Over the next three months, Lady Lucia got to lose her inhibitions and shyness, by escorting her husband everywhere, for every single minute.
At first, she was quite astonished and a bit weirded out by the Lord Pef's behavior, especially if he cultivated his other wives beside her. But the loving manner in which everything happened, and Pef saving a last circuit for her, slowly parted the chains over her heart, and she finally gave in, her soul at peace and content in the arms of her husband.
The next morning Lucia woke up a Sovereign, her senses and powers magnified ten times, and she turned around to see Lady Si sleeping peacefully on Pef's chest. Although the young woman was only an Earth rank, their husband cared for her perhaps even more, being exceedingly gentle and sweet on her.
"Love is a great thing isn't it?" Pef asked softly, patting her hair in a practiced motion, and leaning in to steal a short kiss.
"Mmm. Not at all what I have imagined, husband. My heart feels so free..." Lucia mused while drawing a deep breath, and trying to get used to the multitude on new sensations and abilities that manifested at once.
Pef kicked her out of the bed playfully, although she remained floating by instinct. "Go and pester Yuan for training, Lucia. Your senses are swirling and sweeping the continent too wildly. And you woke up my fragile, delicious and sexy wife." the young hero said in a more commanding voice, then he dragged Si on top of him, to play with her body like a plush toy.
Lady Lucia sighed inward and went to find the Lady Ignited. Even if Pef was kind of moron, he was right about her senses being out of tune.
While Pef measured and poked his dear Earth ranked wife, in his mind he was constructing a training regimen to help Si achieve at least Sky rank.
Practice and love were nice, but with the low qi density of the Saint continent, it wasn't enough to ascend further, and the Orange pill didn't replace combat.
'These memories of Tai Chi, they are all over and not quite a slow martial style. Can you fill in the blanks?' he asked inward.
After a minute of riffling and categorizing the users memories the glove replied with a flat tone.'You have 8 stances and movements and three attacks in your memories. Not enough for a complete 360 degrees battlefield control. Extrapolating and completing, and including two sword qi focuses, a defense wrist arc and a horizontal finger swipe. Adding fire qi and water qi to this lukewarm style. A million repetitions should allow instinctive reactions in extremis situations.'
The new and upgraded style was then uploaded into Pef's mind for his perusal. On any other planet or continent, this hastily assembled style would have been a master class martial method. It could even support ascension to Emperor rank, once the elemental mastery was achieved, without even a Legion indoctrination.
Pef kissed his wife on her forehead, while poking her jiggling melons with his gloved hand. "I have made you a special training method. It's like a slow dance, to help master your body and qi. If you practice it every day, you will reach the skies." he whispered as the method uploaded and patched into the already existing Legion method.
"Oh Pef. These moves are so graceful and flow so easy. How will I ever move like that?" Si answered in a confused tone, while she went over the Chi style in her mind.
"Silly wife. You're what, 40 years old? You've seen what Lia can do with 500 years of practice. Imagine yourself in a thousand years or ten thousand. You'll make even gods weep in envy." the loving husband whispered in her hair, while exploring her body more vigorously.
An hour later, the young couple parted with a loving kiss, Si returning to her usual routine, now with an extra practice added, while Pef visited his Imperial office, approved a dozen claims and denied a hundred more, got tong lashed by his secretary for being late, and leaving early, then returned to his sauna, to continue his practice.
Thousands of years of combat wouldn't help anymore, only practice and love, more meridians open or some divine intervention.
Sadly, for the other pill ingredients he would need to dive deep underwater, or beat up more Monarchs, and Pef had enough near-deaths to postpone that for a while. Erin, Mia, Pela and Xie could use another roaming next year, to ascend to Sovereign rank as well, but their practice was low for a Tyrant rank anyway.
They had to learn to use their domain, and building the infrastructure of the Pef Empire would help them train, as well as put them to good use.
Because Pef wasn't going to keep the wives hidden in a harem and just enjoy their bodies like the Xi Emperors did. He could keep only Si around and be content with her love. His wives were destined for greatness in his mind, and thus they had to be strong and independent, like Lia or Lin were.
Some hours later, a naked woman with platinum hair and azure highlights sat beside him in the sauna, cooling the hot steam with her presence alone.
"I'll gouge your eyes out, if you open them, Pef Xi" she spoke in a warning tone.
He lifted his hand slowly and poked at her diamond hard chest, then patted her shoulder in a familiar gesture. "Your breasts can shatter mountains, my icy friend. I fear I won't warm your bed any time soon." the Sovereign replied in a teasing tone, then sent his fire sprite to fuel the stove for more heat.
They both remained silent after that, enjoying the warm steam and the companionship.
When Pef came out of his trance, the sauna was empty of visitors, and he felt an earring has been inserted in his left ear, as a memento of a Saint's visit.
'Just say something, when she does this kind of stuff to me!' he muttered inward, a bit upset at having his ear deflowered.
'There nothing you can do to stop a Saint, Aspirant. You're lucky to have befriended one. The worm might puppet you for a bit of fun, before sucking your brains out, and the other Saint... He shreds and refines divine messengers for a living.' the glove said in a flat voice, like it was out of his hands. Or gloves.
'And how the hell does she appear from thin air?' he asked a bit outraged.
'Perception filter. Just like the Rock Worm does, to conceal its size and strength. Your qi scans would have detected such a large threat long ago, if not for the stealth field it cloaks itself with.' the system explained patiently.
Humans were so forgetful, they barely realized they shared the continent with a mountain sized worm who could gulp most of them in hours. Or much worse, if the worm became a hegemonizing entity, and infected them with its offspring.
Well, unless the other Saints, especially the female, came to help.
The new Fire Saint would need thousands more refined soul strands to catch up with the Ice Saint.
Meanwhile, Pef explored the storage earring, and took out two small Grey pills, about a third the size of the meridian pills.
'Saint ranked soul enhancers. 30 percent attack and 10 percent defense bonus. Plus 5 years worth of water qi reserves. Your icy friend likes you, Aspirant' the glove added in a bit of glee. It seemed the gifts were returned now, and not less effective.
'So I can take both pills and ascend, just like that?' Pef wondered a bit amazed, as he was prepared mentally for a long wait till his next rank.
The glove hesitated, calculating times and growth schedules and projecting a million contingencies. The energy would suffice, but the user would still be unpracticed and unable to use his abilities correctly.
'You would possibly die, Aspirant. Also, you have a goddess with water qi married to you. The grey pellet would push her to the peak of Tyrant rank. In a month you could have another Sovereign, and a water qi prodigy.' it said after deciding on a certain future.
Pef closed his hand and scanned around for Xie, finding her at the bottom of the pool like always. She trained her water domain every day, and most of the times in the pool. 'Aren't you afraid the evil Emperor will find you and eat you up, my water fairy?' he sent via a qi pulse.
In five seconds, a naked water Tyrant entered the sauna and straddled her husband, her skin still wet and clingy.
"Had enough of fire qi, my dear? Perhaps, you want to indulge in some more...liquid love?" Xie asked in a teasing voice, as she kinda been cultivated less, while Lucia got her daily Qi injections.
The Sovereign played a bit with her wet forms, pressing the right buttons until the other wife appeared, with eyes turned silver.
"More roaming? No. Too early and... Si is practicing a new style, but that's not it. Lucia is already a Sovereign. My turn then?" Xia asked after discarding a few less probably options.
"This early promotion will require your attentive and loving cooperation, my exalted goddess. Soul enhancers are rare in this universe." Pef whispered while placing a pellet in his mouth and pushing it with his tongue in a special kiss kind of trade.
The silver eyes twinkled a bit amused and a bit impressed. Her husband had obtained a great boon, and again only demanded a kiss for it. She waited until Pef ingested his own pill, and then they both gulped at once.
Their dual souls exploded in grey light, piercing through the sauna roof and creating a pillar of light seen from a thousand kilometers, especially in the following nights.
Bathed in the powerful energy of the Gray pellet, their white and silver souls circulated like a Yin-Yang formation, expanding and strengthening their meridians and dantians, and magnifying their souls, even more than the White pill did.
When the transformation was ready, Pef would be able to block a soul strike from a Monarch, even when being a whole realm lower.
Xie as well, once she crossed into Sovereign rank.
Mysterious and profound energies coursed through the pair for three days and nights, again enhancing the legend of the Emperor Pef among the locals.
It was a tangible and visible miracle after all, and the holiness of that
Even the Practitioners and Cores around the Xi Palace benefited from being this close to the epicenter of this pillar of divine light, gaining profound insights, while in the nearby cities of Carthage, Smithtown and Lacrimosa, a hundred children awakened their qi inheritance simply by staring with wide eyes at the bright light beam piercing the sky.
Lia and Yuan arrived one after another, and peeked inside the sauna for a second, before backing out.
'Good and bad, embraced in deep love and bathed in gray light. And their dual souls are the same, and react the same way...' the oracle mused while holding Yuan's hand for ease of communication.
'He died for you, Lia. Just to unshackle your soul and let you love again. Perhaps you should trust our husband, a bit more.' the Fire Monarch replied in a bit of heart flutter and awe.
'Yeah. He is the best idiot in the galaxy, isn't he?' Lia concluded with a sad smile.
'Perhaps. He hasn't left anywhere, but he got two Saint-ranked medicines from somewhere. Emitting gray light...' Yuan answered with a questioning look at her oracle friend.
Lia Xi nodded and agreed. Water qi in amazing amounts, Saint quality and gray light, like the Grey Taiga continent where they met the Ice Saint.
"We'll have another Water Sovereign soon. Blossom will be happy." the oracle proclaimed in a low voice, but enough for the nearby wives to hear her.
Blossom hugged her young daughter at her chest and smiled. She was happy already, with a Sovereign husband, a loving family and an immortal daughter. And the little girl was blinking with naive eyes at the light beam, giving signs of awakening already.
'See, my little baby. That's your daddy, stepping closer to divinity. I know I waited a long time to pick a husband, but I was right. There was no one else better.' Green Blossom whispered in her daughter's mind, keeping the thought form soft and gentle.
A thousand newer cultivators got to see and sense the qi energy from the gray beam, and a dozen got enlightened enough to cross into the next ranks, while the rest got various insights, especially those with water qi.
In the third day, Pela took some courage from somewhere and entered the sauna for some unspeakable qi theft, and emerged an hour later smiling content and a bit stronger.
Lady Si went to whisper with Pela for a minute, then ran inside the sauna as well. Free qi boost with no combat was not an occasion she would miss, and her husband better not disown her for this, since he was the one who taught her this secret of duo cultivation.
Some three hours later, the pellet grey light ended, a second sooner for Pef. He glanced at Si and shook his head in embarrassment.
"Time to go, my love. Xie needs this now. But you get points, for cheating cleverly, too" he said in a soft voice, as Lady Si pouted form losing her source of free qi.
Xia's eyes twinkled amused, as she patted her husband's toy wife on her head. The funny husband taught his wives only silly things for his pleasure.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
Soon after the show ended and Pef got to hold a small feast to reassure his wives that he was alright, he took Xie and left on a short trip, reaching the White continent again, in the same day.
It was like an arctic honeymoon, but with less polar bears and more love. They stopped at the hot geyser the next day, and Pef began tempering his wife in the hot vapors an hour every day, and then pampering the goddess with kisses and fancy meals.
It took only 20 days for the purple haired woman to cross over into Sovereign rank, and then to descend into the deep well where the White Lotus grew.
And there, Pef waited beside her while his wife cultivated and unblocked her lower circuit, increasing her fertility and the control over the water domain. He didn't just waste time, cultivating and exploring the profound energies at the boundary between the ice and hot, nourishing his soul, and gaining tiny insights into the nature of heat. Hot and cold were opposite facets of the same coin, and as the Hot Ice Lotus proved, it was possible to meld both aspects and create something powerful and profound.
Three more lotus flowers had opened since the last visit, so Pef collected them for more precious pills. He had his daughter to think about now, and hopefully more children soon.
Plus another one for his uncle Lithos, who didn't take the White pill and instead use it to cultivate his new smith wife.
When the Sovereign couple emerged from the geyser, an icy Saint was waiting for them with a Monarch ranked Orca beside her, from which she was forging a black and white armor.
"Hey Cellia, I thought you didn't wear armor?" Pef asked a bit curious, and began dressing himself with a set of clothes and his Monarch ranked armor.
Xie instead only pulled a robe over herself and looked at her husband with pity in her eyes. "I think the Lady Saint is forging a set for me, silly husband." she whispered in a low tone.
"Was there a purpose, for enduring that hot water?" the Saint asked without looking up from her work.
Pef ran and sat beside the Saint, peering intently at her work. "En! The lower circuit opens and you become ten times more fertile. I want lots of children, and that Green pill is kinda deadly to anyone who's not a druid."
"So that's why...you're a fountain of precious knowledge, my young friend. I kinda expected you to be a Monarch already." she replied in a bit of a less freezing tone.
Pef stood up and patted the Saint on her amazing hair. "You're a good friend, Cellia. But some things I have to learn for myself. I have an entire Empire to teach, and without piecing together the subtleties of entanglement, I would be a bad teacher." he said in a gentle tone, then walked away a few meters to set up his cooking stove.
"I want turtle soup, and boiled lobster. And a bit of bear steak, to celebrate." Xie demanded while playing with her water domain and making it snow around her.
The Saint's stomach growled in agreement, making Pef smile and shake his head. As hard as his life had been since he was reborn here, at least he could cook like a chef now, and make delicious feasts from nearly any kind of beast.
It was almost worth it. Except the times he'd been knocked out, immunized, orphaned, impaled, suffocated, poisoned, spiked, irradiated, crushed, boiled alive, electrocuted, dismembered, melted or killed. Those times sucked. But everything else was worth it.
Once the meal was ready, Pef set a table under a large transparent igloo, and poured wine and juice for the women.
Cellia and Xie wolfed down everything, as apparently they were quite hungry. Then Cellia gave Xie an earring with a Monarch ranked set, and looked up, preparing to vanish again.
"Wait!" Pef called and took out a ring with two Orange pills and a White one, and some more books and metal samples, and a dozen sets of new clothes and furs, plus a mirror and other toiletries.
The Ice Saint looked confused at the ring, her eyebrow risen in disbelief. "I will rip out your arms, if you propose to me, young Xi." she offered in a calm but cold voice.
The Sovereign snorted and stepped forward, hugging the cold woman for a second. "Don't be silly, Lady Winter. I already have a wife I can't share our love with. Some gifts, for you and the nice guy who dismantles souls for a living. And I'll see you in a couple of years. Try not to die til then, please. Sword Saints are too rare to waste." he replied in a cheerful tone, and slipped the gold band around her little finger.
Cellia glanced for a second at the ring, possibly scanning the contents, then turned and walked away without a sound. After a few meters a cold wind blew and left only a few snowflakes instead of her shape.
"You don't need this woman, husband. I can teach you everything." a profound voice emerged from behind the stunned Sovereign, who was still mulling about what just happened.
Pef nodded in agreement. "I don't need her, my precious goddess. But she needs me. She 's hurt and alone, and has an eternity of loneliness to look forward to. Existing for all eternity alone would be hell, and would crush even the most frozen heart." he mused in a sad voice, then turned to hug the other wife, with silver eyes and a grey heart, not that her disembodied soul had a heart.
He wasn't worried about Xie too much, as her indoctrination had succeeded and mostly wiped the mental trauma of her captivity. But Xia had her own demons, and she was resisting the damaged glove, her goals at revenge and mayhem on whoever had killed her still powerful and potent in her soul.
"Okay then, take her as a concubine or whatever. I don't see what's so great about your precious Cellia. She's kinda plain and treats you poorly. She should be honored if you would propose to her, a primitive witch woman, with a poor village at the end of the world." Xia commented in an offended tone.
No matter who it was, if she accepted this man as a husband, he was more than good enough. Like that Monarch Yuan had realized. Damn savages, without soap or mirrors or even metal.
Not that Xia could construct a solid state 5 dimensional translation gate, without her tools and artificial minds of her era. She had been a void pilot not a historian of ancient civilizations. Give her a power armor, and she could fly it, with some time to learn the controls. But sadly, she didn't remember much of how things worked, before electricity or mass-qi conversion. She wasn't even sure which one came first.
"Enough, Xia! Yes, the Lady Saint has flaws, like any human. But she was kind enough to give us the precious Grey pellets, which must have been hard to make. A gift returned is a sign of friendship, and she even made you this amazing Monarch armor. Instead of bad mouthing her, figure out how you're going to return the gift." Pef exclaimed in an admonishing tone, and slapped the plump posterior of his wife.
"Grrrr. You dare! Let's see how you manage to survive this kind and generous goddess!" Xia yelled and drew on her new Sovereign powers to teach the moron husband a lesson.
Spells and weapons flew around, bouncing and deflected, absorbed by their armor and powerful soul and water shields, until they were both exhausted an hour later, and the terrain looked like two Ursa Major Polaris had mated for a year, while rolling around and crushing glaciers or small mountains.
Pef had to use his cheating digital weapons, shooting water jets to block a few dangerous attacks, until finally he conquered the furious wife and held her powerless under him, stealing a kiss as a sign of victory. "I win, my pretty and divine swan." he concluded heroically as Xia had stopped struggling and gave into the kiss.
"Of course you win. This divine phoenix has no need for weak husband. Take your spoils now, and enjoy me. But remember, if you ever lose, I'll rip off your arms!" The silver eyed goddess proclaimed, in a not quite defeated manner.
They did enjoy the dual cultivation that followed, but it was much sweeter and pleasant than she had hoped for. It was more of a reward for her new Sovereign rank, and not the evil Emperor abusing a poor courtesan.
'I'll need to train him better. Sweet and adorable is not enough. He needs to become a real man. Those weak wives have spoiled him too much.' Xia grumbled inside, not too happy about being adored and worshiped by her husband. Although being conquered in battle and then being loved arduously was acceptable, for now.
As they departed for their home, the Ice Saint appeared next to the geyser and poked the hot water with her little finger. Didn't feel a thing, but it was better to test the waters first.
"Another fertility boost. You really are a good friend, Pef Xi. To think someone would remember I'm human too..." she mused in a thoughtful voice, as she plunged into the hot vapors and sunk at speed towards the hot lava at the bottom.
Soon, she reached the boundary layer with the white lotus plants, and smiled to herself. No wonder she had never found this place, who in his right mind would dive into boiling water, to look for an Ice lotus?
Or poke a naked Saint in her chest, just to show her the flesh was not bending a millimeter.
Lady Winter kissed the not-a-wedding ring and ingested the Orange Meridian Pill and began circulating her qi, opening another meridian and enhancing her qi defenses by 20 percent.
'Half a million years, and a real friend. When have I ever gained this much? When I met that stupid Volcanic Elder, and he made me a Yellow and a Red pill. And him again, figuring out the Grey pellets and the Black pill. Then young Deng with his Blue pill...nah. That was much less. I wonder if my newest friend can find the rest of the pills?' she mused inward, while holding a finger out to touch the cold layer.
'It seems the odds have changed, Lady Winter. Not the weak fungus medicine, but something else. There is a cure for the Brain Devouring Plague, after all. Either that glove or the boy himself...too bad he didn't ascend already.' her god whispered in her mind, using the cold layer as a conduit to his strongest follower.
Cellia let out a breath of relief, hoping this time she won't have to exterminate all life on the Saint continent again. Monarchs would have some immunity, especially with a Black pill, but a cure was much better. Damn that worm, and the insane god behind him. Even Arachne was trying to create some kind of counter against the next flare of the plague.
'So, we cultivate the boy, as well?' she asked with a calm voice. Volcanis and Gaia had already begun helping, after all.
'I don't have pretty girls to spare, Lady Winter. Not unless, you want to train another Frozen Monastery?' the god replied a bit amused.
'We did that three times already. The girls all suffer and then break, in the end. ' The Saint said in bit of sad tone.
'Yes, the cold always wins, and we never found a successor. But maybe we looked in the wrong place. Or maybe she wasn't born yet.' the god sent as a last message.
Cellia wasn't a Saint for picking flowers. She replayed the god's last words again and again, until she was certain she got the meaning right.
'Damn you Artus. Just speak straight for once. If you want my daughter, fine. Just say it!' she muttered inward, but her god pretended he was busy.
She then compiled a short list of possible fathers for a daughter. One hand was too long to count them all.
The Ice Saint cursed an unknowable word and sighed. Why did she have to threaten the poor boy? Now he might be too scared of her.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
It took another long and hard year until Sovereign Aria got pregnant, with all the bonuses to fertility for both spouses, but when she did, it was another reason for celebration in the Pef Empire.
It was also a reason for Pef to hold an intercontinental tournament for ranks of Sky and above, inviting the Patriarchy, the druids and the fire disciples to send their talents.
In a month, the capital became a fair of trade and hasty urban construction, clearing most of the shabby slums and converting them into pleasant one story houses, with a small garden in the back. There were also a hundred new skyscrapers and a General's temple to amaze the visitors, along the new port and naval base, the ten defense forts around the city plus a hundred airships to serve as tourist attraction.
The markets were in fervor, with thousands of smiths selling their metal or bones artifacts, or even glass or porcelain wares.
Fruits, vegetables or meat from all the explored continents were being sold and cooked by markets, restaurants or street vendors.
Dozens of new books, from medicinal plants to animal husbandry and architecture were displayed proudly on shelves, all printed by mobile letter printers.
The newest invention, the icebox, was making furors on the market, as a zinc lined desk with a third of its volume filled with ice could store perishable foods for long weeks, while the more numerous water mages found a comfortable practice in making and selling ice.
The Lord Druid arrived first, as his daughter Blossom wanted to introduce his grand daughter, and he arrived in style, with two more Sovereigns and 6 hawks and eagles war mounts filled with druids of the 3rd, 4th and a few 5th circle.
It was possibly disbelief on his face, when the druid circled the perimeter of Lacrimosa City and observed the degree of new construction and civilization on the remote and so called useless Saint continent. True, the qi was poor here, but this Pef Empire of his son-in-law had more Sovereigns than his own continent, not to mention a Monarch!
Plus some Tyrants and Emperors and a hundred Sky ranks. It was the expected strength of a world superpower, not a tiny and new empire.
The druids were hosted at a nearby fort, so that their mounts wouldn't accidentally snack on people, and given quarters in the Guardian barracks.
A feast was being prepared for them as they landed, Pef and Blossom directing and helping a dozen Guardians cooks while Aria sat to the side with two children in her arms, one of them her newborn boy and the other his grand daughter.
"Lord Druid, come sit. Have some tea and relax, and meet my kids, Rose and Hero. My firstborn, Gene, has to stay in his room, as he's a regular kid, prone to disease and fits of crying. These two are immortals though, so they can take it." Pef explained in an easy going manner, gesturing at a seat next to Aria.
"Erm. Indeed. Do you have to cook yourself, Lord Pef? You seem to have enough cooks..." the Druid leader wondered while focusing his attention on his beloved grand daughter. She didn't have green highlights though, looking plain and chubby, with only a patch of black hair and curious eyes.
"Well, I don't have to cook, and I mostly don't. Just applying quality control, to enhance the taste for this spider meat." The young Sovereign said with a wide grin.
"We'll be ready in twenty minutes, father. You may play with Rose til then." Blossom said in a commanding tone, gesturing with a sharp finger at her father.
Perhaps the old druid wasn't used at being ordered around, but his daughter was now also a Sovereign, and he did come to see her and the baby.
"As you say, most beautiful daughter. Marriage suits you well, I must admit." he murmured in some surprise, as Blossom had blossomed into a world-class beauty in the few years they haven't seen each other, while her young husband had put the Green pills to good use, and got two druid girls pregnant in only few years.
About an hour later, the dinner was served in a large mess hall, and the babies and their former druid mothers presented to the visiting druids.
One can only imagine the surprise some younger druids felt when they saw the full emerald green hair of Sovereign Aria, or at the green fluff growing on her baby's head. It was a sign of divine blessing, and one not of their druid circle.
After the amazed druids got to be delighted with a specialty of Saint continent cuisine, with a side of corn and cheese, plus fruits and vegetables, they were given permits to wander the city, as well as gifts of local silver and copper currency, so they could actually buy stuff and not just stare at the wares.
Blossom stayed behind to catch up with her father and friends from the druid circle, while Pef and Aria flew back home, to feed the kids and tuck them to sleep.
Then Pef retired to his sauna, and got to be delighted by his fire fairy and her sparkling beauty.
"So, anything bad going on?" he asked after ogling her heavenly body for some 10 minutes, before getting his voice back and his thoughts in the upper brain working again.
"A bit more petty thefts, as expected. Your oracles are rounding them up and increasing the workforce for the mines. No more murders in the past month, so that's good." Yuan said in a soft voice, while breathing deeply to tease him with her jingly airbags.
Pef sighed and closed his eyes, letting the steam pour in and relax his body and soul.
Centuries or maybe millennia of bad habits and unlawful behavior were slowly getting culled and extirpated from society, but it would take a generation or two before the things began working properly. Education and making the laws simple to learn and follow.
It wasn't hard on paper, it took him a week to sort this problem out at only 17. But people had a resistance and inertia in their behavior, and that wouldn't change in a few years.
Luckily, high cultivation ranks of his family and Guardians meant that organized resistance or banditry was no longer possible, only the slow and ineffective traditional mores and ethics impeding faster growth. Paired teachers perhaps, couples would be ideal.
That should break up traditional gender roles, and allow smart women to contribute with innovative ideas and works.
"I'm getting close, my lady. One year, maybe two. Will you visit me then?" he asked in a gentle voice, as his Monarch wife hugged him with careful arms.
Yuan kissed him softly, leaving a bit of jasmine taste on his tongue. "We'll see. Those kids of yours, look very adorable. I may drain you dry for my own."
"Then I shall die happy, fulfilling two dreams in one act. Although, if you want a dozen kids, my lovely fairy, you should pace yourself and exploit your god given husband in small portions." He replied wryly, while measuring her statuesque shape with his magic glove.
'We have enough for a new set of dresses?' he asked a bit worried.
'Her body hasn't changed since you last measured it, Aspirant. Also, you have a spectator...' the glove said with a smirk.
Pef glanced to the side, just as he felt the cold aura appear in the hot sauna.
"Lady Winter, you should tell me to close my eyes when you appear naked." he said while ogling the Ice Saint with surprised eyes.
The woman was kinda plain, and her chest and thighs bore nasty scars, normally hidden under her robe. The wide belt had hidden a deep gouge in her side, like something had taken a bite and it never healed properly.
"As I expected, you're not disgusted or frightened. More like a doctor, observing and looking at my wounds for a cure." Cellia said in a calm voice, and not upset at being observed, with his young and a bit lusty eyes. He didn't just notice her scars, his gaze wandered all over, despite a ravishing beauty in his lap.
"I've suffered much worse, Cellia. And so did Yuan. The body heals easy, but souls may never heal." Pef said in a compassionate tone and traced the former wounds on his Monarch's wife back.
The Saint smiled a bit awkwardly. "Yeah, I saw you at Etna, my new friend. You looked kinda melted." she admitted with a shy glance at his body.
"Go and patrol the Empire a bit, my fairy. My frosty friend needs a favor, I think." the Sovereign whispered and poked his wife's airbags in futile gesture.
"Lady Winter, til next time." the Monarch said with a small bow and sped away.
The inside of the sauna froze in a flash, obscuring any qi senses, as the Saint came closer and trailed an absolute zero cold finger from Pef's nose to his groin, making him shiver, for some reason.
"Brain Devouring Plague. It's what the Saint worm uses to reproduce, infecting all nearby animals and converting them into more worms. But it's not a soul disease. Monarchs can resist, with some luck or Black pills. And the next spore explosion is close." she said in a grave and glacial tone, her eyes dead serious.
'Really?' Pef asked inward in some panic. Humans were animals too.
'Fire and ice can stop the infected beasts. But human losses would be cataclysmic anyway. Penicillin won't help, and Black pills are very rare.' the glove added as more incentive.
Pef hugged the naked Saint while trying desperately to think of a solution. Mass evacuation to the Black Magma continent? Layered defenses?
Fire breaks? Ice walls? Those only worked if the worm remained stationary. But as the Yellow Tear canyon proved, it could and would move.
"We need to kill it. Somehow..." he whispered in a frightened voice.
"I got one more Grey pellet, my young friend. Took some work, but you can ascend today." The Saint added in a teasing manner, enjoying the scared kitten holding on to her, like a lifeline. Then again, she was doing the same.
Pef drew back, and flicked her nose in a dismissive gesture. "Give it to Deng. He's coming here next week, and better arrive as a Monarch, full of energy and vitality, instead of a decrepit old man dragging his bones around."
The Ice Saint smiled mysteriously, her head tilted a bit to better take in the outrageous Sovereign. "He's digesting his pellet right now, young Pef. See, I told him to hit me. And he actually nicked my finger!" the woman proclaimed proudly, showing a millimetric scar almost healed on her index fingertip.
"That's great! If he doesn't ascend from that, I can give him an Orange pill when he gets here. Although what he needs most is love, not more energy..." Pef mused while playing with the Saint's silky hair.
"Funny thing, he does have some Sky ranked woman around him. I thought she was a daughter or something, but Deng isn't the type to grope and kiss his daughters. I chopped off his legs for less than that." the Saint said in a mild voice, and nodded to herself.
'Yeah, no wonder he never returned to your sword training, crazy woman!' Pef mused inward, a bit dismayed at how easy people lost limbs on this planet.
"Oracle Shen, I know her. She's too nice to him, for what a bigoted old man he has become. But with her skill, she possibly understands him better.
So, what favor can this young Sovereign offer to her supreme Saintess of ice and snow?" the brave hero asked while looking the Saint straight in the eyes.
"Artus wants to train a successor. Thus, I need a father for a daughter. Kinda short list of friends, and a fire qi wouldn't work. And between you and Deng, with you, I'd burn a hundred times fewer kids, born normal. You my friend, have a two out of three success ratios so far, which is more than amazing. Plus the water spirit and a whatever dual soul aura, which has white in it." Lady Winter explained while trying to sound a bit sultry and enticing.
But she kinda forgot the game in the half of million years since she'd tried it, so it didn't quite work.
Pef sighed audibly and sat back on his bench, ignoring the frozen ice over the wood.
"Did you hear yourself, stupid woman? Let's make a kid, and then abandon her into some ice cave to be refined into another ice princess. Have you heard of maternal love?" He asked a bit sarcastically.
"Say that again! You're a mewling kitten, and should be honored to receive a blessed daughter!" the Ice Saint exclaimed while a front storm formed around her.
"I gave you my ring, you coldhearted witch! I'll make with you a thousand children to love and cherish them. But not to abuse them! Children are precious and sacred. Geez. Go away now. I don't wanna see you for a year!" Pef exclaimed in outrage and flashed his sword qi as he was getting cold, for some reason.
Lady Winter clenched her jaw in a forceful way to stop herself saying worse things, then turned and walked out the door, leaving the sauna frozen in her wake.
'You should have taken the Grey pellet first...' the glove observed a bit amused. Its user chasing away a Saint with only a forked tongue was quite amazing anyway.
'I need more practice. And I would have given the pill to someone else anyway.' he answered while dressing up and walking out from the freezer.
The Ice Saint was waiting outside though, also dressed and a bit calmer. She flicked the pellet at his glove, so fast it was almost invisible. "I can't leave yet...you were supposed to cook for me..." Cellia muttered in a more meek voice.
Pef sighed and walked towards the kitchen. "Unfreeze my sauna, or I can't nourish my soul and eyes. How can I fondle my pretty wives if they freeze to death?" he said in a more subdued tone.
"Moron! Why did I become friends with a disrespectful idiot?" Cellia muttered to herself, but a bit glad their relation was just cold and not broken.
She could deal with cold.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
The Volcanic Fire disciples arrived next day, with their lower ranks embarked on their own airships, including Anaconda Two, and being pushed by two of their Fire Sovereigns, Lord Guyong who was second in command now, and Lord Fonshui, one of the newly risen due to a White pill. The Fire Lord hasn't joined this delegation, but there were 30 Tyrants and 30 Emperors among them, so they made up with numbers, outnumbering the druids three times.
Pef suspected the old Fire Sovereign was kind of tied into the defense arrays at Vesuvius, making it hard and unnecessary for him to leave the volcano.
Not that he needed to, with Saren and Teria Xi at Sovereign rank as well, to send out on pacification missions.
Of course, Pef also had 5 ex-disciple wives, from Qin and Jian, then Yuan and lastly Lucia and Mengue, and among the six of them, they held four Ignited titles, as proof of the service done to Volcanis. He would have liked two more Ignited, as their fire sprites served as extra qi reserves or firepower, but it was out of his hands.
The Pef Empire would be represented by his wives, Qin was possibly the youngest Tyrant in the world, still just under 100 years old, followed closely by Mia at 120 years old. Pela was next at 300, followed by Jian at 400 and Erin around 900. Compared to others, they were all the youngest Tyrants anyway. A few skilled Sky ranks along with Emperors Zhong and Wu would also fight in the lower ranked brackets.
Not that any of these competitors had a chance to win a competition which will include his uncles Lithos or Ventu, or any of the new dozen Tyrants in the Patriarchy. Beside their elemental domain, the Xi Tyrants would have thousands of years of training in sword qi, which broke the odds completely.
Hundreds of training spars took place in the arena already, the druids showing proficiency with blunt weapons, from fists to maces and staffs, while the fire disciples preferred long spears or short swords, covered in fire qi. Sadly, both groups were not true warriors, their combat skills and weapon techniques barely passable.
Thus, Pef played gracious host, and sometimes cook, and tried to forge a relation with these groups, and win them over.
It didn't quite work, except in rare cases.
A druid there, a disciple here, being awed with nice meals or stories of bravery and heroism.
But overall, it seemed both delegations were on guard at losing more of their members to the Lord's Pef known habit of wooing females into his harem.
Gifts presented to pretty ladies, in storage rings, were declined politely, and only men were allowed to drink wine with Pef, by their leaders' orders. Or perhaps the gods themselves.
'Damn it, those two druid Empresses seemed nice...' the Sovereign muttered inside, taking back his rings with a sheepish face. He would have cultivated these two women for months, perhaps at once...
'You have enough wives, Aspirant. You should really consider taking that other grey pellet now.' the glove replied in a warning tone.
'But I could help Erin become a Sovereign...' Pef murmured inward, considering the overall practice and combat of his weaker Tyrant wives.
The glove projected a few predictions and discarded that foolish idea. 'They will become Sovereigns soon enough. There's four more meridian pills, and without a Monarch rank their ingredients are risky to collect. The Rainbow Pill would suffice to upgrade their ranks in a single day, and even your Lady Si to her next one.'
It was a dirty blow, targeting the weakest link. But the user would cave in, as always. He was just too soft and kind. Although the glove tried to be a harsh teacher, punishing every flaw in his training, with ever-increasing punishments, from grievous harm, to tougher enemies and soul poison death, the idiot still wouldn't learn.
Pef blinked in surprise, before rushing away toward his palace, and sauna.
A minute later, another pillar of light emerged, much weaker than the last one, as there wasn't a combined effect this time.
All over the world, oracles felt their future change, as another Monarch was ascending, and bound to shift the landscape of the planet sooner, and in a more violent way.
Pef circulated the concentrated water qi in a practiced manner, almost subconscious now. He focused instead on his soul, the inner palace slowly rising from the depths and becoming an island, surrounded by a large blue lake, with its shores growing ever more distant.
As hours passed, the lake became a great lake, then a sea and days later an enormous ocean, so large it had its own gravity and bent in a sphere, like a liquid planet. His senses grew even stronger and encompassed a larger domain, covering the entire Saint continent.
Now he felt the strange voids left inside his perception by two Saints, one at the edge of his domain, and seeming annoyed at being detected, while the other appearing amused and very close. Like only a meter away.
The one close by was familiar and scented with ice and cold, while the other smelled of putrid death and disease.
He couldn't make out a shape or volume, only distance and direction. In his inner landscape, a map of the continent appeared, in fine detail, with every feature represented, his wives marked with red hearts, his kids with tiny pink shoes, and his Guardians with blue swords. Green plants and yellow fires marked the druids and the fire disciples, while Cellia appeared as a white snowflake and the worm as a black teardrop.
'Are you doing this, my orange glove?' the new Monarch wondered while zooming in and out of his new mental map.
'All Monarchs would have a similar perception sense. The symbols are assigned by your subconscious. Deng will enter your range in one hour.' the glove
explained in a snappy tone.
At least the old bastard still hadn't crossed into Monarch rank, yet. That would make the power games a bit easier, not that they really mattered, with two Saints and two Monarchs present on this tiny continent.
As Pef opened his eyes, he noticed Cellia step away while Yuan entered the sauna with a shy face and hesitant manner.
He rose and went to embrace his still virgin wife, at last finding her body malleable and easy to fondle.
The Water Monarch tasted the sweet lips of his Fire Monarch wife, while his hands poked and squeezed in a bit of hurried movements.
Yuan hugged him with all her might, at once excited and anxious at being naked and alone with her too horny husband.
"Are you a bit scared, or curious?" Pef asked with a wry smile, while showering them both with few water jets. Wet skin tasted even better, in his opinion.
"My heart trembles, and my stomach flutters. I think...I need to eat you up!" the virgin said in a languid voice, slowly pushing her husband down and licking his ear in a teasing manner.
A few hours later, the Monarchs emerged from the hot and steamy sauna properly married, and grinning like newlyweds.
"We should go have dinner with the Patriarch and all our relatives. I wonder if they'll be impressed with my lovely wife..." Pef whispered while his stomach growled in angry famine.
Yuan leaned on Pef, in a half hug, glad she could fly and didn't have to move her melting legs and hips. "Doesn't matter, husband. I'm very impressed and thinking to keep you just for my private use. For a hundred years or so. I'm not too greedy."
"We endure a too long dinner, then cultivate again?" Pef asked to make sure.
Yuan nodded with a coy smile. For once, she was glad that her husband's cultivation was always hard.
A few minutes later, they arrived at the third Guardian fort near Lacrimosa, where the Blue Xi delegation was hosted.
"Welcome to the Pef Monarchy, esteemed uncles and aunts. Let's eat first, I'm starving!" Pef proclaimed after rushing to sit at his reserved table.
Only Ladies Lara, Pela and Erin were seated at the host table, while Remi and Wu sat with Wixtal while Deng and Lithos sat with their new wives right next to the hosts.
"Hmph! Monarchy...that's a good name for your empire, my young nephew. Why is there a seat not taken at your table?" Deng asked a bit curious, his chin pointing at the seat to the right of the Monarch.
A cold voice responded, as the seat suddenly appeared occupied, with a platinum haired Saint, already gently cutting into the rattlesnake meat which was being served. "If you really have to know, young Deng...it's because I was around and Pef offered to feed me. Plus this Orange Sovereign rattlesnake is delicious. Might be worth to stay awhile, and train another Xi, just for the food..."
The Patriarch gulped a bit surprised and cowed, since the Sword Saint had not been a kind and warm sword master. At all. Then he rose and saluted, flashing his white sword qi for a second. "Nice to meet you again, Lady Winter. Everyone, this is the Ice Saint who taught me the sword, a hundred thousand years ago. My stupid nephew will soon cry rivers of tears, and curse the day he met this master." he declared in a warning tone, letting his delegation know to be wary and polite.
The Xi Emperors and Tyrants saluted with a fist on their chest, and flashed their sword qi to show their own proficiency and practice.
Tyrant Lithos stood out the most, and then Wixtal and Xuyan, while Ang Xi was the weakest of the new Tyrants.
Pef observed each of them with his new perception, and sighed inward. Even Ang Xi had more practice and a smoother and refined sword qi than him.
He would win in a fight with any of his Tyrant uncles or father, as he was a hundred times stronger and more durable, but it would be through brute force, not skill.
And as Deng could hurt a Saint, even if minutely, he would be slaughtered like a woolly pig. Or like that Monarch locust Deng butchered some years ago, during the locust invasion.
"You heard that, Cellia? I can curse the day I met you already. And I did cry rivers of tears as well..." the brave hero mused in a low voice, tasting the meat of the beast who killed him once. It tasted quite nice, once the soul poison had been removed by his glove.
"Shut up and eat the stupid snake, you idiot! Not that it's not delicious. It's quite the best meat I've eaten in the last million years." the Saint muttered while gulping chunk after chunk of rattlesnake.
"You could have learned to cook, in all this time, stupid woman. Your sword lessons better be as good as you claim, or I'll feed you only corn and pig, like every other teacher eats in my empire." The Monarch murmured in between hungry gulps.
"Munch. I'm doubling the hardness of your training again, moron. We'll see how you snivel and cry." Cellia grumbled while waiting for another portion to be brought to the table. The cold sword master didn't like having to endure this kind of verbal punishment, but the reward for it, the divinely tasting feast was worth it. She'd beat him black and blue later, and make him drink his own tears with a bucket. She could wait. Waiting was easy.
Pef smirked as if he'd won something. "I hope you triple it, you cold witch! I don't have patience to waste a million years like you, just to swing a stick. You have ten years to train me, or you're out in the cold, eating snow and grass again, with the reindeer."
The Xi family might have vomited blood and swallowed it back inside their mouths, listening to the young prodigy argue with a sword saint like that. All except his wives, who were already used to his antics. Yuan exchanged a few giggles with her sisters, while also waiting for more food.
"Frigia is not so bad...and snow tastes great..." the Ice Saint muttered in a more subdued tone, while taking charge of the next pile of snake meat and reserving half for herself.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
The Barren Lands were the most desolate place on the face of the planet, with few living plants or animals at the sea shore, and none found inward, like it was a desolate alien moon, and not a place on Lacrima.
The continent was not devoid of features or color, just of life. In fact, one could say this place was the world's most colorful place, with tens of thousands of small and large trenches and canyons splitting the face of the continent, lakes and rivers of strange colors, even electric blue or green or iridescent yellow or red or pink, as the deep cuts had polluted the waters with untold chemicals and minerals.
The lands were fated to remain barren, as a beam of white sword qi flashed and gouged another 20 kilometers long trench, before being deflected upwards with a dismissive backhand.
"Weak! Much too weak. You would only annoy a Monarch ranked beast, my big mouthed friend. A hundred more strikes, then you can rest one hour, while you cook something nice for me." the Saint allowed in a generous voice.
Pef gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand upright.
'Damn it! I can't even give her goosebumps...' the Monarch muttered inward, in a dejected tone.
'You wanted 22 hours per day training, you got it, Aspirant. I predict you only need a million more sword strikes til you condense your qi and soul into a decent form.' the glove replied in a cheerful mode. The idiot user was finally growing, and quite a bit faster than he knew.
The last hit had pushed the Saint's finger 44 microns. Amazing, even for a normal Legion recruit at 30 years old. Well, not really. Those would already be Saints by now. But given the scarcity in resources and trainers, the user did well enough.
Pef drew a deep breath, and circulated some energy from his fire sprite. The weariness washed away, and his hand became firm again.
More white sword qi enveloped his Tyrant ranked feather, and he swung the weapon twice, then sped away, dodging the counter-attack, then sped downwards, his body durable enough to ignore rocks or water like moving through air.
A crater a kilometer wide appeared at his former location, but he wasn't there anymore, the feather flashing three more times before disintegrating in his hand.
The puppy in his left hand pulsed a confused query, asking to be used and not kept idle. Pef tapped its blade with a fingertip, testing the edge, but it wasn't sharp enough, not yet.
'Not yet puppy. This weak soldier needs more practice.' he sent back, while drawing another feather and dodging the Saint's counter strike, and unleashed four white beams, guiding the last beam to curve a tiny bit and home in after the Saint, targeting her left ear.
An angry howl was heard some 10 kilometers away, as a sign that he had indeed struck her eardrum. The retaliation was too swift and vicious this time, his domain getting shattered and a block of ice spikes hit Pef in the eyes, making him see white stars and cry of a few tears.
Being blind didn't hamper him so much, especially deep underground. He drew a bit more from his Ignited title, using his water domain to clean and then heal the shattered eyeballs.
An hour later, he emerged on the surface after completing his quota, and began cooking the moon meal, his movements already routine. As he was laying the steel trays and heating the stove, a friendly hand ruffled his hair, and helped him by setting the table and the silverware, then infused him with a bit of Saintly healing.
"You actually hurt me, young Pef. Not much, but ears are sensitive, to any sword practitioner." Cellia acknowledged in a bit of impressed tone.
"We use our inner ear for balance, not just hearing. These senses are connected, just like taste and smell, or seeing and touching. Heat sense and proprioception work in tandem too, just like qi sensing and gravity. Only my new Monarch mapping sense isn't paired." Pef said in a soft voice, while his hands worked almost subconsciously to prepare the night meal.
With the glove and knife in his hands, preparing meat over a stove was too easy, not to mention his smell sense worked perfectly.
"You'll get a new one when you ascend to Saint rank. You'll be able to sense and touch divine messengers then, if they get too close." the Ice Saint replied in a wise tone, like she was imparting some profound mystery.
In fact, she was learning every day new things from her apprentice, perhaps as much as he learned from her.
The young Xi had amazing insights in the nature of water and heat, as well as the way people behaved or organized.
Truth was, Cellia was a village witch, of the stone age. Sure she had amazing powers and control over them, but she never went to a school.
Many of the inventions in the new metal age seemed like magic to her, from medicine to the steam engine.
Lucky for her, Artus was often communing with her, and used his oracle skills to comprehend and explain what she seen or read in the new books.
Slowly, she was beginning to waver in her frozen heart, seeing the young man for an engine of change, even more than young Deng had been with his methodical organization of the Patriarchy. The man had created a factory for producing cultivators on the Blue Xi continent, although weak ones.
But Pef, he had created a factory of upgrading cultivators in mere decades instead of thousands of years. At this rate, the young Monarch would have dozens of his own Monarchs soon, and later Saints. If only he had been born a thousand years ago. By now, the worm was already charging his next brain plague, and would soon engulf the planet in another cataclysm.
The druids would survive, like they always did, behind the Green Veil of their goddess. Vesuvius and Etna had stood for millions of years anyway, and now that they had a Saint, they'll be fine.
But the Xi empires, old and new...she was foreseeing billions of deaths, and was powerless to stop it.
The new entangled qi-antimatter weapons of Arachne and Tangerine might help exterminate the infected and evaporate their corpses, as proven in the Phobia tests, but humanity would still be dead and incinerated.
If only there was a cure. Perhaps, she could simply ask? "Artus says you have a cure, for the Brain Eating Plague." she said as the meal was served.
Pef blinked and stared at her with blind eyes, as he hadn't healed yet. "For some selected few, like my Guardians. If it's a protein bio weapon, like artificial prions or the like. The regular people cannot be saved, not in any large numbers."
They ate in silence, while the Saint mulled over his words. "Shelters of frozen ice can last thousands of years. It's how I've done it before. Hot lava barriers deep underground, or deadly mists like the druids or Arachne use. Underwater cities like in Marinesia, or a divine ranked barrier array like it was in Myrrth. Some people always survive, but there's never been a cure." she explained in a hopeful voice.
Pef ate with slow moves, obvious deep in thought. "The worm has no vital points. No brain and a distributed nervous system. Cut it into a thousand bits, and it would reform or just grow back...while the entire world burns. The deaths would fuel its godling, and that will give it energy to spare and increase the regeneration rate. Correct?" he asked in a calm voice.
"And worse. Every piercing strike would release more plague spores, like its whole body is made only of this plague." Cellia added in a sad voice.
Pef looked up, at the starry sky, then at the Moon. "Take me there. I want to observe our next battlefield." he demanded in a military tone, while his hand pointed at the Moon.
The Ice Saint hesitated for a second, then shrugged. Sure, it was cold out there, beyond the air blanket covering the planet, but her new friend was a Monarch now. He should be fine.
"Keep your shield up. There's no air up there." she explained, but Pef just smiled.
Soon they flew up, on gravity wings, the Saint helping Pef half of the way.
As they left the planet behind them, Lacrima became smaller and smaller, and their speed increased immensely, reaching the distant Moon in only one hour. Pef flew one orbit, while muttering things like trajectories and periapsis, then radioactive absorption and protein decay.
Then in a smiling wide grin, Pef landed on the Moon, jumping around like a child and placing metal plates here and there.
He even placed carefully oriented mirrors, and flashed his white sword qi in front of them, for some reason.
Then, in a last act of madness, he found a deep crater and filled it with water from his rings, and made a huge frozen lake on the Moon. Just to slide on ice, after soul forging some steel blades to his boot soles.
'Ice skating, on the Moon. I've always wanted to do that, even if I don't remember why.' he sent in an ecstatic qi pulse.
'I can see that. And the mirrors?' Cellia asked a bit amused.
'We can flash beams from the planet and bounce them back. Let's fly back to Lacrima's orbit. I want to install some geostationary mirrors as well.' the young Monarch sent in a happy mood, taking off slowly towards the blue planet in the distance.
Cellia sighed inward and began pushing him from behind, increasing their speed 20 times.
Pef was pretty tired already, and the flight through vacuum had exhausted him, even with his shield up.
The Ice Saint was fine, though being far from water wasn't pleasant.
'Perhaps I should choose both rain and snow. They both fall from heavens and are made of water. But clouds are water too. Most of them. Damn it. My crazy friend has explained too much. Now I might never ascend to divinity...' she thought to herself, as she watched Pef flash forge stones and metal, with mirrors, then send them flying at opposite direction of how the planet turned, and thus having them stay in place.
Some 50 such anchored mirrors later, Pef sped towards the surface, heading towards his home continent.
Cellia remained in high orbit, using the deep cold to commune with Artus.
'So, you heard what we talked?' she asked in a wary voice.
'I did Lady Winter. The cure it's a qi method, after all. Possibly after ingesting the Black and Green pills, his glove figured out the profound inner workings of the pills, allowing him to impart the same ways to all the cultivators using the Xi method.' Artus said in a convinced tone.
'And the other thing?' Cellia wondered in a milder manner.
'I value you too much, my lady of winter. I'm not Volcanis, to sell my followers. But he does seem a worthy husband, if you like him even a bit.'
'Hmm. The fire god is not generous a god either, Artus. He still communes with Lady Yuan, the Fire Monarch.' the Ice Saint replied in a cold voice, then dove at speed towards Frigia.
The cold wind didn't answer, busy considering Pef's words, now that orbital mirrors could indeed reflect sunlight onto the frozen domains, and possibly melt the frozen ice and warm the planet.
He decided to wait and see. The prodigal Monarch had water qi after all.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
Pef spent the next day at his palace, healing his body and nourishing his soul, by enjoying his wives and playing with the kids.
'How long do I have?' he asked next morning, as he felt Cellia return towards his palace at high speed.
'Could be days, could be years. There is no precise timer, Aspirant. You should really prepare, and gather ingredients for the next meridian pills.' the glove warned him in a more stern voice.
Pef kissed Erin again, then rose and flew at speed towards the kitchen, where Yuan and Cellia were having tea already.
Sometimes he could swear that women had a secret coded language, talking behind his back, even with him right there.
Lia had been here, he knew it as he could trace her movements now, but she flew away just before the Saint arrived.
"My lady wife, and esteemed cold blooded teacher. Good morning!" he proclaimed in a cheerful tone, passing them by and starting his breakfast routine.
Since Cellia was here, he made a fruit salad and porridge with cheese, and finished in only 10 minutes. Cooking was becoming faster and the meals even tastier with each day, as he put his soul into it, and now his soul was actually tangible.
It had to be, since he used it constantly to reinforce his sword qi, and his own defenses as well.
Still, he wasn't satisfied, knowing that the Patriarch was a whole realm above him in combat strength, despite his lower qi rank.
The Orange Meridian Pill had made Deng even stronger, and the spots on his skin had vanished, but the old monster still couldn't cross into Monarch rank, being stuck at the peak of Sovereign, for as long as it took for his soul to warm up to love. From the Blue Xi delegation, six Emperors had managed to ascend to Tyrant ranks after digesting the Orange pill, while Lithos finally crossed into Sovereign rank at the respectable age of 60 thousands or so, after consuming a White and an Orange pill one after another.
Ventu had stayed back as a backup defense along with his fire partener, Sovereign Hestia, and he would likely ascend soon to Sovereign as well. It wasn't as he lacked practice or combat, after all. The energy of the White pill should have pushed him to the peak anyway, but he needed someone beside him, a woman to love and protect, as a reason to continue ascending.
After the breakfast, the Saint measured her friend with a frown. "You're planning to ditch training again, aren't you? Damn idiot, always pampering your weak wives like they can't endure a hundred years without you, while you get some training..." she grumbled while scanning the palace for signs of more exhausted happy women , drooling in their sleep. Surely enough, she found three of them sleeping off the hard cultivation of their husband.
"Silly woman! I'm trying to get them pregnant, isn't it right, my beloved fairy?" the Monarch asked his pregnant Monarch wife, who had also taken a Green pill and a hot bath into the Hot Ice lotus geyser.
"Indeed, my brave husband. And only took you a thousand failed attempts, with me. Pleasant attempts, I must admit..." Yuan said in a tiny voice, and blushing a little. She smiled cutely behind her tea cup, while her left hand patted her slightly inflated belly.
The Ice Saint stared daggers at the lecherous Monarch, although she sort of needed him for the same task.
"We'll roam the world for a month, dear Cellia. I want to gather ingredients for the next meridian pills, and since I am going to gift you one of each, you can help guard my back." Pef explained, and saw a bit of surprise and hope on his friend's face.
"You know where to find them?" she asked in a measured tone, controlling herself to appear calm and mysterious.
"At the bottom of the oceans, Lady Winter. You should know that 90 percent of our planet is covered in water. There will be a long search ahead, and I suspect the deeps are full of scary monsters and beasts." he said in a more subdued tone. It was kind of dangerous to go by himself, but with a Saint beside him it should be fine.
However, Cellia grimaced and scratched at her side, where the wound wouldn't heal completely, even after taking the Red and Black pills.
"We might both die, young Xi. There's some really scary beasts in some places." she whispered in a wary voice.
"So we call in more troops. The Fire Saint!" Pef exclaimed as he reached an obvious solution, snapping his fingers toward Etna.
Yuan blinked a bit confused, then closed her eyes in communion while her fire sprites sprang out as a conduit.
"Hah, silly Pef. You think that grumpy guy will just come and help, when you ask? I had to..." Cellia said after a snarky snort.
The Fire Monarch opened her eyes and interrupted. "He is coming. Like in 10 minutes."
Pef rose an eyebrow, and took out his own fire sprite, as he was Ignited and favored by Volcanis as well. "I got connections with his boss, stupid witch! I say jump, he asks how deep." he explained in a sarcastic tone, gesturing with his fingers pointing down.
A dozen minutes later, a grumpy old man, like a million years old, arrived and sat in front of a steaming tea cup. He wore his red and white hair and beard in braids, and with his red breastplate he looked quite funny.
"Hello and nice to meet you all, again. I was busy, I mean...reading the new books on metal." the Saint muttered while tasting the tea.
Pef offered a handshake after the tea inn his cup was consumed, and gleaned everything he needed from the few seconds of contact.
'Guatian Ji Firali. Lord Ignited of the Fire Circle, Saint rank, age about 900 thousands, very distant ancestor to Yuan Ji Xi. Heat immunity, favored activities: alchemy and formation arrays.' the glove presented the man in a short snippet.
"No problem grandpa. Yuan here is pregnant with your great, great child. A girl, but a regular one." the Monarch said in a pleasant tone. The guy was family after all, if a thousand times removed.
The Fire Saint raised a bushy eyebrow, examining the Fire Monarch for a few seconds. "Really? She's kind of...too pretty, even for my clan's exquisite bloodline."
Pef drank his beautiful wife with his eyes, before confirming his previous statement. "Yes, Guatian Ji. Although the Legion method had helped a bit, she was almost as pretty when I met her, before we sieged Myrrth together and got married."
"Hmph! So I've heard, young Xi. You burned half a million men there, making god notice you, as the funeral pyres were seen even from heavens. And now you're both Ignited Monarchs, and hated by Locust with a vengeance." the Saint replied in a warning tone.
Our young hero shrugged not that concerned. "I've killed messengers before. Now, let's armor up and go. Take care of the Monarchy, dear wife." Pef said with a smile, and leaned to gift Yuan a parting kiss.
"How deep do we have to dive? I don't like deep waters that much..." Guatian muttered as he placed a thin gold bracelet in front of Yuan.
When the pregnant wife poked it curious, the bracelet swirled around her arm like a snake, and sank in, then became a golden tattoo on her forearm, depicting a firebird with open wings.
"Thank you, Lord Ji. It looks wonderful." Yuan said in a respectful tone, while examining her new tattoo with her qi senses.
Cellia snorted a bit amused at the display of forging skill, then glanced at her two friends. "Let's go already, you morons. The sooner I hunt something nice, the sooner Pef can cook another great meal."
Between the three of them, they soon found plenty of beasts to hunt and eat, as the depths were infested with sea monsters of all ranks. Not Saint ranks, fortunately, as those were very rare indeed with only three of them living on the entire planet, and only one of them a beast.
Pef directed the group, collecting algae and corals, mollusks and plankton, rare sea shells and pearls and all kinds of strange ingredients, even diving into sulphurous geysers for some Toxic Violet Lotus or into deep underwater caves for hidden Indigo Fluorescent Lotus.
Tribes of Rainbow Gardener Octopi were raising a garden of Rainbow Ephemeral Lotus, behind a underwater village made of strange buildings made of colored rock and shells, and some Vermillion Gastric Lotus were found inside a huge Vermillion Monarch Smiling Whale, growing inside its stomach.
Truly the depths of Lacrima were as amazing as they were dangerous, as Pef noted while being stung by a Rainbow Soul Poison Sea Ray and dying again, for a short minute.
He kept the sting to craft a weapon one day, when he wasn't busy, and used the pain to entangle his soul even more, which helped him in turn to produce stronger sword qi.
The Sovereign ranked Rainbow sea ray was eaten in the week it took him to heal back to strength, and the Fire Saint refined a Violet and a Indigo Meridian Pill after a dozen failed trials.
Pef tested them on himself, to learn their dangers and bonus abilities.
The Violet Pill allowed the user to produce soul spikes from his eyes, while the Indigo Pill allowed a chameleon like ability, to fade into the background and become invisible, though not to the Saint's senses.
After a month of exploring the depths, a hundred Monarch beasts were collected as meat and bones for soul forging, and enough ing