Eternal Thief

Chapter 1465: The Heavenly Ghost Formation

A moment of stunned silence followed as the gathered Dukes, Duchesses, and dozens of Abyssal Grand Lords and Abyssal Lords watched the massive tower settle, half-sunken into the cracked stone of the basin.

At that moment, Ace also instructed Pixy to stop using the Wealth Value Manipulation. The degraded tower started to recover its luster.

However, because the tower’s foundation was built and almost merged with the World Space Ring, after Ace forcibly uprooted it, the foundation was damaged, and the tower could not recover its former glory.

But it wasn’t the case for the Heavenly Ghost Formation, for it was always within the eighth floor of the tower, together with the Ghost King.

The tower was built like the Heavenly Ghost Formation’s dummy body or outer shell, allowing the Ghost King to utilize the Heavenly Ghost Formation with spirit Qi. It also served as a ’healing facility’ for the Ghost King.

Nonetheless, now that the tower was thoroughly damaged, it has lost almost all of its functions and the supply to the vast spirit Qi within the world space.

But the recovery of the Heavenly Ghost Formation for the Ghost King, who was in despair, was like a ray of hope, and the moment the Heavenly Ghost Formation started to recover its grade, the Ghost King became ecstatic.

However, the Ghost King didn’t let it cloud his judgment as he could tell he had fallen into someone’s scheme, and the first person who came to mind was Ace. But he had already seen Ace’s, which were far from enough to pull something like this.

So, the only explanation the Ghost King could think of was that Ace had revealed the existence of the World Space Ring and the tower to a very powerful being. Although he was incredulous, since no one in their right mind would divulge this information and willingly give up so many treasures to someone else.

Cultivators were selfish beings, and unless their lives were threatened, they wouldn’t give up resources and treasures to someone else. That’s why the Ghost King felt intense hatred and anger towards Ace, as he had ruined his grand plans.

But he had known about the truth; the Ghost King might’ve died from anger, and he also felt apprehensive about Ace, who possessed such a mystical power to degrade the Heavenly Ghost Formation.

Ace, who had retreated far away from the lure formation, was also watching with an elated expression. He didn’t have time to inquire about how many TP he had burned, as he wanted to see how the Council would deal with the cornered Ghost King.

He has delivered on his promise, and now the Council can’t blame him for their failure, nor would the Ghost King have time to search for him.

The silence was short-lived. From the highest top floor, two burning gray flames suddenly flared to life, eyes brimming with murderous fury and disbelief.

”You dare challenge this King?!”

The Ghost King’s voice reverberated throughout the secret realm as a dense wave of ghostly spirit Qi flooded into the basin.

The council members finally react, and their expressions turned solemn and dignified because now that Ace has really brought the Ghost King with his entire hideout here, all responsibilities from here on out would be on them.

Even the Dread Duchess won’t be punished anymore because she was the one who insisted on believing Ace and arranged everything. So, now if anything goes wrong, Dread Duchess won’t be blamed; instead, the other council members will.

But the council had long been prepared, and they quickly reacted as the Darkwise Duke’s abyssal mirror mask gleamed, and his aged, chilling voice cut through the chaos, ”Bind it, now!”

The next moment, dozens of cloaked Evernight Council members slammed their palms into the runic monoliths circling the basin. Violet flames roared skyward, and thick, abyssal chains of ethereal iron materialized from the formation’s depths, shooting toward the newly summoned prison tower.

Ace, who had long fled the scene towards a safer distance, had an excellent opportunity to see the strength of the Evernight Council and also the strength of a Ghost Cultivator in the King Realm!

As those abyssal chains of ethereal iron streaked toward the cracked tower, a cold, echoing incantation rose from the top floor, rattling the very bones of the basin.

”Heavenly Ghost Formation—awaken!”

Ghostly spirit Qi, black and icy as death itself, erupted outward. For an instant, a chilling phantom gale swept through the entire secret realm, making the abyssal mist swirl violently.

The tower trembled, ancient cracks spider-webbing outward until entire sections of black stone collapsed. Underneath, something pulsed with a dreadful, eerie rhythm: a formation of pale, almost bone-colored runes coiled in swirling patterns—alive with ghastly light.

Boom!

The tower prison could not withstand the pressure of the lure formation and powerful surge caused by the awakening of the Heavenly Ghost Formation. Its stone walls exploded outward, raining black shards across the cracked basin floor.

The lure formation’s violet flames guttered under the shockwave, but the runes stubbornly remained intact.

Amid the ruin floated a phantom-like formation, circular, roughly the size of a large cauldron, etched directly into the Ghost King’s massive, spectral chest. Its runes formed a spiraling vortex around the place where a living being’s heart would beat.

The Heavenly Ghost Formation itself—no longer hidden, but exposed and thrumming with deathly power and as the spirit of the formation, the Ghost King was like a host of the formation.

The Council members were startled by the sudden destruction of the hideout and the peculiar state of the Ghost King, which was unlike anything they had ever seen. Nonetheless, the instant the tower shattered, the Darkwise Duke’s chilling voice cracked out again as he didn’t dare to be distracted.

”Activate the second seal—now!”

The dozens of Abyssal Lords and Abyssal Grand Lords standing at the basin’s edge instantly reacted and slammed their palms onto floating runic monoliths, muttering incomprehensible chants.

New runes ignited in spectral violet, forming an outer ring of power. The cracked basin shook as a lattice of abyssal law surged outward.

The Ghost King felt the pull—a force alien and suffocating. His phantom form jerked as ghostly chains of power, invisible yet binding, wrapped around the exposed Heavenly Ghost Formation.

Yet the Ghost King’s burning gaze flashed with cunning malice, ”So, you wish to bind this King? Perish!”

Although the Ghost King had no idea which power had such a formation that could affect the Heavenly Ghost Formation, he knew that if he still held back, he would face impending doom today if he let this strange formation, which instilled fear into his very foundation of ghost cultivation, bind him.

Under the Ghost King’s furious roar, ghostly spirit Qi, refined to terrifying purity over countless centuries, cascaded outward. The swirling runes on the Heavenly Ghost Formation ignited, shining like moonlit bone.

A shockwave of deathly chill swept across the basin, and the runes of the lure formation groaned under the impossible pressure.

Cracks appeared in the basin stone, violet fire guttered low, and even the air itself trembled as if screaming.

For the first time, the assembled Dukes and Duchesses felt a true tremor of alarm.

The Enchantress Demon Duchess’s voice, unlike her previous playful tone, was sharp and cold, echoing through the abyssal mist, ”He’s probably using the Abyssal King’s ability to contest the law directly! Strengthen the seal, don’t let the runes collapse!”

She, the Dread Duchess, and the Midnight Duke raised their hands. Abyssal law coiled around their limbs as they projected raw, black force into the formation.

But what made the Ghost King stiffen in astonishment wasn’t the force itself.

’They’re not using spirit Qi... what is this strange Qi?!’

The Ghost King, who was born and had learned the cultivation ways of the Mortal Ascension Heaven, finally noticed the peculiar abyssal spirit Qi, and it felt wrong and foreign.

He finally realized that this wasn’t the spirit Qi nor any magic he was familiar with, but something cold, predatory, and incomprehensible, completely opposite to the spirit Qi.

The realization struck the Ghost King like a blow, ’Where... where am I?! What is this race that is using this strange spirit Qi?!’

It was as if a chilling truth had suddenly dawned, but the Ghost King had no time to think further, and the realization only made me more apprehensive and desperate to escape this place. He even forgets about Ace and his second most precious treasure, the World Space Ring.

The swirling runes in his phantom chest ignited fully, casting spectral shadows that seemed to bite into reality itself, ”Heavenly Ghost Formation—Soul Shatter!”

A spear of pure ghostly force shot from the formation, crashing into the lure formation’s core runes. Cracks spread like spiderwebs, violet flames sputtered, and the basin shook violently.

Dozens of abyssal lords staggered; the spectral chains buckled under the unexpected attack.

”Hold the formation!”

”Reinforce the southern node!”

Shouted voices mixed with the roaring wind as abyssal lords poured more abyssal spirit Qi into the cracking runes.

But just like the Ghost King, they were also unfamiliar with the technique of the Ghost King from the Mortal Ascension Heaven, which was a product of an entirely different cultivation system.

The attack struck at weaknesses they hadn’t even imagined!