Ace and the others had lived worry-free and harmonious lives for tens of thousands of years now. Still, somehow, it couldn't compare to how they felt now. It was almost like the peace Ace felt in his heart after his wife successfully gave birth, which radiated in his personal dimension and enveloped everyone in it.
Not only did it allow those inside to experience a rare and almost overwhelming sense of peace, but it also allowed everyone inside to make breakthroughs well ahead of schedule, and that was even true for those who were living inside Ace's mortal village.
As for Ace himself, even though he was effectively raising his two fathers from his previous life and, by extension, should feel a little awkward, he felt nothing even remotely close to awkwardness. In fact, it was the happiest period of his entire existence.
During that time, he never once thought about the Overgods of the Four Edicts who were on the outside waiting anxiously, nor did he think about the existence that he and the others could only refer to as heaven. He was entirely focused on his family and friends.
That being said, Ace wouldn't be Ace if he didn't take a few liberties along the way. The first liberty he took was in the naming of his two sons. He couldn't help but wonder what their expressions would be after they recovered their memories, only to find that their names had been switched.
That's right, the legendary king of the pirates from the world of One Piece was now named Gol D. Newgate, and the former world's strongest man was now given his former eternal rival's name, Gol D. Roger.
The next liberty Ace took was concerning their training. Ace would practically bully his two children both physically and verbally as he trained them both in their weapon handling. Thankfully, Amira could see that Ace's methods were particularly effective due to their innate personalities and talents.
It got to the point where the only goal of both boys was to surpass their father, simply so they could return the bullying they received a hundredfold. No one said anything to discourage the boys, but they couldn't help but feel sorry for them.
Aside from Ace himself, no one knew how strong Ace was now, but thanks to the mutated bond of equals they shared, Leona was able to vaguely sense that he was still growing stronger every second of every day.
Only Ace knew how right Leona was. A foreign and almost excessively powerful energy was constantly being infused and assimilated into Ace's body. It was an energy he had never come across before, but he could vaguely sense that it was originating from outside the boundary of the Coiling Dragon universe.
At his current rate, it would take around 100 years to complete the process, but Ace didn't care. If he wanted, he could very easily speed the process along by exiting his current universe and absorbing the foreign energy straight from the source, but he had no interest in venturing outside for the moment. He had already reached a level of power that he could hardly put into words – he could stand still and let the Overgods of the four Edicts attack him freely, and they still wouldn't be able to put a dent in him; that was more than enough for now!
That being said, whilst Ace was currently living in a state of peace and harmony, his enemies were living in an ever-rising state of anxiety and panic. They didn't know how powerful Ace had become, but they did know that Ace had reached a level that they couldn't even imagine; as such, all they could do was sit patiently and wait for death.
What made it even worse was that, according to their original agreement, their battle with Ace was supposed to be a little over six days after the birth of Ace's child, but even after six days, Ace never appeared.
As they didn't dare to even approach the Yulan Plane, they couldn't find out what Ace was doing. As such, all they could do was stew in their own fear and panic. Day after day, week after week, year after year, their anxiety grew more and more potent, but there was little they could do – it was like Ace was teasing them.
After a full year of living like that, the Overgod of Destruction had enough! He knew that he was practically asking for death by going near the Yulan Plane, but he refused to go on living like this, constantly wondering when the other shoe would drop.
After he snapped, he charged straight towards the coordinates of the Yulan Plane. As an Overgod, he should've been able to arrive in a fraction of a second, but even after a minute, he found that he hadn't got any closer. It was only then that they all realised that Ace had actually warped the space and time they were residing in without their realising.
Although they were incapable of comprehending the Rules of Space and Time, their perceptions still should've been powerful enough to sense when it was being manipulated around them. For Ace to do so without them being aware told them everything they needed to know. From that, they realised that it wasn't that Ace was late; it was that he had slowed time for them to stew in their fear.
That was exactly what Ace had done. He had effectively put them in a Space-Time prison that was not only inescapable but for every year Ace lived in his personal dimension, they would experience a million.
It was pure torture; everything they had done was so that they could reign supreme as the strongest beings in the entire universe, and now, not only could they not interact with any other beings, as Overgods who had condensed their Overgod bodies, they couldn't even kill themselves, and believe me, they had tried!
Ace was obviously capable of seeing exactly what they were going through, but never once did he bother to check. He simply didn't care – he would deal with them when he was good and ready.
During the time Ace spent living as a mortal with his family, he eventually told Linley and Yunaia the truth, not only about his past life but also about the relationship between him and their daughter, who, thanks to the subtle influence of "heaven," was coincidentally named Rouge Baruch.
Yunaia was obviously left with a tonne of questions, for starters, who the being was who could effectively influence them without their knowledge.
Ace was prepared to tell her everything he knew, but it was actually Linley who revealed that there seemed to be a wider existence outside of the boundary of their universe and that the thing they all referred to as "heaven" seemed to be a living and sentient being.
For a second, Ace was a little surprised that Linley had been able to deduce so much, but when he took a closer look at Linley, he realised that at some point, Linley had already become a paragon of the Laws of Chaos.
Although he hadn't made a breakthrough in the realm yet, thanks to his understanding of the Laws of Chaos, he was able to see a lot more about the truth of their universe than he had before. He could sense the boundary of their universe, and he could also sense the Will of Heaven.
As soon as he made a breakthrough in his realm, he would, like Ace, begin absorbing that foreign energy that was making Ace so terrifyingly strong. He could do so at any time, the only reason he hadn't was because, like Ace, he enjoyed living as a mortal.
Although he was a little displeased with Ace for keeping it from him, he was more frustrated with "heaven" After all, Ace hadn't chosen to reincarnate his former mother into his rival's wife. Still, as frustrated as he was, there was nothing he could do about it for now, but after he made his breakthrough, he would make sure to pay "heaven" back for their little practical joke.
After their talk, it was decided that, whilst Ace obviously wouldn't be in charge of raising Rouge as he wasn't her parent, he could take her in as his disciple, which would also give him a chance to get to spend time with her.
Although Rouge began training with "Roger" and "Newgate," the treatment she received was several times superior. Ace made no attempts to hide how much he doted on this disciple of his, even in front of his two sons. Thankfully, they weren't jealous. If anything, it just served to spur them on to surpass Ace in the future – the feeling of being beaten and mocked so thoroughly in front of Rouge on a regular basis was humiliating, to say the least. That was especially true for Newgate, Rouge's soulmate.
The only thing that became a little bit of a problem was that, as they were soulmates, training together increased Newgate and Rouge's training speed to the point where, despite his incredible talent and comprehension, Roger was starting to fall behind. And although they were brothers reborn into a new universe with no recollection of their past lives, it appeared their rivalry had been carried over with them. Thankfully, with the subtle guidance of Ace and Mira, it was nothing more than a friendly sibling rivalry built on a solid foundation of love and respect for one another.
Still, Ace didn't want to allow for one to have an unfair advantage over the other. Luckily, though, at his current level, he was able to easily locate Roger's soulmate.
It was then that Amira made the decision to take the little girl as her disciple.
Wanda's biological parents, two fairly powerful commander-level Highgods, were against their daughter being accepted as a disciple of someone else at first. Even though she was only two at the time, Wanda had already begun displaying more talent than either of them could wrap their minds around, and because Mira hadn't revealed her identity at first, the father and mother duo obviously didn't believe that Mira would be able to do a better job than they could, but after Mira revealed her true identity, they obviously were all too willing to agree, especially as Mira agreed to not only cut their ties to heaven – allowing them to attempt to become natural Sovereigns in the future – but also bring them back to Ace's personal dimension where they would be able to sense the laws with more clarity than they thought possible.
Obviously, because she had already spent two years on the outside as a once-in-an-era elite-level genius, not only did she have a very thorough understanding of the cultivation, she had already become a Full-God following the path of a Supreme Genius. Even so, it was all too easy for Ace to both suppress her cultivation and alter her memories.
And like that, Ace's mortal village spent 18 years in complete peace. Still, all good things must come to an end in due time.
As they approached their 18th birthdays, Ace was suddenly overcome with anxiety, concern, helplessness, and a myriad of other emotions. Still, he knew this day would come eventually.