Gol D. Ace In Coiling Dragon

“Cirulus,” Ace called out as he appeared right in front of him. “Is everything alright with the mine?”

Cirulus, who was supposed to be on the battlefield fighting with the rest of the army today, wanted to ensure that the miners were working as fast as physically possible.

Unlike Ace, he wasn’t too confident in their chances of winning this battle and preserving their hold over the mine. As such, he needed the miners to dig up as much of the mine as possible before their enemies inevitably lay claim to it.

He had no intention of staying too long after making sure everything was progressing smoothly, but he never could’ve foreseen this…

“Yes, the mining is progressing well. Very well in fact,” Cirulus explained. “Things are moving slightly ahead of schedule.”

“Then why did you send the flare up to summon me?” Ace asked in confusion. “And more importantly, why did you force all the workers to wait outside the mine?”

Not far away from them, all the workers, who, for all intents and purposes, should be inside the mine working as fast as possible, were currently stood around, not too far away from them, staring at Ace with a mix of awe and curiosity.

For most, it was the first time any of them had ever laid eyes on the world-famous Son of Heaven.

“This…” Cirulus looked around cautiously as though worried about who may overhear them. “You know what? It’s better if you see for yourself.”

Curiously, Ace followed behind his Grand Marshall. He didn’t know what was going on, but whatever it was, to have someone like Cirulus acting in such a way, it surely was no small matter.

After entering the mine and making sure they were out of earshot, Cirulus finally began to explain. “This morning, I only intended to stay here for around five minutes, but when I arrived, one of the workers explained that there was a change in quality near the depths.”

“Change?” Ace asked.

“Right,” Cirulus nodded, a hint of excitement seeping into his voice as he continued to lead Ace further in. “Although we already knew this was a high-quality mine, the highest grade crystal we had found was of the eighth rank, and even that was still rare, but after reaching a certain part, the quality suddenly skyrocketed.

Whereas before, gems of the eighth rank were in the minority because the majority were inferior, now, gems of the eighth rank were in the minority because the vast majority were all at the ninth rank.”

“Ninth-rank?! How is that possible?!” Ace asked as he suddenly spread his [Observation], only to discover that Cirulus was telling the truth. “This…”

“I’m guessing you already found it,” Cirulus exclaimed excitedly.

Such high-quality gems would go above and beyond when helping Ace set up his territory. Even when splitting the proceeds three ways, it would still allow Ace to skip several stages of their original planning.

Still, the reason behind Ace’s shock had little to do with that and more to do with what he sensed right at the centre. Or, more specifically, what he failed to sense.

The corridor Cirulus and Ace had just entered was filled with half-translucent gems, which carried a simply terrifying amount of energy.

The energy in each gem was equal to what one could expect to find in a saint-level beast core, and yet, Ace didn’t seem to be paying attention to any of them. His full, undivided attention was entirely focused on the simple, unadorned door at the end of the passage.

“What is this?” Ace asked curiously. “How is this possible?”

As Ace’s [Observation] swept over the door, he failed to sense anything. It was like the door didn’t exist, but he could clearly see it right in front of him. In fact, he could even see the strange ripples in space around it, but he couldn’t sense even those spatial ripples.

“When the workers told me about the sudden increase in quality, I decided to investigate,” Cirulus explained as Ace continued to study the door. “Believing that it could be some sort of treasure, I had the miners wait outside whilst I dug further and further until I discovered this door.”

“You did the right thing,” Ace nodded, glad that none of the workers had personally seen the door.

He didn’t know what was on the other side of the door, but whatever it was couldn’t be normal, and he had no intention of letting his enemies know.

“Did you open the door and cross to the other side?” Ace asked with a hint of excitement as he reached towards the handle.

“WAIT!” Cirulus shouted, catching Ace by surprise just before he could open it.

“Shield yourself before you go in,” Cirulus said solemnly upon seeing Ace’s confusion.

He may not have understood what was on the other side, but anything that could cause such a reaction in Cirulus wasn’t to be underestimated.

With a thought, Ace covered his body in a skin-tight, fiery aura as he once again went to open the door, this time without being stopped.

As soon as he did, Ace was shocked to find that as soon as he opened the door and attempted to walk through, he was assaulted by a wild surge of chaotic energy slashing at his body hundreds of times in but an instant.

‘Each slash had the attack power of the average general,’ Ace mused as he stepped through the door, finally understanding why Cirulus had warned him to protect himself.

Although his strength was well into the saint realm, the actual strength of his body was merely at the sixth rank. Had he not protected himself, the results could have been disastrous.

Still, the moment he entered the other side, Ace’s eyes couldn’t help but widen in shock and complete and utter disbelief.

“How is it?” Cirulus called from the other side, unable to see or feel Ace’s presence. “Did you find anything?”

Although Cirulus was a peak ninth-rank warrior himself who had comprehended impose, he was incapable of defending himself against such power. As such, he had no idea what was on the other side of the door.

“Cirulus!” Ace exclaimed. “Go and have the workers get back to work, but forbid them from entering this final passage; anyone who does will face severe punishment.”

“Understood,” Cirulus nodded solemnly.

As curious as he was, Cirulus was more loyal than anything else. Plus, how could he not understand Ace’s temperament by now?

Unlike most leaders in his position, if there was a benefit on the other side of the door, Ace would unhesitantly share it with all those he cared for.

“Ooh, and Cirulus, one more thing…” Ace said, his excitement growing by the syllable. “Go win the war, and I’ll make you a saint by the end of the year.”

Cirulus eyes widened before an excited grin suffused his face. He still had no idea what Ace had found, but Cirulus didn’t care; all he cared about was entering the saint realm.

Back when he was a serving soldier of the O’Brien Army, the idea of becoming a general was his greatest ambition, and as for becoming a saint. That was merely a pipe dream, but now…

He was already significantly stronger than the average general, and all he could think about was becoming a legendary saint. Still, although he had already comprehended impose, he had no idea how many years it would take him to comprehend a trace amount of the profound mysteries. So, hearing Ace’s words, his mood could be understood.

Without hesitation, Cirulus went out and began executing Ace’s orders whilst the teen in question was sat cross-legged, having entered a wonderous state of mind.

Behind the door was a translucent spherical pocket dimension big enough to fit around 20 people comfortably.

The pocket dimension had been modelled like a simplistic abode with only a simple desk, bed, and chair. Curiously though, on the desk was an obsidian ring with golden runes etched on.

If one were to look up from inside the bubble abode, they would see a thin but surprisingly firm translucent membrane separating them from what appeared to be the vast expanse of space, with multicoloured rips in reality occasionally appearing and disappearing.

This was chaotic space! The raw and exceedingly pure energy that surrounded every plane of existence in this universe.

The power of each rip in space was far stronger than anyone or anything Ace had ever seen. Each having the power to destroy his very existence, easily a million times over.

Still, the moment Ace entered, he discovered that this pocket dimension was actually siphoning a fraction of the elemental essence of chaotic space. Though it was only a fraction, it had to be understood that the elemental essence was hundreds of thousands, if not millions of times more pure than a plane like the Yulan plane.

That fraction was enough to make the density of elemental essences here in the pocket dimension hundreds of times superior to that of the rest of the Yulan Continent. It was no wonder such a high-quality magicite mine had formed.

Ace barely had enough time to pass Cirulus that last message before virtually being assaulted by wave after wave of insight like never before.

The second he had finished instructing Cirulus on how to proceed, he immediately sat down with his eyes closed. A simple but pure-hearted smile appeared on his face as he gained insights into the laws of fire at a speed that should’ve been all but impossible.