Ace was astonished when he saw the new assessment grade, which was clearly above the Satisfactory Grade or even higher. And when he saw the extra rewards given to him because of this grade, he was even more shocked.
Especially when he saw the description of the Intermediate Item Upgrade Token and couldn't help but swallow hard when he thought about one of the chain mission rewards having three such tokens!
Lastly, the new title will increase his rewards if the System deems he has performed a Grand Theft.
Ecstatic, Ace almost forget about his exhaustion. As for the new thief symbol, he wasn't too optimistic about it since it would only change the symbol's appearance.
But he was more interested in the new ability, and he quickly opened the thief panel and hoped this new ability would be as helpful as the Dark Owl Wings.
======
[Thief Panel]
--
[Job [NOT Changeable]: Thief]
[Thief Name: Sky Stealer]
--
[Thief Rank: Deft Thief]
-Thievery Required for next Rank:
-Low: 10,000 Thieveries
-Middle: 1,000 Thieveries
-High: 100 Thieveries
--
[Thievery Count Section]
-Low-level Thievery(s): 0
-Middle-level Thievery(s): 2
-High-level Thievery(s): 0
--
[Thief Title(s)]
-Follower of Darkness
[Title Effect: Able to raise the proficiency of [Skills] & [Cultivation Arts] related to Darkness by one proficiency level instantly!]
-Mind Thief
[Title Effect: Any Memory you steal will have 10% more chances of being the most precious memory in the target's Knowledge Sea!]
-Famously Infamous (Intermediate)
[Intermediate Stage: Infamous between over 1 Billion lifeforms.]
[Title Effect: Everyone is afraid of your name (Thief Name), and your deeds reverberated like thunder in every corner of this land. Your real name (Thief Name) will inflict [7% Fear] in others' hearts as long as they know about your name (Thief Name) and deeds.]
-Cold Liar (Initial)
[Initial Stage: Made 10 Million Beings (Cultivators Only) wholeheartedly believed your lies!]
[Title Effect: There's a 5% more chance that people will believe in your lies completely!]
-Grand Theft (Initial)
[Initial Stage: Acquired an Assessment Grade: Grand!]
[Title Effect: Any Theft of [Assessment Grade: Grade] will automatically result in 2X Reward!]
--
[Thief Symbol: Devil Horn Dark Owl]
-Summoning Symbol Ability(s): 2 (New)
1. Devil Horn Dark Owl Wings (Intermediate)
-Description: Able to summon Wings of Devil Horn Dark Owl!
-Ability: Fly
-Limit: 15 Minutes
-Cooldown: 14 Days
[NOTE (1): The Ability can be Upgrade by Thief Symbol Upgradation!]
[NOTE (2): The limitations of ability can be decreased with the host's increase in realms!]
2. Devi's Horn (Intermediate)
-Description: Able to summon Horns of Devil Horn Dark Owl!
-Ability: Undetectable Stealth in Mortal Sky Heaven!
-Limit: 1 Minute
-Cooldown: 30 Days
[NOTE (1): The Ability can be Upgrade by Thief Symbol Upgradation!]
[NOTE (2): The limitations of ability can be decreased with the host's increase in realms!]
--
[Thief Fame: Worldwide (1-Star)]
--
[Job Mission: 0]
======
Ace was surprised for a moment when he saw his flying ability had been upgraded. He nearly forgot about this fact.
However, the flying duration had been cut by half, and the cooldown period had been doubled. He didn't need to ask why it was happening since his ability had upgraded from initial to intermediate, and so did its power. The toll it would take on his body had also significantly increased. He never thought it was his last time using the fly ability of Dark Owl.
But when he saw the newly unlocked ability, he halted in his steps and looked at the ability with widened eyes as if he had seen a ghost. After making sure he didn't see things, he laughed out loud.
"Hahahaha… invisible beads, this is having an unlimited supply of invisible beads!" He almost wanted to try it but suppressed his excitement because the time limit was only a minute and the cooldown period was a whole month.
Nevertheless, this ability was a huge boon and his biggest life-saving trump card. His furious laughter was completely justifiable.
Ace always longed for invisible beads, and he still had one. It was his biggest trump card, but the black-hearted System never sold them again in the shop.
Yet, now he had the same ability as an invisible bead. He never thought he would get such an ability.
But still, he didn't let the mirth get the better of him and quickly calmed down. His grin covered almost all of his face.
"System, it seemed you have a heart after all." He grinned ear to ear even though he was ignored like usual, but he didn't mind.
Lastly, Ace sent his consciousness to the thief's space. He instantly noticed the addition of a new item which was in lying in the middle of the storage ring wall.
Cyrus was completely nonchalant about it and sleeping conformably on Page 09. The little guy spent most of his time sleeping since he didn't have anything to do, albeit he didn't mind.
Ace also ignored the little chick since his attention was affixed to a two-meter-long translucent crystallin pole. On top of this pole was a golden crown made with beautiful gemstones, and within this crown was imbedded a palm size, purple orb, cackling in purple lightning.
It was the Imperial Demon Scepter, and the purple orb on top of this scepter was the Lightning Elemental Orb!
Ace's eyes shone with ecstasy when he saw the orb was finally in his possession, but he didn't dare to take it out since the demon race might have some way to measure its location.
Furthermore, Ace was getting a very dangerous feeling from this scepter, and he didn't want to touch it. This was probably a very important treasure of the demon race and was bound to have deadly restrictions.
So, he'll let the System deal with it when he starts the absorption process. But it wasn't the right time to start the breakthrough or the place.
Moreover, according to System's warning, this heavenly punishment will be going to be absolutely a nightmare after he formed the Qi sea instated of the Qi river, so he needed to be at his peak condition.
In high spirits and more confident in himself, Ace continued his traveling while his soul Qi was slowly recovering. He was planning to use one Qi while letting the other recover and then switch again.
It was the advantage of having two types of Qi at once!
---
The stormy night passed as the bright golden light of the sun illuminated the entire imperial domain. But the storm seemed to only start in the Imperial Domain.
The entire domain was shimmering within all kinds of formation barriers as puppet servants were kneeling listlessly on their places when they were last night.
Powerful demon figures stood in the sky, guarding the Imperial Domain's boundaries. It was simply an impenetrable prison now.
On the top of Demon Temple, the giant figure of Demon Ancestor appeared right where the mysterious black sword was impaled.
The next moment, something unimaginable happened. One of the most powerful experts of the Golden Sky World, the Demon Ancestor, fell on his knees and prostrated in front of the mysterious black sword!
His raspy ancient voice was exempt from any arrogance and filled with imploration as he pleaded, "Oh mighty Sword of God Baphomet, I beseech you for guidance! The Key had been stolen by a Thief named Sky Stealer, who profaned your sacred temple no less.
"Please show your guidance to this lowly subject of yours, show your splendor to the entire Demon Race once again, and punish that defiler who wanted to harm your thralls and end your inimitable faith!"
He then banged his head giant head in front of the mysterious black sword, making the floor quiver with the impact.
"End Baphomet faith, you assumed, profaned Baphomet temple you accused. Yet, what I see is the incompetence of a thrall who had lost its way because there is no one holding the leash." An ethereal voice suddenly rang, filled with mockery.
The Demon Ancestor's entire body fluttered when he heard those scornful words.
The ethereal voice continued, "The Key was given to your race for a keepsake, yet you used it to empower your lineage and prolong your insignificant, worthless life. Oh, insignificant speck of dust, answer me if you are here because you're worried about your God's faith or worry about you'll die in 50 years without the Key and your lineage will perish?"
The Demon Ancestor's body trembled even more as if the owner of this ethereal voice completely saw through his intentions.
He quickly tried to explain, "N-no, I live to serve mighty God Baphomet and protect the immeasurable one's faith. I know I have crossed my boundary, but…."
"Ah, insignificant one, I'm not blaming you, nor I'm interested in your worthless reasons. Everything has a consequence, and your consequence is to wallow in despair." The ethereal voice emotionlessly stated before it stopped altogether. It no longer seemed to care about the Demon Ancestor.
Even after Demon Ancestor begged, the voice no longer replied. A hint of madness surfaced in the Demon Ancestor's hidden eyes as he left, filled with helplessness and full of mad resolve.
Afterward, the peak of the demon temple returned to its tranquil state, but suddenly a mumbling could be heard in an unknown language.
First, it sounds like chants, but in actuality, it was filled with disbelief and horror.
"Heaven's Stealer, that was a freaking living Heaven's Stealer, everyone is doom, doom…!"