Eternal Thief

[Congratulation host on finding the Nature's Earth Elemental Orb!]

=====

Ace was jolted awake from his stupor after hearing the system's static voice. 

'Hahaha… I finally found the damn thing!' Ace wanted to laugh out loud but control himself since he won't be able to handle the consequences. 

Truth to be told, Ace thought the elemental orb would be in some kind of protective place like the light orb, not like the earth orb which was hovering right in the open. There wasn't any Orb Guardian protecting it at all. 

Furthermore, it also didn't seem to sense his presence like the light orb did the moment he stepped into its territory. 

'Is it because of my soul Qi?' Ace reckoned. He was right and wrong at the same time.

Right about; it was all because of his Heavenly Soul Qi, he could escape the emerald mist detection all this time and even be able to reach this point. But he was thoroughly wrong about; just any soul cultivator could do the same as him. 

Because Ace soul Qi wasn't worldly soul Qi. The last time Ace was only screwed because he didn't think of using the soul Qi and his control on his soul Qi was also insufficient because of the limitation of his martial cultivation at that time!

As for in Earthen Mist Forest, any other soul cultivator might be able to escape the inner circle's mist but the moment s/he stepped inside the mysterious circle's mist, their advantage will be over the very moment. 

If and I mean an enormous 'IF' somehow managed to fight those patrolling golem groups and then the soul golem leader coming after them and after fighting all the golem army… however the moment someone killed the soul golem this action will instantly startle the earth orb and then the actual nightmare will begin! 

Ace could only pull this off because his Heavenly Soul Qi was much more powerful than he thought and if he still had the yellow soul core, his journey would end the moment he touched the volcano's emerald steam!

As for the reason why he could get so close to the earth orb, it was all because the elemental orbs didn't have actual power or any kind of senses of their own. They might awake consciousness and exist for eons, but an elemental orb can never power itself up.

Simply put, the moment someone could deal with all the unique obstacles created by the elemental orb, the orb itself was as harmless as a child. This was the rule of heaven, everything has its pros and cons and nothing was perfect.

Even if you're a darling of nature like the Elemental Orbs, in the eyes of unbiased heaven, you're just like a speck of dust! 

'That transparent barrier.' Now that Ace was calm, he didn't take any kind of action immediately, afraid, he might regret it after coming this far.

Ace closely observed the green crystallize altar, especially the transparent octagon crystal layer covering it like some formation barrier. He knew that layer was the last defense he had to go through to get the earth orb. 

'Even if my soul threads able to pass thought that crystal barrier the moment I took the elemental orb the guardian was going instantly awake, and that golem army might… not the army will go on a rampage!' 

Ace's expression was stiff when he thought about the consequences of stealing the earth orb when there was an enormous army of powerful golems just standing a couple of miles away from him and there was still an unawakened orb guardian!

The orb guardian's life was closely related to the elemental orb, and if won't going to just sit tight while someone takes it away. 

No matter what Ace does, even if he used the last invisible bead he can only escape for a minute and the moment his invisibility effect ended, his life would also be forfeited! 

Just thinking about a berserk orb guardian fighting for its life and hundreds of golem leaders, especially those soul golem leaders pouncing on him like hungry wolves, gave Ace the chills. 

Just reaching the volcano's surface will probably take fifteen minutes at full speed and this much time was enough for the orb guardian to deal with Ace a hundred times over or whatever going to appear from the bottom of the volcano, he doesn't forget about the sudden appearance of thousands of golems! 

'I can only use that method now!' A wry smile appeared on Ace's face when thought about this 'method' of his. 

'Well, I have to do this eventually, might as well do it sooner than later.' An assertive glint flash past his eyes as he made his final decision! 

Ace inhale deeply before his impassive voice transmitted in his mind, "System how long it's going to take to absorb the earth orb?" 

Yes, he was going to trigger his Heavenly Punishment! 

This was the only method he could think of to successfully leave this place in one piece. He wanted to take advantage of heavenly punishment to kill those golems and orb guardians, just like last time! 

The only difference was he wasn't on the verge of death this time around and his soul wasn't damaged either. 

It's not like he could just leave with that enormous army blocking his way, right? While activating the heavenly punishment he at least had a fighting chance, and he was also prepared this time, well, probably. 

"[After the Earth Elemental Orb enter the thief's space, the system needs three minutes to complete the absorption process.]" 

'Too long!' Ace's expression sank because three minutes was enough to screw him over! 

But right at this moment, a playful voice sounded right after the system's emotionless voice,

"[But if the host wants to create a 'Martial Qi Sea' instead of a 'Martial Qi River' the Heavenly Turbulence can instantly be activated. However, the host has to complete some conditions first!]"

Unbeknown to Ace, the dark void slightly trembled for a microsecond for some unknown reason after he heard this new term, 'Martial Qi Sea'!