Rejin Doxuaxing has seen many things in his life. Lives.
However, the young man in front of him wasn't like anyone he had met before. He had met Gods and Devils, Dragons and Ghouls, even Demons and Fay, yet they were all similar in one aspect. They all followed tradition and the 'strength is power' paradigm. Even others from the Veritas Legion, as strange as they were in their suicidal righteousness, even they followed the rules.
Perhaps it was the young age, although subtle hints showed this Pef Xi wasn't at first rebirth, perhaps not even the second.
And then, there was that grotesque soul-scar, still pulsing with malice and spiritual corruption, something that should have killed or at least driven insane any low ranked cultivator.
"What do you say, friend? Should I teach you cooking and you teach me Alchemy?" the boy asked with a silly grin.
Rejin shook his head and replayed the discussion again in his mind, until he reached the latest absurdity.
"You definitely have talent as a cook, young one." he replied in a non-comital tone.
Truth was, the food was indeed exquisite, and even above his own ability to create, should he ever deign to cook. Not that Dian rank cultivators needed to eat anyway, except for the pleasure of their palate. A waste of time and effort, cooking. Although, eating scrambled eggs obtained from an eagle-type Godbeast was even more egregious.
Pef tilted his head, as if deciding something, then he nodded to himself. "Fine, I'll also teach you how to brew Godwine!" the boy offered as he was making a giant sacrifice.
Rejin watched his weaker companion pour a small quantity of this 'godwine' and took a small sip from the white jade cup.
His Dantian trembled, and aftershocks propagated into his alternate selves, as the Heaven's Laws diffused in all dimensions and shifted his mind-state into a higher realm of understanding. Of course, his cultivation remained unmoved, as it hasn't changed in a billion years and will probably not advance before he began his next life.
But something did change. Minutely, and almost imperceptible, but his soul grew!
Rejin knew himself quite well, an unfortunate consequence of living with himself for two dozen lives. Thus, any change was immediately noticed, and his nine selves in charge of self-diagnosis and repair began tracing back the source of the change. Dao of Wine!
Yet again, this boy has found another way to shake his preconceptions about what was important and not for a cultivator. A minor dao, one that almost nobody except veteran drunkards bother to observe, but for all that...
"Hmmm. This wine..." Rejin muttered softly.
"Yes. It does work wonders for lower tier cultivators, but for now I don't have the blood of a higher level Godbeast. Imagine what we could brew if we could find a Tier 7 Godbeast!" Pef exclaimed in a exuberant voice.
Rejin could imagine it, quite well. "There is a single known 'Tier 7' Godbeast, the Desolation Beast from the Desolate Ice Plane. That monster has obliterated a hundred universes and made his nest in the ashes and frozen stars left behind after its ascension."
To his ever-growing surprise, young Pef didn't seem deterred, or even impressed. "I see. I'd need to reach Elder God tier before I can butcher this beast, but otherwise, it's no problem." he declared with a confident shrug.
Rejin blinked in slight confusion, before he glanced once again at the slightly menacing glove this boy wore. And why did his senses warn him of a minor danger from a simple Universe-rank artifact?
He sipped a bit more of the special godwine, while considering how in the nine heavens did this Galaxy God boy managed to obtain the blood of a Universe Rank Godbeast, and its eggs as well.
"Butcher?" he asked, just to be sure.
Pef just nodded. "Took me 13 seconds to kill that Flame-Eagle Godbeast. I might not be the brightest man, or even talented, but I am way stronger that I appear." he boasted with incredible confidence. If it was confidence to declare yourself stupid...
With a frown, Rejin stood up and stored his wares in a special dimension...as he sensed the local Army Commander approach his booth. He checked his masking breath, making sure the Universe rank officer didn't sense anything amiss with his minor bazaar trader impersonation.
"Lord Xi, we have traced the ship...it passed via a realm-gate and left this universe. Their declared destination was Pearl Sea Plane, at the border of the Violet Devil Realm.
Also, the Pearl Sea is the main anchorage of the Shin Admiralty. We have few spies available there, as their species is difficult to infiltrate, mainly traders and convoy ships." The Imperial Army Commander reported in a deferential voice, almost like he was the one with a lower rank in the cultivation realm.
But young Pef didn't seem to notice or perhaps he always expected such behavior. "You did well Commander. Perhaps I will consider this, when the time of reckoning arrives. Give me the jade slip with the full info." he spoke in a command voice, while gesturing impatiently for something.
With a grimace, the Army Commander produced a green-glowing jade tablet, which Pef grabbed unceremoniously and then stored into his glove.
"Is this all?" the Universe God asked in a rather resentful tone.
Pef turned to glance at Rejin, as if considering to ask, then sighed. "Before I depart, send me a hundred Yin-Yang Demolishers, set for remote detonation. Keyed to my genes and all, you're in the military so you know the drill." he demanded as an afterthought.
Rejin blinked again, as the misnamed Yin-Yang Demolishers were galaxy-wide bombs, used by most advanced cultivator armies to cleanse galactic clusters or even entire universes of malicious life-forms, for example beast infestations or zombie plagues, or in the current lifetime, goliths and their thralls.
He awaited a swift rebuke, or at least a verbal admonition, but the Army Commander just closed his eyes to commune with his boss. A few seconds later, the armored man opened his eyes and nodded cautiously. "It will be done, Lord Xi. Please don't die." With a bow, the man walked away at a slow pace, as if in deep pain.
"Planning a war in the Pearl Sea?" Rejin asked curious.
Pef scowled for a second. "You should come as well, old man. Don't worry, I don't intend to ask you to fight. Only to rescue someone."
Although he should have known better, Rejin was curious. The hexapod squids of the Shin Admiralty were famous for the strong ships and piratical raids all over the multiverse, and this time it appeared they were about to be counter-raided. And perhaps, he could gain some more of this improbable godwine.
"A raid then. Are you going to bring your Legion too?" he wondered.
Pef smiled. "That would be over-kill, my friend. My Legion wives even carry Power-Word Guns. I alone will suffice." he declared in a strange pulsing voice, echoing the actual Word Guns he remembered so well, as they seared the lives and worlds of his home universe.
Rejin found himself laughing, for absolutely no reason. No wonder the Imperial Army was so polite. Nobody wanted to see their universe glow in cleansing radiance.
"You should have started with that. Here is your Universe Pill, young friend." Rejin offered, founding himself acting politely.
Pef swiped the violet-glowing pill and ingested it like it was nothing. In a second, his eyes glowed violet as well, then space around him wobbled as he Ascended into Universe Realm, just like that.
The young man examined his hands with curious eyes, before glancing upwards. "Is that a tribulation?" he asked with a almost confused voice.
Rejin nodded seriously. "Yes, I told you it is made from Heaven's Laws and condensed tribulation. I hope you can survive..."
Pef laughed out loud, as if the incoming tribulation was a joke. A Blue Jade armor appeared on him, just as the violet lightning fell violently then spread around the blue plates and scattered. "This is the normal tribulation? Or is it weaker for some reason?" he asked in clear disbelief.
Rejin shook his hand to scatter the painful current that splashed him as well. "It was a Universe Realm Violet Tribulation. Be warned though, the one for the next realm will be ten times worse!" he warned him seriously.
The boy laughed with tears. "I see how it is. I'll be fine then. I've had much worse at Tier 4."
Rejin observed the amused Universe God with a frown, as his world view shook once more. Perhaps, it would be worth to accompany this Pef Xi for a while, not just for the wine.
Maybe, he will one day drink a Godwine brewed with the blood of the Desolate Beast. It didn't seem quite so impossible anymore.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
The task given to Lord Rejin was simple: locate and recover the girl with indigo hair.
Should have been incredibly easy even for a non-combat type Tier 7 deity, thus Pef plunged ahead into the Pearl Sea and began detonating shipyards and naval bases, recruiting worlds and military camps, often gigantic installations that drained stars of their energy and matter.
The Demolishers had the simple appearance of twin adamantite spheres melded together, but their inner working was fiendishly complex, with the particles of True Yin and Yang suspended in Void-locked pocket universes bridged by a secure wormhole keyed to the user's genome, all wrapped in containment runes and encryption sigils.
These weapons were the pinnacle of magi-tech arsenal available to most Tier 7 universes, and only the Tier 8 divinities produced higher ranked weapons like the Word Guns and similar artifacts.
Sadly, while these weapons worked perfectly against Tier 4 and lower cultivators, as well as material constructs like ships and installations, the Shin Admiralty had their own Universe and Elder Gods, which were let's say...mildly annoyed by the devastation spread around by a vindictive Legion Soldier.
Killing the Tier 5 squids wasn't difficult, but Pef was careful for now, avoiding their Tier 6s if possible.
"Find him and bring me his head!" an Elder Admiral shouted from the top of his four lungs. The entire Silver Yard galaxy echoed at the angry words.
Pef grinned and Blinked away, leaving behind another ticking Demolisher.
'I found her...but...' a message arrived from Lord Rejin.
'Yes?' Pef asked curious.
'Rescuing her is not possible. She is covered in an impenetrable time-locked field.' the Alchemist sent with a tone of disbelief.
Pef chuckled to himself. 'That woman has never been easy to save. I'm on the way.' he replied with a delighted tone, as he sped his Blink rate to the maximum.
In a few hours, Pef arrived beside Rejin at the Diamond Palace Anchorage, where thousands of warships were preparing to launch, under the watchful gazes of their Admirals.
He took a moment to scan and record the various ship models and capabilities, comparing them with other ships he had seen or built in the past. Without doubt, the ships were faster and better armed, although they used organic compounds for armor, making them much more fragile than adamantite hulls.
'Not the best choice for armor, I'd say' Pef murmured inward as he flicked another Yin-Yang bomb in the middle of the spaceport.
'They can grow these hulls much cheaper. Also, 14 targets marked.' the glove responded, while tracing the survivors of the detonation.
Three Elder Gods, eleven Tier 5s and a young woman covered in an indigo glowing forcefield. Everything else was disintegrated by the Yin-Yang annihilation process, from cultivators and orbital factories, to slave camps and farms.
The main planet of the Shin Admiralty, and all its academies and libraries and billions of years of history were now only space dust.
"He is here!" a panicked voice erupted from a Tier 5 squid.
"I think the demonstration is over. Don't make me use harsher words to recover my wife." Pef proclaimed in a clear voice.
"Are you insane? You obliterated our galaxy for a single female?" an Elder Admiral asked in a furious tone, while gathering his qi with murderous intent.
Pef flicked a finger, and sent a single VoidSplitter sword at the aggressive Elder God. Instantly, the void folded and shattered splitting the Tier 6 squid straight in two, through its Dantian core.
"My wife is a Veritas Legion Soldier. It seems the multiverse has forgotten about us. Should I bring out the big guns?" Pef threatened in a mild voice, that carried all over the ruined galaxy.
As the remaining squids hesitated, Pef blinked beside the frozen Yue, and calmly placed his hand on her chest. A furious Heavenly Tribulation of gold and black lightning crashed on him, and then coursed through Pef towards his frozen wife. As the glove expected, the tribulation awoke the sleeping beauty.
Yue opened her eyes and looked around in disbelief. "You really came for me hubby!"
On her left hand, a violet metal ring flared with a red glow, and a projection appeared floating beside the young goddess. "See? I told you it won't take long. You have found yourself a good husband. Not too smart though..." the animal projection spoke with obvious contempt.
"A talking dead badger?" Pef muttered with a shiver, while eyeing Yue's new companion with distaste. He really didn't like badgers, even dead ones.
"Grandpa Tao is not a badger, silly husband. He is a Taotie, and was the companion beast of the Jade Emperor, a...million years ago." Yue declared proudly.
"A million million years, girl! Sigh, I should have waited for a better host. I just had to pick the first indigo aura that entered my Master's Mausoleum, didn't I?" the Spirit Beast complained in fake outrage.
Lord Rejin floated silently beside Pef, listening to the impossible conversation taking place. The woman wasn't merely a damsel in need of saving, she was the inheritor of the Shamballa Mausoleum, and now carried a Spirit Beast of immense power and wisdom, even older than all his lives combined.
Well, maybe not wisdom. Precious few sentients ever demonstrated wisdom, and today was no surprise.
"Fine! A Taotie then, whatever that is. Perhaps a fancy way of saying talking badger..." Pef grumbled as he hugged his precious wife.
For once, he didn't mind the annoying talking ghost, if it provided his wife the means to survive any damage in that time-locked field.
"...Very touching, but perhaps resolve the ongoing conflict before you molest this young lady?" Rejin observed in a joking tone.
Pef turned towards the next Tier 6 squid. "Well? Do you surrender yet, or we talk Reason some more? I know a lot of pretty words, but you may run out of galaxies..." he inquired softly, while imbuing the word 'reason' with a tinge of logopedic dao.
His dictionary of Power Words was still very small, but the morale of the Shin Gods was shattered already. A small push was all it took. Perhaps the Tier 7 at his side helped as well, though he didn't do anything.
The remaining Admirals crashed low and bowed. "Have mercy, Legion God!"
"...Mercy, huh? Oh well. I could use more troops for the Legion. Ships and admirals as well." Pef mused out loud, making the Alchemist's eyebrow flutter for a second.
"Don't forget about the Autumn Sect." Yue added with wide grin.
Pef smiled and patted her head. "Yeah. Them too." he allowed generously.
The Legion would need many more troops to break through the goliths and their mind-controlled slaves. Perhaps he could send this new wife on vacation again, and provide him more willing recruits.
"We can just join the Legion?" a smaller squid wondered confused.
Pef smiled gently at the naive squid recruit. "It will take a month or so, but yes. Now, line up to be blessed by the Hand of the General!"
In a minute, he passed with the glove over the grateful recruits and began the indoctrination. Meanwhile, the glove listed the remaining strongholds and bases of the Shin that needed to be brought in, willing or not.
It didn't matter anyway, as the Legion always won in the end. It was only a matter of time.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
While the first recruits underwent indoctrination into the Legion, Pef explored the captured wealth formerly belonging to his prisoners.
Unlike Pef, who originated from a lower ranked universe and had to carefully manage his resources, the Shin were pirates and plunderers, and sometimes mercenaries for hire.
They had an astronomical amount of wealth stored in their space rings or their inner worlds, and all that wealth had to be inventoried and catalogued.
Luckily, Pef had his glove and a curious Alchemist willing to help, as otherwise it would have taken thousands of years to identify and appraise everything.
"To make it simple, I placed all valuable items in this ring. That means pills, weapons and other artifacts useful for Elder and Dian Gods. That violet-gold armor is incredibly valuable as well, although you won't be able to use most of its hidden abilities until you ascend again. I believe it was a Dian Royal House lifesaving artifact, at the origin." Rejin explained as he handed over a gilded ring with a cauldron insignia.
Pef raised an eyebrow at his new companion. "You're sure you don't need any of this loot?"
The old Alchemist just shook his head, seeming amused. "Do you think Dian Gods go around robbing people?"
"Hmmm. I heard things like 'might is right' though..." our hero answered with a snort.
"...haha. It used to be so, before your General started breaking heads and hearts. You know, I've met her in her first life? She was only a Universe God, albeit one with a gigantic horde of insects in tow...and pretty green leaves. She besieged our guild and demanded we stop selling pills to evildoers." the Alchemist reminiscenced with a far-away look.
Pef smiled at the old history. "And what happened?"
"Our guild fought back, of course. And we lost, like we would expect now in hindsight. Not right away, but in a million years our business was failing and the entire multiverse had turned against us. By that time the General had already reached Dian rank and transformed into her human form." Rejin mused with his eyes closed.
"Nice! So she was a plant beast in her first life?" Pef wondered with wide eyes.
"There are a millions of scholars that still debate her origins. She was certainly a type of lotus, with telepathic abilities or some form of control over insects. Pheromones maybe. Doesn't really matter now, does it?" the Alchemist muttered with a thin smile.
"I suppose not. It does answer one question though, why the Legion's cultivation resembles a lotus plant with the leaves crowning in my head." Pef replied with a snort.
The Alchemist sighed. "Anyway, your General began creating the new order. Millions of sects were destroyed, especially those that used dubious methods like living human pills or soul enslavement. She died a hundred times during her crazy crusade, and many of her allies died as well...until she ascended to the Xian realm. And then her Veritas Legion became a superpower almost at once, her Captains armed with Word Guns...and you can guess the rest."
Pef nodded. "Might was right. But this time as a Tier 8, it was her version of right. She wouldn't tolerate piracy or kidnapping either."
"Not even a Tier 8 can supervise the entire multiverse, but she made an effort to keep tabs on every single Dian rank deity and pacify the less civilized ones. A period of enforced peace followed, which in turn led to the Great Alliance...and the current war against the golith menace."
Pef hugged Yue to his side, noting his wife was rather mesmerized by the story of the General. Perhaps she did make a great role model.
"And speaking of war, I do need a way to raise billions of Soldiers fast. Starting with my lovely wife." Pef proposed with a knowing grin.
The Alchemist glanced to the left, as if exploring for something very far. "The Devils use bloodline awakening to raise armies of Highgod devils. Tier 3 soldiers, if not very strong or skilled, they are still better than your ordinary Legion Soldiers."
Pef hummed gently. "Some sort of blood sacrifice?"
"I don't know the details, and the devils aren't very public with their race security. Dragons and the Fay also use blood to accelerate the growth speed of their troops, and the Ghouls...well. They use death rituals. Not very pretty, I imagine." the Alchemist explained in a level voice.
The Taotie specter appeared beside them in a red flash. "Give me that dead Elder Shin, and I can raise my sweet Yue to Universe rank. Can't help other mortals but my host has privileged access..."
Pef and Yue exchanged a surprised look, and then Pef produced the still warm corpse from his glove pocket.
"Stand back, or your minds will erode...not that I care." the specter badger grumbled as an indigo sphere covered Yue and the dead Shin Admiral.
Pef blinked back a good distance, to find the Alchemist had relocated as well. " The dead badger seems quite strong, for a dead beast." he said with a questioning tone.
"About that. Taotie is a special type of beast, with domain in Devouring. Be careful around it, as they can devour anything, from life and qi to space and even time. Also, I don't think it is dead, maybe it is imprisoned in that ring..." Rejin warned Pef in a gloomy voice.
Pef glanced at his glove, which stayed suspectfully silent this time.
'Remarkably similar to our Legion's cultivation method, I might say. Do we use Devouring as well, when we absorb the essence of our dead enemies?' Pef wondered inward.
'I cannot say. The Legion Method is not like any other in the multiverse, but it has traits from many cultivation methods, millions of separate traits, that our General has gathered over billions of years.' the glove admitted in a sour tone, like it tried to avoid the subject.
Pef's coresenses were also absorbed into the indigo sphere when Pef tried to peek on the events inside, so he gave up. Damn badger was strong enough to keep his secrets, for now.
However, by the time the Shin Admirals had finished their indoctrination, a violet lightning bolt fell onto the indigo sphere and Yue emerged from her cocoon, holding a red feather in hand and fanning herself with obvious delight.
"I've also reached Universe God realm, hubby!" she announced happily.
The spirit beast had returned inside the ring, so Pef bravely advanced to kiss and measure the body of his divine goddess spouse. "I like it. So, any new abilities from your aura?" he whispered in her warm ear.
"Oh, yes! Watch!" she exclaimed as she Blinked away and began speeding up, until her shape became a blur even to Pef's powerful senses.
Then the blur vanished and a slap resounded on Pef's buttocks. "Hehe! Aren't I really fast?" Yue giggled as she returned to normal speed.
"Acceleration? Nice! Anything else?" he asked while rubbing his ass. Damn woman left a bruise...luckily he could heal it in a second.
"Hmmm. I'll have to try it on Lord Rejin. You might die, sweet hubby..." his wife muttered with a guilty look at the Alchemist.
The old man chuckled amused. "Oh? What do you have, that time forcefield?" he asked a bit curious.
"This!" Yue shouted and slashed with her red Godbeast feather. In mid-swing, the feather split into a dozen identical feathers that struck the Tier 7 Alchemist from a dozen sides at once.
Of course, even without a combat specialization, the Alchemist was still nigh-invulnerable to any damage, purely due to his higher cultivation realm. The feathers bounced away harmlessly, but the Alchemist seemed impressed anyway. "Good! A multi-dimensional attack, only at Universe rank. And you even got one of my selves in the eye, he is rather confused" he laughed.
"I want that skill too!" Pef exclaimed with a pout.
Yue flickered to his side, and rested her head on his shoulder, eyelashes fluttering with mirth. "I am great, right?"
Pef leaned in to kiss her juicy lips. "Imagine what I could do with this skill...in bed." he whispered softly.
Yue blushed as her imagination ran wild. "Scoundrel!"
Pef grinned back.
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PefVersed in the lewd.
For a few months Pef and his new wife organized the newly conquered universe, sometimes breaking a few heads but the task went much easier with each converted Shin recruit adding to the impetus of the conquest.
Once the major bases of the Shin Admiralty and most of their high tier cultivators were subsumed into the Legion, Pef took a small break on a ring world encircling a gigantic blue star.
From his Shin recruits, Pef found out it took a million years and several Elder Gods to construct just an engineering marvel, although the investment paid itself back rapidly due to the gigantic population numbers that could be raised on such a ring world. The materials necessary to withstand the forces involved with such a gigantic construct had to be very resilient, and only Elder Gods could transmute sufficient quantities of adamantite and other rare compounds.
Pef turned towards Alchemist Rejin, "A sphere around a star would provide even more living space, right?"
The Alchemist nodded with a smile. "Yes, it would. Some Dian Gods have even crafted concentric spheres and the Dragon Emperor has shaped an entire universe into a single world."
Pef struggled for a moment to comprehend the size of such a world, before giving up. Perhaps his birth planet wasn't that large after all.
In fact, he too might be able to construct a planet like Lacrima now, if he had time and resources to waste.
"Why would the Dragons build such a gigantic world?" Pef asked with a frown.
Rejin chuckled. "You're a new God, so you don't understand the meaning of immortality. Do you have children?"
Pef nodded cautiously. "Three kids that survived until now and reached Saint rank. Dozens more that did not."
Rejin sighed and projected a red tree from his hand, branches splitting up into fractal shapes ever smaller. "Life for mortals is simple. People get born, have a few children, then die. But, what if they don't die? Population still grows. After billions and trillions of years, where will they live?"
While considering this, Pef measured the red tree until he figured out what it meant. "That is your family tree?"
The Alchemist nodded with a sad smile, as branches and leaves faded, leaving a dry husk instead. "These were only my immortal descendants. Over a billion grand-children, lost to the goliths invasion...and the subsequent clean-up."
Pef shivered, trying to imagine the pain of losing so many relatives. He had also lost wives and children, but the scale of this genocide was bewildering.
To his side Yue sobbed loudly, possibly being affected much worse.
"We shall avenge them, old man. There will be others like you, eager for revenge. And when we all unite and strike back..." Pef proposed in a grim voice.
The Alchemist just sighed in pain. "The Grand Alliance is already doing this, young boy. Every Xian, every race sends their best and brightest to the frontlines. And for a billion years they keep falling back, losing a universe after another. Perhaps it is destiny...all life must end." he muttered in a fatalistic tone.
Pef clenched his fist. "They didn't have me. And Yue here might be even stronger, once she trains her skills."
The ring on Yue's hand flashed, this time with a blue light and the Taotie appeared again. "These goliths...are so far above you that you do not even comprehend, silly boy. Perhaps if Master didn't fail his ascension...Anyways, you can't even hurt a regular Dian God, not to mention a golith. If my sweet Yue ascends to Dian rank, she will be able to release me and I'll take care of these goliths. I will eat them all!"
Pef glanced at Rejin who shook his head in negation. It didn't seem like a good idea then.
However, to his surprise Yue turned towards the glowing apparition and pointed an accusing finger. "Stop trying to influence my husband. You were not sealed and bound like this for your goods deeds. I've read the Jade Emperor's scripture and how difficult it has been to capture you, and the devastation you created when free!"
The devouring beast shrugged without concern. "It is my nature, my sweet host. If the Heavens didn't want me to have these powers, then why did I get them?"
'Maybe we can indoctrinate this Spirit badger, make it loyal and less murderous?' Pef wondered inward.
The glove took a while to answer. 'Perhaps, but I doubt it. Not even Word Guns will affect the Taotie. Its nature will simply Devour any attack, and shrug off any compulsions. That Jade Emperor almost reached Tier 8 and still didn't manage to completely subdue it.'
Pef searched his other memories for a solution, and although it didn't fit very well, it was a start. There had been other murderous beasts sealed before, and the hero still managed to turn them their side.
"Yue, the badger will make a great teacher for you. It must know millions of combat abilities and cultivation skills. You must learn everything it knows." he spoke with a serious tone.
His wife raised her eyes in surprise before turning to her spirit beast. "Grandpa Tao, will you teach me?"
The blue-glowing beast stared at the young woman for a long minute, before glancing at Pef with a wry look. "Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do, Legion Soldier! However, Yue has the bloodline of my Master. She is worthy to learn."
Pef grinned widely and took out an eye from the Flame-Eagle Godbeast. "I ate one of these before, and gained the voidsense skill. I can't help you with time skills, but space is useful too. And thanks, old badger. Yue means the sky to me."
The Taotie scoffed and grabbed the Godbeast's eye, before turning into a indigo sphere with Yue inside.
"You have an entire Godbeast in your glove?" Rejin asked with a curious voice.
"I might. Why, you need something for it?" our hero asked with a sly smile.
"Just show me the carcass, boy! I'll have to see what I have to work with." the Alchemist demanded gruffly.
Pef took out the Godbeast's corpse and allowed the Alchemist to conduct his examination, then watched in amazement as the old man swiftly dismantled the beast into various containers and jars, preserving each organ separately and storing the blood into a large white jade cistern.
Various grunts and snorts could be heard sometimes as the beast was being dissected and bones and feathers were being placed aside.
"It is good the body isn't damaged too much. The claws can be forged into decent weapons, while the feathers will make the base for various support artifacts like fans or shields. The skull itself can be shaped into a good armor, while the organs can be transformed into Universe Pills...as for the blood, start making more wine." Rejin said with a concentrated voice, lost in his work.
Pef smiled as he recalled his wife Lin, who was also a crafter and had the same focused demeanor when presented with a nice bone to forge.
He began making more Godwine, while the Alchemist produced a gigantic purple cauldron at least 50 meters wide and began his own alchemy magic, throwing plants and seeds into the cauldron, while a green flame covered the base of the cauldron.
Luckily, Pef had obtained vast quantities of Spirit Rice Wine from his Shin recruits, which had excellent quality, as expected of the personal reserves of an Elder God.
By the time the first barrels of Godwine were getting brewed, the Alchemist had finished setting up his cauldron and was simply waving his hands in arcane gestures.
"Start invoking the Heaven Tribulation now!" Rejin demanded as the smell of the cauldron became more potent.
Pef nodded and had his inner Avatars unleash their Voidsplitter skills, which was immediately followed by black Tribulation clouds gathering above him.
"How do I condense the Tribulation? I've never done..." he wondered in a small voice.
"Just come here and hold your hands out. I'll do the rest." Rejin grumbled without stopping his voodoo spells.
The sky flashed in Heaven's anger and the tribulations began to fall, only to be diverted above the cauldron and transformed into liquid lightning, that poured into the purple cauldron like a waterfall.
"More! At this strength we will need nine thousands bolts!" the Alchemist ordered in a hurried tone.
Gritting his teeth, Pef began producing more tribulations. Although a vast portion was diverted into the cauldron, so many Tier 5 tribulations were beginning to overwhelm Pef, so he took out a Godwine gourd and took a few gulps to restore his energy.
One must know that the normal tribulation that most cultivators experienced when Ascending was much milder than these punishment lightning bolts, and they were mostly meant to prepare the cultivator's body and qi meridians for the rigors of the next realm.
What Pef did wasn't by any means normal, and many would consider invoking Heaven's Tribulation an insanity.
Even Pef sometimes doubted his sanity, especially while suffering from the pain descending from the Heavens. Still, there were advantages as well in doing this, not only to strengthen one's body but also to damage enemies, or in this case steal the energy of Heavens to produce ascension pills.
Each lightning bolt had enough power to fuel a star for millennia, and they all poured into the giant cauldron in thunderous gold and black waves.
"Nine thousands bolts, coming up!" Pef shouted in pain, as the blue jade armor around him began to slowly disintegrate under the constant assault.
Rejin glanced silently at the young Soldier, then produced a lid for the cauldron just as the electric waterfall ended. Booms and shrieks resounded from inside the cauldron, and the artifact trembled and shuddered as if immense explosions took place inside.
With a flick, the green flames subsided into a soft glow, while Pef crashed to his knees still gasping from the pain. Yue rushed to his side and tenderly patted his head and arms, trying to ease the pain. "You are a bit crazy, hubby. So many tribulations, and strong ones as well.." she whispered in awe and concern.
"Hah! I hope it was worth it." he answered in-between sharp breaths.
The green glow around the cauldron vanished and the Alchemist nodded with a proud smile. "We shall see soon, but I sensed a few three-line pills had formed. I do great work, even without the Nine Universe Array we had in our guild."
Pef had no idea what the Alchemist spoke of, but he smiled anyway. "That sounds great indeed. What are these three-line pills?" he asked as his pain subsided.
Both the Alchemist and the blue-glowing Taotie, even Yue and the nearby Elder Shin scowled at Pef's ignorance.
"Ignorant boy, a three-line pill is ten times more effective. It can also cross realms and ascend Highgods directly into Universe realm!" the spirit badger admonished Pef with a disgusted voice.
Pef just scratched his cheek, and turned toward the Alchemist. "Is that the best type of pill?"
Rejin sighed and sat down in his chair, then began sipping some Godwine. After a few minutes he began to speak. "There is a higher class of pills, known as cloud-pills, covered in a permanent lightning cloud that preserves them forever, even outside a jade bottle. They are also much more potent, and even work on mortals. Those that ingest a Universe rank pill with a cloud will reach the peak of Universe Realm strength, no matter what their cultivation was before."
"How long until you can open the cauldron?" Pef asked with a hopeful voice.
Rejin gazed at his purple cauldron for a moment, and began drinking again. "Best if we wait a year or two. Sometimes the condensed tribulation continues its work, and better pills might form. Plus, it is very hot inside. Even I would get burned badly."
The Taotie beast didn't seem impressed and snorted in contempt. "It won't burn me at all. Just say it, my dear host, and I can take out a few pills." it spoke towards Yue.
Pef nodded gently, as he was curious to see the beast in action. Even when sealed and limited by that ring, the spirit beast was apparently more powerful than a Tier 7 Alchemist.
Yue observed the cauldron with warry eyes for a moment. "We invested a lot into these pills, Grandpa Tao. We should not damage our future for immediate gains. We can wait two years."
The Taotie beast just snorted and flew above the cauldron. "I never said I had to open it now, sweet Yue. This cauldron, although it is a separate space and is sealed tight, it has been open before and will be open in the future. This grandpa just needs to find the right time, and ... return."
With a swipe of its ghostly paw, the Taotie flew back as if an elastic band drew it back towards its violet metal ring. Then he opened the claw to present a regular Universe Pill and another one with three purple lines circling the jade-blue pill.
Yue gently stored the pills into a jade bottle and smiled gratefully. "I need to learn that skill too, Grandpa Tao!"
The spirit beast growled as if annoyed and vanished.
"Soooo, how many pills did we get?" Pef wondered with a wide smile.
The Alchemist did a hand wave towards the cauldron and turned. "About 80 pills. I think there are three more three-line pills as well. Quite a good batch from a single Godbeast, must have been a powerful one."
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PefVersed in the lewd.
Pef contemplated the effect these pills would have for his Legion.
In the short term, he could ascend his immediate family, the wives and his disciple, as well as most regiment commanders. But in the long term it wouldn't help that much.
Not against the goliths, for sure.
He turned towards the Alchemist. "How much did this batch of pills cost? Not including the Godbeast parts and the tribulations."
Rejin smiled sadly. "About 5 billion spirit stones, in rare seeds and grass, not including using the Wood Sacred Flame, and my precious time."
Pef noted the cost, which was rather high but accessible. "I can buy more seeds..."
"Per pill. 5 billions for each pill, so at least 400 billions for the ingredients. Other Alchemists charge 500 billions for every use of their Alchemy Flame." Rejin countered with stern voice.
Our hero sighed and slumped. Even if pooled all the captured spirit stones from the Shin, and his own savings, he could only reach 800 billions.
"We can sell a few Universe pills and buy more ingredients. One Universe Pill should sell at 600 billion, maybe more if we auction it!" Yue proposed in a peaceful voice.
Pef glanced at her, and then at the universe devourer floating at her side. Perhaps finding a rare ring with a powerful cultivator locked inside wasn't all that great, in hindsight.
Especially if that cultivator was an evil beast bent of destruction.
The orange glove wasn't very delighted with the new addition, exactly due to the impossibility to predict a higher rank cultivator beast. At least the Alchemist was human and could be modelled to some degree, and so far the glove's advice had worked to befriend and aim him at the goliths.
"We might do that, if we lack funds. For now we have the new Shin recruits to organize, and then the Autumn Sect to pacify. I think you should learn universe-wide administration here, Yue." Pef said softly. His wife was new to her rank, and would benefit from exploring her powers in a safe-ish environment.
The indigo-haired wife nodded cautiously. "Will the Shin listen to me, hubby?" she asked a bit fearful.
Pef turned towards his new recruits. "What do you say, recruits?" he asked with a wry tone.
"Yes, Lord Xi! Lady Yue will have our full obedience." the lead Elder Admiral shouted with a deep bow.
The blue-glowing beast growled as well. "I can eat a few to keep them in line, Soldier. These Elder Gods make quite the delicious squid snack."
Pef just placed his hand out, and ignored the bragging badger. "Let's see about acquiring more funds, Lord Rejin."
The Tier 7 God snorted softly, then grabbed Pef and displaced them both back in their former universe, then shifted locations again to arrive in orbit over the Autumn Tree planet.
"You cannot use Yin-Yang bombs here, Pef Xi. This is Grand Alliance territory. And I don't ever fight people." the Alchemist warned him as Pef began to gather qi around.
Pef just shrugged in a casual manner. "Autumn Sect, your war declaration has been accepted. The Veritas Legion has arrived!" Pef shouted in a qi-infused voice, shockwaves propagating in the entire star system. Orbital trading stations, ships and even ground buildings shook and weaved as the universe itself trembled.
An opposing qi of even higher strength rose from deep below and calmed the atmosphere, but the impact was already done. Now it was a public venue, and everyone around had heard the war declaration.
An old man with a long white robe, flew up from the planet, followed by large entourage of Elders and high-level sect disciples.
"It must be a misunderstanding, Legion Soldier. We have never attacked the Veritas Legion." the old man spoke with an angry voice.
"So, you're saying you were not involved with the Shin Admiralty in the plot against Lady Yue, our new Legion Soldier? That's not what the Shin themselves said, after they surrendered." Pef asked with a mild voice, while taking out a Yin-Yang Demolisher. Sometimes, actual use of weapons was indeed overkill. Just showing the enemy that had the ability to obliterate them worked fine.
The old Tier 6 Sect Ancestor gulped as he glanced from the device in Pef's hand to his backer, someone he couldn't even discern the cultivation of.
"If there has been any plot, please feel free to investigate and arrest the perpetrators, Legion Soldier." he muttered in a lower voice.
"Of course I will investigate and punish the evildoers. But the fact remains. Your sect's actions constitute a war declaration, and one I have publicly accepted. Do you intend to resist, or can I accept your surrender already?" Pef wondered while playfully passing the bomb from one hand to another.
The Elder God grit his teeth while glancing back at his vulnerable Sect followers. "We surrender."
"Good. But do it louder please. We don't want more misunderstandings, do we?" Pef demanded with a playful voice.
"The Autumn Hafaz Sect surrenders to the Veritas Legion!" the Tier 6 God boomed and more shockwaves covered the entire star system.
"This time, you proved a bit wiser, Lord Pef. Not even a single galaxy had to be reconstructed and the inhabitants revived." Rejin observed with a wry smile.
Truth be told, most of the deaths in the Pearl Sea Plane had been already reversed, as the Shin had over 100 Tier 5 and 6 Gods to conduct emergency resurrections, except for those unlucky ones obliterated inside the inner universes of the deceased Gods.
While the quality of life for the inner universes was no doubt higher and less risky than the real world, it did pose the risk of catastrophic ending if that God died.
This was the exact reason that Pef had arrived here without passengers in the inner universe, except his Avatars.
"Lower your resistances and allow to be transferred into my inner world, while I conduct the investigation." Pef ordered to the nearby Autumn Sect Elders and disciples, while gesturing the Elder God to move aside.
The man just slumped and stepped to the side, while his planet and all the Autumn Sect vanished into Pef's inner world.
While the Avatars began the registrations and interrogations of the war prisoners, Pef approached the old God. "Things cannot go back as before, old man. This type of reckless behaviour from your Sect is a sign of deeper problems. Mental and cultivation deviations, outside corruption and poor education for your members. Surely you knew that three Saints have died in the Mausoleum, right?"
The man paled even more, and lowered his eyes. "I haven't focused on the sect for many years. We were once proud and strong, respected by the universe, not common rapists and murderers. Whatever judgement it is, I will bear the guilt..." he offered in a sorrowful tone.
Pef sighed and patted the defeated God on his head. "You will all join the Legion and defend all life in the multiverse, from things like these and worse. And if you die fighting the nu-golith menace, then the Heavens have spoken for punishment. However, if you live...then you will Ascend and become a True Immortal like Lord Rejin here. So, do you think the Heavens are just?"
The Elder God glanced up with reverence. "I will obey the Heavens Will, no matter what may come!"
"Perfect. Let the indoctrination begin!" Pef proclaimed out loud, and the glove giggled in his head.Like this, Grandpa Tao?" Yue asked with a questioning glance towards her teacher.
The Taotie spared a single disgusted look towards the young woman, before scoffing in contempt. "Passable, I suppose. Then again, weaving time strands is supposed to be difficult, not to mention your cultivation realm is pathetically low."
Yue grunted and continued her work, weaving a time tapestry while carefully balancing her emotions and the newer time skill.
"My husband would call this painting a good beginning in the Dao of Time." she muttered with a longing voice.
The blue-glowing beast nodded to itself, as if in agreement. "Your husband is an idiot, you know that?"
"Mhmm. He is cute though." Yue allowed with a faint smile.
"No, I'm not talking about his intellect or his skills. He is an idiot for wearing that damaged glove. If I could be killed, even I might be afraid of that thing." the Taotie said with almost a shiver.
Yue froze the tapestry and turned towards the other monster. "What do you mean?"
"There have always been people that attempt to create the ultimate weapon. For example, a few Chaos Cycles ago, a famous poisoner master decided to create an ultimate beast, stronger than anything seen before. So he gathered billions of deadly insects, poisonous mollusks, snails and snakes, lizards and frogs, all carrying the deadliest venoms and toxins in the multiverse. And then he placed them all on the same World Ring, among myriads of other species, including several Godbeasts." the badger-like beast said with a toothy smile.
"And, what happened?" she asked, rather curious.
"You could say, he succeeded just before he got eaten by his final creation. People these days speak of the result as the Desolation Beast, or the World Eater, the Devourer of Stars and thousands of similar names. Luckily for the rest of the multiverse, this beast stopped destroying universes and just went to sleep one day. However, even that thing pales in comparison with that glove on your husband's hand." the Taotie disclosed with a warning voice.
"So, the glove is also the result of a grand experiment?" Yue deduced with a frown.
"Indeed it is so. Whatever these silly Xian deities had in mind when they established their Reverse Mirror Universe, it certainly wasn't this. Perhaps they hoped for a savior, someone like Pef, your beloved husband, to climb from the dangers scattered inside and save them from the golith threat. And they might even succeed with that, one day soon." the beast said with a short laugh.
"Really? Pef is that strong?" the indigo-haired woman wondered with a proud voice. Maybe she did make a great choice in a husband then.
"Hah. Not yet, no. But he will. He is becoming, as we speak. When you learn to read the cyan timelines, you will see for yourself. His fate weave is already doubled and almost entangled, one is this mortal weave, that any Dian Realm can sense. And the other is timeless, without beginning and end, much like mine." the Taotie answered with a grave voice.
Yue resumed her homework, again delicately weaving the time tapestry into a new universe, collecting soul bits and strands from the blown up galaxies in the Pearl Sea and fusing them into her first time skill. All around, the Pearl Sea remained frozen, even the new Elder God recruits in the Legion unable to sense their surroundings.
Her fingertips bled and hurt, as time strands cut both ways, but her Tier 5 cultivation insured that any injury was swiftly healed.
"So, what's wrong with the Legion glove? Why is it damaged? Can it be repaired?" she asked as a follow up.
"I'm not sure what is wrong, but I do know who did it. There is a single being strong enough in this multiverse anyway. The Dragon Emperor." her teacher said with a scowl.
Yue nodded to herself as she continued her work. "It all comes down to this prison universe that Pef climbed out from. As for the Dragon Emperor...how strong is he?"
The Taotie hesitated for a minute. "That monster was at the peak of Xian Realm last time I fought him, many Chaos Cycles ago. He is certainly in the Tian Realm by now, seeing the damage it did to that glove."
"What? Tier 9?" Yue exclaimed, and lost her strand. The time tapestry unraveled with a painful rebound.
"Start again, and pay more attention, silly girl! And yes, he must be a Tier 9, even though he never revealed his powers to others." the beast admonished her in a gentle tone.
"But...how is he still here? Aren't Tier 9 supposed to ascend into Heaven?" Yue mused, mostly to herself. It was common knowledge, after all.
"Do you see me going to Heaven, girl? The Great Heavenly Filter makes sure to sift through the trash and only allow the worthy in. Or kick the great sinners back out..." the Taotie muttered with a more aggravated voice.
Yue flashed in unbelieving look at her teacher. "Really?"
"Just shut up and focus on your skill. If you want to keep up with your stupid husband, you need to work ten times as hard. Maybe even more." the beast grumbled and turned its eyes away, as if observing something far away, or perhaps long ago.
Meanwhile, in another universe...
"Three Golden Feather Pheasants, coming up!" the serving girl announced as three heavily embossed trays floated towards Pef's table, filled with expensive spirit meat and various rare herbs.
"Aren't we ordering some wine? The Blooming Flower Pavilion has the best wines in the universe. And a few from other places..." the Legion Saint asked with a greedy tone.
Beside him, Alchemist Rejin snorted in amusement. "We already have the best wine in the universe, Yao Li. Lord Pef here has quite the skill with wine-making."
Sneakily, a flask of heavenly-smelling wine appeared in Pef's hand and he passed it over to his counterpart.
Although Yao Li wasn't even a proper deity, in the Veritas Legion cultivation realm mattered not, compared with the Legion rank. As Yao Li was in command of the Legion for this universe. Which created the current problem, with Pef taking over the Autumn Sect and all their disciples as recruits for the Legion, following a short but victorious war.
As the dancing troupe come onto the stage to perform their renowned routine, Yao Li took a careless gulp from the wine flask and his soul exploded with colours and sights defying understanding. "Good stuff. Even better than that last barrel of wine you left for me." he whispered in a daze.
"This one has the blood of Tier 5 Godbeast in it, plus a much better base and a bit higher Wine Dao skill." Pef admitted with a careless shrug.
All around the pavilion, guests turned their envious eyes towards the three people enjoying such a high-class treatment, and a few even drag the air deeply into their lungs, trying to obtain a bit of enlightenment from the Godwine vapors.
"If I drink this whole bottle, I think I might be ready to ascend..." the Legion Saint spoke with a hopeful voice.
Pef glanced at the Alchemist, and the man nodded back. "Don't drink it all now, my friend. We still have to resolve our predicament." Pef asked in a mild voice.
Yao Li drew back the bottle and shook himself awake, all the sudden alert and a bit wary. The wine bottle vanished into his own Legion glove, and he stood straighter. "I cannot be frightened, Lord Xi. No matter how strong you or this fellow here might be, my standing orders will be obeyed."
Pef sighed and scratched his cheek in deep thought. Sometimes, military discipline was a pain, especially if it worked against him.
"Even some of these dancing girls are at Saint Realm, fellow Commander." Pef pointed out with a thumb towards the flying ballerinas on the stage.
Yao Li grunted as the truth struck him right in his pride.
"Surely, with more of this Tier 5 wine, I could also ascend fast, reach at least Tier 3, right?" he asked in a pleading tone. Tier 3 was already a decent rank, often obtained on the battlefield by the more capable Soldiers.
Pef smiled grandly and poked his own chest. "There are also Universe Ascension Pills, could take you right into the Tier 5. However..."
Yue Li clenched his gloved fist, while his teeth grounded audibly. "And in exchange?"
Pef leaned back and took a long swig from his own Godwine bottle. "We can negotiate, of course."
The Alchemist smiled thinly as these two companions traded over his hard work with the cauldron, bartering lives and souls like bazaar salesmen.How is it working?' Pef asked inward, without bothering to check to log results of the inter-glove conflict going on.
The gloves were so advanced in their programming and especially so fast, that he could never hope to keep up. He just knew that his orange glove was hacking the other glove, both for access to its database and for operational control in the Legion status ranking.
'I already have root access. Just keep the user distracted for 10 more minutes.' the glove answered instantly.
Pef gulped more Godwine, and poked Yao Li in the forehead, rather impolitely. "Make up your mind, Soldier! It's not everyday you get to increase both your personal power and the size of your regiment by six orders of magnitude"
"...But, if you take all the high realms...it's not fair!" Yao Li complained, while swaying slightly from the wine-induced enlightenment.
"I won that war though. Next time, you can also fight an entire sect and convert them into your troops. Can you?" Pef asked a bit more aggressively.
Yao Li lowered his head, pretending to enjoy his aromatic bird meal. It wasn't his fault, of course. War is always a matter of logistics in the end, and the situation was quite bad.
With the bulk of the Veritas Legion surrounded by the golith armies in the Haze Gap, it was now only low-level Soldiers that scattered through the multi-verse in the hope of recruiting and rebuilding more regiments. But as Yao Li proved, it wasn't easy even if the local allies allowed them to recruit and train in their territory.
The Legion wasn't well-liked, mostly because of dubious cultivation practices like suffering during initiation and then absorbing the souls of their kills to cultivate faster, a demonic type of cultivation that was reviled by the civilized universes. This meant far fewer recruits were volunteering for indoctrination, and local rulers like Lord Mu Feng were mostly opposed to forceful conscription.
Pef aimed to change that, first here and then in other universes, by using the very tactic he employed with the Autumn Sect. First, convert all the higher ranked cultivators into new recruits. They would become decent Soldiers without much investment, so nothing to deliberate about.
Step two, implement his own Taichi method among sect disciples to rapidly raise their cultivation to Sovereign rank, thus raising the power and renown of the sect among the people, producing a wave of eager recruits.
Step three, select and indoctrinate promising disciples into the Legion proper, and use various external aids to get them into Monarch realm. The last step was still the most difficult as such external aids were expensive and rare, and would never suffice to raise trillions of Soldiers.
"All right, Lord Xi. We have a deal, I suppose. Your Taichi method is working great with my current regiment so far, and most of them have reached Emperor Realm already. But I expect at least a billion new recruits in the next decades." Yao Li decided, and sipped a bit more Godwine as a reward.
"Great! We can drink to that!" Pef exclaimed with a joyous voice and gulped a large quantity of Godwine in a long drag. Feeble tingles coursed through his veins and meridians as the Godwine spread through his body, even granting him a small boost to Forging Dao.
He turned towards the Alchemist, who was just lazily drinking and watching the scantily clad flowers swirl on the dance stage. "Armaments, Lord Rejin. High level beasts might be rare, but we can use adamantite for basic weapons and armor, right?"
Rejin nodded patiently. "It is a good metal for low ranked troops, of course. Expensive too, unless...you do have Elder Gods now, to fusion adamantite in their inner worlds. But who will forge so many weapons?" he asked curious.
Pef just raised an eyebrow at the obvious answer.
"No! No way. I don't have time for such low level work." he complained in a petulant tone, while patting his grey robes.
Pef just smiled and drank a bit more wine, making sure to swirl the bottle first to dissipate some smell in the air. An awkward silence fell upon the table, with Yao Li pretending to enjoy the dance show, or eating more expensive spirit meat.
Ten minutes passed slowly, tension almost thick enough to be cut with a knife.
Rejin slammed his palm on the table, making the glasses jump a little. "You can't manipulate me like this, young boy! I can make pills, but that's it! Find a soul smith somewhere."
Pef leaned into the comfortable couch and pretended to watch the show, even measuring the length of the legs on some dancers. Some of them were quite...
"Tchhh! I will need double rations of Godwine. Triple rations, if my other selves also work on this. And no spiritual weapons!" the Alchemist exclaimed in a aggravated tone.
Pef just nodded calmly. "Of course, esteemed Alchemist. Well, maybe a few of those weapons, for a wife of mine?" Pef added a bit later. He did have quite a few wives too.
"Grrrr. Fine! But just a few. I hate complicated programming..." Rejin grumbled and gulped some wine to drown his future sorrow.
Pef smiled kindly. "From what I can tell, it takes quite some complicated programming to make a cultivation pill behave correctly. What pathways and meridians to use, what species and age and gender and cultivation rank to affect, and how..."
Rejin sighed in defeat. "I know. Sometimes low level pills are harder to make, just because of this. Once you are using Heaven's Laws, the pills obtain some spirituality and can disperse themselves into the body without much instructions. General purpose pills are always the hardest to make, which is why most alchemists only cater to a single specie."
"My Godwine also disperses by itself, quite equally everywhere." Pef observed in a curious voice.
The Alchemist nodded and took another sip. "We're getting drunk on the wisdom of the Heavens."
"And my hard work." Pef added coyly.
Rejin waved a hand in dismissal. "Do you know how the souls get sent into your mirror universe to reincarnate?" he asked changing the subject.
Pef considered the question for a moment. "I don't know enough about what transformation happens at Tier 7. Words like Paramita and Samsara, but they have no reality for me."
Rejin sighed, as if in pain. " In truth, there are no words to explain. It's a feeling, very similar to the Monarch Realm ascension, when the soul binds to the body and stops the aging process. Only now, it stops death...and wipes your memories. Alchemists call this Aunt's Meng tea, as if a magic drink must be taken before you can be reborn."
Pef blinked a bit surprised, as if a memory of another life had awoken. "But, if the Tier 8 deities that constructed the mirror universe, if they somehow bounce the souls directly there...there is no more memory wipe. Is that what I remember, a life before this life?"
Rejin smiled sadly. "You misunderstand, young one. The Path of Reincarnation is blocked by a mirror, which bounces the souls into that...pit. That mirror is an ancient artifact called the Mirror of Samsara. But it was never meant to be used this way...because that tea is supposed to wipe away the grief and pain of the old life. Give you a chance of a happy life again. So, make sure you don't die again...because those that come back are warped and distorted."
'Takeover complete. I can now access the Legion network under this Yao Li user name.' the glove announced with a victorious voice.
A flash of worry passed through Pef's mind , while he considered the Alchemist's warning. It was not about himself, but about the glove. It too had climbed out of the snake pit, but emerged warped and distorted.
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Last edited: Apr 13, 2021
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PefVersed in the lewd.
Once the status of new Legion recruits was settled, Pef and Alchemist Rejin flew to a distant moon to begin the new training montage.
"All right, hit me!" Pef demanded while summoning the new Voidshield around.
The Alchemist gently pushed his Wood Sacred Vine Flame towards Pef, slowly increasing pressure and heat until the Voidshield began to constrict inward, gradually reducing the defensive skill's size from a 100 meter wide sphere to 80, then 50.
'Are you sure this will work? I'm getting cooked and refined in here!' Pef complained with a strained voice. Whatever mysterious ability the alchemist flame had, it was incredibly potent and of course, painful. Not that Pef was a stranger to pain anymore. It had been a constant companion during his adventures as a cultivator.
'All life is suffering, my retarded user. However, it is better to anticipate problems and choose the place and time of the suffering, instead of giving this advantage to your enemies.' the glove replied a bit sarcastically.
Pef grit his teeth in acceptance, and pushed his qi back into the Voidshield, trying to compensate the increased pressure with his own. It didn't quite work, as Rejin was not only a Grandmaster Alchemist, but also a Tier 7 God, about a thousand times stronger.
Slowly the shield continued to contract and only stopped when it became a small 3 meter wide sphere. Or perhaps the Alchemist stopped pushing as hard.
The stand-off continued for a few months, until the glove was marginally satisfied with Pef's progress. 'We can stop for now. We need to test the skill in combat anyway.'
Pef glanced at his inner status screen, to see the Voidshield had reached 5 percent mastery. It didn't seem that much, until he also noticed that the green flames didn't pose any more pressure. Perhaps the glove was right, and he should try it against something.
"Would you mind trying to punch me?" Pef asked with a level voice.
Rejin lazily opened his eyes and waved his hands to make the green flames vanish. "It would be a pleasure, Pef Xi. I hope you can regrow limbs..." he added as a fist crashed into the Voidshield with immense power. Crack lines appeared onto the shield, but it still held.
"Try harder, fellow Daoist." Pef muttered while taking a deep breath and circulating his qi at maximum speed to replenish the shield to full strength.
The Alchemist rose a curious eyebrow then shrugged. "Okay then. I'll use 2 percent power..." he spoke as a much stronger punch landed onto Pef's shield making it wobble and deform inward by a meter.
Pef smirked and rose his own eyebrow. "I can hit harder than that." he claimed with a superior tone as he took a guard stance.
Then next punch immediately made him regret the words, as blinding bright fist crashed through the shield then through his right hand, then elbow, then shoulder, blowing the body parts away and shattering bone and flesh into mincemeat.
"You were saying?" Rejin asked with a smirk, holding a healing pill out for Pef.
Grudgingly, Pef took and ingested the healing pill and focused for a minute to regenerate his body back to health. "That was 5 percent power?" he asked in a more somber tone.
"Perhaps 6 percent. I wanted to make sure I shut you up. And surprise, it worked!" Rejin proclaimed with a hint a faint humour.
Pef nodded back, and had an Avatar use the Voidsplitter on an innocent inner world asteroid. In a second, a Tribulation Lightning fell onto Pef, but it splashed over the Voidshield, also making it crack and buckle inward. "Is this normal though? The retaliation for using a skill is twenty times stronger than my own strength?" he asked with a sorrowful voice.
"Mhm. Indeed it is the strongest tribulation I ever heard of, but your skill is also overpowered as hell. You can already kill Elder Gods with a single skill. And with your new shield, you basically don't even suffer anymore." the Alchemist answered with a wise voice.
Pef sighed and took out a Godwine bottle, then gulped half of contents in a long swig. "To obtain that Godbeast eye, I fought and killed a Tier 5 Godbeast in the mausoleum, and almost died. Not to mention I was also hit by tribulation while wounded and defenseless. Burned me a spicy crisp."
Rejin just shrugged, unconcerned. "It was your choice, and it seems the risk paid off. Once you truly master that skill, you will be extremely resilient, almost like your wife Yue."
Pef smiled then shook his head. "I doubt my skill will ever become that strong. That badger...he is impossibly strong. My glove thinks it cannot be killed, at all."
Rejin blinked a bit confused, while measuring the orange glove with a dubious gaze. "I lost count of how many unkillable things have ultimately died, including Xian tier deities. It is not widely known, but there used to be three Supreme Arch Devils, when I was young, many Chaos Cycles ago. There is a good reason while the Dragon and Devil Realms have not been overrun by goliths, despite thousands of assaults on their domains."
Pef glanced at his glove, then just nodded noncommittally. He understood the glove very well by now, mostly because he had to as his life depended on it. If the glove itself told him not to fight someone, ever...he could safely determine it was because that someone could not be even scratched.
'If you do wonder, it would take us a century to have a chance to kill the alchemist. Maybe less if we encounter some opportunity.' the glove added with a less friendly advice, towards the alchemist.
'We do need him to make pills and weapons for the Legion, I say.' Pef answered with an inner sob. A murderous weapon of war wasn't exactly user friendly, or anything friendly.
As if by coincidence, the alchemist threw a wary glance at the glove then took out his own Godwine bottle and sipped some wine.
"Then again, I'm not exactly a fighter. I certainly cannot break that time forcefield of the Taotie. Perhaps only a Xian God can do it. I do not know." Rejin allowed with softer tone.
"Nevermind the badger. As long it is teaching my wife, and protecting her, the beast is an asset and I don't want it dead. Plus, it is sealed in that ring, so it's not very dangerous, I think." Pef commented with a dismissive gesture.
Rejin just sighed at the naive man and took out a few adamantite weapons as a method to derail the subject. Of course it worked perfectly, as Pef's attention shifted to the prototype weapons for his Legion regiments. Spear, bow and sword, plus a larger spiked hammer for things that needed extra beating.
With practiced movements, Pef began testing the new armaments while measuring their stats with his glove.
As he slashed and stabbed in the void, slowly increasing the sword qi around the edge of the adamantite sword, a flash of white qi left afterimages behind, until a tornado of destructive sword beams fired outward and minced a nearby moon into tiny bits.
"Hmmm. I can also control ten thousand swords now. I wonder if it is because I am actually holding a weapon..." Pef mused out loud, then stored the sword and repeated the process, only this time using the Voidsword that he created by adapting the Godbeast void claws.
Another moon exploded into small shards, while Pef counted the controlled weapons and the ones following as an amorphous wave of sword qi.
"Just over nine thousands, without a weapon. And the strength is not bad either...are you already at the One with the Void stage?" Rejin remarked with a surprised voice.
"Yeah. I don't know if this is good though, against real swordsmen." Pef wondered with a curious look.
Rejin hesitated for a moment. "I'm not a real expert either, but it normally takes an Elder God to reach this stage, after a billion years of constant training. Can you feel the swords with your heart yet?"
Pef blinked and scratched his cheek in deep thought. "Maybe? If I fight someone very strong, like that Godbeast. Not that my sword qi could damage it, at all. Damn thing was immune to everything, except my special skill."
The Alchemist sighed and gulped the rest of his wine bottle in a single take. "You're almost as skilled as me then. And I did spend a whole life on the sword...once. I reached Heart of the Sword stage that time...and died by the sword too. There is always a better swordsman, somewhere. Never expected it to be a pretty Fay female though." he reminisced with a far away look.
Pef chuckled a little, also surprised. Less at the alchemist having tried other professions in past lives, but that Fay were actually capable of lethal combat. He kinda expected them to always hide under veils and illusions.
"We could visit the Fay. I am rather curious about them." he said on a whim.
Rejin shuddered a little, not very convinced at his new ally survival instincts. "You did hear me before, right? The Fay are extremely dangerous."
Pef nodded gently. "We'll be fine. It's not like I'm going there to kill people. Just visit."
The Alchemist sighed, hoping this life wouldn't end abruptly, again.
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