Still, even after 100 years, there were six who hadn’t achieved a breakthrough. The first were Olivier, Yunaia, and Killian. As soul-mutates, their souls were far stronger than the average person’s; as such, the limits of comprehension for each of them were several times higher than the average person’s; this was especially true for Killian, who was their Yulan Plane’s first three-way soul-mutate.
Next was Linley. After absorbing the blood of the Azure Dragon, his bloodline had become as pure as can be. Beirut had already stated that it was no worse than the original Azure Dragon. As a result, his soul was substantially stronger than most others in the same realm. Still, with his incredible perception and even more incredible affinity, he should’ve long since reached the limits of comprehension. But after Beirut decided to give the Sovereign Spark of Water to Ismarelda, he felt a little guilty as Linley was another viable candidate, especially as Linley was the beloved partner of his grandson, whom he doted on.
In the end, he went with Ismarelda solely for the sake of giving a third option for those watching the creation of the divine planes. Well, that and because he had a nagging suspicion that Linley’s future wouldn’t lose out to Ace’s by much at all.
Still, because he felt guilty for not being able to give Linley this opportunity, he gave him another present. He gifted Linley a treasure which would boost the power of his soul to the point where, like Killian, his soul could be considered to be at the very peak among Demi-Gods.
As for the last two, they were obviously Amira and Ace. Both their souls had reached the levels of a Full God. Especially Ace’s, whose soul was already nearing that of a High God.
In the end, Olivier and Yunaia broke through after 95 and 97 years, respectively. Linley broke through after 115 years, and Killian broke through after 133 years. Even though their souls were similar in power, as were their respective affinities, Linley’s perception was definitely a level or two above Killian’s.
What surprised Beirut, though, was the fact that unlike Bebe, Oscar, and even Milianna, Linley didn’t manage to awaken the Divine Ability of the Azure Dragon. But ultimately, Beirut chucked it up to the fact that Linley still remained a human instead of being a true Divine Beast.
As for Leona, understanding that she had a cheat code to comprehend the laws of fire in Ace, she didn’t bother focusing on it. Instead, she had her true body, and both her divine clones focused on the Edict of Destruction, trying to find similarities between the three elements of the Divine Planes being created and the Edict of Destruction.
Finally, After 143 years, she eventually broke through to become a Full God in the Edict of Destruction.
It had to be said that the heavens really were fair. Because she had such a broken ability, which would allow her to eventually become a paragon without comprehending anything for herself, her affinity to the Edict of Destruction was even worse than that of other Apex Divine Beasts. Thankfully, the laws of fire had enough similarities to Destruction that she was eventually able to become a Full God naturally.
As for the married couple, they miraculously both reached the limits of comprehension for their respective levels on the same day. The day which also coincidentally happened to be the day before all three divine planes were formed 150 years later.
As the couple simultaneously broke through, their respective visual manifestations seemed to grow in size and might as the natural laws descended around them, the world seemed to come to a stop as if to announce their breakthrough.
No one was surprised when they saw Amira directly break through to the Full God Realm in both the laws of Wind and Light. With her talent, they’d be more surprised if she didn’t achieve at least that much. No, what they were surprised by was the nature of the elemental essence surrounding her visual manifestation – it was a perfect fusion of Light and Wind Divine Essence.
Still, that was just the start of their shock. Before anyone could react, Mira’s visual manifestation merged with her body, causing her to sprout a pair of the most flawless angel wings and the most radiant of halos appearing above her head. At the same time, the Divine Essence in her newly formed divine body became a perfect fusion of light and wind. From the looks of it, Amira had just become the fourth soul-mutate of her generation.
At the same time, Ace managed to break through to the Full God realm, but unlike his wife, he only broke through with the laws of fire; what was odd, though, was the fact that as he completed his breakthrough, a frown appeared on his face. Something only noticed by those closest to him. Still, before anyone could react, his soul manifestation appeared in the vast expanse of chaotic space.
Having learnt his lesson from Milianna’s breakthrough previously, Beirut quickly spread his Godrealm, protecting everyone else from the inevitable burst of willpower, and thankfully he had.
The next day, all three Divine planes were finished and Beirut. In the end, Beirut’s Divine Wind Plane was given to Linley’s Baruch family thanks to Linley’s relationship with Bebe. Ismarelda’s Divine Water Plane was given to the Yin-Yang pavilion. And, of course, Leylin’s Divine Fire Plane was given to the Gol Clan.
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After returning back to the Yulan Plane, everyone couldn’t help but sigh. This was the longest many of them had ever been away from their respective homes, but it was still worth it.
100 or so years ago, there were a total of four known deities. Now, though, there were easily 100+ deities, with several being Full Gods. This really was the Golden Era of their Yulan Plane and it was without doubt that those standing at the peak of this era was those from the three great clans and the Yin-Yang Pavilion.
After the crowd had disappeared, Linley announced that he, Yunaia, Bebe, Oscar, Olivier, Wharton, and Barker – the youngest brother of the five Armand Brothers – would be heading to the Infernal Realm to find his ancestors, whom Beirut told him had gone back to their true ancestral home, the Azure Dragon Clan.
Side note: For those of you who never read the original “Coiling Dragon” story, aside from the billions of material planes (like the Yulan Plane), there are a total of seven “True Divine Planes”, one for each of the seven elements, each of which were created by the original sovereigns for each element. Aside from them, there are a total of Four “Higher Planes,” one for each of the four Edicts:
The Infernal Realm – Destruction Plane Celestial Realm – Fate Plane The Nether Realm – Death Plane The Life Realm – Life Plan
But unlike the seven true divine planes, the four Higher Planes were created by the Overgods of the four Edicts, which in turn meant that these four Higher Planes were much bigger, had greater spatial stability, and purer elemental essence.
But before he left, Linley wanted to have one last battle with his long-time rival. To which Ace readily agreed.
The fight started off fairly, even with both men choosing to utilise their respective concepts. Although in terms of comprehension of concepts, Ace was at a much higher level, because Linley’s dragonized form was so much more powerful physically, they were fairly balanced.
It should also be mentioned that after breaking through to become a Full God, when using [Armament Haki], Ace’s body was equal to that of a Full God artifact. Still, Linley’s Azure Dragon form was too domineering. Despite being a Full God, just his raw power alone put him on the level of some of the more powerful High Gods.
Still, as soon as they began using their comprehension of their respective elements, Linley found himself instantly blown away.
Because there was no one creating a Divine Plane of Earth, Linley chose to put his laws of Earth to the side for the duration of the training exercise. But with regards to the Laws of the Wind, his fusion of the Profound Mysteries of Velocity, Spatial Winds, and Wind Walking had reached 99%. Even though he hadn’t had the time to come up with a movement technique that would allow him to maximise his current comprehension, his speed had reached a truly unfathomable level.
Still, his most impressive achievement was, without a doubt, in the Laws of Water. He had completely fused the Profound Mysteries of Freezing, the Essence of Water, Waves, & Circular Softness.
Even though his efficiency when utilising his comprehension wasn’t the best yet, as he hadn’t had time to come up with corresponding techniques, when using it defensively, it still brought his defensive abilities to terrifying levels.
Ace tried repeatedly to break Linley’s defences, but it looked to be impossible.
According to Beirut, as it stood, purely in terms of material attacks, unless one was at the level of a seven-star fiend High God, it would be impossible to break Linley’s defences.
Still, Linley knew Ace was far from done and told Ace not to hold back anymore. If this was going to be their last battle for the foreseeable future, then he wanted to see his true power.
Hearing that, Ace nodded before summoning his visual manifestation. As the giant phantom of a golden sun appeared to his back, his Divine Essence multiplied in power five times over, but that was just the beginning.
Next, Ace wrapped his glaive in his flames, a feat that took every person present by surprise, especially his grandfather. To most, they could feel that the power of the flames had reached a terrifying level, but they couldn’t quite understand what level his comprehension had reached just by looking, but as a paragon in the laws of fire, Leylin could see from just a glance that Ace had actually begun fusing all six of the Law of Fire’s Profound Mysteries. Even if it was just at an embryonic stage, the fusion was very much real.
Still, Ace wasn’t done. Next, he infused his Willpower into his flames, making the power jump once again.
By that point, even though he hadn’t made a move, the space surrounding him was trembling under his might. Still, it was his next action that really showed off his invincible might.
Behind him, just under the Visual Manifestation of the Golden Sun, a sky-covering phantom of his Soul Form was conjured.
Everyone had seen the Divine Abilities of Ace and Milianna take form when they became deities, but because of Beirut’s intervention, no one understood what it did. It was only now that they were able to sense that it directly doubled the user’s Willpower.
Although Ace had already known what his Divine Ability was capable of, he couldn’t help but feel intoxicated by the power coursing through his veins at that moment. Even though he was a Full God, it was only then that he felt like a genuine God, in the truest sense of the word. It was like he could feel the world bending beneath his will.
His attack was the definition of simplicity. It was a simple thrust. The same technique Wukong taught him back when he was first learning how to wield his glaive, but the power was out of this world. The space surrounding him was torn and distorted like paper, unable to bear the might of Ace’s attack.
Linley’s eyes constricted. In that moment, for the first time since exiting the Necropolis of the Gods 150 years ago, he felt the fear of death. Still, when he saw the calm confident smile on Ace’s face, he couldn’t help but roar angrily, as though he was furious with himself for daring to feel fear when stood across from his rival. In that moment, he didn’t care that he could die, he just refused to step back, instead choosing to meet Ace’s strike head-on.
Thankfully, Beirut’s body flickered, appearing between the two, casually blocking both their strikes.
Unfortunately, it seemed that not even a Full God Artifact like Ace’s current Glaive was capable of withstanding the pressure of Ace’s current Willpower, shattering as it made contact with Beirut’s palm.