Upon hearing that Ace was actually willing to part with a Chief Sovereign Spark, his faith surged forward once again. Still, there were many sceptics who thought it was too good to be true, but when they heard Ace's following words, even they were shocked.
Ace went on to say that he knows that those deities and even saints affiliated with him and the Yulan Plane would've had an almost unfair advantage, seeing as many of them would be able to train in his True Yang Realm where, unlike the rest of the universe, it's overflowing with True Yang Essence. As such, Ace vowed that none of those affiliated with him would be given this opportunity; this was only for those of the rest of the universe. And to make it even more fair, none of the current Sovereigns would be able to claim this reward. It was only for deities and below.
One might think that Ace was being unfair to those who stood on his side, but in a sense, he was doing it for their own good.
Anyone who was able to become a paragon, be it of the Mandate of True Yang or any of the other Laws or Edicts, they were the true elites of the universe. Although his giving them the Sovereign Spark would be a shortcut to growing stronger quickly, Ace believed it would also ruin their potential.
With Amira's recent discovery, although they were a long way from making it available for the masses, the fact still remained that they had found a way to allow ordinary paragons to become Sovereigns. By relying on the Sovereign Spark, that would mean that would be the limit of their growth in the future, but by using this new method, although Ace couldn't confirm it as yet, he genuinely believed that it wouldn't be impossible to become Overgods in the future. Still, that was a matter for the future… for now, Ace was focused on the task at hand.
As he finished explaining the terms, Ace felt his faith skyrocket once again. At the same time, although he couldn't feel it, Ace knew that the faith of the other Overgods would've diminished significantly, an effect that would only get worse over time.
All the Overgods that chose to make an enemy of Ace were once again left grinding their teeth as their hatred for Ace reached all new heights. They all understood that Ace's move had effectively checkmated them – it was impossible to defeat their current opponents, and should Ace and Lance join the fights, it would only be a matter of time until they were defeated and killed.
Well, that wasn't completely true; if each of them were to put their all into escaping and hiding, not even their fellow Overgods would be capable of finding them. At that point, all they had to do was slowly finish condensing their bodies, at which point Ace and his group would no longer be able to kill them. Unfortunately, by then, with Ace's rate of growth, the chances of them being able to kill him would be virtually nil – especially with Aiden there to look out for him.
Still, as much as they were opposed to such an outcome, so too was Ace. At that point, he obviously wouldn't be scared for himself, but what about his friends and family? He wouldn't be able to look after them for every second of every day for the rest of their lives. He had to do everything within his power to make sure they would be safe. It was for that reason that as soon as he finished his declaration to the rest of the universe, he had Lance cut it off before taking him to the centre of the Overgod battlefield.
The moment he arrived, he felt the killing intent and senses of several Overgods lock onto him, but none dared to do anything to him.
Even though he was too far away from his friends for the battle formation to have any effect and Lance was still weaker than even the weakest of their Overgods, together, they were more than capable of overpowering some of the weaker Overgods, at which point, the tides of the battle would officially turn – it was the outcome they were so afraid of.
As much as they wanted to kill Ace there and then, the moment he arrived, each of them prepared to escape in separate directions, but Ace's following words caused them to halt in their tracks.
Ace told them he would give them the opportunity to kill them.
None of them knew what Ace was planning, but his words struck a nerve in them. Plus, the fact that Aiden, Bluefire, and Orloff all retreated to Ace's side instead of trying to attack them made them stop long enough to hear Ace out.
He said he knew they wanted nothing more than to kill him, and likewise, he wanted nothing more than to kill each and every one of them, so he would give them the opportunity. Once every 10,000 years, he would challenge one of them to a fight.
Each of the Overgods frowned. Their initial thought was that it was too good to be true – it had to be understood that if all of them were to work together, 10,000 years would be more than enough time for them to ensure one of them condensed an Overgod body.
But the more they thought about it, the more they realised things weren't that simple. Although theoretically, Ace had reached the limit of his power, and the only way for him to make another breakthrough was by merging with the True Yang Sovereign Spark – something that was obviously impossible after his recent declaration to the rest of the universe – they also knew that it wasn't impossible for him to achieve a breakthrough through other means.
The reason they wanted him and all those with the Gol clan bloodline dead was because they stood outside of heaven's jurisdiction – they were capable of achieving things that should be otherwise impossible, and the fact that he was so confident in his proposal suggested that he had found a way forward.
Ten thousand years may be nothing more than a short nap to them, but it had to be remembered that Ace wasn't even 10,000 years old, and yet he had already reached a level that allowed him to rival them. Who knew how powerful he'd be in 10,000 years?!
The worst part is, if they dared to reject Ace's offer, their only options would be to fight now and die or escape and spend the rest of their infinite lives suppressed by Ace and his group – either way, it was their loss!
Ultimately, the Overgod of Death said they were willing to accept Ace's proposal on the condition that they got to pick Ace's opponent.
In response, Ace indifferently shook his head and told them that he would pick his own opponent, and that person would just have to wash their neck and wait for him to come and collect it!
The fact that a mere deity dared to speak to them with such disregard infuriated them to no end. Still, they knew they couldn't allow their emotions to get the better of them. As such, after speaking amongst themselves, the Life Overgod accepted Ace's terms on the sole condition that, at the very least, Ace had to pick his opponent in advance – if he couldn't agree to at least that much, then there was no need to continue.
Understanding that this was their bottom line, Ace's indifferent eyes landed on the current Overgod of Darkness. His voice was ice cold as he declared that the second Overgod to die at his hands would be Phueus!
Without waiting for them to respond, Ace had Aiden transport him and the rest of their group back to their home.
The moment he left, Phueus' eyes frosted over, but more than that, hidden under that frost was fear. He obviously understood the reason he was picked first was to avenge Amira's family. He couldn't help but wish that back when they first met, back when Ace was nothing but an ant to him, he had killed him there and then.
Had he done that, none of this would have happened. Unfortunately, there was no medicine for regret – what was done was done. All he could do was fight for his life – he had 10,000 years, and he intended to make every moment count.
Back in the now desolate True Yang Realm, Ace and the others had just returned when Ace's body flickered as he shot off to where Mira was being treated by his mother.
He could sense that Bluefire had questions, but in that moment, the only thing that mattered to him was his wife and unborn child. With their bond, he could sense that she was still very much alive, but what was odd was that, for some reason, she wasn't responding to his calls.
When he arrived by her side, his heart dropped as he saw her unconscious body on the bed with his mother standing over her. It had to be remembered that deities no longer needed sleep – it was virtually impossible to knock a deity out, even in combat, so her being unconscious should be impossible. The only thing that somewhat put his mind at ease was the fact that she was gently holding her stomach with a gentle and loving smile.
Seeing her son, Millianna instantly told him that although she was unconscious, her condition wasn't presently life-threatening, and neither was the condition of their child.
According to his mother, she had been able to heal both Amira and her fetus, but because of the heaven-defying bloodlines and talent of both Ace and Mira, the needs of their child exceeded what Amira was naturally capable of giving. As a result, her soul was forced to retreat into the depths of her body to personally nurture the fetus.
Seeing the frown on her son's face, Millianna understood that Ace was about to use their connection as soulmates to enter Mira's body to check on her, but before he did, Millianna told him not to disturb her.
With Amira handling the nurturing of their child personally, there should be no problems, and she would be there every step of the way in case there was a change, but as this was uncharted territory, she had no idea what would happen if Amira was disturbed.
Hearing that, as frustrated as he was, Ace knew that his mother was right – all he could do was trust his wife.
He was just about to sit by his wife's side when he felt a weak and faint message transmitted from their bond.
It simply said that he should trust her with their twins, and she would trust them to make sure that the world they would be born into was a safe one.
Amira's message was short and simple, but it was all Ace needed to hear. His eyes became focused as he stood and kissed her on the head before whispering that he would make sure of it!
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