Eternal Thief

Chapter 1720: What about the Corpse Clan? (1)

The Undead Cradle had fallen into an eerie silence as the terrifying radiance of the Supreme Abyssal Ordeal had completely vanished, leaving behind a battlefield that looked as though it had been ravaged by the wrath of heaven itself.

Countless mountains had collapsed; the earth was covered in enormous craters. Corpse Qi, Death Qi, and the remnants of Abyssal Laws still lingered throughout the ruined battlefield, slowly dispersing into the surroundings.

Yet no one cared about the destruction, as every surviving member of the Corpse Clan was staring toward the heavens.

Their Governor was still there, and his breakthrough had not failed; his aura had not weakened. Instead, it had become incomparably profound. The shackles that had restrained him for countless years had completely shattered.

The terrifying King’s Might of an Abyssal King spread across the Undead Cradle, indicating that he had succeeded. The Corpse Governor had truly become an Abyssal King!

Yet there was no celebration, laughter, or excitement on his face as he stood silently amid the ruins, his hollow eyes staring at the heavens from which the Supreme Abyssal Ordeal had disappeared.

His expression was extremely ugly.

"Why..." His voice was low. "Why did you retreat?"

His fists slowly clenched, and the newly born King’s Might around his body surged uncontrollably, causing the surrounding space to tremble.

He had waited for this moment for countless years; he had endured humiliation; he had endured the destruction of his race, and even had endured watching countless Corpse Clan members die at the hands of the Evernight Council.

However, just when he finally had a chance to maim the Evernight Council, while he had prepared himself for death, and his plan had never been to survive, he failed miserably.

He wanted to drag the Evernight Council down with him, with the Purgatory of the Sacred Moon, as it had been the perfect opportunity.

If the Supreme Abyssal Ordeal had continued descending, the entire Undead Cradle would have become a battlefield between an emerging Abyssal King and an absolute Ordeal.

The Evernight Kings would have been forced to intervene, and the Evernight Dukes would have suffered heavy casualties. Perhaps even the Realmbreaker Conquest Ark would have been destroyed.

At the very least, the Corpse Governor had believed that he could make the Evernight Council pay an unbearable price. He had even accepted his own death.

But now, everything was gone, for the Supreme Abyssal Ordeal had simply retreated. Moreover, it had overturned everything he knew, and what common sense had taught him. Worse than that, it had completely ruined his final plan.

The Corpse Governor’s hollow eyes slowly became filled with fury.

"After acknowledging me..." His voice trembled with resentment. "You still abandoned me?"

’BOOM!’

His King’s Might erupted, and the ruined battlefield trembled violently. Countless Corpse Clan members lowered their heads instinctively, yet the Corpse Governor didn’t notice as his mind was still trapped within that impossible scene.

His newly stabilized cultivation brought with it an incomparably heightened perception, and he could now clearly sense the remnants of the Ordeal’s authority fading from the Undead Cradle.

He could also sense his own transformation. His Prime Corpse Law had completely changed, and his undead soul had undergone a qualitative transformation.

At this moment, his Undead Soul had become a genuine Corpse King while his body was on the verge of tearing apart because it couldn’t handle the terrifying might of the Abyssal King Realm. But it was none of the Corpse Governor’s concern.

His cultivation had crossed the greatest barrier he had pursued for countless generations, and he was now an Abyssal King.

Yet he felt no joy, only resentment, fury, and the bitterness of seeing his final revenge disappear before his eyes.

He slowly raised his head.

"Evernight..." His voice became cold. "Since the Abyssal Ordeal wasn’t enough, I myself brought down an unforgettable destruction before I took my last breath!"

But the moment he let go of his perception, his expression suddenly changed.

"...Hm?"

His newly heightened Law Sense spread across the entire battlefield, yet there was nothing left; the Evernight Council members who had previously filled the battlefield were gone.

The Evernight Dukes were gone, and the participants of the Hunter’s Hunt were gone. Even the terrifying auras of the Evernight Kings were nowhere to be found.

The Corpse Governor froze as his fury slowly disappeared, and confusion replaced it.

"...Where are they?"

He expanded his senses again, but still nothing, not even a trace of the Evernight Kings hiding somewhere nearby. His expression slowly became strange.

’Impossible. They couldn’t have left!’

Even if the Supreme Abyssal Ordeal had disappeared, the Evernight Council had every reason to remain, as the Corpse Clan had been heavily weakened, and he had only just become an Abyssal King, but his cultivation had yet to completely stabilize.

The Evernight Council had two Abyssal Kings, five Abyssal Dukes, and an entire conquest army. They had an absolute advantage and could easily have surrounded him.

Even if killing him was difficult, they could have slaughtered the remaining Corpse Clan; yet they were gone.

The Corpse Governor’s eyes narrowed.

At that moment...

’RUMBLE...’

A terrifying spatial fluctuation suddenly erupted from the distant battlefield, and the Corpse Governor instinctively turned his head.

Far away, the enormous Realmbreaker Conquest Ark suddenly appeared in his perception, its body illuminated by countless ancient runes.

Suddenly, the space violently collapsed around it, and a realm gateway slowly opened.

The Corpse Governor stared blankly, "...What?"

The ark didn’t attack, wait, or even approach; it simply activated its realm gateway, and then...

’BOOOOOOOOOOM!’

The enormous ark vanished, and the realm gateway collapsed behind it.

Absolute silence reigned while the Corpse Governor stood motionlessly in the sky, and his hollow eyes remained fixed on the empty space.

For several breaths, he didn’t move.

"...They left?" His voice was filled with disbelief. "They actually...left?"

He couldn’t understand. The Corpse Clan couldn’t understand either, as everyone stared at the empty battlefield in a daze.

The enemies who had almost annihilated their entire race had simply abandoned them. Even after their Governor became an Abyssal King, and after the Supreme Abyssal Ordeal disappeared, they had chosen to flee.

The Corpse Governor slowly looked toward the ruins surrounding him, and his gaze swept across the shattered mountains.

Across the countless corpses, across the surviving members of his race, then toward the empty sky. His despair deepened, but suddenly, his pupils contracted as a thought flashed through his mind.

"...Wait." His expression changed, "The retreat...the strange Ordeal...the fear...the Evernight Kings..."

Everything suddenly connected as the Corpse Governor’s breathing gradually became heavier.

"The Evernight Council..." He muttered. "They witnessed everything!"

His hollow eyes slowly widened as the Supreme Abyssal Ordeal had shocked him, an existence who had lived within the Undead Cradle for countless generations, who had studied the Abyssal Ordeals through ancient records, and had already prepared himself to die beneath one.

Yet even he couldn’t understand why the Ordeal had retreated.

Then what about the Evernight Council?

The Evernight Council had existed for countless years, and its history stretched far beyond the Corpse Clan’s current generation. Its Kings had witnessed countless Abyssal Ordeals, and its ancient inheritances undoubtedly contained knowledge far beyond what he possessed.

If even he found the retreat terrifying, would the Evernight Kings not understand the implications even more clearly?

The Corpse Governor’s eyes gradually brightened.

"They weren’t afraid of me..." His voice became increasingly certain. "They were afraid of something else."

The realization struck him like lightning. The Evernight Council had possessed an overwhelming advantage, yet they hadn’t stayed or even attempted to test his newborn King’s strength.

They hadn’t tried to slaughter the weakened Corpse Clan, and immediately activated their realm gateway and fled.

That wasn’t the behavior of victorious conquerors, but that was the behavior of people who had discovered something they believed they couldn’t afford to confront.

Something that could make even a Supreme Abyssal Ordeal retreat, something that existed within the Undead Cradle, and something that the Evernight Council had apparently decided wasn’t worth investigating.

That’s why they simply decided to...flee!