Seeing Ace stand there so confidently, addressing so many Sovereigns as though they were all equals, rubbed many of the Sovereigns the wrong way.
Unfortunately, there was nothing they could do, not with Augusta, Bluefire, and the other Sovereigns on their side taking up positions by Ace and the others to prevent any harm from coming to them.
As one of the strongest present, Orloff was the first to speak, first congratulating Ace on his breakthrough and then acknowledging his strength and potential. But he didn't waste any time in moving to the topics that they all wanted answers to. He asked Ace about his bloodline, the new law he created, and the art of concepts which allowed them to wield weapons so skilfully.
Ace had expected this line of question; as such, when the time came, Ace didn't falter as he explained that his bloodline was one unique to the Gol Clan of their Yulan continent, but as for the specifics, they had already seen what it was capable of, but he had no intention of divulging anything else as, quite frankly, he didn't trust them.
Hearing that, aside from the Sovereigns on his side and Orloff, who didn't seem to take offence, the others all frowned at a mere deity daring to refuse to give them answers, but Ace didn't care about their feelings as he continued to answer their next question.
Although he wouldn't bow his head to the Sovereigns any more, Ace knew he couldn't oppose them at every turn. He had to give them something. If not, they might be tempted to act now before he could finish maturing; as such, he decided to explain everything about the Mandate of Pure Yang.
He explained how, after his Divine Spark was cracked, he was able to subconsciously fuse it with his Golden Sun Manifestation, a feat that inadvertently allowed the fused laws of Fire and Light, which his Golden Sun was based around, to achieve true perfection and become a new Law or Mandate of its own.
He also went on to explain how, when the natural laws descended, what he believed to be Heaven itself explained that the Mandate of Pure Yang had ten Mandates for him to comprehend and fuse together to become a Paragon.
With Pure Yang now becoming an official Mandate of their universe, others could also comprehend it, but as the progenitor, he received certain blessings.
His words stirred quite the jealousy in the other Sovereigns, but they knew there was nothing they could do as there was no way to steal the blessings bestowed by Heaven. Still, many were excited about the prospect of comprehending a new element, especially one as seemingly powerful as Pure Yang, but there was still another question that they needed answering.
Wodred, the Chief Sovereign of Destruction, asked if Heaven happened to ask if it had any intention of creating Yang-Type Sovereign Sparks in the future.
Hearing that, Ace's eyes flashed, but ultimately, all he could do was sigh and reply honestly. He nodded and explained that Heaven would likely need 10,000 years to finish assimilating Pure Yang essence into the atmosphere. After that, it would create seven Pure Yang Sovereign Sparks.
Hearing that, without fail, the eyes of every Sovereign present lit up with greed and excitement.
Ace could only sigh as he could practically imagine the blood bath the fights would cause. Still, that was a problem for another day; he had more important things to deal with.
Looking at his grandfather, Ace said it was time to go.
Bluefire merely nodded as he wrapped his grandson and his group in Sovereign Power, preparing to carry them through Chaotic Space back to the Yulan Plane, where they would be safe, when Wodred's cold snort rang out, destroying the fiery bubble Bluefire created.
Ace's eyes frosted over as he looked at the Chief Sovereign of Destruction.
He didn't care how talented Ace was, seeing a mere deity dare to look at him with such disrespect, Wodred was tempted to make a move and remind Ace of his place in the pecking order, but he could also feel Orloff's indifferent gaze on him. He knew the Chief Sovereign of Fate wouldn't let him do as he pleased; as such, he indifferently reminded Ace that he'd only covered two of Orloff's three questions.
Ace sneered, understanding Wodred was referring to the art of wielding concepts. But he explained that it wasn't his secret to divulge. If he really wanted to learn the secrets to getting started on the path, he had to ask his master.
Ace's words caused the Sovereigns to frown as they wondered what kind of old monster could not only train a monster like Ace but also create a completely new path to power, one that none of them had even heard of previously.
But that was when one of the Lesser Sovereigns of Wind, a man named Teresia, looked at Hemmers and remembered that over the last 50 years, Hemmers was clearly training in that same mysterious path. He coldly voiced that Ace says he couldn't tell them the secrets, but he could teach Hemmers without his master's permission.
Teresia then told Ace not to let the arrogance of his recent success get to his head, as he was still too weak to protect himself even in front of the weakest Sovereign. He should do himself, his family, and his friends a favour and tell them what they want to know.
Everyone could hear the not-so-subtle threat in Teresia's words, and to be honest, Ace didn't care about the threats on him, but when Teresia mentioned his family, Ace's eyes completely frosted over.
Bluefire snorted and was about to step forward when he was stopped by his Grandson. Ace stepped forward, staring Teresia in his eyes emotionlessly and said that Teresia's right; his master wouldn't care if he divulged the secrets of this new path to them, but he didn't want to, especially not to scum like him.
Being called scum so directly, in front of his fellow Sovereigns, by a mere Demi-God no less, deeply angered Teresia.
Seeing Teresia's body tense as though he was about to make a move, Ace's soul-self whirred to life in the void behind him as his Willpower suddenly doubled. He didn't care that his opponent this time was a Sovereign; as his grip around his glaive tightened, Ace was genuinely ready to face off against what would inevitably be his strongest opponent to date, but before the battle could even get started, a horrifying pressure descended, causing the eyes of everyone present to constrict into pinholes. Well, almost everyone.
Feeling the familiar energy signature appear, Ace merely snorted as he gave Teresia one final cold glance before turning his head towards the couple, calmly approaching from the distance.
Following Ace's line of sight, everyone saw a scene that they would never forget. A graceful and elegant, dark-skinned man walking towards them, holding the hand of an enchantingly beautiful woman in his left hand, a gourd of alcohol in his right, and the most spectacular and awe-inspiring glaive hovering above his head.
All the Sovereigns present had seen Overgod Artifacts before; whether it was Wodred, Orloff, or Augusta, they all had one; as such, they could tell that the glaive hovering above the mysterious man's head was an Overgod Artifact as well, but the power it radiated was far superior to any of the artifacts the other Sovereigns had, it was like it was touching on a level all to itself, almost as though it were alive and it not only embodied the essence of a glaive but the wind as well.
Just looking at it, the eyes of Alyssa, who had been peacefully standing by Killian's side, her dainty hand in his, suddenly glazed over.
Aiden smiled in amusement as he watched Alyssa enter sudden enlightenment. He could only shake his head helplessly as one of the brats he helped train stole part of his limelight.
It was right then that everyone's attention subconsciously moved from Aiden to Alyssa as the natural laws descended, enveloping her as she, too, became a paragon.
At this point, the Sovereigns became numb to the achievements of Ace and his groups; as such, as soon as the natural laws dispersed, all of their attention returned to Aiden, who was casually taking a sip from his gourd of alcohol, seemingly without a care in the world.
They could tell that the woman was merely a Full God, but when they tried to sense the man's power level, they couldn't sense anything. In fact, if not for the fact that they were looking right at him, they wouldn't even be able to tell he was there.
They knew it was impossible for him to be a Sovereign as, aside from a single Lesser Sovereign of Earth, all of the other Sovereign Sparks were accounted for and ignoring the fact that he seemed to be an expert of the Laws of the Wind, even if he was that Lesser Sovereign of Earth, it would be impossible to hide from their respective divine senses so thoroughly and likewise it was even less likely that he was a deity.
Thinking to there, everyone came to the same terrifying conclusion at the same time… "Overgod!"
As far as most of them knew, there were only four Overgods, and they were the Overgods of the four Edicts. They didn't think the seven Laws had Overgods, but aside from the Overgods, they didn't think it was possible for anyone else to be capable of such a feat.
After finishing his drink, a teasing smile appeared on Aiden's face as he turned to his disciple and asked why he was constantly stirring up trouble with those so much stronger than him.
In response, Ace merely snorted and said it was always others who provoked him because they thought highly of themselves, because they were stronger than him, and because they were born a few million years before him.
Looking back at Teresia, he continued by saying that had they been born in the same era, most wouldn't even be qualified to tie his shoes.
Teresia was hit by a wave of conflicting emotions. One, he was angry and humiliated, but two, he was fearful – he had immediately guessed that this mysterious Overgod was precisely Ace's master. Still, aside from that, he also felt embarrassed, as he knew Ace wasn't wrong.
Ace's talent, potential, and ability allowed him to stand steadily at a level that no other deity had ever come close to.
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