As Pef examined the contents of the silk pouch, he began to frown. Wealth was nice, but he would accumulate the same in a few thousands years anyways. As for the weapons...they were worth only the rare materials. While he couldn't forge such weapons yet, his wife Lin could certainly do so, and even better ones. And they still wouldn't match a Taotie claw anyways.

No, this was purely a bribe. The Ancestor in Tier 10 was certainly hiding his real wealth somewhere else. Possibly waiting for someone to resurrect him.

The plans of these high-level cultivators were quite convoluted. Pef sighed inward. Damn civilians!

But, the final clue was the lack of cultivation pills. That a Bronze Realm excluded cultivation pills from his inheritance couldn't have been an accident. He was meant to provide a safer ascension path for this descendant, thus the bribe.

Pef took out a Silver Realm Pill he had just bought from the auction with the equivalent wealth of a year of restaurant profit.

'There are too many ingredients, and most of them are toxic. Venoms and poisons of a hundred types, especially soul poisons.' the glove said after examining the pill with its own, and more accurate senses.

'No wonder less than 1 percent survive the trials. It's a basically a neurotoxin stimulant, times a billion.' Pef agreed inward.

"Is that for me?" Shang Wei asked with a hopeful voice, eying the pill with awe.

Pef shook his head and stored the pill back in the glove. "Do you have a death wish, waiter Wei? You ate my cloud burger, right? Did you feel your Dao Heart crack and your soul become poisoned? Did you need to struggle with all your life, just to survive a minute longer?"

Shang Wei blinked in confusion. Actually, her experience had been so smooth and relaxing she didn't even feel in danger, unlike the stories she had heard of other people eating a Golden Realm Pill.

Pef took out a red crystal blood drop from the pouch and placed it in her palm. "This is the price you will pay for your next Ascension. Just show it to your trainer, but pay him after. The lazy badger won't work too hard without a juicy reward." he explained patiently, then pushed the girl into the Violet Realm.

------

Shang Wei arrived into a new secret realm, empty of anything except some inscriptions of the distant walls. Sadly she couldn't even read those, since Formations were taught only in the Golden School of the Temple, and she never returned to finish her studies.

"Hello? I have this crystal as payment..." she asked in the empty void.

A pair of giant eyes opened and stared hungrily at the crystal. "Give me that blood essence, and I won't eat you!" the monster demanded with a beastly voice.

Shang Wei focused and swept the badger with her coresenses, noting it was also a top-level Golden realm like herself. She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. This should be her trainer then. It wasn't too strong, but perhaps it had knowledge?

She stored the crystal in her ring and stood a bit straighter. "The Divine Cook told me about you, lazy badger. I will pay you after I ascend, and not a moment sooner!" she proclaimed with fake bravery.

"Haha! I guess he didn't tell you everything. Who do you think ate that Temple Elder that came for you before?" the Taotie asked in a menacing tone, revealing his body and stepping a bit closer to his new, unwitting disciple.

"... You have knowledge and spirit, lazy badger. No wonder the Divine Cook kept you as a pet in this prison, and didn't chop you into burgers. Even if he fed you that Temple Elder, it was probably only to fatten you up for later. Now hurry up and teach me everything you know!" Shang Wei spoke with a fearless voice.

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She was still a bit impressed by the mighty beast, but even if it had skills and knowledge, it was still kept in box by the Divine Cook.

The Taotie blinked a few times, not quite knowing how to respond. Was he kept as a pet and being fatten up for later? Will the monster chop him up for burgers? He already drained his blood for wine...something to think about.

Still, the girl was too brave. He extended a claw and speared through her body, then raised her up like an insect specimen. "Master sent you to learn, and so you will. But, you will be respectful!"

"Ah! It hurts! Put me down!" the girl screamed in terror.

The Taotie withdrew his claw and waited for the girl to heal, only she just laid there, still bleeding.

"Heal yourself, so we can begin." he demanded with an annoyed growl.

The girl flared her qi and began to slowly heal, a billion times too slow, even for her low realm. "I only took the basic healing course, so it will take a few days..." the new disciple muttered in a pained voice.

Days? From a mere poke? She wasn't in the Legion, but even Devils or Dragons would heal in seconds...

The Taotie came closer and touched her head with his paw, reading her method as she circulated her qi. It was only a mortal method, no wonder it was slow! Someone had deliberately sabotaged her learning, likely fattening her up to extract her blood at the right time. The girl wouldn't receive real skills, if she was only a sacrifice. The Taotie could smell a plot from a multiverse away, and this wasn't even hard.

"It was you being fatten up for later, young girl. You met the waiters in the restaurant, right? Did any of them seem so weak? Sure, they can't defeat me, but they can face a Silver Immortal and fight them evenly. Some of them even fought me for years...even though only Master could injure me at Golden Realm." he said in a softer voice.

"Shut up! I am not stupid, lazy badger. I could sense their hidden gazes and plotting behind my back, in the Temple School. My soul urged me to run away, it's why I am here!" Shang Wei growled in pain.

"I expect they raised you for your inheritance. That emblem with the blood essence of your Bronze Realm Ancestor, it would only accept a bloodline descendant. They likely murdered your parents, to induct you into their sect. For a third-rate sect, your inheritance would be worth the whole sky." the Taotie mused in a thoughtful tone.

Shang Wei began to sob, and her wound opened once more.

The Taotie flared his qi and healed the girl instantly. "Do you want revenge?"

She stood up and bowed. "Teach me well, Master! I will get revenge with my own hands!"

The Taotie grinned a bit too wide. "It will hurt, little one. I am not like the Silent Monk, quite the contrary."

Shang Wei steeled herself. "Teach me proper healing first. I can't be slowed down by wounds."

The monster's eyes twinkled a little, as if he found a gem. Then he bent down and bit the girl, tearing off her left arm. Healing wasn't hard to learn anyways. Even a beast would learn that, if hurt often enough. The Taotie learned that lesson well.

He chewed slowly as he analyzed the new disciple with his taste. Incredibly weak, but also unspoiled by other methods, like the Legion was.

He could work with that, and paint a masterpiece inside her blood. And he will even get a new Star at the end!

Truly, the Master spoiled him too much!