Thousands of years flew by in what felt like the blink of an eye, and in that time, several major changes took place throughout the universe.
The last few Sovereign Sparks of True Yang were born. Still, what no one had seen coming was the formation of the Mandate of True Yin, thanks to the effort of Linley's wife, Yunaia Baruch. As a result, Yunaia received her very own heavenly blessing, increasing her already impressive talent to a level similar to Killian's.
But that started what would later go on to become the Crimson Era due to the level of bloodshed that ensued as a result.
Every few hundred years, a new Sovereign Spark was formed, which in turn would cause bloody competition as hundreds of experts fought over them. After all, it was public knowledge now that the Will contained in the Sovereign Sparks of the Mandate Sovereign Sparks were superior to others at the same level by a whole 25%.
Still, the blood that was spilt whilst fighting for the Mandate Sparks paled in comparison to that of the blood spilt when the Sovereign Sparks of Space and Time were formed.
The Will contained in the Sovereign Sparks of Space and Time was actually 50% higher than that of the Mandate Sparks at the same level. It meant that a Lesser Sovereign of Space or Time would be able to match an Intermediate Sovereign of the ordinary Laws or Edicts, and an Intermediate Rule-based Sovereign would be able to fight on par with a Law or Edict-based Chief Sovereign.
As for the Chief Sovereign of the Rules, by applying the same logic, it was said that they would be able to fight on par with the average Overgod before they condensed their Overgod bodies. Still, no matter how much time passed, the Chief Sovereign Spark of either Rule never took shape.
In fact, it was the same for the Chief Sovereign Spark of the Mandate of True Yin. It was presumed that similar to that of the Chief Sovereign Spark of True Yang with Ace, they were given directly to the individual who created said law.
They were, of course, correct. But whether it was Ace or Yunaia, neither of them held on to it because they wanted to give it to someone in particular; the truth was, both were still too focused on their individual training to waste time on time-consuming external matters.
Many of those interested in getting their hands on it did pay the Yulan Plane a visit, hoping to get closer to the Gol and Four Divine Beast Clans hoping that they could find a way to achieve their goals. Unfortunately, as both Ace and Yunaia were ancestor-level existences in their respective clans, those who were residing in the Yulan Plane from either clan had no ability to contact either ancestor directly, even if they wanted to.
Because of that, even though several top-level factions took shape with the support of some of the newly ascended Sovereigns, the universe began to calm once again. Still, everyone knew this was just the calm before the storm.
Even if Ace and Yunaia, for whatever reason, decided to keep the Chief Sovereign Sparks for themselves. Eventually, the Sovereign Sparks of the Law of Chaos would form, and once they did, it would inevitably lead to a level of bloodshed the likes of which the universe had never experienced before.
Ace had already confirmed that the Law of Chaos formed thanks to Linley was a level above the Rules of Space and Time, which meant that the Sovereign Sparks for said law would inevitably be a level above as well.
If those from the Yulan Plane showed any interest in fighting for them, it obviously went without saying that they would be the ultimate winners, and that was if anyone was stupid enough to compete with them for it.
Thankfully, though, till now, the experts from the Yulan Plane have shown no interest in Sovereign Sparks. In fact, several of the original Sovereigns affiliated with the Yulan Plane had actually, thanks to the help of the Overgods, abandoned their own Sovereign Sparks and thrown them away for others to compete for.
At first, many were confused by such a decision, but eventually, rumours spread that the experts of the Yulan Plane had devised a method to naturally become a Sovereign. Once again, such news shook the rest of the universe to its core. Many top experts – everyone from various supreme genius-level Full Gods to Commander-level High Gods, Paragons, and even other Sovereigns once again flooded to the Yulan Plane to confirm whether or not it was true.
With so many powerhouses suddenly entering the Yulan Plane, the matter couldn't be taken lightly. Unless Ace personally descended, the Gol Clan, as powerful and influential as they were, weren't powerful enough to handle the matter. Even so, the Overgods were too lazy to pay any attention; as such, it was eventually decided that the Golden Sun Pirates would handle it.
The moment they arrived on the scene, even without saying anything, all their guesses were confirmed as each and every one of them had somehow become Sovereigns, despite each of the original Sovereign Sparks being accounted for.
It was then that Kannal addressed the masses and directly confirmed that Gol D. Amira had created a method for ordinary High Gods to become Sovereigns without the support of a Sovereign. He even mentioned that although it hadn't been confirmed, they suspected that as long as one broke through naturally, it wouldn't be impossible for them to break through and become an Overgod in the future as well.
When he said this, all of the powerhouses looked at Kannal with envy and greed flickering in their eyes as they asked what the method was.
Though they hadn't asked Ace, they all knew him well enough to know that he wouldn't care if such knowledge was made public. He believed in himself too much to believe that he could be surpassed; as such, Kannal directly explained that method, even going so far as to explain in great detail the methods of breaking free of Heaven's influence.
Unfortunately, without the help of others who had already broken free of Heaven's influence or the support of Ace's personal dimension, it was impossible to do so on their own.
The question was posed asking for their help in such a matter, but Kannal directly rejected them, saying that whilst it might be possible in the future, at the moment, all of the top powerhouses of the Yulan Plane were too busy with their own training to help each of them. And in regard to gaining access to Ace's personal dimension, that was even more impossible. Forget the fact that none of them were related to Ace in any way, shape, or form; the space was limited in the personal dimension as he didn't want to disturb Ace whilst he was training for his final battle.
It was then that the fickle and greedy nature of the various experts was revealed. Despite the fact that Ace and his group had already done so much for each of them, they actually chose to actively forget that in an attempt to strong-arm the situation.
A man named Diya, who was the current Chief Sovereign of Wind, was the first to reveal his vicious nature. After confirming telepathically that he wouldn't be alone, he directly threatened them, saying that if they didn't allow them entry into Ace's personal dimension, they would force their way through.
As he said that, he and Wodred stepped forward as though they were ready to lead the charge, and looking at the expressions on the various other experts, it was clear that they wouldn't be alone.
Unfortunately, before their army could step into any kind of formation, Killian directly took action.
In an instant, the phantom of his head appeared behind him, and before anyone could react, he appeared in front of the two leaders of the rebel camp. Without so much as a word, his battle axe cleaved through space before cutting Diya in two.
Originally, Wodred had been publicly recognised as the strongest Sovereign, excluding those from the Yulan Plane, but after Ophelia had been given the Chief Sovereign Spark of True Yang by Ace, that title went to her.
It had to be remembered that as the Sovereign of a Mandate, her Willpower was 25% superior to others at the same level, meaning she had 100 units, the same level as an Overgod. Although when it came to every other attribute, she was still several times inferior to even the weakest Overgod prior to condensing their Overgod bodies, she was still several times stronger than the other Chief Sovereigns, and that didn't even include the benefits of her True Yang Physique.
Like the others, she had come today with hopes of learning the secrets of becoming a Sovereign naturally. Still, after receiving Ace's help, she felt too much gratitude toward Ace to even think about acting against him. Plus, the memory of Ace completely suppressing her was still very vivid in her mind.
Seeing Wodred and the others about to make against the friends of her benefactor, she was just about to make a move; after all, she could sense that the strongest among them was just at the Intermediate Sovereign Level, and in her mind, even though they were all probably incredibly talented, this situation would be too much for them, but when she witnessed Killian's actions, she was left staring wide-eyed, unable to believe what she was witnessing.
Not only did Killian kill Diya in one, almost leisurely attack, but that same attack managed to send Wodred – an expert second only to her – flying through the void after receiving severe injuries.
Killian's eyes turned bloodthirsty as he scanned the rest of the crowd. At the same time, his already terrifying aura suddenly multiplied after seemingly merging with the rest of his group.
He then told them if they wanted to die, then come. Otherwise, scram!