Eternal Thief

Within a few hours, complete upheaval breaks out all over the United Mainland, and the eerie darkness shows no sign of fading while that voice that has started all this looms over everyone's head like the sword of Damocles.

The warm temperature was long gone, replaced by icy chillness; mortality was dying, the flora was wilting, and even the weak cultivators were being affected. The demonic beasts were going berserk, attacking everything in their path.

The top ten races were all panicked and all the top cultivators present in the united mainland were heading toward the Union Continent to seek help out of this situation.

It wasn't just the mainland; even the endless sea was affected, tilde waves were rising, and the sea beings were fleeing towards the depth of the sea, but even that place didn't give any sense of security. It was like nothing could hide from that darkness. The Sea Kings Federation was in a state of emergency.

At this moment, the Union Lord and the ten otherworldly were gathered in front of a white translucent altar engraved with incomprehensible golden runes.

"This is the Ascension Altar!" The Union Lord declared with a heavy expression on his face; there was clear unwillingness in his eyes and also hidden terror.

"Are you still planning on staying?" The devil among the group sneered, "Although I don't know what kind of being that is and the source of darkness, it's clear, much scarier than anything I've ever seen. If you want to stay, can are more than welcome to, but it's about time we leave. Your so-called treasure didn't even exist!"

They were all in alliance with the Union Lord and staying here so they could share this fabled treasure. But even after searching for so long, there was no trace of it anywhere, nor did the elusive thief appear, so they had almost given up.

But the Union Lord still insisted on staying and refused to give up. Furthermore, he was the only one who knew where the Ascension Altar was hidden, so they had no choice but to be patient.

However, now, after hearing that voice and witnessing that darkness and its effects, they want nothing but to leave this place as soon as possible. They knew far more than the people of Mortal Sky Heaven and could feel this darkness, and the owner of that voice was nothing but ordinary.

Even the usually calm Union Lord, who was the most mysterious of them, was alarmed, and he had to admit even with his actual body, he wasn't that dark match. So, getting away was the only choice, and from his information network, he gathered that every place was being affected by the darkness, even the deep sea.

The union formation was also completely useless against the effects of that darkness, and he had no choice but to give in under the pressure of these ten.

Even if there was a treasure, they needed to survive to enjoy it and from their current situation, it seemed nigh impossible. Just that darkness was enough to scare them, and they didn't want to stay to find out what would happen once the darkness stopped spreading.

Now, they are planning on using this ascension altar to flee heaven, yet the Union Lord still seems unwilling. He was truly greedy.

"How can we activate it?" The demon in the group asked coldly.

Union Lord didn't have words to retort and sighed, "Just try breaking through in the law state on the ascension altar, and you'll trigger the ascension tribulation. Once you successfully overcome it, you'll ascend."

Although it was not his real body, he had used an ancient technique to send a portion of his soul. But if this part of his soul dies, his main body will suffer a terrible backlash, and he might never be able to recover and increase his cultivation again. So, he wanted to escape this place or at least send away the part of his soul.

After hearing the method, no one paid any more attention to him, and the devil was the first one to step on the altar and instantly try to break thought into the next realm. They were all at the pinnacle of the 8th realm, and with the ascension altar, they could break through with their powerful cultivation techniques.

Everyone looked at the devil without any intention of stopping him.

However, a few minutes later, the Union Lord's eyes narrowed, 'Why isn't the altar activating?'

The devil opened his eyes in disbelief, "I can't absorb any Qi or sense the presence of natural laws!"

"Impossible! How could this darkness affect the natural laws? Let me try!" Alarmed, the Union Lord moved forward and tried to circulate his Qi, and his expression twisted very soon.

"How can that be?!" He was utterly appalled.

Although he knew the Qi in the air was thinning, he never expected that even the laws would be affected. This was nothing but bad news since without sensing laws and receiving their acknowledgment, they can't break through in law state even if they have Qi.

All in all, they were like trapped rats in a cage now!

---

Far away from the Union Continent, Ace's avatar was making its way over the endless sea.

Soon, he saw a flying figure approaching, and he stopped. A cloaked figure quickly stopped in front of him and hurriedly called, "Brother Ace?"

Ace knew it was Thomas and nodded, "Why are you alone?"

He was heading to Thomas directly to fetch, but he clearly told him to bring the vice leaders of the Thieving World Society with him, yet he was all alone.

'Did he fail?' Ace wondered.

Thomas replied with an uncertain tone, "I don't know what happened, but all the personnel of the Thieving World Society vanished while I was talking with you. I don't know what caused it, but after I searched the entire place, I didn't find any trace of struggle or battle.

"It's like they had vanished into thin air, and all of their treasuries were still intact. I felt something amiss, so I quickly left." He stated with a hint of apprehension.

When he found that over five thousand people of the Thieving World Society had vanished within a few moments, he was spooked, and he didn't dare to stay any longer there, afraid the same thing might happen to him.

But nothing like that happened, and now he was extremely confused. Why was he spared while everyone else vanished? He had no idea what was going so he could only report it to Ace.

Ace was startled since it was too strange, "They vanished? Was it the master of Nightmarish Thief?" He couldn't only think of this mysterious person.

"I don't know. But even if it was, why did they leave me?" Thomas replied with uncertainty. He was one of the vice leaders, so it didn't make sense if the other party left him while taking everyone else unless…

Ace's eyes winded slightly as he also thought of this point, "Were you discovered?"

"This. I never revealed anything, and I was extremely careful when I contacted you. Unless they can read my mind without me noticing it…" Thomas's voice was gloomy as he was clearly not confident anymore.

'If they knew Thomas was a spy, then could it be they didn't take action so they could reach me?' Ace could only think of this possibility and felt alarm.

"Alright, you go first. This situation is really strange. We should leave." Ace stated gravely before he let Thomas into the storage ring.

However, he didn't leave because there was still something he needed to do, and he looked at the darkness, 'If this is really happening because of me, then I would be killing everyone in the golden sky world. Was my choice correct?' He couldn't help but lament as a feeling of guilt enveloped his heart.

If this person was really that existence the sword warned him about, then he had really sinned just for his own selfishness, and now everyone will die. Furthermore, he didn't know if this existence would stop there. What if it targets the Sky Heart Plains next?

Ace didn't even want to think about it since it would be over for him! So, he quickly headed in another direction, using his full power because he had a feeling that there wasn't much time left.

A few hours passed, and at this moment, Ace was hovering over an island covered with a layer of ice with a hint of relief, 'I barely made it.', when the same eerie voice rang all over the world just like before,

"Heaven is heartless, treating everyone like ants. Everyone is nothing but a speck of dust in the eye of heaven. I'm going to sacrifice everyone, yet Heaven still has not opened a path for me to save you all.

"So, don't blame me; blame the villainous heaven for being heartless and blind. But I shall not waste your lives, and I promise when I overturn Heaven, your sacrifice will be meaningful.

"I, Curse of Destruction, bestowed death upon everyone to open the path of Heaven!"

The words were overbearing and filled with killing intent and hatred. The next moment, the looming darkness suddenly stirred, and pitch-black drops began to fall like black rain.

Ace, who was still witnessing everyone with a heavy heart, was shocked and furious. But at this moment, the black rain fell on his body, and just as it touched his treasure clothes, they instantly began to decay.

The moment it touched his skin, Ace's entire soul shook as he felt a strange energy begin to erode his body and begin to devour his body and soul. Even his protective Qi was useless.

Without hesitation, Ace quickly used the soul-body sweep ability and instantly vanished!

But the rain of death never stopped, and caries of horror reverberated all over the world until there was nothing left but endless death and darkness!