After Amira helped their weary team leader back to their make-shift camp, Julius immediately got started on dinner.

  The smile on his face was han the one on Ace’s whilst fighting the lion earlier. His getting the ce to eat of this quality was a dream e true.

  Ace stared at the back of the young round chef with saliva falling from the er of his mouth. The aroma was simply too captivating. Even Amira stared impatiently at the pot of food Julius reparing.

  The meal prepared was dragon soup, a popur delicacy of the Yun ti, oh Ad Amira had tried several times over the course of their lives, but never in their life had they tasted any that tasted eveely as incredible as this.

  They could taste ead every one of the ingredients Julius used, fusing together perfectly to create a taste so incredible that Ace felt as though he had died and goo heaven, but that was just the beginning.

  As they swallowed each bite, they could feel a heat rising from within. Their cells burning with a renewed vigour. Even Ace, who could barely move after his fight with the lion, had a sudden burst of energy.

  By the time they fiheir meals, both Ad Mira experienced small breakthroughs in their warrior cultivation. Mira to the Middle and Ace to the Peak of the fourth rank.

  The trio devoured every bit of the dragon soup to the point where Ace actually licked the bottom of the pot, unwilling to waste even a single drop. An act that fatty took as the biggest pliment one could give.

  Because of the energy provided by the meals and his most ret breakthrough, Aly took three days to make a full recovery, at which point he made his way back to the lion for round two.

  Though Ace’s recovery ed up by the heaven-defying meal he had ed a ferior, the vitality of a magical beast was always superior to that of a huma alone a Divi on the level of the lion.

  When Ace made his return, the regal bck lion calmly strolled out of its cave to meet him, not a wound in sight.

  Without so much as a sound, it and Ace shot towards each other, resuming their battle exactly from where they left off.

  After his breakthrough, all of Ace’s physical abilities saw an improvement. Although the difference wasn’t huge, and the battle was still extremely difficult, Ace was able to leave on his own at the end of the battle.

  From that day on, Ad the Divi would fight once every few days, and much to the lion’s surprise, whether it was its physical abilities or its teical abilities, it was actually improving at a much faster speed than it would when fighting against other beasts. Still, what was even more surprising was that its human oppo seemed to be improving at an even faster speed.

  Though it didn’t know what haki was, it khat when Ace’s arms and give were no longer b colour, it meant that his oppo was holding back, a still wasn’t able to beat Ace.

  Through the course of their battles, Ace’s [Observation] had taken aep forward, reag a level that VERY few in his st world, even amongst profit [Hak users, had achieved. He had finally prehended [Future Sight].

  With his ability to peer a few seds into the future, Ace could ter each of the lion’s moves before it even made it. It was frustrating to no end, but there appeared to be nothing it could do.

  After almost a month, a fident smile appeared on Ace’s face as he softly opened his eyes after spending the m deep iation. “It’s time.”

  Hearing that, Amira, who ractig her swordsmanship not far away, turo look at her team’s leader. “So you’re finally willing to have your final fight with that lion?”

  Whilst Ad the lion would normally fight every two or three days, it had now bee days siheir st bout. It was strange, sidering Ace had broken through to the fifth rank four days ago, but when asked, he just said that he wahe ime they fought to be the st, and he would win as vingly as possible.

  “Does that mean you’ve prehe?” Fatty asked as he sat up from zing on the ground.

  Ace didn’t speak, but a fident smile hung on his lips as he picked up the give lying across his p.

  Now that he had reached the fifth rank, he was finally capable of actually wielding ‘e’ – the give gifted to him by Wukong before he left.

  As he skilfully spun the give through his fingers, his smile softened. “Are you ready for your first battle, partner?”

  The give was the real reason he wao wait before challenging the lion again. It was a on he named after a man he saw as a father figure, a man he respected from the very depths of his heart. He wouldn’t allow his first fight with it to be anything short of perfect.

  As Ace approached the cave, he was met by the deafening roar of his sparring partner.

  “Ooh, looks like you reached the fifth rank as well,” Aoted as he watched the titan-like lion proudly walk towards him, stopping a little over teers away. “This will be our st fight before you submit!”

  When it heard Ace’s st statement, the lio out a deep and disdainful growl.

  Over the st month, the lion’s feelings towards the young human had undergone several ges. It went from anger and frustration on their first meeting to resped even anticipation as it began to enjoy each of their fights, but its pride never faltered.

  It couldn’t bring itself to even sider submitting to another being, let alone ohat was so close to it in strength.

  “You don’t believe me? Today, I’ll show you the real differeween us,” Ace said calmly, the ers of his mouth creeping up to form an almost teasing smirk as he raised his left index finger. “One move. In just one move, you’ll uand why submitting to me will be the best thing you ever did…

  Are you ready?”

  Even though it felt disdainful regarding Ace’s boastful cim, it also khat his oppo was strohan him – albeit only slightly. It couldn’t afford not to give Ace his undivided attention.

  Seeing the Lion fog so ily, the smile on Ace’s face vanished as he closed his eyes and allowed all distrag thoughts to fade.

  As it did, the lion was shocked to find that Ace’s presence seemed to disappear. Even though it could clearly see him right in front of him, the rest of its senses failed to locate him. Suddenly a bad feeling arose in its heart as Ace disappeared from his spot.

  Ace kicked off against the ground 25 times in an instant allowing him to move at speeds that would’ve made the him from his previous life gawk in amazement.

  Holding ‘e’ in his right hand, he suddenly appeared directly in front of the dumfounded lion. Whilst it was true that between his breakthrough to the fifth rank and his being able to use [Soru] with 25 kicks, his speed had definitely seen a rge improvement, it also had to be remembered that as far as natural physical ability went, Ace could never pare to a genuine Divi.

  The improvements they saw with every breakthrough were nothing short of heaven-defying. So although fast, Ace still shouldn’t be able to catch a beast like the lion by surprise. But as soon as its eyes failed to keep up with Ace’s movements, it was uo sense him with the rest of its senses allowing Ace to catch it off guard so easily.

  But like earlier mentioned, after reag the fifth rank, its physical abilities were inparable to what they were before. It was able to remain calm as it prepared to jump bad put some distaween them, but that was where its sed surprise came.

  As its hindlegs began to bulge in preparation for its escape, it felt the space around it suddenly strict.

  As the tip of Ace’s give approached the skull of the lion, it felt the pression of space around it getting tighter.

  At that moment, the Lion subsciously believed it was about to be killed, and there was nothing it could do. Looking passed the ining bde, it noticed that Ace’s usual light-hearted smile was no more. Instead, he had an expression of total indifference.

  “Submit,” Aanded. “Or die.”

  There were no superfluous words. If even after showing it the differeween them now, it still refused to submit to him, Ace would simply kill it a Julius turn it into a stew.

  Whilst most people would resort to all sorts of tricks and tactics to subdue the lion, it could feel that Ace was being pletely serious. It was as though Ace was telling him that although he wa to follow him, he definitely didn’t need him.

  Ace watched as what looked like helpless resignation appeared on the lion’s face. He didn’t take it personally; he uood how proud the lion before him was. For it to not only lose in a fight to someone of the same rank but also be forced to make such a choice had to be exceedingly challenging for it. Still, Aly chuckled as he lowered his on.

  “Haha, you know what to do,” Ace said as he lifted his empty palm in front of the lion.

  He had long sinown that for a beast to enter into a bond of equals with a human, they had to be the oo initiate it.

  Though there were other, more forceful methods, Ace didn’t want a mindless subordinate who followed him because of some restrictive tract. Instead, he wa to follow him because it believed he was worthy.

  Seeing Ace’s hand, the red-maned lion calmly bit down oeen’s palm, making sure to puncture the skin.

  As it let go, Ace then watched as a dense reddish-bck light began to emanate from the lion’s hulking figure when a drop of fresh blood, a bination of both Ace’s and the lion’s blood, left the mouth of the Divi.

  That blood suddenly transformed into two opposite, interlog triangles, which the reddish-bck light merged with, f a strange magical formation that gave off an overbearing aura.

  The strange magical formation separated into two halves. Oering Ace’s, and the other entering the lion’s body.

  Upoering Ace’s body, the barrier surrounding his soul was about to act to destroy the fn spiritual essence when the miniature translut ‘Ace’ opes eyes. The barrier shogly became docile, allowing Ace’s half of the formation to enter his spiritual sea successfully.

  Though he was still uo use inner sight to take a look at his spiritual sea, Aew that the barrier around his soul could pose a problem, but when he felt the e between him and the lion, he k had worked.

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  P.atreon./ACoilingDragon

  Book 4 - Chapter 24