Chapter 232 - Gray Boulder

Ace was panting hard with a pale face and charred skin, as he threw two crystal-like pills with one ring into his mouth. One pill with crystal-golden- color with a silver ring was the Grade-1 healing pill, while the crystal-black-color one with a golden ring was the Grade-1 Qi recovery pill.

After consuming two grade-one pills, his charred skin shredded and new skin appeared, while his weak Qi also began to recover at an astonishing pace. 

'Rumble…' 

However, the punishment clouds don't seem quite happy about Ace surviving the first silver thunderbolt, and the whole vortex started to rumble madly as if it was enraged. 

Ace looked toward the vortex which was spinning wildly while condensing the next thunderbolt, and by the looks of the dense silver shade, it was going to be a huge one. 

Although he endured the first thunderbolt with his firm determination and willpower, it almost took everything he had just to stay sane. 

He knew he cannot lose consciousness because of the system's warning, and the process of orb absorption was still ongoing. Furthermore, he could feel changes happening all over his body. 

But he didn't have time to observe because two silver thunder-lance flashed toward him from the inky vortex. 

With palpitated heart, Ace used something he save especially just for this 'special' occasion, it might not work, but he's going to try it anyway since it just going to cost him little Qi and besides it was just collecting dust and taking a huge part of his thief's space. 

It was the perfect time to get rid of it, and by doing so might as well weaken the heavenly thunder. Well, probably… 

The very next moment thereafter, a thirty cubic-meter metallic box appeared right between Ace and silver-thunder-lances. 

Yes, it was none other than the stolen treasury of Luminous City of the low-level lands that he never got the chance to opened and Marc was here just because of this damn treasury and even die without even having time to take it back. 

Marc simply thought he could capture Ace after getting the soul inheritance in one fell swoop, but died tragically because of the same person he wanted to take advantage of and capture him for his secrets, Ace. 

As for why Marc was sent all the way here to retrieve this treasury by his father, the Crimson Sword Emperor, and why they left it in the low-level lands. They even made the Luminous Kingdom who once unknowingly offended the Crimson Sword Empire guard it for them without even knowledge of what was inside this treasury because they didn't know how to open it as well. 

Everyone believed it was the crimson sword empire's way of punishing the Luminous Kingdom by sending one of their royal decedents in low-lands to rot there, but the actual truth was the opposite.

The Crimson Sword Emperor needed a high-level guard dog to guard his treasure with no one finding it suspicious, and the Luminous Kingdom just happened to be perfect for it. 

For hundreds of years, the Luminous Kingdom guarded this treasure without even knowing what was inside, and they didn't dare to try finding it either because the Crimson Sword Emperor wasn't someone to trifle with. 

But everything changed when a thief mysteriously stole the whole treasury and cause the royal family of the luminous kingdom to panic, but they were all somewhat happy about it as well. Because if there wasn't any treasury to protect, they also don't have to send their decedents to that barren place anymore, like a guard dog. 

Marc also doesn't have the chance to deal with the incompetent Luminous Royal Family because his entire focus was on capturing Ace and finding out about his secret. 

In Marc's eyes, he could've crushed the luminous family anytime he wanted, and he was planning to do after he dealt with Ace, but die instead with deep resentment.

Unknowingly, the Luminous Royal Family also escaped the catastrophe of extinction as well, all because of Ace. 

Ace braced himself for impact, a deafening sound rumbled when the silver thunderbolts descended on the metal box protected by a formation. 

However, when faced with the heavenly thunder, the formation of the treasury instantly shattered and the sturdy treasury also didn't hold for long as it also began to incinerate bit by bit. 

Everything inside turned to ashes and Ace thought bitterly as he felt the mountainous pressure weighed down on him, 'Why I'm not shocked?' 

The next moment, one of the thunder lances again submerge Ace completely, and the second round of far more intensive torture than before began. 

Ace clenched his teeth and fist as he endured while waiting for the other thunderbolt-lance to join in the 'fun' however, to his befuddlement the second silver thunderbolt never fall on him at all. 

But he didn't have time to find what happened, with thick veins popping out all over his body he kept enduring the hellish pain with bloodshot eyes while the dark void was continuously absorbing the silver despair thunder. 

The torturous process goes for full two minutes before the last sliver of heavenly thunder was absorbed by the dark void. The only thing left was charred Ace, with blood trickling from cracks on his burned skin. 

His bloodshot eyes were almost listless as with extreme difficulty he consumed two more, healing and Qi recovery pills. The cracks on his skin quickly started to mend, while his eyes recover some of their lusters. 

'What happened to the second thunderbolt?' 

Ace finally had some energy to spare as he looks for the reason why the other silver thunder-lance didn't fall on him. If it does, Ace doesn't know how long he could hold off.

Astonished, when Ace looked upward, he saw a three-meter metallic piece of the treasury bottom remain hover above without getting incinerated like the whole treasury. 

With bewilderment, Ace controlled his Qi and lift down the metallic piece. His pupils contracted when he saw what was resting on that metallic piece. 

It was an ordinary-looking three-meter wild Gray Boulder, if silver lighting wasn't cracking all over it which was to prove the silver despair thunder was fell on it, Ace would've thought it was just an ordinary boulder. 

'What kind of boulder is it? It even endured the heavenly thunder and remained intact?' Ace's listless eyes shimmer with ecstasy. 

He quickly used his Qi to probe the gray boulder but was shocked the next moment because his Heavenly Darkness Qi repelled the moment he touched the gray boulder. 

Ace's eyes narrowed, he didn't know what this boulder was, but he had this feeling this was something extraordinary because anything that can endure heavenly thunder and even repelled his heavenly Qi can't be ordinary. 

Three more silver thunder-lances formed and flashed toward Ace. 

Ace's eyes turned sharp as he used the gray boulder as his shield, this time with deep anticipation. 

'Rumble…'

The moment those three-silver thunder-lances landed on the gray boulder, Ace didn't feel any pressure like before at all, nor did any thunderbolt pass through the gray boulder! 

The gray boulder quickly absorbed those three thunderbolts without any resistance at all. 

Ace was gobsmacked by this and the next moment, his booming laughter rang inside the volcano, "Hahaha…you can't reach me anymore… hahaha.!" 

Ace was so happy about escaping the heavenly thunder he wanted to jump in excitement, just like a drowning man will clutch at a straw, Ace was going to clutch on that mysterious gray boulder, as his life deepened on it, literally.

If Ace could've used his soul-shattering eyes on the gray boulder at his moment, he will see many runic symbols on it, but he never thought about it because of his excitement and the situation he was in. 

'Cr…crr…creeccc…' 

Ace's celebration was quite short-lived when he suddenly heard snapping sounds that were coming from none other than his precious, gray boulder. 

"OH, FUCK NO…!" Ace cursed loudly with bloodshot eyes. He might have a stroke if the boulder didn't stop cracking at this moment. 

'Sigh…' He sighed in relief, but he knew this boulder had reached its limit, and by the looks of it, the boulder might not last long enough to let him pass the heavenly punishment. 

'Rumble…'

Ace abruptly looked upward, and his ecstatic expression turned cloudy. 

He saw, two fifty-meter silver sword-blades forming from silver despair-thunder which were translucent! 

'Soul Heavenly Thunder!' 

Ace instantly guessed what was coming next, and his heart sank to rock bottom. He was afraid of this specific heavenly punishment the most because last time it was exactly soul heavenly thunder that send him into a coma for years. 

However, the last soul punishment looked like a joke in front of this one, he didn't even know if this crumbling gray boulder can even block soul thunder since it was supposed to destroy the soul. 

But there was nothing he could do but to hope for the best and pray that this gray boulder would show another miracle, or he had to rely on his new defensive soul skill to block those soul-thunder sword blades!   

'Boooommmm…'

Those two sword blades made of silver soul thunder shot toward Ace like an unstoppable arrow. 

The moment of truth was here!