For the next fifty years, Ace and his group spent the rest of their time intensely training in the Planar Battlefield.
They knew that with Ace's most recent breakthrough, they had nothing left to fear in the Planar War anymore, but it was precisely Ace's breakthrough that spurred them on so much. The gap between him and them had just increased so much, and none of them were willing.
Even though they had all progressed in the last 50 years, the ones who made the most progress were Leona, Kannal, Wukong, and Linley.
After Ace's evolution, Leona found that not only had her connection with Ace actually strengthened, allowing her to sense Ace's insights into the laws of fire more clearly, but her own bloodline had further mutated.
Whereas before, she could only absorb the insights of Destruction-type Divine Sparks from enemies she killed, now she could also further her insights by devouring Fire-type Divine Sparks, but that wasn't all.
As a soul mutate, she could now choose whether she wanted the insights gained from devoured sparks to further that same element, or if she wanted it to enhance the insights of her fused divine power – although the insights gained from doing the latter would only be a fraction of those used for the former, it still meant that she could progress unhindered until she became a true two-way soul mutated paragon, like Muyan.
Still, the thing she was most pleased with was that when the natural laws descended around Ace, with her soul being so connected to his, she was hit by sudden enlightenment, allowing her to break through and become a paragon of the laws of Fire not long after.
As for Kannal; Inspired by Ace's progress, still driven by his own desire to stand at the peak, Kannal had finally broken through to become a paragon, but not in the Laws of Wind, instead, in its concept. That's right, Kannal was the second person in existence to take a concept to its highest level after perfecting his [Zephyr's Sword Art].
Next was Wukong. Although he was genuinely happy for Ace, still seeing him as a younger brother, Wukong channelled his unwillingness into motivation, allowing him to break through and become a paragon of the laws of lightning.
It should also be understood that, after being rescued by Shinji, Yulana, with her newly acquired Vampire bloodline, was able to help Wukong absorb his father's blood essence. And because he was born with the bloodline of a Violet-Eyed Battle Ape – albeit watered down – he was able to completely absorb it without wasting any of the blood essence, making him a genuine Apex Divine Beast.
Finally, there was Linley. Although Linley knew that Ace had always been a monster among monsters and wasn't "shocked" by Ace's breakthrough, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little jealous of his long-time rival.
He knew that he was no longer a match for Ace, but he refused to let that halt his footsteps. In the last 50 years, not only did he finally become a paragon in the laws of water, but he also brought the [Rippling Tide Stance] of his [Serenity Sword Art] up to the Commander level.
Between those two things, his body as an Apex Divine Beast and his [Azure Dragon Roar] Divine Ability, his strength had seen a drastic improvement, and yet, he barely even stopped to celebrate his success. Instead, he continued to focus on all the aspects he could still improve on, desperately seeking his next breakthrough in an attempt to close the gap between him and Ace.
Ironically, though, as much as everyone else was improving, the person who saw the slowest improvement in the last 50 years was actually Ace.
He had spent all his time focusing on a single Mandate – the Mandate of the Essence of Pure Yang.
It was the Mandate that allowed him to manipulate the shape and size of his Pure Yang Divine Energy.
Understanding that it was a Mandate predominantly based on the fusion of Fire and Light, Ace had spent a lot of his time training with his wife, who was infinitely close to becoming a paragon in the laws of light.
With her help, he had made decent enough progress, allowing him to comprehend what he judged to be around 75% of the mandate.
For most, that sort of progress would be enough for them to feel proud, especially as he was in unchartered territory, but for Ace, who was used to being a freakishly monstrous genius, it was far from satisfactory. He had originally wanted to, at the very least, completely master one of his ten Mandates. Unfortunately, it looked like that would be impossible now.
Still, for some reason, instead of feeling downcast by his lack of success, he felt even more excited. If it weren't at least this challenging, it wouldn't be worth it.
Still, after 50 years, it was almost time for the Planar Battlefield to come to a close. But before that, Ace had to avenge his prior loss.
At the same time, in a secluded corner of the Planar Battlefield, Muyan, Lozarn, and Ballmer – Phueus' three emissaries – sat, quietly waiting for the Planar War to come to a close so they could hurry up and escape.
These last 50 years had been hellish; they felt like they were dancing on the edge of a cliff. The power that Amira had shown was simply inconceivable – Muyan had only just managed to purge that terrifying fused Sovereign Power from his body and recover.
They guessed correctly that Amira had to pay some sort of price for using such power; that was why she was willing to let them go despite them having "killed" her husband. Still, with Muyan's injuries at the time, they were unwilling and unable to try and capitalise on it. All they could do was hide, recover, and pray that whatever backlash Amira was facing was able to keep her from finding them and finishing the job.
Today was the last day of the War; all they had to do was wait under 24 hours, and they would finally be free of this psychological torture. But it was because they were so close that they were so on edge.
It was why, when Ace suddenly appeared directly in front of them, both Lozarn and Ballmer jumped as though they had seen a ghost – and in their eyes, that's exactly what they were seeing. As far as either of them was concerned, Ace was already dead.
Still, Ace completely ignored them as his eyes locked on Muyan – the so-called strongest deity in the universe – with an amused and intrigued smile playing on his face.
Of the trio, Muyan was the only one who wasn't shocked by Ace still being alive; he wasn't even shocked by the fact that Ace was now only a Demi-God. If anything, the only thing Muyan was surprised by was the fact that Ace had been able to sneak up on them without his even realising.
Seeing Muyan's lack of surprise, Ace sighed, saying that Phueus' bloodline really was heaven-defying; for him to be able to transform a two-way soul mutate into one of his clones was a truly impressive feat.
Ace's words caused no small amount of shock not only in Lozarn and Ballmer but also in the other Sovereigns watching from the void. Aside from those on the side of Ace and his group, none of the others had any idea that Phueus, the Chief Sovereign of Darkness, was actually a wraith who could reanimate certain corpses and turn them into his clones, allowing him to utilise the various unique abilities of his clones as if they were his own.
Phueus' eyes narrowed as he clenched his teeth, as a dreadful Killing Intent wafted from him. Still, he didn't bother denying it – he understood that his secret was well and truly out. But he was determined to kill Ace today, if nothing else.
As all the other shocked looks from the other Sovereigns descended on Phueus, Ace's smile widened, feeling the changes coming from Muyan.
Khelissa, the former Chief Sovereign of Water and leader of the Vampire Clan, had already told Ace and the others that not only could Phueus use the various innate gifts and Divine Abilities of his clones, but he could also pass on part of his power to them.
Unfortunately, because Phueus was a Sovereign and his clones were only deities, his clones couldn't withstand his full power. Still, with Muyan's base level of power being so high normally, he could withstand a lot more than Phueus' other clones.
The reason Ace was grinning was because he could sense that Muyan's Willpower jumped from four units to eight, which was three more than he currently had.
If Muyan had done this originally, forget Ace; not even Amira, with her fused Sovereign Power, would've been his match. Fortunately, Phueus was so worried about others finding out about his secret that he kept his true power hidden, ironically giving Ace the chance to evolve and force it out of him.
Unfortunately, it was too late now. Ace grinned like a madman as the phantom of his soul-self manifested in the sky behind him like never before, and at the same time, Ace's five units of Willpower suddenly doubled, allowing him to catch Muyan's strike with his bare hands, all but ignoring the various spatial tears that materialised all around him.
Muyan's eyes constricted as he felt the grip of Ace's blackened hand tighten around his arm, but no matter how hard he pulled, he was unable to free his arm.
Seeing Muyan's frightened expression, Ace smiled as he announced it was his turn.
It was merely a single punch, but it was enough to send Muyan flying, crashing head-first into a mountain in the distance. Still, the most horrific thing was that Ace was still holding onto one of Muyan's arms.
Ace sneered and said, "So much for the strongest deity." whilst looking at the now bloodied and one-armed Muyan struggle to his feet.
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