People's Dreams Never End!

People's dreams never end! (Extra-long chapter! Please vote with your monthly tickets~)

Unlike his father, who was uncertain, shocked, and even roaring in fury, Ace stood motionless in the street.

Unlike the onlookers who had backed away in terror, afraid that the Radiant King's attack might catch them in its wake, his stance did not waver in the slightest. His confidence was firm: his leader, Ian Silverpeak, would surely act and save him from this disaster.

And that was indeed what happened. His once-arrogant father was now fearful. He retreated, afraid of that faint, ethereal silver line—his lord's warning contained no words, yet that silent implication alone was enough to keep even the Fourth Energy Level Radiant King from advancing.

"Ian!"

He was even roaring. The Radiant King was questioning why Ian had intervened and why he was meddling in Blazing Flame Lands internal affairs.

His threats were feeble and powerless, relying only on the authority of the state to intimidate others.

But how could that frighten a Fifth Energy Level being? Before their power, no one could be threatened by matters of state and nation.

And the Silverpeak Prophet truly did not answer him, making the Radiant King increasingly furious and anxious.

"Father."

So Ace spoke. His voice was calm, even carrying a trace of pity. "What exactly do you want to question? What is it you want to say?"

"My lord wishes to protect me. Do you have the right to question that?"

Then Ace saw the Radiant King's gaze shift toward him. That blazing hatred was like focused sunlight, making even his soul grow hot.

The Fifth Energy Level Bloodline, the "Spiritlight Swarm," was a Void Realm insect swarm that fed upon the life force and psionics of intelligent beings. Any creature—even ordinary humans, who possessed no souls and had never collectively become Sublimers—still retained some Origin Matter and psionics within their bodies. The Spiritlight Swarm could stimulate the energy lodged in flesh cells and brains, making it burn fiercely and turn all of a person's spiritual life into pure spiritual matter for them to devour. Those consumed would suddenly burst into flames, reduced to a pile of ash.

"Soul-Burning Eye." This was already a fairly advanced application of the Spiritlight Swarm, requiring at least the Third Energy Level to use. With the Radiant King's current strength driving it, that furious gaze alone could burn away the souls of an entire army.

Yet now, it could not harm even a single person. Ace felt his soul heat up, but that was all.

At that moment, Ace saw the Radiant King, who had been using his power, suddenly spit out a mouthful of gleaming white blood. His Soul-Burning Eye, capable of scorching souls and destroying the Origin Matter-Aether circulation within a body, shut tightly as two bloody tears streamed down.

Clearly, Ian's previous strike from afar had not merely injured the Radiant King; it had also placed a restriction inside him!

That restriction prevented him from displaying great power. The moment he used his techniques, he would injure himself!

Seeing this, Ace felt even more pity. "Father, you can keep attacking me—use the righteous cause of Blazing Flame Lands internal affairs to judge me."

"But is that righteousness greater than the will of a Fifth Energy Level being?"

"And do you truly believe that we, the invaders who failed, possess any right to speak of 'righteousness'?"

"Father—when you judge me for spreading a Fifth Energy Level Bloodline, do you believe the people support you?"

One challenge followed another, and Ace's words left the Radiant King unable to refute him.

That was right. There was no possibility of it. Power was Terra's supreme truth. He was only at the Fourth Energy Level—what right did he have to judge someone a Fifth Energy Level being wanted to protect?

Even the people of Blazing Flame Lands would think the Radiant King arrogant, not the Silverpeak Prophet!

As for Ace, who had spread the Fifth Energy Level Bloodline, he now appeared to those onlookers like a prophet or sage. Looking around at the surrounding streets, the Radiant King could see that although everyone was unwilling to speak due to his power, they were all watching Ace, concerned for the safety of this rebellious son of his!

The Radiant King knew that if he continued to speak of law and righteousness, he would only humiliate himself. People loved power more than they loved Blazing Flame Lands.

Damn it!

At this moment, the Radiant King was both shocked and enraged, for he had realized that Ian Silverpeak's earlier blow had not merely wounded him—it had sealed the Aether Sky Lock into his body!

This was the Silverpeak Prophet's ultimate technique. The first time he had used it was at the psionic representative assembly in the City of Knowledge. With only a glance, he had sealed a powerful person's movements, leaving him unable to move.

This was a technique only someone with an incomparably deep understanding of the Aether flows within the human body could use. The Radiant King was certainly stronger than that City of Knowledge guest, but now, whenever he tried to activate his Soul Light Body and Aether, a force immediately disrupted him and caused backlash injuries.

So that's it. He won't let me use power above the Second Energy Level... This is my limit, the "boundary" he has drawn for me!

Raising his head, the Radiant King looked at Ace before him—his own son.

Ace watched his "test subject" with pitying eyes.

He was not foolish. His fury had merely been a "display" he needed to put on, so that his people could understand his actions—people believed the Radiant King would be angry, so he became angry.

But inwardly, the Radiant King had always been calm. At this moment, however, he hated that calmness, because it made him understand Ian's true intention.

—Defeat Ace using Second Energy Level power.

—Radiant King Karlo Nemasas, if you truly want to salvage even a shred of face from me, then bear my restriction and defeat my apostle, my missionary, Ace.

—If you cannot even do that...

If I cannot even do this...

Then I truly deserve to lose everything and become a sacrifice to the new age.

Muttering under his breath, he closed his eyes. When the Radiant King opened them again, his presence had completely steadied. "Ace, fight me."

"As you wish. I will battle you with Second Energy Level power... Let me see what gives you the confidence to challenge me!"

"You are mistaken."

Ace stepped forward as well. This Arcane missionary said in a deep voice, "I am not challenging you, Father. You came here. You decided on your own to judge me and kill me, to obstruct me while I spread my teachings and methods."

"And now it is the same—it is you who are challenging me!"

"You, a bloodline noble of the old era, are challenging our Arcane Path!"

This world had changed greatly.

And many things in this world had not changed.

After returning to Blazing Flame Lands, Ace saw how the people lived.

They could now fill their bellies. They had laughter. They lived in houses much like those of the past, imagining all kinds of futures.

They knew that, in that future, royal construction teams would build new districts and public facilities for them. Libraries would open, bathhouses and swimming pools would be built, affordable teahouses and fish markets would be established throughout Blazing Flame Lands, grain prices would be stabilized, fruits and vegetables imported, and things beneficial to the public would be done.

Was that enough?

It was not.

These changes had not come because Blazing Flame Lands' rulers sincerely wanted to change. They had come only because there was a Perpetual Motion Machine, only because Ian Silverpeak had done better than everyone else, forcing the others to compete, learn, and imitate.

The world had changed only because "he" had arrived.

The Silverpeak Prophet had appeared in the world, and thus heaven and earth had undergone tremendous change.

Not to mention that even more things remained unchanged.

The hierarchy of bloodlines, the inequality of human rights... Merely because of what one inherited at birth, one person could naturally look down upon another and surpass them in every way.

If this were an unbridgeable difference between two species, like pigs and tigers, then so be it. One could simply accept one's fate.

But this was not such an insurmountable gulf.

Through the Arcane Path, anyone could possess a Fifth Energy Level Bloodline—that was not some fucking sacred "blood bestowed by heaven." It was "humanity's power," something every human could possess, learn, and pass down!

It was the spoils that Pre-Epoch Civilization had seized from countless alien gods for all humanity, at the cost of innumerable sacrifices!

Anyone could sacrifice. Anyone could protect. This was absolutely not power that only one family or one person could wield!

Everyone could freely choose the future they wanted. Everyone could possess the highest possible potential!

Every person would possess their own power...

To fulfill their own dreams!

"Karlo Nemasas! You cannot stop this mighty Torrent!"

As he stepped forward and gathered strength, the Heartbane Demon he had personally chosen, having sincerely embraced those "thoughts that brainwashed him," let out a furious roar from the depths of his heart. "Because people's dreams will never be extinguished!"

At this moment, dazzling white light surged from both Ace and the Radiant King. As that power spread, floating dust in the streets froze in place, the evening sunlight grew dimmer, and the flying mosquitoes and crawling insects on the ground all began to combust spontaneously. The entire world was left with only the brilliant radiance around the two of them.

Only then could one vaguely see the difference between their bloodlines.

The Spiritlight Swarm around the Radiant King resembled a swarm of bees, spinning around him at high speed as it extended over a dozen light tentacles toward Ace. The Spiritlight Swarm around Ace, however, seemed somewhat sluggish. It merely floated in place, flickering like starlight and barely moving at all.

This was Ace's bloodline defect. Though he had inherited the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline, his Spiritlight Swarm could not move freely. Thus, he had been considered an inferior product and used for demon experiments.

"You did not even fix this flaw. What exactly did you learn in Silverpeak Domain that makes you dare return and resist me?"

Though the Radiant King disparaged him aloud, inwardly he became more vigilant. An anomaly meant something special, and special could mean weakness or strength. Ian Silverpeak could not possibly have been unable to cure even this problem. If he had chosen not to, it meant Ace possessed a "powerful talent" within this defect.

But even knowing that, he needed to test him. More than a dozen light tentacles accelerated at once, converging upon Ace from every direction at supersonic speed like more than a dozen spiritlight storms. The air in their path was compressed into a vacuum, and force sufficient to crush an entire city block slammed down upon Ace.

Around him.

The stationary Spiritlight Swarm around Ace suddenly lit up. Trails of light crisscrossed through the individual Spiritlight Swarm units, forming one incomparably complex inscription formation after another. An immensely sturdy protective barrier formed, shielding its master.

The stability with which the immobile Spiritlight Swarm transmitted psionic power far surpassed that of an ordinary Spiritlight Swarm. Used for defense, it truly was a first-rate bloodline!

Explosive crackles of air rang out one after another. They were the blasts produced by the collision of the psionic power of two different Spiritlight Swarms. The Radiant King's attack returned without result, yet he was not surprised in the least.

He raised a hand, and the ring on his finger flashed. The light tentacles surrounding Ace, unable to penetrate his defenses, immediately burst into flames. Within several hundred meters, all air ignited, and all Origin Matter Psionics was converted and absorbed into the Radiant King's power.

The Spiritlight Swarm was inherently a bloodline capable of both close and long-range combat. Yet unlike what everyone believed, although the Radiant King usually wore armor and carried a sword, appearing to be a warrior who fought on battlefields, what he excelled at was using psionic techniques and ritual arts—the methods of a "caster."

For a moment, the surrounding onlookers' expressions changed. They retreated rapidly, because with the two royal-blood wielders at its center, the city's entire central district had become a lifeless dead zone. All air, psionics, and Origin Matter were absorbed by the Radiant King, gathering into a sphere of pure white light in the palm of his ring-bearing right hand.

At the same time, he gripped a sword in his left hand. Glittering jewels were set into its blade and had seemed to be mere ornaments, but now they all rose and burned. They were clearly reserve energy stores condensed from pure life force. White sword auras slashed and stabbed out one after another, several times more powerful than the earlier tentacle strikes. They crashed against the defensive barrier around Ace with thunderous booms, causing everyone in the city to cover their ears instinctively, faces twisted in pain.

—If you defend, I will drain all external power and smash apart your turtle shell!

Struck by this barrage, Ace's expression shifted slightly and his body swayed. Compared to ordinary Second Energy Level beings, the Radiant King's power was on a completely different level. Supersonic attacks and techniques capable of demolishing skyscrapers and flattening city blocks poured forth as though they cost nothing.

This firepower was even more terrifying than an entire artillery emplacement. Any one of the dozens of sword auras unleashed each second was comparable to a ten-round barrage from a 460-millimeter super-heavy naval cannon!

Even at the Second Energy Level, the Radiant King's power was enough to destroy an entire legion!

Why could Ace give such a specific assessment?

Because he had genuinely been bombarded by Silverpeak Domain artillery positions before!

Father's strength exceeds my estimates somewhat, but it remains within the safety margin.

Light trails flickered continuously around him. The Spiritlight Swarm around Ace shifted its trajectories slightly, and under the impact of external force, its structure became even more perfect. His gaze locked onto the sphere of light in the Radiant King's right hand.

That sphere contained terrifying power. It was a fusion of pure life energy and psionics—in other words, a kind of "Primordial Aether." Relying on his Fourth Energy Level experience, the Radiant King had actually fused two powers into Aether at the Second Energy Level through the unique nature of his bloodline.

For a Second Energy Level being, this was absolutely not a force that could be confronted head-on.

Unless... Ace also possessed a similar technique.

"Just as expected, it is not only Silverpeak Domain. Father also possesses a method that lets Sublimers contact 'Sub-Aether' at the Second Energy Level..."

Ace came to a realization. "But whether it is Battle Aura or the Life Psionics Refinement Method, the Arcane Path makes them public. Yet the secret art Father developed who knew how many years ago remains so 'primitive.'"

At that moment, the sphere in the Radiant King's hand had compressed to its limit. Halos like rosy clouds gathered in from every direction and merged into it, making its glow gradually turn translucent, until only its core remained pure white.

It was emptiness, extinction, rebirth found only after death—the power of life itself. The Radiant King's momentum now reached its peak. Sand, soil, stone, and flames around him slowly rose under the pull of that power, spinning around him before bursting into fierce flames. The Blazing Flame Lands people who had retreated several kilometers away and were watching through telescopes all looked horrified. Even from so far away, they felt something within their bodies being drawn forth and ignited, turning into wisps of pure life and soul power that flowed toward that sole source of light to become fuel for his spiritlight.

"This move has already reached Third Energy Level power!"

In the Bison Mountains, Elan watched this scene with a grave expression. He often watched his older brother and others demonstrate techniques, and he could use Retrospective Vision to observe many powerful people sparring. Though his own techniques were still immature, his eye for battle was already exceptional. "His own Life Psionics, his own Origin Matter, plundering the Nature Psionics outside, igniting natural Origin Matter, then fusing them outside his body through exquisite control... This is already True Aether!"

"If the Radiant King were at the Fourth Energy Level... No, he would only need the Third Energy Level. With the stability of the Soul Light Body, his control would undergo a qualitative change. He could affect the weather across this city and the surrounding Wilderness, creating a terrifying Soulburn natural disaster that would instantly kill all life within hundreds of miles!"

This was merely the phenomenon produced by the Radiant King using Second Energy Level power, yet it could erase everyone in an entire city. At the Third or Fourth Energy Level, destroying a nation would take only a few moves. No wonder Third Energy Level and above were high-level Sublimers, qualified to participate in events that shaped the world... And a Fifth Energy Level Bloodline was even more powerful, able to touch the threshold of such power at the Second Energy Level!

—Though Ace also possessed a Fifth Energy Level Bloodline, could the techniques he learned in Silverpeak Domain really surpass the Radiant King's inherited secret arts?

Elan instinctively looked toward his older brother, only to discover that Ian's expression was incomparably calm. Ace's expression in the light screen was just like Ian's, utterly unconcerned by the Radiant King's secret technique.

—He definitely could. Absolutely could!

"Are you done preparing?"

Ace even spoke up at this moment. "Then make your move."

The Radiant King froze slightly. He had not expected his opponent to let him gather power simply so that he could take his strongest strike head-on. Then genuine fury surged from his heart. "Fine!"

Raising his hand, the spiritlight had condensed into a nearly material, semi-solid structure like a gemstone or jade. The hand holding that spiritlight jade was encircled by blazing life-light. He raised two fingers and pointed directly at Ace. Instantly, an unstoppable cascade of light, like a collapsing mountain and a surging tsunami, erupted and swept mightily toward the missionary.

Everywhere it passed, whether ruined houses or shattered streets and ground, all sand, dust, and mist were blown away.

Every ordinary person who tried to watch that strike shut their eyes through streaming tears, writhing on the ground in agony. The power had scorched their eyes, leaving them unable to see or speak.

This colossal, pure-life impact, as if heaven and earth were collapsing, simply could not have been unleashed by a single life-form. Only truly prehistoric behemoths or collective life-forms could possess such terrifying energy output. Before the spiritlight blast even fully struck Ace, the ground beneath him had already collapsed, pressed into a crater nearly ten meters deep.

Yet Ace still did not move an inch.

Even as the earth beneath his feet crumbled away, the Spiritlight Swarm around Ace remained firm as rock. Invisible light flashed unceasingly among the fixed, shining Spiritlight Swarm units, like a stream of light constantly refracting through an array of mirrors.

The light stream continued to circulate and focus, continuously gathering and refining within itself. Gradually, the quality of that spiritlight rapidly rose. The powerful impact even caused Ace's previously stable, immobile Spiritlight Swarm to begin moving and rotating slowly.

Like satellites orbiting Ace, they formed a massive, intricate bulwark array that continuously shifted and strengthened!

"This is!"

Elan was slightly stunned. He could tell that Ace was continuously layering his power within his defensive array, refining his psionics and life Origin Matter until they approached "Battle Aura." The powerful Battle Aura made the Spiritlight Swarm begin to move as well, turning into a vortex that started drawing Nature Origin Matter Psionics from the surrounding space-time, seeking to elevate the Battle Aura into the same "True Aether" wielded by the Radiant King!

The two were the same secret technique, based on the same principles but operated differently! The difference was that the Radiant King could only activate it through his own experience and control, whereas Ace's method followed a clear structure. Anyone with the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline could activate it this way so long as they learned his defensive array model! It also required less energy, without needing to gather all life force and psionics from the surrounding space-time as the Radiant King had!

Moreover, because of both the defect and advantage of Ace's Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline, his support for the Spiritlight Swarm was far more stable than that of ordinary Spiritlight Swarm wielders, and the power he condensed was even more solid!

As the satellite-like rotating Spiritlight Swarm defense grew sturdier and sturdier, the Radiant King's spiritlight blast arrived. In an instant, the impact caved Ace's defense inward, but the continually rotating and refining defensive bulwark moved around Ace, drawing part of the spiritlight blast's power into the life flow of Ace's Spiritlight Swarm.

Ace himself bore the vast majority of the force, and was hurled hundreds of meters into the sky like a backward-flying meteor. Yet he was merely gravely wounded, far from dead. In midair, Ace's gaze sharpened. He spread his arms, then pressed them together before his chest.

The Spiritlight Swarm around Ace resonated and contracted at the same time. The power he had refined for so long, together with all the remaining Origin Matter Psionics in his body and part of the Radiant King's spiritlight blast, was compressed into a spiritlight jade that likewise seemed almost tangible.

Then Ace brought together the thumbs, index fingers, and middle fingers of both hands at forty-five-degree angles, forming a triangle before his chest and aiming it at the stunned Radiant King.

The next instant, a tremendous spiritlight blast, like an erupting volcano and a roaring Torrent, surged from his hands with irresistible force and struck directly at the Radiant King!

How could this be...

Though the Radiant King knew that such words were something only doomed cannon fodder would say, he also understood that there was no way he could receive this spiritlight blast, which mixed Ace's full power with part of his own.

His body moved on instinct. Even if he had to endure the backlash from Ian's Aether Sky Lock restriction, he had to use Third Energy Level power. But in the next instant, the Radiant King's will forcibly stopped his body.

He could lose, but he absolutely could not win dishonorably. The former would only be his personal disgrace; the latter would disgrace the entire Radiant Lineage.

But still...

How was this possible? Ace had never systematically studied how to operate the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline, nor had he learned any combat or defensive techniques. How could he use this Fifth Energy Level Bloodline so skillfully? Whether activating bloodline secret arts, defending, or attacking, he did it even better than the Radiant King himself!

The Radiant King could not understand. After the Arcane Path emerged, he too had studied its essence. Just now, he had used the technique of Surging Light, the Meditation Method unique to Radiant Land, swallowing all energy from the surrounding space-time in an instant and burning bodily energy to gather such immense power for battle—his past self would absolutely have been easily defeated by his current self!

He, too, advanced with the times. He was absolutely not some fool who clung to his family's techniques and allowed others to surpass him!

He could not understand, and there was no time to think. Amid the deafening roar of surging spiritlight, the Radiant King was struck by the blast. The slanting beam of light blew him and the entire street away, boring dozens, nearly a hundred meters underground. Dust and sand billowed into the clouds, while every house and building along its path shattered and scattered like flour. Even the crowd several kilometers away felt an incredibly fierce wind sweep through the surrounding woods and grasslands, pressing the previously upright vegetation flat against the ground.

"S-So powerful!"

Among the terrified crowd, an enormous wave of enthusiasm erupted after the brief fear. Everyone stared intensely at the city that had been completely destroyed, utterly unconcerned that their homes and property might have been ruined by the battle of powerful beings.

Because they were all looking at their own hands, recalling the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline Ace had proclaimed to them—this was power they might possess... This was their hope and future!

It was worth it! Having seen this battle, it was worth it even if their homes were gone!

Meanwhile, the Radiant King lay underground. His breathing was weak but steady. Ian had only sealed his ability to use higher power; his physical body itself remained incomparably tough. Even though Ace's spiritlight blast had reached the lower threshold of the Third Energy Level, it still could not truly endanger the Radiant King's life.

For now, he was simply unable to move and could only wait for time to settle the chaotic Aether flows inside him.

He had lost. Completely defeated. The Radiant King could not deny his failure. He had used every secret art available at the Second Energy Level, even the newest technologies, yet all had been useless. That rebellious son, Ace, had seen through his flaw and won with a single move.

Just then, slow footsteps sounded. Ace dragged his heavy steps forward. He was actually ten, perhaps dozens of times more severely injured than the Radiant King, and had truly lost nearly all his strength. Yet the light in his eyes was incomparably bright.

The Radiant King looked up. He met the gaze of his child—his son, whom he did not acknowledge. His eyes were full of confusion, while Ace's were frank and pure. They held the clarity of someone with purpose and hope, someone who knew what he needed to do, what he should do, and what he wanted to do in the future.

"You have been brainwashed."

The Radiant King spoke slowly. "You know it clearly, yet you do not care?"

"Father, you have been brainwashed too. You know it perfectly well."

Ace replied calmly, "The supposed supremacy of the Nemarsas Bloodline, the glory of the Radiant Lineage—aren't those equally nonexistent, ethereal things that you sincerely believe in, to the point that you can even deceive yourself?"

"That is the foundation of rule."

"It isn't now."

What was Ian Silverpeak truly after? Was he going to incite rebellion and wipe out the two great bloodlines of the Blazing Flame Lands?

"My lord wants to create a New World. He never intended to eliminate you. It is only that you old rulers realized there was no place for you in the new era, so you angrily chose to challenge him."

...Why are your techniques so refined? I never taught you any of these skills.

"Yes."

At that moment, Ace laughed. Part of his cheek had been burned away by the earlier Spiritlight impact. As the corners of his mouth lifted, charred fragments fluttered down, exposing the teeth beneath his cheek. Yet he still smiled happily. "Father, you never taught me how to use the Spiritlight Swarm... but were our ancestors taught by someone?"

As the Radiant King stood stunned, Ace smiled gently and pointed to his chest. "The Radiant King lineage, the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline—over the past thousand years, how many people have cultivated and researched it?"

"And how many Radiant Kings were truly geniuses at research?"

"How many of them had the tolerance to let others participate in the development of their 'glorious and great' Fifth Energy Level Bloodline?"

"Father, please tell me: over all these years, how many times has the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline been updated and improved? Since its creation, how many hands have refined its techniques? How many different constitutions has it adapted to, and for how many people has it been modified?"

"Father, even counting sacrifices like me... could the number exceed a thousand?"

The Radiant King remained silent. Sacrifices like Ace were actually quite rare. Few among his descendants fully inherited the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline. Those who did were heirs—how could they possibly be used for experiments? Even a flawed specimen like Ace was an important asset. Getting three or four in a generation was already quite good.

Even if every generation of Radiant Kings had been the most outstanding among the previous Radiant King's bloodline descendants, there were not many true geniuses capable of improving bloodlines. And the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline... updates and improvements? How could that be possible? What they needed was to cultivate bloodlines closer to the "most suitable candidate," not improve the bloodline itself.

As for the Spiritlight Swarm's techniques, there had only been seven or eight generations so far. That was already a great many. Every generation's innovations and changes had been the epitome of an era, transformations in the Ascension Path itself, alongside the evolution of royal blood.

Then, the Radiant King heard his son quietly reveal a fact that left him incredulous. "Father, in the Silverpeak Domain, more than thirteen hundred people—an entire school of Arcane Path practitioners—cultivate the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline."

"And surrounding that school is a research group with eight entire major laboratories. Their chief researcher is one of the Undead Monarch's principal developers, the second most important figure in the Silverpeak Domain, Tower Master Adalbert."

"We study every detail of the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline. And in Pioneer Space... do you know Pioneer Space? Forget it. In any case, there are also Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline combat bodies in Pioneer Space. They undergo more than a hundred and fifty combat challenges every day, including battles against holders of other Fifth Energy Level Bloodlines, gathering vast amounts of complex combat data."

"Two years. In two years, we built an initial combat system centered on the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline, encompassing close combat, long-range combat, spellcasting, the Void Realm, underwater, aerial, and vacuum environments. What I use is the 'Close-Quarters Defensive Counterattack' school. Because my Spiritlight Swarm cannot move and my defense is far superior to others', a team of twenty-three people assisted me in developing my bloodline abilities and channeling Origin Matter Psionics, making my cultivation ever more complete."

"And my data can help others, while others' data can help me."

The sun had already set. Underground, only the two holders of the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline served as sources of light, and the glow around Ace grew brighter and brighter. "Father, I can even make use of the experience and lessons of practitioners who do not cultivate the Spiritlight Swarm Bloodline."

"My Refraction Focusing, my method of gathering aether, was a technique developed by Lord Isengard, the Sun God Bird of the Silverpeak Domain. That is another Fifth Energy Level Bloodline. In the past, could you have imagined techniques like this being exchanged? It would have been stranger if you had not fought upon encountering a Sun God Bird. And among our ancestors, probably fewer than five could learn an opponent's core techniques through battle—and they might not even have faced a Sun God Bird."

"Father, one family, one lineage, studying one bloodline—such purity is indeed powerful. That is precisely why you were able to achieve so much in the old era."

"But now, there are more and more Arcane Path practitioners, and more and more researchers. Everyone gathers into one great school, one great sect. Different bloodlines emerge and exchange experience; different people learn from one another. How can you resist these hundreds of thousands, millions, or even tens of millions and hundreds of millions of people in the future, this Arcane Path of cultivation made universal for all?"

"Behind me stands an entire system, an entire path. With the strength of one family alone, what makes you think you can defeat me?!"

...This is only the beginning.

After a moment of silence, the Radiant King raised his head. He stared at his son, whose entire body glowed, and revealed a weary, mocking smile. You are as close as family now, with no distinction between yourselves, because this is the beginning of a new era... But in the future, you will likewise hoard your achievements, selfishly preserve your Inheritance, and conceal your techniques, just as we did.

The system Ian Silverpeak has built is indeed the work of a prophet. He belongs to the future, a powerful figure destined for victory. I submit to that. But Ace, what delights you will surely decline, and what you cherish will surely rot away. In the future, bloodlines will inevitably remain the core of human Inheritance. Fathers passing them to sons, mothers passing them to daughters; one family holding one discipline, one family controlling one land—it will all eventually return.

In this world, only blood can be trusted. True Form nearly replaced bloodlines back then, yet did it not ultimately become part of the Ascension Path? The Arcane Path is a new road beyond the Ascension Path, but it cannot escape this truth... I do not believe Ian Silverpeak cannot see this. What does he think of it?

"My lord does not care."

Ace was not angered by the Radiant King's words. Instead, he was even pleased. He answered seriously, "He really did discuss this issue with us and raised that possibility. At the time, we all felt the future was still bleak. We could change the Ascension Path, but we could not change humanity."

"But do you know what my lord said?"

The Radiant King's eyes widened, and his ears twitched slightly. He was clearly listening with utmost seriousness.

Ace smiled. "He said, 'How old are any of us? Why think so far ahead? For all we know, the Terra Star might collapse into a black hole in the future, or the moon might fall and cause another Skyfall or something. Then all humanity will croak together.'"

"'Leave the troubles of the future to our descendants. Let's overthrow the old world first.'"

So he simply never thought about it at all?!

The Radiant King failed to catch his breath. At that moment, he completely gave up.

Defeat was defeat. Being defeated by his own son—even by an abandoned child he had cast aside—was not such a bad thing.

But just then, his expression abruptly changed.

Run.

The Radiant King suddenly surged to his feet and shoved Ace. Leave, quickly!

"What?" Ace was somewhat bewildered. He had truly reached the end of his strength. Making it here and speaking so much had already pushed him beyond his limits. Yet the Radiant King's perception was still at the Fourth Energy Level, and so he drew in a sharp breath. No, there's no time... Why so fast... For something this minor, they all moved at once?!

The ancestors have all come...

At this moment.

To the north and west of the city ruins, rolling tides of cloud rose at the same time. To the north was condensed, chaotic blackness, while to the west was brilliant, blazing gold-red, like the Blazing Sun.

At the same time, a vast radiance surged from the south of heaven and earth. It was azure-gold and richly colored, a mighty aurora piercing the clouded sky and confronting the black and gold-red light.

Anyone—any person of the Blazing Flame Lands—who saw those radiances and felt that immense, unstoppable aura would know.

They were the auras of the Blazing Flame Lands' two Fifth Energy Level Chrysalis, the King of Embers, and the Southern Ridge Grand Duke, the Silverpeak Prophet.

The three auras collided, instantly blasting an incomparably vast breach through the crown of the sky. The entire atmosphere was torn open, becoming a black, cloudless void—and on the ground, storms rose abruptly as towering currents of cloud shot into the heavens, forming a terrifying atmospheric anomaly like a ruptured tornado.

"Wow!"

All the nearby residents of the Blazing Flame Lands looked up at the sight. Amid their shock and fear, intense anticipation also arose in their hearts. "The Silverpeak Prophet is fighting the two kings! Now, now..."

"Now, no matter who wins or loses, even dying would make it worth the price of admission!"

Actually, it was one update of ten thousand words every two days, but I'm still asking for monthly votes~