At this moment, Ace was still unaware of the true nature of Piercing Maze and was moving slowly but steadily toward the third environment, and only a day had passed.
He didn't know that Bodach as well as the three special grade instructors were astounded by his fast advancement and watching his every step like hawks now.
---
Meanwhile, far away from the demon continent was the Beast Continent,
In the center of the beast continent was a huge mountain range filled with towering mountains with snowy peaks. This place was known as the Ancient Beast Mountain Range.
Only the Magic Beast with at least Manifestation Bloodline could enter and live in this place, and it was also the place where the Beast Emperor resides.
At one of the tallest peaks of Ancient Beast Mountain Range,
A sphere of dark gray mist was revolving in the air, completely ineffective by snowing winds.
At this moment, a blur appeared a few meters away from this misty sphere.
A husky voice sounded within this blur. "Grim Ancestor, I think the children found the person you have told me to keep an eye for. But I'm not sure if they're the same, but there's a 70% chance they're the same since your provided description match almost perfectly."
"Let me be the judge of that." An eerie voice sounded in reply from the misty sphere.
"Very well then, a few years ago, a thief appeared in the demon continent…" The husky voice told all the information on the Sky Stealer they had collected, "… not only his name is also Sky Stealer, but he also left an owl symbol whenever he theft."
"So, that brat somehow ran on the demon continent and even survived all these years while making demons lose so much face? Impressive." The eerie voice of Grim Ancestor sounded astonished with a hint of killing intent.
"So, they are the same person? But then it won't be easy to capture him. Even demons are still helpless against him." The husky voice stated his concerns.
"This is indeed troublesome now. He had the map, and without it, our plan is mere fantasy, and for some reason, I couldn't sense the map's presence, no matter how much I tried.
"I don't know what kind of secret that thievish brat had. Not only he makes a name for himself on the demon continent, but he cut my connection with the map as well." Grim Ancestor told in frustration.
"Then all that sacrifice for that map was for nothing?! You better find a way to take that map back or don't blame me for being ruthless Grim Ancestor.
"Don't even think for a second that I have forgiven you for what you have done in the past, and now you're trying to repeat that tragedy all over again. But I won't let it happen, or you'll really make our race extinct this time!" The husky voice threatened coldly.
"Old friend, don't sound so noble. We both know what happened in the past and why we both are still alive when all those old rivals of ours are tasting dust somewhere." Grim Ancestor sneered coldly and continued, "As for that map, I'll find it, eventually. Since I know that brat's whereabouts, I will find him. But first, I need to regain my cultivation, and the fastest way is a Law Source."
"You mean… don't tell me!" The husky voice rang in astonishment.
"Hehe, I have finally gained full control over this body. That lass was really hard to deal with, and now my cultivation is only at the peak of the platinum soul river core realm.
"Prepared a ship for me. I'm going into the fiery hell realm to acquire that ancient law source. I might even go on the demon continent afterward to hunt that thievish brat down." Grim Ancestor confidently declared.
"It seemed you were planning this from the start, huh? So be it, those fools didn't know just how ancient that fire spirit is, and they just discovered it a hundred years ago. Only someone like us could acquire it.
"At that time, even without that map, we can easily win over this world and return to former glory!" The husky voice was filled with passion.
Grim Ancestor sneered in indignation, "Hehe, see you still the same as before… Beast Ancestor!"
---
At the same time, on Azure Wind Continent, low-level lands.
In the Eastern lands of 2-Star Cities, two cloaked figures appeared out of thin air, near the bank of a beautiful river.
The meadow river bank was surrounded by rows of colorful wildflowers, creating exquisite scenery and the aromatic scent drifting in the air giving the feeling of refreshment.
However, just a few hundred meters away from this beautiful river was an old ruin filled with wild sward and vines.
"NO! It can't be the River Flower City; how could it be destroyed? No, I must be in the wrong place again!" A melodious voice mumbled in anxiety and incertitude.
However, the other cloaked person retorted softy at this moment, "Princess, I think now is the time to accept the reality that…"
"No! Shut up!"
The mysterious Princess reprimanded loudly as a sharp icy aura suddenly exploded from her, freezing everything in a mile radius, turning everything into an ice field, but this Ice color was bright silver.
The other cloaked figure just barely managed to protect herself from freezing.
At this moment, an old mellow voice rang in the vicinity, "Who are you searching for, Child?"
This mysterious voice startled both cloaked figures.
"Who is there?!" the mysterious Princess inquired as she looked around warily, but no one was there.
"I'm also searching for someone like you. He also originated from this ruined city, once called the River Flower." The mellow voice replied.
They both then looked upward toward the sky because this voice was coming from above, but to their shock, there was no one in the sky as well.
"No! This is not the river flower city, you're lying!" The mysterious Princess again retorted, unwilling to accept the truth. She no longer cared about the identity of this person.
"Senior, please forgive my young miss's rudeness, she's just grieving over her lost brother and wasn't herself at the moment. She didn't mean offense. We'll leave right away." The other woman quickly apologized, with a hint of trepidation in her voice.
She wasn't muddleheaded and could tell this person wasn't simple, and they better leave before it was too late.
"Let's go. We'll search somewhere else." The other women quickly try to drag the mysterious Princess away.
"Wait." The mellow voice rang again. "Did the person you are searching for is known by… Ace White?"
The mysterious Princess's aura suddenly spiked when she heard this name, and blurted with anticipation, "YOU!? How do you know this name?! Where is he?!"
The other woman was also shocked, but she wasn't as optimistic as her companion because, according to her Princess description, this person was just a mortal. How could this mysterious expert have known a mortal?
'This is bad. There is something wrong. I need to take the Princess and escape!' She thought grimly.
"Oh? What a coincidence. Not only we are searching for a person who originated from the same place, but this person happened to be the same." The mellow voice rang with a hint of happiness. "You say he's your brother. Is he your biological brother?"
"First, tell me why are you searching for him and where is he. Is he still alive? " The mysterious Princess didn't answer bluntly again!
Although she was desperate, she wasn't a fool and after she felt some hope, she regained her demeanor.
"Ah, how unbecoming of me. I kept asking questions." The mellow voice coolly said, "You see, child, your brother stole something of mine. I have no grudge against him, and as long as he returns those things, I would not persuade this matter."
"If this is about treasures, I'll return tenfold over what he took! But don't make him sound like a thief!" The mysterious Princess announced confidently in a bitter tone.
"Heh, you seemed to don't know about this brother of yours, huh?" The mellow voice sounded amused. "Nevertheless, I appreciate your offer, but the things your brother took are unique and only one of their kind."
"As long as I discover him, I'll have him return them to you. Just tell me where he is!" She inquired desperately. It was clearly this mysterious voice knew something about her brother.
"That's the problem, child. Your brother is very hard to find, but he might be willing to come if he knows his sister is looking for him, won't he?" The mysterious voice inquired nonchalantly, "Let's look for him together, I'll know just the place where he might be."
"Princess, Run!" the other woman, who was silent for all this time, suddenly shouted before silver ruin symbols emerged on her figure. She was clearly preparing for this.
However, … "Ah, the sacred technique of Silver Ice Royal Hunter Bloodline, it's been quite a while since I last saw it. But it's a pity it won't activate."
Just the voice trailed off the symbols on the figure suddenly vanished!
"Who are you exactly!?" the Princess questioned with trepidation.
The voice answered, "Dream Shatter… Ancestor…!"