This simple question rendered Winter speechless, and she could not find words to retort.
Freya, on the other hand, smiled charmingly as she spoke, "I think what Faceless wanted to ask was how do you do it and why now?"
Ace looked at the witch, who now looked completely human but otherworldly, and answered, "You could say that the conditions for expansion had been met and I upgraded it as soon as they met. But it seemed I disturb your seclusion."
"No worries, I know you did it for 'us'." Freya chuckled meaningfully, "Anyway, I was just getting bored by staying indoors, and my house points are also completely spent. Do you have anything for me out there?"
A hint of anticipation flashed in Noa's eyes since she had the identical thought. She was already at the peak of the soul river core realm and was facing the realm wall. She wasn't like those two who had experience with the soul realm.
She had never reached the soul realm before, so she needed insight, despite that, her cultivation was quite fast.
While Winter was the fastest of the three because she had broken into the Manifestation Realm before and had more experience than two with that realm.
Ace didn't hide the current situation and told them about where he was and what kind of situation he was facing.
Winter remained calm since she had already heard about this when Ace contacted her a few days ago and laid out all his plans about what he wanted to do and what her part was in all this.
She felt it was absurd, but when she thought about who she was and her current set of skills and abilities, she was completely at ease. Besides, he was giving her HP, so it wasn't like she was working for free.
Freya's expression turned serious when she heard Ace was currently in the Royal Demon Institute, one of the most guarded places in the entire royal zone.
"Why didn't you just leave the continent when you had the chance? Is this some kind of mission by the goddess?" She couldn't help but question.
She knew Ace wasn't someone who liked to play with fire, so the only explanation was he had no choice in this matter since she had experienced herself what kind of punishment the goddess could give with a mission.
So she didn't question his sanity.
On the contrary, Freya and others were feeling quite a pressure because while they were utterly safe here with no worry, Ace was constantly working out there and putting his life on the line.
Which also showed just how large the gap was between him and their statuses in Thief House.
"Indeed, this is a mission, but also something I have to do. Furthermore, I need to enter the imperial domain soon, but it's just too dangerous, so I already asked Winter for her assistance.
"If everything goes according to my plan, then I would be going to need your skills as well if mine weren't enough." Ace candidly told, hiding nothing.
He had complete trust in his house members and they were there to help him in the first place.
"Heh, although your plan is daring, if you pulled it through, then I don't think anyone could stop your step into the Imperial Domain. Just imagining those hateful demons' expressions made me ecstatic." Freya giggled with rapture.
Winter also nodded in agreement with a stiff smile on her pink lips. She also felt that once Ace did this, the demons would have no face left to show anyone.
Noa, on the other hand, wasn't concerned with these issues. "What about me? Do you need my help?"
Ace looked at Noa in her crystal black armor and mask, he replied, "Not for now, you should focus on breaking into Soul Realm, if I headed in the Fiery Hell Secret Realm direction after this then I'll need your strength to snatch that Fire Spirit from the allied races."
Noa's eyes narrowed when she heard this. She was already at the Nine-Star Night Demon Body, but for further progress, she needed a fire spirit. She couldn't even practice the secret skill she got from the system because of it.
Now that she heard about the upcoming Ancient Alliance Gathering and the Fire Spirit was their primary aim, she naturally wanted to take part in it.
But she also knew she might get caught under all those experts present, so she could only remain silent.
Now that Ace informed her about his intention of going there, his gesture naturally moved her since she knew he was doing this for her because Ace had no reason to put his life in danger just to acquire that Fire Spirit.
"Fire Spirit?" Winter exclaimed with a hint of consternation at this moment.
Freya also heard about the rumors going around the outer provinces a hundred years ago, so she knew this was something important to the demon race. But she wasn't able to find any clues when she tried searching for them.
Now that she heard this name again, she was naturally intrigued since this Fire Spirit had made the three races so restless, and from Ace's subtle words and Noa's reaction; she felt it was something Noa needed for some reason.
"What, you know something about Fire Spirit?" Ace inquired.
Winter thought for a moment before she revealed, "I don't know much, but I once heard my clan leader talk about it casually with some elders. I only heard these words, 'Fire Spirit is a law source of the fire.' I didn't know what they meant by those words at that time, so I never paid much attention to it."
"Law Source?" It was also Ace's first time hearing this word.
"Hey, system, what is a Law Source?" Curious, he questioned the system. He didn't have high expectations for an answer, though.
"[Law Sources are naturally formed entities which had at least 10% law comprehension in them. Every Law Source has a grade.]
"[But in Mortal Sky Heaven there are only three grades, Initial (At least 10% Law Comprehension), Incomplete (At least 30% Law Comprehension), and Complete (At least 70% Law Comprehension.]
"[The Elemental Orbs also fell into the Complete Law Sources category and rarest among the law sources found in the first heaven, with at least 80% law comprehension in them. While a Fire Spirit could be of any grade, it depends on its age mostly.]"
Ace was astounded by this revelation. "So, they're like law fragments?"
"[Yes, and No. One could only use a corresponding law source of their innate element, and they're overbearing by nature. If someone tried to absorb a law source without having any understanding of that law, they would suffer a serve backlash or even death.]
"[While the Law Fragments are already refined by the system and only the host could use them, and they're far more precious than a law source.]
"[However, the Law Source also had another function which is to help break the realm wall between Seventh and Eighth Realm!]"
Ace's eyes widened when he heard the last part, and his heart turned cold. Realization dawned on him at this moment.
'So, that's why everyone is going crazing over the fire spirit and doing everything to acquire it!' Ace felt like he had stumbled upon an enormous secret without even realizing it.
If he hadn't heard of Law Source from Winter and hadn't asked the system, he would still be in the dark about all this. Furthermore, now that he knew about the real aim of every race, he also guessed the severity of the situation.
In the face of acquiring a fabled eighth realm powerhouse, would those races care about the collateral damage like those who were going on this expedition?
Even a fool could tell that they won't, and this information might be a top secret of every race, and only those Law Awareness Realm Cultivators might know about it.
At that time, it would be an absolute bloodbath if someone brought out that fire spirit!
Ace took a deep breath to calm himself down. His mansion was already around the corner, and he needed to be absolutely calm to make his plan work.
Nevertheless, this information was still shocking, and he could also guess that if anyone raised the chance of bringing that fire spirit out, those races wouldn't let it go, and Archie was such a person.
'This might not be a training gathering but a suicide mission for all I know.' Ace grimaced, but his decision to go to the Imperial Domain still didn't change in the slightest.
There were still some years, and if Ace found himself in a complex situation, he would escape without thinking twice.
"All right, you guys should chat but remain on standby, especially Winter. You have to be ready. Failure means exposure." Ace's stern voice rang in the main hall before he returned to being tranquil.
Just when Ace turned around on the street where his mansion was located, he was astonished because a demon was waiting outside the mansion's gate.