"You are not drinking?" Vela asked as she found Pef sitting on top of a dune in Orange Realm, looking at the unending waves of sand, slowly flowing like a sea.

She was connected to his soul, and able to feel his emotions even when separated by the Mirror Realm itself.

"I can see very far, with my better sight. I can even see the boundary of this endless orange desert. It is the same for Oracles looking through time. They better they are, the farther they see." he explained in a soft but tired voice.

Vela sat beside him and leaned onto his shoulder. "You used to sit in an Ice Castle. A fortress of solitude, you said." the elf woman spoke gently, also reminiscing Pef's former life.

Pef smiled a bit sad. His younger version believed himself Superman. Easy thing to think, when you could fly and crush mountains with a fist. His failure was inevitable, in hindsight.

'Who am I now, Paul Atreides or the Old Sandworm? No, I'm still younger than Leto the Second. Perhaps I am Duncan? I am quite skilled with a sword...' Pef mused inward, while gazing at the immense sea of time ahead. Millions of Chaos Cycles...so much wasted time. But Leto II had the right idea for his Shining Path.

He almost wanted to kick the Governor's lazy ass right now.

'You can match the Governor's cultivation in a decade. Maybe sooner, if you Devour the last two blood crystals in the pouch.' the glove urged him in its usual evil mastermind style.

Pef took out a single blood essence crystal and ate it, then began to Transfer the unknown trillions years of cultivation into his own dantian. Once he reached his 7th Star, he could fight even a Bronze Realm, unless he was a real master. But he hasn't seen any clue of such a master around.

Their Formations were a decade too old to stop him, while the pills were degradingly poor. Perhaps Nobles would have better stuff, but not by much.

This entire giant universe simply stagnated, lacking technology or clever inventions, and nearly no innovation at all.

Taking the entire thing over would be almost too easy. Dangerous, but mostly from the influence of the higher world above. The Unknown Upper Heavens, with incalculable powers and achievements in the Dao, going by that Tao Symbol and his own Seven Color Pagoda, that still held the Taotie prisoner and would do so even if the old badger Ascended into Tier 10.

"General!" he spoke out loud.

In a second, the woman appeared in the Orange Realm as well, escorted by the Ant Queen. Lately these two had become inseparable, ever since the Ant Queen reached the 9th Star of Tier 7, and might escape the General's control with a single step.

"Pef. You have plenty of free time." the General observed cogently with a single glance.

"There is a starfield that way." Pef spoke softly while pointing slightly to the side.

"The former hunting grounds of the Tier 9 Voracious Ursa Magnum. I provided the first strike trajectory for your kill." the General continued in a bored voice, as her eyes calculated the trajectory continuing from Pef's finger.

"Train the Ants to recognize all precious herbs and minerals, then send them to harvest. Use these local manuals." Pef said while taking out the cultivation primers he obtained from the Cloud Governor.

Queen Shiara stepped forward to receive the jade tablets, then nodded towards Pef.

The General frowned for a second, probably using her Skill to more accurately discern Pef's motives.

"Wealth and territory, then population and an armed force. You want to become a Noble?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Lia will take the Devils into the next starfield, the Five-headed Purple Lion's. And so will the Serghoul and Kalima with their own people. It's a waste to keep such capable people bound to my restaurant." Pef explained with a shrug.

"I see you don't mention the humans." the General observed cautiously.

"I will take the Celestial Rat's starfield, but probably leave Lara in charge there. You all need to grow, and more importantly disperse. We are far too concentrated in this Pagoda. Alarms must be blaring all the time in the world above, too many trillions of karma strands focused in a single point." Pef continued while his eyes returned to gaze over the dune sea.

The General hesitated for a second, then stepped away with her Ant Queen in tow.

"You didn't mention the Silent Monk." Vela whispered in a playful tone.

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"It would be hard for him to govern anything. Glare at people until they understand? I can barely understand anything myself." Pef asked rhetorically as he closed his eyes.

Vela chuckled and leaned on her husband again. "The General's domain will be the weakest. She doesn't have any Tier 9 to help, nor can she return from death like Lord Serghoul."

Pef just shrugged. She will grow or die trying. But he had some faith in the Ascended Lotus. That woman always won, somehow.

--------

Shang Wei felt her soul expand, then fall rapidly into her dantian. Her Dao Core began to grow and pulsate slightly.

"Like that, little Wei. Now open your mouth!" the Taotie demanded in a hard tone.

She did as Master commanded, and a drop of blood fell on her tongue.

"Now, Devour it!" the Taotie urged her in a more patient tone.

She began to circulate the Devour Dao, and painfully assimilate the blood in her mouth. It tasted bad, but that wasn't the problem. It was too strong, almost poisonous.

"It is Tier 9 blood. I saved some for you. Want to know what beast it came from?" the Taotie asked in an amused voice.

Shang Wei shook her head, and focused on the task. Puking right now might damage her own soul.

She felt electricity forming around her body, and tightened her Void Shield, but nothing else happened. Almost too easily, she crossed into the next realm and became a Silver Immortal. But, before she could thank her Master and pay him with the blood crystal, she was pushed out.

She ended up on a sand dune, beside the Divine Cook. "How do you feel, Lady Wei?"

"I feel amazing! And didn't even get hit by Tribulation..." she exclaimed in surprise.

"Yeah, the Taotie likes to eat Tribulation Lightning bolts. He still hopes to Ascend and escape one day, then murder and eat everyone. Keep the crystal, your Ancestor will need it to recreate his body." Pef said in a clear voice, while setting down a bottle of wine and two glasses.

"Oh! The Taotie really is a murderous beast, isn't he?" Shang Wei asked rhetorically.

"First time I met him, he ate my left arm." Pef said in a joking tone.

"Me too!" she answered and began to laugh lightly.

"The Cloud Governor has been asking about you and your Ancestor. Do you want to meet him?" Pef asked as he sipped a bit of Sanguinary Ursa Wine. It had a stronger taste, but it did provide many insights into Void and Gravity Dao. And those Dao were powerful tools for any true fighter.

Shang Wei noticed that as well, since her Eight Element method also covered Gravity as a basic Dao.

"I should drink like twenty bottles of your wine first, Divine Cook. My Dao is growing so fast!"

Pef sighed and measured the not-so-young woman again. She was millions of years old, but so naive sometimes.

"I need a Noble-born wife, to claim my own title without much fighting. Every Bronze Realm cultivator receives a Noble title." he said in a low voice.

"The pouch, it was my dowry." Shang Wei realized after thinking for a minute.

"Your Ancestor made mistakes, and killed countless people in the Spring Rain Province. More than the Butcher himself did, with his creepy sacrifice dagger." Pef added as he took out the Butcher Knife he was gifted by the Governor.

Shang Wei grit her teeth and poked the dagger with a finger, then drew back in horror. "So horrible! I guess I can understand why Ancestor finally killed this monster."

Pef shrugged and stored the dagger again. "I killed seven Tier 9 beasts last year and didn't even blow up a single star. Your Ancestor made mistakes, and that cost him his providence with the Heavens and the hate of other cultivators. So, you spoke to your Ancestor not long ago, and he was fine. General Shang even gave you some wealth and advice, and sent you to me. You don't know how he knows me, but you suspect things, ancient secrets best kept buried. And then you fell in love with me, especially for my cooking skills."

The girl stared at Pef in confusion, then began to grow red in her face. "You are quite pretty..."

"Exactly like that. Blush whenever you look at me." Pef added with a childish grin.

"Are you making fun of me, Divine Cook?" she asked while growing a bit suspicious.

Pef took out a large bed and set it down on the sand. "Before we meet the Governor, we have to consummate our marriage. Have you tried multiple Avatars before?" he asked in a curious voice as three Avatars appeared beside him, already excited with the new marriage.

Shang Wei gulped as she noticed the Avatars were naked. Would those monsters even fit?