The upheaval caused by the appearance of the Sky Stealer did not remain confined within the Undead Cradle, as it simply couldn’t be contained because the scoop was simply uncontainable!

Like a stone thrown into a still abyssal ocean, the ripples spread outward at terrifying speed.

The Corpse Clan was thrown into complete chaos as countless Corpse Cultivators on the battlefield were instantly called back by the higher-ups. Forbidden communication channels that had remained silent for an unknown time lit up one after another.

At the same time, the Evernight Council immediately issued secret commands. The name Sky Stealer instantly appeared in front of the old monsters.

Some even suspected it was some terrifying existence hidden within the Undead Cradle, and now, it seemed to have awakened by something.

But regardless of the truth, one thing became undeniable from that mysterious yet eerie owl symbol in the sky over the Undead Cradle: it was provocation, or even domination!

Even the Evernight Kings could no longer remain completely calm, and while the Undead Cradle descended into speculation, fear, greed, and madness, the source of all this chaos had already vanished without a trace!

---

Far away from the Undead Cradle...

Within the northern region of the Abyssal Plains lay the Nightfall Kingdom, which was the territory of the Evernight Council ruled directly beneath the authority of the Yin Duchess!

Unlike the dreadful abyssal terrains of Obsidian Myriad Kingdom, ruled by the Dread Duchess, the Nightfall Kingdom was a land drowned beneath endless Yin Element storms.

The skies here were eternally black as the sights of even the two Eternal Moons were rare, and black snow drifted endlessly from above.

Towering glaciers stretched across the horizon like frozen mountains of death, while icy abyssal winds screamed through the land day and night. Even the rivers carried dark blue frost within them.

The Yin Element in this region was so dense that ordinary Abyssal Beings below the Abyssal Warrior Realm could slowly freeze to death simply by remaining outside too long.

Yet for cultivators of Yin Arts and frost-aligned or Yin element abyssal races, this kingdom was without any doubt a sacred land.

At the heart of this frozen territory stood one of the largest cities of the Nightfall Kingdom, Frostgrave City!

It was an enormous black city built directly into a colossal frozen canyon, with countless dark towers rising into the black skies, while gigantic runic chains connected district after district above the abyssal chasm below.

Normally, Frostgrave City would’ve been overflowing with noise, but today, despite the unimaginable crowd filling every street, balcony, rooftop, and public square, there was only silence.

Apparently, everyone was looking upward, above the city, far beyond the black skies as the gigantic Evernight Gate still floated between heaven and earth like an ancient bleeding eye overlooking the Abyssal Plains.

Its ancient runes pulsed endlessly as participants from all over the Abyssal Plains continued entering the gate one after another. There were still several nights remaining before the Evernight Trial officially closed.

It wasn’t the Frostgrave City; the only place like this for the same scene was unfolding across countless kingdoms, clans, and abyssal cities throughout the entire Abyssal Plains.

Everyone was watching and waiting as they seemed to be anticipating the beginning of the new era that the Evernight Trial would bring. Especially after the new rules of this Evernight Trial were announced, no one could remain calm anymore.

Meanwhile, within one of Frostgrave City’s crowded market districts, among rows of ordinary shops and trading stores, stood a small inconspicuous establishment. Its wooden signboard was faded, and its doors were shut tightly.

At first glance, it appeared completely ordinary. The kind of shop owned by a minor Abyssal Master trying to survive within the dangerous city. No one spared it a second glance.

But inside, the truth was entirely different as terrifying concealment formations layered upon one another, and that was just the tip, as there were also defensive formations, spatial distortion formations, soul-isolation formations...

Dozens upon dozens of runic circles quietly operated within the sealed interior. Even a Half-Abyssal King would struggle to detect what lay hidden here without personally inspecting the place.

At the very center of those formations, A young man sat cross-legged within a glowing runic circle. His white robes flowed quietly around him, and his aura seemed calm, as if he were completely immersed in cultivation.

But suddenly, his eyes snapped open, revealing bright, dark-blue eyes beneath the mask.

The next moment, his lips slowly curled upward, and then, he blinked...thereafter, his white-robed figure vanished instantly.

In its place appeared a dark, hooded figure, and the moment this figure emerged, even the faintest trace of existence or presence disappeared from the room; it was as if he did not exist within this space at all.

It was naturally Ace, who had returned using Soul Body Sweep, and reversed-summoned himself directly into his Avatar of Holy Twilight.

Escaping not only the Undead Cradle but also the Evernight Council’s grasp, completely untouched and safe, and utterly beyond their expectations.

Within the concealment formations, Ace slowly exhaled as he was glad that he took the risk of going into the Black Hermit City so he could leave the Avatar of Holy Twilight with Zaria to protect her while also using it as an escape route if he ever needed one, like now.

"Heh..." A low chuckle escaped beneath the hood, "The Corpse Governor would probably go insane once he failed to find me. But he won’t have time to worry about me because once the Undead Boundary’s protection starts to fade, the Evernight Council won’t let this chance to eradicate the ’untouchable’ Corpse Clan.

"As for those remaining treasuries within the Lower Grave Strata, I’ll leave those crumbs for the Evernight Council."

Ace still had no idea that his Thief’s Symbol with his thief name had already appeared on the sky of the Undead Cradle like a piece of divine art on exhibition, and right about now, everyone knew about the Sky Stealer.

But he can’t be blamed because he never had stolen a world-treasury before, a part of an independent realm, so he didn’t know that the system would take the entire realm as a victim, and put the thief symbol at the most ’appropriate’ place.

If he knew that his fame was about to skyrocket while the entire Evernight Council was going to look for him, he would be both thrilled and worried!