After their talk, it really put things into perspective for both Amira and Ace. And the bottom line was simply that, as much as they had improved in the last thousand-plus years, they still weren't strong enough.
Still, it wasn't all bad. They were definitely a lot closer to finding out the truth about what happened to the Vis Clan.
Regardless, they had no time to waste; as such, Amira immediately went with Augusta to watch him create a new Divine Plane of Light.
Augusta was an extremely ancient Sovereign; in fact, he was one of the few original Sovereigns still alive; as such, he had created more than his fair share of Divine Planes of Light. So, even though he had yet to become a paragon in the laws of light, the chances of the creation of another one being able to help him progress were slim to none, but for Amira, this truly was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
Although she had bore witness to the creation for three back when she was on the Yulan Plane, they were for the elements of Wind, Water, and Fire. It was for that reason that her insights into the laws of the wind were so far ahead of her insights into the laws of Light, despite having a slight and innate preference for the laws of Light. This was truly a godsend for her.
At the same time, back in the Celestial Realm, though Ace now understood the reason behind Augusta taking Amira with him, he even agreed with it. Still, he couldn't help but feel a little ticked off by it.
If Augusta had said all of this back when they had first returned to the Celestial Realm, Ace would've been the first to agree with him. After all, Ace wanted nothing more than for his wife to be safe and sound whilst he was the one to shoulder all the danger alone – even if it meant being without her. But he hadn't. Instead, Augusta had made off with his wife like a kidnapper.
Veins bulged and pulsated on the corner of his head as he grinned wickedly, cursing Augusta aloud, taking all the others by surprise. He promised that once this was all said and done, he would definitely pay that "old fart" back tenfold.
Still, that was a problem for a future date, for right now, he and the others had to make a decision on how they wanted to proceed from here on out.
He still had another 500 years before the start of the Planar Wars and, by extension, another 1500 years before it ended. Even if he didn't enter immediately, he was determined to make every second count between now and then.
After telling his group about what Augusta had told Amira, like Ace, they all agreed with the Chief Sovereign's assessment. The only thing they didn't agree with was forcing Ace to enter on his own.
In their eyes, considering who their potential enemy was, Ace being forced to do it alone was foolish.
It was then that Ace came up with the idea that they enter as well, but instead of entering on the side of the Divine Plane Light, they join the side of the Divine Darkness Plane.
Ace's thinking was two-fold. On the one hand, they would be able to keep an eye on the happenings of their side, and if Muyan really did enter, they would likely be among the first to know and would be able to let Ace know in advance, but in Ace's eyes, the best part about this plan was that they would be able to help Ace start paying Augusta back.
When they enter, they could start targeting the Light Plane experts and, more specifically, the members of the Augusta Clan.
Ace had no intention of killing them, but he would teach the Augusta an incredibly profound lesson, the likes of which they had never experienced before.
But before that, under the suggestion of Verano, they decided that they would spend the next few hundred years exploring the Celestial Realm, specifically, its forbidden regions.
According to Verano, not only were they extremely dangerous to even commander-level experts, but they were often home to some pretty unique and valuable resources that may help them bolster their strength.
Before they left, though, Verano asked Julius if he wanted to follow him for the next few hundred years, just until he was ready to enter the Planar Battlefield.
Verano had been greatly appreciative of Julius' affinity and love for the art of formations and wanted to take him as a disciple to whom he could pass on all of his knowledge.
Julius was hesitant. On the one hand, he really did love the art of formations, and the chances of him getting another opportunity like this in the future were slim, but on the other hand, he was the only member of the Golden Sun Pirates who could act as the lynchpin of the [Celestial Body Battle Tactics]. Without him, they wouldn't be able to use it, and if the group ran into another terrible situation, especially one where they were forced to face a paragon, Ace would be forced to reveal his ability to use his Willpower to save everyone.
Still, Ace to do it. Between now and the time when they'd be entering the Planar Battlefield, they wouldn't be going around stirring up trouble. They would predominantly be focused on training. Plus, if things did go wrong in the Planar War, they'd need to rely on his formations then more than ever.
With Julius leaving to follow Verano, the Golden Sun Pirates went from ten down to eight. Well, Garot, Qimai, and Weslor were still with them, but Garot had decided that he, too, would be leaving to head to the Infernal Realm to rid his clan of their troubles.
As for Qimai and Weslor, they had decided they would also leave to reunite with the rest of their Pirate Crew. As for what they'd do after that, they had decided to leave the Celestial Realm for another of the Higher Realms.
Though they were far from being considered peak experts of the Celestial Realm, after the Golden Sun Pirates had so publicly destroyed the Boleyn Clan to save them, there wouldn't be many who dared to stand in their way, which in their mind meant they wouldn't lack opponents to use as whetstones.
Though Kannal and the others would be lying if they said they weren't worried, they still respected their decision.
After everyone else left, the eight remaining members of the Golden Sun Pirates spent the next hundred or so years adventuring through various forbidden regions of the Celestial Realm.
Still, although the dangers they faced were varied, they weren't particularly dangerous, and that didn't even take into account that with their current fame, everyone would avoid them like the plague as soon as they saw the Golden Sun Flag atop their Metallic Lifeform ship.
And even when they did run into a danger that was dangerous even for Commanders, with monsters like Ace, Killian, and Leona present, those "threats" were treated more like toys.
As he was now, even without relying upon any of his haki-related abilities, between his Visual Manifestation, his insight into *True Fire* reaching over 90%, and his Blazing Glaive Art having reached the High God Realm, Ace's strength had reached the uppermost levels of Commanders, faintly even surpassing ordinary experts like Druelle who had comprehended 99% of their *True Law/Edict*.
As for Leona, though she still hadn't made a definitive breakthrough as far as her realm was concerned, her fusion of the Profound Mystery of the Essence of Fire and the Edict of Destruction had reached over 75%. Although she was still weaker than experts like Druelle, it wasn't by much at all!
Still, with Ace having to hold back a lot of his power, the strongest of the group now was, without a doubt, Killian. As a Full God level three-way soul mutate, even without factoring in his comprehension, he was still stronger than most five-star Fate Seekers, but with Killian's affinity to the laws of Earth being no weaker than Amira and Ace's, it was impossible not to include his comprehension.
After 100 years of adventuring through the Celestial Realm, Killian had finally begun comprehending *True Earth*. Although it was barely even 1% of the finished product, the improvement it brought to his strength was very noticeable.
As he was now, Killian's strength was able to rank somewhere between Druelle and ordinary paragons like Fu'Raz.
Between the three of them, it was no wonder why the so-called forbidden regions posed so little threat to them, but that all changed when they entered a region called the Bloodless Cavern.
According to legend, anyone who entered would find their blood being devoured by Blood-Root Plum – a dangerous fruit unique to the region. It devours the blood of all that enter, feeding on it to grow.
When fully matured, anyone who eats it will find the strength of their body improved to the point where the bodies of normal humans would be able to match that of ordinary Divine Beasts. It was why, despite the dangers, so many would constantly enter.
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