Ace exited the Kelby shop quickly and headed straight to the clothing shop nearby. He knew these pills weren't ordinary, and that old man wanted them badly.
Ace also knew that after finding out he wasn't easy to deal with, the old man would definitely report him to his superiors and seek revenge for getting in the old man's way. If the old man couldn't have those pills, he wouldn't let Ace have them either.
Ace's conjecture was absolutely correct; had Matthew succeeded, he would have escaped the city. Since these two pills were worth almost 100,000 Ruby Coins, he could have fetched a high price at any auction in a 1-Star City and lived a happy life with that much wealth.
But Ace had gotten in Matthew's way, and since the old man wasn't a cultivator either, he could only get his revenge by telling Asher about the pills.
Ace bought new attire from a clothing shop and changed into it. But he'd just exited the shop when he spotted old man Matthew with three other people beside him.
They were clearly looking for Ace. The two tall, muscular men were Asher's security guards, and Caleb sulked between them.
Ace felt a chill at the sight of those two men and hurriedly turned to slip away quietly.
But Matthew's old eyes were sharp as a hawk's, and he recognized Ace even in his new attire. How could he forget the rascal who'd "stolen his pills"?
"Look, that one, in blue attire and a long straw hat! That's him! Quick, chase him! Oh no, he's running!" Matthew cried in alarm.
'This old goat!' Ace cursed Matthew inwardly as he ran through the crowd.
Ace had no choice but to use Silent Steps now. It was daytime, and his Stealth wouldn't work as well as it did at night. So he had to rely on Silent Steps alone. Once activated, he became like a breeze and vanished into the crowd.
"Where did that brat go?" Caleb shouted in exasperation, looking around for any trace of Ace.
"I didn't know he was this fast," one of Asher's guards exclaimed. He was a 2nd Gate cultivator, the most powerful of the group.
"What do you mean, so fast? Are you telling me that brat is stronger than you?!" Caleb barked in rage. His life was on the line here, after all. If they failed to find Ace, he didn't dare think about the consequences of displeasing Asher.
"I'm afraid he's stronger than us — at least in speed," the second guard answered, frustrated. They didn't want to upset Asher either.
"What do we do, then?!" Matthew was the most afraid of them all.
He'd wanted to see Ace in despair more than anyone. But now, watching him escape like the wind, Matthew began to regret ever revealing the pills to Asher and bringing this calamity on himself.
"Let's search the whole place. If we can't find him, we're dead!" Caleb snapped in a panic, and they all began searching like mad dogs.
---
Ace stopped running in an alleyway, panting wildly. He'd used Silent Steps for far too long to escape the old man's party.
'I'm not done with you, old goat! Just wait — I'll show you just how deep a grave can be!' Ace was busy cursing Matthew when suddenly, a transparent black panel emerged and shone before his eyes.
He heard the System's voice before he even understood what had happened.
=====
[A new mission has been issued!]
[Mission Panel]
[Honorable Thief's Dignity: Someone is trying to steal from a thief, which is unacceptable. Consequently, the Host must show this despicable stealer who the real thief is! The Host must empty the entire Kelby Family Treasury! The honor of a thief rests in your hands, Host!]
{Rewards based on Host Performance}
{A job mission will be granted immediately upon completion of this mission.}
{Time Left: 2 years}
{Mission Failure Punishment: The System will find another host with a thief's dignity!}
=====
"What?! Another mission, and who is this Kelby family? Aren't these the same people from that Kelby shop?" Ace grumbled, his expression turning grave.
He hadn't imagined getting a mission like this, and it clearly wasn't as simple as the last one; he could tell just from the two-year time limit. Even the mission to rob Billy's shop had only given him seven days.
'Thief's dignity, huh? I suppose you're right. I'm the thief here, and yet they're trying to rob me.' Ace mused, laughing bitterly.
'Well, first I need to escape this market and those four goons; then I can look into this Kelby family. I have two years; hopefully it won't be too hard.' Ace steeled himself.
As Ace waited to restore his depleted Qi, he pulled a red pill bottle from his pocket. These pill bottles were the whole reason for this mess. He opened the lid and sniffed it, just as Matthew had.
The moment the pill's aroma reached his nostrils, he heard the System's voice again.
=====
[Lowest-Grade Pill Detected: Can be converted into 10 EXP]
=====
A little black label appeared above the pill inside the bottle.
"What?!" Ace hadn't even flinched at the second mission, but this genuinely shocked him.
He'd always wondered how he might earn EXP and SP without a mission, but he'd never found a way. No matter how many times he asked, the System refused to tell him.
Now, out of nowhere, this notification appeared, leaving him speechless.
"System, why didn't you tell me I could convert pills into experience points before?! I could've converted the pills I sold into experience points!" Ace was more than a little annoyed with this black-hearted System.
"[Those pills were trash pills — they can't be converted into EXP.]"
The System answered emotionlessly, as if it didn't care in the slightest about Ace's anger.
"What do you mean, trash pills?! They were half-white-grade pills, for hell's sake! And this one's a white-grade pill! Are you crazy, calling that the lowest grade?!" Ace wanted to curse the System right then, but held himself back.
It was his own fault for not checking everything thoroughly.
He'd eaten a random pill before, and it hadn't worked on him, so he'd simply assumed that, since he cultivated with Heavenly Qi, he couldn't use ordinary pills at all.
But he'd never imagined there were white-grade pills sitting in his loot, let alone that he could convert them into experience points.
'Where did that fatty get his hands on these pills?' Ace was thoroughly puzzled.
Even in the inner region, pills like these could bring ruin upon anyone who possessed them without the right background, just like Ace.
Yet somehow, an ordinary shop owner in the outer region had two of them, which was shocking in itself.
Little did Ace know, Billy had found the pills buried in his house's wall. Even Billy had been stunned by the discovery. In his excitement, he'd torn the whole house apart looking for more, but never found any additional bottles.
As for how they'd ended up there, even Billy never knew. He'd planned to use them as a bribe to some inner-region family, hoping to buy his way into the inner region, but instead, they'd ended up benefiting Ace.
'If white-grade pills can convert into EXP, doesn't that mean higher-grade pills can too?' Ace mused, growing quite excited. He'd finally found a way to earn EXP without relying on missions.
"Since these two pills can be converted into 20 EXP, let's just convert them. Since that greedy old bastard wants them so badly, let's give him a taste of 'white-grade pills.'" Ace muttered darkly, hatching a plan to teach the old fool a small lesson.
=====
[Conversion complete!]
[20 EXP has been added to your status.]
[EXP: 70/1000]
=====
As Ace's EXP climbed, he felt his Heavenly Qi restoring at a rapid pace. The two red pill bottles now sat empty, the pills inside reduced to dust, converted into EXP.
'Now, it's time to teach that old fool a lesson.' Ace grinned wickedly.
Once his "surprise preparation" was complete, Ace headed back toward Matthew's group and quickly spotted them. The four of them were still frantically searching for him, like mad dogs.
Ace carefully set the two red bottles down in the middle of the street.
Then he shouted at the top of his lungs, "OH MY GOD, SOMEONE HAS LEFT WHITE-GRADE PILLS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET!"
The instant he'd shouted it, he activated Silent Steps and bolted toward the hotel where he was staying. He had to escape now, or he wouldn't get another chance to slip away unnoticed.
Ace's voice rang out like a thunderclap. People heard him clearly, even from a mile away.
The entire market fell deathly silent the moment the words "white-grade pill" rang out.
Old man Matthew heard Ace's voice too, his eyes landing on the two red bottles sitting in the middle of the street. Just like him, Caleb's eyes — and everyone else's — settled on the two red bottles as well.
Before anyone could grab them, Caleb roared, "Everyone, those two white-grade pills belong to my Kelby family! A little thief stole them this morning, and we've been searching for him all day. If anyone doesn't believe me, you're all welcome to confirm it with Young Master Asher himself, since those pills are his."
As expected, the moment everyone heard the Kelby family's name, they froze — but the moment they heard "Young Master Asher," their faces turned pale.
They all knew exactly what kind of person Asher was: utterly ruthless. If those pills really belonged to him, it simply wasn't worth risking their lives over!