With a Blink, Pef arrived at the Legion headquarters in Rome and began flash-forging equipment for the Legion, everything from armor and weapons, to storage rings filled with rations and maize seeds.

A hundred thousand militia would be raised and equipped til next week, basically all the cultivators that he had gathered in the new nation of Rome. An Emperor rank bone helmet, inscribed with formation arrays for mind shields and elemental dampening would be sufficient, when paired with a Sky ranked spear with an Emperor rank tip, one inscribed with anti-demon wards.

For the Legion proper, he had to forge a breastplate as well, and a shortsword made of Saint ranked tooth. Those swords were a hundred times harder to make, but he only needed three thousand, as white auras weren't quite that common.

It was a bit overkill for the new recruits with their low cultivation, but he wanted to give the Roman Legion more than a fair chance to kill lesser demons if they managed to land.

With a swap, the rescued slaves were moved into Rome, and given houses to live, while every cultivator arrived in the inner world and received his new ring and equipment.

A minute later, the new recruits were all imparted the Taichi cultivation, and began their Practice.

Meditation, circulation, combat forms, then again. Over and over for 10 days.

Many recruits fainted or collapsed due to fatigue or lack of sleep or hunger. Sadly for them, they were not allowed to sleep or eat, not even to die. Water with fruit syrup was all they could consume, and nothing else.

In this period, Vela ascended to Physical God and Qin reached her Saint rank.

And when the first demon treasures appeared at the edge of the system, Rome had a militia of 100 thousand Core ranks, and a Legion of 3000 recruits, with ranks varying from Core to Earth, depending on talent and willpower.

Outside, Nellie finished her own Awakening, becoming another Physical God and a Tier 2 at that.

Pef fed her an Orange and then a Violet Meridian Pill and made her train with clones and soul spikes until she started cursing. Which was a big deal for elves.

"I swear, not even my mother was so harsh. I hate you!" she muttered as another silver and white helix impacted her chest, and blasted her deep under the ocean.

She retaliated with a mind flay, and not a playful one. Pef grimaced then looked up, noting the demon army preparing for a siege.

'What are they waiting for?' he asked inward.

'The Archdemon isn't there, yet. I guess they wait for him.' the glove said with an uncaring tone.

Pef glanced behind him, as the Elf King had appeared. "Your Majesty? Anything to say?" he asked curious.

"My daughter. Is that how you treat your wives?" the elf muttered, not so pleased.

"There's a method to my actions. Training saves lives. I was too kind before and lost many loved ones." Pef said with a sigh, summoning a table and chairs and some wine.

Vela emerged from the inner world, and nodded coldly towards the Elf King, then sat down.

She looked so different from how she did before, that the King didn't recognize her at first. Gone were the sunken eyes and cheeks, the pale skin, the frail body. Just like any of the Legion, she was now a radiant goddess, with glossy skin, strong body and ethereal beauty.

"Holy... Vela! You look much...different. And a higher rank as well." the King mumbled a bit confused.

"Ah yes. I was a bit skinny before. Must have regained my appetite during my vacation." she replied curtly, then poured herself some wine.

"Yeah. You look quite normal now. I first thought the elves had a skeleton, put there to scare visitors." Pef added with a grimace, then poured wine for himself. "To health!" he wished out loud, then gulped his glass.

Vela sipped slowly, not yet used to such drinks, even if they were made from plants.

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The Elf King used his senses to scan the vestal, looking for signs of compulsion, in mind or body. To his displeasure, he found little, except ever better mind shields and a healthy body. "So you have joined this Legion, just like my silly daughter."

Pef took out a mind stone and placed on the table. "I made this cultivation method, for the cultivators of Rome. Tell me what you think of it."

With a curious face, he waited for the elf to read the mind stone then scan the country to observe the results.

"From seed to Stoneshaper in one year. And all former slaves have already reached their Mana Sea." the King mused with a deep frown. Possibly impressed then.

Pef nodded and smiled. "Different names but yes. Their life span has doubled, and they aren't completely helpless anymore. In a year, they will be the masters of this continent, immune to weather, animals or criminals."

"It doesn't go further though. The white souls got a better cultivation, I would guess." the elf said in a suspicious tone.

"Exactly. The white aura is a sign of combat effectiveness, or perhaps righteous justice. All the same, they are meant to go out and fight evil. A few trainers may remain in Rome, but the Legion aren't of much use here. Plenty of demons out there." Pef explained with a wide grin.

"My daughter, you can't take her. She's needed to become our Queen. That's what her mother wanted." the King pleaded in a low voice, just as Nellie arrived, clothes still wet.

"Dad! And Vela! Oh, you look gorgeous now! And a goddess too!" she gushed, then captured Vela and whisked her away for gossip.

Pef smiled, and poured more wine. "Nellie could stay as a trainer at the Rome base. What she does in her civilian life isn't important to the Legion." he whispered, eyes turning towards the demon's armada gathering at the edge of the system.

The King followed the direction, no doubt aware of the impending attack.

"An alliance then. Till we defeat the demons." the King proposed with bitter tone.

"I plan to install Zorkel as the new Archdemon. And I have three more enslaved Greater Demons as fodder for this war."

"I know, I saw the golden weapon. Can you use it again?" The Elf King asked raising a thick eyebrow.

Pef counted the remaining impure jade. "Twice at same strength. Or a smaller wave to pacify the army and a stronger wave for the scepter. That would be a wiser use of its abilities."

"Risky. What kind of resources do you need to power it more?"

"Impure jade or demon cores." Pef said with a shrug.

The Elf King waved his hand and deposited a hundred cores of various strengths, including 30 tier 2 and one Tier 3. "And with these?"

Pef collected the ammunition with a wave of his hand. Telekinesis was really useful for tricks like these.

'Three more shots. Or a big one. You'll probably evaporate from the recoil.' Reason spoke in his mind.

Pef mused for a minute, analyzing the disposition of the demon forces.

"One initial wave, pacifying the majority of the army, including lesser demons and Demon Lords. Then a strong wave, aimed at the Archdemon and the scepter. And a reserve, in case they have a surprise in store." he answered slowly, raising one finger after another.

The King nodded and vanished, taking the wine with him.

Cheap shot, but the cores were quite valuable. Plus, Pef did steal their vestal, after all. Fair was fair.

Another Blink, and he surprised Nellie as she was divulging some intimate details.

"Soldier! The sun is still up. Back to training. One hundred laps around the planet. Now!"

"I hate you!" Nellie yelled as she ran off.

Vela chuckled, then noticed the glare aimed at her. "What?" she asked innocently.

"Start running, recruit. Five laps today, since you were a bit sick." he said with a pleasant voice.

Vela took off, cursing him all the way as she ran. At her speed though, Vela will finish her planetary laps after Nellie.

Pef sighed and returned to the space station. Time to chop up some demon limbs and craft Tier 3 weapons from their bones. The mind-wiped demons were glad to donate a few arms for the cause. But actually soul smithing the bones was not so easy.

It was hard work, unbelievably hard in fact. The Greater Demon bone resisted him all the way, refusing the soul imprint. Still, Pef grit his teeth and keep trying.

Cultivation was hard, nothing new.

As the day came to an end, he had managed to make a crude club from a demon arm, looking worse than his first sword, the blunt one made of Core ranked bone.

With a sigh, he stored the bones and the club and returned to his inner world.

"Lin! Got a moment?" he asked his much smarter wife. He soon explained the problem.

"Oh, Greater Demon bone you say? Is it a normal bone or one from the converted demons?" Lin asked with a smirk. Pef smiled sadly. He got tricked somehow.

Reason appeared next to them, holding the cursed club. "I'm disappointed, Pef. The word mace is diminished by the existence of this artifact." she said smugly.

Lin snickered and poked the club with a finger. "Reason, be so kind and remove the inhibitor."

"Of course, my lady." the treasonous artifact said, even smiling with approval.

Soon, Lin molded the bone, infusing it with her golden soul then shaping into a double-bladed sword, and even inscribed it with durability and sharpness runes! It only took her one hour, and didn't even tire her.

Pef poked the new weapon with admiration. "Great work, Lin. It's your sword now." he said generously.

Then out of nowhere, Lin struck the avatar, doing little damage, but it did nick the neck for a millimeter.

"Sorry, hubby. I'm too weak to chop you into pieces, for now. But it's a decent gift. Now go and make dinner." Lin spoke with a wistful voice, then turned away and just left, cooing at her new sword.

Pef glared at Reason and blinked away, starting his routine in the kitchen. Beef soup today, fried noodles and fish with sauce. Maize porridge with sour cream and cheese for Vela. It was time to transition her to baby food. Like dairy and milk and cheese. And she will love it, since his food was godly.

In the kitchen, at least, he was the true god.