Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

Alissa asked what he wanted to do with the other former residents of Firm Nail Town, each of whom was trembling violently under Ace's gaze.

The smart thing to do would be to kill them, as the only ones that could be trusted to keep their secrets were the dead. Still, none of their group were overly bloodthirsty. As such, they decided to let them go, and they'd deal with whatever trouble came their way when and if it came to it.

After that, the group hurriedly took off, hoping to put as much distance between them and the scene of the crime as physically possible.

What none of them noticed, though, was that in the distance, in the opposite direction that Ace and his group fled, a cyan-robed man stood in the skies, staring in the direction of Ace's battle.

Their expression was one of pure shock and disbelief with a hint of fear, but the most noteworthy thing was that beside them, hovering by their right shoulder was a head-sized globule of water, and in that globe was the crystal-clear image of Kannal, Killian, and Ace taking action, and more importantly, Ace killing Gurman.

The man was just a Demi-God of the Laws of Water, but even though he was weak in the grand scheme of things, he was still more than powerful and skilled enough to use the eighth-rank spell, [Floating Scryer Technique], allowing him to record the battle that just took place with extreme clarity.

After confirming that Ace and his group had left and he was safe, a giant grin appeared on his face as he realised that he could become very rich by selling the recording to the right people.

After travelling non-stop for several days, Ace's group finally found a deserted mountain and decided to hole up in there so they could rest and come up with a plan for the future. But before that, they checked their new gains!

Everyone killed by Ace and the others was, at the very least, a High God, so they knew everyone would have at least a certain level of wealth. Still, as they went through everything, they couldn't help but feel slightly surprised.

From Killian, although the various Chiefs he killed didn't have any particularly special items, due to their positions as Chief, a position they undoubtedly held for thousands upon thousands of years, the amount of wealth they held numbered in the millions.

For Fuyare, although he was just a single person, his Fatestones also numbered in the millions, not much shy of the combined wealth of the three Chiefs and their subordinate High Gods.

Aside from that, though, he also had a number of artefacts, some of which were even High God Artefacts, including a couple of soul-protecting ones that he clearly nourished himself, as well as his research into the Edict of Death he had recorded in a tome. But as none of their group had an affinity to that particular Edict, they directly ignored it.

There were two things aside from the money and artefacts that caught Julius' eyes. One was a scroll named "Introduction into the Art of Formations," and the other was an ancient-looking tome called "[The Dual Battle Tactics]."

In their Yulan Plane, Fatty had always been interested in the art of formations; unfortunately, aside from Beirut, there was no one with any knowledge about the field. And since he couldn't go and ask Beirut to teach him, he had no way to get started until now.

As for the second one, it was a type of formation that could be used in battle and worked by linking the souls of two people using formations, allowing them to increase their respective power temporarily.

According to the information, although anyone could use it with enough practice and skill, it worked best when employed by a human and beast pair who have entered into a bond of partnership as their souls were already linked.

It also mentioned that those with the soul of a child would find it easier to succeed, or more specifically, those who had cultivated for less time. According to the description, the less time one cultivated, the less tainted a soul was, making it easier to connect to the soul of another.

Although they didn't completely understand his methods, Julius and the others could guess that Fuyare's interest in the souls of children had everything to do with helping him learn how to master this technique.

Thankfully, judging by the fact that Fuyare was still conducting experiments on children, he had yet to master the technique, which was good for Ace and their group. Although he had beaten Gurman convincingly, had Gurman and Fuyare been able to use the technique, things likely would've ended very differently.

The other positive was that it was almost tailor-made for Ace. Whether it was his wife, Amira, or his beast partner, Leona, his soul was connected to both of them, and both were far stronger than your average bond of equals.

Julius, though, had other plans. Although in terms of comprehension and the actual power he had at his disposal, he was far from the weakest in the group, he was still averse to fighting.

Over the last hundred or so years, he had matured greatly, but that almost pacifistic side of him still remained. That wasn't to say that he was a complete pacifist who wouldn't fight no matter what, but that he would rather not unless absolutely necessary.

Still, at times, it made him feel slightly useless among the group like he was unable to pull his weight, but if he were able to become a master of formations, he'd be able to assist his friends in other ways, and if he was able to one day reach a level in the art of formations which allowed him to not only master this technique but even change it so that he could fuse the power of their whole group into one…

Although he was far from even being able to begin a project like that, he was determined nonetheless.

Finally, there was the storage ring of the 7-Star Fiend, Gurman.

Unlike his brother, he was completely and utterly broke. There wasn't even a single Fatestone. Still, Ace's eyes widened with shock and delight when he laid his eyes on the only two items stored inside.

The first was a silver flat, which Ace immediately recognised as a metallic lifeform. Though nowhere near the size of Beirut's, considering they got it for free, it was more than they could have asked for.

But more importantly, besides the metallic lifeform was a small, singular drop of golden-white liquid, no bigger than a single fingernail.

It was a drop of Sovereign's Might. Sovereign's Might of Fate, to be exact.

Because everyone was given three drops of Sovereign's Might by Beirut, they had already agreed that if they were to acquire any more in the future, it would be divided equally among those with an affinity to it. And as the only one with an affinity to the Edict of Fate, the drop was immediately handed to Julius, who ended up the biggest winner when distributing the spoils.

After that, Ace and the others decided to come up with a plan for what to do next. Unfortunately, their options were still fairly limited.

In the end, they decided to spend some time where they were. First, to finish consolidating their strength and their comprehension of their respective Concepts, but also to allow the death of Gurman and his brother to blow over.

Half a year later, the Demi-God who had secretly managed to record the battle of Ace and the others had just made it to the closest major city – Violet Cloud Prefecture.

Violet Cloud Prefecture was a giant and very well-known city in the Celestial Realm. And unlike the cities back in the Yulan Plane, this was a seemingly technologically advanced-looking city.

It had to be understood that, although this universe didn't have technology running off of electricity like the One Piece universe Ace had originated from, it did have its own form of technology, technology based on the use of formations, harnessing the energy of the world around them, and of all the various planes, the Celestial Realm was by far the most advanced as far as their knowledge of formations.

As such, whilst the various tribes and towns located in the more desolate regions of the realm were more primitive in nature, the major cities were anything but.

After paying the entrance fee to enter the City, the Demi-God hurriedly made his way to a building called the Tower of Knowledge – a nine-story pagoda located in the central region of the city owned by the "Knowledge-Seeking Corporation" (KSC).

Although the Fate-Seekers were the most powerful force in the Celestial Realm, the "KSC" was a close second, and what they lacked in power, they more than made up for in information and wealth. Not only were they the Celestial Realm's number-one intelligence-gathering organisation, but they also rivalled the Fate Seekers when it came to buying and selling goods, with many choosing to sell to them despite the decrease in price, and that was all because, above all else, the KSC valued their customer's privacy making any potential customers feel safe trading with them.

When he arrived, he immediately asked to conduct a private sale. His request shocked not only the receptionist behind the till but also those in the vicinity who overheard him.

It had to be understood that when selling goods to the KSC, if they were ordinary, they couldn't be sold in private; only truly exquisite items and treasures could be traded in private.

As for the sale of information, the information being sold had to be of a certain level; otherwise, the KSC wouldn't be interested.

As such, no matter what the man wanted to sell, for him to request a private trade, he was either a complete idiot who didn't understand the rules or, luckily, managed to discover a windfall.

The receptionist led him into a private room where one of the Tower's senior members of staff was waiting.

The Demi-God told the senior member of staff everything that he witnessed, including the fact that Ace was just a Full-God. His story shocked the member of staff to his core.

As Firm Nail Town's Chief wasn't a resident of the Violet Cloud Prefecture, he knew a bit about the former 7-Star Seeker, but he had no idea Gurman was far from just your average 7-Star Seeker; he was actually the only disciple of Lord Violet-Cloud – the ruler of Violet Cloud City.

Lord Violet Cloud was a very famous and extremely powerful Commander-level expert who had already fused five Profound Mysteries over 100,000 years ago; unfortunately, because he had entered closed-door meditation several thousand years ago in an attempt to begin fusing his sixth profound mystery, he wasn't spoken about much anymore.

Still, everyone who knew about the relationship between Lord Violet-Cloud and Gurman knew that Lord Violet Clown heavily doted on this disciple of his. It was because of this that their branch of the Fate Seeker's Association was so willing to go to such lengths as to protect Gurman's brother in order to please him.

If, no when Violet-Cloud finds out about the death of his disciple, there was no doubt that he would go to extreme measures to find the person responsible and make them pay with their lives.

But before that, he needed to verify that everything the Demi-God was saying was true.

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