Time passed as Pef and his smiths strained their souls to craft the new Legion gear.

A thousand years later, Firalli returned to Lacrima as a new Tier 3, and joined the smith club on the moon.

He aided Drake in shaping the primary molds for weapons, and laid down inscriptions on the finished items.

Two thousand years later, Lin also returned. The Maker was now a Tier 4 and had a commanding presence about her, perhaps due to Faith, the Legion's power word gun.

She did not comment on what she had killed to reach the rank, but Pef was not worried. Faith was strong enough to obliterate anything in this universe.

Lin too joined the smith club, focusing on crafting armor.

Unlike lower tier artifacts, Tier 4 ones could always be changed and upgraded, adding more imbued abilities and increasing their power.

Slowly, the roaming Soldiers began to return, Mia and Blossom at Tier 3, Yuan and Lia at Tier 4, and glowing so strongly in Pef's soul sight.

Then, Lasciel and Strella returned, also at Tier 4. Silentia remained a Tier 3 and seemed shocked and damaged by her ordeal. Pef let her rest and recover, waiting for someone with mind skills to arrive and help.

A few years later, Nellie returned from her latest trip to the devil galaxy, and began mind healing Silentia.

She also brought back a few kilograms of red dust, and now the new adjutant gloves were almost ready to begin trials.

Vela and Qin returned a few years later, stronger and more confident from roaming by themselves.

And lastly, Xie and Aria arrived just as Pef began his tribulation trials, exposing the newly crafted artifacts to the Heavenly Lightning.

One bolt after another, the powerful lightning punishment struck Pef as he wore a new glove on his left hand, made of Godbeast skin.

It still hurt a lot, despite wearing the blue jade scale armor, but it was bearable. Especially as the new inscriptions appeared, spelling Veritas Legion on the godbeast skin gloves.

"One more time, hubby!" Aria demanded and held out her Veridian Armor necklace.

'What if...?" Pef wondered cautiously.

'It will be fine. The necklace asked for it.' his orange glove said patiently.

'Okay then. If you say so.' Pef replied in acceptance, and struck another moon with his voidcutter skill.

As the tribulation fell, Aria hugged Pef and held the necklace up, as an offering.

The lightning changed color as it fell, glowing golden as it struck the necklace, then coursed through Aria and Pef by proximity.

However, instead of the brutal pain and punishment it usually imparted, this time the lightning felt warm and kind, like a blessing. The necklace unfolded like an umbrella, and began drawing the Heavenly Lightning inside, while spouting leaves and flowers.

A scent of purity and floral essence emerged from the enlarged armor, rapidly raising Pef's qi purity, til it passed 50 percent.

Everyone around experienced the same purification, much to their wonder.

Aria received the most benefit, rapidly increasing in cultivation and crossing into the 4th Tier by the blessing.

A minute later, the artifact condensed once more into a necklace and flew around Aria's neck, glowing with green and golden vines.

Then, under Pef's amazed eyes, the vines shifted into words. Aria Verdi.

'Uh? What's this? The Heaven grants personalized inscriptions now?' he muttered in disbelief.

'Your wife...Aria probably awakened her genetic legacy after she completed the Wood Dao. Life qi, wood qi, water qi. An essence bloodline.' the glove mused with surprise.

Lin's weapon appeared in her hand, as she Blinked next to Aria and held hands.

"What do you remember, Aria?" Lin asked in a soft tone.

"The blue sky, so far above, fireworks during night. Running somewhere. The green forest, the fast flowing river. I fell. A violet arc of lightning. Then nothing." the green haired goddess said with a far away look.

Pef glanced at Lin as her weapon vanished. "That sounds familiar. Goliths have violet lightning."

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Lin nodded and hugged Aria tightly. "The memories will return, probably at Tier 5. It won't be pleasant, remembering a golith's true form."

Pef shivered for a second, remembering just that. Then he smiled and joined the group hug.

"Come, my beloved wives. I'll make dinner and give you all the new gear."

Cooking for his loved ones was even better, after all. He also recalled the kids, and presented the family Lin's first child, a boy named Jace.

Pef suspected that the power word gun was involved with the lucky conception, and the kid being born a cultivator, but he didn't mind it at all. Children were rare for high ranked cultivators, and one born able to cultivate had nearly infinite lifespan.

Jace was still young, barely 11 years old now, and has not yet reached Core rank, as his mother carried him in her belly pouch, hugely protective on him.

Only other relatives were allowed to play with him, like Rose or Lily's kids and grandkids. Sometimes Misty, the fairy, when she had time, as the wife of the Monarch had plenty official duties like protocol and balls and fancy dinners.

But now, Jace and Vela were yelping happily on the beach, playing with the puppy knives, as Aria had also released her own to have fun.

"Tier 4 is great, right?" he asked his goddess wife, patting the green hair with his avatar.

"Mhm. If only Hero was alive..." Aria said softly, and sipped some godwine with a sad face.

Pef hugged her to his side, and watched the kid play with shallow waves.

"Sometimes, we try our best and still fail, my love. And once we open the door, most of us will die again. Who knows, maybe Hero got reborn too and will reach Tier 5 one day to remember us. Maybe Tier 7 if he lucks out in a high tier universe" he added as encouragement.

That boy was much like him after all. Brave and facing anything head on. And probably more talented, with such a mother.

Aria patted her neck, listening to her own adviser necklace. "Garden says it's not likely. Only if we open the door could souls get reborn in another world."

'Really?' Pef asked inward.

'Very possible. Lara would have been back by now otherwise. Xia as well.' the glove said after a few seconds.

'So we are locked inside after all.' Pef mused to himself, glancing at the distant distortion with his real eyes.

With his voidsense, the gate at the edge of the universe appeared as a pyramid, not a triangle. His other senses probably perceived a single facet of that gate.

'How long til I am ready to go there?' he asked again.

'You're probably nearly ready. Finish training and equipping the Legion, consume more of that voidwine and godbeast flesh...a thousand years perhaps.' the orange friend advised him in a serious tone.

Pef checked his inner page, where his soul had doubled in strength from all the tedious soul smithing.

'Nobody will be safe anyway. Still...Volcanis would be quite useless for the frontlines. Firalli as well. And Paragon...he makes a much better ruler than you. The Monarchy would remain stable in your absence.' the glove explained without any comforting tone.

Pef was quite used with the glove's abrupt and ruthless estimations. It has always been this way.

"A thousand years, Aria. You can head first, and lay a path behind you. Easier for ships and reinforcements to support the gate that way." Pef told his goddess in a gentle voice.

Aria held a gloved hand out, and clenched her fist. "Next year, Pef. I have just returned, big idiot."

Pef smiled and leaned to kiss his wife. "Of course, my dear goddess. I'll make sure to cultivate you very hard, before you go."

"Show me!" she demanded with a tiny growl.

In a minute, Aria was expelled from the inner world into Pef's large matrimonial bed, and arduously cultivated.

It took a whole day to pacify the beast, even with his Tier 4 cultivation.

As Aria fell asleep with a dreamy grin, Pef entered another bedroom and called out Xie to be pampered and loved as well.

Cultivation was still hard, but today it was great.