585 Final Assessment: Grand!
Ace flew or teleported for fifteen minutes, using 152 Space Step Talismans, and was now at the outskirts of the Imperial Domain.
He had crafted 231 Space Step Talismans with all the materials he had, and this entire theft cost him over 23 million thief points just for a mere chance to get the elemental orb.
But the grin on his face was evident that he didn’t regret it!
The pressure of Demon Ancestor had already vanished because of the altitude, and the distance Ace had managed to pull with the help of space step talismans. But he knew he wasn’t out of the danger zone yet, not by a long shot.
First, his owl wings would only last for 14 more minutes, and he had to land before he fell to his death. From this height, he would be turned into mush no matter what he does.
Second, he could see the white color thief symbol from this height, and he knew those demons now wanted to hack him into millions of pieces, if not billion since he had sullied their sacred building.
If he had a choice, he would prefer not to imprint his thief symbol on that building at all, but he knew the system would rather give him another impossible mission.
Last but not least, he had to leave the demon continent as fast as he could before the demon in the imperial domain was done with their search of the imperial domain.
And after he discovered that terrifying existence hiding within the demon temple and he had stolen something very important like the Imperial Demon Scepter, that existence will not sit idle anymore.
Truth be told, he wasn’t confident in hiding from that existence even if he broke through to a higher realm. It was his gut feeling. So, he didn’t want to stay on the continent while that kind of existence was after him, and it was now personal!
The only advantage Ace had was the imperial domain was cut off by the rest of the continent, and only the most loyal demons lived there, so they would not spread the news of this utter humiliation, or all their prestige will go down the drain.
So, they won’t make it too obvious, but they won’t hinder them either.
That’s why Ace has to desert the Demon Continent.
As for his last chain mission, he will leave it to time for now.
At this moment, Ace saw the mist surrounding the imperial domain, which also meant he was close to the Royal Demon Nation.
But his eyes contracted when he saw a small silhouetted a few thousand meters below his altitude; even though it was dark, he could clearly see it because of shimmering symbols below its feet and a brightly lit formation plate in its hand.
‘They react too fast!’ Ace expression grimace.
This demon was clearly here to guard this perimeter, and this person was too strong for him because only Law Awareness Realm cultivators could fly!
The only comfort was he was far above the other party’s capability of flying, but Ace needed to start descending soon unless he wanted to die tragically.
So, he knew he couldn’t be stingy with space step talismans anymore. He needed to use them quickly to leave the imperial domain.
Gritting his teeth, he started to teleport again!
The person holding the formation plate suddenly looked above at the cloudy sky, ‘It must be my imagination. How could someone fly above the Demon Temple? It was created 200 meters higher than the flying altitude capacity of an 8th-realm cultivator.
‘That damn thief couldn’t be so high above, or the formation would’ve already alerted His Majesty!’
This demon ground his teeth as it looked toward the demon temple, which now had a white thief symbol with eyes full of abhorrence!
He couldn’t help but roar in a fury, “Damnable thief, you can’t escape!”
—
After using 20 more space talismans, Ace could finally see the end of that mist, and his face was ashen because of the altitude as well as the Qi exhaustion caused by the dark owl wings.
Because the Dark Owl Wings used his Soul Qi and Martial Qi simultaneously, this experience wasn’t good. On the contrary, his vast Qi reserve was just enough to buy him 30 minutes of flight.
But Ace didn’t know the altitude he was on was also affecting him. If he hadn’t gone through the heavenly punishment torture, he would’ve passed out long ago, much less enduring the pressure of the Demon Ancestor and flying at this altitude for over 18 minutes.
The space steps talismans play the most significant role in all this because Ace wasn’t flying on his own but teleporting and only exposed for a moment or two.
Seeing the safe zone arrive, he used five more talismans to decent and save himself some Qi to move forward.
When he was only a thousand meters above the ground level, he felt much better and right at this moment.
‘Rumble…’
Thunder started to flash on the clouds, and raindrops poured like mad all of a sudden as if the sky was crying.
Ace sneered wryly, “Not going up there again anytime soon.” But his eyes suddenly turned sharper as he vowed, “But one day, I’ll explore the stars and heavenly secrets up there.”
After seeing the beauty from up there and the countless stars, which were even higher than he had imagined, he was now even more curious about what was up there and if the next heaven was within that ocean of stars.
He was always curious about the starry sky, and his ambition was no longer just the Mortal Sky Heaven.
Ace didn’t know when it happened, but his goal had long changed from Mortality to Heavenly. He wanted to explore the heavenly secrets because, without them, he would be dead eventually since he was the Eternal Enemy of Heaven!
He was no longer the scrawny, naïve kid from the River Flower City anymore. He was now the elusive thief, Sky Stealer of Golden Sky Word!
Soon, Ace’s feet touched the ground, and he had never felt better before.
“System disable these wings.” He commanded with exhaustion written all over his deadly pale face.
=====
[Dark Owl Wings has been disabled!]
-Dark Owl Wings (Initial)
-Description: Able to summon Wings of Dark Owl!
-Ability: Fly
-Status: Cooldown
-Time: 167:59:59
=====
The ethereal black wings suddenly vanished with a small burst, and Ace felt even more mentally and physically light.
His attire suddenly started to change into a noble blue attire, and he took the face of Fiery Demon he once copied as Archie.
Ace headed directly south in the stormy rain, but he had to be careful while traveling the Demonic Academia Region.
He would be fine if he didn’t encounter or step into the four demon institutes’ territories. But it would still take him months to reach his destination, and he knew the Imperial Domain soon realized he was long gone.
So, they will start a continent-wide manhunt, and this time, they won’t miss a single stone unturned!
That’s why to make his journey less dangerous. He was going to cross the Black Mountain Ranges.
It was the most dangerous forbidden zone of the Demon Continent and the source of the mysterious Black River of the Demon Continent.
But it was far safer than those powerful demons on his tail, especially that mysterious expert of Demon Temple.
Lastly, Ace wanted to cross the Black Mountain Range because the chaotic part of the Endless Sea was right on its other side and closest to the three forbidden countries.
He still had to fetch Winter, or that woman would nag him to death if he dared to leave her, and that place was also the only place where he could summon the heavenly punishment and breakthrough without getting noticed.
“Notification Panel.” While moving, Ace finally got the chance to see the notifications he received after the Thief Farewell Note.
What he saw made his eyes flash with ecstasy!
=====
[The Job Mission has been completed!]
—
-Job Mission: Intermediate Thief Symbol
-Description: As an Intermediate Thief, it’s essential to have an Intermediate Thief Symbol worthy of an Intermediate Thief’s status!
-Requirement: Imprint the Thief Symbol on the tallest building of the Mighty Demon Continent!
Status: Complete
Final Assessment: Grand
—
-Mission Reward:
Mission Reward: Intermediate Thief Symbol has been unlocked!
[Intermediate Thief Symbol: Devil Horn Dark Owl]
[Open Thief Panel to continue]
-Extra Reward(s): Grand
1. New Summoning Symbol Ability
[Open Thief Panel to continue]
2. Low-Grade Epiphany Pill: 1
-Description: Consumer will fall into an Epiphany for 60 minutes.
3. Intermediate Item Upgrade Token: 1
-Decrepitation: Upgrade any Treasure purchased from the System Shop by 2 Grades.
4. New Thief Title has been unlocked!
[Thief Title: Grand Theft (Initial)]
-Grand Theft (Initial): Acquired an [Assessment Grade: Grand]!
-Title Effect: Any Theft of [Assessment Grade: Grade] will automatically result in a 2X Reward!
=====