Eternal Thief

Lan coolly looked toward Leap King with an ambiguous smile and said, "I heard what happened to you, and we can't change the past. But I can promise you that thief will face justice and what he stole from you will be returned to you once we captured him."

The Leap King's cold eyes showed a hint of elation after he heard Lan's promise. He finally saw some hope of calming those treasures back without giving away anything.

"Thank you, My Lord!" The Leap King quickly showed a sincere expression, "I'll do anything as long as I can bring that bastard to justice, even if I have to give away my life!"

"We don't need your life." Lan chuckle softly and continued, "Just show us if that thief leaves behind anything, and from the rumors, we all know he left his imprint."

The Leap King's eyes flicker with hatred as he looked at his left hand that was covered in a black glove. He knew what imprint Lan was hinting at.

He took a deep breath and nodded, "If craft elder was referring to that owl tattoo, he indeed left it behind. But I have something much greater than these little imprints!"

Everyone in the room show an astonishing expression as they kept their silence and let Leap King continue.

The Leap King didn't speak anymore as he waved his sleeve, and the newly build golden throne blasted away. He directly goes toward the wall and opened the hidden vault. Since the treasures were gone, he didn't care if everyone knows where the hidden vault was.

Lan, Alvin, John, take the lead as other rulers heeled them. Everyone was curious about what the Leap King was showing them.

When everyone entered the empty vault, their eyes instantly contracted when they looked at the central wall. They looked at the vivid dark owl mural.

It was 10 meters and there was golden writing on the owl's sharp dark wings, 'Sky Stealer'!

"How did he do it?" The Scarlet King mumble in a daze.

Everyone in the room had the same question, as the Scarlet King because they could feel an unknown aura from the large owl mural. No one can draw something like this, especially while doing thievery.

The threat of sky stealer reached another height in their hearts, and they instantly wanted to get rid of him as quickly as possible!

John gravely looked at the owl mural as he stated in a stiff voice, "Leave, I need some time alone!"

"I'll leave it to you, old friend." Lan nodded in understanding and left the vault with everyone else because he knew John was going to use his secret skill of Beast Calling.

John was finally alone in the empty vault, he sat cross-legged in front of the dark mural and place one hand on it. He closed his eyes as the aura of a Qi river core cultivator fully unleash.

A silver-blue mist released from John's hand, which was on the wall, and it slowly covers the entire dark owl mural.

This was a secret skill that the beast calling used to track down enemies. To use this skill, the only requirement was the belonging of the enemy, and it can't be older than 15 days.

Most importantly, this secret skill can only be used by a Qi river core cultivator!

This mural can be considered Sky Stealer's belonging since it was 'made' by him. That's why John was here with Lan and they both didn't want to miss this golden chance to track that hateful thief down.

John was blindly confident in this secret skill of beast-calling organization since it never failed before.

Just as the strange mist cover the entire owl mural, John expected to see an invisible mist that would lead him directly to that thief. This was how this skill was supposed to work, at least.

But something unexpected happen, John suddenly had a strange vision in which he saw nothing but darkness before he come back to his senses. What he found next was terrified him to the core because he was still in darkness!

He quickly calmed himself as he deemed this situation a strange backlash of using the secret skill. He quickly tries to circulate his Qi, but a dreadful reality hits him.

No matter what John does, the Qi was nowhere to be found, not in his body nor the surroundings as if the Qi didn't even exist anymore!

This was not the end of his nightmare, after a moment he finally realized he can't feel his body and he can't even call for help because there was no voice. Only his conscious remain!

Right now, John was experiencing a fate worse than death or any torture one could ever imagine!

---

Outside the hidden vault,

It already has been half an hour, but John still was inside, but no one disturbed him because they didn't have the guts to disturb him when he said he wanted to be alone.

They were all waiting for John to come out on his own.

Lan and Alvin weren't too much excited because of the incident that happened with Finn. They still didn't get any news, and they were in the process of finding the Ghost's hideout when they have to rush here because of that thief.

No matter what, that thief was more important, and they were also hoping to encounter some Ghosts since they were also after him. Both Alvin and Lan were planning to kill two birds with one stone.

They now also had the help of Grand Beastmaster John, and they were confident in pushing the Ghosts to the corner and forcing them to hand Finn over.

While Lan was deep in thoughts, Alvin was looking in a particular direction with a feverish gaze. He was looking at the dead gorgeous Lavender Queen!

Alvin never expected to see a woman this beautiful in this barren place. Truth to be told, he wasn't married nor did he have any thought of women since he was only interested in power.

But the Lavender Queen was truly ravishing to the extreme, and only someone like that person in high-level lands can match her beauty.

He suddenly wanted to make this lethal beauty his woman, and he was confident in his status, power, and background. No one will refuse him!

Alvin waited until he's done with that thief and after finding Finn, he'll also take this beauty away with him!

Another two hours pass and Lan finally become impatient since this wasn't supposed to take this long. He told everyone to wait while he checked on John.

Lan entered the secret vault again, and the scene in front of him shocked him to the core! He didn't dare to believe what he just saw and took quivering steps toward the position where John was sitting.

As he got closer and closer, Lan's face lost all color as disbelief and terror filled his old eyes.

Before Lan was sitting, a black skeleton was in John's clothing. There was no fluctuation of life, it was dead!

Lan didn't know what happened, but this skeleton was John's because it was his aura and also the storage ring of John!

Lan's back was drenched in cold perspiration as his heart was beating widely in horror. He looked at the dark owl with dreadful eyes. His only guess was all this happened because John try to track the thief.

He didn't want to stay here in the presence of this bizarre owl symbol. He quickly collects John's remains and with a pale face left the hidden vault.

When everyone saw Lan coming out of the vault, they wanted to ask about John but stopped when they saw Lan's ashen face.

"We're leaving!" Lan command Alvin with a powerful tone.

Alvin was stunned, but seeing Lan's ashen face, he didn't retort and followed behind after taking a last glance at Lavender Queen.

This abrupt departure of Pill Flame Organization flabbergasted everyone in the throne room, and they didn't even take the Grand Beastmaster with them.

---

"What happened?" Alvin inquired.

Lan said with a stiff face, "John is dead, and I don't know, how! But it has something to do with that owl mural. I have to report this to higher-ups as soon as possible and return John remains to the Beast City."

"What?! But how is it possible?!" Alvin's face also turned pale.

Lan didn't speak as he directly showed John's black skeleton to Alvin, and he finally felt a chill run down his spine.

"T-this???!"

"See? We're dealing with someone terrified, and I finally understand why those old fossils of every organization wanted that thief so badly. He had a dangerous and profound secret. We need planning and pawns to capture him, and I know how to get them." Lan's eyes shone with slyness and intense greed.

"Have those ten come to the Flame City of Leap Kingdom tomorrow and don't tell anyone about John's death, or they might get scared off! Just told them he left with a secret skill after he got the location of that thief!"