For entire month, Pef endured hundreds of tribulations as the Alchemist Rejin kept experimenting different formula and variants of reducing the deadliness of the Silver Realm Pills, with only several decent results involving the Nine Shades Bamboo sprouts. He looked kinda tired and burned out, possibly due to the tremendous strength of Tier 9 Tribulation Lightning.
He had stored 31 Star Pills in his glove, and held the last bamboo sprout out, with a sad frown. "I had hoped to save this last sprout for a Copper Realm Pill. But since we keep failing even with the sprouts, I don't see how we would manage with a higher realm pill." Pef said in a tired voice. The Red Lily flowers only produced Tier 7 Star Pills, which wasn't bad but not great either. His cloud burgers were even better and didn't take so much effort.
The Alchemist didn't look much better than Pef, since Alchemy was draining his energy quite a lot, especially when dealing with Tier 8 ingredients.
"Let's take a break, Lord Pef. While I recover my qi and rest my poor soul, you distribute the Star Pills and see how they work."
He didn't finish talking when the General herself appeared, likely waiting for this exact opportunity. Pef smiled a bit grim. That woman has already been the death of him once, when she sent him after Hualitep, a bit too early and unprepared.
However, he still took out seven glowing Star Pills and handed over to the General, along with a bottle of Divine Wine. The General and the Serghoul were the most resilient humanoid Tier 8s in the restaurant management, and the most likely to survive toxic pills, if anything went wrong.
"Well done, Rejin. These new pills seem quite potent." the General said with a polite nod towards the Alchemist, and simply ate the first pill with a casual move.
Pef held his hand on her shoulder to observe the pill effects in detail, as Rejin sat down and closed his eyes to rest. At least the Alchemist seemed confident in his work.
The qi in the pill detonated abruptly in the General's dantian, making her pale as a sheet of paper, and also spit a mouthful of blood. Almost instantly a green pulse emerged and healed the injuries, while also raising the General into her 3rd Star. She sat down and drank some wine as color slowly returned to her face.
"At least it works." Pef remarked calmly. Considering how deadly the original Silver Realms Pill were, the General got away easily, if a bit soul-shocked.
The General nodded and tried to smile, but only scowled a little, still in pain. "I will need a month to recover. My soul is badly injured." she spoke after a minute, then closed her eyes to meditate.
Pef began to Recall his wives, and distributed more Star Pills accordingly.
Lady Vela received a Red Star Pill meant for Tier 7, and another Star Pill for Tier 8. The former elf vestal took a single glance as the recovering General and nodded. "I expect this will be quite painful." she joked lightly as she took the first pill.
In a minute, a Red Lightning strike fell on her head, lighting her pretty platinum hair on fire. With an annoyed hand wave, Vela extinguished the flames and regrew her precious hair, then sat down to drink some wine and recover from the internal injuries left by the pill.
Pef smiled kindly as he patted her head in encouragement. His wife got away really easy when reaching Tier 8, unlike his own Tier 8 Tribulations which mauled his body and meridians and even shattered his teeth.
'Perhaps we should chop off some Taotie's limbs and make better burgers. His meat would allow you to create Tier 8 burgers.' the glove proposed in a thoughtful voice.
Pef sighed. 'We aren't that desperate, my orange glove. That wealth in the pouch can provide us more Silver Pills, and my current burgers still sell well.'
'If not the Taotie, we can hunt some other Tier 9 beasts. There are several in my range.' the glove added while marking seven targets on Pef's inner map.
Pef nodded and recalled Lia next, while holding out 8 Star Pills at once. This wife will not die anyway, so she could bypass the recovery period.
Lia's Tao Symbol emerged from her dantian and spun in place, as if observing the scene. Pef could swear he felt a wave of contempt emerge from the sentient Formation, but this was the best he could do at the moment.
Lia examined the Star Pills in her hand, and shook her head. "Just give me the regular pills, husband. I don't need to dampen the pain, and I will not die either." she demanded as she handed over the Star pills and received a handful of poisonous Silver Realm Pills.
Then she just ingested them all at once, as her Tao Symbol expanded and placed her in the Black Tao side. The detonation ripped her body and soul into shreds, that simply reformed intact on the White side of the symbol.
Pef rushed to hug her, and check for injuries. But Lia seemed to have a new and freshly built body, lacking any scars or age tear. And was also in the 9th Star of Tier 8.
"I'm fine husband. You can give me a Copper Pill and I will still be fine. My problems are of a different nature." Lia whispered in his ear, and she leaned into Pef's arms.
"Really, the Middle Heavens make Ascensions way too easy. It was a little more difficult for me." Pef complained jokingly as he offered a billion-crystals-worth pill to his beloved Oracle.
Lia smiled in sad way then gently took the pill from Pef. "This thing will kill anything alive except a Godbeast, my love. Even you." she explained in a patient tone as she slipped the sure-death pill into her mouth then appeared on the Tao Symbol again.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
What followed was a rapid burst of Black and Violet Tribulations, killing Lia with each strike as she re-appeared from a side to the other of the Tao Symbol. In total, Pef counted 81 bolts of soul-erasing Tier 9 Tribulations.
'Uh. We would last maybe 40 of those. At most, 50 such bolts. I think the Copper Pills were a trap.' the glove said after deliberating for a long minute.
Pef nodded, a bit horrified at the potency and punishment of the Copper Realm Pills. It seemed the Heavens really didn't like people Ascending via those creepy pills.
He stepped beside Lia and softly patted her shoulder, almost afraid not to break her into shards, like a fragile vase.
"Your body is still fine, but I read soul damage and some mental problems." Pef said in a low voice, as he analyzed Lia with his glove.
"Yes, it was a Nine-Headed Basilisk soul venom. Similar to our golith stings, it locks after your soul even after death. But much worse." the Oracle muttered in pain, after Pef poured some Divine Wine into her mouth.
"You knew this will happen..." Pef understood.
"I had to Ascend, dear Pef. My Skill was nearly useless in Tier 8, just like the General is. We were blind to dangers from these Copper Realms. We didn't lose 100 million Devils in gang wars because we were stupid. We were simply outmatched." Lia muttered in a tired voice, then closed her eyes to rest.
Locking onto Yue, still frozen in her temporal amber bubble, Pef shrugged and passed her over. The Time Goddess didn't actually need his help anymore, and could likely beat him easily, even if only going back in time and strangling a powerless child. He even began to wonder which of the events in his life were natural and which were arranged by a loving wife, just like he did with his glove and the Mirror of Samsara.
He might have become a bit paranoid lately, seeing hidden plots in everything, but he was also probably correct. There were hidden plots everywhere, and he just stumbled through them, by strength or by will, but never by knowledge.
Even his capable glove was sometimes blindsided by betrayals or fate turns, but especially by diviners and other oracles.
Pef recalled Lara and her White Tiger for their own dose of pills, as his main Formation Avatar was tasked with creating a Formation Array able to detect Destiny changes and possibly block them.
"Whoa, hubby! These pills really work! Sister Lia is already in Tier 9?" the blue haired wife observed cogently, and a bit too eager.
Pef patted her hair lovingly as his eyes fixed the White Tiger. "I will need your help, your Majesty. I need Tier 9 ingredients for my cooking."
The White Tiger gulped and drew back a little. "I don't agree to be sliced up for burgers, Lord Pef!" the tiger answered in a proud growl.
Pef sighed audibly as he began passing his last Star pills to the pair of idiots. "After you Ascend, we will go hunting some beasts nearby. And sadly, the Taotie can't leave his cage."
Lara sat down beside Vela and cheerfully ingested her Star Pill, the very image of an unrestrained Daoist from Pef's memories. She took the rebound hit of the Star pill with a pained grimace, then closed her eyes to heal, without even making a sound.
The White Tiger nodded cautiously as he began gulping Star pills like dog crackers, crunching them without a care for injury. And indeed, the pills simply raised his cultivation rapidly, without damaging him at all. Godbeasts were beloved by Heavens, and it showed. In mere minutes, the White Tiger reached the top of Tier 8, while looking even better and healthier than he was at first. His fur was actually sparkling!
"These pills won't do much anymore, Lord Pef. I suspect you have something stronger?" the king of beasts asked in a mild voice.
Pef smiled and took out his last Copper Pill. Raising another ally into Tier 9 will be helpful, especially if he survived the crazy rebound.
The White Tiger smelled the pill cautiously, then glanced at Lady Lia recovering from that same pill a bit farther.
"Can I have a bowl of your wine, Lord Pef? I have a nasty feeling I would need the extra energy to Ascend into Copper Realm." the tiger asked as it produced his own silvery chalice from his white collar artifact.
Pef had created that chalice himself, so he grinned a little. "Sure, why not? Take this Bamboo sprout as well. The Preservation Dao will mitigate the toxic effects." he added after the tiger lapped the Divine Wine.
The silvery bowl now held only a Copper-painted pill and a green bamboo sprout, awaiting the White Tiger to take the final step.
The tiger gulped them both, then sat on his butt, like a guard dog.
"Poor thing." Pef heard Lia mutter softly as the skies of the Blue Realm darkened with Tribulation Clouds.
"Be mindful of the Basilisk venom!" Pef shouted as the first black thunderbolt fell onto the mighty Godbeast.
The White Tiger glared at Pef as his fur began to burn.
"I didn't make that crazy pill..." he defended with an innocent voice, covered by the next Tribulation Lightning and its accompanying loud thunder.
To his side, the Silent Monk had also appeared, looking at the dark clouds with longing eyes.
'Does he miss getting hit by lightning?' Pef asked inward, perhaps a bit confused.
'Don't be an idiot. The monk awaits his Ascension for longer than you can imagine. And technically, he is still in Tier 8.' the glove explained in a curt tone.
As the third bolt fell, the Silent Monk held out a hand and diverted some of the lightning energy towards himself, getting his skin burned off, but smiling happily while covered in deadly electric punishment.
Pef sighed and sat down. Nobody was normal in this world.