Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

Ever since she first saw the effects of utilising Concepts, Yunaia had been thoroughly impressed. A feeling that only deepened the more she watched Linley use it in battle these last six months.

But watching Linley and Ace clash, she felt as though she had been mesmerised.

Compared to when she would watch Linley use the [Rippling Tide Stance] against the creatures here on the fifth floor, when using it against Ace's [Blazing Glaive Art], it was tens, if not hundreds of times more impressive.

The contrasting styles of Ace's wild and explosive [Blazing Glaive Art] pitted against Linley's soft, graceful, and elegant [Rippling Tide Stance] from his [Serenity Sword Art] was magical.

Despite each of their attacks having enough power and ferocity to send the average peak saint to their deaths, both young men smiled happily as they continued to exchange blow after blow, and to those who watched, it appeared as if they were dancing a captivating but deadly dance. Each move, while deadly and powerful, had a rhythm and grace to it that was truly enthralling.

Ace's glaive swept through the air, leaving trails of fiery explosions in its wake. Linley moved with fluidity, his twin swords flowing like water as he parried Ace's strikes. The power of fire and water clashed in a mesmerising display of weapon mastery.

Still, despite their apparent glee from battling a worthy opponent, neither of the young men were willing to lose to the other. Ace's eyes blazed with fiery determination as he brought his glaive down in a sweeping arc, creating a blazing crescent of destruction. Linley, with a calm and focused expression, countered with a precise series of slashes, his twin swords rippling with power.

Their weapons clashed, creating shockwaves that shook the already decimated jungle to its core, and yet, the two rivals seemed to be enjoying themselves to no end, their exhilaration palpable, and even their blood seemed to thrum with excitement.

The dance of fire and water continued, each strike and parry a testament to their exceptional skills, but even more impressive was that, as the battle raged on, their techniques evolved, and their movements became even more fluid and synchronised.

"They're actually improving," Yunaia uttered with a hint of disbelief, unwilling to so much as blink for fear that she would miss even a single second of this captivating battle.

"What did you expect from my boss?" Bebe said proudly as he stood on his rear legs atop Olivier's head with his chest puffed out.

Olivier didn't respond, but the slight trembling of his balled fist and the unyielding light flashing in his eyes spoke a thousand words!

The battle between Ace and Linley was a sight to behold, a harmonious clash of elements and fighting styles that left onlookers in awe. They pushed each other to their limits, and the jungle around them bore witness to their extraordinary display of power and grace.

Neither of them were willing to use any actual techniques, instead wanting to use their weapons-manship to suppress the other.

In terms of skill, Linley was clearly the inferior of the two. There were two reasons he was able to fight Ace to a standstill for so long. Firstly, whilst Ace was a warrior at the early stages of the seventh rank, Linley had broken through to the early stages of the ninth rank. But most importantly, Ace was still fatigued from his previous battle with Lachapelle – the prime saint-level plant-type lifeform.

Still, Ace's glaivesmanship was at least two levels above Linley's swordsmanship. As the battle raged on, it became easier and easier for the young Glaivesman to suppress his opponent.

"Arghhh, Dammit!" Linley growled unwillingly as he leapt out of the pit he created after being sent flying by Ace's last attack. "That [Observation Haki] of yours is so annoying!"

As rivals and even good friends, Linley understood almost everything about the abilities of Ace's bloodline. As such, he was well aware of Ace's cheat-like ability to peer a few seconds into the future.

Between that and Ace's superior weapon handling, it was easy to understand how Ace was able to gain the upper hand in their battle.

Still, although impressive, Ace was finding that particular ability less and less useful. Apparently, the stronger the opponent, the more of a toll it took on his spiritual essence to use it. As such, he could only afford to use it sparingly when fighting against saints, but against mortals, there was simply no need to use it at all.

Still, when used at the right time, it was particularly useful, as one could see from his clash with Linley.

"You're one to talk!" Ace scoffed. "You're only a warrior at the ninth rank, but after transforming, you jump all the way to the peak of the saint realm!"

Ace's reply left Linley temporarily speechless as he knew Ace wasn't wrong.

It had to be remembered that although the saint realm was split into three sub-realms, the difference in power between each sub-realm was like a giant gulf. The average mid-saint could easily suppress ten early saints, and the difference between the middle and peak stages of the saint realm was easily double that.

So, for Linley to be able to jump all the way to the peak stage of the saint realm as an early ninth-rank warrior… it truly was a heaven-defying ability!

"Alright, alright, we get it; you're both freaks!" Amira rolled her enchanting golden eyes as she strolled towards them alongside Leona. "Show-offs!"

"Mira, Leona," Linley greeted warmly. "It's good to see you both again."

Although the person he was closest to from the Pavilion was Ace, after fighting together against the coalition of the four major forces and then training together in the secret pocket dimension, Linley had grown close to all of Ace's friends and family.

"Mmh, you look well," Mira replied before looking curiously at the group approaching. "Aren't you going to introduce us to your new friends?"

"Ah, right, I almost forgot," Linley said suddenly.

"Olivier needs no introductions," Linley voiced, remembering that Olivier and Ace had already clashed once several years ago. "But this is Yunaia Qingya and her familiar Oscar."

They had already learnt from her brief introduction prior to entering the Necropolis that Yunaia's surname was Qingya and that, like Amira's master, Arianna, she was also a genuine descendant of the Qingya family.

Unfortunately, at the time, they didn't have the opportunity to ask and give voice to the questions they had. But now…

"Are you really a descendant of the Qingya family?" Ace asked curiously. "Beirut said that most of the Qingya clan relocated to the Divine Wind Plane a long time ago. Is that where you came from?"

"No," Yunaia shook her head slowly. "My grandmother wasn't one of those who chose to relocate back then."

"She wasn't?" Ace asked bluntly. "Then where have you guys been all this time?"

"Ace! Must you be so direct?" Amira sighed helplessly as she flashed an apologetic smile towards Yunaia. "Sorry about him; we're just curious as my master is also a descendant of the Qingya clan, but till now, she thought she was the last remaining descendant."

"It's fine, I understand," Yunaia smiled softly. "As for where we've been all this time… It's a long story, but due to certain events a few thousand years ago, my grandmother ended up being banished to the Gebados Planar Prison."

"Gebados Prison?" Ace asked, with clear confusion on his face. "Where's that?"

Though Ace was no longer the ignorant reincarnate he once was, there was still a lot about this universe he didn't know.

But the same couldn't be said about Amira. With her "mother", Sharanthia, being an expert who descended from one of the Divine Realms, she had access to far more information than even her master, an expert who stands near the very peak of their common plane.

"The Gebados Planar Prison is a plane which exists alongside our Yulan Plane," Amira explained slowly after getting over her surprise. "According to my family's records, within the seemingly boundless universe, there are millions, if not billions, of material planes like ours, and every single one of those planes has an interconnected Planar Prison.

The material planes and their respective planar prisons combine to effectively form two sides of a whole."

"You keep calling it a prison, but is it really a whole plane of existence that's used as a prison?" Ace asked.

"It really is," Yunaia sighed. "As the Yin to the Yulan Plane's Yang, the Gebados Plane is just as big as its counterpart but hundreds, if not thousands of times more brutal!

In the Gebados Plane, peak saints are at the bottom of the pecking order. This is because the Gebados Plane has no natural elemental essence at all. Any elemental energy that is used up can't be replenished through natural means. As such, there are only three ways of recovering one's elemental essence.

The first is for someone to channel their own energy into your body for you to refine, but because of how brutal the Prison Plane is, it's virtually impossible for someone to be willing to do that for you. Luckily, I'm still only a mortal, and my grandmother is a powerful deity. Because of the difference in power between us, she can help me refill my energy levels almost at will.

The following method available is with the use of certain treasures, but as you can probably imagine, such treasures don't simply grow on trees, meaning that those who find such treasures aren't likely to use them unless it's a last resort.

The final and most common method is for one to kill deity-level experts.

When one breaks through to become a deity, they will form a Divine Spark. Unlike for us mortals and even saints whose dantians aren't corporeal, the Divine Spark of a Deity is very much tangible and as a result, it is possible to absorb the energy in a Divine Spark to refill your own.

Still, because of how powerful deities are, only those truly powerful Full Gods and High-Gods are capable of such a feat."

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Story Complete!

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