Ace pulled a faint smile as he introduced himself, "I am Ace. You all might know me as the Sky Stealer! Itâs our first official meeting after your recruitment in Thief House!"
The three Thief Acolytes were pleasantly surprised when Ace confirmed their suspicion about his identity. They had to admit they werenât expecting Aceâs presence in the Abyss of Wandering Souls.
"Can you please show some proof?" Livia stiffly asked as she couldnât just take his words for it.
After all, they all know the difference between Heaven and the Abyss. Eva can enter here because of her powerful bloodline, and not even an Abyssal King can cross that boundary as they please.
Nonetheless, their identities werenât something that would be known to just anyone, not to mention the secret of the Thief House. So, they were 99% sure that this man was really the elusive Sky Stealer. But they still need to confirm it, just in case they were under some powerful illusion or mind control.
Ace chuckled, but he was very pleased with their cautiousness, and he didnât make things difficult for them either. He then flicked his finger, and the next moment, a tall, entrancing figure with long, purple hair, adorned in a beautiful scarlet, sleeveless dress, appeared beside him.
Her eyes were just like the three abyssal devils, but her irises were purple, and there werenât any horns on her temples, but her natural charm was infinitely stronger than those three abyssal devils, like a moon compared to the sun.
Eva instantly felt the familiar and cozy atmosphere, as if she were right at home, and she knew exactly where she was.
"I was about to ask you when weâre going to arrive..." Eva commented with a bewitching smile before she felt hostile spiritual pressure and glanced towards the three thief acolytes, who were startled after Evaâs appearance.
Eva narrowed her eyes dangerously, "What are you three numskulls doing!?"
Hearing her familiar, overbearing, cold tone, the three acolytes quickly snapped out of their stupor. They retracted their spiritual pressure and Evil Souls as they no longer had any doubts about Aceâs identity.
"Donât blame them. They were just being careful." Ace quickly intervened with a meaningful smile, "Youâve groomed them well."
Eva flashed a prideful smile, clearly liked what Ace said, and appeared in a good mood, "Why of course, they are my personal maids and Abyssal Thief Acolytes. They needed to be worthy of those titles or humph!"
The three acolytes had wry smiles when they heard Evaâs boastful yet arrogant words. Nonetheless, they were secretly shocked because Eva usually behaves with a cold demeanor, but with Ace, she seemed cheerful and full of vigor.
Moreover, Eva always hid her face behind a veil, even when she was in disguise; however, now she didnât even bother to conceal her actual appearance, which could topple the world.
"Alright, Iâll forgive you three since it was your first time meeting the House Leader." Eva quickly became dignified as she solemnly spoke, "This is the House Leader of Thief House, the Sky Stealer. Furthermore, heâs also my husband, so I wonât forgive any disrespect towards him, whether in private or in public."
The thief acolytes quickly nodded, but each carried a different emotion.
Livia was the most cheerful one among them as her eyes shone like stars while she looked at Ace with a hint of infatuation, and quickly greeted bashfully, "Greetings, House Leader. Itâs an honor to be in your presence. Iâve heard a lot about you back in the Golden Sky World."
Riana appeared cold, but her eyes flickered with a complicated glint. "We meet again, House Leader. Thank you for saving me back then."
Sofia looked at Ace with complex emotions, feeling both grateful and indignant towards him because of what he had done back in the Empire, which was her home and where she was supposed to be its future ruler.
"Greetings." She coldly greeted without any emotions.
Ace nodded back at them and didnât mind Sofiaâs vague hostility. As for Livia, she was the most unusual, as when he met her, she appeared to be a Golden Fate Point before reverting to normal, which was an extraordinary phenomenon.
For this exact reason, he abducted her back then because she was supposed to be useful to him in the future, at least thatâs what Moira told him.
"Thereâs no need to be so polite, everyone. Please continue to look after Eva. Sheâs very reckless and tends to do things that put her in danger. I hope you all can advise and help her as her helpers, and I wonât treat you unfairly." Ace stated as he glanced at Eva with love and care.
Eva felt happiness blooming in her heart, but she pretended to be angry, retorting with narrowed eyes, "Are you belittling me in front of my thief acolytes?"
"Tsk..." Ace clicked his tongue at her antics. He was helpless against her. "Alright, I wonât say anything. You are the most capable."
"Thatâs better. Iâll reward you later." Eva winked at Ace seductively.
âAre they flirting in front of us?â
The thief acolytes showed different expressions at Ace and Evaâs interaction.
Ace didnât comment on Evaâs boldness and asked what he was most curious about, but he used their connection to speak,
"How did you manage to change their Bloodline? They seemed to be Abyssal Devils, but their auras are quite weak compared to even your Abyssal Shadow Devil bloodline."
Eva pulled a proud smile and told Ace without hiding anything as if she was waiting for him to ask this, "
Hehe, itâs all thanks to Flaggy. You see, Flaggy can devour souls and use them to fuel its different abilities. One of those abilities is called the âSoul Bloodlineâ.
"With Soul Bloodline, Flaggy can gather Abyssal Bloodlines after devouring Abyssal Beings with powerful Abyssal Bloodlines, whether they are Abyssal Devil, Abyssal Fiend, or Abyssal Demon. As long as Flaggy can devour a certain number of them, it can manifest a complete Soul Bloodline of the same Abyssal Being that Flaggy devoured.
"Once a Soul Bloodline is fully manifested, Flaggy can then inject that bloodline directly into a soul, and alter it as long as the receiverâs soul is weaker than Flaggyâs power and does not have a powerful bloodline.
"I have Flaggy gathered soul bloodlines of Abyssal Devils and then changed my maidsâ bloodline since their own bloodlines were quite weak.
"Not to mention in Abyss, it would be extremely dangerous to have Heavenly Bloodlines, not to mention the Abyssal Spirit Qi seemed to be very harmful to any Heavenly Being, and they canât cultivate here.
"However, at that time, I also didnât know that the cultivation technique in the House Shop for Thief Acolytes can actually be used with the Abyssal Spirit Qi. In fact, they seemed tailor-made for the Abyssal Spirit Qi.
"Nonetheless, since Iâm going to operate in Abysses in the future, having Abyssal Bloodlines is a good thing, and they didnât seem to have any prejudice against changing their bloodlines."
Ace was shocked when he heard this unexpected information. He wasnât expecting Flaggy to have such a powerful ability to grant Abyssal Bloodlines to others. After all, Ace also had unlocked that function in the system, but to do it, he had to meet certain conditions and sacrifice resources and treasures like the Mystic Bloodline Cist.
"Wait a moment, you said Flaggy can alter souls with Soul Bloodline. How is this different from normal bloodline change?"
Ace quickly asked another question as he had never heard about âSoul Bloodlinesâ before.
Eva seemed to expect this question and replied with a faint smile,
"Itâs simple, actually. Bloodline change works mysteriously. If someone changes their bloodline through bloodline rituals or some mysterious spell or ability, their souls would also change, right?
"The same goes with changing the bloodline through the Soul. With the soul, the body also follows suit. In fact, this method is far more complicated yet relatively safer and swifter. Even I wasnât aware of it before Flaggy told me. It seemed only Flaggy had this ability, and it had something to do with Flaggyâs true power.
"Right now, Flaggy is not even at 10% of its actual power, and it needs many rare treasures to recover. Thatâs why Flaggyâs Soul Bloodline can only work in the Ascension Realm, not above it, unless it increases its rank above it first.
"Moreover, this ability only works with Abyssal Beings, and Flaggy can only change Heavenly Beings into Abyssal Beings, not the other way around.
"Furthermore, according to Flaggy, even if Flaggy is at its peak, it canât manifest the Bloodline of Abyssal Void Devil because this bloodline is above Flaggyâs grade.
"Thatâs why itâs even more shocking for you to have the ability to make me Abyssal Shadow Devil and then help me evolve into Abyssal Void Devil, which is even more powerful than the former."
Evaâs voice was filled with emotion as she mentioned the last part, and she looked at Ace tenderly, now having a better understanding of what Ace had done for her and the power of Heavenâs Stealerâs lineage.
Realization dawned on Ace at this moment, and he couldnât help but feel grateful towards the system, as without it, he would still be nothing but a mortal, and Eva might still be a slave!