Thankfully, the metallic lifeform ship of the Golden Sun Pirates tore through the skies of the Infernal Realm, heading straight for the teleportation station of the Starmist Sea. Thankfully, the battle between the Eight Great Clans and the Four Divine Beasts Clan had taken place at a location not too far away; as such, it only took them a little under half a day to arrive.
Upon doing so, they were met with derision and disdain – not that Ace and his group cared. They calmly walked forward, strolling to the front of the queue, all but ignoring the disgruntled looks they were getting.
Just as the guards were about to make a fuss, Ace took out a medallion that caused all the guards present to drop to their knees.
Whilst still at Skyrite Mountains, Shinji had given Ace one of his Sovereign Medallions. Not only did it give Ace and the others a significant discount when shopping in one of the Fiend trading branches, but its most impressive function was that it allowed each holder to use teleportation stations freely – regardless of the destination.
Ace indifferently told the guards where they were heading and had them promptly send them back to the Yulan Plane, free of charge.
Upon returning, Ace was met by the shocked gaze of Hodan – the Yulan Plane's Planar Overseer. It had to be remembered that the price of travelling from a higher realm to a Material Plane was one trillion inkstones; as such, typically, Hodan would only see the saints and deities of the Yulan Plane come to him to ascend to a higher realm, but it was incredibly rare for someone to descend.
His shock only increased when he saw who it was that returned. Although he never personally had much interaction with Ace and his group, he still knew who they were; everyone in the Yulan Plane did, even those born long after Ace and his group left – they were genuine legends.
Still, Ace, Kannal, and Osiris didn't even pay him a passing glance as they took off, heading straight for the Forest of Darkness.
Although the trio were sad that their original group of ten had now been whittled down to three, they were excited to be home.
After over a thousand years of adventuring through the higher realms, they had finally returned, and although they were all still only Full Gods, the same realm they were in when they left, the difference between the old them and the them of today couldn't be any more different. A fact that was only made even more abundant as they flew through the air.
In the Infernal and Celestial Realms, one needed to at least have the power of a seven-star fiend to create tears in space, a feat even Osiris – the weakest of the trio – was capable of. But here in the Yulan Plane, Osiris found space bending, threatening to break apart around him just from his flight. It was a novel feeling, one he believed maybe only paragons were capable of in the upper realms.
At the same time, the crowd surrounding Aiden had only just dispersed under Beirut's command, leaving only those who personally knew the newly ascended paragon when they felt three exceedingly overbearing, yet very familiar, auras speeding towards them.
A helpless smile appeared on Aiden's face as he sensed the approaching auras. He told Arianna and the others to stand back for a moment as he greeted his little disciple.
Ace roared excitedly when he saw his master smiling and looking towards him. His glaive entered his palm as his speed suddenly skyrocketed even further, causing space to genuinely break apart, unable to bear his speed.
Ace could sense that his master had jumped all the way to the High God Realm; as such, when he attacked, aside from his Willpower, he didn't hold anything back. Both his body and glaive were coated in [Armament Haki], and his Golden Sun Visualisation whirred to life behind him as he utilised the full might of his [Blazing Glaive Art].
Still, in response, Aiden didn't even summon his own glaive; he merely raised a finger, clamping his disciple's glaive between his index and middle fingers.
The disturbance caused by Aiden's breakthrough had only just come to an end, and now another disturbance – not much inferior to the last – rocked the Yulan Plane once more, but where the previous disturbance was relatively peaceful in nature, this one was anything but.
As Ace's Glaive and Aiden's fingers made contact, it created a spatial storm that destructively warped the space of the Forest of Darkness.
Ace's eyes constricted when he saw how easily his attack was resolved, and before he could get over his initial shock, Aiden sent him flying with the most casual of palms to the chest.
Most present hadn't been able to tell exactly what happened, but how could it be possible that Ace hadn't? He clearly sensed Aiden utilising the power of Will.
Ace roared with laughter, realising that his master had jumped all the way to the Paragon realm in one go. The only thought that came to mind was, "as expected of my master."
Still, he wasn't ready to give up so quickly. If there was one person he didn't mind losing to, it was Aiden, but even so, he wanted to show his master exactly how far he'd come in the last thousand-plus years.
Ace's Golden Sun manifestation shifted to the background as the phantom of Ace's soul-self manifested behind him, crown and all. Ace grinned excitedly as he felt his Willpower double.
It wasn't often he got to go all out, but every time he did, it would fill him with nothing but excitement.
Aiden merely smiled calmly as he felt Ace's heaven-defying Willpower manifest around him. Similar to Ace, the only thought that came to mind was, "as expected of my disciple." Still, that was all there was to it. There was no surprise, no intention to back down. He merely smiled, waiting for Ace to attack.
Unfortunately, before Ace could make a move, Beirut's helpless sigh resounded through the area. He said he understood that this was just their way of greeting each other after so long apart, but if they really wanted to continue, could they do so away from his home?
Seeing the devastation they had caused to the Forest of Darkness after but one attack, Ace smiled apologetically before Aiden suggested they continue in Chaotic Space – over there, they would be free to go all out without worry.
Everyone watched as Ace and Aiden headed into Chaotic Space before returning in under 60 seconds.
When they returned, they were shocked to find Ace covered in bruises and being held by the scruff of his clothes.
Seeing the odd looks he was receiving, Ace tried to slap off his master's hand only for Aiden to leisurely toss him away like a rag doll, laughing, saying that would teach him to speak using his fists instead of his mouth like a civilised human being.
Ace snorted as he dusted himself off and used his Divine Energy to rid himself of his bruises, pretending as though he hadn't just been in a sorry state. Still, even though he lost, his heart was filled with warmth and joy. As previously mentioned, Aiden was the only person he didn't mind losing to; in fact, his losing so decisively made him feel like he was a child being trained by Aiden at the Yin-Yang Pavilion.
A feeling that only grew more prominent as he saw all the familiar faces looking down at him. Especially when he made eye contact with the woman in the middle.
Even though adventuring with Amira, Killian, and the others these last thousand years was exciting and filled him with no small amount of joy, the warmth he felt coursing through his body as he looked at his mother was incomparable, but in response, all he got was a roll of the eye as Amira said, "ooh, so now you remember your mother still exists!"
Ace smiled wryly as he knew he had just gotten a little carried away. Still, it didn't stop him from speeding into his mother's arms like an overgrown child!
Aside from Millianna, all his family and friends were here – everyone from his instructors at the Yin-Yang Pavilion to his family from the Gol Empire, even Linley's Baruch Clan were present. There were even some faces he didn't recognise – all of whom were staring at him in awe.
Still, even though he didn't recognise them, it merely took a casual sweep of his Godrealm to realise who they were from their familiar energy signatures – they were all descendants of his friends. Still, the ones that made him stop and stare for a while were those with energy signatures not too dissimilar to his own.
They were the descendants of his Gol Clan, but the one that really raised his eyebrows was the little boy no older than 13, standing beside his younger sister – Gol D. Murcurielle.
Unlike the others who looked at him with looks of awe and reverence, this teen stared at Ace in excitement and a hint of provocation. An expression that only served to amuse Ace, especially after he took a look at the soul of the teen.
The souls of ordinary people took the shape of a spherical ball of spiritual essence, but those of his Gol Clan were different; they were born with a soul that took the shape of their human form, like his sister and even his wife, after she inherited his bloodline after they consummated their relationship.
That signified that they had inherited the ability to utilise [Armament & Observation Haki], but there was still a third form of Haki. Unfortunately, whether it was in the world of One Piece or this world, it was an extremely rare ability that only a select few were born with – the ability to use [Conqueror's Haki] or Willpower, as it is more commonly referred to in this world.
The soul-self of the Gol Clan members born with the ability to use [Conqueror's Haki] would have a crown sitting on their heads, signifying their status.
In the last thousand-plus years, there had been over a hundred children born into the Gol Clan, many of whom hadn't appeared here today for one reason or another. Still, only Ace and Millianna had a crown on their soul-self, or at least that was the case until the birth of Gol D. Fralor.
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