Pef just stared at Arden for a minute. "So?" he asked in fake confusion.

Arden pointed his finger at him. "This time...it might be worth it. Got to catch up with my amazing wife, after all!" the blonde man proclaimed, somehow managing to turn the situation around, and make Pef feel he had lost ... something.

Pef sighed and decided to not be a total dick, this time. Waving a drop of beast blood closer, he allowed Arden to take it and ingest by himself.

Surprisingly, the result was completely beyond expectation.

Arden puffed up and seemed ready to explode, then changed...losing all his flesh and muscle as if his dantian sucked everything into it. A barely living skeleton opened his eyes and coughed, expelling a black stone of sorts.

"Here, my love. You hold my heart now." Arden said, handing over the petrified heart to his wife.

A second later, his body crumbled into dust, forming a pile of white ash.

Pef blinked and turned towards Reason. "That wasn't normal, right?" he asked to make sure, pointing at the remains of his friend.

Reason tilted her head, then tapped her chin as if deep in thought. "Arden if fine. His soul has split away, and linked to his heartstone."

Pef stepped beside Gaia and poked the black heart. "Is he sleeping in there?"

Gaia slapped his hand away. "Arden has died before, in this very world. He's just looking around now."

Gael arrived as well, and hugged his mother for support. "How long, mom?" the boy asked in worry.

"However long it takes. Not more than 3 days, I believe." the nature goddess replied with her own worry visible.

Pef sat down beside Yuan and exchanged a glance.

"I'll keep her company." Yuan replied to his unspoken words. She rose and went to speak with Gaia, and keep her busy.

'He might need more death qi, Pef. Bring in a Nether Mushroom.' Reason sent him with a mind pulse, while examining the white ash with a piercing gaze.

Pef nodded and grinned. That was supposed to be a surprise gift for Arden, but an emergency injection was good too.

He took out a black jade box, and handed it to Reason, not willing to come in direct contact with death qi. Even here in his inner world, the unexpected kept happening.

'Contamination will happen anyway, silly.' the armored woman sent while opening the box and emptying the contents over the pile of ash.

In a minute, the Nether Mushroom began emitting a fog of death qi and extended roots into the ash, growing larger and larger.

Pef paled and retreated a dozen steps, while raising a telekinetic wall to block off the fog before it touched someone.

Well, someone not already dead.

In an hour, the ash was all absorbed by the mushroom which began morphing and changing, til it assumed Arden's body shape. It was kinda black and oozing some liquid, but the reformation seemed to work. "Give me more" the homunculus demanded in a ghastly voice.

Pef grinned widely. "Say please!" he demanded in a smug tone.

"Now, you idiot!" the mushroom yelled annoyed, and shaking a limb without fingers.

Pef took out two more boxes and floated them beside the talking mushroom. "You're gonna have to open them by yourself. Not touching death qi, even if it sounds cool."

"Damn bully. I don't have fingers!" the mushroom complained, struggling to open a box with his feet and mouth.

Pef fell on his back laughing, when Arden finally managed to open the lid and lap the next Nether Death Mushroom awkwardly. "Haha. Best show I've seen in this galaxy!"

Eventually, Arden did manage to reform himself then drew on his new godly powers to craft himself a kimono made of shadow. Then he floated towards Pef and stopped only a meter away. "I have death and time powers now, you moron! Wanna see them?"

Pef stepped forward and hugged the new lich. "And I have nine more black boxes. You should reach Tier 2 only from those."

Arden hugged him back for a second. "You're still an idiot"

"Never said I wasn't. So, you're a lich now?" Pef replied with a shrug and went back to his table, pouring wine for both of them.

"A lichling maybe. I'll need to scour a few graveyards and figure out how my lich cultivation works. And the stupid memories aren't helping much." the golden aura lich muttered after sitting down.

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Both of them sipped more wine, deep in thought.

"You were a Consecrated Archlich or such, before you reincarnated. But as powerful as you were, you still died. Keep the Legion method, Arden." Pef advised him after some time.

Arden held his hand out and formed a staff made of solid shadow, with a grinning skull on top. "That staff I had, it could shatter stars in one strike. But it broke in my hand..."

Pef sighed and glanced at the weapon. "You've seen those before?"

Reason sat beside them and poured herself some tea, with a dismissive look at the staff's shadow.

"Ugly things. Decent enough in combat perhaps. Although, they aren't sapient nor do they speak. Like the knife I guess."

she explained patiently.

Arden nodded to himself and stole an appraising look at Reason.

Soon enough, Gaia returned and smiled at her husband, while caressing his heart with gentle moves.

Pef held a hand out and grabbed a rib from the Godbeast, the bone glowing with minuscule arrays and inscriptions.

"I'll throw you a bone." he quipped and threw the 2-meter rib towards Arden.

Arden's eyes lit up, as he examined the beast bone with his new divine senses. "This! This is almost like my old staff. Gonna have to shape it...somehow." the blonde man murmured while straining to soulsmith the bone and failing.

Pef took out another rib and focused, slowly enveloping and infusing his soul to reshape the rib into a sword with a long shaft. It was considerably difficult to simply reshape the bone into a weapon form.

"Are you blocking me again, Reason?" he asked to make sure.

"No need. The Heavens Laws are just that strong. And you did shape it a little. Quite surprising." the weapon said with wonder in her voice.

Pef drew back and examined the prototype sword in his hand. Indeed, the primary shaping had taken, molding the bone into a blunt sword with a meter long handle, like a polearm of sorts.

Placing a finger under the guard, he spun the sword, observing the balance with knowing eyes. It was almost perfect, even if unfinished. He turned towards Gaia, and held the weapon out. "For you Gaia. It is very durable already. Making it sharp will be hard."

The green haired goddess stored the black heart and drew the sword to herself. "It is beautiful. Gonna have to make the handle collapsible, so it can work as sword or polearm as needed."

Pef smiled gently. "Ready to reach Tier 2 now?" he asked curious.

Gaia nodded. "Like Gael?" she asked a bit worried.

"Pretty much. You might burst from the Heaven qi, but you're safe in here. Take your time." Pef answered in a kind tone, and sipped more wine.

More tiny bits of minor dao filtered in, like trying to taste a plant by drinking a thin tea. The aroma was pleasant enough, but...

He took out few drops of Godbeast blood, and floated one towards Gaia as he ingested one drop too. A rush of energy coursed through him, filling his meridians then deluging into his dantian. More stars lit up in the sky, as a second galaxy was increasing in size.

"Such a tiny thing. I suppose it won't hurt to try." Gaia murmured to herself, guiding the drop of blood into her mouth.

The universe is always full of surprise. Gaia glowed golden as the blood released its energy, then the golden glow flew into her new sword, and back into the other hand, circulating madly a thousand times, til it began to diminish by itself.

As Gaia was already a peak Tier 1, this was enough to cross her over, reaching Perfect Divinity.

Pef expected that. Gaia suppressing the Heavenly Laws was unexpected, but possible. Yuan had did just that, and she wasn't a golden soul.

But the weapon in her hand changing like Gaia had announced was truly special. The handle had shortened, and the blade had a sheen of sword qi over the blade, the tiny runes realigned to form a perfect edge now.

Then Gaia slumped into her seat and fell asleep, while the new sword floated in midair by itself.

Reason held out her hand and drew the glowing sword into her palm. " Now I've seen everything. The Heavens changed the sword to her wish. It even says Veridian Legion on the side."

"It does?" Pef wondered with a glance at the sky.

This was something way more significant than just shaping a bone sword, by accident or luck. The bone was made of Heavenly Laws.

Shaping the Laws to write Veridian, that was not Gaia's work. Not even Pef could change the letter of the runes.

It was literally a Mandate of Heaven.