes glow like the sun as his heart race wildly when he thinks about this point. 

Ace still hasn't forgotten about Alina, as she was the only thorn in his heart, and despite the fact that his life was on the line, he still wanted to rescue her before her death sentence arrived. 

He was doing all this in so much haste all because he wanted to leave the union as fast as he could head toward Alina in the first place. 

Now this person gave him another hope except for completing heaven's stealer mission, and even if this was his assumption, he still wanted to see if it was wrong and confirmed it. 

Ace knew his actions were foolish right now, and he should focus on the matter at hand, but that heart of his was simply too stubborn and refused to listen to his mind. 

In the end, Ace ground his teeth before the sword under his feet turned around, and he headed straight toward the explosion site. All those rocky birds stopped following him the moment he entered his stealth, so everything was clear. 

'I'll just confirm it, and if there is a way out, then I'll clear the mission even faster without being worrying about the Union's interrogation or them finding me after I'm done. In a way, this is beneficial for me in every way. Let me see who the hell you are!' 

Ace's eyes went deadly cold as he headed toward the red fate point with high expectations in his heart!