Pef landed gently next to stone tomb, carved to resemble a stylized Legion Knife, stuck into a cliff beside the sea. Dozens of normal people and a Police Emperor were nearby, the cultivator sent to guard the site, no doubt.

The fishing village had been moved away, making way for a modern airport, and inns and hotels for the thousands of pilgrims coming to pay their respects to their Patriarch.

He patted the warm stone with a sigh. 'Legends still die, huh?'

'I knew he would die. Deng just wouldn't change. Stubborn bastard.' the glove commented in a mournful tone. For all their bickering, Deng Xi had been the glove's user for more than 100 thousand years. They were old friends, of a sort.

'Yeah, I hoped to reach him in time. I could have Ascended him now. One way or the other.' Pef muttered inward, then flew up.

Another blink and he arrived inside the Vesuvius firecone.

The Fire Guardians were going about their business, some crafting, some training or meditating.

Pef followed the trail of fire qi, and reached the underground hall, where Volcanis resided along with some Legion smiths.

They were pouring some type of metallic alloy into crucible, then going over the metal bar with oils and salts and some kind of gravity compressors.

He decloaked and asked in an innocent voice. "Nice metal. What is it?"

The lead smith, a Sovereign ranked man that Pef vaguely remembered almost dropped his wares, then focused and continued. "Lord Pef. Welcome to Vesuvius." the man muttered in a distant voice.

"Thanks. Metal?" Pef asked again.

"We're calling it nano-crystal steel. Because it has tiny crystals as a foundation. It's as resilient as Sky ranked bones." the man explained in a proud voice.

Pef nodded and smiled a little. Sure they come a long way from copper and brass.

He then dropped a few tons of adamantite, both in mineral form and as chain links the size of a fist. Demons loved chaining stuff with adamantite. And for good reason.

"Found this on my travels. The chains are really strong. I can't break them with pure strength." Pef explained with a smile, tugging at a few chain links as an example. The metal quivered a little, but showed no sign of fatigue.

'I think I could move planets around, dragging them with chains like these.' he mused inward.

'Or, you could simply store them. You do have a belly pouch.' the glove explained in a mocking tone.

Volcanis himself manifested as a fire clone, and poked at the adamantite chains for a minute.

'Come inside, It's time.' Pef sent towards the former Fire God. Well, he still was one, but a Legion one now.

With a single step and a sudden translation into reality, Volcanis emerged inside the inner world.

"That's a really strong metal you found." Volcanis said as welcome.

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"Demons. They love keeping things in chains. Had to kill a few..." Pef explained as he summoned a table and chairs on the beach.

"And Firali is now gone, sent to explore the galaxy." the fire god commented after trying some wine.

"Firali is now a Legion Soldier, Tier 2 and all. But you are a different problem, Volcanis. You haven't been human in millions of years. " Pef mused in a soft voice, just as the armored shape of Reason sat at the table.

"He should stay here for a few years. Get used to having a body." Reason proposed while pouring some tea for herself.

"Another wife, Lord Pef?" Volcanis asked a bit mockingly.

"Come now. You're not just a smith. You're a god of smithing. Surely you can recognize the work of the General." Pef said with a head shake.

"She doesn't actually speak! The sound of the words is formed by air alteration. Vibrating forcefields." Volcanis exclaimed while examining Reason with hungry eyes.

"Because her real Words can kill stars or gods." Pef muttered while saluting Reason with a raised glass.

"... the power word gun. It is real after all." Volcanis said with a dry gulp.

"By her Grace, you're commanded to return to flesh, and bind a ton of gold as core anchoring." Reason spoke in a relaxed voice, but this time moving her lips. Now her words carried real power.

Volcanis and the entire inner universe had no choice but to obey Reason's words. A burst of golden light, and Volcanis shed his pseudo body and became human again.

"Still a Tier 1, but no longer an immaterial Loose Divinity. You're now a Physical God, a different cultivation path, just like the Rock Worm tried the route to Perfect Saint." Pef explained with a smile.

He had avoided the classic Loose Immortal path due to his eldritch memories. The ones only golden auras should have. But then, not even golden auras had signs of fighting the sting of a nu-golith and surviving.

Now, it was time to gift the lesson to the last Loose Divinity on the planet.

"My body..." the smith muttered in disbelief, while crushing the wine cup in his hand. Perhaps Reason was right. Vulcanis would need some time to adapt to a real body.

Pef thought for a second. "Go run around the continent a dozen times, while I make dinner." he demanded while waving the clumsy god away.

A bit confused, Volcanis jogged towards the sea shore, then slowly sped away, as he gained more and more control over his legs. Ten minutes later, he passed by the beach house again, his running reaching cruise speed.

An hour later, Pef set up the table and began Recalling his wives for dinner. The Recall range was not even close to Blink radius, but Pef expected it to grow anyway, with use and cultivation.

Lily and Rose and Paragon arrived too, the childrens' ranks still below Monarch. The normal children were long dead, and even Hero had died as well, in the last beast wave on Orange Base.

"Hey kids!" Pef exclaimed with a wide grin.

The girls rushed to embrace their father, and Paragon only nodded silently, his demeanor elegant and superior. Somehow, that boy was the exact opposite of his father, a writer by vocation, wise and restrained, and still unmarried.

"How many kids?" Pef asked the girls.

"Dad! You can't ask so rudely. But nine." Rose muttered with blushing cheeks.

"Four. But I only have one husband." Lily said with an exasperated shrug.

Pef pounded the table in fake anger. "Oh? There's no one else worthy on this rock? Don't worry, dear Lily, daddy will scour the galaxy and find you at least five husbands to pick from."

"And some wives for Paragon!" Rose demanded with a bit a shamelessness.

"No, thank you. I will marry when I find the perfect love, or not at all." Paragon explained in a calm and certain tone, like he had repeated these lines a thousand time.

"The running man is Volcanis, he'll be famished." Pef explained as he piled tripled portions for one plate.

"Paragon, you can have this book, Lia wrote it..." Vela offered, and passed over the mind stone with the story of the Monarchy.

"Many thanks, Lady Vela." the boy said in a flat tone, accepting the mind stone with both hands.

Pef snorted at the poor boy, and blew Vela a kiss.

There was polite, which was a natural way to avoid premature death, just don't insult stronger people, and then there was whatever Paragon learned from the druids. Maybe it was time to pack the druids into a ship and send them all to Gaia's new planet. Or any new planet.

"Son, how many new girls did you meet last decade?" Pef asked instead, trying to make a point.

Paragon blinked as if he never considered this idea. "Of marriage age, one. But she soon married someone else."

"Last hundred years?" Pef asked curious.

"Five. Maybe six, if there was a girl under those veils." Paragon answered a bit hesitantly.

"A ball. We'll invite a thousand girls a day." Pef decided on a whim. He was a god, so why not?

His wives glared at him for some reason.

Why? He only wanted Paragon to be happy...