The Grim Winged Serpent hovered in the sky over a mile away from the burning mountain with a solemn look in its snake eyes.

'So, this is the fabled Spirit Fire Mountain described in the ancient records. Previously, I didn't believe the part about the intense heat that could directly affect the soul, but now, that description isn't even close to the real thing.' He thought gravely.

'The Spirit Fire should be in the core of that mountain, and it is impossible to retrieve it by going in there. The Spirit Fire would burn everything under 8th Grade Treasure, and only the Law Comprehension Realm expert could endure those flames and subdue the spirit fire.

'No worries, I should thank the old Fox Ancestor who made all those records and researched the Fiery Hell Secret Realm and Spirit Fire like a madwoman but ended up dead in the racial war, and I got her entire inheritance and records of her research.

'She wanted to subdue this Spirit Fire for alchemy by any means possible, and she engineered an ingenious place to send her heir to retrieve it but ended up dying before she got the chance even to try. Now, I'm going to get all the benefits!'

The Grim Winged Serpent's eyes glistered with greed as it was very pleased with all that effort he put in. All those years were finally starting to pay off.

But before starting his act, he decided to scout the area around the mountain just to be sure that one of those terrifying aborigines was not present to mount an ambush at a critical point and profit from his efforts.

However, under that terrifying effect of the Spirit Fire Mountain, no one was around it as this place not worth living near it.

But if the Grim Winged Serpent knew that over two miles away from his position, Ace was watching everything like he was a spectator with great interest, he would've definitely not been at ease.

Ace was following the Grim Winged Serpent for an hour prior before he reached this place, but he was also keeping his distance not to alert him. Now that he saw the burning mountain, and even from this distance, he could feel a terrifying danger from it. Ace decided to wait and see what the Grim Winged Serpent did.

By his observation of the other party, Ace could tell the Grim Winged Serpent was here with a plan, and now he even wanted him to get succeed in acquiring the spirit fire for him.

Furthermore, Ace now has another plan to make this entire operation goes even more smother.

"Are you free? I might have something which will interest you." He transmitted his voice into the thief's house cultivation room of the Thief Assassin!

The Thief Assassin Cultivation Room was filled with the soul-calming scent of the herbs as over haft of the space was turned into a herb garden filled with exotic and rare herbs. In contrast, there was an alchemy lab in the middle of it.

While the reaming space, half of it was turned into a training field while the other half had a humble small shack on it and a beautiful flowery field around it. If someone saw this place, they would never believe that a terrifying assassin lives there.

When Ace's voice rang, Noa's figure suddenly emerged in the training field like a ghost. She wore her exquisite black body armor, and her face was hidden behind a mask and a long hood.

"So, Leader, finally remember that I exist." Her icy voice rang at this moment with clear sarcasm in it.

Truth be told, she has been stuck in almost everything at this moment. Even her cultivation has stopped progressing at the peak of the Platinum Soul Realm, and all her skills seemed to be reached the pinnacle of this realm.

She wanted to go outside, but she didn't disturb Ace since the last time they talked, when the space increased in size, he told her that he was in the middle of some sort of crisis and he had to face it alone was the only thing he told her before vanishing.

She was worried, but she believed in Ace, so she practiced and sharpened her skills even more, but now she was not improving at all, and her house points were not enough to buy anything available in the shop.

However, now Ace contacted her again after all these months, and she was incensed.

Ace could also tell that, and he was pretty embarrassed as well, but he was helpless since all this time, things were not going according to his will and the place where he was; it would be suicidal to send any of his thief members out.

Especially inside the Union, where he himself wasn't safe, so the thief's house was the safest place for them right now.

However, now that he saw the Grim Winged Serpent roaming the Sun Secret Realm freely, he knew it should be safe to let Noa out as well, as long as she won't appear by his side and he could make it happen.

Furthermore, Noa needed the Spirit Fire, and he wanted to get it for her in the first place. Her specialties also lie in the assassination, and it was just he needed to catch the Grim Winged Serpent.

Still, he was embarrassed nevertheless and apologetically said, "I know this is not fair for you, but trust me, if I could, I would have come much earlier and explained it to you. But the things happening and escalating so fast that I didn't even get the chance to explain it to you guys.

"But now that I got the chance, I'll explain it as much as I can, and it is related to you as well. The thing is, I have found the Spirit Fire you need to increase your body refinement further. As for how I got here, this happened when the last time I contacted you…"

Since the Grim Winged Serpent was still scouting around, Ace decided to explain about the Union to Noa and his current situation and how risky it was to let anyone out.

He even told her about how the Fiery Hell Secret Realm seemed to be none other than the Sun Secret Realm of the Union.

Noa listened while she stood there, and no one could tell what her reaction was and what she was thinking. But she clearly astounded by how far Ace had come and faced the danger he was in.

After Ace explained everything and his plan about the Grim Winged Serpent, Noa finally spoke, but her tone was very gentler than her icy tone, "It's been really hard on you, Leader. It seemed my skills were still not enough to be of any use to you, and it was always you who was helping me all the time. I'm ashamed even to call myself your sword."

"There is no need to get sentimental, this is the life I chose, and I dragged you guys into it, so if someone should apologize, it should be me. Still, you are more than capable enough to handle this big snake.

"This is just one of the three spirit fires present in this place, and we're going to take everyone one of them for you to use. So now I just need to make sure that you can enter the Sun Secret Realm despite the cultivation restriction, and then we'll start with the first spirit fire. Are you ready?" Ace asked in a confident tone.

Noa is someone he trusts the most after Eva, Cyrus, or Alina, so he never acts like a superior in front of her as he did with those two other ambitious members.

Dark light suddenly shone under Noa's hood as she nodded and coldly said, "I'm ready!"